Dungeon Annihilation 19

Hey Guys! Sunday already! Its been a fun week! I got a lot of work done and while DR has me scratching my head for the moment I think I should be good with the path I'm going to take it. There were some comments about my other stories that have been placed on the back burner. I plan to sit down a hardcore work on Revenge in July. Part of the problem is I had to schedule all my editing dates for manuscripts going on Amazon last year. I really don't want to miss them. That's why I'm hitting Annihilation so hard. I know the world, I know Regan good or evil, and while the events are changing certain things are the same. Anyway, it is because I have a deadline of June 15th and July 1st I need to fill. June will be DR while July will be Annihilation. But after that I have two months before my next deadline which i intend to fill with Revenge, so don't be surprised if I throw a lot of revenge chapters at you next month. lol. That is all from me today sorry it got a bit long.


 

Louella

My shoulder throbbed as I looked over at the token we had gotten from the dungeon. I rubbed my shoulder with my free hand. I wanted to fry the host for creating that boss, even as I knew that was how the game was played when it came to dungeons. It was a dangerous game of give and take.

Ezal came into my office and set a cup in front of me. “Here is some herbal tea. The alchemist guild said it should help relieve the pain.” 

“Thanks.” I took a long sip and enjoyed the almost instant relief that washed over me. With a deep breath, I leaned back in my chair. Picking the token, a disc with a tower engraved on it, back up, I read the inscription. ‘Tower of the Destroyer’ “I can’t tell if it has a big head or if it really believes it,” I commented handing the token over to Ezal.  

“I think this is the first time a dungeon has named itself. Most generally just accept the name given to them,” Ezal said placing the token on the table. 

“What has the Adventurer guild classified the dungeon?”

“I think they recently moved it to C rank. Though, it might drop back down depending on how the next set of floors go. With more information about the first boss available, it should be easier to conquer the first boss.”

“Sounds good.” I pushed the token towards her. “I want you to take a few parties you think will be able to scout to the next floor. Have them report everything they can.”

“Understood.”

She picked up the token and moved to leave the office. “Make sure you take a few of the Golden Dawn with you. Ivan might try something,” I called after her.

She looked back to me then bowed her head before continuing her way out. I turned to my desk and looked over the plans for when the Marques visited. I would need to get several of the Guildmasters on board, but it would fulfill the bare minimum that we needed for visiting nobility of his level. 

I wanted a showing by the mage’s guild as well as a dedication from the church. Thankfully, the mission from the Port Hope had arrived and they had several priests and cardinals here. The Builder’s Guild was already working to build them a proper church. Lelune would soon grace the valley.

I was debating a tournament of sorts for the adventurers. That was about the only thing that could keep them occupied. It would also serve for me to get a good idea where the level was at for the adventurers in town. If it got too high while my own strength was low, another noble might use that as a chance to try and take the town.

It was well in the middle of the night when I felt my mana start to surge. I quickly rushed to the window and smiled when I saw the storm brewing in the distance. It looked like I would be getting some good cultivation done tonight. I called for Ezal.

“Yes, mistress. I noticed the storm about an hour ago and have already set up your space,” Ezal said as soon as she entered the office.

“Good. You know me so well.” I moved to my room and stripped off my good cloths and put on some basic clothes that were little more than a sheet. I planned to use this storm to the full extent and I didn’t want my good cloths burned to ash.

I moved up to the attic. When a person broke through whatever their main element was would surge from the environment and fill their new mana pool up. Being a lightning cultivator, that meant a white hot arc of energy would fall into the manor if I broke through inside. The metal rod was to reduce that as metal served as path for the lightning. I wasn’t sure of the principal behind it. 

My mana was practically dancing by the time I was ready and reached the attic. I sat and gripped the metal rod while filling it with my mana. It one of the sessions with Jacqueline, she said that lightning could attract lightning. I didn’t even have to strain my senses as I could feel the energy and how it was interacting in the sky above me. I quickly adjusted mine so that would was the opposite of the sky’s.

No sooner had I finished did a bolt of lightning strike the metal rod extending from the roof. It had been several years since I’d had an opportunity like this and the full force of the natural lightning mana washed over me. I would already be tier two if I’d had an opportunity like this.

Concentrating, I pulled the mana through my body allowing my own to change it. After about ten minutes, I’d converted what I could of the natural lightning mana and sent into the second rod so that it flowed into the ground beneath the house. I would have kept all of the mana, but at tier one, my body would have literally burst.

I looked inside myself and sighed at the waste. If the lightning had been a hundred. I had only converted five of it to my own mana. It was a major boost but considering how lightning mages cultivate the storm was usually over by the time we finished the process.

This storm was serious business. In the twenty minutes it took for me to finish and send the rest away, the storm had only intensified. Not wanting to waste the chance, I repeated the process. I was determined to get as much out of this as possible.

After four hours, I was starting to get concerned. Both for myself and for the valley. My body was nearly vibrating from the amount of mana I’d managed to absorb from the storm. I was on the cusp of breaking through to tier two. With each lightning strike, I noticed that more terra mana was pulled in from the metal.

Terra mana seemed to be what the lightning mana was using to flow through the metal. It was a fascinating concept and thinking about my new staff, I realized that different metals actually either helped or hindered the terra mana. I would need to investigate it further. 

Another bolt of lightning struck the lightning rod without me calling for it. The energy jumped from the rod into my body. There was so much mana inside my body that I worried that I would burst after all. I jerkily reached over and grabbed the rod to send it to the ground when another bolt struck the roof.

I was stuck like this for nearly ten minutes when Ezal burst into the room. Arcs of lightning danced around the rooms striking everything metal. She started to approach but I threw my hand up. An arc of lightning leapt from my hand and scorched a line in the floor. I couldn’t tell if the room was bright or my eyes were glowing, but everything was getting brighter in the room.

“Don’t! I’m barely… containing it! Destroy… the rod outside!”

I could barely make out her nod and that she left the room. I had channeled every ounce of the energy into my mana pool that it could hold and I couldn’t understand why I was still alive. Even if it was my element, there were limits. Especially at tier one. 

Alive or not, all I felt like was a rod of metal for channeling the lightning flowing through me. If I thought my situation couldn’t get worse, I would have been wrong. That idle thought caused my mana pool to shift, even growing larger it was nearly instantly filled by the lightning coursing through me. Nature didn’t seem to realize that as several more bolts of lightning struck the rod on the roof of the manor.

It had gone past painful and was at numb by the time that Ezal managed to blast the ceiling of the manor with a fireball. The remaining lightning rushed into me as I was thrown across the room. Without the grounding rod, I had to contain it in my body. Every centimeter of my body felt like it was burning. 

In my pain fill fog. I felt something next to me. It was pulling some of the lightning from me. Without thinking, I shoved every drop into the object. As the tremendous amount of energy left me, feeling returned to my body. 

I laid there even as rain from the hole in the ceiling soaked my naked body. A minute or two, I felt someone grab my shoulder and pulled me into a sitting position. Struggling, I managed to open my eyes and see Ezal with a worried look.

“I’m… alive,” I said with a gasp.

“I’m amazed that you are. I don’t think a normal person could have survived that,” she said checking my body over.

“I guess I’m not normal,” I replied before blacking out.

~~~

A peel of thunder woke me. Glancing outside I saw that it was still storming heavily. Even heavier than when I was cultivating, if that was possible. Rain and hail hammered the manor. Turning my gaze from the window, I found Ezal asleep next to my bed.

“Ezal. Ezal wake up,” I said reaching over to shake her hand.

She came to with a start and looked around. Her eyes locked with mine and she started to tear up. “Mistress! I’m glad you’re awake.”

“How long was I out?” I asked sitting up in the bed.

“Nearly a full day. The Mary couldn’t find anything wrong with you. She went and got a tier two priestess, but she claimed the same. We decided to just let you sleep it off.”

“What is the situation?”

“The Golden Dawn declared a state of emergency. At this rate the valley could flood. Everyone is remaining in whatever solid shelter they can find.”

“Let me guess. The source of the storm is the dungeon?” I asked placing my head in my hands. The dungeon had influenced a storm around the top of its tower for a few weeks now. Something must have changed that caused it to grow out of hand. Whether that was intended by the dungeon or not was still to be seen.

“You would be correct. An army of the goblins are camped at the entrance of the tower. Funnily enough, there is no weather at the base of the tower.”

“So, we can assume the storm was on purpose,” I said. Swinging the covers off, I moved to get up. “Ezal fetch my armor. We’re going to have a talk with our neighbor.”

“Mistress! You’re still recovering. We can wait another day!” She tried to press down on my shoulder, but I could barely feel it. Having broken through to tier two, my body was completely changed now. In fact, other than a small headache I felt better than I had ever in my life. “The mage guildmaster said it was a miracle that you survived at all. We shouldn’t tempt fate so soon.”

“I’ve decided, so either help me get ready or don’t.”

Ezal looked like she wanted to keep arguing but finally nodded. “At least let me gather a force to go with us.” I contemplated that then nodded. It would be best to show what we could muster if we were pushed.

“Request that Jacqueline come with us. Some one of her level should at least give the dungeon pause. As the mage Guildmaster, she is obligated to defend the town.”

“It will be done.”

I stood and moved over to the window. I could barely make out the tower from here, but there was a glow coming from the top of the tower. Others might not be able to tell, but I could thanks to being a lightning mage. The top of the tower was being continuously struck by lightning. The question was why.