Magical Engineering [Progression Fantasy, LitRPG] (Book 3 Complete)

Timon

It had taken nearly half an hour, but he had finally managed to scale to the top of the building. The view he had now confirmed his initial fears. They were deep in chaotic space.
Where exactly he had no idea, but this building was clearly built onto a flat plane, and shielded from the raging inferno of forces outside. Timon wasn't at all an expert on the various explored parts of chaotic space, so where this could be was a complete mystery. All he knew was that it had to be in one of the safer clusters. Otherwise, he doubted they had the strength to maintain defenses against what lurked outside.

There was a bubble of shimmering force that had become clearer once he was atop the building. It covered the entire meeting area, which just consisted of the large parking lot and a single building. That likely meant they had another gate somewhere inside for their own use. Timon doubted whoever was in charge had left themselves stuck with the same means of escape as everyone else.

With this out of the way, it was time for a little fun before he got back to the bus. He leaped off the top of the building. It had been a while since he had done any base jumping, and as long as he ignored some of his abilities, it was almost as fun as it had been as a kid. Not that he could ignore them all, though, he did still need to stay hidden.

Triggering But a Cloud as he glided toward his new destination, the giant glass rose window overlooking a ballroom below. Just because he hadn't accompanied them didn't mean he had no intention of hearing what was going on inside. Once he made his silent landing, he pressed his ear to the glass. His class skill gave him the boost he needed to hear what was being said.

Pryte

The number of different species here surprised him. He had been expecting an eclectic mix, sure, but considering how well Dave had taken to the core, it just seemed likely humans would dominate the mix. But he had seen both a Lyrianel and an Ocerphil talking calmly. The idea that two mortal enemies whose worlds had been at war for thousands of years could be here talking like old friends added another layer to just whatever this was.

He had also caught several scraps of people whispering about some sort of prophecy. While they weren't the first secretive group to have their own future-defining path, it didn't make it any less worrying. Rarely did those things happen without some sort of giant sacrifice. And the few that did? Yeah, he didn't want to watch another multiversal-level crusade.

Considering how delayed the damn expansion was already, the factions were close enough to a war without a new crusade on top of it. He shook his head at the thought of a legion of fanatical zealots facing off against a fractured Spiral ruling class. As much fun as the idea of watching that fight would be, he knew he wouldn't get the luxury of sitting on the sidelines.

Dave would never let the empire sit it out if he could do anything to help. Pryte made a mental note to have a deep discussion of just how far toward hell on Earth something like this could end. And that was assuming the planet or universe even survived such a war, which was a big assumption.

Pushing those terrifying thoughts aside, he focused on something else he had been curious about. He forced his eyes closed and tried to picture any of the faces he had seen, and while he could get the general features of the species to form, the faces always seemed to produce an odd blur. It was more or less what he had been expecting. There was no way the people here would be comfortable if their faces could leave this place.

Too bad for them, he was very good at his job. He triggered his total recall ability and studied the room. This information might be important one day.

Pryte felt an intense drain on his core as he scanned the faces of the room. He wouldn't be able to keep this up for long, and he suspected some of the higher-up members might be more than he could handle at the moment. But he grabbed all the details he could and filed them away for later use. Once they returned, he planned to go over each of the faces with a few people and see just who had been in attendance. You never knew when a little blackmail might save the day, after all.

Corey

The dungeon core had never seen so many of its own kind before. So many of them, free to make their own future, none of the madness they had seen in their bonded siblings when they first met. These were cores possibly entirely untouched by the corruption, and that was a thought worth pursuing.

"Hello, I am Corey. Are you also a dungeon core?" Corey asked approaching what they thought was a fellow core. It looked like a pyramid with feet.

"I am, it is nice to meet a new core to these meetings. I was not aware we had found any new members in quite some time," they answered.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"I was recently freed of my madness by a human whom I have grown fond of. Together we found this place. It is something I did not imagine could exist," Corey explained.

"Oh, you were touched by the corruption? I must be going," the core said, before turning and quickly walking away from Corey.

That confirmed the core's earlier thoughts. These were dungeon cores who had somehow never touched the corruption. How had they done that? Even the Travelers had not been spared that fate. Corey did not like that that yet again made them an outsider, but they understood the fear. Not wishing for any further disappointment, they made their way back to Dave.

Dave

As a large, green, vaguely humanoid form started speaking from the front of the ballroom, the noise quickly started to decrease. I took that as my cue to stop sampling the food and make my way back to where Pryte and Corey had said they would meet me.

"Hello everyone, we are glad you could make it to this year's masquerade. It is rare that we have such a full house. So that must mean you've heard of the new revelations. Before we get into exactly what they are, let me confirm that yes, a new sentence has been divined," the figure paused, letting several sounds of astonishment come from the crowd.

Having no idea what the significance was, I continued my way through the crowd until I spotted Corey and Pryte near the doors we had come in at. Corey had looked more depressed than usual in that form they had chosen. What had caused that?

"Just in case anyone needs a refresher, and I suppose for our new members, I'll give a read to the existing prophecy," as the figure started to speak, the hush of the crowd turned into dead silence. "The council that sits veiled beyond the mighty will stir. That which was lost before time will be found. Dungeon ties will bind the paths forward."

Applause erupted as the speaker hit the word paths, making me guess that had been where the original prophecy had ended. So what was the new edition? At least so far, for once, it didn't seem to have any application to me, and that was a welcome change.

"Yes, yes, now quiet down and we will get to the new part." The audience hushed again. "Forgotten networks will rise as laughter burns from chaos. An old war will be born anew."

The silence slowly gave way to quiet whispers. While the prophecy certainly was creepy, I had no clue what it meant. Shrugging at Pryte, I leaned closer and whispered. "Any guesses?"

"Most of that seems like nonsense. We could easily assign some people and things to the events, but I wouldn't be overly confident in any of our guesses. We can run it by Elody when we get back, she might know something more, or maybe Sanquar," Pryte replied.

"Yeah, probably the best bet. This whole thing is honestly pretty weird," I added.

"I agree. The other cores do not appear to like me," Corey said, explaining the look I had seen on their face.

"I'm sorry about that. I wonder if it has anything to do with our second meeting we had," I said, not sure how to comfort Corey. Hell, I wasn't even sure they really wanted that.

"Perhaps, but I believe it has more to do with them not ever being under the influence of the corruptors somehow," Corey replied.

"Ah, hello, good to see you two again. Are you enjoying the meeting?" a voice said from the crowd, before the familiar form of the Dwarf came into view.

"It's uh, well, it's been interesting, I guess. Not really sure what to make of the prophecy. Where do you guys even learn about that?" I asked.

"Rorland and I are not at liberty to disclose the exact details. What we can say is that it comes from some of the most ancient members of our order, an order that you now belong to," Teral replied.

"What exactly does being a member entail?" I asked. I had almost flatly rebuked the claim we had joined, but I knew Pryte and he'd have preferred I at least get the information before causing a scene. I wasn't big on their treatment of Corey, and that made it all the harder to play nice.

"Invitations to the various events, as we keep ourselves anonymous even from each other, there isn't much else we can expect of the members," Rorland answered.

"Yeah, about that anonymity. You all know who I am, so I'm not really sure how great it actually is," I replied. That bit had been bugging me for a while.

"Only the two of us do. The greeter only contains the information during their brief existence," Teral countered my accusation.

I sighed. "Alright, we can move past that for now, I guess. What else is there really to do here?" Mingling was more Pryte's thing than it was mine, especially with Corey not being interested anymore.

"The party itself will continue for the night, but the main event is done. We've just got the core bonding coming up, and then the rest of the night is generally just spent catching up with old friends or making new ones. You know, just a lot of talking, really," Rorland answered.

I wasn't sure I liked the sound of whatever core bonding was. "What is core bonding exactly?" Corey asked before I could.

"It is where all the dungeon cores present join their internal energies together, allowing for a unity of awareness to grow." The answer came from Teral. Their voice had taken on an almost loving tone as they described it.

"I do not wish to join my energy. Will that be a problem?" Corey sounded nervous as they asked.

I was right there behind them. It did not sound like something we wanted to partake in at all. I glanced at Pryte only to see him nod his head just a bit. I hoped that meant he was on the same page as I was. It was looking like it would shortly be time to make our escape.

"That is an unusual request, I believe you should at least try it before making that decision," Teral replied, with a hint of incredulity in their voice.

"Yeah, we can do that. I'm sure it will be fine. Dave, you wanna get some more food before the event though?" Pryte cut in, giving me another look I recognized as wanting to get the hell out of here.

"Wonderful, the bonding is where we get the chance to truly feel each other's loneliness, and understand that eternal struggle for a companion. I believe it is important for all dungeon cores to experience and gain an understanding of the bond," Teral said as a message window popped into my view.

I closed the chat window just as the Dwarf and the core vanished back into the crowd. If they had said anything else, I had missed it. Pryte gestured his head toward the door, and I gave him a return nod.

We both slipped out through it while Corey's manifested form stayed behind to provide a cover. Once we were safely in the bus, they could easily end the projection. We just had to get there.

"Going somewhere?" the humanish thing at the table asked as we walked past.

"Just out for some fresh air," Pryte replied, neither of us stopping.

I caught a glimpse of its visage vanish as we reached the outer doors. Now I understood just what Pryte had seen before. I wished I hadn't. Underneath the guise it wore was a pile of what looked like rotting flesh sewn together. Why the hell did they have that thing?

Within Twinoge society, most adults find their lifemates in their early twenties. Once a mate has been found, they often immediately produce their first egg. There are some Twinoge families that prefer to wait until both siblings find their mates, so that they can raise their children together, but this is less common. Each egg takes nearly a year to hatch, and most Twinoges are only capable of one every decade. This means that for most Twinoges, they will never have more than five eggs or ten children. But that upper bound is rarely reached anymore.

Since the Dwarfs took over our homeworld, most Twinoge eggs are thrown to the underworld, left to fend for themselves. The babies have virtually no chance of survival in the monster-filled depths. This is their insidious way of controlling our populations. They claim they only do it with the nonviable eggs, but I have personally snuck down into the deep caves, and have confirmed this was a lie.

On my back, I now carry the babies I was able to rescue, and I will attempt to place them with new families as best I can. One pair, though, will remain with me. I believe, as the scribes of our story, we should now do our best to raise the next scribe to this sacred duty. To that end, I will train my child on how to document this world before it is gone, and how best to help where they may do the most good.

I will also find the secret to the strange mushrooms the dwarfs have begun to grow in the depths. For whatever reason, they do not even seem to trust their slaves to do this work. They seemed to work in groups of ten, carefully cultivating the bright yellow glowing fungus. It is of a species I have never before seen, and I have no idea what its properties could be.

The Book of the Twinoges by Twinoge Scribe #2 (Alim)