“Sure doesn’t feel like it,” Dale stated through charred lips. They walked into the church, and the cleric assigned to him winced when he saw the severe burns.
“Can’t regenerate carbonized cells. Gonna need to heal a new layer of skin to the surface,” the cleric apathetically stated. “Hope you haven’t been trying to get a tan.”
Dale painfully shook his head. “Nah, I don’t bother. All I do is burn.” His comment was met with total silence.
“...Is he in shock, or was that his actual sense of humor?” the cleric asked Tom. The barbarian shook his head in sad acknowledgement.
“I am in a lot of pain right now.”
“Right! Sorry…”
It took about a quarter hour for the last patch of skin to flake off of Dale, revealing healthy skin beneath. As they left the building, Dale looked at his silent friend. “Tom, what is the trick to this? How do I find him and avoid his attacks? How do I not take damage from his elemental attacks?” He wasn’t expecting an answer, but Tom gave him a huge smile.
“Finally! We aren’t allowed to offer assistance; you have to ask for it! Now that you have though, we can begin by speaking to your instructor!” Tom threw a punch into the air, then patted Dale on the arm.
“You can help? Hey! Your hand is back!” Dale gripped Tom’s hand and gave it a firm squeeze. “Excellent!”
“Personally, I greatly enjoy having my body back together. The answer to your issue, my friend, is personal shielding. You have been adding Essence to your aura; you need to alter your aura so that it contains a bit of your elements. While it won’t protect you fully, it would have given you time to escape that column of fire without damage.” Tom rambled on longer than Dale had ever heard from him at one time.
“You really know a lot about this, huh?” Dale was grinning at the thought of not succumbing to fire again. “I’m impressed!”
Tom was silent for a moment, “As you know… Nobles go through this training. At my age I should be in the C-ranks in order to have my family acknowledge me. I was. When I was exiled, I was stripped of my cultivation base and forced to forget my family’s techniques. All that remained was my years of combat instruction. But now, thanks to Hans, I once again have a chance to redeem myself.”
~ Chapter Thirty-Three ~
The academy was about to open for business! While it had only taken a month of construction work, there had been more than enough time for the available instructor positions to fill up. Students were pouring into the area, most of them followed by retainers and house guards. You didn’t need to be a Noble to attend, but the tuition was not cheap. Dale ensured that there were scholarships for naturally talented poor people, but those were distributed quickly even though the testing was rigorous. On the plus side, the entirety of the student body was held to a high standard. With the dangers of cultivating and the easy access to the dungeon, there would likely be plenty of room for new students throughout the year.
Several of the sentient races were represented, and guards’ rotations were increased so they could ensure that there were no ‘accidents’ among them. This area was intended to be free of politics, but no one really believed it was possible. Looking down from the balcony of his new room, Dale marveled at what he saw. This area was now a fortress! The original site used by the camp was a walled city, and the academy had its own reinforced walls as well. With great fanfare and a festive atmosphere, the Dwarves had pushed the summit of the mountain off the northern face just days ago. The thunderous rumbling of stone tumbling into the valley below had echoed for hours as rock continued to fall. Now there was room for a true city to be created!
Dale sharpened his gaze as he saw a protuberance that shouldn’t have existed. What would otherwise have been a perfectly flat plain had odd shapes jutting out of it! It took a few moments to register, but he growled when he made the connection. The dungeon had lifted more of those blasted obelisks! At least they were in a predictable, set pattern. In fact, if he looked at it from this angle, it was almost as if they were forming a…
“Dale! It’s time to make a speech!” Rose called up to him. Dale was unceremoniously pulled from his thoughts. He blinked and looked down. Sure enough, hundreds of people were in the courtyard chattering. Right. It was time to officially allow entrance to everyone and open the school!
Clearing his throat, Dale started talking into the hoop on a rod he had been given. Wind Essence lifted his voice, carrying it across the city. “Hello people of Mountaindale! Many of you know me, but most of you don’t. I am Duke Dale Phantom, Lord of this wonderful City. It is my great honor–and pleasure–to announce the opening of the Phantom Academy! As you all know, this is the only center of learning that can boast the cooperation of many of the great races, as well as grant access to a neutral affinity dungeon. We expect nothing but excellence from all of you! Know that when you graduate from here, you will have resources, connections, and combat potential higher than any of you had ever dared dream!”
Cheers greeted the start of his speech, and Dale smiled as he felt a rush of emotions. “There is cause for concern! This is not a safe place! To become stronger, to have greater personal power, you will be risking much! Our teachers will be harsh because that is what you will need in order to survive! The rules will be strict, but know that they are there for your protection! You are taking your life into your own hands here, and in return you will be treated like adults no matter your age.” This caused a few dark mutters, as well as a few of the younger faces to light up.
“The last thing you need to know!” Dale boomed, face now dark and serious. “This is not a tame dungeon! It will attempt to kill you! Don’t let it! Learn your limits, learn your strengths! That is what we are here for, as an academy. If you need help, ask! But expect that you will be called on to help others in turn. Welcome… to the Phantom Academy!” Cheers burst out of the assembled people, the odd speech not putting them off, but instead, getting their blood pumping! Excited to begin training and in some cases learning to access their Essence, they quickly broke into groups and filed away to their various halls of affinity.
<Wow, Dale, that was really impressive! You didn’t stutter once!> Dale groaned as his mind was invaded. <Hey buddy, you haven’t been coming deeper into the dungeon lately. Aren’t you excited by the newest challenges and Mobs?>
Flopping onto a nearby chair, Dale responded aloud to the intrusive voice, “I’ve heard all about your new Boss monster. No one who goes down there survives, so I’m certainly not going to try my luck.”
<If no one survives when they go down there, how do you know ‘all about it’?>
Ignoring the question, Dale kept speaking, “I am glad that you are honoring our deal though. No Cats have been seen on the first through third floors, though your Hopsecutioners have been doing a number on unprepared groups.”
<Not my fault they are unprepared to fight in an area they were warned is trying to eat them. I won’t feel bad for other people’s greed and thoughtlessness. About the Cats, I wanted to let you know that the labyrinth has now doubled in size and complexity. I needed to add large jungle-type areas to keep the Cats happy. They were getting cooped up and even more aggressive. Also, since we are being nice to each other, I am giving you warning that Snowball has gotten bored being alone and is now wandering around that floor. So. Yeah.>
“Thank you for the information, Cal.” Dale pulled a box out of a chest sitting next to him. Opening the box, he pulled out a book. “This is for you. It is borrowed from the remaining Spotters, and I only get to study it for a day.”
<I-is that what I think it is?> Dale had never heard the dungeon sound so awestruck. <All Runes known to the Spotters guild?>
“This is it.” Dale confirmed his words by setting the book down gently and stepping away.
<Wow. I am amazed Dale. Because of that, I’m going to give you first a warning, followed by a hint about something. You might want to turn around.> Dale looked confused, but turned around. A
ll that was behind him was the balcony and the chest, what was-
A screaming Goblin shot out of the chest, knife leading. Dale yelped and collapsed, rolling backward as the blade swished through the air. Coming to his feet, he launched forward and threw a massively powerful punch. Hitting the Goblin in the chest, blood tore out of the creature’s back and it collapsed to the ground, dead.
Before Dale could say a word, he felt a mental shrug. <Not my fault you put a chest in your room. About that hint, the Dungeon Boss you know ‘all about’ is no longer on the lowest floor.>
“That monstrosity is roaming?” Dale blanched and turned to run out of the room. People had to know!
<No, no. No need to get all personal. There is a new floor I built under it, and this floor has secrets that a few of the races have killed to keep secret. Soon, especially with these Runes I now have, a few of my floors will be impossible for ninety-nine percent of your population. I’d say at least ninety-five percent of groups would die to the Dungeon Boss, but at least there is only one of him.> Dale really had no idea what to make of this information. He resolved to pass it on to the council. <Also, I have a gift for your city!>
Instantly wary, Dale was able to spit out the needed question. “And what might that be?”
<Since there is a Mana storm about to begin, you finally get to see what I have been slaving over for the last month, and what those obelisks are really used for! I’ve been wanting to do this since I learned how to create Runes!>
“Cal, what are you doing?” Dale formed a fist, struggling to keep the nerves out of his voice.
<Oh, stop whining and go back out on the balcony.>
“Mana storm!” An amplified voice rang through the city. Alarms shattered the peaceful mountain air, and Dale rushed to stand outside. Hans threw open the door to Dale’s room, making sure his team leader wasn’t doing anything foolish. But, of course he was.
“Dale! Get in here! There is a Mana storm starting!” Hans bellowed as he saw that Dale was standing unprotected on his balcony.
“Hans, come here. Something's about to happen.” Dale sounded resigned enough that Hans did a double take to ensure Dale was not a body double.
Trusting his team leader but still wary, Hans slowly walked toward the balcony but stopped while he was still inside. “You can see pretty good from in here, you know. Like any other normal person can.”
Dale was looking at the multicolored thunderclouds appearing above the city. “Looks like a big one.” He commented calmly. It started to rain, or… at least it looked like rain at first. Grain seeds were pouring out of the clouds, pinging off the stone like hail.
“Come on inside, Dale,” Hans cajoled his friend. “If you stand in the grain, you are going to get all wheat.”
The horrible joke snapped Dale out of his apparent stupor. He turned and glared at the snorting assassin. “Why Hans? If Rose were here she might have shot you for that.”
“Dale. Dale. Look…” Hans had stopped laughing and was now pointing a shaking finger out at the storm. The clouds were doing something… different. Something that had never been seen in the previous storms. They were twisting, forming a funnel cloud. The twisting Mana and Essence released lightning bolts and raw chaos, but oddly none of it seemed to strike anything. The funnel descended, finally making contact with the tallest obelisk. The obelisk lit up, and the clouds started to boil.
~ Cal ~
The process wasn’t perfectly smooth, but my Mana reserves were starting to become huge and dense. <Keeping the stream incoming! Now activating Runic formations on all other obelisks!>
“Understood! All Bobs are watching for anomalies; feel confident in us and focus your efforts on Mana redirection!” Bob retorted quickly.
I was glad for his words and followed his advice, focusing on directing the Mana as he had suggested. One by one, the obelisks the people on the surface could see began to light up. The clouds were still descending, twisting with fury and pseudo-sentience as it tried to escape my pull. Not a chance! I had my hooks in now, and months of work would not go to waste! I needed this Mana; there was no telling when I would be able to gain such a huge windfall again! Now the obelisks below the surface began to light up, and Mana began to flow along the channels I had cut in the rock with thousands of painstaking hours of work.
The clouds were half gone, and the first layer of Runes activated! So much Essence rushed towards the mountain that the sky lit up as if a rainbow dawn had graced us. I had etched my cultivation pattern into the stone and lined it with tens of thousands of Essence absorption Runes. I had wanted one massive absorption Rune, but even this amount of Mana I had gained would likely have not been enough to initially power it. I kept the Mana flowing, forcing it–and not Essence–to power the Runes. The second layer was smaller, with nearly half of the amount of Runes. When it fully activated, the Essence draw became even greater. The air was humming now. With the third layer, the ground started to tremble as the cultivation pathways filled with power.
After the fourth layer, Essence began to accumulate on the surface; no longer was it all able to be drawn into the ground or to me. Next, the fifth, sixth, all the way to the twenty-third layer of cultivation cut into stone, where the Essence became liquid and began to pour into my Core room like a gentle rain. It had passed through so many filters and taint accumulators that this Essence was entirely colorless. When looking through this pure Essence, only a distortion of the image behind it was visible, like peering through a heat wave.
An unexpected event almost made me lose control; the Silverwood tree began to grow! It shot up, basking in the thick rain of Essence. The tree grew over fifty feet high, stopping at the ceiling only because it couldn’t easily cut through the stone. It began to widen instead, only growing to about four feet in diameter before stopping. The roots were now thicker, more numerous, and those began to push through the stone of the dungeon. They didn’t grow over Runes or Essence pathways that I had made, but they did wind around them. The tree began to shine, but nothing else appeared to happen.
With great relief, I refocused on the Mana draining from the now-small clouds. The sun was again warming the surface, and I smiled as I poured everything I had left into the not-yet-activated Runescript Bob had been preparing for me. The Runescript was built into a marvelous toy I had blatantly stolen from a child. It had been designed by the reclusive Gnomish people, and I wasn’t about to pass up an opportunity like that! They rarely made contact with the outside world, but when they did, their mechanical creativity was shown to be second to none.
I had built the Runescript onto a ‘gyroscope’. The ‘toy’ had opened possibilities I would have never discovered otherwise. I felt confident the Runes would work, as I had prepared similar versions on one of the first weapons I had really set my mind to creating. Of course we had tested this on a smaller scale, and it worked there, so I was almost positive nothing would go wrong... Or the mountain would explode. The Runescript activated, and the last of the Mana poured into a specially prepared Core. This is what Dani had once dubbed a ‘Mana accumulator’. The name was disingenuous, as it didn’t accumulate Mana; it only stored what I gave it. Efficiently, to be fair.
I finally relaxed, panting heavily as the storm faded and the cheering began. The Goblins were celebrating, and the new stu
dents of the academy on the surface were astounded at what they thought was a masterstroke by the city. The Essence density on the surface was now the same as a young dungeon, nearly triple the standard! At the academy where Essence was leaking out of the dungeon entrance, it was even higher. Suddenly, being enrolled at the academy was something that Kings would pay a Crown Prince’s ransom to visit!
“Cal!” Dale called softly. “What is this? What just happened?”
<I made a way for both of us to benefit and a way for me to get to Dani. I heard from Minya, by the way. She confirmed that there is… if not a base of operations, then at least a swarm of necromancers in the sewers of the Tigress Queendom capitol. Right after she made her report, she stopped responding to me. I don’t know if she is captured or dead. We are going after her and Dani.> I told him, knowing his reaction would be fun to see.
“We are going? Who is we? You are somehow going?” Dale couldn’t seem to focus on what he wanted to ask.
<Yes, Dale. We. Not just you and I… the whole city,> I finished smugly as the building he was in trembled a slight amount. I looked deep inside of myself and directed the gyroscope to begin turning. It had to be moved very, very slowly. The same Runes–as well as a few new ones–that had been on Dale’s old Morningstar came to life. As the gyroscope changed position, the clay that surrounded the perimeter of my new territory broke apart as we ever so slowly lifted into the air. The area now lifting was–roughly–diamond shaped. The middle was a huge disk with the mountain proudly standing on top. I had also brought along plenty of room at the bottom to expand and protect the dungeon. Somehow I had even managed to bring a portion of the forest and a lake! With these resources, I could easily be considered a flying island now! I looked at the amount of power the Runes were consuming to remain operational and winced. The Essence drain was huge, monumental, dare I say… mountainous?