Monroe

Chapter One Hundred and Eighty-Six. Alternate arrangements.

Bob rubbed his temples, having closed his eyes already. The deep rumble of Monroe's purr did double duty as a low-grade shoulder massage.

"The reason that your Dungeon isn't being consistent in regards to monster respawns is because you've effectively used trenches for your mana flows rather than conduits," Bob mumbled.

"How do you even create a conduit for mana?" Derrick asked.

Bob opened his eyes again and looked around the cavern that the Dungeons and Dragons crew, Aussie division, had excavated. He had Mana Sight up as a persistent effect, and the silvery flows were clearly visible. He was reminded of the spiders that didn't weave the pretty, symmetrical webs. The space wasn't large, about forty feet to each side, and the mana was pulled in from the entrance at one side rather than down from the ceiling.

"I'm guessing you don't have mana sight yet?" Bob answered Derrick's question with one of his own.

"No," Derrick shook his head, "I'm level nine, and I have all the Elemental control spells now, and for my bonus skills, I took Animancy and Anima Blast, and then Shadowmancy and Mana shaping."

Bob managed to keep his expression under control. "So, being able to see the mana when you are trying to shape it is absolutely critical," Bob explained, "not only to make sure that you're creating even flows but to maintain an awareness of the natural currents of the ambient mana and how they will impact the conduits you're creating."

"As it stands," he continued, "the place where the largest number of monsters will spawn, and do so more quickly, is right at the base of the steps."

Derrick rubbed the back of his head. "Is it salvageable, or is it completely stuffed?"

"One of the things about the System is that with enough time and mana crystals, you can do almost anything," Bob reassured him. "My recommendation is to push to level ten and then take mana sight. I'll show you what to look for, and then you can try it again."

"That's going to be a problem," Dave chimed in. "While the original D&D group is still moving along nicely, thank you for the seventeenth floor; by the way, our Australian friends only made it to the ninth floor before another nine thousand marines arrived."

"They rushed up the levels working as fire teams," Amanda explained, "they aren't taking the time to max out their skills."

"Damnit," Bob muttered.

"Too right," Jessica nodded, "we were just going along, making sure to level our skills all the way up, when all of a sudden, the entire floor is flooded with marines. We finish up and come back the next morning, only to find out that we're not on the schedule anymore."

"It's only a matter of time, and not much of that, before the same thing happens to the original crew," Dave added.

Bob reached up to give Monroe's ruff a good scratching. The big cat appeared unconcerned with the recent developments.

"I've surrendered control of the access schedule at Glacier Valley," he admitted with a frown. "There just aren't enough hours in the day, and it was just a hassle I didn't need. I could shove you back into the mix, but I have a feeling this is an ongoing battle that no one really wants."

"We need to get up to level sixteen though," Jessica protested, "otherwise, we have to go back to Earth, fly back home with someone from the states, and then pop back over once we got there so we'd have someone who could jump back and forth."

"Which is making the bold assumption that the United States government hasn't noticed that we're here, and placed us on a number of watchlists, including a no-fly list," Dave said.

"Harbordeep is a probably a little empty these days," Bob suggested, "and while it's expensive, you can likely delve to your heart is content. Although," he frowned, "you'll need to speak Thayland there, which will require you to spend even more crystals."

"Rule six, yeah?" Jessica grinned.

"Rule six," Bob agreed, hesitantly returning her smile. "You can never have enough crystals. The truth is that with your Summoning Affinity Crystals, you'll be able to gather crystals much more quickly than is the norm, so even though it's expensive, you won't just break even, it'll still be profitable."

"I wouldn't recommend trying to tier up there, though," Bob cautioned, "it's still one of the only places to do so, and I imagine it is still overcrowded on those floors."

"Mate," Derrick began, "I'm not looking to join the rat race. I'll be happy enough to be carried to level twenty-five, where I'll live for hundreds of years, designing and building Dungeons, working maybe one day a week. We've already figured out that avoiding the tide every ten years is as easy as popping over to another world or even just hopping up into orbit. We've seen waves, and they aren't that frightening, at least not if you have a few people with the right class and enough levels."

"I'm not eager to become something other than human," Jessica shrugged her shoulders, then shot Bob a wink. "Not that you aren't a handsome bloke and all."

"I struggled with that myself," Bob admitted, "but we're getting off-topic a bit. This Dungeon won't do what you want it to, and I honestly don't have the time to do it for you. You do have some crystals, right?"

Jessica smiled brilliantly. "Dave and Amanda helped fund the project, and we're at about fifteen thousand or so."

"Go see Kelli; he'll help you learn Thayland, then grab one of the Endless and beg a portal to Harbordeep," Bob sighed, "just remember that everyone there not only thinks they're better than you, they have the chops to back it up, so keep your heads down and bite your tongue if you get pushed around a bit."

Jack looked at the generator with a sense of pride. It had taken several days, but he now had a reliable source of electricity that wasn't chained to a steady supply of fuel.

Well, it was dependant on a steady supply of mana crystals, but those were easy to source locally, while the facilities to provide a steady supply of number two diesel simply didn't exist on Thayland.

There had been quite a bit of discussion and even an argument regarding just how the generator should be powered. It turned out that with transmutation, you could animate an object to move, thus eliminating the need for steam power entirely. As it turned out, the turbine's size and weight were enough to require the transmutation ritual to spend a good portion of its spell score on accommodating those factors, reducing the maximum speed it could attain.

Powering it with steam would generate more power for the same number of crystals. Using the Divine School of Elemental Fire ensured that there would also be a ready supply of spell-chanics to keep things running smoothly, if only because the Curator path was still a popular one.

So, it remained a steam-powered turbine, and for the low cost of one hundred mana crystals a day, it provided 16MW of power.

Jack was still amazed at how much the damned thing had cost. Originally intended for use aboard Destroyers of all things, it was an oversized load on two forty-eight-foot trailers. It had been decommissioned back in the early eighties, having never been used, and had sat in a warehouse ever since. In a move that could only come from the federal government, the agency responsible for the generator had depreciated its value by only one percent each year, but they did adjust for inflation, so while it had been listed several times as surplus, you could buy a new one for less money, which had significant technical upgrades.

He would never have been able to afford it if he wasn't already abusing the hell out of the mana crystals to copper to cash conversion. As it was, he'd managed to pick it up for scrap, arguing that with every seal being over fifty years old, that it was all it was worth.

An absolute steal at one point four million dollars, especially considering that a newer, lightly used unit would have run him twelve million. Which he didn't have.

Still, he was now in a unique position to provide power to not only his theater complex and nearly completed cellular tower but also the entire community of Holmstead.

Or so he thought. He knew that if he could provide cellphones, tablets, and even televisions at reasonable prices, that the demand for power, also priced reasonably, would soar. The plant should power three or even four thousand homes, given that he didn't expect refrigeration or air conditioning to make the jump over to Earth technology. Magic was a better solution in that arena.

Jack had offered the transmutation specialist who had offered to animate the turbine the job of dropping a repair ritual to keep everything in shape. Of course, having only this example to go off of, a standard repair ritual wouldn't work, as the System didn't know what the seals were supposed to be like when new. Instead, the woman would be taking a trip back to Earth where she'd receive a crash course on the seals, bearings, bushings, valves, etc. The good news was that the plant had started up without any issues, which might have had something to do with the incredibly low load it was subject to.

Shaking his head, he dropped a portal at his feet and fell through it, arriving at the plaza in front of the Adventurers Guild in Holmstead. He needed to convince Thidwell that running powerlines was a great idea.

Nora smoothed her skirt and hid a smile as she heard another whistle. The marines that Bob had initially brought back from Earth had been older, and they had acted the role of distant uncles, at least those she knew personally. Those she hadn't known had been at least polite or even kind.

The new marines were much closer to her own age, and it seemed that they appreciated the clothes she'd purchased at the mall. Of course, her natural beauty was enhanced by the seventeen levels she could claim, which explained some of the blushes the new men sported.

She'd been surprised to discover a few women amongst the new marines, but her attempts at tempting them into a friendly conversation had fallen flat. She'd been in Holmstead earlier, taking in a movie, and she'd just arrived back. Mike had relayed a request the day before that any teleportation or portals should only be used at a designated location, which happened to be near one of the walls, leaving Nora to walk back to the Adventurers Guild through the encampment. Apparently, there were plans being made to ward the encampment, preventing transportation magic, which she thought was stupid.

Bouncing on her toes, she entered the tavern and spotted her friends at a table. She rushed over and claimed her chair, falling into it with a thump.

"Good afternoon," she beamed.

"Stars and stones," Charn grumbled, "there's little good to be found this afternoon, what with this place being so crowded."

"Ah, but I heard that Bob was going to be working on the eighteenth floor today," Nora grinned as her friends faces brightened.

As transplants in Holmstead, they'd found themselves supplanted in the Dungeon after Bob had left, leaving them with a wealth of crystals but no way to advance. Wayna had cheated a bit, leveraging her relationship with Eddi to sneak up the levels, but the rest of them hadn't had any sort of hook. They'd waited patiently as Bob dug out his new Dungeon, keeping themselves amused as best they could while Bob worked, but it appeared the time was drawing near. Charn and Orson were both eager to get back to delving.

They'd picked up a fourth to replace Wayna, who wasn't around as much, a young woman named Sarah. She was one of the original group Bob had brought back from Earth, but she didn't interact with them very much. Well, she didn't really interact with anyone, but she had taken a Druid path and was willing to delve with them, providing the security of both healing, controlling the battlefield, and when that wasn't needed, a rather nasty summoned plant that was every bit as powerful as the primary summons of the Endless Swarmers.

She'd been delving alongside, but not with the others from Earth, and when Nora had asked her to join them, she'd been initially hesitant but had accepted.

Nora was pretty sure they were growing on her.

"So another day or two, and we can get back to leveling then," Orson rumbled. His voice had dropped a bit over the past few months, and it no longer cracked.

"Finally," Charn agreed fervently.

"For today, we should go to see a movie," Nora smiled brightly.

"Didn't you say you were going to go see one this morning?" Orson asked suspiciously.

"I did," Nora agreed, "and it was amazing! But now I want to go see the next one, and it'll be more fun if you two come see the first one with me, which I'll happily watch again, then we can talk about them."

Orson and Charn exchanged a silent look that spoke volumes. Charn sighed. "Ok, I suppose we can go, it's not like we have anything else to do, and we have the crystals to spare."

"Shiny!" Nora squealed and lunged to her feet, reaching out to grab their hands, dragging them out of their seats.

"Slow down," Orson protested, "the movie isn't going anywhere."

"But there's a whole series of them!" Nora explained as she tugged them along.

"How many?" Charn asked.

"I think there are thirteen or fourteen, and then there's a double-length one at the end!" Nora pulled some more. They both had longer legs and higher physical attributes, so she didn't understand how they could be so slow.

"What is it called?" Orson tugged back, dragging her towards him, where he launched a sudden and unprovoked tickle attack on her ribs, causing her to yelp.

"Ah!" she gasped, freeing herself from her cruel tormentor. "That was not shiny," she sniffed, "and it's called Firefly."