by Dakota Krout
“It seems that its mind has stabilized, at least for now, Dale,” Adam told him quietly, guessing at his thoughts. “Things have been getting better in here. I think it found motivation somehow.”
Hans had a crooked smile on his face. “Sure, but is that a good or a very bad thing?” he wondered aloud.
“I think… good,” Dale slowly decided, nodding to himself. “I am also thinking that it is going to get very dangerous in here soon, and we need to train harder. Sorry, Hans. I don’t think a vacation would be good right now.”
“Workaholic,” Hans muttered with a huff of breath that stayed visible in the freezing air. “Can we get going, then? I’m going to be training my liver in the tavern if any of you need me.”
They all agreed on a time to meet the next day. Moving into the portal and stepping out into the church, they found a dangerous political argument raging.
“This will not stand, I tell you!”
Apparently, they had walked out into a heated debate among the visiting royal delegations. Dale looked around and was surprised to see people that hadn’t been in the prior day’s meeting. At a glance, he was able to see Crown Prince Henry of the Lion Kingdom as well as Crown Princess Marie of the Phoenix Kingdom. They must have rushed here to be a part of the current negotiations.
“These restrictions are stifling! There is no point in participating in any event from this place! No weapons, treasure, or access to the Silverwood tree? Why would we bother?!” the High Elf ambassador was shouting, cheeks tinged red, hair askew.
Princess Brianna of the Dark Elves calmly explained herself, for what must have been the sixth time. “The point is to build up goodwill, so that you eventually might have access. You think these restrictions are stifling? Try to get access to Silverwood pollen from the High Elves as a Dark Elf! We’ve been reduced to begging in order to barely sustain our population!”
“You brought it on yourselves,” the High Elf retorted coldly.
Brianna smirked, a dangerous glint in her eye. “As. Have. You.” The area settled into an uneasy silence as Dale stepped forward to take a seat at the table. He snorted as he saw Hans sprint toward the room’s exit.
Remembering his etiquette training at the last second, Dale gave a deep bow to both the Prince and Princess before sitting. “So. How are things?”
His words brought forth an explosion of noise as tempers flared. Henry gave him a look before chuckling and shaking his head. “Baron Dale!”
“I think the town is going by ‘Mountaindale’, actually. Not Barondale,” Dale responded jokingly, not bothering to keep the smirk from his face.
“Subtle. Humility suits you.” Henry gave him a real smile this time. “It is good to see you looking so well! Healthy. Alive.”
“I am surprised every day that I awaken, Your Majesty,” Dale spoke formally. The High Elf snorted something that sounded suspiciously like ‘me too’.
“I just don’t see what worth there is in becoming allied with this… work camp.” The Elf’s voice sliced through the air, drawing attention back to himself.
Brianna cut off any further words from him, “Oh, yeah. Me neither. After all, there are neutral-affinity dungeons that create artifacts, have portal systems built-in, and are growing Silverwood trees all over the place. This particular dungeon definitely won’t be an important place in the future. You’re right. You should go.”
“Nay, Princess, he does have a point,” the Amazonian delegate spoke with more deference than Dale had ever heard from her. “This is a work camp and mining facility with a sprinkling of herbalists and deranged alchemists. While a potentially excellent place to cultivate, the cost-effectiveness of the action does not make it viable–at least on a scale large enough to make it profitable.”
“It all comes back to one thing!” the Elf jumped into the conversation feet first. “This place is desolate, remote, and useless but for the dungeon. What do you export? How do you get food? Is it all just weapons and money? That is nice but achievable elsewhere. The price of food is so high that we would be hemorrhaging money if we tried to stay here for any length of time.”
Dale was aghast at the ideas being bandied about. He hadn’t even thought about it. If the portal was to close, this place would likely starve. Wait, no! They could eat the Mob meat from the dungeon, and they had a source of clean water. There were more logistics involved, but… it was true that the town had no greater purpose beyond cultivation and the other reasons they had listed. What could he do to draw others here? Make this a proper city? He was so deep in thought that he almost missed the answer when it was given.
“Excuse me!” An awkward man stepped forward, nervous energy making him cough and smooth his shirt repeatedly.
“Who are you and what do you want?” a guard asked, weapon already in hand and leveled at the intruder’s heart.
“My name is Mason Masonson,” Mason proudly announced. His name drew a few chuckles from the assorted royalty. “I am the official city planner for the city of Mountaindale, and I think that my plans and notes will be able to solve at least some of the issues we are facing here.”
A few people snorted at the non-cultivator and started to argue again, but Dale motioned him forward. Mason nodded at him and continued, “It is true, Mountaindale has little in the way of food or city splendor, no wonders of the world, nor easy access. But! It has one thing that most other places do not.”
The High Elf sighed, happy that his point was being made for him. “Yes, yes, the dungeon is impressive, but-”
Mason cut him off, “No! That isn’t the point I am trying to make! Also, could you move your seat a bit to the right? You are making the whole pattern of chairs asymmetrical. No? *Ahem*. As I was saying, this town is a bastion of cooperation and political equivalency between multiple races and kingdoms.”
Taking a breath, he charged forward with his explanation, “My suggestion is this: form an academy on this spot to house and train cultivators. The political neutrality will allow Nobles from most known lands to interact without great bias or territorial urges. This may well allow connections to form between them. Furthermore, neutral Essence will allow for a student body impossible in other locations. Clans, families, and cultivators will be able to remain in a singular location! This combination will bring trade, revenue, and greater bonds between the kingdoms!” He looked at the glowering Amazons and hastily added, “and queendoms.”
The suggestion was met with an interesting mix of reactions. Most people seemed troubled, but it seemed that the overall consensus was a moderate to positive acceptance. The High Elf spoke up, “That is all well and good for all of you but does not particularly help my cause.”
“I’m sure,” Henry’s baritone voice stopped the argument that threatened to return in full force, “that we could find exceptions to the trade embargos for students as well as people that come here to teach. An academy fits very well into my hopes for my people. Marie? Would you agree?” He looked at the Princess sitting near him.
“I do agree. Although competition for teaching positions may quickly become fierce. Especially if we reduce restrictions on teachers to a greater degree than even the students,” Marie stated blandly, as if there wasn’t a room full of people hanging on every word she spoke. “Of course, the teachers would need to actually be good teachers. Not just figureheads that ignore their students. I can also see benefits for the Guild; having access to a center of learning could streamline Guild admission. Imagine not having to spend years on each new recruit. Kingdoms could use it to train their own talented youngsters as well.” Her speech was met by almost unanimous glee.
The High Elves furiously discussed amongst themselves, shooting glances at the nearby Dark Elves. They eventually turned back to the meeting. “We will need to know exact details, but we will… tentatively agree to this. For the time being.”
Thaddius, the Dwarven ambassador, smiled broadly as well. “I would love to offer the services of my people as well! We can ha
ve the campus built in no time! For a long-term modest reduction in the taxes and tariffs, of course…”
“I will leave the details to my trusted councilors.” Dale nodded at the council members and excused himself. He had a few questioning glances thrown his way. Dale simply nodded at the people vying for his attention and quietly reminded them that this was council business, and he trusted them to make the best deal for the area. Father Richard smiled at this indirect praise, and Frank bobbed his head seriously at the young lord, determined to prove his worth and live up to the trust that had been given to him.
Dale kept smiling until he was out of the building. Then looking around to ensure he was alone, dipped his hand into a pocket and crushed a Core. Essence flowed into him, and he started to sweat as he brushed against the barrier to the next ranking. His fully open affinity channels and daily cultivation–coupled with shattering Cores–had pushed him to the brink of D-rank six. He was having trouble progressing at this point and so kept trying to force a leap in ranks. Breaking Core after Core, he did his best to force a breakthrough. He was close, he was…! Dale suddenly stiffened and bent over. After violently vomiting on the ground–an unwelcome reminder that his body currently couldn’t handle the amount of Essence contained in it–Dale stood and hurriedly wobbled off to find Craig.
Craig was currently giving a lecture to a few new members of the Guild, sharing a few pointers on their combat styles. Dale tried to be patient but ended up puking again. After glancing over at him, Craig nodded at the men, dismissed the people trying to learn from him, and hurried over.
“Dale is everything alright?” Craig’s eyes widened. “Ah. You are already at this point? Why do I keep being surprised by you? Come with me.” He turned and led Dale to a secluded area.
He shook his head at the trembling Dale. “You went beyond your limits without comprehension of the consequences. You aren’t too far over though… Why didn’t you use a technique and remove some of the Essence before coming to me?”
Dale opened his mouth to reply and then snapped it shut. “I…”
“Didn’t think of it?” Craig put a hand on Dale to guide him to a large rock. “Well, at this point you should just use it to fuel your advancement. To get into the sixth of the D-rankings, you need to learn how to store excess Essence in your aura. Currently, your cells are saturated, meaning they cannot hold more in them. Your Center… my pardon, your Core is able to hold the Essence, but locking it all away is detrimental to your growth. I believe you are already familiar with the act of tightening your aura? Preventing empaths and weak mind readers from gaining access?”
Dale nodded, too sick to respond properly.
“Good, that will make this easier.” Craig motioned for Dale to sit. “Now, similar to using a technique, release Essence into your aura, where you normally work to keep it compact. It will be a strange feeling, like bleeding heavily. Worry not, you aren’t losing your Essence, just moving it to an unused storage area.”
Dale did as instructed and would have panicked if Craig hadn’t given him the warning he had. He kept releasing Essence into the aura around him, until finally, Craig told him to stop. Dale opened his eyes to see Hans sitting right in front of him, their noses almost touching.
“Boo!” Hans barked, almost making Dale wet himself. “Ha-ha! Always fun. D-rank six, huh? First time boosting your aura? Feels a lot like letting out a fart after holding it in for a long time, yeah?”
Craig slapped Hans to the ground. “Must you always be so crass?”
“Uh-huh,” Hans affirmed, hopping to his feet and offering a hand to Dale.
“Work to keep your aura as close to your body as possible, as tight as possible,” Craig demanded as Dale rose. “As you approach the C-ranks, your aura will become dense enough to slow down many normal attacks. It isn’t a shield, but a few tenths of a second can mean victory or death.” It was already dark, so Dale thanked his teacher and hurried off to find his combat instructor–before he came looking for Dale again.
Craig watched the young Lord go, turning to Hans after Dale was finally out of earshot. “He is going to tear his body apart if he keeps cultivating at that rate. Did you try to get him to take a break?”
“I suggested a vacation. He was adamantly against it.” Hans grimly watched the silhouette of Dale disappear. “Poor kid thinks things are going to start getting dangerous below, and I agree. At least the way he is training, his body should mitigate the effects of Essence poisoning. His work ethic would put a royal to shame.”
“Too bad his cultivation technique isn’t at their standard,” Craig agreed begrudgingly. “His current formation is having a hard time processing what he is taking in. If he gets even a little corruption in his Core, I highly doubt he will ever be able to even enter the C-rankings. I have no idea how he is able to refine so much corruption out in so short a time with such a sub-par cultivation technique.”
“Well, actually, let me tell you about that…” Hans threw an arm around Craig and started walking away, explaining a few things he had learned recently.
Craig stopped moving after a short discussion, turning and trying to chase after Dale. Hans grabbed his robe and held him back. “Let me go! I want him to talk to the dungeon for me!”
“Ha! I already tried that!” Hans’ body began shaking from laughing at the struggling monk.
~ Chapter Eighteen ~
I am really having trouble getting more Essence into myself. I’m not starving, per se, but I’ll need to find a way to create greater throughput or I may have trouble in the future. I think a part of it has to do with my current restriction to this room; without my aura spread throughout the dungeon, anything that dies does not have its Essence rushed to my Core. Right now, I am relying on the Runes around me to pull in ambient energy. Hopefully, the Runes will overpower other flora or fauna that are trying to draw it in but the current, diminutive trickle of power was making me doubt their efficacy.
My ‘eyes’ rolled as I chastised myself. Realistically, my plans won’t change because of the lack of energy. If anything, I need to accelerate them. So. Creating a new floor. Because I did not have a great glut of time, I knew I needed to do something drastically different than the floors above. Having decided on a miniscule floor only measuring a few hundred meters in diameter, I began sinking the entire area I was occupying including the Silverwood tree. Similar to the fourth floor, my Core area was attached to the main room of this floor by way of a short corridor. The space I had previously occupied was covered over by a reinforced clear Quartz ‘window’ to allow light to filter down. When I found better materials to hold corruption, I would replace this as well as all of the material in the ‘windows’ above.
I released my aura, and my mind fully engulfed this new floor. Ahhh, much better. I had been feeling a bit claustrophobic. What to do with the area though…? It was too small for a maze, really had no room for tunnels either. Oh! Why not a floor devoted entirely to a Boss? My floor Bosses to this point were… decent but still fairly easy to circumvent or defeat with enough tactics and knowledge. On top of that, Snowball had taken to running away! Running. Away. What was even the point? Stupid Cat, doing whatever it wanted. I wanted something… more. More deadly, more vicious. Harder to avoid. No more sneaking around to get past it and move on to a deeper floor after emptying the chest it was guarding. From this point forward, I was going to place restrictions on movement. Something along the lines of: you want to get past this room? You need the key in the chest. Where is the chest? The Boss ate it! Good luck getting to it without taking down the Boss. Viable option? We’ll see. I believe in myself.
Still, I wasn’t sure what to actually make. I struggled with my thoughts before nearly slapping myself in the face. Creating a Boss was not the point of this floor right now! I dug deeper to give myself a way to dampen my aura enough for the creatures above to survive. Now that I was fully entrenched in my new home, I released my aura and started expanding. I flowed up to the next floor
like an unstoppable tsunami, needing to reassert my influence in the area. Snowball roared happily as I reestablished a connection with him, scaring a group on this floor enough to make them decide to leave.
My bond with the great Cat seemed odd, and I thought about it as I moved on. Oh! I see, since I have reached the B-ranks my bonds are now made of Mana instead of Essence. I paused, reached out and stirred the ambient Essence, just to make sure I could still use it. I could, very easily in fact. It made me wonder why Mages only ever seemed to use Mana. Ignoring a resource like this was just… wasteful!
I pressed on, flowing to the third floor. The Goblins began to rejoice as they felt their connection to me reform, stronger than ever. The group of people fleeing the third floor hesitated and ran to use the portals instead of retracing their steps. I laughed at their fear. They were running from noise, not even a real threat! Interestingly, there were several creatures that had been born while outside of my influence. While their parents were indeed made by me, it seemed that the standard rules were lifted for the few births over the last… um.
“Roughly a week, Great Spirit,” Bob happily informed me while assessing my increase in power.
“Torture?” Bob gasped in righteous fury. “Who would dare-”
“You would do that for me?” Bob seemed surprised for some reason. “What tier of Mage are you? If that question makes sense. In the past I’ve heard Mages boasting about their ‘tier’. Oh! Also, congratulations! The world has another Mage, and we are all the greater for it!”
