-Radiant-
My awareness flickered in and out as I felt impressions wash through me like I was remembering how to use a limb that had always been there, unnoticed until now.
Eventually these flickers of awareness solidified into consciousness. The first thing I noticed was the hard surface against my back, and I opened my eyes to see that I was laying on the ground inside the crevice I had entered to get to the Dungeon of Tribulation.
Apparently my awakening had taken longer than I had anticipated and I had been sent out of the reward room before I woke up. I had no idea how long I had been unconscious out here. This is bad, potentially really bad. I didn’t even get the chance to activate my new concealment artifact’s effects before I exited.
I really wanted to try out my new Personal Talent, but taking care of this situation would have to come first. I sat up and placed my back against the wall to get into a meditative pose, then I reached inside myself to feel my Body of Artifacts. Immediately I could feel a new connection to the small box artifact I had stored before I went unconscious, and I mentally willed my Body of Artifacts to mimic the concealment artifact.
Pain flushed through my entire body as it morphed to embody the box artifact’s properties. The pain was by no means small, but it was bearable considering the high level of the artifact I was trying to mimic. However if I wasn’t half Human, and was a full TechnicMorph, then there wouldn’t be any pain whatsoever. It was only because my TechnicMorph nature was fighting against my Human anatomy, that I was feeling any pain.
After nearly 5 minutes of full body pain, my Body of Artifacts finally finished the transformation process. Using my Mental Operator’s capabilities I was able to get a picture of the changes to my body. Most of the changes were internal, organic magic threads that wove throughout my body forming complex patterns and shapes. These threads were being fed mana from my magic core and, although the mana drain was considerable, it was only 10% as much as the original artifact would’ve required; this was because my Magical Physique and my Metaphysical Physique were working together, forming a perfect synergy.
The internal threads weren’t the only change though. Just below the surface of my skin there were small magic circles and connecting lines running all over my body. When I went to look at my arm, I could see faint traces of these magic circles and connecting lines, almost like a faint tattoo that wouldn’t be visible unless one were looking very closely.
This was different than how it would’ve been in my past when my Magical Physique had altered even my surface skin. Back then all of the magic circles and connecting lines would’ve looked like blatant tattoos right on the surface of my skin. The effects would’ve been slightly stronger back then, but I preferred the lack of easy identifiers.
As I was contemplating the changes from the past and my current bodily conditions, I had almost completely forgotten about my surroundings. However some faint sounds, coming from outside the crevice I was in, pulled me out of my self inspection. I couldn’t tell exactly what the sounds were coming from, but I could tell that they were getting louder and coming in my direction.
I quickly cast some magic that would erase my traces from the surroundings before proceeding to cast the familiar concealment spell to hide myself from physical senses. My new artifact’s effects would take care of any magical detection, but physical detection like smells and sounds weren’t included. It wasn’t perfect concealment, but considering that I was in Lonevista, I might as well be undetectable, as long as I didn’t cause any large disturbances in my surroundings.
With my presence now hidden, I decided to walk towards the entrance of the crevice in order to escape if I needed to, and also to see what exactly was making noise outside.
When I reached the entrance to the crevice I was in, I expected to see some sort of animal or something. However, what I saw was something I had hoped to not see. Many different Humans were gathered in the small clearing outside the crevice, all of them wore uniforms that clearly displayed that they were people of the Dukedom of Nightwater. There were what looked like 20 to 30 guards centered around an old looking man who seemed to be in deep concentration. None of the people around the old man said anything, and seemed to be waiting for the man to finish whatever he was doing.
Suddenly the old man opened his eyes and let out a sound of frustration, “Argh! This wretched forest must be to blame!”
One of the guards that looked to be the leader stepped forward and talked to the old man, “Elder Ron, were you unable to find any traces at all?”
*Sigh* “That’s right, Captain.” The old man, Ron, started to rub his temples, “After nearly a month of searching with no traces we finally get something, but just when we start to close in on it, all traces suddenly disappear. After reading the letter he left behind, I can’t help but think this is all just another joke he set up to mock us.”
“Well, whatever the case it’s not my duty to speculate.” The Captain started to address everyone, “You heard Elder Ron everyone. Magical tracking has stopped. Spread out and search for any physical traces of Radiant Shadow. If you find anything, report back to me. Move out!”
“Yes Sir!” All but two guards, the Captain and Elder Ron started to spread out, looking for traces of me.
That’s not good. My mind started to race to try and find a way out of this sticky situation. However despite the dire circumstances I couldn’t help a small smirk coming to my lips. Heh, I didn’t plan to mock them like this, but I’m glad you took it that way, Elder Ron.
I refocused myself and took note of the positions of all the guards in the area, searching for any possible way for me to escape into the forest undiscovered. However, the guards were extremely thorough and well trained in their search, leaving no opening for me to escape on foot and evade detection, despite my concealment.
Ugh, think, how do I get out of this? Teleportation is always an option, but this squad was obviously sent to track me down, and they would know about my spatial abilities by now. Unless they’re idiots then they definitely have a way to track any traces of teleportation.
The group hadn’t been far away from my location in the first place, and it wouldn’t be long before the first pair of guards found and investigated the crevice I was in. Considering the size of the crevice, if I stayed in here there was no way for me to avoid bumping into anyone who entered. At this point I had to decide if I would take my chances outside and hope they didn’t notice anything, or stay inside the crevice and certainly be found once they entered it.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Even if I backed up all the way inside I would still be found… Wait! I almost forgot that there’s a dungeon entrance at the back of this crevice! I could hide in there!
Entering an unknown dungeon solo was a dubious proposition, most of the time, but considering my alternative options it was looking pretty tempting. The only question is, what kind of dungeon could it be? Its distance from civilization, and the amount of time it's been around mean it’s highly unlikely to be either a god’s dungeon or a temporary dungeon. However there’s no way a dungeon could naturally form within Lonevista either, so if it’s not a god’s dungeon or a temporary dungeon and it’s not a newly formed dungeon, then what is it?
Now that I thought about it, a dungeon entrance appearing in Lonevista made no sense. But I was no dungeon expert, so my inability to determine what kind of dungeon it could be wasn’t that big of a surprise. However it meant that going into the dungeon was just as much of a gamble as taking my chances with the guards.
To dungeon, or not to dungeon? That is the question. However, even if the guards were limited in strength because of Lonevista, their numbers completely negated any chance of fighting or running from them.
In the end, my decision wasn’t that difficult. I made my way back into the crevice, and once again came to the black rift in space that I had previously used to enter the Dungeon of Tribulation. However, now it would serve its original purpose.
I was about to place my hand onto the rift when a mischievous idea came to me. I hurriedly took out a piece of paper and a pen from inside my Internal World and quickly wrote a short letter that I placed on the ground with a rock to keep it from moving. Sure it was a bit of a waste of time, but it was definitely worth it.
I made sure it couldn’t be used to find me, before touching my hand to the rift and receiving the System message.
[Enter the dungeon]
[YES] [NO]
I didn’t use my voice to answer this time, and instead tapped the yes with my other hand. It was possible to use my mind to answer, but that took a bit of time and wasn’t as fast as answering either vocally or by tapping yes. However, instead of instantly transporting me, another System message appeared.
[This dungeon entrance will disappear in 673 hours. Do you still want to enter the dungeon?]
[YES] [NO]
Hmm, I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. In any case, I still need to hide from those Nightwater guards regardless. I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter, so I once again tapped yes, and just like that the rift opened up and allowed me to walk into it.
-Elder Ron-
The past few weeks had been extremely boring and sad. I had to live in a prison complex of all places, and to make it worse I had to constantly search for any signs of an escaped prisoner day after day, with no response from my magic.
If I wasn’t here on an official assignment then I would’ve left a long time ago. However, even with this being an official assignment, it was getting to the point that I was going to ask for someone else to take over the job in just a few more days max.
However, just when I was starting to think that this Radiant Shadow had disappeared, I suddenly felt waves of his presence not too far from the place I was at. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance to finish this boring assignment, and I rushed into the wilderness of Lonevista.
The guards of course had no choice but to follow me as I left, and the prison guards had other things to do. So it came as no surprise that the progress through the jungle of Lonevista was much slower than I would’ve liked. By the time we were drawing close to the traces I felt of Radiant Shadow they suddenly disappeared, and not only that, it was like there had been no traces in the first place.
By this point I had resigned myself to probably having to stay on this assignment for much longer than I had hoped. In my despair one of the guards sent out to search the area had come back with something. He had found a letter. The guard captain and I wasted no time reading the letter in hopes that it might have some clue as to where Radiant Shadow could be. However, we were sorely disappointed.
Dear pursuers,
I regret to inform you that you have been completely outclassed by my genius. (That’s a lie, it brings me immense joy to think about the devastated looks on your faces when you receive this letter.) It comes as no surprise that you have failed to find me, and by the time you read this I’ll probably be long gone.
As you've probably seen, there is a dungeon entrance near this letter. Because I feel sorry for those who have taken on the impossible task of finding me, I’ll give you a hint as to where I went. I went into that dungeon entrance near this letter. This is 100% the truth, as I have never lied in my entire life. So please feel free to send any and all pursuers into the dungeon to find me.
From your superior, Radiant.
I had read the previous letter Radiant had left behind in the prison, and it hadn’t stirred much emotion in me. However it was an entirely different experience to be the actual target of such a letter. The condescending and mocking tone was basically oozing through the subtext.
The Captain, who had finished reading the letter with me, voiced what I had been thinking, “This vainglorious brat is just too much.” He shook his head and resumed the normal procedures. Turning to the guard that had handed over the letter he said, “Is there anything else to report about this letter? And what about the supposed dungeon entrance that was mentioned?”
“Sir, the letter seemed to have only just been placed there on the ground, but considering how long Radiant has managed to avoid detection, I can't have much certainty in that statement. As for the dungeon entrance, there was indeed a dungeon entrance near the letter. However…” The guard seemed to hesitate.
“However, what? Don’t keep me waiting.”
“Well, we did a few readings on the entrance, and the results were disconcerting. It looks like it’s an outreach portal from a regional dungeon, and not only that, it looks like it’ll be disappearing in about a month's time.”
When the guard finished his statement, Radiant’s proposition to send everyone chasing after him into the dungeon, took on a whole new depth. I looked at the Captain and said, “I thought that Radiant was just mocking us when he said to send people after him into a dungeon, but if it’s really a portal to a regional dungeon then his words can’t be entirely dismissed.”
The captain nodded, “That’s true, but the fact that it’s disappearing within a month can’t be dismissed either. We can’t be certain that Radiant actually entered this dungeon, or if that’s just a diversion, but we’ll have to send people to investigate both possibilities if we want to be certain. However, that will split our resources, and make the search for Radiant even more costly, and that’s not even the only problem.”
“Regardless, it’s our assignment to look for Radiant. Should we split up and search here and the dungeon, or focus on one or the other?”
“Honestly, this isn’t a decision that we’ll be able to make on our own. We’ll have to report to the higher ups and get the orders from them. But if I’m being honest, the amount of resources necessary to search both locations would probably be more than it's worth. They’ll probably tell us to forget the dungeon entrance and just continue our search here.”
I sighed at the Captain’s words and said, “I used to think that Radiant was a fool to even think he could evade capture, but if he actually did enter that portal then I’ll have no choice but to respect him, whether that be because of intelligence or luck.”
The Captain didn’t comment on what I said, but he pursed his lips, raised his eyebrow, and nodded as he took out a device to report to the higher ups. But regardless of the decision they made, it didn't look like I was going to be free from this assignment anywhere in the near future.