The brief discussion confirmed what Cal had suspected. The only difference was the area with the hanging corpses. Whoever designed this place had never intended that area to be accessible. That still left the question of why they could reach this chamber—the one with the tear in space.Unfortunately, Cal knew that question couldn’t be answered with the information they had.“There’s something deeply wrong about this place,” Tavia said, stating the obvious. “What did the Overseer want you to do here?”“He wants me to keep it open… and he gave me the means to do so.”Tavia looked uncomfortable. “…Maybe there’s a good reason for that. They could know about the corpses and want to investigate them.”Cal hoped that wasn’t the case. If the corpses were known, it wouldn’t be a stretch for the gems to be part of the same secret.“Maybe,” he said, “but I’m not sure I want to take that chance.”Tavia shot him a smile, agreeing with his decision. It faltered when he stumbled, and she wrapped her arms around his waist to steady him.“Thanks,” Cal muttered. The stumble was his oversight—he’d neglected to feed enough mana into his body. He might no longer be on the verge of collapse, but he was nowhere near healthy enough for any serious action… or even light action. “You don’t happen to have more health potions, do you?”“I have several, but you should avoid taking more unless it’s an emergency. Lower-tier potions always have odd side effects if you drink more than one in a day.”Cal grunted in agreement. She’d made it sound more harmful than it actually was—most side effects were minor, like increased hunger or restless sleep—but in rare cases someone could be unlucky enough to suffer organ failure and need healer attention. The chance was so low it barely mattered, but it (...)