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Chapter 138 - Underwater Adventures
🕑 Added 2024-09-24 20:00:08 +0000 UTCNate enjoyed the ocean breeze that washed over him, bringing with it the smell of the sea. The gentle rolling gait of alliram sent slight vibrations up through his legs as he approached the Guild’s Dungeon fort alongside the other Guildies. They had caught sight of it less than a minute ago and he was still marvelling at the design. He had wondered what differences might be involved in an underwater variant dungeon and the fort's design made it clear that one of them was that the dungeon itself was likely underwater. The hint that made him suspect that was the case was that only a third of the fort was built onto the rocky headland. Unless Nate missed his guess it had been created by an Earth Mage as the walls were flowing stone that seemed to be a part of the headland itself. The other two thirds was built out over the water and with his enhanced perception and Farsight of the Runic Artist he could tell that the artificial stone sunk into the depths. The ocean gently lapped at the walls of the fort, reaching less than a metre up the sides with each wave, shielded as the cove was from the true power of the sea.
He glanced at the rest of the team to gauge their reactions. Kiri rode behind him beside Coralie, her smile wild, with eyes only for the dungeon fort. Coralie on the other hand looked more stoic. He had noticed that she got quieter and more reserved whenever a fight was approaching. Turning his head back to the front he couldn’t make out Flash’s expression as the man headed up the convoy beside one of their escorts. Just like the last dungeon they had ventured out for, they were not left alone. Two Golds rode to either side of Flash and behind them all with a much larger gap rode Deverell, head on a swivel. Nate smiled slightly, realising the Dagger Dancer was likely channelling an extra dose of paranoia after Nate’s kidnapping. He couldn’t blame the guy, especially since he had grown more paranoid as well.
It was one thing to be kidnapped to the Fourth Hell, but quite another to be nabbed off the street by his fellow humans. The difference was in his ability to do something about it. He’d fallen into the trap of underestimating his fellow humans after escaping from the Hells. That wasn’t going to happen again. He had debated whether to use Conceptual Material on the ride out and ultimately had decided that he would. That didn’t mean he was going to let Coralie, Flash or their minders see what he was doing though. It was slowing him down slightly, but he was managing to keep two runic arrays going while he channelled Conceptual Material. The first was a Mana Obfuscation runic array, meant to disguise the usage of mana around him. The second was an Illusion runic array which was hiding what he and Frick held in their hands.
Before they had left the University the little spirit had managed to complete the work on his new Barrier Bracer. The Legendary material was now clamped around his arm beneath his robe and the feel of the cool metal against his skin made him feel just that little bit safer. He glanced at it using Farsight of the Runic Artist to bring up the item's description.
Runecrafted Bracer of Barriers (Legendary)
Stats: N/A
Features: Mana Storage (Legendary), Variable Barrier (Legendary)
Mana Storage : This item has been runecrafted by a Master Runecrafter to utilise its Legendary affinity for mana to store an incredible amount of mana to power any other effects the item is capable of.
Variable Barrier: This item has been runecrafted with a barrier rune that can be activated by the user, utilising either mana stored within the item or the wearer's own Mana Reserve. The rune itself allows for the user to connect the barrier rune with a variety of secondary runes forming a runic array. These secondary runes are Fire, Earth, Water, Wind, Light, Shadow, Mana, Soul and Space. Each additional secondary rune activated causes an exponentially increasing mana cost.
The bracer was everything he wanted it to be, but he was not stopping his plans for defensive creations there. While he was slowly increasing the tier of the bar of manerium in his hands carved with the runic array for Mana Release, the little goblin was working on Nate’s latest project. Though he knew he needed to work on improving a Sigil to Mythic to advance his plans for his Embodiment, he had temporarily pivoted and used the mana stored by his Conceptual Insight skills ability to help him improve the Sigil tier of one of his newest acquisitions. The bracer in Frick’s hands was carved with his newly minted Master tier Space Sigil along with the Release Sigil creating a runic array that should allow him to oppose any spatial locks. All that was left was to raise the tier of the material to Legendary, adding an affinity for spatial release, and then charge it with mana. It was likely going to take a couple of weeks but it would be worth it for his peace of mind. Between these three items he was comfortable that his defences would be strong enough to at least let him escape from most people. That would then leave him with a choice. Would it be better to work towards advancing his defences to mythic-level, or should he start working on some offensive creations? He hadn’t decided yet, but he was about to have a few days free to do exactly that.
He glanced up as his Alliram mount thundered down onto an earth mage carved road into the fort and watched as they were greeted by the contingent of Guild Gold’s who were guarding the fort. He had learned that the position was an enviable one as the rewards provided by the Guild gave the Adventurer’s who took up such posts increased access to the Guild’s Dungeons. It was basically the fast track path to power, or at least as fast as the Guild could reasonably provide.
Nate had accepted that he and the other Guildies attending the University were exceptions to this. The Guild wasn’t just fast tracking them. It was effectively trying to get them to Platinum as quickly as possible without breaking open the Guild vaults. He’d learned that when Kiri had paid with her own token for this Dungeon. He hadn’t realised it, but the Guild considered their University attendance and performance as a Guild job. As such, they were being rewarded for how they performed. His own rewards were waiting for collection back at the Guild and he intended to choose them upon his return. Kiri had chosen a High Rare Dungeon token for hers, which meant Nate still had nine tokens remaining. He was also going to look into trading some of his rewards or offering to craft some lesser items for the Guild so he could begin trading them for Stat Orbs and getting access to their Skill Orbs. Luc should be back soon and with three bars of Epic tier manerium already sent to the smugglers it was time to start seeing some financial returns.
Nate got a few odd glances from the Gold tier men and women guarding the fort as he continued to craft, obscuring what he was doing, while the leader of the Adventurer’s Guild contingent explained the Dungeon to them. It was standard procedure but Coralie and Flash had challenged this Dungeon once before and had detailed what would be involved. The basics were that the Dungeon was underwater, however there were caves filled with air that could be found on the sandy bottom of the Dungeon. These caves could be used for resting. The denizens of the Dungeon changed from one run to the next but it was important to be careful and post watches when in the caves as some of the monsters could enter the caves. Other than that, you had to fight underwater. For that reason the Guild provided, for a small cost, two sets of equipment for members challenging the Dungeon. The first was alchemical potions that would allow the imbiber to temporarily breathe underwater. The second were some leg anklets that could be tuned to increase their weight. The result was that most challengers would end up walking around on the sandy floor of the Dungeon, breathing water and making the fights more closely resemble the same way they would fight on land, albeit with the added resistance of the water. Their team was only half taking that approach. He watched as Kiri, then Flash, then Coralie all took a set of three potions of water breathing, each storing them in their own spatial storage device, or her Soul Storage in Kiri’s case. However they each declined the enchanted leg anklets. Finally it was Nate’s turn and he smiled at the Gold proffering the potions, giving a shake of his head.
The woman gave him a queer look, “You sure, kid? Drowning’s a bad way to go.”
“I’m sure,” he replied calmly.
The woman glanced at her leader, who then joined her in glancing at Deverell.
“It’s fine,” was all the Dagger Dancer supplied, his ever-stoic expression not changing.
The woman finally shrugged, putting the potions away, “Hope you’re as good as you think you are then kid.”
“He’s better,” replied Kiri, coming to his defence.
He gave her a small smile, understanding she was trying to help him build up his confidence after being taken. He appreciated it, even if he didn’t need it. It wasn’t his confidence that had taken a hit. It was his naivety. Anyone and everyone besides Kiri and Aisling could be out to get him. He was never going to let himself be taken again, and that meant not drinking substances he hadn’t personally verified. Sure, his Farsight of the Runic Artist said the potion was what it claimed to be, but he had never tested it with potions before. For all he knew it only picked up on the dominant presence within the potion. It was something he would test later. What would happen to the identification process if he poisoned a potion. Would it show that it was poisoned? Or still just display the name and effects of the potion? First he needed to purchase a few for testing. More than a few actually, since he was going to take a scientific approach. Just one more reminder that he had infinite possibilities and projects laid out before him and only a finite amount of time to devote to them.
Finally they were allowed to enter the Dungeon and as Nate stepped through he altered the barrier surrounding him, powered by his Runecrafted Bracer of Barriers. Adding the water rune to the barrier he created a bubble around him that would keep out water. He would need to occasionally use a wind runic array to refresh his air but other than that he should be able to use a water runic array to move himself around underwater. The best part was, his bracer didn’t require his attention. It wouldn’t change what it was doing unless it ran out of mana or he altered it. That left him free to create up to three runic arrays with Conceptual Runic Creation without giving himself a headache. Which was perfect for how he planned to handle this Dungeon.
Passing through the Dungeon aperture he sensed the spatial distortion. He couldn’t be certain, but it felt like he got a clearer view of the elements of the spatial tunnel. Either his new Spatial Empowerment Skill was affecting his Farsight of the Runic Artist ability to sense space around him or it was just a function of his increased perception. It was impossible to tell and he added it to the list of experiments. Almost as soon as it had begun, the sense of space vanished and he was spat out into the Dungeon, immediately pressured by water from all sides as a notification appeared before him.
You have entered a Dungeon!
The Assessment Period will begin now. You have five minutes to choose to leave the Dungeon before the entrance will be sealed.
Dungeon Name: Vilemaw’s Reef
Dungeon Tier: Rare (High)
Dungeon Challenges: 4 + 1 Bonus Challenge.
Exit Conditions: Find a Dungeon Exit.
Dungeon Limitations: N/A
Walk your Path. Reach your Goal. Become One with Mana.
There was a faint current and with his sphere of awareness he could sense the other three around him. But it was something else that had captured his vision. He had asked how deep the water would be when they entered the Dungeon. When Kiri had asked why it mattered he had explained that the deeper you ventured beneath the waves the less light there was and he had wondered if he would need to provide light in some way or if the Guild provided such things. The answer had been smiles from the Golds who told him not to worry and that he would see for himself. It had pissed him off a little but Deverell had assured him it wouldn’t be an issue. When he had pressed the Dagger Dancer had asked him an odd question. He remembered the words very clearly.
“Do you want me to tell you? It may alter your expectations, which could change how you view the experience and affect any paintings you create as a result?”
The words had stuck with him and he had backed down. Why would it matter if he went in expecting one thing and the reality was entirely different? He had pondered the question for a while. Nate knew Deverell could be very insightful but the more he thought on the question the more he accepted there was a grain of truth in the man’s words. His perception of the world was filtered not just through his own experiences, but how others viewed or reacted to them. He was reminded of a famous poem from Earth. No man is an island. Seeing the underwater landscape he now knew that Deverell and the Guilders had been right to keep the truth of this underwater world from him. Rather than a lack of light, this underwater world was lit up beyond his wildest expectations. Coral, underwater plants and even fish glowed in the dark waters. The glowing intersected and overlapped with the flows and currents of the water creating constantly shifting and changing shimmering rainbows of colour everywhere he looked. Rather than a dark and hidden world it was one of beauty and light. The best part was that it gave him an idea for a new artwork. Not just about painting the scene before him. The question he had was how could he capture the beauty of the shifting colours before him in a static image? No, he had an idea for his mana imbued paint courtesy of his gift from Kiri. What if he could make the colours of the paint shift by using mana? He was taken with the idea, but not so distracted that he didn’t see the first monster coming for them.
The creature looked like a dinosaur, with four fins that might have been the early evolution of legs and arms, coupled with a snout like a crocodile. A quick identification using his farsight sphere of awareness told him what to expect.
Reef Carnidan
Vicious Aquatic Hunter (R) (40) / Vicious Devourer (U) (10)
The Reef Carnidan was joined by five more of its kin, all of a similar level as they swam towards Nate and his team. The others were fanning out to prepare for the fight. Nate however had made his decision about how he intended to handle this Dungeon before they had even left the University. His focus was on developing his defences, and that meant working on raising the tier of his materials.
With a thought he sent a message to Frick, “You ready?”
“Born ready, Boss man! It’s time to get Fricky!”
Nate smiled as he continued to channel Conceptual Material, watching as Frick floated out into the water beyond his barrier and became corporeal, activating My Will, My Way. Nate had known that Frick had control of what he looked like, even if the little bastard always chose to look like a goblin. But he had seen him often enough make slight alterations, usually for the purpose of jokes. What he hadn’t expected was that his Familiar might make alterations to suit the environment. So when Frick turned into a gigantic merman with the upper half of a huge goblin he had to admit he was a little surprised. That surprise only lasted long enough for the initial clash with the monsters. As the rainbow waters were tainted with dispersing blood, he settled in to monitor the battle while he worked on his crafting. Because he was confident when he was prepared, he was unbeatable. That meant he needed to make sure he was never again caught unprepared. A tall order, but he hoped he had the time to make it a reality. The alternative was not something he wanted to think about. He did his best to ignore the memories that whispered of the smell of burning flesh and the pain that accompanied it. He didn’t succeed.
Comments
James Van Riper
"Would it be better to work towards advancing his defences to mythic-level, or should he start working on some offensive creations?" -- What about Kiri? She needs the same. Also bubbles float. He needs gravity or something to keep his air bubble from being pinned to the dungeon ceiling.
Beggar of Freedom
Divines bless your kind heart!
