Chapter 236 – Return to the Labyrinth

When Xecatl next saw her, she froze. “I sensed your communion with Ceiba Yan… but I almost didn’t believe it. Your fourth soul ascension?”

Mirian nodded.

“Congratulations are in order, then. Some days, I envy you, able to steer your own soul.” She looked at the sacred tree. “But I also know I wouldn’t give up what I have. It is a beautiful bond.”

“It is,” Mirian agreed.

For the next few days, it was difficult to bring her attention back to more mundane matters. She felt her mind playing with the language of glyphs and runes to explain what she’d felt, because words seemed wholly insufficient. Eventually, she had an actual conversation with Xecatl. They sat on one of the balconies, looking over the city at dusk. Mirian was beginning to make a mental catalog of her favorite sunsets. This one was nice, but not even in the top ten.

“I’m not needed here,” she told the Emperor. “You have things under control. Jherica can take care of communication between the Council and you, as well as the knowledge exchange.”

Xecatl said nothing, but she nodded. “I expected as much. You aren’t one to stay in one place.”

“I suppose not, anymore. I’ll spend a few cycles in Torrviol, then see if I can figure out what’s going on in Zhighua. Gabriel clearly isn’t going to make it there on his own any time soon.”

“Very well. Ceiba Yan will miss you.”

Mirian smiled at that.

***

With Jherica taking over the expeditions to Tlaxhuaco, Mirian’s preparation time was drastically cut. Opening the Elder Gate to Mahatan and retrieving the lotuses she needed took less than an hour. With no need to bring supplies or people down south with her, she could use accelerated levitation to fly directly to Cairnmouth, then take a train to Palendurio. Drilling beneath the river was mana intensive, but not difficult. The most time consuming part of opening that gate was procuring the magichemicals and elements needed to grow the requisite conduit crystals. Conductor remained steadfast about following the rules.

That setup, though, could be completed in a single day. Then it was a matter of setting up the research she needed done.

Viridian and Seneca would be in charge of extracting and testing various magichemicals. Jei would be in charge of conduit crystal creation, while Torres and her team would help fabricate any of the new artifice needed for tests or trials. Endresen would work with Jei to optimize mana channels for maximum capacity. Endresen would also work with Viridian to investigate the issue of waste mana. Instead of using detectors from Torrian Tower, they’d create a minor spirit construct that Viridian could commune with.

That took a week, with most of it taken up by the setup of the spirit in Viridian’s greenhouse and train him on the techniques he’d need. It took a few more days to revamp several rooms in Myrvite Studies to accommodate her tests of jeweled lotus spirit constructs.

By the end of it, she knew she’d made mistakes in the process that could be corrected for efficiency. She made a note in her soulbound spellbook to better leverage the artisans in Torrviol. Recruit more stonemasons and carpenters, she wrote. Most of them had worked for the Academy before, so they knew the exacting standards needed for the more delicate projects. Can more be trained? she wrote next to that note.

That, however, was only the preparation work. What she really wanted to see was what resources she had access to right beneath her feet.

***

Getting to the Labyrinth under Torrviol was annoying. It had taken her nearly a week of exploring the Torrviol Underground to find it the first time, though she hadn’t known what she was looking for at the time. It took her two days this time. She’d noted down information about the passage back on the 198th loop, but that had been over four years ago, so it took some time to rediscover.

The first thing she did was drill a passage directly up to see where she was. The answer, as it turned out, was ‘under Torrviol Lake.’ Mirian was drenched by the unexpected torrent of water, but she was able to use a force barrier to block off the water while she repaired the impermeable layer of stone that she’d cut through. Fortunately, it was a relatively shallow part of the lake, or the water pressure might have done much worse. That would have been an embarrassing way to end a loop, she mused as she finished reinforcing the ceiling with shape stone.

Still, being able to map the exact coordinates of the location onto the surface would save her time when reentering the Labyrinth.

Hmm. It’s by that old tower Nicolus liked to sit at. Briefly, she let the memories of the time they’d shared there play through her mind. Still likes to sit at, she corrected herself. Such a pity they never change.

Thoughts of what she’d shared with Nicolus led to thoughts of Jei. No doubt, she was pushing herself to her best of her ability, but even her brilliance felt like it had dulled. It wasn’t her fault that Mirian had to explain the same concepts over and over. It made sense that she still saw Mirian as her student. Even if she could logically accept that was no longer true, emotional truths were often harder to change. Jei made it clear she’d do whatever Mirian wanted, but obedience wasn’t what Mirian craved. It was an equal.

To be a time traveler is to be alone, she thought, not for the first time.

Then she cleared her head and flew back into town to gather a pack and supplies. Most of what she brought was food and water, though she packed a few magichemicals and a mapping device requisitioned from the Artificer’s Tower.

Mirian remembered her first descent into the Labyrinth. How nervous she’d been. Now, there was nothing for her to fear. She casually cut through any labyrinthine horrors that showed their face. When a slithering swarm tried to ambush her, she ground it into dust and took its soul for mana.

Within a few hours, she’d found a staircase leading down to the next level. She levitated down. A greater labyrinthine horror awaited her, rearing up and displaying its spiny arms. Mirian cut it into pieces, then spat out a cone of flame to sear them.

She moved on.

The maze-like passages constantly dead-ended, meaning Mirian spent a great deal of time back-tracking. However, the first two levels were as they were in Frostland’s Gate—trivial to navigate. From what she’d heard from Liuan and Gabriel, things got trickier in the lower levels. However, it also seemed that not every Vault was as absurdly punishing as the one she’d navigated up north. She knew Gabriel couldn’t have handled a Vault if it involved the long magic-suppression path she’d taken through two greater horrors or the obstacle course. Despite the swagger he put on, Gabriel didn’t like a painful death. That was why he stopped going below floor four in a Labyrinth. That was why he was clearly done trying to move into Zhighua, and was stalling.

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Mirian, on the other hand, had gotten over dying painfully. Mostly.