There is another interruption of my practice, and the mana I’d been channelling through the maze breaks apart into ethereal strands. I look up. It’s yet another one of the sumeen, the one with torn clothing. The one who defended me against the gloomstalker.

  “You healed me,” they hum.

  I nod. “Sure,” I say.

  They take a long break, probably to breathe or something, before they speak again. “Healers are rare,” they say. “Often connected to sponsor lineages and organisations.”

  “Okay.”

  “Some of those may try to recruit you,” they say.

  “Sure.”

  The alien huffs. “Thank you for healing me,” they say. “We will keep your secret. Do not spread it lightly. You aren’t strong enough.”

  At that, I finally nod. “I see.”

  “Good, good. Then with that, and our guidance, I shall consider my debt repaid,” they say.

  “That’s fine,” I agree. Then, the alien trots off. I think it over for a bit.

  Healing is valuable. That makes sense. Life should be valued. But if it’s so valuable, then why have I not caught someone’s eye for it yet? Are they not watching? I’m curious. Which organisations will try to kidnap me? What do they know? How would they force me to do their bidding? I wanna know, I wanna know.

  But, instead of that, I force down my curiosity, and focus on the mana maze. This one, too. I wanna know how it works. The temptation to take it apart is so strong. But I suppress that temptation, too, and instead channel my mana into it again, forming strings of ethereal power, flipping switches, splitting and threading them through the tiny labyrinth.

  I improve, bit by bit, step by step as we keep walking.

  - - -

  The next time my focus is broken is when Inu taps me on my shoulder. “Snow,” she says, gently. “Look.”

  At her request, I raise my head from the task I’ve been focused on. In front of me, there is a city. It’s dug into the cavern, houses carved from stone, some plated with bits of chitin and strange, spongy looking wood. People mill about, mostly sumeen, and some other species, too. Humanoids with large, crystalline wings on their backs, and others who seem to be entirely covered in fur, looking like walking balls of floof.

  Even from outside, it’s impressive looking. There is a small queue in front of the gate, and a few more humans already there. They must have gotten to an ascendancy well that was a little closer to the city. There are guards, most of them sumeen, doing a few routine checks, as well as a very official looking person.

  I know they’re official because they wear fancy robes and carry a fancy clipboard. It’s one of those with the crystalline wings, though theirs are elegantly folded behind their back. Already, the mish-mash of different languages is starting to give me a headache, but my phone’s battery is low, and this seems important.

  Luckily, I’m at least curious about what’s happening, which helps me care a little less about the annoyance of the noise. “This is Espiree,” Paulino says. “A city that has stood for a few decades, now. This is rare, due to monster migrations, you see, so Espiree has become a bit of a hub.”

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  There’s that word again. “Monsters?” I ask.

  “Ah, yes. The non-sentient inhabitants of the tunnels,” Paulino says. “They are entirely biologically viable and do reproduce, but they will also be spawned from the tower itself. In the same way that you produce mana, or your heart pumps blood through your veins, the tower spawns creatures. This includes members of integrated species. ‘Monsters’ simply denotes the non sapient ones.” He pauses. “Non sapient. How elegant.”

  So Kuro would be a monster, then. I brush my senses against my stealthy companion.

  [Living Shadow lv. 12]

  That sounds about right. It immediately gave me their species and supremacy, so I’d assume it’s a monster, yeah. How bothersome. Well, not like any other wild animal, right? Docile under the right circumstances and all. Surely Kuro would never eat me.

  I look at the little blob of darkness, poking their head out of my shadow. Surely. Right? Right.

  We step forward in the queue, and the fancy looking official talks. I already understand the language - the background chatter of the city is just that overwhelming, and people are pointing at us humans with surprise and curiosity. I don’t bother listening, though. The official talks on and on and on… but all I imagine he’s saying is the normal stuff.

  Don’t hurt anyone. Don’t steal. Help if there are monster migrations. Classic things.

  [The Keeper of the Tunnels watches over you.]

  And that marks the backer of those laws. A powerful avatar of an Eye stationed in the city proper. This time, at least, it seems like a standard message, rather than a troublesome one, marking me as an enemy. I get a couple curious glances because of my burned face, but no one approaches me about it.

  Luckily, I have the others with me. They get to deal with the stares, the issue of acquiring housing, and how we might make money. Frankly, I’m halfway to suggesting that we could just camp out in the tunnels. Sure, there are gloomstalkers, but well. How could we climb without a little risk?

  A small smirk appears on my face, and Inu pokes my side. “No,” she says, smiling. “Absolutely not. We’re not doing that, Snow. I’m going to take a shower. You should get new shoes. And-”

  “No, no,” I say, looking at my bare feet. “No need to say anymore. You had me at shoes.”

  We’ll stay in the city for a little while. That much should be fine, right?

  - - -

  Newly integrated species get a stipend, apparently. So, we receive some amount of what passes for money in the tower. A pouch of fancy little coins called chits. I like them. They’re flat, unengraved, and have rounded, smooth sides. They feel more like pebbles than actual coins, and if they were a little larger, I think they could be great emotional support.

  In short, I already don’t want to spend mine. Yet, I do what I must. A pair of shoes. A shirt and pants that aren’t horribly stained by blood. Room and board for a month at an Inn, me, Opal, Dar and Sylves sharing a room. The meals are mostly cave fungus-based, and I’m pretty okay with that after the first taste. They’re spongy and fun to chew, with a slightly salty taste.

  After about half a day, we are fed, full, and clean. It’s kind of nice, enjoying the benefits of civilization. There really are people with all kinds of jobs. I thought anthropologist was weird, but that was before I knew of the [Archon of the Bathtub].

  Still, it’s not entirely pleasant. My bad. Mainly on me, I admit. My mana was full in the city, and it felt like a weight in my chest again, so I started using [Suppression]. On myself, of course. Every movement feels heavy, like I’m wearing a weighted vest. It’s a little weird, the sensation that there is resistance to every movement I make.

  But, with a little luck, this will give me some more power to play with. And, since my mana regenerates in my sleep, when we head to bed for… whatever passes as night in an underground city, I first make sure to empty out my mana. Which means pulling out a knife, going to town on myself, and healing the wounds, as well as spending more healing on my blind eye.

  With [Suppression] active, it barely even hurts. Plus, Kuro cleans up all of the blood, so there’s no mess. All I’m left with is feeling sore, hungry, a little tougher, and tired. Oh, and a little better at healing, of course.

  [Flesh Restoration 2 > 3]

  It’s only on the next day that our secret gets out.