by Ryan Rimmel
“This is your Fire Core. It is located in your loins. Before you ask, yes, that applies to both genders. Yes, there is some variation on how it works for women vs men, but, at your level, it does not matter,” lectured the demon. Then, he pointed toward the Mana network’s lungs.
“Your lungs are where your Aeromancy Core is located. You’ll notice that your Aeromancy core is shriveled and atrophied. That’s because you focused on Biological Aeromancy,” said Shart, gesturing at a much healthier looking Mana core located in my intestines, “Instead of something useful.”
As Shart pointed, I really started concentrating on the Mana network image. To my surprise, I could move it around. I was making it wave at me when Shart finally noticed. He swung around to glare at me again. I felt a sudden mental snapping, and the image returned to the original orientation.
“So, I can’t learn Aeromancy?” I asked.
“No, you can’t learn Aeromancy! All your Aeromancy Skill Points end up going to your Biological Aeromancy core instead of to your Aeromancy core. Before you ask, even if you were to flip your Mana network between Sorcerer and Mage, you still have to connect all of your cores. Your Skill Points are always going to travel that direction,” screamed Shart, “No Matter What!”
“Makes sense,” I said, at the perfectly ordinary explanation.
“Good,” started Shart. As he spoke, I brought up the image of the Lighting rune. It looked like some sort of complicated three-dimensional table.
“But, what if I cheated?” I asked, also bringing up an image of the Biological Aeromancy runes I knew. My Arcane Lore triggered, and I was able to see certain similarities between the two runes. I could also make out the points where the two runes differed. “I could just change this like so, and boom, BioLightning!”
“You think you can just make up a new magical rune, willy nilly?” screamed the shocked demon.
“Hardly. I’m sure someone already came up with this rune. I just don’t know how they got there,” I said, poking at the rune some more. “Then again, I’m not an all-powerful demon who knows things.”
“You think that’s going to work, but it won’t,” growled Shart.
“Well, if you don’t know how. . .” I trailed off.
“That is the most basic manipulation in the book, even worse than your last trick,” continued the demon. “I don’t know the exact rune, but I can probably figure out something better than that!” He gestured toward my newly created rune, but, as he looked at it, his expression softened somewhat.
“Actually, it's not that bad,” said the demon.
“Good, I’m gonna try it,” I said and started to drop out of menu time.
“WAIT, you idiot! Not that bad doesn’t mean it will work,” growled Shart, as he more carefully examined the rune. “I mean, you’d have to change a few bits, at the very least. Otherwise, something on you will most certainly explode.
Shart spent the next several moments slightly altering the Lightning rune. The whole time, he muttered under his breath, until it was satisfactory to him. It looked basically the same, like a small dining room table. Shart’s version had made the rune droopier, with some bulges on the sides.
“That looks awesome,” I said, dazzled.
“I’m hiding in the bar,” said Shart, disappearing from my mind’s view.
I dropped back into real time, just as Bashara’s shocked face fully registered my smoldering fingers. I quickly drank a small healing potion and held up my hand again.
“Oops,” I said. Bashara just shook her head.
“Well, it seems you can’t do everything,” she said with a smug little grin.
“What’s going on over there?” Jarra asked.
“Oh, nothing,” Bashara answered. “Jim was just on fire again.”
“What?” Jarra asked, stepping over in our direction.
“I’m fine. I had a healing potion on me,” I smiled.
“That’s right. Everything is fine over here. Go back to your. . .endeavors, Tarra,” Bashara smiled sickly.
“Wonder who she thinks brewed the healing potion to begin with,” muttered Jarra under her breath.
I opened my palm and began focusing my Mana into the new rune. It took a moment to properly visualize. As I worked the magic into it, the rune began to behave oddly. Several points on it started to glow strangely, almost like part of the rune was in shadow. Small amounts of Mana seeped from the spell. I seemed to be able to make microscopic adjustments to the nearly completed rune, though, and those changes eventually forced it to glow evenly.
● You have discovered the Biological Lightning Rune. Biological Aeromancy skill upgraded to Journeyman. Arcane Lore skill increased. Journeyman rank achieved.
Awesome, I had crafted a brand new rune. I wondered if I’d be able to do that for any other runes, but I instantly realized how tricky it would be. Shart had modified this rune just a bit, to make it into Biological Lightning. However, it was pretty obvious that he’d done about 99.9% of it, and I’d just had to do the remaining .1% of the work. Given that improperly made runes exploded, and the only way to test them was to power them up, you’d literally be working with hand grenades when trying to upgrade runes.
I focused on the rune. I kept repeating it in my hand until I had six overlapping Biological Lightning runes attached to each other. I remembered when I’d had trouble stringing just a few runes together and grinned.
● You have learned a new Spell: BioLightning! Damage 8-64, +2-16 per additional rune. Max 6 runes. Each rune costs: 15 Mana and 15 Stamina. Select a word of power!
I even got to select the word of power. I considered for a moment, but there was really only one choice. I found a particularly annoying pile of bones and yelled out, “GUYVER!”
● You are casting BioLightning, 6 runes. Damage 18-144.
The pile of bones exploded into flinders. Bones scattered throughout the chamber. Several even hit the ceiling, some thirty feet above us. Bashara and I stared at the smoking remains of the pile of bones. I grinned.
“Ouch,” yelled SueLeeta, who had been pelted with debris. “Jim, quit it!”
“That was impressive,” Bashara said after a long moment. She took a longer moment to examine the green-speckled scar on the ground where my spell hit. “I’m sorry I made fun of your fa. . .Biological Aeromancy. “
“How hard do you think that spell would be to block?” I asked, looking at her side-eyed.
Bashara smirked. Moments later, she was standing at a carefully measured-off distance, just at the edge of range for my new spell. “Only do one rune!”
I nodded and extended my palm at her before yelling the word of power. A BioLightning bolt flashed toward her. Her Aeromancy barrier glowed bright yellow, until the spell hit it. The barrier flexed for a bare instant, before the bolt exploded through it. The impact caused the spell to lose less than half of its initial strength. The only thing that saved Bashara was her being at the edge of the range. The spell defused right before it hit her.
She looked horrified. We tried again with all the elemental types. Each time, the bolt carved through them like they were nothing. After a few more variations, Bashara finally just shook her head and gave up, walking back over to me.
“It is advanced magic. Elemental barriers aren’t going to work on it,” she said.
“What would?” I asked.
“A Void barrier,” she said consideringly. “Void is the natural enemy of life.”“Void is the natural enemy of matter,” I corrected.
“Well, you’re alive, and you are made of matter,” replied Bashara smugly.
She had a point there. I did like all of my matter right where it was.
Badgelor and Fenris wandered into view. The badger was covered tip to toe in thick, red blood. Thankfully, it wasn’t his or the Woodsman’s. Fenris was holding multiple Drak-ish hides and wearing a horrified expression.
“Inside-out skinning,” I nodded. I’d seen Badgelor corpse dive enough to know how his help had
proceeded.
“It was an experience,” stated a slightly green Fenris. He was still holding all the skins, though, so he didn’t seem to care too much. Either that or he was going into shock. Sir Dalton and Glorious Robert started walking our way. A very happy looking Zorlando followed behind, holding the looted sword.
“Figure there was better loot further in?” I asked.
“Perhaps,” said Glorious Robert.
“SueLeeta,” I yelled, “Any idea which way we should go next?”
“There are two ways out of here, north and west. I don’t see a difference between the two. Ask Badgelor,” she yelled back.
My badger was busily gnawing on one of the alpha’s bones. “You have any ideas?”
“You idiots probably want more treasure, don’t you? North,” said Badgelor.
“That was a pretty confident answer,” I said.
“We badgers have a nose for it,” he answered.
Chapter 29: For Johnathan
“Some nose,” muttered Bashara, as we continued walking through the long, seemingly endless halls of the dungeon.
I continued walking as Shart looked around, bored. So, you are saying that movies were usually in two dimensions, like a moving picture?”
“Yup,” I replied as we continued walking. We’d been walking for a while now, and Shart was growing restless. Really restless. Him asking about Earth was never a good sign.
“Sometimes they did them in three dimensions? When they did that, they would have scenes that would only work if you wore special glasses?” questioned Shart.
“Yes,” I continued.
“Well, that doesn’t make any sense at all. You are basically punishing people who were just trying to watch it the normal way,” groaned the demon.
“They could use their imagination,” I replied.
“Your imagination is diseased, Dum Dum” grumbled the demon, before retreating further into the recesses of my mind. He’d taken to hiding out more and more back there, which was just fine by me.
“Are all dungeons like this?” I asked Bashara. She frowned.
“No, but this isn’t entirely out of the norm, either. Usually, there is a series of connected rooms, like these, but the size of the rooms and the connections are longer here. If I had to guess, the Source that is located in this dungeon complex is feeding it power. That is making it bigger. That power is probably Shadow, Void, or, maybe, Light energy. Any of those would make the hallways longer than normal,” explained Bashara.
“I was under the impression that lost adventurers fed the dungeon,” I responded.
“Oh, you’re one of those,” she sneered. “Yes, dead adventures do factor in. It’s mainly the Source that powers the Dungeon, though.”
“Well, at least she’s useful for something,” muttered Glorious Robert, which earned a look from Bashara. Without her mind control magic to smooth everything over, she was getting on everyone’s nerves.
“Found something,” said SueLeeta, as she stepped back to the group. The fact that she said, rather than whispered, spoke volumes about what kind of threat we faced. Zorlando groaned.
We turned the corner to see several arcane runes sketched onto the walls and ceiling, each simmering with power. A glowing magical rune hovered in the middle of the hallway. Fragments of shattered arrow were spread from the rune to the floor, neatly divided from the space behind it.
“Touch it to see if it's safe,” I chuckled. SueLeeta frowned.
“I’m not touching it,” she said, sticking out her arm to block Sir Dalton. He totally would have done it.
“That’s what I’m here for,” stated Bashara. Her eyes began to glow a faint blue color, as she examined the runes. I, likewise, used my arcane senses to examine the walls and ceiling. Being able to see the runes didn’t mean much, though, if you couldn’t interpret them. Even my Arcane Lore wasn’t useful. The runes were plain as day and clearly spelled out what they were doing. I just didn’t know what they meant.
I tried using my Trap Finding skill and was a bit more successful. There was an arcane key of sorts that would allow the glowing rune to be deactivated. It didn’t feel like a physical object, either. That meant that it would most likely be opened by some sort of spell or command, probably related to these other runes.
Bashara had come to that conclusion long before I did. She was now pondering the meanings of the runes. Meanwhile, most everyone else was sitting down, taking a break. Glorious Robert, Zorlando, and Sir Dalton were all leaning back onto the wall, apparently resting. Jarra the Healer had her notebook open again, this time reading instead of writing.
Fenris and SueLeeta were casting about, but they didn’t spot any threats. They concluded it was time for one of them to get a bit of a rest, as well. SueLeeta won and sat down next to Sir Dalton. I reached my hand up and scratched Badgelor on the head, before passing him over to Fenris. The badger growled at the attention, as well as the hand-off, but refrained from biting anyone.
“How come I have to play watchdog with Fenris?” groaned Badgelor.
“Yes, we could use a watchdog,” stated Fenris. SueLeeta nodded. In moments, she dismissed her stalking cat and summoned a long-eared, perpetually terrified basset hound.
I took a moment to stretch. Jarra the Healer stood and walked over to me. “Is there anything I could help you with?” she asked.
“You are very distracting,” I grinned at her. She smiled back. “I think I’m all right for now, unless you want to sneak off somewhere?”
“Too many tales of people sneaking off in dungeons for distractions,” she said softly. “Not how I’d want to go.”
“I’m sure I could keep you safe,” I said, my dignity affronted.
“That’s what the guy always says, right before he gets speared through the back,” Jarra the Healer chuckled.
“Ouch,” I replied, thinking back. “Are you sure? There was that stream a little while ago where we refilled our canteens. Perhaps someone needs another refill.”
“Then the monster comes out of the water, drags me down, and then drags you down when you come to save me. Even if you win, “ she grinned softly, “No hanky panky.”
“Is that what you are proposing?” I asked, scandalized. “I was just talking about a nice, chaste walk.”
“Sure you were. Let's wait and talk about it after we get out of the dungeon,” she chuckled. “Take off your chest armor.” It’s dented, and I can patch it.”
“Really getting mixed signals here,” I responded. “No hanky panky, but I should get undressed for you. Are you wanting to check out the merchandise before you buy it?”
“If I am recalling correctly, I’ve already had quite the eyeful of the merchandise,” Jarra said. “Although, I am assuming you don’t always keep pus next to your low-hanging fruit.” She blushed delicately, while I went full tomato red. Ah, yes. The great pus gathering of the Western Gate Fortress.
“You would be correct in that assumption,” I murmured.
“Your armor is dented, and I can patch it,” she explained. “Take it off.”
“Yes Ma’am,” I replied, removing the leather straps and pulling the chest piece of my armor off. I didn’t even need to remove the sleeves. I couldn't fight sans chest armor, though, so I debated removing them anyway. I decided against it. The time involved to completely armor back up was extensive.
Each individual piece of armor I wore mated with all the adjacent pieces, sort of like a few of my favorite old robot shows. Individually, they were far less impressive. My sleeves tied into my chest armor, and then large pauldrons were tied in over the top of the seam. Without the chest piece, the sleeves would slip if I swung my sword. It was reasonably safe here, so I watched Jarra step away with my gear. Then, I turned back toward the problem.
Bashara gestured toward me. After a moment, I walked over to her. “You discover something?”
“Of course,” she replied with a smirk. “I’ve seen this kind of arcane lock before. Those runes c
an be translated into words. The problem is that there are multiple groupings of runes, and I’m not sure which one activates the door. That’s assuming that any of them do.”
“Do you think they might be riddles we have to solve?” I asked.
“Or they could just be gibberish, or they may require a code book to reply to,” grumbled Bashara. “Wizards offering easy-to-bypass puzzles is a thing in story books. Another possibility is the need to read the passages in a specific voice. It could also be something else entirely. My passwords are all based on celestial bodies, for example.”
“Why tell me that?” I asked.
“Two reasons. I don’t have anything valuable stored, or as a sign of trust, Jim,” replied Bashara. “Pick the one you like the best.”
I looked at her side-eyed. “What does that one say?” I asked, gesturing toward the nearest group of runes.
Bashara replied, “It says ‘Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better’.”
“It says ‘Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better’?” I repeated. “My, that is a mouthful.”
We both stared at the door for a long moment, but nothing happened. I shrugged. Bashara was peering at the door with her arcane vision. I brought mine up as well. Now, I could perceive a slight tremor in the pattern.
“Something happened, just not enough,” Bashara stated. “This might be the right phrase, but we weren’t speaking it correctly.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
Bashara spoke in a deeper voice, “Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better.”
“What are you doing?” said Glorious Robert, stepping over. His naturally deep voice was even lower than Bashara’s.
“Trying to guess the magical phrase that opens the door,” I replied. I, too, spoke deeper. “Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better.”
