Chapter 161: Chapter 160 – Secret Tunnel

Dream smiled as Riddick got so worked up. He wasn't sure about how big the gap was between S- and S magic, but he was sure he could give the man a good run for his money in a fight. Knowing that, he was rather proud of himself.

"Although I have no idea what this core you speak of is-."

"The core is something you make upon reaching class 4. It's made of solid mana, and you bind it to the mana pathways connected to your soul. It took every scrap of energy I had along with the assistance the system gives to form it. And only after I formed the core did my mana turn to liquid. I thought that it was a huge jump in power, but now you come along already wielding liquid mana. So? How?"

"Hmm... Good info. Anyway, I had actually come across solid mana. It was after doing some experiments with it that my soul was stressed. And because of that, I made a breakthrough and was able to form the liquid mana with just my soul. Luna and Iris were there actually."

"Yea. He sucked a bunch of energy out of me."

Iris responded and crossed her arms as if hearing about a bad memory. Riddick turned to them, surprised.

"You knew? Why didn't you tell me?"

"We didn't think it was that big. He does crazy stuff like that all the time. What, you want to hear about everything he does?"

"...No, I guess not. But this is different! So that's all you did? Just stress your soul?"

"Well I doubt that's everything. I mean, I'm not a soul expert. I do that all the time, and as a result, my soul gets stronger. Except this time, I was on the cusp of breaking through, and I did. Even Iris has been getting stronger after I taught her my art."

"What art is that?"

"The art of pushing your limits. You said that stressing your soul is dangerous, but I don't really see that. Like a muscle, you have to break it down to get stronger. Though you can't push it too far, obviously, but you'll know when you hit your limits. Pain does a really good job of reminding you."

"...So that's really it?"

"Well, it also probably has something to do with my skills. They're really powerful, so leveling them boosts my power really well."

"How many skills do you have?"

"5."

"That's it?"

"Yea. How many do you have?"

"16."

"That seems like a lot."

"They're all the magical techniques that I've developed over the years. All of them are pretty powerful except for a few that I've outgrown."

"I think that's where your problem is. Like I keep saying, skills are your source of strength. Work on them and you'll increase your strength."

"..."

"Anyway, I'm gonna get going. Treasure isn't gonna dig itself up."

"Kiss kiss!"

Seeing him prepare to leave, Iris stood and went over for a kiss. After they smooched, Dream turned to Luna, who was looking at him worriedly.

"No sugar for daddy?"

"...Be careful."

"Of course."

Standing, Luna also went over for a kiss. When they separated, Dream was given a hug as well as more warnings by Selene. After that, he left the cabin, leaving the contemplating Old Man behind and taking to the skies.

........

As Dream flew, the avatar was in the meeting with the Cardinals and class 4's of the Empire. 

These class 4's were the ones who ran their own kingdoms that were divided by species. They were called Kings, and in this meeting, there were 27 of these kings.

Of the 27 kings, there were 11 different species. These 11 different species represented all the class 4 species, so every class 4 in the United Empire came from one of these species. They were as follows:

A Bear, Lion, Tiger, Cat, Fox, Wolf, Eagle, Lizard, Snake, Badger, and a Tasmanian Devil looking Rodent.

Each of these species apparently has at least 4 class 4's. Some, like the Wolf, have 8 class 4's. But for the most part, no single species is able to absolutely overpower the others.

However, there's one species that's by far the weakest. The fox. Turns out, Raoul, the father of Selene, is the only class 4 fox. He had apparently only just risen to prominence in the last few hundred years.

This was all quick information Dream learned from one of the Cardinals of the Animal Church after some inquiries before the meeting. He had never known any of this and wanted a general overview of the power dynamic here in the Empire.

During the meeting, Dream and the Cardinals went on to discuss the details of the alliance with these 27 kings. Dream brought up the fact that all the other Empires were willing to support, how he was going to provide them with communication devices, and the fact that he was going to give them valuable intelligence.

After hearing all this, the kings were a bit skeptical of these devices of his, but when he showed them how they worked by communicating with the Elven Ancient, they were ecstatic. Everyone agreed that such a tool was invaluable in warfare. This was the same for the intelligence. All the kings, even Raoul, were astonished by not only the capability of the bracelets, but by the accuracy of the intelligence. 

However, there was one point that they still didn't want to bend toward, and that was Dream taking over the logistical management of the armies. However, Dream was fine with that. 

He really didn't care about how they wanted to run their armies. He didn't even really have any idea as to how they would be run. These were animals, not humans. Their militaristic system would be vastly different, so he didn't want to try and step in and ruin things. 

But despite being able to bend on this point, there was one thing he wouldn't bend on, and that was the Empire's stance on the war. Dream wanted to make absolutely sure that the Empire was going to attack, not just defend. The Church also heavily emphasized this point. 

Luckily, that's what their plan was. The Empire had already discovered how ruthless and relentless the demons were and had no intention of letting them live. They were already going to push back all the way to the demon continent and attempt to wipe them out. Not only would this expand their territory, but it was going to provide them with plenty of food in the form of demon corpses. 

With that, Dream was satisfied. All he had to do was give them a massive amount of bracelets and they would take care of everything else. 

Another thing Dream did was tell them about how the human Empires were also going to be attacking. He laid out the intelligence and showed them the demons' movements. After going over it, they were shocked by the combat power of the demons. Afterward though, they were relieved that the human Empires were also fighting. It would take a huge amount of pressure of them.

And so, for the rest of the day Dream's avatar went over more details with the Cardinals and the Kings. They also brought the dwarves and elves into the conversation.

........

Meanwhile, as the meeting had started, Dream made his way over to the Empire. Though not before making certain preparations.

The first thing he did was call over his railgun platforms. All of them were up mounted on the factory, so when Sophia took control, they detached and flew themselves down to the atmosphere above the Empire.

One thing to note is that the railguns had undergone a few modifications. First, they were made more mobile. This allowed them to more easily fire while in the air. Second, their enchantments were upgraded. This made them a bit more powerful, but nothing too drastic.

Other than the railguns, all the aircraft Dream had were activated and moved over. These escorted the railguns and stayed with them in the atmosphere.

Last but not least, Dream had a few contingency weapons that he never used against Raoul while breaking out the girls. He had used one that was made with Riddick's mana which disrupted the mana of the enemy. But he still had two more that were free to use. In fact, he performed upgrades on them, making them much more powerful than before.

With that, he was good to go. Most of his power was always on his person and almost entirely consisted of Aegis, who was by far his strongest attack and defense. Dream never removed him. Ever. He was ever-present and always guarding his master, never relaxing his vigilance.

"So. This thing is underground, but I have no idea where. I think the best place to start is from within the city."

[It's risky, but definitely more effective. If we can find an enchantment that's attached to the source, we should be able to trace it back."

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"Our only other option would be to dig around, but that's working harder, not smarter. Let's enter the city."

Saying that, Dream flew over from outside the city walls. He quickly entered the capital, and not stopping, he moved straight to the massive castle in the center.

This castle was where Luna, Iris, and Selene were held. He had already broken into it once, and he could easily do it again.

"Huh, would you look at that. That's the hole I made."

Dream chuckled as he looked at the castle wall. On it could be seen a patch of stone that was a different color from the rest, making it stand out like a scar. That was where the railguns had blown through after Dream weakened it.

After looking at the scar for a bit, Dream turned away with a smile. Though suddenly after he did that, he stopped and turned back to it.

"...Hey, if that source of mana is supposed to be powering something defensive making the Empire indestructible, then wouldn't this castle be the perfect thing to hook it up to?"

[Maybe. Although, you were able to weaken and break through that wall rather easily. It doesn't seem like something brimming with power.]

"Selene said that the enchantments have degraded though. Maybe it's really just that weak."

[Won't know unless we try. Go look.]

"Mm."

Nodding, Dream flew over to the wall, steering clear of the scar. Its enchantments were already broken and wouldn't help him.

After getting close, he placed his hand on the stone. When he did, mana surged from within him. Sophia instantly began rewriting the enchantments and placing in her own. 

After only a few moments, a mana string was sent out that began to flow through the wall's enchantments like a fish through water. The string also split into thousands of pieces, spreading out much like they did while searching the Elven Tree. 

Soon, the strings began reaching the bottom of the wall. Though they didn't stop and quickly headed underground.

"Hmm... They got many more buildings down there. A lot of them have class 3's inside. Bunch of different species... Where's your power source..."

After only a minute or so, Dream's mana had spread through most of the wall, surrounding the entire castle. He had the entire castle and all its enchantments under his control. 

And along with control of the wall, he was able to quickly identify the source of power of the wall.

"A core of some kind, though definitely not the source. Too weak. Is it attached to something?"

[Overwriting... Nope. The core is independent. Occasionally fueled by someone, but independent.]

"Hmm... I don't really know where else they would've attached the source to. If a wall isn't a good defensive spot, then I don't know what is."

[What about the outer wall?]

"...Maybe. Can't hurt to try."

Saying that, Dream removed his hand. The strings that were attached were formed into an enchantment and he even left behind a core of his own with a computer inside, allowing him to control the entire castle from anywhere in the world. 

After planting the core stealthily into the wall, Dream moved back to the outer wall.

The outer wall encompassed the entire city. Seeing how the city expanded beyond the horizon, one could easily say that the wall was big. It was a whole 200 meters tall and 60 meters thick. 

"Although, I still can't figure out why these Empires would build walls. I mean, anybody worth worrying about can easily fly over."

[Monsters?]

"...Probably. I guess it also serves to easily establish boundaries. Walls are pretty universal in that sense."

[Though the Spire also had that mana dome. You would think that this wall would also have it.]

"The Spire is much smaller. Anyway, let's check this out."

Dream cruised up to the wall, which he quickly put his hand on. Soon, mana burst out, overriding the enchantments and scouring for clues.

"It's like medieval hacking. I feel like an assassin."

[I'm finding something.]

"Yay! What is it?"

[Weak enchantments. Really weak. I'm also finding mithril circuits strewn throughout the wall. The circuits are stable, but not nearly strong enough to sustain what I think these enchantments were calling for.]

"...So they stressed the mithril too much, weakening it over time where it gradually stabilized into a weaker form."

[The enchantments on the mithril are a mess too, although I've pieced some of them together. They were calling for a dome, just like in the Spire. Though again, the enchantments weren't strong enough to be maintained over time. However, it wasn't really to the fault of the enchanters. These guys were smart, at least compared to today's enchanting.]

"I think that means we've found exactly what we're looking for. Have you found the source?"

[No, but I've found several auxiliary cores. As I expected, their enchantments are out of whack.]

"We should take a look."

[They're underground in some tunnels that haven't been touched in ages. There's a passageway on the inside of the wall. Fix the enchantment and I can open the door.]

"Okay."

Dream nodded and flew down the inside of the wall. He went to the blip in his vision that was placed on top of a section in the wall. It looked like nothing special, just part of the wall. However, the mana told him a different story.

"Broken circuits everywhere. Well even without fixing the enchantments this is easy to get into."

Saying that, Dream placed his hand on the wall, not before hiding his presence of course. Soon, the cracks glowed a bit, and the section in the wall began to open up. 

"..."

Dream stared at the entrance for a bit. It led into a large dark tunnel, and as Sophia said, it definitely hadn't been touched in ages.

He broke out into a smile.

"Secret tunnel! Secret tunnel! Through the mountains..."

[It's a wall.]

"Secret secret secret secret tunnel!"

*Bang*

Door closing behind him, Dream danced his way into the wall.