Chapter 41: Momentary Breakdown – Chapter 41

‘So uh, what do I do with this fancy new level?’

Ally laughs, ‘Absolutely nothing! You already got everything you are going to get with it. Your stats went up for all your per a level stuff. Nice wisdom gain by the way. What does that do for you anyway?’

Doyle pauses, ‘huh, I don’t actually know. I haven’t checked all the stats ever since I turned into a dungeon core. [Show us the description of wisdom please].’

{Wisdom: The finesse of one’s mind. Your race’s crystalline mind can result in impressive non-standard results. Most important though is this increases the flexibility of your thoughts. This stat will increase your ability to connect disparate facts that others might not as well as form a mental defense of much greater strength than normal sapiants. What it does not do is make your judgement any better. One side benefit of wisdom for your race is that every ten points allows for the automation of a floor. This comes from warping a segment of your unconscious mind and setting the new pathways in crystal perfection.}

‘Nice!’ Ally nods in appreciation, ‘So this is the stat that does that. I figured it would have been presence. Though that does make a perverse sort of sense. Wisdom lets you flex your mind into the right shape. Then the fact you have a brain of crystal and quintessence instead of flesh and electricity means you can lock it in the new shape. I bet the limit of one floor every ten points is to prevent you from using up too much of your brain space.’

Doyle tilts to the side, ‘that is interesting, so how do I use it?’

‘Tutorial time!’ Ally waves her hands in the air, ‘with perfect timing as well since you just had a full clear. Anyway, have you ever done one of those trick pictures where you cross your eyes and it makes a 3d picture?’

Doyle nods and so Ally continues, ‘you need to do a similar thing. A little hard to explain, but you need to look at the floor you want to automate. Then you need to look at it again without having stopped looking at it? Once you can do that, use the first vision to also see the second along with the floor. As you spectate that second view, use your…’

Ally slowly blinks and runs her finger along an invisible screen. Then she runs over it again. ‘Okay, this is just a mess. From now on the first view is v1 and the second is v2, got that? Good. Now let’s just start from the top.’

‘Create v1 and then v2 keeping them both up at the same time looking at the floor. Use v1 to also look at v2. Then through v2 use creation to restock the floor. Sadly, you will have to set all the gear up as well, so this will be costly. Whenever you create or do something with v2, you will be able to see it happening with v1 and that is where the trick is. As your skill from v2 takes effect you need to…’

Ally rereads the line a few times, ‘Hmm, for lack of a better word put a finger on it to keep it in place? Anyway, after you finish stocking the entire floor with v2, you will have everything being held down by v1. Now create a third view, v3 if you will, and take an overview of the floor and the other two views. With all that nonsense in place, use dungeon rules through v3 to crystalize v1 in place. V1 now locked down you can release v2. At that point from v1 you should see v2 still but not see it with v3.’

‘Hopefully that is the case or you have to do this all from the top after clearing the floor. Lastly, if v1 can still see v2 but v3 can’t, you can release v1 and then v3. Finally when you look at your floor again, you should see phantom-like crystal outlines of everything you spawned while doing that. If you focus on one of the outlines, you will be able to sense what spawned from that point and you can alter it to some extent. Basic things like removing the spawn or changing out gear on a monster.’

‘Oh, and to add more stuff you just need to do the same thing. The guide here says it should become second nature with practice. Though if you attempt to do it on more floors than you’re allowed, it just won’t work. So did you understand that all?’

Doyle’s core lulls to the side, ‘huh wah? I think you might need to walk me through it as I attempt to do it.’

Ally sighs, ‘fair enough, faaair ee nough. Though it seems like the hardest part is just that multiple view thing. How about you try to look at your first floor twice over to start?’

Suffice to say it takes a good long while for Doyle to get it. Luckily after the next group to come in finds the dungeon empty people stopped coming in for the day. Late into the night Doyle works at it.

An hour past midnight Doyle manages it. The only thing he can say to Ally is that he couldn’t have even thought in the manner required when he was a human. At that point, it is all easy sailing. Ally reads through the directions step by step as he completes them, and in only twice the time it would take him to restock the floor before it is done.

Doyle sighs in relief, ‘Well, I can see how that would become second nature. Because it certainly isn’t like my first nature. Unnatural finicky process. There has to be an easier way to do that!’

Ally pats his core, ‘at least you got a couple levels in both creation and law!’

Doyle dims, ‘don’t try to cheer me up. I am happy it is over with but I have something even harder left to do and I need it done before tomorrow. After all, my second floor isn’t going to create itself.’

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Ally tilts her head to the side, ‘why would you need to rush it out before tomorrow?’

Doyle sinks down for a moment, ‘because while I can work on the second floor just fine once I have it. Until I do have it, everything I would do is on the first floor. If I don’t get it before tomorrow’s adventurers start to enter, I will have to wait for the next night.’

Ally shakes her head, ‘don’t worry about being quick. If it takes another day, we can afford that. Haste makes waste and we have all the time in the world.’

Doyle laughs, ‘We are having trouble with a group of under armed nearly gearless level five people straight from the tutorial. Not everywhere will have their people get such a slow start. What if just down that river over there a place is set up where even the weakest people are like those founders? With the right attitude, a place like that might kill me just so no one here can grow into a real threat to them.’

Ally shrugs, ‘there is nothing we can do about what ifs and anything beyond the horizon. For now, we have a small town developing outside of our entrance and they need food so they won’t kill us. Lets just make our dungeon, maybe not as if no one is out to kill us. That would just be stupid. However, make it without the assumption that some elder god is going to sit on us accidentally and snuff the dungeon out. It isn’t impossible but it is out of our control.’

Doyle whines, ‘but I like when things are under control! Why can’t we just have a schedule and keep to it? That’s what I hated the most about my job, you know? The fact that my schedule seemed to be made by throwing darts at the wall.’ And he lets out a stressed sob.

Ally rubs his core, ‘its fine. Life threw you a serious curveball and doesn’t seem to want to stop. A few floors under our belt will make us safe enough for a new world. At that point you can schedule things or whatever else you want.’

Doyle leans back, ‘I don’t even care about the damn schedule, you know? It’s just the person in charge of, well, who was in charge of it before the end, sucked at it. I say I have a preference and suddenly it is like I told them I never wanted to work at those times. I say that I prefer to do a certain job and for some reason other people, half of whom hate that job, are suddenly doing it instead of me.’

Ally shrugs, ‘that’s just middle management for you. Not enough power to actually do anything, but just enough to make those below them miserable. Now if you want to get started on that second floor, we should get around to it. You had mentioned it was like making a new dimension inside your dungeon?’

Doyle just sits there for a minute to gather himself. ‘Yeah, that is about it. I looked at the directions again. There is the pool of sapient sourced power at the center of my gem. Since it is full, all I have to do is wrap my core in it and squeeze. My core will literally pop into a new dimensional layer. The problem is that while that is happening, I have to do all kinds of funky things with my territory control. General poking and prodding at space as well as stretching it out and bending it into intricate designs.’

‘Once that is done though, it is easy enough. My territory will just spread outward like normal and a whole new space to play with is created. Only the fact I am treating my first floor like a balloon as I inflate the next floor inside of it worries me. Not literally of course, bending space isn’t that simple but the best I can do to explain it.’

Ally nods, ‘I can see where you worry comes from then. Even the best balloons only stretch so far before bursting. Do you have any hints on how to fix it?’

Doyle brightens up, ‘I don’t actually have to do anything about it. The balloon metaphor was a bit of a stretch. While it explains some of the difficulties of doing it, there is no need to worry about my floors bursting. I might create new space at the center of my dungeon, but it goes inward? Kind of hard to explain, especially when that explanation sort of makes you think of a blackhole, what with putting all that mass in one spot.’

Ally grimaces, ‘yeah it sounds like that but I trust you. How about you start on that new floor instead of hemming and hawing about it? A little delay to settle yourself is fine, but you’re pushing it at this point.’

Doyle rolls, ‘fine, it’s off to work I go. Now a moment of silence as I concentrate.’

Ally considers making a cheeky reply but in the end obliged his request and so Doyle focuses on his core. At the center, the pool of power pulses to an unheard tune. As he looks closer, small ripples dance across the silver surface. It’s a peaceful scene, especially compared to before he filled it and the space just looked like a hole into the void.

So of course he has to disrupt it. With a mental finger, he pokes the sphere and more ripples form. Just as he had expected and so with a sigh he pokes straight through the outside and into the core. At the very center still exists that void he had seen when the space was empty. This small point is where he has to start.