Waters of Du'la'melio complete!
* Clear condition: Reach the end of the run. (Completed)
* Bonus condition: Finish in under 7 minutes. (Completed, time 1:42)
* Bonus condition: Reach the end of the run without getting wet. (Completed)
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Olivander read the message with a smile on his face as he faded away.
Instead of reappearing back in the dungeon entry room, he was taken to the rewards room. Celuria was nowhere to be found, but there were three chests arrayed in front of him.
He casually kicked open the basic clear chest as scooped up a few free attribute points and a skill point. The next chest, he assumed, was for finishing in under seven minutes. He opened it and found a note inside.
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Olivander,
The connection between dungeons and domains is not a topic for casual conversation. You have earned some information, but I do not have enough time to tell you today. Come back in three days, and you will receive your reward.
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He had expected that. The dungeon spirits could only spend so much time "apart" from their dungeons. He nodded to the air and tucked the note into a bag.
He opened the last chest with some curiosity. The difficulty, or perceived difficulty, of a bonus objective was often correlated with the power and rarity of the reward.
In the bottom of the chest was a simple seven pointed token made from a golden metal. It glowed softly, and as Olivander picked it up, he noted it felt warm to the touch.
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Token of Competition
* Consumable Item
* Rarity: Legendary
* Use this item to enhance any magical item, ability, or magical space, granting it an aspect of competition.
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"Wow, truly an impressive item. How long have you been holding onto this? Surely you knew what I would do with it."
Olivander had been the perfect mark. He was strong, very strong, capable of handling challenges others would call impossible. He was traveling with a pair of students, and he wanted to push to their limits. He was a master of ritual magic, capable of making connections and inferences about the building blocks of magic that left most other mortal magicians in the dust. And he had been given all the tools, under the guise of rewards to the Guild Master and himself no doubt.
In the world of dungeons, a few things were true. Dungeon Spirits had a choice in sculpting their dungeons and challenges for all who entered. Magical items lost in and donated to the dungeon could be repurposed as dungeon rewards. Finally, the Dungeon Spirit could never absorb any of that magic or otherwise use their magic to enhance their own dungeon outside normal rules.
It was hard for a dungeon to undergo true advancement.
Olivander shook his head. He couldn't ask for more for doing this. The Dungeon Spirits were forbidden from asking or negotiating for it. They could nudge things in the right direction, as Celuria had, but that was the limit.
Olivander made up his mind about helping, but first he changed back into his customary purple robes.
"If I'm going to do something this grand, a certain level of refinement is a must."
He conjured his favorite pipe. Then for good measure conjured one of the string instruments that he had formulated to play itself.
"Ahh, now I can get to work."
With a pipe in his mouth and some relaxing music playing, he began crafting some new rituals.
The first relied on the principles the dungeon spirit had shared with him through the Guild Master. He could open a magical connection between where he was and the dungeon. He could activate the token with another ritual, and the enhancement power could be applied to the magical space that was the dungeon.
There was only one problem. The inherent nature of the token meant that the space, item, or ability it was affecting needed to be owned by the one who activated the ability. That prevented all kinds of nastiness around putting unwanted magical effects into things that didn't belong to the caster.
Olivander thought he could work around that. He puffed on his pipe while studying his half completed ritual.
No, this wouldn't work. He needed an activation ritual first, something tied to the dungeon, or even better, the Dungeon Spirit. The Dungeon Spirits were the owners of their dungeons, so if the activation power was sourced from Celuria, the token would be more likely to work.
He brushed away the ritual and looked around. "Now, what can I use…the chests? Certainly conjured by the dungeon's power, but they aren't personal to the spirit...ah, of course. You were always one to plan for everything."
He pulled out the note the Dungeon Spirit left for him. Sure enough, it had more magic imbued into it than would normally be found, even in a conjured slip of paper.
"Really bordering on the edge of your rules, but it's just a slip of paper! What could we possibly do with it?"
He put the note into the center of the floor where he drew out a new ritual. The activation ritual would ignite the magic in the paper and force it upward for some effect. For Olivander's plan, it would be forced into another ritual, which he drew in the air, layered a foot above the first ritual. This ritual would activate the token, and he suspended it in the ritual with another trick of mana manipulation. It was expensive to hold it there, but Olivander was still in good shape, so it wasn't a strain.
The final ritual was the most complex. Layered above the token activation ritual, this one would form the connection with the dungeon, and transfer the power of the token through the link.
With all three rituals completed, he double, and then triple, checked his work. He had limited materials, and he didn't know if he would be able to use the token again if his rituals failed.
"Now! The moment of truth."
This ritual wasn't a spell he was casting, and there was no activation word to complete it. The rituals forms together formed a complete effect, and aside from a little mana to activate, needed no more input from him.
He slowly trickled mana into the bottom rune. It flashed, and power swirled around the note at the center.
Olivander nodded, not seeing any immediate issues. He conjured up a comfortable chair, and pulled out a book. It would take a few minutes to ignite the magic in the note without corrupting it.
In a stroke of truly unfortunate timing, he was just getting to the good part of the book he was reading when the note finally ignited.
He sighed and stashed it away.
The note burned up in a silvery fire, still trapped inside the swirling power that Olivander had supplied. He watched closely as his power was pulled back into the ritual, it flashed again, and the silver power at the center was pushed up into the next ritual.
The token activated immediately, it dissolved into a golden power, and was passed up along with a little extra silver power to the final ritual. This last ritual flashed, and the power was drawn into thin air, vanishing. With the spell completed, the rituals faded away.
"Now, how am I going to check to see if that worked? Ah! Of course."
He opened a portal and stepped through.
* * *
After Olivander finished the dungeon, the view didn't close as Gregory had expected. Instead it returned to the starting platform and waited for the next participant.
They chatted in small groups while waiting for Olivander to return. Jeremy and Gloria were speaking with Gregory's mother and playing with the two young ones. Fezzic and Cooper were playing fetch in the back of the room. Helga was speaking to Timothy, Zeke, and her father. Gregory was speaking with the Guild Master. Gregory's attention drifted back to the viewing construct after some time, and he asked the Guild Master about it.
"Will this viewing construct be permanent?"
"According to Olivander it will need some real parts that he had to temporarily conjure. In its current configuration, it will break down after around a day. Once we have permanent parts though, it should be relatively straightforward, if a little expensive, to keep it powered. Mana is all we should need.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
"What I would really love is to get a few more of these. Multiple people can usually enter the dungeon at once, so if we could more or less coordinate them, we could watch them race through the dungeon!"
"That would be really cool!" Gregory agreed.
Another flash of light in the viewing construct pulled their attention back.
The sky that was visible in the backdrop of the view started turning gold.
"What's happening?" Timothy asked.
"What a great question!" Olivander said, emerging from a portal.
"Through a series of fortunate events, our lovely dungeon here has gained some power that will allow it to evolve! And before you ask, Gregory, I don't know exactly what will happen, but the dungeon should gain some new capabilities. Whether that's more opportunities for bonuses, or better rewards, or even more challenges, we'll have to wait and see."
"Evolve? I wasn't aware such a thing was possible," the Guild Master said.
"It's not exactly a secret, but the Dungeon Spirits are forbidden from directly asking people to help them advance. Celuria knew that I knew it was possible, and did an excellent job orchestrating things so that I could make that connection and give her what she needed. That's not to say she asked for it, however. I could have easily taken the power used in this evolution, and was at least a little tempted to do so.
"In the end though, I saw this as a new opportunity!"
"What do you get out of it?" Gregory asked.
"Excuse me?"
"I've known you long enough to know you never do anything without more than one reason."
"The boy brings up a good point," the Guild Master agreed. "I'm curious what would prompt you to give up a chance at more power? I imagine it's a hard thing to come by at your advancement."
"Not as hard as you might imagine, but that's besides the point. I like Celuria, I've known her for a long time and she's one of my favorite Dungeon Spirits. The real opportunity here though, is that dungeon evolution is a bit like the dungeon restarting itself. With the new transfiguration, it comes with an opportunity for a unique bonus."
Olivander turned a predatory grin on Gregory and Cooper.
"And I just happen to have two students here who are spoiling for another crack at a first clear!"
Gregory was shocked. It was incredibly rare to have an opportunity for one first clear, but two was unheard of.
The Guild Master turned a dubious look on Olivander.
"While I know you gave up a lot to evolve the dungeon, Olivander, the simple fact is that we have strict entry rules. I can't just allow the boys to have this chance above others simply by virtue of being your students."
Olivander gave the man a pleasant smile and put a hand on his shoulder. Gregory laughed out loud.
"Gregory," Olivander said, letting his hand fall and turning a raised brow in Gregory's direction. "Do you have something to say?"
"Sorry, no. It's nothing."
"Really. Because you just laughed out loud."
"Well you just…you did the thing."
"What thing?"
"Oh! I know!" Fezzic said. "It's the one where he feigns compassion because he's already done with you, and he knows you're just going to do whatever he says anyway."
"Well that's a little harsh," Olivander said.
"No, no, no. It's the one where he's trying to comfort you because he's already thought five steps ahead, and he doesn't realize that his attempt at comforting comes off as condescending," Cooper said to the whole group.
"Oh, come on! Anyone else, really?"
"Oh!" Burtrum said. "How about the one where he pretends you're doing a great job, but he's going to go ahead and fix everything you couldn't, making you feel like a real pile of shit in the process."
"Okay, I wasn't being serious," Olivander said to himself, having lost control of the conversation.
"Wait!" Timothy said. "isn't it the thing where he says you're really good at something, like running a guild branch — or cooking — but then he comes in and says he's actually figured out a better way, and been blessed with a class by a literal god so that he can do everything you've always dreamed of?"
Now the laughter was beginning, and Olivander just rolled his eyes and threw up his arms. The Guild Master looked thoroughly confused.
"I bet it's like when he puts on one of the custom robes you made him, and he enters a dungeon run, and you think 'Awesome, I was able to help him in some way,' and then he just disregards them completely and finishes the dungeon without any help at all."
"Those are all great guesses, but it's actually the one where he put events in motion that are out of your control, and he's just letting you know that you're helpless to change anything that's about to happen. But it still comes off as condescending."
All of the adults in the room were laughing at Olivander's offended expression, but he eventually broke into a smile himself.
"You're all asses, but that was actually a great read, Gregory."
"I'm confused," the Guild Master said.
Olivander turned to the man and put a hand on his shoulder, which started the laughter again.
"Can I just be an ass without all of the judgment?"
"I'm sorry," Gregory said, wiping tears from his eyes. "Please, go ahead."
"Sorry about my students and friends. They can be a lot. Now, it just so happens that your guild rules have stipulations about when the dungeon is inaccessible for various reasons, correct?"
"...Yes?"
"Very good. Now, the stipulations say that outstanding entries will be canceled if the dungeon is unavoidably inaccessible at the time of entry. Any active entry slots already made but after the time the dungeon is accessible once more will be honored. Are you following me?
The Guild Master was beginning to understand. He drew his lips to a line and nodded.
"Gregory, what time tomorrow is your entry?"
"First bell after noon."
"What a marvelous coincidence! That's almost exactly twenty-four hours from now, and, again, as another coincidence, twenty-four hours is exactly how long it will take for the dungeon evolution to complete. So, as you can see, we have a wonderful opportunity for my students."
The Guild Master gave Olivander an unhappy look. "I thought maybe the others were just having a bit of fun, but that was really one of the most condescending things that has ever been said to me."
"I'm happy to serve, Guild Master."
* * *
After Olivander was finished heckling and being heckled, he waved the others away so that they could spend some quality time exploring the city together. He, on the other hand, had work to do.
"I can't make heads or tails of this," Sous said.
Olivander grabbed the paper from the golem and turned it right-side-up.
"Oh that's much better."
All around them were parts and magical constructs. He had raided Zeke's blacksmith for some raw materials and had the man sculpt a few custom shapes for him. There weren't any moving parts, and nothing was going to be under much strain, so Zeke hadn't needed to do a more time consuming forging process.
Sous brought Olivander the pieces in the order indicated on the sheet.
"What are we doing?"
"A few things. I got a good read on where the dungeon is progressing, so we need to get a handle on that. Plus Timothy told me that he missed all of my clever remarks and witticisms, so clearly sound transmission is a must. That'll be the tricky part."
As Sous handed him parts, he used raw magical might to carve runes into the pieces. It would be more efficient if he had an ability that allowed the action, but he had a full day, and could spare some recovery time if he needed. In the end it would be faster than trying to explain to someone with such an ability exactly what he needed.
"You know, the rituals that I was given by the Dungeon Spirit give me some more ideas on how to make you a little more cost efficient."
Sous perked up. "Really? I don't mind being inactive, but it always feels like I miss so much between!"
"I agree, you would be much more useful if you could maintain a steady state of awareness. So you don't need to catch up each time you're reactivated."
Olivander told the golem about his plans, but Sous was an expert at cooking and preparing feasts, not magical theory. He was more just a sounding board that Olivander could explain things to to help further his own understanding than someone who could meaningfully contribute.
A few hours later, they had the viewing construct screen put back together. Olivander probed the dungeon with his senses, letting the connection rituals he was becoming more familiar with serve as a guide.
"The dungeon is still in heavy flux. We shouldn't turn the construct on quite yet. I think I can probably find out what the end result is going to be though."
"Ohh? Do tell!"
Olivander crafted another ritual based on the connection ritual. It incorporated elements of identification and prediction too. It wouldn't be perfect, but he thought it would be pretty close.
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Waters of Du'la'melio - Inactive - Evolving
* Dungeon Evolution: 38%
* Evolution Type: Competition
* Probable Results: The evolved dungeon will allow individuals (73% probability) or teams (27% probability) to compete against one another to clear the dungeon.
* Simultaneous entry will connect the runs, allowing interaction between the runners, but they will still be in their own instances of the dungeon. (100% probability)
* Dungeon will only reward the victor (unknown probability)
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"Perfect! Though just in case it's the team variety, I should put together another iron rank team as backup. Hmm. I wonder if the teams need to be the same rank? Or the participants? Each instance could be scaled to their respective skill levels…"
Olivander spent the next few hours just predicting what was going to happen while he waited for the dungeon to stabilize enough to try out his new and improved viewing construct.