233, 2/2

Poi sent, ‘Jane is connected now.’

Erick smiled wide as he closed his book and stood up from his chair in the library. As Poi’s presence faded into the background, Jane’s consciousness butted up against Erick’s, and Erick happily sent, ‘Hello, Jane!’

‘Hey, dad. Heard you were busy in a dungeon lately.’

Erick felt a warmth in his chest at Jane’s voice. ‘I’m going to check on Storm’s Edge later, but I went to a different dungeon recently that was very interesting! Have you been to the Glittering Depths, just north of Greendale?’

‘Noooo…? No. Don’t think so. Let me check some records.’

Erick imagined Jane was flipping through some nearby files—

‘Oh! Found it.’ Jane paused.

Erick waited.

‘… Says here it’s a Second Script dungeon— Oh. It’s that dungeon that the church of Atunir made several years ago.’ Jane sent, ‘Nope. Never been to that one. It’s a well-made dungeon according to my records. We’ve never had a complaint. Are you checking out dungeons for gods now? For Scripts for new worlds, if this Yggdrasil unsealing makes everything happen much faster than everyone is ready? Or something?’

‘Oh nothing that drastic— Well. Atunir did ask me to go see her Second Script dungeon, and I did, and it was pretty interesting! I might go around to some others out there, later, to check out other Second Scripts. But anyway—’ Erick began, ‘You know practically all there is to know about dungeons, yes?’

‘I like to think so, yes.’

‘Okay. So. Ever had a person go into a dungeon, and that person [Witness] a memory of the Old Cosmology and possibly a memory of their old life?’

‘… Yes.’

Erick exclaimed, ‘You have?!’

Jane sighed a little, then said, ‘Yes. It’s not something we like to broadcast, but it does happen to some people. I take it this happened to you?’

‘Yes! It did. I talked to Atunir about it, and she said I likely had some sort of connection to the Old Cosmology history she put into that dungeon, either because I made myself have a connection to that past, or because of— Well. You know how people make mana, and mana never really goes away? And that mana can coalesce into new life a long time later? It’s sort of like reincarnation, but not at all, because though the original mana might be the same, and the inheritor might have memories of the past, it’s not really reincarnation at all.’ Erick knew how it was going to sound before he even said it, so he blurted it out as fast as he could, ‘Well maybe the mana that came around and started me, or however it works, came from the Old Cosmology.’

‘The Xoatists are going to have a festival day if they ever find out about this.’ Jane laughed a little. ‘I’m almost tempted to tell one of them. You’ve met Andri, right?’

Erick’s heart sank as a profound dread filled him. Jane was teasing, of course, but she was still teasing.

‘… I have met Andri, yes.’

Jane laughed again. ‘Andri is a good guy, but I won’t tell anyone anything, dad. I do want to know more about whatever you experienced down there in the Glittering Depths, though.’

Erick relaxed, and asked, ‘What do you know about the place?’

‘Let me read a little bit more.’ A few moments later, Jane sent, ‘The paperwork I have on it paints the Glittering Depths as a rather well-made Grand Dungeon, with every single person who actually manages to get to the main floors mostly desiring to… Hmm. To live down there? That’s not too unusual. Says they have a False Society down there that’s become fully cognizant, and which has been cleared by our teams as acceptable. Now that is unusual… I’m gonna have to ask around about that, actually… And about this ‘mana density’ thing that’s going on there.’ Jane turned her full attention back to her father, saying, ‘I’m the problem solver and the Glittering Depths has no problems, so I’ve never been, so I doubt I will need to actually do anything with this dungeon, but… Tell me all about your trip! I want to hear it all. This is the first dungeon you’ve actually gone into without Quilatalap there, right?’

Jane tried to crush down her little bit of enthusiasm as she spoke, but Erick could tell she was excited to talk about dungeons with her father. And Erick was kinda thrilled to finally be able to talk about real experiences inside a dungeon, too.

So Erick began, ‘It was my first without Quilatalap, yes. So there are 5 starter floors, and then you end up in the City Restored, which is where everyone lives. But on the first floor, you start off at the Destroyed City, and the mana density of the air is at 80%, so your mana sense is knocked down by a good fifth…’

An hour of easy conversation passed, with Erick speaking of his experiences in the Glittering Depths and Jane speaking of her own experiences in the more dangerous dungeons of the world.

‘Killing a core is never a calm thing,’ Jane sent, ‘Because as soon as the core breaks you’re stranded in the Dark, and that’s when things get weird, more than dangerous. Some recruits I’ve had at this job look like they’re going to go all the way, to be real veterans one day. But then I take them out for their first core breaking, and we’re there, floating in the Dark, and they proceed to go absolutely raging insane… Thankfully we have some good Mind Mages on staff and some of those recruits can come back from the edge… Still dangerous to go that deep into the Dark, though. I would advise you against going to any Endless Delves for much the same reason; those places get weird. I’ve gone to a few of those, but not really, because the core is never down there.’

Erick got what she was saying. ‘I won’t go diving into the real Dark anytime soon.’

Jane laughed. ‘Maybe you believe that, but there was that [Onward] thing which I don’t fully believe, but now you’re headed into dungeons for the first real time in your life, and playing around with mana crystals again… I suppose you’ve always had more responsibilities to the Surface and otherwise to forgo dungeon delving, so it makes sense you never really went into one for that reason… I love you, dad. Don’t do anything too crazy, okay?’

Erick smiled to himself as he leaned back in his chair, sending, ‘I love you too, Jane. And it’s just experimenting with mana crystals while I wait on Greendale to reopen the Denutha Odaari case. Nothing too crazy. And I won’t even be down there too much because then I won’t be available out here.’

With a gentle sort of happiness, Jane sent, ‘I’m glad that you’re finally taking some time off, dad. Talk to you later.’

‘Talk to you later!’

– – – –

After having a nice sleep in his own bed, Erick woke and made breakfast for everyone, which was a rare treat for him more than it was for everyone else; Rizala was actually a better cook. But Erick hadn’t had much time to cook in a long time, and he kinda missed it. Afterward, he poked at the dungeons of Storm’s Edge again, seeing if ‘Vanya’ was able to speak. Again, the skeletons at the entrance politely asked Erick to come back another time.

Erick pressed the issue enough to have ‘Vanya’ throw her consciousness into the skeletons at the entrance. Quilatalap rapidly explained that he couldn’t talk right now; that he was at a critical juncture in the feedback system he was implementing between all the various elemental dungeons which would compose the Grand Dungeon. With Quilatalap being quite eager to get back to work, Erick decided not to press anymore. He’d be back later.

– – – –

Wearing his Ashes Familiar Form, dressed in his armor and trinkets from the dungeon, and carrying a suitcase filled with various supplies that was hidden behind Privacy magics, Erick set his Platform down onto the Platform Square, in the Glittering Depths compound. The sky was brilliant blue and the air smelled of fresh greenery, as Erick hefted his staff in his free hand, and said some small farewells to Ophiel, once again. Ophiel didn’t take up his normal position, though, because of what was happening at the Glittering Depths, and which Erick would be dealing with soon enough.

The dungeon didn’t have a whole lot of people in the main courtyard this morning, which seemed kinda normal, but Erick couldn’t rush into the dungeon like he had initially planned, because a checkpoint lay in front of the dungeon keep. There was no easy getting to the black [Gate] today.

Erick slowed his roll as he exited the Platform Square tunnel, and entered the courtyard of the dungeon.

There were twenty people in line to get through the new checkpoint.

Casting his Sight through Ophiel, to check on the surroundings, Erick saw lots of people who were not here last time. They were easy to pick out from the people who ran this place, because the new people all wore dark green dress armor, or dark green suits, or some combination thereof. They were the inquisitors of Greendale; the official inquisition against hostile forces of the Greensoil Republic.

They were basically the secret police.

Erick sighed a little, and then kept moving, to get into the quiet line leading into the dungeon. Erick didn’t recognize a single person anywhere at all, but gradually, and then quickly, people recognized him. Faces began to turn, and eyes began to focus.

And the inquisitor problem was larger than he had initially sensed, and he had tripped them up just as much as they tripped him up.

Erick was currently running his personal anti-mana sense magics, so when people glanced his way and actually saw him, some people had some outsized reactions, since their sight didn’t match with their senses. One woman over by the surface delver guildhouse jerked as though she had been slapped, as though she could not understand how Erick had moved into the line just ahead of her without her seeing him. Erick watched as that woman chided herself, reminding herself that she shouldn’t be so reliant on only her mana sense.

Erick was having almost the exact same reaction, as he saw, from this inside-courtyard-view, a good ten more people than he sensed, but he kept his outward emotions in check. This was going to be a problem, wasn’t it?

Right on cue, here came the manifestation of the problem.

A large man in gleaming green armor and a shorter man in a green suit casually walked out of a tunnel to the side of the dungeon keep courtyard, out of one of the many, many anti-mana sense areas Erick now noticed all around here, their eyes already fixed on him. Erick had to hand it to whoever crafted the anti-mana sense areas; they weren’t overbearing, and they didn’t hide the presence of the new checkpoint. And so, Erick had walked right into this trap.

Being here, in the center of the dungeon keep courtyard, was to be in the center of the crosshairs of a good 15 mages and warriors from Greendale; at least 3 or 4 teams of elites, all working together. Almost all of them had been on low alert, but now, Erick saw people set down books and rise from their seats, to turn his way.

The tall, armored man walked up to Erick, to stand two meters away. “Ashes Woodfield. You are wanted for questioning by the inquisition, along with all other high-ranking delvers of the Glittering Depths. But since you’re here, we’re talking to you now. Will you come peacefully?”

“… Depends on where.”

A lot of the inquisitors around the square did not like that ‘backtalk’.

But unlike Erick’s last encounter with inquisitors, and unlike the majority of the other inquisitors, the large man did not seem to care that Erick had challenged his authority. He seemed at ease in his own power, both in posture and in tone, as he simply said, “The inquisition has offices beyond that tunnel back there. We would conduct this question there.”

Erick pointed his feet in that direction. “Lead the way.”

To Erick’s surprise, the man led the way without complaint.

Usually inquisitors were a lot more pushy and horrible.

As Erick left the courtyard, things began to return to how they had been, before Erick had shown, with various inquisitors relaxing a little inside their mana senseless zones, while the inquisitors at the queue of delvers resumed their questioning, and letting people pass if they submitted well enough.

The whole thing rankled, but Erick could keep his emotions in check for a while.

– – – –

Erick sat down in a second-story room that didn’t look like it got much use, except as perhaps a break room for guests, or some other sort of non-used space. It had a nice view of the countryside, and a lesser view of the dungeon area, along with a couch and a few chairs and a low table. As Erick put his box of Privacy’d books down, a small bit of dust drifted off the grey stone floor.

The man in green armor sat down across from Erick. His skin was the color of dark wood, his hair was close cropped, and his face betrayed no anger, or anything else, except mild annoyance, and only now that they were out of public sight.

This room was a hundred meters from the nearest other person —that Erick could mana sense— so anyone who was mana sensing who wasn’t also hidden from that sense, would have to be rather damned good. Not many people could fit that bill.

Eh. There were probably people right on the other side of that wall over there, where the shorter man had glanced earlier. Whatever. Erick was rather secure in himself; he wasn’t worried about a real trap.

The armored man introduced himself, “I’m Inquisitor Wess Clover.” He brought out a truthstone and set it on the table between them. It glowed green. “This is a truthstone. Green is the truth, red is a lie. Blue is further questioning required. Do you understand?”

“I do.”

Wess nodded. “Do you know of the Manfields?”

Erick instantly knew what this was about.

When he had come to Greendale the first time, with Poi, and met those other pushy inquisitors, Poi had dropped Mind Mage obfuscation protocol to tell Erick that there had been some demonic killings in the north of Greendale, and that the inquisitors were on high alert because of that. And so, when Erick had had some time afterward, he had looked into all of that intrigue, mostly by asking Zolan for information. Zolan soon gave him a Knowledge-Mage-collected folder of information on those murders. The specifics in that mostly-public information had been rather light, for all of that information had been collected from other Knowledge Mage sources which the government controlled around here, but Erick knew what most of those in the nobility knew.

The Manfields were the first victims of that demonic murder spree. Other nobility followed, each killing more gruesome than the last.

“I do know of the Manfields.”

Green stone.

Surprised look on Wess’s smaller partner’s face.

And Wess’s eyes narrowed. Some of his easy nature vanished. He slowly asked, “Do you know of the Chesterfields?”

“I’m going to save us some time.” Erick said, “I know practically everything that the public knows about the demonic murders of Greendale, because I asked a Knowledge Mage about all that and they gave me a rather decent information packet. Other than that, and unless these murders happen or these murderers come under my direct watch, I have no interest in involving myself in whatever is happening there, but only because your government wouldn’t want me involved.”

Wess glanced at the steady green glow of the stone—

Wess’s partner’s eyes were wide, as he stressed, “We need you to come down to the district to give testimony to that effect.”

“I will not.”

The shorter man’s countenance instantly shifted to something darker. He lightly glared at Erick, saying, “We will compel you if necessary.”

“You can try. You will fail.”

The shorter man almost went on a tirade—

But Wess interrupted his partner. “Thank you for your cooperation, Ashes Woodfield. You’re free to go. I do ask that if you see any demonic summoners inside the Glittering Depths, that you take it upon yourself to report them, please. Do not involve yourself in the affairs of Greendale.”

The shorter man struggled to remain silent as he glared at Wess, and then Erick.

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Erick just nodded, grabbed his books and his staff, stood, and then left.

– – – –

It took Erick twenty four minutes, 36 seconds, to get to the front of the checkpoint line into the dungeon —he counted!— even though there were only 17 people ahead of him. Some of those people glanced at Erick with wide eyes, before suddenly averting their gaze, to stare forward, or to talk quietly among the people they were delving with. Everyone in line now knew he was ‘Ashes Woodfield’, and everyone here knew he was at the top of the Decoration board. Many looked at his staff, and wondered at the capabilities of the gently-glowing length of runed crystal. Others looked at the cerulean stone on his bracelet, and knew it as Healing Magic; Healing Magic that they wanted, but could not have… Or at least not yet. Not here, in this land of inquisitors.

Erick had cast his mind elsewhere the entire time he waited in line, to distract himself from the invasive questions he heard at the front of the line, and how the delvers all answered those questions as best they could. All of those questions were recorded in the magical ‘book’ that wasn’t a real book, or else Erick would have been able to spy on everyone else who had come through the checkpoint. It was just a metal book-shaped artifact that copied the information written down onto another book elsewhere, while the original information got erased from the metal pages of the artifact.

All of this was rather infuriating.

And now Erick was at the front of the line, and he had to actually pay attention to these infuriating people. Erick told himself that they were just doing jobs, looking for murderers, though, and that helped.

“Name?” asked the bored recorder. He was an old man with heavy scars and white hair, and the body of a much younger man. He looked tough, which was probably why he was here, at this ‘desk job’, while two other guards of lesser stature flanked the door to the dungeon keep.

“Ashes Woodfield.”

“You know it’s illegal to walk around with anti-mana sense magics?” said the man, without care. “Both on you, and on your baggage.”

“It’s not illegal to do that at all.”

The rather bored man became less bored. He looked up at Erick. “… Aye. I suppose it’s not technically illegal for the nobility. You nobility?”

“It’s not illegal for anyone to walk around under a mana sense obscuring spell. It is not illegal for them to protect themselves with Privacy Magics. What is illegal is [Invisibility], and I am not using that.”

Ophiel was using ‘[Invisibility]’ magics, but not that specific spell, and he was not here right now; Erick did not lie.

The old man grinned, predatory. “A barrister, have we?”

Erick couldn’t help himself. “What is illegal is what you’re doing here with this interrogation. Dungeons can open entrances anywhere they want to, and they will, all the time, if the people who want to visit those dungeons can’t get into them through the proper channels. By doing this right here you are tempting this dungeon to open entrances outside of known parameters.”

There were 21 people behind Erick, and all of them shied backward as Erick spoke.

The older man leaned back in his chair, still grinning. “We can break laws to find the dissenters among your lot. You cannot.”

“Maybe Greendale wouldn’t have so many dissenters if the crown wasn’t so tyrannical in how it handles people who speak out against your government.”