The infinity dungeon 226

Chapter 226

When Michael reached the Fae encampment in the middle of the forest, he found Drullkrin waiting for him. The goblin general waved in salute from halfway up the canopy, vaulting off from his hidden perch and landing on the soft grass with barely a disturbance to the surrounding foliage.

“My lord,” he said. “You return.”

Michael nodded at his second in command in the Valley. “Indeed I do.”

“Have you found what you were seeking?”

“That, and more,” Michael said. He did not elaborate, leaving the more in-depth explanations for later. 

Instead, he let the goblin accompany him back to the Fae city, to the strange sprawling metropolis where most of the many denizens of the Valley resided. It looked straight out of a fairy tale, with glowing bridges made of blue moss connecting the trees, houses that were actually giant mushrooms, and sentient creatures appearing in any shape and form. Most of them were of the forest type, but there was no lack of other strange creatures from all corners of the dungeon floor. Here and there, Michael even spotted a few blue-skinned humanoids from king Theobond’s guard mingling with the Fae.

He ate at one of the usual feasts. With his new, more complete authority over the Valley, he could finally understand much more about the strange banquets than before if he so wished. He found that he didn’t wish to learn more. Icarus had not shared this desire, and had found the mechanism of magic behind the feasts fascinating to say the least, and had promised Michael that he would not break the spell for him. 

“Don’t worry,” the AI’s hologram had said, managing to appear visible to Michael through a use of borrowed magic. “I’ll keep an eye on the feasts for you.”

He winked and disappeared.

After the feast, it was finally time to bring Drullkrin up to speed. Even though the Gaze was weak in the Valley, it was by no means absent, and Michael's aura was not yet powerful enough to keep it from tainting his soul.

“Hmm, it is quite the tale, my lord,” Drullkrin said after Michael was done. “This Master Yu, it is a pity that I cannot meet him. Perhaps one day he will show himself again.”

“Perhaps,” Michael said.

“You found peace of mind, and a new way to power. It is a very good first step but, as you too have said, your current power is not enough. That this Renegade will attack you as soon as you step foot outside, I too am certain of it. It worries me, my lord. However, the taint worries me more. I have seen its effects on you, and they were not a good sight.”

Michael sighed. “I apologize for that.”

“There is no need. You were not aware of the dungeon’s influence. In fact, it is I who has to apologize, for I could do nothing to help you except ask for the dungeon spirit’s help.”

The mention of Infy had Icarus focus his attention on the conversation from the Inner Space.

“Hmm,” the AI said, only to Michael. “Now we know who called the cavalry. Interesting.”

There was also the vague impression the icarus had just labeled Drullkrin a potential snitch in his mind, but it was gone before Michael could be sure of it.

“There is a lot of work to be done, and quickly,” Michael said. “I admit part of me is attempting to procrastinate. I don’t look forward to the meeting with David and Travis. Johanne too, if for a whole other reason. I sure hope she won’t try to dissect me to study my new power system.”

“She is a dangerous woman indeed,” mused the goblin. “Well, I shall make sure you do not procrastinate and waste your time. Is the time dilation in effect?”

“For now. But since the priority is shielding myself from the Gaze, and to do so I need an aura, soon the effect will start to fade.”

“I see,” the goblin said. “And then, you will be forced to go outside or risk seeing your world slip away from your fingers. Without you, the Renegade is free to act as he wishes.”

Michael nodded.

“To aid you,” Drullkrin said. “I will in all haste prepare the considerable resources the Fae have gathered for you in this last year you have been absent, along with all the resources produced in the ten years you have spent in the Valley without using them. Because of the taint, as you said.”

Michael smiled wryly. It might have been the taint, eventually, but not at the beginning. That had been all him. “Thank you.”

“You will find a gigantic hoard of metals, for construction in your inner space. However, the most precious hoard is the magic coins. We have farmed the first and third floors enough to produce three whole Platinum coins.”

“Platinum,” muttered Michael. “Which means that they should be filled to the brim with Renegade Energy. Show them to me.”

***

The tallest mountain of the Valley was tall enough that if one looked up at the sky, they had the sensation they might touch it. 

That, or the edge of the vertical space the dungeon had allocated to the floor, Michael thought. But I prefer to think of it as the sky. It’s more poetic.

Despite the peak’s considerable height, there was barely any snow and no ice. It once was the mountain underneath which the Ice King had his throne, but the throne was now the Borealis Block inside Michael's inner space, and the disappearance of the source of the ice element had eventually led to the disappearance of the massive glacier on top of the mountain.

Michael closed his eyes. He had been to his treehouse, finding it full of proof of his ten years of depravity. A wave of his hand, and it was all gone, the house restored to how it had been before he had lost himself to the taint.

It had not helped much. The proof might be gone, but the memory of that time was not. Michael didn’t have stats anymore, but his memory was good. It will take a while before the sting of shame faded.

Magic. He reflected on it, truly drilled down on the meaning of the word both for him and in a more abstract sense. 

His batteries, inside the inner space, could always return full in a matter of minutes as long as there was mana in the air thanks to the practice of active meditation. By activating the spiral glyphs etched in the very wall of the inner space, Michael could open himself up to the outside world and its energies. He could even pull items inside, but what mattered the most right now was magic.

Of all the energies, only those for which he had storage solutions built and active would stay. Which were only mana and ice, because the other elements he knew, Plasma Fire and Pure Light, did not have storage, not yet. And he did not need to pull ice from the outside, because he had a source. The other energies, Qi, Intent, and even the martial Chi and Jing… just fell into the spiral black hole. He could intercept them and use them, but only if he focused. As soon as he let them go, down the hole they went.

Still, even just with mana… he had a storage capacity of a hundred Silver. One Gold unit of mana, usable in the span of ten seconds, plus whatever mana he could pull from the air.

He felt like he had already thought these thoughts a million times. Yet, his mind was always drawn back to them, as if they weren’t real and needed checking. After all, magic was not supposed to exist in the real world. It was supposed to be confined to books and stories and tales for children and perhaps escapist fantasy books.

It was not supposed to be real.

On the ground in front of Michael, was the hoard of coins the Fae had gathered for him. The metals and raw materials were already in a stable orbit in his inner system, but the coins–he learned–could not be pulled in.

They were divided into neat piles. On the left, the three platinum coins. In the middle, a modest pile of gold coins. On the right, a mass of silver ones. There was no need to go as far down as copper, he felt, hence why he had not made a pile of them.

If he so wished, and this was the craziest thought of them all, he could snap his fingers and turn all of the coins into raw power. 

I would, of course, immediately lose control of that much energy and hurt myself, he thought. But what if… 

He stopped the thought. There was no what if that was worth the risk. Still, his mind struggled to even imagine all the things he could do with so much magic. Magic that the Renegade supposedly always had at the ready. What was he going to use it for, if given the chance?

I must not give him the chance. 

There simply was no time, but he had a plan.

“Icarus,” he said as he appeared in the inner space. “Let’s work on this Aura Accelerator, shall we? Let’s see if we can increase the multiplier.”

Then, once he had the aura figured out… 

Eyes still closed, his left hand found the three platinum coins. They were cold, their surface smooth. The spiral at the center of his inner space flared in response to his thoughts.

Soon, but not yet.