“Come on. You have to admit that it’s weird that the Embers have been paying for things almost exclusively in gems these days, right?”
“Just leave it alone, Greg! They’re a charity. They heal people. And besides, if some fancy pants in Besti is deciding to bankroll their entire ritual anonymously, I don’t want to be the one that gets on his bad side.”
* Conversation between two agents in the Gram department of tax and revenue
-------
“We worked tirelessly to prepare this for you, your lordship,” one of my cultists practically scraped the floor as he bowed and gestured to a downward-sloping tunnel. “We hope that you find it to your liking.”
“I’m sure it will be fine,” I replied with a dismissive wave. “I’ll handle it from here. You’re dismissed.”
He nodded and then left me to my thoughts… and Tim’s.
If your cult is in ownership of this entire enterprise, why are you engaging in such skulduggery?
“Skulduggery?” I snorted lightly.
Err… Chicanery. No… trickery.
“I knew what the word meant. It was just ridiculous that you would use it in a serious conversation,” I replied. “And the reason that I went to all the trouble is that even though the Children of the Flame own the mine, that doesn’t mean that everyone that works here is a direct member of the cult. The other shafts to the below are too busy for me to come and go, and so we needed some kind of excuse to give me some room.”
I chuckled. “Hiring me as a consultant-“ I wrapped the last word in finger quotes, “-seemed to be the best way to go about it.” I paused. “Well, assuming that I can actually do better at finding magicite veins than any other random person.”
You seem… trepidatious about this endeavor. Is the Below truly so nightmarish?
“You’ll see when we go through that portal,” I replied as I reached the entrance, with a handy rope already secured and dangling down through it. “Or rather… I suppose it’s more likely that you won’t.”
Tim didn’t have time to reply before I took hold of the rope and quickly slid into the portal.
The entrance had a bit more vertical space than the first time I had gone down, and I slid approximately 20 feet before my feet finally rested on solid ground.
I frowned as I looked up and couldn’t see my entrance, and Tim seemed to be momentarily stunned into silence.
He recovered quickly.
It is indeed dark. He stated the obvious. And the reason you are not making use of a lantern is?
“Well, I guess we can get the first test done right away,” I replied. I knew torches and lanterns were a no-go, but I had one last thing I wanted to try.
I pulled out a magelight, which was a mana-run flashlight that Theo had introduced to me so long ago, and shined it into the inky darkness.
It functioned a little better than I expected. I was able to see a bit around the tight beam, even as far as almost 10 feet. However, just like the lantern I had tried on my first visit to the Below, my magelight soon sputtered and died.
“About what I expected,” I sighed. “Yeah, the Below basically eats any light source, is resistant to [Darkvision], and is home to a bunch of weird creatures. Speaking of the last one…” I snapped a quick [Disrupt] on my [Monster Magnet] perk.
I always knew that magicite-mining was dangerous. Cameron interjected for the first time in quite some time. But I never realized the conditions were this awful… and that this is what you subjected all those people to for decades. Monster.
“Hey Cameron,” I replied. “Shut up. And that’s an order.”
His oath took effect, and he was shushed. Meanwhile, I pulled my staff back out and started casting.
What are you… Tim started to ask. Ah. A [Teleport Beacon]. He stated as he realized the type of mana I was using. You are anxious about being able to locate this entrance, and you desire to be able to return here, irregardless of distance.
“Got it in one,” I replied, half-distracted with casting the first phase of the ritual. “I’ve heard reports of chasms that go down for dozens of miles. While I think I still have a decent shot of surviving a splat at terminal velocity, even on rocky ground, I don’t want to risk being outside of [Teleport] range should something like that go wrong.” I chuckled. “I really wish these worked cross-dimension. That would be so much easier.”
The required mana for such a contraption would be-
“It was just a wish, Tim,” I replied. “I know. I know.”
Indeed. He replied. Then, after a brief pause, he continued. I shall leave you to your endeavors and get myself and our not-so-willing companion back to work on the ritual.
“Yup, sounds good,” I nodded. Then I paused as I had a realization. “But before you do… Thanks, Tim. I haven’t said that much, but without that journal you gave me and the help you’ve given me ‘til now, this ritual would have never stood a chance.”
Tim chuckled. Do not get too soft on me, [Demon Lord]. He chided lightly. We still have much work to do.
Then he was gone, and I was stuck casting… for 6 hours.
Yeah, [Teleport Beacon] was a multi-stage ritual that took 6000 mana. The good news was that it was mostly 6 installments of 1000 mana, and that meant I just had to focus on the cast for about 10 minutes out of the hour. The rest was just maintenance.
“With this, I lock in the first of the coordinates of the beacon, [Teleport Beacon: Stage 1],” I chanted.
The magic solidified, and then I was in “maintain” mode. And that gave me time to think.
There needed to be six coordinates for the beacon. I thought idly. First three are obviously X, Y, and Z coordinates, and I have a feeling I’m going to confirm the 4th coordinate here soon, but what the heck would 5 and 6 be for?
I thought about that for a bit but couldn’t think of anything… and then my ruminations were interrupted.
A disgusting tongue lashed out of the darkness. I dodged immediately, but my few feet of visibility didn’t give me enough lead time. The below leaper’s attack scored a hit on my shoulder, and I was treated to an unlucky message from the System.
System: You are paralyzed and are unable to act
I had never really understood the difference between paralyzed and stunned as conditions in Placeholder, especially since I had [Status Effect Resistance]. However, I got to learn that day as my legs gave out and I collapsed to the floor.
“You are dead,” I said with a face full of, surprisingly dustless, cavern floor. “I’m going to tear that tongue of yours out and beat you with it.”
The creature I couldn’t even see didn’t reply and instead lashed out with its tongue once more.
It scored a hit that still barely moved my HP bar, but I was getting annoyed.
System: You are no longer paralyzed
And there we go. I thought. The tongue lashed out again… and I caught it.
And the good news was, holding onto that “weapon” didn’t seem to count as an attack from the disgusting beast as I stood up and slowly reeled it in.
However, I did run into a problem. I only had two hands to work with and I wanted to keep my staff out.
Fortunately, I am nothing if not adaptable.
“Die. You. Stupid. Useless. Piece of…” I said as I started bashing the monster with the most expensive magic item ever known to Placeholder over and over again.
The good news was that black mithril wasn’t such a weak material that it would be phased by that, and my staff remained in pristine condition, even when the monster lay dead and looted.
As I stood there gloating, Tim made sure to come and burst my bubble.
Could you not have simply struck it with one of your lower extremities?
That made me pause for a second. “I could have kicked it…” I started. “If I didn’t totally forget about not being cursed anymore.”
The curse would have made no difference. You already made contact with the beast’s tongue. He stated dryly.
“Yeah… well… What did you need, Tim?” I asked.
Thankfully, he went with my attempt to change the subject.
We have need of you in the Mindscape for a moment.
“That will ruin the ritual!” I objected. “And I’m kinda in the middle of hostile territory here!”
You are barely extending any mental effort toward the [Teleport Beacon] ritual at this moment, and this quote hostile territory end quote has manifested only a singular enemy over the course of an hour. You can spare a portion of your mind to come investigate something with us in the Mindscape.
“Fine,” I grumbled. It was the first time I had tried to leave a sliver of conscience back in my body while I retreated to that internal world, but it seemed to work out… mostly.
The Mindscape was extra jittery as I worked with Tim and Cameron on an extra tricky portion of the ritual, and when I finally made it back to my body fully, I found out that I had been drooling.
“That was unpleasant,” I stated as I stood up, stretched out a bit, and then [Disrupted] [Monster Magnet] again for good measure. “Now, where were we on the ritual…”
I began gathering the mana, and then I cast.
“With this, I lock in the second of the coordinates of the beacon, [Teleport Beacon: Stage 2],” I chanted.
The X and Y coordinates were now locked in. The hours passed, and I repeated the chant for stage 3 and stage 4. With that, I finally got my answer.
Aha! I thought as I examined the effect the ritual was encoding. The 4th coordinate is dimension! Placeholder itself is a 0, and it looks like the Below is… 4.
I frowned and started counting on my fingers. “Placeholder, Dragonlands, Tutorial, Below… Missing one. Oh, right.” I flipped open my achievements page for the reminder.
Achievement
Criteria
Remaining
Interdimensional traveler
Travel to 5 different dimensions
Go to Hell!
“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered. “You too, System.”
I shook my head and closed my status. “Anyway, Hell would make 5. So, if the Below is coordinate 4 and Placeholder is coordinate 0, Hell, the tutorial, and the Dragonlands are probably 1 through 3.”
I nodded in satisfaction. I even figured that there might be a way to specify my own coordinates and teleport wherever I wanted. However, that information was mostly just academic and useless at that point. And the reason for that…
Teleporting to unknown coordinates sounds… Risky. I shuddered as I imagined showing up inside a wall, or beneath the dirt, or in the absolute worst-case scenario, in the inky void of the tutorial that was apparently corrupted if you went down far enough.
I wonder what corruption would do to someone who had [Memory Protection]. I thought for a moment… and then I decided I really didn’t want to test that out.
The rest of the ritual was uneventful, just a few small-scale attacks, and then it was time to finish the beacon.
“With this, I lock in the final of the coordinates of the beacon, [Teleport Beacon: Final Stage],” I chanted. “Guide my channeled mana home whenever I call to you. [Teleport Beacon: Below Entrance]!” I tapped my staff on the ground at the end as the mana flared… not because it was necessary, but because it felt cool.
That gathered mana locked in, solidified, and then it was done. I could now teleport there from anywhere in the Below.
And then it was finally time to get exploring.
… Unfortunately, exploring in the below meant groping along the walls or floor and hammering in pitons on occasion as if I was a climber.
That made things awkward when the next leaper attack came, and as I pulled it in and punched it to death, I couldn’t help but grumble.
I need magic for an early warning system. I decided. Something to tell when enemies are near. Even if I can’t actually see them yet.
My eyes shot open wide.
“Tim!” I called out.
I don’t know how ghosts can hit their head on things or what he was even ducking under, but I felt him jolt upright and hit the back of his head against something in the Mindscape.
What is it? He asked in ill humor.
I didn’t care.
“Teach me [Detect Life]!” I told him.
There was a long pause.
“[Detect Life]?” I repeated as almost a question. “You know. That spell you used to track me down back when I was [Sneaking] around?”
I… am afraid I don’t have any recollection of that. He finally stated.
“Really?” I asked. “You… don’t get a headache when I talk about it, do you?”
Negative. He replied. So, if it is your concern that my failed recollection was the result of a “patch” that would be misplaced. I was about to ask a follow-up, but he beat me to the punch. I am unable to recall many of the memories that occurred before my ascension to lichdom. That is, perhaps, partially due to the ritual itself, but another high-probability cause would be… I was hardly sane when I designed that spell.
I frowned. “So, no memories of [Detect Life]?”
None.
“What about those [Mortae]-based land mines you cast in the city?”
No.
“The barrier you had around the obelisk? [Counterspell]? The method you used to fly?”
No. No. N-… actually that occurred after the ascension. I believe that is within my recollection.
I grinned. That was good news. I’d never thought about flight, but it would trivialize so many things. [Heroes] couldn’t reach me. I could fly around in the Below without worrying about falling. And I could even-
That seemed to have been an innate ability of liches. He replied. Even to my expansive knowledge of the arcane, there exists no spell to replicate it.
And my mood crashed to the floor, just like any of my attempts at flight would have.
I never thought that I would have to deal with the “boss character joined my team and became useless trope[1].” I thought in a portion of my mind that Tim couldn’t hear.
However… Tim added. I believe I may have determined a possible remediation to your issue of sightlessness in the Below.
“And that is?”
[Scry]. A portion of it functions to allow sight even in the dark, though I doubt you were aware of said fact due to your peculiar racial perks.
I scrunched my eyebrows. “Okay, and I would [Scry]-“
Yourself. Tim replied immediately.
That left me blinking for a few seconds. “Well… Alright. Let’s give this a go,” I finally replied. “But… you and Cameron are about to hear my true name, so we might as well get the oaths over with first.”
I gathered them both up and then had them swear not to tell anyone my name without permission or use it against me.
With that all taken care of, it was time for the moment of truth.
I pulled my hand mirror out and cast. “[Scry] Titus Null.”
The picture cut in… and I could see the area around me without an issue.
“Great work, Tim,” I said with a grin. “This should make things a lot easier.”
It did… but it was also incredibly awkward. Trying to navigate with about a 5-foot radius of first-person view and a 30-foot radius of third-person view[2] was jarring, to say the least.
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
In addition, I had to have my staff out to ensure my mana regen outpaced the [Scry’s] upkeep, so that also meant that both of my hands were busy. To make things worse, I stumbled often and had difficulty judging the distance to things.
The latter part reared its head the worst when I saw a below dave roll towards me at great speed… at least for a dave. I went to kick it as it approached but started my kick too early and went off balance. The end result? The dave let go of the floor and floated up to the ceiling… with the bottom of my leg in tow.
I awkwardly tried to kick at it and finally managed a [Fire Strike] that killed it in one blow… and sent me falling back to the floor hard.
I took little damage. My staff was also fine because it was made of some pretty stern stuff. Unfortunately, both my dignity and my hand mirror lay there, shattered on the floor.
I sighed as I looked at the broken glass. “Alright, I might need a better hand mirror…”
-----
I returned to the Below the following day.
Did you truly need to create one made out of mithril? Tim asked.
“Yes,” I replied. “I’m not having this one break on me.”
Tim just sighed.
Meanwhile, I made it much farther than I had previously. I noted a few small deposits of magicite but nothing groundbreaking.
However, I started facing more attacks by the below leapers, including one group of 3 that left me locked in paralysis for almost a minute.
“Enough of this,” I grumbled as I slipped my gauntlets on. “If any of them want to attack, they’re gonna burn for it.”
Titus. Tim called. The conflagration-
“Don’t you always get mad at me for interrupting you!?” I shot back. “I’m trying hard here. Navigating like this isn’t as easy as you think!”
No, Titus! The conflagration! It is eating away at the soundness of your portable reflector!
It took me two whole seconds to process that word salad after it was finished, and by then, it was too late. The fire from my armor melted through the handle of the hand mirror, and it crashed to the ground.
I sighed.
“Tim… Repeat after me,” I said as I put my face in my now free hand. “Your hand mirror,” I stated slowly and with emphasis. “Is melting... Urgent warnings need to be concise.”
… Apologies.
I took my gloves off, picked up the remains of the mirror, and headed back to the drawing board.
-----
Black mithril. For the handle of a portable mirror? Tim asked for the umpteenth time.
“Yes, Tim,” I replied. “I need it to be solid and heatproof, and I’m not making it out of adamantium. And finally, that design choice gave it a set effect with my armor that lowers the mana upkeep on [Scry]. This was 100% the correct decision, and I will not have you hassling me about it anymore!”
Tim paused for a moment.
I still am of the belief that the enchanting for durability was too much.
“Opinion noted and ignored. Now, get back to whatever the frick it is that you are doing inside my head, and let me focus.” I replied.
He made the wise decision not to say anything in response. And with the extra time to think over my terseness, I at least had the presence of mind to feel a bit bad about it all.
Too long in this horrible darkness with no results. I thought to myself. Oh well, it’s not like Tim is winning any awards for his people skills, either.
I continued my search. I was trying to find magicite deposits or anything else that could help my workers bring home more and more of the stuff, but I turned up empty after hours of searching.
Even worse than that, I found myself lost, too.
“Was it this way?” I muttered as I turned the [Scry] towards a branching tunnel. “Or was it this one?”
You could simply use your teleport. Tim remarked, which made me jolt.
“I didn’t realize you were listening,” I replied. “Anyway, I want to save that teleport for an emergency. If I use the beacon, it will be on cooldown for an entire day, so I would rather not waste it if I don’t have to.”
You could… create another opening back to the surface world? Tim suggested.
“You mean punch through from this end?” I asked. Then I shrugged. “No idea if that will even work, but I guess it doesn’t hurt to try. Let me find a good spot…”
While Tim returned to work, I found my “good spot.” It seemed like it was situated at a high elevation, and the ground even sloped upward to the ceiling to the point where I could touch it while standing up straight.
The only problem was the rock that was in the way.
I could have pulled out my pickaxe, but that would have required putting things away and then swinging the pick upward to hit the ceiling. I opted instead to [Earth Strike] the crud out of it.
I coughed a bit at the cloud of dust that my efforts kicked up, but that soon settled.
“Well, looky there,” I said as I spied a newly created portal. “Now, the million gold question… Is it safe?”
However, I already had a tried and true method to determine that.
“[Summon Dave],” I cast. The blob appeared on the ground in front of my staff, just like it always did. “Hop up into that portal, wait 5 seconds, and then hop back down into it.”
The slimy being rocketed up into the portal and disappeared.
I waited… much longer than 5 seconds.
“Alright, dave died. Not safe. Oh well,” I stated and was about to leave. Then… the dave reappeared. And it was shining.
I blinked in confusion. “What the frick?”
The dave jumped me.
“Off! Down! Stop!” I shouted in vain as I started taking acid damage.
I was dealing fire damage in return with my armor, and I was in zero danger of dying because of that fact, but I was also caught completely off guard.
My hand mirror fell from my hand as I [Fire Strike] punched the dave with all my might.
It died and then disappeared like all summoned monsters do when they’re killed.
“What the heck was that all about?” I muttered as I picked up my mirror and checked it for damage.
“Ha. He called me crazy for putting durability runes on this, but I knew it was the right call,” I muttered to myself as I didn’t find a scratch on it.
Then, with that taken care of, I looked at the portal again.
“The dave lived, so I could probably live too,” I stated. “But… whatever is on the other side of that portal did something strange to it.”
It was dangerous. There was no need to risk it.
But it was also just a quick pop in and pop out. And my curiosity was killing me!
I’ll go and check it out. I thought. Even if the dimension’s hostile, I’ll be right next to the portal. I even stopped myself from saying, “what’s the worst that could happen!”
I gathered myself under the portal and then jumped… and broke everything.
System: Warning Demon Lord moved wrongly!
System: ERROR Invalid dimension ID selected
There were a few seconds where the System seemed to sputter, and then things resolved.
System: Error rectified. Dimension ID set to 2
Those messages were concerning, but they were not my main concern. No, there were dozens of things that ranked higher than that.
The first was that the portal was gone. It had vanished as soon as I had come through and ended up in the wrong dimension.
The second was the burning white light that extinguished my flames, made me feel like an ant stuck under a magnifying glass, and made my health drop precipitously. (As a side note, I think it also instantly vaporized Tim and Cameron from within the Mindscape).
Finally, problems number 3 through 67 were the angels that surrounded me. The angels who saw me, appeared angry, and then manifested their weapons.
Oh, I suppose I could mention the beautiful city with streets paved with gold because that was about when I noticed it. However, if I had any doubts about where I had ended up, they were immediately cleared up.
“So you are the owner of that summoned beast we had to throw back,” an angel stated as he approached me. “You dare to approach the gates of Heaven, demon?” he asked.
As he talked, I realized that I recognized that particular one.
“Hi… uhh, Mishael,” I stated, trying not to show my unbearable pain. “This was all an accident. So… uhhh… mercy?” I asked.
He flew towards me and thrust his sword at my chest.
System : New Achievement. If you’re seeing this, you somehow entered Heaven. Stop breaking things. Seriously. Class Perk Points Gained 0.
And then suddenly, I was back on the ground beneath the portal. My HP was back to almost full, where the dave had left it, and my heart was jackhammering.
No more portals to nowhere. No more portals to nowhere. No more portals to-
-----
Tim was concerned for Titus’ mental well-being. He knew well the strain that magic could have on that, much less the fact that a large portion of the man’s subconscious was explicitly allocated to studying a time magic ritual at any point in time.
So, when Titus started getting soft on him… or snapped at him. Tim took note.
He also took note when the sky of the Mindscape suddenly turned red, in a color scheme that denoted panic.
“Stop work,” Tim ordered Cameron, keeping it concise as Titus had rightly pointed out to him. “I will check on things. Stay here for now.”
Tim expected a large-scale battle. Or perhaps Titus had managed to create a new teleporter and was now trapped.
He didn’t expect to exit the MindScape to see Titus bursting out in unhinged laughter.
Tim realized that he might need Titus to [Restore] himself sooner rather than later.
Is something that matter, Titus? Tim asked to Titus’ mind.
“The Below,” Titus said through laughter. “The Below… it’s… it’s…”
Several dangerous hypotheses rocketed through Tim’s imagination, but he kept calm.
It is what?
“Upside down,” Titus said as he finally got his laughter under control and pointed up at the portal… which was now covered by slabs of rock floating upward into it.
“No wonder we could never find much down here!” Titus said as he finally finished laughing. “How much loot do you think you would find scouring the ceiling of a dungeon?”
And… the denizens of this place? Tim asked.
“The monsters? Basically all of them don’t care too much if they’re on the ceiling or the floor, so why wouldn’t they hop up and greet us?” Titus shook his head with another laugh. “Actually, we’ll probably run into more of them if we start delving this place in the right direction.” Then, he grinned for the first time since they had started this trip. “And there will most certainly be more loot.”
That is all well and good… Tim started. But what is your proposed method of action to traverse the actual flooring of this place?
“A new spell,” Titus replied. “One that I think I’m going to need your help with.”
-------
My guess that I needed Tim’s help ended up being correct. In fact, even though it seemed like it should have been a super-simple spell to create, it took us an entire week of hammering it out before it was ready.
The delays were long enough that I even had to help my cult with a story about how that particular entrance I was still reserving was “extra dangerous.”
However, the moment of truth did eventually come.
------
“Ready?” I asked Tim as I stepped a few feet from the rope that marked my entrance to the Below.
Indeed.
“Alright then. Here goes nothing,” I replied as I started casting. “[Invert Gravity]!”
I tried my best to prepare for it. However, there is only so much you can do to prepare for gravity reversing course and hurtling you 20 feet toward the former ceiling.
At the very least, I managed to crash on my back instead of directly on my head.
Zero points for the landing. Tim stated as I groaned. However, it would seem the spell is holding stable. Time for phase 2?
“One sec,” I replied as I stood up. I hopped up and down and generally felt around. “Yeah, everything feels good. Seems like we got pretty close to negative 1 g.”
Even my staff felt the effects of the new gravity, and that gave me pause.
Titus?
“One last thing to check,” I muttered. I pulled a dragon scale out of my inventory, mostly because it was the first thing I saw, and then dropped it.
It behaved under the new gravity for just a moment, and then it immediately reversed course, and I heard it impact the now-ceiling.
“Got it,” I replied. “Don’t drop anything that isn’t from the Below.”
I could have informed you of that. Tim interjected. You needn’t have wasted a piece of such priceless material.
I shrugged. “Ehh,” I replied. “I’ve got plenty of those where that came from, and it’s not like I need them for much.” I shook my head. “Anyway… phase 2 ready. Let’s try that out.”
I pulled my hand mirror back out and then cast. “[Scry] Titus Null!”
Maintaining both [Scry] and [Invert Gravity] was a bit difficult, but I managed it… But apparently, not well enough to avoid complaint.
By Jake’s sword, what are you doing!? Cameron asked. First, things flip upside down, and now parts of the ritual are disappearing! What are-
“Cameron, shut up and deal with it,” I replied. “That’s an order.”
I could feel him glaring daggers at me as he retreated into my mind.
It might be wise not to antagonize him unduly. Tim replied.
“Why?” I asked. “What’s he gonna do? Betray me?”
That question hung in the air for several seconds, and then Tim and I spoke simultaneously.
“Yeah, there’s no doubt in my mind that he will absolutely try to do that-“
It is hardly a hypothetical situation that he would betray you if he could-
We paused, and I spoke first.
“So, should I be worried?” I asked.
I… believe the oaths he is under are air-tight. Tim replied. However, the main concern is that should I somehow expire, he would no longer be bound to obey your instructions. With the other clauses in mind, it seems like a low probability that he could cause that, but it remains best to be on guard.
I nodded. “Fair point.” Then, shrugging towards the caverns. “Now, how about we clear this place the way it was meant to be done?”
------
It turned out that clearing the Below with inverted gravity was, in fact, “the way it was meant to be done.”
It was still just one monstrous cave, but the layout started to actually make sense. I even stopped getting lost!
… Well, as much. It was still hard to navigate with such awkward vision, okay?
However, the layout wasn’t the only change it made. Monsters were a way bigger deal when I was on the real floor. Even with my [Monster Magnet] perk [Disrupted], I ran into about triple the number of monsters that I did when I was exploring on the ceiling. In addition, the wrigglers (the explody ones), and the broodmothers (the ones that spawn the explody ones) also finally started making their appearances.
Dealing with the wrigglers was much more challenging than anticipated. While it didn’t hurt me if they happened to be fire, ice, air, or earth versions, eating a plume of acid to the face was still just as enjoyable as it would be if I had no armor equipped. To make matters worse, with my mind fully occupied on [Scry] and [Invert Gravity], I had no spellcasting capacity left to cast even a [Mage Bolt] at them.
Tim came to the rescue there. It turned out that he could cast a [Death Bolt] using my mana, as long as I allowed him to. It was a lot less damage than his, presumably because it used my non-existent [Mortae] skill instead of his lich-empowered one, but it was enough to get me through… at least until I made several other discoveries that made my life easier.
-------
“There is so much more magicite on the ground. It’s ridiculous,” I muttered as I cleaned out another patch of crystals… which was a kinda awkward business as my pickaxe was not fireproof, and I had to keep my mirror out to keep [Scry] running.
Indeed. Though, the question remains. How will your subordinates access these veins without [Invert Gravity]?
“I’m still working on that. Maybe a-“ I trailed off as I saw something in the distance.
Titus?
“Hush. I saw something,” I replied.
You saw something… Not through the [Scry]? Tim asked.
“Yeah,” I replied as I edged closer to it. “It looked like a flash of…” I trailed off as I came upon the object.
“Green,” I stated as I beheld a mushroom glowing with a faint green light. “Would you mind hitting it with an [Identify]?” I asked.
Of course. He replied as he momentarily possessed my body. “[Identify],” he cast with my mouth and staff.
“A stamshroom,” I stated. “Huh.” I shifted some items to grab it with my bare hand, then felt just a little… tired.
It would seem that magicite has a fungal cousin. Tim remarked. One that seems more interested in a physical resource.
“You’re right,” I muttered. “It is taking my stamina. Huh.” I plucked it from the ground, and the feeling slowed. “Does that mean…”
If you are considering ingesting it, perhaps it would be best if-
I was already crunching down on it. “I am sure this tastes absolutely horrid,” I said around a mouthful of mycelium. “But that doesn’t really matter to me. And I figure if it’s poisonous, that’s not likely to do much anyway.” I swallowed. “Oh, and looky there. I think that was more stamina than when I started.”
Tim just sighed.
We ran across more stamshrooms, and even discovered the reddish-tinted heartroot (which functioned the same, but for HP. Unfortunately, [Healing Inversion] was still in effect, so I basically just got to lose that HP twice over).
Those ingredients were certain to revolutionize potion-making, but neither of them were what I was looking for.
I guess, at the very least, this wasn’t wasted. I thought as I continued my search almost idly. With [Cast From SP], stamshrooms and SP potions can function kinda like a poor MP potion, and we’re definitely going to need as much mana as we can get.
Well, there was one last thing that I had found, but it was hardly worth mentioning. Scattered throughout the Below, there were small puddles of… well, it looked like water, so I had just assumed that was what it was. They were fed by slow but steady drips from the ceiling, and I didn’t think much of it.
Where is this pool being fed from? I asked idly as I hovered over it and looked up.
I often cursed my luck for many reasons. That coincidence was not one of them.
“Ahhh!” I shouted as the drip landed directly on my face. “My eye!”
Titus? Tim asked. My momentary alarm catching his attention.
He spoke a bit more, but I was no longer listening. “My eye… It can see.”
Not that there was much to look at down in that inky cavern. It was mostly rocks, greys, and dull blues, but for someone whose sight had been limited for so long, it was absolutely liberating.
And then that effect wore off, and I was back to my usual blindness.
We are going to require large quantities of that substance. Tim stated.
I nodded in agreement.
------
A bit of a deeper look at that, AKA casting [Identify], and we found it was “Dew of the Below.” Putting back on my [Alchemist] hat and finally purchasing some actual equipment, we extracted the effect, purified it, and then turned it into a “potion” that was basically just an eye drop.
I told my underlings about the discoveries while I was at it to give them an idea of what to look for, and I probably could have left it at that. The eye drops alone were sure to double production rates once people could see.
However, we did need a lot of the dew to start things up until they could get their own supply and their own [Alchemists] working on it. So, I kept up my adventures down there just a bit longer to ensure that was taken care of. Things were a breeze without having to worry about [Scry], and I was able to mark several locations to harvest the dew. I also found… something else.
------
“Wait, do you see that?” I asked Tim.
Given my lack of your alchemical aid, the answer, as always, is negative. He replied.
“Oh… Right,” I said sheepishly. “Anyway, there looks like a… cave with a giant piece of magicite inside?”
That sounds highly suspicious. It is likely a trap.
“Aww, come on!” I replied. “I already had to invent negative gravity and Belowsight eye drops to find this! What kind of sadist would design a world where that was also trapped?”
As I approached the entrance, I confirmed that I hadn’t been seeing things. In the middle of that giant circular cavern, an incredible piece of magicite jutted up. It looked like it weighed several tons.
So, of course, I approached it.
No sooner had I entered the room than a health bar appeared at the top of my screen, and I got a message from the System.
System: You have entered a special boss room! You will be unable to leave by any means until the boss is defeated.
As the boss, a “Crystalline Calamity,” rose up from the floor and came between me and the crystal, I mentally warned Tim not to say I told you so.
It was a six-legged beast formed of interlocking crystalline plates with a long tail, and I had no time to admire it before it shot off its opening salvo. It moved one of its legs forward, and crystals rapidly jutted up from the ground in a line toward me.
I [Flash Stepped] to the side and then cast. “[Appraise]!”
Status
Level
25
Race
Crystalline Calamity
HP
10000/10000
MP
0/0
SP
9998/10000
That is one tanky boy. I thought as I rolled to avoid the next stream of crystals.
I had the distinct feeling that boss boasted some serious resistances, too. So, I decided I might as well test them out.
“Fire, strike my foes. [Fire Bolt]!” No discernible damage, but it was possible it just wasn’t noticeable against the total.
“Ice, freeze my foes. [Ice Bolt]!” No damage again, and I dodged its next salvo.
“Earth, rock my foes. [Earth Bolt]!” Same as [Fire Bolt].
“Air, blast my foes. [Air Bolt]!” The bar didn’t budge.
I cast another quick [Appraise] after that, just to ensure I wasn’t seeing things, and it confirmed the boss’ HP hadn’t gone down a single point.
I stood there glaring at the boss’ health bar as if I could somehow deal damage with that before Tim interjected.
Allow me an attempt.
I shrugged and let him.
“[Death Bolt],” he cast with my staff and voice. “Ineffective,” he stated.
“Well, one last thing to try,” I replied, taking back over and sidestepping the next attack. “[Mage Bolt]!”
That did lower the boss’ HP bar by an almost imperceptible sliver.
Based on [Mage Bolts] damage, you need only cast 2499 more times. Tim remarked.
“Great, I can tickle it to death,” I said dryly. Then, I was finally too slow on one of my dodges. The crystals impacted me and sent me rolling several feet.
Thanks to my armor, the damage was minimal.
“Alright, moving in. Let’s see if this sucker is vulnerable to bludgeoning,” I stated.
I darted around the next salvo of crystals and then [Flash Stepped] the remaining distance. Since I’d already determined all the elements were useless, I just threw an uppercut into the thing's jaw.
My gauntlet collided with a dull thunk, and the health bar didn’t move.
Bludgeoning appears to be resisted as well. Tim stated the obvious in my mind.
Before I could give him a sarcastic remark, the boss recovered and chomped down on my shoulder with its jagged crystal teeth.
… It did 0 damage.
Things were going to get really awkward if neither of us could damage the other at that range, but thankfully there was a particular buggy interaction that had to take effect.
System: You are grappled and cannot move
And apparently, that meant that [Invert Gravity] was now affecting the large crystal beast… which already had inverted gravity.
Its much greater mass suddenly dragged us both up into the air, and we fell toward the ceiling 50 feet away. I tried to make the best of it, and that’s how I ended up setting the record for the strangest pile driver ever performed as we finally impacted the ceiling.
The bad news is that fall damage counts as its own thing, so I took some damage for the trouble.
The good news is that fall damage counts as its own thing… so the beast let go of me in pain.
The… other news?... is that a certain condition was now ended.
System: You are no longer grappled
With the grapple ended, the beast no longer had my [Invert Gravity] taking effect, so it immediately started falling. However, I no longer had a giant crystal monster functioning as a balloon, so I started falling too.
Fortunately, I was in control of my own spell, so I simply canceled it. That left me with a 10-foot fall to the ceiling while the monster plummeted back to the floor where it belonged.
“Well… that was a thing,” I stated as I stood up and dusted myself off.
Indeed. Should you manage that approximately 100 more times, you should vanquish the boss. Tim replied dryly.
The boss looked up and roared at me… but that was it.
I grinned. “Or it’s just time to shoot some fish in a barrel.”
And that was the story of the boss’ ignoble death. Doomed to be shot to death by a couple thousand [Mage Bolts] while unable to fight back.
I wasn’t going to give up a no-risk kill on a level 25 boss just because it was monotonous. That was for sure.
Anyway, when it finally died, I inverted gravity again and went to check out the giant piece of magicite.
“This will take quite a while to carve up,” I stated as I circled it.
Actually… I have a hypothesis. Tim stated.
“Oh?”
I believe it would function better as a conduit should it be left whole. Do you believe you are capable of leaving the crystal wholly intact when mining it?
“Yeah, that’s easy enough,” I replied as I eyed the crystal and saw where I could strike with my pick. “There’s just one problem with that…”
I looked up and down the giant formation.
“How the frick am I going to get that thing out of here?”
----------------------------------------
[1] Boss joining trope - There are many games that allow unlocking of boss-level characters as playable under certain circumstances. However, unlike their initial fight where they could perhaps be strong enough to end the world (or at least fight an entire party to a standstill solo), their performance once they are on your team is usually… lackluster in comparison
[2] First Person View/Third Person View - A video game is considered “first person” if you see the game world through a character’s eyes and “third person” if you have an external view (usually behind the character)