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The Dungeon, Medea Island

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It took a few hours for the excess magic of my three new prisoners to drain fully. The amount left in their bodies was still incredibly intimidating, however. If I HAD to compare it to an RPG, I would say I've drained all the 'experience' progress they'd made to the next 'level.' That comparison isn't accurate, though, since levels aren't a thing.

Humans seem to power up constantly, but slowly. The mana in their bodies is gradually assimilated by their muscles, bones, brain, organs, etc. Mages have greater control of their bodies' mana and can consciously decide which parts get a boost. More often than not, they will increase the size of their core to create a larger 'mana pool' to call on.

Anyway, I now have another three mostly-naked humans in my 'dungeons.' Ha. A dungeon, within a Dungeon.

While I'm focusing on the 'dungeons,' let's check on my other two prisoners.

The man is... drooling against the wall.

Umm. What?

I move a skeleton into his room and stare at him through the bars of the cell. He doesn't react.

What the hell happened? I haven't been paying much attention down here beyond answering the woman's questions, especially lately. He's been eating his food, so I thought he was alright. But this... doesn't look good. It could be a trick, though...

I pushed a Rubix cube through the food slot, then left him alone.

Kataren had mastered hers if the rapid twisting and turning was any indication. Idly, I start designing more intricate 'cubes.' She seems to like it and smirks whenever she completes the puzzle. So maybe she'll appreciate something more interesting

Her questions over the last week have been more carefully considered than those she had asked early in her confinement. I made sure to mislead her while remaining completely truthful. I've successfully convinced her that I'm very old, that what's happened to the Kobolds is the result of centuries of experimentation.

When feeding time came around that evening, I began the process of waking up my new prisoners. The day had been relatively mundane. The Gorge twins, Isid's party, and the other platinum team had made attempts on the fifth floor. All three managed to get past Mushu, though he was better at countering their tactics with every fight. Isid had looked at him pretty intently, and I'm sure she noticed the respawn-net take his mana through a hole in the wall.

None had managed to get through the Ratten as effortlessly as the 'Hero' party. I'm also thinking of modifications to the fourth floor tunnels. The chokepoints work both ways, and currently, the delvers were taking more advantage of them than the Ratten.

When the kobold came around with the evening meal, I woke up each of the humans. How could I do this?

By taking advantage of the connection between the cells and the collars. By pulsing mana down the link, I could switch the collars on and off myself. It would make escapes easier to stop in their tracks.

I watched, an eye on each of the three guilders as they blinked awake. First came the realization they were not asleep in their tent. Then, they reflexively reached for weapons that weren't there. Yes, those were being studied by my mages and Tear, hoping to replicate them or discern the methods used to make them.

None of my new prisoners shouted or screamed. Each seemed pretty calm on the outside. Their faces were like stone masks though I'm sure that, internally, they were panicking.

The first one to be delivered food was the female of the group. The woman was thin, though not frail. She had visibly corded muscle, but it certainly wasn't obscene. With the amount of mana she had before being drained and the armor she'd been wearing, I pegged her as a mage. As for her element, it seemed to be 'Ice.' I mentally added it to my sparse elemental wheel when I saw her throwing icicles and freezing monsters. Hmm, a more 'advanced' application of water, perhaps. As metal is to earth?

Lika the Kobold walked in, clothed in her appropriated mage's robe and headdress. "Welcome to the Dungeon, prisoner." She started, the hissing lisp she once had long gone.

The woman's cool gaze turned to my monster, and she raised one eyebrow. "Hm. Capturing me was a mistake. My party members will return for me." She stated, calm as a lake on a windless day.

"I'm sure they will. A tracking device, yes? Attuned to your magic and blood. The Creator's minions observed the members of your 'party' activate them as soon as they returned to the surface. It is of no concern." Lika replied. The woman's mask cracked slightly, a glimmer of concern in her eyes. The Kobold jumped on the opening.

"Oh yes. The very cell you sit in blocks such enchantments. They may know you are alive, but as to your whereabouts? They have no clue."

That was an outright lie, by the way. I observed the activation of those tracking devices, and they pointed straight down into my dungeon. I will spend tonight working on ways to disrupt or divert the tracking. It is indeed based on blood and magic, if the woman's reaction is any indication. I have a few ideas forming already with that information.

"Here's your evening meal, by the way. I'm not sure why The Creator is feeding you so well. In my opinion, you should be cut down for daring to even enter. Did you not read the warning The Creator so graciously provided?" The Kobold continued, pushing the tray through the slot as she did.

The tray was full of food, grilled bloodfish, bread I'd stolen from the surface, a limited salad, and three mandarins. Unlike with Kataren, though, everything on that tray was devoid of mana. I didn't want even the chance of them gaining enough mana to attempt an escape. It would be filling enough but likely be missing some impalpable element. Everything in this world had mana. I tested what would happen when I added mana with my earlier prisoners. With these three, I'll try the extended lack of mana.

It may be cruel, but they are attempting to kill me. Enough traps activated on their way down that I'm sure of it.

I feel no pity for them.

Hmm. Maybe I should add those intent detectors to the cells. It will let me know if my prisoners still intend to harm me.

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The Guild Hall, Medea Island

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Haythem lay on the stone slab, perfectly still, as the mage examining him waved an enchanted item over his chest. This was the first part of the test, measuring the size of his manacore and the general mana saturation of his body. There is no roadblock or hurdle to overcome to qualify to be a Platinum. He had to have a requisite amount of strength and pass a battery of tests to gauge if his skill in combat and general knowledge were up to par.

Platinum rank was just as general a ranking as Gold in the end. There are weak Golds, just recently promoted, and Golds that have been such for years, perhaps decades. There are 'weak' Platinums and those like Them.

The device in the mage's hand let out a wavering tone as it was waved across his chest, over his head, across his arms, and down his legs. When the mage stepped back from the slab with a nod, Haythem sat up. The cotton tunic he'd changed into shifted as he pushed off the stone.

"So, how'd I do?" He asked conversationally.

The mage was absorbed in the blinking lights on the item and raised a finger in his direction. After a minute, seemingly satisfied, the man put down the item and turned to face him.

"You pass. Not barely, either. I wanted to make sure the item wasn't faulty, but it seems to be working fine. From what I can tell, you've been at a Platinum's level of strength for two weeks or so." He shook his head in amazement. "Every time, I am amazed at the speed of growth Grindstones allow. Congratulations, you've entered the world's most exclusive club. If you feel your party members are at a similar level, I would advise you to tell them to take the tests as well."

Haythem couldn't help the grin that stretched itself across his face. He felt almost giddy!

"Ah, don't celebrate yet. You still have to pass the combat and intelligence tests." The mage advised. "Looking at your recent records, I have no doubt you'll pass them, but celebrating early just to find you've failed in some other way isn't fun."

Haythem nodded, controlling his smile. It damped his excitement a bit, but it couldn't extinguish it.

Over the next few hours, he was run through the wringer in a series of fights against a platinum-level guilder. In his case, he fought with Jerrad. Of course, he had no chance in those fights, but Jerrad declared him above the minimum level and gave him some tips to further develop himself. Haythem took the advice gratefully. It isn't often that powerful guilders casually hand out advice.

He spent another two hours filling out a questionnaire and answering long-form questions identifying flaws and advantages in various plans and situations. Finally, the last piece of paper was placed before him, he answered the question, and his answers were taken away to be graded. Haythem idly rubbed his wrist, trying to work through what he was sure was an incoming cramp. It had been a long day. He was fatigued, worn out, and mentally exhausted.

He trudged back to his room and fell asleep before his head hit the pillow.

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The Dungeon, Medea Island

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It took three days of testing and experimentation, but I think I've finally cracked it. It helped to be able to observe the tracker with my rats as I layered various enchantments over the mostly-disconnected section of the dungeon I kept the prisoners in. At first, the spherical items pointed unerringly down directly toward the prisoners. I was looking for a disturbance that couldn't be explained by the prisoners simply walking around their cells.

The two male prisoners had reacted similarly to the ice mage. Supreme confidence they would be rescued, with only the tiniest bit of doubt. Now, though, the trackers followed something else.

It turned out I needed two things, to divert the trackers. The first was the ward over the cells, which confused the tracker. Specifically, it made them unsure of the exact position, but it still pointed in the general direction. I'm uncertain if it will get more or less accurate if it gets closer to its target.

The second part was a sample of the blood and magic of my prisoners, extracted while they were in the enchanted collar's induced unconsciousness. I placed the magic samples in small protected packets within the core of three of my skeletons. Of respective gender, of course. The flesh samples were placed in those same skeletons within the skulls.

I think they would be somewhat convincing with some extra flesh added, dressed in their equipment and armed with their weapons. I had to infuse quite a bit of mana into the skeletons to raise the density and strength of their bones to the levels exhibited by the prisoners. I couldn't give the female-decoy ice magic, sadly. I'm still not sure how it works, but if I do gain that capability before these decoys are found, I'll try to summon an ice sprite and have it possess the skeleton.

As soon as the experiment with the golems had worked, I knew it wasn't what I was looking for. I wanted actual undead. I'll probably have to find some example of necromantic magic or death magic to figure that out. It's just too difficult to figure out on my own.

I set the skeletons to roam the grounds around the castle. They spread out fairly evenly, which should make it hard to pin them all down.

Looking back at the trackers, I watched the needles fix on the skeleton's position as they left the obscuring wards.

Satisfied, I turned my attention back to the eighth floor. The mountains and cavern were almost complete, and soon would, I needed the correct atmosphere. I want a permanent blizzard. I want guilders to be buried under triggered avalanches. I want them to be pushed off ledges and fall down the mountain to a spike-covered hellscape surrounding the bases and under sheer drops.

Ice magic would be perfect to have right now. I'll have to dedicate some time to get it out of the mage. I can fake it until then. Small channels bring water over the cavern roof, where it passes over enchantments to disperse it into a fine mist. I planned to add more enchantments across the walls and ceiling to regulate the temperature and conditions. I know that snow only forms in specific conditions, and I can control that with mana.

I will have my snow-capped mountains that shout magic words and curses at you to cover the approach of monsters designed to take advantage of the environment.

I might even tie in the blizzard to the intent enchantments. The view should be spectacular if the weather were clear.

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