Primer for the Apocalypse

It took a little while to get through all of the loot I’d obtained from the duel.

While Spatial Sense was significantly hampered by the dungeon within the residential building, I was still able to sense what was happening outside as long as I left a window open. Consequently, I realized that a few individuals were casually loitering nearby, though none of the individuals seemed interested in interacting with one another.

Uncertain of what their intentions were, Zavira and I decided to see how they would react to us leaving the protected structure. After organizing everything and making a few trades between ourselves, we left the apartment building and headed to the nearby Trading Post.

While we both would have preferred to go to a restaurant instead, it seemed prudent to reassess the residents of the floor and their intentions now that we’d potentially placed targets on our backs.

It was less of a concern for Zavira, of course, but it was still better safe than sorry.

“Hey!” a friendly voice called out as we stepped away from the entrance of the building. “You’re new to the floor, right?”

Zavira and I slowed and looked at the approaching challenger.

[Stefen – level 64 – Crafter/Trader/Cartographer – Fire]

The man – because he was human – wore simple black clothing adorned with a bright red sash representing his affinity. His brown hair showed hints of bronze, and his eyes were bright amber.

If it was before the arrival of the system and magic, I would have placed the man’s age somewhere around thirty. But now, his appearance meant little as far as age was concerned.

“We are,” Zavira replied with a friendly smile. It was much easier to let my companion handle the social interactions. “Based on your level, you’ve probably been here for a while.”

“I’ve only been on this floor for fourteen years,” Stefen said humbly, though his chest swelled slightly in pride. “But I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have. The floor takes a bit of getting used to.”

Turning to me, the man said, “I just wanted you to know that the sect elite you defeated was not well-liked by anyone but his fellow elves. Supremacists like that tend not to make a lot of friends among those they deem ‘lesser.’”

“I can understand that,” I said as I continued walking. I still wasn’t sure what the man’s purpose in approaching us was, but after glancing at his professions, I had a suspicion.

Stefen followed along, and when our destination became clear, the man said, “By the way, I’m a Trader by profession. I’d be happy to help you get rid of some of your unwanted loot. I can even get you better rates than you’d get selling through the dungeon.”

“Is that so?” Zavira asked.

The man nodded casually, as if it hadn’t been his entire purpose in waiting for us. “Absolutely. I am especially interested in growth items, even if they’re under-tier. I know they aren’t worth much to someone like the two of you,” he said almost apologetically, “so I’m really glad I managed to talk to you before you got rid of everything.”

“I can give you a better price than he can,” another man interjected from the side. “I happened to notice a few growth weapons in that pile of loot, and I’d be happy to offer you a fair price if you’d be willing to part with them.”

Stefen looked affronted by the newcomer’s offer and opened his mouth to argue when I held up a hand.

“I’m not interested in selling any of the growth items,” I said politely. “I appreciate the offer, though. If I change my mind, I’ll let you know.”

Both men put up a token resistance to my dismissal, but neither pushed very hard. They likely expected such a reaction.

I sensed that a few watchers drifted away after my proclamation, but there were still a few watching us from a distance. I kept half of my focus on monitoring the noisy individuals as Zavira and I made our way through the market.

Since I’d traded most of what I didn’t want to Zavira before we left the apartment, I was mostly there to watch the crowd while she offloaded what she didn’t want to keep.

It was a little cheaty of us, but the system rewarded such actions… to a point.

We made it back to my apartment without being approached again, though I noticed at least three watchers observing us the whole time. After sharing my observations with Zavira, we decided to focus on crafting for the next month since we had a lot to make before we risked entering the labyrinths.

I almost looked forward to entering the labyrinths when we completed our preparations. At least there, I wouldn’t have to worry about stalkers watching me anytime I left my apartment.

I observed a small goblin village located at the intersection of three tunnels from within my hidden pod several weeks later. I’d already defeated all of the creatures once, so I was mostly watching to see how long it took for the mobs to respawn.

I also wanted to see if the same creatures spawned and, if so, whether they remembered my previous assault.

It had taken me longer to make Tier Seven versions of my pod and the E3 talismans than anticipated, so it was nearly a month and a half before we finally left the safety of the apartments and headed into one of the low-tier labyrinths.

I’d hoped that having a growth chariot to study would make modifying my pod design easier, but the device was practically useless without the ability to get through the obscuring effects.

I managed to learn Find Hidden during our crafting break, but the basic version didn’t do much aside from highlighting that the effect was present. I was certain with a bit of Spell Modification, I’d eventually figure it out.

Lucky for me, it seemed I was going to have plenty of time to work on such projects since my ability to Teleport ‘home’ every evening had been removed.

It was probably better that way since our apartment building was still being watched by at least two groups.

According to Master Kairos, one of the groups reported to the deceased Sovereignty Sect disciple’s cronies, though none of them had confronted us yet.

I wasn’t sure if they were just biding their time or preparing something specifically to counter my abilities. A surprise attack honestly seemed more likely than attempting a direct confrontation, especially if they didn’t know about the life-saving artifacts I wore.

Zavira suspected something similar, which was why she’d remained holed up in her apartment for most of the crafting break. Given how social my companion tended to be, I worried that the floor would be particularly rough for her, especially if she lost most of her ability to socialize during our ‘off-time.’

It had taken a while to get used to the thought that Master Kairos was actively watching me instead of just getting reports on my progress, but I’d mostly gotten used to it by now.

It certainly made communicating with him a lot smoother.

I wouldn’t have minded jumping right to the mid-tier stage of one of the labyrinths, but the portals were very particular about where a challenger was allowed to go.

Since portals only took people somewhere they’d already been, we would have to reach one of the mid-tier labyrinths before we’d be able to take a portal directly there.

It was an unfortunate limitation, but there was little that we could do about it. After discussing our options, Zavira and I decided to start with the Stone zone and branch out once we reached the first safe zone.

I’d expected to reach the end of the first maze in a week, but after two had passed, I decided to take a short break and learn a little more about how the first section of the Stone labyrinth worked.

Observing the village through Spatial Sense was easy enough that I was able to multitask and attempt to modify the spellform for Find Hidden at the same time. Unfortunately, even after three days of effort, my modifications were still incapable of allowing me to see the enchantments used on the dead elf’s chariot.

I was actually glad for the break from messing with the spellform when the first goblin appeared in the recently repaired village.

Like a [Self-Repair] enchantment, the damage to the shanty huts had slowly disappeared over a couple of days. By the start of the third day, the village had regained its former appearance, and new ‘belongings’ had spawned inside the structures to replace what had been damaged during the last skirmish.

Shortly after the first goblin appeared in the village, a group of four goblins carrying various weapons rushed into the village from one of the connecting tunnels. I couldn’t be sure they were one of the patrols that I’d defeated before, but based on their actions, it seemed likely.

Within a couple of hours, the village was filled with dozens of agitated goblins in shades of brown and gray, along with several spiky dog-like creatures that the system identified as cyonites.

The four-legged cyonites paced restlessly through the village as the goblins snapped at one another and occasionally broke into a brawl.

Most of the goblins were dressed in rough leather armor and held the same weak-looking weapons as the ones I’d defeated before, but that didn’t necessarily mean they were the same creatures.

I eyed the weapons held in the hands of the different types of goblins. As crappy as their weapons appeared, I’d learned the hard way that the weapons were nowhere near as weak and frail as they looked.

I’d let one graze me by accident during the last encounter, and it had shattered my forearm, even with my added durability.

I was almost certain the damage had less to do with the crappy Tier Seven weapon and more to do with the goblins’ enhancement magic, but since I couldn’t see internal mana use, I couldn’t be sure.

Lucky for me, Time magic was great at mending such injuries.

This time, instead of picking off small groups and whittling down the number of goblins, I decided to use several of my more powerful offensive talismans to take out the majority of the creatures while they were still clumped together.

I didn’t worry that the tunnel might collapse. Not only was I going to be far enough away not to get caught in the blast, but I doubted the dungeon would allow structural damage like that.

If I was wrong, that would be fine, too. My [Barriers] would protect me from the worst of it, and I didn’t plan on staying close after I attacked.

After taking a deep breath, I triggered the makeshift launcher and shot several enchanted beads toward the stone village. Each of the consumable talismans had been overcharged with mana, making them particularly potent.

As the first explosion detonated, I Teleported to the edge of my limited range and waited for the rumbling to stop.

The restrictions placed on teleportation by the dungeon were annoying, but given all the extra rules on portals and zone travel, it made sense that the dungeon wouldn’t want people to just skip entire portions of the floor.

The whole dungeon was some sort of study, after all.

I still wasn’t sure what data the people monitoring the dungeon were after, but that was okay. I didn’t really need to know.

The coughing bark of cyonites warned me that I was not alone in the little corner of the maze I’d traveled to moments before the creatures appeared via Spatial Sense. They must have smelled me when the air pressure shifted due to the explosions. Or maybe they had some other way of sensing my presence.

I really couldn’t be sure since I’d never encountered the creatures before entering the floor.

Since there wasn’t a library to speak of on the floor and few of the challengers I’d interacted with seemed into sharing information, it wasn’t like I was going to be able to research them any time soon, either.

Only two of the unintelligent creatures rushed through the twisting passageways in my direction, though I had little doubt more were close by. Away from the goblins, I’d noticed cyonites tended to travel in packs of five or more, so I kept an eye on my surroundings for more as I cut down the blindly aggressive creatures.

After storing the bodies of my defeated foes, I returned to the village to see how much damage I’d caused.

Movement in the rubble informed me that several goblins had survived the attack, and I carefully picked them off as they fumbled around the damaged structures.

Another group of cyonites was drawn to the area – likely due to the noise and the smell of blood – and they were easily dispatched from my slightly elevated perch as well.

When the last creature was defeated, I reentered the village and picked through what remained.

The first time I’d attacked the village, a chest had appeared in the largest hut. I assumed that it belonged to the Chief, but it could have just as easily been a communal building since there was nothing that indicated the structure was actually inhabited.

Unlike the other structures, the larger one held no bedding or furs, nor did it have the trinkets and possessions that the goblins seemed to favor.

Like last time, I left all of those things behind since none of it was of value to me. However, unlike the last time that I defeated all of the goblins, my search for an additional reward proved fruitless.

I sighed disappointedly and shifted my attention to the crack I sensed on the ceiling of the quasi-cavern. After examining it more closely, I quickly realized that the crack provided just enough room for Spatial Sense to slip through, which allowed me to both sense the tunnel on the other side and Teleport to the new location.

Since I could already see signs of the dungeon repairing itself, I wasted no time and quickly Teleported to the new tunnel.

Hopefully, there would be something new to see.