"Delilah, it's time," Luke said, squeezing her shoulder.

  She nodded. "Here I go."

  Her breathing steadied as she concentrated. A shimmering light rose from the scroll, enveloping the entire item before the light spread across Delilah's arm and to her heart and meta-heart. Luke was ready as mana stopped its tranquil flowing through her body to rush toward her fingers, putting a strain on her meta-heart.

  Delilah whimpered as mana drained out of her at an impressive rate.

  "I've got you," Luke said.

  With several threads of mana in place, he gave his own mana to Delilah, much like supplying a patient with a blood transfusion. Even as impressive as his pool of mana had become, it was far from enough. Mateo and Penny stood ready right behind him, and he drew from them to himself as a familiar circle formed over Delilah's head. This one was smaller than what the dragon summoned, but the symbols were the same.

  Pouring more and more mana into the spell, Delilah's hands trembled and her shoulders twitched. Still, she kept going, and Luke saw that she got all the mana she needed.

  "It's forming," she whispered. "It hurts."

  "Keep going," Luke said, his voice flat.

  System Message: Dungeon closing in 7 minutes.

  He'd tried to inject compassion into his words, but the strain of mana transferring was more of a challenge than he'd expected. He'd done this before, but never on this scale, and never at this level of exhaustion. Mateo's mana dropped to 25%, and Luke cut him free. If he took any more, Luke's honorable friend would have trouble running in a straight line.

  Penny's mana would last a little longer. Nymh took Mateo's place without a word of complaint. The circle over Delilah's head glowed as it grew, the conjured symbols inside growing with it, even as they formed. Now, Luke recognized the symbol for fire. The same one used by the mages as they crafted their spellweaves. That symbol appeared a lot. Fire.

  Delilah's breathing picked up. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Again and again. Then, whimpers and groans. Her jaw clenched, and her blinking stopped. She stared out across the cavern, looking straight into the darkness that was the Deep Dweller.

  The monster didn't sit still and wait for the attack once it realized what was happening. Darkness writhed and swirled around, almost like wind rippling across the surface of its massive body, but its movements were slow and ponderous.

  "It isn't running away," Penny said.

  Luke gritted his teeth. "It will."

  Nymh: "I've been in contact with our man outside, and they have cleared the area. A few Hydromancers are working with the fire department and are standing ready in case the fire travels through the portal."

  "I need to feed it more," Delilah said. "The spell wants to grow bigger. Can't... Stop... It..."

  "More?" Luke asked, just as he felt her mana depleting at a much faster rate.

  This was bad. Luke released Penny, having taken a little too much from her, then let Nymh go right after. He wasn't clear on what her class did, but from her tiny mana pool, she wasn't a caster. Now, his own mana was draining, and it was draining fast. Luke had known it would take a lot of mana to cast this, but not this much. It was ludicrous!

  "I need someone else," he said. "Quickly!"

  System Message: Dungeon closing in 6 minutes.

  Nymh waved at the large group of Integrated, but no one listened. None of them wanted to help.

  Milla ran up. "I'll help, little brother!"

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  "But you're supposed to save your mana. You might need it before we’re out."

  "Just leave a little. I'll be fine!"

  Milla gasped as he sent a thread of mana straight into her meta-heart, taking mana from her at a rate he'd never attempted before. Delilah had almost drained him, and more than half of Milla's mana was nothing more than a stopgap.

  "Thanks," he said, fighting to stay upright. "Need more."

  "It just keeps going," Delilah said, her voice strained, like she was carrying a mountain on her shoulder.

  Now, the circle was so wide Luke couldn't make out the edges of it, and the symbols threw such a glare at the group that they couldn't see much. What they could see was the Deep Dweller. It was moving toward them. The monster wasn't scared, not yet.

  "More," Luke whispered to Delilah. "We need more."

  Luke drank a mana potion, but it was like pouring a water bottle into a kiddie pool draining from a hundred tears. A mana gem stemmed the flow for a brief moment, and it amazed him they didn't share a cooldown, but it still wasn't enough, far from it. Again, something about the gem tickled at the back of his head, like there was something there he was missing. This was not the time for puzzles, though.

  "Someone!" he shouted, but everyone stood facing the advancing Deep Dweller, like they were readying themselves for a death sentence.

  System Message: Dungeon closing in 5 minutes.

  "Use my mana," Curtis grunted. "Might as well."

  Not hesitating for a moment, Luke lashed out with Threads of Mana without expecting much. Fighter classes tended to have small mana pools, but as luck would have it, this time was an exception.

  "You have almost as much mana as me!" Luke said.

  "I'm technically a caster," Curtis said, wincing a little as Luke drained him. "In a way."

  "Cool, cool, cool," Luke said, releasing Curtis, more than half of the Reaver's mana gone in mere seconds.

  Delilah's mana consumption was increasing. That was a problem. A big one.

  Mana potion cooldown 4 minutes.

  Mana gem cooldown 3 minutes.

  "Almost there," Delilah said.

  Now, the whole of the cavern bathed in light from the circle over their heads, the symbols too large to make out. The Deep Dweller was slower than Luke had expected, and from what he could make out, the monster had stopped dead in its tracks.

  "It's working," he whispered.

  But it would all be for nothing if Delilah didn't get the spell off. For that to happen, she needed even more mana, and Luke's pool was running dry. Searching for an answer while ignoring the worried looks everyone gave him, he found one already in his hand. The mana gem.

  Holding one in his fist, he pressed it into his chest, breathing deep. A thread of mana quested outward straight from Luke's meta-heart and into the gem. It wasn't like any old consumable. Inside it, a formidable treasure trove of mana awaited him. Rather than use it from his inventory like he would a mana potion, Luke pulled from within the item, draining it of mana as he would another person.

  System Message: Dungeon closing in 4 minutes.

  This way, he could harvest far more mana from it. This way, he didn't need to concern himself with insignificant matters like cooldown timers. Laughing out loud, Luke provided Delilah with all the mana she could ever need, using up all but two of the mana gems.

  Delilah completed the spell, and the entire area between the Integrated and the portal turned into a raging inferno, roaring to life like an angry god had reached down to smite them. Warmth struck them in waves, hot enough to dry out Luke's eyes and make him feel like he was the main course at a cookout. They all stepped back and winced, holding up their arms to protect their faces.

  When the dragon cast the spell, it continued for several long minutes. Even with all that mana, Delilah's casting of it lasted only a few seconds before fizzling to nothing. The Deep Dweller was gone. It had either slipped down into the stone or been burned out of existence. Luke guessed on the former.

  In the distance, the portal waited for them.

  System Message: Dungeon closing in 3 minutes.

  "Run!" Luke shouted.

  They ran.

  With the portal somewhat close but time running out, they sprinted for all they were worth. All the exhaustion the Integrated felt was put aside. Every injury and ache was ignored. Doubt and fear fueled their tired limbs. Some let out drawn-out roars as they ran. Others were silent, their gazes focused on nothing but the portal. It was their way home, their only chance.

  Tired as he was, Luke soon found himself at the back of the large group. Even Curtis was quicker, and he carried Delilah over one shoulder. Still, Luke kept up. No matter how much he stumbled, falling just wasn't an option. Dropping to the ground now meant having to get back up. In his state, that might have been an impossibility.

  So, Luke ran.

  System Message: Dungeon closing in 2 minutes.

  As they crossed the distance to the portal, Luke got a feeling, and it was not a good one. In his dazed state, at first, he didn't catch on, but then the feeling returned, more intense this time. Unsure how else to describe it, he got the sense of someone strumming on the threads that made up The Greater System, somewhere far off. It created a sort of vibration that made its way back to him. While he was beyond tired, it wasn't to the point where he saw the threads that made up The Greater System, which was why it took him a while to figure out what was happening.

  Ripples in The System. Profession skill. Seeker: Each action taken is part of the whole. Those who seek may glimpse the ripples.

  Luke ignored the message. This was not the time. As he ran, he saw what the vibration meant. All around the Integrated, writhing tentacles of shadows rose from the ground. The Deep Dweller wasn’t done yet.

  "Run!" Luke screamed.