Dungeon Robotics (Book 7): Collapse
Page 24
“You want to stay down here forever?” Nero asked with a smirk.
“Brother?” Sera asked. She hadn’t sounded so serious in quite a while, her disease pushing her further down the path of insanity. We didn’t have time to deal with all these problems that kept cropping up. We needed to get to Lord Regan and see if he could help her.
“Fine.” I patted Sera’s hand, then stepped a bit away. I began channeling my mana through my body, focusing on my head. My wolf beastkin features started to grow more pronounced as my senses increased severalfold. In less than ten seconds, my snout had elongated just over a dozen centimeters, while my sense of smell was nearly twenty times stronger than a human’s.
I drew in great breaths of air, smelling everything that had passed through here for the last several days. In a confined space like this, I could almost view the past with how much information I could gain. With the lack of external forces like wind disrupting the area, I could gain quite a lot from just a few smells.
It took me a few seconds, but I finally found something. Just a hint of sulfur that had drifted in over the last few hours. Without a mana-enhanced nose, I doubt anything would be able to detect the trace amount.
I pulled a more concentrated breath in, focusing on the source this time. A sense of the layout the sulfur traveled entered my mind. The sulfur had pulled other scents with it, allowing me to trace where it came from. When I reached the limits of my ability to trace it back, I relaxed my transformation. My body changed back while steam was released into the air around me.
I collapsed to the ground as I breathed heavily. Doing just a part of my body took more effort, but I retained much more control over the abilities I gained in the process. With me being tier three, the recoil didn’t last too long, but I tried not to do a partial transformation unless I knew we were safe.
I felt a hand rest on my back and looked next to me to see Sera wearing a worried look. I grinned and gave her a thumbs-up. “I got it, but it’s going to be a few days’ travel, from what I could tell.”
“I knew you had it in you, kid!”
Rens Wanderer
I was walking down the street and found myself in a whole new place. The transportation did not stop my next two steps, and I collided nose-first into a wall. I stepped back, rubbing my nose, and looked around at the room composed completely of smooth metal.
“Mister Rens, a pleasure to meet you,” a voice said.
I looked around and found the source of the voice in what I initially thought was a statue.
“Yes. I am Rens. I would love to know the name of the one that brought me here,” I replied. I glanced around but couldn’t find anything.
“I am Regan. Some have begun calling me the Machine Father or Father Machine.”
“Ah! The dungeon host! Yes. I have heard quite a bit about you. What can I do for you?” I could tell from the power emanating from just this room that I needed to proceed with caution. Something told me that this being was upset.
“Answers. I need answers, Mister Rens.”
“I will do my utmost to answer,” I replied with a bow.
“Then tell me—I know that you are High Race. Had I known that you were from the Beneath, I would have met you on that first day. A lot of forces are moving down there, and I want to know the political landscape before I get pulled into another war.”
“I see. Very well,” I said, then I explained the situation to him as best I could. There were four known city-states that all maintained their own territory. While we had engaged in war in the past, no one territory was ever able to push the others enough to cause a change. My city of Fallen Rose was the most powerful, but also the most restricted when it came to the size of our force.
“The dark elf city of Nefelume and the city of Koraz are currently tied for second place in the power ranking. Their territories border each other’s, leading to skirmishes every few months. Lastly, the dwarven city Khal Todur is the weakest of the four but is the most essential of the cities. They make all our weapons, after all.”
“You believe the terra wave has caused a disruption in this delicate balance?”
I looked up at the dungeon host in front of me. I had never known a dungeon to be this involved in the affairs of the world. I couldn’t help but wonder how it came about. I knew one thing, though. I needed to be truthful.
“Yes. Fallen Rose, for example, suffered quite a substantial amount of damage. We are the most advanced in magic of the four cities. If even we were hit so hard, then I imagine the other cities were as affected, if not more. The dwarves might be the least affected, given their connection with terra mana.”
“I understand.” The host waved his hand, and a large map of the continent appeared in front of me. He manipulated it to show where we are. “As you’re quite intelligent, I’m sure you can figure out where you emerged from. Tell me.” He moved the map to the west, where a large, blackened wasteland surrounding a crater lay. “What is under this?”
I studied the map for a moment, then held up my hands to use the map the same way he had a second ago. “May I?” The host nodded. I moved the map back to the valley, then farther over to where I thought I had emerged from. When a mark appeared from a ruin, I knew for sure that was where I’d gained access to the surface. After a few more minutes of checking the map, I stood back.
“Well?”
“I will be honest and say that I can’t be completely sure. The Beneath is composed of dark and winding tunnels. Some areas contain magic that make it hard to map. However, I think I can say with confidence that the Ruin of the Seal resides in that area.”
“Ruin of the Seal? Do you have any information on it?”
“Not much. That area is filled with undead. And I’m not talking about the child’s playthings you’re dealing with up here. Even the four cities have been unable to investigate this place.”
“Why would undead be down there? They are only a recent issue for the surface. Every time I get a step closer, the path grows a mile longer,” Lord Regan said, rubbing his chin as he stared at the map. I waited, as I didn’t want to interrupt him. “Wait. Cassin. He might not be a true Celestial. This requires investigating.” He turned back to me. “Are any of the cities a threat in the area?”
“No. Everything for quite a ways is considered no man’s land.”
“Good. Soon it will be my land,” Lord Regan said. He turned and walked over to a wall. When he placed his hand on it, the metal surface flowed back like water and revealed what reminded me of a workshop, only on the scale of a country. Magic and other techniques of all kinds were being used to make vessels of incredible size. I unconsciously wandered next to him.
“Amazing. Just what are you?”
“The Machine Father. I will remake this world. I do have one final question for you.”
“Yes?” I couldn’t pull my gaze from the sight in front of me, so I didn’t realize that the host’s tone had gone much darker than earlier. It only dawned on me as I blinked a few times.
“Why do you have a shard of a dungeon core on your staff?”
I snapped my eyes to the host and saw his frown. I quickly backed up but ran into the wall. “Please. I acquired it many decades ago. My mentor passed it on to me. I meant no disrespect!” The host only looked at me for a moment before he held out his hand. I stared at it for a second before I realized he wanted me to hand over the staff.
I looked to the staff that had seen me through many tough spots in the past. It was almost a friend. I dreaded parting with it, but I was sure if I didn’t hand it over, I likely would be the one not leaving this space. With a trembling hand that was unbecoming of my position, I handed it over.
The host grinned. “You had me worried for a second there. I was starting to like you after all. Had you not handed it over, I would have had to kill you.”
He held it out in front of him, and magic circles of a complexity even I’d rarely seen formed around the staff. I watched as a ball of light su
ddenly emerged from the crystal shard at the top of the staff. It wobbled, then burst as a fairy appeared floating in the air.
He was male, only about forty centimeters tall, and wore a suit of white armor. He stretched, making his joints pop, before he looked around. When he saw the host, he flew over to him. As he did so, the light appeared to bend and curve toward him.
“I thank you, my lord. My master would have welcomed the knowledge that you freed me. I will work to make myself valuable to your workings.”
“Think nothing of it. I am sorry that your master’s soul either has already entered the Wheel or is in another shard of this core.”
“I can answer that. She has already passed on. Even dungeon cores do not live forever if they are shattered to this degree. She was kept from regenerating many centuries ago.”
The host nodded, then the fairy flew over to me. “I have enjoyed journeying with you. You might not have been aware of me, but I was of you. Now that I have returned to a fairy form, I can’t easily leave the dungeon. I would like you to have the shard as you always have. It will still function the same.”
The fairy looked to the host, and he nodded his approval. I took the staff that floated under the fairy, feeling complete again. “What is your name?”
“Glint. That is what my old master called me.”
“I’ll be here for a while, Glint, so I hope you wouldn’t mind telling me of your late master.”
Glint nodded.
“I have work to do. If you’ll excuse me,” the host said, then waved his hand.
I found myself in the exact spot I’d vanished from earlier. I was so glad I’d come to the surface.
Afterword
Thank you for reading! Did you enjoy the story? If so, please feel free to leave a positive review on Amazon. Reviews can make or break a story, after all! Check out what happens next in the Dungeon Robotics Universe or explore one of my other stories on Patreon! The next two plus books are available unedited on my Patreon. Again, Thank you for reading!
The Dungeon Robotics World
Book 1: Establish
Book 2: Expansion
Book 3: Escalation
Book 4: Cascade
Book 5: Cataclysm
Book 6: Conflict
Book 7: Collapse
Book 8: Delve