Chapter 146

Jay wasn't sure how long it had been but he needn't have worried. The thick metal door between them and the loom room turned out to be a great insulator of sound. It kept the cacophony of mechanical noise mostly trapped in the loom room itself. Only a quiet mechanical hum managed to penetrate the door in to the room where the others were resting. There was however one sound that got the attention of everyone present.

Silence.

The intense noise suddenly came to a halt and the others felt deaf for a moment in the suffocating silence. It seemed somehow unnatural to have the intense noise just...go away, suddenly and without warning.

Everyone stirred, even the ones with their eyes closed, napping.

“Is it ready?” Norri asked groggily as she yawned.

Aiden chuckled as he rubbed at his eyes. “If it's not ready then it's probably broken. Or out of power.”

“Thinking positive as usual,” Norri muttered under her breath tiredly.

The others chuckled quietly as everyone rose to their feet, half asleep. They didn't say much but got in to line without realizing that they had done so.

M'redith looked back at the line of people behind her. It had become second nature to line up and prepare for combat before opening each door they would travel through. The fact that the adjoining room was empty except for some workstations and a giant loom didn't change their habit one bit.

M'redith opened the thick heavy door and it swung open quietly. The adjoining room was just as they had left it and the group walked towards the giant wood and yellow metal loom that dominated the center of the room.

They stopped once they reached the loom and Jay took a further step forwards to inspect the machine. It looked just as it had earlier save for the tiny woven patch at the center of the machine.

The patch was roughly six inches per side. The patch's material glittered a rainbow of colors in the light but appeared to be a silvery color otherwise. Jay peered closer but found it impossible to even detect the weave in the material. It appeared to be a perfectly smooth surface and shined like glass.

Jay tried to identify it but it wouldn't work. Maybe he needed to pick up the patch first?

“Can I pick it up?” Norri asked, beating him to it.

Jay looked over at M'redith who shrugged. “Why not?”

Norri approached the patch and reached out to pick it up.

Her fingers passed right through the patch.

Norri whined, “Awww...come on!”

Aiden chuckled but not too loudly. Norri sighed and stepped back to join the others.

“Go ahead. Stupid Travelers.” she muttered but delivered it with a smile.

The others all chuckled as Jay turned back to look at the patch again. It appeared that the patch was not meant for non-Travelers.

The patch wasn't too high up and after a moment's hesitation Jay reached up and plucked the patch right off of the machine. The others gathered around him to inspect the six inch square of material. Jay took a moment to inspect the item and let out a low whistle of appreciation when the notification appeared. There was a lot to read.

Minerva's Instanced Infinity Patch – ARTIFACT – This item is an artifact!! - This item is irrevocably bound to Jay!

Artifacts may not be damaged or destroyed. They may not be taken or removed from the owner. Any attempted transfer of ownership of an artifact is monitored by the System. Any attempt to force the bound owner to abandon or transfer ownership of an artifact will trigger severe repercussions for the offending party.

This patch will enlarge upon activation and will completely cover the entrance to a dungeon. Once used the dungeon will be unavailable for 24 hours, after which the dungeon will become instanced. Any number of groups may then run the dungeon at the same time. Each group will be put in to their own separate instance of the dungeon. Monsters will no longer be able to exit the dungeon.

From that point forward all users must pay a single silver coin in order to gain entrance. The coin is magically removed from the user's belongings and transferred to the bound user's possession once a user passes over the threshold of the dungeon. Should a user not have a silver coin they will find themselves physically barred from entry to the dungeon. This fee may not be altered by outside means.

“Goddess! Well it looks like you found what the Church was looking for!” Aiden exclaimed with a wide grin.

Jay smiled, pleased. They had done it! Although their quest hadn't rewarded them with anything that would help out the Church's dungeon overcrowding issue this patch would definitely do the job. It was exactly what they had been looking for.

“Wait. So only a Traveler can use this?” Carly asked as she almost touched the patch in Jay's hand before she snatched it back as if it might burn her.

Jay encouraged her to give it a try and held it out towards her.

Carly extended a single finger and tried to touch the patch. Her finger passed through the material as if it wasn't even there. She snatched her hand back.

“Well that's no fun,” Carly said with a frown. Even though she had seen Norri have trouble touching it she still had wanted to try it herself.

“Guys, I think that's it.” Jay said happily.

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“What do you mean that's it?” Carly asked.

“I mean that's it. We're done. We can all leave now!” Jay said a little louder than he had intended. He was excited to get out of there and back to K'tharkle.

“Oh thank Goddess!” Aiden exclaimed. “I'm ready for bed. Well, maybe a snack first, but then definitely bed.”

Jay tucked the patch away in his backpack before changing his mind and taking it out again. He instead placed the patch in to a pouch attached to his vest. That way if something happened and he was separated from his backpack he'd still have the patch on him. “Ok, ready to move,” he said.

Everyone seemed to be in a much better mood as M'redith led them out of the loom room, in to a side room, up a flight of stairs, in to the main boss room, through the portal, and back to the cooking station on the first floor. It wasn't a long journey, now that the monsters and boss were all defeated.

“Goodbye Landlocked Lighthouse, you were tough and I'm glad we're all done!” Norri said to the building in farewell as the entire group left through the main entrance.

As the group exited the dungeon they were greeted with a barrage of notifications. They were now outside of the dungeon and in a clear space around the door. Just outside of that clear space lay a field of golden flowers, heavy with pollen. No one was concerned about that at the moment however as they instead were focused on their notifications.

“No way!” Aiden exclaimed just as Norri yelled, “YES!”

Jay quickly checked his notifications. Then he reread them more slowly a second time.

Congratulations! Your group has helped to create an Artifact ranked item! You will receive the following:

Title: Gaia's Artisan – The Goddess Herself has recognized your achievement! For helping in the creation of an Artifact you are permanently granted +2 Int, +2 Wis, +2 Chr! All future crafting attempts regardless of rarity will now have a small bonus to their creation success rates!

Congratulations! A member of your group has bound an Artifact ranked item that you helped create! You will receive the following:

Title: Golden Acumen – Your keen eye for the rare and valuable has served you well. For helping gather your first Artifact you are permanently granted +1 Int, +2 Wis! You now have a small chance to not consume recipe ingredients of rare rarity or higher!

Congratulations! You have ushered in a new age! Thanks to you an Artifact, once lost to Eden, has now returned! You will receive the following:

Title: Dawnbringer – Eden goes still as a new item is born! Your hard work and quick thinking have paid off, and Eden is now one Artifact richer! You are permanently granted +2 Str, +2 Dex, +1 Int, +1 Chr! Your Destiny rating has been increased! Your thread in the Tapestry of Fate now has a higher chance of drawing those you need to you!

Congratulations! You have completed the Landlocked Lighthouse dungeon! You will receive the following:

Title: Lighthouse Keeper – You have braved the Lighthouse and returned to tell the tale! You are permanently granted +2 Str, +2 Dex!

Jay took a deep breath and let it out. That was... a lot. More than he had even expected. He had expected a title for beating the dungeon but the others, those were a real surprise.

“Are you KIDDING me right now?” Carly asked in shock as she reread her notifications for the second time in disbelief. Titles, stat points, additional bonus effects, there was a lot to take in. Dungeons just didn't give out rewards like that. They did when Jay was involved though. Carly, not for the first time, was incredibly thankful that she had joined them on the dungeon run.

If they hadn't created the Artifact they only would have gotten the one title for beating the dungeon. Even that wasn't something anyone else could get. Only Jay and whoever he happened to be grouped with. Dungeon titles were impossible to get without Jay.

“Well that was a nice surprise reward for all that hard work. We may not have gotten much treasure but we made an artifact and got all these titles. I think I'm happy with how things turned out rewards-wise.” M'redith said thoughtfully.

Jay nodded in agreement as did the others. They had gotten a total of 19 stat points just from the titles they had been awarded. That wasn't even counting the 5 points they gained from completing their first armor set! That was a huge amount considering that their current goal was 50. They were already past the halfway point to their goal.

Carly had been a bit worried about how she was going to reach a total of 50 stat points. She'd at first intended to write her family and have them start purchasing and funneling Upgrade Stones to her but that would get expensive quickly. Then she had thought that perhaps she could pick up a few of her own just by running dungeons. At the time though the entire enterprise had seemed daunting and a bit unrealistic.

There just hadn't seemed like there was a way to reach 50 stat points before hitting level 10.

Even her family would quickly run out of money trying to purchase forty-plus upgrade stones. Now that number had been trimmed by almost 20 thanks to the titles that Jay had generated. Then trimmed even further by another 5 thanks to the armor sets that Jay had helped them all unlock.

Now, with her titles, suddenly 50 total stat points seemed within reach. If she could just go on one or two more dungeon runs with Jay's group Carly thought that she could do it. Convincing the Glimmerhides to invite her back would take some work on her part. They weren't exactly friends. Whatever they were, they were a bit closer after having beat a dungeon together. Not to mention creating a new artifact. That story alone would be worth a free beer or two at the Guild bar.

Carly did some quick math. She had ten natural stat points. She had 2 points in each stat. Plus another 24 from titles and armor sets that brought her up to 34 total stat points. She only needed 16 more points! She could do that!

It wasn't just about the total number though – she had to reach 10 in each of her five statistics, strength, dexterity, intelligence, wisdom, and charisma. Carly did some more math.

Adding up her natural stats, her title stats, and her armor set stats, she listed her final values quietly to herself.

7 Str, 7 Dex, 7 Int, 7 Wis, 6 Chr was her final tally. When she entered the dungeon earlier that day her stats had been 2 Str, 2 Dex, 2 Int, 2 Wis, 2 Chr, the same values they had been for her entire life up until now.

The increase to her stats didn't change anything that she could tell. She didn't feel any different, move any differently, or think any differently. That just gave further credence to Jay's claim that statistics were a lie.

Normally when running a dungeon, if you were lucky, you would win the roll for the upgrade stone and then use it to increase one of your stats by a single point. One. Single. Point. Carly had just left a dungeon with 24 extra points, a colossal amount. Sure, most of those were due to creating an Artifact, but so what? It got her closer to her goal.

“Ok. If everyone is done navel gazing at their notifications, can we go home now?” Aiden asked plaintively. “I'm tired!” he explained.

Norri laughed and M'redith nodded with a smile.

“Time to shuttle everyone back across the flower field. Remember, stay close to me and don't stop until we get to the other side. Who wants to go first?” Jay asked.

Aiden walked over first before anyone could reply so Jay turned on his Tropical Island Aura. The two stood close to each other to ensure that Aiden was completely covered by the aura. No one wanted to get any of that pollen on them.

“Ok. Moving.” Jay said simply as he led Aiden in to the yellow field.