Alpha Strike: An interstellar Weapon Platform's Guide to Cultivation [Progression Sci-fi/Cultivation]

[Osamaru]

Schedule Update!

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B2 - Lesson 27: "All Natural MUD"
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A thousand metal arms worked on dozens of projects, lending an air of controlled chaos to the scene filling the gargantuan complex.

The Controlled Research and Experimentation Laboratory — or just the 'Lab' as those in the know had taken to calling it — was a sprawling labyrinth of testing, manufacturing, and growing labs. Built into solid rock nearly a kilometer underneath the ant colony proper, it was quickly becoming the center for Alpha's research. It had to be built so far away to prevent the ants from inadvertently digging into it.

This was especially important because as Alpha's manufacturing ability increased, so did his ability to expand and build, which in turn further increased his capabilities. It was less like a snowball and more like your father when he went through his hobbyist phase and wouldn't stop buying new toys.

And Alpha has a lot of new toys…

Moreover, the possibilities would only increase if this new project turned out how he thought it would. All that was missing was —

"Ah! Good! You're here!" Alpha spoke through the Lab speakers as the doors to the rail platform slid open. The transport rail was the newest addition to the Lab. It was far more efficient than having ants transport everything down the long corridors. As Antchaser, Dr. Maria, and Boarslayer stepped into the reception chamber, Antchaser stepped forward and stood in a red circle painted in the middle of the room.

A metal arm unfolded from the ceiling and pointed itself at the goblin. A wide blue beam shot from the tip of the arm and scanned the man, circling around to capture every angle. When the light turned green, Antchaser stepped out of the ring and walked toward a closed door opposite the entrance they had entered. He pressed his hand against a flat screen beside it, and the screen flashed green once more. The door opened, and the goblin walked through before it shut behind him.

One after another, Dr. Maria and Boarslayer repeated the process until all three were on the other side of the security checkpoint.

Alpha honestly doubted that any of them could have been compromised — not quite at this point in the game — but it was always good to establish procedures early. As the checkpoint door closed behind them, an ant walked around the corner and greeted them. Alpha could have just spoken to them through the various speakers, but he'd found the natives responded far better when he interacted 'face-to-face.'

"What did you want us to see, sir?" Antchaser asked as the ant led them down the hallway.

"Well, you see…" came the response. "Thanks to new information gathered by monitoring the inmates, I've made a recent breakthrough regarding a previous project we had originally scrapped."

"The nascent Dragon Pool?" Antchaser asked.

Ant Alpha nodded. Hugo and his little group might have thought the goblins weren't aware of the Dragon Pool, but in fact, Alpha had been closely monitoring them specifically to track the effects of prolonged exposure. Of course, the goblins had known about the Dragon Pool, but the Mud Drake's presence had been a heavy deterrent. What water they could collect had to be from far downstream, where it had less impact.

"But I thought we agreed it was still too soon to get much use out of it? The Dragon Pool won't mature for quite some time. We're talking about a scale of decades, if not centuries. If it's tampered with too soon, it could collapse." Dr. Maria said.

She wasn't wrong. When the goblins first told him about the so-called 'Dragon Pool', it had piqued his interest. But light testing had been… disappointing. It was not that the properties of the Dragon Pool were uninteresting; they were simply far too weak. A quick injection of the basic healing liquid found in any Federation first-aid kit was more effective in the short term. And even that didn't compare to proper medical nanites. Even the Dragon Pool's water-cleaning properties were ultimately unimportant for his current projects.

At the end of the day, it wasn't worth damaging the Dragon Pool with extensive testing, given what it might one day become.

"So what's changed?" Boarslayer asked.

Alpha mentally grinned and responded. "First, let me ask you a question. What are spiritual tablets?"

Antchaser and Dr. Maria shared, "They're small clay tablets that can hold minor arrays. They're related to jade tablets, but far inferior in quality and often one-time use. The materials used to make them are way more common, though, so they're quite cheaper than jade tablets." Antchaser answered.

Alpha nodded. That was roughly what he'd been able to pry out of his… interviews with a few of the inmates. "And how are they made?" Alpha continued.

"Ehhhh…" Antchaser scratched his head. He honestly did not know. He'd never worked on something like that before. Maybe someone in the village would know, but not him.

Thankfully, Dr. Maria picked up the slack. "They're pretty simple to make, in all honesty. Spirit stones are ground into a fine powder and mixed with high-quality, refined clay and a few other binding reagents—typically the blood of a spirit beast, though the alchemists' own can suffice—to create 'spiritual clay.' Once prepared, this clay has several uses, but one of the most common are shaped tablets engraved with an array, forming a 'spiritual tablet.'"

Antchaser and Boarslayer both stared at Dr. Maria.

She raised a brow and looked between them. "What? [Tablets of Minor Regeneration] are one of my best sellers back in Halirosa. Though I feel like I must clarify, while Antchaser called them 'cheap,' that is only relativity speaking. As one of their primary components is spirit stones, the price for spiritual tablets can still be quite steep. Typically, they're seen as emergency items."

Again, Alpha nodded. "And what is the feasibility of manufacturing our own?"

Dr. Maria frowned and tapped her chin. "Hmmm, not very? Not right now, at least. While I don't doubt there's a spirit stone mine in a cavern, this size — there typically is — finding it is a whole other matter. We could search for years and never turn anything up. Not without the proper equipment. We could technically use beast core instead, but that's a waste and unsustainable."

"I see, I see," Alpha said as he led the group through a final set of doors.

The lab they entered was newly built and filled to the brim with various pipes and tanks. The centerpiece of the lab was a large glass tank filled with a swirling, dark brown liquid. It wasn't a 'dirty' brown, but a smooth, clean, almost metallic color, giving the impression of liquid bronze.

Antchaser would have found it kind of… pretty… if he had any idea what it was. It was certainly mesmerizing.

"What are we looking at, Mr. Alpha? This feeling… it almost feels like…" Boarslayer trailed off.

"I'm glad you asked! Come, come! Take a look!" Alpha said, a bit of excited giddiness creeping into his voice.

The three exchanged looks and approached the tank. Dozens of wide screens were attached to the upper portion of the tank, filled with charts and graphs that none of them could read. A strange machine sat at the bottom of the tank, a thin pipe connecting the two.

"Antchaser, if you would do the honor?" Alpha said, gesturing to the machine.

Ant Chaser shrugged and stepped forward. The control screen was similar to the type the goblins had been taught to use during the months of time-dilated training in the dungeon. Mostly to operate the machine that would clean and repair their new equipment. A copy had even been installed in the village, so he was familiar enough with the artifact to not stumble around trying to figure out what to do.

The machine clicked to life a moment later as a low rumble shook the room. An unseen gate opened and some of the bronze liquid poured from the tank into the machine. When the liquid finally reached the center portion of the machine, the large upper section of a previously unnoticed press slammed down, the high-pitched whine of steam escaping from between its two halves.

With the sound of grinding metal, the press lifted, and the front portion of the machine rolled back. A small tray was pushed forward, and at its center sat a small, coin-sized hexagonal disk. It was smooth and almost metallic brown in color, similar to that of the liquid, though without the swirling shades.

Antchaser reached down and picked it up, surprised at how light it felt.

He turned it around in his hand a few times, staring at the intricate array lines covering its surface. Antchaser might not have known much about arrays, but he knew enough to feel like something felt… odd... about the lines. It was almost like some of them were… incomplete. Several simply ran off the edges of the disk. As if whatever they connected to wasn't there.

The goblin turned to Alpha and raised the disk with a raised brow.

"Mr. Alpha, what' exactly is th—"

Yonk!

Before he could finish his sentence, Dr. Maria charged at him and snatched the disk from his hand.

With the fever of a madwoman, she turned the disk over in her hands, tracing the array lines and muttering to herself. After examining the disk from every angle, she held it between her fingers and channeled a small amount of Spirit Energy into it.

The array lines flashed to life, light pooling at the edges, while a larger light glowed brightly at the top of the disk. After a moment, the energy faded, and Dr. Maria's eyes widened. Again, she channeled energy into the disk, and again it lit up.

Again.

And again.

Only after the tenth time did something finally give, and the disk crumbled away into dust.

Dr. Maria stared at her dust-covered hand for a long moment, muttering to herself, until finally, she snapped around. Her bloodshot eyes nearly bulging out of her head, the manic woman pointed at Alpha and demanded, "YOU! What did you do?!"

Alpha only laughed.

"May I present the [Modular Utility Disks], or MUD, for short."

 

[Osamaru]

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B2 - Lesson 28: "Know How to Bait Your Line."
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The Federation loved modularization.

From ship systems to housing to industrial equipment, if it could be made modular, it was.

After all, the Federation comprised hundreds of sapient species. When dealing with tens of thousands of different plants, all with their own ecosystems, weather, and cultures, flexibility was key. Adding exotics to the mix made things even more chaotic. Planets or star systems with high levels of exotics could get… weird.

Okay, maybe not as weird as this planet, where everything seemed intent on eating everything else, and superpowers were the norm.

Even so, it paid to be adaptable, and modularity was the Federation's solution.

When Alpha had first discovered arrays and recognized their potential, his first obvious direction was applying the Federation philosophy, though to mixed results.

As the book Jīshí given him mostly touched on basic concepts, Alpha had been forced down a far more experimental route. Simulations weren't very effective when you didn't already know all the rules, which left good old trial and error.

A lot of errors.

A lot of explosive errors.

While the storage arrays had been relatively simple, Alpha quickly learned that whatever system governed arrays was far more complicated than he'd imagined. And more temperamental.

One of the primary reasons the Lab had to be built so far away from Alpha's primary base behind the royal ant chamber was that his array experiments have a nasty habit of exploding in his face — literally.

Only after interrogating the captured bandits did Alpha start to make any genuine progress in his array research. Not that any single bandit knew much, but when what they knew was combined, a more complete picture began to form.

As it stood, Alpha had isolated dozens of different effects by reverse engineering the array on the [Wasp] modified by Malaki at the Slatewalker village. The problem was these 'seals' — as the more educated of the bandits called them — were like letters in an alphabet. They could be combined, rearranged, and even altered slightly to create 'words' that translated into 'effects.' But once those 'words' were written — or carved — onto an object, they were set. Because how and where each of the array seals connected to each other could greatly alter the ultimate effect of the overall array, even minor changes could cascade the larger the array was.

So, how do you turn such an intricate system of interlocking parts into a modular system?

Alpha hadn't the faintest clue!

Not that he hadn't tried, of course.

However, the seals weren't the only frustrating piece of this puzzle. Not only was how the seals were arranged important, but also what they were placed on. An array that did perfectly fine on a piece of steel might suddenly become explosive if carved into copper or wood. Some seals flat-out didn't work if they weren't placed on the correct materials. How Malaki had modified the [Wasp] at all was baffling.

That's why the talk of 'spiritual tablets' among the bandits had caught his interest.

Alpha soon learned that he wasn't the first to cross this road — which should have been obvious — and while the solution the natives had come to wasn't quite what he was looking for, it had given him ideas.

It had taken him nearly three months of translight time — two days of real-time, with his energy surplus — but Alpha had finally refined what would become the MUDs to a working state. All he needed was some willing volunteers to test them out for him.

Thus, the screaming woman — and slightly terrified goblins — in front of him. Alpha mentally smirked to himself. The first time he'd talked to Dr. Maria in any depth, he'd instantly pegged her for a type of person he was intimately familiar with. Despite the front of calm, reserved stoicism she often radiated, behind her eyes lay a mind that was never… satisfied. She was the type who had to be constantly doing something.

Learning something.

The kind that always had to be poking, testing, and stretching the boundaries to their limits for no other reason than 'to see what would happen.' Be it science, music, art, or any other field, her type was always testing what was possible, then blasting through those limits with a reckless abandonment that bordered on psychosis.

They were responsible for some of the Federation's greatest scientific and cultural achievements… as well as some of its most horrific.

Yet—lucky for Alpha—despite all their brilliance, they were also some of the easiest to manipulate. All you had to do was play to whatever their focus was, and they would be putty in your hands.

Okay, so it was a bit more complicated than that! Alpha thought to himself. After all, people were still people. Nonetheless, as soon as Alpha shared some of the Federation's more advanced medical knowledge with her, he knew Dr. Maria was fully in his camp.

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Back to the present, Boarslayer held back a raving Dr. Maria as the older woman ranted at the Alpha-controlled Alphantonso.

Antchaser moved between them and held up his hand. "Hold up, Dr. Maria, calm down, please! Explain what exactly is going on here! What's the issue?!"

Dr. Maria paused, turned to Antchaser, and pointed at him. "What's the problem?! I'll show you the problem!" With that, she whirled and rushed to the machine at the base of the tank. A moment later, she held a newly minted MUD.

She flicked her wrist, and a small clay tablet the size of an open palm appeared in her other hand. The glazed clay tablet sparkled slightly under the artificial lights, as if it had been covered in glitter. Three small crystals were embedded at points along a complex web of array lines carved into its surface.

"This —" she held the tablet up and shook it, "—is a [Tablet of minor Regeneration]. And this —" she held up the coin-sized token, "—is a so-called MUD. Tell me, what's different about them?"

Antchaser stared at the objects with a raised eyebrow. What wasn't different about them? The spiritual tablet looked like others he'd seen before, if better made, attesting to Dr. Maria's skill. The MUD, on the other hand, while well made in his eyes, looked more like someone had tried to mint a gold coin out of clay and then given it a coat of glaze. It would have appeared utterly unremarkable if it hadn't been for the array lines carved into it.

Even the array etched into the MUD made little sense. While the tablet's arrays were chaotic and hard to read, with the telltale signs of array masking, they were all self-contained. It was like looking at an artistic piece telling its own story.

The MUD, on the other hand — as he'd noticed before — felt like it was missing parts. Seals suddenly cut off at the edges, and what complete seals were there made little sense in the context of a working array.

He voiced as much as well, "I mean, where do you want me to start? They're totally different…"

"EXACTLY!" came the doctor's response. "Now, watch what happens." Without an ounce of hesitation, Dr. Maria pulled out a small knife and sliced open her palm. As her blood fell onto the tablet, the array lines lit up, while the three spirit stones embedded in its surface burst into pale white flames.

Under the light of the white flame, the blood on Dr. Maira's hand quickly dried and flaked away while the cut itself slowly mended. By the time the light had faded, little more than a pink scar was left. As soon as the flames died from the spirit stones, the tablet cracked and crumbled to dust.

Antchaser stared, wide-eyed. That was his first time seeing a genuine spiritual tablet being used. Sure, he'd seen them for sale in Halirosa's market during the rare visit; as Dr. Maria had stated, they were only cheap comparatively. They were far outside his meager budget during any of the visits.

"Now! Watch this!" Dr. Maria said as she held up the MUD. She poured a bit of Spirit Energy into the token, and like the last time, the array lines lit up, producing several small lights around the edge. The lights didn't seem to do anything, but they were… pretty? She repeated the action again, then again, stopping after the fourth time, by which Antchaser was starting to put the puzzle pieces together.

Boarslayer was the one to actually voice Antchaser's mental question. "So they're what? Mini-tablets? I mean, sure, that's impressive, but I don't see why you're so worked up about them."

Dr. Maria turned and pointed at Boarslayer. "They're not tablets, though!" she said, an almost manic laugh cracking her voice. "Tablets hold complete arrays used to trigger their effects through the application of set conditions. These things —" again she shook the MUD "—aren't even full arrays!"

"But wait! There's more!" Alpha cut the woman's rant off with his best salesman's voice. A [Wasp] swiped the MUD from Dr. Maria's hand before she could react. Token in hand, it flew back to the MUD machine, where another hatch had opened. Inside lay a grid with a dozen MUDs arranged in neat rows. With only a quick glance, Antchaser could tell that each token was slightly different.

Using the [Wasp], Alpha set the first MUD on a shelf, then selected two more disks and moved them to the same shelf he'd placed the first on. With a magnetic click, they snapped into place next to the original, forming a small triangle out of the hexagonal tokens.

Throughout the entire process, Dr. Maria stared, wide-eyed. As soon as the [Wasp] moved away, she rushed the newly formed MUD token. The woman reached down with trembling hands, staring at it in awe, as if she could not believe what she saw was real.

Then, with a pulse of Spirit Energy, the array lines lit up, moving between and connecting the three individual tokens. Instantly, a thin blue bubble popped into existence around Dr. Maria. She stared at the bubble for a long, unblinking moment, then looked back at the small triangle of hexagons in her hand.

Without looking away, Dr. Maria called out. "Boarslayer…,"

"Yes?" Boarslayer responded, a brow raised.

"Hit me." The doctor's voice, despite the previous fervor, was oddly calm.

"Okay!" Boarslayer said with a little more enthusiasm than necessary.

"Wait up! Hold on a—" Antchaser tried to protest, but before he could finish, Boarslayer had already crossed the distance, a single massive fist raised high above the much smaller doctor's head.

With a smile, Boarslayer's fist slammed into the energy bubble surrounding Dr. Maria… and stopped.

Boarslayer frowned and backed away, shaking her fist. Her eyes narrowed, and she took a deep breath through her mouth. Again, Boarslayer struck out, this time with a left hook faster than Antchaser could follow with his eyes. The large goblin's fit struck the barrier with a resounding BANG! and sent out a visible shockwave. This time, the bubble indented, and small cracks formed along its surface.

The next instant, it popped, sending fragments of light scattering into the aether. Boarslayer's fist soared harmlessly past Dr. Maira, who had never once flinched during either attack. In the doctor's hands, the leftmost hexagon of the triad cracked and crumbled away as the lines powering the whole thing flickered and died.

Dr. Maria stared down at the two remaining MUDs silently.

Then she laughed.

It was soft at first, but slowly, it grew in volume and intensity to the point that Antchaser felt a slight chill crawl down his spine.

To the side, Alpha mentally grinned. If he had any doubt about where Dr. Maria's loyalties would lie, Alpha was more than confident they were no longer in question.

Hook, Line, and Sinker.

 

[Osamaru]

Remember to check out the Schedule Update if you're not already!
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B2 - Lesson 29: "Ignore The Ominous Lightning Flashing in The Background"
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Boarslayer folded her arms. "I don't get it. What's the big deal?" she asked, frowning.

Dr. Maria twitched, her eyes snapping toward the large goblin. "What's the big deal? What's the big deal?! You don't get it! Tablets don't work like that! Arrays don't work like that! There's a reason we do things the way we do! These… MUDs totally unweave tens of thousands of years of established fact! That's what the big deal is!" With each breath, the doctor's words became more frantic and crazed as she waved a finger at Boarslayer like it was a club.

For a moment, Alpha feared he might have broken something in the old human woman. Thankfully, Antchaser stepped up, standing between Dr. Maria and Boarslayer.

He cut the woman off and held up both arms to block her. "Hold up, now. You're going to have to break this down for us, doctor. Remember, Boarslayer and I barely have any experience with arrays, let alone tablets."

Dr. Maria froze. Then blinked.

"Ah, right… I apologize," she said as the crazed woman disappeared and the stoic doctor once more took over. "I guess some explanation is in order."

She cleared her throat and raised a finger. "First, let's see how much you do know. I'll start with a basic question. 'What are arrays?'"

Antchaser and Boarslayer exchanged a look before the former shrugged. "Arrays are… arrays? You draw patterns, inject Spirit Energy, and get an effect," they said.

Dr. Maria chuckled. "That's not incorrect, but it's not the answer I wanted. At their core, arrays are instructions — more specifically, instructions to Spirit Energy."

Boarslayer frowned. "That doesn't make any sense. Spirit Energy isn't a living thing. It doesn't 'think'. How can you give instructions to something that doesn't listen?"

Sure, Cultivators could 'direct' Spirit Energy, but that was them imposing their own will on it, not 'asking' it to do something.

Dr. Maria smiled. "Again, you're not wrong. Spirit Energy doesn't have a will of its own, but it does have tendencies — habits and patterns that we, as Cultivators, can exploit. By moving Spirit Energy in certain patterns and in certain ways, an array manifests an intended effect on the world. Like a seamstress weaving an elegant dress out of raw thread."

She held up her hand, and the fingers warped, sharpening and turning a shiny grey color. In only a few seconds, each finger had transformed into various medical tools: a pair of forceps, two different scalpels, a long needle, and even what looked like the end of a stethoscope.

She wiggled the metal digits around and continued, "In fact, when a Cultivator uses a spiritual technique, they're creating a type of array by moving their own Spirit Energy through their meridians in specific patterns to create their desired effects. If the Cultivator is the seamstress and the Spirit Energy the tread, then manual casting would be like knitting by hand, while arrays are more akin to using a loom and patterns."

Antchaser and Boarslayer both stared, wide-eyed. Neither had really considered too deeply how their techniques worked the way they did or their connection to arrays. Did a swordsman question why his arm moved, or the bowman why his arrow flew?

Okay, so some probably did. Otherwise, how would new and better creations come into being? But those people were elites with the time and resources to question more than 'does it work.' Those people weren't Antchaser and Boarslayer.

Alpha, on the other hand, found the entire subject fascinating. That simple explanation alone answered more questions than weeks of independent research.

What do you mean that's my fault?! You can't ask questions you don't know!

Alpha chose to ignore the string of messages from his Sub-AI and instead turned to the doctor.

"With that in mind, why use… spiritual techniques… at all? If an array is a loom, why bother 'knitting?'" Alpha asked, using what he'd come to all his 'Dungeon Core tone.' It was useful for getting the natives to offer information up without letting on he didn't already know the answer. Is this what therapists did all day? Maybe Alpha would take up psychiatry when he got back to the Federation!

Dr. Maria folded her arms and nodded her head. "Thank you, Mr. Alpha. I was just getting to that." She then turned back to Antchaser and Boarslayer. "As Mr. Alpha said, with that in mind, one must ask, 'What's the point of spiritual techniques then?' And that train of thought isn't too far off. In fact, it is often said an Array Master is someone who has taken that thought to the extremes. Someone who has forsaken personal techniques in favor of arrays. But —"

She paused and held up a finger.

"—the profession also acts as a perfect example of the pros and cons of either philosophy. In their territory, an Array Master is peerless. Even powerful geniuses from the Five Pillars will hesitate to fight a proper Array Master on their home turf. Whether speed, power, or efficiency, arrays simply outperform what any individual Cultivator could hope to accomplish. Returning to our analogy, a seamstress using an advanced loom could create far more, far quicker than one relying on their own two hands. But therein lies the problem…" Dr. Maria let the statement trail off, eyeing both goblins.

Antchaser narrowed his eyes, considering the unspoken question. It took a moment, but then it finally clicked.

"In their own territory…" he breathed, almost as if to himself.

Dr. Maria grinned and nodded as Antchaser continued the thought;

"It's like you said… they're peerless… in their own territory. Give an Array Master the time and resources to set up; you'll never pull them from their shell. But catch them off guard and under-prepared, and they're far easier to deal with. That's basic knowledge."

Dr. Maria laughed. "Correct! Now you've got the idea!" she said. The doctor paced back and forth, some of the manic energy returning as she spoke with her hands. "You hit the nail on the head, my dear boy. Array Masters are some of the most dangerous people you will ever encounter… if you give them the chance."

She stopped and whirled, holding up three fingers.

"That's the key. Time, space, and resources. This is the core of the choice that every Cultivator eventually faces. Do you refine your personal techniques, which are generally weaker and slower to master, yet flexible and 'free,' but for your own time and power? Or do you focus on arrays, whose power is available to their wielders at the snap of your finger yet are inflexible, cumbersome, and expensive? For most, the answer lies somewhere in between, and the truly strong know how to make the best of both."

Alpha nodded along at the explanation. That made sense. It was the classic 'grind-to-win' verse 'pay-to-win' debate. Did you focus fully on training your character to do everything? Or did you buy some OP equipment to cover the areas your build couldn't?

Boarslayer was next to speak up, after having remained uncharacteristically silent for the longest time.

"Okay, I get that… kinda… But what does that have to do with the MUDs? How do they play into all this? Is it just because the machine can churn them out so fast? I feel like an Array Master should be able to do at least something similar, right? Even if it's not worth their time," she asked with a frown.

Dr. Maria turned toward her, grinning. "That's part of it, sure! But a device capable of automatically engraving simple arrays with minimal effort isn't anything new. Some workshops use similar concepts for basic, everyday items. No, the crux of 'problem' — if you could call it that — is this!"

The doctor held up the two connected MUD tokens and channeled energy into them, though without the third token, all they did was light up. Once the energy had faded, she reached over and 'snapped' the fused tokens apart, though with no apparent damage to either. Again, she channeled energy into them, and again, they lit up, though this time Antchaser could tell there was a distinction. Where before, the two MUD were like singers harmonizing with each other to sing a song, now they were two voices trying to 'sing over' each other.

Antchaser tilted his head. "So, they can… what? Combine? Is that supposed to be hard?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

Dr. Maria threw her head back and laughed. "Hard? No, my boy, it should be impossible."

"Why?" Boarslayer followed.

"As I said before, arrays are instructions, and like any good instructions, you can't just slap words together willy-nilly and expect them to make any sense. Each individual seal —" she held up the MUDs to show them "—is its own 'word' or letter. They're parts of a whole that connect and intermingle in different ways to form the greater whole we know as an 'array.' What seals are used and how those seals are arranged in relation to each other determine the effects of an array. This is why Array Masters go to such lengths to obscure their work. If you know how to 'read' an array, you can learn what it does."

She held the MUDs next to each other, and they once more clicked into place.

"But like words on a page, once the ink is dry, they're set. You can't easily change an array without knowing what you're doing, or the results could be devastating. At best, you could ruin the array. At worst, you could cause a catastrophic feedback loop resulting in a massive explosion —"

Alpha whistled off to the side, trying to look innocent.

"—or even cause unintended and totally unpredictable side effects. Only true masters, or those rare gifted geniuses, can ever hope to truly 'crack' an array and produce a stable result."

Antchaser nodded, following along so far. Still, he felt the need to ask.

"So what you're saying is these tokens can be mixed and matched to produce stable arrays? Like someone cutting words out of a scroll and gluing them onto a new one?"

Dr. Maria snapped her fingers and pointed at Antchaser. "That's exactly it, my boy! Good analogy. Yes, these MUDs are similar in concept to what you describe. However, instead of gluing them to another scroll, you're creating an entirely new scroll out of pieces of others. It might not look pretty, but for the purposes of giving instructions, they work. They work when everything we know about arrays says they shouldn't."

Boarslayer folded her arms and frowned. "Why not?" she asked. "It seems like a smart idea to me. I'm surprised no one's ever tried it before."

Dr. Maria shook her head. "Oh, they have," she responded. "The issue lies with the third problem with arrays. Resources. Arrays are expensive. They need to be. After all, they don't have a will to direct them like our internal Spirit Energy does. The energy must be guided and directed in the right way. Array Master accomplishes this through various materials and resources, each acting as a sign and guidepost for Spirit Energy so that it can flow properly. For simple arrays, this is as simple as using a homogeneous medium, such as [Spirit Iron], to channel the energy. For more complex arrays, things become… tricky."

Dr. Maria pulled a ring from her finger and held it up for them to see. At first glance, it seemed simple: little more than three intertwining bands of gold, silver, and coppery-red metal. If one looked close enough, however, they could see dozens of tiny seals engraved along its length, hopping between the bands at set points but otherwise not touching.

"Not all materials get along well with each other, nor do all materials like every seal. Suppose the materials used to make an array aren't comparable with the array or other materials. In that case, issues can occur, from decreased efficiency to dangerous reactions. What's more, the more 'accepting' a material is, typically the rarer and more expensive it becomes," she finished.

Alpha's mind wandered to some of his more recent experiments and their disastrous results. Could that be the reason why he'd hit such a major roadblock until now?

Antchaser sighed. "So you typically can't mix arrays like this, because the seals that make up those arrays might not agree with everything else. That can cause it to break at best and become a dangerous mess at worst," he asked.

Dr. Maira nodded. "Correct. Array work is all about making sure all the parts, be they seals, materials, or energy, all work together in a carefully orchestrated dance. Disrupt one part, and it all goes haywire."

Boarslayer frowned. "Hold up, that doesn't make any sense. You already say that arrays mimic what we Cultivators already do internally. Or maybe the other way around? Not sure, but that's beside the point! What I'm saying is that if the various materials are there to make sure everything 'plays nice' together, then how do techniques work? After all, I'm just 'me.' Why don't I explode?"

Dr. Maira smiled from ear to ear. "Great question! And the answer is simple. You don't explode, despite not being made up of rare material, because — as you put it — you are 'you.' Remember, the reason the materials are used in the way they are is to mimic a guiding will. You don't need to do that because you are the guiding will."

Antchaser finished the thought. "So Cultivators rarely need expensive material because they're already able to guide the Spirit Energy into the correct patterns themselves?"

"Correct!" Dr. Maria said.

Antchaser narrowed his eyes and stared at the two small tokens in the doctor's hands.

"But wouldn't that mean…" he said, his eyes suddenly growing wide.

"That's right! These MUD… they're alive!" Dr. Maria whispered, her eyes sparkling as she giggled like a schoolgirl.

"Well, kind of. But also, not really. Allow me to explain," came Alpha's response.

As one, Dr. Maria, Antchaser, and Boarslayer turned to look at him.

 

[Osamaru]

For those who might have missed it, "We Lease the Kraken!" is currently out on the Patreon! We're currently 10 chapters deep, 4 of which are at the lowest tier, with 2 more chapters each week on Mondays and Thursdays! Its still going to be awhile before it gets released to the public, so now's the perfect time to help shape the direction of the story, or just show your support! Go take a look if you have time!
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B2 - Lesson 30: "Luxury Condos by Alpha! Reserve Yours Today!"
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"What do you mean 'sort of?' It's alive, or it's not. How can it be in between?" Boarslayer said with a frown. It should be obvious that something couldn't be both alive and not at the same time.

Dr. Maria agreed. Even the undead were not truly alive. They were corpses animated by a living will. They were extremely obvious once you knew what to look for. "Mr. Alpha, would you kindly explain? As a medical professional, I have honed a particular set of skills over my long years, and everything tells me these tokens are indeed living." The doctor held up one of the tokens to her eye and peered at it intently, as if it would expose its secrets if she stared long enough.

"Gladly!" Alpha answered.

At his words, a mechanical arm lowered from the ceiling and connected to the machine near the tank. With a gurgling sound, some of the strange bronze fluid quickly filled a small container at the end of the arm. The Alphantonso V, controlled by Alpha, then walked toward the machine and lifted the filled container up with several nanite tendrils.

Alpha carried the container to the three and held it up. "What I mean is simple. The MUDs aren't alive. But what they're made of is."

Antchaser narrowed his eyes. "Isn't that the same thing, though?" he asked, confused.

"Not in this case!" was Alpha's response. "Here, let me show you." At his words, a pillar of liquid metal flowed up from the ground between them and formed a solid table. Alpha then placed the container of bronze liquid on the table's surface.

Antchaser stared at it, unsure what exactly the substance was. For all intents and purposes, it looked and moved like slightly metallic mud. His rather sensitive nose could even detect a deep, earthy, if a bit sweet, scent — like perfectly aged compost.

"Is it supposed to be doing something?" he asked.

"Not in a deactivated state like this. Buuuut if we do this…" one of the ants' tendrils split into several smaller ones, and the blob of 'mud' cut into several smaller pieces, pushing them away from each other.

For a moment, nothing happened. Until each of the blobs began to drift toward each other, thin lines of bronze 'mud' extending from each individual blob until they met in the middle. In only a few seconds, the cut-up pieces had recombined into a greater whole.

Dr. Maira slammed her palms onto the table and leaned down, staring at the — now still — puddle of mud. Her eyes flickered back, and a wide grin split her face. "It's a slime!… Hmmm, no, no, not a slime. Slimes can't heal like that. Fascinating."

"What's a slime?" Boarslayer asked.

Without taking her eyes off the blobs, the doctor responded, "They're a type of macroscopic amoeba common in the Western Marches. They feed off decaying matter and tiny insects and grow no bigger than your fist. They're perfectly harmless, though they're somewhat of a pest in the area. The thing to remember is that they're single-celled organisms. Each individual is essentially a fluid-filled sack with selective permeability. They can't be split or combined like… whatever this is."

"But wait! They're more!" Alpha said. A slot on the table slid open, and a small beast core rose from the opening. The 'mud' glob quivered, then slowly enveloped the beast core with the same reaching motion as before.

Dr. Maira stared, dumbfounded. "I… think I understand," she whispered. The doctor then took the MUD token in both hands and twisted, frowning when the motion accomplished nothing. She tried again, putting more force behind it as she visibly strained until finally, with a crisp snap, the token broke into two halves.

She grinned at the broken MUD and gingerly placed them on the table next to the blob of metallic 'mud.' After a moment, the token halves shook slightly, and a small amount of the same metallic 'mud' flowed out of them, joining the greater whole. Soon, all that was left was an indistinguishably larger pile of mud and two chalk-white token halves.

Dr. Maira's grin grew wider, and she laughed. "I see! I see! So that's how you did it. It all makes sense now."

Boarslayer threw her arms into the air. "Well, I'm glad one of us gets it, because I'm still totally lost!" she complained.

Antchaser nodded and frowned. The puzzle was slowly taking shape, but he realized he was still lacking crucial details.

"Here! Let me show you!" Thankfully, Alpha was more than happy to fill in the gaps.

The table's surface flashed to life, revealing itself as a screen. The image displayed was the blob of metallic mud. Suddenly, the image zoomed in until it was filled with the swirling bronze liquid. Then it zoomed in repeatedly until the image of the blob was replaced… seeds? No, not seeds. Antchaser could see the millions, perhaps billions, of tiny metallic, crystal-flecked, apple seed-shaped objects moving around inside the mud. Occasionally, a tiny wiggling amoeba-like creature would extend itself out of the shell to grab a piece of debris and pull it in.

Alpha gestured to the screen. "May I introduce Bolivina draconis," he said. "As far as my tests can confirm, they're a type of Foraminifera, a shell-bearing relative of the amoeba. As for what makes them so special? Common Foraminifera build their shells out of a variety of things. Mostly sand and organic materials. Bolivina draconis, on the other hand, takes a very different approach. Their shells are composed of equal parts crystalized Spirit Energy, and —"

"Dragon scale!" Dr. Maria cut him off.

Alpha laughed. "Correct, for the most part. I'd hesitate to call it 'dragon scale' as it's mostly crushed, microscopic debris. But yes, the large part of the organic materials Bolivina draconis uses for its shell seems to come from what the Mud Drake's naturally sheds as it moves about."

Dr. Maria laughed. "It all makes sense now. Tiny Spirit Stones, finer than dust. Draconic sheddings, which are one of the most universal array materials. And finally, tiny lifeforms lending a living will. It all combines to make the perfect recipe for a living array."

"But do these… things even have a will?" Antchaser asked as he stared at the screen.

Dr. Maria tilted her hand back and forth. "We say 'living will,' but what that truly means is a matter of philosophical debate. Some think it is the ability to think or the purposeful manipulation of Spirit Energy. Others believe it to be nothing more than an organism's 'desire' being reflected by the Spirit Energy. After all, plants and other 'non-thinking' entities are also said to have 'living wills.' The most widely accepted theory, and the one I hold to, is that it is the innate nature of a material to attract and be attracted by Spirit Energy. And as we already saw, these… Bolivina draconis fall handily into that category."

"How does the MUD token work in all of this, though?" Antchaser asked.

"Simple! At its core, the MUD is a luxury resort stuffed with all the commodities any up-and-coming Foraminifera could ever want!" Alpha explained, throwing his tendrils into the air.

The three others in the room stared at Alpha in silence.

Alpha coughed, "Right, as I was saying…" The image displayed on the table switched to the white shell of the MUD. When the image zoomed in, it revealed a complex labyrinth of crystalline pillars and threads. "The shell of the MUD is comprised of titanium glass, creating a perfect environment for the Bolivina draconis to thrive."

"Specialized workers also ensure the Foraminifera stay safe and the MUD clean." The image swirled, and suddenly the MUD was filled with thousands of Bolivina draconis, happily swimming along. Suddenly, a large black sphere — ten times the size of the shelled amoeba — floated into view. A black tendril extended out of the sphere and pulled a Bolivina draconis out from where it had wedged itself between two pillars.

"Finally, when Spirit Energy flows through the array lines, tiny pores on the surface, too small for the Bolivina draconis to escape, allow them to interact with the outside world." Again, the image shifted, showing the surface of the MUD, where thousands of tiny tendrils of Bolivina draconis flailed in the air along the deep groves of the array.

"And there you have it. That's the MUD in a nutshell." Alpha finished as the table went blank.

Boarslayer, Antchaser, and Dr. Maria stared at Alpha in silence. Finally, Dr. Maira laughed and shook her head. "I can't believe it. Do you know what you've done here? You've essentially made a mico-Sect Array. Except the 'disciples' in this instance are tiny microorganisms. It makes far more sense now why they can connect and communicate like they do. It's not much different from how the various arrays in a sect compound do so. If I hadn't seen it for myself, I would have never thought something like this was possible."

Boarslayer folded her arms and frowned. "That's why you said we need to change the planes for the Mud Drake, too, isn't it? If we kill it now, without a source of dragon materials, we also lose the Bolivina draconis."

Alpha nodded. "Correct. I'm sure I could eventually find a substitute, but when is a total unknown at the moment."

Antchaser started pacing. "At the same time, we can't just leave the Mud Drake alone, either. Eventually, it will become a problem we can no longer ignore, more so if it starts to wander away from the river for some reason."

"Whatever we decide to do, I suggest we think of it fast," Alpha responded.

Antchaser paused and raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

The table flickered once more, this time showing a sunlit sky and rocky mountains. Near the peak of one mountain, a group of individuals stood around a gapping cavern entrance.

As the image zoomed in, Alpha answered. "Because it seems our guests are early."

 

[Osamaru]

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B2: GRIM Adventures - 12
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​

"Jack…" Ms. Jill called from the front of their group.

Jack — he had already scolded Grim for calling him 'Mr'… — thumbed through the thick journal, totally obvious to the thick crowd around them.

Well, it would have been thick… if most people weren't pressed to the sides of the market road. Grim wasn't sure if people in Ashdale were just really polite to strangers… or if the massive wolf-like creature strutting down the middle of the road had something to do with it.

"Jack!" Ms. Jill tried again.

"Just a moment… still need to finish this part…" Jack mumbled.

Grim shook her head. Over the weeks she'd spent with the humans, she'd learned Jack had the habit of hyper-fixating on whatever he was doing. Often to his — and other's — detriment. If it wasn't for Grim flying behind the young man, gently nudging them along in the right direction, who knows where — or what — he would have wandered into.

Thankfully, Grim was here, and being helpful! She liked to be helpful…

"JACK!" Ms. Jill said forcefully.

"Jill, will you hold on?! This is imp—oomph!" Jack looked up at Ms. Jill… only to run face-first into Little Red's behind.

Little Red yelped and sat down.

Ms. Jill sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose while Jack flailed underneath Little Red. Grim, for her part, tugged at one of the young man's boots in an attempt to pry him free. Unfortunately, Little Red was heavy, and Grim's Anti-Grav thrusters didn't offer much leverage. Suddenly, a vine-like stone tendril pushed itself out of the road and grabbed Jack's free leg. Then, with a tug, the tendril pulled him free, too much sputtering and coughing.

The tendril lifted Jack into the air until he was at eye-level with Mr. Gopher, who stood atop Little Red's head. Mr. Gopher narrowed his eyes and chittered angrily at the young man for scaring Little Red before dropping him.

OOF! "What was that for?!" Jack glared at Mr. Gopher, only for Ms. Jill to smack him upside the head with the journal he'd been reading.

"Stop goofing around, and pay attention." Ms. Jill said. "We're almost at the Adventurers' Guild."

She turned and pointed to a large wood and stone building that felt oddly out of place next to the otherwise rustic building surrounding them. Like someone had plotted down an old-timey fortress in the middle of a quaint mountain town. Despite its 'out-of-placeness,' people and carts streamed in and out of the thick metal gates at a regular pace. Several groups of heavily armored figures spoke to each group — Adventurer and civilian — who passed through.

Jack blinked and stood, dusting his robes off. "Oh? Are we here already? It feels like we barely left!" he said.

"It's halfway across the bloody town, you…" Ms. Jill sighed and shook her head. "Regardless, I need you to pay attention."

Jack laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Ya, ya, I got you… What were we here for again?"

Ms. Jill stared silently at her brother for a moment, then pinched the bridge of her nose again. "We need to sell all the junk we collected on the way here and register… Little Red… with the Guild as a tamed beast before anyone gets any funny ideas. After that, we're searching the archives for any clues to the [Pure Waters] spring. Progenitor Ashdale's journals are a start, but they don't do us much good without reference points."

Jack folded his arms and nodded. "That's fair. Though speaking of registration. What do we do about…" Jack let his words trail off as his eyes flickered to Mr. Gopher.

Ms. Jill glanced up at the creature, who raised a furry brow. "I considered registering him as a tamed beast as well —" a string of furry expletives rained down from above, "—but that would raise uncomfortable questions when the truth comes to light. Alternatively, registering him as an Adventurer will raise more questions than we can answer right now. If I was honest, I was hoping to just kind of… wing it and hope no one noticed. After all, who would suspect anything of a Root Gopher?"

Jack grinned from ear to ear and patted Ms. Jill on the shoulder. "Don't worry, sis! I've got an idea!"

Ms. Jill only narrowed her eyes and frowned at her older brother.

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The young man stood before the Guild Officer and wept bitter tears. The small furry bundle cradled in his arms moaned dramatically. Jack wiped away a tear and looked up.

"And that's our story, good sir. Now we travel north, on rumors of a Great Mage who might be able to reverse the spell living somewhere in the mountains!"

The Guild Officer started down, one brow twitching as he looked between Jack and Mr. Gopher. He'd stopped recording about halfway through the rather outlandish tale and was frankly stumped at how to respond now. Instead, he turned to his partner, an older Mage carrying a large staff beside him.

The Mage in question was shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose.

Thunk! Thunk!

The old Mage whacked both the young man and the gopher on the head with his staff.

"Owe!"

Angry gopher noises.

"This is why I keep telling you young fools to stay away from polymorph! I don't care that the spell formation can technically be cast as low as [Second Circle]! Casting it isn't the hard part; reversing it is!"

Jack rubbed his head and looked away.

The Mage pointed his staff at Mr. Gopher. "And you! Stop with the drama. You'll get no sympathy from me if you agreed to this tomfoolery!"

Mr. Gopher sat up straight, folded his arms, and tsked.

The other Guild Officer sighed and looked between his partner and the two before him. "Riiiiight, either way, your friend will have to re-registered with the Guild. Polymorph messes with a person's soul signature something fierce, I hear. Better safe than sorry. As for your… other friend —" the officer looked up at Little Red, who was happily panting to one side. "—bring them to the kennels, and the Beastmaster will do an overview. Be aware that Lykos' don't have a good reputation around these parts, regardless. The Guild will handle any disputes you bring to it, but it can't stop someone from attacking while you're in the wild."

Jack sniffed, nodded, and spoke, "We understand. Hopefully, we won't be in the area long enough for it to be an issue, but we wanted to be careful, nonetheless."

The Guild Officer sighed once more and tore a sheet of paper out of the notepad. "Bring this to the clerk. Now get going; you're holding up the line."

Jack grabbed the sheet and then walked away as the rest of the group followed behind.

Jill fell into step beside Jack and whispered. "… I can't believe that worked."

Jack grinned and high-fived Mr. Gopher. "Ah, but it did! Problem solved. Don't you love me?"

Jill narrowed her eyes and frowned at Jack. "Jack… how did you know polymorph worked that way?"

Jack's eyes snapped forward as he laughed nervously. "D-don't we need to get to the clerk before the line gets too long? We've got quite a bit to offload! Don't want to make them wait!" He then quickened his pace and rushed ahead.

Jill furrowed her brow and walked faster to chase after him.

"Jack! Don't you change the subject! Get back here right now!"

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"Your total comes to... 15 high-grade spirit stones, 150 mid-grade spirit stones, and 400 Marks," the clerk said, placing a small chest and a steel card on the counter.

Jill's eyes bulged at the numbers. That was an insane amount for an individual. A typical mission for someone of her and Jack's rank would run between five and ten mid-grade spirit stones. Such missions could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, depending on what they were doing. At 20 mid-grade spirit stones to 1 high-grade stone, it was not exaggerating to say this was their most profitable trip by far.

Even the Marks, the small gold coins Halirosa used as the base of their mortal currency, were no small amount. A typical mortal family could live comfortably on 50 Marks a year — even less outside Halirosa proper. Even a single low-grade spirit stone could run as much as 25 Marks on the open market.

Jill audibly swallowed, then pushed the box and card back across the table. "Please place all but 5 mid-grade stones and 200 Marks on the Rubyseed Clan account."

While keeping such wealth for herself was tempting, the clan needed them far more than she did currently. It wasn't like she could make much use of the spirit stones in her current state, anyway. Jack could technically use the spirit stones, but Mages didn't cultivate with them in the same way, instead using of them in alchemy and rituals.

Besides, it wasn't like they couldn't do this again. Jill side-eyed Grim with a frown.

There was something to say about not carrying around too much wealth at any one point in time, either. Ever since they'd started pulling things out of the drone's cargo, Jill hadn't liked the look some of the Adventurers in the main hall were giving them.

I knew Grim's storage was vast… but I'd lost count of how much we'd actually stuffed in there…. On any other trip, we would have had to leave 90% of what we came across, but ever since we met her, I don't think we've passed up a single resource. I should have asked for a private review…

There was no point in complaining about 'should haves,' however. What's done is done. If any of the other Adventurers got any smart ideas, she'd like to see how they dealt with Little Red and Mr. Gopher.

Speaking of which, they still had to get both registered. Mr. Gopher was easy enough — soul signature scans only took some blood — but Little Red would take an appointment with the Beastmaster. That could take days… if they didn't already have a letter from Baron Ashdale, that was.

As Jack and Jill stepped out of the line and walked toward the counter for new Adventurer registrations, someone approached them.

"My, my, what an… interesting artifact you have there. I have to say, I've never seen one quite like it," a silky smooth, feminine, if somewhat deep voice called out from behind them with a light drawl that was rare to hear this far north.

Jill froze and slowly turned around, trying to maintain a friendly smile. However, that quickly faltered as her eyes went wide when she got a good look at the speaker.

A Dragonkin.

The young with charcoal-grey colored scales leaned to one side, her elegantly arrayed robes highlighting a curvy figure that would have made Jill jealous if not for the woman's muzzle filled with razor-sharp teeth and her lizard-like golden eyes. As their eyes met, Jill felt her breath catch. The woman only smiled, took a drag of her long pipe, and then puffed out a small ring of smoke.

Despite their name, the Dragonkin weren't actually related to dragons. In fact, they weren't even Awakened Beast, as far as anyone could tell. Or if they were, no one knew who their Progenitor was, or where they came from. They were closer to the Dwarves or other such humanoid races, though their isolationist tendencies made them a mystery to much of the world. It was rare to find the outside of their scattered conclaves. Rarer still to find them so far north.

Jill had never met a Dragonkin before, despite rumors of a few in Halirosa, and she'd never understood why people said they were so different. Here, in this moment, she felt that was no longer the case. Where clashing with the bloodline of another Awakened Beast felt like two equals fighting for dominance, staring into this woman's eyes felt like looking into the eyes of a predator.

Like Jill's every movement was being observed in the tiniest detail, just waiting for her to slip up so the woman could strike.

Part of Jill wondered if the Dragonkin were named such not for their resemblance to the powerful beings, but because of those eyes…

"Oh, come now, dear, don't give me that look," the mysterious woman said. "I'm not here to steal it from you, I promise. My curiosity is purely academic. You see, I'm a bit of an Artificer myself, who specializes in constructs. I've never seen one quite like yours, however."

Jill shook her head and frowned, but before she could speak, Grim rushed forward.

"HI! My Name's Grim! What's yours?!" The drone stuck out one of its chubby arms.

The Dragonkin's eyes went wide before she smiled and reached out a hand, shaking the drone's own.

"My, my, you are special, aren't you, Ms. Grim? It's very nice to meet you. Your creator must have been someone equally as fascinating," the woman said in that same silky voice as her eyes wandered all over Grim.

"Thanks!" came Grim's response. "Mr. Alpha made me to fight a giant Space Chicken!"

The woman paused and tilted her head. "A… space… chicken? I… see. I must say, I would love to see what makes you tick. It feels like it could be… enlightening."

Grim slowly backed away and scratched her face plate. "Ah, I'm sorry, but my construction is proprietary technology limited to Federation military use only. If you wish to purchase the blueprints for a standard-issue civilian model rated for Vidaasi use, you can do so at any—Murph! "

Jill appeared next to Grim and covered her speakers.

"Hahaha, I'm sorry, but our clan Artificer would tan my hide if he found out we were letting others poke around his work. Again, I apologize," she said, pushing the drone back as she nervously laughed.

The Dragonkin grinned, sending a shiver down Jill's spine. "No need to apologize. I understand. An Artificer's secrets are their life, after all. Still, are you free? I would love to speak to… Ms. Grim… about her creator more."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible, Mrs. Greyscale." a third voice cut in. An old, grey-muzzled Ashdale woman rounded the corner. Though her back was slightly hunched, and she walked with a cane, her strides were steady and powerful, with the air of a seasoned warrior.

The Dragonkin's eyes went wide, and she bowed slightly. "Guildmaster! I wasn't aware you had plans with our new arrivals. I apologize."

The older woman waved the Dragonkin off and shook her head. "No need. I wasn't aware I would either until a few moments ago." The Guildmaster then turned and smiled at Jill. "Hello dear, I just got a request from my grandson to look after you a lot while you're here. I hope you don't mind the company of an old woman."

Jill only stared at the old woman in shock for a moment. Grandson? Was this really Baron Ashdale's grandmother? Was she really Ashdale Valley's Guildmaster? The man was no spring chicken himself; how old did the woman in front of Jill have to be? How powerful?!

As if reading the thoughts playing through Jill's mind, the Guildmaster grinned, then laughed, patting Jill on her back. "Come, come, my dear. I'm sure that fool of a grandson of mine nearly bored you to death with all his politicking and… paperwork —" the old woman spit the word out like it was rotting, "—let me show you what real Ashdale hospitality is like."

She then gently — but firmly — turned Jill away.

"Ah! Wait!" The Dragonkin reached out, only for the Guildmaster to give the woman a glaring eye that drew a bead of sweat from the younger woman's scales.

The Dragonkin stepped back but flicked her wrist, producing a high-quality metal card. "Please, pass my card on to your… clan Artificer when you can. I would love to meet someone who can produce such… fine work."

Jill stared down at the card, unsure of what to do. The Guildmaster spoke up the next moment. "You should take her up on her offer. While Mrs. Greyscale here is still young, her work is quite impressive. At the very least, if your artifact ever becomes damaged, it would be good to have someone like her in your pocket, so far from home."

Jill paused, then nodded, taking the offered card. What harm could it do? Besides, having an 'in' with a Dragonkin Artificer could turn out to be a major boon. After all, they were often said to be the leaders in the field.

The Dragonkin smiled, gave Grim one last wave — who enthusiastically returned it — and turned away.

The Guildmaster then began walking in the opposite direction. Jill gave the Dragonkin one final look, then followed after the Guildmaster.

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The Dragonkin sank into her chair with a sigh.

"Well, that was a bust… you think the Guildmaster knows something?"

Her partner, another Dragonkin, a male with deep blue scales and silver armor, took a swing of his mug and shrugged. "Doubtful. Who would make the connection but us?"

The grey-scaled Dragonkin nodded. "That's true. At the very least, this confirms reports from the Radiant Sea."

The blue-scaled Dragonkin turned and raised a brow. "You don't think it's a coincidence? It could be a remnant. It wouldn't be the first time someone's dug something up. Especially this far north."

Greyscale shook her head. "No… Not this time. There's no way anyone here could have gotten something like that functional. I doubt even I could. No. It's far too… new."

Bluescale let out a laugh. "Well, bloody hell. I guess that confirms it, then… They're really here. Wait till the higher-ups learn. It's going to be a shit show, however you toss it. What do we do?"

Greyscale sighed. "We do the same thing we've always done…"

She turned toward the direction the group had gone.

"Adapt."

 

[Osamaru]

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B2 - Lesson 31: "Wait, I Thought We Went This Way Already?"
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"Report," Robert ordered from atop the boulder he sat on.

Maggy shook her head. "Garrelt said it's definitely the opening from the report. Some of the others have also found signs of campsites in the area. It's safe to say those bastards beat us here. By the look of things, not by any short amount of time, either."

Robert tsked. "That's just great. I keep telling the Guild we need to strengthen the security of our information network, but it seems something always slips through." He sighed and looked toward the horizon.

Big Bert, standing next to Maggy, shrugged. "No point in worrying about it now," the giant of a man said in his deep voice. "Worst-case scenario, they've beaten us to one or two unique treasures. Or maybe we got lucky, and something ate them for us!" Bert laughed loudly, shaking Maggy's bones this close to him.

Robert smirked. "Now, Bert, don't go jinxing us. If something did get to them, we're the ones that would have to rescue any survivors. They might be criminals, but it is any good adventurer's duty to help those in need," he said.

Maggy shook her head, though she smiled slightly. She'd not go so far as calling them 'criminals.' After all, it wasn't technically legal to explore the new cave. Its existence hadn't been made public, and the Guild had yet to officially claim it. That said, the… timing of this other group was rather suspect, to say the least. Though she always had enjoyed Robert's rather upbeat views on how an Adventurer should operate.

Even if, in her own experience, most Adventurers weren't nearly as… benevolent as Robert wished they would be. Maggy preferred to think of herself as an explorer and scholar first.

"Speaking of Garrelt," Robert asked, "where is he?"

Bert sighed and shook his head. "You know him. Already dove in headfirst into the cavern without any backup. Said he was going to scout ahead."

"Reckless is what it is! This is an entirely new cave system! Who knows what is down there?" Maggy complained.

Robert, on the other hand, grinned. "Maybe, but if there was one man I would trust to return safely, it would be Garrelt."

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Sniff sniff.

Garrelt pushed himself into a kneeling position and frowned. He'd been scouting ahead of the expeditionary team for three days now. Mostly, these new tunnels had been about what he was expecting. A few signs of beast inhabitation, some minor mineral wealth, and lots of 'nothing of real interest.'

If he was honest, that's how most of these expeditions turned out. Despite how rich the Crimson Mountains were, it wasn't like treasures were popping out of every crack and crevice. If such places ever existed, they'd been picked clean millennia ago. Now, these days, the real treasures were bought with blood and sweat.

Mostly blood.

When a new tunnel system like this popped up, its secrets were more often than not of a more… immaterial kind. Sometimes, they could become routes or highways that could cut days, sometimes weeks, of travel through more dangerous regions. Other times, they would contain new plant or mushroom species that — while not being much use to a Cultivator — might have interesting alchemical properties.

Sometimes they were just empty holes in the ground, leading nowhere and containing nothing of real importance.

With one last glance down the left tunnel, he shook his head and pulled out a small notebook.

Three sets of tracks lead into the left tunnel. The first set is several weeks older than the latter two. Contains strong traces of ammonia and ash. Potentially the lair of a hibernating Ashsloth. The latter two are likely scouts sent by the proceeding party. The lack of returning tracks suggests an unfavorable encounter. Ashsloth hibernation can last for several years, so it is unlikely to pose any immediate danger. Recommend sending an extermination party at a later date.

Garrelt then closed the journal and reached into his pack. He pulled out a small wooden slate with a red beast skull painted on one side. With a pulse of Spirit Energy, the slate sunk into the left tunnel's stone wall. Adventurers often carried such Slates, and it was considered common courtesy to mark the lairs of dangerous creatures when found.

Not that it was always done, though. After all, dangerous often meant valuable as well.

Garrelt turned and made his way down the right tunnel where most of the previous party's tracks had turned. He had to hurry and scout out as much as possible before his team caught up to him. The expedition party had likely already made their way into the tunnels and would move quickly, thanks to the signs he'd been leaving behind him.

Once they caught up, Robert would likely want him to slow down and stay closer to the team. Annoying, but standard procedure. The man was nothing if not a stickler for the rules.

An hour later, Garrelt turned a corner and froze, his eyes narrowing. A long tunnel with no branching paths stretched out in front of him. At first glance, it looked like any other of the numerous tunnels he'd explored so far — until one noticed the various signs of battle.

A scorch mark here. A broken piece of wall there. Dried, faded blood splatters that could have been mistaken for just another mineral color on the wall.

Garrelt traced a hand along a long gash in the wall opposite the bend. It was smooth and deep, with none of the mineralization that would suggest it was just a natural crack. Garrelt closed his lantern and pulled out a crystal stick from his pack, twisting it. Instantly, it started glowing with a deep violet color. Hidden patches of color bloomed to life where the light touched.

He ran the crystal along the gash in the wall and paused when the violet light reflected off something. Garrelt's finger wiggled and squirmed bonelessly as he poked it into the gash. After a moment, he extracted a tiny piece of work steel, no bigger than a splinter.

Metal… nonorganic… So, not a beast. Infighting? No… not that either… strange. The stone is unusually hard for this far up as well. Enough to chip a low-quality blade, at least.

Garrelt twisted the crystal in the opposite direction, and the violet light died. Then he opened his lantern back up and stared down the tunnel.

Now… how to —

"Gaaaarrelllllllltttt!!!" a youthful voice echoed up from the tunnel he'd just come through. Garrelt paused and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Well, it was fun while it lasted. Robert must have been pushing them harder than he thought if they'd already caught up to him. Garrelt turned just in time to see Maggy coming around the bend. The girl looked ragged, her hair disheveled and her runed robe covered in thick white webs. On spotting Garrelt, she paused, her bloodshot eyes locking onto him. Despite having to lean up against the wall and panting, she raised her wooden staff and pointed it at him.

The dust in the tunnel swirled as a ball of air formed at the staff's tip and shot toward him.

Garrelt stepped back and easily dodged the air ball, then stared at Maggy with a raised brow.

She huffed and pointed at him. "You bastard! You could have told us about the spiders!"

As the airball slammed against the wall behind him, a gust of wind rushed down the tunnel. The gust pushed several objects previously hidden in shadow into the light: a broken spear, a few shattered rocks with something attached to them, and... bones.

Garrelt frowned and turned to stare down the battle-scarred tunnel, his eyes narrowing. As he did, he answered Maggy. "I did."

He'd left signs at every potential issue on the way here.

Maggy stomped her feet. "You could have mentioned they were the size of melons!"

Garrelt sighed. "What did you think 'Titanus' means? Did you not read the dossier I made for the trip before we left?"

"What? That brick you gave Robert?! Bert could use that thing as a pillow! Who in their right mind would have the time to read it all?!" she nearly screamed.

Garrelt only smirked. "You had a month."

Maggy growled and raised her staff over her head. She might not have the energy to cast another spell, but she could sure as hell brain him with it!

Before she could take a step forward, though, a massive hand lifted her from the ground.

As Bert held the young woman in the air, her staff swinging in time with her furious half-words, Robert appeared and approached Garrelt. Smiling as always, Robert clasped Garrelt's hand and laughed. "Don't mind her, Garrelt. One of the creatures may have gotten down her robe at one point, so she's a bit on edge. You did well getting us this far. I'm glad we could have you with us."

Garrelt waved it off and stared back down the tunnels. Robert followed his gaze and frowned. "If we caught you here, I assume this matter isn't as simple as the others. What are we looking at?" he asked.

Garrelt paused. "Something that shouldn't be here…" came the response.

Robert hummed to himself. "I see… Do you have a plan?"

Garrelt smirked, then stared up at the dangling Maggy. "Possibly."

—————————————————————

Antchaser nudged the coals of the small fire with a stick. Occasionally, he would nervously glance toward the large, still lake near the back of the cave.

"I don't like this plan…" Antchaser said, more to himself than anyone.

Boarslayer, leaning against a stone wall, laughed. "Stop being a baby. Dr. Maria said these tunnels should be pretty safe, at least up to this point."

Antchaser glared at the large goblin. "You only say that because you've never been to the surface before. These connecting tunnels can attract all sorts of things! There's a reason we normally only use the well-traveled routes despite the fees and taxes the clans impose!"

Boarslayer shrugged. "Well, that's why I'm here." She picked up a stone and tossed it. It flew through the air and skipped across the surface of the lake. Each skip was accompanied by a chaotic flurry of splashing as something under the surface reacted to the stone's passing.

Antchaser shivered and shook his head. "We didn't even know these tunnels were here! No one's explored this area much, as it's too far into the Demon Ant's territory. Who knows what's lurking in here?"

Boarslayer rolled her eyes and shifted position. "Who cares? It's not like we're going to explore right now, anyway. All we've got to do is wait for our 'guests' and head back."

Antchaser sighed. "That's true. You remember the plan, right?"

Boarslayer glared at him. "Yes, mother. I read the script. Stop asking. I know what to do."

Antchaser shook his head and stared at the entrance the Adventurers were supposed to come from. Here's hoping everything went according to plan.

 

[Osamaru]

[For SV and Spacebattle Readers, the polls can be found on Scribblehub and RoyalRoad respectively. Alternately, cast your votes in the comments below!]
Hi everyone! Before you start reading, a quick message.

As I've mentioned a few times already, I currently am writing "We Lease the Kraken!" as a Patreon-Exclusive story.

As for why I'm doing this, a few reasons;

Partly to gather feedback on the story as it progresses, before I DO FINALLY release it to the public on these sites for people to start reading.

(The current plan is to have it ready and polished for the public by chapter 40-50).

But also partly to drum up support for the Patreon and help get people interested (this is my job, after all).

THAT SAID, while I love my subscribers and appreciate everyone whose been able to support my writing, both past and present, I'll freely admit they aren't the most... interactive bunch. Now that's understandable. I know I don't always comment on the Patreon stories I sub to personally either.

But it has put me in a bit of a pickle where I'm 13 chapters into the story and not really sure if people are even enjoying it or not.

With that in mind and on someone's suggestion, I did a recent Patreon poll asking if it readers thought it would be a good idea to push ALL of "We Lease the Kraken" into the lowest tier, to help make it more accessible.

What would that mean? It would mean that the $2.50 tier would have access to not only 3 chapters ahead of Alpha Strike, but ALL 13 (and counting) chapters of We Lease the Kraken.

That poll DID get some interaction... but the end result was a dead even tie... HAHAHAHA!

So, now, I'm turning to you, the Public readers to act as the tiebreaker in this instance.

Should dump all the chapters of We Lease The Kraken into the lowest tier ($2.50), with new chapters posted twice weekly there as well?

————————————————————————
B2 - Lesson 32: "There's No Obstacle That Can't Be Solved With Explosions."
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"Are you sure this is a good idea?! I don't like this plan!" Maggy squeaked as she pressed the melon-sized blue-furred hamster creature closer to her chest.

"It will be fine," retorted Garrelt. "Besides, a summoned creature can't really 'die' anyway."

"That's beside the point!" Maggy yelled, pointing at their scout. "It's the trauma, I tell you!"

Robert, who had been standing some ways back, turned to the larger Bert and whispered,

"I thought summons were mana constructs? Can they even have trauma?"

Bert only shrugged.

As the four made up the 'core' of their little expedition force, it had fallen to them to solve their little roadblock problem. The rest of the team comprised a mix of researchers, scouts, and experts in various fields, as well as the combat-focused Adventurers serving as their guards. More specialized teams would likely follow in their wake in the weeks or months to come, but as the vanguard, it was their duty to explore and catalog as much as possible.

That also meant being the first to tackle any of the dangers or obstacles that might block them.

Not that Garrelt had told them what was blocking their path yet. He said he wanted it to be a 'surprise.'

Maggy didn't like surprises…

"Come on, Maggy, all you've got to do is send your summons down the tunnel. Easy as pie," Garrelt assured with his slightly gravelly voice carrying the hint of a friendly smile.

Maggy wasn't buying it. She narrowed her eyes and glared at the man. "And then what?…"

Garrelt's grin stretched from ear to ear, though he said nothing. Maggy's eyes narrowed further, and she clutched her summons closer.

Robert sighed and stepped forward, placing a gauntleted hand on the young woman's shoulder. "Maggy, I see your concern, but I have to agree with Garrelt's assessment on this one. Better to send a replaceable summons into a dangerous, unknown situation than risk one of our own. Please understand." He then flashed her a bright smile, as if to reassure her.

Maggy frowned, then stretched out her arms and stared at the blue hamster-like summoned creature. It stared back at her with large, round, black eyes and tilted its head at the pouting woman. Maggy's teacher had always warned her about getting close to the creatures. Given their typical usage and general ethereal nature. Magical scholars weren't even in agreement whether summons were 'real' creatures or just mana given shape by the caster's imagination, let alone if the being summoned was even the same individual each time.

But how could she not get attached?! It was so darn cute! The summons continued to stare back at her, its nose twitching.

Yet, after a moment, Maggy squeezed her eyes shut and, with a sniffle, lowered the creature to the ground. The summons squeaked once, then turned and scampered off deeper into the tunnel.

As the blue summons scurried around the tunnel, the four humans watched with bated breath. It moved from rock pile to rock pile, stopping only to rummage around every so often. Sometimes, it would lift a small bone or a particularly shiny rock from its hiding spot, looking for all the world like a curious hamster searching for food… if said hamster was sky blue and melon-sized.

As a few moments passed with nothing of note happening, Bert spoke up, his rumbling voice slightly in the tight tunnel. "So… is… something supposed to… happen? Or what?"

Garrelt just waved the man's concern away, though his eyes never left the summons. "Just give it a moment… Maggy, direct it toward that rock pile there… Ya, that one, good…"

Maggy groaned slightly as her summons stopped by the aforementioned rock pile and started to shift rocks around.

Her stress had been building over the last couple of minutes as they waited for… whatever Garrelt expected to happen. Something bad was going to happen. She just knew it. She could feel it in her gut, and as her mother always told her, trust your gu—,

"AAAAAAAaaaaaaHHHHHHH!!"

Maggy screamed as something long, thick as her waist, and with far too many legs, shot out from a hole in the tunnel roof and wrapped itself around her summons. In the blink of an eye, the thing pulled the blue hamster into the air, and both vanished back into the hole before the echo of the summon's final squeak! had faded from the tunnel.

"ROBBY! NOOOOOOOO!" Maggy fell to her knee, tears streaming down her face. Her sobs only paused when she noticed the three men staring at her, eyebrows raised. Garrelt grinned and folded his arms. "Robby, huh?"

Maggy's face went bright red, and she turned away from them.

Robert coughed into his hand. "Well! That was… enlightening. I assume you all saw what I did?"

Bert nodded. "The bloody thing was too fast to get a good look, but given its general shape and method of attack, it narrows things down by quite a bit. I would guess Lindworms, maybe Rockbiters, but that's a stretch."

Garrelt nodded. "That's a good guess, though I think—"

"I DON'T CARE WHA' THAT THING WAS! IT'S GONNA PAY!" Maggy yelled, cutting him off, some of her accent slipping through in her anger. She stood and wiped away her tears with the sleeve of her robe. Maggy glared at the hole in the roof, her face red for a different reason this time.

She slowly raised her hand toward the hole… and snapped her fingers.

BOOOOOM!

A muffled explosion rocked the tunnel, causing it to shake violently as stone and rubble fell around them. A moment later, a stream of viscera and gore poured from the hole the creature and her summon had vanished into. Maggy watched the scene with a wide smile, both hands on her hips. The three men behind her grimaced and turned away as the foul stench filled the tunnel.

Maggy humphed, and a magic circle formed in front of her. In less than a second, a melon-sized, blue hamster creature had materialized in its center. As soon as the circle vanished, the creature lept into Maggy's outstretched hands, and she held it close, rubbing her cheek against its soft fur.

Garrelt gestured toward the bloody pile of hard shell and meaty bits, then flicked a finger. As if pulled by an invisible string, one bit of the former creature flew into the air, crossed the tunnel, and landed in his outstretched hand. The other three gathered around and stared down at the relatively undamaged insectoid head with large, grasping mandibles and a large rock glued to its head.

"Huh…" Bert raised an eyebrow at the sight. "A Rockcap? Now, ain't that strange… What's one of them doing this far up? Nasty buggers, them, but I'd not have expected to see them in tunnels like this until at least the Second Strata."

His eyes turned toward the tunnel, and the large man frowned. Despite tremors having abated, several dozen large rocks hanging from the tunnel roof still quivered slightly. "That's quite the infestation too… This complicates things a bit."

Robert clapped his hand to draw their attention, then smiled. "Strange indeed, but nothing we can't handle! Rockcaps can be dangerous if they catch you off guard, but once you know they're there, they're easy enough to deal with."

Bert raised a brow at that. He'd hardly call several dozen late-stage [Bronze Spirit] level spirit beasts 'easy to deal with.' Even a [Golden Spirit] Cultivator could easily be overwhelmed with that kind of number, even if the creature's paralytic venom wouldn't be as effective. Bert shook his head. Sometimes, he was amazed at how unflappable the younger man could be when presented with such obstacles. But then again, maybe that was why the Guild put Robert in charge of things like this in the first place. The Heavens knew the younger man's charisma and impeccable luck were one of the reasons Bert often joined along.

It helped the pay was great.

Garrelt turned and looked down the tunnel as well. "Now, the question is, how do we get through? A colony this big will not be easy to eliminate with our current setup. How about it, Mags? Is… Robby?… good for another round?"

Maggy's eyes went wide, and she clutched her summons closer.

Before she could speak, however, Robert patted her shoulder. "Let's… not do that again, shall we? While I'm sure Maggy is more than capable of clearing this colony out using her summons, I'd rather not bring the tunnel down on us in the process. No, I think —" Robert placed his hand on the shiny sword at his side and drew it, "—we should do this the old-fashioned way. What do you all say?"

Maggy sighed while Garrelt and Bert looked at each other and grinned.

 

[Osamaru]

A few weeks ago I did a poll Asking if readers thought lowering ALL chapters of 'We Lease the Kraken!' into the Adventurer ($2.50) tier was a good idea.

A few people voted... but it ended up a dead tie none the less.

With that in mind, and with the lack of general feedback, I made the call to poll the Public readers this time.

The results there were more Positive leaning, so as a result, from today forward, all 13 chapters of 'We Lease the Kraken!' + all future chapters (Including the one later today), up until the public release, will be available to ALL Adventurer and higher Subscribers.

Once Public release starts, the higher tiers will get bonus chapters up to their level.

If you've not read 'We Lease the Kraken!' yet, go take a look! just click on "Collections" then scroll down and click Adventurer - WLTK

That will open sort out all the chapters for you.

 

[Osamaru]

Sorry about that folks. had some personal stuff come up yesterday and totally crashed afterwards.
————————————————————————
B2 - Lesson 33: "The Goblin Who Called Slime."
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Rumble

Antchaser paused and frowned as he stared down the tunnel. "They're progressing faster than we expected," he murmured to himself.

Boarslayer scoffed but didn't stop her own preparations. "Of course they are. They're proper Adventurers, unlike the amateurs Bosco brought. A few Rockcaps won't stop them for long."

Boarslayer put on a light leather jerkin over her dark grey bodysuit. Such suits had interlocking flexible plates made of an unidentified lightweight material protecting their vitals, and the hunters had started wearing them when not in their full gear. Called 'civilian disaster armor' or CDA by Mr. Alpha, the plates were strong enough to withstand Spirit Energy-infused blades and could be comfortably worn under regular clothes.

Antchaser rolled his eyes. "You act like you would have done better alone."

Boarslayer threw a glob of sticky mud at the smaller goblin, knocking him down. Antchaser sputtered and spat out mud, then stood up, putting on a traveler's vest over his CDA without bothering to clean it off. They needed to make things look convincing, after all.

"Do you really think this will work?" Boarslayer asked.

Antchaser nodded. "It should. Dr. Maria has confirmed the identity of some expeditionary members through the [Wasp] feed. If what she says is true, then we should be dealing with some of the easier ones. As long as we don't give anything obvious away, things will go smoothly."

Boarslayer grunted as she lifted a large glass barrel and threw it into the nearby pond. The barrel sank to the bottom, causing the light in the cavern to flicker and twist in mesmerizing patterns. The pond's surface returned to its smooth, mirrorlike appearance, and everything became still.

She turned back to Antchaser, looking at the mound of quivering mud beside him. "Let's hope so," she muttered. "Hurry up, will you?" She unclipped her twin axes and took her position. She missed her [Megaton], but she couldn't wield that weapon of mass destruction without her heavy armor.

Antchaser waved her off. "Ya, ya. Now, let's get this over with."

—————————————————————

Screeeeeee!

The giant centipede creature fell to the ground, cut in two halves along the length of its body. Its high-pitched screech was nearly drowned out by the sound of combat and the dozen similar cries of pain filling the tunnel. Robert flicked his blade, and the sticky ichor coating it slid off with little resistance, leaving his sword shiny and new, as if it had just been polished.

Around him, half a dozen of the Adventurer bodyguards for the expedition force were fighting their own Rockcaps. The several-meter-long insect spirit beasts weren't powerful individually, despite being each roughly [Bronze Spirit]. Instead, their numbers and their paralytic venom were what often caught the unaware or the careless off guard.

Thankfully, as the Adventurer's Guild vanguard for this expedition, those present were all skilled individuals with a track record of handling themselves well in unexpected and dangerous situations.

Even some of the non-combat personnel were getting in on the action, taking turns using various methods to draw out the Rockcaps from their hiding spot and letting their more martially inclined members finish them. Of course, Robert's three peers — as the core leaders of the expedition — were at the forefront of the battle.

'Galefist' Bert lived up to his moniker, as each swing of his giant fist produced a strong enough blast of wind to flutter Robert's clothes, even from the other side of the tunnel, and splatter any Rockcap across the far wall. The Adventurers had quickly learned to give the man his space, both to avoid being knocked over by the wind and to avoid being splattered with gore.

Maggy stood to one end, laughing maniacally as hundreds of tiny pinpricks of light swarmed around her like angry fireflies. Occasionally, a few would shoot away and bore through anything they touched, Rockcap or stone, leaving glowing holes that radiated heat. As the lead scholar for the expedition, Maggy was technically a non-combatant, but it seemed Garrelt's little 'prank' had gotten to her, so Robert figured it was good to let the young woman work off a little steam.

Speaking of Garrelt, Robert couldn't help but be impressed with the man. Robert hadn't gotten the chance to see the man truly let loose on their way here, as Garrelt was often scouting ahead of the primary group. Now that Robert was finally getting to see what his Scout Leader could do, all the rumors of the mysterious so-called 'Spellblade' were starting to make sense.

The man flowed between Rockcap and Adventurer like a dancer. Each move was carefully planned and executed, and each time one of his daggers struck, a small magic circle instantly formed at its tip. Instead of piercing through the Rockcap's thick exoskeleton, the place where the magic circle formed collapsed in on itself—as if struck by some massive hammer.

Robert found it a frankly ingenious solution to the Rockcap's thick armor, which proved difficult for even him to cut through without the proper angle.

Soon, the battle was over, and dozens of Rockcaps lay strewn about the tunnel in various states of dismemberment. The expeditionary force's own casualties amounted to only a few cuts and scrapes. Robert raised his sword into the air, and the group let out a roaring cheer. It might not have been a tough fight, all considering, but this was still the kind of thing that Adventurers lived for.

Robert sheathed his sword as Maggy, Bert, and Garrelt approached. As they did, the rest of the expeditionary force cleaned up.

"Well done, everyone," he said, addressing the other three. "With this, we're one step closer to our goals. Though one thing still bugs me…"

Bert folded his arms and frowned. "Why were the Rockcaps this far up?" Bert finished Robert's thought, repeating what he'd mentioned previously.

Garrelt nodded. "It's not unheard of to see Rockcaps this far up, but not in this kind of number. Typically, you only find them around veins of Spirit Stone, where they can better blend in with their surroundings, and more prey is attracted to the stones. But I don't see any other signs of a vein around here."

Maggy was the next to speak. "There are no signs of any Spirit Stones nearby, but I wouldn't say they're lacking for prey," she gestured to the various piles of bones strewn around the tunnel. "That suggests this tunnel is, at the very least, well traveled. But then that begs other questions."

Robert frowned. "Like why would a tunnel infested with Rockcaps be well traveled by local wide life to begin with?" Maggy nodded.

Garrelt scratched his bearded chin and hummed to himself. "They might not have much of a choice. For as long as this tunnel system is, it doesn't seem to branch off much. And where it branches off, it leads to mostly dead ends or the dens of other, more dangerous creatures."

Bert raised an eyebrow. "You think something's forcing critters up from below?"

"It's possible," Garrelt nodded. "It might explain why the Rockcaps are this far up as well. If something pushed them out of their home tunnel, they would have had to follow the same path as everything else. It just happens that this long corridor where everything was passing through made for a suitable nest site for them."

Robert peered down deeper into the tunnel. "What do you think could do something like that?"

Garrelt shrugged. "Not enough information yet to say for sure, though I have a few ideas. At the very least, it suggests something highly territorial. That doesn't narrow things down by much, but it gives me an idea or two."

Robert nodded. "Understandable. I just don't want to —"

Robert's words were cut off as all four Adventurer's eyes snapped toward the tunnel's far end. Robert's eyes narrowed, and he tilted his head, as if listening for something.

There… there it was again. A faint, echoing tapping…

No…

Not tapping…

Footsteps!

Robert turned around and drew his sword just in time to see the shadow of a running figure move around the far wall.

"Halt! Identify yourself!" he called.

The shadow slowed as it drew closer until a small figure rounded the corner, their arms raised.

"Peace! Peace, humans! I come in peace!" the figure called out.

Robert narrowed his eyes at the figure of the short, muddy, and terrified cave goblin who rounded the corner, half stumbling over their own feet. Cave goblins were known to be a relativity peaceful race, unlike their surface-dwelling cousins. Well, as peaceful as a Deep Tribe could be, so Robert lowered his sword, though he didn't sheath it just yet. Just because cave goblins weren't known to be violent to outsiders didn't mean they were any less capable of deceit and trickery than any other sapient race, and it always paid to be wary of strangers. Doubly so when dozens of miles under the surface and Heavens knew how far from any sort of civilization.

The cave goblin's bulging, blood-shot eyes that darted around the tunnel, twitching at every shadow, and mud-covered garments did little to curve Robert's weariness as well. The man looked like he'd been tossed into a mud pit and beaten with a stick.

Their hands still raised, the cave goblin yelled, half stuttering in his rush to get the words out. "Humans! Please help me! Quickly! It will be here any moment!"

Robert frowned, but it was Maggy who spoke. "Help with what? Who are you? What are you doing in these tunnels?"

The goblin's eyes flickered down the tunnel, then back to them as sweat left muddy trails down their bark-colored skin. "There's no time! It's too fast, we have to hurry or —"

Oomph!

The goblin's words were cut off as a large brown blur shot out from around the corner and slammed into the goblin, engulfing them.

Robert swiftly advanced, swinging his sword at the strange, shadowed, formless mass, only for his blade to pass through without resistance. Wide-eyed and bewildered, he staggered backward, struggling to comprehend what he was facing, until a radiant orb of light suddenly materialized near the tunnel ceiling. As the dark tunnel was illuminated, Robert observed the struggling goblin pinned to the wall, battling against a thin mat of wriggling, squirming... mud?

The sight of the goblin desperately pushing against the suffocating mud was unsettling. In that moment, Robert found himself momentarily frozen until Bert's immense figure appeared by his side. With the swing of a fist the size of Robert's head, a powerful wind stripped the muddy blanket from the goblin and splattered it across the nearby wall.

Gasping and coughing for air, the goblin collapsed to the ground. Maggy immediately rushed to their side, a pale white light radiating from her hands.

Meanwhile, the splattered mud on the far wall quivered, slowly reforming itself.

Garrelt flashed forward and struck out with his dagger. Instead of trying to stab the blobs of mud, however, he quickly carved an arcane symbol into the wall behind it. The rune ignited in a brilliant mana surge, causing the surrounding stone to heat rapidly. Within moments, several meters of the wall surrounding the rune glowed a vibrant orange.

When the rune finally faded, the mud no longer twitched, hardening and fusing to the still glowing stone behind it. As Robert watched, bits and pieces slowly flaked off the wall and fell to the ground.

Still uncertain what he was seeing, Robert turned to the others, his brow furrowed. "What the hell was that?!"

The other three adventurers exchanged a look and shrugged.

Garrelt bent down and poked at the baked mud falling to the ground. "It looked like a slime. But I've never heard of a slime made of mud."

Bert grunted and shook his head. "I've never heard of slime moving like that or one staying alive after you blasted it apart."

Robert frowned and turned to the goblin. "I hate to be pushy, Mr…" he let the question hang in the air.

The goblin coughed a few times and spit out a glob of mud. "Antchaser. You can call me Antchaser."

Robert nodded. "Mr. Antchaser, then. Would since we seem to have a bit of time now, would you mind explaining what in the nine hells is going on?"

Hidden behind the sleeve of his jacket as he wiped his mouth clean, Antchaser grinned.

 

[Osamaru]

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B2 - Lesson 34: "Know How To Shift The Blame."
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Maggy sighed in relief and lowered her hands, the white glow enveloping them fading away. As violent as the attack had been, the damage the cave goblin had suffered was pretty minor; he suffered a few bruises, a sprained shoulder, and some mud in his lungs, which he quickly coughed up. Nothing too serious. That was good… while Maggy had some experience with healing spells, they weren't her specialty. The expedition party's actual lead healer confirmed Maggy's prognosis a moment later, once the thin man finally arrived.

The exhausted goblin was helped into a sitting position, and Robert launched into a string of questions. Part of Maggy felt bad for the goblin as he was grilled for information so soon after such a traumatic experience, but a more rational side of her understood the necessity of it. Robert had two dozen explorers and researchers he had to look out for. The goblin's sudden appearance and that of the strange slime-like creature represented potentially dangerous unknowns.

Thankfully, the goblin seemed to take the questions in stride, and after only a few moments, Maggy and the rest of the team had a general understanding of the events leading up to this moment.

Robert paced back and forth in front of the goblin, seemingly lost in thought.

Garrelt was the first to speak. "Well, that explains what happened to the group before us, at least. I have to say, I wasn't expecting Icefinger, though. That man tends to be less… direct with these types of things. I wonder what changed?"

Instead of responding, Robert turned to the goblin and asked, "You said that after your hunters retaliated and captured some of the… bandits… then this 'Bosco' fellow escaped into a local dungeon, correct?"

The goblin named Antchaser took a swig of water from a canteen and nodded.

That part of the story had really piqued everyone's interest. A new biodome was an amazing find in and of itself. One with an active dungeon, though? That was the kind of jackpot that Adventurers dreamed of.

The fact that a Deep Village already claimed ownership of both areas was unimportant. It may have been a problem a few centuries ago, as the village and Adventurers clashed for ownership. But even if the initial village couldn't control the cavern on its own, stronger tribes and villages would have gotten involved in the dispute for the sake of gaining wealth and power. This would have led to a brutal war that would probably have resulted in the destruction of the biodome, regardless.

But with the Deep treaties in place, a small goblin village had far more to gain from allowing Adventurers access to these resources. More than one powerful Deep Clan had risen to power that way.

However, the Adventurer's excitement was squashed as Antchaser continued his story.

"We tried to give chase, but the dungeon is… unique. Its creator must have been an eccentric, as it doesn't follow the standard rules. Eventually, we gave up. It took a full team for us to make any progress ourselves. No one expected Bosco and the ragtag bunch that had escaped to survive for very long."

The goblin took another drink and shook his head. "I don't know how the bastard did it… but… he managed to trigger a dungeon break."

Garrelt rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed while Bert just shook his head in disappointment. Robert had the greatest reaction, letting out a deep growling sound, then slammed his fist into the nearby wall, creating a small crater.

Maggy jumped slightly. This was the first time she'd ever seen the man truly angry before. The fierce snarl twisted his otherwise handsome features in an oddly alien manner. Robert turned away from them and took a deep breath. When he turned back around, the calm, charismatic leader they all knew had returned.

"Are you certain it's a dungeon break? Some of the more odd dungeons can feel like it sometimes."

Antchaser nodded. "Yes. At least that's what the Core called it once we made contact."

Robert's eyes went wide. "The Core actually made contact with you?! Interesting."

He stroked his chin. "That suggests the Core hasn't gone mad yet. At the same time, if the Core is asking for outside help, then whatever issue caused the dungeon break is at least repairable…"

Garrelt raised an eyebrow. "You want to try to fix it? Do we even have the right people for something like that?"

Robert shrugged. "Who knows? It's worth a shot, at the very least."

Maggy coughed and raised her hand into the air. "Ummm, sorry to interrupt and all… but what's a dungeon break?"

Three humans and a muddy goblin stared at the young woman with furrowed brows. After a moment, Bert's eyes went wide. "Ahhh! That's right! You only started seriously adventuring a few months ago, didn't you, Mags? I forget the civs don't really use the same lingo as us."

"A dungeon break—" Garrelt took over with a sigh, "—is just that. The result of a dungeon breaking."

Maggy frowned. "Dungeons can break?" she asked.

Garrelt raised an eyebrow. "Of course they can. After all, they're just systems set up by mortals, even if exceptionally powerful ones. How they break can vary, however. Sometimes it's just age and neglect. Sometimes, someone greedy or stupid enough messes with things they don't understand. Whatever the cause, the result is typically the same. The Dungeon Core goes insane and becomes far, far more dangerous. If it's the trap and trial sort, they'll become deathtraps with no hope of escape. If the dungeon is the type that raises spirit beasts or mana monsters, they'll start producing them uncontrollably until the creatures burst out and wreak destruction on the surrounding area. When it gets that bad, normally the only solution is to destroy the Core, effectively destroying the dungeon as well."

Robert turned to Maggy and continued from where Garrelt had stopped. "But if a break is caught soon enough, those with the right knowledge might fix the issue and return the dungeon to working condition."

Maggy tilted her head. "And that's what you hope to do? Somehow… fix… whatever this Bosco fellow broke?"

Robert nodded. "At the very least, stabilize the situation until we can get someone here who does know what they're doing."

"There's no time for that!" the goblin Antchaser suddenly cried out. The Adventurers jumped slightly and turned to him, brows raised.

Antchaser coughed into his hand and continued more calmly. "What I mean is, the village needs help now. The creatures that have escaped from the dungeon are dangerous, and the Core has asked us to seek help to prevent more damage before anything else! That is what my companion and I were attempting to do. We were on our way to petition assistance from Halirosa before some of the creatures ambushed us in the tunnels."

Garrelt frowned and narrowed his eyes. "And where's this 'companion' of yours?"

Antchaser pointed down the tunnel. "She's still down there, fighting those… things. She tried to stall them and give me enough time to escape, but I don't know how much longer she can hold out. Please! You have to help her!"

The three men exchanged glances and nodded before Robert turned to Maggy.

"Maggy, please organize the expedition party and prepare them to continue on. Garrelt, Bert, and I will move ahead to see if we can help Mr. Antchaser's companion. Do what you feel is necessary to get everyone moving and rejoin us as soon as possible."

Maggy nodded and stood, helping Antchaser to his feet before handing the goblin off to the lead healer. She nodded at Robert and, without another word to him, turned toward the rest of the expeditionary force and started yelling orders.

Seeing everything was well in hand, Robert, Garrelt, and Bert shared one last look, then turned and rushed deeper into the tunnel.

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