Primer for the Apocalypse

“I’m going to kick that elf’s ass one day,” I grumbled as I picked myself off the floor of what appeared to be a posh receiving room.

I didn’t think the ancient Researcher meant to push me through the interplanetary portal so hard. But that didn’t change the fact that I’d hit the ground hard enough to activate my [Barrier] talisman. Given how distracted he was, I was probably lucky it hadn’t been worse.

Tier Tens were scary strong.

It was a good thing I’d immediately placed the potion into my ring since I would have hated to drop it during my tumble. It probably wouldn’t have broken, considering the source. But it wasn’t something I would willingly test.

After looking around the room and finding nothing of immediate interest – aside from the obvious time-slowing effect on the room – I sat in one of the richly upholstered chairs and took a moment to consider my new circumstances.

I’d left Earth, possibly for good, and was now sitting in a room on Sira, the lone Tier Ten planet controlled by the Alliance. I was about to enter the Realm Dungeon, a challenge dungeon that also served as a quasi-study for Sir Eri’Non – or rather, whoever had taken over for him now that he’d ascended.

I had no idea when I’d see my family again. Thinking about them was hard, especially after everything I’d gone through to ensure they had a chance to thrive in this timeline.

None of them had during the previous one. It was why I’d risked so much to go back, causing a new timeline branch in the process. I was almost certain the ‘me’ in the original timeline had died from the soul damage caused by the formation.

It was a small price to pay to save my family. Taking my brother’s place in the Realm Dungeon was similar.

Master Kairos – the Epikairos Sect Patriarch who’d claimed me as his disciple upon learning about my Time affinity – had been peeved when I maneuvered to take Justin’s place instead of joining him. He’d seen it as cheating Justin out of an opportunity. Knowing my brother, I suspected he would rather meet his unborn children and watch his four-year-old grow up instead of challenging a dungeon in another world.

And since none of this had happened in the other timeline, I had no idea what to expect after I entered.

The last time, I’d stayed on a military base for a couple of years before venturing out into the greater Alliance. I wasn’t anything special, and nobody paid much attention to me.

Eventually, I’d joined a group of adventurers led by a disowned former noble, and they’d helped me gather materials for a crazy idea I had to travel back in time. It wasn’t supposed to be possible, but they’d supported me as a friend and party member nonetheless.

I wondered if Edgar had already received the message I sent. With how quickly messages could be transmitted using portals as relays, he should have gotten it a few days earlier. It was marked with the Epikairos Sect’s seal, which I hoped would add a bit of weight to the message.

Jorenda wouldn’t get her message until she arrived at the Mages’ Academy a year from now, but Master Kairos assured me the message would be held and delivered since it bore the sect’s seal. It wasn’t the first time the Epikairos Sect had been involved in sending a message early. With Fate and Time Mages, it came up occasionally.

The same would happen for Ros and Marcus. They wouldn’t awaken for another couple of years, so I’d sent messages to the Training Tower, where they met in the other timeline.

I considered sending a message to Ros at the prep school he was attending, but I didn’t want to diminish his current happiness. Ros often spoke fondly about his time at school. It was only when his family abruptly disowned him after the awakening ceremony that he struggled.

But he hadn’t asked me to change that. All he wanted was a warning so he could save his cousin/best friend. I hoped the message was enough. Given the circumstances, it was all I could do.

I sighed and looked through my ring, conducting another quick inventory of my belongings. The first thing I noticed was the Advanced Inventory Potion that Sir Eri’Non had handed me before shoving me through the portal.

It was an unexpected boon, and I couldn’t wait to examine it closer to see if I could pick out some of the methods used in its creation. Before leaving Earth, I’d spent all the Contribution Points I’d earned working with the Alliance to purchase an augment for Micro-Enchanting, as well as one to improve Lisa’s ability to scan and extrapolate potential alchemical uses of unknown materials.

With the two improvements, it shouldn’t be too difficult to uncover how the potion was made.

I ended up trading for and purchasing most of the materials I needed due to the time constraints. I was going to give what was left of my funds to my family, but Master Kairos had helpfully informed me that Alliance credits were still useful within the dungeon since many challengers had opted to stop climbing and settle in villages on the various floors.

It seemed elites made up only a small portion of the participants in the weird dungeon study. Most were apparently normal people from lower-tier planets who would have never been capable of accessing the resources needed to ascend otherwise.

People like those taken from Earth, though Master Kairos assured me all the non-Earthborn participants had volunteered. It was seen as an honor to get an invitation to the dungeon in the cities he used as recruitment grounds.

I’d asked what would have happened to the people from Earth who had refused to participate. I was almost certain some would have refused, if for no other reason but to spite the person who’d kidnapped them.

Master Kairos hadn’t had an answer for me, and I’d never gotten a chance to ask the elf before being tossed into another world.

Shaking off the thought, I finished assessing my supplies. My ring had [Stasis], so I’d packed a lot of food, even though it wasn’t strictly necessary. With my MealMaker, I could [Transmute] non-food materials into nourishing meals, but the mana cost increased significantly depending on the material being converted.

Converting a raw piece of beef into a perfectly cooked steak was practically free compared to starting with a rock or stick. It was basically common sense.

I’d also obtained a variety of herbs and alchemical ingredients for some of the lower-tier recipes I’d gotten. While it was technically possible to [Transmute] one ingredient into another, potions and enchantments using such items never quite turned out right. They’d still be functional, but modified ingredients tended to be weaker, somehow.

It was probably why merchants didn’t just [Transmute] a ton of material and pass it off as genuine. Well, that and the fact that even a basic Identify would show a *modified* tag on anything that had been changed using transmutation.

It was almost like the process left a mana signature of some sort.

I wasn’t able to finish crafting the upgraded housing/transportation before I left, so I’d brought along one of the Tier Two versions to use until I could finish it. Master Kairos had mentioned villages – which implied lodging – but I didn’t want to rely on unknowns.

I could have focused on completing it instead of spending time with my family, but that didn’t seem like a valuable exchange, given the circumstances. It would only take a few days of dedicated focus to finish it. With the wards and barriers I had on hand, I shouldn’t have an issue staying safe until I finished the device.

Because my Tier Three storage ring was significantly smaller than the one Master Kairos had given me, I had most of the items separated into spatial bags, organized by item type. Everything was still affected by [Stasis], though I was only able to directly remove and equip items outside of the bags.

Managing the [Equip] enchantment at all had been a huge win, I felt.

As I was beginning to grow bored, the Time effect stopped, and my Spatial Sense was able to extend beyond the room. The slowing field had almost completely hampered my ability to sense anything beyond the field’s perimeter, so the sudden increase in my perception field would have alerted me to the change had my Time affinity not clued me in.

I assumed the robed figure that entered was the Gatekeeper, though their hooded robe concealed their identity. It likely included some sort of obscuring effect, given how difficult it was to discern the individual’s features. I couldn’t even confidently guess whether they were male or female after they’d spoken.

“Welcome to the Realm Dungeon, Elite. You arrived earlier than projected.”

I stood from the chair I’d been resting in and bowed politely. “Thank you. Sir Eri’Non obtained what he needed and sent me here.” Having grown curious in the time I spent waiting, I added, “I’m surprised the mana isn’t denser, given our location.”

“Yes. There is a formation around this room to ensure the mana does not exceed safe levels for those entering the dungeon.” Stepping closer, the robed figure asked, “Do you have something for me?”

I handed them the cube. I’d tried placing it inside my ring initially, but it hadn’t worked. Consequently, it had gotten knocked around a bit when I dropped it during my arrival, but there didn’t seem to be any damage.

“Excellent,” the Gatekeeper said. The wall next to us seemed to melt as the robed figure approached. They placed the cube in the small alcove that appeared, and it immediately disappeared. Within a second, the wall had reformed, returning the space to its original appearance.

Turning back to me, the Gatekeeper paused. “You should have already taken the Inventory potion. The dungeon will not allow you to bring it with you.”

My pulse jumped at the individual’s obvious ability to see within my spatial ring. Though I wanted to spend some time studying the potion before using it, it seemed I wouldn’t get the chance to do more than a quick scan.

I removed the vial from my ring and looked closely, activating every sensory skill and spell I had access to while instructing Lisa to capture all the data. I repeated the process after removing the cap but was careful not to take too long since the Gatekeeper was watching. While they seemed patient, it was hard to tell without more to go on than aura and posture. With little else to do, I swallowed the tasteless gelatinous mass.

“Please place the vial on the table. It exceeds your tier limit,” the Gatekeeper said, verifying my earlier suspicion about the quality of the glass.

I followed the individual’s instructions, eliciting a small nod from my robed overseer. The individual walked to the wall opposite the one with the alcove and opened a previously concealed door. The doorway immediately began swirling with white mana – a color I’d never seen before.

“Is that Tier Ten mana?” I asked curiously.

“It is. Please step through the portal, and good luck with your ascension,” they said, motioning me toward the portal. “As a reminder, the dungeon is constantly monitored. Anything done outside an artificial structure may be observed by others outside the dungeon.”

I paused. “Sir Eri’Non didn’t mention we’d be watched,” I said calmly, though I was significantly conflicted by the revelation.

“Indeed,” the Gatekeeper said. “But worry not. Recordings are forbidden, and the projections of events within the dungeon do not extend beyond the small city housing the dungeon. I only remind elites because some have found less than welcome receptions upon their exit due to their actions within the dungeon.”

I could easily imagine how some so-called elites might act when they think nobody is watching. Ensuring they were informed probably saved a lot of trouble, both for the individuals involved and the people associated with them.

I wasn’t confident the prohibition on recordings was absolute, but it didn’t matter. Knowing there was a possibility the events within the dungeon might be shown to people in the outside world should be enough to keep most of the Young Masters/Mistresses and noble elite from acting too horribly.

Hopefully.