Chapter 235 - Comfort and Discomfort

Nate relaxed as the water from the shower cascaded over him, washing away the salt and sweat. The blood and dirt from the battle had been removed days ago by the ocean water that they now floated on. Well, what his spatial anchor was floating on to be more specific. The Dungeon of The Shattering of Halureth was living up to its name, as the landmass they had been on was fractured in the wake of the Divine’s attacks. Nate and Kiri had ended up in the harbour, where Nate had managed to cobble together a raft using Multi Conceptual Material Shaping. He’d have preferred a boat, but none were left, likely used by the Calikex to flee the Holy City before its destruction. Then, using a Water Rune, Nate had effectively motorboated the three of them away from the rising plumes of smoke and what Nate suspected was the birth of a new volcano.

The result had left them adrift at sea and Nate had simply set up a spatial anchor on top of the raft, before they had taken to living in his ever expanding spatial zone. Kiri had admitted to losing four of her Soul Twins in the Dungeon Challenge and they had agreed to taking eight days to let her recover them all before seeking out the next Challenge. Thankfully, it was easy to see where it was, the Divines in the sky leading the way as they battled across the ocean towards what looked like a shallow reef in the far distance.

Eight days gave Nate time to work on a few projects and he’d been far from idle. Replenishing some material stocks for Conceptual Automated Existence was a given, and while it took one of his focuses, it required very little of his mental energy. He’d been hard at work designing, planning and preparing to make his first Divine item that incorporated a Divine rune. But designing, planning and preparing was all he could do on that front, as his Divine Energy remained firmly sealed until they left this Dungeon behind.

With two of his focuses taken, he still had three to spare and he’d gone to work on the one thing that would make everything more bearable. A comfortable home. The rain shower he now stood in was just one of his creations, and quietly, he was very proud of himself, both for the design and the complexity of the runes powering everything. He had Sigils for Cool, Heat, Water, Flow, Mana, Clean, Gentle, Transfer, Control and more. Combining them into a rain shower that was two metres wide and long had been the work of half a day but the results spoke for themselves as the warm, clean water dripped down onto him in a steady flow. He’d made it so that everything could be controlled from the water pressure to the temperature and the entire process just cost mana and not even that much. It might be slightly expensive to run back on Galle but still doable. Here, in the Wild Realm, it was so cheap he could run the thing endlessly and the mana collector would remain full. The only issue, for now, was removing the water. The incorporation of the Transfer Sigil was to pipe the water out of the physical drain and into a lake Nate had set aside. But that was only a temporary solution as eventually the lakebed he had created would be filled. Probably, anyway, depending on how quickly the space kept growing.

“Butler! More wine!” yelled Kiri from the other side of the room, hidden behind a flexible curtain made of kelp.

Nate smiled as Frick waddled in, the Familiar having given himself the appearance of a goblin butler, penguin-suit and all, carrying a glass of chilled wine.

“Coming your ladyship! Only the finest of vintages! Huzzah! Huzzah!”

Nate rolled his eyes, the smile still on his face. He had been a little concerned when Kiri had suggested waiting for eight days to recoup her Soul Twin stock. Not because he disagreed with the plan, in fact, he hated the idea of his sister putting herself in more danger than necessary. No, he’d been concerned because Kiri stuck in the spatial zone, as big as it was growing, was a recipe for disaster. All she could do was practise which would invariably lead to boredom, which was a precursor to her and Frick bickering. Instead, the moment she had seen Nate designing the shower she had begged for him to make her a bath. In her words “a room bath”, as it should be the size of a room. Nate had agreed, reusing his same runes with some small modifications to suit a bath, and then somehow Kiri had convinced Frick to pretend to be her butler. The pair had been at it for days now. As for the kelp curtains, Kiri had gone for a quick dive in the ocean to get those so they could separate the gigantic bathroom in half and both have some privacy.

Then there was the chilled wine. They had plenty of rations, but they had been acquiring some of their own food, mostly fish. To keep it fresh Nate had created a fridge and freezer. A small application of the Time, Life and Clean Sigils meant that beyond just cooling the food, it was kept fresh for longer and prevented bacterial growth or anything else that shouldn’t be happening to the food. The fridge and freezer were of course the size of walk-in wardrobes, with shelves to match, so the first thing Kiri had done was dump in a few barrels of wine she had brought along. 

Slowly but surely, he was converting the house inside his spatial pocket into a home. Coupled with the fact they both now had bedrooms along with the enchanted beds they had brought along. All that was left to do was create an area for relaxing and entertaining along with a proper kitchen and dining area. The kitchen was next on his list, again, at Kiri’s behest. Though, he couldn’t complain since she was doing all the cooking and while he teased her about it, he quietly admitted she was getting better. Maybe one day she’d catch up to her mother in that regard, or at least, so Nate hoped.

There were other things he had learned over the last few days. The first was when he’d waited on the floating raft while Kiri dived for kelp and to catch their dinner. He’d been out in the sun for hours, using the time to design runes while the fake sun of the Dungeon beat down on his pale skin. Given how much time he’d spent in the sun he had expected to develop a tan. Instead, he’d realised that his almost constant barrier, feeding off his Intent to protect himself, was preventing ultraviolet rays from reaching his skin. He’d tested the theory by shooting himself with a Light Rune repeatedly while using his Intent to empower the ultraviolet portion of the light created. The test had given him some other ideas, while also pointing out some weaknesses of his barrier. 

The second thing was the first of the Skills the System had claimed he needed for the Skill Synergy he was aiming for. He had gone over the results of defeating the second Dungeon Challenge, the notifications flickering before his eyes.

Accrued Mana applied to Secondary Class.

Level up…
Level up…
Level up…

Stats adjusted: +3 Endurance, +3 Constitution, +6 Intellect, +6 Creativity, +3 Willpower,
+6 Magic Control, +3 Channelling Speed, +6 Mana Reserve, +18 Free Stats

The Dungeon Challenge had awarded another three levels, which matched the first challenge. If the trend continued, by the time he and Kiri had finished the Dungeon they should have gained twenty levels at a minimum. The reason he didn’t expect it to be three per Challenge was due to the fact that every new level required a little more processed mana so while the rewards might be consistent, how far those rewards went would steadily decrease. Keeping with his plan he had invested all his Free Stats into Mana Absorption, the Stat was now his third highest Magical Stat, having risen from its original position of fifth. He’d also gained some Skill Levels. 

Spacetime Control 17 > 20
Gravity Manipulation 15 > 19
Simple Spatial Creation 9 > 16
Spatial Expansion 13 > 20
Spatial Anchors 15 > 20

None of his Runic Artist Skills had risen, though his sense of his Class Core told him that they could if he would just invest a unit of Divine Energy into them. He was looking forward to seeing how far each unit of Divine Energy went in terms of increasing his Divine Skills but that again, would need to wait till he was out of this Dungeon and his pool of Divine Energy was once more accessible to him. As for his Spatial Artist Skills, three were on the verge of evolution with the other two barely behind them. He expected that once he evolved them that some would start to synergise. Spacetime Control and Gravity Manipulation seemed like an obvious synergy and Spatial Expansion and Simple Spatial Creation did as well. Only Spatial Anchors was hanging out on its own for now. Though, he could see an argument for it synergising in the future, depending on what way he pushed the Skill. His Life Artist Skills on the other hand remained unused, all at level one as he refused to touch them until he’d achieved all the requirements set forth by The System to create the Skill he had envisioned for the Class. That thinking brought him to his newest Skill and he brought up the description before him.

Artistic Creations (L)
A Life Artist does not simply manipulate life, they craft and mold it until it is something worth noticing. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and what the Life Artist chooses to do is up to them, but all who gaze upon their creations, horrific or awe-inspiring, know that what they look upon is art. Concepts imparted into living things are more permanent, resisting changes endemic to life and evolution. Concepts imbued into living beings de-aspect five percent slower, increased by half a percent per Skill Level. This effect is further increased by Creativity divided by two hundred.

As promised, the Skill had been marked with an asterisk, and Nate had barely done more than glanced at his other options. The choice was simple, because in the end, his Path was more important than being more combat capable or more resilient or anything like that. The fact that the Skill had ‘Artistic’ in the name was not lost on him and he smiled to himself again, just happy that he was getting closer to his goal. The end result would perfectly align with his planned Divine item.

Stepping out of the shower he turned it off by brushing a single rune that sealed the entire runic structure off from the mana powering it. As the last dregs of water ran down the drain, he reached over to wrap himself in a warm towel. The rune behind it was permanently on and used a Heat, Life and Clean Sigils to both keep the towel warm and dry while cleaning it simply by its presence. Now, he just wished he had a Sigil for Cloud or Fluffy or maybe Soft so he could make them even more comfortable. He grinned. He had time.

“Going to get back to work,” he called to Kiri. “Send your butler if you need something.”

“Queen Kiri has everything she needs in here!” called Kiri, followed by the sound of a splash as his sister likely swam in the bathtub that could probably have been called a small pool.

Comfort, Nate decided, was its own reward.

*************

Ra’Tiki kneeled, his entire body filled with discomfort. Discomfort at the rigid position he was holding, discomfort at the rough grass spun carpet his knees rested on, but most of all, discomfort at the number of Elders who pinned him there with their gazes.

“Tell us again, First Rider,” asked Ra’Paki, the voice gentler than the looks of the other Elders.

“When Death’s Shadow took to the skies and roared his dominance, we knew we needed to investigate what would cause the Ancient to take notice of the far islands. We delayed our leaving for two days to make sure that the Ancient would not return, as we did not wish to insult him by sharing his skies.”

Ra’Tiki paused, noting the frowns of two of the Elders. As they remained silent, limiting their rebuke to their eyes, he pushed on. 

“I dispatched two teams of Igrit Riders and we scoured the far islands. It was Rider Ha’Jak who found the cause of Death’s Shadows appearance. On the island of Nozureth he identified two humanoids and a spirit making their way through the jungle. They reached the Sacred Trial of Nozureth and entered through the gateway. As soon as Ha’Jak informed me of what he had seen I returned to give words to the esteemed Elders while Ha’Jak remains in flight, gathering the Igrit Riders to return here.”

“Why did you not leave some Igrit Riders to watch the gateway to the Sacred Trial of Nozureth?” asked Elder Jin’Kahn, her flowing locks still black as night, despite her age. Ra’Tiki had always suspected it had to do with her Totem Beast. Her hair even reminded him of tentacles.

“I considered it, Elder, but decided that if these invaders were capable of facing the Sacred Trial with only two, it was too dangerous to leave Riders to monitor them. Ha’Jak was careful, watching them while keeping the sun at his back, blinding them to his presence. That would be hard to do at night and if they have any sort of night vision,” he paused here, glancing at Elder Rok’Nohn. “They would most certainly have been spotted. I am confident we could find them again, or at least track their path if they have a way to leave Halureth. I made my decision to save my Riders.”

“Not your Riders, Ra’Tiki. Our Riders. The Igrit Riders serve at the behest of the Council of Elders. Do not forget it,” stated Elder Rok’Nohn, brushing the black fur that adorned his shoulders as he snorted.

“We have heard your words,” Ra’Paki intoned, his grandfather saving him from further rebukes. “The Council of Elders will now deliberate on what is to be done. Wait outside, First Rider Ra’Tiki.”

Ra’Tiki stood, bowing to the Council before quickly making his exit. Standing outside, he looked over the beautiful city of Pinoreth, the City of Memory, as it abutted the coast, the gentle waves lapping beneath stilted walkways. The Council of Elders were not quiet as they began to argue over what action they should take, and to an extent, Ra’Tiki knew it was for his benefit, as his grandfather was the first to raise his voice. Ra’Tiki brushed a finger through the feathers in his hair as he tried to listen and learn the lesson Ra’Paki meant for him to learn.