“What? It’s just a Mana gate. Stubborn one at that!”
“Oh, come on now. There’s not even a sense of anticipation!”
“There’ll be a sense of anticipation up your ass in a moment if you don’t hurry up. I’ve been waiting ever since we opened Qin’s Mana gate!”
Erik made a face and then got up, moving around to Rugrat, who was sitting in a chair. “You’ll feel a little prick,” Erik said.
“That why you’re single?” Rugrat asked.
Erik jabbed the IV needle into Rugrat’s arm, getting an angry yell.
“Sorry. Looks like I’m still tired. I slipped,” Erik deadpanned.
Rugrat grumbled but he didn’t say anything else.
The two of them quickly adjusted and readied themselves to open Rugrat’s next Mana gate.
“Okay, so you attack it from inside and I’ll attack it from the outside.” Erik applied Wraith’s Touch to where the Mana gate was.
Inside Rugrat’s body, he was already circulating his Mana, refining it and compressing it into a drill. It spun faster and faster, with more Mana being compressed into it. It started to become more physical, a manifestation of Mana.
Erik pulled out special needles made from Mortal-grade iron. The material supported the movement of Mana more than regular steel and Rugrat had carved some simple formations into them so that the flow of Mana wouldn’t be interrupted.
Erik took the needle and pushed it through Rugrat’s skin and tapped against the Mana gate. To the needle, it felt like it was as hard as metal. Erik couldn’t push it anymore.
“Okay, lining up from the other side,” Rugrat said.
“Got it.” Erik spun the Mana in his body, creating strings that rotated around one another but didn’t touch one another.
As Rugrat had done, he compressed the Mana until it nearly manifested into an item.
The room started to glow from the power that was being swept up into their bodies, processed and then forced through their Mana channels.
“Go!” Rugrat said.
Erik channeled the Mana through his thumb and forefinger. They were already spinning threads; when they overlaid the needle, they were guided and compressed—the needle, the body of the drill, but the Mana, the teeth.
It hit the Mana gate from the outside as Rugrat struck at it from the inside.
They were focusing on just a small point of the Mana gate. Sweat started to appear on their foreheads as they concentrated on their actions.
The two “drills” were cutting through the Mana gate. Rugrat’s Mana channels were inflating with the amount of Mana pressure behind the Mana gate.
The needle in Erik’s hand glowed with Mana, the blue light radiating through the cave.
Slowly, they started to make progress. All they could do was resolve their minds and focus.
As time went on, they tested out new ways to compress their Mana and gained greater control to create stronger and more powerful Mana manifestations.
They pushed on. The two tunnels they were making got closer and closer. With the pressure from his body, the small opening that Rugrat had made was being worn away by the concentrated Mana.
The two points met. Erik was watching it with his Simple Organic Scan but he wasn’t ready when his needle shot backward and a blast of Mana shot out.
The pressure inside Rugrat’s body had somewhere to go. The Mana gate, now with a hole in it, expanded. It was only a small amount but it was growing.
The Mana drained out of Rugrat’s body in one shot. Then, as if someone letting out a breath, Rugrat’s Mana drops pulled on the surrounding Mana.
“Crap! I just wanted it to come through the one Mana gate!” Rugrat said. Mana started to enter through his Mana gate. The size of the opening increased again but it was being pulled in through all of his Mana gates, not just one.
Erik watched as the hole in Rugrat’s Mana gate grew quickly; then, as he regained all of his Mana, it slowed its expansion. “So?” Erik asked.
“So, we’ve weakened it.” Rugrat sat back in his chair. “Over time, it should open up more and then finally crack open fully. I don’t know how long it’ll take, though.”
“You know what this means, right?” Erik said.
“What?”
“We now know how to open someone’s Mana gates externally. With Qin, it might have been her different body, but now that we’ve done it to you, we have at least a better plan to open Mana gates than what we had before.”
“Thanks. I feel so much not specialer.”
“Not a word.” Erik didn’t miss a beat.
“I’m saying it and it’s probably written somewhere, so it’s going!” Rugrat said, clearly tired and a bit illogical from the drain.
Erik patted his shoulder and took out another chair. “I’ll take the watch.” Erik passed over a solution he had made to go to sleep.
Rugrat grabbed it and pulled out his sleeping bag. He collapsed on top of it and drank down the solution. After a few moments, he fell asleep.
Erik used his Simple Organic Scan. When Rugrat was talking about getting something to close his Mana gates, something had clicked in Erik’s mind.
They had done a lot of work but he still hadn’t tested out the effects of the Poison Body title.
First, Erik scanned through his body. He could see that there were a few changes but they were on a cellular level. His scan allowed him to look through different systems but he wasn’t at the cellular level.
“Maybe it’s like my character sheet. Poison Body?” With Erik’s words, a new screen appeared in his face.
==========
You have gained the skill:
Poison Body
Ability Unlocked! (Title updated)
==========
As long as you consume a poison and understand its complete effects, you can use a portion of your Mana to recreate it and release it from your body.
You may pick from the following list of poisons:
1. Black Blood Poison
2. Bone Rot Poison
3. Three-headed Forest Snake Poison
Cooldown 1 hour
==========
“Three-headed forest snake poison,” Erik said.
==========
Where do you wish to expel the poison?
Right Hand
Lower Right Arm
Upper Right Arm
…
19. Left foot
==========
“Right hand,” Erik said.
A green poison appeared on his hand. Just smelling it, Erik could tell it was the same poison that he had taken from the three-headed forest snake.
“Okay, it has to be easier to use it than that,” Erik muttered. Having so many screens was going to be difficult.
He thought of the same poison but on his right foot. He felt Mana draining from his Mana channels and then returning rapidly, making him grunt at the rebound.
“Looks like I can call out poison, but once I do then I can’t create more for an hour while the ability cools down.” Erik then cancelled the poison on his right hand. It seeped back into his skin and he felt a fraction of the Mana return to his body.
Forty minutes later, he could create more poison.
“If I cancel the skill, then the cooldown time decreases.” Erik continued to test out how he could reduce the cooldown time. “Hopefully there is a way to increase the ability’s effects, decreasing the cooldown time.”
After some time, Erik felt he was getting the hang of it when he felt the need to go to the bathroom. Looking at his hands covered in poison, he realized he’d fucked up.
Chapter: Alva Dungeon’s Growth
Elise looked over the various reports that crossed her desk and the messages that had been left on her sound transmission device.
Thankfully, with all of the heads reporting directly to her, she had free time to look on the development of Alva Dungeon instead
of just trying to deal with the different issues that came up.
She sat back in her chair as she finished up the latest reports.
“Ah, Miss Elise, I was looking through the collections and I was able to find a copy of information on the different plants that Erik mentioned in his letter,” Egbert said.
“Are you trying to look like some kind of skeleton king?” Elise looked at the massive robe that covered Egbert, making him look as if he didn’t have a neck and made from a deep-purple material.
“No!” Egbert turned quickly, only to have his large cape wrap around him, sealing his arms against his body.
“Or a skeleton carpet?” Elise muttered as Egbert struggled to free himself from the robe.
“How the hell are people supposed to wear this?”
“That, Egbert, sounds like a personal question. Now, do you have that list?” Elise asked.
Egbert continued to struggle but seeing as he wouldn’t be able to free himself in a short period of time and too proud to ask for help, he hinged his neck back and a scroll appeared out of his mouth.
“Egbert,” Elise admonished but still, she stood and took the scroll from between his jaw and skull.
His head hinged forward again with a clack as it came into contact with his jaw.
Elise looked over the information that Egbert had copied out. “I heard that there have been problems with the records?” She reviewed the scrolls.
“Well, it’s kind of like this. We have about forty different books that are related to Apprentice-level skills, twenty-five for Journeyman, three for Expert and one for Master, related to formation arrays,” Egbert said awkwardly.
“I thought that we had hundreds of books!”
“Well, the thing is that those are the books that people can research. I’ve got others that are spell scrolls, technique books, and all the rest of it. Although they’re consumable, they only improve a few people’s abilities. However, I have read plenty of books and I have started to copy out some books that I remember reading. The problem is that most of them were Journeyman and Expert level and I only know about seven complete books. The others are fragments.
“I can offer advice to people on certain things; on others, I can only tell them what I know or point them to one of the complete books or consumables. Though, as the different crafting teachers learn, I have been documenting their process and thoughts, and putting it in the written word so that their students and others can access it without needing to take up their time.”
Elise tapped the scroll in her hand. Finally, she let out a small laugh and shook her head.
“In the outside world, even having this much would be enough to get others jumping all over us. It’ll be some time until we reach Journeyman and Expert in any of our skills. I’ll pass over to the teams that are going out adventuring as well as Jasper to keep an eye out for books on crafting,” Elise said.
“Thank you! It’ll be so nice to read something new!” Egbert’s eye flames sparked up in excitement at her words.
He seemed to calm down a bit as he looked away. “About the request to go adventuring?”
Elise winced. He had been stuck in this dungeon for a long time and hadn’t seen the outside world in hundreds of years.
“We’ll have to wait until Erik and Rugrat come back to make a decision to see if you can go outside. We’ll need something to disguise you in. After all, your appearance right now would scare the hell out of people,” Elise said.
She remembered when she first saw Egbert and how different it was seeing the goofball now, who was still wrapped up like a carpet in his own robe.
“Okay!” Egbert said, sounding serious, neither crestfallen or excited but simply accepting the facts.
“How is the academy going?” Elise put away the scroll and sat on the desk she had taken over in a hidden corner of the library.
Taran was supposed to be the head of the academy, but he spent so much time working in his smithy, working to improve his skills and to show his apprentices the way of smithing. Now, with Tan Xue and Julilah joining the smithy, the flames never stopped. Taran had been at it for two days, trying to learn to turn normal iron into Mortal-grade iron.
Tomorrow was the cutoff date that he had put on himself to beat Rugrat. Sleep had become secondary.
Egbert was publicly recognized as the vice academy head and dealt with the majority of administrative needs of the academy. He helped out the teachers and students, allowing him a greater insight into the academy and what was going on.
“I am impressed, to be honest. The people of Alva Dungeon haven’t taken it for granted and are applying themselves to it fully. Our biggest problem is actually getting them the materials that they require. Thankfully we have the iron mine, so that helps the smithy. The growing fields and Alva parties allow the cookhouses to be supplied. The hides from the animals in the defense of Alva Village have been used up, so we’re relying on the Alva parties for that as well.
“The woodworking, crafters, and architects should separate soon. Their fields used to be close to one another but as they become more developed in one way or another, it will only cause problems in the future. Also, right now they’re putting up quests with the academy’s money in order to pull in different kinds of woods to work with.”
“Okay. Hospital, Alchemy lab and formation workshop?” Elise asked.
“The hospital has gained three Apprentice healers, one of a high Apprentice level, a woman called Jen. Right now, Erik is the department head but they need some true leadership while he is away. Jen is the best medic, but she would need someone to deal with the administrative day-to-day of the hospital. I have passed on the information that Erik and Rugrat gave Tan Xue on opening Mana gates and how they helped Qin Silaz. The Alchemy lab has many applicants, but the fee to join the lab is high and there are only a few results.
“Erik had noted down a few concoctions that can be made with simple ingredients and some notes on what he had learned. I hope that we might get some high Novice level alchemists sometime in the next year. Maybe sooner if Erik can do a few lessons with them. The formation workshop…” Egbert let out a sigh and seemed to be frowning, even if he didn’t have facial muscles.
The formation workshop wasn’t just a school in the academy; it was one that was intrinsically linked to Alva Dungeon. The whole place was covered in complex formations. Although right now they were worrying about just the living floor that they were on, there were five more floors below. Their condition was unknown but they, too, had multiple formations that would need to be rebuilt and repaired to regain control of the different floors.
“As you know, most of the books that we have are based on formations. Simply put, the gnomes who lived here weren’t the strongest but with their formations, they were able to do a great number of things.
“The fact is that there is a lot of information, but nearly all of it is at a high level. Rugrat was carving out formations that gathered Mana and has sent along his modified plans. With this, we can start to set up secondary Mana gathering formations, increasing our reach and pulling in more power from the area around us. This will slow down the burn rate that we go through Mana.”
On their current floor, there were two major formations: the Mana gathering formation that lay on the ground, and the Mana storing formation that was on the ceiling.
The Mana gathering formation was like the fuel, the Mana storing formation the battery.
The Mana gathering formation pulled in power and focused it on the dungeon core. The dungeon core drew out the impurities and then sent the energy through formations through the runed roads to be used in different smaller formations. The fact was that the Mana gathering formation had been made to connect to the other Mana gathering formations on the floors below. With them cut off, it was only 10% as effective as it had been before. With a lack of Mana impurities coming in, the dungeon core’s growth was so limited one could barely say it was growing. T
he Mana storing formations were slowly being drained to make up for the lack of Mana refined by the dungeon core powering Alva Dungeon.
It was easy to see how reliant the gnomes and Alva Dungeon were on the formations.
“All of the formations that are in Alva Dungeon are at least Journeyman level. Unless they have breakthroughs, or we can find a formations array teacher, there isn’t much chance we’re going to be able to deal with the formations that are on this level, let alone the ones on the lower floors while in a fight.”
Elise held her chin and lowered her face in thought. Resources come first. Without them, then we can’t grow or support our people.
She pulled out a report from Jasper and the warehouse district.
They had a low amount of lumber that would have scared her in Alva Village, just because it was needed for heating. But in Alva Dungeon, the temperature was largely regulated so the only fires used were for the smithy and the cookhouse. With Tan Xue’s flame, even though monster cores were needed to power the flame, it didn’t strain their wood supply. For gold, they were showing a nice stockpile, with the taxes on trading and the profits made by the growing houses.
They were good for stones because of those left when Egbert dismantled the different places of the gnomes to get to the useful resources and use them and his limited knowledge to support the dungeon core and cut off the other floors.
Their food stocks were high, though with people having their money, most of them went to the cookhouse or got items from the market to cook at home.
There were still a few people who went to the eating areas in the marketplace to meet one another and to see the community. There were even some dishes from the cookhouse that gave status effect.
They were a hit with the Alva parties that ventured out into the Beast Mountain Range.
Iron was not meeting demand yet but Taran wouldn’t let even an ingot go out of his smithy unless it was up to his standard. Iron, unlike food and hides, could be melted back down and then reused.
With the iron mine, it would take time, but their production was ramping up quickly.
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