Chapter 88

AN: Unedited. Enjoy!
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The Dungeon, Medea Island, The Kalenic Sea

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I couldn't ignore it anymore.

I'd spent a few hours watching Kataren, trying to figure out what was going on with my new connection to her without any 'active' investigation. She went about her day, starting with washing up with some... traded soap? Huh. I tried to be respectful, and avert my attention from her body as I focused on her mind.

Once she'd finished cleaning herself I moved on to more pointed tests. Specifically, I decided to test if she still had that AT field by poking at it with mana. As the tendril of mana passed the five-yard mark with no change in my ability to control it, I slowed it down. Four yards. Three yards. Two yards. One yard. Two feet. One foot. Six inches...

She moved unexpectedly, eyes suddenly narrowed at the middle distance, and the tendril made contact.

Kataren gasped as the mana in the tendril rushed into her. It was very little mana, more like a string, but It was nonetheless a connection. The same as any I had with my other monsters. Well, that seemed definitive.

It's a pleasure to finally talk to you personally, Kataren.

"C-creator?" She asked aloud, looking around the empty room. "I... I can hear you in my head?"

Of course. Did you think your little declaration would have no consequences? You forsook humanity, and in doing so swore yourself to me. It seems to have... removed... the strange affect humans normally have on my mana. Did you know that all humans, not just guilders, disrupt my control? It's one of the reasons why I can't just claim you, as I've done for every other animal to enter my dungeon.

"That- The Goddesses' protection?" Kataren said. She stumbled, then leaned against and slid down the nearby wall. "I- It's gone?"

Evidently. You feel no different to me now as any of my Children. Could you explain this... protection?

"I... It's an old tale." Kata stuttered, obviously overwhelmed.  Though, she seemed to get a handle on herself as she continued, "When the Goddess of Life birthed everything in the land, she favored us above all the others. When She noticed how mana would warp and change everything she'd made, she went to the God of Light, and the Goddess of Love. Together, they wove a protective spell, to let us keep our forms and protect us from those who would try to change us."

Hmm. So it's divine in nature... no wonder I could never get past it.

"W-what are you going to do to me?"

Hm? Oh! Well, I have a few ideas to improve upon the human form, but without your permission I'd never push them on you. That'd be immoral. I'm sure you've heard how I always ask my Children for their consent?

"I have, but... you know they'd never say no to you, right?"

Much to my regret. Yes, I do know. They trust me absolutely, and it's a heavy weight on my mind. I could feel Kata mulling over that. I kept out of her thoughts, though.

"What improvements would you make?" She eventually asked. If I could, I'd have blinked in surprise.

Well, as a 'Platinum' guilder, your body has already grown beyond what is possible for a normal human to achieve. But I would say... it's done it very inefficiently. Your ligaments, muscles and tendons are tough, but not quite enough to keep up with your response time. I'm sure you've noticed that, when in battle, you notice things faster than you can react to them? It's a product of how you humans develop. Your manacores restrict your growth, in a way, to preserve your form.

I can break you past that limit. Even Guilders grow old and die, yes? I can fix that. Your bones are still made of calcium and carbon. By adding metal, I could make them even stronger. As with everything else. Heck, I could even connect you to a Respawn Crystal. You'd be immortal, but you'd be limited by the size of the crystal. It'd only let you respawn so strong.

"I..." She broke in, then trailed off. "This is... I-!"

Ah. I apologize. I'll give you time to think on my offer. There's no rush. But! I would like to make another offer. This one is completely separate to the one to change you for the better. I gave her a few minutes to pull herself together.

"Your... other offer?"

I've negotiated with Guildmistress Layla Losat to aid in the defense of the Island. In return, I get a voice on the surface. I would like you to be that voice.

"What... what would being your 'voice' entail?" She asked. Well, it was a fair question.

You would act as my... diplomat. Advocate for my interests among the Duke's council. You'd be responsible for spreading awareness of the sentience and personhood of my Children amongst the guilders. I have no illusions of their willingness to give up delving, not when they gain so much from it, but make it clear there are alternatives to killing everything in their paths. And that doing so would have consequences.

"You'd let me leave the dungeon?" She blurted out, latching on to a very small part of my explanation. I chuckled warmly, and let her hear it.

Indeed. I'd be sending guards with you, to protect you from others just as much as keep an eye on you. You have earned a measure of trust, but it's not unconditional. As my Voice, you would be allowed to roam the surface of Medea Island, but not leave it's shores. Your guards would be a mix of my Children. A Capriccio, A Minotaur, a Scorpan and a Drake-kin.

"Could the Drake-kin be Huea?" Kata asked immediately, and I hummed in thought.

No. Beyond that I have another task for Miss Greyscale, she is far from the most capable Drake-kin in combat. I have another in mind, for this task. You could visit her, or send her letters, but she will not be joining your retinue. Think on my offers. Call for me when you've made up your mind, I'll hear you.

I let my presence retreat, making sure she was aware of how a small piece of my awareness remained behind, in the corner of her mind. I had work to do.

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The Experimental Chambers, The Fifth Floor, The Dungeon

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Huea Greyscale stared at the misshapen core, studying the growing crystal which jutted out from the crack. "This was the core of Hallmark?" She asked aloud. None of the other researchers responded as they went about tidying and reorganizing the area. With The Creator returned, he'd granted access to this area to the more critical thinking of the Drake-kin, as a far more appropriate place to study and produce things such as their new teleport crystals than a building on the edge of town.

It was. The Creator replied, His presence a great comfort to her. Wave pulled it from the body himself. After watching the memories of those who fought him, this injury seemed to have had quite the affect. Some things can be explained away, but the lack of control he displayed over his emotions after Tear threw him down those stairs... Before that point, he was bloodthirsty, yes, but never to his own expense. It seems to have affected his emotions and decision making, but it's only a theory. As you can imagine, I'm unwilling to test it.

Huea shuddered. "No argument here. He was more Monster than we are." The Creator hummed, and Huea returned to her inspection. This core was interesting for more than just it's unique condition. She blinked, and when she opened them again the world was alight with strings and streams and rivers of mana flowing throughout the room. She took a deep breath, limiting her perception to just a few feet around her. She focused on the core, and saw.

Since being given this power, Huea had inspected almost every core they had in storage. Altered, and unaltered alike. The unaltered kept a lingering echo of their mana, which had been overwritten in the changed and charged ones. Those held the imprint of The Creator's mana throughout, even after being drained of said mana.

Hallmark's core was different; It held more than just the lingering remnants of his mana. The Creator claimed He hadn't injected any of His own mana yet, which meant this shifting, glowing mass of mana, dim and sluggish though it was, had to have come from Hallmark

I'm going to try something. The Creator relayed to her. I'm going to make a connection with the core. Huea nodded, and opened her perception a bit more, watching as a string of mana entered her vision. The bright string of pure mana cautiouslly approached the core, then made contact. The mana inside the core twitched, then started thrashing about.

The string retreated quickly, and Huea waited with baited breath for The Creator's insight.

Well, that's... interesting. He eventually stated. The mana within the core refused to settle as it had before. It moved, tested the confines of it's core. It stayed far from the crack, however, remaining on the smooth, unbroken surface opposite. It would seem... Hallmark's soul was trapped within his core, instead of passing on with his death. The Creator shared. Huea's eyes widened.

"That.. is his soul?"

No. It's whatever mana remained in his core. Wave no doubt absorbed a fair amount, and the rest is somewhere amongst my Accretion disk. Manavision may be incredible, but it doesn't let you see souls, Huea. She shrunk into herself slightly, embarressed. I recently... came into the ability to see souls. I've refrained from using it much, but i can say with confidence that his soul remains in that core. Huea, I am making a new alcove for this core. Please place it there.

Huea picked up the core, wincing as the mana and SOUL inside wriggled. She blinked, and let her manavision fade. As always, the world seemed... lesser. Less vibrant. Less... real. She shook her head, and moved to the Core Storage room. True to His words, an alcove was being carved from the stone. Huea waited patiently, and no more than a minute later it was done. She placed the core between the cradling hands, and stepped back once again.

As soon as she did so, she felt the tingle of mana against her skin. She blinked her manavision on, and watched as an enchantment wove itself into existence around the alcove. She struggled to comprehend it's purpose, but soon felt the guiding hand of The Creator, pointing out what each part did, and how to feel their intents for herself.

It was a ward, designed to protect the core. It would keep unwary drake-kin from touching it by convincing them it was unimportant, and that they had far more important duties to attend to than looking over here.

Huea blinked. Right! She had that thing The Creator had told her to do! As she turned to leave, she blinked again. Wait. What? She was already doing...

Ah, my apologies Huea. I've exempted you from the Ward. I'm sure that was disorienting.

"It was... quite intrusive. This is necessary, Creator?" Huea blanched, realizing she'd just questioned if The Creator's judgement was sound. "I'm sorry, Creator, I meant no off-"

There is no need to apologize, Huea. The Creator interrupted her, mid-apology. He sounded... Happy? No need to apologize at all. Yes, I do believe it necessary. After all, we now have access to a human soul. Who knows what could happen if someone unprepared touched it? Perhaps they could find themselves possessed! We just don't know. In the meantime... Could you have someone fetch Hallmark's remains? I have an idea...

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The Dungeon, Medea Island, The Kalenic Sea

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I unfocused on the Fifth floor and let my presence spread out across the dungeon once again with a pleased hum. There was still so much to address; so many problems that cropped up in my absence, that I was finding it hard to list them all.

The Fifth floor needed one more adjustment. The castle had become largely irrelevant, with the delvers beelining right for the boss's tower. This needed to be changed. Taking inspiration from some of the most difficult games of my old world, I created a labyrinthine path through the castle. It went up towers, across bridges, over rooftops, down into literal dungeons and through sewers. There were shortcuts my monsters could access and, after some thought, I decided to add more monsters.

The Shadow Golems would continue to haunt the dark places of the castle, with their Spirit acting as a mini-boss. That reminded me, I needed to create an island for them as well. Something to think about. The Stone Golems I brought more into prominence, having them shape themselves as statues and gargoyles and positioned all over the castle. In order to fool Isid's manavision, I had all the real statues saturated with mana in such a way that it was difficult to tell the difference. There were signs; differences in mana density, the way the mana moved through the spirit's bodies, and more. But that moment of hesitation could be vital.

Their Spirit would also be a miniboss, this one would guard the courtyard before the Metal Spirit's tower.

I brought a particular clan of Ratten from the Fourth, this one festering with poison and disease, and set them up under the castle. I gave their clan head a boss-level respawn crystal, declaring he'd act as another miniboss. They were dissapointed to be departing the constant war on the Fourth, and I wondered on what to do about that. Another thing to add to the list.

Three minibosses seemed like enough, but now I worried I'd made the castle too difficult. I decided to make certain shortcuts accessible after one of the bosses was defeated, to bypass their section. They would still need to pass through golem- and ratten-filled sections, but they wouldn't need to fight the minibosses again.

Finally, I littered the metal golem's tower with lesser golems. These of base Iron and Copper, and wielding a variety of crushing, slashing and piercing weapons.

In one final rework, I filled the castle with carvings and left a few 'artifacts' to reward those that indulged their sense of exploration. Effort should be rewarded, after all.

I went back up through the dungeon from the Fifth, inspecting each floor. The Fourth was still filled with War and only War. I expanded the tunnels more, giving the Ratten plenty of space to expand. Hopefully some space would have the place feeling less crowded.

On the Third... I was surprised.

I watched a duel between one of my Kobold Warriors and a Gold Guilder. Both wielding swords, they moved smoothly, confidently, with neither having a decisive advantage. It was... like watching two knights who'd trained together for years. Both knew their opponent's style intimately, and could confidently anticipate and intercept every attack, avoiding every feint.

Eventually, the Guilder knocked the Kobold back, inflicting a shallow cut across the monster's chest. The Kobold took a deep breath, raising one hand to it's wound. The human... let him? The Kobold nodded, sheathing his sword, and I felt him deactivate his part of the enchantment he was tied into! I had no idea they could even feel it, let alone activate it beyond dying!

The Guilder and Kobold exchanged a solid forearm handshake, then the human turned and joined his four party-mates, who had been observing from the side this entire time. The party turned and left, then the Kobold returned to his living area, behind a wall that parted when he touched it.

I thought about the whole scene for a bit, wondering about the implications. Having an idea, I took a closer look at the minibosses of this floor, and noted they'd all surpassed the soft-caps the respawn crystals should have imposed. There was some kind of gentleman's agreement, here. At some point, the Kobolds must have talked to the guilders, and made an arrangement. Duels, one-on-one, to first blood. The Kobolds could continue to grow in strength, while still getting experience in combat.

A few questions later, and my theory was confirmed. At first, the Kobolds threw themselves at my mercy, for not fighting to the death. I waved it off. This was a Good Thing. I insisted they continue the practice, and If they ever found themselves tiring of the constant duels and wished to move on, I'd happily ascend them into Drake-kin. If they were thinking of such a thing, though, They would need to train up a replacement. They could select a 'squire' or 'apprentice' from among the villages.

I left the Second and First alone, for now. They were running smoothly, and i couldn't think of anything to improve them at the moment. I did get a few Crabs to travel to the Eleventh, though. I thought the crabs would do well down there.

That left the 'Zeroth' floor. I let my awareness roam the ocean around the Island, checking in on the monsters. The area was already pretty bio-diverse before, but now it's jumped a whole order of magnitude! The Leviathan, Sea Serpent and Kraken were doing well. I wondered about connecting them to respawn crystals, but decided against it. The size their crystals would need to be boggled the mind. I'd just raise a new one if one died, or perhaps make them mates, to make the whole thing more 'organic.'

The shark and large fish population was equivalent to the increased number of smaller fish, which meant there were dozens of every conceivable species, with more coming through the current I'd diverted. A larger portion of the current had been diverted my way, but the main channel hadn't been moved any more. I let out a sigh of relief at that. I was already irreversibly altering oceans. Disrupting them completely would be disastrous.

I left the 'Zeroth' pleased. I'd be ready for this invasion fleet. The only thing to wonder now was...

How many people would find themselves beset by sudden bouts of thalassophobia? The ocean was deep and full of horrors, after all...

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