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BII: Chapter Thirty-two (Adv.)
🕑 Added 2023-04-21 02:03:17 +0000 UTCRoads blurred past beneath them as Eli flew closer to Rockford. Rick led the way while Roman and Eli followed as close as they could. Tension built in the back of Eli’s skull from maintaining a constant flight speed and altitude.
Eli wasn’t used to using any of his powers at the high output necessary for the thirty minutes of flight they’d been in the air for. Astral Starspace compressed around him in a skintight film as gravity tugged and yanked him forward. Stellar Body almost felt like it purred from the astronomical influences of starspace. He had dabbled with Aurora Stardust for a moment, but Roman had yelled at him for the electromagnetic interference.
Roman lagged behind. Sweat dotted his skin while the propulsive force from his suit gradually waned.
Eli’s eyes glazed as Rick led them to place after place of varying levels of importance. The small green house on a hill where he had grown up, the massive brick compound that he said was his elementary school, and every place he had ever lived in throughout Rockford.
In a lot of ways, Rockford was like every other small to medium-sized town back home. Old and new residential districts surrounded the arteries of business and historic downtown areas. Restaurants and gas stations clogged up most of the business real estate along with the other necessities. Grocery stores, government buildings, the library, and apparently the Training Hall.
They floated a block away from its airspace now.
Teenagers and younger children who either already Initialized or were about to flowed in and out of its heavily reinforced doors.
“This is where children learn the necessary drills and procedures to survive spawn attack, inappropriate power use, and how to use their powers to escape and survive, rather than fight.” Rick explained quietly, his voice even in their dome of tranquility. Winds lashed the leaves of trees beneath them though. “I’d love nothing more than to enroll you both in a couple of the beginner classes, but it’d invite too many questions.”
“Are you going to try to pass us off as Romulus and… and Herbert?” Eli asked.
“No. May was clear in how poor your acting skills are.” Rick snorted with derision. “We already filled out the paperwork for you both. We’re pretending that you’re both distant relatives of mine. It’s not clarified, but you’re supposed to be nephews or long lost cousins from an uncivilized zone. You both have dark hair and Eli obviously looks like Herbert, but it’s an easy lie since a lot of people live in uncivilized zones for various reasons”
“And that’ll work?” Roman asked skeptically.
“Hopefully. Invent some tragedy or another about living in a Zone somewhere else with May saving you. Those are the basic details we told the people that matter. They’ll believe it, especially with how fast you both level.” Rick shrugged. “Us vouching for you will help a lot, but don’t push your luck. Regardless, you’d have already taken these basic level classes. But there are several other classes you could take, if you wanted to. You also have access to both dungeons here.
“There’s Concordia which is a generally placid dungeon. Sapient spawn can come and go if they’re cleared. Plenty will spar, duel, or fight more seriously if challenged. It’s full of hubs for material gathering. There’s also lesser spawn that can be hunted without restriction.”
“Sounds easy,” Eli said calmly. He felt like Rick was usually straightforward and that if it was ‘generally placid’ that it was downright peaceful. Probably safer than Rockford.
“It can be. But usually people have to defeat the three G’s to proceed to the next dungeon. That’s defeating one of the Gorgon champions, calming or capturing a Griffin, and destroying a Golem. After that, people will have the right to enter the Devil’s Forge.”
“The Devil’s Forge?” Roman shook his head at the lame, over-the-top name.
“It’s a volcano dungeon full of dangerous environment hazards, various elementals, and a castle full of animated suits of armor and weapons. There’s several forges and workshops buried inside, but getting inside is usually dangerous.”
“Usually dangerous?”
“Most people aren’t escorted by me.” Rick drifted down in front of the doors with his hands in his pockets. “Come on, let’s do this thing!”
“Is he serious right now?” Eli asked Roman, who had a manic wide-eyed sheen in his eyes. He suppressed a sigh as he followed behind both of them. Figures that he would be more than ready to clear a volcano castle dungeon with a medieval dungeon.
“I am serious, Elias.” Rick leveled a steady glance at him. “From what May has told me, you have both gone through a lot in a very short period of time. This is not a game, no matter what some teenagers seem to think. People die all the time because they get cocky just because they can shoot plasma out of their hands.”
Eli paused at that as Vigilant Revelation caught the burr in his words. Didn’t Herbert have a plasma power? Although that could’ve been a dig against him too if Maeve misunderstood what Photon Shot had been. They stepped into a squat corridor full of natural barricades and choke points.
Security guards more like soldiers stood around scanners who turned toward them like a flock of hawks. Vigilant Revelation corrected him with a reminder of a random article that he read about hawks usually being solitary except for rare instances of flocks forming to take advantage of weather conditions.
“Hey, Rick! Are these the two refugees you and Adelaide told us about?” asked a young woman in the guard’s simple gray uniform. She didn’t have any noticeable weaponry or armor on her, but Eli supposed that arsenal powers were relatively common.
“Don’t be rude, dumbass!” hissed one of the other guards who jabbed his elbow into her side. “Sorry about that, Sasha hasn’t learned when to keep her mouth shut.”
Rick said nothing. He only tilted his head in a nearly imperceptible gesture toward Eli.
“It’s fine.” Eli nodded as if it didn’t bother him even though it did. A flash of irritation rankled him at not having a choice about any of this. It felt wrong to not only blindly accept help from people, but to have other people think he did too. But Eli didn’t like the path he’d been living for so long. Distrusting, paranoid, oblivious to others.
“See, Derick, it’s fine.” Sasha poked him back.
Rick cleared his throat, and they both snapped back to attention.
“Sorry about that, Mr. Newton.” Derick was halfway to a salute before he stopped himself with a noticeable effort of will. His eyes flitted back and forth as if he read something in the air. Something in his status? “You and your guests are cleared to go through. If they want, they can audit classes under your credit and have solo rights in both dungeons?”
Eli winced at the realization that Derick wasn’t reading his status, but reading text with a power like Dad’s Technomancy.
“Excellent. Thank you both for all you do.” Rick inclined his head in a slight nod while he smiled.
“No, thank you for all this perfect weather. I heard Bloomridge has been downright inconsistent. Something about a drought?”
“Verdant retired.” Rick frowned. “I tried to take over her region in the interim, but it was declined. Anyways, as always, remember to submit any requests for localized weather if you have any.”
“Of course, thank you, Mr. Newton.” Derick did a half salute.
“Have a good delve you two! Don’t give Rick too much trouble now! ” Sasha grinned as Rick stepped into the corridor.
“Thanks. Come on, boys.”
Eli scrambled to keep up while he and Roman stuck close to Rick’s heels.
Machinery hidden in the floor and walls buzzed in his peripherals. He felt them with Astral Starspace and Aurora Stardust, somehow. Magnetic fields twitched from the intensity of their voltage, but he sensed that none of them were active while they passed.
They rounded the corner. A long hallway spread forward as it zigged through an oddly shaped corner. Doorways with department names flanked the hall.
“Alright. We’re on the ground floor where all the government offices including the local branch for the DRC is. Some of the beginner classes are here including the novice obstacle courses and gymnasium is. The higher floors have the higher level classes, simulation rooms, and all that fun stuff. I encourage you to check them out in your free time.”
“What was that stuff about Verdant? You sounded almost upset.” Eli interrupted once Rick paused. They had reached the end of the hallway, where some elevators waited before the hall extended to where the classrooms were.
Rick stabbed his finger into the down arrow for the elevator. Air stilled around them before he spoke. “I am. Meteromancers are kept on a tight leash, but I’ve held office for the Eastern Midwest for nearly thirty years at this point. I’ve already taken on a few counties to the north and south, but the DRC isn’t convinced I’m ‘ready’ to take on the whole Midwest yet. They won’t even put me on the ballot.”
“That’s frustrating. Can’t you complain about it and make a petition?” Roman asked while they waited for the elevator.
“That’s what Adelaide has been saying.” Rick shrugged. “I’m nervous that people will be concerned that I’m a Dungeon Master for some smaller dungeons on top of Stormshrine, which is required for my office. Herbert was trying to convince me to go on a long-term delve with him over the summer in preparation for the Tri-Delve Cup.”
Eli winced at the mention of Herbert. Responsibility’s yoke slipped over his shoulders once again. He needed to hurry up and get those last two levels for Astral Starspace so he could evolve it. Maybe that’d push his power over enough that—
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to stress you out.” Rick patted his hand on Eli’s shoulder. “As you can probably tell, May’s told us a lot, but she’s made it pretty clear how much pressure she and you put yourselves under to fix this. To be honest, it’s incredible what you both are capable of now after what? Only two to four months of having powers? You’re doing great. Better than great, in fact.”
Elevator doors opened with a ding.
Rick walked through without a second glance, as if he didn’t understand the significance of what he had just said. Roman followed with a slight glance at Eli’s blank face.
Space folded around his watering eyes while he split and fractured as many streams of consciousness as he needed to with Vigilant Revelation until he was certain he could maintain his composure. Eli’s thoughts exploded rapid fire. His parents had never outwardly said they had high expectations for Eli and his sisters to succeed, but it was implied.
How could it not be when both of his parents spent nearly every spare moment they had on improving themselves? Hours working on their careers and hobbies. They always made sure Eli and his sisters needs were met, but they never stopped inching closer to their ambitions. Sure, now he wondered whether that drive was to make up for their mistake of trusting Dave and Sandra, but still.
Eli always wanted them to be proud of him for his swimming, for having high grades, for being a good older brother. They always celebrated his accomplishments along with each other’s, and Lana and Lyra’s, but it had become a void of approval he always tried to fill. Each milestone had to be bigger than the last or the celebrations felt fake. Hollow. He and Lana constantly competing to see who was the best.
Mom and Dad didn’t seem to truly realize how hard he was pushing himself until he stopped when Tom started his campaign to bully Eli and Roman.
But instead, they only noticed that he had pulled back. He knew he should’ve reached out to them and confided what was going on, but he hadn’t. They accepted his lies of feeling burnt out and anxious for college. They just told him to continue trying his best and that they supported him no matter what.
That was that until the Initialization changed everything.
But this version of Rick, Herbert’s version of Rick, instantly noticed the mountain of pressure and expectation Eli submitted himself to and did his best to take him out from underneath it.
“Thank you,” Eli whispered silently into the void of Astral Starspace. He straightened his spine as relief soothed his turbulent thoughts. It was okay. There was no reason to constantly grind for the sake of it. He was making progress. He could allow himself to share his burden, at least a little.
He tuned back into the conversation. Classical music buzzed quietly in the background as the elevator descended deep into the earth. Strict enchantments in the elevator shaft prevented him from sensing anything around him except for the elevator and the hallway above.
“Nah, elementals are the main problem here. There are some scaled demons too, but they aren’t as big of an issue. Most of them are in the actual castle or hiding in caves. But there are all kinds of elementals with incredibly specific builds. Ash, fire, lava, obsidian, and so on. Each one will have an incredibly narrow powerset, but they are strong.” Rick explained while Roman listened and nodded along. “They also all have cores that need to be destroyed in order to kill them. It’s usually fairly easy going at the entrance, but the older elementals are true powerhouses.”
“Which kind is the worst you’ve had to fight down here?” Eli asked.
“Probably the boss. It or the System calls it the ‘Volcanic Mantle’ and it’s basically a demon that’s turned itself into a volcanic elemental,” Rick said as the elevator dinged, plunging them into a cold hallway with nothing but a barricaded door on the other end. Enchantments for frost, winter, and containment suffused every bit of concrete in the short corridor leading up to the door rimmed in scorching crimson light.
Eli wrinkled his nose at the growing stench of sulfur. Shadows hummed as they approached. Rick placed his hand on the door.
“Create local instance for a party of three. No protections except for eject if severe damage occurs,” Rick commanded. With every word, the crimson light deepened as the scorching light turned sweltering. Rick’s hand slipped through the threshold once he finished before he turned to look at them. “If you give up, shout for the dungeon to eject you and it will. The dungeon will prevent you from entering for 24 hours, but better safe than critically wounded or traumatized.”
Rick vanished.
Eli held Roman back before he stepped through. He created a blank calculator from his vault that he tried to enchant with Aurora Stardust, but Astral Starspace trembled from the higher evolved power. He enchanted it instead with a copy of the latest version of Lumencloud Transfiguration he had. “Take this.”
Roman took it with a clear interest that turned to disbelief. Power twitched across his skin as the calculator sank into his body. Newfound vigor must have swelled as Roman swayed for a moment before he spoke. “Thank you. This feels incredible. This is so much better than the brute forced self-repair enchantments I had for healing.”
Eli stepped through with a nod.
Scalding air enveloped him as he walked through. Ash and smoke assaulted his throat and lungs with his every inhale. Rough stone scraped beneath his shoes as he walked next to Rick. It was uncomfortable in the sense that it felt wrong, but none of it hurt him through Stellar Body.
In fact, he practically almost felt better than ever in the primal nature of their new environment.
Rivers of lava bubbled as they streamed down the sides of the volcano they stood at the bottom of. Figures and shapes of stone, ash, smoke, fire, and magma splashed through the river of lava as if it were a luxury pool. At the top, beneath an overhang was a glossy black castle perched like something straight out of a fantasy movie.
“Fucking hell, this heat is killer.” Roman panted once he joined them. “You definitely didn’t exaggerate.”
“It’s going to get worse,” Rick snorted. “Don’t worry if you get ejected or have to retreat. I just want to see what you two can do and this should be a good delve for some earth powers if we can find the right elemental. It’ll help you a lot, Roman, once we get clearance for you to do the mine and machine dungeons.”
“How can you talk so much?” Roman coughed. His voice changed to a digital rendition as he gave in and transformed into his exosuit. “Ah, that’s much better.”
“How are you doing, Eli? You’re not the strong and silent type or anything, are you?” Rick raised an eyebrow at him.
“Hm? Oh, I’m fine. It’s a bit uncomfortable, but it’ll take more than this to put me out.” Eli turned in a slow circle while he scanned their surroundings with Astral Starspace.
Elementals were everywhere. They hibernated underground or floated on the wisps of smoke. Hellish caves eroded from magma littered the area underground where short scaled demons lurked.
But that wasn’t what occupied his attention.
He hadn’t noticed it in Delver’s Dive or in the Crucible, but this felt like the first truly untampered dungeon he’d stepped foot inside of. Dimensional and planar space whispered around them. Around him.
This dungeon was far more limited in size than it appeared. Outside of its boundaries wasn’t the darkness of the void or nonexistence. It was more like a veil of planar space curtained everything off while dimensional space anchored them in.
What disturbed him more, though, was how the dimensional space almost seemed aware as it folded around them and the other denizens of the dungeon.
Vigilant Revelation blared a gentle warning as it interrupted his concentration. It felt more like a vague poke rather than an urgent klaxon, notifying him of instant peril.
An elemental of basalt woke beneath them as it unfurled itself in a cascade of stone spikes that closed around them. Slabs of basalt clapped shut around them. Roman stumbled as it entombed and slammed him into the ground.
Eli didn’t even budge as his density automatically increased until it shattered around him. Astral Starspace pinged around him as Vigilant Revelation identified the large amounts of magnesium and iron not only all around them, but in the body of the basalt elemental.
He considered using Aurora Stardust to smite it, but he restrained himself. It was time to test out the capabilities of Stellar Body first. Starlight lanced through space in a flash as it melted through the core he sensed below with Astral Starspace.
<Congratulations, Elias Newton! You have slain a BASALT ELEMENTAL with the power:
Basalt Control Ev. 0/Lv. 4 (Uncommon)
Enhanced Physiology Ev. 0/Lv. 1 (Poor)
Your powers surpass the evolution rank of the available powers>
<Processing...>
<Congratulations, Elias Newton! For killing another sentient species additional experience has been awarded to Astral Starspace>
Rick just smiled.
“What the fuck was that?” Roman shoved himself out of the pile of inert rock.
“Basalt Elemental. It was only evo-0 and gave me experience?” Eli turned to Rick with a head tilt. He had seen it mentioned and knew that there wasn’t much of an experience penalty when killing spawn with weaker powers. There was only a penalty for taking experience from people of the same species when they had less evolved powers.
“Only evo-0?” Roman shook his head as a small array of dents smoothed out of his external plating. He lifted a hand as an electromagnetic blaster peeked out of his suit so he could fire a ray at some of the stone beneath them. It bubbled slowly before it cooled.
“Good job, Eli. Elementals are tough. They have extraordinary control over themselves and can hit hard. If you’re a good match up, then nice, but look at what a baby could do to Roman.”
More were closing in around them while they spoke. Eli flexed with Stellar Body so he could fly before he noticed some of the residual basalt dust on his skin disappear as Stellar Body absorbed it.
Or parts of it.
Rich iron assimilated in his core as it settled into the center of his sun. The ambient heat bothered Eli a little less.
He teleported into the thick of the approaching horde.
Lava squelched around him as it melted through his shoes and lit his pants on fire. It wasn’t a liquid like he expected, but warm and viscous. Eli kicked his foot out to crush the core of another basalt elemental.
A billowing cloud of ash tried to flood into his mouth, but a twist of gravity sheared through the grains of its core hidden in each speck of waste. More iron trickled into his Stellar Body as it fueled his sun.
Fire ignited around him in a tsunami as a flame elemental bore down on him. He didn’t even need to use Astral Starspace to devour space around him to create a vacuum that snuffed it out. He pivoted to plunge his fingers into the center of a towering obsidian elemental. Volcanic glass turned to powder with a crunch.
Soon he swam deeper into the river of lava. Each stroke of his arms propelled him as if he were in a warm pool of water instead. All his previous enemies were little more than notifications waiting to clutter his view.
Through Astral Starspace, he watched Roman wrestle and tear apart basalt and obsidian elementals. Hose down and suction the fire and smoke elementals into various systems of his suit, where he squeezed them to death.
Rick stood in the center of a shower of rain droplets that scythed straight through stone down like a bullet through paper. None of the other elementals even got close before he slew them.
A behemoth of stone below ascended with a roar of displaced magma. It was in a rough humanoid shape. Clefts of basalt, peridot, and obsidian composed its body. Fingers tipped with obsidian pinched around Eli.
It lifted him with audible strain as heaps of stone popped with a crack. Blades and boulders of igneous rock pounded into him with the effectiveness of a slap.
Eli pushed with Celestial Embodiment.
Starlight strobed from him, turning the elemental’s hand into a dripping molten mess. Gravity pulsed with an avalanche of broken stone as Eli rammed his head into the elemental’s hand. It stumbled back with its halved arm, all the remains a hailstorm of gravel that blasted back toward Eli.
Its efforts weren’t enough. Gravity and magnetic fields pushed back, a rigid wall of stellar superiority.
Eli created and fired multiple stars that obliterated the elemental’s limbs in a series of explosions. A large couch-sized core slipped out of the torso shaped hill of stone which rocketed toward him. He pulled on Stellar Body until it enhanced him to his peak, as he locked himself in place with gravity and space.
Stone parted around him in a spray of rubble.
He reversed gravity with an irresistible pull that yanked the core up to his level. Basalt, peridot, and obsidian all tried to tear themselves out of the magma and earth below in the elemental’s attempt to hurt him.
None came close enough to scratch him.
Eli twisted fields of gravity around, snapping the core in half. He glanced at the notification with a wry smile before he recreated his ruined clothes with Aurora Stardust. Rippling fabric appeared draped over him with a flash of green and blue. It felt stronger than anything he had ever created out of lumencloud.
He teleported back to land with a smile as he sidled up next to Rick. “This was fun, thank you.”
“Of course. You handled yourself pretty well.” Rick waved at the scarred desolation full of craters. “I saw you with that evo-1 Igneous Elemental. Those usually trip rookies up.”
Roman ducked a flurry of stone shards before he swiveled to shoot the elemental that attacked him. A piercing beam twice as powerful as what he had used earlier cracked through its stone body. A crater crumpled in on itself as it dropped inanimate.
“Nice one, Roman!” Eli called out as he walked over to them. “That looked a lot stronger in the end.”
“Yeah, Gearshift Constitution leveled up twice. So did Legion of One.” Roman stopped with a hint of a limp before a familiar flicker of lumencloud roiled around him, leaving him rejuvenated.
“You two ready to move on to the castle, or should we clear out some demons?” Rick asked, as a volley of raindrops hammered into a few stragglers.
“Castle. I can’t wait to see that forge.” Roman grinned.
“Agreed. I have a few other things I want to try out,” Eli said while he checked his notifications with a nudge at the Ghost that Maeve had given him. Feral Steel hummed in preparation for him to activate it.
“Great, now that we’re done with the warm up, let’s turn up the heat.” Rick chuckled at Eli and Roman’s combined groans. They flew out of the valley toward an ominously placed road that curled up the volcano.
<Congratulations, Elias Newton! You have slain:
Basalt Elemental (x 32)
Obsidian Elemental (x 14)
Ash Elemental (x 7)
Flame Elemental (x 29)
Igneous Elemental (x 1)
With the powers:
Basalt Control Ev. 0 (Uncommon) (x 32)
Obsidian Control Ev. 0 (Uncommon) (x 14)
Ash Control Ev. 0 (Uncommon) (x 7)
Flamebody Control Ev. 0 (Rare) (x 7)
Enhanced Physiology Ev. 0 (Poor) (x 81)
Elemental Body Ev. 1 (Common) (x 1)
Igneous Authority Ev. 1 (Rare) (x 1)
Your powers surpass the evolution rank of the available powers>
<Condensing list to eligible options…>
<Processing...>
You may select from one of the following options for:
Elemental Body Ev. 1 (Common)
Igneous Assimilation Ev. 1 (Epic)
Siphon Power Experience
Gain a Power Perk
Obtain Power from the Conquered >
Comments
TFTC
Corbin
Yeah he's going to focus on it next chapter along with the Ghost Maeve gave him.
Arcane
I really like his Aurora skill aesthetically, but I’m still kind of unclear on what it does. I hope Eli’s got the time to explore it soon.
BerciTheBeast
tftc
Kemizle
tftc
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