Chapter 170 (Patreon)

AN: I'm sorry this took so long. I don't really have an excuse this time; I just didn't write. I don't know if my motivation for this story is dropping or if it's just the ADHD, but I want to see the end just as much as the rest of you. I'll do my best to push through.

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The Creator, Occupied Atlantis, The Kalenic Sea

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While one part of me kept an eye on the crusaders on the Sixth, managing the assault on their shield and directing the Lava Wyrm, the rest of me handled half a dozen other projects.

I spent some time refining the Seventh and its mines, mostly expanding the ant's ranging area and buffing them slightly. It was perfectly serviceable before, with no Drake-kin for direct defence and no Boss monster, but it needed real updates. This made it feel less like an active mine and more like an abandoned one the Giant Ants co-opted. Hmm. 'Giant Ants' didn't really do them justice anymore. They weren't just a side piece; they were now the floor's main monster. Myrmydons, then. The Myrmydons had expanded their nest greatly, extending it far beyond the original floor and carving plenty of smaller access tunnels to reach most of the abandoned mines.

I was also tweaking the Eighth, adding deadlier traps and making the pathways over the peaks even more treacherous—more avalanche and rockslide traps. I added more fragile cliffsides that'd collapse when they detected humans about halfway across. The monsters were already pretty well-established from a previous pass, but I made an ecological pass, shoring up the food chain properly. I added cold-adapted insects and tougher grasses for the Snow Hares to eat. I also decided to forest parts of the Peaks more heavily. While the tops would remain bare, having some pine forests climbing their slopes wasn't unrealistic.

The Ninth was undergoing expansion and modification. I didn't want the same problem I had with CHI: the crusaders knowing how to reach the Canyon immediately. I also needed to uncover the Pyramid; the Tomb of Huea the Tarnished sounded like a good name, whether or not its namesake was still alive. The Ninth and Tenth were the last floors I could still expand, since they weren't space-expanded like the Eleventh and Twelfth. With two perspectives focused on digging out the walls, it was going much faster than it had originally.

But perhaps the most important development of all was studying the Space Cores. They'd take a couple of days to travel down the tube to the Twelfth, but once we had both linked cores in our hands... Oh boy.

I held a Space Core in my own golden claws, squinting as I held it so close to my eyes I was almost touching it. Of course, that didn't actually do anything. My Avatar didn't have eyes; they were Illusions. Still, it felt nice to pretend I was still flesh and blood. "These are two of the most crucial manacores we've ever had access to, and I don't think I need to tell you why, Gaian."

"No, Creator, you don't," Gaian answered, completely serious as he examined the differences between the second Space Core and a Time Core I'd invested time in making. "Besides getting access to another Higher-Order mana type, if we can replicate the teleportation frame on the Third and send the parts elsewhere with one of the cores, we'd have the ability to evacuate the dungeon completely, if the worst-case occurs."

"Hmm. Might not be out of the question to make a space-ship of some kind," I muttered. "I'm not sure the planet would survive my death. In any case, yes. We'll need to do some more testing, but how's the resonance between the Time and Space cores looking?"

"I'm definitely seeing some interaction between them," Gaian answered, adjusting his manasight glasses. "They're reaching out to each other, even without any spells or outside workings. Mere proximity seems to be enough, and it seems to be exponential." He nudged the two cores slightly closer together, before nodding decisively. "Yes, the resonance is definitely increasing at an exponential rate."

"Perfect," I grinned, my smile all sharp teeth. "Space and Time are two of the most fundamental forces in the universe, Gaian. Space defines the three-dimensional world we exist in, and Time defines the fourth dimension, allowing things to change. You can't change one without affecting the other. Warped spaces mess with the passage of time, though that's only obvious in extreme cases. But... You know what that means."

"You think combining Space mana with Time mana will make large-scale time acceleration possible?" Gaian breathed, a hint of excitement in his tone, eyes wide as he processed the idea.

"Exactly," I answered, rubbing my golden-scaled hands together. "Time mana alone wasn't able to cover a space as large as the Eleventh and Twelfth floors; the cost was too absurdly high to cover a volume that big. We already know using mana-specific manacores can boost the output of spells, but if adding some Space mana makes large-scale enchantments like that more efficient and affordable..."

"Then we need to test this ASAP!" Gaian declared, collecting the cores into their own padded carrying sacks. "To the Time Lab!"

I chuckled and followed, still mulling over the ramifications. If I managed to figure out how to do this... how far would my Children advance by the time the Crusaders made it down this far? Would I still be able to interact with them? Something else to test, I suppose.

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 The Cuck Sphere, The Sixth Floor, The Dungeon

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First Crusader Haliet was getting just a little frustrated with the situation. Thankfully they hadn't lost anyone, but that was only a matter of time at this rate. Specifically, the mages were taking too many mana potions to sustain their defence. It was necessary, though, since without them, they wouldn't have been able to survive this long- long enough to do something about it.

"BRACE!"

Another huge blast of the enormous snake monster's thick, lava-like projectiles slammed against their protective ward, splashing and flowing like thick molasses. Cracks spiderwebbed across the dome, and it flared, flickering dangerously for a moment. One of the mages paled more than the others and collapsed. As the others moved to support his part of the spell, the combat healer moved in. One hand shoved a potion at the fallen mage while the other maintained a scanning spell. She looked grim. "This is the last one you can take; any more and you're at risk of overuse."

About as he'd expected. They'd been keeping the shield-dome up for hours under constant bombardment, after all. They were all tired, even after that rest stop on the last floor. Yes, now was the best time, even if it was sooner than he'd hoped to utilise it. As if reacting to his thoughts, the final piece of their second Gate was slotted into place, and Haliet stepped forward to insert the next Space Core himself. The indigo magic flashed, filling the space within the frame with a smooth pane of magic. Haliet frowned, displeased they hadn't prepared the gate on the surface by now. 

Just as he grew concerned, the portal's surface started swirling, then cleared to reveal the occupied port above. Pan stood on the other side, eyebrow raised. Haliet stood aside for her, and the life mage stepped through without a word. Haliet watched as the frightening woman scanned the situation with sharp eyes, then turned to him. 

"So, bit off a little more than you can chew?"

"BRACE!"

Another projectile slammed against the dome, cracking it heavily. Another mage collapsed. Pan moved immediately to assist him, and Haliet stepped through the gate. He took a deep breath of fresh, clean sea air, then sighed in relief as the dungeon's pressure lifted from his shoulders. His eyes immediately found the gathered mages and guilders. "You, mages, come through and relieve the others. We're under bombardment. The rest of you, wait for when you're needed."

"Yes, First Crusader!" 

Satisfied, Haliet moved through the portal and began organising the tired crusaders back to the surface. They'd keep the portal open for 24 hours or so, letting everyone get a shift of sleep, food, and some real downtime. Days of constant alertness took their toll on guilders just as much as normal humans, even if they showed less physical signs of it.

Just as Haliet finished swapping the tired heroes and guilders for fresh ones, a pained roar and a crash shook the ground under his feet. A glance into the distance showed what he'd expected. The giant snake that'd been spitting lava at them for hours on end had fallen, slamming down on the lake of lava. Alarmingly, the lava rose in a slow-moving wave, spreading out across the floor. 

"BRACE!" 

Haliet was getting real tired of that word. The lava slammed into the shield dome; newly reinforced with fresh mages, it barely dimmed. He glanced at Pan and saw the woman turn from the monster with almost nonchalant indifference. "Couldn't help yourself, hmm?" Haliet commented as she walked past him, back towards the portal. She gave him an amused smirk, the cocky bitch. Haliet gave a few more orders to their relief force, and he followed her to the surface. He could use some sleep.

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Isla Fuego, The Eleventh Floor, The Dungeon

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"It's not a pirate adventure without a volcanic island!" Tamesou Akio declared, stepping off the ship and onto the small dock. Navi played a bright, bouncy tune as she floated beside him. When he'd heard that there was an active volcano on one of the Elemental Islands, he'd beg- insisted they stop there; he'd never seen an active volcano before, and wanted to see the lava flow from the summit crater. Luckily, there was a small port here they could dock at while they explored.

"It's not as, uh, lush as the other islands," Bruce commented. "Was there a forest fire here recently?" Akio had to admit, his friend made a good point. Atlantis itself, on the surface, was mostly covered by a lush jungle. This island, in contrast, was seemingly dead. Thin, soot-stained tree trunks filled the treeline below the Volcano, with a dark brownish-grey carpet of dirt beneath it. 

"The Trees are meant to be like that, actually," a voice called from the end of the wooden pier. Akio glanced over and was surprised to see a Scorpan skittering toward them. "Welcome to Isla Fuego, as The Creator named it. How can we help you?"

"We're just exploring," Sophie demurred. Akio jumped aside as she stepped off the gangplank behind him. Man, she was too quiet! "Is there anywhere interesting on the island to visit?"

"Well, there are some ruins just below the volcano," the Scorpan pointed behind him with his left humanoid arm. "There's a path there you can follow on the other side of the village. We've got some shops and a small tavern, though it's much quieter than others on the Eleventh. I'd advise against going up to the volcano itself, though." 

"Why?" Gobble asked, the little kobold poking her head through Akio's legs. 

"Well, the Fire Court like their privacy," the Scorpan explained. "They live in the volcanic crater, and chase away anyone who gets close. I'm not sure how they'd react to you, when they aren't that friendly to us Children. I can't stop you, but it's not something I'd advise."

"Thanks for the warning," Haythem said, the two adults finally joining the teens and kobold on the pier. "I certainly don't want to have to see that elemental again..."

"You've seen her before?" The Scorpan asked, suddenly sounding much more interested. Haythem blinked, glanced at Bertram, then continued.

"Yeah, when we first broke through into the sixth with Isid and Praetor's parties. We initially thought it'd be the floor's Guardian, but never ended up fighting it. A different Fire Manaspirt was guarding the exit."

"Hm, yes, that makes sense," the Scorpan mused, rubbing his large claws together. "The Fire Court migrated down to the Eleventh during The Creator's Slumber; beyond one Guilder making it to the Ninth near the end of that time, I think that was when the rest of you reached the Sixth. Then again, news from the upper floors was a little scarce."

"Someone made it to the Ninth?" Bertram blinked in surprise and turned to Haythem. "Hey, didn't some of the Heroes' Descendants disappear into the dungeon around then, too?"

"I think so..." Haythem mused. Akio and the rest of the teens, entirely out of the loop, were just confused. "Well, we can check out those ruins at least, right?" Akio interjected. "Exploring lost, ancient ruins is totally a pirate adventure thing as well!"

The adults chuckled and the teens laughed, the mood instantly lightening from the almost somber tones it'd taken. "Sure, kid. Hey, would you be willing to point us on the way...?"

"Oh! My apologies," the Scorpan exclaimed."I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Plays-with-Fire, and I'd be happy to guide you."

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