“Gathering?” I asked, not entirely sure what he was talking about again. The idea of having so sort of get-together for people like us seed like an incredibly idiotic idea, considering the warning both of them had made sure to give . The longer I was here, the less comfortable I was with any of this. Just because we had a relationship with dungeon cores in common didn’t an we shared any other ideas on how the universe worked.
“Yes, we generally have private events for those in order to better learn from each other. I assu you’re now questioning how sothing like that could even be possible?” Rorland asked.
“I don’t see how it fits very well into the idea of how much danger we’re in simply from existing,” I replied.
“Yes, that’s a common fear. The answer is relatively simple, though: thanks to your bond, we’ll be able to create a cryptographic key that partially exists in each of you; each half will be required to access the event, and any attempt to copy the key destroys it instantly,” Rorland answered. That statent alone was a huge leap in any sort of technological knowledge I had seen demonstrated by anyone in the Spiral so far. They’d piqued my interest here, but I wasn’t sure it was the best idea to let them know that.
“And if soone just reads my mind and learns about all of you?” I asked, pointing out another issue I was having with this entire concept.
“Then they get our masks. You aren’t seeing either of us as we actually exist, and while you have my na, it’s certainly not unique in the Spiral. Attaching it to Teral will be impossible and won’t help, as their sapience hasn’t been revealed outside this order,” Rorland explained.
“So all I know is so random person, appearing as a dwarf with a dungeon core, visited in the System,” I said, following his logic. This ant it was likely soone with this knowledge had already leaked it to so factions. It was just a matter of them being able to create the circumstances needed to actually attend one of the gatherings were exceedingly difficult and worth little gain for the effort. Given that reality, I was more willing to give one a shot.
“Correct, more interested now?” Rorland asked.
“I am, but unless Corey is entirely on board as well, I won’t be attending,” I said, looking over to the core floating nearby.
“I am interested, but I will be honest here. I do not trust this at all. I dislike that our minds were hijacked in an attempt to go about our plans. This seems exceedingly dangerous for both Dave and myself without little offering in return. I will attend the first eting to make my final judgnt on the matter, though,” Corey said. I was glad to see they were growing into my internal voice of reason. I wasn’t the best at avoiding impulsive decisions, and perhaps quick talking over of things with Corey could help that in the future.
“Good, then you’re both free to leave. Upon exiting the door you will return to what you were heading into, and the new key will be safely in your consciousnesses,” Rorland said as a door appeared behind him.
I imdiately stood up, wanting to be free of this place and deal with the things we had initially co to the simulator for. This was just another potential problem point added to our ever-growing collection of them. Was that what it was to lead a faction? Infinite potential problems and places to grow with no real guide on how to do anything? I couldn’t imagine that was the original intention of the System when it was created. But that also assud there was an intention. It was possible an artificial intelligence, assuming that that was what it was, erged from other unrelated experints. The fact that an old Spiral existed made think it was likely that anyone who knew the truth was long gone.
“Thanks,” I said to our hosts, then quickly made my way to the door, followed by Corey. I was glad they were on the sa page as I was about this, and after the simulation, it was ti for a long talk.
Exiting through the door produced a mont of complete blackness before what I assud was the simulation loading into place. As I couldn’t see or hear it, I just had to assu the brief mont of extre heat followed by a cooling sensation ant Corey was going to work. Instead of spending the ti waiting to see if we would manage this run doing nothing, I instead decided to see if the chat window worked and, if so how far its range worked in a simulator. Despite the blindness status, I was able to see the chat window. Would that apply outside the simulator as well? Considering how it seed to work so far, I had a feeling it would, as I was reasonably sure the chat only truly existed in my mind’s eye.
>Dave: Corey, can you read this?
>Corey: I can.
>Dave: Maud, if you’re awake, can you read this too?
>Maud: Tired, no weird chat boxes. :(
I closed out the window, not wanting to bother her more, but that was an interesting revelation as well. I was able to communicate outside the simulation during it. The bigger revelation, though, was still the dwarf and the core we had just t, and I wasn’t entirely sure what to do about them. I had made up my mind to tell Pryte, and only Pryte, about the experience to get his opinion on it, but I doubted he would have much advice. What I really needed to do was find a way to get Sanquar’s mories back so we’d have access to everything he knew before his banishnt.
The feeling around ca to an end. An experience notification popped into my view, telling my vision had returned, and the simulation had co to an end. Surprisingly, my head felt fine. Had I really co far enough to make the simulator entirely safe?
Combatants DefeatedWicked Wasp QueenX9,72050 ExperienceExperience Gained4.861e5 PointsMultipliers AppliedNo Armorx1.1No Weaponx1.1I Stand Alonex1.1All At Oncex1.1So Many Bosses x5Even More Bosses x105 or More Modifiersx510 or More Modifiersx1020 or More Modifiersx20Experience Gained3.55849505E10 PointsModifiers AppliedRemove Weaponx1.1Remove Armorx1.1Randomize Starting Locationsx1.5x2 Opponentsx1.5x3 Opponentsx2x4 Opponentsx2.5x5 Opponentsx3½ Levelx2⅓ Levelx3¼ Levelx4⅕ Levelx5x2 Opponent’s Levelx1.5x3 Opponent’s Levelx2x4 Opponent’s Levelx4x5 Opponent’s Levelx8All Opponents are Bossesx1.5The Floor is Lavax4The Air is Lavax8The Walls are Lavax2Remove Sense: Auditoryx1.5Remove Sense: Visualx5Random Mutationx2Poisonedx2Starvingx3Lose 5 Levels Per Modiferx25Total Experience Gained3.616027659249984E21 Points
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In theory, that was as far as I could push the simulator at the mont. I tried placing skill ranks into it again, and was still unable to move it any higher. So until I found a way to do that or handle harder monsters, this was what I was stuck with. Not that I was complaining. That had done exactly what I wanted and pushed to my new level cap of three hundred.
“How are you feeling, Corey?” I asked, the mallet having appeared on the desk after we finished with the simulator. I wasn’t sure if that effect would ever be relevant, but it was sothing else to note as they had started in my storage.
“I feel oddly drained. I do not believe it will be a long-term problem, but at the mont I think I would have trouble performing in another simulation. Is that normal?” the core asked. Interesting, they must have taken so of the mana backlash themselves. Was that the real reason I felt fine? Was it possible the more cores we added to the simulations the further we could disperse the potential backlash?
“Possibly, it sounds similar to how I initially felt, though not as extre as when I pushed myself. Which ans both of us are certainly improving here. The good news is that we have enough levels to hit the next core fortification, though, so we are likely ready to attempt our next step,” I said.
“I would like to rest briefly before we do that. This is a new experience for . Usually, the only energies drained in a fight co from you, but sohow, that tapped directly into my own. I do not know what that will an for the future,” Corey said.
“Well, we are stronger together, so it’s possible it just ans we will have access to both of our core energies as we continue to grow, but yeah, I can see how that would be a weird feeling. It might also have sothing to do with so of the abilities of my class. Either way though, yeah, we can take a break. Pretty sure I sll breakfast anyway, and I want to talk to Maud about how she experienced that chat window from when we were in the simulator,” I said. I also wanted Elody and Pryte around for my attempt at fortification with Corey.
“I will rest here,” Corey said, not moving from the desk. Not that they usually accompanied everywhere, but that was still pretty different from what I was used to with them. Had the simulator hit them worse than they were letting on? What did a mana backlash look like for a dungeon core?
“No problem, I’ll check back on you later. Co on, Chip,” I said as I walked back into the kitchen and spotted John already at work on breakfast. He was humming to himself, but I couldn’t make out the tune. Deciding not to interrupt his routine, I crept out of the kitchen toward the sleeping pile of children in the living room.
That was when the cell phone on the table started to ring, causing Alex to bolt up awake. She looked at before grabbing it, and I just nodded my approval in return. Had they managed to get communication towers back up and working?
“Hello,” she said nervously as she put it to her ear.
Why won’t they tell us what happens on the planet Erblanctil? First, they claim the universe isn’t flat despite the evidence of our eyes. Now, they tell us that they aren’t harvesting our organs, and yet they won’t let us visit that planet to investigate. I tell you, dear listeners, sothing sinister is going on in the Spiral, and we are the experints.
Xela Trombone’s Daily Rant
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