Chapter 56

They spoke for a long time. As per agreement, Michael shared things about his world: the presence of technology, how society operated, how several powerful nations controlled the world, the whole introduction. Theobond was not as surprised by technology and the scientific method as Michael thought a member of a fantasy race would have been, nor did he take too long to understand the basics of society Michael was talking about. The king was likewise not surprised to learn that, outside of the dungeon, magic was rare if not outright gone from the world. When Michael told Theobond that what was left of magic seemed weak, stale and old, barely holding on, the king simply nodded.

Then he recounted his experience related to the dungeon. How he had found it the first time. How the rewards he got worked, and his theories about how they worked in general. The king did not share any information on the matter despite Michael’s probing, however. When it was clear that Theobond would not budge on it, Michael went on to tell the king of his attempts at finding other entrances and other delvers. Once again, the king simply hummed along but did not seem surprised to learn what Michael had to say.

Then it was Theobond’s turn. Michael leaned why the king still remembered his past, despite all other mobs being in the dungeon with altered memories and personalities. According to him, most of the creatures inhabiting the dungeon—the monsters—had not been originally created by the dungeon. The dungeon only allowed them to die and be born again over and over again. Each time, its control over them grew.

Theobond was different from all other monsters in the fact that he had not died yet. On top of that, he was strong enough to resist the dungeon’s interference on his mind.

“At least as long as the challenge floor remains at such a shallow level of the dungeon,” he clarified. “Here, its influence is weak enough that I can resist it. I do not wish to know how it would be were this floor to move down a few layers.”

Then he spoke about his home world. Like the other races stolen by the dungeon and forced to be its slaves, his people were once rulers of their planet. They had built a society that was strong and prosperous, and they were taking the first steps out of the bounds of their planet. Unlike mankind, they were not about to venture into space using chemical propulsion rockets. They did know something about the nature of the physical world, but it had never been the focus of their civilization. Instead, what little magic lingered on their world even before the dungeon had arrived had allowed them to develop a way to move through dimensions without actually moving at all.

It was right at that time that the first dungeon entrances began to appear.

“One such entrance was at the centre of this very valley,” Theobond said with a rare sigh, “to think that this valley may very well be all that is left of my world. And even then, it’s changed and usurped beyond recognition. Filled with interlopers and mutated beings.”

He shook his head, returning to the present with great pain. “That is why I wanted to know about your world. I was merely trying to understand what had happened to mine, in hope that perhaps you might learn from our mistakes and survive the coming destruction.”

Michael asked the king what he meant about it.

“Oh, it did not happen quickly. The dungeon is not looking to destroy, destruction only happens as a consequence of what the dungeon’s appearance does to a planet. After the first entrance was discovered, it was only a matter of time before more began to appear, and with more entrances, it soon became impossible to keep their existence a secret. Magic the kinds of which we had never seen before became commonplace. Nations fell, power changed hands, war raged. Our own understanding of the universe stagnated. Why study an old field of knowledge, when a better option existed?

“But even though it seemed like doomsday was nigh, after the war was over an age of prosperity unlike we had ever seen began. We truly thought the dungeon was a boon upon our blessed civilization, propelling us to new heights we could not even dream of before. Until, one day, dangerous powers began to be handed to dangerous people. This is my opinion on the matter, but it felt as if the dungeon was getting bored, and thus it subtly changed the way it operated.

“The world was long saturated with magic by then. There was no way to stop the deranged individuals who had been granted power impossible to control or contain. Our stagnation became our downfall. When all we knew was to hope the dungeon would help us, how could we hope to act against its wishes? All that was left of our glorious civilization was a barren wasteland of smouldering ash and death, and the dungeon finally grew tired of us. It left the planet an empty, sterile husk, taking away all that was left of us and making us a part of its cruel game.

“This is, as far as I know, all that’s left. Our people, once glorious and prosperous, forced to pretend to be soulless monsters clad in crude iron armours and weapons for its amusement. Be warned, Michael, for once the dungeon grows tired of your planet, it will show no mercy.”

Michael did not say anything for a long time. There were many questions he wanted to ask, but even he could feel the dungeon’s gaze upon him now, and did not dare to ask. Right now the dungeon seemed amused at what he was seeing, like a teenager watching drama unfold with a bucket of popcorn. Michael knew it could change its mind at any moment, however.

“Entertainment, then,” was all that he said. Theobond nodded.

“That is what I came to realize, right before the end. Some people seemed to agree with me, although it was too late. The consensus was that, once we overcame the struggle, we simply became too boring for the dungeon to watch us anymore, and it moved on.”

Michael left the tent in a gloomy mood, deeply unsettled by the revelation.

However, if what the king had said was true, Earth was still in the early stages of the process. They had time to figure out what to do. The dungeon’s mana had not even spread across his whole property yet, after all.

Miser consolation. The obstacle, however far along in his path, seemed unsurmountable. The source of his power would be his downfall, and it wasn’t like he could turn away from the dungeon either. Someone else would come along and take his place. However, something Theobond had said resonated with him. One source of their civilization’s downfall had been their dependence on the dungeon for their power. They grew complacent, abandoning their old ways.

He would make sure the same did not happen to Earth. Already he wanted to build a lab, to study magic and advance humanity’s knowledge of science beyond its current limitations. He would use money, manpower and magic as a tool to make sure humanity would not grow dependent on the dungeon.

The dungeon, far from being their downfall, would become their opportunity.

The need for a lab grew ever more urgent.

***

The radiance of the glyphs was blinding.

Before him, Michael had spread the four glyphs he was missing: Time, Truth, Fortune and Death. Together with his own pieces of Might, Mind and Fate they would make the seven required to finish the floor’s challenge.

It felt unreal, and the unsettling talk with Theobond had done much to turn the momentous occasion into a source of conflicting emotions for Michael. Still, he knew he had work to do. And work was not something he shied away from.

With a mental command, he summoned the three dimmed glyphs from his Skill Sanctum. It took barely a thought to start the merging process. They wanted to be together, and a force began pulling the pieces towards each other as soon as they were close enough to sense each other.

Michael watched the process with fascination. It wasn’t every day he got to see such concentrations of exotic energies and even though his [Magic Sense] did not advance in level, he felt like he was learning much just by watching.

Then the blinding light and magic subsided, leaving behind a single completed piece. The glyph was larger than the sum of the seven that made it, and it glowed with powerful magic. Its radiance was gentle, it did not blind, and with a careful movement Michael extended a hand to touch it.

He expected the glyph to rush into his Skill Sanctum like the pieces had done. Instead, he suddenly found himself in the middle of a barren room, with no sign of the Unity anymore.

Although, calling it barren was a mistake. The walls were made of rough stone, and the floor was barely flat enough to walk without stumbling, but the room was far from empty. The first thing Michael noticed was the white glow of a legendary skill stone.

To his magic sense, it was like looking at the sun itself. So blinding the light was, he stumbled and almost fell to his feet, and he was forced to deactivate the skill before his brain burned itself out. The energies coming from the little piece of roughly cut stone were too strong and too many to even begin to describe, and even the normal light coming from it was strong enough to light the room to day.

“So this is a legendary stone…” Michael said, awed. He could not wait to absorb it.

But he waited nonetheless. Absorbing the skill now was not a good idea. He was tried, and the white mist in his Skill Sanctum was not at its maximum concentration. The mist was his Intent, and even though he did not understand it well, he knew that Intent was tied to skill absorption and development. To absorb a legendary stone, even though it was a quest reward, required nothing less than his full stock of Intent.

A stock that was growing by the day. His willpower, one of the sources of Intent, was already strong before the dungeon, and was now many times stronger. He had a purpose and he had trained his body and mind in the dungeon for weeks. He was a far cry from the person he was what felt like ages ago.

He pocketed the skill stone, turning towards the other strange element of the room only for a gasp to escape his mouth as soon as he did that. He hadn’t really seen it for what it was while he concentrated on the skill stone, and the sight almost made him jump back in fear.

Feeling his frantic heartbeat, he allowed himself some moments to calm down. He had been caught unaware, but there was no danger. In fact, now that the initial scare was over, he realized just how eerie of a sight it was: a woman sealed in amber, like a bee trapped for millennia by the precious sap of ancient trees. Her eyes were open, unblinking, forced to only stare at the unchanging walls of the dungeon, but the spark in them told him that her mind was still there, forced to be forever awake.

Michael’s hands turned to fire as he activated [Candle Light], and the amber began to melt.