Yuulvan woke up the next day, looking around his quarters, taking a deep breath. This had been some of the most enjoyable weeks of his long existence, but it was now time for him to leave, reluctant as he may be to do so.

  He had finished conjuring and assembling eight or so extra fertilizer beacon devices. Those would do for now. Yuulvan would have liked to conjure more, but that would have to wait. At this point in time, and in his current circumstances, rge scale production was still unfeasible, and for the remainder, the most critical issues were dealt with.

  Nothing he could accomplish in what little time remained would be as groundbreaking as what he had already achieved, so he decided to give himself a little more leeway on his travels.

  He would return here, winter of next year. Maybe even earlier depending on how things went. That is certain.Yuulvan took a deep breath, recounting all that had happened. 2-7-4's death. High Priest Kvutar, and those adventurers.

  He had stored up on books to read for the road. He might not finish them all before he returned here, but even then that didn't matter. Experiments, as well. Various tertiary things that didn't need critical attention and could be waited on, or that he could work on in the road and didn't need the dungeon's assistance for.

  Being able to upgrade the dimensional anchors around various sealed Apocalypses would alone have made this stay worthwhile. There was a knock on the door. Yuulvan turned his head as Xajymzia entered the room. "Preparing to leave ?", she asked, looking around the now rather barren quarters.

  "Yes. I will admit it is a little sudden, but there is little more that I can do as this juncture.", Yuulvan confirmed, expining his reasoning. Xajymzia nodded to him in answer.

  "Needless to say, we would appreciate if you kept our existence a secret.", she said. "Zoemie especially." Yuulvan nodded. I expected that much.

  "I was pnning on doing so anyway.", he answered, and this made Xajymzia smile. If they wanted him to keep quiet about the dungeon, he would. Even if nothing big had happened. It is the least of courtesies.

  "Good.", Xajymzia answered in turn. "...I have something for you.", she continued, before taking out an item from a storage ring. "This is a long-range contact device. In case of Umdoranz or extreme emergency, press the red button.", she expined.

  Yuulvan took a deep breath, and nodded. "I appreciate the gift, Lady Xajymzia.", he said. It was an unexpected boon, but a welcome one. Which perhaps sums up best this stay as a whole.

  Zoemie woke up from bed feeling tired. She had spent once again a while talking to the student the evening, and they had agreed to take a day off before they started working on the whole "clean up the irradiated area" mess.

  So, instead, Zoemie teleported to the kitchen. She ate her breakfast, uncertain of what she was going to do today, but as she finished, she sensed the old man approaching the dining room. He knocked on the door as Zoemie turned to face him.

  "Yeah ?", she asked as he opened the door, nodding at her. "Something's the matter ?"

  "It will be time for me to take my leave.", the old man answered, and Zoemie nodded.

  "I mean... yeah, you mentioned you were gonna have to go soon. Just didn't expect immediately the day after.", Zoemie said.

  The old man scratched the side of his head. "Yes, that is fair.", he admitted, before taking a deep breath. "I enjoyed my time here, Zoemie. I truly did. I would have loved to stay longer... but I'm kind of running out of time.", he said, to which Zoemie nodded. "It'll take me a bit more time to finish packing up everything, but I wanted you to know in advance."

  "...It has been almost a month already, hasn't it ? Damn.", Zoemie said. Can't believe it. "But... yeah. You mentioned it wouldn't be that long, so... thanks for telling me in advance, old man.", Zoemie said as he left.

  She folded her arms, looking at the empty table. She wasn't surprised, thinking about it more, but she still felt oddly down about it. Zoemie shook her head. Gotta get ready. She decided to hurry herself a little through her routine. Make sure she didn't miss the old man leaving.

  Zoemie stood at the entrance of the dungeon. The old man was slightly outside, and Xajymzia was behind her. "I thank you for hosting me, I truly do.", the old man started. "But as I said, it's time for me to go, for now. Do not worry, I will not speak of this pce."

  Good. Zoemie let out a breath she was holding. Xajymzia behind her casted a small spell, Zoemie felt herself calm down a little."You wanted to return at some point, right ?", Zoemie asked instead, and the old man nodded.

  "Indeed. Winter of next year, most likely.", the old man confirmed. "Maybe even earlier if my priorities shift." If I'm still around..., Zoemie thought, although she decided to not vocalize it. Instead, she focused her gre on the old man.

  "See you then, old man... and don't get yourself killed.", she said. He emitted a small chuckle in answer.

  "I will not. I promise.", he then said, his tone turning serious. The two faced each other for a short while, and then the old man turned, starting to leave.

  Zoemie swallowed as she watched the old man leave, observing him through the dungeons, until he went out of her sight. "He will be alright.", Xajymzia said behind Zoemie.The tter nodded, glum, as the two of them went back in the dungeon.

  Zoemie looked at her computer screen. She didn't know what to py, what to do. So instead, she just got up from her room, and started walking around.

  She looked at the corridor, at the meeting room, at the living room. The TV was turned off, an eerie bck mirror, a far cry from when it showed that lumbering beast. Zoemie blinked. A part of her still thought that had been a dream, or like it happened forever ago.

  How long have I been here ? She shook her head, as if to dispel her thoughts, and left, to go deeper within the dungeon. She passed by the training room. No more need for it, I hope.

  She went deeper within the dungeon, still restless. The ramps she had to swivel-chair over where now walked through, instead. Her legs didn't fre up at the memory. Man... that had been insane. A part of her still couldn't believe how lucky she got she managed to get out of there. Away from them.

  She passed by the old, abandoned rooms. Once, she had wondered who lived in those. Umdoranz, huh... She knew that Xajymzia wouldn't have told her, and Zoemie couldn't be mad about it. I can't really comprehend what she went through.

  Zoemie entered one of the rooms she remembered, the table was still here. The one on which Zoemie got her first sword and the storage ring. Zoemie dismissed it, the table returning to magic. There was no point keeping it now.

  Zoemie wandered deeper in still, reaching the rge doors that held the dungeon core. She opened them, the floating orb still there. Zoemie had never felt the need to change or touch up this part of the dungeon, and she still felt reluctant to do so now.

  In some ways, it wasn't her part of the dungeon. It's Xaj's. Zoemie left, teleporting back into her bedroom. Let's go for a walk outside. Zoemie considered and accepted the idea. With all that training, didn't get to enjoy the nice weather.

  Maybe that could change her mind, and if nothing else it would keep her busy.

  Xajymzia looked, not really present at this moment. She considered. Giving the device to Yuulvan had been an utter shot in the dark, more of a desperate hope than anything she expected to actually work. If nothing else, the extra security could always be handy.

  She shook her head, returning to her pns. They were grand, almost comically so. Hreijinda's dreams had given her an idea of the scale of the problem she had to deal with. She had consistently underestimated the scale of the problem.

  Her work on the portal had been deyed with Yuulvan's presence, but she did not mind it. His insights on the dimensional anchors had been helpful, even if he had no idea how to break them, and the power pnt alone had been a great boon.

  She had had new insights on weapons, as well. Nukes were good and all, but the fallout was a problem. There was bound to be better, easier to work with solutions for weapons of mass destruction... but Xajymzia was confident she wouldn't need one for a while.

  If there is one thing humans wre good at, it was finding excuses to murder each other and tools to do so. The more infighting, the better. It meant that they would spend their energy against each other instead of Xajymzia and Zoemie.

  Besides, maybe working on the portal would help here as well. She was definitely pretty certain the humans from the other side had devised plenty of ways to kill each other over the centuries. Sometimes, I really do not understand humans. And Zoemie couldn't really help her here, she understood people even less than Xajymzia.

  Xajymzia considered, returning to her original train of throught. Materials first was correct idea. She dragged one of the materials to the pns, making them magically update with mechanical data, such as strain and weight. It was an helpful little trick derived from modeling software. Apparently Zoemie had used some as part of one of her courses.

  It made sure that the structure held together and wouldn't fall under its own weight. Weight-reducing enchantment could help, but these came with their own problems. Rickard shield enchant veins might be useful here.

  Perhaps the most beneficial thing she got from that piece of wormfood. The thought made Xajymzia grin. It was satisfying knowing that even Zoemie's enemies folded like cheap paper in front of them. Might be more the result of their own incompetence.

  Clearly so far none of Zoemie's enemies had showed themselves to be particurly bright. The smartest of them had been the bandit chief, of all people. Probably because he was clever enough to not pick fights he couldn't win.

  Will need supporting superstructure... here and there, Xajymzia thought, focusing at the pns which modified themselves. She took an idle gce at her charge, who was air fencing with a wooden stick. She smiled, and returned to her work.

  There was much left to do.

  Zoemie crashed on her bed. She still had no idea what she wanted to do. This game ? "Nah, I've already exhausted everything in this one... And modding it is basically impossible since it's coded really shittily."

  I'm not the greatest at coding, or, like, even good, but there is probably an easier way to implement your attacks rather than copypasting the same code for each and every single one of them and only changing the formu.

  "That one ?" Hmm... Not feeling it. "Uuurgh...", Zoemie thought, grumbling to herself as she continued looking through her games, not sure of what to py. It wasn't that she had too many options, it's that none of them tempted her at this point.

  Is there something I can bash my head against mindlessly ? Zoemie looked around some more, uncertain. Most games she could find, she either knew not enough about, knew too well and didn't have fun anymore pying them.

  Zoemie lied back on her bed, uncertain. She wasn't feeling very good and wasn't sure why. It was a strange, settled feeling in her gut, that made her feel tired and stiff. Zoemie grumbled, teleporting to the kitchen and grabbing herself some water. Maybe that'll clear my head.

  Thus rehydrated, Zoemie teleported back to her room. "Maaaybe this one ?", she decided. I still haven't completed that library, and it'll keep me busy if nothing else. Zoemie booted up the game, still not feeling the greatest.

  She ter changed to another ptform. Is there some old Internet game I can p... Okay, let's try this stickman one. She blinked. "Ah. I have to move parts of the level around... Okay, this is actually genius."

  Xajymzia noted the results, satisfied. The fertilizer beacon device was worked better than she could have ever hoped for, the power pnt was firing on all cylinders, and she was capable on bringing over duplicate of slightly rger items.

  It was somewhat random, what she got. Last time, it had been a sheet that she knew to be called a report card. Apparently, most of the writers found her results alright, but more than one seemed to believe Zoemie could do better than her current results.

  Issues with discipline had also been noted, although it was unclear in parts. Xajymzia got the feeling that the writers clearly didn't know Zoemie on a personal level. It was none of her business either way, but it was interesting to note.

  In fact, the route she took to duplicate these items gave her more concretely useful knowledge in term of world transfer arcanology than the items themselves contained. Some did help Xajymzia build a more accurate picture of Zoemie's past, but even then Xajymzia cked a lot of the context.

  And, very frankly, Xajymzia didn't want to pry too deeply. It was still a raw wound for Zoemie. So, after reading the report card, Xajymzia had decided to burn it. She didn't expect Zoemie to find it, but it was still best to dispose of it anyway. She shook her head. Activating duplication from the other side...

  Xajymzia looked at the item. Identification complete : Mokepon plushie. Seems to be Zoemie's. The toy, shaped like an humanoid, red, grey and bck creature, with a small bde on its helmet, was just the right size for Zoemie to hug. Xajymzia smiled. I'll give it to her at dinner. It would likely make her feel better.

  Hreijinda looked around her small house. She... was bored. Normally, she would have had to do things like "deliver food to the sickhouse" to keep herself busy, inbetween her own tasks. But with the sickhouse now empty, that was not the case anymore.

  The realization was a strange weight off her shoulders. This is real. The beacons were active, and she still had her vigil to do, but so far there was no reaction from them, so nobody had entered, and she wouldn't start clearing the Cursed Grounds until tomorrow.

  Sir Yuulvan had always been adamant that breaks were important, so, with nothing else urgent to do, and most longer-term projects she had to deal not being a factor right now, Hreijinda directed herself to her most unique possession.

  The gaming console she had conjured in the dungeon. Hreijinda had figured out a method to keep it recharged using magic, after having another strange dream. She wasn't quite sure how it worked. It was most simir to the spell Sir Yuulvan had taught her to refill barrels of water and simir. It didn't quite conjure water as much as modify the level of fluid in the barrel directly.

  Let's see what I can py...Hreijinda thought, refocusing. Pying with the Warden had been rather fun, but on her own it was quite a bit less so. Still, it would keep her busy, and it was fun ! That mattered too.

  Hreijinda looked around at the games. She'd rather py Mokepon with the Warden guiding her, so she went back to the other game. Snow Symbol, was it ? She simply loaded her save, and saved in several of the slots, making copies. I'll py through each story that way.

  "Now, which house do I pick..."

  "Dinnertime.", Zoemie said to no one in particur as she noticed the time. A part of Zoemie had felt like it had taken an eternity to get there, but she was slightly hungry, so she got up to the dining room.

  As Zoemie walked down the corridor, Xajymzia showed up. Zoemie emitted a grunt of confusion, cocking her head to the side. Xajymzia was wearing her researcher outfit, this time.

  "I was doing some research in my boratory, and I obtained this.", Xajymzia said, before pulling out a familiar plushie and giving to Zoemie, who blinked twice, looking at it, slightly dumbfounded.

  "...Thanks. Missed that thing.", Zoemie answered after a bit, her vision getting a little blurry. The plushie smelled of home. She took a deep breath, before hugging the plush tight and teleporting it to her room, patting its head.

  Zoemie went to the kitchen afterwards, still slightly out of it. She was hungry, and so she sat down, eating her food in silence. It was a pasta dish, this time, with minced meat and beef gravy. This is really good ! It got her mind off of things. She felt a little better, having obtained that plushie again.

  Wonder how Xaj pulled that off, Zoemie wondered idly, before shaking her head, and finishing her dessert. None of my business. Afterwards, she set out to complete her following routine, before teleporting herself to her bedroom, grabbing the plushie alongside her other plush toy.

  She put them next to her as she returned to the game. How to get to this key ?

  The armored figure knocked on the door. Something shifted, but no one showed up. Still, they knew the password, and that was what mattered. "The future shall be pure.", they pronounced, and the door shifted as if on its own. Cretins.

  As far as the armored figure was concerned, these people were all idiots. The future shall be pure ? Bah ! They were simply imbeciles who were just as much monsters as those they loathed, worshipping fallen gods out of sheer zealotry for longer than that Xvodane country had existed.

  But the armored figure could use them to accomplish their goal.And that was all that mattered.