I Hate Dungeon School

"So you have no mana at all? That's so weird!" Eira said as she carefully peeled an apple, as I lay in the soft bed.

I felt bad that I couldn't give her the full details, but after a few days of tests, they decided I could have visitors, and of course, the first person I thought of was Eira.

My roommates would likely be grumpy with me, but they could handle it. I wanted to see her first. And she wasted no time coming to see me, with a basket full of fruit.

This was a tradition in her homeland, and she peeled apples and cut them to look like little rabbits. I felt my heart jump with joy when she insisted on feeding them to me. It felt heartwarming and a little decadent at the same time.

That said, I also felt like I deserved it. Nearly dying from weird dungeon nonsense deserved some decadence as a reward after all.

That was my story, and I was sticking to it.

As far as she knew, I had an accident involving my little core, which wasn't a secret amongst my friends, and it was gone, and I had gotten injured, leading to a mana-related injury.

As it turns out, mana injuries weren't unheard of. Mine, however, was a bit strange, but no one needed to know the exact facts of the matter. I felt somewhat guilty keeping it hidden, but that was the nature of secret research after all.

"Yeah, it feels really weird. On top of it, I can't feel the core anymore." I said before she popped another apple rabbit into my mouth.

"What's that feel like, though? I can't imagine it." She asked as she petted my head softly. I felt myself blush at the touch, but I enjoyed it. A lot.

"I don't have anything to compare it to, really. It's like when you know someone is in a room with you, even if you can't see them, and then they're not there. Also, I don't feel as ravenous all the time, which is a plus. My food budget was starting to hurt there."

"Yeesh, I can imagine! I'm glad you're not in worse shape. Your poor face, though!" She touched my face gently. From what few peeks into the mirror I saw, I looked like a raccoon who had gotten in a fist fight and lost. I didn't mention anything, but healing spells weren't helping like they usually did either.

That was a concern I was really not ready to tackle quite yet.

"It'll get better! Just gotta give it time, I guess. And spend a little more time on my makeup for the next time you visit. I want to look good for my girlfriend." I cursed myself internally. I was moving to quickly again. I looked at her, afraid to see her reaction, but was relieved to see her smiling.

"You always look good, sweetie! This girlfriend could never judge you for looking like a bar-fighting raccoon." She leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead, and I could feel myself blushing to the tips of my ears. I was elated!

"S-so you're ok with me calling you my-" She shushed me with a finger.

"Yes, silly ears! We might as well be. Why else would I have skipped class to come be with you?" She beamed at me.

Pain and everything aside, I was feeling the happiest I had in a long time.

"Now, get some rest, you!" She kissed me again before standing up.

"Yes, ma'am!" I tossed a sloppy salute at her. She giggled, ruffled my hair, and left. I really liked watching her swish as she left.

I sat there in bemused silence for a few moments, just soaking in the bliss of the events that had just occurred. I had a girlfriend! Oh, if my family knew, they would be furious. Same-gender relationships weren't taboo in Burgotova society by any means. Unless you were a noble. A noblewoman's primary role was to continue the family line, but I had no interest in that.

That was the main problem, I think my family had with me. I had no interest in marriage, and being so far out of the line of inheritance, that was the only thing I was good for.

I think that was why they got rid of me. The prank I had pulled was a pretext. I hadn't even done anything major. Just mildly embarrassed some baron's fool popinjay of a son, and the next thing I knew, I was out on my rear, disowned, cut off from any kind of inheritance, stipend, or any support. So I came here, as far as I could manage from what I had once called home.

I wondered if my sister and brothers knew something was going to happen. They took on the task of training me young. My parents didn't seem to give two bits about me, and seemed to regard me coldly at best. Even my mother. I always wondered if it was because I was redheaded when the rest of my family wasn't, but I loved my hair too much to let it bother me. In fact, a lot of the judgments they threw my way, I just weathered. Like, there was some part of my mind that just assumed that was the way it was supposed to be.

Which raised a question in my mind. Why had they sent an invitation to me to go to my sister's wedding? She always worked me to the bone, and she was harsh and cruel in my training. She almost seemed to take some kind of sick enjoyment in watching me struggle and suffer.

So why? What purpose did Cassandra Marchesi, future master of the Marchesi lands, and apparent rebel want with me? Was I part of some scheme? Did she want to have me assassinated to tie up some loose ends to some nebulous conspiracy I didn't care one wit about?

It didn't matter anyway. Winter Solstice was only a few weeks away, and the likelihood of my making it was slim to none. If I were being honest, that was fine with me. I only held on to the Marchesi name as a placeholder till I found a new name for myself. It was like a comfortable pair of socks with more and more holes in them as time went on.

One day, I'll find an identity that was truly mine.

The snow continued to fall outside the window. It was a light snow, barely collecting on the ground below, but the soft dance comforted me somewhat. It reminded me of when I saw Eira dancing with the leaves.

I felt myself calming down, shuffling the sad thoughts out of my mind. I sat up in my bed and crossed my legs, assuming my meditation position.

I breathed in. Breathed out. In. Out. In. Out.

I kept this up for some time, and tried to pull mana from within, but still found that emptiness where it had once been. There had been no change at all. All that sat there was the small mote of dungeon mana that wouldn't leave, no matter what I did.

They had tried the baths, potions, spells, everything. None of it would work. Something had truly broken within me, as much as I was loath to admit it.

There was a small fear growing in the back of my mind. What if I could never use magic ever again? I had spent so much time learning to be a Sword-Witch, so much of my self-identity tied up in those skills. I could likely do fine just focusing on my skills as a sword fighter, as I was no slouch there.

But the lack of mana was also affecting how I healed. Healing spells didn't work. Potions just made me sick to my stomach. The baths, while relaxing on my muscles, did not affect my mana, and couldn't draw out the dungeon mote within my reservoir.

The thing that scared me the worst was how utterly normal it felt. Every study I read told me that I should be in misery, on death's doorstep step waiting my turn to venture into the Lands Beyond, but I felt fine.

But I shouldn't be fine. Even the most dense, idiotic, muscle-brained fool of a knight could use magic and be affected by it. I could no longer do that. It was a scary thing to consider.

The temptation to wail and fret and succumb to despair was ever present now, but I couldn't let myself fall into that sinking pit of emotion.

I just kept myself going, remembering that I was Alta the Sword-Witch, defeater of Knight Cavendish, and I could what ever I set my mind to.

I could overcome this, or at the very least adapt to it.

I wasn't the Alta of my past, a bedraggled noble girl. Nor was I the Alta of the road, scared and weak. I wasn't even the Alta from the Inn or the Alta the new student.

I was a new Alta, severed from that past. I was a new Alta every day I woke, alive and thriving.

I continued these thoughts as a mantra, as I continued my meditations, trying over and over to access my magic power.

No luck yet again. No matter. It would come to me at some point.

I heard a small knock at the door.

"Come in," I said, uncrossing my legs and lying back in the bed. I felt tired. Even trying to reach for nonexistent mana was tiring in its own way.

Andritch entered, and soon Calderon and Danica filed in behind her. In their hands, they held a cylinder.

It seemed to glow softly, but that could have just been my imagination.

"How are you feeling today, Alta?" Andritch asked, concern clear on her face. Something was going on, and I could already tell I wasn't going to like it.

"I'm fine, but please don't do this with the song and dance. You have the worst gambler's face I have ever seen. All three of you." I sighed, pressing my head into the pillow.

The three whispered to each other, and eventually Calderon came and sat next to me, the cylinder in his lap.

"There's a problem with your core. It's- I'm honestly not even sure how to explain what it's doing." He scratched his head, his face one of confusion.

"You? At a loss for words? This IS bad." I smirked at him. The others didn't share my expression. Got it. Not the time for humor.

"I guess I'll just show you." He opened the container, and I felt a rush of dungeon mana soak into my body, as if it was a bone-dry sponge tasting water for the very first time. It felt strangely good, satisfying.

The core, however, was in a state I had never seen before. It looked less solid than I had ever seen before. Like it couldn't sustain its spherical shape, and was struggling to keep from completely liquifying. It barely glowed and looked more and more like a slime floating in the air.

"What's going on?" I asked, feeling suddenly deeply concerned. I could almost feel its presence touching my mind like it used to, but it was weak, only noticeable because I had grown so used to it.

"For lack of a better term, we think it's dying? When it absorbed the smaller cores, it reacted to them. Each one of those cores was an offspring of the Anomaly Core we have contained in the research building. Whatever elements make it so unusual have effectively poisoned your core." Calderon tried to explain, but it seemed the mechanics of what exactly was happening were lost on him.

"We have a possible solution, but we're not entirely sure you're up for it." Danica cut in. "But we have some theories based on our analysis of the data we got from you, um, incident, that might not only save the core but also help you with your mana...issue."

"Alright, tell me. What do I need to do?" I looked at them, my expression filled with determination.

"You're going to have to plant the core," Andritch said bluntly.

"Plant it?" I blinked.