Chapter 98

Chapter 98

-0-0-0-0-0-

The Creator, Atlantis, The Kalenic Sea

-0-0-0-0-0-

I decided, eventually, that an island for the currently-homeless life manabeings would be best. On the Eleventh, I pulled up the ocean floor by manipulating the space-expansion enchantment. Doing so was simplicity itself by now, and I carefully molded it into a very recognizable, curvy shape. The concept of an island shaped like a woman lying on her side is a classic, and I'd be a fool not to use it.

Moments after saturating it with life mana and introducing the manabeings to their new home, the Island of Fons Vitae was full to bursting with flora. I was quick to populate it with animals, paying particular attention to the bevy of giant bugs I'd imported from the Third. They'd gotten sidelined up there, not really fulfilling their role. But down here, they could be one of the two main focuses instead of a minor feature. To emphasize this, I doubled or tripled them all in size. Seeing fairy-sized life sprites riding giant beetles and spiders in races was something I didn't expect but welcomed.

At the island's 'chest,' there was an overgrown and half-hidden doorway leading into a series of chambers organized to resemble a temple. One that had seemingly gone unmaintained but was obviously intended to be verdant and full of life regardless. I placed a keystone at the altar of this Temple of Life, Deep past several trapped chambers, hallways, and other defenses. This was the beginning of my new concept for the floor: An enchanted green stone carved with the symbol of Yggdrasil. The 'key' part of the enchantment was tiny and hollow since it didn't have a door to open. The rest was a 'lure' enchantment.

It would be a beacon for nearby children or monsters, calling them to attack and retrieve the keystone. Since it was powered by life mana exclusively, rather than a general mix of everything, it made whoever held it feel invigorated and plant life in their vicinity greener and healthier.

I intended to add a keystone to every elemental isle, and the door to the floor's boss arena would need every stone to unlock. If they were taken from the dungeon, they had the same enchantment as the Fungal key, which would cause them to dissolve and the enchantments to fail when taken too far away or otherwise messed with.

Now it was time for the Darkness manabeings. I had some ideas on how this would work, but there was only one possibility for a darkness-themed island.

Thus, Dragonskull Island was born. A lonely rock shaped vaguely like a dragon skull that was thrust up from the ocean, surrounded by a field of sharp, protruding rocks. If said rocks happened to form the shape of skeletal wings and a spine, that wasn't my fault. My recent experience with storms on the surface and on previous floors led me to make an enchantment that created a localized storm. It was mild, producing a persistent diagonal rain, but focused more on cutting out as much light as possible.

The stone skull was mostly hollow and had several interior caves that led to deeper caverns. I laid the same enchantment as the one on the Fifth, which causes absolute darkness, swallowing the light from any source in only a few feet. Here, Shadow and Darkness reigned supreme. The perfect environment for the Darkness Court. It was easy to bring them down, leaving behind a recently transformed spirit for a boss, and they settled in quickly.

After settling into their new home, the Shadow Spirit transformed into a Fairy.

The newly transformed manabeing practically became the darkness. A moving void in the world from which no light could escape. It looked like that one star-filled alien from Ben 10 but without the starscape in its skin. In the depths of their new home, it was invisible. Outside of Dragonskull Island, they could turn invisible with a thought, and a sudden idea later had them teleporting through shadows, from the Eleventh to the Fifth, the surface, and back in seconds.

Unfortunately, they couldn't bring anything with them. It was a very personal teleport, unlike the portal travel of the water sprites. I left them alone to organize their court. At the same time, an enterprising ship of crabfolk began navigating the rocks and constructing a hidden dock for themselves. It was captained by the crab-folk that stole an admiral's tricorn, and I was happy to let them do what they wanted. It wouldn't be a Skull Island without some kind of pirate presence.

Continuing with my new keystone idea, I added a black obsidian skull painted with purple markings, imitating those Mexican festival face paints. This would be the island's 'treasure.' I gave it the same place-holder-key and anti-theft/identification enchantments, then added the fun parts. It made the holder invisible, but only to visible light. Those with manasight, like myself, could still see them. And, of course, so could the manabeings. If they could somehow escape the pitch black caverns, they'd have a potent artifact.

If they could make it out.

With Dragonskull Island on one end of the Elemental Isles, my next choice was obvious. I needed to balance the darkness with a light on the opposite end.

Île de Lumière was made in two parts. The first was a wide, flat circle of sparkling silica sand. From the center of the sand, a forest of crystal trees radiated, dominated by the largest in the center. Of course, they weren't actual trees. I crafted each tree individually from the almost-pure silica that I could filter from the sand on the continental shelf on the surface. The crystal trees acted like prisms, and in the midday sun, the entire island glittered with a rainbow of colors.

I released a dozen golems here, half Potentium and the other half made of the same quartz as the trees. Their manacores were extremely obvious, being shining cores of light. The veins of mana that let them control the golem were visible, spreading from the core like roots. I also released six fairy-sized golems just to see what happened. The Potentium golems looked like shining gold figures, almost bright white silhouettes. The light mana they radiated added to the normal light bouncing around the trees. It should do just as well to blind and disorient guilders with manavision as ordinary people would be blinded.

"Villages are off-limits. Anything else?" Isid asked succinctly. The Kobold nodded and opened the outer layer of her robe. In a series of inner pockets, Jerrard could see the glittering shapes of Teleport Crystals.

"These crystals are one-use only, and will cost you a gold piece each," the Kobold stated, to general outcry.

"That's highway robbery!" the lightning mage insisted, her electric hair sparking at her irritation.

"It's your life," the Kobold responded evenly. "These crystals grant you an immense advantage, one we know you would abuse if given access to them cheaply. After all, you have done it before, and we are unwilling to see a return to that state of affairs. While you are favored by The Creator, His favor is not unlimited. He finds your delves entertaining. Surely you have noticed trials and puzzles appear in your path? He sees you complete floors and makes changes based on them. It is only fair to warn you, but you'll find the Fifth much changed. He felt the castle was... underutilized once the exit was found."

Jerrard frowned. That wasn't good. The fifth was already draining, having to slaughter their way through the living fungus monsters to find a key. If the castle itself had been changed...

"Thank you for the forewarning," Isid said, bowing her head at the Child. "We'll take one crystal for every member of the raid." His wife pulled a clinking pouch from her bag and poured nine coins into her palm. The trade proceeded quickly, and they soon moved on. He saw Haythem and Paetor's parties look at their crystals wistfully for a moment. Both parties had lost a member to the invasion, and their absences were hard-felt.

Jerrard found himself expecting Flasa in Haythem's shadow and was saddened each time she wasn't there.

The first five floors were... not easy, but familiar. The 'Trial Guardians,' as the Kobold had called them, were leagues better combatants than they'd been months ago, and it showed. It wasn't enough to match a platinum, but they were getting there. The 'squires' and 'apprentices' watching the battles would apparently replace them soon, and Jerrard found himself nodding. That made sense. Send the more experienced monsters deeper, replacing them with weaker ones that will slowly gain experience.

They'd eventually train replacements, and the cycle would continue.

Only after they managed to retrieve the fungal key from an ever-more varied and deadly force of fungal monsters and reached the castle did Jerrard feel the true measure of the gatekeeper's warnings.

They could no longer freely pass through the castle. There was but one path. It was full of Monsters, Children, and Spirits around every corner. Eventually, they found themselves in another hall with a large lever against a metal gate. Shrugging, Haythem pulled it. With a judder, the gate rose. Passing through... they were back at the start.

He turned around, but unlike what he expected, the gate didn't fall, trapping them back at the start. With a heat-haze-like shimmer, a wall section changed, revealing a lever. An illusion?

A pull on this lever lowered the gate. Pulling it again, the gate rose.

"A Shortcut?" Isid wondered, and Jerrard nodded to his wife.

"Looks like it," he agreed, rubbing his chin. "It's very... unlike the dungeon. Normally, it likes to make things harder, not easier."

"We must be missing something..." Harald wondered, writing furiously in his notebooks. He'd been marking their path through the castle, noting changes as they'd gone. "The castle has retained the same shape as before, but the internals have been rearranged. What did that Kobold say? The castle was underutilized? We can expect the same thing: long, circuitous sections leading back to this main hall, opening up the next section. What does the next section look like?"

They continued up a set of stairs that led to a balcony... and nothing else. The roof was right there, though. Tiled... likely slippery. And, of course, the darkness enchantment was active.

Jerrard groaned. "I can tell this is going to be a slog."

-0-0-0-0-0-