Dungeon Robotics 118

Hey Guys! So!!!! Got an email last night. My editor needs to move the due date of my next manuscript up by almost two weeks. That means I have ten days to get over half a book finished or I'll lose the spot. As I mentioned, I scheduled these months in advance. Now as it was schedule you might think its not right they are asking to move it forward, well it was partially my fault given that I probably changed what I was sending them three or four times now. Anyhow... That is all from me. Yay!

Regan

I observed the captured trolls and kobolds for a while after everything had been settled with the cores. I wanted to interact with them, but that was easier said than done considering they wanted to rip me to pieces every time they saw me. I supposed it was only natural given that I massacred their force mostly by myself.

The trolls weren’t much for intelligence but were amazing in the body department. They could easily tear mithril in half if given the chance. It required them having access to their mana, but still was a frightening prospect to think about. The only reason I was able to beat them was the speed at which my minigun fired projectiles. Any slower and they could have recovered the damage before it was fatal.

In fact, I recovered some tissue samples from the dead trolls from the battlefield and found it was still alive. Given a mana supply, I could see it being able to regenerate. A lot of interesting ideas came to mind as I examined the sample. 

“What are we going to do with them?” Anubis asked. We were in the observation room of the cells. I had to get creative to truly lock the creatures up. They just generated too much mana. 

If it weren’t for the mana absorbing cuffs and collars, the concentration of mana in the room would likely kill a normal mortal. Not to mention the taint that seeped into the ambient mana as I watched. I saw how it would be near impossible for a civilization of these races to develop on the surface.

The taint from the ambient mana would cause all sorts of mana manifestations to occur. Given enough time, the natural laws that governed the physics of this world would start to bend. Being underground being surrounded by millions of tons of rock and consequently terra mana would greatly dampen the affects.

Terra mana was the one element that there could never be enough of. I had studied magic and the branches of mana extensively since I came to this world. Terra mana was the closest thing to an all purpose absorber that one could get in this crazy place. Even if it grew to too high levels, it would be absorbed into the ground to strength the planet.

I came out of my thoughts and looked at Anubis. “That is the question, isn’t it?”

“I could try to talk to them. They might respond better if it was someone other than father,” Anubis suggested.

“Yes… Go ahead and try to talk to them. I want to finish this as quickly as possible,” I said with a nob.

If we could settle this, then for all intents and purposes the north would be fully under my control. I was sure there were hidden elements of necromancers that would need to be tracked down, but I could assign Anubis and Julie to it. They were basically designed for that after all. 

Anubis moved out of the observation room and strode into the cell. The kobolds immediately started to hiss at him, but at least they didn’t start throwing themselves against the cell bars. He slammed the butt of his scythe on the ground to gather all the attention.

“I want the person in charge of this force!” 

The room quieted down as the kobolds looked to one another as if unsure of what he was saying. I knew that wasn’t the case though as Anubis had the dungeon language magic tied into him. He could speak to just about any races on the planet thanks to the person who created the dungeon system.

It took a few minutes, but three kobolds were moved to the front by the others. I couldn’t really tell the creatures apart from the others. These did seem to have a metal armband around their forearm. Anubis locked a chain to their collars and led them out of the cells and into a separate room.

“The master of this place is going to talk you now. You would be wise to remain calm,” Anubis said. He then moved each to a chair and attached the chains to each one. While the kobolds were certainly not strong physically, they knew a tremendous amount of magic. Some spells that barely required any mana. Without all the containment efforts, they would be quite dangerous. 

I moved into the room and sat on the other side of the steel table. It all reminded me of the police shows that were popular before Earth really developed virtual reality tech. Once everyone experience being murdered once they became a lot less popular. 

“Welcome. My name is Regan. I have a few questions I want to ask you.”

“Deal with evil, we were. Stop us, why did you?” one of the kobolds asked jerking around in his restraints.

“Because not everything was as it seemed. That core might have valuable information that would be lost if you destroyed him.”

“Protect the evil one, you do?” a different kobold asked though the tone and pitch made it impossible to tell the two apart.

“No. Right now I technically control him. Why do you claim he is evil? Because he uses undead?” A completely different society could have developed interesting ways of understanding the soul of a being. Soul magic was very much a thing in this world. I needed to be aware if they had the ability to manipulate said soul.

“Told us, a girl did. That north capital, terra wave caused. Must be evil. Caused much destruction back home, he did.” 

I rubbed my chin at that. While I could allow Tzulxuc to take the blame that would serve in future relations going forward. I’d rather tell them now before they found out through other means that I was the cause. 

“Actually. That was my fault. I was trying to save my fellow dungeon core and a spell I used had much wider spread affects than I anticipated.”

“Caused terra wave. You did?” the third kobold asked though I really couldn’t tell the difference between the three.

“Yes. I apologize. If you show me to your city. I would be happy to contribute my mana to rebuilding whatever was destroyed. I would rather we work out our issues before this develops into further conflict.” 

“Why help us, would you? Threat we, we aren’t to you,” the first kobold said cocking his head.

“Just because you’re not a threat to me, doesn’t mean that I can just ignore the damage I caused. If we can be associates and avoid the death and destruction that fighting would bring then I am willing to help you.”

I would make sure to set up safety measures so that the same situation doesn’t happen with these races as did the Constructs. I really didn’t feel like being stabbed in the back again. I wanted to wait at least a month before the next time. If we started expanding into the Beneath, then that was a completely new political ballfield that we would have to contend with.

The kobolds turned to each other and had was what looked like a telepathic conversation. This went on for close to five minutes before the center one turned to me. “Discuss with Troll Leader, we will have to. Accept truce, for the moment we do.”

“Good to hear! Tell me. How serious was the damage done to your city?”

“City fine. Tsar palace crushed. Tsar not happy.” The center kobold replied shaking his head.

“Did your… Tsar survive?”

“Tier five Tsar is. Walked away wiping dust off, he did.” 

“Tier five. He must be quite,” I started to say when I realized what he said. Tier five? I thought you ascended to celestial once you reached tier five. From what I’d learned it was almost forced upon you by some otherworldly force. “Do your people not ascend to celestial at tier five?”

“Forced that. Ancient people did. Not submit we did.” 

Hearing that, I felt like I was one puzzle piece away from understanding the biggest mystery of this planet. I had my suspicions that it involved whatever was going on with the Maelstrom. The fact that free will was such a strong driving force in this world made me question why people were forced to abandon their lives to leave for this Celestia. 

“Thank you. Anubis will see you to the Trolls. You will have to bear with me for a few days before I allow you access to your mana again. I will be the first to admit that your peoples are quite powerful and deserve to be feared.”

“Fear natural. Respect earned. Mind, we do not.”

I stood and mentally undid the chains restraining them to their chairs. “Good. Thank you for your time today. May this grow into a fruitful partnership for the both of us.”