We continue to mine the walls of the cavern aiming for weak spots and chipping off what we can. Unfortunately, the rock seems to be harder the further away from the crystal we go. Whether that's due to the crystal itself or being unlucky I'm not so sure. I was tempted to start on a new wall however it probably wouldn’t be best for us to potentially make two entrances to the core. Eventually, enough rock debris is produced for another defender to be summoned. Like last time, a small light darts into the rock when I used my skill. it forms a protective shell around the core and making two arms. I watch the new addition as it works side by side with the first defender. Although only slight, It is stronger than the first.
“Oberon, does the material make a difference when creating a body?”
“Why yes, it does. Different materials will channel mana better than others. Not to mention in our case it seems that the magic holding our bodies together does not increase it by flat amount but rather acts as a multiplier to the materials original specifications.”
“I see”
We continue mining the wall and eventually, enough rock is piled together for the next defender however when I go to summon it. It doesn’t work. I try a couple more times but nothing happens. Oberon seems to catch on that something is amiss “Are you not able to summon?”
“It's like I have no resource to pull on..” Then it dawns on me “Have I run out of mana?” I don't have much to go on but I feel it's too soon to run out. Ive only summoned Three defenders! Most dungeons I've heard of span entire islands and have thousands of monsters in their depths “Is there not a way for me to get more?”
“Mana does regenerate on its own however the process is slow. I think it would be best for you to use this time to learn to meditate. Doing so will allow you to regenerate more mana. To do so you must re-enter your soul realm calm your mind and think of your crystal getting ‘cold’ and mana in the air ‘cooling’”
I try to wrap my head around that explanation as I go into the soul realm. Why am I imagining it as being cold? Why does just thinking that make it work? the process sort of reminds me of the water collectors that were set around the village. They turned the mist into our water supply through some complicated process Kalos called condensation.
I look around my soul realm to see if anything has changed but find no difference from when I was here before. I walk up to the central well and the crystal above it before sitting a little back from it. As I stare down the well all I see is darkness. I catch myself shiver. It reminds me of my fall and the abyss that lay underneath the islands. Focus. Closing my eyes and I try to empty my mind of my thoughts… but it doesn't work. We rarely got to sit down like this in the community and even when we did it was not clear our heads. This may be difficult.
After attempting to meditate for what felt like hours I gave up. Choosing instead to focus on the issue that keeps coming back to mind. The lack of progress. The chances are I will be stuck down here for years if don't do something about the tool situation. But what can I do? We haven't found any plant life, no ores just… Stone. Stone of varying hardness. I was never a craftswoman. I may understand why we use tools but ive never had to make them. What's even worse is our community was foraging based. they never took on a mining job during the entirety of my time with them. We couldn’t, the ores would be too heavy to be worth trading as-is and we didn't have the knowledge to process it. From what I know — which isn’t much — I think the main tools used for non-magic based mining are picks or a hammer and chisel. I want to say the pick is the least complicated of them as it is one tool rather than making two. I just need to find the materials now.
With my mind now settled on what needed to be done, I went back to the task at hand: meditation. I thought about the crystal being cold, colder than even the morning mists. Eventually, I felt it, the crystal actually felt cold. I was tempted to open my eyes and look but I fought the urge. After more time had passed, I heard a sound. Dripping, Water falling from a great height. The sound was soothing and not long after I began to lose track of time.
I open my eyes to see the well in front of me filled. The liquid glistening in the blue hues of the crystal. I quickly switch over to my body in the real world and find myself By a huge pile of rock. I stare at it, shocked at the sheer amount piled up to the side of me.
“Oberon, how long was I gone?”
“Ahh, Elysia! I am unsure of an exact time frame but you have been gone around two days?
Two days! That means although this pile looks like an impressive amount of work done it was actually done over a much larger time frame than I initially thought. I should have expected this. I get up and begin the process of raising more Defenders, using the large pile of rock as the source. My Summon skill is used in rapid succession causing four more defenders to join the dungeon. With them all standing next to each other motionless, I realised they were all slightly different from each other. Some had longer arms or arms made of only two rocks rather than eight floating fragments for example.
“Oberon, why do they all look so different? “
“Unfortunately we have not got the ability to shape the stone properly at this moment in time. So the appearances will vary wildly according to what rocks they pick up to form. Later on, you can craft a body and get them to possess it instead of relying on them to take a form from scratch.”
As what he says sinks in I feel that I have an amazing idea, or at least may be the solution to my problem for now. “Do they have to be in the shape of people or can they take on other forms?”
“They default to this shape but will take any shape to will it to take. They can also use any material however the heavier it is the less agile they will be.”
Why didn’t I think of this sooner… Quickly a start gathering a selection of rocks that are the right shape placing them on the floor in an arrangement that looks roughly like a two-headed pick.
“Erm... Elysia, may I inquire what you are doing?”
I quickly explain the fact that we really need tools in order to make substantial progress while Oberon quietly listens. When I'm done he stays silent for a moment.
“While tools may be necessary to progress quicker I feel you - forgive me for saying it - have your priorities mixed up at this moment. There is no need to progress quickly. The information I have been given tells me you should be biding your time. Making sure to build up your strength so you are fully prepared to face what is outside of this room. In fact, most dungeons do not even reach the surface in the first 10 years. Regardless of what creatures or races are outside, they will be hostile. The only way you can guarantee your safety is to be strong enough that they do not have the option of angering you.”
“I... I can’t wait that long”
“Why?”
“Cause even if it's unlikely I want to see if I can find information about my community...”
“…Elysia… I am not sure how to tell you this but the chances are your community being around anymore are slim or at least no one you knew would still be there”
My heart sinks “What do you mean?!”
“I am unsure of exactly how long the process takes but you have most likely been dead for decades. “
“How long?”
“Twenty years at the minimum with eighty being more likely“
I feel as if my throat tightens and my thoughts are in disarray. “Why didn’t you tell me this before!”
“I. I thought it would not do any good. You started to accept your role as a dungeon core and work towards your safety. I didn’t think it would be best to say anything.”
“I was holding on to the hope I may actually see them!” I hissed
“But I… did not know that.“
For a moment I freeze, realising I never actually told him my motive. I feel stupid. Stupid for holding on to the idea I would see them again. Stupid for assuming my guardian would just know what I was thinking. On the other hand, I barely know him so why would I tell him my motives straight away?
Argh, I feel like I should be angry at Oberon. cant I just can't be. Whether that's because I am now a chunk of stone or some weird effect from being a dungeon. I don't know. The reality is I'm pushing blame onto him, my only source of information when it is I who didn’t make my intentions clear.
I truly can't accept the idea that I may not see them again. Kalos may have been ill but Graekin are the longest-lived race I know of. he was only 60 years old. Some Graekin are said to live to 300! Sandra was young and strong, she has to still be alive. Has to be. I snap out of my thinking when I realise Oberon hasn’t spoken and find him kneel like when we first met in front of me.
“Oberon?”
“ I am sorry if my actions... have caused you pain, Elysia.”
“It's fine Oberon it's not you, it's me. I didn't explain myself and I realise my mind is a bit of a mess right now. I'm sorry. Can we put this behind us?”
“If that's what you wish?”
“Thank you. Although you may think it's best if I slow down I'm still clinging to the idea of seeing or at least hearing news about my former family. It may not be the best action to take but I need to do it.
“I understand, unfortunately, I have no knowledge to help you with your experiments as this is not standard behaviour for a Dungeon. Do you wish for me to leave you to your experiments?”
“No, we should do this together. You have a different perspective than me and may point out something I miss”
“Very well”
I focus back on the stones I’d laid out on the floor and place more to fill in the gaps. I go for a two-headed pick design. First, I create a handle and use the sharpest pointed rocks I could find as the ends. Once done, I step back and begin to focus on calling upon my skill. I think of the tool's shape and imagine it cutting through stone while I draw my mana. The mote of light darts to the space between the handle and 2 heads. The tool begins to float. In a few moments, I already can tell it was a failure. The handle curled to protect the core and the stone making the 2 heads of the pick spread out to form two pointed arms. I mentally tell them to start digging with the others before turning to Oberon.
“Well, that didn’t work.” I say
“Indeed it did not, on the bright side at least the defender is functional. If anything the pointed arms may still be good against certain enemies. a piercing weapon.”
We repeat the process. Oberon gathered more rocks while I placed them into the design of a one-headed pick this time. My reasoning being that maybe the fact is that it doesn't have 2 “arms” might make it is less likely to change the form to be like my other defenders.
I draw upon my mana once again. This time I don't think of the tools use but instead think of the shape I want it to be in. The tool floats as the mote hits the space where the head and handle join. This time it seems to roughly stay in shape.
Thrilled with the success, I quickly grab it and float over to the area that my defenders are digging. I grasp the tool tightly and I bring it down with all my might against the wall. The sound is immense and dust explodes out from where I hit. A part of the wall has chipped away forming much larger chunks of stone than what I can do by hand however not as much as I was hoping for.
“It seems to have worked.” Oberon says from behind me
“Not quite, as well as I was hoping though, we should do more variations to see if we can make something more effective.”
“How about a longer handle and head?”
We get to work and end up making another 4 different variations of the one headed pick. Each one forms correctly and we test them out on the wall one by one.
“It seems to be the variation that has a longer handle and a mid-sized head is the best for what we need.” Says Oberon
“I agree, although it's not very accurate, we aren't looking for precise strikes at this moment in time. The longer handle seems to magnify the force too.”
The picks I have made are distributed amongst the defenders with Oberon taking the better of the best one. I then go back to my soul realm ready to begin more meditation while Oberon and my defender continue to dig into the wall. One thing I noticed, I was able to summon ten ‘defenders’ before my mana ran out this time around. I'll need to ask Oberon if there is a way of increasing that when I get back.
