"Welcome back, boys," Meredith greets us as we land in the camp. "How did your trip go?"
"It went well, thank you," Kyron responds. "We actually visited another dragon, Jelvriaz."
"Haven't heard of them," Meredith says.
"She lives near the Shrine of the Frozen Flame, up in Oazkanval."
"I haven't heard of that place," Tasha tells us as she approaches.
"It's a shrine from around a thousand years ago," Kyron tells her as I start walking over to where there's a giant pile of stones near the bathhouse, the three of them walking with us. "A couple of people claiming to be the reincarnations of the Sage of Fire and Saint of Frost fixed it up and have started a cult. They've caused people to believe that the demon are going to return, and the two of them are building up power and an army to help combat it, just as they supposed did in their past lives."
"We've heard of their sort before," Meredith says. "Every now and then, someone or another finds an artifact of immense power and claims to be one of the great myths – especially when it comes to a sword of frost or staff of fire. They usually end up dead within half a decade, often in a most terrible or unusual way."
"How so?" I ask.
"Well," Tasha says. "The last pair who made the claim suddenly fell violently ill. It turned out that the mushrooms served in a stew they had been served had a poisonous reaction when cooked with a certain other vegetable. As both of those had been known to work just fine on their own or when cooked, no one had thought of anything."
"But no one who knew about them turning poisonous when cooked together was there," Kyron says. "So they ended up dying as a result."
"In another case," Tasha tells us. "The pair were crushed by a sudden landslide that has resulted from a pair of spirits arguing, of all things. The pair were at the base of a mountain, while the spirits were at its highest peak. The landslide was so great that the supposed heroes couldn't stop it."
"Time and again," Meredith says. "The supposed heroes die within five years. Another incident – this one just fifty years ago – had them slain by a twin-headed lava crystal snake."
"Unfortunately," Tasha says. "There are plenty who believe that those people are the Sage of Fire and Saint of Frost. They hold enough power to convince people, and their most devout believers refuse to accept that they couldn't be, that their deaths were simply because their time was up or their enemies sought to destroy them."
"And what do you think?" Kyron asks.
"I'm not sure what to think," Meredith says as I turn to face the women. "Is it possible they were reincarnated? I suppose the gods could do it. Unless something directly states it's wrong, however, I could never know for sure what's truth and what's lie."
There's no one else within earshot, and I'd be able to tell if someone was using magic to eavesdrop. After last night and this morning, I have a good enough judge of these two women to know it's safe to discuss the truth with them.
"But you know," I tell Tasha. "You were a believer of some, weren't you? You followed them believing they were the great heroes who ended the Great Demon War with the sacrifice of their lives. And now, you know that those beliefs you held as recently as yesterday were false, don't you?"
"What do you mean?" Kyron asks me.
"She knows what I'm talking about," I tell him, then look at Tasha. "Don't you?"
"I-yes," she nods. "The two of you are the spitting images of every ancient statue I've seen of the Sage of Fire and Saint of Frost."
"That's not hard to find," I tell her. "We were the models for them, after all. Kyron more reluctantly than me."
"I don't understand," Meredith says. "If you were the models for them, then you'd be-"
"Not thousand-year-old people who were around in that time," Kyron interrupts. "I know you're thinking that we were just people who were used as the models and must be rather old despite our looks. If Caleb thinks it's safe to tell you before we've regained our power, then it is. We are the Sage of Fire and Saint of Frost. That's why the God of Death showed up yesterday – we're supposed to be dead. Someone, somehow, resurrected us after a thousand years, and they gave us back our original bodies, too. Dying reset us to Level 0, but we're still at the same Tier we were before."
"But it messed up my casting abilities," I say. "So I have to get some practice in to take care of that. Fortunately, the Dungeon run yesterday helped me deal with it, for the most part."
"He really just means that he has to get used to casting weaker spells again," Kyron tells them. "It only had a slight effect on his actual casting abilities, and he's already over that if the trip to Nozvinel's den was any indication."
"Resurrected?" Meredith asks.
"Yup!" I respond. "And as Ky said, even the God of Death doesn't know how it happened. What kind of design do you want for the bathhouse?"
"Pardon?" Meredith looks confused.
"Do you want it unisex or separated for males and females?" I ask. "What decorations do you want? Phallic? Draconic? Wolfish? Elemental? Forest? Lake? Monsters?"
"Oh," she shakes her head slightly. "Separate sexes-"
"Even after a thousand years, this place is weird."
"What?"
"Caleb claims that where he's from," Kyron says. "Everyone just used the same space to bathe, male or female, young or old. I'm not sure where he's actually from, as we didn't travel through the Fire Plains enough for me to find it, but I knows he's from that general region since it's the language he's native with. Nowhere I ever traveled did that, it was always separated by sex."
"And now that my family is completely dead," I tell him. "And has been for about a thousand years, I don't think I'm going to take you to my homeland. The whole point of that was so that I could introduce you to my dad. Anyway, decoration design, Meredith?"
"You choose," she answers. "But don't do phallic."
"Alright," I nod, then use a quick [Air Scan] to see if there's anyone in the current bathhouse. "Alright, going to get to work! Kyron and I are going to be heading off again tomorrow to go into a Tier VIII Dungeon so that we can gain another fifteen or so Levels. Maybe twenty."
"Do you really think you can do that?" Meredith asks. "I don't intend for that to be offensive, but fifteen to twenty Levels in a single run seems… a bit high for an estimate. While I know you already managed that once, it's rare to manage it twice, especially with the weapons you two have."
"Of course!"
"Yes," Kyron tells her. "He'll work on making us some stronger weapons before it's time to go. They'll be powerful enough to take on most monsters in the Dungeon. Even with the Experience reduction we get for using magic items and the increased amount needed due to being Mythical-Tier, as long as we go for a more total clear, we'll be fine."
"Sh! I'm trying to focus!"
Reaching out with my magic, I begin deconstructing the bathhouse I made yesterday, sending the water from it to the lake. Instead of simply constructing stone walls this time, I alter some of the stone to make a sort of bin, in which I create a mortar using stone, water, and some crystals and monster cores. Then, I alter the stone that was created while we were gone and the stone that Kyron adds to it.
The next step is creating blocks from the altered stone. I start with the ones for the floor, creating two pits for the baths, as well as stone blocks for those. With my magic, I also apply the mortar that I created to help seal them in. I also create special magical channels in the blocks to help harness the spells that will go through them – a specialized form of enchantments, and the main reason this begins to take me hours to work on.
Thankfully, I manage to finish it a couple of hours after dinner. It's not my best job, but I also didn't do any decorations for it, making it more on the plain side. The building itself is rectangular, with a wall down the center of the shorter side and another down the length about a quarter of the way along it, from the front.
Another wall is in front of it, with a roof to provide shelter. Another short wall extends from the front of the building to the wall in front of it, with an opening to either side of that shorter wall on the building itself. Those provide access to the changing room, with the hall that's created allowing privacy.
The changing rooms have stone benches to sit on or store clothes and stuff on, and an opening against the outer wall to allow access in the bathing room itself.
The outer side of the bathing room is the one with the falls this time, and the water that's used gets recycled, purified by the enchanting network I put into this. Now, the only water that's replaced is what steams out of the bathhouse, which will heavily lighten the load on the water crystals used to generate it, thus allowing them to last much longer.
As for the baths themselves, they're twenty feet along the width of the room, the part that borders the middle wall, and fifteen feet along the length of it, or the part against the walls bordering the changing rooms and the back outside wall. Much as with the old one, there's a stone bench in both baths for people to sit on as they soak and relax.
"Why are there stairs leading to the roof?" Meredith asks. "It's rather… flat, too. Shouldn't it be sloped for the rains?"
"No, come on," I lead her and the others watching the tour at the moment up the stairs, Kyron following in mild amusement. "See how there's no steam rising up here?"
"There's a small pool of water, though," she says.
"Yeah," I say.
"Why?" She asks. "And what is the pit it's in for?"
The "pit" is actually more like a tub at the moment. It stands on the roof at the center, and is three feet on each side and about two feet in height. As for the water, it's not even enough to be called a pool yet – it's barely looking like condensation in the bin.
"That's the water that's steaming up out of the baths," I explain. "It's collecting in here. That tub can be deconstructed more easily than the rest – it's just pure stone, no enchanting done to strengthen it. Notice how the stairs go up to the top of the walls around the roof, rather than straight to it?"
"Yes," Meredith answers. "Followed by a four-foot-high drop with no stairs."
"Those can be added in later," I tell her. "If I had more time, I'd have done this part up here, and even added in decorations to the bathhouse, but I want to utilize my time tomorrow to do other stuff, like prepare for the Tier VIII Dungeon."
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"What my husband isn't saying," Kyron tells Meredith. "Is that as you construct the town, you can move some of the excavated soil up here. Draw out the clay to use for other things to leave just soil. Create channels from the center through the rest for irrigation if you wish, and alter the center to create a pool as you please."
"A rooftop garden," Meredith realizes.
"Yup!" I answer. "And I already put in rain channels to help deal with overflow! You'll see those over here, and if you look at the building from the ground, you'll notice how the walls are a little bit of a different color grey – that's because of the reinforcement to make them more resilient to the extra flow, just like in the baths. Don't worry about the dirt blocking the rain channels, the enchantment network is set up well enough for dealing with that."
"A rooftop garden… for a bathhouse?" One of the others watching us asks. "Why?"
"Why not?" I ask. "It's extra space for growing food or chickens, right? Maybe even a couple of cows? Or you could turn it into a flower garden instead of a food garden. Come wash up, take a bath to relax your muscles, then come up to the garden and relax your mind."
Why waste the space just because it's a roof? Gardens are pretty awesome, and having a food garden on your roof can help cut down on the space needed to grow it – or increase the space available to grow crops to sell. Most people have a small garden of vegetables and maybe herbs in their yard, why not put it on the roof to reduce the space? Utilize some of the water from the rains, or from a bath if one has their own.
For leisure places like a bathhouse, they could even add in a flower garden like I suggested. The Great Bathhouse of Ancient Memories has an entire hedge maze on top of it!
"Do you think Gubam is still around?" I ask Kyron.
"Gubam?" Meredith asks.
"His name for something," Kyron tells her. "And it's about four hundred miles away from here if it is, so it would probably be better for us to ask someone closer to that area."
"Indeed," she nods. "That's a fair distance to travel, most don't ever travel that far from their homes."
Without flight magics, that distance would take several weeks. At least in our era, that would also be two to five kingdoms' worth of distance, depending on the area.
"You probably won't make too much use of this space until spring," Kyron tells Meredith. "But you can probably do a winter version as well if it's for leisure. You can also start putting dirt up here in preparation – it actually helps to start several months early so that it can pack down properly once more."
While earth magics can be used to do that, there's a certain settling of soil that can't be achieved with magic alone. Not without being extremely skilled at it, anyway.
"Thank you," Meredith responds.
"On to another bit of business before we conclude things for the night," Kyron says. "This Special Dungeon is in a fairly decent location for us and our near travels."
Kyron pauses there, probably to allow Meredith to draw her own conclusions.
"You want to know if you can use this camp as a base," she says. "At least, for the time being."
"If it's not too much of an issue," Kyron answers. "If we work hard at it, we can clear a Tier VIII Dungeon in less than a week. Our fastest speed at any Tier while we were in or before it range was only six days. After we finish in that one, we'll want a place to relax, before seeking out and clearing a Tier XII Dungeon or so, depending on where we're at. We're in a bit of a time crunch, as we want to confront the imitators sooner rather than later. After that, we'll want some rest before setting off to seek out another Dungeon, some items, and some answers. Having a place we can reliably come back to between things would be nice."
We actually have a little more than two weeks, before the frauds perform their advancement and reset. While Kyron and I don't plan on actually fighting the frauds, there's still a decent chance they'll attack us when we try to shut them down. It's extremely unlikely we'll reach around Level 180 or so in the next two weeks, but we don't actually need to reach that high.
Just reaching Level 50 will be enough for what we need.
The reason that we want to confront them before they reset is because if we wait until after, that will be used as proof that we are frauds. They'll attack us, lose, and since we aren't the sort to kill people just for pretending to be us, they'll then claim we waited until after their reset so we could prove our superiority.
With some of the stuff we'll acquire in the Dungeons we're going to run before then, and some of the stuff I took from Nozvinel as part of his payment, I can create magic items that will allow us to deal with them, should they attack us or try to discredit us. While I do hate making several of the items I'll be making for it, it's necessary to shut them down.
Some of the items will only be used if they don't attack us, but I've got a feeling they will.
"The assistance you have already provided us just by clearing a Specialty Dungeon and allowing it to hit Tier VI at its strongest is immense," Meredith responds to Kyron statement and explanation. "Your husband's work in creating this bathhouse has saved our builders several weeks of work – and this is superior to any I've known before."
"It's a rush job," I grumble, in our language out of habit and familiarity. "And it doesn't even have any decorations."
"You can add those in during another stay here," Kyron wraps an arm around me. "Think of this as just giving you more time to think of how you want to decorate it."
"I hate leaving things half-finished."
"I know, Cay," he gives me a kiss on the forehead, then looks at Meredith. "Does that mean we may?"
"Yes," she answers. "I will handle Erik and my husband regarding this. Do you mind if I ask why he seems a little… pouty?"
"Because the bathhouse isn't finished," Kyron informs her. "He doesn't have time to do the decorations for it, and before you attempt to have someone try, he performed a magical reinforcement of every block and all of the mortar. You'll notice that some sections are smooth strips – those are designed to be carved into eventually. It will, however, take more Magic than anyone else here has at the moment. Caleb will do it at a future date, when he has more time. Thanks for allowing us to stay here."
"You're welcome," Meredith responds. "It's the least I can do, after the help you've given us so far."
"She's just hoping we'll help them more," I tell Kyron.
"Yes," he kisses my forehead. "And you said that in their language, Cay. It's also not like we weren't planning on giving them some help for letting us use their camp and future town as a base of operations until we move on from this greater region. Now stop sulking over not getting to finish the bathhouse before we have to leave tomorrow."
"Not just that," I tell him. "We can't do a sleepless night for awhile, since we need to wake up by a certain time tomorrow so that I have time to make the other weapon, then for us to actually get to the Dungeon. Then, we can't do it while in there, so that we can actually get through it in a reasonable amount of time. And after that-"
"It's okay, Cay," Kyron tells me. "First, the only reason we can't do it is because I won't have as much energy. You're always a bundle of it no matter how little sleep you get. Second, you'll have fun slaughtering monsters, anyway. Third, I promise that we can have three in a row after we don't have a time limit to take care of things, alright?"
"Three?" I ask. "In a row? Really?
"Yes," he sighs. "As much as I'm going to hate that, yes."
"Yes!" I jump onto him, giving him a hug with both arms and legs. "Thank you!"
"Mind if I ask what that's about?" Meredith asks as Kyron actually spins in a circle while holding me.
"You know how true mages," Kyron says. "Are a bit off in their minds? How they tend to be more excitable with certain things, most of which involve using magic in some form or researching it?"
"Yes," Meredith answers. "It also affects their bodies and minds in other ways."
"Yeah," Kyron says. "A true mage's stamina and natural vitality also shoot to the stars. So does their libido. Add on to the fact that we're at the end of our teens, and, well, he wants sex. All night long. And he can manage that several days in a row. I'm honestly not sure how long, because we've only ever done one sleepless night before. I'm going to need to track down some potions, to help me make it through three."
"I can make them," I give him a kiss on the cheek, then return to the ground. "I'm going to go make my staff for our next Dungeon run. I'll make your sword in the morning."
"The two you made earlier aren't enough?" Kyron asks. "They'll boost your spells to around the Dungeon's level. Also, which of the Dungeons are we going into? Jelvriaz told us about four Tier VIII Dungeons. The two you actually asked about, those staffs are enough."
"I already know the other two," I tell him. "They were both Tier III Dungeons when I ran them before, though."
"Dungeons can upgrade," Meredith tells me. "Up to three times in total, and the third time will always place them at five Tiers above their original."
"So that did get figured out," I say. "That's pretty nice to know. Is the reason for their upgrades known?"
"Some," Meredith nods. "If a Dungeon is repeatedly cleared by people capable of breezing through it, especially soon after it reopens, it will initiate an upgrade. Shifting Dungeons require it to happen to both versions of it – probably 'all', since there's one with three versions now. We don't know if Advancing Dungeons do or not, however."
"What are Advancing Dungeons?" Kyron asks me.
"No clue," I shrug. "Never heard of them before."
"There's only one," Meredith tells us. "It appeared around seven hundred years ago, and is monopolized by the Itoshiesh Kingdom, to the east of here. It has a one-month wait period between runs. Instead of simply ending, the Dungeon has 'stages'. At the end of every stage is a Dungeon Boss, and after that, a rest zone. You can choose to either rest for up to twelve hours, continue to the next area, or leave. The next area is a Tier above the old one. It starts at Tier I and goes up by a single Tier every stage. No one knows how far you can actually go into the Dungeon, but I heard they've managed to reach Tier XVIII a few times, with Major-Tier parties."
A Major-Tier person would need to be around Level 130 to take on a Tier XVIII Dungeon, while a Moderate-Tier person, the Tier below that, would need to be around Level 200 to take it on. They could do it at a lower Level using magic items, though. It would honestly be best if they performed an advancement to Major-Tier and gained Levels first.
Which might actually be something that Dungeon is good for, until they run out of supplies even from what they gained within the Dungeon. A run that long would probably exhaust the party as well. I wouldn't be surprised if they party simply quit after reaching there due to a combination of those two things.
Besides, running the same Dungeon for weeks or even months with the same party would no doubt push on one's nerves. Even lovers need breaks from each other from time to time. Those breaks are usually only hours or a day or so, but in a Dungeon, it's not usually good to constantly split up..
For Kyron and me? We could clear Tier XVIII at around Level 80, maybe a little less if we're careful enough. That sort of Dungeon would sound absolutely perfect for a Master-Tier or Mythical-Tier trying to progress in Levels.
Also a nightmare for me, because I really don't want to spend that long in a Dungeon in a row. Though it might have rare and valuable resources further in, I'd still be limited in my experiments and research, I wouldn't be able to travel around, I wouldn't be able to socialize with other people or dragons, I wouldn't get random visits from gods, and more.
Meredith suddenly looks nervous.
"Kyron?" She quietly asks. "Why did Caleb just shiver while looking disturbed?"
"Probably thinking about how he'll never want to go into that Dungeon," Kyron pulls me close for a one-armed hug from the side. "Don't worry, Cay, I'll never ask you to go in there. Now, you didn't answer why you needed a new weapon for the Dungeon we're going in."
"Oh, right!" I exclaim. "So one of those two Dungeons that I didn't ask Jelvriaz for more information, I discovered when I was twelve. Well, I didn't 'discover' as in being the first person to find it, but that's when I learned about it."
"And you really like it?" He asks.
"Yeah!" I answer. "It's an earth-based Dungeon with some water magics involved, but it consists of a series of floating islands. There's also no void, just an endless sky beneath, and if you fall, you die for good! Well it has gone up in Tier since I ran it, so it might have other things. But I'll need a staff with air magics to actually handle things there."
"I'm confused," one of the men says. "You said it was Tier III when you found it, but it's Tier VIII now?"
"Don't think too hard," I tell him. "Even the God of Death is confused."
"I don't think that's what he was asking, Cay," Kyron tells me.
"Yeah, but his mind would probably go 'pwoo' if he knew the full information," I say. "Even Meredith is still clearly adjusting to the knowledge. By the way, what happened to the shithead? I haven't seen him since our return."
"I sent Erik back to town," Meredith answers. "To inform my husband of the Dungeon's opening in-person. Will you need to look at our staff bases before getting to work?"
"No, but thank you for offering," I tell her. "I got some branches from an enchanted tree before we came back. I already used my magic to dry it out, and-"
"How do you do that?" One of the people who came up here with us, but who has been quiet so far, asks.
"Air, fire, and water magics," Meredith answers. "It's a trick builders use when in a rush and can't wait the months for wood to dry. It also increases the risk of splitting the wood or damaging its integrity, Caleb. Will your staff be fine?"
"Yup!" I answer. "It's slender enough I can do it in about half an hour without affecting the wood. Also, when we return, I can set up a building that's enchanted to act as a fast-drying hall for wood. Just have them cut it like they normally wood and set it up in there like they would for letting it sit over summer. The wood will be dry within a week. Oh! But they'll need to use a special seal on the ends of it, I can work up the recipe. After we return, though."
"Are you sure?" Meredith asks.
"Yeah, it's not hard," I tell her. "I'm fairly certain all the stuff for the recipe can be found around here, anyway, and-"
"No," Kyron interrupts. "I think she's asking if you're sure about setting that up."
"Well, yeah," I say. "If we're using this place as our base, I'd like a proper wooden door for our house. Tables, chairs. Shutters for windows. Firewood. All of that requires wood that's dry. Speaking of firewood, Meredith, I'm planning on adding a fire pit and smoke vent to our temporary house tonight, since the nights are chilly and I don't fancy waking up a cold room. The whole thing is going to get torn down and remade after we return from the Dungeon to be more than just a cube, but it doesn't hurt to do this for a night."
"I'll have firewood brought to the house," Meredith tells me.
"Thanks!"
"No problem," she smiles.
"Alright!" I clap my hands together. "You guys can go and do whatever you were planning on doing now, like taking a bath or eating or cleaning or something! I'm going to go make a staff!"