[Voidknight Ascension] Chapter 136: Ghosts in the Machine

Across the oversized laboratory was something Sam had never seen before, and yet knew it was wrong. Perhaps not evil per se, but malicious in its intent.

It resembled a soccer ball carved out of diamond. Nearly spherical, with so many scintillating facets that it shattered the light and ground it into a fine powder.

Where its light coalesced, instead of a simple rainbow as one might expect from a prism, a monster began to materialize.

“The Dungeon Core,” Raiko said grimly.

“Anybody else’s Dungeon Progress just update?” Matt asked.

Sam checked his. “Well, that makes it clear, doesn’t it? You don’t get much clearer than ‘destroy the Dungeon Core’.”

Without wasting a moment longer, Sam let go of Lenal and darted across the room. His higher Dexterity and Agility, along with [Traversal] made navigating the countless bodies, spilled implements, and cables a breeze.

But as Sam reached the Dungeon Core and brought his sword down with all of his might, the blade rebounded off a shimmering barrier and threw him back across the room like he was no lighter than a stuffed animal.

Groaning, Sam picked himself back up, and now that he looked, he could see the barrier surrounding the Dungeon Core.

“Is this what these Professors and students died trying to defeat?” Kai asked solemnly.

An ethereal blue hand reached out to Sam, and he looked up into the kindly face that all professors seemed to strive for. He would have fit in at any Ivy League. All that was missing was a tweed jacket with elbow patches.

“Yes,” the ghost said, “we rather thought the Core could be directly assaulted too. Alas, it seems not. Oh, sorry about that.” He retracted his hand. “Not used to the whole ‘dead’ thing yet.”

“Professor!” Lenal cried, collapsing at his feet, and trying—to no avail—to grab onto his robes. “I’m here Professor Nihl! I didn’t… die.” She looked down and dropped her hands.

Professor Nihl turned and smiled sadly at his pupil. “You are the only survivor among us then,” he told her. “I am sorry to put so much onto your shoulders, child. You had a bright future. A very bright future. I was sick with worry, and now, despite my own fate, I can say I am pleased you are well and in fine company.”

“Are there truly no other survivors?” Raiko asked, jaw clenching. Failing to save them was hard for her to accept.

How long have they been dead? Sam wondered. Was this all for nothing? He pushed the doubt and worry down. There would be time for that later.

Nihl folded his hands like he was about to launch into a lecture and said, “None. The initial assault wiped out most of the professors. Those that remained hurried to the Tower of Art. I confess, perhaps we had been hasty in thinking that we could defend a place that changes floor plans nightly. But all of our best research was here.”

“You protected your research over your lives?” Sam couldn’t help but blurt out.

“You say it like it is an odd thing to do, but yes. We valued our Mana Engine more than our own lives. Without it, most Skyshards could not move on their own. And even those that can, would be greatly assisted by its condensation and propulsion abilities that go far beyond simple locomotion!”

“Guys,” Matt said, pointing. “We’re about to have company.”

“Alas, yes,” Nihl said with a great sigh. “The Mana Engine can repel the Dungeon Core. Of this, we are aware. The creatures it generates, however, are free to do as they like. We could not repel the creatures and complete the Engine at the same time, and so we fell. And as more fell, it became easier for the Dungeon Core to overrun us.”

Sam noticed the shimmering barrier around the Dungeon Core expand as the creature began to materialize from the twisting of the light reflected from its facets.

“We can take care of the monsters,” Sam said. “How do we finish the Engine?”

“You cannot.” The ghost shrugged. “I do not mean to be rude, but you lack even the most basic of Professions, there is no hope for you to continue our work.”

“That is not precisely true,” said another ethereal voice.

Sam looked over to find not just one, but several new ghosts appearing over their bodies. “What does she mean, Professor Nihl?”

Nihl began to wave away the suggestion, but Lenal stood up and looked him in the eyes, tears still streaming down her face. “Please, anything we can do, tell us!”

“We will save your research without losing anyone else, whatever it takes,” Raiko promised. “I refuse to let your sacrifice go to waste.”

The faculty looked at one another, then the new speaker, a kindly-looking woman, said, “If you do not tell them, I will.”

“Yes, yes, Rama,” Nihl said slightly peevishly. He looked at Raiko. “Would you truly do that? I mean no offense, but you rather look like the crude adventurer types that would gather us materials and rare monster parts, but in whose hands a tool and measurement instruments were… shall we say, less than effective.”

“We are your reflections.” Raiko spread her hands, motioning at the weapons and wounds the Sil’marans all bore. “We had the opportunities to become fighters, but not creators. With your knowledge, your guidance, part of you can live on through your Professions. Through us.”

“There is a way,” Nihl said, “though I am loath to suggest it, that we could inhabit some of you. By doing so, we could guide your hands, and finish what we could not. But it is not without risk. The strain of possession would be immense, on both sides, and you will likely be permanently locked into the Profession of the one using you as a conduit to the material world.”

Sam kept a watchful eye on the creature forming. It looked like a type of gargoyle, but thin and spindly, like a bunch of rods strung together.

He turned back to the professor. “Let me get this straight. You think you can possess one of us, using our bodies like… puppets, I guess, to finish building your machine?”

“That about sums it up, yes.”

“But we might become an Alchemist or whatever you are, if you use us?”

“It is a risk, but we do not know how great of one, or if it is at all.” He spread his ghostly hands to include all the other ethereal figures. “As you can see, we are a learned group. The Aker Academy has been our home and life since before it was shattered. We have tried to inhabit many objects since the last of us fell, but it only appears to work properly with a living specimen.”

“You’ve tested this before.” Sam was certain.

“Yes. Those that survived the first attacks. They were our first test subjects—all willing participants, might I add!—and through them we discovered the means and limitations inherent in the process.”

Chompers shuffled nervously. Sam wasn’t sure if he counted as a creature that could be possessed, but the mimic likely thought so. Or he was just put off by the monster forming nearby.

“Can Machi become a Goldsmith or… something to do with monies?” Komachi asked with a raised paw, bringing some levity to the situation.

A large heavyset woman, easily 7-foot-tall and thick with muscle, raised a hand gingerly. “I was a Master Merchant. I taught economics at the Academy. Though my Profession will not be much use to you in completing the Mana Engine, I’m afraid.”

Komachi wagged her rump. “Why not? Can’t I buy goodies? Exchange rel for things? Bribe the Ninja for bigger buffs?”

That seemed like the absolute worst combo to Sam. A cat who could not count becoming a Merchant. At least, until she talked about buying things and bribing buffs.

The woman tilted her head to the side. One large, braided chunk of her hair fell and swung like a pendulum. “Have you known other Merchants before? We are not a common Profession, even when the world was whole.”

“Nope, Machi is a blank slate.”

“She’s very good at guessing,” Sam told the woman.

“She’d make an excellent economist then!” the woman laughed from her belly, the sound echoing around the large room.

A screech cut through the laughter as the rail-thin monster materialized completely and pushed through the filmy, shimmering barrier around the Dungeon Core.

Sam was there in a flash, his [Heavy Blade] leading the way. The [Gargouille], however, was faster. It twisted out of the way with its small wings, then slashed across Sam’s side.

Matt lobbed a globule of Poison mana at it, but it splashed harmlessly across its stony hide.

Lenal cast something that summoned a series of orbs that appeared around the [Gargouille] and spun slowly, then winked out. “It’s immune to magical damage. You need to use something physical!”

“I would if I could catch it!” Sam shouted back, swinging the colossal greatsword the other way. For all of his Strength, however, he was much slower than he should have been.

The Void wounds burned as he took more and more light attacks from the [Gargouille]. The creature struggled to get past his defenses, but it didn’t matter if Sam could never hit it.

Raiko glanced down at her scarlet-clad blade, lifting a brow. “Can Blood mana be physical?”

“I think the fact that it has mana in the name is answer enough,” Matt said.

“You would be surprised,” one of the professors said. “Depending upon how it is expressed, you can very well apply certain types of mana as physical aspects.”

Blood mana misted out of her armor and seeped into Raiko’s weapon. With a look of concentration, the color deepened upon the katana, shining like freshly spilled blood.

She wove a series of swiftly curving strikes directly into the [Gargouille’s] side, fervently trying to turn it away from Sam.

She cussed the monster out all the while, as if that might have an effect, too. Maybe it did. Sam wasn’t sure what monsters like that could understand.

New refreshing notes of green bounced and jiggled in the air around Sam and Raiko, speeding the pair up considerably. Though it affected Sam a lot more than Raiko.

He went from always attacking the area where the [Gargouille] just was, to narrowly missing, and even striking a few glancing blows with Raiko’s help.

All it took was a few more strikes from Raiko’s blade to slow it down enough for Sam to bring down his sledgehammer of a greatsword.

The first wound from the [Dullahan Greatsword] it took was also its last.

The creature twisted about, trying to avoid Raiko’s attacks, and as her katana carved into its skin, the creature was split in two by Sam’s downward stroke.

Pieces of the creature’s flesh bounced and dropped to the ground with a clatter.

“Slaughtered, no less than it deserves,” Raiko said with grim satisfaction.

“That’s not right,” Sam said with a frown.

Though obviously dead, there was no notification about its death. Nothing that suggested it was actually dead, and most importantly, no Experience.

Flipping her hilt over into a two-handed grip, Raiko stabbed into it more for good measure. “Experience, give it up!”

“It is dead,” one of the professors said. “The creatures summoned by the Dungeon Core do not provide Experience immediately. Presumably to prevent abuse, we cannot be certain. Once they are far enough away, or enough time has elapsed, there seems to be a change, however.”

“So, we can’t just farm them,” Matt said with disappointment.

Sam rested the curved tip of his sword on the flooring and leaned against the hilt for support. He was sweating more than he should have, and most disturbingly, winded from such a little fight.

Raiko looked him over, frowning. Despite that recent bout with the Gargoyle’s poison, she wasn’t flagging as much as Sam. The Glyph faded on her side when she transferred the refresh to Sam instead.

Komachi tried to apply deeper stacks of [Regen Paeon] on Sam, but the Void injuries remained resistant.

“I will gladly help to finish the Mana Engine,” Lenal said. “I have passed my Second Order Job, Professor Nihl. I am much stronger than when I left you.”

“Alas, dear child, those with Professions cannot use another’s. And we need more than Professor Ankfell’s Analyst to complete the Engine. It is only through somebody who lacks a Profession that we can complete the Engine.”

Matt walked over and held out a hand. “Then use me before more of those creatures appear.”

Sam looked over at the brilliant Dungeon Core. As if sensing their presence, two more twists of light were building up. “We might want to hurry up,” Sam told them, charging [Heavy Blade] once again.