"Yes I do, who wouldn't in this situation, though it requires me to go outside the dungeon" Malia replied
"I don't advise that though" Seth replied
"Why ?"
Seth thought about why, and frankly, he just blurted that out; he couldn't say intuition, but what if more adventures were waiting outside?
"I feel it's too dangerous and unaccounted for if your sister ever comes looking for you while you're gone, she seems to have a temper, plus unless necessary try not to apply any pressure on her conscience," Seth said
This seemed like an insult at the simplest level, but surprisingly enough, Malia didn't resist. The redhead's EQ was inversely proportional to her IQ.
"Then what should we do? Wait for demise? I can't do that if you're not planning to leave"
Seth felt a headache coming; this was the first time he had talked so much since he came to this world, and it just had to be a lady who believed in the good of the world.
"Think about this objectively from my perspective, you are not in danger, if it ever comes down to it, you're just another hostage"
Seth said that and stood up to leave but Alex walked up to him looking into his eyes.
They maintained eye contact for some seconds, Seth couldn't take it any longer and squatted down to his height to ask
"Anything I can help you with kid?"
"You can control it?" Alex said
Seth's heart jumped into his throat
'did this kid just figure I am the dungeon master?'
"Control what?" Seth asked playing dumb
"...The Mana" Alex replied
Seth was at first confused at what he was saying; anyone can control the Mana.
That was until the kid pointed down at his chest where his heart was located.
He now remembered this kid was supposedly loved by Mana.
"What do you think?" Seth asked smiling
"Well, the Mana around you isn't rapidly surging into your body; they seem to be at a standstill as though they were tame."
Well, this was different from the reply expected.
He glanced at Malia and she also seemed surprised.
Technically if the kid was right, then he wasn't the one doing the work.
But if he also wasn't lying then he probably wants me to show him how to keep them tame around him.
"Mana huh"
Seth thought about it for a minute and decided to why not stay a little longer.
It's been a long since he had company, so...
"Alex, I would love to show you how..."
Seeing the boy's eyes brighten and hope renewed for the first time, Seth saw himself in this kid, and his heart clenched.
Should be tell the kid that it was the dungeon doing it or what?
"But that would be for another day, you're too weak physically, I mean get into shape first"
True though Alex wasn't in shape, he probably had gone days only surviving on water if not that his sisters came to the rescue.
"You're also not physically strong, though; you seem no different than a normal human," Alex replied
Seth turned to Malia for help, but she couldn't help but be interested in their conversation and Seth.
The more she thought of this guy, the more pieces were entering the puzzle.
"Part of his sickness," Malia said
"So his sight is Mana enhanced?" Seth asked
"No, perception only" Alex replied himself
"Like I said, I haven't stepped out of this dungeon, so I didn't have time to train or anything of that sort; that's why I'm physically weak."
"That cat be possible, physically weak but has a great sense of Mana?" Malia said
"You're looking at two impossibles though" Seth retorted.
"Wait, you're joking right?"
"Nope " Alex and Seth both replied
"Normally shouldn't a dungeon Rank be equivalent to its creatures?" Malia said, and Seth could only show his teeth in an attempt at a nervous smile.
"You do seem more physically adept than a normal human but the teacher always said that the advancement of rank had to firstly do with the energy we perceived, secondly our thoughts, and thirdly our body"
"Then we seemed to have passed the first requirement, what's holding us up?" Seth asked
The thought that he would able to do cool things like heal himself or breathe fire was appealing even to a grown otaku like himself.
"Not so fast though, we would have to go through the guidelines
Firstly Children are advised to only start training after 13
Sensing Mana doesn't mean you have permission to rank up
You need to be physically fit to put your body in a state of preparation before you can start the process of nurturing your core.
Think of the core as a metaphysical bowl of liquid, gas, or solid; the content doesn't matter now; what matters is the structure of the bowl; too solid is bad, and too light is bad for obvious reasons."
'Another lecture' Seth thought and looked at Alex who seemed to have heard this speech a thousand times and didn't care about it
Meanwhile, Malia seemed to enjoy lecturing a lot, in the process getting carried away with talking as long as she was in a comfortable party.
In short, Malia talked a lot until Seth lost track of time, and Alex fell asleep on himself.
They looked like some kind of family right now, speaking of family he just recorded for his past life and knew he didn't want to think about them.
At some point, Seth began wondering if she was ever going to run out of saliva.
Because this was an abnormal rate of talking and a huge information dump.
He also learned she leaned towards a support-type adventurer.
Key points to note in this world we're as follows;
Power is categorized into ranks, starting from F (the weakest) and ascending through E, D, C, B, A, and finally S, the pinnacle of human potential.
Essentially These ranks represent not only physical and magical strength but also an individual's mastery, adaptability, and influence.
Yes, influence, politics also held part in this world, theocracy was a problem, and now he also had to know of politics.