Ar'Kendrithyst

Chapter 240, 1/2

Chapter 240, 1/2

The sky was dark, and so was Melemizargo, his white-fanged maw curled in a gentle smile, high above Erick and Jane. His wings, his neck, his body, and his tail, spread outward like solid black voids, but with scales that glinted in the subtle light of his eyes and in the distant light of the sun, hiding behind the clouds above.

Erick stood next to Jane, on the white crystal dais that was Melemizargo’s public-access throne, while the God of Magic sat slightly curled on his own, raised white crystal dais. Clear crystal spires ringed the ‘throne room’, some of them only meters wide and meters tall, while others were thick as buildings and reached just as high, each of them filled with shadows that curled and danced in the presence of their god.

They were in the middle of Ascendant City, located on the southern half of Ascendant Mountain, right at the cliffside edge that separated the halves of the split land. Melemizargo’s tail even curled over that edge, and then flipped the other way, back into view. He was happy. Inordinately happy.

And Erick had a choice.

He could allow himself to truly wallow in the fury at the machinations that led him to stand here with his daughter at his side, where both of them were vulnerable to whatever horrors would come from searching out the Sundering. Or, he could be productive. Melemizargo had given out his task to Erick, to solve the question of the Sundering, but he had also given him permission to seek out every single bit of information and power that could be used to strengthen Veird for the coming expansion.

Erick wanted those strengthening magics.

There were some concerns, though.

Erick said, “I have some concerns.”

“Speak your concerns, and let all know that I am listening.”

Erick was going to ask some tough questions. He hoped that Melemizargo would answer them truthfully, and that those answers would be acceptable.

“Long ago you said that you consider this world to be fake, and only recently you have changed positions on this. As a part of that previous view on the world, you thought that some outsiders might have been trying to get information or something else out of you, and that you needed to fight back with all your might against their intrusive inquiries.” Erick asked, “Wouldn't we, trying to solve all of Veird’s problems with Old Cosmology magic, intrude upon that sanctity of the Dark that you were so paranoid about protecting?”

Melemizargo listened, his eyes focused on Erick. There was a flicker of anger there, but he crushed that anger. He nodded, then said, “I’m still the God of Magic, and that Mantle is not passing now, or ever, or at least until I am sure that we truly are outside of this life raft of Veird, and are able to continue expanding uninterrupted. This question of malicious actors desiring power from me remains a paranoia that I experience, but you sorting through my memories of the Old Cosmology does not endanger my Mantle of godhood. To me, what is happening now, is that I am showing you a treasure hall and you are free to pick from the trinkets and books that you find, but the hall itself is still mine. That will not change.”

Erick’s question had been a potentially very dangerous one. But Melemizargo had given a good answer. It was one that Erick could easily believe, for now.

Erick moved on. “How do you see this plundering of the Dark going?”

“Any way you desire,” Melemizargo said, calmly.

As though Erick hadn’t just called it a ‘plundering’.

“A perfect outcome for me would be for both of you to make many different copies of yourself, and to send them out into the Dark together, while you two remain here, and safe. To that end, I have one dungeon with multiple dungeon slimes ready to copy both of you many times over, and the crack between the southern and northern halves of Ascendant Mountain is filled with dungeons that give base mana regeneration per major accomplishment therein. Your repros can go in there and gain base power, to bring you closer to the originals’ power. 99% of the tasks in those dungeons are the killing of monsters, and 1% is touching the dungeon cores themselves, for a final reward.” Melemizargo said, “I expect copies to go and get about 10,000 base mana per day down there in the canyon. After a month, with around 250,000 mana production per copy, they should be able to survive the dark well enough to dive multiple times before they meet their accidental ends.

“I also expect that nothing will happen right away.

“All I care about is that somethinghappens in the correct direction, eventually, and that we’re set up to eventually and inevitably go in a positive direction.

“Gather the brightest minds of your generation. Ward the walls. Set up in another location that more fits with your desire for security, though I will still go to that location and make it mine, but whatever makes you feel more comfortable is fine with me.

“As for actual targets in the Dark:

“Perhaps a visitation of the shadows of Old Wizards is in order? Someone to teach you all the various ways in which the final ascent to True Wizard might happen?

“Perhaps I can help you step into Paradox, and pull out a version of you which has already ascended to Wizard, while simultaneously stripping them of their Wizardness, to better secure this current era?” Melemizargo said, “What will nothappen right now, though, is that you will notgive me any answers at all. Instead, you will stay here for as long as you desire. There are many resources here, at Ascendant Mountain, that do not exist anywhere else in the world. My Shades are just one such resource.”

The Dark God of Magic flicked his wings, shadows going wide. Shades appeared. But not all of them.

“Hollowsaur and Treant are here, in the wild dungeons of the canyon and in the cultivated gardens of the northern slope.”

Hollowsaur and Treant were exactly as Erick remembered them from a few years ago; the last time he had seen them. Erick could have visited them at any time, though, because both of them had worked in this land since it was established.

Both were male orcols, nearly 3 meters tall and just over 3 meters tall, respectively. While Hollowsaur wore ceremonial leather armor crafted from beasts he had killed and harvested himself, Treant wore some leaves, and his skin was more brown-bark, than brown-colored. Both of them bowed to Erick.

“Lapis is a relatively new addition to Ascendant Mountain who has taken to making useful artifacts for people to find inside of my dungeons the world over, and under.”

Lapis was an androgynous dark-skinned woman without any hair on her head, who wore a slick black dress. Her eyes glowed bright white, as did all the Shades and Melemizargo, but Lapis’s eyes were the kindest Erick had ever seen from a Shade, which made a bunch of sense. Lapis had fulfilled the ‘1001 good deeds’ requirement of her “Repent Sinner!’ Quest years ago. Now she was on the 101 year wait.

Lapis bowed to Erick.

“And then we have Fallopolis, my Culler.”

Fallopolis stepped out of the shadows, also looking exactly as Erick remembered. She was a grandmother of a woman, with frizzy white hair that was barely kept in check by a hairband, a rather masculine cut to her suit, and a black staff of kendrithyst crystal floating beside her, ready to be gripped and wielded at a moment’s notice.

She did not bow to Erick. She did nod, though.

“Fallopolis will be your primary contact when I am not available, but if you wish to speak to me at any time, just come up to this Throne, or speak wherever you are, and I will hear my name.” Melemizargo said, “Aside from that contact, we have the Well of Darkness located below this Throne. That is where you will be searching for dungeons that might lead to answers in the Dark, so I suggest you go figure out how that works, for the Well of Souls and Shadows is not exactly me, so it takes some getting used to in order to work it properly.

“The Well will also serve as a [Scry] mirror, to let you find Jane or her copies or your own copies when they’re out there delving in the Dark. All of the Shades know how to use it well, so learn from them when you can.”

Melemizargo stopped talking, and waited.

Erick took a moment, and asked, “Why don’t you just know what caused the Sundering?”

“Because The Sundering was an obliterating event, erasing its own passage through the Old Cosmology, and all I have are partial reconstructions of the past.” Melemizargo said, “I doubt you’ll be able to find proper, exact answers to that disastrous question at all. But you should be able to see tracks left in the Dark. Events where the Sundering started. Planes that were known and then gone, but which left records left on fragments of worlds that survived for a while.

“Lapis has been searching for the Sundering in the Dark for years with little to show, but she still has quite a lot of records about that search, and not just her own. I have been asking ‘what was the Sundering’ for a very long time, Erick, and many people have done research into this topic. You will have unfettered access to that information when it proves necessary, but for now, smaller access is granted.”

Erick scowled a little at not having full access to all records right away. “Why ask me for this? WhyJane? Why hasn’t anyone been able to figure this out before now?”

“Shades simply dissipate inside of me. So they’re no good for proper searches in the Dark.

“I’ve been insane for a long while, so there’s that.

“I’ve only been able to invite people into the Dark recently, with the dungeons, which was one of the major reasons for the dungeons in the first place.

“And so, I would need to either appoint a Champion to gather more information, which I have agreed not to do, or I would need a paladin capable of truly delving into the Dark, of which Jane is that person. Though she has yet to actually accept her paladinhood, so it is what it is.

“The other major solution is to have a Wizard, True yet or not, piece together what is out there into a cohesive whole. And that’s you.

“Know this, Erick. I cannot do it myself. I have tried. My memory is a fragmented mess, but I am still a God. I can still put myself back together rather well, and your Particle Magic has helped as an anchor for my mind. You have given me an edge to hold myself together. And that is terrifying, for many different reasons.

“The fact that a simple Wizard’s exploration of a new universe is enough to pull myself together should terrify you, because I should be beyond you. I am eldritch. I am unknowable. Except, I obviously am not all that. The very fact that you were able to pull me out of my insanity is crazy. But it happened.

“And I don’t know why.

“I have a theory, though.

“My theory is this: Whatever caused the Sundering is still out there,still actively hiding, and it is doing a very good job of hiding, but for some reason, Particle Magic fucked it up, too.

“Thatis why the Relevant Entities of the Script agreed to this. Thatis why this is happening now. You’re notlooking for the previous causes of the Sundering. You’re looking for the active causeof the Sundering.” Melemizargo breathed out. “Or maybe the Sundering was left far behind, and Particle Magic destroyed whatever remnants of it existed, freeing me from my insanity. Either way, find the answers, Erick, and let us put this horror to a proper End.”

Erick felt sweat break out across his body at the thought of the Sundering still being active.

And so, Erick simply said, “Okay.”

Melemizargo breathed out again, relaxing another fraction.

And that was enough talking for him.

Melemizargo gave Erick the smallest of nods, and then he vanished backward, his voice trailing, “I look forward to Ending this horror, Erick and Jane, and to civilization once again spreading out to the New Cosmology.”

The Shades spoke in unison, “To the New Cosmology.”

Erick felt another chill, even as clouds disappeared and light chased away most of the shadows.

And then Fallopolis stepped forward, being more personable, as she said, “Hello again, Erick. We have lodgings for you and your daughter, if you wish to use them. Or you can bring a cloud castle in.”

“My gods,” Erick mumbled, the depth of what had just happened leaving him a little shaken. And then he gathered his wits, and strongly said, “Let’s get to the housing! Get this shit show on the road! Know now that I’m gonna be changing everything I don’t like around here, Fallopolis.” Erick opened a small [Gate] to the library in House Benevolence. “Goldie? Are you there? Or are you already here?”

Goldie stepped out of the Shadows near Melemizargo’s Throne, saying, “I’m here, my King.”

“Good.” Erick looked around, breathed deep, and then said, “What about Farix and Queen? Or are they not involved in this?”

Fallopolis said, “Farix is at New Brightwater, but he can be made to come here if you desire it.” She added, “Queen is in Nelboor at the moment, working on several Quest-points right now. I heard they’re at a delicate stage. She will obviously report here for duty if you need her to be here.”

Erick felt some of his anger drain. “No. Unnecessary.” He breathed again, centering himself… And then he noticed Fallopolis, Treant, and Goldie’s all-white eyes seem to flicker to the top of Erick’s head. His horns were out. Well that was fine. They could stay out. But he had also grown a decimeter in height. He had no idea when all of that had happened, but that extra height could stay, too. He fixed Fallopolis with his gaze, and said, “Let’s see the lodgings, and to the Heart of Melemizargo; the Well of Souls.” He said to Lapis, “I would see your work.” He said to Goldie, “Do you want to stay, or go back?”

“I’ll stay, my King. I would like to act as your Hand in this arena.”

Fallopolis raised an eyebrow in Goldie’s direction, then said to Erick, “I would call upon you later, if Goldie is going to be acting as your Hand in this land.”

“Lovely. That’s acceptable. I’ll see the rest of you later.” Erick gestured away. “To the lodgings we go, wherever they are.”

Jane started walking left, saying, “They’re this way.”

Because of course Jane had already been here, and knew where to go.

Goldie also started walking to the left, nodding, her giant black sword hovering behind her like a plank of black steel.

Fallopolis, Lapis, Treant, and Hollowsaur, all bowed to varying degrees, as Erick followed behind Jane and Goldie, to the east side of Melemizargo’s Throne.

- - - -

Erick stepped down a wide white staircase, deep into a canyon of clear crystal, following his daughter and the former Shade of Assassination, through lands that reminded him a lot of Brightwater, back in Ar’Kendrithyst. Back when he first went into that land, he had stepped down a similar staircase, and all around had been skyscrapers of crystal with sky bridges and little courtyards filled with plants and a whole bunch of different living areas, all filled with shadelings walking around in fugue-states. Those almost-people played out their lives as though they were real people, and not barely-sentient souls of the Old Cosmology stuck walking tracks that their lives used to walk, so very long ago.

Looking back on that moment, and knowing what he now knew, Erick could tell that the shadelings around here, in these skyscrapers and in these living spaces, were actual people. Humans and incani and harpies and goblins, and all the other races of Veird, were present in this place. And they all noticed Erick, Jane, and Goldie, walking down a staircase that did not connect to any of the nearby crystals. Erick walked through the lands of shadelings; separate, but seen.

It was better than walking through a land of ghosts. It was better than walking ‘invisibly’, knowing that if the residents did see you, that they would go dark-shit insane and try to kill you.

As it was, these people all bowed at Erick’s passing, some going all the way to their knees to press their foreheads against the skybridges they walked upon, and against the floors of courtyards that hung suspended between crystal spires. All conversation stopped. All sounds ceased, save for the wind blowing through the crystal city, through the second largest shadeling civilization here on Veird.

This all sort of reminded Erick of the actual largest shadeling civilization on Veird; Candlepoint. Except a lot more layered.

In four minutes, Jane led them from Melemizargo’s Throne, to step onto a large white-and-clear crystal courtyard; one of the largest around. To the left and the right were sky bridges that encircled the area under the Throne, providing what amounted to a ‘wall’, separating the shadeling side of Ascendant Mountain from the rest of Ascendant Mountain. Behind Erick lay an inhabited city. Further forward lay lands of real monsters, and cultivated danger. That’s where sentinel golems prowled and adventurers killed those sentinels, to gain keys to the greater dungeons, which also lay ahead, in that land of white crystal, deep shadows, and grand dungeons.

Jane headed right, along the border sky bridge, following a wide gap in the crystal city.

Erick followed. Almost no one walked this road for it was guarded by guardians who hovered above and to the sides, ready to kill anyone who came this way without keys, or without permission.

Jane soon came to the end of the road, to where a large open space held out from the crystal lands like a cliff-balcony, reaching beyond the city, to stick out over the canyon. She turned right. Erick glanced to the left, and saw the northern slope of Ascendant Mountain, about 3.5 kilometers down, looking like a carpet of green with a few brighter colors here and there. Between the northern slope and this southern rise, lay a dark canyon filled with monsters and dungeons… somewhere down there in the shadowy mist—

Jane pointed forward and spoke for the first time in the fifteen minutes they had walked here, “That’s where we’re staying.”

It was standard crystal housing, looking from the outside almost like a skyscraper, like the upscale hotels of Treehome. The whole thing was white and opaque and boxy, but there were also tan areas, shadows in corners, and glinting gold here and there. Some balconies on some of the windows offered great views of the north, and also of the east, where the sun would rise over a land of crystal, and mountains.

Jane walked up to the entrance, and then went into the crystal tower.

Erick easily followed, and so did Goldie.

“A whole hotel to ourselves?” Erick asked, as he looked around the lobby, and saw for himself what awaited him. Luxury. And a lot of it. “I suppose private pools for bathing quarters are nice. If a bit much.”

There were four servants in the hotel, each of them shadelings. Three of them were in the kitchens, located about 40 meters away and down in the bowels of the hotel, all kowtowing in Erick’s direction. The fourth was kowtowing beside what was obviously a concierge desk, right in front of Erick.

Erick said, “Rise, and tell me what you’re here for.”

The concierge rose. He was a human shadeling—

And Erick knew him.

Erick scrunched his eyebrows, saying, “Gary Dearth-of-flowers? Is that you?” He had to be. Gary was a person born as a woman, who wished for and got a [Reincarnation] from Erick several years ago, along with a new first name chosen by Erick; his primary name remained his choice, though. Gary had become a human through that transformation. “You’re a shadeling again? And working here? Rise, please.”

Sometimes people who went through [Reincarnation] to get away from their shadeling status decided to go back to being a shadeling. Or they died again, and their souls went to Melemizargo because they still believed in Melemizargo. Erick wasn’t sure which camp Gary belonged to… But he wished to know.

“Yes, my king; shadeling again,” Gary said, getting to his feet. “I actually worked in a smaller hotel to the south side, where adventurers might stay, but when it became apparent that you would be coming here there was a call for volunteers. I spoke up. And now I am here, gratefully serving you. Any mundane thing you wish for, I will bring to you.”

Erick cast his gaze over to the other three shadelings in the kitchens. He didn’t know them. He turned his attentions back to Gary. “Okay. Well. Nice to see you again. The rooms look lovely.”

Gary grinned at that, and then bowed professionally. “We aim to please.”

Erick decided to just ask, “Did you die, Gary? Do you want another [Reincarnation]?”

Gary’s small grin turned into a nice little smile. “I tried delving and failed miserably, but I am happy with my life now. Everything is as it should be, and Melemizargo is as good of a god as any.”

“Okay… Well. Then that’s fine.” Erick said, “Spread the word, if you could, if anyone wants [Reincarnation]s. I’ll probably be here in town for a while, with my daughter… Who appears to have already gone up to the rooms.”

Jane had gone ahead, with Goldie pausing to look at Erick for a moment, before she decided to stand at attention at the side of the room, like a professional guard.

Erick said to Gary, “I’ll probably be going back to Aniduun for a small gathering and politicking. No need for dinner tonight, but I will be wanting to talk to you later about the relations between the dungeon guild cities and Ascendant Mountain.”

Gary bowed. “Your will be manifest.”

Erick moved on, up the stairs, to their rooms, which appeared to be four whole floors of high-class hotel rooms. Jane had already picked her rooms, so Erick went into there. Goldie followed, and then melded into the shadows behind Erick, leaving him ‘alone’ with his daughter.

The rooms were nice.

And then Jane asked, “Why are you going along so easily with all of this? I thought you’d be yelling back there.”

“That’s an easy answer,” Erick said, “My personal comfort in this scenario is the least of my concerns. Your comfort in this scenario ranks much, much higher. And besides; I’ll be changing all of this to suit my needs, and if I didn’t do this, then someone else would, and I’d rather be here at the center of it all instead of on the outside looking in.”

Jane relaxed a little, and then she nodded. “... Okay.”

Erick asked, “How were you going to go about all this?”

“Pretty much exactly as Melemizargo outlined up there. Copies of myself, hunting in pairs or trios for the answers in the Dark.” Jane asked, “Are you going to make one? Because that’s what I had planned on doing right now.”

“… Are you mentally ready to wake up and not be yourself?”

“Yes,” Jane said, without hesitation. “I’m ready for that. Have been for a while now.”

Erick didn’t believe that right now, but he was ready to start believing, soon. “I assume this hotel would have been for multiples of you?”

“Yes. I’ve been to a lot of places here already, but in a preliminary sort of way.” Jane looked around. “Every room is the same, except for the view. There were going to be, like, 10 of us, making do and making progress, with Lapis directly helping and Fallopolis running around taking care of larger concerns. I was going to learn a few things before I got to copying myself, though, so that all of me didn’t have to keep learning the same thing every time.” Jane asked, “To that end: want to go see the Well? Or talk to Lapis? Both need to be done as soon as possible.”

Erick recalled what he knew of the Well.

The Well of Melemizargo, also known as the Heart of Darkness, or the Black Mirror, or any number of other names, was the geographical ‘center’ of the Dark. Or at least that was the popular theory of it all. The Dark Mirror is where some shadelings came from, though most were born from smaller gatherings of Darkness and Shadow near the Well, and not from the Well itself.

The Dark didn’t actually have a geographical center, though.

The Well could move, gathering shadows wherever Melemizargo desired it to be. The Well used to be at the Spire in Ar’Kendrithyst, and though it had been physically destroyed in that location tens of times over Ar’Kendrithyst’s long history, it was not an actual item. It was a place, and it was sort of like the Vile and Exalted moons of Hell and Celes; gathering locations of power.

It was not at all like Erick and his production of Benevolence. He was the headwaters of that ocean, just as Melemizargo was the ‘headwaters’ for the Dark… Though Erick wasn’t too sure on that fact, actually.

The Benevolent Sky inside Benevolence Itself, located near the Yggdrasil planted there, was where Erick’s own ‘Heart of Benevolence’ existed, if anyone wanted to call it that. Of that, he was rather sure.

And that was pretty much all Erick knew about the Well… That, and that people peered into the Dark there to find answers to… Everything. Back when the New Stats were first coming out, and people were taking more than one New Stat and thus falling to the Shadeling Curse, people could journey to the Well and learn of the Dark and become normal people again…

Was that all Erick knew? … Yeah. Mostly.

“Have you actually poked around at the Well at all?” Erick asked.

“No. That was for today. You and I are mostly on the same page now, dad.”

“Let’s go to the Well.” Erick said to the air, “We can walk and talk with Lapis while we go there.”

Lapis stepped out of the shadows of the lobby downstairs. Though a few floors and walls separated them the Shade of Enchantment bowed toward Erick, and waited, hands crossed over themselves, just above her belly button.

- - - -

They went back to the encircling wall/sky-bridge between the adventuring districts and the shadeling city, and took a left only a hundred meters past the overlook. Deep into the bowels of white, shadow, and clear crystal, Erick, Jane, and Lapis walked into a shadowy space that was filled with light from above, but also wreathed in deep gloom. The path led toward the Throne, but lower.

There weren’t many shadelings on this part of the city, for to the south lay infrastructure and amenities. The only voices in the air were those of Erick and Lapis, as they walked and talked, while the smell of baked bread and hydroponic-grown vegetables and greens filled the air. This was sort of like the farming center of the city, but not quite.

“And everything is so clean,” Erick said, “Even without [Cleanse]. Unless you have adventurers that come in and do that?”

Lapis said, “Ascendant Mountain is a shadeling city, but we do have around a 2% shadowless population.” The androgynous woman raised an eyebrow at Erick, her white eyes glowing brightly. “You truly have never been here? I had thought that rumor was false.”

“I’ve been about as busy as anyone, yourself included. Last I heard you were working with Farix and New Brightwater, making inroads with Anhelia’s kingdom.”

The sounds of their feet clicking on the stone echoed slightly in the canyon of crystal. A sudden wind carried the distant sounds of people through the air, talking and laughing and working on farms, or otherwise. Some loud thing roared far behind Erick, way, way back beyond the walkway that separated adventurers from shadelings; it was some sort of fight.

Erick gazed through Ophiel, to look down at that fight, while he also walked beside Lapis, with Jane right behind them. It was a normal sort of adventurer fight, happening between what looked like two mages, a tank, a healer, and a pair of white-crystal-and-gold-automatons which slashed and flickered through the light, aiming to maim and succeeding rather easily. There went legs and a hand, curses settling into limbs like shadows soaking into sponges.

A mage went catatonic and fell over, her body rapidly flashing with shadows, and then crystallizing over in a [Crystal Curse], or something like that, and then sinking into the stone underfoot. The warrior followed half a moment later. The healer and the other mage decided to run. They managed to make it several meters before a third crystal guardian appeared out of the walls and stabbed both of them through the stomach and the chest. It missed the heart.

Erick knew from experience that those people would be cursed, unable to regrow anything for at least a few days, but they would also live. The guardians would drop them off at Aniduun, where the city would take them in and Baxter, or someone else high up, would take away their Ascendant Mountain delving license for a while. The delvers would probably complain about guild overreach the entire time they waited out their anti-restoration curses, too.

Lapis continued the conversation without pause, for there had been no pause while Erick watched that team get dismantled. “New Brightwater is getting along with Anhelia’s kingdom as well as two shadowcats in the same neighborhood. But at least they’re not like light and shadow slimes.”

“A steady improvement, then.”

“Steady, slow improvements are generally the best.”

Lapis was ready to talk turkey, and so was Erick.

“It has been good to see you again, Lapis. You seem to be doing well. Secured in your presence and your future.”

“I am, though this whole Sundering search has me worried.”

Erick grinned a little at that. “That just means you’re awake.”

Lapis chuckled, which ended in a grin, and then faded away as she said, “Everyone on Veird grows up with the story of the Sundering. You hear tales of Primal Lightning that destroyed all of that past in a matter of days. Most never look too deep into that far-ago horror; they remain secure in the knowledge that it won’t happen again, and that Veird survived once, so surely we can survive again. But some of us know that is simply not true, and that the conscious, healthy mind actively rebels against the idea that it could be ended at any point in time. There would be no way to live otherwise. If one was aware of all the ways they could die at any given moment, then nothing could get done. And so… The conscious mind hides the truth from itself.” Lapis said, “According to my studies, this is only part of why the Dark doesn’t know what happened, either.”

“Ahhh… Is the real explanation why Melemizargo cannot search out the answer himself?”

“It’s my theory, though the Dark only ever speaks sparingly to us Clergy, so we don’t know; can’t know. You and Fallopolis have his ear most of the time, and you may try your luck with direct questions. I and the others speak at the Well when we wish to ask questions, or receive guidance.”

Erick stepped up stairs with Lapis. The stairs leveled out rather soon, and came to a direct path forward. The road led directly toward a shadowy space up ahead, save for a line of sunlight that angled down, into the canyon of shadows and crystal. That line of light illuminated the wall-like base of the Throne up ahead, where the Well lay hidden further beyond.

Erick asked, “Have you found anything specific in the Dark?”

“The arch-story of the Sundering is the same, though individual stories vary.

“White, iridescent lightning ripped through the Old Cosmology, creating Yawning Voids which drew in all mana, and since the Old Cosmology was all mana, it drew in everything. Civilizations died in instants. The only reason Veird survived at all was because the Primal Lightning took 3 days to fully kill the universe, and Veird was a life raft even then, surviving because Veird’s manaminer was already divinely-empowered, and because of the sacrifice of deity-level power in order to empower the proto-Script even further.

“Primal Lightning still hit Veird between 1 and 3 and ‘countless’ times, depending on who is telling the story, but the accepted number is 3. Two glancing blows, and one direct blast.

“When Veird finally fell into a True Void, and popped into this New Cosmology, everyone almost died to the Killing Sun, and to all the other parts of this New Cosmology that didn’t make sense. Gravity. Particles. The different nature of Light, and the fact that Shadow was more magical than real. And the complete lack of local mana. All of that contributed to the problem.

“And so they had to sacrifice more.

“They sacrificed the catatonic Goddess of Knowledge upon the Altar of Need, or the Altar of Preservation, depending on who is telling the story. If that Goddess had not been catatonic from the influx of new knowledge —which is the most widely accepted explanation for her catatonia— then perhaps her sacrifice wouldn’t have been necessary. But the sacrifice was rapidly deemed necessary, and so it happened.

“Then came the Great Translation, and Veird became a planet instead of a plane, along with countless smaller changes, like the imbuing of souls into physical bodies, etcetera etcetera.

“Beyond that story, which I have confirmed as true in hundreds of ways, I have been looking for sideways-glances at the Sundering.” Lapis finished with, “There have been many individual stories of individual falls to Veird, but other than minor individual changes to the accepted story, it’s been a bust.”

Erick listened as they walked, looking around at the city, and at the surroundings. The sun was starting to set in the west, painting the sky gold and red. Erick happened to glance upward, and through the crystal spires he saw the sunset sky. With the unevenness of it all, that strip of red and gold and the spreading cracks of sunset beyond the white spires... It all sort of looked like a great bolt of red lightning, aiming toward the Throne.

That was probably just his imagination adding lightning-symbolism where none existed.

“Melemizargo spoke of finding parts of the Old Cosmology and… Well I don’t want to say [Reincarnation]ing them here, but I will say exactly that, because we’re on a Path, or whatever.” Erick asked, “Any targets for delving that would build a stronger Veird? That’s what I’m most interested in. If we should hit upon Primal Lightning then I want to be absolutely ready for it.”

Lapis easily nodded, saying, “Veird can survive Primal Lightning; as proven by history itself. That is not a worry right now. But too much lightning would certainly prove disastrous. Individuals certainly couldn’t survive Primal Lightning, though.

“But before that, there are other matters to gird against; the Dark Itself, for instance.

“When your daughter was looking to be the one doing this, we did a lot of searching for Familiar Forms that could survive in the Dark for an extended period of time. Eventually, we settled on something that already exists here on Veird, because the Old Cosmology wasn’t giving up any hints in that direction. Dark Slimes don’t exist here, but Curse Slimes do exist, and they’re rather close in stability and capability. They’re everywhere in Ar’Kendrithyst, around the former Brightwater. They can survive the Dark for extended periods of time, too. Some curse slimes might even come out of the Well when we’re talking to it, too.”

Erick glanced back at Jane. “Curse slime? Is that… Enough?”

“Slimes are fine when amalgamated with other Forms.” Jane said, “All on their own they’re pretty bad, though.”

Erick nodded, then turned forward, asking, “What sort of locations were going to be initial targets?”

“The Traveler’s High Tower.” Lapis said, “It was the collection of Paradox Wizards that did not work under Phagar. They had a majority share of the transportation organization inside the Radiant Depths, which was one of the many Light-aligned parts of the Old Cosmology. They’re one of several locations known to the Dark that might prove useful, though getting there would be… difficult.

“Then there were the Dark Worlds. They lasted through the Primal Lightning storms the longest, aside from Veird, and they were the most intact inside the Dark when they finally did fall. They’re sort of like the Fairy Paths that would become Ar’Cosmos here on Veird. Those lands are highly random, and temporary, and the only way to visit them is to find a core that needs breaking, and then break it. What you see in the Dark in those moments are the Dark Worlds.

“And then there is the dungeon creation option, and making steady inroads into the Dark through that.” Lapis said, “To me, that is the most obviously safe way to do this, for a multitude of reasons.”

Erick thought on that. Then he asked, “What are the main problems you think we’ll face finding the causes of the Sundering?”

“The primary issue is that the Dark is just one perspective. A very large perspective, of course. He is the Dark, after all.” Lapis said, “Dungeons can be used to bring forth memories of the dark, and then gradually make those memories real, but every person inside the Dark is a shadowy reflection of a person, and not a real person. Them becoming real is an act of minor Wizardry. They’re all NPCs, to use the common dungeon vernacular.

“But in reality, they’re more… Dark imprints that have the possibility of becoming true people, of having their soul reawaken, if they’re given enough time and impetus to reawaken.” Lapis looked at Erick, as she said, “The Dark is Creation. He is only Paradox and Destruction in small ways. You are Paradox in a major way. With the Dark’s guidance, and your own power, you might be able to find something real in the memory of the past, like that bracelet around your wrist, and bring it out into this world.”

Erick’s staff of golden wheat reflections popped into the air, to float beside them.

Lapis nodded, then turned forward, and continued, “That sort of Wizardry would be the best for drawing forth a perspective from the Dark that does not actually exist in the Dark at all. Maybe, from this other perspective, we might find the answers we’re looking for.”

Erick thought on that, his eyes looking ahead, as ideas began to percolate in his mind.

They soon reached another wide staircase leading up toward the Throne itself, but this one led inside, instead of onto what Erick now understood as the ‘roof’. That path took them through an archway that reminded Erick of the one he had once seen in front of the Armory of Ar’Kendrithyst, where he had met Quilatalap for the first time, under his guise as the Caretaker.

It was an artistic sort of archway, composed of many people of all races and shapes, all done in black stone, all of them reaching upward, or helping each other to reach higher, toward a single white sphere above the archway that looked almost like one of Melemizargo’s eyes. The gateway was large enough for Erick to walk through in his dragon form, and the hallway beyond was even larger.

Beyond that black archway lay white walls of crystal, laced with shadow, and tree-trunk sized black pillars holding up a black, arched roof. Much deeper into that grand hall lay a massive open space, like a cavern, where a black pool rested in the middle, perfectly circular and placid. It was the Well of Melemizargo.

… And there was more to that space than Erick realized.

As Erick stepped onto the landing in front of the archway, he looked at the archway again, stressing his mana sense to the limit, and then going further with the All-Seeing Eye.

The interior space of that black archway of people… wavered.

“That’s a dungeon portal,” Erick said, looking up at the stone bodies pretending to be a simple archway. “That’s a dungeon in there.”

Lapis nodded. “Yes. It’s a hidden dungeon. Shadelings sometimes come out of the Well, but mostly they exist in the shadow city inside this grand dungeon. This portal is the entrance into that dungeon… It’s easier to see and understand than to explain.”

Erick was apprehensive about walking into a dungeon—

But Jane walked forward, Lapis followed.

Erick put aside his lack of trust, and spoke as he walked, “My first instinct is more along the lines of ‘what can Veird get out of this’, to prevent subsequent catastrophes, especially since it appears we will be dealing with Wizardry. How do you feel about focusing our efforts in that direction? And if we should happen to cross the Sundering, then—” Jane and Lapis had already crossed into the dungeon space, but now Erick followed, stepping through the archway… And nothing seemed to happen. He couldn’t even tell if his magic had been minimized, for it was all still working as it should. Even his staff still floated beside him. “... If we should happen to cross the path of the Sundering, then it will happen when we’re more prepared for that event.”

Lapis nodded as she continued to walk toward the Well, saying, “A more prudent use of resources could not be had.”

Jane stopped ten meters before the edge of the black pool, where a thin line of gold had been inlaid into the otherwise-white floor, like a ring encircling the whole pool.

Erick was glad that she had stopped, because his mana senses ended at that pool of black. There was nothing there as far as he could see, or sense. Using his All-Seeing Eye… Was not something Erick wanted to do in this location, right now, not knowing anything at all about what this Well of Darkness could actually do, or how it would respond to such an overt attempt to pierce its secrets. Despite how placid it was, and how silent it was, that black pool felt alive in a way few other things could ever hope to be called ‘alive’.

Jane seemed ready to open her mouth normally, and speak normally, but then she changed that idea, and spoke softly, “How does this work?”

Her quiet voice filled the entire cavern.

Lapis’s voice was much more normal. “Melemizargo is not actually here unless he wishes to be. This Well is for communication with the OverDark, which is not a real thing, but the idea is easier to get across when speaking in blasphemous, incorrect terms. Remain behind the gold line, and your words will barely reach the Dark. Step forward and brave oblivion by speaking your heart, praying for answers you can use.

“Using the Well properly requires speaking clearly in both word and action and magic.

“But at the same time, to speak to the Well of Darkness is to reach for True Magic.

“This is not for the weak. This is not for the unsure. If you harbor any of that within you, then to use this area is to invite oblivion to scour you clean from the world as it drags you down into its depths for proper answers.” Lapis said, “Those who have no Truth are the most vulnerable to the Well. Shadelings and Shades are least vulnerable, unless we actually touch the well, and then we are rather more vulnerable than most. An archwarrior, almost-Paladin of Melemizargo, and a secured Wizard dragon, should be reasonably safe, as long as you have clear ideas of what you want to know.

“Directly asking about the causes of the Sundering is not a good line of inquiry.”

Erick thought for a moment, then spoke with solidity, “I’m going to rattle off some inquiries that do not go against your warning, if that is safe to do in this location.”

His voice remained normal, for it did not spread out to fill the cavern, as Jane’s had. Thanks to Lapis’s words, and that small experiment of Erick’s, Erick understood that Jane’s query of ‘how does this work’ was way too open ended, while Erick’s own words had been more declarative than questioning. Jane noticed what Erick had noticed, and rapidly came to the same conclusion.

Lapis said, “Words stated instead of questions asked are a safe way to test your words before they become questions.”

Erick nodded.

He did not cross the gold line as he spoke, his words rippling the surface of the waters, “Evil gods responsible for great losses, and the possibility of those Evil gods somehow gaining a whole lot more power, even power over the Dark Itself, could happen if we searched for dead, Evil Gods in the Dark.”

The not-question had been a major one. But the Well did not react, save to ripple slightly. Could have just been the wind, though.

Erick would ask actual questions later, but for now, he continued with the not-questions. “Ancient magics that were responsible for great destruction, somehow gaining power over the Dark, could threaten Veird if we searched for those.”

Just another ripple.

“Destruction Wizards would be dangerous to find in the Dark.”

Just a ripple. Though perhaps it was a larger ripple than normal.

Erick decided to ask a Sundering question, or at least something closer to that sort of danger. “The possibility exists that the Dark Itself would want to purge the Old Cosmology, and cause a Sundering-like event.”

The Well rippled angrily. A low growl-like sound, almost too soft to be called a growl, echoed through the area.

“Perhaps the Sundering was caused by Xoat waking up and reconstituting all of the Old Cosmology back into himself, killing all the Old Cosmology in the process.”

The Well did nothing at all.

“The Sundering could have been caused by forces outside of the Old Cosmology, here in this New Cosmology or in other universes, of which the Fae often traveled freely.”

The air thrummed with distant power. Black water rippled deep.

Erick had held back his Intent from his words, perhaps because he was only preparing the air and the Well of Souls for the real questions, or perhaps because he had truly been trying to keep things simple, for now. But something called to him in those black waters. Erick had been teasing the Dark, and the Dark wanted something substantial.

Erick found himself stepping to the golden line on the marble ground.

He did not step far over that line, but he was close enough. And then Erick began to unfurl the power of his core, to let his intent seep into his voice, because what he truly wanted to know was not what caused the Sundering at all, even though that was what everyone else wanted, and why he was here, and why this was happening at all.

He wanted something more.

“What would be the single greatest thing to bring from the Old Cosmology into this new universe?”

The answer had come throughout the very firmament of the room itself, like a hammer wrapped in towel, the blow blunted only a little. Jane shielded herself right before reality vibrated like a [Strike]. She got sent flying to the edge of the room where she righted herself like a superhero landing on concrete, her legs crunching marble underfoot.

Lapis splashed away in a shower of shadows that almost instantly regathered into a person, much further away from the Well of Souls. She sported wounds everywhere, and her dress was shredded.

Erick withstood the Well’s answer like a stone in a storm of knives, his clothes disintegrating off his chest, and half away from his legs, his All-Seeing Eye flailed about on his neck while his staff huddled behind him, alongside Ophiel.

The answer was simple.

A CREATION WIZARD COMPARABLE TO YOURSELF

Erick fixed his clothes—

Hmm. [Mend] didn’t work properly. Ah. The manasphere imprint of his clothes had been thoroughly trashed, and when [Mend]ed, all Erick had ended up with was even more shreds hanging off of his body. He spent a few moments using [Duplicate] on his remaining fabrics, and then manually [Fabricate]ing them into what he had been wearing, but simpler; just a nice shirt, and nice pants. The shoes could remain obliterated, he supposed.

As Erick did that, he considered the Well’s answer.

The first thing to consider was that there had been no voice, no actual words. Melemizargo might have been the one speaking that answer, but Erick didn’t think he had, because to attempt a trick like that was easy enough to disprove; Erick was going to speak to Rozeta and possibly Phagar later, and they would have words to give regarding this event. Also, Erick certainly wasn’t going to be doing any exploration of anything right now. This was the information-gathering stage.

Rozeta would probably tell him something like ‘the Dark and Melemizargo are technically different, but there is no practical way to tell that difference.’

That line of inquiry wasn’t too useful.

Melemizargo could be lying, or he could truly be allowing Erick to venture into the unstructured Dark, into Melemizargo’’s ‘subconscious’, as it were.

As for The Dark’s answer…

“A Creation Wizard comparable to myself, eh?” Erick heard his voice echo in the air. And then he stepped forward. He was already past the golden line, but now he was two meters from the Well’s edge. He asked the pool directly, “Why does this world need a powerful Creation Wizard?”

TO FIGHT AGAINST ULTIMATE DESTRUCTION

“… Fair,” Erick said, his clothes barely rippled by the firmament’s answer this time.

For a moment, he thought more.

And then Erick turned around and walked away, looking first to Jane, and then to Lapis. Jane mumbled about being okay, though she had blood on her lips and she had needed to regrow her arm. Erick had known she was okay already, but it was good to see that she actually was okay. Lapis was doing fine, too, having changed her sleek black dress into something more matching Erick’s new casual attire; a black sundress.

Erick said, “I’ve seen enough for now. Thank you for the directions, Lapis. I will be coming back on my own, and I’m sure Jane will as well. Where is the dungeon that has all the dungeon master slimes ready to go?”

The cavern had four exits, each of them looking the same as the one Erick, Jane, and Lapis had come in through. Only one led back to reality as Erick knew it, though; all the rest led into a mirror-version of Mount Ascendant, where shadelings in fugue states lived their lives, like the fugue-shadelings around Brightwater had done, back when Brightwater was full of shadelings and that Dark civilization.

Lapis gestured back to that first archway, saying, “We’ll have to go this way to get there, but it’s on the other side of the Throne. We’ll take a Platform around.”

Erick glanced toward the other hallways, asking, “Will the shadelings in the dungeon actually attack right away, if we should go deeper into the dungeon?”

“Yes, and with extreme prejudice.” Lapis said, “They’re deep in the shadow fugue.”

Erick looked to Jane, “Do you want to ask anything?”

“I’ll do it later,” Jane said.

“… Fair enough.”

Erick started walking back the way they had come, away from the Well of Shadows, and back into the sunset light. Jane and Lapis followed. As Erick stepped out into that red light, and all the white and clear crystal spires glowed with the colors of sunset, Erick was reminded of Ar’Kendrithyst, a lot. This place had been called the Second Ar’Kendrithyst by many. It was a fitting title.

Lapis led the way, onto a floating Platform of crystal, saying, “There aren’t many Platforms in the city because they’re a security issue, but I’ve put up a few for your use. Other people are already using them without permission, of course, and then heavily requesting permission when they’re found out, so it seems we might end up with a Platform Network soon enough.”

Erick smiled as he stepped onto that Platform, saying, “Node networks are very useful for eternalizing magic, though Platform systems have a way of failing and dropping people off in midair.”

With everyone on it, the platform took off slowly, rising into the air along a line of light that directed them toward the south, and then east.

“That is the major danger,” Lapis said, resigned to people falling to their deaths for using a Platform network.

Erick could commiserate with that.

“Have you done much further experimenting with [Renew] since last we spoke?” Erick asked, hoping for a better topic.

Lapis chuckled. “It is hard to say exactly which miracle of yours is more impressive, Erick. Elemental Benevolence, the acceptance of certain Wizards in Veird’s society, Particle Magic, any of the other things you have done for us, or [Renew]. Everything about enchanting changed with that one Establishment, though most of the world has yet to truly catch up. I think I’ve done alright, though.” As they flew around the Throne, neither the top nor the bottom visible, Lapis said, “I’ve managed to make self-repairing artifacts and self-creating artifacts.”

Erick’s eyebrows went up. “Really.”

“Both were inordinately difficult, but the repairing ones were slightly easier. I’ve managed a Rod of Storm, based off of your [Call Lightning], that has two charges and breaks after the second use, but by imparting around 50,000 mana the whole rod comes back together, ready for proper use once again.” Lapis added, “Which is 1 use per day, mind you. The second is for emergencies only.”

To understand how large of a breakthrough that was, Erick only had to think back to his experiments with metiron in the Glittering Depths, and how you just couldn’t do that on Veird; you couldn’t make artifacts that made themselves… Without using souls, of course.

Erick asked, “No souls?”

“No souls at all!” Lapis happily proclaimed. “Not even a bit of actualization in that whole experiment. Pure runework and enchanting and all based around [Renew].”

“Congratulations!” Erick chuckled. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to pick your mind about all of that later, you cannot have made a self-creating one without souls. Now that would take Wizardry.”

“Of course. I’d love to discuss all of that later.” Lapis said, “Also… I might not be able to publish my research like a normal person, but perhaps you’d be able to bring that magic out into the world, too?”

She had a look of quiet need about her as she asked for global recognition. She was done with her ‘Repent Sinner’ Quest, but it had become a habit of hers to help others however she could, usually through magical knowledge. It was a good habit. Erick wished to foster that desire.

Erick nodded. “I’d have to know about whichever magic you wish to show the world before I could give my endorsement, but that doesn’t seem like too much of an ask.”

Lapis smiled a little, “I want to show the world both of them.

“The creating artifact was a natural outgrowth of the repairing artifact, but the creating one does have some slime-level souls to it, which you were correct to guess at, for there was simply no other way I could find to make a self-creating artifact happen. Those souls are discharged as slimes of an appropriate element once the item is fully created, though; they do not become slaves to the artifact.”

Erick’s eyebrows went up again. “Huh.” And then he asked, “How?”

With a look of triumph, Lapis said, “To start, the self-creating artifact has quite a bit more depth than the repairing artifact, making use of four different magical theorems, of which [Renew] and Benevolence became a fifth and sixth addition to that quartet, solving the whole creation problem in a rather straightforward sort of way.

“I believe that once you have any type of artifact of high enough quality, one should be able to adhere a self-repairing artifact to the third artifact, which could be of any type, and thus you will have made a magical artifact that repairs other magical artifacts. Though that is, of course, a much more difficult problem than the other two problems, of first making an artifact that repairs itself, and making an artifact that makes itself. The general line of difficulty of creation in making a universal repairing artifact is either a line or an exponent, and I do not know which.

“All of that is made rather superfluous by the fact that [Renew] exists at all, but not all worlds will have [Renew], and thus we must make a magic that makes itself viable wherever it might be.

“And so, to start with the self-creating artifact, which is actually the second step:

“We look upon the Rich-man’s theorem, to explore the cultural relation between gold-platinum-iron, and how each of them has a value based upon common cause. And then we look at Particle Theory, and how iron and oxygen— Ah!” Lapis paused, then she said, “The self-creating item I made was a Rod of [Prismatic Ward]. Not the Solid Ward function, but the anti-magic version. That one seems to be the easiest to self-create, though any sort of defensive [Ward] is similarly easy.” She continued, “Looking at how iron turns to iron oxide…”