World Sphere - 204 - Catching Up With Old Friends 

Chapter 204: Catching Up With Old Friends 

Aelyn had apparently heard from Bylura that Gareth was in the capital. I took the Maelstrom alone, and found Gareth in the capital at The Gentle Tauren talking with Broderick, the barkeep and owner. “Welcome, High Mage!” The innkeeper greeted me, causing Gareth to turn in his stool. Even though the stool was sturdy, it still protested my friend’s weight. Gareth had his ever-present grin on his face. It had been two weeks since I last saw him, but it felt like an eternity with all that had happened.

“Why did I have to come and find you, Gareth?!” I said, giving my friend a hug. He smelled of leathery cologne and sweat.

“I only arrived four hours ago, and I was just settling some accounts,” he said, chuckling. “I would have found you tomorrow. Broderick was updating me on the happenings in the Islands. Your dungeon has grown, and you are now running the Dungeon Academy in Aegis City. That is a remarkable turnabout for someone who didn’t want to delve into dungeons before we started Academy.” He was saying it jokingly, and we got a good laugh.

“Well, the Duskhunters are starting to map the Progenitor Dungeon’s evolutions and two new floors. You can talk to Remy or Talia if you want your team to participate in the cataloging.” I offered, and Gareth rubbed his short beard in thought.

“I haven’t talked with Talia in a while. I will stop in and see her,” he said with a lecherous smirk. “She still has a room at the Shiny Platinum?” I shook my head, seeing my friend hadn’t seemed to change.

“She has an apartment there and one at the Black Spire as well. I think her grandmother hired her to teach a few classes at the Dungeon Academy, too, but the apartments for instructors have not been completed. How about you? How has Dungeon Heart been faring?” I asked.

“We are an almost profitable investment for Princess Amelia,” he said happily. It had been a few months since she had chosen to be Gareth’s delve patron. I think she did it to spite me since I had refused her advances. Although, I would have to say I preferred dealing with Amelia over Loriel.

“How long are you back for?” I asked.

“Three months. Princess Amelia is looking to establish her own Frost Mead production in Marstom, so I need to supply her from Icy Vault here.” Gareth said while Broderick put a mug in front of me.

“Seems beneath your skill,” I said reflexively and winced a little at the insult. All the ingredients for the potent beverage brew were found on the first level of the dungeon.

Gareth just smiled, “Well, if we hit our quota, anything else we take from the dungeon is ours to sell. Amelia is putting together a second delve team in Marstom to take over the harvest operations here, but until then, I am tied to Skyholme.”

I think Gareth would be shocked when he tried to get delve slots for the dungeon. My Academy had most of the rights, and we were no longer selling our surplus. I didn’t feel the need to tell him right now. We settled into a conversation over a meal at the bar. Broderick hovered nearby, joining the conversation when appropriate. Gareth appeared to be doing well for himself, and we agreed to meet in two days at the Shiny Platinum so I could give him a tour of the Academy. He really did have more than a few debts to settle in the Islands. At least he was smart enough to zero them out while he had some gold.

I took the Maelstrom back to the Shiny Platinum. Kiara was upset I had not taken her with me and pouted by not communicating through the mind link. Remy was hungover, so I spent some time in the kitchens at the Shiny Platinum. The menu only offered twenty-three options, and I refused to change that. So, my day was spent with the cooks trying to convince me of replacements. Our menu revolved around sandwiches and fries, and I would not move away from that. Still, it gave me a feeling of normalcy with the staff not being intimated by me.

Remy found and dragged me to the hangar where Rippon was already working. We had a modest supply of varied dungeon woods for construction stored here. The cats climbed atop the Maelstrom to keep watch while we worked. Remy wanted me to artifice the dungeon skyship first. This was a mini-skyship that I could store in my dimensional space.

There were a lot of massive dungeons out there, and this would save a tremendous amount of time moving within them. Dungeons were aware and typically wouldn’t allow delvers to bring in large harvesting equipment. If you tried to, you would find the device missing after you passed through the entrance. By storing the skyship in my dimensional closet, I was bypassing the dungeon’s chance to steal it. The dungeon might not be happy with me in the end, but I figured it would not discipline me as long as I didn’t weaponize the skyship. At least, that is what Relik believed.

The dungeon transport was painted a glossy black and was sleek, looking like a small predator. It looked roughly like a hawk with its wings folded in a dive. I was very impressed with the effort the two had put into it. As I traced the runes, Rippon and Remy began work on the taxi-skiffs. Rippon was an old shipwright with a wood-shaping spell. He had built skyships for decades and had fallen into my employ when I built the Maelstrom. He complained a fair amount about his age but always got the job done.

I was only using mithril and gold on the small skyship. The aether crystal was large enough to power a modest-sized skyship. It wouldn’t be as fast as the Maelstrom, but faster than most skyships. I added some aether shielding to the runic work as planned and ended there. Bleiz had gotten me to eat but was impatiently waiting for me to join him for some weapons practice.

While I joined Bleiz, Remy went to alert skyship traffic control about the black mini-skyship. While I didn’t really want to reveal its presence, it should not matter too much if I only used it in the dungeons in the future. On the positive side, they would get used to seeing small skyships darting around the islands. My transports would

Bleiz was not easy on me. We agreed not to use any spells or artificed equipment. We were equally matched, with perhaps the advantage going to Bleiz. Of the contests, he won about four out of five. “You have been practicing,” I spat, sweat out of my mouth.

“And you have not,” he growled. “You have not challenged yourself in some time, leaning on your spells. There are areas in the Sphere that are void of aether. If you are going to Elespolis, you need to be better prepared.”

“I haven’t decided. I would have to leave tomorrow evening to make the auction for the phantom kittens.” I was reluctant because I had just returned to Skyholme, and this trip would be five days each way. I did want to complete my obligation to Relik as soon as possible. I would create mithril during the trip to pay for the phantom kittens.

“Send someone else if you don’t want to go,” Bleiz suggested.

“I am not letting anyone take the Maelstrom to the transit city. It is too valuable, and there are too many unknowns—too many powerful players reside in the transits. A hundred as powerful as the Shifter,” I explained while using the cleanliness spell on myself.

“It is your choice, Storme,” Bleiz said passively. “But I can already tell you are planning to go.” I hesitated and stared at my friend. His golden eyes saw right through me. The truth was I was curious about the rest of the Sphere. I wanted to explore it but was fearful of leaving Skyholme and my family undefended. I admitted to myself that I was curious to see a transit city and the passage to the Outer Sphere.

“I. WILL. GO.” Kiara’s voice intruded on thoughts, her silence finally broken.

“You are not going to eat the kittens, are you?” I asked jokingly.

“DO. THEY. TASTE. GOOD?” she retorted. Something like feline laughter came through our bond. She knew perfectly well why I was purchasing the kittens, and I sent an eye-roll to her through the link. I would say her developing personality was welcome.

I stood to return to work in the hangar, but Bleiz stopped me, “Sleep, Storme. The skyship will be there tomorrow. I hesitated but realized I would meet Gareth in the morning to tour the Academy. I relented and went to my apartment and fed the cats. Before sleeping, I used my communication stone to contact Aelyn. She was at the Back Spire participating in the early exploratory delves into the Progenitor Dungeon.

In the morning, I received a report from an excited Remy on the mini-skyship’s performance. “Its maneuverability and speed exceed projections, but it needs to be tested with a full passenger complement.”

“That shouldn’t matter. The anti-gravity runes will just draw more aether.” I looked at a disappointed Remy, “Or do you just want to test fly it some more? Fine, you can take it out some more, but I plan to take it with me.”

Remy looked elated at more testing, “So you are going to Elespolis? I will send a message to reserve a spot for you in the auction.”

I nodded, “Yes, do so. How much gold should I have prepared?”

Remy considered the question seriously. He had memorized the values of hundreds of different goods that passed through Skyholme. “Typically, a phantom cat that is young enough to be trained will start at five thousand gold. But demand has been high since they have a certain aesthetic as guardians. Ten thousand each is my guess. Any higher would be a fool looking for the prestige of winning the auction.”

“So, you are calling me a fool? If I am traveling hundreds of thousands of miles for the auction, I will make sure I win.” Gareth was walking into the hangar with Zayne. Zayne immediately veered off to inspect the black mini-skyship, and Remy went to expound on his pride and joy.

Gareth was all smiles as we shook hands. “Where is the rest of your delve team?”

“They have the day off. We will meet up at the Frost Vault tomorrow to begin delving. Zayne wanted to see the Dungeon Academy. We saw the massive building sticking out of the city when our skyship landed. What is that?” Gareth pointed at the black skyship Remy was enthusiastically giving a tour of.

“A dungeon skyship. It is just a concept vehicle at the moment. If I am even in a large dungeon like the Cavern of the Thunder Witch again, it will be a huge time saver. It seats Adrial, Kiara, and my delve team.” A flash of jealousy passed on Gareth’s face as he realized how useful such a ship would be.                               

I expected him to ask for one, but his grin quickly returned, “Amazing Stormy. I hope it gets a good amount of use for you. I am looking forward to seeing the new Academy. Shall we go?”

Zayne joined us as we walked through the city. Trade was rapidly transforming the city, with builders and construction mages working everywhere. To my knowledge, Loriel had now opened three of the eight islands to foreign investment. Well, that was not entirely true, as the investor would have to become a Skyholme citizen for a modest fee after going through a vetting process by readers. At least, that is what Wynna and Ennet had told Freya.

Citizens acknowledged me as we walked the streets. Either I was being recognized, or Adrial and Kiara trailing us helped the citizens identify me. The cats swished their tails in both irritation and pleasure at the attention. Most people moved out of our way, giving us a path. Others gave the few that didn’t move harsh words until they moved. I would have to do some healing clinics again soon. I knew the Academy had set up a few throughout the islands, but the citizens needed to see their High Mage in action.

Gareth didn’t seem envious of our attention, or maybe he thought it was his imposing stature that caused people to clear our path. His head was studying left and right as he walked, absorbing all the changes to the city since her left.

The large central Academy structure loomed into the sky as we walked toward it. Zayne commented first, “It looks more impressive from the street than the airship. Can’t believe how much was built while we were gone.”

I had to agree that the structure did look impressive, and I appreciated it more every time I saw it. “There will be advanced courses if you are interested. I even got the Duskhunters to give lectures once a month. I hope it will be a bastion for training not just delvers but defenders of Skyholme.”                            

Gareth’s eyes were focused on the Academy, and he didn’t participate in the conversation as I went back and forth with Zayne. Zayne was a scout and had gone through the old Dungeon Academy. He was most impressed with the scholarship program and the magic shop. I told him Remy would be interested in procuring any useful magic items they procured from their delves.

We entered the Academy grounds, and I gave them the same tour I had been given by Sana. Zayne was slack-jawed and joked he was going to apply again. We ate in the cafeteria, and while Gareth ate more than his fill, he didn’t comment on the quality of the food. It had greatly improved, and I knew it would be a draw just as much as the quality of the education.

When the tour and meal finished, Gareth finally gave me his impressions. “Storme, you have done a remarkable service to Skyholme.” He was speaking genuinely, but his voice had an underlying envy. Maybe he was thinking what might have been if he didn’t cut ties with me. He stood and patted me friendly on my shoulder. “I am going to get some delve slots for the Frost Vault.”

Zayne watched him go before speaking. “He misses you, you know. He is pushing himself to become your equal, but you keep raising the bar.”

“I cannot stop moving forward. I will take him back any time he asks. I don’t expect him to grovel, just ask.”

“He has too much pride to do that, Storme. Thanks for your time, I am going to try out that training obstacle course. There were a few cute students that I might be able to impress,” Zayne smiled and shook my hand.

After Gareth and Zayne departed, I went up to Sana’s office on the top floor. I could see that several of the tomes from the Black Spire had been moved here. “Is your office secure? " I asked, indicating the books.

“It is the most secure room on Titan’s Shield at the moment. We had a half dozen of our mage instructors working on the wards,” she relied confidently. She proceeded to get excited, “There are a dozen lifetimes of knowledge in the Black Spire—it will take me that long to go through all of it.” Seeing my frown, she added smirking, “With your permission, of course, High Mage.”

I didn't want to spend ages reviewing the collection myself so I nodded, trusting the old mage. “So, what have you found that is of interest?”

Sana smiled, “I have only partially read Archmagis Kurota’s journal. When he fractured the island, he was drawing aether directly from the ley lines. He survived the Shattering and speculated he miscalculated because he also drew aether from one of the nearby moons. Before his people killed him, he was trying to figure out how to bring the islands back together.”

“Is that possible?” I asked, suddenly more interested.

Sana looked indecisive, “Perhaps. He didn’t get far into his research.”

“What about the dungeon codices?” I inquired. A dungeon codex was compiled from secret pages found in dungeon rewards. I found one spellbook that contained one page. Unfortunately, the spellbook was destroyed when you retrieved the page, making it a very expensive quest.

“There were five codices in the collection. Each codex has twenty-three pages and none of them were complete. The codex Kurota was using to harness the ley line had twenty-one pages.” Sana said.

“I thought you said a codex was useless unless you had the complete set?”

“I stand by my statement. They are not even readable. Kurota either found a workaround or hid the missing pages. I doubt it is the latter, as removing the pages from a completed codex would destroy it.” Sana explained.

“So, they are all useless?” I said, disappointed.

“Perhaps not. I have only scratched the surface of his notes. He was fastidious is detailing his work. I am guessing somewhere in the collection, and he details how he obtained each page. I think the planetarium on the top floor divides the Sphere into 23 sections. Each section’s dungeons would produce their own pages for their own codex.”

I did the math in my head. “That is 529 pages. There are millions of dungeons in the Sphere. It seems impossible to collect them all.”

“Yes, it would seem so, but I am guessing there are those who have made progress over the millennium. Have you ever been to an auction where a simple tier three spell went for an astronomical fee?” Sana said, smiling.

I had seen some spell books go for more than expected, but nothing completely out of reason. “Not that I can recall.”

Sana frowned, perhaps hoping I had. “Well, Kurota theorized there were three rarities when it came to the pages: thirteen common, seven rare, and three mythical. A dungeon needed to have matured to have at least six levels to be able to produce a common page, eleven levels for a rare page, and twenty-one levels for a mythical page.”

I frowned, “If he knew so much, why hasn’t he compiled a codex?”

Sana smiled brightly as she replied, “Dungeons only give out codex pages as rewards to exceptional delvers. You could say a delver has to pass their test. Even then, a level fifty dungeon might only choose to reward a common page.”

“What is the point of it all?” I asked.

Sana indicated some books, “Kurota believed all the codices compiled into one Apex Codex would allow him to control all the aether in the Sphere.” I coughed as that seemed ridiculous. “I don’t believe it either. My master had a dozen other theories. A way to transport yourself to another Sphere out among the stars, a way to meet the creators of the Sphere, and, my personal favorite, a way to imprint your consciousness for eternity within the Sphere.”

“Why isn’t the codices knowledge more widely known?”

“If you were looking for them, would you tell others who would compete with you?” She got morose, “Looking back, I think my master was killed because of his inquiries for additional pages. Don’t spread the word that you are aware of the codices. If someone knew the collection you currently held, I wouldn’t be surprised if Skyholme came under the scrutiny of some of the greater powers in the Sphere.”

“And we haven’t already?” I said irritably.

“The Black Marauders are nothing but a collection of thugs. There are true powers in the Sphere. The one behind the World Walkers, for instance,” Sana warned. “Give me a month to do a cursory inventory of the books. Leave me be unless you plan to help.”

“The spellbook list?” I asked before I left. Sana dug through a pile of papers and handed me a list.

“The ones in the left column are dungeon spellbooks, the ones in the right are copied spellbooks but in the Haikuram language.” I scanned the list and thanked Sana. I spent the afternoon healing at one of the academy’s clinics before returning to the Shiny Platinum.

When evening arrived, the Maelstrom was loaded with three weeks of supplies, and I moved the dungeon skyship into my dimensional closet, to Remy’s dismay. He would keep working on the taxi-skiffs with Rippon, and I would artifice them upon my return. Then, we would begin a new passenger transport enterprise. Remy was excited because once all the Skyholme Islands were open to outsiders, he forecasted a huge market for the service. Small transport skiffs were not unique. It was just that Skyholme already had a reliable, albeit slow, transport network.

I would spend a good portion of the trip artificing a communication stone network for the vehicles. Communication would be vital to getting the transports to quickly pick up and deliver passengers.

I had a long discussion with Aelyn this time, rationalizing why she would not be coming. At least my argument sounded rational to me, not so much to her. At least she was occupied with her delve team and trying to find replacements for Hyperion and Glint, so she had a reason to stay. I was hoping not to get distracted on this trip. I would arrive in Elespolis, go to the auction, look around a bit, and return.

I departed the Shiny Platinum after dinner with my mother and Freya. Freya begged the entire time to come, but I was already on shaky ground with our mother for Freya choosing the path of becoming a delver. Ultimately, I departed the hangar with Adrial and Kiara on the bridge. Neoma and Tibault, my appointed Wolfsguards, were below deck. Leda was setting up her cabin, and she would be the navigator and secondary helmsman for the trip. Bleiz had wormed himself on board as well, even though I had wanted him to stay in Skyholme and keep an eye on Freya.

The Maelstrom cleared the hangar, and I quickly spun the skyship left over the docks. A flagger in the control tower recognized me and waved me clear. I accelerated into the sky between a half dozen other skyships, landing or departing. Titan’s shield disappeared from the viewport as we cleared the edge of the island moments later.

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