The infinity dungeon 240

Chapter 240

When Michael and Johanne arrived at the dungeon entrance, David and Travis were already there. David was tapping his foot on the ground, while Travis had his arms crossed in a way that made his biceps bulge like inflated water balloons.

Had he not scanned the man over the repeated healings he had administered him, Michael would have thought that those muscles were the result of steroids.

Actually, now that I think about it, he has always had huge arms. Even back when we met and he was sick, his arms were still gigantic. Must be either genetics or a gym addiction.

It was hard to tell without cheating and asking Icarus. What he knew was that since they met, Travis had never worked out, but then again he needn’t work out anymore now that they had access to magic.

Michael was proud to see that both men were using their Silver auras to ward off the rain and the cold. A quick scan told him that Travis had a mana pool of around ten silver, while David's was closer to twenty. It was hard to gain much more insight without alerting the two, now that he didn’t have an overwhelming advantage over them anymore. He was sure they would say yes if he asked, but now was not the time.

“You’re early!” Michael said with a smile and a wave.

“It’s 7:59, Michael,” David said in his usual ponderous voice. “We are on time.”

“What are the objectives for today, Michael?” Travis asked. “I know you want to increase our power, but I think you should be more specific.”

“Talk as we go?” Michael proposed. “The first floor is easy, after all.”

There were nods all around, and the four people entered the dungeon. As they disappeared, warped away by the dungeon’s usual magic, the guards at the gate saluted and sealed the entrance shut behind them.

“An antechamber,” Michael said as he looked around. “Been a while since I've been here.” 

There were three pedestals in the middle of the room, like there had been when he had taken Stephan with him for the first time.

“Why?” David asked. “We don’t need no help.”

“I think it’s for her,” Travis said, pointing at Johanne.

“She got hit by the storm yesterday,” Michael explained. “We spent the night fixing her magic together, but she’s still weak.” 

He turned to face her. “The dungeon clearly wants to help you, what do you want to do?”

“Is it the dungeon, or Infy?” she asked. “I am not used to being unable to see magic, it is very frustrating.”

“I think it’s the dungeon. I haven’t heard from Infy in a while.”

“Then I do not care about the items on the pedestals,” she said. She did something, and a shimmering projectile appeared above her head and embedded itself in the far wall before disappearing. The simple action took a lot out of her, depleting her mana and leaving her panting, but she refused Michael’s proffered hand with a smile. “I do not need to accept trinkets given to me out of pity in order to reclaim my lost power. They come with strings. I can do it by myself.” 

Michael nodded. “Agree.”

“Indeed,” David said. “This first floor could be a good practice run for you to get used to whatever happened to your magic. Michael came back even more powerful than before after losing his, you will too.”

Stone plates appeared all over his body, and he slammed his fists together so hard they created a shockwave of air. “I’m going to keep the monsters occupied,” he said. “While you shoot at them from the back, how’s that sound?”

With the strategy decided, the four people moved into the first room. David immediately threw himself in the melee, drawing the attention of all the goblins and shielded skeletons. He ran circles around them, dodging their attacks with speed and grace. Even when the attacks landed, they failed to do any damage to him.

Behind him, Johanne focused on her spells. A shimmering projectile appeared and zipped through the air, homing in on the closest goblin and piercing its skull. She slumped as the monster died, holding herself up against the wall. She was panting hard, but there was a look of resolve on her face.

David cheered her on, giving her a thumbs up which she ignored. Instead, she focused on recuperating her spent mana, before casting another spell.

It would take a while to clear the room this way, but she was the weakest of the four and needed to be brought back to the same level as the others before they could all fight stronger enemies together.

Michael kept an eye on her, watching her mana pool stretch and expand, her cast speed increase. Her confidence was coming back, and soon she was experimenting with other spells, freezing enemies and shooting balls of fire between magic missiles.

Two hours later, they had progressed to the third room. It was no longer the boss room of the first floor, which now sported five rooms. 

“She’s already back to high Copper,” Michael said. He and Travis were watching from the back, not interfering with the fight. 

“So quickly,” Travis said.

“I think it’s because she’s only re-learning what she knew,” Michael said. “The storm threw her power in disarray but did not destroy her foundation. She will be back to mid Silver soon, although probably without Qi.”

Travis nodded. “It’s not like you need Qi to be stronger than us.”

Michael chuckled. “Speaking of. I think I'm getting a good measure of David’s power. He has grown stronger, but his power set is pretty much the same. One or two skills might have evolved in rarity, but that’s it. He has his Blackstone and the force element and he’s using them well. His technique with Qi has room to improve, but don’t we all struggle with Qi? The sixth floor should be of great help. Anyway, I’ll ask to scan him later, but it should be no surprises. You, on the other hand, have been swapping cards around like crazy ever since you learned to bear the pain, haven’t you?”

Travis’ eyes widened. “You knew? Did the AI tell you?”

“Icarus tells me many things, but he doesn’t make a habit of spending all day talking gossip into my ear.”

“I see,” Travis said, not convinced. “I take it you knew about these too, then.”

He produced a little box from his pocket. It looked completely mundane, save for the fact that it was made out of the same material as the Secure Containment Units used to carry the magic coins around without their magic spilling out.

“You have a full deck of them, nice.” Michael said. “How many can you slot at the same time?”

“Seven,” Travis said. “It’s my limit at the moment. I can force myself to go up to eight, but after a while the pain really becomes problematic and stops me from even being able to use the magic.”

“Even with seven, you have variety. What you lack is power.”

“All clear!” David called from the center of the room, where the last skeleton was evaporating into specks of magic.

They moved onto the fourth room, then to the boss room, repeating the same pattern as before. By the time they reached the end of the floor, Johanne was pretty confident in her new magic, which was very similar to how Michael manipulated mana to cast free spells he came up with on the fly.

“This new system is very versatile, but hard to master. Every spell is fragile, and needs to be kept from unraveling with sheer force of will.”

“That pretty much sums it up,” Michael said. “Jack of all spells, master of none. The more magic you try to cram into a spell, the harder it is to cast, but at the same time this blank slate system gives you unparalleled flexibility.”

She nodded. “Yes. I am satisfied with it for now. Perhaps in the future, I will attempt to develop something similar to your inner space, where I can crystallize spells I use often to make them easier to cast.”

“Alright,” Michael said, addressing the whole group. “Everybody ready to go down, then?”

“To the Valley?” 

Michael shook his head. “David, how do you feel babysitting johanne some more?”

“I can do it,” the man said with a shrug. “What do you have in mind?”

“I have some work to do with Travis, in the Valley. In the meantime, Johanne, you have never gone to your second floor, have you?”

“No, my lord.”

“Why don’t you two go see what the dungeon throws at you? Her power is low Silver, but she still needs to get used to it. The dungeon will create the perfect challenge for her, and you will simply make sure she doesn’t get overwhelmed. Then, we’ll meet back here to go down to the third together.”

“I actually would like to go alone, my lord…” she said. She caught herself at the end, cringing. “I mean, Michael.”