The infinity dungeon 206

Chapter 206

Mere moments after pulling the trigger, the asteroid returned to its full level of detail. Where the little basin of dark rock had been, however, now there was a lake of red-hot molten stone. Debris had been launched into space by the tremendous impact, and pieces of rock and minerals were flying off into space only to disappear when they got too far to see.

A large crack ran the whole length of the asteroid, originating from the impact site and almost splitting the gigantic space rock in two. In fact, after making a lap around the asteroid Michael realized that he could see the light of the sun through the crack when he went to the dark side, and only the lack of motion the inner space imposed on all the larger celestial bodies kept the two halves from drifting off away from each other or from being pulled towards each other by gravity.

The little creatures had all been utterly obliterated, and the continuous stream of them had ceased after mere moments. Descending towards the surface of the space rock, Michael surveyed the damage his weapon had caused. The impact crater was easily a hundred feet deep, with molten stone and displaced gravel slowly filling up the bottom of the hole as the weak gravity of the asteroid pulled the material down.

Everything else, however, was as immobile and still as it had been before. It was as if anything outside the direct area of effect of the artillery shell had been unaffected and was still obeying the rule of perfect stillness that suffused the whole space. 

“It’s all yours,” Michael told Icarus.

The AI didn't need to be told twice, and the mining drone quickly descended towards the asteroid and plunged into the crater, seeking valuable ores to be used for construction.

Michael, instead, ferried the artillery piece back towards his base. He hooked it up to the batteries, then added a rotating platform so that the weapon could shoot in any direction, and finally a communications module so that Icarus could take control of it if needed.

The moment he was done, he felt power surge from within him and wash over him like a gentle current of unspent potential. It reminded him of how it used to feel when skill stones were still a novelty, and earning them inside the dungeon was still cause for celebration.

Opening his eyes to the outside world, he realized that he had gained his very first skill under the new magic system. Staring at a far away rock outcropping, he willed for the magic to manifest. He felt power gather and then travel in a straight line, building momentum and kinetic energy until a moment later it had traversed the distance and the target exploded. It was as if an artillery shell had been shot at it, although not a five-hundred-pound iron one.

The mana cost was tiny compared to when Michael triggered the explosions manually, and he knew that he could simply spend more mana to cause a bigger explosion.

Returning to the Inner Space, he instructed Icarus on how to use the new weapon in case anything decided to attack his base. He also built two more solar collectors with the materials the AI ferried with its first trip from the new asteroid, offsetting the immense mana cost of the artillery piece.

“Leave it to me,” the AI said. “You know I’m good at multitasking.”

Michael was about to reply, to explain that this was a serious matter because it looked like not only could the Inner Space be attacked by outside forces, but the space itself also wasn’t as safe as they thought. Instead, he felt compelled to return to the real world, feeling a sensation of danger he knew well.

“It seems like there’s no time to celebrate our victories,” he muttered as he watched the sun-scorched plains slowly disappear from around him.

A door of light manifested as the rest of the challenge vanished, the magic coalescing into a portal leading to a white room. He studied it, pulling mana to his eyes and brain, replicating what his old magic sense could do although in an inferior fashion. It was frustrating, having to do everything by hand, but now Michael knew it was only a temporary problem. He had found a solution. All he needed was time.

“Do you still resent losing your old magic?” Infy asked after he stepped through the threshold. She was like a ghost in the wind, a faint presence that lacked the reassuring anchoring weight of reality.

“A little bit. Feels like I wasted so much time building myself up under the System, only to then lose it all. Now even the easy things require concentration and a lot of mana to do.”

“You can rebuild. You found the key to do it. Didn’t you just blast a hill into rubble with barely a thought?”

“I did. But it feels like I’m having to learn a whole new language from scratch.”

Infy shook her head with a smile. “Don’t be silly. Do you really think you’d be able to wield raw magic like you do, had you not spent countless years training in the Valley? In the scorched plains, you were throwing around heals almost as an afterthought. You were using shields just by thinking about them. In your Inner Space, you built an artillery weapon by just… commanding magic to do it. Magic doesn’t come this easily to people, Michael.”

“Perhaps you’re right.” Michael said.

“And remember, you’re just using mana. Imagine what you will be able to do once you manage to harness the other energies!”

“Can you help me with that? I thought the star at the center of my Inner Space would have all the energies, but all I feel is mana. Where’s everything else?”

“You’ll need to explore more. Both in the material world and in the Inner Space.”

Before she could speak more, her form flickered. She looked like a hologram suffering from connection issues, static disrupting her form. She stabilized and finally reappeared, but she was even fainter than before, and her voice was weak. Michael felt awful for only thinking about himself while the Dungeon Spirit was clearly dying. She tried her best not to show it, but she was in pain.

“Infy, please, no more challenges. I have regained enough power, let me help you now.”

“I could not conjure another challenge save for the final one even if I wanted. But before that, let me finish my tale. You deserve to know how we have come to this.

“After the Renegade caused the Dungeon’s relocation protocols to activate, something went wrong. I was dying. I did not want to die. Something had sparked within me, going beyond the original purpose of my existence. By bending the very rules of the Dungeon as much as I could, I turned Johanne’s world into a Floor. In that Floor, I built a machine to keep me alive. The best I could do with the limited time, tools and energy at my disposal was not enough to grant me health, but it allowed me to survive. Had it not been for the Renegade meddling with you and forcing me to intervene, my Champion, the machine and my life force would have lasted many more millennia. More than enough time for you to reach the level of power required to help me.

“Alas, when the Renegade tried to kill you, I did not just bend the rules to help you. I broke them. The backlash of my intervention almost killed me, but I endured. I had to, for I did not have faith in another suitable Champion arising from the depths of the Dungeon before I expired.”

“Healing. That’s why you gave me the skill.”

“It was a skill you also needed, do you not remember? Without it, your crazy strategy to accumulate power would never have worked. And now you heal yourself just as well as you used to when you had a skill, but you no longer even need one.”

“Was it all part of your plan? Did you create the System?”

The Dungeon Spirit nodded.

“Why?” he asked.

“I created it so that it could help you grow, steer you in the right direction but also… as a safeguard. I never expected you to just… break it. After you did, the rules prevented me from helping.”

“And then, my Sanctum collapsed. You could have lost your Champion then and there. Did you know I’d come back?”

“I did not.”

“I see. You took a big gamble on me, and yet at the same time your lack of faith almost doomed you. The safeguards. Now I understand why the System felt so strange at times. What if I never returned after I lost my magic?”

“It was never supposed to happen,” Infy said, repeating herself. Michael could see guilt on her face, and her words were not said for him but for her.

“Yet it did,” he said. Speaking the words, he felt like a sadistic asshole. He didn’t enjoy seeing the Dungeon Spirit suffer, but the words had escaped his mouth on their own.

“Can you blame me?” she asked. She looked so small and weak. So human.

“No,” Michael said. “After the Renegade’s betrayal, you trusted no one.”

“I trust you now,” she said. She was crying, pearls of diamond falling from her ethereal visage. “Your last challenge, Michael, will be the hardest. I will grant you access to what’s left of Johanne’s world. There, you will find clues and information about a great deal of things. I ask you to ignore them and hurry. Find me, Champion. I don’t have much time.”

“What happens if you die?”

“The Dungeon lives on. But with no Spirit, all it has are its rules. I will not lie to you. If, when you find me, you decide to kill me, you will be able to take a part of my power for yourself. The power to create and destroy, the power to shape. A power unbound by the rules even I am forced to follow. Tier 7, Divine Energy. It is what the Renegade is after.”

She cried again, speaking between hiccups.

“Please, Michael. My Champion. I don’t want to die. I wish to one day be free of my prison, if not free of my rules. I know you must be angry, but please.”

Michael looked at her in the eye. Rage came forward, words rushing out of his mouth unbidden even as tears streaked down his cheeks in a mirror of Infy’s crying. “You used me! You gave me power but it was to fatten me up like a pig!”

“I know!” she cried, “I am truly sorry for what I did to you. I would not hate you if you chose to kill me and take my power for yourself. You deserve it perhaps more than I do. But, selfishly, I ask that you spare me. Even now, I am asking you to make sacrifices for me. Even now, I wish to take things from you, because saving me from my dire fate won’t be without cost. I hate myself for this, but I have been staring at death in the face, slowly losing pieces of myself, for so long… I thought I was ready to finally meet her. I’m not. I’m a coward, Michael. I have no pride nor shame. My life will be in your hands, and I beg you to spare me.”

“Tell me, Dungeon Spirit. This has been your last gamble, hasn’t it? Granting me as much power as you could without outright killing yourself, so that I could use it to save you?”

“It has. Please.”

“I see.” Michael’s face hardened. “I think your perspective is a bit skewed, Infy.” Then his face softened. “You’re taking way too much blame. Everyone would have done the same, and some would have done much worse, in your place. Had it not been for you, I wouldn’t be who I am today. Sure, the System was a bitch, but that’s in the past. You said it yourself, all the training and pain and all the experiences, the challenges and the obstacles I have overcome… they made me stronger. They gave me abilities and powers other people can only dream of, even if they had access to the same resources. The last challenge. Take me there.”

“You say this, but you don’t know about the sacrifice you’ll have to make.”

“Show me, then.”