179 Rivaria

I analyzed the orb,

Blue Dungeon Core(lvl Req: 1,000 | Guild Tier: Any) - This is a blue dungeon core. Only the highest of tiers dungeons reward these pricey objects, and they enable guild owners to strengthen their strongholds. This is accomplished with three bonuses:

1st - The core creates a sphere of protective energy fueled by the occupants inside a city. By draining 5% of total mana produced from each occupant, the core shields the occupants from a variety of threats. The larger the city and the stronger its occupants, the stronger this shield becomes.

In larger cities, this protective barrier blocks nuclear attacks, orbital strikes, and other city destroying tactics.

2nd - A blue dungeon core obliterates any eldritch that attempt to walk into a city up to level 2,500. The shield damages eldritch that enter at a higher level. The barrier radiates a warning pulse from the entry point of the higher leveled eldritch. This allows guards to handle the threat quickly.

3rd - The core enhances the willpower and intelligence of guild occupants within the sphere of influence. This bonus ranges between 10-100 points depending on level. This bonus cannot unlock perks, trees, or skills. It only grants the raw bonuses from the attributes.

They enabled the creation of city-states. This explained how guilds competed against larger entities like the Empire. Even if the Empire sent a fleet to a city, it might take months to take the fortress down. In the end, it wasn't worth the waste of resources and time. Other means of assimilation worked better like buying a city or converting it.

As I contemplated what the core was for, Althea's forehead bumped into my back. As my armor rung, she rubbed her forehead,

"Why did you stop moving all of a sudden?"

I turned, showing her the tiny, blue star in my hand. Althea leaned over it, "Wow. That looks awesome."

Caprika reached out for it, "A blue dungeon core...so you accomplished a great feat of some kind?"

Althea puffed out her chest, "We both did."

Caprika crossed her arms, "Then where is your blue dungeon core?"

Althea deflated, "Uh, I got 100 red dungeon cores instead."

Caprika shrugged, "Well then, that's simply not equivalent."

I raised my other hand, mana thicker than water siphoning into my palm. In seconds, another blue dungeon core consolidated from the different streams. I glanced up at my notifications. Fifty red dungeon cores plunked right into my dimensional storage. I needed all of them.

Caprika grabbed the sides of her head, "Two blue dungeon cores?"

I nodded. I put them both into my dimensional storage, the cerulean light fading from the hotel's hallway and rooms. I stepped out, "Come on, let's go. We can talk about it while we move."

After getting out of the hotel, we traveled out of Yildraza, using our mini-maps for guidance. Caprika suffered some serious shame from running and jumping over the crowds. She mentioned something about a lowly peasant's method of travel. I told her it was better than the damn octo-car.

Caprika agreed.

After getting out of the city, I lifted everyone with a sizable gravity well. As I did, I began assimilating the red dungeon cores one at a time. A few minutes later, and I finished the process. I put 300 of the gained points into Force of Nature. With the 200 points left, I improved my Star Forger skill.

As I did, a 'feel' for particles and matter washed over me. It was as if I added a sixth sense, one for gaging temperature. Manipulating the heat and cold of an object became simpler. Using this newfound sense, I altered the temperature of the air around the others.

I made it comfortable for everyone this way, but the main reason I did it was to train the Star Forger skill. Using all the new skill points, I reached the first milestone of the Originator tree. For once, it did disappoint.

Most tread the well-worn paths that others left behind. These walkways are straight, narrow, and simple. You choose to be different. You head into the unknown, your path unmarked.

Originator(Tier 1) unlocked! Creating new skills is easier than before!

I frowned. The bonus seemed underwhelming for five hundred points. I brushed my resentment aside, putting the attribute points into endurance. As usual, I surged a bit with mana, but I didn't hit any milestones. With that disappointing update out of the way, I got back on track with the trip.

Even if the tree sucked, I'd make damn sure this trip didn't. I practiced Force of Nature while keeping Star Forger active. It made the trip fruitful in its own way. That didn't even include the scenic views. As I pulled us along, we zoomed over forests, fields, and mountains.

Surrounded by greenery and a clear sky, Caprika turned to Kessiah and barked out,

"We're certainly 'roughing it' aren't we? It's quite difficult to be pulled along by magic. It even feels airconditioned."

Kessiah shrugged, a cheeky grin on her face, "I told you we'd do it Harbinger style."

Caprika stared at the abundant nature and flowing forests,

"I suppose you're right about that. This is as pleasant as travel may be in fact. To think they're so little wind."

Althea turned herself, doing a front flip, "Yeah, it's kind of weird at first. We're falling towards his magic though. It's like skydiving towards a place but with the wind on our backs."

Caprika pulled a book from her dimensional storage, "Well, it's lovely."

Several hours of moving later, everyone grew hungry. I set us down onto the top of a field, plains surrounding us for miles. With wildflowers and the chirping of insects around us, we relaxed for lunch. Everyone set up food, preparing premade meals with gemstones, magic, or machines.

With all of us sitting in a circle, it was a pleasant break fromYildraza. The frenzy of activity was fun at times, but it got old. Appreciating the wind on my face and the warm sun on my back was nice sometimes. Good food didn't hurt either, everyone's meals smelling exotic.

Well, everyone's meals besides Torix and mine. I just chugged down one of the dessert rations in seconds. The skin soluble liquid leaked into my face, giving me a nutritious meal. Torix was a lich, so he didn't ever need to eat. He talked with the others, catching up on recent events.

I kept quiet for the most part. Instead of talking, I zoned in on my work. With my grimoire out, I remade the runic carvings of the cipher. Instead of carving into the pages with clawed hands, I used Star Forger.

I moved my fingers inches over the charcoal colored pages. Using tiny, telekinetic augments, I etched into the pages. These precise points of contact let me improve my detail work. I even heated these sites, making the black pages easier to carve into. These adjustments improved my finesse, boosting the detail of my work.

After getting the process down with a few practice etchings, Ifocused on the next step; I began fixing my broken forearm etching. My last status upgrade ripped one of the markings on my forearms in half. This dampened the cipher's efficiency. It also irked me seeing the asymmetrical designs on each arm.

I mean, everyone gets picky sometimes. Even me.

Despite that desire for symmetry, I chose a different rune this time. My perception seemed high enough already. Other stats needed help much more like charisma and luck. After a bit of thought, I picked luck out of the two.

Luck assisted with every aspect of everyday life. Charisma helped in social situations for the most part. Another significant reason for luck involved how the stats fed into one another. Charisma was the bottom attribute, meaning it enhanced no other stat. Luck improved charisma, letting me shore up both weaknesses at the same time.

With that goal in mind, I delved into the deeper meaning of luck. My initial thoughts focused on luck changing circumstances to my favor. While decent, this definition lacked some serious punch to it. I dwelled on it, coming up with a more nuanced approach to its meaning.

Luck didn't alter situations under your control. It wasn't unlucky to fail an exam if I chose to not study for it. It was unlucky if a car ran onto the sidewalk and crushed my foot on the way to the exam. Using this difference, I came up with a better explanation for fortune.

Luck determined circumstances and situations outside of my control. If I was thrown into a situation, luck made sure I landed somewhere soft and cozy. I etched this improved variation of the attribute into the page. As I did, Caprika leaned over me,

"Hmm, that work is familiar though distant."

I kept carving as I talked, "What do you mean?"

Caprika scratched the side of her head, "It reminds me of my uncle's work."

I looked up from the page, using Hunter of Many to keep my lines crisp,

"Who's that?"

Caprika scoffed, "The Emperor."

Althea leaned towards her, chewing into a sandwich, "Uh, what was he like?"

Caprika shook her head while leaning back, "He was tall and broad. His cape made him seem even larger, like a moving wall. Sometimes I thought he was a different, better species. Other people bent to him, his word law."

Caprika shivered, "I remember when assassins snuck into the palace one day. The Emperor raised his hand, and it was like the entire planet quaked. They melted as if they weren't ever real to begin with."

Torix cupped his chin, "Sounds eerily reminiscent of Yawm."

Caprika shook her head, "He's far older than Yawm, and he's more omnipotent than simply strong. He understood techniques and skills none has ever understood since. He out-leveled Overseers somehow."

Caprika pointed at the marking on my page, "And he wrote and spoke in those runes."

I finished my carving, "Well, good thing I don't have to fight him."

Caprika blinked, "Don't let your guard down. My brother is coming here to observe you since you defeated Delilath. He'll be assessing you. I am praying he doesn't underestimate you."

I shrugged, pouring mana into the page,

"We'll roll with the punches then."

The grimoire glowed, a stream of raw mana draining into the mark. In seconds, it finished. I clicked a button on my forearm, exposing my umbral armor. I wiped away the torn mark on my forearm before replacing it with the new runic marking. I clenched my fist, observing the difference.

I grinned, "Ahhh, that was a good session. The lines are clean and crisp."

Althea leaned towards the new marking, "It's crazy to me that you can make something like that with your big hands. The lines are so...intricate."

Torix scoffed, "He's using magic to enable his craft. It's interesting to see so many skills integrated together in fact. Few can achieve the same feat."

I shrugged, "I don't think about it much. I go by feel. If I tried thinking about all the abilities, I'd never even come close to doing this kind of bullshit."

Torix nodded, "A simple yet effective tactic. I wonder if I could integrate it into my lessons? Hmmm..."

I directed my mana into the mark, my forearm ebbing out a gentle hum,

"I'd do it with combat or practical magic. Experimentation is more about understanding what's actually going on. Using skills is all about practice. Well, in my experience at least."

I stood up, clicking my forearm so that the gray covered my skin again,

"Anyways, it's time we head out. You guys ready?"

Kessiah frowned, "Can we just chill for a minute?"

I shook my head, "Not unless you want to chill by yourself."

Kessiah rolled her eyes, "You're starting to sound like Tohtella."

Torix turned to me, "Did either of you find it odd that she seemed surprised by the events on social media and television?"

I raised an eyebrow, "What? No. She was busy with planning the assault and whatnot."

Torix shook his head, "Daniel, she doesn't reform cities. She reforms worlds. Manipulating the masses should be second-hand nature at this point."

Kessiah scoffed, "Unless you think she's the best liar on the planet, you should probably just calm down. Besides, you're stealing my thunder. I had a victory over her."

Torix shook his head, "If anything, she might have had a victory over us."

Kessiah rolled her eyes, "You're an old, grumpy conspiracy theorist now."

Caprika glanced between us, "It does seem strange. She's cold and calculating as they come, rivaling even albony royalty. That's a difficult feat, I promise you. Even a master of manipulation like Thisbey shouldn't overwhelm her in the slightest."

I frowned, "Really? Damn...Maybe I should keep focusing on perception. That slipped past my notice."

Caprika crossed her arms, "She might open up more around you for some reason. That could be throwing you off."

Althea frowned, "Oh, I have an idea why..."

Kessiah nudged Althea with her elbow, "Hah, told you she wanted the D."

I rolled my eyes, "Alright, enough wild speculation. I'll look into it once we get to Rivaria. Until then, we have things to do and places to be. Let's go."

Everybody packed supplies back into storage, some dimensional some not. With everything ready, I pulled us back up, our group soaring through the skies. Conversation lulled as everyone busied themselves with reading, status work, or playing with their obelisk.

Off in the distance, a storm loomed. As we neared it, Kessiah shouted,

"Yo tough guy, I don't want to get rain all over me."

I rolled my eyes, "We'll be fine.

As we neared the gray clouds, I enveloped us in a hollow, spherical well of antigravity. It pushed us inwards and everything around us outwards. When we crashed into the rain, the water flowed around us. As if in a submarine, our party dashed through the tempest unscathed.

Lightning beamed around us. Before it struck someone, I raised my arm. Acting as a lightning rod, a flash of lightning cracked into my hand. It left my palm white hot, but my health didn't even dip. Over the next two hours, I took the brunt of a dozen lightning strikes.

By the time we escaped the storm, my armor hummed with electrical energy. I reached out to it, pulling the electricity. Using a bit of mana, I grasped the sparks.

Skill gained! Electrical Clasping(lvl 1) - Others cower before electricity. You wield it. +1% to using outside sources of electricity.

I raised my eyebrows, stunned by the ease that I gained the skill.

I moved on, attempting to get rid of the electricity. To do so, I reversed the grabbing process, converting the stored voltage into mana. I imagined Yawm's own conversions mimicked this process, except with nuclear fission.

Skill gained! Lightning Eater(lvl 1) - Braving the terrors of tempests, you've earned an appetite for galvanism. +1% to the conversion rate of electricity to mana.

At this point, I thanked the Originator tree. Gaining skills this easy never happened before unlocking that bonus. After dampening the electrical charge of my armor, I sped up our travel. I wanted to reach Rivaria in a day at most. With my mana stores, I had the tools to do so.

Ramping up our speed, we accelerated. Within hours the climate chilled, and the air thinned. We reached far North, mountains dominating the horizon in every direction. We spotted gialgathens just flying around, enjoying themselves. Some of the peaks were active, pits of magma glowing with snow around them.

The gialgathens built cities around these warm spots. Their architecture carved into the mountains. Gialgathens practiced with their tail whips by beating into the stony cliffsides with them. The old beasts even created sculptures with well-timed attacks.

The pinnacle of these carvings stood as monuments in the cities. Models of Lehesion littered the landscape, his image everywhere. In smaller towns, Emagrotha statues stood on mountaintops as well. Other historical figures dotted these towns as well. I even spotted a large figurine of Delilath, Lady of Yellow.

Not long after entering gialgathen country, we reached the tallest mountain on Giess - Aether's Kiss. It rose above the clouds, the incline gradual. I parted the clouds, the air vapor freezing near the mountain-top. We shot up over the fog, finding the vibrant city of Rivaria.

All along the sides of the mountain, many pools exposed magma. Buildings centered around these pits, built to take advantage of the heat source. At the center of the city, a massive pit of bubbling lava smoked. Many gialgathens played or flew over the smoke, their hides resistant to the scorching air.

Around the volcano's edge, buildings of marble and granite stood tall against the cold wind. They reflected an orange sheen, the sun setting in the distance. Cloud tops rolled beneath the city line, gialgathens darting in and out of the clouds.

Gemstones lit their way, crystals shining over doorways, magma pits, and landing zones. They brimmed with mana, collected from Giess's depths.

Gialgathens flew over the streets, using the crystalline lights for guidance.

They kept just above the buildings, flying over the streets.

Their doorways and exits suited their size, everything mammoth in proportion. Espens walked along the streets, bundled up in fur. The looked like ants compared to the colossal monoliths and monuments. These memorials lined around every building, the gialgathens wealth obvious.

As we neared the entrance, I adjusted the size of my gray armor. With the doorways so big, I didn't need to walk around at nine feet. I could stretch out my legs so to speak and enjoy my full size. As I did, Torix pointed towards a behemothic feasting hall. It rose taller than skyscrapers.

"So there is the location we'll be staying at. It's some kind of a warrior hall. All the other combatants will be there as well."

Caprika looked in a mirror, adjusting her outfit and appearance, "How much time do we have before we reach there?"

I frowned, "Seconds."

Caprika shook her hands, "I need more time. My brother's down there. It's of the utmost importance that I make myself presentable."

"Aaaaaand we're landing."

On one of the landing pads, I set us down. As I rested my feet on cold marble, two gialgathen guards stared down at me. The tallest of the two grunted,

"Who are you, dirtwalker?"

I grunted back, "Daniel."

The guards stared at each other, their necks stretching up to twice my height. I matched the stature of their main bodies, however. They looked at the others. The short one grunted,

"They are small. You aren't as small. Are you the one that killed Delilath?"

I winced, "Yes."

The tall one growled, "The other contestants will wrench your guts out you filthy dirtwalker."

I shrugged, "We'll see. Will you let me through or not?"

The tall one glared down at me, "Only as we are compelled by tradition and honor. Two qualities you know nothing about."

I ignored them, walking past. Torix scoffed, "They must believe defeating the Lady of Yellow isn't a feat worthy of admiration. If what they say about Daniel is true, then even a simpleton could do it."

Kessiah smirked, "Yeah, really shits on her memory, doesn't it?"

Torix nodded, "Quite."

The guards sunk their gazes, both of them blushing with shame. As we walked past them, Torix and Kessiah high fived. Torix murmured, "Only this once."

Kessiah nodded, "Duh."

We entered a massive hallway. Our footsteps echoed as the steepled walls stretched up to absurd heights. Marble alcoves lined the walls, doorways leading to rooms along the sides.

Statues of various gialgathens decorated these alcoves and entrances. Pillars supported many of them as well, keeping the building upright. Floating lights hovered throughout the entire expanse, keeping everything lit with white light. It was beautiful in a natural kind of way.

At the center of the hall, an apparent life-sized replica of Lehesion stood. It was over two hundred feet tall, dwarfing most gialgathens by tenfold. I figured it was exaggeration, but it was hard to say. If Lehesion was really that big, then he was going to be a tough fucker to put down.

As we walked deeper into this hallway, a gruff, old gialgathen landed in front of us. A scar ran down the side of his neck, and he walked on a metal bracer for one his front feet. His faded, blue skin blended in with the white spots along his side. He growled, more because of his grizzled voice than out of anger,

"Hello there, little ones. I'm Malakai. Who and what are you doing in the Hall of Heroes?"

I reached out a palm, "I'm Daniel Hillside. I'm here for the Honoring of Lehesion."

Malakai's eyes widened, "Ah, you know of its true name. Good. Your room is this way, fair warrior. You'll find it's more than large enough for you and your comrades."

He turned and hobbled on one foot, metal clanking against the marble. He kept his head held high, even as other gialgathens looked down on him from the alcoves. I glared around,

"What happened to your foot?"

He grumbled, "I lost it in the finals for the Honoring of Lehesion many years ago. The scars still burn this time of year."

Torix said, "You wear those scars well."

Malakai nodded, "Thank you. Though they limit me, they always serve as reminders of my fighting days. Even the memories are dwindling now that I age. This bastard clanking always remind me before the memory fully fades, however."

He turned to one of the doorways along the walls of the hallway. It was the only small, wooden doorway here. All the others were massive in size. Malakai gestured a wing to the door,

"Here you will find our small rooms and areas. We lack much in the way of espen-sized rooms here."

Kessiah scoffed, "Because espens don't make it this far that often, right?"

Malakai nodded, "Blunt but yes. I pray thee well in your upcoming battles. You will need them."

Malakai turned to fly off. Before he did, he turned his face to us,

"Oh, a fiery fellow is waiting for you all inside the main room there. He snapped both the wings of an arrogant youngling earlier. Be careful with that one."

Caprika stiffened, her hair rising along her back. As Malakai flew off, Caprika swallowed and stared at us, "Oh by Schema or Baldowah or whatever god there is, please, please don't befoul our first impression. Helios doesn't take kindly to weakness, rudeness, arrogance, pride, fear-"

I waved my hand, "Or any negative quality. Yeah, yeah, we get it."

I pushed open the wooden entrance. We found a hallway with ten doors. The high ceilings let me walk in undeterred. A set of stone coaches lined the doors, a lit fireplace keeping them warm. A giant sat down on the nearest couch, sprawled out like a king on his throne.

White fur brimmed from neck and face, his black mask absorbed light him. Palpable, black mana ebbed from him, tangible in form. He wore a fur cape from some giant animal, the brown clashing with his own white hair. He tapped his ivory claws against stone, a pair of gauntlets leaving his fingers exposed.

He turned to us, his mask hiding his face. He pushed himself up, standing two feet taller than me. He was wide as a wall. Caprika paced up to him, "Helios, it's so good to see you again."

He lifted his hands, staring at his nails,

"Is this your champion Caprika?"

She nodded. Helios gave me the time of day by looking down on me,

"Rather underwhelming, isn't he?"