Underworld - Book 4 - Chapter 20

No one was at the outer perimeter to meet us as they had been on our return from our last trip, so we headed toward the Bridge. A dozen rooms later we came to the last one before reaching the middle perimeter and it was still void of people—including those that should have been here to intercept any mobs that were being attracted by our Dungeon Aura. Turning the corner to enter the Bridge, I hear hushed voices just on the other side of the wall waiting. Even though I expected it, when I saw all of Sanctuary there waiting for us, my chest tightened in unexpected delight.

They shouted together to welcome us.

It shouldn’t have been possible to feel emotions in the same way for my chest wasn’t flesh and blood but made of light and energy in this state. The swelling of my eyes was a sensation I also felt, even if it was impossible for me to shed tears.

Russ was with Oliva on the left with Travis and Kylie. Across from them was Audrey and Skyler with the transformed Clarissa. She wasn’t a rock lady as I’d imagined, but the tone of her skin had changed. It wasn’t dark, but closer to a light tan mixed with the grey tint of limestone. Her blond hair was the biggest change. It was metallic platinum and thicker than before. She had it tied back to keep it under control. I gave her a big grin, but she had the same response as those that hadn’t seen us yet in our new forms. Everyone was piled in behind those in the front and just as surprised.

Aeris quickly reverted to her Sprite Form to help reassure everyone it was us. I didn’t currently have the option. Might as well inform them now. “Hey everyone! We’re really excited to finally be home. I can’t use my human form in Sanctuary because my Light Magic would give us away. This form focuses on the energy aspect of Light Magic but reduces the amount of Life Force I’m using. This Solar Form makes me harder to track.”

“Don’t be so modest, dude,” Skyler said, “You’re the first of us to go Super Saiyan. Own it!”

I was left mouthing clarification. The laughter was too loud for anyone to hear me anyway, so I stopped trying.

We were soon crowded by everyone wanting to greet us up close and to see what my Solar Form felt like. Aeris was accommodating enough to change back to her Wisp Form as well.

Even if I wanted to feel Olivia’s bark-like armor or rub a few strands of Clarissa’s hair between my finger, I couldn’t feel them in the same way while I was a Solar Mage.

“Lunchtime!” Richard yelled from the other side of the Bridge. His words smacked me in the face with the sonic wave empowering them. It seemed no one was going to be left the same.

My reanimated golem of wind and fire, Firaestus, stood off to the side. His head almost reached the stone of the second floor. I waved as we passed, and he stood there as uncaring as ever. Clarissa had repaired the room, leaving it in just as good of condition as it was before our fight with the minotaurs.

Mel was the only one to stay behind. He stood there with his arms cross in black gear from neck to foot and his red hair half standing on end. I saw the strands of dark magic reaching out from his fingers into the outer perimeter. With a final tap of his fingers against the back of his arms, he was done commanding his minions into place and then hurried to catch up.

Russ and Travis were chatting my ears off when he reached us. Travis stepped aside to let Mel stand next to me. I told the three of them of the mini-belly’s we’d found. More directly, I let Mel know that Richard had their locations already.

I waited for Zorik to join us before I took my first bite of stew. The pork was running low and George wanted another week before we slaughtered another cave swine. He had most of the sows pregnant and wanted to make sure he kept enough of the boars alive long enough to limit inbreeding as much as he could. We had no idea which of the swine were the most closely related, so he did the best he could. He’d already confiscated two additional halls for the new litter and had them cleared out.

Everyone sat close together at five round tables right in front of the kitchen. The grumpy dwarf was there stuffing himself, but, instead of sitting alone, Russ was next to him and they were discussing blacksmithing. A dwarf that was giving advice for free? Either he was starting to feel like the freeloader he was, or Russ had worked out some deal between with him.

I didn’t do much talking, but a lot of listening. There was still plenty of anxiety to go around, but everyone was in a cheerful enough mood to be a little too loud for polite company. They laughed easily, argued, and were quick to let things go—even the shiest among us, Lydia, was in deep conversation about killing giant spiders. Chris sat next to her with an ever-present grin, not saying much, but content.

“So, you have plans on building a weapon?” Skyler said, from his place across the table. The closest conversations stopped as everyone wanted to listen in.

I’d already told my lead group the basic plan, and construction had already begun while Aeris and I were gone. The materials we’d stripped from the Wraith’s Tomb were already here but putting the machine together hadn’t yet begun. “Yes. One that stores some of the energy collected by our dungeon and directs it.”

“Like a death ray, or beam cannon?”

“Yeah, actually.”

“How powerful are we talking?”

“I’m not sure. The Wraith used a number of mana batteries to store excess mana he collected that his tomb didn’t need to sustain itself. He powered his massive vault doors with it, a spirit projector, and four elemental pillars. Each pillar summoned a Master Elemental and the vault had enough power behind it to make a full-sized projection himself into a physical state that was arguably more powerful than Waldemar and Lady Contessa combined. Then the elemental pillars gave him additional mana and access to their elements.… It was an insane amount of power and he didn’t use it all at once because he was trying to preserve it.”

“And I suspect you want to try to use it all at once?” Audrey said, looking from me, back to Skyler as if she wasn’t surprised.

I answered with a grinned.

“And how are you going to get Mistress Nava to stand still so that you can shoot her with it?”

“Glue. I was going to ask Lydia if she can make us glue strong enough to hold a mistress level monster.”

Audrey gave me the stare of death. The red in her irises from her Fire Magic seemed to come alive. “You’re as obnoxious as ever, Mr. Glow Stick.” A smile slipped through beneath her glare. 

We all shared a laugh.

“I’m actually still working on that part of the plan.” I had to admit.

“Don’t worry about it.” She replied. “You can turn into an Incubus right? Just do that and tell her you’ll become her new pet. Then, when she comes up to kiss you, or eat you, or whatever mistresses do, shoot her in the back. If you let Aeris hold the trigger then there’s no chance that you’ll miss.”

Glancing at Aeris out of the corner of my eye, I saw her in Wind Sprite Form and could have sworn she had gone paler than she already was.

Seeing movement across the table, I turned and saw Skyler’s face. He was trying to hold back his laughter and was about to blow. He’d already held his breath too long. Gasping for air, he cackled like a hyperventilating walrus.

Audrey looked up at him in embarrassment, but an equal amount of pleasure with his response. They were opposites in so many ways that it made them adorable together. He was large and goofy like a lovable mutt, and she was tiny and clever like a cat—maybe a demon cat.

Conversations continued well after everyone was finished eating. It turned into a small holiday of sorts and everyone seemed thankful for the break. I didn’t need to remind everyone that we needed to get back to work. A few hours later, the party was over. It had been over too quickly.

***

Stopping at Lydia’s, Aeris and I unloaded all the things we’d found for her. Some of the stuff, like the three-fingered mushrooms, she’d asked for. But other things, like the yellow flowers with red clam-like shell in its center we’d picked just because we thought they looked neat, and she might find some use for them.

Speaking of the last flower, Lydia seemed to have a basic idea of what it was. “This is an Enigma Bud. It’s a seed that can become any number of different things, depending on what it eats. When it falls from the flower it will roll around and eat anything it comes in contact with. After it’s had its fill, it buries itself and begins to grow...”

“Is that good?” Aeris said, growing concerned as Lydia placed it close to her face so that she could get a closer look at it. It was only two inches from her nose.

“Maybe. I’ll have to research what to feed it. I’ve only read about them in passing.”

We left her there to study it. I had to remind Aeris I could grow back Lydia’s nose if I had to before she would leave.

Stopping by Russ’s, he had news. Standing shirtless and dripping with sweat, his apron was folded down over the front of his trousers. He held up a very basic looking iron club. Its handle wasn’t even wrapped in leather.

“What is it?” I said, knowing it had to be a big deal despite its unpolished look.

“I figured it out.” He said proudly. “It’s a lesser version of Waldemar’s axe, but this one only adds +1 damage for everyone 25 points in Strength. It isn’t much, but this is my first successful experiment.” He tossed it to me.

I snagged it from the air. There was still enough physicality to my form to allow me to wield it. My Strength was basically cut by 70% in Solar Form, but after a few practice swings I could feel the club’s energy interacting with my own. “It feels like it’s swinging itself.”

“That’s not entirely inaccurate. When wielded, it feeds off the force you use and pushes against anything that resists its momentum. It somehow forms a connection with the wielder, so you are the only thing it doesn’t resist.”

“That’s incredible.”

“It really is.”

Bummed about having to pull him away from his pet project, I brought up the reason for our visit. “You ready to get to work on the… You know.” We hadn’t come up with what to call it officially and I didn’t want to use one of the names we’d been throwing around.

“Mana Blaster? Oh am I ever.”

I smiled through my cringe. “Great. We’re heading over to get Clarissa next. Meet you there?”

“I’ll be there.”

***

We found Clarissa working in the Pits. What had been little more than a giant chamber with a stone path down the middle and two deep, waterless moats to either side, was now a nearly finished kill box. There were two levels along the sides of the room that were cut off from the middle walkway. The bottom floor had been there originally, but the second floor was entirely Clarissa’s doing. Both had walls with numerous portholes for firing magic and projectiles.

Confident enough that my Crimson Incubus wings wouldn’t give away our position, I cast them. Solar Mage made me weigh very little, so it took almost nothing to lift me into the air where Aeris was waiting for me. We made it to the center of the room, just above the second story and admired her work. I began spinning to get a full picture of what she’d accomplished.

Quake, my other guardian golem, was sitting Indian style at the bottom of one of the pits, waiting for something to happen. He didn’t need entertainment or anything to pass the time, but I still felt pity for his state of existence. It felt—boring.

The wall of the first and second floor reached to the bottom of the second floor and then shot up from there all the way to the ceiling. It was many stories up. Clarissa had outdone herself. It was closer to the inner perimeter where she was still finishing up. The wall wasn’t complete in the last quarter of the room on the left side if you were facing the outer perimeter. It was smart to leave it for last. If we were attacked before she finished, the enemy would have to make it most of the way through the room before they could get access to anyone that was lacking cover.

Our platinum-haired Earth Mage saw us and waved before heading down the stairs. We lost sight of her as she disappeared behind the wall of the first floor. She reappeared at the inner entrance of the room.

I followed Aeris as she swooped down and dropped my wings when we were a meter off the ground. Landing in a run, I slowed as we reached Clarissa and came to a stop.

She held up her hand in an awkward greeting.

“Great job.” Aeris said.

I echoed her approval. “It’s perfect.”

Sheepish as ever, Clarissa's eyes shot to the ground. She was still smiling, though. “So, you’re ready to see what we’ve done so far?” She said, changing the subject.

She led the way back into the inner perimeter. We’d already seen the closet-sized space she’d cleared out in the first room facing the entrance of the Pits. As we walked up, Khun appeared in the opening in his ghostly purple and was still dressed like a pirate—captain’s hat and all.

“Master.” He said, bowing his head.

“Hello Khun. What do you think of the machines I’ve brought you?” I replied.

“They’re incredible. Especially the mana batteries. I’ve been able to create diagrams of every part and I can create duplicates with enough DP.”

“Outstanding. What’s our current DP?”

“69,600.”

So we’d gained about 39,600 while we were gone for nine days, or 4,400 a day. Our Max was 140,000.

“Alright. Before we get started, what options do we have for the first problem?” I said, addressing Russ, Clarissa, and Khun who had been working on it for a week.

“The first problem is who to gather enough energy to construct and charge the mana batteries.” Khun said but leaving the answer to someone else.

Russ and Audrey shared a look. She nudged him to explain. “The first thing we could do is upgrade Khun’s Mana Refinement. We’d only need to wait three days to have the 80,000 DP to Rank it up to Rank D. That would earn us 8,800 a day. Even then, Khun has estimated each mana battery would hold 100 DP worth of mana and we have 8 batteries.”

“What does 100 DP of mana translate to?” I said, looking at Khun.

“This is a rough estimate because there is mana lose from inefficiencies as DP is used,” he said, hesitant to go on. Seeing us all waiting, he continued. “But in a practical sense, 100 DP equals 1,000,000 MP.”

Russ gave a long whistle.

I cranked up Mana Sight so that I could do some quick thinking and keep the others from having to wait on me. Somehow, we needed to figure out a fast way to fill 8 mana batteries with a total of 800 DP, or 8,000,000 MP as quickly as we could. At our current rate, even if we upgraded Khun’s Mana Refinement, it would take two and a half years. Twice that at our current rate.

“Then upgrading our Mana Refinement won’t do.” I said, seeing Khun’s disappointment. “What are our other options?”

“We cheat.” Clarissa said in all seriousness.

“I like that answer. Tell me what you have in mind.”

“We have no idea if it’s going to work, but the plan is to connect the batteries directly to Khun and have him form new mana channels so that all of the mana Sanctuary is gathering can be pushed into the batteries all at once.” Russ said. “The problem is that if the mana flow stops for even a second, the structural soundness of Sanctuary could fracture. The ceilings could literally fall down on our heads. Such a surge of mana could also fry the batteries.”

“How much mana are we talking about here?”

Everyone turned to Khun.

He was waiting with the answer. “It takes 3,870 DP a second for Sanctuary to sustain itself.”

It was as if everyone lost the ability to breathe. That meant 38,700,000 MP a second flowed through our dungeon to keep it in one piece. I suddenly understood Khun’s frustration with his low rank. He had all that power at his fingertips, and he wasn’t capable of tapping into it—yet.

“Trying to flood the batteries with that much mana would certainly fry the batteries and probably blow us up before the ceilings had a chance to fall.” Aeris said.

There had to be options. “Can we just use a fraction of that?”

“Yeah. Like just from the outer perimeter” Russ added.

“You could,” Khun replied, “But doing so would endanger the entire area and possible trap everyone inside. There is another option.” Taking a deep needless breath, he continued. “If the Maze had its walls and ceilings reinforced, you could use the mana catch for that room to charge the batteries. It generates 86 DP a second. Even then it would only last seconds.”

There was a disconnect. “If it was reinforced, why wouldn’t it last longer?”

“The only way the Mana Catch would hold without cracking is if the reinforcement was perfect. In order to do that, the entire room would have to be filled in with stone. But even the hardest rock would be compressed under the pressure. If the Mana Catch cracks, it would have to be repaired before you could use it again.”

I turned to Clarissa. She was already trying to come up with a solution. I could see it face. When she noticed I was looking at her, she squirmed a little under my gaze at first, but ultimately looked me in the eye. “If we reinforce the Maze, it may last long enough to charge the batteries, but we could lose that Mana Catch in the process. But if we could find a way to reinforce it for good, we would have a way of quick charging our DP.”

Khun was quick to answer. “That is correct, Master, but—”

“How long would it take you to fill the Maze with rock?”

“Give me a day.” Clarissa replied.

I raised my brow in question.

“Moving large quantities of rock is easier than precision work.”

“Do you think you can find a way to reinforce it for good?”

“I’ll have to study rock in the surrounding area that isn’t reinforced by the dungeon, but there is a good possibility.”

“Good. Do your best.”

“Khun. Look for a way to salvage the Mana Catch even if it does fracture. Maybe segment it out.”

He nodded that he would.

“Okay. Have we figured out the Mana Converter?” I said, looking to Russ. “Can we convert the Ice, Wind, and Nature elements in the surrounding earth to the other five elements, since each of our batteries stores a different element.”

“Yeah. That’s the easy part.” Russ said, holding up his hand as if to slow us down. “But it has the same problem as the batteries. I could blow with too much mana at once. The converter could blow. The batteries could blow. The lens could even melt when the mana reaches it.”

Perhaps it was impossible. Or, maybe we could use a small area of the outer perimeter so that it was much less DP per second.

As everyone was trying to think of a solution, Russ spoke up. “I guess I could tell you guys how I’m going to fix it.”

“What?” We all said at once.

He seemed awfully pleased with himself. “Okay. Okay. Just imagine the biggest club you’ve ever seen…”

***

An hour later, I found myself pushing Light Magic into the dirt to replenish our dwindling crop. The seeds we used had been taken from the Light Magic infused wheat that I’d grown before I left to face the wraith. My mind was as far from what I was doing as could be.

I wanted to awaken the Wraith and ask his opinion on our plan, but that would cost DP that we couldn’t waste. Khun would need it for creating new mana channels and possible recreating a mana machine or two for our mana cannon project.

There were so many things that could go wrong. Its complexity complicated every step. We’d discussed just sending a full second of DP straight to the lens of the Spirit Projector, but that was almost guaranteed to end in disaster. Because it was designed for the 8 batteries, it was reasonable that it was able to handle a maximum of 8,000,000 mana per second. Probably less. If we tried to flood it with ten times that… No, that wasn’t an option. The plan to send all 8,000,000 MP at once to fire it at Mistress Nava was already a risk. Who knew how much damage that much mana could cause? 

Hopefully enough to kill the old hag.

At least Russ seemed confident that he could add a limiter just before it reached the mana converters.

When Audrey had joked that Aeris should be the one to pull the trigger, she’d been more right than she knew. Besides myself, Aeris was probably the only one that could survive an explosion if something went wrong.

I’d thought Khun would be more excited about the plan, even if it could fail in a number of ways. He was about to get an additional 800 DP in storage and yet he was more worried about the loss of the Maze. If Clarissa found a way to reinforce the room indefinitely, then it was possible he could also get a huge jump in power. He’d likely jump up multiple ranks. Maybe he just didn’t like people messing with his dungeon. It was quite literally his body after all.

There wasn’t much for me to do besides give Russ and Clarissa my support. I would have to rely on them and prepare myself for when they accomplished the impossible. Either way, Mistress Nava wouldn’t be delayed forever. She, or some new minions of hers, would come looking. I had some planning to do.