Monroe

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Five. First Floor.

Bob paused and looked at the ambient mana all around him.

He could see the array he'd created pulling the mana into itself with increasing speed as the mana built up along the edges of the square, then was pulled into it at the four points where the circle touched the square. The mana flowed ever faster through the circle, rushing along the spirals that led in from the circle until they reached the funnel in the center.

It was beautiful.

Best of all, he couldn't see any mana leaking from the pattern.

"Stars and stones," Thidwell grumbled as the big man stepped directly in front of Bob, "get moving, you have more rituals ahead of you, and as the formation has started gathering mana, precious little time to accomplish them."

Bob nodded and started towards the staircase that led down to the first floor.

Plain, solid columns supported the granite slab above them. The columns, along with the walls and the floor, were made of granite as well. The space was one hundred feet on each side and ten feet tall. He could see mana rushing down from the funnel and onto the floor, pooling and then snaking out across it.

"You'll need to go another fifty feet out in all directions," Thidwells booming voice came directly from behind him, "if you want to run fifty adventurers at once."

Bob turned and asked, "What's the math on that anyway?"

Thidwell shook his head and gestured towards the wall across from the stairs, motioning for Bob to go to it.

"The depth of the pool determines the time for a new creature to form," Thidwell rumbled, "the surface area of the pool determines how many creatures can form at once, and the density of the mana in the pool determines what level they will be."

"On this floor," Thidwell gestured to encompass the room, "you're going to want single creatures that form slowly, at level one, so you'll need small, shallow pools."

They reached the wall, and Thidwell looked at Bob expectantly.

Bob nodded, rolled his shoulders, and laid out a circle of copper wire that touched the edge of the wall. Bob sat down in the circle, pulled out a pouch with a hundred mana crystals, and started pulling the mana through them.

This was going to be the tedious part. The ritual he'd used to create the mana funneling array and the room beneath it required him to continuously channel the mana from two thousand crystals. The process of aligning the copper wire to reflect the subtle flows of mana had allowed him to more precisely and accurately direct the ritual, which was the only way he'd been able to affect an area that large.

Expanding the Dungeon would involve a number of quick, dirty rituals, which would affect a little more than a thousand cubic feet each. Which meant he'd need to cast fifty rituals.

As he began to pull a flow of mana through the crystals, he focused intently on the stone in front of him, keeping the idea of what he wanted firmly in mind.

It was time to put in the work.

Almost two hours later, Bob finished the last ritual to expand the Dungeon. It had taken fifty-six rituals in total, and he'd only made two mistakes, both when his concentration had slipped, and he'd allowed his mind to wander.

The result had been a column that looked like a tree and one that looked like a massive stone tub.

He'd corrected his mistake and now stood in the center of the Dungeon floor, just to the side of the mana flow that was rapidly pooling.

"You did well," Thidwell growled, "but as you can see, the mana is rising; you don't have long before monsters start appearing."

"I know," Bob grumbled as he pulled more copper wire out of his inventory.

Moving hurriedly, Bob started laying out the copper wire for the next ritual, which would combine Mana Shaping, Control Earth, Control Air, Control Fire, and Control Water.

Trebor had stated that he would be at the upper limits of his abilities with a combination of five rituals together and a not-insignificant chance that he could fail.

Trebor had also conceded that this method would ensure that the mana flows would move around and through the enchantments smoothly and efficiently.

Bob was also incorporating his spiral baffles into the design.

Bailli, Erick, and Thidwell followed him, walking carefully to avoid stepping on any of the wires, with Bailli and Erick asking questions and Thidwell grumbling in a low voice.

After half an hour, Thidwell realized what he was doing.

"You're going for all five?" Thidwell boomed out incredulously.

"You need to worry about the mana catchment and return, the structure of the stone, and making sure the air doesn't go stale," Thidwell bellowed, "The rest can wait!"

Bob shook his head as he continued to lay out the copper wire, keeping the design in mind. He didn't have the time to adjust each wire to the ambient mana, as the ambient mana was in a constant state of flux as more and more rushed in from the array above.

He'd developed a whole new level of respect for what Thidwell had accomplished, driving the Dungeon down as deeply as he had.

"This is the best way to do it," Bob said quietly as he placed two wires side by side, then entwined them with a third, before separating them again.

Thidwell groaned loudly, "I know it's the best way to do it, but I've been building Dungeons for longer than you've been alive, and even I only succeed with five rituals six out of ten tries."

Bob didn't reply, and a few moments later, Thidwell let out a sigh.

"On your head be it, you'll learn," Thidwell warned as Bob continued to lay out his copper wire.

Bob kept working. Not having to adjust the wire was a blessing, as he finished laying out the pattern after two painstakingly slow hours.

Sitting down carefully in the center, Bob pulled a bag out of his inventory and placed his hand inside, burrowing deeply into the seventy-five hundred mana crystals it held.

He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, clearing his mind.

He visualized the design he'd laid out, focusing on each section individually. Granite flowed together, one homogenous piece, with perfectly smooth channels, placed and shaped and angled, some to collect mana others to ensure the flow of mana. Water collected up and along the columns, pulled from the channels on the floor as veins of ice. Fine traces of magma etched a pattern on the granite, barely visible. A pattern of air swirled across both ice and fiery stone, dancing across the floor and rising to the ceiling.

And through it all, mana flowed in complex patterns, empowering the other aspects of the ritual, working to form an array that forced the rushing mana pouring from the funnel above into a series of spiraling baffles before bringing it back up to the ceiling. The mana was allowed to then move across the Dungeon, pausing to flow down and form a regular pattern of pools before following the channels of stone, which gathered it back into the center, where it was pulled back up.

Straining to keep the mental image in place, he pulled mana through the crystals and fought back a scream.

Two rituals had been bad.

Much like the cost, the pain appeared to be exponential. He ground his teeth together and focused. He couldn't allow anything to distract him. This was his proof of concept. If he could successfully create his Dungeons this way, they wouldn't require a dedicated curator, just a visit every now and again.

Ignoring the pain, Bob focused on putting in the work.

Thidwell sat on the stairway and watched as Bob tried to perform a five-fold ritual.

"Is he going to be alright?" Bailli asked from in front of him.

"I've never seen anyone perform a ritual with more than two spells," Erick confessed as he watched the mana flowing out of Bob and through the copper wires.

"He'll live," Thidwell replied, "although moving that much mana through your matrix at once is awfully damn painful."

"Especially with him not being a true tier six," he continued, "five is the limit to what he can accomplish." Thidwell shook his head, "If he'd have had the time to reincarnate after reaching tier six, he'd have a much easier time."

"So it's capped by tier then?" Bailli asked.

Thidwell grinned. She was a sharp one, and while he would have preferred it if she were a bit more malleable, the girl had levers that he could push and pull if he needed to, although being as bright as she was, he'd need to be judicious in their use.

"Yes," he replied, "although I've only ever needed more than two when building the Dungeon."

It was important to ensure that everyone knew who was responsible for Holmstead's prosperity. Most of the citizens automatically looked to him as the real authority in the town, whatever the Mayor and the council might think.

He was fortunate that the two noble houses had been weak and nearly destitute when he'd arrived. While they retained their pride, they also looked to him for leadership beyond the affairs of their houses.

"Do you think he can do it?" Erick asked.

"Harv and Elli found him in a Dungeon, fighting rats with his bare fists," Thidwell paused, "He'd been there for days, the rats tearing into him while he was healed by Child's Protection."

"He came to Holmstead in rags, with a fistful of level one crystals, and within a week, he was fighting in the Dungeon, spending hours and hours each day delving deeper," Thidwell continued. "This was despite the discovery that his Matrix was too badly damaged to even take a path."

The big man went on thoughtfully, "When he did even further damage to his matrix, summoning his only friend from his homeworld, he didn't stop. He stood on the wall, risked his life to save strangers."

Thidwell shook his head as he grinned. Bailli was already a close friend of Bob's, but Erick had grown up in Holmstead, and if Erick grew closer to Bob, all the better. The legend of 'The Reef' stood on his own bedrock, as the man who had believed in him and offered help when he'd had nothing to offer in return.

"I wouldn't bet against him," Thidwell finished, "he hates the name, but he's The Reef, the waves may crash over him, but he still remains."

The ritual completed suddenly. Bob had lost any sense of time and was focused with brutal single-mindedness, ignoring everything but the image he was concentrating on.

As the mana stopped flowing through him, a brilliant flash flared to life, causing him to tuck his head down despite having his eyes closed.

"Congratulation," Thidwell's voice boomed, growing closer as he continued, "you successfully completed a five-fold ritual on your first attempt."

Bob raised his head and carefully opened his eyes. He found himself looking up at Thidwell, who was flanked by Bailli and Erick, although the latter looked around the Dungeon in fascination.

Bob looked around as well, curious as to what he'd accomplished.

The ritual magic had truly transformed the Dungeon.

Light was provided by the fine but fiercely glowing veins of magma which traced an intricate pattern over the stone, while a gentle breeze lazily swirled on, while seams of ice climbed the stone columns and both reflected and refracted the light.

Casting a persistent effect to bring up his mana vision, Bob carefully inspected the nearest mana flows.

He smiled slowly. No leakage.

Bob tried to stand and would have fallen over had Thidwell not caught him.

"You'll want to give yourself a minute," Thidwell advised, "you were sitting motionless for over two hours."

Bob nodded his agreement then sat back down. He stretched his legs in front of him as he leaned back on his hands, noting that despite the ache in his matrix, his extremities felt almost asleep.

Then it hit him. "Pins and needles!" Bob gasped.

Wayna was sitting on a couch, curled up against Eddi.

"Not from Thayland?" Wayna repeated in surprise.

Eddi had been rambling on about one of his favorite topics, Bob. Wayna didn't mind; she liked to listen to him talk; he had a nice voice. Unlike all the other boys she had known back in Harbordeep, Eddi was interested in her ideas and questions. Despite his tendency to go on and on, he always stopped when she started to speak.

"Yeah, he's from a whole other world!" Eddi said, "they don't have magic or skills there, and they don't level up and get this," he breathed excitedly, "they don't even have monsters there!"

Wayna shook her head, "I can't imagine a world like that," she said softly.

"Well, it's not going to be like that for long," Eddi replied, "Bob said that mana is going to wake up on his world, and it's going to cause the mother of all tides, which will kill everyone, 'cuz they are level zero."

"But!" Eddie continued excitedly, "Bob can go back there, so he's bringing people from there over to here so he can save them."

"How many people is he going to bring?" Wayna asked doubtfully, "Holmstead is already full, and there are a thousand people camped outside."

"Oh, Bob is building a new Dungeon and a place for them to stay," Eddi said confidently, "That's why me and The Endless are farming up crystals now, to help him build it."

"I wonder if he needs any help?" Wayna mused, "I bet my team would love to help him; we owe him a lot," she finished.

Eddi squeezed her into a gentle hug.

"I'm sure we can find a way for you to help him," Eddi whispered to her, "Stars and stones, he's building a whole new city. He's going to need a lot of help."

Wayna gave him a peck on the cheek and settled back into a snuggle. Eddi was nice and toasty, whereas she ran a bit cool.

"A lot of people owe him," Wayna said, "I'm sure we can talk them into helping out."

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