DD5 ~ Chapter 14!

I continued the expenditure of my influence deep into the night. The Moon and the shattered Moon fragments were all glowing brightly with reflected light, halfway through the night sky by the time I reached the bottom of the crater. I directed my mind along the path, and began worming my Essence through the created path. I was straining to control all of the newly acquired land by the time I reached the center of the crater. Having so much land, so far from my core, without other factors in play, made it difficult to keep everything stable.

I had expected to find some form of control mechanism where I had just touched, instead I found a room scripts that I immediately named 'Kinetic Dampener'. Apparently, it would create a force about ten feet above it that would slow things down gradually as they approached. Though interesting, it was not what I had been hoping for. I was starting to get frustrated, this crater was far too large for me to explore every bit of it with my influence. I didn't have the sort of forces needed to explore it in person with creatures... I decided instead to consolidate my control and decide from there.

As an outlet for my frustration, I disabled the kinetic dampener before moving on. Someone should splatter for this inconvenience, and I didn't particularly care who at this point. I moved my mind along the path of influence created overnight, following it to the first point where it began to get shaky. Then I dug my influence a little bit deeper into the stone, hollowed-out a section, and installed a totem. This totem was a simple amplifier, similar to what I had used to destroy another dungeon back in the Amazonians' capital, but far more refined. Which meant smaller, more compact, and harder to detect.

With a totem in place, my shaky control strengthened and solidified. I repeated this process as necessary, even boldly placing a totem a few feet underneath the center of the crater. Then, since I had no way to explore the crater at large, I decided to go straight down and see what I found. Dig, dig, dig. Dirt, rock... empty space? I absorbed a section of the surface of the stone, and created a tiny viewing Rune at the start of the empty space. When it was complete, I linked it to the viewing portal in the navigation room. What in the...?

There was a city down there! Did I find a Dwarven stronghold? What was this place? Under a layer of... let me see, one hundred and eight feet of stone, there was a city! I placed a totem just above the stone, and decided to start extending my influence through the air. This is much more difficult than Stone, as I needed to also spend an equal amount of Essence in order to maintain the influence in a bubble, but it would still be easier and more cost-effective than trying to get to a wall.

Ow. My influence rebounded painfully as I began moving downwards. Here it was, the dungeon I had been expecting to find. This place was not Dwarven made, nor was it made by hand. I had found the true secret of the Northmen, the fact that their entire Society lived in a single, massive, dungeon. I couldn't wait to tell everyone! Wait, perhaps there was a better way. I 'tasted' the air, and just as expected this was an infernal dungeon. There were hints of other forms of Essence, Mana, even an unquantifiable energy that must be Spiritual power. But the dungeon itself? It was in the Mage ranks. As far as I could tell, the upper A-ranks.

How? How did a dungeon that must have survived for so long, and housed an entire nation, end up staying in the A-ranks? Then again, perhaps it was for the simple fact of the matter that it only had access to a single type of Essence. This would have been mitigated somewhat as it ascended into the Mage ranks, but it was extremely normal for even Mages who could move around to take hundreds or even thousands of years to ascend again. I did not exactly have it easy, but I had a great head start over most other beings. Even so, my speed of advancement had slowed to a crawl, and this dungeon outranked me. Drat.

Theoretically, I could fight against this place. It was possible that my maximum-tier Mana what allow me to fight above my rank. It was also possible that this place could crush me with overwhelming waves of Mana if I tried. I needed to take the middle ground, and not in a ' territory claiming' way. I needed to get this dungeons attention. I sent a burst of Mana along my stream of influence and slammed it against the dungeon’s territory three times, like someone knocking on a door. On the third knock, the power in the air for twenty feet around the 'knock' collapsed like a soap bubble and created a sound like thunder. Whoops.

~ Dale ~

“Get up, Tom.” Dale whispered into the suddenly-silent amphitheater. Tom had taken another body blow, and was losing too much blood. He had fallen to the ground and was barely moving anymore. Then Tom must have found his thirtieth wind, because he pushed against the floor and pushed himself upright. 

Flames danced across his open wounds, sealing the blood in his body and forming thick scar tissue. Normally, this was begging for infection and a slow death by sepsis, but if Tom survived this ‘trial’ he would be given healing by powerful clerics and healers. The trial was ‘fair’, in that Tom’s opponents were only a little more powerful than he was. Only a rank or two, which meant that if there were ten of Tom against one of them, it might have been in his favor. Instead, there were ten people arrayed against Tom, and the only thing keeping him alive was his skill and his opponent’s hesitation to go all out against someone at a lower rank.

This was the only time Northman culture had been in Tom’s favor since they arrived, and Tom was making sure to capitalize on it by calling out challenges to an individual. The others would pause, and step back while Tom battled. He had defeated two opponents this way over the course of the night, but now he was barely able to hold himself together. The redhead stood as tall as he could, and bellowed a pained war cry into the air. He raised his hammer, knowing that this was likely as far as his attempts to save his people would bring him.

As Tom took a step forward, the echoes of his shout still resounding in the area, all of his opponents and indeed the entire population of Northmen visible cringed and clutched at their chests. Moments later, the sound of far-off thunder reached their ears. When the Northmen regained their bearings and glanced at the stage, sounds of shock and rage filled the room. 

Tom was standing over the crumpled forms of the dozen men he had been facing, and was now holding a hammer in each hand. His chest was heaving, and many of his wounds had reopened across his body. Tom coughed, and a spray of bright blood flecked his lips. “I… claim… victory.”

The proctor of the trial stepped forward, red-faced. “You can’t claim victory, you che-“

An explosion of fire and air knocked the proctor off his feet, and sent him sprawling to the floor. He looked up to see Hans’ eyes glittering as dangerously as the knives at his jugulars. Hans spoke softly, but his words were audible to the entire room and anyone viewing from afar. 

“Oh, please inform me how my student cheated. I would love to hear how using the environment to your advantage in warfare against a much stronger group of enemies is cheating. It’s just, I really hope I like your answer.” Hans was wearing a faint smile, and no one dared to move. The proctor’s throat was bobbing furiously as he alternated between rage and caution.

A door slammed open, nearly causing Hans to flinch and open the throat under his daggers. The Warlord stalked into the room, taking in the scene and dismissing it. “Tom. Did you have anything to do with that thunder?”

“Sir. No, sir.” Tom was swaying on his feet.

The Warlord stared at him for a few more moments, then glanced at the fallen people, finally rolling his eyes at the scene Hans was making. “Tom, you are cleared for duty, having proven that your instincts do not control you. You are to report for basic training at three bells. Any questions?”

“No. Sir.” Tom took a deep breath. “But I do have a request, sir.”

The room went deadly still, and the air seemed to thicken. The Warlord narrowed his eyes. “Is. That. So?” 

“Yes, sir.”

“Oh, by all means, make your request.”

“I would like to issue a challenge to General Beinn, for his position. My old position.” Tom could no longer remain standing, and collapsed to the floor. “I offer a duel. Uno Ictu.”