Chapter 119

  Old Dave sat cross-legged on the bare stone that made up the part of the Valley where the golems dwelled. The pce was rich in many elemental veins, ranging from Stone to Metal, with hints of more specialized elements like Earth, Silicon, Carbon, Sand, Bedrock, Iron, and a myriad of others. They didn’t matter, not at this stage. Michael watched over him to make sure Old Dave wouldn’t be bothered by the outside world while he worked on gaining a skill to manipute magic. While not a strict prerequisite to reach Silver tier—Travis never gained such a skill—it was necessary if one wanted to reach True Silver without using underhanded methods.

  And I don’t want him to, Michael thought. There’s no concept of time waste in the Valley, and no need to sacrifice potential for a quick gain. Not with me here.

  Thus, Michael sat down as his awareness expanded outwards. These days, he could cover a lot of volume with the operative part of his aura, the inner part, and while he didn’t have the divine senses of cultivators in the novels, he could use his aura as a sort of early warning system. It would alert him if anyone else with an aura tried to get close. This way he could make sure they weren’t bothered by anyone with enough power to actually bother them, for the only thing that could sneak past him other than an Iron-rank person was a natural disaster, and those tended to be loud enough that he could hear them coming.

  Knowing that he would be here a while, he also reflected on his own gains. He paced, gncing at Old Dave with his magic senses to make sure he wasn’t putting himself in danger. The energies were wild around him, at least for someone still in the Copper tiers, but Michael didn’t intervene. David had to learn on his own, or he wouldn’t learn at all. His pride wouldn’t allow him to simply be imparted the skill to manipute magic by Michael, even if there was a way.

  After making sure Dave was okay, Michael’s thoughts turned inwards. There was still a lot to unpack that he had barely given a thought to. Starting from the elephant in the room: the Renegade. He had talked to Johanne about him, but any answer he received only led to more questions. Who was he really, and what was their retionship before it led to her imprisonment? Why was he roaming the dungeon, clearly against the dungeon spirit’s will? How was he doing so?

  Logically, the next question was about the nature of the dungeon’s spirit. No longer did it feel like it used to feel at the beginning. Not only had the sensation of the Gaze changed gradually over the months he spent in the dungeon, but it had changed yet again and much more sharply after he got the unofficial mission to kill the Renegade.

  Although, calling it unofficial might be quite inaccurate, considering it came from the dungeon itself—the source of Michael’s power.

  Michael shook his head. A wisp of something coming from the clearing behind him caught his attention, but Old Dave was still taking his first tentative steps into the understanding of magic. A pulse of [Healing Aura] restored the man’s body to perfection, and a pulse of aura changed reality itself so that Dave could continue without needing to stop to eat or relieve himself.

  Michael continued pacing, circling around the clearing like a hound. Not sniffing the air, but sniffing the magic in the air for traces of changes. Around him, the forest was not of green trees and brushes and grass but of grey and brown stones, the trees repced by formations of rock that reached towards the sky like gnarly fingers enveloped in a thin magical mist. When he looked at the mist, his eyes and magical senses told him a simir story in different nguages: of the slight mist that hung around this part of the Valley without a reason. He didn’t cim to know why it was there either, for he knew by now that all challenge floors in the dungeon hid secrets even after they were defeated, and the Valley perhaps even more so than others since it was his and he was its king.

  But it was a matter for another day. Dave and he would be exploring one such secret in a few weeks anyway: the Qi tunnel deep below the ice of the gcier. There, they would gather the Qi to push David to True Silver, but only after he had mastered control over his Element of choice.

  Weeks. Everyone seems to take at least weeks to even begin to advance in tier, or to make any strides in their comprehension of magic. Everyone but me, it seems, he mused, and I’m not so distracted as to not notice such a stark difference, and my mind isn’t so dull as to ignore the underlying question.

  Michael had thought long and hard about the problem, but in an ironic twist of fate, the more he thought about the problem, the more the problem exacerbated itself. Learning about magic and increasing his mind stats through repeated use only made Michael more talented and the gulf between him and normal people rger.

  Wanting to think about something else entirely, he decided to study Ice. The stubborn element refused to merge with his aura despite his best efforts, something that he wished to rectify soon. Michael spent weeks poring over many resources, making use of the infant Internet infrastructure that Johanne had brought to the Valley, feeling his own mental stats increase under the pressure of intense, mana-fueled study sessions.

  By the time Dave was done, he wanted to be ready so that when they went back to the gcier, he could take the step and integrate the second element into his aura.

  The sun shone far above the Valley. Yet another mystery: was the sun real, or was it an illusion, this deep underground? Shaking his head, Michael willed the Ice element to come forth. A thin, razor-sharp bde shining a deep azure appeared.

  It wasn’t normal ice either, but the exotic Ice V—a variety that only existed in the core of Hycean pnets, where immense pressures created an incredibly dense, strong crystalline structure. It could only exist under pressure, and yet it did not break down even though there was no pressure, the Ice element overriding nature’s own rules under Michael’s command. His mastery was near absolute. The time he spent experimenting, studying, and understanding Ice easily surpassed what he had spent on any other single aspect of his magic, and yet he felt no closer to enlightenment.

  With a scowl, he got up and paced around the clearing. He half expected a moat to surround the sitting form of Dave by now with how much he had paced around, but the nature of the Stone here was impervious to damage and change. While Michael could overpower it should he set his will and Intent to it, he saw no reason to do so.

  Pale light filtered from above, through the magical mist that colored the magic in stony hues. Bored with Ice, Michael switched to pondering other things. He sundered his body enhancement skill, freeing up some space in his Sanctum, and reinstated his sundered reflexes skill to allow it to grow before sundering it again. It went from level four to level seven, with only an increase in its effect and a hint of more changes to come in the future, but Michael didn’t push it. He then thought about learning more skills and sundering them but procrastinated with the excuse that he needed the focus to watch over Dave.

  Besides, he thought, watching someone understand magic is always a good opportunity to learn more about magic myself.

  Tired of spending time pondering theoretical magic, Michael brought the thin bde to his wrist and sshed himself. The wound didn’t have time to even spill a single drop of blood before it sealed itself shut.

  Unity level up!

  Huh, interesting. I wonder what level I am now, he thought.

  Status: Michael Lexington

  Level: 15/100

  Base Statistics

  Advanced Statistics - Soulfire Silverweb Aura (Low)

  Strength

  355 -> 380

  Mana Capacity (Silver)

  3.01 -> 4.21

  Dexterity

  296 -> 332

  Elemental energy Capacity

  301 -> 421

  Stamina

  388 -> 422

  Qi Capacity

  30.1 -> 42.1

  Reflexes

  359 -> 401

  Intent Capacity

  3.01 -> 4.21

  Intelligence

  302 -> 403

  Resilience

  830 -> 889

  Memory

  278 -> 341

  Ah, it feels so good to see my own efforts rewarded with hard, tangible numbers. Mental stats up from all my studying, magic up from all my big fshy reality bending feats and aura exercises, resilience is starting to scare me… what else?

  With a shrug, Michael dismissed the status window. He idly noted that the status was the st true window-like element of his magic system, if one discounted the dungeon’s windows when it communicated with him. The rest of his system was hopelessly reduced to bold text that was sometimes even a bit hard to read.

  He sshed at his arm with his ice bde again, watching it stitch itself shut. Almost fascinating. Then again. Then again.

  Perhaps he would level up again from the action? Just to make sure, he hurt himself yet again.

  It didn’t matter much: the pain was barely even a bother and he was healing faster than he could ever hurt himself with such a flimsy bde. It wasn’t a conscious activation of [Healing Aura]. Rather, it was the new level-8 effect of the skill: passive self-healing. Michael was about to ssh himself again to test its limits when suddenly a wave of magic washed over him.

  “You so bored you decided to cut yourself?” Old Dave asked, amused.

  Michael dismissed the bde. “You bet. You’ve been there for… Icarus, how long has he been pondering over the Stone element?”

  “Five weeks, two days, and seven hours, Michael,” came a voice from his pocket.

  Old Dave shrugged. “Come on, it’s not that bad. It felt longer to me.”

  “It was longer,” Michael stated deadpan. “Icarus is just an asshole who sometimes takes things too literally, even though I know very well he can understand context. You have spent five weeks pondering over Stone, yes, but that was after several months spent mastering magic control. Shall we move? I feel like moss is growing on me.”

  “Impossible,” Old Dave said, a pyful glint in his eyes. “The Stone here overpowers any Nature element. Perhaps they are crystals from your coaguted blood?”

  Shaking his head, Michael began to lead the way back down the mountain and up the other side of the valley where the gcier waited for them patiently.

  “You got stronger again,” Old Dave commented.

  “You can tell?” Michael replied. “Good.”

  “I got the skill in the end. Interesting process. It’s like I have eyes for the first time, Mike. Is this how you see the world?”

  Michael shrugged. “How do I know? Maybe you see things all different than I do. But you can see magic, and that’s what counts.”

  Old Dave shook his head. “Too dismissive, is this what happens to the truly powerful?” he paused, “hell am I asking for? I know it is.”

  Michael nodded, “you’re not truly powerful. Not yet. Any power you might have had in life will pale compared to the power of True Silver.”

  “Does it mean it’s time?”

  “It’s time,” Michael confirmed. “Are you ready?”

  The gcier loomed over them. Even though they had both gotten stronger, it didn’t seem any less imposing than before. In fact, almost counterintuitively, it felt bigger, darker, with even more secrets than before. Its ice pulsed with meaning, almost calling to Michael, enticing him with hints of understanding.

  Yet, he resisted. This was David’s moment. He could come back and understand Ice another day.

  “You know, I saw Stephan the other day,” Dave said suddenly as he took a deep breath and entered the gcier. Unlike before, it was as if the Ice was having a rger effect on him.

  “What of it?” Michael inquired.

  “I don’t like him,” Old Dave admitted. “Reminds me of what I was about to become, except he’s seen none of the shit I’ve seen. He has potential, yet he wastes it.”

  “It’s his choice,” Michael responded.

  “Didn’t you make that whole talk about being someone who can change things? With your power and all. You could talk to him,” Dave argued.

  Michael shook his head. “I can talk to him, but I won’t use any strange methods to persuade him.”

  “Of course,” Dave conceded. “I’m not Travis. If he chooses to keep living his life with his head bowed, it’s—as you say—his choice. But do make sure he understands that the world is changing, and unless he wants to be relegated to being just a cog in a machine…”

  “Aren’t most people but a cog?”

  Dave nodded. “They are. But in moments of change, they might find themselves with more opportunities than in moments of stability. Whether they use these opportunities or not speaks to their character.”

  “I see,” replied Michael, “well, let’s put that on hold. It’s time you actually ranked up to True Silver.”