Chapter 82

The morning was a blur of activity at Site 00. Some of it was normal administration by now, construction crews and occasional feats of magic bent towards raising the many buildings that would make up the bulk of Unity’s headquarters for the foreseeable future. There were literal skyscrapers being built, with designs that seemed to be plucked out of some science fiction novel. They were only possible thanks to three factors: magic, money and the vision of some quite crazy people. Other than that, labs were taking shape alongside squat, bulky buildings. Underground tunnels that were yet to be covered in dirt made the whole place look like a haphazard set of dangers, with frail looking steel bridges and temporary crossings where the concrete for the beams supporting the underground chambers was being poured in.

The road crew was almost done as well, and now it was possible to get fairly close to the dungeon on a quad bike, cutting the travel time by a lot. All around the site, a mismatched sight of numerous prefabs and repurposed shipping containers made for living quarters of many of the workers of the site, who chose to sleep in the vicinity rather than undergo the hour or so of travel from the nearest city. It helped that, even though seemingly spartan, the accommodations were actually rather luxurious, not lacking in modern commodities in the slightest.

Instead of A/C units, they featured Ice elemental stones that drew energy from mana coins to keep the oppressive summer heat at bay. Instead of running water, Water stones provided the necessary water and Fire stones heated it up to temperature. It was an experimental setup for now, and it had many problems that required Johanne’s intervention multiple times a day, but it was a proof of concept that, once refined, would remove the need to tap into the state’s water, waste and natural gas grid. They had no shortage of coins thanks to the Fae farming the floors, and soon the Area of Influence around the dungeon would expand to encompass Site 00, removing the need for coins as the elemental stones drew mana from the air.

Electricity was provided by solar panels and generators, making the Site completely self-sufficient.

Maggie was with Johanne. It had all started with Michael’s sister asking the woman about the mansion she had planned for Michael, and the two immediately clicked. Johanne was taking Maggie on an inspection tour of all the houses, adjusting the size of the stones to regulate their heat, cold and water generation and figuring out how to integrate them in the future permanent buildings. She talked about arrays and magical circuitry, but for now they had to make do with the crude method of manually cutting and adjusting the size and shape of the stone to regulate power flow. Maggie followed her enthusiastically, asking questions about magic and the dungeon, seemingly having forgotten all about yesterday’s kidnapping and family drama.

Michael finished sipping his morning coffee. Someone had set up a delivery network for some necessities that were deemed a priority, and it seemed that coffee was one of them. Travis was with him, enjoying a brief pause before returning to work. They were also waiting for the expected delivery of the materials handled by the [Ghost Market], but it would still be a while before they arrived and it seemed like it would fall on Johanne to man the site when they arrived.

“You’ve been to the Valley, haven’t you?” Michael said.

Travis nodded, “how could you tell?”

“I can see some elemental energy clinging to you. Did you go there to train?”

“Ha, no!” the man barked a laugh, “I thought: why not make use of the time dilation now that I have access to it to get the work done without wasting any actual time in the real world?”

Michael stared at him like he was some sort of creature. “Wait, you took the work down there with you?”

“Didn’t you do the same? You brought a laptop down there.”

Michael shook his head in disbelief. “That was for entertainment. I don’t want to work in the dungeon, Travis, unless it’s an emergency. I feel if I start blurring the outside world and the dungeon together, I might just lose it.”

“I see.” The man said, pausing, “well, it’s not the same for me. I bring in tons of paperwork and stuff I need to do that would otherwise waste a lot of time, and boom! Ten minutes later I emerge with all of it done, no stress added. I can take my sweet time, enjoy some feasts with the Fae, and sleep a lot. This could very well be the first time I am living in a not-sleep deprived state in the last, I don’t know, ten years?”

“How many times did you go in there this morning, Travis?”

“Just two,” he said, shrugging. “Had some Candle Light business to deal with. Paving the way for some future collaborations with some shady agencies and the like.”

“And how much time did you spend in there?”

“A few days,” he said, then put his hands in front of him in a placating gesture, “wait, don’t get worked up. I took it easy, okay? You do it all the time! Besides, I know for a fact that David used the same method at least once just this morning.”

Michael felt the urge to face palm, “next thing I know, Trevor and Jennifer start doing it as well.”

“They are considering it,” Travis said with a shrug.

“What have I done…” said Michael, feigning desperation, “I unleashed monsters upon this world.”

“You bet. None will be able to keep up with us.” He said. Then his tone turned serious, “hey man, how are you feeling?”

“Better,” Michael said. “I also took some time alone in the Valley to process things. Interesting that we didn’t meet each other.”

“Time dilation. Johanne is studying how it works when multiple people go in at different times. Now, she is a real monster, juggling so many projects.”

Michael nodded, “I agree. She’s also taken Maggie with her.”

“She has?” suddenly Old Dave’s voice reached their ears as the man joined the conversation, “I guess that’s a good thing.”

“Hey man, back from the Valley?”

Old Dave seemed taken aback, “how did you know?”

“Everyone seems to be using it these days. Don’t overdo it.”

“Sure,” the man nodded, “so, how’s Maggie doing?”

Michael’s face was unreadable, “reasonably well. As I said, she’s with Johanne, and I think it’s good for her.”

“How did she recover so quickly?” asked Dave, tilting his head.

Michael looked at Travis. “It was a combination of [Soothing Rain] from an operator Travis sent my way and my own [Candle Light]. Together they are quite potent. She doesn’t know that I used skills on her, and I intend for it to remain that way.”

“Of course.”

***

Michael spent the rest of the day preparing. Whenever he wanted to rest, or to just disconnect from the responsibilities of the real world for a while, he entered his Valley. He didn’t rest for long though, he had too many things to do and even though he knew for a fact that he had all the time in the world, his mind just wouldn’t let him be idle for longer than a day. He always felt like he had to do something, struggle against some sort of barrier or enemy, work to earn his power.

One day in the Valley, he emerged from the glacier after an afternoon spent studying a tunnel full of Qi in hopes to gather some insights that would help him find his own Dantian. It was there that he crossed paths with a hurried Travis who had also gone into the Valley in the same ten-minute window as Michael had.

Interesting, he thought, so you can meet other people from the surface in here, they just have to enter in the ten-minute window. I’ll be sure to tell Johanne.

Unfortunately, he didn’t make much progress even after several days spent studying Qi. Returning to the surface, he finished his preparations and then headed inside the dungeon once again. Another problem plaguing his growth was that his skills felt stuck, and his whole Sanctum felt heavy as if it was bloated beyond what it could sustain. Gaining levels somewhat offset this, as well as growing his mana pool and his statistics, but he still felt like he was missing something. Regardless, by the end of his second rest and training period in the Valley, he felt ready to level up a skill that had been on the cusp for a little while: his [Healing Aura].

He let mana and Qi flood the Skill Fractal in his Sanctum, and watched the process of upgrade unfold. The fractal deepened, gaining some sort of transcendent meaning that was like a whisper outside of conscious perception. On top of it were the more obvious changes in its shape and complexity, as well as slight increase in size. Despite this, there was still plenty of space in the walls of the Sanctum, as one could say that they were infinite in scope, being a mental representation of something Michael still had not fully understood yet. However, his mind’s sight could only take in a portion of these walls at any given time, as if his mind’s eye was not developed enough to encompass even all of his skill fractals, let alone the whole space.

It felt like a hint that would help in figuring out how to grow past the current limit on skill number and level but, like with Qi, a hint wasn’t enough and Michael left the valley frustrated. At least, he thought, the last upgrade of his healing skill before it reached its bottleneck had been quite good.

 

(Uncommon) Healing Aura 5

Within the gentle currents of Qi flows the essence of life's renewal; with each breath, let healing radiate, restoring harmony to all.   You can create an aura of healing for yourself and everyone marked as an ally around you, up to a range of 25 meters. Your aura works more quickly, more efficiently, and will slowly purge poisons both mundane and magical. Increased efficiency and speed. The skill is less taxing on the body.

 

Going from 5 to 25 meters of effective range, which worked in a sphere around him, was a gigantic upgrade. So much so, in fact, that he decided to head to Saint Hernest to test it out.

“Absolutely not,” said Travis. “That can wait tomorrow. What can’t wait is us dealing with her.”

“But—”

“No buts. The plan is in motion. It’s now or never. We won’t have another chance like this and you know it. We talked about it, remember? There’s no other way.”

Michael sighed. “I know,” he said, “I know. Let’s go.”

After this is over, thought Michael, I’m going down to the fourth floor. Challenge or not, I don’t care anymore. I’m as prepared as I can be without wasting years upon years training for pitiful gains. I’ve hit a roadblock, and the dungeon is the way forward.

Besides… what I need right now is something to punch that’s not a real human being in the real human world where actions have terrible consequences.

Candle Light: CL-002, "Mana Coin"

Magic Class: Variable (Copper, Silver, Gold)

Danger Rating: Iron

Containment:

Mana coins (CL-002) are stored in secure vaults at Site-00, segregated by tier. Access is restricted to authorized personnel with clearance levels commensurate with the coin's tier. Handling of mana coins requires proper grounding and mana shielding protocols to prevent accidental absorption or energy discharge.

Description:

CL-002 designates a series of coin-shaped artifacts imbued with varying levels of magical energy. These coins are categorized into tiers based on their composition and inherent power:

• Copper Mana Coin: Contains ambient mana and trace amounts of Qi.
• Silver Mana Coin: Contains ambient mana, Qi, and trace amounts of Intent.
• Gold Mana Coin: Contains ambient mana, Qi, Intent, and traces of unidentified energies.

The exchange rate between tiers is 100:1, with 100 Copper coins equaling one Silver coin, and 100 Silver coins equaling one Gold coin. The existence of higher tiers (Platinum, etc.) is theorized but unconfirmed due to the current scarcity of mana coins.

Properties and Applications:

• Mana Source: Mana coins can be utilized as a concentrated source of magical energy, capable of being absorbed by individuals regardless of their magic system. The absorption process can be performed remotely by individuals possessing mana manipulation abilities.
• Convertibility: Mana coins can be converted into ambient mana, which can then be re-concentrated back into a coin if done swiftly. Once the mana merges with the surrounding environment, this process becomes irreversible.
• Dungeon Origin: Mana coins are primarily obtained as rewards from dungeon exploration or through the farming activities of dungeon-dwelling creatures under the direction of a delver. The only known individual authorized to perform such farming is Level-0-Operator "Owner".
• Impossibility of Creation: Attempts to create mana coins from ambient mana result in the formation of mana crystals instead.
• Single-Use: Mana coins cannot be used partially. Once utilized, they disappear completely, transforming into pure magical energy corresponding to their tier.

Addendum CL-002.01: The scarcity of mana coins, particularly those of higher tiers, necessitates careful management and strategic allocation within Candle Light operations. Research into alternative acquisition methods and potential applications for these valuable artifacts is ongoing. Pending results, coins will only be assigned for official Candle Light missions outside known Areas of Influence or for handling threats above the base ambient mana rating of an Area.