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Chapter 193: Third Layer
🕑 Added 2024-04-19 23:28:59 +0000 UTC[Congratulations. Your skill "Earth Manipulation I" has been upgraded to "Earth Manipulation II"]
Earth Manipulation II
Description: Building on the foundational mastery obtained in Earth Manipulation I, this enhanced ability allows wielders to exert greater control and versatility over the earth. With Earth Manipulation II, practitioners access first-advancement level earth skills, signifying a significant leap in both capability and manipulation precision. This stage unlocks the potential to devise more intricate and forceful earth-based techniques, bounded only by the practitioner's creativity, expanded mana reserves, and deepened understanding of earth manipulation.
Proficiency: 0%
[Congratulations! You've upgraded the four basic elemental manipulation skills.]
[One skill requirement achieved.]
[To unlock the secondary element manipulation skills, gain insight into the interconnectedness of the four basic elements.]
Reading the last notification, Thorian smiled. So, just as I thought, I can manually conjure the secondary elements by understanding the inner workings of their base elements.
While the notification did not give Thorian any tangible benefits, it still greatly helped him. It provided ultimate reassurance that the path he had chosen was indeed the correct one.
With these thoughts in mind, Thorian headed further into the village. While he did want to focus on meditation and solving the secondary elements puzzle, he still had other matters to attend to. Upon reaching the territory altar, he found stacks upon stacks of neatly cut rocks filling the area.
It looks like they've picked up the pace. The new carts Hewer and the rest made must have helped a lot.
Deciding it was finally time to properly upgrade the village, Thorian sacrificed all the rocks and stones to the altar.
Display Territory Resources.
Resources:
Gathered Experience: 189.9k
Wood: 67.3k
Stone: 14.3k
Looking at the massive amount of stone units that they had gathered, Thorian decided to upgrade the most important structure first.
Upgrade Wall.
With a single mental instruction, the earth rumbled. The wooden wall that covered the village crumbled and gave rise to a stronger one made of hard bricks. The watchtowers were still mostly made of wood, but they were grander and more fortified. The gates now had ramparts and bridges that further increased security.
Looking at the scrambling guards who were confused by the new change, Thorian chuckled. "You would think that they would have gotten used to it by now."
After the guards returned to their positions, Thorian headed to the Alchemist’s Lab, where Hamur was working. Stepping foot inside, all eyes shifted to him.
"My lord, it is a pleasure to see you here," Hamur greeted him with a smile. "Is there anything we can do for you?"
"I am going to upgrade this lab to the second stage," Thorian announced. "I want everyone to go outside to avoid any accidents."
"I understand," Hamur nodded before looking at his comrades. "Come on, everyone, you’ve heard the lord. Leave your stuff on the tables and go outside."
With everyone outside, Thorian intoned his internal instruction: Upgrade Alchemist’s Lab.
The building shimmered with a blue light before it expanded. Instead of wood, it was now made of stone and included a storage room to the side.
Entering inside, Thorian found that the interior had changed drastically. The variety of flasks and tools had increased, allowing them to measure the temperature of liquids and distill their potions. The furnace had also changed, becoming connected to a contraption that allowed for easy control of the flames' intensity.
Entering the storage room, he found it cool, if not slightly chilly. The air was pure and regulated by some magic that governed the entire room, keeping it sterile. The storage room was also filled with a variety of materials, from rare herbs to liquid extracts.
"My lord, I cannot believe my eyes," Hamur looked around in shock. "With these new tools, the quality of our pills and potions will increase drastically. I had to work hard to learn how to control temperature and properly distill liquids, but now it will be easy."
"As long as the village continues upgrading, the labs will do so too," Thorian explained. "You will keep getting access to continuously better tools that will expand the scope of what is feasible. However, never think of your learning as a waste. It is only by walking the hard path that you can appreciate the easy one."
"I understand that fully, my lord," Hamur responded, clearly excited about the possibilities.
Smiling at Hamur's enthusiasm, Thorian bid him farewell before making his way to the second lab. Just as he had done with the first, Thorian invited all the alchemists outside before upgrading it. He then proceeded to the blacksmith's forge, where Faber was working, and upgraded that as well.
The newly advanced forge boasted better tools for creating ingots from ore and determining material purity, as well as measuring the mana concentration. Moreover, the forge now featured a stronger blue flame that emitted more heat and had magical properties imbued within it.
After upgrading the last blacksmith forge, there was no further territory management work to be done. They could only aim to bring in more new citizens and gather more stones.
But that can wait for later. Now, it’s better to focus on our own individual strength.
With that thought, Thorian ordered Alacritas to summon their strongest members. Even Ifrit and Ventus were called from Cliffwood. After waiting for an hour for everyone to gather, Thorian announced the purpose of their meeting. "Today, we shall tackle the last layer of the Thunderous Citadel."
"Finally," Forlune said, cracking his knuckles. "I’ve been waiting for this."
"I wonder just what kind of lightning skills we'll get from it," Ventus grinned. "King, I’ll have first dibs this time, okay?"
"We’ll see about that," Thorian chuckled. "In any case, with today’s expedition, we will have conquered all of the low-tier dungeons that surround our village. This is a great milestone, and I must congratulate you all for having come this far."
"It’s just the low-tier dungeons, my lord," Zogarth chuckled. "We still have Eärendil to challenge."
"That one will take a bit longer," Thorian agreed with a smile.
With those words, the group made their way to the Thunderous Citadel atop their direwolves. Nox, sitting atop Magnus, rode closer to Thorian.
"I’m pretty excited for this expedition," Nox admitted. "The items that we get from this dungeon suit me much better than those from the Verdant Labyrinth. They’re more focused on speed."
"The rewards from this run will definitely not disappoint you," Thorian assured him with a confident smile.
Hearing that, Nox raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so sure? Isn’t it random?"
"I’m certain," Thorian responded. With the title he had received from clearing the fifth floor of the Verdant Labyrinth, the chance of receiving good rewards from the treasure chest was high.
"What about me?" Harald interjected telepathically. "These dungeons are good for my experience growth, but beyond that mana manipulation skill crystal, they don’t seem to drop any item that I could use."
"Companion items are indeed rare," Thorian responded. "But there are dungeons that have a higher chance of dropping them. Soon enough, we’ll gain access to those."
With those words, the group entered the dark cave where the dungeon was located. Stepping into the entrance, they were immediately teleported atop the flying metallic city.
“I wonder what the guardian of this layer will be,” Ifrit grinned as she stretched her body. “The first one was a prince, the second was a king; will it be an emperor this time?”
“You got it just right,” Thorian chuckled. “The dungeon difficulty system isn’t really the most creative.”
“Let’s get going,” Forlune said, walking to the front. “I don’t want to spend much time on the weaklings. I want to fight this emperor as soon as possible.”
Shrugging at Forlune’s impatience, Thorian and the rest of the group followed. As they stepped foot into the entrance hall, a blue light shimmered throughout the castle, illuminating it. Then, a mighty growl drew their attention upwards.
From the second floor, a massive two-headed blue dog leaped down. Its frame was as big as Harald, and it growled with savage ferocity.
“Leave this one to me,” Harald announced with a gravelly voice. “It is only right that the king of the direwolves tame this puppy.”
“Have your fun,” Thorian chuckled as he stepped down from Harald’s back. The moment he did, the storm direwolf rushed into action. With blitzing speed, he intercepted the incoming two-headed dog. Streaks of purple and blue lightning clashed all around them as they each struggled for control.
Their clashes were quick and powerful, emitting thunderous shockwaves throughout the hall. The two-headed dog was a blur of purple lightning, while Harald had the power of a storm behind him. Intending to finish the fight, Harald roared mightily, summoning a tempest that engulfed the entirety of the hall in its destruction.
He then entered his bestial state, and his form became mightier and more explosive. With a single step, he appeared beside the two-headed dog, still fending off the conjured storm. With lightning-infused strikes, Harald battered it until it turned into colorful dust.
“What a fast-paced fight,” Thorian commented as he approached his companion. Shifting his gaze to the colorful dust, he shrugged, “A dog daring to take on a wolf in a challenge. What a joke.”
Harald chuckled at Thorian’s remark and looked up with a smile on his face. While he didn’t want to show it, Thorian knew that the direwolf king was full of pride at that moment.
Without wasting many words, the group continued on their way through the thunderous citadel. As they were about to leave the hall and enter the garden, Thorian looked back at the painting of the old man stationed right in front of the door.
That doesn’t look like the lightning emperor I remember. I wonder who that is?
Pushing off those thoughts, Thorian and the rest of the party jumped up the floating platforms. While they were more numerous, faster, and more unstable than those of the previous layers, they didn’t pose a challenge to their already extremely powerful group.
They then quickly dispatched the advanced lightning sentinels and the blue birds before taking the portal into the giant lightning golem’s chamber. After destroying its core and entering the shifting maze, Thorian split from the rest of the party and headed to Tza’har’s portal.
Approaching the undead magus sitting at his desk, Thorian announced his presence, “Good evening, Tza’har. Long time no see.”
Surprised by these words, the undead magus looked back at Thorian before his expression shifted to one of understanding, “You must have met me in the lower layers, isn’t that right?”
“Indeed, I have,” Thorian nodded. “Twice.”
“Twice?” Tza’har’s expression shifted. Even though he was a skeleton, Thorian could see a mix of curiosity and delight on his face. “Since this is the last layer, then there must be three in total. How interesting.”
He then shook his head before looking back at Thorian, “In either case, you’re not here for that. You’re here to complete your trial, correct?”
Thorian nodded at Tza’har's words before gesturing at the hidden door with his head, “Shall we go down then? I would rather finish my work as soon as possible to go back and help my team with the emperor.”
“How intriguing. So that is where my other versions laid their trials,” Tza’har followed Thorian’s gaze with a wide smile. He then shook his head and said, “I’m sorry, but this last exam is nothing crude like that. You will not be facing those enslaved monsters in the coliseum.”
“Then where will you hold the trial?” Thorian furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
Tza’har paused for a second before responding, “That would be… in my own little dimension.”
Comments
Jacob Goodrich
Ohh shit we got a twist from what he thought he knew and the picture he saw earlier was actually the skeleton...
