Cain wakes up the next morning with the sun shining directly in his eyes, gathering his wits to recall what happened at the party. The dwarves had a new and improved whiskey for high-level transfers that Cain sampled an entire cask of, and things got a little blurry after that.
Cyrene is still wrapped around his waist, and Laura is sitting on his shoulder, playing cards with her clone, so Cain is pretty sure that things didn't go too sideways while he was drinking, but he realizes quickly how easy it would be to slip back into his past life's bad habits after a little setback like this.
He stayed mostly sober for Misha's sake so that he could prove to her and everyone else that he was a better person than he was before he arrived in this world. But without her here he needed someone around him who was sane enough to ground him and who could say no. That clearly wasn't Cyrene, who Cain was fairly sure had become a cult leader in his absence. The way the locals responded to her gave her a position far too exalted for her to be a stranger or even a friend. So either something incredible happened and nobody told him, or the outreach program had been gathering more devotion than they had intended from the masses.
When Cain arrived back at the Manor he found they had even more visitors than usual, all of the Guild Officers were here, plus Neffie and a Bear Kin named Po, who claimed they were representing Port Nefheim. Even Maggie, the Orcish Lieutenant from Blood Sands Castle had come to the Manor for the first time so she could attend the meeting.
Cain wasn't sure what exactly to tell everyone, Misha had been taken somewhere that they couldn't easily get her back, but she shouldn't be in imminent danger.
It didn't take long for Cain to explain what he had seen, and then Vala and Evangeline, plus Cyrene filled in the gaps, with the Lamia's visions giving a bit of insight into the event. Her visions focus mostly on combat now, but as she was previously an Oracle, the visions of tragedy and misfortune still occur.
"So, with the warning that you got, are you going to try to awaken even more people?" Cyrene asks eagerly. Mythic skills everywhere would make the Guild the undisputed benevolent rulers of the Central Continent.
"Not quite yet. First I need to see what state the world itself is in. Then we can see what to do about it. There is a device in a ruined city that might give me some answers." Cain explains and the Lamia shrugs, still thinking that Mythic Skills for everyone would be more fun. Or maybe they could change the Guild Skill from [Summon Pet] to something that would summon Mythic Dragons and demons? That would be good too.
While Cyrene is daydreaming of Mythic Dragons, Cain is making plans to go traveling to the center of the continent again, visiting the city he has been made Mayor of. The trip will be a short one with his current traveling abilities, so he intends to leave at once.
He still has a clone of the Companions merged with him, so there isn't much planning to do, other than informing the Guild officers that he will be away for a few days to get answers to exactly what is going on in the world, and why the Ancients would give them such a dire sounding warning.
Distracted as he is, Cain doesn't even notice that Cyrene is still wrapped around him when he summons a pair of Mythic Forest Dragons for the journey. In fact, he forgets about her presence entirely until she starts making a happy giggle as they race through the air. While she has done some traveling, flying on the back of a Mythic Dragon is an experience unlike any other. They covered over six hundred kilometers in the first hour, and that isn't considered to be straining themselves to the Forest Dragons.
"What is so special about this city? Is there a relic there that can predict the future?" Cyrene finally asks, unsure as to why Cain would leave again so soon after getting home.
"Not foresight, but data analysis. There is a device there that measures the power level of the world and its Mana capacity. At one point it was much higher than it is right now, so the Ancients could use it to fend off the Human Gods. I don't think the planet has any chance of that right now, but hopefully, the threat we face isn't that extreme." Cain explains as they enter the mountain ranges that hold the dwarven kingdom and hide the Bear Kin Clans.
Flying between mountain peaks is a great stress reliever, and Cain's mood has improved a lot by the time they reach the false mountain that hides the city. Cain orders the dragon to slow, just in case it doesn't pass through the barrier as easily as he does, but all three of them travel past the barrier without meeting any resistance, finding the city exactly as Cain left it, but with the city gates closed, keeping explorers out.
"The Mayor's house is this way, I'll drop you outside so you can look around." Cain offers, but he can see in Cyrene's eyes that she has no intentions of unwrapping herself from around him.
That's fine, she can stay as a belt. At least that way he knows she won't get lost.
[Welcome Back, Mayor Cain] the city interface greets him when he enters the sitting room where the control tablet is masquerading as a coffee table.
"City Status." Cain orders, finding everything in order, with no unwanted inhabitants this time. There are regular logs showing that the former Demon King and his Gnomish Queen have been visiting for a bit of privacy, but other than that, no other living beings have entered the city.
"Everything looks good here, let's go to the center of town and go look at the device the Ancients left behind," Cain tells Cyrene, transforming into the demonic form he was using on the Southern Continent so that he can fly over.
This time there is a note on a small golden sheet sitting on the controls. It is written in the Ancient Language, but the System is kind enough to translate it for Cain.
[Ley Lines need to be over 60 percent to support Immortal Realm Beings. Good Luck in your adventures.] Cain can't verify who it was that left this note for him, or even when it was left since the room is sealed and doesn't collect dust, but it does offer him a clue.
If the Immortal Realm needs a certain mana concentration, and they saw fit to mention it to him, then either that is what is likely to be attacking this world, or that is what is needed to escape it and join the rest of his adopted species in exile.
Cain waves his hand over the controls, lighting up the holographic display, and asks the most important question on his mind.
[System, display all global spells currently draining the Ley Line Network.]
[3 Global Spells are currently Active. 1 Using Ley Line Energy]
[Divine Rank Group Spell: Peaceful Resolution] currently active, using Ley Line energy.
[Warning: Supply Insufficient for current Planetary Encirclement range of effect, spell efficiency at 62 percent and falling at the rate of 1 percent per year.]
Cain frowns at that news. The spell is most likely the dungeon spell, but if it is failing, that will be a nightmare for the common citizens when it fails.
[What happens as the spell degrades?] Cain asks, hoping for good news like the dungeon residents are going to be released totally sane and rational back into their natural habitat on some other planet.
[When efficiency reaches 60 percent, the highest-powered zones will be deactivated. All barriers and lingering spell effects in regions with Awakened power levels will be removed. At 50 percent, Spell Effects in areas above First Awakening will be removed. At that point the spell will stabilize under its own power, at original settings.]
"What's it say?" Cyrene whispers, curious but trying not to disturb Cain while he reads the glowing green runes floating in front of him.
"It says the dungeon spell is collapsing, and within the next two years, the Awakened zones will no longer trap their beasts and monsters inside. In twelve years or less, the dungeons outside the Beginner's Valley will all release everything inside them." Cain explains.
"Um, that sounds pretty bad. Like every dungeon monster from every dungeon just dumped outside by the entrance? I know that the cities that have grown around them are capable of cleaning them up, but that could be bad." Cyrene stammers, shocked at the news.
[Analysis inaccurate. The power levels of those trapped within the dungeon spells is limited by the local Mana supply. When the Peaceful Resolution spell ends they will be released at their full and original power, with the excess mana being drawn from the Ley Lines.]
[How far above current power levels would that be?] Cain asks, his tone turning a bit defeated as he realizes that he has no idea how to fix this.
[Results will be variable. Current data predicts 100 standardized power levels for every category above Elite.]
That would make the Mythic Beasts that are due to be released somewhere around level 600. That is not something that most beast hunters are going to be able to deal with. Especially since they won't be expecting the sudden change in power levels when the spell effects end.
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