Chapter 203: A Change of Seasons
“I’ll try!” Yorela yelled back as she slammed an oversized mallet into the end of the spike over and over.
We had been at this for an hour already. Every few minutes, we stopped so that Karlinovo could take careful measurements and adjust the angle ever so slightly for maximum effectiveness. It was grueling work, and I was tapping my mana cycling harder than I ever had before, which was saying something considering this wasn’t even a battle. It was a good thing Mel wasn’t here to realize the possibility of this for future trainings.
A rapid beat made up of sounds of heavy impacts rang out above. The feeling of the spike driving deeper told me we were getting somewhere. For around eight hours before we started this Karlinovo, Elody, Quarilyn, and I had been in deep discussions with several scientists we had finally gotten to the homestead. The first half of it had been spent with Karlinovo trying to teach a math that predicted mana displacement to most of the room. Once that had mostly been grasped, we had moved onto the best way to load and distribute undersea cables to a relay point from the spike to the shore.
That was happening outside as we worked on this part. Elody and Pryte were collaborating with a team to lay out all the conduit we could get transported here on such short notice. It didn’t help matters that we were apparently in one of the worst times for weather as far as the continent went. And while that wasn’t the biggest problem for those of us with cores, most of Earth was nowhere near that point.
“Thanks to Glorp, we’ve got the cable laid to the shore ahead of schedule!” Elody yelled suddenly, breaking my concentration. Luckily, Corey was still there in my channels to keep it focused for me.
The next part of the plan was to hook that cable up to a point in New Zealand using a ship. A team that had been rerouted from repair work on the other damaged undersea infrastructure would be the ones to make that connection. This would have been much easier had the dungeon been closer to the South American side, but we had to work with what we had.
“Good, we are finally making some real progress in here. At this rate, we will have this operational by tomorrow!” Karlinovo yelled back.
That, of course, meant a whole new load of problems would start. Since Grant had found the feral mana beasts nearby, we had found several more populations of the local life going the same route. Rabyn had wanted to know just how widespread it had already grown without us noticing, and had immediately taken to the forests to find out. I had no idea why he, of all people, was so interested, but I hadn’t had time since our return to find out.
Crack! The spike suddenly slid deeper, moving feet downward all at once for the first time. Another mallet strike moved it even further. Karlinovo was smiling and yelling for more as the ground beneath us finally gave way under our assault. Within minutes, we had done it. The dungeon core socketed spike was now deep into the ground.
“Alright, Apollyon, are you ready for the next step?” I asked the core as I dropped the shields, feeling a relief wash over me as the constant channeling pressures halted.
“So big, so much world. Why did none of you tell me how grand this all was?!” the core screamed, but for once it didn’t sound angry. Its voice was instead full of wonder.
“Some things are best left for you to experience on your own. I hope now that you understand what you are protecting, it will do a great deal to help clear your madness,” Corey replied.
The core didn’t speak. The tendrils that had been constantly trying to grope through my mind for the last day stopped. The feeling of rage and madness that had so strongly come across the connection to Apollyon calmed for the first time. I had no idea if this change was permanent, but like Corey, I would remain hopeful.
“Release the dungeon energy into the core, be careful not to sever your connection with the Travelers!” A bolt of energy wizzed past Karlinovo as he yelled that, singeing his beard. The room was coming alive with charged mana.
I carefully reworked the thread, tying off where Alpha had their connection and placing another onto Apollyon. As the connection settled, something unexpected hit me. I could now feel their fear in my mind. It was only for a split second, but it had been very real. I suspected the dungeon connection hadn’t brought the joy they expected. Instead, it had brought a weight. The message that popped up confirmed this moments later.
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| Apollyon: You all will not leave me, right? You will be here? Corey: We will share the burden of the dungeon equally until we find a way to purify the energy it exudes. Apollyon: Thank you. Corey: I will be visiting you often in my manifested form, until you are also able to manifest. We shall discuss much about the world, beauty, and life itself.
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