Genesis Locorum

As Emily and her party are exploring Tim’s Qiang, everyone else is preparing for the confrontation with the Engines. Richard went to the Rosenkreuz guildhall to explain their situation.

“You think the invading dungeon is after Emily?” Pauline says.

“I don’t think,” the dwarf says. “I know. The Engines are marching towards the Black Box as we speak.”

“If this dungeon is the culprit behind even some of the missing dungeon cases,” Chiron says.

Flowena and Ulrich are with Richard. The two sprites explained their origins as former denizens of the mirage Feywood, sent to live in the Black box by their leader to ensure their survival, and that they had failed to contact said leader recently.

“Hmm,” Pauline says. “This is a dire matter indeed, I’ll go see if any of our top adventurers can help repel this threat.”

“Pardon me,” Benoit says. “But isn’t Emily also registered with the guilds in Noir as well?”

“That’s true,” Richard says.

“Even so,” Pauline says. “Their aid might not come so easily. The Rouges barely have the resources to do anything unrelated to helping the folks in eh Underground and the Ebony guards might not see the Black Box as a high priority for them right now.”

“I can try contacting them on your behalf,” Chiron says. “Surely they could see that something like the Engines poses a significant risk to them.”

“That reminds me,” Richard says. “Do you know if the Engines were affiliated with any guilds?”

“Afraid not,” Pauline says. “We guilds do have a record on dungeons registered with us, but we do not share that information between us. They are effectively trade secrets. If they are affiliated with a guild then we can only assume that they either had their status revoked or that the guild in question tactually agrees with the Engines’ methods.”

“I see,” Richard says with dejection. His blond locks bristle with sadness.

Chiron turns to the sprites. “Might you be able to deter this Dungeon’s course?”

“We could try,” Flowena says. “But if Mister Puck is gone that means they were somehow able to bypass our illusions.”

One of the adventures had arrived with a message. “We found the army. They had just crossed the Ruby River.”

“That means they are already in New Virginia,” Chiron says.

“Did you get a tally on their forces?” Benoit says.

“The Cells surrounding the core number in the hundreds.”

“That can’t be right,” Pauline says. “An avatara is only able to bring around one hundred cells at most!”

“These are certainly unusual circumstances.” Chiron looks at a tome. “What about the Sentinels?”

“I count five entities that seemed to be Sentinels among the invaders,” the scout says.

“I see,” Chiron says. “I will embark to Noir at once.” The centaur exits the room.

Richard, Flowena, and Ulrich look at Pauline and Benoit. “Is there anyone else that could help?”

“I could try Fairfax,” Benoit says. “Maybe New Spring Lake as well.”

“Those are too far, Benny!” Pauline says.

“The guilds are the closest to us that have Gilded Adventurers, We have to try contacting them.”

Richard turns to Flowena. “Can you and Ulrich make it to Eastshire and Websdale? We’ll need all the help we can get.”

“Will do!” Flowena says.

“Got it!” Ulrich says. The two sprites leave the guild hall to request aid from the two towns.

“Now,” Pauline says. “Why do you think these Engines are after Emily, dear?”

“We were visiting the Cerberus area looking to investigate the missing dungeons,” the dwarf says. “We have found evidence that the dungeon had somehow grown in power at an alarming rate and was absorbing some of the nearby dungeons.”

“I see,” Pauline says. “So you think they are trying to keep their ill-gotten power secret?”

“I don’t think so,” Richard says. “Their advance is too brazen for that. I think they are just trying to absorb Emily, no matter the cost.”

“I see,” Pauline says. “The guild and I will do everything in our power to help protect Emily.”

“Thank you,” the dwarven weaver says. Richard leaves Pauline and the guildhall.

From the lobby, a strangely-clad is sipping tea. She notices Richard walking to the entrance, seemingly in a rush.

“Well þis is getting interesting,” the woman says with a curious grin.

✦✦✦

Meanwhile, Minerva is leading a contingent of Arachne to a jungle. They are working on creating traps for the incoming army. Carla and Charlotte are also with them, asking the local beasts for assistance.

“Of all the trouble to get wrapped into,” Minerva says while overseeing her fellow arachne. The Atypidae and Lycosidae create various pitfalls deep enough to bury the machines. The Salticidae scout out the jungle, looking for parts of the environment to help turn into snares and barricades. The Argyronetidae swim into the rivers, looking to divert their flow into makeshift dams to flood the path if the machines cross, while the younger ones create threads to serve as tripwires and concealments for the pitfalls.

“Mommy,” Nina says. “Will this be enough?”

“I don’t know, dear,” Minerva says. “I don’t know.

Carla talks with several of the beasts in the jungle. The Black Bears, the Bobcats, the White-Tailed Deer. All to beseech their aid in fending off the mechanical invaders. Charlotte meanwhile is trying a different approach.

“Let’s see,” the young alraune is reading from a spellbook Anemone lent her. A grimoire containing knowledge on thaumaturgical gravity spells. She looks over the chapters penetrating to gravity and apurgy mines. She traces the sigils onto the ground with a branch.

“Will this work?” she thinks. He extends a hand out to the design and attunes to it. The shapes glow with a starry blue-violet hue. Charlotte breathes a breath of relief at the sign of success.

Carla approaches her. “What is that, dear?”

“A gravity mine spell, Mom,” Charlotte says. “If it works it should make it hard for them to get past this point.”

“It seems rather small.”

“I know,” Charlotte sighs. “Can you help me make a larger sigil?”

“Of course dear,” Carla says. “I’ll ask Minerva if her friends can also help.”

A few moments later, Carla arrives with Nina and some of the younger Arachne in tow. Charlotte shows everyone the designs she wants to make and asks for their assistance in building the glyphs.

Meanwhile, Minerva approaches Clara. “Your daughter has an affinity for gravity spells?”

“Yeah,” Clara says. “It was news to me too.”

Minerva laughs. “The month has been full of surprises.”

“Yeah,” Clara sighs.

Minerva is well aware of Clara and Charlotte’s former life in Hamlin. “Your husband, what was he like?”

Calra reminisces about her time with Samuel. She breathes a heavy sigh.” He was a wonderful man, a dutiful husband, and a loving father. Unjustly murdered in cold blood.”

“I see,” Minerva says. “Both of you had raised Charlotte well.”

The two look at the young alraune coordinating the construction of the glyphs for the mines. Clara sighs as she wonders why it had come to this.

“Even in these prosperous times,” Minerva says. “Titania is still a dangerous world. Even more so for people like us.”

“Yeah,” Clara says. “It is.” She wonders why is it that way. Why do their children feel like they have to defend themselves and their families at such young ages? Why do people accuse them of crimes they did not commit? Why are people so quick to judge them as outside because they do not look like them?

“I understand you came from Websdale?” Clara says to Minerva.

“That is correct,” the Arachne says. “Alas, we were forced to move following the Tarantulopolis incident.”

“I heard that the dungeon became home to a cult of kidnappers and arsonists,” Clara says.

“That was indeed the case.”

As the two mothers are talking, Charlotte places the finishing touches on the glyph.

“We’re done!” an Arachne boy says.

Charlotte attunes to the giant glyph. “Please work!” she thinks. “There is too much at stake for this to fail.” She thinks about the children of Hamlin, bound to the Black Box, with altered minds. Trapped by a demon and confined within Emily, she thinks about how she wants to save them, to restore them, and how the destruction of the dungeon would entail the end of their lives. She thinks about Carla, her mother. A woman shunned by the town and blamed for two heinous crimes she did not commit, and who had faked a death in a bid to grant the village closure. She thanks her aunt Geraldine, still residing in Hamlin. She thinks about her deceased father.

The thoughts and memories are channeled into the glyph and cause it to glow a radiant indigo hue. Nina and the other Arachne children look on in awe as the nightly glow shines bright.

One of the Arachne kids, a Salticidae girl, is dazzled by the glyph’s glow. “So pretty!” she yells exuberantly. She inches closer to it before Charlotte notices.

“Wait!” Charlotte says. The young girl stops. “That is a dangerous trap. If you set it off, you could be crushed by the force of ten thousand tons!”

The Salticidae girl realizes the mistake she is about to make and meekly jumps away from the glyph. The others save Nina follow suit. Nian looks at Charlotte with a confident smirk. “Pretty good right?”

Charlotte nods. “Thank you for helping.”

“My pleasure!” the spiderling says. “That’s what adventures do!”

Charlotte giggles. “Are you still sad you didn’t get to go with Emily?”

“A little,” Nina says. “Mommy is…”

“You know she cares about you a lot right?” Charlotte says.

“I know,” Nina sighs. She remembers that she was captured by the spiritualists of Tarantulopolis. “But I want to be an hero. I want to rescue people, not be rescued all the time!”

“That is an admirable goal,” Charlotte says.

“What about you?” Nina says. “Who do you want to be?”

“Huh?” Charlotte says. “You know, I don’t think I gave that much though.”

Nina giggles.

“It’ll come to me,” Charlotte says. “I hope.”

Minerva and Clara approach their daughters, as the sun sets. They return to the Black Box.

✦✦✦

Earlier in the day, Atsuko’s retainers and Elizabeth monitor the instruments while Emily and Atsuko’s party explore the Qiang. Richard had recently left for Rosenkreuz’s guildhall, and Minerva and Clara had left for a nearby jungle.

Elizabeth looks over the Kaguya Parallel Mirror, amazed at its intricate details.

“Lady Atsuko spared no expense in designing that machine,” Noboru says.

Kei and Aika look over the monitor, seeing the world within the Qiang.

“It’s beautiful,” Aika says.

“Silver streams, jade forests,” Kei says, feeling inspired by the splendor on the monitor.

“Why are they moving so fast?” Saizo says. “It’s making my eyes hurt?”

Elizabeth looks at the screen and notices that Emily and her party and moving at an unusual pace, as is the environment around them. Suzume sees a second screen and presses a button. The current frame is saved and displaced on that screen, revealing a pagoda with eleven eaves.

Elizabeth looks at the intricate building and its spiral floor.

“Looks like a Jiangese ta,” Saizo says.

Kei already takes out his book. “The silver streams flow down the hills like liquid moonlight. The foliage of trees shines in emerald and jade hues.”

“Looks like Kei found some inspiration,” Hoshikage says.

“Must’ve been a pretty sight to get him writing like that,” Noboru says. Elizabeth looks at the Tanuki and asks him a question. “So Noboru, was it, how did you and your friends come to be here?”

Noboru laughs. “It’s a very long story.”

“For now,” Saizo says. “All you need to know is that we have left Yamatai and the archipelago of Yae Shoto for Lady Atsuko’s safety.”

“[Yamatai], huh,” Elizabeth says. “What’s it like?”

“The island,” Kei says. “Is lined with glass monoliths that scrape the heavens. The streets glitter as if they are made of polished granite. The —“

“That’s enough Kei,” Hoshikage says with exasperation. “I’ll take it from here.” The dark-skinned kunoichi clears her throat. “Yamatai can be compared to Noir. Large skyscrapers, highly advanced technology, and very productive people.”

“People that gave their lives to their employers,” Suzume says.

“Oh um…?” Elizabeth is confused by what the swordswoman meant by that.

“Sacrificed on the altar of the almighty coin!” Kai begins to rant. “Compelled to toil away in offices and factories until sanguine rivers flow from their orifices, or until their collapse in a dreamless sleep— Eh, my apologies. I got a little heated there.”

Kei’s vivid description tells Elizabeth what she needs to know.

An hour later Saizo looks at the instruments. “Looks like they made it somewhere interesting,” He presses the snapshot button and the second screen displays a frame depicting a decorated temple complex.

“That temple,” Elizabeth says. “I feel something strange about it.”

“That reminds me,” Noboru says. “I noticed that Western philosophy and religion seem to have been entwined.”

“That’s right,” Elizabeth says. “Theological schools of thought are more common compared to Eos.”

Another while later, the pods begin to glow red.

“Is something wrong?” Elizabeth says.

“Relax,” Saizo says. This means that they are ready to return.

The Takurabune emerges from the Qiang, growing as it returns.

“Hiya,” Emily’s voice echoes to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth suddenly feels a headache. “What the—“ Newfound knowledge flows into her mind as she grasps her head and breaths rapidly. She collapses on the ground.

“Lizzie?” Emily says. “What’s happening?”

The migraine soon subsides. Elizabeth stands up. “I’m fine, I’m fine.”

The crimson hue of the pods turns into a golden one as everyone contained within wakes up and exists.

“Main those were an interesting few days,” Sarah says. Tim, Heathcliff, Esteban, and Julia wake up afterward.

Rose yawns as she slithers out. “I feel so tired.” The other Colorturas emerge from their pods with sleepy looks. Some are rubbing their eyes.

“A few days?” Aika says.

“You’ve only been gone an hour!” Hoshikage says.

“An hour?” Atsuko emerges from her pod. “I should have accounted for the time dilation.”

“Time dilation?” Sarah says. “You mean what was days for us was a shorter period for them?”

“Precisely,” Atsuko says.

“That explains why I wasn’t hungry in there,” the dwarf says.

Tim holds the Qiang in his hand. He can feel it being lighter. He also noticed the spearhead had changed. The blade is now similar to the weapons of his friends. “Did Richard change the blade while we were gone?”

“He said we went to the guild to ask for their assistance,” Elizabeth says.

“Not like we’d let him tinker with it with you guys still inside,” Hoshikage says. “Who knows what could happen if the weapon was removed.”

“What did you find in there?” Elizabeth says.

“A rather interesting monsieur,” Heathcliff says. “An Alkahestry Cultivator.”

“Alka—” Elizabeth realizes that the source of her migraine was information being uploaded into her mind. Information on mana cultivation and specifically Alkahesttry. “Emily, What did you do?”

✦✦✦

Emily and Tim explain the encounter with Tim’s former master, and the core of his Qiang, and that they had agreed to help him restore the Golden Spear sect.

“Do you have any idea the ramifications of this?” Elizabeth says furiously.

“Um…” Emily says.

The fairy sighs. “Emily, [Cultivation] is a forbidden art! You could be risking divine retribution for even attempting it. Who knows how the [Guild] would react? The [Administrator]?”

“React to what?”

Pauline arrives at the Black box.

“Pauline?” Heathcliff says.

“Richard told me about who decided to go waltzing into New Virginia, and why.” The guildmaster says. She observes Elizabeth’s flustered face. “Did I miss something, dears?”

“Nope!” the fairy franticly says. “Absolutely nothing at all!” she flutters to Pauline. “Is there anything you want to talk about?”

“Benny’s heading to Eastshire and Chiron’s going to Noir. Both to try to get help in fending off the Engines,” Pauline says.

“Sounds like a good plan, cher,” Heathcliff says. “What say we talk about it elsewhere.” Heathcliff leads Pauline away. The Hermandezes and Sarah follow him.

Elizabeth breathes a sigh of relief. “Now then. What were you thinking?”

“Elizabeth,” Tim says. “It’s my fault. I hadn’t known Master Wu had migrated his spirit into the Qiang.”

“I’m to blame for this, too,” Atsuko says. “The encounter happened because we were trying to prove the existence of microdugneons.”

Elizabeth sighs. Her expression bears a mix of anger and concern.

“Lizzie, are you okay?” Lily says. “You seem a little tense.”

“Of course I’m tense,” Elizabeth says. “This is a disaster!”

“I’m sorry,” Emily says. “I had no idea.”

“No I bear responsibility for this too,” Elizabeth says. “I should’ve told you in advance, but I thought that [Mana cultivation] and [Alkahestry] had died off.”

“Are you concerned that the gods will send someone to smite Emily?” Tim says.

“Of course,” Elizabeth says in a panicked tone. “If Emily amasses too much Mana. If she disrupts and overcentralizes the flow of mana to herself. [The Pathfinder] will send a [Messenger] to destroy her.”

“A Messenger?” Clover says. “You sure you aren’t taking things too far?”

“Yeah,” Rose says. “Emmy’s acted with good intentions. Are you sure you’re not cat…cata…um.”

“Catastrophizing?” Hydrangea says.

“Yeah, Cata-stro-phising,” the Lamia says.

“I’m not!” Elizabeth says “I know—” She suddenly hears a ping on her Lifetree diagram. She takes it out and discovers Emily has a new skill and a new skill tree. She dreads what lies in the tre labeled “{{Cultivation}}” as she opens it, but she finds it only has a single node. Called “Fair Fight.”

Emily notices her newly acquired skills as well. “Fair Fight?”

Elizabeth reads over the description. “Whenever a…it forces us to match the average mana levels of challengers?” She also sees a notification next to the tree. The title says. “A Notice.”

Elizabeth reads it aloud. “Hello! We’ve just heard that the Black box’s core had decided to become a [Cultivator]. We will be authorizing [The Engines] To exterminate þe offending dungeon immediately. You have þree weeks to prepare for your meeting with [The Pathfinder].”

Elizabeth gulps. A sense of dread overwhelms her. She then sees a second notification., titled “Another Notice”.

She opens the message. “It’s þat easy to rile you up huh? Have you forgotten that we prefer not to use people already sent as our agents of change on silly sidequests?”

“Huh?” Elizabeth says.

“Who is that?” Emily’s voice echoes to Elizabeth. She reads the mysterious messages.

Another message appears on the lifetree diagram. “Call me a friend” is its title. The message proper reads “Call me a sinner, call me a saint. It matters not. But I hope it is clear that [The Cosmos] herself sent me to oversee our newest [Divine Dungeon]. My oh my have you landed yourselves in quite þe mess.”

Elizabeth senses the mana of an Administrator through these words. But the revelation that they already know about what had happened senses her panic. She begins hyperventilating.

“Lizzie, breathe,” Emily says.

Another message appears in the diagram, untitled. After calming down, Elizabeth reads it. “You are so fun to tease, Elizabeth. I know þese misunderstandings are pervasive. Dishonest men claiming to speak for us to advance þeir agendas. But know þat if we were going to demolish out [Dungeons] for [Cultivation], we’d also done it for absorbing [Dungeon Cores] too. Tehe.”

Another untitled message appears. “If it makes you feel any better, you have my explicit authorization to practice [Alkahestry]. I’ll deal with [Obsidian].”

“But why?” Elizabeth asks aloud.

Another message appears on the Lifetree diagram. “Why you may ask? Because I think there is great potential in little Emily. Besides we are more open to new blood than you þink. Þe [Demons] are not exactly known for low populations. Besides don’t you want to know þe truth?”

“The truth?” Emily says.

One last message appears on the diagram. “Þe [Cultivators], what had they been forced to hide þemselves? Why would we hypocritically espouse the spread of knowledge while trying to destroy people for merely possession and use of it? What other secrets lie in Titania? You’ve been granted a rare opportunity. Use it! And we will test you to see if you are worthy of standing with þe heavens. We will test you of course, but don’t mistake our desire to gauge your honesty or will for malice. Þat new skill will ensure mana flow isn’t disrupted if you’re still concerned about þat. Toodles.”

The message continues. “One last þing, before you ask us to help solve your little engine problem. I’m afraid we can’t. I’m already taking a great risk contacting you in þis way, and besides, we all know [Astra] wants mortals and Dungeons to solve þeir own problems.”

There are no new messages.

✦✦✦

“Lizzie,” Emily’s voice echoes to Elizabeth. “Who was that.”

“It is an [Administrator], that much is certain.” Elizabeth sighs. “There is no turning back now. Whatever happened there ensured I know the basis of [Alkahestry], enough to teach you in lieu of this ‘Master Wu’ Tim spoke of.”

“Okay,” Emily says.

“The [Alkahest] school of [Cultivation] is derived from alchemy. As is [Cultivation] in general. Regarding the sect, all Alkahestists begin with a continuous process of four steps called the [Magnum Opus]” Elizabeth turns to Tim. “The first step is called [Nigredo] by practitioners, it is the gathering of Mana. Something we were already doing. The second step, [Albedo] is the use of the gathered mana to contract a foundation for a [Furnace].”

“All right,” Tim says. He notices they sound familiar to him, but is perplexed by Jingyu’s comment about him not truly reaching Albedo yet.

“The other two steps [Cirtrinas] and [Rubedo] are topics I’ll save for another day,” Elizabeth says. “Right now we got to focus on dealing with [The Engines].”

“I see a lot of farming in the future,” Azalea quips.

“Huh?” Lily says.

Strelitzia turns to Elizabeth. “You say that those messages came from an Administrator?”

“Yes,” Elizabeth says. “They try not to get involved in events unless their hands are forced. It is rare for a dungeon even to be contacted by one. As it is assumed that [The Forgemaster] knows everything there is to know about [Dungeons].”

“And yet,” Elizabeth thinks. “Is that really the case?” The turns to Atsuko and Saizo moving the cargo from the Takarabune. She wonders how Atrukso learned about a novel concept, and why she was unaware of it. She wonders if there is more knowledge beyond her ken.

Heathcliff returns. “We gots more visitors tomorrow,” the knight says. “Pauline is upping the amount in a bid to train the greenhorns, and us. We’ll need to be ready.”

The Coloraturas are excited as this means their first day operating as Sentinels is nigh. The dusk comes and Minerva returns with the two Alraunes and the Arachne.

“How did it go?” Emily’s voice echoes to Minerva.

“We have managed to reinforce part of the jungle outskirts,” Minerva says.

Clara turns to Anemone. “Charlotte’s proving to be quite adept at gravity spells.”

“Really?” Anemone says.

Charlotte rushes to Anemone and returns her book. “I copied the glyphs, they will come in handy for when they come.”

“What did we miss?” Nina says excitedly.

“The gravity of the situation,” Azalea says facetiously.

Tim approaches the younger girls. “Atsuko’s experiment was a success.”

“What did you find?” the spiderling asks.

“We found plenty of cool stuff!” Lily says. “Clear silver rivers, jade forests, a temple complex...”

“We will have to talk over dinner,” Elizabeth says.

Sarah arrives. “Good thing dinner is so soon. I’m starving!”

“Sister,” Richard says with exasperation.

Heathcliff turns to the dwarves. “Thanks for letting the guild know about this, cher.”

“My pleasure,” Richard says. “We should be hearing from Chiron and Benoit in a few days.”

Over dinner. Elizabeth and Emily explain the results of the trip to Spearhead’s Peak and the encounter with Tim’s former mentor.

“A cultivator?” Nina says. “Is that like a farmer or something?”

“It’s not quite like that, Nina,” Elizabeth says.

“Will there be any planting involved?” Azalea says.

“Likely not,” Elizabeth says.

Atsuko marvels at the spread Heathcliff had cooked. “You did all of this by yourself?”

Sarah’s mouth waters at seeing the feast. Consisting of among other dishes, an array of various gumbos, including some without meat for Stretlizia, as well as mashed potatoes, gravy, and pies made using the apples from the microdugneon.

“I had a fair bit of help, this time,” Heathcliff says. “Bon Appetit.”

Everyone eats the dishes. Sarah helps herself with some gumbo and a salad. Richard takes smaller portions. The children scarf down the food as quickly as Sarah does, to Richard’s dismay.

“Do we have any idea who will be coming tomorrow?” Julia says.

“Pauline give me the list before she left,” The knight says.

“What are they like?” Lily says.

“Hey, it’s no fun if you know what they are capable of beforehand,” Heathcliff says.

“We need to weave in some more excursions,” Atsuko says “Tim’s Qiang may have been empowered, but that is unlikely to be sufficient to deal with that foe.”

Rose expresses dismay. “Do we have to?”

Raine sighs. “Rose you know we need to empower our arms if we are to stand a chance.”

“I know,” Rose says. “But it feels so tiring.”

“The time dilation will allow some opportunity to rest,” Atsuko says. “But it is evident that we need the wilder attuned to the weapon to join the expedition.”

“How so?” Emily asks.

“While Heathcliff was busy cooking, I had tried to send Kasumi inside one of the weapons we found. But her mana proved to be too mismatched for it to be successful. We’ll need to bring someone whose mana is attuned to the weapon to breach hyperbolic space successfully with no adverse effects.”

“Speaking of which,” Esteban says. “Where are the shinobi?”

“Boo!”

Stretlizia is scared by Kasumi’s sudden appearance. “Stop that!”

The young kunoichi chuckles. Clover and Anenome follow suit.

Hoshikage, Saizo, Kei, Aika, Noboru, and Suzume arrive. They take their seats at the table. Kasumi sits next to Nina while the older ninjas sit next to Atsuko.

“What took you so long?” Atsuko says.

“Apologies, milady,” Saizo says. “The analysis of the objects took longer than expected.”

Suzume turns towards Kasumi.

“Hey,” Kasumi says. “It wasn’t my fault that piece of jade timber fell!”

Suzume rolls her eyes.

“We are happy to report that the objects are stable Lady Atsuko,” Hoshikage says.

Nina and Lily take the time to talk to Nina, who regales them with exploits of her adventures, adventures that Kei is quick to point out happened vastly differently from her tellings.

Hoshikage and Sarah wind up in an eating contest with each other. The former ends up with a stomachache trying to compete with the dwarven blacksmith.

Tim meanwhile is lost in thought as he eats his gumbo. He wonders about the Administrator’s messages and the trials. His mind also races with thoughts of his half brother’s possible involvement in the attack on the Golden Spear, and of course if his empowered spear will be enough to repel the imminent threat.

✦✦✦

Meanwhile. The Engines continue their advance. The mechanical Cells surrounding Baron Roberts march in lockstep over the wilderness. The woodland critters flee from the machines as the smell of steam and smoke fills the air.

The Baron is annoyed at how slow his army is moving. “Note to self, iterate on faster designs for the cells.”

Carnegie returns with a report. “Sire, it seems that the nearby guilds are aware of our presence and are fortifying themselves.”

“And more camouflaged designs,” he grumbles.

The army is at a mountain range, the peaks tower over the nearby valley and springs. The Baron sees a river nearby.

“Another blasted river,” The Baron says. “The Ruby River washed away ten of the Cells.”

“Allow me, sire,” Carnegie creates a thaumaturgical glyph to combine water and dice into a gelatinous magic. The slimy bridge is manifested over the river. He then uses another rice spell to freeze the slime into a solid form. “This will not hold for long.”

The Baron crosses the river with Carnege. The Kybernetos fly over them. Several of the Cells begin to cross, but the gelatinous bridge begins to fade.

“ALERT! ALERT!” a Cell cries. “BRIDGE IS UNSTABLY WOBBLING. SUBMERGENCE IMMINENT!” The makeshift bridge collapsed and ten cells were washed away, to the Baron’s ire.

“I’ll prepare designs for waterproofing once we return, sire.” Carnegie looks ahead and sees several Electrocs arriving. “Looks like the local wildlife were altered to our presence as well.”

“Lovely,” Roberts says sarcastically. “Clip their wings!”

A Kybernetos engages the pair of Electrocs. The thunderbirds dodge the Sentinel’s advances. Carnegie conjures boulders with earth magic. He then strikes them with lighting, transforming them into hunks of metal, before catapulting them at the Electrocs.

One of the birds was hit by the iron projectile. Its wind is injured by the collision and it crashes into the ground where the Cells mercilessly pummel it.

Carnegie launches more metal at the lone Electroc. The electrified avian dodges with deft agility, but the Kybernetos take the opportunity to land on the distracted bird.

“ATTACHMENT COMPLETE. PROCEEDING TO RIDE ELECTROC.”

The mechanical Sentinel uses its arms to spin it vertically, and with the Electroc upside down, the Sentinel tosses it into the river. The bird’s impact causes the river to be electrified as water spits out from the collision. The bird tries to fly away but is shocked by its own lighting.

Carnegie blends wind and fire magics to energize himself, allowing him to cast spells at a faster pace. He follows up by using a barrage of ice spells to freeze the injured Electroc.

The Baron smirks. “You learned how to use the other elements quickly.”

“But of course, sire,” Carnegie says. “I couldn’t have done it if you hadn’t absorbed these other dungeons.”

“With all this power at our disposal,” The Baron. “Not even the Messengers will stop us!”

The two continue their path alongside the army at their beck and call.