The Dao of Magic

55 - Initiative

Here is a status update. The boat's hull is finished and the internal construction is laid out with big, sturdy beams. We managed to scavenge enough wood from the broken trees to finish the internal structure and hull plating. The deck and floor above the hold still need to be finished, and there were no trees tall enough to make decent masts from. So I have a massive wooden bathtub sitting in my Tree dimension.

I gave my students some nice food to aid in their recovery, their begging and pleading about the challenge being unfair didn't sway me and I gave them just enough food to recover. Maybe I should start giving some cooking lessons? Or maybe I shouldn't sabotage myself like that...

We continued travelling north a little while after the sun came up, and the massive mountains have been shrinking under our feet. I picked up the pace to keep my students struggling, barely allowing them to keep up with me. The snow capped mountains have given way to smaller peaks but there are still only mountains in sight.

I look up and see a minuscule white spot in the blue sky. I usually do the stalking, but in this case, I don't mind being creeped on. I really hope that I am making an impression on her. If there is anything I learned about the art of courtship, it's provoking any form of strong emotional response is a big positive. Okay, maybe seething hatred will not get you laid, but getting a girl angry heightens their emotional level, and any positive feelings you then provoke will also be heightened.

Do not take this as sound dating advice though, I do not believe that my method of antagonistic flirting would go well in other situations. I did punch her in the face, I hope she isn't too pissed about that. And I made her fight some scrubs. And I dangled knowledge and power in front of her face like a carrot on a string. And I slapped, punched and kicked the shit out of her. I would be in handcuffs right about now if this was Earth...

I look forward again and see something weird sticking up from the hills and mountains ahead. I stop and wait for the rest of my entourage to catch up.

I sent out the drone twice and only now have I discovered a big design flaw. The image camera I put on the thing is rather simple and has a narrow field of view. It's a zoom lens meant for information gathering at high altitude. This means it can see directly beneath itself pretty well, but it has no ability to make wide area scans. Technically it can, by flying in circles, but I kept the thing as simple as possible, less can break that way.

This is my excuse for not finding the massive fucking spike I saw on my jump earlier.

"Does anyone know what city is ahead? I think it's another dungeon city."

Selis stops her panting as she deposits the ice she is controlling in a neat cube to the side. "That must be Kardel. *huff huff* But everyone calls it Peak City. Its dungeon gives a lot of building materials like bricks, rare stone and hardwood. The entire Capital is built from materials from that place."

We are to the west of the Capital, the sharp pyramid I saw peeking over the horizon must be the dungeon.

"Does it give other materials than the Tower?"

She nods in return. "The Tower doesn't grace us with construction materials, mainly metals, weapons and food. Half this kingdom is built with Peak materials."

So that's how that works. The loot from the Tower was a little bit of everything, but mainly metals and metal objects. I wonder what the other dungeons specialise in? The pattern in which these dungeons are spread and the special materials they provide would be an interesting study. No need to hurry though, I got all the time I need.

"Are there big cities without dungeons?"

They look at me weirdly again. Stop staring at my lack of local knowledge, I have that info but don't want to go look for it.