Chapter 1566 – Worrying Signs

Of course, the knowledge that massive quantities of tainted mana are being pumped into the fortress is causing me a little stress. Why wouldn’t it? Hopefully the Colony has it under control. I could help! Or could I? I mean, what would I even do if I were to go in there? Nothing, that’s what.

I’m worried!

“You’re worried,” Jern said from beside me.

“Gah! When the heck did you get there?”

“I’ve been here for ten minutes.”

Probably didn’t notice him because I’ve been too worried. Wait a sec.

“How the heck did you know I was worried?” I demand.

The young man shrugs and scratches the back of his head. “Not sure. I keep getting a feeling about… what you’re feeling.”

“You can’t read my thoughts, can you?”

Jern is a dummy, Jern is a dummy. Jern is a dummy. Jern is a dummy.

“No, nothing like that. I think it’s more of an emotions thing.”

“So you know I’m worried.”

“I do,” he nods his head.

“One sec.”

HOOOOOOWWWWWWLLLLLLLL.

Another bomb launched into the void. It’ll chew up the monsters I aimed it at, but then it’ll suck up a heap of mucus and run out of power. I have to wonder, just where is all this lousy mucus going?

Monsters aren’t the only thing springing from the walls in the fifth during the wave, oh no. Every wall, every surface is also producing a viscous mucus at a steady rate. Not much per square metre, but it adds up quick! Since the fortress was disconnected from the tunnels around us, the stuff flowing towards the platforms is just dropping down into the void and piling up at the bottom of the cavity we built. Presumably, there are tunnels down there receiving absolutely catastrophic amounts of slime and filling up from top to bottom.

Then where the heck does it go? Presumably, it flows down into lower tunnels, then down further, and then it drops into the sixth, right? Like, the volume of mucus being produced, from the entire fifth, would have to add up to millions and millions of tons per day. If all of that eventually dropped into the sixth, it would have to corrupt it as well, surely.

Except we know that isn’t the case, I’ve seen sixth stratum monsters with my own eyes. Which brings me back to my question, where the heck is all the mucus going?!

“Now you’re annoyed about something,” Jern nods.

Gah!

“If you’re worried, or annoyed, you could just ask us to look into whatever it is you have on your mind. I can go right now if you want.”

“Go… and do what?”

“Look into whatever is bothering you. I’m not doing much around here right now.”

He is, in fact, on a break from fighting. Of all the Templars, he seems to be the one best suited to combat. When he whips that axe around, he does some serious work, and the light coming off that blade is getting more dense seemingly by the day.

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I wonder…

“Now you’re curious about something,” he says.

DAMMIT.

“Fine! What rank are your axe Skills?”

His eyes blank out for a second.