Chapter 74 – Confident

[I think this Dome might have a core.]

"A core? Are those a thing?"

[Well, it's not like it wouldn't be. It'd be almost like a battery of mana. We've already created our own in the form of those mana cubes. Though we just kept them as storages, but if you were to use it for something then it would become a core.]

"True. So this core must be powering the dome. That would honestly make sense considering the atrocious size of those trees."

[We should check it out. That's probably what's creating those illusion barriers as well. And if it's enchanted, we can take control and update the fog to confuse the animals.]

"Sweet. So it's straight down?"

[Yup.]

"Then let's go."  

Dream activated his magic and dove straight into the water. And like a fish through a stream, glided through the water without resistance.

'...It's a bit deeper than I thought.'

As Dream traveled down, he found that the lake wasn't shallow at all. He traveled down a few hundred meters before seeing the roots of all the trees.

[The roots travel from the outside of the dome into the center. And they are huge, to say the least. I wonder what the core is like.]

'I'm starting to feel it too. It truly is a powerful core...'

As Dream dove further down, he could feel mana emanating off something below him. It was getting close.

Soon, Dream came upon a huge wooden capsule. Though this wood was many times stronger than normal wood, being on the level of a metal.

'What is this?'

[It's the roots. They all conglomerate in the center and wrap around the core. They're protecting it.]

'So do we break through?'

[I think we'll have to. But we'll close it behind us. Here, go inside.]

Dream saw a section in the roots split open in front of him. When they did, he was hit with a huge wave of mana.

[Hurry.]

'Ok.'

Sophia pushed him along after he recoiled from the mana. Dream quickly moved forward and into the root capsule. 

Immediately after, the roots closed behind him. He was now sealed inside. 

'....Whoah.'

Dream couldn't help but exclaim after seeing what was in front of him.

The space sealed by the roots was a big spherical room. Everything was made from wood. And in the center of this wood room stood a crystal ball held up on a wooden altar. This was where the mana was coming from. And since it was an enclosed room, Dream could feel the super high density of the ambient mana. It felt weird.

Dream hovered over to the altar. When he was next to it, he began inspecting the crystal ball.

The crystal was a deep green-colored ball about a foot in diameter. It glowed with light, almost like glow-in-the-dark paint. The crystal was connected to the altar by many small roots that cradled the ball, like veins to their heart. These vein roots also glowed the same green color, seemingly sucking power from the core and sending it down the altar and out into the massive roots. 

The altar and its crystal almost looked holy, like this crystal was some kind of sacred artifact. But it also brought about Indiana Jones vibes within Dream, where if he removed the crystal something bad would happen. 

"...So what's this crystal? Now that we have a better look."

Dream walked over to the crystal and began saturating it with mana.

[This crystal is actually diamond, not emerald as you might be thinking.]

"Diamond? Then why is it green?"

[I'm thinking that's due to the mana. In fact, this crystal closely resembles the orb that John gave you.]

As she said that, the orb that had been hanging somewhere on Dream's body floated up. He grabbed it.

[The energy is similar to what's inside this orb. It's like mana, but it also has some differences that make it something else.]

"So these two things are basically the same thing?"

[Correct. At least from what I'm seeing.]

"Ok. What about the enchantment in this crystal?"

[I'm breaking it apart, but it's super complicated. It'll take time.]

"Alright."

Dream relaxed and waited for her to finish, but she emphasized.

[No, I mean a long time. From what I'm seeing, this enchantment is not only connected to an unknown energy, but it's made of a vast array of sequences. This thing probably encodes for every function inside the dome.]

"But isn't this thing just the power source for the trees?"

[It's more than that. I'm picking up more tidbits, and they have to do with the animals, the lake, the plants, the fog, the shield, everything. In fact, If this dome had a portal to enter it instead of fog, I would think that this place is a dungeon. I mean, this thing is supposedly creating the animals inside. A regular battery wouldn't do that.]

"...Wait, didn't the rat dungeon have a fog that lead us into it? Could the fog outside the dome be the same thing?"

[...I think it might be.]

"But I thought dungeons were supposed to be separate spaces? Since when are they a part of the land? And why aren't the animals trying to kill us?"

[I'm not sure. We know hardly anything about dungeons, so I couldn't make any guesses. Either way, it could take days to decipher this enchantment. It's extremely dense and elaborate. I'm also finding several difficulties with even interacting with it. It's like it's written in stone.]

"...Days, huh? I mean, if we can't help it then we'll just take it as it goes. Not like I have anything else to do."

[In the meantime, you and I can relax in our cabin.]

"Sounds like fun. Beam me up."

After he said that, Dream's vision went black. Soon, he appeared in the cabin.

[Hi!]

Dream turned his head and was surprise kissed by Sophia.

[*Mwah!*]

"...Sup."

[Sup.]

Dream smiled at her and went over to the couch, flopping down. Sophia followed and did the same on top of him.

"Oof..."

[So we got lots of time to kill. Anything you want to do?]

Sophia asked as she got comfortable. Dream laid back and thought about it.

"Hmm...Anything I need to work on?"

[Well, magic is a no right now. There's not much we can build. Oh! We can get you used to your body. You still haven't totally gotten used to it. So maybe I can let you experience its full capabilities and limitations.]

"We can do that?"

[Of course. Simulating your real body is light work.]

"Ok then. But first, give me some of that cake."

[Eep!]

Dream tackled Sophia and sealed her lips. He needed a bit of a warmup first. 

............

.......

A few hours later, Dream was standing outside the cabin.

"So where do we plan to do this?"

[Right here.]

*Flick*

Sophia snapped her fingers and the area they were in changed. Suddenly, Dream was inside a building. This building looked like a massive recreational center, with all-metal ground, walls, and ceiling. 

[You need to know the limits of your body so you don't overestimate or underestimate attacks or injuries. I can talk to you all day about the materials and science of your body, but that doesn't help you when fighting.]

"Alright. Are you going to fight me?"

[Not me. Him.]

"Him?"

Sophia pointed behind Dream. He got confused and turned his head. 

Standing behind him was a copy of himself. Though the face of his copy was weird. The mouth wasn't there and the eyes were all white, like they were atrophied. It was a pretty threatening sight. This copy had a black suit on, looking like an assassin.

[The first thing we're going to do is have you take a series of attacks from your copy. You won't be allowed to dodge and you have to take them.]

"Am I going to be weakened or something?"

[No. You can still use all your magic. And only for now can you not dodge. The first weapon we're going to use is a handgun. 9mm.]

When she said that, a pistol appeared in the hands of his copy. It took aim at Dream.

[You ready?]

"...I need to let myself be shot?"

[I can tie you up if you want.]

"No thanks. This'll do."

Dream immediately turned down the idea and faced the copy. 

Even after getting this new body, he still didn't feel good letting someone aim at him with a gun. It was like an instinct. You never wanted to be at the end of a gun. It would only get you killed.

But Dream steeled his nerves and stood his ground. He activated his muscles and stared straight at the gun several meters away. 

"Just don't go for the face."

*Bang!*

Right when the gun was fired, Dream actually saw the slide of the gun recoil back and the bullet come out of the chamber. Then for what seemed like a few seconds, he watched the bullet travel all the way to his chest.

*Ding!*

"...."

Dream looked down and saw the bullet crumpled on his chest. There wasn't even any black that would signify trauma, not to mention piercing his skin.

"I didn't really feel the force."

[Your body is heavier and the density of your muscles and skin is higher. Plus, the skin is specially designed to spread out the force and then deliver it to the muscles if there's excess. Not to mention the bones which are enchanted with a wide variety of things. But anyway, that's a 9mm. Can't even scratch you. Now we move up a bit.]

Dream looked at the copy and saw the pistol disappear. In its place came a rifle.

[Next is 5.56. Bullet travels at 960 m/s and delivers 1800 joules of force. Much greater piercing power than the 9mm.]

The copy raised the rifle and aimed at Dream, not giving him any time to think.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

*Ding* *Ding* *Ding*

The three bullets landed on his chest, forearm, and leg. And all of them were stopped by the skin. But this time, there was a good amount of black trauma coloring around the impact areas.

[Still won't pierce the skin, but obviously more effect.]

"I could feel much more force against my body, but I can easily take it."

[I know. Next gun.]

Dream saw the rifle in the hands of the copy disappear, and what replaced it was a sniper.

"...That's moving kind of fast, isn't it?"

[You don't need to know every caliber and its effect on you, would take too long. This bullet is the .338 Lapua Magnum. 7000 Joules. About 3.5 times the force of the 5.56.]

"...I'm being shot at by a sniper for training."

[It'll be fine. You can't actually die here.]

Dream just gave up and awaited his fate. He stood facing the copy while it aimed at him. 

*BANG*

*grunt*

A grunt came from his mouth as the bullet landed on his chest. He looked down with a bad feeling.

"...Whoah."

Everything around the impact area was totally black. Although, the skin still hadn't been pierced, it was a bit concave with the bullet crumpled in the center. 

"How is this skin so strong?"

[Well, it's not designed to take the full force of whatever is hitting you. Past a certain threshold, the crystal skin passes the force over to the muscles. This is signified by the black trauma crystallization. This makes it so that the skin doesn't break. Because once the skin breaks, then the muscles have to take direct force. But if the skin is still intact then it can continue to be spread and dissipated. Like a net.]

"So what happens when something breaks the skin?"

[Well that's what we're here to find out.]

"I don't like that."

[Don't worry. There's a reason that the previous shot didn't hurt.]

"Oh, I've been meaning to ask about that. Did you get rid of the pain receptors?"

[I did. Pain receptors are designed as a biological survival instinct. But that's only necessary for regular people. When you have the power you do, it's a debilitating thing instead of a motivator.]

"But isn't the whole point of pain to let you know you've been hurt?"

[You still do know. With the awareness you have, how could you not understand every aspect of your body at every point in time? As for motivators, it's not driven chemically, instead being driven by your cognition skill, previously known as Mystify.]

"So instead of getting hyped on adrenaline, we just simulate adrenaline by using my own skill on me?"

[Pretty much. But you also have to remember that your emotions still stem primarily from your soul. Things like fear and happiness come from there. So you can still get scared of something or angry at someone. It's not because they're simulated. Don't worry, you aren't an emotionless machine.]

"...Ok."

Dream nodded in comfort. That was the thing he was really worried about. He didn't want his emotions to just be a product of his skill. And Sophia knew this, so she reassured him.

[Now, we're moving up one more caliber before you enter combat with yourself.]

Dream turned back to the copy and saw a different gun. It was a .50 cal sniper.

"Ahh, dam-"

*BOOM!*

"Argh... Damn..."

Dream grunted at the pressure he felt in his chest where the copy shot him. He looked down.

The bullet this time had finally broken through the skin. The next stop was the muscle, where the bullet was halted. 

Interesting thing was, after the skin was broken, he could see a black liquid flow out and cover the wound, removing the bullet. 

*Ting*

The bullet dropped to the floor and the wound began to seal. The black liquid flowed around the damaged muscle and filled the hole in the skin. After that, the liquid hardened.

"Is this the new healing process?"

[Yup. The black liquid is the trauma crystal that you see around the impact site. After it seals the wound your blood will come in and patch things up until your skin is back to normal.]

"How fast is that?"

[That kind of wound would heal in a matter of minutes.]

"That fast?"

[Well one, you have the regeneration skill. Two, I built that body. Not to mention your material skills. We could actually patch that wound up in a second if we actively helped it.]

"Huh... Neat. So is that it?"

[For the guns yes. Feeling a little more confident about your body?]

"...Ya."

Dream did indeed feel much more confident in his body. Without magic or any of that, he could take 50 cal bullets. They barely got through the skin too. Sure being shot like that wasn't the feeling in the world, but after a couple of times, he realized there was nothing to be afraid of. Even if he got shot in the face he would be fine. That's because of the new skeletal structure Sophia had designed when she made the body.

Especially on the head, there were weakpoints like the eyes, nose, and ears that could be easily broken through. There was also the chest. The only thing protecting his vitals was a small breastplate and ribs. So when Sophia had built the skeleton, she had gotten rid of all those weaknesses. 

The skull no longer had weakpoints. They were all redesigned and closed off, making them structurally stronger. The only place that would be considered a weakpoint was the spinal cord, and even that was heavily fortified and designed without any openings. 

As for in the chest, the ribcage was remade as an armor plate that fully covered his vitals like lungs and heart. This armor plate was probably the sturdiest part of the skeleton now, but it still allowed for maximum range of motion and flexibility.

Needless to say, the 'design flaws' of the skeleton were reduced to almost zero. That plus the materials it was made out of made for the optimal combat form. Measly guns posed no threat to him now.