Please assign a Core for the structure’s usage.
Please assign the focus for the structure. (Artifact or greater).
Joe opened his hand, and the Master Core appeared in his fingers. It was pulled into the building a mote of light at a time, a slow but constant stream of power. It gave him a moment to think, and he realized that there was only one thing that would work… one thing that would be a perfect fit.
“Use the Morovian-metal cauldron.” Joe allowed the cauldron to appear, and it hung in the air, unsuspended by anything. Then it was pulled into the building, and vanished. Up until that point, the building had been a shapeless, formless blob of interwoven colors. With the Core and the cauldron added, it began shifting, twisting, and growing. Starting at the base, pure white marble stairs extended in a pentagram around the lowest area.
At each of the five corners, an obelisk of dense obsidian shot upward, nearly impaling the people on the lowest ritual Circle. A ring appeared on the side of the spire, facing the center of the structure, and from each ring grew a thick chain. The chains clattered down until they reached the ground, then flowed inward along with newly forming marble, creating a perfectly level surface. The ground stopped moving, leaving a triangular space where the natural ground could be seen.
Each of the chains snaked over to the ground and joined together. Once they were all linked, a thick… harpoon? A harpoon was formed. It lifted into the air, higher, higher… then slammed down into the ground, penetrating deeply and being forced further down by the jingling chains. A gout of lava geysered into the air, somehow being captured and forced into a shape by the magic of the ritual.
The lava continued to flow upward, spinning, spinning, and hardening into a multi-hued, inverted pyramid. The pyramid itself was filled with all sorts of material directly from the lava itself; everything from quartz, to diamond, and any metal that Joe could think of was present. Each chain retracted, and a dull thud echoed from the interior as they all went taut. The pyramid came down, cracking the perfect floor underneath with the pointed tip. All of the marble dropped away, allowing lava to boil upward until it reached a certain height; then it seemed to stop and form a shifting, superheated plane. Only a small walkway of pure-white marble remained, a path that led into a door that was forming on the side of the pyramid.
The ritual began to falter and finally finished.
Congratulations! You have successfully built ‘Pharaoh’s Pyramid of Panaceas’. Your chance of adding an additional effect did not activate.
Rituarchitect class experience gained: 3,000!
Reductionist class experience gained: 1,600!
Joe, one of the only people still on their feet after the powerful draining of the ritual, could barely wait to run up and inspect the building. As he got closer, he could see a huge column of lava extending into the base of the sphere, as well as what appeared to be invisible pipes pumping lava through the exterior of the sphere itself.
As he walked up to it, he realized that there was no heat coming off of the building’s exterior. He stepped up onto the stairs, climbing to the top and peering into the lava below. Joe reached out a hand, only to find that it was blocked by perfectly clear glass. Joe could only thank the crystalline aspects for that, as the original flooring was supposed to remain marble. He drew closer to the first wall and found that the entire structure was coated in the same smooth, clear surface. That didn’t bother him, but when he walked to the door, his heart sank.
Caution! The Pharaoh’s Pyramid of Panaceas does not recognize you as its user. Only a Master Alchemist or above may enter and claim this building. Any efforts to enter the building otherwise will be met with hostility.
Jaxon came up next to Joe and got the same message, then patted Joe on the back to make him feel better. “Welp. At least the volcano is calming down! Let’s go get a coffee and catch up. Since you think you’re gonna own this place, maybe you could put in a good word for me and transfer me into your unit? I hear there are health benefits to living in a sauna.”
Epilogue
Getting out of Gramma’s Shoe was simple after the walls had stopped being magically reinforced. Between the Dwarves and the automatons, several tunnels were rapidly constructed. Technically, they did not need the tunnels; as soon as they had captured the major fort and stopped the impending eruption, the option for rapid transit became available.
Most of the Officers took that option, but the rank-and-file had to go back the long way. Control of the fortress had been immediately foisted onto Joe, much to his consternation. Luckily, Captain Cleavage had stayed behind to teach him how to activate the respawning functionality. Then Joe understood why everyone else left as quickly as they could.
“This is… insane.” Joe looked at the numbers arrayed before him in horror. The sheer cost to respawn everyone was going to drain every bit of the resources that he had gained from Elfreeda’s ring. Joe had no idea how each nation managed to bring back its fighters and recover its losses, and he especially had no idea how they had done it for several hundred years.
Even so, it was incredibly satisfying to look at the ‘Ledger of Souls’ and see Major General Havoc appear as an option to bring back. It appeared that Elfreeda’s order to capture him instead of letting him die had failed. The thought made Joe shudder; their side had almost lost Havoc. However, before Joe made the mistake of bringing him back without good news
