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Chapter 286 - Recommended Upgrade
🕑 Added 2022-03-09 00:00:03 +0000 UTCEnjoy!
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Excerpt from the fifteenth draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Most of the local affinity classification systems that I have been able to locate are for specialized mages; for example, there is an entire set of known “Healing Magic” Affinities, with known uses for each and which ones lose detail as they are combined together.
Affinity Classification: Other Systems: Healers
There are four known major categories of healer:
Constructive healing
This is almost exclusively the sort of healing that is taught in the Tutorial. It draws on Healing or Life magic (and related Affinities, such as Flesh, Blood, and Bone) to close wounds, restore lost blood, and even mend broken bones.
Destructive healing
Destructive healing is almost always performed in conjunction with a constructive healer, as it often leaves damage behind that must be healed by another. It draws on Death or Destruction magic (and related Affinities, such as Fire, Space, or Void) to remove things that shouldn’t be there. Destructive healing requires significant practice to be even vaguely useful, so it is not taught in the Tutorial; a month of practice would leave the student likely to injure more than help. Destructive healing is particularly good against bacterial illnesses and cancerous growths; other illnesses require higher skill. A good destruction healer is generally considered to be dangerous but is not looked down upon - unless it’s believed that they are also a necromancer.
…
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Serenity let go of the amethyst dungeon core. He needed to greet Echo and Doyle and leave; they’d achieved what they came for, after all.
His head still ached a little. It seemed to be limited to two spots, which reminded him of another similar time in another dungeon. He put his hand on one of the spots and found that his guess was all too accurate; there was a hard bump under his hand, poking out from under his skin. The horn felt tiny and sharp. If he was careful, it would be hidden by his hair, but it was a reminder that for all that he thought of this shape as human, it wasn’t, anymore.
Unexpectedly, he could still see the dungeon’s menu and the entire dungeon, the way he had when he touched the core. It wasn’t in front of his eyes, but it was still there. It reminded him of watching the display of the portal in the cave; a second vision source. He could even see himself move. That was like the Safe Rest dungeon; while he was in it, he’d been able to see through it from anywhere in the dungeon; he hadn’t been able to shut it out.
Serenity turned his attention to his own vision, only to see a message from Aide.
Recommended upgrade: Signal booster for low-signal areas. Select option ‘Cell Signal Booster Tower’ in Structures menu for details.
Serenity tried to hold his questions while he investigated the menu to find what Aide was looking at, but he couldn’t help wondering if this was a way to contact the outside world or even have it contact them. A cell signal in and around the settlement would be useful, but not nearly as useful as being able to get a signal outside.
It took a while for him to find the tower; there were a lot of sub-menus in the Structures menu, and the first several options he tried didn’t have it. He eventually found it buried deep in a “New Uncategorized” section.
[Cell Signal Booster Tower
Town Tower:
Cost: 5000
Requires Town status or Significant Transient Population
Only suitable for above-ground towns
Requirements not met]
[Dungeon Tower:
Cost: 2500
Requires 4 Floors or 50 Adventurers/day
Only suitable for above-ground dungeons
Requirements not met]
[Limited Tower:
Cost: 50
Additional Mana and Essence to build tower must be provided at the time of build
Requires Mana to remain active
Requires Mana for each use
Mana Batteries are not included
Tower will last approximately 1 year
Requirements are met; sufficient Mana and Essence present]
The choice was obvious; Serenity Settlement didn’t have 5000 points available, and wouldn’t have that many any time soon. It had 62, and from what he’d seen in the menus, they accumulated at about one per person per day, maybe a bit less. Echo had used twenty points on pillows; fifty seemed acceptable for a semi-permanent installation. Serenity was confident there would be some significant downsides; the mana requirement was probably huge.
For outside communication, it was worth it.
Serenity selected the Limited Cell Signal Booster Tower and knew he had to pick a spot for it. It had to be in the dungeon, so near the dungeon core seemed reasonable.
He felt both mana and essence pulled out of him by the dungeon. He swayed on his feet as the draw continued. He could see it racing towards the area slightly to his left and turned to look. The mana seemed to shiver and twine around the essence as it solidified from the ground up, going from invisible to multicolored sparks to solid material. As the tower formed, he felt his mana and essence dropping quickly.
He watched the tower form, technology constructing itself from Essence. This wasn’t magic and it wasn’t technology; it was both.
So was the technology Tek made for him; it was based on the true nature of matter, Essence interacting with reality. Any time he interacted with technology using magic, that was actually what it touched; that was why the metal-doped crystal in his bones could work the same as a much larger piece of technology.
To use magic with technology, he needed to touch the part of technology that was magic. Tek did that intuitively; Serenity would have to use skill.
[Magitech Affinity created. Technology Affinity consumed]
[Magitech Concept created. Technology Concept consumed]
“Serenity?” Echo spoke quietly from a few feet away. She seemed tired. He knew she and Doyle had been standing there for a while; had she said something earlier?
Serenity turned towards them instead of the tower. “It’s supposed to be a cell signal boosting tower. This one costs mana to use, since we couldn’t afford a better one.”
“Nifty. And it’s building itself just like the treehouses!” Echo bounded towards the forming tower. Serenity and Doyle followed at a more sedate pace.
“You look uncomfortable.” Doyle’s voice rumbled softly from behind Serenity.
“Mm. It’s using my mana to build the tower. It seemed to think I have enough. Not sure if it’s right or not.” It didn’t really hurt; in many ways, it was similar to being outside a dungeon. It ached. Still, it was probably best to warn Doyle.
“Sounds like a lot of mana. Tell me if you’re going to pass out or something.”
Serenity glanced back at Doyle. Did Doyle really think he wouldn’t say anything? “It is, but it still cost fifty points.”
They watched it build for a few minutes, then Serenity sat down and tried to concentrate on pulling in essence and mana from his surroundings. It worked, but was far slower than the drain. Both were low by the time the tower was done.
[Tower construction complete]
[Supply Mana to activate tower for the day?]
Serenity looked at his remaining mana. There wasn’t much left.
No.
He wanted to stay conscious. He’d activate it after he’d had enough time to recover. Or maybe he should have Echo try? Doyle was a physical combatant; he was unlikely to have as much mana as Echo.
Someone other than him was going to need to be able to charge it for it to be useful after he was gone. “Echo? It requires mana to be active. I don’t think I have enough left to activate it. Can you give it a try?”
Echo was already climbing up the tower. Serenity concentrated on regaining mana and essence. He was just starting to feel better when he felt his mana start to drain again, even though his essence kept slowly rising.
Status Update: Connection available. Resuming normal communication.
He didn’t have the mana to support that for long. Not at the rate it was dropping.
Status Update: Critical mana level acknowledged. Shutting down communication. Establishing reserve mana level at half of maximum capacity. Reconfiguring system for mana conservation in normal use.
That was good; if anything, that was higher than what he could maintain outside the Settlement, anyway.
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Serenity dozed in the sun while Echo and Doyle explored the Gardens. Now that they could see it properly, they wanted to find out what they had to work with. Serenity didn’t need to explore the dungeon; he could see all of it.
A part of Serenity stayed active, watching from the dungeon core. There was no need to watch, but the part of him that was the core was unable to fully sleep. He let their plans of what to bring into the dungeon wash over him without paying attention; the news that all they had to do was provide “samples” to unlock new plants and animals was exactly what they’d hoped for.
By the time they were done, Serenity had recovered enough to enjoy the sunlight during the walk out.
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Serenity stopped when they left the dungeon and stared at the empty room. “What are the other two doors?”
“Don’t know. It wouldn’t tell me. Check it out?” Echo bounced over to the one to the left, across from the original entrance.
Serenity followed. He was tired and ached, but that was no reason to stop when they were already here. He put his hand on the door; the rejection was obvious.
[First expansion area locked until Settlement has 100 permanent residents]
Serenity shook his head. “The Settlement’s too small; it says it’s for after we have a hundred people. Any idea about the other one?”
Echo looked puzzled as Serenity walked over to the last door. “Other one?”
Serenity pointed at the door in front of him, but Echo shook her head. “Is there a hidden door there?”
It didn’t look hidden at all to Serenity; it looked like a smaller version of the other doors. “Apparently.”
Serenity touched the door. This time, it wasn’t a rejection, but Serenity wasn’t certain what to think of it.
[Lord’s Door Found]
[Relocate]
[Set Access]
[Create Lord’s Study]
[Create Saferoom]
[Create Lord’s Portal]
[Use Void Spark]
[Additional options locked]
Definitely not just a wall.
Was he limited to one option or could he try all of them? It seemed to imply that he could choose more than one, but he didn’t want to get locked out of something for the future. If only there were someone he could ask, but there just wasn’t anyone.
Even though he could now potentially call someone, there wasn’t anyone on Earth who would know the options the Voice would set up for a settlement’s Lord’s Door - whatever that was. Katya was from offplanet, but he knew something of her background; she was definitely not a City Lord, and neither was anyone in her family.
As for people in the Tutorial … Ekari might know, but he doubted it. She was the only person who seemed to come from the right type of background, and she hated talking about it. Serenity thought she had some sort of a dispute with her parents, but she’d never been willing to open up about it.
No, the only person he could ask about the Voice’s limitations was the Voice itself. He tried to cast his thoughts towards the voice; Serenity knew the Voice seemed to be listening to him most of the time.
If I choose a selection, will it stop me from choosing the others?
[Each location can only access a single option. After each location is set, the Lord’s Door must be found again to create the next location. That is the reason for relocate; the Lord’s Door does not usually place itself in a useful spot]
That took care of Serenity’s concerns. It sounded like the Lord’s Door was a reward for the Lord knowing the layout of the town and visiting it enough to see where something didn’t belong. That … actually, that was definitely something the Voice would do.
Serenity wondered how it gave the same incentive to learn the town to future Lords; Serenity certainly hadn’t come across anything like this in the Necropolis.
The Voice was correct; this was a very inconvenient location. On the other hand, he had several walls that weren’t used in his own treehouse; all of the options except the saferoom seemed to make sense to be near him. The saferoom didn’t seem necessary at the moment; Serenity expected he’d choose it later when he had a better idea of what he’d need. If all it required was finding the door again, he could do that.
[Relocate]
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Author's Note: Aide designed something that Aki really wants ... bets it'll be offered to her now?
Amusingly, Aki almost certainly qualifies for the Dungeon version ... if she can get the initial build points. She has more than Serenity Settlement, but that's still a lot of points for a young dungeon. Unfortunately, none of these options is even remotely hidden, and Aki's trying not to be obvious.
