“I’m at eighty-one,” I say, more than a little shocked.
That’s past the halfway point! Tier seven is approaching fast!
“Good. If you continue at your current pace, then you may be able to reach the next tier before anything happens with these demons. Jumping two tiers is too much even for you, Eldest, but one might be possible.”
Considering the boost to evolutionary energy doubles each evolution, I’m not sure how a tier seven would cope against an eight, but hopefully it’s not that bad! Despite the reassurances of the coolheaded general, I can’t help but look up nervously. The threats on the third are becoming more dire by the day, and I’m stuck down here in this endless insect war.
“I still feel like I should head upwards. Even if only for a little while,” I say. “I can help steady the situation before I return.”
Even if I’m only there for a few days, with me and my pets being such powerful tier six monsters, we can make a dent in whatever our enemies throw at us. Within that stratum, anyway. Once I’m confident no mass invasion of lizards, or uprising of uber demons is around the corner, then I can back down and continue to chomp on termites as we gear up for the final push.
Victor considers my proposal and reluctantly agrees.
“That might be a good idea. At the very least, it will help settle a few nerves. You must ensure you are back within two days. I worry that after that much time, the enemy will realise you are gone and try to take advantage.”
“Good call. I’ll get the group together and depart immediately.”
Which means kicking Tiny awake and going to look for Sarah. She’s been fighting all over the place recently, so it takes a little while to track her down.
[Hey there, Sarah! I’m going to be heading back to the third for a couple of days. Interested in coming along?]
The giant bear is currently being tended to by numerous healers as she heaves breaths that sound like the forge bellows operated by the Colony in the main nest.
[Just… give me a minute… I’m still… I’m still calming down.]
[Oh, shoot. My bad.]
I wait a few minutes for her to get a better hold of herself before we continue.
[It seems like you’ve been getting a lot better at controlling the rages,] I observe. [That’s great stuff! Well done.]
She smiles, as much as a terrifying death bear can.
[Thank you. I’ve been trying hard. I still lose control sometimes, but I can feel the improvement.]
[Nice. So, about the third?]
She hesitates, then shakes her shaggy head.
[I think I’ll stay. I’m helping here, and I’m making a lot of progress with my own problems. Besides, I don’t want to go back up there to where Jim is…]
[That’s fair enough. Don’t go too wild down here. Take care of yourself.]
[I will.]
With that done, it’s off to the gate. Back up to the trunk of the world tree, past the village, along the roots to where the gate awaits. After so much time fighting against the hated enemy, I’m almost looking forward to going back to the blazing hot land of the demons. All that smoke, and ash, and… and… what the hell am I looking forward to again?
Ah well. Here we go.
The gate looms in front of me, glowing with incredible mana that makes no sense to me. Wait a second, what am I sensing?
“Brilliant?”
“Uh. Yes…?”
“Where the hell are you hiding? I can sense you, but I can’t see you.”
“I’m working on something. Something dimensional.”
“Are you in another dimension right now?!”
“No.”
“Damn.”
“But I’m hiding in a pocket space!”
“Oh, sweet.”
“There’s a lot of research to go, but the team and I will crack the secrets soon!”
“I look forward to it.”
Nice to see the second Champion making strides. If she can make pocket spaces, will gates be far away? My hopes are up!
Feeling positive and not wanting to waste any time, I step toward the gate and brace myself for the disjointed feeling of being transported via magic.
Except I don’t feel it.
I look down. My leg hasn’t moved. That’s odd.
Let’s try that again. Take a step forward. Into the gate. Aaaand, now. Nope. What about… now! Nothing. HAH! Still not moving…
What the hell, leg? Why have you betrayed me?!
In fact, the more I try to force myself to move forward, the more something deep within reaches out and yanks on my being, locking my body in place. I’m just a few metres away from the gate, but I can’t move into it! This is so strange…
Then I feel it, more clearly than I ever have before. A tug. Like a hand taking hold of my leg and pulling on it ever so slightly. Except it isn’t my leg, it’s my soul. And it isn’t a hand, it’s the Dungeon.
It’s calling me down.
120. Mind Control?!
I strain. I push. I fight with every fibre of muscle and every strand of brain matter to get my body to move forward! Nothing. As an experiment, I attempt to move backward and find no resistance, though once I move forward again, no dice. I’m frozen in place as long as I attempt to move forward.
This is crazy! The Dungeon is basically refusing to let me walk forwards? Are you telling me I don’t have control of my own limbs?
Dammit, Gandalf! Get your scrawny wizard backside out here and explain this. I won’t take another step until this unpleasant phenomenon is spelled out to me. I mean… I can’t take another step… but that’s not the point!
[Master? Is everything alright?]
I realise then that my comrades have been watching me skuttle backwards and forwards, straining against an invisible barrier in front of the gate for over a minute now. I can imagine it doesn’t look all that sane, prompting Crinis to check in with me.
[I, uh, seem to be experiencing technical difficulties?] I reply.
Crinis is confused.
[I’m not sure what you mean, Master. Is there a problem?]
[In a sense. I can’t walk forward.]
[You can’t?] She extends a tentacle toward the gate and meets no resistance. [I don’t think anything is there?]
[This is a little hard to explain. It feels like the Dungeon itself is preventing me from going through the gate. As if it refuses to let me move somewhere that’s going to take me up a stratum.]
[The Dungeon isn’t letting you move?]
[Yeah, it sounds weird, I know.]
[CONTEMPTIBLE DUNGEON! UNHAND THE MASTER!]
Exploding with wrath, the tentacled shadow-mass unleashes her fury upon the Dungeon. In the literal sense. Stones fly and the bark beneath us splinters as Crinis lashes out blindly. Tiny, witnessing this chaos, naturally does the first thing that pops into his head, which is to join in. Chunks of wood start flying everywhere as the giant ape joyously smashes his mighty fists into the root beneath his feet.
[Hey. HEY! Knock it off, both of you. That’s not the Dungeon, that’s the Mother Tree!]
The plants nearby rattle and hiss in fury as my two friends restrain themselves, Tiny much more reluctantly than Crinis. A Grove Keeper stomps over, a rare expression of anger plastered on his face. I reach out to him with my mind before he can go off the deep end.
[Sorry about that! Misunderstanding! We didn’t mean to attack the Mother Tree at all.]
Obviously, this doesn’t satisfy the Grove Keeper one bit and he replies in a tone rumbling with anger, [You would brush off this attack so brazenly? Hmmmmm. There must be a reckoning!]
[Geez, we hardly chipped the bark, don’t get your logs soggy,] I retort. [Besides, since you’re here, I have a question for your mum. She might be able to help me out.]