Chapter 69: The Core of a Dungeon

Chapter 69: The Core of a Dungeon

Inside the heavily defended stone orb was a large magical control room. Half a dozen mages inspected illusory panels like technicians monitoring a nuclear power plant. The displays didnt make much sense to Nathan, but it looked like they were controlling the the wizardry that ran the Academy.

Oh yeah, this looks like a jackpot.

An artisan mage, a war mage and a strongly built archmage were clustered around one of the control panels, talking in worried voices as they discussed whatever it showed. The war mage cast an idle look towards the door as it swung open, then did a double-take as Nathan pushed the heavy slab of metal shut behind him to seal the room.

The lock reengaged with a quiet hiss just before the red-robed woman raised her voice in a shrill yell. Assassin!

All eyes turned towards Nathan and dangerous magic kindled in every mages hands. But they were trapped with him in an enclosed space, and there were no golems to get in the way.

Nathan went straight for the archmage, sending lashes of aura to break the spells being cast in his direction. A lightning bolt exploded in the war mages hands, and she fell in a smoking mess as Nathans antimagic tore away the containment portion of the spell and the magic grounded itself through her body.

More spells went awry around the room with pops and explosions. The artisan mage tried to cast[Message], but it warbled away in his hand even without Nathans interference.

The archmage didnt try to flee, instead quickly snapping off a pair of self-buffing spells and hurling himself at Nathan. A blade extended from a bracelet, crackling with dark power as a full-body suit of armor tried to expand over his body from a belt.

A concentrated wave of antimagic interfered with the summoning process and the mans armor stuttered as it slithered up his chest. His blade flickered, drooping flaccidly. The armor seized up, causing the archmage to stumble forward, off-balance.

Nathan met him with a knee to the temple, snapping back the archmages head with the crunch of broken bone.

He laid into the rest of the mages before their leaders body even hit the ground. They didnt stand a chance. With his Rage active he was significantly faster and stronger than they were, and could break every spell as they cast it. Mages of Giantsrest didnt usually train in melee fighting, and soon enough he stood over six bodies in a bloodstained control room. He panted for a second, enjoying the thrill of the one-sided fight. Then he closed his eyes and calmed his breath, suppressing his Rage before wiping bloody knuckles on the robes of his last victim.

Spellslayer has leveled to 331! You have killed archmage Seacos dho Fedroz, as well as the mages Nire dho Den, Wifni dha Shiz, Mua dha Nohra, Pal dho Rornaz, and Wiv dho Nhir

I suppose Im not in a safe enough area for [Void of Magic] to level. I'm looking forward to a pile of levels later.

Hed managed to keep his antimagic away from the underlying wizardry of the room, but many of the display panels had dissipated and were reforming slowly. Nathan shrugged, sitting down in a vacant chair and closing his eyes as he mapped out the flow of magic around him.

I want to know what this place is, to figure out how to cause the most damage.

The workstations and the desks were filled with complicated magic dedicated to soring and displaying information on the illusory control panels. The magic was grafted onto what lay beneath, static additions to the malleable wizardry that let the mages of Giantsrest control the Academy as a whole. Beyond the control machinery sides was the densest, most powerful wizardry Nathan had ever felt. It was stronger than Baduds [Reverse Time], denser than the magic that made up the very shape of the Academy. This much wizardry could achieve almost anything, and Nathan focused down on a small section right underneath his feet to understand what was going on.

Wizards Detection 3 achieved!

The wizardry was communicating, firing information back and forth in branching patterns at a rate and density that Nathan couldnt hope to keep track of. The constant flashing magic reminded Nathan of something, but he couldnt quite pin it down. He spent a few minutes looking for a pattern, trying to figure out the underlying system to the signals, but was coming up with nothing. Each impulse seemed to go to multiple sources, where it was sometimes picked up and passed on and sometimes just ignored. The pattern looked familiar, but Nathan couldn't quite put his finger on when he'd eve seen anything like it.

Wait a second. With [Mental Fortress] the only reason I wouldn't remember something perfectly is because it was from before I got the skill. That probably means this is reminding me of something from Earth. What was it?

That was the clue he needed. This signaling reminded Nathan of slowed down neuronal action potentials hed seen from neuroscience presentations. A neuron would fire and the action potential would travel through the cell, reaching out to other neurons which would sometimes fire and sometimes not.

Am I standing inside of a brain? It seems slow.

On a hunch, he scanned a portion of the wizardry that was farther away from him, on the opposite side of the control room. The wizardry over there was in constant blurring motion, moving as fast as thought.

I can only see it moving because [Magic Jammer] is slowing down the signals right next to me to a speed I can detect. My presence is probably giving this mind a bit of a headache.

He opened his eyes and took in the control room again. At the corners and front of the room he saw more of the white material intruding through the smooth stone. It was fluted and ridged, more organic than it had looked from the outside.

This is a skull. Im standing inside of a giant skull. The wizardry around me is the brain. Either it was always wizardry or it's been converted to it, and it's running the Academy.

Congratulations, you have developed the [Wizard Intuition] utility skill into [Wizards Understanding].

Utility skill: [Wizards Understanding]

With this skill, you understand magic and wizardry around you. This extends to all applications of magic and wizardry, including spells, enchantments and other effects.

Nathan blew a heavy breath out of his cheeks, trying to figure out how this changed things. It felt like learning that the intellect of a dead giant was being used to run the Academy at the heart of Giantsrest should matter in some deeply important way. But it just meant the Academy was intelligent, and enslaved.

Should I just put it out of its misery? Kill the intelligence of the Academy, let it be at peace?

He frowned. Thats what hed originally intended to do, but it didnt seem right. This dungeon had originally been called the Grave of all Giants. Then a team of Questors had conquered it and converted it into the Ascendent Academy.

Well, what did they do to conquer it? It probably involved building this control room, to enslave the intelligence that controlled the dungeon. Could I free it from slavery? Its kind of my thing.

Nathan looked around the room with new fervor, focusing on the various enchantments that had been grafted onto the wizardry of the control room. The control panels connected to each other in a separate network of magic that overlaid the organic layer of wizardry. He traced that magic and saw where it sank tendrils of influence into the sorcerous mind beneath.

Its a mind-control spell on a grand scale. If a normal mind control spell is a police station, this thing is the goddamn pentagon.

Wizards Understanding 2 achieved!

He took a deep breath and centered himself, mapping out the scope of the spell entwined with the cognition beneath. There appeared to be a single failsafe on the spell, in the form of an unassuming box tucked in the corner. If it detected that the control spell was failing, it would cast an immensely powerful disintegration spell that would vaporize everything inside the skull over the course of a few seconds.

But the destructive enchantment hadnt been meant to counter somebody malicious in the control room. It was a safeguard in case the mind that ran the Academy ever started to throw off the shackles placed upon it. Nathan found it simple to cut the box off from the rest of the spell.

At the very least, thats a great argument for breaking the mind magic. I dont know what it will do, but I know that the Founders would prefer this mind be dead instead of free. It was definitely them that cast this control magic, the spellwork is beyond anything that even an archmage of Giantsrest could cast.

Once hed mapped out the full extent of the mind control magic, Nathan started tearing it apart. He didnt understand half of the components he was destroying, but he didnt need to. They probably included the mechanism that let the Academy whitelist people, and configure the settings of the enormous building.

He ripped it all out, trying his best to preserve the cognitive magic underneath. It was difficult, since the mind-control spell was much more robust than the delicate wizardry they connected to, like metal probes stuck into a brain. The mental magic seemed built to limit the kinds of thought allowed even when disconnected from the whole, so he verged on the side of causing damage to burn out all traces of the control spell.

Id love to convince the dungeon to switch sides, to fight for Gemore. Could I move the antimage school here?

The room quaked as Nathan continued, shuddering in a kind of anticipatory spasm. He rushed to finish, not wanting to leave the job half-done. Nathan spent Focus to split his attention, directing dozens of tendrils of antimagic to finish dismantling the spell as quickly as possible.

Congratulations, you have developed the [Mid-tier Aura Manipulation] utility skill into [High-tier Aura Manipulation].

Utility skill: [High-tier Aura Manipulation]

You will find it easier to manipulate your aura, including precisely controlling the shape and density across many targets. Will not increase the size of your aura at all.

The shaking only grew worse, and the stone and material around Nathan started falling apart, annihilated by destructive wizardry that pulsed out of the very thoughts surrounding him. The door clattered to the floor as its frame distorted, and Nathan zipped through the opening to get out of the collapsing room. He dodged pieces of the falling stairwell and exited the skull. He paused in midair, watching as stone flaked away to expose the skull beneath.

I wonder if it will be able to communicate. Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m

A voice sounded from above, furious beyond what mere words could convey. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!

You have trained for fine control of your aura. This skill will make it easier to manipulate your aura, including precisely controlling the shape and density. Will not increase the size of your aura at all.

Pending utility skill: [High-tier Aura Manipulation]

You will find it easier to manipulate your aura, including precisely controlling the shape and density across many targets. Will not increase the size of your aura at all.

Status of Nathan Lark:

Permanent Talent 1: Arcane Nullfield 4

Permanent Talent 2: Immortal Body 2

Permanent Talent 3: Airwalking 6

Class: Void of Magic level338

Deepened Stamina: 9272/10440

Void of Feeling

Antimagic Momentum

Raging Thrill

Implacable Inertia

Unarmored Resilience

Magic Anathema

Airborne Agility

Hand-to-hand Expertise

Voluminous Aura

Denial of Wizardry

Mana Severance

Class: Spellslayer level 331

Regenerative Focus: 1682/3410

Catastrophic Blows

Battle Stealth

Mage Infiltration

Forgettable

Sneaky Blow

Antimagic Stealth

Magical Manipulation

Lethal Index

Wizard Resistance

Magic Jammer

Controlled Failure

Utility skills:

Wizards Meditation 5

Inspiration 3

Acceleration 5

Wizards Detection 3

Alertness 8

Wizards Understanding 2

Effortless Dodge 5

Mental Fortress 10

Tutoring 3

Parkour 5

High-tier Noticeability 9

High-tier Disguise 1

Mid-tier Battle Cry 7

High-tier Aura Manipulation 2