Chapter 82

Chapter 82

-0-0-0-0-0-

The Canyon, The Ninth Floor, The Dungeon

-0-0-0-0-0-

Wave, Aston, and Towers-Over-Others followed the path through the canyon as light from the manasun peaked over its edge and spilled upon the glistening, running river. The trees rustled in the wind. Small birds and animals made various growls, chirps, and other noises. Occasionally, they heard the odd, echoing screech of a Stymphalian Vulture overhead or the roar of a Golden Sunlion as it fought another male.

Unlike the odd quiet of the Tenth and Eleventh... the Ninth was alive with animals and monsters. It felt... more complete.

Wave knelt at the side of the river and dipped a few water skins in, filling them with fresh, clean water. Aston raised an eyebrow at him as he returned to the path.

"For your magic?" the minotaur asked. Wave tilted his head from side to side, hooking the skins on a belt.

"Not just for my magic," he admitted. "We're going into a desert. We might not need to eat or drink, but doesn't the idea of going into a desert without water sound stupid?" The minotaur shrugged in response; the axe resting on his shoulders shifted as he did.

"It is a good idea," Towers agreed, shifting on his eight legs. "The Creator teaches us that, while we may not need food or drink to sustain ourselves, it is to our benefit." His piece said the Scorpan returned to scanning the greenery.

Wave smiled at the enormous monster and did the same. They'd taken the night in the village to get to know each other. While the Scorpan had initially been stiff and formal, he'd opened up during a conversation on their Creator. Like all Scorpans, he was fanatical, though far more reserved in his worship than others were.

The following two hours of walking were quite pleasant. They continued to talk, though this time more about how they fought individually and how they might fight as a team. The hours passed like minutes, and they quickly reached the canyon's end.

Wave stopped to stare at the series of narrow switchbacks that made up the path to the top. He remembered descending them, and though he knew the track was safe, it didn't look like it from the bottom.

He turned to the other two party members, trying to look serious.

"Towers, Aston. After this climb, there is a high chance we could encounter the human walking around here." Wave stated. He then took a deep breath. "I've been thinking, and he's clearly the most powerful guilder to ever enter the dungeon. Wouldn't that mean he has the largest core? The Creator did say it could be a monster or human core."

"You want to ambush him? Take his core?" Aston extrapolated, rubbing his hairy chin. "It would be faster than going all the way to the Seventh, that's for sure."

"I don't like the idea," Towers interjected stiffly. "It puts you at too much risk. The King sent me to protect you from the human if we encountered him. Not to seek him out."

"You're not wrong," Wave admitted. "Aston and I don't have Respawn Crystals. Any fight we get in is one where we risk our lives. Still though, if we were to encounter him... wouldn't it be better for us to have a plan?" Towers couldn't refute that. As they climbed, they tried to turn their rough strategies into something they could use against the lone guilder.

They had a few plans, but none could say they'd work. They didn't know enough about how the human fought to nail down a definitive strategy. When they crested the final ramp, Wave could only squint against the glare and raised a claw to shield his eyes. The dunes glittered and shone in the light, and it was only after a few minutes that his eyes adjusted. He glanced to the side and found Aston much the same.

Towers was unaffected and seemed amused. Wave rolled his eyes at the Scorpan. "Yes, yes, you're adapted to the environment here. Well done. Which way is the Entrance? The dunes look different from how they did when I last came through." Now smug, Towers moved off, heading towards the start of a dune's ridgeline.

Wave and Aston followed quickly, not wanting to be left behind. They heard the cry of a Stymphalian Vulture in the distance and saw a trio of silhouettes wing their way into the desert.

It took a good few hours to cross the desert. About an hour in, they found where the Vultures had gone. They circled a figure atop a distant dune, diving every so often and peppering it with their metal feathers as it sprinted away from them. Deciding discretion was the better part of valor; the monsters slid down the leeward side of the dune before they could be spotted and continued on their way. Wave had no doubt that was the human. No one else was meant to be out here, and he could only hope the man would remain lost among the dunes.

When they arrived and passed through the tunnel to the Eighth, Wave sighed in relief. He hadn't particularly enjoyed the heat of the Ninth and much preferred the icy wind of the Stormy Peaks or the sea breezes of the Eleventh.

They had to be returning to their nest. Hallmark smirked. He finally had a direction. With another small gulp of the wideawake potion, he began to walk through the night and felt he'd find wherever they went by morning.

-0-0-0-0-0-

The Cells, The Seventh Floor, The Dungeon

-0-0-0-0-0-

Kata stood still as she looked at her old cell. There were five in all, each in its own room to isolate them from each other, which she'd had no idea were even there. Kata didn't know who'd been in the other four or even if they'd been used since they were all clean and the air here was slightly stale. She had to agree with Huea. It'd been a while since anyone had been here.

"You okay, Kata?" the drake-kin asked softly, one claw on her shoulder. After a shaky breath, she nodded.

"I'm fine. Just... thinking," Kata replied with an uncertain smile. The drake-kin squeezed her shoulder with a nod. The monster's claw slipped from her shoulder and took her hand.

"Alright then. Come on, the storage room isn't far," Huea insisted, pulling Kata along. The human followed slightly listlessly. Being here was... weird.

She'd spent so long in that cell. In fact, she didn't actually know how long she'd been in there. It all blurred together. When they emerged into the storage room, her eyes widened.

Along one wall was a row of standing, intact skeletons. Some were drake-kin, others were kobolds. There was one human. In their rib cages were glowing teal monster cores, and the empty sockets of their skulls held a small blue point of light amidst the darkness. She'd forgotten about them entirely.

One had delivered her food soon after her capture, and she remembered the terror she'd felt at the sight of it. It'd never returned.

"The D-Creator made undead?!" Kata gasped, abhorred. Huea glanced at the skeletons, then shook her head in disappointment. Disappointment!

"Unfortunately not. They're merely shells for His will. I remember Him commenting that they lacked the spark of life and only moved because He moved them." The drake-kin sighed. "Ultimately, they ended up inspiring the golem bodies the Courts use. Speaking of, the cores were stored over here." The monster pulled Kata along, and she stumbled slightly before joining her friend. She glanced over her shoulder at the skeletons one last time before they left the room.

The hallway was short and ended in a large room. This one was positively filled with monster cores. Dozens! Some were perfect spheres, others more oval-shaped. There were a few she was sure were human cores. And these weren't small ones like the Crabs had. They ranged in size from Kata's fist to one as large as her entire torso! "Is that the one we're looking for?" She asked with trepidation, pointing at the largest. It sat on what looked like a metal brazier. They couldn't carry something that large around! Thankfully Huea shook her head.

"No, that's the Respawn Crystal prototype. It's not a standard mana core anymore." The drake-kin answered distractedly. She walked over to the shelf filled with larger cores and pulled one from the shelves after a few minutes of studying them. "This one."

Huea walked back over to Kata, who'd remained near the door, and she got a good look at the core her friend held.

It was a foot long, and she judged it about a foot in diameter. It was clear and glistened in the mana light. "Why this one in particular? There are still larger ones on the shelf." She asked, pointing to one at least half a foot longer. Huea shook her head.

"It's been a while, but I was quite involved with these experiments," the drake-kin admitted. "Most of the cores are enchanted. Very early tests of what would eventually go into the respawn crystals that ultimately led to the big one on the floor." She nodded, then hefted the core in her hands. "This one is unmodified, besides adding some mana to make it bigger. Part of the prep work."

Kata could only nod, feeling slightly dazed. Before today, she hadn't thought manacores larger than her clenched fist existed. And now dungeons could consciously infuse manacores with mana to make them larger?! The consensus was that manacores could only get so big since they'd grow too large and start pressing against organs. That would be bad, especially since they usually form near the heart of a creature.

But, taken outside of a body and then infused with vast amounts of mana with nothing to restrict its growth? It made sense.

"So... what do we do with it?" she asked, looking at the huge core in her friend's claws.

"We take it back to the village and wait for Wave to turn up," The monster replied. "If he doesn't... we can assume the human got him, and we'll probably have to take it to The Creator's Core ourselves."

-0-0-0-0-0-