Ascent of a Dragon

Through the eyes of a stunned spider

"So small!" "Ffery tiny. Muchly cute!" Lyla stand eye to eye with the now micro-sized dragon, having scaled down overnight to fit through tighter passages. "I know you said you could shrink yourself, but I was expecting monkey-size, not me-size! You even made your horns shorter and less pointy!" "Well it seemed appropriate. And now that I can manipulate my DNA I'm much less restricted in what I can do. Still slow though." "Dhee... Enay?" "Really small stuff. I'll explain later. But that's insane! Is it an ongtherr thing?" "No, you can do it with Mana. In fact many magic systems will have some level of DNA manipulation built in."

The dragon clambers up the monkey, settling on his shoulders as Lyla begins leading the way through ariver-carved tunnel. "You know, for someone who loves uthir so much you sure seem to know a lot about Mana." "Well of course. Mana is really cool, and easy for people to use." "Then why didn't you attune to it. You know, like your body was designed to do." "It's icky." "Your logic never ceases to impress..." The tunnel shifts and turns, stretching and compressing as they crawl their way through., following the stream of water below. Walls turn red, then grey, signifying their transition past the dense rock between layers.

Even the monkey struggles to fit through some of the tight crevasses as they make their way down. Gradually, the sound of trickling water beneath them begins to be overwhelmed by the crashing of waves further below. Lyla reaches the mouth of the tunnel, peering down the sheer drop below. "Okay, so we need to be careful and-" The monkey slips on a wet rock, out to prove its slippery worth to the world. Smack! Tumble. "Haaa!" ... ... Sploosh!

The dragon stands up, having fallen to the side before his plummet. "That's a lot of water. Should we help him?" "I'm sure he's fine." "Can he swim? I don't see him." "Shit..."

Through the eyes of a submerged monkey

Never before have I been submerged in such depths. It is so... tranquil. A contrast to the chaotic motions of the surface. I could grasp the water, pull myself out, yet... I feel as though I lay on the precipice of an insight. A greater understanding of something vital to myself, surrounded by all of this water. A black, scaly figure plunges into the depths above him, swimming his way. I suppose I should not keep my companions waiting. My insight can come another day.

Pulling at the water, he forms a torrent around himself, lifting him and the emissary to the surface where he proceeds to sit atop the waves. Truly... How can such quantities even exist? Water stretches across the horizon, dancing and crashing in a chaotic medley of waves around the giant pillars of red stone holding the sky in place. "Ho'mah." He addresses the bright one, who floats atop the water surface. "I see no route. Is this the greatest depth of this world?" "Uh, no. Not even close." Tremendous! The world truly is vast! "Then how shall we descend? I cannot breathe the waters." "Uh... A few ways." "Can we get to one of those pillars first? This body is hard to swim with." The emissary interjects, her head barely surfacing as she desperately paddles.

"Allow me!" Gol Dhee declares, crouching atop the water and grasping the waves. Pulling the water forward with steady motions he carries the trio towards the nearest pillar. Palms rhythmically plunge into the water one after the other, sliding the water surface like a sheet as they ride atop. "How nostalgic! I haven't wave skated like this since my son was a child!" "Looks like fun! Maybe I'll give it a try later." "Eh. I could totally do this with a more Mana efficient body." Upon reaching the pillar, the trio hop up, latching to the wall and climbing to a flat platform along the wall.

"Ah, much better. Now I can address the problems we have." The bright one announces, settling atop the emissary's back. "This doesn't really work that well with you so small..." "Sorry." "Well, anyway. We have a problem. As far as I'm aware, every dry route down to the next layer is barely big enough for even me to fit in. So unless the monkey suddenly develops shrinking powers too, we're stuck." "What of the waters? Are there no paths within the depths?" "No clue. Don't know if you've noticed, but I float so I've never seen down there. Besides, even if we can keep my body underwater I doubt any of us could breathe."

Gol Dhee sits, scratching his chin as he ponders the predicament. "Are there no other paths among the pillars?" "There probably are. In fact, there have to be. Pretty much every divine beast I know of has made the full descent at one point or another, so there has to be some way down large enough for us to pass through. But we could be here for years searching with how big this place is. I would be fine with that, but of course miss-speedrunthemostdangerouslabyrinthintheworld here probably has some things to say about that. In fact... Why aren't you saying anything? I was expecting some crazy reveal about one of the absurd things you do with your oothin stuff by now."

"Oh, sorry. I was distracted." The emissary responds, raising her head from where she had been staring, fixated on the ground. "By what? A rock?" "No... You know how I can see Aether? And how really old and strong-willed stuff tends to have a lot?" "Uh, yea? I remember something along those lines at least." "Well, this ocean seems to be littered with Aether. Practically a buffet really." "Ah yes. I'm sure that looks just divine to you..." "That's not what got my attention. There's so much Aether there it should be obscuring my ability to see past it like a wall. But even deeper, there's something... Something with more Aether than anything I've seen in this labyrinth so far. And with the way it's focused I'm willing to bet it's attuned." "Attuned as in?" "Like me. A being with Aura attuned to Aether and able to use it."

"How does Aether equate to one's strength? You claim all beings possess it. Do I have it too?" The emissary tilts her head, taking a moment to consider her answer. "It doesn't. Not really. Aether just tends to stick to things really well, and is attracted to expressions of will through Aura. The really big rock lizard had almost none though." "Such an ancient beast? But how?" "Yea, your logic doesn't add up there. If it's old it should have a lot." "Well it had a lot of Mana, so it probably purged all of the Aether clinging to it at some point. You both could probably benefit from doing the same, since it tends to interfere with Mana a bit."

Is this a potential avenue for strength? I wonder how much I could benefit from greater control over my essence... "Well... That was a fun, and slightly unsettling, distraction." The bright one says, evidently trying to wipe away the Aether. "You actually have a lot. More than the death vines and the sheep combined." "Well thank-you for not trying to eat me at least..." "You're welcome!" "What of I?" "Eh, so-so. You have as much as one of the sheep." "I see... Then my will is lacking!" "Or you're just young." I must enhance my training. I have seen no beasts in this domain, so I shall instead focus on technique. Enhance and develop my skills so I may remain an asset to this group.

"Can we get back on topic now? I can't swim, the monkey can't shrink, so how do we proceed?" "Well, now that I have this much Aether I can do pretty much anything within my skillset, only limited by my range and speed. Gills would be too big of a change, but I can enhance my breathing to hold it in for a long time. If I find a route underwater, then Goldy can form a bubble around us and I can quickly swim us to the next layer." "Hoh! I am fond of this plan!" "Eh, sure. Sounds good to me. I guess in the worst case we'll have to explore anyway, so we can just search one pillar at a time until we're lucky."

"Great! I'll start working on modifying my internal organs again!" "I shall begin my training. I have much to improve." "I'll uh... Figure out something to do!"

Through the eyes of a meditating dragon

Okay, let's get started. First things first, I need to grip my entire body. Aether surges through Aleph's body, filling her limbs, grasping everything from her scales, down to her cells, and even down to the atom. A violet glow permeates her body, even outshining Lyly as it reflects off her scales into a shimmering array of spotlights which oscillate and shift as she breathes. Now then... I'll start by pulling my body back to its normal size. Reducing my weight like this is a distraction I don't need. Her body is tugged, flesh and fibre unwound from the dense knots they were wrapped in as she grows, returning to her natural scale.

Next up is efficiency. I no longer need the extra redundancy I created last time, so one layer of scales, leaner muscles, and more dense bones are next. Scales are pulled apart and muscles are consumed, breaking them down to their core parts and using them to thicken the remaining scales, pack her muscles with more efficient fibres, and harden her bones. Now finally, I need to make myself better in water. No idea how gills work, so I'll increase my lung capacity, give myself some webbing, and give my wings a way to fold closer to my body. Organs shift, condensing and expanding to make room for larger lungs and a stronger heart. Her hide stretches, pulling out between her toes to form webbing and stretching the sides of her tail to form caudal fins.

While I'm at it, I can start turning my blood into Aether-based ichor. That and DNA will take more than just today though, so I'll stop here. "Fuuu..." With a deep breath, she stands, stretching her newly enhanced body. Great! How are the others doing? Aleph turns her head, following the cacophony of webs up to see Lyly dangling above, wrapped tightly in her threads with a dejected expression. Looking down, she finds Goldy atop the ocean... spinning wildly out of control. Looks like they've been having fun without me.

Entry 287

How long has it been since I first stepped foot here? Surely years have passed at this point. My training has completely stagnated now, my body gaining no strength. Perhaps it's about time I return to the surface? Yet, I feel no pull to return, no lingering desire to go where I once called home. This place has become comfortable, familiar, filled with so many fascinating discoveries that I could spend a lifetime seeking them all and never find them all.

I have estimated the widest layer of this place to be about as large as the central continent, if not larger. So many mysteries lay in hiding upon the surface, lost cities, strange formations, enough to satisfy millennia of scholars and historians. Yet down here, there are entire worlds left undiscovered, unknown to those on the surface. Layers of continents stacked upon each other, each just as rich and diverse in history and nature as the lands up above.

It is the utmost shame I haven't the paper to write everything down, to map every place I've explored. Perhaps the apes from the forest layers have some form of paper, but to reach there I would have to make the climb through the endless drop. For now, I will simply continue my training. The waterfalls on this layer here prove to be an excellent place to meditate, and I will use this time to consider my next steps.