Expansion, p.23
Expansion, page 23
part #2 of Dungeon Robotics Series
“What is going on here?!” the dragon roared once he finished breaking through the tree line. He froze, however, after he looked over the wall to see the taller-than-some-mountains tower that Master had built.
“Zuthon? Is that correct?” Master asked.
“Huh, what do you want, puny metal man?” Zuthon said, keeping his gaze on the tower. I found that I was starting to dislike this dragon, and thought he had better not keep insulting Master.
Master shrugged and continued. “I have claimed this area as my dungeon. I hope this hasn’t crossed any lines with the monster territories around here.”
“Hmph, like I care about territory lines! I am a dragon! I bow or give face to no one!” Zuthon said as Master got his full attention. Did Master not know that dragons were really prideful? You’re supposed to give them a lot of respect when you encounter one.
“Now, now. I have great respect for dragons. I don’t want this to come to blows,” Master said as he tried to make calming gestures. I tilted my head but couldn’t think of the words to say. What I really wanted to say, though, was, No you don’t.
“I have no need for your respect!” Zuthon shouted and slammed his front claw on the ground. A jut of rock, nearly a small hill’s amount, ripped from the ground and shot at Master.
“We got this,” Skjold said in my mind.
I gulped and jumped forward as I braced my shield. I tried to recreate the effect I’d done at the competition to absorb the mana and reflect it if I could. It felt like my hand fused to the shield, and I became acutely aware of Skjold inhabiting the shield. The boulder slammed into me. I felt what seemed like a tidal wave of terra mana wash over me through the shield. Then I focused all my will on forcing the boulder up into the air. It seemed to jerk strangely as it shot up. Even after the boulder had stopped touching my shield, there was still quite a bit of mana, so I did my best to absorb it, as it was basically pure terra mana.
The boulder reached nearly thirty meters in the air before it started to drop back to the ground. Master looked at the boulder, and the weapon he had created seemed to follow his line of sight. A moment later, the weapon made a tremendous noise. The force of the blast cracked the wall, and the boulder exploded after it made it halfway through. The second barrel fired a moment later and exploded on impact right in front of the dragon. He was tossed back from the explosion, seemingly caught off guard. I was amazed that Master was able to harm such a powerful creature.
“What manner of magic is this?!” Zuthon shouted.
“Science. Now, are you ready to talk?” Master asked.
Zuthon thought it over for a minute and finally nodded. “Pride got the better of me, metal man, I offer my apology.”
“No problem. I assume you felt the mana from the dungeon?”
“Yes, I was excited, as I haven’t eaten in weeks, besides normal prey. Even a measly goblin would be nice right now.”
“I see,” Master said and started to tap his chin in thought. Master pulled out some of the meats the same way he made the weapons appear. “How about this? It’s just pig meat, but it was raised in the dungeon.” He tossed what looked like several pounds of meat over to him.
Zuthon caught it in his claw, which was surprisingly dexterous. He sniffed it, probably to make sure it was not poisoned, and popped it into his gullet. Then his eyes opened like saucers. “What?! WHAT IS THIS?!” he roared loudly enough that the trees shook a bit.
“That . . . my friend, is bacon. One of the seven wonders of the world,” Master said. I would have to ask him for the other six wonders later; it sounded amazing.
“Bacon! More! Give me more!” Zuthon demanded with an almost pleading look. Master waved his hand, and an extralarge cart of some kind of metal that was loaded with bacon appeared.
“Zuthon, how about you stay here for now. I can get you more bacon and other meats as long as you protect this village,” Master offered the feasting dragon.
“Metal man . . . my territory was largely in this area anyway, so I have no problem with this agreement as long as bacon is provided every morning.”
Master then asked, “Why did you let them settle here anyway?”
“They gave me one person a week, so three people total. It was almost time for the fourth, but this bacon tastes much better. Mortals are crunchy and the other . . . things have too much metal for my taste after the first one.”
I gulped at the mention of Zuthon eating people. I knew the escapees had no other choice with the forest being full of monsters. It seemed the path to civilization, or south, was blocked by the horde. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place.
It seemed that Master was satisfied, so he left, but I wanted to talk to Zuthon some more. It wasn’t every day that you got to speak to what was considered one of the purest element creatures, and most elementals couldn’t talk. Everyone else followed Master while I made my way off the wall. Some of the villagers were looking at the spot that Master had damaged earlier and trying to figure out how to fix it.
I made my way over to Zuthon, who was still eating to his heart’s content. “May . . . may I talk to you for a bit?” I asked nervously.
Zuthon stopped eating and looked at me. He was even closer than last night, and it was much brighter, so we were both able to get a better look at the other. Zuthon was true to his heritage, with deep green and tan scales. His teeth and claws looked to be made from some of the strongest metal I had ever seen.
“Now that I look closely at you, you seem to be a distant cousin . . . very distant,” Zuthon said after what felt like an hour but was only a couple of minutes.
“Cousin?” I asked with curiosity.
“Indeed. The lizard”—he scoffed at the word “lizard”—“beast people are in fact from a dragon heritage. In your case I would say a land dragon such as myself,” Zuthon explained and took another bite from the pile of meat. “But it looks like that connection has been weakened by something.”
“I am bound to the dungeon. I was changed when that happened.”
“Ah yes, nasty part of the magic. I once saw a drake that had to bind himself to a goblin dungeon to survive. Poor thing could barely be called ‘drake’ . . . all twisted and corrupted. You would have thought the necromancers had gotten to him.”
“Do you have any tips you could bestow upon me? It’s not every day that one meets an expert such as yourself. Just the bit with the trees last night, while you were walking through the forest, was already on another level,” I asked and made sure to flatter him, though I meant every word of it.
“I do know my stuff,” Zuthon said as he gave me a very sharp, toothy grin. “Let’s see . . . terra is the building block of the world. Without terra, there is no fire, water, or air. Terra is solid, yes, but it is also soft, giving, and warm. Have you ever experienced a terraquake?”
“No.”
While he still ate the meat, he swung his tail, and it collided with the ground. A few hundred meters away from us in the forest a rumble started to build. A moment later large sections of the ground seemed to split apart and grind and jump together, creating what looked like chaos to me. The trees were torn apart as they fell into the mass of dirt and rocks. A few moments later, the shaking stopped and then the whole section that was affected seemed to sink and merge, creating a small hill that, while it looked rough, still would be commonplace in a forest.
“That is a small sample. That is an artificial terraquake. In certain parts of this world, terraquakes are much more common, and I have heard it’s impossible to live there unless you are a Terra mage. Fast, destructive, but also . . . part of nature.”
I thought it over for several long minutes. It indeed wasn’t the answer to life, but it did help me understand terra better. I had always formed it to be robust and rigid, and the thing with the sand was still solid in my mind; each grain made the pile bigger. But now I saw that terra could also embrace so that new life could grow.
“Thank you, Master Zuthon. I would be honored if you let me practice my terra magic with you some time,” I said and bowed in thanks.
“As long as your master gives me this magical meat, I don’t mind,” Zuthon said and threw what was probably half my weight in meat into his mouth in one go.
I quickly made my way back to the tower Master had built. The whole time, I was thinking about the power of the terraquake I’d been shown.
Chapter 25
Regan
I stood at the top of my new tower and examined the surroundings. I was able to see for quite a distance from this height and even managed to see the mountains surrounding the valley. I was still waiting for the aura to hit the ground. The subcore had even broken through to the eighth level of tier one while I waited. I was really considering “upgrading” the tower in the valley to this version. I would have to wait awhile to let my material stockpile to build back up, but it would only take a few weeks at the most.
After I had waited for nearly two hours, the aura finally connected with the ground. The aura was quite dense and actually caused a small impact in the area surrounding the village. It had reached nearly twelve kilometers. When the aura finally settled, I experienced what felt like three separate . . . pressures on the edge of my mind. I focused on the one to the east and got a sense of something looking back at me.
I turned to the southeast and was met with the same sensation. I had an inkling what they were, but before I tried anything, I decided to get a second opinion. I wasn’t sure Ignea would be able to get here on her own, so I went ahead and teleported her to me.
“Ignea, I feel some . . .” I started to say.
“Father, this is amazing!” Ignea interrupted me. “I can see so far!”
“Yeah, I just made it. It makes a good distraction if the valley ever gets too much attention,” I replied.
She looked down from the edge of the platform where I stood and jerked back. I guess even if you could fly, it would still seem high. She landed on the ground and crawled forward carefully to look again. After a few moments, she started to rise slowly into the air as she got used to the height, I guessed.
Finally, she turned to me. “Sorry. What did you need, Father?”
“Hmm, when my aura here finished expanding, I could feel a few different sensations on the edge of my awareness,” I explained and then asked, “I guess those are other dungeons?”
“I believe so. That’s what my memories are telling me.”
“Alright. Thanks, I just wanted to make sure. Want me to send you back?”
“No, I’ll hang around here for a bit,” she said and moved back to the edge of the platform.
I concentrated on the presence to the east, not sure what to expect but keeping my hopes up. As soon as I looked over at it, the presence responded in turn and seemed to focus on me. I thought about what to say for a minute before I sent a feeling of wanting to talk, not really sure what else to do.
“Hello?”
A moment later the world faded, then I was in something that felt like a room but wasn’t quite there. Half of the room had a modern feel, with smooth white walls and neon lights. A screen on the wall had an outside-like view of the world. A chair that if I saw it on Earth, I would think to be cybernetic energy, sat in the center of this side of the room. Made out of blueish energy, it pulsed strongly.
The other side of the room had a much more medieval feel to it. It looked like a throne room from a castle. There were torches and several other decorations that would seem cliché in a video game had I seen them in one. Several mounted heads on the walls made me cringe, as they weren’t just animals but heads of mortals as well.
I summoned my avatar’s image, instinctively knowing that it wasn’t actually here. I sat in the blue chair and waited for the other host to appear. A man soon appeared, dressed like a noble. He had silver hair and silver eyes. Two leathery wings framed his back.
“Hello,” I said again to make the first move.
“Greetings, young one. I am Vald. I have heard rumors of you from the adventurers who challenge my halls,” the man said as a glass of what I thought was wine appeared in his hand.
“All good things, I hope. Ah, I’m Regan.”
“Indeed, a lot of my regulars are talking of migrating to your halls. I’ve had to increase the rewards severalfold to keep them interested,” he said with a frown.
“Sorry,” I volunteered.
“Speaking of halls,” he said as he looked around me, “you have a particularly interesting decor behind you.”
I glanced around my side before I replied, “What can I say, I like the better things in life. Torches just rub me the wrong way.”
His frown deepened, but he continued. “What have you brought me here for?”
“Eh-h, nothing really. Just wanted to talk to a fellow dungeon,” I said honestly.
“Pointless. We are all rivals in this world. I have nothing else to say to you,” he said as his image started to fade.
Soon the room followed, and I stood back on the platform on my tower. I thought about talking to the other one to the south but decided I really didn’t care for another meeting like that, but there was the sensation to the north that I wanted to check before I stopped for today.
I turned my attention to the north and felt for the presence. It was harder to find, but after I increased my span a bit, the sensation from earlier reappeared. I attempted the “handshake” that I had done early with Vald. As soon as I reached out, red runes flared in my vision. I examined them for nearly an hour before I found a way around them. I don’t know who made the collars, but I should be thankful; the collars were almost like a Rosetta Stone for the necromancer runecraft.
I made my way through the “firewall” made of runes, all while copying the runes in my mental notebook. The room I saw earlier superimposed itself again with my side, while the other side took on a whole new image of a blackened bedroom. Chains wrapped around a chair made out of a tree. It looked like even here she was significantly restricted by the curse of the collar.
The girl appeared a moment later, and the slack on the chains disappeared as they drew taut around her. My figure appeared in my chair, and I looked her over, as it had been several months since that first vision, and it had happened so fast I wasn’t sure of her description.
It seemed my memory had served me well, though, as she looked just as I remembered her. She had long pinkish hair and would still seem quite young, in her middle or late teens. Her gauntlet arm seemed as deadly as before, but her sword was missing. It felt like her black iron crown had grown a little. She opened her eyes and looked over, and something seemed to speak to my soul at her struggle.
“Can you talk?” I asked.
She shook her head.
“I . . . see,” I said sadly. I didn’t know why, but I really wanted to hear her voice. I wasn’t sure how to ask her any questions that would be helpful with only yes and no.
I tried to see if I could get up and found that I could. I walked over to her, and her eyes got wider as I did. I grabbed her regular hand in mine and gripped it tightly.
“I promise to help you. I just need a little more time. I’m going to ask you some questions so that it will be easier for me to get here, is that ok?” I asked.
She stared at my hand for nearly five minutes as tears leaked from her eyes. I stayed silent as I let her have the time. I felt I could wait a lifetime for her, and I wasn’t sure why that didn’t bother me. Finally, she turned her eyes to mine and nodded.
“How many floors do you have?” I asked and started counting from ten. Finally, she nodded when I got to ninety floors. I continued. “Is that your max?” This got another nod. That would put her at tier two, level eight. That’s if she followed the same setup as I did.
I asked a few more questions but soon ran out of ones that could be answered with yes or no. I had already been there for nearly an hour, but I decided it was alright to stay for a while longer. I could still sense my dungeons, and I thought that she could use the company of someone who was actually trying to help her instead of controlling her.
I kept holding her hand, as she seemed to enjoy it. I would have stroked her hair, but I wanted to avoid touching the chains in case it alerted someone to my presence. I told her of my life on this world so far, and she seemed riveted the whole time, which made me happy. Finally, after another hour I felt it would be dangerous to continue for much longer, so I said that we would meet again.
She looked incredibly sad but nodded. I smiled and maneuvered around the chains to stroke her cheek. “Don’t worry. I will come for you! The name’s Regan. Alara.”
She started to cry again when I said her name, and I wiped the tears as best I could before I made my way back to my side of the room. I let the connection fade, and my body followed suit. I waved as I slowly vanished from the room. When my view returned, I was once again on the platform of my tower, the sun noticeably lower.
I frowned as I thought about the people who could enslave a being like that. Sure, I had enslaved Wrakras and Julie, but they were still allowed to move around and do some of the things they liked. Alara was completely restrained and restricted in what looked like every aspect. I swore I would make whoever had done this pay.
I turned and looked at the mountains that blocked my path. I had thought about using an airship to get over them, but I feared the altitude was too much for the technology. I mentally looked to the tunnel that was seeming to take far longer than I had originally planned for. It seemed that it was my best bet, but I needed to speed up the work. I was still using the brute miners to carve a path through the mountain. It seemed like it was time to upgrade them.
I thought up the next model that I had studied while in my robotic student days. The ECH would be a good step up. They were more versatile and would be stronger in case activities got dangerous outside the mountain. I set the upgrade to “take” effect, as I wanted to see if having the evolutionary path would allow the automaton to upgrade without my direct influence or an outside source.
