I started walking forward into Chalm. Of course, there was the option of portaling directly into the city, or even into Xin’s boss room. Sadly, I couldn’t do it. Portal depended on me having the area I was visiting on the Map. Over time, analyzing space laws with the Blue Mage job, I had come to realize that Portal did not depend on any kind of visual understanding of the land. It came from mana sense. I hadn’t realized it, but my mapping skill used mana like a sonar. This is also why creatures appeared on it, even hidden ones I couldn’t see. The only way something couldn’t be seen is if it didn’t emit any mana signature at all.
The dungeon and the city inside no longer had the same mana signature they once had. On my Map, it showed a blank space encompassing the large barrier dome over the city, and it was as if I had never visited this place before. That was ultimately why I had decided to go to Chalm Crossing first rather than directly to Chalm.
As we reached the barrier, I was able to take a closer look at it. This wasn’t like the priest barrier that had once been set up. Rather, one could say it’s the exact opposite. That barrier had been erected to block the spread of the miasmic contamination. This was because Karr’s dungeon was originally too volatile to destroy, and the church wanted to use the cursed city as a deterrent to hold back the wilderness from spreading into Aberis.
This barrier, on the other hand, was created by miasma, and while I wasn’t nearly as experienced with such things as the likes of Elaya, I could tell that it seemed to be designed to condense miasma. It was cycling miasma, absorbing it, and then redirecting it into a certain spot. That spot, if I had to guess, was the former fairy spring. In short, it was a miasma generator that was skillfully built to service the dungeon.
“I’ve never seen a dungeon like this,” Alysia spoke in wonder.
“This isn’t the dungeon,” I responded. “Most dungeons you’ve seen have been contained using special spells and barriers so that the miasma doesn’t leak out and affect the area. Good enough barriers can even allow a dungeon to be right in the middle of a city. Wild dungeons, on the other hand, don’t have such a restriction. The miasma usually spreads from the entrance, and you end up with an area around the surface that is corrupted and contains monsters. This is also where most surface monsters that eventually acclimate to a non-dungeon climate come from.
“Elaya didn’t turn all of Chalm into a dungeon, but she did allow it to influence all of Chalm. The real dungeon is still underground, and there is no telling how big it’s gotten in the last two months. Two months ago, it had been heavily damaged in the fight against Demon Lord Aberis. Now though, with Astria dumping mana in to protect Celeste and Elaya turning the fairy spring into a miasma spring… I can’t tell you what the dungeon had evolved into.”
“I see…” She responded somberly.
Alysia had dedicated her life to fighting back the dungeon threat, but most of the dungeons she had visited were tame ones. She resented them for the people who died in them, but compared to a wild dungeon, they were nearly as tame as dogs. As a result, she barely knew anything about what dungeons were actually like. Well, every dungeon was practically a living creature, and if I ever got old enough to retire, I could probably write a book on categorizing dungeon types and giving out wisdom on their nature.
After determining that walking through the miasma barrier wouldn’t harm us, I cautiously began to move forward. With a step, I passed through the miasma barrier. Every miasma was different. They each had a unique signature to them. For example, the miasma from the Malacrum dagger that I took from Astria and now had in my Inventory had an extremely aggressive miasma. Even when I had a blessing that made me immune to the negative effects of miasma, that only accounted for some of what the miasma did.
It still could attack my soul, and it did so aggressively to the point that I barely survived. It wasn’t until I ended up with a god soul that I had truly become immune to miasma. Now, it rolled off of me with ease. What made me uncomfortable was that this miasma no longer welcomed me. This was miasma from my own dungeon, but after our bond was broken, the miasma had somehow changed its signature. It was no longer mine. I realized it wouldn’t be enough just to walk into the dungeon. I’d need to challenge it, and become the Dungeon Master.
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