March 17, 2019, 6:15 pm. Drowning in disbelief.

97,000,000,000,000.

Ninety-Seven Trillion Gold-rank mana essence. That’s what the current bid for first rights to invade earth is worth. More than enough to protect earth from the incoming mana-storm. Far more.

Pushing Fethix to the side with a hip check, I start paging through to check what Akilo was worth. It takes me a while to figure out the search function, Fethix grousing the whole time about ‘stupid over-powered Earthers’.

Akilo’s first invasion commenced ten years after Integration. Their highest bid was Five-hundred thousand Gold-rank mana essence.

By this point, the others have filtered over, so when I turn to ask Fethix another question, Beth beats me to it. “What does this mean for Earth?”

Fethix pulls at one of her droopy ears while staring at the ceiling. “It means… it means you’re pretty much right fucked in the pooper. The System’ll impose limits, but you’re gonna have the most powerful factions in the System bearing down on ya.”

As my papa once said, Beth’s response is about as elegant as a trucker who was just kicked in the nuts, with twice the volume. When Papa said it, he’d been describing the homeless man I’d run into, to his friend Mr Edwards. The homeless man, who had told me his name was Roger, Chris, Frank and Charmin in the space of five minutes, and normally hung around the strip club I wasn’t supposed to know about. When he saw me there, he’d waved me away before walking me home. Even as he knocked on our door, hollering for papa, he regaled me with a lot of profanity I’d never heard before. Come to think of it, that was a very educational day.

After Beth has calmed down, she commandeers the console from Fethix. Fethix doesn’t put up much of a fight, sauntering over to another display attached directly to the Ripple-drive.

“I shoulda known. That’s why we had to build it all from scratch. It’s so obvious now.”

“What’s obvious?”

Fethix jumps as though she didn’t expect company. “The whole design. It’s durable. Efficient. Powerful. This design would be envied on any of the Nine. I thought I’d had it figured out, but she co-opted the World Dungeon.”

“Yeah, you mentioned that earlier. Big deal?”

Fethix snorts. “Yeah, it’s a big deal. Damn kitten was smarter than I gave her credit for. Way smarter.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. See, she didn’t just co-opt the dungeon. She did it while not revealing to those of us building it what we were really doing. And look,” Fethix tapped the screen. It shows what appears to be Fethix’s party status, but nothing else.

“So?”

“So? So, I’m the only one she locked in here. My sub-engineers? Her hundreds of workers. They’re all gone.” Fethix waves her arms around in excitement, her grin stretching so wide it makes my face ache in sympathy.

“Well, I’m glad Uthica didn’t enslave anyone else,” I nod. Honestly, I feel kind of bad for Fethix.

“What? Uthica didn’t enslave me. She tricked the System. Big difference.”

I stare at Fethix.

“A deceitful implementation of a bound System contract is an honoured tradition in the Thenite Consortium. Means you’ve outsmarted the System. I’m gonna get a huge bonus when I return alive.” Fethix is dancing in place, rubbing her hands together and I turn away before something spills out of her loose clothing.

I find Rufka standing right behind me, her grin almost as big as Fethix’s “That sounds good,” she says, throwing her arm over my shoulder and turning me back to Fethix.

“It is. We just have to get out of this dungeon, and then I can take the Portal home in… Let’s see. Oh, that’s good luck, it’s scheduled to open soon. Just a few weeks. Hmm, it goes to a backwater, but I’m sure I can arrange transport.”

“Uh. Actually, the Aetherium sealed the portal. Apparently, no one’s gone through in over a hundred years.”

“What? Why would Uthica do that? Makes no sense.” Fethix rubs at her jaw, considering us.

“Uthica didn’t do anything. She left shortly before Akilo became a Sanctuary world.”

“Oh. Idiot locals. That makes way more sense. Well, if Uthica didn’t have anything to do with sealing the portal, it should be simple to open again.”

I can feel Rufka tilt her head to the side as she stares at Fethix. “You do know those locals could be anywhere. Even standing right in front of you.”

“What? Oh, right. Sorry. Or whatever you locals say. May your dog eat a bone,” Fethix responds as she digs through a nearby locker.

I can’t help but giggle at Rufka’s blinking face as she stares at where Fethix has half disappeared inside her locker.

“Alexis,” Beth calls out, walking over. “Does she know anything about the rest of the dungeon?”

It’s Rufka’s turn to laugh at me as I blink at Beth. It's not that I forgot we were in a dungeon or anything... But yeah, for a moment, I forgot we were in a dungeon.

“Ya know. I’m right here. You coulda just asked me,” Fethix’s voice echoes from within her locker.

“Right. My apologies. Do you know anything about the remaining challenges in this dungeon?”

“Nope. Hey, have any of you seen my pink, oh, nevermind. Found it.” Fethix pauses, poking her head out of her locker. “I don’t know what they left behind. But it’ll be thematic. Something that suits being in a spaceship. Won’t be too hard long as ya didn’t clear the wings.”

As we silently trade glances, Fethix pauses before putting her head in her hands. “Of course. The first blooming users to come along in two centuries just haveta be jumped-up, overachieving, dungeon delvers.” She waves a thin pink object in Beth’s face as she chides us, “You know, you could’ve just run the damn thing again.”

Beth looks at the elf who barely comes up to Beth’s shoulders then shrugs. “I don’t see the problem. It’s not like we have the luxury of spare time.”

“Oh? And what’re you doing that’s so important you gotta do a full-clear o' the world dungeon on your first go round?”

“We’re stealing the Builder’s cities, retrofitting them and taking them to Earth,” I answer, with a small smile.

“That’s stu…” Fethix starts waving a purple wrench at me with her other hand but stops. Then her grin returns, “Say, don’t suppose you’re looking for help? I’ll work cheap? Just need a ride on one of them cities. And full access of course.”

“I mean, we would. But you’re clearly in a hurry to get home. We’d never want to tear you away from your home,” I reply, gesturing at her bag.

“Bah. They’ve gone without me for a few hundred years. What’s another decade or two,” Fethix is practically drooling at this point, her packing forgotten.

“Well, once we’re safely out of the dungeon, I’m sure we can come up with a nice reasonable System contract,” Beth says, sticking her hand out to Fethix. Fethix stares at Beth’s hand for a second before slapping it, bumping it, slapping it back and then shaking it.

As she’s shaking Beth’s hand, Fethix says, “I really hope you don’t die. You kids aren’t half bad.”

Beth pulls her hand back, giving it a quick shake as she says, “Not planning to die. But again, if you’re able to give us any information, I’m sure it would improve our odds.”

“Like I said, I don’t know anything about the dungeon. There might be information on a console on another level. But it’d be behind a puzzle room. So, unless you’ve got a puzzle expert with you, you probably won’t be able to find anything.”

“Puzzle room huh?” Beth says with a smile.

We leave Fethix with a cordial goodbye as she lets us know she’ll be waiting to hear from us once we defeat the dungeon guardian.

As we leave and continue our climb, we find several additional Ripple-drives, each the same as the one we found Fethix in. We search through each of the consoles in case they’re different but by the fifth, I’m starting to wonder if there even is a dungeon guardian.

And then we reach the sixth cube.

The second we cross the invisible threshold, the mana changes. No longer does it carry the ‘clean’ energy it had on the previous floors. Instead, it carries a metallic tinge.

I inform the others, and we proceed cautiously. Sure enough, there are several puzzle rooms on this floor. Eight to be precise, each room elementally themed.

Once we’ve confirmed there are only puzzle rooms, we split up, each of us taking a different room. I choose the fire room, the walls made of charred ash and the puzzle itself glowing red stones. It’s a simple logic puzzle that requires me to sort the five stones based on their heat, size and density. My testing apparatus consists of several pools of ash-tainted water, a cracked bucket, a pair of warped tongs, a charred and unbalanced log and a series of different-sized jagged cracks in the side of the crackling podium the stones rest atop.

It’d be nice if I could cheat my way through, conjuring my own tools, but the quest states it will eliminate rewards for puzzles solved that way. Wonder if that has anything to do with Fethix. So instead, I submerge the stones in a pool of water one at a time, catching the steam from each in a bucket, while noting in my journal how quickly the bucket fills.

Then I spend a few minutes shifting the stones back and forth on the sea-saw log before finally rolling the stones through the jagged obstacle course on the side of the podium.

Once I’m finished, I arrange the stones on the grid on top of the podium, adjusting dials on the side to raise or lower each stone based on its density.

When I place the last stone, I wait for several seconds but the puzzle room doesn’t confirm my placement. Swearing softly under my breath, I run through all the tests again, only to realize I mixed up two of the stones after my very first steam test.

With the stones properly placed on my second attempt, the podium splits open, revealing a charred pad. Plucking the pad delicately from the podium, I receive a single integration point and a System update on a creature named Qelthonra. My pad indicates several physical features, and notes that one of its improved aspects is the ability to superheat its metal spikes.

When I regroup with Beth, Roberts and Rukfa at the stairwell, they inform me Tipan’s nearly finished a second puzzle room and Josh just started on the water room. When we combine the information rewards from each room together, we’re able to piece together a general idea of the boss we’re going to be facing.

It’s a six-legged tauric insect, much like the Calthonra. But it’s super-powered with the ability to launch sapient-seeking metal spikes that explode and a teleportation with two-second decoys and invisibility. We hope it's teleportation will be restricted like ours, but none of us expects the System to be fair like that. When Tipan and Josh return, we get to add explosive caltrops and adhesive-acidic netting. Funzies.

“Damn. I’m glad we got intel on this thing before going face to face with it,” I mutter, looking up the stairwell.

Beth nods, flipping through the pads again. “Yep. I’d be surprised if it didn’t have one more surprise tucked away.”

“Like a food truck that doesn’t list their ‘Death wings’ on the menu,” Roberts agrees.

“Right… Anyway, standard Nutcracker battle plan to start. If flight’s restricted, then…” Beth begins. At this point, I think she likes taking us through the plan more than the actual planning itself. Beth continues talking as the rest of us manifest our gear or in my case, floating shields.

Once she’s done, we ascend through the last length of stairs until we emerge from a cave opening at the bottom of a grassy hill. A draft from my right carries the irritating smell of ash from flowing magma pools at the base of an active volcano. Turning to take everything in while searching for our enemy I see a frozen cliff hanging to our left, dark forms frozen beneath its surface. A splash from the far side of the room reveals a shape swimming in the lake that dominates the far side of the cube. It disappears amongst the pillars of stone jutting out of the lake when a bolt of lighting strikes a metal spire along the edge of the lake. Beneath the spire sits a plain log cabin. One that wouldn’t be out of place in the hills of my home province, British Columbia, back on Earth.

It’s a surprisingly idyllic setting for a final battle. I was expecting more doom and gloom. Also, not very spaceship themed.

When we’re not immediately attacked, we start sweeping the area, starting with the hill.

The higher vantage point reveals we’re on a strip of land sandwiched between two lakes. There’s another cabin on the far side of the hill, but it’s in worse shape, the lightning spire having collapsed on it.

We’re not given much time before the Qelthonra appears, pushing its way out of the broken cabin. It’s scythes gleam as it rubs them against each other.

Then it charges.

We split, Josh launching a handful of explosive charges protected by Rose-petal shielding as I dip behind the hill. The explosion ruffles the grass, the wind tousling my hair as Josh calls out, “It’s down.”

Which has me spinning about. It has teleportation and decoy as powers according to our tablets, so I’m waiting for it to appear out of nowhere to stab us in the back.

What I’m not prepared for is for it to step out of the magma at the foot of the volcano while also having one break free from the ice cliff while a third strikes my shield, riding a bolt of lightning.

“Add-ons!” I scream as I freeze time, barely dodging a follow-up swipe by the lightning-infused Qelthonra. I almost attempt to teleport to escape but force myself to blast it away with a Wind Torrent instead. I start reforming my shield, this time with a solid steel core as I fly up to take in the new battlefield. There are seven Qelthonra visible, in addition to the one that lies collapsed where Josh first wounded it.

A feeling of danger warns me of an incoming strike, and I move to the side just in time for a barely visible scythe to cut through the air where I was flying a half-second earlier. Even with time Paused that nearly skewered me.

I attempt to crack its shell, but I’m unable to do more than knock it away. And then the resistance is gone, and I’m dodging a bolt of lightning.

The next few seconds are a chaotic series of aerial manoeuvres as I continue to dodge ranged projectiles that shave off Health even on a near miss. It’s only as I regroup with the others that I gain a moment of respite, Roberts’ shields deflecting most of the incoming attacks with a degree of skill I can’t manage with my own cruder elemental shields. Helps that his don't decay under every hit.

Still, I start layering my shields with Roberts, reducing his load while trying to figure out a way to help with offence. Lesser Cataclysm would leave me empty, and after the weak effectiveness against the Calthonra… yeah. Even my piercing arrows hardly scratch the carapace, when they even land. Eventually I move my barriers lower as I realize I’m obscuring Roberts’ vision.

With a few additional explosions from Josh, they manage to reduce one of the Qelthonras to a single wobbling form. Its steel and gold inlaid carapace is cracked and two of its legs on its left side are missing. A single shot from Beth is enough to send it to its knees. One more and it lies still.

There are a few minutes of Beth flying about, eliminating most of the remaining Qelthonra. She holds off on the last, which was actually the first to attack. It’s still laying near the cabin, its glistening shell coated in a dark green blood that slowly leaks out as Tipan and Roberts retrieve Fethix.

“Well, that’s a right mess, isn’t it?” Fethix states as she joins us, staring at the no longer idyllic valley. Not even the volcano was spared, its side partially frozen from when I locked one of the Qelthonra in place. For less than a second.

“Now that you’re here,” Beth says, sighting her pistol at the remaining Qelthonra, before blowing its head open. “We can leave.”

“Zone Quest completed: Centre of the World. Requirements 9/9 Qelthonra defeated. Rewards: 1 Copper Rank Advancement Crest. 1 Copper-Rank Gear-Upgrade Point. Speed-run Bonus: 20 Copper Rank integration points. All Sub-dungeons completed Bonus: 1 Copper Rank Advancement Crest. 1 Copper-Rank Gear Upgrade Point.”

"Rest areas have been disabled. Instance completed. Teleportation has been unlocked. Any users who remain within the training area in ten minutes will be sent to the exit.”

The advancement Crests glow as they get added to my System interface, an icon that I’m guessing is supposed to be a seed next to the text. Despite its nature, the crest almost feels underwhelming. Almost as underwhelming as my performance in that fight. It’s a good thing I’ve got this Crest to make up for it.

Much as I want to upgrade my class this second though, we need to get to a Nexus first. Which means leaving the dungeon. Considering how far we are from the exit, it’ll be faster to wait out the timer. Unless… hmm, it’d take me most of the ten minutes to summon my castle.

Which means I totally have time to explore the cabin, which somehow remains completely intact. Its quaint round windows have bright white curtains drawn, preventing me from peeking inside, so I move directly to the door.

“Lex, wait up!” Rufka calls as she runs over. “I want to see too.”

I wait with my hand on my hip as not just Rufka, but everyone comes over to the cabin, a smile tugging at my lips. Guess I’m not the only one struck by the oddity of the cabin.

Glancing back, I receive a nod from Beth before turning the handle.

There’s a soft tug on my insides, not unlike when I’m drawn into Uthica, but my hand remains on the door handle, and I step forward. Inside is a simple home, a single table with two matching chairs, a small kitchenette and a kettle set to boil. In the chair on the left is a russet-brown, furry creature with a puffed-up tail. It turns its large, brown eyes toward me, a white stripe that splits its face wrinkling as it twitches its nose.

“Visitors. Already. I suppose it is that time. Amber, get the tea. Amber! AMBER!” the squirrel-person calls as I stare at it. It’s the least humanoid sapient I’ve encountered. Not counting the M’tari, of course.

I try to fire off an analysis, only for it to fail completely.

“What? What’s this? Keep your greedy eyes away! Or out you’ll go!” The squirrel-person shrieks at me, waving a wooden spoon in my direction that’s as long as they are tall.

“Sorry,” I apologize, glancing to Rufka for support. But Rufka isn’t there. None of them are. “Where’d-”

“Not here. Not here. They’re not you. So, not here.”

“Uh. Where is here?” I ask, as I try to feel the connection to the others. It feels like they’re close. Practically standing on top of me in fact. Is this another instanced space like at Raz’s?

“Cabin on the Shore. Obvious. Amber, where’s our- Ah, good boy. Good boy.” The squirrel-person settles back in their seat as the kettle lifts off its spot on the kitchenette then floats toward them. Two cups appear from some invisible storage space and the squirrel-person waves to the seat across from them as the kettle fills both cups. “Well? Sit down.”

“Sure,” I reply dumbly, squinting at the surroundings. As I look around the cabin, I realize it looks familiar. Very familiar. In fact, it’s almost an identical copy to the one I met Rufka in. Just with less clutter. “I think I’ve been in this cabin before. Or one just like it.”

“Hmm. Probably. Good design. Practical. Portable.”

“I’m sorry. But who are you? And what are you doing in the middle of a boss room in the deepest part of the World Dungeon?” I ask, my bemusement with the situation finally fading as she pushes one of the cups in front of me with a flourish.

“Roric. Name’s Roric. Thought you’d be quicker,” Roric says, tapping her head. “Theglia likes you. Doesn’t like many.”

“You know Theglia? How is she doing? Has she figured out a way around the teleportation restrictions?” I lean forward, trying to read Roric’s face and ignoring the cup. But her foreign features prove as impervious to understanding as my attempt to analyze her.

“She’s good. Has her System back. Strange times.” Roric pushes my cup toward me again, and I take it in my hands. Just holding it is pleasant, a calming balm.

“Kids. Theglia needs kids,” Roric says, shaking her head. “Too much ‘saving the world’. Not enough family.”

“Uh, sure,” I politely agree, turning the steaming cup about as I inhale the chocolate scent. Wait. Chocolate? Akilo doesn’t have chocolate.

Looking at my cup again, then back up at Roric, I realize her comically large eyes are focusing on me, flicking back and forth to the cup.

It’s a struggle, but I set the cup down, though I can’t help but take another whiff. Which is a mistake because it only makes me want to drink it more. But I know nothing about this Roric who suddenly appeared in the middle of a dungeon, so I hold off.

“Oh. Quick but stupid. So stupid.” Roric shakes her fluffy head, taking another sip from her own cup.

“Hey!” I object, bumping the table as I shift back and cross my arms. “I’m not stupid.”

“Course not. Never said you’re stupid.” I raise a finger to object, but she keeps talking. “Just rude. Break into home. Sit at table. But refuse drink. Yes. Rude, not stupid.”

I blink at her, glancing at the cup again. I attempt to analyze it, but just like with Roric, it fails. In an attempt to be thorough, I scan the table, the chair and the door. Not a single one gives me a reading.

“Done looking?” Roric asks, as she sets her empty cup to the side.

I nod, considering for the first time if I should just leave. But she knows Theglia. Or at least knows of Theglia. Tapping my finger on the edge of the cup, I consider.

To drink, or not to drink?

It’s obvious. Don’t drink. It could be poison. And that would be bad.

Picking up the cup, I slow time, watching the liquid quiver in slow motion. Okay, my time powers are working. And my danger-sense isn’t detecting anything. Not that it’s reliable.

If it was anything other than chocolate, I’d probably already be at the door. But it’s been so long. And hot chocolate was always my favourite. Especially after spending the day in the snow.

Besides, Health should help if there’s poison. Or if it’s too potent. I run my finger along the rim before gently lifting the cup to my lips.

I take a sip, just a little sip.

Oh, that’s smooth.

“Huh. Thought I’d failed,” Roric says, leaning back as I’m in the middle of taking a bigger sip. At her words, I spit it out, checking my Conditions. Even as I’m spitting on the floor to Roric tch’ing at me, my System buzzes with a notification.

“Quest received: None. Requirements: Say the phrase “Failure State,” while crossing the fingers on your left hand. Reward: Delete Your System.”

“What the hell?” I mutter. Okay, there’s nothing under conditions anyway, so not poisoned. But that’s a weird update. Especially the reward. Re-centring my attention on Roric, I ask, “What just happened? Why-"

“Good chocolate. Very good. Very rare. Does exactly what it needs. No more,” Roric interrupts, pulling her fluffy tail into her paws, hiding behind it so I can only see her ears bobbing as she nods to herself.

“Okay, but-”

“No more. Done all it can. Waste not to finish.”

At this point, I shrug before taking another sip. The sweet flavor on my tongue is delightful. Wonderful even. And it doesn’t trigger another update, so I take my time, slowly sipping it.

Still, before I know it, my cup is empty, and Roric is peering at me over her tail. The moment I set my cup down, Roric hops out of her chair and starts tugging at my hand. “All done. Out. Out.”

“Sheesh, I’m going. I’m going,” I say, wincing at her rough treatment. She’s surprisingly strong, moving me as though I’m no more than a crumpled-up piece of paper.

“Thanks for visiting. Come back soon. Ten years? Yes. Would be good. Ten years!” she declares as she shoves me out the door.

I don’t emerge back in the field, but instead find myself in a room similar to the beginning of the dungeon, waterways dotted with lilies all around me. Already sitting on a tasteful stone bench looking over the pond is Rufka. She checks over her shoulder at my abrupt entrance, rising when she sees my entry velocity.

“There you are. I was wondering what happened to you.”

“I take it that means you didn’t talk to Roric too?” I ask, kicking my leg to free it of a vine I managed to snag upon exiting.

“No. One second you were stepping into the cabin, the next you were gone. I went outside in case there’d been some sort of teleportation shenanigans, but I was kicked to the end of the dungeon. I think the others were going to wait for you.”

“Huh,” I reply, bumping her over so I can sit beside her. “Figures.”

“So, who’s Roric?”

“Super-cute squirrel lady. Had the best eyes for making sad puppy faces I’ve ever seen.”

“You know I don’t know what that means.”

“I know.”

We sit quietly together, holding hands until the others appear in a gentle pop.

“Oh good. What happened kid?”

“You know, the usual. Alien entity kidnapped me for no apparent reason then sent me back more confused than before.”

“You’ll give us your notes later?”

“Yep.”

“Great. Okay people, that was officially our best run through a dungeon so far. Excellent work. Now, let’s get the hell out of this city.” Beth doesn’t waver, immediately striding down the single path through the waterways.

I follow still holding hands with Rufka while ruminating on my encounter with Roric. Why would Theglia arrange for someone to give me a quest that deletes my System. I can’t help but imagine it’s important, but it makes no sense to me. Especially now that we’re ready to ascend to Copper.

Suddenly, an elf in a pair of overalls that are entirely too loose for her steps between Beth and the exit.

“What? Did y’all forget about me?” Fethix asks.

Beth just shakes her head and keeps walking.

I can't help but smile as we join her.