Temporary

The soldiers step into the waters flow with the casual nature of those who’ve ridden on this ride before and know every twist and turn that’s to come. They take care to keep their spears pointed up and away, and their shields clutched tightly, close to their bodies, so as not to lose them to the current, but even that seems more habitual than out of any particular caution.

Unlike the ride up, this one starts off on the horizontal which makes it a little less intimidating. Just like stepping into a narrow, but steady flowing river.

“I’ll go first.” I say, stepping up to the plate willingly this time now that we’ve developed a little more trust with these people. It’d have to be a pretty complex ruse for them to have taken it this far, just to plant some spears at the bottom of the water slide to impale us.

“With me.” Eshya says, bouncing up behind me and grabbing me around the waist as I’m sliding into the water. The golden-blue glow surrounds us, slowly tugging us along the length of the thin river.

“Might be nicer without the armour on.” I say, shifting around to try and make it a little less uncomfortable for her. The elf still doesn’t loosen her grip on me.

“I’m not sure now’s the best time for flirting,” she says.

“No, I was just saying...”

The water steadily washes us along to the end of the room, and into a tunnel painted with the glowing lights of the water running through it. At this point, it’s impossible not to think of this as a waterpark ride, especially as we start to slide down and pick up some momentum.

My stomach rises in my guts as we rush down the sloped tunnel, seeing no end to the fall. Eshya’s hands grab me tighter still and for a moment I think she’s about to scream, but she holds it in barely making an audible squeak over the sound of rushing water.

A second later, we turn back up against gravity, slowing and steadying as the roof of the tunnel disappears with little warning.

The lakes above and below shine bright and I can see, through a web of roots surrounding us, the underground world that fills this cavern. Life in the forest, in the water, in the skies, fighting, screaming, snoring, and nesting.

A few sentries are posted atop the roots to either side of us, watching for predators that might make for us. Thankfully, none do.

Rounding a gentle curve, the veil of roots disappears for a moment, and we can see clearly the forest around us and beneath us; the wide lake, swimming with shadows; and the white city walls, with tall towers rising within, high enough to touch the ceiling.

Ahead the slide dips, and we have but a few moments to brace ourselves before the fall. Water rushes all around us, spraying everywhere as I hear Vii laughing above us, following us closely from the air.

A few fast twists and turns spin us about, spaying water everywhere. Beautiful sights blur past us unseen as we fly down the long waterslide.

Without any real warning, the ride ends, and we’re dropped onto a thick layer of roots which are acting as a sieve to catch us. The water rushes over us, spreading out as it can’t push through the net of roots quickly enough.

Eshya grabs my shoulder and we haul each other out of the water flow threatening to press us against the ground. Vii flutters rather dignified onto the ground beside us the moment we’re free of the current, a bright smile on her lips.

The line of infantry are already set up in a defensive formation around us, looking about for threats that might come from any direction.

“We always have people down here watching over the exit.” Green-feet says, seeing my caution. He’s standing inside the formation, where it’ll be easier to guide us, and to give orders to his troops. “But there are still the occasional incidents. Be careful coming here in the future when we’re not around.”

“Nature will do its thing.” I reply. “We’ll be prepared for the worst.”

I step aside as Red comes rushing down behind us. She orientates herself to fall on her feet and casually strolls out of the way as Arn and Korgan come screaming down behind her.

“Damnedable contraption. Can’t ye just use elevators like sensible people?” Korgan says, stumbling to his feet while spitting out water.

“Elevators are difficult to make and use far too much mana.” Green-feet says. “We aren’t in some fancy city out here.”

The rest of our team comes rushing down one after another until finally we’re all gathered. It’s been quite the successful little expedition for us. All of us are still living, and now we’re getting an armed escort to our new base.

Following after the soldiers, we keep watch over the rear, but there’s nothing here that threatens to harm us.

As I understand, this should only be a rather short walk to catch up with our allies. I’ve already sent Nel a message covering the main points of everything that’s happened thus far and everything still seems to be going well on her side of things.

“This is going to be interesting…” I mutter scratching at my head as I start configuring the silver support devices that we stole from the gremlins. Thankfully Bessy is really great for carrying things. I was sure to thank her again when I got them off of her, but she was quick to dodge my hand when I tried petting her.

Eshya and Vii step up to help with the conversion process of the new devices, and it doesn’t take long for us to get it finished.

The trek is entirely uneventful, the block of infantry has apparently made themselves familiar to all the local beasts which know to keep a respectful distance from us. Of course that doesn’t apply to the larger beasts, and especially not the ones living in the lake.

“Don’t splash the water.” Green-feet says when we stop at the bottom of the slope, near to the lake. “We can’t save you from the things that live in there.”

“Got it.” I reply easily. “I’ll go grab our people and be back, it’ll be a few minutes.”

“Thank you, we can’t risk getting so near to the world above.” He says.

Nervously watching the waters, I head back up to the others with Eshya and Vii, while Red and the others stay on guard below.

The stone path that we walked down before looks that much more intimidating seen from below. From this angle I can’t even see the shadow moving in the lake and have to hope that it can’t see me. Watching each step carefully, we slowly make our way up. Even my burning thighs can’t distract me right now.

Sweat is dripping into my eyes by the time I get to the top, where Nel is waiting. The twins stand by her side, looking rather bored.

Behind them are the ex-slave ‘beasts’ that we released, and the teacher we brought along with us, most of them don’t even have any translators. They’re remarkably calm considering, or at least they’re having their mental breakdowns quietly, as we all should.

“Take half.” I say to Nel, as she rushes to my side, “I’ve reworked them all already.”

Vii and Eshya are racing about with their share of the silver chips, implanting them as quick as they can.

“So, we can trust these people? The lord and the dungeons?” Nel asks, her green eyes reflecting a strange world, but one with me in the centre of it.

“As much as we can trust anyone.” I reply, “We should stay careful.”

She nods, taking a deep breath before she rushes around to ensure everyone is properly equipped with support devices.

Guy and Aalia try to stop me for a conversation when they get their treatment, but I don’t have the time, patience, or energy right now. I still need sleep, and they need shelter.

“Can everyone hear me?” I ask, looking around at the ex-slaves after we’ve distributed the new devices.

Some nods, and some quiet ‘yes’s’ abound in reply.

“Good, we’ve got a new home for you down here.” I say, “If you want to try your luck on your own, feel free to go out into the jungle when we get there. As beasts you no longer have a place in the upper world.

“You can’t go back up to the surface, you can’t go back to the academy. This is all you have now. You can thank me for it later.

“For now, head down the ramp, stay together, and stay quiet. If any of you splash the water below, you’ll aggravate the beast living in there and end up as fish food alongside everyone beside you, so please step carefully.”

They are slow to respond, looking between one another as they slowly wonder over to the expansive sight of the dungeon. Nel, Vii, and Eshya work to get them moving, while I head to the back with the twins to catch any that try and flee into the ruins above.

I can’t afford the teacher, or any of the beasts escaping and I’d rather not give out samples of our new device to the welfare officers. Not to mention everything else these people could say about us. So, they’re sticking around the dungeon, like it or not.

Frey also gives a great excuse to keep them locked down here, but I’m not going to lie to myself and say that that’s the only reason.

“We have class soon.” Leai says with a long groan. “I wish we could stay down here. Then we wouldn’t have to pretend we’re good students and play all those silly games… wait… we can, can’t we?! Seia, Seia, can we?”

“Giving up our positions as students shouldn’t be done lightly.” Seia says rather strictly.

“It’s not lightly. I might make a mistake and get people hurt. We should stay here instead!”

“You haven’t made any mistakes so far…” Seia says looking her sister over.

“Please!” Leai begs, lowering her head to her sister.

“… If that’s what you want.” Seia sighs, long and tired.

“Yes! Freedom!”

“If that’s what you want, you’ll have to stay down here for good, or at least until we have teleportation figured out.” I say. “It’s part of the rules the dungeon came up with. Isn’t that right? Arduelle? Frey?”

“Who are you talking to?” Leai asks, giving me a strange look. “Are they your friends? You know, invisible friends?”

“The dungeon.” I say, “Frey is at least. Arduelle is her friend.”

“Oh, you’re talking to the dungeon.” Leai says, not sounding entirely convinced. She turns to the wall beside her, “Hello Frey. It’s good to meet you.”

A whisper passes through my ears, so quiet that I can’t make out any words.

Leai and Seia however seem to hear it a little more clearly, as they’ve frozen mid-step staring into space. Seia wears a worried frown, as Leai brightens like the sun.

“I’d like to be friends.” Leai says joyously, before turning to listen for a reply, but I don’t hear anything this time.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything.” She says through a wide smile.

Seia looks worriedly at the walls around us but says nothing.

I don’t enquire about it.

“Well, if you’re staying down here, it’ll be nice if you could take care of the others.” I say, looking between them. “I won’t force you, though.”

“Aww.” Leai slumps, “Babysitting sucks.”

“It’s not babysitting.” I say, “Hunting and bringing the parts to the markets, or even just scouting the area and making sure beasts don’t come near to our base, that sort of thing. Anything you think of that could help, I’ll appreciate.”

“Okay!” She replies suddenly much eager with the new explanation, “I’ll bring in some sea food.”

Her gaze rather worryingly turns to the lake below us.

“I’m not sure you can handle that…” I say.

“We’re creatures of the water.” Seia says, “Escaping stronger beasts in the water is easy for us. It’s far more dangerous for us to be fighting on the land.”

Her claim just makes me feel that much more inadequate, as I never possibly considered that they might be fighting with a handicap this entire time.

“Well, I won’t tell you what to do.” I say with a tired shrug and a quiet promise to myself that I’ll train harder than ever.

The conversations provide a lovely distraction, and in no time we arrive at the base of the slope and leave behind the lake and the beasts within.

The soldiers only take passing interest in the people we bring along, their attention still focused on the lake behind us, and then on the forest once that’s out of sight.

Talk is quiet and low, kept to whispers, but the frightened gazes tell as much a story as needs to be said. It’s quite the relief when we finally stop and Green-feet pulls at something buried at his feet.

Two massive mangrove roots separate, opening a dark space between them. If it weren’t for the small, magical mark that lights up where Green-feet was fiddling with it, I’d be sure that we’re dealing with some giant tree monster that’s about to turn us into fertiliser

“This is it.” He says. “There shouldn’t be anything inside, but we’ll check just to make sure.”

The tangled network of wooden roots around us form the floor, the walls, and the ceiling too, which I find to be a little unsettling. Thankfully there are no gaps as far as I can see, so there aren’t going to be any small monsters or insects crawling in of a night.

It’s arguably nicer than the community that they’ve built out of stone in the ceiling.

“There’s no lights or anything, but a visit to the markets should help with that.” Green-feet says the moment he’s finished securing the place. “There’s plenty of room for the lot of you so you don’t need to worry about privacy. It’s a nice place to make a home.”

“Thank you again.” I say, “We’ll have to visit those markets and pay you and everyone else back for all of this.”

“Don’t mind it.” He says, “It doesn’t cost us nothing. Show your faces around town, trade the beast parts you don’t need, and we can all be friends here.

“We’ll give you some room to settle in and bring that food over in the morning.” He says.

“I might not be here when you come back.” I say, pulling Nel and Red over. “Speak with either of these two if I’m not here. Exchange messages, would you?”

“Right.” Nel says, nodding.

“You’re shoving your work off on me?” Red asks, with a shake of the head. “I’m not playing any politics for you, just so you know.”

“I know.” I say, “Just keep the family together while I’m gone.”

“Family?” Red asks.

“Yeah, you’re the ex-army aunt who can sometimes be a bit of a bitch.” I say, and she grunts in response before walking away.

She’s probably running off to secure herself a room. While I should probably do the same, I’m not too worried about it. We’re not planning on staying down here every night and there’s a nice room waiting for me in that stone city anyway.

“Do you think they’ll be alright down here while I’m gone?” I ask. Nel, Vii, and Eshya gather up beside me, likely feeling, like me, that we’re nearing the moment where we’d best take our leave.

“With the right distractions to keep them busy.” Nel says, “I’ve been discussing the new Chips with those that could listen, and it’s been keeping them busy for now. There’s enough information and Skills on there to keep them interested for some time, especially if we encourage them further. For some, this is a chance to try out a career that interested them, that they had to leave behind.”

“Huh, well if they want to learn, even better.” I say, “Not everyone can be a warrior.”

“Though, only warriors get to stretch their legs.” Eshya says, glancing upwards to refer to the dungeon wilds above us.

“After I take that city, it’ll be a bit easier on everyone.” I say.

Having been the one to give most of these people their chips, I’ve managed to get all of their addresses added to my contacts list. Throwing them all together into a single chat, I send out a message.

Kyra- Welcome to your new home. Play nice with each other and make the most of your new life here. Red and Nel are in charge while I’m gone. Feel free to message me if you have any trouble or concerns, I’ll respond as quickly as I’m able.

Kyra- Make sure to send those messages to me directly. This is a group conversation for you all to get to know each other so use it, or not, as you please, but please be nice with each other.

Red- I have a complaint.

Red- This is a stupid idea.

Red- That is all.

“Is that a good idea?” Nel asks.

“It’s important to give people a means to contact me about their issues.” I say, “That and I need them to know that they’re not slaves down here. Life might be difficult for a while, but I want them to know that they’re my people, and that I’ll take care of them.”

“We’re your people now?” Aalia asks, stepping over to me alongside Guy. Anna stands behind them seeming a little nervous.

“You are.” I say easily. “Unless you want to head out and find your own home, which you’re free to do.”

“It’s not right to think of us like that. You’re talking like a gang boss or something.” Guy says, “We should elect a leader between all of us.”

I roll my eyes. I’m too tired for this. I glance over at Nel and see a small ‘I told you so’ smile on her lips.

“You invited the complaints.” Eshya says, laughing at me as well.

“This isn’t and will never be a democracy.” I say, getting the argument started.

“You’re only talking temporarily, right?” Guy asks. “It’s an emergency and we don’t even really know anyone, so an election would be silly. I get that, but I mean, come on.”

“No elections. No democracy.” I say, “This place is mine, and I’m the empress of this tiny empire, you don’t like it, you’re free to leave.”

“Wasn’t this place gifted to us?” Aalia asks, “That’s what I heard from that strange people who guided us here. That means it doesn’t belong to you, it belongs to all of us.”

“Your free to think of it like that, and you’re also free to call a shovel a spade.” I say. “This base is under my authority, and unless you want to pick a fight, it’ll stay that way. If you want democracy, gather together whoever wants to go with you, and go ask the local lord for a plot of land. I won’t stop you, and honestly, he’ll probably find something for you.

“This base here. It’s mine, and while you’re living here, you’re under my authority.”

“I get that you’re stronger than us.” Guy says. “But that doesn’t mean you can just get your way with whatever you want.”

“I mean… it literally is.” I say, “I don’t much like that fact, partly because the same is true for those more powerful than me, but it’s the simple truth here.”

“Countless dictators thought the same and were overthrown because of it.” Aalia says, glaring at me as if she’s thinking of starting an uprising.

“Because they neglected to realize where their power lied. Those leaders gained their strength from their people and lost it when their people turned on them. It tends to be different here. The truly powerful can take whatever they want, whenever they want and a few million weaker beings can do little to stop them.”

“And because you’re the strongest here…?”

“Not even close.” I reply, “Red, Bessy, the twins, and a few others would easily take me in a fight. They’re just not interested in kicking me out and taking over. Then there’s Frey, of course.”

I tap my foot at the floor.

“You there Frey?” I ask. “No? Just shy?”

A whisper touches my ear, but I can’t hear a word from it.

“I’m sorry, you’ll have to speak up.” I say, and the ground rumbles a little before a quiet voice carries on the wind.

“I’m here.” Her voice is surprisingly gentle, and I’d actually quite like to hear her sing… perhaps I can set up a duet between her and Ria sometime.

“You’ve got a rather cute voice.” I say.

The ground grumbles again, and I finally notice that everyone’s looking around in confusion and panic at the sudden earthquakes. A few have noticed my strange actions and are staring at me in wonder.

“It’s fine everyone, I was just talking to the dungeon. That grumbling was normal. I think.” I call out to them.

Some suddenly panic, others shrug and get back to what they were doing before.

“What… the dungeon?” Anna asks, her eyes open wide. It’s nice to see that she’s not completely catatonic anymore.

“Yeah, her name is Frey and she’s all around you. Please treat her nicely, and I’m sure she won’t mind if you talk to her on occasion.”

Aalia and Guy look on the verge of having a break down, looking at the walls around them.

“Oh, and since you two seem upset already. I should probably mention that I’m planning on stealing land from a group of, arguably intelligent natives. Though, I’ll probably have to kill a bunch of them to make it happen.”

“You’re… you’re fascist!” Aalia screams at me, likely half just from panicking about the dungeon. “An actual fascist. Like, not an internet nazi, but the real thing!”

“Probably closer to a monarchist or something, but I’m not even sure that would be appropriate since the only authority that I really support is my own. It’s not like I’d support any other dictator but me.” I say with a shrug, “The doors are always open for you to leave if you don’t like it.”

She squeals in frustration before stomping off to another room. Guy looking at me as if I’ve grown a third eye on my forehead or something, before slowly finding his feet and following Aalia.

“So your attitude isn’t common on your world?” Eshya asks, “I was thinking that all your species were like you. Rebellious and egotistical.”

“Only some.” I say, meeting Anna’s eyes as she looks up to mine. She nervously approaches.

“I… Is that really okay with you? Killing and stealing?” She asks.

“Oh, that’s a damn good point. I should cover that in a group message actually.” I say, grumbling as I put together my own list of sins.

“Um, how about I deal with that.” Adler says, “You were talking about it once before… and I feel rather useless here. So, it just seems the perfect way for me to help, and…”

“Okay, put together a set of rules that these people should live by, and I’ll go over it.” I say, nodding appreciatively. If there’s anything a good emperor needs far more than clothes it’s this, the sort of expert that can take notice of your problems and do the hard work for you.

“What was it you were saying again? Oh, right, killing and stealing.” I say. “It’s okay to kill and steal when we do it to our enemies in order for us to grow stronger. The gremlins are little shits that have picked a fight with us already, so they’re enemies and civil rules don’t matter.”

“That’s… awful.” Anna says, her expression tense. “I mean, shouldn’t we try to be better than that? Shouldn’t we be empathetic and try to make the world a better place for everyone?”

“Great ideals. I love it, but not right now.” I say, “Good morals won’t save you if someone stronger comes along to kill you and take what you have. We need to be stronger, and to do that we need to take resources away from others. I’d rather choose to take from assholes, than from allies.”

“Can’t you just hunt the wild beasts?” She asks.

“You think beasts deserve to be hunted?” I ask. “Even the trees are a morally difficult question out here. If you haven’t noticed a few of our peers share a heritage with those same plants.

“Many of those beasts out there are fully capable of complex feelings and thought.” I say, “As I see it, the natives that I’m going after, are no more or less worthy of life than any of those beasts.”

“What about us?” Anna asks seriously.

“The same. You’re lives are precious to me subjectively. Most people would say a dogs life isn’t as important as a persons, but when they’re your dog it’s another story.”

“We’re all dogs to you?” She asks, taking a step back.

“That’s not…” I grit my teeth and try to force down the fluffy bed floating through my mind. “None of our lives matter. There is no universal means of evaluating a life, all we can do is determine how much a life is worth to us as individuals.

“A gremlins life matters little to me, when compared to your life or mine. While I’m sure that the gremlin would feel that it’s own life is more important than either of us.

“To determine who deserves to live, we’ll have to fight it out.”

“That’s drivel.” Anna says, “That’s just… you’re trying to excuse taking what you want, and doing what you want, and murdering who you want.”

“Actually, that’s the thing I’m trying to explain, Anna. I don’t need an excuse. Down here, no one needs an excuse to take what they want. There’ll be consequences if you go too far and offend Frey or the local lords, but that’s it.

“In the Unified States things are different, but you didn’t seem to want to play by their rules either, so this is what you have. I personally find it all fucked up beyond repair, but if we want anything better, the only way to get it is to become strong enough to create a space where our own rules and laws apply.”

She shakes her head before turning away from me, walking over to a nearby room, looking back at me once more before leaving.

“Well, it seems that’s gotten everyone settled at least.” I say as I notice that the rest of the settlers down here no longer treat me with the same concern as they had before. The slaughter of the ill-behaved beasts likely made them think of me as some kind of monster but letting myself get yelled at by an overly whiney weakling has likely adjusted their feelings, hopefully not all for the worse.

“With that, I think we can leave.” I say, turning to head back up the stairs.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Skills & Stats

~Mana Form:

Current mana density: 790 units

~Mana distribution:

Skin: 5/28%

Muscle: 33/33%

Mind: 20/65%

Cardiovascular: 11/11%

Misc.: 10/10%

Efficiency: 79/79%

~Favourited Skills:

-Chip Shredder

-Multi-mind

-Tag

-Mana surge movement

-Mana surge punch

-Reactive mana skin

-Infused delayed Casting

-Fire burst punch