074, 1/2

Erick woke early. The sun had yet to rise on the other side of Windy Manor. As soon as he got out of bed, Ophiel flitted up to his shoulder, taking his position for however long he could. It wouldn’t be for long. Erick nudged him off of there as he went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Ophiel waited outside, scratching the wooden door. When Erick came back outside, he saw Ophiel had left little scratches in the otherwise unmarred wood. The little guy was getting pretty bad about that. A quick [Mend] fixed the scratches, though.

With Ophiel back on his shoulder, Erick stepped downstairs to the kitchen, to start making breakfast. No one had a night shift, anymore; not with [Prismatic Ward] filling the Manor.

Pots and pans and flour, eggs, and milk, hovered around the kitchen under Erick’s Handy Aura’d control. Eggs cracked, flour and milk became batter. Pans heated in the meantime. When it was good and hot, Erick made pancakes while he grilled sausage into patties and made coftea, all at the same time. He didn’t use his flesh and bone hands; he didn’t need to.

Soon enough, others woke. Poi first, as usual. He had trouble sleeping when everyone stirred to wake around him, and his own stomach growled at the smell of breakfast. As he came down the stairs, Erick handed him a cup of coftea with lots of cream and sugar; just how he liked it these days.

Kiri and Teressa came down next, just in time for the first round of pancakes and sausages.

“Did Rats not come in last night?” Erick asked, over his plate of pancakes, as he looked up at Rats’ open door on the third floor. The entire manor was open in the center; it was easy to see everyone’s room from down at the kitchen table.

Teressa yawned, saying, “He was called in a few hours ago. With all the anti-parasiteers gone after Messalina, they needed him.”

Poi offhandedly said, “He’s fine. I just checked. He’s a bit crabby, but he’s fine.”

“How is he doing with that, anyway?” Kiri asked.

Poi said, “They like him. He floats around a lot, but he’s primarily in the Emergency Ward to work on his [Greater Treat Wounds] quest. It’s going faster here than it was back in Spur. It might only take him one year instead of three.”

Erick smiled. “That’s good.”

“We won’t be here for a year, though.” Kiri said, “When are we going back?”

“Soon as I finish this initial light dungeon.”

“I want to help, but…” Kiri said, “I’ve been practicing what you said, but it’s not working for me like you said it would. I don’t understand how a lightwave should look.”

“I’d love your help.” Erick said, “But you still haven’t made a [Familiar], right? I won’t be physically going into the place until after the architecture is all set up. If the walls weren’t so thick, that place should have crashed in on itself years ago. It’s not safe in there.” He added, “And I have to string water through the whole place, too. That’s gonna make it all a lot weaker. Can’t work on the lights until all of that is done.” He said, “And I think… It’s going to take quite a bit longer than 5 days.”

Poi hummed as he sipped his coftea.

“I’m close to a [Familiar],” Kiri said, cutting up a pancake and drizzling syrup over it all. “I was going with [Flameshape], but now I think I should do [Lightshape] instead.”

Ophiel trilled on Erick’s shoulder, as though objecting to Kiri’s choice on a very personal level.

Erick said, “[Airshape] is pretty good, too.”

“Yeah. But…” Kiri said, “[Lightshape]… if everything is actually made out of light…”

“Well that’s not true.” Erick said, “Very little is actually made out of light. I think I might have said some confusing things.”

Teressa smirked, saying, “Very confusing.”

“What’s made out of light, then?” Kiri asked.

“Uh…” Erick thought, just to make sure he was thinking correctly, then said, “Nothing is made of light.”

Kiri dramatically half-collapsed over her pancakes. She lifted her head, asking, “Isn’t light energy? And isn’t everything energy?”

“Oh!” Erick said, “I think I see where I said the wrong thing. Everything is energy. Light has different energy levels. In that way, light is sort of like an energy, but it’s also a particle.”

Kiri sat up, saying, “But how can light be both an energy and a particle! I can understand how a system like a rock, or whatever, can have energy, but it’s not energy itself! Why do you say that matter is energy?”

Erick paused, looking at Kiri. She was stressed, with her shoulders hunched and her face in a grimace. He looked over to Poi. He was stressed, too, but in a much more Poi-sort of way; he was quiet, with fewer thought tendrils around his head than normal. Teressa, with her blond hair and bright green eyes, looked somewhat okay, but maybe she was just better at hiding it than Kiri.

Erick said to Kiri, “I think that you might want to leave all of this stuff alone, Kiri. Maybe work on the wavelength of light stuff I showed you. Maybe try your hand at making some Stat items. You can raid my stash of blank diamond spheres at any time.” He added, “Practical knowledge is better than theoretical, and I honestly do not know enough about all of this stuff to properly answer your questions. Maybe in 50 years, or whatever it takes, other people will be answering all of these questions you’re having.”

Kiri stuck her fork in a slice of pancake, silent.

Erick added, “Besides: there’s not going to be any new basic light spells. No extra points. Rozeta said that the whole system is going under [Ward].”

Poi laughed once, then went back to drinking his coftea. Teressa smiled, saying nothing.

Kiri asked, “Really? No points? No new basic magic?”

“That was my impression. Besides: I was using lightwards and lightmasks to do everything before.” Erick said, “Others have obviously done the same. There’s those Gemslicers and their darklights I keep hearing about; so at least those guys know the secret. If that light dungeon I heard about in Nelboor is real, then those guys must know the secret, too.”

Kiri said, “Maybe.” She added, “I’ve heard about that dungeon, too. The Headmaster investigated that place centuries ago, right? He found nothing?”

Erick said, “There were two instances of Hocnihai searching for it in his journals, too, but he never found it either. That delegation that dropped off his books also mentioned it when they were handing me the man’s last tomes; something about ‘those who want to learn true light magic should find the place’, or something. I think the Wasteland Kingdoms think it exists. Or at least they want it to exist.”

Poi said, “One quest at a time, please.”

Erick agreed, “One thing at a time.” He added, “As soon as this preliminary dungeon is done, we can go back to Spur and help find Messalina. Or at least defend the city from further monsters while everyone else works.”

Teressa said, “Are we all going back to Jane’s room for the day?”

“I know I am.” Erick said, “Soon as breakfast is done.” He added, “Unless Apell is already at the dungeon. Actually…”

With a thought, Erick conjured another tiny Ophiel, and sent him blipping over to the dungeon, to see through the [Familiar]’s eyes. Apell Calloway, the pale green wrought Professor of Dungeoneering, was not there, but other people were. Five people stood around outside of the dungeon, on a flat plateau of land, in the twilight morning. But that was not the first thing to catch Erick’s attention.

The entire mountainside had been clear cut; every single tree or bush or fern had been ripped out, or burned away, or however they had done it. The mountain now looked like a very, very large staircase, with ten-meter steps, each ten meters deep. The dungeon entrance was at the very top of these steps.

Erick would investigate all of that later, but for now, he turned his attention to the people standing outside of the dungeon. They were standing around a wardlight in the shape of the dungeon; a map. It was colored with blue floors and red intakes and white outlets.

And it wasn’t nearly complex enough. If that was their idea of what Erick needed out of the space then he would need to straighten them out. He didn’t see any waterworks in their design, for one, and they were probably missing other things Erick had put into the first dungeon.

The people standing around the floating map noticed Ophiel as soon as he appeared. One of the people was Calzin, the pale owl shifter from yesterday. He waved. Erick made Ophiel wave back. Erick let go of that Ophiel; he could wander around in the breeze outside of the dungeon entrance until it was go-time.

Erick came back to himself. Barely twenty seconds had passed. He said, “They’re already there.”

Kiri said, “I’m coming with you, this time.”

Erick said, “Of course.”

She added, “I also… want to talk to you about helping me make a [Familiar] of my own… later.”

“Of course, Kiri.” Erick smiled, saying, “We can make a whole production of it, too. Zago told me that Sizzi got her [Familiar] with [Lightshape] by having Zago and Anhelia play some musical instruments while Sizzi sang a whole song at the sky. I haven’t actually seen Sizzi’s blue box, but I’m told it was quite impressive.”

Kiri flushed darker green, bordering on red. She said, “If I must. I primarily want her to have her own mana pool, like yours.”

Teressa smirked, saying, “Then I’m going to Jane’s room on my own?”

Erick said, “Thank you, Teressa. It makes me feel a lot better knowing she’s being watched over. How’s your Mana Sense coming along, anyway?”

“Pretty good.” Teressa said, “I can flip a switch and see the world around me for a good eight meters. Hard to do inside this [Ward], but not impossible.”

“That’s amazing!” Erick said, genuinely happy for her. “Good job!”

“I don’t use a [Personal Ward] like you, so I think that has helped a lot.”

Erick said, “Maybe. Whatever the case, you’ve worked hard for this. I’ve noticed. Are you going to get [Witness]?”

Teressa laughed. “I’m still a long ways away from all of that. But, maybe.”

Poi said, “That’d be really useful, but if you got that skill I don’t think Killzone would let you operate in Ar’Kendrithyst ever again. Merit might even pull for you to join the Guard.”

Teressa lost her grin. After a long moment, she said, “That would be okay with me.”

Erick asked, “Really?”

Poi just looked at Teressa, full of unasked questions.

Teressa said, “Before I was stationed as your guard, I was a wreck. It’s been really nice to get away from that place.” She added, “Rats was even worse than me. But these days, he hardly drops anything when people make a loud noise.” She said, “The Dead City is a poison. It seeps into your bones and you can’t enjoy life anymore, because… Because as soon as you express anything real, a Shade will see that happen, and they’ll work to take it away.”

A long moment passed in silence.

Kiri said, “I don’t know how the veterans do it. I was only in there for a month, and it was awful.”

Poi said, “If you want to go for [Witness], Teressa, you can. I’ll file the paperwork to transfer you to the guard.”

“I don’t know, Poi.” Teressa said, “I hadn’t really thought about it until you brought it up. I’m just talking. Don’t mind me.”

Poi nodded, saying, “The option is there. I doubt your duties will change if you choose to pursue this path, but another person who can [Witness] for the guard is a valuable resource that no one would mind having.”

Teressa ate her pancakes in silent thought.

Erick and Kiri talked of math, and of how long the dungeon would actually take. They knew the rough plans, but actual numbers could be anywhere from 10 days to 25. Poi just nodded; he knew it would take longer than Erick thought it would.

Near the end of breakfast, after talk of dungeons and plans got ironed out, Teressa said, “I’ll think about [Witness], Poi. Thank you.”

Poi nodded.

 

– – – –

 

Erick blipped to the dungeon shortly after breakfast was over, taking Poi and Kiri with him. They landed on the top step of the mountainside, appearing several meters from the map hanging in the air, beside the tiny Ophiel Erick had left floating around the area. The Ophiel Erick had left behind in the house blipped in beside Erick. Both of the feathered [Familiar]s each took one of Erick’s shoulders for themselves, with eyes wide open, to look all around. Erick looked around, too.

This entire side of the mountain had certainly been clear-cut since yesterday. The plateaus and straight cliffs had been fully exposed, while the dawning sun rose on the other side of the mountain, and wind and mana swept up from the twilight ocean to the west. The water streams that traced down the mountainside yesterday, that cut across the forest floor, were gone. The forest floor was gone, too. Everything had been flattened and made into pristine, new stone. Mostly the mountain was slate grey, but there was also a fair bit of brown and tan stone, too.

Several people stood in front of Erick, standing around a glowing, floating map of the dungeon. Calzin was one of those people. He was talking to a young incani woman, but at Erick’s appearance, the girl lowered her head and stepped away.

Calzin called out, “Hello, Archmage! Good morning.”

Erick walked forward, saying, “Good morning. I didn’t expect everyone to already be here. Where’s Professor Calloway? What’s happening?”

Calzin pointed to the dungeon entrance, saying, “Down there, already. She was the first one here, several hours ago. I heard that as soon as your [Familiar]s went away the Headmaster sent her back in.” He added, “After she got here, she set to clearing the mountain. Then a pair of doctors came out and checked the area and the dungeon for biologics. They found some outside, but they took care of those. The entire mountainside and dungeon is clean, now. We’ve got the all-clear to work, so we’re working.”

“Okay.” Erick looked to the dungeon entrance. It was still a hole in the ground, three meters wide, leading to a downward tunnel. Not much had changed there. Maybe the lights leading down the tunnel were more uniform, or maybe not. Erick would get to all of that later; put up some something decorative, or whatnot. But proper construction came first. He turned back to Calzin, then looked to the floating, glowing dungeon map, saying, “I don’t see any waterworks in here.”

Calzin smiled. “We were waiting for you for all of that.”

Erick said, “Excellent!”

“Good. You’re here.”

Erick turned toward the voice.

Apell was walking up from the dungeon. Her light green metal body was formed into light work clothes.

Erick said, “Hello. I expected to be working on it myself, today.”

“No such luck, I’m afraid.” Apell stepped to the side of the floating dungeon map, saying, “The Headmaster wants this done as soon as possible and he’s worked out the basic math. You need help.” She looked to Kiri. “I’ve heard that your apprentice should be able to help put up lights?”

Erick covered for Kiri, saying, “I haven’t told her everything quite yet.”

“Probably for the best, but that will throw our schedule back a few days.” Apell looked to Erick, saying, “What kind of waterworks do you want? Something similar to the original location? We’ve got streams to route however you want, but I assume you’d want to start with some of that silver rain of yours?”

Erick turned his attention to the dungeon map, and saw it inadequate. He turned to the left, to an open space in the air, and began creating a second map in full color, saying, “This is how I would do it…”

Apell, Calzin, and the incani woman, who was no longer just standing in the background, but watching intently, all listened and saw what Erick wanted to do. Apell had quite a few suggestions. Erick moved the map accordingly.

When the conversation was done an hour later, there was a plan, and several other graduates who had come in halfway through the talk were all in the loop.

Beauty and ornateness would come later, but for now, the ten floors would each be the same. Each of the base floors of the dungeon were a hundred meters long on each side, square, and perfectly flat, but that would all change soon enough. Erick wanted undulations and fun spots for slimes to play. He also wanted a winding river that went from the top floor and around the entire level before passing through a grate, to drop down onto the next floor, to continue on its way. Each floor would have lots of diamond sculptures and lots of entertaining lights, which Erick would provide. The students would work the mana flows and the river and even the carving of the floor and the pillars everywhere, to maximize the condensation of mana into areas that Erick would flood with all the necessary lights.

The verdict had come down from the Headmaster. He wanted this place full to bursting with all the appropriate lighting, no matter if it was secretive or not. Blacklights were to be liberally employed throughout the whole space.

Apell was less than happy about this, as it meant she would have to account for this strange new magic being widely employed, and everyone soon finding out about it, but Erick was thrilled; he was going to make a good product that actually did what he wanted it to do. After a little bit of explaining about the side effects of the blacklights, without getting into too much detail, the graduates, who were apparently going to be employed here to watch after the dungeon, were also slightly thrilled. Blacklights meant that the need to [Cleanse] the place would be a lot less than normal because blacklights were natural disinfectants.

In the main reservoirs, strong blacklights would keep the water pure, but even the smaller, less powerful blacklights that Erick would place around the dungeon itself would be good for keeping out other accidental slimes or other potential fauna. With all the moisture in the air, moss and mold were usually a problem for every dungeon, but not with the lighting Erick had planned.

When they doubted the disinfecting properties of blacklights, Apell spoke up, saying that it was true. The original dungeon was still clean, even with all of the water Erick had strung through the place. Several people looked at Erick differently, after that.

With the plan finalized, Apell set her people to work with precise orders.

Erick stayed outside. The first thing to set up was the diamond-making area.

Atop a plateau only thirty meters north of the dungeon entrance, and still in view of that hole in the mountain, Erick first conjured a few more Ophiel, then set them blipping across the ocean to Spur, to check on the Mage Trio’s house. With another Ophiel right in front of him, and using that Ophiel to cast the spell, he conjured a [Prismatic Ward].

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He checked back to Spur, and…

The dense air around the Mage Trio’s house remained stable; Erick had not compromised the [Ward] around the Trio’s house. Very good.

… Needing to check on their house every time he wanted to use another [Prismatic Ward] was rather annoying. He really needed to hurry up and understand how Ophiel’s [Prismatic Ward]s worked, with regard to the ‘can only have one Solid Ward’ aspect of the spell. He couldn’t do it right now; he needed to use his mana and his time on the dungeon.

Erick recalled the closest Ophiel and dismissed the rest. He summoned a few more. As several Ophiel hovered around him, Erick shaped the land into a large pool. Then, he raised silver mist from the land. That mist turned into silver clouds, that rained platinum. Erick funneled that rain into the pool using a wide [Weather Ward]. When the pool was full and shimmering, he cast a [Distill] into the water. Platinum metals, that Erick very much doubted were platinum, separated from the water. He and Kiri separated the resulting metals from the pool. Soon, Erick was left with one long, large pool of clear water, underneath a long, hanging [Prismatic Ward].

Erick set five Ophiel to hovering above the water, inside the dense air. With another thought at comfort, he pulled up perches of stone from the bottom of the pool, into the [Prismatic Ward].

With the benefits of the enforced ‘Rest’ state inside the [Prismatic Ward], Ophiel’s natural regeneration was the same as Erick’s; a little over 20k per hour. Meaning that, between all of the Ophiel on perches over the water, they could maintain a [Cleanse Aura] by switching between who cast the spell every 20 minutes, keeping the water pristine, and casting [Crystallize Diamond] down into the pool below them.

Erick took a dozen diamond chips from his pocket and tossed them into the water. [Crystallize Diamond]s began from each Ophiel, almost immediately. The water bubbled. One of the Ophiel turned on their [Cleanse Aura].

Chips became gems, became jewels, growing larger and larger as time went on, and thick air spilled up and out of that deep pool. Time would pass, and rocks would become more than simple rocks. They would become the accents for a new light dungeon; ones that would glitter and sparkle enough to entice light slimes to spontaneously generate out of the manasphere.