Chapter 99 (Patreon)

Unedited. Last POV needs more work, but that's the gist of it.

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The Creator, Atlantis, Kalenic Sea

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I found true joy in watching the raid of nine struggle across the rooftop section of the castle. Maybe making them fight stone golems in the shape of gargoyles was too much, but inflicting that same pain souls-likes inflicted on me in my youth was cathartic.

They hadn't planned for this new challenge in their supplies and decided to leave after fighting the new mini-boss Gargoyle / Earth Spirit. it was a tough fight, and three of them had to emergency teleport out after being flung from the slippery rooftop they battled on. But, they beat it. I made sure the shortcut would activate in the presence of those who teleported away, then moved back down to the Eleventh.

Before I did anything new, I needed to make more relics. Keystones? Eh, I'll call them relics. I had Life, Darkness, and Light so far. I needed to make one each for Fire, Earth, Wind, Water, Ice, Lightning, and I still needed to make an island for the Metal Court as well as their relic.

Water didn't really have an island either... No! Don't get distracted! Relics first, then the last two islands.

Fire First! I'd already crafted a 'story' for Isla Fuego; the ancient civilization that lived here sacrificed virgins to the volcano to 'appease' it. I didn't want the Guilders getting the wrong idea, so I added one last 'journal' entry. This one detailed how, after much research, the writer discovered that a sufficiently powerful magical item could be sacrificed in place of a virgin, but such items were far harder to come by than an unspoiled woman.

Once they'd 'sacrificed' the item to the volcano, a pathway down into the caldera would reveal itself. They'd have to fight their way through an ever-hotter environment, eventually reaching the bubbling lava. The Relic I placed in the middle of the throne Igna had made for herself. A dagger made of obsidian, one with lava-like lines that moved and glowed across the blade.

The Magma Dagger, as it was henceforth known, granted it's wielder total immunity to fire and heat. But it also created an aura of heat around the wielder, raising the temperature in the air around them by hundreds of degrees Fahrenheit. Given it's location, to even reach it without collapsing in the first place the potential party would have to have heat-resistant equipment already, and though it would protect one of them from the many fire, molten and magma golems in the caldera, the rest would suffer from the side effects.

Next; Air! The Winged Helmet would be a relic made of Potentium, and it's enchantment powered entirely by air mana. It would boost any jump the user made, tripling the height they could reach. Enough to scale great heights and cross short chasms, but nothing overpowered. But, it will only work under the open sky. When a roof is overhead, either inside a building or underground, it won't work.

Getting into the swing of things, I moved right on to Earth. This large coin-sized relic had a square hole cut out of the middle, and would grant the typical 'Earthbender' sense. The user would be able to sense vibrations in the earth for up to fifty feet around them. By slamming the ground with their feet, they could send out vibrations, and get return signals. They'd have to use it a fair amount to train this new sense, though. At first, it would be very difficult to understand what the signals that come back actually are. Probably painful too.

Moving right on to Ice, I popped over to the Northern Iceberg. It was beginning to look quite impressive. The Ice Manabeings had grown the ice organically, leaving plenty of tunnels and caverns inside the iceberg. In the largest, deepest chamber I place their relic. This one I shaped of ice, and a decent part of the enchantment was focused on making sure it wouldn't break or melt. For it's actual ability, it was the opposite of the Magma Dagger. The Ice Crown would confer complete immunity to cold, and since the user couldn't feel cold they wouldn't know if it was cold. The longer the crown sat on someone's head, it would generate a cold aura that slowly increased in strength. It would drop the temperature in an increasingly large area, becoming colder the closer you got to the user.

I assumed if someone used it long enough, they'd eventually be trapped in a large icicle until someone managed to melt it and release them. It didn't make them immortal, so they'd probably die of starvation or dehydration eventually.

With only Water, Lightning and Metal left I decided to do Lightning first. I'd do Water and Metal when I did their islands.

The yet-unnamed island, which I was going to fix momentarily, was rather stark and barren. I had a few ideas on how to fix that, but I was focusing on the relics for now. I created what I would call the Tesla Amulet. A hardened glass orb that contained highly ionized plasma, contained within an orichalcum amulet shaped like an eye. And that was before I started enchanting it. I didn't want to be boring and make this relic another immunity relic, but I also didn't want it to just shoot lightning bolts. That'd be boring.

So I became inspired by that item I'd created. This orb would slowly accumulated electrical energy, but could be charged faster by feeding it mana. If it was overcharged, it would violently discharge it's entire capacitance, no doubt shocking everyone and everything around it. But that was the consequence. What was it's use?

As a battery that could be used to open doors and activate mechanisms. I revisited almost every island, placing two or three ancient-looking doors with a slot to the side of the doors perfectly shaped for the amulet. It would drain the relic completely, and would only open the door if it had been charged enough. The doors took varying levels of charge. Some of the doors blocked access to other relics, while others sectioned off side-areas that were yet-unused.

Progression-wise, I imagined a party of guilders coming upon these doors, and wondering on how they opened. they would go from island to island, and keep coming upon these doors. Eventually they'd come to the lightning island and find the amulet, and from there have to revisit every island.

Time to work on the final two islands. The next one was obvious. I'd made a promise, after all.

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The Eleventh Floor, The Dungeon, Atlantis

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Paragon looked upon the island that was being raised from the ocean. Over the last few days the Elemental Isles had gained another four islands, as varied in shape as their elements were. The most notable addition was certainly the permeant storm, swirling over two dark, shadowed lands. One was lit by the occasional flash of light, while the other remained shrouded in darkness. Only the few dots of light from ships docked there revealed it's location at all.

The verdant and crystalline islands were on the other end of the Isles, and balanced them out quite well.

The large iceberg that floated off the northern edge of the Isles was almost as bright as the light island under the midday sun, Though in a different way, more similar to the moons of this world and it's sun. Each was populated by a Court, most had a Spirit as their monarch, but a select few boasted Fairies. And with these Potentium golem bodies they possessed...

The power these Fairies boasted was immense, compared to

Darkness, and Air were the only ones so far, but he knew that Fire and Stone weren't far off and Paragon could feel that he was close to the precipice. It wouldn't be long now.

Not far from Core Island, a new island was being raised. His island. After the basic shape had been raised he nodded to the group of Metal manabeings that had gathered with him. They returned his nod, and they boarded the ship. The Crabfolk were crafty, and had traded transport services to their new island for upgrades to their ship that the Metal Court was more than capable of implementing. The major upgrade was a copper sheath on the hull of their flagship, which they'd named the Drowned Crab. The rest consisted of modifications to their cannons, adding something called rifling to the barrel and reinforcing the whole thing.

Paragon wouldn't be going with them.

Are you sure about that decision, paragon? The Contractor asked. You would be the only Monarch to not reside on your island.

"Yes, I am sure."

I mean, it's pretty close to my core island anyway. The Guilders are six floors away, and I'd have you brought over here before the guilders even stepped foot on this floor. We'd know days in advance of their approach.

"But... this is my task. To defend you."

And you've done a spectacular job. You were diligent, loyal and though your services were ultimately unneeded, that doesn't diminish how much I valued the knowledge that you were right here, as my last line of defense, when I couldn't defend myself. Take some time off! Organize your court, reach your next form, practice with your new power! I promise, as soon as you're needed I'll have you back here in minutes!

"... Very well. I will join my fellow Manabeings."

Good! Just think of it as a holiday!

"What's a holiday?"

...Haaaaah. Yeah. Something you need. Now go on, get on that boat!

"It is a ship."

Whatever.

The Contractor's presence retreated, and as Paragon joined his attendants on the Drowned Crab he could see their future island much more clearly.

The beaches were made of copper, ground to a sandy texture. They glittered pleasingly in the light. Where the beach ended, silvery trees took their place. Spires of iron rose from the ocean around the island, making approaching it treacherous but for a single safe path. The waves that crashed into them made even that safe path treacherous, liable to dash your ships into the rocks more than allow you safe passage

The waves calmed for their approach, and the ship was soon at the beach. Paragon and his court leapt from the ship, landing heavily on the copper sand.

The Copper and Orichalcum golems sighed, and their feminine-shaped forms practically melted into the sand. All that remained were the tops of their 'heads' and their oxide-green 'eyes.' The sprites were obviously delighted, and they 'swam' in the copper like it was water, joy practically radiating from them. The Silver and Moonsilver Golems found their place when the group reached the trees.

They could merge and separate from the trees freely. When merged with the trees, the golems could control them easily, bending and swaying in a non-existent wind. The Moonsilver golems enhanced the trees rather than just a simple merging. The trees began glowing and grew half-again as tall.

At the center of the island, beyond the ring of metal trees, was a lake. The lake of liquid mithril was surrounded by twelve pillars of Iron. The Iron Golems could, as with the other kinds of golem, merge with the pillars. They twisted and manipulated them, twisting them into a organic lattice dome that stretched over the lake.

The Mithril golems walked into the lake, disappearing beneath the surface. The metal shifted and became a garden of metal flora, excepting a hardened path that led to a throne. Like everything else, the throne was a vine-like lattice. Paragon walked down the path, and sat upon the throne.

In that moment, he stopped holding back.

He felt how, all at once, he became more.

He felt his Potentium body merge with the throne, and his senses expand to encompass the entire island. From here, he could coordinate and speak with all of his attendants. An idle thought had the Silver Golems 'grow' bushes and spread 'grasses' throughout the forest.

Sooooo, how is it?

Paragon had the iron lattice dome form a face. It grinned.

"I can work with this."

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Guildmisstress's Office, The Guild, Atlantis

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Layla felt a chill run down her back.

Something had happened. She wasn't sure what, and it was probably to do with the dungeon. 'The Creator.'

She took a breath and turned back to the beings in her office. "You wanted to talk about the economy?"

The Kobold nodded. "That right, white lady! No human trader want my Talons!"

Layla rubbed her temple, looking at the Drake-kin and Capriccio standing next to the lizardman.

"You as well?" They nodded.

"None of the merchants will take our money." The drake-kin pulled out a silvery coin, one that glowed with a bluish white light. "This is a Talon, the currency of The Children. It's made of Moonsilver, and enchanted against tampering. It's just as valuable as the gold these traders want! Silver, Copper, those done have any value! We've got tons of the stuff"

Layla could feel her headache building. Wasn't this supposed to be The Voice's job!?

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