Blue Core, page 58
part #1 of Blue Core Series
"Iniri’s got a pet dungeon called Blue," The Hurricane said, lazily twirling her staff with one hand. "And wow, do we ever need it."
"I don’t think it’s a good idea to try and annex Tarnil while it’s under occupation by the mage-kings," Harus said, though his tone was more resigned than doubtful.
"Nah, it’s fine." The Hurricane waved it off. "Blue’s got some cheat something or other where he can steal the mage-king’s dungeon out from under them. They’ll be gone soon, and I bet everyone else will be all ‘wow that’s a lot of power’ but it’s not."
"Then…" Harus drew out the word until The Hurricane looked at him. "Why do we need it?"
"Guess who’s got two thumbs and is immune to depletion?" She hooked said thumbs at herself. "Ta dah! Thanks to Blue. But mostly, check this out." She hopped off the windowsill and floated over to where Harus was sitting, holding out the Primal storm Source that I’d given her. "Try and take this. Just try."
The man’s hand snapped out, so incredibly quick it had to be a Skill, but his fingers passed right through the gem. Then he stared at it, eyes narrowed, and mana flowed as he used another Skill of some sort.
"Gods teeth," he swore. "Where did you get something like that?"
"Yup, Blue makes ‘em. Make great gifts for the kids, don’t you think?"
"That’s not funny, Milly."
"Not a joke, little bro. They make your Class better! With one of these you don’t have to worry about them missing the Lineage Skill, or going off to become storm Affinity." She did a little twirl where she stood on the ornate desk. "Seriously though, it’s not like Blue is actually Iniri’s either. Some girl named Shayma seems to run the place or something. One of those fox-kin, and a redhead at that. Seems like your type maybe, eh? Eh?" She slapped him on the shoulder, rocking him back in his chair, but Harus just grunted. "I dunno how it works exactly but we don’t have to invade Tarnil or anything. Just take some third tiers and myself and we can just sit on the dungeon. It’s got fuck-all that’s effective against that power level."
"You’re leaving something out."
"Oh, you never ask about that sort of thing!" The Hurricane grinned and ran her hands down her hips suggestively. "I have my own reasons and they’re so goooood."
"Gods, why did I even ask." He buried his face in his hands. "Won’t whatsisface, Iniri’s fourth-tier have something to say about you traipsing around there?"
"Oh, he’s dead."
"What."
"Yeah, he and grumpyface Liril and I all went and beat on a mage-king until he fell over and died. Yamal got dead, Liril got more grumpy and went to pout off wherever, and I got Depletion immunity and it was amazing. You wouldn’t believe—"
"Please, Milly. Just don’t."
"—I actually almost died! It was so good that I’m totally ruined now…hey, wanna see?"
"Gods, Milly." With his face buried in his hands, Harus couldn’t see The Hurricane’s wide and toothy grin.
Thankfully the perception cut off there, but...well. That was an unpleasant bit of surprise. Not only had The Hurricane skipped out, she was fomenting a takeover. Strangely, I wasn’t actually angry at that. Upset, yes, pride hurt, yes, but nothing like I ought to have been. Maybe without ANATHEMA boosting me I just couldn’t manage that level of emotion toward a remote threat, or maybe there was some anti-ANATHEMA mechanism that kept me from getting mad at Purified individuals.
Even without the emotion, logically I knew I needed to put even more effort into developing myself so I could deal with her. Better core defense, and something of the same potency as the LAE but a little less light oriented. Maybe projectiles, but I didn’t know how to get enough of a kinetic kick for that to be reasonable. I could use steam, but kinetic Affinity mana would be way better and more potent; portals were a possibility too, but containment would be nearly impossible. Aside from energy and projectile, the only things I could think of were pure spellcasting, which was completely locked out for me, and maybe some sort of particle beam? I didn’t know how the hell I’d do that with magic though.
Hopefully that could all wait until after we dealt with Tor Kot, because that timer was running. Already we were down a week of the supposed month and it’d take several more days before we would be ready to even start. Shayma’s [Seeker] indicated the last cube needed for the Adamant Fortress was still in Duenn and considering that it was one of Tor Kot’s larger cities, there was no way to take it by force. Fortunately, Shayma had one hell of an advantage in stealth, and Cheya had taken her in hand to get her ready.
Ultimately, the only one who could actually enter the city would be Shayma. With the way dungeons could track people, only [Illusionary Presence] would be able to let her move about unnoticed. Not to mention that anyone else would get massive, possibly lethal amounts of depletion just by traversing Red Core territory, and even if Shayma were to be caught I had enough mana to simply teleport her back instantly. I really liked having that emergency recall.
The only worry was that Tor Kot’s dungeon would be able to spot she was immune to Depletion despite [Illusionary Presence]. She hadn’t had the skill when Vok Nal had discovered her, but it wasn’t clear whether or not the dungeon had spotted the immunity in her Status or whether it had felt it through some other means. If she was still spotted, the backup plan was for Cheya to go in and get it while Shayma distracted Tor Kot’s forces, depletion be damned.
Oddly, she hadn’t brought up the subject of my Purifying her afterward.
While Iniri had mentioned my digging another tunnel to Duenn, I’d rejected it. Considering what happened last time, any dungeon-on-dungeon combat was as likely to kill me as not, even with two cores and combat upgrades, especially since Tor Kot was more competent than Vok Nal. That was according to Cheya, who had observed the movements of monsters and the takeover of the cities and found them to be organized and efficient. The fact that the Shadow monster hadn’t called Tor Kot an idiot was another good indication.
That said, even if he was competent it wasn’t likely he knew that some obscure and non-functional chunk of metal was vitally important, and it wasn’t likely to be especially protected, let alone bait for a trap. Even the flame knights hadn’t known why Shayma was looking for the cubes, which was probably why a single curious individual had gone rather than a whole company.
Honestly it wasn’t the most airtight of plans, but we were pretty limited in what we could do. Unless I wanted to do something like build an absolutely enormous version of the LAE and try to level the entire city, which I doubted would turn out well. I’d started stockpiling resources in anticipation of that eventuality, but there was still a long way to go. The way Shayma had described the tower in the center of Meil, even a high-powered laser wouldn’t do much more than make it warm anyway. Especially since my lasers were just light, and didn’t carry any of my mana with them to make use of the [Bane].
I was certain that if such a plan would work, Iniri would sign off on it even with the collateral damage. Everyone inside a mage-king territory was effectively walking dead, though according to Cheya they hadn’t yet had their populations depleted the way Meil had. Tor Kot was rather more careful about husbanding his resources — not to mention he hadn’t lost an entire army to me. At least it wasn’t likely that Tor Kot himself would be there. So far as Cheya could find out, he spent most of his time in Taere, the first city he’d taken. It was also Tarnil’s largest port city, and probably its largest city overall.
It was maybe a little weird calling something with a couple hundred thousand inhabitants a large city, but in low-magic areas there were only the multipliers of [Class] and [Skill] to augment muscle-powered technology. Still, that was a lot of people to leech from, not to mention that was a lot of people who were suffering under the mage-king’s rule.
Vok Nal had only had one city and one core. Tor Kot had many cities and none of us knew whether that meant there were a bunch of cores or one really big one, but my guess was one per city. Partly that was because, again according to Cheya, Tor Kot didn’t move around much, but mostly it was because my ability to cross a hundred-some kilometers to Meil was probably unique. If Vok Nal’s core hadn’t finished taking over Meil in the span of months, I doubted that Tor Kot could have managed the hundreds of kilometers between the cities in the few weeks it took him to capture them in the first place. Even in the years since then it was unlikely the dungeons had spread far, to judge by Meil.
The new equipment that I’d gotten for the gang was almost done, judging by what I could see of the work, and once it was finished they’d be heading off. I had put together a few more normal LAEs in preparation for that, because even if I couldn’t level the city, if Shayma ran into trouble I could at least do something. I wouldn’t even need to hijack any of the nearby landscape. That was my other way to be useful, but probably would be a bad idea since it’d immediately put me in contact with a Red Core and I’d wind up in the ANATHEMA rage again, only this time with Shayma stuck in place.
There was one thing I needed to take care of before Shayma left, though. After my failure to actually hold The Hurricane to account I needed to make sure nothing similar happened again. With Iniri pulling everyone out of my territory, I had to make sure I had a talk with a certain [Herbalist] about a flower before she vanished into the countryside.
Day 124 - Taelah
After spending several weeks inside the dungeon, Taelah thought she was pretty well over being impressed with Blue. She’d even been looking forward to having Shayma’s ear, once word had come down that Blue wanted to talk to her, but she’d just been envisioning a regular chat. It wasn’t like the girl didn’t wander around and talk with people in the normal manner, after all. Being summoned to an audience chamber was a little bit different.
Not that she minded, after the first overwhelming moment of light and color. The audience chamber was amazing, with all kinds of those flowers that only Blue had, not to mention the water and lava flowing everywhere. It wasn’t anything like the farming chambers. This was a naked display of dungeon power, from the barely-supported floor to the liquid rock glowing above and below. She could almost see the mana flowing through the room, from one bloom to another, and after a blink she realized this would be a fantastic place to learn the [Mana Sight] Skill, for those who didn’t have their Class give it to them. Like her.
That said, there was a distinct sort of pressure as she walked through the astoundingly large chamber, while having to refrain from using [Plant Identification] on everything because otherwise she wouldn’t get to the dais until sometime next week. With each step it seemed to be a little more difficult to breathe, but strangely, more difficult to think of going back. Something urged her forward, past the trees and grass and waterfalls and lavafalls, up the steps to the platform that was raised in front of the massive glowing crystal.
In that light Shayma looked rather more ethereal than she did when Taelah spotted her out and about Refuge on occasion. It was a forcible reminder that despite how she acted much of the time, Shayma was still backed by a Power and spoke for a thing that could destroy armies and build cities. For a moment Taelah regretted wanting the attention of such a thing, now that the full truth of it was in front of her.
Then she stomped firmly on her sense of awe. So far she’d done just fine, better than fine really, by keeping the same firm reign she did on any of her own people. After all, Blue had listened to her when she’d told him how to better structure the farms, with no particular signs of disgruntlement. So she didn’t kneel or bow, instead crossing her arms and looking up at Shayma with her eyebrows raised.
"Taelah Marn," Shayma said, in her official capacity, solemn and somber. "Before you leave Blue’s influence, there is a minor debt you need to repay."
"Oh? I thought that the farms were taken care of." Actually she knew they were, after raising the ownership question with one of Iniri’s men.
"This is about a chrysthenium that you damaged and stole."
Taelah stared, racking her brain for what Shayma could possibly mean before turning up the memory of her early exploration of Refuge. The dried flower was long gone, after she’d spent some time dabbling with it using the few alchemy supplies she’d brought. It was well worth it too, since she could feel the Skill ranking up.
"All this over a single flower?"
"All this over a theft," Shayma corrected. "Though it is a minor debt."
It still seemed ridiculous to Taelah, but she was reminded of some of the stories about Powers and gods and other things. Stories like people being enslaved forever because they ate a fruit, or turned into beasts because they used the wrong name. She’d never put much stock in those – stories were just stories, after all – but maybe she should take them a bit more seriously when dealing with Blue.
"Oh. Then what does he want?"
"Your alchemy Skill. Since you’ve already experimented with Blue’s flowers, he wants you to make some items for myself and my companions." She smiled, dropping some of the imposing attitude. "He doesn’t actually know much about what alchemy can do, especially given his ingredients, so between you and me he’s not looking for a specific thing, just whatever you can do that’s useful."
"That’s...reasonable," Taelah said cautiously. It was more than that, even, since it would give her experience with alchemy and the chance to interact with more of Blue’s flora. Surely there were more experienced alchemists that he could get, but she wasn’t going to complain. The problem was that it seemed too good to be true, which always meant it was. Like their fantastic farms being prone to melting and complete darkness. "How much alchemy work?"
"However much you can get done between now and when I leave. A few days yet, at least."
That wasn’t too bad, but it’d mean someone else would have to take up the burden of getting Anton’s Village ready to leave. They wouldn’t have much time after the last harvest according to Queen Iniri, who was doing her best to hurry everyone out now that there was actually safe territory. Of course, Anton Village’s own land was still much further south, far enough away from Meil that it couldn’t be considered safe, so it wasn’t like they’d be able to go back to land they liked.
Then again, maybe they wouldn’t have to go.
"That’s great, I can do that." She agreed. "While I’m here I want to bring up something though." Shayma cocked her head, ears flicking this way and that.
"Ah, you want to know about staying here instead?"
"...yes."
"Blue is amenable to that, but it does not come for free." Shayma’s words came with a weight to them, as if each syllable had a physical presence. "You would no longer be Iniri’s subjects. If you want to stay on Blue’s territory and take advantage of the resources he has, you would become entirely Blue’s. His authority would be absolute."
"Well...it’s good land, but I don’t think anyone’s interested in becoming a slave." Taelah was disappointed. There was plenty to like about the land Blue had made for them, but some prices were just too high.
"Oh, he’s not interested in enslaving you, or even ruling you. It’s just that if you’re going to stay you’ll be under his protection and privy to his secrets. He is the ground beneath your feet and the air you breathe. You will have to acknowledge how profound that authority is."
"I see, I think. Maybe if he explained the details we could come to some agreement—" She stopped as Shayma held out a hand, ears flicking again.
"Blue will not be bound by contracts or intricate agreements. Either you trust him to act reasonably and honorably, or you do not."
"Hmm." That was a little strange. Tarnil had announcements and pledges and guarantees whenever commoners came under the rule of a new noble, though at this point she barely remembered who Anton Village was supposed to tithe to. Some Count or another. Though Blue was clearly not nobility, and the way Shayma talked even the advantages he supplied now didn’t really scratch the surface of what he could do.
"Do I have to answer now?"
"No," Shayma said. "Though you don’t have much time, especially since you need to get to work on that alchemy. You’ll find the supplies in your house when you return."
Taelah frowned, but didn’t say anything. Combined with Blue’s requirement for staying, it was clear he was making a point about his power...or something. It seemed a little late after they’d already been staying there, but it had been under some arrangement set up by the Queen, and it had been a temporary one. It made some sense that a more permanent agreement would require a larger payment.
Of course it didn’t seem like everyone was under Blue’s thumb like that. There was Shayma, and the two girls she ran around with both seemed to have more latitude than Blue was proposing for Anton’s Village. Or at least more consideration.
"So what would it take to be like you?"
"I beg your pardon?" Shayma blinked at her, confused.
"I mean, to get into the inner circle. Instead of being...owned or whatever."
"Oh! You mean to become a Companion." Shayma smiled. "That’s actually more like being owned, really, but... " She trailed off for a moment. "...well, you wouldn’t become like me. I’m a little bit special. There are a lot of benefits, but Blue would have to consider it first. To actually become a Companion requires sex with Blue, and is an irrevocable commitment to become part of his affairs."
"I see." Taelah felt her cheeks heating. That was not the response she had been expecting, even slightly. It was also almost impossible to wrap her head around what exactly that meant, since Blue was a massive dungeon that was mostly landscape with scattered plants.
She was unattached, with no immediate prospects, so it wasn’t an entirely impossible ask. Yet, she wasn’t sure she was willing to take such a step. The marriage arranged for her had been rendered moot when her prospective fiance’s own village had been destroyed by either Vok Nal’s or Tor Kot’s minions. Or maybe marauding bandits, it was difficult to say. She regretted that; he had seemed like a nice lad, the sturdy and dependable sort, to judge from the one time she’d met him.
