by Matthew Peed
When I found Izora, she was holding a cup of tea and running her finger around the edge. She had a look on her face that I couldn’t quite place. She wasn’t upset, but she didn’t look quite calm either. I sat down at the table while the guards made a bit of space around the outside.
“Izora, are you alright?”
“Ah, Louella. Mmm, I feel amazing,” she said simply.
“Can you tell me what happened?” I asked curiously.
She nodded, then told me about the events with the gnome home city and their fleet, then about Regan borrowing her for a bit. Her eyes grew more fanatical as she told me.
Finally, she looked me right in the eyes and said, “Regan is a god!”
I sat there in silence for a long time, as I wasn’t sure what to say to a declaration like that. Finally, I said, “He’s a dungeon core. He can do things that seem godlike to a mortal.”
“I know this, trust me I know this, but he took me off the planet. I was actually able to see most of the north in one glance. If not a god, then what?” she asked.
From the look in her eyes, I knew I wouldn’t be able to convince her otherwise. And if I thought about it, it wasn’t like it would hurt anything. In fact, I thought it might be good for her since her mother had just died. It would help distract her. I reached forward to grab her hand and said, “Alright, for now let us get you back to your people. They are in a panic.”
She nodded and stood up. Every movement was sure and confident, so I didn’t think there was anything physically wrong with her. We quickly made our way back to the embassy. When we arrived everyone was extremely happy to see the princess back. I was forced to stay for dinner.
~~~
Later that night when I finally got home, and came to terms with the thought of all the paperwork, I blew off the way the day was pressing down on me. I sat in the center of my cultivation room. It had been revamped yet again by Regan a while ago so I was able to gain quite a bit of mana every night. This let me keep up with the loss of time that came with being a lord, but more importantly, it could survive my cultivating practices.
Concentrating deep within myself on my mana pool, I met the duel oceans with my gaze. Ever since the battle, my pool had stayed like this. I could only fill the bottom pool with cultivation; the one in the sky had to be filled by changing the charge of the mana to negative. I needed to be careful when I did this, as all the lightning mana in the air would have been attracted to me as it had during the battle.
I activated the rune that turned the room “on,” and lightning started to jump around various metal rods that extended from all over the area. I channeled the mana into the negative pool and, like during the battle, a swirl appeared above me. A moment later all the lightning twisted in their arcs to strike the swirl and thus me.
Parts of my body took the aspect of lightning. At the moment it was close to what Ezal’s body did naturally. The furthest I’d managed to get was changing a single finger to pure lightning. The only problem was that being out of the trancelike state I’d been in during the battle allowed me to feel everything. The connection between the lightning and my knuckle was almost more painful than I could bear.
A few hours later, drowsiness was starting to get to me. Stopping my cultivation, I stood up to head to my bed, tapping the rune again to turn the room off. I was so close to tier three I could taste it. I just had to figure out that one factor that would allow me to cross the threshold. I guess I should have been happy that I was even able to get that far at such a speed. Some people stayed in certain tiers all their lives.
Walking back to my room, I felt an incredible pain from my chest. I lost my balance and fell against the wall. The pain surged and I coughed, blood covering my hand. I was in so much pain that I couldn’t call for a guard or maid. I was having trouble breathing as more blood came with each cough.
I tried to concentrate on the bracelet, but my thoughts kept shifting due to the pain. I finished falling and collapsed on the floor. All I remember was the world fading to black as the pain got worse. The fear that I might actually be dying flashed through my head as I lost consciousness.
~~~
Regan’s voice entered my ears. “If I hadn’t built this in the last few days, she would likely be dead.”
“I do have to say that it’s amazing,” Ezal said from the other side of my head.
“She’s stable for now. She should wake soon,” a third voice, rather stiff, said.
“Thank you, Malaki,” Ezal said.
“To help and heal is my mission,” Malaki, owner of the third voice, replied.
I groaned to let them know I was awake. I had actually wanted to ask where I was, but it came out as previously mentioned. My eyes opened to a dim light that was offset from where I lay. It made adjusting my eyes much easier. Ezal was standing right next to me, worry clearly written on her face. Regan stood on the other side. He looked much more laid back. I hoped I was out of the woods of whatever had happened to me.
As I attempted to sit up, the pain in my chest tinged, but a lot less than earlier. Ezal quickly reached forward to help me. The . . . table I was sitting on quickly changed, and a back moved into a position to give me something to lean against. I leaned back, then looked around again.
We were in some kind of building made out of white materials and a grayish-silver metal. I saw a window and paused for a moment, taking in the view outside. The moon was visible but from an angle I had never seen before. It was like we were next to it rather than under it. The stars also looked closer than I had ever seen them.
Finally, I broke my gaze from the window and looked to Regan “What . . . what happened . . . to me?” I asked brokenly, the pain coming back when I spoke.
“It looks like your own mana is killing you . . . No, actually ‘changing’ you is a better word to use. The best I can understand is that the way your mana pool is right now was meant for after you broke through to tier three. In short you have too much mana for your body to handle,” Regan explained. “Now, if you were on the planet that would mean your death.”
I gulped. “But . . .”
“But since you’re not on the planet and you have me as a friend, something else entirely is happening. As I said, changing you,” Regan said with a smile.
“Changing me how?” I asked worriedly. I’d heard horror stories of people turned into monsters by uncontrollable mana. They were usually bedtime stories to scare children, but they must have come from somewhere.
“The end result—even I don’t know. But . . .” Regan said, then pulled a transparent screen over. It showed a body displayed in several layers. I recognized the bone layer and reasoned the other couple of layers were flesh and organs, then lastly, skin. Regan pointed toward the bone layout. “Your bones have already changed. They are incredible conductors of electricity, I mean lightning.” He formed a bone on his hand. “I’m sure you’ve all seen a bone before. Louella’s bones have changed to a crystalline structure that allow electrons to flow faster than most metals.”
“So, this change is a good thing in the long run, then?” I asked.
“If you survive, yes.”
“Survive?” I squeaked, a bit scared.
“Indeed. You should be glad you were lucky enough to faint when most of your bones were changing and that I was able to help a bit, because the pain would have been unbearable. You still have to go through that with your flesh and organs, maybe even your skin. That’s why I said you’re lucky I built this place. Whatever is directing your change has less influence here than on the planet.”
“So, to continue the change, I have to go back to the surface?” I asked.
“No, I have a barrier that keeps much of the ambient mana from entering certain areas of this place. I will just allow it access to this room, and the change will continue. I feel it’s safest this way while I’ll be able to monitor you as well as cut it off if it gets too intense,” Regan said as he pointed toward the floor.
It
turned transparent and I was able to see the world of Murgin for all its glory, even with the black smudge directly below us.
The majesty of the sight nearly took my breath away. Even though Izora had warned me beforehand, it was still quite a sight to see firsthand. I had to pause for a long moment before I was able to answer Regan. “Alright, if there is no other choice, I will do as you say.”
“Well, you have another choice—reach tier three before the change kills you,” Regan said almost distractedly.
I focused on my mana pool and saw that it was like a storm. Arcs of lightning were flashing between the two pools, and I didn’t know if it was a visualization on my part, but there was actually rain, rain made out of mana, that was falling. Magic is the visualization of what you want mana to do. If this held true even with this change, then I thought of making myself more powerful, not just for myself but for my people, and everyone that I now needed to protect.
“Ready?” Regan asked outside my visualization.
“Yes,” I replied with as much determination as possible.
Chapter 9
Izora
I spent most of the next day locked in my cabin. I couldn’t bear to face anyone. I knew that most of the people with me were loyal, but I couldn’t help but try to judge them. Even my Royal Guard I looked at with a critical eye. It wasn’t fair to them.
Hatsu made sure to bring me food and drink even when I told her to leave me alone. After the third time, when it was almost midnight, I gave up and accepted the food. She seemed genuinely happy that I was just eating. I gave her a smile, then shut the door. I still didn’t want to face her or anyone else yet. Not until I’d gathered my thoughts.
Regan was a god. Or more accurately, he was well on his way to becoming one. Or was one that was just still in the mortal realm. I only knew that his power far exceeded that of a mere dungeon. Especially one that had only been born a few months ago. Either way, I felt that he was worthy of my devotion.
The gnomes revered technology and magic more than anything else. We’d spent years trying to reclaim what we’d once had. As a result, the gnome race was slowly dying. Clearly, our people weren’t happy with the status of things, as so many had left for the necromancer cause. What they were promised, I couldn’t know.
Captain Mesu had interrogated the few prisoners before I’d executed them, but they were at the very bottom of the pole. They knew next to nothing about the necromancers’ true plans. Regan, no, Lord Regan had a few necromancers that he’d pulled information from, according to Louella. Apparently, they hadn’t learned much more than just the general operations of the necromancers.
I looked over to the clock and saw it was almost two in the morning. Another sleepless night for me, then. I got out from my futon and moved to the window. The night breeze cooled me down, but when I glanced at my hands, I still thought I saw red staining them.
While I watched the night sky, something seemed to call to me. I ignored it at first but finally couldn’t anymore as the call grew stronger. I turned away from the sky and walked over to my desk, where the bloodsoaked sword lay. I’d tried to clean the blood off, but it refused to be removed.
“Kill . . .”
“No. You’ve killed enough for a long time,” I said, then shook my head. I must be going crazy to be talking to a sword, I thought. I wrapped my hand around the handle and went through a few motions of a dance that I was taught at a young age. I couldn’t help but admire the balance the sword had.
“More . . .”
A few minutes later I finished the dance and looked at the blade. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for, but it was exactly the same. I sheathed it and placed it back on the desk. With nothing better to do while being so restless, I moved over and tried to mediate.
~~~
“Your Highness, the men were wondering if you’d like to accompany them into the dungeon today?” Tsuzuki asked while I was eating my breakfast.
I thought it over and decided I had nothing better to do. I might as well. The combat, I reasoned, might help me clear my head. I looked over to Tsuzuki and nodded.
The tasteless meal was finished quickly, much to my relief. I went back to my cabin and geared up for the dive. As I was going into the dungeon, my Royal Guard would be required to accompany me. I worried that we might work our way through the next few floors too easily by going with such a big group.
~~~
That worry was unnecessary. We’d been in there for over five hours and were still on the eleventh floor. The key setup took ten keys to open the door to the next floor. We hadn’t encountered any monsters yet, so I assumed the wolves that I’d seen last time were on a lower floor.
At this point, I thought I might prefer monsters. Every sword that wasn’t a key had a higher chance of being a trap than nothing at all. Explosions, pits full of spikes, a sudden blizzard, blades of wind that could slice a person to pieces, and many more were shown after my guards turned trapped keys.
“This is rough,” Tsuzuki said, examining one of the swords that came free. Once in a while, the sword would come free and we were able to keep it. The one Tsuzuki was examining would have been worth two or three gold in the market. It wasn’t fancy but it was very well made.
“I agree. We both know there is at least another floor similar to this,” I said, and he nodded.
It took us another hour before we managed to turn all ten keys. We stood after we turned the last one, waiting expectantly. I wasn’t sure what would happen once all ten keys were turned. I knew Lord Regan could teleport people, after all. Five minutes went by with nothing happening.
“Don’t tell me we have to find the door as well?” Hatsu asked, crouching as she took a deep breath.
“It looks like it. Let’s start looking!” I shouted, pulling her to her feet.
We looked around, hoping there might be some sort of clue as to which direction to take. With none presenting itself, we choose a direction at random and started walking carefully. While most of the traps were tied to the swords, that wasn’t always the case.
We wandered for an hour with nothing changing about the situation. I called for a break to let everyone rest. The floor was quite cold, and walking in the gentle snowstorm was chilling everyone. We had been on the floor for over half the day, after all.
“Your Highness,” a guard called after we’d been resting for a few minutes.
I looked over to see what it was. He held one of the swords we’d gotten on the floor. It was emitting a light glow whenever he pointed it to the left.
“Well done! That has to be guiding us to where we need to go!” I said, grabbing his hands and shaking them. He smiled and blushed slightly. I realized what I was doing and let go, coughing lightly to cover the moment. “Alright, everyone! Let’s go!”
Chapter 10
Regan
Louella rested on the table, clearly in pain. When Ezal had called for me that afternoon, I’d been quite surprised when I saw that it was Louella on the ward bed this time. The priests tried to help her but to little avail. I quickly scanned her, but even I couldn’t make sense of her symptoms. Her body looked perfectly healthy. That’s when I looked at the makeup of her body.
I quickly found the problem then. The massive amount of mana in her body was going berserk, but not of its own accord. I noticed that it was much like the goblins when they interacted with ambient mana. I quickly moved her into my main dungeon, but her mana pool was so . . . dense, or rather complex, that the ambient mana managed to form some type of link with it. I thought quickly, then moved her to the station, as I figured that we would be far enough away from the planet to reduce the effects. If not, then it was anyone’s ball game.
My gamble paid off, and I was able to shield her from enough of the ambient mana to slow the changes happening. Her body was still in pain from the changes that were already taking effect, but she would have more time to cope with it. I grabbed Malaki from the barracks. He possessed more targeted spells from h
is month of healing the mortals. I could do it, but my attention could be pulled away at any second from another change in her body. They say more eyes are better.
She finally woke up and I explained my theory to her. With little choice, she decided to go through with the change. I nodded to her as she lay back down, then cracked my knuckles.
“Now, I will try to react as best I can to the situation, but I want you to know I might have to make a decision that is hard for you to accept. Do you still want to go through with this?” I asked just to clarify. I wasn’t against using the dungeon to save her life. I just felt I should give her the option of refusing.
“If I end up a charred husk, you get to take responsibility,” Louella said with a chuckle that turned into a cough.
“Deal,” I agreed.
I teleported Ezal out to the station because I wanted complete attention on this. Ignea and Jarvis were to make sure nothing happened to the dungeon during this period. I had taken many strides to add contingencies to the dungeon since the second necromancer attack. That way the elemental upheaval wouldn’t happen like it had when the necromancers had incapacitated me.
The barrier around the station weakened as I allowed more ambient mana into the medical bay. Like a hungry dog being told to wait for its meal and finally getting the okay, the mana surged forward and slammed into Louella. She immediately coughed up a large amount of blood, but Malaki was on it, quickly replenishing it. I widened the barrier until it was gone from the station, worried about doing it all at once in case it outright killed her.