Monroe

Chapter One Hundred and Eighty-Eight. A peek behind the curtain.

"Jess, you've got to see this!" Derrick announced as he burst into the spatially expanded tent that the Australians had borrowed from Dave and Amanda to use a base in their new valley.

Sheila followed him into the tent, a smile dancing across her face.

"What did you two find?" Jessica asked with a smile of her own. Those two had been dancing around each other for a couple of years, and it appeared that coming to Thayland had been the catalyst they'd needed to realize that they harbored romantic feelings for each other.

"I think it's a Dungeon!" Derrick was shuffling excitedly in place, inadvertently calling to mind the typical behavior of a blue heeler.

"Jog on, this place hasn't ever been settled," Jessica replied.

"No, I think it's like a natural Dungeon," Derrick explained, "there's a sinkhole towards the south-eastern corner of the valley, we found it by following a stream that falls into it."

"It's got to be fifty or sixty feet deep, and get this; we found monsters around the edge of it," Sheila added, "we were jumped by a sort of owl-raccoon crossbreed, and when we killed it, it dissipated, just like monsters in the Dungeon do."

Jessica leaned back in her chair. Dave had explained that any hole in the ground, if large enough, could become a Dungeon. "How strong was the monster?" She asked.

"One shot from an earth spike," Derrick replied with a shrug, "so not very, yeah?"

She nodded. Derrick had all of his skills capped, but he didn't have any affinity crystals, so his Control Earth spell was level nine. He could deal about six hundred points of damage with it, mitigated by the monster's defenses, so it was definitely below his level, probably a couple of levels even.

"We want to drop down there and check it out," Derrick said, "we might be able to use it to grind up a bit, I'd love to get to level ten without having to dick around in Harbordeep."

"I'd want to bring the whole group," Jessica mused, "it sounds like it's pretty low level, but I'd rather be safe than sorry."

"When is everyone due back?" Sheila asked.

"A couple of hours, it's getting on towards dark, so we'll table this for now and get everyone on board tomorrow morning," Jessica offered.

"Good enough," Sheila nudged Derrick with an elbow, "come on Blue, let's go back out and check the southwestern end."

Jessica watched as they headed out of the tent. If there was a Dungeon already here in the valley, they might be able to avoid Harbordeep. Bob was swimming in so many mana crystals that he seemed to forget that not everyone could just drop two hundred crystals to learn a new language and then spend a thousand crystals on Dungeon access and lodging.

While they had just enough crystals to go to Harbordeep, it would be awfully damn tight, and if they could manage to get Derrick up to where he could build their own...

She shook her head. The problem was that the first nine levels of the Dungeon would just be a net cost, as they wouldn't be able to pull any crystals out of there. Once they were able to pull people over from back home, they'd start seeing a return on their investment, but until then, they were just spending a pile of mana crystals.

If they weren't going to be building it so small, they wouldn't be able to do it all. They were aiming for their floors to be about a fifth the size of Bob's initial floors and stay that way until the twenty-sixth floor.

Jessica thought that they'd have the Australian government send in people to be trained as Curators, and then they could dig their own. She thought it was more than a little odd that Bob had just dug out that huge Dungeon for other people to use. She knew he hadn't been using his own mana crystals to do it, but it was his time and expertise that made it possible. If she hadn't met the man, she'd have thought he was getting some sort of kickback or something crook.

Shaking her head, she turned back to her laptop, opening it back up. She was collaborating with Amanda to write a manual for how the System worked.

Bob looked around the eighteenth floor of the Dungeon, tracking the flow of mana through the conduits. Everything looked good, although he had to admit that he was getting a little tired of building out these basic, boring floors.

Holmstead and Harbordeep both had Dungeons that might not work quite as efficiently as his but possessed the virtue of making delving the Dungeon feel like an adventure, rather than just spending a shift on a factory floor.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He was building the most efficient Dungeon he could so that as many people as possible could be saved.

Rolling his neck, Bob moved closer to the entrance, then paused. If he set up the Gateway and went back up to the tavern, there would be someone up there. A lot of people, but more specifically, someone was looking for him. His shoulders were tensing up just considering what might be waiting for him up there.

He decided that a bit of non-system assisted spellcasting practice ought to provide a relaxing diversion.

Closing his eyes, he concentrated on feeling the mana the suffused his body, mapping out the pathways where it gathered and circulated.

Slowly, carefully, he coaxed some of that mana to pool in the palm of his hand. Withdrawing his matrix from it carefully, he left only a single thread of mana connected to the mana. Delicately, he mentally projected his intent through that thread, allowing it to seep into the mana, feeling the aspect of it change gradually. Minutes passed before he could feel the change complete. Opening his eyes, Bob inspected the loosely pooled flame in his hand. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the flames soaring at the wall, where they impacted and flared briefly before disappearing, leaving only blackened soot on the wall.

'Congratulation,' Trebor said, 'you've successfully created all four elements now, with fire being the most difficult of them. Now you only need Plant, Animal, and Shadowmancy before you move on to the Arcane schools.'

"I'd meant to ask you about that," Bob said to the empty floor, "why was it so much harder for me to create an eldritch blast than these elemental spells? Something to do with the difference between Divine and Arcane?"

'Precisely,' Trebor responded, 'Divine magic is natural. Especially the elemental magics. You'll find examples of the elements everywhere, as opposed to an eldritch blast, which is pure mana given the intent to pierce, slash, or crush. You'll likely find that Plant and Animal come fairly easily as well, although Shadowmancy will likely take you quite a bit longer.'

"Is what I'm trying to do feasible?" Bob asked doubtfully as he moved over to start assembling the Gateway.

'As I've said, yes, this is something you can do, but no, you'll never be able to cast spells effectively in battle using this technique,' Trebor replied, 'but that isn't your goal is it? You are attempting to recreate the Arcane Depths ritual without the aid of the System. Given what I know of your capabilities, I expect that barring additional demands on your time, you'll succeed in the time you've allocated.'

"It's the additional demands on my time that worry me," Bob admitted. "I really do need to start building my current Arcane Depths, seeding it with some of the harder to get Affinity Crystals, and farming up a decent supply of them."

'Something I wholeheartedly encourage you to do,' Trebor agreed, 'although I cannot stress enough how important it is that you are reincarnated and fully leveled back up before the integration occurs.'

"I'm not going back over to Earth," Bob said firmly as he fitted the last piece of the Gateway in place. "I've done my part, and at this point, I think I'll have enough people popping between Earth and Thayland that I won't even need to go back for books."

'I was referring to the System Update that will occur,' Trebor stated.

"Ah, that," Bob shrugged uneasily.

'Yes, that,' Trebor continued, 'as the dormant dark matter is activated, more and more information is relayed back to the System when people move back and forth between the two universes. Earth alone will necessitate a full revision.'

"Full revision?" Bob asked, sitting down on the floor and leaning back on his hands.

'Yes, System Revision 3.0 as it were,' Trebor explained, 'as your universe has had so much longer to develop outside of the System, it is bringing a wealth of previously unknown information, which in conjunction with the observations the System has made over the past few million years will bring significant changes.'

"When I asked before, you didn't know what the changes would look like," Bob began, "now that the system has more information from Earth, do you have any insights?"

'A few, some of which I expect you'll be grateful for, if only behalf of humanity,' Trebor confirmed.

'First, the System will provide a GUI similar to the one that you enjoy, which will be much more customizable than what is currently available. Second, the System will provide a simple help function for skills that a user possesses. Third, when a user reaches their first threshold and is able to select a path, the System will provide a comprehensive list of paths available to the user, as well as the ability to create their own.' Trebor explained.

"That's amazing," Bob smiled, "in fact, I'd say that's fucking great!"

'It has been calculated that those three changes alone will increase mana circulation by nearly four percent,' Trebor replied.

"Anything else?" Bob asked excitedly. A system update that gave people help files on their abilities, a GUI, and let them choose from listed paths rather than having to know them was incredible.

'There will be a significant change in paths and skills, some aspects of which will be welcomed, others more likely to be lamented,' Trebor stated. 'The change most likely to be celebrated is that if you have reached the maximum level for a school and a skill within it, when you reincarnate, when reincarnating you may choose to add that school or skill as a natural affinity, assuming you are reincarnating as a species which does not already possess the maximum number of affinities for its tier.'

'This will be done to help species succeed in less than ideal circumstances,' Trebor explained, 'Thayland being a perfect example.'

"Again, that's fucking amazing," Bob grinned, "this completely fixes the issue of being unable to find certain Affinity Crystals." He paused thoughtfully. "Will there even be Affinity Crystals after the update?"

'Yes, there will, although you will no longer find that a certain floor of a certain Dungeon provides a certain crystal, but rather killing any monster that meets the criteria will have a chance to coalesce an Affinity Crystal of a completely random type,' Trebor continued.

"Well, that means there will likely be a booming market for Affinity Crystals as people get the ones they don't want," Bob nodded. "Like anything else, you'll just have to put in the work."

'Which leads rather neatly into the changes I suspect will not be welcomed,' Trebor began. 'The System has gathered data that illustrates that the vast majority of the species throughout the multiverse don't play well together. And by this, I mean that even within their own species, members often refuse to work together, even if doing so would result in a better chance at survival, or even prosperity.'

"What Darwin was too polite to say, my friends is that we came to rule the earth not because we were the smartest, or even the meanest, but because we have always been the craziest, most murderous motherfuckers in the jungle," Bob quoted.

'Quite,' Trebor agreed, 'and while humanity is not alone in the universe, the various species that comprise it make up well over seventy percent of the total population. The fact of the matter is that under the current skill and path system, driven individuals can become entirely self-sufficient, which reduces their need to cooperate with others. This issue is only exacerbated as they increase in tier.'

Trebor sighed. 'Taken to that point, it's an unpleasant reality that those who rule will trend almost exclusively towards self-sufficiency above all else, which reflects in the societies they control. In contrast, the people of Earth, despite your many conflicts, have shown a remarkable degree of cooperation with each other, despite your own natural inclinations. It would appear that your advancements as a species are entirely due to extreme specialization.'

"Ok," Bob said, not wanting to interrupt Trebor when he was delivering information so concisely.

'When the System updates, the current paths will be removed, and each user will be required to either select or build a new path, following a guide. Affinities, as well as school and skill levels, will be retained, although the latter will depend on the allocation of their skill points,' Trebor finished.

"All the paths are going to disappear?" Bob asked incredulously. "Is the entire universe just going to get a bluescreen that says 'please rebuild yourself'?"

'That is a fair approximation,' Trebor replied. 'It will require an immense expenditure of energy, but yes, all users level one or higher will be impacted.'

"But we will be able to rebuild our paths?" Bob asked.

'Yes, rebuilding existing paths will be possible, although the new restrictions will prevent some of them from being recreated,' Trebor replied. 'As they are built, the System expects fewer and fewer people will build a path with the Guide Lines, choosing instead an offered path that meets their criteria.'

"I can see why you said that this wasn't going to be wildly popular," Bob muttered. "What are the restrictions on building a path?"

'Under the revised System, in an effort to encourage specialization and cooperation, advancing a skill or school past a threshold will require you to invest a skill point,' Trebor stated.

"So, for example, if I take the Magical School of Summoning, and the Summon Mana-Infused Creature spell, once I hit level five with the spell, I need to spend another skill point? Same thing with the school?" Bob's mind raced, considering the implications of that sort of change.

'Exactly,' Trebor responded, 'this will encourage people to work together, and the specialization will be further encouraged by offering an Affinity if it is increased to your maximum threshold.'

"That's a huge nerf," Bob muttered. He'd quickly done the math. Three points for the school, and at tier five, six points for the spell meant that the Path of the Endless Swarm should be safe, at least in terms of skills. The path would be restricted to choosing to have a few other skills at lower levels, or one more skill at a much higher level.

Even with reduced potency, healing would still be a no-brainer for most people.

'And it isn't the only one,' Trebor confirmed, 'although the remainder are minor in comparison.'

Being able to gain a natural affinity was a game-changer, but so was having to truly specialize. On the whole, he could see how it would help people advance. Maybe. "Trebor, can you gain that natural affinity if you reincarnate at level twenty-five, back down to zero, without tiering up?"

'Yes,' Trebor replied.

Bob nodded. That did make a difference. You could customize your affinities, gaining three natural ones, before tiering up, assuming you were a human without any natural affinities.

"What are the other nerfs?" Bob asked.

'The amount of experience necessary to advance will be adjusted, requiring more than it did previously, which is in conjunction with an increase in the number of mana crystals required to advance,' Trebor stated.

"Without sounding petulant, why?" Bob asked.

'The amount of mana that a user will need to circulate to accommodate the static amount of mana being reserved for the additional effects will necessitate the circulation of more mana to compensate,' Trebor replied. josei

Bob pulled a sleepy Monroe out of his inventory and into his lap, where he started to pet him.

"Nothing else is going to change, though, right?" He asked softly.

'Simply the users and the monsters,' Trebor said.

"How are the monsters going to change?"

'It has been determined that monsters are too challenging at the upper tiers and too weak at the lower tiers. This is a function of their skills, which differ from those you have significantly. Monsters will be converted to the Systems user skill base,' Trebor explained. 'This change will impact the frequency with which mana crystals coalesce, reducing it.'

"So to summarize," Bob began, "harder monsters dropping fewer crystals, levels requiring more of the now rarer crystals, school and spell levels requiring more experience, and all paths are gone, in exchange for new paths, new access to natural affinities, a GUI, and a help file."

'More or less,' Trebor replied.