Lia tried a couple of things in the short time she had, but she wasn’t able to get any sort of satisfactory land-dwelling or amphibious fish in that time. There were a few options that would let the fish survive on land, yes, but they weren’t mobile enough to be useful to her in this dungeon crawl.
So, when the five minutes were up and her Mana was back up to full, she put the cocoons she had been tinkering with back in storage and set off on her way. Hopefully the next room would have some monsters that were actually useful to her, but if it came down to it, she was fine attempting to conquer the dungeon on her lonesome.
Fortunately, that wasn’t going to be an issue; the next room she entered was a long straightaway, the floor to the left and right forming giant cliffs of soil that trapped Lia in a valley of sorts. Her detection Skill informed her that there were several goblinoid monsters on top of the cliffs and out of sight, no doubt waiting to attack from their vantage point.
Lia wasn’t actually trapped in the valley, of course; she had many ways of scaling those cliffs, and the only thing stopping her from immediately doing so was the fact that she would be putting herself in line of sight of all the monsters the moment she peeked her head out from the valley. Since the monsters no doubt had ranged weapons, that would put her in easy range of everything at once, while she suspected that only a few would engage at a time if she walked through the valley.
Lia decided to go neither route, instead using Analysis to confirm that she could dig through the cliff walls before using earth magic and yet another Skill inherited from Rose to dig into the earth. She then using her detection Skill to guide her to her enemies, systematically capturing them with chains of earth magic and then dragging them into the soil where she cocooned them, put them in storage, and then moved on.
It was highly Mana and Stamina-intensive, but that wasn’t really a big deal; she intended to take an hour-long break while she waited for these conversions to finish. From the perspective of pure speed, it was highly suboptimal, but Matthew had made it clear that her goal was to survive, not clear this dungeon as fast as possible.
That indicated that things would get more challenging as she went further in the dungeon, because they certainly weren't challenging enough to make her survival a question at the moment. Perhaps they would be if she just rushed in blindly, but that would be foolhardy, and she liked to think Matthew didn’t have that poor a view of her competence.
She finished dealing with the monsters in the room, emerging from the soil onto the top of one of the cliffs and dumping the cocoons out onto the ground. She held her fist up in the gesture that indicated that she wanted Matthew to read her mind, waited a second, then began to give a mental explanation.
I’m going to be taking a break to let these things convert. She said. They’re a bit bigger than I would like, but I’ll be doing that thing we trained with a while back where I command a bunch of monsters at the same time to scout an area.
This had been something Matthew had been especially eager to teach her; thanks to her swarm Skills, she was actually able to borrow the senses of multiple swarm members at nearly the same time, and even able to activate mental Skills or magic from their perspective. It had taken multiple sessions and a not-insignificant amount of her personal time, most of which was to get the Skills and magic to work, but the effect was a striking increase to her efficacy.
This, of course, had downsides; her focus on her actual body was greatly reduced, meaning she was much easier to sneak up on, and she had to choose between reduced effects or increased cost for whatever Skills or magic she wanted to use remotely, but for something like this? It was exactly the kind of thing it was useful for, greatly increasing the rate at which she could map out the dungeon. Or, at least, greatly increasing the exploration rate provided it wasn’t just a straight line to the end, but she seriously doubted that Matthew would give her a dungeon that was a single straightforward path.
So, with that in mind, she began taking out some premade cocoons that she kept in her storage for the purpose of her research, and got to work figuring out what would make the most optimal scouts for her.
----------------------------------------
“It looks like there’s a swarm member that was suddenly teleported to deep within the Sapphire Empire. Not at the location those devices Septima gave us pointed to, but we were expecting them to move anyway.” Rose said, looking up from her SPS. “Amelia, can you check and see if Emily and Astrea are available for a chat? I’d like to meet with them and start making plans for the full conversion of their nations.”
“Already?” Amelia asked, raising an eyebrow. “It’s only been a week or two, they work fast.”
“I imagine they put a lot of resources into moving the lab the moment they found out Septima had defected.” Rose replied. “It was probably designed to be packed up at a moment’s notice anyway, given the potential for information leakage.”
“Alright, let me check up on them now…” Amelia said. “While I do, what’s the news on Gallus’s army?”
“We’ve got reports that their camp is packed up and they’re headed north.” Rose said. “Assuming Septima is correct and he is trying to take the northernmost border fort, we’re expecting an attack within the week, earlier if they decide they want to attack a closer fort, which I haven’t yet ruled out as a possibility.”
“Okay, Emily is in a private place, now for Astrea…” Amelia mumbled. “How do we want to time this? Do we want to wait for the attack before we raid the compound or do we just do it now?”
“It’s late at night over there, I imagine they’ll be starting experiments in the morning, so that’s when all their personnel are going to be there.” Rose said. “I think we do it then.”
“Astrea’s in that hidden room with her girlfriend, so she’s definitely free.” Amelia said. “Shall I bring them all here or should I do a call?”
“What’ll bringing them here do to your Mana reserves?” Rose asked.
“As long as we’re not doing anything significant within the next half hour or so I’ll be fine.”
“Then bring them here, please.”
Amelia nodded and began to utter a spell, and a few moments later three other women appeared in the room, looking more than a little surprised.
“Sorry for the sudden teleportation,” Rose began, “but it would appear that the other nations have captured a member of the swarm for their disgusting little science project. Amelia and I will be dismantling their operation tomorrow, but in the meantime I wanted to discuss with you the plans for the conversions of your kingdoms.”
Astrea, tail intertwining with her girlfriend’s tail, nodded. “I am pleased to report that we are making good progress.” She said. “All female clergy and other governmental workers have been converted, as have any men assigned to outlying villages as well as those villages themselves. I have also had several army units intercepted and converted, as well as all of our generals and high-ranking officers. I’d say about half of the women in our largest cities have been converted, full coverage likely by the end of the week.”
Rose raised an eyebrow. “I’m impressed.” She said. “I thought you wouldn’t be this far along for at least another week or two.”
“Thank you for your praise, Mistress.” Astrea said. “Due to our focus on transporting people and goods to aid those in need, our organization is superb and we have many people capable of teleportation or relaying information instantaneously. With my authority, we were able to gather officials and send people out at a rate that would be unthinkable in normal nations.”
“I’m afraid to say that I have not had as much success.” Emily said regretfully. “All the female palace staff have been converted, as well as some of the nobles, but as per your orders we’ve been trying to maintain secrecy as much as possible.”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“That’s perfectly fine.” Rose said. “It’s about what I expected. Starting tomorrow, I’d like you to be more aggressive; ideally, we’ll be able to get as much of your army as possible before they cross the border, and we’ll want as many of your nobles on our side as possible. Astrea, once you feel confident you are at a point where you can safely convert your major cities, feel free to do so.”
“May I take that to mean that we intend to go public with my defection soon?” Astrea asked.
“Yes.” Rose confirmed. “We’ll be taking video of our assault on the lab, and within a couple of weeks we’ll be releasing it in much the same way we released the video announcing our presence to the world. At that time, we’d like a word from you explaining your reasons for defecting, and depending on how ready Odria is for full-scale conversion, we’ll be having her announce the conversion of Odria, as well.”
“If I may…wasn’t I supposed to be our spy?” Emily asked. “Why the change in plans?”
“I don’t think it’ll be necessary anymore.” Rose said. “I’m guessing they’ll have no less than ten max-level people at the facility, and we will be converting all of them. The gods, even the ones who oppose us, highly disapprove of this facility, and Amelia and I will be completely unbound for this fight. In a sense, we are their divine punishment for attempting something as amoral as this.”
Emily looked to Astrea, who nodded gravely. “The gods have made their stance on the matter clear, and the other rulers were fools to have attempted this. I warned them against this, if you’ll recall, and this is the exact sort of thing I was fearing would happen if they went through with it. The only reason the other nations have lasted this long is because the gods have, for whatever reason, chosen to keep Amelia and Rose bound. Were they unbound, the war would have been over by now.”
“They wish to test and train the swarm.” Rose said. “If we are to succeed here, our next step will be Izumi’s plane, and so on until all of the disparate planes have been united under the swarm.”
There was a pause as Emily and Astrea digested that, then Rose spoke again. “That’s all I really wanted to say for now, though; any questions for us before I send you back?”
“I-if I may, why was I called here?” Astrea’s girlfriend asked. “It’s an honor, of course, but I’m not a decision-maker.”
Rose turned to Amelia, who shrugged. “This way I wouldn’t have to explain why Astrea vanished, and neither of you two would be lonely. I know I don’t like being apart from my lovers, and Lia is always telling me to treat others how I would want to be treated, so I brought you too.”
“What’s your name?” Rose asked. “I’m afraid we were never introduced.”
“My name is Mira, Mistress.” Mira said, dropping into a curtsy. “Once again, it is an honor to meet you.”
“The pleasure’s all mine.” Rose said, smiling at her. “You and Astrea are cute together. I assume you’re taking the role of her…” Rose paused, looking at Astrea for help.
“There’s not really a standardized name for it, but we like protector.” Astrea said. “And, yes, she is.”
“I’m happy for you.” Rose said, giving the pair yet another smile. “It truly looks like you’re right where you belong.”
Astrea gave Rose a contented smile in return. “Yes, I am.” She said. “This has been everything I’ve ever wanted and then some.”
Mira smiled as well. “I agree.”
Emily shifted awkwardly, and Rose gave her an apologetic look. “Sorry.” She said. “you must have business to attend to, right?”
“Not for another half-hour or so, I can stay if you need me to.” Emily said.
“I think we’re fine to let you go now. Just remember; if you need any help whatsoever, just give us a call and we’ll aid however we can.”
Emily nodded. “I’m ready to be sent back whenever, then.”
Amelia waved a hand and Emily vanished. “Do you two want to leave too?” She asked.
“This is the capital, right?” Astrea asked.
“It is.” Rose confirmed.
“Then would it be alright if we took a quick tour? Not guided, of course, I wouldn't want to take more of your time, but we’d like to spend an hour or so looking around.”
“If you’d like, I’d be more than happy to do a guided tour.” Rose offered. “Of course, if you want to go alone, that’s fine too.”
“You would?” Astrea said hopefully.
“Of course I would!” Rose said brightly. “In fact, since you mentioned that Astrum has excellent logistics, I was hoping I could pick your brain and see if there’s anything we can improve here.”
Astrea blinked in surprise. “You want my advice?” she asked. “But you’re…you know, you!”
Rose nodded. “My reputation has been greatly exaggerated over the years; I was only as capable as I was because of good advisors.” She said. “Plus, I’m sure there have been innovations since my time, and I would be a fool to ignore those.”
“I’ll be at home, come get me when you’re done.” Amelia said, standing up and stretching before walking out of the room.
Rose stood up as well, smiling at her guests. “Right. So, the room we’re in right now is one of our meeting-slash-planning rooms, in one of the branches on the work floor. It’s a bit of a walk to get to the residential area, but we’ll pass the farms and warehouses on our way to the portal, so if you want to see those, that’s a good opportunity. Oh, and if you have any questions, do feel free to interrupt me, I’m happy to answer anything.”
“If I may be so bold…what does it feel like, being the personification of the World Tree?” Mira asked. “Do you feel the tree at all times or do you have to focus to feel it?”
“A bit of both.” Rose replied, leading them towards the door. “By default, I feel everything that goes on in the tree, but I can turn that off, much like you would close your eyes. It was very strange at first, to tell you the truth. Especially once I realized that I don’t actually need to eat or drink, I easily gather the nutrients via photosynthesis and the soil.
“Or, that’s what I thought, anyway. To tell you the truth, I’m not exactly sure where the water and nutrients are really coming from, since my tree supplies the soil with far more nutrients than it uses, I can only assume it comes from Mana somehow. As for what the sensations actually feel like…it’s hard to explain, but the sense of touch is much vaguer than it is with my main body, and I can shift my vision so it comes from any part of the tree, but I can’t feel anything else from it.”
“Is the tree not your main body?” Astrea asked.
Rose closed the door behind them, then shrugged. “I don’t think so? I planted the tree after I evolved, and the feeling I get is that I will properly die if this body is killed, but I’ll only be weakened if the tree dies. Likewise, the tree probably won’t fully die if this body dies, but I imagine it’ll lose most of its magical properties over the course of a while.”
“Interesting, I assumed it would have been the other way around, and that your body was just a projection that would come back eventually unless the tree is killed.” Astrea said.
They reached the edge of the branch, and before they entered the main floor, Rose turned to Astrea and Mira. “What would you like to see first? We can look around here, or we can head straight to the residential floor, whatever you want.”
“Um, would you mind showing us the farms?” Astrea asked. “I’m curious to see what they look like, being inside of a tree and all.”
“Sure thing!” Rose replied. “The light and nutrients in the soil all come from the tree, and some of the crops grow rapidly enough that you can actually see them growing in real-time, so they’re quite the sight. While we walk, I have to ask, what’s the secret to getting your country so organized?”
“Well, we followed many of the policies that your empire set, but the real secret is that religion is intertwined with the government. Not only are people less likely to disobey their superiors, but religion often attracts those with support-oriented Jobs, so we have more of those than most governments.
“This isn’t without its downsides, though. Following the gods’ will so closely often means that we have to divert significantly more resources to aiding the poor than most countries. This is, of course, good for the people, but it means that as a nation we had less power than others. We couldn’t do drafts unless there was a dire emergency, so our defense force was often run thin, and on occasion I had to make choices that the people would not like but would align more closely with the will of the gods, much as I did with the swarm.”
They talked more as they walked, Rose taking the opportunity to learn about what life was like for Astrea and Mira, what their backgrounds were and what their culture was like. When they had exhausted that topic, Rose had a good discussion with them about what sort of things they would like the capital’s help with when Astrum had been fully converted, and every other topic that came to mind.
The two visitors were suitably impressed by the farms and the residential area, and the hour practically flew by. When they finished, Rose had Amelia send them home, then went home and collapsed onto the couch. “Is Lia not back yet?” She asked Connie, who was making dinner.
“Not yet, she’s still with Matthew.” Connie said. “He’s giving her some sort of test today, from what I understand.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask…is Matthew the Lord of Monsters?” Rose asked.
Connie froze. “What makes you think that?”
“Intuition, mostly.” Rose replied. “Since he is the one who ‘tests the strength of planes’, I figured it would make sense for him to either be the Lord of Monsters, or be the one in charge of the Lord of Monsters.”
Connie sighed. “Yes, he’s the Lord of Monsters.” She said. “And, yes, he adjusts his strength to fit the planes he’s testing, Heroes would never be able to win otherwise. Don’t tell Lia, though; you know she’s got a complex about the Lord of Monsters, and it’ll make her feel all weird when it comes time to actually fight him. He doesn’t intend to pull any punches because she’s his protégé, so Lia can’t afford distractions. We’ll tell her when the fight’s over, though.”
“He’s been spending a lot of time with her lately.” Amelia said. “Why’s that? I thought these lessons were going to be rarer.”
“He’s excited.” Connie replied. “Lia does a lot of the same things he does, but better, and he sees a lot of potential in her. He’s never had a student who’s capable of the sort of things he is, and it’s a novel experience for him. The gods don’t get to experience new things often, so we tend to get excited and go all-in when we do.”
“Well, if it makes her stronger, I’m not going to complain too much, even if it cuts down on the time I have with her.” Amelia said. “I think I’ll just stay up until she gets back, then head to bed shortly after; it’s a big day tomorrow, and I want to be well-rested.”