Primer for the Apocalypse

“Where are Riley and Marra?” I asked Ava when she and Jacob showed up for dinner without the other couple.

Riley had started seeing the local dungeoneer a couple of years earlier, and Marra had occasionally joined their party on excursions, even though she had her own group.

Riley had started relationships with a few people over the years, but Marra was the first one he’d gotten serious with. He’d even talked about taking her back to Earth with them when they finally reached Tier Seven.

I was a little surprised that Marra entertained the idea of abandoning the dungeon to go to a low-tier world, especially since she wouldn’t have any real opportunity for growth there. But ultimately, that was her decision to make.

My question about the pair’s absence caused Jacob and Ava’s expressions to shift to something a little less friendly.

“They aren’t with us anymore,” Ava huffed as she sat in one of the chairs and reached for the MealMaker.

She didn’t seem sad about it like I would expect if something had happened to the couple. Instead, she seemed angry with the pair, like they’d personally offended her somehow.

“What happened?” I asked before quickly adding, “If you don’t mind sharing, that is. They’re okay, right?”

“They’re fine. At least, they were the last time I saw them. Marra—” Ava spat the name like a curse word “—somehow convinced Riley not to go back to Earth when we reach Tier Seven. Instead, they’re going to stay in the dungeon until they get to the eighth floor.”

At that, her angry eyes flashed toward me. It was almost like she blamed me somewhat for her former party-member’s decision.

Ava removed the dish she’d selected from the device and reloaded it with materials for Jacob.

“I can see doing that, especially with the potential benefits,” I replied with a casual shrug as I waited for Jacob to finish selecting his dinner.

“I don’t know why you’re looking at me like that, though,” I added pointedly. “I haven’t said anything about it to him or Marra. And it’s not like Marra doesn’t understand the value of retaining access to the dungeon. She is originally from the seventh floor.”

Quite a few challengers came from the seventh floor, actually. From what I’d gathered, most of them left as soon as they reached Tier Two because the seventh floor made it nearly impossible for under-tiered people to advance.

According to what I’d learned, the floor was split into four connected three-dimensional labyrinths that functioned much like the Sixth Floor Trial. Also like the Trial, the labyrinths separated parties upon entry.

I wasn’t sure if the zones were instanced or if there were some kind of spatial shenanigans involved, but I was sure I’d find out soon enough.

Since everyone who entered was still able to exit, I was inclined to think it was some kind of instancing. Regardless, being less than Tier Seven (or maybe Tier Six) and finding yourself alone in the maze was probably equivalent to a death sentence.

In addition, the floor did not have beast waves, so the trick of safely leveling up youths with overpowered manatech wasn’t possible on the floor.

There really was little wonder why anyone born on the floor left as soon as they were reasonably able to. I wouldn’t be surprised if some even left upon awakening.

“I know that,” Ava said with a frown. “But she originally seemed okay with escaping the dungeon as soon as we reach the next floor. But now that we’re actually getting close…”

They were still a few years away from ascending to the next floor if their current pace was maintained. Without Riley, I wasn’t sure if they’d speed up or slow down, though.

Zavira and I had passed their levels fairly early on, and the party had been slowly falling further and further behind as we continued to progress.

“I still don’t know how you managed to reach peak-Tier Six before us,” Ava continued after I put the MealMaker away and took a bite of my food. “Not just the peak, but on the verge of Tier Seven! How are you and Zavira so much faster?” she added with a pout.

We’d had similar discussions before, and I repeated the same explanations I’d already given as I slowly worked my way through the meal.

Between my ability to teleport and our joint efforts at crafting, Zavira and I were able to fight a lot more creatures than a normal party would. We also didn’t have to share the experience with anyone else, and that made a significant difference.

There was nothing truly amazing about our progress.

“So, when are you two planning to challenge the Trial?” I asked, hoping to change the subject to something a little milder.

They’d both reached level fifty-nine recently, and I was honestly surprised they hadn’t challenged it already.

I’d expected to receive a few requests for commissions to support their challenge, but so far, they hadn’t asked for anything. With me and Zavira leaving the floor soon, they’d need to make their requests sooner rather than later if they hoped to get any material assistance.

Since it didn’t cost anything and held no threat of death, there really wasn’t any reason not to challenge the Trial before leaving the floor.

“We’ll probably do it in a few months, or maybe a year,” Jacob said after glancing at Ava. “Neither of us are proficient at fighting alone, and it seems like a waste not to prepare more when we know what kind of challenge we are facing.”

I nodded and pushed my plate away. It would be recycled later.

“Well, let me know if you want to commission anything before I go. Utility and defensive items didn’t get nerfed by the dungeon, but offensive manatech did. As long as whatever you take inside isn’t powered by a core, it should be fine,” I reminded them, though I’d already explained as much to them before.

I’d made several items for the other Earthborn, but I always gave them a good deal. Most of the time, I barely charged them more than the value of the materials. It was a lot less than I charged others, but we were friends, and I didn’t feel right charging them market value.

“Can we buy the items you used during your Trial?” Ava asked. “That would probably be cheaper than having you make something new, right?”

“Not necessarily,” I said, shaking my head. “A lot of the items I made inside the Trial use Tier Seven materials, which means they’re actually worth a lot more. I also didn’t plan on selling anything I could use on the next floor, though I don’t mind parting with the Tier Six items I have for the value of the materials.”

“Even though they’re used?” Jacob asked with a touch of surprise.

I tilted my head slightly. “Even used, they’re worth far more than I’d be selling them for. You already get my skills and efforts essentially for free,” I admonished him lightly.

Ava quickly interjected, “Cost of materials is fine if you think they’ll be helpful in the Trial. We trust your opinion.” She sent a pointed look toward Jacob, causing him to nod in agreement.

The rest of the meal was pretty casual. We talked about my plans once I got to the eighth floor and where I planned to go. We also talked about Ava and Jacob’s plans and how they planned to handle being the highest-tiered natives once they returned.

They were too high-tiered to be offered titles of nobility since the Alliance didn’t want overpowered people becoming tyrants on lower-tiered planets. However, I doubted the Alliance would force them to leave if they remained set in their plans.

As long as they didn’t try to overthrow the new rulers, it would probably be fine.

Quite frankly, I doubted they’d be comfortable living on Earth if Rhona’s apparent need to wear mana crystals was any indication. They might stick it out for a while, but they’d probably eventually move to a more suitable planet.

By then, they’d most likely regret losing the option of re-entering the dungeon to progress. Rifts took a long time to reset at higher tiers – a fact I’d only just started to touch on in the previous timeline.

However, even the average person knew that the demand for rifts always exceeded availability, and the deficit only grew as one progressed through the tiers.

It was why the dungeon was prized so highly by elites hoping to progress rapidly.

I reached out to Marra after Ava and Jacob left.

While I wasn’t as close to Marra and Riley as I was to Ava and Jacob, I still considered them friends. I hadn’t contacted them with the invite for dinner since I usually coordinated such things through Ava. But now that the group had split, I’d have to change that.

It wouldn’t matter for long since Zavira and I would likely be leaving the floor within the next month or so. As soon as Zavira earned enough experience to tier up, we’d be leaving.

Even so, I didn’t want to just disappear without saying goodbye. That was doubly important if Riley and Marra were going to be joing us on the seventh floor eventually.

The conversation was quick since Riley and Marra were out hunting with the rest of her party. Though it would probably cause all of them to progress slower, the rest of the group had incorporated Riley into their party without complaint.

I was glad.

We made plans to get together the following week, and I shifted my attention to the crafting I wanted to accomplish before leaving the floor.

I’d stopped accepting commissions a couple of weeks earlier – minus a couple of anticipated exceptions – but there were still plenty I’d yet to complete. Seeing no better time than the present, I strode over to my workstation and got to work.

“Are you still okay with challenging the Spring boss for the last fight, or would you prefer a different one?” I asked when I met with Zavira outside of our newly emptied apartments several weeks later.

We’d both tiered up earlier that morning, so all that was left was to exit the floor. While we could have made use of the central portal, we both agreed to use one of the boss portals instead.

There was no particular reason behind the decision; it just felt like the better choice.

“The Spring boss is fine,” Zavira replied. “I could use a bit more Tier Seven wood anyway.”

With a nod of agreement, I wrapped us in Space mana and Teleported just outside the Spring boss’s lair.

The boss for the zone was an Arborite, which was basically a mobile tree that grew by absorbing the blood and decomposing parts of dead creatures. It wasn’t quite like an Ent from Earth fantasy, but it also wasn’t dissimilar, either.

We’d fought and defeated the Spring zone’s boss several times since the materials we could collect from it were so useful. Not only was the wood from the Arborite’s body very easy to work with, but there were other Nature-attuned materials within the body of the tree-creature as well.

Further, the Spring boss was the only one out of the four zone bosses that occasionally manifested weak Tier Seven minions. Unfortunately, it was alone this time.

Though it would have been highly effective, we never used attacks involving Fire against the creature. Neither of us wanted to damage potential resources. Instead, Zavira motioned for me to take care of the creature with Space magic – a task I was happy to perform.

I couldn’t directly remove the creature’s core since the inherent protections for the creature wouldn’t allow it. The same applied to other creatures as well. It was why I usually targeted the brain, heart, or other critical internal structures.

Since the Arborite had none of those, I simply created a thin vertical line of Space mana within the boss’s body and rapidly expanded it horizontally. The effect was similar to driving a wedge into a log, and the Arborite fell to the ground in two pieces, each leaking a viscous green sap.

With plenty of space in my newly expanded [Stasis Storage] ring, I collected both pieces and headed toward the newly manifested chest.

“Do you want to check it?” I asked.

If I was being honest with myself, the presence of the chests was more of a motivation for challenging the zone bosses than getting new Tier Seven materials at this point. There was something about collecting loot beyond mere materials that was deeply satisfying.

“Go ahead,” Zavira said. “You did all the work.”

I flipped the lid on the temporary construct and looked inside.

“Oh, this is nice,” I said as I held up a Nature green tunic enchanted with [Mana Regeneration]. “I’m sure we’ll be able to sell this on the next floor.”

“Easily,” Zavira agreed. “Are you ready to go?”

I glanced at my companion before looking toward the swirling portal that would take us to the next floor. We only had one more floor to go before we could leave the dungeon for a ten-year break.

Well, I’d get a break. Zavira would just be done. I doubted she’d come back for a very long time – if ever.

“Absolutely. Let’s see what makes so many dungeoneers stop here,” I said before stepping forward.