144 Fortress (1/2)

At the same time, free didn't mean settling, at least not for me. We floated away before I turned back around. I observed the ground, Althea putting her elbow on the top of my head.

”What are you looking at?”

I squinted, ”I'm looking for any leftover eldritch. I don't want them wrecking havoc a month from now.”

Althea shook her hands, ”Don't worry. Torix already handled what was left. Something about transferring ownership with magic.”

I glanced up, ”Really now?”

She nodded, ”Yeah.” She grinned at me, ”Ready to go?”

I charged my mana for a second, my armor resonating with the energy. I raised a hand in front of me, ”Of course.”

We flew through the air towards Torix's base. Flew might be the wrong word, however. When I pulled myself forward with gravity, it didn't feel like flying. Nothing propelled us forward, it was more like we were falling in a direction.

No wind grazed my cheeks. No dust or insects flew onto us. It all collected into the gravity well just out of our reach. A tiny ball of dirt, bugs, and water condensed into the well ahead as we moved. Althea tapped my head with her hand,

”Hey. Can you get rid of that disgusting spitball?”

I rolled my eyes, ”Is it that bad?”

She shrugged, ”Not really. If you could though, I'd give you my eternal thanks.”

I flicked the spitball aside with a burst of telekinesis. Althea hugged my head, ”Thanks.”

I placed a hand on her arm, ”No problem.”

We reached the base, and my jaw dropped at the progress. Before I left, there was no sign of development. On the outside, few changes showed. The inside was a different story altogether.

Beneath the pines and oaks covering the mountain, Eltari made huts. They enjoyed the smell of earth and open housing so they could fly. An untrained eye wouldn't see their homes. I wasn't trained per say, but I could see the broad wings of eltari here or there.

They dug out hollows leading into the mountain base. Steel and concrete beams reinforced the mountain, blending in well. A few strips of exposed concrete let me see the hidden buttresses. Fresh ground revealed tunnels as well.

The sentries Yawm sent out wouldn't pick up on subtle signs like this, however. As we fell towards the mountain, I slowed our descent. Althea pointed at a small stream near the base,

”That's the entrance I use.”

I raised an eyebrow, ”Why?”

She looked at it, ”You'll get it when you get there.”

We reached the stream, and Althea pointed at a waterfall big enough for us to enter. I peered at it,

”So it's like an evil villain's entrance?”

Althea rolled her eyes, ”How else do you think Torix would do it?”

I smiled as we reached the cascade. As we neared it, I generated an antigravity well at its origin. The water fell away from it, bending around the gravitational flux. This opened up a dry path for us. As we passed it, Althea looked at the water falling upward,

”Wow...that's so cool.”

I raised an eyebrow, ”Huh? I guess so.”

We passed into the entrance. Torix fancied it up some. Someone carved doors of stone into the cavern walls. While not intricate, the simple pattern still impressed me. I set us down onto a floor of smooth stone. I walked up, and Althea jumped off my shoulders. She looked up at me, waving at me with waving, sprite-like fingers,

”Are you going to move it with more magic? Ooooh.”

I lifted my chin, making myself sound like a pompous rich person, ”So the plebian is Jealous then?”

I waved my hand like I couldn't be bothered to open the door. Antigravity pushed the doorway open in a steady crawl.

I flourished my hand, ”How quaint!”

We laughed while walking in. The floors shined, the polished concrete making a simple yet effective flooring. Glass panels lined the roof, two rows of fluorescent lights lined a hallway. It looked like someone sliced through stone, made a hall, then installed lights.

I turned towards Althea,

”Did you cut this out?”

She nodded, ”Yeah. It took a bit of practice, but I got a handle on it.”

I turned forward, walking down the hallway, ”Hell yeah.”

We walked for a few minutes, chatting with enthusiasm. We reached an old vault doorway. Althea walked up to a passcode at the side of it. She input a code, and the doors hissed. The vault door turned three notches. I walked up, grabbing it.

I turned towards Althea, ”Can I open it now?”

She spread out her arms, ”Yeah, of course...why are asking?”

I frowned at the door, ”Well, I don't want to break it.”

She giggled at my dilemma as I pulled the door open. The giant slab of iron glided on the hinge, offering no resistance. I swung it back and forth, playing with the door for a second. After I bounced it back and forth with some telekinesis, Althea gave me a stern look,

I shrugged, ”Sorry.”

We walked into the base. It wasn't as barebones anymore, not by a long shot. It was vast, open cavern. Besides that, the first thing I noticed was how bright everything was. It didn't feel like inside a cave. The air was too fresh, and the ceiling was too bright.

I discovered why. Above us, glass panels lined the roof, looking like reflections of the sun.

Althea pointed up at them, ”So people complained to Torix that it was too dark.”

I smirked, ”Woah. Torix made a base too dark and brooding? Who'd have guessed.”

Althea waved her hands at the panels, ”I know right? Anyways, he set up some mirrors outside. They reflect down these, er, aluminum tubes. They bounce the light back and forth until it comes inside.”

I glanced around at the cave houses, ”Oh shit. That's clever.”

She pointed at the houses, ”We worked with some architects and designed windows and everything in the houses too. It makes the place feel way less...cave-ey.”

I remembered my time in Bloodhollow.

”Yeah, I get that. Being underground like that can mess with your head if you're in it long enough.”

Althea pointed at the houses, ”Torix made the whole mountain like a wedding cake. This is the residential area at the very bottom.”

She pointed up, ”Above here is the military base.”

I surveyed the area. A wealth of information flooded in due to Hunter of Many. Lots of people lived in apartments, wooden boards lining the cave walls. Light poured out of the windows with people doing all sorts of random stuff.

Knitting, woodworking, writing, studying, training, reading, you name it, people were doing it. In between these living spaces, bars, repair places, stores, and even skill shops were open. Children also ran out in public areas, watched by their parents. That's right. Children.

I gave them a long, hard look out of the corner of my eye. They were alien almost. I couldn't remember the last time I saw a kid.

At the same time, everyone stared at us as we passed. I'll admit it. We made a scene. I towered over everyone, a full five feet taller. Althea sat on my shoulders. More than any of that, Amara and Ajax floated behind me, one of them in an emerald shell.

We drew the eye, that's for sure.

The children stared in horror at me. The ran to their parents who pointed at me. Most of the parents smiled, saying that I was some kind of savior and such. In a way, I guess I was.

The children didn't look as scared after talking with their parents. At least my helmet wasn't on. Otherwise, they'd be in abject terror. None of them walked up to me still. Maybe after a few visits, people would get used to me.

At least one reason they feared me was my level. I analyzed many of the people as I walked through the base. They averaged level 100 or so. It made sense that the residential area wouldn't be full of warriors after all. If I activated Event Horizon, every person here would die instantly.

It was a sobering thought.

We reached a cylindrical pillar of natural stone lined with steel girders. It was the core of the mountain base. Many oversized and a few smaller elevators were at the ground level of the giant column. Althea pointed at one,

”Those are the elevators for people. The other ones are for supplies, vehicles, and uh, eldritch. We'll have to use those because you're so tall. That and Amara and Ajax.”

I raised my eyebrows, ”How many eldritch are here?”

Althea shrugged, ”At least a few thousand. We've got over a hundred species now.”

We reached the industrial elevator. I didn't even need to bend under it. Althea pressed the 2nd-floor button.

”Don't worry. Torix has the eldritch on a leash with Torix's mythical skill. He's smart like that.”

We walked into the elevator. Before the gears broke trying to lift us, I aided it with gravity again. I looked at Althea,

”Is he still handing out lectures for every question asked?”

Althea spread out her arms, ”Of course. You know who you're talking about, right?”

I looked up, ”It would be a nice change of pace. Yawm was the polar opposite. If anything, he always acted like he knew nothing about almost anything. Well, besides for some life advice. That may have been his way of hiding information.”

Althea frowned, ”Yeah, I'm assuming he was just lying to you the entire time about everything.”

I sighed, ”You're probably right about that.”

We reached the second floor. Althea lifted a hand up and laid it on my shoulder, ”Hey. He talked about how you never fell for him. I for one am deeply impressed.”

I looked at her, raising an eyebrow, ”Really?”

She nodded, ”I couldn't tell him no after a few sentences. You were with him for months. I can't even imagine what that was like.”

We walked into the militarized zone.

”It was...unusual. You'd think Yawm would put you on edge all the time. If anything, he had this soothing effect. It was like I didn't have to worry about anything anymore. He'd handle it, or something to that effect. It's hard to describe.”

I shook my head, ”It wasn't like I was stressed the entire time I was there. If anything, the struggle was in becoming comfortable. Once your comfortable, Yawm could pull you to his side with ease.”

Althea looked down, ”Yeah. It couldn't argue with him after three or so sentences.”

I put a finger under her chin and lifted it up, ”Hey, don't be too hard on yourself. Hod required one sentence after all.”

She gave out a reluctant laugh, ”Yeah. Hod's not that hard to convince though.”

We walked through another hallway like the waterfall entrance. At the end was another vault door. Althea typed in the code at the side of it while I shrugged,

”Hod has excellent intuition. I'd follow his gut reaction before my own, ten times out of ten. I mean, he trusted me when I first arrived on his planet. Look at how that ended up working out for him.”

Althea rolled her eyes, ”Now he's the killer of Yawm, the hero of his race, and obviously the most humble person I've ever met.”

I pulled open the vault door, ”It's so damn funny though.”

We walked into the militarized zone. It was a smaller cavern than the residential district but still massive. The vertical planning implemented metal walkways above everything. This lets vehicles and eldritch populate the ground floor. Ordinary people walked or ran along these walkways above all the chaos.

And boy oh boy was their chaos. Eldritch shambled by, many of them large and horrific. Runic inscriptions lined their face, sealing their homicidal tendencies. Someone either rode them or walked beside the eldritch at all times. They controlled them with a wristband covered in inscriptions of the same type.

The vehicles were more conventional. Of course, a few runic markings lined some of the armored cars. Atop them were turrets, either made of guns or from actual gemstones. The gemstones amplified the spells of the user, letting them blast enemies with mana.

My favorite integration came with the mana rifles. We walked down a firing range. In it, troops held these modern rifles with crystalized mana in the chamber instead of bullets. They either whispered spells or used silent casting.

After saying their spell, they mana stones glowed, firing off elemental bullets. Giant clusters of ice, plumes of fire, and blobs of acid smothered firing targets. The multicolored bolts decimated the paper boards, crumbling them.

It was awe inspiring.

After walking past the firing range, we reached several cages full of various eldritch species. The monsters lived in all kinds of environments, some covered in lava others in ice. The fauna adapted with them, giving the beasts something to feast on.

For safety, each and every eldritch covered itself in runes of Torix's making. Some workers fed the eldritch meat, grain, whatever it was they ate. A group of civilians gawked at these demons through glass windows. It was like a zoo of sorts.

I raised an eyebrow at it, ”Practical. Torix adds some entertainment while breeding them. It seems kind of risky though.”

Althea shook her head, ”They're at the very center of the combat training part of the base. Someone guards them 24/7. None of them are over level 300 either.”

I analyzed a few of the monsters. Althea was right. The horrors were malnourished and lower leveled. None of them were rapidly spreading varieties either. No hives of swarming insects or intelligent eldritch here. They were all harmless, by comparison.

After walking past the exhibits, we neared the third and final area of the 2nd floor. Sparks and fires flew out of blowtorches. Electricity wrapped around Tesla coils. Pieces of gear spread out over tables. It was a tinkerer's wet dream, a verdant oasis of equipment and apparatuses.

We walked into it, looking around at various projects laid out on tables. Chalkboards scattered across the walls, blueprints pinned across them. Most of the inventors wore soundproof headphones, letting them focus. They built all kinds of different tech.

Power armor, rifles, runic inscriptions, incantations, alchemy, and batteries, there was no limits here. We walked further, revealing more. Summoning rituals, biological weapons, cloaking devices, elemental grenades, they toiled on all weapons of war.

It was out of love. Few fighters trained the day after the climactic battle. Most idled at the private section, getting over some killer hangovers. The inventors worked out of respect for their craft though. Why take a day off when you love what you do after all?

As we paced by the inventors, we found Diesel grinding away at a prototype rifle. He was an engineer who designed Althea's guns for me. I crafted the weapon using his blueprints. He looked up at us, wearing a pair of black goggles and a grease-smeared jumpsuit.

He smiled at us. It looked like he and Althea knew each other now.

Althea walked up to him, their heights mirroring each other. Diesel looked at us both, shock spreading over his face.

”Well, I'll be damned. You actually did it, sir.”

I shook my head, gesturing to everyone around us, ”Trust me when I say this. We killed Yawm.”

He walked up, two or three heads shorter than me. Diesel looked up, putting a hand on my shoulder,