Chương 18: Chapter 16 - Allies?

Report date: 8 August, 113 The [Demon Lord] has completed the ritual. A large wave of unknown force swept from the island, and many sailors hit by it could not remain standing even though it seemed to have no physical component. No HP damage was taken, except for a few unlucky soldiers on the stairs. The effect seems to have been short-lived, but I recommend all soldiers that were hit by that to be checked out by our [Doctors] back home or by an elven healer just to be safe.

We have already sustained heavy losses, but the [Demon Lord's] oath should require him not to harm us. Now may be the perfect time for a counterattack. Unfortunately, it would seem that the [Son of Dave] claims that his skill is no longer working, so we can't be certain if an assault would bear any fruit. However, we may be able to disable one of the artifacts for further study if the [Demon Lord] is indeed gone. What are your orders?

Report date: 9 August, 113 We made landfall without issue and were surprised that no magical artifacts were waiting for us on the shore this time. We were able to land what remains of our full contingent and made camp. The men were uneasy, and we posted a double watch, but there were no issues through the night. We will proceed to the area that the [Son of Dave] indicated was the [Demon Lord's] stronghold.

Report date: 9 August, 113 (part 2) After proceeding with a quick but cautious pace, our advanced scouts have reported back. There is no sign that the [Demon Lord] has ever been here. There is no dungeon, partially constructed or otherwise. No defenses. And there is a vibrant, healthy forest where we were sure the [Demon Lord] had just burned one down.

The [Demon Lord] is well-known for possessing illusion magic, but there is no way to confirm whether or not the forest fire was simply a trick from the distance we had seen it. We will continue our search for a few more hours. Report date: 9 August, 113 (part 3) My men are growing increasingly uneasy, and one of the scouts finally put a name to the issue. The island is too quiet.

There are no birds or animals on the island, and even a few of our [Hunters] who wanted to get some extra provisions were unable to cause a spawn of a game animal with their [Hunt] skill. Additionally, we have encountered no monsters. A contingent of this size should have encountered dozens, if not hundreds, of wolves by this point, but we haven't seen a single one. I am ordering all troops to return to the home base.

My current recommendation is to form a research base out here to further study this phenomenon and see if it holds any military applications. Report date: 12 May, 115 Research outpost established successfully. Preliminary investigation reveals a low-level magical effect suffusing the entire island. School as yet undetermined. Will report at the same time next week. Report date: 19 May, 115 All known schools have been ruled out, which implies this is an entirely new school of magic!

The other researchers and I agree that it is related to the [Demon Lord's] uncanny ability to appear wherever he wishes, and the applications are endless! Beyond just the movement of troops, this could be used for even things as mundane as crop transport or civilian travel between the nations! Apologies. I went over my allotment for this report, but everyone here is ecstatic to have this chance! Report date: 25 August, 115 We have finally succeeded at replicating the basic manifestation of this spell school!

The basic premise is the manipulation of space and the distance between objects! Its use does appear to cause a bit of nausea, but the side effects clear up quickly. We hope to have the fundamental spell of the school determined soon. Report date: 24 October, 115 A major breakthrough! The basic spell is [Port]! It is not very impressive in and of itself, only moving an object a single foot, but this is just the very beginning!

Imagine the difference between a [Fire Bolt] and a [Fireball], and you can see how the [Demon Lord] has learned to move himself great distances! I am sure we are close to a real breakthrough! Report date: 31 October, 115 Another one of the egg heads injured himself today. Due to the accidents that are becoming near-constant, I'm requesting a second medic, or even better, a [Cleric]. Maybe a [Cleric] could fix what is wrong with their heads while he's at it.

(An official reprimand was issued to the medic responsible for the above report, but not much came of it. It turns out they couldn't think of a punishment much worse than babysitting a bunch of researchers on an island) Report date: 7 October, 117 Despite the many assurances the researchers have given, no deadlines have been met in the past 3 quarters, and we're no closer to a military application for this than we were a year ago.

Add onto that the ongoing costs of maintaining an island outpost where all goods must be imported, and where the researchers seem to be increasingly "clumsy" (a follow-up investigation has been ordered to see if they were willfully sabotaging our chances), and it is little surprise that command came to this decision. The island program was officially mothballed, and the researchers returned to normal duties. Series of Gram Military Reports Grampa, why do you have to keep drinking those potions every day?

It's for my vertigo. Not even an elven [Priest] was able to fix it. Wow. How did you get something so bad? I would tell ya, but then I'd have to kill ya… I'm kidding. Well, mostly. Now listen closely here, pipsqueak. I know you probably want to be a great [Wizard] someday, or maybe even follow in grampa's steps and be a [Magic Researcher], but there's one thing you need to know with either. Forbidden magic is forbidden for a reason.

Not just because a bunch of pious people will get their underwear in a twist if they hear about you using it. No, using it has real consequences. Some of 'em you might not even see for decades, and sometimes even for the people around you who aren't even using it. Wow, grampa. Does that mean that forbidden magic caused your verteegoo? What? Who said anything about it happening to me? Why, if I told you something like that, I would have to kill you! Grampaaaaaaa.

(Much) later conversation between a researcher and his grandchild My first problem with creating my sword was how I would source the demonite. Fortunately, while I didn't have an answer, I had a lead. Avarice has a demonite sword, right? Maybe I'll just ask him where he got it. I prepared to send a [Message] but was surprised when I got one of my own. Jor-Ex-Ar: We seem to be having… well, I am not sure I would call it a problem, but it might be?

"That's the most vague statement I've heard in a while," I muttered before realizing that would show up as my response.

"[Message] Jor-Ex-Ar, I'm on my way." A quick teleport over, and I was face to face with the [Diplomat] again.

"So, what's the quote-unquote problem?" I asked. Jor-Ex-Ar nodded to another [Sea Hunter], and he quickly pulled something out of his inventory.

"A knife fish?" I asked with a puzzled look.

"Why are you showing me that?"

"Because we found it inside the pocket dimension," Jor-Ex-Ar explained.

"Did it come through the portal, too?" I asked.

"That gateway will take anyone and anything over except for H2O. I already warned you about that." He cocked his head.

"H2O?" I sighed. Not going to recreate chemistry here. No thanks.

"Just a different name for water from back home. Don't worry about it. Anyway, the fish probably came through the portal." Jor-Ex-Ar shook his head.

"No, I am sure it did not. As part of our trial run here, we have had [Sea Hunters] watching both sides of the portal day and night. Nothing has gotten through without us noticing it."

"And I'm telling you that it had to have. When I created the pocket dimension, I specifically set it up so that-" I noticed the slightly smug look on his face as I talked, but I had no clue what it was about… until I heard something thunk into my armor. I turned around, and the knife fish went for my face the second time, but I quickly batted it away and killed it with an [Earth Strike]. I spun back to Jor-Ex-Ar, who was still sporting his smug grin.

"Fine," I sighed.

"I'll double-check the enchantment. Though, I can't make any promises here. I might not be able to fix that without taking the whole thing down, and if it goes down, I can't ensure I'll be able to get it back up again." I moved to start teleporting away, but Jor-Ex-Ar stopped me.

"Wait," he said. Then, looking at the others who gave him brief nods, he turned back to me.

"We want you to leave it the way it is." My eyebrows shot up.

"Oh? I thought the entire point of this place for you guys was that it would be monster-free. What changed?" I asked. The [Diplomat] shook his head.

"Monster-free was never actually the goal… at least for the smaller monsters. Those are kept out easily enough if we establish a city zone."

"Oh yeah," I murmured.

"I wondered why you never set one of those up."

"That's because of the larger threats," Jor-Ex-Ar explained.

"We have records of previous attempts at setting up zones in the sea and… well… they could always keep out the smaller monsters, but they tended to attract the frost serpents on the other side-" Ice dragons. I mentally interpreted.

"-or the terror of the deep on this side. However, with no frost serpents here to attack, and with the water shallow enough…" He looked at one of the other [Sea Hunters] who nodded.

"My skill confirms that the water on this side of the portal is too shallow for the terror of the deep to appear," he stated.

"And there you have it," Jor-Ex-Ar finished.

"So, I think this is actually a benefit for our people. We can establish a zone here, and our [Sea Hunters] will not have to travel far to find fish and monsters to hunt."

"Oh," I said lamely.

"Well, good for you all, then." I paused.

"Guess I'll be leaving." I started casting an [Advanced Teleport], but Jor-Ex-Ar interrupted again.

"Before you go, I would like to invite you to the creation of our city zone," he stated.

"It will be in about a month because there is a lot of logistics and politics involved, but I think it would only be appropriate if you were there to see the birth of our nation's capital city."

"Yeah, sure," I replied somewhat distractedly as I continued casting.

"Just shoot me a [Message] when you know the actual dates and stuff, and I'll make sure to come and see it." We bid our goodbyes as I continued casting, and then I reappeared on land. Just for kicks, I double-checked my work on the pocket dimension anyway. Stability looks good. I thought as I examined the mithril chamber and all of its enchantments. Border images seem to be working as expected. That part came from my brief trip to see Jor.

Since I knew that the fish people were going to be living here, I didn't want to do something as uncanny as the giant swirling darkness that I had going on in my personal blacksmith forge. Instead, I had opted for an obscuring mist on the surface that blocked visibility at the edge of the zone, and for underwater, I had created a repeating visual of part of the outside ocean that gradually faded out. The unfortunate bit of that would be the complaints.

I'm sure that I would hear about merfolk accidentally swimming headfirst into the barrier. Still, the other options made me think too much of putting them in a fishbowl, and I didn't want that to be my legacy… even if it was a dang fine fishbowl. I also stepped outside momentarily and confirmed that the sun was tracking through the sky as expected. It even had warmth to it…

which meant that either I had accidentally stolen that from the original island as well, or there was something with the wacky Placeholder physics that just let it work. After that, I checked the rest of the enchantment and the dozen mana-gathering pieces of magicite I had dedicated to the upkeep of the pocket dimension.

"Mana usage is a bit higher than expected," I muttered.

"But that would make sense if I accidentally pulled mob spawns over to this side." I frowned.

"Wait. I'm sure of it." I traced my finger along several interconnected runes.

"The copy side isn't supposed to have mob spawns. So how could… Oh." I paused.

"The island on the outside is the copy?" I muttered as I furrowed my brow.

"How… did I even pull that off?" That was a real headscratcher, and I spent the next hour trying to go over my code- I mean enchantment- and figure out where the bug was. I eventually determined the culprit. A single rune that was inverted when it should have been right-side up.

"Well, that could have been a disaster," I snorted. Then, with a shake of my head, I decided it was best not to dwell on it.

"Alright, what was I doing before I got roped into this? Right. [Message] Avarice. Where did you get your demonite sword?" Avarice: I… spawned with it, your lowliness Well, that was a dead end. I grumbled internally. However, I figured I might as well ask the next question.

"[Message] Avarice, do you know of any demonite ore deposits or of any place that I could find raw demonite?" I asked. Avarice: Be not angry, your lowliness, but I am not sure. There may be some in the lower regions of Hell under guard by monsters? If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Well, gaming logic does dictate that all the good stuff is supposed to be guarded. I thought with a slight shake of my head.

I guess I should just expect a boss fight and prepare for giant magicite crystal part 2. I wasn't too worried about it. My best guess was a level 25 boss, but I could always just [Panic Button] out if-"Wait a second," I muttered.

"Don't boss fights have that entry text that the System spiels out every time?" I asked. I had seen it so many times that I had grown to just kind of ignore it. But my eyes widened as I remembered what it said.

"Unable to leave by any means until the boss is defeated," I stated.

"Oh. That sounds like it should block [Panic Button]." I paused.

"Still gonna test it, just in case." In my defense, I hadn't exactly been fighting many actual bosses since I created that spell. Mishael and Shalia don't count, the Leviathan was just a level 35 normal monster spawn, and the crystalline calamities were so easy to cheese that I forgot they were technically bosses.

Speaking of the crystalline calamities, all of them should have respawned, and I wasn't sure that I would ever reach a point where I had enough of the dang crystals, so I decided I might as well pop down to the Below and get on that… as well as do some science. A few [Teleport To Beacons] later, I stood on the ceiling above the Crystalline Calamity. And yes, a few teleports because I still hadn't cracked teleporting directly to a beacon in a different dimension.

I could teleport to the beacon I placed on my island pocket dimension just fine, but I figured that a pocket dimension didn't actually count as a full-blown dimension… which made sense because of the whole "pocket" term in front of it. Either way, I stared at the words that greeted me as I entered the zone for what felt like the hundredth time. System: You have entered a special boss room! You will be unable to leave by any means until the boss is defeated.

"Unable to leave by any means until the boss is defeated," I stated alongside it.

"I'm pretty sure that's the same wording it uses for a standard dungeon boss as well." I paused.

"But let's face it, I doubt Hell has dungeons. It will likely be another giant boss room like this. So, enough stalling. Time for science. [Panic Button]!" I cast. It started out fine. I felt the tug of magic all the way cross-dimension, just like I had set the spell up to do. However, it quickly went sideways… or I guess you could say I did. I splatted into the wall of the boss room with enough force that my HP bar got chopped in half.

"Son of a birch," I attempted to curse as I righted myself.

"Holy frickin' ship." Another attempt. And then, because I got tired of sounding like a frickin' 8-year-old, I went with a good standby for all ages.

"Ow," I muttered as I rubbed my head. I heard what I could best describe as a quizzical screech as I turned and looked down at the boss who was staring at me with its head tilted to one side.

"Yeah, closest you'll ever get to beating me, and it's something I did to myself," I chuckled.

"Own worst enemy and all of that. Anyway, [Mage Bolt]." The indignity I suffered from my experiment was slightly alleviated because the only one who saw it happen also went down in an utterly ignoble manner, being shot to death by the weakest spell and being unable to respond. Then, I inverted my gravity, collected my prize, and prepared to head out, only to stop myself at the last second. Wait. [Pack Mule] is up to level 8, but I never checked to see its limits. I thought after a brief moment. I shrugged.

"Well, I guess it would save me a trip or two…" And with that, I changed the target of my next [Teleport To Beacon]. Instead of heading back to the entrance I instead went to the cave that I had designated "Crystal Cave #2." … It had been close to being Crystal Cave #1, but I had decided against a 0-indexed counting scheme for my portal naming. Mainly because it wasn't like I could shove them in an array or sort them or anything.

Actually, if I did put them all together in a group like an array or vector, I wonder if it would be possible to make some type of cheaper spell to teleport to them in sequence and- I shook my head.

"Not worth the headache. There's way more important stuff to deal with." To keep a boring interlude short, I could in fact fit two crystals in my inventory without being over-encumbered. I could not fit three. Though, I did have to wonder if I had an equivalent of another crystal stowed away in my inventory anyway. I did have a lot of junk that had built up over the centuries, including what probably amounted to a literal ton of monster meat that I had never bothered to sell.

It turns out that merchants actually don't just buy all of your random carp. Video games lied to me again! I joked to myself. When I finally finished gathering the next set of crystals, I set them all up as mana-gathering arrays and then went back to thinking about my upcoming descent into Hell. What should I expect? I asked myself. What type of monster would guard the highest tier material for the evil side? I put on my gamer hat and tried to figure out what I should prepare…

but I couldn't actually come up with anything that would be helpful.

"If this was a normal game I would be stocking up on fire resist potions and health potions," I stated.

"Both of which are… less than useful." I guess I can make do with mana potions and stamina potions. I thought. I really should've stocked up on those before the war with all of Placeholder and everything…

"Oh!" I practically shouted aloud as I had another realization.

"Health regen potions! I kinda ruled them out because they were slow, but I've got [Health Regen – Fast] now!" A way to regain HP was certainly at the top of my list. I was assuming that, like the Crystalline Calamity and the Leviathan, whatever I encountered would likely have a way to damage me through my armor… even though I assumed a good chunk of its attacks would be fire-based.

"Alright then, off to Gram. Let's see if I can get a good stockpile of potions."

"Sorry, we don't carry anything like that," I was told for the fifth time that day.

"You're positive?" I pushed.

"And no recipe for anything like that either? I get that it's kind of a niche potion, but-""I've never even heard of a potion like that in all my days," the cranky old woman shot back.

"So, either buy something or get out of my store."

"Geez, okay!" I said with my hands up.

"What about mana and stamina potions?" And that was how I ended up buying my limit of mana and stamina potions from yet another store. It turned out that most of them had pretty strict "X amount per customer" restrictions, but they were a bit laxer as long as the potion in question wasn't a health potion. … And I had [Disguise Self], so I could make as many trips as I wanted through each store.

I was a bit upset about the quality of the potions I got, but I had to grudgingly accept that none of them were made by a master [Alchemist] and they were probably okay for the average [Soldier] or adventurer. I'm just a pretty far cry from the average adventurer. I thought with a small chuckle as I continued looking around.

I was prepared to port off to the next town to keep looking for the elusive health regen potion that apparently Gram had all but up and forgotten about when I heard a "psst" from down an alleyway. My head swiveled in that direction, and I was treated to the sight of a shifty-looking man who was beckoning me into the dark. Either he's trying to offer me something illegal, or he's trying to have a group of people jump me. I thought. Either way, it sounded interesting enough, so I went ahead and followed him.

I was half expecting to be greeted by a couple of [Sneaking] brutes who would try to shake me down for my money but was a bit disappointed, and a bit pleasantly surprised, when the man just looked this way and that before leaning in.

"Word is that you're looking for a recipe," he stated.

"A recipe that no normal client would need, but that those of less… human… origin might find a use for." Oh, frick. Is that why the regen potions aren't a thing anymore? I asked myself. They got banned because demons can use them? Outwardly, I kept up my poker face.

"I might be, who's asking?"

"Someone who might be able to help with your predicament," he said." If you can do something for me."

"Not in the market for a sidequest at the moment," I immediately replied.

"How about I just pay you an ungodly amount of money, and you hire some other schmuck to do it?" He recoiled a bit.

"What I want done isn't something that-" I pulled out a 1000-gold coin between my fingers.

"-can… be done for-" I pulled out a second.

"-something as trivial as money, it's-" I sighed, pulled out a 10, 000-gold coin, and placed it in his hands. He swallowed heavily.

"And here it is," he said as he handed me a piece of paper with a recipe. I double-checked it against what few things I could remember of the potions that had been used on me, and it seemed to match up. I nodded.

"Pleasure doing business with you," I stated as I turned around and left him in the alleyway. I assumed it would be pretty easy to make. I mean, you could make a bog-standard mana potion by basically just boiling some mana grass and shoving some mana into it. Ingredients. I read as I walked away. Heart root makes sense. Though I would expect that more for a health potion, not a health regen potion. Next ingredient. Essence of heartiness. I frowned. What the frick is that?

I stopped in the middle of the street as I read the next one. Troll fat.

"Ugh," I groaned as I stared up at the sky.

"I never wanted to go back to the mountains."

Despite my previous trauma with the mountains, it turns out that climbing is a lot easier when you can teleport. Also, trolls are a lot easier with a high-level [Fire Strike] and armor that constantly emits fire. In other words, troll fat took much less time to gather than I expected. After that, I had to make the potions since they were apparently illegal. The only sticker there was figuring out the "essence of heartiness." The answer was simpler than I expected.

Basically, it requires a monster part from a monster with a certain HP threshold, and you condense and refine that down. There were other essences, too, like essence of speed, which was one of the easiest to make since you could use regular wolves, but I mostly just focused on heartiness at that point because I was still tunnel-visioning my goal a bit. Anyway, some troll fat, mixed with some heartroot from the Below, and some essence of heartiness taken from some bear meat, and that particular craft was done.

I had potions for each of my three resources. I had my staff and a couple of swords that should be able to damage most anything in Placeholder. I even had crossbows and bolts to back them up… including some explosive shots that I figured I would save for last resort. What else could I bring along? I asked myself. I guess I could bring some more enchanted items, like rings or something? Maybe a necklace? I paused and felt for its familiar weight.

"Nope, not changing the necklace," I muttered. Then, with a shake of my head, I went back to thinking about magic items. Other magic items.

"What about wands? Maybe ones with specific spells?" I asked aloud.

"Just store a few charges of a spell for if I get in a pinch." I paused.

"But what type of spells would help in Hell?" Fire and ice spells were pretty much out since I had to assume that everything down there would boast similar damage resistances and immunities to the ones that I naturally had. However, that still left room for a [Lightning Spear] wand, an assortment of [Blink] wands, and… a couple of [Cure] ones. Hey, if there was ever a time to capitalize on healing being inverted, that seemed like it. [Cure] was sure to pack a wallop on whatever I encountered down there.

I was so busy with my preparations that the [Message] from Jor-Ex-Ar informing me of the opening ceremony in a few days caught me off guard. A month goes by awful quickly when you're busy. Anyway, it was short notice, but as someone who could be anywhere in Placeholder in just a few hours, that was plenty of time. At least, I thought it was until Jor-Ex-Ar asked me to come early and talk with him.

"I really have to wear this?" I grumbled as he and a... [Seamstress]?... some type of clothing specialist, whatever her class was… gave me a robe.

"Yes," Jor-Ex-Ar replied without a moment's hesitation.

"It will show the people that you stand with us as an equal and as a friend. Besides, your standard clothing is a bit… intimidating." It's intimidating on purpose. I grumbled to myself. However, I got his point. From the public perspective, it didn't seem like a wise decision to have an opening ceremony where a guy dressed in dark armor sat in a place of honor. Actually, is there going to be sitting? I asked myself as I realized the merpeople could just float in place for long periods instead.

This could be all kinds of awkward… Anyway, I eventually accepted the robe with a bit of protesting and then tried it on. I felt… naked without my armor on, but the good news was that I didn't have to stay in that state for long. Just long enough to get a feel for how it felt and a good look at my appearance with it on so that I could copy it with [Disguise Self]. …

I think that might have been the first time I used [Disguise Self] to make me look like myself, and it was kind of an odd feeling, but one I discarded without too much issue. Anyway, they were none the wiser that I wasn't actually wearing the robe, and I went with them to the grand opening of their new city. They were even kind enough to have the council and the guest of honor be seated on a stage in the front, so I didn't have to tread water or try to awkwardly stand on uneven ground.

After that, they went one by one, and each made a short speech about the new city that was being created and how this was a new dawn for their people. The leader of the [Sea Hunters] extolled how they could find their prey even easier than before. The oracle lady praised the safety of the new space and how they would no longer need to fear random monster spawns. I mostly tuned out the rest, though one guy, who I assume was a leader of the laborers, had an interesting note.

They wouldn't be forced to build solely in caves anymore, and he foresaw a decrease in hard labor as they could use any excavated materials to build other structures on the ocean floor. That will be cool to see when it's ready. I thought. And it would also fit much better with the picture I had in my head of what an underwater city should look like.

Jor-Ex-Ar also made a short speech about how this would allow continued relations with the other nations, with the island as a neutral point that could be used for trade. And then, he gestured to me.

"Wait, what?" I whispered.

"Your turn," he whispered back.

"Time to make a speech." He had given me no warning about that, and the slight grin on his face meant that it had likely been on purpose. I stood up and then froze at the several thousand eyes looking down on me from various places above and around the stage. Frick. Public speaking. [Get Into Character]. [Get Into Character]. I took a deep, calming breath… and then quickly started hacking and coughing because I was underwater and couldn't exactly do that.

The other leaders looked at me in concern, and Jor-Ex-Ar even seemed ready to swim over and help me, but I held up a hand.

"I'm fine. Just forgot where I was for a moment," I said through my hacking and wheezing. Then, I cleared my throat and began.

"Citizens of the land beneath the sea, I thank you for allowing me to be here for this momentous occasion as you establish your very first capital city!" I didn't shout, but I did activate [Project Voice] so that I was sure that everyone could hear me.

"I know that our relations may have struggled at points and that we may have initially gotten off on the wrong foot… Or I guess the wrong fin-" I said the last part light-heartedly and waited a moment for the brief chuckles to die down.

"But I am greatly pleased to call all of you allies and to be able to provide this, your very own safe haven from the aggression of the outer world. Long may our partnership endure!" Jor-Ex-Ar stood up- err- swam up next to me.

"Glory to our partnership!"

"Glory to our partnership!" the gathered masses shouted in reply. With that, I sat back down, and Jor-Ex-Ar did as well. I deactivated my [Actor] skill, and my hand trembled slightly.

"Next time I have to give a speech, some warning would be appreciated," I murmured to the [Diplomat], even as the oracle started a second speech that sounded like some canned text for the creation of a new zone.

"I am not sure which is funnier," Jor-Ex-Ar replied.

"The fact that you think there will be another speech or that you think I would give you a warning." I gave him a soft glare, and he gave me a small grin in reply. Meanwhile, it appeared that the oracle had paused her speech.

"Oracle, is something the matter?" one of the other leaders asked as the priestess frowned.

"It is not a problem, merely something we forgot to account for," she replied.

"What shall the name of our capital city be? I must choose something before it will allow me to finalize the creation of the zone."

"Willsburg!" my personal irritation, the leader of the [Sea Hunters] bellowed immediately. Everyone rolled their eyes at that.

"Ocean's Jewel?" Jor-Ex-Ar offered. The others gave that one some thought but didn't seem sold.

"Atlantis," I said, half-joking. All of them turned to look at me.

"Atlan… tis?" the oracle asked. I waved my hand.

"Just a joke. It was from an old story back from my original world. An advanced civilization that sank into the sea during a cataclysm. The myth usually went that the empire was still down there somewhere."

"Hmm," the [Aquarian Oracle] said in reply.

"That name does have some merit then."

"No, no," I replied with a shake of my head.

"It was just a joke. You should probably name it-""I like it!" Jor-Ex-Ar replied.

"I think it speaks of the past that our people have overcome, and it points toward a bright future for our people." Alright, is he doing this on purpose? I asked myself as I tried to make eye contact with the [Diplomat]. He turned and gave me a small grin before turning back to the oracle. That son of a birch! He is doing this on purpose! Well, I'll show him! I won't let him get away with it! Just because I accidentally… got him assigned to hard physical labor… for years… I mentally trailed off. Fine. I get it.

I deserve whatever crud he flings my way. I gave a weary sigh, and they took it for the tacit approval that it was.

"Then, by the power vested in me as the [Aquarian Oracle], I now pronounce our new city of Atlantis!" she shouted. A cerulean blue obelisk appeared before her, and some words from the System popped up, making it official. System: Zone, Atlantis, has been created and claimed by the Atlantean Faction Everyone else cheered while I only gave an exasperated groan. I'll never live this down if anyone from Earth finds out about it. I ended up literally creating Atlantis. From start to finish. Even including the cataclysm.

Fortunately, I didn't have long to mope. The party was in full swing… and they even had alcohol. Well, nothing better to forget my shame. I thought as I chugged the first of many bottles.

With all of the festivities around the new capital city wrapped up and a few fines for property damage paid off, it was finally time to venture into Hell. I teleported to my throne room and walked down to the dungeons where I had last stuffed the portal. I did some last-minute checks to ensure that I had everything ready, and then, with a deep breath, I stepped into the portal. Just like before I was greeted by a black and red firey… hellscape.

The fire also licked at me, and I felt supreme discomfort, bordering on pain. Yup, this place sucks, as always, even for a demon. I paused.

"So, in and out as fast as I can. Let's go." I had never ventured very far the last time I visited. I mainly had peeked my head in to see that Admin wasn't there. There were a lot more imps and monsters down there than I remembered… none of which attacked me, of course.

"Your lowliness!" was the common refrain as the imps fell to the ground before me, but I mostly just waved them off. Interestingly, even the monsters cowered before me, but I guess that made sense. They were just part of my army anyway. However, there was one thing that I didn't initially count on. It turns out that, like the Below, Hell is a big place. I started worrying that I would get lost down there and be unable to find my way back.

That led to me backtracking to the portal and establishing a [Teleport Beacon] so that I could always make it back… and it also led to an unpleasant discovery. My MP is coming back slower than normal. I noticed after casting the first part. The easy solution was to just go out the portal and back in, but I had something else I had to check. So, I bore the discomfort even up to the casting of the second part of the ritual.

"And, yup, it's not just coming back slower, but the rate of its decrease is also accelerating." I paused.

"I guess I could have just said my MP regen is decelerating? Anyway, one last thing to check…" I used [Cast From SP] to chunk some of my stamina, quickly finding out that my MP wasn't the only resource bar affected. This place sucks, and I wouldn't have done this anyway… but… I guess the System really didn't want me to be able to just hide out in here and cast whatever I wanted in relative safety. With the science done, I exited Hell to regain mana a few times until the ritual was complete.

Then, it was back to searching. It was slow going for many reasons. First, I didn't want to waste mana or stamina since I was sure that I would need it for whatever boss fight would be coming up. Second, the terrain was just so… monotonous. It turns out that there were only so many ways you could arrange fire, brimstone, and lava, and I think I saw all of them.

I was close to going mad when I finally saw a large cavern with portions that were a different shade of black, suggesting I had finally found some demonite ore. And as expected, the wide open area just screamed out to me, "boss room." I didn't see the boss, though, and I wanted to know what I would be getting into when I got myself trapped in there with it. Fortunately, I had an old standby that I guessed should work.

"[Summon Dave]!" I cast. The lime green ball of slime appeared… and promptly lit on fire. It hopped around in confusion before I picked it up and tossed it into the room. The effect was instantaneous. Out of nowhere, a large black hound with three heads and flames trailing along its back appeared and batted the dave into the wall. It charged forward toward me, and I prepared to port out… when it suddenly stopped about 10 feet away and started growling. Found the edge of the boss room. Good to know. I thought.

The boss breathed dark flame from each of its heads, but I just brushed that off. Then, it was back to growling. It was looking like I would be able to do a repeat of my [Mage Bolt] cheat, but maybe I was just in too much of a sciencey mood because I thought I might have recognized something with its behavior. I summoned another dave and rolled it forward. The boss batted the slime ball back and forth a few times and then bit into it, killing the poor dave instantly. That gave me another idea.

And it's not like I care about wasting this stuff. I thought. I scrolled through my inventory, found a hunk of monster meat, and then tossed it into the boss room. One of the heads snatched it out of the air, and the other two growled at me. I put Singularity away and tossed two more hunks of meat into the room. The first head had finished its meal, and it was back to growling at me, but unless I imagined things, it was a bit softer. I kept up my assault as I slowly moved closer.

I was just inches outside the boss room when the first head finally stopped growling at me. I eyed the claws on its paws that were made of demonite and were likely capable of getting through my armor. Oh well. Worst case scenario, I just have my stupidest death yet. I stepped forward, and I pet the giant dog on the head. The other two heads growled, so I quickly had to give them pats as well, and it was a bit difficult keeping up with their demands when there were three heads and only two hands.

Fortunately, the boss soon flipped over and wanted belly rubs, so I obliged. My only hope was that the boss would count as "defeated" after that. Otherwise, I was going to really have to find a way to break things. There was no way I was going to attack my new pet.