AN: Some of the developments in this chapter — and some coming ones, for that matter — hit a little close to home, considering the current state of the world. Just wanted to give everyone a small heads up.
"In breaking news," the radio announcer blared as Elder Wu shifted a few papers on his desk, "both the Russian and Chinese Navies have sent their own detachments to Point Nemo. The White House has released a statement earlier today in which they claimed to be in discussion with both nations.
"Despite this," the man continued, "tensions are still rising across the world as NATO troops in Europe are once again being deployed to the eastern borders. Many of the protests that have sprung up across the country have also turned violent, in some cases even requiring the National Guard to step in."
"Not just here," Elder Wu mumbled to himself. "Chaos takes a while to build, but it always does."
It had taken a while, but the various other organisations that had taken to keeping track of magic on Earth had started to report their own findings on the current developments and how they predicted their governments would react in the future. It didn't look all that promising, if Elder Wu was honest.
People had been slow to react to the change, which wasn't unusual. It was only now, when the presence of magic was quite obviously real and here to stay, that they had begun to grow restless. Those who had not yet gotten a class especially so. Many of them felt wronged by the world, while others saw the awakened as a blight and considered themselves the rightful inhabitants of Earth — a recipe for disaster, and one Elder Wu knew all too well.
"Even though just a few weeks prior there were talks about dissolving the treaty organisation," the announcer said, quite obviously unaware of Elder Wu's mumbling, "things look quite different now. With renewed tensions between the east and west, nearly every member nation is more resolute than ever to keep NATO alive. Newer members especially, like Japan, have stated that they are fully committed to the decision that will be made, whatever it might be."
The old Vampire could not help but let out a snort at the words. Like most things the normals did, they did it to seek control. This was no different. First, they would do their best to 'protect' everyone, before passing any law they could think of that would let them use the powers their people awakened to for whatever they wished. That's how it had been centuries ago when magic was prevalent, and he was very sure it would go that way again.
He would have to make a few calls to ensure that the proper people would not get any funny ideas in the coming years. Perhaps he would even have to revive 'La Société'. A dreaded thought, but that annoyance was preferable to a world war.
"Bunch of idiots," Elder Wu mumbled as he opened one of the many drawers on his desk and pulled out a laptop. As much as he disliked the things, they were basically a requirement in this day and age, and the current situation called for speed more than anything. His nice letters would have to wait. "Why couldn't she have just waited a little longer and let us prepare the world?"
///
With another clap of thunder and yet another ball of his fire, the monster finally fell over, twitching one more time before it dissolved in much the same manner as the smaller beasts had.
Your group has defeated [Simulacrum of Cerberus - Level 75].
Entry to the second floor has been granted.
The notification in front of his eyes was quickly replaced with a slew of level up ones, fourteen in total if he did not miscount. Almost twenty-five now. He hoped that the monsters on the next floor would give at least somewhere close to this much. They probably wouldn't, as the fight had been quite the ordeal. Not because it was dangerous but because it simply took so long.
"Well," Wyllt said. "That's that, then. It was… fine meeting you. Have a good day."
Before either of the two men could say anything, the woman used her short range teleportation again to appear by the stairs that had revealed themselves behind the small orb the boss had left behind.
"I guess she really didn't like us," Ryan said, also looking at the stairway the woman was rapidly climbing. "And here I thought this group worked quite well."
"So did I," Jacob agreed. "But perhaps she is more of a lone wolf. All her dashing would certainly make that quite simple. I also wouldn't be surprised if she has figured out a way to heal herself."
The other man remained quiet for a moment before he shook his head and started walking towards the orb the boss had dropped. "Well, we still got her talismans and whatever that thing is."
"True." Jacob gave a nod and fell into step behind Ryan. "But considering that she ignored it, whatever it is might not be that good. I would also imagine it's something every group got."
"Still," the other man replied, picking up the orb, "I would assume it has value. Nothing like this has existed before, after all." Ryan turned the sphere in his hand, the light of the room refracting off it in ways that did not look quite right to Jacob. "It feels… tingly?"
"Tingly?" Jacob repeated before Ryan offered him the orb.
"Just hold it and you'll see what I mean."
Jacob did as instructed and carefully took the orb out of the other man's hands. Only a fraction of a moment later, he felt a slight jolt run up his arms and then down his spine. It took a moment, but soon it settled into a somewhat pleasant tingle that felt not dissimilar from his first attempts at using his powers.
"I think this might be related to our Classes," he said and lifted the orb to eye height. "It feels almost like the first time I tried to use mine."
"Probably because both you and the thing control fire?" Ryan guessed. "Seems like a reasonable guess." He shrugged. "You are the man with the flames, anyway. Keep it for now. We'll figure out what to do with it once we are outside again."
Jacob gave a nod and placed the fist-sized orb into one of his pockets. The tingle stopped, but he could still feel a note of power coming from it. He didn’t know how to use it — or what he should even think of it. The thing came with no instructions and he doubted yelling at the tiny blue window the next time it popped up would help.
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But, like Ryan had said, all of those were things that could wait until they were outside again. For now, they had a second floor to explore, and find out what other wonders — and horrors — the tower might hold.
///
Aperio let out a sigh, her voice echoing through the not-quite reality she had made for their little group as she finally let her mana run more freely. She stretched her wings and arms, the motion not needed by any means, but still feeling quite good regardless.
"Is she tired?" Eleanor asked, her voice barely a whisper as she leaned closer to Caethya.
"I am not," Aperio replied, folding her wings behind her back once more. "I simply wanted to stretch myself. Is that not allowed?" She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "A privilege reserved for mortals, perhaps?"
"No, no," Eleanor replied and raised her hands, palms facing the All-Mother. "I just thought that maybe you would like to take a nap or something. You did just create this entire thing, and are now running it. At least, I think you are."
"I run the dungeon in the same way I run the universe," Aperio replied with a shrug of her wings. "Which is to say, I technically do, but it is also not something I actively think about most of the time. So no, I am not tired, though I would enjoy a nap regardless." A small smile graced her lips. "Being with Caethya in the Void is something that cannot be matched. Alas, there is currently little time to enjoy a nap in the nothing."
"Couldn't you just… stop time?" Eleanor asked. "Or does that not work?"
"Perhaps I could, but I have not tried nor do I intend to," the All-Mother replied. "I like the idea of at least somewhat linear time. Even if that means I do not notice a week passing." Not that that amount of time means anything anyway.
"What did you have the Cerberus drop?" Caethya asked, leaning forward slightly as if to peer over an edge that most assuredly did not exist. "Can't be that good if Merlin just ignored it."
"A simple mana crystal that you could feasibly fashion into a weapon or use as a source of mana for yourself. Not something she would care much for, considering she has little use for it."
"I guess," her love replied. "Still would've thought she would want to keep a memento from the first boss to appear on Earth in a while. Handcrafted by yourself, too."
Aperio gave a small smile at the words. "I am fairly certain she does not value what I do quite as much as you."
Merlin would probably like to dissect her instead to figure out how the universe works. Even if that was possible, all it would accomplish would be to deprive Aperio of her body and return her to her formless… form. Let's not.
"In any case," Aperio said, "I think we should join our mortal friends on the second floor. Enjoy their exploration while whatever fleets are approaching are still out of reach."
"Fleets?" Eleanor asked. "Aren't we, like, in the middle of nowhere?"
A small projection came into being in front of the All-Mother, showing both her love and the mortal mage a simplified version of what she perceived of the world. Aperio did have to mash the different flotillas together a little as the actual distance separating them was quite a bit more than her small image allowed to show effectively. She did take the time to highlight the biggest ship of the biggest fleet and have a little note floating next to it that informed everyone that this one was using some form of magic to power itself.
"Well then," Eleanor mumbled to herself. "I'm no expert on military things, but I can at least tell you that those fleets belong to three different nations that are not on the best of terms."
"I am aware," the All-Mother replied. "There is quite a bit of talk about it in your home country. I would assume the same to be true for the other nations, but I have not yet learned their languages. Something I will rectify before they come much closer."
She might not have that handy dictionary Adam owned on hand, but she had already found quite a few normal ones that translated from English to essentially every other language. Of course, Aperio would have to spend some time listening to their actual usage and practice her pronunciation a little, but for one reason or another, that wasn't that big of an issue. She had learned English in only a couple of minutes, after all.
"I would have thought you could just understand everyone," Eleanor said. "Being the one that made all of this and all that."
"You seem to assume much more involvement than there actually was." Aperio let the projection she had made vanish with a wave of her hand. "I simply created the foundation required for life to happen. The form I have now is not one you were modelled after but one I took from what mortals had grown into. It just happens that I am quite fond of it."
A flex of her mental muscles caused a small portal leading to an empty section of the second floor to open in front of their group. "But we can continue to talk about that while being amongst the mortals. I wish for them to see me there so they mayhaps begin to think I am not that different."
"And what will you do if the ships that are coming have less than noble goals?" Caethya asked as she followed Aperio through the portal. "I might not know what kind of weapons the people here possess, but I am sure they have something that would usually be able to obliterate a tiny island like this."
"Not let them?" Aperio replied, not quite sure what her love was trying to ask. "Whatever they have will not be able to damage my creation here anyway, but I will make sure that nothing bad will happen to the mortals that have chosen to come but have not yet entered the dungeon proper."
"Do you really think they would attack this island?" Eleanor asked after she, too, had stepped through the portal. Unlike Caethya, however, she had given the magic more than a glance as she did not seem to quite trust it.
"Your kind seems to like violence," the All-Mother replied, a touch of her magic shifting the terrain that surrounded them slightly to direct a few monsters to a group of mortals close by. They were here to train and not forage, after all. "I am merely preparing for possibilities that I consider likely." She hesitated for a moment before she let out a short sigh. "They are not allowed on this island, and I fully assume that that will greatly upset them. Whether that will end with them attacking or not is not something I know, so I prepare."
"And I thought you would be omniscient or something," the mortal mage mumbled, the words quite obviously only meant for herself.
"Aperio could be omniscient," Caethya said as she wrapped an arm around her love's waist, "but she chooses not to be. You can't exactly unlearn things, so not knowing everything is usually better. Besides, if you know everything, what's the point of doing any of this?
"Being aware of every action," she continued, "knowing how everything would play out is only a single step away from controlling what happens. Only a few steps away from turning all of creation into a puppet show. I think you would agree that that is not a good outcome."
"That sounds a bit extreme," Eleanor replied after a brief moment of hesitation, her voice a little quieter than before. "But yes, I don't think that would be a good thing for anyone involved."