Doyle wasn’t at all disappointed that his newest marvel in delver frustration wasn’t going to cause even more limit breaks. The floor wasn’t meant for people to train on . It was meant to provide wood in the same way six provided food.
Doyle turns to Ally, ‘How long do you think it will take for Ace and company to reach this floor?’
Ally shrugs, ‘They’re closer than not. While 20 is a challenge, it isn’t some massive spike in difficulty. And once they manage to get here, I’m willing to bet the regular people in town will start to catch up.’
Doyle tilts to the side, ‘Why would them getting here make the regular townsfolk advance faster?’
Ally, ‘Floor 11 sucks. And then? You have to go through eight more floors before breaking through to the next boss. Not that the regular people know that. They just know the boss isn’t on the 15th floor. Why would they push overly hard without a goal?’
Doyle, ‘What about the mithril?’
Ally, ‘Which you haven’t added to 21. In fact, I don’t think you added any ores? Anyway, I doubt they even know 17 has the stuff, but the few that can get there, are harvesting what they can on 13. Except Ace makes sure most of it ends up in their hands.’
Doyle, ‘Well, 21 is a played-out mine. I’m going to start adding progressively more ore to the next few floors. Though that does bring something else to mind. I get the fact that slow improvements over time aren’t as easily noticed, but will there be a point when something from a deeper floor is obviously better? Because from how I understand the whole Mana saturation thing, that’s the case?
‘Or rather, I guess it’s more that they’re sturdier or some such? Anyway, will the trees on 21 actually be valued for more than just the fact that I’m cheating and making them practically perfect lumber?’
Ally groans and rubs her face, ‘We’re really being screwed over by the planet. I will admit, the first few floors are always going to be below normal, but what can you expect? But probably around floor 13, our resources should be better than the stuff they could get at the edge of the forest.
‘Yes, the deeper into the forest you go, the better the trees will be and some danger zones will end up with very high-end lumber and what not. Right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if some trees they’re just cutting down right on the edge are the same quality as floor 17.
‘All because the world’s energy levels are still rising. We are well on our way to making your earliest floors a joke. Though at certain breakpoints the system might help with that. At the very least, we have reports of a comprehensive increase in difficulty on certain planets where the world energy gets too high.’
Doyle, ‘Why would that be needed? Even if the first couple floors are basically for kids, they’re still kids.’
Ally laughs, ‘You aren’t wrong most times. Humans and such, the “civilized” races, tend to all have their children end up about the same power level during puberty. Which rapidly changes on planets with a higher world energy density. So on some planets they’ll hit puberty and slow down, others they’ll speed up.
‘Of course, when that happens and what faster means for any particular race will vary. Though generally consistent within a race, and that level of strength right as puberty starts will also match across the board. Obviously, with a few caveats, but those mostly prove the rule.
‘We are getting close to one of those caveats. Within ten years, if this growth continues? Kids are going to be a terror for unprepared parents! The only thing that will keep things under control is that by that time, everything should be saturated enough to resist them.’
Doyle, ‘Will they really be that strong?’
Ally shrugs, ‘In a way. Though their strength won’t come from the stat or muscles. Rather, they’ll have so much power in them that stuff will give way to them. Think of it as if everything was made of ice including the locals. Well, people from somewhere with a high enough density of world energy, hot metal. A kid could press up against the wall and it would simply give way to them.
‘They aren’t super strong or anything. The ice simply can’t help but melt in their presence. Thankfully, in that situation, you also rarely have to worry about the kid getting crushed. Anything that falls on them which they could simply press through also cannot press on them.
‘So if the wall does cave in? While gravity will try to press it down on them, the wall simply cannot apply all that much actual pressure. In fact, if it was a brick wall and came apart, the kid can likely get out on their own. The bricks might be too heavy for them to lift, but if they struggle against them, the bricks will shift irrespective of that and eventually the kid will get to the surface of the rubble.’
Doyle, ‘Well that’s just freaky.’
Ally shrugs, ‘There are people alive right now who can not stand on this planet. Not because they’d destroy it or something. Rather, the planet as a whole has too little world energy to affect them. Even if they appear to be standing on the floor? They’ll actually be moving themselves at the speed the planet is moving and turning to mimic the appearance of standing.
‘Though thankfully, stars are mostly a hard point of reality in such a way that they don’t have to pretend to be moving with the solar system. And admittedly, most people at that level of strength will use proxies and avatars when handling matters in places that are far below them.’
Doyle, ‘So, are they affected by gravity, or not? I mean, with the kid example, you said gravity wanted to crush them, but the bricks wouldn’t be able to apply the force. And now you’re saying there are people who do not get pulled to our planet. Which sounds like they defy gravity.’
Ally, ‘Oh, gravity still affects them. And before you ask, they don’t have some kind of out-sized personal gravity field or stellar quantities of mass. Not that there aren’t beings on that scale.
‘Power density simply acts as a modifier on how much something can affect something else. And I really shouldn’t make it sound like the planet would have no pull on them. It is simply that the effect would be so minuscule that despite the distance, the sun would have a magnitude more effect on them.
‘In fact, your core would have more of a pull. The reason dungeon cores don’t just shoot off into space the moment they form on a weak world is because of the dungeon. You already know this, but a dungeon doesn’t have the same density of world energy throughout.
‘This is moderately rare on non-Kaiju living beings. Most commonly found in communal entities that manage to count as a single being. Certain algae and rarely hiveminds.’
Doyle, ‘Why would Kaiju be different?’
Ally shrugs, ‘It is simply part of what qualifies them as Kaiju. There is more to it than simply being big. In fact, technically size isn’t even a requirement, though all known Kaiju are astonishingly large for their home planet.
‘Rather, what matters more is primal power, a timeless mind, and a body such that living through the eons is child’s play. It is one of the four primary advancement paths at the high end where your starting species becomes more of a suggestion. Dungeon cores tend to get lumped into the Kaijus, seeing as they share the uneven energy thing and most never awaken. Dungeon cores aren’t Kaiju. Rather, I put them in the unofficial category of the universe’s janitors.’
Doyle, ‘Fair enough, especially since it seems like a dungeon core doesn’t exactly reach a point where they aren’t anything else. But what are the other paths? Seeing as Paths are kind of important. Since there are Kaiju, I would guess some category for energy beings? Maybe an option for deities, or do they count as energy beings?
‘I would assume that since there are 4, the primary paths are body, mind, and soul with the addition of mixed. So Kaiju are the body, someone ascending to an energy state is either mind or soul, and I’m not sure what else.’
Ally shakes her head, ‘That would make sense, but isn’t the case. You can have a soul or mind Kaiju. Those actually tend to be the most dangerous. After all, a Kaiju that puts everything into their body is easy to handle. Avoid their physical location and you’re golden! A mind Kaiju that causes random beings across the planet to fall asleep whenever it does? Now that’s a problem! Especially if it is the type to sleep for years.’
Doyle, ‘It was a good guess, though.’
Ally nods, ‘I won’t deny that. Anyway, the real four are Kaijus, Divinities, Titans, and Primordials. The first two you already know, so I’ll leave it at that.
‘Titans? They’re the generic, “I’m a sapient being of immense power” type. The name implies a large physical size, which isn’t necessarily true for their base forms. However, even the titan with the smallest base form is capable of growing in size to immense proportions. The important detail here is that this isn’t some “buffed” form. They are that size and you can’t dispel them or some such. The size increase being their power expressing itself physically.
‘Then, lastly, there're the Primordials. This is the category where those who “evolve” into energy beings end up as well as most elementals and many mythical beings. Oh, though I will note if it is an entire species turning themselves into energy beings? Unless they stopped having kids and are all ancient beings?
‘Chances are what is actually happening is that they’re transmuting themselves into elementals of some type. Which, barring a couple specific types, doesn’t even get rid of the body. They don’t “ascend” to a higher plane. They get squeezed out into either a nearby elemental dimension or some elemental sub-space.
‘Even more fun? If this “ascension” came from any outside source, there is a 99% chance that what awaits them once they get there is someone expecting them to pay them back. Well, that or in other dimensions, direct slavery. I know a good bit about this because the Fae are well known for this kind of “trick”.
‘They aren’t even lying about the whole “bodiless” bit. The Faewilds will either be in Dream or adjacent to it and so provide methods of transmuting into mind elementals. The Seelie providing a more complete version that simply sheds the body.
‘The Unseelie? They’ll claim their method doesn’t kill you and sometimes they aren’t lying and will provide the Seelie version. Other times, their method will “ascend” only the Mind. And in my book? You’re dead when the soul leaves.
‘And considering they like to sell off their shills to the Yith after they’re done? Well, there’s a reason the Fae don’t have the best of reputations.’
Doyle, ‘The Fae as a whole? Do the Seelie Courts get in on those deals?’
Ally grimaces, ‘Maybe not with the Yith, but their ritual does leave the bodies behind. And if you read the fine print, those bodies do tend to be part of the payment. So they’ll use them for something.
‘Maybe not to beings so repulsive as the Yith, but they aren’t shy about selling them on to others. This includes the Unseelie, which means the bodies might still end up with the Yith. Not that many would consider it any better to have their bodies sold onto a race that considers the bodies of sapients a delicacy or some necromancer.’
Doyle, ‘Oh, one final question on this. Why do the Unseelie kill them? I mean, I’d assume they would prefer to hunt them in the Faewilds or some such nonsense.’
Ally shrugs, ‘Which is what they’re banking for when they give out the Seelie ritual in this universe. Remember, slavery doesn’t work here, but they’ll still want “servants”. Robots don’t fare well in the Faewilds and golems of the quality to be things like butlers aren’t easy to mass produce. However, a mind without a soul? Well, that’s a different matter and free game.’