PftA Book 5 - Chapter 26 - The Return

As strange as it might seem, returning to the dungeon felt a lot like going home after being away for a long time.

There was no need for me to interact with the Gatekeeper prior to reentering since the portal was still unguarded.

There was a sign I’d failed to notice during my last visit, which detailed the process for requesting entry to new challengers. The directions were clear that those who had reached at least the eighth floor before leaving could enter without taking any additional steps, while all others had to go to an administrative building nearby to request entry.

After saying goodbye to Kai, I stepped through the swirling portal and into the dungeon. The familiar notification greeted me when I appeared on the arrival platform. After scanning the notification, I dismissed the text and focused on my surroundings.

The Trading Post and market pavilion were positioned almost identically to the eighth floor. Unfortunately, that was the only thing I noticed that was the same.

Instead of being surrounded by a wooded area, the space around the elevated platform was water. As far as I could see – which was quite the distance – there was nothing but a rippling surface showing a broken reflection of the false sky above.

The sight made me sigh in resignation. I’d never much cared for water zones, so learning the ninth floor began in the middle of an ocean was annoying.

I could sense land a couple of hundred miles away, and I knew I could teleport there if necessary. However, it was only a small island, and I sensed that someone was already there.

The next closest dry land was much farther away. In fact, I only sensed a dozen or so small landmasses on the entire ‘world.’ My senses over such a distance were very limited, but they were enough to recognize how little land was present.

Based on what I could sense, I suspected the floor was most likely separated into multiple ‘planets.’ I also suspected the dungeon would prevent me from casually teleporting between them.

Seeing no reason to linger by the portal, I walked over to Trader, the dungeon golem in charge of the Trading Post.

I’d normally have the equipment needed to deal with an underwater region, but I’d left everything below Tier Nine behind when I returned. Though I was inclined to just craft everything I’d need to challenge the underwater zone, I figured it would be worth checking to see what the golem had in stock.

If the prices were good enough, I wouldn’t be opposed to just buying what it had on hand instead of spending the extra time crafting what I needed myself.

Then again, crafting my own gear would be a great way to practice my new Enchanting technique. It would also allow me to gain a bit of alternate experience.

“Welcome back, Challenger Emie!” Trader greeted. “You’ve progressed during your extended time away.”

The golem’s comment reminded me that I hadn’t checked my status in a very long time. Pulling it up, I assessed the changes. Aside from the modest amount of experience I’d earned, nothing looked any different.

***

Name: Emie Momentia
Level: 83 (429713/7795200)
Profession: (P) Enchanter
                          (S) Manatechnician
                          (T) Researcher
Affinities: Time, Space, Arcane

                ***
Health: 340/340
Stamina: 620/620
Mana: 1120/1120

                ***
Attributes
Strength – 28
Agility – 37
Vitality – 34
Intelligence – 112
Wisdom – 74
Perception – 43

                ***
Spells*
Skills*

                ***

While killing other sapients was an effective method of earning experience, I hadn’t really been all that involved with that part of the war. Consequently, my experience gains weren’t as pronounced as many others.

“It was an eventful break,” I replied casually as I closed the screen.

“We wondered if something happened to you since you made it clear that you’d only be absent from the dungeon for ten standard years. When you did not return, we assumed the worst.”

The golems of the dungeon were all connected, though they were also distinctly individual. Rather, the golems for each position had specific personalities, though their memories were shared across floors.

I suspected it was some kind of cloned hive-mind thing going on, but I didn’t know for sure since the golems refused to answer any questions related to the topic.

I was a little surprised to hear the golems had thought about me at all during my absence. It made me wonder just how ‘alive’ the dungeon constructs were.

The thought instantly made me think of Lisa. Perhaps the intelligences running the golems were something like her?

“Thankfully, I was only delayed,” I said with a smile. “The way it happened allowed some flexibility with my contract, but I’m back now.”

“That pleases us,” the golem said. “Is there anything you need at the moment? If not, I’m afraid you’ll need to leave soon. The next market will be in six days.”

“Yes. Underwater gear?” I said while glancing at the water gently lapping against the platform’s edge just a few meters away. “I left all of my lower-tier items outside the dungeon. I may just craft something, but I figured I should probably check with you first.”

The golem nodded. “Such items are commonly sought for new arrivals to the floor,” it said. “There are a few things considered necessary for most to traverse to the next zone. The bridge that will take you there is hidden underwater, though that is all I can tell you about it.”

An underwater bridge. That was different. I wondered how it would work.

Trader opened a display to show me what was available. The prices were a lot higher than I would have liked, and after perusing the offerings for several minutes, I stepped back.

“Thank you for your time,” I said. “I think I will endeavor to craft my own gear. I may come back for a few pieces if necessary. Otherwise, I will see you at the next market.”

The golem nodded stoically. “Until then. Ascend swiftly, Challenger Emie.”

I moved to the edge of the platform and entered my demesne. I had acquired a decent variety of Tier Nine materials to work with over the years, and I felt confident I’d be able to make what I needed.

I might not have what I needed to make everything I could need, but a rebreather and some fins wouldn’t be hard to put together. Crafting the two items would also give me an opportunity to use my new Enchanting technique. That, more than anything, had been the deciding factor in my decision to make what I needed instead of just buying it.

= = =

The first thing I noticed when I left my demesne with my new gear and teleported myself into the water was that there were no defined low, mid, high, or peak areas of the zone.

With my Spatial Sense extending much further than before, I was able to sense how the different aquatic creatures coexisted without regard to intra-tier stages. I even noticed what appeared to be a zone boss near the edge of my perception.

I wouldn’t know for sure until I got close enough to use Assess, but based on the creature’s aura, it felt like it was a Tier Ten.

That was a fight I was going to have to avoid for a long time.

Unlike sapients, beasts rarely learned aura control. What came naturally to people was almost anathema to strong beasts, and very few that were not stealth-focused bothered to conceal their presence.

As I made my way toward an area with a higher concentration of aquatic creatures, I encountered a pair of seemingly feral merfolk.

They looked like the more monstrous versions of merfolk that I’d encountered outside of the dungeon instead of the half-human, half-fish varieties that were more common. But the look in their eyes made it clear that they were not actual people.

[Dungeon Merfolk, Fish variant – Sound – Level 88 – Various Alchemical uses (particularly the scales, blood, and throat node). Edible with processing]

[Dungeon Merfolk, Octopus variant – Light – Level 86 – Various Alchemical uses (particularly the scales, blood, eyes, and hair. Edible with processing]

I hated how the system claimed that monstrous variants of sapient races were edible. The thought of eating the creatures, dungeon monster or not, was revolting to me.

Normal dungeon monsters were fine, but anything that looked like it could be a person was a definite no-go when it came to that.

Thinking back on the conversation I’d had with Anya, I decided to use only a few spells that I’d likely select to retain when I eventually ascended. I didn’t think my ability to fight with a weapon would be particularly impacted since I’d genuinely trained to grow those skills, but spells were different.

Haste and Teleportation were the two I’d tentatively decided to use as the foundation of my build. It felt a little strange to change the way that I fought so late in my progression, but it wasn’t like things would be better if I waited.

I also wasn’t going to change everything about my fighting style. I’d already started incorporating Haste more often, especially after gaining Time Magic Mastery had significantly reduced the mana cost.

I activated Haste at the same time that I teleported behind the Sound-affinitied creature. I’d been hit with sonic attacks before, and I preferred to avoid dealing with them if possible.

To my chagrin, I struggled to defeat the two opponents while limiting myself. It would have been much easier had the Sound-affinitied creature not rebuffed my initial attack, but the vibrating barrier it kept active had been particularly effective against my attempted sneak attack.

While I could have blamed part of my struggle on the environment, I was mature enough to acknowledge that I would have still struggled with comparable opponents on land.

I simply wasn’t as capable when limiting myself to a couple of spells, especially not when my initial attempt at decapitation failed.

I didn’t always go right for decapitation, but it was one of my more prevalent attacks, especially when fighting sapient or sapient-like creatures.

Decapitation was one of the few things that was nearly impossible to come back from. I claim only ‘nearly impossible’ because with the right spells cast quickly enough, even decapitation wasn’t a guaranteed death sentence.

The exchange really highlighted the fact that I was going to need to work on my actual skills instead of relying on the plethora of manatech I’d crafted to do the heavy hitting.

Luckily, I was in the perfect place to do so.