Once more, Rieren wasn’t sure how much time passed before they were finally done. She was simply thankful that while the Abyss Rent continued to grow weaker, the darkness within its jagged hole slowly melding into the plain gloom of the chamber, she was also able to construct almost half of her first pillar.
Of course, doing it in such a relatively short time would have been impossible under normal circumstances. Rieren had to take first use some of the Credits she still had, combined with the ones she had earned through her recent achievements, to purchase a few materials from the System Shop.
Namely, these had included a Core Constructing pill and a Melder’s Ginseng. She had surreptitiously combined them before downing the entire concoction in a single gulp.
Her body had immediately turned rather jittery. All the Essence she had already gathered within herself had started to get a little tizzy, spiking up within her meridians and straining the walls of her elixir field.
Thankfully, the Abyss Rent provided enough time to get it all under control while still correctly forming the Aspect pillars. The combination of the pill and the liquid had significantly raised the efficacy of her meridians and allowed her to draw in a great deal of Essence as well, hastening the rate at which the Abyss Rent was deteriorating.
Something that hadn’t escaped the attention of others.
“What did you ingest to do something like that?” Rollo asked.
“Stop talking and let me concentrate, Rollo,” Amalyse hissed.
Rollo grinned at her. “I can stuff your ears, if you prefer. Then you will hear nothing.”
“I can stuff your mouth with my fist and pull out your tongue. What is your point?”
“There are pills and liquids in the System Shop that can enhance your cultivation,” Rieren said.
“Which I am well aware of, thank you very much,” Rollo said. “I was asking which exact one I should purchase since you seem to have preternatural knowledge of… things.”
Rieren felt her eyebrows rising. It seemed the disciples were catching on that she had hidden depths just as the Elders were. Not that it was surprising. Depending on how much Rollo had learned about the events around the destruction of Lionshard mountain, he might know Rieren was holding quite a few secrets.
But the worse part was that Rollo was happy to say it in public in front of others. He didn’t care if anyone else knew about it, either. She couldn’t decide she ought to be pleased that he clearly had no intention of trying to take advantage of her or be angry that he was revealing it to everyone.
For all Rieren knew, she wasn’t free from the danger of other disciples just yet. She might have taken care of Eneyra and Auri, but who was to say there weren’t others secretly wishing to take her life?
“Are you asking me to do your hard work for you, Rollo?” Rieren asked, meeting his eyes directly. If he wanted to play public games, she would turn it on him instead. “Are you assuming everyone else here wants to be told what to do and find like little ducklings?”
Rollo face turned down into a frown. But before he could reply, Folend of all people spoke up.
“If you all could shut the Abyss up, I could actually focus on cultivating,” he said. Keeping his eyes forcefully closed, he jerked a thumb above them at the Abyss Rent. “The longer you argue, the more that thing is going to regrow. So shut up and do your jobs.”
Rieren ignored the affronted look Rollo turned to his own friend and resumed cultivating. As much as she tried to focus on the growing Aspect pillar in her elixir field, she was distracted by Folend’s actions.
It had almost seemed that he had drawn Rollo’s attention onto himself on purpose. All to spare Rieren from any scrutiny? Why?
Slowly but surely, Rieren refocused on her Aspect pillar completely. More time passed, and though Rieren was unable to determine how long it had been, Elder Alm eventually came in and stopped all the disciples.
The Abyss Rent was finally down.
Rieren looked up. There was indeed no jagged hole in the fabric of reality any longer. No strange energy bleeding out into the chamber, no otherworldly draft ruffling her robe and her hair. The Abyssals could no longer invade the dungeon. Not from this direction, at least.
“You may all take some rest now,” Elder Alm said, looking over them with a proud little glint in his eyes. “Seven hours. Not a terrible rate. Well done, disciples.”
Rieren didn’t move. Her first Aspect pillar was going to take a lot longer to complete. It had been just shy of being half-finished when the Abyss Rent had finally collapsed. There was still a great deal of natural Essence in the air, and since the Purifying Egg’s effect was still working, she could channel that to progress further.
Most of the others didn’t feel the same way. Several of them groaned and pulled themselves away. When Rieren indicated that she would continue cultivating for the time being, Amalyse left to get some movement in.
The only person who remained in the same spot was Rollo. With his shattered legs, movement was going to be difficult. He had refused any assistance as well.
“Do you remain behind only to mock me?” he asked when he spotted Rieren not moving from her spot.
“I have better things to do than to make a mockery of you, Rollo.” She closed her eyes, hoping the boy would stop his prattling in time. “You do that well enough by yourself.”
“If my legs weren’t so damaged, I would make you pay dearly for your words.”
Rieren considered if that was worth replying to. It was strange what their different experiences had done to them all. Where Folend had seemingly been humbled by his injury, Rollo’s suffering had turned him more insufferable.
Before, he had at least possessed an arrogance that hadn’t blatantly tried to infuriate others. Now, however, he seemed to have determined that Rieren was the reason that his legs were beyond help. Even the healers had only been able to do so much. He was making it incredibly difficult for her to feel even an iota of sympathy for him, though.
Rieren opened her mouth to reply, but then a series of loud clanks distracted everyone. Several of them tensed, possibly expecting some sort of attack. It hadn’t been that long ago when the automatons had been enemies.
But when Kervantes charged into the chamber, he ignored the way everyone was staring at him with open hostility. Another, smaller automaton was having trouble keeping up with him.
“We have had a breach,” he announced, arrowing straight at the Elder. “Your efforts are not working.”
“What do you mean, automaton?” Elder Alm’s eyes flickered to the others around them, probably noting how everyone was reacting to Kervantes’s words. “Control yourself, please. Agitation will not benefit anyone.”
“May the Abyss take your agitation. There are more Abyss Rents popping up.”
If the Elder had sought to keep things calm, that had the opposite effect. Everyone was now muttering, looking more afraid than ever before. They might have to fight Abyssals at some point, but their primary enemy was the onset of panic among them. While the Sect’s disciples were better at controlling themselves, all the refugees didn’t have the same mental fortitude.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Explain yourself, automaton,” Elder Alm said. “What do you mean there are more Abyss Rents opening? Did you not say that there were only a limited number?”
Kervantes stood straighter. “The one your fellows forced to collapse elsewhere hasn’t truly been closed. As soon as attention was drawn away from it, it began to reform. Your fellows are once again attempting to destroy it. The solution you came up with is not permanent.”
“Nonsense. They must not have been cultivating away the Essence correctly. Perhaps they weren’t fast enough.” He pointed to his left, where Rieren and Rollo were still sitting. “As you can see there, we have—”
Elder Alm’s words were cut off when he turned to Rieren’s direction. Her heart started beating faster as she followed his gaze, ending up at the tiny blot of deeper darkness slowly growing larger above her where the Abyss Rent should have been.
Where the Abyss Rent was reforming again.
Kervantes was right. It seemed channeling away an Abyss Rent’s Essence didn’t ensure its destruction. Not permanently, at least.
“Impossible,” Elder Alm said. He looked as though he still wished he had hair on his head to tear out. A strange lack of composure for an Elder of the Sect. “How is it forming out of thin air? There is no corrupted Essence to use.”
“The dungeon,” Rieren said quietly.
No one needed to hear her. Kervantes didn’t hide the truth.
“It is taking advantage of the dungeon’s property to change the physical properties within its confines,” the automaton said. “I do not think these Abyss Rents can be stopped so easily.”
“Then it is your dungeon’s fault!” Elder Alm said.
Kervantes had no reply to that for a moment. “We must secure all Abyss Rents in a permanent fashion. As such, I will be bringing in more of the automatons here with me to guard them.”
“We have ours under control.”
“Here, perhaps. But not everywhere. We must spread out our efforts evenly at all of them.”
Rieren grimaced at the desperation. The automatons couldn’t even act against the Abyssals directly, so “guarding” the Abyss Rents was pointless.
“What exactly is occurring at the other Abyss Rents?” Elder Alm asked.
Forgetting her cultivation for the moment, Rieren decided to listen more intently. Elder Alm hadn’t bothered sharing the context of what was occurring in the rest of the dungeon, at least from the Sect’s perspective, but here was her opportunity to learn more. Kervantes didn’t hold to the same notions of keeping information back based on hierarchy.
“The one with the thorns has hers mostly contained,” the automaton said. “The injured one hasn’t even reached the central Abyss Rent. The last one… none of us are certain. It appears all who headed to it are dead, but it is inundated with ashen flames that have likely prevented any Abyssals from appearing. The Abyss Rent is certainly still standing.”
Rieren’s breath caught. Ashen flames. There was one of the answers she had been seeking in the dungeon—the whereabouts of Elder Olg and those who had accompanied him.
Though, the automaton’s words made her swallow. It appears all who headed to it are dead. Did that include Elder Olg? Her heart quailed as she imagined his corpse littering the area around along with that of the others’.
There was still hope, though. The fact that his Ashflame was still active was a positive indicator that he yet lived. Of course, powerful cultivators could imprint their channelled Essence in ways that would make them last long after their caster had finished setting them. Nevertheless, Rieren decided to hold on to hope.
“We will need to spread out our efforts in the same manner as well, it would appear,” Elder Alm said after a moment’s consideration.
It seemed he didn’t appreciate being pushed into a corner, not when it came it his options. He turned away from the automaton and began barking his orders. Rieren gathered together with the other disciples, none of whom looked pleased at having their rest cut short so early.
Elder Alm separated them into two teams to go after the other Elders. It was strange that he didn’t consider the Sect Leader’s group as deserving of any reinforcements, but Rieren wasn’t about to argue. Her main goal was reaching Elder Olg, and Alm was happy to let her and Amalyse head that way. Interestingly, Folend volunteered for the same journey.
Before they left, Elder Alm pulled Rieren away from the others. He had said that they needed to speak.
Rieren waited patiently, letting the Elder set the pace. Pretending to be submissive was getting tiring. There was no time to waste on silly chats. She had to reach Elder Olg as soon as possible.
“I am aware that the destruction of the Sect—the most recent one, I should add—is partly because of you,” Elder Alm finally said. His dark eyes were judging and critical, waiting to hear and proclaim his sentence on each and every word Rieren might say in response. “Possibly greatly because of you. I am, however, unable to blame you entirely for it. Do you know why?”
“I do not, Elder,” Rieren said.
“It is because Elder Olg asked for forbearance. I value his judgement on matters and trust him greatly, therefore I have done my best to adhere to his wish. However, when things continue to deteriorate, you can understand how my patience and forbearance can quickly reach their limits.”
Rieren only nodded, silently willing him to go on. Her impatience was difficult to rein in.
“As such,” he continued. “If you wish to make reparations, I would suggest you come clean of everything you know. The more we all know, the better decisions we can make, regarding the Sect’s future.”
She had been afraid of this. It made sense that the Elder would seek to learn all that she knew. In fact, she suspected the other Elders and even the Sect Leader entertained the same wish as well.
But Rieren wasn’t in any position to reveal everything. Her life might have been short compared to that of the gods and even some of the stronger cultivators, but it had been filled with a great many events. They would be stuck here for weeks on end before she finished narrating the entire tale of her previous life.
Nevertheless, Rieren couldn’t simply remain silent. She had to give the Elder something.
“For the purposes of helping the Sect,” Rieren said. “I believe we should try to secure the Dungeon Core that operates it.”
“That isn’t the information I was expecting. But I recognize that the information about the past isn’t as helpful as what we might do going forward. What makes you think the Dungeon Core will be our best way forward?”
“The core’s greatest strength is intrinsically controlling the area that is under its influence. As Kervantes said, all these Abyss Rents are reforming because the Dungeon Core is empowering them. You have met and seen its power in other areas too, Elder.”
“Are you suggesting we betray the automatons and take the Core for ourselves?”
“I suggest securing it. That does not mean taking it into our possession. I cannot judge what the Sect Leader decides is the right course of action. However, I suggest securing it because it was unsecured in the last timeline, a source of great power that many regretted not using properly. As such, that mistake will be corrected this timeline.”
Elder Alm didn’t say anything for a while. His eyes were still shrewd, however, and when he did speak again, he had clearly connected together all the lines Rieren hadn’t directly stated. “You suspect others will take the Dungeon Core for themselves?”
Rieren nodded. “It is almost guaranteed.”
“The Abyssals seem happy with simple cooperation for now, but of course, those monsters cannot be trusted.”
“We cannot forget the Aetherians either. And there was the Gravemark Puppeteer who had infiltrated into the Sect. I believe that monster is the one pulling most of the strings, so I wouldn’t be surprised if its ultimate goal was taking the Dungeon Core’s power for itself. And besides the monsters, we mustn’t forget the threats closer at hand.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Masked Avatar.”
The Elder had tensed at Rieren’s mention of the closer threats, and now he had to overtly master the emotions trying to flicker over his face. “What do you mean, Rieren? Those are grave accusations you throw with such little care.”
“Elder, has the Sect Leader or anyone else no idea of the Masked Avatar’s true intentions?”
His hesitation was just enough to tell her the truth. “Do not answer with a question.”
Keeping her sigh to herself, Rieren went on. “Whatever the Masked Avatar told you about his intentions here, I doubt he said the truth. He and his kind are already in league with the gods, the same ones who shattered Lionshard mountain. Worse, I believe he may be in league with the Abyssals who overran the Sect as well.”
“What? Explain yourself, Rieren.”
She took a quick breath, then proceeded to reveal all she had learned about Auri and Eneyra, all the things Appraiser himself had told her about taking care of those who had been determined as enemies of the empire. Last of all, Rieren emphasized how she had found evidence of the Gravemark Puppeteer’s manipulation on Auri.
Elder Alm’s eyes were a little agog at Rieren’s revelations. “Those are heavy accusations you level against one who is the Emperor’s own.”
She shrugged. “I only report the truth that I am aware of.”
“Why in the world would the Avatar decide a disciple of Lionshard Sect is an enemy of the Elderlands? What did you do in your last life?”
“That is a tale too long for anyone. We must leave and secure the Abyss Rents.”
There it was. Rieren had overstepped her bounds just the slightest. A disciple did not disapprove of an Elder’s question by telling him what should be done instead.
Elder Alm frowned heavily as he answered, “I am aware. However, it is difficult to trust one who is so mired in conspiracies. Whom so many wish to see dead.”
“You do not need to trust me, Elder. You said you trusted Elder Olg’s judgement. It would be to everyone’d benefit if you continued to do so.”
Another answer that would have likely seen Rieren get punished under normal circumstances, but there was no time for such social frivolities in their current situation. Honestly, Rieren ought to have taken advantage of that earlier.
“As you wish, then,” Elder Alm finally said. Instead of looking satisfied, he looked angrier than before. “Go to your Elder Old, then. See that you find him. And next when we meet, I expect a confession of the truth of where your intentions lie.”
“In the same direction as yours, Elder. I wish to help the Sect as well.”
Elder Alm didn’t bother answering that. He waved a dismissive hand, which Rieren took as the signal that she was free. Offering a short, reconciliatory bow—that also went ignored by the Elder—she quickly turned and headed off to the other end of the chamber.
Amalyse and Folend were waiting. It was time to find Elder Olg.