Venturing to the bottom of the Ancestral lake (ocean or sea, cause this is no longer a lake my guy!), I continued to develop the foundations for an island the sapling could be implanted on. My endeavors continued for approximately 2 days. In said time, I had been creating everything needed for an island to emerge from lake floor.
Using the original island at the center of this enormous lake as a landmark, I had created six underwater volcanoes to the east. The volcanoes were positioned in a hexagonal formation and were 800m apart. 500m below the volcanoes sat an artificial 1,850m3 cavern with a lake of molten rock completely controlled by the dungeon.
To be exact, the lava from the 2nd floor is being poured into this molten lake through a controlled portal. The lava lake is pretty much being treated like dirty water flowing into a cistern. All that's left is to use fire and earth magoi to force magma out of the volcanoes and shape the cooling magma as it rises with wind and water magoi.
Floating in the lake's deepest depth I began evoking magoi. In response, the volcanoes began to erupt as I hypothesized. The lake temperature rose swiftly, only to fall sharply as I continued to evoke water, ice, and wind magoi in the surrounding area.
I isolated the volcanoes and even used earth magoi to force molten rock to slowly rise from the volcanoes. This process of coaxing the magma continued for 3 hours. Eventually, a 12m thick and 20m tall pillar of molten rock formed in center of the hexagonal formation.
With the pillar formed, the rest was easy. I switched my focus towards the surrounding stalagmite and began breaking them down. Afterwards, I tossed them into the six volcanoes like a smith tossing ore into a smelter.
Once all the sizable stalagmite within a 1000m radius had been dealt with, I began churning the molten rock with earth magoi. This step continued for another 2 hours as I had finished clearing all stalagmite at this depth. If I wanted to continue using stalagmite, I would need to ascend 12,000m before another underwater stone forest was available for mining.
Instead, I decided to "borrow" more resources from the dungeon. To be honest, the volcanic biome which now makes up the 8th dungeon floor still looked like a plane of O**v***. At this moment however, I needed more lava for the island (beggars can't be choosers).
So, I opened another portal and from the 8th flowed giant lava waves. These waves were 100m tall and quickly filled the cavern. It didn't take long for new additions to force even more molten rock to through the six volcanoes.
Before the blood red lava started flowing out, I used the dungeon core to establish a filtering magic circle. I wanted to at least reduce the sanguine aura within the lava. As a result, dark orange magma came through the portal, but still radiated this blood red vibrance.
With each passing hour, the pillar expanded in widths as it grew taller. Eventually, it reached the desired width of 700m. From here, I now had to shape the ever-flowing magma as I forced the pillar to grow in height (Whelp magic, do you stuff!!).
When the pillar reached 1000m tall, I created shoots of magma and directly had them deeply embed themselves inside any nearby stone walls. I continued to create these "support beams" every thousand meters until the pillar was less than 3,000m from the water's surface.
Given It had already been 3 days since we arrived, I decided to rest for a while and wait for Dori to inform me of any urgent changes. As I headed towards the island, I notice Elder Alamdarra and the dark elven settlers by the southern lake shoreline. I approached to assist them in any way possible. Once there, the Elder spoke up,
"Young Yuriy, I see another change has occurred to the glade, or should I call it a country now. Please tell me, what exactly happened?"
Hearing his inquiry and knowing the Elder was my greatest confidant, I called over Byakko and Shenlong who materialized in a matter of seconds. Afterwards, told everyone present,
"Elder, brothers, and sisters. I want to first apologize for the commotion I recently caused. In fact, you all deserve to know what's been going on. At the bottom of this lake lies a dungeon I have recently conquered. To be exact, I am the dungeon master and complete ruler of this dungeon."
Saying this much I paused as I noticed Katya, Ivy, and Sapphire approach the gathering. I glanced over towards them and showed a gentle smile before continuing.
"While inside the dungeon, I had struck a bargain with one of the floor guardians who protected the dungeon core. With the help of my party, we reached said floor guardian who was acting as not only the guardian of the dungeon, but an incubator of a previously recorded clan of dark elves said to have been the first to gone extinct when the demonic dragons came."
With a wave of my hands, I created an illusion which projected Anansi, Cavilhaugh, Katya, Ivy and I fighting our way from the 3rd floors entrance. From there, everything that happened to us was projected to everyone like a movie until I reached the Abyssal Treant. When everyone saw the female abyssal elf, I noticed their blood begin to boil as mine had when I saw her. However, all that changed when they heard the Aliandorith speak,
"Blessed life unto thee, Ancestral Godling. For the Creator hath ushered thee and thine own unto the realm of the elder tree. I am Aliandorith, the last Elder of the Midknight Elven clan. It is with great shame; I present mine altered countenance before thee. Pray, Ancestral Godling, restore unto us our former selves."
When they saw how deformed and mangled Aliandorith looked, all I could see were the dark elves silently weeping for the state of our lost sister clan. Even Elder Alamdarra was no exception as his father and grandfather were alive during that time. Still they were not prepared for what came next,
"I, the elder tree, beseech thee, Godling! Deliver thine lost sheep back unto thy fold and restore them to their former vestige…"
Everyone saw the Abyssal treant and started to make their own educated guesses on how this situation came to be. Still, I continued with my story,
"After gaining complete control of the dungeon, and beginning the process of restoring our lost sister clan, I came here to purify and plant this treant sapling as promised. I originally hoped following normal procedures would be enough to plant this sapling, but then I reconsidered."
"Given my promise, I set out to plant this sapling here in hopes of creating the next World Tree. Therefore, I also deemed it necessary to deeply root the dungeon here. As A result this glade has now become a separate realm accessible only after passing the fog surrounding this area."
It was here, Elder Alamdarra held up his hand to stop me from speaking. He then knelt down, causing all present save my sisters and Ivy to knee down. Katya, Ivy, and Saphire swiftly walked to my side, while Byakko and Shenlong shifted into their human form.
I already knew about Byakko, but I had never seen Shenlong take this form. The regal dragon had taken the form of a man draped in sky blue robes with golden trimming and embroidery. Atop his head was a wreath-like crown of jagged horns while his neat white hair flowed to his shoulders. Lastly, he had a neatly groomed beard which gave him the aura of a martial arts master.
Once both guardian spirits assumed their human form, they too knelt down beside Elder Alamdarra who then shouted at the top of his lungs the same promise Douglas made,
"As the Ancestor of Primal Force had ordained, so shall the children of night follow thy decree. I Elder Alamdarra swear undying fealty to Ancestor Yuriy and his clan. May the living Ancestor restore unto the children of Ohmdorra the long-lost paradise."
"May the ancestors shine down on their lost children, guiding them to the Ancestral godling. May the Elder Spirits and the Creator have mercy upon all those who would attempt to halt the living ancestor's steps, for the children of night will spare none!"
Once done, the other elves responded to the Elder by saying,
"May the Elder Spirits and the Creator have mercy upon all those who would attempt to halt the living ancestor's steps, for the children of night will spare none!"
As a response to their oath, a large multi-colored pillar arose from the hollow tree shrine and made it way towards us. It them bathed everyone present with its life as archaic words were heard in the celestial language,
"As you have prayed, so let it be!"
After these words were spoken, the pillar of light faded, and everything returned to normal. I then waved my hand and gently caused everyone to rise to their feet. Afterwards I replied.
"Elder, brothers, and sisters; I humbly accept your allegiance. Elder given the gravity of the situation, I ask you prepare to move everyone from the settlement here. Leave nothing behind, not even the building and the settlement's shine. When everyone from the settlement has gathered here, I will create the perfect place for a new settlement to be established."
"As you will, Ancestor, I will begin immediately." Alamdarra replied, and immediately began organizing the large exodus.
Finished with the gathering, I headed to the central island with my sisters and Ivy. Once there we split up as I needed to bathe. After bathing and getting something to eat, I headed to bed, only to be greeted by a scantily dressed Ivy.
-End of Chapter