No Need for a Core?

Kazue had been able to tell for a while that this next zone was going to be difficult. Their exterior zones were already lopsided semi-circles with how they pushed up against Kuiccihan's borders, and now they wanted to push the vertical aspects of those zones out of the way so that they could push up a new zone out of the center area. But she'd also been doing some preparation with the excess of mana they'd been collecting, and part of that preparation was that each of the giant pillars had a matrix of the living crystal running through it.

And at the other end of this nicely magic conductive living material was their core.

She didn't just reach out the way she normally did to claim new territory. Instead, Kazue simultaneously started pushing their mana through the matrix and forcing it out of the top of the pillars. This put their mana where she needed it to be and created a denser concentration above the starting zone. This made it easier for her to keep reaching up to claim territory out of the sky.

And to prove the shape and strength of her intent, she was also building the pathway to the sky at the same time. Three intensive tasks with one of them being fairly complicated. Once upon a time, she'd been nervous with just the thought of claiming new territory.

Thankfully, Mordecai was there to help as well. His presence was a comfort, and she could feel the touch of his attention as he checked in on what she was doing before cycling back to keep track of all the things going on in their dungeon right now. She'd have liked to have more of his direct support, but his satisfaction and confidence when he looked over her work was gratifying and she knew that they couldn't afford to have both of them focused here if they didn't need to be.

As she grew the sloped paths out and up, Kazue made sure that the living crystal grew with them. A lot of mana was being poured into reforging the earth and stone that the dungeon had previously consumed in its downward growth, but even more was flooding the air above it as Kazue pushed her desires and will outward. She would not just be a hole in the ground; for all that she loved her people here, she also felt a little trapped by her existence. Reaching up and into the sky was reaching for a promise of freedom. That understanding she'd gained from her wife, and Kazue needed that affirmation right now.

Bit by bit the foundation was laid, and inch by inch the shape of her new territory was claimed. It vaulted far above even the elevated ground which formed the base of their new zone. Eventually, the two paths merged back together and into a large platform upon which a new city would be built.

But not today. No, there was one last thing she needed to do. To most of those watching, the growth might appear complete, but Kazue was just preparing herself and gathering more living crystal. When she had enough material and mana gathered, she applied her will and the calculations for her design to that mass.

From the center of that high platform grew a single, giant, crystal tree. This monstrous creation of ever-shifting rainbow hues towered above everything nearby except for the mountains themselves and gleamed brightly under the warmth of the sun. This was a testament to her desires, a marker of future plans, and the location of their new living quarters.

Her decision surprised Mordecai, but she didn't have the energy to tease him now. It had been mentally exhausting to do all of that at the same time, and she wasn't quite done yet. Now that she had a crystal tree, she could have crystal roots. Roots that grew down until they poked out of the bottom of the elevated zone and acted as channels and amplifiers for the light collected by the scintillating tree above. This was how sunlight was provided for the lands caught in the shadows of these overhanging masses.

Now she had a template and a concept to put into play and let a new pattern automate itself. Throughout her territory, the living crystal matrix connected to and incorporated the many different light sources that she and Mordecai had previously created. Now that energy was tied to the light outside, the hues and brightness of the dungeon's light would shift and change over the course of the day, and match the weather as well.

By strictly amplifying what was available, they gained the additional benefit of making the light 'true', whether that be in the form of sunlight, moonlight, or starlight. For most purposes, the dungeon could create 'true enough' light by matching the complex set of spectral colors from these light sources, but for many magical and religious purposes, the actual origin of the light mattered. Their amplifiers doubled the energy of each bit of light while keeping it restrained to the same spectral color, which caused the bits of light to duplicate. Somehow, this made both bits of light identical in all senses and did not dilute the efficacy of the light for mystic purposes. That part some how seemed more magical than the actual magic, and hurt to think about.

With the layout complete, it was time for theming. Kazue had been uncertain for a while about what she actually wanted the theme to be, but her decision to create the crystal tree had made her think of how Moriko was always reaching for the heavens on her path. But one can not leap to the Heavens immediately. One must start with the Earth, and this would apply to both paths.

The very first step toward ascending was a shrine to the King of the Earth, Kamatha the Great Tortoise. The statue overlooking the altar and offering table was sculpted out of a single piece of andalusite, Kamatha's favored gem. Here one must pay homage and tribute to the Earth King to proceed unimpeded, and the suitability of the prayers and offerings would determine how much each individual would be affected by the zone's properties. If the worship offered was pleasing and sufficient, there would be no hindrance at all for the rest of the zone. Should the worship be insufficient then the individual will gradually feel the ever-increasing weight of the Earth King's will as they proceeded, until they weighed three to five times as much by the time they reach the end of the zone. Should the offerings be displeasing or insulting, the maximum was ten times as much.

While that amount of pressure would be flat-out lethal to many people, this zone was rated for stronger people only to begin with. It was, in fact, the most mana-dense of the zones adjacent to the trading post, a complete inversion of the normal process. This inversion was only possible thanks to the tree she had grown, and that tree was going to have to grow through every zone they grew vertically in order to maintain the zones.

This was also a test of sorts. It felt right to be able to do this, so long as the shrine and offerings were sincerely dedicated enough. Once she and Mordecai had triple-checked how the strength of the gravity was tied to the shrine and the combined intent of the delver and the judgment of the offerings, the final touch was to give over the shrine completely. Over time she had begun to get a feel of the 'direction' of divine energy and prayers, so now she sent a thread of prayer, intent, and earth-aspected mana in that indescribable direction. The other end of that thread was tied to the shrine and the zone's enchantment.

It stung when control over the thread was taken out of her proverbial hands, but that also meant it worked. She and Mordecai were truly not the judges of the offerings now. Of course, this also meant that they couldn't control the enchantment manually anymore either. Naturally, there was an exception carved out for dungeon creatures and contractors, but even the most honored of guests would have to pay their own tribute in order to proceed.

They were also not going to be getting remotely as much direct benefit from things like physical offerings as they would from such gifts being given to the dungeon directly. But that was fine, this felt appropriate for the extra level of challenge. A price was paid, and a boon was received. It was good, and she was now very, very tired.

So she simply allowed her focus to withdraw and let her mind snuggle up against Mordecai's presence. "I want our avatars and Moriko to live there now. The original rooms can stay, I just want to be able to have my other self wake up to the sun or stare out at the moons and stars at night. I want to be able to look out over our territory, not look up at it." Kazue then let her focus drift over to Bellona and Deidre, watching the avatar's progress to keep herself entertained.

"Alright love," he replied softly, "now rest, and I will take over from here. You did well, and I am very proud of you."

Mordecai had a lot of ideas he was still playing with for the actual combat challenges he would be presenting, but they were a little thin on mana right now so there was little challenge or reward to be found for those who would ascend just yet.

In the trading post, his avatar was answering many questions, though most of them were redundant. After all, he and Kazue had created little pamphlets to explain the reality of the dungeon's territory and the limits of their life-saving boon, stressing that it could only be activated once while leaving out the 'per year' part to keep people from pushing their luck or misconstruing what 'per year' meant.

And speaking of boons, he should see which patterns were available for them to attach to their newest nodes before finalizing decisions on their two new raid bosses. Amidst the growing web of potential growth, there were a few that stood out as more interesting to him.

The ability to give all their inhabitants a small boost when faced with strong delvers was one he'd been considering for a while, as was a newly available pattern that he could tie to a material type and create a resonance with all the dungeon creatures. This would let their every strike and attack behave as if it was that material, such as cold iron against certain types of fae or demonic creatures. But despite the weaknesses Deidre's avatar had been forced to take on, Mordecai didn't anticipate that there would be much call for such an ability here. So he mentally discarded it in favor of the boost, but did not attach the boost quite yet.

Another one he'd anticipated was a slight boost to the cognitive abilities of their inhabitants. He was fairly certain that Kazue was going to jump at that one, but she was rather drowsy still and Mordecai wanted to let her rest while he filtered through the options. It wouldn't have a lot of effect on the very smartest of their creatures, but it would certainly help everyone else, especially those that had not advanced beyond basic sapience.

Now that he'd gone through all the ones that were familiar to him, it was time to examine a brand new option. Mordecai didn't recognize this pattern, but it still felt vaguely familiar. This meant it was probably related to one of the boons that they already had selected, and he'd been having to fend off its attempts to attach to the open node. That meant it was probably related to something he'd done as it specifically wanted to attach to his side of the core. That was a good set of clues, but it didn't solve the mystery immediately.

It took most of an hour to figure out all the pieces of this puzzle and calculate how they interacted as a whole, with the final piece being the recognition that the resonance of 'three' or 'third' in this pattern was related to the 'two' of a boon they'd had for a while. It also explained why he'd never seen it before. After all, in his previous life he'd only maintained two paths and those had been 'light combat' vs 'heavy combat'. Actively maintaining and using a third path was new to him. And now there was a reward of sorts for it, though accepting the reward came with its own burdens in the form of needing to maintain the third route properly.

Now that he had it solved, Mordecai didn't take long to decide on this boon. While giving their inhabitants more power as needed certainly had its benefits, this boon opened up a new opportunity for the dungeon when combined with their other abilities, assuming some were willing to take the harder challenge. Kazue gathered her thoughts together long enough to focus on the available boons and latched onto the cognitive boosting ability immediately, dismissing all the rest. If it had been his choice, Mordecai would have preferred the security of a direct power boost, but he wasn't exactly in a position to complain. After all, this wonderful new capacity boost came with a new set of nodes for bosses.

A slightly greedy part of him wished that these nodes had been doubled too, but the matrix of the pattern was additive and their doubled bosses were in truth additive as well; one for each of the cores. No new raid bosses either. He really had become spoiled to be disappointed by that fact.

Once that was settled, Mordecai realized he'd also given himself way more work as well. The sewers were going to require active planning and populating now, and it was going to be entirely his responsibility. There was so much to do.