“So now that you’ve gotten to experience the Fifteenth Floor, what are your thoughts?” Will asked.
“It will take some work.” Loth replied, watching Jorn clear a section of the ruined city with his new summons. “We’ll have to come up with countermeasures for the odd damage types, and the curse that seems intent on turning everything into meat-puppets. And the cold environment that is hostile to kobolds in general. But…I think I can manage it.”
“I’m picturing a wave of steakbugs eating away at the meat of the floor, providing the foundation for our great society.” Loth said, gesturing to the blood-tainted landscape.
Will pictured it with her, imagining the iridescent shells pushing back the meat in every direction.
“What if you bred a strain of steakbugs to produce building supplies as well as meat?” Will asked. “Imagining buildings shining that iridescent blue is just…” Will made a circle with his thumb and forefinger.
“Perhaps a beetle with flat, rectangular wing-casings, preferably with a mathematically pleasing aspect ratio.” Loth said.
“Like a brick? Hmm. Is Jorn gonna die?” Will asked as his attention was drawn away.
They watched as a massive brain-starfish climbed out of the rubble and began pulsing with invisible psychic energy.
Jorn fell to his knees, but his psychic-resistant minions powered through the damage and pounced on the monster, dragging it to the ground before tearing the carriage-sized brain to shreds.
A moment later, Jorn climbed to his feet again, waving to Will and Loth to prove he was okay.
Over the course of the day, his swarm had expanded to several thousand monsters of various types, including a few of the natives of the meat-realm, on account of their greater resistance to the unusual damage-types of the Floor.
Having monsters resistant to psychic and transmutative damage had already saved his skin multiple times, this particular time being a case-in-point.
“When you get some of those iridescent bricks, sell me some. I think my Town Hall could use some panache.”
“Sure.”
“…What do you think happened here?” Will asked, watching the red sun turn even redder as it approached the horizon, causing the shadows to stretch and darken across the meat-infested city.
“Something stupid, probably.” Loth replied. “This place reminds me of the 8th Floor.”
“The society that made undead workers and wound up getting killed by them? Yeah, I thought that when we arrived, too.”
“My guess:” Will said, tapping his lips with his finger. “I think the meatening happened when someone tried to design an Ability to move fat from the stomach to the breasts, and it went completely out of control.”
“Industrial accident.” Loth said. “They tried to create an infinite source of meat to feed everyone and it escaped containment.”
“Your guess is too rational. It lacks that poetic stupidity that humans create unintentionally.” Will replied.
“Your guess makes no sense. Why would humans risk their species to make breasts bigger?”
“…” Will just looked back at her silently.
Loth shook her head, giving Will a flat stare.
“I’m sure they didn’t know they were risking their species at the time.” Will said.
“Will, that’s not what happened.” Loth said.
“Okay, look. If we find out the meatening was a result of vanity, I win, and if it was any kind of industrial accident, you win.”
“What if it was a military program?” Loth asked.
“We both lose?” Will suggested.
Odds were Loth would be the one to discover the horrifying secret of the 15th Floor, since she was planning on living there. There was nothing stopping her from lying, but what would be the point? That would ruin the integrity of the game.
“How about we both win?” loth replied.
“Sounds good.” Will agreed, the two of them shaking on their wager. As for what they wagered, it was a matter of pride over who could more accurately predict human greed and hubris.
“Milord. Loth!” Jorn said, waving as he approached. “I’ve cleared out most of the above-ground portions of the city. There are probably small pockets lurking inside the ruins, but the city is much safer now.
“And look, I didn’t get shot in the back!” Jorn thumbed towards his back. The shirt had a long seam down the back where they’d roughly sewn it back together. It was thankfully free of bone spikes sticking out of it.
“You ready for the next Floor, then?” Will asked.
“Yeah, I just hit the level cap for this Floor.” Jorn asked.
“Alright, then. Let’s go visit the Key Site.” Will said, booping the raven perched on his shoulder.
“The Burned Stronghold is not on fire.” The raven said in Bree’s voice.
Will, Jorn, Loth and The Devourer picked their way through the ruins of the city, staying low to avoid attracting the attention of meat butterflies.
Since they didn’t have any reliable way of reversing transmutative damage yet, they deemed it best to avoid the monsters entirely despite not being particularly dangerous individually.
On the low path, there were tentacles of meat and ivory that would occasionally erupt form the ground if they felt anything walking over them, but Will simply stabilized the ground beneath their feet to prevent that, and they passed unnoticed.
They reached the Key site.
A skinned giant was perched atop the Key site, clutching the beam of miasma like a lifeline. It was about fifteen feet tall, significantly smaller than the crystal giants, but still massive compare to a human being.
It oozed blood that congealed in rivulets staining the sides of the monolith it was perched atop.
It watched them approach with seething intelligence.
Dr. Hammond’s Hubris
In a desperate bid to survive, the mad scientist responsible for the downfall of the 15th Floor has tied his existence to The Meat, a curse that converts all living things to his own flesh and blood. As long as a scrap of it exists, he will be reborn from it. He clings to the Key Site as it eases his suffering and empowers his foul magic.
Drive him away from the Key Site. Destroy his corporeal form and return the flow of Miasma to its proper state until he tears himself from the cursewomb again.
“Oh, look at that. Excuse me!” Will said as they approached the Key Site, gesturing between himself and Loth. “My companion and I would like to settle a bet: Did you create this abomination for the military, vanity, or was it an industrial accident?”
The giant atop the Key site crouched and hissed at them.
“He doesn’t seem interested in talking.” Loth said.
“Worth a shot.”
“I suppose.”
The giant meat-man let out a hacking cough, dislodging a chunk of flesh the size of Will’s fist from his throat.
“Oh!” Will exclaimed as the giant began clearing its throat, making obvious vocal sounds until it eventually resolved into deep words with a heavy accent.
“Again, again and again, you monsters attack me, tormentors in my own private hell. Tell me, are you the kind of devils that send me back to The Meat or are you the kind that die writhing in blood? If you aim to torment me, I hate to disappoint you, but while I may still feel pain, but I’ve long since stopped caring.”
“You seem strangely lucid, Mr. Hammond.” Will said, peering at the complex miasmatic structures holding the monster together, looking for the connection to The Meat. It didn’t take too long.
Will had seen several interdimensional gordian knots where the majority of the structure was tucked inside a pocket or a tiny portal that connected to the rest of the structure.
It was repeating often enough recently that Will was getting good at identifying the little tucked knots of miasma.
…And taking a sketch of him and saving it in the ‘lich’ tab alongside Ghoul.
“Doctor. Hammond.” The meat-man said, his voice carrying an edge. “And yes, I am sane. I’ve developed a use for psychic damage to preserve my mind. A bit like sailing against the wind, it simply requires patience and the proper technique.”
“Mr. Hammond, surely you were trying to mass produce food.” Loth said.
“No, Mr. Hammond was trying to prolong erections. I’m sure of it.” Will said.
“Doctor Hammond!” The mean man shouted with a snarl, lunging toward them with animalistic ferocity, but never quite stepping off the Key Site.
“Ah. I see what’s going on here. You are trying to bait me off the Key site.” The meat-giant settled back on his haunches. “I’ll entertain none of your words. Attack me or leave.”
The meat-giant rubbed his chin.
“Or perhaps we can come to an arrangement. Leave the corpse of weakest of here, and I’ll let you pass. I can always use more meat.” As he spoke, his gaze landed on Jorn, who was standing a half-step behind Will and Loth, and had none of their swagger.
“No.” Will said. “You sure you won’t tell us your story and settle our bet, Mr. Hammond?”
“I won’t allow myself to be disrespected by the likes of you, boy.”
“Oh well, I didn’t care about the outcome of our bet that much.” Loth said with a sigh. “Devourer of Knowledge?”
“Yes?” The Devourer of Knowledge asked.
“Devour Mr. Hammond if you would, please.”
“Wha-“
The meat-man stiffened and collapsed as the complex miasmatic hybrid of his Class along with all the modifications he’d made were torn free from his corporeal form by lethal strands of Miasma.
Before it could escape and return to The Meat, the creature’s soul was wrapped in layer after layer of strong strands, the miasmatic silk cocoon compressing the monster down to a tiny fraction of his original size and stored Mr. Hammond as a squirming sack inside the Devourer’s funnel-shaped ethereal body for her to snack on later.
“What just happened?” Jorn asked.
“Don’t worry about it.” Will said, waving him off.
Thank you for clearing the Key Site. You may advance to the 16th Floor at your discretion.
+ 30000XP
Will kicked the corpse off the Key Site, then they checked their gear, rested and regained Charge before accepting their Doors.
Will embraced the nervous anticipation of visiting a new Floor, his knees jittering as he walked through the glowing yellow-orange Door.
The sixteenth Floor is supposed to be a water Floor, so-
The world went dark, and Will was suddenly being crushed from every side by cold dark water.
The pressure alone would’ve killed a civilian.
Will suppressed the urge to gasp, kept a firm grip on the air in his lungs and checked his map.
As he inspected his position, he could feel the pressure shift as something moved past him.
Not liking that.
Select terrain: water.
Will highlighted water. According to his map, water stretched out in every direction for miles.
He spun the map on its side, giving him a three-dimensional view of his situation. He needed to know how deep he was.
About five hundred feet below Will’s feet was the surface.
Jorn was deeper, flailing around trying to get his bearing, and Loth was…already warping space to speed herself towards the surface.
Will sent one Phantom Hand to Jorn and carried both of them towards the surface.
Will broke the surface first, followed shortly by the Bone Shaman, who sputtered and coughed up a mouthful of water.
Will checked on the raven and Steve, making sure the two were present and undrowned. Steve was wrapped around Will’s neck with a death-grip while the raven was still standing on Will’s head, shaking water out of its feathers, less concerned by the crushing pressure than Will had expected.
Most likely thanks to Brianna’s outrageous Resistance.
As for where we are…
“Oh, that’s weird.” Will mused as he took in their situation.
“Wha-what’s weird?” Jorn rasped as Will pulled him up, the water stabilizing under his feet.
“Look down.” Will said.
Jorn did so. The necromancer blinked a couple times, as if trying to understand exactly what he was seeing.
Their feet shrank down to tiny little points standing on the surface of a sphere of water about the size of couch.
Loth, who had emerged from the surface water nearly a hundred yards away, was now squished up against Will’s side, bracing against him so as not to topple over.
“There’s a cluster of Dimensional Oysters at the center.” Loth spoke. “They distort spacetime drastically inside themselves. That distortion leaks into the water around them.”
Above and around them were more spheres composed of cold grey ocean water, ranging in size from a human head to a house. At the center of each of them was a unique cluster of Dimensional Oysters.
The border between the clusters of dimensional oysters lay in the sky above them, where the edge of their influence abutted against each other, forming a swirling film of complex dimensional Miasma that became seemingly less dense as it moved inward.
But that was only because the effect was expanding space, making them appear more distant.
“You know, sacrifices from those guys sell really well in Akul.” Will told Jorn, lifting him away from the bubble of water and bringing the three of them completely outside the influence.
“Why’s that?” Jorn asked.
“All the best cargo-moving and storing Classes benefit from Dimensional Oysters.” Will said. “Merchants, Smugglers and Porters with these oysters practically print money.”
“Huh. Neat.”
“Only problem is how difficult it is to retrieve them.” Will muttered, looking at his map.
Will’s Map was confused, showing huge bodies of water in every direction separated from each other by thin layers of air. It was basically giving him the uncompressed view.
One of the nearest spheres showed its center as being more than a mile deep, and it wasn’t even the biggest one.
It took a specialized team or a lucky bastard to have the right skills to harvest Dimensional Oysters.
Will fell more on the ‘lucky bastard’ side.
Since I can see the center with my map, I should be able to affect the center of the sphere with Abilities originating from the map…and that means there should be a way to kill and harvest Dimensional Oysters without even going inside their homes and fighting whatever horrors lie within.
It wasn’t something that Will had even been considering when he set out for the 17th Floor originally, so he decided to put that moneymaking idea on hold.
The goal of this expedition was solely to get to level seventy and get back, not to make money or transport large amounts of cargo.
Best not to take on extra risk that hadn’t been planned for.
“Let’s get Jorn some fish bones,” Will said. This floor was wet, cold, and miserable, much like the 6th Floor, albeit more difficult to navigate, more dangerous and generally more miserable in every way.
Best to pass through as quick as possible and get back to solid ground.