Chapter 161 – Gopher

After the door closed behind him, Dream was met with utter darkness. 

Though if darkness were all that was there, Dream wouldn't be worried. But instead, the first thing that he sensed was a skeleton next to the doorway. 

"...Sophia there's a skeleton."

Goosebumps broke out all over Dream's body as he backed up a step. Although he was as powerful as he was and was no stranger to death, spooky skeletons in a clearly abandoned corridor weren't exactly settling. 

[Yea forgot to tell you about that. There's more throughout the corridors, some blood too, and also ghosts.]

"Ghosts?!"

[Hehe, just kidding. There are energy signatures though. I think they're devices. In fact, there's one next to you.]

"..."

Whipping his head around, Dream laid eyes on the energy signature next to him. He could sense the worn down mana circuits that were attached to an orb sticking out of the wall. These circuits traveled from the orb all the way down the corridor, passing by more orbs along the way.

Reaching out, Dream touched the orb, rejuvenating the circuits and activating them. Moments later, the orb lit up with bright light and the mana quickly traveled down the circuits, creating bright glowing lines along the ceiling.

"Whoah... This is cool!"

[Looks like these people really were advanced. They had a much deeper grasp of enchanting than the people today.]

"Let's keep going! I wanna see where this leads. I'm a treasure hunter! Do you think they have a declaration of independence that I can steal?"

Dream asked as he began walking down the corridor. Sophia rolled her eyes in his mind.

[Their national treasure is different.]

"Do they even have one? Besides the source, I mean."

[Probably the trump cards of the kings. Or they have secret weapons or armor that are supremely powerful. Either way, they're all probably in possession of someone.]

"Hmm, you know, although inventories are incredibly useful, they can also be incredibly troublesome. I mean, what happens when someone gets their hands on something that's someone else's? The other person won't be able to get it back. Not only that, what happens when the person dies? Where does all the stuff in their inventory go?"

[A question I've been trying to figure out for a while. The inventory is some kind of separate space that can obviously accommodate plenty of items, although limited. The more power someone has, the more space they get. Though despite having access to this inventory, I can't actually locate it. I can see into it, even tamper with things inside, but nothing else.]

"...Weird. Well, not the thing to worry about now. How far into the wall have we scoured?"

When he asked, a string suddenly appeared going from his body to the wall next to him. After that, he began receiving information on the layout of the wall.

[The wall that wraps around the city actually has a huge tunnel network. It allows easy movement to anywhere else in the wall, most likely for soldiers and such. It also leads to the underground portion of the city. The planning that went into this was extensive. They were prepared for everything. There are even weapons that're still in place.]

"Doubt they would be very useful considering how broken everything is. Didn't you say there were auxiliary cores powering the wall?"

[Yes. To get there just follow my blip.]

When she said that, Dream got an overlay on his vision showing him the path. Nodding, he began flying through the wide corridor, not wanting to waste time.

As he flew, he did indeed come across more skeletons. All of the skeletons were of different beasts. Some had weapons through their chests, some were dismembered, others were a pile of dust. Whatever had happened in this wall, it was clearly a very long time ago and consisted of a battle. 

All these soldiers were weak though, with none surpassing class 2. Although they were old, powerful skeletons wouldn't be so brittle as to wither own time. All it took was a bit of movement and these bones would fall apart. 

It didn't take long before Dream was approaching the core. Although it took some winding and going through broken doors, he eventually made it to a restricted area. 

After repairing and stepping through one final door, Dream was greeted with a large room. 

The room was barely lit up with a few circuits that weren't broken. The majority however were, and it was clear that something had devastated the enchantments in this room. There was one thing that wasn't devastated however, and that was the huge cube in the center of the room.

The cube was nearly 10 feet tall and wide. It looked to be in great shape if one disregarded the mess of an enchantment. Attached to the cube were dozens of metal circuits that transported mana to other parts of the wall. 

[This cube is one of hundreds that are spread out evenly throughout the wall. Unfortunately, most of them seem to be broken and I won't be able to spread our mana throughout the wall unless they're fixed.]

Sophia spoke as Dream walked up to the cube to inspect it. 

"Hmm... More mithril. Grade 11. They were awfully extravagant. The circuits are also grade 11 mithril. Even I wouldn't have enough to build this whole wall in such a fashion."

[Maybe they knew how to enhance materials. Given their expertise, I would imagine they did. And with thousands of people to constantly enhance materials, they would have huge supplies of high grade metals.]

"Mm. Now, let's repair this thing and see where it leads us."

Saying that, Dream began to dump his mana into the cube. Sophia repaired the enchantments while he reattached the broken circuits.

[And... Done.]

*Vrrr*

Right as the enchantment was fixed, the room lit up as mana coursed through all the circuits again. The cube released huge fluctuations which Dream quickly masked. 

"Sheesh. Powerful core. So?"

[I've discovered a huge circuit that's attached to the bottom of the core. From there it shoots straight underground towards the center of the city. And although I was able to use the core to expand our map of the wall, I can't see any corridors that lead along the path of the circuit.]

"Hmm. Well, this core gets its power from something bigger, so all we have to do is follow the circuit."

[I guess it's time for some digging.]

"Will it be hard?"

[Of course not. We could dig through metal, not to mention dirt and stone. You underestimate your macro-manipulation abilities. Anyway, just lift the cube and fly through the hole I dig.]

"Ok."

Nodding, Dream used his magic to pick up the cube. When he did, the floor underneath it was broken and he could see a metal circuit as thick as a leg attached to the bottom, like a wire.

Dream walked over to the circuit. When he did, a large hole was dug out right next to it. Dream just stepped into it, placing back down the cube as the hole was sealed behind him. 

"Feels like I'm a gopher."

Dream smiled as he flew along next to the circuit. Despite it being pitch black, he was able to sense everything clear as day with his mana. The dirt and stone under him was easily pushed aside as he glided through.

As Dream dug and flew along next to the core, he quickly descended and headed towards the center of the city. This wire sloped down diagonally, and it was exceedingly long. 

So after nearly descending nearly 2 miles and digging across for around 60 miles, he finally hit a metal wall that the wire led into. Dream easily dug and headed through the wall.

"Whoah..."

Dream's eyes went wide as he entered a room. The room was utterly massive. He was above near the ceiling and the ground was almost 80 meters below him. The adjacent wall was also over 150 meters away. And in the middle of this massive room was a core that took up nearly all of the space.

The core was a huge globe that rested comfortably inside a metal-coated indent in the floor. This globe had a diameter of 100 meters, and it's top also rested in an indent in the ceiling just like the floor, like a holder.

After scanning around the entire globe, Dream could sense the hundreds of wires that were attached to the top hemisphere of the globe. These wires all shot through the ground above and outward, heading directly for the auxiliary cores in the wall. One of them was the one he dug around.

That wasn't the most shocking thing though. What baffled Dream were two things. One, the entire globe was made from grade 12 mithril. Such an extravagant expenditure on one object was mind boggling considering this was an Empire, not him. 

Two, the metal-coated indent on the floor that the globe rested inside was actually a massive wire that connected to the globe. This wire was nearly 40 meters thick, as wide as the indent, and it shot straight down to who knows where.

After a bit of scanning and staring, Dream lowered himself to the doorway that led into this room, getting a frontal view of everything. 

"...This thing is insane. If I made a core that big and strong..."

[You'd be able to make a weapon that surpasses metal gear.]

"Heh. Well, I actually might not have to make a core. I got one right here. Doesn't seem like anyone is using it."

[It's not giving off any sizeable mana signatures. Let's properly scan it.]

Nodding, Dream walked over to the bottom of the globe and put his hand on it. When he did, a large chunk of his mana was instantly dumped into the globe.

[Hmm... This thing actually has a core made of solid mana. Enchantments are severely damaged, though it seems like they were artificially destroyed rather than by mana overload or degradation.]

"Someone destroyed it? I mean, considering that there was a battle throughout the wall, it's not surprising. There must've been a pretty big war."

[My thoughts exactly. But no matter. Even if I can't repair the enchantments, I can make our own.]

"I'm fine with that, but refrain from repairing the connection to that massive wire underneath. We don't want to draw attention."

[Sure. Starting now. By the way, there's a lot of solid mana inside, a core about 10 meters in diameter.]

"...*sigh* Alright. Go ahead."

Taking a deep breath, Dream sat down next to the globe, preparing himself for significant energy expenditure. When he did, Sophia began doing her thing, though not before chuckling at him.

[Hehe, I'm not planning to drain you. We're not enchanting the solid mana, just making sure the enchantments are enough to assist us in removing this thing. I've also called a couple of mining teams to dig a tunnel from outside the city.]

"Oh... That's like 60 miles of tunneling they'll have to do."

[63 actually. Either way, would you rather do it yourself?]

"...Good point. How long will it take?"

[Playing it safe, it should only take a few days. They'll have to take a roundabout path and avoid all the construction underground, but they'll be fine.]

"Alright. I'm good with whatever as long as I can get this thing. Although, couldn't I just put it in my inventory?"

[Uhh.... Yes, actually. Though it would take up nearly all the available space. I'd refrain from doing so until we figure out what the source is. It would be tragic if we couldn't put it in your inventory and have to come back.]

"Very true. How much more for the enchantment?"

[Nearly there... And done.]

When she said that, the giant core began to fluctuate a bit before settling down. It sent a couple of bursts of mana up the circuits after having its enchantments redone, giving Sophia an overview of the entire wall. Other than that, the only thing it was really enchanted for was stealth and movement. Considering how it was big and powerful, it could do those two things very well. 

"Great. Now we need to find the source. Considering the mana density has skyrocketed after coming here means we're getting close. And I think I have an idea as to where it is."

[Time for more digging.]

"Stealthily though. Wherever this core is will be highly guarded by either people or enchantments. I'm not too worried about either, but better safe than sorry. Now, let's follow this huge wire down."

Saying that, Dream stepped up to the edge of the indent where Sophia quickly made a hole underneath. Since this wire shot straight down, he only needed to do the same. However, there was one other thing he did as he descended, and that was loosen the wire from the ground around it. It was also made of grade 12 mithril, and there was probably more wire than globe. He wanted to be able to extract it and take it too.

It didn't take long for Dream to descend another mile. As he got further and further down, he was shocked by how long the wire was. There was definitely more wire than globe, and he got excited about the thought of extracting it all. 

A bit after he hit the mile mark though, he came to a halt. Along the way, he had kept his influence and mana reigned in so as to not accidentally alert someone far away, so when he eventually hit metal, he was surprised. 

Below him was a plate of metal, clearly not natural. The wire went straight into it, meaning this was definitely an important area.

Dream's heart began to pound nervously. The mana density had gotten so high as to turn into a fog. In fact, it was close to becoming a liquid. That meant he was close, or so he hoped. 

'I'll need to tread lightly. If one of those Ancients are near, then I really need to be careful about scanning the place with influence.'

[We can use Aegis. Poke a tiny hole in the metal and we'll stream him in.]

'Ok.'

Dream nodded and tapped his foot against the metal beneath him. When he did, particles began flying away as an unnoticeable hole was drilled. When it cut through, Aegis streamed some of his particles in.

[He's scanning... Nothing. No life signs.]

Sophia sent the visual feed to Dream. When he looked, he saw a large room with another globe in the middle. The globe was nearly as big as the one above them and looked identical. Though to his surprise, there was nobody to be seen inside.

To be safe though, Dream drilled a bigger hole and sent Aegis in entirely. In his gaseous form, he flew around the entire room to make sure there was nothing hidden. 

"My lord, there is nothing in this room."

"Huh, there really is nothing."

Surprised, Dream dug himself into the room. When he entered, he flew around while scanning the room with his mana. 

"Looks the same as the room above. Though... this globe is different. There's... a hole?"

As Dream looked around the giant metal ball, he suddenly came across a large hole in its side. He looked through it and saw that it led towards the center.

"Hmm, the center is dug out. Whatever was in here, it's gone. I'm thinking it was the source."

[Most likely. This entire globe is made of mithril that surpasses grade 12 and is entirely filled with solid mana. It's far more powerful than-.]

*BA-DUMP*

"...What the hell was that?"

As Sophia talked, Dream suddenly felt a tremor run through him and the area. It was like a heartbeat, and it was so powerful that it caused his soul to shake. He stood there, feeling a pressure weighing down on him that left him stunned. 

*BA-DUMP*

After several seconds, the tremor came again. Dream was still frozen, but the second tremor seemed to wake him up. Quickly reeling himself in, he activated his mana and stabilized himself before settling down.

When he was calmed and steady, he was able to protect himself against the tremors. Though its power still shocked him, he was even more excited than before.

"That has to be the source! Whatever that thing is, it's extraordinary. Far beyond what I expected. Whatever I do, I must get my hands on it!"