by Dakota Krout
“Of course you are.” Jasper smiled again, using far too many teeth. “Next level then?”
“Are you insane?” Dale looked at the very serious face of the others. “You are insane. I just… I… let’s at least open the chest.” Inside were ingot tokens with a silvery sheen, coin tokens, a small bottle, and a keygem that would open a portal to this floor. It was black with white speckles, looking like a galaxy contained in a gem.
Not understanding the transactional system the dungeon had put in place and uninterested in the keygem after Dale explained its function, the Mages allowed Dale to walk away with a potential cornucopia of tokens. They closed the door leading to the next floor behind them, and a spiral stairway leading deeper into the depths was revealed. An exit portal also shimmered invitingly, and Dale looked at it with unabashed desire. The Mages cheerfully frog-marched him down the stairs, loudly proclaiming his luck.
Jasper stumbled suddenly, falling to his knees and clutching his face. He howled in pain as the poison in his eye finally found a foothold, beginning to rot away at the tissue as it sought an outlet to his bloodstream. “My eye! My eye!” He screamed as he thrashed in pain.
The others grabbed him, holding him still as they inspected the wound. With a flash of inspiration, Dale produced the small bottle found in the Boss room and inspected it. The words ‘sting-ex’ were written on the bottle in a tiny script. “I have the antidote! I think…”
“You aren’t sure?”
“Just give it to me!” Jasper screamed in pain. He grabbed the bottle and dumped the contents directly into his eye. There was a hissing sound as the antivenom counteracted the poison, and Jasper’s eye bubbled as the tiny war was waged in the cells of his eyes. He began breathing easier and looked up. His eye was gone, having been destroyed, but he seemed cheerful either way. “Looks like I’m going to be visiting a flesh Mage in the near future. Bleh, I just paid off my last bill. I guess that’s how they get you though.”
“I told you not to get that cosmetic… enhancement,” one of the other Mages muttered wryly.
“Huggin, you need to just let me live out my dreams. If I want to have horse-like aspects, I am allowed to do so! It’s my money!” Jasper groused, then he looked at his other brother. “Muninn, don’t you say a word.”
They stepped onto the next floor and stopped speaking. Words failed them as they looked around. Having an open floor plan, the sixth floor was a massive hexagon. The hexagon was divided by various paths leading toward the center of the room, which the Mages were able to recognize as being similar to the paths in the tower of ascension. There were six entrances into the hexagon around the perimeter of the room. Each path led to a platform, and each platform apparently represented one of the basic affinities. Moving deeper from the basic platforms, there were paths that branched and led to slightly smaller platforms. Whichever affinities connected to this platform created the landscape, and was an unspecified mix of the basic types of Essence.
Fire and celestial led to a platform brimming with holy fire, blue and three times as hot as the previous ‘basic’ fire platform. Water and earth led to a mud-filled area. This pattern continued around the room until you were able to reach the largest platform. There were five total rings, meaning that you had to cross five platforms at a minimum in order to reach the large, center platform. The Silverwood tree grew in the center of the room, now as massive as a hundred year old oak. Under the tree sat a figure petting a Basher, but the details of the figure were hidden by the haze of energy collected in this room.
“It’s beautiful,” Huggin whispered in awe. “This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
“More than that,” Muninn stated, already mapping out the paths. “Look at the platforms. The floor plan is a guide to ascending!”
There was shocked silence, but Dale had no idea what was going on. “What in the world are you talking about?”
“The paths!” Muninn turned blazing eyes on Dale. “There! The earth, water, and celestial intersection! What do you see?”
“Trees?” Dale smiled nervously as Muninn started to get worked up.
“No! Yes, but, look!” Muninn seemed enrapt over the paths. “The path to get to that platform–the path of wood–is exactly equal for earth and water, but only half as long for celestial!”
Dale was silent for a moment. “Again, I’m sorry, but I don’t understand.”
Making a frustrated noise, Jasper turned and looked at Dale. “This room is showing what affinities are needed to cultivate in order to acquire a certain type of Mana. Having equal parts earth and water and half that of celestial when you break into the B-ranks, will give you the best chance of becoming a wood Mage. Look there! The paths of infernal, fire, and metal–metal being a second rank platform–lead to a cursed weapon platform! The ratio of that is two to one to three!”
“Is this information that is difficult to get?” Dale was greatly confused at their overwhelming reactions.
“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Jasper grimly affirmed. “The clans and kingdoms of this world only help those who are beholden to them and stamp out any outsiders who learn their secrets. This map goes all the way to the fifth tier! Unbelievable!”
Seeing Dale’s nonplussed face, Huggin spoke in his normal monotone, “Dale. A lightning Mage like us is only a second tier Mage. A cursed weapon Mage would be third-tier. A portal Mage is fourth tier. Look at those paths. They show the exact ratio needed to have the best chance of getting the type of Mana you are after. This place is going to be popular enough that wars would be fought if that was what it took to gain access. People will want to measure those paths, and there are hundreds of varied combinations. Sadly, the portal is at the center of all of those, so let’s get moving. We need to see what the requirements of the room are.”
Dale resolved to get more details later, since he had a cohort of Mages that he could question in the city. They stepped onto the path leading to the celestial platform, and jumped back as portals opened and all the ground not part of the path vanished. They looked into the holes that remained, shocked to see the ground far below them. The warning was clear, stay on the path or be dropped off of the flying island. Dale gulped. A barrier wouldn’t save him from a multi-mile fall.
As they stepped onto the first platform, a statue rose out of the ground. Golden and shining with accumulated power, Dale was almost unsurprised when it began moving. The entire statue was made from some kind of yellow gem, and at its center was a Core directing its motions. Jasper ran at it, swinging his hammer. His weapon *clanged* against a wall of golden light that had sprung into existence. The statue stepped forward and the wall of golden energy moved with it. With each step, the wall of light reduced the amount of room on the platform, pushing the humans toward the open air at the edge of the platform.
“I can’t believe we are fighting an honest-to-God golem!” Muninn squealed like a teenage girl talking about her first crush. “I’ve only fought puppeted versions or Gnomish constructs!”
“Be happy after you kill it!” Huggin roared back at him in consternation. The wall of solidified Mana shattered from the triple blow as the Mages struck at the same moment, forcing the golem to its knees as a huge amount of its energy was depleted. Its hands were against its head, and it released a silent scream. Dale watched in awe as Jasper dealt the final blow, the golem crumbling to shards as he collected the Core.
“What is this?” Jasper muttered into the air, looking over the gem that the golem’s body had consisted of. “It seems to be a conduit for… celestial essence? Take some of this up to the church when you leave here, Dale. I’m sure they’ll be excited. Next path?”
After resting a short while, the group pushed on. After a minor debate about the best way to go, they walked across the path connecting celestial and water together. Up to their ankles in water, they watched as a golem pushed out of the ground, displacing the fluid around itself. Dale wanted to know what type of Mana this golem was likely to
use, and the others shrugged.
“Could be any number of things. Unless we get the exact measurements of the path, we won’t be able to know for sure.” Jasper informed him with a casual wave. A torrent of water washed over him at that moment, nearly throwing him over the edge of the platform. His weapon dulled noticeably as lightning stopped travelling through it, and his clothes–which had been held together by a thread–were washed away. Jasper looked at his hammer in annoyance before setting it down.
“Ugh. ‘Cleansing waters’.” Huggin spat in disgust as he avoided looking at his near-naked brother.
“Yeah, looks that way.” Jasper almost threw a tantrum but decided to take out his anger against the Golem. He sprinted forward, thrusting a hand into the water surrounding the construct. He gripped the statue hard, pulling it into a bear hug. “Someone else has to sacrifice their hammer too! Hit it, now!”
Muninn ran forward, slamming the pick end of his hammer into the golem. On the second strike, the golem’s chest shattered, as did the hammer. Grabbing the Core, Muninn tossed the hilt of his weapon to the side in disgust. Dale was watching in fascination. “What just happened?”
“A very rare and very annoying type of Mana,” Jasper grumped, adding chunks of the mineral the golem was composed of to his bag after ensuring they were dry. “This is called ‘cleansing waters’. The combination to create it has been lost in time because all it does is disenchant. It renders Runes inert, gets rid of the special effects of potions and herbs, and makes everything boring and useless. It is also self-propagating, using the water type Essence and Mana it absorbs to create more of itself.”
“If that’s the case, why do we even have normal water?” Dale wondered, looking at his battle gauntlets and debating on using the water to get rid of them. They tightened on his hands, as if they could understand the way his thoughts were moving.
“Exceedingly short lived effect,” Huggin spoke blandly. “Drop some in the ocean, and it will spread across the entire sea within hours, removing any enchantments or effects it finds. The next day, the water will be normal and creating water affinity Essence again. No use storing it, doesn’t work. Preserving enchantments fail. Good for killing Mages or cultivators, but it needs to be fresh.”
Dale nodded along. “I can see why it would be lost to time.”
“Yeah, it’s a pain in the ass for everyone. Cultivating it is stupid hard too, I hear.” Muninn spat into the water. “Any training aids you use get disenchanted.”
“Should we press on?” Jasper was obviously slowing down, the fighting using unfamiliar tactics. Plus he was now weaponless.
“The real question is can we press on?” Huggin questioned, looking at the next platforms. “There are three branches that take us closer, but this path joins with wood, that one with mud, and the final with some combination of air and celestial. I think we would die on the path of wood, since the combination of disenchantment and growth would likely allow for Mana-ignoring weapons. The mud may be possible, but I just don’t know that we can go against the third tier of this area without more knowledge.”
“Turn back?” Jasper sadly inquired.
“Turn back,” the others conceded.
“Thank God.” Dale breathed out a sigh of relief. “It’s over.”
~ Chapter Thirty-Six ~
“I think the golems did well. I am also surprised that those Mages seemed to grasp your intent with the floor plan instantly. I thought it would take years before they realized the significance of walking the paths.” Bob’s decidedly intellectual reply made me grin. “You should also change the layout once every few weeks to use a different portion of the tower; the changes will just keep them wanting more!”
I returned to my search for the ley lines below me. I was hovering over a small city, which apparently contained a single clan of lightning cultivators. Basically one city’s worth of family members. If my information was correct, the clouds in this area were perpetually in a state of storming. If overheard conversations were correct, the storm raged two hundred and seventy days out of the year. That was a lot of lightning Essence. I was hopeful that they wouldn’t even notice me siphoning off some for my personal use.
“Of course we are smart, we are part Gnome. Also, remember that I am essentially the sixtieth generation of Bob since entering the dungeon. If that many generations had gone by without improving my mind, I would have been greatly upset.” Bob looked a bit nostalgic for his original body, but also seemed pleased at his current immortality. I decided to leave that conversation alone for now.
With an outpouring of Essence, I activated the ‘key’ Rune. It isn’t shaped like a key, it is just the important Rune to activate. It took quite a bit of Essence to reach the Rune at this range, and it likely wouldn’t have been possible if the Rune hadn’t been carved with my power. As it was, it was more like connecting to yourself in an awkward manner, similar to a person scratching the top of their head while wearing an overly large helmet. Possible if you had flexible fingers but still frustrating. I watched the Rune glow with Essence and waited to disconnect until it had gathered enough Essence to activate the next in the sequence.
With that side task complete I twisted the gyroscope, and we started moving up, up, and away. Bob went over the results of this mission with me, discussing what we could do to streamline the process if a similar situation came up in the future. “It would be best if we didn’t need to enter population centers like that city if we don’t need to.” Bob looked with slight worry at the city that had prepared to attack us if we showed even the slightest hint of aggressiveness.
I focused for a moment on avoiding a mountain that seemed to rise from the middle of an otherwise flat area.
Bob grunted in reply as I turned my attention to conversations happening on the surface. The lightning Mages seemed to be apologizing to Dale for some reason, so I listened in. Jasper was making strange faces. “Sorry, boy. That is, I apologize for not taking you seriously, Your Grace.”
“No, I’m glad you took me along. It was an interesting… learning experience.” Dale nodded at them before walking away. The Mages seemed excited to meet one of the Mages that was temporarily residing in the area. Apparently Nez was something of a folk hero in their lightning cultivator community. They talked for a few hours before flying off toward the tavern. They would stay the night, the
n return to the city we had hovered over the next day.
When they were gone, Dale hurried back to the portal area with two Dark Elf guards. He stepped through, and to my great surprise, teleported to the sixth floor.
“I’m not suicidal. No thanks.” He was walking with purpose though, and after looking around, I realized what was going on.
“What?” Dale was obviously directing this word at Hans, who had snuck into the portal after them and made his way to the slot area.
“Oh, uh, hey there, Dale.” Hans was feverishly pushing tokens into the slot, and opening the chest to see what he gained. “I’m just- jackpot!” Golden coins rained down into the chest as Hans whooped and jumped around.
“I have no idea why you are here Hans, but I need to use this thing.”
“No, wait, just… do you have a few tokens I can borrow? I’m on a good streak here, and I’m betting I can-” Hans was staring at the slot with a feverish expression.
“I’m cutting you off,” Dale bluntly told him. “And you called me an addict!”
“Dale, I’m fine, I just need some tokens! This is so fun, I keep winning!” Hans was now being restrained and dragged toward the exit portal. “Dale, nooo-” His cries were cut off as the portal closed. Dale rolled his eyes and returned to the slot, slipping in some of the tokens he had gained from the Manticore.
“I knew it,” he breathed. I swear there was a physical manifestation of greed in his eyes. “These were tokens for…” He stopped speaking aloud, remembering that there were Dark Elves watching and listening to him.
