Monroe

Chapter One Hundred and Fourteen. Leaky pipes, leaky skies.

Bob quickly worked to hammer the mana flow back into place.

Sweat beaded on his brow and threatened to run into his eyes, but he ignored it.

Mana shaping really was like using a sledgehammer to fix a series of leaky pipes.

While you could do it, you were stuck with the wrong tool for the job, and it sucked.

Grimacing, he continued to work his Mana Shaping spell.

That was the problem; he thought as he considered the repair he was making, every time Bob found a conduit or flow that was misbehaving, he was in danger of having to deal with the monsters while he tried to repair it.

The Path of the Patient Warden suddenly made a lot more sense to him than it had before. Being able to ignore the monsters would make curating the Dungeon much easier.

Or having the correct tools for the job, but that didn't seem likely.

With a sigh, he smashed the mana conduit one final time and ended the ritual.

Which was another consideration. In order to Mana Shape a mana conduit or flow, he had to either lock it in as persistent effect, which wasn't feasible given the number of leaks he encountered, or he had to cast a ritual, which required mana crystals.

While he was acquiring the crystals more quickly than he spent them, he could also see that this wouldn't be nearly as lucrative as he'd hoped.

He summoned his raptors ahead of the next batch of monsters and mentally marked off this set of pools.

"Just twenty-eight more sets, and we'll have curated the Dungeon for the day," Bob told Monroe.

"Trebor," Bob said as his raptors tore into the Veno-bears, "am I correct in my assumption that the reason that the mana flows are springing leaks has something to do with the variations of the mana density on the surface?"

'Yes,' Trebor replied.

"Is there a way to eliminate that or even reduce it?" Bob asked as he traveled through the trees, deftly avoiding the webs that festooned them.

'Yes,' Trebor replied.

Bob refrained from sighing and directly asked, "How?"

'When the mana flows down to the floor of the Dungeon, you would need to construct a set of conduits, the most efficient shape being a spiral, with a catchment pool at the bottom. Each spiral would need to contain a series of baffles, and then they would need to feed into the primary conduit,' Trebor explained.

'In addition,' Trebor continued, 'you would need an ongoing ritual mana shaping effect to move the water from the catchment pool back up to run through the spirals conduits.'

'Using this system, even though you'll likely suffer from leaks due to the limitations of your tools, you'll restrict the variances in pressure due to surface irregularities to one place, allowing you to focus maintenance there,' Trebor finished.

"Why isn't that standard practice?" Bob asked as he considered Trebor's answer.

'Because the people of Thayland, specifically the people of the Kingdom of Greenwold, have not made a study of Hydrodynamics,' Trebor replied calmly.

"And because magic means they don't need Hydrodynamics, they can just brute force any problem with magic, so they do exactly that," Bob grumbled.

Approaching the next set of pools, he summoned his raptors out and had them charge into the Veno-bears that lurked there.

"It's really very fractal," Bob muttered as he watched his raptors wrecking the Veno-bears, "there really isn't anything they can't magic their way out of, so the approach any issue with the attitude of magic fixes everything."

"And they aren't wrong," he continued, "but they could do so much more with magic if they just had a little more knowledge."

'The Kingdom of Greenwold is, perhaps, not the best exemplar,' Trebor said, 'There are other civilizations, on this planet even, who are much more technologically advanced.'

"The other two continents, right?" Bob asked.

'Precisely,' Trebor replied, 'the Kitherian Empire is in many ways, more advanced than Greenwold, although you should perhaps feel fortunate to have arrived here rather than there.'

"Why is that?" Bob asked absently as he inspected the mana flows that led to the pools.

'Because the Kitherian Empire has a caste system, non-citizens have no rights, slavery is legally practiced, and it is very much a theocracy dedicated to the Church of Mor'Noctum,' Trebor replied.

Bob finished his inspection, pleased to note that this set of pools had not exhibited any problems.

"That doesn't sound very friendly," he said slowly.

'As you would have most likely been enslaved had you been found there, no, it is not,' Trebor said.

"Mor'Noctum?" Bob asked as he started towards the next set of pools, keeping his raptors up. He'd been ambushed a few times in this section of the floor.

'In much the same way that Vi'Radia is the God of Light, Mor'Noctum is the Goddess of Darkness,' Trebor said, 'although in comparison, while the Church in Greenwold not only allows but also encourages the worship of the seven God's of Light, the Church in Kitheria doesn't permit the worship of even the seven God's of Darkness.'

"Not sounding like a fun place," Bob said.

'The people who founded the Kingdom of Greenwold fled the Kitherian Empire for what they considered to be very good reasons,' Trebor stated.

Bob sighed as he approached the next set of pools, noting an obvious leak that had created a smaller fifth pool just before the other four.

"I wonder how long it would take to set up those conduits where the mana flows into this floor," he muttered as he sent his raptors into battle.

It took the better part of four hours and nearly wiped out the crystals Bob had accumulated after a week curating the Dungeon.

As he stood back, looking at the mana conduits he'd created, preparing to switch the mana flow into it, he had to admit that it wasn't pretty.

When he'd started, he'd had a vision of silvery ethereal spirals, winding down perfectly from the ceiling to the floor, a shallow drip tray beneath, and the whole system feeding into the primary conduit for the floor.

The reality was an ugly set of misshapen twisted circles and a rather deep pool beneath them, barely shallow enough to prevent monsters from spawning.

"Time to test it," Bob muttered and cast Mana Shaping, temporarily diverting the mana into his new conduits.

He carefully watched the mana flow through the semi-spirals, moving through the baffles and then looping into the primary conduit.

He could see several leaks, but they were relatively minor, and the difference in the mana flow along the primary conduit was significant.

Whereas previously, the primary conduit had been a roiling rush of mana, it was now a smooth, powerful flow.

"Damn," Bob said, "Think that'll prevent some leaks down the line Trebor?"

'I'm certain it will,' Trebor replied, 'given that there is a thunderstorm on the surface, the mana flowing down is quite energetic, and the flow after your stabilization system is much calmer.'

Bob looked over his new conduits, examing the points where they were leaking. In each instance, it appeared to be where the flow coming in first encountered the baffles; however, Mana Shaping just wasn't a delicate enough tool to make the alterations necessary to eliminate the problem.

"Good enough," Bob said as he drew his ritual circle again.

"Time to make this a permanent change."

Nora poked at the campfire half-heartedly. They were on a three-day excursion into the mountains with Harv and Elli, where they were expected to find their own food and water and prepare their own campsites.

It was the second evening, and so far, it had rained every day.

It had been two weeks since they'd last seen Bob, although Kelli had assured them that Bob was doing just fine and had deposited enough crystals to see them through for a full four weeks.

For the first week and a half, Harv and Elli had taken them out every afternoon or evening, teaching them how to hunt, forage and camp.

Now they were putting those skills to the test.

To be fair, she'd never imagined how satisfying it had been to be self-sufficient. Each group worked on their own, although they'd traveled together.

Her group had pooled their resources prior to the trip out and had purchased a large tent at Nikki's, as well as a cot for each of them. The tent was sixteen by eight and took a little time to set up, but it was well worth the added weight in their packs. The other teams had opted for either individual tents with bedrolls or just bedrolls, and after the first night, their tent had received many an envious glance.

Not nearly as many as Harv and Elli's simple-looking bedrolls, though, which apparently were enchanted to hover a few inches off the ground and provided a dome around them which kept of the rain.

Wayna had asked them how much the bedrolls cost, and Elli had told her they were five hundred mana crystals each and that they would at some point need five crystals to be recharged, although he and Harv had used them for forty nights so far, and didn't expect to have to recharge them for another ten.

The fire danced, the occasional raindrop hissing as it struck the burning logs, the soft staccato of the drizzle hitting the roof of her tent behind her, and lightly touching the cloak she wore to keep herself dry.

She was due to keep watch in a few minutes, a task Harv and Elli had impressed on them as being terribly important.

They'd told a story about being attacked by a pack of wolves further down in the hills.

Nora shuddered a bit.

She hated being bitten, slashed, clawed, smashed, crushed, or any way, shape, or form hurt by monsters.

It was one of the reasons she had chosen to be a Conjurer.

Wayna walked into the light of the campfire, covering her mouth as she yawned, a young man from one of the other teams beside her.

"I see you're up already," Wayna said quietly as she paused beside Nora on her way to the tent.

Nora nodded, "Woke up a few minutes ago to go pee, decided I may as well stay up at this point."

Wayna patted her shoulder and headed towards the tent for some sleep.

Nora stood up and headed out of the light and into the darkness to stand her watch.

After an unpleasant first evening, the group had been much more careful selecting their campsite.

They were backed up against a soaring cliff, tucked into an angle in the rock. The ground sloped quite a bit, which made setting up their tents and cots a pain, but they weren't going to end up in a few inches of water.

"Good evening," a quiet voice addressed her from behind as she settled into leaning against a tree, looking away from the camp.

"Good evening," Nora replied, recognizing her watch partner as Ellen.

"Everything looks clear," Ellen said as she swept her gaze across the woods.

"To me as well, although I can't see much," Nora replied drolly.

Before leaving town, Harv and Elli had lined them up and asked everyone with a divine blessing of Vi'Radia that let them see in the dark to step forward.

Nora had been one of four who didn't have the blessing.

"I'm a little surprised that accepting the blessing of Vi'Radia isn't one of Bob's rules," Ellen said jokingly.

"Ah, but those are Dungeon rules," Nora replied with a smile, "we haven't heard his camping rules yet."

"Somehow, I think they'd be pretty similar," Ellen rejoined.

Nora nodded.

Bob would have torn into the people who forgot rules three and four, showing up with only bedrolls.

Then he would have yelled at all of them for the campsite they'd chosen last night.

"Where is our shepherd anyway?" Ellen groused.

"Curating, although I don't actually know what that means," Nora sighed.

"I've used that word hundreds of times, and I sort of understand that a Curator digs and maintains a Dungeon, but I have no idea what the actual maintenance is," Nora said thoughtfully.

"I think it has something to do with the mana that flows into the Dungeon, but I'm not really sure," Ellen added.

"I just wish he'd get back to shepherding us; we were really making progress," Ellen finished.

"I know," Nora commiserated, "my lightning blast is level seven, and I'm almost at the first level of Conjuration."

"It's a little scary," Ellen said, "these affinity crystals..." she trailed off.

"I guess," Nora broke the silence, "I mean, we're going to be part of a whole new generation of Adventurers, able to make a real difference in defending our friends and families."

"Bob's math shows that my summons will be level fifty-two when I'm twenty-five," Ellen said quietly.

"Thanks to my path, my lightning blast will be level sixty," Nora replied happily.

"How do you think Bob discovered all of this?" Ellen wondered aloud.

"Thidwell had Bob use one of the Affinity Crystals before he took his path, expecting him to get a free spell, which is all you receive if you use one after you've pathed," Nora replied.

She'd heard that from Wayna, who'd been regaled with stories of Bob by Eddi.

"That makes sense," Ellen said, "although what I was really wondering is how he discovered those paths and the requirements for them."

Nora shrugged, "I don't have any ideas on that," she confessed, "although I'm awfully grateful he did."

Thidwell smiled grimly as he struck down yet another Bear-Badger. He was grinding his skills on the sixteenth level of the Dungeon.

It had taken a few extra levels to develop the skillset he'd needed, namely effect over time, persistent effect, melee, and parry.

However, he had what he needed now, and he was delving the sixteenth floor at level ten. His melee and parry skills were already capped, and he was now working his way through the elemental schools, with fire, water, and air already done. After he finished the school of earth, he'd begin working on plant, then animal. He expected to spend another day on this floor, then move down deeper.

As expected, it had taken him a while to reach the point where he could start to fight effectively again.

And he was still several levels away from being able to use the mana-drain shield combination that allowed him to delve extensively and deeply without suffering from the mana density disparity.

He was running himself a little ragged, but he knew from experience that the effect of the shield would allow him to recover, even as he continued to delve.

It wouldn't be long now, Thidwell thought as he blasted another monster with a splash of acid to get its attention.