CHAPTER 130

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Private Rooms, The Guild Hall, Atlantis

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Tamesou Akio shut the door behind him and quickly activated the privacy enchantments. He didn't know if they were standard, but damn were they convenient. He turned to the others with his heart pounding and eyes wide. "What. The Fuck. Was that."

Sophie, who'd curled up on a ball on the couch next to a bewildered Elize, was rocking back and forth. "I've never been more terrified for my life. It hit Bruce away, raised its sword, and I just... froze. It moved so fast..." She trailed off, staring into the middle distance.

"Yeah, what in the hell was that about?!" Bruce exclaimed at the ceiling from where he'd flopped on the bed. He sat up suddenly, eyes manic. "First off, that fucking Boss Music. How the fuck does the dungeon know the Davy Jones theme? I mean, it could just be a coincidence that it sounded similar, but even then, it doesn't make any fucking sense for it to be that close. Then the boss's, like, second phase or whatever, kicked in. It suddenly started moving much faster, bashed right through my shield, and threw me into that pool. Stung worse than a belly flop..." Bruce, suddenly out of energy, flopped back on the bed."

"Are you three... okay?" Elize asked, looking between them with an increasingly concerned expression.

"No," all three teens answered simultaneously.

"At some point, that dungeon's had access to someone from Earth," Akio explained, sliding down the door to sit on the floor. "If not ours, then one close enough to be indistinguishable. The interviewers were very interested when we told them about the music; from what I gathered, it was something completely new. That was the first floor: it was not a coincidence that we were the first ones it played boss music for, especially music we'd recognize."

"But the dungeon is ancient," Elize replied, confused, as she picked up the book on the coffee table before her, opened it, and quickly flipped through the pages. "Everything that the local guild has learned about it, and from it... It claims it was around before some great catastrophe, which I wouldn't be surprised about. There's plenty we don't know about the past; we have stories of places that don't exist anymore, people and cultures, and ruins... It's possible."

"So then... the summonings are achronal?" Bruce theorized into the silence. "It doesn't matter when they happen, but they all pull from the same general time period? But what makes the 2000s on Earth such a popular time to isekai people from?"

"Who knows how it happened," Sophie replied, uncurling, slamming a palm on the table. "Maybe a hero was summoned back then, and they did exactly what we're doing. Maybe the dungeon has some way to figure out heroes from locals. It doesn't matter how it happened; it matters what it means for us. The dungeon was testing us, seeing how strong we were. The boss didn't attack Haythem and Bertram once in that fight. They've been delving from almost since it was rediscovered, and it knows them. It didn't know us. It also knew they'd step in, either from observing us and putting two and two together or listening in on us in that tunnel."

"And once it had our measure," Akio continued, realization in his voice. "It went for the kill... but it knew Haythem would block. It wasn't trying to kill you, Sophie... It was trying to test your fight or flight reflex."

"One of the theories is it's a kind of training dungeon," Elize added as she stopped flipping on a specific page and put her finger on it. "Here, 'On the Third, there are small arenas where Kobolds test your skill in combat. Once, they'd fight to the death, but some change came over them, and they began to fight to submission instead in one-on-one combat. If they lost, they'd surrender. Those who accept surrender are given a reward of coins or enchanted items. Those who slaughter their surrendered opponents get nothing, and the Kobolds will return to their previous all-or-nothing fights to the death. It has been reported that such individuals will have to fight multiple Kobolds, and this treatment will continue until they're eventually killed."

"And that's another thing! The monster's names," Bruce said, pointing at the book. " 'Kobold'

is a German word. 'Scorpan' is almost Scorpion, which is what they look like, but centauroid. 'Minotaur' is the English translation of a Greek word for the monster, but there's a whole race of them here. Drake-kin implies the existence of a drake, as well as wyverns, dragons..."

"What's a Dragon?" Elize asked head tilted slightly.

"Generally, it refers to giant flying lizards that breathe fire," Sophie explained, sitting up. "They can be winged or not. Though fictional on Earth, dragons were considered the ultimate life forms; they'd often be end-game bosses, antagonists, or forces of nature the heroes had to beat or avoid."

"Well..." Elize flipped to the back of the book. "There's a compendium of all the monsters identified as coming from the dungeon and sketches of them. Is this a dragon?" She turned the book around and showed a full-page sketch of an honest-to-god wyvern. It was breathing flames at a ship, which looked to have... crystals growing out of it?

Akio's eyes flicked to the other page, and he began to read aloud. " 'Unknown Winged Lizard. This monster was only seen once and was critical in the island's defense during the Bahrain Invasion. It breathed blue flames at ships near the beach, which would freeze on contact. It is unknown if the monster is capable of speech, nor which floor it defends, though it hasn't been seen on the First through Seventh Floors.' "

"Not... technically a dragon, but close," Bruce answered, pointing at the sketch. "See how the wings are part of its front legs? That means it's a Wyvern, though they're often called dragons, too. A true Dragon has six limbs, four legs, and two wings on its back. Some can be as small as a cat, others as large as entire mountain ranges. If the dungeon knows about things from Earth, we must keep our guard up for them."

"If the dungeon has Wyverns, it definitely has dragons," Sophie said, shivering like something cold had run down her back. "I don't even want to think about how big they are if they've been here for millennia..." Akio didn't want to, but his imagination filled in the details anyway. If the dungeon's floors got bigger the deeper you went, he imagined enormous monsters mistaken as islands or mountain ranges.

"Uh.. In other news... The Guildmistress told me I have Life magic, so I can learn to heal," Elize offered, no doubt attempting to distract them. "It'd make it easier to go deeper, right?"

They praised her enthusiastically, grabbing the topic change with everything they had. It worked for a while.

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The Creator, Atlantis, The Kalenic Sea

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"Mother, who's this?" Cadmus asked, pointing a golden claw at the faceless statue holding a trident. They'd taken to exploring Olympus and insisted my Avatar join them. My Avatar mostly hung out in Olympus anyway, so I didn't mind. It gave me the opportunity to fine-tune the lore of the area.

"That's Poseidon. The Trident was his signature weapon. He was the god of storms, the sea, earthquakes, and, strangely, horses," I explained, gesturing to the detailed horse iconography in the carving's base. Stone waves lapped at his feet and shins, splashing up around him. The detail was enough to make any sculptor weep with envy; controlling every grain of stone in the sculpture made it extremely easy to fix mistakes and adjust angles and curves to perfection.

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"He's the God of Water?" Cadmus - The name they'd chosen of the few I'd offered, asked with a curious lilt.

"No, no," I explained. "The Olympians weren't elemental gods, ruling over a singular concept like the ones the humans worship here. They were part of the natural world, their domains intimately tied into and governing it. The Twelve Olympians were the strongest, with domains like The Sky, The Afterlife, The Sun, and The Moon. Beyond them was a whole ecosystem of Major and Minor gods, local gods, and spirits that existed everywhere and in everything. There were gods of specific rivers, lakes, trees, mountains, and more. The whole pantheon often mingled with humans and could even have children with them. The gods of this world are Personifications of their element. Humans might attribute concepts like Justice or Fertility to them, but ultimately, they're just titles. The Goddess of Life is the Personification of Life. It governs fertility by dint of ruling living organisms, the only ones capable of being fertile, and that's all it is."

Cadmus nodded, and we left Poseidon's temple, one of the twelve large temples scattered over Olympus.

"What kind of god are you, Mother?" I blinked at the question, caught off-guard.

"I'm not a god, Cadmus," I answered simply. Cadmus obviously didn't believe me by the skepticism I saw on their face. I sighed. "If anything, I'm a Genius Loci. A living, sentient location that has absolute control within its domain. A God isn't a physical thing but more conceptual. I have a Core, a physical object that binds me to reality. If it were to break, I'd die. That's why Dungeons dig down and make monsters. To defend their core from any who'd want to take it."

"So... you're a Local God?" Cadmus answered after a moment of silence. "A God of a specific place? If it was destroyed, they'd die too, right?"

"You know what, good enough," I answered, looking off toward the setting sun. "It's getting late, Cadmus. Time to head back to the Core Island." The Eleventh's artificial sun mimicked the real sun, shifting the sky into tones of pink and orange as it touched the horizon. The little dragon happily trotted alongside my Avatar as I returned to the docks. My ship hovered silently in its berth, and it was soon sailing through the clouds again. Cadmus dived in and out of the clouds around it, leaving little spikes of cloud as it was pulled behind them, like splashes.

Once docked, I led Cadmus back to their rotunda, which had undergone quite the transformation in the few days since their 'birth.' The once bare stone was covered in a dozen layers of fabric, creating a nest for them to sleep in. Regular wool, silk, Capriccio wool, Linen, and every other kind Wave could find.

"Alright, Cadmus. I think it's time to try that thing I told you about," I began as they got comfortable. They paused, and their head snapped in my direction.

"Really?"

"Yup," I answered. "Now, it should be fairly simple. The enchantment is woven into your body; It weaves through every bone and bit of flesh. All you need to do is activate it."

"Okay, Mother," Cadmus answered, closing their eyes and focusing.

Within a minute, their face brightened. "Got it!" they exclaimed, and the transformation began.

Within three seconds, Cadmus' body shifted from fully dragonoid into a Dragon-kin. Reflecting their adolescence, they were still a juvenile in this form. This wasn't a large change, really. It was mainly a shift between quadrupedal and bipedal, with most of the difference being size. Where once the dragon could look into my eyes, now they stood only five feet tall, looking up at my Avatar with wide eyes.

They took a tentative step and promptly stumbled, faceplanting into the fabric beneath them. I smiled as they rose with determination on their shortened muzzle and watched as, within ten minutes, they practically mastered walking on two legs. "Well done, Cadmus," I praised, getting a pleased rumble and a hug around my waist. "Did you want to make the next change now?"

Cadmus nodded and stepped back from me, focusing again. This time, they didn't exclaim their success, and the transformation began almost instantly. They shrunk further, barely four feet tall, as their scales receded, leaving pale skin behind. Not entirely, though. His snout reduced further and became a face. Soon, Cadmus resembled a 10-year-old Scaleborn. They marveled at their claw-tipped fingers and fleshy palms. Golden eyes traced the lines of scales on his forearms and the back of their palms. Though they were naked, they lacked a gender and possessed only scales on their crotch.

"What do you think?" I asked. "You were sure you wanted this included when I designed this body for you."

"What... am I?" They asked, wonder in their voice. I reached down and picked them up, resting them against my hip and holding them there with one arm.

"You are a True Dragon," I answered, booping them on their fleshy nose with a bony finger. "Capable of shifting between your true form and a smaller Dragonkin form that will allow you to mingle with other Children more easily once you're larger. In this third form, you're a Scaleborn, one of two currently in existence, though that might not be true for much longer. You are you, Cadmus. Unique. Any other dragons I make won't have this ability, or at least not to the extent you do."

I played with them for a while until they'd exhausted themselves. After tucking them into their sheets, I sat my Avatar down on a chair outside the Cadmus' rotunda and let my consciousness expand throughout the dungeon to observe it all at once.

Oh, that's interesting. Isid and Paetor's parties are delving without the third part of their party. They were on the Sixth, sneaking through the lava plains during low tide. Night was falling through, and even with some Hellbats being diurnal instead of nocturnal, there were still far more out at night than at day.

I kept an eye on them but didn't give them my entire focus. I wanted to work on something else tonight.

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The High Temple of The Gods, The Holy City, Theona

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"You Lost them!?" Archpriest Garyson growled, staring into the mirror on his desk. Instead of his reflection, the slivered surface was enchanted to show what reflected off its twin.

"Yes, your holiness. As soon as I'd discovered they'd slipped away, I ordered the city into lockdown. Somehow, they managed to escape anyway, most likely continuing on to Atlantis—to that unholy isle of monsters," Haliet answered, eyes down and tone entirely respectful.

"And why has it taken you this long to inform me, Haliet?" Garyson demanded, slamming a fist on the desk.

"Your Holiness, until recently, I was certain they were still in the city. None of them had any abilities I was unaware of that would let them slip past me so that they could have was almost unthinkable."

"And what changed your mind?" Garyson asked, fury at the incompetence of what he'd believed to be his most reliable and capable underling only barely hidden in his tone.

"We managed to round up all the revolutionaries and members of the monster's church left in Blackwater Bay, finally quelling any remaining resistance. After sufficient persuasion, one woman admitted she'd helped a monster and three children flee the city. A pale girl, a tanned boy, and a foreign-looking boy with a sword and shield. She believed them members of the monster's church, left behind in the evacuation we barely missed intercepting."

Garyson tapped his fingers in rhythm, his rings clinking as they passed each other.

"And the ship they escaped on was headed to Atlantis?" He confirmed. Haliet nodded, and Garyson sighed heavily, sinking into his chair. "I was afraid of this."

"Your Holiness?"

"The young heroes are normally the most pliable but also the most wilful, in a way. They learned something or perhaps felt for the plight of those monsters. Your actions in decrying them immediately as the monsters they are and the rumors of their geniality conflicted. They chose to believe the rumors over our knowledge of the true deceitful nature of monsters. They've likely interacted with the monsters there; even if you find them, they're unlikely to rejoin us willingly."

"What are your orders, Your Holiness?"

"Return to the Holy City; you and Jinasa both. We must accelerate the adult heroes' training and ensure they won't follow in their younger counterparts' shoes. I must call a council and consult with the other Archpriests. We need an update on their luck locating the Necromancer's location either way. Make haste, Haliet, and you might not find yourself demoted."

"Yes, Your Holiness. At once!"

The mirror deactivated, returning to its silvery sheen, reflecting only Garyson's tired face. He ran his wrinkled hands down his wrinkled face, observing his liver spots and the faint cloudiness in his eyes.

"I'm getting old," he muttered to himself, standing with some effort. He crossed the room and stopped at the large table at its center. Set into the middle of the table was a foot-wide yellow garnet, the largest dungeon core ever captured and removed from its dungeon. Its polished facets gleamed in the firelight. Of course, it wasn't really a dungeon core anymore. The spirit within those facets had long been forced into submission and bound to power the table's enchantments.

He brushed a hand on the polished granite, feeling the warmth of the Light mana thrumming through it. It took decades to build up the power to use it between uses, but soon, it'd have enough to cover the entire world.

Nothing escaped Light's sight.

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