Chapter 332: An Impressive Demonstration

“Before we begin—” Professor Jules said to the Thameish representatives.

“Wait, I have a question!” a man with thick, white mutton chops raised his hand. “Is this er…quite safe?”

The professor paused, looking at their surroundings. They—the representatives, Heroes and researchers—had all crammed into the bunker at the chaos essence-dungeon core testing site. Thick walls protected them. Layers of force sheathed the window. Blood mages stood at the back—behind the delegation’s rows of comfortable chairs—and each member of the Thameish group had been given a safety mask with tinted lenses for the demonstration.

“...trust me, there are few safer places in all of Greymoor,” Professor Jules said reassuringly. “We’ve taken every precaution, we have safety redundancies in place, and medical teams are on standby should the need for them arise. All is well. Trust me.”

“Come now, where’s your sense of adventure, Reginald?” one of the court wizard’s representatives called. “By my own inspection, this place is fortified enough to take an attack by a horde of Ravener-spawn! Relax. Just think of it as a little excursion to the outdoor theatre!”

The first man mumbled. “Mmmm, quite right. Apologies for interrupting.”

“No problem at all,” Professor Jules said. “You’re right to ask questions. Questions are the fundamental bedrock to all science and diplomacy. Well, actually, deep pockets and generous funders are the bedrock to all science and diplomacy, but ‘asking questions’ sounds a bit nicer, doesn’t it?”

A few people chuckled.

“But, enough jokes,” she continued. “I just wanted to salute all of you in your brave fight against the Ravener. It’s my hope that—with our knowledge, bravery and deep pockets combined—we’ll turn this time of darkness into a new, brighter age for folk the world over. It’s early days yet, but already, our results are incredibly promising. That said, we don’t want to be…blinded by our bright futures…or these demonstrations. So, I strongly recommend that you keep your masks on for the entire demonstration. Protect your eyes so you can see what’s going to come next. My assistants will help anyone who has issues with their masks. So, speak up if you need help.”

She nodded to a group of researchers lined up at the side of the bunker, they included Alex, Isolde and Carey.

“If you have questions,” Professor Jules said. “I’ll ask that you save them for the end of the demonstration. We have a lot to show you, and it’d be best if we keep things moving until the very end.”

The representatives of Thameland nodded politely, then began fumbling with their masks. The court wizards’ representatives slid theirs on easily enough, but some who were there to represent the king struggled, eyeing the long, bird-like protrusions dubiously.

“I say!” Reginald called. “Could someone lend me a hand with this dastardly device? Getting it to stay on’s proving to be a right bother!”

“On it,” Alex said to Carey and Isolde, heading to the older man. He put on his best ‘service smile’, which he’d rarely used since his last days at McHarris’ bakery. “I got your back, sir. Are you having trouble with the buckle in the back? That’s what usually gets people.”

The man did a double-take as Alex reached him. “I say, you’re a healthy young man! What do they feed you down in Generasi? Dragons?”

Crk!

Chair legs scraped the stone floor, like someone had shifted suddenly.

Alex glanced in the direction where the sound had come from—the Heroes’—and focused on Cedric. Nothing there.

The Chosen didn’t look like he’d moved.

“Well, not so much,” Alex said to Reginald, taking his mask. “Here, let me show you how this works.”

The Thameish wizard worked the buckle with both hands while throwing the occasional glance toward Cedric. He didn’t look at Rioran: the sandy-haired fellow seemed sharp enough to notice if he was being watched.

“There we go,” Alex said, after loosening the leather strap. “Try it now.”

He helped Reginald with the mask, guiding it over the thick mutton chops.

“Ah, excellent. It fits me like a glove! Thank you, young man!”

“No problem,” Alex said, manoeuvring over to the Heroes. “You guys good? Need any help with your masks? Got any problems?”

He threw the question out in general, but made sure to slightly turn his head toward Cedric; not being obvious, but just so his voice was aimed at him.

The Chosen reacted, trying to hide discomfort—and failing. “No, I’m all good, mate. Thanks for askin’.”

“Right,” Alex said, lingering for a bit before returning to his spot beside Isolde at the side of the bunker.

Carey returned a moment later, shuddering with excitement. “I do hope they find our discoveries impressive. Even though it’s still early days.”

“Oh, I think they will—” He remembered the Festival of Ghosts last year—which was coming up soon—and Professor Jules flying through the sky on a skeletal horse, dressed in her witch’s costume. “—Professor Jules definitely knows how to put on a show.”

And put on a show she did.

First, simplified copies of the data sheets were handed out then for the next hour, she guided the Thameish delegation through every aspect of the dungeon core substance the research team had discovered, and she did it all in spectacular fashion.

In the test area, golems lined up with a range of portable machinery, and several samples of dungeon core remains. While Professor Jules narrated, the golems blasted the powdery remains with lightning, conducted incandescent mana along a line of dungeon core powder, then used it to power a grain milling machine. A small sample of core remains was laid in a circle, then a ward was attached to form a circle of protective energy around a plate with a delicate souffle on it. Professor Jules summoned demons to attack the ward. The monsters used axes, streams of fire-breath and other vicious magics, causing it to flare with shadowy power, but no matter how ferocious the demon assault, the circle wasn’t penetrated and the souffle remained untouched.

The crowd was animated, gasping, clapping and oohing and aahing at everything they were seeing. Reginald called out, “This is most spectacular, professor, truly masterful! I’m almost beside myself!”

‘Wizards have that effect on most folks.’ Alex thought. ‘Soak it all in then go tell the king. If he ever finds out I’m the Fool and gets any ideas about grabbing me, he might just think twice.”

At last, it was time for the last stage of the demonstration.

“I request that you please do not touch your masks during this part. Things…are going to get a little bright soon,” Professor Jules said. “We’ve saved the most spectacular part for last. This is where we’ll be combining chaos essence—which is a rare substance from certain otherworldly planes—with the remains of a dungeon core. The reaction is a tad…energetic.”

In the sandy field, the golems backed away from a combined sample of dungeon core remains and chaos essence. Once they were behind cover, Professor Jules sent an inexpensive, specialised messenger construct forward with a mana conductor attached to it. It glided to the swirling mixture and slowly inserted the mana conductor prongs, then…

“Hey…” Hart said. “Is it just me or is that a lot of light flaring arou—holy shi—”

Boom!

A blast strong enough to shake the entire bunker discharged.

Sand erupted in a cloud as several of the delegation screamed when a column of fire shot toward the sky.

“Bloody hell!” Reginald cried. “That’s apocalyptic!”

“Pretty cool, eh?” Professor Jules said. “Chaos essence is hard to get…but imagine what one could do with this combination. A little dungeon core remains. A little chaos essence. A small source of mana and…boom. You can kiss a dungeon or small army of Ravener-spawn goodbye.”

“Hah!” Hart laughed out, his voice a touch shrill. “Looks like we might be out of a job, eh, Cedric? Drestra?”

“Holy Uldar…” Cedric murmured.

“Magnificent.” Drestra watched the explosion, mesmerised. “Absolutely beautiful.”

“I like the way she thinks!” Carey whispered to Alex.

“Well, I say!” Reginald sounded breathless. “What an absolutely smashing first demonstration! You have done some excellent work here. King Athelstan will be most pleased with these developments!”

“I’m very glad to hear that,” Professor Jules said, and Alex could hear the smile in her voice. “And to that I say: here’s to a long, and beautiful partnership.”

“Indeed, hear, hear!” cried a very enthusiastic court wizard representative. “So, what is next? What do you think you’ll work on next?”

“Well, for now,” Professor Jules said. “We’ll be discussing potential scientific, industrial, and militaristic applications of these remains. It seems that their best application is as an accelerant: perhaps to empower technology that uses mana. In short, if we can build it? Then we can build it better with this material. And to explore that further, we plan to start sending teams out to obtain additional samples.”

“And after that?” the older man asked.

Professor Jules’ pause was filled with malicious excitement. “Well, after that? I believe it’ll be time to move experimentation to stage two: the study of living dungeon cores. By the time we’re finished, ladies and gentlemen, we’ll know more about these dungeon cores than your enemy does.”

The Thameish delegation all stood up at once, and their applause was thunderous. It was so loud, it nearly drowned the rumble of aftershocks as smoke and sand continued swirling toward the clouds.

After that, the remainder of the delegation’s visit was almost a formality.

Well, a formality and politicking.

For the next day and a half, they met with Professor Jules and the other lead researchers to discuss future plans in detail, and begin negotiations for delivery and production of dungeon core remains for various tasks and markets.

Discreetly, some representatives even offered more…private arrangements, hoping to secure promises and contracts to benefit their own families, fiefs and territories. Professor Jules made no promises, but she didn’t reject anyone either.

As for Alex, he focused on keeping up with his work with the research team and generally getting to know the Heroes better. He, Cedric, Hart, Khalik, Thundar, Theresa, Tyris and Grimloch all trained together using the building stones and—for some—weights that were a liiiiiittle more reasonable.

As they built their bodies, they built their bonds, growing closer.

And Alex learned more about each Hero.

Drestra remained especially fascinated by the demonstration, talking about it often. She seemed pretty excited about something, but wouldn’t say what.

“If I can just learn more,” she said, staring into the blazing light of a campfire. “Maybe it could work…or maybe…not…but it’s a start. It might buy us more time…”

Alex and Theresa didn’t prod her for her thoughts: after all, they didn’t know each other well enough. Not yet, at least.

Hart’s reaction to the substances was altogether different.

“—will bloody change the face of war,” he growled into a cup of strong ale. “What’re men, women…or even beasts supposed to do against that kind of power? What’s the point of skill? Or swords? Magic and divinity are one thing: you need talent and years of study for one, and a god or goddess’ blessing for the other. But this? So much boom from something so small. Thank Uldar that chaos stuff is rare, or one war could annihilate the entire world!” He gulped the rest of his ale.

“I thought you were happy with all yer talk about us bein’ out of a job an’ all?” Cedric asked him.

“Yeah, I had more time to think about it,” Hart explained. “That kind of weapon, and I’d call it a weapon, might be great if it’s in your hands…but battlefields are going to be even nastier if that stuff spreads. Wouldn’t you think?”

“Well…” Cedric said. “I’m just glad we know about it and that things are transparent-like…something as powerful as that’s too nasty to be buried in secrets.”

As Alex watched them from across the campfire, he noted the Chosen’s body language had relaxed over time…though, he seemed to be tensing now that the end of their visit was approaching.

They would be gone in the morning.

And after that, a new stage of the expedition would begin.

Alex thought back to what Professor Jules had said: that they’d be experimenting on live dungeon cores soon. He’d known that from the start, of course, but with all that had been going on, it seemed like it would never come.

He thought about struggling with the dungeon core in the Cave of the Traveller, fighting for control against a dying one.

Sooner rather than later, his next encounter with one—one that was very much alive—would finally come.

…and if he defeated it…he’d learn just how far that control could go and—

He glanced at the Heroes.

—Cedric, Hart and Drestra just might learn something very interesting about their ancient enemy.

Perhaps everyone would.