Cal no longer felt the suppressive effects of the corrosive air. He hadn’t realized how much it weighed on his body until he was free of it.It was like breathing fresh air after so long that he’d forgotten how good it felt.He winced as his body trembled, his frayed nerves emitting bursts of pain that should have incapacitated him.Cal willed additional wisps of mana from his reserves to act like a balm. It didn’t make the pain vanish, but it let him move without his nerves crying in protest.A pain suppressant was more than he could ask for at the moment.He gathered himself enough to take stock of the area he’d entered. It hadn’t taken him more than half a minute, and considering the circumstances, that was an accomplishment.He blinked as his eyes adjusted to the dark. Thankfully, it wasn’t a complete absence of light. Faint purple and crimson glows pulsed in and out across the area, frequent but patternless. With no rhyme or reason to their appearances, he couldn’t draw any conclusions.The next thing that hit him was the intense saturation of mana in the air. It wasn’t dangerous—in fact, it felt comfortable on his skin—but it shocked him that a place like this could exist.That ruled out [Mana Sense]. He had no intention of using it anyway; his body was in no condition to spend mana on anything except holding itself together. The saturation put even the slightest chance to rest.He wasn’t masochistic enough to find a workaround in his state.Then he noticed what set this area apart from the others: the ground was flat—the usual descent absent—and there was no void at the center.Still, given the exits in the previous area were all in the center, he had to assume the same here. If not, he’d decide what to do once he knew more. (...)