Chapter 100: Chapter 100

The hammering of metal, the smelting of ore and the gentle taps and clinks of jewelcrafting could be heard all throughout the chamber.

“This is new… we don’t usually get to building this thing until near the end of the loop. Why the change?” Edrosic asked as he sketched out new drawings on the spot within seconds.

The drawings were then telekinetically moved by Destartes to wherever they were needed.

“This time, I have no intentions of using it until much later. We shall also need Fenton’s unique expertise and that of the engineers of Lonvoron,” Orodan replied. “Consider it… pre-building until they arrive and show us where we’ve gone wrong.”

It wasn’t that he had no faith in his enchanting skills, but that Fenton’s abilities and that of Clyburn Anderthorn’s were plainly better. He certainly intended on being capable of building the machine himself down the line. But having such experts around to correct him where he went wrong was important.

After all, Orodan wasn’t exactly naturally talented in either Enchanting or Engineering, and learning them in a void bereft of others like he could with Cleaning wasn’t an option.

Still, with all the people he had gathered now, rebuilding this ancient machine certainly wasn’t an activity bereft of others. If anything, one might argue there were a few too many people here. And much to his consternation, he wasn’t doing much.

“You! Move two paces to the right before you start applying that or else you’ll get in the way of the stonecutter, and you, work in sync with the ritualist below! Don’t start until that ritual is prepared first!”

Old Man Hannegan was barking instructions and corrections left and right, but there were just so many targets for them. So Orodan turned to the one man responsible for all this.

“You realize that it is supposed to be us who builds the machine, correct?”

“Why, of course I do..”

“…then why are there dozens of additional specialists here?”

“And have you considered… that we did just fine in the prior attempts we had without all these specialists? When I was allowed to lift a hand and do some work?”

The first emperor laughed and simply clapped him on the shoulder.

“Consider that we each have our own specialties,” Balastion said. “Yes, you are an excellent stonecutter, but here we have Grandmaster Varnok of Scarmorrow and a team of the best stonecutters from the Eastern Kingdoms working on reinforcing the mountain. You are a great Jewelcrafter, but over there is Griok of the Rising Spear Tribe, now a Grandmaster Jewelcrafter and working alongside two other Grandmasters. And of course, we have the best smiths from the High Forges of Karilsgard and the Novarrian armories working together to ensure the metal is as strong as can be; dothril-reinforced in fact.”

“With assistance from the best enchanters of Aldenil too,” Eldarion spoke, in his seat at a conjured table where he, Adeltaj and Destartes were sipping tea. “And might I say that Gregory is as reliable as always? Even our crafters cannot quite understand how they are doing so much better under his guidance.”

“Neither can I. I still have no idea how that old man does it…”

Like a cat hearing its prey across a field, Old Man Hannegan’s ear twitched and he glared across the crowd to look at him.

“Who’re you calling old you rockhead?! Get down here and make yourself useful! I need some of this stuff hauled! Help throw the ore into the smelters and help the ritualists with whatever they need.”

And Orodan immediately moved to get to work, grateful for the opportunity to do something amidst this sea of specialists and experts crowding the chamber of the ancient machine.

It was no challenge for him at all, to pick up the crates of ore and hurl the contents into the openings for the furnaces that had been set up. His Physical Fitness, Body Tempering and even Gourmand had increased in level. The laast one due to the few times he was able to cook and savor a fine meal throughout his intense training regimen, but the former two were all improved during battle against some very strong Embodiers who had begun showing up once he had the goat-woman pressed.

He appreciated the training, certainly, but one among their number would be a real problem. Close to the power of an Administrator.

“In here sir!” a furnace worker called out, Elite-level and capable of extracting far more metal from ore than an untrained person doing the same thing.

Orodan tossed the contents in and could only lament all the skill level gains he was missing out on. The furnacess, specialized devices capable of smelting the incredibly expensive and powerful dothril ore, had been installed here by Novarrian and Republic engineers. The reason being that Balastion believed it best to have everything involved with the process in one chamber, where Old Man Hannegan could have access to it.

On cue, the benefits for that decision showed itself.

“Hey! Smelt that ore properly! Stir the air into that mixture at proper intervals!”

And again, as ridiculous as it was the first time Orodan saw it, the furnace worker’s smelting became smoother and Vision of Purity told him that the metal within was being purified better. Ridiculous. The old man had more than proven his worth. His skillset and ability to direct any form of labor to superior heights was growing by the day.

The ore being smelted wasn’t regular dothril, but dothril Orodan himself had gone down to the abyssal depths to mine. The high density of world energy at those depths allowed for some truly powerful ore. Of course, powerful metal meant the ore was subsequently harder to mine, which meant that he’d needed to use his hands to smash it off the cavern walls. It was difficult to process too, and specialized furnaces capable of reaching extreme temperatures with assisting pyromancers needed to be brought in.

These were the same people who worked at the High Forges of Karilsgard and they knew what they were doing. But they still had their limitations, evident in one pyromancer who was struggling to maintain good control over the fires of her assigned furnace. The devices produced their own heat through the copious and expensive use of high-quality mana crystals fueling them, but pyromancers were still needed in order to control the fire, burn out unwanted air pockets and make sure the temperature was hitting the ore chunks evenly.

And the man who was sweating, the threads of mana between his hands and the furnace’s fire, was a high-Adept pyromancer. And his mana pool was running dry. Still, one didn’t have the full resources of Novarria, the Republic and Eldiron backing them without a good support system in place. But before the man could lift a mana potion to his lips or a replacement pyromancer could come in… Orodan stepped in and began stoking the flames.

“S-sir! This is entirely unnecessary!” the mage protested, embarrassed that his job was being taken over.

[Fire Magic Mastery 70 → Fire Magic Mastery 71]

The furnace’s flames wrapped around the chunk of ore and began targeting the weak points.

Orodan, being an Elite fire magic user himself, could now control external sources of flame. Long ago when he’d visited Guzuhar for the first time he’d seen a blood mage drawing blood out of a hapless guard’s nose. It had demarcated her as an Elite of the art. At that threshold every element’s associated mastery skill allowed the user to control the external element not borne of their own mana.

Just as Dimensionalism allowed him to influence the dimensional forces freely and Space Mastery allowed him to influence or alter enemy spatiomancy, so too did Fire Magic Mastery allow him to control fire, albeit at the cost of mana.

Under his control the ore steadily melted down and was purified into dothril ingots. Of course, there was much processing involved for every aspect of this supply chain.

The freshly made ingots were carefully inspected by a metal mage. He had never seen a mage of that element on Alastaia, but that tracked given how Balastion told him that the woman was one of three mages upon Inuan who possessed the Metal Magic Mastery skill. Exquisite-rarity too, and it made the Elite-level metalmancer’s services come with a hefty price, but one easily borne by the coffers of multiple continents.

The ingots were then looked over by alchemists who treated them and applied several different specialized solutions meant to strengthen it. After which it finally passed into a time compression device. Small in scale, like an oven, but designed to rapidly speed up the passage of time within so that the ingots could rest and the alchemical solution soak a bit.

The end product was marvellous and Orodan wondered if he could reforge his own sword with such a metal.

After a few batches of this process, he heard the old foreman bark again.

“Quick, Orodan! We need those ingots in the cooker for the machine’s new frame! Go on! Now’s the prime time for it.”

As ordered, he swiftly moved and hefted the entire pallet of fifteen-hundred ingots atop his head. Dothril was a dense and sturdy metal even without being empowered by the world energy of the abyssal depths. This pallet then was heavy, not for his arms but for the floor. Enough that the ground of the cavern would collapse if not for the team of earth mages pumping mana and power into reinforcing the earth beneath his feet with each step.

With a casual flick of his wrist he tipped the entire thing over and into a giant furnace designed to heat massive quantities of metal. It was a reinforced furnace of carved granite sourced from the deepest parts of the under-mountain too; the only thing which could bear the extreme temperatures needed to melt the enhanced dothril ingots. Re-melting the ingots after having already cast them was an extra step and he had questioned why they couldn’t just melt the ore down and then pour it into the mold directly, but the forgemasters from Novar’s Peak and Karilsgard had immediately countered by saying that a high-level smelter, high-level metal mage and high-level alchemist adding their expertise to each ingot and then letting them rest in fact improved the metal. Simply melting the metal and pouring it into the mold eliminated the work of such high-level specialists which in turn affected metal quality.

It sounded illogical to him. Why melt ingots and lose all the treatment they had gotten? But again, he’d been reassured that this way was superior. That the ingots he was dumping into the hot mold now were better than simply throwing molten metal into the mold right from the furnaces. Still, perhaps there was something to these extra steps, much like he often did extra things when cleaning.

[Laboring 65 → Laboring 66]

An additional level and a welcome one, proof of all the work he had been doing across the past five loops.

A giant mana crystal, sourced from the treasury of Novarria, was used to fuel this gigantic furnace.

“Damn… just running this thing for a second probably costs more than the budget for our barracks in Ogdenborough, eh Orodan?” Edrosic asked, coming up to stand beside him. “You really think we’re making the damn thing right this time?

“It grates my pride to admit… but from the look of it, they certainly are,” Orodan admitted. “I might have a lot of crafting skills, but I’m not exactly a Grandmaster in either of them.”

This was the power of a full world coming together. Guzuhar, Eldiron, and the three nations of Inuan gathering their resources in order to build this ancient machine properly. Versatile as he was, he was no specialist of crafting on the level of many of these experts. And with the best of the best gathered from across Alastaia to assist? They far outstripped his own efforts.

Grandmaster pyromancers from across the three continents—including one from the Eastern Kingdoms with a Bloodline which gave him Fire Mastery and not just Fire Magic Mastery—began heating up the furnace to extreme temperatures, melting the ingots down. Then Orodan was asked once more to lift, move and serially array a set of gigantic molds beneath the furnace’s dispensing lip so that the casting process could start.

He was still important of course. Especially when it came to handling incredibly heavy objects which would have otherwise taken a team of telekinetic mages or specialized devices to move, but the actual construction of the device? Even the Enchanting he could only assist with since Grandmaster enchanters from across Alastaia were using his techniques and understanding of the enchanting script to do a better job of executing upon it than he was.

Something about that felt profoundly dissatisfactory, he admitted. But one day he vowed to become capable of matching them.

Still, work on the machine proceeded at a good clip. Its newly forged frame was cast with enhanced dothril. It received an entirely new energy battery carved, polished and prepared from the largest mana crystal Eldiron had in their royal vault of Aldenil. And the dwarven Grandmaster stonecutter directed his crew to prepare even a massive portion of the mountain itself, as runes and etching were carved, ready to be slotted in with precious gem powder hand-prepared by Griok and his Jewelcrafters.

After twelve more hours of work, where Orodan wasn’t nearly as involved as he would’ve liked, the work was done, and the ancient machine stood there imposingly, not looking in the slightest like it had in the past. It was a work of art and a splendorous artefact of Alastaia; a testament to what their world was capable of when brought together.

“The treasury of Novar’s Peak was depleted by almost half in funding this endeavor,” Balastion spoke. “Yet I find myself not as dissatisfied with that fact as I would have thought.”

“Hard to muster up a feeling of discontent when such a shining jewel of our civilizations stands before us. At this point… is this even the original machine any longer? We’ve replaced every single part. It’s as though it’s a brand new thing entirely,” Eldarion spoke.

“We’re still basing much of our enchanting script and work off of the inscriptions on the original machine. The dimensional runes and glyphs are not so far off… and while the machine will hold up, I have a feeling the enchantments will not,” Orodan honestly assessed. “This is no rebuke against our enchanters. But certain worlds have specialties that we lack. While we might possess warriors and mages aplenty, Lonvoron’s enchanting and engineering are their strong points.”

“We’re really going to do it then? We’ll be travelling to another galaxy to aid in their war just so we can bring one prodigious enchanter back?” Edrosic asked. “Seems a little fraught with danger… from what you told us of your last battle there, you had to fight an Administrator too, right?”

“Right, and I’ll fight him again. But you aren’t going to get dragged into battle Edrosic, so you needn’t worry,” Orodan assuaged. “I fight my own battles.”

“Well, thing is Orodan… I feel like coming along.”

Now that was a surprise.

“Has Aliya or Wainroach twisted your arm into this? I know it could not be Zukelmux, that one cares far too much about you to do that but-”

“No Orodan, it’s me. I want to come along and fight alongside you. Stupid as this sounds, I want to experience that thrill of real battle.”

In response, he closely began looking up and down, starting at the militia man’s head.

“Hmm… no head injuries… nothing my sight can pick up on the mind and soul either…”

“Oy! Cut that out! I’m serious! No head injuries or mind control here!” Edrosic protested swatting at him. “I know this sounds unbelievable, especially for me, but I mean it. I want to go to Lonvoron and these other worlds with you. I want to learn, I want to fight. I want to help you.”

“I didn’t train you in the hopes that you’d begin helping me Edrosic,” Orodan reminded. “You’re free to do as you wish. Especially now that you’re capable of beating the best student at Oxhead. You’re an Adept now and could pass the Bluefire entrance exam.”

“But that’s just the thing, Orodan! I don’t want any of that… these academies, these lessons, all these Drawing and Calligraphy tutors you get for me each loop. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, because it’s the exact opposite. Thank you for everything you’ve shown me. I used to be a bloody bumpkin with a carpenter father and seamstress mother, both of whom I love very much. And then one day you show up, shove memories of another time where they were both murdered and I wandered the county seeking strength in the hopes of revenge,” the man spoke. “Initially, that’s what I thought I wanted. Strength so I could go rampage across Novarria… at least that’s what the memories of the other Edrosic said, and he had more drive in him than I ever did in my life. But then… then I began to see how unsuited I was to this fighting business. Zukelmux? That goblin’s beating Grandmasters now. Aliya? She’s teaching you moves with the halberd and spear. And Wainroach? I still remember that damned forest fire which covered half the Aenechean Forest last loop until you stepped in. I know I’m not like them… but I want to be.”

“Nothing in that desire implies you have to fight, Edrosic.”

“Right, and I now know that. But my point is… I’ve had my eyes opened to how big the world is. I used to be Parthus Edrosic the lazy militia man and now I’m Parthus Edrosic the Drawing Elite, close to being a Master. The more I study at the academy each loop, the more they keep telling me how impossible it is that my levels for a skill rose as fast as they did,” the man continued. “And that’s just the thing… how am I going to keep growing if I don’t embrace that unknown over the horizon? You know what’s funny Orodan? I’ve always had the most growth in my Drawing whenever I’ve seen those old fogeys train and fight… but most of all, it’s when I’ve seen you. Gained ten entire skill levels when I drew that portrait of you meeting the adventurer’s fist in Greenvale.”

A staff wielded by a familiar diminutive figure tapped the ground of the chamber behind him.

“I want to as well, teacher,” Aliya spoke. The polearm prodigy was now an Elite with Staff, Spear and Halberd, with Scythe Mastery soon to catch up as well. A far cry from the little girl he remembered rushing into monster infestation sites long ago. “I need to fight in real battle.”

And Wainroach upon her shoulder nodded seriously, determination in her eyes as well. Deadly flames roiled about the cockroach’s form, lethal but not harming Aliya in the slightest. He had in fact picked up an insight or two from her regarding his own pyromancy, and just like the eight-year-old polearms prodigy, he had no doubt that the cockroach would soon surpass him too as she was nearing the Elite-level.

Not in Fire Magic Mastery… but Fire Mastery.

“There’s a real chance you die. The battles upon Lonvoron will be no joke. And the Eldritch is horrifying,” Orodan warned. In fact, he had serious reservations about bringing a child along, no matter how prodigious. Sure, her memories had been ferried along for these loops and the girl had matured far quicker than a child her age normally would… but she was still functionally no more than nine years old.

“And how many times have you died?”

The voice carried challenge in it, and he knew who it was. A part of him glad that the speaker had grown enough to challenge him, but another part a bit frustrated.

“You’ve come to care for them. It’s no surprise that you feel the way you do,” Zaessythra spoke.

“These disciples of mine will be the end of me…”

Turning towards Zukelmux who looked more than ready to fight him over it, Orodan answered.

Zukelmux had grown terrifyingly strong under his guidance and with regular battles against the monsters of the abyssal depths. The spear-and-shield wielding goblin was now an excellent unarmed fighter and also capable of self-healing. And he was now a Master-level warrior who could now beat Grandmasters. Hells… Orodan suspected that the goblin could even give a weak new Transcendent a fair challenge.

“Then why will you not allow us the chance to face the same odds and reach out for the strength that we desire? Let us stand alongside you with pride, or are you not Orodan Wainwright, warrior and teacher? The man I know would not refuse anyone their own decision,” the goblin challenged.

“A part of me preferred when you were a meek and humble little student, you know?” Orodan shot back with an exasperated sigh.

“And would that goblin be willing to challenge you to single combat for the right to fight alongside you?” Zukelmux asked, pointing his spear at him. “Teacher. Will you do me the honor of this duel?”

“Us too! Us too!” Aliya exclaimed.

“You melon! How is it a duel if it’s four-on-one?” Edrosic asked.

These idiots… he really was growing to care for them a bit much. This… was no good. It was what he sought to avoid each time; that attachment to those close to him, as it would always brutally be torn away in the end when it all reset.

And yet, over the past years’ worth of loops he had allowed himself to grow close to these fools and many others.

The Avatar of Ozgaric gave him a cheerful wave and sent a cascade of flowers towards him as a jest, the God taking a seat at the conjured table with Destartes, Adeltaj, Eldarion and Balastion. The first emperor’s face seemed light, unburdened. Eldarion was no longer at odds with Novarria and trusting of humanity. Ozgaric looked mirthful as he played tricks upon them, the matter of the Eldritch Avatar not being a concern. And Adeltaj was alive.

The old halberdier was perceptive too. Amidst the revelry and good cheer of finishing their work the Simarji gave him a knowing look, followed by a brief nod of the head.

Did the old man know what Orodan was thinking? Then… perhaps attachments were not a bad thing.

His fist clenched, the determination rolling off him in waves.

This time, he would not fail. He would set things right. He would defend his world and bring everyone together.

“Uh… he looks rather scary Zukelmux… are you sure challenging him to a duel was the right idea?” Edrosic asked.

“A duel? It’s four-on-one, remember? And I think I’m looking at the man who shall be the focus of my attention,” Orodan replied, looking right at the militia man.

He had erred before, causing Edrosic to live in a time where both the man’s parents were dead. But even in mistakes there could be lessons.

And the principles behind that particular mistake, if applied a certain way, could change everything.

“Wainroach… are you certain of this?”

Her antennae wiggled in outrage that he would even question it.

“Look… it’s just that you’re my student, not a training dummy. I don’t teach you so that you can be useful to me. Or rather, the use is in helping me level my Teaching skill, not in being an experimental sacrifice for my Elemental Living Enchanting.”

“Fine, fine. I suppose you require that final push to acquire what you need, do you not?”

“Are you still sore from that duel?”

She nodded again, a little more reluctant as her antennae wiggled with the memories of the beating he’d dispensed upon her and those four.

“A price well-paid was it not? You four showed me your determination, and I’ve agreed to drag you all along to Lonvoron,” Orodan spoke with a cheerful smile.

She shook her little head, disagreeing with the notion that the beating had been that necessary, but agreed that the levels in Iron Body that she’d gained were worth it. Her antennae wiggled, motioning to him that he should get on with what they were here for.

“I… do not understand how you are communicating with her, Mister Wainwright,” Gormir Eltros spoke, although he kept giving nervous looks over his shoulder to the arrayed group behind him.

He was the premier body enchanter of the Republic, and possibly all Inuan. But that didn’t mean he was the best enchanter of them all.

They were within Bluefire Academy’s enchanting workshop, and behind Gormir Eltros was the headmaster of the school of Enchanting, alongside two Novarrian Grandmasters, four elven ones and one from Guzuhar who were either looking studiously at Wainroach or looking judgementally at the workshop itself.

“As I’ve explained many times now, warriors can just understand one another,” Orodan replied.

Frankly, he had theorized on it himself a few times now, but he genuinely believed that the central rune of knowledge in his System was translating her attempts at communication into his mind. It wasn’t a phenomena unique to him either as all his other disciples could understand Wainroach just fine, as could Zaessythra now. The key was being willing to see the cockroach as an individual and pay attention to its body language and eyes as a method of communication. The intent was there.

Most people however, considered cockroaches beneath them. Which was a shame since Wainroach wasn’t the typical foul urban roach, but a forest one which didn’t even stay near peoples’ dwellings. Her kind were integral to keeping the ecosystem of life, death and natural decay running in such environs. It explained why he had singled her mind and soul out as being stronger than the other roaches when he’d first encountered her. Life out in the forest for a wood roach was a lot harder than that of their city-dwelling counterparts.

“Your communication with that thing aside, I must say that this academy’s enchanting workshops are more than a little… inadequate,” an elven Grandmaster of Enchanting complained.

“Inadequate?” the Bluefire headmaster sharply turned. “Why if you are so dissatisfied with it then we can-”

“Friends. Please, let us calm down and work together.”

The voice belonged to a familiar Transcendent who commanded the loyalty of the elves.

“A-apologies lord Eldarion… my display of poor manners shames me,” the arrogant elven Grandmaster grovelled, simmering down.

“Now then, to business. Mister Wainwright, Wainroach claims that she is quite close to acquiring Fire Resistance, and your Elemental Living Enchantment is only five levels away from crossing into the Adept threshold,” Eldarion spoke. “With the combined expertise of Alastaia’s greatest experts of Enchanting, we hope to push he both of you past a threshold today… and hopefully expand the battle power of our world as a whole.”

Over the past five loops, Elemental Living Enchantment had been one of the skills Orodan had trained extensively. On himself primarily, with a few cases of unwilling practice against the Hegemony each time they descended in response to one of his allies becoming Transcendent. And while the training he’d done in forming elemental enchantments within himself was good, the real insights had come from forming enchantments within the body of Astalavar, Avraxas and Agrimon; his foes.

Now, with everyone here present and ready to guide and advise him, Orodan intended to delicately attempt Elemental Living Enchantment upon Wainroach. She was, as per her own insistence, close to acquiring Fire Resistance too. The culmination of many loops of effort hopping into open braziers, fire pits and even intentionally bearing the attacks of fire-wielding monsters.

She had nearly died many times in her mad pursuit; developing many durability and self-healing skills. She had also legitimately died once forcing Orodan to reverse time and making her his first disciple to suffer a death under his watch. It had been of her own volition, yes, but it still felt him both ashamed and somewhat proud that one of his students was just as obsessed with pursuing insights as he was.

Not that he intended to allow her to repeat that of course.

“Right, well I suppose we should start. Any longer and Wainroach might self-combust with impatience,” Orodan said, channelling a Candleflame upon the tip of his finger.

She frantically gestured with her forelegs for him to get on with it already. And so he did.

[Candleflame 48 → Candleflame 49]

[Fire Magic Mastery 71→ Fire Magic Mastery 72]

A smaller and more delicate Candleflame than any he had conjured before came into existence upon the tip of his finger. And before she could complain about hurrying up, his finger pressed against her flank, driving the flame against her carapace.

Her antennae went rigid, but she gestured that he should not dare to stop. Wainroach now had the Iron Body skill as well as the Regeneration skill, which was apparently far easier for cockroaches to obtain than humans as their species naturally had the ability to begin with and simply needed to develop it.

Wainroach’s carapace began to suffer minor damage despite the low-temperature and delicate nature of the flame, but still, it didn’t seem enough to push her over the threshold.

“As cavalier as this will sound, given that she acquired most of her important gains while under extreme conditions, I do not think such a delicate Candleflame will work,” Eldarion said.

“I do not disagree, but I will only move forward at her insistence.”

And upon hearing it, insist she did.

So Orodan obliged, driving the Candleflame up a notch and allowing the tendrils of flame to enter the very orifices of her insectoid form.

It burned and it hurt, that much he could tell given how wildly her antennae were shaking. The pain was evident in her beady little eyes too, but she held on, and Orodan would not disrespect her by stopping simply because he disliked hurting someone he had grown fond of.

The flames began coursing through her little body, counteracted only by the Iron Body skill and her Regeneration which was working overtime to try and repair the damage she was continually suffering. She had the ability to draw from her mana pool in order to fuel the skill too, and he could sense her reserves slowly but steadily dwindling as her body fought to outpace the damage.

But this still wasn’t enough. And she knew it too.

Her antennae wiggled, demanding he begin the actual enchanting now that she had properly acclimated.

“Alright. Let’s see if we can’t weave an enchantment of toughness into you.”

[Elemental Living Enchantment 45 → Elemental Living Enchantment 46]

Immediately, the flames spiralled along her small body in the shape and inscription of an enchantment, one meant to toughen her body.

“You are utilizing the principles of Weaving while enchanting? Very good. Focus on keeping those threads tightly woven together, an elven Grandmaster said, closely watching but simultaneously in awe at the fact that elements could be used to enchant.

“Good, good! Keep your breathing even and your hands steady Mister Wainwright!” the headmaster of Bluefire’s enchanters instructed. “This is as much an act of elemental mastery as it is Enchanting, someone get the headmaster of pyromancy in here!”

Orodan though, tuned out the instructions and entered into a focused trance. He noticed that Wainroach was beginning to slowly understand something about fire, but he would need to help her along. In her eyes he saw that same trance and desperate drive to find the insights much like he had long, long ago in Eversong Plaza when facing Aeglos Argon’s flames.

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[Elemental Living Enchantment 46 → Elemental Living Enchantment 47]

The level gain came as he successfully finished the enchantment of durability and Wainroach’s body toughened further, giving her extra time to make the insights she needed. He had never woven a living enchantment of flame into the body of someone else before. Himself, yes. Another, no.

He was so used to being incredibly tough, resistant to mana and fire, and possessing abilities for self-healing which outpaced the damage delivered by some of the strongest beings in System space. But enchanting the body of Wainroach was such a radically different experience, and it forced him to truly consider the element itself and work on lessening the damage his living enchantment did.

As he worked, he acquired more and more insights.

He hadn’t cared at all about Agrimon and his toadies of the Hegemony. The enchantments he’d woven into them had been full of rage, anger at them for how they’d ruined Zaessythra’s old life. They hadn’t survived those practice sessions.

But he cared about Wainroach, and his inscription of the following enchantment of regeneration was one of the most delicate work he did. He forced himself to truly minimize the amount of damage the element did to her form. It was invaluable practice, getting to see in real time how much damage the skill was causing to the body of another and then being able to make adjustments and get feedback right away.

“Control the fire, Mister Wainwright. You are an elite pyromancer, understand that flames are not just an element but one of the ingredients to life itself in many beings. Your own body possesses heat, but too much and you will die. Similarly, the roach’s body also possesses natural heat,” instructed a Grandmaster fire mage who had just arrived.

And under this instruction Orodan focused and tried his best to understand the fire. It was life, it was heat… it was energy.

[Fire Magic Mastery 72 → Fire Magic Mastery 73]

The enchantment finished, and Wainroach, although still in miserable pain and burning from the inside out, was in a better state than she was before the two enchantments had been woven into her flesh.

“Incredible… this will change Alastaian enchanting forever…” one Novarrian Grandmaster muttered. “Elemental body enchantments… what could we achieve with this?”

“Even applied to just weaponry it would increase the power three or even fourfold!” another elf declared, the arrogant one from earlier.

Yet to Orodan this was dissatisfactory, for his true goal had not been achieved.

[Commandment of War 60 → Commandment of War 61]

Under his harsh commandment, the insect’s eyes took on a concentrated look despite the pain.

“For many loops now have you been skirting the line between life, death and fire, but today you must take that step into the next level,” Orodan sternly declared. His expectation of her, absolute. “A threshold one cannot cross without truly daring to reach past the boundary. Embrace it, embrace the flames.”

It certainly was not her resolve that was in question. Not when she madly gestured for him to switch from Candleflame to Draconic Fireball and demanded that he inscribe an enchantment of power.

It was madness. Rare for Orodan himself to be thinking such a thing. But it was only natural when he was not the target but another was.

It was mad, it was insane… it was…

[Fire Magic Mastery 73 → Fire Magic Mastery 74]

Her insectoid body began turning to ash. She was dying.

But Orodan would not hold back and disrespect a warrior who had asked for this. And the insights he had acquired in lowering the damage were now coming in handy as he tried to inscribe a controlled enchantment of power fueled by his Draconic Fireball spell.

As he learned by weaving the enchantment so too did she.

Despite the agony and the near death.

She managed to find what she had been looking for over all these loops.

[Elemental Living Enchantment 47 → Elemental Living Enchantment 49]

[Teaching 99 → Teaching 100]

[New Title → Teaching Grandmaster]

Something shifted. Orodan felt and saw it first with Vision of Purity, likely before even she did. But he knew then and there that nobody would die today.

Her body was partially ash when all of a sudden, her regeneration began outpacing the damage caused by the enchanting process.

“She’s healing!” Eldarion exclaimed, letting out a great breath.

“It… it can’t be… how?” a Grandmaster asked, completely stumped.

And as Wainroach’s body began to reform before their very eyes, Orodan could only smile and say two words.

“Filthy surface-dwellers! Always coveting! Always delving deeper and deeper! You would bring an inferior mockery of my kind to confront me?!”

“Given how the inferior mockery is brutalizing you, I’m not sure those words hold true,” Orodan replied.

“Should we… intervene?” Edrosic asked

“Does it look like she needs help?”

“I meant to save the Death Roach…” Edrosic replied.

Orodan brushed off the man’s concerns as he paid close attention to the ongoing clash between Wainroach and a death roach. They were in the deep depths of course, or more specifically, in an energy well. The energy well beneath House Firesword’s mines in Jerestir.

And he was watching as his newly empowered student went one-on-one against one of the most ferocious and infamous creatures of the depths. The exact one Orodan himself had fought against a long time ago in the long loop he had spent at Bluefire. It was a dual-Grandmaster and incredibly strong.

In no way should the Elite-level pyromancer cockroach have been able to fight it.

But against all odds, she was. And Wainroach was winning and the death roach scrambling to find an opening for escape.

“Aren’t they practically cousins?” Edrosic asked.

“Wouldn’t that make the gorillas of the Altarban forest our cousins then?” Orodan posed in return.

“Good point… perhaps not cousins…”

“I do not understand teacher. How has Wainroach grown so powerful?” Zukelmux asked. “Even I would have difficulty fighting against her in her current form.”

“Elemental Living Enchantment. When one has Fire Resistance and is a natural pyromancer… permanent enchantments inscribed with an element aren’t out of the realm of possibility.”

And that was what magnified Wainroach’s combat effectiveness manyfold. As her tiny form blurred from one hard-to-reach part of the death roach’s body to another, the elemental living enchantments Orodan had inscribed within her body glowed with power.

Orodan himself had only used them in the form of burst-style attacks, throwing his all into them even at the expense of bodily destruction. It was what had allowed him to shatter the Living Crystal and best the Prophet in the end. But to see his own student use them in such a sustained manner over the course of a fight? It gave him ideas.

Not only did Wainroach have Fire Resistance now, which allowed her to withstand and outheal the damage caused by the elemental enchantments. But she also possessed Fire Mastery, which made her control over the flames far better than his own. This allowed her to not only fuel the enchantments with her own flames throughout the course of battle, but to also circulate power through them more efficiently and with higher quality flames than he could.

The revelation of that had caused much discussion within that room in Bluefire once he’d finished. It could dramatically amplify the power of battlemages who used a certain element. And Orodan had agreed to inscribe body enchantments upon certain qualified battlemages and warriors who had the very rare Fire Resistance, or even Lightning Resistance since he was getting more confident with that element.

And now, as he witnessed her zooming about the death roach, singing and scalding it with her flames, he had to admit that his Elemental Living Enchantments could be extremely powerful in the right hands. The death roach was still attempting to run, but she refused to let it, continuously cutting off its escape routes. Furthermore, the moment she had entered an orifice… it was bad news for the overgrown bug who had been cooked well and good until it managed to thrash with such force that it dislodged her somehow.

Now, it was slowly being burnt to a crisp as Wainroach circled it, moving with such agility as she guided propulsing flames to allow her limited flight in certain vectors. In a toe-toe-toe battle she wouldn’t have been its match. Its melee abilities were simply too fierce. Even Zukelmux at his current strength had to fight seriously against death roaches.

But when one was as small as Wainroach was and could fly about at great speed the situation was a different one.

The death roach flailed desperately, attempting to hit her, but she simply remained out of reach and obscured the battlefield with bursts of flame which masked her body. Having Fire Resistance meant she could dive right into and through her own flames without any harm, which gave her an opportunity to mask her movements. More importantly it remained in a state of perpetual guard against the possibility of her entering an orifice again.

It had managed to survive the last such incident but had paid dearly for it. It might not survive another one.

Unfortunately for Wainroach, fifteen more minutes of battle began to reveal the weakness of the Elemental Living Enchantment for anyone who wasn’t Orodan. The flames of the enchantment inscribed into her flesh were power hungry, the flames a constant drain to keep empowered. He could sense that her soul energy was running low; the cost of maintaining such a heightened state of combat power.

She began flagging, her speed slowing and the flames lowering in amount. Eventually an opening presented itself for the death roach as it finally caught a glimpse of her through the now reduced flames which didn’t completely hide her body. And it took the opportunity…

…to run for its life.

“Smart of it. We shall put you through remedial soul training, Wainroach,” Orodan said, hopping down into the giant cavern.

Everything else at this level of the energy well had fled from the titanic clashes between his disciple and the now escaped death roach. And Wainroach could only look forlorn and disappointed in herself as the rest of the group approached her.

“Do not look so broken!” Zukelmux said, trying to cheer her up. “You fought a dual-Grandmaster while an Elite! Who else could do such a thing?”

Wainroach looked at Orodan and wiggled her forelegs.

“Do not compare yourself to others, but measure your own progress. In time, I’m certain you can beat even a triple-Grandmaster if you address the shortage of energy,” Orodan added. “Now come, I can see old Adeltaj has wrapped up his fight. He’s been waiting up ahead for a while.”

And as they went further down the shaft of the energy well, the advance party consisting of Desartes, Balastion, Eldarion and Talricto became visible. Ozgaric was the only one not present and the Guzuharan God had mentioned that he disliked being underground. They were in a wider portion of the energy well’s shaft, dimly lit by glowing mushrooms on the wall. Their dim light revealing the section’s former owner, a True Vampire, dead on the ground with a halberd through its head.

“Orodan! There you are!” Adeltaj called out. “I feel as though I should be a little happier about this moment, but strangely enough I feel nothing at all. Is revenge meant to feel so hollow?”

Orodan shook his head and palmed his own face.

“Your melodramatics are not as funny as you think. How can it be revenge when you remember nothing of it?” Orodan questioned, causing the old halberdier to give him a wry smile as he yanked the weapon out of the dead bloodsucker’s skull.

“Always ruining my entertainment… aren’t I supposed to be the mirthless old codger and you the brash young man? THen again… with how old you are…”

“You…! I’m not even old!” Orodan retorted.

“But Mister Wainwright, did you not say you spent thousands of years empowering the time loops?” Destartes reminded. “That’s certainly older than everyone here besides Lord Eldarion and his majesty Balastion.”

They were all ganging up on him, because of course they would. Bunch of old fools…

“Do not worry, Orodan. You are still a young man compared to me,” Balastion reassured in a tone that was not at all meant to be so.

They all shared a laugh at seeing him grumble and the party moved onward.

Orodan had never quite gone to the absolute bottom of an energy well. Unlike fighting, idle exploration wasn’t exactly a prime goal of his. That being said, he could already see the world energy in the shaft far denser than he recalled it being at this depth the last time he was here. A natural consequence of him purging all the Eldritch from Alastaia alongside his usage of Domain of Perfect Cleaning to banish the Gods he was hostile towards. It was a good thing he’d trained Zukelmux and Wainroach to not rely upon the external source of power that was world energy or else they’d have been insensate with euphoria.

With the planet and its world core entirely free of Eldritch, not just this well, but even the one at Anthus and those in Eldiron, Guzuhar, the Eastern Kingdoms and Novarria reported far denser levels of world energy.

As the party went deeper and deeper, they encountered some truly powerful monsters. A triple-Grandmaster spider which used blood as its element of choice. Zukelmux had needed a full two hours to slay it in a duel. A large and muscular minotaur wearing sagely robes who had conversed with them and allowed them to go deeper once it realized that they meant no harm, and disgustingly, a smelly fly the size of a house which had its entire section of the energy well lined with half-dead prey it was laying parasitic eggs within. This one, Wainroach took great pride in assisting with as she burnt the eggs and corpses to cinders while Zukelmux duelled it and secured yet another victory.

They proceeded deeper and deeper. And at a certain point Orodan stopped.

“Hmm… we’re a decent distance past the depth of the first gate.”

“And yet, no messages marking us as subjects of a Quest,” Destartes remarked. “Most fascinating. Does this mean that energy wells are a direct path to the world core? A weakness by System design perhaps?”

“Not sure if it can be called a weakness when the creatures dwelling within the shaft are in many cases stronger than even a Gate Guardian,” Orodan remarked.

Yet it seemed a true enough observation as they kept moving down the shaft. Nobody on record had ever reached the very bottom of an energy well. The law of all three Inuanan nations held that going down an energy well past the level of the wild depths required royal or council approval. And while Orodan doubted that some of the shallower energy wells reached all the way down into the planet’s core, this one he felt, did.

And the farther down they traversed the more evident it was becoming that travel down the shaft of one of these allowed someone to go enturely undetected by the world itself. An interesting thing to consider.

Thirty minutes of travel and they were well past the second gate too. And an hour later, they were near what appeared to be an opening. Orodan’s Vision of Purity told him what was on the other side.

“That opening will drop us right next to the chamber of the world core. The core guardian is purified and no longer a threat. Neither is the world core for that matter, though I would watch your back for the angry gate guardians who will have suddenly learned of your presence.”

“Understood,” Balastion said, stepping forward and leading the way as he leapt down.

Everyone else followed, and the moment they touched down, Orodan aside, they all froze. His Vision of Purity had grown in skill, he could sense the searching tendrils of world energy finding and then stiffening in immediate alarm. Alastaia now knew they were here.

“O-Orodan! I’ve just received a warning about being the subject of a Quest!” Edrosic exclaimed. “Says I need to be captured and brought before the world core!”

“Hmm… captured but not killed? Intriguing,” he replied. “Anyone else receive a notification which says otherwise?”

A once over of them all confirmed that they had all received notifications warning that they were to be captured. Perhaps the core had a suspicion about what had happened to it recently? That and its recent purification might have made it far less defensive and bloodthirsty against intruders.

“Well there’s no need for any capture. We’re right here and can just go present ourselves to the core directly,” Destartes said while leading the party onwards.

The vent from the energy well had dropped them off at a side chamber which led to the familiar hallway. GIgantic; a thousand miles wide and double that in length, leading down to a gate at the end. Behind that, around a corner was the chamber of the world core.

Balastion led the group inside while Orodan watched the rear. He wasn’t concerned. With the core and its guardian purged… he knew that they were a lot more amenable to a conversation than one would expect. In fact, it was to a world core’s benefit to have a world ruler and a strong world.

Something proven when they rounded the corner to stand before the world core, and the core guardian was tellingly passive as they approached.

“Welcome, visitors. Are you friend or foe? Do you wish good for the world or ill? Are you saviors of Alastaia or its doom?”

“The world core of Alastaia itself… I have only ever heard myths and fairy tales of such a thing from when I was a little boy…” Balastion whispered, in awe and unable to respond clearly.

“World spirit, soul of the earth, that which our life sustains itself upon. I, Eldarion, emissary of Eldiron, greet you.”

“We welcome you, Eldarion, although your unexpected Transcendence… surprises us. Did you take leave of Alastaia and attain it elsewhere? We have sensed no ripples in the tapestry, no shifts in the tumultuous currents of world energy.”

His students were as stricken by the sense of awe and majesty as Balastion was. Zukelmux could only stare on in awe while Aliya and Wainroach simply looked quite scared. Edrosic of all people though… he had a considering look upon his face, as though mapping something profound to draw in one of his later sketches.

Eldarion was showing respect, Adeltaj seemed just as speechless as Balastion, and Destartes was studying it with an inquisitive look in his eye. But then there was the last member of the party aside from Orodan himself.

“Rather small and pitiful for a world core, is it not? Why, in my travels I’ve seen world cores larger than the very star of this local stellar system!”

“We were not aware that visitors from the unseen planes were gracing our abode. Greetings, wanderer of the cosmos. Your kind are always welcome to come and share a tale.”

“Don’t tell me you know this arrogant bug…” Orodan muttered.

“We do not know it specifically, warrior of unknown origins. Merely of its kind who are often happy to regale us with a tale and move on throughout the otherwise lonley years… although… that was before the madness began setting in…”

“Ah yes, the madness. About that…”

From another entrance a frenzied being blurred through and landed in an animalistic manner, it’s countenance almost feral.

“None shall touch Alastaia!” the Void Horror roared. “I shall fulfil my duty as-”

“Silence. We wish to hear this warrior’s explanation for the good fortune which has recently befallen us.”

The Void Horror, befuddled, could only freeze in confusion and then gradually stand down.

And so Orodan spoke and recanted the entire tale of this loop, the time loops overall and his entire journey. Adeltaj and Destartes stepped in to help at many junctures too, which he was quite grateful for. After all, it felt like each time he had to explain everything it got longer and longer with all the seemingly unbelievable things he had done.

“If anything, I’m surprised your lips do not grow tired of retelling it all. I have personally lost count of all the times you’ve retold it… although I cannot help but intently hang upon the sound of every word each time you do.”

“Mister Wainwright? Your face is red, a poison?” Destartes asked, casting numerous spells and ready to respond to defend him.

“N-no… nothing of that sort,” he quickly dismissed to the sound of ringing laughter in his head.

Thankfully, it was Alastaia who interrupted his moment of being caught off-guard.

“Incredible. For a warrior of such prowess to be birthed from our bosom; for him to be anointed by the System itself in an act of supreme ordination. We sensed no falsehood in your words, Orodan Wainwright. You… are our saviour. The crowning jewel of our world, the guardian and almighty champion of Alastaia.”

“You need not lave me with excessive praise. I merely fought, and fought again until I became strong enough to face the foes which threatened me. By extension these enemies just so happened to be threats to Alastaia as well. Now, despite having met you before and having met many world cores in-between, I still do not exactly know what you are. Are you the world itself? A personification of its spirit? Its will? I know not, nor do I care. Such questions I leave to my academically inclined friend,” Orodan said, gesturing towards Destartes. “But what I do know is that you provided me guidance, unwittingly as it was as your System was tampered with, but guidance all the same. The Quest to stop the ancient machine, and then the Quest I took from Cyvrosdyr to stop the Eldritch Avatar. For that, thank you.”

“Vanguard of our world, we require no thanks for merely acting in self-preservation of ourselves and all who dwell upon us. Even throughout our gradual maddening from the source we retained enough clarity of mind to maintain vigil against any major threats and warn the mortal races and World Guardians of them accordingly.”

“Then you have my thanks for playing your role. Whatever it was, it allowed me to have direction when I had none. But this is not over, our work is not done. There are greater cosmic foes which come for us, and for that, Alastaia will need the cooperation and aid of its very world’s will.”

“And the people who dwell upon us shall have it. It only requires one to reach out and grasp the crown within.” Follow current novᴇls on novel★fire.net

Everyone’s eyes widened as a hollow leading to the center of the world core opened up, and a crown floated out of it, hovering before the arrayed party. Even Orodan was surprised as he didn’t know a world core would or could simply offer up its symbol of authority.

“Alastaia… are you truly offering up your crown so easily? It is not a decision which can be reversed…” the Void Horror spoke, cautioning the world core.

But the now uncorrupted core guardian, a Transcendent-level bat who had been silently watching from above all this time, finally spoke.

“This is the one who purged all the corruption from our souls. Cease your foolishness. Even the weakest Transcendent of this group is capable of besting me in battle. Better we accept our new lords with grace than invite suffering onto ourselves.”

“But our people past the gates…! How will-”

“They will be allowed to remain where they are and not bothered in the slightest,” Orodan interrupted. “I doubt the heroic Adeltaj Simarji would accept any other answer.”

“Even that I find dissatisfactory. Why should these folk have to hide beneath the ground like moles? If they wish to enter the surface we shall work upon integrating them,” Adeltaj countered.

“That is… that is most generous of you. I… can tentatively accept this arrangement then, provided you keep your word. Under your command we Gate Guardians and even the Core Guardian may join your armies in defense of our world,” the Void Horror added. “Long as you do not press our people into military service, we will follow you, Orodan Wainwright.”

“All that is contingent upon securing the crown of the World Ruler. Come, champion of Alastaia. Let us bequeath to you your right to rule.”

But for Orodan who hated the thought of leading, the sight of that crown and the image of it wrapped around his arm again made him quail. Having to actually lead people sounded like the most dreadful thing he could think of. Even the old Orodan who hated books and magic would agree.

“Can’t anyone else have it? Balastion? Eldarion? Either of you two are far better suited to rule than me,” he countered.

The first emperor looked to consider it for a moment, as did Eldarion, however the two looked at one another and then back at him before shaking their heads in dissent.

“My time in these loops has shown me that the burden of rule is a heavy one. How many mistakes did I make which could have been done better in hindsight? I have also found that I much prefer living in this world of peace you have helped create than ruling over it,” Balastion said. “It also needn’t be said, but Eldiron and the God-Queen would severely disapprove of Balastion Novar holding the world crown of Alastaia. She already bristles at the fact that you asked for Faraine’s release… and I would not subject my friend to further ire from his wife.”

Balastion and Eldarion, once rivals, were no longer so. The two rulers had become quite friendly over the loops of knowing one another and had come to realize that they were more similar than they had thought. And while that was fantastic and made him happy to know, it also didn’t help Orodan in the slightest right now.

“Damn it… Adeltaj? Destartes? You two are wise old men, right? Want to take a shot at ruling?”

“Me? Rule? I’m so old… I think that sort of exhausting thing is best left to the young…”

“You old coot! What was all that about not letting me stand alone!” Orodan protested as the old halberdier shamelessly looked anywhere but at him.

“Don’t look at me Mister Wainwright… I have discoveries to make and magical research to conduct. How can I do such things if I become a subject of study myself?” Destartes spoke.

“What about you Zukelmux?”

He didn’t think it possible for a goblin to turn any greener than they were, but his strongest disciple somehow managed.

The two simply shook their heads frantically.

“How am I to draw a picture of King Orodan Wainwright, the first of his name, if I’m the one wearing the crown?”

Just for that, he would be dispensing extra combat lessons at a later date.

“Damn it… are the lot of you trying to force me into dragging Old Man Hannegan here from his work? I’ll put the crown on his head myself.”

“Unless of course… someone were to put it on yours first.”

Orodan tried to resist, he did. But the chamber of the world core was far too cramped to unleash his full power without damaging anything. And try as he might, he had learned over the past five loops that when given the advantage of a time loop, certain people were just better than him at certain things. Talricto was one of them

And as he trained and grew, so did the spider. If anything, the naturally more talented eight-legged dimensionalist, when given time and exposure to Orodan’s techniques, could adapt to them very quickly.

Sure, he could counter the dimensional phase spider through raw power and brute force, which was his unique advantage. But in a match of finesse and pure skill… Talricto was his superior.

So when, despite his best efforts, the world crown slipped onto his arm via a deft dimensional push of force…

…Orodan could do nothing but grimace.

“Group twenty-four rotate out with group forty-eight. Group nine mind your spacing with those rituals unless you want to get in the way of the chronomancers from seven! And you! Tell your group leader to send me that report on the supplies right away!”

A sheaf of paper was practically thrown at the face of the Logistics supervisor, Bodil Bistrid. The woman was reliable enough at her job and familiar with working alongside the old man, thus she’d been specifically called upon for the endeavor.

“Get the supplies on that list out of storage. We’re nearing the end,” Old Man Hannegan said.

“You heard him,” Bodil said. “Get the crystals and energy batteries. You’ll be the one filling them up after all.”

He nodded and set about going through the carefully organized warehouse of materials, pulling out finely crafted jewels and a gigantic energy battery.

[Logistics 31 → Logistics 32]

A level long overdue and part of his final efforts to get some training in while Old Man Hannegan directed the combined forces of Alastaia’s greatest craftsfolk and laborers towards constructing a grand array. Orodan’s own contribution to that effort had been working alongside Bodil Bistrid to manage the logistics, transport and distribution of materials.

A grand array capable of transporting a large group anywhere within the galaxy… or even beyond.

It was a design he recalled the Conclave possessing, a grand array capable of transporting someone very far while avoiding the dangers of the void between galaxies. Unless the device was damaged, only an Embodiment of Space could interrupt it mid-travel.

Yes, Spatial Fold and his existing Space Mastery could likely replicate the feat, but the entire point of this was to make Alastaia self-sufficient. To make it so that its armies could traverse the galaxy as needed with or without him. Destartes in particular was taking meticulous notes, being their looping group’s designated research specialist, as was Old Man Hannegan, committing to memory the best and most efficient ways of rebuilding this thing if needed.

But Orodan found their actions unnecessary. He had faith, that this loop victory would be his. He intended on doing something which would eliminate the necessity of rebuilding from nothing each time.

The final movements for constructing the grand array were performed with utmost care. It was a giant device; the product of every single nation of Alastaia providing its colective resources and wealth towards its construction. The final crystals were slotted into their designated sockets, and the energy battery was dlicately moved by a team of telekinetic mages into its rightful slot. Orodan was not even allowed to slot any of these things in, for so delicate was their placement that specialists alone could move them.

Forgemasters from Inuan and Eldiron, ritualists and diviners from the Eastern Kingdoms and Guzuhar, and enchanters from Xan’Coran. The greatest Grandmasters of each craft were present and providing their skills to this endeavor, and it had paid off.

“Orodan, now. Charge the battery up,” Old Man Hannegan directed.

And instead of filling it with his own power he instead directed the crown of the world ruler upon his arm and instructed Alastaia to do it.

In the last long loop where he’d been a World Ruler, his control over world energy had come through only the crown, and he hadn’t extensively experimented with it either. But now, having built a System of his own his understanding of System energy and its derivative, which was world energy, had grown. He could see and understand its flows. And with Destartes now having his memories returned each loop, the old wizard not only insisted that Orodan experiment and use the world crown in unique ways so that the old mage could take notes, but also that he learn these methods for the future and help the world spirit of Alastaia itself grow used to helping in the planet’s defense.

The transfer of energy was a bit tumultuous. Orodan didn’t have access to the System everyone else did and the crown still worked when used by him although in a far jankier manner than that of any other World Ruler he had seen. But the energy battery powering the grand teleportation array filled up all the same. A tremendous amount of power which could transport any number of people many galaxies away.

The array came to life with a hum, Griok’s handcrafted jewels and the energy battery holding steady under the strain. Space subtly shifted; the only indicator that the array was now working.

“It is… it is done,” Destartes said, looking excited. “I did not think our world and its peoples possessed the resources to build something of this scale, but it appears Alastaia itself has proven me wrong.”

The world spirit was an immediate and critical ally in helping build the array. The thing needed metal, lots of it. Furthermore, Alastaia didn’t have any Transcendent or divine craftsfolk the way the Conclave did. Which meant that their skill in actually executing the task of building such a grand array would be inferior. Which in turn meant that the array had a higher likelihood of failing.

But that was a problem solved by Alastaia’s world core directing them to safe areas within the abyssal depths where they could find more deposits of that enhanced dothril ore. With the gate guardians accompanying them, the mortal nations of the three continents sent mining teams to extract abundant amounts of the precious metal. It was proof of what could be achieved if not just the nations of the world, but it very world spirit and subterranean denizens could do when working together.

With the grand array composed of this enhanced dothril the margin for error was much wider, which allowed the comparatively unskilled specialists of Alastaia to still build the array functionally.

“We simply wish to see our shared abode defended against the coming intruders. If that involves seeking allies and talent from other worlds and galaxies… we shall aid in what we can,” the will of the world spoke through the crown on Orodan’s arm.

“Of course, we shall not be marching through with an army to this Lonvoron. Not initially,” Balastion spoke. “This world of voidships, guns and steam-powered metal machinery will not take kindly to a military incursion. Our forces are likely to be riddled full of holes if we try such a thing.”

“Correct,” Tegin Carrotfoot agreed. “Which is why Mister Wainwright shall go ahead first and establish contact with whoever he needs to. I believe this small island settlement, Port Bellgrave, is where you encountered Fenton Penny, correct?”

“Aye. But getting there was no easy task and I ran afoul of an Embodiment of Space who was more than a little displeased with me as a result. Which in turn drew me into a fight against a Living Crystal, also at the Embodiment-level.”

“Both of which are undesirable. Although friendly contact with this Alagameth you mentioned would not be a bad idea…” Eldarion spoke. “Perhaps if someone other than yourself did the actual talking, we might be able to recruit this spatial spider?”

“I’m not even that bad… we fought, we got along and then we came to an understanding,” Orodan defended.

“As impressive as your diplomatic abilities are, they succeed in spite of your bullheaded methods, not because of them,” Balastion reminded. “In the Prophet, this Alagameth and we share a common foe. Perhaps we can bring it over to our side through diplomacy and the possibility of dealing with this corrupted Administrator.”

“If we can even win… I do not know how you intend to defeat this being which can break galaxies, Mister Wainwright,” Destartes said. “Strong as we have grown, we are still Transcendents while you are the only Embodier among us. And these Administrators seem to be the very pinnacles of Embodiment.”

“Last time, it took the Prophet a while to even commit to the battlefield in pursuit of the Administrator’s Mantle the previous looper bears. I cannot outright confirm this, but from everything I have seen thus far there appears to be some limit on how far these Administrators can go when interfering against lower-level beings. The Warrior seems quite ready to hound its steps should the Prophet act too rashly and too soon.”

“Right… I recall you saying that. Then, it makes no sense for it to act unless the Mantle is right within its grasp, and this Almyra’s secrecy means that it cannot commit lest it waste its shot and attract the Warrior’s ire,” Tegin Carrotfoot added. “If we simply grab this Fenton and aid in liberating Lonvoron of the Eldritch, perhaps that will be enough?”

“In fact… I intend to bring her and the Blackworth Collective with me. So that the eye of our foes may be drawn to Alastaia.”

“You are… confident of success this time. But is it truly wise to court so much attention to our world?” the halfling asked Orodan.

“We will need it. The Administrators have conflicting opinions of one another, and drawing the Prophet here will be our surest chance of success. Especially with other Administrators converging here in less than two weeks’ time as well,” Orodan answered.

Much as he wanted to fight them head-on, this loop he had something important to do. He had more than just himself to consider.

“Then the peoples of Alastaia shall meet them when they come,” Ozgaric spoke.

“How goes the progress on your end?” Orodan asked.

“Well. That dimensional spider is exceedingly clever… the possibilities he has shown us. With his aid Malzim, Halor and I shall be ready soon.”

“As shall the other three of the elven pantheon,” Eldarion added on. “My wife is… excited at the possibility of what can occur, even though I dread to meet her for too long in the material plane…”

“Which leaves only Lonvoron before us…” Orodan muttered, clenching his fist. “I believe it’s time to get one of my students back.”

“Focus, Orodan. I know I call you a barbarian quite often, but I must concede that despite being a savage possessed of ill manners-”

“-in contrast to the brutish nature you regularly display-”

“-you are a hard worker, and passably talented at Dimensionalism for a human. I suppose that odd body composition of yours which allows for you to resist the dimensional forces does help, as does that unfair ability of yours to draw upon endless power as though you are a black hole incarnate… but you are genuinely good at this. If anyone can step past the defences of Lonvoron, besides I, the illustrious Talricto, it would be you, my disciple.”

Last time, he had entered Lonvoron via spatiomancy. This time, he intended to enter via Dimensionalism. His target was the same shanty workshop upon the perpetually rainy island town of Port Bellgrave.

Vision of Purity had grown, but not anywhere near enough to tell whether Fenton was inside the shop from across galactic distances. Nor did he exactly have any vision skills which allowed him to actively look at the wards surrounding the Vystaxium Galaxy at present.

Furthermore, and the real reason he was using Dimensionalism… was that spatiomancy would see every enemy Embodier and those affiliated with them on his tail. Unlike traveling through the dimensional boundary, manipulating space to travel was easier and more powerful, but far more detectable and warded against. Going through the void between galaxies, where Embodiers resided, was fraught with far too much risk if using space.

And he could not afford to tip his hand early, not before everything was ready for him to enact his mad desire.

“I’m still not entirely sure how I’m to step onto Lonvoron while also avoiding the traps and wards meant to detect dimensional intrusion when I cannot see that far at all,” Orodan spoke.

“Foolish student. Do you not adapt to the barbaric tussle of swords and clubs? Why do you lack faith in yourself to adapt to this?” Talricto questioned.

“Like a fight then? An odd way to approach wards which will send out an alarm otherwise is it not?”

“Think less and simply do. You function best when committing to action, like the brute you are.”

The spider wasn’t wrong about that.

The gulf between galaxies was utterly and unfathomably massive. That being said, spatiomancy was in fact the harder field to cross truly gargantuan distances with. In that regard, Dimensionalism was superior as one could simply enter a dimensional plane where distances were incredibly compressed and then peel apart the boundary to re-enter the material plane at a different corresponding location much farther away.

But Orodan wasn’t known for shortcuts, and he had no doubts that Almyra had warded other such adjacent dimensional planes as they were the apparent and easy way to enter her galaxy.

So, with a flex of his full power, Orodan poured it all into a singular Dimensional Step aimed right for the Vystaxium Galaxy.

[Dimensionalism 95 → Dimensionalism 96]

[Dimensional Step 48 → Dimensional Step 50]

Immediately, he encountered the first bit of resistance as he walked past the boundary between dimensions and towards Lonvoron.

Dimensional entities. Strange, skittering things with which seemed to feed off of the colossal energy he poured into his step. They were hungry too, and he could see even Talricto’s Dimensional Step fading out and the spider being forced to stand and confront these things or use alternate tricks to get away.

But while his eight-legged mentor was his superior in skill, that wasn’t the case for brute force.

A dozen of these entities exploded and died on the spot, the sheer energy contained in his Dimensional Step proving too much for them. If anything, they luckily helped bleed some power off as the next obstacle, a ward meant to detect excess dimensional force, like a checkpoint, was ahead.

Naturally… he utterly failed to stop himself being detected by it.

But that was okay, for as Talricto said, if he treated it like a fight he would get far. So he did.

Time Reversal shot out and pulled the alarm state of that ward back to before it detected his spike of power. It had a built-in failsafe to counter such a move… a contracted elemental whose System was somehow tied to the detection as it gained a level from spotting his passing.

This was an ingenious and absolute method of preventing detection. No being in System space could reverse time for someone’s System. That was… unless they were stripped of the System entirely and were a being outside of it like Orodan now was.

Another cast of Time Reversal reverted its level gain and he carried on past it.

Three more obstacles got in his way, basic alarms and wards meant to stop dimensional intrusion. One of them even tied to the divine dimension as a still loyal God of the Blackworth Collective maintained watch over the boundary between planes.

This too, he smashed right past by intimidating the divine sentry into outright ignoring his presence via Incipience of Infinity and brute forcing the other two and then reverting time to reset their alarm states.

Orodan had expected a bit more when he found himself crashing through the familiar sheet metal roof of Fenton’s shanty gunsmithing workshop upon Port Bellgrave.

As usual, he destroyed a few racks of rifles and a familiar set of eight legs perched upon his shoulder immediately after.

“That wasn’t so bad.”

“Congratulations my student. You bypassed all the wards but roused into a frenzy one of the largest swarms of dimensional horrors in this part of the cosmos.”

“…want me to go kill them?”

Orodan wasn’t sure if spiders could sigh or palm their faces like humans could, but whatever Talricto was doing came close to qualifying.

“No… no I do not. I shall handle guiding them away, and you… just try not to upend anything else.”

With that the eight-legged dimensionalist winked out of the material plane, leaving just Orodan in the shop.

Just him and one frightened young lad in a life of indentured servitude and far more enchanting talent than sense.

“Oy! Stay away you vagabond! I won’t be accosted by-”

The orb touched the lad’s head…

…and the entire workshop began glowing with power and resounded with the screams of Fenton Penny as his memories began to meld.

It took a lot longer than the others’ had. The sheer amount of insights and special notes Fenton had packed away into his specific memory bank were a novel function he hadn’t even known the orb was capable of.

Fifteen minutes of writhing and yelling later, the lad’s eyes finally opened. Just in time to see a large palm heading for his head.

Quick as Fenton was, when Orodan wanted to cuff someone atop the head, they would receive and could do nothing about it.

“And that’s for getting yourself killed on my behalf. Stupid lad.”

Fenton, a red lump upon his head and eyes containing recognition could only look at Orodan.

Mist began to gather in the young man’s eyes.

“Hey now… you needn’t have such a look on your face-”

Like a missile, Fenton crashed into him.

“You… you’re getting my uniform wet…”

Although he couldn’t bring himself to pry the hysterical young man off, nor stop himself from ruffling the boy’s head.

Idiot disciple of his.

“Y-you came back! You actually came back!” the lad said, pulling himself away and now looking exceedingly embarrassed at getting so emotional.

“Of course I did… did you think you get to slack on your training so easily? There are other students of mine who you’ll be learning alongside too,” Orodan spoke, and then looked the lad up and down. “How much do you remember?”

“From when I handed you the orb ser…”

Then the young man remembered a lot. Up to and possibly including his own death too. Yet that also meant that Fenton’s mind was fresh with designs, devices and insights that could make a true difference in his upcoming efforts.

“Did you really come back just to train me ser? Won’t it all reset again when-”

“No. Not this time. We’re going to cure your mother, save your world and get you a new home.”

And at the end of it all, find a way to ensure that no more of these reunions were necessary.