Ray decided to take a break for a day before he moved on. The Sylvans wouldn’t make a move so quickly. Not when they had a whole group of wounded and morale-broken Wild Tides to deal with, all of whom were streaming to the Sylvan headquarters according to Kredevel.
Speaking of whom, there were so many captured members of the Wild Tides for Maya to deal with.
One of the reasons for their victory was the fact that not all of the Wild Tides had been determined to come in and fight against other people. So far, the threat of the Wild Tides had been enough for them to take over almost every other Faction or group they had encountered. They hadn’t needed to fight.
All those new people hey had forcibly integrated had believed things would go the same. That the Wild Tides were an inevitability for everyone. They hadn’t believed they would actually need to start a battle.
So when the Insurge Faction had decided to step up and take a stand against the Wild Tides, many of them hadn’t been prepared. Even if Derrick Orden had told them to be ready, they hadn’t truly mentally prepared themselves for it.
And so, facing the resoluteness of the Insurge Faction, many of them had crumpled.
“You think this guy knows anything important?” Ray asked.
Gritty had returned from her little sojourn, apparently dejected. She hadn’t been able to continue murdering more of the Wild Tides, nor the Sylvans who had decided to shelter them. Apparently, even she knew when she was outmatched and it was best to live to fight another day.
“He’s one of their newly promoted commanders,” Gritty said. “If anyone’s going to know something, it’s got to be him.”
Ray supposed that made sense. Most of those who had surrendered to the Insurge Faction weren’t a part of Derrick Orden’s inner circle. Those were too loyal to even consider giving up instead of fighting to the death.
He glanced at Gritty. She looked more serious than he had seen her in… ever. “Still sad you couldn’t infiltrate the Wild Tides like you did the last couple of times?”
“I can’t infiltrate them cause we’re about to meet the one who let me get into the Wild Tides in the first place.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.” She glared at him like he had personally captured the guy they were about to interrogate. “And I’m mad because I almost died against that fucking Sylvan and I still haven’t taken my revenge.”
“You’re welcome.”
She sighed. “Thanks.”
Ray mustered up a small smile. “Don’t worry, we’ll get ‘em.”
“Oh, we will. I’m going to gut that bastard with his own horns.”
Leaving Gritty to stew in her own dreams of vengeance, Ray noted that they were headed to a small hill to the left of the one that bore the keep. It was here that the Insurge Faction had set up something of a stockade to hold their “prisoners of war”, as Mary Felds called them.
The few guards there recognized Ray and Gritty, allowing them to pass through. Maya had warned them beforehand that he would be coming.
“That’s him,” Gritty said, pointing to a balding, paunchy man near the middle.
The fellow in question looked up as Ray approached. Like all the prisoners, he was wearing the same kind of chains that the Sylvans had tied up the captives Ray had freed. It felt so long ago now, though it couldn’t have been much more than two weeks.
“You’re him, aren’t you?” the man asked.
Ray raised an eyebrow. “Him who?”
“Him. The one they said Orden wanted dead more than anyone else. The one who killed more of the Wild Tides than anyone else.”
“Funny, you know so much about me but don’t know my name.”
“Your name is worth shit.”
“All names are worth shit, buddy,” Gritty said.
The man was clearly trying to avoid looking at her. Ray had to wonder what in the world she had done to him, especially considering he was—had been, Ray reminded himself—Gritty’s ticket into the Wild Tides.
“I don’t know about names being worth shit,” Ray said. He leaned forward a little. “But I know your name, Gerold.”
The man screwed his eyes in suspicion.
“Why’d you surrender, Gerold?” Ray knew, to an extent, but he still wanted to hear about it in the man’s own words. It could help him decide how best to interrogate him.
“I didn’t want any part of any killing,” Gerold said after some hesitation. “Not killing people who don’t deserve it, at least.”
“What if you had to kill people who deserved it? What if you had to kill the Wild Tides, now?”
“Heh. Depends on which Wild Tides members I’m killing, I guess.”
Sensible. The Wild Tides might be Ray’s enemy in general, but they weren’t a monolith. Not every single member of the Wild Tides had to be his foe. Like Gerold here.
“Alright,” Ray said. “Here’s the real thing I came here for. What do you know about Derrick Orden, Gerold? And I don’t want to know about his favourite colour or what’s his lucky lottery number. What’s the secret behind his meteoric rise? How does he have a Tower Node?”
“He’s got one of those Node things?” Gritty asked.
Ray stared at her. “I told you that.”
She scratched her head. “You did? Oops.”
“I don’t know anything about this Tower Node,” Gerold said. “But I did hear some rumours you might find interesting.”
“What rumours?” Ray asked.
“I heard the power he’s got isn’t really his. I heard he stole them from someone. So, this Tower Node might be something he stole too. What is a Tower Node? Sounds important.”
Ray was tempted to tell him it was none of his business, but that would put him off from revealing anything further. “They’re like magical Lego blocks for the Tower. They make everything in here function properly.” He wasn’t going to learn specifics about Derrick Orden from Gerold, so he tried a different tack. “What about his relationship with the Sylvans?”
“All I know is that it’s mutually beneficial somehow,” Gerold said. “I did hear he’s supposed to be helping the Floor Lord find something important, something real useful for the Sylvans. Or for the Floor Lord, at least. Couldn’t tell you what, though.”
“How the hell you learned all this, Gerold?” Gritty asked. “And you never thought to mention any of it to me.”
He looked mightily uncomfortable again. “I only learned about some of it recently.”
“Nice excuse.”
Ray decided not to ponder what exactly their relationship was. Mostly because he had no trouble imagining her cornering the poor fellow and then beating the ever-living shit out of him within an inch of his life so she could force him to do her bidding.
“I think that’s all I need,” Ray said. “Nice talking with you, Gerold. I’ll be sure to put in a good word with Maya. See you.”
“Are you actually going to put in a good word?” Gritty asked as they left the makeshift prison hill.
“Well, I’m going to tell Maya men like him could be useful. I don’t really trust them. But I’ll leave it to Maya if she can make use of them somehow. Anyway, where are you going next?”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Where do you think? I’m going killing. Same as you.”
Ray nodded. He probably wouldn’t have called it killing, at least, not so blithely. But he was going to be doing that in the end, wasn’t he? “Did you clear the Windbane dungeon yet?”
“That thing you can summon?”
He laughed. “Yeah. Exactly. Pretty decent Essence, especially if you take out all the ones that are there.” He went on to explain the troubles he’d faced there and the rewards he had obtained. “Good dungeon, overall. I’m hoping the next one will be better.”
“Which is the next one you’re going to?”
“The Tier 8 dungeon Kredevel mentioned. The one in Sector 19.”
“That’s pretty far from here.”
Ray nodded. “It is.”
“Far enough that you’d be closer to the Sylvans than to the Base.”
“True.”
“…so, you might not be coming back. Especially since you want to reach the Second Floor.”
He considered her words a little more carefully. The implication behind them, rather. “That Sylvan we fought at the end. He was too strong for me. What’s worse is that the Floor Lord is going to be even stronger than that. If I can push ahead and grow strong enough to take them out, then yeah, I’m not going to turn back.”
“Then am I going to see you again?”
They both came to a pause. Ray realized she was staring at him a little too intently. He slowly smiled.
“I’m not going to rush things,” he said. “I’m going to get strong enough to take down the Sylvans, and it’s more than likely I’ll have to. So yeah, you will see me again if you can catch up.”
A crooked little grin slowly worked onto her face. “If you think all this shit is going to go down without me present, then you’ve got another think coming, wingman.”
The prospect of seeing her again somehow made Ray feel better about the whole thing. It was comforting to be reminded that he wasn’t alone in all this. That he had friends, that he had an entire side working with him.
Together, they could take down the Sylvans and what was left of the Wild Tides too.
Afterwards, Ray went to visit the graves. They had dug up shallow holes to store the corpses some distance away from the keep. Ray had already been sombre before going there, but once he reached the location, the sensation almost turned depressing.
Nevertheless, with a bit of guidance, he managed to find the grave with a the small headstone bearing Randall’s name.
“Nice of you to come.” Dory tried for a smile, but it didn’t work on her tear-streaked face and red-rimmed eyes. Brave of her, though. “Maya couldn’t make it, so I’m here for us both.”
Ray nodded. There were a couple other people there. Friends of Randall’s he didn’t know. People who mourned their loved one’s passing. It made him wonder if anyone would stand beside his grave if he ended up dying.
He pushed the thought away. Now was the time to think about Randall. Ray might not have known him for long or that well, but he had been one of the first people he had met in the Tower. Plus, Randall had been a decent guy. That was in and of itself worth something under these circumstances.
So, Ray took some time to remember Randall, to engrave his recollections of his friend in his mind. To remember what it meant, what it had felt like, to have lost Randall the way he had.
“Stay safe, okay?” Ray said softly to Dory.
She nodded back. They shared a short but comforting hug before Ray nodded at the others and left. He had paid his respects. It was time to get going.
Before leaving at the end of the day, Ray informed Maya personally about what he was going to do. He found her at her office, though she wasn’t alone. Her family was there too.
“Sorry for stealing her away from you,” Ray said to the man. He meant it. She needed some time with her family. “I promise I’ll be quick.”
“Nonsense,” Maya’s husband said. He was tall and thin. The Wild Tides had clearly not been treating him well. But he seemed happy enough to be back together with his wife. “I should thank you for helping Maya out with everything. You’re a real hero, Ray.”
Ray smiled. “Aw, you’ll make me blush.”
Kissing his wife goodbye and giving Ray’s hand a solid shake, the man took his leave.
Ray proceeded to tell Maya his plan. He really didn’t intend to return to the Base. After all, their entire idea revolved around getting strong enough to take the fight to the Sylvans.
Unless the Sylvans attacked too quickly, they would meet again near the centre of the First Floor.
“We’re already getting started on the preparations,” she informed him in turn. “Clearing out more traversal dungeons, more dungeons in general to level everybody up, stuff like that. And… I’m starting to see why you want to climb higher up the Tower. There’s only so many dungeons people can find. Only so many monsters out in the wild too.”
“The Tower was built that way, I think. They don’t want you to stay on one Floor forever. If you want to grow stronger, you’ll need to go up, no matter what.”
“I’ll figure out the details with Mary and the others, and I’ll let you know once they’re finalized.”
Others. Oh right, she had to mean all the other people she had brought in, all the new groups and Factions who had joined together to help beat back the Wild Tides. All thanks to the traversal dungeons.
“Thanks,” Ray said. “I’ll see you… in Sector 1, then?”
Maya nodded resolutely. “I’ll see you then.”
----------------------------------------
Ray flew all the way to Sector 19 where the Tier 8 dungeon was supposed to be, according to Kredevel. He thought he’d have to look around a little to find it. Kredevel hadn’t been forthcoming about what exact kind of dungeon it was.
Although, he had been very open about the state of the Sylvans and the Wild Tides.
Kredevel: I salute your efforts. You have left the Wild Tides reeling.
Ray: It wasn’t all me. A lot of it was Maya’s planning and the help we got from the Ascenders and the other groups from farther out.
Kredevel: Perhaps. But your defeat of Derrick Orden played a major part in the eventually victory. I’ve heard many of their morale broke as soon as they learned their leader had fallen.
Even in the chat window, Ray could sense Kredevel’s distaste. The idea of being routed so easily, at just the fall of the commander, seemed to be anathema to him. Maybe Sylvans just fought on, no matter who or what fell. It made them seem a lot more dangerous than they already appeared.
Ray: Are the rest of the Sylvans sheltering them for now?
Kredevel: For now, yes. The other Sylvans tolerate them only because they see the Wild Tides as living proof of the corruption of your kind. That you would stoop so low as to conduct a large scale war among your own selves. It serves a nice reminder of the differences between us.
Ray: Weren’t you almost ready to fight your own kind?
Kredevel: I was. And still am, when the time comes. However, it is only against the Floor Lord that I stand. I have no quarrel with the rest of my kind.
Ray: And what if they have a quarrel with you for picking a fight with the Floor Lord?
Kredevel: They will not. It is natural to have disagreements, and the individuals disagreeing are expected to resolve it among themselves.
Ray had gotten the gist that the Sylvans had a very different way of dealing with internal conflict compared to humans.
For now, he focused on the dungeon ahead of him. A dungeon that basically spanned the entire Sector it was located at.
[Presence of the Primordial—Dungeon]
Everair Airfield [Tier 8]
Flight was the greatest achievement for the Everair. They could naturally fly, of course, but they wished to bring the ability to fly to all things that was a part of their lives. As such, the Everair experimented with imbuing flight to all manner of things. Including their machinery, transport and weapons. Find the source of Flight Mana within the dungeon and bring an end to the guardian of the skies.
That last bit was a bit ominous. A guardian of the skies? He looked up but didn’t see anything.
More than that, it was the fact that Ray had received the dungeon entry notification before he could even tell he was at the entrance. Considering it was the size of the entire Sector, Ray wasn’t surprised.
His breath came out in a little gasp as he beheld the dungeon itself spreading out before him. If he had to describe it, he’d go with calling it a massive junkyard. Mountains of debris rose and fell as far as his eyes could see. These gigantic mounds were made of exactly what the dungeon’s description had stated. Weapons, armour, machinery, and other paraphernalia.
All broken and useless. Not even interacting with Mana.
Ray landed at what felt like the actual entrance. He could go on from this point and find the source of the Flight Mana. It shouldn’t be too difficult. Not when Presence of the Primordial could indicate Mana itself for him, with a little bit of focus.
The mountains formed little valleys and passes between them. One of those passes climbed high on a path made entirely of the debris. Ray had to make sure his footing was alright so that he didn’t fall.
He could have used his wings, of course. However, he’d likely have to fight some sort of obstacle at some point, and he wanted to get used to the floor of the dungeon beforehand.
At the top of the pass, Ray paused to look around. It was almost as though he had been led here on purpose to see what was going on in the rest of the dungeon. Well, the rest as far as his eyes weren’t blocked by other gigantic mound of debris.
Ray didn’t spot anything intriguing at first. Presence of the Primordial showed him faint streams of Mana coalescing to a certain point beyond his line of sight.
But then he spotted the Sylvans.
He saw the tail end of a small group of the aliens disappear behind a distant mound of debris. It was difficult to tell how many of them had been there, though he felt as though he caught sight of at least one Brighthorn with them.
What were they doing here of all places? Ray shot off a message to Kredevel to ask about it, but he replied that he had no idea.
Ray was going to have to find and check it out personally.
When he climbed down the pass, he found his first obstacle.
[Presence of the Primordial—Dungeon Obstacle]
Primary Guardians
The presence of life has stirred the old guardians of the dungeon to come to life. These mechanical constructs were placed to deter any thieves. Deactivate them by destroying a nearby fount of Flight Mana.
What a strange challenge. He was supposed to find and turn off their switch? Not exactly a difficult-sounding task at first glance, considering he was in a Tier 8 dungeon.
In general, it would have been nearly impossible for Ray to find this mysterious fount of Flight Mana. But thankfully, Presence of the Primordial indicated Mana in the air for him when he focused, and that included Mana that wasn’t just of the regular variant.
He located one without too much difficulty. It was just a mere dark hole on the side of one of the mounds, spitting out a stream of grey energy skywards.
Destroy it, Presence of the Primordial had said. How exactly was Ray going to do—
The mound of debris began shifting. It took only a few seconds to coalesce around the spout of Flight Mana and form some kind of robotic humanoid the size of an African elephant.
Ray tried using Presence of the Primordial on it but got no notifications about it. Huh. What the hell? Then he recalled the dungeons he had cleared, like the mage academy and the library. Killing the dungeon guardians there hadn’t granted him any Essence. This was a real case, not a scenario like the war dungeon, but these artificial constructs just granted no Essence.
Then, with a violent roar, the construct flew at him.