Chapter 102

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Chapter 102: Advanced

Just like the vanished magical creatures, the knowledge and records about the Astral Plane have mysteriously disappeared over the past few hundred years.

Miranda’s lips moved as she conveyed a brief realization to Tasha: the Astral Plane has vanished from records and people’s awareness in the recent centuries. As this realization became clear, something suddenly changed.

Tasha suspected she heard the sound of gears turning.

It was a very grand noise, clink clank clank clank — as if a rusty switch had finally been turned on, causing moss and rust to loosen, crack, and crumble, falling from the huge machinery. The first gear drove the second, cascading toppling dominoes, with the rumble echoing from where Tasha stood, sweeping through the entire dungeon for meters ahead.

Such a stunning noise! It felt as if a giant beast of machinery beneath her feet had awoken after centuries of slumber, making Tasha unsteady on her feet. She closed her eyes, infinite points of light flickering behind her eyelids, the world still vibrating endlessly, experiencing a riot from the depths of the earth. When she opened her eyes, Miranda remained motionless, only wearing a bewildered expression towards her.

The strong quake made Tasha unsteady, but the wizard in front of her, who seemed no stronger than her, stood as steady as a rock, not even flinching, as if the fierce earthquake never happened to her. Then Tasha realized, it wasn’t "as if," Miranda truly didn’t feel the strong tremor.

Inside the dungeon, the Craftsman Dwarf continued hammering away energetically, the soldiers in the Training Ground were practicing archery and sparring, and the Medicinal Herb Garden remained peaceful, with even the most delicate herbs unmoved… The only person affected by the huge rumble was Tasha.

This was an "earthquake" that occurred at the heart of the dungeon.

[prison-Tasha]

Progress in merging and restructuring: 56/100

The progress bar for restructuring suddenly jumped by five percent in a tremor.

It has been almost a year since returning from the Astral Plane, during which time the progress bar has not moved at all, not even by one percent. Tasha has been working hard on various constructions and collaborations during this time, and the situation is very positive, with magic almost restored to its previous level. Why did the progress bar suddenly increase by five percent at this moment, almost matching the power of the Abyssal Gaze?

What are its conditions exactly?

The progress bar for merging and restructuring only showed a specific percentage when it connected with the Abyss. Tasha thought that the twenty-five percent was the power gained and time spent over the past decade. But now she realizes she might have been wrong. The dungeon’s upgrading and restructuring may have been stagnant all along, or it may suddenly surge at some point, needing a catalyst rather than just magic and time.

The initial twenty-five percent obtained upon connecting with the Abyss, 25/100

Increased by six percent when affected by the Abyssal Gaze, 31/100

Rocketed up by twenty percent upon witnessing the Astral Plane, 51/100

Sure about the "disappearance" of the Astral Plane in the past hundred years, five percent, 56 out of 100.

Tasha suddenly felt better.

I see, it’s all about "understanding."

The condition for upgrading and restructuring is experience, what you see and hear, sort of like the concept of "experience points" in Earth games. Here, what increases the experience points is not killing, but understanding of this world. The initial twenty-five percent is Tasha’s understanding of Aryan after coming here, almost like a world resolution chart.

There is no sudden progress appearing out of nowhere, dungeon restructuring and upgrading is not a passive process under time and magic growth, each unit of growth is her exploration of the world.

From the moment she opened her eyes here, until today, she has never stopped.

The passages of the dungeon stretch far and wide, the watchtower stands tall where the dungeon is located. The clock tower and giant tree are the eyes of the dungeon, Tasha looks down on her land, watching over above and below ground.

The spores of the Fairy Lamp passed through the customs, the man-made boundaries remain unchanged, but the magic-covered environment has quietly crossed the line, carrying Tasha’s gaze. Purple fruits grow next to the outpost, soldiers on duty pass by the bushes, getting purple fruit pulp on their boots. This magical plant isn’t sweet, but has the scent of fresh grass, hungry children always pick a few to eat, they call them purple lamp fruits.

The covenanters share the same exploration of the world as Tasha.

Douglas, riding on a dragon, saw lights speeding past below on this clear evening. He could see the bustling human world below, and above, he could embrace the moon and stars. The Dragon Knight on his grand seat laughed heartily, his heart always filled with joy no matter how many times he flew with the enormous dragon. Marion, with bare feet, was taking a walk in Angaso Forest. At a certain moment, she suddenly transformed into a wolf, running like a wolf and rolling like a dog. Various scents and sounds in the air were keenly sensed and captured by Silver Wolf. She raised her head and howled, receiving many responses.

The Druid busy collecting herbs, as some herbs only bloom briefly on such nights. These natural listeners moved forward softly and quietly, their senses extending through flowers, plants, and birds to faraway places. The herb gatherer witch, more carefree, Medusa, the Evil Eye Witch, sat on a tree branch, whistling off-key, chewing bubblegum made of honey and tree resin. Her cat was in the tree, the dog at the base, and a mouse in her hair. She gazed into the forest, where "magic" was vivid in the witch’s eyes.

The dungeon had a wide range of senses, and many covenanters expanded Tasha’s perception, and Tasha’s influence went far beyond that. The magical technology crafted by the Craftsman Dwarf, even the magical products using Tasha Magic Stone on the Empire’s side, all had subtle connections with Tasha. In this way, Tasha’s web was spreading over the entire Aryan.

Countless bits of information flowed into Tasha’s mind through these peripherals, being collected and organized. Inside the Archmage Tower, wizards were tirelessly busy, like diligent worker ants. They repaired torn ancient scrolls, tidied up fragmented new knowledge, and researched abrupt issues and loopholes. Sparkling minds sparked ideas, diligent fingers wrote questions and answers, they patched scattered fragments into beautiful pictures, and wove meaningless threads into a dense network. Tasha’s cognition advanced rapidly because of this, being the all-knowing spider at the center of the web.

It was an indescribably magical feeling.

Unlike facing the Astral Plane directly, that moment was unknowable, this moment was knowable. Tasha’s consciousness web had not yet covered the world; yes, there were still secrets, many confusions in this world, but "unknown" was just yet to be known. Progress was fifty-six percent, and at this moment, she vaguely speculated about the ultimate form she could become, a wildly arrogant premonition surfaced, at that endpoint –

I am the world.

This thought lasted for just a moment, then disappeared, forgotten, like a dream that quickly fades upon waking. Only the surging emotions remained in Tasha’s heart; she couldn’t recall the images that had appeared in her mind a moment ago and felt it wasn’t worth worrying about. It’s okay, it’s too early, not the right time yet.

"Thank you," Tasha said solemnly to Miranda.

Even though the wizard in a black robe had some doubts about Tasha’s previous behavior, she didn’t show it again. "It’s what I should do," Miranda nodded. Before leaving, she added reluctantly, "We didn’t find out much after all."

The wizards’ contributions exceeded what she had imagined by far.

Progress 56/100, Tasha finally experienced a long-awaited upgrade in the building when she realized what was driving the restructuring progress forward.

The dungeon building had not been upgraded for many, many years, and the upgrades were just minor tweaks. But this time, a huge change appeared in the library.

Yes, that’s the old building that was once below the Dungeon Core and preserved, the library that used to house the Book of Dungeons.

"The advanced building upgrade for the library, Hall of True Knowledge, has been unlocked."

The dungeon’s library, besides the Book of Dungeons by Victor, was empty. Tasha had wondered why this building didn’t have automatically generated books – after all, the dungeon’s kitchen could produce bread. This space had been idle for years, only runes on the ceiling and the floor shining dimly. Now, new light appeared here.

The entrance to the Hall of True Knowledge was behind an empty bookshelf in the library.

That bookshelf looked completely different from the old library, with dark original wood, except here it was as white as marble. When Tasha opened the door, her face was illuminated by the white light.

It looked like everything was in reverse colors in the library. The outside of the library was built with thick wooden bookshelves made of brown logs, and the ceiling was embedded with Magic Stone stars on the ebony dome. The library seemed to have been untouched for many years, making people want to tip-toe around, afraid of stirring up dust or disturbing ghosts. But inside the door, all the bookshelves were pure white, with ivory-white edges outlined in brilliant gold, and an unknown light source that looked like sunlight. The columns were the bookshelves, and outside the bookshelves… was just emptiness.

Tasha felt dizzy, and for a brief moment, she almost thought she was in the Astral Plane.

No, she wasn’t. The light was soft and constant, the space distorted like mist, but not distant, not endless. Each bookshelf was filled with books, but each book was wrapped in soft light, making it impossible to read or touch.

Because in the Hall of True Knowledge, what could be read was not books.

A round mirror, as tall as a person, floated in front of Tasha, with a small, ever-changing lock eye on it. When Tasha placed her hand on the mirror, countless shadowy keys appeared in mid-air.