After hearing the recent events from Jabrax, Mud examined the dodecahedral artifact. Although Mud knew very little of runecraft, the library of Cithlar provided ample reference material. After retrieving a relevant book, however, the golem quickly ran into a problem.

Runes densely packed every surface of the object in script so small as to be barely legible. Decoding this device would be significantly time-consuming. Even if it spent the entire night unraveling the devices' purpose, there was still a risk that it would learn nothing of significance.

Still, the strange artifact roused Mud's curiosity. If this object truly was crafted by The Master, it was Mud's responsibility to protect it. If it turned out to be a bomb or something that required regular maintenance, then it was important to find out quickly.

The same was also true of the mysterious machinery found in the sub-basement. Weighing the two threats against each other, Mud decided to focus on the comparatively easier to solve mystery of the dodecahedron. Thanks to the golem's precise memory and disciplined mind, memorizing runes was a simple task.

In the case of the Taegul Drive, Mud didn't even know where to begin. When asked, Jabrax had claimed that the Drive was some sort of power source, and she didn't know how it works. She also expressed ignorance in regards to the motors.

With that logic, Mud spent the late afternoon and well into the next morning exploring the inscribed polyhedron. Along the way, Mud attained a new skill from the Akashic Record; Rune Mastery. In addition to the reference material, Mud quickly gained an understanding of how to read the language.

Unfortunately, there were times when the information provided by the Akashic conflicted with that found within The Master's physical texts. Although instances of conflict were infrequent, the ambiguity was amplified by the sheer volume of inscriptions. In the end, Mud could only decipher the most general functions of the device.

The purpose appeared to draw in ambient soul emanations from a large area and pull them towards the artifact itself. Based on what Mud could understand, the area was large enough to cover all of Geltheas in its radius when the artifact was placed within the dungeon. Even now, a large amount of pure mana was being siphoned towards the dodecahedron's current location in Cithlar's mansion, nearly a third of Geltheas being still within its radius.

Mud walked towards its contracted demon, losing balance only occasionally. "Jabrax, what effect would it have if large amounts of pure mana is concentrated in a single location?"

"Pure mana? You mean uncorrupted by Ideals?" Jabrax sat up from her position lying on the air. She spread her moth-like wings wide while stretching her arms above her. "Well, it would deteriorate the hold that the false world has on an area."

Hopping down from her unseen chair, the demon strutted over to Mud and leaned over the artifact in the golem's hands. "It would take rather a lot of pure mana to wipe away the demiurges will... did this thing create mana somehow?"

"If my interpretation is correct, this artifact functions by drawing in mana from within a set radius. I estimate the radius is large enough to cover all of Geltheas when placed within the dungeon." Mud confirmed her suspicion.

Jabrax stood up and rubbed her chin in thought. "Most civilians don't use their souls emanations. Understanding an Ideal is too difficult for most Sapients, stupid as they are. As a result, there's often a lot of it uselessly hanging around where they settle."

The demon lifted one hand, and within began swirling a subtle distortion, as if the area within her hand twisted the light passing through it. "Free mana is slowly tainted into the demiurge's Ideal of the World if left alone, so even in large cities, it's not a concern. But if you were to concentrate enough to one point before it has time to turn..."

The twisted space within Jabrax's hand shrunk, tightly compacting. As it reduced in size, the distortions grew more pronounced. As it reached the size of a coin, the twisted light no longer showed visions possible in this world. Straight lines that intersected themselves and impossible angles. It reminded Mud of a spell it had seen cast once by the demi-sheep priest Ovis to trap a wolf.

As the distortion shrunk further, a sudden crack resounded through the room and a jagged-edged pinhole of pure blackness replaced the distortion. From beyond the blackness, Mud felt as though it could almost see something indescribable in the depths of nothingness. The edge of a truth.

It lasted only an instant. The air around the pinhole of blackness grew into it, like a healing wound. Before long, nothing remained but the air. No sign of the incident remained, save for their memories.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"What was that?"

"I compressed pure mana to a point." Jabrax sat down in the air heavily. "I used a lot of my pool... the Akashic might say a few hundred perhaps? Still, it's nothing compared to what can be done with an entire city."

Suddenly, Mud felt rather concerned at the device it now held in its hands. Would a similar event soon consume the entire mansion? There was one other detail that kept Mud from being too concerned, however.

"Why didn't this device cause such a distortion within the dungeons?" The device had been presumably functioning within the city's dungeon for some time now and hadn't caused such a disaster.

"The dungeon is perhaps the only safe place to store an object like that. Dungeons use ambient mana as fuel, after all."

This was news to Mud. Up until now, it hadn't considered how dungeons had fueled their growth. Still, that explanation renewed concern for the safety of keeping the device within the mansion. Just as Mud was contemplating sneaking the dodecahedron back into the city dungeon, Jabrax offered a different solution.

"There's another way to avoid a disaster with that thing, though. If the problem is uncorrupted mana, why not just corrupt it?" Jabrax smiled wickedly at Mud. "Just think of how useful it would be to have a massive, readily available supply of mana at your home, to do with as you please. As long as you don't let it build up too much, there won't be any problems. Why, you could even consider it beneficial!"

Vaguely, Mud felt a bit of malice from the demon's words. Despite the skill's warning, however, Mud could not argue against her logic. Despite its danger, this device could be a powerful tool or weapon if utilized properly. Despite the golem's misgivings, Mud asked the fateful question.

"How do I corrupt the mana this artifact pulls in?"

The demon's face split with a wide, jagged toothed smile.

----------------------------------------

Cob waited patiently outside his favorite coffee shop in the early morning light. Unfortunately, there would be no cute rabbit-eared waiter today. In fact, the entire city was deserted. All of the civilians had already made for the designated shelters on the edge of town.

Being a regular customer for several years, the shop owner had thoughtfully left a pot of coffee and some scones outside on the table for him to enjoy. A very thoughtful gesture, thought Cob.

As he slowly chewed the delicious pastry, the person, or rather, the thing he had been waiting for finally arrived. His new boss, Mud. Hopefully, it would prove to be less of an idiot than his former boss, Bark. Thinking about the irony of the fact that he was probably now working for the very individual responsible for his former bosses disappearance, Cob let out a light chuckle.

"Hello there, Muddy." Cob nodded slightly as the golem walked up and took a seat at the table. "Did you get taller since the last time I saw you?"

"Yes, I did." Mud responded flatly, as usual.

Cob was beginning to suspect the construct had no emotions. While Cob was not stupid, he was also not well educated. Details about an existence as rare as a golem were not well known to him. His understanding was solely based on barely remembered rumors and deductive reasoning. There was one other deduction that was making him concerned, however.

"The other day in the dungeon... look, I'm on your side, so don't take this as a threat or anything, but I think I can guess what that rich kid was trying to do." Getting no reply, Cob soldiered on. "It's something like, you can't refuse an order, right?"

An uncomfortable silence followed. Eventually, Mud answered. "Why do you want to know?"

An evasive answer, but not an outright denial. And based on the assassination in the dungeon, it was clear that Mud considered this knowledge to be a significant liability. Cob was inclined to agree. Needing to follow orders from random people could be a big problem, and one that Cob would like to resolve if at all possible.

The idea of trying to control Mud himself was quickly discarded. Cob had no delusions about surviving if Jabrax wanted him dead, even if he had control of Mud.

"Why don't I just order you to not have to listen to orders then? Problem solved."

"That will not work." Mud quickly rejected.

"If the problem is that orders from me wouldn't work, then we could find somebody suitable and force them." Cob leaned forward and pressed on.

"That is not the problem. My order to follow orders would override any order to not follow orders."

Cob sat back in his seat. That was certainly a setback, but the task did not seem insurmountable with a little creativity. "What if I ordered you to only follow orders that you want to?"

Mud hesitated for a moment, but eventually rejected that plan. "That will also not work. It is technically possible, but it opposes my interpretation of The Master's intent."

Cob continued to eat scones and drink coffee for a time in silence. Eventually, he had another idea. "What if I ordered you to ask my permission first before following an order from another person if you don't like that order?"

Mud sat in silence for a moment. "That would work. Such an order would improve my ability to accomplish my existent directives by limiting the possibility of disruptive orders. Give me the order immediately."

"Uh, sure." Cob smiled smugly, the joy of solving a major problem with an elegant solution filling him. Cob raised one finger to the air and spoke theatrically. "I order you to ask for my permission before following any order that you don't want to follow, and if I refuse permission then you don't need to follow that order!"

Reaching back down for his cup of coffee, Cob took a long sip. For a moment, he wondered if he had done the right thing. The church seemed to be really worried about how dangerous constructs are. Was it really a good idea to effectively remove one of the few restraints on this one?

Placing down the empty cup, Cob made a wide smile. After considering that the little pile of dirt sitting opposite him might someday destroy the world because of this casual conversation, all he could think of it was 'that would be pretty funny.'