“Hey, Lake, wake up.“ I was roused from my sleep by Ræric's voice. He was always the first to wake up. “Yeah, yeah, immup. Whatdya wan?“ I grumbled, not particularly wanting to get up from my comfy bed.

“Club meeting! C'mon!“ He replied with enthusiasm typically reserved for talking about kobolds. Which, it could be argued, was accurate.

“Gimme a minute, I'll be there in a minute.“ I waved him off, still half asleep and not fully registering what I was saying, earning me a “Don't be late!“ and a bit of time to get changed from my pitch-black pyjamas into equally pitch-black casual clothes, analogous to a t-shirt and sweat pants. I had, at least, managed to get a design onto the tee — a cup of tea, if you're curious.

After getting changed, I walked out into the hall, which I had managed to decorate with orange mana lights. While I could see just fine without them, Hour and Rhaus couldn't, which I noticed after the latter ended up falling flat on his face rather frequently for someone with enhanced reflexes. I fixed myself up some void tea (which requires rather liberal use of Death Magic to make), then headed over to the living/meeting room.

Ræric was waiting on the couch.

Evidently, the other two hadn't arrived yet. In the mean time, he was watching some TV. Somehow, when building it, I only managed to gain a single level in Carpentry. Probably because there wasn't an Electronics skill? Whatever the cause, it was currently on an 80s action flick, of which Ræric was surprisingly fond.

“So,” I opened, sipping my tea, “what's the meeting about?“

“I'll tell you when everyone's here.“ He quietly said, staring as an explosion appeared on screen. “Would't want to repeat myself.“

His form was noticeably more defined than everyone else's, his deep purple Mana fitting itself exactly into the shape of a kobold. Most likely, this was a result of his Avatar Generation Skill, which probably worked based on Mana. I'm not a dungeonologist, I don't know.

We sat, watching the movie together until the others arrived. Ræric paused it, turning to address the newcomers. “Ah, sit down, sit down.“ He gestured at the two free seats, both armchairs.

“You're probably wondering why I've gathered you here today.“ He began.

“Did someone die? If so, I never heard it.“ Hour interrupted.

“No, no-one died. In fact, I'd say that the opposite happened; someone didn't die.“

“That's just the same thing twice?“ Rhaus interjected.

“If you would let me get to my point.“ Ræric continued, “I have spotted something pretty interesting. Lake, could you put on that disk, please?” He gestured to a CD left on the table.

“Sure,” I shrugged, inserting it into the TV's disk tray via telekinesis.

The reader whirred up for a short while, before displaying an odd picture. It seemed to be a regular part of Styx, but with a white light coming out in vein-like patterns from an origin point. “What in the Styx is that?!“ Hour excliamed.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“That, from what I understand, is a way to the Material Plane. Spotted it just before I woke you up. My kobolds reported seeing something like this every time they respawned, and some adventurers who had been revived talked about it, too. Best part is, these worked for mass-respawns, or at least, similar-looking things. So, if I'm not mistaken, these are our ticket out. All we need is a method of propulsion, then we get close and swim out to it. Simple as that!“

“And how do you suppose we do that?“ Rhaus asked.

“Well, Lake here can fashion us up a simple underwater prop system, can't you?“

“I believe I can. I'll start work right away.“ I answered, putting down my tea. “We'll probably need a bridge, but we'll be able to turn the viewport into one easy enough.“

I pulled out some bricks of Styx, and got to work. First, I needed to get some props. I carved out a frame first, just a hollow cylinder that tapers a bit at the end. Not sure how much it would help, but it probably wouldn't hurt.

Then, I added a brace (or whatever it's called) about halfway down the cyclinder. I secured it to the rest via Death Magic, a very helpful all-around skill, though I doubt it will retain it's usefullness into the real world.

Carving out the actual propellers, I made extra care to make them all even; three large(ish, they're in a confined space) blades around a central circle, all turned to catch the black water as they spin themselves. I carved out a divot in the harness, then bulged out the circle of the prop, fit them together and put a ball that would rotate when fed Mana. Copying this three more time resulted in an amount of props I could work with.

{sysmessage}

[Death Magic (lv4)] acquired!

{/sysmessage}

I attached them to the four sides of the make-shift submarine (excluding on the z axis fo hopefully obvious reasons), then set about on the controls.

{sysmessage}

[Shipwrighting (lv1)] acquired!

{/sysmessage}

Said controls were about as rudimentary as you could get: only throttle, pitch, and yaw. The first two, by sliders, and the third by a large steering wheel, like you'd see on an old-timey wooden boat. And maybe new-timey steel ones, I'm not a nautical navigator. Either way, it was basic, and it couldn't roll, but it didn't need to have any complex systems; it just needed to get the KAC HQ near the white thing at some point.

Preferably before we start trying to make each other more dead than we already are. Hopefully, though, we'll reach the light soon enough.

Giving the wheel a test spin, it turned the wrong way. But it did turn! I just miswired it. I turned the wheel the other way. The clubhouse followed suit. Pitch up worked fine, and so did pitch down. All that was left was throttle. I turned the ship around for a bit before aiming it at the portal. Throttle up. The ship lurched into motion, making the light of day a just a touch closer. Throttle down. We came to a stop, then reversed. It was fully functional! Every programmer's wet dream; it had worked almost perfectly on the first attempt.

I turned the throttle up, and set our course.

“Hey, everyone!“ I called out, “Ship's working!“ Ræric came running through on short notice. “So you've done it?“ He asked.

“Yeah. We just have to take turns at the helm, then we should be able to reach the other side in about a day or two. Just got to keep it fueled, moving, and on-track.“ I gave Ræric a little headpat. “I'll take first shift.“

~¤~¤~¤~

It was around a day and a half after we set course for the portal to the overworld. The bridge held the four of us. “So, everyone know how to swim?“ Rhaus asked the party.

“Yup.“ Came the Hour.

“I believe I can.“ I confirmed.

“… what's that?“ Asked Ræric, bemused.

I facepalmed. “You know what? It's fine, I can just… carry you to the portal. It's way too dangerous for you to try learning to swim in here. 'Sides, you're not exactly the largest of folks.“

“Okey!“ He said enthusiastically. I picked him up. “Ready?“ I asked, turning to the rest of the KAC. A pair of amused affirmations later, and we were through the window. With a little bit of swimming, we were at the portal.

Rhaus went through first. Then Hour.

Then, it was Ræric & I's turn. Hope this is safe.