Each step echoed with measured purpose as Seth walked deeper into the gloomy fifth floor. The moment he crossed the threshold, a biting chill wrapped around him like an invisible shroud. His breath escaped in visible clouds of vapor, hanging in the frigid air before dissolving. The entire chamber felt like the heart of a glacier, arctic, oppressive.
It really is cold here, Seth thought, his metallic blindfold gleaming faintly as it adjusted to the low light. I wonder what prompted her to freeze the room like this.
The atmosphere was thick with residual mana and the sharp tang of ozone mixed with scorched stone and blood. Broken pillars leaned at dangerous angles. Sections of the floor were a chaotic patchwork of blackened glass from intense heat and brittle frost that cracked underfoot. Dust and small pebbles continued to rain from the weakened ceiling in sporadic showers. This wasn't just a fight. This was devastation.
Seth moved steadily forward, six sleek cybernetic drones hovering in formation around him, three on each side, their metallic surfaces reflecting the dying embers scattered across the chamber. He could sense the lingering waves of powerful mana emanating from Agatha's direction, pulsing like the aftershocks of a storm.
"Hey," Seth called out, his voice calm but carrying a subtle edge, "why is it so cold in here?"
Agatha turned slowly toward him, her elegant posture unbroken even amidst the ruins. She watched him approach with those sharp, ancient eyes. When he drew within six feet, she raised a hand.
"Stop right there!"
"Huh?" Seth halted mid-step, tilting his head slightly.
"I know you can't tell visually," Agatha said coolly, "but there's a corpse lying right in front of you."
Seth paused. Two of the forward drones immediately descended, their sensors sweeping over the body on the floor with soft blue scanning beams. Data streamed directly into his metallic blindfold, painting a clear image in his mind: a young woman, eyes still half-open in defiance, frost clinging to her lashes and cheeks. No pulse just an empty shell.
"Ooh." Seth muttered, genuine surprise coloring his tone. "That's…surprising. What did you do? It doesn't look like she'll be breathing anytime soon."
The remaining four drones scattered across the ruined floor, their lights activating in a coordinated sweep as they appraised the structural damage, mana residue, and debris patterns. Seth absorbed the incoming data in silence.
"What have you been doing up here?" he continued, lifting his head toward her general direction. "What was that earthquake earlier all about?"
Agatha folded her arms, her expression unreadable. "What are you talking about?"
"I asked a question. I'd prefer not to be answered with another," Seth replied, his voice growing firmer. "It better not be what I'm thinking."
"Oh?" Agatha's lips curved into a faint, almost amused smile. "How do you mean? What could possibly be running through that head of yours?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Seth said, his tone flat.
The four scouting drones finished their separate scans and linked their findings back to him. Seth turned his head slightly, processing the flood of information: catastrophic structural compromise from the fifth floor all the way to the fourth. The electrical connection to the sixth floor was beyond simple repair. His jaw tightened beneath the blindfold.
"What did you do?" he asked, voice low and deliberate.
"I did what I was meant to do," Agatha replied smoothly, facing him directly. "Stopping the intruders from pushing further."
"You did more than that," Seth shot back, gesturing broadly with one hand. "The whole floor is in shambles. Ruined. This wasn't a clean operation, it looks like a warzone."
Agatha shrugged lightly, as if the destruction were a minor inconvenience. "It's a shame it couldn't handle my lower spells." Glaring at her finger tips.
Seth's drones continued their quiet humming survey around them. More dust trickled from the ceiling on the far side of the chamber.
"You could have toned it down," he said, "and made things quick rather than drawing it out."
"I had it all under control," Agatha countered.
"More like you were having fun and didn't seem to care about the aftermath," Seth replied, a hint of frustration bleeding through. He placed both hands on his hips. "Do you know how long this will take to rebuild?"
"Of course not," she said airily.
Seth let out a long, weary sigh. From the detailed analysis, the wired connections between the first through fourth floors had no damage, and the fifth floor, as the critical link to the sixth was essentially unsalvageable without major reconstruction. He pinched the bridge of his metallic blindfold.
"Aid?" he called out.
"Yes?" Aid responded promptly through his comms.
"How far along are the construction units with the seventh floor progression?"
"0%. The construction units are still working on the tunnel, dealing with obstacles while the drilling process is currently at 82.1%," Aid replied.
Seth sighed again, heavier this time. "If I withdraw half of the units to help reconstruct this floor, the seventh floor progress will stall… and it'll take more than two months to put this place back together," he murmured, half to himself.
"Calm down already," Agatha said, her voice carrying a teasing lilt. "If you continue to stress yourself this young, you'll grow wrinkles quickly."
"Huh?" Seth turned toward the sound of her voice.
"What I'm saying is, I'll handle it," she continued. "Part of this is my fault. I'll take responsibility for it, this once though."
Seth considered her offer for a moment. "Okay. If you insist, I'll send you the blue design prints..."
Agatha raised her right arm slightly, waving it dismissively. "No need. I'll build it to my taste since I reside here. Just like I did with the food shortage."
Seth froze internally. She handled the food shortage? When did that happen? Why wasn't I informed?
"Aid," he said aloud, "why wasn't I informed about the food shortage records?"
"The record is already documented and preserved. The notification was reportedly sent during one of your busy schedules," Aid answered efficiently.
"Oh… I guess I'll go through it later," Seth muttered. He paused, wrinkling his nose beneath the blindfold. "Something smells disgusting."
"It's probably just that corpse over there," Agatha replied, gesturing gracefully toward Rate's headless body lying in a heap several meters away. Dark, viscous fluid still slowly seeped from the severed neck.
"Reporting, Anomaly Detected!" one of the appraisal drones suddenly announced, its voice cutting sharply through the tense air.
"Bring it in!" Seth commanded.
The drone obeyed immediately and moved toward the anomaly.
One of the sleek appraisal drones hovering beside Seth emitted a soft, high-pitched whine as it fully scanned Camilla's motionless corpse. Streams of blue light danced across her frost-covered form before the data linked directly into Seth's metallic blindfold. He tilted his head downward, then smoothly crouched beside the body, the hem of his coat brushing against the frost-laced floor.
"Ooh, what do we have here?" Seth murmured, rubbing his palms together with evident intrigue. The cold air made his breath plume visibly, but his focus remained locked on the young woman's still features. Her eyes were still half-open in that stubborn, defiant glare even in death, she looked like she might spring up and throw a punch.
A second drone descended and performed a deeper scan, feeding another layer of information straight into his neural interface. Seth's fingers, still gloved, hovered just above her without touching at first.
"How did you come by this one?" he asked, voice laced with genuine curiosity. "There's no form of external injuries… no bruising, no lacerations, no signs of struggle on the surface." He removed his right glove, revealing a hand augmented with faint metallic lines beneath the skin, and gently pressed two fingers against her vital points; neck, wrists, temples. "No suffocation marks. No obvious energy drainage patterns either. This is… remarkably clean."
Agatha sniffed at the sleeves of her bell-shaped dress, wrinkling her nose in mild distaste. "It's a story I'd love to tell, but I simply can't right now. What I need at this moment is a long, hot bath. I smell of dirt and a change of night wear."
Seth remained crouched, still studying the corpse. "Guess I'll take it from here then."
"No, you don't." Agatha's tone sharpened as she stepped closer, her presence commanding. She stopped beside the body, towering over both Seth and the fallen warrior. "I have use for her. That body is very valuable, and I won't let you trade it away or repurpose it for your little experiments."
Seth exhaled slowly through his nose. "Alright. I won't take the body… but I am taking the Greaves. Those weapons are interesting."
Agatha considered him for a moment, then gave a single, graceful nod. "You can take only those."
At her approval, two of the hovering drones descended with mechanical precision. Thin robotic arms extended from their undercarriages, carefully unstrapping and sliding the ornate greaves from Camilla's legs. The pieces pulling out tightly with a stiff click, still faintly glowing with residual white mana that hadn't yet dissipated.
From the front of the chamber, another drone approached at a brisk speed, carrying a large metallic box. It slowed as it neared Seth, hovering momentarily before gently setting the heavy container down to his left with a solid thunk.
The drone shared its visual feed directly with Seth's blindfold. He placed both hands on the box's surface, fingers tracing the reinforced seams as his own analytical systems joined the drone's scan. Locating the switch at the rear, he triggered it. The box hissed open vertically, releasing a cloud of pressurized steam that billowed upward before dissipating into the cold air.
Once the mist cleared, Seth began examining the contents one by one, his drones assisting with additional scans and holographic readouts that only he could see.
First, he lifted three remaining rune canisters from the center compartment. They hummed with contained power, their surfaces etched with intricate glowing runes.
"This must be some kind of containment unit for a weapon," Seth observed, turning one slowly in his hands. "Or perhaps ammunition?"
"Yeah," Agatha replied casually. "One of them used that for some kind of new model magi-gun that doesn't require the user to supply their own mana."
Seth set the canisters down carefully in a neat row. Next, he reached for the larger wrapped items occupying the left and right sides of the box. He unwrapped the first with deliberate care.
It was a magnificent magical Axe-hammer. One side bore a wickedly sharp axe blade, the other a heavy, brutal hammer head. Ornate silver filigree covered the weapon, centered around a radiant yellow gemstone that pulsed with gentle inner light. The haft was crafted from dark, ancient wood wrapped in thick, living vine-like cords that seemed to breathe faintly. A faint silhouette of forest spirits shimmered along its length.
Seth gripped the weapon and felt an immediate, tingling surge travel up his arm. "What's this tingling feeling?" he muttered. "This feels… foreign. In a good way."
Agatha, who had been preparing to leave, glanced over and her eyes widened slightly in surprise. "That's one of the elves' treasures-'The Yegnir.' I can't believe those bastard managed to steal this."
"What's its use?" Seth asked, still admiring the weapon's balance.
"It's lethal when needed, but its true purpose is building and breaking. Not a tool for conquest. More suited for creation and destruction in equal measure."
"For mining then," Seth concluded with a smirk. "Bunch of glorified scavengers."
He set the Axe-hammer aside and unwrapped the second item. It was an intricate, long rectangular box with a dark metallic body reinforced by ornate gold and brass trimmings. Complex mechanical components covered its surface, dial interlocks, interlocking gears, and a prominent lever mechanism.
Seth stared at it silently for a long moment. And what is this?
The nearby drone performed a thorough scan on the object once, twice, three times in succession. Each time, the results came back inconclusive.
"Even with multiple scans it still brings out the same result," Seth said aloud. "What a mysterious item?"
Agatha looked over her shoulder. Her eyes flared with violet sigils as she appraised the artifact herself. "That's a dimensional storage item," she said after a pause. "One of plenty I've come across over the years."
"A dimensional storage?" Seth repeated slowly, holding the box with his left hand while his right stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"This must be your first time seeing one," Agatha noted. "They're rare artifacts and ridiculously expensive to acquire. That one looks authentic based on the craftsmanship."
She studied his face and noticed the deep, calculating look behind the blindfold. "What are you planning to do with that artifact, brat?"
"Harsh words," Seth murmured with a faint smile. "I intend to take the power for myself."
"You plan to replicate the artifact?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Too bad, there are many replicates out there made by skilled artificers. Expensive as they are, they come with very limited storage." She smirked inwardly. Maybe you might be among the few who could actually create an original.
"Replicate? No, no, no," Seth replied, his voice gaining intensity. "I'm going to take the power and expand it in the palm of my hands."
Agatha glared at him for a long moment, then let out a low, amused chuckle. "You're going to harness the power from the artifact and claim rights over it?"
"You're viewing it from a lower perspective," Seth said confidently. "Think big."
"Wait…" Agatha's expression shifted. "You don't mean 'Demiplane,' right?"
Seth responded with a broad, knowing smile. Agatha's eyes widened in disbelief, a grin slowly spreading across her face. "Aren't you still working on Vaelrix's corpse? You said it was giving you a hard time. You plan to abandon it?"
"I severed the demon's form into five target zones," Seth explained calmly. "Head, torso, upper limbs, and the lower chassis. With its power destabilized, I'm creating armor pieces from each set."
"To think I've seen it all," Agatha muttered, shaking her head.
"You doubt I can achieve it?" Seth challenged.
"No, I don't. You're one of three who have said that to my face."
"And what were the outcomes for those fellas?" Seth asked, genuinely curious.
Agatha gave him a mysterious smile. "I'll tell you after you've proven your commitment."
The two drones responsible for removing the Greaves finished their task and hovered back, the gleaming pieces secured. Agatha flicked her fingers, sending a wave of violet mana that gently clouded Camilla's corpse and lifted it effortlessly into the air. The body floated behind her like a macabre attendant as she turned toward the pathway leading to the sixth floor.
To take the power of a dimensional storage and expand it into a demiplane… Oh, I can't wait. This will be interesting.
Without another word, Agatha vanished down the stairs, the floating corpse trailing silently in her wake.
Seth stood up slowly. Three of his drones retreated from their floor analysis, one of them carrying Rate's headless corpse back toward him. The chamber felt strangely quieter now, the cold slowly seeping deeper into the ruined stone.
"Well then," Seth said with a satisfied smile, "where shall we begin?"