The reward chest was in the far corner of the boss chamber, half-buried under a pile of bat corpses that Emily hadn’t bothered cleaning up. The female cub got there first, pawing at the wood like she could sll treasure through the lid.
[Can I open it? Please?] She turned back to look at Emily with wide eyes.
She knew this Elf was the boss in the group and how alfas need to be buttered before asking anything. She licked Emily’s arm and turned to the chest.
Her brother was right. She was the ADHD mber of the new generation of cubs and the one with the most resemblance to their mother. The great Alfa Wolf of the Forest Pack.
"Go ahead. You earned it." Emily was still checking her mana levels, running her hand along her arm like she could feel the power settling into place.
The female cub didn’t need to be told twice. She slamd both paws down on the chest and the lock popped open with a satisfying click.
Inside was a small pile of coins Eren saw for the first ti, a few pieces of dried at that looked questionable at best and a single blue gemstone about the size of Eren’s thumb.
But more than that, there wasn’t a skill book today!
"A single mana-stone must be more valuable than two books actually." Emily hurriedly added after she saw Eren’s face fell.
"Is mana stone...like mana storage thingy as it’s na suggest?" He felt dumb for asking this but still reached for the stone before anyone else could.
Anything related to mana or a possible mana recharge effect was the utmost importance for him.
Emily glanced over and nodded. "My mother told about these. They hold mana inside. You can use them to power skills when you’re drained or don’t want to use it for so reason."
She picked it up and turned it over in her hand. "Low grade- probably but I have no idea about the details. Once it’s empty, the stone crumbles to dust. That’s the part I loved when mother explained it. I even asked if it would look like sparkly gem dust..."
She looked distracted with her childhood mories. And Eren stared at the stone, his mind already working through the possibilities.
If he could use mana stones to power his Door Master skill with those, maybe that might solve the going back from the Earth problem.
But he’d need to know exactly how much mana each stone held and whether it would be enough to keep a portal open long enough to actually cross. Too many unknowns. Maybe sothing to test later, when he had more stones to spare.
"I need at least ten to feel safe. Or hundreds."
The male cub sniffed the dried at that ca from the chest, then imdiately backed away. [That’s been dead for too long. We need to test a small part on squirrels or slis before eating.]
"We can hide it outside and you usually co here before us. Maybe try it that ti." Eren pocketed the mana stone and the coins, then looked around the chamber one more ti. The dungeon felt different now that the boss was dead. Quieter and possibly less dangerous.
And they were done with the first floor again.
"Alright, here’s an idea." He stepped back toward the center of the room and raised his right hand. "I want to try sothing before we walk all the way back."
Emily tilted her head. "Try what?"
"Opening a door. But not to Earth." He closed his eyes and focused on his Door Master skill, imagining the clearing near the village entrance. The wooden fence line. The path that led between the houses.
He had to be close enough to get ho quickly but far enough that the cubs wouldn’t have to deal with stares from nervous villagers.
"I want to see if I can open a portal inside Evon."
The mana drained from his full mana pool the mont he activated the skill. All of it. Every last point was spent as the skill worked with that logic. The sensation was smoother than reaching for Earth, less resistant but it still left him hollow and gasping for breath.
A door shimred into existence in the middle of the chamber air, glowing faint blue around the edges. Combined with the aura of the dungeon, it looked amazing.
"It looks cool."
Through the opening, Eren could see the clearing near the village. So village lights ca through the trees and it was mostly moonlight.
The wooden fence was visible in the distance, marking the edge of the settlent.
"It worked." He didn’t dare to speak loud in case it might break the spell. Being extra careful wouldn’t hurt anyone.
Emily stepped closer, staring through the portal. "That was insane. WOW!!! How long will it stay open?"
Eren checked the empty space where his mana pool used to be and a new text under his skill screen.
1.1 seconds per ten mana for Inner Universe Travels.
"With 240 total, maybe twenty-six seconds if I’m lucky. So, not long." He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the door. "Co on, let’s go before it closes."
They stepped through together and landed in the clearing three seconds later. After half a minute of staying open, the portal snapped shut with a soft pop .
[That was amazing! Can we do it again?] The female cub was already circling back to where the door had been, like she expected it to reappear.
"..."
Eren and Emily looked at the excited cub and each other.
They realized too late the cubs could follow them.
Emily almost yelled at the cubs but stopped with great effort. She didn’t want to spoil this beautiful mont.
It was a sensitive topic for her to allow beasts this close to the Village. It was against everything her family and village taught her.
But Eren didn’t care much. He trusted them and answered cubs’s question.
"It won’t be so useful. Every ti I use it, my mana drops to zero." Eren leaned against a tree branch as catching his breath.
The fatigue wasn’t as bad as when he’d tried reaching Earth but it still left him shaky.
Emily was staring at him with that look she got sotis. The one that said she was recalculating her entire understanding of what he could do.
"You just teleported us from the dungeon to the village." Her voice sounded impressed. She had a hard ti of finding the right words. "Do you understand what that ans? It was at least more than five kiloters!"
"Yes, this ans we don’t have to walk everywhere anymore. At least once a day. Hahaha..." Eren laughed like a bad villain as a joke. He had more confidence with Emily and didn’t shy away from making things that would look dumb.
She laughed with his face and smacked his arm. "I ant you’re going to change how people travel in this world if we can evolve your skill. If you can do that between long distances, imagine what happens when it gets stronger."
The idea wasn’t new but he has been so focused on getting back to Earth that he hadn’t considered what Door Master could worth here before yesterday.
Instant travel between distant places. No more weeks on the road. Maybe even crossing oceans if the skill got strong enough and he had enough mana.
"Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I can barely keep it open for half a minute right now." He hugged the sweaty girl and pulled her to the road.
"We need to learn about your class upgrade." A sneaky kiss to the cheek made Emily soft and giggly. She didn’t resist and linked her arm with Eren.
They started walking toward the village and the cubs slowed as they approached the fence line. The female cub looked up at Eren, her ears flat against her head.
[We’ll go to our place. I have to sleep and get stronger! Hrrr]
Eren glanced back at Emily.
"It’s better this way." Emily’s voice was quiet. "The elves have hunted wolves and they also hunted Elves for too long. It’ll take ti before they see your cubs as anything different." Emily still didn’t fully believe that the cubs were different from their parents.
They were young and had a long ti to change and start hunting Elves. They couldn’t change a predatory relation no matter how cute a young cub acted.
The male cub yawned and stretched his tired body and hurrrled at Eren. [Co find us tomorrow evening!]
"Yeah. Tomorrow." Eren watched them disappear with suspicious at into the forest. And turned back to Emily. "That’s not fair to them."
"I know. But it’s the reality. Also they are already stronger than almost everyone inside the village.
In a few months they will be fully grown and even able to face with this dungeon boost." She squeezed his hand once. "Co on. I need to get my class upgrade."
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