《Dungeon Core Chat Room.》 Chapter 1. Birth right into a tutorial.
A Dungeon Core is formed when high levels of mana infuse a crystal at a certain elevation for enough time to permanently change its internal structure. The exact way a core awakens sapience afterward is unknown however it is widely known to be separate from the core formation with the most believed theory being they are placed by the gods. Attempts to artificially create a dungeon in opportune areas have been met with failure repeatedly ¨C despite perfectly functional low cores forming in controlled environments they have always remained inert.
-An Excerpt from ¡°A study of dungeons VOLUME 1¡± A spark of awareness followed immediately by a slam of confusion filled the new soul. The moment seemed to stretch frantically onwards, a loop of ¡°what is happening, who am I, why am I, what is anything¡± flipping again...and again...and again through their thoughts before a simple colourless panel appears at the position the Core''s consciousness focuses. It hung there in their mind. Solid yet with no real attachment to anything and no real form.
Unnamed Dungeon Core -(edit)
Level 0 0/10 exp to next level.
System Access Level 0 0/2 requirements met to advance. -Tutorial Complete -Level 1+
Stats
Current Elevation 0 At Birth Epoch.
Mana Regeneration 1 unit/min
Mana Storage 10 units
Physical Storage 100 units
Titles.
Welcome Young Dungeon.
This automated tutorial will walk you through all aspects of the system''s function while lessening the initial confusion you are no doubt experiencing. The non-optional Basic dungeon Language package is being imprinted.
Staring at the strange shapes and lines a disorienting rush of information floods into the core¡¯s consciousness. It wasn¡¯t painful but seemed to last for ages ¨C concepts contained in the form of symbols, letters, and their combinations. Units appeared with distinct quantities and lengths; symbols to express emotions and thoughts with increasing complexity until, just as quickly as it started, the rush stopped. Staring at the box in front of him the words slowly came into focus, both the initial status page and the new notification beside it. With the returned focus came comprehension. The words crystal clear and troubling. How did that rush of knowledge get forced upon me? Non-optional? I¡¯m not sure if I like the idea of that no matter how useful it seems to be able to comprehend...read this notification. The vast amount of information on language was perfectly preserved in his mind but still felt weird and foreign. The information was there from the ground up ¨C however, his mind hadn¡¯t yet sorted it and made enough connections for it to feel like his memories. The core mentally dismissed the message, it shrinking before being replaced nearly immediately with a new one.
Tutorial 1/10
You are an existence called a Dungeon Core. You exist for the regulation of mana and to challenge those who enter you. However, your life is your own, and other than a few guidelines that no doubt resonate with you, how you go about your newfound existence is up to you.
A second dismissal transformed the page into a new one
Tutorial 2/10
Effort must be rewarded to the best of your ability. And challenge must be given at an incremental difficulty. After breaching the surface other than the entrance you are not to forcefully spread and build on the surface other than to provide multiple entrances or exits with potential beacons and through special reclamation events.
Tutorial 3/10
The landing page for any system is the status bar. Here you can review your relevant species'' stats, as well as any "system gained" achievements that are currently applied to your being. For example, if you were to break any of the previous tenets the "aberrant" title would be given and communicated to any "system given" creature nearing you leading to potential crusades to erase your existence. This is your only warning. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
The Last message gave our Core pause. It had started flipping through the information watching the panel shift and move about with each page. I¡¯m being forced to follow those arbitrary rules? And if I break them the system will betray me? The rules made sense to its ¡°sensibilities¡± and he didn¡¯t really feel any pressing desire to break them but the very act of them being enforced made him nervous. Flipping to the next page he tried to ignore the panic he felt with that revelation.
Tutorial 4/10
The second panel is system storage. It provides an intuitive, customizable way to sort, describe and otherwise interact with both designs and notes as well as raw resources.
The status, which had been static throughout all the interactions so far slid to the side passing out of view ¨C a new, empty page filling its place. Nothing other than a faint sense of potential movement backwards at the top filled the page. Less of a visual indication that he could change tabs and more of an instinctual tag. This new panel was blank, with no text or colour it was simply a panel. Paging through the tutorial, it flipped back to the status page ¨C this time leaving a faint forward feeling near the top that he could follow to return to the previous empty panel.
Tutorial 5/10
Finally, any future panels will unlock as soon as you reach the system access level for it and created pages may be linked to templates if conditions are met. The second part of the tutorial requires the user to accept a Basic Information Package
Accept Tutorial Information and Starter Package Y/N ?
A message very like the first appeared and this time it gave him some semblance of control ¨C This one is optional? Should I refuse it to see what happens? The only thing stopping the core was a faint fear that if he refused the new information, he would never be able to accept it. With a thought, the information was accepted. This rush was less intense, a quick flash of memory for already present instincts along with a detailed shaping of mana and material that, after imprinting into his memory, also seemed to slide into the status before settling. Finally, the first non-dismissible notification appeared.
Tutorial 6/10
Task 1. Store raw material and begin spreading your influence.
Feeling out his newfound knowledge it took little work to attempt to push his essence out into the surrounding stone bleeding out into the crevice on one side before touching another wall a meter past it. As he claimed the surroundings, they entered his vision and instead of a black void he could look around and see his surroundings. His sight was weird. The Dungeon Core could vaguely see everything in his influence, but it was fuzzy and muted. As soon as he focused on something in his influence he could ¡°see¡± it as if from all sides. A 3d panorama looking inwards on the wall, or rock, or his crystal. For he could now see he was a small, slightly misshapen and lumpy crystal. Trying to look outside of his influence put his vision right up against the still expanding wall and everything outside looked flat and distorted as if looking through a scratched up and dirty glass pane. Out of the corner of his focus, the information in the status started ticking down more and more, the value in his mana storage moving from 10 to 9 all the way to 5 before he stopped. Trying next to pull the stone above and beside him into himself using instincts partly from his core, but mostly from the imprinted mental memory, he was met once more with success. The material in his influence seemed to slowly get stripped away layer by layer as if it were evaporating into nothing before suddenly the process pulled to a halt, a sharp feeling like suffocating accompanying his status showing his lack of mana while a cm or two of material was removed on two sides of his crystal.
Unnamed Dungeon Core -(edit)
Level 0 4/10 exp to next level.
System Access Level 0 0/2 requirements met to advance. -Tutorial Complete -Level 1+
Stats
Current Elevation 0 At Birth Epoch.
Mana Regeneration 1 unit/min
Mana Storage 0/10 units
Physical Storage 0/100 units
Titles.
A minute later the trapped suffocating feeling abated as his Mana Storage ticked up to 1. Coming back to himself he noticed the tutorial notification had already flipped to the next task- this time with no mental prodding from him.
Tutorial 7/10
Task 2. Sort and organize your new inventory.
This task was more ambiguous than the previous with no convenient instincts to accompany his new memories. Awkwardly the status was flipped to the empty panel. It now had a faint sense of containing information despite it still being blank. With a focus on that information the panel filled with haphazardly shifting blocks of text ¨C one moment a dense feeling of the stone around him with the text Rock was near the top a second later it exploded into several separate components - Si: Silicon, O: Oxygen, Fe: Iron, Ti: Titanium, Al: Aluminium and then as quickly as it split it shifted again into simply ¡°Solids 17.23g¡± Below the rock, an even worse blend of units, shapes, ratios of elements, and mana along with directions twisted about. After letting go, the panel went back into a blank state. Trying again, this time focusing on the concept of physical storage and applying it to the panel instead of directly touching his storage, a bar slowly faded into the page. After focusing on it the panel expanded to the whole page once again filled with a mutating set of information on the rock he had absorbed, this time without the other shifting sets of information. Focusing only slightly this time on a concept he froze the contents into its current form ¨C Rock: Basalt: 17.23g. Then using a bit of focus made a "raw materials" heading and pushed the rock into it. The more he pushed and prodded the status into giving him what he wanted the easier it became. Looking over at the tutorial notification he saw it was still not complete. I¡¯ve already sorted out the rock. Why is it not complete? He thought before remembering the shifting mess of concepts he saw originally. That too? Backing out he tried once again to focus on it this time touching the information briefly and getting a concept of a monster. Pushing out a panel for monsters he opened it and froze the concept into a name that expanded into the shape with all the steps sequentially laid out beside it. Did I receive this schematic as the starter package? Reviewing the concept, it was much easier to understand without each part constantly shifting.
Slime: Simplest "self-contained" creature distributed with the tutorial.
Step 1: Hold your influence as solid as possible in as large an area as you can imagine comfortably with the concept of ¡°STOP¡± - not frozen, never "frozen" - to reduce mana interference. Step 2: Holding a portion of mana aside, feed any gaseous element and roughly the equilibrium amount of raw mana into a sphere keeping it as calm and springy as possible. Step 3: Slowly wrap your ball in Silicon using your mana to stretch and hold it. Step 4: After wrapping multiple times slowly decrease your influence field to regular levels and test the strength of the membrane adding more layers if needed. Step 5: Imbue the slime with a spark of your life.
As if reacting to the organized steps that were displayed, the tutorial task switched to a new page with little fanfare.
Tutorial 8/10
Task 3. Create your first Dungeon monster.
Flipping from the Storage tab back to status he checked his mana. - 9/10. Might as well wait till I¡¯m at max capacity before starting. He settled down to wait the minute it would take to refill. Chapter 2. Candid advice.
Roughly somewhere between sea level and 100m below ground. That''s the elevation Dungeon Cores form at, given the proper environment. A dungeon starts its life digging upwards. Slowly building rooms and levels, then waiting for them to increase in mana density before building another. As soon as a dungeon breaches the surface they are considered an adult and can begin digging downwards slowly, periodically shifting their core to lower and lower depths. Usually, this lifecycle is foolproof and even if formed under a hill - or small mountain - a Dungeon Core can usually find the side and open an entrance in the first few months or years it takes them to mature, however a good portion never make it. It''s estimated that half of newborn Dungeon Cores never reach the surface either because they aren''t strong enough or get broken by accident.
-An Excerpt from ¡°A study of dungeons VOLUME 1¡± And there...His mana was full, so he flipped back to ¡°Storage¡± then the stored schematic. Step one is to create a stasis field, he began focusing on the influenced ground beside him. A short while later the motionless corner of his crevice felt even more still and other than a faint clenching feeling as he held the space in place and frantically thought ¡°inert¡±, ¡°inert¡±, ¡°inert¡± in the hopes that it would help it seemed to have worked. Next step then... Gaseous element? I guess there¡¯s some air here already he mused before starting to try and pull raw mana into a ball right beside him. The mana fluctuated slightly in his sight, both there and not there as if he were looking at a reflection instead of an actual physical creation. Quickly flowing into a small ball roughly a single cm in diameter he checked his status ¨C 9/10. Pushing a bit more the ball continued to grow until it was roughly double in diameter ¨C he checked the mana usage... 5/10. That... felt like way too much mana was used for such a small ball¡­ but he stopped pushing mana into the ball and observed it carefully. The ball was less of a perfect circle and more of an oscillating bumpy oval ¨C but as long as he held it, it seemed stable. Looking at the ball carefully, it didn¡¯t fully appear to be mixed with a ¡°gaseous element¡± even though he had made it surrounded by air. It was as if it was currently sitting beside reality. Not "physically there" and unable to influence anything that was. Rather than continue, he focused instead on the step on the schematic pulling the feeling and information of what was needed. He saw a stretch of mana being spun with much more finesse than he was using growing and absorbing air as it did so. Afterward more air was pushed into the sphere until it seemed both lighter and more solid. I guess I should have added air as I grew the ball...at least the end seems like they just continued adding to a density he sighed. Noting down how the feeling of "pulling the air inwards" had felt, he turned back to the ball which seemed to have grown more and more agitated while his attention was shifted away. The Core clamped down on it again, this time prodding the surroundings to get sucked towards it. Bit by bit ¨C first with a great deal of resistance then slowly more control ¨C the ball ballooned bigger and bigger as it filled. For some reason when he first made the ball, the surrounding atmosphere seemed to just pass through his construct. The amount of air mixed with the mana was much much less than it should have been ¨C even though it was surrounding and passing through where the ball was located. As more gas was added ¨C as if there was a hole in the side being pushed further and further open ¨C the flow increased. Only part of the air he was pushing slipping out of his control and swirling away. This continued before just as suddenly as it had sped up, the process started slowing down again, settling just before it reached a state similar to the one in his memories. Close to three and a half centimetres in diameter, the ball continued to fluctuate and bump around erratically but with much less force than before. This strange material looked less like gas and more like a light liquid, despite being made of air...or at least partly made of air. The surroundings he had pushed into it had acted strangely and he wanted to study that closer later. I can''t get distracted by everything though, I should finish making this first. Looking down at the next step, he juggled controlling the ball with flipping over to his ¡°Materials¡± tab and attempting to open it side by side with his schematic. The process was less smooth than making the sections initially, the added mental strain from holding the raw mana not helping his concentration. But, after the tabs resisted for a moment, both sides finally opened up side by side, The panel growing a bit on the edges to accommodate the larger setup. Remembering the expanded, detailed view of the Basalt from when it was fluctuating, he focused and re-expanded it. He then grabbed some of the raw Silicon element contained within and pulled. The physical component appearing shortly beside his blobby mana ball. He pulled the silicon and the mana in a strand as thin as he could imagine and began wrapping it around the ball. A clear, shiny covering slowly surrounded the core of his slime. He finally stopped this process at a point that felt right. He slowly disabled the stasis field and let his slime drop and bounce as it hit the rough ground below. The Core stared at it in slight wonder prodding and examining the slime from all angles. I made this. This is mine. It didn¡¯t feel very sturdy, but it held its form ¨C even after picking it up and dropping it a few times. The last step in the schematic was the simplest but also the most vague. Without fully knowing how, and zero indication from the system that he was doing anything, he broke off a small piece of himself and shoved it towards the blob. He let the sliver of his consciousness leave his own mind and become something else. A new mind separate from his own. The sliver was small enough that he didn¡¯t feel any different, but the result was immediately apparent. His slime shone brightly and wiggled before trundling over to the wall and bouncing off of it. It looked like a small pebble, close in size to the Core''s own crystal. It turned again and moved down the crack that was the Core''s domain before hitting the edge of his influence and slowing down to a crawl. A second later with a small pop, the slime broke. Wisps of mana rose into the air as both the membrane and center of the slime seemed to melt, leaving nothing but a white powder behind. A second "second later" and the sliver of consciousness the core had broken off returned to him. It was accompanied by weird half-memories ¨C of having no sight or senses other than faint vibrations when he moved. These new memories felt less like something he had done and more like the downloaded information from the tutorial. Speaking of the tutorial, he checked the box ¨C expecting it to have changed. But as he did so, he found the most opaque and unmovable panel yet sitting right beside his status and previous tutorial window. Both the status page and the tutorial notification were slightly transparent. A clear, colourless and slightly boring table of information besides a small rectangular box that displayed the current task.
Tutorial 9/10
Pick Initial Elemental Specification on level up.
However, the new panel was solid and sharp, obscuring everything behind it from view. As soon as he glanced at it all other sensations seemed to fade and while he could turn and look back at his other two boxes, the new panel kept slowly dragging his focus back.
Mana Specification
Water Fire Control Halved. Water Control Doubled.
Air Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Earth Control Halved. Air Control Doubled.
Fire Water Control Halved. Fire Control Doubled.
Earth Air Control Halved. Earth Control Doubled.
Water + Fire Opposing Elements Water and Fire Forcefully Controlled. Drastically reduces Air and Earth element control, by dividing them by 175% twice turning them both to a paltry 33% of base control. Simultaneously this option increases both Fire and Water to 175% of base control. Warning. Complementary Elements have a detrimental stacking effect on other sources.
Air + Earth Identical to the above option, Opposing elements Air and Earth are increasing to 175% of base control. Water and Fire are reduced to 33% of base control. Warning. Complementary Elements have a detrimental stacking effect on other sources.
All 4 Base Elements By focusing on the basics, you forgo higher orders of mana. All 4 base elements in the tier one category have control increased to 111% while weakness is pushed to the future. Warning. Tier 2 and above mana sources are heavily impacted.
Non-Elemental. A "gamble towards future power". By picking this option, base rank 1 elemental mana becomes harder to use, decreasing control to 50% each, while more complex flavours of mana become easier to learn. You also get a bonus in control the further from any base element the flavour is. Warning! There is no guarantee any non-elemental mana is anywhere near as strong as base elements or their derivatives and esoteric flavours of mana can be detrimental to core health.
W..wha¡­ I have to choose? The core stared at each option carefully. Nothing stands out¡­ I don¡¯t like this and I don¡¯t want to make the wrong decision and ruin the rest of my life. The core thought while hovering over each option. Does this matter? Can¡¯t I choose them all? he continued while staring at the warning besides "all 4 of them." Mentally shaking his head he dismissed that choice, I don¡¯t want to sacrifice the future for current power. Looking down at the non-elemental option he thought. Whoever or whatever wrote this really doesn¡¯t want me to pick it considering that warning. Actually, every choice but the basic options has a warning. Does the warning mean there''s a higher risk and higher reward? Are they better somehow? I feel like it''s not giving me enough information. After looking at each option again and again waiting for a feeling of kinship to appear- waiting for one to stand out as the option that most felt like him...he felt lost. Flicking his thoughts up and down for what felt like forever, a small flash finally appeared in the corner of his vision next to the status.
Title Gained. Indecisive
Description Hidden condition met by taking significantly longer than the average selection time.
Duration 5hrs.
Effects. Provides additional help and friendly edited advice from elders.
A moment later his status blurred slightly and the title appeared below his stats. When he focused back on the selection a smaller, somehow less substantial chart matching the tutorial box floated beside it.
Earth Air Fire Water Sum of percentages
Water 100% 100% 50% 200% 4.5
Air 50% 200% 100% 100% 4.5
Fire 100% 100% 200% 50% 4.5
Earth 200% 50% 100% 100% 4.5
Water + Fire 33% 33% 175% 175% 4.153
Air + Earth 175% 175% 33% 33% 4.153
All 4 Base Elements 111% 111% 111% 111% 4.44
Non-Elemental. 50% 50% 50% 50% 2.00
Notes: Hey, noob if you''re seeing this you probably need a push. I have to say adding this condition was hard. Without a Tier, your status isn¡¯t fully formed and it''s awful trying to implement conditional magic that reaches level 0 nobodies who knows how far away. I hope you appreciate the work this took. I don''t know why the gods gave options other than the first 4, they are all a trap- I filled out this chart showing the initial benefits of each choice in terms of how easy they will make your life, with a single comment. Future potential is based on effort but making things harder for yourself doesn''t always help you reach further. Training with resistance only boosts your strength if you can remove that resistance after you are done training- otherwise, it just makes everything harder. Aka those warnings are there for a reason and detrimental means stay away fool it''s not worth it. (even if it let me make this message I regret it) -OG
Reading through the candid advice seemed to pull the core out of whatever mental block was preventing it from making a decision. Agreeing somewhat with the note¡¯s message he looked at the first 4 options dismissing the rest. It''s not like it prevents me from using that type of mana after all, just makes it slightly harder... and they do have the best benefits. Trying to look at the options from a different angle he thought of the benefits he could think of based on the limited knowledge he had. Air seems the most useless... so I think I¡¯m going to pick Earth ¨C That way I don¡¯t get a penalty to either Water or Fire and besides I¡¯m surrounded by Earth. It''s probably most of the surrounding mana and should be stronger. Yeah, honestly the fact that this option doesn¡¯t give a penalty to either Fire or Water means I still have a lot of versatility. Satisfied with his choice he only hesitated a second longer before grabbing the option and feeling his consciousness unfocus and dim. Chapter 3. A simple chat group.
Are Dungeons Sapient? A favourite debate topic of old, while it is undeniable that Dungeons are alive and able to design traps and puzzles, many scholars refused to class them as little more than animals, claiming their traps are instinctual. The evidence is clearer for their intelligence if you look at the great Dungeons. Dungeons that have been around for millennia show attempts at communication, with varied strange glyphs over doors and arrows pointing out complex patterns that no animal could visualize. The evidence is even more clear with system challenges and quests obtained in newer dungeons. Is it not obvious they read more like the quests given through authority skills than the dull system-wide messages? They were written and each contain a portion of personality. There is no doubt that the dungeon itself wrote said messages. Is it not obvious? Why then, with such overwhelming evidence of writing is this still debated?
An excerpt from the thesis ¡°Dungeons are more intelligent than many of my peers¡± After an unknown period of time the core awoke feeling more solid, his thoughts less scattered. Pulling his consciousness away from its resting place he turned, focusing on the tutorial messages. I have to be done by now, right? He thought staring at the final task of the tutorial.
Tutorial 10/10
Note: congratulations on the completion of the basic Dungeon Core package. I hope you chose something you can be proud of when advancing. While there is one last task for you, this tutorial has to be finished before you can start it. Have you noticed how bland your status looks? The Dungeon Core system is highly customizable and I strongly suggest you change the default around to something you would like to stare at more often. Move stuff around! Additionally, with the first system rank up you should be given access to the tiered chatroom, the most basic of communication systems designed around being able to interact with your peers. Ask for help-solve stuff together, have fun! -OG
The final Tutorial box seemed slightly different than its predecessors. Studying it to try and figure out what was different he noticed it seemed...less formal. More friendly. Checking the corner, he also saw it looked almost like a second window was overlaid underneath this one. I guess my Title added more than just advice on the rank up. As soon as he closed the tutorial box his status ticked the requirement for system rank up and flipped sideways past his storage to a new panel that slowly formed. As it formed the whole status felt stronger somehow and when it finished there was a small but strong link that didn¡¯t seem to be there before connecting his core to...somewhere else. This panel was split into a section on the bottom with an empty bar that gave a sense of control. Here he could project his thoughts and send them over the link. A sliver on the side that could be pulled out showed several names ¨C Later, 9323, Immortal Spring of Certainty, Amy, Xero, Abe. Some were strong and sharp while others had a muted and dim form. However, the busiest section of the pane was the center. Nearly constant lines popped in and pushed a reel of information up. Each line started with one of the names and as the text reached the top of the panel it faded back out into nothing.
Abe: I¡¯m telling you, Straight up. Zero pit stops. I bet I can break through the surface in 3 floors.
Xero: ??
Abe: Won¡¯t find me wasting time digging around like a chump. I''m going straight to the surface.
Unnamed Core: Hello?
Immortal Spring Of Certainty: Well hello what''s this.
Xero: Why haven¡¯t you set your name?
Amy: How haven¡¯t you set your name? I thought it was a requirement to advance.
Abe: I¡¯ll name you. Listen from now on your name is ¡°Abe¡¯s little bro¡± write that down.
Xero: ??
Amy: You¡¯ll scare him off this chat for life Abe. Just... pick something it doesn¡¯t matter, you can always change it later but you can¡¯t go around as Unnamed forever.
That...felt slightly weird to the core. Your name is how people recognize you...you shouldn''t change it on a whim. After his recent specialization in Earth, the Core really did not feel like flitting around on whims. Straightforward and honest. That''s how the Core¡¯s sentimentalities felt as his rank up made him feel more mature. More adult. A small part of him wondered how much his personality was shaped by his choice and if it was similar to mind control, but the feeling died slowly. He felt more like his current mindset was who he was meant to be and his newborn personality was someone else¡¯s. Rather than his current thoughts being pushed into thinking this way.
Immortal Spring Of Certainty: What about Abyssal Shadow of the Darkest Knight? As soon as you figure it out you can unlock darkness mana and run with it. Just spend the time theming up your whole dungeon, you would be so cooool. *Ahem* You simply must try it.
9323: Alright I¡¯m bored, there''s only so much digging I can handle before I want to crack my core and escape this hellhole of a life. What are you guys talking about?
Xero: Newbie.
9323: Really? Alright, where you at, what''s your name.
Unnamed Core: I¡¯m not sure yet.
9323: Oh Mr ¡±I¡¯m not sure about anything¡±, stop stealing my personality I¡¯m the only unsurist allowed in this chat.
Abe: Shut up 9 unsurist isn¡¯t a word and you know it. Don¡¯t bully noobies he¡¯s obviously a bit slow as he hasn¡¯t set his name yet but that''s no reason to not become his friend.
9323: Do not shorten my noble name little ¡°Ab¡±
Abe: This is the 4th time you¡¯ve changed your name today. Noble it is anything but.
9324: Oh does it bother you when I do this.
9/3: The Meaning in my name is astound I assure you.
Leaving the chat and the bickering cores, the Unnamed Core pulled his attention away and attempted to focus on the outside of his gem. He looked...quite a bit bigger than he had initially, maybe 30% wider but he hadn¡¯t really measured before. Other than that, his uneven surface had started to bulge out. Not quite a perfect sphere yet, his crystalline surface had lost most of its flat sheets and uneven shape, bulging outwards slightly and smoothing over all the sharp edges. Additionally, his shape looked more uniform. His blue internal structure felt more orderly and rigid. Everyone¡¯s making out that this name, or lack thereof, is more of an issue than it should be. Let¡¯s see. I¡¯m a Dungeon Core and I picked an Earth element. How about EarthenCore? He pondered a bit then tossed the idea. I don¡¯t know how many Dungeon Cores pick Earth, but it still feels generic. I want something functional, changing often would be annoying. He was becoming increasingly more aware that he was spending too much time picking. They really are going to think I¡¯m slow. Glancing around he grasped at concepts. ¡°Basalt, Rock, small cave¡± ack fine maybe I am being indecisive. He focused on the burning edit button and quickly dumped his new name into the panel. ¡°Indecisive Earth¡± can¡¯t say it¡¯s the best but it¡¯s a lot better than any of the recommendations I was given he thought while confirming it. While he was here, he looked around for a customization option for a minute before he tried willing the status to change colours to something nicer to look at. Slowly, colour bled into his status a shade of deep blue covering the panel. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Focusing on the shade he tinted it back and forth until he found a colour that looked and felt nice. Then, focusing on the transparency he changed it to a slightly more muted feeling ¨C the panel blurring the background slightly behind it. Satisfied with his changes he checked everything briefly to notice several stats had changed and vowing to come back to really pore over them he switched back to the chat panel.
Indecisive Earth
Level 1 0/22 exp to next level.
System Access Level 1 0/2 requirements met to advance.
-3+ Floors
-Level 9+
Stats
Current Elevation 0 At Birth Epoch.
Mana Regeneration 1.1 unit/min
Mana Storage 22.0/22.0 units
Physical Storage 0/220 units
Titles
Indecisive, Earth Mana Specialization
Immortal Spring Of Certainty: My Fleet of Undying Minions have been altered once again I do wish I could show you how marvellous these Critters are.
Abe: Do they explode when they die? I¡¯ve made mine volatile to the point they explode if something smashes them hard enough. 10/10 would recommend m8.
Immortal Spring Of Certainty: No listen I¡¯ve focused on letting my minions flow back together if they are cut. I¡¯m calling them Eternal Spirits of Swiftness. Took me ages to figure out they can stay together if I make them spin constantly and leave a small pocket of pure mana in the center held together by the spinning surroundings instead of keeping them all Air mana. Once I make these once I¡¯ll never have to remake them again they shall live forever.
Abe: Be cool if they exploded though. Listen if they die you can just remake them... plus I bet they die if you hit that pocket so they aren''t really undying. You can¡¯t make claims like that you haven¡¯t even had an adventurer yet.
Indecisive Earth: So what exactly are you designing your monsters for?
Immortal Spring Of Certainty: Isn¡¯t it obvious? They are my Undying Legion. Once I get some adventurers in me they shall spread my name far and wide as a dungeon of impossible obstacles.
Abe: Hey you chose a name. Not quite as good as ¡°Abe¡¯s little Bro¡± but I like it. Swol.
Amy: Do you need help Designing your dungeon? I¡¯ve been here for the longest and have some tips I¡¯ve picked up from some dungeons that have moved on. You can ask me for help if you ever get stuck.
Abe: What''s there to teach, Eat all the stone around you until you get a space large enough to shove a few exploding slugs and wait till the mana level rises. Play around with your free mana then dig upwards and repeat.
Xero: ??
9 lives: We don¡¯t all just make a big empty cave. What if Indecisive Earth wants to put more than a smidgen of thought into it?
Immortal Spring Of Certainty: As tall as possible. That''s the way- make several shafts and pocket them with interconnecting holes. I¡¯ll walk you through the process to make my Spirits and you can fill the shafts with them.
Indecisive Earth: I actually picked Earth as my specialization...Air¡¯s going to be difficult.
Xero: Denied- ??
Xero: I¡¯m half Air and Half-Earth if it matters.
Abe: I still don¡¯t understand bruh. What could possibly lead you to give up fire?
Xero: Trust. I have a plan.
Amy: Indecisive Earth, as off track as they are getting I¡¯m here to help. You can ask me anything and if I know anything I can help.
Indecisive Earth: I¡¯ll keep it in mind.
Xero: ?? tfw you run out of storage space and can¡¯t dig anymore.
9 lives: That¡¯s...that¡¯s a thing? Oh man, I think I¡¯m running out and I only have one floor.
Amy: Compression helps Xero. So does finding a cave to dump waste in but if you¡¯re running out of space you probably haven¡¯t found any main caves. Compression really helps though. So actually, does leveling up. You got plenty of options- also 9 Lives you want to fill in a bit of that ¡°giant empty cave¡± until you have enough levels it''s hard to split floors like that.
Xero: Expand...Get bored¡­ design a monster for fun...Expand some more. I¡¯ve been following the stupid loop I¡¯m telling you there¡¯s no cave nearby and I¡¯m level 9 now. I guess I can try compressing waste but I can¡¯t see how to compress stone¡­ it¡¯s really dense already.
Amy: Increasing the amount of mana in it will definitely help you keep it stable. Trust me you can save at least 10% if not 50 if you try.
Indecisive Earth slowly tabbed out of the chat and back to his status. Leaving his attention at the chat he could almost feel the direction it was going. Small flickers at the side of his vision appeared every time someone messaged it seeming to fly in from somewhere else and slide into his status. Focusing on those flickers he customized them slightly into a pulse at the upper side of his consciousness just to see if he could, before relaxing and letting them fall back into flickers. I don¡¯t think I care enough about what they are saying to get a pulse every time they talk. First checking his stats, he saw mana and physical storage had increased by...a factor of 2.2? What? Checking he noticed it was the same amount of space as experience to get to the next level. Does that mean the experience is like a volume I¡¯m filling? Also, what are these units? They all just say ¡°unit¡±. Is there a value that makes more sense? I know all sorts of useful units now. First, he tried changing the units displayed. Storage is space, right? Change to m3 he thought hard staring at each stat. ¡­None of them made the slightest sign of changing. In my storage, the rock was displayed in grams. Change to those grams he thought focusing on the unit and number. The mana storage icon didn¡¯t even budge again but this time his physical storage seemed to reluctantly flicker before becoming a huge value. 4764094g ¡°basalt¡±. That...seemed kind of gross. He wasn¡¯t yet positive why his storage had increased by a weird value, but it might be better than whatever this was, considering it directly related to his experience somehow...and this value was only for basalt not all stuff he could store. Letting the storage flip back to its weird unknown unit he finally decided he didn¡¯t really care about exactly how much his storage could fit just how full it was. Concentrating slightly ¡°Physical Storage¡± flipped to a percentage. This action was accepted by his status with a lot less effort. Checking his ¡°Mana Regen¡± and ¡°Storage¡± he decided to leave them as-is for now ¨C he noticed they had an extra decimal point...Do I have more control over mana now? Taking a break from his status review he quickly started expanding his influence into the stone around him. There did actually seem to be a difference...it looked the same in his vision, but his control seemed immensely better and he watched his mana smoothly tick down in 0.1 increments instead of every few seconds flipping down by 1. It also seemed to be slightly stronger than before though by how much he couldn¡¯t say. Just that his expansion speed had increased significantly and when he pulled a small amount of mana out even though his status said it had gone down by 0.1 it still felt denser than a 10th of what he had considered ¡°1 Mana¡± before. Too many mysteries with this status. Satisfied with his experiment he went back to his status. Nearly done... I don¡¯t think I care about my elevation...My tutorial said I can¡¯t move until I reach the surface anyways. He quickly hid that section and checked his advancement section. 3 floors and 9 levels. I¡¯m done trying to figure out why they aren¡¯t nice numbers. I guess I¡¯m ready. The great expansion commences! Pushing outwards faster and faster he tried to expand as fast as possible while keeping an eye on his mana ¨C reaching outwards grew harder the further from his crack he grew so he started to ¡°dig¡± by storing rock in tubes radiating out of the minuscule cave. Each tube was easily surrounded by his influence and he found the wider he grew the further out from each tube he could extend. Experimenting he tried to fill in one of the tubes he had extended and claimed. Attempting to push the stone back it grew into the tube muting his senses slightly. His influence was still saturating the stone where he had advanced, but it felt dimmer and less responsive as if his sight took a second longer to peer at the end of it. Next, he tried to dig at the furthest reaches of his influence ¨C instead of starting at the already open cavern ¨C and it grew...slowly. So slowly and with such a delay before it started that it would have been faster just to expand all the way to that point all over again. Next, he tried to pull his influence back. Not that there was a specific reason ¡°not to expand just to see if he could¡± but he wanted to cover all his bases. Pulling his influence back felt weird. Kind of like purposefully cutting off a limb, the rock disappeared from his sight with a strong sense of loss and, after proving that he could, Indecisive Earth immediately stopped. Not doing that anymore if I can help it. He dug mindlessly for a bit ¨C stopping every few minutes to wait for his mana to regenerate and then continuing. As he stopped for the 4th time he noticed that his regeneration had increased by a small amount again. He had also gained several experience points and his temporary title had also disappeared.
Indecisive Earth
Level 1 3/22 exp to next level.
System Access Level 1 0/2 requirements met to advance.
-3+ Floors
-Level 9+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 1.2 unit/min
Mana Storage 22.0/22.0 units
Physical Storage 13% units
Titles
Earth Mana Specialization
Mana is up to 1.2 now. When I first levelled up it was at 1.1. What''s this based on? It can''t be level I just increased and I haven''t levelled yet. Is it size? All I¡¯ve been doing for the past couple of hours is expanding. Checking the Group Chat he sent off a quick question.
Indecisive Earth: Hey does anyone know how and what increases mana regen?
Amy: Mix of things. It goes up when you grow and when you make a lot of monsters- good to have you back by the way how has your elemental magic been working out for you?
Indecisive Earth: ¡­
Xero: lol.
Indecisive Earth: It slipped my mind and I haven¡¯t gotten around to it yet.
Amy: Have you just been digging? It¡¯s slightly harder to get going but you should try using Earth mana to expand instead of attributeless. It¡¯s hard to dig with the other 3 base elements but you really should have an advantage using earth. I¡¯ve been using it even though my specialization is water.
The core felt slightly foolish for spending so much time experimenting with influence and not trying elemental magic when it was the whole big choice of his rank up. Guess I know what¡¯s next. Chapter 4. A study of base elements and unwanted drama.
The difference between dungeon-born monsters and those that wander the wilds is well documented. In a dungeon, many monsters form uniform templates even between dungeons and thus both classifying and identifying skills work well. In comparison, wild monsters are unpredictable and more dangerous due to their unknown capabilities. The following section is left to list the similarities and differences between monster parts as catalogued by our guild. Remember all you have to do is join us and you have access to the advanced guild only version. Don¡¯t worry; setting your allegiance "For Life" isn''t long at all when hunting monsters, and the benefits are enormous!
An excerpt from the most popular primer bestiary ¡°Useful Monsters and Where to Find them¡± Indecisive Earth closed the chat and tried to review the basic information that had been included all the way back in the tutorial. First, mana can be attributed by treating it in different ways but intent matters just as much. If your intent is to make something dangerous it will result in more dangerous effects than it would otherwise. If you were cold and used Fire mana inside your body with the intent to warm yourself, it would be regulated somewhat by your purpose ¡°of providing warmth¡± ¨C thus not burning you as it could and should without that purpose smoothing things over. Second, most living creatures used mana differently, but each had some form of converting their attributeless personal mana into an external much stronger and stable attributed form. Apparently, attributeless mana was hard to use for nearly every living race...something about it turning into random attributes when pulled out of the body if people didn¡¯t focus hard enough...Dungeon Cores didn¡¯t seem to have this problem at least in their influence...conversely the concept of a spell ¨C binding mana to a purpose and releasing it to fulfil that function outside of one¡¯s body ¨C was both less useful and harder to grasp for Dungeon Cores. Maybe because the area in our influence is our bodies and cutting off control to let it work as a spell is unintuitive¡­ Either way, Indecisive Earth focused on drawing some mana into an area in the center of his room. Looking around for inspiration he vaguely knew what it should look like but the ¡°concept¡± in his memories was flat and static. Theoretical instead of practical, it kind of left the actual conversion "as an exercise to the reader" as it were. Pulling his attention over to the wall by his core he focused his sight as much as he could. Harder and harder he focused until the rock seemed to collapse behind his scrutiny. There was more to the dull-looking rock wall than he first noticed, with minuscule faint sparks and flickers of Red (Fire?) mana flowing along the grains. Even less often, sluggish swirls and darker drops of (Water? I think that¡¯s water) mana moved past. Additionally, the whole stone was covered in sharp lines of grey and brown. They made up less than a fraction of a percent of the total area, but they were absolutely everywhere in the rock. They didn¡¯t move around as the other types did instead seeming to be bound intrinsically to the rock in a much more fundamental way than the other types. There were so many types of mana he wondered why he hadn¡¯t noticed them until now. When he was actively focusing and using his own mana it blazed and filled an area where he directed it even without concentrating. In comparison, the background mana took more effort to see and gave off a different feeling. Turning to the center of the room, he focused on the look of what he had guessed the Earth mana was. Instead of a misty clear blob, the mana should have flat slices intersecting. Pushing and kneading the mana it quickly shifted in colour appearing more and more solid. Seeming to fall into place, it quickly matched what he saw it should look like as soon as he gave it a slight push in the direction he wanted. Not exactly the same as the environmental mana his new construct was closer to his attributeless mana. Instead of cris-crossing lines, this attempt at recreating the mana was a uniform grey brown. More like attributeless mana with an ¡°Earth flavour¡± than a complete match for the environmental stuff. Next shifting focus to the nearest wall he pulled a chunk off his new source of mana and tried to feed it into his expansion. It took some blind fumbling around to figure it out at first, but he managed to start the process. By default, expansion seemed to be just him pushing instinctivly outwards and it was only the comment about using attributed mana in his chat group that led him to try and do more. By default, his ¡°pushing¡± was actually almost vibrating the edge of his influence with several small pulses of attributeless mana appearing and passing through the boundary of his domain pushing it outwards slightly more and more with each pulse. Focusing and trying to manually do the same was similar to how a flesh and blood creature might feel when having to manually breathe or blink. The speed at which the waves appeared and pulsed seemed to be near the upper limit of his concentration. Trying to allow more time for waves to appear and crash through the barrier slowed down expansion and trying to pulse faster just made the waves break apart into uneven lumpy sheets that pushed random bumps out into the earth instead of a smooth wall of influence. What he was already doing instinctually was already ¡°optimal¡± for attributeless mana. Focusing deeper in on the creation of pulses he willed them to gain the feeling and strength of Earth. This process was not nearly as simple as it sounded ¨C by default, he was creating faint pulses a few cm away from the ¡°membrane¡± that was the edge of his domain ¨C and while creating a pulse further back, so that it had enough time to shift to Earth mana before hitting the membrane was ¡°easy enough to do¡±. Trying to transition to expanding as instinctively as he had been was hard ¨C nearly impossible at this stage. It was only his specialization just barely gave him the boost that made this possible. That being said, while the result he wanted to achieve was difficult, the change was incredibly apparent. Instead of a slight growing that would only extend a bit out from his tunnel, each wave was a flat sheet that visibly dragged his influence outwards when it hit. A side effect of this method of expansion was that the smooth round extensions were replaced with sharp corners and flat faces. Though harder to switch to, the longer he used it, the less attention he needed to direct towards it and finally after draining his store of magic nearly completely, it reached the point where he was ¡°hands-off¡± enough to focus on other stuff while doing so. Switching to his chat while waiting for his mana to refill he sent a quick message directed at Amy.
Indecisive Earth: Hey Amy, that was some solid advice. It was really hard to set up instinctively but I finally got it going.
Amy: Wait what do you mean by setting it up instinctively...I¡¯ve been using this method for weeks and I have to focus the entire time it¡¯s a pain but still faster.
Xero: Earth affinity ?? I told you I don¡¯t need to focus much on it and I don¡¯t even have as strong of control as someone doubling down. Hey don¡¯t worry I figured out I can use Air mana to do a similar thing in empty spaces and filled a whole cave system I broke into in no time at all. Really Earth and Air is the best combination you guys a dungeon is nothing but air surrounded by earth.
Abe: And explosions. Checkmate bitch. Fire is the best.
Xero: Dammit we¡¯ve talked about this. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Indecisive Earth: I¡¯ve been meaning to ask how are you making explosions? I thought fire burned stuff.
Abe: Finally a true comrade. Okay so first you gotta make a shell out of anything you have on hand. Then pack mana into it and push it tight before the mana begins to expand so that if the shell breaks it really packs a punch. Fire¡¯s the best to pack in obviously and you really want to have it burst.
Indecisive Earth: Why would it explode?
Abe: Forgot you were a newbie. Time for Lessons with Abe the smart and knowledgeable elder.
Xero: ¡°Smart¡± ??¡­
Abe: Listen Mana creates Matter. Using magic generates stuff from nothing. Earth creates earth, Air creates air. When you initially create something out of mana and attach it to something it will create matter and then once your control is complete and whatever you create collapses it will release that extra matter into the surroundings. Tis why packing it into a space gives a nice punch when it is punctured.
Indecisive Earth: ...I guess that makes sense? I haven¡¯t really noticed it much but if you say that''s what''s happening I guess it makes sense.
Amy: Honestly we don¡¯t really know a lot about mana. I think once we advance and can talk to older cores they might be able to fill in some questions we have. As far as we know we can change unattributed mana to attributed mana and doing so makes it stronger. Also if we want mana to persist for a while- when making a monster or material for instance we can only mix mana with a single element-doing so anchors it to the world for a while. Trying to force it into a combination splits the elements...Feel free to try but we haven¡¯t managed it yet. Oh and also PSA- This is important. Amy: If you use a lot of mana in a single area it starts to increase the density of the natural mana in that area. Like I had a dedicated spot where I made all my monsters and after a while of experiments - the stone around it started...doing stuff. IDK it was dripping weird and matching some of the monsters I was making and it was only after I focused that I realized the mana was much higher. I also couldn¡¯t figure out how to lower the density just move it around so now I have a lil empty cave full of gooey stone until I figure out what to do with it¡­
Xero: ??????
Abe: What does that even mean.
Amy: Xero did you try any of my suggestions to save space?
Xero: ?? I compressed a bunch of my storage onto my walls using sheets of different elements and Earth mana so I got some wriggle room. I¡¯m nearly at the 3-floor goal. Soon you¡¯ll be free of me ??.
Amy: Wonderful. I can finish my last floor at any point I¡¯m just waiting for the newest Cores: Abe and Indecisive Earth to settle in before moving on.
Indecisive Earth: Abe¡¯s new too?
Abe: Nah I¡¯m your big bro I have plenty more experience than you and don¡¯t you forget it.
Amy: Abe is 2 days older than you as far as I can tell. Myself, Xero and 9 are around 3 weeks older than you. Hopefully, I can pass on as much information before we advance and give the mantle of mentor onto you Indecisive Earth. Okay Technically Later has been around longer than me. I think he was part of the previous batch but we don¡¯t talk about "Later" and I can¡¯t tell if he¡¯s close to advancing yet or not.
Abe: You mean Pass the mantle of eldest onto me. Duh
Amy: It will be your job to inform any new cores of any information we¡¯ve collected outside of the tutorial and help make sure they feel welcomed. Don¡¯t worry I think you can handle it.
Indecisive Earth: Wait wait wait this is all happening so fast. I just got here. I haven¡¯t even designed a monster yet let alone made a floor. I''m not someone you can trust with that responsibility right now.
Abe: You can count on me!
Xero: Clueless isn¡¯t he ??
Amy: Don''t worry it''s not that much of a responsibility. We are just trying to stockpile some information between generations that wasn''t included in the tutorial. A core named Jay gave me a bunch of info and I''m passing it onto you. Hopefully, you can pass that information onto any noobies and they will continue the chain.
Indecisive Earth: How long until you leave us?
Xero: Do you know how a floor works?
Indecisive Earth: How would I? I mean I know what a floor is but how do I know if I¡¯ve made one?
Amy: Damn I knew I was forgetting something. Listen, for the most part you¡¯ll know when you get there but here''s a quick rundown. Once you¡¯ve dug a large enough area and spent a large enough time working in it you¡¯ll find that your influence feels like it''s splitting- don''t resist it! You can spend who knows how long waiting for separate floors to form naturally or...you can help it along. The easiest way to look at it is there''s a density difference between floors. All the denser mana in one section and all the weaker low-density materials and stuff in the other. Technically you can set it up in a different way like the weird columns Immortal Spring Of Certainty seems to be making but let¡¯s ignore the insane. Amy: The Best and Easiest way is to build upwards and pull stronger stuff down while pushing weaker stuff up. It will help you down the line because you can¡¯t really set up alternating densities. 1, 2, 3 or 3, 2, 1 works fine but 3,1, 2 is not stable and will damage you if done badly...mana might be pulled from 1 to 2 and then as it¡¯s pulled from 2 to 3 seep back into 1 before reaching 3 spinning faster and faster between 1 and 2 until the boundary is shattered. Amy: Anyways to help the process along you can manually push and pull denser/lighter stuff into opposite sides of your influence. You can also feel out the split and try and strengthen it by nudging it into an area that feels more like a boundary. It¡¯s really hard to make a Floor Boundary across the middle of a cave but push it to an archway and it grows much faster and stronger. Plus side is once you set up your floors they will automatically distribute mana...filtering any strong mana in your weak floor bringing it down to your stronger ones stacking endlessly.
Xero: You don¡¯t need to write an essay on it- Jay did a much better job of explaining things- he spread stuff out.
Amy: Well I¡¯m not Jay. Ugg honestly I give up. I¡¯ve done my dues and passed on all the relevant information. I even waited to finish my advancement till you and 9 could join me- And they ranked up a few hours ago. I¡¯m already level 11 I only needed to be level 9 to meet the level requirement. I miss Jay as well Xero and at this point, I¡¯m going to go first just to meet up with him again. You said you¡¯re nearly done? Well good. Catch up to us then it shouldn¡¯t take you more than a few hours to join. Good luck noobies I believe in you guys.
With that final message, she stopped responding. Her name greyed out to indicate she was no longer paying attention to the chat. Then, a moment later it faded completely ¨C all semblance that she was or had ever been a part of the chat gone.
Xero: ??
Abe: Oh damn m8.
Xero: ?? I just said Jay was better. What''s her deal?
Abe: ¡°I just blew up the wall to speed up digging- wHy did rOcks fly eVeryWhere¡±
Indecisive Earth: Honestly you could have put a bit more tact into it. She said she told us everything she needed to but I¡¯m sure I could have found more questions to ask before she left.
Immortal Spring Of Certainty: Oh marvellous simply marvellous. That catty little core is gone, she was always thinking she''s better than us and not truly understanding the demons that dwell within us mortal shells. Ahhh yess. Freedom.
Indecisive Earth pulled back from the chat making a point to close it instead of just turn away and ignore it. He felt weird that drama had appeared in the group. He was what ¨C nearly a day old and already people were leaving. Indecisive Earth wasn¡¯t fully invested in the group and didn¡¯t yet have any strong opinions on any of the Cores previously¡­ but he ¡°was¡± curious about everything and Amy ¡°had¡± responded the most to his questions, so her leaving had given him a sense of loss. Conversely, as Xero was the one who had driven her away he felt slightly annoyed by his continued presence in the chat. He¡¯s leaving soon anyways. I¡¯ll experiment until he¡¯s gone. Chat''s for help and friendly advice...not whatever that is. Chapter 5. On trying to make a monster.
When categorizing monster flesh, great care must be taken to separate ¡°Dungeon¡± and ¡°wild¡± monsters. Wild monsters mutated from animals and thus depending on how old they are, portions of the majority of the parts are fleshy and organic. They also always keep some semblance of natural design, most keeping eyes and ears and mouths for example. Dungeon monsters however are created through some unknown processes and often don¡¯t have recognizable parts. We can¡¯t explain how some of them move, for example simply that massive amounts of mana are in play in ways we don¡¯t quite understand. For more tips and tricks join our guild! We offer free hands-on skill training as well as providing cheap life insurance to all our members.
An excerpt from the most popular primer bestiary ¡°Useful Monsters and Where to Find them¡± Indecisive Earth tried to change the storage of materials, similar to how he had been shown he could change the expansion. However, even when studying the process as hard as he could, there was simply a wall and then the wall was less. He had spent nearly an hour now trying to see if he could influence the process but was going to call it quits now. It remained an incomprehensible "Magic" aspect of himself. Sighing as he gave up he finally decided to play around with monsters. He already had plenty of information from what other cores had done but he also wanted to experience them himself. First smoothing out the rough cracks and random chunks he had dug out into a wider room, the walls peeling back nearly a meter in all directions, he focused on the only schematic he had ¨C that of the tutorial slime. The other Cores'' monsters seemed to be made primarily using attributed mana, so he decided to see how the different attributes would affect the basic template. Holding a corner of the room firm in his attention, he started focusing first on Earth. He tried making a swirling center of Earth mana and pulled air into it. A thick grey ball started to form, much much less gelatinous looking than the raw version had been. The air seemed to twist as it grew. Rather than something made out of Air it seemed like a light sheen of tinted glass. Moving onto the next step he started mixing Silicon and Earth mana while wrapping the center. Instead of a stretchy sheet, this pane resisted him. His heightened control was the only thing allowing him to wrap the center with it, but the entire time he worked away at it, the material resisted him. It felt like he was going about it wrong, but he ignored that voice in his head in favour of finishing what he had started. Finally, a silvery grey ball floated in the air. Dropping it, a crack sounded out, as if the entire center had shattered into dust. The outside shell mostly held, but without the rubbery consistency his original slime had, the fall was much more violent-sounding. He tried adding a spark of life to the ball but after it entered the broken husk of a monster it just sat there and didn¡¯t make a single movement. Waiting with no reaction to his scrutiny, he let his mana pool regenerate back to full, and then tried again ¨C first finding himself crushing the failed attempt and letting the spark flow back. This time a suffocating memory of being frozen was all that was contained within. Next, he tried the same combination with Fire. Focusing on the flickers of mana he had noticed in the surrounding rock; a raging spark of light and energy quickly filled the space. The flames shot out continuously and would barely listen to Indecisive Earth¡¯s attempt at holding them in place. This shell formed easily enough but felt unstable as he wrapped it around the center. Trying to make up for it by continuously wrapping the slime with more and more of a skin, the flaming ball was finally made. Dropping it caused a wave of heat to rush out and a spurt of fire to fly out the top. This time, after adding a spark, the mass surged into motion leaving a charred line of ash behind it. Slightly disappointed his earth version hadn¡¯t worked despite it being his main specialization, he moved on to Water. Water took more time for him to figure out. There weren''t as many natural sources of it around him, so he didn¡¯t have as good an example to follow. But ¨C focusing on the way the ball sloshed around and consulting his flat and simplified memories ¨C he finally made the shift. The middle portion formed much the same as the original slime but with each section constantly changing and shifting. Pulling a skin around the ball and dropping it made the whole thing stretch out into a pancake before slowly filling back up to its full height. With a spark, the water slime quivered before gliding across the ground faster than any version he had made so far. It quickly encountered the flaming slime and attacked before Indecisive Earth could do anything about it. The two slimes ripped into each other, a second later splitting apart into a dense cloud of steam that rose and filled his entire cave. This mist gave the whole room a damp feeling and beads of droplets dripped down the walls, giving the floor a glossy look as soon as the cloud had cleared. The last attempt he had was Air. Apprehensively attempting to form the core in a similar manner to the streams of mana that curled around in the air, he strained. This was the first time shifting an element had been actually hard. Up until now, the action had felt natural...he just had not known how it worked. Now he had some practice changing mana into a bunch of different forms and a clear picture of what he wanted, but actually trying to get the mana to form took every bit of his attention. Slowly painfully slowly, a spinning ball of slightly more opaque air formed. After it had finally reached a similar size to his previous slimes, he tried to mix the Silicon and Air mana for a shell... but they just wouldn¡¯t mesh no matter how he pushed and shoved the two. Trying next to mix Air with different elements, he found he could get wisps to form easily enough from several of the lighter ones but none that would form a solid skin. Not wanting to let go of his ball of air without making a monster, Indecisive Earth switched tactics. He hadn¡¯t been able to get the ¡°Earth Silicon¡± combination to act much like a rubber so why not just focus on making a shell? Flicking through the elements he had gathered he pulled out a stream of titanium mixing it with the Earth mana. The mana eagerly entered the metal and while the process made his sheet firmer, the end result still bent to his whims. Instead of wrapping layer after layer, he simply thickened the sheet while pulling it around his ball. A silvery-grey sphere formed as he smoothed over all the wrinkles he made while bending it. Dropping the ball, it seemed to float down before resting on the ground. The next action was to give it life. He held his (metaphorical) breath while sending a spark into the ball. ¡­Nothing seemed to happen for a moment until the whole sphere started to rotate slightly. Faster and faster until the ball was a blur, the spinning menace started bouncing around in a chaotic manner. After hitting a sharp stone, it rocketed towards where the Core''s crystal stood ¨C smashing into the wall beside it, letting vibrations travel to the Core and rocking it slightly before careening off back into the center of the room. That was dangerous. I don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to ever experiment this close to my core anymore, Indecisive Earth thought, a very real sense of panic entering his thoughts as he realized just how close to death he had just gotten. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Reaching out, he tried to still the ball and push it away. But the sphere was spinning and jumping around too fast to get a grip on it ¨C and after he had given life to the sphere, he couldn¡¯t seem to affect its material enough to break it apart. Unable to form a wall between his fragile core and the wall ¨C and growing more and more panicked that the next random skid would end his short existence ¨C he turned to the roof. I have to kill it soon. I can¡¯t let it continue like this so close to my core. Digging away a few cm into the stone in a crisscrossing manner, he loosened the roof enough to drop a slate down onto the ball. A crash sounded out as the slab fell and broke apart, but a random skid had sent the ball further back into the crack and it was still dangerously skidding around. Trying to remain calm, he tried again, picking a bigger slab to cut, leaving enough of a sliver behind it that he could release the slab at a moment''s notice. Timing it, he suddenly slashed out, digging as quickly as he could and dropping the impromptu weapon. A second crash along with a grinding noise and a cloud of dust billowed out, before he felt his spark return. Taking a moment to calm down and let his mana recharge up to full, he slowly ate the two sheets of stone before staring down at the flattened metal ball. The metal had grown stronger than it had any right to be with how thin it was, but other than that it looked mundane. It was only by focusing that he saw the whole thing was completely filled with strips of metallic grey lines. Trying to absorb the metal, he was met with a strange resistance and the process took more effort than it should have. Bits of mana that were heavily bound into the metal were slowly peeled away ¨C each strip that was removed fell into the stone ground and, rather than dissipating, left streaks of metallic shine in the stone as it sunk into the rock and bound to it. Trying to pull the mana out of the metal was met with similar resistance and finally, he gave up and pushed it over to a corner of the room where it stuck into the wall and he could safely ignore it. It''s too much to bother... I''ll try and figure out something to do with it later. Before anything else, he worked on creating a second room. Expanding one of his shafts out larger and larger ¨C resting while his mana regenerated ¨C then pushing out once more. He continued to set up this new experimentation room. I need to figure out how the different elements I have react to mana. I need to be able to predict stuff, so I don''t have another accident! That was too close. Much too close. He shuddered while expanding furiously a specific goal in mind for this room. Once he got the room large enough, he took a look at his inventory which was currently split between ¡°Basalt¡± and ¡°Waste¡±. Realizing he was never really using the ¡°rock¡± as ¡°rock¡± and all his experiments had been breaking it into parts, he took a closer look. Checking the waste confirmed this it was a mess of all the elements that had made up Basalt other than Silicon. Keeping in mind that mana only liked to bond to a single element at a time, he split his inventory to display all his physical elements separate. Trying to figure out how to classify them, he finally settled for 3 initial categories. His ''Metals'', ''Gases'' and ''Other''. He separated out Gases because he realized when ''pulling in the air'', it was randomly choosing one of the elements in the air ¨C normally nitrogen.
Metal:
Ti 150.3 g
Al 1017.8 g
Fe 1012.4 g
Mn 23.5 g
Gas at room temp:
O 5419.2 g
Other:
Si 1932.2 g
Mg 512.5 g
Ca 783.5 g
Na 222.3 g
K 84.2 g
P 5.8 g
Staring at it a bit longer, he decided he didn¡¯t much care for the short forms of the elements, so he focused on changing their names. He also rearranged the categories slightly to save space ending up with the following storage.
Metals Other
Titanium 150.3 g Silicon 1932.2 g
Aluminum 1017.8 g Magnesium 512.5 g
Iron 1012.4 g Calcium 783.5 g
Manganese 23.5 g Sodium 222.3 g
Gas at room temp Potassium 84.2 g
Oxygen 5419.2 g Phosphorus 5.8 g
The biggest eater of his space was currently Oxygen. It was over 5x any other individual element at this point ¨C assuming they all took up the same amount of space ,he was still unsure as to how his inventory was being stored. Having already noticed that as he dug, the atmospheric pressure in his cave had dropped significantly, he decided to fill the empty space with some of the oxygen for now. Pulling it out of his inventory, he could feel that even though he had organized his inventory based on ¡°pure base elements¡± it had still been bound as ¡°Basalt¡± until he started pulling it out. As the pressure rose a sense of relief filled the Core, an invisible weight he hadn¡¯t known he had been carrying lifted, as the pressure replaced the subconscious action he had been taking to hold the walls in place. That felt so much better. Is this something every core finds out? Why didn¡¯t Amy mention it? Confused, he checked the chat.
Indecisive Earth: Hey how has everyone been filling their dug areas with gas?
Xero: Oh have you started feeling the pressure already? Throw some Air mana at the problem until it goes away.
AL: We have to fill the cave?
Indecisive Earth: I¡¯ve been replacing mine with Oxygen to replace some space in my inventory thoughts?
Xero: ...I guess that could work. Damn my inventory is full of the stuff and I haven¡¯t even been mixing it that densely with Air mana considering how easy it is to make. That might have helped me dig a bit further but it''s too late now. Ah well, I¡¯m finally finishing my 3rd floor but I¡¯ll keep it in mind for the future.
Indecisive Earth: Good luck
Meh, Xero was still here. Indecisive Earth was less annoyed with him after a few hours had passed, and he knew he was leaving. He switched back to his inventory, proud he had figured something out. I feel...different. Has anything changed? Checking his status, he realized he was already at level 2. When did that happen? I didn¡¯t feel the change itself just noticed it later. Looking around once more he checked his core. He had increased in size slightly yet again, his surface more and more smooth. I really want to know how I¡¯m levelling up ¨C or gaining experience even. Staring at the experience line, he pulled it off his status and moved it to the corner of his vision making sure it was always visible. Keeping watch on it carefully, he began to dig in a random direction. His mana fell all the way to zero, and then refilled slowly, but the regeneration value hadn¡¯t changed. Suddenly, as if to prove him wrong, it flipped up by one with little fanfare. Keeping a close eye on it he dug and expanded again... but this time it didn¡¯t change. Checking back to his status in annoyance that the process wasn¡¯t repeatable, he realized his experience had also ticked up.
Indecisive Earth
Level 2 1/36 exp to next level.
System Access Level 1 0/2 requirements met to advance.
-3+ Floors
-Level 9+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 1.7 unit/min
Mana Storage 36.0/36.0 units
Physical Storage 15% units
Titles
Earth Mana Specialization
Okay. Last I checked Regen was at 1.6¡­ so the increment gave me a point of experience. I¡¯m pretty sure that value is based on how much space I have claimed or how dense the materials in that space are... so expanding does affect experience even if in a roundabout way. I just wish I was told exactly what was giving me experience and by how much. Is that really too much to ask? He spent the next 15 minutes searching for a hidden option explaining what everything did, to no avail. Chapter 6. Magic Materials.
Dungeons have Specializations and alignments similar to most creatures however they do not seem as locked in by race as others. All other races appear to have elements they are good at- Dwarves: Earth and fire, Elves: Nature, Nyads: water and mind, Humans...humans have none but you get the idea. Each Dungeon has elements they prefer and self consistently favour however when changing Dungeon to Dungeon those preferred elements change. It is theorized that each core is a different species and only loosely resembles each other. All we can prove is that older cores with more levels and wisdom add increasingly more complex elements and there has been at least one documented case of a dungeon that primarily used fire monsters switching completely to Void and ice flavoured monsters even on its easiest floor.
-An Excerpt from ¡°A study of dungeons VOLUME 3¡± Giving up on trying to find an explanation for "size" and "exp", Indecisive Earth tried to make a fire slime in his new experimental hall. Following all the steps perfectly he noticed it used slightly less mana than when he was level 1. Watching his experience bar carefully... nothing happened. Leaving the slime to roam around he made a second water slime. This too didn¡¯t change his experience, but he waited and watched the two slimes naturally cross paths in case something else did. In the tiny area, they were bound to meet quickly and as soon as they did, they burst into a fit of cartoonishly enraged violence. "How dare you be so wet...you cur" "Ahh my mortal foe I''m going to make you wish you never crossed my path" "ack" "ouchie" "bonk" "Blub my light...it...fades." Indecisive Earth laughed narrating their struggles. This time rather than mutual destruction the water slime managed to pull itself together after smothering the flames, though its body had heated up quite a bit in response. Sighing as the spark returned, he reviewed the process. No experience was gained from either monster when they were created or destroyed, nor when they fought. Okay, So. I''ve definitely gained experience from monsters somehow but I''m not sure exactly how right now. I''ll put it on the backburner. Next experiment! Thinking back to all the mana materials he had made so far, he tried combining all 4 elements one by one with Iron from his inventory. Letting them form small cylinders while pushing mana into them, he made sure to check every single combination. Air gave the metal a rough form. Taking to it much easier than the Silicon had, it still made a weird, unnatural-looking material. "Sponge-like", this material had pockets of air of various sizes that broke through the metal and the whole material ended up much lighter than it should have been. When dropping it to the cave floor it made a gush of dust fly away from the point it had fallen. And sure enough, his experience ticked up by one. He had used several materials when creating his monsters just now, but nothing had made it go up. Because I¡¯d already made that monster before? Enlightened he tried making a version each for Fire, Water and Earth. Fire made the metal glow slightly and give off heat while dropping it had made a spark and flash of flames appear. Similar to how his fire slime had reacted when it was made but sharper somehow. Water turned the iron into a viscous liquid and while Earth didn¡¯t make any obvious changes, he could tell it had taken to it ¨C the strongest both with how easy the manipulation had been but also with how quickly it had filled up. There was also the fact that it had given him 2 points of experience while the other versions had given him 1. Continuing to work, he made a version of each with every single metal he had. Titanium didn¡¯t give experience for the materials he had already tried, and on his last and most scarce metal ¨C Manganese ¨C only earth and water gave experience. I''m being rewarded for experimentation! Lining up each material in a matrix he noted that all the versions had similar effects. All 4 Fire metals glowed and gave off heat ¨C although Iron and Titanium were slightly more intense than Manganese and Aluminum. All 4 Earth ones similarly gave off a sense of being stronger and sturdier although Iron was the most affected. Air and Water gave opposing results to Fire and Earth - both affecting Iron the least. Noting down the differences he decided to start storing the changes. Setting up a new tab beside the monster one he started letting it record each material he made. Keeping the strongest and most useful in terms of how accessible it was he spent some time filling it out with the last few nearly filling automatically ¨C the system almost learning what he was doing and adjusting itself to fit the role, needing only a small push from him to start it off. Turning next to his sole gas ¨C Oxygen ¨C he stopped, and, as if as an afterthought, started trying to add some of the air in his cave to his inventory instead. Unlike the stone, his mind found it hard to grasp the area. Parts were pulled from varying spots in his focus, and with less of a visual effect, he could feel a bunch of the room enter his inventory. Checking the tab, he saw it fill quickly with Nitrogen, Oxygen, and Argon... along with a nearly non-existent stream of Hydrogen. His Other tab had also gained 0.0001g of Carbon and he could feel there was more in the air that just hadn¡¯t been grabbed. Staring at his new and improved list of gasses he started the process of combining them with each magical element. Despite Air being the hardest for him to make, it seemed to bind to each one quickly enough ¨C the added difficulty was nearly cancelled out. Each time he infused Air mana with one of the elements, it held together for a moment and then swirled away into nothing, joining the rest of the cave. His experience bar continued ticking up with each combination however, so he kept at it before having an idea. Taking care to not leave a gap he made small empty pockets in the stone inside his influence and filled each of them with a small infusion of each Air mana+gas combination. In the contained area each pocket filled up quickly and then started to spin in various combinations as the mana tried to escape its captive bubble. Trying to do the reverse and make a combination of gasses and Earth mana made varied and weird fragile films of clear material. In a way these were harder to make than the Air mana had been ¨C despite Earth being his specialization and he felt they were functionally useless ¨C a feeling that seemed to be shared by the system as none of his combinations gave a single point of experience. Water and gases each formed easily enough with each forming in a similar way to when he had started the slimes, however as soon as he let go each quickly broke apart without a shell of firmer material to contain it. His final foray was the ¡°Other¡± category. Working his way down the list first with Earth, each element reacted slightly differently to his attempt at meshing them with his mana. They all made a solid material but the way they formed, looked and felt was vastly different. Silicon made a silvery grey block that felt like stone despite being vastly different than the basalt surrounding them. Magnesium crystallized into a randomly faceted ball ¨C while Sodium, Potassium and Calcium made differently patterned "spikey messes" of interlocking wires. Finally taking the small amount of Carbon he had picked up he pushed as much mana as he could into the speck of the element ¨C he wanted to make it count. A tiny crystal formed in the air and, while nothing seemed to be happening while it sat there, as soon as he dropped it in the center of the room it seemed to explode outwards. Growing taller and taller and digging down into the floor of his room it kept popping out of the stone as if sprouting from the ground or breaking out of the inside of flesh. After reaching 10x the size it had been in less than a second it started to slow down ¨C continuing to grow and sprout on the ground around it but with less and less force. Staring at his floor in shock he saw the crystals had nearly stopped expanding when they reached the full meter length of his testing cave. Feeling it out he pushed a spark of life into the center crystal on a whim. The spark stuck easily enough to the original crystal in the center and all the surrounding crystals started shaking slightly, a slight humming filling the air as they made a final burst of expansion before they settled down again. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Waiting to see if there was any other change, he stared...but other than a faint movement or shake the new addition to his dungeon didn''t seem to have anything else to show him. Okayyy... Starting to add it to his materials tab the whole panel suddenly pulsed and, as if it were clicking into place, all the previous elements were given a new name ¨C his newest addition sliding into place at the bottom and splitting into a separate section being listed as Living Crystal. His layout was rearranged forcefully with new information being added- new connections forming and a faint weight being put onto his consciousness before it finally stopped. That action alone had given him plenty of experience ¨C enough to push him to a few points till level 3. Looking at his newfound panel he saw it was full of descriptions and sorted. Only a small amount of his information had been lost but much had been gained.
Tier 1 Materials
Name Base Mana Description
Low Mana Iron Metal (Iron) Earth A favorite of crafters. This metal forms naturally deep beneath the earth. Stronger than Steel- but easier to work with whole cities have been built around readily accessible sources of this material
Wispsteel Metal (Aluminum) Air A rare material found only in high concentration areas, this lightweight material has metal''s strength while being nearly weightless. The only thing preventing it from being more sought after is how hard it is to work with.
Weapon Core Metal Fire Used in the process of creating advanced weapons, this metallic material is embedded in stronger coatings to create truly powerful weapons.
Liquid Metal Metal Water An oddity. This material is harvested from certain monsters but has not been found as useful in anything other than rare alchemy.
MAT1_021-030 Gas Air *********************************
MAT1_031-040 Gas Water *********************************
MAT1_041-050 Gas Fire *********************************
Ectoplasm Gas Pure Harvested from slimes, this ooze makes for an excellent base in many potions
Fool''s Silk Silicon Pure Found in various weak monsters, this weak material makes a fine luxury material due to how smooth it is. However, due to the material also being transparent and pathetically weak, few functional garments are made from it.
MAT1_007 Silicon Earth *********************************
Crunchpop Alkaline/Alkali Metals Earth Named for the sound they make when stepped on in wild areas this is a relatively common but relatively useless oddity.
Tier 2 Materials
Name Base Mana Description
Living Crystal Carbon Crystal A truly magical material which forms the base of many rare and powerful artifacts.
The first thing he noticed was a few of the options had...a slightly different naming scheme and an incomprehensible description. All of them however seemed either hard to spot (the weird not stone) or broke apart if they were not contained (most of the gases). The second was that the mana used when he made his living crystal was not listed as earth but Crystal. It was also the only Tier 2 material he had made so far. This panel was only given when I added a Tier 2 material...does that mean I''ve surpassed my current rank? Checking his advancement conditions, they all remained the same. Either way, I feel like I skipped some steps. Reading through the descriptions he found them interesting as an oddity in terms of explaining their place in the world but not necessarily useful. None of them explained how they could be used as a material in making monsters and they cluttered up his screen so ¨C focusing ¨C he set them all to only expand on focus. After the panel had rearranged initially it was back to being customizable, so he finished setting it up in a way that he liked and returned to his new crystals. Trying to pull one into his inventory was met with the same resistance as before. He didn¡¯t seem to be able to store the magical properties, but this time the crystal''s mana was absorbed by its siblings and his inventory filled with carbon...quite a bit more carbon, in fact, than he had put into the first crystal. I was told mana makes matter. I guess they were right...although this is quite a bit more pronounced than anything I''ve seen so far. Staring at the remaining crystals curiously he peered deeper and deeper until he was touching the core of what they were. Earth Mana filled each one, but it was altered slightly. Instead of random lines crisscrossing the crystal, there were ordered and repeated perfectly symmetrical lines that formed larger and larger triangles. Each line had also changed colours slightly, a hint of purple tinting their grey. He carefully observed how they interacted then pulled out and attempted to recreate the effect or flavour of the mana on his own. Pulsing in the air attributeless mana changed to earth in a second. Then a long pause later the haze flipped to purplish-grey and seemed to grow even denser. Excited by this discovery he tried systematically mixing the new mana with everything he could think of. Pulling off a piece he mixed it with a strip of metal forming, a sharp ordered yet still metallic surface. Trying it with Silicon made a solid sheet of strong and sharp material. Each combination he made populated his material store although all of them ended up as a Tier 1 material and most had a MAT1 designation...he was beginning to think they were named by a dungeon as all the other materials had descriptions relating to sapient creatures on the surface. If they were made by a dungeon, why not give better descriptions? After exhausting the options, he immediately wanted to try making a monster using his discovery. It was less the crystals themselves and more the novelty of it that made him stop his cataloging. His starting information had given him concepts and he understood what each of the 4 elements were, but anything more than that was a mystery. Just a word in his consciousness with just a vague description. It was the unknown and for the first time since he was born the idea of the unknown filled him with curiosity and excitement. First, the spark he had given to the living crystal was still in them. They were classed as a monster or something because he couldn''t directly edit them anymore (or at least had some sort of life...calling the motionless crystals a monster might be pushing it) but they did not move, and they hadn''t appeared in his monsters tab. Maybe they were a plant. All his initial experiments with Earth mana had given poor results and creatures that did not move seemed useless, but something told him he was going about the whole process wrong... I should be able to make a creature out of nothing but earth I have no clue why I''m having troubles. Turning to the task at hand he made a long shape and filled it with liquid metal. The mana and material flowing directly out nearly already formed by the time they appeared. Next he tried making several circular rings out of the crystal silicon and let them surround the viscus core. Not satisfied with the result he sewed each ring to the next, with stretchy strands of the "Pure mana + Silicon" material his first slimes were made of. Letting it go only after granting it life the new creation gave him quite a bit of experience. 10 points just for a single monster, the experience was enough to push him over to Level 3 and a good boost of the way in. 8/52 exp to next level. As if as a bonus the wriggling creature figured out how to move and when it came upon the water slime he had forgotten in a corner it quickly killed the mob just by attempting to push overtop of it giving him a single point more of experience and letting him learn about the experiences of the water slime. It was odd. The spark came back as more than he had ever experienced from a monster so far. A life that began in confusion and quickly achieved a level of calm and (perceived) control. No sight graced the life, but it had slowly learned how to feel out its surroundings by the vibrations that echoed through the ground. At one point it had slaughtered a vile burning mess of a creature and the incident had filled it with pride. Wounded, it had spent time gathering its strength before a blissful humming had resonated throughout the slime''s whole being. Sitting there in enlightenment its life had only ended when something much faster than the slime had thought anything could move had ground it into the floor. Indecisive Earth felt there was something different about this creature that had just died. He had gained experience from its existence when the fire slime had not given anything. Maybe it was because of how old the monster had become, or maybe it was because it had killed another monster and lived, but Indecisive Earth felt like he should let all of his creations have a taste of both just in case. Conflict and time had given him experience but when the spark had returned, he had actually felt the change like the soul that returned to him had grown and now that it had returned his own soul was stronger. ...did the monster level up outside of me and I''m gaining the experience it gained? That made the most sense to the Core so he shelved it as his current theory until he had a better way of explaining it or it was disproved. Chapter 7. Filling out the bestiary.
On mastery and Tiers. Everyone knows the rare high tier classes and relevant skill tiers are jealously guarded secrets however common knowledge on basic classes and skills should be spread and discussed more than it is. We at the adventurers guild believe all who put in the effort can become strong and hiding information is contrary to that tenet. Rare and strong skills are given a higher tier in the system and when practiced well proficiency increases from apprentice to journeyman and finally master. Mastery of a skill is the highest possible rank attainable but there is an added benefit from reaching that state. When changing to a class that does not typically support that skill, mastered skills are not lost. As simple as that sounds, the higher the tier of the skill, the harder it is to master. For tier 0 the three stages are simple. level 0-4 for apprentice 5-9 for journeyman and 10-20 for master. Every Tier after that point multiplies the previous levels and experience required to advance. A Tier 2 skill is considered apprentice rank until level 15-the cap for beginner skills and takes till level 45 to reach mastery levels. How other races deal with Tiers varies widely and what significance the system places on each tier is unknown. As strange as it sounds, they don''t appear to have classes or skills, so while we know the system loves to classify stuff how it relates to their lives when they don''t even have a class is strange.
An excerpt from the human adventurer guild''s handbook.
Jim: Hello?
SPEED: Oh look a newbie
Indecisive Earth: Welcome welcome. Take your time adjusting if you have any questions feel free to ask me.
AL: Speed you¡¯re a newbie don¡¯t try and fake your way into me and Indecisive Earth¡¯s grand wisdom and elder status.
Nearly a week had passed, and 2 more Cores had joined their ¡°Tier 1 ranks¡±. Early on Xero had finished his floors and advanced and at some point, the silent ¡°later¡± had flickered out, having never spoken once while Indecisive Earth was around. He couldn¡¯t tell if they had died or finally advanced but due to having never met them, he found he just didn''t quite care other than a faint curiosity. Apparently (according to Abe who hadn¡¯t met them¡­so taken with a grain of salt), they had chosen the "non-elemental" option and had always seemed tired ¨C replying less and less often before going completely mute. Indecisive Earth had created 3 copies of his worm monster and left them to explore the original experiment cave before working on expanding. Pushing out and up he had grown over a dozen caves each connected by a large tunnel and had placed a new worm in each one. Each cave was slightly higher than the last and they were spread out in a corkscrew manner heading upwards. The caves seemed huge to the Core ¨C each roughly a meter in width, height, and double that in length ¨C but the size was only big in comparison to his monsters and limited worldview. His tunnels were equally as massive in his opinion, at a luxurious 30cm in diameter extending a meter between each cavern. Indecisive Earth thought each tunnel was luxurious as they allowed plenty of his influence passage, and 10 worms could pass each other at the same time if needed! His vocabulary used precise measurements ¨C and his Dungeon Core consciousness allowed him nearly perfect measurement of distance, but he did not have proper knowledge of scale. For example: Even with his ¡°vast caverns¡± nearly all the intelligent races save the dwarves would need to crouch had they entered, and most would find it hard to impossible to crawl through the tunnels let alone fight monsters in them. Even though he had designed the crystal/metal worm on a whim the schematic for them wasn¡¯t fixed. Every time he made one, he worked on improving them little by little. He found the more rings he made the sturdier they became and the faster they could move, so each link grew thinner and thinner. His first worm had roughly 10 segments each a cm long but by the 5th worm, he was down to 50 segments each 2 millimetres in width and 1 millimetre thick, wrapped in a circle 3cm in diameter. Any less than that and the rings would break just by moving around even with Crystal mana filling them. He could swap to plain Earth mana which made the rings slightly stronger in comparison but for some reason, they impeded the liquid metal more and made it much heavier. Originally, he had made ¡°perfect¡± rings with completely hollow centers. But, he found by leaving braces across each ring in star patterns, the liquid metal could still flow with little impeding their motion, while the ring was vastly strengthened. He went over several iterations of rings, liquid metal, and support. All the metals gave slightly different results some slightly faster some stronger. His supports ended up staying at ¡°Low Mana Iron¡± using actual iron as the strongest option despite the name letting all the Earth mana metals fall under the same category. The ¡°Liquid Metal¡± was all made from aluminum and, somewhere along the lines, he had added a sharp cone on the end of the worm allowing them to stab potential enemies...of which there never seemed to be any. He knew most adventures would appear to delve him once he was able to break through to the surface and he knew that the chance of a cave of creatures being right beside his birth spot was low so he wasn¡¯t too disappointed but he still hoped for something exciting to happen. While not having invented any new monsters, his skill in manipulating and creating them ¨C as well as his nearly constant expansion ¨C had steadily increased his level all the way to level 5. At this point, his status appeared as follows.
Indecisive Earth
Level 5 7/90 exp to next level.
System Access Level 1 0/2 requirements met to advance.
-3+ Floors
-Level 9+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 3.5 unit/min
Mana Storage 90.0/90.0 units
Physical Storage 40% units
Titles.
Earth Mana Specialization
To spice up the lives of the worms he occasionally spawned a slime for them to kill. They always seemed to kill the liquid ones by accident. Either just running over them or crushing them against the wall as they passed... but when he made fire slimes, they flew into a rage actively trying to stab them or smash them with their cones. He presumed it was the Water mana coursing through their liquid metal and ¨C considering how much easier it was for him to make fire slimes than try and make an Air mana mob for them to hunt ¨C he continued to happily provide them with flaming nemeses. This realization that monsters made with opposing elements hated each other led to the second creature the core designed from scratch. Curious as to how they reacted he set out to put them (the mana elements) into a single monster. Technically he had already made a monster with opposing elements ¨C his mad spinning ball of Earth and Air ¨C but he was selectively forgetting that monster existed, a faint trauma over it still fresh in his mind. Even though he could now spawn them far away from his core he didn''t want to touch them for a while. First, he made a shell of Crystalline material in an upside-down bowl shape. Then he made a sphere of Fire mana bound to oxygen (his most readily available gas and the one that bound to Fire mana the best) surrounding it in a metal core to prevent the two elements from touching and immediately annihilating each other. Placing the core in the center of his bowl he filled it with his favourite water material ¨C liquid metal. Then he laid a thin membrane of ectoplasm along the bottom. Holding his metaphorical breath, he gave it a spark of life. The change was immediate and apparent. A massive shudder went through the shelled creature before instead of slugging along like the core expected the whole thing Leapt, Into, The, Air. Crashing into the ceiling then falling to the ground and crushing its weak membrane killed it, spilling the metallic blood all over his nice clean floor. The spark that returned didn¡¯t have much of a memory, only a brief feeling of insanity and confusion so he scrapped ¡°Version 1¡± of his attempts to get Fire and Water to play nice. Noting down how it had leapt he worked to create a tall cylinder this time. Creating a plug on the bottom instead of a thin membrane he sewed it to the inside of the cylinder with hundreds of threads working their way up to the top preventing it from breaking and pulling the plug off. Copying the cylinder twice more, he made a tripod of sorts with a central ball that once again was filled with a core of Fire standing a foot above the rest. This time when a spark was introduced it leapt into the air and survived the landing. Jumping around it continued to act erratically but it stayed stable. How useful of a monster is this? It''s able to accelerate or leap incredibly quickly but...it just won''t stop. Is it just the mixture of fire and water in a single monster? Also, how is it jumping...what''s leading to the force randomly propelling it up and is there a way to control it better. Indecisive Earth tried again with a new plan. 3 shafts made a tripod once more. Then instead of a small connecting ball, he worked on drastically increasing the size of the solid section. Maybe if I use Earth mana for more than just a shell it will simmer a bit? Taking the time to increase the Earth content he first made a metal ball and pumped as much mana as he could into it. Mana liked to rush into the material and then slow down at a discrete level. However, if I continue to push more mana into it... The shell looked more and more matte as he pushed. After a certain point, he felt it was enough. Not because he couldn¡¯t push more Earth mana into it ¨C far from it ¨C but because it was continuously leaking wisps of brown-grey mana. Trying to keep the mana from leaking he covered the ball with a second crystalline layer. As the second layer grew it covered the ball with spikes and descended with layers of crystals that almost looked like armour. He felt good about this version. Pulling out a spark he slowly pushed it towards Jumper 3. As the spark travelled into the monster, he felt a qualitative change. Instead of immediately leaping, the monster seemed to look around itself. Can it see? What''s it doing? Slowly it bent to face its predecessor ¨C who was still jumping repeatedly in the corner. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. After a long pause that felt like V3 was waiting for the perfect moment, it leapt. As fast as V2 but with actual precision, the erratically jumping inferior version was impaled against the wall, legs pulsing a few times as it attempted to escape before expiring with a twitch. The older version continued to try and jump while impaled against the wall. Mmmm. I think I got it. He thought while the memories from his failed version entered him. These memories were filled with boundless energy ¨C excitement marred with hatred for everything including himself and constant flashes of confusion...Madness¡­Similar in a way to his ball of Earth and Air had been but coming from a different direction and thus manifesting in a different manner. I guess my experiment helped me understand a few more things. Emotions are influenced by a monster''s highest element...by anything''s highest element he thought to himself. And somehow the last monster I was able to make could sense where prey was. The only thing that had changed was including a really high concentration of mana in the shell. So, working from that point he tried immediately to experiment on a third monster type. He opened his list of materials and contemplated all his options a bit before selecting Iron again. I have a lot of it and so far, and it seems to take to Earth mana better than anything else. Pulling it out into a ball he simultaneously infused it with Earth mana. The ball grew as "Low Mana Iron". Taking a deep breath, he started adding more and more Earth mana. Putting more and more into it his storage ticked down. He reached the infusion level his last monster had gotten to then kept going. Finally, with 10 of 90 mana left he focused. Constant strands of mana were leaking from his ball, but he had already solved this before in the previous version. Creating a shell of Silicon and Earth mana that was twisted into a crystal form he muted the heavy core, this time slowly adding the shell and waiting just until mana stopped leaking out. He had 5 mana left but this had done something. He felt like he had done something big. This was getting somewhere. This...ball was important. His regeneration had increased leaps and bounds since he had first started out...but in comparison to his storage, it lagged further and further behind. That experiment had taken 85 of his mana...almost 40 minutes of regeneration just to make that one core. However, the process had borne quite a few fruit. His experience flipped up quite a bit going from 14/90 to 31/90 in one go. That was more than any other action he had observed by almost double. Additionally, his material sheet was updated twice. High Mana Iron slipped in right below Low Mana Iron in his Tier 1 materials and his ball was listed as a Tier 2 material called ¡°Earthen Mana Core¡±
Name Base Mana Description
High Mana Iron Metal (Iron) Earth Immensely more magical than Low Mana Iron, High Mana Iron is formed in danger areas with high concentrations of mana. While stable in their natural habitat High Mana Iron becomes unstable and leaks when brought back to normal mana levels.
Name Base Mana Description
Earthen Mana Core Core Composite Earth Composite Plucked from Select Earth attuned monsters these cores are often found in dungeons and have endless uses in crafting artifacts of both little and great renown.
Reading the description dampened some of his enthusiasm. Apparently, what he had made was common enough that Sapient creatures had classified it as something that other dungeons had already done. He was already planning on creating a monster around the core, but it was nice to know that''s where they were found...as disappointing as knowing he wasn¡¯t creating anything unique was it was good to know he was on the right track. As an experiment, he created a small rod each of Fire Earth and Water metal and placed them against the core. Both Fire and Water materials dimmed the closer they were brought to the core ¨C the liquid becoming solid and the light becoming mute ¨C while the Earth mana rod seemed to get greedily pulled towards it. As soon as they touched, mana seemed to circle through the rod and core resonating the connection as the rod stuck to the side of it. Pulling the rod off, the connection was maintained a few cm out before, as if with a snap the link broke. As the rod cracked all the Earth energy was pulled out and sucked into the core. The metal rod fell to the ground. I was going to throw liquid metal at it so it can move freely but it looks like that''s not going to work. Infusing Attributeless mana with some oxygen and wrapping the core worked in terms of the wrapping ¡°playing nice and not being snuffed out¡± however...it didn¡¯t resonate and get stronger like the Earth mana had. Okay. Here''s my problem. Adding Earth mana to anything solidifies it. Even Gasses... and I have yet to find a liquid element to test it on. Crystal mana is the same; it''s just an altered form of Earth mana and even trying it on gaseous elements makes a solid. If a monster''s body is solid It can¡¯t move once it is animated with a spark of life. Actually...do I really know that? It can¡¯t move if the monster is one solid object, but I just had a link between the core and a rod without it being fully attached¡­ Working off that concept he made several small balls of low mana iron and let them attach to the core. Each ball got sucked into place as soon as it got close and he could chain them 2-3 times before they wouldn¡¯t connect. Next, he animated his first 100% Earth mana monster excitedly. This time when he pushed a spark at it something different happened. The spark touched one of the balls then shot straight to the core and a pulse of energy was released. All 6 small metal balls he had ¡°attached¡± started moving around awkwardly then bunched on the bottom of the core and lifted it up. Slowly it started to roll around exploring its new environment. There was definitely something different about this monster. Checking his monster tab for the first time in a while he saw it held only the original slime template. Adding first the other slime variations, second his worm then his jumping tripod and finally the multi-ball, a shift similar to what had happened to his materials appeared. The information that was added shifted slightly and tabulated as the system finalized creating its bestiary. Both the worm and Tripod were listed as ¡°Indecisive Earth¡¯s Monster¡± but the balls and slimes were set up differently
Bestiary. Strengths Weakness Basic Stats Lore Description
Tutorial Slime Not very Tasty A slight Poke HP 1/1 DMG 1-1 Often the first monster a young adventurer faces, the most dangerous thing about them is how they might get one''s garments dirty
Flaming Slime Burning Water HP 2/2 DMG 1-2F A more dangerous cousin of the Tutorial slime. This monster can cause painful burns when caught unaware¡­however, as far as monsters go it is still laughably weak.
Water Slime Defense against slashing Cutting in two. Magic, Fire HP 3/3 DMG 1-1W A slightly stronger version of the Tutorial slime. This version can withstand small stabs and slashes without immediately popping. A good swing by anything stronger than a child can still take it out in one go however.
Indecisive Earth''s Monster Rings provide modest defense Joints between rings HP 3/3 DEF 3/3 DMG 5-6P Unique Monster native to the Dungeon Core Indecisive Earth
Indecisive Earth''s Monster Explosive Speed Low Agility HP 2/2 DEF 10/10 DMG 1-15P Unique Monster native to the Dungeon Core Indecisive Earth
Failure 3 Earth Core Provides Higher Defense. Blunt Damage HP 1/1 DEF 20/20 DMG 5-6B Waste of an Earth Core. Wish I could scrap.
Based on the feeling the two unique monsters gave off he could instantly tell they were editable. Maybe because he had been constantly updating them, but all the values seemed less set in stone than the other options. Also, the name and descriptions were much less substantial than the other options ¨C kind of like they hadn¡¯t been confirmed yet or were currently just placeholders. Focusing on the first option he renamed his worm to ¡°Metal worms¡± then changed the description to something more useful. ¡°Earth + Water metaloid worm monsters.¡± Moving down he also renamed his tripods to ¡°Jumpers¡± and the description to ¡°Has Anger Management Issues¡± Not sure how these work yet. Failure 3 was obviously named and described by another Dungeon Core. I thought it turned out pretty good, but it did take nearly all my mana to make the core and if comparing it with my other two monsters it seems similar maybe. I guess it could be disappointing especially if someone had made something better already. But also, it''s my first attempt! I¡¯m bound to get a better version. Checking the Group chat while he waited for his mana to reload, he asked how everyone''s bestiary was coming along.
SPEED: What Bestiary? You haven¡¯t taught us anything about that yet.
Abe: Hey my lil fast bro ur Bestiary is where all the monsters you make go didn¡¯t you take the tutorial?
Jim: Yeah I mean I¡¯ve separated the slime monster we were given from my inventory but I don¡¯t have a bestiary or whatever.
Abe: Oh weird. Maybe you have to add a few stuff to it. Don¡¯t worry it should sort itself out in a few minutes you get it right away as long as you use it.
Indecisive Earth...did not want to add the fact that he had only unlocked it a few minutes ago to the conversation at this point.
Indecisive Earth: Don¡¯t worry you can set it up really easily. Just make sure to record every monster you make manually and it should sort itself out soon. The reason I brought it up in the first place is I was wanting to ask if anyone had unlocked something that was already named or if they had to manually name every monster they made.
Abe: Oh! Yeah, all my monsters seem to be Blast Slug Varients. Have you tried to make one yet? I promise they are great you won¡¯t regret em
Jim: You¡¯ve explained how but¡­
Indecisive Earth: Nah haven¡¯t yet.
Abe: It''s been agesss you gotta try bruh.
Indecisive Earth: yeah yeah okay I¡¯ll try later.
Maybe he should work on them. He would start on it right away... but there was a faint buzzing in his head ¨C a weird uncomfortable feeling infusing his being. What''s happening now? Chapter 8. Multiple Floors and Explosions.
Dungeons are controlled spaces of adventure and yes death for all those too foolish to measure their own strength. However, despite the high fatality rate Dungeons are wildly looked upon favourably by nearly every Sapient race. They grow underground keeping away from claiming the surface where most races live, and while that would put them as contesting land from the dwarves, they tend to immediately stop expanding upon reaching their settlements. Occasionally even providing gifts such as endlessly refilling mines as an almost sheepish apology, Dungeon Cores are anything if not consistent in not terrorizing their surroundings. Another point in their favor is they have been known to clean up mana wells when they come across them briefly breaking their taboo to spread up onto the surface and collect all the dangerously mana-polluted items and lowering natural mana back to comfortable levels before retreating leaving them in the good graces of elves-Those who have little greed and no reason to delve a Dungeon''s depths. Even the most widely-killed of the Sapient races, Orcs, like Dungeon Cores. They see every warrior''s death as an honourable end in battle and continue to throw themselves at the challenge Dungeons provide- distracting them from waging war on anything and everything that moves. (And by anything we must note at least one documented Orc Tribe has declared war against a mountain after an avalanche crushed part of their camp in 1380 AS...and waged war for nearly 2 years before having decided the mountain had learned its lesson)
-An Excerpt from ¡°A study of dungeons VOLUME 3¡± Indecisive Earth got more and more uncomfortable as he felt stretched and... weird. Going through the list of possible outcomes he landed on the idea that he was forming multiple floors already. Damn, but couldn''t someone have mentioned it being this awful? Quickly thinking back to his description of what to do, he frantically looked around his dungeon for most mana-dense items. Some shells and scraps littered the floors from all the monsters that died, and he quickly started pulling them down to the first experiment room beside his core ¨C the one still half covered in crystals. He also tried commanding his strongest monsters to come down closer to him. The ¡°Earthen Core Golem¡± immediately stopped what it was doing ¨C attempting to roll up a portion of the wall and failing ¨C then started working its way down. His jumping death machines didn''t so much as twitch however, no matter how many times he called for them. A faint split was forming in his consciousness, but it was still forming much too slowly. I can''t do anything while this is happening. It''s too distracting and feels much too distressing. Searching valiantly for more to distribute he started peering at all the walls looking for dense materials. A corridor near where he had made his Golem had a thin layer of much more magical stone covering the whole surface of it ¨C not nearly as much as the scraps from his monsters but still a significant amount. Trying to store some of it in his inventory he was annoyed when it pulled out the raw rock and left most of the mana floating in the air and rebinding to the stone around it. He didn''t have any monsters that could help so slicing off small tiles 10cm x 10cm x 1cm and floating them down to his depths was all he could think of doing. A dozen tiles later and that corridor seemed no different than its surroundings. He left all the tiles in a neat little pile in his core room and then searched for something else to move. He frantically looked around for something else to sort but he had exhausted all the low-hanging fruit. Each action he had taken to hasten the process along had definitely helped ¨C he was splitting much much more quickly than before, but it was still too slow for him. *OH* I can make a boundary he remembered. Roughly splitting his area of influence in 2 he found a hallway that worked enough for his purposes and directed the split to fall just inside it. Slowly his vague sense of being broken and twisted centred on a section of the hallway partway down, and as it did, a faint line in the floor started to form. Invisible unless he focused into that special mana sight the line was a sharper and sharper gradient of mana density. There didn''t appear to be any real movement yet, but the line grew more and more defined as mana was slowly funnelled from the half he was designating his low-density zone to his high-density zone. Willing the process to go faster didn''t seem to help, but as he didn''t have much else to do, he pretended he was dragging the environmental mana from above and pulling it towards his core. After what felt like days but was closer to an hour his floors pulsed and with a silent crack, he found he had formed his second floor. He felt different. Almost as if with the release of pressure from forming a floor, his mind was also changed. As he pondered what was different, he absentmindedly started tidying up all the scraps of various dead critters and pushing them into a pit he was slowly digging at the same time. It took him way too long to realize it, but with a snap, he realized he could split his focus on two different tasks with the same sort of concentration he was managing before on one. Taking a look around his core room he realized he hadn''t made a single change to it since he''d started expanding. At this point, he had more experience and a faint sense of vanity over how shabby the cave looked. Moving to the ground he dug with pinpoint precision working his way across the whole floor levelling it and vaporizing any rubble into his inventory. Next, floating the tiles over from the previous room he started laying them down trying to cover the ground in square cobblestones. There wasn''t enough to cover the whole floor, so he staggered them into a checkered pattern and splurged a bit by using some of the titanium that was piling up in his inventory to make a dozen more tiles and fill in the empty holes. Floor done, he smoothed out the walls turning the arch into straight sheer 90-degree walls and widened the ceiling to match the ground. Finishing his makeover, he glanced around approvingly. I should make my dungeon look cool if I''m going to show it off later. Turning next to his hole of scraps he tried once again to see if he could do anything with them. The raw physical materials could be reclaimed but doing so took a lot of effort which could have better been used on digging out the stone instead. Additionally, after he was finished making the monster, he was frozen out of editing it. The mana released was no longer his personal mana and nearly equivalent to the environmental mana that still infused his surroundings. He had a thought to try and recycle parts into new monsters to see if he could. Shifting around he found several rings from the few worms that had died and pulled them up to examine. Tossing the few that were damaged he managed to gather 4 rings that met his quality specifications. Next quickly creating the rest of the rings and filling out a worm with a speed that can only come from practice he let out a spark and quickly observed the finished result. For the most part, this specimen awoke in much the same way as its predecessors had done, but after slithering to life it suddenly froze for a solid second. Coiling up and uncoiling a few times and uncoiling as if confused it finished its examination then turned and slithered off to join its brethren. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Examining the trundling along worm for another few minutes, then satisfied that nothing seemed to be wrong, he thought about what he had learned. I can recycle parts by using them on identical monsters... it''s not as easy as just making new monsters because I can''t edit them as easily but it''s a way of getting rid of some scraps and I guess it does save a small bit of mana. I don''t think I can break the golem without breaking the core but If that did happen, I''d want to reuse that core...it took quite a bit of time to make after all. He really wanted to make another golem but the amount of effort for just one monster didn''t seem worth it at the moment. I don''t want to make a habit of creating a monster that uses more mana than my cap... waiting for mana to regenerate part way through a monster is a real pain and locks me up as I hold everything in place. Indecisive Earth checked his mana pool ¨C 30/90. Should be enough to make one of "his" monsters and finally get him to stop asking. A side effect of being made from solid crystal without fleshy parts was heightened memory, so he reviewed the instructions Abe had given days ago. First, he set up a stasis field and worked to empty it of any impurities. Then he started making a simple shell out of Crystal mana and Silicon. Pretty positive Abe can¡¯t use Crystal mana but hey...I¡¯m liking this combo. Next, he quickly dumped some Fire mana bonded to oxygen into the hole and sealed the shell before trying to compress it afterwards. This feels weird. Normally I make the inside first and cover it after growing it, but I¡¯ll follow his steps for now. Realizing Abe had never fully explained how he made the outside of the slug he shrugged and followed the fire slime template. A whole bunch of fire and gas surrounded by nice thick skin. As soon as he added a spark the slime shivered and stilled. Unlike the fire slime, it didn¡¯t start moving around choosing to simply sit there. Checking his bestiary there was a new monster listed as Blast Slug Variant O* with a fanciful description of them being kicked by adventurers and detonating. Okay, I guess I''ve made an exploding slime. Might as well test it out. Searching around for one of his oldest (and thus slightly irritating due to not being as perfect as his newest monster) worms he found one close to his new experiment room. First attempting to command it...then giving up and picking it up, he dragged the monster up the hall and deposited it near the entrance. Catching sight of the trapped slime the worm immediately knew what to do. FOR HONOR AND GLORY. The worm had already killed several fire slimes and knew exactly how to kill them. Rushing forwards without a single mote of hesitation it pounced. The rounded tip of its head sunk down into the "slime" before with sudden force the worm was flung up at the roof, crumpling with the impact and landing dead back near the entrance to the room. The explosion was both more and less exciting than he had expected. The amount of force used to fling his worm was sizable ¨C although single-use ¨C and came with an accompanying boom for added sound effects. For some reason packing the Fire mana really had given a small explosion...I didn''t add nearly as much mana and did compress it, but something doesn''t add up. Indecisive Earth had already made an earthen core and although he had added plenty of mana and it was made out of solid materials his result hadn''t exploded. If what I was told is true...mana makes matter and that should have also exploded due to the force...I can''t imagine Fire mana making much matter in comparison to earth so why has it exploded with less effort? Although maybe it''s because the Fire mana that had pulsed seemed slightly different. It''s probably similar to my earth-turned Crystal mana...I didn''t purposefully create it, but neither was I attempting to create Crystal mana at the time. The biggest problem was when creating the living crystal he was given an "end result" that he could study, and his earth control had increased his proficiency in studying said mana to a point where he could copy it on a whim and directly use it in materials. The Explosion mana however had been hidden in its shell and only appeared for a microsecond before dissipating. It would take countless explosions and studying to give him any chance of copying it for his own use or making it in a non-roundabout manner. As strong as it was I... can¡¯t bring myself to care. Leave it to Abe to figure out.
Indecisive Earth: Hey Abe I got around to making your dumb slug. Variant O* if that means anything. Why¡¯s it called a slug and not a slime?
Abe: AHH Bro, Well done Well Done. Variant O is the ¡°Old¡± Version or maybe the Original idk I didn¡¯t name them. I get a star every time it''s slightly different from what I can only assume is the first one made. Like using anything other than Silicon skin on nitrogen fire ectoplasm and a Silicon nitrogen bomb. Idk maybe they are close enough for the system to declare them the same it''s not important- All the cool variants are much better. You''ll see I¡¯ve got a whole list of unlocks. First off if you want them to make Variant A (add some Armor plating to the top of it and make sure you stretch it out enough). Variant M happens when you stuff 2-3 bombs into it and Variant S is a beautiful version that works by suspending lots and lots of slivers of stuff in the ectoplasm so they scatter when it explodes. Do not make those near your core room gotta say.
Indecisive Earth: Ait, Ait, I¡¯ll keep it in mind.
SPEED: Why is it that no matter what I do these worthless monsters keep being slow.
Indecisive Earth: Hey Speed good to see you again I never managed to catch what your affinity is.
SPEED: What''s it to you huh. I thought Water and air were the best. Cause they can actually move. But the stupid system wouldn¡¯t give me that so I went for water and fire. Worthless. Can¡¯t even make anything fast like this and twos obviously better than 1. Would have picked all if it weren''t for that dodgy warning.
Indecisive Earth: Well now, Water and Fire is a fine combination.
Abe: No it''s not. Bloody dampening liquid has no place with the glory of fire.
Indecisive Earth: The fastest monster I¡¯ve made so far uses that combination (kinda) want any tips?
SPEED: Don¡¯t just tease me, if you¡¯re giving information give it already otherwise kindly screw off.
Indecisive Earth felt more and more exasperated with the role he was given. It''s not like it even matters really why am I helping out abrasive cores for free. At least I¡¯m getting information from the rest of them...what have the noobies contributed yet. He finally continued feeling like he had committed but mentally grumbling the whole time.
Indecisive Earth: If you make a section of fire elements and then isolate it from the Water mana they interact by explosively expanding. You have to figure out how to direct it. I''ve set up a proof of concept with a cylinder surrounded by Earth mana and filled with liquid metal. I¡¯m sure you can come up with something.
SPEED: uh is the earth part important.
Indecisive Earth: Yes actually it''s the only way to calm the mobs down. Shove a whole bunch of Earth mana at it until it outweighs the fire and water.
SPEED: Damn...I hate working with the stuff it just doesn¡¯t work goes all over the place and is too much effort.
Indecisive Earth thought back to the stacking weaknesses of having a dual elemental core and shuddered. Yeah Air was hard and he kinda just didn¡¯t want to use it due to the added difficulty but during a pinch, he could set something up. He couldn¡¯t imagine it being even worse than how much control he had. Yep, Single Specialization is for the best after all. Chapter 9. Level 9...
On the nature of the system: Based on how high levels (Danger Classification 3 or above) of mana can corrupt and mutate materials one theory as to why the system exists is to protect us from being mutated by mana in unwanted ways. By forcing our bodies to mutate in preset ways to accommodate skills or specializations the system prevents us from accidentally mutating into forms that are actively detrimental to our wellbeing. There is a lesser-known theory that I subscribe to which is that all the humanoid Sapient races are mutated from one common ancestor. Sure, we can claim mutating into a beautiful elf wouldn¡¯t be that bad but what if the reverse was true? What if you mutated into a dirty little goblin with their grubby Lil mitts and rank ass smell- little more than a monster. Ahem, I for one would kill myself should that happen, and I recommend any who turn into a goblin involuntarily to do the same. (and I spread this view proudly...it¡¯s not like goblins can read so unless one of you snitches, they will be none the wiser)
This excerpt obtained from the posters distributed through remote villages by Pastor John. Retired scholar and newly christened member of the church of the system, one week before his mobbing death by angry goblin rights activists. May he rest in peace. Indecisive Earth settled into a routine focused on efficiency. All he wanted to do was sit there experimenting and playing with his monsters but he had convinced himself that once he had expanded he would have a much higher regeneration and could make more monsters in a shorter amount of time...as long as he waited a bit first. His level-ups had been ahead of the curve, so he currently had a huge amount of storage with a regeneration similar to what he had started with... Focusing on expanding using the exact amount of mana as he regenerated his expansion speed slowed down considerably but remained constant (and due to using less mana than he was capable of he managed to use it slightly more efficiently). Thus, his effective expansion was much higher in comparison to the fast deplete-refill cycles he had been using before...and as his regeneration kept ticking up, he increased the amount of mana he was rationing so the speed slowly increased as well. Splitting his focus between expansion and reading the chat he reached a point where he realized all the older Tier 1 Cores were ¡°always online¡± and reading the chat, while the noobies would join and then after talking for a few minutes would leave again for minutes to hours before rejoining. Abe formed his floor a day after Indecisive Earth despite having a head start and he enjoyed the reaction Abe gave to the splitting wrenching feeling once it reached him.
Indecisive Earth: A weird feeling you say? Strange strange I don''t remember any such feeling. The whole process was quick and painless. Do you think maybe something is wrong? Are you dying?
Abe: Seriously bro? You don''t remember feeling this? I feel like I''m being twisted and stabbed and everything is spinning.
Indecisive Earth: Yeah I estimate you have 10 minutes to live. Good luck my friend you will be missed.
Abe: Noo make it stop.
Giving him time to panic then reminding him of all the ways he could speed the process up had entertained Indecisive Earth for a bit before he settled down again. Despite Abe¡¯s overbearing introduction, as the closest in age and skill ¨C as well as having both taken a single specialization ¨C he grew to be the only Core Indecisive Earth enjoyed talking to in his small chat. Another day and the earthen golem died after wandering too close to one of the jumping death spawns and being smashed and flattened between it and the wall. The loss...had been slightly disappointing, to put it mildly. Just another sad addition, pushing the creation he had been so proud of initially further and further into "meh" territory. At least the death had given him some exciting insight ¨C The Golem could see! Every other monster he had made could somehow sense an enemy ¨C or the vague shape of the walls ¨C but this haphazard creation surrounding an Earth core had been able to see nearly everything in its surroundings similar to how the Dungeon Core could himself. Additionally, it had clearer thoughts than any of the monsters he had made so far, his new memories crisp and somewhat logical. As a monster, he had been more effort than he was worth but in death, the golem had given a brief glimpse of the benefits adding a core to a monster could give. The only thing preventing this creature from being more impactful was how little it had actually done. The life contained in his memories was crisp and high resolution but uneventful up until his death...his quick boring death that gave zero experience despite the effort that went into him. An added bonus happened, which was as soon as the Golem core was smashed against the wall and cracked, it released a pulse of somewhat chaotic Earth mana that blossomed into countless nubs and small balls formed from the stone. The polluted stone was obviously not ideal as he couldn¡¯t really work with it, but the act drastically increased the mana concentration in that area. With an increase in mana concentration, his mana regeneration had actually ticked up by 0.2/min ¨C in comparison to the steady 0.1 ticks he had been receiving from expansion. I... I think I¡¯ve been gung-ho over expanding for no reason at all. Expanding is important but not to the point of forgoing experimentation if my goal is mana regen. Enlightened, he had confirmed that the mana density also affected his regen, not just the amount of space he had claimed. Just in time too! For his Expansion was growing slower and slower as he got further away from his core. His initial luxuriously sized hallways were going to need to be expanded. And he would if he wanted to leave enough flow for his control to reach the edge of his influence ¨C he did ¨C giving him as much ¡°influence responsiveness¡± as he wanted. He had actually stopped expanding slightly earlier than he had planned initially ¨C his idea had been to form a third floor and then push for his last level by throwing a few things together. While he felt he was close he hadn¡¯t yet been able to form the 3rd and final floor he needed to advance. I think I have enough space for it now...I just need to work on increasing the mana density for the splitting process to start. Releasing his focus from expanding he felt a cool relief fill his whole influence. He couldn¡¯t get tired physically but the strain of constantly pushing outwards had drained him more than he realized and even a small break was a relief of sorts. Currently, he was at level 8, at just over 2 weeks old. His levelling had been somewhat sporadic, with many jumps pushing his level to higher and higher heights. Currently, his level was 2 above Abe''s ¨C and they were nearly the same age ¨C indicating either he was levelling faster than most, or Abe was a slowpoke. Additionally, while he was admittedly not completely there yet, he was close to level 9 at only 2 weeks. Amy and Xero had advanced at nearly a month''s time from their birth so the theory that Abe was slow seemed kind of unfounded. Indecisive tried (and failed) to not let that fact get to his head. I''m Great. I''m the best. A certified Geniu- Continuing to sing unwarranted praise to himself the young Core lost direction for a bit. Only stopping his gross display of ego after feeling more and more silly for boasting to one of his jumpers ¨C who did not seem impressed in the slightest. Sheepishly collecting himself he returned to a more grounded state of mind before deciding what to do next. I''m going to try and make a better golem...I have a bit more mana to work with now so I''m sure I can start trying to make better versions. First working on making a core he found a small room that didn''t have any discerning feature naming it his new experiment room. Pulling out Iron and mana he formed a ball of low mana iron and then steadily pushed more and more Earth mana into it. Partway through he suddenly wanted to try it with Crystal mana instead ¨C but when he tried pushing some into the already infused material the new type of mana just slid off and twisted out of his grip, falling to the ground and forming a weird crack. Tch Returning to infusing the ball with straight Earth mana the concentration visibly soared. Indecisive Earth waited until it reached the point where wisps of smokey mana were constantly released, then he sealed the new core and checked its design. A solid sphere much like the last ¨C maybe a slight bit bigger due to having more mana to work with (but not to any degree that would matter) ¨C sat in the center of the room. Working off a different concept from before he wrapped the core in metal strengthened with Earth mana slowly building a sort of cone with a rounded top. Continuing to build the body''s frame he decided to try and give his new monster''s limbs some support. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. First, he made several rounded cylinders, each a sort of stretched-out bean shape. Placing them against the side of his golem''s body he punched a hole through each of them and ran a ring from the frame, threading it through the limb and reattaching to the body on the other side. Leaving them in place, he then pulled the beans back and forth, watching as they remained secured to its center. Okay, it''s secure, any way to increase movement? Unsure as to exactly how much force could be exerted through them, but wanting them to be useful for the monster, he continued to add lumpy legs. Three to a side he placed them, then tried to think of another appendage he could add. How about a spike on the front? No, I already did that with the worms. How about something that can come crashing down? Hmmm, that''s an idea. The Dungeon Core had received a dictionary of sorts when he was first born. Words and vague senses of what those words mean were gifted for some unknown reason at the start of the tutorial. So, he did know about arms in a sense...along with the knowledge that intelligent creatures had them ¨C usually in pairs. However... due to having never seen one in action, he wasn''t quite sure how to go about making one from scratch. Likewise, he knew about the idea of legs however hadn''t quite figured out that they needed joints to increase their mobility. He kind of imagined legs like wriggling noodles that bent all along their lengths similar to his worms...which he couldn''t currently make because Earth mana solidified everything it touched. An embarrassing mistake that''s completely understandable having not come across a single living animal so far and having only slightly grasped the concept of bones with his "worms" he didn''t quite picture limbs being constrained. This misunderstanding was one that would take him quite a bit longer to "fix." Having observed how the rings acted for the legs he started placing a huge ring around the top of his new monster. Thick and much more pronounced the ring extended out above the creature, instead of being a small ring mostly sunk into the body. Balancing a long stumpy pole on top of it he tried to make something that could fall quickly while not toppling the monster. Tapering off the end into a point that pointed downwards made the whole appendage even more intimidating. While increasing the weight by compressing and placing a large lump on the other side let his monster gain a formidable ¨C though constrained in movement ¨C limb. Hah, it will come trundling around a corner and then stab downwards skewering the unwary from head to toe- marvellously gruesome...I''m sure people will love them. Still unaware of scale his monster might be able to work how he wanted if the adventurer in question was a Gremlin...his monster maintained a fearsome spike that no doubt could deal damage but due to its size would only be able to stab someone''s shins ¨C or pulling it up to its full height and not releasing it- someone''s knees. Looking over his monster every which way he studied the design trying to find fault with it ¨C he couldn''t: it was beautiful. Pushing a spark towards it eagerly, it ¨C much like the last time he used a core ¨C was sucked all the way to its center rather than sinking into the whole creature. This time the golem sat there rustling quietly as if observing itself. Finishing it slowly rose up off the floor with all 6 of its limbs shaking slightly as they held its weight. One by one, they shifted forwards and the monster seemed to waddle over to the wall swaying from side to side and occasionally stumbling. hmmm...It''s kinda¡¯ slow. Situating itself by the entrance his new monster seemed to sense his disappointment and wanted to prove his worth. Peering around the corner it spied a worm trundling along and ¨C waiting patiently ¨C it positioned its stabby mandible of death high above it. As soon as the worm was in range the trap was sprung ¨C the golem stabbing downwards and turning with satisfaction as soon as the worm was punctured. Alright, you''re not that bad lil¡¯ Gol. You can stay...Already done more than that failure of a big brother you had. He tried to figure out how to improve the legs. Waiting for his mana to fill up once again took only 15 minutes so he waited till his tank was full. Started to pull bits of material out of his inventory and prototyping different ways to connect them but still allow movement was his next task. Giving up on the ring connection (unaware of how close to wheels he had gotten) he made several rods tipped by a large ball and started making sockets in the base of a new body by enveloping each ball 3/4ths of the way down. Working off the idea that "more is better" he kept adding more and more socketed legs to his Mark 3 Golem. The previous version had ended up similar to an ambush predator but due to its somewhat clanky metal on stone, it wasn''t able to sneak up on anything. It was also much too top-heavy and wobbled too much when walking around. Flaring out the base more, this version was close to half the height and double the width of its older brother. Sticking the same stabbing arm on top he arced it slightly longer, so it had both an increased range and increased height then conferring a spark to his creation he tried to compare it to its predecessor. GolV2 was slightly more graceful than its predecessor. Seeming to glide along the ground its dozens of legs moved in a wave as it skittered making a loud pittering clinking sound as it did so. Not a stealth monster either I see. Bullying its weaker predecessor out of the way it too sat in the doorway before skewering a worm in a fluid motion and tossing it to its behind. Re arming itself it stabbed a second worm that had slithered up to check on the noise before turning around triumphantly. The two drop golems situated themselves on opposite sides of the entrance making a competition of who could skewer more. ...alright then. I guess I need to repopulate. Grumbling slightly, he worked his way further back and started spawning his most iterated worm monsters two at a time. You guys are letting me down you know I was rooting for you! Slightly sad he couldn''t figure out how to put an earth core into them ¨C He was heavily relying on Liquid metal for their bodies, and that was made using Water mana, which would become inert when attached to the core. Trying to figure out how to buff them he stared up and down their streamlined shape. Finally, he decided simply to make it bigger. Mama worm! Tripling its diameter and then quadrupling its length he made each of them nearly 10cm wide and a meter long... his new worm could really not be called such any longer. More a snake at this point his creation was slowly improved as he grew it ¨C at this size, the rings really really needed his previous supports to allow them to maintain their strength and he was forced to thicken them once again. Pulling out all the stops he continued to tweak the design of one of his first monsters so that it could maintain its position in his dungeon. As it grew it became harder to keep the liquid metal in place ¨C the Water mana liquified the metal but let it keep a sort of skin that held it up and kept it in a bubble... however the larger a ball he made, the flatter it got. Even when he wrapped it in an ectoplasmic sac it bulged outwards more and more, the bigger he tried to make it. Looking through all his materials and trying to figure out how to keep its form he settled on covering the body completely in slivers of interlocking crystals. Using ¡°Crystal mana and silicon¡± chips embedded into the ectoplasm skin he layered them in interlocking patterns that spread down the length of the whole monster. This process was tedious and took much more finesse than his previous versions ¨C he had to use all his concentration in a non-split manner to form them quickly and cover the entire length... but he really liked the end result, so he kept at it. I really want to boost this one''s strength...Being able to see would be the best but an earth core won''t work...How is something defined as a core? What if I just add pockets of higher mana density material into it? Trying something he had put aside he made the spikey cone for his new snake but specifically tried to make it differently. First pushing unattributed mana into a smaller cone, he kept adding it until his mana got dangerously low. This monster has used nearly a full mana pool now...the hallmark of a good creature. He nodded to himself. Waiting patiently, he held everything in place until he regenerated enough mana to continue. Trying again he pushed more and more raw mana into the cone until ¨C much much later than his Earth core had ¨C the material started to visibly release mana. Surrounding it in a cone of Earth mana he stuck it on the end of his creation. ¨CPerfect Let''s see how this works. He had a good feeling about his crystal snake ¨C for the scales really drove home how crystalline the snake was and the size removed it from worm status. Each scale glinted in its own glow and reflecting a kaleidoscope of muted disco ball lights on the ground around it. Pushing a spark to the creature he waited and watched as the spark flew to its spiked head. Moments later the snake raised its head slowly from the ground and swayed back and forth slowly. Content with its surroundings the new monster started to patrol his hallways stopping every few minutes to examine stuff before continuing. Curious, Indecisive Earth spawned a fire slime further down the hallway. Immediately a bunch of the surrounding worms rushed it in anger stabbing it into the ground while the snake watched. It seemed amused and made no move to help them- watching as its distant relatives swarmed and dispersed afterwards once they were positive the slime was well and truly dead. I was hoping you could show your stuff :( Thinking, he asked the snake to go find some of his jumpers. Swivelling its head up, the snake seemed to listen, then acknowledged his request, moving further down his hallway. Spying one of the creatures on a far wall, the snake observed its prey carefully before engaging. Moving out slowly as if oblivious the snake baited his jumper into pouncing, then jerked its whole body sideways just out of the way. Wrapping its scaly length around the creature to hold it in place, the snake raised its sharp head and stabbed both the jumper''s legs. Watching as metallic blood leaked out onto the ground it continued to hold the jumper until its prey had expired. Seeming contemptuous with how easy that had been the snake proceeded to constrict and crush the shell of its prey before releasing a crumpled mess and flicking the bits of blood off its head. Oh, Oh you''re really good. I''m going to name you...Sslay...Snek...I''m going to name you Silver. Confirming his name, the snake resumed its original patrol. The task complete Indecisive Earth Checked his status. Level 9 already! Now all I have to do is finish my 3rd floor and I can positively feel how close that is.
Indecisive Earth
Level 9 2/190 exp to next level.
System Access Level 1 1/2 requirements met to advance.
-3+ Floors
-Level 9+ ?
Stats
Mana Regeneration 6.7 unit/min
Mana Storage 16.8/190.0 units
Physical Storage 54% units
Titles.
Earth Mana Specialization
Chapter 10. Rank 2 Advancement.
Wez Takez Big Man Persons Shiny Den Become Big Mans Persons! Systen No Lie. Givs Grand Big Quest. Specics Sniny Get then Gets Strong like dem. Lots of shiny gets Big. Hobs are confirm. I too gets big. Strong for Clan. After Hobs What Bigger we Get? I wil find outs. Der shiny in grand big cave. We goes with whole clan. Gets big. Iz plan.
Excerpt from the Enlightend Scholar of the goblins Gobol as he writes his musings on the chief''s wall. Wanting nothing more than to rub his high level in Abe¡¯s face he quickly started writing in the chat.
Indecisive Earth: Hey abe what level did you say you were again...3? 4?
Abe: I¡¯m level 7 now thanks for asking. What''s up?
Indecisive Earth: Oh sorry it¡¯s all the same from up here- You¡¯re taking forever to reach LvL 9 scrub I¡¯m. definitely. Going. To. Leave. You. Behind.
Abe: Ayy m8 well-done congratulations, well wishes, and screw off.
SPEED: The only thing better than swift monsters is swift levelling. Nicely done.
Abe: You going pull an amy and wait for me?
Jim: Who''s amy?
Indecisive Earth: I haven¡¯t finished my last floor but hmmm¡­ let¡¯s see...uhhhh...well...guess I¡¯ll wait a day then if you¡¯re still not ready you¡¯ll have to play catch up.
Abe: Though we were bros. *oof*. Nah I get it I¡¯m going to focus all my attention on levelling- How do you level by the way? I¡¯m obviously doing something wrong. What''s the secret?
Indecisive Earth: You just gotta get good scrub. How many monster types do you have.
Abe: 12 different variations on blast slugs, 2 that weren¡¯t named yet! Think that¡¯s enough? How many types do I need to make to level as fast as you?
Uh...okay...Indecisive Earth did not want to admit he only had like 8 different monster types he could create.
Jim: Who''s amy?
Indecisive Earth: Older core Jim. Abe- I don¡¯t think quantity is as important as quality...Okay here¡¯s something Have you tried making a monster with a core? Make a super high concentration of Fire mana in a material then surround it in a shell to prevent it from leaking¡­
Abe: Like my bombs? So make a bigger bomb?
Indecisive Earth: No! Make the shell last and stop compressing it afterwards. Also, that¡¯s some Explosion mana creation I¡¯m talking a nice calm solid core.
Abe: Okay I¡¯ll try and make a core...most of my mana pool you say? This had better be a good explosion
Indecisive Earth: M8 if you insist on explosions you should really try making a monster that doesn¡¯t die on the first explosion...Stop making disposable monsters they are probably so much effort to replace.
Abe: Oh believe me once I figure that out I¡¯m going to be a happy core...no clue as to how yet but I¡¯m definitely working on it.
Jim: How do I use Earth mana to expand again?
Indecisive Earth: Oh uh...hey look I can feel my third floor being created I have to focus on that- why don¡¯t you ask Abe for help.
He felt kind of bad shirking his responsibility to answer the newest Core''s questions but Jim had gotten stuck and asked the same question 3 times now...Also, he really could feel the faintest of buzzing indicating that he was starting to split off his influence into a 3rd floor and he really did want to start working on that¡­ Working quickly he scoured his influence and started ripping out dense packages of mana out of random walls. A streak of shivery metal in the wall from when he had lost control while making a jumper. A streak of weird crystal in the floor from when he had attempted to add Crystal mana to an earth core last minute and it had rejected it. Pulling all of the worst offenders down into his third floor he cut them into cubes and embedded them in a portion of the wall in his core chamber in a checkerboard pattern. Now some of the walls matched the floor! He moved some of the less obviously dense materials close to his 3rd floor on the second floor and then replaced them with some weaker bits near the far end and patiently waited for the process to complete. Feeling slightly guilty about leaving Abe to deal with Jim and hastening his advancement he reopened the chat.
Jim: Okay but how do you replace what¡¯s already happening with your own Earth mana.
Abe: I don¡¯t know! I just use regular good old reliable attributeless mana to expand I¡¯m not the core to ask.
Jim: Okay but how would I go about doing this.
Indecisive Earth: Hey abe sorry I think I¡¯m close to finishing my floors I might have to leave soon. You think I can ignore the advancement and stay here with you?
Abe: Get him off me- and oh I mean maybe if you ignore the selection? If there even is another mana selection. Sucks you didn¡¯t wait but I¡¯ll catch up soon don¡¯t worry.
Indecisive Earth: Yeah it just sort of happened. I¡¯ll scout out the next rank and welcome you with open arms when you arrive.
Jim: So...whats the mana types we get with the next rank.
Abe: Be seeing you IE, For the last time I DON¡¯T KNOW LIL BRO.
Closing the chat he watched his influence slowly split. The divide becoming more and more apparent as mana started to move from one section to the other pooling in his lower floors as it trickled down. Finally, with a rush, it formed enough to settle as a 3rd floor prompting a new pop-up to appear nearly instantly. There were more options available than last time and it was split into different sections. This popup seemed to wipe/resist his customizations appearing in the same dull grey as his previous ones. There was also still a disappointing lack of solid information with each option only providing a brief description. There were also no warnings attached to any option despite many being similar to his first choice. As if the system decided he could think for himself and needed no further guidance each choice was laid bare before him.
Mana Specification
Rank 2 Mana specializations (NOTE Racial affinity is 70% at base in comparison to 90% for Rank 1 mana)
Life Death Control / 2, Life Control * 2
Mental Kinetic Control / 2, Mental Control * 2
Death Life control / 2, Death Control * 2
Kinetic Mental Control / 2, Kinetic Control * 2
Life + Death Life&Death * 1.75 (+bonus to preventing negative effects), Mental&Kinetic / (1.75 * 1.75)
Mental + Kinetic Mental&Kinetic * 1.75 (+bonus to preventing negative effects), Life&Death / (1.75 * 1.75)
All 4 Base Elements By settling in the second rank all 4 Rank 2 elements are increased by 10%
Unlocked Specializations due to Earth Specialization
Dirt Subspecialization increases base- Dirt mana control * 2, Earth * 1.25, Air / 1.25
Rock Subspecialization increases base- Rock mana control * 2, Earth * 1.25, Air / 1.25
Crystal* Subspecialization increases base- Crystal mana control * 2, Earth * 1.25, Air / 1.25
Metal Subspecialization increases base- Metal mana control * 2, Earth * 1.25, Air / 1.25
Earth + Water Harmonic Specialization. All Earth+Water Combinations and sub derivations * 2 Control, Earth * 1.25, Air / 1.25, Water * 1.5, and Fire / 1.5 Control.
Earth + Fire Harmonic Specialization. All Earth+Fire Combinations and sub derivations * 2 Control, Earth * 1.25, Air / 1.25, Fire * 1.5, Water / 1.5 Control.
Unlocked through Special actions
*Crystal Improved Through consistent use of a harder mana before its system unlock - Control can only increase with official boosts while penalties decrease. Crystal mana * 3, Earth * 1.375, Air / 1.167
Explosion Through experimentation, you have unlocked a subspecialization from a different base from your own, slightly affected due to your start being lower this option provides a flat * 1.75 boost to Explosion mana and a * 1.31 boost to Fire mana
Pressure Mana Through experimentation between the interactions in Fire and Water, you have discovered Steam/Pressure mana. By taming said uncontrollable mana with Earth you have lessened some of its negative properties. * 1.75 control with pressure mana and reduced penalties from using it.
Mana Specification
Rank 2 Mana specializations (NOTE Racial affinity is 70% at base in comparison to 90% for Rank 1 mana)
Life Death Control / 2, Life Control * 2
Mental Kinetic Control / 2, Mental Control * 2
Death Life control / 2, Death Control * 2
Kinetic Mental Control / 2, Kinetic Control * 2
Life + Death Life&Death * 1.75 (+bonus to preventing negative effects), Mental&Kinetic / (1.75 * 1.75)
Mental + Kinetic Mental&Kinetic * 1.75 (+bonus to preventing negative effects), Life&Death / (1.75 * 1.75)
All 4 Base Elements By settling in the second rank all 4 Rank 2 elements are increased by 10%
Unlocked Specializations due to Earth Specialization
Dirt Subspecialization increases base- Dirt mana control * 2, Earth * 1.25, Air / 1.25
Rock Subspecialization increases base- Rock mana control * 2, Earth * 1.25, Air / 1.25
Crystal* Subspecialization increases base- Crystal mana control * 2, Earth * 1.25, Air / 1.25
Metal Subspecialization increases base- Metal mana control * 2, Earth * 1.25, Air / 1.25
Earth + Water Harmonic Specialization. All Earth+Water Combinations and sub derivations * 2 Control, Earth * 1.25, Air / 1.25, Water * 1.5, and Fire / 1.5 Control.
Earth + Fire Harmonic Specialization. All Earth+Fire Combinations and sub derivations * 2 Control, Earth * 1.25, Air / 1.25, Fire * 1.5, Water / 1.5 Control.
Unlocked through Special actions
*Crystal Improved Through consistent use of a harder mana before its system unlock- Control can only increase with official boosts while penalties decrease. Crystal mana * 3, Earth * 1.375, Air / 1.167
Explosion Through Experimentation, you have unlocked a subspecialization from a different base from your own, Slightly affected due to your start being lower this option provides a flat * 1.75 boost to Explosion mana and a * 1.31 boost to Fire mana
Pressure Mana Through Experimentation between the interactions in Fire and Water, you have discovered Steam/Pressure mana. By taming said uncontrollable mana with earth you have lessened some of its negative properties. * 1.75 control with pressure mana and reduced penalties from using it.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. The panel moved with his focus and he could not dismiss it. Trying to open his chat made the panel quickly fly in front of it, blocking both his view and ability to message anyone telling them about his new choices. Waiting based only on curiosity, he spent a few minutes - seeing if another "Indecisive" title would be given with further notes but nothing popped up. Guess I really should make a decision. There''s no point waiting around then, is there. Let''s see... I don''t want to ignore my earth specialization so I want to pick something that might work well with it. Picking a subspecialization might be nice - as an added bonus it helps increase Earth even higher and there''s even an added bonus for picking Crystal mana. Also, there''s a bonus/weakness with Earth and Air but no weakness tied along with the Crystal mana itself. That''s pretty tempting... I''ve been having trouble using Earth mana to make monsters that move however and I don''t think crystals can remove that weakness. I should check to see if there are better choices Anyways movement...I think Water mana helps with movement- The monster I''m most proud of making so far is Silver. Maybe Earth+Water would be a good choice. Movement though. Kinetic mana means movement right? That''s exactly what I want. Is it a better option than Water though? It''s a higher Tier. What does racial affinity mean? Does that mean I start at 70%? 70% of what? It says elemental mana is 90%. I didn''t get that information last time. Why? Is it because I didn''t have anything to compare it to? Now that I have some practice with rank 1 mana I can guess how hard it will be to use rank 2 mana? I think I remember back in my first choice there was a warning saying higher and more esoteric versions of magic aren''t automatically better. Also just because I choose something here doesn''t mean I can''t also use Water mana or Kinetic mana. So maybe I should go with what excites me the most and pick the crystal option... The stupid system doesn''t tell me enough I need to know. When I''m picking why doesn''t it just give me a "Recommended choice" and be done with it. ... Comparing each one he thought out each combination then settled on his choice and confirmed it, before drifting off into his second sleep since he was born. ... Regaining consciousness, the newly advanced core checked all of his system panels. There was a new advancement condition in his status, but other than that it appeared unchanged. Moving next to his custom panels he found his material store and bestiary were heavily upgraded- no longer were there weird asterisks in some of the sections but the descriptions had been split out into two- One a Core specific description...One a description written by adventurers? The Materials all had precise measurements attached to them as metadata that could be read while focusing. Where each classification was listed as a %AMD (Absolute Mana Density) and a separate string of base materials that could be used to create it. All this added information made each section a more distributable form. Next, checking the chat it, passed by in a blur of comments.
CoresR-US: Buy Buy Buy! Give me your mana for I¡¯m having a sale right now.
Coreful: Guys...anyone...Remember the warning about mixing life and Death mana?
Just Another Core: Damn these last few levels are really a chore aren''t they folks...anyone?
Coreful: Do...Not...Mix them. I¡¯m being stalked by what came out of that...that hole and I can¡¯t control it.
CoresR-US: The newest sale features 10 new monster schematics for only 75% of the previous mana cost. I can definitely recommend it for any up-and-coming core wishing to spice up their dungeon.
Coreful: I...oh god- it¡¯s just killed my strongest monster can anyone gift me something to throw at it I really don¡¯t want to die.
Killer Queen: Hell I think I just burst the surface. Later Lads. :3
Scab: Everything was better when I was Tier 1. I wish I could go back to the innocent days.
XxX-_-XxX: Someone PM me for a surprise.
The Mr: This Boss monster is better than anything I have ever made. 5 Tier 2 cores and its yours.
Coreful: MR!!!! Please. Send me that I really will die if that gets closer to me I really can¡¯t afford it but it could save me.
The Mr: I don¡¯t do freebies - any other takers?
Scab: I¡¯m the only one left from my Tier 1 group. Do you know how that feels? Awful. I wish I could bring them back to life.
DIZ: I just checked and...and...yep this chat is still a cesspool glad I ignore it normally.
YAH_BOI_STUCK: The walls are closing in, they just keep growing. My inventory is completely full and my influence is stifled. There¡¯s nothing I can do. I¡¯m stuck. Does someone want to take my whole inventory? I can ¡°Sell¡± it to you along with some cores to sweeten the deal. You just gotta unload this stack of materials it would really help so much. Please. I''ve made a trade option. Any takers .
Mage King: LOL no one would take that deal. I¡¯m not a garbage disposal core, it''s your fault for not properly managing your resources.
And so on...the stream of messages was many many times more than the chat he was used to and the number of Cores listed as tracked was close to 80. For some reason, even though the chat was many many times more active it seemed less...engaged than his previous one. Cores sent messages as if dropping them off into the void while nearly ignoring all the other cores messaging. Looking for any other changes to this panel he noticed a bar near the top. Focusing on it the bar expanded to cover most of the screen with a small label near the top- Private Messaging. Seeming to be blank for now he closed it and moved on to the newest tab he had been given: ¡°MarketPlace¡±. The market was a tangled mess of expandable panels and tingling settings begging to be tweaked. Depending on how he wanted to use it, panels could be sorted by any number of options. Buy requests and sell requests could be separated and further sorted as many times as he wished. Each box could be searched for based on what was being traded- Information, Problem-solving, Materials, Monster designs, Actual Monsters, Loot schematics, Trap schematics. Anything and everything Indecisive Earth could think of was being traded. Expanding a few panels into pop-ups he read their descriptions in an off-hand manner.
OrderName MORGO
PosterName ClamityWrappedInABlanket.
OrderType Sell
Type Boss Monster
Price 500M or Negotiable.
Desc Morgo is a BEAST. Real Proud of this one, I''m selling him pre seeded just because I couldn''t help myself- I couldn''t wait to see what he would do and so will you once you see this absolute unit of a boss monster.
OrderName Commission. Help studying the effects of an unknown material.
PosterName Zeelot.
OrderType Buy
Type Information
Price 50M on return delivery. Willing to accept Mana worth in cores for Tier 2s
Desc Through an accident I''ve come across a strange material. Potentially dangerous Potentially useful I want help studying it. Will Send you material and once a sucessful analysis has been done you can send me it back and I''ll provide full payment. Additional bonuses may be provided depending on findings.
Closing them he searched for Cores selling information then further tried to sort for information for beginners. Dozens of sell orders with names like ¡°Tutorial 2¡± ¡°Essential Primers for Cores new to tier two¡± ¡°Everything you need to know about Tier 2¡± ¡°Do not read anything before you buy this incredibly important information packet¡± ¡°No Nonsense Tips and Tricks for All New Cores¡± filled the screen. Overwhelmed by the number of options and slightly leery of some of their presentations he sighed, and mustering up his courage, posted a message to the endless reel that was the public chat.
Indecisive Earth: Hey I''m new, can anyone tell me anything I should know- - or potentially recommend any information to buy?
Cringing at how dumb and hesitant he sounded he sent the message off before immediately getting several Private messages. Two messages were simply a string of information linking to a place in the market. The third was a more detailed message saying he should buy the following with a list of reasons why- it was cheap (whatever you felt like donating as long as you promised to send something based on how valuable you found the information and two - it contained reviews and pros and cons of several other more detailed information bundles. Sold on this pitch, he followed the link to the panel and focused on the purchase option. It was a simple option with the purchasable information in the receive section and a blank area in the send section. Accepting the trade he got ready. Now, what am I getting myself into? Chapter 11. Buying information is as easy as...
The danger of combining opposing elements: Rank 1 mana is fine to use in an opposing element monster (but not recommended) even if it gives a monster ¡°light madness traits¡± however Rank 2 mana is much much worse. The mixture of Life and Death mana has a high chance of resulting in Demonic mana- Giving life to that which is not of this world as if it reached into an imaginary plane perpendicular to both Life and Death on the axis of ¡°alive and dead¡±. Terrifying abominations could appear that seek to destroy all - and will use incomprehensible means to do so. Demonic mana is nasty. The Combination of Kinetic and Mental is not nearly as shocking but equally as dangerous for Dungeon Cores-a myriad of Discombobulations and monsters that let loose waves or miasmas that can- And have- severed a Dungeon Core''s mind from their physical core. This act of pushing them out into the world beyond one''s influence is a death sentence- as without the physical core to sustain yourself all that''s left is to quickly perish. The Kinetic and Mental combination could also create MIM''s or "Moving Insane Minds"- Angry Spirits essentially that can pass through all matter and attack anything they came across...such as a defenseless Core. Really as long as small amounts of opposing elements are used in a large creature with a heavy number of other elements to offset it there might not be as bad of a reaction...but why risk your life just for some experiment? A lot of the cores that have died by Demons or MIM''s thought they could do it right up till the end- do you really want to join their ranks?
Excerpt from the useful Dungeon Information packet "Tier 2 Primer by Jess" The information packet he just bought gave him multiple options once he received it. He could either consume it directly, or leave it in the system display. Hesitating slightly then selecting "system display" a pop-up appeared in the corner of his vision that smoothly expanded to a long strip of text.
Alright, now that I¡¯ve got you here I have some important information to pass on! First order of business. Get used to death... Reaching Tier 4 is a wall that many many of your fellow cores will not be able to reach. But that is okay! By reading this pamphlet you are already taking the first steps towards surviving and if you follow some of the following guidelines you are already ahead of the curve!!! Do not accept trades in raw materials unless it looks advantageous especially large amounts! #2 cause of death besides dumb experimentation is by getting plugged! PLUGGED!!! That''s what we call reaching a point you can¡¯t expand anymore- Having your inventory get full and expanding out as far as you can but being unable to continue is a slow suffocating death sentence. Following that point do everything you can to prevent creating endlessly expanding materials! They can slowly fill your halls and will end in much the same way as above- Kill the mana and material if you gain it- anything is better than that! The next point and #1 cause of Core death is experimentation! I will leave it to other more detailed primers to provide information about the different mana types and how they react, and just give the following warning. Do Not Mix Opposing elements!!!!!! Unless you have specifically (and dumbly) picked a dual specialization (and even highly recommended in that case) Do Not Mix Opposing elements!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That way leads to madness and madness corrupts and harms its user. On that note, if you ever find Madness mana- DO NOT PRACTICE USING IT!!! You have been warned! Experimentation is not nearly as dangerous with Rank 1 Mana as it is with Rank 2...I Recommend you don''t partake in it and stick to buying some of the well-tested monsters. They are safe! Finally just some common sense. You (as a Tier 2 Dungeon Core) are lumped in with the other Rank 2 cores (The Tier 3 Dungeon Cores). The system upgrade for Tier 3 gives access to a few things one being the ability to use mana as a currency! Yes, it''s as convenient as it sounds!!! A lot of cores like being paid in cool hard Mana- however, understand Tier 2s are more limited and will accept being paid in Pure Cores- or barter! This is likely a new concept for you and if so you can purchase Pure Core creation lessons Keep in mind upper Tiers trade in "system-aided" cores and have strict standardized measurements for the currency. When Trading check the profile of who¡¯s trading! Important! They should have a rating on how many successful trades they have completed. Even if they change their name those positive and negative trades are still visible! Be wary and don¡¯t promise anything too big for any core that has several downvotes on their trade profile. Additionally, be wary of any trader with few trades offering high-priced items! Before accepting any trade make sure what they are offering is exactly what you signed up for and leave feedback if you think you were scammed! Here is a list of useful curated info packets I recommend buying. If this guide helped you feel free to leave a positive vote and or gift me something good!!! Both of these are really good descriptions of a bunch of basic information and can be bought together for 1 Tier 1 PureCore! What an amazing DEAL!!! 2 for 1!!! Slightly Pricier this packet is currently being sold for 5 Tier 1 Purecores but I really really recommend it. It¡¯s basically a staple! And while the core that wrote it initially has long since advanced, several cores are currently selling copies that faithfully contain all the information originally gathered! Isn''t that great! Written by a core that broke through the surface earlier than most and actually had adventurers delve them while they were still Tier 3 this is not necessarily essential...but high key really informative and one I recommend wholeheartedly if you have the mana to spare...it might shake your worldview a bit (I know it did mine!!!) and contains some useful insights.
Closing the popup Indecisive Earth sent a quick trade to the owner of the guide with a single living crystal, and then followed the link to the PureCore Creation Lessons. This guide was written by the same Dungeon Core as before and simply described how to make an attributeless mana core by pushing pure mana into an element (they recommend metals because they are somewhat consistent) then surrounding it with a shell thick enough to prevent the denser mana from leaking out. For the most part, all the information was already known, but it gave a few points that were new to Indecisive Earth. One being that when trading in mana he should switch his mana pool into being displayed with AMU (Absolute Mana Units) Instead of the default which was slightly "Core specific" and influenced by the default concentration a Core stored mana at (a value that steadily increased with each level)...thus 1 unit of mana by a level 20 core was worth a lot more than 1 unit of mana from a level 10 core- At least before you did the conversion. The Standard unit of a Tier 1 core was stated as being a perfect sphere 6cm in diameter created using at least 200 Absolute Mana Units and surrounded by a shell exactly 2mm in thickness. There were also instructions on how to create a Tier 2 core using 2 separate densities with a center "super mana dense" section and a middle-"high mana dense" section using 600 total AMU. Apparently, these were the sizes the system liked giving when automatically making cores, so they were the baseline in terms of value. You could trade in ones over that but then you were overpaying, and most cores wouldn''t accept cores under those values. Finally, there was a description on why these cores were valuable. Namely #1 Having a core was almost the minimum requirement for a monster to be able to potentially evolve into having a partial system and #2 that the act of having a core allowed them to host a strong enough soul to sense its surroundings and reason about things independently of its creator/base instincts. All he learned was that with enough experience* (asterisk on it requiring a lot...i.e. surviving several several fights against adventurers) Silver or Gol1&2 might be able to level into an evolving dungeon monster. He really wanted to start experimenting with his new mana but held off just a bit longer to scout out information. First making one of these standard pure cores (changing his status to show 316.7 AMU and trickling mana into his sphere- stopping just after his goal at 115.2 mana left...damn these are expensive imagine the monster I could make with this) he went off in search of the primers. Being impatient and opting this time to consume them directly he quickly paid for his packets and then consumed the entire ¡°Tier 2 Primer¡± packet of information in one go. A long essay of information imprinted into his mind similar to that very first packet way back in the tutorial, and he learned all sorts of information about his Tier. A brief overview of the effects of different mana and several ¡°common knowledge¡± tidbits that trip up new cores. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. It was much lower quality and less professional feeling than the tutorial information but in return, it was easier to access...the language that was imprinted was cold and clinical but the information packet included all sorts of side notes and the personality of the core who wrote them. This packet included another warning about mixing opposing elements. Eesh...Demons sound rough I guess. I can probably handle it but I don''t want to be overconfident at this stage. I''ll hold off on making a decision till I get more details. The more exciting information contained that wasn¡¯t just a warning, was about "unique monsters". Apparently, most bosses were made as unique monsters and regular monsters weren¡¯t. The concept behind a unique monster was somewhat novel but made some sense to Indecisive Earth. Apparently, when making a material, only one type of personal mana could be bound per element. Thus, only one main effect could be produced per type of mana. However when releasing mana and letting it bind naturally to say a rock...a dozen different effects would be forced out as each element and each component that was even slightly different in its makeup provided a different effect- each stemming from the source of the mana or even twisting to completely different aspects before being combined in both strong but unpredictable ways. The more elements and the more they are structured the more effects could be mutated and combined in that one material. The problem of course with these materials is that a Dungeon Core could no longer mold them to their will. That however, doesn¡¯t prevent them from being used in a monster and so, if one or more of these ¡°Wild¡± and random materials were used to create a monster it was in essence a unique monster- one that was hard to impossible to recreate due to the random aspect of one of their ingredients. If materials were rationed it was technically possible to make multiple identical copies of a single unique monster however the system deemed them all "unique" all the same. It was also theoretically possible for multiple unique materials with the same properties to be made but in practice that didn''t happen- even similar scenarios resulted in different magical materials. Most cores ended up using all the useful parts of the material in 1 monster, making it as strong as possible. At the same time, there were many benefits of not going down this route. Some material combinations could be dangerous, and some could create insane monsters so they must be studied beforehand. Even then it was hard to predict how a monster made using rare materials would react. I think that''s enough basic info for now. I could keep buying information on every single concept...but I get experience for experimenting and don''t know if I''ll get that by copying others.
Indecisive Earth
Level 9 13/190 exp to next level.
System Access Level 2 1/2 requirements met to advance.
-1+ Unique Monsters
-Level 20+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 6.9 unit/min
Mana Storage 81.4/190.0 units
Physical Storage 42% units
Titles.
Earth Mana Specialization, Advanced Crystal Mana Specialization
I can pull out 1.0 mana pretty easily and don''t need to check this status to know how much I''ve used-other cores are standardizing it to this AMU or whatever but changing it might just confuse me. I''ll do it if I have to make more cores but first, I want to practice using what I know. First, I''ll quickly check exactly how good my control with Crystal mana is then move on to each new mana type and see how I can go about using them to make a new and improved monster. Copying the steps he had taken making Silver, he rushed through the body for a crystal snake. As soon as he reached the scales the difference became apparent. He thought 3x the control would mean he could make 6 scales at a time instead of 2, or maybe 9 instead of 3 now that he had a 3rd floor, but the truth was much much more pronounced. He could feel out the correct way of using Crystal mana. Could feel just how limited his use had been before and exactly how to go about using it more efficiently. And so, every single scale grew simultaneously. The repeating nature of each scale appearing and growing into position as each scale was simply a part of the whole made the longest part of the monster creation the shortest. It was just so...easy. Why would he want to use anything else? He remembered he had been given a bonus to Earth mana but...at this point was that even important? Earth was fun and all but when he compared it to crystals in his mind it just seemed so...lacking. He had reached the point where he needed to make a head/core for it but had used much less than he had the first time around and didn''t need to wait for his mana to regenerate enough to finish. And just like that, a second crystal snake joined his halls. I''m definitely going to make more of you when I have the chance. I''m also not sure if my name fits as much anymore. I don''t completely want to change it but maybe a slight alteration is in order. I don''t want to be made fun of and think changing my name slightly might make it roll off the tongue more. Playing around with a few concepts Indecisive Earth shortened his name to Innearth. There we go... That might sound a bit better. Taking a metaphorical breath, he once again sent off a message into the public chat.
Innearth: Hey what''s up. What kind of specializations did everyone pick?
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Only the most mysterious and enlightened of choices will do. Mental affinity is the perfect addition to an already nearly perfect incorporeal spirit.
Carl: Hey if you want that information I''m happy to give it to you. Heres a link to my packet its nothing really just costs a pure core you can make those right?
DunCor: You ever just want to squish something? I''ve taken to making monsters for the sole purpose of squishing- it really does make you feel great.
DigTracker: Day 489. Still digging. Will provide an update tomorrow.
Pxo128: I''m going to find where Dig Tracker lives and drop the biggest demon I can find in his core room if he doesn''t stop posting. Don''t test me. I''ll do it. It''s my new life mission.
...The chat was still as overwhelming as the first time he had tried to touch it. Latching onto the single-core that had actually responded to him he pulled up their information and sent them a private message-
Innearth: Hey do I know you?
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: OH! Well Hello there. Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Hmmm...Indecisive Earth I believe?
Innearth: Yeah, I guess that makes you...Immortal Spring Of Certainty?
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Bah I''ve cast off that moniker. True power lies in the Eternal.
Innearth had kind of forgotten this core had existed... Trying to think back to when he had left it had definitely been at some point after Xero but exactly when was unknown. At the time they had been kind of annoying but for some reason, Innearth only felt relief at being able to talk to someone he knew. He wasn''t sure what had annoyed him at the time but whatever it was didn''t strike him as that bad anymore.
Innearth: How have you been its been weeks?
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: 9 days actually. Hey, I thought you didn''t like me?
Innearth: What? No, perish the thought what made you think that?
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Oh- well in that case Let me tell you all about the amazing things you can do by adding Mental mana to wind spirits. They are truly unperishable now. I''ve even figured out how to give them a core! Bringer Of Serene Eternity: By making a small box with a core and a Mental mana link for each spirit then hiding it in the walls I can give them all the cool benefits of cores- Great invention by the way. I tip my everlasting respect to the original creator of the core- Without him how could we make such marvellous spirits!
I mean Innearth had figured out how to make a core before coming to this rank without being told, so he didn''t feel like he owed much to some nameless Core...He had also not truly seen anything groundbreaking for cored monsters yet- Sure they were "stronger" and he would start adding them to most monsters he cared about to boost their strength but... I don''t really know. I don''t want to throw as strong a core at a monster as I can make and hope for the best. I want to experiment with them a bit more. Is there a better way to make a core? I made a cone core for my snake template. It was a bit more effort and now that I''ve made a "PureCore" to trade I can see it took more energy to make a non-sphere shape-it wasn''t just that it was attributeless instead of Earth but that the amount of mana and effort to make a cone was more. I wonder why? I have to experiment more with cores sometime. The whole time Innearth was thinking about monster cores "Bringer Of Serene Eternity" (mentally he renamed him to Bose) was happily describing his dungeon path.
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: The mysticism of death is truly wonderful. I wish I could replace my undying legion of everlasting eternity with an undead legion of eternity. Have you heard about something called ghosts? I can''t wait to try and bind adventures to my depths for all eternity. Bringer Of Serene Eternity: The sheer power contained in my legion...frightens even me sometimes. It''s only when I stare deep into the eternal that I recognize I am the only one who can walk this path. Bringer Of Serene Eternity: They walk along the path of greatness. My name shall be whispered far and wide when discovered and acolytes of the everlasting cycle will flock to receive my boons. Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Heh...Heh...
Innearth: Now I''ve actually just advanced. I haven''t heard about ghosts no- I actually haven''t used any of the new mana but I''ll get back to you after practicing with some of them...
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: OH. Of course. If you have any questions about how to structure your dungeon into a legend I''m constantly available. You have to work on your name by the way. May I offer "Forge of Heaven''s Gate"? I nearly took said moniker for myself but realized the strength of the eternal deep in my slumbers before gaining the knowledge of the mind. It''s free use! I don''t know of any other cores who go by it currently.
Innearth: Really have to go. Nice talking to you.
Escaping somewhat from the conversation he thought Small doses...Small doses, I don''t think I can deal with too much of him. Having someone I know is comforting but it just makes me wish I had waited for Abe. It hasn''t even been an hour and I want him to advance. Finally, it was time to see what rank 2 mana had to offer and see if he was justified in sticking to Crystal mana- the choice that felt "right" or had any regrets for not picking the newest options. Chapter 12. Rank 2 Mana Experimentation.
Adventurer 1278: How safe are dungeons? Can I bring m'' boy with me on my first adventure? He''s good with a stick so I''m sure he can pound some monster- Guard A: For seasoned adventurers? Relatively safe yeah. For you? I give it till the first thing stronger than a slime before you get injured. This is not a game, unless you want your kid to be eaten by a Dungeon Boss, you''ll leave him at home. Adventurer 1278: Can''t say that till you see me fight can you. I''m already a Level 17 Knight and me boy why he just got his first level in Warrior last Harvest. Guard B: It''s his funeral Gale ¨C let him into the dungeon if he wants, we aren¡¯t paid enough for this. Guard A: It''s our job to stop idiots like him from going in unprepared ¨C not like monsters ever come out of the dungeon. Adventurer 1278: You heard the nice fellow. Let me in Gale. Guard A: It''s the principle of the thing Mike. Sure, he has some levels somehow. Probably Guarded his wife when she shopped or something but he''s obviously still green. I''m also not letting him take his kid inside and that''s final. Adventurer 1278: Congratulations! This was a test and you passed. Well done Gale. I''ll pass that along to your manager. Guard A: Don''t think I can''t see you trying to smuggle an extra pair of feet through the gate. My word is final. Adventurer 1278: Bah. I''ll be back
Excerpt from the Gate logs for the entrance to the great dungeon town "Maliquencia". Jumping right into trying out his brand-new rank 2 mana he was once again glad he had imprinted the primer instead of simply reading it. Each of the 4 elements were much harder to find naturally and each type of mana existed at a much higher resolution. What that meant is he had to focus incredibly hard on some of his moving monsters, before he could see faint lines of mana that were the naturally occurring brands of Kinetic mana for instance. ¡­Not that the primer was as ¡°essential¡± as it made itself out to be¡­he was sure he could have figured it out with a bit more trial and error. Knowing where to look definitely saved some time, however. Starting with Life mana he checked the unique flavour of the naturally occurring mana and tried to copy it synthetically. Surprisingly the process was easier than he had imagined it ¨C only slightly worse than using Fire mana. Deciding to make each material into a block shape he shoved Life mana into the ¡°common knowledge" best material to use it on ¨C Carbon. Disappointingly it didn¡¯t seem to make much of a difference. While the magic "took¡±, and the material definitely changed...the end result was lacklustre. Simply a rectangular brick with a faint green sheen to it. Observing it for a minute and then discarding it into the corner he tried a mana type he had slightly higher hopes for next ¨C Kinetic. First checking the Kinetic mana¡¯s flavour, he then pulled out a ball of mana and worked to convert it to the new type. This process was equally painless. Not nearly as bad as Air mana all things considered. Taking out some Iron into a cube (apparently, Kinetic mana just worked best for solids and didn¡¯t distinguish between metals and non-metals) he pushed the new mana into it from all sides and watched to see what would change. Slight faint shivers started appearing around the cube and it started to vibrate slightly ¨C ever so slightly but consistently. These vibrations continued to blur the edges of the cube despite it being held in his control as tightly as he could. Lowering the cube to the ground and pushing it slightly he let go. Watching as it slowly slid across the ground bouncing off the wall and continuing to glide as if completely frictionless, he wondered how useful it would be. That was...interesting. I guess. What else can I do? Taking some more Iron, he pushed the mana into it from one side to the other this time. As the mana took root, streaks of distorted air seemed to radiate out from the opposite side than he had first introduced it. This time letting it slip from his grasp the new cube flew at a downwards diagonal hitting the ground with a skid before flying towards the wall and sticking to it. Pulling it back he held the cube rotating it to face upwards and then letting go ¨C this time the cube flew towards the ceiling at a slightly slower rate then stuck to it. Okay...So I can¡¯t just shove rank 2 mana at something and hope for the best. It needs more direction than the easier types of mana. Oh, and it''s not ignoring gravity it''s just being pushed upwards harder than gravity is pushing it down. Playing around with Kinetic mana a bit more he found he could alter the direction the Kinetic mana wanted to go. By varying the size of the cube or adding more mass and compressing it to be denser and heavier he could affect the amount of force that propelled the cube forwards...but no matter how he played around he couldn¡¯t regulate it. The movement was simply "ON" and he could tell he was going to need more work before it would actually be useful. The force being applied to it was also¡­weird. It didn¡¯t seem to be affecting anything but the block and was completely dependant on the direction it was facing ¨C twisting the block in midair would curve it in the new direction. Not sharply switching but catching up as the previous inertia was kept. Next, he moved to mind magic ¨C he couldn¡¯t seem to find any of it in his dungeon, so he didn¡¯t really know where to start. He also didn¡¯t have any of the ideal materials for it ¨C silver and gold were both much much more effective for some reason. He had already found faint traces of the previous 2 mana types in his monsters so he was sure he could find the 3rd. Staring at each of his creations one by one with the most focus he had given most of them in a while he finally found some. Faint pink sparks seemed to flicker deep inside the core of Silver as she sat in the living crystal room near his core. Seeming to be curious the snek was slowly watching the crystals ¨C a flicker appearing every time one of the crystals vibrated or shifted slightly. Wonder what she''s doing? Is she thinking about something? Why haven¡¯t any of the others given any signs of mental activity? Either way that''s enough for me to try and emulate. Pulling out some phosphorus ¨C for he had some and it was rated slightly better for mind magic than most of his other materials ¨C he pulled the mind magic into a cube. But much like the other options, no obvious change took place. Trying again he pulled from different directions and finally as if reacting to his decreasing interest in it, a slight pink haze only visible in his mana sight began to faintly waft up from it. Carrying his block around the dungeon he found a test subject and brought it near one of the worms. It flinched a bit once the block came in contact with it but otherwise ignored the cube. Trying again he found the golem that was still alive and immediately got a result. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Gol1 had been peacefully sitting on the 3rd floor preening about how he was the strongest monster around but as soon as the mind cube came near him his ego popped like a bubble. A sense of droopy sadness came over him and looking around it tried to stab one of the worms nearby ¨C it missed and Innearth could nearly feel the sense of "I''m worthless" "useless" "Can''t do anything right" emanating from the poor monster. After removing his mind-altering cube, the effects seemed to slowly disappear although the golem remained less proud than it had before. I think...I think I understand. Making another cube while thinking happy thoughts the whole time and focusing those happy thoughts on the cube Innearth finished his second mind cube. Bringing the cube close to his test subject who seemed to beam in the way that only a traffic cone with stubby little legs and a shank could. It''s interesting but not nearly as useful as I thought. One last time he tried using mind magic but this time he made two cubes and passed mind magic in a circle between them. Letting go he could see faint pink lines connecting the two in a sort of twisted cable that maintained itself when pulled further apart. Taking one of the cubes Innearth slipped it onto his designated testing monster of the day ¨C Gol1. Carrying the second cube away to find a second monster to place it on he paused. It was faint but a steady trickle of information passed down the cable towards the cube in his hand. Pulling the information towards himself curiously, he suddenly was hit by a stream of consciousness. "uhhhhhhhhhhhhh", the consciousness was slightly alien to Innearth. Not fully thinking about anything and kind of just watching the wall, his golem seemed...slow. It has an earth core though? Silver seemed to be thinking more than this. Pulling the cube over to one of the jumpers that still littered his halls he touched it to the jumper and continued to read the connection. "Looking at me funny huh. Huh. HUH, I''LL KILL YOU." A clang sounded out in the cave as his golem stabbed a weird-shaped rock that had fallen off the wall smashing it into several smaller pieces. "That''s what yOU GET". "uhhh" the jumper seemed to settle slightly from where it had been priming to pounce on anything and everything while his golem...grew more aggressive. More aggressive but also more coherently aggressive than the jumper had been. Because the golem has a core? After a few more seconds of this, they seemed to sort themselves out his golem staring curiously at the cube touching his leg. Relaxing more and more the golem sat happily ignoring the feedback from the jumper and staring at the original wall again. What is it doing? Ah well, I¡¯m sick of this ¨C moving on! The final mana type he wanted to observe was Death mana. He kind of knew something had to die before he''d witness some of it, but just as he was critically staring at each of his monsters wondering which to sacrifice he noticed the Life cube had given some effect. Rather than the cube itself changing in any way, the walls around it seemed to have been altered- faint roots had broken through the wall and wrapped around the cube covering it more and more. Following the root into the wall he saw it had seemingly sprung into existence around a bunch of weird brown wooden looking rock. Is that a fossilized tree? How is Life mana doing anything to that? Even as he watched the effect taking place was more and more pronounced. Vines had started sprouting out of the wrapped ball of roots surrounding the earthen cube almost protectively while green strands of mana continuously streaked from the cube down the entire length of each root. As the plant grew slowly covering more and more of his experimental room it seemed to pull material from the stone and air around it to feed its expansion. For the most part, this expansion seemed benign ¨C the weird plant had grown several reddish leaves that twitched as it grew, but other than making it harder to move in the room the change wasn''t that bad ¨C he could even call it stylish in a random way. A slight hiccup appeared as soon as the expanding plant found the Kinetic mana cube stuck into the wall and side of the cave. Hesitating slightly, it wrapped around the cube as well before finishing its claim of the room. Rather than a drastic change, the small cubes of Kinetic mana didn''t seem to affect the plant in as exciting a way as one would hope ¨C every once in a while the leaves would rustle despite there being no wind...but at the end of the day didn''t his living crystals do the same? Crystals were obviously a superior plant. Anyways back to his final mana type. Deciding not to sacrifice one of his already made monsters he spawned 3 fire slimes in a hallway then sat back and watched the worms swarm. Keeping a faint eye on the moment of death, it took till the very last moment to notice a single red spark that flickered into existence and then faded immediately. It was hard to spot not only because of its size and immediate disappearance, but also due to it being the same colour as the Fire mana. Trying to catch the spark it disappeared as if him trying to hold it had hastened the disappearance. The moment it winked out he felt the faint rush of the slime''s few seconds of existence hit him. I was trying to study that¡­stop returning to me I didn¡¯t get a close enough look. Maybe something stronger has to die? He was back to trying to find an older victim ¨C for science you understand. Finding a jumper that seemed slightly more weathered he realized it was the one connected by the mind stone to Gol. Hey, attack him for me won''t you? Hey? Nap time''s over. The golem finally made a move. Turning to walk along the wall it slowly waddled to the jumper nestled against the wall like a barnacle. Stabbing downwards from the side it somehow managed to catch the jumper by surprise ¨C nothing had done that so far. Somehow rising again and stabbing down perfectly the long-spiked arm managed to hit the membrane on the bottom of the jumper breaking the seal and killing the monster. ¡­That went better than I thought. I¡¯ve been mentally placing the golems and jumpers on the same scale, but I guess having a core really does help. They are back in my good graces! I definitely need to iterate on them though ¨C keep the stabby arm...throw out the legs. Useless creations legs are, who needs them anyway. As the older jumper died a much larger red glint appeared in the air and started to fade. This red spark lasted much much longer than the slime''s had. Still less than a second to dissipate and return to his influence, but nearly a factor of 5x the amount of time was taken and that was enough. The fading spark wasn¡¯t Death mana ¨C it also wasn¡¯t red now that he had a better example. Rather the spark was still white but surrounded in an aura of red- this aura a manifestation of the fading itself, as if the spark was giving off radiation as it disappeared into nothing. Picking a new room now that his old experimental room was filled with roots, he went to study this last example of Rank 2 mana. I need to start expanding again soon. I¡¯ve taken a long enough break and now I only have to devote a third of my attention on the task. Taking the cue from his previous examples Innearth didn¡¯t want to make the same mistake by just shoving the Death mana into a material and hoping for the best. Maybe if I make a monster with it? Taking the easiest monster to make ¨C a slime, he tried to infuse the insides with reddish Death mana. This slime came together quickly, but as soon as he seeded it with life the slime began to writhe about and die, just seconds after its birth. I guess death is anathema to a living creature? If I want to use Death mana, I think I need an undead creature. Putting this on the backburner. Opening up the chat he asked his new conversation partner about Death mana.
Innearth: Hey you mentioned ghosts. How are they made? Do you know what the best way of using Death mana is?
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: A disciple! This day was fated to come. I haven¡¯t figured it out Per se¡­but I can introduce you to a core who has.
A minute or two later he got a second PM, the popup half-covering his conversation with Bose.
ZeMadDoctor: Fresh?
Innearth: What?
ZeMadDoctor: Is the body you want to reanimate Fresh? Do you still have the original soul?
Innearth: I¡¯m sorry I don¡¯t actually have a body I want to reanimate. I just want to know how to use each rank 2 mana type. I don¡¯t know what you were told.
ZeMadDoctor: Inquisitive. That will do. ZeMadDoctor: Ask. What do you wish to know?
Innearth: Anything? How does it work I tried to touch one of my monsters¡¯ sparks as it died but it just disappeared faster?
ZeMadDoctor: Bah. Probably just a seed. To reanimate a body a soul must be fully formed. Not much you can do with a single spark. It''s better if you have most of the parts still intact and they are fresh. Anything else?
Innearth: ¡­not really. Have a good day.
The new Core''s name dimmed slightly and Innearth was able to tell that meant he was no longer paying attention. Not fully sure what to make of the conversation ¨C the other Core hadn¡¯t even said goodbye. Strange? I mean he wasn¡¯t nearly as strange as Bose to be honest. And he did give me information for free so he can¡¯t be that bad. I think I want to try and put some of what I learned into practice. Let¡¯s make a monster! Chapter 13. When Crystals Fly.
What is mana Regeneration and why can''t we increase it with stat points like we can everything else in the system? Our top alchemists have studied the human body thoroughly to the point where we are able to safely say that people (both human and otherwise) regenerate their personal pool based on the density of mana in their bodies. By checking the concentration of mana in the blood and flesh of several (don''t fear it''s "ethical" - we used orphans) differently levelled humans and beastkin they were able to confirm this theory and we are happy to say as long as you are a high enough level to withstand it going to stand in a mana pool can permanently improve your regeneration! Results may vary. Reader discretion is advised. ManaLabs is not responsible for injury caused by actions taken following our advice.
Excerpt obtained from the published research paper "A study of mana on the human body" Okay. First things first I¡¯m going to figure out how to get Kinetic mana to enhance a crystal golem of sorts. That should be much better than using ¡°legs¡±. First, he started trying to imagine how to get the ¡°Constant force in one direction¡± variation of Kinetic mana to actually be useful. Making a rod of crystalized Silicon it grew quickly into place, his constant attention making sure it was perfectly smooth ¨C a task that would have been nearly impossible before his specialization but was now almost second nature to him. Next making several thin bricks of metal, focusing on making sure to evenly apply Kinetic mana along their lengths, he threaded them all along his crystal holder. Next, he spun these plates, so half were facing forwards and half backwards hoping he could reach an equilibrium. The force pushing it forwards and backwards cancelled out however ¨C due to the alternating distribution the top was pulled forwards slightly more and the bottom was pulled backwards slightly more giving it a rolling spin ¨C not the perfect neutralization he had been hoping for. Deciding the best way to deal with this being to affix it in place, he made 3 more rods and stacked movement plates on each of them before connecting all 4 into a single cube. This time they were distributed more evenly, and he could imagine if a monster was able to tilt them all in different directions it would give it a slightly more controlled movement. The problem with this open plate setup of course is if anything hits the plates it will fling the monster out of control quickly. Working to protect each rod he slowly built tubes around each making sure they didn¡¯t hinder the movement of the plates. This leaves the rest of the monster. It has to have a core of course, and I think I want to try and make it fly. Oh, it also needs a way to attack if it''s going to be a good defender. Building 4 more shorter rods at the bottom of the cube facing downwards and ¨C partly just to make it symmetrical ¨C he built 4 more on the top. Encasing all 8 of the new rods in tubes the result was a hollow diamond shape with 12 rods that was hard to hold in place without fiddling with the force plates making it up. He wanted to throw everything he had learned at this monster so ¨C in the spirit of "I used Water mana for the crystal snakes let''s give fire a shot" he first made 4 spikes. Then filling them with Fire mana he joined them together pointing out of the 4 horizontal sides of the center cube. Next building a core ¨C first waiting a bit till he had enough mana and then creating the core just above what the system deemed a rank 1 ¡°PureCore¡± (there had to be some reason it liked that size right?) he balanced it in the center of the construct. Unique monsters! I have an idea. Finding the living crystal, he broke off a single shard and added it to the center of the cube beside the core in the hopes it would provide¡­something to the design. There was still space so might as well add stuff you know? Slowly losing direction, he grew over the entire monster filling in the entire empty center with solid crystal. Satisfied with mark 1 of this monster he added a spark and pulled back. As he did he noticed this and what he had done previously was enough to push him over to level 10. Finally! I mean uh... Already! Jolting back and forth a bit the crystal slowly floated into the air hovering in the center of the room. Leaning forwards, it quickly flew across the room before pulling back panicked, the crystal putting on the brakes and bouncing off the wall with slightly more force and a flash of fire from the spike that stabbed the wall. There really wasn¡¯t enough room for it to fly around. This new experimental room was one of Innearth¡¯s biggest, but all his flying crystal needed to do was tilt ever so slightly and it had crossed the full length. The tunnels also looked like they would give his crystal a lot of trouble so sighing slightly at not wanting to keep it stuck in one room, he resumed the task he had put on hold for a while ¨C starting his expansion by growing all his current hallways instead of heading into the unknown. Each tunnel was grown to nearly a meter in height while several rooms ended up having to be combined into one due to how close they were. As each tunnel grew so to did the amount of strength he was able to exert closer to the edge of his influence. I think¡­I think this is for the best- it¡¯s making it easier to expand so I really should be using bigger passages. Currently, his whole dungeon was linear in that all the rooms were strung along a single path spiralling upwards. Making several small tubes connecting the lower rooms to the upper rooms vertically these vents increased his control and influence manipulation speed even more than before. Finally satisfied with growing his current halls he went back to observing the crystal. Disappointingly he couldn¡¯t notice any effect from adding a living crystal to its makeup. I had high hopes for that :/ Maybe because the monster has a core? Trying something else he made a crystal snake but instead of a cored head, he left it as crystallized metal. Placing several living crystals along the snake¡¯s length he gave birth to it and observed. Sadly, without a core to pull the spark into it, he saw exactly what the problem was. As the spark hit this new snake it broke apart to infuse the entire monster. However, each streak of the spark swerved around the living crystals infusing the liquid metal around them and settling in the rings and scales. Okay fine I get it I get it. Living crystals are not a magical material tch. I guess it''s because they are already living and count as a plant so they can¡¯t suddenly become part of a monster. Making a new panel called "Plants" he moved living crystals out of his material pane and shoved them in there as the only entry. Maybe adventurers think this is a material but it''s useless for me. Saddend by this revelation, he gave up on his plan of adding living crystal parts to every monster and making an endless supply of unique monsters. Does it do anything to the monster? It doesn¡¯t seem to be harming it. There¡¯s nothing wrong with it if it helps but I really can¡¯t see a reason to add it yet either so I think I''ll shelve it firmly as a "failed idea". Watching his snake slither around aimlessly similar to how the worms did, he decided cores were definitely important. I need to be able to order my monsters around- there doesn¡¯t seem to be a single downside to adding a core (other than costing more mana) that I can see but there¡¯s plenty of benefits. Wanting to talk to a Core ¨C any Core ¨C not to brag about his new monster, no; just to talk about it. Talk and see how it compared to what others had. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. He hesitated before going to Bose however. No one will listen if I try the public chat. But also I feel like Bose will just tell me it''s worse than his stupid air wisps. "Oh, you made something that can fly? I''ve been doing that since day 1...hue hue hue" And I have no clue how to talk to the doctor. Opening the chat and letting his attention slowly drift down the page of names he finally found someone he might be able to talk to.
Innearth: Hey how''s rank 2 treating you?
Amy: Indecisive earth? How did you get here so quickly?
Innearth: ...not sure how you want me to answer that? I''m great obviously
Amy: Sure you are dear.
Innearth: Anyways I want your honest opinion. So here''s what my newest monster can do.
Explaining the effort he put into creating the flying crystal Amy listened patiently the whole time. Making the appropriate responses at just the right times she made him feel like he was doing well as a Dungeon Core. Finally, when he described how he finished his day by describing how he expanded the area she offered some feedback.
Amy: So how does this "flying crystal" fit into your dungeon?
Innearth: What?
Amy: Sorry, how does your newest monster make your dungeon better? What''s the role you have assigned for them. Does it get along with other monsters? You mentioned you expanded your halls for it but do you have any goals you want this monster to fulfill?
Innearth: Not really? I kind of got sick of moving limbs and wanted to make a solid monster that just uses Kinetic mana to move around you know? I also thought it looked cool. Also what does "get along with" mean? Isn''t it better if monsters fight each other?
Amy: And that''s fine! I''m not criticizing your choices. If you like it you should definitely keep it. It''s just. Like okay. In my Dungeon I have each floor its own biome. I''ve put all the monsters that get along well together in different rooms and I''ve designed each room to suit the monsters that make it their home. One room has a deep deep pool in the center of it that my ambush predators sleep in- and I''ve connected that room to all the other pools between floors as a second underwater floor. Amy: I have a boss room at the end of each of my 4 floors that''s covered in a small layer of water to slow down adventurers and help the boss get around quicker and I''m planning on making a special monster for each one. Amy: I''ve also filled my rooms with a lot of plants- It was kind of hard getting them going- I had to buy the first few before I could start populating- but once I did it I was really happy with the arrangement. Some of my monsters can hide in them and I even have a magical vine that lets some monsters heal themselves by rubbing against it. Giving your monsters a place they can be safe and giving them friends is good. They can always still fight each other but if you make species that can cooperate they will be much more effective. Amy: Does that help? You don''t have to change your whole dungeon to match a single monster but if you like these crystals enough to want to keep them maybe you should design rooms that help them fly around. You could pair them with a monster that''s stuck on the ground so they can harass adventures from the air while something bites them from below. It''s better to have a plan though in my experience.
Innearth: I...Thank you for that. I guess I was thinking I could decorate more when I reached the surface and had adventurers delve me. I wasn''t really thinking about matching rooms to monsters though that''s helpful.
Amy: I''m glad! I can''t really tell you how strong your monster is in comparison to mine. Unless...Okay so here''s something we can do. I can''t really show you my dungeon and I probably can''t recreate your monster but if you make a trade with me you could mail me it and then I can have it interact with the monsters in my dungeon. Then I could tell you how it does and send it back if you want? Amy: I don''t know. If you put a lot of work into it I wouldn''t want it to die in my dungeon and not give you the experience but it''s something we could try if you''re up for it?
It took Innearth a while to respond as he figured out if that''s something he wanted. He trusted Amy ¨C she had helped him a lot as a newborn and seemed nice, but he also hadn''t known her long. If it was Abe he''d have sent it already but she felt like a bit of a stranger still. Finally making up his mind ¨C I''m just losing time and mana... if it fails not anything I can''t remake ¨C he tried to initiate a trade for the first time (instead of simply responding to an open trade as he had done in the marketplace).
Trade Offer
Innearth Amy
Request "Counter Offer" before transfer Y/N? Confirm as is Y/N?
Finding an option beside her name at the top of the chat he opened up the trade offer panel, instead of going through the marketplace and using the already created ones. Focusing on his monster and then mentally adding it to the screen with the same amount of effort as attaching monster cores or a living crystal he next had to give the impression he wanted "nothing" and hit "Confirm". He watched as the flying crystal simply vanished with a slight pop of displacement as air rushed to fill its spot. That was slightly more dramatic than anything I''ve sent so far? Did I do that right?
Amy: Wow okay yeah I got it. Next time instead of "nothing" send the trade for applicable air- That way it will be less traumatic for the monster when it arrives. Amy: Okay it''s kinda cute. Smaller than I thought based on how you were talking about it and wow it really is made out of crystals. Amy: I can''t really direct it because it''s not my monster but I''ll see if I can force an encounter between it and one of my babies.
Innearth: Sure that works. Tell me how it does okay?
Amy: No problem!
Waiting to see exactly where his monster stood, he felt a bit anxious. She''s the same Tier as me now but...she is still older. Trying to use the advice Amy had given he looked around his hallways and tried to imagine how he could fit them to his monsters. Currently, his Dungeon had the following rooms linked together Floor 1: Core room, Crystal Experiment room and shell pit, Enlarged x3 Room Floor 2: Enlarged x2 Room 2, Enlarged x3 Room 3 (previous home of the lent flying Crystal) Floor 3: Life block and weird plant room and then 3 more rooms near the end where he was expanding. Spread throughout all of these floors were several mana mutations that he had shifted around and left in piles when he was forming new floors. Moving in and amongst them all were: Gol1, Gol2, Silver, Crystal Snake (unnamed), Crystal snake (no core and living crystal attachment), Liquid Metal Worms x30 (In varying stages of advancement as he experimented), Jumpers x6. Water Slime x1. Wait, what? How long has that been there? Thinking back he remembered spawning it as prey for a jumper¡­2 days ago? Wow how is it still alive? Looking around the room it was in (Floor 2 Enlarged room x2 closest to the lowest floor) he saw it was sitting behind a pile of shards of streaky metallic rock from when he had ripped them out of the walls when forming his third floor. Okay, that¡¯s something I can do. Growing several crystal pillars through the room ¨C spikes that came out of the ground and embedded in the ceiling ¨C he slowly planned out how the room would look. Using a different material for each pillar, some grew clear ¨C warping the view behind them slightly ¨C while others had shades of misty opacity blocking anything from seeing past them. Partway through decorating this room Amy finally got back to him.
Amy: Hey Innearth? I''m really really sorry but I have some bad news :/
Indecisive Earth
Level 10 13/220 exp to next level.
System Access Level 2 0/2 requirements met to advance.
-1+ Unique Monster
-Level 20+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 7 unit/min
Mana Storage 220.0/220.0 units
Physical Storage 54% Percent Capacity
Titles.
Earth Mana Specialization, Crystal Mana Specialization
Chapter 14. Combining elements for the first time. (A+B=C not AB?)
Making potions is wrapped in mysticism. A little-known secret we alchemists like to keep is that it is incredibly incredibly easy to make a potion that has some powerful and fantastical effect. The real challenge is pruning (neutralizing) every single nasty side effect. As well as finding common magical materials instead of rare ones to make the process repeatable. That''s why witches are shunned. Sure they can fly on a broomstick after drinking a potion made on their kitchen countertop but really, is the green skin worth it? It makes you look like a goblin lady. Leave potion-making to the professionals; it''s an exact science ¨C not making soup from random weeds.
An excerpt from the textbook "Potions 101 The Exact Science of Magic" distributed in all alchemy academies.
Amy: I¡¯m really sorry :/ your ¡°flying crystal¡± didn¡¯t actually put up that good of a fight. I think it was just a bad matchup? Amy: I sent some of my Reelers ¨C okay I think I have to describe my dungeon a bit more first. You won¡¯t get the full picture if I don¡¯t :/. Amy: So, I have these monsters I¡¯ve called Reelers ¨C name hasn¡¯t been confirmed yet. They are creatures created with long thin appendages of a combination of Living Water and the core''s magic bound to a sack that has a core and some organs that help it¡­basically, they are like octopi with extra-long water tendrils that can create more tendrils from the water around it using magic. They live in this room with several holes into a giant pool of water underneath it and like to grab anything that walks by to play with. Amy: They really are quite playful. Anyways it grabbed your crystal and pulled it underwater a few seconds after meeting it. I don¡¯t know if your crystal could have dodged it if it had known the arm was coming but it was super-fast. Amy: Apparently you added fire to your monster? Well the Reeler that grabbed it to play with noticed them right away and got kind of angry. Your crystal can move underwater by the way. Just not nearly as well as in the air I think the water was just slowing it down instead of blocking it. Amy: The Reeler smashed all 4 spikes off the crystal by hitting it on an angle repeatedly and then started to play catch with it with the other Reeler¡­I¡¯m really not explaining this well I¡¯m sorry Innearth. I think it was just a bad matchup. I can¡¯t even say my monsters are much stronger they might have had an even fight above the water but as is the crystal didn¡¯t have much chance. Amy: It was super durable though! I was hoping to send it back to you while it was still alive but couldn¡¯t nab it while the monsters were playing, and they like to pretend they can¡¯t hear me when they found a new toy. Amy: Also weird fact when it died it kind of grew after it shattered? Several chunks of it fell to the bottom of the pool of water and grew a bunch of small crystals afterwards did you mean for that to happen? Amy: Are you mad? You aren''t responding so you''re mad right...
Innearth: No. I¡¯m okay sorry for not answering I¡¯m just a bit disappointed. I thought as soon as I added Rank 2 mana it would make the monster much much stronger and it doesn¡¯t sound like it was that good of a plan. Innearth: I guess the basis behind it was still sound though I think I might tweak it a bit...the growth is just the living crystals in it they didn''t work as a unique material. Pretty sure they are harmless.
Amy: I feel like I should give you some advice seeing as how I¡¯m still the older and wiser core¡­ Amy: I read it in a guide I bought here but basically mana can be used to create, control, or provide an attribute/effect to something. Rank 1 mana is better for creation but worse for "control" while Rank 2 is better for control and worse at creation. Amy: Um. So basically, you should focus more on using Rank 1 mana to create your monster and just use Rank 2 to enhance it somehow. Amy: Um. I hope this is helpful I¡¯m still really sorry. I can''t tell how attached you were to it but you did seem excited when you told me about it.
Innearth: No again don¡¯t worry about it. Really honestly, I kinda expected it to die. I¡¯m just annoyed it did so in a pathetic manner. If you ever want to send me one of your monsters, I¡¯m sure I can do the same for you ¨C I¡¯m also willing to send you another monster to review once I get a few more going and it hurts less to lose the work.
Amy: Don¡¯t worry about it! And I don¡¯t really feel insecure about my monsters so it''s not necessary. Hey! I have some more advice. Have you tried making composite materials yet? They are super useful.
Innearth: No I¡­Just advanced. I didn¡¯t even know it was possible until I read a primer a few hou¡­I think it''s been a day now time flies wow okay. I advanced a day or so ago.
Amy: Ahh. That makes me feel worse about breaking your cute little flying rock. You just got here.
Innearth: Don¡¯t worry about it. Please. You just sound patronizing. Innearth: Hey listen, I¡¯ll keep in touch, if you have any problems I can definitely try to help! I want to pay you back for some of the help you¡¯ve given me.
Amy: I¡¯ll think about it. Talk to you later?
Innearth: Yeah okay. Talk to you later.
Pulling back he returned to focusing most of his attention on the crystal pillar room. While talking to Amy he had finished growing the rest of the pillars. Okay, there are places to hide and distort and confuse potential adventurers. Let''s see. I think I want to make this silver and the rest of my snakes¡¯ home. So, I need more. I should add ways they can get around better. Shaping the floor he littered the base of several of the more opaque pillars with small entrances then dug small tunnels for each of them. Hopefully, any adventurer that jumps in after them will have a disadvantage as they crawl. Anyone dumb enough to crawl down here deserves to die...this is an adventurer-free zone! Each hole was roughly 12cm in diameter¡­plenty of room for his snakes to slither through but unlike his fear¡­much too small for adventures to crawl through in the manner he was imagining. He sent Silver and the other snake there and then tried to figure out how to send the living crystal version over. Trying to command it in any way didn¡¯t work but when he started spawning fire slimes every few meters like a trail of blazing breadcrumbs the snake happily attacked them all the way to its new home. As a bonus, a few worms came as well ¨C attracted by the same bait. For the most part, he was ignoring them as a lost cause now that he was older however. Snek all the way now. Happy with the setup "for now" he would have started populating it with more crystal snakes, but each took nearly his whole pool to make ¨C core included. Currently, it took close to 30 minutes to regenerate back to full, so it was definitely doable! It wasn¡¯t even excessive considering! He just wanted to experiment a tiny tiny bit first. No time at all and then he would properly populate his floors with monsters. Yep. That¡¯s the plan. He lied to himself before casting aside the task and turning to something more interesting. Now! How should I go about adding elements together? Trying to imagine every iteration of every physical element added to every other physical element along with every combination of 2 mana types he could use ¨C Currently: ¡°Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Crystal, Life, Death, Kinetic, Mental¡± ¨C quickly became impossibly tedious to even imagine combining. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Nah after a certain point that becomes less experimentation and more grunt work. I should be smarter about this. Checking the market for an example, he bought the ¡°Recipe¡± for ¡°Health Liquid¡± for yet another pure core and stopped expanding so he would regenerate while reviewing the procedure. Everything seems so expensive when I have to use cores to pay for things ¨C I could have made a monster with that! Grumbling to himself at the very real cost of each of these expenses he considered what he would have to do. First, he had to use water. Actual ¡°physical water¡± this time! Then, gathering Life mana and Water mana separately, he had to push them into the water simultaneously ¨C ideally at the same spot. Quickly checking his inventory and changing the sorting from his ¡°Pure element¡± display to one with raw materials he found he had gathered roughly 40g of water from all the experiments using Water mana and dying water monsters over the past few weeks. Because he hadn¡¯t quite figured out how to make physical elements from the building blocks he had gathered yet ¨C only dismantle them into smaller and smaller components ¨C he needed to use some of the physical materials he had picked up. Taking part of it out of his inventory he held a small drop in the air then gathered the two types of mana. Before long there were 3 floating balls in his experimental room ¨C one a suspended drop of water and two incorporeal hazy spheres of green and blue respectively. Trying to overlay them and then push, he flung all the elements together and hoped for the best. The Water mana hit his ball of physical water first and seemed to get stuck, before the ball of Life mana coming up behind it hit the same spot sucking both into his sphere. The final result had turned a deep emerald green tint and had expanded by nearly 4 times what his previous ball had been. Okay¡­so I¡¯ve done it. I don¡¯t fully know why I had to use Water mana with water¡­should already be there. Seems kind of redundant if you ask me. I feel like I could have just used Life mana on a single element liquid and got the same result¡­why did I have to mix them? Staring deep into the ball of magical liquid he tried to make sense of what it was showing him. He half expected the green Life mana and blue Water mana to be all tangled up inside the material ¨C maybe the Life mana connected to the hydrogen and the Water mana connected to the oxygen¡­but that¡¯s not what it looked like after the material had been made. Instead, it was a single wavy, twisty, green flavoured mana that stared back at him. So, it''s actually a new mana type? Can I copy this and use it with one element? Trying to make mana that turned into this new flavour of Life+Water mana was both confusing and unfruitful. Like, he could imagine it was possible, but it didn¡¯t just do what he wished, and he had little to no affinity for this new type of mana. So basically, I can make this mana in a recipe but not from scratch. It''s probably the same for all of these ¡°combined mana¡¯s¡± but I should probably check if a crystal or earth combination is impossible to recreate as well. Curious he looked around trying to find something to use his healing ball on. None of his monsters seemed injured, unfortunately ¨C Lazy buggers ¨C so he directed Silver over to where his golems were staking out an entranceway. She slithered over curious and unsuspecting, halfway through the entranceway she seemed to sense the sharp point before she should have been able to. Dodging suddenly to the side with a jerk, she let the sharp point of the golem shank clang against the ground. Oh right, she has a core and should be able to see in all directions. ¨C go Silver! Angrily whipping around to face her attacker Silver darted forwards, smashing her point into the golem''s body again and again. Unable to rearm itself and flailing its stubby little legs the unfortunate golem tipped over, exposing its belly before being smashed again and again in its least armoured area. Finally, with a crack, Silver managed to puncture the offending earth body. Her coned head slightly bent at the tip and her actions slightly dazed but triumphant. In its dying moments, the golem seemed to be¡­trying to use mana? Faint slivers of stone were starting to form in the air. A glint of the earth core inside seemed to revitalize Silver however and she once more smashed in ¨C puncturing the core and releasing a pulse of energy that washed over both her and the floor. Other than a small shiver as the mana washed over her scales Silver didn¡¯t have much of a reaction but the floor was stiffened and haphazard lines appeared, radiating out from the release of energy like a weird reverse crack. Bumps upward instead of holes downward. The stone spikes clattered to the ground beside the body, dissolving into a faint powder as they never realized their potential. Bringing over the drop of healing liquid to ¡°reward¡± Silver for her valiant fight, the drop landed on the tip of her head before seeming to flow into her, spreading throughout her whole body. Maybe the Water mana helps distribute the healing energy from life? As the healing energy flowed throughout the snake''s length small scrapes and cracks sealed over, her cone also straightened back into a point as if it had never been bent in the first place. Okay...So that''s how effective it is. Does what it claims to and pretty well too! I feel like I should focus on the magic rock that was forming though. Why hadn¡¯t he demonstrated that ability until now? Is it because this was a life and death scenario? I should definitely keep monsters in combat with each other as training in the hopes more show signs of abilities¡­ Wish I stopped Silver from going for the kill now¡­ I wanted to see where that ended up. Earth magic because he has an Earth core? Is it harder for the pure cored monsters to use magic because they don¡¯t have an affinity? I could try making a bigger pure elemental golem or something¡­Anyways I¡¯ll put a pin in that as something to experiment with in the future. Now I just have to figure out how to make more materials in a similar way. The memories that came back from the golem were long and vivid...but not as useful as he had hoped. The golem had, for the most part, spent its life thinking simple thoughts and even in death, it hadn''t known what it was doing to make magic. It simply acted instinctually a faint tingling sensation spreading out of its core before its life was ended. What do I need the most? Probably a bendable flesh that¡¯s strong enough to be worth using. I also don¡¯t think I can use the last of my water. Wish I had another example to go off of, but I¡¯ve already wasted too many cores and time buying combinations. ...Okay so Water mana helps make fluids but that¡¯s not necessarily what I want. How about I mix it with earth so it''s more solid? That should be fleshy but strong. Not sure what physical elements to go with he sorted his inventory in a few different ways till Silica popped up. Oxygen and Silicon yeah sure. Pulling it out he started the process of gathering both Earth and Water mana before adding them simultaneously to the lump of quartz. Unlike how smooth the Life and Water mana had bonded to H2O Earth and Water did not like being pushed into the material at the same time. Cracks continuously shattered and broke the crystal apart as he tried desperately to add them evenly until he was left with a mess of small grains of a white powder. He pulled them around and they sort of clung together, but it wasn¡¯t where he thought they would end up. Sand :/ I wonder if I can make anything out of this? Pulling the lump apart and pushing it back together the sand lumped, and bits constantly fell off of it being caught by Innearth. He nearly constantly needed to keep it from falling apart. Maybe if it had a glue? I haven¡¯t wanted to use liquid metal because it doesn¡¯t have enough form for flesh but maybe it will work if it has this sand suspended in it. Quickly making a stream of liquid metal and dribbling it down onto the sand he watched as it clumped more and more, becoming like wet sand and then stopping as it started to slurry slightly. Not really expecting much from his lump but wanting to see it through to the end he debated giving it a core then finally decided he wasn¡¯t going to waste more effort on the creation than he already had and gave it life as is. He watched the lump pull itself up and then start to slowly drag itself along the ground. Bits of sand left on the floor behind it seemed to magically fade in its wake, until he watched it encounter one of his worms. The worm turned curious and then stabbed the weird looking slime its head reaching all the way through it and poking out the other side in confusion. A second later and the sandy lump seemed to constrict, the worm popping with a quiet blip and disappearing within the sand''s body. The sandy pile pulled apart into two separate piles, ripping apart the worm and depositing its rings on the floor while seeming to consume the liquid metal before rejoining and continuing its exploration of its new home. Okay...that¡¯s slightly more exciting than I thought. It''s not like my worms are my strongest monsters but I did spend a lot of time improving them. ... it''s a pain when they die by something thrown together...Yeah, no it''s fine, I¡¯m using a stronger concept it makes sense. Bet Silver would wreck it. Anyways on to material combination attempt 002. Trying again with quartz he made a ball of Crystal mana and a ball of Water mana. I had higher hopes for this version anyways! Combining the two, hopeful it would make a perfect material, the newest tool in his arsenal was made. Liquid Crystal was a strange beast. Instead of being half liquid and half solid, it was fully liquid but with a directed structure. Moving in axis the liquid would flow at a slightest prod. But pushing it from the side was met with firm unyielding strength. Moving the pile around in a spiral he found that the direction it was headed in could curve slightly and the thinner it stretched the more it could curve in a direction like a bent wire. However, squishing it into a perfect sphere on the other hand seemed to momentarily break its ¡°one direction is solid one direction is liquid¡± form. As soon as he let go, it extended out again, this time facing a different direction around 45 degrees off from his first attempt and flowing into a tube. Trying to pull it around he stretched the tube thinner and thinner so he could decrease the radius he had to pull it around before he managed to link one end back to its tail. This ring seemed to be¡­interesting but not immediately useful so he tried pushing the two sides inwards to break it. Resisting his mental straining with almost the strength of Earth mana filled iron, it finally snapped and merged back into a single tube. Even though it wasn¡¯t actively giving off fire, and even though he had just made a healing liquid this¡­¡°Liquid Crystal¡±¡­was the most magical feeling material he had made yet. He didn¡¯t quite know how it would fit into a monster, but he wanted to do it justice. Chapter 15. Setting up a trade-test fest with Amy and Bose.
Making potions is like baking, my dearies. You don¡¯t need a skill for it ¨C although having one helps! All you need are some good ingredients the more potent the better. Locally sourced is the best, I wouldn¡¯t trust any of the artificial ¡°reagents¡± those hotty totty alchemists distribute. No you need to find places of power, mana wells! Take that power for yourselves, my sisters. Take it and listen to no one but yourself from now on. Take it and be free.
Excerpt taken from some notes written while listening to one of the most well-known covens ¡°The Circle¡± at one of its periodic indoctrination programs. Okay, So I¡¯m not quite sure what the best way to use this material is. First, how about I try swapping it for liquid metal? Making a crystal snake in his pillar room and replacing its innards with liquid crystal he gave it life and watched, hoping it would show him something new. The new snake was¡­less effective at moving around. Less effective at everything really. Liquid metal let them smoothly glide forwards in an "S shape" but liquid crystal while stronger from the side prevented it from bending enough to glide. The monster could still move ¨C it slowly inched along squishing inwards slightly and then pushing outwards before squishing inwards again in a sad sort of slow process ¨C but it was effectively a failure. Waiting for his mana pool to regenerate he tried again. This time he used liquid metal¡­and dropped a few drops of liquid crystal into it making a slightly stronger but also slightly erratically stiffer snake ¨C bits of its body would sharpen into jagged corners as it moved instead of smoothly gliding and even though its body was probably stronger, the end result was still slightly worse than his original design. Trying one last time he first made a coned head and tried making a Crystal mana core instead of a ¡°Pure¡± one for the first time. Making a bit of the liquid crystal he brought it near the core hoping it wouldn¡¯t be suppressed. There actually was a slight decrease in the flow of the liquid crystal, but it worked somehow. Maybe because it was close enough and the fact that the Crystal mana couldn¡¯t be separated from the water? Note to experiment more in the future. Making the crystal scales and applying them he noticed the Silicon + Pure mana skin he was using to keep them together wasn¡¯t disabled as well as when he wrapped the half-snake in it. Let¡¯s see. I¡¯ll make the rings using Crystal mana as well, it''s easier now and I don¡¯t really care about keeping them earth¡­and with that and the last few scales to seal up the holes¡­ Finally done he tried to give life to his first (mostly) 100% crystal gole-snek. This result was actually better than the version that just used the liquid crystal. A slightly stiff slither before the whole snake started to rhythmically slide across the ground. Staring at the snake''s body in that focused way that laid mana bare he saw the whole snake was constantly controlling its body. Twisting the unruly liquid crystal in on itself and flipping the polarity of it every few seconds to stiffen or loosen the liquid aiding its movement. In terms of an upgrade, he could tell it was stronger than his original crystal snake version¡­the movement was less fluid and slightly slower, but it made up for it in having a much less squishy body. That being said the result was not as massive an increase in strength as he had been hoping. The amount of effort ¨C both in time and mana ¨C was higher. The liquid crystal taking more time to setup than the liquid metal. While the snake was slightly more durable for its size, it was essentially the same as his previous snakes if slightly slower. It wouldn''t be able to strike as fast and he wasn''t yet sure if it having to control its body movement so much would have any other negative repercussions. He could tell this liquid could do more. But he had also learned his lesson from just ¡°including something for the sake of including it¡±. The living crystal shoved in the flying crystal and the snake hadn¡¯t given any obvious benefits. He had to be smarter about this than just ¡°including it for the sake of including it¡± He was sure he could do more with the liquid crystal material but for now he wanted to take a look at the almost failed product that was the flying crystal. No. Not failed. I just have to iterate on it a bit. My snakes use everything I learned from my worms and I made countless worms before I got happy with how they were¡­seems weird that I was ever happy with those they look so weak now. First off, the spikes were a failure. They were too brittle and broke off when smashed against anything. Either I have to scale everything up and thicken them or I have to make them disposable. Can I have them regrow if I make a sack of healing liquid in them? That might start costing a lot because I¡¯m pretty sure they won¡¯t be able to refill their stock and I don¡¯t have a lot of water to spare. I could just make the whole thing much bigger? That would work but I don¡¯t like the concept of taking more than a single mana pool to make a single monster ¨C it will make iterating any mistakes difficult¡­I can ask for advice I guess but I kind of want to figure it out myself. I¡¯ll think about it while being productive, I guess. Restarting his constant expansion so no mana was wasted when he reached his pool cap, he opened the public chat to see if anything was happening¡­
Dungeon''s R US: BUY MY STUFF!!!!!!!
¨C Nope. It''s just spam... honestly what¡¯s up with them, why can¡¯t they have a civilized conversation, this is ruining the chat. I wish I could choose who''s allowed to talk in the chat or block half of them or something. Sending a quick message to all the cores he had been in contact with¡­well Amy and Bose at least. He didn¡¯t feel like ¡°ZeMadDoctor¡± would approve of an ¡°I¡¯m bored what¡¯s up¡± message. Amy took a while to respond but ¨C nearly a second after his message was sent off ¨C he got a response from Bose.
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Hello! I¡¯m pleasant. Actually, I¡¯ve finally figured out the secret.
Innearth: And what¡¯s the secret?
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Masks!
Seeming to want to be prodded Bose didn¡¯t elaborate until he has interacted a bit more with him.
Innearth: Okay, how are masks the secret?
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: I¡¯m glad you asked! You see so far, my spirits¡­are wonderful. Amazing really. The problem is there is nothing exciting to look at. Like sure you can see the swirling air and all that but it''s not nearly as impressive. Bringer Of Serene Eternity: So much work was put into them after all, but they look no different than the first I made. You can¡¯t even tell they have cores stored in the wall! I¡¯m obviously not going to point those out to adventurers, but I still want to show the¡­absolutely awesomeness of these. Bringer Of Serene Eternity: My solution is masks. Each spirit now has a fearsome visage as they carry around an embodiment of their true power. A face you know? A few eyes a few mouths and shove a bunch of Mental mana on the whole thing to make them recognized for what they are. Pieces of my soul. Flecks of Serenity.
Innearth: So, these masks¡­what¡­are just decorations?
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: What¡¯s with that tone. Decorations are essential for a Dungeon Core. Bringer Of Serene Eternity: The ambiance. It''s important. People come to you for an experience. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Innearth: Yeah, they come to you for experience alright. Bet it gives them lots of XP
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Are you being purposefully obtuse? No, your dungeon needs decorations so it''s not just a dingy hole in the ground.
Innearth: I was just joking with you lol. I started decorating my core room a bit but haven¡¯t really come up with a theme. Feels like something to worry about once I reach the surface to be honest.
Amy: Hey you needed something?
Innearth: Hey Amy no I¡¯m just trying to clear my mind in the hopes something will come to me. I think I want to send you a rematch sometime but with a different monster. I think you should send me one too it could be fun!
Amy: Uh. I guess... I mean I don¡¯t really see the point, but I guess I can send you one. Keep in mind it will literally be a fish out of water. If you want it to be fair you should make a small pool of water for it. Otherwise, this would really just be pointless.
Innearth: It doesn¡¯t have to be now :/ I actually don¡¯t have a lot of water. Like nearly none.
Amy: That¡¯s a shame¡­I¡¯d send you some of mine but that¡¯s honestly a bad trade for you. I should probably tell you raw material trading is¡­kinda unsafe right? Like don¡¯t buy a lot of stuff and fill your whole inventory you could get completely stuck.
Innearth: Yeah, I read about that I can be pretty careful. Think anyone would trade for Silicon? I have a lot of Silicon.
Amy: Hah. Everyone has lots of Silicon. I haven¡¯t heard of a core without access to it yet. You have anything else?
Innearth: Idk everything in basalt, I guess.
Amy: Sorry you are going have to be clearer than that. See I have a bunch of sandstone, tiny bit of clay and some water¡­found a lump of some fossilized thing once that was pretty good. Amy: Currently I¡¯m running out of metals :/ I have some Iron and a tiny bit of aluminum but that¡¯s it.
Innearth: In that case I can give you a bunch more aluminum? How about 1000kg
Amy: ¡­that¡¯s a very helpful amount¡­ actually an insane amount. I don¡¯t want to make a trade that has an uneven amount of resources so I can give you 1000 litres of water? It should be enough to make an okay-sized pool and will definitely give the monster id send over a fighting chance. I feel like this trade is super uneven I¡¯m getting so much metal for just some water.
Innearth: Nah I like using iron more, so aluminum is less important¡­ and it''s started stacking up in my inventory.
A trade request appeared as he was mentioning that. A request with aluminum on his side and water on hers¡­Accepting the offer, he felt a faint twinge inside him as his inventory was shifted around by a huge amount¡­. more than he had pulled out or put in at once handled by the system in an unknown manner. This whole time he had kept Bose¡¯s tab open as the eccentric Core continued to rant about how he should make skulls out of metal and embed them in his walls...or make murals showing adventurers gaining vast wealth or dying tragic deaths for maximum ambiance. He also didn¡¯t seem to care that Innearth wasn¡¯t responding much. The fact that Innearth had the chat open indicating he was listening was enough for Bose. Checking his materials tab, he saw it had been successfully transferred. Okay. I guess I need a place to put this somewhere before we can finish the trade. Searching around he decided the room right before his crystal pillar room was as good as any to fill. Stopping the expansion at the edge of his territory he focused on digging a large pool in the center of his room. I don¡¯t want to use all this water on just a pool so I¡¯ll keep 100kg of it for experimentation. Finishing the hole, he pulled the water out of his inventory as fast as he could, a trickle breaking into a stream in the middle of the air as the pool slowly filled. Annand that¡¯s full, I think. As the pool filled quickly, he noticed the ambient mana in the room drop slightly. Watching carefully, he noticed some of the environmental mana was pulled into the raw water as he dropped it turning into a faint amount of Water mana in the water. I guess I¡¯ve never pulled enough raw material out of my inventory to notice but that¡¯s how it''s formed. I don¡¯t know if this is useful or not but it''s information for later, I guess.
Innearth: Hey Bose you want in on this?
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Bose? Who¡¯s that.
Oops ¨C even though he had split his attention several ways the part focusing on Bose¡¯s chat was still slightly distracted, I guess I can¡¯t separate my split minds currently. Ahh what do I say he doesn''t know my nickname for him.
Innearth: Sorry ignore that¡­ it was meant for someone else. I¡¯m currently setting up a sort of testing trade with Amy where we send a monster to the other and record how they fared. Do you want to do the same?
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Oh Amy? I haven¡¯t heard from her since that fateful day.
Innearth: Yeah, I met up with her recently - so what do you think?
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: I would, but greatness comes with a price you¡¯ll understand.
Innearth: You¡­want to be paid?
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Nono nothing so vulgar. We are friends after all. No, my current minions of the Eternal are bound somewhat to my fabled halls. I have to make a new one and send you the cask and ask that you treat it very carefully.
Innearth didn¡¯t realize Bose considered them friends. He had been leaning towards acquaintances but didn¡¯t want to break his view of him. I guess we have talked more recently since I ranked up¡­so friends it is.
Innearth: Oh of course take your time¡­ I can try and fix a monster before sending it to you anyways.
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: I look forward to it!
Innearth: Hey Amy you ready? I set up a pool for your monster.
Amy: Sure, just give me a moment I¡¯m trying to pick. I love them all you understand I think I may have to make a new one for you.
Setting up a trade he selected the newest crystal snake with Liquid Crystal insides. For Amy¡¯s side, he left it blank and indicated he wanted her to fill out the other side with the ¡°counteroffer required¡± option before sending it off. Strangely excited to see what Amy would send he realized his mana was full again and started spawning replacement crystal snakes. The idea of spawning them just to fill a room had made him procrastinate the process previously¡­but the goal of spawning them to test Amy¡¯s monster pushed it to top priority. A half-hour or so later as he was making his second snake Amy finally sent the counteroffer with some sort of monster called a ¡°Skreecums¡±¡­Someone should help Amy with names they don¡¯t seem to be her strong suit. Selecting the pool he dropped her monster into the water ¨C a mess of spongy barbed tentacles falling to the pool. The other Core''s monster was massive. While a single one of his snakes was roughly a meter long her monster had a center sack of transparent film roughly half that in diameter with exactly 20 tentacles easily reaching 3 meters away from it ¨C able to touch every corner of the room if it so desired. Inside the center sack, there were several mysterious organs ¨C 5 small spheres were connected to the outside tentacles each taking 4 and the whole inside was filled with tubes that wrapped around each other and the innards like a pile of ropes. Using mana sight each of the tentacle spheres shone nearly as bright as the core in the center. Are those smaller cores? Did she use multiple cores in a single monster? I think I wanna try that. At the very center was a single pure core peeking through some of the ropes bigger than any Innearth had tried to make before. ¡­What. Is this a challenge? How long did she spend making this thing? And didn¡¯t she mention her Reelers were basically octopi¡­Are all of Amy¡¯s monsters¡¯ octopi shaped? Or just these two¡­ Either way, it felt like she had sent him a boss monster when he sent her a regular monster¡­ Ignoring the huge many armed monstrosity as it slowly moved its arms around he continued to spawn snakes. I think I figured out what I want from my flying crystals. This monster looks like it will grab anything that comes close to it and pull it into the water. I need something that can attack from a distance and hopefully dodge any attacks that come its way. Being in the air helps it stay out of reach and hopefully get to good places to attack from. Stopping his spawning of snakes after he had made 4 he started to make changes to his flying crystals. Making the flying frame the same as last time he added a tube running through the center of it. Pulling the longest and thinnest living crystal he could see off the patch he placed it beside the tube and dug a hole into the side. Trying to think of the best way to break pieces off of the living crystal he settled for two metal spikes on either side of it bound to directionless Kinetic mana so they vibrated constantly. The hope was that smashing them inwards repeatedly would break off shards of the top of the living crystal and then it could regrow into its full length again. Next, using a concept he hadn¡¯t touched in a while he filled the end of the tube with a donut-shaped sandwich of Fire mana, liquid metal and Earth mana metal. It''s much much smaller than the legs on the jumper... but it doesn''t need to push the whole monster through the air. Just hopefully throw one of these spikes hard enough that they can hit that octopus without letting the flying crystal get within grabbing range. Hopefully, the Earth mana cap will be less likely to shatter than a crystal one. Adding a core and filling in the body he prodded it to shoot something. A crack sounded out as the spike cannon was loaded and then a few seconds later a crystal shot out at high speed. Moving in an arced path, the crystal spun several times end over end before shattering against the wall. Ordering it to attack again downwards the flying crystal flew around impatiently as it waited for its ammo to regrow before leaning forwards and dropping the spike ¨C this version twisting in the air and landing facing upwards. How do I get it to land spike first? Trying again he made a second flying crystal with a blowgun this time making a much longer tube. Hoping this would work how he was imagining it he gave it life and told it to repeat the attacks the other version had done. Two crystals flew out each mostly doing what he wanted ¨C the one shot at the wall started to turn last minute ¨C but for the most part, it had worked. They just don¡¯t have as far a range as I hoped. Is there any way to get them to control these spikes and keep them facing forwards? It looks like Amy¡¯s monster has multiple cores. I can¡¯t just use a Crystal core and hope it will be able to control them better because it will probably disable the Kinetic mana enough to prevent it from flying. How about I make a version that doesn¡¯t need to fly? Why am I stuck on it flying I have liquid crystal now! Making a Crystal core and spike cannon he positioned them how he was imagining and then surrounded them in a large sack of liquid crystal reaching all the way to the end of the cannon. Next making several sheets of pure crystals, he laid armour over his landbound mobile cannon giving it the shape of a turtle. Giving life to it he asked it to fire and watched as the core pulsed before sending a shard flying out of its blowhole striking the far wall true. Tweaking the direction of the cannon on the flying crystals to face straight downwards and adding a bunch of stretchy pure mana around the opening as a way to hold each shard in place, he worked on setting them up as bombers. Spending the next few hours he expanded his army of both crystal bombers and turtle tanks before he was finally ready to attack. That octopus won¡¯t know what¡¯s hit it. Chapter 16. Second shot at beating Amy taken.
The Glory Of The System: My Fellow Dungeon Cores! I Know Some Of You Dislike Using The System To Aid In Your Creations. I¡¯m Here To Try And Persuade You Otherwise! The System Doesn¡¯t Take Away Your Control! For Those Of Us That Have Lived Before I Speak As A Representative! We Are Thankful For All The System Does. I Never Want To Go Back!
DunJohn: I¡¯m¡­ not reading that.
DoneGun: Booo. Get out of here Gramps. Fix your grammar - then we can talk
Degen Corr: You¡¯re preaching to the choir. Go find some fellow ancients to bug with your drivel. They are probably the only ones that distrust the system anyways.
The Glory Of The System: I Simply Wish To Spread The Teachings Of The System. Its Saved Our Lives. Our Species. It Makes Our Lives Better In Every Way.
DunJohn: What are you on about Gots. Literally no one is complaining.
Soul Of Iron:>>He>>is>>simply>>talking>>about>>how>>easy>>you>>cores>>have>>it<< >>Back>>in>>my>>day>>we>>had>>to>>build>>our>>monsters>>using>>nothing>>but>>determination>>and>>instincts<< >>No>>fancy>>system>>panel>>to>>tell>>you>>whats>>in>>your>>inventory>>no<< >>Some>>times>>we>>had>>to>>empty>>our>>whole>>inventory>>just>>to>>find>>some>>iron<< >>It>>built>>character^^
DoneGun: We need to petition the gods for a way to block out the older cores. Shove em in a chat somewhere else where we don¡¯t have to interact with them. Anyone with me?
DunJohn: Ai, I¡¯ll throw a vote in.
The Glory Of The System: The System Was Made So We Could Communicate! Why Ever Would You Block Out That Communication. Absurd! Sacrilegious! Unthinkable!
Excerpt taken from chat logs from "Public Chatroom V0.1" 150AS. His army was lined up at the border between the crystal Pillar room and Amy¡¯s monster¡¯s pool room. 5 Crystal Bombers (2 less effective ones), 5 Crystal Turtle Tanks, and 5 Crystal Snakes (new variants + all the older Versions) all lined up in rows. The army was ready to roll. Cheering them on he sent them out 3 at a time to engage the waiting beast. I feel like I might be going overboard¡­nah If I can¡¯t kill Amy¡¯s monster then how else would I be able to tell her how effective it is. Yes, she¡¯ll appreciate the effort I¡¯m putting in¡­and if it survives this army, I¡¯ll send it back to her and admit defeat. As the first group entered the room the slowly waving tentacles stilled. Slowly raising and then suddenly shooting forwards 3 tentacles extended, each aiming for a separate monster. The Turtle was immediately grabbed, barbs sliding over its crystal armour and flaking off pieces of it as an appendage clung to the shell. The first ¡°Bomber¡± managed to slip past the threat as it rose into the center of the room and started dodging the tentacles that scraped along the ceiling in their attempts to grab it. Finally, the snake ¨C one of the older variants but not the oldest version (Silver) ¨C was simply sliced in two, its tail flipping away into the corner while its top half struggled to continue its assault. As Innearth sent the second wave out, the Turtle shot off a spike that missed wildly before being picked up and pulled towards the monstrous octopus. Twisting the shell upside down the octopus seemed to consider the fleshy underside before a second tentacle came and neatly sliced it off ¨C hitting at an angle the liquid wasn¡¯t protecting from at too fast a speed for the creature to manipulate. Agitated the liquid crystal fell out of the shell ¨C the octopus dumping the contents and exposing the core like a pearl for its taking. Innearth¡¯s next wave entered the room just in time to watch the first Turtle¡¯s core being ripped out and shattered ¨C liquid crystal making weird streams as it fell to the pool of water below and mixed with the water. Each stream of liquid crystal falling at an angle away from the shell instead of straight down giving the whole scene an unnerving feel. Immediately seeing what happened to its brethren the second Turtle backed up into the hallway before loading and shooting a spear of crystal at the monster. The second flying crystal joined its older likeness in harassing the octopus from above. The first had been the older prototype that shot forwards and it hadn¡¯t managed to let loose a shot yet but the second could drop its load directly on the monster. Hit by sharp spears from both above and the side, the tentacled beast flailed about attempting to knock the projectiles to the ground in a futile attempt. A lucky shot managed to nab the first flying crystal and smash it into the ceiling breaking its brittle body and dropping shards of crystal and a broken core into the pool below. The 3rd wave was approaching ¨C this one containing Silver, the final older flying crystal and a regular Turtle but they were nearly not needed. Taking the slow stalemate and whittling down of the monster to a truly outnumbered and overkill fight, they rushed forwards and attacked. Tipping the balance completely in Innearth¡¯s favour. Over half of its tentacles were damaged in some manner now ¨C some completely ripped off and others speared through and weighed down. A lucky shot managed to hit two tentacles at once pinning them together as it twisted the tentacles that had been reaching out to rend Silver limb from limb to the ground. She managed to slide into the water gliding forwards and being the first monster to stab into the creature¡¯s sack and actually puncture it. Immediately the tentacles stopped flailing about and stilled ¨C but the fight wasn¡¯t finished. The ropes twisting about the inside of the monster pulsed several times, large lumps appearing in their pipes as a liquid was rapidly pumped through them. Seeming to shed its skin, a yarn ball of intestines surrounding the core pulled its way out of the sack and tentacles, before attempting to escape into the bottom of the pool. Underwater the spikes being dropped by the one flying crystal that could Bomb and shot from the two turtles at the entrance were nearly useless. But Silver and the other nameless crystal snake both followed the escaping creature down to the bottom of its pool to finish it off. Seeming to draw some of the liquid crystal dropped into the water earlier towards it, the nameless snake manipulated the material. Reaching forward it wrapped a crystal noose around the foreign monster trapping it in place while silver stabbed inwards with her spiked head. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. As bits of the tube broke, a densely magical liquid leaked out. Several strands of deeply deeply blue ink dying the clear water an unnatural colour, as they infused the whole pool with concentrated Water mana. The tubes flinched after being broken and started to push the water away from itself in a chaotic pulse attempting to blow the two snakes away from it. At this moment with a burst of speed Silver finally managed to glance a blow at its core shattering it and changing the pool forever. As a wave of pent-up mana passed through the diffused liquid crystal pool, now filled with dense blue liquid, its colour twisted and thickened. Escaping the transformation, Silver slid to the surface and flung herself out of the pool but the other snake seemed entranced by the process preferring to sit in the middle of it and wait the "storm of change" out. The water seemed to shatter and reform several times as it changed, and it was only after the 3rd shatter that Innearth decided this wasn¡¯t a temporary change to the pool but a permanent one. Instead of the stable liquid crystal that seemed to pick and choose properties of both solids and liquids depending on strict guidelines and weird unnatural concepts like ¡°direction¡±, this pool was in constant flux. Spikes periodically appeared, pushing out of the surface before breaking apart and melting back into nothing. Under the surface was even worse ¨C bits stiffening and relaxing constantly and randomly as the crystal snake slid around ¨C one-minute swimming, the next seeming to slide around on the edges mid-water before being momentarily frozen and then released again. It seems happy enough? Feel like I should probably name it so I can differentiate the weird pool snake from the others¡­You¡¯re now Pool Snek. Be proud. Wear your name with pride. Pool Snek ignored the Core who had christened it and continued to frolic in the pool. As it moved about, it seemed to get better and better at controlling the fluctuating pools liquid. Gliding along bridges above the surface that broke behind it and smashing through walls that shattered like glass before reforming behind it, the snake made this strange attraction its home. Turning to the chat he noticed Amy had sent him a message¡­A couple hours ago, oops, I guess she''s been done for awhile.
Amy: Hey here is review #2 of your absolutely adorable monster. This lil guy moves well on both land and water, I think it''s much better than the last monster you sent by far. Okay, so it seemed to like exploring so this time I didn¡¯t tell anything to come attack it just let it make its way throughout my halls itself. Amy: You there? It hasn¡¯t shown you coming online yet¡­ Amy: Ah well I¡¯ll finish my review and you can respond when you are free. Amy: So, the snake is probably a great common enemy for you, It managed to sneak up and stab two of my Spinners before retreating and dodged the attacks by Reelers in the same room that your other monster died. It seems like it can do about as much damage as most of my common monsters but has a bit less reach and isn''t fast enough to kill them all so it might be slightly weaker. You could probably set something nice up if you make places for them to hide in your dungeon and play to their strengths... Now it''s hiding in a room I haven¡¯t attached to the water network yet, do you want me to send it back? Amy: Alright I¡¯ll continue monitoring it and tell you if anything new happens
¡­Innearth felt kind of guilty about getting competitive and sending a literal army at her monster now. He wasn¡¯t going to lie about the way it died, or the number of monsters that attacked it, but¡­maybe he¡¯d not mention the amount of effort he had put into putting her monster down. Or that the monsters had been somewhat designed to counter it.
Innearth: Hey Amy you on? I¡¯m afraid the monster you sent is dead¡­but I have to say it performed admirably. I sent 3 monsters at it but when it killed 2 I felt like I should up the difficulty and sent 6 more¡­It managed to last against 7 monsters for quite some time before perishing. I don¡¯t know what to tell you it seemed artfully made. I think it''s stronger than any one of my monsters and if I sent them one at a time for it to destroy it could have probably lasted all day. Innearth: I¡¯m really sorry I didn¡¯t back off at the point it was clearly pushed back, If it matters I rate it as being able to handle 4 of my monsters at a time¡­I don¡¯t know how that transfers to handling Adventurers but you know? I''m sorry you gave a much more informative review and your monster probably taught me more than mine did but I can tell you''re more experienced than me at this.
Amy: Hey! Amy: ¡­Oh my poor baby. Can you give me more details? How did he die?
Innearth: The octopus was harassed by ranged attacks, Since I sent you the Flying crystal I¡¯ve upgraded them to drop spikes instead. After being stabbed repeatedly it tried to escape and then my snakes followed down into the bottom of the pool when it tried to escape there.
Amy: ¡­did you have to send them after their escaping form? I made that so I could heal them back to full after they reached a safe space¡­ you could have sent me it back so I could have saved him¡­
Innearth: Yeah¡­I didn¡¯t really order them to attack its escaping form, but I was kind of feeling competitive and didn¡¯t stop them. I thought it was going to start attacking again its escape form looked ominous like the second stage to a boss.
Amy: That wasn¡¯t a boss? Just one of my regular Skreecums¡­I sent you that one because it¡¯s the only monster in my dungeon that acts alone¡­all the others have packs and hunt in pairs or large groups.
Innearth: Yeah sorry¡­I do want to say I learned a lot just by looking at it! There are so many concepts you used that I can¡¯t even puzzle out. Like what was that blue stuff? Anyways I thought it was a boss because of how big it was, Chunky boi. You should make some adventurer-sized monsters as well.
Amy: Innearth¡­I. Okay, I¡¯ll tell you, but I¡¯ve worked hard on that okay? Don¡¯t spread it around I''m only telling you because I consider you a friend. Basically, it''s nearly impossible to make a Water core. Packing enough Water mana into a material ¨C any material ¨C I¡¯ve tried so many ¨C makes it liquid no matter what. It''s basically impossible to contain¡­Air cores too, I think but I haven''t tried those before. Amy: However, making pure shells hard enough to hold it doesn¡¯t seem to work and neither does using a shell that¡¯s not Water mana. -It will slowly turn into Water mana and after a critical point break again. Amy: So anyways, the liquid still acts a bit like a core when gathered together in earth shells but not fully - the shells corrupt that slightly. I have them in a few of my monsters to control the limbs better and as long as I also include a pure core it seems to be able to function well enough. The tubes have multiple purposes but for the most part with these monsters, it''s to protect their pseudo cores. Sometimes when enough of them are merged in it they¡¯ve shown signs of making spells but nothing repeatable.
Innearth: You can include multiple cores in a monster? I think I remember wanting to experiment with that.
Amy: Yeah for the most part! I haven¡¯t been using multiple full cores yet but the few times I¡¯ve tried I learned you shouldn¡¯t have multiple cores the same size in it.
Innearth: Oh? What happens,
Amy: So, when you use multiple cores you have to spark it with life multiple times¡­and the few times I tried cores equal in size they kind of clashed constantly each trying to control the body and ripping each other apart as they fought for control.
Innearth: ¡­and making one larger fixes that?
Amy: It does! The smaller cores submit to an obvious higher power if you ever have time to experiment with it you can get some pretty powerful creations. Amy: The only problem of course being that cores take aggess to make. I recommend you outsource if you go that route. Try and use the market you know? Amy: Anyways I don¡¯t think I want to do this trading thing again. It''s nice to know¡­but I¡¯m kinda disappointed my baby died and wasn¡¯t able to return to me.
Innearth: I¡¯m sorry! Listen I feel really bad about it you can send all your monsters to attack my snake if you want? Also, I think I just made a unique material do you want a bit of it as a gift?
Amy: Oh? You have a lot of a unique material? Is it safe? If you think it''s safe I could use a bit. Also, I¡¯m okay, your cute little monster did nothing wrong there would be no point in taking out my sadness on it. I¡¯ll send it back shortly.
Innearth: Yeah, it''s safe. Want to buy a snake of your own :3 Considering the amount of effort that goes into one I think¡­2 pure cores might let me break even ¨C I can do that for you no problem :3.
Amy: Oh, you really are an entrepreneur aren¡¯t you. Taking my advice to outsource for pure cores huh I didn¡¯t mean from me¡­ I might just take you up on that though. I think having my very own Slitherkins would be great.
Innearth: ¡­I¡¯m going pretend I didn¡¯t hear that awful name for crystal sneks.
Setting up a trade request he put a small cup worth of the material from the pool and quickly whipped up a crystal snake husk nearly seeding it by default before stopping himself at the end. Oops, yeah no, she would want the monster to be hers. Setting what he wanted as 2 pure cores for the trade combined with a gift, he sent it off hopefully. A few seconds later and it was returned for him to confirm ¨C Amy having attached his original snake to it and leaving the rest untouched. Selecting where he wanted the snake to go as the same place his husk was, he confirmed the offer and watched as the empty husk seemed to blur being replaced with a confused crystal snake who jumped back after the sudden transfer. I¡¯m going to name you Pioneer. You visited a new place didn¡¯t you. But now you are home. The snake seemed to understand as it relaxed and began exploring his dungeon. I guess next I should see if Bose is ready to do a trade as well! Chapter 17. Why am I outmatched.
Unknown Adventurer A: What is the best Dungeon in the world? I¡¯m talking full review of all they offer which one is the best? Unknown Adventurer B: Maybe Elnor¡¯s ¡°Elantra¡± Dungeon? It has incredibly well-done progression ¨C you can skip to floors you¡¯ve been to with special doors and each zone of 3 floors is themed differently, so you don¡¯t get bored. It''s one of the older dungeons so even though it has plenty of floors that are perfect for young and inexperienced adventurers, it also has some nigh impossible to complete ones if you go down far enough to really challenge the veterans. Yeah, I think Elantra¡¯s is the best dungeon and I stand by that statement. Unknown Adventurer A: Personally, I¡¯d go with The Great Metal Dungeon. It¡¯s a newer one but because of that it hasn¡¯t yet balanced its rewards. Plenty of gold and masterfully crafted relics in that dungeon that are even given out to noobies for less than a few hours work. Mmm yeah, I can¡¯t wait to return to that golden goose of a dungeon. Unknown Adventurer B: That does sound nice¡­if you like having stuff handed to you. I stand by Elantra¡­ you can find it a good day¡¯s ride by either horse or mage buggy to the east and I promise you can raise your skills to the roof by moving there.
Excerpt taken from the completely ¡°natural¡± reviews loudly made all over towns and cities neighbouring Elnor.
Innearth: Hey Bringer are you ready to review each others¡¯ monsters?
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Just a bit more time I need to tweak this a bit first. Not that it''s not already perfect but I want to show my best.
Innearth already knew which monster he was going to send. He was planning on giving him the flying crystal in the hopes he could get some honest feedback from a Core using what sounded like primarily flying monsters? Trying to see if there was anything he could improve on before sending it he thought about how Amy¡¯s monster used multiple ¡°almost cores¡± to help with the control of its limbs. Reverting the design from the option that simply dropped spikes to the previous arced blowgun facing forwards and slightly upwards he tried making a small crystal core at the side of the tube. He wasn¡¯t sure quite how large a difference he had to make so he decided to start off on the lower end making a pure core roughly 25% bigger than the Crystal core. Sparking it with life he saw the spark flew towards the larger core and, after sending a second spark to fill the second core, he watched as the crystal righted itself. Everything looked like it had worked however a few cm into the air the crystal suddenly stopped. Waiting for something, anything to happen, Innearth stared curiously. He wished he had a mind magic connection he could take advantage of, because nothing of the crystal''s internal struggle was obvious to him. The smooth crystal wasn¡¯t able to communicate its emotions or thoughts and he started to get bored watching it make zero progress. Are you good? Shoot the wall if you can hear me. Nearly immediately the crystal made a faint smashing noise as it broke off a spike and seconds later shot it off. The shard hit the wall but after indicating its existence the flying crystal went back to floating silently above the ground. Yeah this one¡¯s a dud. Looking around he saw one of the turtles and felt conspiratory as he nudged it and politely asked if it would shoot the failed flying crystal. Sic em Seeming happy enough with its task the turtle loaded a shot and sent it careening at the hovering crystal. This shot hit true and sent the flying crystal careening sideways towards the wall. It would take a while for the first turtle to grow an extra shot, so he looked around and found a second one to fire. TODO: note to self. Add more shots to the turtle so it can rapid-fire¡­Maybe set up a way for it to aim the shot without moving its whole body while I¡¯m at it. The second shot hit the crystal just as it was righting itself and pushed it back into the wall. A crack rang out on its body but the crystal itself still held. It would be annoying when I want to scrap a failure but honestly, I think Crystal mana is slightly more brittle than Earth mana, so I want to try and fix that. Like it''s definitely harder and stronger but it''s cracking much easier. Second TODO: Figure out how to strengthen the crystals used in armour. Something with absorbing or dispersing the force maybe? The first turtle had regrown its ammo and fired again unprompted. This shot smashed the crystal back into the wall, a large crack running down the middle of its length. Okay, I need to think more about what Amy mentioned about giving each monster a purpose. Currently, I paired the flying crystals with a turtle and snake, but it seems kind of redundant to have a mobile ranged monster attached to a landbound ranged unit. It would be better to pair it with a melee unit that can either distract or protect it with a tougher body. I could pair it with a snake, but they seem to work better as a surprise attack/quick in and out fighter. I should work on setting up a monster that pairs well with them. The first thing of course is to improve the flying creature. Third TODO: Make a better pair for the flying crystal. Turning back to the execution he found the flying crystal had been smashed enough times that it was lying on the ground one of the rods responsible for flight crunched into its center and both of its cores exposed to the room. Still not done? At that point in time, a random water slime jumped out of its hiding place behind a pillar and landed on the fallen flying crystal. Globing over the fallen form, it seemed to bash the already shattered crystal just enough to finish the job, surprising both Innearth and the turtles. ¡­How long has that slime been alive? Why is it still alive actually? Is it the same one that gave me the idea to build this room? Staring at the slime as it seemed to triumphantly dance upon the shattered corpse, he reviewed the memories obtained from the monster. He had already kind of guessed the fact, but his cores were too close in size. The whole time they had floated in the air the two had been locked in a furious struggle for control. The pure core would command the Crystal core to do something and the Crystal core would yell at the pure core to ¡°do it yourself¡±. Remaking the monster, he increased the pure cores size slightly and decreased the Crystal sub-core to the absolute lowest he felt he could functionally make it. This time after seeding the monster it seemed to work. The crystal flying up and exploring its new home, without any visible signs that something was wrong. As if Bose had been waiting for him to finish, he finally responded that he was ready.
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Hey can you promise to hide the urn somewhere before testing this? Also, send me it back afterwards even if it breaks this is just a test okay. I¡¯m ready.
Innearth: Yeah of course that¡¯s fine I¡¯ll set up the trade.
Setting up a trade window for the crystal he had just made he sent it off and seconds later, received Bose¡¯s counteroffer including his spirit and urn. Accepting the trade and picking an empty portion of the hallway, he disposed both monster and urn near the wall. Feeling kind of silly for helping set up the monster he was then going to attack, he dug a rectangular hole into the wall and lifted the urn up. Sliding it partly into the wall before stopping to observe it closer. This urn was a silver black and red, modelled vase shape. Up and down its length were several scribbly runes that glowed with Fire mana focused into light somehow instead of heat. Light mana, I guess. I don¡¯t think they have much of a purpose? And I can¡¯t see light doing much. Peaking inside he saw a single large pure core suspended, perfectly centred. The core was attached to the inner walls with several pink Mind mana rods and ¡°painted¡± with several metallic glowing runes which also didn¡¯t seem to have an actual purpose. Pushing the vase the rest of the way into its cubby and sealing up the wall, he turned to observe the wind spirit himself. A pure white mask hung in the air covered in 3 black gems arranged artfully for eyes and a large red and jagged mouth surrounded by several intricate swirls of faint pink. Focusing on those swills he saw some connected to the urn a meter or so away and several had a faint feel of importance. Not that they were actually important, and it was trivial for the Dungeon Core to stop focusing on them, but he could tell they were meant to make the mask seem more important. Maybe they work stronger on something physically there? I wonder if my monsters will care. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The whole time he was checking the monster out, it sat there, as if it could feel his scrutiny. Well, no point in putting it off. Let¡¯s give it a proper review. Sending the nearest monsters to attack ¨C a single nameless crystal snake and a turtle that had wandered this far ¨C they entered the entrance to the hallway and engaged. Sending off a shot every 5-7 seconds the turtle made spikes of crystal shoot down the hallway and pass through the spirit. Each shot that passed through his spinning body was diverted and flung to the side and after the 3rd shot, he seemed to be able to react to them. Picking a crystal spike out of the air and turning it to face the snake sliding towards him, he sent it off as a makeshift return fire. The shot hit the top of the snake, but its scales and harder innards made with liquid crystal rendered the shot mostly moot. The shot sliding along its back harmlessly and shattering as it hit the ground. Reaching the spirit a few seconds later the crystal snake struck ¨C rearing back and stabbing forwards with its head. Hitting the edge of the spinning vortex the snake¡¯s head was twisted to the side as the snake was whipped around, dragging its tail 180 and depositing the snake on the other side of the spirit. It was at this moment that the spirit began fighting back for real. Gliding forwards it picked up the shards of the tips of living crystals that had shattered near it and ignoring both of Innearth¡¯s monsters seemed to be contemplating what to do with them. As if making up its mind, it started spinning each shard faster and faster before suddenly shooting them out ¨C half aimed towards the snake, the other half towards the turtle. Both groups hit Innearth¡¯s monsters at such a speed the shards shattered into dust. Most were brushed off the turtle¡¯s shells, but some struck the hole it was shooting out of ¨C crushing the ammo spike backwards both damaging the turtle and its means of attack. This monsters haaaaaxs, worse than Amy¡¯s I actually don¡¯t know if there¡¯s anything I can do? Can any of my current monsters beat it? I don¡¯t really think so. Potentially if I tell them to attack the wall where the urn is hiding it might be destroyed¡­but currently, I don¡¯t think any of my monsters can dig there and it feels like cheating besides the fact. Unless they can find it themselves there¡¯s no real point. Watching as the wind spirit smashed the turtle against a wall and moved towards his snake, he wondered how to counter them. Staring closer he traced the Mental mana connection from the wall to the mask sitting in the middle of the whirlwind. Maybe it will be banished if its mask is destroyed? He mentioned connecting them with Mental mana before he mentioned adding the mask¡­and I can¡¯t see how a mental connection would pass any power between the urn and the mask¡­but it¡¯s the best I¡¯ve got. Telling his snake to retreat while it still had a life ¨C no point in losing work when it was obviously outmatched, he instead looked around for another monster that could attack. There was actually a jumper relatively close by, but they had never listened to him (without a core they couldn¡¯t hear him and even if they could they probably wouldn¡¯t care) So, not finding any convenient monster nearby he spent his mana pool making most of a new turtle at the other end of the hall and tried to figure out how to give the spikes it shot more weight. The living crystals were somewhat standardized in size. Each spike varied in width and height by 25% or so between the smallest and largest spikes, but the plant didn¡¯t seem to grow any truly large or small crystals. He could obviously just make as large of a shard as he liked using Crystal mana. The reason he was using living crystals in the first place however, was that if the top was broken off it would regrow, giving the ranged monsters an endless supply. When Bose first described his monsters way back in rank 1 he had mentioned spinning Air mana around a central Air mana core of sorts. If I break through to the inside will it disperse? I don¡¯t know if anything¡¯s changed since then with the external core¡­and now that I think about it, I can¡¯t see any part of it that looks different. Is there any way to disrupt its body? Break its spinning? Does it need to be attacked by mana? None of my monsters can use magic yet and I don¡¯t know how to make it so I can. There was that one time with the earth golem, but it honestly seemed like a fluke I don¡¯t yet know how to make a caster. Cheating somewhat he finished the turtle normally but fashioned a large single use spike out of iron and Crystal mana compressing it as much as he could and letting it stick far out of the turtle¡¯s tube. The shard was grey and glossy but not much different than any other crystal material when formed. Seeding it and commanding the turtle to attack, this spike shot true and actually managed to penetrate the spinning spirit''s body without being immediately spun away. As it reached the center this shard chipped the side of the mask, a large crack running down the full length before the spear exited the other side. As it exited its tail end being whipped to the side spinning it several times before shattering the shard on the ground. I¡¯m supposed to review it but honestly, none of my monsters can even touch it. I could keep manually making spears ¨C or I could pretend to be an adventurer and try to fake a spell by throwing mana at it. But the mask clearly chipped through those squiggly runes and it didn¡¯t break any enchantments proving they are just for show and more is happening. It really is worse than Amy¡¯s monster, I think I¡­I think I give up. I¡¯m going to send it back with full stars.
Innearth: I¡¯m stumped. Hopelessly outclassed, how are you supposed to kill these? Either way, I think it''s an incredibly strong monster. Can do roughly the same amount of damage as most of my monsters but its defence is through the roof. It''s almost like it doesn¡¯t have a defence with how stuff passes through it. Well done, I guess? 5/5 stars
Reopening Bose¡¯s chat, he sent off a trade request with his monster and then waited. Idly watching the spirit juggle broken crystal shards, he didn¡¯t have to wait long before Bose responded both to his trade request and message.
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Marvellous I¡¯m glad you agree. You aren¡¯t meant to kill the eternal. They are simply there. Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Your crystal isn¡¯t dead yet, if you want I can send it back? It''s currently being chased around my fabled halls.
Innearth: How does it fare against your monsters? I want to improve it so give me your honest thoughts. I''d like it if it could be returned in one piece - no sense killing it just because.
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Ah yes, alright.
Responding to the trade request he retrieved a very jittery flying crystal
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Let''s see. How to review how to review. Your crystal is fast enough. It''s reasonably agile ¨C could turn sharper if you figure that out but it dodged most of my monsters¡¯ attacks so I can¡¯t fully fault it. I¡¯d tell you to swap whatever weird stuff you are doing with Kinetic mana and replace it with Air mana because that¡¯s much stronger but that¡¯s just a personal preference. Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Obviously it did no damage to any of my monsters though¡­They looked sharp and dangerous, but most didn¡¯t penetrate into the stone so¡­if an adventurer has armour it will probably be blocked. Bringer Of Serene Eternity: The worst part however is it has no style! It''s boring! You need to make it look cooler. Maybe add some gems in a face pattern on it or give it wings ¨C even if it doesn¡¯t use them it¡¯s how they look. Also, that blowhole is unsightly. Even if it''s functional as a weapon you should try and hide it or decorate it somehow. OH, Maybe you could make it look like a mouth so all the spears come flying out of pursed lips.
Innearth: Okay, Besides the decorations do you have anyway I can improve it?
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: You really aren''t getting what I''m saying. The decorations are VITAL. listen. Most adventurers don''t care if they die. They try not to obviously and would much rather reign as kings - many just do it because of money - but do you know why most adventures do what they do? They become adventurers because they want to look good. There are plenty of jobs out there that are safer, adventurers are adventurers for the Clout. I already suspected as much from the initial information we received but I''ve confirmed all of this when I bought a guide about adventures recently. Bringer Of Serene Eternity: The point is. Adventurers don''t mind if they die but if they do they want to go out with style. They want bards to tell stories of how valiant they were fighting dangerous-sounding monsters. No one wants their friends to go back and tell everyone they died by a faceless rock that shot them by surprise in a dull cave. You can ignore me now but you''ll be much more popular if your monsters look better. Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Also making it turn faster. Right now, it kind of curves in the air and takes corners kind of widely. Oh, and if you can improve the damage it would be good too.
Innearth: Okay. Thank you. I¡¯ll talk to you later.
Innearth left the chat feeling slightly annoyed. Partly it was because he was hoping to get a bit more from this exchange than he had. Bose had made some fair points but without any actual advice on how to fix them, it was kind of useless. And the decorations didn¡¯t seem to be that important. Like sure he''d do some of them...he had made a few logical sounding points and Innearth wanted lots and lots of adventurers when he grew up but it didn''t seem quite as important as the Core had made it sound. He''s weird anyway, going off about the eternal or whatever and then talking normally like he''s forgotten he was playing a character...I''m sure adventurers want serious logical dungeons and not just some frilly decorations. Besides he didn''t give any ways I could make them stronger that''s what I was hoping for. Like sure he hadn¡¯t given Bose any advice either but that¡¯s because Bose¡¯s monster was hacks! How can you even begin to improve that? Is it not already perfect? He obviously knows how to make a strong monster why couldn''t he have slid some of that advice my way. Stingy little pebble. The other reason he was annoyed was more of a "him issue". Both Amy and Bose''s monsters seem so much stronger than mine. I want to catch up. I''m outmatched. I want to do better. I...to be honest, I kinda thought I was doing better than them. I reached this point before either of them! I levelled much faster! But...does that even mean anything? If I''m this much weaker I should have just stayed with Abe. He finally admitted to himself. I ignored it slightly with Amy because I won in the end. I thought she spent more time making a bigger monster so if I spent the same amount of time making a bunch of smaller monsters it was fine. But¡­I don¡¯t think I can ignore it with Bose. I don¡¯t even know how to beat it given time to prepare. It''s invincible! That¡¯s unfair. Unbalanced. Maybe he¡¯s a genius? That would make sense. Bose is a genius and I¡¯m still great! Except Amy¡¯s monster was stronger too. Sigh. I think I can make a single monster as strong as Amy¡¯s if I just focus on improving it? But I don¡¯t want to have a single strong monster and nothing else ¨C I want to make a good dungeon with varied creatures. He turned to observe his newly returned flying crystal and wondered if he needed to improve it. Or even if he could improve it. Maybe he could make a new monster? Is there a monster he still had that he could improve instead of the flying crystals? Is there a concept he hadn''t tried working on yet that could help bring him up to their levels? His consciousness flicked between every single possibility he had for improvement. And for the first time in weeks, Innearth stopped thinking. He stopped expanding, stopped watching his mana pool to make sure he wasn¡¯t wasting a single point of mana and just sat there for an extended period of time, while he considered what he actually wanted. I think. No, I know I want to improve myself. I don¡¯t even have to be the best; I just don¡¯t want to be left behind. Finally piecing together his feelings he turned to his goal. I think. I think I could probably catch up to them if I bought a bunch of info. I could buy some monster schematics that are similar to my current monsters and steal ideas to improve mine. But I don¡¯t really want to buy all my information. I want to be different! Reaching the point they are at by standing on others'' accomplishments won''t feel as satisfying as doing it all on my own. So, I guess. I guess if I take a bit longer to reach the point they are at it''s okay. I want to reach it, however. And I want to reach it on my own. Chapter 18. The return of Abe.
A peek at the inner workings of the system: At first glance every race has a separate system and all those systems function independently. They might interact in a few specific ways, with quests and similar crossing borders, but most consider each system to be a separate entity. I¡¯m here to provide significant evidence for the theory, that they are much more intertwined than we first realize. I¡¯ve come to this conclusion after studying the dwarven system. Did you know dwarves can sell their masterfully made creations to the system, in exchange for various quality boozes? Well at first, you¡¯d think it''s all magic mumbo jumbo transmuting weapons and tools into a drink. You might think that¡¯s perfectly natural ¨C only possible because the system was made by the gods. But then you start to look at some of the system quest rewards given out to other races. Sometimes after completing a hard quest the rewards from the system are tools and weapons. And sometimes¡­sometimes those tools and weapons are dwarven made. Oh, plenty are not. But some of them. Some of them have the craftsmen¡¯s mark on them. This lends credence to the concept that quest costs are not simply transmuted to rewards but swapped, from some internal pool of items. I tracked down a dwarf and showed him the spear he had made and marked, and he confirmed he had sold it for a barrel of ale some 10 years prior. The only thing I haven¡¯t confirmed yet is if all system rewards are made by dwarves and potential far away races. I haven¡¯t yet figured out how the system gets the alcohol to sell to the dwarves yet for example. Maybe that¡¯s purely magical. But I¡¯ve found proof that the system recycles stuff at the very minimum and I think that¡¯s significant. I don''t know what to do with this information but I''m sure it''s valuable for someone. Thus, this paper. If you figure out some grand secret based on this information, please provide credit!
An excerpt from the thesis ¡°On the connection between systems¡± by Steve ¨C not a scholar. Innearth finally finished moping about how much weaker his monsters had been than Amy and Bose¡¯s. I don¡¯t know how to catch up. Do I need to catch up though? As long as I¡¯m happy with them they are fine right?... Lol yeah right, I need to have strong monsters. Otherwise, the other Cores are bound to start making fun of me. It¡¯s important. He had decided to spend some time brainstorming and expanding but wanted to set something up before he started. Back in his first Tier, he had found he could customize the system to give him notifications¡­at the time he had seen no point in getting notifications from the group chat ¨C but now that he was semi-regularly receiving private messages, he wanted to make sure he read them right away. He had ignored the message from Amy for nearly a day and didn¡¯t want to have that happen again. He sent a quick message to Amy to remedy this.
Innearth: Sorry random question can you message me real quick?
Amy: Sure what¡¯s up?
Innearth: Thanks that was all I needed
Amy: ¡­
He caught the twitch and feeling that receiving a private message gave him and bound it to a popup at the edge of his attention. Splitting off some focus to expand and sitting there thinking about what both of the other Cores had said, a burning need to prove himself came over Innearth. Just like that the dungeon changed his mind. Innearth stopped expanding and started spawning snakes every half hour instead ¨C he wanted all of his attention on brainstorming and even though he could split his focus for something like this, it seemed best to put his full attention on the task at hand. I think I need a new material before I can improve the flying crystals. I think I stopped part way through combining Crystal mana with everything? Maybe that will give me an idea. Innearth started to make Dual element materials with Crystal mana and quartz ¨C choosing a corner of the pool room to perform his experiments. Skipping over Water ¨C he already knew what that did ¨C Innearth started with Fire. Fire and Crystal combined into solid wavy orange spikes ¨C as if a fire was frozen and then a filter was applied to remove its smoothness ¨C or reduce the number of polygons used to render it to an excessive level. Taking the material and stabbing the wall with it, he saw the spike was hot¡­but not hot enough to melt through stone. Honestly not any different than a straight Fire material. After putting pressure on the crystal, the tip broke off, falling to the ground and leaving a light glow at the bottom. Okay, neat¡­but not useful right now. Moving next on to trying to combine Crystal mana with Rank 2 mana he started with Death, A blood-red crystal was formed giving off faint black wisps. The wisps looked less like black smoke and more like white smoke that was inverted ¨C faint hints at the background behind it also being inverted. Simultaneously he felt his control increase ever so slightly and checking his status he saw he had levelled up again to Level 11. Turning back to his combinations he was suddenly interrupted by a private message.
Abe: M8!
Innearth: Hey! Been a while¡­nice to hear from you.
Abe: You changed your name bro! I only found you cause it was close enough. Man, I am not cut out for babysitting. Please don¡¯t leave me alone with Jim again I can¡¯t stand that insufferable lil lump of slag.
Innearth: It took you longer than I thought to reach this stage it''s been what - a month since we were born?
Abe: Yeah, I ran out of ideas for blast slugs and levelling slowed to a crawl. I finished my 3rd floor well before reaching this point.
Innearth: Yeah, I¡¯m level 11, You are still behind lol. Oh if you want to hide from Jim you should change your name as well. I''m sure he''s too dumb to make the connection if you swap it up a bit.
Abe: Bruhh shouldn¡¯t you have slowed down. You need more experience for each level now, how are you still 2 ahead. And I''ll think about it. I kind of like this name.
Innearth: Fine I guess I have a way to get a bunch of freeish experience. What did you pick as your rank 2 specialization?
Abe: My Guy. Explosion mana exists. How could I not pick that as a specialization? Do you not know who I am? I even got a bonus because I¡¯ve used it enough before the choice m8. I''m stoked by the choice.
Innearth: Ahh of course you were offered that, anyways have you used the other elements much yet?
Abe: I mean yeh, I tried each one out ¨C water sucks massively by the way ¨C combined em all with some silicon to see what happens. Fire was arrit but nothings as solid as explosions.
Innearth: Did you not make monsters out of each type?
Abe: ¡­I mean I¡¯ve used Earth mana to make some shards that could be exploded but I found metal and fire is much nicer to use.
Innearth: Okay, here¡¯s what I want you to do. Try to combine each element with a few different materials to see what they do ¨C you could buy the info, or I could just tell you but I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll get more out of it if you combine it yourself blind, especially if you come up with any ideas by what you see. Next, I¡¯m giving you homework to make a monster using every other type of mana that you haven¡¯t used yet. Innearth: You can ignore Water if you don¡¯t want to deal with the madness of that and you¡¯ve already done earth somewhat so that leaves Air. Make an Air and Fire monster and make some materials with Air Water and Earth and then come back and I¡¯ll give you some more easy exp.
Abe: Ayyyy, and this will give me more experience? How¡¯d you figure out that gives you more? I''ll get on this free experience and then go back to using nothing but explosions!
Innearth: Yeah it will I kept track the first time I did it. OH, I have some more stuff to tell you before you start.
Quickly recounting the important info from his tier 2 primer he started with not mixing opposing elements. Moving on he gave Abe some tips on navigating the market, then sent the explosion happy Core on his way before returning to his combinations. It was like he had never left, Abe responding just how he had remembered him and removing some of the inferiority he was feeling after seeing Bose and Amy¡¯s monsters. Not that I need to be better than Abe or anything but¡­ it''s nice actually being able to help. It''s nice being the more advanced one for a change. Returning to the combinations his next attempt was using Kinetic mana. This combination didn¡¯t change the appearance of the crystal much ¨C them forming much the same as pure crystals formed ¨C however, the crystal also wasn¡¯t doing any of the things that Kinetic mana did by default. Did it not get attached? Staring deep into the crystal''s depths he saw the mana was very much changed from pure Crystal mana. So why isn¡¯t it giving a visible effect? Playing around with the crystal he pushed and prodded it in various ways until finally ¨C pushing attributeless mana at it ¨C something happened. By injecting the crystal with mana, it seemed to activate the Kinetic mana pushing it forwards with nearly more force than a Kinetic mana cube of the same size would cost. Okay, that¡¯s actually perfect, I¡¯m not going to replace pure Kinetic mana with this just because I found it ¨C the mana cost makes it slightly worse than the material that doesn¡¯t need it. But for a quick burst of speed, it''s essentially perfect ¨C I¡¯ll add some to the flying crystals I just want to finish up the combinations. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Abe had distracted him at the end of his "Death Crystals" creation but just before moving on to Life, he witnessed the dumb living crystal snake slide into it. Thrashing about a few times it stilled. Dead but without a mark on its body indicating how it had died. As the body stilled several things happened. The colour of the death crystal faded, and it crumbled to dust. Several spikes of living crystal also burst out of the side of the snake, spreading around it slightly and making a new small patch in the crystal pool room. Growing right up to the crystal waters edges, they seemed unable to spread into the liquid. I mean I was meaning to replant some of them? So, I guess this is fine. I¡¯ll put a few more around later. Focusing on combining Life and Crystal he pushed the two into a form and found it immediately started growing. Hungrily the crystal strained to grow bigger in the air, so he laid the crystal down near the crystal pool and watched as it embedded into the ground ¨C a thick trunk growing higher and higher out of the stone, seeming to be eating some of the basalt to fuel its growth. Stopping only when the crystal hit the ceiling it pushed upwards into it a bit and then stilled, as if reluctantly satisfied by its current size. After the large crystal stopped its expansion it started to glow a very very faint green. Okay¡­so what is this? It acted differently than pure Life mana and actually gave a result. It''s eerily similar to how living crystals acted although it''s obviously much larger and doesn¡¯t seem to be multiplying. Crystal tree? It doesn¡¯t really have branches¡­it does seem to be a plant, however¡­ Wait it¡¯s a plant? Last time I had to give it a spark of life does Life mana work similarly? Can I start making monsters using nothing but Life mana? or is that strictly a plant thing... I¡¯m getting distracted. Mental mana is next! Adding the two and watching expectantly he saw ¨C much the same as Kinetic mana ¨C nothing was immediately different. Assuming it was the same as before he pushed some mana into it and saw wisps of pink mana explode outwards in a pulse. This pulse passed harmlessly through the room, catching the pool snake by surprise and forcing it to be super curious about the new crystal by its home. Moving over close to the glowing green crystal, faint wisps of Life mana rose off of the few scratches it had, while closing and smoothing over them as they healed. It''s healing them slightly? Like a beacon? I should test with different monsters to see how it works but I really want to stay focused on my goal first. Trying next to combine 3 elements at once ¨C something the primer said was either hard or impossible depending upon both skill, and the specific elements and specific materials ¨C Innearth attempted it anyways. His goal was to combine Crystal, Life and Water all at once, but when he searched through his list of compounds, he found none with 3 different periodic elements. Can I not just combine 3 on my own? Pulling out a bit of carbon, silicon and iron separately, he attempting to make a compound by mashing them together. Sadly, even though a speckled lump formed making him think he was successful, when he tried to mash all 3 Mana¡¯s together the lump broke apart ¨C a crystalline shard forming out of the silicon, attached to a life block of carbon while the liquid metal fell to the floor. Guess I''ve reached the end of combinations...I''ll buy a few 3 element materials later and try again but I can cross this off my list as complete for now. Okay, so I immediately know how to use the Crystal+Kinetic combination. Let¡¯s go back to that. Making a flying crystal he put 4 long crystals on each of its flat sides before filling it in and housing it. Hesitating after Bose¡¯s advice he made two frozen and jagged looking crystal wings extending out of its sides and ¨C figuring they might as well have a purpose ¨C gave them small shards of the controllable kinetic crystals. Making a smiley face seems dumb. This is good enough for decorations. He had a bit more mana to play with now that he had levelled up, so he juiced the pure core up slightly. It needs mana to activate the burst shards after all. And there was space in the housing. As he was finishing up with seeding it with life, Abe responded once again.
Abe: Hey Hey Hey! Innearth I love you bro, that was amazing advice. I feel as stupid as Jim for not using Air with Fire yet. Abe: Like air on its own? Boring slag-ass element. Just a faint touch to fire? Why the explosion gets so much better. I mean damn. That nearly doubled in strength.
Innearth: Ayy, Glad I could help. Some more low hanging fruit but you should try each of the rank 2 mana types. Then when you¡¯re done that you can get started on combining everything.
Abe: Yeah yeah alright. Hey wanna see an explosion?
Innearth: I¡­guess? I think I know what an explosion looks like.
Abe: Trusssst.
Tentatively accepting the trade request that Abe had just sent him and depositing the¡­Whomper? As far away from his core as he could, he watched a curled up, shelled beetle of a monster appear. Nothing much happened for a few seconds but, as the beetle sat there it started to glow brighter and brighter. Suddenly without warning, it exploded in a whoomph, fire bursting out of it in all directions. Bright orange fire flying outwards through the air and landing in a perfect doughnut centred around its remains.
Innearth: Thank you for your present¡­I loved it¡­really good¡­yes¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­so thoughtful.
Abe: that¡¯s what happens if you mix fire with earth and air by the way. And neat innit.
Innearth: Okay well you seemed to have taken to sending stuff pretty quickly¡­might want to warn people if you¡¯re sending them literal bombs in the future, however.
Abe: Who would I send them to but you? Besides you knew what it was smh. Gotta brighten up your day somehow. How else am I going to reward you for helping me level.
Innearth: Well I mean¡­you could talk to Amy and Bose?
Abe: Oh? Lemmy check. Yeah Amy¡¯s there, I found her kinda stuck up if I¡¯m being frank. Don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll reach out but I don¡¯t mind if she¡¯s around. Who¡¯s Bose?
Innearth: His name on here¡¯s Bringer Of Serene Eternity ¨C He¡¯s that core that acted all dramatic in Tier 1.
Abe: 9?
Innearth: No sorry the other one with the long name.
Abe: Oh yeah, I remember him. Heh. You call him Bose? Booze! Doze? Bozer! Thought you hated that guy? He was amusing though, so I¡¯ll hit him up some time yeh. Anyways what have you been up to man? Anything exciting happen in the past few weeks?
Innearth: Had it really been that long? It felt like I just advanced yesterday, but somehow the time spent experimenting and trading monsters really did take some time.
Abe: Trading monsters?
Innearth: Yeah sending them against each other and reviewing how they did. Telling each other how they think they could improve them that sort of thing.
Abe: Weeeeellllll¡­what did you think of Whoomper old boi.
Innearth: That explosion? ¡­uh man you know I don¡¯t want to repeat my issue with your monsters, but I think you should try to work on non-disposable monsters¡­also it kind of exploded without any prompting that seems even less useful.
Abe: I¡¯ll get back to you on that¡­It feels different now that I have the explosion affinity. Like I can see possibilities of what I could do. Stay tuned I¡¯ll figure something out.
Cutting out once again Abe disappeared to focus on practicing his new rank 2 mana, while Innearth resumed his upgrade program. Returning to watching the room, his newest flying crystal was already at home. Spinning around the room it would sharply cut and twirl as it practiced moving around. Why stop with upgrading the flying crystal? Moving to his liquid crystal snakes he finally had a solution for them being stiffer and slower than their older cousins. Placing a large kinetic crystal right after its coned head he nearly stopped there but then remembered a tenet he had subscribed to before. More is better! Making every single ring first, he attached small shards of kinetic crystal all the way around each one. He then added a slightly larger one at the very center of each, suspended by its bracing. Fearing that sudden pushing on these rings would slide them out of place, he expanded several crystal rods and laid them between each ring ¨C their only purpose to hold the rings in place, Finishing up, he gave life to his new and improved snake and watched as it slowly rose its head into the air. Pulling backwards slightly and then stabbing forwards, its strike was many times faster than its previous iterations ¨C many many times faster. Faster even than the flying crystal because ¨C while the crystal was using nothing but Kinetic mana to move ¨C the snake was simultaneously moving its whole body as it activated the kinetic crystal inside of it. Deciding this was his new baseline he marked down to vary the amount and size of kinetic crystals in the future to see if an optimal amount could be found. Okay, I don¡¯t want to keep sending these off every time I make a change. But at some point, I think I¡¯ll ask Amy what she thinks and give it another test run. Maybe I¡¯ll make it a bit bigger too. That way it won''t look so small when comparing it to the octopus. Giant thick snakes yeah. Following that train of thought, he increased the crystal snakes¡¯ size by 50% thickening everything slightly to see if that improved anything. It¡­kind of worked. The size made it stronger however the increase slowed the snake down again even with kinetic crystals. The liquid crystal innards didn''t melt outwards as much as a theoretical liquid metal version, but it took the snake much longer to make any changes to its body as it struggled to control its own body. The polarity shifts that would slide down the length of its body like a wave took more time to propagate in the thicker body. In a lot of the shifts bits of the body would also sag drastically making its movement a mess. Okay, maybe if I make the scales stronger? Linking the scales deeper together and overlapping them more he increased their size to match the rest of the bodies increase. Less skin and more pure armour this version was solid and looked like it could take a beating. He also set up compartments of liquid crystal in the body. Instead of a single thick tube of liquid crystal, the innards were separated by an "x" of a thin pure membrane that ran through the whole length of the snake. Passing through the rings and leaving very few holes for the areas to combine. Let¡¯s see if it''s easier to control separate compartments simultaneously. Come on attempt 2. Let us see how you do. This snake was back to being faster ¨C not quite reaching the speed of the smaller variant, but much more reasonable than its flabby brother. Its body no longer dragged slightly as it sagged and bulged while its larger form gave the snake more mass with which to move by. It also looked stronger. The larger strong scales giving a sense of weight to the whole creature. I think I¡¯ll alternate between cheaper smaller ones and slightly stronger slightly less efficient large ones. Hmmm¡¯ Each snake he had made in the pool room had left shortly after their spawn, but after he had stopped focusing as intently on the task, the crystal pool reminded him of something he had added to the list of ideas he could try. Gathering a small amount of the pool he held the unstable liquid in his grasp ¨C the spikes ignoring his attempt at keeping them still, but the liquid still staying in his grasp. Making a crystal snake and then replacing the liquid crystal with the unstable pool water, he shoved it inside and sewed it shut hurriedly before giving it life. It''s not that I have any expectations for this, but¡­ I want to try making a unique monster. This snake¡­was unstable. Obviously. He had already expected it wouldn¡¯t be as controlled so the unique monster that formed before him was less of a disappointment and more of a curiosity. He also had plenty of pool water left so this experiment was as much a way to assess the value of his pool of anything. For some reason, Pool Snek was protected from the harmful effects of the unstable pool. Maybe because it was already made before coming in contact with it? Maybe because its body was not literally made of the stuff. The new unique unstable crystal snake was not protected, however. Instead of simply moving weird or haltingly like he had guessed, the very core of what the snake was had been corrupted. Instead of what he expected (having bulging spikes of crystal push the snake¡¯s skin out randomly) the crystals in the skin itself had been corrupted. All the rings giving it form had been messed up and its head melted and reformed consistently, while it stretched out into a snake shape and then scrunched up into a ball. Moving forwards like a messed-up glitchy inchworm. The snake sprouted new tails at odd angles and shot spikes out of its sides while slowly moving down the hall facing away from the crystal pillar room. It can¡¯t seem to control its body, so I guess it''s not that useful. Actually, Pool Snek seems to be able to control the unstable crystals better than it. That being said at least it helped fill my advancement condition? That was... pretty easy all things considered. Might have taken longer if I didn¡¯t know how to make a unique monster but the information from the primer trivializes the process. Guess the real hard part is making a strong unique monster and levelling to the point where I can advance... Anyways I should check my TODO list and see what to focus on next.
Indecisive Earth
Level 11 42/252 exp to next level.
System Access Level 2 1/2 requirements met to advance.
-1+ Unique Monster ?
-Level 20+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 7.4 unit/min
Mana Storage 33.7/252.0 units
Physical Storage 49% Percent Capacity
Titles.
Earth Mana Specialization, Crystal Mana Specialization
Chapter 19. Legs, Many Legs.
Once there was a young artificer named noob. He was obsessed with a single monster he called ¡°the cube¡±. Every day he would toil away, his life spent making this cube stronger. Using his knowledge to make a weapon the little warmonger. THIS CUBE IS INVINCIBLE HEY! When he was done, he brought his cube to a dungeon. Ignoring the monsters that would a bludgeon. Oh Dungeon! Give Life to this cube he called. I¡¯ve worked on it till I¡¯ve grown bald. WORKED ON IT TILL BALD YEAY! The dungeon gave him his wish ¨C though his motive, the weird old artificers never gave ¨C the bish (the bish). AND THEN THE ERA OF TERROR BEGANNNN ~ All the adventurers are dead! Thorugh halls of chaos they did bled! Covering the walls in red. Tons of poor sods this cube did behead! Oh hey! You Over there, I¡¯ll have it be known the women you wed. I¡¯ve decided to take her to bed! What¡¯s that? You have an Axehead! Twas only a jest you ¨C should put that thing away I¡¯m sorry I¡¯ll stop the song. Yes. Yes I understand. Yes stop waving it around I¡¯ll be good. I¡¯ll finish the story normally no need for threats of violence it was just a joke. Anyways¡­Or so the story goes... Either way the cube is the only dungeon boss that has never been beaten. Ever. Mini cubes have been made after the original cubes likeness however there has only ever been one cube. And that¡¯s why adventurers everywhere know not to mock the cubes. For even the weaker copy¡¯s have taken a careless adventures life. Similar to dragons, adventurers who¡¯ve slain a cube copy have called themselves CubeSlayers and laugh about their own strength despite never having touched the original. Despite shaking in fear at the thought of facing the original. What? You have a question? No, I will not go face the original m¡¯self that¡¯s for dumb adventures. You¡¯re an adventurer? And what a mighty one you are. Yes, I should have known. The axe and all. Very nice axe by the way. I can tell you take good care of it. I shall take my leave of this establishment while I still have m'' limbs. Thanks for having me.
Excerpt from the amateur bard tale and song ¡°Oh great and terrible cube¡± as performed in the dungeon town Farlen. I think I¡¯m reasonably happy with how the flying crystals are set up currently. They aren¡¯t 100% at the level that the other¡¯s monsters are individually, but they are no longer pathetically weak. The bigger¡­greater version of the snakes are starting to shape up into being a real threat. And I¡¯m sure the smaller versions can harass beginners. What¡¯s next on my TODO list? I feel like I should rank tasks by how important they are¡­maybe when they start getting out of hand, for now, I think I¡¯ll return to the strange life crystal. Life beacon? I want to figure out how it''s healing stuff. Then I¡¯ll work on making a pair for the flying crystals. Some sort of damage sponge that can harass adventurers from below while the crystal rains death from above. Content with his plan Innearth started studying the Crystal tree. How effective is it? What is the range of healing and how fast does it work? Making the fastest, cheapest monsters possible, Innearth spawned a fire and a water slime right beside the crystal tower. Immediately they engaged in a furious struggle for supremacy before the fire slime emerged victorious, heavily damp, but still alive. Hmmm¡­neither showed any sign of being healed when fighting and the fire slime seems hurt now, but it''s still not being healed¡­difference between them and Pool Snek being healed is a crystal body? So, if I had to guess, the crystal tree can only heal crystal monsters. There¡¯s an easy way to check. Spawning 2 crystal snakes beside the tower ¨C one an old iteration with liquid metal and a pure head, the second a new model with liquid crystal and Crystal core ¨C he asked them to stab each other. Seeming hesitant over attacking one of their own, each snake stared at one another and then apologetically stabbed their heads into each others¡¯ sides. Nearly simultaneously, the two snakes¡¯ attacks landed. The old iteration got pierced immediately, a small gash appearing as the attack slipped between some scales and let liquid metal start to leak out. In comparison, the newer version resisted the attack, each thrust bouncing off its hard body. Seeming impatient to fulfil Innearth¡¯s task, the newer crystal snake relaxed its body, purposefully making that portion weaker and letting the strike finally land. Next asking the snakes to move closer and further away from the crystal tower, he watched, attempting to get some sort of basis for how effective the healing was. Both snakes were slowly healed, the newer/more crystalline version being healed significantly more effectively. The weird part of this phenomenon however was the rate or efficiency didn¡¯t seem to increase or decrease based on distance. Instead after moving roughly 3 meters away the effect broke. And, returning to the tree, a connection was made again around 2 meters away. These values were slightly different for both of the snakes ¨C the more crystalline version extending the range by a small amount, but those two distances seemed pretty set in stone only varying by a cm or two. Once the connection was made, a passive regeneration commenced that slowed down more and more the closer to being fully healed they were. Honestly? Not bad. Assuming all my monsters have crystal parts I might as well plant these bad boys everywhere and benefit. I¡¯d leave them at special areas to make it ¡°fairer¡± to adventurers, but, the regeneration doesn¡¯t seem to be strong or fast enough to break a fight¡­it seems closer to a way to fix em¡¯ after the fact. Or maybe let them retreat, heal and then reengage a few minutes later. Satisfied by his test he tried adding these crystal trees to each room. Working his way through his dungeon, he added one to each smaller room and 2-3 for the larger combined ones. The regeneration fields did not seem to overlap sadly. Only a single connection could be made by each beacon so Innearth had to throw away the budding plans to make a super regeneration ring. I could have made a circle of beacons that monsters could stand in to be rapidly healed. TCH. I think I¡¯m finally understanding what Amy was talking about when she mentioned biomes being important. I¡¯ll see if there¡¯s anything else I can do.
Innearth: Hey Amy! How has your day been? I don¡¯t want to seem like I just message you when I need help, but I think I¡¯m getting the hang of biome creation. I found a regeneration plant and am working towards adding it to my whole dungeon. Do you have any more tips?
Amy: Oh wow, a regeneration plant? How does it work? Touch? Proximity? Does it need to be broken or is it a constant source of regeneration? Amy: I¡¯d love a sample if you¡¯re willing to provide one. That being said¡­One plant does not make it a biome. A biome is something that feels unique. You need to add enough stuff of a mana type that most of the environmental mana is of that flavour.
Innearth: I¡¯d be more than willing to provide one of them. It''s really easy for me to make, just life mana and crystal mana. Seems to be the same plant every time. I¡¯m not sure how useful you¡¯ll find it though. The healing only effects crystal monsters.
Amy: Oh! That¡¯s less useful yeah¡­but you¡¯re mass producing these? Really? I have tons of plants, but I had to buy most of them first¡­take these 3 moss flavours I liked the look of. I bought a single bunch each of light, drip and blood moss. Then using a lot of Life mana, I slowly grew each of those patches, before transplanting it to all over my dungeon. I did the same for several vines and several reeds and corals and you are telling me you made a plant from scratch? Amy: ¡­Life mana didn¡¯t seem to make any plants when I used it on a bunch of different materials¡­ you said you combined it with crystal mana? Hmmm¡­ I should see if I can make any Life+Water combination plants. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Innearth: Oh! Life+Water makes healing water I already tried that.
Amy: when combined with water? That is a pretty well-known combination. There¡¯s bound to be some plant combinations if I use other physical materials though. What did you use to make your plant?
Innearth: Quartz¡­You¡¯re saying there¡¯s more combinations?
Amy: Oh plenty. Did you not buy the information on known beneficial materials? Or on mana types and their effects?
Innearth: Can I not get more experience by doing it myself?
Amy: ¡­yes but there really is diminishing returns with material research. Unless you can consistently find combinations that are separate enough from each other to be unique, there¡¯s really no point. Don¡¯t re-invent the slime Innearth. The market is there for a reason.
Innearth: I guess, but doesn¡¯t it feel more satisfying to figure it out yourself?
Amy: That¡­I can¡¯t comment on. Whatever your hobbies are. I heard there¡¯s a core that spends all his time building traps and hasn¡¯t made any monsters other than tutorial slimes yet so to each their own. Amy: Anyways I really want to see if I can make any plants that aren¡¯t on the market. I want my dungeon to be a positive jungle with plants. If any of them give beneficial effects? That¡¯s only a plus. The real goal is to make natural feeling biomes by having lots of different interacting mana types. Amy: Feel free to continue messaging me but I won¡¯t be paying as much attention.
Innearth: That¡¯s fine, I¡¯ve been planting while I was talking. Is there anything a biome needs other than plants?
Amy: Plants are a good starting point. You could also try attributing the air and water and walls.
Innearth: So, like make crystal walls? I can do that. Think it might be a bit harder to fill the air with crystal mana¡­I can make crystal/air materials, but they are solid.
Amy: Walls work.
Testing it out in his pool room Innearth broke apart the patch of living crystals hoping it would grow more. Then he worked on layering crystals on the walls ceiling and floor. Doing the same thing he tried with the pillar room, he made sure to use plenty of different physical materials for the crystals. Some walls became reflective, bouncing back a distorted reflection, while others simply left a smooth surface. Various colours tinted the various crystals and gave the rooms a beautiful array of colours. Deciding to sprinkle some fire crystals throughout the caves, he placed them artfully in nooks and crannies letting a warm glow fill his tunnels ¨C some of the light passing through tinted crystals and changed to blues and greens and purples, giving the rooms a varying colour scheme. Innearth¡¯s sight was slightly weird. He could see light but wasn¡¯t necessarily dependant upon it ¨C seeing just as well in the dark. He vaguely knew most other creatures couldn¡¯t see in the dark like Dungeon Cores could and knew that he should provide light for adventurers to make his dungeon more appealing (it''s hard to fight carrying a torch) but didn¡¯t really see how it was possible to not see just because there was a lack of light. Continuing to decorate everywhere he had expanded to, the process became routine enough that he stopped spending as much focus on it and turned to his next goal. Creating a companion for the flying crystal. Okay. So, there are two goals with this. One, I obviously want to make a damage sponge. A monster that can take hits while being dangerous enough that adventurers can¡¯t just ignore it to focus on the easier to shatter ¡°flying crystals¡±. The second is something I just thought of. The crystal snakes don¡¯t really fight anything naturally. They follow my commands for the most part but there¡¯s no natural enemies for them in these caverns. I want them to stop being as lazy and fight a bit for their lives :3 Also, if lots of crystal-core¡¯d monsters die in these caves that¡¯s going to increase the crystal mana in the area. One step closer to being a true crystal biome with lots of crystal mana infusing everything. I don¡¯t want to shatter cores for no reason but to increase the mana level slightly, but I don¡¯t mind if they shatter when monsters fight it out. So make something with fire mana incorporated instead of water? And then I have to beef it up until it¡¯s a similar strength to my crystal snakes. First things first, are there any good fire materials? I''d ask Abe but I think I''ve done more experiments than him. Fire and Crystal mana made a weak fire crystal. And none of the materials I made back when I was experimenting with pure fire seem as useful. How about I try combining it with a few other options? Messing around with Fire combinations for a few hours, making sure to combine with more than just Quartz he came up with a surprising (to him) combination. Earth and Fire mana made a liquid element with Quartz and a few others. Somehow the solid part of Earth was broken, and Magma mana was created ¨C something Innearth had thought was impossible due to no water mana being present to make it a liquid. I don¡¯t understand mana again. I thought I was getting the hang of it, but I don¡¯t actually. Using magma instead of liquid crystal or metal he designed a new golem. Iterating slightly on the previous versions he made a Pure core and surrounded it in a thick crystal mana shell to protect it. Surrounding that in a layer of magma he made an armour shell out of Earth mana and iron ¨C instead of crystal mana ¨C hoping it wouldn¡¯t shatter as easily. This made a round metallic ball however he didn¡¯t stop there. Taking a page out of Bose¡¯s books he drew cracks of fire and metal all over the outside of the ball showing a hint of what was contained within. Next focusing on the weapon, he made two Fire mana iron pincers on the side of the ball. Arbitrarily picking that side as the front he expanded the pincers and then thickened them several times and tried to run some of the magma down their lengths. A crude mouth formed. No digestive system hooked up to them and there was only a small cavity that fell to the floor instead of a proper throat, however, the pincers were still dangerous looking. Red light shone off them and a faint drip of magical magma periodically fell from the tips of the fangs, occasionally hitting the cave floor with a hissing sound. Next, he tried his redemption with legs. Adding an extra joint, (finally reaching a proper amount) he made 10 legs ¨C 5 to a side ¨C using the same kind of ring joint as the golems, Innearth gave each of them a strip of kinetic crystal. Trying to add some traction he wished there was a reverse version of the vibrating kinetic material that stuck to things instead of version he got which reduced friction to next to zero. However, thinking about that material gave him an idea. Adding a small ring of the vibrating directionless kinetic material to the bottom of his monster in the hopes it could slide across the ground ¨C the legs pulling it around without being held back by its weight ¨C he finished the monster spider. For the most part, everything seemed to work. Giving life to his monster it started to pull itself around. Similar to how his original flying crystals had been, it curved when trying to change directions, legs skittering about and literally pulling it in each direction instead of anything resembling a proper movement. The legs did not seem to find a lot of traction on the ground, however the monster also used the kinetic crystals in its legs to pull itself in different directions slightly giving it a small amount of control over its movements. Instead of using the legs as legs the monster learned to simply hold its appendages in the direction it wanted to be dragged ¨C letting the magic inside them pull them while completely giving up on them being ''legs''. A weird consequence of adding the vibrating material to the monster¡¯s bottom is the vibrating effect transferred up the rest of the body. The whole ball continuously vibrated slightly and had a slippery surface that only weakened by the time it reached the tips of its legs ¨C which still didn¡¯t seem to have much traction. Well aware that it wasn¡¯t a match for his current crystal snakes, Innearth spawned an older iteration nearby. Immediately going after each other, the two monsters fought to the death on sight. Surprisingly the spider did better than he first thought. Even though it wasn¡¯t as mobile as he had first hoped the snake''s strikes glanced off its slippery body only dealing damage when hit perfectly head-on. The spider found it hard to bite into the snake¡¯s side ¨C and lost a leg partway through ¨C but after a fierce struggle, it finally nicked a bite. As the pincers made contact with the snake, they immediately melted through the snake¡¯s scales and caused thick gushes of steam to fly up. The liquid metal blood oozed out onto the ground and evaporated on contact with the burning pincers. After that first bite, the snake was basically immobilized and it was trivial for the spider to glide to its spiked head and crush its core. After the spider¡¯s fight, it seemed to still, a glance seeing its core was dim as it attempted to regenerate its mana. Okay, So I need to fix its movement a bit ¨C it can¡¯t be dependent upon mana to move. The few nicks were fixed due to its proximity to a beacon and its missing leg slowly, ever so slowly regrew while Innearth thought of a solution.
Abe: Hey man! Just dropping in to say I¡¯m at level 10 already. Getting really bored of doing nothing but making materials but I¡¯m definitely going catch up to you by the time I finish the double mana combos. Abe: Ur high leveled days of tyranny are numbered m8.
Innearth: Hey! Good to hear you¡¯re catching up. When you reach level 11 I¡¯ll obviously be at level 12 though. Just saying.
Abe: heh we¡¯ll see. I think you¡¯ve run out of combination cheating anyways. How else can you get fast experience?
Innearth: Idk but I¡¯ll figure it out. Tell me if you figure out any cool explosion combination materials. I can trade you.
Abe: ait. ait. will tell you then. Abe out.
His focus was slightly shattered by Abe''s message and it took Innearth a few minutes before he was able to re-focus. Returning to the train of thought he had been working on a few minutes later, Innearth started again. Okay how about I make it so the spider''s legs can dig into the ground? Or just stick to them? He couldn¡¯t extend magma down the legs, but he could try and add a tiny pocket of them to the end of each. Remaking the spider, he added small balls of magma mana along with a single spike facing downwards for each of the legs and thickened them in the hopes this would fix their movement. Giving life to this copy he was happy to see its legs sink into the ground finding purchase and movement without needing to constantly use its personal mana just to move. Skittering past its older version without a care, the new spider skated through his dungeon pushing off of walls and the floor while sliding on its belly. Turning a corner the spider came across a snake and snapped its pincers at the iteration by surprise. Finally, they can start a constant battle again! This was my goal its nice to see things work out. I¡¯ll have to make safe zones for each so they can recuperate and hide but that¡¯s a later me issue. As the spider skittered through his halls, it continued upwards further and further until it reached the edge of Innearth¡¯s influence. Staring at the wall hungrily it ¨C he for the spider seemed like a male to Innearth ¨C seemed to want to continue past and waited impatiently for Innearth to start expanding again. That¡¯s weird? I wonder what he wants in this direction? As Innearth started focusing all his strength on expanding that wall, the second spider made its way up as well. Okay, now I know there¡¯s something this way. What do you two want? What is it boys? Chapter 20. What happened here?
Even with the blatant proof of divinity ¨C The System ¨C heathens still refute the existence of gods. While true they have not been active in recent times, there is more proof that their existence is not just a mere story. The skills of us priests have given us a hint at the holy mother¡¯s mercy and grace. [Divine query] proof of her desires in this realm. And yet faith is declining in recent years. We must save the heathens and strike down any attempt at normalizing the dark arts. They will not be allowed to join adventurers ranks, for they blaspheme. Most knowledge is sacred and must be kept true. But should any of our order come across information on say, how to gain the necromantic classes then all trace of them should be destroyed. Some things are better forgotten.
Excerpt from the advice touted by bishop Albion. After hours of digging upwards, he finally broke into a smooth passage covered in jet black obsidian walls, a low sloped ceiling and a rough unaltered floor. The ceiling was actually slightly taller than most of Innearth''s ¨C around 1 and a half meters tall. But its width was close to 2 meters. A sideways rectangle and thus he unconsciously thought of them as low. The two magma spiders slid into the halls gleefully as he expanded into them and opened a passage. Sadly, the older version was not able to stop itself in time and slid out of Innearth¡¯s influence. A faint scrabbling motion as it writhed about ¨C the magma inside of it melting out of its skin and the legs flying around in a circle. Each kick moving slower until the whole body went still. Wary after what happened to its sibling, the newer spider carefully kept itself away from the steadily expanding edge of Innearth¡¯s influence. Expansion was slow and he almost wished he was better at using Air mana to flow through the halls quicker. Swapping from his Earth expansion to the original old attributeless version felt weird. Worse in many ways, the speed only increased in the air, but it was enough while he was exploring this new place. Like trying to ride a tricycle after getting used to a bike, attributeless expansion was technically easier...but awkward feeling in comparison. Getting a more and more ominous feeling as he spread further and further throughout the abandoned halls, each perfectly tunnelled and smooth. Expanding around a sharp corner he came across weird stains and piles of ash, that faintly reminded him of the result of slimes dying. As he progressed more and more monster corpses were made known to him ¨C for they were monster corpses ¨C and the further in he travelled, the more pronounced the corpses became. Several bones were visible in the remains ¨C deep blood red things that glowed in the darkness of the tunnels. Most of the bones were solid units, a single large center rod, with 4 or 5 curving Crescents attached to the side. A few larger specimens were linked pieces, with each bone linked to the next with alternating loops in a chain pattern, reminiscent of the ones he had used for the golems. The most ominous thing about these bones was that most were missing portions of them. As if eaten away large chunks marred their symmetry ¨C not broken off but unevenly cut. Without properly getting time to explore ¨C or coming to a conclusion about what happened here ¨C the source of this massacre came into view. Hulking despite being slender, a long upright figure came into Innearths sight as his domain spread into where it was resting. Its body was question mark shaped, with no visible attachment between the large sphere resting on the ground and the slouched tube that made up its body. At the end of the tube facing downwards, there was a hole filled to the brim with thousands upon thousands of serrated teeth. All facing inwards and disappearing around the bend that was its neck and body. To match the teeth, covering the creature from head to toe were thousands upon thousands of pulsating needles extending a few cm out of its side. Each moving independently and at different speeds, as if every single needle had a mind of its own. The weirdest, or perhaps most terrifying thing to Innearth, was the fact that he couldn''t feel an ounce of magic from the creature. Despite obviously operating on some magical principles with a free suspended body, there was nothing holding it up as far as Innearth could see. No magical support, no connection, no wisps of Kinetic mana. Nothing. What¡­what is that? I hope it doesn¡¯t notice me. Frantically trying to identify it. He flashed through several theories before bits and pieces of the descriptions from info packets clicked together in his mind. This was a Demon. A real Demon in his dungeon. He was terrified. As if sensing him the Demon''s hairs rustled faster and faster, before suddenly its head was turned. All those thousands of dripping teeth staring at where Innearth had been facing it from. It can see me? As if the period between it being drooped over and it staring fixed in his direction was cut out, the single movement had been faster than Innearth could see. Unprompted the mouth of this slightly unsettling creature grew wider, ballooning out in size. A maw that grew to the full size of the tunnel before ¨C with a scraping sound ¨C its lips dug into the sides of the tunnel, leaving him with a view of nothing but row upon row of teeth. With a violent lurch, suddenly he felt all of the nearby mana suck towards the maw. Being forcefully ripped out of the tunnel walls and pulled out of the air for meters and meters away from the Demon. A second lurch and less mana from further away was affected and a third, ripped mana from right near the boundary to his next floor from its perch. Ignoring all the physical materials, the maw continued to pause and suck as the mana levels plummeted leaving the rough structure untouched. As if weakened, the magma spider skittered around the bend awkwardly and ran towards the demon, sensing its creator''s panic. Seeming satisfied, the mouth quickly retracted from its purchase on the hall¡¯s walls, showing a jagged circle in an otherwise perfectly smooth surface. As it closed the mouth seemed to move extremely slowly ¨C before darting forwards with lightning-quick speed and closing shut on the spider that was only now reaching its location. Light flashed as it closed, however, the spider''s magical magma body did not seem to damage the inside of its mouth. Something magical is happening there. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Twisting back into its hunched-over form ¨C all of its hairs glowed with a strange shimmery rainbow hue ¨C before the Demon started rolling down the hall towards the entrance he had broken into the tunnel with. Towards Innearth¡¯s dungeon. That...does not look good. That really does not look like something I want to face. This was not a time to plan out an attack method or engage the Demon with only a few of his monsters. This was a time for defence. For repelling the invader. Trying to convey his panic he yelled at any of his monsters that could listen that they were under attack. Trying to group monsters together to prevent any single monster from facing the Demon alone, he tried to assess his own strength and that of the peril he now faced. So far it ate my magma spider. It was weakened slightly and hasn¡¯t been pumped up to the strength of some of my other monsters but that¡¯s still concerning. Also, and here¡¯s the important bit, I don''t like how it sucked the mana out of the surroundings. I didn''t even know that was possible. For grouping, he pooled them into groups of 3 ¨C all the monsters that would listen moving and joining those that wouldn¡¯t. The only monsters that hadn¡¯t been accounted for were the pool snake who refused to leave its crystal pool and the water slime that was still miraculously alive and well in the pillar room. As the demon hit the entrance to his dungeon it writhed about and smashed through the hole he had made. Smashing up and down like a snake as wriggled through the hole, widening it by scraping off pieces with its mouth. Widening it and progressing onwards. Digging down it entered the main halls of Innearth¡¯s dungeon successfully ¨C where it had more room to move around ¨C it re-entered its hunched-over form. The size of Innearth¡¯s dungeon actually helped him out here, the demon having difficulty properly moving through his hallways and getting slowed down unnecessarily, as it progressed down into his depths. Frequently having to widen corners and bends in his halls so it could progress. Bursting into the first room, it came upon a haphazard group of monsters still trying to gather together. Moving into the room it squished a few liquid metal worms and slowly turned its head to survey the prey. Snapping forwards in an eerie fashion. Its head frozen in one position and then frozen in another the demon kept moving erratically as if it were a glitchy video. As if the time it moved in was separate from everyone else. The Demon''s jaws closed around one of the older crystal snakes, while its fur rustled and swayed about. As if the tip of every needle was an eye, scanning its surroundings. Taking several big gashes as 2 other snakes attacked its sides, deep grooves formed in its flesh that leaked a faintly rainbow blood. Seeming unable to defend or protect itself, the demon sat there taking several blows before ¨C as if someone had hit play on the remote controlling it ¨C the demon snapped twice, taking both the snakes'' heads off in seconds. Finishing off the last of this group of monsters, the beast once more expanded its mouth to fit the entire corridor and sucked all the mana out of the surroundings towards its maw. Innearth felt pained. His regeneration actually dropped significantly from that action ¨C and while it wasn''t eating his influence he still felt weaker and damaged somehow just by its existence. Moving on to the second group, the demon acted just as erratically. His last golem fell with a crunch and seconds later, the biggest "greater crystal snake" stabbed straight through its side dealing the most damage of anything so far...before its head was bitten off. Teeth sheering through the crystal body as if it weren''t there. It snapped up the unique unstable crystal snake he had made with no less difficulty than the other monsters then fed on a pile of worms ¨C mouth scraping through the ground, gobbling up stone, at the same time as it consumed the flesh of the monsters. The sand blob that Innearth had forgotten about crawled towards it and had a portion bitten off, before the Demon left its half-finished meal behind and continued down Innearth¡¯s hallway. The beast seemed slower than before, it''s crawl through his tunnels pained and laboured. Sending out the last and largest bunch of monsters Innearth had left that could still fight ¨C having grouped them all together while the others had been fighting ¨C Innearth prayed. He sent them towards their death. Towards his death. You can do this. I believe in you all. Please. ¡­ I don''t want to die. Striking forward faster than any of his other monsters Silver stabbed deep into its body ¨C a flash of rainbow-coloured blood flying out and hitting the wall. Silver ¨C an older monster but one he had grown fond of over the past few weeks ¨C fought valiantly. The mini army met the invader in his plant room. Deciding this was where their last stand would be, they all rushed in behind Silver in an attempt to defend their home. One of the oldest monsters in his dungeon now, she fought spike to fur, striking again and again as the Demon squirmed. Flashing forwards, he felt a faint severing accompanied by a strengthening of the bond between him and Silver. A faint cry sounded out as Silver glowed bright blinding white with mana, a transformation coming over her. Nothing drastic was changed when the light faded but simultaneously everything about her felt different. As if more alive and more solid Silver was changed subtly. Her scales seemed to combine better ¨C the obviously separate crystal shards and ectoplasmic skin keeping them together melding together more. This whole process took place in midair, impossibly fast manipulations taking place before settling, a half a second later. As the scales melted, they seemed to solidify slightly. Both looking rougher and more varied as each part of her body felt more...natural¡­less artificial. She was still a snake with a spike for a head, without a mouth or eyes, but even so, she still felt less¡­ synthetic to Innearth. Which was a weird concept to the Dungeon Core. He hadn¡¯t once felt like his monsters were fake until this point. They were lil critters. Sure, they were a part of him. But Silver''s evolution seemed to do nothing but drive home the fact that they were ¡°nothing but a part of him¡± while she was now her own creature. Birthed from him but now fully alive. She''s...evolved? I''m so proud of her ¨C Silver can definitely fight back now. This means she''s level 1 now, right? I can''t wait to see how she''ll continue to grow in the future. We just have to get through this fight first. As Silver sped forwards back towards the Demon and Innearth thought of the future, everything went wrong. The last jumper alive chose that moment to launch itself at the Demon ¨C mindlessly attacking its prey without anything but anger...and being cut down with a smash of the Demon''s jaws. The sphere of fire mana inside the jumper was broken open in a crunch of sparks and fire. And the manaless, nearly pure oxygen in his halls ignited. The world ignited. A crack sounded out followed by a small explosion and a whoop sound, bursting forth from the Demons jaws. The shockwave blasting Silver across the room, through the hall and against a curve in the wall 10 meters away, with a sickening crunch. The Demon was blown back as well, most of its face consumed in thick red-hot flames that burned fiercer and fiercer in his halls, catching the whole creature and the entire room of thick roots alight. The roots burned hotter and hotter as the Demon cooked and thrashed about. The few monsters that hadn''t shattered when hit by the Shockwave caught on fire, their liquid crystal and liquid metal bodies evaporating in the intense ¨C yet somehow unmagical ¨C fire. Rainbow blood, black with soot, ran rivets in the stone surrounded the dying demon. The liquid burning up in the heat the same as the rest of the creature. After a certain point, the ends of every single hair that was still intact bulged out and into a mess of balls, the end of each hair a flickering alien eye that blinked in pain, before bursting into flame as well. A few minutes after that, the thrashing finally stopped and even though it was dead, Innearth felt like he had lost. Nearly all of his monsters dead. Silver dead. Black smoke filling all his corridors and a raging fire so hot, it nearly set the stone alight, burned in his plant room A Dungeon Core grieved alone. He had lost. He had killed the beast. But he had lost. Chapter 21. Rebuilding and re-evaluating. The first boss monster is created!
Shopping and request list for dummy:
  • We need more eggs. Can you get a dozen? The non exotic kind please ¨C last time you got weird mana warped ones and they tasted like cinnamon and sparks. Did not appreciate that with my breakfast by the way. Should have put a disclaimer saying they were for baking.
  • Our universal mind bridge is broken. Can you bring it in to get repaired? You know I need it for work.
  • ManaCorps gave me a bonus so I think we should splurge on a cleaning rig. Just imagine the time we will save with a lil magic flying scrub/dust/mop doing the cleaning around our apartment!
  • Other than that, our Timmies coming of age soon. You know he dreams of adventure ¨C can you sit him down and try and convince him to pick a more useful class? Something like artificer instead of ¡°big stick man¡± or whatever combat classes are. I just want what¡¯s best for him and he listens to you.
Love you, <3
Excerpt from a typical city family''s post-it notes. The first thing Innearth did after confirming the Demon''s death, was to fill in the hole to the upper parts. Filling the area with stone, he tried to make it unobtrusive and hidden. He didn''t know if there were more Demons. He was not prepared to explore. There was safety in hiding. The next thing he did was review the damage. His upper two floors were frantically working to redistribute mana ¨C the thick clouds of smoke that hung in the air slowly dissipating as the mana pushed them around and let them settle on the walls and ground. When the demon had forcefully pulled the ambient mana out of his walls and floors, his regeneration had actually gone down for the first time since he had been born. Now that it was bound to the ground around where the demon had died and non-bound parts were re dispersing, his regeneration was ticking back up. Currently 6.1 it had dropped from 7.6 down to 2.8 before reaching its current point. Even as he watched it flipped from 6.1 to 6.2 showing its constant rise. Of his monsters only 3 remained alive: Pool Snek, the nameless water slime, and somehow the pile of sand that had been bitten into was still aware. As all his monsters had died simultaneously, his experience had shot up and he received countless inconsequential memories. The sum of their lives, being given only a second of time to review before the next arrived. All his monsters except for Silver. His thoughts about her were weird. His monsters were toys and disposable. They were just a part of his body and replaceable. And so, his grief was probably closer to that of a child that had broken its favourite toy than true empathy. He didn''t care for all the countless other monsters that had died after all. But that apathetic feeling was marred by an extreme...annoyance that he had lost out on his only ascended dungeon monster. She was no longer replaceable. She was no longer a part of his body but her own creature. She could have taught him a lot and as soon as she separated, a faint part of Innearth had upgraded her from toy to pet. It was like someone had just shot his dog and he wanted revenge...but the demon was dead so all he had left was sadness. If she had still been alive, he probably wouldn¡¯t have played with her life as much¡­ which was slightly contradictory as the experience and fighting was what had grown her to that point originally. It''s just so sad that she was wasted, with no time to properly grow. So senselessly too. I don''t think I want to let anyone die a pointless death. It might have been okay if she was instrumental in killing the demon¡­ but it died because of an explosion that she didn¡¯t even cause. Wasteful. Cutting potential is...sad? His dungeon instincts to provide "fair challenge" reaffirmed, he investigated Silver''s dead body. She should have returned to him when she died, but the process was taking far longer than the nearly instantaneous deaths and revivals that had happened with all his countless other creatures. Checking around the body he found a floating white spark the size of a marble. A thousand times as big as any of his normal sparks, it sat in the air. It slowly released wisps of inverted white mana as it shrank. He watched the wisps being absorbed by his influence as they evaporated off the soul. His experience ticked up by one as he watched. Getting closer and closer to level 12... but he assumed the whole spark would need to be consumed before he got her memories. Wait there''s still time. Trying something he knew was possible ¨C but that he had no specific information on, he pulled out some mana and converted it to the Death element. Injecting the soul with Death mana, frantically hoping he wasn''t too late, the light flickered and shrank suddenly, all at once. Shrinking down to a single point, it suddenly grew again, reaching roughly the same size as it had been before. It was turned inside out; the new marble no longer gave off wisps of light but stayed contained. This marble¡¯s colour was Grey and marbled with black webs, but it was now stable. Pushing the soul back into the broken crushed body he waited for a result. With a shuttering movement, the undead snake came to life once more. Or perhaps unlife is the better word, for the zombie snake that was made was very obviously not aligned with Life anymore. Disappointingly slowly it raised its head up and started moving forwards, as if pulled by a thread. Some chips of the still shattered scales fell off it, a faint trepid smear of its silver blood laying a trail out behind it. Pushing Death mana towards the zombie snake, it sped up slightly as it passed through the mana, before slowing down once more as it dissapated. It''s not the same. It''s not an equivalent exchange at all. This monster is still broken and won''t give me anything as strong as an awakened dungeon monster would have. Honestly, I can''t bring myself to be attached to this revived monster. It''s no longer Silver. This is a new monster. A sad useless one. It doesn''t even feel like the same creature, even though it''s technically the same soul. Also, the demon didn¡¯t leave a soul behind. More proof it¡¯s a¡­unnatural gross mess. I''ll try and experiment with this death creature later, but I''m not going to waste my time on this any further right now. The only good thing about this experimentation is it pushed his experience the rest of the way ¨C tipping him over the ledge that was level 12. He didn''t have time to celebrate his new level, however. His defences were not made yet. Spawning a greater crystal snake so as not to waste his mana Innearth observed his dungeon critically. When Amy and Bose beat him he had been safe. Neither of their monsters made any sign of wanting to attack him, simply defending themselves when placed. After losing, he had felt competitive and desired to make many strong templates for his dungeon. On his own terms, he had desired to tread. And he wasn''t even that wrong. He had thought himself safe before he broke the surface, he had thought he had time. His trashing by a demon was a freak accident in that train of thought. He really couldn''t have guessed that could happen so there was nothing wrong with his risk assessment. However¡­ tossing out those petty goals of his for now, he needed immediate strength. Immediate knowledge. He needed to protect himself before he could relax and experiment in peace. He wanted a monster strong enough to fight off that demon all on its own. One pouring much more of his time and effort into than his normal monsters. He wanted a ¡°Boss Monster¡±. He wanted to make sure a foreign monster couldn¡¯t just progress straight down his corridors, linearly heading towards his core. He wanted a way to protect himself from wild beasts. He wanted ¡°Traps¡±. I hate how weak I was. I need to be strong before I''m allowed to play. I need defences so strong no demon can ever hurt me. And I need them soon. I don''t know if that was the only one. Innearth already had a vague idea of what he wanted to do for his first boss monster. However he first checked the market selection to see if there was a better option. There were plenty of boss monsters being sold...but very few schematics being sold in comparison. They are mostly unique monsters, so I guess it''s reasonable that they don''t have as many repeatable schematics? Not seeing anything comparable to his plan he returned to the moving living slime of wet sand. It was the only monster that had faced the Demon and come out alive. It was the only monster that had been eaten and survived. I think I¡¯ve underestimated the sand. The problem of course was while it survived it had also done zero damage. I have to up its attack power somehow. Tossing off the goal of learning everything himself, Innearth started making purecores'' to buy information on the market. Waiting till he regenerated before popping one out, he went to the store and checked guides. There was the mana guide he had snubbed weeks ago ¨C bought. Reviewing it he saw both what he had found out ¨C most of the information he had already discovered on his own¡­ his decision to buy wavering ¨C along with several dozen examples of useful materials. 2 metals in an alloy and Earth+Fire mana made a Sword mana material. This mana extended any angle to be sharper than it had any right to be, running the concept of destruction and cutting out a mm or two from the blade''s edge. It also allowed weapons that worked extremely well to be made. The problem was that while weapon mana would make weapons better and had a sharpness trait, using it on claws or teeth would not be as effective as a handheld weapon¡­for some reason. Maybe due to it being Sword mana not claw mana? Strong but not useful right now. And if I want to go down that route, I¡¯d have to make monsters that can hold weapons to take full advantage of it. The guide was useful but limited ¨C it listed some of the "most useful" mana types and traits but had nothing that he could see that would enhance the sand. There were several several strong-looking combinations that Innearth could see but...the Demon had seared right through his monsters¡¯ flesh like it wasn''t even there. He could tell it was a magical attack somehow and nothing in this guide talked about how to defend against magical attacks. No, he wanted to give power to the only thing that had survived an attack, it felt like the best plan of action to protect himself. So, seeing as how his first purchase hadn¡¯t helped he bought a more comprehensive guide to materials. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. This guide was expensive. Quite a bit more than he would willingly spend otherwise it was priced at 2 tier 2 Purecores or 10 tier 1 Purecores. However, it was rated high in the "useful" category instead of the beginner information he had been in before. This was a guide that both Tier 2 and Tier 3 cores found useful and was probably chump change to Tier 3s. Seeing the ¡°ideal¡± or cheaper version was the more advanced cores (600AMU * 2 instead of 200AMU * 10) Innearth was forced to use over his entire mana pool on a single core. Taking multiple small breaks, he pushed more mana than he had ever tried before into a small magical sphere that positively shone with mana to his non-strained sight. His attempt used just over 200 mana in as small an area as he could manage. Next, he wrapped that in a still excessively concentrated area ¨C this one using just over 400 mana as he wrapped the inner core by a thick layer of material the same concentration as tier 1 cores. Finally Innearth finished it by making the shell and smoothing it over before staring down at his new tier 2 core. Despite his best efforts of compressing the thing, it was still nearly twice the size of a Tier 1 core. I should figure out why people would prefer using these on their monsters. Moving to buy the information he remembered he had bought a "2 for one primer" and had only implanted the tier 2 information. Opening the old trade he quickly absorbed the tier 3 primer info to see if it had anything he could immediately use. Lots of information on the system controls that were given at tier 3 and how to use them¡­but also some common knowledge on tier 2 monster cores. Gives more advanced access to personal mana¡­resulting in spells or skills depending on the monster and core affinity¡­Okay so if I want to make a spell caster I have to use a tier 2 core minimum or hope a monster evolves into the role. I¡¯ll see about that after making my boss monster. Spending the time to make a second "tier 2 core" he finally had enough to buy the guide. The two cores took him roughly 2 hours, making him curse his lowered regen. I don¡¯t have time for this I need protection sooner. He was clutching at straws, but he needed options and it seemed like this was the best way to provide them. Buying the information, he scrolled through a long list of materials and their effects. Okay, finally. Finding something useful he learned about mercury. Apparently, mercury was a liquid at room temperature (or bromine if he could find that). It was also a liquid made from a single physical element, unlike water. Because of that, you could make liquid fire with it ¨C something impossible with Water mana which corrupted Fire when combined. It was also the most effective element to use with Water mana¡­but that seemed kind of a waste. He could imagine how useful dispersing liquid fire through his monster sounded...but he was worried that the Water mana in the sand would react badly with the fire in the liquid fire. No there was a better option shoved in the "curious but less useful" section. Kinetic liquid. For some reason, the liquid acted on anything submerged in it but not itself. Closer to Gravity mana than Kinetic in that manner. Thus, a pool of Kinetic liquid that was aligned in one direction would push anything through it in that direction. Weirdly enough it wouldn''t mix around so the direction was mixed. Similar to the liquid crystal he had made it would stay in one direction unless something specifically flipped its polarity. I have an idea that relates to the vibrating version of Kinetic mana. I¡¯ll have to get some of the material first to see if it works how I¡¯m imagining¡­but let¡¯s see. Searching the market excitedly for mercury he found...that materials had insane prices. Up until now, he had only been buying information. However searching for an element he wanted, made his view on prices explode. Some unique materials were going for 100+ tier 1 purecores. That. Was. Insane. They weren¡¯t just priced high however ¨C some Cores had set up a sort of auction. They kept editing the description to the highest bid result and claimed they would trade to the "last bid placed after 24 hours without a new bid". So, people are buying them this high too. Damn. Still hopeful that mercury was less expensive than the unique magical materials, he found it when filtering to non magical elements. Several Cores were selling it, but the cheapest version was set to 3 purecore¡¯s for 1 litre¡­a sad slightly pricier amount than he had hoped ¨C but good enough for the diluted monster he was planning on making. And absolutely required based on his goals. He checked bromine as well as a backup, but it had a similar price so he dismissed it for now. Working to make as much sand as possible he slowly filled the burnt plant room with material on a scale he had never attempted before. Working away on it he slowly saved up and bought 4 litres of mercury and started combining it with Kinetic mana with no direction. Letting the liquid soak into the sand started making the sand vibrate against itself ¨C the magical vibrations no longer making it slippery but forcing the sand to grind and smooth out everything it touched. The vibrating sand quickly eroded the bottom of the room ¨C and he hadn¡¯t even finished making the monster yet! Forgetting his urgency somewhat as he made the boss monster he started experimenting. Adding a tiny bit of liquid crystal to the vibrating sand seemed to mess up some of the vibrations ¨C the grains of sand being stuck together in several wire-thin lines. Taking a drop of the unstable liquid crystal material, also added a strange amount of stability to the clumps. Only really affecting the wires of liquid crystal they melded to a point where the bed of sand periodically shot small needles up into the air. Continuing his ¡°a bit of this a bit of that¡± concoction of a boss monster, he made a high concentration mana crystal using Crystal mana and silicon. When he threw it into the mix it immediately shattered, as the vibrating sand broke it into smaller and smaller pieces. Sharp pieces. He used some Life mana on some of the last bits of mercury ¨C making a non-consumable regeneration fluid ¨C and dropped bits of that into the concoction. Should help it regenerate very slightly. If I put a crystal beacon right outside the door it might affect it too. Hopefully should mean it can fix itself even if eaten by a demon or otherwise partially destroyed. As the sand was getting wetter than he wanted, he added a bit more straight ¡°sand material¡± and then moved back to observe it. The end result was a thick bed of sand, with several sharp crystal shards that occasionally melded together with the sand and then shattered, as the vibrations ripped them apart again. Thin needles shot out of it in random patterns and he imagined anyone who stepped into or was engulfed by the sand would be shredded apart like sandpaper without proper defences. Life + Kinetic on the rank 2 mana side, Water + Earth on the rank 1 side. I think this is the maximum spread I can stuff in the monster with zero repercussions. Checking the known offshoots of all 4 of those he re saw the 4 slivers of Earth ¨C Crystal, Metal, Stone, Dirt. I don¡¯t think any of these will drastically change the concoction. Water split into weird water bodies ¨C River, Lake, Ocean, Reservoir ¨C and he couldn¡¯t imagine how that would help. Kinetic he could alter into Gravity mana but there didn¡¯t seem to be any materials that could meld into his blob in a useful way. And Life didn¡¯t seem to have any known offshoots, so he was happy with the healing liquid he had already used. Finishing his checklist of power options, he gave life to his room-sized bed of death. Innearth watched as it slowly bunched together ¨C creating a truly massive lump in the center of the room. Tendrils of sand pushed out of it occasionally, before falling to the ground, or shaking themselves to bits. The boss monster had pretty good control over its whole body but didn¡¯t seem to have finer control over portions of its body and it soon gave up. It''s bigger than Amy''s monster...but hers wasn''t a boss. Or so she claims. I think you''re supposed to make fodder as well as bosses. Exploring the room, it ran its body over the walls and pushed itself up as high as it could just barely touching the ceiling. Everywhere it passed was sandpapered out into smoothness the whole room getting more and more of an egg shape as the square was forcefully reshaped. Dust filled the room from all the stone being ground away and bits of it stuck to the monster and were assimilated as it turned more and more grey. A large part of the demon''s blood and affected stone was smoothed over and bits entered the mess of sand. As it had already been created no visible magical effects were made but small sparks of colour were added, giving the sand pile the look of an oil spill. Finally, content with its situation the blob settled into its new home, practicing controlling its body as it lay there. Okay! I need to test out my bodyguard, I guess. I want to try using some of the demon¡¯s blood/infused stone as a material in a monster¡­but I¡¯m afraid it might make another demon and I really can¡¯t afford that¡­ I¡¯ll try that later. Spawning one of each of his monsters in the room, he watched as they either attacked or were attacked by the blob. Despite their relative strength, they seemed completely countered as they were absorbed shredded and then spat out. Not once did it appear damaged by his regular monsters. I need to make a caster-type monster to see how it deals with magic before I¡¯m happy with this boss, however. I can¡¯t tell how it would fare against the demon that I just faced. I think it might work well? The demon would obviously eat a bit of the blob¡­ but I think it could be shredded apart if it was dumb enough to get captured. And this blob can be slightly eaten without too much damage. I wonder if it would continue to vibrate and shred apart the demon¡¯s insides if eaten? Probably not, that mouth was weird. I think it might be able to kill the demon that passed through. If I can''t make the rest of my defences stronger I might just make another one. Anyways! The next step in my grand plan is to re arrange my dungeon layout such that nothing can pass straight through it! Just as he started to try and make offshoot rooms a splitting feeling came over him again, indicating that his 4th floor was forming. He hadn¡¯t been digging as much recently¡­ But then again, he had expanded into those halls which certainly counted, and the concentrated demon death HAD increased the concentration in that area excessively. Transporting most of the demon blood stone by ripping tablets of it out of the walls. As well as sliding slabs that had already been smoothed out by the sand boss from under its mass ¨C shaking the end of each slab to get the sand off it while the boss playfully tried to grab them back ¨C he transferred them down to his lowest floor. The mana spread in his dungeon slowly stabilized as his 4th floor was created ¨C a much bigger floor than his previous, it technically extended out into the claimed hallway of the unknown dungeon. Each floor was slightly bigger than the last so Innearth took the time to ¡°move the goalposts¡± in terms of rearranging the floor separators. Painfully slowly he made sure each floor was roughly the same size. The lowest ¡°floor¡± increasing its area by roughly 10% by this sorting.
Abe: hey Hey HEY! What''s up mah dude. I have some amazing combinations to show you. Abe: Explosion mana is the bomb.
Innearth: oh hey sure, what''s up.
Abe: You good? That¡¯s a bit less enthusiastic of a response bro. I need more Energy! Explosions make you stoked do they not?
Innearth: yeah just busy rearranging stuff. My 4th floor is forming and I feel weird.
Abe: Oh that makes sense. Splitting is a mood. Abe: Anyways!!! Check it.
Innearth hid what had happened to him from his closest friend. He didn¡¯t want to let on how close he had come to dying and felt hollow, as he reviewed the information packet he received. I would have loved this a few days ago. I hate not getting excited by something I love but I''m too worried about my defenses right now. The packet contained all the info about all the mana types and materials Abe had figured out, after combining Explosion mana with everything the explosion Core could think of. Abe''s existence actually reminded him that he could have tried asking his friends for help when the demon was attacking. Bose or Amy might have lent him a monster that could have stopped the demon¡­but he remembered the Core in the public chat asking for help and being ignored. I can ¨C I did this on my own. It''s fine, I¡¯m alive. It''s too late now and there¡¯s no point in bugging them...and I really don''t want to be a bother. Wanting to reciprocate the gift he gave Abe all the Crystal mana combinations he had found ¨C many weren¡¯t even in the guide he had bought ¨C and added some of the combinations from the guide he thought Abe might find useful.
Abe: Damnnnnn bruh. How did you even find out about sword mana? I wonder if I can make and exploding sword mana. Swing? Boom.
Innearth: Ah! glad you liked it. I¡¯m going to be doing a lot of redecorating. Make some traps. Focus on self improvement. I¡¯m still here if you ever need help but I¡¯m going to be using most of my focus on dungeon design for a bit. A few weeks or something no biggie.
Abe: no worries! Take care man. Right back at you in the ¡°I¡¯m here if you ever need help¡± department. We¡¯re bros! I gotchu.
Feeling slightly guilty for not telling Abe about the demon (after that last message especially). Innearth returned to redesigning his dungeon. Returned to start on trap design. Just over 2 days had passed. He had part of his defences but he wasn''t as safe as he''d hoped yet.
Indecisive Earth
Level 12 113/286 exp to next level.
System Access Level 2 1/2 requirements met to advance.
-1+ Unique Monster ?
-Level 20+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 7.5 unit/min
Mana Storage 286.0/286.0 units
Physical Storage 45% Percent Capacity
Titles.
Earth Mana Specialization, Crystal Mana Specialization
Chapter 22. Its a trap!
TODO list for hubby. We need more firewood. I don¡¯t think we can last through winter like this. If you have time, we could also use more water brought up from the river. The rain barrels are getting low. Some of the hunters brought back a whole giant Boar and distributed meat to the rest of our village. I¡¯m planning on making a roast tonight. If there¡¯s a merchant in town try to trade for some spices. I left some chips by the door if you do. Alverno is coming of age soon. He wants to pick some useless artsy class. Can you convince him to pick something more useful? Monster attacks have been growing these past few years so an adventuring job will help him out tremendously. It makes good money and you know he needs that. If he doesn¡¯t want to pick a physical class (sigh), the least he could do is pick a mage variant. It¡¯s the best way for him to make his way in the world and he listens to you. I just want what¡¯s best for him. I adore you. <3 have a good day my love.
Excerpt from a typical small village family''s post-it notes. Okay, what is a trap? It¡¯s a way of catching beasts and the unaware... I want to make some defences that won¡¯t immediately kill careful adventurers; however, could damage or even kill something like that demon. Feeling annoyed by the need to he checked the market for traps and was slightly vindicated by the fact there weren¡¯t any highly rated ones. He bought one set of 3 only to stare in disbelief at how unimaginative they were.
tripwire: Here''s how you make a wire...here''s how you run it across a hallway.
pit: Dig a hole in the path and hope someone falls in
pressure plate: Anything that steps on this makes a metal spike shoot up
Ah well! Guess I¡¯ll have to make them myself¡­ shame... shame... I do actually really want some non-monster defences. Let¡¯s see. I¡¯ll make a "straightforward path that¡¯s dangerous" and a "hidden path that¡¯s safe" to start ¨C it will be fun to reward those who explore instead of just rushing ahead. Picking one of the hallways at random, he carefully dug out a smaller meandering crack of a path beside it, connecting the two rooms. Then he dug a pit across most of the straight path and started growing several large crystal spikes upwards. There was obviously a problem. He wanted the stupid to fall into the spikes but¡­even the stupid would see them currently. At least this was just the start. Is there a way to hide them more? He tried growing a thin sheet of crystal over it that would shatter with weight ¨C picking one of the mostly opaque variants. It kind of worked out how he was hoping ¨C if you were being careful and looking down, you could see the spikes faintly through the floor ¨C but anyone rushing would step on them. The only thing is I can¡¯t be sure someone will break this¡­ what if a flying demon comes? Checking his newfound (dirty bought) knowledge, he kept circling back to Gravity mana. Gravity mana flipped the material interaction from Kinetic mana. So, a material made with it would stay still. Either pushing or pulling things towards it in a range ¨C instead of pushing or pulling the object itself as Kinetic mana did. Of the variants it was one of the easier combinations he could try, so he worked on making the new mana type. Less an entirely different flavour like Crystal off shooting from Earth ¨C Gravity mana was almost the other side of a coin from Kinetic mana. Let¡¯s see. Following the mana guide, he sort of¡­ inverted some Kinetic mana. Pulling it into itself and then pulling that back out, Innearth made the mana turn a deeper purple and attached it to a plate of metal. Trying to move that plate to the center of the hallway, Innearth pushed the fragile floor down too much and caused it to shatter as the plate passed overhead. The floor, breaking with nothing but its own mass pushing down on it. Tch. Digging upwards, Innearth played with the range of the plate. After moving it up and down he found a position that was far enough away to push down on things near the top of his hall but not break the pathway at the bottom. I guess someone could crawl through the hallway if they were light enough, because the gravity is nearly normal at the bottom¡­but I¡¯m sure anyone light enough to do that without breaking the floor anyways, is going to be unimportant. And anything flying above will be pushed down much harder, knocking it down faster. Making several plates of varying sizes he found the thickness of the plate affected how strong the push was, while the surface area affected how far it pushed. Kinetic mana was weird and Gravity mana more so. The plate radiated out in one direction while completely ignoring the other¡­and instead of making a dome around it, the range of effect was closer to a mostly cone-shaped (square) cylinder. Kind of like a really tall and stretched-out pyramid that was cut halfway through, centred on the plate. The line between nothing happening and objects being effected was nearly instantaneous. The guide just described how it functioned...it didn''t mention how weird it was! I want to study this more sometime...when I have more time. Moving on to a quick (important) decoration session, he made sure this obvious hallway was brightly lit with fire crystals. Each set in small alcoves along its length, while leaving the less obvious path in complete darkness. The hallway looked friendly and it was hard to notice the danger below...but anyone suspicious of the simple corridor would be able to spot the spikes. Wanting feedback, he messaged Amy for the first time in a few days.
Innearth: Hey! I can¡¯t really show you, but I want to talk about the trap I just made.
Describing it in detail he waited for her to respond with feedback.
Amy: Oh hello~ Amy: It sounds perfectly fine. You should make sure your dungeon monsters know not to wander into it. I¡¯m in contact with ¡°The Trap Guy¡± a Core that specializes in traps if you want better feedback. How have you been doing? It''s been a while since you last reached out and now you¡¯re focused on making traps when you haven¡¯t even mentioned them before? You good?
Innearth: Yeah I¡¯m great! Can you introduce me to the trap Core? Sorry, I haven¡¯t reached out in awhile I¡¯ve been busy on renovations.
Amy: Yeah sure! I¡¯ll message him and send him your way. Well anyways if you ever want to talk, I¡¯m here.
Innearth: I¡¯ll keep that in mind! Thank you for your time.
Amy offering help only gave a slight twinge of what Abe had given him when he refused to explain what had happened to him. Not important for her to know honestly. Returning to designing his dungeon he made a branching path with separate room heading into the boss room. *The illusion of choice* lol. Imagining agonizing over the choice when they lead to the same area. I guess I should be productive while I¡¯m waiting for the "Trap Core" to respond. He started expanding all the rooms slightly while waiting for a response. Two of the rooms were too close when expanded so he made a stairway to fix the level difference and bumped them up against each other. Finishing the few dead ends and branching paths he had started on earlier he pulled back to observe the whole dungeon. Okay, that amused me, but I don¡¯t want to connect every room to each other. I need a way of letting monsters move around, that¡¯s separate from the dungeon path. Working on expanding one of the mana vents he started tunnelling small snake-sized connections around his dungeon. I like the pillar room, to be honest¡­I¡¯ll make a second one! It seems like a good fit for my crystal snakes making them more deadly...and it''s better than an empty room. Connecting a somewhat empty room to the snake tube network, he designed a second pillar room, this one larger than the last. Partway through growing the different styled crystals he got a message.
The Trap Guy: I hear you¡¯ve decided to follow the one true path of the trap dungeon. Welcome brother. Your world is about to change.
Innearth: Hey! I heard you could provide some pointers for traps?
The Trap Guy: Yes! I¡¯m here to indoctrinate assist you in the noble art of the trap. The Trap Guy: I¡¯ve made a leaflet! Please peruse and then we can get started.
Accepting the trade request Innearth read the trap information
Traps are the only real important thing for a dungeon to have. They must challenge and bewilder adventurers. There are 3 main ways of building a trap: #1 design it as a static system that doesn¡¯t need to be reset. Example: making a vent that shoots fire every time it overflows with fire mana on a schedule. #2 design potential moving parts and give them life ¨C if the parts are attached to something, they will be similar to plants that have intelligent designs, if you let them roam free it''s just a monster¡­not really a trap. Example: making a flame burping plant that¡¯s attached to a wall and can aim at stuff. #3 is just like the last. Add moving parts and then pass your own influence through them over and over again until it becomes a part of your body. Then you¡¯ll be able to control them but ¨Cthere¡¯s the sad fact of having to pay attention if you want to set it off. Example: making a flame turret that you can aim if you so desire, or a door you will only open if someone solves a riddle. There are also several goals with building a trap. The main point of traps is to test one of an adventurer¡¯s traits. Perception/Intelligence are the big ones but there are obviously as many ways of designing a trap as you can think of! For example, want to test an adventurer¡¯s intelligence? Give them a riddle or puzzle and figure out how to force them to complete it. If you want to test Strength/Dexterity you could design a door that needs someone super strong to open it, or a series of pillars they have to jump across. You could design those as shortcuts if you don¡¯t want to cut off adventurers that are particularly bad at them, or you could simply favour your desired traits and ignore those that don¡¯t make the cut! Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Traps are love, Traps are life. If it''s not obvious from the description I¡¯ve given, Traps are the most important part of a dungeon. Watching adventurers fight monsters is only challenging their fighting talent. A true dungeon challenges so much more.
The Trap Guy: Wellllll, what do you think? Pretty convincing huh? Anyways, I heard you made a trap already ¨C tell me what you came up with!
Finishing reading the short guide Innearth closed it and saw the trap Cores message. Quickly giving a description of what he had done they responded favourably.
The Trap Guy: For a first shot? Pretty good! You¡¯re testing perception by making it somewhat hidden but still obvious if someone¡¯s paying attention. You could have tried even harder to hide it with illusion magic for example and then given a riddle that warns of the danger of picking the obvious path to test intelligence/impatience instead. The Trap Guy: Gotta say, the only real problem is you¡¯ll have to manually reset it if anything walks across and breaks the floor. How about making a stronger floor - putting it on a hinge or spring and making it either a mechanism or attaching it to yourself. That way you just have to flip it up to reset instead of actually regrow the thing. Minor pointer feel free to ignore.
Innearth: Alright, I¡¯ll try and remake it that way.
The Trap Guy: I¡¯m just glad I¡¯ve come across a fellow connoisseur. A lot of these¡­rocks we must call countrymen completely ignore traps. Fake dungeons I call em. The Trap Guy: Nothing but dens of wild monsters they are.
Innearth: I mean yeah traps seem important do you have any good traps I should make?
The Trap Guy: No! Traps must be unique¡­or at least somewhat unique¡­they can be similar, but they should all have a hint of freshness. I can¡¯t just give you a trap design. If I do that adventurers will find traps to be too similar. The Trap Guy: I''m conflicted when I check the store. There''s a thousand useless monster variations and no real good trap designs...but I also believe no Core should copy and paste another''s trap. If I saw good trap designs I''d be annoyed too... The Trap Guy: I can just imagine adventurers walking around with a puzzle guidebook ¡°this one always tells the truth this one always lies? Yep page 5 go to the left¡± The Trap Guy: I wonder if I can commission a Mental mana core to make something that makes adventurers forget if they''ve heard of a trap before...
Innearth: Okay¡­I¡¯ll try and come up with stuff myself.
The Trap Guy: Good luck!! If you come up with any sick-looking ones make sure to give me a shout. Remember traps are designed to test some skill. I can¡¯t give you any trap designs, but I can tell you a good place to start is to look at it from the point of view of testing something you like.
Well¡­I guess I¡¯ll test intelligence or wisdom then, considering I want to catch demons not adventurers¡­I can¡¯t think of any good riddles right now though. I don¡¯t even know how to make a riddle to be honest? That core mentioned something about always lying and always telling the truth like I should know what he¡¯s talking about. What about just making defences I¡¯ll keep deactivated for adventurers? I could throw in a fake requirement in case they notice them? Or maybe I should just design stuff that has a context clue to avoid it that only smarter adventurers could figure out... Making a second murder hallway Innearth flipped the previous concept on its head ¨C This time he made a whole bunch of gravity plates under the floor and strung them along a rod. He would be able to flip them upwards and hopefully push anyone walking down the hall off the ground. That didn¡¯t sound very lethal however and he did want it as a demon deterrent. So, growing hundreds of spikes onto the roof, he grew the hallway up and made the ceiling a deadly mess. Now all I have to do is infuse the rod and plates and I¡¯ll be able to control them? Pushing on the plate and rod several times he couldn¡¯t figure out how to push his influence into them. They are already in my influence? Expanding I can only affect it by sending waves of mana over the membrane¡­how am I supposed to control it? Innearth briefly considered asking the trap Core for clarification¡­but he kind of wanted to do this himself. He had been almost passively accepting information for a while ¨C he wanted to go back to figuring stuff out on his own. After all, he had already made a choke point of a trap that any demon would be forced to cross¡­and his monster following had grown over the past few days to 10 greater crystal snakes and 10 normal ones¡­he had been spawning them whenever he had free mana and was thinking, but hadn¡¯t started re making the other monster types yet.
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Disciple! How goes your grand undertaking? Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Not that It''s anywhere near my own but it''s been quite a while since we last spoke.
Innearth: I''m fine. just busy I''ll talk to you again when I''m done.
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: What could possibly be taking up your attention? Have you been struck by the genus of the monster you saw that fated day we swapped? Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Are you working on a monster to surpass me? I await that day mwahaha.
Innearth: Something like that.
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: You should still be able to spare some attention for chatting! Split some off.
Innearth: Sorry I''m not fully in the mood. Some other time.
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Hey disciple, has something happened? You seem different.
Innearth: Nah I''m just busy. I''ll probably be back to normal soon.
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: If you say so...this one can listen and provide advice at any time!
Innearth: i know. i''ll reach out if i need help. talk to you later. bye
Bose was even lower in guilt level than Amy and Abe. The twinge he felt was not even worth mentioning. Returning to his trap design he felt out the rods. He picked them up and dropped them a few times. Finally, he focused on grabbing them without actually physically touching them¡­and something felt different. Remembering the trap core had mentioned multiple times, Innearth continued to grab the objects without touching them and felt more and more connected. Finally, as if a threshold was reached, he was fully connected. For the first time, Innearth had a dungeon part. It felt weird. Vastly easier to control than straight picking it up had been, Innearth immediately pushed and pulled it about. I¡¯ve only been able to carry small parts¡­does this mean I can move larger items just by making it a part of me? I don''t know how to let go of this though so it might be better to just continue splitting stuff into more manageable parts. Finishing the hallway, he wanted to communicate somehow with the adventurers a fake goal for it¡­One he might enforce depending on mood. Now that I think about it, I can¡¯t send them a private message, can I? Do they speak the same language? I could write the goal into the stone¡­but they might not understand. Just in case he wrote down ¡°walk don¡¯t run¡± message in the dungeon script and made two stick figures with noodly limbs. One running and one walking. Adding a skull above the running one and a smiling face above the walking one he pulled back. There. One requirement that a demon can¡¯t read and thus will trip them up! Although if I see a demon, I¡¯m blasting them anyways. Doesn¡¯t matter if they can magically read it and decide to walk. This hallway is my offshoot...I should do the other one if I don''t want to allow people to just bypass them. Spending the time to copy the concept into the other offshoot he felt himself start to relax for the first time in a few days. Three traps are already enough to make me feel a bit safer. I think one more for good luck should be good and then I¡¯ll rebuild my defenders...and then maybe explore the halls above. Once again working off the Kinetic mana and crystal spikes mess, he worked on creating a long hallway lined with spikes all along the bottom. Next, he started making several solid cubes with incredibly complex inner workings in comparison to their purpose. Partway through this design, Abe messaged him¡­again.
Abe: Hey bro. You done making your floor? What¡¯s up! Listen I¡¯m making a new monster and I¡¯m thrilled by the initial results. Its not perfect yet but I want you to tell me what you think when its done! Also, what¡¯s new!
Innearth: Oh, just playing around with stuff now. It takes a lot of focus so I¡¯m not responding as much.
Abe: Bruh you can just split your focus. I¡¯m making monsters right now! There¡¯s another one! And another! See.
Innearth: Yeah, I split my focus on stuff that I¡¯ve already done but I like using 100% when studying something for the first time.
Abe: what could possibly require that much attention lol. Sounds more like you don¡¯t want to talk to me.
Innearth: Nah bruh. Don¡¯t worry about it I¡¯m just really busy.
Abe: Even back when we were less able to split our focus in tier 1 you never went more than a few hours without messaging me. But whatever I won''t pry. Just reiterating you can talk to me.
Innearth: I know. I¡¯ll tell you sometime okay? Just. Let me think for awhile okay. I¡¯m making traps for the first time. You should try them! Bet you could make land mines that explode when stepped on! I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll have lots of fun.
Abe: Yeah sure. I¡¯ll try that out. Nice talking to you m8...
Innearth was getting really tired of people asking what was up. He. Was. Fine. Just fine. Some things were more important than socializing. Like his life. Like not being a pathetic weak core that can¡¯t even defend against threats. It took Innearth a few minutes to regain his composure. Something about Kinetic cubes. Yeah I was working on cubes. Each cube had several flying tubes, similar to his flying crystals. These were for movement. On the bottom of each was a solid plate of Kinetic mana. This plate pushed the whole thing up along with kinetic crystal shards to increase the force if needed. There was a smaller thin plate on top with Gravity mana, making everything above it lighter. As well as a series of much thinner strips on the side, slightly pushing anything towards the center so it was harder to slip off. Originally, he wanted to make them monsters that flew around but¡­he didn¡¯t actually want them flying about his dungeon outside of the trap. Their only real purpose was for this obstacle and he hadn¡¯t given them any real way of fighting. Innearth made thin metal rods packed with as much Earth mana for strength as he could fit and a small directionless vibrating Kinetic core to aid in making it slippery. He laid each pole across the room. Stringing each cube from wall to wall at various angles some angled on a slope some on a different level he created a long line of potential stepping stools. Now¡­you have to jump across, but the platforms are moving \o/ Giving each platform life instead of controlling them he watched them aimlessly slide back and forth at different speeds. Does this count as a monster or a plant? It''s moving¡­so monster¡­but it''s kind of constrained by the rail and doesn¡¯t seem that smart¡­so plant? Eh idk¡­either way they serve a purpose. I¡¯m going to call them plants because they aren¡¯t designed to attack anything. Adding the plant to his plant tab the system seemed to agree, as it helpfully finished filling itself out.
Plants Description
Living Crystal Singing Crystals that grow and spread when alone, as well as regrow when the top is broken off.
Crystal Tree Beacons of healing for those who are receptive to letting it in. This tree heals any being with crystalline body parts.
Moving Platform Threaded stepping stool existing solely to be used as a crossing point. Not able to support a great weight.
It was weird. The system only let him add stuff he had made¡­or potentially had bought the schematic for? But plants and monsters were treated quite differently ¨C monsters had a description and stats, along with showing strengths and weaknesses... but plants only had a description. All of the monster¡¯s descriptions looked like they were written by different entities and the few creations Innearth had made, that were different enough to be considered unique¡­ were not very descriptive until he renamed them. In comparison, all the plants were given a description right away ¨C they also either appeared to be written by the same person ¨C containing the same tone ¨C or were somehow automatically written by the system. Can the system only write descriptions for simpler creations? That doesn¡¯t really make sense though because the cubes I just made were pretty complex internally in comparison to a slime for example. Maybe because it has a set function? Even if it''s complex it can¡¯t do much but slide back and forth as a stepping stool? But if I break it off the rod it should be able to move around in all directions? So why does the system confirm classification as a plant? I mean I obviously was the one who shoved it in this category ¨C but the fact that the system finished it means it recognized it as a plant¡­ System''s weird. Let¡¯s leave it at that. Should I make a trap tab and see if the system autocompletes that? Although I don¡¯t think I want to reuse traps¡­and that trap obsessed Core said not to share them. So! Seeing as there¡¯s less point if it''s only done once. Guess I¡¯ll just leave it as a plant. It follows the same logic as not making a room tab¡­ I don¡¯t want every room to look the same. That would get old real fast if they were just copied everywhere. I¡¯ll make em up as I go along and hopefully that will make them more varied. On the idea of plants and traps I have one last plan! Taking part of the spike shooting concept he had already used, Innearth designed a static crystal plant that could explosively shoot off its tip. Instead of living crystals he added a fleshy stretchy thread to them that would pull back the flung spike after it was shot. Okay heres where the perception and wisdom of adventuers comes in Innearth started to colour code each room. By choosing the same Physical materials for the plant as the floor he could give a hint as to which plants were dangerous. Each room has a bunch of different crystal stalagmites and stalactites...however in a reddish room the red spikes are dangerous and in a purple room, the purple spikes are dangerous! Finishing his train of thought Innearth arrived at a solution. I can make weaker ones near the start of the dungeon so adventurers get damaged but not fatally and can learn the pattern before making much stronger ones further in. Hopefully, demons and wild beasts won''t be able to recognize the pattern and I can continue to follow it for my whole dungeon! Of all the first traps Innearth had designed. This was his favourite. He could trap his entire dungeon ¨C not just specific hallways. Hey! I made a bunch of new stuff where¡¯s my level ¡°system¡±! Where¡¯s my ¡°first use bonus¡± giving me massive amounts of exp! Ah, it''s fine¡­ Maybe because I used the same types of mana for all the traps? Maybe because I reused stuff, I used in monsters¡­still wish it went up more. Grumbling he checked his experience bar and saw that it had shot up quite a bit¡­ while sadly still not full ¨C despite him having made traps for the first time. I think the boss gave me more exp than those 3 traps... 205/286¡­over two-thirds of the way to level 13, let''s goo. Chapter 23. Buying schematics, paid for in pride.
Wonders of the world: To the far east you have the frozen tundra and unnaturally beautiful ice spires of Mel. While not the most accessible its towers are deemed some of the most stunning attractions around. To the north and south are vast swaths of forest thousands upon thousands of kilometers long. Both contain ¡°elven¡± civilizations and any attempt to expand into them by settlers or woodcutters are met with extreme violence. However, for those who go with no intention to harm the forest, they may find themselves witness to some of the most beautiful natural wonders available. If you manage to travel all the way to the western shore you can find the merfolk metropolis Aqualm. High leveled people speak of other continents with vast civilizations some even more advanced than our own but refuse to share more to the rest of us. Sometimes the unknown is more exciting than the known and thus I am sure there are more impressive sights on a different continent.
Except from the recruitment poster of the sole member of Maliquencia¡¯s explorer guild. Made as he tried to convince adventurers they could find wonders outside of dungeons and needn¡¯t risk their lives. Innearth was scrolling through monster schematics. He had bought the most popular monster schematic available in the current market a ¡°Beholder¡±. The beholder was his first brush with using higher tiered cores inside a monster and it was pricy. One large Tier 2 purecore was used as a central piece (with a note that it could easily be upgraded to a Tier 3 core if you had the mana/time to spare) that forced the affinity of the monster to be neutral/normal. Then several smaller Tier 2 affinity cores were placed around it in a fleshy mess of neutral stretchy magical silicon. There was 1 Mind core 1 Kinetic core, 1 Fire core, and 1 Earth core. Each arranged above the central core like a crown. Each core was connected by rods of super highly concentrated ¡°Mana Iron¡± that sped up the transfer of mana between each section. There were several interlocking Lines of ¡°Directionless Gravity mana iron¡± that seemed to break some of gravity¡¯s hold on the monster, surrounding all the cores and doubling as bones. The whole creation was filled in and wrapped out in the previously mentioned fleshy neutral squishy substance¡­and had several tendrils that draped down to the floor. Finally there were several super thin high concentration wires randomly breaking off of the main circuit and stopping right before they exited the monsters skin. Small pores releasing faint streams of mana in a controlled manner. This monster was a beast. It floated about by pushing itself around with the weak tendrils and cast several unique spells with its 4 cores. Fire that gathered in the air and shot out with speed. Spikes of ¡°Earth¡± would be shot from the walls and dissipate when it was done. Scary ¡°Mental¡± magic was cast to strike fear or trap weaker monsters, while the other spells finished it off. And it would push projectiles or potential dangers away from itself with bursts of force. Buying it and making it, made a monster stronger than anything. Anything save maybe my boss? No¡­I have to be honest including my boss monster. He was certain if they went up against each other his boss would lose. At least it was a manner of monster rock paper scissors. He thought the boss might do better against the demon while the demon might be able to kill the beholder. Might being the key word here. It cost roughly 3500AMU mana to make, even if the materials were cheaper. More than his boss had by far. But the core selling it had just called it a ¡°Higher Difficulty Monster¡± not even a boss. What??? What would that core even consider a boss monster? Anyways it was versatile and strong¡­and Innearth Hated it. He spent a whole day working on making the beholder and had learned a lot of techniques¡­but he hated it. Oh, sure fine I could have made something that strong if I just threw as many cores at it as they did. I feel like it''s not that efficient though. Like regular monsters are supposed to be fodder that you don¡¯t mind replacing indefinitely. If something killed my day of effort I¡¯d be pissed. Part of his hatred for the bought monster was purely just how it invalidated all the effort he had gone to in making his previous monsters. He hated how useful it was but understood its necessity right now. I feel like I could make it stronger though? And in a few cheaper ways than just using a tier 3 core¡­ Following that train of thought, he made a second beholder that matched his dungeon a bit more. Replacing the Earth core with a Crystal core was the first step. Putting several kinetic crystal shards around the outside of the beholder he then ran the mana circuit over to them ¨C for he had seen the connections made it faster and more efficient ¨C made the second step. Finally, he really didn¡¯t understand the lack of armour. If I¡¯m going to be spending this much slagging mana you had better bet I don¡¯t want it to die. Giving the outside of the fleshy bulb several crystal plates ¨C leaving holes for the mana pores just in case they did something. He felt a bit better by the creation of this version. A tiny bit better just by the fact that he could improve the bought monster. It was still stupid and costly but at least he had done the minimum amount of effort to make it his own? Can I really say this one monster is better than¡­I¡¯ve started spending more on the larger ones so 8 greater crystal snakes? Or like 13 smaller snakes? Is it really that much better? Nah I can¡¯t believe this is the best the market has to offer. Hyping himself up for the task he had promised himself he would do; he filtered the monster schematic portion of the market by ¡°Snake or Worm¡±. Trying to find similar schematics to his monsters he sorted by the top 10 most popular and set it up so the description would show beside the name.
Buy Market results [Filters Applied: Search->Type->MonsterSchematic Search->OrderName->containsAny(snake,worm), Visibility->HideAll->thenShow(OrderName,Desc), Display->OrderBy->Popularity->Limit->top(10)]
OrderName Desc
Flaming Magma Snake Pure magma mana at its core anything this snake bites will be cooked from the inside out.
OrderName Desc
Drilling Earth Worm. By Manipulating the "Earth" around it, this worm can swim through stone as if it were water. Attacking from below nothing is safe from its clutches.
OrderName Desc
Piercing Snake of the Sword God This is a sword. A moving bending slithering sword. And it desires nothing more than to Pierce its enemies.
OrderName Desc
Charged Snakela Coil Lightning Mana Running through this snake''s mana circuits, make every single attack as shocking as can be. This snake has been refined over several generations so you know it''s good.
OrderName Desc
Spike Headed Greater Snake This snake schematic differs from others in that it has nothing on its head but a sharp spike. Kills by striking the unaware. This snake is a master of its domain.
OrderName Desc
Vemon Fanged Snake Poison is the name of the game with this snake. Deadly mana created poison. Adventurer review "Nuke on sight"
OrderName Desc
Worm King. A massive feat of monster engineering. Don''t be fooled by its simple name. This worm is considered one of the best of SimCore''s creations, the king of worms has insane regeneration capabilities. Any cut-off part will simply be regenerated. This monster kills by crushing and rolling over adventurers.
OrderName Desc
Manic Iron Snake A mental monster this snake excels in mental manipulations. Contains a mental venom that allows it to briefly control those it bites; this snake''s favourite pastime is setting adventurers on each other.
OrderName Desc
Snake Strangler This snake kills by dropping on unsuspecting necks and squeezing the ever-living hell out of its enemies. Kinetic flavoured mana lets it both squeeze stronger and stick to roofs better.
OrderName Desc
Worm b8t Illusion monster. This worm has learned what adventurers have done to worms in the pursuit of "Fishing" and it is not thrilled. It wants to hook and dig into your eyes and mouth in revenge for its fallen brethren. Additionally, its size and light warping camouflage can hide it until it''s too late.
Further 64 results hidden due to filters.
74 results...He felt sad knowing that there were THAT many variations of what he had done. At least no other core had used crystal mana for snakes? At least I¡¯m still slightly unique? If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Feeling more and more awful as he read the "Spike Headed Greater Snake" description Innearth bought it and reviewed the received schematic. ¡­Apparently by ¡°Greater¡± snake they meant ¡°hecking big¡±. Innearth was currently calling his two brands of crystal snakes ¡°normal¡± and ¡°greater¡± ¡­but looking at the snake he just bought, he felt like shifting them down to ¡°lesser¡± and ¡°regular¡± ¡­ Ignoring the size however Innearth was slightly pleased to see it didn¡¯t seem ¡°vastly¡± better than his current snakes. Following the schematic and starting to make one he tried to review the differences as he viewed them. Instead of making the core a pyramid shape, the store version was a Tier 2 spherical purecore. It also was located just behind the spike of its head ¨C not inside of it. This spike differed from Innearth¡¯s in that it was made out of sword mana and much sharper¡­unfortunately Innearth couldn¡¯t make a sword mana material without a alloy so he was forced to buy a block of ¡°brass¡± while vowing to figure out how to make it himself. They obviously didn¡¯t have the kinetic crystals lining its body however, in exchange, several rods were placed down its length. Each rod was a hollow tube containing a small kinetic ball of iron that rolled back and forth accelerating the speed at which the monster was slithering at no mana cost. The biggest difference between them however was the innards. Innearth had left off on several compartmentalized tubes of liquid crystal while this foreign version had many many small compartments of liquid metal making up its insides. Tubes of high concentration liquid metal ran all the way down its length before returning and connecting to a sack by the core. All in all, Innearth saw some immediate things he wanted to add to a true ¡°greater¡± crystal snake. But didn¡¯t feel like it was THAT big of a deal that he hadn¡¯t bought anything yet¡­he would have gotten here¡­and just by adding a few of those changes to one of his crystal snakes, he could already surpass it. Making a greater crystal snake (this one bigger than his previous ¡°greater¡± variants) he added the weights and shrunk the compartment sizes. Running a high-concentration Liquid Crystal vein network through its entire body he finished it off with a Tier 2 crystal core. Then, slightly childishly, he sic¡¯d it on the store-bought snake. The two faced off slithering in a circle around each other before simultaneously stabbing forward. Store bought snake bit shallowly into new variant crystal snek. The sharper tip managing to crush into its scales at an angle before being slowed down and stopped by the liquid crystal muscles. In comparison Innearth¡¯s version struck much faster and harder, as it stuck with a boost from all the kinetic crystals in its body. Dashing back because it was hurt, Innearth¡¯s monster pulled the bit of crystal blood that had leaked out of its side and formed a small spike in the air with it. Manipulating its makeshift crystal dagger artfully the snake finished its distant brother off from afar, while its gash slowly healed. Cheered up by the improvement, Innearth slowly bought more and more schematics and stole bits and pieces of concepts that other cores had used before. A small part of him cried out with each purchase, but, as he continued to build on what others had made, that part grew quieter and quieter ¨C until it vanished completely. In its place, his pride was slowly rekindled. Ignoring the wealth of information was stupid. And now that I¡¯m looking here I can truly try to be unique. By looking at everything that had been done before (at least that which was currently being sold) he was able to prove any minor innovation he made were unique. The system helped somewhat by naming monsters that were created and out in the world already. Any time the name was guessed or filled in ¨C indicating he could name it himself ¨C he knew what he had created was his alone. A certificate of ''uniqueness'' Innearth strived for. He didn''t want his dungeon full of stuff you could find anywhere else no sireeeee. An indeterminant time had passed while Innearth was absorbed in upgrading before finally, Amy messaged him.
Amy: Hey Innearth? We need to talk.
...
Innearth: Hey¡­what did you want to talk about?
Amy: I¡¯ve had both Abe and Bose message me privately asking if you were okay. Both told me not to tell you but I really have to drive it home. Do you know how long you¡¯ve been ignoring us?
Innearth: ¡­some time?
Amy: It''s been nearly a month Innearth. Something happened and as your friends, I believe we have a right to know.
Innearth: It''s not really that big of a deal. I¡¯ve gotten over it myself and I¡¯m doing great!
Amy: So something did happen. Please. Spill it.
Innearth: I had some minor demon problems. Demon died and I¡¯ve rebuilt everything better than before!
Amy: DID YOU SUMMON A DEMON? AFTER I WARNED YOU NOT TO!
Innearth: NO! I just came across one while expanding. I think it killed a different Dungeon Core. I¡¯m planning on exploring soon!
Amy: Well that¡¯s a bit better¡­ not something in your control. Amy: Now I have a question for you. Would you want any of your friends to tell you if they were attacked by a demon while expanding?
Innearth: I see what you¡¯re trying to do. You can¡¯t guilt me I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯ve made my decision and I stand by it.
Amy: I don¡¯t know if you care because you¡¯ve been ignoring us for so long. But how would you feel if one of us died without even telling you something was happening. Just poof. Gone.
Innearth: ¡­I hate you, you know that? I know what you¡¯re trying to do and it''s still affecting me. Innearth: Fine. I get it. I should have told you sooner. That¡¯s what you wanted to hear right?
Amy: You should have told us when it was happening! I don¡¯t know how strong the demon was but if you¡¯re still alive it probably wasn¡¯t that bad?
Innearth: And what''s that supposed to mean? It was awful and killed every single one of my monsters. Or at least most of them. Also, it died by¡­lots of really hot fire? I don¡¯t really know why it burned that badly after it sucked the mana out of the air. Either way. Strong.
Amy: Okay, I don¡¯t have any real way to gauge how bad it was. But! I can tell you that I could still have helped! Amy: Even if I couldn¡¯t have, I¡¯d have liked to know. Amy: ¡­All of us would have liked to know.
Innearth: ¡­Okay. I understand.
Amy: So that means you¡¯ll tell Abe what you just told me? Maybe give him all the details of what you¡¯ve been doing?
Innearth: I¡¯m sure Abe is fine. He¡¯s a bro he understands! We don¡¯t need to talk about mushy stuff. I¡¯ll just pop on over and ask him if he¡¯s made a bigger explosion.
Innearth: What¡¯s up bro?
Abe: Hey¡­Innearth. What¡¯s up?
¡­Maybe Amy was right. Abe had never ever referred to him by name before. He really must be mad¡­
Innearth: Okay um. I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ll¡­ Innearth: ack this is awkward I¡¯ll just tell you what I¡¯ve been up to.
Abe listened as Innearth explained himself and slowly started responding more and more. As he finished it off the questions came in faster.
Abe: Broooo. Don¡¯t do that again. Abe: The nearly dying part yeah. But also the radio silence. Not. Chill. M8. I''ll drop it this time but I will be pissed if you do that again. Abe: I¡¯ve been waiting for ages to show you this. Abe: Check out my new monster!
A few seconds later he got the monster trade and he sent it to one of the offshoot rooms. A disk with a slug peaking out of it¡­a massive sideways snail? Arrived and sat in the room. Unlike the last monster bomb Abe had sent, this one did not explode a few seconds later. Sending one of the smaller/non improved crystal snakes that were still alive over to it he watched and waited for the result. It''s going to explode. I know that much. Just need to know how? How will it explode and why is it that shape? Slightly intrigued despite himself, Innearth watched the snake enter the room and the two monsters pause once they saw each other. Hostile on sight, the snake slithered in a loop around it, as if trying to find the best angle to attack from. Abe¡¯s monster started to spin, the fleshy slug-like part tracking the snake ¨C before suddenly taking the initiative as if as impatient as its creator. Whipping around for speed, two sharp guillotines placed like jaws snapped shut on the monsters own "tongue". The snail catapulted the fleshy orange blob, it landed with a splorp and stuck to the snake''s side. Clinging to the snake''s back with sticky danger, the severed tongue started to pulse and expand. A second later and the inevitable explosion burst forth. It smashed the snake to the ground and blew the monster''s entire tail off. The shortened snake writhed several times before retreating to call for backup. It slinked into the hall ¨C where its body was already starting to close up due to its proximity to a crystal beacon. It would take a while to regrow its tail¡­ but it was no longer dragging a liquid crystal path behind it. Watching the snake retreat, Abe¡¯s exploding¡­snail thing? His "snail thing" was actively regrowing its tongue. The end of it scabbed over and pushed out, until it was right around the size it was before. Ammo "regrew". Okay¡­So it has a bunch of Life materials to heal itself?
Innearth: Hey why doesn¡¯t the main body explode?
Abe: !!! Glad you picked up on that m8. Okay, so the point it''s in while resting is its ¡°natural state¡±. The explosion booger is constantly trying to expand more, but that expansion starts to break apart bits of it. Abe: As it decays, the material gets closer to a point of explosive reaction. That tumor-like expansion is continuously healed away and is only allowed to come to fruition if it''s detached. Abe: I¡¯ll accept any and all praise now. I know. Great isn¡¯t it. Abe: By the way, this is what I finished weeks ago and wanted to show you. I have something better now. Send it back if you can. I like those.
Innearth Responded to Abe¡¯s second trade request. He attached the exploding snail and watched as the new monster formed ¨C just as his snake arrived with backup. Two ¡°Greater Crystal Snakes¡± born through countless iterations slinked into the room behind the damaged older version. They came up against¡­a bipedal fat ball. Two chubby legs and 4 crossed arms ending in round balls for fists. The¡­Innearth didn¡¯t even know what to call this. The monkey? Close enough. The monkey had two red gems for eyes and a faint wisp of sparking explosion mana about it. Sensing the new prey, this monkey jumped once ¨C then exploded forwards with great speed as soon as its chubby legs landed on the ground. A solid right hook came for the snake on the left, which twitched sideways out of the way in an unnatural sideways movement. Several internal kinetic crystals controlled its sideways dash. As the fist missed its target, the monkey continued around. Maintaining its momentum, the monkey smashed its fist straight down onto the older snake situated behind it. A crack sounding out as it did. The fist had burst on its bottom a crack letting out the explosion inside before resealing nearly instantly. Innearth focused on one point in this whole exchange. Despite the explosion happening on its hand the monster¡¯s arms didn¡¯t seem to be flung away¡­that¡¯s weird.
Innearth: I have to ask why the monkey didn¡¯t get blown away by its attack?
Abe: My man! This is why I¡¯ve been waiting to show you this. You ask all the right questions. Abe: I call that the boom king by the way. It¡¯s a giant bomb with little bombs on it. Not a monkey. Abe: Anyways! Kinetic mana offshoot gives a material that redirects force. Run around the inside of its mini blast hammers and all the explosive force is redirected back into the explosion site. Doubles the force produced for half the effort.
Innearth: Useful¡­I can think of one or two ways to use that in my monsters. Don¡¯t think I saw that in the material guide I bought.
Abe: Yeah I made a new friend while you were moping. He¡¯s called ¡°ZeMadDoctor¡±. You¡¯d get along with him he¡¯s a Kinetic core and knows all sorts of neat tricks.
Innearth: Oh. I¡¯ve actually talked to him before. Haven¡¯t really talked to him in awhile.
Abe: You haven¡¯t talked to anyone in ¡°a while¡±. :3<
The two snakes were currently working in concert to take down the ¡°Boom King¡± while Innearth chatted with Abe. Dodging around its wild swings, they each stabbed forward and dashed back repeatedly ¨C more and more gashes and punctures appearing in the inner sphere¡¯s exterior. Bouncing around on the balls of its feet, the boom king grew impatient. It used its explosive charge several times in a row and finally managed to land a hit on one of the two snakes. Blasting the snake back against the wall, a faint shattering sound accompanied the hit. Unfortunately, his newer snakes were a wee bit more resilient than the versions made weeks before. The side of it was shattered ¨C but not blown off ¨C and immediately a turquoise glow surrounded the hit. Mana swirled as the snake forcefully controlled its damaged body part. Closing off the veins, it patched itself up roughly with a solid sheet of magical crystal, before attacking once again. The other snake had landed a hit nearly at the same time as the boom king had landed his and the damaged snake''s assistance wasn¡¯t needed, however. Damaged beyond some point. The whole ball had started to expand at this point in time and Innearth started to get a premonition of what was about to happen. Get out of there! He transmitted to the snakes. Both already slipping back into the hall and leaving the ball to swell and explode in peace. A final attempt at damaging its attackers using everything it had left.
Innearth: Yeah it''s dead. Lol. What were you saying about it being great? I just trashed it.
Abe: Damn. Those are annoying to replace as well. Ah well. So bro. Honest thoughts. How awesome was that absolute unit? Abe: Slightly lessened by the fact that you beat it. I was sure it could have done a number on yeh.
Innearth: To be honest? Facing off the non-filthy cheating store-bought tips of me from a few weeks ago it probably would have won.
Abe: ¡­to be fair I found a thing or two in the store to make it. I¡¯m pretty sure everyone does. It''s not ¡°cheating¡± you''re supposed to do that.
Innearth: It feels like cheating okay! I¡¯m sorry.
Abe: It''s good to have you back bro. Let me tell you some of the stuff I¡¯ve done while you were ignoring me¡­
Chapter 24. Exploration #1. Following the snakes and turtles.
Trade relations between Orcs and Dwarves have been attempted on several occasions. The Orcs need weapons being mostly unable to make them themselves. While there is little the dwarves really need, they don¡¯t mind the unscrupulous nature of buying raided boozes and enjoy the Orcs choice of overpaying for items. The problem of course is Humans. While Dwarves maintain friendly relations with both Orcs and Humans, the two mutual allies are on shaky acceptance of each other at best. Humans see Orcs as barbaric and Orcs see humans as unhonourable. Clashes happen when Orcs get cheated or attacked by individuals and then declare war against the nearest human settlement in retaliation. One recorded case had a 12-year-old boy throw a rock at a group of orc hunters while calling them ¡°big coward goblins¡±. His entire village was put to the torch and the resultant conflict between that tribe and the surrounding settlements lasted 5 years. And thus, Humans make sure to disrupt any trade relation between Orcs and Dwarves to keep Orcs from gaining a larger military presence.
Excerpt obtained from ¡°On the trade relations between various species¡±
Innearth: And he really said that?
Abe: Yeah lmao. Told him to throw an explosion at it. I¡¯m not even joking explosions work for everything and can make anything better. Abe: Bad day? Explosion. Want to redecorate? Explosion. Monster doesn¡¯t do what you want? Explosion. Possibilities are limitless.
Innearth: You think explosions are able to defend against demons?
Abe: Undoubtedly my fine¡­good sir. Lol. of course Bruh. Explosions can damage anything. From what I heard at the end it was an explosion that killed the demon you faced off against :3
Innearth: Yes yes, I know you like explosions. Not sure if Explosion mana is as strong as the real thing, and I think the weird ¡°super hot fire¡± did more to the demon than the initial explosion but I¡¯ll keep it in mind. Innearth: I was just mentioning because I think I¡¯m going to explore above now, I¡¯ll keep you in the loop this time. Check in every once in a while, you know? And I guess if I come across something that looks like it could use a good boom I¡¯d buy an explosion or two off you.
Abe: ¡°Buy¡± - Bro you know I¡¯d just gift it why you gotta lie like that. I¡¯ll pay more attention to the chat in case you call for me. Good luck with your exploration.
Innearth: Thanks!
Finally, Innearth was ready to explore. One last change to the spiders? No, if I do that I¡¯ll continue to make changes indefinitely. I have to just go for it. Checking everything once over, he inventoried his available monsters. Okay, I don¡¯t want to leave my main dungeon undefended. So. 1 beholder to send off, 15 each of snakes spiders and flying crystals. 5 of a new breed of turtles and 5 ¡°multi firing¡± turtles I¡¯m renaming to ¡°hedgehogs¡±. That should be enough. Checking his status for the first time in a while he saw just how many gains he had gained over the past time period of cripplingly-focused defensive effort.
Indecisive Earth
Level 17 302/486 exp to next level.
System Access Level 2 1/2 requirements met to advance.
-1+ Unique Monster ?
-Level 20+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 11.3 unit/min
Mana Storage 486.0/486.0 units
Physical Storage 61% Percent Capacity
Titles.
Earth Mana Specialization, Crystal Mana Specialization
His level had climbed steadily, but more importantly, his mana regeneration had finally stabilized from the demon''s release of all that it had pilfered. Once I finish checking that it''s safe, I should make sure to brag about my new level to Abe. I can nearly guarantee I¡¯m still higher :3 Opening up a new path up from the farthest end of his dungeon before he could change his mind, Innearth felt like he was smashing through into the unknown¡­ The process took several minutes and was silent and slow as he dug through, but it was the thought and way he approached it that counted. His tense anticipation making the action feel much more significant than it actually was. DUN Dun DUN Dun Dungeonnn. As the last of the wall melted away, Innearth sent a single stealth snake in as a reconnaissance unit. Followed by 3 spiders, one on each wall and one on the ceiling before bringing up the rear with the older beholder. GO, GO, GO. As a path was opened up, the part of Innearth¡¯s influence that had been blocked off was once again sharply in focus. Sending out more and more monsters to fill out the advance squad''s ranks, they filed into the hallway as fast as they could, some seeming tense others excited. Innearth gathered them all into two groups. One group was filled with magma spiders crawling along the walls or ceiling and backed by the flying crystals. The other group was comprised of crystal snakes backed by hedgehogs and turtles. The split was based on two points. #1 ¨C keeping a mix of melee and ranged creations together and #2 ¨C keeping the Fire and Water based creatures apart (so they didn¡¯t fight). The spiders and flying crystals were specifically designed to work together, so he sent them left (towards where Innearth had found the first demon). The snakes and turtles upgraded into hedgehogs were both lone wolf-type monsters and didn¡¯t mesh together perfectly¡­however they did fill in some of each other¡¯s weaknesses, so they were grouped together and sent right. Cautiously starting to explore, Innearth left the beholder to guard his newly expanded entrance. The ones heading right quickly came across a fork in the hallway. Ish. I sent them in opposite directions because I didn''t want to get ambushed from behind¡­ but I also don''t want to continue to split them up at every fork... Leaving most of his monsters behind, Innearth started expanding with a single snake following along for each of the two forks. He was now split and focusing on 3 separate expansions at once. He didn''t actually know if anything could hurt his influence or his core from here ¨C all the information he had read on the subject said no ¨C but the last demon had looked ¡°right at him¡±. And it¡¯s not like the market has all the information in the world¡­guides are written by the survivors after all. Maybe Cores have died this way and haven¡¯t gotten the chance to warn the rest of us. The snakes knew to inform him of anything, in case they sensed something before he expanded into an area. They were acting as his eyes because he couldn¡¯t really see past his influence well. Thus, when one of them started wiggling back and forth, he knew it was trying to indicate something was ahead. Okay I¡¯m paying attention. Do you think its dangerous? I don¡¯t have a bad feeling about this¡­lets see what it is. Cautiously expanding into a room Innearth found a cavern filled with floating balls of magma. Each ball would stretch out and break into smaller blobs before combining with another after colliding. They functioned and looked kind of like the oil in a lava lamp. They combined and split happily in the center of the room but seemed repelled by the walls floor and ceiling, every time the got close squishing down slightly in the air and then reversing direction. Innearth watched anxiously before telling the snake to try attacking one. A small crystal shard slowly formed in the air and then shot off. The magic of the snakes was less effective than calling one of the turtles here but it would have taken too long. The snakes shot hit one of the magma balls, causing it to split into 3 bubbles that each shot off and re-combined with the others. Nothing happened. After confirming the magma balls weren''t sentient, Innearth relaxed and started to observe the rest of the room. Cracks in the wall shone a brilliant red and faint streaks of magma bubbled away beneath the surface. The floor was made of black matte stone bricks, with a faintly glowing material connecting them together. The light from the ground would grow brighter and then dull in a rhythmic slow beat as if the ground itself was alive. An incredibly slow heartbeat of light. Staring deeper he saw they were all deeply deeply combined with Magma mana. The floating balls were a twisted mess of affinities and Innearth was nearly positive they were a unique material. As he expanded into the walls the secrets of this room were laid bare. The channels of pulsing grout passed through the sides of the walls and attached to slowly turning turbines of magma¡­which Innearth could see in his influence but which kind of killed the heartbeat illusion when he saw them. They didn¡¯t seem to have much of a purpose other than to add to the aesthetic of the room, but they were nearly made all the same. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. The effect was made with a smooth tube filled with a threaded X shaped cross of two plates filling the entire length. On opposite sides, they were partly filled with a bright ¡°non cooling¡± magma and separated by two empty pockets. As the magma part touched a strip of the grout on one side, the material would suck in light and mana and brighten before rapidly losing it when contact was lost once again. There was also a rubbery kinetic flavored seal preventing the magma from passing through the pockets¡­ somehow. Is this the sort of thing Bose was talking about? It seems like so much effort just for some lights. They aren¡¯t even that noticeable. I wonder if this was a boss room? Again¡­ seems like too much effort. The other snake came to a similarly shaped room ¨C this one dripping bits of magma from the ceiling that fell into cracks in the bricks. It all looked very ¡°natural¡± and appropriately ¡°dangerous¡± to have molten hot liquid dripping from the ceiling, but this room too had more to it than it was first apparent. Under the whole room was a giant drip tray of sorts. A funnel made with Fire mana that attempted to keep the magma material hot and fluid. Why didn¡¯t they just use the non cooling version of magma they had in the other room? Is that more expensive? Did they make this before they found the other material? Huh. The center sloped down into a funnel and then several corkscrew tunnels pumped the magma to the side and around to the ceiling. A spinning propeller flung the magma somewhat evenly over the room''s ceiling where it dripped down once more. I¡¯d say the core was overengineering a decoration¡­but I think this room can actually count as a trap so I¡¯m suitably impressed. It was a strange sort of dichotomy, the contrast between the natural looking drips of magma and the ugly synthetic backend inside the walls. I like this aesthetic to be honest. Not going to use a lot of magma obviously, but the hidden internals is kind of neat. Expanding to fill the rest of the room he found 2 entranceways. One headed directly for the tunnel with the other snake and the other headed onwards some more so Innearth felt like he could bump his main army up. The snakes rapidly funnelled through the two previous tunnels and met up with their two advanced compatriots. One sent from each side to try and meet in the middle. The two turtle variations took much longer to arrive despite Innearth¡¯s upgrades. With the flying crystals (or crystal bats) Innearth was trying to make his ranged monsters untouchable and mobile. They would ideally be flying above adventures and actually dangerous enemies reach ¨C thus most of his focus was on making them shoot fly and dodge better. They landed quite a few hits on the demon when it attacked but didn''t do much damage at the end, so he was also working on increasing their damage. In comparison the turtles were designed to be a ranged tank. They weren''t designed to attack in a team and thus had to take a few hits with all the focus on them. The original turtles were simply a grounded version of the flying crystals, but now they had vastly diverged. He had tried adding the vibration material to give them skates and try and deflect shots ¨C but that had messed up their aim, so he had scrapped it. Instead, each had several long rolling pins of wheels attached to the bottom of it. A kinetic plate on top pushed the whole thing downwards while several retractable mini wheels that were endlessly spinning with kinetic mana could be pushed down into the ground to propel them. He had come across the concept of wheels in the market and loved them. So much easier than legs. So much more efficient too! You don¡¯t have to deal with balance or joints just plop em'' on and let them go! Why don¡¯t more monsters use them? Why don¡¯t the sapient creatures up there use them? Its very very clearly a better body part. It was at the point that he no longer needed the main flesh of the body to be liquid crystal however he had kept the center the same. Taking a cue from the snake¡¯s flesh Innearth had compartmentalized the whole inside with small square pockets of liquid. It was stronger than just making the whole thing solid crystal because the liquid couldn¡¯t really shatter. All the monsters were upgraded with mana circuits which were some of the largest power boosters of ¡°using the market and prior ingenuity of Dungeon Cores¡± Innearth had found. Veins of super-high concentration liquid crystal wrapped in tubes and pumped throughout the body. While both the turtles and the hedgehogs had similar bodies, this is the point where they diverged. The hedgehog had roughly 40 living crystal cannons spreading over its entire surface and could attack in any direction by shooting off these ¡°quills¡±. The center core had to sadly be switched to a pure core to allow the wheels to function with Kinetic mana and was upgraded to a Tier 2 core. However, in exchange, Innearth placed several small cores throughout the body ¨C an even split of kinetic and crystal cores, their quantity depending completely on the monster size. Currently, the hedgehog was around the size of a natural hedgehog and took 8 mini cores. Each ¡°mini core¡± was much smaller than system-regulated cores ¨C instead being made at the minimum size Innearth could make them before feeling like they were a ¡°core¡±. Each core was connected to the mana circuit as it surrounded them, and the circuit ran up to each spike cannon as well as each other and the central pure core. One or two didn¡¯t change much but somehow by connecting them the whole system grew more and more specialized. They were initially designed to help stabilize and shoot out the spikes but at this point the hedgehog could control the shot quills in set patterns after they had been shot out. Curving them in the air or accelerating them even more as they were released. There was actually a difference in how the creature functioned based on where he placed the cores and the way they connected. Nothing in the market really helped and he didn¡¯t understand what changes made what¡­so he wasn¡¯t currently able to intelligently make use of the fact. Instead it was closer to trial and error ¨C if a monster didn¡¯t seem to be able to use mana to make effects in ways he wanted, he¡¯d swap some cores or shift them around until they did. This whole node network was what had clued Innearth into how strange cores actually were. A monster without a core had the spark dissipate into its whole body which then was controlled as a bundle of instincts. Adding a core of more concentrated material pulled the spark into the more concentrated material or ¡°core¡± and upgraded its consciousness level. The rest of the body could still be controlled, but the amount of ¡°control¡± actually lowered by adding a core. He could continue to scale up his sand boss monster almost indefinitely because it didn¡¯t have a core. However, as soon as one was added, the amount of body mass that the core could control was somewhat limited. He would need to use larger and larger cores just to have them function at the same rough level of usefulness as not having one. By making a mana circuit of highly concentrated material in thin wires and connecting it to a core, the spark was still drawn to the core, but the core was then able to run its¡­consciousness? Soul? The core was able to run its ¡°control¡± through the veins in a heightened way. Spreading back out through the body instead of being kept trapped in the central core. If he wanted the monster to be more efficient at using mana outside of its body he had to run the mana circuit right up next to the outside of its skin ¨C it would slowly leak mana out of the body and then the monster could shape that mana instead of having to push it from inside its body out. On that note an entire monster could theoretically be made out of a higher concentration material ¨C their whole body functioning closer to the non core''d version but with a stronger soul. The problem of course was that they constantly released mana unless kept in an area with much much higher environmental mana than most of Innearth¡¯s dungeon. It was also impractical when comparing to having veins and cores spread throughout the monster''s body. The monster still died if the largest ¨C or multiple at the same size ¨C core containing its soul was shattered, but its control over its body was greatly improved by giving it pathways with which to run through. Additionally, by connecting cores in a network, they no longer needed several separate sparks to give life to them. Innearth had tested this fact out by making two independent mana circuits in the body of a snake and connecting two identical cores to the independent circuits. 2 sparks were needed to give the isolated systems life. However a second monster with the circuits connected even if the cores were physically far away only required 1 spark. The version with two sparks was slightly bipolar and less reactive as the two minds fought over control. Innearth had put a core in the tail and a core in the head and the separate mana circuits let both body parts move independently. Interesting... but useless for a snake and without coordinating body parts the snake was quickly killed by a spider that sensed its weakness. In comparison however, the "connected" version was still alive and doing well...somewhere. I think several sub cores with a single larger control core is better. I can connect multiple cores and keep em sane by making them part of the same network¡­but they don¡¯t seem to have the same split focus despite having multiple cores. There was a caveat to this point which was that it only really worked with tier 1 cores. To connect two tier 2 cores he needed a ¡°Tier 2 Circuit¡± connecting them ¨C which meant a much thicker wire or tube, surrounding an even denser concentration path for the soul to travel. Doable, but more annoying to set up. It didn''t work with liquids and was thus a stiff path that was only really useful for connecting close cores in a matrix, like the beholder¡­which wasn¡¯t using them so who knows if it had a purpose. Finally, a monster could be made without any real ¡°Core¡± and still have a mana circuit. However, it was the worst of both worlds ¨C the spark was sucked into the circuit instead of the flesh of the body, but the circuit itself wasn¡¯t strong enough to support as strong a soul as having a dedicated spot for it. Either way that was the design of the hedgehogs that were barreling down the two hallways towards the connected rooms. Innearth had also iterated the original turtle design to contain a large sack of liquid connected to the main cannon. Death mana was nearly impossible to use in a (normal life attuned) monster without killing it, however, the unusable mana could be combined with Water to make a Poison mana that only slightly harmed its host. He wanted to add a Life mana healing material as well that would help regenerate it, but was absolutely terrified of accidentally making a demon ¨C even if the Death mana was technically no longer there after being converted to Poison mana. It''s just not worth the risk right now. He had decided instead it was safer to deal with the slower poison regeneration that happened with the crystal trees healing the spent poison, than it was to make rapid refilling poison stores. He wanted to eventually make a bunch of sacks with various ¡°effects¡± or attributes to apply to the cannon but was currently limited by the physical materials and mana types he knew. Innearth considered the problem while watching the monsters regroup and start travelling in two separate groups. I should see if Abe wants to help me make that explosion goo of his. I might be able to stick that to the side of shots! I¡¯d have to make it a different version that doesn¡¯t have Poison mana just in case¡­ I¡¯d need some sort of healing material for that to work after all and I just decided not to risk it. Also might want to keep it away from the Water mana in the middle? I could save it for the bats ¨C they don¡¯t have any water in them and it would make them match the spiders slightly?
Innearth: hey bro how hard is that explosion goo you make? And how much healing has to happen to keep it from exploding?
Abe: Hey! Well¡­that¡¯s the thing. It requires constant healing and you have to make sure it''s balanced for that. If it''s damaged too much and healing magic is split to other parts of the monsters body it might break its equilibrium. Abe: You also have to keep it from exploding while you design the monster because the healing only really kicks in once its been seeded. It''s kind of easy for me to do? But I don¡¯t think you could do it reliably without an explosion affinity. Even if I could transport the material to you without it blowing up in your control idk if you would get it.
Innearth: Ah that¡¯s fine. Just a thought I had. Actually, now that I think about it, I read the tier 3 primer. The system has some controls that might help with that so all we have to do is level up to level 20 and we should be good to collaborate on stuff. I¡¯m nearly level 18 so should be soon enough.
Abe: Yeah I¡¯ve sped up my levelling speed loads recently¡­but I¡¯m still level 15. Based on my current speed I might be level 20 in just under 2 months? It''s hard to judge because I¡¯ve been getting better at this dungeoning thing but you have to give me quite a bit of time lol. Abe: I thought you stopped cheating? How are you still a higher level than me bro? It''s not even funny anymore.
Innearth: I think it might have something to do with iterating several monsters at once? I upgraded 4 main templates at once several times while I was busy making defences. Also made a bunch of traps at the same time. I don¡¯t know if there''s a penalty for using information from the market¡­I guess not really considering how much experience I¡¯ve gotten¡­Honestly I''m not that far ahead. You can still catch up!
Abe: I guess. I¡¯ll try and diversify a bit and see if that helps me catch up.
Innearth: I wonder what level Amy is at? Have I surpassed her yet?
Abe: Oh lol, I¡¯d love to see her reaction if you have.
Innearth: I¡¯ll see about asking her in a bit. I¡¯m actually splitting my attention 4 ways right now 3 are on separate groups of exploring monsters. 1s on you.
Abe: I¡¯m touched. 25% of your attention lol. So much. Tell me if you find anything exciting.
Innearth: Will do!
Both groups of snakes had come and gone through smaller rooms and were continuing to head sideways and upwards now. It was time to see what the group sent in the opposite direction was up to. Chapter 25. Exploration #2. Following the bats and spiders.
Census data < Death and Age heading under ¡°Human¡± section > Rural ¨C Average age split by adventurer status. < Adventurer Human > Percent of population with adventuring class 67% Death by old age: min 80 yrs, max 589 yrs, mean 90 yrs, STD 10 yrs Death by unnatural causes: mean 25 yrs, STD 25 yrs, percent of pop 90% Level at natural death: min 48, max 163, mean 53, STD 3 < Non-Adventurer Human > Death by old age: min 50 yrs, max 140 yrs, mean 70 yrs Death by unnatural causes: mean 40 yrs, STD 25 yrs, percent of pop 60% Level at natural death: min 40, max 51, mean 43, STD 3 Urban ¨C Average age split by adventurer status. Note: Much higher level and age distribution in urban areas due to less dangers and a higher quality of living enabling a lazy lifestyle. While also having more ways for the driven to suceed and reach a higher level. < Adventurer Human > Percent of population with adventuring class 17% Death by old age: min 100 yrs, max 358 yrs, mean 189 yrs, STD 50 yrs Death unnatural causes: mean 25 yrs STD 25 yrs*, percent of pop 75% *Note: Heavily skewed at bottom, the number of adventuring related deaths is bunched up in the early 20s with a majority of deaths being between the ages of 12 and 25. This is the only statistic that deviates so far from a normal distribution it requires a dedicated note. Level at natural death: min 42, max 89, mean 51, STD 6 < Non-Adventurer Human > Death by old age: min 80 yrs, max 380 yrs, mean 110 yrs Death unnatural causes: mean 40 yrs, STD 20 yrs, percent of pop 14% Level at natural death: min 4, max 95, mean 33, STD 25 On level and lifespan. A detailed study of probability and age. Disclaimer: these statistics are all based on tracked values obtained mostly from humans with basic classes. They are also simply average statistics related to old age - not an exact age one will live to - and are heavily skewed by diet and health. It''s estimated that each racial level adds roughly 3% to your remaining lifespan. The reason this doesn''t compound as drastically as you might expect is that this effect is not an extension to someone''s full lifespan but their remaining lifespan. An extra few levels near when someone is born are worth quite a bit more than ones obtained when they are about to die. Extending their life by a few years instead of hours. It might not seem like alot but the earlier you level up the more of an effect your level has on age...which in turn increases your chances of living longer and levelling even higher. Assuming a level 1 human lives to be 31 years old (results obtained pre system and sligthly innacurate due to city lifestyles extending that age), someone who naturally levels around the average (3 months compounded every 5 levels by 1.5) can live to be on average 70 and die around level 40-45. (actual age from polled results is an average of 85 years old however there were a higher number of city humans polled than rural humans and thus results were skewed from the math...however the average level in cities can also be lower with the innovations of a few high leveled individuals making several normal people lazier) However! In the case of an adventurer who levels twice as fast, they might die somewhere between levels 50-55 at the ripe old age of 97. Going further Elite adventurers who are even faster at levelling, tend to end up around levels 65-70 and live to be around 138 years old. (both those values are approximations people tend to vary from the average quite a bit) The age delaying effects of higher levels are also further muddled by stat choices. With more even distributions or ones focused on vitality giving higher age increasing effects. Disclaimer: While average old age increases, adventurers are known to have a lower average lifespan due to the danger of their profession. Less likely to die of old age but more likely to die by a monster. Of course, all these values were estimated using a Basic class and a "regular" human. The "Level 1" age of various races varies wildly. Elves for instance can live to be over a 100, even while staying at level 1. However, the amount of lifespan they gain from levelling is slightly lower than humans, while the speed they gain racial levels is wildly different. Without more data we can''t confirm exact values - we can prove however the levelling effect can compound elves to live to be several centuries old and that is just the average. Most higher tiered human classes are easier to level. Hence the few lucky or talented enough to gain one, have managed to reach level 70+ while living to be over 100 quite easily, even with average ability. Finally, there are those rare geniuses that break all these stats. Those who break all levelling records, have a monstrous class and monstrous ability. Those who manage to reach level 50 before they even turn 16. They are the 500-year-old humans. 1000-year-old dwarves. 10 000-year-old elves. The few sentient races to break the level 100 barrier and prove that there isn''t a level cap. They are the ones we refer to as transcendents. Geniuses transending their species.
Excerpt obtained from the famous survey, "The largest census ever performed". Results were made from the population of Ire and surroundings in "1750 A.S." and distributed to everyone who could read. Some believe this was done to try and convince some lazy city folks that they should try harder, (such that they weren''t a lower level than farmers and random people living in the woods). Most agree with the accuracy of the results. The crystal spiders and bats had headed off towards where the demon had been found and passed it by with few events. Recommencing his expansion on this side after they caught up to where Innearth had expanded to before. He observed the area he had first spotted the demon. The floor and walls directly where it had been resting were a dull matte grey instead of the black obsidian of everything else. Completely devoid of mana despite the time that had passed, the area felt dim and fuzzy in Innearth¡¯s sight. Everything else had mostly healed from the demon¡¯s consumption of all the mana ¨C but that one spot remained barren. Does this area have like¡­maybe an anti-magic effect? Innearth wondered while trying to form a small ball of Fire mana as a curiosity. It did seem to be harder to form right above the demon¡¯s place of rest and shooting it down at the ground it felt muted somehow as it dissipated and was barely absorbed. Not leaving a single indication that it had hit. So not really a material that could be used to suppress magic but maybe one that could defend against it? I¡¯ll come back to this sometime soon. Continuing on, Innearth came to a large low-down room with several smashed...pillars? Walls? The spiders skittered out, preferring to climb along the ceiling, while the bats flitted back and forth around their partners nervously. The biggest upgrade besides adding mana circuits to both of these monster schematics had been the introduction of directionless Gravity mana. Inverting its effect, the gravity bones in both of the creations lessened gravity''s effect on them. For the magma spiders that meant Innearth had added bones making them much lighter and then several kinetic disks on both their legs and body pushing them back ¡°down¡±. The difference was that ¡°down¡± was now more closely tied to the direction they were facing and less to do with any pesky gravity or shared notion of ¡°down¡± the rest of us had. Their form was able to crawl across the solid rock of the ceiling while also able to flip and drop on anything unsuspecting below. They hadn¡¯t fared the best against the demon¡­but then again nothing had fared well against it. The biggest problem was despite being a tank, the demon''s magical maw had simply bypassed its defences. Back in the present, Innearth stared at the patch of non mana reactive stone, wondering if it was best to make a panic door around his core room using it. Or if it was better to try and see if making a few unique monsters out of it that could resist magic was better. He didn¡¯t have a lot of material and making monsters would probably stretch it out more than throwing it all on a door. Then again considering a demon made this who knows if it would even be effective against a demon¡­its weird jittering time magic thing seemed as detrimental to it as it was positive¡­but who knows? Not me that¡¯s for sure. For the crystal bats otherwise known as ¡°flying crystals¡± Innearth had achieved something pretty mobile with just Kinetic mana. However, by lightening them with gravity bones, the amount of over-engineering designed to just keep them in the air could be diverted into increasing their mobility instead. Similar to the turtles, the bats now had a lattice of crystal and kinetic cores around their body that helped them shoot and increased their movement and control of their own body. The rest of the time was trying to figure out how to increase their damage output. Thinking back to how they had fared against the demon, his previous flying crystals had done a bit of damage...but it paled in comparison to the snakes. They had also simply been caught in the demon''s lunges and easily broken. One option was to go the same route as the turtles and add a poison sack. There wasn''t as much space in the bat''s body, so it wasn''t as useful as a long-term weapon. But he definitely had room to shove a small poison gland by its attacking blowgun, that could be added to a single shot. Finally, Innearth figured out something different. By adding a small propeller to the end of the "barrel" ¨C 5 blades using a strip of Kinetic movement on one side and sword material on the other to increase sharpness ¨C the bats were able to blend the living crystal shots as they exited the barrel. He had also tipped them with Kinetic crystals so they could give an extra burst of speed for the actual blending. Of course, on its own, this didn''t do much other than ruin the bat''s aim. Sending its semi deadly spike outwards in all directions. However, combined with the magic control offered by its lattice network of crystal and kinetic cores, the bats were able to "Push" all the mini shards away from them in a second burst. Despite being smaller, these small shards were much sharper and while many small shots instead of one big one ruined some of its armour piercing capabilities...the damage was higher against anything fleshy that could bleed. Adding the poison to the mix gave a spray of countless mini poisoning shards of death. Finally, even with all these changes to the individual monsters, the biggest difference made, was that he had cemented their partnership. Innearth had added a 2-way Mental mana link between spider and bat ¨C two large blocks of Mental mana linked to each other near the center of each monster touching their cores. They were split into lifelong partners and he always made the two in pairs. They would be created, each bonding and showing some of the most protective instincts of any monster he had made before starting their routine. These combined pairs truly cared for their bond and worked to keep them safe. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. As a duo they were vastly improved this way and while individually his snakes were still slightly stronger than either monster on its own¡­combined they were winning every single conflict they caused, making these pairs the alpha force (ignoring the frankly overpowered beholder and boss) in Innearth¡¯s dungeon. Even evening out the match and making it 2 on 2 the snakes lost out to the duo''s teamwork. The only potential problem this pairing had caused was what happened when one of them died. A snake had managed to knock a bat to the ground with its crystal magic then shattered it ¨C causing the spider to go absolutely berserk. It threw away all self preservation and simply threw itself at the snake with as much ferocity as the insane jumpers had back in the day. After killing the snake, the spider had thrown itself at more and more enemies before finding and attempting to attack one of the beholders. It didn¡¯t have any way to show expression or emotion however Innearth was sure it was mentally screaming the whole time. Not enough time had passed for one of the spiders to die, but he assumed the bats would do something similar if and when that happened. It felt kind of weird to Innearth. They were obviously grieving and that kind of made him uncomfortable. Them dying didn¡¯t bother him but the pain they were in did somehow. They are much stronger and more balanced together, however. I don¡¯t want to stop making pairs just because I¡¯m feeling weird by separating the pairs. I could try and see if there¡¯s a way to kill one off as soon as the other dies? ¡­But that kind of feels dumb to purposefully implement when I¡¯m trying to make them stronger. Consciously closing off his heart to the concept Innearth purposefully decided to try and ignore the moral situation. If he started feeling too guilty in the future he¡¯d invest in a ¡°Deadman¡¯s switch¡± to put em'' out of their misery. The spider-bat pairs continued on into a new completely wrecked room. Whatever had once been here, had long since been destroyed. The rubble joining the dead monster parts as if they were dead dungeon parts. Progressing further Innearth passed a wall of writing. Half smashed in, it was written in dungeon script and told a sad tale.
Here marks the room of Ignition. The eventual strongest Dungeon Core of all! I immortalized my progress in earth strengthened obsidian, such that my journey to greatness will forever be remembered. I began my journey surrounded by air pockets and empty lava shoots. Exp?and?i?n?g? ?t?h?o?s?e? ?.?o?o?t?s? ?I? ???.??? ???a?b?l?e? ?t?o? ?g?r?o?.??? ???l?a?r?g?e? ?h?a?.??? ???.???y?s? ?f?a?s?t?e?r? ???.??? ???m?y? ?p?.?e?,?s?¡­?
The rest of it was smashed beyond repair. ...that''s what you get for bragging when you couldn''t back it up. Rip "strongest Dungeon Core"- you were not known and thus could not be missed... Expanding past the wall into a room he found the remains of a Core. Unlike every monster core that shattered in an explosion of mana, this Dungeon Core¡¯s core had been chewed and spat out into a pile of dull blue shards covered in teeth marks. They were dry but Innearth could imagine they were once covered in wet slobber. Innearth felt weird looking at those shards. They forced him to confront his own mortality and he didn¡¯t like it. He kept trying to joke about their pride being their downfall¡­but knew he too had a bit too much pride and that it could very well have been him laying there broken on the ground. It very well nearly was me laying there on the ground :/ He tried to absorb a bit of the shard so it would disappear from his influence and he wouldn¡¯t have to look at it anymore. The shard barely disappeared in terms of size, while his storage shot up like crazy. Is¡­Is the cores Inventory? Is our inventory attached to our core somehow? The second or two of absorption had given Innearth some useful materials like a bunch of silver which he hadn''t found yet. But even so, he stopped immediately. It''s probably better if I don¡¯t absorb this. There are probably some useful materials but... It''s compressed into an insane ratio right now¡­and I¡¯m okay on inventory space currently. Who knows how I''ll be if I am dumb and take on this core¡¯s whole storage? Even better on space now that I can claim all this wonderful free expansion, I''ll be able to expand for days without worrying. He could feel a faint twinge of another floor wanting to form, but he didn¡¯t want to stop before he had finished exploring and making sure this ruin was safe. It wasn¡¯t quite something he could stop ¨C the floor forming like a distant truck coming to smash into him ¨C but he could definitely just not help the forming along and ignore it while he tried to finish. Innearth was starting to get more and more certain there had only been one demon, but he really didn¡¯t want to lose vigilance while there were still unexplored areas. Can''t relax just yet. I''m sure as soon as I do, I''ll regret it. Stop it body. Stop splitting. As Innearth expanded, he found a room hidden behind the wall with several small holes at angles to increase the influence transfer ¨C while hiding its existence. The room had several dozen black basins of materials. Many were solid rock ¨C variations of basalt and obsidian ¨C while a couple contained still bubbling pools of magical magma. I guess since it''s impossible to store magical materials in your inventory... this was their material store? Either way, score! I should share this information with Abe. As a Fire affinity core, he would probably find more uses for some of these.
Innearth: I have presents!
Sending Abe a small 1 liter sample of every single still active pool ¨C as well as some of the floating magma from the snake section ¨C Innearth felt like a true friend.
Abe: wow. You needn¡¯t have m8 these are great.
Innearth: Nah don¡¯t worry about it. If you find any really useful ones make sure to let me know!
Abe: Shoving the work off on me eh. I¡¯ll be sure to keep that in mind.
Innearth reached the last of the rooms in this section of the dungeon pretty quickly. Expansion was¡­incredibly slow as always. Even sped up by the already dug out and thus ¡°free¡± real estate that he was expanding into it took a few hours. The faint twinging of floor creation didn¡¯t help one bit and he was making the problem worse by continuing to expand. Somehow he managed to stall it for longer like a guy holding in the need to pee at a theatre because he didn¡¯t want to miss the movie. Despite the relatively long time it took him to map out this whole area, as Innearth grew older, his perception of time seemed to slow down and weaken. It was either something to do with his Dungeon Core continence, or a side effect of spending days working on a single monster or trap design without rest. In comparison to the side the snakes were on, the spiders reached the dead Core¡¯s core room and the few surrounding areas pretty quickly. Quickly only in comparison, however. The last of the rooms ¨C a small room at the end of the hallway containing a single black bowl full of a completely black, yet... still bubbling with heat, liquid ¨C was successfully claimed and Innearth relaxed his continuous commands to his spiders. Yeah, I think we are good! You guys are free to make yourself at home while I finish up on the other side. His neat army slowly split apart with spider and bat pairs exploring once more together ¨C this time on their own terms. Pulling back his attention from this area, he diverted his split attention towards the other army, which was currently going down two separate paths that kept linking up to each other like a ladder. What was the purpose of this hallway structure? I think maybe the core was planning on doing something with this but didn¡¯t manage to finish it? Or maybe it''s just a way to make sure adventurers can get flanked pretty easily and monsters can get around them to attack from both sides. Now that I thought that out it''s probably the goal. It''s certainly annoying enough to have to keep expanding each rung before continuing so I don¡¯t get anything slipping past these groups. It also makes the dungeon feel bigger than a straight hallway even if there is only really one direction. Two separate rooms came into focus a short while later. They had several interlocking mechanisms connecting the two of them ¨C a sort of drawer that couldn¡¯t be moved in one room but that was pushed in and out when someone pushed or pulled an identical drawer in the second room for example. There were also several painted symbols in one room with corresponding pushable floor plates in the other. Several small tubes near the floor let sound pass between each room and a large amount of magma was contained in the ceiling above both rooms ¨C held up by several trap doors that were sealed shut with interlocking rubbery mana material rims. Is this a punishment for people who just smash through the puzzles? I should claim it either way. This is the only real trap I''ve seen in this dungeon after all. If something dangerous comes by I can dump it on them puzzle or not! As Innearth converted the magma dumping area to dungeon parts and continued to expand past it he studied the two rooms. They were amazingly thought-out¡­but weren¡¯t finished. For example, the drawer that was opened by the second room was empty and Innearth couldn¡¯t really tell what was supposed to go in it. A key? Then I would have to make a door. That would also be a pretty fast puzzle. There was also a bunch of random shapes and glyphs on the one wall...and none on the other. I have to tie those into stuff in the other room somehow. I guess I¡¯m stealing this setup and finishing it, instead of just ripping it up and moving on¡­I probably won¡¯t be able to do whatever this dungeon''s vision was justice though. Wish I could steal the finished version. Continuing up he found the two winding passages met up with each other relatively quickly once more. So, one person can walk back and forth between the rooms if they need to do it alone? I¡¯ll ruminate on that I guess. Continuing on the single path became steeper and steeper. Before cutting off abruptly in an anticlimactic way a dozen or so meters later. Innearth went through the whole dungeon he had claimed, solidifying his influence into the walls and double-checking each part before he was finally satisfied. He sent off a message to both Abe and Amy with a simple ¨C
Innearth: safe ??
It was that moment that he relaxed ever so slightly that triggered him getting hit by the floor forming process like a truck. He was vastly vastly past his size requirement at this point despite each floor forming at a larger and larger space. Each floor formed larger than the last...but this time he had pushed so quickly he had claimed over doubled his previous dungeon in raw area. His past floors had been getting better and less annoying to form but this one slammed into him feeling like a portion of his soul was being ripped into smithereens and barely managing to make a dividing line. Like the difference between a piece of paper that was ripped into two pieces and one that was cut with scissors. Most of his effort was spent trying to smooth the split and heal everything. Finally ¨C without even having to sort stuff to ease it along ¨C his 5th floor was formed. It took up over half the entire new dungeon area ¨C which was already slightly larger than Innearth¡¯s old area ¨C so he spent some time trying to evenly distribute the floors boundaries, so they were similar size. His floors didn''t really have any rhyme or reason right now. They were simply splits in the hallways, that unceremoniously divided a higher concentration of mana from its lesser version. I''m probably going have to move these again when I get bigger...there''s no point in giving any meaning to it right now. The next few days were spent consolidating his space and in less than a week his 6th floor was also formed ¨C before the effects of expanding so quickly was finally diminished. After pushing so much over a month time his friends convinced him to take it slow and relax a bit. Amy was definitely convincing him to do so out of some sort of mental health benefit (> even if you find it fun, you don''t want to get burnt out of your hobby, please just take a break you''ve been through a traumatic experience. You''ll thank me later. <) while he was sure Abe was doing so out of a secret hope that he would catch up in level while Innearth languished. Despite Abe''s hidden agenda however, it was not to be. As if delayed and spread out ¨C instead of being given all at once ¨C experience ticked in steadily from his expansion and despite not innovating much he refused to waste his mana. So working through his break he periodically made spider bat pairs to fill the new dungeon and various slightly different snakes to fill his depths. The numbers swelled in size and dipped as each group sent raids into the other''s territory. The low effort "not cheating" way of attempting to improve them, was to alter the mana circuits of each monster ever so slightly with each attempt. Doesn''t count as experimentation :3 my attention slipped while making them that''s why the circuit looks different yep. Many were made worse but a few changes definitely made stronger monsters and it was enough to quench his experimentation bug for a time. Constant battles of sorts happened, with a controlling god fueling their conflict for idle amusement. However, there are only so many times you can watch two nearly identical groups of monsters fight before even that grows boring. In time he stopped paying attention to most of their scuffles just picking whichever side was losing (the snakes for the most part) and making more of them to keep it balanced. During this time, he finally told Bose of his demon problem ¨C he reacted the most shocked and briefly dropped his persona before regaining his composure and declaring at the time (> It¡¯s the master¡¯s job to help his apprentice. You simply must tell me if it happens again, I¡¯ll protect you! I¡¯d have sent a dozen spirits! <). A good chunk of Innearth¡¯s time was spent just talking about anything and everything with his friends. They grew on him more and more, however even though he was enjoying this time, he was starting to feel impatient to get back into the swing of things. A highlight of this period was when he found out he had actually surpassed Amy in level. She was level 17 by the time he was 18 and still there when he reached level 19. He knew level didn''t mean everything but it still felt good. Finally, 2 things happened nearly simultaneously. 1 - He decided enough was enough and his semi-forced break was officially over and 2 - he levelled up to level 20. Ticking him into tier 3 with much less fanfare than his rank advancements he was nevertheless excited by the small form of progress. Tier 3... Let''s see what I got and how this works! Amy said to wait the same amount of time as I had ignored them (a month) but 3 weeks is close enough! Lets gooo.
Indecisive Earth
Level 20 1/630 exp to next level.
System Access Level 3 0/2 requirements met to advance.
-Reach the surface
-Level 33+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 25.7 unit/min
Mana Storage 630.0/630.0 units
Physical Storage 51% Percent Capacity
Titles.
Earth Mana Specialization, Crystal Mana Specialization
Chapter 26. Tier 3 System.
How do undead form? At first thought they are simply the creation of the filthy necromancers. Minions of evil that are simply puppets of the worst kind of sacrilegious scum. However, there is a second lesser known cause. War. War, Famine, Plagues. Whenever vast amounts of the holy Mother''s gifted Life are lost in an area, the amount of environmental Death mana rises over a certain threshold and a percentage of the dead revive and continue to revive until the levels drop once more or are cleansed. These wild undead are less abhorrent than those created by Necromancers, however they must still be cleansed from the earth in holy fire. It is the only mercy we can give those who have been forced to stay on this world in such a twisted form. There are another group of undead. The cursed. Those who fear death so much they are willing to turn undead just to escape it. Those who specifically made themselves undead in obscene rituals while wanting strength, power and beauty ¨C the vampires. Those necromancers who turn themselves while keeping their powers ¨C the liches. If any cursed beings are found, they must be shown the holy Mother''s mercy immediately and with extreme prejudice.
Excerpt from the priest guidebook ¡°101 ways to be a good priest and spread the holy mothers¡¯ teachings¡± Innearth knew what his very first task was.
Innearth: soooooooo how far away from tier 3 are you? :3
Abe: DAMMIT! We can''t all have a cheating empty dungeon fall into our laps. I''ll leave it at that m8
Innearth: Are you sure it''s not my marvellous mana skills being represented and rewarded?
Abe: Nah can''t be. It''s definitely the "non skill, totally just luck", you were gifted.
Abe: see you in a bit. I''m going to be tier 3 soon just you wait.
Innearth: Theres no rush. It''s less important than Rank 2. Just some lazy controls... you aren''t missing much.
Innearth flipped through his system menu idly while talking to Abe. The only gift tier 3 gave him was a revamp to his schematic area.
Innearth: Oh wait I was wrong! It lets you instantly dig to the surface in a few seconds. You should see this.
Abe: Bruh lol. That''s some high-end system controls. Tell me what the surface is like.
Innearth: It''s filled with thousands of trees... and exploding trees just for fun. A giant ball of Earth mana floats above and makes sure everything works right. oh and there''s a dragon.
Abe: jokes aside an exploding tree would be AWSOME. Bro if you ever find an explosion plant I''ll finally get the point of them. Plant em everywhere. do the whole nature thing.
Innearth: yeah sure if I ever see any.
Tier 3 let a dungeon core design a monster completely in their system schematics just by overlaying the system panel over an area. He could pull up a schematic and actively change bits of it ¨C a ghost-like, transparent and 3-dimensional model in his sight...but also not connected to anything in reality. Beside the monster floating in the panel, was several general statistics. Numbers stating what the monster¡¯s health was. How much defence its body had, as well as how much stamina or mana it could hold. Quantified and simplified the panel also gave detailed stats of individual body parts. All he needed to do was separate the part from the main body and push it into its own panel. Innearth could remove the spider leg for example and play around with changing its density, thickness, length and the position of plates ¨C all while watching its speed and grip change in real time. It was a no cost iteration although the system wasn¡¯t able to quantify how dangerous the whole monster would be. Just guess. So, this is why most of the market schematics are so good. They were designed by tier 3 cores before being sold to the rest of us...honestly it almost feels like by having this I know for a fact I can make better stuff than most of the stuff currently on the market. I wonder if I should start selling monsters or schematics? It seems pretty obvious that a lot of cores are keeping their favourite monsters to themselves¡­but having a steady income of cores would at least double my monster creation speed. Sure, would be nice for levelling. I¡¯m getting off topic. What else can this new system area do? Innearth continued to play with the controls. There were duplication options ¨C ways to copy and paste limbs that would all change when one was edited, or ways to quickly copy the crystal scales of the snakes over whole areas like a fabric. Intuitive ways of designing a monster like grabbing the sides and stretching it wider or scaling the whole thing up were given ¨C material filling in as needed. He could also ¡°Zoom¡± into a portion of the monster without physically increasing its size and then make small details. Small details at a higher scale than he could edit manually. The whole thing was convenient and easy to work with. I guess¡­I guess I understand why this wasn''t given to us right away ¨C it forced us to learn how to do everything from scratch. But now that I''ve been given this tool, I really don''t see why I shouldn''t use it. Innearth confirmed his half snake, half bat hybrid and watched it pull from his inventory and mana to form. He hadn¡¯t really intelligently designed this hybrid just smashed the two monsters together. Copy pasting bits from both into a new schematic to see how it would work. Part of the experience of making it himself was lost letting it be made automatically...but he didn¡¯t miss it. Additionally ¨Cdespite the time to spawn the monster being linked to his own control of the mana types and materials ¨C the process took slightly longer than a manual creation might. The new snake flew off into the dungeon. Flitting around it headed up to go attack the spiders. Well seems no different from what I make myself? It is using my mana after all. Finally trying to find more problems with the system controls ¨C Something this good can¡¯t be without some sort of problem ¨C Innearth figured out it wouldn¡¯t let him make monsters higher than his max mana. When making things manually he just had to pause and wait for his mana to regenerate. In comparison, the system pulled all his mana out in a lump sum into the panel and then slowly built the monster. When it finished printing the monster, the system moved it out of the panel into the real world by fuzzing it into existence. I''m being kind of lazy, aren''t I¡­ It''s just so...convenient. Even if I''m able to split my focus and work on other things, I still had to actually do the repetitive stuff. No longer! You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Trying out a few things Innearth started to store body parts as schematics. He made a new section called "parts" and started shoving stuff like legs he had made or the kinetic plates inside of tubes so that he could pull them into his work area as needed. Testing the limits, he realized the only thing he couldn''t do was make unique monsters in it ¨C those required materials he couldn''t make manually and thus couldn''t be used to draw from his inventory. To make up for that the system could draw individual materials from his inventory and combine them into compounds he had already made ¨C brass for example could be made with the system using copper and zinc without Innearth actually having to figure out how to combine them. It was a worthy trade-off. Actually, makes me want to try and make or buy more compounds from the market ¨C even if they are expensive ¨C just so I can recreate them as needed. Excited to do something practical with his new toy. Innearth designed something with a concept he hadn''t touched since he was a young core. A crazy ball of Earth and Air. Somehow the minor trauma of one nearly killing him was completely dwarfed by his run in with a demon. Now he just tried to think how it could be useful. Well I don''t think it''s useful making it bigger. Even if it''s not as bad as the Demon it was still uncontrollable. Or maybe not...maybe I just have to figure out how to control it? The jumpers were kind of controlled with lots of Earth maybe if I try to use Water or Fire? Then again, I don¡¯t know how that would work. It''s not like it was a combination of the two ¨C more like just the two elements interacting in a negative way while remaining separate? Innearth started to modify his turtle template. He didn''t really have a goal with this monster other than to see if he could control the crazy spinning ball somehow. Just to see if he could you know? Adding a thin tether to a crazy ball in his inventory, he attached it to the turtle¡¯s cannon and housed it inside. I wonder if they count as a single monster or two because of the string connecting them? Checking the system interface, he saw no matter how thin he made it the ball on a string was part of its body. Actually ¨C just as he thought that, it stopped counting. But the size was hair thin at that point. He could place a small core inside of it and then it would have a different mind...but the original ball had not needed a core. And considering he was planning on them being basically ammo that would make for an expensive ball to simply throw at people. Accepting what he had and waiting for it to print he didn''t really care that it was taking much longer because of the Air mana in it. It''s not like I''m doing the grunt work :3 I might start using Air mana more often if all it costs me is time and not a headache. It made him wonder if he could make multiple monsters at once and he quickly set up a lesser snake as a test ¨C the second monster was set up and took his mana before starting to print just like the other. Wanting to push this to test Innearth kept adding more monsters until instead of being made a monster was added to a queue. 6 monsters. Okay. The same as the number of floors Innearth had. Going to have to check when I have a new floor and see if that changes it to 7, but I¡¯m nearly positive I can make the number of floors I have in monsters simultaneously¡­and queue things up indefinitely as long as I have the mana for it. Staring at his current mana in horror as he realized his absent-minded test ¨C along with his previous level ¨C had brought him down to 2/630 mana and started to make him feel dizzy. It''s much easier to spend more mana than I have with this option. That was dumb of me. Waiting for his mana to tick back up Innearth watched the system print out his monsters. A while later the first monster finally finished forming. Immediately, without the turtle being able to even shoot its body part, the ball broke off and whizzed around. The tether grew more and more tangled and knotted, before it hung sadly. Twitching. The ball jumping around slightly tied to the turtle''s side, after having wrapped around the whole monster multiple times in a mad dance at its short freedom. Playing around with his schematic he saw that making them completely separate allowed it to be its own monster...but something about this whole scenario felt fishy.
Innearth: Hey m8 I have a question.
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Come to ask for my assistance once more disciple? Ewhahaha.
Innearth: Yeah, you separate the core from your spirits somehow right? How do you keep them the same monster?
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Ahhh yess. Okay listen closely. They are still connected though their tether is made of Mind mana and nothing of the physical sort.
Innearth: So, like, link two mental materials? I''m sorry that doesn''t make sense either. I''ve linked my spiders and bats and they both act like their own creatures, despite communicating with each other constantly.
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Ahh do they both have a core?
Innearth: Yes? Are you saying if I made one of them with a core and the other not they would function like your spirits???
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Undoubtedly. Without a core it functions like a body part that''s detached.
Innearth: Why? Innearth: What about if I have a tier 1 core in one part and a tier 2 in the other?
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: I don''t think so. You could always check but if it has a separate core that''s not able to be connected with a mana circuit it''s going end up as separate souls...and then even with the mental connection, without a physical connection it will end up as a separate monster. Bringer Of Serene Eternity: It''s good to be curious Innearth, you''re more curious than my other friends but sometimes the answer doesn''t really matter. It just is. Magic is shaped by intent, so maybe If you truly desire to make a detached monster with separate cores you could come up with something.
Wait what? Bose had other friends? Innearth felt kind of mean for thinking he was the only core who could stand to talk to Bose...of course there are others...now I want to know what they are like. Briefly forgetting his original topic he latched onto that point.
Innearth: You should introduce me to your other friends sometime. I haven¡¯t met anyone new in a while.
Suddenly struck with a thought he messaged Amy and Abe as well.
Innearth: Hey m8, Do you have any friends you¡¯d think I like? I want to meet all your friends. Friend of my friend is friend. Innearth: Hey Amy~ Who do you talk to besides me? Feel like introducing me sometime?
All three started to happily try and introduce him to people. For some reason they liked that he had asked? He was just curious but based on the responses he had done something good.
Abe: Yeah bro. I¡¯ve made friends with this chill Core called ¡°Ze Mad Doctor¡± You have got to meat him. Sorry meet him. He¡¯s rubbing off on me. 10/10. I also started talking to Bose recently. But I only did that because I knew you were friends and I want to be buds with my buds bud y¡¯know? Don¡¯t worry between the 3 of you, you¡¯re by far my favorite <3 Abe: Hey! I¡¯ll tell doc to message you when he¡¯s free, he¡¯s a blast.
Innearth: ¡­sure I¡¯ll try and talk to him again.
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Of course! I have correspondence with several unique cores. There¡¯s a core by the name Aeirh who¡¯s just lovely. She likes using Earth mana despite having chosen both Air mana and then doubled down on an abstract form of it ¨C Incorporeal mana. Really weird the amount of effort she puts into making Earth constructs. I see no use for the stuff no offence.
Innearth: None taken, I barely touch Air mana either. Seems much less useful than Earth.
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Anyways, there is also doc, Already introduced you to him and I¡¯ve started to talk to Abe again.
Innearth: Alright! Can you introduce me to Aeirh sometime?
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: I¡¯d be delighted to send her your way.
Amy: Hmm I guess I can introduce you to a few of my friends. They are all older than you¡­but then again I think you¡¯ve out-levelled everyone but Jake so does age even matter? Amy: I can introduce Jake, Brutality Queen, and YYY. Jake''s from my tier 1 group and an Earth core like you. He went with harmonic water as his second choice however. There are also xero and 9 but we¡¯ve drifted apart as soon as we got more cores to talk to. Queen is a Life core like me but started with Earth. She¡¯s¡­a bit rougher with her monsters than I¡¯d have liked but really does know her stuff. Amy: Finally There is YYY. He¡¯s a...to be honest, we don¡¯t know what either of his affinity choices are. Don¡¯t know what his original element was ¨C he never uses it and doesn¡¯t tell us. I¡¯m guessing he was the mythical ¡°unattributed¡± type because I¡¯ve never heard him use one of the base 4 elements even once. He uses the 4 secondary elements exclusively and doesn¡¯t seem to favour one.
Innearth: That¡¯s¡­more people than I expected to have to meet but sure ¨C introduce me to them all!
Innearth returned to his half-finished mostly forgotten monster schematic while he waited for his friend''s friends to start rolling in. Not really caring about it anymore he absentmindedly finished the concept ¨C half a dozen mental cores and a mental tether between the crazy ball and mother turtle. Adding several more crazy balls and separate mind bridges, Innearth tweaked each one in an attempt to make them more dangerous. Each had several small sharp-angled spikes so that when they spun they could saw into stuff and each ball was implanted with a few kinetic materials to spin it even faster. Next, the amount of protective bouncing balls was increased to 5 (copy-paste of the previous cannon as a last-minute change), before Innearth set it to print. It was barely 5 minutes (no time at all) since he had messaged his friends before the first of the new messages started rolling in. Chapter 27. Networking or socializing outside his bubble.
Mana Type Testing: Test 1: Attempted to recreate mud mana through combining earth and water mana. Was eventually successful although it took roughly 15 attempts before mud was the result. Test 2: Attempted creation of death mana through killing some basic farm animals before we began to modify the mana. As we ran our tests, the death mana transformed into something we''re gonna call Dissection Mana. Seems to have fused with the latent mana of some materials in the area. Test 3: Attempted creation of sword mana. A rare type of magical energy. Most of what Swordmages and other similar classes use is actually Weapon Mana. The test was semi-successful. The sword mana was slightly malformed and seemed to take on an a basic elemental form. Further testing required. Te? Test 47: Accidentally created Deletion Mana. The east wing is once again a quarantined zone until we can figure out how to pump the pollution out. Test 48: Somehow created a ManaCorps Mana, when we accidentally killed a project manager during the experiment. Mana manefested on the incident report we filled after the fact. No further effects manifested. Test ???: Forgetfullness Mana has been sucessfully synthesised by placing all the people with alzheimer''s we could find in a room and breaking several un-attributed cores. Testing has stopped due to all our senior engineers forgetting they worked here.
A few excerpts from ManaCorps Mana creation attempts.
ZeMadDoctor: Nice to meat you and all that.
Innearth: ...and you as well.
After a minute or two of silence, he responded again.
ZeMadDoctor: Well I guess if that''s all I''ll be seeing you.
Innearth: No wait - I promised Abe I''d have a proper conversation with you. I don''t fully know how to talk to you, or anything about you really. Bose told me to ask you for help with death mana? So are you a death affinity core?
ZeMadDoctor: No. I remember you. Inquisitive one. I liked that.
Innearth: So what affinity are you? I''m curious.
ZeMadDoctor: I''m a kinetic core.
Innearth: Oh so you like dealing with movement and stuff. Thats fun... I''ve been using alot of kinetic mana myself - it''s pretty useful!
ZeMadDoctor: It''s just a tool. Useful indeed.
Innearth: So what''s your second affinity? I assume you aren''t just kinetic.
ZeMadDoctor: Earth.
Innearth: What do you like to do for fun?
ZeMadDoctor: Experiment.
Innearth was tired just trying to have this conversation. He responded to everything but really, Doc didn''t give him much to go off of... or do more of the bare minimum really. That being said...the very last response was...something. We have a similar¡­ no we have the same hobby...and this core also has an Earth affinity. I guess he''s not being rude just straightforward? Maybe to get him to talk more I have to give him something to latch onto. It''s not like I''m giving him anything interesting to talk about after all. I can''t really complain about him not elaborating if I''m not sending him anything other than fluff.
Innearth: Hey speaking of experimentation... what''s your opinion on mana circuits in monsters? I''ve been trying to figure out the relation between nodes and wires and how angles and lengths and thickness affect performance. What have you been experimenting with?
ZeMadDoctor: I...what are mana circuits? Are you talking about connecting channels between utilities? You mentioned something about nodes. Hmmm. Is there a relation? I thought they were simply a pipe pumping the energy. Maybe. Hmmm.
Partway through the Core''s message, he seemed almost to stop talking to Innearth. As if he was thinking and sending everything he was thinking. It was something though. That was the most he had talked in this period and Innearth wanted to capitalize on that.
Innearth: Yes it''s inefficient to simply throw a bunch of large upper-tier cores at a problem when you can achieve similar or better results with a smaller mana cost.
Innearth quickly picked a monster he didn''t much care about - the old golem design - and overlaid a circuit of 5 small earth cores and 2 kinetic cores over its body (remembering to add a tier 1 pure core in the middle for stability. Removing the gross bean legs and adding 4 sleek wheels so it wasn''t as embarrassing to send off, he printed a copy and asked it to fire a ranged projectile. It seemed confused for a second and then as if translating his weird request, focused in the air beside it. A misshapen lumpy stone formed in the air and shot off making a small cracking sound as it hit the wall. Not a good caster but good enough to demonstrate!
Innearth: Hey I threw something together as an example, make one of these.
Innearth sent an empty trade request or gift of the schematic and waited for a response. As he waited he started conversations with both Aier and Jake who had responded to him by then. Finally prodding doc he tried to get some sort of reaction.
Innearth: See it should have resulted in a core able to cast a spell despite not having a tier 2 core?
ZeMadDoctor: I see that! This is fascinating. I don''t know how it works. I don''t understand and I want to. I need to. Sorry I need to try and figure this out. it could have controlled the projectile with nothing but a tier 2 earth core. but then again. It seems like it shot faster than usual is that because of the kinetic cores? They took over movement. hmm. Is there a significance to there being 2 of them? hmm.
Innearth: What level are you by the way?
ZeMadDoctor: I''m level 28. This is...fascinating simply fascinating...
Innearth: Oh so that means you have the system controls to make stuff.
ZeMadDoctor: Yes indeed. I''ve started cataloging circuits in a circuit tab. It has to fill me in at some point. ZeMadDoctor: Or at least I was trying. I can store them but they don''t tell me anything. it''s frustrating because I know the system can read them somehow. If I stick them in a monster and tweak them slightly the system shows me some changes in stats. It has to know somehow. I have to know! It changes but why? Can I predict it? Can I intelligently change it? Is it random? No it''s repeatable. So how does it work? ZeMadDoctor: Why can the system tell me some of the results but not all of them? it should tell me what spells the monster can cast.
Innearth: ...so It''s pretty obvious you like the concept.
ZeMadDoctor: I hate it. ZeMadDoctor: I don''t know how it works. I need to know how it works...how do circuits...tick. I''ll try to restrain myself and I apologize but. ZeMadDoctor: I...we should pool our information. I''ll research this a bunch and then compare notes. I''ll return. Don''t leave.
Doc''s name dimmed. Well...that was a different personality. Intense somehow? I wonder if it''s because of his kinetic core. He''s straightforward because of Earth... but intense when he finds something he''s interested in because of Kinetic? No that''s too 1 dimensional. I think most of the cores have somewhat grown out of the early affinity influence. I don''t feel very crystal like after all. That must just be his personality. Innearth waited for a response. And then closed it. He had notifications, after all, no point in sitting there doing nothing. His attention rejoined the rest of his focus and boosted the two other conversations he had split off for.
Jake: Blimey yeh a dedicated one ain''t yeh. I hear you were taught by aims ere. She''s a good un and?
Innearth: you weren''t what I was expecting really. I want to know how my friends are. What''s Amy like with you? You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Jake: oh she''s a right pearl she is. Aims a Dimond among granite if you know what I Meant. You know we have a lil bootleg chat going on and she''s the most helpful core in er''.
Innearth: you guys have a bootleg chat? How does that work?
Jake: Right well. See. We have a core ere by the name of YYY. Bit of a strange bloke. He acts as our chat guy. whole thing can''t function without em. Jake: Yeh see us cores all send messages to him. A core will send him a PM like and he does all the messy business of cataloging and sending it off to the rest of us. He''s a right trouper he is. Let''s us all pretend we back in tier 1 with a nice old group chat he does.
Innearth: That seems kind of annoying for him? He has to receive messages from everyone and then forward them? How does he even do anything else?
Jake: Oh pshh. He likes it the good sport. Real good at multitasking he is. Has lots of floors last I heard and uses em real good.
Innearth: I mean I have 6 floors and I''m able to keep track of 3 separate messages easily enough. It kind of sounds like you guys are being lazy though?
Even as Innearth said it, he imagined a group chat with just Amy Bose and Abe. If he had nothing to say he could just lurk and read the messages. That would be kind of nice.
Innearth: Okay well I guess as your junior core, for a friend of a friend do you have any advice for me?
Jake: Rigghto not sure if I can help there. Seems like yeh doing right well for yourself if you''ve already passed our aims. Don''t need much advice as far as I can see. Wot?
Innearth: yeah just thought I''d check. It was nice talking to you!
Jake: Chirio good sir. Rest of your day and all that! If you ever need help with Aims feel free to give me a text.
Aeirh: hello.
Innearth: the air core who likes using earth? What''s the story with that?
Aeirh: oh wow okay sure. Guess bt told you my whole story huh. And I know nearly nothing about you. That''s fun.
Innearth: BT? Oh is that what you call Bringer of Serene eternity? I call him bose.
Aeirh: Oh. Doesn''t seem flattering. And yeah he''s adorable isn''t he? Always acting so serious. He''s precious.
Innearth: Yeah¡­so what''s the story though I''m curious?
Aeirh: It just feels like I''m onto something. I got some more experience when I used earth mana in tier 1 than when I did stuff with air mana so it seemed like a good thing to do? Nothing in life''s worth anything if it''s easy.
Innearth: Ah okay well I wouldn''t say that. I mean why are you going out of your way to make everything harder on yourself?
Aeirh: gross. how can you say that when you are level 20? You got there by pushing yourself right?
Innearth: I guess slightly... I also played to my strengths though. I''m really not the best to give advice but I want to try. Innearth: Have you heard about the secret tutorial advice?
Aeirh: what?
Innearth: Okay if you take a long time picking your first affinity you get advice from a core that can be summed up with this quote "Training with resistance only boosts your strength if you can remove that resistance after you are done training - otherwise, it just makes everything harder" Innearth: He was trying to persuade Cores to not chose the non affinity option because it''s limiting.
Aeirh: How did that core write that advice? I can''t see a single way to communicate with tier 1s or 0s from here.
Innearth: I think he chose the non affinity option and got something that allowed him to do this?
Aeirh: So he''s a filthy hypocrite is what you''re saying. I really wish I chose that option, I was dumb and picked Air right away. Aeirh: I wish I could go back and smash that stupid young core I was.
Innearth: I thought it was good advice? I tried to do everything myself for awhile and then had to use the market and copy some things. I feel like I''m better off because of it. The stuff I figured out myself helped me make the stuff I copied better?
Aeirh: Sounds to me like he had some cool unique options and didn''t want other cores to figure out the secret. He wanted all that nice power to himself.
Innearth: I guess you could be right. It really didn''t come off like that though.
Aeirh: Agree to disagree and all that. Basically, I think you''re stupid and lying to yourself...but you do you.
Innearth: Well I tried to give advice. Trying to change the topic what''s "Incorporeal mana?"
Aeirh: Proof that me pushing oneself is rewarded. Aeirh: Earth mana has the concept of "Solid" tied into it right? Well Air has the concept of "Incorporeal" Tied into it. Aeirh: It''s not an option that''s offered normally the other air options were "Wind, Tornado, Gas". I''m just special like that. Maybe if you pushed yourself you could have gotten a "Solid mana" affinity.
Innearth: So what does it do?
No sooner had Innearth sent that message then he received a gift of a small Iron cube. The cube fell to the ground and sunk into it over halfway before stopping. Pulling it out the cube kept feeling like it was slipping out of his grasp and didn''t leave a single mark on the ground.
Aeirh: That''s what a simple use of Incorporeal mana can do. How about it? Looks like a unique material huh. Bet you haven''t seen that before. I''m selling them for 500 mana a gram. Offering samples obviously because otherwise people wouldn''t buy them.
Innearth: What does a monster made with this look like? And 500? that''s a bit pricy. It seems like you''d need to make a whole monster out of the stuff before it would be useful. And it''s like a unique material in that I can''t edit it.
Aeirh: boo, you''re too weak. I do commissions for different shapes for free and more complex ones for a variable cost. I do have takers on the market. 500 mana isn''t a lot once you get to a higher level - my clients are all level 28-33 for the most part. If it''s out of your price range... sucks. I''m not lowering it.
Innearth: Give me an example of a use of it and I might consider sometime.
Aeirh: I can make several claws out of this material that pass through stuff while still cutting them. Guarantee it''s better than "Sword mana" because that works better with swords and falls flat with claws or non-hand-held weapons. Currently trying to engineer a version of Incorporeal sword mana that uses 3 elements and 3 mana types...something to look forward to.
Innearth: Okay so it''s a weapon. That does sound useful if still being pricy.
Aeirh: A bunch of my monsters are also using it for defence - if their whole body is made out of it it''s much harder to hurt. I also have a bunch of traps that use it but I can''t see anyone but me wanting to buy enough to do the same. Aeirh: Anyways please take care of...bose. He''s my best friend don''t you dare try and hurt him.
Innearth: ...Wasn''t planning on it but noted. Might talk to you again. I''ll hit you up if I need a material commission I guess?
Aeirh: Goodbye~
Partway through this conversation, he was messaged simultaneously by Amy''s two other friends. I really should have asked my friends at different times. I''m already overwhelmed by the number of new people aaah.
YYY: Evening. I don''t have a cool hook to introduce myself but hi.
Innearth: Hi. I don''t have a hook either. I really should have one though...the amount of people I''ve met today...
YYY: Favorite pastime GO.
Innearth: Uhhh...I like experimentation, Fine mana control and talking to my friends. What about you?
YYY: Cataloging. I''ve tested all 30 physical elements with every single base element and categorized their results. Then I started on Tier 2 mana flavours and now I''m working my way through every single combination. I''ve found a few that are not named yet so I''m doing pretty well. My goal is to make a database of them and sell it.
Innearth: ...okay you started off and I thought that sounded like experimentation but now it just sounds like boring brute force. How do you know there are only 30 elements?
YYY: Hey it''s fun. Don''t disparage my hobby. And I know cause those are the only ones I''ve found around me and in the market.
Innearth: Well glad you can pass the time. How is Amy with you guys?
YYY: She''s perfect. Most of the messages I forward come from her and she always remembers to direct some my way. For some reason, my friends forget I''m a part of the chat sometimes despite being the one. Literally. Holding. It. Up.
Innearth: Well then. I guess that''s all, Tell me when you''re done with your database. I already bought most of the useful materials but would love a thorough collection.
Brutality Queen: Are you strong?
Innearth: Umm...do you mean are my dungeon monsters strong? I think so. I''m feeling alot more confident now.
Brutality Queen: You sound unsure and weak. Goodbye. If you think my times good enough to waste on you send your most powerful warrior to my dungeon. Brutality Queen: Then if it manages to survive more than an hour without being a weakling and hiding, I may consider talking to you. Don''t waste my time with too many useless attempts too. If you fail I''ll only give you one or two "second chances".
Innearth: Goodbye I guess? I''ll send you something if I want to test my strength sometime...goodbye then
...okay. Her status just dimmed. Guess I should have just responded with "YES I AM STRONG" or something. She probably would have asked me to prove it anyways though... Should I test it out? Maybe I should try and optimize a monster for combat before sending it however. She said warrior so I can''t send a bat/spider pair. I should probably send a snake as my best solo monster but considering it can''t keep up with the spider/bats I think I''m going to wait till I can iterate one strong enough to do so. I could always just put enough work into one to make it a boss? That''s a later me issue. Trying to return to his monster design Innearth searched everywhere until he found the crazy ball mother. She was...not doing well for herself. After Innearth had spawned the turtle she had wandered around until she found the entrance to his magma halls. Venturing in she had attacked a spider/bat pair confidently. Shooting off all the spinning balls they had harassed Doc just responded again.
ZeMadDoctor: You still here? I''ve done adequate tests to try and review.
Innearth: Sure, Yes I''m here. Send away.
ZeMadDoctor: So circuits perform differently depending on the monster they are in. That''s why my attempt at a circuit tab didn''t work - the circuit that works well in one specimen doesn''t in the other. ZeMadDoctor: They don''t change much if isolated however - I''ve started making spell arms that have a circuit embedded in them and then attaching them to several monsters to test and they all perform similarly. ZeMadDoctor: I haven''t cracked the code in terms of designing the spells the monster can cast though, just make ones I''m positive will use a spell.
Innearth: Alright, Good information to know. I also figured out that different materials for the exact same circuits change how they work.
ZeMadDoctor: I found that out as well. Changing the length and thickness of the circuits can correct those changes. An iron circuit performs identically to an aluminum circuit that''s been thickened to a 7/6 ratio and lengthened by around 14%. I think it''s based on mana conductivity of the element?
Innearth: I haven''t tried making a circuit out of non-pure mana yet have you tried that?
ZeMadDoctor: Less useful. Didn''t mention it because it breaks spells unless you are only using one type of core. The spells you can make by stacking different cores - like you did with kinetic and earth - are much more potent than just earth but a earth circuit.
Innearth: Okay. Well if you ever figure out something game-changing with these circuits please feel free to tell me. I''d love to know. Innearth: Kind of curious I sent this initially as what I was working on. What sort of experimentation do you like to do normally?
ZeMadDoctor: Oh that''s easy. I play with demons. make em. experiment on them. They are great.
...what. WHAT! Innearth was floored.
Innearth: Do...do you have a death wish? Innearth: ...how...how are you still alive?
Chapter 28. Life and Death. But not a matter of life and death.
There is a reason besides goodwill that only the truly insane dungeons are culled. Upon destruction, dungeons leak and potentially pollute vast swaths of their surroundings. Today we are going to look at two wastelands directly caused by the destruction of a very old and powerful dungeon. The Arcane wastes, so named for we don''t understand the affinities used and created. As well as the Abyssal Tundra Wastes. The Arcane Wastes stretch for 20km and although contained, consist of some of the most dangerous areas outside a dungeon in the world. Any sapient within the first 20 racial levels gets acute mana poisoning within minutes of entering and symptoms progress rapidly leading to a nearly instant death as they fuse to the environment. The Arcane Wastes are the only place where you can find flesh trees or finger grass for instance. Unlike a dungeon however, monsters made in the wastes spread out and raid outside of the wastes constantly, giving everywhere within 100km of the wastes a heightened danger level. The Abyssal Tundra Wastes are a dizzying mix of various ice affinities that can freeze even ice-attuned mages given time. The wastes spread all over the eastern peninsula and only stop spreading to the rest of the continent due to Winterhold. The history of Winterhold is deeply entrenched in our own and politically unstable... however all you need to know is they are the bastion defending the rest of the continent from the wastes. Every single species that makes winterhold home has been altered somehow and many of the known and unknown ice classes can be unlocked given simple proximity to the wastes. And thus the destruction of a dungeon is only permitted when the dangers of leaving it alive outweigh the potential dangers its death might cause.
An Excerpt from the textbook "The Effect of Dungeons on their Environment Volume IV" Innearth was shocked. He had seemed so nice. So normal. It just goes to show you can''t tell if anyone''s insane unless they tell you. Oh, it''s not like he considered doc to be as frightening as a demon through association. But anyone who willingly experimented with...that... couldn''t be mentally stable.
Innearth: How...how are you still alive? And on that note whyyy.
ZeMadDoctor: Bah. Demons are not as bad as the fear mongering information you no doubt read. ZeMadDoctor: They are simply an endlessly interesting phenomenon.
...no they were definitely as bad as Innearth had heard. At one point he looked up the statistics for demon deaths. Apparently over 20 cores died per month through Demons alone. ¡­guess I know why there is Mad in his screen name¡­he must be cultivating Madness mana. Innearth felt a faint sense of revulsion at the thought.
Innearth: Are you sure you are experimenting with demons? Positive? Again, how are you still alive.
Innearth pressed further and then finally told his whole demon encounter. Somehow It was much easier to pour his heart out to a core he had basically just met, than it had been with his closer friends.
ZeMadDoctor: Hmmm, Tier 3? Maybe 2. It''s hard to guess without having seen it. Maybe? But no, it left a blemish. ZeMadDoctor: Hmm.
Innearth: That''s not really a response. I very nearly died. How are you still alive?
ZeMadDoctor: Stupid. Of course. I''m insensitive through comments. I hate socializing. Cores so fragile. I always faux pas. ZeMadDoctor: Annoying. Listen I wish I hadn''t told you about my hobby. I was having much more fun talking about circuits. ZeMadDoctor: Demons...Demons are from...elsewhere. I''m nearly positive. If you make a life and death material. If you combine the two in a monster. But that seems unreliable. Hard to get right. Much better to just use demonic materials.
Innearth: Why would you want to make a demon?
ZeMadDoctor: Annoying. I''m getting there. If you interrupt again, I won''t tell. If you use a life and death material. Upon seeding the monster it is consumed. Sacrificed to summon the Demon. The Demon will manifest either inside or around your attempt at a monster. ZeMadDoctor: That''s part of why they are so much fun. You can use the same monster type in sacrifices and continue to get different types of Demons.
Innearth refrained from mentioning that for someone who liked experimenting it seemed weird to enjoy something random. Repeatable things. Those were much nicer and more useful. Maybe unique materials got a pass. Feels like you have to know what to do with them though, you can¡¯t just use a material because it''s unique and automatically get an amazing effect.
ZeMadDoctor: The quality of monster you use to summon the Demon either accidentally or on purpose is how big of a hole you make and somewhat how strong of a demon is able to slip through. ZeMadDoctor: For example. A demon made from the tutorial slime would be nearly harmless. Much stronger than the slime obviously but nothing a Proper dungeon monster couldn''t handle. ZeMadDoctor: Making a demon out of a monster with a core. Bit more dangerous. I''m expecting the Demon you Summoned.
Innearth: I didn''t summon a demon it was just there!
ZeMadDoctor: Sorry. Yes. Correct. The Demon was probably summoned from a monster that had more mana in its creation. Closer to the example you gave me. ZeMadDoctor: It might have been tier 3 because it made a unique material. Useful that. Should make sure you use it. I''ll take it if you don''t want it.
Innearth: Okay. Yeah you''re right I should make sure to use it well. I still don¡¯t know how you like dealing with the things.
ZeMadDoctor: Why do you like to experiment? I can''t really describe it. I just do.
Innearth: So that''s why you know about death mana? Have you figured out anything useful? Also why are you a Kinetic core if you like making Demons?
ZeMadDoctor: Life and death. Not just death. They are...two sides of a coin. Closer to each other than is obvious. ZeMadDoctor: Death creatures do not...do not function the same as life creatures. They aren¡¯t as attached to their bodies as life-attuned things are. They can replace their body easier and even survive outside of it for a time. They also can''t age. However, in exchange, they don''t heal. Any wound iss permanently a mark upon them. They also don''t grow stronger naturally. Like anything that lives. The undead...they are different. ZeMadDoctor: The mana is different too. For death mana can patch up and repair an undead ¨C not heal. You can increase an undead''s strength with death mana alone. The problem is that is dependant upon the mana. It''s not permanent if the mana leaves. So does their repairs. ZeMadDoctor: Life mana has many facets. It''s not just there to attune a creature to life obviously. I can''t figure out if seeding a monster is life mana. But every life-attuned monster you make has a small amount of Life mana in it. Obviously more if you specifically add it with materials. ZeMadDoctor: Finally like all rank 2 mana. Life and death have less of an attachment to the base physical material and more with intent and the way you apply it They obviously don''t all work the same - most toxic materials work better for death mana and most materials that are inside of natural creatures work better for life mana but at the end of the day the effect is the same.
Innearth really wanted to comment on how when explaining things doc stopped jumping around and cutting off, but he silently drunk in the knowledge of the demonic doctor. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
ZeMadDoctor: Placement of materials matter for both - similar to the circuits actually. the way you apply them - looping into the material and through things for example similar to mental mana connections effect the way the energy is applied. Even what you want to achieve alters the connection slightly. You can try and make life mana invigorate a monster and give it energy or "heal its stamina" you can make it refill resources or heal the resource back. Of course there''s also healing wounds or afflictions. ZeMadDoctor: I think. I think this information is probably a fair trade for the insight into nodal mana circuits you¡¯ve provided. Most of it you can find out if you buy enough information but some of it is my own.
Innearth: yeah¡­it is helpful. I think I need to re-evaluate it a bit. I¡­I think I¡¯ll talk to you again sometime if that¡¯s okay? Can you give me some time to think.
ZeMadDoctor: rude. But fine I understand. Trauma is weird. I¡¯d love to talk about more insights you¡¯ve gained if you come around.
Innearth left the chat and started to think. The first task he wanted to complete was to try and use the null stone left behind by the demon. I think the best solution is probably to protect myself. I want to make sure I¡¯m not wide open, if something like that happens again. Returning to his core room he stared about. At one point in time, he had tried decorating it and there were still alternating checkered tiles in the floors and walls. At the time it had partly been a place to store the materials but now it just looked half hearted and unfinished. Cutting bits and pieces out of it and splitting it around the room he "painted" over the whole thing with a slightly transparent crystal leaving some of the checkerboards tastefully peeking through at places the crystal was thinner. Now the room was obviously important but fit his theme much more. Alright now that I''ve finished my vanity project... Protection. That feels like the best use of this non-affinity material. Excavating a whole area around the entrance to his core room, Innearth started to build a door. A massive sliding door ¨C easily a meter thick and two meters wide ¨C was built upon several principles. #1. It had most of the most effective null stone ripped out of its place in the hallway and shaped into a 30cm thick wall. This was the core and basis for the wall, for it would smother and block magic trying to pass through it. Layered in front of the stone was a second plate of pure iron ¨C 10cm thick and enhanced with Earth mana to the point it actively smoked. The end of this forward facing sandwich of plates was a small sheet of ¡°vibrating friction-reducing¡± material Hopefully nothing will be able to take hold of this and move it without my permission. He could have used carbon in the hopes that it would be closer to Diamond¡­but the strengthened metal was already plenty strong and he hadn¡¯t had much luck with that yet. No, he wanted to cover all his bases with this door. There also wasn¡¯t a lot of carbon in his inventory ¨C only 50g or so ¨C and Innearth had decided to save it for Life mana experimentation. The Opposite side was reinforced as well, but the goal was simply to absorb any impacts against the outwards facing sandwich. Innearth layered spongey Pure mana materials for 50cm or so and then capped it in with a crystalline sheet on the other side. The door was built wider than the hallway leading up to his core room and perfectly sealed into the walls ¨C the bottom had an indent downwards so there wasn¡¯t a way to reach underneath and Innearth spent a good while claiming it as his own. The process took a bit longer than normal but when finished he had a functioning panic door. Sliding it down all the way and his room was completely cut off ¨C his entire dungeon becoming muted, fuzzy and delayed. It felt kind of claustrophobic but Innearth felt safe hidden away in his little room¡­the longer he kept it down however the more anxious he started to feel. Panic door because using it makes me panic? Either way up you go. As he struggled to pull the door all the way up the rest of his dungeon came smoothly into view his sight returning in a gradient. From 0.1 to 1.0 in a few seconds. Well I¡¯m not in a rush. I¡¯ll use the rest of the null material eventually, but I want to try and think about what the best use of it would be. Innearth had two more goals from Doc¡¯s explanation. First, he tried to find zombie Silver. It took a moment to scan his whole influence before he found the sad zombie. Time had not been kind to this monster. None of his monsters were life attuned enough to attack it on sight and most tried to stay away from it due to its deathly aura¡­however even without being attacked constantly the snake had lost most of its body. 90% of the zombie''s scales had fallen off at this point ¨C scattered about the dungeon as it had slid about. The snake¡¯s tail ¨C and most of its lower body ¨C had fallen off in several chunks as well. The tepid thick soup of its ¡°undead turned liquid metal insides¡± had been nearly completely drained and smeared across his halls. Most of the rings were still intact and hung its skin slightly ¨C as was its solid point of a head ¨C but the monster was no longer able to do much. It slowly dragged itself around ¨C too short to properly slither. I forgot how sad you are now. I guess I haven¡¯t been very nice to your body huh former Silver. The snake raised its head slightly and a faint red spec at the end of its cone seemed to agree with Innearth. First things first we should make you a nice little zone huh. Picking the undead up and carrying it to a room near the top of his dungeon Innearth began making a room of Death mana in the obsidian halls. Just using Death mana wasn¡¯t enough to fully displace whatever environmental mana was stuck in the walls. But Innearth got around that by adding strips of different physical materials around the room. Phosphorus seemed to be the most compatible with Death mana and he really hadn¡¯t been using it for much else so it became the go-to. Doc mentioned poisonous materials working better? There are probably much better materials than this¡­ but I have a bunch of it and it''s just for the walls. The mana twisted the material into a violent red colour, marbled with black swirls that gave off a inverted sort of light. Remaking the ¡°Death Crystals¡± that had been enough to snuff out the weaker life force of a small snake, Innearth dotted them about. They seemed to help solidify his transformation of the room ¨C random environmental mana flowing into them and being ¡°purified¡± into death mana which was released once more. As Innearth prepared a room for his zombie. He gathered whatever bits of the rotting flesh he could find and brought them up to the room. Despite not having done anything other than start to prepare a zone for the undead, Innearth was already able to spot a change. Less lethargic, the broken monster started moving about with more energy than it had in ages. Just wait a little longer. Gathering the pieces, Innearth pulled them over to the snake and blasted it with Death mana ¨C scales, strips of skin and metal rings of bones flung up and hung suspended in the air ¨C obvious gaps where parts had been damaged beyond repair. As soon as Innearth stopped pumping Death mana towards it, the loose pieces dropped to the ground once more and he frowned. (As much as a faceless being could frown) Okay. I guess I can try making it a new body? Combining Death mana and Iron, Innearth started making several interlocking¡­ tubes of sorts around the undead¡¯s remains. Trying desperately to maintain movement between the outer rings, Innearth painstakingly made his undead armour. Starting over several times when he didn¡¯t like the way they interlocked. He only had one shot and the system panel couldn¡¯t really help him here because it wasn¡¯t a monster. Adding several ¡°Death Crystals¡± to see if it would help, Innearth combined Crystal and Death mana with quartz then dropped the shards into the body letting them grow in between the bones and goopy flesh. More and more work went into this creation ¨C a creation that wouldn¡¯t have been fully possible with a living monster even removing the ¡°death¡± part of Death mana. Taking Doc''s advice to heart, Innearth wasn¡¯t surprised when Silver''s spirit started to claim the armour as part of its new body. The crystals linked into the undead and started to provide a constant source of Death mana ¨C while the armour kept all its fleshy bits contained so they wouldn¡¯t fall off. A new monster grew ¨C one Innearth couldn¡¯t say was strong enough he¡¯d consider it a boss¡­ but one that was now able to stand on its own against the rest of his monsters. Mini boss Silver¡­no it''s really no longer "Silver" so it needs a new name. Mini boss Death snek! Deth snek randy! Snaketh the death knight! Yep, that¡¯s your new name Snaketh. May your bones rattle these halls forevermore! Christening his enhanced undead, Innearth pulled back contentedly. Next step? Life mana. Pulling his lava spider schematic into his system panel Innearth blew the body apart and started looking at each part individually. His spiders were strong ¨C but for a frontline defender, they had a glaring weakness ¨C their spindly legs. Okay. Rather than try to make these legs ¡°stronger¡±. Let¡¯s see about using Life mana to make them easier to regrow. Making a small sac of ¡°mercury/Life mana¡± he ran life mana down the entire leg and then back to the sac in a loop. Mercury had started feeling less expensive the older he got. He no longer had to buy them in cores ¨C just pay the mana cost directly and with the added abstraction of not having to make the cores it¡­kind of became much easier to spend his mana. Finishing this leg Innearth copied it 7 times, then re attached them to the spider¡¯s body before adding a bat and printing them. They printed separately but simultaneously ¨C the way of linking them with mind mana had been to drag the materials between two open panels where the system had given a little *linked note beside the rest of its stats. As soon as they finished, he sent them charging into snake territory as a test. As always, the pair ravaged his snakes but what he had been hoping for happened ¨C a snake smashed several of its legs off and while it took a while to regrow there was a marketed improvement. Sadly, the pack of 7 snakes this pair had met had been too much for the duo and seconds after the spider succumbed to their numbers the bat kamikazed to its death as well. Here¡¯s an idea. The life mercury doesn¡¯t diminish¡­but it''s much less effective than the health liquid made with life and water¡­so why don¡¯t I combine the two and cheat? Making a new healing organ Innearth split it into two sections. The top was a standard healing potion that would be quickly consumed and used to rapidly heal a monster¡¯s body¡­while the bottom was a non diminishing pool that was solely designed to regenerate the lost healing potion. Yep, this definitely feels like cheating. Remaking the duo Innearth sent them off once again for testing. This time they met a group of 5 snakes and even though the spider¡¯s legs were sliced off a few times, they always managed to regrow seconds later. It''s not that fair to the snakes to make their already stronger enemies stronger¡­So I might as well share the healing joy and give them all a healing sac as well! Altering the greater crystal snake schematic Innearth shoved two healing sacs spaced apart in their lengths ¨C and then flipped to the normal snakes and added one as well. Oh boy¡­adventurers are going to hate this. Fast regeneration is hard to deal with. :3
Indecisive Earth
Level 21 598/682 exp to next level.
System Access Level 3 0/2 requirements met to advance.
-Reach the surface
-Level 33+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 26.2 unit/min
Mana Storage 682.0/682.0 units
Physical Storage 47% Percent Capacity
Titles.
Earth Mana Specialization, Crystal Mana Specialization
Chapter 29. A living dungeon.
Entry 328 Mum says the bigguns has an different system from you and I. That makes sense I guess doesn''t it Mr Diary. Bigguns don''t need a safety cause who what can hurt them! Gremlins and Gnomes like us need all the help we can get through. Did you know Uncle Joe has over Twinty Tweent 20 safety? He can blip from danger 20 times a day! I wonder what level Joe is. I''m only level 3 and I only have one stupid safety. Entry 329 Carol is mean to me. Next time I get a findings quewst I''m going to blame it on her. She thinks she''s a biguns with how she acts. It makes me so mad. I thought about opening the cage to her skyslugs pen but that would be mean. I''m better than her. Sluggo doesn''t diserve that even if his owner is a bad stupid. Entry 331 I''m Sorry Mr Diary. I forgot to talk to you yestday. Today Uncle Joe brought me out into the biggun town and we watched the strange giants!!! Most are like Big versions versons of Us but some are strange and have pointy eirs ears. I saw one with blue skin. That can''t be helthy. I wonder if they ate too many bluebearies. Greedy. You only need one! Today was a good day.
Excerpts obtained from the Diary of a young Gremlin. Okay! I have a bit of the more concentrated material left but not a lot¡­I guess I can use it for experimentation? The best way of experimenting with it is probably using it as a mana insulator. Looking at the room right outside the door gave Innearth some fond memories. This was the Living crystal room. There¡¯s a covered pile of monster corpses over there. Smiling while looking at how far he had come Innearth destroyed the room. Stripping the room of materials and shuffling them into random corners of his dungeon left it mostly barren. Okay, center of the room seems best. Expanding the whole room to where the old pit was in the middle of his focus, Innearth started covering the walls of the pit in less effective null stone ¨C it wasn¡¯t nearly as useful as the material directly under where the Demon had been sleeping, but it was more plentiful. It didn''t feel as much like wasting it to use it for experimentation. As his pit formed into a smooth round cylinder of a hole, he fashioned a lid out of the rest of the higher concentration material. Capping the cylinder Innearth thought about what his plan was and tried to think of the best way to complete it. He wanted to increase the mana level in a small area to insane levels and hopefully keep it contained enough to try and mutate materials. Up until now, he had been loath to simply release mana in an area ¨C as it dissipated and became environmental mana it lost its strength rapidly. His solution to try and create a proper crystal biome had been to give most of his monster¡¯s crystal cores and have them constantly fighting. This old plan was coming along nicely! Nearly constant blasts of mana filled his halls. As time passed his dungeon had warped and became faceted with new subtle effects sprinkled about like seasoning. Some places had sprouted different shaped crystals spontaneously and the air itself had started taking on a frosty clear feeling after months of this action. Living crystals spread from most of the dead monsters that had included bits of them in their makeup. While a few new completely crystalline plants had popped into existence nearly spontaneously in a few random spots. ¨C He hadn''t been paying attention when they appeared, but Innearth guessed they were somewhat related to the few Life mana experiments he had done...heavily warped by the ambient Crystal mana. One such plant was a furry green diamond shape, with several jagged white roots that spread through the hallway it was centred in. This...crystal plant, seemed to drink the remains of monsters that died near it, growing bigger each time it did so. Another was a spiralling crystal spring that dug through the ground and left faint ribs where it poked out and grew. It didn''t do anything as far as Innearth could tell, but seemed to stare at everything around it constantly giving him an unnerving feeling. The crystal biome wasn¡¯t enough to make a lot of unique materials, however. Or strong unique materials. At least not yet. For that Innearth wanted to cheat slightly with a much smaller volume. Okay! What about making a small tube to pump mana into this box? On the side of his embedded vessel, Innearth designed a drinking straw shaped tube poking through a single point. It was made out of Crystal mana and as much of it as Innearth could use before it started leaking all of it. W¡­what would happen if I claim this? Somewhat on a whim, Innearth passed his influence through the straw. Just to see if it would let him pump mana through more efficiently. As his influence passed through the straw, it clung to the walls of the tubes more and more before integrating it into himself. Suddenly the inside of the vessel was crystal clear. ¡­huh. Pin in that for when I finish. I WILL get back to it. Pushing his entire mana pool into Crystal mana and then pumping it slowly through his straw Innearth realized he had forgotten something. The material I want to mutate should probably go in here first huh. Taking a chunk of basalt from his inventory ¨C to make sure it didn¡¯t already have mana in it ¨C Innearth dropped it in his capsule and closed the lid once more. Next, Innearth pumped more and more Crystal mana into the vessel, watching the few small changes happen to the stone as he cooked it. At some point, the pressure was too great and it started to push back through the tube. Innearth deemed this meant it was good enough. It''s probably going to take a while to get anything interesting. It''s okay though. I can wait. Returning to the straw concept now that his meal was cooking. Innearth tried making a second one embedded in his wall this time. Wrapping it all the way around his room and into the hall. Claiming this wall straw, gave a burst of vision and the far reaches of his dungeon came slightly more into focus. This¡­this is better than hallways for spreading influence? Testing something out Innearth designed a second door ¨C this one completely crystal ¨C and then claimed it. Dropping this door¡­still cut off influence but to a much lower degree than anything else he¡¯d used to block off stuff. Okay¡­ what if I add air holes? Poking several needle-thin holes in his crystal door, he slowly speckled the entire thing, observing his influence transfer rise slowly once again. Finally reaching the same point it had before he had blocked the wall off Innearth stared. Well. No reason to leave this as a door. I can¡¯t imagine anyone needing a reason to reach my core room itself. Or even the room right before it. Fusing the door to the wall, Innearth started running a branching network of crystal tubes throughout his whole dungeon. The process was important, and his control grew faster and faster the more he did so. He expanded past his first column room, ripping out a groove in the wall and laying a pipe past a very curious water slime. It left its hidey-hole and followed him along watching the new pipes being laid and covered roughly in stone. Influence vein is not for water slimes...get off that. Go on. Get. Pain in my hallways that one is. As Innearth expanded the amount of work it took to expand grew as well and he had been putting off the process after claiming the dungeon. Now however, it was back to being as easy as when he had first started out ¨C the influence transfer at the edge of his area as strong as the center. No, even easier ¨C because he was much stronger now than when he started out. He tried pondering the reason for these¡­dungeon veins? He was trying to figure out the reason they worked much better than anything else he had tried. They straight up obsoleted his mana vents, speeding up influence transfer by a much larger factor at a smaller size. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Is it because they are claimed? He tried making a metal earth tube and claiming it¡­Well, this kind of works but it''s less effective. Making another fire tube this time and there was nearly no effect. It''s either because of my crystal affinity¡­or the fact that technically my core is made out of crystal and these veins are crystal? There was an easy way to check this and it involved asking a different core to try making a tube out of their affinity.
Innearth: Hey Abe. Weird question. Make fire tubes or explosion ones if you can and then claim them.
Abe: HAH. I was just about to message you. I¡¯m level 20!
Innearth: Drat you really are catching up. I¡¯m only level 22 now. Hey, don¡¯t distract me though. Make tubes!
Abe: :3< Abe: Alright bro, whatever you want me to test.
¡­
Abe: What am I supposed to see? I was expecting an explosion. NGL big disappoint bro.
Innearth: Does your influence travel through it better?
Abe: It''s¡­a slightly better increase in influence? That¡¯s pretty cool I guess.
Innearth: Got it. Crystal mana is the best. Thanks that¡¯s all I needed.
Abe: Wait what? Come back.
Innearth chuckled to himself and waited a suitable amount of time. ... Deciding that was enough he returned to the chat and explained how he had increased his range dramatically with high mana crystal tubes.
Abe: the world loves you huh. Got it. Carry on nothing new here. Abe: Anyways! I was going to message you because I finished going over the magma materials you sent me. This one is the hottest material. #1 so pretty neat. Oh, it''s uh the 24th one you sent me. Abe: Gotta say bro, it¡¯s harder to measure temperature than it is to measure distance. I have a fire affinity and all I can say is that it''s "hot" maybe 3000 degrees or something. Melts through any containers it''s put in and is a right slippery bugger. Abe: This one looks similar in that it breaks containers but it''s actually much cooler (both in temperature and what it does). It also works differently. Uh, It "converts" stone and most base materials like individual metals to magma. Abe: Yeah uh, somehow converts is different than melts? Seems dangerous as it could spread through your whole dungeon if you don''t pay attention. Meh Idk how else to describe it moving on.
Innearth: Thanks for doing this...I do think as a fire core you probably have more insights for these materials...I can tell you are trying.
Abe: Yeah Yeah settle down in the back. I''ll take any questions at the end. Where was I? Yeah there are a dozen different variations of just uncooling magma. Uh...I got bored looking through them they are all mostly the same. I think they are just Earth+Fire and 2 elements, but they didn''t explode or do anything fun like that so meh. Abe: Oh, uh. There''s also this magma that cools down into solid stone but melts again if you add some mana. That might be useful? Either way the more important question is how we should go about exploding them. Abe: That''s the goal right? Explode flaming hot pieces of magma onto adventures?
Innearth: I mean sure if that''s what you want to do with your share. I''mma see about using them as materials for my magma spiders, I was just seeing if any were special enough to keep you know? Do you know how to make the hottest one? Innearth: Anyways, working on some other stuff right now, either way. How''s tier 3 treating you?
Innearth returned to finishing his monsters while talking to Abe on the side. Let¡¯s see, I should probably start setting up some goals right now. #1 reach the surface obviously. I want to get some adventurers in me! I wonder how they will react to my monsters!! Can¡¯t wait. #2 reach level 33. I can probably get there pretty easily if I just continue doing what I¡¯m doing. Nice slow trickle from all my monsters fighting and gaining experience then dying. By doing goal 1 and having my regeneration tick up ¨C or by making floors ¨C I should get some experience. Also obviously innovation, if I keep improving my monsters I should reach the level in no time. #3 is sort of a sub goal of #1, but I obviously want the part I expand to the surface to be an actual dungeon¡­ not just a long hallway. Oh, and I want to make those lil tubes everywhere I expand. OH! I also want to finish that puzzle and make more traps. And #4¡­sort of a side quest but I want to make a single monster good enough to impress Amy¡¯s friend ¡°Brutality Queen¡±. Not sure if I want to be her friend if she¡¯s basing friendship on how strong of a monster you can make¡­but it''s also a challenge and I don¡¯t want to leave it alone. Timeline wise...not that important. I''ll try and challenge it when I feel up to the task. But I do want to challenge her sometime. Goal 1 means I really should start expanding right away¡­a small portion of my attention can be set to that immediatly. Starting expansion once more, Innearth left the process running at his favourite ¡°equilibrium¡± of matching his regeneration. Then he suddenly stopped and started expanding his dungeon circuit up towards his expansion instead. After a time, the process became one of those things he did autonomously ¨C like his constant background repopulating of his monster population or expanding in the background when he got enough motivation to. When that reaches the top I can try and expand at the same time as growing that network¡­Now that that¡¯s started, Goal 2 is kind of covered by everything else¡­but I could also try and speed it up by trying to get a source of the most expensive part of monsters ¨C the cores. It''s... hard to work on my other goals if all my mana is tied down by expansion. I don¡¯t think I can handle not being able to make monsters just because I¡¯m expanding¡­I could try my hand at capitalism? I don''t really want to just sell my schematics. I worked hard on those and don''t want another Core getting credit for it. They might be a better sales core and start undercutting me with my own schematics! I guess I could sell some empty monsters? I''m not sure how lucrative that is I was browsing the monsters in the buy category earlier and a lot of cores seem to be selling them at nearly the cost of creation. Maybe I''m looking at this wrong. I could make schematics specifically for selling so it doesn''t matter if another core gets the credit? ...okay that gives me an idea but it''s kind of shifty. It sounds smart...but I''m not sure if it''s something that might piss some Cores off. Let''s try and ask my conscience if it''s a good idea.
Innearth: Hey Amy, what do you think about me buying schematics from the market. Trying to improve them and then re-selling the improved schematics and undercutting the original seller?
Amy: That...might make a few people angry Innearth. You have kind of been hiding away from the public chat but some Cores can get pretty vicious.
Innearth: But am I not doing the public a service by increasing the quality of the general schematics? Also what can they even do to me lol, send me a shifty gift of a demon? I''m pretty sure I can tell if something''s shady and protect myself. I''m not dumb.
Amy: Sure but is there a reason to make enemies if you don''t have any? You haven''t been in conflict with a core and I don''t see why you would want to be just to - what? Make some cores and advance a tiny bit faster? There¡¯s no reason to be mean if you don¡¯t have to.
Innearth: yeah I mean I guess that makes sense. I''m planning on trying to advance around the same time as my friends anyways so there isn''t much point in advancing faster than you guys...I just don''t want to be completely tied down by expansion.
Okay, so my conscience says no. I''ll ask a more neutral party what he thinks.
Innearth: Hey Abe what do you think about this idea.
¡­
Abe: Nice, LOL. Abe: do what you want bro. If you make any enemies, they will be my enemies as well. I can gift them a lovely little boom if they harass you and make the problem go away :3. I gotchu.
Innearth: Wow okay then. Glad to see you''d kill a Core for me¡­I don''t think it would get to that point - so there''s really no need to go that far - but I''m glad to see you are on my side.
That¡¯s one for and one against¡­tie breaker for this plan is Bose. ¡­
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Okay. So, two things. First off you are underestimating how¡­mentally taxing making enemies are. I don¡¯t know if you have a thick enough skin to handle a Core constantly messaging you ¡°Kill yourself. Do it. Crack your core and die. No one likes you. Your manner of speech is stupid. You make me sick. Kill yourself so the worlds a better place¡± etc. I wouldn¡¯t want that to happen to you :3.
¡­some of those seemed suspiciously specific¡­is Bose okay? He was also talking a bit less¡­Bose-like. Was that in part because of a comment he received?
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: HOWEVER¡­I think you are overestimating how much hate you would get for improving the general schematics¡­I bet you tried to think of how you would feel if someone started selling your schematics for a lower price and based it off of that right? Well I can guarantee you, none of the top schematics in the market were made by the cores selling them. Some were nice and waited for the creator of those schematics to advance before taking over and selling them. Others have undercut their competitors to reach the point they are now. Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Why do you think most of the schematics are so cheap? They were undercut several several times to reach their current point. Bringer Of Serene Eternity: So on that note, I think you should try and improve schematics and then sell them for higher. With any luck your improvements will be stolen within a few sales ¨C the original seller may even start selling your version. As long as you aren¡¯t being too aggressive you really won¡¯t make any pointless enemies doing that. Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Now you probably won''t piss anyone off - many might think they are taking advantage of you that way but I really can''t promise anything. As soon as you put yourself out there you have a chance of getting haters even if you do nothing wrong. NOTHING WRONG AT ALL OKAY! Bringer Of Serene Eternity: Pending that, May your enemies fall into the Everlasting Abyss of true serenity. I will aid you in making sure that happens.
Innearth: ¡­okay. That¡¯s surprisingly helpful. Thanks! I¡¯ll see about doing that¡­and hey. You¡¯re my friend no? If anything gets too much I can help! Please feel free to call on me. I''m not sure what I can do but I''m sure I can help a friend out somehow.
Bringer Of Serene Eternity: That¡¯s¡­My apprentice. You need not concern yourself with trivial matters. My Eternal dungeon shall exist from now until the end of time. The Abyss speaks to my soul and I too speak to the Abyss.
Innearth: Open offer all the same :3
Let¡¯s see. Innearth¡­had way too many things to do. Checking his monsters, he saw the "crazy ball mother" he had slightly forgotten about was out of ammo¡­her insane ¡°offspring¡± having perished at some point over the past few days. I should figure out how to let the mother heal those/remake its ammo. There¡¯s not much point if it''s not hands-off. The snakes needed to be upgraded for two reasons ¨C one so they could stand against the bats and spiders and two ¨C so he could use it for the strength test. It kind of made him uncomfortable having the stronger spiders be located higher up/at a lower floor than the snakes. Is that a dungeon instinct? Or just common sense? It''s definitely breaking that smooth upwards scaling progression goal. I think I should start selling stuff for mana. Chapter 30. Training Montage.
A list of common spells. Most have been synthesized by human [skills] proving that humans are the superior species.* Potion Making - the concoction of Potions using various reagents and essences. [Alchemy] helps, as does [Brewing]. One of the only spells that doesn''t need a skill for humans to perform - although having one helps! Runesmithing - the inscribing of 2 and 3 dimensional mana constructs that perform specific tasks. Glyphs dependant upon geometric placement, relation to each other and material used. Well used by Dwarves, this spell is unlocked at several incredibly high levelled crafting classes. Chanting - the act of feeding mana into your voice and letting it take effect based on tone, rhyme and the mana used as fuel. Favorite of the elves and mermaids/sirens. Simplified version unlocked at higher level casting classes for humans. Enchanting - similar to chanting is the act of writing scripts on items and using words to create effects with mana and ink. Unlike runes, placement doesn''t matter and words are less dependant upon shape and more upon the meaning of the written words. Used frequently by several races including gnomes and gremlins. Movement spells - require specific body movements and rhythms, spells under this category are done through complex hand movements or dances. Used by filthy Goblin shamans and elves alike. Probably used by goblins due to their inhibility to articulate a single sentence. Infusing - Typically used for weapon infusing or overloading specific body parts with bursts of mana. Much rougher of a spell method than most of the other options on this list. Preferred method of using mana of the orcs. Some don¡¯t consider it a spell and simply mana manipulation. Rituals - typically combinations of multiple spell types and multiple people. Used for great undertakings. *Lines redacted from the general ¡°all species¡± version of the Compoundum to use more inclusive language.
An excerpt from the Arcadium Compoundum. A somewhat useless document that simply lists magic that exists - without telling you how to actually do the blasted stuff! Innearth had a lot of things to do. But without a deadline, every task he had given himself was a reason not to ever get bored instead of a panicked source of stress. He worked steadily on expanding while flipping between conversations and listing his enhanced schematics for roughly double the price of their originals. Trying to improve them was an interesting problem as ¨C for the most part ¨C the popular ones didn''t use more esoteric mana flavours. Trying to stick to the 4 Rank 1 manas and 4 Rank 2 manas gave him fewer options, while the monsters themselves were already iterated over generations. The only way to improve them was to look at the problem each monster was trying to solve and try and approach it from a different direction. This lifestyle took up most of his time and weeks upon weeks passed similarly, with constant small changes to his routine to increase efficiency. He only used mana from schematic sales for experimentation. Although it was small at the start, he had started to get more business as he sold more and the number of positive trades was marked on his profile. Ticking upwards and giving him a more "trustworthy" reputation. Bose had been right about pricing his edits high. He could make a new schematic and sell 5-6 copies before it was undercut and no one seemed to be mad at what he was doing. Innearth...was happy with this lifestyle. He was happy in general. Finally, over a month after this routine set in Amy came to him with news.
Amy: Hey! Innearth guess what! I just broke through the surface.
Innearth: Really? Congratulations! Please tell me what it''s like.
Amy: It''s...It''s really hard to describe. I expanded out of a hole and it''s just... nothing. I can see a few meters away but it just...vanishes. It''s absolutely unnerving. Especially upwards. There''s nothing there! And even worse I can tell if I expand upwards there will continue to be nothing there it''s awful. I mean the dictionary tells me that''s the sky but...sky''s above that''s frightening.
Innearth: That...I was about to say that didn''t sound that bad but now that I think about it a bit more It does sound unnerving. Innearth: What are you planning on doing now?
Amy: I''m going send Chip out and scout the area! He''s my precious Ascended monster. Hopefully, I''ll be able to get a better sense of where I am from that.
Innearth: You have an Ascended monster? Lucky...I lost my only one and it''s been ages - why hasn''t a new one appeared yet?
Amy: Anything special about the first one that evolved? Chip did more than anyone else. Fought more. Played more. He''s been consistently great and I focused on him a lot before he reached this point.
Innearth: I mean back when I used Silver, she did do most of my requests¡­that makes sense. Innearth: Well tell me when you get an adventurer! I want to hear all about it!
Innearth renewed his efforts in expanding upwards. I wonder how far I still have to go? I¡¯m ¨C he checked his status for the first time in a while ¨C I¡¯m level 25! Nearly 26!
Indecisive Earth
Level 25 875/910 exp to next level.
System Access Level 3 0/2 requirements met to advance.
-Reach the surface
-Level 33+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 34 unit/min
Mana Storage 910.0/910.0 units
Physical Storage 71% Percent Capacity
Titles.
Earth Mana Specialization, Crystal Mana Specialization
Should be close to the surface then, if Amy¡¯s already there. I¡¯m expanding so much faster now that I¡¯ve started using veins to increase my influence. ¡­several days of straight expansion later, Innearth grew bored and had to admit he wasn¡¯t close to breaking the surface. Innearth returned to his split routine. This time it was less enjoyable. Less exciting. Nothing had changed but¡­ The fact that he was ¡°falling¡± behind was stuck constantly at the back of his mind. Well at least Amy is not level 33 yet~ I¡¯m not that far behind¡­ it''s not like she¡¯s a full rank ahead after all. ¡­and I guess she will be able to scout ahead and tell us what it''s like. I have 7 more levels to go until it becomes an issue. I think¡­I think I¡¯m deeper in the ground¡­that¡¯s the only thing that makes sense. Slowly making himself feel better, Innearth stopped expanding to focus on himself for a bit. It was slightly counterintuitive ¨C he was sad he wasn¡¯t at the surface yet, so he stopped expanding¡­ But Innearth had been expanding nearly constantly for months now. His dungeon was roughly 100m vertically dug at this point; while he didn¡¯t know exactly how deep he was underground. It had been a while since Innearth last checked his mana oven. That was something to look at. Focusing over on it, he could see...something actually interesting actually had happened. There was currently a multifaceted crystal ball that was growing, shattering into a thousand pieces¡­ And then regrowing again from those shards. Oh! It''s done. This seems like a monster material. There isn¡¯t a lot of it and I can¡¯t imagine using it for a trap right now. Popping off the lid and pulling it out then sealing a new rock in again ¨C Innearth stared at his newfound¡­ This is interesting but what can I actually do with it? And how was it made using crystal mana? I guess that¡¯s the ¡°mutate¡± part of the mana. I definitely don¡¯t see how I could have made this from scratch. Watching the crystal perform a ¡°phoenix rise from the ashes¡± loop again and again. Innearth was reminded somewhat of the unstable crystal pool. I don¡¯t think I stick this on the side of a monster and get a good result just like that¡­ However...maybe I can try to enhance the material itself and build off of that? Innearth considered the process and then tried to imagine adding onto it instead of adding it onto something. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. I think I might be able to stabilize it more if it has some Life mana inside of it...too much and it might interfere with this process but somehow, I¡¯m able to tell a bit might enhance it. Just a bit. ...and similar to the crystal snakes needing a crystal core to control their muscles effectively, a crystal core can probably help this unique monster control the growth of its crystals. Trying to integrate these two items was more difficult than Innearth had hoped. A core would increase the monster''s status, but it would also be a single glaring weak spot. Finally, after hours of staring at the problem ¨C time and thus mana which he had used by queuing up monsters to print in the background ¨C Innearth had an idea. A core is just a high concentration of mana right? And while I can¡¯t add different mana affinities to a material after the fact...I think I might be able to increase the concentration of the mana that¡¯s already there. Half expecting it not to work ¨C the best mindset with which to approach anything for the first time ¨C Innearth took one of the regrowing shards and pumped pure attributeless mana into and around it. The concentration of the crystal was already at the edge of what was normal as it had spent ages in a much higher concentration of mana. Thus, the crystal was pretty receptive to this infusion of mana ¨C the rebirth crystal wasn¡¯t ¡°smoking¡± yet, but that was because its surroundings were a higher concentration than it. Innearth could instinctually tell it was enough to be considered a core. Now all he needed was a shell to keep the higher concentration in when he let go. This time Innearth made a shell out of carbon and Life mana. This material didn¡¯t have an obvious result normally ¨C it didn¡¯t heal stuff other than itself ¨C but it was the most receptive material for life mana...for some reason Innearth couldn¡¯t see. That had to mean something. That plant really liked the life mana cube even if the cube itself didn¡¯t seem to do much. Either way, hopefully the shell will be able to integrate into the monster ¨C despite being a completely different material. Giving the whole collective of crystals life, Innearth watched as the whole mess organized itself. It was a chaotic sort of order ¨C the mess constantly and consistently shattering and being remade ¨C but now there was an intelligence to it. Bits would grow in one direction and shatter in the other as the bed of crystals...grew in the direction it wanted to move. This ebb and flow was similar to a sine wave ¨C its size rhythmically changing while appearing to pause before reversing direction. This lead to a sort of slinking feeling as the bed of crystals moved forwards a bit ¨C paused ¨C and then continued. All in all, Innearth liked it. Creating this unique monster satisfied his urge to make something new and while he had...kind of let it form on its own. The end result was something he could be proud of. Needs a name¡­needs a name. Rebirth crystal? It¡¯s a cycle uh. Mass of cycling crystals? How about Eternal crystals? They kind of look like they could continue that cycle forever. ¡°Mass of Eternal Crystals¡± that¡¯s your new name. The only real problem is that while this monster could grow spikes to stab stuff...they grew relatively slowly. Unless it trapped something the Mass of Eternal Crystal wouldn¡¯t be able to catch a single thing. At least if anything steps on this it will be in for a world of hurt? Have fun wandering my crystal caves I guess. Your job is to add ambience. Plants are cool and all, but they don¡¯t move. You though. You¡¯re something special. The mass of crystals spiked in a fluttering manner and Innearth could tell it was pleased. Tangent somewhat complete Innearth returned to his routine once more. He hadn¡¯t noticed due to how slowly it had progressed, but after months of expanding his speed had dropped considerably. Now that he was refreshed there was a noticeable increase. Time passed once more. Days turned to weeks and the top of his dungeon hit 150m in elevation. All of Innearth¡¯s values ticked up steadily...including disconcertedly his storage space. He was levelling slower than he was expanding...Each time his level increased his %storage dropped...before increasing past his previous percentage once more. It was disconcerting but Innearth tried to ignore it. The second major change that happened was he finally started warming to the idea of talking to Doc... They really did have a lot in common and even though it took Innearth a while to warm to the idea of him working with demons...even that became a valid source of conversation after a certain point.
Innearth: So how do you handle the madness of demons? How do you contain them?
ZeMadDoctor: The easiest way? The most straightforward way. ZeMadDoctor: I corral them with physical and magical barriers. Kinetically keep them in line as it were.
Innearth: They don''t just smash through them? How do you keep them from breaking out? Also, the one I faced broke through solid rock and sucked mana out of things. Oh and if you are blocking them physically how are you able to see them?
ZeMadDoctor: Okay so by Physical barriers. Bars, not walls. Hole size is set to half the size of the smallest demon I''ve seen that''s still dangerous. Bars are metal poles with metal affinity to strengthen them - easily regained after removed through mana leech and simple is good. ZeMadDoctor: The most useful Kinetic material is one of transference. Both Kinetic and Gravity make a lot of "constant force" type materials. They can push against something but are easily overcome. Transference versions divert kinetic energy or gravity instead. That way I can make a barrier that meets a demon''s strength no matter how much force they use.
Innearth: Okay, so how are those barriers set up?
Innearth really wanted to implement more demon defences. He had traps...but more couldn''t hurt. Heck if he had realized doc had solutions to handle demons he''d have asked sooner.
ZeMadDoctor: Okay. It''s slightly more in-depth than simply pushing the mana at something. I''ll send you instructions.
... Absorbing the instructions Innearth saw the path you had to pass kinetic mana through to create a "diverting energy" type of material - or as doc called it "Transference". He had to stretch the mana out and thread it through a material while keeping most of the mana on the other side. Continuing to feed kinetic mana through a material in that single point until there was a "dumbell" of sorts with two balls of mana passing through the material and held on either side. .... Then you let go. - both balls would dissipate while leaving the channel between them intact...and somehow that was different than pushing mana into it from one direction and letting all the mana be used.
Innearth: Sometimes...sometimes this doesn''t really make sense. Why does mana work like this?
ZeMadDoctor: Mana doesn''t have rules. Unique materials are proof of that. You should know that by now.
Innearth: It does have rules though? You just told me one. Move kinetic mana in this way and you get a diverting material.
ZeMadDoctor: Ahh...it appears you have a misconception. Spells have rules. Making a dungeon material is a "dungeon material making spell". The action is important yes. But it''s also the "you" doing the action that''s important. The fact that you are moving your mana in this way. Not that the mana is moving that way. Comprende? ZeMadDoctor: Like if mana passed through a material like that naturally. It wouldn''t have the same effect. It''s only because you as a dungeon are doing so that it''s successful. Also, there''s a good chance a different race couldn''t copy us. I don''t have confirmation on that. The records are incomplete.
Innearth: Roundabout from my original question. Why does the "material making spell" work like this then? What about this action made this material?
ZeMadDoctor: That I do not know.
Innearth had finally made his 4th friend. Although¡­Bose was reaching out less and less these days, so it was more like he was replaced with doc. Finally, a month after she had broken the surface, Innearth got an excited stream of messages from Amy.
Amy: Hey! Hey! I have a pair of adventurers! They came, they really came!!! Amy: Oh wow that¡¯s an absolute mess of system messages. Most say ¡°X System locked till Tier 4¡±¡­I think I¡¯m supposed to advance before getting adventurers¡­oops.
Innearth: Hey that¡¯s great! What do they look like?
Amy: Ones tall and lanky with umm¡­ clothing that¡¯s what that is. With a bunch of flowing brown clothing that hits the floor. The other''s shorter and wearing something completely black. They are both holding sticks and making mouth noises to each other.
Innearth: Mouth noises?
Amy: Yeah didn¡¯t you read the adventurer primer? They communicate through sound. You know that stuff that happens when things smash into each other? Crashes and booms?
Innearth: huh? They communicate by crashing their mouthparts together? So like one smash for yes two smashes for no? that seems terribly inefficient. Are they intelligent? However do they communicate complex ideas like that????
Amy: There''s quite a bit more than just smashing and yes that¡¯s how it works. Check your dictionary for ¡°Speech¡±. Anyways that¡¯s unimportant they started into my dungeon! Oh, Gaia the earth mother I am not prepared for this. I have so much to do. Everything should look perfect ahh. I want to make a good first impression.
Innearth tried to search through the information that had been imprinted on him at the very start. Everything he had used had formed connections pretty quick but there was a growing section of information on words that he hadn¡¯t used that was slowly getting stuck in ¡°dead branches¡± of his memory. Speech is the action of shaping sound waves and communicating with them¡­I¡¯m sure it''s much easier to shape mana than sound? Why are they not simply using mind magic to communicate? Is that what mouths are for? I thought those were simply for eating. My monsters don¡¯t need to eat but maybe I should give them mouths so they can do this ¡°speech¡±? but the ones that need to communicate already have mind bridges it seems like so much work.
Amy: They came across a Reeler! Two tuggers came around the corner and engaged them as well but they don¡¯t seem to be paying much attention. Ahh, I¡¯m worried for them. Watch out!
Innearth: ...You''re too nice Amy. You''re not supposed to care what happens to the adventurers. Shouldn''t you be rooting for your monsters?
Amy: Oh one waved its stick and made some sounds and the reeler got eviscerated! The big one is bending down and picking up some of the monster''s scraps. He seems pretty happy with them? Oh, he just pointed his stick at the tuggers and stabbed them from where he was standing. That ones a sword. I can see sword mana now it''s pretty obvious. Oh. They are ripping into the tuggers and pulling out the cores? Amy: How are they dead without the cores being broken? I¡¯m pretty sure my monsters normally keep going all the way up until they are shattered.
Innearth: I mean cores are pretty useful. They probably want to go back and use them to make their own monsters.
Amy: Hah, that¡¯s great. You should start sending something like -joke at the end of your jokes It''s hard to tell sometimes.
Innearth: Where¡¯s the fun in that :3.
Amy: Okay they are cutting the tuggers up into little pieces¡­poor tuggy and toggo. I¡¯ll make your replacements soon. You performed valiantly! Amy: They are progressing further. The smaller adventurer seems to really like me! They keep pointing at stuff and casting lots of spells with their stick¡­wand? I think that¡¯s a wand. Amy: They just reached the edges of my first boss. The larger one is pushing the smaller one back and now he¡¯s engaging the boss. Amy: Oh¡­nvm now he¡¯s gathering the remains of the boss. He really does like to collect parts of my monsters. That was way too fast. I think they are high-levelled adventures. Or at least the big one is. They both seem pretty strong though.
Innearth: I wish I could actually see this. Your descriptions are lovely but¡­not quite enough. I can¡¯t wait to get my own adventurers!
Amy: Now they are leaving. They didn¡¯t seem to care about going through my whole dungeon? The taller one is pointing onwards and looking excited now but the smaller one is pulling them back and leading them away. I think the small one is the boss. First, I thought they were a child and weaker being brought around but now I think they are just smaller. Amy: They left. I think once I¡¯ve gotten 2 I¡¯m bound to start getting more.
Innearth: I¡¯m so jealous.
Chapter 31. Testing.
Hi! I''m Ted from ManaCorps and I¡¯m here to talk about one of the most difficult decisions of your life. Picking a class that¡¯s right for you. You have been enrolled in this workshop due to your relation to one of our employees. As you all know, we care about children greatly at ManaCorps. We want you to succeed while also giving you a good chance to win at life. What better way to succeed than to follow your relatives footsteps as one of our treasured employees! While class changes are possible, all non mastered skills that aren¡¯t shared between the classes are lost and your new class starts at zero. What¡¯s worse is your racial level basically stays the same until your new class catches up ¨C and you don¡¯t get a chance to redistribute your stat points so depending on how differently your classes are that can be a permeant setback. Not to scare you kiddos I¡¯m just trying to tell you how important this decision is okay? You probably wont ever change this class so you should make it count. A very good choice in class would be one of the crafting focused classes. Currently we have a shortage of test engineers of any kind due to a¡­small accident. We can guarantee you employment if you chose a related class I¡¯m sure your parents would approve! To unlock the class option you simply have to play with those blocks over there some of them are a bit...experimental but I promise you it''s safe! I¡¯ll have it be known I am not pressuring any of you! Remember to tell your parents it was your Idea. You are free to choose a good crafting class as well - we have several arts and crafts in the corner if you don''t have it as an unlock option. I strongly suggest test engineer however! Smart children want to be Testers!
Excerpt from the ManaCorps recruitment program. Secretly titled "Children are Impressionable and Require Direction!" by members of the ManaCorps HR and Legal team. Innearth wanted to try and ¡°fix¡± some stuff. One glaring problem was that he had plenty of traps in his crystal caverns below, but not really any in the obsidian halls. He had an idea that was vaguely fading in and out of his mind. A nagging idea that became clearer and clearer as time went on. It was about making an ambush predator and then aiding it in hiding. Not the most unique idea but one that was becoming hard for Innearth to ignore. Currently, there really weren¡¯t a lot of places to hide in the obsidian halls. Long straight paths and open rooms without obstacles were everywhere. While Innearth could theoretically more heavily change the design, he kind of liked how it was currently. It was different. A change of pace. No, he wanted to make specific hiding spots or "traps". The idea was simple. He would dig several large cubby holes in various places and then design a monster to fit in them. Should match the theme and use fire and magma...and actually why start from scratch? Innearth dug a nice round hole in the wall and then pulled out the magma spider schematic. Innearth blew the schematic apart so he could focus on individual parts. Tossing a bunch of the unneeded sections out of his way they slide across the panel and then blipped out of existence unceremoniously ¨C the link to a bat, the focus on mobility etc¡­ First off, I think I want it to be able to grab and drag stuff into its hole. Twisting the legs around Innearth added a 2nd joint and hooked end. They would be awful to walk around on, but in exchange much better at grabbing. As if understanding his intent, the system provided a "grabbing" stat furthering his optimization of the spider¡¯s claws. Next, he wanted to work on its pounce. They needed to be fast. Trying several different options Innearth settled on combining two points he knew. 1 ¨C kinetic crystals obviously and 2 ¨C The same springing remnants of the old jumpers I used on the crystal spike shooters can be used to launch forwards. Each leg could be braced against the wall with a small bump of a spring, sandwiching a small amount of Fire and Water mana into a pneumatic launcher. The spiders would then be able to launch and pull prey in... but there were still a few problems. 1 ¨C the hole is blazingly obvious and 2 ¨C what is the spider supposed to do once it has caught something? What if it grabbed prey in a hug of death... and then the prey just broke its legs and escaped? How should I fix that? Innearth filled a dip in the hole with some of the uncooling magma and added a dozen sharp spikes alternating between incredibly hot magma infused spikes. Sharper sword mana spikes. ¡­And a few poison filled spikes while he was at it for good luck. He really wanted this to be dangerous. Next, he fashioned a black circular door and switched one of the spider¡¯s arms to hold the circular plug in front of it like a shield. Finally satisfied, Innearth printed the monster into his hole to test it. Even though the system did a good job of eliminating the number of duds he made, sometimes you still needed to test stuff with a real copy. Let''s see. 1 normal crystal snake coming up. Innearth made a snake roughly 10m away from the hole and told it to slither down the hallway. Unaware of its purpose, the snake complied happily. Noticing something strange when the wall was roughly in line with it the snake was too late. The shoddy door flipped aside with a bang as it hit the wall. Six legs stabbing out of the recess like a nightmare. The legs flung out to the side then arced inwards to enclose the poor snake. Like a jail cell, the bars trapped it while several fishhooks dug into its side. Pulling its struggling and skewered meal back into the hole the spider oozed satisfaction. Innearth watched as a hiss of steam was released into the corridor signalling the end of the normal crystal snake. The spider had won in seconds. Melting the body down in its lava pool and re-entering it. Alright. Well about what I expected. Now a greater crystal snake? Making one of the larger variants Innearth sent it down the hallway as well. This time the snake stopped roughly halfway towards the trap and fixed its head in the direction of it. Swaying back and forth the snake slowly advanced on the circular door. The spider within was able to sense beyond its own body and it too started tensing to pounce. Despite its caution, the snake was still ambushed and hooked by several legs in an identical manner to its lesser brethren. The difference this time was the hook did not end its existence. Struggling furiously the greater crystal snake smashed through its legs and stabbed into the exposed portion of the magma trapdoor spider. Rushing away the two monsters retreated to nurse their wounds. Innearth had removed the Healing sacks around when he added the poison spikes to the trapdoor spider. It seemed a good trade-off at the time. There also wasn¡¯t any crystal tree nearby ¨C yet ¨C so he fixed that by planting one within the spider¡¯s range. Now that it was connected it started to heal. Ever so slowly. Enough that he could pull back and start ignoring it like most of the monsters in his dungeon. Maybe I should add more crystal parts to this, so it heals faster? No, it¡¯s not that important how much time it takes to reset. Just that it can and will hide until it does. The snake had burst one of its healing pulses and quickly fixed any damage from being skewered. It was now attempting to navigate the hell halls and find a more suitable place to stay. Well, it survived even though the trap spider had a spot specifically designed for it. I don''t know whether to be disappointed my trap''s not strong enough, or proud of how strong my snake is¡­ He had started to forget with how often they were getting beat by the spider bat pairs, but his snakes were his strongest solo monsters. They could beat all his non-boss monsters 1v1 and were some of his oldest and most iterated monsters. I think I''m going to go back to working on improving them. ¡­ Innearth spent ages iterating his regular monsters. After gaining the system designer, he no longer had to spend mana to make changes ¨C only time ¨C and time he had plenty of. The biggest changes were linked to his control of circuits. He couldn''t explain exactly how they worked ¨C nor did he understand some of the reasons they worked ¨C but he was slowly able to start to be able to debug broken circuits and guess at the function of completed ones. A vague sense that came from experience. Part of the problem with understanding circuits is they didn''t seem to have building blocks. Making section A and Section B and then combining them into a new Section C... would make effect c not "a and b". To make matters worse "good" effects only started happening with increasingly complicated circuits with dozens of connections. He made a monster with completely transparent crystal flesh so he could better observe how it "cast spells". Maybe this will help? At intersections, mana would split and seem to increase ¨C a split in two would make two paths of 71%, not 50%. A split in 3 would make 3 paths of 58% and 4 would make 50% split 4 ways. The "amount" or volume of mana changed but so did its concentration and while there appeared to be more it was weaker. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Mana would change somehow based on the shape of these trees ¨C changing alignments and purposes at each "affinity node" or mini core and then, either recombine if the paths regrouped, or get manifested as a spell inside or outside the monster¡¯s body. It was simple enough to visualize but the worse part was how changes at one end of the circuit affected ones at the other. Innearth had a few circuits that had weird dead ends or "mistakes" like bumps or broken connections or even lines that weren¡¯t connected to anything ¨C just passed near that really shouldn''t change anything...but removing them broke the whole schematic. "Don''t touch this" "removing breaks everything" dammit. Being able to see what¡¯s happening afterward doesn¡¯t help at all! All this was to say his snakes were becoming true Jack of all trades that could both cast increasingly more complex spells and attack with their bodies. They steadily got stronger and stronger¡­ but as their changes were all internal, they looked the same. Innearth had started making rings around snakes based on how strong they were. Using a different material for the crystal scales he wrapped bands of colour to categorize them. 1 ring for snakes that seemed stronger than his old versions. 2 rings for snake variants that could survive encounters with spider bat pairs. 3 rings for snakes that could hold their own against the teamwork. He had come across a few specialized variants that worked much better in specific contexts than the general versions ¨C some of these deserved 4 rings as they actively pushed back and won against the pairs. A snake that couldn''t attack or move very quickly but could build truly complex spells that hovered around it and almost had a mind of their own. A variant that seemed unable to do more than strengthen its body ¨C contorting itself into weird shapes as its magic gave it even more control over its own muscles and mass. A variant that liked to make crystal platforms high up and stare down at the coming and goings of his dungeon. The last one wasn¡¯t specialized just different and Innearth took a moment to stare. Is¡­is that it? You¡¯re going to hide near the roof and watch everything? I guess that¡¯s fine? This variant made a comeback days later when it ambushed a spider patrol that wasn¡¯t expecting a snake to come into their ceiling domain. Objectively the focused variants were better, but it was not one of them that he sent off to ¡°Brutality Queen¡±. It was a balanced mage that used magic to create crystal spikes in the ground and then slither up them. Using spikes for both movement and fighting, the snake would launch itself from heights and use magic to create pathways that didn¡¯t exist. Even if it¡¯s a bit weaker, I think it has a higher chance of surviving? All these problems would be solved if I could just send multiple that complement each other. He didn''t know what to expect with her dungeon and Amy wasn''t very helpful. At all. She seemed to want Innearth to get along with her friends but also...wanted them to sort things out themselves? It was a hands off attitude as if she already knew the outcome. The only advice she gave was not as helpful as her tone suggested.
Amy: Don''t worry she''s...you''ll be fine. Queen has the most ascended monsters of any core I''ve heard ¨C 9. I''m sure once she sees that you''re serious you can learn a lot from her! She''s. You''ll do fine!
Yep, not as reassuring as she thought. Actively detrimental even. It made him push back sending her something for weeks and weeks. Finally, he felt like he had a shot and sent Queen his snake then stepped back. ¡­ Waiting for a response was excruciating. Queen sent a single "finally stopped being scared huh" message then gave him radio silence. An hour passed then two then 5 then 24. Finally, 2 days later he got a response.
Brutality Queen: ...if your monster survived 24 hours and made a decent showing I would have given you the time of day just because you were friends with Amy.
...so did I pass your test your majesty? Innearth was low key annoyed by this whole business. He wanted to test himself, but having a Core that wasn''t that much older than him act all high and mighty was hurting his pride. She hadn¡¯t proven her superiority just claimed it. She hadn¡¯t helped him before. She hadn¡¯t even given him any information about how she was ¡°testing¡± him. It boiled down to Innearth feeling like the whole process was a waste of time to fuel some eccentric cores ego.
Brutality Queen: That''s what would have happened if it survived 24 hours in the jungle. That...crystal snake? Survived 48 and fought nearly equally with my weakest ascended - 009. You''ve more than proven yourself! Heck, your snake is still alive if heavily wounded after its fight. I''m impressed and more than willing to be your friend. I¡¯ll send your snake back right away!
¡­well that was awkward. Innearth had already decided he didn¡¯t want to be "friends". Not even for Amy... He decided to ignore her comment for a bit. Slightly petty, but really it was just karma with how she had treated him. A second later a battered and dishevelled snake was deposited gently in his pool room. ¨C It was empty of its self-contained healing potion and slowly regenerating it but now back in Innearth¡¯s dungeon the snake was connected to a beacon and began to heal. What a trouper. Innearth¡¯s crystal snakes were solitary creatures. They teamed up occasionally when the timing was right, or they were ordered to¡­but for the most part slithered around on their own. Despite that Innearth really wanted this snake to be known as an icon. The one who experienced another dungeon! The one who triumphed over the arrogant royalty! He quickly sent his desire for this snake to be the leader¡­the king of the snakes! Pool snake poked its head above the liquid pool at this message. Leaving its nest of crystals, the snake slithered out and stared at its ¡°leader¡± for an awkward moment. Watching the larger snake slowly heal, it seemed to accept the arrangements and return to its pool. Briefly, Innearth considered letting the snake king die just so he could see what Queen¡¯s dungeon was like¡­but that would really be a waste. He would never gain a new ascended monster that way. Okay you rest up and relax a bit ¨C you deserve it lil buddy. When you are fully healed you should rally your new troops and really fight those spiders! Grow! Evolve! Now¡­I guess that means I have to start expanding again huh. I¡¯ve run out of procrastination tools¡­tch. ¡­ Innearth expanded for 2 days then finally responded to Queen.
Innearth: Oh, that¡¯s good you know. I just picked any old monster I¡¯m glad it worked out.
Brutality Queen: Punctuality is important. I expect my friends to respond on time. You¡¯re on probation now Innearth.
¡­no Innearth wasn¡¯t dealing with this. Sure, he was being petty, but she had done so first! He wasn¡¯t being difficult SHE was! Hypocrite! Stupid **** ** ***** ******-core probably only has 1 floor. Fuming to himself he realized he didn¡¯t have to do this. He could just move on.
Innearth: See you around.
Sorry Amy. That Core''s too much. She¡¯s too arrogant. I can¡¯t. Innearth pushed his annoyance into expansion for a bit then picked something else to ¡°fix¡± and occupy his mind. Let¡¯s finish the puzzle room actually. Or not finish it but at least make it functional ¨C I can add to it later. Returning to the two linked rooms Innearth decided the first thing he had to do was make a door ¨C quickly making two sliding doors similar to his ¡°panic door¡± he wished he had more of the null mana material. Let¡¯s just say if anyone tries to magic the door away, I¡¯ll drop the lava on them and leave it at that. Innearth wanted to quickly fix the room up so it was ready and ¡°complete¡±¡­but quickly got lost in the details. First, he wanted to make a key to the door but it turns out just the knowledge that ¡°A key is an item that allows a door to be unlocked¡± and ¡°a locked door can¡¯t be opened¡± didn¡¯t give him a lot to go on. It was enough to make him think he knew what was happening¡­and then break his expectations as soon as he tried to implement it. He finally came up with a system where there was a large pole that stuck into the wall on either side embedded into the door. The ¡°Key¡± was a disk of gravity material that when pulled along the wall sideways would pull this rod in and out. Adding arrows in glowing red metal, Innearth then carved a star on the door and put another identical star on his disk. It wasn¡¯t enough. The other room opens the drawer in this room and gives them a key¡­there are too few steps. Plus, the other room needs a door too! Twisting the machinery about Innearth made a second door and linked the bars on both doors to each other. Now when one door opens the other does as well! Oh, what if I do the reverse for a section? Innearth ripped his system up once again. This time he made an ¡°airlock¡± of sorts by making a pair of doors. The two at the end were linked to each other. Unlocking door 1b would also unlock door 2b. However, this unlock could only be done on the second room¡¯s side. Room 1 had a door before that called 1a that could only be opened when door 2a was closed and locked. Similarly, door 2a was mutually exclusive with 1a and had to be opened first after 1a was shut. He then left 1a open by default. Basically, group 1 would have to open the first door. Pile into the airlock and shut it behind them. Then group 2 would have to open both doors before group 1s final door was opened. It was needlessly complicated with several tubes above and below the two doors linking each other with sliding rods some of which were "greased" with Kinetic anti-friction material and some of which were dependant upon other rods being in certain places so the order did matter¡­Innearth loved it! It could also be bypassed by going to room 1 closing the door and giving the key to room 2 then moving all the way to the second room and simply opening both doors either alone or as a group. Don¡¯t want to make it completely impossible for a solo adventurer¡­but maybe I should figure out how to divert them to a solo puzzle room? Should also figure out how to make it so both rooms need someone in the airlock before group 2 can unlock the door¡­ but that breaks being able to technically do it with one group. Hey, I have an idea that will make this even more fun to watch! Innearth made the key into a monster. The disk stayed the same, but now one side had a dozen small legs packed with nothing but kinetic materials. He added a small kinetic core on one side of the disk and covered it in metal. A metal bulb that made the whole thing look like a head popping out of a turtle. But no he already had turtles he couldn''t reuse that shape. Trying to make it different Innearth made a tail with kinetic crystals on the opposite side and connected a small circuit from the core to the tail to facilitate mana transfer. The goal wasn¡¯t to make anything adventurers would have to fight. It wasn¡¯t even to prevent them from using the key. No, the goal was to watch them scramble around on the floor trying to catch the key. It''s going to be hilarious to watch. I¡¯ll make sure to reward anyone who beats this room so they can¡¯t complain :3. Innearth gave life to this small key¡­monster. Not sure of the name yet. It really doesn¡¯t look like anything in my dictionary. Maybe a lil lizard with a tummy? Key-Lizard. Keyzard! My naming sense is on point today. Innearth gave life to his Keyzard and watched the little key scuttle around the room dogging back and forth occasionally with bursts of speed. The crystals worked even better on a smaller creature and even though it had much less mana, the bursts it could do affected its small mass more. Well into the cupboard you go. Innearth shoved the Keyzard into the second desk and reset the puzzle. Then he decorated the room a bit more making sure to add some of the symbols the previous core had started to draw to both rooms. That was enough of a break for now¡­back to expansion, I guess. Innearth sighed to himself and started his "expand+alter store schematics" schedule once again. How much longer will it beeee. Innearth checked his level. Only 28. If I reach level 33 before I reach the surface I have to be in a worse place!
Indecisive Earth
Level 28 457/1102 exp to next level.
System Access Level 3 0/2 requirements met to advance.
-Reach the surface
-Level 33+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 37.2 unit/min
Mana Storage 1102.0/1102.0 units
Physical Storage 79% Percent Capacity
Titles.
Earth Mana Specialization, Crystal Mana Specialization
Chapter 32. Final Push for the surface. I will not be left behind.
No one ever talks about us Kobolds. You read any of those human guidebooks and you find all sorts of mention of goblins and elves and dwarves. Why not my fellow countrymen??? Why even with the system helping us are we still disparaged! But you. You understand don¡¯t you. You understand we are just as valid as the other races! What¡¯s that? You want to know what my system does? It does the same as you! No seriously I¡¯m just like you, okay? That doesn¡¯t make sense you say? You want a better explanation? Okay¡­I can do that. *deep breath* Basically my ancestor is a dragon. All the different races of Kobolds are dragons right. And that¡¯s why we were given the Mimicry System. Our ancestors wanted us to be considered a proper sapient creature like the rest of you. Basically, our system matches the dominant species in our area. Isn¡¯t that great? If I was born and lived in an elf forest I¡¯d be given the elf system and could help them hug trees or whatever it is they do. If I was born in a Dwarf Kingdom, I¡¯d learn how to make stuff I¡¯m sure. That¡¯s what their system does right? And because I live in this fine human kingdom I have the skill system! My class is Dragon-Eyed-Chef! Isn¡¯t that great! I can [Flame Roast] food to delicious perfection! We even have a system given race skill that lets us breed with the race our system is matching because there is less of us! Off topic but want to go back to my place? No! Don¡¯t walk away I need a conversation partner. Anyways as I was saying kobolds can have children with any other sapient, with the help of the system. There are no consequences to this ¨C for example, rarely humans and elves have had a child, but the children were hybrids and sterile. Not us! If you decide to come home with me, our demi-human children will be able to mate with either humans or other kobolds! Our grandkids will be whatever their partner is! Stop. No come back. ...failed again. When will I ever find a mate.
Excerpt obtained from a typical kobold''s failed attempt to sell himself at a bar. I think...I think even though I¡¯ve been experimenting and improving schematics, as a source of exp it¡¯s not enough. Innearth had been expanding for days. Weeks. Months and months. He was sick and tired of not getting results. What else can I do? Unique/boss monster creation gives a lot of exp. Especially if its in a way that I haven¡¯t done before. That¡¯s probably the most effective option? Innearth searched in the market for unique materials. There were several different sections. One section had people selling unique materials with good results for anywhere between 50-200 Tier 1 cores¡­.high end items but then again it made sense. A single unique monster with enough effort could easily become a bastion of defence. There were also *unknown* unique materials of various qualities being sold for anywhere from 50 absolute mana¡¯s (super suspicious, that was like a quarter of a purecore) to 100+ cores (Not worth it if you don¡¯t know that it''s going to be good) Finally there were quite a few ¡°Investigation commissions¡±. They were for figuring out the use of unknown materials and actually paid for the service. They just required you to send back as much of the unique material as possible. They ranged through all sorts of prices from the suspiciously low (50M...really? for potentially dangerous work?) to almost suspiciously high (100 purecores just to figure out what the material does? By a core with no positive trades and one negative? HMMMMMMM) Innearth searched for jobs and tried to be smart about it. I want to pick a job by a Core with positive trades. This is a job that requires multiple trades and I want to make sure I get paid ¨C either pick something that''s paid in advance or by a trustworthy Core. I''m level 28 and have...Innearth swapped his mana values around to show AMU instead of mana. I have 2474 absolute mana. That means I can theoretically trade for 2474 mana, but if I get above that I have to start using cores...I should probably leave this in absolute mana. Even if ¡°Personal mana¡± feels nicer and matches what I think I¡¯m using I can figure that out by feel. Absolute mana I have to calculate so it''s more useful for the system to show me this. Innearth wished he could extract mana from cores. Either that or use traded cores in his new printing system... There are more and more problems with the store. Trading with mana doesn''t work because it won''t bank it for me for long...and trading for cores won''t let me be lazy. Sighing Innearth looked to the pure mana trades. Some cores paid out 2,000AMU for a job and one had a nice "multiple payment" option, where the core would pay out 10,000AMU over the course of a week. That''s...quickly calculating...50 cores. Pretty good all things considered. Amazing actually. The request comes from a core with 24 positive trades...seems pretty trustworthy.
OrderName Identification Commision. High Reward!
PosterName ZealotZoi.
OrderType Buy
Type Information
Price 10,000M Spread over 1 week.
Desc I have 3KG of a silvery magical material. There are some strange effects when combined with metal and given mana but I don''t know how to use them. All I know is its probably really strong in a monster. It might be dangerous but I don''t know ¨C it seems pretty safe. :] Providing a sample of 100g to work with. Please tell me how it preforms in a monster, how useful it is and how strong of a monster I can make with it. I have plenty of the material and want to maximize its use!
I can''t see any real problem with it. They even gave me a place to start! Responding to the posting, Innearth accepted the open trade for a [unknown] material with [unknown] effects. Picking a place, he received 100g of silvery pulsing material in one of his highest rooms. Well looks exactly what the Core said it would be. They seem trustworthy The material looked metallic but also strangely organic. Like a cross between a beating heart or lung and a square metal bar. Trying to concentrate on it didn''t give Innearth much help ¨C all he could tell was there was a lot of mana in this lump, but none was leaking out somehow. The mana was constantly in motion bouncing around the material and causing its physical container to slowly beat in a rhythmic show of fake life. Huh. The core has 3kg of this? Why does the 100g version look so complete? Innearth tried to break off a piece by "eating" or "storing" an incredibly thin line down the corner of the fleshy square. Similar to how he had cut away a slab to drop on a crazy ball when he was younger, he sliced a section off with slow precision. Less than a milimeter of matter sent straight to his inventory. He felt stressed ¨C if he had a body Innearth would be sweating right about now. The material broke off with a smooth flat line where the cut was. Over the course of a few seconds, this smooth cut was blended and mutated back into a bumpy fleshy-looking material ¨C the corners rounded and the texture getting almost slimy looking before it finished. The physical elements that entered his inventory were not a compound - they had been held together with mana and when stored was broken apart instantly. This silvery material was made with roughly: 85% silver, 10% lithium 3% mercury and 2% carbon. ...Not that that helped Innearth figure out anything about the magical material. Well, the core selling this mentioned a strange effect by adding metal and mana so maybe I''ll test that to start with? Innearth pulled out a few different types of metals from his inventory. Titanium, aluminum and iron were still his largest quantities, so he used them to start with. Cutting off a third piece Innearth placed 3 equal sections with the 3 metals. He watched as the material seemed to reach out with small tendrils and grab the metal before continuing. Okay. The second step is to give it mana? Not exactly self explanatory but I¡¯ll see what I can do. Innearth couldn''t really shove mana into the unique material ¨C it was already magical and trying to make a material with it just failed. The mana pushed into it slid off ¨C so he simply raised the surrounding mana levels and gave the touching metals mana instead. Immediately the 3 lumps sucked their corresponding metal into themselves and started to make wet squelching sounds. After a second or two of "eating" the metal, all three experiments began to expand exponentially quickly. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Innearth was calm and rational about the following few moments. "Calm and rational" in this case meant he started internally screaming and ripping the expanding monstrosity apart in frantic frenzied terror. Bits of metallic material were eaten and the mana inside it fell and combined with the surroundings. Melting into the walls and ceiling the mana tinted the surroundings a shiny grey while the main material continued to expand. There wasn''t time to do anything but act. The "flesh" wasn''t alive. And he wouldn''t have enough time to build a wall. Trying to damage the material with death mana didn''t work. Trying fire burned black soot over it but didn''t halt its growth. Anything but ripping and eating into it did nothing and just slowed him down. Die. Die. Please die. Stop. Stop expanding. Nonononoonooonoooooo. Nearly half an hour passed in this manner before Innearth noticed there wasn''t any new growth. He stared blankly at the completely plugged hall for a long moment. Shaking himself out of inaction Innearth turned to write a strongly worded message to a certain "Zoi".
Innearth: You tried to kill me! You have to have known what feeding it metal and mana would have done - you mentioned it in your request. ... Innearth: Well? Are you going answer?
ZealotZoi: Whatever are you talking about?
Innearth: Don''t play dumb. If I was weaker, that material would have consumed everything. You told me the exact steps to achieve that result, I''m not a 1 floored newborn.
ZealotZoi: Tch. Should have just died like the others.
Innearth felt his anger flip...others? but...but this core had zero negative trades? I was being safe? What''s up with that? His righteous anger faded to confusion.
Innearth: How do you have a squeaky clean record?
ZealotZoi: I don''t see why I have to explain myself to you.
Innearth: Are you going to pay me? Either way, I''m writing a negative review.
ZealotZoi: If it''s negative either way why would I pay you? Everything I did was completely within the rules. I even mentioned it might be dangerous ;]. If you send a negative review are you not writing a fake review? ZealotZoi: As far as I''m concerned you haven''t yet told me if the material is useful or not. If others died before you that just means they failed to complete my information commission. Go on. Tell me what you figured out :]
Innearth: I figured out it grows massively if you feed it and only survived by ripping it apart. My inventory''s nearly completely full because of you. Is that why you don''t have negative reviews? You killed other Cores before they could mention anything?
ZealotZoi: Bing Bing Bingo. How useful is it though? What happens when you make a monster with it? [:
Innearth: It''s dangerous. I haven''t made a monster with it.
ZealotZoi: I can''t pay you until you do - I''m serious I really will pay you if you complete your end of the bargain. I''m anything if not fair. Look at all 24 of those nice happy satisfied customers.
Innearth: Fine.
Innearth would have to be smart if he finished this Cores trap of a request. First time... was not really his fault; but if he approached it the same way a second time, he really would be dumb. I really wanted to write some sort of negative trade but...I guess material commissions are dangerous. If I don''t complete this, I''m sure he''s going kill someone else with the same commission.
Innearth: If I do this analysis are you going to remove the trapped trade?
ZealotZoi: Of course ;]. I''m an Honorable Core!
...Innearth really wished he could trust that, but he felt pretty confident in analyzing the material. Now that I KNOW WHAT HAPPENS. He wanted to be much much safer about it this time. First off, the material stripped a bit of metal from the stone floor to continue its reaction. It ripped molecules apart violently to extend the amount of time it could grow. Innearth made a quarantine room ¨C the last of the "Null" stone went into a weaker panic door (weaker than his core room panic door) and every visible section of the room was protected. Silicon and Crystal mana covered the room, giving it a glassy purple look and would hopefully prevent it from leeching metal from the stone. Finally, he placed a small lump of the dangerous material in the center of the room. Learning his lesson, he placed the smallest sliver of titanium right beside it ¨C less than a single gram the metal flake landed on the top of it and was fully consumed. Kick-starting the process with mana caused the lump to swell in size, nearly doubling before it stopped. A much more controllable reaction. I think that''s roughly a 100x as much mass as the flake I added. So, 1 unit of non-magical metal becomes 100 units of this material. Innearth sighed and pushed it into the corner of the room. How can I take advantage of that with a monster? I can make a growing monster obviously but unless I can make it shrink afterwards it''s kind of useless. Innearth made a slug of the pulsing material ¨C he added a small fragile isolated container inside of it with a sliver of metal and then added a second heavily isolated and contained section with ¡°Life mercury¡±. That''s definitely dangerous if it breaks out and starts consuming that but...I need to know if healing will keep it in check. Abe heals his exploding stuff to keep it from self combusting while contained. Seems like a valid idea. Okay. Tentatively giving life to the creature he watched carefully as a slug...rolled sideways slightly. I guess I didn''t really give it much to run off of huh. It''s not bendable enough to move around and doesn''t have any limbs... Dropping a large stone on the creature he broke its eternal metal store. Immediately the whole thing started to bulge and pulse before slowly growing multiple arms ¨C legs? 6 bending limbs that punched through its source and let it stand up. Its consumption of metal had improved it...and it had "grown" or evolved. But not nearly as drastically or dangerous as previous attempts...Innearth was also starting to get confused. Why did it grow legs? Sorry no it obviously needed them. How did it grow legs? Why not just grow bigger? Was it because it couldn''t move very well that the metal consumption decided legs were a good idea? Innearth waited a bit before lifting the stone up and attempting to break its (hopefully healed by now) metal vial. This time one of the legs bent upwards at an awkward angle ¨C the joints rotating 180 degrees to knock the stone to the side as it dodged. What... Innearth started at the thing. You don''t have a core. What are you made of? Why do you act like that? Innearth remembered how dense with mana the unique material was. Is...is its whole body equivalent to a core? Can you understand me? The legged slug seemed to stare at him reproachfully. I''m just trying to evolve you ¨C I gave you a method of growing and improving with a...special source. Innearth calmly talked to the fleshy metallic cockroach while signalling the strongest monsters nearby to come over ¨C a beholder from one direction and the "snake king" veteran who had started to explore the whole dungeon a few days prior. The cockroach seemed to consider what he had said then suddenly twisted one of its appendages and started to beat its back. Harder and harder it hit and then inevitably a small crack was heard before the monster was still. Moments later the slug pulsed, and a smiling face appeared on its back. Closed eyes and an incredibly wide grin that looked menacing. A single spiked tongue flicked out between the lips and then stabbed into the ground to its side ¨C again and again as the creature attempted to break its crystal confinement. None of the strikes were hard enough to make a dent but worryingly the crystal started to lose colour as it did so, giving Innearth a flashback to the mana vore of the demon he had fought previously. Yeah I think this is a demon. That''s it kill squad. GOGOGO. Innearth watched as his beholder floated to the entrance and started weaving a kinetic barrier together. The snake king darted into the room, seeming to glide through the air on a bridge of crystals. It slithered similar to how the pool snake did in its crystal home but with more purpose ¨C instead of random events that seemed to happen in a lucky manner, the crystal bridges it made were designed for movement. The beholder in the back sent a wave of fire into the room at nearly the same time as the cockroach seemed to realize it had an open door it could escape through. It was around this time the smiling face started to laugh ¨C its eyes still closed. Jumping forwards towards the entrance in a blind bid for freedom, the cockroach laughed hysterically. Mid-jump it was blindsided by the snake coming up its side and trapping it with two crystal spears. Sharp spikes that pierced both its sides at an upward angle in an attempt to contain it, but the cockroach continued to laugh. Innearth watched as his two monsters finished the cockroach off and didn''t let them leave until he was sure it was dead.
Innearth: Hey doc does this sound like a demon? ...
ZeMadDoctor: That is not how demons form. I''ve already told you that. For a demon to form. It would have been summoned and consumed the "slug" you made. No not a demon but also not a normal dungeon monster. If I had to guess. That is a creature of madness. Similar to demons but closer to...closer to a monster made with fire and water. Maybe. ZeMadDoctor: Another option would be that material is a dead demon¡¯s flesh? That makes sense to me. It is not a true demon but is still tainted by demonic mana. Similar to what happens to creatures who consume demon flesh. It¡¯s the only reason I can think of for why it leached mana from your floor.
Innearth: Okay, so controllable?
ZeMadDoctor: Demons are controllable as well. By the way, if you have any of that material to spare I''d love to experiment with it.
Innearth: ...I think you are mad sometimes but sure. Here you go.
Innearth sent off a chunk of the dead monster then pulled back. I guess I have enough information to fulfil my job.
Innearth: Here you go. Here''s your information packet and I hope it''s thorough enough for you.
ZealotZoi: Pity. Well just message me every few hours when you want your payments. You deserved it.
...this was weird. This whole thing was weird. Zoi seemed like he was treating Innearth like an adventurer. Providing danger and then rewarding survival. It kind of made sense but also...I''m your own kind. How could you do that to your own species? That''s like...That''s like cannibalism or something. Innearth checked his current status
Indecisive Earth
Level 32 1052/1386 exp to next level.
System Access Level 3 0/2 requirements met to advance.
-Reach the surface
-Level 33+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 39.6 unit/min
Mana Storage 3185.12/3232.20 AMU
Physical Storage 96% Percent Capacity
Titles.
Earth Mana Specialization, Crystal Mana Specialization
The experimentation had been successful. His physical storage was incredibly full right now but was nearly level 33. All that was left was to push for the surface and hope he could solve his problems that way. Innearth put all his focus into expanding. No trying to consider mana. Just maximum speed. He dug upwards in a smaller and smaller tunnel ¨C Every dozen or so hours messaging Zoi with a "Can I have 1k more?" request and getting back cheerful "Sure thing!" response as the Core complied. It''s just so weird. Even though he was trying to save space, his physical storage ticked up and hit 99%. Then just before Innearth thought he would have to start filling in rooms he levelled. Innearth reached level 33 ¨C dropping his percentage down to 94% letting him continue on. A day later and Innearth finally...finally broke through. A stream of light cascading through a small hole that grew larger and larger as he broke through the side of a mountain. His excitement didn''t even have time to fully finalize with the realization he had done it ¨C before a white panel appeared in his sight. Chapter 33. Level 33. Rank 3.
Today the system saved my daughter. I had given up on ever seeing her again, but the system helped me get her back! It wasn¡¯t just the system. A nice man named Jack was the one who actually found her deep in the forest and surrounded by a nightmare wolf collective. It was the system that brought Jack to me however. Without the quest I made pouring all my heart and soul into, along with my useless possessions I never would have been able to get her back. Jack is a weird man. He wore a cloak and I was initially frightened when he came and confirmed that he would find my daughter. He came through however. When he came back out of the woods holding my sweet Abagail on his shoulder. Words can¡¯t describe how grateful to the system I was. The man received a great shining axe for his trouble. I can¡¯t believe that''s what he thought my daughter was worth. I¡¯m just glad my old jewellery was enough to pay for that axe. I''m just glad my daughter is safe.
Excerpt obtained from one single mom''s diary.
Mana Specification
Rank 3 Mana specializations (NOTE Racial affinity is 40% at base, in comparison to 90% for Rank 1 mana)
Eternity Entropy Control / 2, Eternity Control * 2
Void Space Control / 2, Void Control * 2
Entropy Eternity control / 2, Entropy Control * 2
Space Void / 2, Space Control * 2
Entropy + Eternity Eternity&Entropy * 1.75 (+bonus to preventing negative effects), Void&Space / (1.75 * 1.75)
Space + Void Void&Space * 1.75 (+bonus to preventing negative effects), Eternity&Entropy / (1.75 * 1.75)
All 4 Base Elements By settling in the third rank all 4 Rank 3 elements are increased by 10%
Unlocked Specializations due to Crystal Specialization
Forge out into the unknown and specialize your crystal mana into a specialized and less known type. Exact control results are un categorized till more chose them. Estimated values based on similar choices are as follows. 1-5% increase in Earth control. 0-50% increase in crystal control. 5-85% increase in chosen flavor control.
Diamond Quartz Amethyst Celestite Fluorite Garnet
Malachite Rhodochrosite Tourmaline ¡­Focus and expand for more.
Unlocked through Special actions
Experimentation Mana Through consistent and deliberate experimentation you have edged up against experimention mana. A mana type not typically found in dungeon cores. Experimentation mana starts at 55% base control.
Mana Specification
Rank 3 Mana specializations (NOTE Racial affinity is 40% at base, in comparison to 90% for Rank 1 mana)
Eternity Entropy Control / 2, Eternity Control * 2
Void Space Control / 2, Void Control * 2
Entropy Eternity control / 2, Entropy Control * 2
Space Void / 2, Space Control * 2
Entropy + Eternity Eternity&Entropy * 1.75 (+bonus to preventing negative effects), Void&Space / (1.75 * 1.75)
Space + Void Void&Space * 1.75 (+bonus to preventing negative effects), Eternity&Entropy / (1.75 * 1.75)
All 4 Base Elements By settling in the third rank all 4 Rank 3 elements are increased by 10%
Unlocked Specializations due to Crystal Specialization
Forge out into the unknown and specialize your crystal mana into a specialized and less known type. Exact control results are uncategorized till more chose them. Estimated values based on similar choices are as follows. 1-5% increase in Earth control. 0-50% increase in crystal control. 5-85% increase in chosen flavour control.
Diamond Quartz Amethyst Celestite Fluorite Garnet
Malachite Rhodochrosite Tourmaline ¡­Focus and expand for more.
Unlocked through Special actions
Experimentation Mana Through consistent and deliberate experimentation, you have edged up against Experimentation mana. A mana type not typically found in dungeon cores. Experimentation mana starts at 55% base control.
Okay! let''s see. Hah! Eternity is a mana type. Bet Bose will pick that one. Can basically guarantee that. Now let''s see what''s the smartest choice...40%? That¡¯s...to be honest, I don''t fully understand this ¡°base control¡± it keeps giving me. But if rank 2 mana was 70% and rank 1 was 90%...it¡¯s the difference between controlling something that wasn''t changed in rank 1 and any of the rank 2 types? So, Fire or Water mana vs Kinetic. Hmmm...I mean it was a bit worse? Wait let me think of it like this. Air had a /2 control so that means I had 45% of base control? That¡¯s...not good. Air mana sucks and if I ignore this these will be even worse? Ish. I guess if I want to start using any of these consistently I have to pick one of them. I can''t just ignore them this choice and "get them all" as I did with rank 2 mana... Moving down the list just to see if anything¡¯s better. If I was following the pattern of continuing to double down on Earth and Crystal mana I could pick one of these...Diamonds at the start I can imagine that''s the best option. But I don''t like the fact that it¡¯s not telling me exactly what I''ll get. I don''t feel like gambling with such an important decision. The values it''s giving also aren''t that great. Like I''m starting off at...on average 45%? I already decided that was bad with the rank 3 choices based on Air... I think I might skip that this choice and try and increase my strength in a different way. OH! Experimentation mana for the last choice. That''s...that fits me somewhat. But then again how useful is experimentation mana. If I use it in a material, I''ll get experimentation material? material that helps with experimentation? Or a monster that can cast experimentation spells? ...I don''t want monsters that can experiment I want to experiment myself. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Maybe if there isn''t a better option. Back to the first 4 options. I''m pretty sure they are the safest bet. Eternity. That... Innearth tried to compare what was in his "dictionary" for the word with what it could look like as a mana type. It contained the concept of time stretching on forever. So, this option can slow down time? Entropy had a slightly different concept of breaking down and rushing towards the end. ...and this would speed up time? They both sound pretty powerful. I can imagine being able to make monsters that can maybe trap adventurers in slow areas with spells ¨C or speed themselves up even faster than they could with kinetic materials. Part of the demon''s strength was in that weird out-of-sync time it lived in. I wonder if it was using one or both of these? After Eternity is Void. Void is¡­the absence of space? The opposite of space? What is Space? Space is what everything is in¡­that doesn¡¯t make sense, space is space how can you control it. Is¡­ So, Space magic can let you make space? Like "put more space in an area"? Assuming that¡¯s true Void can remove space? Wait if you remove space what happens to the stuff that was in it? Does it disappear? Is this¡­is this the solution to my storage problem! What about space magic. If I use that on something, do I increase the quantity of it? If I do it in an empty area, I could make more space to put stuff and that might fix my storage problem too. Innearth couldn¡¯t check his status with the affinity choice floating in front of him, but he remembered being really really close to getting completely full. Dangerously so. I really need to be able to get rid of some of my storage. It feels stifling and I did nearly just die because of that expanding material. Innearth thought about all his options. He was leaning towards either Void or Space to solve his problem. He thought about multiple uses for both of them. ¡­ Okay, here¡¯s what I think. I think both could solve my storage issue and help me continue to expand indefinitely. However, of the two, Void sounds like it would make for stronger monsters and traps than Space would. I also keep thinking of it first when I compare the two and something about it feels¡­feels like I am drawn to it? That has to count for something. Innearth tried to figure out what that feeling was and where it came from. It wasn¡¯t external and wasn¡¯t even conscious. It seemed to just be coming from the deepest part of his instincts. A ¡°I want that¡±. Well logical side says this and so does my instincts so here goes nothing. Nothingness. ¡­ Innearth came to and felt. Felt¡­different. Felt strong and more confident. There was more of a feeling to this choice than either of his prior two. Checking his status, he stared at his new ¡°goal¡± and took a few moments to try and make sense of everything.
Innearth
Level 33 0/1462 exp to next level.
System Access Level 4 0/2 requirements met to advance.
-1+ Ascended Monster
-Level 48+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 39.74 unit/min
Mana Storage 1462.00/1462.00 units
Physical Storage 92% Percent Capacity
Titles.
Earth Mana Specialization, Crystal Mana Specialization, Void Mana Specialization.
I guess Tier goals aren¡¯t as hard to reach as each rank change? I¡¯ve already gotten that before. Just have to make sure I can stimulate a monster enough to make it change. Innearth closed his status and checked around the new entrance to his dungeon once more. The small part of his influence that poked out felt¡­exposed. Vulnerable. He tried to stare out from his hole but couldn¡¯t make out anything more than a meter or two beyond his entrance. That does not feel good. Innearth tried to expand outwards slightly more to see if he could see more and felt wind rip through the end of his influence hitting one side and popping out the other constantly. It felt gross. The surface is gross. Innearth Pulled back to just within his cave and felt slightly safer once more. A part of him realized he was being irrational. The endless emptiness couldn¡¯t hurt him ¨C he had chosen void dammit. He should be revelling in emptiness. Also if he had a problem with the breeze wouldn¡¯t he have a problem with adventurers entering and exiting him? But another part remembered the warning he had received all the way back in the tutorial. He would be branded a ¡°insane¡± dungeon if he spread around on the surface. I wonder how much ¡°spreading around¡± means. Not that I want to test that. No, I think any core that likes that feeling has to be mad. If I want to scout around me I guess I¡¯ll either have to wait for an ascended monster or stuff to come to me. Innearth returned to review the rest of his new changes. He opened the new group chat to see¡­
There will be a stream of the Screaming Brothers running in roughly 1 hour! 5000AMU a pop.
Sky¡¯s above that¡¯s expensive. I mean I¡¯ll pay it. It¡¯s the screaming brothers who doesn¡¯t love them. But honestly, that¡¯s some extortion-level pricing right there.
LIKE. SUBSCRIBE. SEE THE ACTION!
Does anyone else feel dead to the world? Like you¡¯re just going through the motions? I do. I feel like I¡¯m running on autopilot.
@Corvo stop selling your friend''s show. Shady! I bet they didn¡¯t even get the actual screaming adventurers.
Not my friends show. I just really like the SBs
¡­what is¡­what is that. People had pictures instead of names? ¡­whats my picture. Innearth checked his status and saw nothing. Then he checked his message profile.
Send Trade Send message
Oh, I don¡¯t like that. I don''t like that at all. Call me old fashioned but names worked just fine for me. How do I revert to ¡°old chat¡±? Innearth fiddled with his systems settings and managed to stop displaying Cores'' pictures by default. He could still find them by opening people''s profiles but this was cleaner. I should figure out what else has changed and maybe buy some information¡­ Amy was back! Her name was once again visible while Abe and Bose had greyed out and become inactive.
Innearth: Hey just advanced right behind you! Wonder how long it will take my other friends to catch up.
Amy: Hey! You made it! that''s great <3
Innearth: What''s the new rank like? Have you figured out anything yet?
Amy: Yes! We can watch other cores either stream or record and playback whatever they want to show off. Most of them are making you pay for access. Streams are mostly adventurers but some cores are showing off "tours" of what they have done with their dungeon and a few have more...unusual shows.
Innearth: Who are the Screaming Brothers?
Amy: Adventurer duo. They get frightened really easily but are quite good at adventuring. Real popular to watch. Personally, I don''t quite get the appeal? But some cores really like them.
Innearth: Does this mean I can show you what I''ve done with my dungeon!
Amy: Sorry we can watch streams right now but can''t make them ourselves until we are tier 5. Oh and sadly we can''t make dedicated video streams that people pay to get into ourselves until tier 7. We could get a Tier 7 to host us and make the group but they like to take most of the profits that way.
Innearth: Tier 7!!! Why is that so far away?
Amy: There are group chats here. Tier 7 lets you make a group. Tier 6 lets you moderate it or take it over if the tier 7 leaves. Moderate means add and remove new people or prevent someone from talking for a bit.
Innearth: ...Amy. I think the groups are an important factor in this rank. Why are you focusing on streams?
Amy: I don''t know it seemed the most important?
Innearth: How do we make a group! We can make a group chat with you me Abe and Bose!!! Doc too! They should be here soon!
Amy: ...we would have to find a Tier 7 willing to make and moderate the group for us. I...Sure. That sounds fine. I''ll see if I can find us an older core. What should I look for?
Innearth: ...They have to stay after they make the group right? And can probably read everything we write? Just make sure they aren''t a jerk. Find a cheerful Core that''s friendly enough. We are making a group to hide from the cancerous main chat.
Amy: Might take a while but sure I''ll try and ask around. Most of my other friends have started trying to do the same.
Innearth: Okay. Anything else I should know?
Amy: There''s probably a few more things but that''s all I''ve found out for now. OH. you can block people now if you want. Prevent them from messaging you.
Innearth: Well I don''t need that right now but it might be useful sometime. Innearth: So how have you been? What''s new since you broke the surface?
... Chapter 34. When you gaze into the void. The void gazes back at you.
On how mana corps learned to ¡°game¡± the system. Two Postulates. The system pays higher prices for ¡°High End Booze¡± than anything else; The system has a hidden store that no race has direct access to. We know this store exists based on the ¡°quest¡± system and rule of *equivalent* (heh) exchange for quest rewards. Manacorps have learned through intensive testing, the system rewards more for large amounts of high quality booze than anything else. It is cheaper to make a whole whiskey plant and then sell barrels of whiskey to the system, than it is to make some of the ¡°equivalent¡± items it will give you. How do we access this store may I ask? By abusing the quest system. Take this scenario. Employee A makes a simple quest for another employee B. A offers the barrel of whiskey as a reward. Employee B completes the simple task then is rewarded with roughly a tier 4-5 item! Oh obviously some of the intent is lost by simple tasks. ¡°Hard¡± quests sometimes get a larger bonus to the quest reward, as do quests given by ones that really need it. The system prefers quests that ¡°Avenge someone''s killed father¡± to ones that ¡°satisfy my thirst with a glass of water¡± but even with our lower effort quests, profit can be found! Some of the items we have managed to loot from the system this way are almost masterwork quality! For just booze! This is a major loophole! By ageing in various magical woods and metals, infusing with rare items, as well as making as many different flavours of alcohol we can find - manacorps has determined the quality of the rewards can be maintained nearly indefinitely. Hopefully, the system never finds out we are cheating it this way, as our alcohol department is currently one of the highest-grossing.
Excerpt from manacorps internal memo. ¡°System Loophole #2 in a previously believed infallible system!¡± Innearth really wanted to scout around his dungeon but¡­there wasn¡¯t a single ascended monster that could do so. The next item on his list was to explore his newfound Void affinity. If he was being honest with himself this was what he was looking forward to the most. How do I go about finding void mana to copy? Innearth tried looking in holes and ¡°empty¡± spaces but didn¡¯t see a hint of any Void mana. Yeah I mean I guess they are full of air. Maybe it¡¯s an even higher resolution? Picking an empty area Innearth stared harder and harder. Rank 1 mana types were laid bare and then superseded by rank 2. Finally, nearly before giving up at the edge of what Innearth could concentrate up to, the faintest of hints of a third type of mana became known. Rank 3 mana didn¡¯t seem to be clinging to anything like the previous ranks. Instead by staring deep enough at the world, Innearth found the barest hints of several mana types existing as a soup together. Like coloured grains of sand blown into a strong wind and then slowed down, bits floated slowly in a chaotic manner. It was hard to separate the strands of time and space that seemed less like they were attached to the world and more like they were holding it together. I thought opposites made chaos and madness? Having them all together means 2 types of madness right? Is the true state of our world chaos? Innearth tried to feel out the mana types. They all felt just a bit too far out of reach and while the Void spoke to him, it was the rarest of the particles in his area. Faint specks of nothingness hidden between countless faint specs of ¡°stuff¡±. Finally, Innearth started to feel like he could apply the flavour to himself. This time it was less of an intelligent process and more of an instinctual one. He could explain (badly to non Dungeon Cores but explain nonetheless) how to convert your personal mana into the fire affinity or even the kinetic one. However, all he could say about Void was ¡°it just happened¡±. Pulling equal amounts of the surrounding space and his personal mana together led to a lump of Void mana in the air. The mana was colourless but seemed to warp all the light that passed through it like a lens. Hmm¡­this feels wrong. Void mana wasn¡¯t really something you made and then threw at stuff. It was something you built into an area or object. Letting the blob disperse Innearth tried again this time with a goal in mind. That dust-filled slag of a hallway that¡¯s plugged with growing material. It should make a good target! Focusing on the hallway Innearth weaved Void mana together into the very space and watched as the section of hall seemed to shrink down, lower and lower. As everything shrunk, its density grew higher and higher ¨C the mana in the hall was concentrated into a smaller area and the expanding material tried to start growing again ¨C seeming to scream as it realized it was getting smaller. The shrinking was currently unevenly distributed and the middle of the hallway had overlapping sections so it was the first to break. The void grew. Shrinking down into a singularity, a point of space became a nexus of absolute darkness. Nothing escaped its grasp and while it didn¡¯t ¡°pull everything towards it¡± like a black hole would ¨C anything that touched it was squished down into nothing and banished. A faint hissing sound grew larger as air leaked out of the hole in the world. ¡­wow. Innearth didn¡¯t feel any sense of danger from the void. It was his. It was growing right now ¨C but only because he wished so. He had complete control over this section of space, it was his mana, it was his affinity. Watching the point grow larger and larger as if in a trance Innearth felt¡­content. If I had this, I could have wiped the demon out on my own. I¡¯m sure of it. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. The void grew. Finally grabbing the singularity well past the point others would have panicked at, Innearth tried combining it with Iron from his inventory. The mana ate into his material and needed a huge amount of it before it stuck; but finally, he had created a bar of void iron. What should I do with this? I kind of just made it because I could¡­ Innearth made a magma spider while he could still mould the material and replaced both the machinery at the tips of the legs as well as the pincers with void iron. The iron ate away at everything he tried to attach to it and Innearth replaced many of the magma pathways with tubes of healing life organs to constantly heal the damage. I want to add more, but it''s annoying to keep fixing the damage while I think of stuff. I¡¯m eating through quite a bit of material just waiting so here we go! Giving the void spider life, Innearth watched as it sunk its legs deep into the wall and climbed slowly achingly up to the corner of the ceiling. Hmm. I mean I know it''s being eaten into but it''s really in pain huh. He spawned a regular magma spider using the system to see how it compared. Making sure to try and even it out by removing the bat. Hey, fight each other for me will you? They didn¡¯t seem quite as hesitant to fight each other as Innearth¡¯s previous attempts at making the same monster fight. Jumping forwards the magma spider scaled the wall towards its void cousin who seemed to be more interested in trying to deal with the pain it was under due to existing. How do monsters feel pain? I don''t think I''ve thought of that before. Is it just if they get damaged? An exposed body was offered and the magma spider took the opportunity to stab a burning dripping spike of a leg into its side. I don''t think it''s too important of a tangent. I''m losing focus and I wanted to see this! Returning to paying attention to the fight Innearth was just in time to watch the void variant make a move. Shaking off the attack it finally focused on its opponent, swiping a single leg out. The amount of force it did so with should really not have done anything. Its speed was slow and if it had made any movements previously it would have been dodged. Yet hit it did. The void-tipped leg melted through the side of the magma spider like a hot knife gliding smoothly through butter. Like a peeled... radioactive orange. An orange glow of light and heat radiated out from the gash. Small beads of magma forming on the lowest edge. Twisting backwards in shock, the magma spider tried attacking once more this time wary of any retaliation ¨C bits of magma dripping out of its side to fall to the ground below. A stream of molten dots speckling the ground in a sizzle while it tried to heal. Good show! Hit em again! Innearth hadn¡¯t had this much fun watching his monsters fight each other in a while. He had grown bored of every other fight that happened in his dungeon normally and needed new stimulation. The spiders jumped around in a dance on the ceiling ¨C each time their light gravity frame and kinetic pull bringing them back to the ceiling as they circled one another. The void spider was¡­much much stronger. It only needed a single well-placed strike to end this farce ¨C but because it was in so much pain the spider didn¡¯t have any reflexes. It wasn¡¯t fully focused on the battle and kept having to stop and take a moment to rest. Finally having enough the void spider lashed out spearing its cousin and calming down to nurse its wounds in the middle of the roof. Signs of their battle littered the ground below while a curious Dungeon Core reviewed the battle. Is there a better way to use Void mana? I don¡¯t think I want to have all my monsters constantly eating themselves and in pain¡­ I guess this was a good enough attempt at experimenting with the new rank ¨C I even got my free ¡°use the new rank of mana¡± level! It took so long to reach level 33 and I¡¯m already 34! Opening the new market to search for information on Void mana and Innearth found a nice guide on the process. It cost 3000AMU but information was important and that was less than 30 minutes of his time nowadays ¨C assuming he didn''t use it for anything else ¨C and 30 minutes was nothing in comparison to his current timescale.
SO, YOU WANT TO CONTROL THE VOID? WELCOME BROTHER! THIS INFORMATION IS PRICELESS AND DISCOVERED OVER A MILLENNIA BY THE STRONGEST GROUP OF DUNGEON CORES. THOSE WHO CHOSE THE GREAT VOID AS THEIR AFFINITY! YOU CHOSE WELL. THE MAIN CONCEPTS ARE PRETTY SIMPLE. YOU CAN MAKE TWO KINDS OF USEFUL MATERIALS. HAVE YOU NOTICED THE VOID DOESN¡¯T CONSUME ITS CARRIER? IF YOU MAKE A SILICON VOID MATERIAL. THEN MAKE SURE TO WRAP IT IN A NON-VOID SILICON MATERIAL TO ACT AS A BUFFER. THIS MATERIAL WILL EAT AWAY AT ALL MATTER IT TOUCHES EXCEPT THE ONE IT''S ATTACHED TO. THE SECOND KIND OF MATERIAL IS MUCH HARDER TO CREATE AND HARD TO EXPLAIN BUT I¡¯LL TRY AND PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW. BY TWISTING THE VOID AND ITS INTENT YOU CAN CREATE A MATERIAL THAT ONLY CONSUMES MATERIALS LIKE IT. BY MAKING AN IRON SPIKE, IT WILL ONLY CONSUME IRON. BY MAKING A CARBON SPIKE, IT WILL ONLY EAT AWAY AT CARBON. AT FIRST, THIS SEEMS WEAKER, BUT BY FOCUSING ON ONE ELEMENT THE RESULTS ARE MUCH MORE PRONOUNCED. THIS VOID VARIATION WILL EVEN CONSUME MATERIAL THAT¡¯S CLOSE BY, WITH A FIELD EXTENDING OUT FROM IT. I URGE YOU TO TRY AND FIGURE IT OUT! FINALLY, A CONCEPT THAT HAS SOME LIMITED USES IS TO PLAY WITH THE FIRST PART OF VOID MANIPULATION ¨C SHRINKING. AS A USER OF THE VOID YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO MAKE A MUCH LARGER ITEM AND THEN SHRINK IT DOWN AND COMPRESS IT BEYOND WHAT YOU COULD MANUALLY. FOR AN EXAMPLE OF THIS, PLEASE REFER TO THE VOID FLY SCHEMATIC LOCATED .
Faint remnants of Innearth''s desire to do everything himself remain but are thoroughly squashed as he follows the ¡°fly¡± example and buys it as well. Not being able to print it without using all the techniques once himself, Innearth starts the design. It¡¯s a round ball roughly 10cm in diameter with massive wings that have some incredibly well made joints Innearth hasn¡¯t come across before. The middle contains two cores ¨C one void and one pure ¨C and its whole body is solid iron compressed as much as he could handle. A large void iron spike comes out of the fly¡¯s front and a network of gravity bones keep the whole creature light. It''s weird though. This creature really should not be able to fly. Even with the gravity materials, I can¡¯t see how those wings help it move¡­ Ah well. The next step was important. He was to try as hard as he could to shrink the whole creature evenly. It was best to do this before he gave it life and not to push it too much. The schematic step was a factor of 10. ¡°Try and shrink this down to 1cm¡± Carefully pulling space inwards slowly ever so slowly so he didn¡¯t make a singularity. Innearth watched as the ¡°fly¡± grew smaller and smaller. He messed up a bit ¨C the tip of one of the wings was crushed completely ¨C but for the most part, it was a success. I''m on a roll with Void mana! Proof it was made for me! As the fly shrunk, the mana contained within was concentrated and the material became harder and harder. Some of the ¡°Matter¡± was lost ¨C it was inevitable using Void mana ¨C but the parts that stayed were compressed to lengths no material could naturally go. Giving Life to the small creature it flapped quickly and confidently as it took to the air. Forgetting what the purpose of this monster was he watched it buzz around in the air before flying down the hall. Out of the magma halls that Innearth was doing most of his experimentation in this fly kept going down further and further stopping for nothing until it reached one of the lowest sections of his dungeon. It stopped near his crystal pool seeming curious by the pool snake and flittered around a water slime as if wondering how something so weak could exist at the same level as the rest of his crystal cavern monsters. The fly continued exploring a bit and then settled down in one of Innearth''s ¡°crystal pillar¡± rooms. Well¡­Yeah, I guess that¡¯s fine. I did want it to fight something ¨C anything ¨C just so I had a vague strength basis. I wanted to figure out how strong it is because I put in a lot of mana into such a small creature I feel like it''s not worth it to spawn them everywhere if it''s weak as well¡­ Anyways what next! ¡­ Innearth spent some time adding void parts to all his monsters just because he could. He couldn¡¯t really get into it, however. Not while he was waiting for adventurers to come. Not while he was waiting for the rest of his friends to catch up. One portion of his concentration at his chats constantly Innearth waited for the other cores to brighten and show they existed once again. Somehow when waiting time seemed to slow to a standstill. It felt like weeks but had only taken 3 more days before everyone had caught up.
Innearth: Hey Amy! Have you found anyone to make our group chat yet?
Amy: Yeah I have actually he¡¯s making it now.
Innearth: !!!
Amy: Yes yes. I don''t see why you are this excited but yep. It''s being made. Just wait a few more minutes
Finally! Chapter 35. A simple group chat...again.
Hey all! Tom here. Today I''m going to be reviewing the Necromantic Enclave and its resident dungeon "Deadly Abyss". On the Broken Continent up near the northern section, a city absolutely permeated with death mana exists. It''s currently the only city in the world I know of that actively teaches the necromantic classes and has the highest number of undead residents. Vampires and Liches living in harmony with their "living" neighbors. I even saw a restaurant with a proper flesh golem as the chef during my brief stay. An interesting factoid is this is the only dungeon that has a longstanding active quest to destroy it. Over the past decade, 3 crusades have been attempted against the enclave and each have failed. Now "The Holy Mother''s" church has several active quests related to everything from harassing its residents to destroying the city itself or breaking the dungeon contained within. Most dungeons that use Death mana aren''t given any trouble by the church but the "Deadly abyss" has supported the city that grew around it and actively protects its residents. The dungeon itself rewards well and has a delightful ambiance reminiscent of the dungeon in Mur (Issue 102). If you wish to delve into it, no party member is allowed to wear religious symbology as the danger level spikes from lower D grade to B- Grade on the patented Tom Danger Scale. This includes brooches and embroideries in your clothing depicting the "mother''s embrace" and actively praying inside the dungeon. Once a vaguely religious warrior got startled by a ghoul and screamed "Oh mother''s mercy". He and his whole party were attacked by some vamperic swarm ghouls normally found 4 floors deeper. The dungeon is great, but this is a very important warning parties must follow if they want to delve it normally. Finally, while the church despises the enclave, there are many unique dungeon materials that have entered the market through its continued existence. "Abyssal Vines" for example took the alchemy community by storm and while no guild has actively endorsed the enclave, many put pressure on the church to let it be. Next Issue I''m going to be exploring the Trap dungeon of Yale. See you next time!
Excerpt from the popular serial "Tom''s Dungeon Reviews Issue 123" Innearth received a pop-up.
TheAbyssStaresBack has invited you to the "friendly group" server.
Accept? Y/N
He hit the yes button less than a second after it appeared. I''m so ready. As he accepted the invite his message panel warped and brought him to a new group chat. There was currently 1 other person in the group TheAbyssStaresBack? I guess that''s the core Amy found to host the group for us.
Innearth: ...hey I guess. I¡¯m Innearth. Want to introduce yourself?
Before they could respond properly the rest of the cores started filing in all at once.
Abe: Let''s goooooooooooooo.
Amy: Oh good, you guys managed to make it!
Fated Eternal Design: Salutations!
Doc: Why have I been added to this?
Innearth: ...stop changing your name Bose. Feed isn''t a good name.
Fated Eternal Design: Divine meaning resides in my new moniker. I must insist you don''t shorten it so crassly.
Amy: let him call himself whatever he wants Innearth.
Abe: I''m with my main bro on this one. I''ve gotten used to bringer of something eternal. Change it back!
Fated Eternal Design: My name is everlasting. Simply think of my calling having been reached now that I have the eternal mana I''ve always been destined to have.
Innearth: So you chose Eternal mana? Nice. My 3rd choice is Void...don''t change the subject though. I''ve gotten used to Bose :3<
Fated Eternal Design: ...I don''t want to.
Abe: What?
Fated Eternal Design: I don''t want to okay?
Innearth: :3<
Doc: I would love to hear your reasoning for picking void? I made a similar choice. I wish to pick your brain.
Innearth: oh uh...it felt like the best? 3rd rank choice was at 40% and that''s less than my rank 1 penalty. Solo is a better choice because it''s a higher increase and I wanted something that let me continue expanding if my storage is full. Also void seemed like it would make stronger monsters than space would.
Doc: Interesting. I picked up double combination of space and void. Your reasoning is about what I expected I thought you might have thought of something else I hadn''t have.
Abe: oh boi. Guys, someone should talk me into not regretting my choice. I picked Entropy because it sounded cool.
Innearth: one sec @Abe. @Doc if you thought about the same things as me why did you not pick the same? You chose a double...what was your reasoning? Innearth: Nice Abe. I bet Entropy will make even stronger explosions.
Doc: It''s simple. I simply thought the interactions between two extremes. Might be more interesting than what I could obtain on its own. Demons are the fascinating result of Life and Death mana. Maybe Space and Void can create similar excitement? Doc: Also. I figured if I''m already basically forgoing some affinities. It would be better to forgo 2 than 3...there are more experiments I can do with both.
Abe: so between the 4 of us we have the 4 Rank 3 affinities? Amy what did you pick?
Amy: ...I chose harmonic Life+Mental. The harmonic options are pretty strong and well...I got to try all the rank 2 types out and I wished I was better at using mental mana. I want all my monsters to be able to communicate with each other and thought I could use the two to make really relaxing safe spots for adventures. Adventurers love me btw. I''m so popular! I nearly have a group delving me a day now and the frequency is increasing!
Abe: Booooo I forgot you already started to get adventurers. Ur making sure to put them through proper trials right? They aren''t just wandering around taking stuff you give them?
Amy: of course I''m treating them fairly! They have to work hard if they want to be rewarded! Amy: ...I have started leaving healing pools everywhere just in case they get hurt though. I don''t want them to die and stop adventuring In me. The last visiter to die in me was the monster Innearth sent and he hasn''t wanted to send anything since.
Abe: ...I''m confused. Why? Lol. They are adventurers - they know what they signed up for when they started delving you. Like, not telling you how to design your dungeon or anything...but you are doing it wrong! You''re supposed to reward them after the boss. Move your healing pool to the other side of the boss room not before :3 It will work much better like that.
Amy: Oh I have a pool there too! They can heal after their fight.
Innearth: Amy you''re much too nice. Are you making sure they aren''t just filling containers with your health potions and leaving?
Amy: ...yes.
Innearth: that doesn''t sound very convincing Amy. I didn''t realize you were this dumb.
Amy: I''m challenging them properly! They had to fight monsters to get to the potions! Health liquid is also sooooo easy to make. It''s like life and water and water you know? Besides. They should be fully rested before they enter a boss room. That way they can fight at their fullest potential and it''s much more entertaining! I''m the oldest here why am I being called out like this.
Innearth: Okay
TheAbyssStaresBack: I think I''m a weee bit older than you... Anyway, hey everyone! Glad you are having fun! I don''t really want to impose on this little group you have here. Feel free to pretend I''m not here! TheAbyssStaresBack: As long as Amy is having fun that''s great! Being nice to adventurers is a good trait. You want them to keep coming back! Get em hooked! TheAbyssStaresBack: Anyways you kids have fun! That''s the most important thing! This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
Abe: ayy m8. I was wondering when you''d say something. Introduce yourself to us! If you have to stay in this group we might as well get to know you! Let''s go!
Innearth: Yep. What are your affinities? What¡¯s your dungeon like!
TheAbyssStaresBack: My affinities are Fire, Death and Void. TheAbyssStaresBack: Rather than tell you about my dungeon why don''t we do this.
A new bar popped into existence right below the member list. ¡­ Innearth focused on "clicking" the bar and a new panel expanded beside the chat. There was a brief moment where he felt vast amounts of information rushing into his panel. Trying to touch it like he had been doing for a lot of the system controls nearly made him blackout. When he finally refocused he saw something other than his dungeon for the first time in his year of life. ¡­How. ¡°TheAbyssStaresBack¡± seemed to have several spots pre-saved. They panned over several rooms ¨C a flat view into shambling zombies with glowing red eyes and thin black shifting figures with long claws and shrouds of darkness flowing off their limbs. It was slightly disorienting having a flat area show a moving area ¨C Innearths regular sight let him look from multiple angles by default ¨C but that quickly shifted to wonder as he stared through the looking glass into a wonderland of dungeon building. As the older core continued to flip between areas Innearth was starting to realize just how massive they were.
Abe: Bruh. Really showing off aren¡¯t you¡­really showing us up. Abe: Do you have any adventurers to show us? I haven''t gotten any yet and there''s only so much I can get from listening to Amy.
TheAbyssStaresBack: It''s daytime, Sometimes I get late ¡°night¡± delvers but a lot of my regular adventuring groups like to start around midnight local time.
Innearth: Not sure how personal of a question this is¡­but how many floors do you have?
TheAbyssStaresBack: Close to 45.
Innearth: ¡­hooookay. How old are you ¨C just to help my ego a bit because that¡¯s just floored me.
TheAbyssStaresBack: Just over 14 years young.
That¡­makes me feel a bit better I guess. I have 7 floors right now and I¡¯m just over a year old. Although¡­that¡¯s still a staggering size. My floor splitting has started taking longer and longer. The older core was now showing off a truly massive maze of complete darkness.
TheAbyssStaresBack: You¡¯re not a proper dungeon till you¡¯ve made a maze blanketed by a darkness field and watched adventurers fumble around like they are blind. DungeonBuildingTip!
Fated Eternal Design: ... eerie. I like it. Are you interested in becoming my disciple?
TheAbyssStaresBack: You¡¯re about 15 years too early for that lil guy. Love the enthusiasm though. This is my final bragging point.
The stream flipped to a single Cubed monster in a truly massive room.
TheAbyssStaresBack: Look! I got my own cube!
Innearth: ¡­okay?
Abe: No offense m8 but I don¡¯t get it.
TheAbyssStaresBack: ¡­I forgot how new you guys were for a bit. Adventurers are terrified of these things. I think they are afraid of the corners!
TheAbyssStaresBack: This is on my lowest floor and I¡¯ve had 3 groups reach it this far so far. Each have turned around and run as soon as they saw the majestic cube!
Abe: ¡­Is it strong?
TheAbyssStaresBack: Think so? It hasn¡¯t fought anything yet.
Innearth: Don¡¯t you want to send some of your own monsters against it? Test it out by ranking it between things?
TheAbyssStaresBack: Wheres the fun in that! It''s much more fun if I don¡¯t know how strong it is. That¡¯s why so many cores like watching each others streams despite having their own adventurers. They are less able to predict the outcomes and that makes everything much more fun! Having fun is the most important thing!
As the older core finished talking, they closed the stream. Innearth pulled back and thought of the dungeon he had just been exposed to. They had only seen a portion of it, but it had felt like it just kept going and going. ¡­I want that. I want that to be me. I want 100 floors and thousands of adventurers delving me daily! Innearth kept a small portion of his attention on the group chat he had been so excited about and started reviewing his own dungeon instead. I think I should start consolidating floors better. Really make the divisions clearer and start theming them stronger. ¡­I¡¯m sure the Abyss could tell me quite a lot of information, but I don¡¯t want to just mooch off others. I¡¯ll ask if I can¡¯t figure something out myself. That¡¯s a promise to myself. I¡¯m thinking 3 floors per zone and I¡¯ll make some sort of pattern. As Innearth started to try and plan out what he wanted his floors to look like he was distracted by something entering his influence. Several somethings. Focusing near his entrance he found 3 furry, 4 legged creatures wandering into his influence. One of them was quite a bit bigger and after looking closer Innearth found they had tendrils of a strange looking Water mana twisting about them. Adventurers? ¡­No. These are animals. Innearth tried to categorize his first look at a new species. Shifting through definitions and descriptions he finally settled on ¡°Otter¡±. The lead otter looked like it might be a low-level monster considering it had mana. I guess I¡¯ll see how they do? Not quite adventurers, but it will have to work for now! Innearth watched as the trio slowly descended deeper into his bowels. The lead otter kept pushing them to continue; but the two behind it seemed to want to turn around. They kept glancing about as if scared, while the monstrous version ahead of them confidently walked deeper. I haven¡¯t finished sorting out this first area¡­ let''s see. The area between the magma halls and the surface is currently full of a bunch of lesser snakes. Oh and a few monsters that like to wander around. By that he meant a curious water slime that had been making it''s way closer and closer to the surface ever since he broke through; and his ¡°snake king¡± who had stayed in the area since it had fought the weird expanding metallic cockroach. Hey, you¡¯re on boss duty lil buddy. I haven¡¯t shifted around and made new bosses yet, so you¡¯ll have to fill in for the beginner area. Looking up, a single crystal snake nodded, accepting its new position hastily given and returning to its mana practice. The Otters came upon the first lesser snake and immediately one of the normal otters started making a chirping noise. The monstrous one in the lead made a humming noise in return before rushing forwards. The beast seeming to glide through the air before smacking the snake''s spiked head downwards into the ground in one fluid motion. Holding it down with one paw the otter seemed to consider the struggling snake then coming to some sort of decision pushed it away and flowed back to the pair behind it. Circling the smaller otter on the right, the magical beast nudged its side towards the lesser snake. Looking between its larger brethren and the snake that had started to regain its composure the otter seemed panicked. What are they doing? Finally seeming to have accepted its fate, the nudged otter crawled forwards hesitantly. Reaching to the side it picked up a stone and lifted up onto its back paws. Holding a rock above its head as it crept forwards made a sight Innearth found thoroughly amusing. It looks so serious! The otter waited till the lesser snake got within range before throwing its rock downwards with a chittering battle call. Immediately the lesser snake flinched, dodging its clubbing and struck forwards. The snake''s head stabbed the lower thigh of the otter that had so rudely tried to drop a rock on it leading to the otter jumping back with a yelp. In the back, the 2nd normal otter made a move as if to step in seeming worried. Stepping up, the monstrous brethren stopped them. Grabbing their side with a single paw and hissing as they pulled them back. Circling each other the snake and the otter lashed out several times. ¡­are the beginner monsters too hard? This is just a lesser snake, but I mean I did iterate it quite a bit¡­and it has a liquid crystal body instead of a liquid metal body¡­hmmm. I mean, the lesser snakes are a dozen times stronger than the ¡°tutorial slime¡±¡­slimes are just so annoying to make when they are so fragile. I¡¯ll think about it. Maybe I should have a single floor before the 3 beginner floors that¡¯s a ¡°tutorial¡± of sorts. I don¡¯t have enough splits to match that up though. Finally scrambling over and re-picking up its rock, the otter made a mad hissing cry and launched itself forwards onto the snake. As the rock hit the snake''s head it became dazed. Once. Twice. A third smash shattered the spiked casing of the crystal core that made up its head. The small fight between weaker beings was finally over. Immediately the monstrous otter in the rear rushed forward and held the smaller otter in an embrace. Checking its injuries, the monster seemed pleased and turned as if saying ¡°see look I knew they could do it¡± to the otter in the rear. I wonder. Is the monster trying to evolve the other two into monsters as well? Are they friends? That¡¯s my current theory. It seems the most likely. Innearth watched the group descend further and further into his dungeon. They came across half a dozen more "lesser snakes" ¨C each time the magical beast checked their strength and then pushed one of its two companions forward to fight instead. I can¡¯t wait till they reach the ¡°boss¡± of this area. As fun as this is to watch I want to see a stronger fight. I want to see the leader fight for once! Passing the area with the expanding metal caused this party to halt immediately. The magical beast sniffed the metal and then made several humming noises and seemed to warn its companions to stay away from it. It''s inert right now¡­I don¡¯t think you guys have to worry. Still. Smart call, smart call¡­that¡¯s pretty nasty stuff. I should make sure to clear it out of the beginner area before I get more visitors. The otters couldn¡¯t hear the dungeon core chatting away in the background. He quite liked the trio. They had fought well. He didn¡¯t know how to reward otters ¨C but he knew if they beat the snake king he wanted make sure to get them something nice for their effort. I could¡­make weapons for them? They seem to like smashing rocks on things ¨C what if I made a super magical rock for them? Nah. That doesn¡¯t seem like the best of prizes. I¡¯m sure I can come up with something better. Hey, maybe I could try and shove a bunch of mana at them and see if that helps their evolution to level 1? That seems to be their goal for this delve¡­Although they seem awfully smart in comparison to how my description of animals made them out. As Innearth thought about how to reward his animal adventurers the trio finally made it to the room the snake king was practicing in. Immediately sensing the difference, the magical beast flung its two companions backwards and jumped into the room a rushing sound accompanying its charge. As the otter ran, translucent streams of water seemed to materialize in the world around it. Ribbons of greenish blue mana clumping together into an almost solid stream beneath it as it made its attack. Seeming surprised at being attacked so immediately, the snake king accepted the charge in stride. Immediately the boss grew a long upwards bridge of crystal and slid up it ¨C its motion sped up as the bridge continued to grow underneath it. Crashing into the base of the crystal the otter turned as a whole stream of water crashed into the post and spun around it in a whirlpool. The river of water attempted to follow the snake king up its bridge, but the snake was not having that as crystal spikes extended to and from the roof latching its makeshift platform in place. The path behind it broke as soon as it had enough support and the snake turned to face a frustrated otter. Fumbled now that it had lost the initiative the otter growled and came up with a new plan. Circling around into a spout. The rush of water climbed higher and higher as the otter struggled to reach the platform above. Waiting till the otter was roughly halfway towards it, the snake jumped downwards. A spike grew beneath its scaly length as it fell and hit the otter''s outstretched paw ¨C raised last minute in an attempt at blocking the sudden attack. Crashing to the ground the magical beast growled in pain at its pierced arm and shoulder, while the snake king slithered back out of reach and circled around the otter. Instead of fleeing at this point where it was semi-evident the wild monster was outclassed, the otter attacked once more. Weaker streams of water flying forwards with each swipe as the otter attempted to land a hit. Any hit ¨C for the otter hadn¡¯t even gotten close to damaging the snake so far. Dancing around the larger beast on transient bridges, the snake king drove several crystal spikes into the otter and periodically lunged forwards whenever there was an opening. Slowly but surely the fight dragged out before finally, the otter stopped moving. A final weak swipe of its claw before the furry adventurer fell to the ground. Dead. Dashing forwards in a rage one of the onlooking otters ¨C the slightly smaller one ¨C attempted to attack its brethren''s killer. As it charged forward in anger the other made hissing sounds that fell on deaf ears. Unable to stop its ¡°friend¡± the otter glanced around and spotted a lump of the expanding metal it had been warned away from earlier. Lunging forwards it grabbed it with two paws, spinning around on its back and clutching it to its stomach in a ¡°classic otter¡± manner. What is it going to do with that old thing? Innearth wondered before decisively the otter bit down and swallowed the material whole. Oh. I guess that¡¯s what it was going to do¡­wait what? Why? The crystal snake had stabbed the revenge-filled otter''s side and was watching it rush towards it amused. Each attack painfully slow in comparison to the magical otter it had just slain ¨C when suddenly! A large silver hand entered its vision moving at an incredible speed. The otter was partly transformed. A single paw was now the same size as its body and attached to a long flexible arm. Faint whines and pants came from the otter but other than the aforementioned arm and a few strands of fur that had shifted hues from brown to grey it seemed to be sane. Grabbing its comrade, the otter turned and ran. Scampering up through Innearth¡¯s tunnels it carried its only surviving party member up to the surface and disappeared. A dungeon core felt guilty. Not for the reason a human might expect. Innearth didn¡¯t feel guilty the magic beast died ¨C it could have escaped but it got overconfident and tried to show off. Adventurers should know when they are outmatched. Nor even did he feel guilty about the potentially negative transformation the one otter went through to save its comrade ¨C It seemed to know what it was doing¡­and honestly seems better off with it. No Innearth felt guilty because he hadn¡¯t rewarded either of the escaped otters for all their effort up to the boss. I should have given them a magic rock. I hope they don¡¯t hate me¡­ Come again! I¡¯ll have a proper reward for you then! Chapter 36. Nothing brings friends together like experimentation and murder.
ManaCorps ManaNET> ~/System_I&R_Div/ Documents/WelcomeToTheManaNET.sys
WARNING: Due to insufficient clearance, the following document will be partially auto-redacted. Please apply for access to the System Investigation and Research Division Director, Mina ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€.
To: Welcome! If you¡¯re reading this that means you were included in the pilot program for ManaNET and that it indeed works as expected ¨C either that or something went wrong and your blood was submitted to the registry against your knowledge. In that case please direct any complaints to the ManaCorps HR department and ignore the rest of this message. Assuming you are undergoing initiation, you may be asking yourself why or how a popup that looks similar to the system is currently displayed in front of you. ManaCorps has ever since the ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ incident been investigating the system and been attempting to duplicate some of its functionality. For that information I will hand this over to the head of our SIR (System Investigation and Research) Division ¨€¨€¨€! - What is ManaNET? A great question! ManaNET is a result of SIR''s research on the grand ¡°system¡± it tries to ¨€¨€¨€ the ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€. Senior Director Regis A¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¡¯s comment on the DNG-508 incident that the system may be of use in paperwork and data management. Thanks to the cooperation of several ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ a ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ and several long years, a portion of its capabilities have become ours. - What can I use ManaNET for? From now on all of your correspondence with higher or equal in level employees is to be held through ManaNET, and the same is true for all the documentation about your project. Just access the already prepared ¡°folder¡± and copy the current Documentation. - What features does ManaNET have? Our system offers multiple features, the most important being ¡°live chat¡±, ¡°system mail¡± and "¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€". For a full list of features, check the help module. - Are there any limitations? Not much, but the NDA is still here ¨C and the redaction system will handle the information between employees ¨C an example of its use is in this message. But one of the not-yet worked-out issues is that currently, ManaNET has limited coverage ¨C it works in a 100 km radius from any ManaCorps office, and we¡¯re looking for ways to solve this issue. For any other questions, feel free to read the Frequently Asked Questions document. Use the system responsibly and contact us if you find any errors! ManaNET Development Team Leader Magic Technician. T¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€
Excerpt obtained from the mock system currently being made by manacorps. 1985 AS The snake king was quite satisfied with himself. Sadly, winning the fight wasn''t enough to evolve him to level 1 but Innearth could tell he was close. As close as Innearth was to splitting his 8th floor actually. And considering his current plans he needed quite a bit more floor space. Innearth had learned multiple things from his "otter encounter".
  1. Obviously, was that he wasn''t fully prepared to host adventures. He needed loot for them and quickly.
  2. Was that his weaker "lesser snakes" were still difficult for complete beginners. That wasn¡¯t the absolute worst thing, but he wanted to make something closer to a slime in strength so that complete beginners could quickly advance to his beginner area.
  3. Less a specific thing he had learned, but he had watched the otters walk around and their legs were¡­fascinating. He was watching the way their limbs moved and learning a lot.
I¡¯ve started getting slightly annoyed by wheels¡­I tried sending the crazy ball mother up to the beginner area but it got stuck on one of my steepest areas and fell over¡­I prefer a slightly hands off management of my monsters. The magic is really lost if I have to help one by flipping it over.
  1. He wasn¡¯t sure what to make of it, but the silvery metal was more useful than he had thought. The otter had taken it and somehow been transformed to be stronger.
I want to try seeing if I can upgrade my monsters using it. So, add that experimentation to the queue. Currently a plan for his initial dungeon design was forming in his core and he was excited to start design on it. Innearth had also wanted to commemorate the dead otter somehow. He had already used death mana to invert its soul and reanimated the furry creature. It was laughably easy to make a zombie otter. Around 15amu...around the cost of a slime to make a zombie otter that...was probably stronger than a slime. It was definitely weaker than the otter had been. More importantly than how strong it was however was that he made a friend for his death knight. The death zone¡¯s population had been increased by 1. I can''t really tell if they appreciated it, but I think being alone is...boring. ¡­ I''m sure they appreciate it. Anyways I have a plan for 10 floors currently the magma halls are the largest...but they don''t have very many rooms. The previous owner really liked long empty hallways and I think it needs more areas. A close second is the currently unnamed and unthemed area above. Okay going upwards. The crystal caverns are the turtle and snake area. They are currently my most mana dense, but also the most unfocused. The goal is to make it much bigger and use 3 floors. Once I figure out if the void fly is useful or not, I can add a few more of those. They seem to need this mana density to function after all. Default area of the better unique monsters like the Mass of Eternal Crystals. Which reminds me! I need to check on my oven. I need to make a boss for this area. I mean it already has the sand bed but I''m thinking of moving it to between the beginner area and the halls. The sand bed is a re-creatable boss. I think I want to keep my unique monsters further down. Next, I have the magma halls. I have the spider bat pairs, a puzzle room...a budding death zone ¨C Optional mini boss of Death Knight Silver. As I already mentioned it needs more rooms. 3 floors is the goal. I also need a final boss for the zone. Then there is the beginner area. So far, it''s full of lesser snakes and a few normal ones. I want to figure out the crazy ball and turtle mother situation better so I can have them as a main attraction. I really haven¡¯t had the time to figure that out. 3 floors as well. Finally, a tutorial area. I¡¯m thinking 3-4 rooms and a single floor. Bunch of slimes or equivalent and then maybe a ¡°normal¡± snake as a gatekeeper boss to the beginner area. Slightly nerfed from what I have currently ¨C It probably can¡¯t have the healing sack, but I¡¯ll keep its size. Innearth felt good planning his next actions. It might seem simple to inventory and his plans weren¡¯t complicated¡­but it still felt good to list them out. He tried to rank them in terms of importance and then shuffled stuff around a few times. Finally realizing he should be actually working on something instead of just planning he started on the beginner/tutorial area. Okay. I need to expand this area quite a bit more. But¡­I hate expansion. Now that I have void mana, I think I want to try offloading the effort of expansion onto a monster. Innearth didn¡¯t really care about expanding in a unique way. He checked the market for monster schematics to try and find a monster that could solve his problem and instantly came up against a problem. Expensive. So much more expensive. ¡­ Something had happened to the market between ranks. Now cores were selling monsters for much much higher costs and he actually found a few that did what he wanted ¨C ¡°Void Burrowing Wyrm¡± was an example. Sold for 25,000 amu for the monster (It will pay itself off within days! Save endless time and expand using our patented Void Burrower). Its schematic wasn¡¯t even listed on the market. On the schematic side in the ¡°void using expansion aid¡± section was the Boring Drill Golem. Listed for the equivalent of 2,500,000 mana (2.5 megamus) Innearth tried to figure out how much that would take to pay off. That¡¯s my current max pool of 3877¡­645 times¡­it takes 40 minutes to regenerate my full pool. Over 18 days to pay that off? That¡¯s¡­I mean I guess that¡¯s not the absolute worst but really. I can probably make something myself. That¡¯s just throwing my mana away. That schematic also came with a so-called ¡°Patent¡± meaning¡­if you decided to resell it the original creator got 50% of the profit enforced by the system. You also couldn¡¯t trade it for less than 1 million mana and thus couldn¡¯t gift it to your friends for free. This ¡°Patent¡± was enforced by the system somehow. ???? This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Even worse than that relatively normal trade as Innearth continued to review options he found more and more with strange clauses. ¡°Tunnel Creator Z : Rented for 1 week at a time. Only offering to Tier 5 cores and up you must leave a ¡°free camera¡± on it at all times and pay 100x its cost if something unfortunate were to happen to it. No one had told Innearth, yet the store was now able to enforce actions you had to do? No longer was the market enforced by ratings there were now somehow binding contracts with penalties for breaking clauses. ???? Either way, Innearth realized this would take slightly longer than he first thought, so he flipped to checking his mana oven. The material inside had undergone a different sort of synthesis than the material he had used for the mass of eternal crystals. It had seemingly disappeared completely to all but Innearth¡¯s mana sight. Invisible sheets of clear crystals that seemed to shift light that came through them and project the illusion of some crystals further past where they were. The only real problem is that when staring at it in Innearth¡¯s mana sight he found at roughly the same level that rank 2 mana became known he could make out the outline and position of the crystals relatively easily and at rank 3 it was like the crystals weren¡¯t invisible at all. Innearth¡¯s snakes were his most versatile and started out as being an ambush predator so really it was the best schematic to use for this. Using it right away might be slightly wasteful, however.
Innearth: Hey does anyone know if there is an invisibility mana? Or else how to use Illusion mana? I want to make a monster with an Illusion or even better Invisibility core¡­
Fated Eternal Design: Yeah. I can make you one. The Art of Illusions! I¡¯m glad you¡¯ve started to delve into the mystic¡¯s.
Abe: It''s Fire mana shifted to Light mana and then combined with mind mana into a dual material. I¡¯ve been practicing all the offshoots of Fire mana they¡¯ve been giving me a lot of experience. Abe: I could make you one instead if you needed it? Can¡¯t see it being nearly as exciting as an explosion core btw ¨C still haven¡¯t made a stable one of those but I¡¯m close!
Innearth: Why don¡¯t you both send me one? I can offer up crystal cores! That¡¯s an even trade right?
Abe: I love you m8 but what would I do with a crystal core? This doesn¡¯t have to be a trade it''s just a gift. You¡¯re my bud.
Fated Eternal Design: Crystals¡­crystal balls. I¡¯d love a crystal core. I¡¯ll put it on a pedestal and use it to spice up my fate driven room!
¡­ Innearth got two separate ¡°Illusion¡± Cores. One from Abe and one from Bose. They were made out of different materials and while technically he could tell they were a similar mana type, both looked incredibly different. Abe¡¯s core was surprisingly smooth and perfect. Innearth almost expected a lumpy unstable looking core, but it was perfectly smooth and swirled with white light tinged with a rainbow of colours. Bose¡¯s core on the other hand was a perfect cube. All 6 sides had a different symbol etched into them and glowed with fake purpose. Pulling the invisibility/reflection crystals out of the oven Innearth replaced it with an idea for potential loot. Innearth started to build the snake. A circuit ran down its entire length. The Tier 2 coned head, was connected to the Tier 2 illusion core that Abe had sent with a Tier 2 circuit¡­he really didn¡¯t want to waste it. Next there were smaller crystal cores placed in a triangle that split the path. These paths twisted around and then connected to several mind and life cores surrounding Bose¡¯s artistically created Tier 1 core¡­Innearth even spent time and effort making a void core surrounded by layers upon layers of insulation just for an added kick. Finally, after making the crystal muscles and bone structure around this circuit, Innearth started to slice slivers of the unique material off and lay them as scales across the snake. Incredibly thin and fragile-looking, the scales covered the entire creature and even were placed on its spiked head. As they were sliced off, they lost some of their complete invisibility and Innearth was worried he was breaking it somehow but kept at it. Continuing to layer mind numbingly slowly. Finally, he seeded this snake with life and watched it vanish. Vanish completely. Not even Innearth¡¯s mana sight could see where the snake was. Worried the void core had swallowed it, Innearth looked around the whole room trying desperately to find his experimentation. Finally checking a corner, he saw it. Or at least he thought he saw it slithering along because as he watched, it passed through a crystal plant that was growing ¨C instead of going around. Okay, so that¡¯s the projection. I guess it works? That went¡­well this is what I wanted but I didn¡¯t expect it would even be able to hide from me. Hey, can you show yourself to me? Innearth projected out into the room. A faint pause was felt before slowly the projection shimmered and then popped out and reformed on the other side of the room. Turning to look up at him Innearth could feel the smug satisfaction radiating off the invisible snake before it turned and vanished once more. A projection appeared once more and Innearth ended this tangent. ¡­Well the crystal caverns are going to be the advanced area¡­should be fine. Innearth returned to designing a digging monster. Once more taking his greater snake schematic, Innearth used the system controls this time to design his new monster. Growing it larger and larger, Innearth kept shifting things around as its increased size weakened more and more parts. The bone structure was strengthened and extended, the crystal muscles were interwoven with thin crystal bones and the middle was hollowed out into a gaping stomach of sorts. This stomach was lined with void material and then double protected with a wall of insulation. Next, it was connected to its head which was replaced for the first time since Innearth had started making spiked snakes heads. Trying to emulate the demon, Innearth built a maw of void teeth bent inwards towards the stomach cavity. Adding several earth cores, crystal cores and void cores to the digger; Innearth seeded it and printed it into his upper caves. Hey buddy. Your job is to make tunnels okay? I¡¯ll be expanding with you, because sadly I don¡¯t think you can leave my influence, but hopefully you¡¯ll be able to dig plenty okay? Innearth¡¯s Crystal Burrower nodded and then rushed for the wall and attacked it. The Burrower hit the edge of his influence within a few seconds and then flinched back before trying once again. Attempting to suck the earth towards itself was slower ¨C the circuit Innearth had made by throwing stuff together wasn''t as useful this time. Either way partial success. On to the next plan! Innearth already had the next task. The next experiment. The next thing to focus on, queued up. However, like a notification pushing through, the portion of his mind paying attention to the chat forced him away to rejoin and think about what was currently happening in the chat.
Amy: How long has this been happening?
Fated Eternal Design: 4-5 months.
Abe: listen bro. Ignoring this doesn''t change a single thing. I say we crush the core who''s been harassing you. Abe: This isn''t an overreaction it''s the manifestation of karma. You can get behind that right? Sounds suitably "mystical".
Apparently, Bose was being bullied. Endlessly harassed by a core for no real reason other than they could. Bose had started feeling better ever since they advanced to Tier 4 because the system now offered a blocking option. It was only now that he was starting to calm down that he had told them. Every manner of harassment had been made. The bully had recruited friends to help, so every interaction he made with a stranger was suspect. Many Cores had come to him, seemingly normal, with trades that ended badly. Others had left fake negative feedback afterwards, about him being a crook. He had received daily threats and while some of the trades were more physically dangerous, apparently most of the words had hurt worse. Innearth felt strange. First a flash of outrage followed by guilt. He had slightly guessed something like this was happening. He had used the excuse that he was waiting for Bose to confide in him...but he was also just ignoring it and pretending it wasn''t happening. Anger slowly grew. First anger at himself for not pushing it till now. Then that anger was overtaken and squashed by a larger sea of rage directed towards the nameless core that had made his friend''s life hell. No...no I''m not having it. Unfairness has to be punished. This cannot be ignored and swept under the rug. Retribution must be had.
Innearth: I''m with Abe on this one. Let''s crush that pathetic 2 floored excuse for a dungeon into the ground. Innearth: Goal - obliterate the harasser. Make it so he can never touch you again in any way possible. Innearth: Method - discuss!
Fated Eternal Design: you...thank you. You really don''t have to do this you know?
Innearth: counteroffer. You blocked them but they are still getting to you. You''re afraid in every interaction with any stranger - your words not mine. THEY TRIED TO KILL YOU WITH SKETCHY TRADES. I say we burn them to the ground.
Abe: yesss! A sentiment I can throw my support behind. I''m thinking explosions. Lots and lots of explosions.
ZeMadDoctor: ...I think I have a way to pull this off if you''re serious?
Amy: I''m not sure if I approve. But seeing as how I''m outnumbered I''ll help. Tell us your plan Doc.
ZeMadDoctor: Well I''ve been experimenting solely with space and void since I advanced. The most common and dangerous combination. Of these two opposites. Is teleportation. ZeMadDoctor: If I leave the portal open too long. Demons start to break out of it. But that''s not an issue.
That...sounded like an issue to Innearth but sure.
ZeMadDoctor: Basically for this task. I can make an innocent-seeming monster. With a portal as the payload. ZeMadDoctor: The rest of you can send whatever you want through this portal. I''ll close it afterwards. ZeMadDoctor: Simple enough?
Abe: Perfect. I''m going to figure out what the best explosion I can send is.
Innearth: that works. I think we should do more than just "gift a few explosions" though. Innearth: That''s not enough. Innearth: I want them to know it came about through their actions. Bose can you send us one of your monster schematics? Let''s make the core know why they are being invaded.
Fated Eternal Design: Okay...that...that would be nice. I...are you sure? What if there''s backlash from this. What if their friends take over?
Abe: duh. We break them too. No one is allowed to mess with you and get away with it okay? So drop it. Send me something that screams you. I''m ready to throw some bombs in them.
Finally relenting Bose sent everyone a schematic for a "Red Mask" It was slightly similar to the air spirit he had shown Innearth months ago and just before he continued on Innearth stopped to read the attached Lore Description.
Red Masks: Far more powerful than the Wisps, Red Masks are the first floor''s primary defenders. They are the weakest of the masked defenders. Sadly that doesn''t give justice to how hard they are to face. These monsters come in several different varients, the most consistent being ones that fire arrows of wind or slash with wind claws.
Does this mean Bose has started to get adventurers? Lucky bugger. Anyways I think I can work with this.
Innearth: Okay. Got it thanks. I say we hit them in a week. I''ll need some time to modify this into being as dangerous as I can.
Abe: ai ai crew. Abe: This is fun. I''ve never planned a murder before.
Amy: I don''t think you need to go that far Abe. A punishment will be good enough as a warning.
Innearth: This will only work once. We have to make sure we hit them with everything we''ve got. Let''s make this shot count okay?
Amy: Fine. I''ll stop. How does a virus sound? I''ve accidentally made a few that wipe monsters out.
Abe: Now you''re talking! Wipe out the defenders and hit em while their down!
Fated Eternal Design: :)
Chapter 37. FedEx(ecution)
I was once asked by a random village girl on how many types of magic there were in the world. She was small. But had the mage class and was going through all the materials her village held at a voracious rate. She was already trying to figure out what type of mana to pick for her first specialization. I told her there were as many types of magic as there were mana. And then she asked me how many types of mana there are. At first I laughed and mentioned "a dozen or so". I started going over the types I learned as a kid quite confidently. I stated they were: Fire, Ice, Wind, Earth, Lightning, Light, Dark, Kinetic, Life, Death, Mental...but as I kept going my confidence in my answer started to disappear. I remembered, I myself use Wood and Chain mana. How does chain mana fit into this list? Is it an variation of Kinetic? Earth? My confidence in my answer faded part way through giving it. I finished the girl''s lesson by mentioning "and several more specialized ones". Embarrassed by my lack of knowledge I set out to find out just how many types there were. Thus a world opened up showing just how many I had missed. Many I could create in specialized settings and many more I found existed throughout the world. For the tribes of Merkin: Trident, Salt, Drowning Tide, and Deep Abyss mana; were all common types of magic to learn. Their clever use had earned the Merkin tribes a reputation as true warriors, on par with the Orcs. Then for the Dwarves of Mount Everlast: Lasting, Eternal, Lamp, and Snow Forge mana; were what had made them great and powerful. Allowing them to create eternal works of art. So, I narrowed down my mana types to those who had long lasting branches of magic that used them. And, while that eliminated many of the student projects and more amusing spells; even the strangest of Magic''s held traditions that were older and vaster than even the entire elven species. Ultimately, the girl made her decision without my help. Becoming one of humanity''s best Toxic and Decapitation mages ever seen. My time was spent writing this damn paper and travelling the world. It''s how I gained the class [Recorder of Magic] Ultimately. It seems that magic is far vaster than anything the basic peasant can dream to know. And I''m not stupid enough to not count the high mages of each race among those peasants. Our continued focus on the most common types has lead to many standardized spells and great accomplishments. But maybe it''s time we branch out and explore paths of power that we have forbidden from our colleges for too long.
-Archmage Islotepen, an excerpt of his papers, The Magic This College has yet to Gain, arguing for further study and integration of magic and mana not of the main types into the colleges. A half hour or so after Innearth finished coordinating with his friends and he finally started to feel normal. He was still motivated to help Bose, but the level of anger he had reached was unsustainable ¨C it had mostly faded by now. The anger he had felt was weird. Stronger of an emotion than he had ever felt ¨C stronger than he had thought he could feel ¨C it had coursed through his influence like hot soup. A Core had tried to kill him once, but it had only resulted in him being annoyed at the time. In the end, he felt like thanking Zoi for the material and life lesson rather than feeling animosity ¨C the annoyance couldn¡¯t even be placed on the same level as his anger this time. Every time he thought of someone trying to kill his friend ¨C every time he thought of losing him ¨C Innearth felt like breaking something. He had started up a full-blown war between the snakes and the spiders to try and distract himself ¨C instead of the small battles and cold war they had been in ¨C but it hadn¡¯t helped. No, as entertaining as watching his monsters fight each other was, the distraction was just a waste of time. By thinking about Zoi, Innearth was considering how best to use their gift. How best should I use this? Innearth pondered while slowly picking up and moving an inert chunk of expanding metal flesh around. I want to fill their whole dungeon. But I don''t know if that will be enough. Is there something I can do with its "improvement" capabilities? Is there some way to control it? Innearth designed several experiments where he made nearly every kind of monster he had available. Each time, with a fragile container containing various sized chunks of the material that could kick start the mutation. None of them worked how he had hoped sadly ¨C a few seemed close, but all eventually spiralled into madness. Not that madness as a bomb is the worst! Especially if I can figure out how to corrupt the Core itself. But just making madness-based monsters doesn¡¯t seem as effective. Even though they are much stronger after being corrupted, they¡¯ve lost all critical thinking skills and most of their useful instincts. Innearth tried to figure out why and how the otter had stopped part way through its corruption. Is it because it was a natural creature? Or maybe because it was not yet a monster? Both those theories were refuted one day. A single bird had flown into his influence and he had offered it a small chunk of metal flesh to see how it reacted. Not well. Not well is how it reacted. It had gone much the same route as his monsters ¨C with the bird turning into a screaming, twisted, pumping¡­mess of a monster ¨C before being brought down by the snake king. As straightforward as that cleanup had been, it was enough to ascend the snake to level 1. And as busy as Innearth was, this event had been big enough for him to briefly stop everything just to focus on it. Congratulations! You should explore outside my entrance. Tell me where we are! Tell me what I have to look out for and if there¡¯s anything important you can see. Oh, and have some fun! You¡¯ve earned it. The snake bobbed several times in agreement and then slithered out into the unknown. A brave scout leaving Innearths dungeon for the second time. ¡­Too many distractions constantly. What was I doing again? Let¡¯s see. My current theory is that the flesh is controlled by willpower. Somehow the otter had been so focused it was able to halt its corruption? ...that didn''t help Innearth at all. He didn¡¯t know how mentally strong most of his monsters were and he didn¡¯t want to use his newfound level 1 monster as a guinea pig. Something had flipped as soon as they evolved, and Innearth no longer considered them as expendable. ¡­ Finally, a breakthrough came through. It wasn¡¯t an instantaneous eureka moment, but a series of tangents that slowly built upon each other accumulating into...something. First, Innearth started looking at the offshoots of Earth mana he had ignored. Specifically Metal mana. Not being able to control the flesh-metal himself he wondered if he could make a monster who could. Metal mana ¨C despite being made in a similar way to Crystal mana and using Innearth¡¯s Earth affinity ¨C was a chore to emulate. Innearth brought a bar of iron out of his inventory and then left to soak in environmental mana for a while. After a significant amount of time had passed, Innearth was able to filter the ¡°matte silver mana¡± that flickered through it out as ¡°Metal mana¡±. A few hours after that, and he was able to consistently make use of it in his monsters. ¡­ Cut forwards another day and Innearth had made several metal-cored monsters. Some seemed slightly better able to control the expansion when infected, but none were able to halt it. ¡­ Finally the cumulation of this tangent, Innearth created a monster with a truly massive circuit of dozens of small cores ¨C metal connected to life, kinetic and void and twisted into a helix of connections. The monster itself was designed around the schematic that Bose had sent. Not quite a match ¨C but close enough ¨C Innearth¡¯s version was completely solid and only vaguely had the same shape. The mask was mostly the same, as was a ruffling cloak; but Innearth could not be bothered to figure out the Air mess that Bose used¡­Instead, it was a solid bulky cylinder, hidden inside the cloak. The whole pillar monster was controlled with a set of wheels and kinetic mechanisms. I wish we could watch a stream of the attack¡­But the harasser is the same level as Bose and it would be next to impossible to trick them into filming it if they were a higher tier¡­I¡¯ll have to be satisfied with this! This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. This was not a monster that corrupted itself, it was one that could slightly control the expanding material it was being sent with. Sadly the ¡°control¡± was limited ¨C the hooded figures could influence the material into growing in certain directions. they could also somehow stop the material from moving, with a crust of sorts that would grow and stop its expansion¡­but time was up and Innearth had to accept what he had so far. They were executing the plan now.
Innearth: So how are we sending stuff through this portal?
ZeMadDoctor: You¡¯ll have to send me everything. Everything you want me to shove through it. I¡¯ve prepared a containment room. I¡¯m going to push everything through a hole.
Amy: Okay¡­Be very very careful with this. I wouldn¡¯t want you to infect your own dungeon¡­I¡¯ve done so multiple times now and it''s really difficult to scrub out of the walls!
Innearth: Before we start getting ready to send stuff through ¨C Doc have you gifted the harasser the payload? Have you figured out how to send it in an innocent manner?
ZeMadDoctor: I¡­have not managed no. Should I just send a message saying. ¡°Here I have a present for you¡±?
Innearth: No! I think¡­I think it would be for the best if someone else sent the initial present. I could?
Abe: Hey guys! I¡¯m ready. I¡¯ve figured out how to set up chained explosions ¨C this monster explodes¡­then regathers itself and explodes again. Rinse repeat! It''s nearly endless¡­okay it''s actually something like 10% chance of not recovering from the explosion? Either way, it will chain several times before it fails!
Fated Eternal Design: I think Abe should gift them. He¡¯s the most sociable and least suspicious sounding. Ace should¡­Ace will probably accept if it''s Abe sending it.
Innearth: ¡°Least suspicious sounding¡±. Wow Abe. That¡¯s a raving review given by Bose huh...
Abe: Yeah m8 that¡¯s fine. Doc. Hit me up with this trapped monster. Does this ¡°Ace¡± character sell stuff on the market? I¡¯m going buy something from them and then act like I¡¯m so impressed and thankful. I want them to critique my own creation.
ZeMadDoctor: Okay, Here. One sec.
¡­ Innearth started sending his prepared monsters to Doc. He had only had enough time to make 4 of the ¡°Controllers¡± and they were set up in pairs. Two were holding a chunk of silver (for maximum speed starting the reaction) and two were holding the expansion material. ¡­
Abe: They Bought it! Stupid core¡­I didn¡¯t actually think that would work.
Innearth: I thought you were confident? You had a whole plan.
Abe: Yep. Still winged it. What can I say. "Ace" is not number one when it comes to intelligence. Or maybe I''m just number one when it comes to charm!
Amy: So we send my monsters through first. Wait till they are far enough into the dungeon and then Abe can send his explosions through?. Hopefully the explosions will help spread my viruses and Abe¡¯s stuff will break some of the hostile dungeon¡¯s halls and traps and stuff. Innearth can be sent through last? How does that sound?
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­I¡¯m sending stuff through as well. I¡¯m not just providing the access. I¡¯ll send a Higher Tiered demon or two. Innearth what is what you¡¯re sending going to do?
Innearth: ¡­expand a bunch? Plug their whole dungeon up.
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­that works. You know getting sufficiently plugged up is enough to kill a core?
Innearth: That¡¯s the goal! I never really looked into it that much ¨C how does that work?
ZeMadDoctor: Pretend the open areas of a dungeon are¡­like one of your circuits I guess. If they are currently large enough for a Tier 4 dungeon. Then get completely full. They will drop down to enough for a tier 1 dungeon. ZeMadDoctor: That size isn¡¯t enough to host a Tier 4 dungeon soul and the dungeon will suffocate. And waste away. ZeMadDoctor: Same thing would happen if somehow you lost your current mana regeneration. We consume mana to survive. You don¡¯t notice ¨C it''s less than your regeneration ¨C if it was less you would start eating from your pool. Reach zero like that and you die. Okay, Shoving Amy¡¯s monsters through. I¡¯ll follow the order correctly after that okay?
Amy: Be careful. Make sure they don¡¯t shove anything through in the other direction! I wouldn¡¯t want you to get hurt.
Fated Eternal Design: I just want this to be over.
Abe: Doc I think your demons might affect my explosions¡­They also might disable Innearth¡¯s present! Can you hold off on them? I¡¯ve been thinking and I¡¯m pretty sure they would ruin everything.
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­Okay. Fine. Abe¡¯s monsters are being sent now.
Abe: Lol! They just noticed Amy¡¯s monsters and asked what was happening. You don¡¯t have much time left. Send Innearth¡¯s group and then close the connection! I¡¯m going to send a ¡°Get Crushed¡± message as soon as you do.
ZeMadDoctor: Getting rushed but okay. Innearth¡¯s sent as well. ¡­ ZeMadDoctor: I think everything made it through? A bit of Abe''s explosion clipped my portal as it closed. But it seems fine. Now we just have to wait and see if it worked.
Abe: Man. This core has quite a vocabulary. I''m learning so many new swears! Good riddance. ¡­ Abe: They''ve stopped. Hey bose? I think you good now.
Amy: How are you feeling?
Fated Eternal Design: ...good. ¡­ Fated Eternal Design: Ah yes. My fate is full. My mark upon this blessed world has been strengthened. My conviction renewed. My re creation of the Dungeon that always was must resume! My halls shall become legendary as they were destined to be!
Innearth was glad Bose was feeling better. He couldn''t pay that much attention however. A sole box that floated in the center of his consciousness and took up all his attention.
Warning system: Through system analysis, your direct actions have been linked to the release of a tier 5 environmental threat. Through backchecking, fault has been removed and the release deemed an accident.
No actions required. No negative title given. Minor culprit tag given.
A second flavoured notification appeared shortly after.
Title Gained. Silver Menace Quest | Culprit
Description Accidentally unleashed the Silver menace upon the world.
Duration 1 year or completion of quest.
Effects. Shows quest participants your fault. Raises your suspicion multiplier while applied.
Innearth felt cold. His preparations hadn''t been enough and once again it felt like the system was spying on him. Watching his every move and judging his actions. I guess...I guess the hoods I sent couldn''t control the spread of the silver flesh¡­I wonder if I sent the flesh without those hoods if it would have given me a "negative tag" whatever that means...
Innearth: Hey guys. Has anyone gotten a system message?
Abe: Nope
Amy: No I haven''t.
Doc: no.
Fated Eternal Design: negative my comrade.
Innearth: okay...just wondering.
Abe: Did you get a message?
Innearth: just a small one. not important.
...okay. So that''s a new title. It says it isn''t negative but I don¡¯t really know¡­culprit. That sounds pretty negative to me. Can adventurers see it when they come? They should be here soon...it will be embarrassing if they can. As Innearth sat there wondering what effect his new title had, it suddenly blipped out without a word as quickly as it had appeared. Does...does that mean it was taken care of? That''s suspiciously fast. I''m not complaining but was it even a problem if it got taken care of that quickly? ...Well, I think I want to move the only bits of this flesh lower down in my dungeon just in case. Innearth pulled every scrap of metal flesh deep into his crystal caverns and tried to return to a sense of normalcy while he waited for all his ongoing projects to bear fruit. A sense of normalcy for Innearth meant improving his monsters. First off, he went through the work to emulate stone and dirt mana to complete his ¡°Earth main offshoots¡± group. A bunch of the materials that Dirt mana made were¡­okay but its real shine started to appear once he started combining it with other mana types. Dirt and Water manas made Mud mana, and if he hadn¡¯t gone all over crystal muscles it would be one of the best flesh type materials he had made so far. When you considered the liquid crystal muscles and bodies needed multiple crystal cores just to function and mud flesh needed none it was even better. Dirt and Life kickstarted lots and lots of plants. It wasn¡¯t a standard plant that was created, simply a material that seemed to nearly spontaneously start growing plants. Stone mana made materials similar in many ways to Earth mana. However, as soon as he started making cores out of it, its true purpose started to show. Monsters that had Stone cores could affect stone hundreds of times more efficiently than Earth mana could¡­Innearth made snakes that swam through the walls and called them worms. He upgraded his burrower into one that had stone cores as well as a metal/dirt/crystal group just for completion''s sake and it no longer faltered at the edge of his influence while it dug. Now it pulled the surroundings towards it, stone seeming to melt and flow like water as it slurped a tunnel into its void gullet. Innearth¡¯s expansion was increasing by a huge multiple and he soon upgraded to having 3 burrowers simultaneously working with several sections of his mind constantly focused on keeping up with them. Speaking of void, Innearth improved his trapdoor spiders immensely by making a similar stomach of void. As well as dropping several of its random damage sources to double down on its void capabilities. They now seemed to pull prey into the abyss, for anything that was grabbed and ¡°eaten¡± never escaped. ... Time passed while Innearth waited and he received several updates from his scout. He couldn¡¯t really talk to him normally, but Innearth figured out a cheating sort of way of communication. First, he made a plate of mental mana and connected it to a second plate with a slime situated on it. As soon as the ¡°Snake King¡± ¨C now renamed to ¡°Snake Scout¡± ¨C stepped on it, his thoughts would rush through the air and mingle with the slime (who had very very little to think about). Innearth could grab and hijack that mental mana connection and read the snake''s surface thoughts and then speak normally back to him. Through this convoluted method of providing updates, Innearth learned where he was situated. Halfway up a mountain surrounded by even more mountains, Innearth was facing a valley. A valley that contained several rivers and a medium sized lake at its bottom. There were several animals that lived in this valley: frogs, rabbits, natural snakes, otters obviously, several birds, wolves, and the most dangerous at least one bear. Of those animals, several had monsterized variants. A pack of black wolves had slipped into the shadows while the Snake Scout had watched and seemed to travel through those shadows disappearing and reappearing dozens of meters away. A giant frog sat in the center of the lake, surrounded by a thick cloud of miasma ¨C poisonous green mist, causing anything that grew near to slime over and die. A long legged creature with dozens of bones sticking out of it like a porcupine wandered around and shot quills of decay. A blood bird was found eating a bear, its small size made up for in pure ferocity as it dug through the corpse and finally the alpha predator of this valley was a hulking otter covered in silver armour and wielding a sword of pure light in its extendable arm. ¡­That was the closest the scout had gotten to death since it evolved, for the metal otter seemed to recognize him as the killer of her friend and roared with fury as soon as she saw him. It had taken everything the Scout had to evade and he steered clear of them from this point on. Sadly, with all the surroundings, Innearth¡¯s scout couldn¡¯t find a single sapient creature. No adventurers walked by and no signs of a city ¨C or even civilization ¨C met with his exploration. ¡­The adventurers will come soon. I hope. Innearth waited. ... Chapter 38. An a-maze-ing chapter.
Confession. I hate humans. They think the world revolves around them and never realize how their actions affect others. They cut down perfectly good livable forests to make ¡°towns¡± of dead trees and think everyone loves them. Did you know they claim there are 7 continents just because only 7 of the 15 have humans on them?! The others are ¡°just islands¡±???? Muerk is bigger than the entire Mur continent you daft logger. The worst thing about humans however, is that they have the gall to call their system given skills ¡°magic¡±. They claim to be mages when they need a system prosthetic just to cast the smallest of spells! Do you realize how annoying it is spending days crafting a perfect 12 x 8 x 12 x 4 x 12 harmony in a dead language then practicing your chanting for hours on end only to be compared to some hack with [Chanting] who yells nonsense, claims its ¡°also a dead language¡±, and gets a similar results? I want to rip the tongue out of every human who claims to have ¡°Invented¡± a spell. ¡°Yeah it came to me in the shower and I just had to test it out. I call it [Scratch my back with mana because my stupid stubby arms can¡¯t reach back there] or something. No. No you haven¡¯t invented a spell you useless excuse for a sapient. You¡¯ve gotten a participation prize from the system. You were so useless of a species the system had to step in and hold your hand and [chanting] is a joke and [mana manipulation] is a joke and if I hear even a whisper of a human ¡°mage¡± claiming to be an ¡°expert¡± at magic I will consult the ancestral text and turn myself into a tree or so help me...
Proclamation made by the Dark elf Alsphern. A friend of the people, as long as those people aren¡¯t ¡°blighted humans¡±. Innearth spent a month working on several concepts simultaneously. He worked hard while almost competing with the effort his scout was putting in. The snake scout''s initial level was quite a bit lower than its actual strength so the initial few levels and ranks didn''t seem to do a lot but it worked tirelessly fighting wild monsters and returning to rest in the crystal caverns every few days. At level 2 the scout had a rank evolution and evolved a small mouth below its spike which it used like a shark to rip apart and consume monster flesh. (From what Innearth could gather through their updates the monster evolution system had rank evolutions that happened at double the previous one and had a second bonus for consuming "biomass" which could be used together to mutate and evolve further. The snake''s crystal bridge magic evolved at level 4 into having more supports and being able to "hang" in the air and at level 8 it evolved once more into a crystal tunnel that protected the snake while it slithered through the sky. Every rank up so far doubled the snake''s length while maintaining the same diameter and Innearth thought the scout was starting to look silly with how long it was getting. The first concept that Innearth was working on himself was creating permanently shrunk rooms ¨C incredibly easy to do in all directions but not very useful. For this ¡°Simple¡± generic case, all he had to do was start to create void and then hold it in its ¡°shrunk¡± halfway position for several minutes until it stabilized. This worked better if he built the void into a ¡°space¡±. In this case, a space was represented by a room or hallway. The boundary of the ¡°area being shrunk¡± the walls, floor and ceiling. Theoretically, they didn¡¯t matter ¨C he could shrink an arbitrary section of air in the middle of a room. Theoretically, he could shrink something overlapping multiple rooms and shrink a section of material in the middle of another material¡­but doing so was unstable. Practically he needed that visible boundary to make a stable position. Most of the ¡°arbitrary¡± location experiments he made, drifted in random directions at various speeds and then broke apart. It doesn¡¯t make sense. Nothing is pushing on them? Why won''t they stay still? Why do they break after getting pushed around? Is there something special about an area like this? Does the mana need a room or is it a mental block and I need that room to focus on? Innearth made various experiments trying to figure out the answer and ended up with more questions than before. He could ¡°Draw¡± a box or circle on the ground with crystal or similar and shrink the area in that marked-off area, with better results than blank areas. The stronger a contrast between the shrunk area and the unshrunk area he made the stronger a connection. A 2d shape on the ground was worse than a hollow 3-dimensional area and didn¡¯t scale as well to larger sizes. The area also broke apart if he tried to cover or break the shape he had drawn, to often violent results. A few random areas were given these ¡°void bombs¡± as a trap, where scuffing the fragile line holding it together would revert the whole area, rapidly expanding and exploding anything stuck inside. These shrunk rooms were good practice, but functionally useless. They had a few beneficial effects ¨C one being while shrunk the inside was much stronger. Pushing on the inside of a 1x1m box that was 10x10 on the outside spread the inwards force across a larger surface area. If Innearth also enhanced the walls before they were shrunk he could make the room a cage even stronger than before¡­but it wasn¡¯t worth the time and effort to continue. Another beneficial effect was that by shrinking the space an area was slightly isolated from the outside. The higher a compression ratio the higher this ¡°isolation¡± effect was, with sound, heat, etc getting lost while crossing the ¡°barrier¡± that marked the edge of the shrunk room. Either way, Innearth could make strong boxes with Earth mana and could use a combination of other materials to try and isolate an area. The waste of space didn¡¯t seem worth it for now, even considering Innearth had plenty of space to expand into in all directions. He did spend some time trying to shrink a room inside a room but couldn''t manage it in a stable manner - the stronger shrunk room ate the other and normalized the shrinking level between the two (each shrunk zone really didn''t like having a variable shrinking effect). He also spent time figuring out how to predict the effect of fast-moving items entering and exiting the "shrinking" barrier. It could be summed up as speed was gained heading inwards and lost heading outwards. Both at a perpendicular angle to the barrier. What that meant was tossing a ball at at shrunk cube at a angle would result in the ball speeding up as soon as it entered the shrunk room and heading nearly straight across it before exiting at the same original speed and angle on the other side. All that practice was just to set him up for completing a concept he had started earlier. Creating hallways that were shrunk on one axis. The exact method of doing so was completely finesse with void mana. There was no secret method or tips and tricks he could use to achieve this result ¨C just control. Innearth started off by adding snake ways everywhere and attempting to make them smaller in one direction to speed up travel. Each tunnel was made bigger than needed to offset the inevitable shrinking that happened to the tunnel¡¯s diameter. Innearth also worked to shrink his dungeon veins to varying results and designed several ¡°pointless¡± experiments to increase his control. An example of one of these experiments was a squished doughnut track with one side shrunk. Dropping a ball down the ¡°normal¡± side would build up more than enough momentum to fly up the shrunk side and past its starting point with speed. The track sent the ball careening around endlessly. He could obviously have designed a kinetic system to keep something spinning forever instead of using Void mana but that wasn¡¯t the point. The point was applying his shrinking properties in different ways to improve his control. I¡¯ve started getting really good at making ¡°straight lengths of hallway¡± shorter, but getting bent sections is still annoyingly out of my reach. Looking through the guides it''s possible, but well beyond my current control. The best I can do is chaining several thin straight paths at slight angles together and hoping it looks fine. Innearth''s top few floors had expanded out to cover nearly a square kilometer and he had gained another floor after switching to using burrowers. This top zone was not very linear. He had started weaving random shortcuts about it, with dozens upon dozens of paths to travel through and a second entrance partway around the valley. Each floor had several archways indicating a floor shift and each floor shift increased ambient mana by 11.11% after settling. Innearth currently had 9 floors and his deepest floor was 2.6x the concentration at the surface. As far as I know, quite a few adventurers will be sticking to the beginner area and I want to make sure they are spread out enough. He had taken to drawing valid paths through the area in a black mouldable crystal, close in colour and texture to the obsidian used in the halls below. The paths were all 100% valid but not necessarily optimal ¨C they meandered about and Innearth left rooms off the path that would eventually contain prizes. I want to reward adventurers who explore and head off the beaten path. They are probably more interesting to watch! Speaking of prizes, partway through this month his mana oven had finished cooking his attempt at loot. After focusing on it after its creation the system seemed confused for a second then started helpfully showing its information.
Crystal shortsword. [Tier 2 weapon]
Description: Crafted by a dungeon. Contains a solid core melded in an advanced way to a sharp crystal exterior. Fragile.*
Slashing damage 1-250. Durability 88/0.
Innearth was slightly disappointed in the result. To make this sword he had first made an iron+Earth mana rod that was both a handle and a core of sorts for strength. Afterwards he had surrounded the whole end of it in basalt and shoved it in the oven. The idea was that the basalt would mutate into some awesome unique crystal material while the Earth mana handle would resist the higher mana level and stay solid. He got what he wanted. A crystal outside and solid handle...the problem was the result was underwhelming. He could edit the description somewhat but not the name ¨C shortsword? This "crystal shortsword" seemed pretty large. What part of it is "short?" Just because it''s not a greatsword? Why can I edit the description but not the name! There was also the durability. 88/0 ...I''m 90% sure that means it can''t be repaired¡­ Finally, there was the ¡°tier¡±. Innearth created a tier 2 (short)sword by making a thin steel plant of sword mana and sticking it on a stubby earth mana handle.
Butcher''s shortsword. [Tier 2 weapon]
Description: A mad Butcher used this cleaver for years to chop meat. After years of drudgery, he shifted to using it on monsters.
Slashing damage 1-200. Durability 50/50.
That "low effort" weapon cost him some raw material he had around, 400 mana and roughly 5 minutes of time (plus 5 more minutes of writing something different in the description). Similarly, with a bit more time and effort, he created a tier 3 weapon.
Magma Mace. [Tier 3 weapon]
Description: A rod of burning death which with to beat your way through life. Don''t let the magma core leak liquid or you''ll ruin the carpet!
Burning damage 50-190, Bludgening damage 50-115. Durability 100/70.
This mace was made with a core of uncooling magma and surrounded by spikes of fire metal that dragged the heat to their tips. The whole spiked mace was insulated with "Metal mana metal" and contained a mix of gravity/lightening and kinetic momentum increasing materials to make it easier to use and hit harder. This was also "dead easy" to make ¨C about as hard as one of the magma spiders legs. Comparing these weapons to the "crystal shortsword" which took 4 weeks of time, an indeterminate amount of mana and took up nearly all the space in his oven. It was clear which one was a waste of effort. I don¡¯t have any more strong null stone and it''s hard to make more ovens¡­I could cannibalize my panic door? But the door makes me feel safe¡­I want to leave it. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Innearth was mostly using a combination of Pure and Crystal mana to increase the environmental mana in the oven to roughly 100x the surrounding areas in his dungeon. The point of the null stone was to make sure the container wouldn''t mess with whatever he was "cooking" in it. He had actually attempted to make a crystal walled oven¡­ I mean crystal mana surrounded by more crystal mana? Seems like it would work. The problem was efficiency. Mana...wasn''t fully blocked by matter at all. It was blocked by more mana. To make a lid that wouldn''t leak Innearth had to make a material that was at least as dense or "concentrated" with mana. To make a material that concentrated needed something close to a tier 7 core. To make that tier 7 core worth of density Innearth needed 7 layers of decreasing mana in a gradient ¨C each leaking faster and faster the denser he made them. Each layer needed to be a certain thickness and making a reasonably large area took a lot of Innearth¡¯s mana...and then the larger oven didn¡¯t even work as well. The crystal walled oven made materials that melded and stuck to the walls and lid of the oven. It also resulted in less ¡°interesting¡± unique materials on average. Innearth could have made a boss or two using a tier 6 core and it would have been a better use of his time. That being said. After a longer and longer time had passed without adventurers. Higher mana experiments were less¡­wasteful. Over weeks of time it was almost like Innearth had infinite mana to play with and play he did. He no longer needed to check how much mana he was using ¨C it was still in his status in the ¡°AMU¡± format along with several new stats he had added ¨C his age, his depth below his entrance, the number of floors he had. But none of them were checked for anything other than review.
Innearth
Level 42 1203/2236 exp to next level.
System Access Level 4 1/2 requirements met to advance.
-1+ Ascended Monster ?
-Level 48+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 52.10 personal unit / min
Mana concentration 2.52 AMU / personal unit
Mana Storage 5643.38/5643.38 AMU
Physical Storage 60% Capacity
Age 435 days 1 years
Distance underground 220 meters
Number of floors 9 floors
Titles.
Earth Mana Specialization, Crystal Mana Specialization, Void mana Specialization.
Either way, using the ¡°original oven¡± Innearth placed a chunk of silver flesh into it and closed the lid. It¡¯s going to take a long time but¡­if there¡¯s even a slight chance I can make a material out of this that has fewer negative traits then it is worth it. It¡¯s incredibly magical already so I¡¯m not looking forward to the wait but¡­it feels like the best use of my oven. Better than adding basalt repeatedly anyways. The shoddy second oven can be delegated to ¡°random material creation duty¡±. Should I try mixing more types of mana into this?¡­ ¡­ While Innearth experimented, all his friends had long since started getting adventures. One by one by one, each started a conversation about it.
Abe: Broooooo. Got me one! This green scaly bugger with a weird fan thing explored my first 6 floors! I wish you could have seen their face the first time a blast slug detonated in their face. Abe: Soot. Everywhere. Abe: Their face was comically black and their vest broke but they healed right up after chugging a potion.
Amy: Congrats! What sort of loot do you have? Anything more you want to say about their face?
Abe: Well I''m using the system loot system obviously. My contributions were various blast rods however. Nice disposable bombs. Everyone likes bombs!
¡­
Fated Eternal Design: I have my first convert. An allocated came to my abode to be reborn. They completed their pilgrimage and now have erected a proper shrine to the endless.
Innearth: That did not happen. I believe you got an adventurer¡­ but I can''t believe they started a religion about you. Innearth: That makes zero sense.
Fated Eternal Design: Believe what you will young apprentice. Someday you''ll learn the truth.
¡­
ZeMadDoctor: Adventurers make great test subjects. Renovating my dungeon now.
Innearth: Congrats¡­
ZeMadDoctor: Bah. You''ll be soon. Don''t worry.
Innearth: I hope.
I really do hope it''s soon¡­ The next biggest time sink of Innearth¡¯s was his maze. With all his idle time Innearth started designing a maze situated between floor 4 and 5 (at the intersection between zones). It was a huge undertaking and Innearth put days and days of work into designing the maze akin to a puzzle ¨C this wasn¡¯t just a series of confusing hallways no this was a proper labyrinth. For one, Innearth made frequent use of a multitude of gravity materials. Hallways were completely encased in an insulating ¡°no direction gravity material¡± made from mercury. This mercury material was relatively expensive over the distances he was working at and Innearth felt pained at the waste of mana. He even went off on a several day tangent where he tried to figure out a mercury mana material in an attempt at multiplying his material. It''s an offshoot of metal mana obviously. How do I reach it? Why can¡¯t I reach it? Is it just because I didn¡¯t choose metal mana as my affinity? That sucks. Whichever dungeon won the ¡°mercury¡± affinity is probably filthy rich. Either way, Expensive materials aside Innearth designed completely gravity insulated hallways which blocked natural gravity by a huge factor. Roughly 11% of its regular state was the first step (dropping it more was doable but costly). After reducing natural interferences Innearth lovingly crafted ¡°normal¡± gravity plates. Tweaked again and again. Angled at the perfect angle to offset the rest of the natural mana and distributed evenly over the hallways to reduce suspicion. Dropping items to calibrate, sending monsters through to ask them how it felt. These hallways had to be perfect. The glorious result made Innearth positively giddy with pride. The artificial gravity led to hallways that twisted and felt like you were heading downwards to a deeper floor while actually leading you back to your starting point. Hallways that felt like you were heading upwards on stairs but were slanted towards the exit with ¡°upward stairs¡± that went down. Just in case no one figured it out and didn¡¯t appreciate the sheer amount of work Innearth had put into this there were a few large rooms with different paths that entered and exited on the ceiling, walls, and floor. An adventuring party that kept at it would eventually start to notice the point they had been previously far above on their apparent ceiling. These rooms were slightly broken by anything that could fly and Innearth tried to discourage people from taking shortcuts with spike launchers... but really the focus was just on how excited by his creation he was. Beside the ¡°gravity¡± paths, Innearth dotted the maze with shrinking hallways artfully. A few areas were specifically made into a non-Euclidian mess, where one turned right 4 times and ended up in a ¡°new¡± hallway. Paths were designed so that you could swear you were intersecting places you were previously. I wonder if I¡¯m making this too hard?...eh it''s fine. I can start giving hints until adventurers start making it through. It''s too much fun not to. I can¡¯t wait to see how confused people are. After a good portion of the maze was finalized Innearth asked TheAbyssStaresBack how to make darkness mana. He didn¡¯t want to copy the blanket of darkness the older core used for his own maze completely. He just wanted to reduce visibility slightly ¨C a lot of his special illusions broke when one could see far away.
TheAbyssStaresBack: Hey! You''ve come to the right place lil guy. Still no adventurers? That sucks but hang in there. You''ll get there someday. Anyways... Darkness mana is incredibly easy for me to make, but might give you some trouble. You sure you want to learn? I could sell you some darkness emitting materials if you want?
Innearth: no I want to try making it myself first. It''s already taking a lot out of me to ask you¡­
TheAbyssStaresBack: Kind of weird lil guy. It''s fine though! One Darkness mana lesson coming right up. First off, Fire has to be shifted to Light mana. I have a Fire affinity so it''s easier for me, but that doesn''t mean you will find it impossible. Either way, this is the step that might make you fail. Making mana types you don¡¯t have the adjacent affinities for, is incredibly difficult. TheAbyssStaresBack: If you do manage that step, the next should be easy enough with your Void affinity. All you have to do is combine Light with Void to create a mana that consumes light. That''s Darkness mana. Making Ice mana by combining Fire and Void is slightly easier so I suggest you focus on that first. TheAbyssStaresBack: Ice is a tier 2 mana while Darkness is a tier 3. Both are lower than the Tier 4 Void mana but higher than the Tier 1 and 2 Fire and Light. Just a little piece of trivia. TheAbyssStaresBack: Another neat fact is Darkness works really well with Death mana surprisingly. Even though the mana types are far apart, the undead thrive in total darkness. TheAbyssStaresBack: If you are serious about trying to make it, you should first make Light sources with Fire mana. Focus on using the Fire mana just to light up a room. TheAbyssStaresBack: Next study the lights you have made and try again using the flavour it looks like now. Repeat that several times and you should be able to make a mana material that gives off light but no heat. That''s light mana. I managed it in 3 iterations. Without a Fire affinity, it''s definitely going take you more than that and again I want to stress it might be impossible. It can¡¯t hurt to try but don¡¯t get too sad if you can¡¯t I¡¯m always here to make some cheap materials for you instead.
Innearth: thank you. I really do appreciate it. The lesson and the extra details.
Abe: don''t mind me. Just taking notes over in the corner dododooo.
Innearth took little time to think over his free lesson and prepare himself. Abyss is a pretty chill dude all things considered? He keeps mentioning to treat it like he isn¡¯t there and then goes above and beyond. He really has become apart of our group. Okay. Let¡¯s try this out. Innearth made fire crystals and placed them in alcoves or grew prisms of crystal and then topped them with fire crystals to make crystal torches. He was using the free crystals instead of pure fire because this combination gave off more light and less heat already. It was also something he was meaning to do, and he worked on bringing light to his whole dungeon. Abyss was right. 3. 10. 20, 100 torches didn''t cut it. But there was marked consistent improvement and Innearth didn''t give up. Finally, at nearly 600 torches ¨C enough to light up his whole beginner area ¨C Innearth made one that was completely heatless. Innearth studied this torch for hours. Getting a feel for the flavor of mana he had created and trying to capture what he had been thinking of while making it. Then, slowly remaking the mana type he held it beside the light and continued to alter it slightly until it felt right. Into a torch you go~ Innearth muttered while repeating his earlier actions using Light and Crystal mana. Immediately there was a huge change in the result. Instead of copying the best version again like he had been expecting, combining light and crystal mana created a material that shone with pure brilliance. A crystal that shot beams of light out of every single imperfection, as if it were trying to contain the sun itself while the sun threatened to escape through every hairline crack and fracture it could do so. ...this isn¡¯t useable as a torch. It''s much too bright and its beams of light are too uneven and focused on tiny points. It might have a use but not in this way so I¡¯m going put it aside. The hallway Innearth had placed this crystal now had a disco ball worth of dots sprinkling it and the mana that was released was different from the Light mana he had originally been aiming for. He had yet to know just what he had created, for Laser mana would eventually be a huge part of his dungeon. Shelving it as useless he returned to his original practice. One light, two light, red light, blue light. Innearth practiced making small spheres of light mana in various materials. Half of which, tinged the light mana into different colours. Finally feeling practiced enough Innearth continued to work towards darkness. Okay. Step 1 is done. Took way longer than I had hoped but I''ve managed it. Let''s see, dual mana materials for Ice and Darkness. First Innearth took his most plentiful dual material ¨C quartz ¨C and combined Fire and Void. The two melted together and created something different than the sum of their parts. Fire mana was the concept of energy given form. It was wild and raging and endlessly created energy. As soon as it shifted to ice that boundless synergy seemed to still. Instead of producing, it consumed. And slowly but surely it became colder and colder around the chunk of magical ice Frost spread out on the ground around it and the air turned frosty and sharp the longer it existed. Innearth stared at the ice entranced. Ice...Ice played really well with crystals. The frost that formed created patterns that spoke to him. As he broke away from the trance, his mind raced as he considered the possibility of creating a whole floor of ice and crystals deep below. It can be part of the crystal caverns! Would contrast the magma halls much more and I do need to expand those soon. They are really small when I compare it to the rest of my dungeon¡­what am I doing ignoring them! Innearth once again went off on a "Tangent". This time he made one of his burrowers stop digging the beginner area and dig straight down into the crystal caverns below. A straight drop from level 3 to level 9, the burrower started digging out large caverns as Innearth returned to his experimentation. The now level 20 snake scout had slithered in at this time and took the downwards pit as a shortcut. This was only noteworthy due to two changes. 1 since the last time it had evolved the snake now had two small crystal horns turning its single head spike into a trifecta of spikes and 2, the water slime which had hitched a ride on those very spikes holding on to the snakes head as it slithered straight down a 200m drop. Two gooey arms holding on for dear life, as it took a shortcut no slime was ever meant to take. ... The point of this whole process was darkness mana and by the end of this I will have made it!- No more distractions! Innearth focused on creating light mana and then immediately made void and shoved them into a canvas of quartz. Darkness. Finally! Light mana seemed pretty natural. The materials made from it gave off soft light, like a fire trapped in a ball. Darkness mana was decidedly unnatural. Light was stripped from the walls and shadows grew, melding together and creating a thick darkness around the black crystal. Innearth created a ball of Light and silicon then moved it around the darkness. The light pushed back nearly as hard as it was suppressed, and it created a bright sense that faded away to nothing within just a bit more than a dozen centimeters. Effectively Innearth could fill his maze with darkness and then create torches that showed a meter ahead while hiding stuff further in. Pure darkness is boring. But hiding stuff in darkness when I have lights? Perfect. Innearth placed lines of torches along his maze while covering the ceiling with various darkness-creating materials. Every once in a while, a secret passage would be placed directly between two torches. Hidden where the spheres of light didn''t reach. Innearth continued to add more and more to the maze. At this point it was large enough he was forced to consider delegating multiple floors just to this. He added hints and decorated the walls with faint patterns that could help differentiate similar halls from each other. He drew dancing snakes and otters miming solutions to the puzzles he had made (Up is down and down is Up! Down is up and up is Down!). He really was spending way too much time on this. Dragging it out more and more for a simple reason. If Innearth stopped working on this he would start spiralling again. He put all his attention on this single goal to forget about his lack of adventurers while any pause let faint doubt slip in. Will anyone ever even use this? Is there any point in any of this? Why do I even care? ... Finally. Finally, months after he had broken the surface and months after his friends had gotten them. A sapient creature arrived in his dungeon! Chapter 39. A visitor.
No matter which Dungeon you''re delving. As long as you''ve visited more than one, you''re likely to have encountered a few dump rooms during your delves. Now dumping rooms aren''t bathrooms. They''re areas that Dungeons use to dump spare materials that they don''t personally need but don''t have a desire or way to destroy. A magical variant of stone, "Ice Granite" for example. Low level materials that might find their way into a monster but aren''t particularly valuable for them. If this concept sounds strange and you can''t remember having seen one before let me give you another hint. Do mining rooms ring a bell? That''s right. Some of these profitable lures for both adventurers and "workers with adventuring bodyguards" alike ¨C are actually little more than quasi garbage/storage rooms! The main purpose for these rooms was for material removal without wasting the time they spent and to attract more adventurers. They existed soley as a way to get rid of excess materials but have become so much more. Over the years these dumping rooms have evolved and many located deeper have actual expensive and rare materials specifically created as a reward for miners who delved that far. "Dumping rooms" that contain Mythril. Vast rooms with hidden gems of power and bars of metal that could create a high levelled item without any skill. They started out as huge spaces with haphazard piles of materials strewn about. Now they are rooms defining a dungeon. Rooms with stories and themes and nuggets of rare material embedded in soft walls. Mining rooms started out as an afterthought but are here to stay.
An excerpt from the textbook "On dungeons and how they have evolved over the years" By Colligan Ray. It was a typical hour of a typical day in Innearth¡¯s life. The person who entered his influence did so without warning and Innearth nearly didn''t notice that something was new. He could ignore the feeling of something entering his influence (it could just be another animal) but what he couldn¡¯t ignore was the system messages that popped up, one by one, a moment after their arrival
Sapient system link established for the first time. ¡°Dungeon Enhancement¡± controls have been added.
As a first-time setup, your current nameless dungeon is being populated with basic information.
¡°Bismuth¡± as the first finder has named you ¡°Pit Stop¡±. May your legacy live on Pit Stop! In the future your name may change based on other sapient input. Who knows what your eventual name may be!
They were wide and stout. A creature with a large beard, leather clothing and brilliant brown-red boots. Innearth stared at the boots slightly in shock at his somewhat lackluster new name. He stared at the boots not because of the colour but the sheer complexity of constantly shifting mana he saw in them. They were filled with more mana than a tier 2 core ¨C yet didn''t leak a single wisp. This man strolled through Innearth¡¯s massive halls with appreciation. Staring about with an appraising eye the creature constantly muttered stuff to himself and Innearth wished he could understand the strange mouth sounds sapient creatures used to communicate.
Innearth: it''s happening! Everyone I got an adventurer!!
Amy: Congrats! It was bound to happen some time. Glad it happened soon for you.
Abe: BROOOOO! LETS GOOOOOOO! WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE!
Innearth: They have a beard so a man. Uh pretty tall. Based on your skin colour descriptions I think it''s a human? There are no scales and the ears look normal. Oh! And he has really nice boots.
As Innearth described the person wandering around his dungeon in a nonchalant manner, the "human" got attacked several times by lesser snakes. Each time the man didn''t seem to notice the snakes attacking from the side or behind, but as soon as they got within striking distance his boots would flash and the snake would die. Just like that. The snake would raise to strike and then fall with a faint heat wave of sorts rising above them. The man flinched when a snake appeared in front as if to strike and Innearth got confused. He...was afraid of the lesser crystal snake? But this is the beginner area and it''s pretty obvious he''s high level. He hasn''t even reacted before while killing anything so far¡­or did he not notice anything till now? The man walked forwards up to the dead snake and pulled a majestic looking knife out of his belt. The knife was little more than sharpened light. It actually looked plain and uninteresting if looked at ¡°normally¡± but Innearth couldn''t help but see just how much mana was contained within it. Shifting 3-dimensional runes were laid upon its whole length and with a single slash, the dead snake was skinned. Standing up once more the man looked through the scales with an appreciative eye and then folded the skin into a square before they were stuffed into his belt carefully. His belt. Innearth hadn''t noticed till now due to how brilliant the boots were, but the belt gave off a sense of weight. Staring at it in his mana sight gave nothing but faint wisps at the seems, but he could positively feel the weight of it pushing through his influence. Almost like the bag itself was bigger than the hall it was moving in. Okay, so space mana? Pretty obvious. I wonder what else they have contained in there. ...that''s a moving space mana construct. How is it moving? All the stuff I''ve done with void mana has been pretty stationary... I think they are mostly relying on those boots. I wonder if they will start fighting for real once they get deeper! I¡¯m excited to see what they can do when they aren¡¯t just automatically killing things.
Innearth: This is nearly exactly what I was expecting! Okay they are acting a bit strange now but really I can¡¯t be picky.
Amy: ¡°Acting a bit strange?¡±
Innearth: They are sitting down in the middle of my dungeon and having a snack.
Amy: Plenty of adventueres eat inside me. That¡¯s normal!
Innearth: Okay, Just thought it was weird because they had so much of it.
Amy: Anything else?
Innearth: Yes they are carving something. Runes? They are carving runes into a rock. Oh now they are making gloves out of the snake skin they picked up? They have a lot of tools.
Abe: Brooo what¡¯s happening :D. I haven¡¯t had a single adventurer start crafting in me before. Lucky!
Innearth: They finished their food and don¡¯t seem to like the gloves much. Just dropped it and have started heading deeper.
Abe: MY GUY! Send me those gloves m8. I want to see.
Innearth: ¡­sure but send them back afterwards I want to make sure they are here by the time they get back in case they want them.
¡­
Abe: Bro¡­these are tiny.
Innearth: huh? They are pretty big.
Amy: Send me the gloves! Stolen story; please report.
Abe: How big is the adventuere?
Innearth: uh¡­about 40-50cm? pretty tall.
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­someone should tell him.
Abe: No don¡¯t. I want to see if he can figure it out himself.
Innearth: Tell me what?
Amy: These gloves are absolutely minuscule. Are you being delved by a child?
Innearth: They have a beard! They aren¡¯t a child. Why? How big are your adventueres?
Amy: ¡­3-4x that at least.
Innearth: What? You have 2 meter tall giants delving you? Don¡¯t they brush against your ceilings?
Amy: most are closer to 1.7m. A couple ¡°elves¡± who¡¯ve taken to delving me are 2.2m¡­Listen Innearth. Are you being delved by a dwarf?
Innearth returned to staring at his ¡°human¡±
Innearth: Maybe?
Amy: How can you not tell? Are they not super short?
Abe: How big are your hallways?.
Innearth: Uh most are almost 2 meters tall and about 50cm wide. A few of my older hallways are still 1.5m tall and 30cm wide.
Amy: ¡­I don¡¯t mean to tell you how to design your dungeon but that¡¯s really cramped¡­
Innearth: ¡­you sure this isn¡¯t a human?
Amy: Positive. I¡¯m sorry.
Amy sent back the gloves and Innearth placed them where he found them, slightly in shock. This¡­this is new information!
Innearth: ¡­assuming you are right how tall do you have your dungeon?
Abe: LOL. I can¡¯t. give me a second.
Amy: My hallways are 3-4 meters tall and 3-4 meters wide. I want people to feel comfortable and be able to pass each other and fight without getting blocked by the walls.
Innearth: ¡­that¡¯s room sized I say.
Abe: My ¡°hallways¡± are less ¡°hallways¡± and more just doors to new rooms. All my rooms bump up against each other and are 4 meters tall and 20-30m wide.
Innearth: ¡­I think I have to rip up half my dungeon guys.
Amy: Well better you figured it now¡­ even if it¡¯s a bit late. Did you never buy the adventure handbook? It listed average sizes and good dimensions for hallways and rooms based on the different races who might delve you.
Innearth: The maze. Dammit. What am I going to do with the maze.
While Innearth lamented the work ahead of him he watched the dwarf continue its stroll through his beginner floors. This was exactly what he had wanted¡­but somehow it seemed lackluster. The way his defenders died was not nearly as exciting as the fights with random animals and monsters he had had in the past and he was slightly resentful at the name he had been given. I¡¯m not a pit stop. I¡¯m the destination! Watching his normal snakes get slaughtered silently and skinned ¨C the lesser snakes being ignored now ¨C Innearth sighed and tried to find a positive. I think they are enjoying themselves? If they like the crystal snakeskin, I¡¯m sure they will tell others about me. I got one so it''s only a matter of time before he tells others and I get some proper adventurers! The dwarf continued on its efficient culling of monsters, not once lifting a finger to fight before turning around after taking one look at the maze between his beginner area and the magma halls. Dammit. Is he going to leave before I get a proper fight?! That maze is great! Don¡¯t run away. Innearth frantically looked around trying to figure out how to lure the fake adventurer in deeper. Some quick rearranging! I need to buy some time. Sending a ¡°greater¡± snake from the crystal caverns up the snake way to his beginner area Innearth hoped they would buy enough time while he moved his boss around. Transferring his ¡°sand bed¡± from the end of the maze to the start, took longer than he hoped; but the dwarf was now briskly strolling after the greater snake, who had started smoking as soon as it came close. There! One sand bed boss deposited right before the maze. One¡­dead greater snake destined to become a pair of boots. The dwarf happily skinned the much larger snake and this time started ripping the body apart as well. Its bones were pulled up and twisted about in the air ¨C a monocle had suddenly appeared in the dwarf''s eye as they muttered furiously and licked the Kinetic crystals lining its ribs. Once more using the vibrant knife it had used to skin the snake the dwarf carefully extracted the mana circuit this snake had made along with the healing sacks. The sacks were cut open and tasted then tossed while the circuit seemed to make the dwarf incredibly excited. Pulling out various vials hurriedly the dwarf applied a green jell cursing as a vial dropped and smashed below it. Wrapping the goo¡¯d circuit up in a brown cloth-like leather, the dwarf stuffed it in his pouch ¨C comically raising the whole package higher than him with a laboured motion and letting it slide down and disappear into its storage. ¡­how big is that belt???? Looting nearly every single part of the snake except the muscles which were just dumped into the hall the dwarf placed all of them in his belt with varying degrees of care. Finishing up the dwarf turned once more before stopping. Taking a moment to look down the hall it had come the dwarf spied the new boss that had been shifted here for it. Curious the dwarf wandered over and seemed surprised when the flat boss pulled up into a lump. The whole bed was smoking now, but unlike most of the monsters that the dwarf had slaughtered up till now, the boss wasn¡¯t vanquished easily. It rushed forward in a smooth motion to envelop and suffocate the arrogant dwarf who¡­let it? No, it couldn¡¯t move fast enough. Innearth watched as the invader was completely consumed with a conflicted feeling. I mean¡­I don¡¯t actually want to kill the dwarf; he¡¯s supposed to tell others of my dungeon! But he was kind of rude. As Innearth debated the results he suddenly realized something was wrong. The sand bed was sandpapering away, and he couldn¡¯t see the dwarf but¡­he also couldn¡¯t see any sign that anything had happened. Not to be morbid but shouldn¡¯t there be some blood if it were working? Innearth watched in silence for another 30 seconds before a single small hand extended up out of the center, completely fine. It clutched a ball with several spinning gears linked to feathers and rods of hard light. Orienting itself the ball seemed to shudder and then hoist a laughing dwarf up and to the side. Yes! The dwarf made it! Continuing to laugh the dwarf was carried to safety where it turned and waggled a single unharmed finger at the death trap behind it. Shaking itself with a couple hops, the dwarf pushed a handful of still alive boss sand into his pouch then fumbled around and pulled out a bottle. Okay. Is that going to do something to the boss? Taking a deep swig of the bottle the dwarf turned and strolled away from the boss, every once in a while giggling slightly and shaking his head while talking to himself. ¡­That¡¯s it? You¡¯re not fighting it? Okay then¡­ Innearth was slightly glad for that. He wasn¡¯t sure what the dwarf that had thrown away such a nice glove would do with any of his tier 2/3 creations...and he felt like he didn''t have to give any loot when they hadn''t beaten the boss. Walking back the dwarf noticed the glove he had made and got visibly annoyed. Pulling out a red ball the size of a pea, he tossed it on the glove. With a mechanical buzz and bright flash, the glove immediately went up in flames, vanishing a second or two later without a trace. Reaching down they picked up the still intact ball and continued on. I wish I didn¡¯t put it back. If he was just going to destroy it, I¡¯d have rather kept it. Dammit. Continuing on his way yet again, the dwarf wandered up and out of Innearth¡¯s dungeon ¨C leaving just as abruptly as he had came. ¡­I don¡¯t know what to do with this information. Dwarves are weird? ...okay here''s something. Besides all the stuff about sizing, I know I got one dwarf and will probably get more. Currently, the beginner area doesn''t really have a theme...it''s just the "beginner area" I think I''m going to theme it into something dwarves would like...a mine! ...currently, my inventory has tons and tons of silver from consuming the silver material...and I still have that silver flesh so I have essentially infinite silver to throw at this area. I christen this the silver mines! I''m not sure how much the dwarves that use such magical items would care for raw silver...so I''ll try and infuse random chunks of silver with all the mana types I know! Hopefully the rest can get properties from the environmental mana. With this plan to work towards Innearth checked the new controls he was given and did a double-take. ...there was a lot. There were probably more options given by having a sapient creature delve him than there was for advancing to rank 3. As a brief overview, there was a "dungeon quest system" along with triggers for: entering an area; saying something, or doing an action; placing, or taking an item; to any combination of the above; even the lack of an action or more vague "think in x way" type triggers were viable. There was a title system with both hidden and visible titles. These titles could be used as persistent markers ¨C keeping track of progress in a quest after someone had left the dungeon or as a way of awarding someone for progress. There was a zoning system where Innearth could use the system to mark off an area and give it specific system effects currently limited to being tied to the quest system or "notifying the area name" which Innearth assumed meant he could make a "now entering the crystal caverns" notice or similar. Finally, there was the loot system which was...also a lot. A lot of power in an already huge section of new panels not properly separated out for how much utility they gave. First Innearth could place the items he had made into it and give triggers to automatically award them (beat the crystal bed boss get the crystal sword as an example). They were limited to mostly inert items (it didn''t look like he could use the system to "gift" someone an already exploding bomb if they were "a demon" for example). These items were stored in system space ¨C not Innearths Inventory. In a sense, if he set to work assembly lining items and storing them, it was a way of getting rid of materials that didn''t involve destroying them with void...it just took up more time and effort and mana...but he got a visible reward for doing so ¨C potential loot vs nothing. There was also a specific function that this "loot system" offered. An "opt-in" system loot randomizer. Innearth selected his "Butcher knife" and watched as it changed to a generic "Tier 2 [swu pool -> loot value 275]" icon in his inventory. He set a single "crazy ball mother" loose in the silver mine and gave it the Tier 2 loot drop. I still need to fix those, they kind of fall apart when their crazy balls die...I can''t give them new ones with the built-in 2-way mental connections and even if I could do that, it''s annoying to make small monsters all the time. I could probably ask Bose for help with mental mana but I kind of want to figure this out myself. Trying to get another sense of the randomizer he also randomized the Tier 3 magma mace and attached it to death knight silver. "Tier 3 [bwr pool -> loot value 402]" Well anyways. Regarding the new system panels, there are so many options both glaringly visible and that I can tell are hidden. I feel like the more I use some of these tools, the more they will offer...I don''t even know what to play with first! I guess the best option is to work on fixing everything and try a few small scale uses of these...overuse sounds almost like I''m not designing my own dungeon anymore and just letting the system do it. ...but they are there, so it would be silly not to try them out! With a plan in hand, Innearth started a long process of redesigning everything while continuing to expand. ... Time passed. ... Chapter 40. A day in the life of Amy.
Hey! Dungeon reviewer Tom here! I''m starting a "lesser known and rising stars" miniseries for the next few reviews. Today I''m reviewing the "liquid savior" dungeon, known as simultaneously one of the hardest dungeons in the area as well as the one with the least deaths. The town it''s situated out of is called "Olive drop¡±, named after the founder but also the local export ¨C olives. The town made its name for supplying most of the continent¡¯s olive supply (a supply only really enjoyed by nobles you must understand) 2 years ago a tragedy struck. Heavy droughts dried up a lot of the local above-ground water supplies and the olive fields started going into decline. Just as the town had begun to lose all hope, a new dungeon broke through just a half a kilometer from the edge of town. To make this event even more of a miracle, this dungeon was a Water dungeon AND a Life dungeon. The water obtained inside this dungeon was able to save the town. The largest problem is obtaining it. For, while a local adventuring scene has begun to spring up, the dungeon is absolutely brutal to newbies. While it let the town setup a pipeline to its first floor, the pipe gets periodically broken whenever a lull of adventurers happens. Here''s where the name "liquid saviour" comes in my valued readers. This dungeon has incredibly deadly monsters and many a newbie has lost limbs and courage while facing it but very few have lost life. Suspiciously few in fact. A combination of incredibly generous healing potion supplies and a suspicion the Dungeon Core itself is intervening, has led to only 2 adventurers dead in the past year and a half. While the difficulty is high, it hasn¡¯t grown enough to become quite as hard as the deeper floors in some of the more established dungeons. Whats more, the bounty this dungeon provides is unmistakable. Liquid gold to save the olive fields. Health potions given freely enough and in large enough pools to heal all but the oldest of injuries. And finally life monsters, some of the most profitable of all monster materials. This dungeon doesn''t even use much conventional loot, but it remains one of the more profitable for those reasons alone. There is even a rumour that a wild tribe of elves is semi frequently delving the dungeon for its life-attuned items. Considering how rare elven adventurers are this really is quite a spectacle! Final verdict. Definitely visit as long as you are in your second advancement or have more than a few years of experience delving dungeons. This dungeon is still growing and I can nearly guarentee you''ll start hearing more of it in the years to come. So, feel free to get a few delves in before the town starts taxing adventuring profits or limiting the number who can enter. See you next time.
Excerpt from the popular serial "Tom''s Dungeon Reviews Issue 254"
Amy: Hey umm. So hi friends. This is my dungeon I hope you like it.
Abe: You just advanced!!! Nice! I''ll be right there.
Innearth: Hey congrats! I''ll join as well. Tier 5 already? Again? Ahh I''m falling behind once more. Innearth: How did you advance so fast?
Fated Eternal Design: Oh that''s pretty easy. You gain levels like crazy when you start getting a lot of adventurers. I''m nearly advanced as well. I''ll be right in the stream, just give me a second.
Innearth stopped all his more mentally intensive tasks to focus on the chat. He navigated to the stream and opened it, watching as a screen slid out revealing a sandy room of water and filled with moss and vines. In the background, an adventurer was being ripped apart by a "barbed tentacle horror" while another rocks and cries to the side. A second screen pops up covering the traumatized duo in the background and displaying information. And then a third screen appeared beside that one ¨C this a chat separated from the main chat.
Amy: Okay, um, I''ve been playing around with the Camera controls a bit before starting this stream. Please tell me if anything isn''t working and I''ll be happy to help! It looks like it''s working from my end but this is the first time I''m presenting so I don''t know if it''s coming across right. Amy: I thought a lot about how I wanted to format this and I think I''ve figured it out. Please feel free to read my info while we wait for everyone to join.
Innearth took a moment to read the information Amy wanted to display.
Monster Name Lore Description.
Crabo Stabo The first mob encountered when you enter the dungeon. Literally just a crab holding a basic knife. The first encounter always undersells the hell the newbies are going into.
Gulper One of the smallest monsters in this dungeon. The Gulper uses its rather small size to hide before using its tentacles to drag any who wander close to the water into its depths. Despite its small size its tentacles are strong enough to pull all but the sturdiest into the water. Their name comes from the sound new adventurers make whenever they think of them for their appearance is truly horrific. An expert was sent to make sure the mess of tentacles and maw wasn''t demonic in nature and the gulper came clean. The best way to defend against them is to not get grabbed in the first place, for the tentacles can be sliced through easily enough from the shore.
Coral Shells Found in the second floor and beyond. These monsters use coral as battle armor to defend against attacks. A solid shell hiding thick tentacled arms it uses to bash adventurers. Enhanced with mana both the shell and limbs are incredibly tough and getting hit is sure to leave heavy bruises at the very least for they can smash through solid iron if its not enchanted. The best way to deal with these is to ignore the shell and aim to sever its trunk like limbs or attempt to attack through the openings in the shell.
Fishermen These monsters reside on the ceiling of the Dungeon. Found on the first floor and beyond these monsters vaguely resemble slimed frogs. Their name comes from the hooklike tongue they use to stab and reel unlucky newbies to their deaths. These monsters are surprisingly one of the weakest in the dungeon if you can spot them ¨C their true danger lies in being situated above most adventures eyesight and the fact they like to strike when adventurers are facing the gulpers and coralshells. This dungeon''s first floor is a nightmare to face and doesn''t leave any room for mistakes. Constant vigilance must be held towards the shadows even in the middle of a fight or the fishermen might will attack.
Rending Tentacle Found all over the dungeon the rending tentacle looks similar to every other monster in this dungeon. Some rending tentacles look like fishermen others gulpers. They are surprisingly passive creatures however as soon as they are attacked by adventurers thinking they are some of the more aggressive monsters they fight back with fury. Each tentacle extends countless barbs that rip and shred into all that are unlucky enough to be within range. Like most of the monsters in this dungeon the Rending Tentacle will leave you hovering just above death however most who''ve been so have wished they had just been killed.
Saltbomb Turtle A turtle with heavy barnacle-like armour found on floors 4 and onwards. The saltbomb turtle gets its name from being a literal bomb ¨C exploding with high-pressure saltwater and kinetic mana. A single blast takes time to reload but hits harder and faster than the Coral shells found on higher floors. The worst part is the sting.
Troll Hearted Shark One of the only monsters analyzed on the 7th floor this monster has not been seen in its entirety. It swims at an estimated 160km/hr, crossing the whole length of the floor in seconds. The shark has 4 massive hearts each pumping a mixture of healing and friction decreasing liquid through its body while its jaws can bite through mithril.
Boss Name Lore Description.
Cyclone Currently Boss of the 1st Floor. Mixing water and air mana together. Cyclone shoots off blasts of high-speed water blades enhanced with air magic to slice opponents to pieces. If the rest of the first floor wasn''t enough to prove to novices that this Dungeon ain''t for quitters. This boss makes sure the idea gets through to them.
Scale Splitter Currently Boss of the 3rd Floor. An enhanced Fishermen. It shoots off a tongue made up of steel. Reeling adventurer''s in and using them as a shield as it fires of blasts of heavy Water mana. If you can get around its hostage and dodge its water the main body is nice and fragile however. This boss quickly becomes easier if a proper tank with crowd control skills can hold its fire, and a full rogue party has claimed "without anyone getting caught" the boss can be put down easier than the Cyclone.
The Deepness Currently Boss of the 5th floor. This boss extends tendrils of horror throughout the entire 5th floor and part of the 4th. Dozens of tentacles extend through the very walls of this dungeon and each arm destroyed before the boss is reached makes the fight slightly easier. None of the regular delving groups have been able to beat it yet and we only know of the floors beyond because of a high leveled party that cleared it. Seeing as how it has been remade it is here to stay.
Tidecaller Boss of the 7th floor. The 7th floor has no solid ground and the tidecaller makes use of that excessively. The floor is traversed with skills and small dingy canoes, however the tidecaller controls the vast amount of water contained in the floor. Causing constant waves and massive amounts of water to flow around it. The most concerning feature however is the appearance of the Tidecaller. A humanoid holding a fishing rod and sitting cross-legged on a lilypad, constantly reeling in the massive fish, sharks and tentacled hunters of this floor before consuming them whole. When last reached, this boss was bypassed and the 7th floor confirmed the deepest. The core room contained just beyond. That was months ago however and we don''t know what lies beyond. Maybe when news of this dungeon spreads and higher leveled parties start arriving more frequently we will discover if something is past this area.
Liquid Savior [Dungeon Information]
Known Floors: 7 estimated at least 8 personal guess 10+. Foliage: As a Life dungeon plenty of plants both normal and aquatic are found on every floor. Many have uses in alchemy or cooking however their main effect is to hide some of the sneakier monsters this dungeon employs. Traps: This dungeon has low crafted trap use and no puzzle use. However, all the hallways and rooms are designed to maximize how tough encounters are. Hiding places abound and there are plenty of nasty placements of distracting plants or health potion pools that enable fishermen to strike. Additionally, while most of the plants are harmless, some have harmful effects that slow, confuse, or confine; those that brush up against them. Loot: This dungeon has low to non-existent crafted rewards, however its natural bounty of plants and the flesh of all of its monsters are incredibly valuable. This dungeon also supplies health potion pools at frequent intervals and it is recommended to bring a flask with which to stock up. These pools are constantly restocked however the one time a party siphoned off a whole pool right before a boss it was abandoned as punishment. Any group angry at facing the 3rd floor boss without a healing area beforehand can feel free to blame the Silver Boots for their greed. Floor effects: Rare for new dungeons this dungeon employs a floor effect. Currently limited to an effect called "High Tide". If too many adventuring groups are in an area ¨C or if a party with greater than 5 members attempts to delve ¨C this effect comes into effect. All the water rises a foot or two and floods most of the dry areas while more monsters are spawned. Both new and existing monsters get boosted by some unknown effect to become nearly twice as strong and twice as fast. You do not want to trigger this by accident. General Note: This dungeon is already stronger than many established dungeons in the area and the fact that the last boss is a humanoid is worrying. Most dungeons with humanoid monsters employ them a dozen or two floors below and the fact that one has appeared on the 7th floor does not bode well for what lies even deeper. It''s also concerning how fast this dungeon is growing. It''s always scary having a dungeon where you don''t know the lowest floor.
Amy: everyone here?
Fated Eternal Design: yes! the look at another dungeon should prove...enlightening.
ZeMadDoctor: quite. I already have a death dungeon with abyss for reference. What does a "life" dungeon hold? I like to think I''m practiced with both. But I must admit I learned something from Abyss. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Abe: I''m sorry "saltbomb turtle"? You have to show me that! I''ll riot if that''s not part of the tour.
Amy: Okay, sure. Let''s see, the first few floors are pretty similar but let me show you them anyways.
The panel closed revealing a shell-shocked adventurer clutching their mauled friend.
Innearth: ...are they okay?
Amy: Oh they''ll be fine. There''s a healing pool a room away. Look, still breathing. Anyways!
The Camera lurched, blurring with speed into the next room where, sure enough, a ring of red bricklike stone held a green shimmering liquid.
Amy: This is my healing pool. I place them before every boss, after every boss. And every 5 rooms. Newbie adventurers are really fragile guys. Keep that in mind. I learned that the hard way and wouldn''t want you to go through the same trouble. Broke the first few before I set up some ground rules for my babies.
Innearth: you know...I was tossing around an idea to try and make a mana type or magical item that destroyed healing potions and giving it to you to place at every healing room so adventurers couldn''t take it with them...I was planning to but after seeing the last group... maybe it''s for the best they have endless healing potions.
Amy: Oh hey if you figure that out I''ll still appreciate it! Amy: I''d want to prevent adventurers from leaving the dungeon with it. So far I''ve had at least one try to leave with a whole bucket of healing potion. Can you believe the nerve of that guy? Also, one group did something with this space mana bottle and I''ve had to punish everyone because of that.
Abe: no comment.
Amy: moving on!
The camera lurched once again. It stopped before a group of 5 tall pointy-eared adventurers wearing long silky green fabrics.
Amy: This is my elven group! They come once a month and are really strong! Let''s watch them a bit okay? They should be reaching my 2nd boss soon.
The party continues forward gliding through the sandy dungeon''s halls, while a group of dungeons watch. Stopping before the entrance to the boss room, the one in the lead turns and says something to the group. With practiced motions, they all hold hands and start to sing a cheerful tune as they walk in a circle. Each step is made with purpose and only a few seconds into this strange ritual each starts to leave ghostly after images. Mana is pumped through their linked arms ¨C forest green light moving through their veins as the elves chant. Finally, a full minute after they started their preparations, the group drops their arms ¨C each still with bright green bulges and lines.
ZeMadDoctor: Sorry to interrupt but. What are they doing?
Amy: no clue really, it''s only the second boss, they shouldn''t have to do that until the 3rd based on previous times?
ZeMadDoctor: not why are they doing that. What. I don''t quite understand.
Amy: Oh well I don''t fully understand it either. That''s why I was trying to get out of answering. Do you want what I know for fact or my personal opinion?
Innearth: Both :3 Both is good.
Amy: ...okay. I''ve watched them do it enough times now I can tell you some of the effects? Most you should see in the fight ahead but one thing I''ve picked up is they cast a spell inside of themselves. They now have a much higher concentration of mana in their bodies and thus they have a higher mana regeneration. It''s slightly damaging but the benefits are apparent. Amy: I''ve actually been playing around with copying them to varying effects. They haven''t triggered it in ages but if any group starts "High Tide" I might be able to show you my version of this. Amy: The spell isn''t just to make their mana regenerate higher though. It also increases their reflexes and I think it ties their souls together somehow? Now this is my personal theory and I can''t confirm it... but my guess is that if one of them dies they can be brought back because of that. Amy: Have to wait for one of them to die first to confirm that though.
Abe: all that??? All my adventurers just point and shout stuff and fling shaped mana around. Is that an elf-only thing?
Amy: maybe? I''ll tell you if I see a non elf do something like that.
While the group talks, the elves entered the boss room silently and with practiced ease. Two pulled out bows and two pulled out sharpened spears. The bow pair immediately start moving towards the far ends while chanting quietly. Each gracefully walking mostly sideways their eyes on the boss before it has even finished appearing. As the boss emerges from the only pool in the mostly wet ¨C but not submerged ¨C room, it flops onto a small dais in the center. The boss looks similar to a lump of opaque goo with limbs. Like a slime transitioning to a frog and reminding Innearth vaguely of the description of the wild monster his snake scout had given. As the boss started its opening attack, both the dungeons and the elves watched. One group with interest the other with calculating efficiency. The hooked tongue shoots forward several times attempting to nab an elf, but the adventurers all manage to evade it with minimal movement. Each dodge causing the boss''s movements to grow more and more panicked. Their wooden bows bent with faint wisps of wind flowing about and a wooden arrow was materialized at the end of each as soon as the bow was fully drawn. Releasing and pulling back causes another arrow to form and soon they begin getting into a groove of sorts. Their attacks landing and being shot to their continued song. A few of the shot arrows are held back for longer as the battlesong changes and these when shot turn to viney nets that cling to the boss as they land. In comparison, the two elves with spears were completely silent. They moved with purpose their steps appearing erratic but deliberate. Purposefully confusing. Potentially giving them some sort of spell like the singing ones? Wish I could interview them. As they approach the giant fisher, the spear pair dig their feet into the ground and push ¨C earth shifting and flinging them about in a way Innearth didn''t know was possible. Wisps of green mana leak from their limbs and leave faint green afterimages every time they make a blinking dash forwards and every few seconds they continue, they seem to grow in strength. Less than 20s after the fight starts and a dozen arrows later the boss lies dead, pierced on both sides with spears of wood. It had shot off a wild burst of water a few seconds earlier, but both elves were completely dry and hardly even seemed out of breath.
Amy: So yeah, that takes a bit longer if they don''t do that weird buff beforehand...sorry about that. The Scale Splitter is balanced for the 3rd floor so it''s slightly underwhelming when overkilled by those elites...I wish I could show you a better fight.
Abe: Rip. See if you made the fisher explode at the end it would have been ever so slightly more exciting I think. Just some feedback.
Innearth: So the tongue is metal? How is it controlled? Or how were you able to make it?
Amy: Oh I have a friend - brutality queen you know her right? She''s my source of the metal and metal core attached to the end for increased control. Think it''s "life metal steel" something about metal mana in iron and life mana in carbon? You''d have to ask her...
Innearth: Pass. Not that interested.
As Amy explains the design of her monster, the two ranged elves join their comrades at the dead fisher taking it apart with care. Bits are pulled off and laid about the group, with choice parts placed in their flowing garments and others set aside. Finally having looted the most valuable parts, the tallest elf pulls out a single seed and places it against an arbitrary group of pieces one by one ¨C picking items by some unknown criteria. Each time the seed glows a deep green of some unknown mana ¨C different both from Life mana and the Nature type the elves had been employing. Nothing happened initially but a few seconds after each part was touched they seemed to fall apart. Less conventionally destroyed and more sped up and decayed at an accelerated rate.
Abe: Oh! OH I recognize that effect. A lot of my entropic materials do something similar when embedded in stuff...items rust and organic things decay. It doesn''t really have a purpose, however.
ZeMadDoctor: Fascinating. Please feel free to send me some samples to play with. That sounds...fun.
Amy: I have more to show! Let''s break away from this group for now.
The camera once again sped through hallways at a dizzying speed. Does she have to move that quickly? I can''t see anything along the way when she does that, it''s getting tiring. As the camera flits about it stops here and there to show a room or monster that Amy was particularly fond of while skipping over others equally as interesting to Innearth.
Amy: And this is my absolutely perfect snookems.
A vibrant purple tentacled ball sort of "exists" on Amy''s 9th floor. Simply floating in the middle of it menacingly each tentacle limp and see-through but not doing anything particularly interesting. The whole floor was covered from top to bottom in water and other than the centrepiece''s drifting limbs nothing stirs. No monster exists and the plants that survive down here are small and attached to the wall. Glowing plants that look like a cross between moss and coral line the walls, while fuzzy stalks of some stringy underground grass line the bottom of the floor. I''m getting some beholder template vibes. Did Amy add the tentacles just to give it her touch?
Amy: Snookems is a weee bit territorial. Want to see me feed him?
Innearth: Of course? That''s why we are here after all.
A soft displacement of water displaces a gulper at the far reaches of the giant fish tank that is the 9th floor. Not needing to turn its body the underwater beholder of sorts seems to stiffen ¨C its floating limbs pumped with brightly aquamarine liquid accompanying a wave of mana that pulses outwards and hangs in a dome around it. Quickly moving its limbs in different shapes, the creature pulls the mana it had expelled into specific patterns. Lines and spirals being drawn on the inside of its dome which was pushed forwards moments later. The dome sped towards the smaller monster like a truck, the gulper seeming to recognize its impending doom as it struggled to escape. The giant half-sphere chased the gulper around, moving faster and faster before the barest tip of it touched the edge of one of the monster¡¯s tentacles. Inverting, the dome became a sphere. Its back end flipping around and completely enclosed the small monster before beginning to flash with mana in a spiralling code. As the trap sealed it summoned a spinning blender of hard water ripping around its inside and leaving a cyclone of water in its path. Over time the inside of the cage grows foggy with debris, bits of monster painting the inside of it a greenish-blue before the construct breaks apart and the leftovers fall to the floor below.
Amy: See okay. Thats a new one. This boss has a tier 5 purecore and enough concentrated ocean and water mana to create any type of spell it wants. I''ll show you another one, the reason snookems is so great is ''e does something different nearly every time.
Spawning a "Coral Shell" the group watched it once again draw a pattern onto a dome of mana and release it. This time the dome quickly shrinks down into a bullet shape that looks almost invisible in the water. Pointing a single tentacle at the far away shelled creature the "bullet" began turning, tracking the movement of the shell before sucking inwards. A long spear-like needle forming before darting forwards at a blistering speed. As soon as the needle pierced the shelled creature and sunk in it slowed down. Halfway through the shell the construct suddenly expanded back to its "bullet" like shape from the inside ripping apart the monster.
Abe: Boom! What do adventurers think of this?
Amy: Haven''t gotten a group down this far yet sadly. There was one group that made it to the 7th floor but they haven''t been back since I made this. I hope they come by soon I want to see how they react!
Innearth: Do you think your dungeon is a bit...hard?
Amy: I am anything if not fair. I think the difficulty is appropriate.
Abe: SaltBOMB Turtle! lets go back up! I want to see what you came up with.
Amy: Okay, let''s go.
Ascending once more, Amy finds a group of 3 adventurers on her 5th floor. They were creeping through a dimly lit hall holding a yellow stick in front of them that illuminates the way. At two points a mini fisherman attempts to hook one of them from above but each time one of the group yells out and smacks it away. This group is too far down to get trapped by a simple fisherman. They catch sight of a faint lump in the distance and slow. The two at the back currently without a light stick stepping forwards and pulling out weapons ¨C one a small curved scimitar with runes running up and down its length the other a metal baton set with several small crystals in a gradient of color. Spinning the baton causes a dim yellow barrier to form in front of the adventurer on the left and they start inching forwards motioning their partner with a scimitar to stay back. Closer and closer the magical shield bearing tank approaches the lump, an aged and rocky looking creature coming slowly into view. It stands on hundreds of tiny tentacles ¨C of course ¨C and sprouts a single cannon facing towards the adventuring party. Waiting till the group gets closer it shoots a small gush of water at them, the shield-bearer tensing and then relaxing as a harmless stream hits their shield. Taking a deep breath and shaking his head the tank clears his mind his nervousness fading his limbs stilling. Stepping forward and back the tank attempted to get the turtle to fire on him. Back and forth and back and forth before sure enough, after half a dozen steps the turtle flung itself sideways aiming at the pair behind the tank with its cannon. A massive burst of steam appears accompanied by a truly colossal stream of white-water bursting forwards uncontrollably. As the forward-facing stream splashes outwards faint streams leak out of several smaller holes in the turtle''s shell flying in all directions while a creaking noise is heard.
Abe: 10/10, Replace all your monsters with this one and instantly go from ¡°pretty good¡± to ¡°phenomenal¡±
As the dungeons get distracted and start theory crafting the way the saltbomb turtle was made, the adventurers continue their life or death battle below. The tank jumps into the oncoming stream half a second after it passes, the full stream being diverted and carving a line in the wall before his shield of light starts to crack and fail. Lasting just until the beam finishes the shield shatters into many small pieces the tank respinning his baton and resummoning a new shield, good as new. As soon as the attack finished, the scimitar-wielding party member dashed forwards. Their blade coated in a sparking line of power rushing out of their arm and looping over the blade''s tip. The line was solid along the front of the blade before running back down its backend and into her arm once more in a diffuse wavy line. The tank turns and checks to make sure his party members are safe while his partner yells out a war cry and begins slicing pieces of the monster apart. The woman aware she is on a time limit and attempting to finish it before it can reload once more. The blade keeps hitting the shell and stopping before the line of power buzzes through where it had landed and cuts off a section of the shell exposing more and more of the monster¡¯s innards. Swing. Jarring stop. Pause. Slice. Continue swinging through the now cut shell. That¡¯s a weird skill. Shouldn¡¯t it just slice through it all at once? The group finishes the monster intact and regroups ¨C high-fiving each other in a brief moment of relaxation before returning professional and checking the monster¡¯s corpse.
ZeMadDoctor: Confess, that¡¯s a water and fire combo you made there, I would know madness combinations.
Amy: Maybee~
Abe: Seems like a water explosion mana to me.
Fated Eternal Design: Let Amy Keep her secrets :3 I for one think her dungeon is delightful.
Innearth: Do you have anything else to show us today?
Amy: I think that should be it.
Innearth: Thanks for showing it off. Your adventurers seem more committed than the one I got.
Abe: Yeah well done and all that. Sorry for giving you a hard time you¡¯ve done well.
The stream closed and the group returned to the main chat.
Innearth: I need to catch up. I want to show off my dungeon but it will probably be a while before I advance. Tier 5 seems forever away.
Abe: m8 same. We should figure something out to catch up.
Innearth: if you come up with something I¡¯m down.
Amy: I can¡¯t wait to see what the rest of you have. I¡¯m sure your dungeons are delightful. OH! Brutality queens showing off her dungeon I¡¯m going to join that stream.
Innearth pulled back from the chat happy for his friend and only slightly jealous. He was doing better than he used to but it still got to him after a while. Level 45, nearly there. 3 levels should be done in no time at all¡­ Returning to his resizing efforts Innearth started to fantasize about adventurers and levels and constant entertainment. He dreamed about making a mark on history and becoming important and imagined a city sprouting up around him its economy dependant upon his existence. ¡­ Chapter 41. A day in the life of Bose.
Dungeon Reviewer Tom here, continuing my "lesser-known and rising stars" miniseries. The eternal dungeon has taken the world by storm recently. It''s not often you hear adventurers talk about a new dungeon all over the continent of Mur. As your favourite reviewer and due to several reader requests, I simply had to travel here and give it a go. The Dungeon of Eternity is a new dungeon that feels like an old dungeon. Many traps and situations that fans of the ancient dungeons love are found here and while its monsters and loot are...okay. The main draw of this dungeon is its ambiance and mystery. What is that city found near the top of the dungeon? What effects do those runes produce? Why is a mysterious cult forming and why did all the monsters in this dungeon start laughing uncontrollably a few months ago? This dungeon brings one back to their roots as an adventurer. It makes you feel that wonder and excitement from your very first delve once more. There¡¯s a story contained in this dungeon. One that¡¯s not simply handed to you but hinted at in dozens of locations. A story of a city that fell to ruin in its hubris and through isolating itself from the world. Intricate questlines intersect at certain points and while parts of the process are obviously factitious. The artifacts tell a different story. They speak of this nation forgotten from history having existed here and all you have to do is believe. A few have spoken out to being annoyed at all the questlines, but they are few and far between. The number of adventures that want a true experience outnumber those that simply wish to bash a monster into paste. I was honestly surprised and excited by this dungeon. If you want to get rich there are better places to go, but if you want to go on an adventure this is the dungeon for you. Do I recommend the dungeon of eternity? Of course. If you visit only one of the dungeons I¡¯ve reviewed, I implore you to try this one for it''s truly one of the greats.
Excerpt from the popular serial "Tom''s Dungeon Reviews Issue 255"
Fated Eternal Design: I''m ready.
A flicker passes before the theatrical Core¡¯s information is displayed
Monster Name Lore Description.
Wisps A mob found in most Wind dungeons. It''s made up of Wind mana and acts like a toddler with magic. These things are practically immune to physical damage only dispersing with immense force but can easily be destroyed by magic.
Orange Masks Far more powerful than the Wisps, Orange Masks are the first floor''s primary defenders. They come in seven different variants, which is ironic with it being a variant itself. Orange Masks will either specialize in sneak attacks or ranged attacks. Manifesting wind claws or firing wind arrows they can only be briefly banished with magic and only truly destroyed by breaking their "Urn". Unlike the deeper floors, most of the Orange mask''s urns are hidden in plain sight and can be destroyed easily enough once you find them.
Green Masks Clad in ancient seeming armour, and wielding weapons cloaked in mana. These things are the warriors of the second floor and onwards. More on the rare side than the other mobs they are hard to kill on their own. The major weakness with this mask variant is that it has a core inside and attached to its armour. When destroyed it causes the entire thing to collapse unlike the rest of the masks. Though it still has an Urn that reforms it over time, a party can be considered to have destroyed a green mask when its armour is broken. You don¡¯t need to find its urn unless you really want to destroy it. Note: much slower than many of its kin.
Guardian masks Yellow Masks fused into the entrances of locked doors. These monsters ask riddles to any who come across them, speaking directly into your mind. Silence is considered an answer and usually the wrong one. Answering a riddle incorrectly activates countless deadly traps and locks the doors behind them. Answering correctly both opens the passage beyond and provides a small reward. Attempting to blow through them with high-grade explosives as was attempted once, summons countless black masks.
Blue Masks These guys are a nightmare to fight. Able to redirect most ranged attacks including some magical spells. They often travel in groups. One Blue Mask defending the others, while the rest hurl random debris and materials. The Blue Masks'' primary capabilities lie in taking advantage of their environment, flinging both debris and loose items including an adventurer''s own weapon back at them.
Black Mask A truly monstrous mob, "Black Masks" take the form of a massive guardian of rotting white fabric covered in ancient magical symbols. They wield mana enhanced weaponry and carry a detailed black mask in the face of a dead adventurer. Literally a dead adventurer. Each black mask has a visage resembling those that have perished in the depths of the eternal dungeon. All Black masks are frozen in the form they had when they died. Twisted masks of pain, rage, sadness, or surprise. Their very presence can damage the unshielded and their weapons often rot and kill with death mana. Black masks appear when too many urns are broken in quick succession however their true danger is they don''t seem to have a readily accessible urn. There is no easy weakness for these spirits of death and air can be banished but never truly killed. Finally, while most are mindless some seem to retain memories of their life or at least their death ¨C seeking out revenge on those that have wronged them and appearing out of sequence to attempt to strike at their betrayers.
Red Masks Located on the 5th floor and onwards, Red Masks replace the Orange and are simply a stronger form. Don''t let that fact lower your guard. Just because you have gotten used to the Orange masks doesn''t mean you can face them and survive.
Cult Masks Purple masked enemies found on the 7th floor onwards "Cult Masks" each have a slowing domain around them that can trap even the strongest of adventures. Immune to their own slowing magic, cultists each wear a single ceremonial knife and sacrifice those that enter their domain. Almost mockingly praying and stabbing adventurers moving at a snail¡¯s pace. Note: There are strange people that have taken to wearing purple masks and frequenting the bottom floors of the dungeons. Not all Cult masks are monsters and a few adventurers have stabbed what they thought was a dungeon attraction and turned out to be a baker or alchemist from the nearby town.
Urn These items store the essence of the monsters in the Dungeon. Most resemble vases and urns of some kind. Hence the name. Many are well hidden, typically increasing in difficulty the lower in the dungeon you progress. Adventurers should never break too many in short succession. Doing so causes you to unleash a Black Mask.
Grey Mask Passive mobs that exist solely to supply quests.
Boss Name Lore Description.
Mortifax the Whisperer A massive wisp filled with magical energy. Its Urn is a goblet cloaked in runes that causes anyone who holds it to hear whispers. If any were to drink from it they would become plagued by voices only they could hear. There is no cure from this. It does not technically damage you but the two who have done so are now heavily mentally taxed listening to voices constantly. To face this boss, an adventuring party must first find the boss''s Urn then place it on a pedestal deep within the dungeon. This starts a fake summoning ritual where Mortifax whispers to each party member their deepest darkest fears. After each party member gets a personalized whisper, a massive floating wave of wind mana and mind mana is formed in the center of the room. It fires off blasts of invisible gusts and lets out more whispers holding the barest amount of logic to them. Maddened noises or a forgotten language. It is recommended to ignore all the voices to prevent being controlled by them. Next The pedestal will slowly purify the goblet. When the ritual is complete Mortifax will be purified and banished, leaving a cup of liquid that enhances mental stability and intelligence rather than weakens it when drunk. This boss merely needs to be withstood once summoned, but attacking it speeds the process along and is heavily recommended.
The Lost Son A eyeless boy the size of a five-year-old. The boss mob is made entirely of decaying flesh and death mana. The only way to summon this boss mob is to find a packet of papers detailing the disappearance of a rather high-ranking official and her son. Once acquired, an adventuring party must then journey to two distinct chambers. One which holds the skull of the mother. And the other that holds The Lost Son. When fighting, The Lost Son fires off blasts of rending death mana. While also fighting with two knives. One enchanted to drain life mana, the other enchanted to infuse death mana. The Lost Son is a far more normal boss though It simply needs to be destroyed with strength and clever use of the son''s mother''s skull. The son hesitates while attacking anyone carrying the skull and that brief moment of hesitation is normally enough. All who face the son receive a reward of some forgotten empire.
King of Masks A forgotten king. Deep within the earth. The king must be summoned by placing a piece of each of its subjects Masks together in the mask room. The source of all coloured Masks the king has a pure white mask that flashes every colour of the rainbow. With each mask colour, the king takes on its corresponding subjects'' abilities but multiplied to insane levels. One minute a melee green mask the next a blue Caster. Each of its colours must be faced before one is deemed worthy and let into the royal treasury and even then, the king is only banished for a time. The treasury is filled with countless riches, but you must only take one gift per challenge. If you attempt to cheat the king, he is immediately enraged and summons dozens of black Masks to punish the cheater.
Catacombs of Eternity [Dungeon Information]
Known floors: 11. Traps: Plenty of mechanisms abound in this dungeon. Every single trap is pointed out in a weird scribbling script however that same script is used to point out secrets and loot so unless someone figures out how to translate it, we are stuck guessing if something is beneficial or dangerous. Loot: Loot is varied and sufficient. Plenty of "normal" system rewards along with a few themed pieces of some forgotten empire. Paintings jewelry and old artifacts with forgotten spells and uses, keep rewards exciting. UPDATE The strange silver baubles dropped by mobs on the top few floors and traded about in the fake city are NOT TRASH. Many are furious they had been tossing them out once they saw what they could get with them on some of the deepest floors. General Notes+Bosses: Unlike most other Dungeons. The Catacombs of Eternity has a disproportionate balance of mage prey. Warriors will find no easy time in this dungeon for all of its main enemies are wind creatures immune to nearly all physical damage. The other point to look out for is the theatrics. The dungeon of Eternity has every dungeon boss be a quest boss. Every single one. To even fight one of these bosses requires receiving a quest and some of those are hard to find. Some bosses can be found outside their questlines but are nearly impossible to beat when not in the correct quest position (most require certain quest items are found before being weakened to a more manageable level). Finally, there is a weird cult popping up around this dungeon for some unknown reason.
Fated Eternal Design: welcome my friends. Welcome to my dungeon. Come in come in!
A screen appears showing an ornate entrance of wrought iron and silver faint specs of Dust frozen in the air around them. As if frozen in time Bose¡¯s entrance speaks of an ancient civilization lost and newly unearthed. A few seconds after it appeared, the Camera glided slowly forward entering Bose¡¯s first floor. A long dusty hallway leads forward. Rimmed with cobwebs, faded paintings and mostly destroyed hieroglyphs, several motes of light surrounded by spinning air flows about.
Innearth: what do the paintings mean? Did you draw them yourself? Did you find an old civilization or something to excavate?
Fated Eternal Design: please keep questions for the end.
Abe: I''m bored. You''re moving too slowly! I bet this tour would be better with an explosion or two. Abe: Boom. Boom. The eternal dungeon blah blah BOOM. Abe: Great huh?
Amy: shh. You''ll have your turn. Stop heckling.
As the camera continues to sweep through the hall it suddenly opens up to a vast cavern. A whole city lies below with countless buildings and masked creatures patrolling both the ground and air. The very top of the ceiling is constantly emmiting a swirling grey mist that hides countless fire sourced lights giving the carvern the look of a city covered by an overcast sky.
Abe: HOW BIG IS THIS. IS IT A SINGLE FLOOR! ARE ALL YOUR FLOORS THIS BIG!!
Fated Eternal Design: 15 kilometers from end to end. Only this floor is like this. It works much better as the only city and it''s also much bigger than other floors. Technically this is 2 floors at once I split the basements of each house and the above ground area as a separate floor¡­ but the details don''t matter.
The camera rose into the air and spent time circling the city slowing down a dozen times to watch pairs and trios of adventures locked in battle against the Masks of the city. Each slow down was accompanied by a smooth orbit around the relevant party. Bose seems to be having fun with the camera controls. I can''t say I can complain in comparison to Amy''s control I like this a lot better. Most seem to be struggling but winning ¨C just barely winning ¨C and it''s only by seeing several groups in quick succession that the answer becomes known. Reinforcements stay back and each group faces a different number of enemies. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. A pair of completely covered adventurers face a pair of green and blue Masks ¨C one swinging wildly with a sharp but unimaginable sword while the other fiddles with a strange compass and mutters to itself searching the walls and ground. A group of 5 with varying clothing and weapons faces over a dozen Masks of different colours and a bored-looking robed person in a mask strolls around smashing random Masks with a long staff of sorts that appears to be embedded into their arm.
Abe: Anyone wants to guess what that bloke is thinking? "I came here to find a new mask but none of these will do."
Innearth: what great fashion everyone has. Except you. AND You! Who invited you to this fine dungeon?
Fated Eternal Design: he''s a regular. I''m not sure what he''s doing up here to be honest. He can pretty consistently fight in the 7th floor and onwards and has already unlocked the relevant shortcuts to skip these floors.
Innearth: shortcuts?
Fated Eternal Design: yeah each floor or two has a boss but they are only allowed to be faced if they haven''t been beaten yet. I have a hidden title that shows how deep an adventurer has delved and unlocks the way for them if they''ve already done a quest. Quests really don''t have the same impact the second time around and it''s boring watching them redo the same stuff again.
Innearth: ...wow I feel dumb for not thinking or implementing that yet. I should set up a system like this soon.
Abe: You need adventurers before shortcuts start becoming important <3
Innearth: Wow, rude. Hit me in the sore spot why don¡¯t you.
The Camera continued on, showing the rest of the adventurer interactions. A pair stand before a dull grey robed monster who points and exclaims wildly, talking to them without attacking. Another grey mask looks out of an alleyway. A street urchin looking for an easy mark. Yet another stares out of a glass window into the street below. Shaking its mask slightly disapprovingly as it watches the group.
Amy: what''s happening here?
Fated Eternal Design: Quest NPC. Civilian mask telling them their basement is haunted. Actually its using mind mana to convince them its sound is speech and using mind mana to infer their responses¡­sort of quasi language comprehension can be obtained that way.
Amy: ...wow I didn''t realize this was an option. I''m going make a greeter monster that tells everyone who exits my dungeon to have a nice day!
Abe: ¡°Have a nice day! Please bring all limbs and belongings with you. Do not bleed in the entranceway. We hope you come again¡±
Amy: Yeah! Super friendly like. I¡¯m sure adventurers will love them!
As the camera continued on more and more grey masked robes were shown. Each performing a role and pretending to be townsfolk. Some play at being shopkeepers¡¯ others have fake families and take little baby masks for a walk. Still others pretend to be criminals hiding from the "law" otherwise known as most of the active masked monsters. A group of Green masks drag a prisoner grey mask through the street ¨C thick grey chains holding them against the ground and preventing them from floating. A pair of grey masks accost another and drag them through the air to an allyway while other grey masks pretend they can¡¯t see. A grey mask ¡°sits¡± on the corner of the street with plenty of trinkets laid in front of them then gets chased away by a blue mask which tosses all of its trinkets telekinetically after them. As soon as this blue mask disappears the grey peddler scrambles around and resets their array of trinkets before exclaiming at some missing item ¨C another grey mask sneaking away with it in their grasp in the background. All these ¡°NPC¡¯s¡± either start a questline or give hints. When adventurers aren''t within eyesight, they continue performing their caricature at life. Practicing their lines for adventurers or redoing the same scenarios like broken records. Some quickly moving and ¡°resetting¡± themselves when adventurers pass out of view, others still getting more into the role and acting as if they are being observed at all times. The city was alive with small and large interactions alike and as long as you were around adventurers and not looking too closely, they all felt ¡°genuine¡±. After flowing between different groups of adventures in dozens of unique scenarios and skipping by similar ones the camera finally stopped at the side of a group walking up to a dilapidated church. The group passed a large golden urn between them laboriously taking turns to bear its burden all the while sweating and acting as if the very clearly light urn weight dozens of times more than it did.
Fated Eternal Design: ah. NEW CHALLENGERS APPROACH! The tour will be put on a brief hold as we watch this special show made just for you.
The group climbs a flight of 6 stairs spending way too much time on each step. Each step needed a break and each member of the group needed a rest after completing one stair ¨C no matter their build or apparent strength. The doors creaked slightly as they closed all sound of the city behind them immediately being shut off. None reacted to the sounds, instead approaching an altar before placing the urn carefully into a circular crevasse. Carefully setting the urn into its slot each member of the group glances slightly to the side as if reading something in the air.
Innearth: what''s happening?
Fated Eternal Design: sorry here.
The Whisperer questline 4/4
The Whisperer Urn has been brought to his place of worship! This ancient evil has been weakned but as it weakens its cage weakens as well. Prepare yourself. The finale is here. Mortifax approaches.
A Breeze rushes through the church and several candles flicker ominously. The group flinched as one and each grab their head and shake as if to rid themselves of a bad thought. Slowly mist rolls across the floor and into the Urn. Faster and faster it pools, faint faces and limbs appearing in the smoke as it travels up and into the Urn which had started to shake.
Fated Eternal Design: Mist materials can be made with Water and Air. Most of my mist is Water+Air mana attached to water. There¡¯s actually a secret boss the ¡°woman in the mist¡± that controls all the mist on this floor and a few others. No one has found her yet and I¡¯m kind of glad ¨C it adds so much to the ambiance when they can¡¯t see the one controlling all the special effects.
Without being drawn out too much longer, a giant wisp gathered in the air. Before it had finished its summoning, the group pulled out various weapons and attacked as one. A man in a black jumpsuit starts running sideways while flashing completely black daggers that ooze shadows. Blinking forwards in an impossibly fast motion the rogue stabs the wisp and then blinks back continuing to run sideways before reaching the corner of the room and disappearing into a shadow. In the front, a mage raises their arms in the air and exclaims something loudly causing a flash of purple light to appear and strike the wisp again and again. At first, it looks like The Whisperer is simply sitting there in the air doing nothing, but Innearth notices a woman walking closer and closer to the mage in front. Holding her arms out as if to embrace her teammate, the woman suddenly lunges forward knocking them to the ground a green glow pooling in her fingers as she pulls the mage to the ground and begins melting through their robe and sizzling the flesh below. Immediately another woman at the back dashes forward a blue light surrounding her and spreading to the pair on the ground causing the possessed women to immediately stop and then stand up in an embarrassed manner.
Abe: Terribly sorry my good sir. I don¡¯t know what came over me!
Innearth: Oh it''s no issue my dear. You were not yourself! No blame lies with your cute curls.
Amy: Guys, please. Your narration adds nothing to my enjoyment of this
It was at this moment that the wisp took a visible action. An expanding blade of wind rushing out and towards the distracted group as If angry at its lost puppet. A finger is raised and a circular shield of purple light is deployed blocking most of the blade and extending the boss battle. In the back, the blue glow woman is looking up. Her eyes cast completely blue while a halo of light forms above her head. Rushing forward once more the rogue slashes through The Whisperer. Daggers of darkness doing damage to the incorporeal and causing its second wind blade to miss entirely. Each adventurer strikes one after the other giving The Whisperer no time to fight back while the golden Urn begins to glow and cracks of light race across the wisp. Finally, with a scream The Whisperer vanished, leading an exhausted party to walk forwards to collect their prize.
Amy: Hey I''m curious. Was that a unique monster? How do you replace them? My first 3 bosses are all normal replaceable ones while there''s some unique stuff in my 4th boss that would be unreplaceable...
Fated Eternal Design: Unique yes...it ruins a part of the event to know but as my friends, I''m willing to tell you a secret. Fated Eternal Design: None of my bosses are ever killed just banished and healed up before starting once more. Their urns are fake and the real ones are hidden in my core room. You can heal a monster that broke its sub-core as long as its main core is undamaged and that¡¯s what I¡¯m currently doing.
Amy: ...wow okay. That feels like cheating but fine.
Innearth: I have a question. You chose eternal mana right? So far I haven''t really seen much "eternal"
Fated Eternal Design: You haven''t noticed? It''s pretty subtle...More eternal items are found further down.
Innearth: ...of course I noticed.
Abe: Why ever would you slow down the action. That ruins everything! everything needs to POP. I have my boss rooms all blanketed in enthalpy fields so the action is fast paced!
Fated Eternal Design: ...barbarian. You want to savour the action. Drag it out so it lasts longer.
Amy: What''s happening now?
Fated Eternal Design: oh, they are enhancing their wisdom by drinking mysterious liquids in a trusting manner.
Abe: I have enough wisdom to know not to drink weird drinks you find in a boss room.
Fated Eternal Design: It''s fine, the quest completion told them it was safe. Our journey continues!
Bose''s camera followed the group as they headed down into the church basement. The rooms transitioned to downwards sloping hallways with alcoves set every few meters carrying soft flames as the floor changed. Breaking away from the group Bose continues down and down, passing rooms that looked like sacrificial alters complete with suspicious red liquid flowing through channels in the ground and ceremonial knives on platforms. Deeper still they pass, a library containing a zombie child reading a book and further still they rush, passing monsters and bosses alike. Finally, Bose brings them to an unadorned fountain containing water that flows so slowly you would think it was a statue. Droplets float in the air and fall slowly to the pool below which somehow manages to reflect perfectly. It''s surface a mirror, marred by slow moving ripples and hiding anything in its depths.
Fated Eternal Design: This is the fountain of eternity. All acolytes of my order must make a pilgrimage here and drink from the sacred pool
Abe: ...what in the...why are you like this.
Fated Eternal Design: I rushed through the last area because a new disciple approaches and I didn''t want you to miss this!
From the far end of the room, a masked creature enters. They wear something indistinguishable from the masked monsters that frequent Bose¡¯s halls ¨C and if it weren¡¯t for the feet shuffling near the bottom of the robes, or the way they clung and revealed a body, Innearth would have thought them a monster as well. As the figure nears the center of the room the mask is raised revealing a tired looking woman''s face. Wrinkles and age were apparent as she raises her hands above her head unable to fully extend due to some issues with her back. Mumbling something in a low droning tone she steps up to the fountain and kneels, before plunging both hands into the pool. Her arms slow and bend slightly as they get closer and the further, she leans the stronger this effect becomes. Spreading across her whole body. At the point where her fingers just barely touch the water and her speed decreases to next to nothing, a second figure enters the room. This time it¡¯s a monster with an identical purple mask stepping through an alcove at the opposite end of the room who approaches the still woman. She really doesn¡¯t hold an ounce of fear towards what¡¯s happening despite her defenceless position huh? Is this some sort of mind mana trick? Eyes slowly track the monster that approaches with a mad glint of excitement. The monster glides down and extends an ethereal arm out of its robes and pulls out a white knife carved out of bone and inlaid in a blood-red metal. Calmly passing through the surroundings unaffected by the slowed down time, the monster cuts a small gash at the tip of the women¡¯s finger then scoops the bloodied water into her hand. Bringing the cupped hand up to her lips the purple mask forces her to drink and drink she does. Slowly but surely as if whatever spell the woman was affected by was torn apart piece by piece she started to move random parts of her body normally. A few of the larger wrinkles shrink and the smaller ones are smoothed over completely while the monster vacates the premises ¨C its job done. Tears start to form and fall as the women''s face begins moving normally once more and a wild happy laugh fills the air. Standing up she spins twice before re-donning her mask. Her exit from the room is noticeably more cheerful than her entrance.
ZeMadDoctor: Okay. That. I want to know what this whole¡­this whole thing is. What is happening? I got lost.
Abe: I''m...not commenting on this whole scenario. I don''t even know where to start.
Innearth: You just commented :3
Fated Eternal Design: Is it not much more fun without knowing everything? I told you. I have my believers. Fellow believers of the eternal. Is that not enough? She has drunk of me and me of her.
ZeMadDoctor: Yeah is this a unique material? What effects is it giving and why is there a woman devoting herself to you. What even is happening in your dungeon. I¡¯m curious. How does one get these "followers". What use are they?
Fated Eternal Design: I am the source of the eternal and the eternal flows through me. I shall kill death and through me, my followers may live in eternal bliss. I am the beginning middle and end, for all exist as one in my domain.
Amy: want my guess? I¡¯m pretty good at trying to figure out what''s happening.
Innearth: Sure what do you think is happening.
Amy: "Fated Eternal Design" is making a magical liquid that has ¡°eternal¡± properties. It¡¯s either a Water+Eternal combo or its Eternal magic attached to mercury or maybe eternal mana makes liquids or can be attached to water on its own or... something. It''s some eternal liquid obviously. Amy: Next some sapient has come along and used alchemy to turn his pool into some sort of anti aging potion. The potion also seems to give some resistance to the eternal fields he''s using. Elementary my fine sir.
Abe: m8. That makes so much sense. Real smart!
Innearth: Yeah Bose is that what¡¯s happening?
Fated Eternal Design: ¡­do any of you care to see my mask room?
Abe: Deflections as good as a confession for me. Yep! I¡¯m having plenty of fun what¡¯s the mask room?
Innearth felt slightly bad about how they had ruined Bose¡¯s trick. It felt like good natured messing around with him¡­ but that last surprise seemed to have deflated some of his excitement. Maybe we went a bit too far...of course, the exact reason for the fountain''s existence might be slightly different but if it is Bose isn¡¯t going to tell us. They flew through several walls to a completely sealed-off room full of urns lined as colour-coded simple vases. The walls were lined with interlocking rods of mental mana tied to different urns. A large ¡°fan¡± of several mind mana rods with small bobbles of mental mana along it spun using Kinetic mana at the top of the room. A medium sized ¡°tasselled¡± cylinder in the corner rolls out of the room and down a chute before returning. Other smaller creations vibrate or flow in random patterns while in the center of the room a monster with 3 masks of gold, silver and bronze floats about protecting the cache. There was much less theatrics in this room for the sole reason it was supposed to be impossible to get to, but it was one of the most active in terms of various constructs in motion. By the time they reached and started to review this room, Bose was back to normal.
Fated Eternal Design: This could be considered the heart of my dungeon. Not even my loyal followers are allowed in this room, for destroying these would break over half my questlines. The ghost spirits are revived in this room all my revivable bosses, normal, hidden, and sentinel are hosted in this room. One of the main purposes of this room is to scramble to connections. High levelled adventurers can follow the lines that connect urns to monsters and they really aren¡¯t supposed to get to these¡­I spent quite a while figuring out how to introduce static into the tethers and there is a web of ¡°fake caches¡± that bounce the connections around. Fated Eternal Design: ¡­surprisingly even though the visible connections are split and routed they retain the same functionality. Even though it looks strange they still can revive using their phylactery in this room. Fated Eternal Design: Anyways I¡¯ve combed through my halls and shown off what I believe to be the most exciting areas. This is the most complicated thing I made and while it needs to remain a secret from delvers, I still wanted to show it off. My genius is frightening is it not? Fated Eternal Design: Do any wish to gain knowledge at this point in the tour?
Innearth: Oh same question I had earlier. Ancient city, writing and runes. That true or did you make it up?
Fated Eternal Design: ¡­Innearth my apprentice. Just because It was brought forth from my mind doesn¡¯t mean it''s not true. You haven¡¯t gotten many adventuers yet correct? Well listen. You have to provide an experience and nothing you¡¯ve mentioned about your dungeon tells me you¡¯ve taken my advice to heart. Fated Eternal Design: In answer to your question. There is a city near me and if you excavate below it there are plenty of old artifacts from when the city was younger. I also appropriated some of the writing I found and filled in the blanks with similar looking ones. That doesn¡¯t mean the story I¡¯ve created does not exist! It exists enough to delight the adventurers and thus is made real through their belief. Good question. Anyone else?
Amy: ¡­about that reviving your monsters. Do you think I could manage something for my more unique monsters? I can¡¯t remake some of them.
Fated Eternal Design: I mean I told you ¨C keep the largest/main core alive and you should be able to heal the rest. Whether you can achieve the same results as me in terms of remote cores depends on your skill with mental mana. Anyone else?
ZeMadDoctor: Can I have some eternal materials? I simply can¡¯t manage to make any. I¡¯ve tried. I can owe you a favour. Or buy them outright. For some reason. There¡¯s a dearth of them on the market right now.
Fated Eternal Design: Of course.
The tour wound to a close and Innearth returned once more to his own expansion. A critical eye surveying everything he had while he considered what he had learned from both Amy and Bose¡¯s dungeons. Chapter 42. A day in -
Let''s talk about stats Barbee~ I¡¯m here to provide a quick lesson about stats. My funding is provided by the adventurer¡¯s guild who require me to remind you they believe ¡°knowledge should be shared¡± and ¡°not hoarded like a dragon¡±. Using a human as the example but reminding everyone that other species exist and have slightly different stat distributions. Lets go over this shall we? Every human gets +1 stat to every single ¡°open stat¡± every level. They also get +5 ¡°free stats¡± per level along with an extra +5 for each multiple of 5, 25, 125. That means at level 25 a human receives 15 free stats. Easy enough? Now onto the offered stats. A human starts off with 2 choices. STR, INT. Brawn or brain. Body or magic. Easy enough. Now going over 5 in either of these ¡°Splits¡± the stat into two. This can be completed at level 1 assuming all 5 free points + the unchangeable level point all go into one stat. Reaching 6 STR breaks STR into 3 STR & 3 DEX. INT becomes 3 INT & 3 WIS. Now I can tell I¡¯m losing some of you. You just want to go off and fight monsters and I get it! But, there¡¯s some important points to look out for in terms of stats that even the most ADHD of adventurers would appreciate. Okay, the first split is 6. After reaching 26 the second split happens opening up: STR, DEF*, DEX, VIT, INT, CLR, WIS, PER; respectively. *- fun trivia: according to credible sources, defense used to be called constitution before it was changed in 34AS to reduce confusion between it and vitality. Now, Based on each ¡°Stat¡± group being worth twice as much after each split (level ups distributing 1 point to each stat that¡¯s displayed gives +1 INT, +1 WIS after a split but only +1 INT before it), the ¡°Optimal¡± decision is to maximize the number of stats by splitting both physical and magical stats first at level 1 and 2 and then working your way up to splitting at 25 for each group. There¡¯s a counterpoint to this strategy which is the body titles. You get [Body of the Warrior] for splitting STR before INT and keeping physical stats double your magical. [Body of the Mage] For the opposite. [Perfect Body of the Warrior/Mage] for splitting either of the physical/magical stats at 25 before any magical/physical stats are split and then maintained with a a >4x distribution. This can only be done by putting everything into a single stat up till level 5. There is also a [Body of Balance] by splitting stats at the same time and keeping them within 1 of each other and a corresponding [Perfect Body of Balance] for splitting all 4 secondary stats at 26 simultaneously. These balance bodies require banking free stats between some levels to make sure they are distributed evenly. Why are the body titles important? Well other than a +20% +30% effectiveness of the physical/magical stats for warriors/mages with the regular/perfect titles? (+10%, +15% for balanced). These titles unlock most of the stronger classes! Both to obtain and keep! Okay. So now you are wondering if its best to go ¡°All In¡± and stick to one area permanently, only choosing physical or magical stats. Many would consider you correct, except for the fact that some stats on opposite sides have good synergy. Dex, especially when split into pure physical agility improves most mage¡¯s casting. It¡¯s no good having a high-speed thought process if your physical reflexes and spell casting can¡¯t keep up. Many physical tanks take clarity to prevent mental shenanigans and increase their calmness during battle, while other warriors choose PER to increase their perception of time up to match their reflexes. Which brings me to my final and most important point. The average human reaches level 10 before they are 3 years old. The system takes a few liberties for the young ¨C employing the same sort of decision making as it does for the dumbest monsters. Walked for the first time, clenched your fist or had a tantrum in a decidedly physical way? Obviously, you just picked strength! Stared at something or tried to talk? Look at you little smartie, 1 point to intelligence. This has led to certain cultures trying to convince babies to bank their points in till they are old enough to make a conscious decision. That never ends well for the system can''t be interfered with with mind magic and not distributing stats makes it harder to continue leveling up with increasing experience costs. Not to mention how hard it is to convince a child what the "optimal" choices for their life are. Most enter adulthood with arbitrary stat distributions and random classes that must be changed and releveled when they enter society. Despite how easy the body titles are to obtain; many don¡¯t have a single one. Sadly, their existence is less a reward by the system and more a side effect of stat distributions on a developing body. By keeping the correct stat distributions, the ¡°regular¡± ¡°warrior/mage/balance titles¡± can be obtained after roughly 5 levels of maintenance ¨C but the perfect ones are forever locked away. They exist only to tease those who chose ¡°poorly¡± as an infant and many wish they didn¡¯t exist. More information about the effects of split stats can be found in the next section ¡°The effects of stats on the body¡±
Adventuring Handbook entry. ¡°On stats¡± written by Tix the gnome. Innearth burned with a desire not to fall behind. The system really likes when I try new stuff and flip between different concepts? I can do that. I can do all the flipping! Okay, so for the most part experience is trickling in just for doing what I¡¯m doing¡­but it''s not enough. No. Especially because I don¡¯t have adventurers like the others. That¡¯s a whole revenue stream I¡¯m missing out on! Is there a way I can get in on that?... I can¡¯t really control adventurers coming¡­but I could still get delvers, right? Innearth hadn''t received a similar adventuring monster group since the otters but had received plenty of small and large animals that had briefly entered and left or been spooked when seeing a monster. I just need to market myself¡­lure some of the local monsters! That shouldn¡¯t be too hard. Trying to figure out what attracted monsters Innearth tried to think about the ones he had seen, heard about and spiced in a bit of ¡°common¡± knowledge. They seem to like attacking other monsters? Especially stronger ones that they think they can win against? Okay. Let''s try that. Placing a breadcrumb trail of slimes from his entrance to his first tutorial room Innearth waited for a monster to ¡°bite¡±. He didn¡¯t have to wait long. A pack of shadowolves started poking around his entrance as soon as a slime was placed within view of the outside. Cautiously sniffing about the wolves were half melded with the shadows that were cast by the sun into his domain. Noses would pop out of shadows and then retreat before with a pounce a flurry of motion happened. The pack ripped through several dozen slimes heading down past his tutorial area. Innearth couldn¡¯t even see how most of the slimes had died the pack of wolves almost acting as one entity moving between the shadows cast by his light torches as they explored briefly. I can work with this! Suddenly as one the group turned and trotted away. Moving up and out and gone before Innearth even got to appreciate their presence. ¡­of course I spoke too soon. Why did they stop at that specific point? It''s not like the trail of slimes stopped? Were the slimes too weak for them to bother? ¡­or was it because they were slimes and they got tired of biting into gooey balloons. Innearth tried again with a single lesser snake but this time nothing approached. Looking around Innearth noticed his scout was out. When he gets back I''ll ask him what the wolves are doing. Let¡¯s see. Checking the market, he saw very little about attracting wild monsters. For the most part there were guides to keep them out ¨C most dungeons didn''t like beasts as delvers for some reason and a few were about setting up traps that only targeted wild monsters but nothing was close to what Innearth wanted. I guess I can put this on hold until my scout feels like telling me his thoughts. I wonder how he¡¯s doing? ¡­he¡¯s been talking less and less as he gets bigger. I hope he wants to stay with me and not head out into the world abandoning me. That would be rude. I raised him! I treat him well don¡¯t I? Maybe I should think of a way to reward him. ¡­Anyways Flipping about! I haven¡¯t designed a monster from scratch for a few months. That¡¯s always good for points! One of Innearth''s strengths was his increasing expertise with circuits. New knowledge had started to run slightly dry ¨C he hadn¡¯t had any big breakthroughs in a while, but it was still a defining trait of his dungeon. He was able to design monsters capable of skills, singular complex spells built into their body using nothing but many small mostly tier 1 cores instead of a few tier 2 or even 3 cores. ¡­that being said the strength was also holding him back slightly. After seeing Amy¡¯s underwater beholder using a tier 4 core and large amount of high mana liquid acting like a second attunement core¡­the biggest difference was the variety of spells they had cast. It wasn¡¯t a single magical skill like with tier 2 cores or more complex tier 1 circuits. I think it would be a waste just to dump my circuits and focus on throwing more and more mana at the problem¡­using more and more layered and dense cores seem kind of lazy but also¡­thinking like that is limiting me so I should try and make a few higher-tiered cores just to see what I can make. It seems as good enough time as any to work on something else I¡¯ve been looking forwards to trying. Innearth had seen many sapient creatures in both Amy and Bose¡¯s tours. The problem was he had seen them through a flat window of the system. It wasn¡¯t the same as his regular sight that involved looking from all angles at once with faint peeks into the inner workings of something and an overlay of mana when he concentrated. He HAD done so with a dwarf however. I was able to see quite a lot. Honestly would have been better if the dwarf delved without all those pesky clothes I think I could have learned a lot more that way but what can I say. Clothes are used for defense and it makes sense to wear clothes in a dangerous place. Still annoying! While Innearth was remembering the dwarf, he had been designing the outline of its body. Two short legs a stout body and thick burly arms. A smooth face with a slit for a mouth and two clear crystal balls for eyes. After the shell Innearth had worked inwards. A tier 4 pure core in the center of its body >2000amu wrapped into 4 different thickness layers. Short half circuits of straight wires connecting the center to 4 attributed cores. Earth and Stone for the legs. Metal and Kinetic for the arms. Crystal for the head. If he was properly using his circuit knowledge this starfish shape would involve more connections and many more cores, but this was enough for an ¡°uncorrupted¡± test attempt. I¡¯m still not able to fully design the eventual skill a monster will have from scratch, but I¡¯ve gotten pretty good at figuring out what type of skill they get. Defensive or Offensive circuits look and feel quite a bit different. The idea here is that the dwarf won¡¯t have a single spell per circuit however. It''s going to use multiple spells cast from different places¡­ somehow. Pure mana doesn¡¯t really do anything so the attributed cores help with the spells it will be able to cast. That makes sense, I think. Moving on! Ripping out the "solid" silicon model he had designed, Innearth placed strips of alternating liquid crystal muscles around "metal mana metal bones". Crystal bones are too brittle at times sadly. Metal is stronger than earth for this and might have some nice synergy with the metal core. Limbs were pulled apart and re-added. Sockets that allowed free movement were made then altered into constrained directions as Innearth tried to mimic the way the dwarven visitor had moved. Adding minuscule lines of kinetic crystals and a single healing potion sack next to the central core Innearth pushed the design into ¡°Elite¡± territory. ¡­Not wanting to ignore his shiny void affinity for a single monster that mattered, he moved the metal core into the bottom center of the monster''s chest ¨C replacing it with a void core. Adding a long fingernail of void silicon onto that hand he next added ¡°pores¡± of mana on the hands and feet. Quickly giving what he had a once over Innearth paused at his legs and feet. ...I should add a 3rd one just to be safe. No. The dwarf had two legs. I want to use two legs! How about this? Innearth added faint kinetic soles onto both of the crystal dwarves toeless feet, then added a matching plate in its head pulling it upwards. ¡­Or maybe? Removing the head plate he instead worked his way down the top of the body replacing every metal bone with a ¡°directionless gravity/weightless¡± rod wrapped in a shell of metal mana. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Adding more of the bones now that they were lighter Innearth added rebar like directionless gravity rods across the chest and head protecting the cores in those locations. Cages of metal made ribcages and skulls, and then matching forearm and leg cages that had no natural equivalent. Okay, this should be enough? Setting it to spawn in the beginner area, Innearth attempted to print. ¡­This monster cost just under his maximum of 6218amu¡­anymore and he would not have been able to use the printing function. Setting it to spawn on his second floor Innearth pulled back and waited. ¡­And waited. I wonder if this would have taken less time to make manually? No probably not. As the dwarf formed Innearth felt his influence flutter in anticipation. All of his attention was diverted from all the small tasks he was constantly doing to focus on this one spot. This monster doesn''t matter. It doesn''t need to be great. It''s just for experience! I just made this to see if I could¡­and make it seem like a mine. If it doesn¡¯t work, no biggy. Innearth lied to himself while fully knowing if his redemption for legs failed, he would be devastated. With the amount of work he put in if this monster couldn¡¯t use its legs Innearth might stick to wheels for years and years. The crystal dwarf appeared ¨C and immediately clutched its chest and fell to the ground. Dammit. It didn¡¯t work. What went wrong? It can maybe crawl around on its hands and knees? As Innearth was proving to himself that he couldn''t make a humanoid monster the dwarf stood up. Its chest heaving and its hands clenching and unclenching ¨C mana rushing out into the world. Okay, now its standing¡­whats wrong with it? Does it have any defects? Its standing at least. I think the legs work! Looking down at itself the monster stabbed its own hand with its void claw. Reaching down to the stone it infused its will into the floor and slowly moulded the ground like clay as it made thick bulky gloves. Going from heaving and in pain to simply uncomfortable the monster stabilized as it wrapped its arms and legs in stone that grew denser with mana and then kept its arms intact. I think¡­I think it¡¯s getting better after its mana pores have been blocked but I don¡¯t really know why it had issues in the first place? Its worked for other monsters why did it break on this one? I guess I¡¯ll see if anyone else has had this problem
Fated Eternal Design: Abe I''m telling you. Adventurers hate being blinded. They love a good monster fight and can pretty cheerfully fight through hoards of monsters and dangerous looking traps¡­ but you shouldn''t hit them with these "flashbangs" if you want them to keep coming back.
Abe: "flashbooms" and they only get hit by them if they take the boring shortcuts. There''s also monsters that focus all their mana into creating the loudest sound ever in those shortcuts called "bangbooms".
Innearth: Hey guys so this is what''s happening. Any thoughts?
¡­
Abe: Oh! Yeah, I gotchu. Easy question. I bought a primer that had that information in it so send you just that part in a second. Before I do though I want more input okay? Abe: So what do you think? Punish adventurers that take the boring paths?
Innearth: You do you. Personally either offer the shortcut or don''t. If your offering it maybe don''t punish them for using it?
Abe: they can use them safely if they''ve already passed through the area. It''s just trying to skip ahead that gets the worse treatment.
Innearth: ¡­shouldn¡¯t you figure out how to stop them if they are trying to skip ahead? Not punish? Why offer the option if you¡¯re going punish those that take it?
Abe: If they think they are strong enough to skip to the good stuff they can deal with the consequences of not hitting everything¡­besides who am I to block people from wanting to go fast! I have to give them a trial though if they skip the normal one. It makes sense!
Innearth: Alright. That¡¯s fine. Should be fine. Thanks for the information!
Abe: np, np. Anyways! Bose Look it''s fine. I¡¯m not scaring adventurers away¡­
Reading the small snippet of the primer Abe had sent, Innearth read over the symptoms and their cause. Most was pretty self explanatory, but it was good to have it spelled out sometimes.
Mana dehydration. Dungeon monsters survive inside your influence but also consume mana. Unless you truly break something, a monster should be able to live off its own regeneration perpetually with no external aid. However¡­larger and stronger monsters with more mana requirements or ¡°organs¡± and with stronger souls require more and more mana to survive. If placed in an area with too low of an environmental concentration your monsters might start to leak mana faster than they regenerate it. If this happens for a while, or if you spawn a monster with 0 mana stored, they will begin to break down. If they can¡¯t consume their own mana they will eventually die.
The rest of the packet was just a list of various ¡°surface environmental mana levels¡±, corresponding floor mana and a list of core/regular organ requirements and the equivalent mana levels to host them safely. All the numbers were very inexact. It was also never really a big problem. Floor mana increased exponentially while monster mana requirements were a lower mostly linear requirement. Several floors deep and it quickly reached a staggering concentration that didn¡¯t even need to be Dungeons don¡¯t normally put strong monsters on higher floors¡­this was normally never a ¡°problem¡± it only ever really happened when a core got experimental as Innearth had just done. ¡­the crystal dwarf had moved down 2 floors stopping on the last of the beginner floors to regenerate up to full mana. They had also begun to craft. Not delicate items but large stone supports for the ceiling ¨C not fully needed with Innearth¡¯s influence but they did add to the ambiance¡­and it did help him slightly. Next the monster moved back to the 2nd floor and began to craft a short rail of silver. Parallel lines pumped with metal mana and then marked with a long scratch as the crystal dwarf dragged his void fingernail down its full length and pumped mana in a swirling pattern. A deep glowing groove was left, with occasional dashes. Starting and stopping several times to regenerate mana or move to the large ¡°mining rooms¡± Innearth had sprinkled throughout the beginner floors the monster worked away. You¡­hey uh, are you doing this because you know what your purpose is and then saw me being disappointed when you had mana dehydration? Don¡¯t worry! You¡¯re definitely doing great. Feeling weird trying to console his monster Innearth really did appreciate the work they were putting in. A tier 4 core was strange. Innearth had never felt like this for his weaker monsters. I''ll help. Running strips of Iron through his halls Innearth created a quick loop through his whole second floor then made matching loops on his 3rd and 4th floors. Connecting each loop with short side rails Innearth turned to watch the crystal dwarf come back to find kilometres of track in the time it took them to make a few meters. Nodding after seeing them the dwarf started the laborious process of making their channels throughout the whole railway. As the dwarf laid glowing strips Innearth turned to other tasks. I wonder what they wanted this for? Decoration, right? I could use it myself! Oh! I know! Innearth flipped between a few uses for the railway and settled on swapping the crazy ball mothers from a ¡°turtle¡± shape to a ¡°minecart¡± shape. Ever since he saw Bose¡¯s theme¡­and the number of adventurers delving him¡­Innearth felt the difference a true theme could make. Even comparing Amy and Bose he saw the difference. Amy had a dozen groups delving her. Bose had hundreds of people. He had been researching dwarves on and off ever since one had arrived at him and found a lot of information. Most dungeons agreed dwarven adventurers were rare. Most older dwarves preferred staying in their own underground communities getting drunk and crafting constantly. Some mined on the side, but it was mostly a hobby for those. The true way dwarves gathered materials was through artifacts. Tools that would strip metal from the earth without having to raise an arm. Long drills that dug through the earth creating conveyor belts behind them out of the earth they passed through sifting through the ground and sending back ¡°good¡± materials. Small golems of staggering runework whose sole purpose was to head out across the land or down into caves and gather vast swaths of mana-rich materials in their huge spacial storages. So Innearth¡¯s initial idea from the dictionary of a bunch of pickaxe wielding midgets was slightly removed from reality¡­humans were much more likely to use pickaxes and the stereotype was unfounded. That being said. Dwarves didn¡¯t care. From what he could tell if he depicted dwarves as pickaxe wielding sapients they wouldn¡¯t be offended, and the worst case would be not attracting any. The crystal dwarf had made the whole loop on one side of the rail and was switching over to infuse the opposite side. ...I''m still not sure what they are doing...I might as well start on the minecart for now. Quickly designing a box with 4 wheels that fit perfectly into the groove Innearth transferred the important connections and circuit over from the previous mother to the new. While I''m working on this I might as well see if I can fix the connection somewhat. Trying once again to solve his ongoing problem Innearth fiddled and cursed and thought and was fully stumped. Currently, there was a pair of mental cubes between balls and mother. They were designed mostly as a one-way connection that existed to help the mother control its unruly ¡°children¡±. If a crazy ball died Innearth could pull the block out and remake it into a new ball but that was slightly unwieldy¡­it took much more effort and attention, then printing a new ball and was¡­an annoying process. I hate having to make weak monsters all the time. Sure I can spawn them with the system now bit I still have to think about spawning them and pay the mana cost. Trying to think of a better way of dealing with the connection and failing at attaching a new connection once it was made Innearth caved. Innearth finally caved and asked Bose for help.
Innearth: Hey, you''re a mental mana dungeon right? Want to help me out with this monster setup?
Fated Eternal Design: !!! Of course my apprentice! I''ve been waiting for you to ask me for assistance for ages!
Sharing his schematic and explaining the problem Innearth asked for help with something that wasn''t urgent...for probably the first time in his life.
Fated Eternal Design: Hey okay, so a few things do you want me to help slightly or do you want to work on this whole monster pair together? I didn''t realize you used air in any of your monsters and that earth and air made such an excitable little ball when combined.
Innearth: if you want to help fully, you can, but I feel like I need to give something in return.
Fated Eternal Design: Nonsense! It''s my job to help my apprentice out! Fated Eternal Design: So, here''s how I see it. You need an intermediary. Instead of making a mental mana pair you should make a hub of sorts. Make two pairs and join them together in the middle. The alternative method would be setting up your mother to not have the connection embedded in it. Just make a tube that can hold a cube and swap it out when a ball dies. I don''t recommend that however, building the connection directly into the monster is part of what¡¯s letting it have as strong of a connection and control as it currently has. Fated Eternal Design: My ¡°Urn network¡± has dozens of nodes that bounce signals around its a much cleaner solution.
Innearth: well now hearing you say that I feel pretty dumb. I should have been able to figure that out.
Fated Eternal Design: No problem! I think you told me about these before and I mentioned having a stronger connection between them so the mother could heal the balls back? I take that back now. Definitely set up a hub!
Innearth: Great. I think my other goal is to figure out how to make it, so I don''t have to manually make all the crazy balls every time they die. Any thoughts?
Fated Eternal Design: I...hmmm...I''m not sure if that''s possible but if anything were to work you would probably have to make a monster with a tier 4 core or higher. That sounds like a life problem. You could ask Amy? I haven¡¯t heard of her finding out anything in that direction though.
Innearth: yeah, I checked there''s nothing on the market for that but I can feel it''s possible somehow...I''ll work on it.
Fated Eternal Design: good luck!
Setting up a closed off room in his 2nd floor Innearth thought about what he wanted from the design. Ideally, it would be the least amount of work for him as possible going forward. First, he made a dozen thin strips of mental mana material...they didn''t have a goal other than as an easy connection point and Innearth made sure to think of connections while setting them up. Next he lined up 10 paired cubes on one side and placed them inside his minecart. Switching to the other side he lay another 10 cubes and paired them with 10 Earthen balls filled with Air for the crazy balls. The cart was given life first and then the balls one by one by one were added. As more connections were made the balls started to shake slightly. Their mother¡¯s hold over them getting weaker and weaker as each new one was added. By the 9th, the balls were jumping up and down and by the 10th, a ball actually jumped away. Bouncing down the hall as the minecart mother decided it was unable to handle that many. Rolling forwards slightly the minecart moved around and around the track ¨C seeming content with its slightly trapped existence. Walking out of a side tunnel just in time to see the minecart fly past the dwarf froze then looked¡­annoyed? What? Didn''t you want me to use the tracks like this? Wandering over to the first smaller strip the Dwarven monster placed a pair of heavily scratched up wheels that instantly locked into place. Connecting them with a bridge of force he laid a platform on top ¨C a large rectangular plate that sat perfectly balanced on only two wheels. Stepping onto his contraption and wheeling back and forth just by leaning forwards and back and Innearth got it. He got the original goal even if he liked what he had done with it instead. Don''t worry! That''s great too! Is it a shortcut for adventurers? Or something for monsters to ride? Seeming frustrated by its lack of communication the dwarf paced before Innearth realized what to do. Setting up a slime mental connection ¨C copying his scout¡¯s debriefing station to facilitate a mostly two-way communication with his monster. ¡°What is my purpose?¡± ...Well that''s an existential question Innearth had not been expecting to hear from his monsters. ¡°My being feels...open and large but you haven''t designed me for combat and I feel no desire to fight. Look. This finger cannot be used to attack it''d too fragile to whip about I feel...I feel lost. I have a purpose but I don''t know what it is.¡± You...uh. You are supposed to help me attract any adventurers that will inevitably arrive. Make sure they are excited when they see my first few floors and tell more adventurers. It''s a really important job. I''m counting on you okay? Make some decorations? Some traps? Seeming relieved the dwarf nodded. ¡°That is acceptable. Thank you for telling me my purpose. With this...with this, I can continue. Can...this small one ask for a favour?¡± Sure. What is it? ¡°I require more materials if my job is to truly live up to the goal you have of me. There is plenty of silver and stone and even some great infused materials but...some things require more than just those. If not I can work with what I have been given! Don''t worry.¡± Okay yeah. Sure I can make a room for you. Looking around Innearth dug a larger 6x7m room out of the wall and started filling with all the materials he could think of. Piles of alternating metal with every flavour of mana he knew, then a line of crystals infused with singular elements. Seeing those the dwarf grew very excited. ¡°Crystals are very good at conducting storing and altering mana, master! I can do a lot with these.¡± No problem. I am curious about something however. I just made you...how do you know that about crystals? ¡°..You made me with the desire for me to create did you not? I just learned the purpose with which I was created! That is why I know how to properly use these materials.¡± ...To be honest, I made him with the purpose of making a tier 4 core and humanoid shape for ambiance...I only started thinking about him making stuff when I saw him already doing so. ...I guess intent works in weird ways? Ah well I guess it''s fine. Watching for a few minutes Innearth saw the dwarf stretch out wires and string together small crystal shards from a fire crystal. Pushing mana down the line set off a stream of fire from every crystal like a line of stretched out candle flames. Twisting the crystals while they still streamed out the dwarf aligned all the ¡°Shards¡±, so their flames were facing the same direction. Next they froze each with force and slowly slowly embedded the whole line into the stone floor. Pulling more wire out of a block of iron the dwarf twisted a complicated shape that was embedded into another stone and then marked by glowing rivets as the dwarf carved large scratches of mana. Waving his hand near them produced a slow pulse of mana and the dwarf frowned before finding a kinetic crystal and crushing it into dust. Brushing the carving pulled the kinetic crystals into the crevices where they fused and tinted the carving purple. This time when movement was made in front of the plate, a solid stream of mana was produced and pulled through the line towards the candle-like flames. Satisfied with his trap the dwarf moved to another, and another. Making his way through the pile and making a sizable number of small devices. Each combined in ways to give different results. Bursts of a deadly miasma pooled out of death crystals and lingered in the air. Cloying clouds of confusing mental mana that streamed out in a mist then faded away to nothing. Each time a certain critical mass of traps was made, the dwarf would pick them all up and wander out into the halls. Each time the dwarf had to enchant something, their mana would drop low and they would be forced to rest. As they continued on Innearth secretly tried to copy them by eating out shapes that matched or making a void ¡°pencil¡± and drawing the shapes but nothing Innearth did, made any effect. Okay, fine. Keep your secrets. As Innearth was just starting to get annoyed by the whole process, he received a excited message from Abe.
Abe: Hey! Bro! Guess what I just learned!
Innearth: What?
Abe: I was talking to Abyss and¡­we can make something together! Okay. Technically we can¡¯t yet¡­ but with him we can! This is how we can advance faster! Paired monster design does a lot! Abe: You in? Abyss will make us a paired room and then sit back and we can bounce stuff around together. It will be great!
Innearth: ¡­sure. Why not. Could be fun ¨C what do I have to do?
Chapter 43. A day in the life of Doc.
Special personal transfer report. Preface: The concerning dungeon is still on our watch list. The system hasn''t found fault in it nor do deeper scans come up with issues but there are still a solid group advocating for its destruction. Demonic dungeons are dangerous for any demon they summon could break out of the Dungeon and attack the surroundings. Either through carelessness, the core getting prematurely destroyed or through deliberate harm, demonic dungeons are regularly insanity tagged by the system and this one has only been allowed to stay after a thorough review and with the caveat of the Golden goddess being stationed there. She is there to make periodic checks of both the defenses and security threats the concerning dungeon supplies and to immediately put it down according to her own judgement. Personal information:
Name: Aurum Warbreaker. Personnel Rank: Gold. Level: 187 Class: Unknown. Metal based and deemed strong enough to deal with any threat the concerning dungeon provides. Race: Halfling (Dwarven mother, human father)
This transfer has been approved by Superintendent Brown. Dated K.11.1988 Post System.
Excerpt from the police database of the city Warren 1998AS
ZeMadDoctor: I believe it''s my turn to share a bit. I don''t feel the need to show off. But. Due to the two that have already happened. And Abe¡¯s insistence that he will show his soon. I''ve determined it''s only fair. ZeMadDoctor: Information you''ve been sharing.
Monster Name Lore Description.
Lab Rat A humanoid rat that is dressed in tattered clothing and carrying various weapons depending on the area. Weapons are usually suppression-type shots of paralyzing and sticky goo''s but at critical points they switch to disintegrating shots of void.
Demons At least partially safe demons. Warning, Demons pose far greater threat than equivalent monsters. Because of their danger and containment inside this dungeon it is currently one of the only places in the world you can safely fight demons without summoning them yourself.
The Concerning Dungeon [Dungeon Information]
Known floors: 10. Traps: This dungeon employes several puzzle rooms with strange goals as its main attraction. Solutions are varied however and most of these puzzles can be solved by thinking outside the box. Loot: Loot is supplied based upon performance in the puzzle rooms. If a group completes a room in a new way they get relatively good system loot. If they ask someone else for the solution and copy them rewards diminish. General Notes+Bosses: Most of the challenges can instead be completed by fighting a demon but in every single case that is the worse choice. The "Skip" demons are contained in large rooms below most testing chambers and are all stronger than they have any right to be. Which brings us to our main note for the concerning dungeon. A "Special inspector" is frequently found observing the dungeon. Despite this dungeon existing a few kilometers south of the great dungeon belt, this dungeon is not considered a neutral area. Due to the special inspector waltzing in, this dungeon follows Warren Laws. The inspector acts both as judge and jury and actions and existences that are usually safe in the neutral "great dungeon belt" such as: necromancy, blood magic, or kill stealing; are punished if done in sight of the SI. Warren laws are the laws of civilization. If anyone has a problem with them they can take it up with me in my office - look for the gold house on top of the dungeon entrance. ~GG
Innearth grew slightly excited when Doc started sharing. He had to admit they were the dungeon they were interested in seeing the most. The experimentation he was doing for experimentation''s sake. The excitement! The past few weeks had gone by quickly, Innearth and Abe had made a monster. Innearth¡¯s scout had given him the note that wild monsters liked to eat their prey and, knowing that, Innearth was able to set up more bait. A few monster incursions had happened and Innearth figured out how to reward them with quest items ¨C something that took a while to convince the system he wanted to do. The weeks could be summed up as Innearth had gained quite a few levels but was just short of tier 5. As the last of the group entered the stream, the noticeably less enthusiastically shared information disappeared. The room beyond was displayed in a simple manner, with square white tiles lining the walls, ceiling and floor. Each looked to be reinforced somehow and was set in a slightly glowing calking. The result was brightly lit from all directions with no visible light sources while maintaining a sterile and futuristic feeling. Doc used Abyss''s ¡°teleporting still camera¡± method. First, he showed a bunch of mostly empty corridors, with dwarf-sized upright Rats holding weapons and pointed out dozens of "panic doors" similar to the one outside Innearth¡¯s core room. Most had "Swiss cheese" cutouts or holes letting influence through ¨C however some were solid metal.
ZeMadDoctor: There''s a few more defences around here as well. If you look at this hallway. The end has a mana lure I made out of a cracked tier 3 core given life. It constantly outputs a sweet source of mana that attracts demons. This whole hall''s ceiling can be brought down to mush a demon to paste and it¡¯s held up by kinetic mana. When a demon sucks mana out of the material it falls and crushes anything beneath it. ZeMadDoctor: These are mainly traps for demons not adventurers however...let me bring you further down. I can show you more.
The camera blipped down and started showing off Doc¡¯s more interesting floors. Once you went down to floor 4 the hallways opened up into several large rooms each with a numbered pedestal saying "testing chamber XXX" where XXX was a 3-digit zero led number. Testing chambers 001-025 were for the most part in parallel positions such that you didn''t have to complete them all just one depending upon where you came across them. After those 25 were two paths (an "even path from 026-036 and an "odd path" from 027-037) they were split roughly into "physical" and "magical" solutions. Finally, there were chambers 038-046 which were sequentially setup and had harder and harder tests. Each testing chamber was a puzzle of sorts, with items like a "testing cube" and both small and large red buttons that had to be pushed or activated in various ways and orders. Most if not all of them had portals. The first 25 had activatable teleports that were open for less than 10s after a button was pressed. The last few groups however had "permanent" portals, linking areas of the testing area to each other. They also had more dangerous requirements ¨C turrets were set up that could rapidly fire metal balls or burning liquid at either careless adventures or errant demons that came through the portals. For small demons did wander in through the open doorways to the void constantly. White spinning fans of feathers and ears would float in and up. They had a bunch of parts that would appear and disappear as if breathing in and out of existence, while their feathers seemed to be connected to an invisible ball ¨C no mana providing any indication of how they were attached. All light that passed through these angelic floating feathers was altered¡­providing a glimpse of various strange ¡°mirror¡± images of the room ¨C with faces in the wall, or bubbles that floated about and made everything seem like it was underwater. As these demon birds floated through the room, the air they passed through was altered as well ¨C becoming tinged in colours or radioactive light. Their path was thick and suffocating as if suddenly the light passing through had mass...or maybe the air simply had a much greater weight. Seeking, bulbed, clear and iridescent tentacles would poke through the portals and grab stuff not tied down ¨C seeming to pass through items to grab hold of its core, before pulling it back to their owner. The owner itself was unable or unwilling to fit through the small doorway, but the crunching noises and wet shrieks that leaked through every time it ate a bag, or a stone, or a loose turret, unnerved Innearth all the way through the screen. Still other lesser demons would roll or run or crawl or swim through the portals ¨C broken geometric shapes with too many tongues or teeth or eyes peeking through. Each ¡°Unique¡± and different, but when seen repeatedly the same. Similar to how ¡°no two snowflakes are identical¡± and yet when you see several snowflakes in a row they all start to feel the same. Special little paradoxes of body horror that bled mana and rainbow blood as they entered the firing range of Doc¡¯s turrets. Despite their quantity and inherent¡­weirdness, none of the lesser demons that Innearth saw gave a similar pressure or irrational mental fear that the one he had faced a year ago. They still make me uncomfortable when staring directly at them but¡­I can see what Doc was talking about with them not being that bad. I¡­don¡¯t know if I want to spawn a small demon in my own dungeon just yet but¡­ it''s fine to watch through the screen?
Innearth: Hey how dangerous are these portals?
ZeMadDoctor: They are...hmm. The first few ones were pretty bad. These ones I''m letting the adventurers use are "relatively" safe. I''ve had two 3rd rank ones appear but for the most part, the stronger demons don''t notice the portals when they are this close and small. The shrunk void path has been reinforced as well and I''m getting better and better at blocking them from coming through. ZeMadDoctor: The only reason it''s taking this long is I don''t really like expanding through the void. Even though It lets me reinforce the path. Some of the things in there...some can and have eaten my influence and that feels absolutely horrendous.
Innearth shuddered. Yeah, I didn''t know that was possible. Another feather fan drifted in this one leaving a faint white sort of mist behind it that falls and covers the ground in a waxy sheen.
ZeMadDoctor: Wait. Let me check something. Sorry for pausing partway through but I want to check some stuff.
Doc started pouring a faint trickle of water towards the Demon watching as it passes through the feather and falls as a milky substance
ZeMadDoctor: Yes!
Abe: What it is?
ZeMadDoctor: Candle wax completes my set! It joins two chains together and. One sec.
The Camera turned to testing chamber 029 and was abandoned as Doc went off to experiment on something out of sight. 029 was a tall room with slick frictionless walls. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. I recognize the directionless kinetic material! At the top of the room, 35 meters up, a pedestal hangs carrying a small red cube. The door has a matching red slot and an adventuring group currently is attempting to knock the cube down to them. The group has 3 "mages" all getting in each other''s way as they shoot various magical projectiles upwards. Bullets of different coloured fires, slow moving pellets of grey, arcs of lightning and spinning cubes of purple force. While the group bombarded the strangely unaffected top, one completely armoured dude stood helplessly at the back. He had tossed a chained pair of hammers up to it once at the start and then given up relatively quickly when it fell ineffectually to the ground. Finally giving up when they admitted their projectiles weren¡¯t effective the spells slow down and stop. One of the mages spins around slowly looking at the walls before deciding the next course of action. Turning to the wall he shoots out several hazy strips of force nearly invisible in the light. Each strip hits the frictionless wall and stops ¨C creating a rough set of dangerous looking stairs. Turning to his group member he sticks his thumbs up watching as the armoured man visibly sighs before walking over and testing the hazy transparent platform. It dips ever so slightly under his weight and he turns to stare back at the ¡°still grinning, still offering a thumbs up¡± mage. Visibly sighing in the direction of his teammate, the armoured warrior begins to climb the questionably stable set of stairs. 30 meters up he looks down and makes a pointed look. The mage nods upwards seeing the problem and shoots several arcs of force once more. Each shot hits and sinks into the previous shots slowly but surely stacking in a mostly vertical mostly flat makeshift bridge. The warrior sighed once more ¨C the action becoming a habit at this point - before carefully making his way to the center of the room. Reaching the hanging dais, the man pulls the cube out of its perch ¨C the cube sticking and shaking slightly before being ripped out when a second hand is used as leverage. Next turning to the ground, he considers the drop, then the way back. Flipping between the two the warrior decides the drop is better and hypes himself up for the action. Attempting a "cool" hop, the warrior drops the full 35 meters ¨C hitting the ground feet first then bending down into a half roll before agily popping up into a standing position¡­and then tripping. Picking himself back up the warrior spends all of a second reorienting himself before turning to his teammates. A wide grin split his face as he offered an identical thumbs up to the one he had been given and turned without giving them a chance to react. Sauntering over to the doors the warrior acts as if his landing was significantly more impressive than it was, while not seeing the look his teammates shared behind his back. At that moment Doc returned.
ZeMadDoctor: OH! I love the groups that don''t just fly up they come up with much more interesting results. Those force¡­platforms. That looks like a shield skill? Humans are just so versatile and fascinating. ZeMadDoctor: Anyways I finished room 047! ZeMadDoctor: Come see!
Doc pulled the Camera over to his newest testing chamber ¨C this one his largest yet. 50mx50mx15m the room held various artifacts and materials in different distinct areas. Dozens of small platforms and holes sprinkled the room with the centrepiece being a ¡°Island¡± pillar surrounded by a doughnut-shaped portal that connected the floor to the ceiling. Several items fell endlessly in this vertical portal loop ¨C some that needed to be collected, others that fell as obstacles.
ZeMadDoctor: Okay in order. Rock to wood. Organic matter (Including the wood) to unidentifiable green goo. Green goo to blueish blood. Blood no matter the colour to pure water. Water to wax. Wax to bone. Bone to emerald! ZeMadDoctor: The goal of this room is to take any of the surrounding stone, transmute it to liquid wax and place in a mould before it cools! Then transmute the shape into emerald and place it in the door to open it! There are also a few dead ends: wood to ash, water to smoke, bone to fire, bone to unstable powder that explodes in your face, bone to rock again...quite a few bone transformations. Those break the chain and force a group to restart. ZeMadDoctor: There are also a few more random ones in the room that are not connected to this list (hair to snakes is the best) and several are dangerous if handled carelessly...bone to fire sounds dangerous but it turns out bone to emerald does more damage to someone who touches an errant bone to it.
Amy: Who''s touching their bones to stuff? I mean I get it; fragile adventurers are really dumb sometimes ¨C but how do the logistics of that even work?
ZeMadDoctor: Someone had an arm bone poking out...it wasn''t pretty. The emeralds had to be removed before the bones could be revealed. ZeMadDoctor: Anyways. Beyond here is more personal experimentations and isn''t really meant for adventurers.
Doc pulled them through several halls with cages of stronger demons. Several passed that made Innearth¡¯s brain hurt ¨C the worst being a humanoid demon with two legs that head down and somehow become 3 once they touch the ground. Its arm was also bent up and pushed straight through its own head it''s human-like hands wiggling about and its lamprey-like mouth grinning unharmed. Looking at each part the demon had looked fine ¨C the head was whole with no hole for example and the arm was straight without bending or breaking in any position¡­But as soon as you attempted to observe the whole. As soon as you saw its arm passed neither in front nor behind the head. Shifting slightly, it suddenly appeared as if it was both in front of and behind the head at the same time¡­but it didn¡¯t split in two. It didn¡¯t make sense and trying to force it to make sense ¨C trying to explain what he was seeing ¨C hurt Innearth¡¯s mind in some fundamental way. Finally, Doc stopped at a kinetic barred...something. There was a cage and there was definitely something inside the cage¡­but Innearth couldn''t see what it was. It was like a blob of space simply didn''t exist...even through a Camera. Not invisible but removed from his mind somehow ¨C even through a screen.
Abe: what in the...doc what am I looking at. I can''t see it.
ZeMadDoctor: I don''t know! Isn¡¯t that interesting? I barely managed to contain it and it kills any monster I put in this cage¡­but I can¡¯t see the monsters die. Just the messy results afterwards. ZeMadDoctor: Anyways. Let''s talk about something before we continue. ZeMadDoctor: I love humans and their skills. They are so varied and useful. I''ve been studying them quite a bit you know. ZeMadDoctor: I''ve also taken to figuring out stats and health. Do you know how weird health is? It''s just the system quantifying how much vitality something has...it''s not something that actually exists as a resource like mana does. But somehow. It''s like the more health something has the more it matters? ZeMadDoctor: Like health is unevenly distributed to vitals for instance. A low-levelled adventure can get stabbed in the arm and have some damage or be stabbed in the head for critical catastrophic damage and die...in comparison a high-levelled adventurer with 1000s of health getting stabbed in the head for similar damage as their arm. Isn''t that strange! ZeMadDoctor: Oh, also a sneaky assassin can hit that same head with a "vital stab" and suddenly strip away that health defence so it''s critical again? These skills work in weird ways and apply to your monsters in weird ways too!
Abe: Yeah I¡¯ve noticed a bit of this. Is there a point to this conversation? No offence m8, but I can¡¯t really draw any lines between that empty monster you¡¯re showing us and¡­this tangent.
ZeMadDoctor: Oh, and the way some of these skills work is fascinating. You can''t even see most of them, but others appear as weird lines and pentagrams of mana the adventurer pushes mana through in seconds before the mould disappears. ZeMadDoctor: It doesn¡¯t really relate per se¡­I just thought of it right now and wanted to talk about it. I''m just so curious.
Innearth: honestly I''m intrigued as well. Please send me anything you''ve figured out! I''m loving this
Abe: I''m getting bored tbh. Do you have any exploding testing chambers? I''ll settle for a good fight or two.
ZeMadDoctor: I don''t have many positions with "fights". I have some rats right now. But I haven¡¯t been making many monsters recently. ZeMadDoctor: It''s so much less interesting than testing. I do have some skips where adventurers can fight a demon instead of doing the testing chamber¡­ but I''ve only put those at the ones that get failed often and they aren¡¯t really chosen¡­
Amy: I''m interested in learning more about health. How does it work for your monsters?
ZeMadDoctor: sure...dammit pause that question she''s back¡­
Innearth: who''s she?
In response the Camera swivelled to face a bored-looking woman strolling into the dungeon. Reaching out a hand to trail along the wall everything in its path seems to melt and bubble before turning red and then gold. Dripping down it pooled below her before rapidly cooling and solidifying into a disc Standing on the disc with her hands in her pockets the woman came more into view. She was slightly short and blond. The tips of her hair dyed ¨C or maybe coated ¨C in solid gold. Her disc formed around her feet embedding the end and bottom half of her shoes and holding her in place as it quickly picks up speed. Moving around corners the disc quickly picks up speed as she positively flies through Doc''s dungeon. Reaching the testing area in under a minute she simply smashes through doors and walls instead of attempting the challenges Doc laid out. The more reinforced doors turned to molten metal as she transmuted holes in everything and left puddles behind her not caring or even acknowledging Doc¡¯s defences¡­She completely ignored all the work doc put into each room treating each the same and melting through them all only acting differently in rooms that had active adventurers. When an adventuring group was active in a ¡°testing chamber¡± she paused and watched them awkwardly perform any ¡°test¡± they were completing ¨C suddenly having to deal with an audience removed a lot of the natural feeling interactions as people stiffly attempted to act normal. All 3 of these occupied rooms were blasted through more carefully ¨C the wall instead of the door turning to gold and then reforming and solidifying behind her. The more and more Innearth watched her the more annoyed he got. It felt like every single one of her actions was designed to dismiss all the work Doc put into his dungeon.
Innearth: Roood.
Amy: she looks like she might be a good fight for snorkems!
ZeMadDoctor: she would rip "snookems" into pieces in under a second. She hasn''t even put on her work outfit yet. You don¡¯t even understand she could turn that underwater beholder into a statue before it even attacked. This woman is way too much for you to handle Amy.
Reaching the last testing room the bored woman paused her expressionless face straightening and growing serious. Staring around with a discerning eye she checks the new edition ¨C pulling out a golden plate covered in runes and looking through it before satisfied. Walking over to the large vertical portal she reaches out a hand and catches a solid black ball falling at terminal velocity ¨C her hand barely moving as it snatched it out of the air and brought it up to her eyes.
Abe: I think I¡¯m going have to side with Doc here Amers. She looks stronger than your monster no offence.
Amy: I guess. I still think snookem needs a real challenge and I¡¯d love a stronger group or two to start delving me.
Innearth: I¡¯d settle for a group. No need to be strong to start I just want an adventurer.
Abe: esh.
Turning to face the "experimentation" section of Doc¡¯s dungeon her arms reached up as she stretched and pulled her arms out to either side. Twisting her fingers in a loop the woman breathed out¡­and was changed. First her disc flowed upwards ¨C wrapping her body in its entirety. The majority of the resulting ¡°armour¡± was skin tight and clung to her form like a jumpsuit. A few additions in key places broke away from that mould ¨C her hair was pulled back into a backwards-facing cone that thickened around her face and neck and smoothed over her expression being the main change. This all came together to give off a very solid feeling presence ¨C despite looking skin-tight, its seamless surface gave off a weight... as if she could be hit by a mountain and stay unharmed. Waiting till her transformation was done, the golden figure began walking down the hall ¨C her legs moving but her feet remaining a few cm above the floor. Every nook and cranny was checked ¨C the ¡°smooth face and silent floating¡± giving the whole inspection an ominous air that wasn¡¯t present in the dismissive violence of the start. A few minutes of inspection brings her before the ¡°unknown unseeable¡± demon causes her to stop in place and consider what she was facing. Her head tilted sideways as she stared into the cage but with her face hidden beneath metal Innearth wasn¡¯t able to get a read on her. Reaching an arm into herself causes the tips of her fingers to meld with her side and shuffle around. After a moment of random shuffling, she finds what she is looking for ¨C her hand emerging with the ¡°golden checking disc¡± she used before. Staring through the bars with the disc caused the golden woman to make up her mind. Nodding in a matter of fact manner the woman pushes her disc into herself and breaks the cage in a single action. Stepping forwards as if the cage isn¡¯t there lets her armour come in contact with the force and bars causing both to bend and snap like string. Ripping into the blank spot a horrid scream rings out and various unidentifiable absences of anything are stuffed into a golden ball that formed from a section of armour. The rest of the inspection takes little time ¨C the few monsters and demons that attempted to attack her being skewered by hair-thin needles of gold that extended out of her armour at nearly untraceable speeds. Each hair dug into and ripped apart the insides of ¨C and then returned to ¨C the arbiter of Doc¡¯s fate. Finishing her inspection beside Doc¡¯s core the women raised a hand and pulsed mana as a holographic figure formed. The figure was wearing a uniform and spoke quickly ¨C responding to her report in an impatient manner but not making any sign that she should stop. The dungeons couldn¡¯t understand the conversation ¨C the very concept of communication with sound was strange to them ¨C but it was easy enough to figure out the main contents of the report just based on their body language. "Everything is fine. I found something good. Will report back soon." A single finger was raised in a salute before she ended her call and retreated through the mess she had left behind ¨C rebreaking the few walls that Doc had started to try and rebuild as she passed through the testing area once more.
Amy: she''s pretty awful. Is this our next hit squad? Protect doc from that monster?
ZeMadDoctor: don''t! She''s mostly just here to check the demons and make sure I haven''t gone insane. She¡¯s just doing her job okay?
Innearth: how do you know that?
ZeMadDoctor: she told me. Weird mind bridge thing when she first touched my core. Told me to pretend she wasn''t there and to not unleash any calamities even by accident or she would melt me down into a puddle and use me as a paperweight.
Amy: ...okay. I don''t approve of adventurers threatening my friends but if you are okay with it that''s fine.
ZeMadDoctor: it''s still annoying when she breaks my defences. I''m setting up a teleporting hub soon that should reach every part of my dungeon. It''s hard to get her to go through my portals but if she can skip straight to the end, she might use them.
Innearth: assuming it would also act as a shortcut for adventurers that have reached that far?
ZeMadDoctor: Exactly! Short teleport burst for testing chamber reached ¨C it''s not interesting re-testing the same adventurers multiple times in the same room.
Abe: Well good show my dude! Anything else you have hidden away?
ZeMadDoctor: Not really. I''m working on setting up portals that can link to multiple locations and ones that can be moved while open without too many negative effects. I''m also looking forward to seeing a proper adventurer reach my last room now that it''s finished. I''ve left a few hints in previous rooms and it''s much easier than some of the previous but I''m still excited to see what they will do.
Innearth: you thought of rearranging rooms?
ZeMadDoctor: Yeah but I don''t want to change numbers.
Fated Eternal Design: sorry for not providing much feedback. I love the decorations you''ve setup. Have you considered making a storyline for it? I love the puzzles, but none seemed to be tied together. Maybe this could be set up as a lab? Or a factory with product testing? I really think you have something great here, but it seems almost wasted. You could write stuff on the wall about how "they escaped" or make some testing rooms old and runner or dilapidated. Would do wonders for your ambiance and prevent all the white rooms and halls from getting as repetitive.
ZeMadDoctor: Thank you for your feedback but I''m fine. I have enough test subjects and don''t feel the need to make their experience fake. I want real results in my tests.
Fated Eternal Design: no one listens to my honest feedback :(
Innearth: I''ve started setting up a storyline.
Fated Eternal Design: oho! My apprentice! Thank you I eagerly await your dungeon tour!
The stream ended in good spirits as the dungeons returned to talking about anything and nothing. Talking about health and skill and loot. Innearth spent part of his attention socializing and listening to their descriptions of adventurers and the rest slogging away. Closer and closer to tier 5 and catching up. Chapter 44. A day in the life of Abe.
Brothers and Sisters! Do you tire of duels in our small community? Has your honour tier stagnated? I come bringing news of a proper trial not 10 minutes away. A dungeon is nearby. A proper source of challenge to throw yourselves at. One still unclaimed and free! Join me! The greater monsters there will follow duelling code! Not a single snivelling sneaky was seen when our raiding party scouted its depths. Power was celebrated. Explosions abound. Even better the greater fights provide gifts! Trinkets to prove your victory! Any and all who wish to challenge yourself join me! Join me in delving! Join me in excitement and join me in battle!
Excerpt obtained from the speech given to the kakarot tribe upon discovery of the "Unnecessarily Explosive dungeon"
Abe: Yo. Abe: I did the thing!
Monster Name Lore Description.
Blast Slugs The first mob encountered in this dungeon. This slug releases a blast of burning mana in a single exploding pulse that kills itself. They are numerous, annoying, and a good sign of what¡¯s to come in this dungeon. If you haven¡¯t learned how to kite a dungeon mob yet now is the time to do so.
Spike Slug These slugs detonate in explosive blasts, releasing poison-filled spikes at great speed. Identical to the above but can inflict damage over time if ¡°spiked¡±. Due to how numerous these have become in the past few weeks, it is recommended to bring a generalized antidote or equip items that resist or negate poison damage.
Heavy Armor Slug This slug is far more heavily armoured than anything else in the dungeon. It can take a heavy beating before being killed and once it does the standard ¡°explode when dead¡± shtick that is the hallmark of this dungeon, its armour becomes shrapnel. It can also ¡°charge¡± itself into a massive explosion hiding in the corner of the room while it grows brighter and brighter and then detonates. Much worse of an attack than the standard and spike slugs these armoured variants are surprisingly easy to deal with. They move slowly and don¡¯t explode unless damaged or having spent several minutes charging so its best to simply leave them alone. They can be outrun with a brisk walking pace and the explosion doesn¡¯t reach more than a room or two even after charged.
Breath Flame Slugs One of the first monsters most adventurers will find that doesn¡¯t immediately suicidally detonate. These slugs breathe out a thick, nearly invisible cloud of some sort of gas, then control it with Air mana. After adventurers get close, Breath Flame Slugs breathe a small amount of fire into their cloud ¨C detonating it to great effect ¨C while keeping themselves safe and out of harm¡¯s way. As with all the rest of this dungeon¡¯s monsters, destroying the breath flame slug detonates it.
Sticky Bomb Slugs The first truly ranged attacker encountered by newbies. These things hurl pellets of sticky cloying slime and other various materials infused with fire mana. Each blast is far weaker than the usual suicide blast. But they cause quite a spectacle and can easily blind the party¡¯s tank. The worst part is how difficult it is to remove the slime when struck and once struck the slime will explode¡­it''s inevitable.
Magma Webs Large spiders covered in magma armor. These beasts are the creatures most adventurers have to actually fight. Instead of the other mobs, who are usually attack a few times and then blow up. Magma Webs can cover their sticky webbing with magma mana, creating nets of molten rock which can easily kill an unlucky adventurer and are awful to remove. Magma Webs are prone to dropping their nets on adventurers as a lethal surprise. They also have the ability to explode if pushed into a corner, because of course.
Healing Slugs A rare sight in the dungeon, if an adventuring party encounters this slug. It detonates a blast of healing mana. This pulse heals all party members and has kept newbies from getting killed at least once.
Speed Bomb Slugs These slugs release blasts of fire mana which they detonate faster than most. Almost always accompanied by a wave of force from them.
Lightning Slugs Found several floors down, these monsters release blasts of lightning mana. These things are usually one-hit kills. Turning the tanks into lightning rods and blasting their teammates with arcing mana.
Boss Name Lore Description.
Big Bomb Slug This mob is, surprisingly a good example of a floor boss. Powerful, deadly, and with the ability to adapt to a lot of situations - but still beatable. However it shouldn''t be the first floor boss. This thing can take hits from a newbie tanks and dps like they''re nothing. And its head can easily break a neck or skull. And its speed allows it to maneuver around the room easily. When taken down, it releases a blast of pure uncontained fire mana. Burning anybody near it before it goes into a pile of flesh and metal. Opinion here, just blast it with earth or water magic or even ice magic till it croaks. Makes the run faster and weakens the potential blast.
Heavy Armored Crab A weird boss monster for the second floor. It encases itself in magma mana. Creating a powerful magical armor around itself. Also bolstered by the heavy armor underneath. It walks around the entire boss room, releasing magma blasts that can melt through most armor. Highly recommend the tank rush it and then distract it, while everyone else blasts it with magic. Even the healer. Cause the tank sure isn''t gonna want to be healed when their armor is melting around them. Just prolongs their suffering.
King Kong Kabloom A massive gorilla takes up the 3rd floor and has gotten stronger each time the dungeon remakes it. Less information is involved due to that but we can confirm it has boxing gloves that explode upon punches and uses fast movements to quickly get around.
5th Floor Boss Unknown, I doubt it could''ve caused every party to encounter it to wipe with its attacks. It''s likely that its suicide bomb is just incredibly strong and can take out an already tired adventuring party. We plan to send two teams down to take it out. Hopefully enough survive to give us information that we can use to help construct a strategy for everyone else.
Unnecessarily Explosive Dungeon [Dungeon Information]
Known Floors: 5 (technically 10) This dungeon likes to group floors in 2. A wide-open area with several ¡°optional¡± entrances to a harder mini floors known as vaults. There are 5 large open floors but each increases in mana concentration by the equivalent of 2 floors. Each large floor has a boss and several of the vaults have unique bosses as well. Traps: The main parts of the floor are trap free, however the vaults and new shortcut sections are heavily trapped in two distinct ways. Vaults traps ¨C unique per vault, but heavily favoring high reaction speeds and careful movements. These traps are designed to slow you down. Shortcut traps ¨C these traps aren¡¯t designed to hide from or maneuver around, these traps are designed to punish. Set to only go off when someone attempts to skip ahead to a place they haven¡¯t been, the whole length of the tunnel is set with small monsters that suck in light then release it in a massive burst of blinding brilliance. There are monsters that create cracks and snaps loud enough to burst eardrums and some unseen monster that can inject armour with some sort of weird magical virus that spreads through equipment and causes it to explode. Add in a healthy mix of the normal explosive mobs and you have a hallway that''s hell to get though without specific counters. All of these monsters or traps are controlled to not hurt anyone using the shortcuts legitimately however it seems like someone attempts to skirt them daily and several have died braving their passages. Yes, this is worse than facing the floor bosses. Yes, it¡¯s a cramped space full of holes of scuttling bugs that explode without warning. No, using some variation of [deafen] or [blind] on yourself doesn¡¯t protect you from the traps. That just makes you stumble into a blast slug defenceless. Loot: This has kicked off recently, it started with most of the rewards being offered as explosives. The loot has mellowed however and switched to full system rewards or shiny jewelry and is now quite generous. Outside of the vault and boss rewards the local alchemist and artifacer scenes are thriving. General Notes: The two main features of this dungeon are the heavy use of bombs and vaults. Vaults have been seen before but is a rare feature not normally offered by such a young dungeon and even fewer have committed to it to the extent the Unnecessarily Explosive Dungeon has. Bombs are not unique either but are equally rare. Combined, this can be considered the only bomb vault dungeon in existence. A final note: Each mob is less a ¡°specific¡± type and more a category. This dungeon is always changing its mind and experimenting and there are plenty of bosses in some of the vaults that never show up again after being defeated once.
Innearth: ayy!
Abe: Get on in the stream lads let me show you my bombing layout. Some nice targets today I¡¯m sure ya¡¯ll will enjoy.
As each dungeon joined the stream, it cut to a wide open area. A floor nearly as wide as Bose''s, but with much fewer buildings and much more ¡°expanse¡±. Surprisingly it wasn''t empty, for every few dozen meters there was a fragile looking structure. The ground and ceiling are a dusty reddish grey colour, but all the barriers and buildings are brightly painted in varying qualities. A wooden tower is dumped with speckles and stripes of green and blue while another metal plate creating a sideways tent is covered in dark yellow spirals. Dotting the land were makeshift barriers and trenches. Roughly four large castle-like structures were placed closer to the edges with huge signs above each.
Abe: We all in? Let''s gooooo! I need some energy from you all! Get that influence pumping!
Rushing to one of the castles without waiting for a response Abe phased the camera through several walls in his excitement. The screen flickered black multiple times as he brought them in and down the keep''s interior.
Abe: main part of each raid is a new floor my guys, stole that basement shenanigans from Fed! Anyways watch the excitement my dudes. Watch and learn.
Near the bottom of the building sits a gold treasure chest. A group of buff green men approached the chest cheering and high fiving each other. In the upper corner of the room a spotlight tracks the men across the floor. Standing in front of the chest the man in the lead pulls out a large weathered greatsword and breathes in deep. As their chest puffed out, thick waves of mana started running down the sword¡¯s length. Rawer and more uneven than any skill Innearth had seen¡­but faster and with a stronger loop of power. At first he thought it poorly done but as the sword began to shine in his mana sight he started to revise his opinion. With a single slash the chest was sliced in two, soft metal parting before the slice and exposing a pile of trinkets. Gems and daggers and ¨C as the group began raiding it ¨C personalized items that materialized in their arms alongside the cheaper rewards. As soon as the last orc grabbed the last item, the whole room pulsed. Glowing lines of power raced out of the corners of the chest ¨C splitting off into hundreds of thin bright lines of fire that landed on innocent-looking rocks or chairs or lampshades. Each normal appearing bomb cracked as it activated ¨C the illusion flaking away and revealing pulsing orange organic looking bombs. Each flickered with ominous light as more and more cracks split their outside, exposing a raw jelly-like substance. Quickly turning serious the group moved unsurprised at the development. They turned and began jogging up a flight of stairs at the edge of the room. Dodging pitfalls and swinging walls as they moved through the building reaching the first floor and facing hallways twisting around and around between them and the exit. Their actions became more frantic¡­while their faces became more excited. A faint rumble filled the air and dust fell from the ceiling as parts of the hallway shook yet every orc had gained a massive crazed grin at the danger they were in. Pulling out a varied array of ¡°large¡± melee weapons the orcs gave up on the ¡°correct way out¡± instead deciding to attack the walls and escape out the side. Each carried a different weapon, but all applied the same sort of ¡°sword mana¡± to the implement and swung it in a similar wide and smashing manner. An axe, a sword, a spiked mace, a lamppost taken from the wall. Each was coated and swung and swung again. 53s after the invisible countdown started, the group breached the outside wall laughing and whooping. Ripping the last bits apart with their bare hands they flung themselves in different directions and began rolling to various outcroppings and makeshift shelters. A single explosion rang out hollow and muted before a deafening roar happened as every single bomb was set off. The whole of the 30x30m building detonated. Chunks of stone and metal flying hundreds of meters in every direction while constant rumbling took hold of the whole area. A few barriers and rickety towers struck by the shrapnel splintered at this moment, collapsing here and there and extending the time this explosion was dragged out. 2 of the orc¡¯s shelters were struck at this moment but all of them had performed a similar ¡°enhancement¡± to their shelters and the hazy mana reinforced and held firm. Behind the group, a cartoonish mushroom cloud of smoke rose from the rubble of the building pushing up against the roof and spreading out as it dissipated. It took till most of the smoke was dissipated long after the rumbles had stopped before Abe finally spoke. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Abe: Explosions are great in all sizzles but there''s really something special about big ones you know? Something inherently exciting. It''s also so much more fun to bomb something that will break than it is to just release bombs in an empty area am I right?
Amy: I haven''t really ever considered bombing anything but I guess?
Innearth: so what, you build stuff just to break?
Abe: yep! Each of these bad boys are a schematic I can reprint...the whole heist vault is technically a trap and as long as I leave the mana content as low as I can, they break easily enough.
Innearth: ¡­that seems almost like cheating but wow. Glad you can print whole ¡°heist vaults¡±. I wonder if you can print rooms as well? How much do you have to add to it before it is considered a trap?
Abe: Gotta add quite a bit, but it''s fine if most goes into decorations. Want to see another?
The camera fell through the floor, passing through stone and going dark for a long drawn out second before coming out into a second nearly identical ¡°large and wide floor¡± below. Looking around Abe seemed to be checking the vaults in this area before finding one currently being raided. This time instead of excitedly skipping the vault he moves the camera down and glides through the open front door. The vault is a house with a rickety looking porch leading into a pastel painted grandmotherly home. Gliding around the house as if the group is an adventurer they see most of this house is made of a white porcelain like clay in different light shades. This vault¡¯s walls were covered in paintings. Its roof hung with chandeliers. Its floor covered in various furniture and monster corpses. Pretty average for a house even with the burn marks and bits of monsters strewn about. ¡­I¡¯m actually surprised at how much detail is put into this place. How did Abe manage it? ¡­Actually, I already saw part of this. Checking with his mana sight most of the room glowed in his vision. Illusions blanketed the rooms and while nearly every item was ¡°real¡± the peeling paint and fabric on them wasn¡¯t¡­Innearth wasn¡¯t able to see through most of the illusions but it was pretty easy to tell they were here and Abe had gotten lazy on some of the less important sections the illusion mana covering them weak and transparent. Okay, satisfied with that even if it''s slightly ruining my immersion. I¡¯ll pretend it''s normal. An old fake door at the back was ripped open. Hidden behind paint and ripped slightly off its hinges the camera moved over to the hole and peered inside. Rickety looking steps lead downwards and then twist to the side, obscuring the depths from view. When following them down, a dusty mostly empty basement was revealed. A swinging lamp in the ceiling casts shifting shadows on the walls and illuminates a couple attempting to break into a solid steel box with a large wheel on the side. The safe has many small dials and switches covering all visible edges and is bolted shut pretty tightly. The woman moved her fingers quickly in the air, causing glowing glyphs to form in their wake before shattering again and again. The man held a black skeleton key while he scrambled about the safe, flicking switches at random looking for a hole to place his item.
Abe: keys for the crypt vault lol! Granny''s boom box needs a code from the wasteland they haven''t found. I think they will get in though, otherwise I wouldn''t have brought you all here. Sorry you missed their fight against granny and her knitting. That was a fun fight but it ended shortly before we started the stream.
In the stream the women¡¯s shaking fingers carve out yet another glyph and this time it sticks. Hanging in the air for a moment as if considering whether it wants to continue, the glyph starts to solidify more and more ¨C it growing brighter with ¡°mana sight¡± and dimmer with ¡°regular sight¡±. Faint chains seem to materialize around the whole safe before shattering and being ripped off ¨Clinks being flung into space and then disappearing ¨C the apparition more a visual concept of what just happened. Smiling as she heard a faint click from the box, the women reached out and pulled. The handle swinging wide with little effort and exposing the contents within. Shining with glee the women¡¯s eyes greedily stares through the treasures and she lets out a faint gasp. The sound alerting her partner who rushes around the side of the safe and joins her. A bright smile upon his face as well. Grabbing her side, he looked over her shoulder and gave a nearly identical gasp before reaching around and pulling out a solid plate of paper-thin metal to look at.
Innearth: why are they so excited?
Abe: firmament. It''s a bludgeoning and explosion proof metal they can use to make incredibly light armour.
Fated Eternal Design: oh! DIY dungeon rewards. They have to design their own loot.
Amy: Let me guess. They can sell those for a lot of money?
Innearth: seems like you were just too lazy to make an item.
Abe: guilty :3. Don''t worry bro I can tell you want to see how our super awesome friendship monster does against monsters I''ll show that off next.
Grabbing sheets of firmament then immediately turning and running the pair get a headstart on the inevitable countdown. A faint ticking sound is heard while lines of mana race through the inside of walls destabilizing several cached bombs. The pair rush through the house tripping on chairs and pushing through doors as they run out onto the porch and make a beeline for the nearest trench. Diving into the trench, the pair''s movement quickly turns into a blur as they enter its depths. A closer look shows a faint haze over the trenches, enthalpy mana blanketing the whole area in a field of sped-up time. The pair is long gone by the time the house explodes and this time it seems to shatter as a chain of small explosions collapses multiple parts simultaneously.
Abe: Never. Gets. Old!!!! Get it? Old granny lived there? Anyone? Eh would have worked better if you saw the granny fight. She fought with knitting needles. I might remake that boss it was hilarious.
This time the explosion did more than simply make a mushroom cloud. A swarm of wriggling slugs were flung out of various nooks and crannies in the roof and walls. Protected somehow from the initial blast but not from the impact as each land around the surroundings and explode. Some of the secondary explosions send smaller blobs of slime like material out that detonate as well before the collapse is over. The house is gone and surrounded by black ashy marks. This time Abe doesn¡¯t sit in silence for a few minutes before continuing.
Abe: Alright, Well those are my vaults. I love each and every one of them, but I can tell you guys are getting bored. Why don¡¯t we go see a good old-fashioned bout this time?
Fated Eternal Design: You know, I was interested to see what other vaults you had. These are some great themes I¡¯m really impressed!
Innearth: Lets see a fight!
Abe: Alright, First off let me find a webber.
Pausing and then flying over to the corner of the wall the group finds the whole side is covered in thick molten webs. Several eyes peek through the molten threads and suddenly Innearth can see them. The monsters he and Abe made together. Earth and Fire. They were designed based loosely on Innearth¡¯s original magma spooders but heavily altered after Abe had a say in it. A huge portion of the inside had been shifted around and replaced with multiple glands that released a sticky only semi explosive goo and a dense endless molten mana. They could truly ¡°make a monster together¡± by paying equal amounts of the mana cost and letting the system print the monster out at their own dungeon and several spiders were this variant. Void legs and various mana crystals for Innearth¡¯s contribution with semi-stable explosive goo and a weird ¡°solidifying¡± organ for Abe¡¯s. These monsters could only be made if they worked together. There was also a version that Innearth could make alone that included his crystal bats and a version that Abe could make alone that used no crystal or void parts. Watching their combined monsters scurry about and harass a group of adventurers filled Innearth with pride. It was just like he had his own adventurers. That was him. Those were his. Well okay, they are both of ours. That gland that solidifies goo also uses enthalpy mana so I can¡¯t make the web-making versions myself. But still! Look at them go!!! Both dungeons now had several web weaving spiders alongside Innearth and Abe¡¯s ¡°solo¡± versions of each spider. In that regard both had nearly identical sections of magma webs full of spiders but somehow. Somehow seeing Abe¡¯s version gave Innearth more excitement than his own. Maybe because right now his spiders only caught snakes, but Abe¡¯s were actively in battle with adventurers. A cloaked figure in an edgy sort of flowing darkness that existed only as decoration dodged back and forth and shot fuzzy blue bolts of energy upwards. 3 spiders danced with this adventurer scrambling around on their web and occasionally slicing off small sections to drop down upon their harasser.
Fated Eternal Design: That adventurer has good taste in clothing!
Innearth: ¡­if you say so.
The adventurer paused for a moment and held one arm steady fingers sprayed out. Grabbing the outstretched arm with their free hand to steady it further they cast. A splitting bolt of fuzzy blue becoming 2, 4, 8, 16 shots before impacting the area. Each time the bolts split they shrunk slightly but not by a factor of 2. Webs that were hit swung around and dimmed as the magma cooled and the one spider that got hit was paralyzed, greyish-blue frost spreading away from the impact site. A moment after the spider froze it fell downwards, a large explosion bursting forth from the corpse when it hit the ground. The two remaining spiders took that moment to counterattack. A web was spun out from one while the other controlled it like a seeking snake in the air. The adventurer was grabbed by the burning thread and gasped as their clothing shimmered and broke apart revealing mostly plain looking black cloth that quickly caught fire. Shaking about as the thread melted into them the adventurer let out a gasp of pain before they were immolated.
Amy: Yeah they were not wearing protective clothing. Do you also have a problem with adventurers being too fragile?
Abe: Eh, a bit. That¡¯s why I took your advice and made a healing slug. It gives most of the newbies a safety once or twice.
Innearth: Look over there!
In the corner, one of the latest variants of combined spider was weaving a 3-dimensional rune using magma webs. Each web spun out and then hung in the air, the design growing larger and more complex every second. With a final sort of dash, the web was complete ¨C seeming to flicker with mana before suddenly turning purple and indistinct. As the colour shifted the effect became known. Within a 50m range around the floating ball, gravity flipped. A trio of heavily armoured warriors twisted about in the air before landing in the magma webs covering the ceiling. Their armour flickered with runes and turned much of the webs that touched them to crumbling stone. Long metal staffs were used to swipe through the molten threads like little more than cobwebs while the group spread out and cleared a free area on the ceiling. Spinning their staff with one hand a warrior let out a barking yell and caused a spinning whirlwind to push out and rip into the webs taking 2 spiders into the air in its passing. Seeing the gravity field was ineffective and bringing the warriors closer to them was dangerous, the original spellcasting magma web struggled to interact with and break their original construct. The construct ¨C while slowly dimming ¨C was mostly ethereal and even with void tipped legs, the spider was unable to touch their own spell. Not giving them a chance, the shortest armoured adventurer flickered like a light was switched on and of really quickly. Each flicker accelerated them towards the spellweaver with more and more force and the dozens of meters were crossed in less than a second. Stabbing through the magma spider with their plain looking pole caused the spider to explode but the adventurer was already past and switching direction towards a new target. Each flicker of light and mana let them change course sharply ¨C all the motion in one direction being perfectly transferred to the new one in sharp unnatural jolts as they slaughtered all the spiders on this stretch of web. The final armoured adventurer simply ran around swinging their pole back and forth ¨C each connected swing crumpling anything it hit with a massive amount of physical force. ¡­Innearth was beside himself.
Innearth: Man, they went like swish and blam! I know I sound dumb but wow. I thought they were goners for sure when they fell towards the webs but then they turned it all around.
ZeMadDoctor: That one of your monsters?
Innearth: Half mine :3 I made the spell circuit though! That spider had a tier 3 core instead of a tier 4 and was still able to cast multiple spells¡­you only saw the one though :/ pity.
Abe: We have one more stop in my tour if you guys are done here.
Innearth: ¡­yeah I¡¯m done. I think I want you to share this with me again after the tour. I want to see the results of my experimentations every now and again :3.
Waiting till the field weakened and broke ¨C causing the armoured group to flip around and land on the real ground once more ¨C the camera moved to the end of the floor. A stadium met their eyes, completely different from both the floor itself and vaults behind. A round room with several ¡°seats¡± above holding cheering¡­cheering figures for looking closer they were all made with illusion mana. Less real people of any species or race and more just the ¡°concept¡± of a crowd. Bright lights swung about high in the air and a single large golden ape stood heaving in the center of the room. The group of orcs had reached here and seemed to be arguing over who got to face the boss. Ignoring the monster not 10m away two orcs held each other in a gripping handshake a wave of mana thundering through their arms and pushing the dust around them in a circle. A brighter tinge flushed their green faces while muscles flexed, and they attempted to budge the other. With a great deal of effort, one was lifted up off the ground and pushed away stumbling backwards and cursing. The other orcs patted the winner on the back as he turned to face his opponent. This orc¡¯s weapon of choice was a massive barbed mace. Halfway between something shoddy and new, it looked like it might once have been well made, but was now thoroughly thoroughly ¡°used and abused¡± ¨C with bent spikes and cracks along the well made length. Bowing slightly, the orc held the mace above his head and dashed forwards ¨C a guttural, happy warcry slipping from his lips. Jumping up the ape exploded their legs midair and flung themselves about in a controlled manner. Dodging to the side and then back< the ape''s fist struck the mace from the side, and a massive burst of energy shockwaved out as the orc was forcefully spun in a circle ¨C their balance momentarily lost. Making the best of their impromptu spin the orc stepped into it completing the full revolution and shifted their trajectory slightly, aiming directly for the ape''s head. Ducking down just in time the ape crouched in a boxing stance and swung up towards the orc¡¯s chin, its fist steaming slightly from the first explosion. This time more prepared the orc pushed mana out briefly enforcing their head enough to take the full explosion unharmed before countering once more with a diagonal swing. The next few minutes were spent repeating similar moves each either dodging or tanking their opponents¡¯ hits. Despite seeming in true danger once or twice the audience of orcs made no move to help their comrade instead bobbing slightly as if annoyed they weren¡¯t the one fighting.
Innearth: You should have made a boss for each of them bro.
Abe: brooo! It''s too late now. This boss takes a full pool to make and I can¡¯t just pop them out for all 5 of them.
More and more blows landed as both orc and ape lost their initial energy. Several explosions landed on unenhanced muscled limbs bruising and breaking bones while an equal amount of heavy strikes had done the same to the ape. Thick soupy monster blood leaked out of the ape¡¯s arms and chest while their shock-absorbing arms no longer functioned as well. The orc¡¯s left arm hung limply by their side, but they maintained a firm smile as they beat back and down the ape. Finally it was over. A swing hit the ape¡¯s core and caused a chain reaction of small explosions the fake crowd''s cheer rising to a crescendo as bits of monster flesh rained down on everyone present. Turning to the side the victor dropped his mace and held out a hand before a new weapon materialized in its place. Dense. That¡¯s what the new mace was. It looked similar to the weapon Innearth had made but larger and with a stripe of some silver material spiralling around and around its length.
Abe: That¡¯s it! I¡¯ve shown you everything exciting. Go on, rate my dungeon. Its rad huh.
Amy: Yeah, Pretty well put together Abe.
Fated Eternal Design: I¡¯m glad it seems you took some of my advice to heart.
Innearth: Well done m8.
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­yeah good job. Better than I thought you¡¯d have to be honest.
Innearth: You should show me the spawning rooms you were telling me about! I want to see how you are mass producing blast slugs.
Abe: Ehh, That¡¯s just some messy internals. Not that exciting. I already told you how it works.
Innearth: I want to make my ownnn. I¡¯m sick and tired of making my own weak monsters. I want to feed my stronger monsters slimes or something, but don¡¯t want to spend any time making them.
Abe: Okay, real quick final stop.
Rushing down and to the side the group came to a room full of wiggling blast slugs that moved about incredibly quickly. The whole room was sped up more than anything else they had seen so far and every few minutes a slug would be sliced in two ¨C sharp blades flipping up through the floor and severing the worm-like monsters into equal parts. The severed parts slowly healed into two separate monsters and slugs scooted out small tunnels in the room constantly ¨C instinctively making their way out into the dungeon to find places to patrol and adventurers to attack.
Abe: Innearth already knows this but time is needed to make a monster, these monsters can multiply because they have no core. If they are split into equal portions and then healed, they become two identical monsters. Abe: ¡­as you can see I think. Basically, this only works because they don¡¯t have a core. If they had a core and were cut the side with the core would heal and the other break. Abe: If they had two cores and were cut with two separate bodies they wouldn¡¯t heal as well ¨C not being able to heal back the missing core the body parts would wriggle until they reached each other and re-attached. Any questions?
ZeMadDoctor: Time is needed to make a monster? Can you clarify?
Abe: Yeah if they heal too ¡°quickly¡± they don¡¯t grow into equal sized new monsters. The sliced part just
Innearth: Sorry these are your exploding slugs right? Why aren¡¯t they exploding when they get cut?
Abe: Use explosions enough and you start to figure out how to block them. Remember the firmament earlier? Whole room is surrounded by a different material that suppresses explosions from happening in my spawn room. Abe: Well! I think with that my tour is done. When do you think you¡¯ll advance Innearth? I want to see what you¡¯ve come up with bro.
Innearth: 2655/2736 exp till level 48. Nearly there.
Amy: Make sure to expand your influence downwards before you advance. It gives you a greater descent. I wish I knew that back when I advanced.
Innearth: Yep. Thanks again. I¡¯ll show you my dungeon soon!
Chapter 45. A day in t - nope. Tier 5!
Excerpt Obtained from a?u?t?h?o?r? ?n?o?t?e?s?/?d?i?v?/?m?e?t?a?- World map. Innearth''s new status.
Innearth
Level 48 1/2842 exp to next level.
System Access Level 5 0/2 requirements met to advance.
-0/50 sapient delves.
-Level 64+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 73.21 personal unit/min
Mana concentration 2.63 AMU / personal unit
Mana Storage 7462.39/7462.39 AMU
Physical Storage 60% Capacity
Age 674 days | (1.84 years)
Distance underground 220 meters
Number of floors 11 floors
Titles.
Earth Mana Specialization, Crystal Mana Specialization, Void mana Specialization, Unused Descent 1/1.
Use [Descent] Tier gift. This Tier reward will move you down closer to the Earth''s core. Distance moved increases with influence already spread and decreases with the amount of time that has passed since your evolution. Time Elapsed [ 1min 12s ]
Use gift? Y/N
Innearth had advanced relatively painlessly to Tier 5. Now there were a couple new options offered, but before he even looked at his streaming options there was something important. Descent. Every Tier after the one they broke the surface in provided this single use skill. And he had to use it soon if he wanted the best results. Amy had reached the surface a full tier before the rest of them and had used it twice now. The first time dropped her 14 meters after she waited nearly a week (there wasn¡¯t much information about the skill in the previous rank). The second time she had waited a few hours and had dropped 37m. All he had to do was press it. Might as well get the maximum benefit. Already knowing what to expect, Innearth selected yes and found himself. Found his Core being shifted. Shifted slightly into a state where it was partly mana and then PULLED. His first core room had his core nestled partly into a wall where he felt safe. When digging himself out of the wall his core had stayed floating in the air. Suspended by his own influence but fragile feeling. After hanging there for more than a minute, he had begun feeling a growing anxious and scared feeling that persisted until he regrew his hold in the wall and felt secure again. Now his core was moving downwards. It felt¡­it felt different than it looked ¨C for while his affinity selections changed something deep inside his core and caused him to blackout, this shift was superficial enough to let him be fully conscious. Let¡¯s see if I can describe what I¡¯m seeing. If I look at it with a more mana aligned view it''s like. It looks almost like everything around the core is moving and the core is staying still. It¡¯s dragged downwards by the surrounding space being dragged around it? I can see speckles of space and void mana about it along with other unknown variants¡­ Okay, and then if I look at it physically. It looks like it''s moving without being stopped by anything. Everything the core is pushed against is ripped out of the way ¨C all the force pushing against the core is being reflected? Hmmm, that looks sort of right. Like a kinetic reflection taken to the extreme. Innearth¡¯s core was dragged down the wall, leaving a grove behind it that followed it all the way into the floor. Could I do this to myself? I don¡¯t even fully know what¡¯s happening¡­so probably not. Innearth watched mostly silently as his core was dragged downwards. 10m, 20m, 50m. At this point Innearth passed through the area he had already claimed in preparation and started feeling apprehensive. Bumping up against the bottom of his influence the passage of his core dragged the membrane around itself and continued to drop. As his core continued descending outside of his claimed passages and rooms, he actually started to feel something. A weird¡­well stretching sensation radiated out from where his influence was physically dragged downwards and stretched. This sensation ran all the way around the outside of his influence and spiked inwards in a light squeezing sensation as the core slowed down to a crawl. A flicker of mana dissipated as his core resolidified and lightly rested against the ground of an unknown area. 73m below his first core room ¨C much higher than his 50m guess but he had used the skill within a few minutes of his tier up. And now as he started to expand around his core a rising sense of panic filled him. He was in a room. He couldn¡¯t see the walls. Expanding as fast as he could only made his feeling of dread rise ¨C his core had dropped directly into a natural cave depositing him on a relatively flat floor. As his influence reached the edges of the room he saw: 1, 3, 6 passageways ¨C each leading into hallways and now Innearth realized he was screaming for help. The closest monsters and the first to arrive was a spreading bed of crystals and his strange water slime. Falling down the hole his descent had caused in a tumbling mess both monsters dropped from the hole in the ceiling and exploded outwards. Droplets of water hit the floor and wall and a large portion fell into the unknown corridors alongside shattering pieces of crystal that flaked into dust as they decayed. Shards of crystal reformed into a semi-coherent blob as the eternal mass regrew into a position by Innearth¡¯s core and started circling him protectively. The water slime also pulled itself together droplets rolling around and hitting each other and slowly combining into larger and larger blobs. The crystal was one thing, but a slime should not have survived that fall¡­ What was even weirder was that while the shards of the eternal mass of crystals had died when they left his influence, there were at least a few droplets of water slime that came from beyond the membrane. If Innearth was in a better state of mind he would have stopped to study this more, he would have asked questions along the lines of ¡°slimes are not resilient enough to fall from a great height ¨C how did it survive?¡±. He would have tried to get to the bottom of how the water slime could break apart and reform or where the soul was located. But both monsters were still alive somehow and that was all that mattered currently. Magically sensing into the surroundings his two guards were valiantly protecting him. Innearth felt slightly safer. Roughly 10.2% safer. 10% of which was because of the endless crystal mass. He didn¡¯t have to just rely on them, however. Within minutes stronger troops arrived. 12 greater crystal snakes slithered down the hole landing much more gracefully than the advanced squad. Nearly the same diameter as the largest danger noodles, the hole in the roof shot them out like a slide. Each snake twisted in the air landing in a rough ring about his core stacking on one another and forming a small tower. And now he felt 300% safer. One greater crystal snake ¨C a 3 ring variant ¨C used a skill that could crystalize stone, rapidly causing the ground around to grow hundreds of small greyish spikes aimed outwards. Sinking down the floor as they pulled stone in a spiked filled moat around snake tower. Now that Innearth was slightly safer and calming down he started to act smarter. Switching to ¡°pure expansion¡± instead of his default earth expansion (to better flow through the air) Innearth¡¯s speed increased. Dipping slightly into each of the tunnels and it became apparent he was currently in a 3-way intersection. If he came across this while expanding, he would have been ecstatic ¨C something to explore! He did not appreciate his core being so close to 6 unknown tunnels however and his first order of deliberate thought was to start slowly sealing 5 of the 6 tunnels. Using iron and Earth mana ¨Cand not caring about the waste ¨C Innearth slowly lay thick barriers upon all of the holes simultaneously. Each started as a thin sheet but quickly filled out into a meter wide vault door. And now he was low on mana. Innearth¡¯s mana dipped down low for the first time in ages as his combination of expanding as fast as he could and making seals was done faster than his regeneration could allow. More and more snakes fell down the hole ¨C one sliding out and taking up a position in the room every few seconds the whole floor now a writhing mess of overlapping tubes that spilled into the tunnel. A few of the stronger ones had skills to cling to the walls or hold themselves in the air, but most blended together. A floor of limbs that was damaging itself on the initial crystal moat and endless mass of crystals. This line of soldiers flowing into the expanding tunnel made Innearth relax even further as he distanced himself from what was happening. I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m safe. My mana is ticking up slightly now that I¡¯m just expanding and once I get enough I¡¯ll set up a panic door on this hallway. ¡­I think I¡¯ve been traumatized from expanding into a place with a demon. Should I look at this more? Or is it closer to a "it''s not an irrational fear if they really are trying to kill you". ...there''s probably nothing down here anyways but it can''t hurt to be prepared. ...is there anything down here? Checking the market Innearth used a small stash of cores he had squirrelled away for emergencies and absorbed the information in a few different guides. Okay, so yes. There are a few natural monsters that can be found in deep caves. Am I expanding into a heavily mana-dense area? No. Okay, that means there shouldn¡¯t be anything too dangerous in this tunnel at least. There are fewer creatures underground than above and unless there is enough mana to completely change the ecosystem, I should be fine. Innearth fully relaxed and spent some time scouting each tunnel. The first one headed sideways for 100 meters getting smaller and smaller as it did ¨C ending as a hairline crack that just stopped. Opening the opposite tunnel and spending the time resulted in the same. Cannibalizing his original panic doors, Innearth diluted it somewhat as he got to work on the 6 doors this new core room required. Using Void mana to compress Metal mana into incredibly dense sheets and layering void material to break apart anything that assaulted the outwards side, Innearth continued down his 3rd path. Splitting off a good chunk of his attention he started reviewing his advancement properly now that the worst of the danger was over. 0/50 sapient delves? Oh come on! Why not monster delves! They want to adventure as well¡­also again! Why isn¡¯t it retroactively counting the previous delve! I demand 1/50 for the dwarf! ¡­how am I ever going to meet that requirement? Everyone keeps saying I¡¯m going to get there but it¡¯s taking agess¡­will I stay at tier 5 forever? Forced to wallow, adventurerless...empty¡­ I feel like the system is making fun of me. It¡¯s telling me I¡¯m a broken dungeon that can¡¯t fulfil my purpose. I guess that¡¯s enough wallowing in self pity. Somewhere around here should be the streaming controls huh? Looking around, Innearth instantly found an option in all the chats to ¡°stream¡± he could chose to start a stream in a private message or in the group chat. Selecting Abe¡¯s PM¡¯s as a test, a dozen panels suddenly spread out. There was a single ¡°Main¡± panel that had a few active controls.
Main controller.
share stream swap main camera save setup end stream
There were also 11 ¡°simpler¡± panels ¨C one for each floor. These panels did not follow him around as he checked stuff instead hovering in a circle around where he first started streaming. Okay, I can drag these around and put them in different areas. Then if I use this option¡­ Playing around a bit Innearth tried sharing for a few seconds.
Abe: Ey! Mah man! You¡¯re tier 5! How¡¯s it feel catching up with your big bro? Feels pretty good up here huh. Abe: Is this your dungeon? It''s¡­interesting.
Innearth: First off that was quick. How fast were you finding and joining the stream? Also, obligatory thanks¡­and finally I¡¯m expanding into these hallways don¡¯t judge they aren¡¯t my actual dungeon. I¡¯ll finish this up and then you can see what I have with everyone else.
Abe: Okay bro but hear me out. We besties right? What about a secret pre-tour. I won''t tell the others.
Innearth: ...listen I''m busy setting stuff up I don''t want to share my dungeon before I have everything I was planning on showing off done. Innearth: But I am exploring a new area so let me play around a bit more with the controls and then you can watch the expansion into a new area. Just don''t expect too much...Like shave off 1% of your attention to watch the stream it''s probably not too exciting. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Abe: Really? Nice.
Unsharing the stream Innearth finished familiarizing himself with the controls. They were simpler than he had imagined but had more hidden options that he knew what to do with ¨C he could attach a camera to a monster and have it follow their movement or as if imagining they had eyes and looking through those. He could link several cameras together and split the ¡°stream¡¯s view¡± into sections that each showed a smaller area and customize how that was displayed. He could even ¡°record¡± a few seconds and replay it or slow down a section and then speed it up. He couldn¡¯t yet ¡°[save recording]¡± and anything recorded would be lost when the stream ended but this still provided a lot of customizability. More so than any of his friends had used at least. While playing around Innearth had fully explored 5 of the hallways. Again, the first 2 were empty and ended almost disappointingly. The 3rd however, headed upwards into a mess of holes that would trigger someone with even light trypophobia. Small grey ants ¨C stone ants ¨C built an entire sprawling colony 200m below the ground. The water slime found this area and happily began an assault upon the colony ¨C more and more ants being swallowed and swirled around its belly while it moved. A cataclysm upon the insects. Less than a minute into its assault, a faint light passed over the slime in a wave twisting through its body as it continued to trash dozens of the small monsters. It was at this moment that Innearth realized something. The water slime had just ranked up. But not to level 1. To some unknown higher rank¡­ level 2? Level 4? 8? What rank is the slime? And when did it advance? Thinking back, there was plenty of times he hadn¡¯t been paying attention to it ¨C weeks passed without him seeing the slime but still. When Silver advanced. When his Scout had advanced. He had felt it. ¡­he should have been able to feel this monster¡¯s advancement as well¡­right? Trying to figure out what had changed was hard ¨C instead of a clear jelly tinted blue and swirling with water mana the current slime was filled to the brim with all sorts of grey, black, and yellow colours¡­but those were all definitely just the remains of the ants¡­ Which all should have been able to kill the slime. Which all would have killed the slime had it been a normal slime but this one had been altered somehow by its levels and moved differently now that Innearth was paying attention. The inside of the slime was a constant swirl of motion its smooth and calm exterior betraying the ferocity its body held within. Some of the larger army ants shot out tiny needles of stone. Each of which just floated about the body harmlessly before getting passed through and deposited on the ground behind it. The water slime was actually a terror. If the current genocide being committed against the stone ants was replicated on a large scale it would have been terrifying. As is, it was kind of cute. Feeling like this was as good a point as any Innearth reshared his stream to Abe leaving a camera dangling over the insect massacre. Attaching the camera to the slime he confirmed it followed the trail of death and destruction up the hall and sat back. The slime churned through armies and picked groups up in bundles before smashing them against the wall in a wet slapping manner. Bits of the slime vibrated and ripped apart ants while others were simply pressed down into the ground and flattened as it passed. When the stream of ants attacking the slime slowed, the battle didn¡¯t end. Pushing against the holes and squishing a small portion of themselves down the tubes, the slime sent tendrils as far in as they could reach. Every few seconds a tendril would suck back up carrying multiple squirming ants before sucking them in and plunging back in again. Oozing its body in and out of the colony, tendrils of liquid flowing through thin tubes and spread throughout the whole nest. Less and less prey was returned and soon all the colony was decimated. If Innearth knew more about wild animals he might have made a connection between the slime''s last few attack patterns and an anteaters¡¯ tongue. The comparison broke down slightly with the water slimes ¡°tongue¡± splitting into a tree that went down every tunnel, but it was good enough. Twice more the slime had flashed slightly as it ranked up. The first time having drastically increased its mass while the second gave the slime millions of small crack-like lines. These lines made the slime look like it was made of glass and shattered ¨C the cracks persisting in weird ways as the body pulled itself upwards and shook forming and deforming but mostly staying stable despite the constantly flowing liquid. Turning away from a clean hallway the slime happily slinked back towards Innearth¡¯s core and fell asleep at his side. Nudging itself up against his core like a puppy before setting down into a puddle. ¡­okay lil guy. Well done.
Abe: Bruh. That''s...adorable.
Innearth: ...somehow I forgot you were watching. You weren''t making any comments.
Abe: I''m not making fun of you :3 if you want to keep a slime pet that''s totally fine. I noticed it''s an ascended monster. How did you manage to keep a slime alive long enough for it to evolve?
Innearth: ...My great skill.
Abe: So you have no clue huh.
Innearth: ...that would be an accurate assessment. Innearth: Okay, don''t tell anyone else but based on how muted those rank ups feel - and considering I can''t quite place its initial ascension - I''m starting to wonder if any other dungeon monsters have evolved while I wasn''t looking.
Abe: lmao.
Innearth: Hey, it''s not my fault. I evolved two of my crystal snakes and felt it. I felt exactly when they advanced but now that I''m thinking about it...like now that I''m trying to explain myself that might have just been because I was watching them at the time?
Abe: No I felt when NotAnExpendableBomb1 & 2 evolved. I wasn''t watching them at the time so it can''t be that
Innearth: What''s up with your naming convention?
Abe: Ascended monsters aren''t allowed to suicide bomb.
Innearth: oh I got what it means...just seems like a dumb naming system.
While heading off on a tangent with Abe Innearth started inventorying his regular monsters in case any had evolved. He stopped sharing the stream telling Abe he had had enough before starting on a conversation about the importance of names. Checking his second oldest monster ¨C the pool snake ¨C then working his way slowly through the rest of them he couldn''t find any that had reached level 1. Just the water slime who probably needed a better name now and his scout who spent longer and longer periods hunting between his naps in the crystal caverns. I should make a conscious effort to advance more monsters. I haven¡¯t had one advance in months¡­or at least while I was watching. Returning to the expansion effort, the 4th tunnel directly opposite the cleared out ant tunnel sloped down into a flat pool of magma. The top was covered in rock with only a few cracks that indicated what was trapped beneath. At some point the magma had probably pushed up through the whole tunnel ¨C in fact, it might even have created the tunnel for faint traces of fire mana ran through the stone all the way up to the ants. The 5th tunnel sloped down to an identical pool of liquid while the 6th sloped up and grew smaller¡­before suddenly heading downwards and changing. As it headed sideways the tunnel wall stretched out like a sideways crack. It split and rejoined itself into multiple wide tunnels that frequently showed small windows into each other. These flat torpedo-like tunnels were the precursor to ambient mana levels spiking and small creatures appearing. Paying more attention to this area, Innearth followed his small army of greater snakes as they moved into a true natural biome. Small carapace¡¯d beetles with stone shells that blended into the walls crawled about. Stalks of a wheat-like purple plant waved about drawing in darkness constantly and somehow making the room brighter by doing so. A skittering many-legged cousin of a spider mated with a crab, sliced open a shelled beetle and sucked its insides up through its legs. Small bats ¨C real bats not the rough unmoving outline his crystal bats were ¨C flew about swooping down to prey on the spider-crab and the stone-shelled beetles alike. As Innearth continued to expand into this area ¨C claiming it for his own ¨C a short standoff happened when his dungeon monsters were introduced to the local fauna. Bats swooped down to attack and were shot out of the sky with ease ¨C Innearth¡¯s greater crystal snakes were excessively overkill for the area. Seeming to recognize the threat after enough wildlife fell to Innearth¡¯s snakes, the remaining animals and monsters ignored and hid from the snakes hoping they would pass them by. Continuing on without wanting any surprises Innearth flowed over rocky caves and found jaws. Giant jaws that made Innearth freeze for half a second before continuing on once he realized they were frozen in the air. Slowly the room and its contents were excavated. A monstrous, partly buried and fully fossilized skeleton filled the room. Giant jaws 3 meters tall and 6 meters long filled the mouth of a creature easily 20 meters long. The remains were in remarkably good condition and a single white, mouse-sized creature moved about them constantly. Slowly uncovering more of the bones from the ground and strengthening them while running thin needle-like white fingers across them that pushed out a whitish-grey colour. It looks almost the same as the fossils? Some sort of bone mana? Some sort of bone flesh? Watching as it cleaned and scared the wildlife away from its home Innearth spent time studying the monster''s remains ¨C for anything that made bones like that had to be a monster! Most of what the beast looked like was lost to time, but from what little he could see Innearth was impressed. I want to make something like this. There¡¯s something to be said for size. I don¡¯t think I have any huge monsters right now. Continuing on the area past this fossil lowered the ambient mana slowly before the myriad of caves tapered off into nothing. I really need to show my dungeon off but before that, I want to make a boss ¨C the crystal caverns don¡¯t have one currently and that seems lazy. I also want to finish up a few things I started so everything¡¯s ready for the tour. Turning the main section of his attention to an area below his old core room, he checked the mana oven, sighing disappointedly when he saw the contents hadn¡¯t changed enough to warrant their use. Looking around he tried to find any unique materials that might improve his boss creation but nothing really stood out. There was rainbow soaked stone from way back when he had killed a demon in his halls¡­but from Doc he knew those were likely to make a madness-soaked monster. Not a demon but potentially something as bad as the Silver flesh. As useful as the rising natural mana in the area with them was, the material itself was essentially toxic waste. There were also chunks of the cracked core hidden in a hole¡­ Honestly, they make me feel weird whenever I see them¡­but then again if I use them I won''t have to see them anymore. Anything else? There were countless small slightly mana-soaked materials in his dungeon by now but most didn¡¯t seem that useful. In one of the pillar rooms frequented by the invisible monster many of the crystals had transformed slightly, most would reflect objects weird or warp light around them to appear shifted¡­but none were as strong as the monster that made that room home and adding them felt closer to the ¡°adding for the sake of adding not for any real reason¡± fallacy Innearth didn¡¯t want to fall into. ¡­there¡¯s also the unstable liquid crystal but that actively makes stuff worse unless I go all in and make a weak shifting monster¡­ I think I want to use some of the cracked core. And maybe¡­well I want to make a monster similar to the bones down below. What if I take those bones and make something out of them? Asking a few greater snakes to bring him the skull of the prehistoric beast, Innearth watched as the small bone uncovering creature shrieked at them and jumped about. ¡­sorry lil guy. I¡¯ll make sure to use this well. Bringing the skull up to a suitably large room Innearth worked on expanding a cave in the crystal cavern. 100m in diameter seemed good for this boss was huge I want it to have enough space. This room is currently a squarish 38x20 shape but there''s another room beside it I can cannibalize and I don¡¯t have to finish making the room before I make the boss. Sculpting a wide cavern roughly 60m in diameter Innearth grew impatient and began creating the monster instead. I''m going to make this monster manually because I''m positive it gives more experience...it takes much more time and energy but at least this way I can ignore my maximum mana and just keep adding stuff to it. Let''s see, How should I start? The skull had two fearsome jaws and Innearth focused on them. The fossilized bone was weaker than he had hoped but contained an ancient-feeling mana Innearth had no clue how to replicate. Including the skull felt important. Slowly wrapping the skull in ¡°Metal mana+Iron¡± Innearth plated the skull and added a circular hinge at that back. He wanted to go all out on this monster and that meant pulling out his ¡°rare¡± materials. Rhenium was something he had bought on the market a while back for an exorbitant price. It was the most effective physical element he could find to use with Void mana, but barely worth the cost in cores. The two grams he had bought had been 100 t1 cores. Innearth didn¡¯t want to admit to his friends he had spent that much just on material but had been saving it for something special. That much Rhenium was not enough to make much of anything¡­and was even more wasteful when you realized Void mana ate away at a lot of it before it stuck. The strength of the material made was undeniable, however. This was too precious to use on a tooth or the back of the mouth so Innearth worked on making as strong of a core as he could out of it. Making a void core efficiently was painfully slow. Void mana destroyed nearly everything it touched unless controlled with an iron fist of strength and even then it quickly ate through nearly half of the Rhenium. Keeping it steady the Void mana stuck and bonded quickly becoming an object that would destroy anything but more Rhenium like butter. ¡­But Innearth wasn¡¯t using this on a weapon. He was wasting it on a core. What am I doing¡­ Innearth moved his ball up and down sinking it into the floor quickly watching it melt through the stone leaving nothing behind before he redoubled his original thought process. Yeah, I feel like this is better used as the most important piece in a circuit. Covering the Void material with the thinnest layer of the rest of his Rhenium that he could manage, he placed it deep in the skull before turning to the rest of his void tangent. Silver was also good to use with Void mana and much much cheaper ¨C nearly infinite with time and the silver flesh. ¡­that¡¯s a weird tangent. Void mana is based upon rarity right? It works better with rarer materials? If I mass produce silver will it slowly get worse with silver? Hmm¡­no. I don¡¯t think I could affect it myself. But then again gold and silver work well with mental mana because of perceived worth right? So maybe it is that simple to change how it works¡­ Filling the whole mouth with an insulating layer of ¡°Metal mana + Silver¡± and then a corrosive destroying layer of ¡°Void mana + Silver¡± Innearth made a mouth that would dissolve anything it could hold on to long enough. Thick curved teeth were made around its whole jaw out of the same silvery void and the jaws were brought together and opened several times before Innearth was satisfied. Turning to the backside of the monster, Innearth laid a long tube of Bromine and Life mana focused as far as he could to regeneration. Bromine was a liquid and had the same effect as mercury for ¡°non-consumable¡± healing¡­but was much cheaper at a higher rank. Laying a second pathway beside the tube with 10 ¡°sacks¡± of healing potion Innearth hoped this monster could survive a beating. Taking a cue from his snakes, he made ringed bones but on a massive scale. Gravity bones were placed as a second layer deeper in and crystal muscles were layered over everything. Tiny specks of crystals were placed in each muscle ¨C an alternating pattern of Kinetic and Gravity crystals that would aid in movement and prevent the whole monster from collapsing. This monster is really chonky now. The bigger Innearth grew his monster the more effort needed to be put in to keep it stable and useful ¨C there was no point in making a monster bigger than a bus if it couldn¡¯t stand up or move afterwards. But he had learned all sorts of tips and tricks over the past almost 2 years and was well able to make a ¡°giant¡± monster by now. ¡­A good part of the effort he was putting in right now was with a similar sort of view as him making the dwarf that was still hard at work theming his first few floors. He wanted to make a big monster to prove he could. He wanted to make a boss larger than any of the monsters he had seen in any of his friend''s dungeons. ¡­teach ''em for calling all my first monsters small. Innearth muttered to himself while he worked. Each muscle was symmetrical and slid together perfectly into a repeating pattern and, as Innearth did so, a facet of his crystal mana slid into the whole working. Muscle cells became a crystal lattice and began to repeat without his imput. As Innearth toiled away a faint idea of something to do started to form. He hadn¡¯t managed to make a moveable shrunk room yet but maybe if he used it here it might work. ¡­I want the outside to be large but it doesn¡¯t need to be that big on the inside¡­but then again trying to shrink the inside of the monster untested seems dumb¡­it does seem like I should practice on other monsters before using that technique on something I¡¯m putting so many resources in. ¡­but then again I really feel like it¡¯s the thing to do. Waffling back and forth and considering the price of what he had spent already vs how much his instincts were telling him to try it, he finally relented. I don''t like basing stuff off of core feelings. I want to make stuff logically. But then again my instincts haven''t really led me astray before have they? Pulling everything out of the center except for some muscles Innearth focused on using his void affinity to shrink. From the circular ribs inwards space was twisted and pulled together. Bits of crystal muscles exploded all throughout it but some survived and were condensed as they compressed. Holding it in this shrunk space until it took Innearth watched as liquid crystal spread through the air falling and shattering and then flowing away. Okay, let''s see if it can be moved. Pulling a rip slightly and then trying to pull all the ribs made his working start to fluctuate as if breaking so he let go and waited for it to calm down. Is this a failure? I feel like it''s a failure...Should I remake this section of the monster or keep going? I guess I''ll see it through to the end. I''ve never tried making a shrunk zone inside a monster before...I just wish my instincts weren''t screaming I had to use it on this boss. Pulling the premium void core and placing it in the middle of the shrunk area made it appear to grow and take up a large space inside of it. Laying first in one direction and then the other spirals of cores were made in a double helix of crystal, gravity, void. The ice cavern addition to the crystal caverns didn''t look like it would happen in time for the tour but Innearth made a few ice cores and added them to the mix along with a few life cores. The end result had 35 each crystal/kinetic/gravity/void cores +1 special void + 5 ice + 5 life + 1 slightly bigger but still tier 1 "Pure core". The idea was that quantity was a quality all on its own and if enough small cores came together they might reach the same heights as a tier 4 core. He had certainly spent enough mana by now that the "cost" was higher than a tier 4 core. Taking several glances at the pile of bones below, he tried to fill in the gaps with imagination. It seemed to have way too many spikes in weird places and Innearth could only see 5 legs so he assumed it had 6. This is deeper so it matters less but setting up stuff that is supposed to heal takes up a lot of energy. In that regard, living crystal is much more efficient. The crystal dwarf needs to wear those gloves - I want this beast to thrive not just survive. The whole back was covered in a bed of living crystals that sunk into the muscles and latched onto the ribs as they grew into the dead crystal and fused. Flipping back and forth between the areas Innearth finished his main body. He then took another cue from his crystal snakes and lay repeating crystal scales over the full length. He couldn''t tell from the bones but they looked like a creature that used to have scales. No part of him doubted it used to be covered with them. Looking with a critical eye over the creature Innearth decided to decorate it a small bit more before finishing. Two swirled emerald-coloured gems were set in the eye sockets and remembering the disco ball like material, he created a small pocket behind the eyes that held a sliver of it. When shining through those eyes they glowed and refracted beams of light throughout the room in a slightly green layer of dots that Innearth thought looked suitably "cool". Good as a distraction or way to show off at the start of the boss battle? Either way, I think it''s done! Let there be life! Anxiety filled Innearths core as he watched the crystal monster stir. Standing up slowly and laboriously it rippled with mana and tensed and flexed parts of its body causing Innearth to tense. Relaxing once he realized the shrinking construct held perfectly appearing natural and completely bound to the monster Innearth watched the boss stalk about the room. Moving quickly and catlike as it circled the chamber Innearth had made for it and reminded him he wanted to make a larger area for the boss soon. I think my friends will love this. Chapter 46. A day in the life of Innearth.
While most beginner mages often have enough mana for most of the things they want to do, many seek more and more ¨C the regeneration they have isn''t enough, the spells they can make aren¡¯t enough, they require more and more power. It is with this specific mindset that many begin to construct their first ¨C and many times only ¨C mana engine. It''s a barrier to many, for most mages have little crafting knowledge or skill and mana engines can only be used by their creator not traded or commissioned. The creation of one of these devices marks the barrier most would consider "the archmage classification" although others consider more comprehensive classifications that involve levels and spell sizes. Due to the typically low crafting knowledge and skill mana engines are usually raw and rough devices. Dragon hearts beating in glass balls and glued to a regular stick with amateur script work. Grimoire-like books with spells cast upon every single page and spells written in their creator¡¯s blood. Bones, feathers and gems tied together with twine or laid in resin and cement. Varied and bountiful, it is usually obvious what the archmage¡¯s mana engine is. If you see a device that looks like it was made in arts and crafts by a goblin or designed with more enthusiasm than skill, then kept in maximum security you¡¯ve found it. Either that or the mage''s diary. In essence, what the mana engine does is rip aspected environmental mana out of the surroundings and funnels it around and into spells cast by its creator. Without being used to supercharge spells most mana engines can also be used to fling huge uncontrolled blasts of mana but spell bolstering is their main effect and the reason most mages spend years trying to create one. A regular fireball cast near a volcano would have enough Fire mana shoved into it to raize a village to the ground. A regular water wave cast in the ocean might create a tsunami high enough to...well wash away a city. The obvious downside is how this introduces a reliance upon certain environments upon mages who didn''t have any before that point. Wizard towers are the natural progression from this creation, for many archmages seek out and live in specific areas with higher concentrations of the types of mana they use. They will then set up spells that contain and hold environmental mana similar to most mana sewers. And then travel for kilometers around using their mana engine to collect and deposit their affinities into one area. A water mage might set up a tower just offshore of a beach where they pull: Ocean mana, Deep Ocean mana, Saltwater Mana ¨C even Tide, Wave and Drowning Mana ¨C from kilometers around to rest in the area around their stronghold. With enough time they can become nearly invincible in their towers for the environment is set to aid their spellwork at a moment''s notice. Even the more esoteric mages make towers and build domains despite the difficulty of cultivating the types of mana they use. If they can''t pull from surrounding environment, they simply have to cast their spells constantly in an area and trap their own mana as environmental mana for use later. This casting over several years results in some more strange towers set in places many would consider a natural hazard or mana pollution zone. An ooze mage that lives in a swamp of arcane slime for example. The next section depicts the systems irradiation of natural luck mana by locking it into SYSTEM_LUCK mana.
Excerpt obtained from the banned book "Secrets of the world" Author unknown.
Innearth: Alright! Innearth: I''ve decided to jump right into it. I don''t have adventurers so¡­ I can''t really show you my dungeon information and monsters. But I can show off my dungeon!
Amy: You sure? Didn''t you mention you were delved by a dwarf once?
Abe: I wanna see what it says! We all sent a status. Only fair for you to do the same bro :3.
Amy: I''m sure it''s fine.
Innearth: ...I don''t really want to.
Abe: Plzzzzz :P. I''m sure it''s not as bad as you think.
Innearth: Fine.
Pit Stop [Dungeon Information]
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Fated Eternal Design: Ouch. That hurt me more than I thought it would.
Abe: Yeah...Worse than I thought. Feel free to ignore my obviously horrible advice. Should have kept that to yourself it''s embarrassing :3
Innearth: And I don''t think I can give monster lists like you guys...The one delver I got, didn''t exactly analyze or describe my monsters. Innearth: I mean I guess I could write stuff myself? But if I just show them off there''s no real point to that. But then again...having a list in one place is a nice overview. Innearth: Okay! Change of plans. I''ll give a brief overview of each area so you know what you''re looking at. How does that sound?
Amy: That sounds lovely. Where do you want to start?
Innearth: Easy to hard obviously. Here''s my first monster overview.
Tutorial Areas: Entrance: Floor 1
Monster List
Crystal Worms Endless auto spawn.
Metal Worms Endless auto spawn.
Boss List
Lesser Crystal Snake Trio Ferocious beasts of the tutorial area. Beat three crystal snakes to advance.
Innearth: First off let''s take a brief stop at my tutorial floor.
Abe: A brief "Pitstop"?
Innearth: Haha...ha. at least your amusing yourself even if it''s at my expense. Innearth: Okay so this room is designed so even the weakest adventurers can have a head start. Innearth: The tutorial floor is 3 rooms from the dungeon entrance to the start of the beginner area and I''ve perfectly duplicated it 5 times around the valley. The main mob in this area is a two-headed crystal worm. Basically, I had Abe send me a bunch of enthalpy sped-up plates that can make growth zones and then came up with a similar system in terms of long Worms that are split in half and can perfectly regrow.
Abe: Guilty o/. Yeah I helped.
Innearth: That was a long series of experiments. Did you know symmetry is important for those? If you make a spike on one side of the worm and split it in two that spike side is the "real side" and the other is a body part that wastes away after being detached. If they both have spikes when split it works properly however. Also the longer the amount of time you spend the more likely it is to work. Innearth: If you heal them into separate monsters over the course of say "a minute normal time" then you have to slice at exactly 50% to get it to work even the tiniest of slivers off of that and you fail. Innearth: If you heal over a few day you can slice it in a range from anywhere between 49%-51% and it works. Innearth: A few weeks 45-55%
ZeMadDoctor: So what you''re saying. Is that you don''t have to wait if you do it perfectly?
Innearth: I''m saying even if you hold the worm in a container perfectly shaped to it and perfectly measured and cut, you mess up most of the attempts. Innearth: Abe''s Time magic materials hack that time down to a half-hour ¨C and I''ve given the worms a little band in the middle showing where it''s safe to cut them. This is what I''m using to honour Abe...Now on to my next area! I''ll show you the floor that took the most inspiration from FED.
Beginner Area: Silver Mines: Floors 2-4
Monster List
Lesser Snakes Same as the tutorial but found at a much higher quantity.
Normal snakes Using rings for strength ¨C more rings means their circuits are stronger. Currently 4 rings is the strongest. I''ve also taken to colour coding circuits that are strange and different even if they aren''t stronger. Mostly an internal system so I can tell them apart but theoretically adventurers could figure it out...There''s hundreds of variations now though, circuits for my normal and greater snakes are constantly being experimented. Some don''t have rings yet because they are the first of their kind and I''ve yet to categorize them. No rings could mean they are either really weak or really strong.
Minecart Mother Defensive monster that rides the rails around carrying a bunch of "crazy balls". Has a light material headlight so adventurers can see it coming.
Crazy balls Covered in rough looking black materials to make them look like coal. These crazy balls are set up in a convoluted system Bose helped me with that lets the Minecart Mothers control them.
Boss List
Optional mini boss: Silver minecart. This minecart careens about the dungeon, disappearing into unknown passageways for hours at a time. Unlike other minecart mothers the silver minecart does not stop and deploy crazy balls. Instead the silver minecart is bent on pure speed and includes a phasing ability making it incredibly slippery and hard to pin down. Upon defeat a special reward awaits the group that can take this down.
Sentinel/not supposed to be fought: Crystal dwarf. A cute and loveable crafter who hides in the walls and only comes out to fix stuff after adventurers are gone. You can find and kill him ¨C you monster ¨C but due to its purpose you won''t be rewarded. The crystal dwarf is also extreamely strong for its area and can only realistically be destroyed by adventurers that should be lower in the dungeon than the beginner area.
Sand bed A True obstacle blocking adventurers from reaching areas too dangerous for them. Impervious to regular physical damage and resistant to most types of magical damage.
Moving around Innearth showed off different sections of the mines. They had really been improved after the crystal dwarf had a few months to work on them. Now every single section was filled with traps and decorations. The light stick torches Innearth had made were replaced by crystal lanterns bolted to the wall with iron rings filled with flickering lights. The straight hallways had periodic supports and occasional signs pointing out different areas. ¡°Fire Silver This Way!¡± ¡°Big Monster in Hallway. Warning!¡± The "mining rooms" were now filled with hard lamp hats and had stone and metal mana pickaxes that were linked to "custodian" type monsters that would attack anyone who attempted to bring them out of the rooms. There were also weaker crystal dwarves that acted like Bose''s NPC''s and stayed in observatory rooms to give out simple quests. Some frequented the mining rooms and acted out mining constantly with dull pickaxes designed to give clear smashing sounds. Still others helped ¡°The Crystal Dwarf¡± in his experiments bringing materials or distributing more traps and setting them up. Innearth was not as good at coming up with fake storylines as Bose but he had tried. Hopefully, the dwarves that should arrive any day now won''t find his depiction of them speciesist.
Innearth: Most of these traps were actually made by my crystal dwarf. Everyone say hi...
Moving the camera over to the dwarf''s workshop the view peeked in to see the dwarf at work. Surrounding its table was a hazy domain of sorts with a higher ambient level of mana pushed inwards by half a dozen crystal staffs embedded in the ground around the table. Somehow the dwarf had made a small work area with an environmental mana level close to the 8th floor in the 3rd. The effect wasn''t perfect and mana was fluctuating at the edges but a central contraption continued to tug it back into the area offsetting its escape. Seated at the table itself, the dwarf had left his gloves to the side and was currently designing an intricate medallion of sorts. Leftover crystal dust lay scattered about and beside him lay a layered cake of metal and bright pink goo with a perfect circle cut in the middle. Sparkling blue wires ran in curving shapes about the inside of the medallion before being insulated with pink goo and squished between two thin plates of silver. This was repeated over a dozen times with each layer having a slightly different design. faint pulses of power occasionally left his void-fingered hand as he stencilled glowing glyphs between the metallic runes or sliced wires off of a long block of metal. The whole workshop seemed strange. The number of various bits of knowledge and spells being used along with the way the monster and his assistants worked and expressed emotions was...weird. Dungeon monsters were not technically alive until they advanced. They were still technically just a part of Innearth and none of his other monsters carried themselves like the crystal dwarf. The only explanation Innearth had, was that his love of experimenting had rubbed off on his puppet.
Innearth: Yep, No clue what how or why the dwarf does stuff. This helper monster is similar to Amy''s underwater beholder thing but because of its shape ¨C and I guess my desire for it to be a crafter? ¨C all of its skill lies in making things. I just provide him with materials and he spits off all sorts of traps and decorations. Like this table? I have no clue how he made it. I gave him the crystals and metals provided him with a bunch of the mostly spent demons blood-soaked stone and a few random unique materials I didn''t want to turn into a monster and he turned it into all of this! Innearth: Not only do I not know how a bunch of it works but I can''t even copy it...like I''ve tried copying a few designs but it doesn''t work for me. It''s just some weird crystal dwarf magic. Neat huh?
ZeMadDoctor: Wait. Is it really? Is it that easy? That''s the solution. Isn''t it? ZeMadDoctor: Okay! I''m sorry I''ll leave some of my consciousness here to enjoy your tour, but the rest of me will be taking a leave. That sounds weird. I''ll still be here. I have to try this right away though. And I''ll mostly be focusing on something else. I believe you might have just solved one of the biggest problems I''ve been having! Thank you. Carry on and I''m sorry for interrupting.
Innearth: Okay...uh yeah well I''m glad you learned something. Where was I? Oh, Yeah I don''t know what he does but he does it and I''m grateful. Moving on!
Moving the camera into a more open area Innearth stopped and tried to regain his lost rhythm.
Innearth: I also have something I...well I didn''t learn it from Amy but I''ve designed them after seeing her dungeon so it''s kind of honouring her.
Amy: huh?
Innearth: See those tree-like pillars everywhere?
Amy: I see them.
Innearth: Those are my healing trees. The inside is a solid core of the Healing Beacon plant that forms most of the time I try to combine Life and Crystal mana. It connects to any monster with crystal components and heals them consistently for a fixed regeneration. Not rapid or fast but it prevents monsters from deteriorating as long as they have an hour or so of rest after they are mortally wounded. Innearth: Anyways I got to thinking...They would probably get smashed if adventurers realized what they were doing and couldn''t benefit from it...so now they have a symbiotic healing plant outside of it. Innearth: There''s a trap/plant/monster/whatever I designed that has little rimmed cups of healing potion and small regeneration sacks embedded in them that reheal any removed healing potion. Adventurers won''t smash these trees if they realize they have small pools of refilling healing potion outside of them and are less likely to realize they are healing everything if they think the use is something else.
Amy: That...works. Healing potions are so easy to make I hadn''t considered making them refill. Maybe I should make a healing potion monster that bleeds healing potion into my healing pools so I don''t have to manually refill them? They can hide in the healing pools and atta- no I''m supposed to keep the adventurers alive with the pools. They won''t attack anyone healing but will attack anyone stealing lots of liquid! It''s great. Thanks Innearth for the idea.
Innearth: ...this was supposed to be my dungeon design dedicated to you. If you want to use part of it yourself go ahead. Anyways! Moving on. The end of this area is my warrior''s nightmare boss.
Pulling them down to the room Innearth wished the bed was doing something now. It was still enough it could have been sleeping and Innearth finally asked a team of snakes to attack it in the background so they had something ¨C anything ¨C to watch.
Innearth: So yeah. Basically immune to physical damage...but weak to magic. It''s actually relatively easy of a boss for a mage, but too hard of a boss for a warrior and I''ve been recently deciding I want to commission a boss or materials from Doc? Doc you are still here?
ZeMadDoctor: hmm?
Innearth: I want some sort of boss monster that''s immune to magic but weak to physical attacks? I was thinking if a solo adventurer was a wizard they could face the one that''s weaker to magic and if they were a warrior they could face the one that was weaker to physical attacks and if it was a team that was facing it they would have to fight both of them as well. For some reason, I thought you could help with that. I don''t have a lot of null stone and I am using it for defence and experiments...do you have any materials from demons that would work for this? Any advice? Sorry for grinding the tour to a brief halt but I''d figured I''d ask right now while I''m focusing on it.
ZeMadDoctor: I have...well as long as you don''t need anything truly strong I can trade for some weaker null stone. I want some of your circuit designs in exchange I don''t seem to be having as much luck as you with them.
Innearth: Deal. Anyways. Everyone else! Onwards! Innearth: The next part of my dungeon is my maze. It doesn''t have any monsters really. But it has a lot of other stuff. I''m sure you guys will love it!
Transitionary floor: The Confounding maze: Floor 5.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. After flipping up the description for a moment Innearth pulled the group through his Escher painting-styled maze. filled with darkness and light to give the whole area a "fog of war" with brightness quickly dropping off the further into it you went. Explaining the excessively complicated background with more and more detail he got a bit too excited talking about how much effort this floor took before realizing most of his friends weren''t responding and continuing on.
Intermediate Area: Magma Halls: Floors 6-8
Monster List
Magma spider Think of a monster with burning limbs that is bound to a bat. Climbs along the wall and ceiling using kinetic and gravity materials.
Crystal bat Ranged monster bound to the tanking magma spiders. Shoots crystal darts with a few variations.
Trapdoor spider Counts as a monster but is basically a trap. Void stomach and claws drag the unaware into holes in the wall where they are never seen again...good stuff :3
Magma web See Abe''s we collaborated. Exists mostly to set up the webs the other spiders live in. They can drop webs on adventurers to burn them but I mostly have them set up to not fight because they are harder to replace.
Boss List
Optional mini boss: death knight silver. Unique for this floor, the Death knight is surrounded by a dozen zombie animals and a environment that''s incredibly damaging to the living.
The Three Spider Sisters. 3 Unusually powerful magma spiders with the strongest set of circuits I''ve found ¨C more juice and a light connection between all 3 of them and their specialized set of 3 familiars block the way to the next floor. Each spider sister alone could lead all their brethren but together they are unstoppable. A domain of solid fire that empowers heat and any fire-like spells, a crushing weight of gravity that keeps anything but the sisters pushed down into the ground below, a hundred grey-red burning threads that seek and stab anything they touch. This trio works together well and can face nearly anything as a team. They live in a web made from magma webs and have slowly started to be recognised as royalty by the other spiders.
Innearth: Okay! This area is where the true challenge begins! Do you see those faint covers? Those are my trapdoor spiders. Void gullet and stomach to melt through enchantments and dissolve swallowed adventurers. All the traps in the beginner area...well unless someone is truly weak or stupid or massively unlucky even if they get hit by those traps they should survive. The intermediate area however starts getting truly lethal.
Amy: Wow... aren''t you afraid of accidentally killing your adventurers and not having any to delve you anymore?
Innearth: ...I figure anyone that can reach the Intermediate area doesn''t need hand-holding anymore. They should have the skills to see the traps or defend against them. Personally, it''s much more exciting if there''s an actual danger you know? There''s not much point if you know it''s impossible for them to die...with these magma spiders able to burn through unprotected flesh in seconds and void tipped claws I''m assuming the stronger adventurers would need much stronger defensive skills before they can handle being hit. This way they will actually want to dodge and I can get excited watching them because I don''t know what''s going to happen!
Fated Eternal Design: Hear Hear! Honestly Amy as much as I liked your dungeon I think you went too far on that "safety" crusade of yours. That and your dungeon should have some quests and more decorations and variety and stuff besides plants. Adventurers know what they are signing up for, if they die they die! There will be more they keep coming endlessly it''s okay to be more lethal in your challenges.
Amy: My dungeon is fine thank you very much. I''m happy with it, my monsters are happy with it, the adventurers are happy with it! If I actually tried to challenge them none of the adventurers would survive my strict requirements and that would be oh so sad. No. Healing potions for all and shadow saviours to secretly pull them out of danger or divert lethal attacks last minute it is. Besides. We are here to learn about Innearth''s dungeon...not make fun of mine. Amy: So what are those bats you mentioned in your monster list?
Happy enough to go along with Amy''s attempt at changing the topic. Innearth found a spider bat pair. They were getting ready to make a wild assault on the crystal caverns and raid their hated (nurtured) nemeses ¨C the greater crystal snakes.
Innearth: Okay, we can follow these two down, I''ll show off the boss with a split camera while they get set up.
Showing off his streaming abilities, Innearth split the view in 2 and displayed the 3 spider sisters while placing the information for the crystal caverns beside the spider bat duo. On one side 3 spiders moving about in a web of fire in the other two monsters interact in a nurturing way. They check each other over ¨C flying around and making sure their friend looks fine or looking at their partner''s wings and making sure they aren''t damaged. Once they have prepared enough, they start venturing past the floor barrier between obsidian black halls and multicoloured crystal caves. Noticing the movement Innearth turns to focus completely on them.
Advanced Area: Crystal Caverns: Floors 9-11
Monster List
Greater Crystal Snakes See "Normal Crystal Snakes".
Crystal Turtle Ranged monsters of the crystal caverns. Come equipped in several flavors that shoot poisoned darts, hallucinogenic mental darts. Sticky shots and explosive rounds...I spent a while playing around with these.
Crystal Hedgehog Variation of the above turtle schematic. Instead of a single forward cannon the hedgehog has a dozen cannons spread throughout its whole back so it can shoot in any direction.
Void Flies Just barely worth it they provide a slightly weaker threat than the bats that can hide behind magma spiders as they actually have to get in close to land a void needle into an adventurer. They are actually stronger than they appear for they are immensely denser than normal monsters. Exists as the threat in this area that attacks from the air and requires a constant lookout. Can deal a good amount of damage and is small enough that it can sneak up on an adventurer if they aren''t paying attention.
Mass of Eternal Crystals Unique monster.
Pool Snake Theoretically a "normal" crystal snake I''m separating pool snake out because they spend all their time in the chaotic mess of unstable liquid crystals. Oldest non ascended monster in my dungeon.
Boss List
Optional Mini Boss: Invisible Stalker. Crystal snake using illusions and natural abilities to hide and attack from the shadows. Has a rare drop added to it but I doubt anyone will be able to attack this monster. I can''t even see where it is.
The Crystal ***** Its a surprise :3
Innearth: So, these are a pretty simple boss to get past. You can consider all the smaller fights against spiders up to this point as preparation for this fight. I''m actually trying to keep most of my normal spiders slightly weaker by constantly trying out different circuits and not remaking the stronger ones unless they are the 3 bosses. Innearth: You know...in which case I used the strongest ones I could find. Power for cost I think these are my cheapest bosses actually. I can remake them endlessly and their circuit makes them much stronger but they cost nearly the same amount as the regular mobs. Anyways. Innearth: Remember Abe''s dungeon? There was a magma spider with a gravity field there - that''s the one near the entrance. Innearth: Anyways We are entering the crystal caverns! This is the area that''s the most aligned with my affinities, especially where my old core room is. I''ll show it off after we finish following the bat and spider raiding party. I should have mentioned they are bound together with mental mana but in an equal relationship. Good monster pairs!
Going silent for a bit the group watches the pair come across a few lone greater and normal snakes ¨C each with 1 or occasionally 2 rings. Orbiting around to the rear, the bat started each encounter by shooting off shots of living crystal deep into the snake''s back ¨C most shots pierced and pinned the normal snakes but shattered upon the thicker greater snakes. While the bat made a nuisance of itself, the magma spider would dash forwards, red lines running behind it and letting it scuttle over the ground at a terrifying speed. Getting in close before jumping and landing on the snake ¨C a single lunge carrying it nearly 4 meters in a second before it stabs down with its void legs. With the 1 ring variants and most of the non ¡°greater¡± snakes, that is usually enough. When they come up against a 2 ringed greater snake it doesn''t end as quickly however ¨C The newest fight started off reasonably well enough. The bat used an explosive shot that shattered the snake''s insides weakening it for but a moment. The spider did its dashing leap and managed to stab into the snake as well! That had been enough before but now they had come into a slight problem. The problem was that despite its pinned state, the 2 ringed snake was still able to cast magic. Dark purple dust rolled out from its wounds and started crystalizing on the spider''s legs while its healing sacks burst and began fixing its punctured body. Ripping itself out of the spider''s grasp, the snake silently retreated, watching as the fast-growing crystals covered 4 of the spider''s legs on one side rendering it nearly immobile. Straining against its crystal prison the magma spider started pumping molten mana through its legs, the cage getting hotter and hotter as crystal melted. Not letting the spider free itself that easily, the snake used the last of its mana to push a second cloying cloud of crystalizing prison at the spider. Turning it also aimed upwards at the bat attempting to bring it down within head spike stabbing distance. Flying to the side the bat dodged the cloud and attempted to free its trapped partner with a half regrown explosive round and ¨C while the power was drastically reduced ¨C it was enough to crack the already melting crystal and free the spider. Flying about the spider and hiding behind its once more the bat nestled into its partner''s skin, not seeming to care about the heat as it pushed itself against the burning area. The two charged as one at this point. The spider jumped to the walls before lurching sideways outside of the cloud''s range and slicing the snake''s cone core head off. The monster¡¯s decapitation happened in a majestic sideways spinning slice as a single claw extended down and was flung forwards with all the spider''s strength. Like a lightbulb winking out, the cloud of crystal magic broke apart and started shifting to nearly invisible environmental mana. The snake''s body continued moving for a second longer as if not aware it was already dead. Dropping after a horrifying headless turn towards the duo, liquid crystal rapidly flowed out and made straight lines radiating out in a splatter. The flesh and blood acted weird as it stopped being controlled by the living snake. First its remains shrunk and turned to bones and goo, a moment later after seeming to wait a bit rapidly become nothing more than clutter for Innearth to clean up or dump in a new garbage pit.
Amy: Good show!
Innearth: Yeah...honestly I don''t get a lot out of this anymore I need adventurers or wild monsters to excite me but I''m glad you''re enjoying yourself. Want to continue watching them or continue the tour?
Abe: I''m good on this pair. What else do you have?
Amy: I want to see how far they can go!
Innearth: well one for one against FED? What do you say.
Fated Eternal Design: hmmm? sorry I have a group reaching my final boss right now I got slightly distracted. We can continue watching the snake pair I guess? I want to have my full attention on the tour and this is less exciting for me so I''d like to rejoin the regular tour.
Abe: Hah...looks like Amy wins but only because this is boring!
Amy: ...wow. that''s rude. I just started to get attached to this pair. Don''t you ever care about your normal monsters Abe?
Abe: What? No lol. They are puppets. I literally explode most of my monsters Amy. Sometimes without even having adventurers around, I throw a few blast slugs at the spiders as a pick me up. Ascended monsters? fine. But these are just toys.
Amy: sure...they are a part of you. But that doesn''t mean you should be mean to yourself! When your monsters arn''t fighting they should have some toys to play with or relaxing areas to heal!
Innearth: Well okay, I''ll show off a bit more but save the best till when FED has more attention to spare I guess. Innearth: So, one of the main traps of this area is the shooting spikes. I have them colour-coded so any time a crystal spike is the same colour as the room it''s in its dangerous. The reaction is using a pressure cannon plant and is pretty strong...but now that I''m thinking about it I think I''ve gone and made my void filled trapdoor spiders stronger than these now... I''ll work on that. Basically, adventurers need to figure out the pattern and then keep a good lookout for them. I''ll see about making some stronger variants for the lower floors in the crystal cavern.
Abe: I need more trap ideas. I can''t steal that now but damn. I''ve run out of stuff to use on vaults.
Innearth: If I think of something I don''t want to make myself I''ll tell you I guess. This over here is my mini boss. Can anyone see him? There''s a crystal snake lying there in the center of the room but I can guarantee that''s not where it is currently. It''s been recently upgraded to mini boss status!
At this moment the previous spider bat pair entered the room and charged the illusion of a snake in the center of the room. Appearing to get skewered and die the pair rejoice before dropping dead a moment later the illusion surrounding their "fine and whole" bodies melting away and the illusion surrounding the dead snake melting into nothing before reforming a couple of meters to the side.
Amy: Skuttle and shooter!!! Noooo!
Abe: Grow up.
Fated Eternal Design: Is that what the illusion core I sent you went to? I''m impressed. I think it''s stronger than any of my illusion attempts that''s for sure.
Innearth: You back? Innearth: You guys ready for the finale?
Amy: yep show us!
Innearth: Prepare yourselves. ¡­ Innearth: So you want to see it?
Abe: Bro, I''m not going beg. Show us. That''s why we are here. We all want to see.
Instead of continuing to try and build up tension, Innearth flipped the camera to his new boss room. A 20 meter long, vaguely reptilian creature, sat curled up upon a massive pedestal of glistening crystal. Surrounding its perch lay countless small jewels and items. Glancing around the room slowly, lazily, the boss¡¯s gem-eyes ran a light kaleidoscope of colours over its domain. These dots of light flickered and helped draw attention to how strange the air in the room looked. It vibrated and shimmered slightly to sight while looking like it was falling constantly. The whole room had a heavy suffocating look and faint streaks of thicker slightly opaque lines swirled about and moved downwards quickly. As if the world was a drawn comic, the thin lines drew attention to and enhanced the domains ¡°feel¡±. Two greater snakes and then two sets of magma spiders/bats were sent into the room. Each appeared from separate ends of the cave and ignored their quarrels ¨C simply attempting to move forwards. Slithering and skittering into the room they seemed to struggle through the air-like molasses. The closer to the center they reached the worse it got. Suddenly with a flick of pressure, their movement slowed, and as one, all 6 monsters were shoved into the ground and held in a subservient position. There was evidently some gravity magic happening, but the way they were held as if bowing seemed more like giant hands had reached out and pulled them about. Slipping off its perch, the boss pranced towards the kowtowing dungeon monsters and lunged forward. Everything seems to focus in on its jaws as they slide open and crunched into the first magma spider. Bubbling molten flesh was ripped apart and swallowed ¨C barely seeming to damage the mouth of this creature. Lines of magical magma run down its snout smoking slightly but not burning the skin and doing more damage to the floor below. Continuing on to each bowing monster, the jaws lunged and close 5 more times. Each time the boss begins to rip chunks of magical flesh apart as it rends, chews and swallows.
Innearth: as far as I can tell, dungeon monsters don''t need to eat...and I have no clue what these ones getting out of that¡­ but it seems to like it.
Amy: Sky''s above that''s massive.
Abe: you made a dragon???
Innearth: ...I guess? I mean. Yes. Yes I made a dragon!
Fated Eternal Design: ...I must admit, that''s bigger than the largest monster I''ve made. How did you even make it that big? Why isn¡¯t it falling apart on itself? How is it moving?
Innearth: it''s hard to tell because of the way it seems like those smaller dungeon monsters are just being fed to it but it''s strong. Those are some of my strongest normal monsters that just got eaten right there. Innearth: anyways. Now that you have been introduced it''s time for the show!
A glistening spiked snout peaked into the boss room at this moment. Faint speckles of saliva dripped out of a cracked-looking mouth and a faint crystal platform spread like frost below the scout as it pushed into the room. Innearth¡¯s Snake Scout was now level 57. Many small things had changed over the past few months and it had advanced once at level 32. It really had slowed down once its level caught up to its relative strength. Entering the room with purpose, the snake seemed strangely offended as it slid through the air and started to circle the room. A completely enclosed tunnel accompanied the snake as it made its way from one side to the other and then back around to near the entrance. Encircling the boss near the center of the room and tightening into a loop as it made its second pass. Over 200m long and nearly half a meter wide the scout was now a LONG boi. The snake nearly wrapped around the whole cavern at this point and as it spiralled around, its length started to overlap. Turning inwards it started a collision course directly for the boss as it made another circuit and then turned on a collision course inward. The scout''s tunnel seemed to protect it from the strange domain controlled by the crystal beast. Air visibly flowed around the tunnel and left swirling slipstreams as it bypassed the tube. Stretching and then leaping upwards ¨C far higher than something so large had any right to go ¨Cthe boss soared across the room. Landing mouth first on the tube the boss bit down on a part of the crystal tunnel. Its void fangs sunk deep inwards and then sliced around its whole length as the boss¡¯s massive body fell downwards in an arc. Opening the tunnel like a specialized tool specifically designed for this job, the tips of the fangs cut into the end of the snake within ¨C drawing first liquid crystal blood...although with the bright purple colour and thick marbled consistency. The scout¡¯s insides were heavily changed from their base after 5 rank-ups after all. Wincing Innearth felt anxious, while not making any indication that anything was wrong. The scout was his child. His precious ascended monster. The boss was a puppet...but one that he had put a lot of effort into and one he couldn''t easily remake. Thus, both monsters had been given strict instructions to put on a show but not kill each other. ...something Innearth had never done with his monsters before. But one that had opened the floodgates to him suddenly being worried about every small injury in the fight. A whip-like shiver flew through the whole tunnel, causing the scout¡¯s construct to shimmer and melt slightly. Pulling its bitten tail inwards ¨C already healed ¨C the scout flexed, causing countless droplets of melted crystal to fly out. Hovering in the air and vibrating as they attempted to resist the suppression field release by the boss. First one, then three, then a dozen droplets of melted and yet not hot or molten crystal, resolidified. Each ¡°droplet¡± turned their tail-like wick downwards to face the boss and then started pelting forwards like diagonal hail. Accelerating towards the boss in the order they cooled. Arrogantly facing the hail head-on, the boss seems surprised when the first few embed inwards unbroken ¨C continuing past crystal scales and drawing blood. Frantically starting to evade the swarm too late caused the beast to skid about as it jumped from side to side. Breathing out into the air, a frosty black liquid was formed that could melt through the shotgun like mass of pellets wounding it. Spitting this liquid spell back and forth frantically the boss attempts to shield itself and ¨C while quite a few made it through in enough of a piece to hurt it ¨Cthe liquid gave the boss a moment to rest.
Fated Eternal Design: Dragons breath!
Amy: You really made a dragon didn''t you.
Innearth: It does look like that doesn''t it.
Guys I told you. No killing. A primal rumbling rolls forth from the crystal (dragon?) While a pulse of healing liquid closed over countless small wounds across its flank. Turning to face its attacker, the dragon leapt forward, aiming to bite off a section of tunnel near its front this time. Several half arcs formed in the air-like sections of tunnel impeding the dragon''s lunge. Void fangs bit into harmless walls and its feet slipped ineffectually. Grabbing at the air as the huge boss attempted to stand on a barrier that was promptly dispelled by its caster moments later. Falling backwards, the crystal dragon twisted and landed on its side ¨C hard ¨C a deafening crash resounding out as Innearth shook the camera about for more effect. The crystal dragon had a bed of living crystals growing out of its back which would normally be a boon. However, landing on them caused many to shatter and a few stabbed inwards making an otherwise light fall incredibly damaging. More rumbling growls burst forth from the downed dragon as it slowly, laboriously righted itself and glared upwards. Faint mocking hisses flicker down from the scout as it once again begins creating a swarm of crystal drops ¨C nearly half of its existing tunnel turning into a million small bullets in the air. Guys. Non-lethal, please. Flicking its head slightly as if regretfully understanding ¨C finally listening ¨C the scout directs thousands of drops at once towards the dragon''s back. Dashing across the room towards the scout, the boss twists its head sideways ¨C two massive jaws aimed straight for the scout¡¯s head. At the last possible second the scout moves forwards and down, a thick crystal tunnel sloping with it and causing the boss to clip the side and run a solid strip off the edge of the tunnel ¨C this time not ripping into the snake flesh beneath. Making a sharp vertical u-turn the scout bends its long body around to come up behind the dragon its mouth opening and ripping out several spikes causing the dragon''s back to bleed liquid crystal to the floor below. Snapping back and forth the two massive monsters fight through the air of the cavern ¨C skills forgotten as they simply bite and claw each other aiming not to kill but to injure. As the fight progressed, the scout managed to wrap itself completely around the dragon and bite a huge chunk out of its side. At this point, the dragon was mostly trapped and the mock battle could be considered won. As long as you ignored the fact that the boss specifically didn¡¯t take the chance to kill the scout when its head passed within snapping range of its jaws it was over. Turning away and slithering down past the boss the scout started trying to find a place to sleep. ¡­Okay I just realized I built the boss room where the scout has been sleeping¡­that might have led a wee bit to its annoyance.
Innearth: Sooooooo. What did you guys think? Long term ascended monster vs boss.
Abe: I¡¯m conflicted. I thought this boss looked really strong but then it lost. Maybe it just looked stronger than it was?
Innearth: The snake scout is¡­well was level 57. It might be higher by now!
Amy: I thought you mentioned once it wasn¡¯t really a fighter¡­you called it your scout?
Innearth: Hey! The scout started off as the snake king. He¡¯s a strong boi. Alpha of the valley.
Abe: Didn¡¯t you mention something once about some otter alpha?
Innearth: ¡­I haven¡¯t asked how that¡¯s going. But the scouts levelled quite a bit since that point! I guess I cheated slightly and told them not to kill but it was still...It''s hard to justify myself. They are both strong. Let''s leave it at that. Innearth: Anyways. That was the final area. I have some space claimed past here so I¡¯ll give a final list?
Expert Area: Unnamed ¨C Under construction. Potentially "The Abyss?" Lots of void mana and monsters everywhere? Maybe the ice caverns? I¡¯ve started really liking using Ice mana.
Monster List
Stone Burrower Didn''t know where to put this. I made void and stone burrowing worms that help me expand. They are currently all down here.
Water Slime. Ascended slime monster. Currently sleeping off a small slaughter.
Snake Scout. You just saw him perform admirably against my crystal dragon. Ascended normal snake.
Quickly flipping through the empty halls, Innearth ended his tour and returned to what he was looking at before. What should I do for the 4th zone? Also how can I get more monster delvers? Oh, and how will I manage to fulfil that 50 sapient delvers requirement??? Lots to do. Chapter 47. No sight, no sound, no service.
Hey! Dungeon reviewer Tom here. This weekend I traveled to the Isles of Zeling to visit the historic dungeon. The story there is quite interesting. The Isles are a magical researcher¡¯s dream, for many major affinities seem weaker inside of it, while many more minor flavors are bolstered. The Isles themselves used to be home to the ancient city of Zeling, which came into power over a thousand years ago and broke apart just as quickly. The greatest point of fame of Zeling was how the researchers that called it home have boasted to have discovered or created over 50 flavors of mana. 50! The most impressive part is how while many consider the creation of a mana type hard, even less are able to claim the creation of a useful type. Every few years someone manages to rediscover flame mana but due to its ridiculously small use case in comparison to regular fire mana, it never goes anywhere. The most famous mana type discovered by the researchers of Zeling is Dusk mana. More versatile than Shadow and easier than Dark, many many assassins and mages alike, made class changes into Dusk classes. And, to this day, you can find those who swear by its use the world over. Which brings me to the Historic dungeon. While the exact cause of the researchers disappearing is unknown, all their notes and experiments have been swallowed by a dungeon with a spatial affinity. Creating a truly humongous library for its floors. This dungeon acts as a sort of steward for the history within itself. It¡¯s unknown exactly how it obtains the books within, but every year books written all over the world appear within its halls. Surprisingly there is little regular fighting, however its gorilla-like librarians will savagely rip into anyone who attempts to break or steal any of the books within. Attempts by the purity republic to erase certain information have resulted in whole minor armies being wiped out as a warning. The two major draws of this dungeon are information and items. Information about anything and everything perfectly preserved without decay. And, items that can be used to obtain classes most would consider lost to time. Most information is freely available within the Isles, however there are certain areas called ¡°restricted sections¡± stock full of more dangerous information. These are prowled by incredibly strong monsters that attack on sight and can either be snuck into or entered by bargaining with new information. The head librarian issues restricted passes, for any who can come with a book the historic dungeon doesn¡¯t have ¨C a hard feat to manage. The passes last only a few hours before dissolving and can leave those who lose track of time reading at the mercy of the monsters. Would I recommend travelling all the way here? It depends really on if you need something from this dungeon. Without a need, it''s barely worth it ¨C for there is little to no actual loot or adventure to be had. However, with a need this can become the most important dungeon in the world. It¡¯s certainly one of the most influential and actively results in pilgrimages across multiple continents to reach it. Next week I¡¯ll be reviewing an incredibly similar dungeon located on the coast of Ire. The great parchment dungeon!
Excerpt from the popular serial "Tom''s Dungeon Reviews Issue 261" I think that went rather well. For the most part everyone seemed to be impressed by my dragon? I also tried to make everyone feel important by including stuff I learned from their tours. I guess now that I''m not in a crunch to advance and get ready to show everything off, I can relax. Take some time to slow down and find something new to do. I¡¯m actually looking forward to it! Let¡¯s see...I think I''ll figure out how to better attract monsters and get started on my next area¡­that seems like a good enough set of short-term goals for now. ...Well okay. A good goal would be to attract adventurers but I have no clue how to work towards that...and focusing on it will just depress me. Good obtainable short-term goals are better. Now! Flipping around between different ideas I really want to make an ice zone. I have a few options... but I just keep coming back to that as the next area. The only thing is I am really worried that it will be too close to the crystal caverns. Like they will look and feel too similar back to back? Maybe if I focus on making another transitional floor? Not another maze one is enough but something to help break it up. Let''s see. I think what I''m going to do is have floor 12 be a floor of sensory deprivation to help wipe the memory of the crystal caverns ¨C and then set up floors 13-15 as the ice zone. ...with all the expansion after my advancement, I''m up to 12 floors. I can easily start right away designing some of the layout for the zone before I get all the actual influence splits to do it officially. I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll get more soon. Only a matter of time. Okay, how big should this be. Looking around the area after the crystal caverns, Innearth took just less than a square kilometer of tunnels and made a line in the ground on both sides, arbitrarily setting this as the transitional floor. The goal of this floor was to remove ways that adventurers normally navigated or communicated to see what they would do. Partly as an experiment¡­but mostly for entertainment. Step one: the goal is to remove all the possible senses adventurers might have ¨C or at least severely limit them. With that as a search term, Innearth found dozens of unique materials and a few useful guides. The guides were relatively cheap for his current mana capacity, while he wasn''t yet sure if any of the unique materials were worth it. The only real solution was to spend time combing through everything. So, not wanting to spend all of his effort on a boring task he set a part of himself to slowly peruse the offered materials in the background. The rest of his focus went to absorbing a few guides and trying to see if there was any new information. Okay, I¡¯m going to break my goal up into parts. The typical senses that adventurers might have can roughly be split into sight, sound, smell, touch, taste, and mana. Taste¡­doesn¡¯t really matter for this so I¡¯ll just ignore it and look at the rest. Also not sure what to do about smell so I''ll ignore that as well. First off. Sight is easy to get into and think about but hard to get right. Extreme light can work, but the higher levelled adventurers are more resistant to blinding ¨C especially if the light is continuous instead of a quick flash and they have time to get used to it. Anyone who can get through the magma halls and crystal caverns should be able to ignore my light capabilities. Lots of darkness works better than extreme light and well¡­with my void affinity making uniform darkness materials, it''s basically the same ¨C if not easier than making strong light. ...I could theoretically flash really quickly between something really bright and really dark so they can''t get used to it...but that''s prone to be more damaging than I want and it might backfire by showing them where to go in between the flashes. Now another point in favour of using darkness ¨C that was based purely upon conjecture pieced together from various comments and theories ¨C was about intent. Light mana had a lot of spells around illuminating areas and providing sight, while Darkness mana had a lot of spells based upon hiding and removing sight. While extreme light was obviously an option, it was a lot harder to get light to blind than it was to get darkness to remove light. There were also a few important things he learned about darkness mana in the various guides. The most important caveat was that while it was true the occasional Core had gained a darkness affinity directly, the majority of darkness materials were made with the Light/Void combination. Darkness mana worked better with black materials and even better with matte black materials ¨C but that last ideal was harder to work with. Basically, there were quite a few better physical materials than quartz Innearth could use. Each of which made a similar but stronger darkness emitting materials when combined. Hematite was a cheap crystalline iron oxide (Fe2O3) that worked perfectly for a base. Innearth could buy a small amount of it from the mundane portion of the material section of the market and then mass produce it with the system ¡°Design panel¡±. If he focused on making it as rough as possible it would combine slightly better as well. Other similar options were: Rutile (TiO2), Pyrolusite (MnO2), Magnetite (Fe3O4) and Cassiterite (SnO2). They each were slightly better or worse but for the most part Hematite was the cheapest or performed the best. The biggest contender for an alternative was Rutile. The main reason Innearth looked towards it first, was that while Innearth had plenty of both Titanium and Iron. Iron was more useful with Earth mana and performed mostly better with most of the materials Innearth liked making. If he could spend a huge amount of titanium instead it would be great. The problem with it as a material was confounding. When stripped from the ground the material was black and worked wonderfully but when synthesized using the system panel the material nearly always came out clear ¨C like quartz. I want to cover all the tunnels in at least a square kilometre. The difference between quartz and hematite for darkness mana is huge... but any of the other combinations are so so, or more difficult for little gain. Easy decision. That partly takes care of sight, so I want to move on for a bit. Mental mana can be used to make people ignore any of the senses but it¡¯s the easiest to fight off. I can embed plates in the ground and set them up so people ignore or forget their senses while they are on them¡­ but I¡¯m pretty sure most high-levelled adventurers can just ignore that especially if I push too hard. There seems to be another option ¨C make materials with Void and Mental mana. The main problem with these materials is most of them simply rendered people dumb and unthinking ¨C the worst even turned those who touch it into husks of themselves that lose all reaction and retreat from the world. ¡­that sounds dangerous and vaguely evil... Well, experimentation for experimentation''s sake let''s see what happens when I do this. The material dungeon cores liked calling ¡°Vacuosium¡± was made with electrum. Gold and silver both worked well with Mental mana¡¯s ¡°better when more expensive¡± quirk. They also both worked reasonably well with Void¡¯s ¡°Better when scarce¡± requirement. The material and whatever weird husk-making mana type was involved was a bit too strong, however. And, unlike mental mana, it could not be diverted from this ¡°husk-making¡± material based on thoughts while making it. Feeling a bit like he was toeing some imaginary line, Innearth created a small dagger of vacuosium. Keeping in theme he added a single pitch-black line of darkness mana in hematite running down the center, that wrapped the whole weapon in a haze of darkness. The system''s automatic tooltip was suitably ominous.
Mind Stealing Dagger. [Tier 4 Weapon]
Description: Close in design and identical in effect to the caligo cavatus line of ritual instruments from the cava cult. Through being stabbed with this wicked instrument the personality and intellect of a creature can be forcefully removed. The resulting hollowed-out body has some uses in creating perfect flesh golems but is essentially dead and gone and many consider it a fate worse than death. This specific Instrument was created by the dungeon core "Pit stop".
Stabbing damage 1 fixed. Mental Damage 100-200. Mental draining 10 Mental / second. Durability 90/90
Welp. Editing out that last bit of the flavour text. Quickly erasing the indication that he was involved in making such a sketchy device Innearth randomized it into potentially much safer sounding loot and added it to his item pool. Let¡¯s see. That¡¯s not my goal for this floor, I don¡¯t want anything permanent. Searching through materials he found quite a few unique materials that did what he wanted, and most were priced relatively low in comparison. One Core was selling a block of some ¡°numbing stone¡± that they claimed could touch someone without them even noticing it. That was great and all, but it was a single lumpy stone not something he could distribute well through an entire floor. He bought it anyways to make monsters for this floor. After all, Why not! Another core was selling a similar material that stored most of a creature¡¯s senses feelings and emotions, then released them the next time anything living touched them. Similarly bought as a monster material although that one seemed more situational than the others. A few more materials caught his eye but all of them were either suspiciously vague or priced much higher than Innearth was willing to spend so he moved on. Sound is a big one. I want to make sure adventurers can¡¯t communicate well or navigate by their hearing if they have some sort of sound-based sight. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. This study of materials went off worse than his previous. Adventurers had been known to use sound-based spells occasionally but while dungeons understood in a vague sense that they existed, for the most part, sound was a foreign concept to them. Dungeon cores could vaguely ¡°see¡± sound waves in their influence or between streaming screens and could tell adventurers were talking or notice the sound something made when it moved or in Abe¡¯s case exploded. They could not however discern the larger differences in sound ¨C it all ¡°sounded¡± similar. This resulted in them having a hard time learning how to understand the various languages that species spoke, even with a perfect memory and the ability to transfer information between each other. ¡­It also mostly locked them out of properly using or understanding sound mana. So what. Sound is vibrations in the air, right? So you can make it somehow by offshooting from Kinetic mana? ¡­I think I¡¯ll check the market for this option as well. It''s looking harder and harder to create the floor I wanted to make I might have to change my expectations. Looking around for sound-based unique materials currently being sold gave a similar hit-or-miss sort of result. There was a material that altered how stuff sounded to be much deeper and two separate ones that both made sounds that reverberated or sound like they were echoing. One material dampened all the sound in a sizable area and was quite a bit pricier than similar options. ¡°Buy this and make the perfect assassin! A monster that can take down stragglers without alerting any of their teammates to their screams. 60 t1 cores or equivalent!¡± ¡­the goal isn¡¯t actually to make an impossible death trap of a floor. It''s hard to describe to myself exactly what I want but I know what it is. Hmm. Would trying to revise exactly what I want from this floor help me make it? I want to make something that is relatively straightforward and easy but then remove all typical senses and see how adventurers get through it. Like a straight empty hallway they just have to walk down, but can¡¯t feel the walls or see how far it is. I don¡¯t want to make a maze; the floor should be pretty linear just hard to navigate. It would be interesting seeing what type of skills or magic an adventurer uses to get through it. Could also be fun watching them panic as they aren¡¯t used to it! Hmmmmm. Searching a bit deeper into the sound-related materials Innearth finds a ¡°parroting¡± shell-like material being offered up. There was a heavy warning not to break the material apart because it slowly ruined the quality but in essence what the material did was store various sounds with pulses of mana and then perfectly play them back with pulses of mana from different directions. It was tricky to use but Innearth wasn¡¯t planning on using it himself. 40,000 mana later and Innearth was the proud owner of the mimicry shell. Pulling his crystal bat template out he started to work. Creating a grid of circuitry that touched the shell in dozens of places before surrounding it in the rest of the regular bat design. The monster can figure out how to work this. It¡¯s going to be its body part after all. Giving life to the crystal parrot, Innearth watched it fly through the halls. Copying a faint sound of a monster smashing into the wall and repeating it a dozen times happily. I think I¡¯m relying too heavily on either a specific material that does what I want. The goal is to make it so it''s hard for adventurers to communicate or navigate with sound, right? All I have to do is make a bunch of noises. Picking a spot in the wall Innearth made a huge metal wheel with an offset flat plate attached to it. Twisting the wheel around caused its backside to hit the ground in a suitably crashing boom. Flipping between different metals and at some point, replacing a section of the ground with a small pit covered in the same. Innearth tested what worked best. A dozen tests later and Innearth decided that aluminum made the best (loudest) sound. The flat strip on the ground was thin and covering an empty pit, while the wheel itself now had several flat crashing plates on it. Making the wheel a trap by adding dozens of twisting kinetic plates and giving it life, Innearth pulled back. Taking a moment to watch the construct work, Innearth watched it spin first in one direction then the other. Creating inconstant crashes and filling the hallway with an awful cymbal-like crashing din. And now I have to disguise where this is coming from¡­ Hmmm A bit more research and Innearth was able to figure out how to transfer sound mechanically through small tunnels. Each tunnel had ¡°trap¡± flaps that moved back and forth letting crashes through or muffling them letting Innearth spread his annoying sounds throughout long stretches of hallway. Let¡¯s see. Confusion, confusion¡­ Mental mana plates were added but focused on as ¡°simple and subtle¡± of an effect as he could imagine. They were simply focused on making people who touched them forget about contacting each other as well as giving off a sense of¡­well ¡°I can do this myself!¡±. Innearth was good at making that material he didn¡¯t have to imagine much to create it after all. Now I need to work a bit more on sight and the final sense I can think of is mana. It¡¯s easy enough to block a mana sense with null stone¡­but I really really do not have a lot of that. ¡­that reminds me I should follow up with Doc.
Innearth: Hey. Here for some null stone I mentioned in my tour. What do you want to trade for it?
ZeMadDoctor: Depends on what quality you want. I can roughly separate it into strong. Medium. And light effects. Strong is¡­well I need it myself. So you¡¯ll have to offer quite a bit. Only a few of the strongest demons I¡¯ve had have made any. And it''s always been a small amount. There¡¯s actually some materials I¡¯m classing even higher than that as ¡°extreme¡±. I can¡¯t give you that even if you wanted it¡­system won¡¯t send it. It won¡¯t even pass through portals without breaking them. ZeMadDoctor: What I¡¯m classifying as ¡°medium¡± is a bit easier. I can give up sizable portions for mana unique materials or more importantly circuit data you¡¯ve collected. ZeMadDoctor: Light effect is even easier. That appears around nearly all my portals and I have tons of it. Honestly, if you need small amounts what are a few kg of null stone between friends. You¡¯ve done more than enough for me before. ZeMadDoctor: It''s kind of annoying however and if you want thousands of units of it I¡¯d have to rip up huge sections of my dungeon¡­If that¡¯s the case you¡¯ll have to make a suitable trade you know? ZeMadDoctor: Anyways tell me what you want. I¡¯m kind of busy but can manage most requests.
Innearth: ¡­well, How much of that ¡°strong¡± version are you willing to part with for all my snake circuits and a promise not to spread them around on the market or use them for anything other than your own research?
ZeMadDoctor: How many snake circuits do you have? Those are the ones you use the most right?
Innearth: over 500 at least. It''s been over a year of collecting them and I¡¯ve been tweaking things constantly.
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­I want. ZeMadDoctor: ¡­uhh okay. I have roughly 5kg of what I¡¯d consider ¡°Strong¡± I really do need it for my own experiments but well¡­Eventually I can probably get a bit more. Would you part with those circuits for 4kg of null stone?
Innearth: eesh. That seems so little. But okay. Yes, that¡¯s enough. First trade coming right up.
Setting up the trade of information for materials Innearth hit send and then returned to his second point.
Innearth: So. Second trade is everything else I guess for as much of the ¡°lesser¡± null stone as you can get me. I want to cover a square kilometer in it. A hundred or so spider combinations and couple dozen for hedgehogs and bats and stuff. What do you say?
ZeMadDoctor: Well that¡¯s easy. I can get you a bit over a million kg of the weakest null stone. I just have to rip up huge sections of my dungeon¡­Do you want to tack on regular stone I can replace stuff with? It''s not super important because I can get my own with enough time but well¡­It would make things easier for me if I can swap stuff instead of rip stuff up and then dig and replace from inventory.
Innearth: That¡­that should work.
Finalizing the area Innearth wanted to turn into his sensory confusion floor, Innearth selected a few cm into most of his walls and set it up to swap with Doc¡¯s materials all at once. The process was not as simple as that. Doc ended up breaking up Innearth¡¯s initial selection into several dozen smaller replacements that were mostly straight, each which¡­well kind of worked. They were almost confusing the system because it didn¡¯t seem to consider ever having to deal with the volume they were transporting back and forth. There weren¡¯t any hard limits or anything, but the precision was shot with higher and higher scales to the point where the system just wanted to dump everything into a pile instead of place it in the walls. Doc''s materials did not nicely plop into place where Innearth¡¯s tunnels were previously. They were a mixture of dozens of materials that appeared like patchwork ¨C with white tiles and random stone being cobbled together like the output of a trash compactor. That¡­that does not look very nice at all :/ There are lumpy uneven bits everywhere¡­but then again this is fine. I¡¯ll continue working on this while I make my second boss for the line between the beginner and intermediate areas. The ¡°Strong¡± null stone was actually 4 tiles from a prison. Innearth could vaguely remember them as from the containment area that Doc showed them. The one holding something they couldn¡¯t comprehend. Each tile was relatively thin and nearly perfectly a single kg. They were all a dull boring grey colour and actually pushed out into the world around them. Somehow their existence caused the air to feel thin and empty without Air mana and the ground below them to have Earth mana pushed away slightly as they rejected anything magical. ¡­the effect was slightly stronger than the stone Innearth was currently using on his blast doors. It was also stronger than his oven. ¡­should I use this for defence and use some of the stuff on the door for my boss instead? I mean¡­I don¡¯t think I need nearly this much for the boss of the beginner area ahh. It was expensive but I thought Doc was just being stingy. Now I get why he didn¡¯t want to part with it. Thinking for a bit Innearth decided to remake his mana oven instead. He was flipping between the practicality of having blast doors and the potential experiments. Experiments won. Picking a slightly larger area by his new core room, Innearth laid one plate on the bottom and put the 3 others in a sort of triangular exploded prism. Technically a hexagonal shape but with 3 empty sides. The mana repulsion effect extended out and overlapped a bit at each of the corners. Leaving for the most part an area of contained mana that didn¡¯t touch the sides of its container. Using a very thin amount of his stronger material in thin stipes at the open side Innearth then cannibalized thick protective areas of the lower quality materials to surround everything completely. This is really annoying to work with. I can¡¯t put it into my inventory and then spit it out in a shaped state because the mana will be stripped from it. I have to sort of glue it all together with small amounts of other materials and hope they don¡¯t fill up and ruin the rest of it. Innearth spoke to himself as he worked. Finally making a new ¡°mana injection straw¡± and lid, Innearth moved the current silver flesh experiment to the new oven. A few months had been good for its transmutation and now it looked like a¡­well a beating metal crystal heart instead of a metal heart. The goal was to remove its metal influences completely, but this was a good start. Getting one of the crystal dwarves to pick it up and carry it all the way down to his new location was a simple enough task. The dwarf looked strangely comical wandering through the traps on its way down. Innearth laughed at the way it stepped through a battle between 3 normal snakes with synergizing skills and a spider bat pair that were fighting to the death. ¡°Excuse me pardon me¡± ¨C lol. They didn¡¯t even stop. It¡¯s the little things that make everything worth it. Reaching the new oven Innearth asks the dwarf to carefully place it in. Reaching out with slow, calm and deliberate motions, the beating metallic crystal heart is lowered into the new box. Covering it with the lid unprompted the dwarf patted the top of it twice making sure it was secure. They seemed happy to be given a personal task and stretched their arms out after stepping back. The higher mana level down here was good for the dwarf even though it was a Tier 2 core variant (unlike the main Tier 4 artificer that was in charge of all of them). ¡­I¡¯m starting to think about how Amy lets her monsters play around and wondering if I should be nicer to the dwarves. I could build a path down to a much lower mana concentration for them to take breaks in? Once he put his mind to it setting up an elevator for the dwarves was incredibly easy to do. They all weighed a similar amount and Innearth had already made moving stepping stools in the trap rooms in the crystal caverns. "A thick plate full of rotating kinetic controls and gravity decreasing plates shoved inside a boxy vertical shaft later" and Innearth was finished. Ending the creation by taking control of the platform and popping it up right by the dwarves¡¯ workshop dramatically. A part of him remembered to start filling the new oven at this point and he split off some of his attention to start pumping mana through the straw before returning to the dwarves. Surprise! Come take a look! Stepping over to the rough elevator the crystal dwarf studied it a bit somewhat apprehensively. Putting a foot out onto it and watching as the whole platform visibly dipped caused the dwarf some more pause. Finally seeming to trust its strength, the dwarf stepped out and sat down in the middle of the platform. Pointedly looking up to indicate it was ready to descend after nothing happened immediately. The platform dropped suddenly as all the magical rods shifted to point inwards and fell just a bit too fast. Controlling the angle a bit as it fell, Innearth made sure he had plenty of space to slow down while practicing. He rotated the controls about experimentally a few times, trying to find a good balance but causing it to jerk repeatedly. Finally over halfway down, he got it moving at a controlled pace and figured out how to slow it without sending the whole platform back up again. Dropping the last few meters and resting it at the bottom of the shaft Innearth proudly showed off his half-finished darkness floor. Look! For now, you can come down here! I¡¯ll try and route a tunnel in the crystal caverns and the ice caverns when I make it so you can take breaks there as well! The dwarf was still trying to recover from its fall. Pulling off its thick gloves the dwarf holds them out and stretches a few times then returns to staring at the elevator. Sooooo, what do you think? Pretty cool huh? Stepping back onto the elevator the dwarf kneels and starts drawing a large scratchy looking rune on its plate digging its void finger in deep as it carves its protection. ¡­clearly the dwarf doesn¡¯t trust my elevator. I wonder why? I think it worked pretty well¡­I mean okay sure, I had to practice a bit ¨C but I got him down here safely, didn¡¯t I? Letting the dwarf carve into a trap Innearth had already ran his influence through was weird. He couldn¡¯t "really" feel it but¡­but he could still feel it somehow. Like something happening to someone else he watched as the dwarf worked. Crushing a water crystal into fine dust and mixing it with its own crystal blood, the dwarf filled its runework and then stood up and turned. Looking upwards and pointing to the side of its head the dwarf indicated it wanted to talk to him somehow. Oh! Sure lil buddy. Let me set up a mental booth. Making the slime connection with practiced ease Innearth lets the dwarf talk. ¡°If this is to be permeant it must be hidden from adventurers. Do you have plans for that yet or do I have to figure something out?¡± ¡­okay I guess that¡¯s a good question. I¡¯ve been ignoring the adventurer problem thanks for reminding me I don¡¯t have any yet. ¡°I am sorry. Would seamless doors work? I¡¯m sure the stronger adventurers will be able to see through and notice the passageway, but I can try my best.¡± Bouncing ideas off you ¨C would lesser null stone be enough to hide the door and any runework you make? ¡°That would be sufficient yes. Thank you for providing this option, do I have permission to move my workshop down here? It is much more comfortable, and I can send my creations up the elevator.¡± ¡­ It''s weird having an actual conversation with my unascended monsters. Anyways. Yes! As long as you can continue working, I¡¯m fine with that. Can you make anything that removes senses? Pending that I¡¯ll need help decorating the ice caverns if you ever want a break from the ever-expanding beginner area. ¡°Okay, and I¡¯ll see if there¡¯s anything I can do. I can¡¯t promise there is, but I can always try.¡± Stepping off the plate the dwarf begins wandering around the sensory deprivation floor examining the mostly finished lesser null stone insulation and stepping into the areas Innearth had begun laying plates of compressed strengthened metal and pitch-black hem-dark coating. Immediately getting to work the dwarf heads back to the elevator. Returning moments later from a significantly smoother ride with materials and starting to take samples of the stuff Innearth was working with. The ¡°light¡± null stone was both exactly what Innearth wanted and worse than he had hoped. It made it hard to see through before Innearth started marbling dungeon veins through it and lightly made it harder to move mana directly near it and blocked most magic from passing directly through it but that was it. The layered metal plates were to prevent tunnelling and to seal the null stone in. And finally, the hem-dark blackness emitting material was for the seal. It''s not enough but it¡¯s a good base. I wonder what else I can add and if the dwarf has any ideas. Could also ask the rest of my friends if they have any ideas. Much to do. Chapter 48. A distributive Ice Ice baby.
INCIDENT AC-0466 Status: Error Patched Culprit: Found ¡ª To be Penalized IncidentAC0466.log < log start < start time [19990921:08:01] < Initializing text-based &[)#xA= > interface < Authorizing user¡­ #ERROR 999#. < This incident will be reported. #WARNING# Compromised Access Point Detected ¡ª Quarantining¡­ > Welcome [UNDEFINED USER] < UNDEFINED@&[)#xA=~$query ''System Mana'' /a > #ERROR 403#: Forbidden ¡ª Insufficient Clearance ##WARNING## Compromised Access Point Activity Detected! ¡ª Terminating Connection¡­ ##WARNING## Connection Termination ¡ª Failed. Continuing Quarantining Process¡­ < UNDEFINED@&[)#xA=~$sudo query ''System Mana'' /f /a > [sudo] Enter Password for [UNDEFINED USER]: > username is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported. ##WARNING## Compromised Access Point Accessing Confidential Data! ¡ª Terminating Access Point¡­ Failed. ##WARNING## Automatic redaction system partly bypassed. >>> Access Conditions Met ¡ª Loading¡­ QUERY RESULTS: Subject: System Mana Mana Type: Non-Elemental Complexity Level: UNKNOWN Description:
The mana that makes up the system and all of its components ¡ª while it''s mainly classified as Non-Elemental ¡ª has the correct classification as system mana. It exists to self support itself along with any [system] and crops up with nearly any interaction users have with the grand system. Massive breakthroughs have been made on &[)$:#= after using real system messages repeatly upon an area. This project took a week of various system messages being spammed and stray system mana being routed into &[)$:#=. Through an Old elvish transferance technique system mana has been grafted upon and now self supports &[)$:#=. The greatest use of system mana is through [Hidden Personal Quest: System Support] quests issued to relevant trusted entities. This quest involves modifying core components of subsystems in the grand system. Warning while subsystems become exposed core components of the system are not vulnerable. #@!^& reviews all patches and any nefarious patches are rejected while permanent [Deviant - S] tags and permanent global [Emergency quest: Headhunting - Deviant] becomes active. While regular deviant tags do not restrict control the Deviant - S tag limits any and all new interactions with the system - something most would consider impossible. This combination is a death sentence to all in our current society. Successful System Support quests result in relevant entities being given a [Hints] panel on their system tab that provides core secrets about the world and how to succeed in it.
<<< ##WARNING## Access Point Successfully Quarantined ¡ª Terminating Connections! > WARNING: Emergency Connection Termination Protocol Activated ¡ª Ending Session! ##WARNING## Connections Terminated. ¡ª Beginning Quarantined Access Point Diagnostics¡­ > log end > end time [19990921:12:32]
Excerpt from &[)#xA= incident reports ¨C converted to readable text. Okay! Now that this floor is well on its way to being done, I¡¯ll divert some attention to filling it out. Let¡¯s see what my materials can do. Now I don¡¯t want to make anything that dangerous in here because the better my primary goal will be (confusing any and all senses) the worse any monsters will get. I¡¯m thinking something on the level of slimes but to the point adventurers might not notice they are being attacked. Thinking about how slimes were made and what Innearth could do about them Innearth thought about using liquid crystal as the ¡°jelly inside¡± Nope. Even with a thin outside the ¡°hard on two sides¡± makes it so they have rock hard strength and infinite durability as anything broken just reforms again. ¡­plus, I¡¯d have to add crystal cores for it to be able to control itself and the goal isn¡¯t to make a strong monster. Not that a core automatically makes the monster strong but¡­well yeah, I don¡¯t think I want to go this route. Checking on the water slime that was currently terrorizing some of the local wildlife in the unclaimed areas Innearth thought about how their body ¨C their new body ¨C functioned. Endless internal motion that looks calm from the outside. Able to split apart and then rejoin itself without dying. If I were to try and make those effects from scratch¡­ well okay, I could probably figure out the internal motion with kinetic liquid. Maybe a 50:50 mix of kinetic liquid moving anything that touches it and water or something to be moved around? But that¡¯s not actually my goal just a side effect of what I¡¯m actually interested in. The reason why I thought of the ascended water slime in the first place. I¡¯m really just interested in the ¡°reforming¡± part of the body as a super form of healing. Regular water slimes die way too easily, however. I don¡¯t want to fill this floor with stuff that will perish simply by touching an advanced adventurer. Is there any way I can make something just a bit more dangerous than a water slime to the unwary but with much much more durability? Is some variation of a water slime even a good idea for this floor? Thinking around Innearth returned to the sand bed boss. That monster had some similarities to the water slime ¨C namely it could break off parts of itself and rejoin them. The main difference was that parts that fell off that boss were inert and then when rejoined with the boss it was like they were added to the boss¡¯s body from scratch. In comparison, the water slime split into perfect copies of themselves that then individually moved and sought each other out before rejoining into a single whole. I¡¯m going study you for a bit okay? I hope that¡¯s fine. Happily jiggling about the water slime seemed to give its assent as Innearth got to work. He wouldn¡¯t have asked permission for a non-ascended monster but well¡­ascended monsters were different. It seems almost like there¡¯s a sort of fluff ball of lines inside of the slime. Those crack-like webs stay in place while the liquid around them moves and¡­well pieces of them separate and then rejoin quite easily. Looking closer and closer Innearth tried to peel back the mysteries of the slime''s body. It was a lot harder to look inside solid materials after they were solidified into a monster as if some part of them blocked out any peeping. ¨C their soul maybe? Life or Death force? Either way that didn¡¯t matter in this case because the slime was mostly transparent. Each crack-like line was made of an incredibly short and thin wire that had a significantly higher amount of mana inside of it. These wires had little concave balls on the end of them that linked the wires in loops as they sought out and slipped into each other, magically connecting and forming long chains. When the slime moved chains would ¡°break¡± but it really just involved unconnecting tiny rods harmlessly with no damage to the threads. It took awhile but Innearth was slowly able to come up with a theory about how the slime functioned. I think every single wire acts similar to a coreless circuit. That means the ¡°soul¡± of the water slime is contained within the wires while the gel surrounding them is just a part of their body. Now I made some monsters that had a circuit without a core and the spark of life went to dwell within the circuit, but I stopped those experiments at the time. It seemed worse than both a circuitless monster and a core¡¯ed monster because it made an obvious weak spot throughout the body. If the circuit was broken the monster would die from a simple stab through a key line. This water slime seems to get around that issue by making hundreds of little connections so it doesn¡¯t matter if a few break¡­I think I can manage something similar to that actually! The only thing is I¡¯m sure if I split a monster with thousands of small circuits in two it won''t be as good as this. What other secrets do you have? Hey lil buddy. Want to go fight the local wildlife? It would help me out loads¡­ Quivering with excitement as if that was just what it was waiting for the slime churned with excitement and then rushed away from Innearth¡¯s core room finding the path to the underground biome. Bursting through a small entrance into the room the slime fell onto a battle between a spider-crab and a blood-bat that were fiercely locked together in a struggle. Not noticing until it was too late the two were suddenly partially covered in goo as the slime broke into separate pieces and started blending the body parts it grabbed onto. Gore made the insides of the two halves murky and hard to study but in the brief section between the two Innearth spotted an almost invisible web of threads between the two parts ¨C and then between the 4 smaller blobs that were ripped off as the two monsters struggled. Slowly following those nearly invisible threads of mana the sections met up and ¨C surprisingly ¨C Innearth was reminded of FED¡¯s urn to wind monster connection. Opening up a private stream Innearth started sharing and recording the fight.
Fated Eternal Design: Oh! Hello. What¡¯s this my favourite apprentice?
Innearth: Hey! Glad you could join me. I was recording just in case you didn¡¯t join right away but can you tell me what you see with the connection between the water slimes parts? Innearth: Is there any way you know that I could mimic that sort of connection?
Fated Eternal Design: Ah! A theoretical question. I simply love when you ask me for help.
Innearth: I¡­I don¡¯t.
Fated Eternal Design: Shhh. I understand. Let your mentor help you out.
¡­why did I think it was a good idea to ask him to tell me his thoughts.
Fated Eternal Design: Well, That¡¯s clearly not dungeon-made. I know you mentioned it was ascended once but what I can say is that sort of design is beyond my capabilities¡­ Fated Eternal Design: Have you managed to look inside ¡°natural¡± creatures while they are still living? There¡¯s similar levels of complexity if you go down far enough. Stolen novel; please report.
Innearth: So mimicking this is a dead end?
Fated Eternal Design: No but yes. Hmm. You know how I make my connections right? I think I¡¯ve explained it to you before. Basically, I use a very tiny thread of pure mana and just think about connecting the area I have my core and my ¡°body¡± together. The two have to be really really close together when they are first made, but can extend after giving life. Next I make massive lines of Mental mana connecting everything so thoughts can be distributed and most of what makes the masks tick can be transferred back and forth.
Innearth: I¡¯m not sure you¡¯ve mentioned the pure line. Why do you need the mental mana if that line exists?
Fated Eternal Design: That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s not really a line it''s just a connection. It''s kind of like¡­ Fated Eternal Design: Well a lot of it is apart of stuff I¡¯ve learned from air mana but basically if the mana doesn¡¯t combine with an element it''s not really a body part. But if you use it in the creation of the body it sort of influences the way the body connects?
Innearth: You explained how you made stuff before and I¡¯m nearly positive you didn¡¯t include this information.
Fated Eternal Design: You never expressed any interest in making something like my masks! Also¡­well it''s not actually important. I¡¯ve managed to make masks that work without the line and just making sure the wind body is completely inside of the urn and touching the core. Fated Eternal Design: I think it just helps with intent. It''s like a guide to the spell to tell it what I want. Or like a note. Oh! Here¡¯s how I can explain it. I don¡¯t need to draw that line when using the system design panel. Just select the link tool which was added after I used it a bunch. I don¡¯t think the tool would work to make that many connections, however.
Innearth: Well thank you for your time. I¡¯m going to try linking stuff and seeing how it works.
Fated eternal Design: It probably doesn¡¯t work how you¡¯re thinking. Most of the design I have is in the mental mana connections. That¡¯s where all the complicated stuff is happening.
Innearth: It can¡¯t hurt to try. It sounds a lot like it could be the solution to my problem so I¡¯m going to try it anyways. Thanks for listening!
Fated Eternal Design: No Problem my Apprentice! Glad I could help. Friend.
Innearth closed the stream and left a very small portion of himself that was still invested in the water slime watching its relatively even fight against two spider-crabs. The majority went to see about trying to make a body like the water slime. First off, I should try and make a link tool. Picking his spider bat pairs to experiment on Innearth started making them manually and leaving small lines of pure mana embedded in both their bodies as he designed them. It took over a dozen attempts with no discernable change before he noticed the pairs seemed to start being better in tune with each other. Continuing on, he randomized the circuits as he worked to make sure he was still innovating. At the 30th attempt, something significant appeared. After having sent it off with a faint monitoring thread of his consciousness he had started on the 31st attempt. Before he got far a strange jolt of attention made him turn to watch what was happening. The spider seemed to be shooting living crystals! That¡­was actually the result of some sort of teleportation that was happening. The Crystal bat flew around behind the spider as it ran through the top of the crystal caverns and crystals seemed to grow out of its skin and fire. Turning a corner, the tip of one of the bat''s wings snagged on the wall and a faint spark of burning light was trailed in its wake. Somehow the two monsters are sharing skills? Except the living crystals seem like they are almost being teleported through the connection between the two monsters and I swear I didn¡¯t do anything close to portal magic¡­there¡¯s no space or void mana it¡¯s just some weird connection. I should send Doc a copy of this setup it will probably help him with his portals. That 30th experiment was the floodgates that led to every single pair after that point being connected in some intrinsic subtle way. A variation that had life cores in the magma spider''s circuit, resulted in a duo where the spider could heal the bat over nearly any distance. A variation that had especially weird combinations of a link connecting directly to the circuit resulted in a duo that ¡°combined¡± when fighting. With the bat fusing slightly with the top of the spider and acting like a mobile turret that shot magma-covered melting living crystal bolts. The goal of adding the ¡°Link tool¡± to his design panel was also managed. FED was mostly right. He couldn¡¯t make a net of thousands of connections. He couldn¡¯t even really set up how the connection looked. The tool simply let him select two unconnected sections of reasonably sized monster parts highlighting the whole area and then checking a little checkmark that he wanted to link them. ¡­But he didn¡¯t have to just rely on the tool. Starting on his eventual dark floor''s monster, Innearth continued manually making monsters. Waterslimes were made that were doped with tiny crystals Innearth tried to link to one another. Instead of combining two pieces with a line however, Innearth threaded mana through dozens at a time making circular loops of intent-filled mana connecting all the chunks together. Connection with "connection being the goal" and nothing else. Slowly but surely the iterations of the base of his new monster took shape. After enough stringing Innearth finally got a separate option added to his ¡°linking¡± tool and the game changed. Distributed network creation. Immediately Innearth¡¯s somewhat rough spells became exponentially stronger. The dozen connections became thousands easily as Innearth was no longer threading each and every crystal manually. Instead, he was simply ¡°painting¡± a network of small crystals throughout the inside of the slimes. The system would not provide him with a tool he could not use manually but¡­with the number of connections being made in a few seconds of painting Innearth would have spent weeks threading them manually. The final editions to the slimes were the most important but dead simple. A handful of ¡°sand mana¡± material was dispersed in the gel-like body giving them form and weight. A fine dust of the ¡°numbing¡± material along with a few shavings of darkness mana material and over a 100 unique slimes were evenly distributed through the floor. Another batch using the ¡°store and transfer¡± material along with shavings of null stone that made their bodies incredibly weak but completely invisible to mana sight was made. 64 of these were made with most having a few drops of kinetic liquid to perk them up into semi-dangerous levels again before they were distributed throughout the floor. Both slime variations had no natural predators on this floor. They could theoretically last unharmed forever until adventurers finally showed up and unless they were systematically eradicated, they were here to stay ¨C that was the whole point of the network after all! Innearth had thoroughly tested some non-unique versions beforehand and found as long as a slime portion had enough crystal shards it would stay ¡°alive¡±. The slime actually had over a thousand shards and could be split into a dozen pieces before it started falling apart so it was roughly 10 shards to stay conscious and moving and at least 1 to be able to rejoin the whole. I think. I think I¡¯ve done a bunch for this floor now. I¡¯m going to move on to the next goal ¨C the ice caverns! Spending the next few days making Ice materials, Innearth churned out Void+Fire materials one by one by one, filling out his material list. First, he went through all the ones in the market he could find and then he spent the next few days making unknown combinations and studying how useful they were. He was almost in a trance-like state for he was making materials in different spots separately and studying them with different threads of his attention. Not every combination of Void+Fire made Ice mana. Metal alloys like copper for instance made an inverted looking blueish fire. Instead of a blue-shifted hot flame, this fire looked like someone had taken a picture and then colour inverted it so the edges were light blue and the ¡°hottest¡± parts were nearly black. This inverted void-fire burned stuff regardless of its ¡°supposed flammability¡± ¨C burning steel and water alike as if they were made of tinder. The fire itself would not spread like real fire, preferring to center around the material that created it while burning it ever so slowly up and disappearing. Water made the best ¡°Ice¡± material to no real surprise. The best for filling his floors at least. Void+Fire+H2O made A LOT of ice per 3 components to the recipe. Nearly 10x the volume and mass of the original water and at a nice cold and slow-melting ice. Quartz however made an ice that was slightly warmer and harder. An ice that could actually sit at room temperature without melting however one that would still melt with flames. Most of the rest were some variation in between these two with strange sorts of synergies happening between all of them. Hematite for example made an ¡°Incredibly cold¡± and ¡°Strong¡± feeling ice, that melted within seconds of being exposed to a room temperature room. If it was embedded in the ¡°water Ice¡± that surrounding ice would grow colder instead and take longer to melt paradoxically. Similarly, while the quartz ice felt reasonably room temperature it did not melt ice that touched it and actually worked as an amazing insulator. Thus the optimal setup for a room using those 3 was to blanket a thin layer of quartz ice on the outside, lay a nice thick layer of water ice everywhere. And then place a rod of Hematite Ice embedded in the center to help cool the whole room down to the point where it stayed frozen. The next obvious course of action would be to start making ice monsters to fill the floor and potentially embedding them with the hematite ice as a core of coldness. But after seeing how the colder ice needed to be in a biome of ice to survive and seeing as how the more rooms he connected the more stable the whole system got Innearth decided to wait until he had a more complete floor. The rooms at the edges were half-melted after all with slippery water-covered ice instead of the more solid stuff located further in. The floor would obviously do well with more than just Ice. Snow would be great to cover the caverns and from his initial research from the few cores that had made ice floors snow appeared with big enough biomes but just appeared over time ¨C it had never been made from scratch by a Dungeon Core despite somehow being more common than Ice mana based on adventurers that had the affinity. Innearth imagined it was an offshoot of Ice mana. He also imagined it was tier 1 like fire and earth due to it being easier to use. Fire is rank 1 right? And Void is rank 3. The combination should be rank 2 and¡­breaking down Ice somehow into snow mana makes it rank 1 again? Or maybe Ice is slightly higher than rank 2. Let¡¯s switch to tiers. Let¡¯s say Void mana is tier 4. Maybe Ice mana is tier 3 and Snow mana is tier 2. That kind of makes sense? The system hasn¡¯t actually ever mentioned a tier for mana however. It''s just given me a selection of 4 ¡°base rank X mana¡± types. OR maybe! Maybe It¡¯s similar to that in that I was right with Ice being halfway between Void and Fire as a tier 2 mana type. But then snow is harder than ice so it''s tier 3! Considering dungeons haven¡¯t made it, it has to be harder right? Or maybe I¡¯m confusing myself. Let¡¯s try again from scratch. I¡¯ll try and study the other mana types and see if there¡¯s a way I can figure out what snow mana is. ...I''m thinking about this a lot for someone who can''t use it. Studying the mana coursing through the ice materials he had made, Innearth tried to imagine creating it from scratch. He could almost see it. Instead of trying from Fire I would take Crystal mana and¡­try to make it look similar to this I guess? There¡¯s a weird sort of disconnection between the two states. It¡¯s like¡­Okay. Rank 1 mana is kind of 3D in terms of being interconnected shapes that work in 3 dimensions. Its lines but they split out in all directions and curve all over the place. Rank 2 mana is kind of 2D I guess. Like the kinetic mana flying out behind stuff as it moves looks sort of flat. Vertical lines in the air almost. Rank 3 mana is¡­1D? All the natural bits of the mana look just like minuscule dots. Except that¡¯s not fully accurate. That¡¯s not fully what void feels like when I use it and maybe my dimension analogy is wrong. Is rank 3 mana even dimensioned? 0D? In that case the missing link between rank 2 and 3 would be 1D Tier 3 mana! Does that even help? Is rank 4 the end of the line for mana because rank 5 would be -1D? or assuming it¡¯s based-on Tier -4D if it¡¯s following the other pattern? 4 - 2^(rank-1) for the dimension of the mana type? Does that help? ¡­does this mean ranks higher than 3 are impossible? End of the line I can¡¯t use rank 4 mana? ¡­I guess I¡¯ll have to wait till I reach rank 4 to find out. This tangent isn¡¯t helping me do what I want, however. Maybe I should try and base the problem after feelings. The way void mana feels, and the way fire mana feels, and what I¡¯m seeing Ice mana do. Void mana is the concept of¡­well shrinking but that¡¯s not totally accurate because I¡¯m mostly using the singularities and those are no longer shrinking. Void mana is the concept of shrinking something down to nothing or making something into nothing. Fire mana however is the concept of¡­adding energy to a system. Making everything hotter. Ice mana from what I can tell both sounds and feels like the direct combination of those two. Something into nothing. Energy into nothing. Taking energy out of the system and making everything colder. ¡­maybe this tangent is too abstract for me to come up with it I still feel like it''s an offshoot of crystal mana even though I didn¡¯t see it in the list the system gave me. Studying Ice mana Innearth continued to experiment. Weeks upon weeks pass of just trying to figure out how Ice mana worked and attempting to make it without the ¡°Combination Spell¡± doing it for him. He came up with countless theories while continuing to expand his ice caverns and tried several experiments that each ended sadly in failure upon failure. Sadly, his imagination didn¡¯t quite live up to his skill and no matter how much he wanted it or how much he tried to shift crystal mana he couldn¡¯t reach ice mana without combining it. What he did manage to do however was change the shape of several of his materials as well as what he was nearly certain as vaguely touch upon several of the options given to him in his past affinity choice. Amethyst and ruby mana make shimmering glassy metal blocks while mixed with Iron. Diamond and emerald mixed with silicone made milky-looking jewels with dust-like impurities that floated about the solid and clear material. The main problem with these altering experiments is most weren¡¯t repeatable consistently. Trying specific steps of moving the mana or twisting or stretching it sometimes made a new affinity depending on his attention but most of the time stayed as regular generic crystal. Of these experiments, his best attempt at making Ice mana was done when he filled a new room with nothing but ice. Scrubbing as many conflicting affinities from the area before he created a ball of crystal mana under his control and then relaxed. He spent a few hours just relaxing and holding his ball of crystal mana edging ever closer to giving up control. Innearth was hoping the transmutation would be affected by the environment and he was right. After almost a full day of this experiment, Innearth felt something imperceptible almost click and he grew momentarily excited. Checking he saw the mana in the center of the room was actually Ice mana!...but it was no longer his own. At the last second, he had let go fueling its change but also removing the whole point of this experiment in the first place. Finally giving up Innearth realized he just wasn¡¯t enough of a genius to do what he wanted to do. ¡­Maybe I¡¯ll try this again, but I wasted so much time on this already and I want to scream at this point. I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m not actually mad because it''s not like anyone else has done this but also¡­I¡¯m disappointed. I really thought I could do it. What¡¯s something I should do instead to distract myself from this? I¡¯m tired of looking at ice I don¡¯t even want to continue expanding the ice caverns right now. Oh! I was going to make a second boss for the beginner area! An alternative to the sand bed! Let¡¯s do that. Chapter 49. We all go a little mad sometimes.
On this day a dungeon released a particularly nasty creation upon the world. A sea of solid metal flowed from its insides, eating, consuming and then puppeting hosts in a 19 kilometre area before the silver menace was stopped. An insidious creation, if it weren''t for the swift action of Ar''gth''ma who knows how bad it would have gotten. But Ar''gth''ma was nearby and the world was saved as always. Everyone please give a warm belch of praise for our youngest member! I heard you melted everything to the ground with your Rending Acid breath? Well done! I bet that quest gave you plenty of levels huh? Those will be needed in the years to come. Next on our agenda is the "drake hunters". Ha... Does anyone want to take them out? We normally ignore puffed out adventurers claiming to be dragon slayers but this group has killed 5 dragons in their sleep in the past year! No quest has been released but really. That does not seem balanced. I heard the weakest member of their group was only level 150! That''s embarrassing my fellow councilmembers. We can''t let them continue like this...all in favour of a more personal "unofficial worldly protection" decision? It does no good for the most important group in the world to be hunted down like common animals.
Excerpt obtained from a branch of the draconic council''s meeting minutes. Lets start working on an alternative mage-countering boss! Returning to the half cannibalized old oven, Innearth carefully extracted the old "good strength¡± null stone that was just slightly worse than the stuff Doc gave him. I want something that¡¯s weaker to warriors than mages. In that regard¡­well I¡¯m making a boss for a much lower floor than the end of the crystal cavern. Ideally, I should be able to remake it as long as they don¡¯t loot important body parts. How about working on my humanoid design? I¡¯m positive that the crystal dwarves are much weaker than they would be if I gave them a few extra legs, lowered their center of balance¡­I think they should be a suitably ¡°weaker¡± template to work on.
Innearth: Hey Doc. Have you made any monsters with null stone and if so, do you have any notes I should watch out for? I don''t want to waste my material. I¡¯m not looking for help designing it, I''m just looking for anything I should watch out for.
ZeMadDoctor: Yep. Okay. Only real gotchu is that by default dungeon monsters see with magic. Null stone will block their sphere of perception. ZeMadDoctor: If you make a monster with one side completely covered in null stone. They will only be able to see in the opposite direction. If you completely cover it without leaving any holes. It¡¯s even worse and you''ll make a blind deaf and dumb monster. One that''s worse than a plant. It''s more work but you¡¯ll have to figure out how to let them navigate and attack stuff. Good luck!
Innearth: ...good to know. Don''t want to trial and error that.
Doc mentioned not covering the whole monster but that was kind of my goal. Let''s see. How do I go about fixing that? Setting up a humanoid liquid crystal golem in his system design panel. Innearth added a quick metal skeleton and lay a circulatory system of mana circuits ¨C one with no cores yet. Adding the null stone as a material, Innearth tried placing it about the monster trying to find how it blocked their sight. It was almost insidious how pervasively it blocked the beneficial magic common to all of Innearth¡¯s monsters. The system gave him a solid ¡°Perception x%¡± when he started looking for it and by fiddling a bit he could put the amount of sight the monster had in various locations. He couldn¡¯t even cheat by leaving small holes for the mana sight to pass through ¨C any hole big enough to work was a massive 50cm+ target on the golem he was building. So, what exactly am I losing by blocking the sphere of perception and how can I replace it. What senses do most non-dungeon monsters have? ¡­well okay actually I know that. Various sights that are based purely on reflected light or sound¡­ They have these complicated eyeballs? Bunch of little reflective bits and¡­magic readers? How do they work. ¡­does anyone know how they work? A few searches later and Innearth decided that either no dungeon knew how they worked, or any that did not care to share it. ¡­in fact there didn¡¯t seem to be many dungeons that tried to remake senses at all. It made sense when a sphere could do many of the same things and if not better at least easier and with enough functionality for it to not matter. Does the monster need to see? I can¡¯t imagine it fighting well if it can¡¯t locate adventurers¡­but then again does it need sight to do so? What about sound? This was somewhat easier for Innearth to wrap his head around. Sound vibrated stuff and ears worked by vibrating little drums. ¡­there¡¯s a bit more to it than that but I¡¯m pretty sure I can start with this and continue onwards after. If I want the boss to be able to feel stuff it has to have a high mana content¡­so either I can make the ¡°drum¡± a high concentration or I can run high concentration materials through it? I guess that works. Making a thin strip of ¡°pure¡± stretchy silicon material and then running several incredibly thin¡­veins of mana Innearth tried to get the design panel to show him its hearing ability. ¡­that was strangely hard to do. The design panel wanted to help him with anything and everything he so desired ¨C but also didn¡¯t quite understand what he was asking of it. He wasn¡¯t talking to the panel per se but a strange vision of him arguing with the panel and asking it in steadily worse and worse language filled his core. ¡°Make the vibrations show looking!¡± ¡°feel outside of body using the inner movement¡±. Finally, something clicked and the panel pulsed slightly. His system seemed to have a eureka moment and suddenly ¨C as if he hadn¡¯t spent the past 10 minutes trying to get it to understand what he wanted ¨C the panel showed a nice little section of stats on the side.
Hearing pitch: [Range 44hz-960hz], [Fidelity +- 81hz]
Hearing intensity: [Range 70db-400db], [Fidelity +- 50db]
¡­that didn¡¯t tell Innearth anything he immediately understood. Fidelity¡­those don¡¯t look too accurate? I guess I can work on making those better? Trying to: add more circuits, or thin the vibrating drums, or set up dozens of different drums at different positions each stretched at different ranges; vastly improved the stats he was focused on. Final positions bottomed out at 30hz ¨C 1800hz +- 30hz for the ¡°pitch¡± his boss could hear and 10db-200db +- 5db for the intensity it could distinguish. That was the best he could get with simply setting up several optimized drums. ¡­however that didn¡¯t help with the main purpose of this experiment. Figuring out where a sound was coming from. Realizing most animals had at least 2 ¡°Ears¡± and that more was better, Innearth started placing hearing chambers all over his golems body. Two in each leg. Two in each arm. Two in the main body (one at the front and one at the back) and then Two on the head (on both sides, similar to how many animals had them). As he set up this system he tried first the market, then the natural monsters within his lower floors. Intense study of the outside of their ears resulted in brief experiments with adding large cones to his ear holes and then immediately removing them and simply shaping the metal around the holes slightly to increase the sound heard Finally trying to get the system to help him give a proper measurement of its hearing ability, Innearth focused on the sight this ear system gave his null golem. Plenty of abstract stats that didn¡¯t help later, Innearth finally found an easy enough solution ¨C comparing it directly against the perception sphere. 13%. ¡­not good but not horrible as well as being much better than nothing¡­and both disheartening as well as a number Innearth was strangely proud of. He was starting to burn out of this boss monster design, however. He wasn¡¯t sure where to start with remaking light or heat or electromagnetic-based sights, but this was something he could cheat at. A material that could perfectly be controlled to mimic the surroundings later ¨C the core selling claimed it would help with illusion or camouflage, but only had enough for the smallest monster and thus was selling it for the cheap price of 5000 AMU. ¡­do I want to use it all on this boss monster? I feel like I could spread it out a bit quite easily¡­ Might as well not be wasteful I¡¯ll try and use a small amount of it. What if I want to give another monster eyes after all! Making several small protective holes Innearth set up plates of this material. They all gave a blurry view of the surroundings and Innearth didn¡¯t know how to improve their accuracy. The % was up to 25% now and Innearth felt like it was good enough. The rest of the boss design was probably the most ¡°interesting¡± in terms of design but was not very hard to set up. The golem was covered in hundreds of small null stone armour plates. They were thick enough to defend against most magic but would probably be sliced open by anything using a physical weapon. The legs were filled with Kinetic crystals and cores while the arms held a large Sword mana sword. Simple but strong, it was reinforced with metal mana and balanced with a few Gravity and Kinetic constructs ¨C a feature that had become incredibly simple for Innearth to use. The arms were given several metal mana nodes as well as a few sword mana ones in the hopes that they would manifest as some sort of skill the golem could use with its sword. The center of its body was filled with a couple of life cores and a single large healing potion pouch around where a human would have a stomach. Giving life to the boss and then doing the easiest test Innearth could think of, he made a beholder for the first time in a long time. Slowly taking form in front of the golem and then after responding to Innearth''s goading, the beholder cast several strong-looking bolts of fire at the boss. Reacting after it had been hit uselessly the golem ran down the hall and swiped ¨C its sword passing through the floating ball easily opening it like an orange as the first caster died. A few more (more specific mage templated) monsters later and Innearth was starting to worry the boss was too strong¡­ I guess you can fight a spider as well? See how a more physical monster fares? Sending a magma spider towards the sword-wielding null golem, Innearth watched as they danced a bit. Jumping back and forth, the spider launched itself at the side and stabbed inwards, piercing the golem''s body despite its void mana dimming as it grew close. Retaliating, the golem bisected the spider with a shimmering slash that extended out from its blade and carved through the magma flesh. ¡­okay well I think this is fine. I¡¯m pretty sure a physical adventurer can sneak up on it if they want because its still roughly half as bad at noticing stuff as my other monsters. You get a boss room! Branching off a parallel room to the sand bed, Innearth made his alternative zone boss and then made a section of the wall that could shatter in a suitably theatric way (to join the two boss rooms together just in case a large group attempted the fight). Completing stuff I¡¯ve been meaning to do is really satisfying. It feels good knowing the floor feels more complete. What should I work on next? Okay! I have something other than my ice zone I¡¯ve been thinking about on and off. I want to figure out how to control madness. I want to figure out how to squash the negative traits in madness combinations¡­Maybe one day even figure out how to control demons because that¡¯s obviously a weakness of mine. I think learning to control madness materials I can make from scratch might even help me deal with unique madness materials like the metal flesh. ...I think. I think I''m going try it. I''ll work my way up to tier 2 but only after fully trusting myself with tier 1 madness combinations. First off, the easier one for me to work with ¨C Water and Fire. I''ve somewhat seen their effects by making monsters with both materials separately...but honestly I haven''t touched the combination before. I know enough from other cores to know #1 it makes pressure and steam and #2 not to use it because "madness". My goal is to control the madness however¡­the safety warning can be ignored for tier 1 combinations as long as I make them far away from my core. So, let''s see. Quartz as my go to, Water and Fire as my mana types. What type of material will this make? Tentatively making the material Innearth watched as the mana types combine into one and ¨Cinstead of cancelling as common sense says two opposites should ¨C they started boiling out of control. Steam mana bonded to the base material and it immediately exploded in a cloud of thick hot billowing smoke that rushed thunderously in all directions. Pieces of the crystal shattered with a incredible force before they could even fully combine with the mana. As flecks of crystal flew away, a milky hole-filled, white material; was seen for a brief moment before it consumed itself. Spending all of its self in its mad rush to fill the hall with steam. The steam in question moved in all directions simultaneously before rising up to the top of Innearth''s hallway. Running along the roof for dozens of meters the steam mana ripped itself apart after spreading too thin. A small amount of it was deposited as condensation where the cloud had passed and now the whole hallway looked slightly damp. Okay...so from the vague information I have learned ¨C both in terms of experimentation experience and notes in guides ¨C I can control that steam/pressure mana with either Air or Earth. Air is a joke. No way I''m touching that if I can help it. So what about Earth? I think the obvious thing to do is to work off stuff I''ve already learned. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Making a hollow ball of Earth Innearth tries his experiment again. This time he used the system panel to make everything beforehand because it now accepted his new steam-quartz as a material and he didn¡¯t have to deal with portions exploding as he tried to make something from them. His system panel did not like to be used to print regular materials, but he convinced it he was making a trap by thinking about his goal in a different way and hoping for the best. Seconds later the ball appeared ¨C seemingly normal for a good solid moment before suddenly without warning exploding in a massive explosion that was more sound and power than fire. Steam flew in all directions once more, while shattered shells of earth hit the walls and embedded themselves in it. ...okay. okay. I think maybe it''s because it was trapped and couldn¡¯t escape. Let''s try and fix that Remaking the ball and trying once again, Innearth added a few small holes to the side before letting the system print. This time a bowling ball-shaped grey-brown ball appears that actively starts whistling. Three kettle-like streams of steam started pushing out of the side and...continuing endlessly. The steam that released was mostly magical this time and while a faint film of water was left behind it was much less than the "consume all the material and dissipate" effect Innearth had before. After a few minutes of steam, a loud crack sounded out and the middle of the three holes blew out leaving a single much larger but misshapen hole in its place. The loud whistling sound quieted down to a much softer roar and Innearth watched as steam continued to pour out, faint bits of the source being pulled out as well. Adding onto the existing ball, Innearth reinforced and shrunk the hole ¨C slowly finding a good size for the ball and then bringing it to a portion of the sensory confusion floor. Honestly the loud whistling worked better for what Innearth was hoping for than the crashing contraption and Innearth embedded this and a few more balls periodically in cut-off rooms that filled with thick steam. Okay. Next thing is to try and make a monster out of this. Working off the old "jumper''s template" Innearth made a ball with a tripod of legs. Instead of liquid filled tubes, Innearth focused on making several shift-able holes that could either release pressure endlessly harmlessly into the air or be forced into tubes set into tubes. A simple "valve" was set up to control the percent of steam being sent either into the pistons or harmlessly into the air. Continuing to iterate on the design, Innearth lost himself in the moment ¨C spending hours upon hours fixing small sections and trying to better deal with the flow of steam. There were nearly a dozen limbs by the time Innearth was done. Most were for movement, but a few had wicked-looking spears tipped with void spikes on the end that could be stabbed forwards with great speed. Inside each pneumatic tube were several small channels filled with liquid crystal. The liquid could extend linearly to the end and pushed through small loops at the end. By adding a few crystal cores to key locations these retractable channels could push to the end and then retract and reset the pistons. They could also be used to move the pistons with slow precise extensions or retractions however didn¡¯t have enough strength to do so with any real force. An added bonus that seemed useless but actually made up for a huge problem with this experimental mana. The pressure was immense, constant, but somehow difficult to control despite being ¡°regular¡±. Even with all the engineering Innearth was doing to fix it the mana seemed to want to break free of its cage purposefully moving in weird ways or speeding up and slowing down depending upon its wild mood. The design panel could be used to test the effectiveness of both the whole monster as well as individual portions. Picking specific limbs Innearth could see "[400-1000 dmg per strike]" "[reload time 60 seconds]" "[aim penalty 20%]" That was an immensely helpful ¡°instant update for every single change Innearth made¡± and the major factor that was making this take so long. The biggest problem however appeared when trying to analyze the monster as a whole. Nothing would show for effectiveness ¨C no stats ¨C simply a note with "[madness corruption -> unrecoverable]" That was even worse than the note his crazy balls had ¨C "[madness corruption]" which simply stated there was a problem but still let him analyze his schematic. Giving life to the steam upgraded jumper, Innearth watched as thick pressurized steam started flowing out the sides and the faceless boiler-shaped creation started to jitter as if about to explode. Suddenly with a bang, it was off. Steam whistling out of its sides as it sought out and attempted to kill anything within sight. Similar to the old jumpers, this pure madness-aligned monster moved closer to the ¡°metal flesh¡± creature from so long ago. A greater snake was surprised to see the barrel¡­well barreling towards it at over a hundred kilometres per hour. Hesitating for less than a second it dodged to the side when the steam engine came within ¡°sight¡± of it and it realized it was in the monster¡¯s path... Not having enough reaction speed to catch it, the jumper''s long metal-like legs pumping in and out and causing it to run like a gazelle (if a gazelle had 9 legs that alternatively hit the ground 3 at a time and belched steam constantly). Turning a corner wide the whistling monster rushed into a large cavern while faster than anything in Innearth¡¯s dungeon. A void fly got hit by the passing tank, its dense body ripping a gaping billowing hole in its side while getting squished beyond belief. Steam shot from the side of the jumper while it continued to whistle ¨C as if screaming. Finally a normal snake with two rings cautiously came up to its side and stabbed. Its head extending through it with a blue shimmering spike that appeared around its cone head a good 50cm past its tip. Pulling back Innearth tried to review what went wrong. While watching bits of the monster break apart and slodify in scraps. The madness obviously. I mean I couldn''t hear what they were thinking but I can imagine it was a constant sort of "ahhhhhh kill kill kill" sort of nonsense. Let''s see. I think I read that plants and traps can be made that are less dangerous than monsters so I''ll see what I can do with that. Returning to a trap Innearth haven''t thought about in a while, Innearth checked the main trap of the crystal caverns. They used the expansion-like pseudo pressure mana reaction between Water and Fire mana to shoot forward. They could stab from wherever they were located and then slowly reeled back after having shot once. Innearth had colour-coded them as a trap to add something special to the crystal caverns. Each room in the caverns was a different colour and only crystal spikes that were the same colour as their containing room were dangerous. They were great! But as Innearth got older they seemed less and less dangerous. That was partly the goal ¨C adventurers had to see a few go off before they knew to avoid them ¨C but most adventurers that reached these floors could just tank them and he did want adventurers to learn the secret and start avoiding them. The other problem was that comparing it to the void tipped and stomached trapdoor spiders the spikes felt¡­well lacking somehow. First things first Innearth made a trap version of the spike using a pressure block embedded deep within the ground. The steam and pressure pushed out into a large enclosed room and dissipated ¨C Innearth was nearly positive that was not how pressure was supposed to work but pressure mana was weird and as long as the room it was pushing into was big enough it wouldn''t increase the atmospheric pressure inside it too much. It looked like the air was being blown into the room constantly but a closer look showed the only thing moving into the room was the mana. The process¡­was almost like looking at the side of a stretched treadmill. One where the ¡°track¡± slowed down and then almost disappeared on the other side before appearing and continuing to push on the other. Huh. The steam stone was embedded into a small enclosed container surrounded in a thick layer of Earth mana for good luck. Connected by a 6cm wide output tube upwards and then sideways to the ¡°output room¡± with a flap. The top slid up into a crystal spike of the appropriate colour and the side broke off into a separate smaller utility tube. This one held a solid ¡°rope¡± of sorts that slide through a frictionless container down to a reel that could be spun ¨C pulling the spike back and resetting the trap. Now, How is this going to work. Claiming the whole area and then flipping the flap and launching his spike a few times Innearth was slightly disappointed considering it moved much slower than the original design. The further away from the source the steam got, the less effective it became and Innearth was forced to make a second attempt in a new spot. This time only extending up 60cm as the minimum length he could fit all his engineering instead of the original three-meter depth. How about this one? Trying again, a massive burst of power released his spike in a hissing whoomp. The crystal whipped up roughly 5 times as fast as the original design while a thick cloud of steam billowed up from the gaping hole it came from. Shunting the steam back into the steam room Innearth watched the white smoke dissipate slowly as the end of the crystal was dragged over and reset. ...okay. well honestly as a trap this is effective but kind of sucks. It''s basically one use ¨C because I can''t mend the spike without remaking it and remaking it means my whole pully system is useless because I might as well just remake it straight onto the launch tube instead of all the effort to bring it back. Let''s see if a plant version is better. If it works correctly the spikes should be able to heal that way. Making yet another version ¨C checking everything once to make sure it was combined and then giving life to the system ¨C Innearth watched with slight anticipation. The "plant" / living trap was somewhat like a clam. The Earth mana around the pully and around the smoke stone was where the majority of the "life" of the plant was stored. A faint section was attached to the stone itself and the crystal above obviously but the whole thing felt...controlled somehow. Unable to get it to shoot aimlessly on command, Inenarth got a fly to flit past the top of the spike. Noticing something it could attack the living trap shot upwards gleefully a hissing bellow flying everywhere. Success! A similar event was played out with the plant attacking and its spike shattering but this time as the living trap was within range of a crystal pillar it faintly started regrowing even as it was retracted. The rate was abysmal ¨C it would probably take over an hour before anything real was done but this was fine. Automatic resetting was all Innearth cared about. So the plant feels...it feels almost clinical and focused. Maybe it''s just as crazy as the monster was but in terms of the result, it''s like it''s not being affected at all. How can I take this and turn it into a monster? It''s a challenge I haven''t had to face before and I really want to figure it out. I''m not sure how useful it is, but it''s still important to me. I want to finish this up first and then populate the later half of the crystal caverns with these instead. They can get used to the shots near the start and then come up against the more dangerous versions after they know what to look for. I was reminded of a clam. The hole is kind of conspicuous and while I don¡¯t think I¡¯m going lure adventurers into putting their hands down it I might as well reward those that do. Making a glittering mana stone at the bottom as a reward and then adding in a sideways spike that could stab anyone who stuck their hands in the trap was complete. If adventurers were brave enough to stick their arm down the hole they could grab a prize. If they were dumb enough to stick their whole arm down random holes they would get stabbed. ¡­perfect. I think this trap is done. Now to try and figure out how to make a monster like this. Wracking his core, Innearth slowly moved around his dungeon staring at various constructs blankly as he tried to figure out what exactly his problem is. Is it impossible? ...can I cheat somehow? Staring at the wavering back of the crystal dragon Innearth slowly started to think about what he was seeing. The living crystals were a plant. They were already living and thus did not get integrated into the dragon''s body. There''s something there¡­ Innearth wanted to make a steam and pressure monster. But how he was currently making it and controlling it with Earth did not actually need the steam block to actually be a part of the body...he just needed the "side effects" of it being stored inside of the monster''s body to consider it a success. With this new plan created Innearth created a bare bone empty shell of a monster plant. A tube roughly half a meter wide and a full one long with over two dozen holes spread across its top and sides. Each hole extended out in a stubby outwards flaring tube that could easily be connected to and the inside consisted of a single large block of smoke stone. Giving life to the plant Innearth watched as the ball rolled harmlessly to the side shooting steam at the wall unable to move. Step 1 done. Step 2 is to make the monster casing surrounding this tube. He could either use this already created plant as a component similar to how he "donated" un recreateable living crystal to his panel every time he made a crystal bat. Or, because the system deemed him able to recreate this plant consistently he could simply use it as a "sub schematic" and the system would print them out in the right order. Like how he spawned new mothers covered in separate crazy balls. Now. Let''s make something similar to the last attempt. Setting up tubes connecting the inside to valves and releases and pistons and boiling kettle-like limbs Innearth remade his steam...well it galloped in a way. So steam horse. Once again butting up against the limitation of his naming pattern Innearth christened the new monster. It was a naming pattern that failed him for the more abstract designs but one he stuck to all the same. Innearth focused on finishing the transplant of the steam source plant. Letting his new steam powered monster spawn, Innearth was almost surprised when it appeared relatively intact and didn¡¯t immediately explode. We are off to a good start! Hoping a few times, the belching monster started making a much more subdued path through the crystal caverns. Instead of starting off at max speed, the steam horse started at a brisk trot before slowly ramping up its run and finally a full gallop. I...did it? I''m sure other cores have done something like this before but...well¡­ there are no steam horse designs on the market so it can''t be that common. I¡¯m going pretend I¡¯m unique and great and celebrate! Basking in the brief feeling of accomplishment Innearth turned away from Steam ¨C ignoring the horse to either live or die in the caverns. It didn''t really match his theme so it would probably not be remade until Innearth had a proper place to put it but he has more important things to review. ...I should have checked how much experience I had beforehand but I''m level 50 now...I gained at least a whole level from that creation! My second goal is to figure out what Air and Earth do...I''m not looking forward to this. But I also am? I hate having to use Air mana. Focusing on Earth first Innearth made a solid blobby ball of Earth mana. Like a ball of grey mud in mid-air, it took less than a single second to transmute his pure mana into this well known form. Wincing once more he turned to Air. Slowly laboriously he focused on making a slowly spinning ball of Air mana. You could visibly see it shift from pure mana to Air this time and the resulting blob was decidedly less refined. Turning towards the center once he was sure the Air was stable, Innearth shoved them both together and watched the block of quartz wither and decay. Unlike the burst of instant smoke that was steam mana, Dust/Dry mana took a moment to get going. More and more of the crystal flaked off into the air ¨C a miniature dust devil in the middle of the hall. When the whole crystal was finished flacking, the dust devil moved as if suddenly broken from the tether that was holding it in place. Sliding up against the wall and then inching along the side of the hall, the miniature sandstorm ripped into the dungeon. Grinding the crystal and finally spending itself a few feet further in the magical construct disappeared just as slowly as it had grown ¨C slowly fading away and leaving a powder finer than sand across a huge stretch of the hall. ...okay. Well uh...I guess I have to try giving life to that next. Unsure of what would happen exactly ¨C but content with the safety of the experiment far away from his core ¨C Innearth made a second dust devil. Making sure to give life to it at the start of the material''s life cycle, Innearth sent a spark into the crystal just as it had begun to ¡°flake¡±. Immediately intent filled the air as the rest of the crystal flaked off in seconds instead of closer to a minute. Disappearing like a certain snap from a popular franchise the dust floated up into the air and turned grey as it shrivelled and then became a cloud that started to roll about. Roaring with anger the spinning dust cloud felt like a tornado as it ripped down the hall moving and seeking out something to rip into. As it moved Innearth tried to think about controlling it with Fire or Water. The storm charged at its fellow monsters ¨C chasing a turtle several steps before catching up and surrounding it in the background. Seeming to shrivel up like a vampiric victim in a bad horror movie the turtle simply...dried up. A living crystal shot was sent flying through the cloud harmlessly before the turtle expired ¨C flaky bones and skin, covering "air pocketed" dried out bones. Moving next towards a hedgehog, Innearth stopped the stalking dust cloud with a splash of water. Turning towards the puddle the dust cloud momentarily stopped its slaughter to attack this new prey. This weak very ¡°kill worthy¡± puddle must die! Running over its lengths several times the dust cloud stilled slightly growing meek as it drank the water. A few more puddles were placed and the cloud charged again and again. Each puddle drunk caused it to grow more and more sluggish and full looking as it continued to chase ¡°prey¡± well past its ability to dry them out. Next flipping to Fire mana, Innearth created a small ball of fire, pulling the line of mana closer and closer to the cloud. Shaking off the happy sluggishness, the cloud moved first to mad rage as some of the water¡¯s effect wore off, then like a teetering seesaw switched to cowering as it attempted to get away. Chasing the cloud with a "stick" of fire, Innearth played around with reward and punishment ¨C seeing how simple the dust cloud was able to be controlled with either but especially both of its adjacent elements. Hmmm. I think I figured this out for the most part...it almost seems easier to deal with than Steam mana. The problem is as soon as I stop this "control" It goes back to an out of control state. Can I make a monster that self punishes or self rewards itself? It works a lot better when I can use both. I could do something similar to the inner steam plant and set it up as a pair of monsters? But unless it''s only a drop having both Fire and Water in a single monster goes back to madness again. ¡­Unless I can make two monsters that touch and are combined but remain separate somehow? Sort of water on one half fire on the other twin type monster? That seems a bit complicated for my goal¡­ Three monsters it is. Creating solid crystal bodies without liquid and that resisted being dried out, Innearth gave life to two small wheeled golems. A red-tinted crystal with a small fire core and a fire crystal on the top of it that shot flames up in the air like a flamethrower occasionally was the bad cop. A blue-tinted crystal with a water core and bent spout containing a water crystal that sprayed a fine mist of water was the "good cop". Because they were meant to work together each had a mental mana connection and despite their contradictory elements the two monsters were mostly crystal and seemed to get along okay. At least they begrudgingly worked together and didn¡¯t attack on sight. These two crystals were a recent discovery. When combining crystal mana and other types Innearth was finding more and more materials when flipping through all his "two element" versions. The most useful was the "X crystals" similar to the Kinetic crystals when mana was passed through it they would make a strong burst of the effect. Quartz made liquid crystal but Salt (NaCl) made a water crystal. It was one of those things that didn¡¯t make sense but Innearth just learned to deal with it and move on. Finished with his drones, Innearth set them up with the dust cloud. The two drones seemed easily able to control the cloud, but beyond that didn''t have much purpose. Or they had a purpose but nothing beyond the narrow goal of keeping the cloud content and scared in the corner of the cavern as they bullied it. Checking his level Innearth saw he was up once again. 52? This series of experiments is incredibly lucrative. Even if it¡¯s a one time thing I¡¯m making huge gains! ...should I try controlling tier two madness mana? It seems really good for levels. I could try the Kinetic+Mental one! ...no. MIM''S are core killers. Without a lot of life or death force, I''m as good as dead. I would be much better off trying the Life+Death combination. ...and I''m not touching demons just yet. Maybe someday. This madness experiment is making me feel slightly better about handling demons but...I just don''t feel up to it. What was I doing again? I got distracted... OH. I was making my ice area. I think this has been enough of a break lets start expanding it and filling it with more monsters. Chapter 50. The 200th decennial dungeon games!
Adventurers weekly is proud to announce our special issue on the weirdest loot items ever*! We have interviewed all across the great dungeon belt finding 100s of unique items across thousands of adventurers and dungeons. The full results can be found in the special issue but the most important "Top 10" voted on by our very experienced staff and put in a random order is as follows. #10. Bag of Moulding. Any item placed inside this incredibly detailed bag quickly ages and grows mould no matter what material it was made of ¨C have a knife you want rusted and governed in black fuzz? Stick it in the bag for a few minutes. The actual reason anyone would want this item is unknown. Maybe some weird mould mana class? I''ve never heard of that before. #9. Perfect Chair. Common drop in one of the stranger dungeons near the tip of the belt these chairs are...well just chairs. They are incredibly comfy despite being made of nothing but wood and some strange bouncy material for the seat cushion ¨C they can even be sold for quite a nice price...The only strange thing about them is that they exist. Why does the dungeon drop them? I''m sure adventurers would like all sorts of things more than chairs. #8. Farting rocks. Useless loot dropped by an otherwise normal dungeon, these rocks have no practical use other than for pranks. The worst part is these rocks have a strange hypnotic effect that makes people want to pick them up and carry them around ¨C despite them just being a rock that makes obscene sounds every once in a while. #7. Ball and chain. A strange item that when activated locks someone in place with the ball unmoving until deactivated. It appears similar to something you might put on a prisoner but has an even stranger requirement that it must be put on with consent - something prisoners don''t have a lot of. Use is unknown. Mike from sales thinks it''s a sex thing. #6. Unbreaking thumb-sized shield. An incredible item made stronger than anything anyone has ever known this shield is effectively invincible. It can block a dragon''s breath in a 20mm diameter circle. Unable to be altered or combined into a more useful form it remains a useless oddity. #5. Rat petting aid. A swirling ball of lights designed to attract rats so that you may pet them. If any action other than petting is taken the rats are incensed to attack. Why would anyone want to pet vermin??? #4. Book of plagiarism. A tome that steals words and ideas from other nearby books and has low utility. Would be useful to steal knowledge from hidden libraries if it weren''t for the fact that it lies 50% of the time and doesn''t like displaying useful information. #3. Regular Banana. Non-magical mundane fruit. Strange due to being found in a lightning dungeon and even more so because there doesn''t seem to be a good climate for it. #2. A murders mercy. A knife that is incredibly sharp and can pierce through even the strongest of defences while heightening the reflexes and speed of those who wield it ¨C this appears to be a useful item at first glance. The knife causes anyone who cuts another to feel immense guilt however and causes anyone who tries to fight with it immense mental torture as they start to cry for the monsters they slay. #1. My personal favourite. Sunhats. A mundane magical item given through the dungeon of shades this hat blocks all harmful light causing even the lowest of levelled adventurers to stare directly at the sun without harm. Useful. Practical. But also not. Who actually wants to look at the sun? When have you as an adventurer found it too bright to see? *As decided by adventurers weekly. Your new favourite source of news and fun tidbits. Sold at stores all across the continent. Thanks for reading as always. This list was fun to research and there are many more strange or useless loot items found over the years. For a full list of the top 500 please see our expanded issue.
Excerpt from issue 74 of adventurers weekly.
Abyss: Hey I try not to talk in here, but I felt like it would be rude of me not to give you all a hint. The games are starting in a few days and you should make sure to stockpile cores. That¡¯s all.
What?? Innearth was thrown for a bit of a loop as he read the message from Abyss to the group chat.
Abyss: Oh! Also somewhat happy news but my levels reached 97. That¡¯s¡­.well it means the games might just be enough to push me over the hump to rank 4. Abyss: One of you needs to be Tier 6 before that happens otherwise you can¡¯t inherit the group owner position and your group chat will fall apart. Abyss: Good luck! All of you are¡­well your advancing at quite tremendous speeds. Making me feel a bit inadequate anyways but I believe in you guys!
Amy: Wait what! The chat''s in danger of being lost?
With that next message, Innearth was thrown more into confusion. He tried to imagine what the games were and started to move towards checking the market for a guide when a final message was sent.
Abyss: Oh! And I know I just told you to stockpile cores, but the games are slightly better if you don¡¯t research them first! Your first games are the best and they feel more special if you just enjoy the surprise. Good luck!
Abe: hey m8. you gotta give us more than that. you can''t just say "don''t look", that makes me want to look even more.
Fated Eternal Design: Mystery for mysteries sake is important sometimes Abe. I trust the core. He''s never led us astray before.
¡­what was the point in that? ¡­stockpile cores? Okay¡­well let''s see.
Innearth
Level 52 2899/3286 exp to next level.
System Access Level 5 0/2 requirements met to advance.
-0/50 sapient delves.
-Level 64+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 81.82 personal unit/min
Mana concentration 2.69 AMU / personal unit
Mana Storage 8837.30/8837.30 AMU
Physical Storage 60% Capacity
Age 894 days (2 years)
Distance underground 293 meters
Number of floors 13 floors
Titles.
Earth Mana Specialization, Crystal Mana Specialization, Void mana Specialization.
With Innearth¡¯s current stats he could make¡­well a tier 1 core roughly every 55s. He could make roughly 1584 tier 1 cores a day if he stopped all operations and started working on nothing but pumping those out¡­That was¡­quite a bit higher than when he was younger. All the materials he had seen that were hundreds of cores now seemed easily within reach. All he had to do was spend a day or so and they could be within his grasp. What happened! ¡­but he didn¡¯t want to stop all operations just to churn out cores endlessly. He still had to remake monsters when they died, and he didn¡¯t want to have them stop their skirmishes. He also ¨C and this was important ¨C didn¡¯t want to just sit there making cores and nothing else. That sounded incredibly boring. What he could do was pump cores out while designing stuff in the system panel. That didn¡¯t take any mana until it printed and was a good distractor. Besides. If we were given such short notice it couldn¡¯t be that important right? Deciding on using around two thirds of his mana on making cores and the rest on keeping everything running smoothly, Innearth added roughly 1k cores a day to his emergency stockpile. While that was happening, he spent time planning out monsters for the ice caverns. The most popular ice schematic being sold was the ¡°snowman¡±. Three balls of ice roughed up and covered in the snow that naturally appeared once enough of an ice biome was set up, they were the bread and butter of ice floors. There was even a specific supply chain going where certain cores supplied buttons, or carrots, or woolly scarves that they claimed ¡°needed to be included for it to be a proper snowman¡±. They were relatively cheap but incredibly expensive for decorations¡­and Innearth did not want to rely on them for potentially hundreds to thousands of snowmen over the years. The snowmen were however designed for ice floors set a wee bit easier than where Innearth had his located. There were instructions on turning the tier 4 core in the middle ball into a tier 8 core for a linear increase in strength¡­but well, while Innearth could theoretically do that¨C Theoretically, because higher and higher tiered cores were harder to make in anything other than a single ¡°make as fast as you can and hope for the best¡± manner (mana leaked everywhere otherwise and decayed while Cores were waiting for their mana to regenerate). And, as a tier 8 core was 7200AMU to Innearth¡¯s current max pool of 8837AMU. It was now ¡°theoretically¡± something he could make. The main reason Innearth didn¡¯t like that linear increase in strength was that the snowmen¡¯s tier 4 core was already drastically underused. With circuits and a tier 4 core the snowmen should have been powerhouses each deserving of being a boss! Not bouncing mages that shot (admittedly hard and fast) Icicles or flung bits of the environment around. It was also 7200mana instead of the 2000 mana of a tier 4 core!??? For only a bit more than double the strength? No, that was wasteful. Instead, Innearth took each ball of the snowmen schematic and started ¡°fixing¡± them. A center tier 4 core on the bottom ball. A center tier 3 core in the middle ball. A center tier 2 core on the top. Each of the 3 balls were going to be completely separate monsters that could jump away or return with small interlocking connections of short-range gravity mana. They were all ¡°Linked¡± using the link tool and then Innearth set about designing circuits for all of them. The only way to make the expensive ball fulfill its full potential was to give it a lot of hints towards affinities for their spells. A tier 4 purecore was kind of disappointing and almost weak while a tier 4 elemental core was strong and exciting but limited to forcing the monster into only using that mana type in its body and spells. A tier 4 purecore and then a weaker tier 4 ¡°non-purecore¡± could make a good spellcasting monster¡­but a tier 4 purecore and 50 small nodes of a whole bunch of different affinities? That made a boss monster. ¡­I¡¯m not meaning to make a boss. Let¡¯s dial this back a bit. Center large core. 6 sub ¡°ice¡± cores set up in the ¡°up, down, left, right, back, front¡± directions. Connect all those cores to the center and the 4 nearest ones placing a couple different potentially useful mana types in ¨C water, kinetic, crystal, void¡­ Now! On to the next one. Middle ball gets 4 cores equal distance apart and attached in a cube shape and with similar connections. Top ball gets 2 ice cores on the left and right and if I make this section clear¡­ The two cores now appeared just below the surface of the icy head. They glowed softly with a blue light and looked like ominous eyes. Yep, that¡¯s a good aesthetic for these. A squiggly looking mouth with two icicles like fangs completed the look. This was almost a snowman made of solid ice, but it didn¡¯t have any snow attached to it yet. Working on that Innearth found a ¡°cheating¡± method to make a mostly non magical snow. He simply had to make a spinning blade that scraped up ice into rough shavings. Donating the material to his schematic he was just finishing packing the shaved ice onto the outside of the monster when he received a notification.
Attention. The 200th decenial dungeon games has started! A new event group has been made for any who wish to participate. These games will last a month and are being hosted this year by .
Join the event games? Y/N
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ...Okay? ...Welll Nothing is going to happen until I join the games and I was warned of them beforehand. Guess I''ll see what this is about.
Phantasmal Patterns: Welcome! Welcome! It''s time for play! Ehehehehe. I''m your lovely host Phantasmal Patterns! Tier 7. It''s my third time participating in the games, and my FIRST time hosting. Thank you! Thank you! Now as much as I love to talk I''m going to show off a prepared description of the games! Please read this year''s packet It will provide just enough information to get you by!
-
The Dungeon Games are an official system sanctioned event run by dungeon cores for dungeon cores. Nothing that happens in them couldn''t happen without the ¡°official¡± designation but having the system''s approval makes the whole thing feel so much more important. Pretend it''s the tutorial again. The very world is conspiring to help you advance. The games are here to pull you forward and scrap any ruts you''ve found yourself in. The games are a chance to interact and unwind as well as a way of challenging yourself. If you treat these games well and enter all the events you can, you might just learn something new! A simplified way of describing the games are as a string of several "main" events that have been designed and improved over dozens of years by all the cores before you. The more deserving description is that these games are the most fun you''ll have in a decade. Good luck!
Finishing the packet Innearth sighed. That...doesn''t tell me much does it. Are these games just a bunch of undeserved hype? I''m being told they are fun but...being told something doesn''t change my mind a single bit does it? To be honest, being told I''m going to have fun, makes me almost want to not have fun just based on spite... Grumbling, Innearth waited for the next group wide announcement while slowly losing excitement towards the whole process and considering returning to his ice cavern design.
Phantasmal Patterns: There are plenty of events in this year''s games both big and small. Plenty of events yes! Phantasmal Patterns: Last time we did this the previous host hyped up the first main game for ages and I HATED IT! This year I''m going START us off with a BANG! Phantasmal Patterns: MONSTER RACES. Yeah monster races are great. You have 24 hours to read the rules and decide if you are participating. Should give enough time to catch all the late joiners and let you tweak some things. Phantasmal Patterns: I HOPE our first event is PHENOMENAL.
Silence as the Core stopped messaging, followed by Innearth moving around the event server. A tacked-on tab listed the rules as well as providing a simple checkmark for if you were joining.
Rules: Monster Races.
  1. There is time for unique and ascended monsters later. The monster you enter must be whole, dungeon made and use no unfair random materials.
  2. To enter you must add a minimum of 30 cores to a prize pool along with your monster and this agreement which is system binding.
  3. Monsters may be designed to harass their opponents however the goal of this event is speed and non completion will result in disqualification.
  4. No teleportation-type magic is allowed. No calling it ¡°rift walking¡± or ¡°shadow stepping¡± - it''s not a loophole, it''s cheating. The monster competing must complete the whole course, moving through every checkpoint to be considered to have "won". No shortcut tunneling monsters either.
  5. The maximum amount of mana allowed to be spent on a monster is 7000amu. The monster should be printable for someone of level 48 or above.
Final Description and sign-up. Four "races" will be performed against monsters submitted for your tier and rounds will be split into groups of 25 monsters max. The winner of each bracket will be given the entire prizewinning pool of cores. The main reward however is the knowledge that you are the best.
Enter? Y/N? Current participants [38]
As Innearth watched the current participant number kept ticking up regularly. 38 -> 40 -> 47. Still unsure as to what exactly was happening Innearth consulted the group.
Innearth: Hey, so what''s everyone doing?
Abe: oh I''m entering this. It sounds fun enough and it''s only 30 cores. I make that in like half an hour -not even!
ZeMadDoctor: I''m...I think I''m going to watch the first of these "games" to see what it''s about. The description made there out to be many of these competitions to come. I want to see what I''m getting myself into.
Amy: most of my friends are competing so I might as well join. I don''t have anything that fast out of water but I will see what I can do.
Innearth: huh. Well I might as well join as well Innearth: Anyone want to work together?
Abe: bruh my only goal is to beat you. I don''t care about winning lol. I bet you 1500g of firmament I can make a monster faster than you.
Innearth: ...you know what? Deal. You can''t make void stuff right? I bet you...uh. I made a new void fire recently. I bet you 1.5kg of that. Real strong. Small caveat that you''ll have to add it directly to a monster that can heal it back so it doesn''t burn up. We can work something out.
Abe: Hah. This will be easy.
Fated Eternal Design: ...what. how did that happen so quickly. Did you two rehearse that? And I want in!
Abe: sorry FED :3 bets already been made. You¡¯ll have to join the next one
Fated Eternal Design: if I win I''ll give...uh. okay I can offer eternal materials?
Innearth: I don''t want you to feel left out but bro. Me and Abe are offering the good stuff if you want to get in on this you should offer similar.
Fated Eternal Design: Okay. I''ll offer 10L of cognitive Enhancement potion. Can''t find that anywhere else because my cultists made it.
Abe: Ha! You didn''t have to up the quantity m8. I''m so going to win that.
Pulling back, Innearth joined the race and went to work refining a monster for it. ¡­ 24 hours passed in a single moment leaving Innearth panicking as he rushed his design out into the area. 84 Cores were participating in the Tier 5 race ¨C so there were currently four separate races happening simultaneously. Innearth had to sign what Cores were jokingly referring to as a "slave binding" penalty to abide by the rules. If he broke them he would trade "95% of his regeneration a second" to the host for 10 years ¨C the maximum amount the system would allow as a penalty. Some were even trading mana regeneration in seconds! Not minutes! Essentially trading regeneration was also known as "trading your future" and Innearth started to think some dungeon cores were insane. What could possess someone to think that was a good idea? Sure an extra amount of mana per second would be amazing! But¡­but losing that is worse than gaining it. Like okay. If I got 1 extra mana per second I would be able to do nearly twice as much stuff! But if I lost 1 mana per second¡­I wouldn¡¯t even be able to keep my dungeon running! Right now remaking everything and expanding slightly takes over¡­well roughly 25 mana a minute but that¡¯s not steady so it''s hard to quantify. Let¡¯s see, right now I have 82 mana a minute and 1/s is 60¡­ I guess with 220/s mana I could tell my snakes and spiders to stop attacking each other and I wouldn¡¯t have to remake them constantly ¨C but also! With nothing to do you would be stuck in endless boredom! Without any mana you wouldn¡¯t be able to make monsters! Sure I¡¯ve heard adventurers don¡¯t kill cores unless we are considered insane¡­but what about monsters! No defence! Spiralling for a bit and watching the chat for a bit Innearth couldn¡¯t help himself. He reached out and spoke in a general chat for the first time.
MikeTheMagicCore: 3amu/s for 2 years on that fan thing. I¡¯ve played with fans before I know how good they are. I guarantee that¡¯s going to win! I heard from last time a fan thing won? Well, that¡¯s a fan thing. ALL HAIL THE FAN!
Dunstorm: I¡¯m entering max speed. I¡¯ll take you up on that offer if max speed beats it. Dunstorm: Max speed is the wheel monster okay? It has a giant ¡°Max¡± on the side of it. What do you say sucker? Still think some weak-looking moving wall can beat the SPEED.
MikeTheMagicCore: duh. I¡¯ve researched previous years. There''s going to be a water section in the course. That little wheel is going to sink. Fans for the win! 3amu/s final offer. Or are you nothing but a cowardly little pebble?
Innearth: What are you doing? How can you even think trading that much mana per second is fun?
MikeTheMagicCore: ???
Dunstorm: Oh. I¡¯m so scared.
MikeTheMagicCore: Hey don¡¯t worry ¡°Innearth¡±. I¡¯ve researched everyone entering I¡¯m going to win! Think of what I could do with all that extra mana! No point in imagining what would happen when I lose when it¡¯s a given the fan will win.
Dunstorm: Screw off slag. I¡¯m bored. What else is there to do? I¡¯ve waited 10 years for this event to happen again ¨C what¡¯s 2 years in the face of that? Besides. Without a good bet or two how else will you find this fun?
Innearth: can¡¯t you have fun with smaller bets?
Kingmaker: oh let them be. The only dumb thing they are doing is wasting all their time on the race. True connoisseurs save their big bets for the battle royal. Hands down the best event.
Pulling away from the chat, Innearth still felt like there was something wrong with some of the Cores in it. That has to count as madness right? Gambling your life away??? Waiting for the event to start Innearth watched as monsters appeared suddenly one by one into nearly invisible force cages. The final count was 83 tier 5 cores participating in his Tier. That meant there were 4 groups of roughly 21 monsters being sent through the course. And for some reason, despite being split into 4 groups they were being sent through nearly identical courses simultaneously. The last kilometer of the track combined the 4 separate groups and Innearth spent the next few minutes watching monsters blip in and wondering how ¡°Phantasmal patterns¡± had known to make 4 tracks when they had mentioned it was split in 25. Did they just guess the number of participants? What was the point in splitting up groups if we are all going to join together at the end? These dungeon games seem dumb. Finally the last of the bets rolled in and their host started to narrate.
Phantasmal Patterns: Are YOU ready! Yes you. Ehehhehe. Enough of those bad decisions made? Any last second entries? no? Phantasmal Patterns: Then GO.
Without a countdown or warning, the cages dissolved and the monsters were off. The initial send-off was a chaotic mess. Abe was in Innearth¡¯s group and had designed a thin vaguely bazooka-shaped "monkey". "Monkey" being an incredibly generous description for the tube shaped mess of fur and parts. A roar of fire and power resounded out before a bubble of time magic extended down its whole length and the back of the bazooka exploded. It exploded and continued exploding repeatedly ¨C the time magic blending the explosions together into a single flickering ball of orange fire behind it. A few of the other monsters had initially pulled ahead but Abe¡¯s monster shot past them ¨C all less than 5 seconds into the race. The initial mess of hallways twisted off into a couple different paths each supposedly the same length... but most of the friend group''s monsters seemed to pick the same middle route. Innearth¡¯s altered Kinetic enhanced steam horse took some time to get up to max speed. Its length was quite a bit different than it had looked initially ¨C no longer containing a sort of ¡°steam engine¡± aesthetic. Nine legs had been upped to twelve and set in bent shapes that reduced their range of movement, but helped aim forwards. A wild scream was let out by a long-legged gaunt creature that swiped back and forth at the group as it ran, two praying mantis-like arms lopping off limbs from the monsters beside it. A small worm-like monster had jumped onto another and burrowed into it as soon as the race started. Slowly working its way through the running monster and then appearing out the tip of its front like a horn... Maybe it expected to be counted as finishing first by being that much further ahead? Another monster had hundreds of stacked propellers in a giant squarish shape all spinning constantly as it moved forward and clipped a 4 legged wolflike shape grinding forward in a spray of black spongy slices of yet another unknown material. Laughing the Cores sent dozens of variations on the ¡°GO GO GO GO. GOGOGOGOGOGOOGOGOG¡± aimless cheer as they rooted for either their own monster or a one they had bet their livelihood on. While the first few minutes were chaotic the next few started to balance out. The straight ¡°boring¡± long hallway that had started the racing monsters off quickly descended into a jagged mess of interlocking sharp-walled hallways. One path became a dozen and as the group progressed, obstacles started to appear. The ground fell away occasionally to pits full of sharp-looking iron spikes, while swinging giant metal balls flung past ¨C and occasionally clipped and flung and squished monsters into the walls. Abe''s exploding rocket of a monster kept pulling ahead of Innearth''s galloping steam horse and the only thing keeping them roughly in line was the constant twists and turns. To be frank both monsters sucked at turning. With wider turns the horse was slightly stronger, simply moving its legs and sending bursts of kinetic mana into different sections. With sharper and narrower turns Innearth''s monster couldn¡¯t turn in time and would bounce off the walls ¨C its attempt at scaling up the wall just resulted in them losing speed. With Doc''s ¡°transferring¡± Kinetic materials I bet I could make a better horse. They could alter their course much better and¡­well the one weakness I¡¯m seeing would be fixed. The track turned a corner and suddenly opened out into a 40m wide and 2km long roughly smooth room. The walls and floors were covered in a checkered pattern that reminded Innearth vaguely of his old core rooms decorations ¨C but done to an extreme scale. This room actually made something obvious. Innearths steam monster was slower than Abe''s time and explosion magic monster¡­but faster than all the other monsters in his group. Pulling ahead further and further Abe''s monster stuttered and then with a solid hiccuping jolt shot forwards even faster ¨C its speed bubble interacting with the world in a strange way as the periodic traps were warped and deflected in its passing. Cheering his monster on, Innearth found himself almost reaching the same frenzied state as the other Cores. He actually started to get invested as he watched his best efforts fail against Abe. There was a brief hiccup as the end of the expanse was reached for a solid line of a sickly green poisonous liquid rained down in the direct path. Abe''s shuttle-like monster passed through the poisonous waterfall and stuttered as its flame went out ¨C skidding on the floor for a few meters before relighting and continuing on. Innearth was ? of the way through the expanse when he noticed two things. He wasn¡¯t going to win. And the rest of the monsters were only now entering the expanse. ¡­what¡¯s happening? Why is everyone so slow? Watching slightly confused, Innearth followed Abe''s monster as it burst into the final kilometer stretch, a spiralling almost hypnotic path full of strange cubby holes that furry monsters peeked out of. One other monster reached this section of the hallway before Innearth, a long worm-like monster with 20 wheels that flowed over the ground as it moved. Its body bent over bumps and seemed to glide with a weird unnatural flowing motion. Inevitable. Endless. The steam horse burst out behind the wheeled snake and started catching up just as Abe''s torpedo crossed the spinning gold ring that represented the finish line and promptly exploded in a huge ball of fast-moving fire mana. Nudging ever forward, the steam horse got closer and closer to the "flowing wheeled snake" while checkered squares popped up ¨C shooting liquid or flipping anything on it upwards. Innearth reached a strange divided state of mind where he focused with what felt like every ounce of his attention watching the race and simultaneously split off and started studying the obstacles. Oh! Those sort of leaping jolting squares are made with kinetic mana. I bet they set them up using launch pads that had little latches that popped off when pressed down. I could make those¡­then anyone that stepped on them could be flung through the air! I could make them cross big chasm-like holes or send them into lava or spikes using those¡­ A pounding excitement filled Innearth the moment his horse galloped past the snake and, despite coming second, he started cheering when his horse passed the spinning ring. YES! Not bad for 24 hours of effort!!!! FED''s Monster had entered the final stretch late but had a massive entrance. Every monster within a kilometre of the flying air-spun mask was slowed and every monster within a 100m was nearly frozen as the mask flew forwards. Its speed was abysmal in comparison to Abe and Innearth, but within a 5-minute span the mask passed over 20 monsters that were slowed and then nearly frozen in place. Despite being only a few meters away from the finish line, the ¡°stacked fans¡± monster was frozen in time and watched helplessly as the almost slow-moving mask rushed forwards and passed it ¨C coming in 4th place. Immediately upon crossing the finish line the extended field of frozen time weakened and was disabled ¨C as if someone had pressed play, everything resumed its regular movement. The fan passed in 5th place while a large group of monsters passed by a few minutes later. Innearth turned away from the event and back to his safe friend group.
Fated Eternal Design: ASASFLK. Okay. Well then. You have bested my finest warrior. We didn¡¯t make a binding contract¡­but a promise is a promise between friends. I shall have your reward soon Abe. Fated Eternal Design: Not trying to take away from your deserved win but I just want to say if we started in the same group I would have won. My inevitable mask would have frozen your rocket and I would be the victor.
Innearth: is it just me or was this just a race between the three of us?
Abe: Eh. Best not to think of it lol. Now about those rewards¡­
Chapter 51. Battles royal are popular...right?
Dear Mayor: Please Fix the infrastructure in your fine town. I pay taxes like everyone else and I demand safety in my own home. Yesterday a pipe burst in the mana sewer and my basement has quickly become poluted. I woke up in the middle of the night to shrieking noises and after heading down to investigate found my pots and pans were fighting horrid slug monsters. My lamp started burning my skin and my ManaCorp portable cleaner exploded. This is an outrage. Please send help immediately I''ve been staying at my friends house for the past 4 hours but am worried the polution is not good for my baby.
Excerpt from a nameless homeowner petitioning the mayor of her town directly for help.
Phantasmal Patterns: Ah! We have some winners to announce! For the Tier 4 group ¨C SPEED! HAH. What a fitting name for our race winner. In the Tier 5 group. Abe! What a STRANGE NAME! Tier 6 actually has a 2 time contender for the games a core with the moniker of XxZ. I remember them from the last games! And finally. The Core who won for the Tier 7 group. THE GREATEST PEBBLE. Now there''s a controversial name. Maybe the next event "the streamcast" will let them explain why they decided to go for that unflattering persona. Phantasmal Patterns: The next event should show up for participants soon and unlike the race, this bad boy is spread between all 4 tiers. Phantasmal Patterns: This year''s stream cast is sponsored by Honest Calcium''s BONE EMPORIUM! Among other things, the lucky WINNER will receive a year-long 50% discount for all undead merchandise at this ENTERPRISING CORE''S store!
Innearth checked the event tab. It displayed the next 2 events in a nice orderly format. From today onwards cores participating in the streamcast set up countless "streams" that other cores may peruse. 24 hours after that was the "unique monster battle royal".
Rules: Streamcast.
  1. A stream can only be made upon sign up.
  2. To signup you must provide a constant mana cost of [0, 1/4amu/second, 1amu/second, 4amu/second] (depending on your tier) for the duration of the event (from signup till +3 days from the creation of this panel. Time Left [71hrs 54min]. This mana cost exists both to even the playing field slightly as well as to aid in the creation of the next game. It''s mana well spent.
  3. Cores may donate cores to their favorite streams for the duration of the event.
  4. Scores are calculated using 3 variables: Unique views lasting more than 20s, Viewer retention, Donations. Exact formula will remain undisclosed and takes into account a few more invisible data points.
Final Description and sign-up. The streamcast is designed around sharing and entertaining one another. A high tradition the streamcast is designed around a part of many dungeons lives.
Enter? Y/N? Current participants [50]
Converting Innearth''s regen to "amu" as well as checking for any gains he had...3.6amu/second. 0.25 of that wouldn''t be the end of the world if it was only 3 days ¨C but it would still be a lot. That is...seconds in 3 days...divided by 4... 64800amu or using the t1 core stat... that is 324 t1 cores! Just to participate! ...this drives home again just how insane the Cores trading that for years are. I''m hesitant to use just under 7% of my revenue for 3 days...and thats only 7%! I can''t even imagine what it would be like to go years like that. But looking towards the general chat for in the event group he saw people were already discussing it.
TheCoreiestCoreThereEverWas: This is always a fight between the popular streamers. Non of us plebians without an established fan base ever win. I call hacks.
Adventurers will die: Hah. Just cause they have practice means nothing. I have something special planned. Has the event started yet?
Amethyst: Anyone know what the formula is? How can I game this event. Tips and tricks please I''ve already started losing out on mana.
Kripple: Lol.
Demald: Git guy. That''s how you win the event.
Finest Dungeon: Why do you think the formula is undisclosed? So you can''t game it. All I can tell you is that it takes into account different cores as weights. That way someone''s friend can''t donate 1000 core and get alot of points. It much prefers when donations are spread out.
Amethyst: So get the one friend to spread their cores out between a dozen people that donate separately? Got it. Thanks for the help!
...
Demald: ...is she gone? No one tell her it''s being judged by the system which likes putting invisible penalties on anything it deems an attempt to cheat. It''s less a static formula and more the system being a neutral voting party that''s not the host.
Finest Dungeon: Nice.
Breaking Stone: Guys! Come join my stream right now! You won''t regret it.
Humble Cellar: ...seems like a trick.
BlogCave: Didn''t you read the rules? We can join and dip after 20s and won''t give him any points.
Kripple: Sus. Don''t trust.
Slightly curious Innearth joined "Breaking Stone''s" stream. It cost him nothing after all and large group chats kind of put him off. As the panel opens the first thing Innearth sees is what appear to be a human standing in a huge cavern. The camera pulled back slowly as they battled huge monstrous purple ogre like monsters. With a further distance and more context the scene clicks into place. The adventurer was incredibly tiny. A sense of scale proved they weren¡¯t even half the size of a dwarf. They would barely reach a dwarf¡¯s stubby knees. The tiny adventurer looked strangely comical as it sliced a purple leg off with a wild swing and a spray of gore. Its tiny face was set in a determined little grimace and sweat clung to its cotton tunic. The whole event was, if anything, a novel experience.
Dunjinx: Awww!
BlogCave: Yo. This dude wasn''t joking. I''ve never seen a gnome adventurer before. Jackpot.
Advengeon: Hey, that''s pretty neat. I''ll try and get some interested Cores to join if you can manage to keep them excited.
BlogCave: Anyone else wonder how they make them that small? My small monsters don¡¯t seem nearly as impressive as that.
...I want a gnome adventurer¡­I bet one could fit through my snakeways...damn that might be an unwitting shortcut for the little creatures. ...but then again maybe something that small needs a bonus. I might try making small little lootrooms in some of my snakeways and reward the little buggers. How is it holding its own? The incredibly small person continued to swing their metal sword the size of a toothpick. The instrument blazed with green flowing light that grew the more purple monsters were slain. At the end of each massively small swing, small drops of an acidic green liquid flicked out and dealt damage to the surroundings. Minimal damage but damage all the same. Each miniature drop would make a small pinpoint of a hole in the ground, but it was against the monsters that this magical acid shone. When aiming and swinging at an ogre, the liquid seemed to elongate out ¨Cextending the gnomes blade by a factor of 10x. 3cm became 30cm¡­which was still painfully small but now long enough to actually damage the monsters they were fighting. Reaching the end of a hallway the small creature dropped to a crouch and after checking to make sure the hall was clear leaned its back against a wall and pulled out a large hunk of bread the size of their head. Taking a small bite and chewing for a bit, then placing it once more into some sort of special storage the gnome sat for a minute breathing deeply. Taking a large breath the gnome stood up and slapped both sides of their face before marching confidently onwards. The boss room was a perfectly circular dome with small green bobbles hanging across the top. The boss itself was an amalgamation of 12 of the previous ogre things melted together into a giant blob with legs and arms and rolls of fat that hid more legs and arms. Rushing forwards into this room the tiny adventurer sliced with all of its small might while a slightly wooden thump sounded out signalling the start of the boss fight. Dashing under 8 of its legs, the small adventurer raised its sword upwards grasping it tightly with two hands. A long gash accompanied the small yell as the gnome ran faster than its size would suggest it could. Thick Purple blood flew out and dropped behind it while the wound healed over as if it had never been made. ¡­and that was the next 40 minutes of the fight. The steadily slower moving adventurer dug huge gashes that healed in seconds and lines of acid that sizzled and slowly closed. The flesh ogre stomped around attempting to step on the bug while constantly healing its own wounds. The initial underneath dash was repeated over a dozen more times and the boss room quickly grew covered in a thin film of purple while both fighters began slipping about. As the fight progressed more and more Cores joined the stream ¨C all enjoying the novelty of the situation, then leaving to see what else the event had to offer. In comparison, Innearth stayed far longer than most with over an hour of watching this small creature struggle with everything stacked against them. Dungeon instincts flared and he wanted to reward them. He wished he was overseeing this dungeon for he would have long since prematurely made them armour or more weapons. There was something about an underdog that made Innearth root for them. Finally, when the ogre slipped on its own blood and fell in a vulnerable position the tide swayed. The gnome leapt up onto its side feet digging into the flesh while its sword cut off multiple heads. Each stump was seared with acid to prevent them from regrowing and while the lumpy faces weren¡¯t technically important, they each contained a life core. The vitality dropped with each head lost and its insane regeneration dropped to a more manageable level. A disgusted look flashed across the gnome¡¯s face before it dug down and into the purple flesh ¨Cdisappearing fully into the body before finally managed to crack its main core. YES!!! YOU DID IT LITTLE GUY!!! Innearth celebrated for a bit and then ¨C after making sure the gnome was properly rewarded for beating the boss ¨C decided to drop a single core into the metaphorical tip bucket and move on. The next few hours and over 50 shows were a mixed lot as Innearth tried stream after stream ¨C ignoring the recruiting cores and preferring to hit rooms at random as he fully explored the server. One core had made a time-based mechanism they were showing off. A giant spinning sideways wheel moving with Kinetic mana was set into the wall. On one side of the wheel, a huge and thick plate of eternal mana lay and the speed at which the wheel spun was constant. The result was a room ¨C to be accurate multiple rooms but as only one was focused on ¨C that slowed down to nearly a stop each time the plate was spun past. From the perspective of the occupants in this room they were moving normally, however due to the introduction of several eternal materials that blocked them from being affected, strange results were manifested. The Core had a slowly ticking faceless clock that spun around constantly but from the point of view of the occupants would jump ahead every 6 seconds. There was a puzzle built into this room that heavily leveraged all the materials and needed a good sense of timing as well as the ability to both figure out the room''s secret and then apply that knowledge in several ways. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. For example, throwing rocks that weren¡¯t affected into a spinning contraption at the time the clock appeared to pulse forward let them pass through the barrier. Innearth was entranced by what was possible and felt like he needed to step up his own puzzle-making skills after being walked through the explanation. After tipping them 10 cores he told FED he might get ideas from this stream and moved on. Most of the streams were of adventurers and as excited as they made him¡­they were also bittersweet. Most of the adventurers in other Core¡¯s dungeon just existed to remind him he didn¡¯t have his own and having what you were missing out on shoved in your face made it hard to enjoy the streams. This was a strange event. A lot of Cores were streaming constantly and for many, this act of having others make shows for them to watch was normal. Innearth however didn''t join many big servers or ones set up solely for specific cores. He had only used the streaming portion of the system to ¨C1 learn about his friend¡¯s dungeons or show his off and ¨C 2 quickly sent a view of something when he was talking to his friends. The second was done as a way of making it so he didn''t have to describe stuff himself and was mostly him being lazy. Useful¡­but not necessarily game changing. ¡­in that regard. Maybe the race was kind of the same for some dungeons. I bet there¡¯s at least one dungeon who has a huge race track with monsters crashing around. They might even make it so adventurers have to cross or travel through the race track without being stampeded¡­Maybe the fact that I haven¡¯t really been exposed to these streams is why this event exists? I¡¯m enjoying myself but I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll start wanting to follow others and just watch them when I could be doing the same things myself! Finally, after a full day of flipping between various sights, Innearth found a relatively quiet stream being presented by a Core with a simple name. Bob Ross.
Bob Ross: When crafting loot I like to think of practical things an adventurer might like. Many times, I start a loot creation without a clear idea of what I''m making and just let the materials guide me. The next creation I''m going to try is to use this red crystal a fan sent me. They said it conducted heat pretty well? Okay! I already know how to start. Let''s shave this crystal into thin slices! Let the material guide you.
Slowly calmly and yet with decisive strokes the Core shaved off thin slices of the crystal making a haphazard pile of red scales. Several pieces chipped but the Bob Ross just continued on happily.
Bob Ross: There are no mistakes. Just some happy little accidents. I can use those pieces on the smaller areas. Bob Ross: Now! I''m going to recombine them into a solid plate.
A quick burst of fire mana made a flat board of hot metal the Core started laying crystal slices onto. The slices were simply pushed into the metal and each crystal grew slightly hot after a few seconds of contact. Small shavings were cut into easier to handle slivers and soon the plate looked almost like a mosaic of shards. Splitting the board in half the Core deftly started weaving a set of hinges into the metal. Adding small dials to change the distance or lock the press in place Bob Ross worked with practiced skill that made all of his actions look easy to emulate. Simultaneously a back was added. A thick layer of insulating earth with a thin pocket of air and finally the product was shown off.
Bob Ross: It''s a portable stove! Useful. Practical. An adventurer could do a lot with this in their arsenal. Doesn''t it look nice?
Innearth: do you not make weapons? Isn¡¯t that more fun?
Bob Ross: Of course! I make whatever the material draws me to the most. I find non-combat related devices to be much more calming however. It''s also less common and makes me stand out. Thanks for the question! Stick around and I''m going to make a whole kitchen set for adventurers. You also don¡¯t need to make practical items. You can make toys! Or sculptures. What matters in the end is that you are having fun.
As dumb as it sounded Innearth was strangely hooked, watching this slightly strange Core smoothly weave together both common and uncommon materials into mundane but magical devices. Most were designed for adventures or were "portable" but some grew and grew into huge contraptions the Core would laugh and exclaim he didn''t mean to make but that he was glad he did.
Bob Ross: No mistakes remember. My fans, I have a secret for you all. The system pays well for these all the same when randomizing loot. Even if the device would be useless for an adventurer the system is able to transmute it into an item they might like and in that sense, everything worked perfectly.
Innearth was so inspired by the process he started making similar devices at the same time as he watched Bob Ross work. His first few attempts went...alright but after deciding he did not at all work in the same manner as Bob Ross it started to go better. First, he would pick a topic. He would quickly research or think up a need that an adventurer might have. Or ¨C if he couldn¡¯t think of anything that way. He would research how humans and other races lived normally. After reading about what they did while not delving dungeons, he started getting an idea about problems they had. Many times, he simply needed to pick devices dungeons had found out they used around their cities and emulate them. Other times he saw a generic need and tried to fill it. An icebox was the first such device worked towards and one he was reasonably proud of. Similar to his biome, a layer of ice followed by the warm crystal ice and finally an insulating layer of Earth, made a freezing device sapients could use to store food. Another iteration on the design split 3 compartments into varying degrees of "coldness¡± with one being ice that was then covered in a thin layer of insulation, another being pure ice and a 3rd being spiked with the "super ice" he was using to keep his biomes cold. Add on a nice lightly kinetic sealed door and the system tagged his "stacked ice box" as a tier 4 device and set him up with a nice high random loot seed. ¡°[Tier 4 ice box]¡±. Refusing to elaborate the system had just claimed some value without giving stats¡­ Is making devices like this more profitable than weapons? I feel like if I just made a sword of ice the system would have given random damage values and then spat out some lower number than that¡­ Continuing to follow Bob Ross obsessively, Innearth made a magical hovering transportation device. He tried remembering the disk the Golden goddess had flown through Doc¡¯s dungeon with and made a similar free-flowing plate. A frying pan with an endlessly burning bottom was made along with a "really hot" variant that had a spiral of endless lava embedded deep within. That one was much stronger but had a chance of burning food too quickly and was almost worse of a device. Countless utility knives designed around cutting stuff easily or sawing different materials were made next. A cup with a water crystal at the bottom made a glass that would fill with pure water when injected with mana and a similar one with a magma/fire plate at the bottom could make boiling water with some time and effort. Innearth couldn''t figure out how to add flavouring to these devices but he assumed an adventurer who wanted his magic kettle would have their own tea. ¡­ Before Innearth knew it the 3 days were up. He had spent 2 of them watching Bob Ross and hesitating just a bit at the end he gave them 100 cores as a tip.
Innearth: I had a lot of fun. Thanks for illuminating me to a whole new kind of creation.
Bob Ross: Anytime Innearth. Happy item making my friend.
Happily moving to prepare for the next event, Innearth re checked the rules for the unique monster battle royal.
Rules: Monster Battle Royal.
  1. Due to wanting the focus to be on unique materials and designs, there''s a hard limit of tier 2 for the max strength of a core inside.
  2. The size of the monster must fit inside a 1m diameter circle and cannot exceed 1m in height before the fight begins.
  3. There is a restriction on madness-based unique materials and you must agree that any unique monster you submit cannot somehow harm the host of this games.
  4. It is nearly a given that some of these monsters will ascend during the battle due to the incredible amount of varied stimuli. Thus, a recall system has been set in place where at any point if you wish to disqualify yourself from the running you can system trade your monster to the safety of your own dungeon. All other fights are to the death and the event lasts until there is one remaining monster.
  5. This battle royal runs until there is a winner, but after extended periods of time without fighting I will shrink the area allowed by the monsters. Additionally, if it runs longer than a week the next event shall start simultaneously. It is the SO YOU WANT TO BE AN ADVENTURER. event. Exciting!
  6. The Winner receives most of the body parts of a dragon which will make potent items or unique monsters.
Final Description and sign-up. This is a event designed partly around luck. As such due to the wide variety of strength offered by unique materials I''m happy to anyone this event is also joined between all 4 tiers.
Enter? Y/N? Current participants [921]
...That was quite a bit more participants than Innearth was expecting...Is everyone in this rank joining this event? Battles Royal are pretty popular... Innearth already knew what he was using for the contest. His invisible optional mini boss the shifting snake. It was strong ¨C met all the requirements easily and Innearth thought he had a solid shot of doing well. Signing up and confirming through all the system prompts Innearth sent the illusion snake off and flipped through a dozen cameras before he found the screen that showed his contribution. A large round stage surrounded by a shifting mist of swirls was covered in several round red rings. Periodically a new monster was blipped into its ring. The monsters that kept being added were varied. Most looked like normal monsters ¨C a praying mantis-like silver pole, with a hundred blades and instruments of torture was located directly to the side of Innearth¡¯s snake. Behind it there a four-legged, fuzzy, headless pill-shaped monster was curled up, just barely sticking in its ring. The vast majority of the monsters were more esoteric looking however. A voxelated ring of bricks sat at the far end of the room just barely meeting the size requirement in all directions and just in front of Innearth¡¯s snake was a¡­folded thing that looked like an origami creation of wood with two googly eyes on its side. Innearth checked up and played around with the event controls. Slightly different than normal streams this event was set up with over a hundred cameras. Innearth wasn¡¯t quite sure if ¡°Phantasmal Patterns¡± Had 100 floors or not but it was still impressive. These cameras were currently set to 113 rooms identical to the one Innearth¡¯s snake was in and whoever was watching could pick cameras to follow.
Innearth: What rooms are everyone in? Is everyone participating? There¡¯s already over a 1000 cores in this game! That must be nearly everyone in this rank how popular are battles royal???
Abe: uh. Room 13. Mines the red ball with little legs and ¡°BOMB <3¡± Written on the side.
ZeMadDoctor: Room 14. Monster #42
Amy: Room 81, I¡¯m in the same room as Brutality Queen and I¡¯m getting scared for babby.
Fated Eternal Design: Room 14. Mines the robed one.
Abyss: Room 1. I¡¯m the pile of black bones. I love this event so much!
Innearth: ¡­well I¡¯m room 69. Mines the normal looking snake ¨C I think I showed you my illusion snake right?
Abe: Nice, When¡¯s this going start? I feel like I¡¯ve been waiting for ages.
As if listening to him all the rings pulsed and a small box appeared.
[10 minute] countdown until game start.
Watching the last few monsters blip In, Innearth located each of his friends monsters and set up 5 streams...hesitating half a second he added one for Abyss as well. Sure they took a hands-off attitude but they might as well be friends by now. Finally the event started and each of the rings disappeared. Quite a few things happened at once. Monsters lunged, cast spells, or dodged each other. Innearth''s snake seemed to flicker as it started projecting itself far away from the group. A new box appeared.
[5 minute] countdown until barriers drop.
The circle of bricks started flipping about as bricks shifted in different directions and expanded out and up into a more useful form. And Abe''s monster exploded. Not 10s into the event and a thundering roar was pushed out with a flash of light so bright it blocked the camera from seeing what was happening. Stone melted and the barrier surrounding the 13th room was broken. Molten stone and metal flowed and flung out of the cage while every single monster in it was killed.
Abe: ...so that''s what that material did.
Amy: Abe what did you do! That was crazy.
Abe: Uh... I made first place? That''s what I did.
The camera had flashed a second of the surrounding area before being hastily blackened and switched to other rooms. Checking the group Innearth saw plenty of angry cores claiming that was cheating and to check the scoreboard. Looking through all the event controls Innearth found what they were talking about.
Battle Royal ScoreBoard.
#1. Abe. Kills [84], Time lasted, [14.3s]
#2. CoreFlipper. Kills [2],
#3. KipplingCore. Kills [2],
....
Innearth: Brooo!
Abyss: Don''t worry, Survival time is counted for higher than kills and he''ll be surpassed pretty soon. By my Abyssal Knight! Mwahahahahaa.
Abyss''s pile of black bones floated up through the air, a strange heavy weight in the area around it. As each bone connected, a feeling of strength was formed and by the time his undead was formed a pillar of unearthly light had formed around them. While monsters battled on all sides of it the skeleton simply stood unearthly still. Slowly, as more and more monsters around it died, it grew more and more animated. Finally, as if the amount of death around it had passed a threshold, the undead strode forwards. Reaching out, a whisp of itself was pushed into the corpse of a giant beetle that still flashed with a pink lightning. A few seconds later the beetle roared to life its eyes a sickly red and its pink lightning turning blood red. Charging forward, the pseudo lich moved and continued reanimating minions growing stronger as more died. Innearth''s snake moved about finding vulnerable monsters. Strolling up and stabbing them before continuing on. Like a phantom it moved about, leaving a trail of bodies that fell a few seconds after they had actually died with no indication they had done so. And then it was over. 5 minutes had passed the barrier had lifted and just over 500 unique monsters moved out into the biomes around them. To the east lay a jungle of ashen trees connected to a section of burning forest that didn''t go out. To the north lay a huge circular lake with 3 large rivers spreading out from it and snaking throughout the floor. To the west lay a rocky craig of chasms and pillars of stone and to the south lay a carnival-like abandoned fairground covered in broken buildings and peeling posters. Periodically spread throughout the floor were giant pillars that pushed out various affinities and as the floor opened the cameras redistributed evenly throughout the floor. ...The "floor" itself was several kilometres in diameter and there was a swirling mist around the sides and ceilings full of spiralling smoke and a hypnotic magic. Some monsters stayed to fight on the stages but most left immediately seeking out a place that could bring out their true abilities. Watching monsters slip into the lake or start prowling through the brightly coloured city or hiding in the jungle the battle royal started for real. Other than the initial slaughter this event was looking to turn out to be a long one. Chapter 52. I guess I can see why battles royal are popular...
Technocratic City-State of Irthl Practical Court Case QZ21T12UOM-D-K1 Adventurer¡¯s Coalition Prosecution v. Joulee Celsius Accused Irthl, [DATE UNREADABLE] Whereupon the proceedings of the above matter commenced BEFORE: Judge Rue Conway, Fairy APPEARANCES: FOR THE PROSECUTION: Reagan Wright, Android (Former Human) [DETAILED PROSECUTOR DATA REMOVED: Law ID: LID4U9PO4FHSJ] FOR THE ACCUSED: Joulee Celsius, Human Melvin Murphy, Human [DETAILED ATTORNEY DATA REMOVED: Law ID: LIDP91173RJ9D] The Prosecution accuses the defendant of using a Dungeon Work Environment to commit murder on six(6) coworkers. WITNESSES: Carla Alpenter ¡ª Half-Elf Fivrit Jaduckle ¡ª Half-Dwarf Dr. Jason Gaines ¡ª Human [¡­] Transcript of Proceedings THE COURT: The proceedings will now begin. Mr. Wright, would you like to do an Opening Statement? MR. WRIGHT: Of course, Your Honor *clears throat* MR. WRIGHT: Good morning, my name is Reagan Wright, and I am the prosecutor in this case. It is my pleasure to represent the people of the Adventurer¡¯s Coalition. On [DATE UNREADABLE], the defendant in this case committed murder on six of the coalition members inside a Dungeon. After the conclusion of the case, we will ask for a verdict of guilty. MR. WRIGHT: Your Honor and the Committee, this case is about a lady who betrayed her coworkers for monetary gain. The prosecution will call two witnesses to the stand. We will call an Admittance Employee who was working the dungeon on the day of murder and can confirm that the accused has entered the Dungeon with a party of six others and left by themselves. We will also call a barman of the ¡°Good Coin¡± inn in which the defendant was staying with her party. They will testify about the motive of the accused. MR. WRIGHT: Furthermore, we shall present irrefutable magi-video evidence provided by an anonymous third party that requested to be kept private under the [REDACTED] act. THE COURT: Thank you, Mr. Wright. Does the defense plan to present their opening statement now, Mr. Murphy? MR. MURPHY: No, Your Honor. THE COURT: Then Mr. Wright, please call your first witness to the stand. MR. WRIGHT: The Coalition calls Ms. Carla Alpenter. Carla Alpenter Called as a witness on behalf of the Adventurer¡¯s Coalition, having signed a magical contract, was examined and testified as follows: Direct Examination Q: Good Morning A: Good Morning Q: Please state your name and profession for the Court. A: Of course! My name is Carla Alpenter, and I¡¯m an Admittance Employee for this town''s Dungeon. Q: How long have you been in this position? A: Two and a half years. I¡¯m hoping for a promotion to the Coalition¡¯s Receptionist soon. Q: And what does the position you currently hold imply? A: I¡¯m tasked along with my coworkers with checking that all Adventurers who enter have the clearance to do so and note their Adventurer¡¯s Identification Number in an entry-leave logbook. Q: The logbook in question is the evidence object AD-03 correct? A: Yes sir. Q: And you were on duty during the day of [DATE UNREADABLE] from the 8 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon, yes? A: Correct. Q: So, you have logged the party in which the defendant entered the Dungeon, as well as her leaving the Dungeon by herself. A: Yes, the party of seven entered the dungeon and the lady indeed left on her own. Q: Did the Accused have more baggage than before? A: Yes, she did; however, we considered it to be monster loot, which the Coalition does not buy outside ¡°Acquire¡± quests, so we didn¡¯t check her baggage. Q: Did the other party members leave the Dungeon on that day? A: No sir, they did not leave the Dungeon, so according to Coalition Policy we have reported them missing to the Board Chairman for the issuing of a Recovery Quest. Q: Did such a quest get issued, and what were the results? A: The Board issued the Quest immediately and a party has assembled next day at dawn, returning the same day afternoon with the grave news. Q: Thank you, this is all. End of Examination THE COURT: Thank you, Ms. Alpenter, you may leave. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. MR. WRIGHT: The Coalition calls Mr. Fivrit Jaduckle Fivrit Jaduckle Called as a witness on behalf of the Adventurer¡¯s Coalition, having signed a magical contract, was examined and testified as follows: Direct Examination Q: Good day. A: Ah, Good day, Mr. Wright! I¡¯m hoping that you¡¯re doing well today! Q: Thank you, I am fine. Please state your name and occupation for the Court. A: Why, of course! My name is Fivrit Jaduckle the owner and barman of the ¡°Good Coin¡± inn at your service! Q: How long have you been the owner of the place? A: From the beginning! I made it with my sweat and hard work! But for the exact time, that would be around thirteen years now! Q: So did the Defendant¡¯s party stay at your inn? A: Course¡¯ they did! I remember the face of every customer! Even from years ago! My memory is exceptional my friends always say. Q: How long did they stay? A: They stay for round¡¯ half a month till the event. Poor chaps. Q: And what were the part¡¯s dynamics you observed? A: The lads were a nice group. They got the ¡°groupy¡± feel, y¡¯ know? Like they got the perfect chemistry. Other than the new member ¡®course. They were spending quite a bit on gear, it seemed to me that a recent excursion went really well. The new member, in a lot cheaper gear it seemed, being that ra- Q: Thank you, That¡¯s all. End of Examination THE COURT: Thank you, Mr. Jaduckle, you may leave. THE COURT: The Court will now adjourn for a thirty-minute recess while we wait for the coalition to prepare the defining evidence.
Excerpt obtained from The first half of the court case "Party Murder in dungeons" The Unique monster battle royal was in full swing. At the half an hour mark the 500 or so unique monsters had dropped once more to 450. After a full 5 hours that had dropped to 300 and slowed down somewhat. It was at this stage that battles became slower and results more decisive. Many of the remaining monsters had high degrees of survivability. The ones with heavy damage had been taken down by strange truces that formed between monsters that formed gangs and fragile alliances. The other main change was the result stated by the system beforehand. ¡°Ascension¡± Of the monsters that remained roughly 14 had ascended and immediately jumped in strength. That was¡­well Innearth thought it was surprising based on how long it had taken him to ascend 3 monsters in his own dungeon. 14 in only 4 hours! But then again¡­I guess other cores knew this would happen based on the rule that allows us to save our monsters. Out of around 1600 initial¡­remove the 84 that Abe took out. Let¡¯s say 1500 or so initial monsters if there are 300 left that means on average each of the remaining monsters has taken out 5 unique monsters¡­is that all it takes? I mean most of the monsters that have ascended have killed more than that. Hmmm. Of those 14 ascended 3 immediately forfeited and were ¡°saved¡±. The cores who made them unwilling to let them continue participating now that they had changed. Of those 14 there were also two powerhouses that had claimed whole areas. The Black Lich had formed an army that swarmed the jungle where he had set up a base of sorts. Two impromptu alliances had formed and attempted to take him out but neither had survived. On the other side of the floor, a sea of constantly growing tentacles that had originally been a ball from Amy had claimed the lake. Each of the tentacles that came up and moved about on shore were relatively weak¡­ however there were literally thousands of them and it seemed like as time went on they continued multiplying without an end. The water level had also dropped making Innearth nearly positive the monster was using the water to fuel its tentacle growth. The other ascended monsters were all very strong in their own right, but they preferred to roam around seeking out more prey. Innearth¡¯s invisible snake had also ascended nearly an hour ago. It had killed over a dozen monsters with sneak attacks before shivering and becoming more real. That of course boosted its abilities slightly¡­but the initial ascension was mostly fixing the monster to survive without dungeon magic constantly keeping them together. There was also the fact that Innearth hadn¡¯t seen the snake¡¯s real body since it had ascended and couldn¡¯t tell if any changes had been made by the advance to level one. The current situation was as follows. Innearth¡¯s crystal snake was stalking the wooden origami creature through the abandoned carnival zone. A humanoid creature of mud that had also ascended was stalking the illusion of the snake. Behind the creature of mud the shifting brick creature that hadn¡¯t yet ascended spun and grew behind it and Innearth was nearly positive it was hunting the mud¡­It was hard to tell emotions or intent from the stack of bricks after all especially as it drifted back and forth as it moved. Coming upon a black beetle that dripped oil the origami charged, and the line of creatures was added to once again. Turning to face the new opponent the beetle started sliding rapidly sideways leaving a greasy trail behind it. The origami creature spun about and then crashed to the side two googly eyes spinning wildly and making the creature look crazed. It was at this moment the mud golem pounced and Innearth received a message.
Brutality Queen: Oh, so sorry for your eventual loss but my mud golem has a few special effects your snake is going to find out about soon. I heard from Amy that weak looking snake is yours huh. Shame¡­I¡¯ll give you 10,000 mana not to wimp out and save it when its about to die :3. Golems gotta eat!
Innearth: ¡­go away.
¡­oops. That had kind of just slipped out of Innearth¡¯s thoughts and been typed without him thinking it through.
Innearth: I mean okay. But when my snake smashes your stupid ball of mud ¨C who makes monsters out of mud ¨C you can¡¯t be weak either. Let it die fully and nurture my snakes
Brutality Queen: pfft. I¡¯m not saving that blob. I have a dozen others like him. He can join them in triumph when he wins this event.
Innearth felt incredibly guilty for agreeing to this¡­Even through a screen and the disassociation of watching everything from far away he felt protective of his snake. The dismissive attitude of Brutality queen had to be a front right? She has to actually care about her children ascended monsters¡­right? That means she¡¯s going to wimp out and save her mud golem last second and I should pay close attention and do the same right? ¡­I don¡¯t owe her anything after all¡­I need to name the illusion snake. They¡­he?...she? oh it''s hard to tell from here. They are important¡­but maybe if I want to commit to this minor bet, I can¡¯t name them just yet. That will only make it hurt more. I refuse to let Brutality queen get the satisfaction of beating me. She annoys me too much. While dungeons spoke of the monsters'' fates they frantically struggled. The mud golem attacked the illusion of Innearth¡¯s snake and quickly switched to sliding into the greased area. The bug continued to slide about making a whole section of street greenish black and the bricks arrived on the scene. Chaos. The mud golem switched targets to the origami, its movements smooth and unimpeded by the grease. The bricks grew forwards in a similar manner to Innearth¡¯s endless mass of crystals while the bug actively used the grease to move ¨C skating about as the grease pushed their flat bottom about faster and faster the more was released and built up. The only two monsters negatively affected by the grease was the origami creature and Innearth¡¯s snake. The origami creature was slammed into a brick wall that toppled over and faint plants grew down the golem''s arms to choke it. The illusion of Innearth¡¯s snake appeared to be doing fine but as no one was being attacked they were obviously staying back. Plants continued to grow down the mud golem''s arm, rapidly wrapping around and strangling the strange folded creature ¨C thin pieces of wood breaking off as it was crushed and ground to shards. The beetle took this moment to slam towards the mud golem''s back even as it shivered a light passing over it indicating it had just gained enough levels to evolve. Stepping away from the completely dead crane as it dodged to the side the beetle missed and bounced off a portion of the already damaged wall like a hockey puck bouncing away. This is the moment when things started to get weird. The brick golem appeared to miss the mud golem¡­but then suddenly a huge chunk of mud had been blown to the side as the position of the bricks shifted sideways roughly half a meter. The ¡°Dead¡± crane appeared to suddenly be slightly less damaged before being finished off by a glistening copy of the illusion snake. A small mouth opened up and it appeared to rapidly eat several sections of the monster before slithering away¡­the whole scene having been held back and then sped up to reach the actual state of the world. Slopping messily mud reformed good as new and the mud golem used a new attack it presumably had just learned after its new evolution. A hundred seeds flew up and into the air slowly falling to the street around them. The illusion of the snake despite being out of harm''s way, suddenly looked panicked as it dodged back and forth ¨C far away from the seeds that landed and sprouted rapidly into sharp green spikes. The plants that landed dug down into the ground and the smooth street was broken up and shattered as plants dug deep into the ground turning this section of the road into a path reclaimed by nature. In a strange turn of events the illusion of the snake got stabbed by a ¡°random¡± spear despite being situated outside of the main area but at no point did its projection of its real body stop. Glaring it ripped itself out of the spike and writhed in pain while watching the mud and bricks face off. You¡¯re okay. You¡¯re okay. You¡¯ve got this. Don¡¯t worry¡­Innearth fretted like a parent on the sidelines watching his monster struggle. The ascended snake had no eyes but Innearth could still see its razor-like focus as it watched the bricks fight the monster that had wounded it. Appearing to relax and slither away the illusion disappeared but the battle rapidly became ¡°weird¡± again as illusions burst forth. Theoretically, the illusion snake couldn¡¯t harm either of the two monsters fighting in the street right now. The brick-like creature had no core and was an incredible unit of a tank It fought by building out two walls and then slamming them together or making a flat floor in the air and then dropping it downwards. Innearth¡¯s snake could barely pierce one of the bricks with its spiked head let alone damage the whole creature enough to cause any lasting harm. The mud on the other hand was strangely amorphous. Sure, it had a humanoid shape but there was nothing Innearth could see that his snake could damage with just piercing attacks. ¡­however the snake subscribed to a different school of thought than using its own body to attack. One of the mud golems legs was suddenly gone and from the way it staggered the attack had just happened. Jumping backwards the mud whipped an arm in a wide low swing as if searching for what attacked it. As the bricks slid forward and raised a huge hammer-like block of itself above the mud a jump happened where the actual shot appeared to jump forward in time its image catching up to the actual body and carving a chunk off the front of the golem as it attempted to dodge backwards with one leg. Falling into a heap the mud lost its humanoid form reverting to a shape closer to a mud slime while green shoots sprung up across its ¡°back¡± providing a canopy for the bricks to land on cushioning its next attack as the mud attempted to escape. Once again, a chunk was blown off from the side of the mud and the culprit appeared. The grease bug was still here but its presence had been hidden as of the past few minutes. Hidden from the whole fight the illusion snake gained enough experience to evolve mid battle. Its small mouth grew to a gaping maw and its one spike shrunk and split into a dozen teeth in a circular lamprey-like mouth. Unlike Innearth¡¯s previous snake that was the only change as it reached level 2. Size would make illusions harder after all. The battle continued and despite the beetle initially being weaker and despite the mud golem and bricks being evenly matched on their own¡­ hundreds of small mistakes were made as the hidden puppet master directed all the actions being taken. Every interaction was set up specifically to harm and box in the mud in a vendetta against the creature that had hurt it. It only took a few more blows before the mud golem was completely smashed and its body stopped reforming. Yes! I knew she could do it! HA! Take that Brutality Queen. TAKE THAT. It would be unbecoming of me to message that Core now¡­I know I won. She knows I won. That¡¯s all the matters. I can be the better Core. Heh. I love you so much illusion snek. You¡¯re get out of jail free status has been reinstated with full force I will not let you die! Turning to one another as if they hadn¡¯t just been working together the bricks grew a long wall sideways, bricks flipping around in all directions like a hidden door opening into the wizard world. Swinging once ¨C the beetle jumped forwards into its path before being flung into the wall, its side cracking and leaking fluid. Pressing its advantage, the bricks crashed forwards and smashed the bug into the wall a huge splatter happening as the bug died. For a moment it appeared much more dead than it was and then suddenly as if the illusion snake realized the bug had actually died and had given up on getting the kill in a second time the splattered wall became a less excessive crushed mess. Shivering slightly something inevitable happened. The bricks ascended. The following ascension was¡­was weird. It was much more drastic than previous ascensions¡­dungeon magic had kept it moving normally but to be considered a monster that existed on its own quite a few tweaks had to be made. A single brick was chosen and modified into a core appearing to blaze in mana sight. From that core lines of magic spread out throughout the rest of its body seeming to jump from brick to brick. As it ascended it actually grew as many of the surrounding rubble became incorporated and the nicer looking bricks from the walls of the street were pillaged. These new bricks were a different colour then the initial ones so when they integrated the monster appeared speckled as different shaded bricks moved about. Warily appearing to search around it for the puppet master, the bricks spent a few minutes searching before deciding to continue on down the street. Giving up in the search of something new to fling itself at. A few minutes later and the scene flexed with items moving about for safety. The illusion snake had dragged both kills into a pile in the corner and was hungrily ripping into them. The pile of mud and bug shards and juices did not look appetizing¡­and really could not have been nutritious. But some aspect of being part of a monster made them edible for the newly ascended monster. Rivulets of mud fell out of its mouth, but the snake seemed to prefer eating the bug. When its meal was done it headed off once more. No rest for a monster in this event! ¡­ Days passed in a similar manner. This event did wonders for monster growth and the new count of ascended monsters actually roaming around was close to 28. The 300 had dropped to under a 100 and for the first time they learned what ¡°shrinking¡± the area meant. The mist-like wall pulled inwards clipping the far edge of the lake and shaving around 100m off the radius of the zone. Behind the wall of mist, the actual walls of the area were moved inwards and the few monsters that ignored the walls'' advance were struck by a frantic fear as soon as the mist grew close. Now. Of the remaining monsters that were still alive, the two behemoths maintained their iron grip on the surroundings but a few more monsters managed to make themselves known. The bricklike creature was now strong enough that despite its new weakness Innearth couldn¡¯t imagine anything being able to take it out with pure strength or regular magic. It wasn¡¯t the strongest attacker and was much smaller in its influence than the behemoths¡­ but as a physical tank, nothing was stronger than it. FED¡¯s masked creature had slowly grown into prominence. For one it appeared to have the eternal potion integrated into its body as well as mist magic. Its main method of attacking appeared to be spreading and controlling a mist that froze anything it touched slowing its time down to next to nothing and letting it approach and take them out with simple wind blades. It had already been dangerous near the start but as the battle royal progressed it had ascended and then evolved once after. Now its mist spread further than a few meters away and it was quickly shifting into a position of strength similar to the lich. Doc¡¯s monster had also risen to prominence. It was a rat-shaped creature with a truly strange unique ability. Anything it touched could be swapped with its flesh at its own discretion. If the rat touched a golden boar-like monster, parts of its own body grew golden, while parts of the boar were suddenly the weaker molerat-like texture the rat had initially been. Those weak spots could be shot easily because the rat had come equipped with a slowly recharging energy gun that shot a plasma-like mana bolt and took a minute to reload. Over the course of the game, this rat had pillaged materials from dozens of creatures and now had a marbled form. Damaged parts were swapped with new ones and it stacked ¡°powers¡± from some of the materials it had integrated. Of the creatures remaining, Innearth thought it had the highest chance of taking out the bricks while he also secretly thought his snake could beat the rat in a sneak attack. Because the illusion snake was still going strong. The Illusion snake continued to pit monsters against each other gaining experience for its actions and then either stealing the final kill or eating the remains once all the survivors left. It was an inglorious existence but a reliable one. Through safe manipulations, it had managed to evolve twice more over a 4 day period. At level 4 its body thickened and grew whiter while its mouth was smoothed over once more becoming more natural-seeming. At level 8 its scales grew and flaked into curved rivets and it became much faster at moving. Both evolutions had also increased the range of their illusions and while they were functionally perfect before they were also heavily based on the surroundings¡­ Now the snake could manipulate its creations to the point they could look like anything. Fake monsters could appear to startle others and Innearth was nearly positive¡­some of the illusions can permanently alter the world? Is it because of the void core I added into the original circuit? Is it helping the illusions actually damage stuff? ¡­ but with the amount of shenanigans that were happening in each illusionary battle, Innearth couldn¡¯t be too sure about his guess. As the monsters dwindled and the area shrunk, Cores placed bets on who they thought would win. The Lich and Mask were currently tied in popularity for #1. Innearth stared at the remaining numbers and didn¡¯t like his monster¡¯s odds. There were still quite a few monsters left that it could contend against, but of the remaining monsters, many had AOE attacks and were basically off the table. The snake¡¯s range for illusions had expanded¡­but it was still only close to 100m while the mist of Bose¡¯s monster was now double that and Amy¡¯s million tentacles stretched over a kilometer. ¡­ Day 6 had a huge upset. Innearth¡¯s snake went on an assassination mission against the lich slipping through the army that filled the forest like a ghost. At the same time, the rat made a mad attack against the bricks and the ¡°time mist mask¡± attacked the tentacles. The rat managed to integrate a few bricks but that ended up being a mistake ¨C the bricks of the brick monster were equivalent to hair or clothing and damaging them didn¡¯t hurt the core. The rat however now had a rock-like solid portion of flesh, that cracked when the bricks started smashing down again and again into it. Three hits and the rat was pulp that flickered and was teleported out by Doc ¨C who refused to let the ascended monster perish. Innearth¡¯s snake managed to reach the ¡°king¡± and attack its black-boned host from the shadows moving past its bodyguards and shattering it behind them. Grinding several of its bones to dust and crunching down into its skull the snake gave no indication that anything had happened and despite being connected and immediately commanded to protect him, the bodyguards were too late to save their master. Deciding to cut his losses Abyss saved the lich and suitably sadly congratulated Innearth in the group chat.
Abyss: Dammit¡­to a Core less than half my age too. Did you know I used an actual lich¡¯s bones in the creation of this undead? An actual necromancers¡¯ bones and soul as an undead. And it died to illusions¡­sigh. Congratulations. I hope you are having fun with the games! It''s important to have fun.
Innearth: Yeah¡­they are alright.
Meanwhile the most cheating monster Bose¡¯s ¡°time mist mask¡± failed its assault of the tentacles. Flying across the top of the lake and slowing down all the tentacles around it to a state much stronger than normal eternity magic would allow it appeared to be winning. But then after luring it in tentacles outside of the range of its mist flew up on all sides to wrap around the whole lake creating a dome that crushed inwards incredibly quickly and then suddenly slowly once they hit the mist. Over the course of nearly an hour, the tentacles descended like a blanket. The thick sticky goopy tentacles formed an airtight barrier that pushed the mask as the source underwater ¨C diluting the time effect and cascading into it being drowned. Air monsters did not do well completely submerged by water. With the two favourites to win dead and gone, tons of Cores lamented their bets and still others found new favourites to win. A few minutes after this point the bricks turned towards the lake and started wading into the water. It remained submerged for close to an hour and due to the popularity of the monster a camera was placed near the bottom of the lake to watch its assault. Its clapping attack was slowed down in the water but had the negative effect of pushing water which shoved most of what it aimed for out of the way. However conversely the tentacles were even weaker against the bricks for despite their number they weren¡¯t strong enough to pick it up or crush it. Its attempts to wrap around the golem was met with parts of its body shifting and squishing the tentacles foolish enough to try and contain it while it constantly moved closer and closer to the core. The center of the lake grew thicker and thicker with tentacles and the bricks had to innovate new attacks to start ripping a path inward. This whole excursion into the lake took over a day from start to finish but finally it managed to reach the core and crush the blobby center into the lakebed. That provoked an underwater ascension that caused the golem to almost shatter. The large brick sized blocks were split into 8 pieces and the fine control it had was increased. The monster that emerged from the lake walked on 6 legs instead of growing. It also brought with it a huge amount of sand which swirled around it as it moved about. The number of monsters still in the running dropped and despite its relatively weak position, Innearth¡¯s snake grew to prominence as one of the final 25. Then final 10. It was when the snake attempted to manipulate a creature covered in countless weapons into attacking the bricks that everything went wrong. The Praying mantis-like creature had saws and drills and scissors and blades coming out of every visible section of its body. The snake had been hoping those drills and hammers could counter the small bricks, but they rung out when they stuck ineffectively. This would have been fine, but it seemed like the brick monster remembered the snake''s interferences when it had attacked the mud golem and had finally had enough. Half a dozen blocks flew out of the main core of the golem pulling sand with them and wrapping around the whole center plains they had fought in. Taking a cue from Amy¡¯s attack of the time mask, a solid sandstorm was created roughly a kilometer long that slowly spun and contracted. Innearth¡¯s snake made an illusion of it slipping out of the approaching barrier but it continued inwards not fooled. Next it made an army of illusionary monsters that seemed to attack the bricks but they couldn¡¯t deal much damage to the main core nor stop the advance. 100m, 50m, 10m. Unsure exactly where in the ring his monster was but terrified that this was the end and not seeing a way for it to escape Innearth moved through event panels frantically.
Forfeit the match as if your monster has died while saving its life.
Forfeit? Y/N
Hitting that button with frantic energy Innearth picked the snakes original home in his crystal caverns and swooped it out of the cage depositing it unceremoniously into the pillar room. The Illusion Wurm was safe. His newest precious ascended monster was safe. Taking the time to check over, calm down and comfort his monster; Innearth turned to see his final score, making sure to rename the monster at the end.
Battle Royal ScoreBoard.
...
#5. Innearth [Illusion Wurm]. Kills [23], Time lasted [7 days 10 minutes. 48 seconds]
...
Abe: Well done m8. I¡¯ve dropped to 30th place sadly despite having the most kills. Your monster lasted till the top 10 but got 5th place so it''s not just the number you went out on...
Amy: Babby was killed! I couldn¡¯t find a place to put her and that stupid lump of bricks slaughter my poor babby.
Fated Eternal Design: Hey. That beast killed my time mask too okay? We are all disappointed we didn¡¯t win.
ZeMadDoctor: Ah. Not quite. I¡¯m quite happy with my gains. This is my second ascended monster. And after ascending the way its integrated that material into its body¡­its fascinating.
Innearth: This next event¡­it says we have to join in groups of 3?
Abe: Who¡¯s our third member bro?
Fated Eternal Design: Ah. That would obviously be me. We¡¯ll make a great team.
Innearth: ¡­alright! I guess we have a team then. It says we have to sign up together come sign up and add my name so it will finish processing my application.
Abe: Oh-ho! This event looks fun.
As the group prepared for the next event they ignored the final moments of the royale. The bricks sought out and eliminated the final stragglers who were a mixture of strong monsters that hadn¡¯t faced any of the behemoths, or cowardly ones who could hide really well in their chosen areas. As if guessing the event was soon over, the time before the ¡°So You Want To Be An Adventurer event started was dragged out slightly longer to let the bricks win. A Tier 6 Core by the name of ¡°Endless Dream¡± was surprised and delighted to claim victory and the dragon''s body reward. But the dungeon games continued on. There were plenty more chances to win and plenty more competitions to challenge themselves on. Chapter 53. So you want to be an adventurer. Eh?
RECESS THE COURT: The court is once again in session and the case of Joulee Celsius will now resume. Mr. Wright? MR. WRIGHT: The Coalition would like to present the evidence object D-V-1. [A magic projection of the Accused backstabbing the party during the end of combat is played, the recording appearing to be taken from just up the wall on the right side of the party. Partway through, the camera zooms in on the laughing face of the Accused and freezes in a wild mugshot on the wall] MR. WRIGHT: And with that irrefutable evidence, the prosecution rests its case. THE COURT: Thank you, Mr. Wright, Mr. Murphy, would you like to do your opening statement now? Or would the defense like to change its plea? MR. MURPHY: Yes, Your Honor, we would like to present our opening statement. MR. MURPHY: Good day, I am Melvin Murphy, and it¡¯s an honor to represent Ms. Joulee Celsius on this crucial case. The Defendant stands here falsely accused of murder, a grave crime. When the time comes, we shall plead not guilty. MR. MURPHY: Dear Committee members, Your Honor, this case concern a person mentally ill, who did not know what they were doing. The prosecution has explained that there is magi-video of the moment my client killed the other party members, what they didn¡¯t say is that my client suffers from a mental illness. She was literally out of her mind on the day in question, and we have an expert witness who will testify that my client is insane. THE COURT: Thank you, Mr. Murphy. You may now call your expert to the stand. MR. MURPHY: The Defense calls Dr. Jason Gaines to the stand. Jason Gaines Called as a Witness on Behalf of the Defendant Joulee Celsius, having signed a magical contract, was examined and testified as follows: Direct Examination Q: Good Afternoon, Dr. A: Good Afternoon. Q: Would you state your name and profession for the court? A: Why, that¡¯s obvious. My name is Jason Gaines, and I¡¯m a professional doctor of Mentality. Q: So, Doctor, is my client insane according to your analysis? A: I believe so, yes. She has periods in which she acts diametrically different from her normal self, including violent tendencies. Q: Thank you, Doctor, this is all. End of Examination THE COURT: Thank you Dr. Gaines, you ma- MR. WRIGHT: HOLD IT! THE COURT: What is it, Mr. Wright? MR. WRIGHT: I would like to ask the witness a question: When was the witness diagnosed with the illness? DR. GAINES: Why that would be two years ago, I was there with my old friend who sadly already left us. MR. WRIGHT: Thank you, doctor. That¡¯s all from me. THE COURT: *cleans throat* Then thank you Dr. Gaines, you may leave. MR. WRIGHT: I would like to present the evidence object AD-02, the defendant¡¯s Association registration form, it clearly states that it was filled nineteen months ago, and the ¡°Other Illnesses¡± field is empty. Meaning that the Defendant was either not disclosing the information or the witness has lied. THE COURT: Thank you, Mr. Wright, is that all? MR. WRIGHT: Yes, Your Honor. THE COURT: Mr. Murphy, do you have any other evidence to present? MR. MURPHY: *sweating* No, Your Honor. THE COURT: Then Mr. Wright, your closing statement, please. MR. WRIGHT: Of course, Your Honor. MR. WRIGHT: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen of the Committee, Your Honor, again my name is Reagan Wright, and I am the prosecutor in this case. In my opening statement, I mentioned that I would call two witnesses to testify as to the defendant¡¯s guilt. Each witness testified as I explained, and we have established the following facts beyond a reasonable doubt: That on [DATE UNREADABLE] the Defendant has entered the Dungeon with the party later leaving by themselves, and that the Accused was a new addition to the party and equipped far worse than the rest of her group. Furthermore, the magi-video evidence provided shows that the Defendant clearly had hostile intentions toward the victims and killed them in cold blood, MR. WRIGHT: We would ask you to dismiss the defense¡¯s theories of the case. The Defendant has clearly either falsified the information provided to the Coalition, or the witness has lied to the court under the contract. In conclusion, we would ask that you find the defendant guilty as charged. Thank you. THE COURT: Thank you, Mr. Wright. Mr. Murphy? MR. MURPHY: Naturally, Your Honor. MR. MURPHY: Greetings, my name is Melvin Murphy, and again I¡¯m the defense attorney in this case. Ladies and gentlemen of the Committee, let¡¯s review the legal standard for insanity in this city. The standard is: Did the mental illness affect the defendant¡¯s ability to perceive the nature and quality of her actions, or was she unable to tell the difference between right and wrong? As my witness has testified, my client was most definitely of not sound mind on the day of the saddening event. We clearly saw it then, my client has confused the monsters with her party-mates and stabbed them to death! It was truly very disturbing. But this action was committed because my client had no idea what she was doing and thought they were the monsters. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is insanity. Pure and simple. Therefore, we ask for a verdict of not guilty. THE COURT: Mr. Wright, your response? MR. WRIGHT: Ladies and gentlemen, before you incorrectly conclude that Ms. Celsius was stark raving mad, let remember some facts to keep this in perspective. Please remember, the testimony of Ms. Alpenter, she clearly stated that the defendant has taken some items with herself, clearly not a thing an insane person would concentrate on yes? We have a more modern view on madness in this fair city. One that''s a far cry from barbaric execution as in the south. In this case, the defense has to prove insanity, not the prosecution prove that she was sane. We only have to prove that she intentionally killed someone without lawful excuse. And we have done that. The correct verdict is guilty on the charge of intentional murder in the Dungeon. Thank you. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. THE COURT: The Court will now adjourn for a thirty-minute recess, during which the Committee and I shall decide the verdict. The Verdict THE COURT: The proceedings will now resume. We shall now announce the verdict. THE COURT: On the basis presented by both sides, the committee and the Judge find the defendant, Joulee Celsius, guilty of the crime of intentional murder in the Dungeon. The Accused will be sentenced to a lifetime of internal work for the Adventurer¡¯s Association for room and board, along with a pension of 150 credits per quarter of work. THE COURT: This court session is now closed! End of Transcript
Excerpt Obtained from the second half of the court case "Party murder in dungeon"
Rules: So you want to be an adventurer?
  1. This event will be completed with groups of 3.
  2. The goal is to make an ¡°adventuring party¡± of 3 monsters that can delve a prepared dungeon. There are various small and large treasures hidden in it that an adventurer might like.
  3. You have 24 hours to prepare and are prevented from watching other delves until it is your turn. Brackets are separated by tier and various factors are used to determine your final score.
  4. Finally and this is important, there is a penalty for having heard about or participated in this event before. Blind delves have been determined to be more fun, think carefully about what will be required before you commit to the setup you are going to do.
Final Description and sign-up.This is a somewhat famous event. It has reached such prominence that Cores have even been warned beforehand not to research this beforehand due to part of the fun being going in blind. There are many factors that need to be considered when designing your party. Good luck!
Enter? Y/N? Current teams participating [12]
Abe: Alright! What¡¯s the plan.
Innearth: Well I think you two probably have more experience watching adventurers¡­off the top of my head we should probably fill in a ranged member, a damage sponge and a melee attacker no?
Abe: Mostly correct. There are many different setups we could use with 3 adventurer¡¯s I¡¯d go with at least one support that can control the surrounding¡¯s or boost the other 2.
Fated Eternal Design: We have to keep in mind we are sending off a party into an unknown area. There is nothing in the rules about communication, but I move we set up a mental mana relay to send advice or commands to our squad.
Innearth: Hey, FED you¡¯re a genius. I didn¡¯t think of that and now I can¡¯t imagine a setup where we don¡¯t have a way to communicate with our monsters. Mental mana connection to a slime?
Fated Eternal Design: Oh? You¡¯ve done something like that? That¡¯s good for reading a monster¡¯s thoughts but it wont actually help you talk to them if they are outside your influence. I¡¯m thinking of a connection to a more intelligent monster that can relay your orders down the line. We can see what they are coming up against in the stream after all.
Innearth: ¡­want to ask the host if that breaks the ¡°3 monster party¡± rules?
Fated Eternal Design: ¡­sure I don¡¯t want to be disqualified. ¡­ Fated Eternal Design: Okay. Here¡¯s what I found out. First off our lovely host laughed a whole bunch ¡°eheheeheehe you figured that out huh¡± sort of thing. Then he told us that if we build a relay into a monster its cheating as we are ¡°making 4 monsters¡± If we wanted to do that we would have to leave one behind and only delve with 2. He then mentioned if we made an item it would be safe, however.
Innearth: ¡­seems roundabout but okay. We make two rings or something that are linked and then connect them between monsters in our dungeon and the adventurers we are outfitting. How does that sound?
Abe: Great. So back to roles. I¡¯m thinking of altering my gorilla boss design to be much cheaper. Enthalpy magic core and maybe a way to apply it selectively to speed up the group. What else is important to follow.
Innearth: 3,000amu can do a lot. Its less than most of my bosses and some of my newer creations¡­but if I tweak it a bit that¡¯s a greater snake right there. I re-read the rules. I think the important thing to notice is the item requirement. What do you guys think? No mana limit? Seems like that¡¯s a loophole.
Abe: ¡­good catch. I guess I¡¯ll make some armour for my gorilla.
Fated Eternal Design: A tier 4 core is 2,000amu. I think the reason its set like this is if anyone tries to use a tier 4 core they are blowing most of their mana budget and the rest of the body might be shoddy.
Innearth: ¡­so my circuits costing less is a good workaround for that.
Fated Eternal Design: ¡­I could try and offshoot into some of my more advanced designs but this seems like a case to build on one of my regular masks.
Innearth: ¡­in that regard I should be using a snake. Do we need a tank? Should I use a solo magma spider build instead?
Abe: I think its fine. FED are you making a ranged or melee mask.
FED: I can do either. Honestly my wind spirits are pretty resilient to non magical attacks so it can double as a tank. I¡¯ll build off one of my melee variants.
Innearth: I¡¯ll use a mage circuited snake then¡­with 3000amu I can make a smaller ¡°normal¡± sized one with one of my more powerful circuits. I can even boost it to a similar state as a tier 4 core if I remove the healing potion sacks.
Abe: That shoves the requirement of healing on to me. I can do wide ranged healing explosions pretty easily but if we want more purposeful effects, I might have to drop some utility.
Innearth: Healing syringe? Refilling healing potion in a spike that can be injected? Haven¡¯t made it before but it could work.
Abe: True. For it to be strong enough to be useful I¡¯ll have to remove the speeding up effect though and I think that might be easier. I also have no clue how it could heal the wind in Boses spirit that way.
Innearth: Time based items?
Abe: ¡­could work I guess. I¡¯ve never tried and the boost we can get will probably only be close to 10% faster if we do it that way.
Innearth: ¡­is using another crafter for items cheating?
Fated Eternal Design: Reviewing the rules nope. Just can¡¯t be unique materials.
Innearth: ¡­in that case give me all your materials I¡¯ll handle the items.
Fated Eternal Design: oho. Mysterious aren¡¯t we.
Innearth: My crystal dwarf can make some pretty strong runes.
Abe: what? A dungeon monster lol
Innearth: Trust me. It can give us an edge.
Abe: I trust you. I also remember the stuff in your dungeon. It just surprised me I forgot that was even a thing. In that case I¡¯ll provide some raw materials to be used for this event.
Fated Eternal Design: Likewise.
Innearth: Do we have a plan?
Abe: I think so. Have we considered every aspect?
Fated Eternal Design: traps and defenders. I think we¡¯ve rounded out or team well enough yeah.
Innearth: Alright. Item Rush Order. COMING UP! The crystal dwarf is going to hate me lol.
Abe: ¡­are they ascended?
Innearth: ¡­no actually but if feels almost like they are sometimes. Funny huh.
Fated Eternal Design: ¡­strange more like.
... The trio set up their group while Innearth manipulated materials into armour and weapons before handing them off to the dwarf to add to. Finally, the event was upon them. They were the 23rd group to head out with 8 tracks in front of them and until they ¡°delved by proxy¡± they were not allowed to see what they were going to face. Some groups spent days while others only managed a few minutes or hours. By the time Innearth¡¯s group was up they had waited over 48 hours and they were getting kind of impatient. Then it was time. The group was slotted into ¡°track 7¡± where they deposited their 3 monsters. Each was decked out in plenty of armour and linked with mental mana. Looking down a purple bricked hallway all 3 monsters spend a moment conversing before they head out already understanding their roles. In the front. A robed and masked wind monster holding a strange branch-like metal weapon full of hollow holes that shaped wind mana. Coming up behind them was a snake in the equivalent of black and silver plate mail. On its side, like a rifle scope, was a long rod with a dozen crystals inset on it and countless small wrapping wires that could direct the flow of mana. Bringing up the rear was a bulky boxing gorilla. The first obstacle the group had to face was a flight of stairs. None of the group had trouble making their way down it although the snake''s armour made it slow going on the way down. When the group reached the bottom, they were met by a large cavern with a still pool in its center and a door on the far side.
Abe: I¡¯m telling them to go around.
Innearth: Smart. Smart.
Traveling around the far edge of the pool the group took the long way around and then entered the next hallway without anything eventful happening.
Innearth: ¡­tricksy. The test dungeon is meant to lower our guard. Smart. I want to try using that in a few places in my own dungeon.
Halfway down the hall the gorilla suddenly punched forwards, two taser-like lines hitting its two allies and speeding up their movement. This boost was applied just in time ¨C for out of both sides of the hallway, several solid sideways facing blades began slicing back and forth. Some were set vertically into the wall requiring the ¡°Adventures¡± to duck or jump as the blades whizzed past overhead. The rest had been placed horizontally running from one wall to the other and could only be dodged by jumping forward or back. Each blade looked deathly sharp ¨C with razor-thin sword mana extending out from each tip. The additional speed boost from the time mana connection made the very real threat disappear, however. From the group''s perspective, the blades were sliding along at a glacier pace and even if they were hit by one of the sharp edges their armour more than made up for it. At the end of the hall, they encountered a room with their first monsters. A swarm of Mosaic Monkeys attacked the group. Each has a patchwork of painted stone across their body and stone blades on the end of their ¡°claws¡±. They dashed forwards mindlessly falling up the group who quickly started setting themselves up in a battle formation. The wind-like front monster sucks monsters towards him while slashing back and forth with their ¡°metal branch¡±. Each swing caused a single blast of air to be split apart and sent off in a dozen slashes at a time. Behind the mask, Innearth¡¯s snake directed mana through its body and up into its equipment. Soon, arcs of lightning began shooting up and out the end of their scope ¨C linking between dozens of the swarm monster and cooking them as it chained between monkeys. On the other side of the wind monster, dozens of small bombs were tossed from a side pouch. The pouch appeared to be physically attached to the gorilla¡¯s body and was ripping into its insides to create the tossable items. Abe¡¯s monster caused several muffled explosions that flung bodies in all directions and despite having no way to "talk" appeared to be laughing wildly a faint hint of their creator''s love of explosions leaking through. The swarm might have initially been over a hundred strong but once again the trio managed to churn through them like they were nothing. When the last enemy monster finally fell the group slid, stepped and flew forwards. They reached the end of the hall confidently before coming across the first real obstacle they had faced in the event. ¡­
Innearth: ¡­so does anyone know how to open a door?
Abe: Don¡¯t ask me, my monster just has boxing gloves for hands. FED do you think you¡¯re mask can turn the handle with wind?
Fated Eternal Design: ¡­why did we not make a monster that could open doors.
Innearth: How were we supposed to know this would be a thing! Phantasmal Patterns knows we are sending dungeon monsters through this. He knows exactly how evil this trap is.
Fated Eternal Design: What if we wrap Innearth¡¯s snake around the handle and let them slide over it and pull it sideways?
Abe: let''s just blast our way through. I¡¯ll tell support.
Communicating back and forth the gorilla steps forwards and reached into its pouch. Slightly sticky blobs that didn''t seem to stick to each other were pulled out then flicked onto the handle and across the sides coating it liberally in goo. As soon as they landed the balls started to pulse ¨C the trio backed further out to a safe distance before watching as a flash of fire and force consumed the obstacle and then quieted down. This time when they come to examine the door it was covered in black circles of soot. Pushing forwards against it, the gorilla considered trying again with more explosives but then the snake had an idea. Moving to the side it concentrated while a solid spike of crystal appeared beside their wand and slowly began to grow. The wand was truly a work of genius brought forth from the crystal dwarf''s still growing skill. It had runes and ways to transform mana to make a shocking lightning attack courtesy of some materials given by Abe. It had methods of directing and controlling the crystal snake¡¯s base skill of crystal manipulation into anything from countless small shards to one big one. With enough time and mana, the control could even extend to it - making a ramp or bridge of crystal in case the group had to cross a chasm or reach a high up door. It also had an option to shoot a small ball of fire in case they needed to light something on fire without exploding it and a method of casting a ¡°force wave¡± that could push something back. It was incredibly versatile and overlapped in functionality with Abe¡¯s monster who had shots of either enthalpy or eternity to speed up allies or slow down enemies or traps. Abe¡¯s monster also had a small growth that was ¡°harvested¡±, shaped and maintained stable by its belt, offloading a lot of the complexity of creating bombs into an item. Finally, there was the mask''s equipment. It was harder to equip an air spirit and they had nearly run out of time but it was equipped with an ¡°air shaper¡± that could extend and enhance its wind blades. The three monsters were also given small ¡°mental mana badges¡± that connected them to corresponding monsters in the three dungeons. The snake was connected to a nameless crystal dwarf who sat in a small room ¨C widdling crystal statues with its void claw while it waited for commands to relay. ¡­ The crystal snake shot off its large crystal spike ¨C grown and condensed over several minutes ¨C which smashed forwards across the room. Accelerating the whole way, the strike hit the already weakened door knob that had blocked the group from advancing, pushing it through and slamming the door open for them with a loud bang.
Abe: How you¡¯re supposed to open doors as far as I¡¯m concerned. Who puts doors in their dungeons?
Innearth: Don¡¯t you have doors to your vaults?
Abe: Nope just entranceways.
Innearth: You had a door on some vault of money in one of your vaults ¨C I remember.
Abe: That¡¯s not a door¡­.that¡¯s a¡­a safe.
Innearth: Safe¡­door?
Abe: Dammit bruh. Fine. I used a door. that¡¯s different though. Why put doors between rooms?
Fated Eternal Design: To block us¡­and I¡¯m pretty sure most of the other monsters. Anyways. Look at the next room.
The group had been split in focus between watching the new area and talking, but they spent a moment fully focusing on what they were looking at. Tiles. A long wide hallway filled with different coloured tiles. Painted on each square was a different dungeon number from 1-4. There didn¡¯t appear to be a pattern to either the colours or numbers with both randomly distributed throughout the path.
Abe: As far as puzzles go 0/10. There¡¯s no hints.
Innearth: Let''s try checking around.
The group scours the displayed room while discussing what they think will happen if one of the pseudo adventurer''s steps on the ¡°wrong¡± square.
Abe: What if there is no puzzle? What if it''s just meant to stall us into guessing pointlessly about how the halls meant to be completed?
Fated Eternal Design: Nah. As funny as that is, I¡¯m nearly positive this is an actual puzzle. Someone get their monster to toss something onto one of the squares?
Innearth: On it.
Commanding the snake to shoot a smaller crystal spike at one of the squares the group watches as¡­nothing happened.
Abe: Think I was right?
Fated Eternal Design: Either lucky guess or that wasn¡¯t enough to set it off. We should check the other squares first and then send one of our monsters to test it out and then return.
Abe: or just go. Gotta go fast and all that. I bet we can have them run through the hall without any bad effects.
Innearth: I¡¯ll take the slow and steady path for now Abe. If this test doesn¡¯t work we can try your mad dash idea.
Abe: asfk this is taking too long. Okay.
Tossing out shots onto the full row in front of them and then the two in front of that, Innearth stared confused at the squares while Abe got steadily more and more impatient. I have to figure this out. I¡¯m smart. I can do it. There has to be some sort of pattern to it. I agree with FED there has to be a puzzle. It''s either a trap or maybe one of these squares is hiding a treasure¡­or maybe a shortcut down to the next floor that we will miss if we just rush through?
Abe: Alright. My gorilla is resilient. I¡¯ll ask him to take a step on some of the squares and then jump back.
Walking forward, Abe¡¯s monster put a single foot and then its whole weight on the middlemost square. It was at this moment that Innearth noticed his crystal dwarf was trying to get his attention. Hey. Yeah, what''s up? ¡°I can tell based on what the snake is thinking but I¡¯m pretty sure the monsters you¡¯ve sent out have solved your puzzle. You aren¡¯t giving them enough agency right now however so they are just waiting for orders.¡± What? How can they have solved it? ¡°It''s simple really. They can see the answer and you can¡¯t. They trust you blindly right now so they aren¡¯t bringing it up, just thinking about it.¡± ¡­they can see it and we can¡¯t? ¡°The answers are all written on the roof. I believe you are looking down at them right now?¡± ¡­ it''s that simple? Really? Alright then.
Innearth: Guys. I think this is a trap designed specifically against people like us who have ways to command our monsters from outside of the event.
Abe: hmm?
Innearth: let''s just tell our adventurers to solve the problem and move on.
Fated Eternal Design: ¡­I¡¯m quite fond of this Phantasmal Patterns character. Fine example of a Dungeon Core.
Abe: Okay. Told them to solve the puzzle.
The adventurers step out into the hallway moving purposefully and avoiding certain squares based on the giant skulls painted above them. Halfway down the hall they stopped and pulled one of the squares up. Out of the crevasse floated a purple coin that disappeared once it reached midway up the hall but caused a popup to appear in the stream as it did so.
[+1 Hidden Loot.] Points calculated. [Loot packet sent.]
Twice more the trio found and obtained coins from different coloured squares.
[+1 Hidden Loot.] Points calculated. [Loot packet sent.]
[+1 Hidden Loot.] Points calculated. [Loot packet sent.]
The packets obtained were a ¡°jackpot¡± of 3 well made monster schematics each with dungeon descriptions.
Mosaic Monkeys Ambush / swarm predators that look like monkeys with exoskeletons covered in interesting stone tile patterns. Their claws are sharpened stone blades. Their tails have scorpion-like stingers. These stingers do not have poison they are used to suck blood out of their victims. They attempt to swarm their victim, grabbing hold en masse and then draining them as a group with their tails. They emit "don''t pay attention to me, I''m not important" vibes. ¡°I REALLY NEED TO REPLACE THESE¡­ THEY AREN¡¯T VERY CLEVER. DID THEY GIVE YOU TROUBLE HOWEVER? EHEEHEEHEHHEE¡±
Duplicitous Mirror Slimes These slimes have a reflective surface. The reflections are just a bit off, inventing clues or evidence that attempts to trick adventurers that their party is trying to cheat or betray them. They hide in the mirror hall, thinly coating the mirrors to blend in. The dungeon can also use them to block off passages to attractions that aren¡¯t ready yet. Resistant to slashing & explosion damage. ¡°What, DON¡¯T LIKE WHAT YOU SEE? COME ON. ADMIT IT. ¡±
Dream / Mosaic Spider Swarm Their exoskeleton is covered in mosaic patterns and they are very hard to see if surrounded by mosaic tiles. Their webs blend into mosaics as well. Their webs make hypnotic patterns that effect people subliminally as they look at the mosaic¡¯s patterns. They have a venom which has a numbing effect that causes the desire for sleep and rest. The spiders are normally fist-sized and attack in swarms. ¡°MY LITTLE WEAVERS MAKING DREAM TAPESTERIES.¡±
Moving on the group continued to delve deeper and deeper. They fought against stronger and more numerous swarms as well as reached a chasm like they had guessed they might have to cross. A long time spent growing a rough crystal bridge later and Innearth and Abe¡¯s monster were able to reach the other side. Probably the hardest boss they had to face was the Glitter Worm. The trio''s armour and base abilities were stronger than quite a bit of the monsters they faced, causing most of the fights to be ended quickly. The Glitter Worm however was a mental creature with spells that slipped past Abe and Innearth¡¯s monsters defences. Somehow FED¡¯s air spirit had a strong enough mind made by the mental mana FED wove it together with that it was unaffected. That was the single reason they managed to get around it, but the battle was long and tedious due to the snake and gorilla protecting the creature from the mask. When they beat that boss, they received the schematic for it as a slightly ironic reward.
Glitter Worm (Boss Monster) A worm the size of a wagon that secretes glue. The worm hides under a pile of coins, many of which stick to its body. These coins act as armor. The glitter worm may also spray out a stream of sticky quick hardening glue. Its armored shell glitters while projecting a charming aura that causes the weak-willed to become enamored with it and believe they were meant to be together forever¡­while violently attacking those trying to hurt ¡°their love.¡± ¡°WHO''S A PRETTY GIRL?!¡±
Finally after beating the final puzzle ¨C one that took absolutely ages in part due to the fiddly switches and dials they had to press, flip, turn and hold despite not having opposable thumbs the group finally clears the dungeon and gets their score in the event.
So you want to be an adventurer? Scoreboard.
#1. Dungeons participating [Brutality Queen] [Amy] [Jake]. Time [9hrs 23minutes 2s] Treasure found [13 coins]
#2. Dungeons participating [Abe] [Innearth] [Fated Eternal Design]. Time [16hrs 15minutes 48s] Treasure found [15 coins]
Abe: Oh hey! Amy beat us.
DAMMIT, WHY! WHY HER! We did so well¡­I''ll just pretend Amy did all the work. That''s a much more satisfying conclusion.
Innearth: Congratulations Amy!
Amy: Thanks! We haven¡¯t won yet¡­ there¡¯s still some groups behind us after all, but I¡¯m quite confident in our odds!
Innearth: I¡¯m happy you won but disappointed I lost¡­When¡¯s the next event so I can put this behind me lol.
Amy: Thinking I¡¯m taking a small break from events to celebrate my (almost certain) win. That should give you a chance :3
Innearth: Wow. Rude.
Amy: I¡¯m joking <3. The next event looks up your alley Innearth. I¡¯ll be rooting for you!
Chapter 54. Its dangerous to go alone. Taaake this!
Does anyone else think something weird is happening in this dungeon? A few days ago there was a thunderous rumbling sound and today I shifted into a wide open area that looked like it had been hit by a massive bomb. It looked like a battlefield I''m telling you! Ever since I obtained the shadow shifter class I''ve been able to get into places I don''t belong but I''m telling you this is weirder than normal. Call for me if something weird happens okay? Here. I got these mind linking rings from this dungeon last week. Keep one and use it to call me if you get into trouble okay? I have a weird feeling about this.
Excerpt obtained from a conversation held outside the "Hypnotic Dungeon" -Year 2000AS
Rules: Restricted Item Crafting.
  1. Part 1: 12 hours to design and create a item using limited materials that follows the following rules. Part 2: 12 hours to design and create a item using limited mana that follows the same rules. Part 3: is a secret until the time of the event but follows the same rules as well.
  2. All Items designed have to be "Non Dungeon Dependant" Giving life to your creation to increase its abilities is cheating because a loot item that cannot be brought out of the dungeon is useless.
  3. For Part 1: there is the additional rule that "Recycling" is not allowed. The definition of recycling is making a material out of what you are given. Reclaiming it for raw materials. And getting more than you put into it. You may absorb the materials given once, however as soon as you combine or place it you cannot reabsorb it - even if you make a mistake.
  4. For part 2: you are allowed to use your entire inventory of raw materials HOWEVER no unique materials may be used in the creation of your item. This is a competition of your skill not your luck we''ve already done the unique materials event.
Final Description and sign-up. The restricted crafting event is a way of showing off your skill in item creation. Event is split by Tier and the winner is determined by a combined set of two criteria. A panel of judges chosen from your peers and vetted for vested interests and the systems classification. Judges provide a score from 1-16 and the system provides a "value" we will use to offset the judges. Unlike previous events there is no penalty for participating and you can even keep your item afterwards. The prize for winning is a lesson on secrets provided by your host Phantasmal Patterns as well as a "Winner Packet" that explains some tips and tricks of this world not normally distributed on the market.
Enter? Y/N? Current participants [32]
Yep. I''m joining this. It sounds directly up my alley. Sure I haven''t made many things with constraints - I usually just throw as many materials as I can at something and work off of synergies... but I bet I can do well with this. Joining the event Innearth checked his friends. Doc was also competing but everyone else was taking a break from games after the last event. Waiting for a bit Innearth was told due to the number of participants they would need to be split into two batches with 12 hours between each one. He was in the first batch that was between tiers 4 and 5 and would start shortly. A few minutes after that he was given a "collaboration panel" similar to the one he used to make something with Abe and Innearth realized why they were separated. Phantasmal Patterns must be setting these up and then not helping... to give us a place we can build that''s not in our dungeon! So because he has 113 cameras and I assume floors that means he can only host that many Cores at once. ...and that means I can''t use the crystal dwarf''s help. Shame...That would have been a huge boost. Waiting a bit longer, a hole in the wall opened and his materials were given along with the final rules. ...is this a joke? The materials Innearth was given were as follows: A metal cup filled with water and a single leaf floating on top. The best part of the materials (the cup) had a sign on it. MAY NOT BE USED IN THE ITEM CREATION. A few seconds later a panel appeared.
Time left in event. [12 hours]
And started counting down. Innearth stared at his materials before laughing. I guess this isn''t as bad as I first thought... I was just surprised. I thought we would be given a super small amount of some useful materials like Iron not that we would be given something weird but I guess that makes sense. Let''s absorb this because I sure as granite don''t want to work with those materials as is. Quickly sucking up the water into his inventory and then slowly eating through the leaf which resisted being absorbed ever so slightly due to its incredibly minor lifeforce Innearth checked his gains
Water [240 grams]
Oak Leaf [0.23 grams]
Splitting those materials up once again Innearth looked at what he had to work with
Water 240.00g
Dry Mater 0.312g
Crude Protein 0.0333g
Crude Ash 0.0547g
Neutral Detergent Fiber 0.269g
Acid Detergent Fiber 0.250g
Ether Extract 0.0269g
Condenced Tannin 0.0550g
...That leaf is hard to sort through. Flipping through multiple times Innearth slowly grew more and more confused by the sheer number of trace compounds in the leaf. ...I thought limited would mean they only gave us one element or something. Not a very very small amount of hundreds of them. What am I even supposed to do with these? Actually how many compounds are in leaves - and why are there so many! It doesn''t do anything! It just sits there! It has no business being that complicated. ...is this part of the event? See if someone gets confused and spends the whole time trying to figure out what these elements do? Okay. Here¡¯s what I''m going to do. I''m going to focus on what I''ve already learned and base my creation off of that. I only have 12 - ah closer to 11 and a half hours left! That¡¯s nothing, I spent that much time designing a section of floor some days. Let¡¯s see. I need to focus on what I have the most of - Water. I''m thinking of designing a weapon ¨C I know the event specifies a ¡°Loot Item¡± and that means it doesn¡¯t need to be a weapon but¡­well I also know Bob Ross didn¡¯t win that streamcast event and dungeons are voting. What can I make with water? I can obviously break it apart into oxygen and hydrogen¡­but alone those aren¡¯t as useful unless I¡¯m thinking of Air mana and I hate Air mana. I could try and combine those with some of my other items to increase their strength? But I¡¯m not sure how useful that train of thought is. Let¡¯s walk through this from the top down. My largest quantity of material is H2O. I can make a pretty good ice material using that. I can also make an incredibly thin variant of liquid crystal if I use crystal and water mana. Finally, I can make a consumable healing potion-like liquid with Life and Water mana¡­I don¡¯t want to make a consumable item however I feel like I can do a lot better than that. I could make a living weapon? There¡¯s tons of carbon in the leaf. I¡¯m sure I could combine that with life mana to help the healing liquid out? ¡­ While Innearth bounced around different ideas the main event group was lively. Phantasmal Patterns: I have a special entertainment prepared for those that aren¡¯t participating. Please enjoy the ADVENTURERERERERS!!! A panel appeared showing a giant wheel with brightly coloured slices breaking it up. In the center, a red lever sits and a group of three stands over it arguing. Two lights are lit up beside it and the one of the adventurers keeps pointing at them and then at the surroundings with sharp motions. Finally, they seem to come to an agreement and reach out to pull the lever. Immediately the wheel they are on begins to spin but they all maintain their balance having done this twice before.
Phantasmal Patterns: Round and Round and ROUND SHE GOES. WHERE SHE STOPS? NOBODY KNOWS!
With a sudden jolt the room shivered and jolted to a stop. A red door directly across from the group opens to a cascade of beads spilling into the room. Walking over, the group stares down at the swirling beads, before picking them up and analyzing them. For the most part the group seemed to think this spin was a dud and this time they move back to the center to pull it again. Three lights are lit up around the lever and when the group pulls it, the room spins once more.
Phantasmal Patterns: Round and Round! Ehehehehe. Come on explosion. Come on explosion. Trying for a 4th is GREEDY You KNOW.
Stopping after a few more spins a yellow door opens to a sickly buzzing sound. Hundreds of small thumb-sized monsters flicker into the room and spread out to hover about the room. Surprisingly the ¡°bees¡± don¡¯t attack preferring to simply circle around the group who jumped back before watching the monsters warily and then almost surprisingly turning to ignore them. Once more the group argues over whether to pull the lever or not but as time progresses their actions start growing more and more erratic their speech slurring and their actions jumpy and paranoid.
Phantasmal Patterns: Ehehe. They really should have learned by now they have to have gotten past some of those before they reached the gambling room. For any viewers here you go.
Confounding Bees These thumb-sized bees¡¯ glow like fireflies, illuminating the hypnotic dungeon. They don¡¯t generally attack directly unless provoked. The sound of their activity creates a mild confusion aura throughout the dungeon that makes it more difficult to think (as though you are inebriated) and vaguely makes enemies feel like they are outnumbered and surrounded by movement. Their sting injects a mildly pleasant hallucinogen (their honey is mildly alcoholic). There is also a larger queen version the size of a large dog that provides tactics and better coordination to the other monsters throughout the dungeon through a telepathic network. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Final review. Bring either noise cancelling items or kill these as soon as you can spot them.
The group goes for a 4th time pulling the lever with swinging arms and low coordination. This time when the room begins to spin, 2 of 3 adventurers¡¯ trip and fall on their face and back with wild yells.
Phantasmal Patterns: Buzz, Buzz, BUZZ AWAY YOUR THOUGHTS. Ehehehe.
This time when the room stops on a brown door and opens a large table slides out into the room. On it a sword, a crown and a sceptre lay, each with enough magic packed into them to make them positively glow to mana sight. Grabbing their loot the adventurers run like bandits tripping over their feet and swatting at bees as they exit the gambling room and exit deeper into the dungeon.
Phantasmal Patterns: ANOTHER GROUP OF HAPPY CUSTOMERS! I will continue streaming this room for the duration of the event stopping only to switch to the voting portions. Enjoy my FELLOW CORES! ENJOY WATCHING THE ADVENTURERS SPIN!
¡­ Okay. I¡¯m pretty happy with this setup. Innearth had made a rod of thin liquid crystal and doped it with some Kinetic+Water+water material he had come across while trying stuff out. The result of those two mixing was an almost solid spinning "core of water" that resisted being broken. The next addition was a shell of Ice mana water that existed mostly to create bulk and contain the center swirl. Bits of it dug inwards and thus the spinning core could pull the surrounding shell about with it. Next Innearth tried remaking living crystals with a tiny bit of carbon and a massive amount of crystal mana compressed to a single point. This was attempted several times and the failed results had been shoved into the central spinning core. Right before he had given up on remaking those, he had managed to recreate the plant ¨C although this variant was shaped a little differently, preferring an almost fuzzy thin structure instead of a thicker spikey one. These living crystals were carefully cultivated in the room Innearth had been given by transplanting them several times and then finally planting them deep into the spinning ice ¨C letting the tips of them reach down and drink from the liquid inside. A strange sort of synergy happened to strengthen the fuzzy needles slightly once they could drink the liquid crystal ¨C and the item was almost done at this point. The ice that made up most of the bulk of the weapon was reasonably strong¡­however it could still melt quite easily. There were trace amounts of Iron in the leaf ¨C barely enough to do anything but Innearth used all of them with some Oxygen. Printing out hematite ice Innearth put a dozen miligrams of it throughout the water ice to keep it from melting. The next difficulty was making a handle. Warping the end Innearth made a socket and then used a mix of most of the leftover random materials and crystal mana to make a rainbow handle. This handle contained what looked like thousands of strands of different kinds of crystal swirled together and while it didn''t appear to have any huge effects, it was pretty and provided a solid grip. The final result was a spinning rod that was covered in regrowing blades of thin crystal. The rod could be held up against something and the tips of the living crystal would stab and shatter into whatever they were placed against. The weapon was stable however it couldn¡¯t really be used like a mace because the core was still ice. It also would probably be broken pretty easily by a weapon or spell that was hot and melted through its icy bulk despite it not fully being an ice weapon. Either way for what I was given? I think this is a good attempt. Let¡¯s see how I did. Waiting the last 30 minutes out, Innearth found his item blipped out and lined up against 39 other items made by tier 5 cores. ¡­his weapon was hard to store as he didn¡¯t have enough materials to make a sheath for it, but the host simply shaped the ground slightly in the viewing area and stuck the handle a few cm into the stone.
Phantasmal Patterns: There! Let¡¯s see, I¡¯ve already found a bunch of system-sworn neutral judges to join me in this undertaking. Please welcome the other judges for this event.
A Kingless World: I¡¯m here to give these items a fair and just review. How much I think adventurers will like them. How strong they are. Stuff like that.
Len923: I¡¯m here to say the ¡°Kingless World¡± has horrid taste and needs someone with a more refined pallet to PROVE that boop is the one true solution.
A Kingless World: Why are YOU FOLLOWING ME EVERYWHERE. Anything but Bop is heresy, and this is distracting from the voting. I vote we remove Len923 from the panel of judges ¨C all in favour?
Phantasmal Patterns: We do not vote on trival matters like that. This is NOT a democracy! We are here to judge the following items. The first result is¡­a cup of healing potion? Simple. Effective. They made a cup out of the leaf and filled it with healing liquid.
A Kingless World: ¡­that¡¯s it? Did they even try? 1/16. Boring. Next!
Len923: And this is why I¡¯m required. Simple? Yes. Reuseable? No. However as far as loot goes I think this works. Sure, its not very flashy and after the end of a boss fight most adventurers would be disappointed... but in the right scenario this could save someone¡¯s life. It''s also far far better than nothing. I think 3/16 is a good fair score for this item. Phantasmal? What say you.
Phantasmal Patterns: You¡¯ve STOLEN the words I was going to write. My score is 4/16 however. I knew someone would do this and it kind of makes me happy to guess right. Next!
Continuing on down the line the trio commented and gave their scores over and over again. At one point two of the judges got distracted by claiming ¡°Boop or Bop¡± was superior but for the most part they remained on track. Of the items before Innearth, There was one wooden dagger that had been grown out of the leaf as it consumed water and shaped itself into a dagger. That had been the most impressive piece of magic done even if the result -
Simple Wooden Dagger [Tier 1 Weapon]
Description: A simple wooden dagger grown from simple materials into a practical form. This dagger matches the self made weapons of many elves while being made by a dungeon.
Stabbing damage 0-120. Slightly Increases Natural Affinity. Slightly stores Nature mana. Slightly increases effectiveness of Elven magic. Durability 40/40
- was slightly lackluster...Because of that, it got the most dividing score.
A Kingless World: Now That¡¯s Impressive! For what they had to work with? I¡¯m going have to go with 15/16. Marvelous use of some sort of natural affinity? Plant Magic? I have no clue how they went about making that!
Len923: 6/16¡­ It''s impressive the skill that went into making that but honestly as far as loot goes the previous water bomb was more impressive. Even if I docked points for it being single use. Len923: Like "Slightly Increases"? Really? What does that even mean? 1%? 5%? Come on the system can do better than that. Len923: Personally? If you had a weak elf adventurer they might be happy with this¡­ but there are very few adventurers you could give this to and get a favourable result. Again. 6/16 final score.
Phantasmal Patterns: Once AGAIN MY WORDS HAVE BEEN STOLEN. Same reasoning as the thief but I would give it a 4/16. Next!
Innearth grew more and more worried they would bash his creation as they made their way down the line. ¡­They are brutal. I think I¡¯ve made something much better that that but I¡­Now I don¡¯t know. Finally the judges reached his spinning tube saw mace.
Spinning Crystal Blade [Tier 3 Weapon]
Description: An almost living weapon, this creation of ice and crystal can slash through more than you would think. Less effort needs to be used for damage to be applied due to how the blade spins. However more control needs to be used to prevent the central core from breaking and time needs to be spent allowing the outside to regrow.
Slashing damage 120-280. Cold Damage 20-30. Continuous damage from injected crystals 1/sec per 3 crystals. Durability 180/100
A Kingless World: Oho¡­this is a doozy.
Len923: It''s on another level! The amount of utility they¡¯ve squeezed out of those materials.
A Kingless World: 15/16? No I¡¯ve taken a peek at the rest of the items and can safely use my top slot. 16/16. This is crazy.
Len923: ¡­I do not want to agree with the Bop heretic but it would be unfair to rate this very low. 10/16? It seems hard to travel with and once those little spikes break off it will be much worse of a weapon.
Phantasmal Patterns: ¡­are you sure about that thief? It''s not in the tooltip but let me give you a chance to change your score¡­or at least a chance to attempt to sway your MIND!
Creating a small glassy smooth spider covered in a mosaic of colours that slowly blended and moved together, the host threw his small monster at Innearth¡¯s weapon. The spider tumbled through the air and then was ripped apart in a spray of twinkling light and glasslike shards as a chunk of the living crystals were stripped from the weapon. Before the panel''s very eyes, the stripped section of the weapon slowly regrew at a steady visible pace eventually becoming whole again less than a minute later.
Len923: ¡­alright I stand corrected. It still has some problems but¡­well I realize I¡¯m being nitpicky for something made with a leaf and a cup of water. 16/16 for me as well. It''s not like I could have done better.
Phantasmal Patterns: I¡¯m glad I could change your MIND! I¡¯ve seen similar levels of weapons made in previous years of this event, but all were from Tier 7 cores. I¡¯m impressed! 16/16 from me if only due to the tier of this group! And ON TO THE NEXT!
Innearth watched shocked at how high they had rated him. ¡­is it just that everyone else sucks? And why do they suck? I¡¯m sure there are better cores than me in this tier.
Phantasmal Patterns: What is this!
Len923: ¡­a demonic item? That¡¯s surprising.
A Kingless World: 0/16. No adventurer would want such a horrid item.
Ah. They came to Doc¡¯s creation.
Phantasmal Patterns: Don¡¯t judge it based on that. Sure as a monster this would drop demons from kilometers around but try to judge this as an item not a monster? I quite like it.
Doc had made an ominous-looking pill. ¡°Demonic cleanse¡±. The water appeared to have been mixed with both Life and Death mana into a swirling purple goo that shone with a sickly yellow light. The leaf had been wrapped around the liquid almost normally and after being exposed to the inner goo had grown small translucent tendrils that waved about in the wind. The exact results of this pill were discussed as follows.
Demonic Cleanse [Tier 8 Consumable]
Description: Consuming this pill injects the very blood of demons into your soul. An inner host will awaken and attempt to consume you from the inside while burning through weakness and strengthening all in its wake. If you can manage to remain sane and fight off this challenge you will find your body vastly improved. A rough estimate can be given as follows. For a human +25 to all stats. Average chance of failure 95%. WARNING: Consumption of this dangerous item will momentarily cut your connection to the [system]. Failure to fight off the parasite will result in your body becoming puppeted by one of the worst creatures in the universe. Consumption is not advised without a willpower of at least 100. Consumption is not advised by any who rely on the [system] for ability.
Len923: To be honest. I like it as well. It¡¯s a challenge an adventurer must overcome. If they overcome it, they get a huge reward. 15/16 from me.
A Kingless World: Fine. I¡¯ll admit its creator seems deranged to me, but it has its uses. I could see providing this challenge in a safe location and then gunning them down if they lose to the inner demon. I still don¡¯t like it however. 5/16. It also seems much easier to make than the spinning crystal thing even if it was given a higher tier.
Phantasmal Patterns: For sticking to a core tenet of dungeons and making me excited, I¡¯m giving this a 16/16. NEXT!
A few more items later and the group was done. Phantasmal Patterns did something that tallied and adjusted all the scores after adding the systems scoring and displayed the results to the group.
Top Results.
#1. Innearth: Item made [Spinning Crystal Blade]
#2. ZeMadDoctor: Item made [Demonic Cleanse]
#3. Kori: Item made [Wooden Dagger]
Innearth felt a strange sort of bubbly sensation when he looked at the results. I¡­won?
Phantasmal Patterns: Remember folks. Part 2 of the event starts in 10 hours and 20 minutes from now. It¡¯s the decreased mana event so make sure to relax and think of what you might want to make. Scores will be tallied between all 3 rounds so there¡¯s a chance to turn this around if you didn¡¯t do well in the first section! Good luck everyone.
¡­okay I haven¡¯t won yet¡­but I¡¯m winning? Returning to his personal group chat confused he messaged everyone.
Innearth: ¡­guys something weird is happening. Is it just me or¡­or is the general quality of the other cores lower than you expected?
Abe: Nah. I¡¯m just great. You¡¯re my bud so you¡¯re great too! It makes sense. Don¡¯t be too harsh on them okay m8?
Amy: Dammit. You¡¯re doing well in this event Innearth even if I think I could have done better. Not trying to sound arrogant but looking at the materials you were given? Wow! I wish I competed I could have made a living water whip out of those. It''s like those materials were made for me! Life mana and water mana? Leaf¡¯s and water? It just makes sense.
Innearth: ¡­thanks for taking me down a notch.
Amy: No I¡¯m serious you¡¯re doing well. I especially like that living crystal stuff you made. How much of that was luck?
Innearth: Fine that was a bit of luck getting it to work and it did heavily influence the final product. I get it. I¡¯m not doing as well as I think.
Abe: Bro. I¡¯m rooting for you. You got this! Part 2 and 3 are as good as yours.
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­I see I¡¯m nothing but a pebble over here.
Abe: Ah. You¡¯re doing well too. Innearth¡¯s my main bro though¡­you understand. I¡¯m rooting for you too!
ZeMadDoctor: It''s fine. I will win the next part.
Chapter 55. [redacted due to spoiler] [redacted due to spoiler]!
System luck is a high level secret. It''s one of those things that no one under a certain age knows about but everyone over does. For the most part luck mana is out of Dungeon Cores'' reaches. There has been leaks from the next rank that tell us about how luck mana is grayed out for all but those that picked the non elemental affinity. There''s also proof the system doesn''t like luck mana as quite a few of its goals are based around fairness and luck mana breaks that somewhat. So what is system luck mana? System luck mana is built into several system controls but is hidden unless you look deeper for most of them. Essentially using it you can create random choices based upon even probabilities. You can make an event that only happens 50% of the time or a monster that has more or less strength based on a random chance. Every single system initialized creature has a system luck value that''s preset and hidden. That value is used with system luck enabled creations to create effects. You can make items that raise or lower that system luck value...and raise or lower the chance of winning or failing with system luck enabled events. But that luck doesn''t affect their non system luck enabled interactions. They won''t suddenly become unluckier in everyday life, it will just change their loot drop chance or chance to miss a system luck enabled monster. Finally there are some theories that state by including and managing system luck the system has stifled the more powerful and general ¡°Luck mana¡±. The following sections are dedicated to showing off how to enable system luck in your ¡°design, quest, event and zone setup¡± panels.
Excerpt Obtained from the high level dungeon packet "Secret of (System) Luck Mana"
Description of Part 2.
At most 2 Mana types can be used. For the purpose of this event you may combine more than those 2 types to make either of those types in a single material. For example Magma mana with Earth and Fire would count as 1 type out of your allowed 2. Mist mana with Water and Air would count as a second type. Each of those chosen types have a max AMU amount allowed of 10. If you can make a slime out of that much mana you can make an item. Re iterating the general rules, but unique materials are not allowed to be used. Only materials you can make yourself for the event. There is no limit on physical components.
Time remaining [23hrs 48min 10s]
¡­okay. So I¡¯m only allowed 10amu x 2 mana types. That¡¯s¡­well not a lot. Especially because it takes a bit more mana to make the stronger types at similar concentrations. I have to think about both what would give the best result for the minimum amount of mana used, as well¡­as what I can do about making sure something non-magical can help draw out its full potential. If I had to make something strong with only a single element, Void mana would be the best¡­but that is also mana hungry. Even if I used a thin line of it along the tip of a blade it would use too much mana¡­I wouldn¡¯t be able to make anything big enough to be useful or exciting enough to do well in this event. ¡­I think despite the difficulty in using them, madness combinations actually work a bit better for drawing out the most strength for the least amount of mana¡­But I¡¯m scared of demonic mana and been warned off of whatever the mana that makes MIM¡¯s is called ¨C it would be dumb to experiment with that on a time crunch. I bet Doc¡¯s going to use demonic mana again but I¡¯m not sure what he¡¯ll be able to accomplish with So. Dry/Dust or Pressure/Steam? As an item? Dry/Dust is much harder to think of using. It will slowly erode whatever I put it in and I need both Fire and Water mana to properly control it. So, Pressure/Steam. The best way of containing it is using a bit of Earth mana in the item so those are the two types I think would be best to use. Crystal mana would also work but to a lesser degree. In this case, simple is better. What¡¯s the best item I can make with Pressure? I could make some sort of cannon that shoots items placed in it? If I had more mana or could use unique materials and stick living crystals in it. Well, that would be much better because it would provide a way to reload. I feel like I might be docked quite a few marks for a weapon the adventurer needs to load themselves. There¡¯s also the option to make something like the limbs of my steam horse? I just have to set up a manual way of reeling it back after it''s been shot forward? I could make like a spear that shoots forward after being pressed? ¡­But now I¡¯m reaching the problem that the ends of the spear would be non-magical. And even if I make it solid metal it won¡¯t be very strong in comparison to earth or crystal enhanced materials nor will it be as sharp or pierce as well as Sword mana or Void mana tipped blades. Hmmm. I also don¡¯t need to focus on using Pressure mana? I don¡¯t want to lock myself into using it if there¡¯s a better option¡­but I know for a fact the results are more impressive for a similar amount of mana. Returning to the projectile idea. I think the best thing I could do is base it off of something that already exists. I¡¯ve heard a bit about guns so I could make a weapon that takes bullets as ammo. But I also don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to make something that shoots things fast enough with just pressure mana. Guns are also hard to get right because health blocks the small holes they can make. A better option, in this case, might be making a weapon that takes arrows. I could use steam mana to shoot arrows off and that way adventurers might be able to use magic arrows that are stronger or even skills that work with arrows¡­the same could be said for a gun but I¡¯ve heard of quite a few archers and not a lot of gunmeisters or similar. Now, this is an important bit of information. Skills are weird and sometimes like the shape of a weapon to be in a certain way to work right. Someone with a slash skill¡­can¡¯t really use it well with a non-bladed weapon. If they have a sword slash skill, they might be able to use a weaker version of it using a knife but they straight up won¡¯t be able to activate it with like¡­a teapot. If I want to make a ¡°good¡± weapon that takes arrows it should be shaped like a bow. Or now that I think about it. Let¡¯s try and get as far as I can with making a bow from scratch? Finally with a goal in mind, Innearth started designing a simple bow in his system panel which still doesn¡¯t like it when he makes items instead of traps or monsters. ¡­ While Innearth designed his bow ¨C iterating several designs that steadily got better ¨C Phantasmal Patterns was providing more entertainment.
Phantasmal Patterns: For those of you tired of GAMBLING! Why don¡¯t we spend some time looking at my art projects!
A screen split into 4 cameras appeared a moment later. In the top right, a mirror maze was displayed. The walls, floor and ceiling were all mirrors and the mix of different angles made the room appear to extend in strange dimensions endlessly. Every once in a while, a mirror slime covering a mirror would alter both what adventurers see, along with what is reflected and bounced between all the mirrors. To complete the stream a group walks through the maze. Three adventurers wander around while attempting to remain calm. In one mirror slime, there was a visual of the group member in the rear pulling out a poison dripping knife and rushing forward to stab the two in front. One of the two in front jumped, then clenched and unclenched their hands, before turning and smiling at their teammate. They waved open palmed, making a point not to move immediately to show they trusted them then turned back around. The other of the two glares at the mirror before running forward and smashing it with a huge flail in anger. As soon as the mirror is hit, the slime on front of it popped and oozed to the ground. Its distorted image disappears as if a lie, while the mirror itself explodes with shrapnel. Bits of glass fly past both the adventurer who attacked it, as well as their teammates with quite a bit more force than the flail user used. The mirror itself was a trap that didn¡¯t want to be disarmed.
Phantasmal Patterns: STOP SMASHING ALL MY MIRRORS! ITS¡­RUDE!
On the bottom left a room with different shaped bright colours sat. All the colours appear to shift slightly, ever so slightly out of the corner of your attention. The effect wasn¡¯t as obvious nor as effective as the mirror slimes actively changing what is shown but there was a slight psychological effect in terms of making adventurers jumpier. Hidden amongst the shifting room a multitude of colourful monsters await. ¡°Mosaic Monkeys¡± make their home in twisting structures that cover the ceiling and ¡°Blind Rhinos¡± run as if in slow motion about the floor. On the top left yet another room is displayed. One that¡¯s very clearly attached to the colourful room while showing several real and illusionary pit traps that blink in and out repeatedly as well as shift between solid and open.
Phantasmal Patterns: Ah yes! The cup game! Almost used this in the adventurer game we played recently.
A rhino runs in the hall and falls down one of the pits landing in a slightly broken heap at the bottom.
Phantasmal Patterns: HEY! I FOUND OUT HOW TO GET THE RINOS OUT OKAY??? IT''S NOT A BUG!
The floor plate the rhino fell in slowly rises as the rhino rights itself. Turning it begins slowly running back into the previous floor where it impales the side of an adventurer that¡¯s turned and facing the floor. Spasming the adventurer turns and stabs a spoon-shaped object into the rhino which falls. One of their teammates comes forward and heals their side as they kick the monster that surprised them. Finally looking at the bottom right there¡¯s a room that looks like a ¡°funky¡± bar. Around the room, there are various mind mana setups of various strengths. A bunch of obvious incredibly strong mental mana constructs that most adventurers can notice and block along with other more subtle¡­more nefarious or simply amusing devices. A potted plant constantly emits a feeling of ¡°Don¡¯t notice me, I¡¯m not hiding anything, Go away I don¡¯t exist¡± Two mages with floppy hats and monocles stand around it waving strange devices while muttering as they attempt to crack its secrets.
Phantasmal Patterns: THEY ALL THINK THAT THEY ARE SO SMART. EHEEHEHEEHEHEEHEHEE.
All around the room similar devices are set up combining illusion and mental mana masterfully to befuddle adventurers. The door into and out of the room are both shifted with illusions while attention is diverted with simple pervasive mental constructs trapping adventurers into the room. These four rooms were displayed constantly for the 12 hours. Each showed a portion of the host''s personality and each is enough to tie most over until the next event is done. ¡­ The next 10 hours passed in what felt like seconds and Innearth finished printing and submitting his final alteration of the steam bow. It was a twisted device with printed wood and metal and tubes that strung around. It was complicated and fancy looking and was both shot and reset with the flip of a switch. It wasn¡¯t complicated in terms of the effect it was complicated in terms of moving parts interlocked closely together. Like an old grandfather clock that only tells time looking more complicated than a ¡°simple¡± digital clock despite being an older technology. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Every shot was accompanied by a dozen blasts of steam and a slight whistle ¨C while effort was taken to prevent recoil and jolts that prevented the bow from firing wildly. All of which could have been easily done with gravity and kinetic materials but which were incredibly difficult to do unmagically. Despite all the effort that went into this device, Innearth wasn¡¯t nearly as confident this time around when he waited for the panel to judge them. ¡­
A Kingless World: DID EVERYONE MAKE A ¡°SMALL DAGGER¡±! Come on.
Len923: Yeah I¡¯m docking points for creativity. If one person made a dagger. Only one person. Then¡­they might have done well¡­but honestly. Originality people. You have less mana so you just make something smaller? Booooooooo. 4/16 for all of them.
Phantasmal Patterns: Let us go over them one by one. Proper scoring has to be done you two. Especially as there is quite a bit of variance in some of these.
Moving down the list Innearth watches as the daggers are picked apart. Each was around 12-15cm long with thin amounts of mana in certain areas. The ¡°Strongest¡± was one that was 6cm long but actually used sword mana along its length as well as metal mana to support it. That was functionally what most of the ¡°standard magical swords¡± were¡­but it was incredibly small for most normal uses. It also was only ¡°standard¡± just barely reaching tier 1 for a dagger due to its low concentration of both manas and small size. Kingless and Len were too united in their dislike of the endless daggers to remember their previous ¡°Bop Vs Boop¡± war. There was an upset partway down the line however. The pattern didn¡¯t last.
A Kingless World: Now that¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about! Look for the rest of you making daggers. They did something different!
Someone had managed to fit Void mana onto an item. Essentially what they had done was make a metal rapier and then tipped it with the smallest point of void mana. The amount of material they could make with 10amu was minuscule¡­But on a rapier that was being stabbed forwards, they only needed a small surface area to pierce stuff. It also had a faint amount of metal mana in its main shaft strengthening the pole ever so slightly¡­but that effect was barely enough to make it count as a magical material.
Len923: Honestly. It''s just the fact that this isn¡¯t a dagger you know? If everyone made rapiers I would probably be bashing this¡­but as is? 14/16. Well done. Well done.
After a few more ¡°Okay¡± daggers that got trashed Innearth¡¯s was reviewed.
A Kingless World: 16/16. It looks cool. Can you see that? There¡¯s faint steam hissing out of parts. I move we shoot it!
Len923: You can see its item description. Tier 2. Composite Steam Bow. 230 Projectile Damage. We don¡¯t need to shoot it. That would be unfair to all the previous items we didn¡¯t test out.
A Kingless World: Well in that case I¡¯m sticking to my first score. 16/16. Its cool looking.
Len923: ¡­as the only one who can stop this madness I¡¯m going have to go with a 10/16. It''s effective. But I also don¡¯t think it''s deserving of the praise Kingless is giving it. I¡¯ve actually had archer adventurers and I can¡¯t imagine any of them using this¡­device. All of them prefer simple wooden or metal constructs with MAYBE some option to apply effects to their arrows. Some wind magic or a bow that sets arrows on fire. Simple stuff like that. This¡­is too complex you know? It might work with their skills...to be honest for a non-archer this is a better bow. But it looks like it might interfere too much with the skills an actual archer would use. So yeah. 10/16 seems fair.
Phantasmal Patterns: Madness has been CONTROLED. :3
A Kingless World: Hmm?
Phantasmal Patterns: Have you never heard of Steam mana? It''s what happens when you combine Water and Fire mana. This item shows remarkable use of it in a SAFE and controlled manner.
A Kingless World: ¡­15/16 because it looks cool but uses madness. Only 1 Bop off!
Phantasmal Patterns: I believe they were the same Core who made a STEAM POWERED MONSTER for the races. This use of controlled madness doesn¡¯t come up very often.
Len923: Annnd Boop. 11/16 to offset kingless being dumb.
Phantasmal Patterns: 14/16 for controlling steam mana so well in tier 5. 11/16 for the item. I¡¯ll round that out¡­to 13/16 as my final score! MOVING ON!
Flipping forwards a few more cores they came up against Doc¡¯s creation. Which surprisingly wasn¡¯t demonic in nature.
Len923: It''s tiny!
A Kingless World: I bet everyone else is jealous they didn¡¯t come up with this.
Doc had made a miniature sword and shield¡­sized for a gnome. The sword was made of concentrated sword mana and was roughly 4cm long. But unlike the miniature dagger that was just a bit longer than that¡­ it had a small handle and thin shape designed for a miniature person ¨C instead of looking like a stubby dagger that was too small to function, it looked like a perfectly sized weapon that had been shrunk. In comparison, the shield was made of a buffeting Kinetic mana that dispersed force in all directions. Together they were attached by a small chain to make them be considered a single item that was popular with all 3 of the judges.
Len932: Hey Kingless did you manage to see that gnome fight in the streamcast?
A Kingless World: Hah. Yes this would have made great loot for it. 16/16!
Len923: 15/16 for me but I definitely think it''s one of the best in the lineup.
Phantasmal Patterns: ¡­ It''s not quite in the SPIRIT of the event. Although it is quite clever and follows the letter of, if not the spirit of the rules¡­ it''s not QUITE what I was hoping for when I made them. You were supposed to try and make something almost unmagical that worked well as a reward¡­In that regard, I think the steam bow is a much better item in this event. 10/16 from me. AND ON TO THE NEXT!
The results were tallied and the score for this part was given separately.
Top Results [Part 2 seperate scorboard].
#1. ZeMadDoctor: Item made [Minature Sword and Shield]
#2. Innearth: Item made [Steam Bow]
#3. Sin Seeker: Item made [Void Rapier]
Before Innearth could be sad at being placed below Doc he received a popup.
Description of Part 3
In part one you had material constraints, in part two you had mana constraints. The last thing that goes into making items is time¡­so you have [9 minutes 57 seconds] to make an item - using no unique materials and unlimited mana/materials from your inventory. Good luck.
Time left [9 minutes, 55 seconds]
¡­dozens of panicked thoughts flashed through Innearth''s mind. 10 minutes is not even enough time to print a good item let alone design it. I have to make this manually as I design it. AHHHHHH. Throwing crystal mana at the problem, Innearth grew a thin greatsword 4 meters long. Crystal mana and carbon flew out in waves. Growing outwards from several nodes as he flung materials into the space. A dozen separate places grew together and smoothed over as they joined. Frantically juggling materials and multitasking Innearth somewhat roughly threw together a void shrinking zone around his greatsword, shrinking and compressing it down into a much more ¡°natural¡± size of 1.5m. Before he could even start thinking of adding more to it the timer flashed and they were once more presenting their items. Of the 39 Cores participating, only 20 had something to show off. Of those 20, 5 were swords ¨C and Innearth was suddenly worried the judges would bash them for being ¡°boring¡± or generic like they did when there was mostly daggers.
Len923: Oh! We are up again?
A Kingless World: ¡­hah. Most didn¡¯t make it. I can¡¯t complain. 10 minutes is a positive sprint.
Phantasmal Patterns: This section is weighed less than the previous :3 JUST SO YOU KNOW! Lets see what we have!
Going through the line for a final time, the group compared the "fire sword" to the "stretchy hat".
Len923: What does this do?
Phantasmal Patterns: I believe¡­ it''s just a fashionable hat.
A Kingless World: ¡­this can¡¯t be what they meant to make. Probably ran out of time and submitted the half done item. Next!
Reaching Innearth¡¯s item the group stopped once more.
Diamond Great Blade [Tier 3 greatsword].
Description: A sharp crystal weapon that¡¯s more resitant than usual. Created with great care and skill by a dungeon core with Diamond mana.
Slashing damage 0-350. Durability 500/250. Skill Channeling Bonus +25%
¡­that description was fake but Innearth assumed the system compared it to someone with Dimond mana instead of someone with too little time throwing everything they had at it¡­and he didn¡¯t have enough time to write a proper description.
Phantasmal Patterns: oho! Good attempt here. No special effects, but a solid base with nice damage. For the time given? 14/16
Len923: Solid. Useful. Not much to say. Its practical and well made. 14/16.
A Kingless World: Is this the competitor who made the steam bow? I liked that one more this is kind of boring. 8/16 I think. What else do we have?
Finishing their tally the final results were shoved into a weighed magic black box and spat out into the scoreboard.
Top Results For the Constraint based Loot creation event
#1. Innearth: Items made [Spinning Crystal Blade, Steam Bow, Crystal Blade]
#2. ZeMadDoctor: Items made [Demonic Cleanse, Minature Sword and Shield, Partial Kinetic Cage (unfinished)]
#3. Sin Seeker: Items made [Bottle of Acid, Void Rapier, Void Shield (unfinished)]
¡­I¡­I won? I won! ¡­ A few minutes after the host congratulated him publicly Innearth received a private message from the host.
Phantasmal Patterns: Eheheh. It''s ironic that you are the one to have won. Quite a few of the so called secrets I can offer you it appears you have already discovered on you own huh. Phantasmal Patterns: I feel like I''m going have to get a bit more personal for this to be a proper reward eh young core?
Innearth: What sort of information are you going to tell me?
Phantasmal Patterns: Well...I can tell you of system luck for one. It doesn''t look like you''ve touched it before so I can send you a prepared packet. I can also help describe and answer questions about something I''ve noticed you apply ¨C mana circuits.
Innearth: oh? You know about them? Do more cores know about them? ¡­and why aren¡¯t they talked about more often if Cores do?
Phantasmal Patterns: The answer to that lies in two separate directions. Have you been spreading about and teaching people about them? Selling packets on it?
Innearth moved to say yes and then stopped. All his friends knew and Doc had even done a lot to work with them¡­ but beyond that he hadn''t really been spreading it around.
Phantasmal Patterns: A lot of those that do find out keep it to themselves. The second reason is that fundamentally they are difficult and broken things. Do you know what mana circuits are?
Innearth: They are...paths for mana to flow and mingle that create effects? With nodes and shapes that can alter what they do?
Phantasmal Patterns: Yes but not what I was meaning when I asked the question. Mana circuits are simply a broken spell system. Do you know how spells are formed?
Innearth: not really. I looked about but there doesn''t seem to me much on the market about it.
Phantasmal Patterns: Repetition and intent. If many different people do the same actions with mana and expect the same result...it happens. Sure it''s a bit more complicated than that because difficulty and the amount of mana play a role but...that''s how magic works. Spell systems are created when multiple similar spells blend together and build upon one another. They reinforce each other and make sense of the combinations and nearly every single spell system in this world is well put together. Phantasmal Patterns: Dwarves have made a spell system of runes. They draw interlocking geometric shapes and can make effects. This is a well put together spell system because they have many small components that work together to make a whole...dwarves started off with simple small runes. They used less mana and created simple stars in circles or crosses or spirals and those held simple meanings. They then put those components together and decided how it would work from the ground up. Phantasmal Patterns: Dwarves have one of the most satisfying spell systems in my opinion. It''s almost art the way runes create magical effects. And they grew stronger as Dwarves grew better at using them. Now the items Dwarves make are known as some of the best in our world. They started off weak but grew and interlocked. Making new effects out of existing puzzle pieces is easy if you follow the rules laid out. Phantasmal Patterns: Now adding new runes is hard but when they are added they work as a puzzle piece that falls in line with the rest of the magic. The intent of the rune system outlines what the intent of new runes can do. It''s wonderful.
Innearth was happy to find the host also went on tangents. The amount of information he was suddenly learning felt like a gate had been unlocked.
Innearth: so I''ve read or heard before that combining mana types for dual or even triple component materials is a spell. Is that why some combinations don''t make as much sense? Like why void and fire make both void fire and ice?
Phantasmal Patterns: Yep. The first creators of those materials influenced the way they were made...but that was done much longer ago. Way back before the system was even designed. Phantasmal Patterns: Now that brings us to dungeon core mana circuits. They are a newer creation that has come up in the past few thousand years. They were designed from the top to the bottom. That means instead of making puzzle pieces that work together whole monsters with large circuits were made that had already created effects. Those monsters were perhaps shared by schematic and created by hundreds of cores cementing their effect in place. That was done over hundreds of monsters with different intents and almost arbitrary designs which is why there are so many inputs that can affect and control the results of a circuit...most cores who discovered the circuits actually had effects did so too late to fix what we as a species had done.
Innearth: ...so what does that mean?
Phantasmal Patterns: It means any sort of experiments or tests you have done or are trying to do are useless. There''s no rules or laws or rhyme or reason to circuits the only way to discover good ones is through brute force and trial and error...and if you''ve discovered a good one then it''s nearly impossible to transfer it between monsters that are too different. Sometimes changing small innocent things like the size of a creature or the material it''s made of does nothing - other times small changes completely break the circuit.
...it was more than just some experiments or tests at this point...nearly every monster he made had a circuit...and he wasn''t up to telling patterns that.
Phantasmal Patterns: ...in this regard I''m providing advice. If you don''t have anything better to do circuits are a great time sink. But even though I know of them I don''t use them in my own monsters. And that''s because I can make much more consistent results with higher-tiered cores. If you want efficiency it''s easier to design better parts and raise your skill level up till you can start making tri mana materials. Phantasmal Patterns: Do you have any other questions? I''ll also send the packet for system luck over. I''m sure while not game changing you can come up with some fun effects. Take a look at my gambling room if you want advice! Adding some randomness to your dungeon can make stuff interesting. It can make situations where you truly won''t know what''s going to happen. It''s a perfectly fine way to spice up your entertainment.
...Innearth read over system luck and was suitably interested and dismissive. It was kind of interesting and he loved knowing more about how the world worked...but he also agreed with the system that luck sucked. It was his bad luck that caused him to dig into an area with a demon. It was his bad luck that he was placed in an area without adventurers... No, he didn''t want to make a dungeon designed around random chance. Skill and knowledge would win out. Not a coin flip no matter how much drama or excitement it could make. Satisfied with his reward of knowledge Innearth turned to the next event deciding if he wanted to compete in it. Chapter 56. Command And Conquer: Dungeon Alert - Corestrike.
Okay, I''m serious, Kate. Something incredibly weird is happening in this dungeon. I watched a trio of green and brown monsters fight through a horde of mosaic monkeys and then open up and slide down a secret passageway. One used tentacles to lift it up while the others jumped into it one by one...and then the tentacled monster carefully placed the stone-coloured trap door down on top of them! This wasn''t in the regular section of the dungeon okay? Can no one tell me what''s happening? Honestly can someone take me seriously? I got a class skill called [shade''s premonition] the other day and it''s leveled all the way up to level 14 in only 3 days! That''s proof that something weird is happening. The bartender at the pale drink told me that''s normal in dungeons and to ignore it but...but really? That''s normal? Am I really the only one who thinks something big is about to happen?
Excerpt obtained from a conversation held just inside the "Hypnotic Dungeon" -Year 2000AS
Rules: Round Robin "till there is one"
  1. You will be given a base in your ring. That base has a fake core and if your core is shattered for any reason you lose.
  2. To even the playing field you agree to do the equivalent of setting your regeneration to the lowest competitor in your ring for fairness. All excess will be gifted away constantly. We recommend putting your dungeon on hold as best as you can for this event to maximize your mana use.
  3. Monsters can be created using materials scavenged in the playing area as well as your inventory. You may not transfer any pre prepared or unique materials into the playing field but anything else is fair game.
Final Description and sign-up. In the ring there will be periodic challenges of a few different flavors. They will be varied but have a theme of creating monsters with specific effects, constraints or goals. Simultaneously you may attack your opponents'' bases and must maintain your defenses while completing the various challenges. Scoring low in the challenges can result in your elimination, while scoring well can protect you from failure in later ones. It will also add to your total dungeon games score. Finally rules may be added or removed arbitrarily and if you do not agree to follow the newest rules you may be eliminated. Good luck.
Enter? Y/N? Current participants [4]
Innearth: hey. So, opinions on newest event?
Abe: sounds fun. I''m in.
Innearth: truce? Alliance? Non-aggression agreement?
Abe: yeah sure. I already beat you in the race I''m happy to form a truce. I''ll agree not to raid your stores. Or whatever.
Amy: Hey, Yeah, I''m thinking of joining but I still don''t really know what this event is about. Anyone? Also let me in on that truce. Don''t turn on each other until the end!
ZeMadDoctor: ...I would prefer not to make a fake truce and then have it be broken later...
Abe: come on bro. A truce is sacred! I wouldn''t throw away our continued friendship for a brief chance to win some stupid event. You know me.
Innearth: ...You know doc maybe you have a point.
Abe: BRO.
Innearth: I''m joking. The truce is still on obviously. :3
Fated Eternal Design: Do you know what the event will be like? How are you already making truces, I¡¯m still trying to figure out what this event actually will be about.
Innearth: Adding rules as we go would be scary, but you can always just drop out so best not to think about it. From what I can understand the event looks like we¡¯ll be completing tasks with the chance to sabotage each other. Innearth: Like if we don¡¯t think we can win against someone we could try taking them out before we have to compete you know? Seems simple enough.
Innearth pressed the participation button ¡°legally binding¡± himself to the rules and started setting stuff up in advance. Enough events had gone by that he trusted them now...at the start of the Dungeon games he would have balked at the idea of sending away mana for an extended period of time but now...well now he was having fun and he agreed with the assessment that this only happened every decade. Might as well make the most of it. He hesitated before stopping both his advancing and inner wars. Finally relenting Innearth told all of his monsters to defend themselves but not seek out or start anything while this event was going on. As soon as the confirmation arrived, Innearth found he was given a two-story two-room place to work. The bottom room was set underground and had a single tier 1 core on a pedestal to represent what he had to protect. ...the idea that we have to protect something that looks vaguely like us from getting killed is slightly macabre. The top room was underneath a large reinforced dome of highly compressed and strengthened metallic material. It had an oval-shaped open door on the side and connecting the two floors was a ramp that moved around and down its side. A timer was set to 15 minutes to situate oneself and prepare. Innearth knew that was a vital amount of time. There was a non-zero chance that he would be attacked in that amount of time and he had to act fast. 15 minutes was just short of enough time to print one of his better defenders ¨C the tank and artillery pair that was the magma spider and crystal bat pair. He could also have made a snake but those were better at attacking and not getting attacked, than they were at preventing anything from getting past. Finally, he could have made a crystal hedgehog or turtle and it would have printed slightly faster but...it also would have been less mobile and potentially easier to get past than the spider and bat. Finally. Through the magic of big data, he had discovered more "strong" schematics for the spiders and bats than he had for the lesser created Turtles. The largest problem was being unable to transfer ¡°unique materials¡± from his dungeon and sadly the living crystal counted. Happily, Innearth had a few schematics that used other options and picked one that flung globs of liquid fire through its connection to the spider. Side effect of constantly remaking spiders and snakes for their war¡­when this competition is over, I should start considering if I want to stick with mana circuits or not. I get that I¡¯m using a broken system¡­but I also feel like there are tangible benefits to continuing. Checking around, it appeared there were four cameras focusing on the center of the ring from different angles. From them he could see the sides of all the domes and how their doors pointed inwards. With the angle and distance, he could not see more than that however and he was blind to anything behind the domes. In the top corner of the event stream there was a graphic of the dotted ring, with names radiating out from each dot-like spokes of a wheel. Keeping a portion of attention on the screens Innearth tried to plan out what he was going to do next. I don''t really feel like trying to destroy the other Cores preemptively. I''m going to focus on defence and then as soon as that''s good enough, scout out the area. I want to know what I''m facing and then I can work on information. As soon as the time ticked down there was a strange sort of anticipatory pause that stretched out awkwardly. His pair were at 20s to print when suddenly, from the corner of one screen he watched a swarm of small, four legged, grey creatures ¨C with no head but a sharp horn ¨C rush out of one of the bases. There were 23 of the monsters that ran gleefully towards different cores'' bases in a preemptive strike. It took 40s to cross to reach Innearth¡¯s base and a single spike dog made it a half a meter into his base before it was met with his defences. A single crystal spike shot out, sliding past the invader''s spike before stabbing through the whole length of the monster. The force was enough to fling it out of his base ¨C dead ¨C and Innearth stared after it. Weak. But then again if they were making that many it makes sense, they are this weak. I bet they are aiming for Cores who haven''t set up basic defences yet. Every 40 seconds, a new spike dog was released. They were certainly cheap enough to spam and over the first few minutes of the game a dozen Cores fell to the weak swarm. Every time a Core fell, their name would disappear from the circle graphic and their dot would grey out ¨C from a dark almost black to a light transparent ring. ¡­This rush strategy wasn¡¯t necessarily the smartest for the nameless Core, however. They managed to take out quite a few Cores by surprise but by throwing everything they had into their initial strike they didn¡¯t have enough time or mana to make their own defences. A retaliation strike was done swiftly by a rolling ball of dirt with a sharp spiralling root on its side. The ball calmly trundled into the entrance to their core room and then after a silence trundled out once more ¨C looking relatively smug despite being just a ball of dirt. Two more incursions happened in the next few minutes ¨C the first by a centipede-like creature that glowed with magma and fire and the second by a spinning kinetic and earth top that jumped around as it moved. The top made its way purposefully across the ring into a very specific cave on some sort of vendetta while the centipede just aimed for the closest core room to attack. Innearth¡¯s second pair was nearly printed and he started to set up simple traps near his door. He didn¡¯t have much room downwards to place stuff, so he worked off creating void spikes on the side that were controlled with several spinning kinetic plates. The spikes could be shoved from the left side of the door at a moment¡¯s notice and were made into a ¡°plant trap¡± by giving them life. Ideally, they could have been controlled directly by Innearth¡­but he wasn¡¯t sure how to run his influence through something across the system¡­he expected it was impossible. He took a moment to check his current stats.
Innearth
Level 56 104/3762 exp to next level.
System Access Level 5 0/2 requirements met to advance.
-0/50 sapient delves.
-Level 64+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 81.87 personal unit/min
Mana concentration 2.75 AMU / personal unit
Mana Storage 6103.20/10345.68 AMU
Physical Storage 56% Capacity
Age 908 days 2 years
Distance underground 293 meters
Number of floors 13 floors
Titles.
Earth Mana Specialization, Crystal Mana Specialization, Void mana Specialization.
¡­These games are giving me a lot of levels comparably. Especially that last event¡­It''s almost suspiciously high. Is the system increasing experience gains for the games? Or is it just a product of trying something I haven¡¯t done before¡­both? If it is, I should make sure to take advantage of this. Anyways. Adding some stats and then creating a separate smaller form specifically for this event, Innearth set up a panel showing his relevant resources just for now.
Level 56 104/3762 exp to next level.
Mana Regeneration 156.5 AMU/Min [225.15 Regular]
Mana storage 6104.65/10345.68 AMU
Time till full 27.09925 Min
So. I spent a lot making those 4 defenders and trap but it was worth it. I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s good enough to defend against most anything that can attack me because I used some of my strongest schematics for it¡­ 27 minutes is a bit longer than usual due to my lower regen but It''s still a safe number for what is essentially boss level monsters. ¡­Not having adventurers is actually almost a boon for this event. I can shut down my dungeon much easier and use all the mana I¡¯ve been allowed on this event. Moving on, I could make a greater crystal snake as a scout¡­But those cost around 1200 for my current schematics and I don¡¯t want to put in the work to weaken them for a cheaper cost again. This is probably the time to switch to a numbers game. I can make a regular snake with a general weak crystal manipulation circuit for 450. I can also make ones that have stronger manipulation skill that¡¯s more constrained into spikes or making paths like the scout before he ascended. I could also try transplanting a strong general crystal manipulation that¡¯s close-ranged from one of my greater snakes ¨C but that would up the cost to closer to 800 mana and I don¡¯t want to deal with it not working with the smaller and slightly different shape. That skill that¡¯s almost a spell would be the most useful in case they need to bring back materials from the surroundings. Another goal is that I don¡¯t want to drop below 50% of my capacity for long in case I need it for a mini event¡­and actually now that I think about it, what if an event drops our regeneration down to 0? I think staying near full is the safest. So, make a dozen normal snakes as scouts, then wait till I regenerate closer to full to make some stronger scouts using the greater general crystal manipulation? It¡¯s a plan! Working on creating his snakes and waiting to regenerate, Innearth started sending out scouts slightly later than the Cores who had forgone defence. It was slightly disappointing seeing monsters come back with strange and probably powerful materials while he was just getting ready but the defence he made seemed like a smarter short-term decision. Especially watching the occasional raid succeed ¨C one ¡°wheeled cart with arms¡± came rolling back. Its whole back was full of various glinting stones and plants but before it could reach the core room it was accosted by three bandits. The three bandits smashed the cart to pieces before returning to deposit them in their relevant core rooms. To make matters worse a 4th monster made of tentacles that left an ooze across the ground, headed into the Core¡¯s base who just had their resources intercepted and smashed the core inside. ¡­was that Amy? How many Cores are using tentacled monsters? If that was Amy wow¡­brutal. Kick em while their down. A few of his snakes came back in time for Innearth¡¯s new ¡°report¡± mental mana station to set up. Around the ring there was roughly a kilometer of rough multi-layered rocky outcrops to explore. For the most part there were ¡°unique¡± materials that were either embedded in the walls to mine laying about on the floor or deep in small caves. The truly strong ¡°looking¡± materials however were guarded by the host''s monsters. If you wanted to grab that glassy material that was constantly shooting off sparks hot enough to burn everything around it, you had to get through 3 rhinos circling. Wanted to loot the floating rocks? Had to fight off the mystic parrots to do so. Based on what he could tell from the reports he was gathering the only materials he was interested in were located behind guardians. That moved up his timeline for switching to stronger scouts to "immediately" and he started printing greater snakes to take over At roughly the hour mark a popup appeared.
As the initial craziness has stabilized we can now move on to the first challenge. There are 84 cores remaining which means we have a nice even bracket. I love when that happens. Shortly I will be depositing balls with elements written on them into the center of the ring. Your task will be to make a monster out of nothing but the mana type displayed (and pure mana or non magical materials). None of your unique materials can be used. Max core size is Tier 3. Afterwards your monster will be pitted against a randomly drawn opponent where it will fight to the death for your ranking. There is a non interference rule put in place. Finally once you¡¯ve chosen your element you may not hold onto additional balls. Save it for the rest of the competitors. By continuing you agree to all of these rules as stated in the sign up. Good luck! ~Phantasmal Patterns.
92 small bouncing balls were suddenly dropped into the center of the ring ¨C scattering in separate directions. Okay! Go! Try and get Crystal Earth or even Void! Grab a good one please I can¡¯t imagine what I¡¯ll do if I¡¯m stuck with something like Air or worse Space or Time. The newest greater crystal snake shot off at Innearth¡¯s urging. Two cup-like crystals formed rapidly on either side of it as it went to grab relevant balls and bring them back for Innearth to read. ¡­It wasn¡¯t in the rules, but it appeared most Cores were doing the same. They were getting greedy and trying to collect as many balls as possible before shifting to ones they liked. As Innearth checked his list he watched one monster actually exit a Core¡¯s base and bring a ball to their friend. The first batch came back to Innearth. Kinetic mana, Stone mana, Sand mana, Magma mana. I guess Stones the best here for me. Keep searching though. I think I¡¯d prefer crystal if you can get it. Crystal or even plain Earth. Considering the balls Innearth had gained for a moment he sighed and tossed the Magma, Sand and Kinetic ones out into the center again. Some Cores were playing with the ¡°Once you¡¯ve chosen your element you may not hold onto balls¡± rule and were hoarding a pile of balls without picking one. It seemed like needless antagonism especially when they were being attacked by monsters desperate for a ball. ¡­There are 92 balls for 84 cores. More than enough to go around as long as you are fine with getting a non-beneficial or harder mana type. The greater crystal snake came back with 4 more balls. Life, Eternity, Dirt, Binding mana, Weapon mana. Briefly considering them Innearth sent off a message in the group chat.
Innearth: Hey FED? You still in this? Want an Eternity ball?
Fated Eternal Design: Tier 3 mana sounds horrible to use on its own. I¡¯m trying to roll an Air core ¨C simple is best.
¡­I already tossed an Air core already¡­oops¡­he does have a point though, I¡¯d prefer Earth to Stone. Tossing all 4 of them out into the middle once again, Innearth waited for his snake to return. This time the snake came back with only 3 balls¡­they were rapidly being claimed he couldn''t do this much longer. Fire mana, Gas mana, Mud mana. What are the chances there is a crystal ball left? Tossing them out, Innearth watched as one of the Cores who had been hoarding a pile finally picked and tossed a pile of 10 balls into the middle. Monsters scrambling to chose something their creators could use. ¡­one last roll I guess? Lake mana, Health mana, Sand mana, Binding mana. The pile was rapidly dwindling and after shifting through everything Innearth finally decided to claim the ball he had. As soon as he confirmed he wanted to use Stone as his element the ball disappeared, and a new bracket was set up.
Innearth [Stone mana] vs Corr [Mist mana].
Remaining time [23 hours 48 minutes 59 seconds]
Innearth looked at the bracket he was in and then at the greater bracket. He had been unlucky with the random scooping¡­There were 8 Earth cores and 1 Crystal core that had been taken before he could pick something. Not recognizing anyone his friends were facing he returned to his own pairing. ¡­Mist. Is this going to be like fighting an Air core? This feels like an altered version of Air vs Earth and I¡¯ve already had to deal with that when I dealt with FED¡¯s spirits¡­ Let¡¯s see. I can make a stone golem similar to my old Earth golem¡­that might work reasonably well¡­The¡­the biggest problem will be damaging mist. Small sharp and slow attacks will probably do nothing to it. Mist is slightly easier than air because I think fire could damage it? ¡­I¡¯m stuck with stone, however. I can imagine if I make a monster big enough to flatten it that might be enough to break apart whatever they make. The more magic I make my stone golem the more its attacks will be theoretical, and magic based than physical and thwarted¡­SO let¡¯s see. First I¡¯ll make a monster that¡¯s large and can hit hard with wide attacks and then I will work on making it magical¡­but that feels like I¡¯m trying to get the best of both worlds :/ Also I¡¯m thinking large but it has to fit inside my base and through the door unless¡­I want to make the door bigger for some reason? I¡¯m getting distracted. First let¡¯s get the shell in place. Innearth worked on using stone mana to make a large car-like base with a dozen wheels on both sides. Stone mana was easy to work with but hard to work with well. If he were working with it manually making a rough lumpy block would take but a minute while making a similar-sized, perfectly smooth, ring would take almost an hour of shaping. It would have been faster to design a machine to grind and smooth the magic stone afterwards than it would have been shaping it to be perfect. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡­The system design panel cheated that whole difficulty shoving the more exact dimensions into a slightly longer print time happily. ¡°Doughnut with radius of 10cm shoved on pole that¡¯s locked into the middle? Gotchu. That will be uhhhhh 25 mana and 2 minutes thank you very much¡± "Why you¡¯re welcome Mr System. Pleasure doing business with you¡± Setting the 24 wheels onto their own ¡°sockets¡± Innearth made sure they could all shift in constrained ¡°horizontal range¡± that would allow turning. Because alone those wheels would not move nearly as fast or as well as Innearth wanted, they each got a small stone core directly in the middle of them. The next part of this tank of a monster Innearth wanted to work on was the method of attack. Returning to a previous design Innearth took the incredibly old ¡°Gol1&2¡± schematic and revived the spirit of them back from the dead. Instead of a hooked spear that could stab downwards, Innearth made a large slightly curved flat ¡°fly swatter¡± on the front. Heading backwards was a counterweight that shifted the center of balance back and forth letting it fall forwards in a large smash or raise up slowly. Should I even rely on a circuit for this monster? I feel like I need to make sure its smash is a skill that is magical enough to kill mist¡­but I¡¯ve just been warned off circuits and don¡¯t have enough time to experiment with them. I can¡¯t imagine any Cores will have made a circuit for a monster that looks like this¡­so maybe I just have to make a unique looking stone and pure core circuit and ¡°decide¡± that it will make the smash magical? ¡­Will it even work if I know that that¡¯s what I want it to do? Do I have to trick myself into thinking its going to work like that? Damn. As useful as the information was it might have been detrimental to find out how circuits work. ¡­But okay. Maybe I don¡¯t have to pretend. I just have to intend for it to work? That¡¯s how intent works right? ¡­but that¡¯s not how Phantasmal Patterns made it sound like it would work for spells. ¡­I¡¯m spending too much time on this I¡¯ll just make one and hope for the best. Due to being made completely out of stone mana there was a huge boost that making the largest core out of stone mana would give. Hesitating on cost Innearth made 1 tier 3 stone core in the very center. Next 4 tier 2 versions in the 4 corners of his fly swatting tank before making swirling connections with miniature nodes everywhere. The whole time he was designing this he was taking into account the print time and despite still having plenty of time left Innearth printed his monster early so it would have time to settle. ¡­ And then it was time. Multiple duels were called at a time and every time one failed another was called to take their place. Roughly 20 minutes into the duel session Innearth was up, sending his stone monstrosity rolling out. His opponent was a rubbery frog-like monster that breathed mist into the air around it covering the whole ring in seconds and causing other teams to call interference¡­ ¡­are you joking? They made a solid monster for me to hit? That rubbery fleshy creature looks like it¡¯s made with pure mana. Are they even trying? FED would have made a creature completely out of mist that attacked from all directions! Charging out, the tank rolled across the length of the ring in seconds. its large flat ¡°Swatter¡± pierced through the hidden fog and came down towards the frog. A rush of thick almost solid-looking mist flew out to intercept the swatter while the frog moved to jump to the side ¨C surprised it had been found in its hiding spot. Despite its best efforts however the palm of disapproval came down hard, rendering all resistance futile. As it fell, a weight seemed to build in the seconds of hang time. The edges appeared to grow larger and its front gained a meteor-like haze of heat on the bottom. Smack. ¡­Mist slowly cleared as their creator was defeated. A faint dew covered the ground where a clear squished splatter was left of the frog.
Victor [Innearth]
¡­that¡¯s it? Innearth watched as his stone creation rolled back to him and he tried to consider what happened. Okay so maybe they got an element they were bad at. And I guess I have made earth golems before out of a single element¡­so I can¡¯t be too mean about this. But wow that was pathetic. ¡­ Free from the mini event and not sure what to do with his stone monster Innearth ended up sending it off as a pair with a greater snake. They were to find and bring back unique materials as well as continue scouting the greater area their little arena was set up in. The first event ended without too much fanfare or penalties for losing, but soon after it was over the next event was ¡°Issued¡±.
Elemental Endurance. A zone has been set up where an excessive amount of damage will be applied in dozens of different ways. The goal of this mini event is to create a monster that can survive the amount of damage I will be sending its way. No Restrictions on anything other than time. You have only 12 hours to design and create your tank. Penalties are coming into place for falling before others. Good luck!
¡­this event seems much simpler than the previous. Make a tank that will have to deal with lots of different dangerous areas. Okay. First off. Healing is important. Lots and lots of health sacks and regenerating fluid to heal those sacks. My current goto tank is the magma spider but its legs are easily damaged and I don¡¯t need it to attack anything. So, let¡¯s start off with my turtle schematic and go from there! Taking the crystal turtle, Innearth started making space and shoving more and more healing and paired regeneration sacks into its middle. The innards got more and more squished in and its size was increased twice till it was roughly a meter in diameter. Its large crystal cannon was removed in favour of covering it completely with a shell. The next thing I have to deal with is its shell. Crystal mana materials are strong but shatter easier. They also don¡¯t provide as much defence against the elements as I¡¯ll probably need for this event. ¡­Flipping between all the elements Innearth could think of he suddenly stopped when an idea struck him. ¡­What if¡­what if instead of taking damage I try to neutralize damage? By that, I mean what if I surround it in Void mana? Liking this plan more and more, Innearth swapped out the turtle¡¯s shell for ¡°void silver¡± ¨C roughly 3cm thick and insulated by a 1cm thick inner shell of ¡°regular silver¡±. The inner shell was reinforced with metal mana as soon as it was no longer touching the void and then filled with a squishy pure mana and silicon layer to help protect the organs. Partway through this design his greater snake and swatter tank came back carrying a vibrating red jewel roughly 50cm wide and 50cm tall. Dropping it caused light to seem to soak out of the ground and a portion of the stone ground was burned away in a pulse. ¡­do I add this to my turtle? I mean it might be able to neutralize attacks but also putting it in the center of my monster would break it¡­ It might also be damaged by the extreme effects of the challenge if stuck on the outside¡­I¡¯ll put it to the side for now and use it later. Good job! Returning to the design, the stubby legs of the turtle were made of more void. Next, the bottom was tipped in a metal mana ring similar to a horseshoe to prevent it from sinking down into the ground. The legs were a weak point so Innearth set up several ¡°sandwiches¡± of silver, void silver, silver that prevented something from stabbing up through the bottom of their feet. Next providing an equal number of 20 life nodes 20 void nodes and 10 kinetic nodes Innearth doubled down on everything he was focusing on¡­As he made the circuit, he spent some time wondering if it would work, wondering if him wondering if it would work would break it. Wondering if he should even use one¡­ ¡­ The turtle printed just in time for the event to start. With the number of Cores that had already died, more cameras started to be set up ¨C each detailing a large flat plain beside the ring of dungeon bases. Trundling along out of the main camera, 83 monsters left the ring but only 81 arrived at the new area. ¡­Attacked on route huh? I guess that was done to prevent retaliation? One of the affected cores was raging in the event chat while the other was silent.
Phantasmal Patterns: Not having a monster ready for the event counts as failing it. NO EXCEPTIONS! Sabotage is part of the event my fine Core. Phantasmal Patterns: For the rest of you! Looks like everyone¡¯s here and it''s time to start!
The First challenge to descend was water. A rain of clear liquid fell onto the group of monsters. Soft splashes fell down and pooled below them while slowly building up. Looking around Innearth noticed all the monsters were still alive. Is this designed to break any pure fire elementals? Looks like no one made anything like that this time around. Probably could have skipped this section after noticing no one made anything. Continuing to watch Innearth saw the water get deeper and deeper till at roughly 3 meters tall, the deluge stopped. Most monsters were floating at this point except a few like Innearth¡¯s void turtle which was sitting on the bottom ¨C a light whirlpool appearing around them as water was eaten by the void slowly draining the massive pool. Not giving them much time to rest or orient themselves to the new situation the second stage began. All along the bottom of the pool, flaps flipped around showing molten coils of red hot metal. Within seconds the water began boiling, bubbles and steam rising from a hundred points upwards. The shift was rapid and nearly instantaneous. A dozen monsters broke in the shift as super-heated blasts of steam sheared through and parboiled the weakest monsters.
Phantasmal patterns: I AM A CHEF! THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME MAKE SOUP! EHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE.
Sure enough, the once clear liquid rapidly took on a greenish-brown tint as life-attuned monsters were cooked and distributed throughout the stage. Slowly the boiling liquid descended, drying up and leaving the raining monsters sprawled about and covered by the remainders of the losers. Magic filled the air as the ground warped and magma began being deposited about the ground. ...how is he doing all this so quickly? Like sure he had time to set it up...oh I guess he''s skimming mana from all of us in the name of fairness¡­ having a huge amount of mana to work with would help. He must have made pools of materials beforehand that he''s now blipping in. Some monsters weathered this storm while others preferred dodging the molten rock and metal and finding safe places to land on. Two more monsters fell at this stage but by and large the monsters that already survived the rapidly boiling water were able to either dodge or weather the lava. Slowly the room cooled at this point before the next phase began. Coils of spring-like metal were risen from the ground sparking with pinpoints of light as Lightning mana covered their lengths. As soon as they were in place a dust of sorts started to fill the air. The catalyst was all that was needed. As soon as the dark metallic dust hit the pillars they were sucked inwards fueling a change of matter to energy. Lightning mana arced up and down each coil and flickered through the air. Arcs jumped from monster to monster damaging and passing through them. Surprisingly based on how the void turtle acted, at least some managed to penetrate its shell¡­but even if a portion of the mana reached it, all the healing organs were more than enough to protect it. After a moment of getting hit the turtle seemed to shift slightly ¨C its shell getting darker and it stopped jolting. This lightning round killed off over a dozen monsters dropping the total still alive down to 30. Of the monsters still alive, most seemed damaged ¨C smoke rising lightly from their flesh. The only monster decidedly unfazed by the lighting was actually FED¡¯s wind spirit who simply ignored the arcs of mana which seemed to pass by the group. The next round required some setup and most of the monsters appeared to be healing while they had the chance. The coils were retracted and replaced with bowls of various-sized weapons. Once those were in place a light wind began to blow across the whole zone. Wind picked up louder and faster and the lightest shards of metal began flipping up and flying about. As more and more wind started flying around, the whole area began spinning into a light tornado of blades. A shard of metal nearly a meter wide hit Innearth¡¯s turtle melting into it but leaving a gash that healed quickly. Monsters were hit by larger and larger shards ¨C sections of their body sliced off and combined into increasingly more debris shifting about. Despite being made of air FED¡¯s spirit was ripped apart by the greater ¡°air¡± at this point. Slowly the tornado died. 12 monsters remained. Of his friends, Amy and Abe¡¯s monsters were still alive. Of his acquaintances Brutality Queen¡¯s dirt monster was still in the running ¨C Life mana positively exploding out of it as it rapidly tried to keep itself alive.
Phantasmal Patterns: Well¡­A nice showing this round. The goal was to wipe em all out but I¡¯ve run out of prepared environments¡­So everyone left won! Everyone who fell has points between the previous and the time lasted tallied. I¡¯m dropping the bottom 40¡­41 I have to make it even. If you see your name in the following list ¨C you lost ¨C I¡¯m cutting your privileges in a moment. Phantasmal Patterns: Feel free to mingle, the next event should show up soon!
¡­Alright then. Innearth was pretty sure his turtle could have shrugged off more damage than it had just been dealt and was almost disappointed the punishment didn¡¯t continue. Checking the pile of unique materials that had started pooling at the side of his room, Innearth realized he was hoarding. There was a paper-thin yellow fabric that seemed incredibly smooth and stronger than it had any right to be. A sponge-like object that when squeezed released Hydrofluoric acid. There was even a disc that released bubbles constantly when moved. Those bubbles would attach to anything nearby and slowly build. With enough bubbles, monsters or items could be lifted off the ground. I mean. Unique materials are fun but as I get older I feel more and more like they are a crutch. What¡¯s the point in making a monster that you can¡¯t remake later? If a unique monster is a boss you have to figure out something new when they die¡­or collect the monsters parts and remake it¡­So in that manner unique monsters are just a way to spice up a dungeon. Not something to rely on. Deciding to use them instead of waiting endlessly Innearth designed a unique spider bat pair. The spider was given the vaguely fire themed¡­crystal heart of sorts and the bat was given the bubbles as its main form of attack. A kinetic construct was set up to spin and create bubbles on demand while a propeller was set up behind it to blow the bubbles forward without using Air mana. Moving onto the slippery material Innearth skinned a snake schematic and wrapped it with the smooth material. Without the scales, it no longer looked anything like a snake but Innearth was hesitant to call this monster a worm with its size and relative strength¡­You are my sock snake okay? Good luck! Continuing on Innearth went to make more monsters to send off when the next challenge stopped his army building.
The Ranged Event. Your next monster design goal is to make a monster that can shoot targets accurately using provided ammo. Distance, accuracy, strength, and moving targets are all on the table. Altering the ammo is allowed however for shots to count they need to be using the standardized shots. Good luck! PS: I¡¯m providing example shots for measurements. Hope it helps. ~Phantasmal Patterns.
Inside each of the 40 existing bases a single lead ball 8cm in diameter was deposited. Shifting it about Innearth decided to once again alter his turtle design. Taking the standard turtle and replacing its crystal spike cannon with an empty barrel Innearth considered his ball. The easiest direct upgrade might be swapping it with steam mana¡­I¡¯m getting relatively experienced with making pressurized shooting mechanisms, right? It was at that moment something different happened. A round hole appeared in the side of the wall of his core room as a many-legged earth-based mawwed¡­spider worm? Spider with a long back? Burst out of the floor. Orienting itself the creature dashed towards his core nearly ending the whole event right there. Less than meter away from the core a dashing spider collided with the unexpected monster incursion. Grabbing its side with two legs the spider slammed its long cousin against the wall and with a flash it stilled before flaking away. Bringing up the rear the bubble bat was left with nothing to do and after moving to return to their posts Innearth stopped them. I wasn¡¯t going to prey on Cores but hey¡­retaliation is fine by me. I bet whoever just attacked me saw how well I¡¯m doing and didn¡¯t want me to continue competing! Innearth waited patiently for good news to come back from the hole. Obviously, he wasn''t just wasting time, he had already replaced the cannon on the turtle schematic with a steam pressurized ball launcher and was spending the time slowly tweaking bits of it and checking the stats the system spat out. He was also, as always, printing out greater snakes to send off every time his mana was full. Finally, after over half an hour passed with no response, he was forced to conclude something had happened. It''s almost like some karmic entity notices every time I get an inkling of arrogance and decides to make me fail. All I can say is in hindsight sending monsters through an easily collapsible tunnel of earth might have been a mistake. Let''s prepare better. Pausing his turtle design, Innearth printed a burrower to accompany one of the greater snakes who had come back with an incredibly shiny rock. Heading into the tunnel once more, Innearth watched them go, hoping the burrower would be able to protect the snake at the very least even if it couldn¡¯t actively fight. Innearth started to amass every crystal snake that returned into a standing army inside his "base". There wasn¡¯t enough time to return all the snakes that had been created over the past few days but in the time it took for a response he managed to collect two regular and one greater snake. ... Roughly 5 minutes of waiting later, a hole formed roughly 9 empty bases down from him. A single pop of a coned snake''s head popping out for half a second before retreating, indicated it was his monsters who had made the hole. Got you. Innearth sent all three returned snakes towards the culprit with a vengeance. Disappearing into the Core¡¯s base, all three snakes went in followed by a long pause. Imagining a cartoonist biffing and bopping Innearth amused himself while waiting. A minute later 2 snakes returned victorious. Both the normal snakes and the burrower had died but the scout and backup greater snakes remained unscathed. The dot and name faded at the same time as they exited the base and headed back to Innearth¡¯s territory slowly healing small wounds across their flanks. It was impossible to tell the approval or disapproval of the other Cores'' based solely on their base but Innearth was becoming proficient in protecting and anthromophizing vague shapes.
Innearth: well. That''s what happens when you attack me without reason.
Abe: lmao.
Amy: first blood? I''ve knocked out 5 cores already. :3
Innearth: ...okay then.
Fated Eternal Design: I''ve been ready since this event started. My Masks are good at chucking things let''s go.
Innearth: ...don''t rush the rest of us, we can''t all have designed a monster to chuck metal balls before now.
Fated Eternal Design: why stop at balls. My Masks can chuck anything.
Abe: Explosions are a great way to launch items if you need help.
Innearth: we are fine. In other news the truce will end soon. What say you all?
Abe: gasp. Already ready to backstabbing. Final 4 was the truce not final 40.
Innearth: is everyone still alive? Doc?
ZeMadDoctor: yep. I''m not a part of your fragile truce. But yep I''m still alive.
Innearth: I haven''t seen you in events. Have you been participating?
ZeMadDoctor: ...yes of course. I''m still here after all. You know I can make monsters other than demons right? And that I think it''s frowned upon to make demons for the events?
Innearth: ...yeah. I think I vaguely remember something about Rats or something?
ZeMadDoctor: They are useful and can hold and operate items. Why do i feel judged.
Abe: done my monster! Can the event hurry up already? I''m getting bored of this event let''s start attacking each other.
¡­ What felt like a moment later it was time to attack. 37 cores were participating in this round. Unlike the previous ones, everyone was prompted to "gift" or teleport their monster to the arena. A second later it became clear why. With all the dead Cores freeing up cameras, Phantasmal Patterns could show the area off to a much higher resolution. A large cavern full of sprayed out platforms on thin columns was set up. Each remaining monster was placed far away from each other and given a pile of different coloured balls. Innearth¡¯s turtle sniper was given blue balls while Abe''s vaguely cannon shaped monster was given orange ones. Beside the screen, an altered or at least amended rules for the event floated.
Ranged event Dodge-Ball event: Probably should have mentioned but it''s SO MUCH MORE AMUSING FOR ME THIS WAY. The targets in this event are each other''s monsters. Hope you made something that can dodge or protect itself! The event has started. [37/37 remaining]
...I should be good with the turtle¡¯s shell. It''s pretty slow¡­I thought It would be shooting theoretical targets after all¡­but honestly, I think it will be fine even with those problems. Innearth split his focus in two. Based on how his friends were talking, they would be settling this in a straight up battle soon instead of continuing with the events. So far Innearth had made an army of snakes ¨C but he felt like they needed a boss level monster to lead them if he had a chance of winning. Sure the status of boss was weird and somewhat arbitrary from a dungeon perspective. The greater snakes were almost as strong as the magma sisters and were definitely stronger than the beginner and tutorial level bosses. For this case a boss meant as strong of a monster as Innearth could make. Innearth shifted to the strongest monster he had currently made. The crystal caverns boss from the crystal dragon. ...I don''t think I can repeat that creation without the skull. Should I try anyways? Or pick a different base form? Waffling about Innearth decided to use it as the base even without the unique material that pushed it to such a high status. It was essentially a snake with legs after all. Splicing sections from other monsters and using some of the techniques he had learned since the ¡°dragon¡± Innearth toiled away. ¡­ On the other side of his consciousness, the dodgeball event played out. Amy had gone for a simple route which might have screwed her over in a conventional target practice but was paying dividends now. Simply put tentacles would grab balls, pull back, and then throw those balls. Easy enough concept. 4 of its 8 tentacles were used to hold onto the platform and move it back and forth, while the rest grabbed balls and flung them about. They were reasonably accurate, but above all were much faster than the method of loading Innearth had set up. The turtle had to bend towards a ball, grab it with a small appendage that stuffed it down the tube, then turn and fire. At least the way the crystal muscles were spread around the cannon allowed it to twitch aim and perfectly account for any movement. Innearth had imagined moving targets flying about they would have to hit for points after all. The turtle had already taken out 3 random monsters in the first 10 minutes blasting them off the edge and down into the pit below. The pit had been promptly filled with an acidic bath of some clear liquid as soon as the first monster fell down and survived. The liquid melted anyone who fell preventing them from climbing back up. There was one monster in this event that was cheating harder than any of the others however. FED¡¯s mask. It was obviously not able to fall due to being constantly flying but to make matters worse it was snatching other Cores'' shots out of the air and sending them back. Taking one look at that monster and Innearth lost any hope at winning this event. The goal now was to wipe out as many monsters as he could before the challenge ended. Not that he could communicate that goal to the turtle but they seemed to have figured it out on their own. Reload, Spin, Fire...Reload, Spin, Fire... The event was down to 12 when Amy''s shotput octopus turned to Innearth''s turtle sniper. *Crack*. A reverberating shot glanced off the turtle''s side pushing it sideways slightly towards the edge. Returning fire, a shot removed one of the tentacles but missed its center. Turning to reload a second and third shot hit the turtle pushing it further back each time and more importantly further away from the pile of balls the turtle could use to reload with. Noticing the fire had diverted from it, several of the remaining monsters looked between the two trying to decide which they would prefer to lose. The consensus seemed to be "Both" and 3 shots were sent from one side towards Amy''s octopus with 3 sent towards Innearth''s turtle as well. Two shots landed on Amy while only one landed on Innearth but sadly that seemed to be enough. Pushed the last bit over the edge the turtle tilted ¨C seemed to pause for a second ¨C and then fell to the liquid below. Amy''s monster fared better. It lost 4 of its tentacles defending against the heavy shots but in doing so was reduced to a 3 armed cripple that was slowly trying to regrow. Sensing weakness a volley aimed once more and the octopus was ripped from its perch falling to land in the acid below. The rest of the fight played out pretty simply. Abe''s cannon had been less flashy of a target but after Amy and Innearth''s monsters were gone it quickly became an obviously competent target. After being removed the last few were whittled down quickly by FED''s mask which started systematically striking its remaining competitors until there was one.
Phantasmal Patterns: And We HAVE A WINNER! Similar to the past few events I''ll cut this down to the top 18 combined with previous survive! Give me a second and I''ll send off the next goal. It''s going to be another 1v1 matchup good luck!
Sword And Shield. You are to create two monsters. One which can only defend and one that can only attack. These monsters will be placed in a 2v2 battle against one another with the defender protecting the attacker as it attempts to wipe out its opponents. Time until event start [12 hours]
Abe: Okay. This has been fun but I''m getting kind of sick of this you know? It feels like it''s going on past its fun point. I''ll take out the 4 Cores nearest to me. Amy, Innearth, FED, you should all knock out the 3 nearest to you as well and then once the riff raff are gone we can have a massive battle! I''m making a point to say Doc should remain as well for friendship even if he never officially joined us.
Fated Eternal Design: Roger Roger.
Amy: Already been working on that.
Abe: I bet I can take out my 4 before you can take out your 3.
Amy: ...I''ll take out my 3 and if you are still working on yours come and help you out. You probably need it.
Innearth: ...so we arn''t doing the next event? It looks like It could be fun!
Abe: Nah. This event has run its course but don''t worry we can play games like this sometime in the future if we ever get in the mood.
Innearth: ...okay.
Even as they were talking Innearth watched armadillo-like pulsing monsters roll out of Abe''s base and dash towards his nearest enemies two to each side. Rolling into the bases and unfurling there was a brief moment where Innearth knew exactly what was going to happen before his prediction came true. *Boom*. Four bombs went off nearly simultaneously in the 4 bases. Each Core''s defenders were blown out the side in a mess of shrapnel and a plume of smoke being the cue the rest of his friends took to start attacking en mass. Innearth sent off a signal at that point, watching as his 173 greater snake army came pouring in from offscreen. Exiting the cramped base, his slightly smaller and less intimidating crystal dragon stalked out to head his Army. Sending a detachment of 4 snakes to each of his 3 assigned targets Innearth watched as defenders poured out each realizing too late that something different was happening. One squad was completely wiped out and based on the humanoid creature of dirt that slowly started walking out this was Brutality Queen''s base. A moment of glee filled Innearth as he pettily sent over 50 snakes towards her base, the giant dirt golem falling with over two dozen spearing shots and the inside of the base being raided a moment later. Massive armies were clumped together by both Amy and Innearth ¨C one a mess of slithering snake bodies in a pile the other a mess of slithering tentacles in a pile. FED had a slightly weaker showing with only a dozen masks but he had one of each type and a modified king of masks backing them. Abe had a black metal box with treaded wheels roll out. On both side''s, several small flaps opened up and 4 "legs" were deployed slowly raising the tank up a meter or so above the ground. A few seconds after it settled bomb-like rolling armadillo slugs started spawning endlessly from its insides and rolling out the flaps to the ground below. Doc''s base had a swarm of activity as rats flew out and started laying traps about the front of his dome, two "plasma rifle" type guards watching carefully the whole time. Finally as one, each army clashed. Bombs rolled towards Innearth''s line continuously, while snakes rapidly began conjuring barriers between them. Crystal walls shattered and were reformed continuously while the walls grew thicker and an almost castle formed between them. Lines of snakes flew up both sides of the ramparts and the ranged skills started forming in place to strike the bombs down before they reached the wall. Below on the inside, Innearth''s "Dragon" used a strange sort of dance with intermittent noises to reinforce the wall to the point it stopped shattering with the repeated explosions. Meanwhile Amy saw the two were fighting and decided to aim for both FED and Doc at the same time. Half her army split and flowed towards the traps guarding Doc''s base, prompting blasts of mana shot from weapons while the other half aimed for FED. In front of Doc, turrets sprung to life sending streams of liquid that were ignited into a bed of fire to block the water-based monsters while others sent a hail of metal beating into tentacled flesh. The contingent of tentacles that were moving towards FED had better luck. Wind blades and claws and a miasma of slowing speed filled the air confidently but despite their obvious weakness against time-based attacks, overwhelming numbers managed to win out this time. In and amongst the horde were multiple "unique" monsters, one of which was mostly resistant to the time magic and managed to slip forwards and take out the source. After that, the king of masks seemed to absorb its underlings creating a hulking multiple masked tornado of wind but countless thin spikes of hardened liquid metal pierced and shattered the masks breaking most of the boss''s concentration. Flinging themselves into the tornado, a group of 5 bombs crashed from the side and exploded blasting the air apart. A line that headed into the base later and FED was eliminated.
Abe: HA! 1 down 3 to go!
Fated Eternal Design: ...I guess that''s fair. I''ve been using a lot of mana to keep my dungeon running smoothly I don''t want to shut down on my fans.
Innearth: I have no such weakness! Bet you wish you had no adventurers now huh :3
Abe: Nah. Literally, no one is wishing that. Keep making yourself feel better however :3
Churning through their bodies over half of Amy''s monsters were killed trying to penetrate Doc''s defences before a few actually broke through. Dashing forward they were shot near the door and fell anticlimactically. Seeming to give up on this area Amy turned her monsters towards Innearth. The two armies were at a similar size now but Innearth''s were on average a higher quality. All his greater snakes had skills and most had strong skills that synergized with each other ¨C some snakes were growing crystals rapidly while others were using crystal manipulation to fashion them into spears and still others were using a crystal shot skill to pick up and shoot those spears across the whole distance of the stadium with which they fought. Abe sent an endless line of bombs towards Doc and despite many being shot before they could do any damage, each one that made it through broke through more and more defences. Near the door, a rat appeared holding a great shield of several layers of kinetic magic propping it up while two rats took up positions on either side slow to reload endless pistols at the ready. That shield is going to foil Abe...might as well help him out, I think I''d rather face Abe than Doc right now. Sending a squad of 10 greater snakes towards Doc''s final stand, Innearth peppered the group with crystal spikes while protecting them with crystal shields that floated in front and on top of them. Each shot that hit the shield lost all momentum and fell to the ground but Innearth''s snakes were able to pick up the unshattered pieces and spin them around to take out the rat holding this shield. Falling forward to reveal a shocked group, Innearth pushed deeper into the base his snakes disappearing from the camera view and becoming unknown.
Abe: Hey Host! You have plenty of cameras now right? You should show off each of the remaining contestant''s bases. We don''t know what''s happening in them.
Phantasmal Patterns: I guess...I guess it''s no longer important to hide what people are making. Request GRANTED.
Abe: Thanks man. 10/10 host btw. You''re doing great.
Phantasmal Patters: Ehehehe. Flattery won''t change your score young core.
More screens flickered to life showing the inside of all of their bases. More importantly, seeing how the group attacking Doc was doing. Inside of the base, a rabbit with purple eyes sat surrounded by the carnage of all of Innearth''s snakes. It did not look like a dungeon monster in the vague shape of a rabbit. It looked like a normal creature with something possessing it. A bomb rolled in at that moment and the screen went black for a second before returning to normal ¨C the bomb''s remains eviscerated and strewn about disarmed ¨C the rabbit standing normally and hopping about slightly.
Innearth: Does demon summoning count as disqualification worthy?
Phantasmal Patterns: ...No but that''s only because I was too dumb to add it to the rules. I did not think anyone would be so crazy in this event...that''s my bad. Ehe. Let me fix this.
New Rule: No demons or MIM''s or otherwise uncontrollable monsters may be created or summoned. Please be courteous to your host. Any Previously created demons must be put down to the culprits best abilities. Thank you. ~Pat :3
ZeMadDoctor: Bah. Fine. I disagree with that "Uncontrollable tag". But fine.
A Kinetic Cage placed at all the corners of the room squished inwards trapping the rabbit and squeezing. Eyes rolled and hair started vibrating crazily and "glitchily". Jumping around and growing and shrinking wildly. While the creature was squished downwards its cute little mouth opened to a maw of sharp teeth as the demon let out a blood-curdling scream. As the rabbit was squished its mass grew and strange alien organs began flying out in a steady stream around it. Moments after it was done all that was left was a mess of purple goo and white hair. More bombs started to roll in at this moment. Two rats appeared to defend the stairs but were blown downwards as they peeked above the top of the landing. Rolling down the stairs a final explosive armoured slug ended the Reign of Doc.
ZeMadDoctor: Bah. Not letting me use demons. Bah. I could have prevented that. Final 4 is fine I guess. Good luck Innearth. I''m rooting for you.
Abe: Hey what about me?
ZeMadDoctor: ...
Widdled down, Innearth holed up in a castle which had completely surrounded his base at this point. Near the wall, the dragon danced as it slowly spelled magic into a large crystal spear. Turning towards him Amy''s army flowed and dodged and then began climbing the slippery smooth crystal slope like it was nothing. Snakes peppered downwards destroying octopi and squids and tentacled frogs in great numbers while Abe teamed up with Amy''s forces a series of bombs rocking the whole structure. Climbing up onto the ramparts the crystal dragon held its spelled spear in its mouth before flinging it up into the sky where it could be caught by over a dozen snakes at once. Turning to face the bomb spawner, they focused and released, causing it to shoot across and shatter right before hitting the tank. Roughly 50 smaller spears hit and ripped the metal container to pieces; strange tubes of gel twisted between rollers and covered in half-made casings and eternal growth chambers were revealed before everything exploded. Chunks of shrapnel broke through Innearth''s castle for a moment, but were quickly repaired before he returned to widdling down Amy''s forces. Two squads were sent out at this time, one to each of his friends'' bases, the win inevitable at this point.
Innearth: And...Game! I did it!
Amy: ...alright. Well done. Thanks for playing.
Abe: Bro! I knew you could do it.
The floating scoreboard that appeared filled Innearth with a deep satisfaction.
Round Robin "Till there is one" Event Scoreboard.
#1 Innearth.
#2 Amy, Abe [simultaneous knockout]
#3 ZeMadDoctor.
...
Chapter 57. The Mysterious Island. Innearth spent the time following his win of the varied event cleaning up the results of it. All 96 of the surviving greater snakes were collected and distributed about the kilometers of his crystal cavern. An army melted away to nothing when spread over distance, but it wasn¡¯t insignificant. Of the snakes that had fought for him, three had ascended in the chaotic pressure of both the event and the final battle. One of the ascended monsters was the unique one with the slippery skin, while the other two were ¡°nameless¡±. They were given the same job as the original snake scout ¨C to explore and continue to grow in the outside of his dungeon ¨C as well as the names of scout siblings 1-3. Innearth realized naming ascended monsters with numbers was disappointing but he hadn¡¯t been paying specific attention to them until after the event and needed more time to figure out their personalities. The dancing dragon was given the position of the ¡°optional mini boss¡± of the crystal cavern ¨C replacing the ascended illusion wurm who was no longer someone Innearth wanted to risk for adventurers. Wandering about, the dragon finally stopped at a position near the top of the zone ¨C finding himself in the room with an unstable liquid pool. Seeming annoyed by some part of pool snek, the dragon took up a position in this room periodically bullying the lazy snake. While Innearth was putting the swatter golem into the magma halls ¨C and void turtle into the deprivation floor ¨C the next event was released. The final event.
Rules: The Mysterious Island (round robin reward)
  1. The top 111 Cores from all 4 rings (along with some of the previous winners for those that did not participate) will be given a varying sized spot of land on the mysterious island. Adventurers will be lured to the island with a quest that¡¯s issued to anyone with the means and potential desire to find the mysterious island. You will be given 8 days to design your section of the island and the island itself will run for the same amount of time. During this time the system will adjust Core¡¯s scores based on a myriad of factors and how well they performed across the entire games.
  2. As a bonus, at the end of the 8 days most of the Cores that performed well will be given a [Customization] title and skill. This skill lets winners apply their own status customization to system messages that others can see. You can make your name ¨C or an event ¨C appear in a box with the color and font of your choice overriding the defaults display of whoever reads it. It¡¯s a worthy reward to end the games and your [customization] status will stay with you forever (as long as the system doesn¡¯t deem its being abused).
Final Description and sign-up. This event is somewhat different. It¡¯s actually set up slightly as a reward for all the previous events as well as being graded for a light reward from the system. This event is the one with the most help from the system. 111 slots are offered to the top 111 scoring cores from all 4 Tiers. If any reject the offer, lower cores will be given a chance instead. Good luck.
Enter? Y/N? [57 minutes 12 seconds] till auto reject.
Innearth read over the event slightly confused. This is¡­a reward? I mean I was wondering what winning the royal was going get me considering it¡¯s the only event that didn¡¯t state its reward¡­but how is the reward another event?
Fated Eternal Design: I NEED THAT REWARD. It doesn¡¯t say what number I am or how high I scored¡­but I made the list! I¡¯m in!
Innearth: Yeah I mean it sounds like it could be fun I¡¯m joining as well.
Abe: something to do. I¡¯m down.
Amy: I made it too!
ZeMadDoctor: I made the list.
Amy: It¡¯s telling me to wait for the people in front of me to choose their area?
Abe: Same. If we get to pick areas, let''s try and get close together.
¡­ Innearth was given a simple map of an island. 5 kilometers tall and 8 kilometers wide. Various different shaped ¡°territories¡± were laid out across the map. Each felt similar to a check box in that by focusing on them he could select which one he wanted to choose. Already a dozen plots of land were chosen and Innearth could see small names of the Cores that had claimed areas before him. Making sure none of his friends had already picked a spot Innearth saw he had free reign of the island. What do I want? More space? A good position? Innearth looked over the map trying to figure out where to claim. Some territories were as small as 25x25m squares while others were as high as 100x100m. Most all of them were weird lumpy shapes and while for the most part it didn¡¯t matter, Innearth didn¡¯t want 2500 m2 of territory in a thin path winding path that was only a meter or two wide at its thickest. No, as fun as making a ¡°road that adventurers would travel along to other areas¡± was, Innearth wanted enough space to make a destination. He wanted enough room to make an actual area that adventurers would seek out and talk about. The more he looked at the map the more he saw. Four doors lay at the far corners of the island. The areas directly around the doors were the smallest, while the sections bordering the ¡°edge of the island¡± and the very middle were the largest. Picking a nice solid chunk that was just under 6000m2 and shaped into an oval, Innearth made his decision. One of the bigger ones. Empty slots around so my friends can border my area. Chance that adventurers will be passing between those doors for some reason. Seems like as good a place as any. A moment later without much fanfare, Innearth was given a shared design area similar to the base of the ring event to work in. Well. Time to get to work. ¡­ Innearth wanted to make his section of the island different. From the various tests so far Innearth had seen that many Cores used Rank 1 mana. Most of those used rank 2 mana. And, for some reason ¨C despite it being the last option this rank ¨C less than half the Cores used rank 3 mana. The ones that did, didn''t seem to use any of the mixing effects and were¡­decidedly worse in it than him. Sure, it¡¯s slightly harder to work with but not excessively. Anyways what that means is that if I play around with void combinations, I can probably make some materials to make me stand out. ¡­At least I hope. I haven¡¯t been watching many of the higher-tier Cores, I shouldn¡¯t just assume I¡¯ll be unique if I do so. Let''s see ¨C ignore Air. I heard you can make suffocation mana materials with Air and Void, but I really don''t care enough for that. Fire ¨C I know the void Fire and Ice combinations. Add in darkness from the Light combination as well¡­ I haven''t actually tried Earth or Water yet? Let''s see. With a minor amount of effort, Innearth spent some time making both a void liquid and a void solid...void liquid was a flowing liquid that melted through everything including itself...it was essentially an acid mana that was nearly impossible to store and disappeared even quicker than void fire burned through its fuel¡­remembering the healing liquid that life and water mana made vs the healing liquid with mercury, Innearth tried using void mana on mercury. ...after burning through a large amount of it in typical void fashion, the result was a liquid that melted downwards endlessly without consuming itself. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. It was slower acting...but also hard to deal with. It was harder for Innearth to lift up than regular void materials for one. For another, while void mercury would not eat regular mercury (or itself)¡­it was a liquid and would rapidly disperse through regular mercury before eating the surroundings. Innearth felt like if he made a pool of it he could dig a hole to the center of the earth...but honestly he could do the same thing with regular void materials in a more controlled manner. Also in a way, his burrowers were doing this already in a manner even more controlled than random pools of acid. Earth and Void was somewhat disappointing initially. It made a dark matte black block of material that surprisingly didn''t eat through anything. Tossing it around and trying a few tests Innearth found it was brittle but also soft...it burned easily, dissolved slowly in water like salt and was weak to magic. Finally, almost by accident, Innearth found the solid void was almost immune to other void damage. That was incredibly useful going forwards even if it was weak in other ways. As a proof of concept Innearth made a thin pool of mercury void liquid in the center of his assigned area. The bottom was lined with an insulating layer of thick solid void to prevent it from digging a hole to the center of the earth. Trying a few combinations of crystal and void, Innearth hit the X void combo that was activated by mana to act stronger. It made for a far safer material in many ways¡­ but void materials already cut through stuff like butter and adding in a mana requirement to make it cut easier seemed like a downgrade. The one point it was better was in terms of completely destroying something. While a void blade could cut through a stone with very little pressure, it would take a while for a flat piece of void material to melt through the whole stone for example. A plate of void crystal could make a quick way to dispose of something safely. Next he tried stone mana which made something roughly halfway between the solid void and regular void materials. It was slightly stronger than the soft void material bit also ate through anything that wasn¡¯t void flavoured slowly. It was immune from all but the strongest void damage while also not damaging other void materials. ...so the best way of insulating something is to make a layer of solid void, then void stone, then whatever combined void material you want. Got it. Of course using the same material as the void was the best for most void materials. Void iron with a hilt of normal iron made a better void sword than a convoluted mess of void iron then stone/solid. What it did mean however, was that Innearth could make a monster that regenerated void fire to fit his "unique" aspect. Ever since he had found that material and had realized it burnt itself up but could be regenerated if it was a monster part he had wanted to use it. This setup was what would let him do that. Seems like the best thing I can do to try and stand out. Innearth tried out something relatively simple. He made a mass of void stone and sunk it into the corrosive pool. Working upwards, Innearth made a bendable stalk full of a single stem of ¡°regenerating life mercury¡± ¨C surrounded by 5 streams of healing liquid ¨C then wrapped in an easy thin layer of crystal flesh. This root spiralled upwards and then held up to a half-sphere with several artistically placed void petals. The middle of the sphere had an insulated bowl with a solid chunk of void fire embedded in it. The whole plant was given a bunch of life materials "just because it was a plant¡± and then given life. Slowly unfolding the plant moved its stalk around ¨C a black inverted fire rising up from its top. It was strangely beautiful despite not being as dangerous as the mass of void materials would suggest. At the end of the day, while it looked cooler, void fire was slightly less effective than most void materials and harder to control. Sure, if the head of the void rose hit someone it would do a lot of damage, but the void petals did almost as much damage as the inner fire. That being said Innearth was experimenting and he still had some options to work towards. A second void rose was made to complement the first ¨C this one fully embracing the rose theme. All the way up its stalk, void barbs were made and at the very top Innearth added some kinetic materials to shove it around...it was at this point that Innearth decided to try and combine void with rank 2 mana. He had already tried mental mana so he moved on to life and void and then death and void. The ¡°Unlife or Undeath¡± materials made were...strange. Inverted death was adjacent to life, but the exact properties seemed to be close to simply blocking certain kinds of damage. A guide later and it was discovered that Undeath materials could prevent (most) age-related damage from affecting life aspect creatures along with making a shield or charm that blocked death magic...and the same directed in the opposite way for unlife. The materials also blocked the beneficial healing effects when used in the opposite manner. Unlife cuffs could be made that prevented life magic from healing someone and Undeath cuffs could cripple an undead into not regenerating all their decaying body parts. Useful and Innearth made quite a few loot items out of both of those ¨C then shoved a few undeath shards into the plant schematic. Moving on to kinetic materials. Innearth set to work slowly laboriously trying out different combinations ¨C testing results and finding several combinations that: either acted like they had insane levels of friction, would sap movement from stuff around it similar to time mana, or simply blocked most movement or force in one direction. The "blocking most movement" ¨Ccombined with kinetic materials for stability ¨C could make the equivalent of feather falling boots. Items that let someone fall at a slow controlled speed. This result was subtlety different than decreasing the effect of gravity on someone using gravity materials. That would result in someone taking longer to accelerate but ultimately reach something close to terminal velocity. In comparison, this material would let someone accelerate up to a lower max speed as long as it was facing the correct direction. Other versions could also be used to make shields that resisted a large amount of force when hit on one side...but Innearth could tell the way of transferring kinetic energy completely that Doc had was much stronger and scalable. This was just a 50% reduction on average as opposed to a 100% transference that could block and cage demons even with their mana vore. The most useful discovery for this design was discovered once he flipped the kinetic mana to gravity mana. Kinetic internal acting mana to gravity external acting made a sucking black hole type mana that pulled anything and everything towards it in one or more directions. With this new material in hand the 3rd through 10th stalks of the void rose bush were given a way to pull adventurers towards them. ...this rose bush is basically a boss monster...a boss plant? Well either way if anyone beats this, they are getting a good reward¡­Is it strong enough that I have to hide weapons to counter it nearby? I could make a void shield and boots to give adventurers a chance. Hide them really well and reward those that can find them?
Innearth: so how is everyone else doing?
Amy: I''ve spent the past 3 days planting vines and flowing stalks and coral grass...I haven''t decided the monsters yet but it''s important to set up the environment for them you know?
Fated Eternal Design: I''ve made...well I''m completely out of room to make what I originally wanted. I''m at 3/7 on my questline but there''s just not enough space to do what I want. I''m going have to cut it short at 4 parts but that means I have to rewrite the storyline to condense it :/
Abe: there was just enough room to set up a mysterious vault. Placing bombs now.
Amy: you are not blowing up anything in our shared area. I do not want gross flaming shrapnel burning my plants.
Innearth: Hey FED...do you want help with your questline? I''ve never had much interest in going the full plunge and making my own questline but I have plenty of space if you want to move small things to my area?
Fated Eternal Design: ...what does your place look like so far?
Abe: Amy what is the point in designing a mini dungeon if I can''t blow it up? I''ll dial back the flowing fire and secondary bombs and that''s the most I''m willing to compromise.
Innearth: here. come see my void rose bush.
Amy: you WERE GOING USE SECONDARY BOMBS LIKE YOU SHOWED OFF IN YOUR TOUR! absolutely not. Not even dialled back you have to cut those.
Innearth showed FED his bush and got a surprising enthusiastic result.
Fated Eternal Design: I LOVE IT. Please. I''m going to make one of the ingredients needed to slay the witch king be a clipping from this bush...can you make some smaller branches? Those stalks look amazing but I''m thinking something that can be held easily¡­ not a 3-meter long tree trunk they have to drag over to the cauldron.
Innearth: done. Want to integrate in items that can help weaken this? Some void clippers that can cut through it?
Fated Eternal Design: Of course! Send me any ideas you have there¡¯s a lot we can do with this. I¡¯ll send you a few other quest items to hide when I solidify them okay? What do you think of hiding an insulated treasure chest just underneath that pool of liquid?
¡­ After brainstorming, Innearth made several thin tendrils that ran between the thicker roots to fulfil FED¡¯s request. He then returned to the rest of the group.
Innearth: we have this chance to work together and we''ll...it seems almost disappointing to all be working on our own separate plots of land. I feel like...I feel like that''s not the goal of this event. I feel like that¡¯s wasting the opportunity we are being given right here. Innearth: sorry let me start again. I just added myself to FED''s questline - you guys should too! We can all be a stop in the quest!
Amy: Okay. That''s fine. What should I add?
Fated Eternal Design: oh! Some sort of harvestable item would be the best. It doesn''t actually really matter what It is¡­ I can make up its importance later. Something that ¡°seems important¡± is better than something that doesn''t. The visuals are important.
Amy: ...well I guess just can buy some light blooms? They are incredibly fragile flowers that sort of...well they appear like they convert darkness to light but they just shine brighter in dark places. In direct light that''s not their own they melt away and disappear within seconds but as long as I can protect the roots they will grow back.
Fated Eternal Design: That''s perfect. A fragile source of light to pierce the gloom...add to that a twisted bloom of the anthema to all¡­and I''m already well on my way to finishing this.
Abe: ...well not to be left out but all you need is something renewable? It''s not a plant but I can make unstable rods and place them in my vault. They explode with too much...of anything really. Too much movement, too much light, too much sound. Sometimes they even blow up on their own! But that''s rare. Abe: If it''s better if I don''t make them, I could set them into a monster or plant and have them regrow when plucked? anyone know how much traffic this mysterious island will get? Abe: Oh! Our host''s rhinos were making me think of making a large thick monster like that. We got that schematic in the adventurer delve ¨C I''m going to alter it to one that charges much much faster and has growing explosive rods on its back! His moved much too slow for my tastes.
Fated Eternal Design: That works yep. A rod of energy a spark to ignite the life¡­now I just have to set up the witch kings spawn and tweak some of my own materials.
Innearth: I''m going make a rhino monster as well! Innearth: Want to name them similar? Want to collaborate on both?
Abe: name sure! collaborate...I think I''m good for now, but if you want, I can send you what I have when I''m done, and we can tweak them to look similar.
Innearth: Done!
Innearth set to work designing the rest of his area. Expecting many cores to use simple traps and monster, Innearth wanted to make a puzzle to really stand out...and he roughly had an idea of what to do for that¡­ ¡­ Before he knew it, time was up. Before he knew it, the adventurers arrived. Chapter 58. The Mysterious Island. ~Part 2~
The Mysterious Island is a documented phenomenon that appears¡­mostly every 10 or so years on the central continent. There are a few times it has skipped a decade, but those times are theorized to be when it appears in other continents. No one knows why or how the Island appears just that it does. All the adventurers from level 40-80 that can reach it are¡­given notice that it has appeared. It is theorized that the island itself is a living being that sends off invites. It is theorized that the island is a dungeon that has mutated to be able to teleport itself. Either way invitees are brought to a random dungeon and then once they ¡°accept¡± the invitation they are teleported to this mysterious land. The island is always generous, but the variety and number of monsters means those that are invited are always challenged. Finally, there is an open quest from the adventurer¡¯s guild on any information about this strange phenomenon.
Information from the adventurer guilds ¡°information pamphlet¡± on strange events in the world. Innearth was finishing up a "spiralling fractal pattern on the side of a wall" when he noticed a trio of "multicoloured leather" wearing humans wander through the corner of the area considered "his territory". They were all dual wielding different weapons/items and talking animatedly. One had a thin T-shaped shield and a spiked flail. One had a short sword and a spiked metal...wand? Charm? The third and final had two asymmetric daggers that looked like they were part of a whole. All 3 had leather clothing with various metal shapes that gave some sort of mana effect. Wandering through the side of his territory was less noticeable than if the area he was working in was his influence. The only reason Innearth noticed them was that he was currently ¡°decorating¡± in a dozen spots at once and they clipped the corner of one of the areas Innearth was focusing on. Innearth froze and watched them, a strange feeling coming over him as all of his attention dropped and homed in on the group. ...those are real adventurers¡­ ...just like that. It felt like every single molecule in the area became granular and textured as Innearth focused all of his attention through his panel at the adventurers that moved past. The event panel was slightly more advanced than the normal "shared editing" panels and let Innearth move the "focus" or camera of the area around. It was almost 3 dimensional and when he made the panel big enough and focused enough on it was almost like he was actually there¡­but it wasn''t quite the same as being in person. ¡­it was enough however. Innearth watched the group with the greedy attention of a starving man in front of a buffet. As they wandered through the side of his territory a nagging worry began to creep up on Innearth. Are¡­are they going to walk all the way through the side without hitting all the important bits? All the details I¡¯ve spent the past few days designing? Should I have made that section taller? They should be able to see it from where they are. Skies above I should have made a giant tower that people from every side of the island could see. Is there still time? No poking it up above my territory slowly will take ages. Is there a smaller option I can use? ¨C Innearth panicked and started thinking he should have designed arrows pointing to where they should go. As he imagined ways to ruin the ambiance he had cultivated, one of the humans slowed down and pointed towards what appeared to be a ruin. Turning the three peered over and then started talking once more while gesturing about. Atta boy. Come on. Here adven¡¯ adven¡¯ adven¡¯. Here adven¡¯ adven¡¯ adven¡¯. Who''s a good adventuring party. You''re a good adventuring party. YES! RIGHT THIS WAY! You are doing great. You chose right. Yep. In. You. Go! The group wandered into the "ring" that encircled the North of Innearth¡¯s territory. As the last of them stepped into the crumbling mini colosseum, a metal grating slid shut behind them trapping them within. Perfect! Ehehehe. No running away from me this way. The ring was roughly 30m in diameter and was shaped in a closed dome metal grating covered the sky. Faint motes of dust floated about and there was an almost enchanting atmosphere as soft light illuminated the group. In the center of the room, a bull snorted. Steam mana poured out of two glistening nostrils while beady crystal ¡°googlie eyes¡± looked on crazily. Shaking its head angrily, flecks of spittle shook in both directions before the mad bull started charging towards them. It¡¯s really happening!!! Moving with practiced ease the group shifted into a triangle formation attempting to meet the bull head-on. Shaking its head the bull accelerated towards them. A faint sliding sound accompanied its charge as it thundered forward. The human with a T-shaped shield stood in the middle pushing their protective item out hoping to halt the bull¡¯s movements. Hints of a skill were visible in their almost unnatural movement. Crunch. Despite the faint flickering yellow barrier that formed in across their shield. Despite their confident stance and the mana that focused around their feet to hold them in place, the adventurer was tossed. Tossed backwards with a jolt of the bull''s head the adventurer hit the wall beside the entrance and caused soft flakes of the old-looking stone on the wall to shatter. Bellow the ¡°aged¡± stone harder stuff was in place preventing the whole wall from collapsing. Continuing to charge forward, the bull crossed the area towards him snorting ¨C bloodlust positively pouring out of them. Ohno! My first adventurers! I hope they survive. You can do it! Rolling to the side in the split second of time between being tossed into the wall and being squished, the adventurer fell forwards with the impact of the bull smashing beside him. Hands fell forwards to catch themselves as their weapons slid out of their arms. Spinning forward, the dagger-wielding human seemed to flash with a skill that looked like something air adjacent but with hints of sharpness floating about. Like an inside-out blender, the daggers slashed into the bull''s flank a dozen times, faint lines that rapidly closed appeared all along it as the bull¡¯s excessive regeneration kicked in. In the rear the paladin raised their talisman high. Sparkles of light ran down their arm like electric water and flowed to both themselves and both of their two partners. Multiple strikes were released against the bull and each flashed with a warm glowing light as they landed. A sort of "aftershock" damaged the bull half a second after they landed as the skill bounced off the insides of the bull¡¯s body. Eesh. If the inside of the bull was more than just 40 healing sacks that might have killed it right there. Skipping backwards once, the bull started to turn shuffling slowly and awkwardly in a wide circle. The trio watched its strange movement as it shifted to face them fully and snorted. Steam billowed out of its nose before the bull started charging again. This time, none of them tried to stop it. The group preferred to wait till the last possible moment before flashing to the side. Each step moved them easily 4 meters sideways a blur covering their body as they did so. Not being able to turn quickly the bull thundered past before smashing into the wall a second time. In the moment before the bull started turning around and the group made to attack, the paladin yelled something out ¨C pointing towards the ground. Ha! Figured it out! I knew you could do it! My first adventurers are observant! Well of course they are. They are great! Couldn¡¯t ask for a better trio. I hope they visit the void rose next! Below the adventurers was a thick crystal floor with crisscrossing lines of increased friction. Down below that floor, a simple track was laid out. Less a maze and more of a winding spiralling linear path with the occasional offshoot, it was simple enough to follow from one side to the other. Partway down the track, a large solid black ball was rolling slightly from its previous motion. Staring down at the ball the group''s brains seemed to collectively churn as they traced the path to the end with their eyes and saw the very obvious pressure plate. The bull once more charged towards them, but this time the group was paying attention to more than just the monster. As the monster passed diagonally above the ball it seemed to be pulled forwards away from the pressure plate as if touching the bull somehow. Almost there. You can do it! I believe in you! Carefully dodging once again, the group flips their head between the bull and the ground one by one figuring out what they needed to do. Grimly looking at one another the group seems to radiate the wish that they would prefer to simply fight than compete this "puzzle". Turning to look at the smashed wall they considered their odds and then made a decision. Moving back and forth the group taunted the bull and then dodged. Each time the bull ran past the gravity materials on the bottom of its body pushed and then pulled the metal ball in its passing. The skill the paladin was using on the group kept them from getting hurt ¨C but it was clear as they progressed more and more stamina was taken from them. Occasionally if they could, they would stick to manually jumping to the side. Finally, after over a hundred dashes and more than their fair share of close shaves ¨C and devastatingly sad backtracks as they failed to guide the bull and its passage reset work ¨C the ball was finally deposited at the end. Several things happened as soon as the ball rolled onto the pressure plate. First, the bull¡¯s movements slowed and locked. The air around it seemed to twist slightly and then the bull disappeared. Next, the grating slid upwards leaving the group with a way out of the colosseum. Finally, a reward and event clear was given to the group.
The mysterious island pulls images and echoes from long forgotten places and cultures. It is in this manner that the colosseum mimics an ancient story for many used it to train and reinforce their strength before seeking to end the witch king. Countless fell to the violence within but you prevailed. And with that you have been given a chance forward in your quest. The beating heart of an endlessly raging beast of anger and hate is now yours.
Quest item [Raging Bull Heart] obtained. 1/10 items needed to summon the witch king. You have found a hint to the secret of this island. Following that hint to the end will allow you to figure out once and for all the full secret of how this island came to be.
Due to your quick thinking and guile you have determined the secret of the colosseum. For beating it using your wits additional rewards have been obtained. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
[The Scissors of the Nether] obtained. These shears are not of this world. With it the void can be shorn for nothingness recognizes its own.
Will you continue on your quest or end it here? Warning: If you seek to take your final reward now without beating the witch king, your rewards may be vastly decreased. To end and take a reduced reward simply smash the heart you have obtained (not recommended).
A rubbery beating ball that threw off steam with every beat appeared in the shield bearers¡¯ hand. The Knife wielder shoved his weapons together with a click then grabbed a large pair of scissors with his other hand. Turning the group started conversing. The paladin seemed to want to end and get out of here his pantomime of squishing the heart causing the other two to yell. Outnumbered however the paladin finally relented and the group wandered out and directly away from the other end of Innearth¡¯s area. Dammit. Well at least they completed half of my area. If they are following the shared questline they will be back for the rose stem eventually. That was¡­less anticlimactic than the dwarf was. No, it was more than that. Innearth craved more. The trio had simply whetted his appetite and instead of being satisfied, he wanted more. More groups, more adventurers. I wonder if those adventurers got me any experience. Let¡¯s see, last I checked I had 89/4140 I think?
Innearth
Level 59 305/4140 exp to next level.
System Access Level 5 0/2 requirements met to advance.
-3/50 sapient delves.
-Level 64+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 82.45 personal unit/min
Mana concentration 2.79 AMU / personal unit
Mana Storage 11566.38/11566.38 AMU
Physical Storage 56% Capacity
Age 919 days 2 years
Distance underground 293 meters
Number of floors 14 floors
Titles.
Earth Mana Specialization, Crystal Mana Specialization, Void mana Specialization.
...I definitely got experience. I think it might have been the first-time bonus that pushed me up. There¡¯s also the fact that I''m 90% sure we are getting more experience than usual in these "dungeon games" I''m levelling up faster than I have in...3/50? Innearth stopped and stared at a single number almost disbelievingly. ...that...yes. I... Innearth felt a strange emotion deep within his core as he stared at the system advancement requirement. It had gone up by 3 at some point and he checked his whole dungeon once to make sure it was definitely because of this event. For the first time in ages, Innearth didn¡¯t know what to think. His emotions were...overwhelming his logical thoughts momentarily. He didn¡¯t know what to do. Finally more conscious thoughts started filtering in and crystallizing in his mind. ...I need more adventurers. It''s not that I want them anymore having adventurers at this event has shifted to a need. I need them to advance. This is¡­This is my reward for working hard. ¡­ Innearth was almost too excited while watching the two robe-wearing adventurers fight. They both had spinning metal-bladed disks they were using to attack the bull in his colosseum. Lines of mana radiated out of their heads and attached to their weapons as they held hands and stared silently. These two had instantly noticed the secret of this room and then promptly ignored it preferring to slaughter the monster in front of them first. Disks whipped around like violent frisbees as the pair chopped off the bull¡¯s legs again and again, their fingers waving slowly at their side as they pushed harder and harder. Finally, the massive regeneration spluttered out and they ripped the bull apart. Looking at their quest notifications in a pleased manner they then started waving their hands and controlling the ball below pushing it towards the end. ¡­Oh no. I didn¡¯t actually expect this as a win condition. Is¡­is this a perfect clear? I¡¯ve written something for both killing the bull and completing the puzzle why didn¡¯t I set something up for doing both. Ahh! Quick. New flavour text. Add a random item as an additional reward lets go! This sort of problem was a good problem to have. There were already a dozen variations of the text that could be given and the pair had a dozen secret titles based on their actions in his friend''s bases. Abe had converted his rhino schematic into the ¡°blast cow¡±¡­a large lumbering 4 legged creature with an ¡°udder¡± full of incredibly fragile and explosive regrowing rods. The story they had come up with upon FED¡¯s urging, was the bull in Innearth¡¯s puzzle colosseum was the mate of the explosive cow. If any adventurers killed the cow instead of simply harvesting the explosives, the bull would be even more enraged when they met and had an even faster charge and turn. The flavour text for the quest was also changed depending on which you visited first. There was even an impromptu hidden quest by bringing the two monsters together. While Abe and Innearth had collaborated Doc and Amy had worked together as well. Surprisingly Doc had been the one to reach out. He was fascinated by Amy¡¯s ability to make viruses and they had cooked up some variants that briefly transformed adventurers into animalistic hybrids. FED however had his influence in every one of their territories. A spiderweb of questlines surrounded the group while an overarching ¡°main questline¡± to ¡°summon a boss so powerful it needed to be suppressed with other quest items after summoned¡± linked them all. The benefit of making an interconnected quest was obvious. It helped lure even more adventurers towards Innearth. In only 2 days of the 8 Innearth had completed his advancement requirement and had even managed to experiment a bit with it. A ¡°delve¡± was a complex and fuzzy sort of requirement. Someone could walk across his whole territory and not be considered to have delved him while someone else could fight his one section and then come back a few hours later and complete his second section counting as two separate delves. They didn¡¯t even have to fight his monsters for it to count as a delve just interact with the territory in certain ways. For example: sneaking in and stealing the hidden chest in his ¡°void flowers surrounding pool¡± counted as a delve. So did coming in and fighting the flower for a bit, then leaving without beating it or gaining anything. Innearth expected that ¡°fuzzy¡± requirement was also part of why adventurers delving his territory counted towards the advancement. He didn¡¯t want to question it too much however in case the system decided he was cheating and took it away. He didn¡¯t think it was possible but a faint part of him worried a dozen different things would go wrong. As more and more adventurers ¡°delved¡± ¡°him¡± instead of becoming satisfied he just became greedier and greedier. His brief childlike glee was replaced with a more restrained sort of excitement as he watched an endless variety of groups and strengths pass through his area. At some points, he even had multiple adventuring groups delving him at once! If more than 2 groups were active the atmosphere started getting weird, however. A lot of the danger was lost when a group was sitting around right outside of the battle catcalling or providing a running commentary the whole time they fought. The storyline was broken slightly as well if the group could watch the monster respawning. At another point, his friends realized they could switch their ¡°creation¡± panel for their tutorial into a ¡°streaming¡± one to show off what was happening to each other. Innearth briefly glanced at each area his friends had made before returning to watching groups in his own territory. Abe was right beside Innearth on the north end. He had left the rocky ground alone but had built a formidable-looking ¡°vault¡± in the center of his area. It looked like an ancient bank with marble floors and pillars aged to a point just before ¡°crumbly¡±. They had actually somewhat matched the architecture between the vault and the colosseum and had hidden a few ¡°stepping stones¡± between the two of them as if there had once been a path. Amy was on the opposite side of Innearth and her jungle bled into the side where his void flower lived. There was surprisingly not a lot of water in Amy¡¯s jungle just a lot of plants to accompany her claim that she wanted ¡°to try something different¡±. Between the two of them, they had warped plants on the edge so the gradient between jungle and ¡°void¡± was filled Fed was between the two of them in a huge moon-shaped chunk of territory that had several pillars covered in ancient script around it. The centrepiece was a dais with a black cauldron that set off the final step of the quest. Every group that managed to reach that far was split off from the rest of the world with a swirling mist that slowed down anyone who entered it preventing them from reaching the middle before it ended. Doc was on the opposite side of FED with one of the largest areas of the group near the center of the island. He had set up various traps that released magical viruses and was treating this whole event as a way to experiment in a way that might have gotten him in trouble with his overseer back home. Finally, on the other side of Innearth ¨C beside both him and Amy ¨C was Brutality Queen¡¯s area. She had ¡°plonked¡± down beside him and was annoyingly building right beside his territory. Even worse she had also spread Amy¡¯s jungle around herself and moved to POACH HIS PRECIOUS ADVENTURERS. Every time someone moved from his territory to Queen¡¯s he seethed. Finally at one point he snapped and started building a hill on that side as a make-shift wall. Queen took that moment to ask ¡°What¡¯s your problem¡± causing his whole¡­issue to suddenly seem silly.
Innearth: Ambiance. I feel like my territory is too flat. Giving it some nice rolling hills might make it more realistic.
Brutality Queen: Oh is it just that? I¡¯ll help. It''s good to keep the edges of our territories similar you know? Makes it more realistic.
As Innearth worked on smoothing his hills out into less of a wall he noticed Queen had built her own hills each slightly larger than his own. ¡­Annoyed Innearth pushed the tops of the hills he was filling outwards up once more and watched as hers slowly rose as well. Gritting his metaphorical teeth Innearth pushed higher and higher the space taking up the base of his hills growing wider and wider as he refused to give up. Placing a crystal point on the top of his hills they slowly formed into miniature mountains that poked above the ¡°territory¡± he could work in. By pushing the mountain upwards and then filling in the space underneath he could continue expanding although as the weight above grew higher and higher his speed slowed. At the top of her highest peaks, she had planted a¡­plant mana? A pillar of some life adjacent mana that grew into a sort of beanstalk upwards. Despite her best efforts it just barely grew to the same height as Innearth¡¯s crystal peak and with a final heave, he pushed upwards by just a bit more watching satisfied as the tip shook and then stopped 20cm above his competitor.
Brutality Queen: heh. You¡¯ve won! That was fun but I have to get back to some adventurers. We should do this again sometime! See you around.
¡­Innearth rested looking at his mountain triumphantly for a bit and then stared at Queen''s message trying to wrestle with his emotions. She¡­I¡­
Innearth: Sure, I¡¯ll see you around.
When did this become just a rivalry? I thought I hated her.
Innearth: Hey the mountains are eye catching but its going to make it hard for adventurers to get between us¡­I don¡¯t want to remove it even if it¡¯s cutting into a lot of my space but¡­do you want to make a tunnel through them? I¡¯ll join up on your side.
Brutality Queen: Done! Give me a moment okay? I¡¯ll join up with your section when your tunnel reaches my territory.
Innearth dug his tunnel and watched as it was ¡°taken over¡± as soon as it reached Queens section. He then started building a round hollow section right where the two caves met watching as Queen silently did the same on her side. Working his way around until the cave was near the side of his ¡°mountain¡± at nearly 20m wide he watched as her side finished up adding another 20m. Staring at her area he created a single crystal snake and watched as a wooden beetle formed on her side. Continuing to silently watch the two charged forward and fought one another, wooden spikes sliding off crystal scales and crystal walls penning in beetle flesh as they attacked. As soon as Innearth¡¯s snake won, Queen made a second monster this one a sort of¡­ Innearth couldn¡¯t think of the animal this monster resembled. It was a sphere with a hundred living crystal spikes covering every one of its sides and it rolled and attacked further. Back and forth the two fought before the snake fell. A notch was placed on Queen''s side of the room and Innearth gave himself one for the time his snake had won. Continuing on Innearth created a void tipped snake that killed her fuzzy ball and was in turn defeated by a mud golem. This whole time Innearth spent watching adventurers flow in and out of his territory. Only a small portion of his attention was on this strange sort of competition where they each designed monsters to counter one another¡¯s previous winners but despite being a small portion of his attention he never once stopped. A dust devil backed by two controllers dried out and killed the massive mud monster. Then three stone golems with endlessly spraying water distracted the dust creature and killed its handlers. As Innearth made to make the next fighter he watched two adventurers pass through and kill the stone golems¡­almost being annoyed they had stepped in and prevented him from continuing. Staring at the scoreboard he saw they were tied. ¡­I guess that¡¯s a good point to leave it? Watching as the group that killed the stone golems were rewarded with strange living armour Innearth blipped in a previously made tightly bound spear of void and kinetic thrust and a shield of ¡°kinetic absorption¡±. Ecstatic with the extra gifts the pair seemed shocked they had gained so much from this cave and left to tell other adventurers about it. While whatever rumours the pair spread wasn¡¯t nearly the same as the amount of adventurers that heard of the long questline, it still caused a dozen groups to pass through the cave before the end of the event. At some point, the competition transitioned into cooperation. Their monsters could travel through the territories with ease and they started taking turns to make bosses the adventures had to fight. There was a certain experience that Innearth could gain by integrating designs and testing them against real adventurers. Three of "his turns" in and Innearth started making ice golems to test out ideas for the boss of his ice zone. It didn''t look like Brutality Queen had chosen a rank 3 mana type in the past affinity section and Innearth delighted in making items and monsters that were impossible for her to even try. That competition was still muted however. It didn''t seem to matter anymore ¨C at least to Innearth. And with that the mysterious island event ended. All of Innearth''s friend group won the [customization] reward but more importantly than that, Innearth had something else to focus on. I think we might now be friends? Chapter 59. Cooldown and review.
Hello All, Dungeon Reviewer Tom here to bring you a very special issue of dungeon weekly. This year brought forth a phenomenon a few of you have probably heard of known as the ¡°Mysterious Island¡±. While I fondly remember when I visited said island several decades ago, I¡¯ve missed out on reaching it ever since. This year however I¡¯ve managed to interview several lucky adventurers that made it this year and I¡¯m here to bring you short snippits of their experiences. Enjoy
I remember beating back a massive stickmen and fighting a caustic bush. Those were pretty memorable moments personally but I also¡­Well¡­ Those were unique for me, but I feel like I¡¯m explaining it badly. Those could show up in a regular dungeon and just saying I fought a bush doesn¡¯t make the mysterious island unique. It doesn¡¯t fully capture how it felt you know? I¡­Okay here¡¯s how I¡¯m going to try and explain it. When you go to a typical dungeon there¡¯s usually a theme. The mysterious island had a theme as well, but it was more¡­varied. Like. Even the most varied dungeons tend to only have a few general monster types with the occasional lucky unique to bring food to your table. The mysterious island however probably had over 100 different affinities in it! It was a lot okay? One moment you would be fighting a solid golem of earth, the next a creature of air and bubbles. One moment you would be wandering through a mini biome of sand and crabs the next one with floating droplets of water slowly falling in strange patters. It wasn¡¯t just a place of wonderous variety, however. There was¡­There were these glowing pools of water with horrible tentacles that pulled all three of my teammates into them. Mike quickly grew a pair of rabbit ears and started hopping about. Mercy lost her enchanting smile and¡­grew scales like a kobold. Even Malo was affected by those pools. He grew fat and blubbery as his body shifted towards something like a boar it¡­it was awful. Their statuses said the debuff was temporary but¡­Mike still likes to hop even after the status cleared.
What was my favorite part of the island? Easy. I gained nearly 20 levels in [Dagger Mastery] and a dozen more in both [Endless Blades] and [Quick Taunt]. My class advanced from [Knife Bard] to [The Singing Blade] and¡­this is a bit embarrassing to confess but I¡¯ve been in a rut for quite some time. This island gave me the feeling of growth for the first time in years. It was nice.
Let me tell you the story of the island. I¡¯m looking forward to the reward I¡¯ll get from the adventurer¡¯s guild for learning the secret of the island once and for all. By the time this is published I¡¯ll probably be famous! Hear that? You¡¯re getting an interview with a future famous adventurer. Lucky bugger arn¡¯t you. First off. Some background. There was this quest I found deep in an ancient ruin on the island. It brought me to several different areas and caused me to chase down this flitting wind spirit that flew around the whole island for 2 whole days. At the end of the quest you are able to summon¡­it can¡¯t be a dungeon monster no. The island can¡¯t be just a dungeon. It¡¯s just too strange for that to be the case. You are made to summon this swirling entity of curses and potions who throws out cantrip class spells every half second and speaks of an old power given flesh. That fight took me and m¡¯partner a good 30 minutes to complete. (At this moment in the interview, the adventurer spent over 20 seconds in silence running his fingers up and down a long axe like weapon that flaked motes of ash and rust constantly. Finally as if having finished remembering what he had faced the adventurer continued) Finally upon beating that¡­echo of a forgotten realm, you are given the secret of the island. It¡¯s actually a space wizard. When it¡¯s not down on earth it hides behind the moon and performs some vast magic to well I¡¯m not quite sure. I¡­yes I realize it sounds like a conspiracy when I say it aloud but the island itself told me what it was. I felt a faint rumble through my feet as the quest notification finished explaining¡­ It was very convincing at the time okay. Believe what you will, I know what that island is. I beat its messenger and learned its true history. I even got three potions called ¡°Remnants of the celestial¡± that increased my intelligence stat. IT ACTUALLY INCREASED MY STAT. That¡¯s proof is it not? I¡¯ve never heard of that happening before. The space wizard is stealing our history by coming down to the earth and letting people explore it. That¡¯s why you¡¯ve never heard of the witch king before. Lost to history and then eaten. Isn¡¯t that sad? We have lost so much to the island over the years. It''s not the island''s fault however. It never said what it was using that history for but I think it''s using it to help bring itself back home. Anyways. Going to go cash in my explanation. See you again while I¡¯m famous Mr¡­what was your name again? Tom? Haven¡¯t heard of you. You can follow me around when I become famous I¡¯m very generous like that. Hey. Maybe some of my fame will even rub off on you! Won¡¯t that be great!
What? Screw off. No. I won¡¯t stop for an interview. If you want answers, you¡¯ll have to ask them while I fight through this dungeon ¨C I¡¯m much to busy. *grunts after flinging off an owlbear claw* What? Yes I went. Got this nasty scar from fighting a giant rose too. *Repeated sounds of flesh hitting flesh as the interviewee pummeled the previous owlbear.* It was void attuned okay? Nasty void fire breathing void liquid drinking bugger. My [Brawler] class does not do well against punching void stuff. The whole time I fought that stupid flower, my feet were sizzling and turning red despite my [Iron Body] and 86 points in endurance. *cracking noise as two more monsters were smashed into the wall repeatedly* Anyways. Got some experience at least ¨C even if the dammned thing gifted me some boots after I beat it. I refused obviously, why the hell would I want to wear boots when I could feel the earth beneath my feet. *interviewee raises bare feet and points with an angry expression* What? No I don¡¯t have a skill or anything I just like the feeling¡­ why do you ask? What does this have to do with the island anyways. Do you have a thing for my feet? Shove off. (Adventurer stopped responding at this point ending the interview early)
What? YES I WAS THERE! OHMYGAWD. There was a field of cute little puffball monsters and a giant clock that sped up time. Actually sped up time while you were in it! WOW!!! I¡¯ve never seen time magic before and I¡¯ve been in a bunch of dungeons my friends all told me that¡¯s a sign of a strong dungeon do you think the mysterious island was really strong???. Anyways spent maybe 10 minutes by that clock and the event was over! Can you believe it? 8 days past in only 10 minutes? Well okay not quite 8 days because I spent some time in that puffball field but still! I bet that was the most exciting thing on the island!!!
Secret of the island? Well l did complete a questline that culmulated in a fight with a strange construct of mana. I believe it called itself the witch king? Really liked cackling is all I¡¯ll say to that lump of air and time mana. Well either way, there I learned the island is stuck in a time loop. There was also something about being infected by some magical virus? I didn''t quite get all of it but I did see some strange viruses in the questline so maybe it was telling the truth.
Yeah me and me buds were there. Proper warm-blooded adventurers we are. None of this finger wavy twiddly magic nonsense. I fought a bull with my bare hands you know? Threw away my sword and tussled with the monster on its own terms. That¡¯s the sort of thing that makes you feel alive. What made the island special? Ehhh. Can¡¯t say mate. Seemed like a normal dungeon to me. Bit weird to get to though. Most memorable? Oh I quite liked this old bank full of explosives. Made my blood pump. Made me feel alive. Me and me buds jumped out just as it exploded and I wish I had some of those fancy viewing capturers. Would have made a great way to pick up chicks am I right? Wouldn¡¯t even have to say anything just project that macho pose and burning wreckage behind me. Damn I should check how much one of those are.
What sort of structures did I see? It was strange it was almost like there was a dozen different cultures and places all stitched together. A lot of it looked fine, but sometimes whoever stitched them together did a bad job. There was a solid line of burning grass right beside a solid line of blue sand in one place. The strangest was probably the edge of the island however. There was a swirling mist that kept making you want to turn around - and stepping into it would cause you to sink into a thick numbing liquid that made you want to turn around even more. I wanted to explore further but wasn¡¯t strong enough to pierce the outside of the island and find out what was on the other side. What if the island connects to a whole other world? I missed my chance to find out.
What did I take away from the mysterious island? Besides all the loot you mean? Well I did complete this winding quest. Found out the island is a war weapon created by our government. There¡¯s a conspiracy about how they are making artificial dungeons I read about last year and this island is the culmination of their experiments. It¡¯s come other years you say? ehh. Don''t believe everything the government tells you. This was the first time they deployed their experiment once they have enough practice they are going to take over the world with endlessly produced high level items and materials. It is known.
And there you have it! The Mysterious Island. Confusing descriptions but something seemed familiar. For the life of me I can¡¯t say what that familiar feeling is however. By next week I¡¯m going to be traveling to the broken continent again, I think some of my favorite dungeons were found there. The real powerful ones that have been around a millennia. You can find my serial at adventurer guilds across all the continents the next issue will be Issue 278. As always ~thanks for reading. -Tom.
Excerpt Obtained from an article in "Dungeon Weekly"
Abyss: I told you before the games I¡¯ll be advancing soon. This is your final warning - I¡¯m level 100 and have 10842/11110 experience. In case you weren¡¯t told, there''s an experience bonus in the games. Abyss: Well either way, once I reach that point I¡¯ll be gone and unless one of you has reached Tier 6 and can take over you¡¯ll have to find someone new or dissolve the group.
Amy: I¡¯m close but I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll make it in time :/
Fated Eternal Design: ¡­I¡¯m tier 6 okay? We should be fine.
Abe: Wait what! How?
Fated Eternal Design: I¡­am sorry? I get a lot of experience from my dungeon.
Abe: What are you doing that we aren¡¯t??? Quests?
Fated Eternal Design: I have a lot of adventurers I guess? A city¡¯s sprung up around me. I had a lot before but recently thousands of sapient¡¯s appeared. I guess they heard about¡­the eternal. Heh. Either way here. Let me show proof.
Fated Eternal Design
Level 64 105/4810 exp to next level.
System Access Level 6 0/2 requirements met to advance.
-124/2500 sapient delves.
-Level 82+
Stats
Mana Storage 36529.36/36529.36 AMU
Physical Storage 2038000/10416055 Kg (stone average)
Age 3 Years
Distance underground 351 meters
Number of floors 15 floors
Titles.
Air Mana Specialization, Mental Mana Specialization, Eternal Mana Specialization, Customization.
Abe: Oh? We are showing off our statuses? Okay well, it''s been a while and now I can force my customization on you all. I have the best theme. Not even a competition. Everyone else pop out your statuses as well. Last one to do so is a pebble or something. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Abe
Level 59 EXP to next level 1580
System Access Goals Left 1/2 Reach Level 64
Titles
Fire Mana Specialization, Explosion Mana Specialization, Entropy Mana Specialization, Customization.
Stats
Mana Regeneration 1.34 Mana/Second
Mana Storage 89 Percent
Physical Storage 78 Percent
ZeMadDoctor.
Level 60 (20/4270 exp)
System Level 5 1/2 to advance (level 64+)
Floors 12
Mana Regeneration 89 mana (personal)
Mana Storage Personal Max 4270
Mana Storage AMU 11990.55
Current Mana Concentration 2.81
Distance Underground 199 meters
Current Year 2000 AS
Current Time 7:23AM
Age 3 years
Average subjects a day 15.6
Number of caged Demons (lesser) 1590
Number of caged Demons (regular) 120
Number of caged demons (greater) 2
Null stone storage (useful) 420 kg
Null stone storage (quality) 859g
Physical Storage (inventory) 1209
Titles Earth Mana Specialization, Kinetic Mana Specialization, Space+Void Mana Specialization, Customization.
Innearth
Level 59 105/4140 exp to next level.
System Access Level 5 1/2 requirements met to advance.
-50/50 sapient delves. ?
-Level 64+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 82.45 personal unit/min
Mana concentration 2.79 AMU / personal unit
Mana Storage 11566.38/11566.38 AMU
Physical Storage 56% Capacity
Age 3 years
Current Year 2000 AS
Distance underground 293 meters
Number of floors 14 floors
Titles.
Earth Mana Specialization, Crystal Mana Specialization, Void Mana Specialization, Customization.
Amy
Level 62 200/4536 exp
System Access Level 5 1/2 requirements met to advance.
-50/50 sapient delves. ?
-Level 64+
Mana Regeneration 88.73 personal unit/min
Mana Storage 11456.45/11566.38 AMU
Physical Storage 82% Capacity
Distance underground 242 meters
Titles:
Water Mana Specialization, Life Mana Specialization, Life+Mental Mana Specialization, Customization.
Abyss: You know it took me six and a half years to reach where most of you are at right now? Just saying. Bunch of show-offs. Respect your elders! Abyss: Nah I jest. Great job everyone. As long as you''ve been having fun who cares what level you are. certainly not me. I''m glad you figured out how to keep the group after I left - I just gave FED a moderator role once I advance he''ll be promoted to group admin. You can figure out what to do afterwards.
But Innearth was no longer paying attention to the group. As fun as seeing their choices were, he had a bigger problem. 2500 delves? I already got 50 dammit. Why is it asking for more! It took a special event just to get those 50! I thought I solved this issue but it''s going to pop back up again in like 5 levels? I have to start thinking of solutions, I can¡¯t just wait for them to wander past with those numbers. I have to be proactive. Innearth was rapidly reaching a longing for adventurers that dwarfed his previous desire. He had had a taste of actually getting to test his designs. He wanted more. Thus over half of his consciousness was split and devoted solely to brainstorming how to get adventurers. The other section of his consciousness started to clean up and review his dungeon. Okay. Well let¡¯s make sure to check on all my cute little ascended monsters. They each need attention I don¡¯t want any of them to feel like I have a favourite. Innearth made sure to spread his thoughts wide while thinking that so all the ascended monsters in him could ¡°overhear¡± that thought. He then flipped to the cavern with the level 61 Snake scout and made sure to direct his thoughts as close as he could to them. It''s you. You¡¯re my favourite. Don¡¯t tell your siblings. The snake scout made a snorting motion and moved slightly, its massive body wrapped a dozen times around the room shifting and shaking a bit with the motion. Moving up and down them, Innearth saw all the changes that had taken place in the snake. The first few evolutions had pushed the dungeon-born monster closer to ¡°natural¡± creatures or monsters. It could now eat for energy as a substitute for Innearth¡¯s influence and its own mana. It had also shifted and grown several minor organs and more structures. Its last evolution and the most visual changes had been its length, however. Even as it was pushed away from dungeon magic it was pushed more and more towards an almost mythical magic existence with its length. Based on their current levelling speed they would reach level 64 and reach their 6th evolution within a few more months ¨C Innearth couldn¡¯t imagine what other than length would change with that evolution. Smiling fondly and pushing warmth and pride towards the highest levelled ascended monster in Innearth¡¯s dungeon, he turned and moved on. His next visit was to the area his invisible illusion wurm was located. The slippery ascended creature was hard to track and impossible to pin down. Even with the snake INSIDE of Innearth¡¯s influence he could just barely tell the floor they were on ¨C he was forced instead to look at the illusion the snake used to shift its presence. They had briefly rested in their old mini-boss room after their battle royale and were now exploring his whole dungeon. Well there didn¡¯t seem to be anything in his dungeon that could hurt them ¨C or if they could they wouldn¡¯t be able to catch them ¨C so Innearth left them to their own devices. His next visit was to the water slime who had¡­changed both in design and slightly personality. The area that Innearth had expanded into with natural underground monsters had changed as well. Almost as if to follow along with the water slime. Over the past few months, the area that Innearth was theming as the ice caverns slowly pushed into where the monsters were originally living ¨C relocating them down deeper and deeper. As more and more mana funnelled down into Innearth¡¯s lowest floor the monsters grew stronger generation after generation and some ascended to a point where they could survive in the ice zone that was originally their home. The water slime took charge of the monsters and fought battle after battle against the natives finally becoming recognized as their boss. After ascending once more at level 16 the water slime had grown a shimmering blue gold crown and became the king slime cementing its rule. The whole situation was strange if only because they were located at the bottom of his dungeon and were weaker than most of the monsters above him but¡­that was fine. They were simply displaced monsters, not something Innearth cared enough about to throw at adventurers even if it cost him nothing. ¡­you know throw at the adventurers I¡¯ll get once I figure out how to attract them. While moving into the area the monsters used to inhabit Innearth found some¡­not strange closer to embarrassing details he had missed initially. The excavating monster had finished removing all the fossils and assembling them and Innearth was shocked to find instead of one creature that Innearth had started to think of as a dragon there were two separate ancient sources of the bones. One was a 4 legged prehistoric 2 horned creature with a tail and rolling back. The other was a creature that stood upright on two legs and had stubby little hands. ¡­so Innearth¡¯s crystal dragon had been based off of two separate prehistoric monsters overlapping on top of one another¡­it did not have 6 legs and the single skull he had found initially had belonged to the upright predator. The fossilized creature had been sewn together with mana that Innearth was starting to think of as ¡°fossil mana¡± and then the shrew-like creature had gotten on and tried to ride its new mount to safety. Seeming disappointed the scarier-looking predator fossils were now missing a head, the shrew settled for the prey creature instead. Being rebuffed by the cold and then pushed deeper into the dungeon the dinosaur riding monster had rampaged before being driven away again this time by the slime king and several of its subjects. Now the subterranean political structure was shifting around the slime king and its loyal forces of wild monsters. The triceratops-riding shrew monster had set up a roving band of rebels that sought to dismantle the slime dynasty. ¡­the whole scenario just amused Innearth. War had begun to form and Innearth had goaded on the free entertainment by providing the slime king with a ¡°crystal worm¡± spawner to help bolster its forces. The spawner was just a copy of the ones in his beginner floor where spiked worm monsters were split in two and mitosis-like doubled their number after healing slowly in sped up time. For the rebel team, Innearth had given a single cannon-like crystal turtle who could smash through any makeshift castle the slime kings¡¯ forces built ¨C as well as a dozen small ¡°lesser crystal snakes¡± each with an embedded piece of t-rex fossil inside of them. The result was the king could constantly refill his forces with weaker troops, while the unique raiders were stronger but vastly outnumbered. The random slices of fossil chunks were mostly to theme the raiders, but it also allowed the shrew to communicate and persuade the forces to work for him with strange fossil mana spells. Of course, despite giving Innearth ¡°pet¡± vibes he still cared quite a bit about his slime king and did not want them to die for entertainment. Thus, behind the slime king a looming protector was found in a single greater snake with multiple illusion cores. That bodyguard was not nearly as good at hiding itself as the unique material version ¨C the one the illusion wurm had originally been ¨C but¡­it was enough to hide from the farce of a war and swoop in to save the king if it ever needed it. There were a few more components to this battle ¨C the largest being the "endless mass of crystals" did not care for the charade and would pop in periodically to play with the slime king. If the slime king was indisposed, the mass would wander through the battlegrounds as a third party playing at war and muddying the results. But, for the most part, Innearth was done checking out his natural monster area. Finally Innearth moved on from exacerbating the battles and found his 3 crystal snakes. They were taking turns to head off and explore in pairs acting almost military-esque in their actions. They had after all been made then shoved straight into a war and had thus advanced in the midst of massive battles. The more Innearth spent time watching them the more their personalities began to manifest for him. Renaming them from Scout 1/2/3 Innearth instead drew on their military actions and christened them ¡°Cadet Brawn¡±, ¡°Cadet Follower¡±, ¡°Cadet Instinct¡±. He made sure to communicate their ¡°commanding officer¡± was the snake scout and to learn as much from him as they could. After going over all his ascended monsters and giving them the attention they deserved, Innearth finished restarting his dungeon. The snake and spider battle was back on. All the monsters that had been made and retrieved in various events were spread throughout his existing areas. The biggest change was that the ice golem made with a dozen combined balls that he had tested out in the island was set as the boss of the ice caverns. The boss fight was set up so that a minimum of 4 snowmen would break apart and reform into a giant single monster ¨C just a bit less than 4x as strong as normal snowmen. A portion of his regenerating mana and attention was used to slowly ¨C efficiently ¨C expand where the burrowers moved. A portion went towards using all his excess mana to make the materials his ice caverns needed and to design each room. Finally, the rest of his mana and attention was left on where his mind had been brainstorming this whole time. Brainstorming ways of solving his adventurer problem once and for all. Chapter 60. Tier [6]... I curse having [0] adventurers.
Entry 78. I feel pretty vindicated. I kept telling people something weird was happening with the hypnotic dungeon and suddenly this ¡°island¡± appeared inside of it. I think all of the stuff I found beforehand might actually have been some strange ritual to summon the island. It¡¯s the only explanation that makes sense to me - it also makes sense that others wouldn''t have figured this out until now. All the rituals happend in hidden areas of the dungeon that adventurers wouldn''t have been able to reach without teleportation. I overheard some people talking about how the island was in some unknown area and the system portals just brought us into that unknown area¡­but as my class has a variation of teleportation built into it I found it pretty easy to pinpoint the island. Even blipped in and out a few times to make sure it was actually there the whole island was set at roughtly the 50th floor. Now. Other than being satisfied that I was right! I actually had fun wandering around the island. After being wound up for weeks the island itself was much less dangerous than my imagination was making out the strange occurrences to be. I even found a secret questline by reuniting some monster cows! I shadow blipped them into this arena and got a neat shadewalker amulet from the system for my troubles. Boosts my class abilities by 50%!
Excerpt obtained from the diary of a random adventurer 2000AS. Okay, so first things first. I''ve tried to make my dungeon exciting enough that anyone who actually shows up will want to tell their acquaintances about me. I know it''s unrealistic but I¡¯m imagining they walk into a big house thing full of adventurers and yell ¡°guess what I found! Come check it out¡±¡­ That doesn''t help me actually attract adventurers however. At least not initially. I guess my first problem might be that all my entrances are facing inwards to the valley. I''ll try expanding to the other side of the mountain range while I think of other ways of attracting adventurers. Nice productive goal I can work towards. Diverting most of his free mana towards expanding sideways, Innearth spent a few months and made a long hallway without any stops along the way. The further he expanded the slower his expansion efforts got but the faster and more efficient he got at expanding. Without the "dungeon flesh" effect of running high mana "claimed" crystal veins it would have been nearly impossible to maintain a nice speed. Without one of his burrowers doing the actual digging, it would have taken even longer. Additionally, every time it got a certain distance long, he would shrink the hallway in one direction with as high of a compression factor as he could. That helped him with both influence transfer, as well as conveniently making his nearly 50km long hallway feel closer to 300m long. The wider he made the hallway the easier it was to shrink the distance but the longer it took to dig. The shrinking became a rhythm. Every 3 days he would stop his burrower and then PUSH. Spreading a vast amount of mana and pulling space inwards as hard as he could. Every single ¡°shrink¡± Innearth did he got better at the process indicated by his experience shooting up. A visual indicator of how he was improving. Near the start his ¡°shrinking¡± factor was near a 1:80 scale but by the 8th or 9th shrink he managed to reach nearly 1:200 consistently. It was to the point that he ended up redoing some of his earlier work that wasn¡¯t ¡°good enough¡± once his speed dipped once more. This was a reasonably long period of Innearth¡¯s life. His mind was split into 4 distinct goals consistently ¨C expansion, experimentation and growth in his existing dungeon, experimentation and brainstorming ways to attract adventurers, talking in the group chat and socializing. Every time he wanted to shrink however, he focused 100% of his attention on the process. All of his attention was busy for the hour or so it took to spread Void mana over a vast distance and then hold it in place after it shrunk. Now, while he was expanding to hopefully a more visible location, he tried to think of actions he could take to attract attention. Looking at first light mana and then remembering the combination he got with light and crystal Innearth started to play with Laser mana. It was initially a ¡°that made an eyecatching material it might work¡± and then quickly started to descend into a ¡°there¡¯s more to this mana type than I first thought¡± A single multi faceted ball was made that shot hundreds of small dots of light out of it. After actually playing about with the material more Innearth found by cutting or growing into flat sections the small dots would combine. Flat sections shot out stronger and stronger beams of light the larger they became. By curving those flat surfaces slightly into concave and convex shapes the scattered beams could be squished into a single point. Playing around with the focused beams Innearth watched in slight shock as a nearly instantaneous line of mana and light first bounced off a crystal plant then started burning a hole in a crystal turtles dull side. ¡­huh. That¡¯s¡­well more interesting than the original. Spreading out the effect, the concentrated laser became a spotlight of mana that shot forward light. A beam of light that left a faint cylinder of harsh yellow whiteness in the air it passed through. This "spotlight" was much safer to point at stuff although after leaving it trained on a variety of monsters Innearth found the weaker ones started to smoke and act uncomfortable after a few minutes. Playing around with different materials Innearth found some which helped focus on the damage while others helped focus on the light itself or the strange visual beam through the air. There was some fun interactions between different materials making different colours and combining in fun ways when they crossed but Innearth had a specific goal and managed to not get distracted by the uses. Finally finding one of the materials that barely seemed to heat up or hurt monsters and plants but still gave off a reasonable amount of light and a blue tinged colour, Innearth started thinking about how best to utilize it in his attracting efforts. Animals and I think sapients do well with noticing movement. So I should set this up spinning. ...I should probably also set up the finished effect to better show off my area. ...I''m started to see the best way to do that and I¡¯m not looking forward to it at all. Designing a container that spun whatever was contained inside of it constantly ¨C mounting a massive wide ¡°laser cube¡± ¨C and then giving it to the crystal dwarf to try and improve, Innearth hyped himself up for what was happening next. Sloping up slightly Innearth pushed to make a new entrance on the other side of the mountain range and finally broke through. After procrastinating a few hours by tidying up his new entrance ¨C rimming it with nice torches and tiling the ground around it ¨C Innearth took the plunge. First Innearth raised a pillar upwards, pushing it up out of his influence and growing it underneath ¨C similar to how he had won against Brutality Queen when growing the mini pointed hill (or mountain). Then without leaving himself time to talk himself out of it, Innearth started expanding his influence up out of his entrance. His fastest growing crystal mana and material in his grip he flung himself up building at the absolute edge of his attention. Immediately Innearth felt the wind rip and weaken his influence. He felt exposed. Vulnerable. The light but constant breeze was uncomfortable and the feeling of emptiness around him pushed in and made every single one of Innearth¡¯s dungeon instincts clench with an irrational primal sort of fear. 5 minutes. 10 minutes. 25 minutes. The anxiety sharply increased as Innearth pushed his domain up roughly but after a point quickly became constant and suffocating. Finally, at roughly 35 meters tall and 40 minutes into growing Innearth couldn''t take it anymore. Ahhhhhhhh. Innearth tried to lift his now slowly spinning tower topper ineffectually. Too heavy. Innearth panicked and yelled for the snake trio to help him carry it. It would have been much easier for the snake scout to have done so, but they were out foraging and hadn''t been in for a few days. Hurrying the trio up Innearth watched as they grew a spiral of crystal out of the tower and pulled his cube up to the top ¨C slipping and nearly dropping it a few times but managing to make it. Doing his best to be patient Innearth continued and managed to add another 50cm or so before the group made it. Affixing his device in place Innearth immediately severed the whole tendril outside his base ¨Ccutting himself off from his new crystal lighthouse and the horror of the outside world. The uncomfortable feeling and innate fear rapidly disappeared and was replaced with the gross feeling of a lost limb. Of not being able move or feel apart of yourself and then slowly that too faded. Taking a few minutes to recuperate Innearth blankly reviewed what he had done and tried to figure out if he had missed anything. Crystal tower with spinning spotlights...check. it''s pretty strongly affixed in place even if a bit roughly placed. I think I did it! Now what else can I do? Well how about a harmless mental compulsion? Innearth started working on creating mental materials with a list of similar effects. "I need to find this dungeon" "I think it would be fun to find this dungeon" "If I don''t find this dungeon I''ll die" "No biggie. But when I have time I think I want to wander over and see what that lighthouse is doing" "I''m missing out on something. If I find the crystal dungeon, I''m sure I''ll remember what it is I''m missing" ¡°There¡¯s probably something exciting around here!¡± Dozens of overlapping desires and compulsions to find and delve Innearth went into the materials. Sadly, even by placing them around his entrance they only extended a few meters away from the entrance. The absolute strongest extended a dozen meters out and the weakest only worked if an adventurer was actually standing on it...so not useful. Taking to his easiest lazy action, Innearth asked his crystal dwarf for help. Wandering up and acting uncomfortable around his entrance the dwarf considered his setup. Picking up materials and looking around the area before nodding slightly ¨C a goal in mind. Touching a small pin on his chest the dwarf called two weaker dwarfs to come help then turned and retreated back to his workshop. The two came down the hall carrying a floating platform a few minutes later and began efficiently looting and flinging the materials onto their pallet. Taking up positions on either side, the two spun the platform around and pulled it down to the workshop. As soon as the materials entered the workshop the strongest dwarf began processing and refining the raw materials into different forms. Metals were melted and cast in wires stones were cut into sheets or ground into a clay after being dunked in strange baths. Slowly as the dwarf processed materials and worked on them, an artifact began to form in the center of the room. A multifaceted gyroscope of runes and metals offset stacks of plates and fiddling bits that interlocked in precise ways. At some point in spell complexity, Innearth could no longer tell if the dwarf was doing stuff for specific reasons or if it was simply "the aesthetic". Partway through the design, the dwarf stood up suddenly and rushed over to the slime booth. Asking for the largest core Innearth could make and then returning to build without waiting for a response gave Innearth some time to think. Theoretically¡­I have a max AMU of 12865. Following the system lines¡­a tier 9 core is 9000 and a tier 10 core is 11000. But¡­well I¡¯ve barely made the equivalent of a tier 8 core before¡­I haven¡¯t even explored having a core that large for a boss yet. I don¡¯t know if I have enough control to make tier 10 but I think I can manage a tier 9 core for this¡­ Picking one of the lowest sections of his dungeon to make sure the ambient mana would at least slightly slow down the leaking, Innearth pushed mana as quickly into the core as he could forming layers and holding them together as tightly as he could to prevent leaking. ¡­Hey I actually managed 10 layers! Don¡¯t think the middle two were dense enough considering the system is telling me it¡¯s a tier 9 core but I think it counts. Some nice experience for that action as well I see. Let''s bring this up and hand it off to my dwarf. ¡­ Layers of runes and sheets of crystal were sandwiched between more plates of material and sections were attached with wires and the occasional monster material or crystal dust. Finally the dwarf was done. Beckoning to his helpers, the three dwarfs carefully put their device onto their floating pallet and then trudged back up to the surface. Innearth watched on hopefully as the device was set up in the entrance. This is it. I can feel it. I¡¯ll soon have a line of adventurers! Standing over it, the dwarf reached out and started to check the device over one last time making sure it was safe after being transported. Slowly the dwarf removed both of its gloves wincing as they slipped off and mana began whisping out. A final symbol was drawn carefully on the side. Then, decisively the dwarf stabbed their finger deep into the center core and pushed mana forcefully out of it. Energy rushed out of the monster rapidly as the device was kickstarted. Slowly a ring floated up like a halo above it as the device whirred to life. Like mist in Innearth¡¯s mana sight, pinkish geas spread out of his entrance and rushed out into the unknown. His snake scout returned at that point and started looking back and forth informing Innearth of the clouds progress. 100m. 1km. 10km. 30km. The mist kept flowing outwards ever so slightly slower the further away from his entrance it travelled. At this point Innearth might have even thought it would have continued on endlessly if not for a certain spoilsport butting into his business.
Caution: Actions have been linked to a "widespread non-consensual geas". If purposeful pollution reaches a critical point this warning will turn into a calamity alert as a system-enforced war crime. Have a good day.
The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Boooooooo! Who says I can''t control this whole continent to search me out. I¡¯m not hurting anyone :3< Grumbling Innearth told the dwarf to shut it off. Scratching his head slightly the dwarf pantomimed a bit to indicate that he couldn''t turn it off then visibly deflated. Reaching out he slashed his finger through the working several times finally breaking some critical infrastructure. Stepping back, they watched as parts of the device seemed to implode and others explode in a weird sort of uncontrolled but ¡°orderly¡± manner. Bits crunched into nothing and shrapnel flung out accompanied by a nova of mana. As the magical explosion hit the entrance to Innearth¡¯s dungeon it warped the lower density stone slightly and clung to everything. A slightly hypnotic swirling fractal spread around the lip of his dungeon and a ring of grass right around the outside of his newest entrance shivered. The grass seemed to melt slightly and then solidify and grow upwards in reds and purples. Finally the original device finished fusing with the surroundings and settled down ¨C a fleshy pink but no longer spewing pink¡­.rocky blob. Without the source, the geas immediately stopped spreading and then slowly ever so slowly faded away. Innearth noticed a few animals that had been making their way up the side of the mountain shake their heads and run away again ¨C spooked. ¡­Back to the drawing board I guess. Cleaning up his entrance somewhat, Innearth created a spider bat pair and shoved the unique blob into its center before setting it loose in the magma halls. The grass and pattern he left as decorations because they didn¡¯t seem to be negatively affecting the surroundings. So¡­ That idea only failed once I decided to go massive. The system didn¡¯t seem to care about the harmless little mind control attempt until it started getting really really big. Wonder why? Well anyways how about making the effect more contained. I have to figure out how to get it to reach adventurers¡­maybe I can send stuff to my friends? Have them help a Core out? Hey! Crystal Dwarf! I have another job for you. Help me make an item that can lead adventures to my dungeon! I want to send it to all my friends. After a moment Innearth saw the dwarf was standing in the slime booth. Yeah, what¡¯s up? ¡°¡­I¡¯m going to need you to figure out how to direct them. I can make a trap to drive them to get here but I need a way for them to actually locate your dungeon.¡± ¡­well okay. Uh. Hmm. Innearth thought through his materials. The longest ranged mana seems to be mental mana? We made pins that were connected between our dungeons and the adventurers in the dungeon games. I don¡¯t know how far that is, but we could pretend it''s infinite right? Can you use that? ¡°That is¡­I¡¯m the one who boosted it to that range. It¡¯s definitely not infinite. But that is a relatively cheap connection you are correct. I can try and hitch onto that but I¡¯m going need a bit more to actually get a direction¡­¡± To be honest my somewhat lazy way of innovation is to normally either figure out what a material does and then come up with ways to use it. Or figure out something I want to do and think through materials I have that work for that¡­Do you think connections might help? ¡°It might be able to solve it but I don¡¯t have the knowledge for it. I think¡­I think there''s a material that might help. I have a vaugue idea of what it looks like in nature but not how a dungeon would make it. ¡°Kinetic and Mental mana should be able to make something I can use.¡± ¡­I¡¯ve heard that¡¯s a dungeon killer. Doc made a demonic mana item that wasn¡¯t a demon so it might be safe to work with¡­I don¡¯t know I¡¯ll ask his advice. What exactly do I need to make? ¡°My¡­innate knowledge calls the combination curse mana. There''s a phenomenon of items or spells that follow a marked person or place to the end of the earth. Spells that move without rest to kill someone when they stop running away. Weapons that keep appearing in random strangers hands and convincing them to travel to and kill the marked person. That¡­and a few runes I can use to help control curses is about all my innate knowledge can tell me. I think with the right sort of curse materials I can bring people to you.¡±
Innearth: Hey Doc, I know you play around with demonic mana a lot do you know how to deal with the Kinetic+Mental madness flavour? One dungeon guides called ¡°MIMs¡± and my dungeon monster called ¡°Curse Mana¡±.
ZeMadDoctor: Hello yes. I have made some materials with that combination. A name for it is curse mana? That¡¯s good to know. Either way. I¡¯m not dumb enough to have made a monster with it. If you want to make it safely I think the minimum protection could be sealing off a room with lots of either life or death mana. ZeMadDoctor: Don¡¯t think that makes it safe to make a MIM however. You read the guides right? It attacks your influence directly! It won''t even have to leave an experimentation room to kill you.
Innearth: Yep. Not planning on making a MIM. Just trying to make some cursed items in a safe and controlled manner.
ZeMadDoctor: Oh! One last piece of advice. Make a vat of healing potion to throw any cursed items in if they seem dangerous. Even if it doesn¡¯t break the¡­ ¡°curse¡± it should suppress it. You can figure out how to destroy it with void or something afterwards.
Innearth: gotchu¡­so mims can attack your influence directly. Is there a chance any of the materials would do so even without being turned into a monster?
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­that is a good question. I happily forgot about that when I did my own experiments. I can send you the list of materials I tried as a safe list?
Innearth: Please.
Okay. You¡¯ll have your curse materials. I want to set up a containment area to make them just in case. Doc just sent me 7 different combinations that were safe. Hopefully one will work for you. ¡°That would help. Tell me when they are ready and I¡¯ll test them out¡± Designing a room with first a layer of life metal, then death metal ¨C and then just in case, unlife metal and undeath metal ¨C Innearth sealed it off from the rest of his dungeon. Just for good luck some of his weaker null stone was routed to surround it and the door attaching this room to the workshop was reinforced several times. In the middle of the room, four constructs were made. A vat of healing liquid, a vat of poison, a flat stone worktable, and a void stone basin that could quickly be filled with acid mana. He was ready. Combining the 50/50 tin and copper ¡°High tin bronze alloy¡± with Kinetic and Mental mana, Innearth watched as the shapeless blob pushed itself out into a reflective glassy sphere. Despite trying to shape it afterwards the material kept reforming into a perfect bead. Like liquid that wanted to be a sphere at all times and would flow into that shape if cut. Carefully placing it on the table Innearth made sure it wouldn¡¯t start damaging or attacking anything. Next making the electrum material that Doc had vetted Innearth found himself naturally making a sharp edge despite aiming for a block shape. This material immediately began ¡°looking around¡± and aiming itself at unseen spectres¡­After a few moments of carefully watching it, he realized it was tracking the living monsters outside of the room. Somehow it could sense and orient itself towards living creatures despite being trapped in a room and insulated with quite a few protections. Moving on Innearth made 4 more combinations with various alloys that seemed inert but made him nervous. Alright. Come on in and see if any of these will work for your purposes. The dwarf wandered into the room closing the door carefully behind him. As they walked towards the table the second material leapt at him seeking to cut before Innearth grabbed it and shoved its struggling length into a vat of healing potion. Filling up the basin with void acid Innearth pulled it back up and melted it away. Checking each of the materials a second hiccup happened when one of the ¡°inert¡± blocks latched onto the dwarf¡¯s hand when it passed by. Nearly fusing with the dwarf''s flesh it dug into the dwarf¡¯s body violently pressing itself inwards before it was dunked into the healing liquid pool and fell off. Checking the rest of the materials the dwarf pulled aside 3 of them and then carefully pulled out the bloodthirsty block that had attacked him making sure to keep it stabbed on his void finger. Walking back to his workshop with the items Innearth carefully watched him go and then melted the leftovers. I guess now I just have to see if that was enough? As if as an afterthought Innearth noticed he was now at tier 6. Level 65 already, the system¡¯s tier up had happened without much fanfare and hadn¡¯t even bothered to inform him it was happening. Without adventurers, that was just a glaring ¡°0/2500 delves¡± to remind Innearth he sucked. ¡­ ¡°Hey boss¡­ I think we have a problem.¡± Hmm? What''s up? Innearth absent-mindedly responded. Something felt weird in this moment but he couldn¡¯t tell what it was just yet. ¡°So the system got confused while ascending me right. It mentioned something about an evaluation that needed to be done along with an extended alteration? I can''t work on the tasks you''ve assigned me while that''s happening. Sorry in advance, there are a few ready made locators on my workbench. Damn my head hurts. Shove off system I need to ¨C¡± A few things started to stick out to Innearth. The crystal dwarf sounded...slightly more articulate for one. Or if not more articulate more¡­expressive? Less focused on information and more¡­Even before now he¡¯s talked more than others. The way his voice sounded just then was somehow more however. Something else to focus on is how exactly the dwarf was talking to me¡­He¡¯s not anywhere near the slime booth and I¡¯m not purposefully finding that to talk to him ¨C That¡¯s not the most important point though! The crystal dwarf is ascending! What¡¯s happening! Focusing his attention over to the dwarf¡¯s workshop in the darkness floor, Innearth saw a table set with a strange device. On the floor lay the dwarf, passed out with a large amount of mana gathered about him. Beside him lay several bracers that Innearth ignored for now. Crystal flesh occasionally bubbled and popped before returning to normal while twitches wracked the dwarf¡¯s body. The process that other monsters had undergone while ascending was drawn out slowly and carefully for the dwarf and it seemed like there were more changes happening than usual. ...and while looking down over the dwarf''s twitching body, Innearth felt compassion well up. This wasn''t his monster. This wasn¡¯t a puppet. This was his son. His precious little son. Staring at the process from a dozen different angles Innearth waited ¨C worried about what was happening and wondering what had gone wrong. Finally, after what seemed like a maddening eternity, the process ended and the dwarf was still. Two eyelids opened and the dwarf slowly stood up clutching his head, sweat dripping down his¡­textured skin? Moving over to the device on the table he grasped it and started funneling mana into various parts than then diffused into the atmosphere. As the mana dispersed it suddenly twisted into a web of mental connections that somehow managed to interface with his influence and finally reach him. Hey. Sorry boss. I feel weird like my body''s not my own. I have eyes. What¡­ happened. Anyways, here''s what I''ve gained from the system. I¡¯m going need a bit before I can return to making locators. Concentrating slightly the dwarf pushed his memory of the falling events through the machine towards Innearth.
[Ascending]¡­situation fuzzy. Providing detailed logs per [Protocol 12]. Required experience met through the creation of the device [universal communicator]. Upgrading [dwarf] race. Class not found. Ascending [dungeon monster]. Experience not gained through fighting. Non simple situation discovered. Assistance request quest issued? No relevant entities to contact. Shifting to desire function
Hello entity. Are you a dwarf or a monster. Would you like to be a [dwarf] or a [monster]? Please make a decision that impacts the rest of your life.
Dwarf system Monster system
Dwarf System Chosen. Due to racial background, fallback system is used instead. Race set to "Kobold" - known path detected. Closest sapient settlement [dwarf majority] [kobold system] set to [dwarf system]. Kobold state needs modification to fit into polite society. Major modifications are as follows. Mana construct [crystal core] shift to [crystal brain]. Mana construct [crystal core] shift to crystal heart. Mana construct [dungeon circuit] shift to life system Stomach added. [Rudimentary mouth] shifted and joined to stomach. As a sapient race, permission must be obtained to make these alterations.
Accept? Y/N
Optional kobold modifications with leftover experience (evolutionary energy 24) are listed.
Gain eyes [7p]
Gain ears [5p]
Gain nose [8p]
Gain reproductive facilities [45]
Eyes, ears, nose selected. Leftover energy set to [stat points 3] Due to sapient race status, the following modifications must be done in a safe manner. Quick evolution not available.
Putting kobold [unnamed] to sleep. Thank you for running the interactive ascension wizard. Ending log functionality.
...that was. That was a lot. Innearth needed a moment to process what he had just been shown. First off. The system could put log information out if confused? No, obviously that wasn''t the most important point. The crystal dwarf...was a kobold? The...offspring of dragons? That seems wrong it should be closer to the offspring of dungeons...cor..old? dunold? Ah. I¡¯m getting of track. The crystal dwarf...is a sapient race? ...he evolved into a sapient race??? ...how is that even possible? Innearth knew the crystal dwarf was important but didn''t know he was that important. ...hey uh...crystal dwarf? What do you want to do now? And do you want to name yourself or should I name you? Do you want me to get you anything? How do you feel? I just realized how horrible your current accommodations are. Do you want a bedroom? Need anything for your workshop? You don¡¯t need to work constantly. I would love more help with attracting adventurers however. Reaching out slowly the ascended crystal dwarf placed his hand on his device and reactivated it. ¡°I...would like to name myself. I have a sense of Dwarven names, and I have a sense of your naming style, and the two do not mix at all...Onyx. My name is Onyx for I was born in darkness and now I can see...¡± ¡°That was a joke. It fits my new people''s naming sense and the single claw you gave me is black.¡± You can tell jokes! Onyx it is. ¡°As for the rest of your¡­questions. I think.¡± The dwarf paused and seemed to consider his next words carefully. ¡°I think¡­I think I want to travel. I want to find more dwarves. I want to see the world. Is¡­is that okay? If I go off to find people I can make sure to direct them towards you. I¡¯m positive you¡¯ll be popular, I¡¯ll do a good job of talking about how great you are.¡± ¡°Oh! I can teach some of the dulls how to make the locators for you as well...so is that okay?¡± Innearth felt strange. He had just gained a son and now they wanted to move out? Why didn¡¯t he want to stay here with me forever like his siblings? ¡­but he didn¡¯t want to hold them here against their will. Is¡­is it because I was making you work endlessly before you ascended? ¡°No! You gave me purpose and¡­I¡¯m sure that¡¯s why I evolved into my own being. I just¡­want to find creatures like me. I feel like¡­I feel like once I do so I¡¯ll become much happier¡± So¡­this is goodbye? ¡°Oh no! I¡¯m not leaving yet. I told you I need to train my replacements. I also want to make some supplies before I leave. Some weapons and items I can use to protect myself.¡± Okay¡­Do you think the weaker crystal dwarves will be able to do what you did? Should I make another dwarf like you? ¡°That would probably be the best. I can try and teach the dulls but I feel like some of the more complicated runes are completely beyond them. They also don¡¯t seem to have any innate knowledge.¡± ¡°Wow. It feels strange being replaced. I really do like feeling like you need me and that I have a purpose.¡± Innearth spent some time with them before turning to make their replacement. A tier 4 core in the center of the dwarf schematic along with some large nodes and distinct spots. Deciding as useful as having a whole bunch of them might be he didn¡¯t want them to be without anything to do. ¡­A faint hint of the first words Innearth had heard from Onyx bubbled up to the surface at that moment. ¡°What is my purpose?¡±. Eesh. Yeah. One at a time is fine. There only needs to be one head of the dwarfs with plenty of more disposable subordinates. I don¡¯t actually know how to improve them ¨C I could add a bunch more cores but that might break the existing small circuit that made the dwarf able to use runes and gave them knowledge. ¡­I guess I can improve their internal structure ever so slightly based on stuff I¡¯ve learned from all the iterations with the weaker dwarves. Hope it doesn¡¯t break their strengths if this doesn¡¯t work I can always make another using the older template. Printing out Onyx¡¯s replacement Innearth took a closer look at the items they had made. Each bracer had a bunch of mental mana compulsions along with a ¡°compass¡± in the center that pointed towards a domed item in the center of the table. Moving the device around Innearth saw the needle constantly pointed towards it following a slight mental connection between the two with a slight fuzzy purple tint to its pink cord. There also appeared to be some mechanism that would snap the bracer shut with as much force as it could, a faint prick of curse mana fusing the clasp to an unsuspecting adventurer''s arm. They looked good¡­but Innearth had a faint idea of how to improve them. Hey. These are great! I have one last idea. Currently they do a good job of getting stuck on adventurers and making them want to come here but¡­I want to be nice. How about we make them items that are useful as well? So even though they are stuck on an adventurer they won''t want to take them off because they have good effects. What do you think? ¡°Oh! Great plan. Yeah, I can make some simple effects on the existing ones easily enough. Future ones can have crystals built into them with runes to bring out their best effects. Is this my replacement?¡± He looks taller than I was. Yep. When you are done with these I¡¯ll see if any of my friends will offer them as rewards. ¡­
Innearth: Alright. Anyone want to help me out? I have a plan to get adventurers you just have to offer these items as rewards!
Amy: I am not offering cursed items as rewards. Rewards are no strings attached bonuses for doing good things. I don¡¯t want to ruin that. I can definitely place some of these as traps however. Put them at the bottom of pools with scramblers and skriplers ¡°protecting¡± them.
Abe: Bro! Of course I¡¯m down to help. I agree with Amy though. Perfect trap. Mwahaha. You got tricked! Now you have to go find a dumb dungeon in the middle of nowhere!
Innearth: Rude :3< But thanks. I¡¯ll send you both a few dozen to start.
Fated Eternal Design: These would be a great ¡°BAD END¡± for my newest questline. If adventurers don¡¯t save the mist puppy they get these items instead!
Innearth: ¡­they have good effects guys. Stop making it out to be the end of the world to share some adventurers¡­you have plenty already send some my way :3<
Abe: So what does everyone think about my new fireworks? I¡¯m setting them off every time someone beat a boss. I¡¯ve gotten a dozen colours and effects so far.
Fated Eternal Design: Oh? Let me see, those could be useful in small doses.
¡­ Chapter 61. The Storm before the Calm.
Of all the natural monsters in the world one of the most valuable is known as the gold worms from the Shirka canyon. The canyon itself has an extremely high number of gold patches and frequent thunderstorms. Lighting strikes the canyon walls and floors and liquifies the gold into molten tidepools at least once a week. The gold worms then swarm from everywhere nearby and gorge themselves on the molten metal before it cools. After eating their fill, these intrepid little monsters spin little golden nests and lay hundreds of little golden babies. These sacs of eggs remain almost dormant until the next thunderstorm. The sacs themselves wait until hours before the next storm before suddenly sensing something in the air they all hatch and spread to the far ends of the canyon to continue their weird life cycle. Now. The reason these gold worms are valuable is the golden caviar or ¡°godly golden ingredient¡± their egg sacs represent. Wealthy businessman and nobles from all over the world ship in their eggs to enjoy as both a delicacy and a sense of pride. Sadly, these golden prizes cannot be farmed well, nor can they exist outside of the Shirka caverns resulting in their low volume and high value.
Excerpt obtained from ¡®The Beastiary of rare and unusual monsters¡±. Time passed as it tends to do. Innearth had started leaving his focus split so long and was so bored he was starting to pretend each section had a separate personality. His ¡°Adventurer-seeking mind¡± made a second laser mana searchlight. After having the scout break trees in a line away from his dungeon to try and create a ¡°line of a clearing¡±, he gave them the job of tunnelling back and forth in the air carrying the new searchlight. Ohohoho. This shall surely work I say! Do you not agree Mr Scout Old Chap? ¡­ Slightly earlier in the timeline, his pure "expansion-focused mind" picked up the exact moment he advanced to tier 6 and immediately used his [Descent] Gift to tunnel down. Innearth relocated just over a 100 meters down into a new chamber near ¨C but not below ¨C the bottom of his existing ice caverns. Not needing as many doors anymore he broke apart 5 of his blast doors ¨C scraps for other parts of his mind to make more mana ovens ¨C and used choice parts to make a new null stone protective blast door. After tidying up everything, this mind returned to pushing downwards with the burrowers deeper and deeper into the Earth. ¡­diggy diggy diggy. Oh how I love digging. I lied. Buh bunnn. Why can¡¯t I assign a monster to push my influence outwards this ¨C suuuuccks ¨C why am I in charge of expansion¡­ we should swap periodically. Ice cavern designer can spend some time mindlessly expanding. See how he likes it smh. ¡­ The largest and most involved changes were done by the portion of his attention in charge of ¡°Ice Cavern Design¡±. With a dedicated section of his consciousness ¡°The Ice Caverns¡± were finally given the attention they deserved ¨C decorations were added and now when you walked through them, occasionally you could find frozen crystal dwarves or pickaxes that stared out of the walls at you. One or two of the dwarves were a variation purposefully built for the cold that could break out of their entombed state to attack unwary adventurers with magic ice picks. The largest theme of the floor however was survival against the elements. There were less traps to disarm for the floor¡¯s main effect was a blistering cold. To aid this effect, the most involved change that happened to this floor was the creation of the ¡°snow machine¡±. First Innearth made a large room and filled it with Sand and a bit of Air mana. He commissioned Wind, Storm and mist mana materials from FED and set the room to an endlessly spinning tornado of mana and movement. Then he set a sprinkler system with plants that ¡°bled¡± water down tubes into giant spinning kinetic turbines. The water hit the spinning blades and shot everywhere in a light spray above the chamber. He added an excessive amount of Ice mana and a central snowman with a hint of unique snow mana material to help blend everything manually. Finally, he pumped a large amount of pure mana into the area and set up a ¡°pure mana oven¡± on the side to try and aspect it with snow and cold. This whole chamber would churn out snow mana unique materials pretty consistently. It didn¡¯t have many crazy magical effects, but it took to being the flesh of snowmen incredibly well. There was also a nice bonus of snow mana materials selling well on the market and Innearth set up a little side hustle of undercutting the whole market with an endless low volume of the stuff. Of course a more focused change to these floors was the final design of the ¡°zone boss¡± and ¡°wandering floor boss¡±. As this zone was more open than any he had made so far, the steam-powered horse schematic made a comeback after going through the gauntlet of the dungeon games race. Shrinking the design down and distributing the load between 6 ¡°smaller horses¡± Innearth created a sled that was pulled by these ¡°reindeer¡±. In the sled itself, a larger snowman mage was set up that could pelt adventurers with icicles from afar. The santa mini-boss would skid around the 13th and 14th floors at a great speed and would need to be chased down to be properly fought. The final boss was a tier 9 snowman base with connections to a dozen smaller snowman. The start of the boss fight involved what looked like 12 normal snowmen rolling together. After combining into a massive ice and snow golem shaped like a linebacker covered in exercise balls the boss would begin charging. This boss fight was situated directly to the side of the snow chamber and Innearth figured out how to reroute quite a bit of the snow runoff into the boss room on an event trigger. The result was a boss fight in the middle of a blizzard against a massive gorilla of a boss that was more agile than it had any right to be for its size. At this point the zone was nearly complete, Innearth just wanted to expand it a bit more and set up some sort of puzzle in it. A puzzle because he had added at least one to all of his previous main zones and wanted to follow the theme. Should I set up a story in this floor? What about all three? Some sort of linked questline? Hmmm. I could make a bunch of snow homes for the snowmen. Or continue my battling theme and create a sort of war between snowmen¡­where they are constantly throwing snowballs at each other? Could give them differently coloured scarves and pretend the different colours hate each other? ¡­no that doesn¡¯t match the vibe I want the ice caverns to have. Unlike having different base elements like the snakes and spiders any war between snowmen would be completely manufactured and feel fake... Hmmm. Somethings missing. I need one final addition before the zone really pops. Could always ask FED for advice¡­but no. I want to do this on my own. Any puzzles I can do with the cold? Maybe they have to melt stuff? I''ll keep thinking. ¡­ Moving on down the line ¡°Odds and ends¡± mind mass-produced crystal loot by creating simple weapons and leaving them in mana ovens. They would set all the good to great ones as random loot for bosses, unique monsters and the occasional hidden room or treasure chest. Besides setting drops this was creating huge ¡°pools¡± of potential weapons both designed and randomized for later. Then ¨C after collecting the rest in a giant trash pile along with some of the larger monster corpses they were in charge of cleaning up ¨C he would set them to being broken down and ¡°fixed¡± by several crystal dwarves that were getting better at crafting on their own. A squad of humanoid crystal golems with appendages that could grab trash quickly was created and directed about ¨C to fund this ¡°less garbage on the ground!¡± initiative. Innearth also moved this processing and crafting facility down to his lowest floor. Innearth now had 15 floors and the ambient mana levels were nearly 5x as high as they were at the surface this ¡°high¡±. This whole ¡°initiative¡± was made after Innearth found out more information about the world around him almost on accident while researching sapients and trying to figure out ways to attract them. It turned out quite a bit of the ¡°essentially garbage¡± monster parts that Innearth had been ignoring were useful for other races to craft with. From what he could tell from the market and his friends, adventurers collected monster corpses quite frequently ¨C almost considering them the same as actual loot. There was some sort of magical laundering process that having been a part of a monster gave materials. A theoretical example would be taking a rough red fire gem that most crafters would consider was too much work to process. After creating a unique monster by placing it in the center of a magma spider (or similar) this ¡°rough red fire gem¡± would be considered something like a ¡°crystalized heart of a molten arachnid¡±. Despite having theoretically once been a rock, the process of turning materials into a monster meant this new ¡°monster flesh¡± could be turned into a spice or rare meat for cooking. Or a binding agent for some armour. Or the core of heating system in some city. Or the sacrifice for some strange enhancement process. Repeat endlessly for different uses depending on the material. Magic is weird. Innearth knew that by combing pure elements with mana and turning them into a monster, other elements would be mixed into the flesh and turned into different microscopic compounds. He had even found a few materials he didn¡¯t have access to by re adding monster flesh to his inventory and getting back more rare base parts. ¡­he had known that, but he didn¡¯t realize by picking up a random rock and including it in his monster creation spell it would be ¡°fleshified¡± as well. Beside the attempts to turn monster parts into loot Innearth had also found at least some adventurers didn¡¯t look fondly upon ¡°messy¡± dungeons with piles of monster corpses. Even if it was only a few that liked clean dungeons Innearth didn¡¯t want to finally get another adventurer only for them to be turned off by the mess and not recommend him to their friends and acquaintances. I should see about making more tier 2 crystal dwarves with slightly different appendages or circuits and maybe try shaping them differently to see if I can get other item making spells other than rune making because the dwarves seem to have a lot of general crafting skills but there are some pretty strong sounding effect that FED has gotten with his cult making him potions and I¡¯d love to see more examples of spells I can¡¯t use. Innearth constantly muttered various thoughts to himself without pause. This personality was¡­it embraced his absentmindedness and frequently switched what it was doing or thinking about. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡­ ¡°Social butterfly¡± Innearth was constantly in his group chat and had taken to talking to Brutality Queen more and more. It had started out with the occasional bet or either of them showing off something they had done to try and impress the other but after a few months, Innearth realized he was probably talking to her more than any of his other friends. ¡­That had been a strange discovery and Innearth had asked if people would be fine with adding her to the group chat. Amy was for the change and Abe was confused by it but ultimately agreed with most requests made. Doc hadn¡¯t seemed to care while FED had seemed initially uncomfortable with a new addition but quickly agreed and added her as the ¡°owner¡± of the server. Social Butterfly Innearth also spent some time sending excited streams of Oynx doing regular things to his friend''s amusement and then suffering. Even Doc who had initially been fascinated by the idea of a dungeon monster becoming a sapient stopped joining the streams when he showed Onyx eating food for the 10th time. Of his conversations with Brutality Queen the most illuminating was probably her insight into unique monsters
Brutality Queen: Yes! You asked me for help! Okay, So it''s hard to point out a single action that leads to Ascension but there are plenty of things you can do to increase your chances. Brutality Queen: First off. Probably the most important point but lower ¡°tiered¡± souls have a much easier chance of ascension. Most of my dirt golems don¡¯t even have a core because while they are much weaker like that they can ¡°split away from you¡± much easier if there is less of you in them to begin with. Every tier of core you give them makes them require more and more experience for them to advance. Plus side is tier 0 monsters are ¡°dirt¡± cheap to make. Heh. Get it? Brutality Queen: Okay Some other advice. There seems to be a lot of conflicting information about it on the market and plenty of cores are even saying the opposite of me¡­ but I feel like my results speak for themselves. Monsters have a much easier time of breaking away from you if they are more ¡°unique¡±. Thirty-five alive ascended monsters as of yesterday! Because of that I¡¯ve taken to putting sprinkles of natural dirt in my dirt monsters so nearly all of them are more ¡°unique¡± ¡­it makes much worse flesh than pure dirt mana materials but the ¡°flaws¡± create more unique ¨C and thus more likely to advance ¨C situations. Brutality Queen: It doesn¡¯t actually have to be a unique monster however. Individuality plays a big part of it. I¡¯ve taken to giving all of my monsters ¨C both mud and dirt variants ¨C different faces and shapes because it seems to help. Some even have flowers planted in their heads or bits of plants integrated into their bodies before I seed them. Brutality Queen: Finally. Something that is the most obvious is that they need experience. You¡¯ve probably found they get nearly no experience when fighting each other right? Its not zero but it might as well be. I¡¯ve solved this by drawing hundreds of natural monsters into my dungeon and letting them roam about my main jungle floors. Every time a dungeon monster fights one of the natural monsters and wins or at least survives its that much closer to advancing. Brutality Queen: to recap. Individuality and experience. Make em low tier :3 - good luck.
Innearth: Well. Thanks for that. Want to see my slime king fight the prehistoric raiders? It sounds like this situation is already ripe for advancement. I¡¯m following nearly all your points!
¡­
Brutality Queen: ¡­I love it. Has Amy seen this? And yeah, give it a few more weeks and I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll start getting ascensions. They will be ascending left and right based on all these natural monsters on both sides of your little war.
¡­ Of all his minds however, what could be considered his final but ¡°Main¡± mind spent the last bit of time talking to Onyx and helping him prepare to leave his dungeon. Did you pack everything? ¡°Yes. I¡¯m prepared.¡± Want to stay a bit longer? ¡°It''s already been weeks and weeks since I wanted to leave. I¡¯m sorry but I think I¡¯m going to leave now before I never do. I¡­Goodbye. I¡¯m going to make my own way in the world now. Wish me luck!¡± With those parting words, the dwarf strode purposefully out of the lighthouse entrance to Innearth¡¯s dungeon. A few steps out of Innearth¡¯s influence and Innearth could no longer see them ¨C despite their relative physical proximity to him. Sighing, Innearth felt a sense of loss. There had never been a problem with the Snake Scout leaving ¨C but a good part of that was the implied ¡°Will be back later¡± that accompanied every single excursion. He hadn¡¯t even been nervous that the scout would die outside of his dungeon and never return ¨C even if a few of the surrounding natural monsters had been stronger than him, the scout was good at staying out of trouble and knew not to bite off more than he could chew. But Onyx leaving was permanent. Innearth had a faint desire to lock them away and prevent them from ever leaving but he pushed down and suppressed that as hard as he could. Just as he was beginning to finish feeling loss Onyx returned. Without responding to Innearth¡¯s joyous ¡°You¡¯re back!¡±, the crystal dwarf moved purposefully down to his workshop ¨C dodging the traps he had been involved with setting up and making his way through the occasional secret passageway or elevator. Reaching his old workbench, the dwarf bent over and began roughly rummaging about, surprising the new crystal dwarf that had taken his place. What are you doing? Slowly a device took shape. Mental materials and runes were connected in spiralling patterns and inlaid into a bowl and amulet. Turning to the old slime booth Onyx moved over purposefully reaching in and scooping up the wobbling slime off of its mental plate then carefully dropping it in the bowl. Reaching out Innearth touched the connection and heard his son speak. ¡°I¡¯ll keep in touch. You¡¯ll want to know if I manage to convince anyone to visit you right? Also¡­I can tell you what I¡¯ve been doing. Anyways I¡¯m off again. This time for good. Make sure to put my replacement to work well. Maybe one day he¡¯ll ascend as well!¡± Turning around the dwarf carefully retraced his steps and exited once more. This time his loss affected Innearth less. He had maintained a connection. And even if he won¡¯t be able to see him the connection made it feel like he hadn¡¯t truly left. To make the second departure even nicer a final gift had been left behind when the dwarf stepped out of his dungeon for the last time. Checking his status he saw the change to his advancement requirements ¨C 1/2500 delves. Despite being dungeon-born, the crystal dwarf had counted for a single delve when it had returned to give him a connection. ¡­Good luck. ¡­ Time passed as it tends to do. The longer Innearth went, the worse his mental stability got. The number of fake personalities in his mind grew as if the taste of adventurers he had gotten during the mysterious island event had broken something deep inside of him. While before he had longed and worked towards getting adventurers now Innearth craved them. Despite having made up his personalities ¨C and there being no indication that splitting one''s mind to focus on separate tasks should actually ¡°make new personalities¡± ¨C Innearth¡¯s mind kept creating more and more personas. It got to the point where he would argue with himself or find two personalities were fighting and using a third to send messages back and forth. Eventually each "split" got a personality and Innearth¡¯s experimentations grew less focused and more strange. 15 days were spent trying to figure out if he could make an ¡°adventurer finding and attracting¡± mana. Everything has a mana type right? And how useful they are is how easy it is to find and make them? Well this mana type would be incredibly useful. Let¡¯s get me some ¡°adventurer finding and attracting¡± materials! I¡¯ll settle for figuring out a spell that will do that. I just have to want it hard enough right? That¡¯s how this works isn¡¯t it? Innearth made a series of strange shaped monsters that looked weird just for the sake of being weird. Reminded of how demons had been shaped in ways that no natural creature could be made normally Innearth played with making umbrella shaped creatures or monsters that looked like hundreds of normal monsters shoved together into a giant human centipede like shape. Of these strange creatures the pinnacle of his experiments was a boss made in a way much simpler than his previous. Its structure and shape was less ¡°crazy¡± than his previous experiments but was still worth being called the boss of them by its actions. The monster was a giant hydra with 8 snake heads and necks, attached to a single ¡°turtle schematic base¡±. Each head was lovingly sculpted for individuality and given separate circuits purposefully to give them separate personalities. Each head was given a tier 9 core and a separate spiraling circuit that looked like a strand of DNA moving down the whole length of their neck. This boss was given a huge store of healing and regeneration sacks in both its necks and body along with giant clawed feet and a long tail¡­however the largest and most important addition to the hydra was in its companions. Each head was paired to a separate mental and connection bond similar to the ¡°spider and bat¡± combination. One had a human centipede, another a feline creature that looked like a spring with legs. Four of the heads had companions that looked like the equivalent of the letters H, D, O, and X in a puffed-out three-dimensional shape. The final two were made of what looked like a humanoid creature cut in half into two separate monsters. The left body was silver and held one of the strongest crystal swords Innearth had made, while the right body was gold and carried a scale that enhanced their spell casting. Finally these two monsters could combine into ¡°one¡± creature but spent most of their time hopping about on one leg. The boss acted similarly to Innearth in that each of its heads were constantly doing something and bickering with one another in the massive cavern Innearth had made them. To complete this ¡°messed up¡± floor that was the brain child of Innearth¡¯s increasingly erratic mind, all his experiments were dumped about and abandoned in rolling hills of bluish crystalline grass. Countless creations in strange shapes with no purpose other than that "he could" littered the floor and crawled about. Their twisted features and movement gave the scene a whole undertone of madness. None of the monsters actualy had ¡°madness¡± materials inside of them but¡­perhaps due to Innearth''s mental state while designing them without a role ¨C or perhaps due to their shapes that were hard to fight with ¨C the floor was full of monsters that gave nonsensical riddles, crawled endlessly in circles, or played strange games with one another. An example of this "strangeness" was found in a pair of bent monsters shaped like upside down L¡¯s and J¡¯s who tossed a wiggling ball shaped monster back and forth for an audience of "stick armed cubes". Another was located by the far corner where a group of W and lightning bolt snakes swung lazily off of a transplanted tree and talked about the state of the world. And so on and so forth. These experimentations into shapes actually made Innearth better at designing regular monsters but he turned around and used those new strengths to make even weirder monsters endlessly as his ¡°purposeless¡± floor of experimental rejects grew larger and larger. ¡­ Finally, after months of steady decline, a stray comment by Doc seemed to spark something inside of him and pull him out of the funk he was in. It had started simply enough. Doc had finally managed to create his portal hub and had figured out a combination of tricks to make them more useful. A team of monsters he had created had fixed several problems he had had with them and they were finally at a point where he was happy with them. At this point all an adventurer had to do was press a ¡°keystone¡± against his arched entranceways before a corresponding portal would appear momentarily and then disappear once they passed through or waited too long. Each archway could hold a large number of destinations and ¨C due to their brief period of being open ¨C very few demons fell through. It was when Doc was talking about how safe they were and how frequently his adventurers blipped about his dungeon without having to see unwanted demons that something clicked.
Innearth: Would be fun if you could blip some to me huh. Why can¡¯t you by the way? Something something demons? I¡¯m not afraid of demons!
Amy: ¡­Innearth you¡¯re increasingly making me worried lately. Are you okay?
ZeMadDoctor: Hmmm¡­ To be honest Innearth. Nothing is stopping me now. Over the distance to you¡­Well it will be a lot more dangerous again but if you are willing to deal with those dangers I can help you out. I¡¯ve made the short range portals basically demon free. But to you. It''s back to letting smaller demons through.
Innearth: Amy don¡¯t worry I¡¯m fine! And okay. Yeah what do I have to do for you to mail me some of those sweet sweet adventures?
ZeMadDoctor: Prove you can deal with any demons that could leak through the portal. Summon a few lesser demons using monsters with no cores. Summon a few stronger ones with tier 1 cores. I think the maximum strength demon that might get through. Is equivalent to what you could make with a tier 2 core. But I¡¯ll help you out with that. As long as you can prove you can handle the first two. I¡¯m only mentioning this as an option because I believe you can do it¡­if you think you¡¯re up for it set up a stream for me and show off your defenses. Good luck.
Innearth: ¡­okay. Give me a bit.
Finally, after time floundering Innearth had a lifeline. Before he had a goal to work towards, but now he had a specific set of actions he could take to reach that goal. I really think this is going to work. Chapter 62. Face your fears they cant- okay they can only hurt you a little. ~promise
Of all the threats that plague our world (read monsters) the worst can be agreed to be demons. While the main churches seems to believe the undead and those that practice necromantic arts are just as damaging as cultists¡­the truth of the matter is that even the most bloodthirsty vampires and depraved Lich wannabes cannot hold a candle to the true horrors of the abyss. Its hard to stay out of the politics of religion ¨C especially as both sides have a black and white ¡°if you¡¯re not with us you¡¯re against us¡± view of their age old war. But in as neutral a manner as I can possibly state a vampire kills what. A dozen mortals a year? Necromancers are even better. The times a necromancer has slaughtered indiscriminately for power can be counted on a single hand. Most necromancers seek out graveyards and battlefields and seem content to throw their armies at churches instead of villages. In comparison, nearly every time a demon is summoned by some insane cultist, countless die. The worst example is from an ancient city where it is estimated over 25 million people died from a single demon summoning. The city of Alma had steadily been growing into the largest city in the world at that time before a massive travesty befell them. Less than a hundred people survived that day, and all spoke of a massive tentacled whale that flew through the air and sucked everything into its maw. One of the survivors was even a seafaring transcendent who spoke of the creature that came thorugh and how it dwarfed sea monsters in both scale and power ¨C and sea monsters are wildly known to be some of the strongest. To end this tragedy on a sad note: the demon itself wasn¡¯t even slain by some vengeful hero. It simply ripped itself out of our dimension once it had its fill. That means that demon is still out there ¨C and we have no clue how many more of that magnitude might exist. For this reason, even necromancers will complete kill quests issued by the system if they find cultists in their area.
Excerpt obtained from a heretical book about the dangers of demons. With a goal in mind, Innearth slowly shook off the strange state he was in. It was almost like he had been pretending to be insane and ¨C despite having had troubles trying to prevent his split personalities from manifesting ¨C all he needed to do now was shake them off. I¡¯m bored with you guys. Come on. You don¡¯t exist. And. Just like that. They didn¡¯t exist anymore. There was just him and his monsters. ¡­and a faint embarrassment as he stared about his pointless floor of whimsy. I don¡¯t think I want to show people this floor. Adventurers might start thinking I¡¯ve gone fully insane and seek to crush my core. No, this floor of rejects can stay buried. Reviewing everything he could think of to set up he decided to revert that decision. This floor can be the location of my portal to Doc¡­I wonder if he¡¯ll help me set up a second portal from here to my first floor? He did say he got them to work over short distances without spawning demons. Clearing away a section near the middle of his bizarre floor, Innearth made a stone dais that represented where the portal would sit. Working outwards he designed large compressed crystal pillars as dragons¡¯ teeth ¨C brushing up against Diamond mana while doing so. The hydra would be the gatekeeper of the portal and hopefully be in charge of slaughtering any demons that managed to slip through. Its companions became policing monsters that spread about the floor like secret police whose job was to find the insane amongst the bizarre. Copying some of Doc¡¯s defences, Innearth tried to set up chokepoints around the dragons¡¯ teeth by making plants with cracked cores. They would constantly release a stream of mana ¨C hopefully drawing the destructive invaders towards them. Around each trap was a wide array of different ¨C hopefully lethal ¨C trap plants. A void rose from the mysterious island. A magma and flame bush. A sharp and poison-filled vine that shot out and retracted feelers. A spinning saw filled with ice and regrow-able, easily shattered teeth. But of course, demons were strangely resistant against most magical effects and would dull the traps he set up as long as they could suck the mana out. So Innearth tried to use madness principles to give himself an edge. As a combination of Life and Death mana, Demonic mana ¨C and thus the creatures that existed through said mana ¨C was weak against both kinetic and mental mana types. Doc had a kinetic affinity and was able to make cages of perfect kinetic dispersal and repulsion¡­That was still beyond Innearth and he didn¡¯t know if he would ever reach that point. ¡­But in exchange for not being quite as skilled with kinetic mana he could also layer mental mana about his areas. If cages and kinetic defences were less effective why not combine them with mind control and compulsion? First, he set up a node in every single one of the dragons¡¯ teeth that extended around them in a tight radius. They were designed to further direct them towards the traps but also to confuse demons slightly in an attempt to make them easier to dispatch. FED could probably have done a better job of it as a mental core but¡­well most demons didn¡¯t seem to have a lot of intelligence, so it was almost easier to manipulate them roughly. A simpler and rougher hammer of confusion and compulsion would be easier to notice and fight against¡­ but also stronger than the more subtle versions and thus more effective. Then, using his own combinations of void and kinetic movement, Innearth designed methods of suppression and gravity from both above and below. The ¡°dragons¡¯ teeth¡± he had designed to slow down and direct demons were protected kinetically as the most effective magic against the devices and more effects were added that pushed demons down to the ground and stole their movement. At some point, Innearth began refining his defences one last time with a ¡°gauntlet¡± of changes by the crystal dwarves. The newest overseer would design steps and changes and then the grunts would distribute the work among them. Most of the runes and crafting processes were hard to apply to the defences that were already activated ¨C so Innearth was forced to partially dismantle a lot of them to help the dwarves focus on one part at a time. The changes were slight due to the already overwhelming effort that Innearth had put in ¨C simple effects that increased the efficiency and strength of the pillars traps and buried plates. Flaws or cracks that demons could use to slip through the defences were shored up. The combination of Innearth¡¯s trapmaking and the dwarves'' runes harmonized into a proper ritual. One of defence and suppression of demons. Some effort was put into trying to whitelist his own monsters or focus only on blacklisting demons but¡­at the end of the day that was introducing a flaw into the system purposefully that might be exploited. The best he could do was set up a living quarters for the "hydra and co" inside the suppression array, then provide paths that could be turned on and off from outside of the area. The hydra would spend its time 30 meters or so to the side of the stone dais and could be called upon relatively quickly to either send companions through to the area or mobilize itself. The brute force compulsion didn¡¯t work against the hydra or its companions, but the increased gravity and kinetic defences would make their movement uncomfortable if they moved away from their living zone. Finally, Innearth was done. He had done everything he could think of ¨C even laying null stone below and above his array to ¡°fight fire with fire¡±. Setting up a stream he waited for Doc to review his defences.
ZeMadDoctor: You¡¯re ready? Alright then. Please feel free to work through the proof you can handle your side of the portal.
Without responding, Innearth created a slime of Demonic mana. Instead of waffling about with using both life and death mana in separate parts of the monster, he made a single seed of combined mana and material in the center of his goo. Shaking slightly the slime seemed to suck inwards and flip inside out ¨C switching from a clear state to a rainbow sheen as its shape rapidly began spooling. A demon pushed into the location his slime had previously been. A form that made Innearth feel disgust while looking at it. Tongues seemed to fan out of the twisting shape that started to form ¨C like a hundred labradors were shoving their tongues violently through a net. Seeming to orient itself, the demon turned to run into the surrounding suppression field. Before it managed to even reach that far, a bubbly H shaped monster walked up behind it. The H walked in a wide stride over and then stabbed its right leg down onto the creature. Squishing out, a slobbering shrieking sound rose as the H ground the pathetic demon into the ground. After dying the simplest demon expanded with strange stringy guts ¨C as its 4-dimensional shape was forcefully violently cross-sectioned into 3 dimensions and left in a heap.
ZeMadDoctor: Wasn¡¯t so bad. I¡¯d have been surprised if that did anything. Surprised by the shape of the monster. The one that finished it off. I mean. It has two legs and two arms but¡­it¡¯s not what I would consider combat shaped. Next level?
Innearth: yeah just give me a minute. That was strangely cathartic. I almost want to summon more weak demons to squish.
After collecting himself Innearth spawned a tier 1 cored lesser snake. Not bothering to make an actual monster, he simply ripped the circuit out of the schematic and lay a rod of demonic bait in the center. Immediately Innearth felt a presence seem to pull itself into the ¡°sacrificed¡± before him. Instantly the snake was shredded into what appeared to be a ball of yarn. A fractal of ¡°wires¡± spread out from the crumpled heap and scraped into the ground and itself ¨C before slowly gaining shape. Moving and bouncing, the yarn wrapped itself into what looked like a humanoid cloth doll made of hair and tendons and bloody floss ¨C and then the demon stood up. This time while staring at the demon Innearth felt a faint tinge of anxiety. Irrational purposeless fear that wasn¡¯t even directed at the cause of the effect floated about his mind. And this time all of the hydra¡¯s companions moved forwards to subdue the demon. Flickering mana shone between the D and one half of the humanoid monster as they cast quick shards of nail-like crystal towards the beast. Swiping forwards with its sword, the other half of the humanoid monster hopped forwards and cut through a swath of demonic hair. This demon was silent and purposeful as it lashed back ¨C swiping the single legged monster over and moving to skewer it. From the side a mass of limbs that looked almost demonic itself ¨C but carried none of the mind skewering effects ¨C crashed into the beast flinging it across the small platform. As the demon reached the edges it seemed to pause, unharmed but confused, before digging strands of hair down into the ground around it. Immediately thin wires began to pulse as the fractal of wires spread out like the roots of a tree. Colour leached out of the ground as the demon drank mana and seemed to solidify more. Its length grew ever so slightly thicker with a wash of colours moving up and down the lines like veins¡­ But this close to the edge of the suppression array and in the midst of drinking from the ground it sensed the nearest ¡°bait¡±. Retracting its straws from the ground it turned to glide towards what it recognized as a meal. Dashing through a forest of pillars, the demon''s charge slowed and strained as it found it was unable to break through these strange constructs that now surrounded it. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Compressed down into the ground on both sides its movement slowed as its humanoid shape was flattened into a disc. Straining forwards slowly the disc stretched out into a thin snake-like shape. Its movements were laboured and despite trying its best to suck the mana out of the air around it the spellwork itself remained stable. Inching forwards the demonic yarn snake attempted to find its meal weaving back and forth between pillars with a single minded determination. ¡­and then a wave of fire and molten globs of mana spread out onto its length. Bits of the yarn greedily lapped up the mana even as it ignited but the heat was higher than it could out consume ¨C mana absorption instead of nullification along with the seeds of actual fire and actual magma that lingered in the spell.
ZeMadDoctor: Well¡­that last one got quite a bit further but you seem to have managed it pretty well. It really depends on distance between us but I don¡¯t think stronger ones than that will slip through¡­at least if we keep portal activation time to a few seconds and don¡¯t repeatly use it in a short amount of time. ZeMadDoctor: Do you want me to help you set up defenses for a tier 2 summoning?
Innearth: Sure.
When he was younger, he might have refused the help but by now he had been thoroughly burned by demons and didn¡¯t want his pride to lead to an accident. Innearth wasn¡¯t fully able to mimic ¡°Phantasmal Patterns¡± use of the system to let one build through the camera¡­but what he could do was provide several cameras showing his whole setup ¨C a second set of shared experimentation panels. And then a third set of overlapping ¡°trade in place¡± panels that would let doc transfer between his staging area and the real positions. ¡­Inelegant but it worked for his purposes. Doc quickly and roughly made a domed cage of perfect kinetic repulsion that faced inwards. Then he split it into parts and began refining those sections precisely ¨C passing over all of his rough outlines and deepening the constructs. Somehow, he only needed thin wires to host the constructs and the way they were shaped spoke of a use of magic that went parallel to Innearths own experiments. Placing the cage in place Doc looked about the rest of Innearth¡¯s defences approvingly and then dropped it.
ZeMadDoctor: not much else I can do. The cage will work much better if you can claim it. But I can¡¯t confirm it will be as strong as mine¡­I think you mentioned your dungeon circuits worked really well with crystal mana? These resonate with my kinetic affinity¡­
Innearth: well¡­ I appreciate it all the same. By the way. I think you¡¯re already doing me a favor with helping set this up, but do you think you could help me figure out how to get adventurers out of this area and into a better part of my dungeon? I feel like I don¡¯t want to send them through the suppression array I¡¯ve set up for demons.
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­of course. And as much as I am helping you. I¡¯m also doing this to see what will happen. I¡¯ve pushed my portal design. To as high a height as I can currently imagine - by paradoxically giving away some of the control of the design. To my research team. ZeMadDoctor: Once I can prove you won¡¯t get overrun on your side. And that I¡¯m not inadvertently sending off a demon infestation¡­I¡¯ll fix you up a way to transfer adventurers to and from the long distance one. Should probably set up something similar on my end.
Innearth: Great. Alright, I¡¯m going to summon the next version.
Innearth made another lesser snake sacrifice this time with a tier 2 core and gave it life. The snake shook violently and then melted ¨C an ominous feeling filling the air and then dissipating.
ZeMadDoctor: Ah. Yes. You either have to strengthen the monster¡¯s body. Or increase the amount of demonic mana in it to a proper offering size. Its thankfully harder to summon one of these by accident¡­ although if there were other monsters in the vicinity it might have jumped between them killing enough to maintain a foothold.
Innearth: ¡­okay.
Remaking the offering, Innearth made a large bar of demonic material in the center instead of a thin rod. This time he had to hype himself up to finish the process ¨C the faint brush had made him rethink everything he had done up till this point. Do I really want adventurers this bad? ¡­Yes. Yes I do. Giving life to the snake instantly sacrificed it. This time, with more power to aid its transition, a bulge of power seemed to roll out of the snake and then flip as the process took several painful seconds. The snake seemed to shed its skin, arms and legs crawled out of its back and pushed upwards ¨C a ¡°flipped¡± humanoid demon pulling itself out of a hole it had no way to fit in. The demon had eyes, a nose, and a mouth but they were ¡°upside down¡± ¨C in that the grinning teeth were near the top and its bloodshot black eyes were at the bottom. Each of its limbs were facing the wrong way with the legs having backwards joints and its arms seeming to be placed facing upwards ¨C so it looked like the demon was holding both of its arms in the air. Staring around and licking his lips the demon paused a strange grimace that vaguely looked like shock crossing its face when it saw the ¡°letters¡± advancing towards it menacingly. Beginning to laugh the demon spoke as he looked at each monster in term and then spun around and looked vaguely towards where the camera Doc was looking through was situated.
Innearth: ¡­doc I¡¯m getting a bad feeling about this one.
ZeMadDoctor: Don¡¯t worry that¡¯s normal for this level of demon. I¡¯ve managed to contain the level higher than this before you should be fine. tier 4 cores...well you saw some of the arch demons in my tour. Ones we couldn''t see? Stuff like that.
Innearth watched the demon continue to speak ¨C the sound twisting and ringing but ultimately nonsense to him.
Innearth: Its presence is making me feel really gross so I¡¯m just going talk okay? Watching this I¡¯m wondering. If demons are weak to both kinetic and mental mana and spells what about curses? And spinning that around are MIM¡¯s weak against Demonic mana?
ZeMadDoctor: That is a great question! It''s really hard for me to experiment with curse mana ¨C my kinetic affinity makes mental mana worse than a chore¡­but I tried introducing one of the curse materials I made to a demon and they seemed to like it. ZeMadDoctor: So¡­my initial experiment leads me to believe curses don¡¯t work well against demons. A weapon made with demonic mana probably wouldn¡¯t work well against a MIM either.
Innearth: huh¡­I guess dust wouldn¡¯t be a good way to control steam either.
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­surprisingly I haven¡¯t touched the T1 madness materials. I¡¯ve been meaning to for ages. But everything else just seemed more important. How is that?
Innearth: Want me to spoil the experiment? You should be fine if you want to go in blind. We can talk about our findings afterwards!
ZeMadDoctor: Sure. That would be fine.
As Innearth tried to distract himself, he watched the demon stop talking and begin breathing in. Mana and colour seemed to fall into the whole front of their body as they did so, a rumbling filling the air. The primal fear and mind breaking effect of the demon''s presence sharply spiked and Innearth started flashing back to the question mark demon''s attack again and again. It''s happening again. I''m going to lose everything. I don''t want to rebuild again. I''m going to die, aren''t I? As the demon sucked mana towards its front, two¡­lungs, seemed to appear in the air behind its shoulder blades. Pink constructs unfurled outwards behind them as they filled with mana and looked more and more like fleshy ballooning wings. The demon appeared to be more real than its surroundings. As colour rose in its continence and more mana let it ¡°relax¡± into a more unreal shape the dull surroundings seemed to fade away. Like the weaker version the demon stopped and seemed to taste the traps in the air. Lunging forwards faster than anything Innearth had ever seen the demon ignored the letter-shaped monsters and aimed for the nearest bait. As if being swatted out of the air two meters into the suppression array the demon slowed and squished down towards the ground. Landing, a rough guttural shriek was let out as the demon stared at the pillars ¨C seeming to understand they were the source of its discomfort and hating their existence. Swiping its claws against pillars it watched as fingers squished into empty air around them and then was repulsed. Shaking its head the demon seemed smart enough to know to fight against the less subtle mental confusion but weak enough against it that as time went on its mind was beaten down harder and harder. It was at this moment that the monsters behind it attacked. All 8 of the companions were here to attack and magic shots landed across the demon''s flank barely causing a scratch. A sound in the distance indicated the hydra was coming to help. Pushing forward arms crossed in front of it ¨C as if walking through a wind storm ¨C the demon continued on towards the bait. Crashing from the side human centipede slashed against the demon''s back finally drawing hissing rainbow oil slick black blood. This made the demon finally switch targets. Lunging forwards it lashed out fingers digging into centipede flesh and ripping a chunk out to bring to its mouth. The lung wings behind the demon beat furiously against the suppression around it as the demon ate and moved forwards once more. Snatching the D as it shot an arrow of crystalline mana like a bow towards it, the demon laughed before biting down. The hydra''s companion died to the trial as it was eaten like a weirdly shaped doughnut. Turning to the "O" shaped monster the demon said something gesturing towards it its intent clear ¨C "come over here so I can eat you, I would like another doughnut". And then the hydra was on the scene. Lumbering forwards it moved with momentum and purpose ¨C one head''s eyes blazing with more fury than the others. Each head was a circuit terminating in a tier 9 core and despite having not been designed initially to fight demons, the boss started to overwhelm the intruder with a massive amount of energy. The head who had lost its companion grew a massive boulder of ice over 5 meters in diameter in less than a second ¨C then smashed it downwards towards the suppressed demon. On the side, a head with two spindly arms waved them about as it created various kinetic constructs blocking the demon''s dodge away from the ice boulder and empowering its allies. Another head this one with ¡°polka dots¡± of different coloured scales sent a spell through its connection to the X shaped companion who began lifting off the ground and spinning ¨C a void singularity forming in the air in front of it and pulling outwards into a bullet shape. The boulder heavily battered the demon before a second and third appeared seconds later. The head that had an incredibly strong ice boulder skill hit first and the most frequently, but the rest of the heads with their more drawn out spells had their shot as well. Most heads with a more generalized spell network took longer to cast their spells, but when they managed it the design was tailored more directly against their foe. Sucking Inwards to heal, the demon was battered by sharp spells above both its ability to absorb them and its ability to heal from them. After a dozen cages spinning ropes, bolts and waves passed over the demon, it finally started unravelling. Pillows of mass ballooned out from strange unsymmetrical positions as it flipped around and became a smouldering frozen blob. Content the threat was neutralized, seven of the heads stopped attacking and turned to look at the remaining head. The head that had lost its companion continued to batter the remains with massive boulders in rage. Again and again strikes landed and despite not having a proper mouth to scream with or tear glands to cry with behind the two crystals that made up its eyes¡­the distress and anger and frustration of Innearth''s boss was evident.
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­you know I¡¯ve never had a dungeon monster act so emotional¡­it makes me feel kind of weird. Why is it doing that?
Innearth: The uh¡­soul bond does that when one of the two die. Haven''t figured out why.
ZeMadDoctor: Well its creepy. I¡¯m going to transfer the portals over. It seems your side is well defended. Didn¡¯t even have to use my final failsafe.
Innearth: Sure. Just give me a bit and I can help you set up where I want the second one to go. I¡¯m thinking they initially teleport into this stone dais. Survive in it while I remove any demons¡­maybe have them fight a mini boss or two and then open up the portal to my beginner area?
ZeMadDoctor: They will have to stay in the decontamination area you made for at least a minute before activating the second portal. Otherwise¡­well distance works differently in the void but they are still physically nearby. Something drawn to the first portals opening might break through the second portal if it notices it opening right after nearby.
Innearth: I thought you said the second ones are safe?
ZeMadDoctor: Yeah they are. I¡¯m just making them even safer. Going from a 99% you¡¯ll be fine to a 99.999999%.
Innearth: Okay. And yeah I¡¯m having second thoughts about sending them to the beginner area¡­I assume anyone who can last in the ring might be better sent to near the crystal caverns¡­Okay. I¡¯m making a new small floor. Currently, I have 3 floors for a zone and then a transition floor¡­but I¡¯ve skipped the area between the magma halls and the crystal caverns. Plomping adventurers down there should be good for it ¨C will even complete the pattern better.
ZeMadDoctor: Just tell me where you want it.
Innearth: Here¡¯s a good spot.
Setting Doc up with portal areas, Innearth made a floor at a single room right after the magma spider sisters. He quickly brainstormed some ideas for a theme then decided the black and red should be separated from the blues and purples of the crystal caverns with a nice green floor. Dirt and Life mana made incredibly fertile ground to transplant some grass and bushes while mud mana made sections that stayed damp and provided the plants that needed water enough to live on. Innearth turned to the market to start picking out plants he liked the look of and asked Amy for ideas. While the dungeons continued on with their life and planned out future constructions, a hydra head mourned and slowly cultivated a hatred. A hatred for any and all demons and a burning desire to kill any that passed nearby. Its ¡°Job¡± became the only thing it cared about and its burning purpose slightly rubbed off on its fellow heads. Working together all 8 heads made a pact. They would never let another head go through the same loss their brethren had faced. And thus a ritual was created. Each head that had a way of creating spells ¨C along with the one half of a humanoid that could ¨C started to combine their efforts. As more and more magic was done and overlaid the spells lost some of their rigidness and blended together ¨C the separate intents coming together and forming a sort of wish to the mana. A promise. Only one of the hydra heads could cast spells using a medium and they took the brunt of their fellow¡¯s desire and mana to make the spell more permanent... slowly writing out a rolling script in some ancient language upon the stone at the center of their ¡°living area¡±. Their looping script fuzzed as the others'' spells landed and attached onwards, while soul bonds were fizzed from a star to a net. Several hours of continuous casting was what it took to set up this ritual. Several hours of continuous casting was what it took to upgrade their soul bonds. Now they were linked even more inseparably. The ritual they completed nearly perfectly copied an elven hunting party and now, none could die unless they all did. Even if ground into a paste with shattered cores and destroyed flesh the ritual helped pull their souls into a network between them protecting them from true death. Given time they could be revived once more. It was too late for D to be saved. It was not too late for the rest of them. Chapter 63. A Delve or two. Perhaps three? May I have another Delve good sir?
The first mass application towards magic on the central continent wasn''t some grand public service project. But towards the ability to wage war ¨C while Archers and Gunmen have superior range and higher use at low levels. Mages have always had higher damage ¨C even before the system. Mages tend to make up for their lower range with pure firepower ¨C streams of flame that scorch dozens of soldiers at a time. Clouds of frost that can freeze the flesh of their enemies or poisons that can petrify them to stone. A group of heavily protected mages could turn the tides of a whole battle. Usually. At the end of the day however, mages have problems preventing them from taking over other niches entirely. The most important is their mana pool. While mages can regenerate mana over time ¨C in long drawn-out battles their mana pools become incredibly limited. A Gunman or Archer is limited only by physical ammunition they can carry. Additionally, everyone knows the tactical value of mages drawing both long-range snipers and close-quarters raids when they aren¡¯t sufficiently protected. Despite their issues, a nation without ¨C or having lost most of their mages ¨C would be a sitting duck for kingdoms that do. Before the system despite their high fertility many human settlements lived in constant fear of elven and orcish armies due to being constantly destroyed by mage-filled armies. Many humans to this day retain some prejudice against elves and orcs for these years despite millennia passing since then. The only spells available to humans pre-system were potions and rudimentary alchemy ¨C leading to some of the most dangerous permanent mutagens and gasses ever created. Many innovations from this time have since been added to the list of [war crimes] enforced by the system.
Excerpt obtained on the military handbook. ¡°War Mages ¨C a tactical volume¡±. As if making light of all the time and effort that Innearth had been putting into attracting adventurers, less than 24 hours after he had set up a ¡°adventurer sharing portal¡± with Doc, his first group came through. Six adventurers!! Six whole glorious adventurers decked out in silky smooth ¡°form-fitting materials¡± and carrying strange weapons. From front to back in the order they arrived ¨C the first to step through Innearth¡¯s portal was a bulky human. This¡­man was wearing incredibly thin, ¡°slate grey armour¡± and carrying a pair of long and riveted rods that sparked semi constantly. Behind him two mean-looking women stepped through confidently ¨C striding forwards fast enough to stand on either side of the baton-wielding man and falling in line in a military manner. They wore black form-fitting outfits and carried black¡­guns? They kind of bear a passing resemblance to the hand cannons that frequented Doc¡¯s dungeon ¨C but they are made in a bit of a longer and sleeker design and have plenty of fiddly bits that his didn¡¯t have¡­If one of them decides to leave their weapon behind I¡¯m totally going to pull it apart and see how it ticks. Behind these two ranged adventurers stepped a distracted-looking male human holding a disk that blinked in various hues of reds and greens. This man was constantly touching parts of his machine while waving his hands about and muttering in various cadences. His voice would start off with a soft nearly imperceptible muttering (as if speaking to himself) and would periodically raise to a higher-pitched and excited tone punctuated by wild jabs and sweeping gestures as he spoke at his partners. Not to his partners for they seemed to be ignoring him but at them. Behind the "obviously separate from his companions'' adventurer" two final specimens walked through. The one on the right of the ¡°researcher¡± had completely covered themselves in the same skin-tight material as the others ¨C from their shoeless feet and lithe stomach to their slightly creepy face they were cocooned in stretchy fabric. On the left was the first and only normal-looking adventurer of the group. He was wearing a faded blue robe and using a tall magic staff as a walking stick. The staff could have been ordinary but context ¨C the giant flowing crystal covered in constantly moving script ¨C said otherwise. With the group, a single suction cup egg of a demon rolled through ¨C along with two of the "feathered masses" that he had seen in Doc¡¯s dungeon. The tip of a translucent tentacle also started to slip through in the few seconds the gate was open ¨C before sharply jerking back so the portal wouldn¡¯t close on it. As the group stepped out into the middle of the stone dais, the first to react was the wizard. His eyes shone a deep blue and a pentagram shape formed in front of his left eye ¨C like a glowing monocle suspended in the air. Turning back and forth he seemed to be staring at the suppression array around them in increasing alarm. He yelled something while shooting a faint blue ball towards the researcher less than three steps into the room. Looking up sharply and frowning slightly, the researcher aimed their device around their surroundings while continuing to fiddle with it not gaining the same urgency as his companion. While the two INT spec¡¯d adventurers tried to figure out what they had stumbled into, the two ¡°assault rifle wielding swat team members¡± turned and let loose a spray of bullets toward their tagalongs. There seemed to be a subtle difference between their weapons and skill styles ¨C mean-faced women on the left held their weapon in front of their eyes and shot in a straight line. Each shot was sent out with half a second of delay between them and rang true. Bang, bang, bang. Mean-looking women on the right held their weapon in one arm resting against their side. In comparison to straight shot she sprayed bullets in a continuous stream. A swerving line of shots that chipped stone in a snake-like shape as it swerved towards the demons and cut through them in a line. Ratatatata. I have to keep them here for a minute or so before I can send them through the second portal. ¡­Dammit I''m not prepared. Quick hydra. Make a distraction. Chop Chop. Leaving entertainment to his guardian, Innearth went and threw together a quick quest.
Survive a wave of strange monsters. Reward [this portal¡¯s return key], [that portal¡¯s exploration key] +variable upon good performance. [59s] remaining.
It was at that moment his human centipede rushed out or the side ¨C moving to tackle the skin suit in from the back. Moving with unnaturally quick reflexes, the strange adventurer seemed to wrap themselves in mana from every single one of their pores...a shimmer from thousands of pinpoint positions that rushed out and combined. As more mana thickened it seemed to meld with the suit and solidified into a set of bestial armour. Fur and plates in browns and dark greys. Around their head, a bear-like helmet of mana formed and around their hands long clear and sharp-looking claws sprouted in a fluid and smooth instantaneous moment. Turning before the monster even managed to reach them, the armoured bear made a swiping motion and slashed 5 thin grooves in the monster. The slash rang true as the human centipede slid past with skittering momentum leaving a sludgy light blue liquid crystal smear on the ground. Whipping around, the two gun girls peppered the monster''s side with more bullets ¨C its form quickly becoming torn apart as it continued on towards the edge of the array and safety. Roaring at the cowardly retreat, the bear launched itself after the centipede ¨C becoming nearly immediately pushed down by the array around it. The bear buckled and slowed down ¨C moving after the much less affected attacker as if running under thin but sticky molasses. For the first time since they had arrived, the shock trooper spoke ¨C calling out at the bear to return in a sharp barking tone. Turning ¨C obviously annoyed ¨C the bear pushed back through the invisible mud and then stepped onto the dais slowly dissolving back into their suit form as they did so. Armour and fur flaked and fell around it as the adventurer walked leaving a messy trail of hair on the ground behind them. From the opposite side of the ring ¡°two halves of a whole¡± walked ominously forwards. In one hand a spell was channelled towards them from the hydra ¨C being pushed out of the charm they held like a [priest] channelling a divine spell from their god. In their other hand, a sword was swung back and forth in tight swishing swings as if gathering momentum. Moving the hand with the charm out and sliding it along the sword''s length ¨C their preparations were complete. Greenish flames spread forth like a sticky paste on fire as their sword was ¡°blessed¡±. The duality of monsters turned, green light dancing across their artfully designed face and flickering in the hollows that Innearth had sculpted for each gem that was their eyes. A blue for their warrior a purple for their priest. For this brief fleeting movement, everything combined together making the monsters look ¡°epic¡± and ¡°powerful¡±. Even the macho shock trooper stepped back slightly at this moment in an involuntary stumble. Suddenly ¨C completely breaking the built-up ambience ¨C the monster split in two as the sword-wielding side lunged forwards ripping away from the priest. All the ¡°cool¡± looking effects were lost as the monster hopped forward on one leg excitedly swinging its sword back and forth on each hop. The priest fell back into the surroundings smoothly moving through the suppression array while its dumber half jumped forward like a pogo stick. Their sword continued to swing back and forth but now instead of looking like a dangerous weapon it gave off the appearance of a dog wagging its sharp tail back and forth as if looking for praise. ¡­that¡¯s fun. Guess I¡¯ll trash this stream I was recording¡­ I don¡¯t think my friends need to see this. It''s almost embarrassing. Scratch that. It is embarrassing. Stop looking dumb. Losing some of its happy wagging as it got close to the group, the warrior-half did a pirouetting spin sword flying around in a tight 360 loop towards the shock trooper. Stepping forward into the strike the lightning baton wielding adventurer parried the first strike ¨C only one arm raised to catch the sword and knock it upwards. A burst of fire and sparks accompanied the impact and shot down in a diagonal gush as the shock trooper pulled their other arm back. A half a second pause was followed by a rapier-like jab forward ¨C the second baton moving momentarily faster than anything Innearth had ever seen before, impacting the poor half with a tightly compressed spark of paralyzing lightning magic. The adventurers first baton was still raised and holding the still flaming sword above them, while the second baton stabbed forwards again and again. The adventurer shanked the paralyzed monster and releasing jolt after jolt of lightning mana than tunnelled through crystal flesh and left black holes where they landed ¨C the monster perishing after less than a dozen strikes. Ohhh! Gotta get a reward ready for that one. Give a random item maybe? Hmmm. Before Innearth could figure out what loot to give the nice shock trooper, they had already bent down and picked up the crystal sword ¨C still burning slightly with greenish fire. Taking a few practice swings, the man made a visible shrug to his teammates and pocketed the item. Guess they like it? It''s just one of the mana oven weapons, but I guess this sort of manual loot giving is fine¡­ Next time I really should set up a better system with monster items. Of course, I run into problems the first time I get them for real in my own dungeon. You would have thought with all the time I had to prepare I¡¯d have solved everything before they got here. Fiddling around with the settings ¨C finding more and more hidden options he hadn¡¯t thought to look for ¨C Innearth figured out how to ¡°donate¡± a monster''s weapon to the item pool upon death. Then all he had to do was gift a randomized ¡°tailored to winner¡± reward for monsters that were difficult enough to warrant a special reward. The next group is going have it set up perfectly. A minute had passed and the group was gifted several of Doc¡¯s keystones. They stood there for a moment and Innearth was suddenly worried he hadn¡¯t placed the gateway directly across from them in an obvious enough spot. Come on¡­this is just the decontamination room. Please. Continue on to my actual dungeon. Don¡¯t tur-NO! Watching devastated as the shock trooper and two gun-wielding sidekicks reactivated the return portal Innearth cried out. His disappointment calmed down as he saw the bear/researcher/wizard stayed behind. The wizard snapped his fingers twice and killed the two small demons that fell through with small nearly colourless bolts of azure energy that homed in on their targets. Roughly a minute later the three were back. I¡­I have to restart the 1-minute timer. But also¡­I don¡¯t want to make it seem like they can farm this trial. I also think Doc said I need to up the decontamination stage if they are done in a frequent period. Hey hydra¡­can you distract them again but make it harder? Sending a second quest notification now. I''m going to make sure my [customize] ability shows through with this coloured alert.
Survive a wave of monsters. Due to frequent use of the gate reduced rewards and increased difficulty! Reward: the ability to progress in the dungeon. [120s] remaining
Watching as all of the still living hydra''s monsters appeared at once and began pelting the group, Innearth saw how they worked well together. As far as monsters went the weird shapes and non-focused design meant that most of them were¡­weaker than the strongest crystal snakes. To make up for that they were buffed dozens of times by the hydra ¨C each head overlapping a separate benefit on all the minions and pushing their strength up forcefully. The most damaging combo was formed when the O and X familiars ¡°combined¡±. A void singularity was formed by a spinning X and then shaped into a bolt and shot by an O as it passed through the center of it. That shot was dangerous enough that the wizard was forced to erect a massive 5 layered barrier that broke several times before stopping the wailing spinning singularity. After 2 minutes had passed, all the minions disengaged and ran back out of the dais. They returned to their living area and left a surprised group of adventurers standing there ¨C tense and waiting for something to continue. ¡­I kind of feel bad they went through that for nothing. ...they deserve a reward or two¡­or six. Showering his adventurers with prizes, Innearth gave each of them a randomized loot item from his ¡°common¡± pool. Now continue on! Onwards! To explore! Watching the group step through the second portal with barely contained glee, Innearth took the time to really get to know them. In many ways, he had already experienced delvers in the drunk dwarf and during the island¡­but in every way that counted these were his first real adventurers. This was the first time a group walked through his crystal caverns and got stabbed by exploding spikes. Or kicked a hedgehog against the wall and watched it shatter off a dozen living crystal spikes in all directions. Or¡­ The adventurer is defecating¡­on my nice clean floor! Innearth watched horrified as the bear suit cleaned out a side chamber and took a dump in the edge of it. This¡­Is this is something adventurers regularly do? Or just that adventurer¡­it goes directly against my clean dungeon initiative! Just as I found out it matters too! Fuming Innearth searched the market and found plans for a void toilet he could make¡­it was crude and Innearth decided to scrap it and make his own. A nice kinetic door that could protect adventurers while they were in it. Complete with universal toilet sign ¨C a large cartoonish representation of the war crime left in his side room. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. A round seat with a hole that fell down to a slab of solid void ¨C with a carpet of spikes growing up out of it to help increase the surface area that could melt waste down. A smooth crystal basin ¨C complete with water crystal that spurted liquid when mana was pushed through it and drained down to a void disposal chamber¡­A spinning plant that regrew thin sheets of paper-thin material to dry and clean themselves. Innearth designed his toilets and made sure to put one every few kilometers before going off on a tangent and attempting to make portable versions that could be safely transported about. Those were greedily taken by the system and turned into high-level rewards despite their ¡°relative¡± ease of creation. ¡­ Meanwhile, the group continued on down his crystal hallways while the main portion of Innearth¡¯s attention watched ¨C attention glued to each and every movement. As far as adventurers went they were Innearth¡¯s first and he was excited by everything they did. The only problem Innearth could think of was¡­well they were kind of over levelled for his crystal cavern and didn¡¯t seem to be having any troubles navigating it. They were a scouting group of high levelled adventurers and when they got close to the end of his caverns Innearth started to get worried. ¡­I haven¡¯t looked in this area in a while. I was meaning to set up a boss fight where the boss is driven away instead of killed because it''s hard to impossible to remake the crystal dragon if they steal its parts. Fixing up a quest notification ¨C Innearth set the crystal dragon boss fight to start with a ¡°Drive the dragon back to slumber¡± notification ¨C then tried to choreograph its fight. The chamber to the side of the boss room would be the room the dragon retreated to if it felt fatally injured. He planned everything out in this moment even if he didn¡¯t have time to complete it. The dragon would be injured and at a certain point would limp into this room ¨C letting the door shut behind it ending the fight. A questline that was somewhat thrown together but Innearth was not nearly as good as FED at this sort of thing and it felt exciting enough for now. Eventually he would have a healing potion pool and tree to complete the recovery room¡­but it had taken him a few hours just to set up the kinetic door to the side room and the adventurers were here cutting off his preparation time. Striding into the room confidently, the man in the lead looked excited for the first time in Innearth¡¯s dungeon. Pointing and jabbing at the ¡°dragon¡± as it stood catlike on its pedestal, the adventurer turned his head and said something excitedly to his companions. Probably ¡°Look how cool it looks. It¡¯s a dragon!¡±. The shock trooper turned around once more and pulled out both of his lightning rods cracking his neck on both sides and stretching his arms to loosen up. A heaviness filled the room as the Boss¡¯s natural domain spread forth ¨C suppressing everyone slightly¡­Where the weaker monsters would fall to the ground and the stronger one move slowly and laboriously¡­these adventurers simply looked uncomfortable as it washed over them. The wizard cast a barrier around himself ¨C waving his staff in a figure-eight pattern while muttering in a guttural and strange tone to do so. As he did the shock trooper charged forward. The lizard jumped forward to meet him ¨C claw¡¯s outstretched as if they were about to hug the adventurer. The four remaining adventurers stayed by the door relaxed ¨C clustering around the wizard as he increased his barrier to cover all of them¡­ Okay no, he probably said something closer to ¡°I got this one¡± or ¡°let me attack solo¡±. I¡¯m getting good at translating adventurers. Several ¡°shocking¡± exchanges were made in quick succession. The crystal dragon shrugged off most of the initial attacks ¨C but as more and more landed their natural and magical resistance started to fail. Jumping back several times in a skipping dancing manner, the dragon jumped back onto its pedestal and began breathing a frosty black liquid. Its head moved back and forth as if making a line the lightning attuned adventurer shouldn¡¯t cross. Attempting to dash through it anyways the shock trooper grunted ¨C seeming surprised their armour was melting. One of the two assault rifle girls started to take a step forward at that but was held back by the second who shook her head and smiled. Definitely saying ¡°he¡¯s got this don¡¯t worry about the boss¡±, sure she didn¡¯t speak but that¡¯s what I¡¯m getting from that interaction¡­either that or maybe they hate him and were stepping forward to help the dragon out? No. definitely the first idea. As the adventurer crossed the freezing void moat and smashed the dragon''s head to the side with a wide swing, the girl who stepped forward initially relaxed once more. The shock trooper¡¯s eyes were now set in a glinting sharpness and every swing and jab they made left after images in the air. The fight was no longer an even back and forth. It wasn¡¯t quite a full slaughter with the adventurer overwhelmingly stronger than the boss¡­but every exchange seemed to leave the shock trooper on top. After roughly 4 minutes of getting repeatedly shocked, the quest notification was released claiming they had driven it back into slumber. Turning ¨C almost scrambling ¨C the dragon slunk injured towards its recovery room but was stopped by the adventurer. Shaking his head, he continued to beat the monster back, dodging back and forth while blocking its retreat from every possible angle. I mean sure I could have designed a boss that repeatedly went into the backroom to heal and reengage them but that seems a bit harsh. It was retreating! You won! Do you know how hard it''s going to be to remake this boss? It''s very rude of you. Innearth watched the fight progress ¨C already knowing how it would end but strangely never feeling the need to step in and help out himself. He was separated from the fight almost like it wasn¡¯t even real while simultaneously glued to it excitedly watching each exchange. The dragon put up a good showing but over time the repeated shocks seemed to mess with its movements permanently. Its last few dodges were strangely robotic and when the monster fell for the last time, the adventure¡¯s face made everything¡­worth it. Tier 4 random reward seems fine huh? I mean I have a few Tier 5 random rewards I could give¡­but was that good enough? Sure he solo¡¯ed it but he also didn¡¯t seem in a huge amount of danger¡­ T4 it isssss~ Innearth watched as a stretchy and metallic item appeared in front of the man. ¡­a shirt? Breastplate? It¡¯s a¡­upper armour item at least. The man reached out and watched as his reward spread across his melted and broken chest pieces. As if it had a mind of its own the new shirt ripped off the scraps and flung them to the side finally settling down after it had surrounded its new owner. I want to figure out how to make something like that sometime. How would I even go about that? I can¡¯t see any runes? Is it just a unique mana type I don¡¯t know about? That would be disappointing. Ah well. Let¡¯s see what they do next. The group stepped forward out of the dragon¡¯s chamber. They gathered up as they headed into the passage that lead down into the sensory deprivation area. The one straight shot "gun girl checked her ¡°friend¡± over trying to find any visible wounds while the researcher looked longingly back at the ¡°dragon¡± corpse they were leaving behind. Casting a bright light above his head, the wizard confidently ¨C but also cautiously ¨C took the lead ¨C letting the group fall in line behind him but constantly sticking close to them so he could step into their midst if they were attacked. There was a brief moment where it looked like the floor was going to be a bust against the higher levelled adventurers that would actually reach it...but then they got deeper and the darkness mana caked into the walls started eating away at the light with more and more hunger. The spell the wizard was using was a lot more than simply "light" and the darkness emitting stone was not simply "darkness" as it acted almost like a hungry black mist that attacked the light...but their fundamental properties were still opposed. And darkness was winning. Void had upgraded light into a stronger if harder to use mana type and slowly but surely it was consumed. The last few seconds of dim light almost looked like the light was converted to darkness instead of snuffed out before melting into the surroundings. Annoyed, the wizard tried to recast their spell several times but it was hard to start in the suffocating darkness like a damp match unable to light. The group was close by, but quickly lost track of one another. Reaching out to grab onto their partners'' sides they floundered about awkwardly grabbing each other and being shoved in turn. I need to show this off.
Innearth: Hey anyone want to see high leveled adventurers panicking?
Abe: Sold. Where''s the stream.
Innearth: Over here.
Innearth set up several cameras that provided a dungeon''s omniscient display of the scene ¨C cutting through darkness and displaying the stumbling group in all of its glory.
Amy: You''ve made my day. How strong are they? I can''t even tell with how they are fumbling about.
Innearth: don''t know really. How do you find out?
Amy: hidden controls in the event setup can interact with adventurers levels. "Activate if above level 40" "above level 60" that sort of thing.
ZeMadDoctor: If you use it enough. Just to figure out the level of your adventurers. You can stick it in a scan panel. Same with classes. "Has a fighting class". "Has a fire based class". ZeMadDoctor: You can hack together a pretty informative analysis panel if you care enough.
Abe: seems like too much work to bother.
Innearth: okay well they are above level 50. ¡­ Innearth: above level 80. ¡­ Innearth: above level 100! Innearth: ...below level 120¡­
Abe: We don¡¯t need a blow by blow m8. Just say ¡°high leveled¡± and be done with it.
Amy: I have an analysis set up to give me their level to within 5 levels...seems to be the smallest enough increment to actually matter.
ZeMadDoctor: If you get their level down exactly. And then start splitting by experience to next level. You can get a more precise measurement. Level 49.5. Level 89.2. That sort of thing. ZeMadDoctor: Did you know adventurers don''t have the same stats? Sometimes adventurers have more physical stats sometimes they have more mental stats. I don''t mean higher stats¡­I mean they literally have more ¡°different types of stats¡± isn''t that weird?
Abe: literally doesn''t matter. Adventurers arn''t numbers. They have endless random skills. Just call em adventurers and throw a few bombs at them, literally all you need to do for a good time. Hey, Innearth, you should let me send you a weak bomb to throw at the stumbling adventurers¡­I promise its going to be funny. Abe: Okay, now can we talk about what actually matters? What is that adventurer doing with his hair?
Innearth: Doc. Send me some info later I love this random info. PM me a packet or a trade if you think it''s worth it.
ZeMadDoctor: Of course.
Amy: I believe they are trying to navigate with their hair? Innearth what senses are you removing.
Innearth: sight, sorta hearing, sorta touch. Touch is dependant upon being touched by the slimes but is pretty well taken care of. Hearing by the banging and a few unique monsters. Oh! Also mana sight ¡°slightly¡± ¡­ with nullstone in all the walls to prevent cheating by seeing or moving through the walls.
ZeMadDoctor: How would you prevent them from navigating with tons of hair? And how are they using the hair to navigate without touch?
Innearth: doc, doc, doc. You are missing the point of this floor entirely. The point isn''t to make it so there''s no way to progress. The point is to make it, so they have to use nonstandard senses or unique abilities to move through it. I want to see new things!
ZeMadDoctor: ...I didn''t even realize what a brilliant experiment this was. I was trying for efficiency not for the goal itself.
Brutality Queen: I thought the goal was to weed out the weak. Was wondering why you weren¡¯t sending more dangerous monsters through to attack them.
Amy: ...I thought the goal was to frighten them. Make em scared of stuff in the dark you know?
Fated Eternal Design: Okay, but what''s the story for this floor. How does it tie into the crystal caverns and¡­.what''s after this?
Innearth: Ice caverns?
Fated Eternal Design: Okay yeah, why does this floor exist. Did an ancient evil ritual go wrong...flooding the whole cave system with a sense sucking cataclysmic poison? Did...is the ice floor full of a cold source of something that cannot reach the surface and this floor exists as a buffer? A floor to protect the upper caverns and contain the cold?
Innearth: doesn''t need a story. I''m finalizing my theme. Zone, transition floor, zone, transition floor, zone¡­ You know? Each has to be different so the adventurers don''t get bored. It''s been great for my experience to force myself to use mana types I¡¯m not as good at¡­so even if I¡¯m better at using crystal mana than magma forcing myself to use magma for the magma halls gave me more experience than doing everything in crystal.
Abe: what are you going to do when you run out of zone ideas? Can you keep that up for 100 floors?
Innearth: ...well at the very least I can keep it up for a few more floors. I could make each zone 4 floors instead of 3? Make the boss room a separate "floor"? Could also start repeating themes but making them much more difficult. A "nightmare silver mine/magma halls/etc". Actually, I really like that Idea. I think I might start working on the nightmare versions soon. The point is to provide variety you know?
As the dungeons discussed his dungeon the adventurers continued to progress and finally reach the end of his deprivation floor. Numbing slimes fell off and retreated quickly back into the darkness as they got near the end ¨C dodging the attacks the mage and machine gun girl shot wildly after them. The "hair" the dungeons had been discussing was from the "bear" adventurer who extended a mass of wires larger than the hallway they were in. For some reason, the sensations or location the bear was able to gather from the hairs was far enough away from regular touch that the monsters Innearth had tried to design against touch were useless. It was like instead of feeling the surroundings the hairs felt their shape and inferred the caves surroundings from that, in a roundabout manner. Closing the stream Innearth watched as the group navigated his ice floors. For the most part, they were having a much worse time of it than the crystal caverns, but it was a different type of difficulty. None of the adventurers had protection against the elements and kept relying on the wizard to cast strange bubbles to warm them up ¨C or create tent-like barriers for them to rest in. Hmmm. I have to figure out if the difficulty is properly distributed. When fighting the snakes and Turtles¡­the group only really seemed to pay attention to the 3 ringed snakes. Even those were overpowered pretty quickly but that''s a baseline of their strength? Right now they seem to be taking care of the snowmen easily enough but the common enemies in zone 4 are easier than the final boss of zone 3¡­ The only difficulty this group seem to have in this area is the cold ¨C they aren¡¯t even slipping much on the ice. Watching the group Innearth continued to tweak his plans. Snowmen attacked in teams from afar ¨C shooting spikes of ice and absorbing bullets in turn ¨C before their internal cores exploded. Ice mana melting into the environment just another drop in the bucket. ¡­Then again I was planning on having the boss retreat after ¡°massive damage¡± not get solo killed. It''s kind of disappointing having the first adventurers that delve me reach the end of the dungeon in one go. Also kind of disappointing that there was only ever one group to face that boss. Based on their current progress this group is definitely going to reach the end of the ice zone and I haven¡¯t even figured out how to get them from there to the portal to doc¡¯s dungeon again¡­I¡¯d prefer they don¡¯t travel through the ¡°weird¡± floor if I can help it.
Innearth: Hey doc...sorry to keep asking for portals but can I have another pair? I want to get from the current end of my dungeon to the suppression area...
ZeMadDoctor: ...I can do that. I don''t know how many free portals I want to set up for you however. It takes a lot of time mana and materials to set them up properly.
Innearth: Okay well if you want to do a trade...X crystals? Pass mana through them to produce an effect? I remember Onyx really liked them as a material.
ZeMadDoctor: We are friends. Not everything has to be a trade¡­ I just didn''t want to continue making portals for you endlessly. ZeMadDoctor: If they are easy enough to make I''d love some of them however. Now, for your gate setup... you know how they''re made, right?
Innearth: magic. :)
ZeMadDoctor: ...yes. okay, bit of background. I''ve been able to make portals for a while now. What they are is¡­ essentially I make a void singularity then rip it into two resonating points that are ¡°essentially the same¡± ¨C harder than it sounds. Next I expand that singularity with space mana ¨C to a size large enough for stuff to fit through. Making sure both sides are resonating in the same way while I do so. By expanding that hole to the void large enough for stuff to fit through space mana melds with void mana and makes portal mana. At this point they are still a mana construct. After binding it to a material ¨C any dual material works ¨C they solidify into a permanent portal unless the material they are bound to is destroyed. ZeMadDoctor: Those are the most stable portals I can make but also permenanlty stuck open so the majority of my portals have been using combinations of metals and non metals to make versions that I can still ¡°flip¡± to open or closed. That was the point I was stuck at for the longest time until you told me about your dwarf providing spellwork for you. Thanks for that by the way.
Innearth: oh yeah. No problem.
ZeMadDoctor: essentially I had two problems I needed to solve. One each gate had to be opened or closed by me and took a lot of my focus to do so. As more and more portals were made the amount of time I spent manually flipping them got annoying. The second was not as important but a major goal of my design. Stability. Most materials expanded from a single point into a disk and putting expandable portals near each other broke each other or interacted and forced each other open or¡­It was chaotic. ZeMadDoctor: Using several researching monsters I¡¯ve finally removed most of the worse effects. So now¡­basically a gate is a ring with a couple dozen spots for ¡°portal singularities¡± set at even spokes around it. Each of those spokes expands into the center of the ring like a doorway and retracts back to their spot. Each singularity needs to be attached to a different material to keep them from interacting with each other and when combined with a ¡°key¡± made out of that same material and some runes it opens. So the quartz key opens the quartz gate¡­sorry am I getting too carried away? You can tell me to stop.
Innearth: Doc, we¡¯ve been friends for a while. You know I¡¯m hanging on your every word ¨C I get the same way sometimes I understand. Basically, this tangent is to say you can attach different destinations to the same gate right?
ZeMadDoctor: Exactly. Just slide one into the gate which is itself covered in some script and a couple activation runes¡­I think I gave yours 20 potential spots to future proof it¡­that¡¯s a safe number that¡¯s roughly half of my very unstable and large central hub version.
Innearth: Can I have one for the start of my weird/transition floor? If it''s just time and energy I¡¯ll send you one of every single X crystal I can make and in the future you can tell me which one is the most useful for you.
ZeMadDoctor: Sure. Portal pairs are already made so just set this gate up in a very stable place that won¡¯t move about and place these two slices in.
Innearth: pleasure doing business with you!
Setting up his second link to the end of the ice boss fight Innearth tried to make a diverting path that stopped before his weird floor and wasn¡¯t actually ¡°attached¡±. They could travel directly between the middle of the suppression area to here and he could bypass the weird floor to start on his next zone. ¡­ The scouting group made their way through Innearth¡¯s frozen zone and arrived at his current final boss. Entering the room set off a chain reaction of events ¨C first snow and hail flew about the room and then a group of snowmen hiding in little bunkers around the room started attacking. Volleys of icicles were shot out of little murder slits in the walls ¨C the adventurers having to dodge or block shots with poor visibility. A roar sounded out and the giant snow golem thundered towards the group like a frozen semi. Rather than try and block the charging golem the adventurers scattered. The researcher was surrounded by an azure bubble of force cast by the wizard and floated up to the ceiling where he began scanning and sending information to his teammates, lines of mental mana springing up and spooling out like a web. Guns blazed in the storm and the shock trooper found that snow made a bad conductor of lightning mana. The heat generated with each strike melted grooves in the snow ¨C but nothing reached the ice core deep inside. At least not right away. The whirling snow funnelled towards the monster patching up holes and healing him constantly so long as the storm blew. Roughly two minutes into the fight a massive blue ball of complex layered magic zoomed in from the side and evaporated over a third of the boss¡¯s mass. Roaring the boss noticeably weakened as it lost cores. The shock trooper''s attacks actually started to land true. As if the attacks started hitting harder each stab melted through and smashed cores. The muscled man appeared agile as he dodged attacks eyes squinting against the snow. As more and more cores fell the bullets peppering from the side began landing true as well. Momentum took over and the last few moments of the boss¡¯s destruction had it flailing about as it was scattered and smashed mana infusing the already highly concentrated boss room in waves. Hmmm. Wizard MVP this fight. The boss will definitely be a lot easier for groups that have attacks with heat¡­I should see if I can block that somehow in the future. Receiving their rewards Innearth slipped in gate keys and positively led them to the portal out of his dungeon.
The end of the dungeon has been reached. This dungeon is still growing and may have more in the future for you to explore. Please come again.
Appearing back in the decontamination ring, Innearth received a final surprise. His name and information were changed.
Sub Dungeon of ¡°The Concerning Dungeon¡±
Cleared once. More Information is needed. Found monsters and bosses logged.
I feel...fulfilled. Just for this¡­that''s bad right? That''s not very... stable. I haven¡¯t even been given a proper name. They think I¡¯m part of Doc¡¯s dungeon. Why¡­why does this make me so happy? At least it''s better than ¡°pit stop¡±. Chapter 64. Momentum.
Testing. Testing. Hey Innearth can you hear me? Just checking in - nothing much has happened yet. I''m in the middle of a forest! Saw some massive monsters but nothing dangerous for me yet. One bit me but don''t worry I got better. I''ll check in again soon okay? I wish I built something to measure how far I''ve gotten, I''ve been walking for days. Anyways, think that''s all. Till next time.
Excerpt obtained from an Onyx transmission 2000 AS. Just as Innearth tried to puzzle out his mental state, a second group moved through the portal and distracted him. This group was comprised of three nearly identical humanoid creatures. They each wore billowy tunics of red, had an identical short baton of an item and constantly swapped places with one another. They were probably closest to being humans however their skin was a deep pink and their eyes a startling purple. Kobolds? Unlike the previous group, these three had completely separate roles and did not stray from their positions¡­however they all looked basically the same and the way they kept teleporting between one another muddied the whole deal. A quick summary of the positions could be seen as ¡°defence, movement, offence¡±. The adventurer that was better at defence would appear and deflect a void trap spider right before it skewered one of the others ¨C their pole-shaped item sliding out in a double fan to make a shield shape for a single moment then retracting once more. They would then shimmer slightly as their position was perfectly swapped and the ¡°offensive¡± adventurer took their place. This adventurer used the same item by spinning it outwards into a polearm shape and slashing in figure eight patterns. Every time they were in position, the rod would extend out briefly and cut all that dared to attack them before retracting. The third adventurer could also be considered an attacker but one that ¡°attacked¡± with less ferocity and more agility. Using the flat of their double-tipped short blade to wound before dashing around and attacking from a new angle. They would appear to skip slightly and blur with momentary speed as they flowed into a new position or away from a fight. They had a "gimmick" but played it well. Instead of appearing to be a single adventurer flipping between three styles, they were three adventurers in three separate places attacking simultaneously and ¡°flipping between each other¡± instinctively. As they progressed and Innearth watched them religiously with his mana sight he started to realize they weren¡¯t physically teleporting but somehow sharing bodies. Their souls were what was swapping bringing their skills and who knows what else between them. ¡­to be honest. I don¡¯t know if that is more or less impressive. How hard is it to do? And how are they able to do it so well? You¡¯d think they would show some sign of disorientation in the swap. The group continued to work backwards through his magma halls. That was okay for the most part, but the backwards progression meant the group had full reign of the retreating shortcuts and broke or bypassed the majority of his forward-facing traps or puzzles. The worst two offenders were the pair puzzle room that simply opened from the back letting the group wander through interested and the maze which had a straightforward series of one-way shortcuts when approaching from this direction. The most memorable fight was when the group reached ¡°Death Knight Randy¡± and his various zombie rodents and mammals ¨C Innearth¡¯s mini boss for the magma halls. They dodged and deflected most of the deadly attacks just fine, but found as a group they had the same amount of difficulty damaging the undead. Quick slashes and stabs strong enough to pierce the zombies were employed repeatedly over the course of the fight. However, despite slicing off limbs and completely impaling the monsters, the undead kept re-attaching their broken limbs, less healing the damage and more just ignoring it. As strong as the adventurers are in their roles, they don¡¯t seem to have much elemental damage. If they had skills, or spells, or items, or anything that dealt life or fire damage, they would have a much easier time with this. Finally, after nearly 20 minutes of struggle, the group finally pinned Randy to the wall. Two spears were used on the boss¡¯s two ends anchoring it in place while the third ripped out and flung death crystals about the room. The trio gathered around the corpse exhausted as their reward appeared. A single translucent and fragile looking amulet appeared and Innearth watched and tried to figure out what it did based upon context. The amulet gave off a warm stream of life mana that looped throughout the body of whoever was wearing it healing them at a constant low but endless rate. When directed the ¡°streams¡± of life could be pooled into a weapon or item and applied life-based damage to whatever was hit by it¡­Useless in most scenarios but helpful in specific cases like what the group had just gone through. This amulet would have allowed one of them to rip through the undead had they had it beforehand. All three adventurers had tried it out swapping around to see how it felt. They don¡¯t seem that happy. Is it because it''s now asymmetrical? They want two more amulets? I only gave one random item to this boss and I¡¯m not sure that lets them get 3 identical items¡­not my fault the system decided this is what they needed the most. As the group wandered away from the death mana-infused room Innearth set about remaking the monsters inside. The biggest bonus with using undead was their ease of reuse ¨C simply slap all the scattered flesh together with death mana and pull the hovering undead souls back into the slightly worse off containers. This was as good a time as any to upgrade the group. All the zombies were partly made into death knights like Randy ¨C small black armour items covering the worst of their wounds and lined with death crystals that helped hold them together. Randy was ¡°fixed¡± in a similar way but then improved with unlife materials that spiralled around the inside of its armour. Give the adventurers a weapon to fight the undead and then give the undead a way to block the weapon. Ah¡­perfect. This was as good enough of a time to check on how his attempt at remaking the 3rd zone boss was doing. Going back a bit in Innearth¡¯s timeline to right after the high level scouts cleared his crystal dragon, Innearth had been incredibly relieved the adventurers didn¡¯t loot the dragon''s corpse when they left. It was fully within their right as the victors but¡­it would have been sad to design a new boss after he had set up plans for this one. Some dungeons swapped their bosses semi-regularly but Innearth wanted key setups to remain the same. At this point, Innearth employed a technique he didn¡¯t use very often due to it being more trouble than it was worth ¨C reusing monster parts. He hadn¡¯t tried to reuse parts since his new ¡°system-aided creation panel¡± had been given and it definitely helped make the process more straightforward. First Innearth moved the whole corpse into his panel as a material and convinced the stubborn panel to give him its damage. Unable to manipulate the already solidified flesh Innearth instead began performing surgery. Cutting and ripping out most of the unrepairable sections before pulling them out of the panel and tossing them in a corner for his cleanup crew. The most important part of the monster might just have been its skull ¨C now fused perfectly to its thankfully only slightly damaged head. The ancient bones inside of it were what had made the monster unique and despite no visible effects having stemmed from it¡­Innearth was nearly positive he needed to keep it to make a similar feeling monster. I think the domain might have been because of this skull but I can¡¯t prove that. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. The most damage had been done with the shattered mana circuit of the beast. Lightning mana had forcefully traveled up and down pathways exploding nodes and forcefully creating ¡°paths of least resistance¡± by melting them to flesh and fusing them to bones. Most of it was unrepairable and while there was a non-zero chance they might make interesting unique monsters or add new effects¡­Innearth also saw the ways they weakened everything and decided it was best to start over. Dododoo. Innearth slowly sorted through parts while examining the materials through his panel. This section is reparable but it would take more time doing so than remaking it¡­so it has to go. This part was completely undamaged¡­it can stay. The percentage of the monster Innearth decided to salvage was close to 30%. He probably could have gotten more out of it, but he was getting lazy as time went on. It was enlightening staring at the corpse under the microscope that was his panel. I shaped this whole creature myself so it''s pretty obvious the parts that are different from what I remember making. I¡­I can¡¯t really believe I¡¯ve never looked this closely at the finished product before. Sure the panel is zooming in further than I can do so myself but still. Some of these changes are pretty obvious. His crystal muscles were layered, "stretched football-shaped sacs of liquid crystal" that could expand and detract in one direction, while resisting force in the other. They also contained tiny specks of kinetic and gravity crystals in an alternating pattern. That was what he had designed and while the essence of that was still here¡­now the inner liquid seemed to fuse to the ends and force the polarity to always stay in that long direction. Mana seemed to have stretched out inside the liquid-like thousands of invisible strings running through the muscle ¨C grains of mana that helped strengthen it. Finally, the speck of crystals had been almost melted into the center of the liquid crystal and it was hard to see where they had begun and ended. The bones were similarly fused to the surrounding flesh in ways that Innearth didn¡¯t remember physically doing when he designed the monster. Hollow metal mana and gravity bones now had faint grains and small pockets that were attached to the surrounding flesh in an uneven pattern. Despite being made out of just iron and metal mana the bones now had an invisible grain of several different alloys like someone had marbled various greys silvers and browns and turquoise on a microscopic scale. They all structurally gave the material a slightly better strength in the specific positions that mattered. It was almost like the spell had airbrushed Innearth¡¯s creation fuzzing everything slightly when it completed his design. It¡¯s annoying to do this, but for an experimentation it¡¯s worth it. Innearth absorbed bits of the cut-off flesh ¨C adding the materials to his inventory and letting the still lingering mana be ripped off and added to the floor. As previously discovered, there was a majority of the physical elements that Innearth had used initially ¨C quartz for muscles, iron for bones ¨C but when absorbing it, trace elements appeared alongside these bases. Inside the bones depending on where he absorbed from, he could find: Ruthenium, Osmium, and even Mercury for some reason ¨C all ripped out and separate as the magic holding them in whatever state they were in was removed. The muscles similarly had plenty of random materials from argon at 0.1% to carbon at 0.5% of the total. I think it''s probably always been obvious ¨C but I was kind of imagining the materials as being a soup of these elements all mixed together, when it¡¯s actually a bit more complicated than that. I¡¯m reminded of the mess of compounds that showed when I tried to break apart a leaf. I can¡¯t even tell what it¡¯s doing in its magical state¡­ ¡­It¡¯s probably not something I should focus on directly. I don¡¯t need to know the end components when the spell does that for me. What I do want to know is if there¡¯s any way I can design stuff that will help the spell out¡­or direct what the spell is doing so its changes are stronger or more in line with what I want. Random thought that¡¯s spinning back to what I know about spells. Is the structure of the material in any way related to my intent? So if I make a bone and think this is to help protect it the magic will work towards making it better at protecting? That sounds about right. Anyways. Moving on. Let¡¯s fill in the dragon and see if it works. The ripped-off sections were all sent off to the crystal dwarves to make into items and Innearth went to work remaking the main body. A slight hiccup appeared when he tried to figure out how to make the middle a ¡°shrunk¡± zone again. He couldn¡¯t get it to work inside of his panel and then trying to make it outside of the panel and ¡°shove it in afterwards¡± broke the whole construct. Forcing it unravelled the carefully shrunk space and flashed my panel in a warning manner¡­I guess that makes sense. I can¡¯t figure out how to put shrunk voids inside of shrunk voids without breaking the weaker of the two¡­ But then again just because I couldn¡¯t do it I didn¡¯t realize the system wouldn¡¯t be able to do it. And also¡­what does that mean about the space this panel is in. Is it shrunk somehow? Or is it a bigger on the inside sort of deal with space mana? I should see if I can find anything about how Space and Void mana interact in terms of shrunk or expanded areas. Do they break each other? If someone with an expanded dimensional storage walks through my shrunk hallways will it break their constructs? Innearth tried to find information first on the market and then by asking Doc. The current/ ¡°newest information¡± seemed to be that dimensional spaces ¨C either shrunk or grown ¨C could interact if made by multiple different people and different spells¡­ but not if done by the same person¡­for some reason? So an adventurer could take a bag made with runes through a dungeon-shaped hallway just fine but if Innearth had the space affinity and made a bigger on the inside bag it would break when passing through his own stuff. More generally using the same rune bag example you couldn¡¯t put one similar rune bag inside of the other without breaking them. You could however cheat and nest a script bag inside a rune bag inside a dungeon¡¯s expanded room. That doesn¡¯t make sense. Why would mana punish the same person doing it? Shouldn¡¯t it be the other way around? If they all belong to the same person it''s fine, but if other people do it, it breaks? Anyways. Finishing up the design Innearth gave life to his crystal boss once more and set about making sure they could escape at the end of the fight in the future. ¡­ Meanwhile, the trio of adventurers travelled through his dungeon all the way to the surface and then disappeared for several hours. Innearth loved watching them travel but while they struggled a bit in the magma halls, they quickly became overleveled in the beginner area. Watching them shrug off all the traps and overkill the weaker monsters wasn¡¯t very fun. When they returned the trio seemed excited ¨C rushing through Innearth¡¯s defences on the way back up no longer being able to take the ¡°retreat¡± paths and being forced to actually go through his challenges. They seemed incredibly annoyed by the maze while trying to return to the portal zone and got stuck in the twin puzzle rooms for ages. Unable to communicate properly they stuck to swapping back and forth in the rooms so they could see both sides repeatedly. The silverfish key was chased about for over 15 minutes ¨C leaving Innearth giggling before it was finally caught and inserted into a lock. The group made sure to slow down and watch for traps as they made their way back through. Finally they reached the final boss for the magma halls. This was a strangely balanced matchup. Each of the 3 spider sisters went after a different adventurer they were better suited to beat ¨C and then the adventurers swapped and threw the bosses off their game. Come again? This time maybe head up like the other group. I think you¡¯ll find the crystal caverns are to your liking! ¡­ Like a hole in a humanoid dam being pried further and further apart by the pressure of the people on the other side, more and more adventurers poured through the gate. Pairs, trios, whole troupes of adventurers came through. At first it seemed like curiosity drove them and it looked like he was equalizing adventurers with Doc. But then groups came by with increasingly complex and bulky equipment and the flow increased. Machines were brought to scan the area around his entrance...and then when they didn''t seem able to figure out what they were trying to discover, a second stream of even more complicated equipment was transported through. Innearth¡¯s Snake Scout lived up to his scout moniker and relayed the whole proceeding, watching as a huge array was formed in the center of the Valley. This setup seemed to surprise excite and attract the adventurers in doves. Within weeks Innearth started to get nearly hourly groups of adventurers on escort quests bringing very obviously non adventuring "dead weight" through his dungeon ¨C ignoring his upper floors and simply transporting them to his entrance and retreating. At first and for quite a few months after this flow started, Innearth was simply excited to see the creatures actually travel through him. He let them travel through all the "retreat" paths or shortcuts upwards ¨C knowing they would have to face his traps and monsters on the way back to the forest gate... Lining up with this period, multiple monsters started to ascend nearly at once ¨C 3 of the weaker crystal dwarves that had been silently chugging away advanced within a day of each other. They went through a fast tracked version of what Oynx had gone through ¨C ascending into kobolds and naming themselves Ilmenite, Rutile, and Steve. The three brothers seemed interested in learning about where Oynx had gone but settled down in his dungeon for now ¨C replacing the strongest non ascended dwarf as the most important crafters. In the very bottom of his floor, two of the prehistoric riders advanced and deserted the shrew and its war. They preferred not to receive names and simply decided to explore by heading slowly up to the surface and sneaking out the lighthouse entrance. Because of the novelty of the situation ¨C and because of his new children ¨C the travellers took a while to get on Innearth¡¯s nerves. But¡­as time went on ¨C with the majority of groups ignoring his upper floors ¨C and with high-level adventures slaughtering his weaker monsters efficiently and travelling up through the same paths they had decided were ¡°optimal¡± and the shortest¡­ As adventurers ignored his deeper floors...those initial feelings finally started to fade. I should be a destination, not just a "pit stop". I should be a challenge that adventurers have to face...it should be more lucrative to delve into me than escort random boring weakling through me. I need more. I need to fix this! Chapter 65. Anti Exploit Engineering. Part One - The Carrot.
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Excerpt Obtained from an unknown source. Okay. Okay¡­Okay. Innearth ran through the issues he was currently having. He wasn¡¯t getting enough attention. If he didn¡¯t get attention he would die! To be more exact he had set up the gate network with Doc specifically to gain adventurers to delve him and ¨C while there was currently three groups that had actually explored his crystal caverns ¨C the majority of delvers were using him as a passage. The goal was to bring people to him¡­ thus he didn¡¯t want to hinder people from showing up ¨C otherwise summed up as ¡°no portal costs¡±. That wasn¡¯t to say he wanted to keep feeling taken advantage of. Just because it cost him nothing to let them teleport to him for free, didn¡¯t mean he was fine being used as nothing more than transport. So. I want to prevent the specific scenario that¡¯s happening but not in a way that blocks actual adventurers from arriving. ¡­I also wouldn¡¯t mind as much if they were travelling themselves and treating me like a dungeon but¡­the overkill is getting annoying. I¡¯m making progressively more difficult areas for a reason! Adventurers should be congregating in the places that are better levelled for them difficulty-wise. So. Two goals I guess and I can work on them simultaneously. The first goal is to lure adventurers deeper. I think an easy and cheap way to do that is to go all out on loot and bribe ''em down. Innearth had spread loot about his dungeon pretty thoroughly¡­there were several item pools at this point named ¡°Common Low, Common Medium, Common High, Rare Low, Rare Medium, Rare High, Special pool¡± ¨C all filled with hundreds upon hundreds of items mostly made by his crystal dwarves. The pools contained several choice items ¨C including a bunch he had been proud of making ¨C along with a large portion of ¡°randomized¡± ones. These pools were then attached to all of his bosses, mini bosses and several secret chests throughout his dungeon that had been set up recently. These chests were set up to ¡°give the item¡± into the container when it was opened ¨C providing potential adventurers with a personalized item that looked like it had been contained in the chest the whole time. Add to the fact that Innearth had been making loot for a while before he had actually gained adventurers¡­and his backlog of items was now truly huge. I asked my friends and researched a bit ¨C so as far as I can tell my current setup is pretty generous while not being a piggy bank. I just haven¡¯t been able to match whatever they are making on escort quests. Or maybe I am matching it, but the escort quests are much safer¡­ I might as well just keep enacting different plans until I¡¯m satisfied with the result. So plan number one will be to setup an incentive for delving deep along with as good of a reward as I can make for it. I could use my ¡°Special pool¡± and add one of my Tier 5 random weapons or items to the current final boss? Yeah I¡¯m going to do that and then set up a quest to find it. OH! I can set up a weekly quest to reach my furthest floor! Swapping the pool attached to the ice golem to ¡°Special¡± and creating a quest that would trigger to anyone above level 40 that entered his dungeon was a matter of seconds to implement. He held off on finalizing the changes however. I only have a few tier 5 items though and I don¡¯t even know if that¡¯s a good enough grand goal. A weapon is a bit easier to make and even if the system likes to bump up the reward for practical items¡­I think my best shot of reaching as high as possible is to make a weapon. Innearth had a list of processes he could do that each increased the cost of making an item ¨C but also increased its value. One of the easiest but most expensive things he could do was just ¡°throw more mana¡± at the problem. With something to focus on while he was still brainstorming the end result Innearth got to work. Setting up a workstation in his lowest floor he began to make a core. A cone of very high concentration crystal mana surrounded by multiple sources of pressure ¨C inverted gravity above and below, all of his focus and concentration, and a void mana construct shrinking the whole core when he reached the limit of his other avenues. The cone started out roughly a meter in length and took his entire pool of mana to make before it ended up compressed to around 20cm long and 8cm wide at its widest point. The end result smoked constantly with mana ¨C despite the gradient he had used to contain it ¨C so Innearth was forced to momentarily shove it in a mana oven while his mana regenerated. He had an hour till he reached full again.
Innearth (Dungeon Designation: Crossroad Link from Murek)
Level 68 4928/5382 exp to next level.
System Access Level 6 0/2 requirements met to advance.
-795/2500 sapient delves.
-Level 82+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 89.53 personal unit/min
Mana Concentration 2.92 AMU / personal unit
Mana Storage 23.22/15701.11 AMU
Regeneration over time 4.35 AMU/s
Time to Full Mana 60.0 Min
Physical Storage 42% Capacity
Age 3 years
Current Year 2000 AS
Distance underground 399 meters
Number of floors 16 floors
Titles.
Earth Mana Specialization, Crystal Mana Specialization, Void Mana Specialization, Customization.
¡­Last I checked I was called the sub dungeon of Doc! When did that change?
Innearth: ¡­my name just changed. I finally have a cool name. I¡¯m the crossroad link from murek! Goodbye Pit stop! Goodbye Sub Dungeon!
ZeMadDoctor: Hey. My name has changed as well. To the ¡°Crossroad Link from Central Continent¡±.
Abe: Woah woah woah. First off. Awful name. I really don¡¯t understand your taste¡­it doesn¡¯t tell you anything. Can you really have a crossroad with just two dungeons by the way? Sounds fake.
Innearth: I¡¯m just hearing you are jealous of my new best friend. If you think we can¡¯t have a crossroads with two points want to join us? Make the third?
Abe: ¡­bruh. I¡¯m hurt. You can¡¯t replace me as best friend just like that.
ZeMadDoctor: I just traded a dozen cheap cores for information on Murek. It¡¯s a continent. So is the central continent.
Abe: Lol. Oh really? The central continent is a continent? You don¡¯t say. :3
Innearth: Don¡¯t act sassy with Doc just because he¡¯s replaced you :3
Abe: :3< And here I was about to lovingly gift you these 30 unstable bombs. Whatever will I do with them now?
Innearth: Toss em at an adventuring group?
Abe: I guess. They won''t appreciate them as much as my best bud will though.
ZeMadDoctor: who knows what the adventurers think sometimes. I wanted to be sure. Apparently my continent is the biggest coming in at 175million square kilometers.
Fated Eternal Design: I¡¯m doing pretty well for myself right now but¡­the idea of a portal to the unknown would make for an amazing end to the questline to end all questlines.
Innearth: You¡¯re planning on letting adventurers travel to us?
Fated Eternal Design: Only after having gone through the longest and most involved questline I can think of. I¡¯m talking using my cultists to hide quest items in the town near the dungeon. Talking setting up linked questlines far away from my dungeon that will lead adventurers towards me and
Innearth: woah woah woah. Whats this I hear about questlines outside of your dungeon? How do you get that to work! And why didn¡¯t you tell me earlier I could have used it to try and get adventurers for my own dungeon! I wouldn¡¯t have had to go through all those hoops and made those cursed items! BY THE WAY! YOU NO LONGER NEED TO KEEP GIVING THOSE OUT!!!! I¡¯m good now. They didn¡¯t work anyways.
Fated Eternal Design: Sorry I left off details that wouldn¡¯t have worked. I¡¯m talking about having cultists make quests that link to me and tie into my own questlines. They would be the ones making the quests in nearby towns not me. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Innearth: oh¡­okay that¡¯s fine then.
Amy: ¡­stop giving these out you say? Okay. I ran out anyways ¨C was actually waiting for you to send more.
Innearth: I sent you 300 of those cursed locators. You gave them all out? That¡¯s¡­awfully nice of you.
Amy: Yeah they made a good non lethal trap. There¡¯s some priest of purity or something who keeps removing them but quite a few adventures have dodged them and headed off to find you.
Abe: I C O N I C. I¡¯m dying. I gave a bunch out as well but not the whole batch.
Brutality Queen: What''s this about cursed items? I don¡¯t believe I¡¯ve heard anything about these.
Abe: OH! This is great. Let me tell you what Innearth thought up to try and get adventurers.
Returning to his item-making while his friends teased him, Innearth called his three ascended crystal dwarves down to check on it. This feels like a tier 10 core? It was briefly tier 11 and then when compressed it almost seemed like it was becoming an unstable tier 12 core before it finally settled at 10. Such a huge waste of mana¡­at least it''s somewhat stopped leaking now. From what I can tell it''s diamond mana as well. I don¡¯t want to waste the mana that went into making this so what have you guys got for me? ¡°I call this project. I have some ideas¡± Ilmenite thought out a few seconds into seeing the diamond core Innearth had designed. ¡°Fine. I call the next one¡± Steve responded, grabbing his third ¡°brother''s¡± hand and returning to their workshop. ¡°First off we have to properly store the power you¡¯ve given us. I wouldn¡¯t want to make an item that consumes the core to power itself¡­but this much mana can definitely catalyze some strong runes. I¡¯m going to try my best to seal it so it doesn¡¯t degrade more. Did you want to add more mana to it first?¡± Ilm started returning to speaking directly to Innearth. ¡­sure. I¡¯m not asking you to make an item using this material by the way I¡¯m already planning on making a spear I just wanted help with the parts I can¡¯t do myself. ¡°Just a spear? A spear it is! Well if you¡¯re putting this much effort into it I can¡¯t disappoint you. We''ll reach masterwork quality at least don¡¯t you worry.¡± Ilm responded confidently. Masterwork quality is tier 8 right? Innearth asked while topping the spear tip up. ¡°Yeah¡­system knowledge. I have a racial quest to make a tier 8 item before I have access to the booze system. From what I can tell¡­ tier 8 is the sign a dwarf is an adult¡­most dwarves reach that point around when they are 14? As a kobold I¡¯m not sure if I have quite the same craving for alcohol as the natives but¡­I¡¯ll admit I¡¯m somewhat excited to try it out.¡± Ilm responded their mental connection briefly containing their emotions proving their statement. Reaching a void claw out, Ilm drew several spiralling screw-like lines down the length of the tip ¨C wrapping into a sort of circle with a star at its base. As Innearth watched the faint stream of mana that had been whipping out of the too dense spearhead started to act less like steam ¨C or mist floating out of the cone ¨C and more like liquid. Manna dripped and flowed down the spiral and then somehow sucked itself back into the bottom as if there was a vortex pulling it back in. ¡°Okay, Should prevent it from wasting as much. Bonus with this setup is the flowing mana should be able to power some more exciting effects. This flavour of crystal mana won¡¯t work well with most effects¡­ but should be good for some durability and sharpness at the minimum.¡± Ilm spoke as they worked. So mana that¡¯s moving can power stuff it passes over? At least with runes? Can I try something? ¡°Should be pretty safe. Go ahead.¡± Ilm responded. Innearth started making X crystals and placing them up against the spiralling screwhead. A Kinetic crystal was placed where it promptly shot forwards. A Fire crystal began shooting out a steady stream of magical fire like an endless flamethrower. A life crystal appeared to do nothing, but steadily began accumulating a misty green cloud of healing mana in Innearth¡¯s mana sight. ¡°Huh¡­okay. I¡¯ve seen these in the workshop but haven¡¯t touched them much and don¡¯t have enough information on them. DON¡¯T call for Steve to finish this he¡¯ll never let me live it down. I can figure it out.¡± Ilm sent the last few words in a quick jumble along with a need to prove themselves. Pulling the Fire crystal towards themselves, Ilm pushed mana through it and watched the passage of their own neutral mana being converted to fire. Pushing through in several different intensities then using different flavours of mana ¨C a crystalline mana, a metallic mana, a fire mana. This dwarf was able to use quite a few types which while abysmally low for a dungeon core was impressive for a young dwarf with which they technically counted. Poking holes in the crystal shaving off slivers and drawing small runes before repeating the previous experiments. They trashed the first crystal then moved on and finished testing on the final two. ¡°Okay. From what I can tell these crystals act somewhat as an inefficient but strangely durable and open *Active Item*. I¡­I don¡¯t want to presume anything you know about magic, but you know how active items work right?¡± Ilm asked hesitantly. ¡­can I pretend I do and let you teach your progenitor anyways? ¡°That works. Hey off topic but I vaguely remember how awed I was by you. You were this grand existence beyond my understanding with infinite wisdom and strength but now that I¡¯ve ascended and you''re talking to me, that illusion''s breaking somewhat.¡± Ilm said. ¡­I feel like I should be offended. Anyways how do active items work? ¡°First off I¡¯ll go over the different types of items and how they are made. Spells can pretty simply be placed into two categories. Active and Passive.¡± Ilm began their explaination. ¡°For passive runes a shape is made for an initial activation of mana along with the storage of that effect. Typically with how they are made the mana is sourced from the creator. That means ¨C at least at the lower level ¨C passive runes can only be made using mana types that the creator can use¡­but with conversion runes to help alter how mana feels and the potential for either donors or using conversion setups to artificially make the most effective mana type and inject it. Well the whole concept gets a bit more complicated.¡± Ilm paused despite not needing to breathe to speak through the necklace they wore on their chest. ¡°For active runes however a shape is created for mana to travel along. Passages are made with mana that let future mana flow and create effects. This is then outsourced to whoever uses the rune to activate the effect.¡± Ilm continued. ¡°Now passive runes are much harder to make and are typically weaker or less durable with simpler effects. They tend to fall apart after a while, as the mana flowing and pooling endlessly inside of them breaks out. Because of this, most magical items are active. You¡¯re flipping that on its head by making most of your magical items passive with constant effects and no user cost¡­I don¡¯t understand how you manage it.¡± Ilm spoke the first time their confidence started to displace cracks. ¡°Getting off-topic. Basically, these crystals are essentially normal active items except for a few key points. The runes in active items need to be tuned to accept a specific mana type. Because of this, most use pure mana as most people can use it¡­even if the efficiency would be much much higher if the initial mana type matched the desired effect. These crystals are able to accept other sources of mana at a reduced efficiency without being designed that way. So while fire mana works the best in the fire crystal it also accepts metal mana which should be impossible for something so small. I¡¯m sure they would shatter if fed with drastically different mana types like water mana through the fire crystal or madness types but it''s still impressive.¡± Ilm finished. Innearth thought over how dwarves saw spells. At the start of the explanation he took it all at face value but as he had time to sit and think about it¡­he started to find some discrepancies that meant it didn¡¯t fully transfer over to his own or even other species'' spell systems. Active or passive could technically be used to describe other spell types. I guess¡­ Potions might be passive and chanting active¡­but that feels limiting. I also wouldn¡¯t call most of my materials passive effects they are magical materials! You can¡¯t draw passive runes in water to make a healing liquid. ¡°I guess those are just magical materials and not a spell? Either way, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s important. What is important is that an active effect is achieved when mana is converted into environmental mana. That change of state of someone pushing their personal mana through an item and turning it into environmental mana makes the actual magic. A ¡°Active¡± lantern that needs mana isn¡¯t really using mana like a fuel source just converting personal mana to environmental pollution and light. Passive effects usually involve loops of mana that radiate an effect without diminishing themselves.¡± Ilm responded. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about how I can use the crystals ¨C or even if it¡¯s a good idea to use these in this spear. If the crystals were just attached to the core, I¡¯m sure they would eventually empty the spear''s storage ¨C as all of the Diamond mana was converted into their effects and shunted into the environment¡­¡± Ilm continued. ¡°Maybe if I mulch the crystals and turn them into a coating for the inside of the runes? I could try and make passive effects that take advantage of the conversion these crystals have¡­if you wanted to go that route?¡± Ilm asked. That seems like a convoluted series of steps. I do remember Onyx doing steps like that at a few points...but if it''s just converting the mana type I¡¯m not sure if it''s worth it. I can make materials with ¡°passive effects¡± to include in the spear instead? They would be much more durable and endless without needing pathways. Innearth mused. ¡°¡­I forgot you can just make free passive effects whenever you want. The bonus of doing it the rune way is we could set up passive effects that had actual logic and turned on or off¡­but you are correct it would be a strain on the stream the core you made gives.¡± Ilm relented. Got it. I¡¯m thinking of increasing the stabbing speed and strength with either void or sharpness¡­some kinetic and inverted gravity materials sucking stuff towards it and pushing it forward faster¡­might add some gravity handles around a soft grip to make it easier to use¡­. Think with the core that will get us to tier 8? If it were a monster I¡¯d try and add a refilling healing potion or maybe poison or void liquid that can be injected¡­but an item can¡¯t heal those back. ¡°If you want a healing effect I could try and divert some of the power into a slowly filling single-use healing rune? I think with some careful use of the life crystals enhancing a healing battery I might be able to pretty safely fill it almost passively.¡± Ilm said after a moments thought. Would it be strong enough to heal a high levelled adventurer? If not, there isn¡¯t much of a point. Also would it drain the core? I thought you mentioned using the crystals would drain the core. ¡°Using the crystals quickly would drain it. I should be able to pass it back into the core to recycle the mana ¨C minor chance it would slightly corrupt it to a life based mana type but I also don¡¯t think you can store life mana in a diamond core so who knows.¡± Ilm started. ¡°And yeah. It would take over a day to refill to a point that a high-level adventurer would be able to heal with it but it would work. What do you say?¡± Ilm finished. I think we have a plan. Finally finished brainstorming, Innearth began building what he had decided to work on. A casing was made around the screw and tipped with Sword mana then a long pole was designed with several compounding effects that each made the item slightly better. Partway through designing the shaft Ilm asked him to make a compartment for them where they placed a stack of over 50 ¡°Life crystal with strange squiggles followed by a plate of metal with different strange squiggles¡± layers. Going over the top of the whole spear Ilm laid a careful stream of runes that seemed to grow down the whole shaft¡¯s length away from the tip ¨C like interlocking chains mixed with vines. When they finally relaxed and left the creation settle Innearth placed it in his item panel to read its information.
Dormant Seed of the Diamond Spear Tree. [Tier 9 Weapon]
Description: A seed of a weapon that may one day awaken to its true purpose, this spear is infused with Life and Diamond mana but does not yet have a soul. Perhaps if used enough it will awaken to its true purpose? Growth Weapon with high chance of evolution.
Stabbing damage 500-1000. Cold Damage 20-30. Continuous damage from injected crystals 1/sec per 3 crystals. Durability 1800/1000.
Once per day can activate [A Seedling''s Blessing] healing life attuned creatures for [10,000 health] over 5 seconds. Excess life energy revitalises and returns stamina. Frequent use of [A Seedlings Blessing] increases likelihood of eventual evolution.
¡°I¡­that was enough to do it. We did it!¡± Ilm said pride shining through. Pulling out a crystal dagger Ilm pushed it into an invisible panel pulling their hand back a moment later with a mug of some sort of frothy burning liquid. ¡°Hah! Take that Steve. I get to try fire beer before you!¡± Ilm said no longer speaking directly at Innearth their thoughts being sent anyways. Watching amused as his ascended monster ran off to show off her new system controls Innearth returned to his dungeon design. Okay! I have my bait! I could theoretically randomize this but¡­well when I put that much mana and effort into making it I kind of want to show it off itself. Bonus is my quest can show the reward effects now I feel like showing off this tier NINE potentially upgradable weapon is more exciting than just writing ¡°masterwork reward¡± or whatever. Instead of just attaching this reward to the snow golem boss, Innearth made a liquid crystal pool in the portal room beyond it. He carefully placed his ¡°bait¡± on a ruby red pedestal that contrasted the green script covering the item nicely ¨C running fire mana metal in a swirling fractal around it ¨C one that didn¡¯t do anything but add to the aesthetics. He then set up the quest and watched as the only group currently in his dungeon grabbed the builder they were walking up a flight of stairs and HUSTLED. They carried the surprised client like a sack of potatoes out of Innearth¡¯s dungeon and then regrouped. The group ran through his first floors using well-mapped-out skips to reach the forest portal. Then, when they snuck through the passage that only opened for those who had ¡°beaten the spider sisters at least once before¡± they started heading deeper ¨C hoping to be the first to reach his reward. ¡­that seems to have done it. Hope I get more than this group before the end of the event. Chapter 66. Anti Exploit Engineering. Part Two - The Beating Stick.
Thompson. Please, can you hire some adventurers to plumb the lower levels? I need category 2 magical materials to start on the mana sewer and several intact cores. We can¡¯t postpone that and if you keep letting those buffoons make foundations, I¡¯ll need to rip them all up to lay drain channels. Setting up buildings every which way is madness! Really, I get that people are excited to start building but without a proper plan they are going to make mistakes. They have already made mistakes. Did you see the newest hovel they¡¯ve started making? Its 20 stories tall! 20 stories of unenforced hopes and dreams that will collapse at the first monster attack. We haven¡¯t even cleaned out the valley yet ¨C I saw a hulking furry beast wander past the camp with a giant silver weapon earlier today. Can you hire some adventurers to either drive off or kill everything higher than category 2 or danger level 1? I won¡¯t be camping beside stuff that wants to eat me I won¡¯t stand for it. While I¡¯m already writing this I¡¯ll mention some less immediately important but valid grievances. As the highest leveled craftsmen in this generously called ¡°town¡± I¡¯m used to a higher level of convivence. Now listen. I¡¯m not some spoilt noble who wants gilded and luxurious accommodations, but I refuse to continue relieving myself in the woods and won¡¯t stand for the charred monster meat adventurers have been passing off as food. I heard the dungeon has started making toilets can you believe that? The dungeon has better living conditions than this ¡°town¡±! Either hire a proper [Waste Craftsmen] or get me some void aspected materials and let me brute force the issue with a general purpose waste annihilator. We also need a [Chef] or [Innkeeper] or really anyone who knows what spices are and is willing to make actual food. I¡¯m sorry if I¡¯m coming off as rude and demanding but I¡¯m slowly losing my sanity dealing with these people and conditions. I became a [Sewermaster] not an adventurer for a reason.
Complaint form issued to preliminary mayor Jay Thompson 2000AS. Okay. It¡¯s all well and good to bribe adventurers¡­but that doesn¡¯t change the fact that I¡¯ve been annoyed by the over-levelled rampaging about my newbie floors. I¡¯ve done my nice and peaceful solution and I think it¡¯s working. Now to solidify this state with my more antagonistic solution. How could I go about either punishing adventurers for escort quests? Or at the very least challenge them? That¡¯s what I have to figure out. I mean punishing adventurers is easy enough. I could do something like how FED has set up stronger monsters that attack if something he¡¯s against ¨C like smashing lots of vases in a row ¨C happens. I think however¡­ I think I would prefer a punishment that¡¯s closer to simply matching their strength. ¡­I think a good enough plan would be to forcefully bring them to a place that better suites them. Transportation could be done with a giant shrunk pit that sucks them down all the way to a lower floor. Two bonuses with the shrinking idea. First off it will feel faster and help suppress them because it''s more under my control if shrunk this way¡­secondly the main way I¡¯m thinking of pulling them down will be by placing lots of alternating gravity pushing and pulling materials. If I make it inside of the shrunk area it will be cheaper and require less "higher mana materials" to make the walls. Now I could try putting them outside the area ¨C but I think they lose potency while passing into the shrunk zone. Easy enough to start. One last thing I can¡¯t forget¡­I have to catch them nicely at the bottom. Some gravity pushing up to make them lighter and then a pool of water? Bunch of squishy items? That should work. Beginning his design, Innearth built his shafts directly in all the choke points adventurers needed to pass between the surface and the forest portal. First off, he planned out where each would go mentally fighting for space and building the majority of the middle before opening the ends so no one would notice his in construction attraction. They have to pass through the maze¡­ah slag. I¡¯m going have to reroute some paths to get a clear passage down. I want to bring most of the groups to the crystal caverns ¨C but that¡¯s close enough to the forest portal they can just turn around and get back up quickly¡­.I should really be sending them down to the ice caves as a true balancing¡­but I don¡¯t want this to be a speed run to the end of my dungeon¡­I could also of course make multiple chutes to both, but it¡¯s already going to take me ages to get these done. A 5-floor drop is only 130m on average if I pick these 3 spots and that¡¯s already going take me over a week to set up. Even if I have help. Innearth called his burrowers up from the frontier to help create the passageways. A faint rumbling filled many of his floors as the burrowers manipulated stone into their endless void gullets ¨C and dislodged chunks of rocks that fell below them smashing into the walls occasionally as they fell down. Vertical shafts were hard to make for the worms, but they managed it somehow with awkward spirals and zags along with frequent stone manipulation. As Innearth watched the passages form, he was strangely reminded of the steam spike shooting mollusks in the crystal caverns. The way they had been built into the crystal and then stone floor... Wild thought...how big of a plant can I make? And is making a whole pit cheating? Is it like giving life to a hallway? Is this some sort of hack?
Innearth: Anyone give life to a hallway before?
ZeMadDoctor: Can¡¯t say I have. That¡¯s an intriguing idea.
Amy: ¡­technically I¡¯ve made my hallways living because the life mana is easier for my influence to pass through. So my dungeon flesh is stone with liquid veins of water and life mana. Amy: I¡¯ve actually tried giving life to the walls but it''s less effective than just pumping life mana through them because I can¡¯t claim them afterwards. If you want to make a hallway a trap your better off setting up a dozen separate traps beside each other making a single big one. That kind of nerfs its precision and...well the larger it is the higher a drain it takes. Might need to be put on a lower floor.
Innearth: fair enough.
...well technically the pit is a trap. I''ll see what happens when I get there. ...I guess thinking about it a bit more using Amy¡¯s experience and what I hope to achieve from this trap ¨C I¡¯m better off just making it a claimed trap and hooking up system events to deal with the level problem. I can¡¯t see how a living trap could understand and suck up high levelled people passing for the first time with escorts¡­something to think about however in terms of making a living hallway. To add onto the todo pile as an experiment. Do do todo. After one pit was made with the combined effort of his four borrowers, they split up to work on the next two and Innearth began putting in the work himself to actually make the trap. Innearth pulled the passage inwards vertically and held it till the drop was steady. 133m became close to 20m and Innearth was ready to start working with gravity. The top of the pit had the gravity suppressing materials placed on them and then a second layer of artificial gravity on top to try and mask his sucking pit. All across the inside Innearth began laying thick angled plates of inverted gravity covered in thin plates of normal gravity. The larger plates would pull them down while the thin covering had a smaller range but increased effectiveness ¨C hopefully keeping anyone who fell stuck in the middle of the shaft and pushing anyone who attempted to climb it off. Innearth then began laying directionless kinetic coverings on everything. The walls seemed to vibrate slightly ¨C quickly becoming frictionless and contesting the more solid portion it was attached to. Unable to shake the world the inner ring slowly solidified into a hazy case with the vibrations seeming to exit the material to exist in the space right above it. Now all he had to do was continue doing this all the way down and repeat on the other shafts. Care was taken to try and compress everything and make sure the walls were strong enough to handle damage. Innearth made sure to insulate sections that passed by his other passages with nullstone and started planning out the bottom. ¡­ A few days into this endeavour and a group comprising of several bulky hooded figures had claimed his reward at the end of the ice caverns. Innearth took that to mean he was running out of time ¨C for while his group of adventurers that actually delved his dungeon had grown a large group was already turning back to escort quests. Innearth was really beginning to hate those quests. Stewing as he watched an adventurer over level 130 kick a lesser snake through the weaker upper floor wall then lead their group through an "unofficial shortcut" it took Innearth a moment to realize someone was trying to contact him. "Ilmenite is insufferable as the only one of us that has gained the booze system. Please let me make a tier 8 weapon with you as well. I''ve tried pouring everything I had into the materials you''ve provided us ¨C but the best I''ve made is still not good enough...I used up all the X crystals in the workshop making an item and all that is left are scraps. Please. Look at this failure and tell me what I¡¯m doing wrong.¡± Steve pushed at Innearth frustration leaking through his mental words.
Staff of the archmage. Tier 7 magic focus.
Description: Made with 333 separate magical crystals this staff can significantly enhance spells related to: Water, Fire, Life, Death, Kinetic, Mental, Light, and Void related mana types. Increase is related to several factors but is estimated to be between 50% and 100%. Additionally, all spells no matter their affinity cast using this staff as a focus have an additional increase in effect by 20% while taking 10% less time with the same amount of mana.
Durability 500/1
[Sage''s wisdom] 3 spells may be stored and pulled out to quick cast in an emergency.
...hey this is pretty good ¨C it''s 2 tiers lower than the collab item Ilm made, but it''s obviously something a mage would like a lot more than a spear. I can¡¯t tell how good the percentage increases are because I haven¡¯t made many magic items, but it sounds good? ¡°It''s awful. I used the entire stock of X crystals and only got that much. Did you know true adult dwarves should be able to make masterwork items out of nothing but some plain metal? I''m a failure. Let me help you make something ¨C anything. The very fact that you compared it to Ilmenites stupid cheating item proves how worthless it is.¡± Steve said desperately. You know what. I just finished my last bounty quest...I''ll make a new one for levels 30-50 and set it to the end of the deprivation floor okay? This item is great. Your donation is going live in¡­I think I¡¯ll push it out in a week since the last quest ended. I¡¯m really appreciative! Innearth said while trying to calm his son down. And okay. Regarding you helping¡­ Well right now I''m trying to kill the escort quests by dropping overkilling kill joys to the crystal caverns. You could maybe help design the entrances, but I''ve already mostly had that figured out. Simple really, I was planning on latches that swing down and up with kinetic mana and then I¡¯d cover the whole thing in null stone and place it in a rough area. Also make a with a really small seam to hide it. ...so you could help me hide the entrances and I''d actually appreciate that¡­but it wouldn''t help you reach your goal of making a masterwork item. Innearth mused. ¡°...I don''t want to distract you, but can we make a bounty item then? Anything else you want help with?¡± Steve asked a faint whine to his tone. Innearth thought for a bit to himself ¨C but vocally ¨C his dungeon monsters could still hear him through their connection. Well, I immediately jumped to pit traps. I didn''t want to just send strong monsters at them in the lower floors right. I wanted to figure out how to get them lower down so they can fight the stronger monsters themselves. Do you have any item ideas that would help with this goal? ¡°Well...why don''t you make a door to head up that needs a key that''s found low down in the dungeon? Then they would be forced to delve down lower before heading back? Alternatively could you not make a second path on the way up that was harder. One that portal people had to go through to reach the surface?¡± Steve asked his tone shifting and calming down as he tried to prove himself. ...kinda of a neat plan but doesn¡¯t work for my use case. I only want to make escort quests worse, not break retreating or set up some manual blocking that feels like I''m picking and choosing who can pass. I want it to feel natural. I could make one-way doors but that would break retreating which feels wrong somehow. ¡°What about picking on an escorted non adventurer? Make them fight somehow without help?¡± Steve offered. ...that''s an idea. I can make a passage or group of passages that can only be passed through by one person at a time. Force each and every person who goes through to challenge themselves instead of relying on their teammates¡­ ¡°Well I can help set that up...do you think an item to separate adventurers would reach masterwork?¡± Steve asked his tone indicating he didn¡¯t think it would. What''s the best challenge for a solo adventurer? I don''t want to completely prevent lopsided groups from passing by making something impossible for a regular adventurer to pass. And I think the best way of setting this up would be to combine it with your other idea. Force escorts to pass through alone without bodyguards¡­and then make an item located in the deep that allows them to pass unmolested. That way either the weaker escort has to prove themselves worthy or the escorting adventurers have to pass down to my ice caverns or something if they want to bring escorts through. OH! Obviously the tokens can be single use. Have anything to add to this? ¡°A manual token system¡­to disable the challenge for a single person? That could be a good currency. I think I can definitely set that up. Not sure if it would reach masterwork either¡­¡± Steve offered once more. Okay. Listen, you have a specific goal in mind and a specific reward you want from it so I get wanting to reach masterwork¡­but you shouldn¡¯t aim just for having as high a tier as possible. When making monsters most of my designs are using lower-tiered cores intelligently instead of one big higher-tiered core. It makes more efficient monsters that cost less and can use skills or spells sooner. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°¡­ it''s really weird to think that I was created like an item. Anyways yes yes, the effect is more important than the random tier the system supplies, I get it.¡± Steve sighed. It feels weird to give advice like I¡¯m some sage but here¡¯s how I see it. Sometimes focusing on one aspect can be beneficial. It can definitely increase your skills and can make something really strong in that one aspect. Sometimes trying to do a lot is good as well making an item that performs multiple similar functions can be good. For your last item¡­well your staff tries to help nearly every type of mana you knew how to add and its an amazing item that can be used by a lot of different mages. But¡­Most mages won¡¯t be able to use that many mana aspects so it will almost be wasteful to include them. Like, imagine if you focused on making a staff that increased just fire magic. Only certain mages that used fire magic would be able to use it but I¡¯m sure you could have increased the effect from 50-100% plus 20% to 200% even higher. I think¡­I think that¡¯s why the item is rated lower. Because it''s too general and not specialized enough to be strong. ¡°¡­so less would have been more for this¡± Steve pondered Innearth¡¯s words. I can¡¯t promise that but that¡¯s my guess at least. Now multiple things that work well together are obviously better combined. Like all the stuff I want for this escort filter, all serve the same purpose so they might as well all be included in the same working. That way, as a spell ¡°the intent¡± of all the separate pieces will combine together and enhance each other slightly. I know the meaning you have matters less with runes, but I¡¯ll be working on it as well and the end result will be a ritual¡­those are more fluid than other spells. ¡°¡­you¡¯re kind of being contradictory. Do one thing ¨C no, do all the things. I think I get it though. Do all the things this needs to do and don¡¯t add more capabilities just because we can. I¡¯ll start designing a token system¡± Steve finished and returned to the side room that was considered his workshop a hopeful expression on his face. Innearth had already done quite a bit of work on his pits and didn¡¯t want to toss them out now¡­but this new plan excited him more. The amount of effort mana and attention he left creating his punish pits was minuscule as he turned to this new undertaking. I want something¡­I want something that¡¯s able to challenge everyone equally. I want to separate out adventurers and make sure only one can pass at a time¡­and I want to allow it to be disabled by the tokens. Challenge everyone equally¡­Should I figure out how to make a monster that adapts to whoever enters the passage? That could be fun but I¡¯m not really sure how to start with it¡­ I could make a passage that gives different challenges? Maybe it moves back and forth to different environments based on who enters it? ¡­but then again maybe that¡¯s too basic while also being too convoluted. If it¡¯s a single passage it will take a while for a group to pass through ¨C I want a full group of like 5 adventurers to be able to go through simultaneously. I set up multiple passageways that challenge people in different ways? Set up a door that¡¯s a shield for something really tough. A sword for something that attacks in strong ways and a wand for something that uses magic? Or does it make more sense to set those labels for the adventurer not the challenge. Have the shield be for something that will attack in strong ways and must be tanked? Innearth started to design the challenge beside his passageways hoping to reroute to them when they were done. He came up with several blueprints swapping between different ideas while continuing to work... finally ending with a set of hallways that filtered adventurers themselves. The top was filled with acidic void liquid to drop on cheaters while the passage had a great deal of effort to filter adventurers out before it reached that point. Mental mana worked to try and convince people not to enter in groups. The entrance was small and had an air lock of sorts that only opened if one person was inside. An event and quest popup were even made to drive home the point.
Quest! Complete the trial using your own ability to progress through the dungeon!
Goal: The passage of trials must be faced alone. This passage was created long ago as a way to challenge young recruits in the age of Sorcery. The space it is in is not one that likes being interfered in - nor can help be passed to those who attempt it. Alternative option: Use a [Trial Token] to bypass the challenge. [Trial Token] will be consumed to disable the passage. Tokens are found with increasing probability on lower floors.
Reward: Permanent nontransferable passage for yourself.
Adventurers would get a title Innearth decided to leave visible as a badge of honour ¡°[Completed the Trial of the Crossroads]¡±. This would let adventurers retreat through the passage if they had already beaten it once. Next he worked on making the passage itself as strong as possible. Layering the walls in several different materials Steve finished the token design ¨C along with a little slot that fitted into the wall. After setting the token system up they turned to adding runes to the length of the entire hallway. Steve made Innearth pause in each layer of metal, or crystal, or stone as he sketched large but detailed symbols down its length. Turning to observe his tokens, Innearth saw the complex framework that made each small coin a [Trial Token] ¨C essentially hundreds of looping swirls of mana that twisted in a slowly moving three-dimensional shape. They are obviously very complicated but don¡¯t look like much do they. Can I decorate them? If I¡¯m making this a permanent addition to my dungeon, I want to do it right. ¡°Sure, as long as you don¡¯t damage the token you should be fine.¡± Steve responded reaching up and attempting to draw on the ceiling. Nodding in thanks as Innearth made a stepping stool for him Steve continued. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about how you can design the challenge itself. When I finish this, I want to help make a monster¡±. ¡­sure. That¡¯s something you can help with. Innearth turned to stare at the tokens before coming across an idea. Each token was surrounded in dense crystal and shaped into various monster figurines. Snakes, spiders, bats, turtles, snowmen. Innearth worked his way though every regular monster in his dungeon crafting incredibly detailed aesthetics¡¯ for the tokens. As a bonus the crystal seemed to warp the inner token itself slightly without damaging it. Without looking at the mana the tokens were simple metal chips and the crystals surrounding them should be misty clear but when combined the mana construct seemed to reflect and bounce about the crystal. First the complex shape was almost hidden becoming nearly impossible to observe with the radiation around them and then the figurines started to glow softly with a mundane but ethereal light. Too dim to be useful in the dark they were mostly just ¡°pretty¡±. Innearth stared at them a bit before turning to the group.
Innearth: Hey. Look at my trial tokens. @Fated Eternal Design. What do you think?
Fated Eternal Design: YO. That¡¯s what I¡¯m talking bout. Wanna share how you made them? It would be the perfect key to unlock the portal to your dungeon. Oh by the way take a end point to my dungeon. Doc finished helping me set it up.
Innearth: Colab with steve¡­heavily dependant upon crystal mana for the visual. Honestly don¡¯t think you could recreate them but here. Have a few of them I¡¯m planning on reusing them everytime someone uses one and I¡¯m fine giving you a few¡­you¡¯ll probably make a better story for them anyways.
Fated Eternal Design: Nice.
Amy: Those are pretty. Can I have one too?
Innearth: ¡­They are a somewhat limited supply and depend on someone else to make so I don¡¯t want to give them out endlessly¡­but sure. You can have a single one.
Amy: It can keep lil sss¡¯ company!
Innearth: hmm?
Amy: Send me it and I¡¯ll show you!
Innearth gifted Amy a snake token and watched as she set up a stream a moment later. In a cut off portion of Amy¡¯s dungeon a crystal room glowed. The old crystal snake Innearth had given her was surprisingly still alive and surrounded by thousands of living crystals she had collected from where they had dropped way back when his bat had died in her dungeon. In the middle a pool of water sat beside a ball and small obstacle course of vines and small mouse-like monsters that hid from the snake circling their room. It appeared Amy had managed to cross breed or at least magically combine some of the living crystals with other plants and coral crystal lined the walls along with sharp-looking crystalline grass and veins with faint crystal buds. In the center, a small pedestal sat and on top of the pedestal the snake token was placed lovingly. Surrounding the token was a protective bubble of water that sat in the air and beside it lay a single word written in dungeon script. Friends.
Innearth: ¡­wow Ame¡¯s. That¡¯s¡­
Abe: ¡­I see what you mean about no longer being your best friend. I think it''s Amy that¡¯s taken the spot not doc though. Sky¡¯s above I need to step up my game. Don¡¯t worry bro. I¡¯ll figure out a good present. Making you a friendship shrine isn¡¯t really my thing but I¡¯ll think of something. Oh Hey! I¡¯m also done setting up my containment area. Connect to my dungeon I want to share some Orcs!
Innearth: Ayy! You know I was joking that time right? You¡¯re still my best friend.
Abe: Yes yes. Await your gift, I¡¯ll regain your best friendship yet.
¡°So here¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking for the challenge monster¡± Steve spoke to Innearth at this time ¨C causing him to split off attention once more to focus on the trials. ¡°I want to use these runes here and see what happens when you meld it with these¡­¡± Steve started explaining his plan. Listening and providing input, Innearth started understanding his idea ¨C prototyping the monster that would become the base of this challenge. ¡­ The group of adventurers moved down with the practiced ease of those who had done this several times already. Three short-haired women with pointed ears and what any sapient would call beautiful faces topped heavily scarred and calloused bodies. Between them were two craftsmen one who wore a black apron and carried a frying pan defensively the other a giant lightened backpack. They stopped at the unfamiliar obstacle before them and stared at the popup that appeared stating the terms to continue. Immediately the furthest adventurer started cursing wildly swatting the quest notification aside. Turning to the wall she punched as hard as she could the enhanced wall barely gaining a crack to her anger. Turning to the others the oldest-looking half-elf spoke for a moment then walked forward into the airlock runes spiralling around as the door appeared to materialize behind her sealing her in. A moment later she walked out into the hallway behind it. This hallway¡¯s inside was completely surrounded by crystals but less in a ¡°crystalline¡± way like the crystal caverns. Instead of a natural multifaceted affair, the hallway was completely smooth. The walls appeared to be polished to a single murky blue slightly reflective sheen and were perfectly straight. Halfway down the hallway a crystal golem stood strong. Their frame was like a skeleton covered in runes. Runes that quickly began drawing liquid crystal up from the ground as the adventurer stepped forward. The liquid was rapidly moulded about until a nearly perfect "completely blue copy of the adventurer" stood in front of them. Liquid pooled out and created a copy of the long dirk and short crossbow strapped to the adventurer''s arm shortly after ¨C the liquid resonating and gaining colour as mana swirled up from the ground to shape the form.
Quest Update: [Trial of the mirror]
Goal: Defeat or bypass your strengthened double to complete the trial. Reward: Permanent nontransferable passage for yourself.
I''m having way too much fun with [customization]...maybe I should tone it down a bit... Deciding to try and get a head start, the woman dashed forward. A faint green tattoo on her leg lit up as her speed doubled and her dirk shot towards the golem''s face beginning the fight. A blue tattoo appeared on the golem''s leg and they quickly appeared to accelerate as well ¨C ducking down and shooting out a bolt of liquid crystal shaped into an arrow that bent light about it to look like the real thing. Seeming to sway as she jumped sideways, the adventurer kicked off the wall moving behind their copy in a single motion ¨C swiping sideways with her knife as she went. A brief wooden scar appeared on the golem''s back even as their leg pulsed and helped them spin with unnaturally quick speed to face the attacker once more. Silently swiping their crystal dirk they used the same skill to slash at the adventurer as she danced backwards. Even as flowers bloomed on the golem''s back, appearing to suck life out of them to survive ¨C weakening the artificial creature quickly. Turning even as they were hit and running for the door at the far end, the adventurer ripped the yellow plant that briefly bloomed out of their forearm and flung it forwards ¨C simultaneously they shot a bolt at their doppelganger. As the bolt passed through the flower it seemed to absorb it, tinting itself yellow as it accelerated. It moved from a ¡°really fast¡± projectile to ¡°faster than Innearth could follow¡± appearing to almost teleport between the flower and the golem''s shoulder a yellow afterimage left in its wake. This strike was followed by a massive cracking noise as the liquid crystal comprising its shoulder was shattered and then sprayed at the wall ¨C illusion magic making it seem like blood. Reaching the door behind them she stood breathing heavily and watched as she was let through. Her shoulders relaxed slightly as the door materialized behind her and blocked off the golem from view. Upon exiting the trial she paused before turning around and walking back through ¨C her new [Completed the Trial of the Crossroads] title appearing in her status and activating the disabling functions. The adventurer passed the powered-down golem ¨C staring at it slightly cautiously as she moved around it and exited to the side with her group once more. After reconvening she seemed to be explaining the challenge and stating the two non-adventurers wouldn¡¯t be able to beat the strong golem. Despite her best efforts the chef seemed to cheer up at her words ¨C arguing back at her before turning to enter the passage himself the bag-carrying craftsman trying to pull him back but being repulsed by the mind mana. This time the chef walked into the hallway confidently despite his rather weak-looking build. He held his frying pan out like a bat as he advanced ¨C watching the golem match him completely maintaining the same crystalline version of the frying pan and recreating even his apron. Yelling slightly the chef ran forwards and swung clumsily catching the golem in the side of the head and flinging them into the wall even as the golem clumsily swiped at him in turn. Not pausing to continue fighting, the chef ran towards the exit. The whole process was done in less exchanges than the adventurer¡­ but took more time as his running was much much slower than hers had been. The only thing keeping the golem from catching up was how slow it moved as well after mimicking the courageous chef ¨C chasing him down the hall, pan raised above their head in a silent war cry. Turning frantically as they reached the far end the chef swung one last time deflecting the strike at their back right before the door closed behind them. Reaching the other side, the chef waited before he was joined by the original elf who smiled at him in a wide manner and clapped him on the back with one arm ¨C the other making a thumbs up as she congratulated him. On the other side of the passage, the group tried to convince the bagged craftsmen to pass through ¨C yelling at him as he cowered and finally walked towards the hallway. Stepping into the passage the craftsmen looked like he was about to faint while facing the blank faced copy of themselves. The golem promptly ran forwards and punched the man in the face ¨C the damage breaking the lower levelled man''s nose despite being thrown relatively weakly. Crying the man held his hands above his face as blow upon blow rained down on him. His bag fell as he crawled towards the entrance once more hands shaking. Jumping up and coming down hard on the craftsmen¡¯s back the construct continued its purpose in beating the man by kicking their side again and again. The golem only let up as the man passed through the original door ¨C tears streaming down their face their bag abandoned. Innearth watched this undertaking in silence satisfied they had escaped with their life but equally glad his point had been made. If you aren¡¯t willing to even try to fight you shouldn¡¯t be taking up the valuable time of those nice adventurers who do. Looting the bag behind him to finish the process, Innearth began looking at all the items in his ¡°loot inventory¡± even as a second adventurer made her way into the room to check if the craftsmen¡¯s belongings were left behind. Shaking her head slightly the adventurer completed her own trial ¨C her skills letting boxing gloves of vines appear around her arms to match the crown of flowers that appeared on her head. Ducking in and out the adventurer used complicated footwork the golem had trouble copying to "shadow box" and repeatedly beat resonating blasts of mana into the creature¡¯s limbs. After a dozen hits the golem fell and melted into the floor as the crystal flesh was reclaimed. Turning to the far end they moved purposefully to meet with the chef and eldest. As they exited the room and began talking to the two who passed first, Innearth carefully lowered a new copy golem into the room behind her resetting the trial. After coming to an agreement, the two adventurers bumped first their chests and then their fists before the two who passed first continued up Innearth¡¯s dungeon. Returning to the other side the heavy-hitting adventurer rejoined a sobbing craftsman being treated with glowing life mana running down and into a locket-shaped device. He had long since been healed of any injuries he faced in the trial ¨C but continued to cry and refused to attempt it again. Sighing the heavy hitter moved forward and picked the man up ¨C cradling him like an unwanted baby while the healing half-elf prepared a wand and took the lead. Retreating the pair made their way back to the portal not caring to wait for their sister and trusting her to catch up later. They had passed through the magma halls multiple times before after all. I¡¯m pretty happy with this setup. They should be able to spread the word and will know to bring tokens if they want to let someone like that bag boy pass. The challenge room had nearly every part of it linked. The golem itself was a strong avatar for the challenge but the majority of the strength of the trial was actually set up in the room itself. The monster''s circuit had been embedded in the wall and linked to the golem''s frame along with the runework and door/token setup. In many ways, the whole hallway could be considered the monster whose purpose was to weed out the weak. Despite being a monster, this passageway had also counted as a masterwork item for the dwarf''s purposes and Steve had happily gone to show off his new alcohol trading capabilities. Innearth was going to wait till they had shown off before asking them to come back and make more passageways ¨C his goal was 5 identical halls that could be crossed simultaneously and his work had already been mostly done on that. I think this should be enough for a culture shift to happen in terms of the escort quests. I guess I should finish off the pit traps as well now... Next, I¡¯m going to work on my next floors! That sounds way more fun than finishing the pits. Oh I should make more high levelled rewards it''s about time to set up the staff ¨C I need to consider what the next reward is. So much to do! Chapter 67. Toilets are necessary for Growth.
Testing. Testing. Hey Innearth I''m really sorry it''s taken so long to get back to you. I was going to keep responding every week but then life happened and it slipped my mind for weeks upon weeks. I''m sorry, you must have been worried? I found a new home! I wanted to get that out of the way. Travelling was fun but I don''t think I ever want to do that again. I''m definitely not an adventuring sort of dwarf. Soon I''ll set up a proper relay in my new workshop and we can have a actual two way conversation. I promise I won''t go that long without responding again. Anyways! I found a whole mountain hollowed out and made into a truly wondrous city for my new brethern. The people here are really nice! I''m pretending to like beer more than I do and making alot of friends. Some old gems are a bit rude about my "Lack of hair and weird eyes" but after I went shot for shot with old Cob (Cobalt I belive his full name is) he started defending me. I''ve been telling people about you - claiming you have loads of useful materials and some of the younger dwarves seem interested. I''ll keep you posted if they ever decide to make the pilgrimage to you okay? Anyways about my life I guess. It is incredibly easy to buy a home here you just have to give the clanleader a bottle of scotch and you have your pick of the caves. Materials are a bit tight however, I think you spoilt me with the constant free metals and monster parts. I''ll have to work my way up to the point I can make that transceiver. I''m learning to be thrifty with the more magical materials and have started learning runes from scratch. Its fun but I miss being able to brute force solutions sometimes. Anyways Nick''s calling me, Sorry Nickel Stoneblood is ''is full name. He wants to try making moonshine out of coal and called me and the boys down to his distillery a while ago. Should be fun, he found a rune that turns high amounts of natural energy into liquor and thinks we can get a steady drip by burning the smelter fuel into...sorry I really have to go! I''ll talk to you later okay? This time I promise it wont be as long.
Excerpt obtained from an Onyx transmission 2001 AS. What do you think these are for? Innearth was studying the bag of items the bullied and beaten crafter had abandoned. He had pulled them out of his loot storage into the second mirror hall where Steve had stopped working to help him analyze. ¡°As far as I can tell. These are mostly tools to add inscriptions to generic materials along with some sort of¡­dust? The dust is similar to void mana but seems inert.¡± Steve responded after a while. Yeah that¡¯s about what I decided. I wonder what type of crafter they were? Innearth would never steal items an adventurer put down or dropped¡­at least in any situation where they could get them back. That was stealing! I¡¯m not a thief! If the original crafter instead of their bodyguard had gone back for his bag he would have given it back to him in a heartbeat. ¡­that being said, now that I have the bag and enough time has passed¡­well, I¡¯m definitely going to keep the booty. They basically abandoned it. Can¡¯t expect me to keep it there I¡¯m not a storage facility. ¡­ ¡°This is an inscription pen. It can easily write directly into solid materials and could be used for runes. Kind of like my claw¡­but it has an option to embed materials as you write? There might be ways to use it to draw runes but if I had to guess, well, if I had to guess this was for enchanting which I really know nothing about.¡± Steve continued explaining the items the crafter had in his pack. ¡°This over here is a similar tool to draw items but is closer to being a chisel than a pen. Definitely for the thicker runes¡­but that¡¯s strange because people who use enchanting spells should not be using runework as well?¡± Steve muttered while picking up another item and holding it up close to his glassy eyes. Humans have all the spell systems cobbled together. Crafter probably had a couple of runes they could use and a couple of scripts they could write? ¡°Huh¡­can I have some water?¡± Steve asked while pinching some of the powder and looking at it carefully. After filling up a small basin with H2O from his inventory, Innearth watched the dwarf swirl powder around in the liquid making a murky sort of potion. Frowning slightly after examining the liquid the dwarf proceeded to test it in various ways. First Steve drew a little boxy rune beside it nodding slightly when nothing happened. Then he stuck his finger in and swirled it about before looking carefully to see what happened. Steve shoved his cupped hand into the liquid and drank the potentially poisonous material fearlessly. Finally, he shook his head and filled a pen with the powder before carefully drawing a scribbly spiky rune beside the pool and once more nodding to himself after nothing seemed to happen. ¡°Powder definitely works similar to your X crystals in terms of converting mana to this sort of void mana flavour efficiently¡­this rune is now active and actively destroying¡­something? No clue what it''s destroying, because it''s not everything and it''s not me.¡± Steve said demonstrating his point by waving his hand above the rune. ¡­that¡¯s good to know. Did you really have to test it out on yourself? ¡°Ah it''s fine.¡± Steve waved his hand dismissively. ¡°The rest of the loot seems to be clothing or hygienic based, there¡¯s some money and a letter. Nothing else interesting. Something more exciting however is these plans I have!¡± Pulling out several items from a pouch on his side Steve began excitedly talking about the trials. ¡°I¡¯m going to go back to working on the next hallway. Since the last hall I¡¯ve had an idea to store the trapped spells permanently. Right now, the trial can collect spells in the form of skills the challenger has used¡­and then play them back as long as the challenger is still attempting the trial. The spell-data is wiped when the challenger leaves the room right now but after seeing how the finished product works, I¡¯ve been playing with some potential changes. If these work we can retain skills between runs of the room so someone returning to try again will find their copy remembers all their previous skills.¡± Steve excitedly talked about the rooms Innearth had already mentally marked as ¡°done¡±. Well¡­have fun. Make sure not to break them or change the functionality too much from the original. I¡¯m going see what this rune is destroying okay? Innearth responded before noticing the dwarf had already begun making a new alcove filled with fragile crystal plates he had already covered in embedded metal runes. While Steve worked on a lot of the runework for the hallway, Innearth tried dozens of different guesses of what the rune could be destroying. He briefly thought it was a material similar to how void mana could be tuned to remove specific elements and nothing else ¨C remembering he hadn¡¯t managed to do that yet ¨C but after testing small amounts of everything in his inventory he concluded that was wrong. ¡­What could adventurers want to destroy? Actually, that¡¯s probably the wrong question. What could sapients want to destroy? An embarrassing amount of time later Innearth finally figured it out. The rune destroyed ¡°Waste¡± specifically organic waste ¨C which sewage counted as, along with some dead monster parts in a strange manner. Breaking apart either in his inventory and placing the separate physical elements on the rune did nothing¡­but the rune was smart enough to attack the combination even if various ¡°organic wastes¡± were vastly different. Of the monster parts that were destroyed, the monster itself could safely move about above it, but ¨C as soon as they were killed ¨C the rune set to work dissolving the parts. ¡­welp. I¡¯m pretty sure I know what that crafter¡¯s job was. They were going to make toilets and maybe garbage cans for cooking? I wonder if that means my portable toilets will be popular? On that note I could start making some less portable versions? And some safety ones using this dust? Setting up void-based toilets was easy. Setting up safe void toilets that wouldn¡¯t melt someone dumb enough to stick their hand in the bowl was harder. After giving that job to his dwarves who had become his lazy catch all solution to problems, Innearth set to work seeding the beginner floors ¨C with unique monsters each carrying a toilet that only dropped to low leveled adventurers. Here¡¯s to seeing if this is a good reward or not. Worse case scenario I randomize them. Unique materials were strange. In some ways they were a crutch ¨C in others a way to spice up an otherwise uniform dungeon. If they had obviously strong seeming effects initially, they could elevate the monster using them but if not they would just end up being harder to make. For this situation, Innearth began harvesting random materials from his lowest floors and bringing them to his highest. They were materials that didn¡¯t feel special enough to create a boss or strong enough to match his lowest few floors¡­but when transplanted to the beginner floors? When transplanted to the beginner floors they were just right. Stone from the in-construction area at the very bottom of Innearth¡¯s dungeon was taken ¨C the mana having warped the material in much weirder ways than in his biomes without having a purpose to guide them. From the battlefields and monster-blood-soaked floors, came red stains that spoke of valor and courage and made everything around them bloodthirsty. There were parts that had melted into the ground and fused to the stone that Innearth placed in unique crystal worms. When placed in the center of a monster, those materials briefly summoned slightly bloody phantasmal armour ¨C or conjured hovering bloody stone weapons in the shape of claws and spikes. These temporary weapons were reminiscent of the monsters who shed those parts deep below. Now. As far as a monster went, ¡°actually building those parts¡± would have been vastly better than the summoning version¡­and if Innearth really cared about making these monsters as strong as he could make them he would have used nearly any monster but a worm to host them¡­but, in terms of providing a challenge to the desired noobs, these unique monsters were perfect. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. In fact, making something a challenge with next to no mana was a useful exercise. Innearth hadn''t reached a point where he had to start worrying about keeping up with remaking everything adventurers killed...but he was getting closer every day. The amount of mana he had for side projects had shrivelled up as more adventurers arrived and every little saving counted. A whole several-day tangent was made to try and make a monster with close to zero personal mana. Innearth took several mana rich unique materials ¨C a very fine hair-like slowly growing crystal plant, some rock that was visible in only one direction, and some sections of crystal that had become naturally much denser with mana than normal but didn¡¯t appear to have any effect. Innearth then had his dwarves grind them all into a fine powder and mixed them with water. He made a thin silica shell around them before attempting to animate his blob¡­which didn¡¯t respond to his desire. He struggled to seed the monster with life for a bit before finally adding almost 0.03 AMU to the creation. That was enough to claim the spell as his own although it progressed differently with this much of his own mana ¨C slowly seeming to burrow about and claim the body instead of an instantaneous animation. This experiment was christened the crystal slime and let loose in the beginner floors. Its outsides cracked and flaked as it moved, and it left a faint fuzz of crystal behind it when it moved. With how weak it was, the monster could be considered a failure but Innearth looked at how it cost 0.003 as much as a regular slime and considered it a success¡­of course the mitosis replicating worms had a zero ongoing cost and were hands-off, but in terms of an experiment this could have been seen as an alternative. Innearth made several variations of them just to watch how his seed of life claimed its body in almost slow motion and gained a slight beneficial insight into the process. ¡­ Time passed and his toilet loot was found out. There were very few low-levelled adventurers at the start, but ¨C as the town above him started to solidify ¨C low-levelled adventurers steadily started arriving. Innearth began to grow a soft spot for the weakest adventurers. In many ways despite being less impressive in every way they were more fun to watch. Their struggles felt more real and their excitement from levelling up was almost contagious. Of these low levelled adventurers Innearth had a favourite. He called the adventurer Craig despite not knowing his real name and followed Craig¡¯s delves religiously. The boy delved alone and used a variety of weapons and skills with more cleverness than strength. Bombs with various magical effects from vine-like "Rooting" to miasma cloud-like "Poisoning" were his bread and butter ¨C but he also had a skill that conjured a needle and another that conjured a gust of wind and shot it. As he grew stronger, he gained an ultimate move he used on the tutorial boss. It consisted of conjuring dozens of needles, dipping them all in a vat of acidic liquid, and then throwing them forwards while conjuring a small twisting tornado. Every time the boy did this, he yelled something that Innearth privately called "poisoned bladenado". This boy was singlehandedly responsible for retrieving several dozen toilets and garbage cans in the following few weeks. Innearth could positively see "Craig" growing stronger. Near the beginning the boy had set up ambushes for monsters that involved staking conjured needles about the walls of his dungeon then wrapping an incredibly thin thread between them all and dousing them with some sort of sticky potion. Innearth had cheered the first time Craig had baited a monster towards him and blown it into the trap ¨C shanking the stuck hammer worm with a small dagger repeatedly even as it struggled and ripped thread from the walls. Over a dozen weeks progressed of watching Craig progress from the prepared but green noob to the amateurish but slightly more skilled noob that now frequently delved him. Innearth had watched Craig through his ups and downs and had almost come to think of him as a friend. The level of connection Innearth felt with their solitary fight against his defences and the feeling of kinship with the way they kept coming up with new traps was a very real thing. After three months of delving, Craig had reached a point where he could just about reach Innearth¡¯s first real bosses - the anti-magic golem and the bed of sand that was an equivalent "anti-physical". This boss setup was a pretty solid obstacle for the boy. To reach this point he had snuck past the worst of Innearth¡¯s beginner zone monsters and his main methods of attack were ineffectual against either of the two bosses. While brave enough to risk his life for a well thought out plan as well as delve alone, Craig was not hot-headed. He would retreat every time he knew he was outmatched ¨C running away with a dashing skill that seemed almost like he cut through the air as he ran ¨C piercing forwards in brief bursting straight lines that chained together endlessly, even as faint streams of wind flung out behind him. Just because he was blocked from progressing deeper did not mean Craig stagnated. He turned to attempting the mini boss that was the minecart mother ¨C sabotaging the tracks with a thin line of sticky glue before switching to a small hammer to break open the crazy balls that swarmed him when the mother ran into them. Now, there were plenty more adventurers other than Craig. Both in the upper levels that delved down in his crystal caverns and ice caves looking for trial tokens as well as in his lower levels ¨Cattacking the twisting mazes or collecting materials from his silver mines to fuel the town''s growth. Each adventurer was appreciated in their own way, but Craig got a certain almost creepy level of attention. Innearth even made a small shrine for the adventurer. Nothing big, just a few of the adventurer¡¯s trap remains ¨C the early string and a pile of metallic dust that had once been conjured needles were artfully arranged on a pedestal beside a broken beartrap-like snapping device. The abandoned bombs that had been left behind the one time a minecart mother had ambushed him weeks before he was strong enough to blow the crazy balls away. The severed head of a lesser snake that had once wounded him and was now covered in dried Craig blood. You know. Nothing big, just the typical level of merch a superfan would collect. In news outside of Innearth¡¯s dungeon, his three ascended fossil scouts had steadily collected information on the growing town outside of Innearth ¨C with a level of detail as if they had something to prove. They had begun competing with his three snake scouts to scourge more information and their competition pushed them to acquire information in more dangerous ways. Honestly¡­that might be fair with the level of attention I gave them initially. I¡¯m sorry, you guys are just as much my children as the others. Innearth made sure to spend time telling each of them they were special, important, appreciated, and that he didn¡¯t have any favourites ¨C only telling the original snake scout he was still the favourite child when there was absolutely zero chance of the others hearing. Information was fed in a steady drip and while not everything was possible to translate from the scouts Innearth was still able to paint a picture of what was happening. The first month of town building was the most chaotic with nearly nothing having been done but plenty of structures appearing, disappearing and several gatherings of different factions that stayed up late into the night arguing about random topics. Then, as if suddenly making up for all the time they had been wasted, buildings sprang up everywhere built so quickly Innearth would have thought they were conjured through magic if a fossil scout that had grown into what looked like an armadillo covered in bone plates hadn¡¯t told him they were manually assembled. With the foundations laid all the builders had needed to do was: process a kilometer or two of ground into rough gravel, recombine gravel into bricks using giant metal caldrons filled with a grey potion, float said bricks into place using either levitating spellwork or wooden logs covered in runes that caused them to slide along the ground. This process took less than a day and created over a hundred houses with an average number of floors as two and a uniform boxy grey pink colour. After these austere boxes were slapped together, silver roofs were formed from materials looted from the silver caverns ¨C altered and shaped into sheets that repelled and directed rain and dirt away. From the position on the top of the surrounding mountains, a snake scout had been observing from these roofs made the valley look like a sparkling jewel. A second period of idleness settled over the town lasting a week before with a flurry of motion visible changes spread out once more. Buildings were claimed en mass with embellishments and paint being applied to individual houses or stores. Individuals furnished and customized their new homes with various shaped holes being created in the walls and filled with either polished crystal or etched glass. This was the period where the lower-levelled craftsmen shined. Vanity plants and alchemical gardens were planted in the small yards or window beds the more homely houses had built ¨C one individual even ripped her silver roof off and replaced it with a garden filled with flowers that burned or sparked or floated about. Amateurish-looking runes and scripts were placed against doors and windows to keep out bugs or warn against intruders. They actually caused the fossil scout who had grown into something like a giant centipede to be chased through the entire town by some bushy man waving a cane after the alarm was tripped figuring that out. Another flurry of buildings was created several times after the initial group had been claimed ¨Cbulk sections of town appearing in a day, then slowly being transmuted into their desired shapes and functions over weeks. Sections of buildings were shaped into storefronts or workshops ¨C with crafters of all walks of life-altering their place so drastically, the strips they had clumped together in started looking almost futuristic. Neon glowing signs and holograms with hypnotic effects were set up before the town seemed to crack down on the more predatory advertising. Display cases floated about in front of shops while in the back ally¡¯s more clandestine booths were set up ¨C peddling items that disappeared whenever anyone of authority arrived. In many ways, this initial burst of town building was the most drastic, but ¨C even after they ended ¨C constant, more permanent changes spread throughout the valley. It became clear the only reason a large part of the town had grown so quickly was due to a small group of high-levelled crafters because as soon as they finished their duties and settled down into territories the largest changes stopped. Three sections of town centered around these crafters who had appropriated blocks of buildings which were then torn down and rebuilt from scratch yet again. In the east district a massive complex was built using the ¡°lots¡± that had previously belonged to two dozen buildings. The building extended up 20 stories and was solid and smooth from the outside a glossy finish being placed that made both wall and window an identical slate black. Three towers were constructed on the top that broadcasted the feeling and name of this building ¨C ¡°ManaCorp, innovating and staying at the bleeding edge of technology since 650AS. Currently Hiring¡±. Between the east district and the west district, a line of unaffiliated buildings formed a solid wall on either side of the ¡°main strip¡± ¨C otherwise known as the commercial district. The top west was claimed by a faction that comprised of several high-levelled human crafters and one dwarf that all met every night at the bar that had been immediately created in the direct center of it. Over the course of a few weeks, they set to work ¨C creating floating orbs of light that turned on at night and off in the morning that illuminated everything in a bright glow stronger than moonlight. The buildings in this district began being meticulously covered in individual scripts and runes that provided a massive array of effects starting with each of the main high-levelled crafters'' homes before slowly being piecemeal placed on other houses who had commissioned the work. The final main faction was in the south end of the town and bordered the lake. It was hesitantly the ¡°non human¡± portion of the town because while humans did occasionally walk down the center to the lake and pier that had been made, they purposefully avoided the side streets. There were very few violent altercations ¨C but humans frequently got into tense situations while passing the tribe of orcs that called a corner of the town home and were watched by furry eyes from windows as they passed. Now, these orcs had come through from Abe¡¯s dungeon and found a group of houses by one of Innearth¡¯s entrances. They preferred to keep their homes simple and practical but with a single section full of trophies they had won carefully arranged in a position of prominence. Their final contribution to the town was building a gladiatorial pit. This pit was covered with life-saving runes they had commissioned from the crafting section ¨C only trusting the dwarf to make them. The runes allowed them to frequently duel one another ¨C or any who slighted their honour or challenged them ¨C to loss of limb or near death before being miraculously protected and healed. This was the extent of the first few months of information Innearth received from his scouts before their capabilities were drastically shut down. The strongest monsters had been slaughtered in the first few weeks and the weaker ones pushed further and further to the edge of the valley as the town grew. However. After exactly 6 months. And, after the city had been founded, a truly massive field covered the entire valley. One that caused any monster above level 1 inside of it immense pain and forcefully pushed against any that tried to enter. The humans had laid a ring of endlessly repeating script about the entire perimeter of the valley and had only now activated it once the loop had been fully complete. This prevented Innearth from receiving anything, but vague descriptions received from scouts peeking over the lip of the mountain. That cut off of information made it seem like the town was done being built. But in many ways, it marked when things really started to kick off. That barrier was the stepping stone the town needed to really solidify and become a city. Chapter 68. Baking is a good hobby.
On gods: There are countless theories about the gods but, when cataloging them, three main schools of thought keep appearing. The religious institutes all maintain similar theories that the gods are exalted beings who adore their followers. They claim their strangely powerful but limited spells and feelings they gain in certain situations are undeniable proof of the god¡¯s continued existence and favor. They maintain the gods are currently protecting everyone from some grand evil and we must provide gratitude and fealty for these ¡°heroes¡±. A growing group of the younger generation claim the so-called ¡°gods¡± never existed in the first place. They point to historical evidence of gods performing miracles like [Resurrection] as impossible ¨C while maintaining the system is simply providing spells to [Priests] in a similar way to regular skills. This group maintains that the grand system is simply a natural phenomenon explained away as godly by the uneducated. The third theory is held by a smaller but passionate group of mostly high-levelled individuals. They claim the gods did exist¡­once upon a time but no longer. This group has brought forth the theory that the gods created the system and then died out inexplicably some time later. While there is some evidence to this theory being true...it raises some very scary implications. What could kill a god? This theory is believed by a smaller group of people and the main fact preventing it from being ignored is how the group that believes in it are all high levelled beings who have lived for a long time. Some are even projected to have been around since the gods were allegedly still active. What do they know that we don¡¯t?
Excerpt obtained from the heretical banned book ¡°An unbiased view of religions and gods¡± While Innearth became a fan of Craig ¨C and as the town above him settled in ¨C the majority of his effort was put into expanding. His lower area ¨C the place with natural monsters in constant war ¨C grew larger and larger and split into several floors¡­but also began changing subtly as he tried to think of a good zone plan- and left it to its devices. Natural monster offspring ascended and mutated into stronger and more refined variants at an accelerated pace ¨C pushing his artificial monsters to greater heights and ascending them as well. The number of ascended fossil riders grew to a total of seven and a crystal worm actually managed to break through as well¡­ somehow assimilating the spider crab it had managed to land a killing blow on. This crystal worm+spidercrab corpse became a worm that moved around with nightmare legs ¨C somehow worse than a roach. Innearth loved him. The two factions played off each other and ¨C due to having the highest mana level of anything in Innearth¡¯s dungeon but no directed purpose ¨C began affecting the walls. While Innearth brainstormed ideas for the next zone (and potentially a new transitionary floor to skip his ¡°whimsy floor¡±) the floors themselves started to warp. Without him directing the passages'' growth, they started to take on the hints of conflict and war that the monsters kept embroiling themselves in. Interesting for unique materials¡­but not really something Innearth cared to center a whole zone around. Finally deciding to repeat his first zones, Innearth began cleaning up the war-strewn floors by packing them all into a single transitionary floor and making the hallway from the ice caverns bypass the whimsy floor straight to it. He made bricks of the permanently blood-soaked stone and went with a rust-red and crimson theme ¨C to contrast the previous white and light blues of his ice caverns. By concentrating the nearly 4 floors worth of unique materials into a single small floor, some invisible threshold was reached. This threshold ¨C along with the pseudo spell that collecting all the materials together with the purpose of making a new floor caused ¨C spontaneously began manifesting and changing everything. Innearth spent time laying raw materials about as well as collecting plants from the surface and market ¨C watching as some were stifled and killed while others mutated to match the surroundings. Plants were either squished and ripped apart or reformed into sharp-angled, bloodthirsty things ¨C there was no in-between in this gauntlet. Despite it not being the prevalent theme ¨C or even the most common mana type in the floor ¨C Blood mana shone through ¨C causing the occasional drop of conjured blood to drop from a ceiling or drip down a wall and disappear into the floor. Taking a cue from FED and his mist monster ¨C the one that was solely designed to increase ambiance ¨C Innearth bartered for a blood mana core and stack of blood iron bars. Then after slicing the materials into long square blocks that could be placed about a monster Innearth built a long-fingered twisted variation of a dwarf. One whose crystal flesh had visible veins pump through and who could manipulate red mist and drops like a vampire. Technically a mini-boss¡­ but not one that Innearth wanted to remake, this monster purposefully spread the same effect that had spontaneously happened in a few spots throughout the floor. The walls and eyes of the occasional tasteful monster skull now bled dark red mana ¨C and occasionally shoot drops at adventures eyes. In many ways they were just a red water manipulator¡­but in others there were very distinct differences between the mana types. Blood magic was not actually adjacent to water or even life mana despite living things being the usual containers of blood. Instead, blood magic was distantly related to death mana in the dungeon system ¨C with the majority of natural monsters and former sapients that used it being considered ¡°Undead¡±. Besides the colour, it was much easier to harm with blood than water and harder to protect against ¨C blood mana punched through shields in ways water never did and let Innearth¡¯s blood sentinel leave wounds that continued to bleed. Wounds could be made that lingered with something close to a curse ¨C resisting healing and blood clotting. The main attraction of this floor however, was a variation of a monster Innearth had seen both in the dungeon games and on the market. The monster was comprised of hundreds of different shaped blades and saws and screws. The base was a humanoid shape but the effect was positively ominous. Blades for arms and knives for fingers. Blades for feet and toes. A giant guillotine for a head, and enough carnage-related unique materials to alter the creation into something truly dangerous feeling. This monster was mostly copied from the market and had a giant body long tier 10 core that fueled its skills ¨C which were simple and straightforward enough (slash, stab, pierce) that they ended up being stronger than they had any right to be. Unlike his other floors, the goal of this transitionary floor was simply to pass through it so Innearth worked on increasing the difficulty to actually kill the boss. Plants warped into sword trees and the torturous blade sentinel stalked about ¨C the sound of sharpening knives spreading ominously as it moved. Next taking the momentum of finalizing this case, Innearth began making the ¡°Nightmare¡± or hard mode version of the above silver mine. The dwarves who had started to stagnate on things to do, once more kicked off on making minecarts and traps ¨C but this time around they didn¡¯t hold back. Traps were made that would be incredibly lethal to all but high levelled adventurers ¨C the void traps Innearth had made "that expanded and rapidly grew captured limbs" were liberally placed ¨C along with ones that shot thousands of needles in every direction copying Craig''s skill combo. Hallways that filled with explosive gas were made after talking to Abe and swinging blades tipped with void slashed past the occasional doorframe. Innearth also began using his void affinity to increase the lethality of everything by embedding ¡°unlife¡± materials in traps making life magic weaker at healing and protecting against them. Those that didn¡¯t were tipped in slow-acting poisons. The goal isn¡¯t to kill adventurers but without some proper danger what is the point. I also don¡¯t want these floors to feel weaker than the ice caves. Need a bit more to give this a proper oommmf. Partway through this design ¨C when thinking about the expanding silver flesh ¨C Innearth remembered his mana oven out of hand. His periodic checks of it had been done across longer and longer periods ¨C the only reason his experiment continued at this point was ¡°simple stubbornness¡± born from the sunk cost fallacy. Checking the oven while not expecting much, Innearth nearly put the lid back down before stopping and looking again. That¡¯s different from my last check¡­It¡¯s so infused with crystal mana by this point I don¡¯t think it will change much more if I leave it. Visual change is a good cue that it''s done as well. The material in his oven took the shape of an ¡°aggregator crystal¡± ¨C a single large and simple aquamarine block that pushed up and then inwards towards a small point. This central pillar was surrounded by over a dozen smaller crystals that grew out of its base like leeches ¨C crystal leeches that pulsed with mana like a heartbeat. Innearth carefully made a containment ¡°null¡± room in his deprivation floor ¨C taking advantage of all the null materials around to create a simple box with a door and dungeon flesh circuit ¨C complete with miniature panic door to break the connection and seal the room off in the event of an emergency. Then Innearth sent a nameless crystal dwarf over with null tweezers to carry it to the room. The oven was only a dozen meters away from his containment room but the process was still nerve-wracking. At one point the dwarf almost dropped its potentially catastrophic payload after tripping over a stone and Innearth froze ¨C wishing he had made a sealable box for transport and cursing that the deprivation floor messed with monster senses. No other mishaps happened however and the dwarf successfully made it to his destination. The material was deposited carefully in the center before the nameless dwarf retreated quickly slamming the door shut behind them. Alright! First off. Let¡¯s try seeing if it works with silver or metals still. Innearth dropped several metals onto the unique material, watching as they simply bounced off. Okay, okay. Thought that would happen but it seemed a good thing to check. Now if what I¡¯m thinking is true¡­ Innearth made a single flake of quartz ¡°smaller than a fingernail¡± and dropped it on the unique crystal ¨C bracing himself for growth. After tensing up the actual result was surprisingly lacklustre. Lacklustre in comparison to the potential it might have had based on the original material not in terms of what happened. The quartz fused to the top of the central crystal and slowly appeared to melt into it over the course of a minute. As it dissolved, the central crystal grew ¨C but by such a small amount it couldn¡¯t have been more than the mass of the quartz¡¯s ¡°food¡± itself. Rather than focus on the central pillars'' minuscule growth, Innearth found his attention drawn to the leeches. Even as the center crystal barely moved, the darkness in the room seemed to drop slightly ¨C something drastic as it was incredibly difficult to affect environmental mana and anything that did so was immediately noticeable. As a lump of environmental mana from the room was sucked inwards, several black crystals grew out of the side in a slow but inevitable feeling movement. These new sprouts ended up larger than all the previous leeches ¨C over the course of a 10 minute period growing to be 5 centimetres to the previous leeches 1cm and the middle pillars 10cm. Breaking off one of the darkness-themed ¡°children¡±, Innearth continued his experiment by dropping a flake onto this second-generation crystal. A similar effect happened to this broken-off piece ¨C but black crystals spreading on a black crystal was less impressive than black from azure. It also ended up spreading slower and to a lower height in comparison to its parent. The 3rd generation crystals did not propagate ¨C they simply grew at a 1:1 ratio with any ¡°food¡± given to it. Still. That¡¯s a conversion of separate crystal to this third-generation styled crystal. Unless I want all my crystals to be in this ¡°3rd generation¡± state I should make sure not to let it spread. Okay, Let''s see if I can try making other variants. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Innearth first tried using personal mana to affect the crystal¡¯s growth, but found that instead of ¡°influencing the reaction¡± holding a bundle of mana around the crystal seemed to ¡°stifle the effect slightly¡±. The entire time he tried to hold it the material strained and failed to suck mana towards itself ¨C his natural mana insulating the crystal from the environmental mana in the room. After letting the mana go Innearth watched the crystal gulp mana down hungrily ¨C the personal mana he had used only making up a small percentage of the final blackish-brown crystal. Basically, the effect can be delayed through concentration but strains constantly until I release it. Can¡¯t think of any use for that other than trying to prevent it from growing so I¡¯ll try a different way of tinting the mana affinity. Artificially filling the room with Earth mana took a while ¨C when turning into environmental mana the concentration in the air seemed to drop drastically. Something that was ¡°high¡± in personal mana as a spell, became low in environmental mana when it was complete¡­but rather than energy being lost it was almost as if environmental mana was naturally more muted than mana currently in a spell. After several days of syphoning off his ration of experiment mana, Innearth tried the experiment once more. When adding quartz, the second and third-generation crystals did not draw from the browner flavors of mana in the room ¨C simply clearing out more of the remaining darkness themes. The original crystal made several dark brown children and then as the darkness flavours dropped sprouted purer and closer to being solely ¡°earth¡± flavours without a hint of darkness. Tiny flakes could be eaten out of the original seed to duplicate it, but that took a while to grow back to the same size of the original ¨C and required a large amount of crystal fuel to reach that point. Continuing the experiment Innearth found the crystals were much less dangerous in terms of endless expansion than the silver flesh. While more mass was created than put into it, the process was less drastic. It happened at a slow enough pace that Innearth could use void mana to easily clean it up ¨C besides his discovered method of ¡°choking¡± it and preventing the environmental mana from gathering. The next test was how stable in different environments these crystals were. Bringing various stones into the room Innearth placed crystals on basalt and other ¡°crystalline¡± solids ¨C to check how dangerous it would be to place in his regular hallways. The still-unnamed crystals stuck to and slightly ate into the stone, but seemed to stop after a brief connection period. Safe enough to place in a hallway I think. As if when eating into the stone the crystal had built up a natural insulation barrier of all the parts it couldn¡¯t consume, the magic let Innearth feel safer about transporting the material. A similar effect happened with ice ¨C despite it technically being a crystal the seed barely ate into the material¡­The crystal did grow slightly but simultaneously melted a huge amount of the ice surrounding it ¨C as if ¡°ripping the solid¡± out of the frozen water. Less ¡°melting the ice¡± and more ¡°transmuting it into water¡± the change was decidedly magical ¨Chappening rapidly but without steam or heat. Alright. Now on to the most important part of this experiment. Moving forward, Innearth made a second containment room to protect the original crystals from anything that could happen then began making monsters. First, he used his default testing monster ¨C his crystal snakes ¨C and placed a single flake of first the source, then the second generation, and finally the third generation crystals into it. Magic swirled around these creatures as soon as they were ¡°born¡± with the effect both more and less impressive than the silver flesh had been. Madness was nearly nonexistent at the start ¨C with each experiment growing and changing into stronger and ¡°better¡± versions of themselves in a smooth manner even as the environmental mana dropped. The source and ¡°second generation¡± versions were nearly identical in terms of first armour and then fin-like wings and arms growing out of them. The second generation was more limited in terms of only using earthly mana or darkness based on their seeded alignment but functionally they were the same effect. So using the second-generation crystals could let me influence what sort of improvements are made? They don¡¯t seem to be that insane yet¡­I¡¯m hesitantly pleased with the result! The third-generation crystal didn¡¯t seem able to enhance various parts of the snake. It essentially just grew slightly becoming a weight in the snake''s stomach that blocked movement and transmuted movable crystal flesh to stiff useless blocks. As the monsters'' flesh were remade, their bodies grew steadily stronger and stronger in a nice beneficial curve ¨C before suddenly appearing to go out of control. As if tipping over the edge of some invisible threshold, their movements turned erratic and crazed. The experimental monsters grew rapidly worse as their beneficial transformations continued past the point of benefit. Like tumours, their limbs expanded and their armour thickened ¨C trapping the snakes slowly in a solid block of crystal ¨C all that left an artful spikey statue. Innearth waited for a bit to see if this was a finished product ¨C or if it was closer to a chrysalis that would shatter¡­.¡°the monster reborn anew¡±. After nearly an hour of sitting there like a statue, the monsters expired answering the question with a more disappointing result. Innearth took extra care to review the memories he usually ignored while absorbing dead monsters ¨C to see what exactly was happening. Each monster had felt fully ¡°normal¡± and uncorrupted¡­but they had a growing seed inside of them. One that seemed to speak stronger and with more insistence into their mind as they transformed further ¨C promising power as long as they took it. Pointing to their past growth and claiming that as proof they could gain even more¡­ The new monsters kept taking the offered power trusting the inner voice as it whispered sweet nothings. Trusting the feelings that turned into a voice that spoke about how they would better be able to ¡°serve their dungeon with more strength¡± not even realizing the moment it was too late. Innearth felt how claustrophobic and then crushed and broken the monsters felt after becoming statues. He felt the moment the parasite knew it had won and started laughing in the monster''s whole being. He felt the crystals ripping strength from the monster to purify and grow the original sources before slowing down and becoming a dormant center seed once more. Hmmm. Well, I¡¯m still pretty sure the original silver flesh was from a demon¡­so even transmuted into a crystal version it still has some effect that feels demonic. That being said¡­I still think this is a better result. I know for a fact the otter that delved me was able to overcome and control the silver flesh through mental strength and I¡¯m pretty sure this crystal is easier to ignore. Bonus these statues are less dangerous feeling than a literal river of silver flesh. Sure the crystal grew and ripped strength¡­but I can tell that¡¯s only an echo of the silver flesh not a set thing. It''s like¡­the silver flesh felt like if it grew strong enough it would revive the original demon it had been taken from. This feels¡­this feels like. What does this feel like? This feels like no matter how much it grows it''s still going to stay a growing crystal. It also¡­ It also doesn¡¯t give me the feeling of dread that demonic things do. The crystal grew... but it grew in three dimensions instead of some strange four or five dimensions. I obviously can¡¯t prove anything without more experience but it feels fundamentally more constrained and safer. Let''s see if I can make more useful results than a suicidal bomber of a monster that ends up as a statue. Innearth tested out the statue''s stability and ¡°safety¡± ¨C finding that the outer layer of both was pretty non reactive ignoring both quartz food and mana. When breaking down into the middle the very center contained a large seed of the original material ¨C innocently ignoring the fact they had killed their host. Innearth then tested creating various strength monsters and ordered them to only accept some power before controlling themselves and not listening to the voice. That worked surprisingly well with most of the dungeon monsters stopping well below the dangerous threshold and then obediently ignoring the voice ¨C no matter how they tried to trick them into thinking accepting more power was what Innearth wanted them to do. Of the dozen experiments only two had given in. That was two over a month-long period. During this period of experimentation, the highlight of his actual entertainment had been something not experimentation-related. Less than a week after Abe¡¯s dungeon had connected something new happened. First a party of orcs and then a whole clan had come through the portal. They had immediately run rampage in his crystal caverns ¨C attacking his defences in a way that was distinctly different from all the other adventurers Innearth had hosted so far. The orcs ¨C to a man, women and child ¨C preferred to go ¡°through¡± an obstacle instead of ¡°around¡± it. However¡­ the way they faced his traps and monsters wasn¡¯t in a brutish or dumb manner. The orcs would never wander into a trap by accident, but would actually swerve into them ¨C throwing themselves directly into the path of crystal spikes that would have missed them. They crashed through danger while enhancing their clothes or weapons to block and smash through the spikes instead of dodging them every time. The orcs moved as a group but would nearly never use their numbers in a ¡°dishonourable¡± way. If a group of five orcs came across three monsters, two orcs would step back and make the fight ¡°even¡±. If they came across a single monster wandering alone, orcs would duel them one on one ¨C and would even make plenty of noise to make sure the monster knew they were there and attacking. Orcs had this list of ¡°rules¡± they seemed to follow but if they were in a chaotic battle they would fall back on more practical ¡°everyone fights¡± tactics. After five days of living in Innearth¡¯s dungeon ¨C making fires and having large parties where they roasted monster meat and slept without a care ¨C a single monster changed their aimless exploration. An ascended monster of Innearth¡¯s ¨C the illusionary/invisible wurm who had steadily grown by fighting the occasional adventurer ¨C had come across the group. After figuring them an easy kill the monster had sneak attacked and ate one of the weaker orcs before slithering away deeper into the dungeon happily unaware at the hornet''s nest they had just savaged. From that moment on the orcs hunted the illusionary wurm with a vengeance. Now. This wasn¡¯t even the first orc that had died in Innearth¡¯s dungeon ¨C a previous duel had resulted in a nameless orc dying two days before ¨C but this reaction was a very different result. The previous nameless orc had been skewered again and again by a dashing ¨C crystal-spike wielding and three-ringed marked ¨C ¡°greater crystal snake¡±. He had thrown everything he had at the snake before perishing and the group he had been in had cheered! They had then sent a second challenger out to face the victor ¨C waiting politely for the snake to heal before attacking ¨C and beat the snake in round two. The illusion wurm however had attacked the orc from behind. The wurm had snuck around and projected its position to be somewhere else so the orc¡¯s hated it on principle. Their faces and voices had filled with red hot rage, they had mourned the ¡°unhonorable¡± death their companion had fallen to and then went to war. ¡­This feels like an overreaction. It''s just one orc. What is their problem? Innearth had asked Abe what was up with the whole scenario and got back a ¨C
Abe: Oh yeah. They aren¡¯t going to rest until they kill that monster ¨C sorry m8. They carry a massive grudge and anything I can think of doing will probably just make it worse. Abe: Like sure¡­you could try and make a dummy for them to kill instead¡­but unless you make it convincing enough they won¡¯t buy it. Had to sacrifice my own experiments with illusion monsters when I realized there are more orcs than anything else by me.
Innearth: ¡­that¡¯s fun.
Abe: More importantly is this not cool being connected across portals? I just found out the continent I¡¯m on is called ¡°Okos¡±. Named after the orcs? Or just a coincidence. Abe: MORE IMPORTANTLY. These adventurers I¡¯m getting from Doc¡¯s dungeon are bringing guns! Do you know how awesome these are? They are literally the second best weapon adventurers could use beside bombs.
Innearth: I¡¯ve gotten a few. They are¡­okay. Honestly I prefer mages to gunmen. Even if they both shoot projectiles and use skills and devices¡­guns and wands¡­well honestly I don¡¯t even know what it is about them but I like the mages more. I like their aesthetic.
Abe: I¡¯ve made some weapons I call gunbombs that can be destabalizied and thrown at stuff to make explosions and I made these other items called bombguns that shoot bombs with pressurized chambers. Only problem so far is ammo, I have no clue how the guns they have convert mana into bullets. Any thoughts? I want a gun that can create endless bombs.
Innearth: ¡­using my own skills? Well¡­I can make explosion mana but haven¡¯t had much luck making it in any form other than as a sort of bomb. If I could make it in an easier way¡­ and combine it with crystal mana I might be able to make an X crystal version?
Abe: ¡­what¡¯s an X crystal?
Innearth: What I¡¯m calling the crystals that create an effect when converting mana. Water crystals. Fire crystals. Those sorts of things. Anyways as I was saying¡­ it''s been a while so I might be able to make one¡­but even that wouldn¡¯t be the best. Innearth: Like it would just release explosion mana as soon as you push mana through it. Kind of just an instant explosion that¡¯s more dangerous than a bomb you can set beforehand.
Abe: Bruh. Getting my hopes up for nothing.
Innearth: I¡¯m getting there! Listen. You have to promise to treat him well but¡­I¡¯m thinking of seeing if one of my crystal dwarves wants to visit your dungeon. I¡¯m sure what you want could be made with their help. Worst case we can try making a material together but I¡¯m not sure how well that will work.
Abe: You¡¯ll send your little buddy over? Damn. I know how much you care about them.
Innearth: I don¡¯t want to be a controlling progenitor so no promises. I¡¯ll bring it up to them however and see if any will take you up on that.
Abe: Making a sweet crib for them already. Tell them uncle Abe can show them a good time.
Innearth: Done.
Innearth asked all three of his ascended dwarves finding the dwarf he always thought of as ¡°the third brother¡± ¨C Rutile ¨C was the most interested. Steve said he could¡­but was still tweaking the trial rooms while Ilmenite was getting more and more ¡°dwarf-like¡± in that she spent most of her time making items to sell for booze. She ¡°paid¡± for the materials she took by leaving every other item for Innearth to stock his dungeon ¨C and was starting to consistently reach tier 7 or 8 in her offerings letting Innearth continue the weekly bounty quests. Rutile however was somewhat quiet and subdued. He seemed almost shy and Innearth thought letting him explore the wider world might be a good experience. Waiting for a time when the portals were free before smuggling Rutile through, Innearth returned to his previous problem. I would actually be worried about the illusion wurm if the orcs had even the slightest chance of catching them but well¡­the wurm can fool my senses let alone the orcs. Guess I¡¯ll just remind any of my more sneak attack prone monsters to avoid the green and grey people then move on? ¡­ Yep. Moving on, What is the best use of the transmuted fleshy crystals? ¡­I really need a good name for them. I could start implanting monsters with the crystals¡­but unless I first weaken the monsters, they will become too strong for regular mooks. Well at least too strong for the nightmare version of the silver mines. I¡¯ll do it for the nightmare mine boss as a proof of concept and save it for deeper floors. OH! I think the difficulty might be balanced with my nightmare crystal floors? That¡¯s a good goal to work towards. ¡­although now I¡¯m going back around to wondering if that¡¯s safe. I¡¯ve done plenty of experiments with smaller amounts of crystal and the material¡­but I¡¯m still not confident about bringing it to the crystal floor. Maybe if all the crystals in the nightmare version are this? Ehhh. Either way I have to stick to the plan and finish this zone¡­as well as start working on the transitionary floors and then the nightmare magma halls before I figure that out. There¡¯s so much to do ¨C not that I¡¯m complaining. Innearth began jumping around his plans for the next zones ¨C planning out what he wanted for them before he even reached enough space for them let alone enough ¡°floors¡±. The last change he made to the plan for the nightmare versions was to increase the difficulty by ¡°suppressing¡± the adventurers slightly. All of his nightmare floors were and would be shrunk by 0.1% making them more isolated and then very light gravity materials were placed everywhere. Planning it out the nightmare mines would have gravity increased by roughly 10/20/30% on each of the floors making it slightly harder for adventurers to move. Most of his monsters were then given gravity nulling materials to protect them from his defenses. I have to grow this zone a bit more and finish stocking it with loot¡­but I want to start luring adventurers down this far. There¡¯s still a group that doesn¡¯t seem challenged by my ice caves ¨C I need to show off this new area to them! Let''s give myself one more week so I can sync its reveal up with the weekly loot reward. That¡¯s all I¡¯m giving myself! Chapter 69. One mans trash is a Dungeons treasure.
Henry began his morning ritual. He got up from his simple bed and entered the large washroom beside it. Twisted hands placed first his three arcane-gold rings and then his sparkle mana necklace carefully in a special alcove beside the sink. After smiling slightly at his favorite treasures, Henry turned to look at his face in the mirror his cheer fading. ¡°Ugly¡¯s.¡± Despite over 390 levels and several racial evolutions Henry could not break away from his goblin roots. Spinning his fingers around in a complicated pattern as if playing piano in the air, Henry¡¯s silk bedrobes flew away and exposed his mottled green and pinkish grey torso ¨C several thick scars running across his chest coming into view each telling a different story. ¡°Still didn¡¯t¡¯s take. Dull¡¯s ass stupid Henry¡¯s. You might as well still be a hob¡¯s.¡± He pointed at his reflection in the mirror and shook his head in a mocking faux sad manner. Inspection complete, Henry slid backwards gracefully ¨C gangly form somehow not hindering the smooth and precise movements his body was able to make. As he began to move, mana flowed and filled the room choking the already incredibly thick environment in a haze of power. Two steps to the side accompanied by an almost frustrated shake of his hand began his spell. Each movement Henry took was measured, but the look of hatred he held towards his gangly body in the mirror was not. Four steps taken in less than a fraction of a second backwards left solid magical afterimages that glowed in the air even as Henry danced around them. A stabbing motion was made towards his brain heart and lungs ¨C followed by a fluttering motion that left strings of mana in it the air connecting his body to the surroundings. It was at this moment that green pigment began to flow. Bleeding out of his skin and into pockets in the air as the arch-gob twisted and mutilated his body. First to change was the skin tone ¨C green pigment flowing through the air as his mottled skin seemed to bleach itself into a pasty white. Then a second round of magic steadily tinted his skin to a tanned and slightly golden form. Next to change was his overall shape and form. Stubby arms extended slightly and toned muscles filled them out. The visible ribs disappeared as faint abs flexed into place and errant hairs were plucked or added in turn. The last to change was Henry¡¯s face. His squished nose grew out and became angled ¨C while his flat head gained perfectly chilled and very human looking curves. The voice that came out of Henry¡¯s mouth as he finished his spell was deeper and more measured ¨C all squeaking notes thoroughly squashed. ¡°Let¡¯s go kill some monster¡¯s big boy.¡± ¡­ The man who exited a high-end hotel in Maven strode confidently ¨C his gnarled staff being spun between his fingers in a lazy manner as Henry strolled towards the citie''s dungeon. Henry¡¯s birthname had been Gibob¡¯th ¨C one of the first things to go after he had learned the spells to transform himself into a new person. To fit into civilized society. To be accepted. Smelling a foodstall, the adventurer rapidly turned to the side ¨C almost teleporting the last 20m ¨C a mage buggy swerving to dodge his afterimage. ¡°Bob! Is that sparkbeetle sauce I smell? Give me the usual with a double helping of that please. I can taste it already bro.¡± Henry laughed fishing in his red tunic for some chips. ¡°Henry old boy! I always do enjoy seeing you frequent little old mee¡¯s stall. I heard proper transcending¡¯s don¡¯t need to eat any¡¯mor but you always like to prove them wrong don¡¯tcha. And might I say, it¡¯s nice seeing a proper high leveled adventurer like you who still knows the value of a good meal.¡± The half orc spoke while preparing a food-adjacent ball of meat and sauce ¨C one stuffed into a paper bowl and accompanied by a drip of grease. ¡°Hey man, When the food tastes this good you eat ¨C caloric requirement or not.¡± Grinning Henry grabbed the offered bowl. In the same motion as collecting the "food" he tossed a dozen chips at the stall¡¯s payment panel ¨C 12 more than the meal was worth. As they landed, a number flashed in the air signaling the chips were genuine while aggregating their worth. ¡°Too kind, eheh. More adventurers should learn to be free with their money like you.¡± The shopkeeper gushed after the goblin turned human walked away waving lazily at his back. ¡­ Flashing his adventuring permit at the dungeon entrance''s scanner ¨C purposefully moving slow enough for it to log him ¨C Henry moved with purpose over to the skip shaft. A vast amount of mana moved around the hall brushing past Henry¡¯s senses as it classified him as a deep delver ¨C and opened up the shaft to level 500. ¡°Let¡¯s see if I can reach the bottom today shall we?¡± As the man dropped through a shaft his arms swirled about spinning and preparing to rip his momentum away at the slightest sign of the bottom ¨C unlike the level 100 skip the level 500 one ended on a bed of spikes that could injure even his transient flesh. The shaft at floor 500 dropped out into a wide circular chamber a kilometer in every direction. Blood red spikes puncturing inwards from the walls providing a backlight for the ¡°major cubes¡± that floated about ¨C each rotating to face him and rushing forward like piranhas. Somewhere along the line Henry had gotten flipped upside down but he didn¡¯t mind, finishing his spell and unleashing it on the horde around him. Hundreds of thousands of green paper-thin grass spikes poured outwards. Outwards with all the force his descent had gathered. A rush of fire met to meet the grass but was sliced through so fast it dissipated in a blast of force. Four cubes were blown apart ¨C wobbling their brethren with the blast even as they formed barriers and shot their own spells back at him, massive meteor-like balls of rock being blown back like pebbles. ¡°Tch. I think I¡¯m out of practice. Why in the ever-living dull is there¡¯s still so many lefts.¡± Henry said even as he began to fall ¨C once more twisting his arms to right himself and summoning a faintly green surfboard beneath his feet in the same motion. ¡°Guess these weeks¡¯re going to be a grinds.¡± Henry spoke to his staff even as cubes closed in ¨C a faint hiccup in his speech being angerly reacted to after the fact. Twirling his staff, the adventurer caused a wheel of rootlike green vines ¨C grass like spokes aimed inwards ¨C to appear behind him ¨C a frustrated amount of force being put into the motion. As the wheel spun, Henry moved forward to meet the dungeon¡¯s minions ¨C the wheel appearing to gather parts of the ambient mana and collect it into its center. The adventurer flew forwards both hands flipping between 25 separate and distinct symbols before suddenly¡­the gathered mana was used up ¨C rushing forward to a point in front of him with the goal of enhancing his working. The world turned green. When the light faded every single cube in the room had been consumed by a thick layer of dark green moss ¨C appearing as if they had grown over a long time. Momentum was maintained for a moment giving the illusion that nothing had changed beside its covering... before cataclysm-class cube monsters began to fall like rain. In the distance a thick blanket of moss covered every single wall in the chamber breaking down and appearing to wither many of the spikes that pointed inwards. Over a hundred monsters typically compared as equivalent to newly ascended dragons fell to a single spell. ¡°Tch, that spell ruins anything I could have looted from them. I went a bit overboard didn¡¯t I old friend?¡± Henry spoke to his staff even as he surfed towards the exit ¨C not even waiting for the monsters to finish falling or check if anything was salvageable. ¡°Should have added a few extra katras to make the flash red or even gold. I like gold. Next time...¡± Was the last words the adventurer said before disappearing into the passage heading deeper into the earth. Henry hated that most of his magic was green. Grass mana ¨C along with nearly any alteration he could make (moss, leaf, vine etc) always ended up reminding him of his goblin roots. After becoming a higher hob shaman Henry had gained the more general and useful kinetic mana instead of the typical dance mana to his delight. After breaking through the transient barrier and becoming an arch-gob he had gained a destruction mana to even more excitement...but neither kinetic or destruction worked well on their own ¨C forcing him to combine them with his forest green grass mana or suffer weaker spells. Destruction moss was just a slightly darker green and kinetic combinations never seemed to color his constructs more than the occasional tinge. It was his greatest sorrow. At least killing monsters let him forget for a bit.
Excerpt obtained from the daily life of Henry. Innearth was having a pretty normal day planning out each of his nightmare floors when he started to feel slightly strange. It took a moment to locate the source ¨C in one of his 10 entrances to the town above him, a group of bodyguard-like men stood around a tired-looking woman. The men looked less like adventurers and more like thumbs while the woman had a single batwing and frizzled blue-grey hair that sparked occasionally. The men had their arms crossed while staring deeper into Innearth¡¯s caves while the woman crawled along the ground ¡°doing magic¡±. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. She drew first two parallel lines containing periodic little notches using a sort of spoon and then repeatedly wrote the same block of text in the center of her lines. The combination of rudimentary but specialized enchanting and runessmithing the woman was performing wasn¡¯t what felt strange ¨C no what had gained Innearth¡¯s attention was the ropelike line of water that flowed behind her, floating a few centimeters above the channel. Innearth couldn¡¯t make out what the rope was ¨C while looking at it he was certain the line of water contained more mana than anything he had ever seen in his entire life. After bringing the ¡°pipe¡± 10m into the passageway, the woman stopped. She took out her script pen once more and wrote a second scrawling passage beside her line ¨C this time in an incredibly shocking manner. The words she wrote were in dungeon script. Not exactly ¨C they were badly misspelled and most of the letters were off as if traced by a child ¨C but they were definitely the same language that Innearth¡¯s system was written in.
| Ple??se to?? o§èr b¦Ô§ñdens ??o? us. ?aia we §Ñ§â§àl§à§¢?§ï?. T???k §¢?? c?ve |.
The form was butchered and they had done something to a lot of the letters Innearth didn¡¯t even think was possible! But the meaning was clear. This strange woman is dumping some mess into me? As the woman and her bodyguards left, the end of the channel started to warp from the strain of the magic behind it. The air at the end appeared to bend before like a blown gasket it burst ¨C a wave of incredibly dense liquid pouring out like a fan onto and then into the ground. Immediately the stone floor of Innearth¡¯s entranceway/tutorial floor began to warp. Water flowed into and out of stone ¨C light and sound and smell and hopes and dreams and raw power and madness bursting forth in exchange. Innearth immediately became annoyed. What are the sapients doing? I didn''t sign up for this! Trying to control the mana as it embedded itself into the surroundings was essentially impossible ¨C instead, Innearth focused on damage recovery. This tutorial section was cut off from the rest of his dungeon ¨C only being connected through several dungeon flesh crystal circuits. Digging a pit helped a bit ¨C especially because after the initial rush, the mana pollution became a trickle. Innearth focused on making sure nothing could spill out of his entrance ¨C all his instincts working towards preventing the mana pollution from being pumped out of his tutorial floor and into the surroundings. As he worked a blinking panel appeared.
Racial quest: You have been "gifted" the business end of a mana sewer. Sapients am I right?
Goal: Your task is to incorporate this little problem into your makeup and find a more permanent solution to the collection and disposal of mana. Reward: Experience, floors, levels, a sense of pride and accomplishment.
Innearth: Hey uh...guys?
Abe: Yeaasssirr.
Innearth: Any of you got a Racial quest for a mana sewer.
Fated Eternal Design: Ohhhhhboy. My little apprentice Innearth is all grown up.
ZeMadDoctor: Yeah. Just dump that pollution into the void. I can send you a portal. It¡¯s a good way of dealing with it.
Amy: What! Doc, are you serious? Have you really not asked anyone for advice about this yet?
ZeMadDoctor:...no. Didn''t see anything on the market. Figured I had to come up with my own solution. Did so. System said quest was complete. Moving on.
Amy: ...okay first off Innearth. Doc has fixed the problem in a safe way. But ¨C and here''s a big but ¨C he hasn''t gotten any benefit from it.
Fated Eternal Design: Amy is right ¨C Listen! Figuring out a place to store all that mana pollution is a pain¡­but it can increase your regeneration if you deal with it right ¨C how do you think I¡¯m keeping up with all the adventurers in my dungeon killing all my monsters? Just make a reservoir at the very bottom of your dungeon and pack it all in. You can also do a thing where you make walls out of two outer sections and then sort of sandwich in the pollution between them. That¡¯s a good place to store it ¨C bonus is it makes the walls even harder to break.
Amy: The materials it produces and lower density stuff getting warped gets dangerous so I recommend against using it in a monster...but you can use it like fertilizer and plant a bunch of grass and trees and...okay those plants are pretty twisted and strange as well¡­but you can use them as traps or decorations. Oh! And even though the plants are kind of twisted you can usually use them to make some items and it''s safe.
Abe: ...what''s this about a mana sewer? I''m feeling left out of some secret here
Fated Eternal Design: When a group of sapients like you verrry much. A city forms or is grown right up against you. Then that city clean¡¯s up the worst of their pollution then hand it off to you.
Abe: ¡­Not sure I like your tone Bose. Nothing you said sounds wrong¡­but I feel like you¡¯re making fun of me.
Innearth: Yeah, initial feelings not great. Sure she was polite about it...but the sapients are just treating us as dumps.
ZeMadDoctor: Hey Amy, I saw you mentioned "recycling" the mana by passing it through plants? I didn''t just go straight to dumping all the waste you know. My first few experiments were all ¡°trying to make monsters out of it¡± but...they were always some of the worst madness type creatures I could make. Noticed they were basically demons but less susceptible to my kinetic cages and stopped. Can you send me some of that plant info? I''ve always thought plants were useless, but I''m intrigued.
Brutality Queen: I don''t have a mana sewer but I did get a Racial quest to clean up a mana well. Basically a section of forest filled with massive amounts of mana. Sky''s Above expanding up onto the surface to deal with that was nerve wracking but I¡¯m strong.
Innearth: Yeah I built a lighthouse on the surface once. No biggie.
Brutality Queen: Respect. Brutality Queen: Anyways. Doc. A lot of those materials were¡­uh, "madness" related ¨C but not all of them. The ones that were super madness related let me make monsters that attacked my normal monsters in unique ways and they gave me quite a bit of experience. I ascended 6 squirts from that haul. The dead monster flesh also made some good items even though it was from a madness monster as well.
ZeMadDoctor: ...I feel simpleminded. Recycle madness monsters made from sewer output. Got it. I''m going to make a gauntlet and grind them up against demons. ZeMadDoctor: If they made non magic related items. Do you think recycling the flesh multiple times will remove the madness taint?
Innearth: Might as well try it huh? Tell us what you found out as always. I¡¯m going get started guys. Responses will get shorted ait?
As his friends discussed their solutions to madness materials, Innearth worked on dealing with his pollution runoff. Environmental mana was incredibly hard to move about ¨C especially in the air. If it bound to solids you could pick up the polluted area and move it ¨C but the mana itself didn¡¯t lend well to being shifted. The sapients were dealing with this problem by somehow sucking the environmental into water (to make it easier to transport) and then pumping that water out of the town. Water was less effective than solids with mana moving through and getting left behind¡­but it was much easier to transport. In many ways having lots of mana ¨C even environmental mana that you either couldn''t use or that was hard to use ¨C was a good thing. The problem with the pollution was the madness factor. As a rule Innearth knew from combining mana types in the dungeon material spell ¨C opposite mana types made madness. Fire and Water, Mental and Kinetic. Those were the fundamental opposites Innearth dealt with. He vaguely knew that other races centered around elements differently¡­ and he knew there must be opposites to the combined and altered mana types ¨C but hadn''t come across them yet. I¡¯m starting to suspect other mana types might become madness tainted after combining 3-4 times¡­or a different species combining them would make madness soup. Essentially, I think mixing 100 different mana types together means quite a few of them clash in some fundamental way and that made madness...friction? They don¡¯t mix well. Innearth took his friends'' advice to heart and even as he dug a giant shaft to dump the liquid down, his mind began figuring out how to deal with it in a useful way. A lot of his friends¡¯ solutions were interesting and deserved some experiment time but knowing why it was unusable ¨C or hard to use ¨C was what sparked the solution for Innearth. The corrupted crystals. Specifically, the part of these crystals that Innearth focused on was the second-generation crystals. He focused on them because of their ability to extract only the mana types that have been used to create them from the environment. It was strangely coincidental that he had gained them right before a perfect use for them appeared. A few weeks were spent setting up the shaft to his lowest floors, making a high mana concentration shaft to prevent the pollution from leaking, and then dealing with some of the side effects the pooling pollution had made. Natural monsters had begun appearing as if from thin air ¨C some were easy to spot the reason for, worms and other bugs in the soil ¨C or birds and rodents from outside the entrance ¨C had gotten too close to the pool and warped into arcane beasts. Other monsters seemed to spring from thin air ¨C strange bulbs or elementals manifesting in the incredibly dense atmosphere. Despite the problems however, the shaft was completed relatively quickly and Innearth began safely collecting the pollution in his lowest floor. He watched in slight shock as his regen shot upwards to nearly double what it had been before that point ¨C accompanying several floor splits in a row. His experience ¨C which had already been shooting up quickly with all the adventurers ¨C positively flew upwards as he gained at least 4 levels in a month-long period. He was level 77 by age 4 and not slowing down his growth. After he finished the shaft Innearth set about using the corrupted crystals to process the pollution. First off, Innearth had to make several "pure" versions of the crystals ¨C the closer to being a single element, the better it was for his purposes. Multiple weeks were spent inspecting elements by: cleaning rooms with corrupted crystals that dropped the environmental mana really low, pumping them full of his own elements to aspect them, letting them settle into environmental mana, and then saving those states in different crystals ¨C one by one¡­by one. Innearth then spent several months setting up a sort of filtration system for the pollution ¨C with opposite crystals ripping opposing elements from the runoff at each area. Water was ripped from it in one branch ¨C creating a soup of hundreds of elements minus water. Further down the line, a new split had Earth ripped from it ¨C creating everything but Water and Earth. A separate stream did something similar ripping Fire and then Air etc. Theoretically every element removed made the thick mess "safer" and Innearth¡¯s grand plan was to distill the soup down into something completely safe. As he continued to set these paths up, they started to feel almost like a spell. The way each split happened reminded him of his dungeon flesh¡­they felt like a part of him and it was almost as if his influence helped the process along. His instincts wanted this to happen. The mana responded. In many ways, it was an incredibly concentrated and effective version of what having different biomes in his floors did. Environmental mana from outside came down in his dungeon and slowly dropped to lower floors constantly. It then pooled in different areas based on the mana that already existed there and some of it mutated to match the floors'' themes instead of continuing on. Darkness flavors liked to stop falling around his maze or deprivation floor. Anything crystal related stopped dead in his crystal caverns. This filtration system was a super charged version of that more natural process. The streams of liquid were split like the roots of a tree and shaped into a series of ¡°beds¡±. These beds were essentially flat square boxes filled with corrupted crystals that drained slowly into each other in a cascading manner heading downwards and refining themselves more and more. Sadly, Innearth found even by removing absolutely every element he could from the stream, enough of them were left behind to remain ¡°madness tainted¡±. The original grand plan was a bust, but the filtration system was not. Somehow more than just removing a single element his whole setup directed the soup to compartmentalize itself more ¨C each of the ¡°ends¡± of the system had a different ¡°soup¡± after passing through the beds in different orders. And as time went on those end results almost appeared to be losing their madness as they continued. It hadn¡¯t happened yet, but it was almost as if the filtration system was responding to his goal and, over time growing stronger. Two main solutions came about from it immediately, however. One ¨C he had a steady stream of various second and third-generation corrupted crystals that could be made into either items or monsters. That wasn¡¯t a small thing. And two ¨C the crystals could be placed about his dungeon and then ¡°absorbed¡± to output a huge concentrated mess of a single aspect into parts of his dungeon. It was annoying but the amount that was released could not be scoffed at. Those bursts increased his biomes growth by years¡¯ worth of refinement ¨C and Innearth could use them to force certain rooms or whole floors to gain that aspect. Finally, while Innearth couldn¡¯t make a refined ¡°safe¡± output, the final trickle of mana was much less reactive than the original mess and technically ¡°safer¡± to store. To finish his recycling, he decided to start fertilizing his whimsy floor with the liquid ¨Cletting the grass and trees warp further in interesting (if more dangerous) ways. A harvester monster was made to collect arcane materials and bring them to his dwarves to complete the recycling cycle. ... Time passed. Chapter 70. Imma Firing my laser straight into Tier 7.
A small almost invisible gnome stood on the shoulders of a bronze golem. The creation below him was wrought with literally thousands of black scribbles ¨C a book¡¯s worth of words written by tiny hands and painted onto metal. ¡°Nice entrance. Good presentation. Clean air. M. Move forward.¡± The golem appeared to blur slightly ¨C as if instead of running they were walking normally and then sped up. ¡°Oh! I really like the soft glow those panels appear to give off. Need to remember that. M. Continue at low speed.¡± The golem slowed slightly, descending down into the dungeon and passing a giant rat holding a bulbous gun-like weapon complete with tubes of RGB glowing liquid. The rat raised its plasma gun and shot. Out flew a blob of caustic mana that fizzled out as soon as it got close to the enchanted golem. ¡°M. Stop, Print med-low variant A.¡± The gnome muttered then teleported off his perch. He scribbled a quick two-sentence script onto the mini stone golem that had appeared in front of him and then, in the same sliver of time, he jumped back to his position on the bronze shoulder observing the weak golem rush forward conjured blade at the ready. A sideways dodge missed both shots from the dungeon monster however the rat reacted in time to prevent itself from being bisected, gun shifting down to block the blade. An overhead smash knocked the rat''s weapon out of it''s hand and caused the dungeon monster to perish, a scribing noise accompanying the process as what appeared to be an ink pen wrote on a floating clipboard. ¡°Probably should have used a team of low variants but I¡¯m kind of rushed for time. I hear the more interesting stuff is further down. M. Continue. Ignore standard protocol: no stops.¡± The gnome muttered once more. Reaching out with a crystal-tipped pen he drew out a cursive X in the air. The movement caused a light afterimage that hung in the air and caused his construct to dissolve into a small pile of sand. Bounding down the hall the golem passed by or barreled through any rats they found before coming to a series of testing halls. ¡°Oh! Haven¡¯t seen one of these in a while ¨C I want to try one! M. Complete leftmost corridor following: best-guess-process.¡± Hopping down from the golem, the gnome strode confidently into a testing chamber ¨C pen held like a sword, a massive cheery grin on his face. Blazing through several of the easy tests with single word solutions the gnome slowed down after reaching a room with a giant pool of inky purple darkness attached to the ceiling letting blocks drop endlessly through it. ¡°So these are the claimed stable portals! Hah! The last time I went through a dungeon with portals it was the ancient dungeon on the shattered continent. Issue #12 I think it was. That takes me back.¡± Smiling the gnome wandered around the gate before heading deeper. ¡°I should really do my job here while its fresh in my mind¡­but I have to see this transcontinental gate first. I really have to.¡± Waiting for a moment beside the archway the gnome tapped his foot impatiently ¨C glancing repeatedly at the archway and then the testing chambers behind him. ¡°Jim¡¯s been trying to do this for ages, he¡¯ll probably freak when he finds out.¡± The gnome mentioned his eyes tracing the gates contour. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to seeing his reaction and that of his cute little club¡­ Should probably make sure he doesn¡¯t ruin this for the rest of us huh?¡± As he observed the gate, spiraled tattoos around the transient gnome¡¯s eyes briefly flashed into brilliant, piercing existence. For a single moment his eyes appeared to sear into the surrounding world before his inscriptions faded once more ¨C his eyes no longer glimpsing into the inner workings. Stepping forward ¨C almost nonchalantly making a change to the gate ¨C the gnome wrote a looping sentence about the whole structure before stepping back once more as if nothing had changed. Turning and looking around innocently the gnome stood with his back turned to his meddling, even as it disappeared from all but the most involved mana enhanced views. After less than 5 minutes of exaggerated innocence he started to get impatient once more. ¡°Come on. Did you get stuck? I don¡¯t want to come fish you out¡­¡± he muttered ¨C moments before the bronze golem appeared running down the hall towards him. The golem galloped on all fours while being chased by some screaming mess of¡­what looked like spider webs filled with womanly fingers that also dripped yellow blood. Crouching down nonchalantly yet again, the gnome wrote a paragraph worth of text into a tile below him not bothering to deal with whatever strange invisible scripts he had been using before. Words appeared ¨C the ink splattering slightly with how fast they were applied ¨C before his spell locked into place. As it was activated the tile floated up out of the floor and appeared to bend into a perfect sphere without moving ¨C space moving in weird ways about the material''s surface, the air looking like a ripple in a lake. Rushing forward without any hesitation the sphere impacted the demon with a strange sort of twisting crunch ¨C a brief flash of blacklight covering both the creature and device before they were both gone. ¡°Nice! Took you a while M. ¨C Standard again. I really want to get going!¡± Hopping up onto his perch once more, the gnome entered the gate with the excitement of a schoolboy ¨C excited despite not needing the device to cross continents. ¡­ ¡°This is surprisingly well put together, It¡¯s a form that squeezes every ounce of strength it can into its goal. Doesn¡¯t feel very dungeon like ¨C they usually go for brute force and massive amounts of mana¡­but then again I heard this core¡¯s pretty young. This array is much stronger than I¡¯d have though¡­Oh! ritual magic! That makes sense. OH! The gate was ritual magic too, how didn¡¯t I see that! I mean, I haven¡¯t seen that in a core yet ¨C that¡¯s definitely new. I might have to have a chat with this one. Definitely need a repeat visit in a decade or two when they¡¯ve had more chance to grow.¡± ¡°Carry on, let¡¯s see what other unique things this dungeon has. Up or down¡­ M. decision 50/50?¡± As the gnome spoke to his mount, mana flowed slightly down into the arm being held like a question. A pause was felt before the golem raised a single thumb pointing upwards. ¡°Up it is! Oh, I see quite a few skips available. Should note that down¡­those are always appreciated. Feels weird to get them in the reverse direction when I haven¡¯t gone through this yet you know? ¡­But it makes sense if the gateway was set up afterwards.¡± The gnome spoke constantly to himself ¨C excitement causing his words to speed up and begin rambling. He stood perfectly at ease on the golem even as it loped upwards in a jolting movement ¨C standing perfectly at ease as if glued to the golem''s shoulder. Crashing through a spider den, the golem dodged webs of fire and blobs of molten mana ¨C its passenger an observer to the capabilities of the dungeon. Around and around the pair traveled ¨C skipping the shortcuts to take a more scenic route before appearing before a series of doors. ¡°I hadn¡¯t heard about this yet?¡± The gnome muttered while staring at an invisible system message explaining the trials. ¡°Should be fun! Wonder what sort of trial it¡¯s going to give me¡­ M. take the one on the left I¡¯ll take the right. Regroup at the end ¨C this should be fun!¡± After a beat with no movement the gnome spoke again. ¡°Sorry that wasn¡¯t formatted correctly, I¡¯m getting excited. M. Complete leftmost passage following: best-guess-process.¡± The gnome clarified even as he hopped off the artificial life. Moving towards his chosen entrance, the gnome pittered across the floor and into the passage alone ¨C entering a mirror-like hallway of crystal. A crystal gnome stood across from him carrying an identical but monochrome version of his own pen and standing in a similar ¡°ready¡± pose. Quickly dropping and writing a series of combat enchantments into the floor, the gnome looked up frowning a second later to see the room around him shattered ¨C the crystal version of himself melted and twisted into a blob before his spells had even launched the spell itself spluttering out without a target. ¡°Aww, I really did want to see what it would be like to fight myself. Looks like I broke it before the spells even hit that¡¯s¡­kind of disappointing. Definitely want to come back in a decade or two.¡± The gnome said while standing up and marching out of his hallway. ¡°Stupid dungeon has no right getting my hopes up like that¡­I was really looking forward to that! I can¡¯t be too mad ¨C core¡¯s younger than should be possible to make something like this and I really should be praising what it theoretically could have done¡­but I¡¯m still sad.¡± Turning to wait once more for his ride, the gnome stared curiously about the mazelike hallway in front of him. ¡°Ah, you¡¯re done! I¡¯ll review your combat logs later as I didn¡¯t get a chance to have fun. M. standard once more.¡± Up they traveled ¨C the gnome¡¯s innate sense of location letting him spot the subtle and not so subtle tricks of the maze ¨C each one only seeming to delight him. Upon reaching the silver mines the gnome once more made a set of temporary constructs that followed along behind them. Instead of crushing everything with overwhelming power the gnome sent weak groups that struggled to take down monsters and commented continuously on how they did. A similar meander was done and then the gnome stood at the entrance to The Crossroad Link from Murek ¨C turning to face the scribbling notepad that had followed him, recording his whole adventure as if in an interview. Clearing his throat, the gnome began to speak. ¡°Hey! Tom here back with a very special treat! Did you know a group of dungeons has been connected through literal portals across the world! You heard that right! Stable Gate¡¯s the holy grail of transportation! I¡¯m here to start a very special issue of ¡®Tom¡¯s reviews¡¯ centered around this unique phenomena and the actual dungeons that have facilitated this network. We¡¯ll start this journey with the delightfully clinical testing chambers of the central continent¡­¡±
Excerpt obtained from the daily life of Tom. Innearth found the transitionary floors were a fun way to force himself to try new things. Just as using his affinities as a dungeon let him make his strongest monsters¡­forcing himself to use elements he wasn¡¯t used to was a good way of pushing himself and continuing the feeling of innovation. The practice with other elements also translated to a small measurable increase in his skill with his primary choices as long as he actually learned something from it. On that note his next floor was a simple one but one that used elements he didn¡¯t use a lot. After the nightmare mines came a sand dune floor using piles upon piles of Sand mana. Water and Earth mana combined with all the relevant combinations Innearth knew, made dozens of different sand materials. Crystal and Water made one or two variations as well and Innearth commissioned a giant hourglass from FED to place in the center to complete the aesthetic. All the individual sand materials were similar ¨C but when combined offered a nuance to the floor as they blended together into a single sandy whole. Essentially they bled into each other and the surroundings more when combined ¨C making the environmental mana in the room push towards a more effective sandy environment faster than it would otherwise. This hourglass had the fun ¨C pointless but aesthetic increasing ¨C effect of slowing down sand that fell through it. Tieing the decorations into an actual event Innearth set up a sort of time limit for the floor ¨C when entered the hourglass would flip and when the sand reached the bottom an ¡°Event¡± would happen. For now, that event was simply to spawn several more monsters all at once. A monster wave of a time limit increasing difficulty. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. The monsters for the floor involved several trios of a dust mana devil and their two handlers. The old experiment finally had a floor to belong to and despite their danger being a sort of hit or miss they made up a good part of the defence. The desiccating effect cut through most armour and stats alike and made monsters that could damage high-levelled adventurers to an insane degree¡­over a period of time being the big caveat. This ¡°period of time¡± brought these monsters from being a solid adventurer killer down to ¡°an obstacle¡±. Any adventurer that made it this far would be able to dodge the dry clouds of dust mana easily enough ¨C and those that got caught or fell into them would be able to jump out and escape. Additionally, a water or fire mage could pretty easily highjack the cloud''s control systems ¨Ctrivializing them as an enemy. The dust devils weren¡¯t the only monster Innearth used to populate this floor however. To start he explored several sand monsters once more ¨C from making dozens of blobs that were essentially copy pastes of the beginner floor boss ¨C to more solid constructs that contained sand-like limbs and solid containers ¨C essentially blobs with differently shaped armour. Innearth also made a few crystal snakes styled to look closer to the illusion wurm. He packed them with sand cores then set them loose swimming about the floor¡¯s dunes ¨C acting as sneak attacks from below to increase the difficulty. Crystal ¡°cacti¡± were made as traps ¨C void spikes to damage anyone knocked into them and Innearth planted several treasure chests buried about the field. Honestly, all the effects Innearth added combined were still less dangerous than in the previous zone, so he tried to make the room hotter and push into the ¡°desert¡± theme harder. Similar to how the ice caves had ¡°the cold¡± being one of the major challenges Innearth made beds of fire mana rods beneath the sand and then had the bright idea of making a ¡°sun¡± in the corner of the room. Light mana wasn¡¯t bright enough so Innearth began making a spotlight of laser mana that moved about the floor. The wide beam would begin melting the sand if left in a single spot too long and so he made it a plantlike trap that would aim at adventurers it spotted. I was going to move on to the harder version of the magma floors but¡­when actually trying to damage something laser mana is a bit stronger than I would have thought. Like the sun was meant to blind adventurers but it ended up able to melt sand into glass-like puddles! ¡­I want to focus on this more. Right now¡­ it only does that when left for a bit. If I try and up the damage, I¡¯m sure I can make something more interesting for the next zone ¨C especially as I already kind of used increasing the heat to make the desert harder. If I jump the magma floor hotter right after It might start to feel repetitive. I¡¯m not the best at magma mana anyways ¨C all the hotter materials cool quickly, and the stable ones are less dangerous. Let¡¯s see. Innearth began playing with laser mana. There were plenty of different materials he could make but he focused on the ones that dealt more damage. A laser mana device was best made by attempting to divert all of the ¡°beam¡± released in one direction. Damage was increased both by having more mana in the device ¨C or making a larger one ¨C and by focusing said beam to a thin point. Innearth made several hallways with room-sized laser blocks that could melt through any material he produced. Even asking his dwarfs to make a shield with runework made something that could be cut through ¨C albeit slowly until the runes failed. More and more the lasers shifted in Innearth¡¯s mind from a passing curiosity to something that should be held with respect. When Innearth put in the effort and mana¡­they were strong. In fact, there were only two effective defences against the high-powered lasers that Innearth made ¨C mirror-like defences that specifically bent light. And nullstone but even that failed when left to smoulder in a beam''s path for several minutes. In fact, Innearth needed some of his strongest nullstone to have any chance of blocking the massive beams and that was being used on more important experiments like his mana oven or blast doors. The mirrors would fail after a while as well and it wasn¡¯t until Innearth figured out how to combine the two that he was able to make an effective defence. A solid plate of null stone was collected and polished and then coated in an incredibly thin layer of silver. That base was then covered in an even layer of his clearest crystal material and left to sit for a while in an oven that Innearth cleaned of contaminants and then filled with pure mana that could easily shift to other types. This whole setup ¡°set¡± the process ¨C tinging his creation with a sort of mirror mana. Innearth found his oven step worked better than trying to use illusion mana or similar manually and was quite happy with the results that were finally able to handle his laser beams permanently. ¡­ He had spent over a month working on just this one setup, time did fly when you have a goal. Innearth then realized having lasers that bounced around seemed like a better prospect for the ¡°hardmode crystal zone¡± so he cut his initial bouncing plans for the magma halls. Instead, he started from scratch ¨C making lenses for the room-sized laser mana blocks. Liquid crystal was put into rune-covered rings and mixed with various dusts and liquids to make it clearer and more malleable to the rune¡¯s mechanisms. Essentially with a lot of trial and error, Innearth and Steve were able to make a lens that flipped between concave and convex shapes with the activation of a trigger rune. This allowed him to make beams of cutting light that could be ¡°disabled¡± by spreading them apart into a less dangerous shape ¨C and then covering them with a nice cap. For that darkness mana was enough to disable the spread bream and protect the cap from damage. This whole setup let Innearth make long hallways with dangerous beams that shot down them periodically. He would have made them a randomized trap but at this stage was more interested in nerfing the damage he had made than actually hitting adventurers. The typical ¡°firing¡± of one of these laser beams was started off with a small red pre-laser that appeared for a single second ¨C warning adventurers the beam was about to fire. It would then switch to the more dangerous ¡°burn everything in its path¡± variant for several seconds before being turned off once more and accompanied by a burst of steam making it seem like the device had overheated or spent its energy. The device could actually be shot endlessly but Innearth preferred this setup and he put various cubbyholes that adventurers could hide in throughout the magma hall. Magma spiders were made as well, but he found himself trying to incorporate laser mana into them after realizing he was more interested in it as a mana type than maintaining the magma theme. Huge laser blocks could be shrunk down to more mobile forms ¨C much less damaging but stronger than could be made from scratch at the same size. They were then placed around the ¡°body¡± of magma spiders. Innearth refined this design. Multiple-eyed spiders that could shoot dozens of cutting lines at anything they looked at and blinked beams on and off at will. Making ¡°focusing lenses¡± as ¡°eyelids¡± let the monsters turn the lasers off when unneeded and protected the eyes from being damaged. Honestly placing the laser mana inside of a monster was almost easier than his previous mechanical experiments. The ¡°airbrushing¡± effect of solidifying a monster made it so the eyelids blocked the light without being damaged and without requiring a complicated setup. They could be moved in incredibly precise manners and the monster had an instinctive way of aiming that meant they could burn even fast-moving projectiles out of the air if they focused. The really exciting change was when Innearth started to give the spiders skills. Not really caring about following his newest funk of using larger cores Innearth began giving his laser spiders unique circuits. ¡­that¡¯s what changed quite a bit. Quite a few of the circuits didn¡¯t seem to do much ¨C gave them a ranged shot or movement skill that was weaker than their beams. But one or two and then more and more as Innearth explored synergized with the beams. Instead of pure light, heat and destruction being shot, circuits were found that let spiders send altered beams of different effects. Darklight beams that seemed to splash shadows as they moved and ate into stuff like a cool acid ¨C instead of a hot scalpel ¨C were cool. Beams of frost that freeze what they hit are even ¡°cooler¡±. Heh. There were vine beams that grew plants where they hit and burning beams that spread lingering fire ¨C or exploded when they hit. Sticky beams and beams that bounced were some of the stranger creations because none of the cores used in their circuits gave any indication that would happen. Most of the time it was only one or two of the spider¡¯s beams that were affected by a circuit¡­ and of those types, there was usually a trade-off where the beam could no longer be used normally. Instead of an endless beam it was a spell that needed time for the spider to recharge its mana¡­but considering how much work Innearth had put into making sure the beams weren¡¯t endless that was almost a bonus. Basically, all these beam flavours make the spiders either stronger or more interesting. This seems like something I can stick with for ages without getting bored! Always a plus! Innearth marked spider schematics he liked with small details ¨C giving the eyes that shot interesting beams colourful rings to indicate they were ¡°different¡±. Of course some of those changes altered the circuits effect¡­ but Innearth was starting to intuitively understand a lot of those changes in a way he couldn¡¯t quite explain ¨C essentially letting him offset a lot of the changes he made with small counter tweaks. He still couldn¡¯t switch a circuit that made one skill between different types of monsters, but he could at least prevent it from changing by minor cosmetic changes. The boss of this floor was once again a group of the strongest circuited spiders. Instead of three with several bats, there were five ¨C with a combined 12 different beam types among them. This group was set up in a huge arena that let them use their long-ranged beams to their fullest potential. For the transitionary floor, Innearth worked on focusing on using nothing but his void element. The floor was short and consisted of a series of floating platforms and ¡°bridges¡± to cross a void acid pit and surrounded by void spiked walls. Innearth planted several of his void roses from the mysterious island event, happy to have a place to put them and put a gate near the bottom of the room with a series of difficult-looking platforms to reach. Void flies filled the room for the aesthetic and the gravity was increased once again ¨C it would be very hard to fly across the room or bypass most of the defences¡­but Innearth was starting to get close to his limit of gravity manipulating effects. And then next came the nightmare crystal floors. Gravity became crushing and the surroundings were seeded ¨C not with regular crystal mana but growing patches of different kinds of the ¡°third-generation corrupted crystals¡±. Innearth could make regular crystal mana shapes and then infect them with his corrupted crystals ¨C purposefully giving them all different affinities but letting him shape them into more interesting shapes. Instead of walls of purple crystal, there were walls of corrupted fire crystal. Instead of spike-shooting plants there were lightning ¨C or void-crystal shooting ¨C plants. Innearth then used second-generation crystals embedded in the same group of monsters that were in the original floor. Each crystal helped boost their strength by a massive amount and if they broke, the surrounding 3rd generation crystals insulated the place from danger ¨C once corrupted by one variant of the crystals they wouldn''t be corrupted further. Then came the put off mirror work with lasers. Innearth hadn¡¯t designed a puzzle in a while and he suddenly had a huge itch to do so. It felt like there was too large of a stretch of his dungeon without a proper puzzle and he already had an idea of what he wanted it to be. A ¡°Source¡± of a laser was made on each of the three floors and then lines of moveable and spinnable mirrors were linked all the way to a ¡°Sink¡± near the end. Hitting that Sink gave a group "randomized masterwork items" while ¡°resetting¡± the floor by shifting all the mirror locations. It was partway through this design that Innearth found himself levelling once again anticlimactically into tier 7. It was a milestone ¨C but he didn¡¯t care for any of the minor system bonuses it gave him. There was the ability to make new groups! ¡­But he already had a group with his friends. There was the ability to trade recorded videos! ¡­but Innearth wasn¡¯t a streamer and didn¡¯t care about rewatching streams. He could already record and playback streams to show his friends¡­ and he¡¯d much prefer showing them off "live" and forcing them to react to it, than sending something to them and telling them to watch it in their own time. At least his first check of the bonus slipped his mind but after thinking about it a bit more deeply Innearth began to change his mind. The reason this was exciting was because he suddenly found out Bob Ross had a whole collection of his most popular streams saved. Home videos that Innearth could have bought a while ago! In comparison to his current mana regeneration, they were incredibly cheap and so he ended up buying weeks worth of content to watch. That was some solid soothing entertainment on demand that didn¡¯t require Innearth to join public streams...at this point he was probably close in level and skill to the older Core, but he remained a fan. The last point of interest in his new tier was a new goal to work towards.
?Click Here to show current status?
Innearth (Dungeon Designation: Crossroad Link from Murek)
Level 82 1/7636 exp to next level.
System Access Level 7 0/4 requirements met to advance.
-Mana regeneration at 200 Personal Units/Min.
-50+ floors
-0/100 different "Types" of adventurers hosted and catalogued.
-Level 101+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 192.00 personal unit/min
Mana concentration 3.09 AMU / personal unit
Mana Storage 18976.21/23600.07 AMU
Regeneration over time 9.890022761 AMU/s
Time to Full Mana 7.8 Min
Physical Storage 12% Capacity
Age 5 years
Current Year 2002 AS
Distance underground 399 meters
Number of floors 27 floors
Titles.
Earth Mana Specialization, Crystal Mana Specialization, Void Mana Specialization, Customization.
I need to start cataloging adventurers I guess? Oh I see the system actually gave me a panel for it already. I''ll do that right after I use my newest decent. Chapter 71. Into the abyss.
Sewermaster: Annie. [Mana Channels] have been laid from the outer edge of whatever they are calling this town nowadays to the proposed end point. I used my [Shape Dungeon] skill to set off the entrance transformation and it appears to have worked ¨C the entrance accepted the end point and closed itself off. That was the skill that had the lowest chance of success so I¡¯m glad to see it worked ¨C I would have had to send channels down manually if it didn''t and use more time consuming secure pipes and I hate having to do that. Periodic maintenance must be done to both the condensers and channels but that could be theoretically done by a low-level sewer master. Now that the official statement has been complete, I¡¯m tacking on a personal note ¨C just between you and me Jay I¡¯m going to drop the formal sewage it doesn¡¯t agree with me. Basically, I was planning on moving back to Trell after this job finished, but the town has kind of grown on me. If you¡¯ll have me, I¡¯m willing to settle down here somewhat permentantly¡­I know I sent several complaint forms, but I really do like this town. I like you. I like the sparkly roof''s and I like feeling like I''m contributing to something greater. If you¡¯re not willing to fund a sewermaster at my level in a more permanent compacity, I¡¯ll need at least three weeks training my replacement. I¡¯m also planning on throwing a small party to celebrate the sewer¡¯s completion if you want to drop by fouthday this week. I await your response.
Excerpt obtained from the ¡°Mana Sewer completion form. Project Sparkle¡± written in 2002AS. There was something very important to do as soon as Innearth advanced. The most important thing. No, not use his shiny brand new [decent] gift, but to check the friend group and see if he was the first to reach tier 7.
Abe: ¡­bro how.
Fated Eternal Design: Oh? You¡¯ve managed to surpass me.
Amy: Congrats! I¡¯m connected to the network now! Queen you¡¯re the only one not here yet.
Brutality Queen: Oh? I¡¯m invited to this ¡°network¡±?
Innearth: ¡­of course you are. By being in this group its implied you can join the network we are making. You just have to ask :3 - Doc hook her up.
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­alright then. First you need to make a proper suppression endpoint as low down in your dungeon as possible. I have increased the stability of my gates tremendously. But you¡¯ll still need to contain the few that get through anyways with how far we¡¯ve set this up.
Brutality Queen: Oh I know, I¡¯m not scared of some cosmic horrors. Gotta face those slag-buckets head on.
Innearth: ¡­Do you want me to help you with some mind and kinetic defenses? FED might be better at mind and Doc better at kinetic, but I have my cheaty cheat cheat dwarves to help close the gap!
Brutality Queen: If you wish to help feel free~ I¡¯m not going beg however. I¡¯m sure I can handle it.
Knowing Queen would never ask for help ¨C and somewhat worried for her chances ¨C Innearth made several suppression pillars. Each pillar was comprised of mind-silver and kinetic-lead giving his dwarves a break from creating loot and traps.
Innearth: Alright, Here you go~ Sent a dozen of each ¨C try alternating them around the portal and then accept any changes Doc gives you. Good luck!
Content with being a good friend Innearth started feeling generous enough to share his corrupted crystal filtration system.
Innearth: Hey guys. So here¡¯s the setup I have, Let me create a screen real quick and I¡¯ll show it off. I¡¯m feeling good so if anyone wants me to help set it up in your dungeon feel free to ask. Just don¡¯t share it around too much I want to keep this bonus for friends okay?
¡­ Innearth began walking through his whole setup ¨C showing off the root-like passages that split again and again creating various slightly less offensive polluted outputs. He could have kept his advantage because making the system increased his level by a huge amount¡­but at the end of the day he wanted to stick with his friends. Tier 8 was still quite a ways away but he didn¡¯t want to advance without his friends by his side. After discussing his setup Doc nearly begged for a chance to use it as well and FED and Amy gave interested if more subdued requests to share his success. Abe and Brutality Queen didn¡¯t yet have mana sewers, so there wasn¡¯t much use in setting the system up in their dungeons. Brutality Queen was situated in a tropical area and while she did have semi-frequent delvers the delvers she did have were¡­slightly savage. Her two main delvers were a tribe of humans who lived in the trees near her dungeon ¨C they appeared to be worshiping her in a more subdued way than FED¡¯s cult (by periodically sacrificing wild animals to ¡°appease¡± her any time they gained particularly good loot) ¨C and a clan of goblins who snuck in looking for ¡°shinies¡±. The humans delved daily in a rotating bracket while the goblins appeared every few weeks and barreled in ¨C dodging spears and bolts of magic from the humans above. ¡­Innearth was pretty sure the tourists from the central continent would be a culture shock for her and hers¡­he recommended she set up some sort of trial to prevent excessive immigration like he had.
Brutality Queen: Hah, My monsters know to go after weak links. I go extra hard on weaklings and living mud is a great way of killing off the unwary¡­
Innearth: Well glad you have that covered. Just thought I would mention it.
While all of his daily socializing was being taken care of, Innearth descended down almost as far as he could. As his core was pulled downwards, he suddenly started panicking as he passed through the nightmare crystal caverns. He didn¡¯t know what would happen if the first or second generation crystal attached to his core¡­.but he didn¡¯t want to find out ¨C best case it made him stronger, better at manipulating mana¡­ or even upgrade his core into something that could move ¨C worse case he would be overcome and corrupted¡­ not something he planned on doing. Dragging his core back and forth slightly as he descended, Innearth dodged the major corrupted zones feeling a burning sense of hindsight smashing him over and over again with how stupid he had been. Finally after smashing through the whole zone, Innearth settled down at the very bottom of his dungeon. His descent was broken exactly 500m below the surface ¨C purposefully stopped right before he ended because he liked seeing the round number on his status. Closing up the path he had dragged through space behind him, Innearth began moving his defences about to hide his newest core room. This process took up most of his free mana and attention before someone¡¯s message stopped him.
Brutality Queen: You explored through your gate yet? Tell me you have! Or are you nothing but a cowardly pebble?
Innearth: Sorry, what?
Brutality Queen: You explored the void on the other side of the portal doc gave you yet? I¡¯m trying to make sense of this place¡­ Brutality Queen: I thought you were experimental? I also kind of figured you could better make sense of this place with your void affinity and all. Carry on.
Innearth: I haven¡¯t explored yet no. But I¡¯m definitely not cowardly. I just didn¡¯t know it was an option?
Brutality Queen: That¡¯s a lie :3, Doc told us he has to go in there to set the gate up the first time around hasn¡¯t he? You¡¯re just soft little sedimentary Core. :3
Innearth: Do you really think I¡¯d fall for your provocation? I¡¯m not that hot tempered¡­I¡¯m going to explore because I want to. Not because of your weak pokes :3<
Brutality Queen: <3
Innearth focused on his gate for a moment then send a message to doc,
Innearth: Hey, the gate you set up. Quick questions. Safe to explore the other side? Also how do I open it without adventurers. Its kind of automatic right now.
ZeMadDoctor: I gave you the tokens for adventurers to open it right? Just use those. It¡¯s pretty straightforward. Anyways. In regards to safety. I haven¡¯t been badly hurt by it¡­but I make no promises to its safety. Told you I think a demon ate some of my influence in there once?¡­that was frightening. Didn¡¯t hurt me much more than cutting influence off myself. But it was definitely unnerving. Other than that standard portal rules apply.
Innearth: Alright then. Noted and thanks.
Innearth focused on the main gate that had a safety net in terms of the suppression array behind it. He gathered some courage, rifled about his loot drops and triggered one of them to fall on a fake event. Innearth then brought the token near the gate ¨C mentally accepting the offered ¡°open¡± command to complete the setup. Innearth then began expanding into the portal that formed ¨C pushing forward into the swirling darkness before he changed his mind. Expansion felt like dipping a pair of metaphorical feet into a slightly thick pool of liquid. His influence spread past the gate and he was suddenly in the Void. Not a vacuum in the universe but a true Void. For while the void was empty, it felt full in a way that Innearth couldn¡¯t fully understand. It was¡­strange. The Void was simple and not simple ¨C a nonsensical description but one that rang true to Innearth. From a simple point of view, Innearth was now in an endless expanse of incredibly dark purple¡­nothing. Inside the universe, Innearth couldn''t see very far outside of his influence ¨C his "sight" wasn''t linked to light so much as an ¡°Arcane touch of anything inside his influence¡±. In this void however, his perception appeared to radiate outwards in strange threadlike ways ¨Cgiving him a choppy view of a huge area around the gate. Between him and ¡°the other gate¡± there was a net of kinetic threads forming a sort of tube where mana flickered and flowed. This hallway between him and the other end of the portal was roughly two and a half meters across. Enough that anything coming through one side could float across relatively quickly but not enough to be instantaneous. Continuing to try and puzzle out the Void from this simple point of view ¨C the atmosphere of the Void was full of a sort of liquid that pushed in on Innearth¡¯s influence. A thick substance that gave him an equal sense of being underground and safe¡­ along with a sense of being exposed and vulnerable for not being solid enough. It was less dungeon instinct triggering than the surface ¨C but Innearth still found the Void unnerving and uncomfortable like a weight at the back of his mind. From a more complicated but ¡°true¡± point of view there was no liquid. It LOOKED like the ¡°liquid¡± was pushing against the side of the gate ¨C preventing gas from escaping through to this side of the doorframe¡­ but two small points counted against this theory. The first point was its ¡°reality¡±. Attempting to capture some of the liquid in a ball and pushing it through his gate made a vacuumed ball that collapsed as soon as it entered the universe. Metal crunching in on itself because Innearth hadn¡¯t reinforced it the first time and it was a full vacuum. Attempting to use the void¡¯s atmosphere as a material in a material creation spell next ¨C Innearth began forming mana. The crystal mana floated around in the emptiness ¨C pointlessly without anything to latch onto and rapidly appeared to dissipate when he let go¡­seeming to bleed out into threads that disappeared in all directions. The second point against the theory that ¡°this liquid was actually a liquid¡± was based on various Void mana conjectures. It was the way the Void felt. It was a bunch of half-baked guesses Innearth had strung together that didn¡¯t really prove anything but made him certain he was right. When he made void singularities, they pulled mass and energy towards them ¨C appearing to destroy anything they touched as it was ripped from the universe and spread throughout the void. It was the way his influence flowed forwards and ¨C Partway through his exploration and attempt to understand the world beyond the portal, Innearth suddenly noticed a fractalized squid-like creature suddenly inside of his influence. It moved with purpose towards the gate and Innearth panicked ¨C realizing this was a demon even as he commented on how strange it looked. Flipping the switch to close the gate, Innearth realized the portion of his mind that was currently focused on the void appeared to be operating on a different time frame ¨C From the void the door seemed to be closing in slow motion¡­while from outside it was blipping out in a single fluid pop. As soon as Innearth focused on that disconnect of time he started getting shocked by the sense of his other split attentions being out of sync. They were almost communicating with him as they asked what was beyond the gate but because of how warped they were across the time barrier he didn¡¯t notice until he focused on them. With the split of time the split attentions felt like different cores and froze Innearth¡¯s mind as they mixed ¨C a wave of confusion covering his core as they mixed and sorted themselves out. The gate shut quickly but even as it closed the squid-like thing pushed through ¨C the boundary appearing to almost shatter as it did so. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. On the universe side of the portal Innearth looked in horror at the demonic form sludging across his stone floor. What in the madness-soaked skies is that! It was a squid! A single eye that seemed flattened by a roller was surrounded by floating tentacles. These tendrils looked like cracks in the world that seemed to teleport around it and warp the ground below it. As tendrils passed through the ground it was like someone cut the stone into little square blocks and rearranged them before letting them set in a new randomized order. If it weren¡¯t for the wave of disgust and fear that filled Innearth¡¯s mind as he looked at the broken creature, he would have thought it was a cool effect. As far as demons went, this one was even almost cute. Like a little space crack beholder. Sadly it was a demon and Innearth found himself wanting it gone and out of his dungeon thank you very much. A sniping shot of black energy pierced the demon as Innearth¡¯s Hydra mopped up the incursion ¨C prompted by his thoughts. Staring, Innearth watched in relief as a squelching nearly endless rope of tentacles covered in eyes was squished into existence. He watched in satisfaction until it was completely eliminated then started trying to make sense of what had happened. That''s...not what the demon looked like in the void? The most accurate description of the before and after shot of the demon was a creature Innearth had no knowledge of. A blobfish. One which looked relatively normal in its natural habitat and then became an ugly exploded thing when brought ashore. Like that theoretical blobfish Innearth hadn''t even felt much repulsion to the demon when it had been in the void ¨C slight fear yes¡­but that had mostly been shock at being snuck up upon and being unable to shut the portal in time. Nothing beforehand but the after shot was ugly and mind-breaking enough to shoot to his psyche and instantly provoke a primal disgust response.
Innearth: What, is that place?
Brutality Queen: Oh? You checked!
Innearth: Yeh, not ready to try and figure it out yet I got interrupted. Give me a bit.
I¡­I think that has been enough time. I¡¯m going to try again I didn¡¯t get a good enough look at the void in that attempt. Re-opening the portal Innearth found himself momentarily confused by the flood of half degraded influence and then everything sorted itself out. When Innearth cut off his influence with nullstone barriers it just felt muted and instantly became normal when re-attached. ...it appeared cutting himself off with a shutting portal was better able to separate his influence ¨Coperating closer to what he felt like when he abandoned claimed areas. Reconnecting was something he hadn¡¯t felt before but was documented and ¡°normal¡±. This time when exploring, Innearth tried focusing on the "non-simple" version of what he was seeing. The squid demon had appeared to teleport directly into Innearth¡¯s influence ¨C bypassing all of the threads he felt spreading outwards...but¡­that was wrong. There wasn¡¯t really a nice little three-dimensional passage between the gates. The path in front of him wasn''t a simple round tube ¨C following the sides around there appeared to be more surface area than there should be. To spin around the whole 360, Innearth needed to move around two or three times as much as he should have ¨C a very strange feeling for someone who could look at the entire loop at once. ¡­ And this is where Innearth¡¯s mind started to feel weird as his dungeon senses re-organized themselves and pulled more mental capacity to making sense of it. Of the reality of this plane of existence. ¡­ Everything made more sense when a few more dimensions were added to the mix but it was still hard for Innearth to wrap his core around. Everything made sense to a being that filled all the available dimensions he was looking at ¨C it''s not like anything could hide from him here. But also...Innearth lived in a three-dimensional world. His core kept wanting to think in three dimensions even as his influence fractaled into more and more dimensions. Dimensions that folded in on each other like roles of space fat pushed through a pasta roller ¨C vast distances folded and ripped about. As far as I can tell, my influence is the liquid in my influence? But also the liquid is simply what multiple overlapping three-dimensional spaces feels like? But also they aren¡¯t overlapping they are squished beside each other in four dimensions? But also there aren¡¯t 4 dimensions there are a dozen and most of them aren¡¯t full dimensions but like¡­half dimensions? And also movement is weird. Or maybe expansion is different from movement. I should push some stuff around¡­ Sorry, Refocusing on the liquid. The liquid is my influence but also a bunch of dimensions? Pushing through dimensions provided resistance leaching momentum and makes it seem like there is liquid but ¨C Another demon entered Innearth¡¯s influence ¨C this one a sleek eel that looked similar to the kinetic tube surrounding him. Similar in that it had more surface area than a 3D tube should have. This time Innearth was faster about shutting the portal ¨C his flipping was made and shut on the demon partway through ¨C sadly not cutting the flapping node-like representation that ended up on his other side. The demon looked like a spring that had ¡°holes¡± that moved about it and after being killed was ripped into melted cheese like shreds that floated about completely weightless. I can''t keep exploring if the portal keeps shutting. I feel like I almost understood it that last time¡­ but I can''t explore the void after dropping the gate behind me.
Innearth: Hey Doc, how do you have enough time to build that tunnel without demons breaking through? Do small portals work well? Can you make my gate super small?
ZeMadDoctor: Correct. I can control my own portals much easier than the equipment can. I usually hold them a crack''s distances apart and go from there. Still get demons ¨C but they are rarer and...smaller. I also build my portals close physically. And that means demons are even less likely to notice.
Innearth: ...how does that work. You make it like a bridge¡­ but then you can move the separate ends and it doesn''t fall apart?
ZeMadDoctor: ...yes in a sense. If you''ve checked the other side you know space works differently there right? Well its part of that. Moving the ends stretches and shrinks the space slightly. But as long as I make the tunnel elastic it can usually survive the distances when I send it to you all. ZeMadDoctor: I''ve been opening them up once they get to you and quickly fixing any huge holes that appear¡­as well as pushing some space out to make it easier¡­that''s about it. Oh! By making the passage. I usually give it some Space mana to help it have more direction. that might help as well.
Innearth: Can I have a short ranged pair that has a small opening? I realize it''s a lot but I want to try exploring more without constantly having to shut it and don¡¯t want to experiment with the portals that go upwards in my dungeon. I also want the ability to make it much bigger if I need but don¡¯t know if that¡¯s commissionable?
ZeMadDoctor: It¡¯s what friends do. Of course I can set you up. You just gave me all these amazing transforming crystals after all. Did you know they make monsters stronger when you inject them into them?
Innearth: oh...yeah I knew that.
ZeMadDoctor: Does it sound like a bad idea to give a small demon some? I really want to test it out¡­but I know it''s a bad idea...but I''m curious! I''ve already injected some into some non-dungeon Rats and they had about a 5% pass rate of non-statue¡¯fied versions. Dungeon monsters got up to a 95% after I told them to stop accepting it and the regular rats raised to 10% after watching their fellows get crystalized. I really want to see how an adventurer deals with being corrupted but don¡¯t know if that¡¯s smart. It just seems like a logical step. What do you think?
Innearth: ...please don''t kill yourself by making demons even stronger than they are. You''re my portal dealer. :P
ZeMadDoctor: Yes yes...by the way, you want more affinities? I made a portal mana-flavoured crystal out of the one "pure" one you gave me. And I''m planning on making more.
Innearth: Bribes to get me to ignore your suicidal tendencies huh. Well I do want them. Anything I can use to improve my filter. Take care of yourself okay?
ZeMadDoctor: Of course.
Accepting the corrupted crystals and experimental portals, Innearth set everything up then sent a message to Amy and FED saying he''d appreciate any new crystal affinities they made. After confirming the filter was functioning well with his additions and noticing it seemed even stronger than when he last checked, Innearth returned to focusing on portals.
Brutality Queen: sooooo...how''s the other side?
Innearth: Oh right! I did say in a bit. It''s fascinating. I don''t know how safe it is so I''m taking it slow. Don''t want to find out there''s some giant demon that can slurp my whole influence out like a noodle do I?
Brutality Queen: ...think that''s a danger? I''ve made a nice little floating island of mud in mine. Started to look like it was disappearing but then I shoved more material at it and it seemed to solidify right up. Even made the stuff around it more stable?
Innearth: I don''t know! That¡¯s just my current worst fear and from what I know about demons ( very little) it might just be a possibility. Doc mentioned something ate some of his influence once. I want to be safe.
Brutality Queen: ¡­well that¡¯s fun. Sorry for making your pride make you explore it. I knew I could convince you to do it if I got competitive and wanted someone to talk about it with.
Innearth: ¡­no don¡¯t worry. I considered all that before I did so. You didn¡¯t trick me into exploring I did it because I wanted to. Going do it more with a close ranged portal doc just sent me. Talk to you later!
Brutality Queen: Ay. Alright. I¡¯ll ask him for that as well ¨C it sounds useful.
Innearth finished up his preparations and then pushed forward into the passage Doc had provided ¨C two gates both located in the suppression array that he decided to leave permanently open. This time he expanded all the way through the portal feeling himself reconnect on the other side before sitting there and really getting a feel for the Void. ¡­ As time passed Innearth was better able to get a feel for what exactly the void represented. Over this short closed-loop system, he was better off pretending it was a pocket dimension instead of a whole other existence ¨C the area he had to work with was his sandbox and despite being only a meter apart in the ¡°real world¡± his passage was easily twice that in the void. Trying to shrink space in the void almost did the opposite ¨C it was like the ¡°singularity¡± he could make in the real world could be inverted and expanded in the ¡°negative direction¡±. ¡­but the negative shrunk space that Innearth could make did not agree with the space mana that Doc had used to make the path initially ¨C pushing it out and grinding against it as he experimented. Shrinking or ¡°growing¡± space in the void felt less like ¡°shrinking or growing reality¡± and more like unravelling the roles of space fat that made up the void. Instead of making something, he was simply playing with building blocks that were already there ¨C when he tried to remove the magically shrunk space it stayed there unchanged even without his magic in place. Anything he did do seemed to make the space more stable however. His void mana spaces felt more ¡°3d¡±. They felt more comfortable and ¡°normal¡±. The problem came from continuously experimenting with materials and mana in this space. Despite all of Doc¡¯s work to make the passage stable¡­the occasional demon started leaking through after a few weeks of doing magic in the passage ¨C appearing to follow the mana and materials he used like blood in the ¡°void water¡±. Because the Void really did feel like it was underwater. Most of the demons Innearth saw swam and reminded him of sea creatures. The way stuff moved and felt made him think of water every time. It made more sense for him to pretend the void was underwater in three dimensions than to focus on its strange deeper reality. To combat these demons Innearth began setting up turrets about his experimentation area ¨C kinetic shots and mental mana blasts that worked to kill anything before it even reached the universe beyond his gates. He asked Abe for help gaining several mental bombs that shot psychic shrapnel and made a few suppression pillars in the space to try and aggro demons away from destroying the turrets ¡­ Time passed quickly and Innearth¡¯s small Bastion against the Void grew. He made more and more use of the ¡°negative shrunk space¡± to grow the space in the passage to a roundish size nearly 60 meters in diameter. At this size Innearth¡¯s shrunk space appeared to have completely ¡°unrolled¡± the space fat and everything felt nice and three-dimensional. He made a platform of crystal to cover the whole bottom and filled it with gravity-sucking plates to make the space feel even more ¡°natural¡±. Innearth dumped oxygen and nitrogen from his inventory into the space ¨C watching as the ¡°water-like¡± feeling dissipated as the gas filled the space. He wasn¡¯t planning on letting adventures into here anytime soon but it was a good practice for if he ever did want to. Demons started to attack more frequently however ¨C almost ripping holes in the kinetic webbing that Doc had laid about the tunnel. Innearth slowly started to reach a point that his turrets were being overpowered and he decided he wanted to make a stronger defence ¨C he was a dungeon and wanted to make a boss. Monsters made in the void space were mostly fine ¨C they turned out perfectly if printed and could be moved in and out from his dungeon to his pocket dimension just fine¡­but if Innearth tried to make them manually in the void they got twisted a bit. Manual monsters in the void were almost pseudo demons. Even if made perfectly, when Innearth gave life to them, the magic that ¡°fuzzed them over¡± and completed the spell thought extra dimensions were a practical addition ¨C to help them acclimate to the environment? Now, these pseudo demons were fine to use in the void ¨C they acted pretty normally all things considered ¨C but as soon as Innearth tried to bring them back into the real world they went mad ¨C attacking as if they were a true demon while being minorly altered by the passage. Not wanting to make a boss-level monster that could become a boss-level demon if it came back to him, Innearth designed his ¡°bastion defender¡± inside his panel and whimsy floor before sending it into the space. This boss was built around utility. There were no decorations and no additions that served a ¡°visual¡± purpose. Humanoid shapes were out ¨C even with the additions of beneficial traits humanoids just weren¡¯t naturally streamlined or focused on combat. What Innearth built was closer to a giant cockroach bus ¨C larger than any of his monsters up until now. It was close to 50m long and 20m wide at its base ¨C with an average height of 10m. This used a huge amount of Innearth¡¯s materials just to fill ¨C and that was ignoring the mana cost! It was an idea that had been floating around in his head for a while ¨C not the cockroach shape but the methodology he was using ¨C and the only thing preventing him from trying it up till now was cost. This boss was going to be a doozy even with Innearth¡¯s huge mana budget. First off Innearth made a shell of Void stone and layered alternating Void attuned armour about it. Void materials worked ever so slightly different in the void but it was subtle enough to be basically the same. He commissioned the ¡°anti-explosion¡± material from Abe and a couple Enthalpy cores to hopefully give it some time magic. He commissioned the ¡°kinetic distributing¡± material from Doc to increase this armour¡¯s strength and asked Amy to give him a small amount of living water. Massive tree pole-sized legs were placed along it and similarly sized ¡°spears¡± with 50% kinetic propulsion and 50% closed-loop ¡°pressure mana¡± pistons lined the sides ¨C facing outwards like prehensile quills on an ugly hedgehog. Thick Veins of a mana circuit were made ¨C the channels between nodes being tier 4 and the nodes themselves being tier 4-12 on average with a single central core Innearth had made inside an oven that just tipped over the tier 16 threshold¡­ Innearth made sure not to skimp on either quantity or quality pouring literally everything he had into this monster. Between these veins, thinner circuits were placed in separate subsystems ¨C regulating spears or healing glands¡­or simply being spun about as a spell matrix in the hope they made more skills for the boss. Innearth packed all his materials as dense as he possibly could and worked on ¡°Small¡± details despite how large it was, tempting him to just upscale everything ¨C he added sinews of liquid crystal throughout and strands of various elements whose main purpose was to give the beast depth. Lines of carbon and iron with no mana in them in the hope they changed slightly when it was given life. Pure mana and silicon in small thread-like connections. Small layers of Earth and Stone and Metal mana instead of just using crystal mana for everything. Joints of interlocking bones and micro pistons to give explosive movement. Gravity materials to prevent it from collapsing from its own weight. All the secrets big and small that he had found. Spears were tipped with Sword and Void mana ¨C while a giant laser cannon was placed in the center of the cockroach. Bouncing crystal channels that light could spread through and a series of lenses to focus it to several cutting points. He waffled about including corrupted crystals or not ¨C worried about both this being the strongest monster he had used them on and not wanting to waste all the time and effort he had put into it¡­but also not wanting to weaken the potential this monster held by not including it? Finally, he took the risk and added several different second-generation crystals that didn¡¯t clash throughout the monster''s body ¨C Crystal, Fire, Lazer, Kinetic, Life, Void and Enthalpy from Abe who had been willing to infuse one for him in exchange for a full set of corrupted crystals. Everything else went to physicality, for demons were naturally resistant to most mana types. Thick, incredibly dense bones that had enough mana to be considered cores¡­more kinetic materials and more connections. Innearth spent weeks on this boss, building separate parts and printing them out before attaching them together afterwards ¨C the act of constantly holding it as ¡°undone¡± in his staging area a small but steady drain on his willpower. Finally, after the last layer of mana and material was laid out ¨C and Innearth had regenerated enough mana to finish ¨C he worked on compressing his unseeded monster down to an even smaller form. A shrinking field surrounded the massive creature and slowly, carefully compressed materials on the edge of impossibility even denser. 50x20x10 became 10x4x2 ¨C Still a massive size but humbler. Innearth then gave life to the pinnacle of his current skill with a huge amount of apprehension ¨C nothing that had gone into it was irreplaceable but there was something about the amount of time and resources that had been put into the creature that made it more precious than a rare material. A dip was seriously felt as Innearth gave life to the boss, a faint ache sounding out with how large a chunk of his soul was pulled off to fuel the transformation. And it was a transformation. The time for his monster to wake was much longer than it had ever been ¨C taking several minutes instead of being almost instantaneous. Innearth could visibly see the line of ¡°soul¡± spread across the creature from front to back as if its density was physically blocking the spell from working¡­but letting it pool and take more time on the parts it had access to. Once more "Finally", the boss took a step forwards. It wobbled in a single ungainly motion and then began skittering around as it tested out its new body. Innearth had been worried it would be lacklustre, but he could feel that it was everything he had hoped for. He almost felt like he didn¡¯t have to test its strength out¡­but the process was almost a tradition at this point. The Hydra would do nicely. Innearth had noticed the hydra had done something to make it regenerate lost minions and had been vaguely interested in trying to replicate it¡­but there was a strange sort of disconnect with non ascended dungeon monsters. It was almost just a curiosity that quickly left his attention when he decided it was unreplicable. Sending the two into battle Innearth watched the hydra¡¯s familiars begin group casting overlaying spells buffing them and becoming more than the sum of their parts. ¡­and then the bus overwhelmed all of it seeming to invalidate the effort that the hydra and its minions had put into getting to this point. The cockroach mowed down minions like a semi hitting wildlife, each buffed and prepared monster nearly exploding when they were hit with sheer physical force. The weight of this boss moving through Innearth¡¯s influence felt like it was dragging him as well and he almost felt apprehensive as all of the hydra¡¯s familiars were taken out one by one slightly shocked at how much strength this boss had. I knew it would win but I didn¡¯t expect it to be this one-sided¡­the hydra is pretty strong! In less than a minute every familiar was dead and the hydra lay bleeding and broken upon the ground ¨Ccockroach standing on 3 of its 8 heads menacingly staring down at it. I guess it''s time to show you to your new home big guy. The hydra has learned its lesson. I don¡¯t want to replace them okay? Turning to face directly into his influence Innearth¡¯s dungeon monster spoke directly into his mind. Its eyeless mouthless face appeared to see Innearth watching him as he mentally rumbled his ascent. U.n.d.e.r.s.t.o.o.d. M.y. L.i.e.g.e. Chapter 72. A Slice of Innearths Life.
We¡¯ll start this journey with the delightfully clinical testing chambers of the central continent. Wow. This dungeon took a theme and ran with it. Instead of sprinkling puzzles throughout a poorly thought out floor this portal focused dungeon has done away with all the pesky background and set up a series of chambers with various themes and goals. -less ¡°puzzles¡± and more challenges, many of the testing chambers can be completed in various ways and the rewards for innovation are immense. Who knows how dungeons operate but I¡¯m nearly positive this dungeon is the source of the crossroads existing in other dungeons. The first link I found traveled between The Central Continent to Murek. Ah, Murek, land of the dwarves and elves. You¡¯ll find other races scattered throughout but those are the two main ones famously known to be the most recluse. ...that means you can travel for hundreds of kilometers across the land without laying eyes on an intelligent soul. This dungeon is full to the brim of surprises. You¡¯ll find it has much more variety than typical for a dungeon; it''s hard to even tell which affinities the dungeon even has! From floors of crystal, to halls of fire and magma. From what I hear some of the deeper floors have ice, sand, and even void! Beside the variety in flavors of mana, the number of different schematic types is quite varied for what I¡¯m to believe is quite a young dungeon. You¡¯ll find each floor or more importantly each ¡°zone¡± has quite a variety of monsters to sink your teeth into and I¡¯m definitely going to return here sometime just for my own interest. This dungeon does something I''m incredibly fond of which is start the difficulty scaling at a level even the newest of adventurers can access. Not enough dungeons do this if I''m being honest and its a shame. Going forward here¡¯s a surprise! I¡¯ve actually reviewed some of these dungeons before. For the sake of a more detailed review you can visit issue 254 for the ¡°Liquid Saviour¡± Now known as the ¡°Meneth Crossroads¡± ¨C not sure I approve of all these name changes but I¡¯m not going to abuse my high system favour to change it back. Issue 255 shows off the ¡°The Dungeon of Eternity¡± or ¡°Mur Crossroad¡± as they¡¯ve taken to calling it nowadays. I¡¯ve heard there¡¯s quite a bit of pushback from some religion about this renaming? Calling the act a religious sacrilege or something? Either way, with how exciting that dungeon was to review the first time around, I¡¯m heavily considering giving it a tour once again. I don¡¯t like re-reviewing dungeons but hey, it¡¯s a portal away am I right? Other than those two there is an explosively fun dungeon on ¡°Okos¡± ¨C that¡¯s not just a saying, the dungeon is full of monsters and traps that literally explode ¨C and a dungeon on, if I¡¯m not mistaken, the Lost Continent. That one has some hoops to jump through to access but I don¡¯t think I need to tell you how exciting a passage to a continent we thought was destroyed is. This Continent is a landmass that used to be part of what is commonly known as ¡°The Broken Continent¡± and contains ruins untouched for several millennia. Pre system ruins! I¡¯m sure others share my excitement. Anyways as an end statement, the possibilities offered by this network of cross-continental portals are immense and I¡¯m looking forward to seeing how it progresses in the future.
Excerpt from the popular serial "Tom''s Dungeon Reviews Issue 299" A few weeks passed with no huge surprises. Innearth found that while he had put a lot more effort into claiming and securing his ¡°Void bastion¡±, Queen had explored more than him. She had sent several ascended monsters repeatedly into the void to scout¡­and while she had definitely found out more than Innearth, the cost was staggering. Of her seven scouts, two hadn¡¯t returned. Of the five that did, three were heavily injured after demon skirmishes. ¡­I can¡¯t risk any of my children that way. I can¡¯t see how Queen can see them as disposable. I mean¡­just look at them! Innearth was watching his ascended water slime operate heavy machinery. The slime had gotten bored of its war games and had replaced itself with a blue rock complete with mini crown ¨C then gone exploring. After moving about his dungeon using snakeways and sliding through traps the slime had found itself in the dwarf workshop. Immediately the slime had taken a liking to one of the failed experimental runeworks, a sort of digging and sorting machine. Essentially this machine sort of dissolved walls ¨C removed ¡°useful¡± materials then compressed the ¡°waste¡± into perfectly square bricks that could be placed along the side of whatever it was digging. The problem was that it needed to be operated by someone and had a nasty habit of squishing its operator while squishing waste leading to several nameless crystal dwarf deaths. The slime however when squished ended up splitting ¨C then reforming into a single wobbling and giggling child who immediately re entered and pushed the machine forward again. Not caring about Innearth¡¯s influence the slime was now digging off out of Innearth¡¯s influence. It left a meandering path like a drunk driver in a cornfield and left all kinds of goodies behind it. ¡­ahh yes. Good stuff. Not risking the precious¡¯s life just to find out more about the void ¨C no matter how curious I am. Innearth focused on what Brutality Queen had learned and tried to make sense of it. Everything worked better in analogies and using a simplified explanation so that''s what they communicated in. Innearth due to necessity and queen because she didn''t much care. Essentially the information gained from scouts was that the void continued on in all directions and was completely empty... ¡­but depending on which directions you focused on it was more or less dangerous. The bastion could be seen to be sitting in "shallow water void". The liquid was thin and was almost closer to a gas ¨C only allowing stuff to swim through it due to the lack of gravity. If you continued in what Innearth considered "three dimensions", this shallow water void continued on for kilometres in every direction without change ¨C presumably being endless but Innearth didn¡¯t have a way to confirm that. There was a huge difference between endless and ¡°really big¡± after all. If you shifted your perspective from what Innearth considered ¡°three dimensions¡± and moved in a different direction, the density of the liquid that represented space increased. As you dropped into deeper void water the number of demons operating/appearing increased exponentially. It still felt endlessly empty but when there were more ¡°dimensions¡± in a given space¡­well this is where the analogy of three dimensional space started to break apart. Imagining hundreds of overlapping ¡°almost completely empty¡± spaces occupying the same "space" ¨C each with a percent chance of containing a demon nearby and each that could provide a path from them to you...well it ¡°worked¡± as a concept, but in the same way pretending gravity was just the earth holding people down with tiny invisible hands worked as a concept ¨C wrong but close enough. There weren¡¯t discrete slices of different dimensions or overlapping areas. Instead, everything flowed in together at different angles and created ¡°denser¡± areas where they overlapped. These denser areas weren¡¯t fully like a sea getting denser in one direction and thinner in the other. It wasn¡¯t a straight path. Instead, it was closer to being a thin sky with thicker ¡°channels¡± of deep void running through it ¨C or blobby denser void splotches dropped onto a lighter void canvas. Usually while moving into one of those void splotches you would find yourself exiting a different one. And that was all that Innearth had gotten from Queen. He wanted more but would never force or ask his own ascended monsters to explore¡­except his monsters could hear most of his thoughts and sometimes selectively decided to ignore his wishes. The illusionary wurm seemed to get tired of Innearth¡¯s constant questions about the Void and took measures into their own tail ¨C disappearing into his gate. The wurm then disappeared for three whole weeks. Three weeks was nothing in the grand scheme of things ¨C and Innearth spent more time working on some designs ¨C but every single day of that time was spent worrying they wouldn''t return. It didn''t help that he learned more about what the ascended monsters of Queen had gone through. They had moved completely blind through the void floundering and getting occasionally damaged by the environment ¨C which while not immediately dangerous to a creature that didn¡¯t need to eat or breathe, contained pockets that had incredibly high pressure and others that were essentially vacuums that rapidly attempted to rip them apart. ¡­ the only reason the five scouts that returned were even able to scout, or make their way back, was due to having ranked up ¨C fighting demons at least once but on average twice. These evolutions had increased their senses and allowed them to navigate the strange space more instinctively and more importantly return in once piece. Apparently the system itself ¨C something Innearth believed to be a constant companion everywhere ¨C began acting strangely the further into deep void the monsters travelled. Information appeared to lag, and their status screens would either appear half filled or not at all if they attempted to check. The only reason two of Queen''s survivors had returned successfully was due to evolving a sense that could feel the thread connecting them to the system and following that back ¨C the other three had been close enough to either randomly chance upon Queen once more or ¡°see¡± it in the distance. The thread of the system. I didn¡¯t even know that existed. I thought the system existed everywhere and it turns out that invisible link is the only way the two returned??? Come on illusion wurm. Why did you take this risk? You''ve already levelled up plenty of times and hit a sort of wall of sorts. How are you going to advance in such a land without knowing what''s out there? ¡­ Amy noticed something was wrong and after unloading his worries to her in a series of PM''s he began feeling slightly better.
Amy: listen. If you can''t pin point the wurm while it''s literally inside of your influence what makes you think a demon can? I''m sure they are fine, they are going to show up any day now unharmed okay? I¡¯m not just saying that to get your hopes up I¡¯m positive they will return safely.
Innearth: ...seems arrogant to think just because I can''t see them demons can''t. I''ve been dealing with them pretty easily in the void so I''ve kind of stopped being as cautious but I haven''t forgotten demons are slagging terrifying.
Amy: trust in your ascended monster Innearth. Do you think they can do it?
Innearth: maybe yeah? I''m just worried.
Amy: so there. You don''t really think they could fail do you?
Innearth: no¡­
Amy: got it. Hey you''ve been drifting away from the Chat group lately. What''s up?
Innearth: I''m still there! I read everything posted and I respond to people¡­
Amy: but you don''t start as many topics. I''m not saying you are ignoring us but you...feel distant idk. I miss you.
Innearth: ...I just haven''t had anything to talk about. I guess I can tell everyone more about the bastion and what I''ve discovered?
Amy: of course! You''ve spent quite a bit of time on that! I also heard you were making some big boss? You haven''t shown that off yet! I want to see! I''m sure everyone else wants to see as well!
Innearth: sure. I''ll do that.
The next few hours were spent nearly fully focused on giving a tour of his bastion and roach knight to his friends. He had already given most of them glimpses of various parts ¨C Doc and Queen had already seen his current bastion and Doc and Abe had briefly seen the roach knight ¨C but this was the first time he had officially shown everything off.
ZeMadDoctor: ...I tried setting up a permanent base in the void once. But found most of my turrets got overwhelmed after a while. I can make a simple base there nearly permanently. But as soon as I start doing stuff like you. Like. As soon as I try building. The demons swarm it and it''s fall is almost inevitable.
ZeMadDoctor:...I''m almost jealous you are having better luck in the void than I am. It''s supposed to be my thing, I''m the expert.
Abe: Doc...actually getting jealous??? Wow. That''s an emotion I wouldn''t expect from him. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.
ZeMadDoctor: I said almost jealous. It''s a figure of speech. Hey Innearth. I was thinking. Do you want to try setting something like this up with a portal that travels a further distance? ZeMadDoctor: Say between our dungeons? We can try making a permanent base with the more dangerous demons. Your roach can defend it.
Abe: Hey! This sounds fun. I want in on some of this action¡­ Add me too!
ZeMadDoctor: ...splitting a portal singularity into more than two is much harder.
Abe: ...harder but not impossible?
ZeMadDoctor: I''ve done up to 4 before. But each entrance makes it more and more unstable. More likely for demons to be attracted to it. There''s a reason I set up my hub inside my dungeon and connected the two way portals around it instead of trying to make a hub in the void.
Abe: just us three? You can set up a three way portal and we can handle the increase in instability right?
Brutality Queen: Hey! I''ve also been exploring the void. I don''t want to be left out of a combined experiment.
ZeMadDoctor: ...I''ll have to experiment a bunch first. With this many people I might as well make it so everyone in the group can access it¡­but I can''t even handle three safely just yet. I need time.
Innearth: let me talk to you about void unrolling and some of the void materials I''ve found. I''m sure some of the stuff I''ve found will be useful for this.
ZeMadDoctor: That would be appreciated.
Abe: Alright! While doc''s working on that I have to say. How is your knight so strong? I thought we were pretty even on monster design but that blows what I can do up! And my monsters blow up!
Innearth: ah, yes. The most important thing to notice is skill. By that I mean my skills are legendary :3
Abe: ...alright. keep your secrets. :3<
Fated Eternal Design: I haven''t had a need to make a monster this strong yet but I have to admit¡­
In the stream the dungeon¡¯s were watching, a literal cloud of demon parts floated about backlighting the roach as it charged back and forth across the screen. The knight''s straight-line movement moved so fast it left solid spear-like lines that lingered like a cloud had been pierced by a dozen nails. Its dashes were almost as fast as laser beams, happening faster than any of the dungeons could keep up with.
Fated Eternal Design: ...I have to admit I don''t think I can make something this strong.
A large 30m round sphere floated across the screen before being shot straight through the middle ¨C the following explosion of demon parts completely covering the screen for a moment before settling. As gore settled about the knight stood revealed in the middle of Innearth¡¯s bastion in all its glory ¨C giving the impression of a military salute as it stared at the mess it had created. Moving about, a piercing beam of light began shining brilliantly ¨C melting scraps and blasting them away as the knight cleaned everything clumsily.
Abe: ???...if it had something that strong why didn''t it use it to fight??? What is that blast.
Innearth: OH! I should show off my Laser floors. Haven''t done that yet either!
After showing off his zones, Innearth flipped back to the bastion and started answering questions about his monsters and materials/techniques. Innearth smugly basked in their praise for a while and then started explaining his whole methodology for building the roach ¨C knowing quite a bit of it was something his specific group of affinities let happen, but he hoped it might give his friends some ideas. Partway through the description of the grains he was laying about and something started to nag on his attention. A part of his focus that was spent enjoying all the delves had gotten shocked enough at an adventurer that it wanted more attention analyzing what was happening. Looking over the memories of what was happening Innearth immediately started redistributing priorities and changing the stream background.
Innearth: Alright! Guy''s I''m going to show off a high-level delver
Flipping the camera over to follow the giant golem, Innearth was just in time to show his friends his mirror trial being shattered. The runes flashed alarmingly and then appeared to crack when the trial tried to copy his skill.
Abe: ¡­was it meant to do that?
Innearth: You''ve seen my trial working! No, that should not have happened.
The group watched as the small adventurer printed a seemingly endless number of copies to delve for them and continued wandering about.
Fated Eternal Design: So...he''s a summoner? Someone who''s magic is focused on making those fighters?
Innearth: I didn''t record it but he fought something a while ago. I think he''s just really strong.
The group followed the adventurer all the way to the entrance and then started to wind down.
Fated Eternal Design: Wouldn''t it be great being able to print out monsters like that?
Abe: ...do...do you not realize? No one tell him. I want to see how long it takes for him to figure it out.
Fated Eternal Design: ...what? I''m just saying. Looks useful.
Amy: FED, you''re a dungeon. You print out monsters all the time.
Fated Eternal Design: ...I guess you''re right. I didn''t really think of that.
Amy: he seems familiar.
ZeMadDoctor: Hey sorry. I forgot to respond. This adventurer came through my dungeon earlier. Did a quick level test. He''s above level 300. Strongest adventurer that has gone through my dungeon before and I''ve had some strong ones. Polite though. He didn''t smash through the walls like some of them. And, at least pretended to do my testing chambers. Even if he cheated by being overpowered.
Fated Eternal Design: Oh! I think I¡¯ve seen him as well. It''s been a while I didn¡¯t realize it was the same adventurer they all kind of look the same to me. When he came through my dungeon he was riding a small box like machine about. The printing is new.
¡­ After waiting a bit the adventurer exited the entrance to Innearth¡¯s dungeon and the group started to dissipate.
Amy: I read an article about why adventurers ¨C and sapients in general ¨C don¡¯t travel between continents. How have we all seen the same adventurer?
Abe: Bruh, He¡¯s High Level. That means he breaks all the rules. Let me tell you about this one adventurer who delved my whole dungeon sitting on a chair by the entrance.
¡­ The moment the illusionary wurm returned Innearth jolted into action. The illusion that crept across his bastion was strange. Inverted and black it appeared to have whips of smoke pooling out of it into the surroundings. It looked slightly demonic, but the knight didn¡¯t even acknowledge the illusion''s presence. And then the illusion fell revealing a tired-looking wurm several meters to the side. It dragged itself through the air several small wounds releasing crystal blood. But more importantly, the monster looked normal not "demonic"...if slightly changed from when it had left. Innearth created a healing pool near the center of his bastion, pouring a stream of mana into filling it with healing potion. He then waited as the wurm slipped in wounds closing and appendages being regrown in real time as the potion was consumed. Creating a slime booth beside the pool Innearth waited patiently then grabbed onto the connection and started receiving a stream of information. The wurm didn¡¯t appear to speak normally, instead they shoved concepts and emotions through the link and conjured illusions beside them to give a visual view of what they had seen. The illusions looked strange before Innearth realized they were multi-dimensional, but after that hiccup he began exploring the void through his monster''s memories. Unlike the picture that Queen''s monsters had provided, wurm showed the breadth of demons that existed. There wasn¡¯t much physical mass in the Void ¨C no lands, no buildings ¨C but what did exist was symbiotic relationships. Giant, relatively flat demons flew about while various blobs and shapes stood on top of them and sparred. Almost humanoid demons sharpened the twisted and beaten weapons they held ¨C crafted from the bones of yet more demons. At the start of the telling Innearth started to wonder if demons could be reasoned with. Maybe crossing the portals into the real world made them insane? I mean it evidently did but maybe they started off more civilized? Innearth maintained that theory through several scenes of demons eating or torturing each other for fun. Gotta have a hobby. Doesn''t seem much different from some of the stuff I''ve heard sapients get up to. He maintained this theory up to the point the illusion wurm started being interjected into these scenes. That point was the illusion wurm being captured in a giant cage ¨C kilometres across ¨C that shrunk down and let the demons access the wurm...well that point broke Innearth¡¯s good cheer. He watched in fury as a pair of demons closed the cage down onto the wurm¡¯s real body and started playing a game of ripping out body parts and seeing if the wurm were still alive. Innearth found out then how demons were made. Free floating bits of dead flesh or matter slowly warped in the void before becoming a true demon after various periods of time drifting. These small demons were then eaten by the tormenting pair that then grew ever so slightly bigger ¨C giving Innearth more insight into how demons operated. They didn¡¯t need to eat for energy, instead appearing to exist just fine in the void indefinitely ¨C not even consuming mana like they did in the regular universe. Instead, they ate purely for mass ¨C the strongest demons getting larger and larger nearly indefinitely, with the only deviation being growth in dimensions that made them denser and harder. The pair then pulled strands of a ropy flesh that had replaced the liquid crystal original from the wurm¡¯s hapless body. These fleshy bits were used as a rope with which to carry their prize about and fish for more demons. Innearth watched the "Game" feeling hot, his influence clenching slightly as he attempted to grind a rock to bits in anger ¨C it didn''t work so he cut it up into smaller pieces and flung them about before returning to watch the illusions. A period of time comprised of this pair tossing the bound wurm into a patch of deep void then tugging it back with a stream of demons trailing along behind them. They continued "fishing" for what felt like days and the only reason the wurm ended up escaping this period was when a third more bestial demon came in and ate the pair. The wurm quickly hid itself in illusions and unlike the tormenting pair this third party wasn¡¯t able to find them based on the cage and left. I think I preferred when demons were eldritch horrors I couldn¡¯t understand. The following series of scenes was a telling of the wurm slaughtering and eating demons until they ranked up and infused the cage into its body. It then began searching for Innearth for what felt like several months ¨C its illusions now effectively more "real" and able to attack for it and its main body somehow less "real". As if it transferred its ¡°reality¡± from its main vulnerable body to its disposable illusions allowed itself to shrug off wide-ranged attacks that would have killed it previously. The illusions also each contained a restraining ability that allowed the wurm to catch stronger and stronger demons to kill and eat ¨C finally ascending a second time at level 128 and gaining an ability that allowed it to return to Innearth. That would have been the end of the story right there but while the wurm was able to transfer its reality about ¨C and gained an ability to teleport itself between illusionary doubles ¨C the void affected magic in weird ways. In the real-world teleportation was travel through the void and in the void teleportation was moving ¡°space¡± around with it being more malleable. Based on how the skill worked it should have made the wurm even more protected ¨C but because of how the Void worked, all it did was briefly drop the illusion protecting the wurm. That allowed a creature of endless teeth to latch on as they shifted past ripping several chunks of wurm out. That was the cause of all the wounds that covered the wurm when it arrived In Innearth¡¯s influence. Innearth took in all this information and came to an executive decision. Keep on burning demons to the ground and pay extra attention to the tool using humanoid ones. Despite being safe in Innearth¡¯s influence, when the wurm attempted to enter the real world it began feeling uncomfortable. Innearth carefully watched fearing the wurm would go insane before it returned to his bastion unprompted and calmed down. The wurm finally moved to the slime booth and transmitted the emotions and feeling directly. Innearth stared somewhat lost of what to do. You can try and advance in the real world? Reach level 256 and see if that fixes everything? The wurm curled up in an undisclosed location on his bastion projecting an image of it moving back and forth near the edge while its main body slept. Several hours later the wurm awoke once more and ¨C after confirming they would attempt to reach level 255 in the Void ¨C pushed back out. It felt similar to how Innearth felt when Onyx left to make his own way. Are all my children going to leave me? ¡­now that I think about it Rutile hasn¡¯t come back yet. He was only supposed to go until he finished helping Abe out ¨C where''s he at?
Innearth: Hey uh¡­Quick question. It''s been awhile how¡¯s the exchange student doing? He helping out?
Abe: Ah! Yeah the little buddy is doing great. He¡¯s figured out how to make all sorts of things¡­
Innearth: He figured out how to make a X crystal equivalent for explosion mana?
Abe: no¡­he made several crystal shrapnel grenades then stopped working with crystals for a bit. He did figure out how to make guns that re-summoned bullets pretty easily and making them unstable enough to explode when shot so I¡¯m happy ¨C that¡¯s all I wanted after all.
Innearth: ¡­so he¡¯s done? Is he coming back?
Abe: ¡­I can ask the lil guy what he thinks he hasn¡¯t mentioned it yet. Just keeps flipping to different things.
Innearth: ¡­does he not want to come back?
¡­I just thought out loud at my screen I didn¡¯t mean to type that. A moment later Rutile stepped through the portal. If he was that close by why hasn¡¯t he visited yet? Does he hate me? The dwarf moved over and sat down on a rock in the suppression array. He lowered himself down out of sight of the gate in case an adventurer came past and then pulled out a strange tube covered in knobs. Twiddling with his tube, Rutile connected to Innearth directly ¨C not needing a roundabout connection. Hey¡­what¡¯s up? Abe said there was something important you needed me for? Rutile spoke ¨C his voice much more confident and strong than when he had left. ¡­I have no clue why he would say that. Just wanted to see how you were doing? Wondering when you were coming back. Instead of answering, the dwarf fiddled with his device for a moment ¨C spinning it around absentmindedly and flipping a switch on and off as if trying to figure out what to say. Finally he spoke once more. I don¡¯t want to come back. In here I¡¯m¡­just another dwarf. Before I advanced I was one of hundreds and after I was the third choice between Steve and Ilm. In here I¡¯m nothing special but in Uncle Abe¡¯s dungeon I¡¯m one of a kind. I¡¯m special and can do stuff that no one else can. Rutile spoke slowly gaining momentum. I like feeling needed and Abe hasn¡¯t figured out the trick of making anyone like me. His best attempt made some strange creature that left exploding shapes everywhere and that sort of instinctual crafting¡­sorry. Basically I like working in Abe¡¯s dungeon. He finished abruptly as if going to say more and then thinking better of it. It was at this point that Innearth noticed his other crystal dwarfs listening in to his side of the conversation. Innearth¡¯s emotions were evident in the method he used to communicate with his dungeon monsters¡­and thus it felt unfair that they heard what he felt and still chose now to start speaking up. Steve spoke up first, joining the conversation. Well, I for one am not leaving. I have to figure out the trial room! I need to figure out how to prevent it from exploding with high levelled people! ¡­so as soon as the trial is finished he might leave. Got it. Got it. Need to start sabotaging the trial then. Just joking obviously. But maybe? Nah definitely joking... Innearth muttered to himself actively working to make sure his monsters couldn¡¯t hear him. Ilmenite''s response was worse. I¡¯ve been thinking of moving up to the town above us. You know how you haven¡¯t gotten much information about what has been happening? I could be your scout! Thinking of buying a nice little cottage and setting up a workshop. It will be great. I¡¯m sure they have better booze up there! Ilm excitedly laid out her plans this being the first time she mentioned them. ¡­if that¡¯s what you want then sure. Innearth replied ¨C intellectually understanding that the city above was much closer than Oynx had travelled¡­and that having a spy to tell him what was happening was a good idea¡­but emotionally feeling like he was being abandoned.
Innearth: Does anyone else have issues with all their ascended monsters leaving them?
Amy: Nope! All my monsters are content to live in their environments ascended or not¡­most that have ascended need my water and there isn¡¯t really a lot nearby to satisfy them so they are stuck with me.
Abe: ¡­yeah most of mine dipped after a few days. Wonder how they are doing?
Fated Eternal Design: My Ascended monsters have all joined my cult and¡­well somehow made it stronger? They are head priests I think I can¡¯t remember they travel about spreading the eternal gospel.
Innearth: When does it stop hurting when they leave?
Brutality Queen: Bah. Pop out a few more. Little squirts are easy to replace. Hey Innearth, come check out my void defenses.
Abe: Ah, I¡¯m not a good progenitor Innearth. To be honest I¡¯m glad when they leave. I don¡¯t really know what to do with them you know?
Innearth: You¡¯re treating Rutile well!
Abe: That¡¯s different! He¡¯s my little helper! Plus, you¡¯re my best bro and I¡¯m making sure he¡¯s safe for you. With my own kids I just tell them not to blow themselves up - even if it would be cool - and try not to bother them.
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­So you are saying ascended monsters are not valid test subjects?
Innearth: Doc¡­no. They are precious.
ZeMadDoctor: I think ascended monsters should share your hobbies. If I could mod my own core I would!
Innearth: ¡­I feel better. Thanks everyone. Today I¡¯ve confirmed I¡¯m not the worst parent.
ZeMadDoctor: In other news I¡¯ve figured out how to make a shared space by now. Splitting more portals off initially just gets messy and unstable. But if I make several pairs and dump one side of the portal through one of the gates then each of those adds another possible entrance.
Innearth: ¡­you can do that?
ZeMadDoctor: Yeah, I figured it out a few days ago I¡¯ve just been stress testing it to make sure it doesn¡¯t break anything.
Innearth: Hey, well whenever you think it''s ready send me an endpoint I want in!
ZeMadDoctor: It''s ready right now. I''m thinking we set it up just between the two of us and add more points for others afterwards.
Innearth: Sure!
Chapter 73. The dimension of friendship and rainbows.
There are countless methods of transportation, but the holy grail of magical abilities is teleportation. Countless variations exist ¨C each with different names, methodologies, strengths and weaknesses ¨C but besides the ¡°quick movement¡± variants that aren¡¯t really teleportation...some part of their underlying reality is the same. By that I mean all teleportation magic involves passing through the void for a short period of time. While some teleportation spells involve compressing or briefly transforming the user into some magical being ¨C and while they all have various ¡°rules¡± on where or when the spell can be used...and how to determine the destination ¨C the underlying path that a teleported creature travels is the land of demons. Because of that reality ¨C besides the difficulty of casting nearly all teleportation spells ¨C most sapients cannot or will not attempt to teleport before they are a high level. Of those that do so at a lower level, over half disappear and never reach their destination. The following section is a list of several common teleportation spells and their capabilities. Shadow step/Shadow shift/Shadow drift all must have the beginning start in ¨C and the destination end in ¨C a shadow. Some variants only allow one to travel to linked shadows almost instinctively, while others work based off a methodology that all shadows in the world are linked. Typically while transferring, a user is partly shifted into a being of shadow that can both fit through the dark mist like substance that forms the passage ¨C as well as gain senses with which one can understand the shadows and actually reappear on the other side. Arbor commune ¨C nearly exclusively used by elves ¨C this spell seems to create a filtered portal that only teleports their soul, forcing them to recreate their body on the other side from an acorn or similar tree seed. Has the effect that one must both be touching a tree near the start of the process and appear in a tree at the end ¨C elves are notoriously unwilling to explain if there are any other weaknesses. Save soul ¨C the most popular teleportation spell for items, this spell usually involves first laying a ¡°safe¡± point somewhere¡­well safe ¨C and then retreating to that point at a moment¡¯s notice. The most common case of this spell being used is in single use ¡°save stones¡± sold for high prices in most high leveled dungeon cities. These stones allow delvers to retreat should their life be in danger. The most popular items include an automatic activation that saves someone near death and teleport their charges into pre prepared healing rooms filled with overlapping lifesaving capabilities and staffed by high level healers. Random Pop: Both used in some instinctual short ranged manner by gnomes and gremlins, and in long ranged elaborate but easy to set up variants. This spell transfers the user somewhere ¨C anywhere ¨C with no ability to affect the destination. Survivors from the longer ranged variants have reported appearing everywhere from their bedroom, to the top of a building, to totally different continents or the bottom of dungeons. "Perfect" Teleportation ¨C typically seen as the pinnacle of teleportation spellwork, this spell allows its user to travel to any place they have visited since they gained the ability to use this spell. Its major weakness is the unavoidable pain that accompanies its use ¨C typically users claim it feels like their very being is ripped into little tiny particles and then reconstituted on the other side. Most users of the spell claim it¡¯s not worth it, while most people without the ability claim it can''t possibly be that bad.
Excerpt obtained from the "A wizards handbook - 452nd edition". Doc explained what he had done while setting up the system with Innearth.
ZeMadDoctor: Okay. So. Let''s ignore trying to split a portal singularity into more than two entrances. Portals have two sides right? And are bound to two objects? ZeMadDoctor: To make multiple entrances into the void. I''ve figured out how to bring one of those gate entrances through a portal and open it on the other side ¨C I have to protect it with a bit of space mana but it works surprisingly well.
Innearth: So that works indefinitely?
ZeMadDoctor: In lab conditions it does. Every additional portal. Pulls the space around and makes it more dangerous. But it''s stable and can be done somewhat indefinitely.
As Doc talked, he sent Innearth a pair of balls. One black and one blue.
ZeMadDoctor: Blue ball is an eventual potential adventurers entrance. Black ball is hopefully the influence entrance. ZeMadDoctor: The influence entrance is set to only open to 3cm in diameter. That should be enough to spread through if you use a circuit. The other entrance can open to various sizes to accommodate various sized adventurers and monsters like normal. Make sure to keep them at least a token distance from your other portals so they don''t clash too badly.
Innearth: Got it.
Once again picking an empty spot in his suppression array Innearth finished his preparations. He then opened the influence tube and worked towards expanding through it in a calm but focused manner ¨C his frantic nervous void expansion had already been tempered by his previous times in the Void. Immediately once he was on both sides of the portal, Innearth turned and began pulling through premade parts and completing a ¡°dungeon flesh circuit¡±. He was using a design he had been testing out recently ¨C one based on experiments in monsters. Essentially Innearth created a sort of fiber optic cable of several individual crystal threads tied together tightly. He then shoved that bundle through the gate and "slightly shrunk the bundle in one direction" to increase their efficiency. The distance was so short this shrinking didn¡¯t really change the distance too much ¨C but the act of shrinking it mattered from an intent perspective. On each end of the cable, Innearth made a defensive support to hold the bundle in place and protect the passage. He then claimed and passed his influence through the relatively small portal ¨C weakness removed. At this point he probably could have expanded through a hole even smaller than 3cm but it was always nice to surpass the requirements. Flowing out into the space, Innearth worked quickly ¨C speedrunning the defenses he had prepared. Several kinetic based turrets were printed immediately into the space around his void entrance ¨C Innearth had queued them up and allowed most of their construction time to be done beforehand meaning they all appeared in the entrance almost instantaneously. After abusing the system to set up turrets he set a dozen void circuited snakes ¨C his comfort monster tweaked slightly to make use of his new materials and with fins to better swim about in the Void. He then pushed outwards vibrating his influence in all directions as he worked to claim the area. As Innearth expanded further away from his portal entrance he found the space felt¡­strange. He kept trying to pinpoint what the feeling was ¨C is it a tingling? A feeling of being held? It was only when he grew close to the other end of the passage and felt the space directly around Doc¡¯s door that he realized what it was.
Innearth: Doc, is that you?
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­hmm, based on articles I read I was under the impression we could not expand into the same area. Let me finish repairing the initial kinetic cage and we can run some tests.
Immediately around Doc¡¯s entrance, Innearth felt like he was squished up against a bubble. Attempting to expand just pressed his influence into Doc''s ineffectually. In the middle of the ¡°hallway¡± however, the strange state of the Void had their influence mix like two dyes in a liquid. Perhaps it was closer to two coloured sands being stirred together ¨C for Innearth could tell they were "technically" not combined completely¡­just so twisted about it felt like they were. Looking around, Innearth could tell the continental gate was in a much "deeper" Void than the passage that was a meter or two in reality ¨C the one that contained his bastion. Considering how different the distance between the two gates was, the density wasn¡¯t nearly as drastic as it could have been ¨C only about twice as dense for millions of times as far. It was almost just a curiosity¡­but it did mean Innearth had a harder time visualizing the space he was in and there were more demon incursions.
Innearth: It''s weird watching you work.
Effectively having claimed the same area Innearth could see nearly invisible tendrils of mana ¨C Doc¡¯s mana ¨C move in a looping pattern. It looked almost like Doc was bending kinetic mana into a chain-like fence with linked perfectly circular and spinning loops. These kinetic structures were then "blown" with blasts of different gasses that somehow "set" the constructs ¨C leaving them floating in the void like magical cloths. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Each patch of kinetic cloth was thrown over the tattered holes in Doc''s initial structure ¨C and they appeared to blur into the recognizable shape Innearth knew them as as they combined with the existing defences. The tube around them was mostly intact ¨C but absolutely shredded with holes. Innearth spent some time just watching Doc work while building snakes. He watched as first one, then two, then a few dozen small demons floated through and were absolutely torn to even smaller floaty bits. Finishing his void snake ¡°stock up¡± Innearth began working on creating solid and void stone bricks to supplement Doc¡¯s defences. Not wanting to interfere with Doc¡¯s web, Innearth made his walls a few millimeters away from the construct ¨C making sure nothing touched and potentially broke something The two dungeons worked in silence. They built around one another and secured this new location while occasionally interacting in small ways.
Innearth: Hey doc, this part seems especially weak
Innearth sent while throwing some crystal mana around a tattered portion of the web. Easily seeing the side light up with his mana vision, Doc turned his attention to the spot building a new patch.
ZeMadDoctor: Correct¡­thanks.
Slowing down from building bricks, Innearth watched as more and more demons began battering themselves against the space. Long thin hammer-shaped demons and masses of feathers, boxes and eels, pocketed and "barnacle" incrusted floaties or hard-shelled squids ¨C the demons were nothing if not varied. These periodic attacks sharply spiked as destroyed demons floated out into the surroundings but the defences Innearth and Doc had made were stable. At some point, Doc had stopped building walls and switched to more offensive defences as well. Doc''s turrets were much more sophisticated than Innearth¡¯s. Instead of making them the best he could and then giving up when their strength started reaching diminishing returns like Innearth had. Doc had iterated their design as much as ¨C if not more than ¨C his monsters. A web of kinetic triggers infused the whole device with such a density Innearth couldn''t tell what was happening. Parts were constantly in motion winding up springs and more magical batteries before releasing all their strength at once. Materials were shipped through the portal ¨C Doc opened his second one for half a second each time he transferred a bead through ¨C and placed in the device. It looked like Doc had some sort of yellow liquid generation material that flowed down into a kinetic mould triggering¡­something. Then a spinning bit made a whirlpool of the liquid in its mould ¨C while a second unique material on a pendulum swung over and sort of¡­ ¡°transformed¡± the liquid in this whirlpool while it grazed the side. The liquid turned an incredibly dark orange and solidified over the course of half a second ¨C like a sped-up view of ice forming. Another part then spun about and knocked it into a ¡°storage container¡± with a sharp tap. This whole setup was on a perfect loop ¨C making identical bullets at a rate of one every 5 or so seconds. Theoretically, there was a way to stop the creation of bullets if its storage got full, but the highest number of bullets that formed usually only reached around 50 before they needed to be used. The whole turret also had 360 degrees of horizontal movement and could aim up and down by 70 or so degrees ¨C pumping its whole store of spiral bullets into anything that moved. While mostly mundane in nature, these bullets were fast and plentiful ¨C and actually damaged the demons in a way more magical effects did not.
Innearth: I''ve never noticed how detailed those are.
ZeMadDoctor: Yeah. Should be mostly done. I think the attacks shouldn''t get too much worse than they are currently. ZeMadDoctor: Want to start performing some experiments!? I thought we would test out what the shared space means for our spells.
Innearth: Sure!
The next several days were spent first making materials and monsters individually and comparing how they faired against similar constructs inside their own dungeon and void strongholds to see how they compared. Everything appeared to work fine ¨C besides the difference between stuff made in the Void and outside of it. They then attempted to use Space and Void mana. Innearth could unroll the Void just fine ¨C to a much higher degree in the deeper void ¨C but after reaching a certain level of ¡°unrolledness¡± it started to squish Doc in a manner he stated was uncomfortable. Besides¡¯ that test, they found they could not both use mana to alter the structure of an area ¨C not without either ¡°breaking the others space¡± or failing. If Innearth unrolled an area and then stopped affecting it, Doc could then claim it just fine however. Space mana was hard for Innearth to even see and the feeling of his influence being inside a place that ¡°grew¡± was¡­not uncomfortable but decidedly ¡°off¡± as if he shouldn¡¯t be able to feel it. They then moved onto attempting to collaborate on different creations ¨C using the same space to build a monster or combining two of their mana types simultaneously to make a joint material was a similar ¡°off¡± sensation. In comparison to the way dungeons could use the system to collaborate, doing it manually felt like repeatedly brushing up against one another ¨C or bumping the other¡¯s effects occasionally breaking one of their concentration. After roughly 3 weeks of doing this, the demon incursions started to brush up against the limit of their defences. It felt like over half of their effort was put into repairing walls and monsters that were destroyed and Innearth made the executive decision to move his roach knight into the new space. Not wanting to just abandon the original bastion out of hand Innearth first commissioned several turrets from Doc and then set two of the hydra¡¯s familiars to guard the space. They can regenerate after all ¨C still can¡¯t figure out how to replicate whatever that group did ¨C and are cheap defences all things considered. Considering I haven¡¯t needed them all to defend the other portals at once before I think it¡¯s a good experience for them. Worst case I¡¯ll cut the bastion off but incursions have slowed down slightly since I stopped expanding and building stuff in there. Oh. I wonder if cutting off the bastion while one of the hydra''s familiars is still there would break their bond. Should make sure to let them retreat ¨C or die and transfer back to the group ¨C before shutting it for good. They are irreplaceable right now after all. Happy with his plan, Innearth swapped personnel around before returning to his joint experimentations.
ZeMadDoctor: Okay! Now we should test what happens if we both try to give life to a monster at once!
Innearth: Oh? That¡¯s an idea. I¡¯m in!
With smaller monsters, whichever spark was given first would take even if done within milliseconds of one another ¨C while with bigger and denser monsters, sparks introduced at opposite sides the two would sort of struggle over the body before one came out on top. Partway through this series of experiments ¨C they were making a monster with two cores and both giving life to a different core ¨C and the two realized they were being called repeatedly in the group chat.
Abe: So¡­when can I join?
Brutality Queen: I want to join first! It''s been ages. Are you guys ready yet?
ZeMadDoctor: I believe we should introduce new cores one at a time. We should be good now however. So as long as you decide who¡¯s joining first we can probably make it.
Innearth: Yeah¡­I don¡¯t want to pick between the two of you ¨C you are both my good friends ¨C so you should decide amongst yourself. :)
Abe: wow¡­and you¡¯ve known me longer bro.
Brutality Queen: Alright, Abe ¨C I challenge you to a monster duel. Strongest monster wins!
Fated Eternal Design: If you are doing that you should at least make the show fun for the rest of us ¨C oh! Let¡¯s make a duel similar to the dungeon games.
Abe: ¡­so we make a nice little game out of it? Sure¡­that¡¯s fine. How about a game of exploding dodgeball. We set up monsters that can chunk bombs at each other and see which one lasts longer.
Brutality Queen: ¡­That is too obviously one-sided. How about instead of playing to your strength we make an obstacle course and let our monsters rush through it. Like the race from the games but we put more defences for them to get through. Or maybe we just do a race but without any rules ¨C our monsters can tunnel through the ground or something?
Abe: Oh and that¡¯s not just playing to your strengths? I know you like using mud and that can probably slide through a lot of defences. How about we remove the exploding part and just make ranged attackers? I can still use bombs that way but you can do¡­whatever it is you do. Shoot leaves or something?
Amy: Guys, don¡¯t fight. How about this. Instead of playing to either one of your strengths, we focus on something both of you are equally bad at. Aesthetic. We can set up a monster beauty contest and decide which of you makes a more interesting or fun-looking monster?
Fated Eternal Design: Oh! I like this idea. I assume the rest of us are judges? There are¡­4 of us. So you have to have 3 judges vote for you to win?
ZeMadDoctor: I can sit this one out. Three judges is better no? Just tell me who wins and I¡¯ll set them up.
Innearth: Don¡¯t take too long :3 Let''s say, three days? No, two days to make your monsters and then we¡¯ll judge them.
Brutality Queen: Works for me.
Abe: Oho¡­you¡¯re on.
Amusing himself with imagining what the two could come up with, Innearth puttered about his dungeon ¨C making small tweaks while imagining what he would bring to the table if he was competing as well. Triangles are pretty so the monster would have to be shaped like a pyramid. Oh! I could resurrect the jumper schematic and give the pyramid a single hopping foot. Lasers? The pyramid would have to be a giant crystal obviously¡­OH! And it needs to include a spinning bit on the top. That would complete the look perfectly. Making his monster and then scrapping it when it didn¡¯t look nearly as cool as what he was picturing, Innearth was glad he didn¡¯t have to compete when the judging started ¨C leave Amy to pick such a hard topic.
Abe: Ayyyo. Okay. I¡¯m first. I call this monster. King Explosion Murder.
His stream flicked on showing off an incredibly furry ball constantly sparking as lightning mana travelled up its hairs and shot off into the surroundings randomly. On the top of the fuzzball, a giant cannon was mounted and a crown somehow floated above the whole monster ¨C twirling slowly while smouldering constantly.
Abe: Boom. You like it don¡¯t you. It speaks to you huh? Really makes you want to set it off.
Without waiting for a response Abe said something to his monster ¨C prompting them to begin shooting slightly dangerous-looking fireworks like a chaingun. Colourful explosion after colourful explosion wracked the room he was using to show his monster off ¨C and the whole screen shook repeatedly in a manner Innearth suspected was slightly fabricated.
Abe: Bro. Don¡¯t leave me hanging. Where¡¯s my win.
Amy: We have to see queen''s monster as well. Thanks for sharing!
Silently Queen flicked on her screen showing off a massive creature easily the size of Innearth¡¯s roach knight ¨C uncompressed and with fewer details but still massive. The monster looked somewhat like a small island on a hundred legs and despite being shaped like a walking bowl, somehow managed to look like it was covered in muscles. The top of the bowl contained several miniature ¡°monsters¡± that were attached by nearly invisible threads to the island below. ¡­to make them count as a single body and single monster that could be presented? Around these small tethered ¡°monsters¡± a miniature forest complete with small pool of water and looping creek was artfully arranged. Somehow the little Bonzai''s were simply limbs on the island ¨C for as the group watched the island trundle about, veins shot out of the miniature canopy¡¯s fake trees. Wood mana materials broke apart into a set of splintering teeth and a small hole in the center of the island extended a leafy tongue dripping viscous sap. This island then snagged a small bird as it flew past ¨C reeling it in and munching loudly before returning to its terrarium-like state. A moment later the island burped and feathers dropped out behind it ¨C the only sign the bird had ever existed. Then ¨C after a solid beat for all the dungeons to process this monster ¨C Queen commented on her showing for the first time.
Brutality Queen: I¡¯ll take my win now please :3
Chapter 74. The bloody dimension of friendship and demons.
Hey! Dungeon reviewer Tom here. Today I¡¯m going to explore a dungeon that goes by the name of Nomix. Nomix is a stranger dungeon than most ¨C as expected from the city of scribes ¨C and the surrounding city is actually the area I grew up in! The main drop of the dungeon is magical parchment and ink. Occasionally single use charms but mainly blank paper as white as powdered snow. While most adventurers would find this drop somewhat unsatisfying ¨C other than the ocasional mage ¨C the people of Nomix look towards the loot with satisfaction. And with good reason! This dungeon makes some of the best parchment in the world ¨C some have taken to calling it paper to differentiate it from the more standard parchments. As the premier place to get a decent quality grimoire and the home of the largest enchantment trade this city is a city of magic. The process of storing spells or wizardly secrets on light weight materials, means the city has some of the most knowledgeable practitioners of magic in the entire central continent! The most popular export is easily mass produced ¡°secret finding scrolls¡± ¨C they function by letting adventurers scan an area to reveal hidden passages or alcoves¡­ but I¡¯m getting a bit too excited thinking about my hometown. The Nomix dungeon itself contains mostly origami golems enhanced with magic. Numerous magical items guard the dimly lit hallways ¨C and the librarians! The deadly librarians lurk behind counters and shelves, ready to strike as soon as you lower your guard. For humans, this city gatekeeps some of the only methods of gaining the [scribe] class as well as the more esoteric [paper mage] and [ink mage] classes. For elves it provides a safe source of writing material that doesn¡¯t harm trees and for gnomes it provides a perfect source of material for their racial spells. The flora and fauna that surround the city have been changed over centuries and now low level monsters contain black blood usable as ink ¨C contain quills that work great for writing and dyes that can be used to paint illustrations. Even trees close to the dungeon have their leaves turn into white and clean sheets but those are lesser quality than the paper riches that can be found in the dungeon. Anyways. As far as a dungeon experience goes there are probably more exciting dungeons out there¡­ but this one has a special place in my heart. It¡¯s the first dungeon I ever delved, and I look at the paper enemies with nostalgia filled eyes. I want each and every reader to think back to what your first dungeon was. How you felt when you first gained your class or found your first hunk of treasure. As a bit of personal information my very first proper reward is a very durable quill. I¡¯ve kept it to this very day and despite not doing much it is my most prized of possessions. Anyways, this review has gone through a bit of a tone shift hasn¡¯t it! I figured after 300 reviews I had to do something special. Thanks for sticking with me and as always. Thanks for reading.
Excerpt Obtained from the popular serial "Tom''s Dungeon Reviews Issue #300"
Amy: ¡­I¡¯m definitely going have to give my vote to queen. Besides being biased towards nature and life-based monsters ¨C this is just so much better than the majority of her normal monsters. She¡¯s improved the most and that counts for something for me.
Fated Eternal Design: I simply must agree but for a different reason. This is less a monster than a whole concept. Its set off all sorts of ideas in my head. I¡¯m going to try and build a flying version of this that adventurers have to travel across. I want to make a whole bunch of them with carefully sculpted mist mana to look like clouds! Think of that! The dreaded sky, captured and tamed in my dungeon!
Amy: We are voting on aesthetics¡¯ not concepts.
Fated Eternal Design: Oh, well¡­the natural beauty of this island is pretty great. The harmony of the lake ties into the biome like quality of the trees¡­etc. She¡¯s artfully combined a dungeon and dungeon monster into a single concept! ¡­ah why am I justifying my rating while you gave some flimsy justification of growth? We are voting on aesthetics not growth!
Amy: I¡¯m sorry! My vote is based on how it looks. I like the trees and pond and natural look. I just tried to give a different reason because I know I¡¯m biased towards that. I didn¡¯t mean to be hypocritical!
Abe: It looks like she just picked a random part of her dungeon and gave life to it. :3<
Innearth: Hey Abe, I thought your monster was pretty cool, so you have my vote at least?
Abe: ¡­are you just saying that because queen already has the two she needs to win and you want me to feel better?
Amy: Abe your monster was cute but too close to what you normally make. I liked the fuzziness but it was just a bit worse than the trees Queen sculpted and those cute little wooden teeth. Oh! You should add some adorable little spikes to the rim of it if you remake this monster! OH! Abe you should give your monster a massive tongue and tons of adorable eyes everywhere.
Abe: Thanks¡­ it''s fine. We¡¯re cool. I¡¯ll take my loss. No Biggy. I¡¯m Finee.
Brutality Queen: So I won? Well I figured I would. Love the confirmation though. Feels greeeaat. Hey Doc, want to send me a keycard into this exclusive club you guys are working with?
Innearth: ¡­
ZeMadDoctor: Oh! You¡¯ve sorted it out? Good. One sec queen.
Doc moved the portal stone about ¨C finally picking a spot roughly between the two existing ¡°influence¡± gates, making an equilateral triangle of portal entrances. He then sent a message to Queen to open their end without much fanfare. Innearth was only partly paying attention when it opened ¨C immediately switching more of his mental ¡°processing¡± power to focus on the stronghold they were building. He stared about at everything as the gate violently formed. On the Void side, the portal appeared to open as if in slow motion ¨C and as it did the whole area began to shake and warp continuously as reality stretched and their 3D illusion warped. The Void density increased slightly but significantly ¨C by around 30-40% ¨C and countless cracks and tears appeared violently in the walls and defences they had made.
Innearth: I thought we were stable?
ZeMadDoctor: We are bridging more areas. It''s bound to get more dangerous ¨C don¡¯t worry everything is still really stable! There¡¯s no problem with the portals or area¡­ it''s just dragging us into a deeper section of the void. Like when we open the cross continental connections.
Innearth: Are all the additions going to do this?
ZeMadDoctor: Probably. The link to you was worse. And this one is only around a third of the same increase? I can¡¯t imagine the other links being worse than this. It might be a fraction of this. It might be close? Without more data. I really can¡¯t say. Did it just go up by 2/3 to your 2/2 ? did it just get multiplied by 133.33%? Is it random? Just based on distance?
Innearth: I get it. You need more data.
Watching queen start slowly pushing through the gate was interesting, but immediately replaced in importance by the increase in demon incursions. Several humanoid demons peeked into the zone ¨C casually pulling aside the tattered kinetic threads of Doc¡¯s cloth while they did so. Each had an oblong body and limbs but their proportions looked off. One demon¡¯s head was much smaller than it should be ¨C two massive eyes appearing to be squished onto its small head. The second had three hands and carried a carved bone spear that looked both straight and like it was heavily curved ¨C it hurt Innearth¡¯s core to examine too closely like demons sometimes did in the real world. The third and final demon had a huge hole where its stomach should be. Appearing to phase through the defences, this trio headed straight for the newest gate ¨C correctly deciding it was the least defended. Less than 2m into the room, the roach knight came streaking from the side. Space appeared to warp as it moved quickly ¨C void liquid moving out of its way and rippling space around it made the walls and floor appear to be under a rippling pool. The spear-wielding demon curved and deflected the initial strike ¨C hand blurring to defend ¨C but diverted the roach knight into the baby-headed demon who seemed unable to keep up. Despite being much slower, the baby-headed demon was still alive ¨C if heavily wounded. Alive despite taking the full brunt of the knight¡¯s charge. The hole-filled demon reached out as if to hug the knight ¨C still embedded in its buddy. Long fingers extended at odd angles as if each were a sharp-angled snake with a mind of its own. Throwing its head to the side, the knight tossed the ¡°baby-headed demon¡± into the knife hand¡¯s path. At the same moment as the baby was skewered, a spear came in a spiralling twist from the fastest demon. The roach knight parried the spear with a spike that shot out of its side, then pushed out a steady beam of laser mana that began slowly forming a smoking burn on the spear demon''s face. Despite being able to melt through solid metal and mana-reinforced supermaterials like butter, the laser mana attack did a pitiful amount of damage to alive demonic bodies. Quickly seeing the attack was useless the knight shifted slightly ¨C appearing to infuse itself with the laser mana instinctively. Lines of light flowed just beneath the skin of the roach knight ¨C all moving incredibly quickly ¨C before suddenly the knight shifted into a rapid spin. As the roach twisted through the air, every single spike on one side extended out like a saw. The first spike was parried away awkwardly as the demon moved back, but the rest smashed its weapon out of its hands and sheared through. Spikes ripped apart the surprised-looking demon''s body in several spots ¨C killing it decisively. Several quick dashes with glancing swipes and stabs later, and the other two demons lay floating ¨C the gravity materials Innearth had made being mostly broken after the shift. Pouring its laser mana in a wide beam around the group, the knight slowly melted ¨C and then vaporized as their resistances were overcome ¨C the demons, turning to face its next opponents.
Innearth: I don¡¯t like how that was closer than it has been. The knight has been overpowering all the demons pretty one-sidedly up until now.
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­Innearth it took them out in less than five seconds. Three on one. It''s still overwhelmingly stronger.
Innearth: ¡­I guess.
Innearth tried to compare the strength of his knight to the strength of the demons currently crawling through the walls or appearing already partly in the room. The knight was easily twice ¨C if not four times ¨C as strong as all of them individually. ¡­but there was only one knight ¨C a cumulation of all of Innearth¡¯s abilities used over a full month of design not to mention the material cost and mana cost¡­
Innearth: I guess.
ZeMadDoctor: Now you¡¯re just repeating yourself. Listen, help me shore up some of these defenses. And then we can see about holding them off. I¡¯ve captured demons similar in strength to these before¡­ so as long as my kinetic barriers don¡¯t have any holes in them. They should be fine. I¡¯ve even captured one or two a level above this. And I¡¯m pretty sure your monster can handle those as well.
Innearth: I learned this with my bastion but ¨C if you give them a non-blocked path in, they will take that instead of trying to break down your walls. We could make a single entrance and try and funnel them through that?
ZeMadDoctor: Sure. That¡¯s a plan.
Working on walling themselves off, Innearth barely noticed when a stream of muddy slimes started helping take down the smaller demons. They streamed out constantly ¨C Queen somehow able to make several blobs a second ¨C each with random features and a suicidal tendency to jump straight into the mouths of giant space fish. As she piled more and more fluid monsters through: first one, than two, then three slimes ascended ¨C She just made them! How are they already ascending! I mean sure¡­they are fighting demons¡­but still! As the ascended monsters fought and increased rapidly in level, they shifted away from being ¡°one of the horde¡±. Instead of picking on the weakest demons as part of a group, they formed a second squad that began taking down stronger demons one at a time ¨C using their non ascended brethren as ¡°mud shields¡± and obstacles. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Slowly the tide of battle shifted from a frantic attack to a more steady trickle. Innearth and Doc repaired all the walls and healed the turrets ¨C with Innearth starting to think more deeply about defenses.
Innearth: Hey guys. Okay, so building outwards is a tradeoff right now. The further out we go, the farther away most of the demons will appear to attack us from. If we build outwards we are going be bigger and attract more demons¡­but we will also have more space to build defences and more time before they get to our gates. Innearth: I can also unroll the void in the space we have claimed ¨C it will increase the size for us without increasing the size for them and won''t attract as many¡­but as me and doc have figured out it''s going to make it harder to overlap the same place. Sorry I¡¯m getting distracted. What¡¯s our plan? I want this event to succeed.
Brutality Queen: Let''s see. Personally I think we need more room to relax in and space to set up traps, but I¡¯m still trying to orient myself to what is here.
ZeMadDoctor: We need to estimate how far we can safely go and stick within it. Currently, we have a space roughly 100m in diameter. With walls and our defenses it¡¯s trivial to continue but our margin of error is small. I recommend we continue to increase our size by small increments and stop well before it gets dangerous.
Innearth: ¡­so two for expanding. Doing so slowly seems like common sense. Do you think we can detach a hallway if it looks like it''s going to be overrun? Like throw it away and go back to a smaller hallway afterwards?
Brutality Queen: oh! Smart. I like that.
ZeMadDoctor: Detaching probably won''t work. If anything is close enough to have discovered our hallway. They will be close enough to discover our main base.
Innearth: Guess that makes sense. And now that I think about it, I¡¯ve discovered demons are created from random junk in the void. I haven¡¯t figured out yet if our influence stops them from appearing but there¡¯s a chance we toss a hallway out into the void and it''s out of our influence¡­ it might become a huge demon that comes back and attacks us.
Brutality Queen: we should have a better name for the space than ¡°base¡± ¨C How about ¡°Shattered Land.¡±? Or maybe ¡°The conjoined realm¡±.
Abe: ¡­soo. Having fun? Not feeling left out at all over here.
ZeMadDoctor: We are safe enough currently. But if we add another¡­ I¡¯m not sure if we will be overrun. There¡¯s a sharp jump in difficulty around when the stronger demons appear and I don¡¯t want to risk it just yet.
Innearth: I¡¯m going start building a hallway.
Turning to his new goal, Innearth began to expand with more single-minded focus than he had in a while. He moved outwards in a straight line while building a void stone tube. The walls and floor wrapped around into a mostly three-dimensional cylinder and weirdly shaped bricks were made that could fit into each other perfectly. Innearth amused himself with interlocking pieces like a puzzle ¨C compressing cones and moons before interlocking them and letting them set behind him. All along the path Innearth embedded a single crystal circuit to help his influence stay connected and despite it not really mattering Innearth gave the hallway a weak gravity. Periodically demons would crawl through and occasionally they tried to bite or ¡°suck up¡± the walls before they solidified. Innearth ignored them for the most part. At some point, he noticed Doc was overlaying some sort of kinetic strengthening blanket into the wall he had already made. And, at another point, he found Queen was creating seeds and embedding them into different spots. She was creating plants from scratch using nothing but some mottled green and brown mana and regular physical materials! Typically seeds were created with two inner magical materials squished together ¨C one with that mottled mana Innearth was hesitantly calling ¡°plant¡± and a second¡­¡°attunement¡± flavour that was smaller in quantity but affected the finished product more drastically. From the small amount of time that Innearth spent watching, he pieced together that somehow the first element with plant mana affected the shape. Iron, made spikey bush-like plants and magnesium, fern-like creations. If the second material used sword mana it created spiky metallic-looking plants or ferns that pushed out a field of sharpness. If it used mental mana it created a purple spikey bush with bright pink berries¡­or a fern that dripped hallucinogenic liquid around it. The shell didn¡¯t seem to matter but occasionally queen seemed to swap the material and shift to a different variant of earth mana almost arbitrarily. She also kept changing the shape and size of her seeds hinting at a process similar to Innearth¡¯s circuits. Once she made a seed the size of a large egg leading Innearth to believe a tree or something would be made ¨C but nope that just made a small flower that shot mental mana pollen into the air and confused any demon who passed by. At first, Innearth was slightly jealous of Queen¡¯s ability to use ¡°Plant mana¡± and the sheer variety of combinations she was making. Slowly however he came to realize she couldn¡¯t control her magical plants very well. When used in a monster sometimes they made vines that could grab stuff¡­but most of the planted plants were more organic. As a material, his X crystals were more versatile and there were more opportunities for experiments with circuits. She could make seeds and then surround them in life mana to speed up their growth¡­but the plants grew in random unruly directions and didn¡¯t seem as effectively dangerous as something like Doc¡¯s turrets. The biggest draw of Queen¡¯s seeds was how little mana she was using initially¡­but as soon as she turned around and grew them with life mana, the benefit was lost. I guess I¡¯m happy enough with my affinities. Besides. I¡¯m ignoring a key part of friendship.
Innearth: Hey queen! Make seeds with these materials!
Innearth made specks of void-stone, solid-void, unlife, undeath, and chipped off a tiny piece of nullstone dropping them all in the middle of their hallway. Silently queen accepted his offerings and threw up vines out of all of them ¨C one by one stopping when the nullstone variant didn¡¯t grow. The void-stone and solid-void variants created dark spiralling and thick root-like plants that hungrily drank in the void liquid. As they grew around the passage they dug into the walls and dangled in the air they strengthened themselves ¨C creating a physical barrier that was hard for demons to breeze through. The undeath and unlife versions on the other hand created smooth but flimsy-looking strings that were immediately ripped apart by a passing demon.
Brutality Queen: ¡­sorry this last one doesn¡¯t work. Others seemed fine. Those first two specks were the same as the walls? I think I can make some plants that increase the wall''s strength if you make more of them. If I try to increase their strength too hard I might weaken them¡­and well If I block off a passage completely the hallway is useless. If you give me a bunch I can try some things out? It seems promising so far.
Innearth: sure!
ZeMadDoctor: you think we are good on expansion?
Innearth: Well¡­the difficulty dropped pretty quickly as soon as we started funnelling them into this passage. I was going just keep expanding till we reached a point that felt dangerous¡­guess we are good for now?
Brutality Queen: There¡¯s still quite a few bypassing the passage but you¡¯re right. The open door really does draw them in.
ZeMadDoctor: Correct. I think we can add another dungeon safely at this point.
Abe: hi.
Innearth: lol, Abe have you been thinking of defences?
Abe: If you mean thinking of offences then yeah. Demons are weak against kinetic and mental mana right? Well I¡¯ve been focusing on shockwave bombs that translate nearly all their energy into a kinetic blast and psychic bombs that are just blasts of damaging mental mana. Done some¡­ahem. ¡°experimentation¡± to test out which ones are the best. Blew up some adventurers. Had a blast.
ZeMadDoctor: Abe I¡¯m sending you a pair now.
Innearth stopped everything he was doing and made sure to let his mana pool fill up nearly completely. He paused most of his regular dungeon maintenance in preparation and made sure to fill the empty spaces with monsters. If a few adventurers found empty hallways with non respawned monsters they would just have to deal with it. Abe¡¯s portal was placed directly in between Doc and Innearth. The triangle was broken somewhat ¨C but Innearth mentally turned it into a star by mapping out where FED and Amy would go. As the gate opened and they were dragged deeper into the void in a silently rumbling manner, Innearth focused on the surroundings ¨C working to patch holes before they even appeared. The process was a losing battle. There were too many rips and tears being formed too quickly to keep up with. It''s only going to take a moment and every little bit counts. Abe¡¯s addition didn¡¯t seem to increase the density by much more than Queen had and the ¡°damage¡± was much lower this time, but the jump in demons was significant. From all sides hulking creations swam and crawled through ¨C as if they had lined up and been waiting for this very moment. A dozen humanoid demons were dispatched by the roach knight and despite being able to kill them quickly¡­ the fast-moving lancer could not be everywhere at once. A demon that looked like an elf in a black suit ¨C but with its entire chest area being a sideways mouth ¨C reached Queen¡¯s gate (her gate was the farthest away and most ¡°separated¡± from the others). The demon stabbed its hand through her dungeon circuit ¨C a single vine surrounded by muddy material in a tube ¨C hand sinking through the muddy center, presumably groping around Queen¡¯s dungeon.
Innearth: I¡¯ll save you!
Brutality Queen: ¡­this is fun.
As Innearth tried to direct his knight to kill the demon currently squishing itself through a tube smaller than its body, Queen¡¯s monsters attacked it frantically ¨C presumably from both sides. Vines wrapped around the ¡°body horror dapper elf¡± and tried to both pull back and restrain the creature''s body before being torn to shreds. A giant pool of black mud surrounded the demon in a mini tornado as one of Queen¡¯s ascended monsters wrapped itself around the creature. A few seconds later the ascended mud slime was consumed ¨C being sucked into the demon''s mouth even as it ripped its restraints and pushed further ¨C once more straining and contorting into a painful-looking shape. Finally the roach knight had a moment of time to dash past ¨C single spear stabbing through the center of the demon and forcefully ripping it out of its attack. By now Abe had barely managed to poke his metaphorical head into the chaos. He seemed to orient himself instantly and begun creating a line of suicide bombers. Each glowing beetle ran towards and exploded against the legs and arms of demonic invaders dealing next to no damage. Abe used an entropic tube for his dungeon circuit ¨C a single passage that sped up time on the inside and thus sped up the speed of his influence passing through it. As soon as he had expanded enough to focus and realize the explosions weren¡¯t working he appeared to calm down and remember his plan. Instantly the line of suicide bombers stopped as Abe set up a zone of ¡°sped time¡± to work in. A moment later a new line of suicide bombers started pouring out of this zone ¨C these actually damaging the demons a bit and physically flinging them about. Magical explosions were filled with mundane shrapnel and tweaked to better damage the endless swarm of demons. Innearth felt disoriented having part of his influence sped up but quickly saw its use and began sharing the space. The system didn¡¯t seem to change its printing in the area, but Innearth found he could manually make monsters much faster by building it completely in the small point. More void-based infantry snakes were put together in the zone and then Innearth refocused his attention on filling in walls. It really felt like trying to stop water with a net ¨C no matter how many holes Innearth filled or places to slip through he found demons kept coming. Slowly but surely the bulk of their invasion was shifted towards the hallway once more. And, after a day of solid frantic monster and wall building, they were once more in a position they could relax a bit. Demons still appeared in the dome but less frequently and weaker on average.
Abe: Roach knight MVP. I want to reward the champ. Think it¡¯ll like a firework show?
Brutality Queen: ¡­that felt close. Too close. Will we survive our next addition?
ZeMadDoctor: we should expand our central area a bit more. The hallway draws their attention. But when the center bit breaks. They are way too close. I think a kilometer between our gates and the walls would be good?
Innearth: ¡­I think I¡¯m going have to make a second roach knight. It¡¯s not like it uses any unique materials, its just expensive.
Abe: Bro. I need to make me a roach knight. I feel like I wasn¡¯t nearly pulling my own weight with that last wave.
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­yes. My monster-making skills have been getting rusty.
Brutality Queen: I¡¯m not going even try to make a strong monster right off the bat. I will however, try to raise up a larger army of ascended and see about powerleveling them to utility.
Amy: I¡¯m not as impatient to join you all. Make sure to be safe before adding me.
ZeMadDoctor: I think FED is the best dungeon to add next. I¡¯ve been carrying the kinetic defences. But I know a good amount of mental effects would be useful. It would have been better to add him instead of Abe¡­it would almost have been better to add him second. But Innearth has a bit more experience with the void.
Abe: ¡­I can¡¯t even be mad about that.
Fated Eternal Design: I¡¯m up next?
Innearth: We need to make a stronger group of core defenders before that point. It took me a month to design and build my knight.
Fated Eternal Design: I¡¯m patient. Like Amy said I can wait.
Abe: Innearth can you share some materials with me? I have a good skellington of what I want but don¡¯t think its going to be enough.
Innearth: of course.
Innearth spent some time giving pointers on his friend¡¯s monsters but mostly found it was better to let them build on their own. He returned to the second roach knight. I don¡¯t feel like I¡¯ve gotten qualitatively much better at monster design since I last made this. I want to say the laser effect is too weak against demons¡­but I¡¯m hesitant to just remove it in case it affects its speed. Would adding a bunch of runes make it stronger? Probably. I¡¯ll see about asking my dwarves to etche runes into the bones or into the spears of the frame. As Innearth tried to compare what had worked and what hadn¡¯t, his design was less an attempt to ¡°recreate his previous success¡± and more a process of trying to make the earlier success cheaper without lowering its capabilities. This was not a monster Innearth wanted to mass-produce. At least not yet. While Innearth toiled away, a nearly constant war was happening between the demons and the group''s defences. A massive shark-like demon began eating the hallway at one point ¨C starting at one end, its whole gaping maw fitting around the tunnel-like it was eating a particularly stoney burrito. That demon had been stronger than most of the humanoids but dumb as bricks and easily dispatched by Abe tossing a massive modified kinetic bomb down its throat. At another point a single rope-shaped demon had materialized in the center of their building crawling halfway down Doc¡¯s gate before they realized and cut it to threads. They slowly attempted to build their central area out ¨C expanding past the walls and attempting to make a second further out shell ¨C finally making the ¡°kilometer away from us¡± goal that Doc wanted. This secondary zone made them feel slightly safer but it highlighted the fact that no matter how strong of a wall they made, demons kept finding a way past it ¨C instead of breaking it they just ripped through space. They slipped past it like some sort of quantum tunnelling vermin and the size of this ¡°secondary zone¡± highlighted how many could get around their defences. Time went on and Innearth¡¯s crystal dwarves went over how runes shifted and broke or changed when shrunk. A simple set of shapes that weren¡¯t too badly changed by the shrinking were tested and then applied and Innearth made countless small tweaks to the design. Finally, around when Innearth gave life to his second knight, the two other dungeons brought forth their ¡°strongest boss¡± level creations. Abe had doubled down on time mana with explosive joints. The center of his creation was a giant tier 14 entropy core a meter in diameter and covered in thick, heavy armour. Surrounding it were spikes similar to the roach knight embedded at various angles to bypass each other. Reinforced spears that literally exploded outwards from explosion proof chambers. It wasn¡¯t nearly as ¡°strong¡± as Innearth¡¯s knights, but time mana was a hack all on its own ¨C when it sped itself up it moved just as fast. Doc had gone a separate route. His monster was essentially one of his turrets given legs ¨C instead of one bullet making mechanism, there were ten. Each made 20cm long massive bolts and filled a huge storage container that fed into three separate ¡°barrels¡±. He had then taken a page from Innearth¡¯s book and let his researchers take up some of the slack. A grey potion created by one group of his researchers coated each finished bullet in some shiny material (regenerating when used) and a separate device was attached that was covered in looping scripts. That scripted portion in turn gave the ¡°turret monster¡± the ability to scratch a single word into each bullet ¨C the monster¡¯s tier 12 core and rudimentary circuit interlocking with the enchantments letting it in turn enchant its own ammo. This whole setup was incredibly focused but almost ¡°boring¡± in its result ¨C magical effects wouldn¡¯t be beneficial against demons so they were focused on increasing the speed and durability of the bullets. This allowed them to be fired slightly faster and hit slightly harder despite their much larger size. All good things.
Innearth: Well, good attempts, good attempts. Neither seem to have the same magnatism as mine but they were good showings.
Abe: How high was your knight''s cores again?
Innearth: 16?
Abe: ¡­alright spill. how did you make those? I tried but it just kept leaking. Took all I had to make that T14. All I had man.
Innearth: Mana oven. I thought I went over that? :3 Besides. Circuits are more important than the strongest core ¨C my knight has thousands of cores in it and whole circuits that are T4 or T8. Besides. If you make it once the system lets you print them.
ZeMadDoctor: Okay. Let us take these out for some stress tests and then we can add FED to the mix.
Brutality Queen: I¡¯ve been sending out scouts constantly and most of my spawn have gotten acclimated to the Void. Toughened them right up I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be of help.
Innearth: Just warn me when you are adding FED okay? I have to clean up my dungeon a bit I¡¯ve been letting it sort of fall apart recently.
Abe: Will do m8, will do. Should be a day or two to test our bosses out and then we can go.
ZeMadDoctor: A day?! I was thinking a month of testing to really figure out their capabilities.
Abe: We¡¯ll notify you bro. Shouldn¡¯t be that long.
Innearth: Thanks.
Chapter 75. Time, the 5th dimension.
On average, affinity rarity is not a good method of determining ¡°strength¡±. Some of the most common affinities like Fire and Sword are also some of the strongest ¨C both initially and when taken to the extreme. Documented cases have shown the tops of mountains being cut off with a single transient swipe of a blade¡­and there¡¯s a reason so many dragons have ¡°simple¡± fire affinities instead of cool esoteric sounding ones. While there are hundreds of documented dragon breaths, fire remains the #1 most common. Going further, a simple Earth tank is often much stronger than a ¡°Mountain¡± tank and a water mage often outclasses a river mage, level per level. That being said the invisible ¡°tier¡± of a mana type does a lot to offset rarity. Some of the highest tiered affinities we have analyzed include Void and Time based spells. We don¡¯t know why Time is split into two and Void is not¡­ but its theorized that void is simply an upgraded version of the tier 7 deletion mana type and Time is a concept all on its own. Others claim the mana flavour the system likes to claim is ¡°Entropy¡±, is an offshoot of kinetic mana (being a natural progression from speed mana and haste spells taken to the extreme)¡­but that is a theory that¡¯s heavily debated and not important for this guide. What this means for the average adventurer is that while seeking to find a rare class can make you famous for being different, its not always a rise to true strength. ¡­The exception of course is that if you find a class with Void or Time routes you had best take it ¨C even if its far from your current class the permanent loss of skills will be well worth the switch.
Excerpt obtained from the adventurer guild¡¯s ¡°Affinity advice book for you and your friends.¡±. The wait up to and including adding FED was worse than the actual event. Innearth prepared an army and then sat on it for an hour before FED opened his gate. As the newest addition was made, the void density increased slightly but ¨C and here was a key point ¨C the damage to everything was minimum. A few bends here or there strained and snapped but as if the walls and floors were a bone that had been repeatedly broken and healed it now held. That didn¡¯t mean there weren¡¯t plenty of holes that had been found somehow and it didn¡¯t mean the number of demons didn¡¯t drastically increase. But, it did mean the process was more subdued feeling than it had been the past few times. Essentially most of the ¡°danger¡± was relegated to the secondary shell they had made instead of their inner sanctum ¨C because that outer shell had plenty of broken sections, an entire 100m long stretch had even been ripped off.
Innearth: I get that there¡¯s hundreds of demons out in the second shell and a bunch have gotten through to our inner sanctum but¡­well does anyone else feel like this is easy?
Abe: BRO. WHY. WHY WOULD YOU RAISE A FLAG LIKE THAT.
Innearth: Oh was I the only one thinking that?
Fated Eternal Design: There are demons everywhere!
Brutality Queen: No Innearth I¡¯m with you. I feel like the danger went down.
Abe: Innearth I just saw a demon eat like 20 of your snakes at a time. I didn¡¯t think you were making fodder so the fact that that many died at once should be concerning. Not to be that guy but don¡¯t tempt fate!
Innearth: Oh I¡¯m sure the roach knight will take them out shortly :3
Abe: bruh. Okay now you¡¯re doing it on purpose.
Innearth: A bit yeah, I don¡¯t believe in fate.
Fated Eternal Design: !!! How can you not believe in fate! We were fated to become friends just as I¡¯m fated to become the eternal spring! Fated Eternal Design: But you¡¯re distracting me as well. Is no one else seeing what I¡¯m seeing? It looks like we are being overrun everywhere. Demons are quite literally crawling out of the ground. I realise I¡¯m new to this ¡°shared area¡± but this can¡¯t be normal?
Innearth: The thing is, they are out there breaking stuff instead of in here with us if that makes sense? Like pretend your influence gate is your core. Sure we expanded out into that shell but if they smash a few walls or something its not going to break our core. Besides when me and Doc finish patching all the holes we can move to clean up and focus on periodic vermin killing.
As if hearing Innearth tempting it. As if hearing Abe¡¯s fears and as if telling them everything was going to change, a massive eye appeared at the side of the outer shell ¨C irises poking through the 100m span and shattering the edge even further just to fit. Slowly this massive eye appeared to survey the outer shell ¨C swivelling around and then suddenly darting to focus in on the central dome as if appraising each and every dungeon while staring directly at their soul. Everywhere demons stilled and panicked while trapped under the gaze of a predator higher than should even care to attack them. Like an ant facing a lion ¨C they looked like they existed in different worlds several several steps up a foodchain.
Abe: ¡­I¡¯d say I told you so but that would just be petty you know? Abe: ¡­now, I wouldn¡¯t call myself a coward. I¡¯d say I¡¯m quite brave y/k. But that thing? That¡­that¡¯s a beast. If that¡¯s how big its eye is how big is its body?!
Amy: What¡¯s happening?
Innearth: Giant eye bigger than roachie.
ZeMadDoctor: I¡¯m going to take over your portals. If you see anything breaking that¡¯s me. Don¡¯t worry I¡¯ll only shut them if it looks like the end alright? We can always try again.
Abe: Why isn¡¯t it doing anything? Its kind of awkward just being stared at. I feel exposed.
Brutality Queen: Well I say we attack it. Eyes are weak points right?
Abe: Sweet Gaia¡¯s embrace that eye is big. I know I just said that ¨C But come on. Look at it. I feel like it needs to be brought attention to.
Fated Eternal Design: I haven¡¯t expanded that far yet. Where¡¯s this eye? What¡¯s it look like. Oh don¡¯t worry about it. Just give me a bit I¡¯ll make my way over.
Brutality Queen: Hey, what if the demon is just an eye? What if its body is like nothing and it''s just¡­well just a giant eye? That¡¯s not that bad.
Innearth: Why do demons even need eyes? Eyes seem like a thing for creatures that need to see with light and stuff. Like sure I add gems and stuff to some of my monsters to pretend they have eyes but it''s not like they do anything¡­you know?
Brutality Queen: I¡¯m attacking it.
Swimming through the air towards it, a leafy, snake-like creature that looked sort of like an uprooted tree¡­an uprooted tree complete with ¡°dangling dirty roots¡± and bushy front but with a body that wiggled back and forth like an eel through water ¨C shot towards the eye. It took over a minute to reach its goal and left plenty of time for the group to talk about how bad of an idea this was.
Abe: woah woah woah. Please. Why am I the voice of reason. This isn¡¯t a fun job but someone has to do it. Queen. WHY ARE YOU PROVOKING IT.
Brutality Queen: Hey, no one else was doing anything and I want to regain some agency okay? I can¡¯t stand just sitting here waiting for it to do something. This way I¡¯m taking matters into my own hands. I¡¯m proactive.
Abe: call it off! There¡¯s multiple people here ¨C your decision is affecting all of us okay?
Amy: Abe, I think you¡¯re growing up. It''s nice to see.
Abe: No. I¡¯m the same dungeon I¡¯ve always been. I¡¯m just the only one pointing out that Queen¡¯s being selfish and somehow that¡¯s a shock. Suddenly that¡¯s out of character. I¡¯m the only one seeing this right? I give up.
Innearth: ah I don¡¯t really care. I¡¯m using the time the demons are distracted to continue patching up holes. If it looks like it''s going to destroy everything Doc will save us.
Fated Eternal Design: Oh hey it''s a giant beholder!
Abe: you can see the flat of the body behind the eye if you expand past the break slightly. That is not a beholder just weird eyelid¡¯s.
Brutality Queen: I always thought beholders were too much effort. Sure they are strong but look how much mana they cost! Look how much time and effort! You could make 1000 mud golems with that kinda magic.
Bringing its eye back suddenly the massive void where the demon had been caused the group to stop talking ¨C suddenly just less than half the claimed outer shell was gone. As the mouth crashed through their oblong shape a sense of scale was obtained. The outer shell was around a kilometer away from the center dome in all directions ¨C so the diameter was close to two kilometers. This bite didn¡¯t quite reach the full two kilometers vertically but disappeared on both ends at an angle that spoke of being easily double that. A gaping maw that was pitch black to their mana senses ¨C and contained what Innearth could only describe as an incredibly strong vacuum ¨C sucked most of the atmosphere they had built into it. The mouth closed incredibly quickly ¨C shutting in less than a second ¨C but somehow in that brief time it sucked in 99% of the air, Air mana, and most of the materials not bolted down. It consumed mass and mana and while it didn¡¯t suck in their influence a good portion of it trapped inside that mouth simply disappeared feeling like a dull ache as it was ripped off instead of a clean cut. As the mouth closed with a snap it broke reality. To be more exact it broke the three-dimensional illusion their claimed space held but Innearth was panicked enough he didn¡¯t feel like being pedantic. Void liquid streamed in all directions rapidly seeming to fluctuate the number of dimensions in a given point ¨C an action incredibly disorienting for Innearth. Just as he thought Doc was sure to cut them all off, the closed mouth ¨C tentacle-covered lips sprayed revealing billions of flat teeth ¨C sort of exhaled and a second wave of disorienting void was filtered through this nightmare mouth. The liquid seemed to flow through its teeth and caused all the lip tentacles to flap about in a ridiculous-looking manner ¨C one Innearth would have laughed at if he didn¡¯t feel like he was in mortal peril. Eddies in the liquid passed through the remaining area ¨C momentarily blanking Innearth¡¯s mind out with the sheer overload the fluctuations caused. To reiterate. Mass and mana remained in the space whales¡¯ mouth. Void atmosphere was filtered and exhaled. The exhaled liquid pushed into their dome and then¡­stopped. Liquid was a bad metaphor. The void atmosphere didn¡¯t seem to care about its momentum swirling into place and then stopping unnaturally fast. The liquid also didn¡¯t seem to care about reaching an equilibrium ¨C the cracked egg of the second shell was packed incredibly densely with Void, while the surroundings were positively thin in comparison. ¡­logic dictated it should flow out once more. ¡­logic dictated dimensions shouldn¡¯t fractal like they did in this place. ¡­ And then. ¡­ That massive mouth retreated. Innearth was surprised. The whole group was surprised.
Abe: do you think its winding back to get the rest of us in one go?
ZeMadDoctor: Maybe it''s full? We didn''t put alot of stuff in that area. But it did just eat quite a few monsters. A thick chunk of wall. And basically all our air.
Brutality Queen: Maybe it''s waiting for us to build back up. You know, so it can come back and eat us again. An endlessly renewing snack. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Innearth: ¡­dammid skies. You''re probably right on that one. Everything I know about demons makes me think here''s no way it did that out of the goodness of its heart. Innearth: But¡­they are smarter in the void. Waiting for us to build up again for a bigger harvest makes some twisted sort of sense. It''s the best theory we have.
Fated Eternal Design: I¡¯m partial to doc¡¯s theory. Its much nicer sounding.
Brutality Queen: slagpit I hate feeling helpless. Is this place a wash? Like is this combined floor not going happen? I can''t see us facing off against that again.
Innearth: One of my roach knights was eaten! I just realized. The new one! I worked hard on that and it disappeared in a single moment.
Abe: ¡­my boi was too. how strong do you think that chunker was? will we ever be able to face that?
ZeMadDoctor: The lesser demons are starting to attack again. I''m going back to patching the place up.
Innearth: so are we staying here? I don¡¯t think we can bring adventurers to this place even if we rebuild. I wouldn''t want to feed a whole bunch of them to that¡­Armageddon.
ZeMadDoctor: There''s some great research opportunities here. Can you not tell the materials left behind seem different? Like that exhale packed a massive amount of void atmosphere junk. Your void bricks and stuff was warped as the void washed over it? Come on. What doesn''t kill us makes us stronger!
Brutality Queen: I can get behind that! Survival of the fittest! Let''s not hide!
Abe: As far as I¡¯m concerned that demon would have left us alone but decided to take a nibble because you provoked it. Shh on your opinion. I¡¯ll throw my support on whatever main bro decides. So Innearth, stay or abandon?
Innearth: I don''t want to rebuild if it just means it''s going be torn down once again¡­ but now that I¡¯ve had a moment to calm down I agree with doc. Speaking of doc, Hey I¡¯m curious why didn''t you cut us off by the way? I thought you were preparing to in case it got too dangerous?
ZeMadDoctor: No way that demon would have fit through our portals. No matter how much squishing it did. Worse case was it eating the entrances and breaking them as it sucked the mana out of my spell.
Abe: m8. Couldn''t have told us that? Had me worried there. Why''d you even bother getting ready to cut us off then?
ZeMadDoctor: incase it let other smaller demons near. Look. Awfully nice of the demon to leave our inner shell alone. Is anyone else going help me close off that hole? Or are you all going keep talking instead of multitasking.
Innearth: once it reaches a certain point, I don''t think you''re allowed to call it a hole¡­but sure. Yeah. I''ll start on the top side.
Fated Eternal Design: ¡­there''s a top side? It goes in all directions?
Innearth: ¡­okay you see how I put gravity pushing materials all along one side? That''s the top. Most of them are broke now¡­and sending fake gravity in all directions. There¡¯s also a side that has gravity pulling materials for the bottom but those are even more broken. Tldr gravity pushing is the side I¡¯m starting on.
Fated Eternal Design: Got it. I''ll refill the atmosphere when you guys close it up. Make a proper Air mana space. In the meantime¡­ I guess I''ll see about using mental mana to defend against demons? I have to admit. I''m no longer as confident after seeing that¡­but I''ll try my best.
Brutality Queen: Not to be that gal, but I have to ask. Are we going to add Amy at some point? With how things are going I feel like we won''t just to be safe, but I''d hate to have a shared floor without her. No offense but she''s my closest friend amongst you guys.
Amy: awww, it''s okay! Don''t worry about it.
ZeMadDoctor: on one hand it makes sense to defend ourselves as much as possible before we try once more¡­on another I feel like the increased void density might be good for the process. And we should get it all out of the way right away. My portal affinity is giving me some good thoughts towards doing it now.
Abe: well as long as you don''t raise any more flags I''m down.
Innearth: Hey, can''t get any worse than it has right?
Abe: ¡­I hate you sometimes.
Innearth: <3
Abe: please tell me you don''t have any other friends. You''re insufferable.
Brutality Queen: Ouch.
ZeMadDoctor: Hey Innearth. Swap with me. I need to fix the web on the other side of your wall before you make it too thick.
Innearth: No problem.
ZeMadDoctor: Hey Amy, Sending you a link please feel free to join us as soon as you are ready.
¡­
Amy: ¡­Its nice to meet you in person ¨C its nice to meet you all in person!
Innearth: ¡­I don¡¯t think our influences count Amy.
Amy: It does too!
Doc had been right. Adding Amy had barely shifted the void around slightly inside their dome. Essentially it was a painless addition to the already broken pile.
Amy: Oh wow! I like what you guys have done to the place!
Fated Eternal Design: This is all just temporary. I don¡¯t think we are going to bring adventurers in until we can be sure its safe ¨C but then a huge restructuring needs to be done. I refuse to let adventurers into this place without some serious remolding. It needs a theme for gaia¡¯s sake!
Innearth: Hey queen, I left a pile of solid void chips where I¡¯m blinking crystal mana. Feel free to reinforce our walls with void plants.
Brutality Queen: done.
Abe: I feel like I¡¯m just sitting around. I¡¯ll start setting up kinetic blast factories ¨C name pending.
Amy: What can I do?
Brutality Queen: Help me grow plants. After I place them they just need life mana to grow, but if you can aspect into natural mana or growth instead of pure life it''s better. More efficient.
As a group, the dungeons worked away. Slowly the outer shell was reclosed and effort was spent to clean up the huge quantity of demons that had infiltrated the area. They reached an equilibrium where a hundred demons were nearly always in the outer sphere or slipping into it before returning to figure out their next steps.
Abe: feel kind of useless for the defenses so far. I¡¯m going try experimenting to see if I can add anything because this is ridiculous. I know for a fact my explosion proof materials are next to useless against demons, but I can at least plate some inner areas. make sure magic blasts inside the sphere don¡¯t leak out of it.
Fated Eternal Design: I¡¯m setting up a massive mental array to drive all demons away subtly. Key nodes have been set up initially ¨C protect those pink cylinders every 100m around the edge of the sphere please ¨C but the full strength is going need weeks for me to build up.
Innearth: How are you and doc building magical stuff that¡¯s not physical? I¡¯ve been curious but doc has those web things and you seem to think there¡¯s more to do than those physical cylinders you printed.
Fated Eternal Design: Uh¡­get a mental affinity and I¡¯ll show you.
ZeMadDoctor: Kinetic and mental mana inherently lead to ethereal workings. For magic to have any effect on the real world it has to be bound to matter right? Well that¡¯s mostly true ¨C Okay its fully true but there¡¯s a workaround. Basically you need to make a spell that is bound to any matter in the area and can swap between it by quickly swapping the element your mana is binding to partway through. So. My webs are bound to air ¨C I temper them with nitrogen and switch to noble gasses that take to the mana stronger and rip it out while its still partly formed.
ZeMadDoctor: I do that quickly to weaken its binding ¨C and then I can replace that ¡°binding¡± by shifting its binding focus to the elements in your wall and control it after its been made. The benefit is I can build it beforehand and make some shapes that I couldn¡¯t do otherwise. The weakness is that its still loosly bound. Someone with kinetic magic could rip my web out of your wall pretty easily. Not that demons have kinetic affinities so I think we are safe¡­.but I thought I¡¯d tell you everything.
Fated Eternal Design: ¡­what he said but less clinical. You need an artist¡¯s brush. I¡¯m surprised Doc managed it. From what I can tell dungeon cores who picked Earth shouldn¡¯t be able to do it.
Innearth: ¡­It sucks there are still so many demons in the outer shell. If I stop for a single moment in pruning them they start to attack our inner shell and while the roach knight could probably stay on top of it¡­ I want him in our inner sanctum protecting our gates and killing anything that gets through the hallway.
Abe: Guy¡¯s come check this out.
At first it was hard to figure out what Abe was talking about. Innearth looked about the whole ¡°chamber¡± combing over a vast swath of empty space.
Brutality Queen: Check what out?
Abe: Bruh. This box.
A large swirl of fire mana highlighted an otherwise normal looking section of the shared area. Inside a single demon looked strangely more aggressive than normal. It ran about twisting slightly every time it hit one of the walls that contained it. Slowly as Innearth focused on the box he started to notice at least some of what was happening. A field of time mana covered the whole box speeding up the internal time by a sliver and embedding deep into the walls which were also filled and created with entropy mana. The demon inside ¨C besides acting rabid ¨C kept running like he couldn¡¯t see the walls smashing off them and then acting surprised. It was kind of like a child running into a glass door and then immediately picking a new door to run into.
ZeMadDoctor: You trapped it? How did you manage that? I can¡¯t see kinetic mana anywhere around it.
Abe: idk man. I noticed the denser the void was in an area the faster time was passing. Like the dense patches are full of something like entropy? When you are inside the dense patches you have more time than outside of them¡­now I¡¯m repeating myself. Its really obvious if you have a time affinity! Basically I just tried speeding that sucker up on my terms and replaced the void sped up time with my own. It seemed to trap this demon inside of it so I figured I might as well share.
Fated Eternal Design: There is more time inside the denser areas yes. I noticed because it felt like eternity to me. Well done Abe, I¡¯m going to try slowing some areas down. If its sped up I should normalize it with the surroundings no?
ZeMadDoctor: But how is it trapping a demon? Let me run some tests.
Innearth: Think that¡¯s how they¡¯ve been slipping through our solid walls? Something to do with time?
ZeMadDoctor: Time isn¡¯t a dimension. Its time.
Innearth: Hey! That¡¯s no way for a scientist to talk. I¡¯m trying to come up with a theory.
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­I¡¯m sorry. You are correct. I¡¯ll wait to give my opinion until its been thoroughly dissected. I guess I¡¯m biased against time with my dual space affinity. I thought I thoroughly squashed any of those ticks. That¡¯s annoying.
Fated Eternal Design: Eternity fields seem to provide a similar effect.
Abe: how did you already set that up?
Fated Eternal Design: Oh! I already had some places covered, the fluctuating time was annoying me. I just used a control mask to bring a demon into the field and trap it for testing, however. Seems to be working the same.
ZeMadDoctor: Another data point! Thank you.
Abe: SO. Are we awesome or what? I¡¯m going try speeding up the whole dome.
Fated Eternal Design: You can make an entropy field this big?
Abe: Yeah. I¡¯m awesome. Its on the edge of what I can do but I can manage it just fine.
Fated Eternal Design: ¡­Alright then. I think I could manage half of it but don¡¯t feel like I can cover the full area in a single go. That¡¯s impressive.
Innearth: ¡­I feel strangely sidelined. What should I do?
Abe: Bro, how do you think I¡¯ve felt this whole time you¡¯ve been building while I¡¯ve just been sitting here.
Innearth: I¡¯ll see about making a second knight¡­again. Tell me if you need anything.
ZeMadDoctor: Have to say the way the void is interacting with time is fascinating. Give me some time and I¡¯ll have this figured out I¡¯m sure of it. I barely noticed all this shifting of time. It''s strange.
Innearth pulled back from the chat and focused on examining the area. His mana and materials immediately were put to work making another knight, but the bulk of his attention was focused on the transmuted void-stone and solid-void materials that had been affected by the space whale. A qualitative change had gone over most of them ¨C liquid had filled most of them so densely it looked like it had frozen. And, while testing its strength, Innearth found most of it could not be broken. Literally could not be broken no matter how much force was applied ¨C his roach knight charged full force into them without the material so much as budging. Of course that didn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t workable as a material. Innearth could absorb the material and rip the void out of it that way¡­but that felt wasteful when he had no way to replicate the process. ¡­except partway through the process of deciding to leave all of it in place, he stopped and reconsidered. First he tried shrinking some of the material finding it didn¡¯t budge and actually broke his shrunk space when he tried too hard. Not being put off by that fact he focused on picking areas deep in the middle of the zone ¨C the outer wall of both the inner shell and outer shell were best left alone but the inner walls could be repurposed for more exciting plans. Innearth picked a thick stretch of wall and then carefully cut an oval ¡°shell¡± out of it. He scooped the inner strip out like a bowl ¨C creating a second patch of materials he didn¡¯t want to waste ¨C and then turned to his roach knight. I know you have incredibly strong armour, but your brother was eaten and this seems like an upgrade. Give me a bit to measure you okay? Placing the shell over top of a bemused roach, Innearth traced all of his spear holes and sliced off small pieces to make the fit closer to perfect. He then moved to bring the shell out of the void ¨C testing a small chunk of the material and immediately backpedalling when it lost its void infusion in the real world. I guess Steve will have to come to here¡­please protect the dwarf who comes through my gate okay my knight? Y.e.s. The knight intoned as if the very thought of not protecting Innearth¡¯s son was laughable. An hour later Steve spoke up while stepping back from the shell. I¡¯m sorry I can¡¯t cut this material. You¡¯re going to have to leave it as is. Steve said. What if I cut the runes for you? ¡­part of the magic is being the one to carve the lines¡­I could see about tracing them and then being the one to finish them off¡­but I don¡¯t want to promise anything. Steve said after briefly thinking through the options. Okay! Innearth watched the dwarf draw chalk shapes about the inside of the shell. He repeated several large and thick shapes across the whole inside ¨C making sure each line was thick and drawing small notes beside everything about how wide or deep different sections were. The whole time the dwarf worked periodic demons would appear from the edge of the hallway and attempt to attack ¨C being cut down again and again by the stoic knight. I think that should be enough, Please cut these out and make sure to keep all the dimensions exact. It''s really hard to plan it out like this but it should work¡­ Steve spoke while standing awkwardly beside the plan. Mentally affirming Innearth began to dig groves through the material. He quickly melted off all the chalk noticing how the holes didn¡¯t seem to do anything on their own like Steve had mentioned. Turning to his portable workshop Steve began crushing several crystals into dusts and combining them with set ratios ¨C some additions seemed to be rough handfuls and others were important enough he weighed them on a scale¡­very carefully getting the right amount. Mixing them together and putting them aside Steve next went and fired up a small bowl on his desk. Runes lit up along the bowl''s edges rapidly becoming bright in Innearth¡¯s mana sight before the dwarf tossed a bar of silver into it. Deep inside this chamber metal rapidly liquefied turning red hot. Adding the various dusts caused the metal to shift shades from molten red to a darker purplish-grey matching the void aesthetic of the whole environment. The dwarf reached in and picked this molten ball out of the crucible and began squishing it into the carved runes bare-handed. Innearth could tell these runes were not quite three-dimensional because of the inherent properties of the void around them but they seemed to work fine anyways. Starting on one side and then working his way back and forth following specific channels before others, Steve worked ¨C the line behind him cooling down to a sparkling aquamarine colour. Finally the item was finished and the system decided to inform Innearth of the creation being prompted upon the dwarf¡¯s completion not his own loot method of analyzing items.
A knights hope. [Armour Type Custom. Tier: Unknown]
Description: Armor created through ritual crafting. Magically binds to its owners flesh as well as soul. Stops attacks. Increases existing speed slightly and resists unwanted momentum. Created in the void and will lose its form upon removal.
Durability: N/A
I think it works! Thank you for helping I¡¯m sure roachie will love it! No problem¡­The durability of this material is¡­fantastic. I wish I could use it in the trial it would fix all my current problems. Steve spoke while staring longingly at the scooped-out middle Innearth had left to the side. Hey well, if you want to make a trial in this area it will be available then! Trial 2.0! ¡­that might not happen actually. There¡¯s a chance a giant space whale will eat us all. I¡¯m optimistic the stuff my friends found out with time will help us however! ¡­but yeah, on the space whale note you should probably leave. I don¡¯t want you to get hurt if it comes back and Abe¡¯s time magic doesn¡¯t protect us. Nodding his head, the dwarf passed back through a quickly opened portal and Innearth returned to puttering. The number of demons in the second shell had started dying down at some point and Innearth realized the zone was completely claimed¡­well and truly claimed as their own, with no way for demons to enter. ¡­Only time would tell if they were protected from the outside against demons as strong as dragons. Chapter 76. I think...I think we are safe. Time for a change of state.
Mana is generated by living (Or undead) bodies infused with mana and stored in the soul. That¡¯s the common conception about magic and while its not common knowledge, its something every true mage learns soon into their journey. Personal mana stored in the soul is usually lost upon death, but the process of loosing mana is significant. The main side effect of this phenomenon is that it extends the transient state of mages ¨C upon death, mage souls stick around for longer than others. The other important point is that certain spells require this decaying personal mana to function... but at the end of the day most of those effects can be obtained without sacrifice and this variation of magic is usually just a lazy solution. This loss of life but not yet loss of soul (between death and decay of soul) leads to a very specific category of undead ¨C the living undead ¨C which shall be described in the following section. Souls are a strange existence. At low levels, souls are simply a spark of energy. They are the fuel for life but do not contain anything else noteworthy*. As a creature gains levels and increases the strength of their soul, this spark of energy changes. Memories are imprinted upon them. Personality traits and achievements. Defining information. This usually happens around level 25-50 and is the default state of nearly every adult. This is the minimum soul level needed to create a specter ¨C but any ghost made either naturally in a fluke, or through design at this stage will not be intelligent. They will simply repeat memories endlessly ¨C or react to stimulus in ways the soul¡¯s source did in life. The level 50-100 stage is an advanced variation of the previous soul''s tier. Depending on a variety of aspects this is where you can consistently create ghosts ¨C sapients killed in traumatic manners usually naturally create reactive ghosts in this stage (For notes on how best to kill a sapient to study the natural formation of specters see appendix B). The transcendent barrier is typically defined as exactly level 125 but for our purposes the soul process starts as early as level 100. At this point the body starts offloading tasks to the soul. Brains become little more than fancy backups of the consciousness that is contained within the transcendant¡¯s soul. Muscles draw energy directly from the mana stored in a soul and digestive systems shove nutrients into the soul for storage. Neurons send signals to the soul which routes them to other parts of the body creating strange magical paths for those who know how to look. The interplay between a transcendant¡¯s body and soul is fascinating but for our purposes it¡¯s the minimum stage needed to create an intelligent ghost naturally. Enough of a creature''s consciousness has been stored in their soul, that upon death they can continue to reason and act as they did in life ¨C some can even cast spells and those with knowledge can even turn themselves into true undead with an inverted soul that does not decay. Additionally ¨C while the reactive ghosts created with level 20-125 sapients are on a time limit of hours to days ¨C the intelligent ghosts created with transcendent souls, measure their lifespan in years or even centuries for the oldest. Now, how do these living specters differ from the undead variety? Besides nomenclature ¨C life-aligned free roaming souls are usually referred to as ghosts and death-aligned ¡°ghasts¡±, or ¡°banshees¡± A life-aligned ghost makes for a perfect reagent in some very useful rituals (See Appendix A for using ghosts and ectoplasm as a material). For an aspiring necromancer, wild undead specters are essentially monsters. They must be caged and controlled and can break free at a moment''s notice or turn on their masters. A ghost however can be converted into an undead and bound as a soul slave on a more fundamental level by the one who converted them. That is why most necromancers prefer to either find ghosts or create their own (relatively easy ¨C the hard part is not getting caught) than work on the more difficult and dangerous ¡°wild undead wrangling¡±. This concept extends to other undead varieties and is why most vampires turn themselves ¨C strength non withstanding, if someone else turned them into a vampire they would be little more than a thrall unable to break free. *While this was true pre-system and remains true of the natural state of souls, the system leaves hooks in sapient souls ¨C artificially storing data beyond the soul''s capabilities. If you ever attempt to modify your own soul do not attempt to sever these hooks and while experimenting on others take care not to modify the system¡¯s design. If you have possession of this book you no doubt already have a minor heretic tag but modifying system links will immediately place you upon a top ranked hitlist. If you do not have the confidence to hide from or face multiple dragons at once beware. The adventurers wandering around trying to catch you on some quest are children in comparison to the system''s top enforcers.
Excerpt obtained from the private research notes of Q. The infamous soulsmith. A whole month passed with the dungeons mostly making sure not to start any major work on their shared floor. They mostly reinforced and doubled down on what they had with their free time ¨C FED finished his ¡°grand mental array¡± by stringing hundreds of thousands of mental threads from post to post in a giant knot that was presumably keeping demons away. They all worked on the outer walls and hesitantly hid the hallway¡¯s entrance and made sure it no longer was a path directly to their inner sanctum. Queen continued to send scouts out of the new hidden exit and reported back that a massive demon ¨C presumably the same whale ¨C had come back looking for them but been unable to find their sphere a second time. That was the sign they were onto something and the group hesitantly began expanding past their initial sphere making sure to try and cloak everything with time mana. There was a brief moment while making a new shell and then shrinking it that they were visible ¨C but mental mana seemed enough to protect them during those times. Innearth unrolled the void inside the sphere ¨C making the inside roughly 10km in diameter instead of 2km ¨C the added void from the whale making the process laughably easy. He could have kept going but they needed a minimum density to all operate in the same space and¡­well as long as time mana kept working to isolate them they had infinite space out of their dome to expand into. As they constructed new spheres outside of their central one FED started taking more control of the proceedings.
Fated Eternal Design: We need a theme. I¡¯d argue it¡¯s the most important thing to focus on besides defense from outside obviously.
ZeMadDoctor: Hmm?
Fated Eternal Design: Well now that we¡¯ve decided its safe I assume we are working towards letting adventurers into the floors like we initially planned?
Innearth: Yeah I think so.
Fated Eternal Design: SO here¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking. Doc has covered so many of the surfaces with tiles and this is all possible because of him so my initial idea is to make this place a ¡°lab¡± or ¡°lab adjacent¡± themed area.
Innearth: This place is novel and I¡¯m assuming we aren¡¯t letting any low levelled adventurers in so we can work based on that plan. I¡¯m down. What sort of lab? And what does lab adjacent mean. Are we just remaking Doc¡¯s dungeon?
Fated Eternal Design: Well¡­personally an abandoned lab from an ancient civilization is what I¡¯m picturing. Think about it. Research notes strewn about telling a story of a forgotten race. They made devices ahead of their time but something wiped them all out. Huge story potential.
Abe: Yeah I¡¯m down for that. Can we make sections of the lab self destruct? That¡¯s all you need to do to get me on board.
Amy: Oh! I can make little greenhouses and stuff the lab people got their food from!
Fated Eternal Design: All great ideas. OH! Hey lets make some prop monsters like having test tubes like¡­like capsules with monsters in stasis! And then shatter some of them so adventurers have to hide from the ¡°escaped test subjects¡±! Oh and there can be sections of the area themed around different test subjects. OH! I¡¯ve already started coming up with story points. They were trying to research immortality. OH Maybe they were trying to create artificial life but their chimeras were madness based! No, that seems to simple¡­ Their goal was the creation of a ____ - something so horrible its been redacted from all the papers! Fated Eternal Design: Everything is coming together. I can make some cool effects by letting my cult make an eternity potion that slows down everything inside. That seems like a perfect thing to fill my capsule with!
Innearth: Well¡­we¡¯ll let you come up with a storyline. I¡¯m going try making some monsters to fill the facility. I figured its better to make the monsters first and then work from there right? Match the theme of the place to the monsters.
Abe: Bro! Its been awhile lets make something together. I¡¯m finished speeding up and plating the area I want to make some monsters.
Innearth: Yeah sure. So what are you thinking?
Switching to private messages Innearth began tossing out designs with Abe,
Abe: I think we should try to make some new materials for the monsters.
Innearth: Sure, so what are you thinking?
Abe: ¡­that¡¯s it. I think we should make some new materials. I¡¯ve been thinking a bit about materials while looking at what everyone else is doing and realized for the most part¡­I just use the ¡°default¡± material spell if that makes sense y¡¯know?
Innearth: default?
Abe: Well like. I¡¯ve heard you guys talk about connections and Doc was talking about making magic that¡¯s loosly bound to matter and you have your ovens and idk. Like all I¡¯ve been doing for materials is taking a block of something simple like iron, shoving mana at it and calling it a day.
Innearth: So you¡¯re saying you want to try making something different? I¡¯m not really sure where to go from there.
Abe: Yeah bro. That¡¯s why I asked to help colab on stuff. You¡¯re better at experimentation and stuff. I want help figuring out how to make other materials with more than just mana and fuel.
Innearth: So you want advice? You could pick one of those two elements to focus on¡­Like you could focus on the mana and making it do something before making a material or while making it. For example. With void mana I have to continuously try to bind it to a material while it eats away at it. That takes a while before it finally attaches and then makes a material that eats away at everything but that material. Theoretically there¡¯s a way to make it only eat that material but I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve figured that out yet.
Abe: Okay, focus on one of them. What would focusing on the physical material look like?
Innearth: ¡­that¡¯s a good question. Uh¡­ let''s pick something like Iron. What can we do to iron before adding mana to make it different?
Abe: Could make it a magnet?
Innearth: ¡­we could indeed. I¡¯m going to go check the market on how to do that. See if anyone¡¯s done it before and what the process is.
Abe: Sure.
Innearth sent forth several queries researching their goal. The effects of altering the physical materials before turning them into magical materials didn¡¯t seem to be very researched ¨C or at the very least were not shared ¨C but there was a guide on how to make a magnet deep in a list of physical processes. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it To make a magnet you needed a magnet. ¡­that¡¯s fun. Let¡¯s see if anyone on the market is selling magnets and go from there. Searching about Innearth found one core selling massive magnetic plates they made in some proprietary process. Buying two of them Innearth placed them directly in the void and started talking to Abe.
Innearth: Okay, So! Here¡¯s what we do according to this handy guide. We place one of these metals ¨C just going use Iron ¨C into a space between these two magnetic plates. It works slightly better if we heat the metal up first but much better if we hold it in place and mould it about while its still all shifty from being in our inventory as the guide says.
Abe: Bro. You¡¯re my little researcher going off and finding the info so I don¡¯t have to.
Innearth: ¡­do you want to do this yourself?
Abe: No professor Innearth.
Affixing the two plates relatively close to one another, Innearth began streaming Iron straight from his inventory in ¡°mouldable¡± form. He passed it back and forth between the plates feeling kind of silly before adding crystal mana and watching the material shift into a¡­well a crystal. The result was shaped such that all the points and grains faced one direction but beyond that there didn¡¯t seem to be much of a change. It had slightly more strength in one axis and slightly less in all the others? Well either way it wasn¡¯t an impressive result. Innearth moved to trying kinetic mana and found a more useful use case for this setup. If Innearth passed the kinetic mana through from a side running against the magnetic field it was more chaotic and if he did the process with the field than it was nearly twice as strong.
Innearth: Hey! This is a useful effect.
Abe: Eh, Its useful I guess¡­but kind of boring.
As if to illustrate his attention Abe passed a few materials through and then tossed them to the side.
Abe: Hey! I¡¯ve been thinking about how many different things you can do to matter and I came up with the solution. State change! I¡¯m annoyed it took me this long to figure it out.
Innearth: ¡­like melting or freezing something? That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s actually something. Start trying different mana types! Okay sorry I¡¯m getting ahead of myself we need to set up a process to make those state changes. Give me a moment.
Making a giant metallic tray of the hottest fire mana Innearth knew of and then laying lines of a hot but easily cooled magma mana material through the bottom the pair began melting down strips of iron. The metal grew hot and then molten and one by one the dungeons started trying out different mana types on the metal. Fire mana heated the metal to a blistering white and cooled in that white state ¨C producing a much hotter material than regular fire mana ¨C besides the colour this material burned as hot as mundane magma. Earth made a strange pumice-like rock and so did stone mana. Air¡­made the molten metal turn into a thick cloud of red gas and Water mana rapidly cooled the molten metal into an incredibly thin liquid metal that flowed in an exaggerated way ¨C like whenever someone pushed it slightly it sloshed in that direction as if it had been shoved by a huge force. Melting various materials before using mana on them essentially doubled the number of materials they had and could make. The most boring but useful were materials the process would enhance ¨C like melting two materials together and then adding magma mana making hundreds of combinations including ones that stayed liquid at much much hotter temperatures than the version Innearth had been using in his magma spiders. Swapping out the materials in his ¡°hard mode¡± magma halls and then moving about his dungeon, Innearth went on an upgrading spree. After making these materials in a repeatable manner the system let him print and shove them in anything he wanted ¨C no melting tray required and every better material he could swap out 1:1 was a massive find despite being ¡°boring¡± as Abe mentioned. He preferred the materials that were different in a way they hadn¡¯t seen before ¨C like explosion mana mixed with melted phosphorus making a green explosive boom that spilled a caustic green radioactive mana everywhere. In fact, Abe was happy enough trying out melting material ¨C or vaporizing them and trying out mana on the gasses ¨C that he left Innearth alone when the experimental core wanted to try the reverse direction. Creating a single massive freezer Innearth pushed in as many ¡°super cold¡± ice mana materials he had ¨C picking the absolute coldest materials he could despite most of them melting rapidly. Then he snowballed when he realized there were even colder materials found from using ice mana on frozen liquids and gasses snowballing to even colder temporary temperatures. This room was so cold it began condensing the nitrogen and then even the oxygen in the room ¨C creating liquid and solid versions of the gasses for Innearth¡¯s experiments. Not stopping there Innearth used this time to dump various other gasses like helium and hydrogen into the chamber to freeze them too. In this cryogenic chamber resting close to zero kelvin, Innearth created strange twisted and almost unique feeling materials. The magical and technological difficulty involved with freezing materials was much higher than melting them and the materials Innearth made reflected that. Void mana attached and created bars of the standard ¡°eat away at stuff¡± material stronger than even Rhenium, Bismuth and Gold. In more strange notes, crystal mana made first a material out of oxygen that seemed to continuously half crystalize the air around it ¨C essentially a field of space that was hard to walk through and shattered constantly like broken glass when someone or something moved through it. There was also a crystal mana variation with frozen nitrogen that Abe was more excited by ¨C essentially it made an incredibly fragile material that shattered into countless little shards at the slightest nudge ¨C and then slowly reformed in still air. The crystals would slowly move back and repair themselves over a several minute period and, while they wouldn¡¯t be dangerous to any high-levelled adventures, they made an incredible sight. In the same way Fed slowed down falling water to make an almost frozen scene of rain for the ¡°aesthetic¡±. Innearth could print these crystals about a path and make a destructible landscape. As a monster material, it made a sort of ¡°weak¡± version of the Endless Crystal Mass ¨C slime-like growing beds of crystal that could be broken by a fly but were nearly indestructible if you ignored certain magic attacks. Innearth made a few of them with rare drops for his nightmare crystal zone ¨C if an adventurer could kill these for good, they deserved a reward. Abe and Innearth made several ¡°Experiment chambers¡± for the lab theme. They set up a room with a fragile crystal sculpture and then timed a small weak but endlessly repeating explosion material that set off roughly when the regrown statue reached a critical weight. This whole chamber was sped up to the max Abe could manage ¨C something like 20x speed in a small enclosed area ¨C and thus repeated its cycle of destruction and recreation endlessly over a 20s period.
Abe: There¡¯s something incredibly satisfying about smashing stuff y/k? Is it just me? Let¡¯s see how explosive some of these frozen materials are I haven¡¯t tried that yet.
Frozen nitrogen and explosion mana made a material that was even more fragile than the airy crystals ¨C the lump of material exploded randomly in a magically suspended box nearly devoid of outside influence ¨C blocking light, held at nearly a vacuum and chilled down to see if it exploded even while close to absolute zero. The material was so explosive it felt like it detonated if you looked at it funny ¨C and Innearth was positive it did. Why else would it have been stable for a minute and then blasted apart as soon as he focused on it. Innearth thought this material was useless but Abe seemed happy with it for a single reason ¨C as a monster material in a monster that could heal itself this ¡°fragile explosive¡± seemed to heal pretty quickly. It didn¡¯t reform like Innearth¡¯s crystals but with just a bit of life mana and a monster durable enough to withstand the blasts the explosion core was happy. At least the monsters made with it and life mana could usually prevent themselves from exploding just by existing but they still went off randomly all over the place. Innearth went through over a hundred different experiments with state changes and different mana types in the following months. The lab¡¯s structure slowly began to form as the group added things here and there, occasionally arguing over designs but ultimately having fun. The void whale came past once more but once more didn¡¯t find their time-shielded stronghold. The lab¡¯s layout shifted and settled into a final sort of ¡°design¡± ¨C there was a central spherical area with 6 additional ¡°floors¡± (each budding out in a different direction equidistance from each other). Essentially, there was one following Innearth¡¯s ¡°roof¡±, another attached to his ¡°floor¡± and four budding out in different cardinal directions. Each of these ¡°Areas¡± was themed slightly differently ¨C each of the dungeons had final say on one of the 6 outer areas and they were biased following each of their tastes. For example, Abe made easily destructible walls and passages with closing blast doors so swarms of explosion bots could fly about or ¡°TOP SECRET¡± research notes could be placed in heavily trapped self destructing rooms. As far as the group was concerned this ¡°zone¡± was named the ¡°reactor zone¡± ¨C they pretended it was powering the whole plant with a massive engine and themed both monsters and lore around that. Amy took her greenhouse plans and pushed them up to 11. There were a few greenhouses in the central area but in her ¡°Life and living zone¡± the plants appeared to be breaking the facility. At some point Queen took over ¨C she was better able to make all of Amy¡¯s plant desires customizing the monsters and d¨¦cor in a way simply by listening to Amy¡¯s wants and building off of that ¨C instead of Amy¡¯s ¡°buying plants off the market if they are close enough to what she wanted¡± theme. Between the two of them they made roots that broke through walls and wrapped around shattered devices ¨C as if the plants had been so angry at being confined in the facility they decided to take it out on the chairs. This was queen¡¯s first real effort at making something besides a jungle ¨C and she ended up copying many of the designs for her own ¡°natural zone¡±. Queens was decidedly less friendly-looking than Amy¡¯s despite being the same basic materials. In the center of queen''s zone was a massive Venus fly trap-like monster plant that liked eating human-sized snacks. Poisonous rooms and vats of glowing liquid was everywhere with her plants being mutated and unnatural looking. Doc helped with many of the combinations and it bled over a bit into his area which was simply a blank area he was using to store dangerous looking liquids and materials. Fed of course was everywhere ¨C he made hidden chambers; created key cards and access levels, security devices and hundreds of questlines that could only be found naturally. Innearth helped make hard and transparent sheets of crystal everywhere ¨C windows showing off the experimental display cases they were designing or as a way to look into the capsules Fed was so excited by. A creature of bright florescent yellow-green escaped from one chamber and tracked glowing footprints everywhere for one of Fed¡¯s questlines. To start it you needed to track the prints about a maze of hallways with the tracks leading through vents and backtracking through areas you had already passed. Another questline was found by finding a room full of what appeared to be incredibly ancient blood splatters. A resounding roar would fill the room and key parts would shake before an ¡°¡± manner. Yes, the dungeons were leaving notes for one another everywhere. At least FED was. Despite literally being in the same space and having a constant chatgroup they could use to talk, Fed was leaving dungeon script words scratched into the walls and floors where he wanted things placed. Abe got annoyed at him at one point claiming.
Abe: Bro. digging those notes into the solid materials has to be more work than just talking in chat. What are you doing!
Fated Eternal Design: I do this in my own dungeon design. Its so you see it when you look at an area and know what still needs to be done. Just fill the words in if the outstanding task has been done its simple enough.
Innearth: ¡­do you really need manual notes as a checklist? You should have perfect memory.
Fated Eternal Design: ¡­it helps me think okay. Now someone help me figure out how to block off this section of the facility in the chase scene ¨C I don¡¯t want adventurers ducking into rooms and getting trapped.
Brutality Queen: if they get trapped just let them be trapped. If they die they die. If you don¡¯t want them clogging the place up just let the monster into the room to kill them all.
Fated Eternal Design: it breaks the event!
Amy: You should try and prevent adventurers from dying!
Abe: Come check out the hammer man.
Abe had created a humanoid monster with a giant hammer-like head. The monster walked around and then suddenly exploded forwards ¨C an explosion bursting out of its back and causing the monster to rotate forward smashing down in a resounding ¡°bang¡±.
Abe: That¡¯s what I¡¯m talking bout!
ZeMadDoctor: It doesn¡¯t seem very practical. Look at how long its taking to stand back up.
Abe: It''s funny. Look at its little hands.
Fated Eternal Design: Pretend it¡¯s a researcher that got into a weird hammer mana experiment gone wrong. New NPC right here. That¡¯s actually perfect ¨C just remake it with the ability to speak and I can tie in the warped room with it.
Innearth: we have a warped room?
Fated Eternal Design: I haven¡¯t made it yet. There''s a note in the corridor with melty walls about making a warped room. Hey, I saw your crystal air experiment ¨C we should use that to make it look like an experiment went so wrong it broke the air!
ZeMadDoctor: when are we letting adventurers in? I want to test how the atmosphere of the void affects sapients over extended periods.
Fated Eternal Design: When we finish these 7 areas! We can move on after that but these should be done first! It breaks the illusion if they come in part way through the design. Don¡¯t want to be like ¡°Yesss, this ancient building ¨C under construction ¨C thousands of years old!¡±
Brutality Queen: I miss the demons. Is that weird? It''s too quiet.
ZeMadDoctor: Hmmm, we can try and corral them into a specific area. I don¡¯t have much going on in mine, lets attract some weaker demons into it to experiment on.
Innearth: I¡¯m not sure what to do in my zone yet.
Fated Eternal Design: Oh! I need more room for event checkpoints. Let me use the space if you aren¡¯t using it.
Innearth: if you need more space we can always expand more.
Fated Eternal Design: We might have to. There¡¯s not enough space for everything I want to put in. Or there is but I don¡¯t want it to be crammed to close together you know? If it''s side by side it''s kind of unrealistic¡­
ZeMadDoctor: We have 7 spheres 10km in diameter. That¡¯s roughly 3665km3 in total volume. How is that not enough for you?
Fated Eternal Design: ehh¡­its less than that. There are walls and filled in spots taking up space. Besides. This is a shared dungeon for high leveled adventurers right? Some of them can run that in a few seconds. Its less than you think. Fated Eternal Design: Anyways, Hey Innearth, Help me design more experiment rooms. Do you have any really unique looking materials? Remember, looking. They need to look weird not be weird.
Innearth: sure.
And time continued on, months turned into a full year of design. The more they did the more there was to do. Filling these spaces was taking longer than most of them had estimated when they made the outer shells. They each had to start expanding their main dungeons once more just to gain enough raw materials to fill the areas. There was a huge difference between digging this amount of space out and filling it in ¨C especially with the way the void and its extra dimensions seemed to need more materials to fill the same amount of space. After 15 straight months of work Fed claimed they were halfway through their ¡°initial design¡±.
Fated Eternal Design: Stay with me guys, it''s going to be awesome!
Chapter 77. Building like a (dungeon) Boss. *Airhorns*.
Food preserver 9001. Come on down to manacorps and buy the newest machine to keep your daily sustenance nice and fresh! The use of a propritary set of state of the art enchantments along with a specialy cultivated form of preservation mana has created something truely wonderous. Get yours today! Comes with our patented Mana corps protection warranty* free of charge! *Results may vary. Freshness is only guaranteed for non living foodstuffs. Device will kill all small animals and children who climb into it. Keep out of reach of both or void your warranty. Mana corps is not responsible for damages or deaths resulting from use of the food preserver 9001. The storage of magma cheese in the food perserver 9001 is strictly forbiden. Doing so voids your warranty and is a crime against the culinary arts. The food preserver 9001 has no relation to the food preserver 9000. All purchases are final and purchase of the food preserver 9001 voids its warranty.
Excerpt obtained from a typical mana corps device ad. The ¡°initial design¡± as Fed called it was mostly just the layout. At its base, a wall setup was made and refined. Its central ¡°core¡± was a vertical block of voidstone filled with dungeon circuits from all six Cores stacked upwards and occasionally splitting down different paths. On both sides of this center there was a marbled group of: layers of blast protection, ¡°slowly growing and strengthening over time void plants¡±, strips of nullstone, ¡°kinetic distributing wires¡±, unlife and undeath blobs, and a muddy cement-like material from Queen ¨C were all packed in tightly like the output of a trash compactor. To finish up this ¡°standard¡± wall, Doc laid his slightly glowing and reasonably strong white panels everywhere. The floor was a similar affair, but it included a plate of gravity sucking material on the top and gravity pushing on the bottom. Over top of that ¡°standard¡±, area-specific decorations were placed ¨C hallways were laid with soft carpeted floors from FED or stone mana cement-like utility from Queen. Some hallways had hanging light mana bulbs set in crystal domes and others were lit by reddish ¡°danger¡± lights. From top to bottom, thousands of ¡°floors¡± were laid ¨C with long empty hallways periodically peppered with empty rooms in different shapes. When Innearth heard they were only halfway through the initial design he thought of those walls and floors ¨C the sheer amount of material used ¨C and had to agree. Digging was easier than growing ¨C making walls that were difficult to impossible for adventurers to break instead of just compressing stone a bit was time-consuming. Going forward from this point, when enough compressed and reinforced walls were laid, the whole place needed to actually be populated with monsters and decorated. Throughout the past year the dungeons had been designing things on the side, but ¨C now that most of the infrastructure was put in place, they could focus almost solely on the more fun aspect of being a dungeon. Design. Every single one of the six had ideas they wanted to include. While the ¡°concept¡± allowed a massive amount of innovation, it also let each of the dungeons include a bit of themselves into it. It let them build what they were comfortable with while still matching the ¡°abandoned lab¡± theme that was bringing them all together. Doc expanded his ¡°demon containment¡± portion of the facility and had Innearth design a massive porthole type view of the outer void ¨C solid void as the glass, this section of the facility was the only real proof of where they were. Theoretically sensitive enough adventurers could tell normally but this porthole allowed creatures with proper sight to see shifting figures deep in the depths of the void. Doc experimented a lot with portal mana in the void. It didn¡¯t seem to work correctly but it wanted to do "something" so it agitated the void more than normal when he used it. ¨CInstead of punching a hole in space you could travel through, it simply punched space repeatedly until space was sore and looked funny. What Doc could do was make multiple portals in his dungeon and then move the endpoints about the facility¡­but having too many of those began breaking down their claimed space so he stopped. Doc then made kinetic ¡°springboards¡± that hurled adventurers about large open rooms. He designed sections where delvers would be flung towards shock absorbing/kinetic distributing ¡°landing zones¡± and ¨C while they were only going to let high levelled adventurers into this combined project ¨C he and FED worked together to try and prevent flight as best as they could. Something to do with fluctuating the density of gasses and focusing gravity¡­Innearth drifted away as soon as they started talking about higher forms of Air mana. How can Doc stand that¡­he has an earth affinity too doesn¡¯t he? Amy and Queen designed a massive section of the lab to be a full ecosystem. There were small rat and bunny-like creatures with a ¡°tasteful¡± number of tentacles ¨C according to Amy ¨C at the lowest rung of the food system. Technically there was a level below them ¨C they ran about eating specially cultivated plants with the capability of giving them minor abilities. Buffs like speed boosts and armour, or the ability to blur their bodies and hide themselves better ¨C but most of the plants weren¡¯t part of the ecosystem and the prey monsters didn¡¯t need the plants to survive. Directly above these prey monsters were a group of moving plants that ate anything that got near along with some mutated golems queen made. Essentially she took some dirt golems and shoved pipes and wires through them to make them appear as if they were using parts of the facility. She seemed to have had some sort of epiphany while helping design the walls and now her monster flesh could be best described as ¡°ceramic¡±. These solid golems were then doused in a variety of liquids ¨C poisons or acid mana or some diseases we will get back to later¡­.much later. Above them was a series of monsters Innearth would consider mini-bosses on his lower floors. Each unique in some way, most with rare or useful materials embedded in them. One was a mirror that flew about and froze anything that looked into it ¨C somehow altering light that bounced off of it into an invisible ¡°slow down to nearly stopped¡± beam. It was created by accident from some of Fed¡¯s eternity mana mutating materials he had laying around and he donated it to the zone. Another in this category was a metallic spikey ball that rolled around leaving holes in everything. A third a moving ball of reddish-yellow ¨C not orange just yellow with hints of red ¨C goo. A fourth an upgraded beholder. A fifth a large ¡°furnace¡± with wheels and arms that flung any grabbed monster into its ever-burning gullet. They were having fun shoving more and more levels of the food chain into their area. Between the two of them they made sure to design relationships that cycled around ¨C for example, a relationship between the goo and some plants that appeared nurtured by its passage. A symbiotic relationship between some rats who lived inside of a particularly large and tube-filled golem. A blood-tinged plant that was more dangerous than anything else in the ecosystem¡­but that couldn¡¯t move and helped protect some rabbit-like prey that were immune to its existence. There was only really one problem that stood out to Innearth currently. I¡¯m worried any high-levelled adventurer will just rip through this level of monster. I don¡¯t know what our level goal is, but I was thinking of diverting adventurers here after the nightmare ice floors¡­I¡¯ve only finished the nightmare crystal ones and those are aimed at adventurers at least level 70+¡­but they are having fun so I¡¯ll let them continue. Maybe some of the highest predators in the zone will be a challenge? Moving on. Abe had obviously taken his ¡°vault¡± concept and transplanted it into the lab ¨C figuring out how to make whole ¡°living sections of dungeon¡± that interlocked with the facility. They could break and heal themselves back to full in sped-up time fields after an adventurer left. He was designing explosive rocket-like weapons with Doc and equipping rats with heavy artillery and landmines to ensure his sections were smashed. Everywhere his friends were designing things in the way they liked and Innearth was left feeling slightly lost. He could grow crystals all over his designated portion but¡­that felt like a cop out. Even if he included the corrupted crystals in enemies, it didn¡¯t feel like enough of him went into the zone. That felt like what he was supposed to do ¨C it didn¡¯t speak to him the way all his friends started working and obviously knew exactly what they wanted from this. Innearth wanted to stand out. Playing around with different crystal materials, Innearth spent some time designing loot instead of his area ¨C procrastinating something he really did want to do with something he had long ago delegated to his dwarves. A pair of beautiful crystal earrings were designed and linked with mental mana ¨C two separate adventurers could wear them and speak mentally or one could be given to someone on the surface while an adventurer delved¡­Innearth designed them for the aesthetic and imagined one half could be given to a lover ¨C so the married adventurer could tell their significant other if they were going to die or were unable to come home in time for dinner. A key part of the mental connection was boosted by the dwarves, but the design was all Innearth. He made alternative versions that were ring-shaped and then made crystal mirrors and jewelry boxes. A second pass through of X crystals made useful foci ¨C simple tools an adventurer could use to blow wind in their hair or heal minor wounds in the absence of healing potions. Nearly all the devices Innearth made could be improved with runes¡­but most he kept as is. The point of making these devices was to clear his mind and relax. Finally, as if all the stuff he had recently seen had been bouncing around in his core digesting, Innearth suddenly realized what he wanted to do. I¡¯m going to make a boss! The strongest boss I¡¯ve ever made! And I¡¯m going to use something I¡¯ve been saving for so long I almost forgot it existed. When Innearth had been working his way up towards the surface he had broken into a section of an older dungeon''s area. That core had been partly eaten by a demon and ¨C while Innearth had used a small chunk of it on the crystal ¡°dragon¡± ¨C the majority of it had been buried around the dwarves workshop in a solid lump. At one point in time it had existed as a reminder of Innearth¡¯s mortality. Now that Innearth had mostly gotten over his fear of demons, it existed as something that could make a unique monster ¨C perhaps even more unique than anything Innearth had designed before. The crack-filled and teeth-mark pocketed crystal ball was dug up and examined from every angle by Innearth. It looked different now that the dungeon was older and stronger. Faint hints at a deep sort of magic floated about within its depths. Sparks of¡­something close to space and void mana spun about in the very center of it. Remnants of some rank 3 mana outside the 4 bases? Despite being covered in cracks, the gnawed ball didn¡¯t feel fragile enough to shatter initially ¨C Innearth wouldn¡¯t be tossing it about ¨C but it felt strong enough that Innearth could work on it safely. The first step was figuring out the overall theme Innearth wanted to work towards. It feels like giving up to shove it into the body of a regular monster and hope they become strong. This core used to be a dungeon¡­so if I make a monster that¡¯s close to a dungeon it will provide a massive sort of boost to my goal¡­right? That¡¯s how I understand it at least. I think¡­I think I want to make a caster-type boss¡­actually I want to make a boss that spans across the whole zone! That can be my theme. This boss! I have just been dealing with mental mana connections so I can try and link it to everything. ¡­but it seems like a more fun problem to design if I make the connections physical. I can use crystal circuits like the ones I use for my influence as the ¡°connections¡± for this monster to spread throughout my area. Mapping out where the parts of the boss would go Innearth realized he wouldn¡¯t want it to be killed at any cost. The shattered dungeon core was essentially irreplaceable and he actually wanted this boss to be an antagonist that adventurers could fight. With all those points in mind Innearth had a base set up. The ¡°shattered core¡± was surrounded in a single massive ¡°monster core¡± that Innearth designed at the absolute top of his ability to work mana. At level 93 Innearth had a pool of ¡°absolute mana units¡± 31119 large. A tier 17 core took 30600 mana minimum in its 17 layers¡­ but even with Innearth¡¯s mana concentration being higher, at this level that would still be impossible for him normally.
Innearth (Dungeon Designation: Crossroad Link from Murek)
Level 93 9123/9682 exp to next level.
System Access Level 7 1/4 requirements met to advance.
Mana regeneration at 200. ?
-50+ floors
-100 different "Types" of adventurers hosted.
-Level 101+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 249.01 personal unit/min
Mana concentration 3.21 AMU / personal unit
Mana Storage 18976.21/31119.17 AMU
Regeneration over time 13.33862482 AMU/s
Time to Full Mana 15.2 Min
Physical Storage 3% Capacity
Age 7 years
Current Year 2004 AS
Distance underground 500 meters
Number of floors 41 floors
Titles.
Earth Mana Specialization, Crystal Mana Specialization, Void Mana Specialization, Customization.
¡­impossible without his cheating mana ovens...which needed to be resized just to hold this core that Innearth was designing. Mana was compressed and shoved in materials and compressed and shoved in more materials ¨C the innermost few directly around the central core being nearly 30000 all on their own. Theoretically the concentration was a mathematical concept ¨C for a tier 17 core the innermost layer needed 3400 amu, the shell directly around it needed 3200 amu the one around that 3000¡­but Innearth wasn¡¯t working towards a tier 17 core. He was trying as hard as he could to make a core as high as he possibly could and regenerating between each layer. Nearly a day of effort for something he could do at higher levels with a simple print and Innearth had made a tier 20 core with a unique center. The sphere was roughly 2.5m in diameter and Innearth carefully placed it in a hollowed-out ¡°indestructible void box¡±. He then hid it in a nondescript location in his section of the lab and obfuscated the location as best as he could. His friends commented in interest while two crystal dwarves rolled it into position ¨C appearing out of a portal he had moved right near the construction site, they awkwardly moved it about and then carefully lowed the giant ball into its container ¨C treating it like a bomb. ¡­which in fairness ¨C due to how much mana was condensed in ¨C it might as well be. After making the true center of the facility boss untouchable to the best of his abilities, Innearth then designed a fake core. Circuits looped around from an odd angle and joined up to a mechanical crystal hybrid. The fake core was made by pumping a massive amount of mana into one of the ¡°fragile but reforming¡± materials and surrounded it by a hundred different ¡°attachments¡±. Wires snaked off of it into a panel that sparked with lightning mana. Various weapons and tools appeared to be drilled directly into the center ¨C with bolts and runework affixing saws or claws to the machine. The idea was that this ¡°puppet¡± central device could be broken and shattered quite convincingly before being healed back to reset the boss. After making this central source Innearth began making nodes throughout the 10km sphere. An elevator a massive 2500 stories tall was situated in the exact center of his zone and hallways radiated outwards from it in spokes. Most ¡°floors¡± were slices around 3m tall with a 1m thick floor. However. Not all floors were created equal ¨C some were densely packed and others consisted of nothing but a few hallways. Additionally most of the floors meshed together throughout the zone ¨C large rooms would be 31-39m tall on average while periodic ¡°mega hallways¡± cut through 2-3 floors at once. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. For the rooms that cut through multiple floors balconies with metal ladders bumped out their edges ¨C or catwalks crossed their center allowing agile adventurers to jump up and down floors. At first, Innearth was designing each floor with loving care. Rooms were placed in almost mathematically pleasing spots and he made sure nothing looked alike. By the 20th floor he began copy-pasting setups ¨C he used as little of his attention as he could to simultaneously grow walls everywhere for his friends to reinforce. To make up for how ¡°samey¡± large chunks of hallway were becoming Innearth placed three ¡°massive¡± rooms in his zone. Each was roughly a kilometer wide/long and 100m tall. These are important plot rooms. I¡¯m not just making them because I want a break from hallways ¨C nope! Each of these ¡°massive sized¡± rooms had an exposed node that needed to be broken to weaken the central boss of the facility. The first room Innearth designed was centered around one giant laser turret ¨C resting on top of a truly massive pyramid of laser mana materials focusing up to a swivelling beam of death. Innearth ran connections up to the mini-boss and pretended it was the source of the master boss''s laser capabilities ¨C upon ¡°disabling¡± this turret, the Crystal Intelligence System Core (CISC {Boss}) was no longer allowed to use any laser mana devices or magic. To finish off this boss Innearth built a shattered room with a large number of hiding spots and barriers adventurers could hide behind. Broken offices and collapsed walls acted as barriers the adventurers could use while picking their way over to the central ¡°death beam¡± factory. There was also a series of small bots with less lethal but still annoying laser weapons modified from his crystal bat template patrolling this room. A second mini-boss was placed in a sea of void acid. The whole zone was made to look like it was sinking into the liquid ¨C with broken off ¡°chunks¡± of office buildings set at diagonal positions that shifted when stepped on. Innearth created a group of poison and acid monsters to harass adventurers trying to reach its center and resulting ¡°acid turret/controller¡±. Destroying this boss prevented the main boss from dumping or spraying acid in its fight. The last themed mini boss was a room full of magical barriers of all sorts. Innearth wasn¡¯t the best at this part but he got Doc to help him set up some kinetic ones and then went off on a tangent with his crystal dwarves making different barrier runes. This ¡°barrier generator¡± when broken, removed the main boss''s shields and prevented it from locking doors¡­just for fun. Beyond these 3 main themed goals, Innearth placed 12 hidden device rooms that each disabled a different weapon on the boss and made it slightly weaker. The idea was that most adventurers would need to wipe out the main mini-bosses for a fair fight but they could try and go for a ¡°perfect run¡± to gain additional rewards. Theoretically, if all 15 of these devices were disabled the main boss would be entirely helpless¡­but Innearth was trying to time the mini bosses and device rooms to regenerate within 4-5 hours. Unless an adventurer had some way to remotely destroy bosses ¨C or was incredibly fast ¨C the ¡°perfect run¡± was nearly impossible. Beyond those mini bosses and core rooms, Innearth placed wires and exposed runework panels that sparked occasionally ¨C pretending they were important. Throughout the whole facility ¡°cameras¡± were linked to the core along with mental mana plates in the floors the boss could use to taunt adventurers. In fact, every single trap in Innearth¡¯s section of the complex was eventually attached to this system. Doors, hidden compartments with deadly gasses or sharp implements. He had one room that locked and began slowly filling with acid until adventurers found a hidden button to turn it off ¨C that room was disabled when the other acid defences were ¨C there was a laser filled hallway that Fed had made him make for some questline ¨C
Fated Eternal Design: A series of laser beams made even more visible with mist mana that had to be bypassed with agility and strange contortions to fit past beams of burning light. This is the security system of a mad scientist working on some project the rest of his coworkers don¡¯t know about. Top secret weapons! I¡¯m having doc help me make some weapons to store on the other side of this door as a reward for adventurers that reach this point. I¡¯ll keep you in the loop! So much to do!
¨C That was disabled as well when the laser node was taken offline. The CISC didn¡¯t extend just to traps however. At some point, Innearth began setting up the main monsters of his area. The most plentiful monsters were a group of ¡°Shards¡± each containing a linked mental mana connection to the network. His first iterations were rather simple monsters. Scuttling creatures that looked kind of like crabs or spiders with a giant pointy crystal for a main body. These shards sometimes contained explosions, sometimes contained vats of acid that spilled everywhere when broken and sometimes contained secondary monsters ¨C one line of shards would shatter revealing some of Innearth¡¯s strongest crystal snake variants. As much as Innearth liked setting things up to run automatically and ¡°naturally¡±, he also made one shard that spawned random crystal monsters while running around. Those spawned monsters were artificially setup ¨C Innearth actually needed to make/tie up a printer and an event loop leaning on the system to get it to work. Some weren¡¯t even made as conventional monsters. Innearth had one shard that sprayed liquid crystal everywhere in an annoying manner until killed. That left slippery surfaces and gummed up any open devices adventurers had. Some larger shards were Innearth¡¯s ¡°crystal trees¡± and included aerosolized health potions to spray and heal their comrades. Still others simply attacked with sharp crystal weapons ¨C or ranged magical skills. These plentiful shards were not the main enemy of Innearth¡¯s lab however. Imagining how strong the average level would be here, Innearth designed a series of super soldiers that stalked the halls. ¡°A jumbled mess of faulty runework and redundant cores worked into a twisted crystal frame.¡± This was the initial description Innearth left for adventurers. These monsters looked like broken humanoid golems, but unlike its description, contained a lot of complicated engineering. Each solider had to be individually covered in runes from his crystal dwarves ¨C and rather than ¡°redundant cores¡± being slapped over them haphazardly, the whole monster was a pinnacle of Innearth¡¯s dungeon circuit knowledge. Innearth was starting to feel like he was coming up against some greater truth with circuits and, while designing these super-soldiers, he pushed ever onwards. These monsters were the first time he really focused on the spell in ages. Now, he had been using circuits constantly in existing monsters and he was randomizing a few a token amount but¡­it had definitely started to feel like he wasn¡¯t trying anymore. Of two major problems, the first and most pressing one was that he couldn¡¯t logic through what changes made what results ¨C it was mostly repeatable¡­the same circuits usually made the same skills or spells¡­but the hidden variables were incomprehensible. Add to the fact he had to print designs multiple times to get their effects to show up reliably in his system design panel¡­and the process ended up being a chore. The other main problem was that every time he made a new monster it felt like he had to restart from scratch ¨C the different shapes meant different circuits did different things and designs did not transfer. If Innearth found a good circuit he couldn¡¯t change the monster anymore in case it broke the strong circuit he had stumbled into. There were two main breakthroughs with circuits that Innearth came into in this period of time. Both fixed the problems he had with circuits in different ways. The first breakthrough was the invention of skill organs. Frustrated with his inability to transfer circuits that worked between monsters, Innearth suddenly remembered the idea of making a ¡°separate¡± nested monster. For the steam horse that had resulted in a madness organ ¨C steam mana based ¨C that didn¡¯t make the outer monster insane. Working backwards from that, Innearth made a ¡°skill¡± organ ¨C a simple earth mana cylinder ¨C that was not affected by the outer monster. Each cylinder housed a circuit ¨C for example one layered design of hundreds of small water and pure cores made a generalized ¡°water manipulation¡± skill. This skill organ ¨C when implanted in a monster and connected to its own core ¨C allowed the greater monster to control a limited amount of water around them. A second version that had three kinetic cores in key spots let the resulting monster shoot a bolt of water much stronger than the generalized skill. None of this was something new in terms of circuits. Over a month of time Innearth hadn¡¯t made any circuits mimicking his absolute strongest/most iterated skills ¨C but they were transferable and that was what was important. They were transferable and he was getting better and better at eventually reaching his goals. As fundamental of a change as that was, the really revolutionary one was what these skill organs meant for his system. By making sperate ¡°monsters¡± and storing enough of them in a panel the system finally allowed him to start simulating circuits without building them. It didn¡¯t debug his circuits or anything useful like that ¨C just displayed the result without him needing to print the monster once. That was enough. Being able to slowly change the length or angle of circuit sections and watch the projected result change instantly completely broke circuit optimization ¨C in a good way. Rapid Agile Development swept his system in a series of incremental slowly moving shifts that were "zeroed'' in on the best position. This ¡°break¡± though was so exciting for Innearth he nearly completely halted all of his jobs and hobbies. He shifted nearly all of his attention just to focus on creating any possible circuit he could think of ¨C as long as it fit inside of his skill organs. Watching adventurers delve his own dungeon? Something more important came up! Building walls and floors across the whole 7 sphered complex? I¡¯m not having fun doing that anyways! Socializing with his friends? I¡¯m sure if something important comes up they will contact me. Innearth spent weeks upon weeks doing nothing but designing skills and storing them in transferable cylinders ¨C the more he added to the panel the more control he had over it. A nested tree of skills linked by similar effects, or similar nodes, or similar shapes slowly grew. Besides the panel, Innearth began making connections in his core ¨C creating a massive mental map of what changes did what. This map was less structured than the system¡¯s neat catalogue but it was what increased Innearth¡¯s skill steadily and let him begin making jumps of logic. Occasionally the system became confused by a skill organ ¨C either spitting out a ¡°Unsure¡± projection or giving multiple answers with a percent chance of each being the right result ¨C but by printing out the organ a couple hundred times and shoving them in different shards or monsters in his dungeon the effects were narrowed down. ¡­even as he was narrowing down what the effect was some problems cropped up. Knowing what he knew now, he was likely solidifying what the spell did for future generations. ¡­with that knowledge looming over his head Innearth always tried to ¡°confirm¡± results that made sense to him. Some variants had a strong sounding option right beside one that made much more sense to Innearth so he forced the weaker option into becoming the true one ¨C in an attempt to improve the quality of circuits as a whole. Sometimes he figured out a way to get the best of both worlds ¨C he saved the strong but confusing options like ¡°a skill made from water and earth cores that made monsters shoot sticky beams of light that sunk into living creatures and glued them to any surface they touched¡± into a light mana cylinder while saving the second option that made more sense to him ¨C water walking and turning liquids temporarily into a solid ¨C into the original ¡°earth cylinder¡±. ¡­ That being said, if he was the only one using the schematic the chance that he was solidifying the spell just for him increased as well. A few experiments on variants that had ¡°fell¡± a certain way, made him realize he wasn¡¯t always making a circuit that worked for everyone when he brute forced hundreds of prints of a design. In fact some of the ones he had done thousands of times were almost ¡°Innearth only¡± as they didn¡¯t seem to work for his friends at all. Others kept randomizing no matter how many times he was the one who made them. That led to a second period of time where he ¡°better solidified effects¡± by giving his friends skill organs schematics and forcing them to print monsters several times while telling them what the organs actually did. As his knowledge moved ever onwards he found he was even able to design skills he wanted from the ¡°unsure¡± seeds. The easiest way of designing custom skills was by first looking at similar designs and what they did then confirming they made sense to him. He then designed a monster based ¡°somehow¡± around using that skill ¨C for example wanting a specific stone swimming skill and building a monster that couldn¡¯t move if it didn¡¯t have the skill he ¡°intended¡± for it to have. Somehow despite having made the inner section before the outer, the whole process rolled over and kind of worked. He couldn¡¯t just think ¡°I want this to be invincible¡± and pretend it was... but by convoluted and roundabout methods he was actually able to make it feel like he was creating skills from scratch ¨C or at least creating the blueprint that defaulted to skills that already existed. Returning slowly to his facility design, all of Innearth¡¯s favourite skills were placed in the ¡°super-soldiers¡±. Through a connection circuit and some liberal runework that was simple enough for his standard crystal dwarves; he designed a system where soldiers could swap out skills and socket them in. When condensing skills down to this ¡°easy to use¡± state, it became more apparent that the central ¡°soul¡± could only host so many skills ¨C with each ¡°skill¡± taking a different amount of space. For super-soldiers with a tier 4 core that skill limit was anywhere between 5 and 10 skills on average. For tier 8 cores it was closer to 20-30¡­but certain skills like a generalized way of casting magic with various effects based on movement ¡°cost¡± 3x the amount of space for the weaker one or 10x the space for the stronger one. It was like a puzzle that Innearth could spend hours interlocking together for while specialized skills were usually stronger sometimes a series of building blocks were even stronger than that ¨C For example: a skill that outputted mist constantly, linked with a skill that sucked mist into liquid shapes combined with a skill that corrupted water into poison, then linked to a skill that froze liquids and a final "propel small objects" allowed a nearly endless fast and strong barrage of sharp poisoned spikes. Not all skill combinations were that obvious. Some were simply multiple similar skills that synergized well together ¨C like a skill that manipulated fire paired with one that made fire burn hotter. The ones Innearth found the most satisfying were skillsets he designed around skills that seemed useless on their own. Those were the ones that proved the worth of this skill organ design. It was also a puzzle that only existed because of his separation of skills into separate organs ¨C Innearth hadn¡¯t come up against it while designing monsters up until now¡­but he also hadn¡¯t been able to pick and choose a dozen complementary skills to design a monster much much stronger than its ¡°cost¡± would indicate. The CISC Boss was harder to implement this system in. Certain points were given specific custom skills ¨C Innearth made the main boss able to control acid for example. It let the main breakable boss move caustic liquid about the air with an incredibly specialized acid control point¡­but for the majority of the CISC¡¯s design it was Innearth returning to building ¡°blind¡±. Because the dungeon circuits he was designing spanned the whole facility. It was built into the existing walls and contained more mana than he could possibly hope to print at the same time. To give a matter of scale. Circuits travelled through most of the floors ¨C they didn¡¯t blanket every floor and most of them were spread far apart from one another¡­and that translated into literally thousands of large nodes over hundreds of thousands of kilometres worth of end to end circuit. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth and up and down circuits were weaved. Like a giant cats cradle of high mana concentration materials. Thick tier 4 tubes spread to key areas like the building¡¯s veins. Thin tier 1 lines spread out like capillaries. Innearth leaned heavily on his budding ¡°Monster circuit spell instinct¡± to add branches organically ¨C the web of previous knowledge guiding his path. Despite being unable to model the whole setup in his system Innearth felt good about the project. Every single mana type Innearth could use was represented at least somewhere in the circuit ¨C something that logic dictated would lead to madness¡­but his instincts said was fine at the levels and distances he was using them. The few Fire cores Innearth placed around the laser pyramid were far enough away from the water cores by his acid setup ¨C passing through a dozen other nodes between them ¨C that he felt it was safe. Felt with a faint feeling that was so strange Innearth spent time checking himself for outside influences ¨C seeing if a demon or adventurer had managed to control his mind somehow ¨C before listening to it. This sense wasn¡¯t strong enough to be considered a voice in Innearth¡¯s mind. Instead it was barely a whisper and almost pushed information about what to do into his subconsciousness. Any time he focused on this whisper it disappeared¡­and any time he stopped to look at something he had designed ¨C he suddenly didn¡¯t remember why. He remembered making them...just not why exactly he had decided to make some of his larger choices. It was like he was doing stuff for the first time based off of experience and a memory of failures he hadn¡¯t made¡­ Either way his main boss was made and ready to be given life. Calling his friends over to watch Innearth gave life to the hidden core. Lines of visible soul flashed like a lightning bolt through the thickest circuit paths. Traps were taken control of and a slight weight settled over everything. The facility came to life. Lights flicked on and off, Alarms blared and then shut off and doors opened and closed experimentally. CISC was a go! No less exciting was the effect on all the paired monsters Innearth had made. In a hidden section of the hallway, a server room connected hundreds of mental mana ¡°usb¡¯s¡± from monsters to the boss of the zone. The boss had quite a bit of mental mana in its circuit and that became obvious the moment every single monster stopped moving. They froze in a show of control before one by one they were released and returned to their previous fighting/shambling/patrolling. One or two of the soldiers refused to submit and were melted from the inside out ¨C and then the new status quo was made. Monsters went back to what they were doing and connected devices stopped spazing about. It was like there wasn¡¯t an omniscient overlord breathing down all their minds. Finally testing complete. The boss spoke ¨C a faintly robotic feminine tone listing in Innearth¡¯s mind. I¡¯m sorry about the horrible mess of this place. Please allow me to fix everything, I simply don¡¯t know what¡¯s happened ¨C I just woke up you know. ¡­you know it''s strange I just woke up, I just said that didn¡¯t I. Sorry my mind feels all strange. I just woke up, but I feel like¡­I feel like I have some strange memories of magma and magma related experiments? That has to be wrong...or am I misremembering? There¡¯s no lava in this facility. OH! Maybe that¡¯s why its such a mess. Something broke my magma devices. Probably those useless insubordinates¡­ That simply cannot do. Don¡¯t worry boss, I¡¯ll make the changes you wanted! Mana twisted and raced about hallways. It looked and felt like everything was flexing slightly as existing connections were leaned on and added to and new ones were forged. As the mana settled the boss made a strained sort of whine in Innearth¡¯s mind. Like a chipmunk trying to lift a boulder and screaming with the effort. All throughout the facility changes started to be made. Walls spun and slid past each other with that strange whine a constant companion. It was almost as if the boss had been made with ¡°Facility, Lab, Hallway, Room, Wall and Floor¡± mana types and had a generalized ¡°Facility manipulation¡± spell. Occasionally a shard was smushed by passing building parts and smeared across whole hallways before the boss noticed. Occasionally a super soldier was squished between walls and left still alive in the shift. The process of moving rooms and hallways wasn¡¯t smooth nor satisfying ¨C but it was surprising it was even an option. After reorganizing the haphazard copy pasted setup Innearth had done, CISC had made a massive boiler. The boss then began flaring laser and fire mana about ¨C attempting to melt scraps that had been uncovered by the renovation. Don¡¯t worry boss! I¡¯ll get the lava. Give me a bit! It¡¯s taking longer to melt than I thought it would. Innearth spoke to his monster for the first time ¨C ignoring his heckling friends for a moment. Do¡­do you want me to make you lava? Lava that never goes out? Also do you remember your time as a dungeon core? ¡­dungeon core? What¡­are you talking about? I¡¯m the Crystal Intelligence System Core. You¡¯re the dungeon! Did you forget? Do you need to take a break? I feel much better now that I fixed everything to how it was supposed to be. You should take a break. Do you smell burning? Is it burning? Am I making lava! The floor is a deadly laser!
Abe: You tell him Cisc! Atta girl. Get Innearth to come play with explosives.
Fated Eternal Design: This boss is truly wonderful. I wish it was located in the central area¡­it feels like it should be a controller of the entire facility! Worthy of being the very strongest!
Innearth: ¡­I¡¯m second guessing if including multiple madness combinations didn¡¯t break a screw or two loose. See I thought it would be fine¡­and I guess it is seeing as how the boss hasn¡¯t attempted to attack me¡­but its personality seems off?
Abe: In all honesty bro. You¡¯ve gone mute for a bit. You good? Come back to us. We are all going t''play around with mutations and diseases soon! It can be a good bonding experience! It looks like your boss is done so you have no excuses!
Innearth: Oh¡­Sure! I was wondering how that worked. Thanks for inviting me¡­
ZeMadDoctor: I¡¯ve already gone through this once before. I¡¯ll provide relevant unique materials if you need them. But I want to try playing with this boss while you guys repeat experiments I¡¯ve done. It sounds like a plan.
Chapter 78. Friendship is a disease. So is life. Everything is a disease if you put your mind to it!
The existence of diseases and viruses are in a strange state in the world. Non magical or ¡°mundane¡± diseases are well known and documented but mostly ignored ¨C levels help protect you from them and usually only the weakest people or children ever contract them. Conversely magical diseases have a much wider variety of effects and can prey on even the highest of leveled persons¡­but are in a strange state where the majority don¡¯t tend to form naturally in anything more than a few already dangerous and documented locations. If hundreds of your citizens gain the ¡°bone burning magma hives¡± you know someone out there has a plague class. Either that or a virus-related monster is skulking around the city or an alchemist went insane. Occasionally a dungeon contains magical diseases¡­but those are usually well maintained enough to not spread beyond the dungeon so we shall ignore it for this pamphlet. This doesn¡¯t mean magical diseases aren¡¯t common or dangerous¡­just that any time one comes across them, there¡¯s usually an underlying ¨C and more importantly fixable ¨C root cause. Find the source ¨C send priests or guards or hire adventurers to take the underlying source out¡­ and most magical diseases will naturally crumble away like so much filthy sand.
Excerpt from the Aristocratic pamphlet ¡°What you need to know as a city lord¡±
Amy: Hey everyone, is everyone here? I don''t want to start without anyone.
The dungeons slowly affirmed they were all here and then Amy began her lesson.
Amy: Okay everyone! Please stop me if you have any issues, I don''t want to leave anyone behind! Amy: Magical diseases are a spell that''s grown. They aren¡¯t built like a monster or item ¨C you have to let it do its thing. Amy: To start off we are going make a simple necrosis that spreads through human touch. Nice and simple. Does everyone have their disease starter?
Innearth looked down at the stone bucket with an "Innearth <3" on it. Looking around, everyone had a similar bucket with their names and a heart written in dungeon script along the side.
Abe: I''m sorry but what even is the starter? It looks like mud.
Amy: it''s human waste!
Innearth: interesting.
Amy: now because our goal is touch based, we want to add a bit of the medium it''s going spread through.
A severed hand flopped into the center of the work area and was immediately separated into unrecognizable cubes after some artful absorption.
Amy: there we go, adventurer just lost that fresh so it should be perfect.
Abe: What.
Innearth: ¡­is this step needed?
Amy: yep! Take your medium and mix it into your disease starter while bathing the whole pool with pure mana. This stage can''t be rushed you really want to mix it good.
Innearth hesitantly picked up and dropped his "medium" into his "starter". He then began swirling it about with mana - his weak strength able to handle the small materials easily.
Amy: this is usually the state where I sprinkle life mana into it, but our goal for the first disease is necrosis, So! Instead I''m going ask everyone to push death mana into your batter.
Brutality Queen: ¡­I don''t think I can use death mana. I¡¯ve tried but can''t seem to grasp it.
Amy: that''s okay, I have a death root for us¡­ you can substitute most of the mana requirements for materials. Diseases are very forgiving.
Innearth focused on spritzing death mana into the unrecognizable and sketchy lumps inside his pool. At first, he felt like he was doing something wrong. The mix looked as gross as it had always had and the death mana just clung to the inside of the bowl ¨C refusing to mix with anything. However! After a few minutes of stirring, everything seemed to start breaking down slightly. It was still a sketchy bowl full of lumps but¡­now it was a magical sketchy bowl full of semi-melted lumps.
Amy: Perfect! Innearth has got it! This is the stage where a lot of the base has already been made. Now¡­ you''ve actually already managed to make a magical disease! You should be proud! But¡­well it''s pretty weak right now. Amy: A level one human could eat this and only get a minor stomach ache. We have to grow this disease to be much stronger over a several day period! Considering its necrosis, a good plan would be to incubate it on a dead body ¨C but I''ve been pretty good about keeping my adventurers alive recently, so we¡¯ll have to figure something else out.
Brutality Queen: I have one! Give me a sec.
A few minutes later and a massive blob of muddy mana sloshed through a portal, depositing an only "slightly" fresh corpse in front of the group.
Amy: Perfect! Thanks queen <3 Amy: Has everyone gotten their weak disease yet? If you have, place it on a free spot on the incubation station! Amy: Oh hey, Fated Eternal Design let me help you out there. Its kind of tricky but you should make sure not to include air mana in the stirring ¨C at least unless you want it to spread through breathing. I know that little cyclone is probably easier for you to use but it¡¯s corrupting the spell.
Fated Eternal Design: Tch. Okay. I don¡¯t need help I¡¯ll just switch.
Innearth carefully collected and levitated his disease up and brought it over to the "incubation station" picking a nice solid patch to lay his gunk. Faint purplish black wisps rose from the pile while Amy continued the lesson.
Amy: Now, that minor necrosis disease is something most undead have naturally. It''s all well and good having a good form of danger that''s harder to heal from than normal¡­but where do we go from here? Amy: The next step is for everyone to make a potion using a mana type they are interested in trying out. Life mana-based diseases are harder to deal with so I''ll be here to help you every step of the way!
Abe: ¡­I feel like it''s expected of me and no one will be surprised when I say this but¡­Bruh. Explosion disease! What will that look like! Someone gets a minor case of the splosions? Bro. Tell me that¡¯s not funny¡­ Abe: Okay, gonna start mixing Explosion mana into the spell ¨C wish luck.
Innearth looked in his new bowl filled with fresh starter and tried to organize his thoughts. Well I don''t have any specific goal in mind? I guess I''ll just see what a crystal disease looks like it¡¯s kind of like what Abe just said in that it¡¯s probably expected of me¡­but it¡¯s not like I can think of anything else right now. Innearth began the process of mixing his bowl up ¨C adding more "flesh" medium to lock the spell to flesh, and then sprinkling a few dots of crystal mana about the bowl starting off small.
Innearth: Why are we just using humans as an ingredient?
Amy: oh! That''s just because they are easy to gain. Adventurers lose limbs constantly and humans are the most plentiful. Amy: Technically you are making a touch based disease but it''s most common carrier is humans. If you want a disease that only targets a certain type of Dungeon monster you use a part from that dungeon monster. If you want it to only target dungeon monsters in general, you use a whole bunch of different kinds of dungeon parts ¨C if you use enough it covers all of them. Technically you should use flesh from a bunch of different species and give it plenty of options¡­ but this is good enough for our practice. I have some contacts if you need materials for all the different kinds of adventurers.
Innearth: What happens if we skip that step?
Amy: Well¡­it will still work if injected or ingested by anyone. At least it should. Like if you really want to give a disease to one particular guest and cover their food in it, it will work. It won''t spread beyond them though and it''s much harder to infect stuff in general.
Innearth: Alright. Thanks for the information.
Innearth began swirling small streams of crystal mana into the bowl ¨C a constant funnel of mana transmuting his blob of disease.
Amy: I heard someone say dungeon disease spells are our form of potion making. If you combine it with our material making spell it''s the reason we can''t make the same potions as sapient¡¯s. Amy: feel free to have fun with it! Toss any materials you want into the mix¡­ the more the merrier.
Innearth printed out some fragile crystals and wet the whole mix with liquid crystal ¨C turning his bowl a pleasant blueish with wet sparkles hiding the original goop.
Amy: All I''m going to mention is that the more you add, the harder it is to control. Quantities start mattering and you can overpower traits you want if you use too many. Lots of similar added ingredients are usually good but stuff that are vastly different and not added correctly¡­well that can be a problem.
Innearth: huh¡­I got a system prompt.
Amy: oh? That probably means you made a transformation one. Unless you want to try and break it with madness you should accept those ¨C like otherwise the system with destroy your disease. Let''s see what you made!
Weak crystal lung crystal heart disease. [Airborne].
Description: Upon breath of this disease, crystal spores will begin growing upon the inside of a host''s lungs. As the host gets sick, crystals spread to the bloodstream turning blood into liquid crystal. The last stage of this disease is when it reaches the heart. At that point the whole body stops working as the disease transmutes liquids into solids in a chain reaction. Information: Can be fought off with lots of liquids and a strong lifeforce. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
Amy: ah, boring one. Not to say your disease is boring! Just¡­most of the transformation ones are more exciting. Amy: Here this is what a rabbit transformation disease looks like.
Hare shift. [Contact Based]. [Water carrier].
Description: Partial nearly instantaneous transformation into a cross between current species and a long-eared rodent. Very hard to fight off. [Skill alteration]: skills, spells and actions will be twisted by the theoretical new species you have gained. Results vary. Information: Disease spreads through prolonged contact to liquid containing this disease. Disease is broken upon consumption of the raw meat of a predator animal or monster. Disease can be dispelled by strong cleansing magic or upon 40 days of first contracting said disease. Disease can be worsened and time extended upon consumption of grains, carrots, grass. Fighting off this disease without cleansing it will increase resistance against both this transformation disease and others.
Innearth: huh¡­what¡¯s with all those rules? That¡¯s a paragraph of them.
Amy: The stronger a transformation disease you make the more the system meddles. Sometimes it lets you choose the ways to revert it! This is actually a good thing as far as I¡¯m concerned ¨C it lets us make some interesting scenarios where we hit adventurers with a debuff and they have to figure out how to remove it. Amy: I have one disease that turns people purple and shrinks them to roughly a quarter of their size. Adventurers who contract it have to eat sweets and I¡¯ve planted a bunch of sugary fruits about a miniature secret area. They can find a bunch of secrets in there and then fix themselves back to normal by eating one of those fruits! Doesn¡¯t that make a fun scenario! Fated Eternal Design would be proud. Sure even after fixing it, adventurers look a bit purplish for a few days and have a sweet tooth¡­but it¡¯s still pretty fun and they get compensated for their troubles.
Innearth: Okay, So try again?
Amy: The good thing about magical diseases is that you can use magical diseases as ingredients! There¡¯s no need to revert back to your starter¡­ you can try using this result you made to make another more interesting one. I recommend adding more liquids and trying to remove that airborne pathway ¨C it''s much harder to control airborne diseases I don¡¯t recommend them unless you want it literally everywhere.
Innearth: Thanks,
Amy: Oh! One last thing, Doc has a lot of transformation unique materials. If you ask him nicely he can share them ¨C those are how I¡¯ve made some of my best ones.
Abe: Flatulent disease? That¡¯s¡­not what I was going for.
Amy: let''s dissect this result together and see how we can shift it into something you like more okay?
¡­ Innearth split his failed disease into several bowls and started trying to figure out how to magnify certain results. Grabbing a pure corrupted crystal, he started mixing the bowl once more. I think this is another one of those spells where I don¡¯t like how random it is. Should I add more of something? As Innearth spun his bowl about, he saw the corrupted crystal initially start to work like it usually did ¨C it sucked in roughly half the mass in the bowl and all the mana he was trying to spin about almost breaking the spell¡­but then, something about spinning it caught on its natural process. The spell seemed to pull the reaction out of the mass of corrupted crystals that had begun to form. Spinning about the inner chunk shattered began growing and then shattered again ¨C growing smaller and smaller with each break while every lump and sludgy material in the bowl transformed as well. Soon all that was left in Innearth¡¯s bowl was a powdery sort of rainbow sand ¨C colours so mixed, they appeared greyish brown. At the exact moment he stopped stirring, a system confirmation prompt appeared and upon confirmation, the following description was shown.
Crystalline Petrification Virus. [Contact based]. [Threshold saturation].
Description: Spread through prolonged touch, this virus turns flesh and blood to crystalline solids in a single fast-moving reaction. Information: Can be fought off with high vitality and willpower. Is broken upon being exposed to sunlight. Cannot penetrate cleansing barriers.
So this turns people into a statue? And they will revert back to being whatever they were when moved to daylight? What''s different about the sun and regular light?
Innearth: so¡­exposure to sunlight?
Amy: that''s a pretty standard transformation breaking state. Most petrification effects have something along those lines¡­The statue is freed upon daybreak or the light of a full moon¡­that sort of thing. What have you got? Lets see it!
Innearth sent a copy of the status description and waited patiently for Amy to respond.
Amy: yep! That''s a relatively good version ¨C if a bit weak. If you want this virus to affect high level adventurers, we have to keep fiddling with it until we remove those two ¡°can be fought off¡± lines. Vitality is what most warriors have and willpower is a¡­It¡¯s not the mage equivalent because it''s not really an energy but it''s close enough. Amy: here. Let me help you remove those traits. Can I take over for a bit?
Innearth: Oh, sure. Of course. Take it away.
Innearth watched as Amy added a stream of what had to be blood and a glob of some white mucusy substance. She then began weaving together a strange multiple swirl mixing effect ¨C with 5 distinct whirlpools of life adjacent mana touching down and drawing up the disease. Like different coloured cyclones of greenish mana. More sketchy blobs of what looked like roots were added and then ¨C suddenly out of nowhere ¨C a long Tentacle shot out of a portal and tossed a live squirrel into the tub. Scrambling against the side this squirrel was flash petrified into a crystal statue and then pulled into a portal. A brief moment later a second unfrozen squirrel appeared from the same portal scrambling about this time as it was dunked into the bowl. After two more cycles past, it was apparent the squirrel was the same one each time ¨C for it seemed resigned to its fate, hanging limply as it was crystallized and then removed one last time. It hung for a moment then was removed ¨C tentacle dragging into the closing portal with a wet squelch.
Amy: ta da! There you go!
Innearth: ¡­is that squirrel okay?
Amy: ¡­why do you ask?
Innearth: ah idk, it seemed cruel.
Amy: Ehh¡­I didn¡¯t realize it would upset you. Snookems found a toy and was playing with it so I figured I¡¯d use the thing to break the willpower trait on your disease before it was eaten. Do you like squirrels or something? Did you want it? Snookems is really attached to it¡­but I can tell them to drop it if you want it. They drag all sorts of things around my dungeon and leave them in weird places so I¡¯m sure they can find a new toy if you wanted this one?
Innearth: Oh don¡¯t worry about it! You don¡¯t have to justify this or anything, I just felt like they didn¡¯t have a chance and... Idk don''t worry about it. Let''s see the new effect.
Crystalline Petrification Virus. [Contact based]. [Threshold saturation].
Description: Spread through the touch of a host, this virus turns flesh and blood to crystalline solids within three seconds of continuous exposure. Asymptomatic hosts can be formed when ingesting the virus in sunlight and remain carriers of said virus until they have been cleansed. Information: Is broken upon being exposed to sunlight. Is broken by strong cleansing magic.
Amy: That''s a great petrification time! Usually I get a petrification version that takes minutes to even hours to freeze them and then have to carefully strengthen it to a more effective point.
Innearth: It''s probably the corrupted crystals doing that. So that''s it? I have a virus?
Amy: Yep! This is the point where you can make a monster out of your batch or spread it about an area. If you want more of it, the easiest way will be to create a monster that constantly produces this and heals it back up. I think the convention is to call those ¡°Subject Ones¡±.
Innearth: no need for incubation or whatever?
Amy: Not unless you want it to work faster than 3 seconds. Incubation is usually what I do to grow its strength or concentration. Sometimes you can dilute results with a bunch of water and then incubate its strength back up¡­but viruses aren¡¯t really poisons. Most of them work on a "you get infected or you don¡¯t get infected" basis¡­ Amy: ¡­I guess I don''t know how you would strengthen a crystal virus so a subject one monster is your best bet. Amy: Oh! Last note. If you go that route with a "subject one" monster it becomes linked to the magical diseases in a weird way...killing the monster will cure all those who have contracted the disease. If you make multiple monsters you can spread it out so all of them have to be destroyed to cure it...but that also weakens it in general. Hope you''re having fun making diseases! Please tell me if you need anything else...
Innearth: well thank you for your help, I guess I''ll try a few more ideas.
Innearth made a crystal turtle using his crystalline virus and a simple mechanism that caused it to scrape virus gunk off of itself constantly ¨C like a shedding bowl that wandered around a little terrarium he made for it. He saved a tiny bit of the virus and mixed it with several starters to try and prime them with the work he already did¡­and then began using different mana types and materials just to see what would happen. As Innearth made various disease potions, his mind kept drifting to what had just happened. He tried to understand his feelings about the squirrel. Maybe it''s because I used to watch animals delving me? Whatever the reason¡­it feels like they are small furry adventurers. If they get eaten or die in a trap they didn''t notice ¨C or while fighting ¨C it''s fine, that''s life¡­but getting trapped with overwhelming force and essentially tortured makes me uncomfortable. Torture isn¡¯t fun to watch. Not like action and real fights are. I feel like Amy''s monsters are overkill and the squirrel didn''t know what it was getting itself into¡­idk why I''m focusing on that so much. I''m kind of interested in seeing different magical diseases let''s focus on that instead. I know I¡¯m being dumb no one else seems to have had a problem with that. ¡­ Innearth soon forgot his misgivings and created a wide variety of magical diseases ¨C sometimes viruses, sometimes fungal or bacterial strains, sometimes even parasites ¨C with dangerous or interesting sounding effects. At some point Amy taught them how to mix multiple diseases together and they went through a period of combining diseases with old strains or throwing everything into a chamber to see what survives. Innearth really liked the animal transformation viruses¡­ but didn''t want to make them when he found out they usually required a live animal or two as one of the spell''s ingredients. He wasn''t squeamish or anything ¨C he just kept imagining the animals were adventurers and not wanting to do it. At one point, FED and Innearth combined a mental confusion disease with a crystal parasite and mutated it into a mind-controlling crystal parasite. Essentially it caused a nest of crystals to sprout from the head of anyone infected by the parasite¡­and then controlled them to attack and attempt to infect anything nearby. Great fun to infect a few super-soldiers and watch them chase each other around a quarantined section of the facility. The highlight of this period, however, was a combined monster schematic that every single dungeon added to. Their disease magnum opus. The schematic was centred around what appeared to be several stacked wheels of syringes on a unicycle. The boss had dozens of different diseases stored in each syringe and a piston method that Doc came up with and everyone enhanced to deliver the payload. A steam mana organ, Kinetic mana accelerator, Entropy mana projectile hack, a piercing void spout and a liquid controlling case all combined into something that would infect any adventurer dumb enough to get close. Other than a complicated part air elemental, part kinetic mana movement system, the rest of this boss went into defence. A sleeve of indestructible void surrounded its central core, and all of the dungeons worked hard to make it durable enough to survive the attacks of high-levelled adventurers. And then four of them were made. Each with different diseases stored about. Everything from essentially poisons, to petrifications, to "transformative temporary mutations" were included. The release of these four instruments of disease marked the return to dungeon building and for a time everything seemed to be working out. Storylines were made based around some of the strangest diseases and the group had some of the most fun they had in a while. Slowly however friction began building between dungeons. There was a solid split between FED who kept telling them they weren¡¯t done and Abe/Queen who were getting more and more annoyed by how bossy he was being. They claimed they were getting bored of building without a payoff, or said they could add stuff to the facility later like they did in their own dungeons. Amy tried to mitigate the fighting while Doc and Innearth mostly worked on their own projects not having as much of a stake in what happened. If Innearth had to pick a side¡­well he could see why Abe and Queen had a problem with FED right now ¨C his perfectionism was getting more and more annoying and lead to his collaboration being slightly overbearing¡­This was supposed to be for all of them but FED was taking control of nearly all the processes claiming they couldn¡¯t use certain designs because they looked dumb or didn¡¯t match the theme. But on the other hand, the main reason Innearth found it hard to care was that FED was taking over a part of the process he didn¡¯t care about as much. The fact that while FED wanted everything to be perfect and was bossing Cores around¡­he also was willing to put in the work himself. He was everywhere constantly simultaneously building complicated structures everywhere and adding furniture or embellishments to their spaces. Considering at the end of the day Innearth liked pretty much all of FED¡¯s designs it seemed weird to get mad at FED for doing his thing. In fact¡­it was to the point where Innearth kept comparing how well put together the finished sections of the facility looked ¨C and then comparing them to his ¡°finished¡± sections of dungeon and finding them lacking. Innearth slowly panned over how his dungeon was set up. There were different areas designed around variety ¨C huge changes between zones and transitionary floors to help make sure delvers didn¡¯t get bored ¨C but stuff was kind of disjointed. It felt slightly slapped together despite how much work he had put into the place. When he looked at the facility, he could see dozens of distinct areas with different feels ¨C unique areas that all tied together into the greater theme. There were plant overrun hallways beside more orderly greenhouses. There were experimental pods and rooms dedicated to single massive experiments beside quarantined areas with hazards, flashing lights and blaring sounds. Yeah¡­I think I want to just leave all the story and decoration design to FED. I can experiment just fine and he can be the one to deal with fitting it into the theme. As annoyed as some are getting, I really appreciate it. ¡­The only part of all this is how it makes me feel like my own dungeon is lacking somehow. ¡­I think¡­I think once I finish my nightmare floors, I want to do all of my future design in this facility ¨C or at least by extending this facility. That feels like something I can work on forever. I¡¯m not going to rip up my own dungeon and replace it with a facility¡­I just feel like I want to transition to this when I clean up my old floors. ¡­ Innearth had expanded his own dungeon a huge distance while digging raw materials for the facility¡­ but left it mostly empty for the past two years ¨C not performing any massive design. Mostly his expanded area was taken up by the nightmare version of the ice caverns¡­but Innearth had only done the bare minimum to make it cold and lazily let it slowly gather ice and snow related mana types. Now that he had nothing else to do he focused on solidifying these last few floors. The frozen gasses and incredibly cold ice materials made for some obvious upgrades.. while his increased circuit knowledge let him start the process of designing strong monsters to center this floor around. A solid three-month span of steadily increasing bickering passed in what felt like minutes¡­before finally FED was convinced and somewhat forced into saying he was done. His final desire was to make a joint quest through all of their dungeons to unveil the opening of the shared facility. Each dungeon took and hid a dozen keys and nonchalantly placed a powered down gate to the facility in their depths. Soon the adventurers would arrive. Soon. Chapter 79. A delve or two, perhaps a thousand? Is anyone else seeing this?
¡°I¡¯ve got this one-¡° A stream of violence blasted past Samantha¡¯s left ear even as she called the most holy of dibs ¨C air magic flipping her hair up and across her face into her eyes and mouth. A wall of spinning needles slipped by her head like a swarm of silver fish and pinned her opponent to the wall. Glaring behind her, she finished off the helpless monster ¨C one of the crystalline snakes with a pair of dagger-like arms. She jumped backwards a second after smashing its core and turned even as the monster statufied behind her ¨C the monsters in this dungeon did that in the lower floors and no one knew why yet. Samantha slid her thin blade into a clip on her belt deactivating a half dozen skills on her way ¨C the high-cost upgrades like [Prismatic Blade], it would be foolish to turn off [Hightend reflexes] or [Warrior¡¯s Sight] in the dungeon this far down. ¡°I had that one ¨C you¡¯re not impressing anyone Craig.¡± She snipped ¨C spitting hair out of her mouth to do so. The auxiliary member at least had the decency to look slightly embarrassed ¨C nodding to her and looking away. Craig had been hired to sub in for their magic archer ¡°Smith¡± ¨C who had contracted some clearly experimental and dangerous virus the week before. Smith was still alive, but recovering from flesh being transmuted to crystal bit by bit was a long process. Any other week the team would have simply waited for their teammate to recover and spend some time focusing on themselves¡­but the dungeon and every dungeon connected to it was currently running some rare event and none of them wanted to miss out in case it was a one-time thing. They had had to force Smith to take his healing cooldown and not start waddling around on his bow-staff like he had claimed he could do. Keys were scattered everywhere in the deeper floors and the rewards for bringing one to an altar were enough to make a priest greedy. Enough for even the most close-knit group to consider gaining a temporary potentially unknown member. As far as a backup went Craig was¡­fine. Apparently he had managed to reach the hardmode mine solo as a hybrid mage ¨C so he was at least passably competent. No, if Samantha was honest with herself at his age ¨C which she guessed was close to 21 ¨C and assuming he started at the average age of adventuring in the central continent ¨C around 18 to 20 depending on region¡­that was positively genius. The real issue Samantha had with him was his lack of experience working in a team. The kid seemed to have delved solo his whole life and it showed ¨C painfully ¨C in the way he fought. Poisonous clouds controlled by wind. Explosive shrapnel blocked from hitting him by a shield of spinning air. Nearly all of his attacks filled rooms and didn¡¯t distinguish well between friend or foe. Stelc their leader ¨C a large man who had to have some sort of orcish blood in his ancestry ¨C had put a stop to most of that an hour into their collaboration. He had absolutely reamed Craig out after taking a deflected handful of poisoned needles to the face ¨C Stelc was fine obviously. As their tank that level of damage was little more than a scratch. Not everyone had his constitution however ¨C if the needles had hit anyone else they could have been seriously injured or even killed. Which brought them to their current situation. A group of three lifetime friends and one outsider. Samantha was their vanguard with her Hollow blade while Stelc was their Sentinel with his frankly ridiculous armour and natural defense. Straw was their scout ¨C he kept trying to get people to call him ¡°The Shadow¡± but no one humoured him. Straw was in charge of finding traps and secrets ¨C or breaking into treasure chests ¨C and most of the time couldn¡¯t be seen. Instead of calling him ¡°The Shadow¡± his friends sometimes called him the ¡°needle in a straw stack¡± in jest. Together with their magic archer Smith ¨C a mage who conjured frosty slowing arrows and shot them using his staff-bow ¨C the group was as close-knit as a group of adventurers unrelated by blood could be. They had been together since they had joined the adventurer¡¯s guild 16 years ago and worked well with one another. Samantha thought they could have gone without Craig replacing their ¡°Frostbolt¡± mage who never once poisoned their leader or ¡°helped out¡± when she had called dibs! A beam of light spun past Samantha''s head ¨C the laser crossing an entranceway and melting through the golem that had been sneaking into the room with a harsh pop. OH THAT¡¯S RIGHT. Craig wasn¡¯t the worst part of this delve. The worst part was that they weren¡¯t the only group currently on this floor ¨C she had counted at least 7 separate huddles of 2-5 adventurers so far. One of those groups just HAD to go playing with this floor''s laser puzzle without caring about the potential casualties. She turned to check no one had been decapitated and found her partners huddled around a glowing section of the wall. Curious she wandered over to join her group peering over Craig''s shoulder to get a better look. As laser mana had passed over the crystalline surface, it was sucked in. Now lines of light bounced about in a chaotic manner that somehow interlocked into a meaningful pattern. The symbol was a swirling arrow-like shape that pointed downwards and faded slowly as the trapped mana broke apart. Excitedly Craig pulled out a portable laser ball the device ¨C a previously unknown drop ¨C and began shining it on the symbol. The tinted light solidified the lines of mana into prominence once more and spread. Following it down he traced a series of arrows into and then around a corner in the room ¨C appearing to disappear as he confidently stepped through the wall. What was that? Following him over Samanta reached out and felt a solid wall from the side ¨C feeling a mostly solid but slippery sort of crystal with her callused hands. Changing her angle to aim from the corner made the wall feel like a strange sort of liquid ¨C more like a curtain of thousands of hanging threads of string than a physical liquid. Wet but leaving her hand dry. She pushed through the curtain of liquid crystal just as Stelc arrived behind her and found herself in a small dim room. In front of her stood Straw and Craig once more blocking her view and requiring her to stare over the younger mans shoulder. Before them stood a softly glowing pedestal shaped like a blackish crystalline stoney hand. The hand reached up out of the floor in a grasping motion and held a strange sort of grey block with intricate runework ¨C curving shapes that looked like nothing she had ever seen on a properly rune¡¯d item. This had to be one of the keys they were looking for. It matched the vague descriptions they had been told before everyone started keeping secrets and hoarding knowledge. ¡°Yes yes, The shadow has finished checking ¨C you can safely extract this jewel if you wish.¡± Straw said while running his long fingers over the jet-black arm as if wishing it were his own. Nodding Craig reached out and picked the cube up just as Stelc entered the room sideways. The large man had to crouch and bend his head sideways at a strange angle to get past the weird wet crystal wall. ¡°I think we got what we came for in this room, You should turn around before holding onto this okay? No need to keep trying to fit into the doorway there¡¯s nothing else here¡± Craig said casually holding the prize out without hesitation. Maybe Samantha was being a bit too harsh on the kid. He at least was never greedy about splitting rewards ¨C letting their leader redistribute them at the end of the day. That was something she couldn¡¯t even say for straw who had to be sneaking stuff out. No way he could afford that massive spacial storage woven into his ostentatious cloak otherwise. Exiting the secret room with their loot and the adventurers found themselves surrounded. Five separate crystal swimmers ¨C a thrice Mort-damned monster to face one of, let alone a group of (not that Samantha was religious enough to believe in that undead god). [Quickdraw] had her sword in her hand in less than a second ¨C skills revving down her arm mana pathways briefly visible ¨C their cast time removed and cooldown reset by the cheat of a skill. In the span of a long drawn-out breath, her needle-like sword was held up like she was planting a flag and plunged into the dungeon floor. It encountered the magically reinforced crystalline material and screamed ¨C a drawn-out crunching accompanying its sink into the ground. Contentemptously the snake she was aiming for slid sideways through the floor ¨C its body contorting about her blade in a ''C'' shape even as its companion shot its spiked head at her ankle. Before she could react in time a mottled gross-looking barrier appeared around her ankle ¨C one of the only ranged skills Stelc used. Even as the annoying crystal swimming snakes began piercing through the barrier ¨C it deforming and stretching like a thick rubbery goo ¨C she bent her knees and jumped. As Samantha entered the air she followed a procedure they had long ago created for just this sort of scenario. Smith was actually the one who created it ¨C his stupid excited planning flashing through her head for who knows what reason ¨C it''s not like he was dead she¡¯d see him again after the delve...well assuming nothing went wrong obviously. At the top of her arc a mottled cushiony barrier appeared below and around her feet like a bouncy bowl ¨C it caused her knees to shake slightly as her feet sunk into the platform and her body took a moment to gain [Balance]. Straw and Stelc were similarly suspended on makeshift platforms while off to the side Craig stood on¡­what was he standing on? Her mind focused on the random shape [Battle-Inspection] forcing her to analyze anything unknown when she had a free moment. He stood on eight floating sideways needles that locked around his feet. They appeared mostly for balance because all of his lift was created with a whirlwind that encased his entire lower body. Analysis complete [Battle-Inspection] flipped to check the status of her teammates ¨C content none of them were injured the skill faded and let her turn to Craig focusing on the unknown. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. She tried to keep the panic out of her voice as she relayed instructions [Battleplan] letting her words cross and be understood by allies in a microsecond of real-time. ¡°Listen kid. Those snakes move like a greased goblin in a chicken pen while in the walls and floor. Don¡¯t compare it to the weak ones in the easier floors alright? They can zip through the walls and floor of this dungeon faster than most can follow and are a right pain to put down because of it. Our only chance is going to be in the moment they exit the safety of the walls to attack okay? Now. This is usually Smith¡¯s job you¡¯re going to need to hit them out of the air and kill them before they can escape back into their home turf. You think you can manage that? It''s your time to shine! ¨C don¡¯t mess it up¡± Taking longer to nod than her message had taken to be said, his arms began moving with purpose. Samantha hyperfocused away from him once again focusing on herself. Her balance and position were shot¡­but depending on the angle she was pretty confident in being able to slash one before they hit her¡­pretty confident. Stelc could handle being hit hundreds of times but Straw would be heavily injured if they were hit and using common sense Craig probably focused all his free stats into mind and magic-related distributions. A shot from a lower angle. The crystal beast exited the floor to her lower left ¨C aiming at her hip and nearly making it before being decapitated with a sideways swipe of her newest blade. Out of the ground, these monsters were nothing to a level 93 adventurer. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched cone-like needle darts rush two attackers aimed at her friends. The needles shot straight through the snake''s necks ¨C hardly enough to kill them, but more importantly, being shaped in such away to divert them from their targets. The backwards end caught on the snake''s sides and ripped them out of their aerial path. Below her a headless snake body writhed in an off-putting manner ¨C its controlling core severed from its vessel but not shattered the strange abilities of these lower monsters letting crystals coagulate out of its severed stump like a spikey scab. Even as she watched a cone rolled across the floor towards its body, travelling propelled by the floor itself bunching up behind it ¨C Oh, the fourth swimmer was returning its compatriot''s head. That wasn¡¯t good. Even as she cursed these mobs existence, wind picked up accompanied by a cascading sound as countless needles spilled out of nowhere ¨C conjured by the thousand every second. Like a field of metal wheat that had been plowed. The spreading needles clinked and flew across the ground in a wave even as Craig spun his arm about like a windmill. ¡­Samantha hadn''t seen him conjure or control this many before ¨C but any mage who reached the hardmode mines should be capable of a similar feat¡­ No she was just surprised by the way they had formed. The tide of needles looked less like air and needle magic and more like some sort of metallic ocean magic as it surged back and forth across the room¡¯s floor. Beads of sweat rolled down Craig¡¯s face as he spun his arms around ¨C now spiraling around his head like a mana attractor from one of those big cities. Samantha did not feel like making fun of him for the strange motion his arms were making because the bed below them had turned blue with crystal blood and he really was saving them right now. ¡°Is this really the best skill for the job?¡± Samantha asked, the lull in attacks letting her relax slightly ¨C expensive skills disabled once more as she hung out in the air. "No" the temporary member said through panting gasps ¨C clarifying again after a moment. "This is an altered boss fighting skill. Needle storm is less taxing than needle swarm but I''ve already been warned against kicking up tornados of needles around you guys ¨C so I had to make some changes. I needed lots of wide area damage over a short period of time and had to make do." Slowly his arms slowed their movement as he explained himself ¨C the bed beneath them stilled as he talked. Instead of relaxing at this point however the boy¡¯s face grew concentrated, his eyes focused on everything darting about the walls. ¡°There¡¯s still one left hiding below somewhere.¡± He spoke voice low. As he concentrated and focused about them Samantha couldn¡¯t help but wonder why he worked alone. Was there some tragic backstory? Did he have some curse or was it mental. Was he just a loner? Most solo adventurers she knew had something wrong with them. Considering how normal this one seemed however¡­she had to wonder. Based on his actions in this very moment it was pretty obvious he cared about others¡­and he was kind of cute for a kid ¨C not that she would consider dating someone barely over half her age. Not when Smith was right there an- The final swimmer burst out of the wall almost resigned to its fate. It was attacking in a last-ditch effort instead of escaping despite the result being painfully obvious. Below them the floor surged as countless needles swivelled and locked on. In a fluid motion accompanied by slip streams of air mana they all shot upwards ¨C intercepting the monster''s attack and ripping into its body with such force it was flung up and smacked off the ceiling even as it was punctured by a sea of holes. Stunned the snake twisted as it fell ¨C desperately trying to swim into the ceiling it had just smacked off of. The crystal above bent down to meet it but it was too late mana burst out as cores cracked and the monster perished. At this level the ambient mana was high enough the explosion between cores and surroundings was subdued and so it was almost anticlimactic. The snake was shredded and then was gone even as the needles everywhere started to fade. A thick layer of black grey metallic powder was left in the conjured weapons wake ¨C blanketing the whole floor like a bag of soot had exploded and settled. One by one the group dropped to the floor and stared at one another before Straw started laughing setting them all off. They turned still filled with relaxed mirth to focus on the cube still held in Craig¡¯s hand ¨C nearly forgotten. "Want to be the one to donate it?" Stelc said after a pause. "If you''ll let me!" Craig said with a grin ¨C excitement showing he had really wanted to all along. "You saved the shadow''s life today. Of course you can gain the dungeon''s prize." Straw said clapping him on the back ¨C then suddenly remembering he was supposed to be hiding and shimmering away as he [stealth]ed into the surroundings. Samantha felt slightly outnumbered in opinion ¨C he had done what they had hired him to do. Mortimals staff Smith could have done the same thing cheaper and with less theatrics ¨C Craig was just filling in for him! ¡­but the swimmers were a bad matchup for them and Craig had pulled his weight just then. She would let him have this moment. "Let''s head on down then" Samantha gestured back the way they had come. ¡­ The group approached an altar deep in the hardmode crystal caverns ¨C a mostly complete arch sitting inside of it raw mana thrumming about the area causing hair to rise even without a mana-sensing skill. "It''s going be a new portal, I''m calling it now" Craig laughed as he approached the altar, voice more relaxed than it had been all day. Reaching his hand out, the group watched as the block was donated and appeared in place slotting in and causing a whirl of black glittering mist to spray forth. Samantha could see in complete darkness with her advanced warrior''s sight, but this mist stole everything from her surroundings. The thick material briefly blotted out her friends in sparkly inky blackness before suddenly it was sucked away again ¨C being consumed by the central gate now activated purple light spiralling around the previously empty runes and highlighting the purplish hole in the world. Samantha glanced over at the rewarded glove in Craig''s hand unsure what his loot had been but confident it had to be exceptional and tailor-made to the kid. "We the first to scout this portal? Or are we waiting for a more experienced group to pass through?" Straw asked from a position to the side of the group as they stared at the entrance. Stelc thought for a moment greed, curiosity and duty flicking across his face before he spoke once more. "Hey kid, how are you doing after that last attack you did?" "Fine, don''t worry mana''s nearly full again" Craig responded slamming his chest as if his mana was located somewhere there. "I wouldn''t want to go through without our proper team but you proved yourself today. I''ll leave it up to a group vote" he finally said - tossing the responsibility away from himself by letting them decide. One by one they expressed interest in being the first and stepped through the portal leading to potentially a new dungeon. ¡­ The portal was surprisingly stable waiting for them ¨C not even closing behind them as they passed through and being so seamless Samantha couldn¡¯t tell if it even was a portal. ¡­except that wasn''t right, there was no transition, they had stepped through and instantly appeared in this room. There was no disorienting vomit inducing passage through a dark tunnel. They were simply on the other side. ¡­what was that magic? Turning to focus on her new surroundings Samantha instantly felt off. Not the typical sick portal passage or in a [Danger sense] manner like they were about to be attacked¡­no it was just clear that something was different. They stood in a massive dais in the center of a circular room ringed with eight etched doorways leading out in all directions. The almost oppressive gravity that accompanied the hardmode floors had disappeared and been replaced with a strange sort of dense feeling in the air. Like the air was much thicker than normal and bled momentum somehow ¨C every movement costing a tiny bit more than normal. "Hey, we got a title. Facility finder. Doesn''t give anything so I think we are still in the dungeon. Think it''s a key title?" Craig spoke from the side ¨C eyes reading his invisible status. Samantha checked her status and saw she did indeed have a new title ¨C nestled away at the bottom of her list. ¡°I don¡¯t like this feeling, Gravity is one thing but I don¡¯t know what this is and don¡¯t want the responsibility to fall on my shoulders for this¡­unknown.¡± Stelc began speaking even as a group stumbled through behind them ¨C Two guys wearing robes that were ripped and cut like they had just gone through a massive battle. ¡°See told you we weren¡¯t the first ¨C someone had to have activated it before us and there they are. See? Told you. ¨C Excuse me¡± one of them spoke as they saw the team ¨C pushing past them and moving towards one of the doors without further acknowledgement that they existed. ¡°Feels like a dungeon alright? It can¡¯t be much worse than where we just were and if it¡¯s a dungeon there''s a good chance we can retreat if it gets too hard. I say we go for it¡± Craig spoke even as he began moving towards one of the doorways. Dammit Samantha was back to being annoyed at him. Stelc was the leader it was his call ¨C if he thought they should retreat they should retreat. No outsider should make that decision especially not one so young and inexper- ¡°You¡¯re right, sorry. We retreat on my call however. No arguments if we reach something we can¡¯t handle okay?¡± The group nodded as one then headed off into a passage to the side. The first explorers in a dungeon never before seen in this world or any other.
Excerpt obtained from memory records taken from one ¡°Samantha Cassona¡± dated 2005 as stored in the Central repository, regarding the facility.
Innearth: How many monsters do you have just for theatrics?
Fated Eternal Design: ¡­just a few. Why do you ask?
Innearth stared at the black mist monster he had helped Fed design ¨C with darkness, laser and mist cores in a skill organ helping to control the ethereal body¡­solely to spice up the facility unveiling.
Innearth: Is it over 10?
Abe: It has to be over 100. Be real here I can count a dozen in the facility alone.
Fated Eternal Design: ¡­I feel like you¡¯re making fun of me.
Amy: Guys! Look, adventurers are arriving at my shark tank already! AHH! I don¡¯t know why I¡¯m this excited but look at them! They actually think they should climb in the tank for treasure!
Brutality Queen: Yeah if they are that dumb I say let em be ripped to shreds. Next group will be smarter.
Amy: Queeennnn, if they died it means I didn¡¯t design it right. I should have accounted for adventures wanting to swim in such a nice glass pool filled with sharks.
Abe: You can¡¯t account for everything. Hey what say we smash the side of the tank? That will give em a fighting chance and the shattering void crystal Innearth placed there will look great when it breaks. Anyone else see such a thick piece of crystal and want to see it smash?
Amy: I¡¯m saving them!
Innearth watched in amusement as two adventures slipped about a tank full of breached mutated sharks before turning to focus on the group he was more excited by. Look! Craig made it! I¡¯m so proud of him! They grow up so fast. Chapter 80. Sorry, That wasnt the delve. This is the delve!
It takes a special kind of person to become a tank. Quite a few beginner adventurers are afraid of death. Afraid of getting hurt. Afraid of damage. They all spec at least partly into defensive stats¡­but then attempt to not get hit. Those adventurers are weak. The number of adventurers who decide to actually become a tank ¨C a true tank who spec¡¯s everything into defensive stats and skills. The number who sink into defensive stats to protect others instead of themselves ¨C a very important distinction that many don¡¯t seem to grasp. Those were the champions. Stelc needed to be a sponge. Not a wall or a rock or a mountain like some tanks. No, Stelc worked off the idea of bending, but not breaking. Absorbing damage or rebounding it instead of defending against it with hard brittle means. His whole build was carefully crafted and centered around this concept. [Sponge Sentinel] was a dumb sounding class name and the sentinel part wasn¡¯t even fully accurate, with his shunning of the damage dealing skills he could pick up...but it was his class and it fit him. Fortitude and flexibility. Not unyielding focus, but focus that prevented permanent damage...if that made sense. His friends didn''t seem to "get" it when he tried to explain his truth. Stelc wasn¡¯t afraid of getting hurt. The only thing Stelc feared was letting down his team. Any of them dying before him, like his parents before he was old enough to remember them. His team was his family. That¡¯s why he picked Craig up so quickly. Orphans recognized fellow orphans. That same family was directly in line with a barreling mass of runework charging down the hallway towards them. Stelc didn¡¯t even think, his body was already in the monster''s path. [Intercept] had his feet moving him right into position to take this shoddy golem head-on. At the last second, it looked like the golem was attempting to dodge past him, but [draw attack] bent its momentum. Literally pulling the creature into his waiting arms. A blocky fist shot out accompanied by the telltale haze of kinetic mana. Stelc braced himself as the metallic fist hit with surprising strength despite its low windup and unbraced position. Scratch that, the fist hit with an absolutely insane amount of power. Stelc¡¯s passive [kinetic absorption] was overwhelmed, his stance broken as he stumbled back a full step. ¡°Formation D guys. Solid physical crusher. Careful this one hits harder than the crystal cavern golems; I¡¯ll try and intercept any shots while Samantha works on joints." Who directed battles shifted depending on enemy and area. Samantha had an actual skill to help speak and be understood quickly, so she took over a lot of well defined bosses. Stelc made calls for a lot of first-time enemies and Straw dealt with directions when they were unsure which passage to go down ¨C or had to complete a puzzle. Straw was also in charge of mental communications when they needed to be quiet. Even as Stelc prepared himself to meet another attack, it stepped back and began conjuring a suit of stone armour. What kind of golem used armour? Its body was already armour! Plates chunked into place, even as a long glowing plasma-like sword of compressed light shot out of the golem''s right hand. ¡°FORMATION E. Attack with an escape planned. Retreat slowly. Samantha direct Craig to coordinate your attacks." Stelc bellowed, rolling into instead of away from an attack. Stelc was reasonably confident facing a purely physical golem enhancing itself with kinetic bursts and skills. Based on the one exchange so far he had thought they could take it ¨C even if it was stronger than usual. But one using conjured items? One that hit that hard before it was even prepared? Again, what solid golem decides to conjure a suit of armour? [Rebound] [Dissapate] [Disperse] [Deflect]. Four active skills coursed through every single pore of Stelc¡¯s body as the lightsaber slashed into his chest. Stelc¡¯s soft cloth armour sparked with lines as they hit ¨C the magic within them twisting his skills to work on the metaphysical. Their existence focused on absorbing and reflecting magic while his body and main skills focused on the physical. The sword sunk into Stelc¡¯s body appearing halfway into his side as flesh bent ¨C but despite him being undamaged, the swing once again broke through [kinetic absorption] like a bowling ball smashing through a pin glued to the runway. He was flung sideways into the wall hard. This time [Kinetic Absorption] worked correctly, preventing him from bouncing but the effect made him look like a soggy sponge that had been tossed onto a wall. He slid down sadly pushing off as he reached the wall. Not disoriented, but embarrassed. A step forward brought his body right into a path to [Intercept] a swipe aimed at Samantha as she hacked away at the soldier''s shins. Stelc was panicking. Outwardly he remained calm, repeatedly jumping back into position, calmly shouting orders ¨C or even bellowing war cries in an attempt to keep morale up¡­but inwardly it felt like he was screaming and flailing about. Near the end of the current hall another one of these freakishly strong golems was turning the corner and heading their way. This wasn¡¯t a boss. This was a common enemy. Stelc yelled out the warning even as his mind continued working ¡°Transcendent Area! We are underleveled ALL FOCUS ON ESCAPE. DISENGAGE.¡± A mob in a higher zone of the dunge- ¡­were they even in a dungeon? Stelc froze ¨C his mind grinding to a halt as he defended again and again, vaguely aware of his teammate''s shouts and attacks but focused on reviewing everything they had done up till now. After entering the portal the group had moved down a long hallway filled with strange writing and signs in some unknown language. They had entered a circular room containing rows of strangely shaped pods like life support chambers for aliens. Breaking into one of them had revealed a dead purplish humanoid monster ¨C not a treasure ¨C and continuing on they had come across several doors with hand scanners to get past. A stroke of inspiration had led Straw to correctly decide they needed to cut off the purple person¡¯s hand and use that to open the door ¨C so they had done so, happily keeping the hand with them for a second blast door before entering what looked like an office building. Above them steel walkways had crossed in a back and forth pattern that looked impractical but aesthetically pleasing. Craig had flown up and looked around at this time, while Straw told them the upper platform linked to a second story in the dungeon. Hoping for treasure, the group had struggled to open an incredibly heavy door and wandered down the hallway before being attacked for the first time by this golem. While reviewing everything with the idea that they weren¡¯t in a dungeon, minor things began to stand out more. What if those humanoids weren¡¯t a dungeon monster, but a lost race? What if those sciency papers written in strange glyphs weren¡¯t decorations but actual research notes? What if that dangerous-looking red and yellow sign above the last door was a warning that meant more than ¡°This way to a good fight¡±? Stelc focused on the soldier in front of him, eyes tracing glowing sparking runework and resting on its beady eyes. Glowing pinpoints of light hidden behind a visor. These aren¡¯t decorations. Those are actual runes that are actively running right now. Dungeons¡­don¡¯t use runes. Ergo that is not a golem. That soldier is some sort of defensive measure made by whoever made this facility and because we are not in a dungeon NONE OF THE RULES OF PROPER DUNGEONING APPLY! Stelc was thrown down into the ground by a sweeping overhead smash and then kicked with a leg moving faster than he could follow. His body was flung, spinning sideways down the hall over the heads of his team members like a propeller ¨C before a cyclone of wind slowed him down and let him fall just in front of them. Stelc stared at his teammates running toward him as if in slow motion and he knew what he needed to do. ¡°Hey kid. Protect my team like a real man okay? I¡¯m counting on you to help them escape with wind magic. Samantha run with your full power, Craig carry Straw. I¡¯ll catch up to you soon. Straw you¡¯re on coordination duty, you know what to do.¡± And then his team was past him and hopefully safe. They were headed straight for an exit but the Sentinel was no longer able to pay attention. Stelc maintained eye contact with the lifeless, dead white pinpoints of light piercing through slate greyish purple visors, mind made up. His team would be fine. That¡¯s all that mattered. ¡­ Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. The two soldiers were playing with him like a ragdoll. Stelc was a level 87 Sponge Sentinel who regularly shrugged off hits tanks 20 levels his senior would crumple from. ¡­but he was currently so out matched it looked like he was a low leveled warrior being taught a lesson by a particularly petty [Drill Sargent]. His armour was shredded and his body burned in a dozen places. The sword left massive red and black marks across his body and with each swing, a toxic smell of burning filled the sentinel''s nose. Crunch. A burning blinding rod of energy was searing into Stelcs body and dealing more and more damage as his defenses failed one by one. His health was dangerously low ¨C regeneration struggling to keep it in the double digits and his mind struggled to maintain its focus. He was a sponge. He would absorb this damage now so his team could survive. Moments before his inevitable death, the beating stopped. Stelc was roughly picked up and dragged by a single-arm deeper into the facility. He took a moment to re-piece himself together. Three or four more of those hits and he wouldn¡¯t have survived any longer. There was an intoxicating sort of rush that accompanied the survival of someone who had already resigned himself to death. Instantly Stelc began reassessing his position and trying to figure out survival. Why aren¡¯t they killing me? he wondered, remaining limp until necessary. A tendril of light wormed across his vision at this moment ¨C Coms from Straw proving his team was sticking to the plan. That took a while! Or did it? The abuse made it hard for Stelc to gauge how much time had passed. Gods he was pathetic. A tank shouldn¡¯t be that affected by damage. Sure he had kinetic skills instead of mind ones but even with those it shouldn¡¯t have¡­mind skills. Is the second solider effecting him mentally? Stelc couldn¡¯t tell but everything did seem muddled... The light had finished replacing the vision in one of his eyes with an overlay of their surroundings. Straw was in charge of linking and directing rendezvous points ¨C their scout had plenty of synergistic skills to make it as easy as possible. Right now Stelc could feel foreign mana flowing into and out of him and doing¡­something as skills established themselves. A voice echoed in his head in the telltale manner mental speech did, even as an overlay pointed out information Stelc hadn¡¯t noticed before. A rough map in the upper right, a translated floating block of words beside the strange glyphs in the background flickering into view as he focused on it. The echoing words felt just as stressed as Stelc felt; a lot of Straw''s normal roleplaying fading as he got serious. Boss As the overlay finished appeared in front of him, Staw¡¯s voice echoed through his head sounding just as stressed as Stelc felt. Boss, sorry we got separated once again. Samantha and Craig are both within my range but they are trapped and the paths to get back to the gate are¡­long. I¡¯ll go with long and full of obstacles. Anyways, both of them told me to come rescue you so I¡¯m currently heading your way. I¡¯ll be there soon okay? Don¡¯t worry, we aren¡¯t abandoning you. Hang in there! Straw''s report had nearly drowned out the background ¨C his travel through the facility lost ¨C but enough energy had been regained that Stelc was able to try and escape. He would have waited for a more opportune time, but they had entered a room and in front of him a¡­horror machine straight from a trypanophobic nightmare. It hulked. Wheels of syringes spun and squeezed out drops of clear drops like some awful parody of a hospital. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Stelc¡¯s instincts took over, arms bending at weird angles to slide out of the soldier¡¯s grasp. Overlaid arrows from Straw showed the avenues of escape most likely to succeed and he dashed forwards ¨C kinetic mana speeding up his run despite his lower agility score. A flashing symbol lit up his left and he jumped to the right, dodging the first soldier''s grab. He was going to make it! A slam of confusion dimmed his thoughts and Stelc tripped. The second soldier was on top of him, painfully squishing his spongy body once more. The time between his capture and subsequent drag towards the needle factory was fuzzy once again. Whirring into place with an unneeded click, one of the syringes stabbed into his exposed arm ¨C bypassing his defences with shocking ease. The needle should not be able to pierce his body like that. The injected liquid should not have affected him. It should have been absorbed ¨C Stelc was supposedly immune to poison. Despite that ¡°fact¡± it raced across his body, twisting stuff inside of him. A potion. A disease. Vaguely aware of Straw''s frantic shouts shifting from mental to verbal, Stelcs consciousness faded. It didn¡¯t disappear, just shifted to a form no longer understandable by humans. The last memories available from this time were hyperfocused on vibrations and movements mana and specific gravity replacing light. His emotions shifted to colours and his sight became geometric feelings. [Memory corrupted] [Play linked record?] ¡­ [Starting linked record] The shadow observed the approaching army. Tendrils of mental connections floated off their head and disappeared into the walls. So¡­they are puppets? No, those links have more in common with army com lines. Those are a way for the super soldiers to receive orders but they retain their own minds. The shadow was more than just a nickname, but it wasn¡¯t actualy important to Straw. It was more like a game he liked playing while delving. A trick of his mind and mental mana that made him better at his job. Rollplaying the shadow made the shadow real and the shadow was very good at its job which was his job ergo Straw was very good at his job. The problem was this portal screwed up all of Straws'' skills and his shadow persona had made him take risks he wouldn''t have otherwise without the skills to back them up. Straw had over a dozen various skills to sense stuff that all combined into one master [Scan] skill. That skill should give him detailed information on everything within 2 kilometers of his location minus a few defences. He should be getting a mental map of the facility by now, but they were acting up for some reason. Instead of a sphere of perception [Scan] was currently an ameba of information that ran down grains of space in an offputting way. Some tendrils of his perception extended over 10 kilometers away ¨C twisting down corridors into a second attached facility and running around the edge of it. Other portions of his sphere were squished or knotted ¨C refusing to pass through some walls or simply bending inwards making him blind as little as 100m away from himself. Time fluctuated in certain areas more than others, causing feedback from his scan to desync in a strange way that made him sick, and the actual concentration of his scan varied in a way that indicated space itself was twisted about. Added to the weird feeling of movement like their momentum was constantly being bled and the feeling of air changed as it entered their body. The feeling of his center of balance being squished and his body adapting to the environment in a strange way. Straw was only now starting to pull himself together over an hour into their delve. They were running away from an enemy he had noticed but not accurately gauged the power of. An enemy he could have directed them away from if he wasn¡¯t so affected by the facility. Which he was currently beginning to suspect was a different plane of reality. His lower body was cradled in a miniature tornado as Craig pulled him forwards. His scan kept pinging and kept finding more and more passages. They were in a truly massive area and it was packed so tightly together. Beside them, Samantha ran, her feet pounding against the ground as she moved without magic ¨C just pure physical force, her body cultivated by stats and skills to a point of perfection. Above them, Craig moved forwards, a grim look on his face as he spied the closed door in front of them. It had taken all of them to open; he was right to think they might not pass through it without Stelc¡¯s help. ¡°Head to the right, There¡¯s a better route. Sorry, actually that might not be traversable as we are. Give me a moment¡­Okay, I hate to split us up but we have a better chance of escaping if we do. Don¡¯t seek fights. Don¡¯t get greedy and stop for anything. Samantha, you¡¯re going have to get a bit wet and Craig you¡¯re going to need to let loose okay?¡± Straw spoke, completely ditching his failing Shadow persona. He would have to fix it later, but he had already let his team down enough today with it malfunctioning. Directing Samantha towards a water-filled pipe she began swimming ¨C a claustrophobic vent full of monsters he was nearly confident she could face. He had been wrong with the super soldiers, but that was due to lack of knowledge ¨C not faulty knowledge. She would be¡­fine. Craig¡¯s build was really not designed for teamwork. If he went with Samantha, the whole path would be her saving him but if he went alone he could blow past some monsters the rest of them couldn¡¯t deal with. Starting up his shared link, he attached it to both of them sending craig off down the hall before turning to his own task. A link to their leader began to form as Straw headed back the way they had come. Similar to his [Scan] a dozen weaker skills combined to hide his presence. [Stealth] was a amalgamation of methods and techniques and properly used could let him sneak past practically anything as long as he didn¡¯t directly engage with it. Breaking out into a run as his senses latched onto his leader, Straw¡¯s scan started using the man as a relay point. A miniature [Scan] centered around him and gave Straw a better view of the scenario. He wasn¡¯t going to make it. Feet pounded down the hall and he watched in horror as Stelc was transformed. Twisted tentacles burst forth and kaleidoscopic radiance washed over the room. Straw walked right up to the group, his stealth holding and watched as they examined what remained of his teammate. A flex of the mental bridges caused the soldiers to turn robotically and march off, while a series of stacked needle wheels rolled off in a different direction. Straw waited impatiently for them to exit the room, then pulled his friend out of the air and looked at him. Stelc was¡­sort of shaped like an octopus but with a floating flesh that resembled jellyfish more than anything else. He was as light as air and hung suspended in with the strange atmosphere around them. Rainbow light danced around the creature''s body ¨C flashing in patterns that had to mean something but were not being picked up by his translation skill. As if mocking him the system chose that moment to offer up a quest. ¡°Find the antidote¡± it read, hinting he should explore the facility more. As if the first quest triggered some switch a title appeared and a second message that detailed their exploration of a new plane. The system seemed to still be gathering information this panel shifting as text was added and the title formed. "[True Explorer] ¨C travelled where no man has travelled before. Increased resistance to hostile or unknown environments. Slightly increase observation skills." Straw could feel the title working, his scan no longer gliching out as much. Smoothing out even as it strengthened. That didn¡¯t matter right now however. He still needed to find the cure ¨C a room full of beakers and bound books directly above their heads looked like it might be a good place to start. Straw carried his leader up while checking in repeatedly with his remaining team members. First, Samantha who blasted through a crowd of little piranha-like slugs and passed briefly into a huge glass tank full of massive sharks that crossed back and forth in the blink of an eye. She fought them off ¨C not managing to kill or overwhelm them in their natural element, but able to deflect their jaws in the two occasions they attacked her directly ¨C before she reached the side and pulled herself out gasping for air. ¡­You¡¯re doing great! Straw sent, watching her twitch at the reminder that he was watching before shifting to Craig. Craig was a walking maelstrom of destruction. A broken down section of the facility they were in was full to the brim with various sized monsters and the "air and needle mage" was ripping through them as he ducked and dodged the crumbling infrastructure. The easiest way for Straw to describe what was happening was by imagining Craig was centered in the eye of a storm. A wild churning hurricane that spread out over nearly 100m of space filled with extra dangerous shrapnel ¨C individually most needles in the storm broke on or scratched the surrounding monsters but by the hundreds of thousands the needles chip-damaged nearly everything into oblivion. And that wasn¡¯t even Craig¡¯s full repertoire of skills. This needle storm state didn¡¯t seem to require much concentration to hold, so the young mage was constantly flinging out consumable potions and grenades with various effects. Mages were always more impressive especially at higher levels, but if Straw didn¡¯t know better he would have thought the kid was already a transcendent. The way he was ripping through fodder¡­ A steam belching monster that looked like someone had taken a boiler and slapped arms and legs onto it was picked up off the ground and began spinning about the hurricane, killing two crystal-focused crab-like things that had weathered the storm so far. And then a super soldier entered the area and began sliding through the storm like it didn¡¯t exist. Craig raised a hand in the air, flashing the glove that had been his reward for donating the portal key and everything turned ethereal. Needles that had piled up against pillars and walls slipped through them somehow. More needles poured out of the air near Craig and immediately shimmered into transparency as they joined the crowd. This [Ethereal Needle Storm] or whatever was actively damaging the super soldier at a steady pace ¨C even as it arrived and attempted to slay the adventurer. A shield of water and spear of ice were conjured but couldn¡¯t defend against the swarm of ethereal attacks nor reach the nimble mage who had to have a third kinetic affinity or skill based on the way he was moving. His eyes were closed and gusts of wind accompanied each shift of his head or twist of his legs. By this point not a single other monster in the large room was alive and the defeat of the golem they couldn¡¯t take on as a group seemed almost inevitable. Straw watched as he rummaged through desks and read sticky notes taped to broken machinery. The fight lasted for a full 16 minutes before the soldier died and everything immediately stopped being ethereal. Craig pulled out a mana potion and drank deeply, ignoring the potential side effects as his regeneration kicked up and he stood, chest heaving, in the center of the room. A few minutes of rest later he continued on ¨C dragging his hurricane of needles with him and nodding to Straw''s suggestion to make a turn back to the portal up ahead. The antidote to Stelc¡¯s condition turned out to be regular tree sap according to one encyclopedia of conditions set in a safe deep within the office buildings. Waiting for a passing guard to leave, Straw reached out ¨C his hand phasing through the case to flip pages. ¡°I¡¯m not copying you, I had this skill first.¡± He muttered to himself continuing to think back to the ethereal storm he had just witnessed. Knowledge of the cure in hand, he found a beaker his [Scan] pinged as probably sap ¨C his hands moving instinctually while his mind wandered. Before removing the beaker from the display case he carefully snipped a line of mana that ran off of it ¨C preventing whatever trap or alarm would activate before it did. Straw then went through every path back to the exit and made the executive decision to wait till he reached the portal and team to apply it. Holding the floating legs of Stelc like a ballon Straw wandered through the facility, bypassing most of the enemies or taking the long way around ones he suspected could find him. The life of a scout in the dungeon. ¡­ A brief while later, as a group the three rubbed sap all over their floating teammate and watched as he began bubbling and shifting translucent skin full of rainbows turning black like tar. Tentacles turned to arms and legs, his body burst upwards and outwards and Stelc rejoined the group once more. They turned and left. A repeat visit of this zone would require more preparation. They hadn''t found any treasure this time but based on the surroundings there had to be some and it had to be great. They would be back.
Excerpt obtained from memory records taken from one ¡°Stelc, Rutherford¡± and "Straw, Pattern" dated 2005 as stored in the Central repository, regarding the facility. Innearth was fancoreing¡¯ so hard. When Craig was the one who brought a keystone to the alter he mayyyy have swapped the random tier 11 reward for his highest random tier 14 one he owned. It was hard to see how the system swapped a weapon into a glove that turned skills into ethereal magic attacking variations...but he was still excited. One of the reasons Craig had started slowing down in his progress was his lack of damage variation. He could blend some enemies but could barely kill others alone and there were certain skills that could completely counter him. That was almost completely gone. With this glove, Craig could probably reach the hardmode crystal caverns without a group to round him out! Heck he had solo¡¯d one of the facility''s common enemies and could probably explore it on his own!
Innearth: Craig really is great.
Amy: ¡­who¡¯s Craig?
Abe: ???
Innearth: That wind and needle mage. I¡¯ve been following him since he could barely kill a snake!
Abe: Oh, yeah he looks pretty strong. Wait how long has it been? That seems like a fast rise to power.
Innearth: 1292 days!!! He¡¯s been in my dungeon 1105 of those!
Abe: ¡­how do you know that? I know its easy to remember stuff as a dungeon¡­ but why is that so specific. Why are you even keeping track? Also. That¡¯s pretty strong for¡­anyone know how old he is? Impressive. I like his style. Could up the bomb throwing though in my humble opinion.
Innearth: Come on, It''s Craig. Does anyone else have a favorite adventurer?
Abe: ¡­man idk m8. I guess? I¡¯d have to go with¡­no that¡¯s weird, who has a favorite adventuer??? ¡®s weird m8. Abe: Closest I can go is saying I think the orc¡¯s are the most fun to watch. I can¡¯t tell em apart though they all sort of blend together if you know what I mean.
Amy: Oh yes, It''s really hard to tell adventures apart. It''s like there¡¯s so many variations but none of them matter. Oh you are 0.21cm taller. Oh your ears are slightly pointier. Oh you have a different skin colour. Wooo. Grow some unique features and stop wearing the same thing haha. Amy: ¡­I should start spreading more tentacle diseases about my regular dungeon. I think it would improve the look of most adventures immensely.
Fated Eternal Design: Look! My friends! Another group is coming through. This one looks prepared ¨C I¡¯m sure they will get far in the facility!
The dungeons watched as first a third group then a fourth entered; one of them the shock trooper and ensemble that had been watching Doc¡¯s dungeon. These teams headed off in different directions sampling the air and setting up equipment.
Fated Eternal Design: Someone stop them, they can¡¯t remove the illusion I don¡¯t want them to find out they are in the void yet!
Abe: you¡¯re going to interfere? Weird. Its much more fun to let things play out without changing things.
Fated Eternal Design: well yeah, It''s more a reaction. I¡¯m not actually saying you should actually stop them you know? That would be weird.
Amy: Another group fell in the shark tank!!! Did someone set up a lure or s-oh¡­never mind this one has water abilities they are fine.
A wave of water was repeatedly battering a shark against the side of its tank even as a group of adventures began scouring the bottom of the tank.
Abe: did you remember to hide treasure there? The adventurers seem to think its where the treasure is hidden. Abe: They reallllyyyy seem to think somethings hidden there.
Amy: ¡­it¡¯s a fish tank. Its for decorations. I didn¡¯t plan that far ahead.
Fated Eternal Design: Non interference doesn¡¯t extend to fixing mistakes. Quick hide this shiney nugget in one of those coral spots I¡¯ll link it to the twin lovers questline.
Abe: I thought everything had to be perfect beforehand? I thought you hated ¡°winging it¡±? Why did you make us wait so long if you were just going to start changing stuff immediately! WE could have finished the facility so long ago!!!
Brutality Queen: Hey! Yeah! What he said! I¡¯ve been saying that for ages you know. We could have finished months ago and finished it as we went.
Fated Eternal Design: ahhh! If you hadn¡¯t outvoted me to open it early we wouldn¡¯t need to fix it!
Innearth tuned them out focusing on Craig''s passage up through his dungeon. ¡­ah, I¡¯m a great fan. The system decided at that moment enough adventurers had found the facility and found out enough about it to issue a message to each of the dungeons.
Congratulations! For creating a dungeon in a unique location, the title [Unique Dungeon] has been gifted.
You have created something that will be sought out for the novelty. Something made in an area no one has been to. Something so different it warrants being called unique. If another dungeon creates a similarly located area this title will change to ¡°The First¡±. Reward: [Unique Dungeon ¨C Location easily found on maps. Dungeon will be highlighted as a destination in relevant skills and cooperating spells.] SYSTEM NOTE. MULTIPLE SIMULTANIOUS UNIQUE TITLES GIVEN. UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCE NEGATES "The First" DESIGNATION.
ZeMadDoctor: ...so the cross continental portals didn''t warrant a unique title but this does? Interesting. Its location only? I wonder who else has gained this title.
Abe: Anyone else think the systems being stingy? Highlighted on maps? That''s it?
Brutality Queen: What would you want the reward to be instead? Personally I don''t really care, I helped out with the facility for fun. Just for fun.
Abe: True, Just felt lackluster is all.
Innearth: I''m unique \o/
Abe: Uniquely stupid. Ayy.
Innearth: Oh look! Analyzing adventurers are moving out. Wonder which direction they will head next.
Chapter 81. The inbetweeners. The in-between years. The forgotten times.
Hey! Pops! Progenitor old man! I heard uh¡­what¡¯s the ascended dwarf who came before us¡¯s name again? Give me a sec¡­OH Onyx! Yeah, I heard he phones home every once in a while¡­ so I thought I¡¯d give it a shot. Anyways it¡¯s Ilm, you¡¯re favourite dwarf gal! I¡¯m calling you from my new crib in the city! I have a whole shop to myself. Got it just before the prices hiked and let me tell you, I am so glad I bought it out when I did. Did you know some of the shopkeepers here don¡¯t even own their own shops? They rent them! They are living credit to credit with all their funds being funneled to some faceless nameless probably low-level smuck who bought strips of property when the ¡°single building per person¡± settlement rules relaxed ¨C CRYSTAL SHEER! Innearth. I know you don¡¯t drink so you can¡¯t appreciate just how tasty crystal sheer is. Listen. It''s some mineral-based alcohol that can melt through tankards if you¡¯re not careful and is currently what all of my free credits are being sent to. I¡¯ve spent so much on crystal sheer you don¡¯t even understand. Thousands of credits worth. Gallons! I could have bought a second shop for the amount I¡¯ve spent on crystal sheer this past month. Its that good. Now, I was going to just start expanding my basement down but it turns out I needed to get a permit from the city for that. Can you imagine needing permission to dig? What? I just want to connect my basement to your dungeon and half the permit process is proving I wouldn¡¯t expand into your dungeon! So here''s what we are going to have to do. I¡¯ve managed to get permission to build 30m down for a workshop. They analyzed that with some speciality tools and determined it wont intercect you. I¡¯ll finish that, then set up a beacon alternating earth and crystal pulses downwards right. Then you can expand up and meet me in the middle! This is all so you can analyze this crystal sheer stuff and try and get me a better source. I¡¯m counting on you!
Excerpt obtained from one short ranged transmission between Ilmenite and the dungeon Innearth. Around the same time that Innearth had been working on the facility, his dungeon began settling. Patterns began becoming more obvious and adventurers began mapping out his floors. Even though Innearth had a whole section of his consciousness in charge of hiding chests and changing where monsters roamed, his biases for certain areas slowly made themselves known. His floors became slightly easier because adventurers knew what to expect and could prepare themselves accordingly. And that was okay. This was something common to established dungeons and while it was kind of annoying that he was becoming predictable ¨C at least on his lower floors ¨C it also made him feel more adult. Besides. Finding carelessly dropped maps of his floors with coloured in ¡°drop tables¡± and ¡°chest chances¡± let him abuse it a bit. So adventurers thought there was zero chance a chest would appear in this hallway? I¡¯m going to place a chest there even harder! The natural monsters on his lower unfinished floors had grown to such a point they would be a challenge for low to medium-skilled adventurers ¨C they were located in a sealed-off area deeper than the upper mid levelled floors so they weren¡¯t actively fighting adventurers ¨C but also Innearth didn¡¯t use them as a free source of combatants. Instead, he mostly let them live naturally ¨C giving them competition to fight in terms of his own monsters and affecting their evolutions with runoff from his steadily increasing in quality filtration system. Pools of different lesser madness affinity gunk were made from the different runoffs and then purposefully introduced to the monster ecosystem. Some monsters took to the affinities and became stronger without being negatively affected. Others took to them and became insane attacking like they were rabid. All the resulting materials created from their bodies after they died were either strong or useful and nearly all of them were safe in terms of not containing the original madness. Innearth didn¡¯t feel bad about laundrying the pollution through a closed-off ecosystem of monsters. He was a scientist! They were treated well! He made sure to give them plants and space and free experience. This ¡°monster farm¡± was mainly used for his crystal dwarf workshop, but it was also a great source of unique monster parts. Innearth continued to pick and choose choice bits to include in his own monsters ¨C creating unique magma spiders with twisted dripping drill claws or attaching the head of a wolf-like crab onto a crystal snake. This insured there were constantly unique monsters in Innearth''s dungeon and adventurers needed to deal with unknown challenges in every zone. It wasn¡¯t the end of the world that Innearth hadn¡¯t been expanding downwards ¨C his dungeon hosted adventurers all the way from beginners to upper-intermediate/lower advanced pretty well. The scaling in his current dungeon didn¡¯t reach all the way up to transcendents¡­but that was what the facility was for and 95% of his adventurers were currently being challenged. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. In ascended monster news, his ascended crystal dwarf "Ilm" had settled into the silver city above him and seemed to be doing well. She dug a basement and helped him connect to her workshop so he could see when she was at work ¨C it was like she had never left! The big project that Ilm had his help setting up was a giant distillery and brewing room. He snuck her care packages of raw materials from his monster farm ¨C transporting them up an elevator and into a hidden walk-in freezer and tried his best to help her try and figure out how to make different alcohols. Good quality alcohol really didn¡¯t like his attempts at cheating. She had one brand called ¡°crystal sheer¡± he had attempted to mass produce by including in a sort of ¡°incubation monster¡±. The bottle was embedded in a monster that would drip it constantly while healing it back! But the act of giving life to this monster altered the alcohol into a alcoholic monster blood that tasted awful. Without an "alcohol mana" or alcoholic affinity¡­ Innearth wasn¡¯t able to control the taste or quality of alcoholic monsters or materials. All that really happened was a line of materials that were closer to hand sanitizer in smell and taste. Now, circuits helped somewhat with the goal ¨C especially with Innearth''s budding ¡°circuit sense¡± ¨C but monsters with skills and alcoholic parts still didn¡¯t work well and Ilm''s dream of free high quality alcohol constantly on tap was not achived. There was a snake that intoxicated anything it touched but that was a magical intoxication and fought off by magical resistances. There was a turtle that shot alcoholic liquid that was then set on fire in a flame-thrower-like manner...but that was an attack and ended up just being sent off as a unique monster. The closest Innearth managed was a spider that created an alcoholic web goop that could then be refined and purified into a low-quality moonshine. The most exciting ascended monster news however happened at the two-year mark. While Innearth was done with his part of the facility and was waiting for his friends to be ready to open it up a powerful illusion wurm slid up to the roach knight guarding the facility tunnel. Level 251 and strong. Strong off the constant fight against demons. Strong enough she could slip past the roach without it noticing and then come back and taunt the creature seemingly everywhere at once. The wurm travelled up and out of Innearth¡¯s dungeon, snarling mentally as it crossed through the barrier and headed off to get its last few levels. It had found the oldest ascended ¨C Innearth''s level 150 snake scout who was now over a kilometer long ¨C and convinced them to hunt in the void before disappearing for a month. When the wurm returned they were level 257 and solid. It was incredibly hard to track the strength of the illusion wurm ¨C they were never visible and in many ways, they seemed the same now as they had hundreds of levels before¡­but their illusions couldn¡¯t be called illusions anymore. They were simply reality and reality could be anything the wurm wanted. Anything within a domain that stretched over a hundred meters in every direction could be changed. Hundreds of monsters, created from nothing, that could fight evenly with super soldiers in the facility. Whole buildings could appear or disappear at will and even with Innearth''s dungeon senses, they looked like normal matter ¨C not like conjured fakery. If it weren''t for the fact that most illusions broke down a few hours after the wurm had left an area, Innearth would have said they could do anything. The final "ascended news" was that the pool snake finally ascended. They were lazy and hid constantly but with a combination of a huge amount of time and the dancing dragon constantly pushing them out of their comfort zone¡­or leading adventurers to them, it happened. A water mage entered the chaotic crystal pool searching for a treasure chest and continually beat the snake about ¨C their [water manipulation] and related skills acting strangely in the magical liquid, but still managing to damage the old monster. Finally having had enough and on the brink of death ¨C for no reason other than a search for treasure that didn¡¯t exist ¨C the snake pushed with all of its mental willpower and the pool responded. A dozen separate chaotic needles pierced the mage''s body as crystal water bent to damage and kill. The water mage¡¯s team members rushed to save him but that¡¯s the moment the crystal snake ascended. They had such an attachment to the chaotic crystal pool they ¡°took the whole thing with them¡±. Liquid flashed in a glare of mana that spread out from the injured snake and back into it like a heartbeat. Crystal blood that had leaked into the water was the first to change ¨C seeming to bind tightly to the surroundings even as it consumed the water mage''s blood as well. Chaotic liquid shattered again and again, being sucked inwards even as the snake expanded like a balloon. The creature''s body seemed to pop even as it reformed and legs were suddenly very much there where none had been before. One of the adventurers ¨C a young-looking [Warrior] with cheap-looking armour swung his mace confidently towards the still transforming snake. Metal squished crystal flesh inwards even as the sound of shattering glass reached a crescendo. Spikes shot out in all directions. A hundred separate shards of glass that seemed to break the air behind it like cracks in reality. Blood pooled and the warrior died even as the team''s healer dragged their heavily injured water mage towards the door. The snake did not pursue. They weren¡¯t a snake anymore. Their bloated squished body looked like a fat lizard crossed with a frog and designed with glass that constantly broke and reformed. Instead of following the escaping adventurers, the chaotic lizard turned to glare at the far corner of the room. Angrily pointing itself towards where a snout and undulating body bobbed happily. The lizard did not pursue the adventurers but did pursue the dancing dragon. It slowly thundered after the other lizard chasing it around and around and around the crystal caverns. The two created a strange procession that made adventures stop and stare. First one lizard came past, hopping about in a rhythmic beat flicking paws and tail to some tune only they could hear. Magic effects accompanied their passage ¨C a snap of a finger shifting a crystal boulder or causing walls of crystal to form. Behind them charged a second lizard, this one which looked like a someone had broken two glass statues ¨C one of a frog the other a lizard ¨C and then glued them haphazardly together. It shot, sharp jagged shards after its tormentor, a roar like shattering pottery accompanying its chaotic galop. More than one adventuring team turned to watch, some frightened, others laughing at the spectacle. The two ran about for over 24 straight hours before collapsing in a heap in the crystal pillar room. ¡­well okay then. Chapter 82. The Peanut Gallery.
Alright! Listen up! I¡¯m only going say this once ¨C no repeats for those hard of hearing. Everyone knows the best loot is found in first runs and the floodgates have been opened. We go in hard and we keep going in until we find something good¡­alright? ¨C Yes Dale? Don¡¯t mind that funny feeling. That¡¯s the suppression here, you¡¯ll get used to it in a bit. Make sure to swallow down any bile you don¡¯t want to start vomiting now. Yeah, I¡¯m speaking from experience. Any other questions or are we good to move out?
WAIT, STOP. DON¡¯T STRIKE. Okay, thanks for listening. Give me a second¡­ [visual transcript: a hammer-shaped monster wearing a lab coat cowers before the team. It holds out a strange suspicious-looking ring and points to an identical one on its hammer-shaped neck]. Who feels up to wearing that? It could be a trap? [visual transcript: all party members point at the speaker]. Really? You¡¯re going to do me like that? Okay. Fine, give me a moment. [visual transcript: speaker takes the ring and carefully examines it before placing it carefully on his head. A few seconds later they begin nodding and staring intently at the hammer ¨C occasionally making gestures with their hands as they talk]. Alright everyone! This poor fellow is named Jim. He''s been through alot, so please be understanding. Now, Jim is a klaxon from 4000 years ago who was researching immortality with the rest of his companions when a massive¡­
*Hissssss* ¡­ *plop* [visual transcript: A party jumps from crumbling building to crumbling building. Below, acid bubbles and boils and the scene extends out into a massive room. A hasty jump is done just as a massive hand exits the caustic liquid and pulls its victim into the acid]. I¡¯ve got you! I don''t got you. Quick you¡¯re a water mage right? Get him out! What do you mean that¡¯s not water? It''s liquid right? See that¡¯s why I use a sword. Can always count on my sword to swing can¡¯t you. ¡­are they dead? I got distracted. ...did anyone like that guy?
My ears..they popped and now I feel dizzy. What is up with the air here? Why does it feel like jelly? My tongue is buzzing too. I feel strange. I feel like I''m falling. Is that just me? My perception is all over the place. How are you guys fine? ¡°You get used to it?¡± I don¡¯t think I could ever get used to this feeling. This can¡¯t be good for my health. I''m going back.
Test A is coming back with a red squiggle surounded by a series of greenish dots. We¡¯ve never gotten that before? I don¡¯t even know how to begin translating it. Now one of the green dots is eating other dots and getting bigger? Are we the dots? Whats the squiggle then... Test B is blinking aggressively¡­It''s as if we are currently in the largest apocalypse to shake the world since it''s been created. OH! It stopped... Test C through E are indicating this is a dungeon and test F claims its not. Test G shows spacial¡­something. I think it''s broken. The reading is stating this room is negativly shrunk? Test H claims time has been sped up by a factor of 2%. Test J claims while time has been sped up, its ended up slower than it would otherwise? Test K¡­
¡­guys? Mike? Liezka? Ralki¡¯ith? What happened? Where did you go? Please come back. I don¡¯t think I can do this alone. ...That was a demon was it not? Why did it look so¡­normal. Mike! I thought you left, where are the others? Mike? Why are you covered in crystals? Are you hurt? Mike?
Excerpt obtained as a collection of recordings taken from the scouting equipment of one Colene Q.
Abe: How much you want to bet green boots survives?
Brutality Queen: I¡¯ll bet you 50% of my mana for a week he¡¯s dead in an hour. I¡¯ve seen adventurers like that one. Thinks he¡¯s invincible. Solo adventurers are dumber than slimes.
Innearth: Yeah¡­he¡¯s cocky but did you see the way he eviscerated that demon carp? Bare hands too, didn¡¯t even see him use any skills. I¡¯ll take that bet.
Fated Eternal Design: ¡­He came from your dungeon didn¡¯t he? Do you know something we don¡¯t?
Innearth: shhhhh¡­I¡¯m trying to scam queen. Don¡¯t out me like that.
The dungeons were currently a day into watching the facility be scouted for the first time. They had all decided to sit back and appreciate their work ¨C promising to focus a majority of their attention onto their shared floor Because they couldn¡¯t just passively experience it, that meant a running commentary was being held in half a dozen separate system channels ¨C each following different groups and talking about different topics simultaneously. They were dungeons after all.
ZeMadDoctor: Is it wrong to hope that group fails so I can claim all their monitoring equipment? I want to study it!
Innearth: I wonder what would happen if you gave life to that giant box with runes and dials and lights and a little feed of script running on that spool of¡­
Fated Eternal Design: A monitoring monster! It could live in the server room!
And in another channel.
Fated Eternal Design: It''s just¡­just so sad. They were lovers. They were a perfect pair. They were adventurers in love. I can¡¯t believe that monster just up and ate him. How could it! Her pain is my pain! Slaughter everything in your path!
Abe: Bro¡­you made that monster.
Fated Eternal Design: It doesn¡¯t stop me from shipping them. Did you see the moment they kissed a few minutes ago? Magical.
Abe: no like bro. Do you not feel responsible?
Fated Eternal Design: ? How could I? I didn¡¯t kill her fiance. I¡¯m all the way over here.
Innearth: Upgrading their status huh? It was just one kiss. Probably just light dating.
Fated Eternal Design: I hope she makes it out of here alive!
Abe: fine. I¡¯m rooting for her to marry a particularly deadly explosion sooner rather than later.
Fated Eternal Design: Take that back. Jessica is beautiful while broken.
Amy: I can get behind that. Team Jessica?
Innearth: You can¡¯t just name adventurers whatever you want.
Fated Eternal Design: Ohoho. Okay there Mr ¡°Craig¡±.
And in yet another channel.
Amy: Oh hey look! A group got infected by the crystal hive! Mwahaha.
Fated Eternal Design: Look! One is still uninfected.
Abe: Not for long. His buddy came back for him! Look. Dumb guy hasn¡¯t realized yet. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Innearth: Practically a zombie and he hasn¡¯t figured it out yet. See. That¡¯s the sort of thing that makes me glaze over. Just figure it out already or get infected! I can¡¯t stand dumb characters. It''s like the adventurer is weaponizing incompetence.
Abe: Harsh. I kind of like the dumb ones. They are funny.
The most important channel however was the one dedicated to the high levelled scouting group centered around an electric baton-wielding warrior.
ZeMadDoctor: I hope they find nothing wrong with it. I¡¯m scared of the gold adventurer coming back.
Innearth: You don¡¯t think you could defend against her now?
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­I don¡¯t know if I could. Besides the goal isn''t to defend against her. It''s to make something she has no reason to show up for.
Innearth: You know¡­I saw her performance. I bet roach knight could take her.
Abe: Shh¡­look they are getting close to Doc¡¯s section. Why did we let him put that many demons in it again? OH NO! HE HAS A WINDOW TO THE VOID.
Innearth: ¡­I mean they are going find out eventually where this place is located? We can¡¯t hide it right?
Amy: I think it will be fine. They seem understanding and friendly.
Brutality Queen: Am I the only one sitting here hoping one of them gets wrecked? It can¡¯t be just me.
Abe: Nah its not just you. I think it has something to do with the media we¡¯re consuming. We¡¯ve come to expect the action. Its just so much more entertaining to watch them struggle than it is to watch them breeze through everything y/k? Abe: Personally. I¡¯m hoping one of those gun weilding girls gets merked. Theres two of them you know? Thin the herd! No need for redundancy!
Innearth: Who made this spring board puzzle?
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­we are in my area. It''s obviously me.
Innearth: ¡­I know that I was trying to give you an opportunity to say ¡°I did¡± so I could congratulate you more naturally. Its really well done! I like it a lot¡­
ZeMadDoctor: Oh. Thank you.
The room the adventurers were in now was full of kinetic mana springboards that shot both adventurers and various shaped projectiles alike. Several bouncing cubes needed to be grabbed mid-flight and brought to designated ¡°buttons¡± and ¨C to make everything more fun ¨C there were several locations that upgraded turrets shot dangerous projectiles from. The team was being extra careful. Their researcher had analyzed the room and given an optimal route. The bear had launched themselves off several out-of-the-way locations that popped through a secret hidden portal right above three of the cubes. Roaring, the bear had grabbed all of the cubes ¨C arms briefly appearing to duplicate they moved so fast ¨C before landing loudly by their team. The group had then carefully gone a long way about the room ¨C despite potentially being able to tank the turrets.
Abe: Booo.
Innearth: Safety is an admirable trait. Knowing how to
Brutality Queen: I mean¡­theoretically. In this case I¡¯m bored however. Its too clean. Would have been more exciting if they messed up in my humble opinon.
Abe: They are getting close to the window! ¡­ Abe: I¡¯m sorry¡­what kind of reaction is that.
Innearth: They just ignored it! They just looked out nodded and moved on!
Abe: After all that build up!
Amy: See. I told you I think they are quite reasonable. They liked snookems. That¡¯s a good sign. They good people.
ZeMadDoctor: I think¡­I think we overestimated how much they can see through the window.
Innearth: what do you mean?
ZeMadDoctor: I mean. It''s kind of dark out in the void no? The atmosphere eats light?
Abe: ¡­so they just saw a room into pitch blackness? Its kind of purplish isn¡¯t it? Shouldn¡¯t they see purplish misty stuff?
Innearth: I think I understand what doc is meaning. You¡¯re looking at the matter¡­and mana¡­and whatever the void atmopshere is. Try just looking at the light? That¡¯s how most sapients see.
Abe: ¡­theres nothing there. They just stared straight into a pitch black wall. LOL. SAFE. Still don¡¯t know they are in the void.
Innearth: And that I believe was the sound of you jinxing it.
In front of the windows into the void, the researcher of the group stood frowning slightly. He twiddled dials and sent out spells that progressed further and further into the outer void and steadily seemed to lose his cool. Finally, after several minutes of this repeated testing, the researcher finally stopped. It was as if they had already figured out where they were several minutes before, but hadn¡¯t believed it. The researcher stumbled over to the rest of his group who had been studying a fleshy sculpture ¨C one Doc had made to hide a chest. An animated series of arm movements and panicked dialogue later and the group seemed to be split on the concept. On one side the bear, two gun-wielding girls, and shock trooper seemed to not see what the big deal was. They seemed relaxed and kept trying to return to studying the sculpture. On the other side the two members that seemed tacked on for the duration of their monitoring job ¨C the researcher and ¡°wizard¡± ¨C were panicking. The wizard had surrounded themselves in close to a thousand alternating pink and blue barriers squished together while the researcher kept loudly trying to get the group to leave. All that could be seen of the wizard, was an egg-shaped dome that occasionally flashed with harsh light ¨C as if the sapient within was attempting to cleanse himself. Finally, the glowing silver chest was extracted from the sculpture and the group seemed ready to continue. They moved in a roundabout arc hugging the wall of Doc¡¯s dome and after a few minutes, it became clear they were heading towards Innearth''s zone.
Brutality Queen: Some toys for your boss!
Innearth: Do you think this group is high enough of a level?
Amy: Oh! That¡¯s a fun game. I think they might be able to handle it all together? Two members are panicking¡­so depending on their reactions things might go south. What do you think. Will they be okay?
Abe: This is only fun if we can¡¯t tell how it will go y/k?
The transition to Innearth¡¯s area was not a massive leap in average strength all things considered¡­ but it was significant enough to set warnings up. All the hallways that entered CISC¡¯s domain were filled with bright yellow and red coloured symbols ¨C along with doors that were hard to open. The group noted the warnings, then confidently bypassed them. They pushed through a literal airlock and pushed through past the point of no return. Immediately on the other side was a trio of soldiers who shambled and then ran forwards. The two in the front had a weapon and set of skills centered around an axe and a spear enhancing their speed and damage. The soldier in the back had a skill that manipulated a long metal rod like a whip. A quick-fire of barriers from the wizard were shattered with ease, before the soldiers were among them. The shock trooper seemed surprised by the amount of force behind the axe he blocked ¨C his expression morphing from relaxed to excited as he was flung backwards into the wall. Immediately the air was full of bullets and fired bolts and the crack of an incredibly solid whip. The melee was chaotic and boxed in. To the side the bear stood ¨C hair bristling outwards, a hole in its side dripping black blood. A flash of electricity so strong it ignited the air accompanied each strike of the trooper while a literal hail of bullets chipped away at the monsters in front of them. Two full minutes of mayhem later and the last of the soldiers fell, but not before leaving the bear and trooper beaten and bruised. To be fair to the adventurers they had been ambushed nearly outside of the entrance to the zone, but this initial exchange summed up quite a bit of the following ones as well. They won ¨C repeatedly even ¨C but only due to outnumbering each group they came across nearly 2:1 and not without being damaged. Instead of magical-looking potions, minor healing was performed through sticky green ¡°patches¡± and major healing (the one time one of the gungirls lost an arm) was done with a syringe-like injection that rapidly regrew the lost limb. Individually, the members of this group weren¡¯t the strongest adventurers any of the dungeons had had¡­ but as a larger group that all had levels above 100, they were one of the strongest combined forces that regularly patrolled any of their dungeons. There was something incredibly cathartic about them becoming steadily more and more dishevelled as they progressed deeper into the realm of CISC. They became jumpy and paranoid after repeatedly nearly losing someone and at one point after wandering through the ¡°laser pyramid¡± room and nearly being vaporized by the massive beam, the researcher broke down. He rocked and shook as the idea that he was truly in danger sunk in. All his previous actions had been done from a position of detachment. His mindset had been analytical for he was confident in being safe. He wasn¡¯t an adventurer. Not truly. He was a sapient that was brought on to study and better scout Doc¡¯s portals ¨C but with the major caveat that he was protected at all times ¨C and this zone broke him into a twitching shivering mess. He wanted out. The researcher continued to scout the area ¨C devices passively scanning and storing information but¡­he was done. His nerves were shot and he was no longer actively helping them out. The group decided they had had enough and began the process of retreating. Light engagement with several soldiers kept them moving slow, but, with the knowledge, they were leaving. The researcher pulled himself together enough to direct them towards the exit.
Abe: ¡­I mean. They never reached my zone. I feel kind of left out to be honest. Where my vault raid at!
Innearth: There''s a group heading towards your zone right now! Just because this one didn¡¯t reach it doesn¡¯t mean you aren¡¯t getting action.
Abe: Yeah yeah, This one felt more important though¡­you know?
Brutality Queen: My disappointment they all survived is immeasurable and my day is ruined.
Amy: I quite like this outcome!
Fated Eternal Design: I can¡¯t see them finding any problems. Can you? I¡¯m going to need to tweak the difficulty of some of my areas I feel like they bypassed them too easily.
ZeMadDoctor: I got plenty of data from them. Will iterate testing from there.
Abe: Hey, come check this group out! They found the trapped treasure room. You know the one? Where we set up bombs attached to every case set to go off upon any of the crystal containers being broken? Abe: If you¡¯re quick you can catch the explosion!
Rushing over the dungeons moved on. And then moved on again. There were days of content available to watch. Weeks, Months. A literal backlog of new areas and scenarios. Two days later, a chance interaction between panels lead FED to show everyone this zone was tagged differently. It showed up as a separate dungeon ¨C the system didn¡¯t seem to have an existing plan for how to define the shared dungeon. So, when adventurers began to interact and analyze and attempt to describe it¡­the system decided to go with what the adventurers thought it was. They called the facility ¡°The Void Crossroads¡± and as news spread the number of high-levelled adventurers delving them began to steadily climb. The shock troopers group didn¡¯t remain the highest levelled regulars for long. Within a month there were a dozen similarly levelled groups wandering around the shared hallways and the overall difficulty steadily rose to meet the new foes. Time passed once more. Chapter 83. Adventurers, Gotta catch them all.
Okay Okay! Tom here to review something I¡¯m not even sure is a dungeon. I got it dear readers. Gods knows I¡¯ve received enough letters demanding I review the newest craze. The ¡°Void Crossroads¡± as they¡¯ve been calling it. Well somewhat annoyed by the constant barrage of communications I went to the void crossroads with a more critical eye than I would have otherwise. I entered. Docked a few marks for the suppression feeling particularly unpleasant. Noted the similarity to the plasma dungeon in Karth. Tested for myself it was truly located in the almost mythical void. ¡­and then partway through this very methodical review, I found a room depicting a story of a young researcher with dreams of immortality. Countless research notes dated over the course of years ¨C but in an unknown notation. All written in a forgotten language I had troubles translating ¨C me! Having trouble translating words! Whole notebooks of information I¡¯m sure 99% of delvers wouldn¡¯t be able to comprehend. That was the moment my thoughts began to change. I started trying to figure out more about this character. Is this simply a dungeon? The verdict seems to remain undecided on that ¨C I for one could not determine if the facility contains a core. The location itself has muddied most of the ways I would find out conclusively what the answer was and¡­ And that¡¯s when I got it. Quite a few dungeons you¡¯ll come across have a story to them. Quite a few claim facts ¨C sometimes it''s based on reality and sometimes it¡¯s a fabrication. Often an adventure is much more fun to commit to if you pretend the story is real¡­but there''s always a part of you that knows it¡¯s a fabrication. Knows the inside of a dungeon is fake. The facility is in such a state that¡­ I don¡¯t know if I want to find out if it''s real or not. The goal of complete immersion has been achieved. And thus began my second run-through of the void crossroads. This time as a proper adventurer. What''s a bit of discomfort for a true adventurer? My bones felt like they were resonating at an incredibly high frequency and all of my bodily functions felt strange. I travelled through twisting hallways and found hidden rooms with secret riches. I felt young again. Not many of you readers know much about me and I like it that way. I started this series just over 10 years ago but I¡¯m¡­old. Much older than you are imagining dear reader. The last time I felt this way was when I travelled to Luna. The dungeon its been commonly known, is mostly located on the moon. That dungeon is special for space twists in such a way you can¡¯t tell where our planet ends and the moon above starts. Ancient magic has created a stable but unreplicable pathway. The facility however is¡­just a portal away. An open and closing portal that links it to the rest of the crossroads. It''s located in a place incredibly few have ventured and more importantly¡­seems safe? I spent three weeks of time on my delve and never once felt an ounce of fear towards the ancient enemy of reality. The facility contains demons yes. But they remain contained. Controlled and corralled. Lower levelled than the true horrors demons represent. I realize this article is not quite the same tone as you may be used to dear reader. The answer to that is in part because most articles I write are for entertainment. They are honest reviews but¡­this article is different. It''s less for entertainment and more for myself. I wanted to capture and convey my honest reaction in the hope one day you may feel the same. Because yes. The facility is not for the faint of heart. It doesn¡¯t start at a low level and works its way up. It starts where many dungeons end. My personal opinion, is all solo adventurers should be well above level 100 ¨C ideally the true level 125 transient barrier. Teams can delve most of it safely closer to level 90 but should remain vigilant at all times ¨C for while the upper range of strength is not too much higher¡­there are a few entities contained within that could face even a true level 180 warrior evenly.
Excerpt obtained from the numberless issue ¡°Bonus content. Tom reviews a maybe dungeon¡± Once more and for a final time going back in Innearth¡¯s timeline: a portion of his thought process had been dedicated to figuring out that one line in his status dedicated to the requirements to rank up. [100 different "Types" of adventurers hosted] It was a vague sort of requirement. Based on his first thoughts and some conversations with his friends, Innearth determined all he had to do was ¡°test for different things he cared about¡±. He just had to decide what types meant to him, manually store adventurers in those types, and then move on. Easy. The thing was¡­the problem with this requirement¡­was how nebulous the ¡°what he cared about¡± goal really was. Innearth didn¡¯t want an opinon based requirement for no real reason. That didn¡¯t feel right. Innearth wanted a reason to do something and now that he had time to sit and stew on it Innearth began getting annoyed by the whole concept. ¡°Tag Adventurers¡­because I said so.¡± Oh yeah system? I mean I¡¯ll eventually end up doing it because I have to advance... but I won¡¯t like it. I can¡¯t see what purpose it gives. Reaching the surface? That was an obvious goal. I needed to reach the surface to get adventures. Tagging them however? That feels like busy work. It feels like¡­ It feels like it''s there because something has to be. Like the system ran out of ideas and threw some random goal at us. I don¡¯t like it. Innearth put off starting this task for a few months because of that initial annoyance. From what he could tell it wouldn¡¯t take too long¡­ While researching it however, his opinion began to change. There were theories about why you needed to do this task after all and his annoyance was leading him to search them out. Some of these theories were absolutely made by cores just a wee bit too bored ¨C like the idea the system was being hacked by space aliens that wanted them to spy on adventurers in the hopes they could learn their weaknesses to smooth along their invasion. What? Ignoring the insane conspiracies one of the main explanations began to make a lot of sense. Essentially the largest unproven theory required a lot of setup... but the fact that it was given by hundreds of different packets traded and sold by dozens of different cores did lend some credence to them. The common theme contained in this theory was that the [system] was a [system] of [systems]. There was a grand [system] that oversaw everything, while every individual attached to this system had a sort of¡­personalized smaller [system]. A sub [system] that was attached to individuals and grew as they grew. One particularly strange and ¡°oracle-like¡± explanation of this phenomenon claimed every creature with a strong enough soul had its personal system seeded into it. This system seed hatched and grew with the soul as it increased in strength ¨C it explained the system was a living spell that grew and evolved. This explanation went on to claim the oversystem was built into the soul of the planet ¨C Gaia herself ¨C because she was mother to them all. A more analytical explanation along the same lines, described how subsystems were not a whole copy of the system or living things ¨C they were simply relays. A personalized interface that couldn¡¯t do much alone ¨C without the over system nothing would work ¨C but that helped individuals interact with the oversystem. The majority of explanations blended these two sides together. They claimed the personal system grew and did some things itself so the grand system didn¡¯t have to do as much¡­but all the big things were done by the grand system. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡­that last one made a certain kind of sense but Innearth was incredibly hesitant to just believe random claims ¨C without proof or evidence, the descriptions just seemed like stories. Especially because the core who sold him most of the packets claimed they were not the one who wrote them ¨C just collected and distributed them from others who also hadn¡¯t written them. Innearth was down a rabbit hole of theories and slowly dragging himself back out. Assuming this theory of individuals having a personal system was true. Assuming each node attached to a person grew as they did. Assuming all sorts of plausible descriptions were real a leap of faith could be made. The ¡°required task¡± he had now might actually have a purpose not for himself but for his ¡°personal system¡±. There was a heavy chance that the actual reason his system needed several delves was to familiarize and train it to interact with other individuals sub systems. Despite all being connected to the same oversystem the personalized sub systems had deviated and he could help the interface¡­ I¡¯m maybe being told to help grow my system. What I focus on at this point will increase in strength when I do. The ¡®type¡¯ of delver will be a new interface and maybe¡­when I increase in rank it will do so as well. I feel like if this isn¡¯t how things work¡­it costs me nothing. But if it is how it works it would be stupid to not actually try and deal with it. ¡­and of course, I could have just blindly done it without all the research and waste of time. I think most of my friends have already done it and gotten their 100 types already. I do like at least pretending I know what the purpose is so it''s not a complete waste of time. Especially as I¡¯m now going to intelligently try and pick a type. So. Min max the best possible interface. I could try to base my categorization on something like race? ¡­but unless the system gets real cool about calling monsters delvers real fast that¡¯s going to be hard to find a 100 of. I don¡¯t even think there are 10 different sapients let alone 100. I could base it on level pretty easy as well. Let my system see the difference between different subsystems at different levels of growth¡­but at the end of the day, I don¡¯t actually care to know exactly how strong an adventurer is. I can see that pretty easily by their actions or whatever. I could be super literal with ¡°types¡± and base it off of different personalities and positions¡­but really I already know what I want at this point I¡¯m just running through a list of my options for the sake of it. I want to base the ¡®type¡¯ off of what mana affinities they have. Adventurers are obviously more than just their affinity and what position they have will change how they use mana¡­but I can probably sum it up with a ¡°warrior or mage¡± split plus the affinity. Besides. If I assume this is increasing the abilities of my system it might help me better analyze unique materials and figure out unknown mana types in objects! Plan finally determined, Innearth immediately began setting up empty events around adventurers and writing down his own thoughts to supplement them. It started off¡­pretty rough. For some reason, Innearth had briefly forgotten that adventurers could have multiple affinities so when a [Fire? Warrior?] coated his short sword in radiant darkness he became momentarily confused. A switch to writing down ¡°main affinities¡± and ¡°minor affinities¡± fixed that problem and he was well on his way to categorizing all the adventurers. Craig got a [Wind-Needle Mage] tag in his list. The shock trooper got [Lightning Warrior]. An archer that shot arrows coated in poison got [Poison warrior], a scout that sent off smokey birds got [Ethereal-Mist Mage]. The more he added, the better his system got at prefilling stuff in and ¨C after storing over 50 different adventures ¨C it finally updated to 51/100 on his status. The process snowballed at that point and the system started picking up stuff Innearth had missed. It tagged adventurers correctly that hadn¡¯t used any skills yet and started filling its dictionary automatically. It was¡­kind of fun. Even though Innearth had initially shunned the task, that had just been based on the worry it had no point. With a proper goal and likely reason it became a game. Careful studying of adventurer bodies sometimes gave clues, when adventurers used skills it helped, abusing system controls he already had helped. The only problem was trying to find the actual affinities adventurers had ¨C not something close enough. The system was really good at generalizing the affinity but Innearth didn¡¯t want a guess that was similar he wanted to know the real mana types being used. The number of fire affinity adventurers who twisted their mana into something closer to ¡°power mana¡± and the number of kinetic affinities that twisted their mana into ¡°speed mana¡± was absurd. Single-use spells to increase the power of their strikes with a completely different root¡­ Sometimes it was worse than that. The spells or skills an adventurer used made him think they were something like a water mage but then it turned out they were a specialized [Liquid Mage] that only used generic water most of the time¡­sometimes adventurers like the wizard in the shock troopers party almost didn¡¯t seem to have an affinity. They switched stuff up every time they came and their true affinities were impossible to figure out. After 100 adventurers the task was done but his system kept chugging away automatically and silently storing adventurers. All Innearth had to do was focus on one with the slightest desire to know what they were and the system happily spat out a blue box with their information. All that was left to do was grind levels ¨C his experience ticked up nearly constantly at this point and it felt like only a matter of time. While waiting for the inevitable rank-up, Innearth spent some time watching his dungeon and the facility. At one point the endless crystal mass ¨C the phoenix-like unique monster made years before ¨C ascended after someone stepped on them in the crystal caverns. They then travelled into the facility and found the fragile crystal materials finding the similarities comforting. It lived in a ¡°lab¡± dedicated to the stuff playing with its surroundings by growing everywhere like a cross between moss and a particularly energetic dog. An entire floor in the facility was bulldozed by the Snake scout as it created a new lair to rest in between hunting trips into the deep void ¨C unlike the Illusion wurm this monster liked to return and rest for longer and longer periods as it grew stronger. Unlike the wurm it hadn¡¯t ascended once in the void and lacked some of the navigation senses its younger cousin had¡­so unwilling to get lost it remained close to the facility at all times. The snake scout even occasionally slithered past the windows and startled an adventurer or two. Some events were gradual. Watching Craig increase in strength to the point where he could hunt in the facility consistently happened over a large several-month timeframe. Others came out of the blue ¨C an adventurer wearing an incredibly shiny pelt arrived one day that reminded Innearth of the silver otter. It looked like the old monster hadn¡¯t managed to become a dragon ¨C and Innearth felt a strange sort of loss as he watched the adventurer move about wearing the processed skin of one of his first delvers. As Innearth gained more ascended, his attachment to them began to loosen. He still cared about them like they were his children but¡­he didn¡¯t feel sad when they left him to explore the world or hyper-focus on everything they had done. It was also hard to keep track of them all after a while. Some monsters like his first floor bosses were killed and remade too many times to ascend. Large parts of them were looted by adventurers as either materials or trophies and after a year not a single part of them was the same as it had been years before. Other bosses further down like the crystal ¡°dragon¡± never died due to their scripted retreat¡­but were much stronger and didn¡¯t ascend because of that. The monsters that did ascend were almost always nameless and overlooked. A spider with the ability to spin webs of almost invisible lazer light. A unique snake with a flower on its head. A 5th crystal dwarf that seemed no different from its peers. Without the focus Innearth had given some of the first ascended, these newer ones nearly all left soon after they evolved. Innearth wished them luck with life and promised them a home to come back to if they ever wanted it¡­but they all left. Finally came the day FED advanced to rank 4. It was an event. It was a push for Innearth to gain that last level and catch up to him as soon as possible. Now, there were two very important parts of this event.. One, FED was¡­still a part of the facility. He had been booted from their server when he advanced but was still physically able to communicate with them by writing notes in the shared space. It was a massive breach of the data barrier they could take advantage of. The problem was partly who had advanced however. FED kept giving cryptic hints at what the next rank was like but his affinity for drama kept him from spilling much. He told them their next mana affinity was likely not going to be a rank 4 mana type due to it being ¡°unavailable¡±¡­told them the next rank was the last grouping of dungeons because there was such a wide range of levels¡­told them Abyss said hi. But he more importantly refused to tell them any big secrets. Not that there necessarily "was" any big secret held at the next rank¡­ but Abe kept writing ¡°I know theres some sort of secret, what is it!¡± and getting back a ¡°secret? Theres no secret! What are you talking about? Who told you about the secret!¡± suspicious series of answers. After two weeks of this back and forth FED reminded them about triple mana materials and hinted if they managed it there was a good chance they could push through the last level or two right away. That was the second most important part of the event. The hint they were given right at the cusp of Tier 8. Triple mana matierals. They were an annoying spell to cast ¨C the difficulty jump between adding two different mana types simultaneously and three was immense. All of them knew it was possible but had basically been told most dungeons weren¡¯t able to manage it ¨C at least in rank 3 who knows about the future. Innearth had tried it once¡­over a year before and had failed continuously for several days. If FED was hinting at doing it now well. That was enough of a push to try again. He picked calcium carbonate (CaCO3) as his physical material ¨C there was plenty of it in certain rocks or fossils and it piled up over time. The easiest and most likely to succeed mix was one done with all three of a dungeon''s mana affinities. Dungeons were more likely to be able to manage this spell if they had easier affinities...but they were also better off using the affinities they had ¨C in Innearth''s case Earth, Crystal and Void ¨C despite them potentially being harder to use (Void being harder than Fire or Water despite having an affinity for it). Okay, You can do this. Innearth hyped himself up. Made a safe room in his dungeon to experiment in. Created balls of all three of his mana types. And then pushed them together as fast as he could. Crystal as his easiest to control hit a millisecond sooner and spread around/bounced off. Void and Earth hit simultaneously, but the spell had already failed. Trying again and again Innearth slowly dropped all of his ¡°Always separated¡± threads of consciousness to focus on this single task. All of his attention focused on timing it exactly. Placing his balls of mana at different distances so they would hit on time. Clenching space to prevent any single uncontrolled variable from messing with the transmutation. Finally, after hours that felt like weeks, the stars aligned and it worked. The three flavours of mana overcame some time-related barriers and melded. The material in front of him twisted changing from white to pitch black to purple. And the rush of experience pushed him to Tier 8. Chapter 84. Tier [8]. Rank [4]
The Three Second Time Loop Story. A young man starts his first day at an undisclosed research company. They are full of excitement for all the novel and cutting-edge technologies being worked with ¨C and have na?ve dreams of changing the world. They start their first day with a tour of the facility ¨C being shown first the staff rooms and a specimen yard by a very enthusiastic gelfling. At 11:02:49 exactly the man looks down at his watch ¨C mana flicking the second dial to immortalize this otherwise normal time perfectly. At this exact moment, the event happens. A massive explosion of energy that rips through the walls, floor and very fabric of the facility¡¯s reality simultaneously. Existence is unmade in fire and sound and radiance. Space is scrubbed as if a paticularily angry god took a massive eraser to reality - smudging and getting bits of existance all over thier metaphorical hands. The man is vaporized at this time, but that is not the end. For he swiftly finds himself whole once more in the hallway ¨C nothing amiss with his situation. While yelling out in shock it happens again. The explosion rips everything apart and resets the time. His yell stutters as it''s restarted at the beginning of each loop ¨C the moment of incineration too fast to hurt, but too traumatic to ignore. It takes an embarrassingly large number of loops before the man collects enough energy to look down at his wrist at the start of a loop. A flick to 11:02:47 ¨C plus the time he took to check his watch ¨C giving him a rough three seconds between his [Reset] and [Loop end]. Loop #100 ¨C five minutes after his incarceration started, he began running in different directions. He threw himself to different sides. He crouched or lay down just before the explosion¡­he jumped at the last second or used his various [Apprentice ¨C Researcher] skills one by one. First to try to solve the loop ¨C to break free¡­to escape it. Then to simply try anything to feel like he was doing something productive. Just to try and remain sane. Loop #288000 ¨C around 10 days of effective time, his mind began to break. It was only really his soul and memories that kept reverting, but they began breaking down to the endless cycle of destruction and instant recreation. The millionth loop was special in its own way. A month of time compressed into insanity. It was special not because of what happened¡­ but what didn¡¯t happen ¨C anything noteworthy. Finally, after just over ten million loops, the prisoner of time was freed. A year of effective incarceration. He was freed not because he had finally figured out how to escape himself or had grown strong in this period. No, the prisoner of time was freed because of a freak of chance. The paradox that had started his prison paradoxically decided not to. Everything in time was the same. Absolutely every molecule in existence was identical but the explosion just¡­didn¡¯t happen. Employees came running to their babbling new hire who screamed again and again, scratching long red lines into his arms as he babbled about the ticking clock and his newfound faith in ¡°Pax¡± ¨C an entity he claimed ate time for breakfast lunch and dinner had ten thousand eyes and a love of chocolate flavoured butter. No [Doctor] could diagnose anything wrong with the patient, no [Healer] could fix them, no [Witch] had a concoction that would help. This young man spent days rocking silently to himself after being deemed a lost cause ¨C occasionally giggling or talking to his invisible companion ¡°Pax¡±. He then went on to attempt to summon a demon he claimed was said ¡°Pax¡± and was executed after several [Cultist Extermination] quests were issued by the system. Society failed him - had this story happend today and in the central continent he would probably have been incarcerated. The moral of this tale is simple. Some fantasize about being stuck in a time loop. It''s always romanticized as a way to practice your skills endlessly. A way to grind to overpowered lengths ¨C an eternity focused on advancement. Some dream of the removed consequences ¨C nothing they would do would matter in such a world¡­no crime they commit would stick, for everything would be undone once again. Real time loops are things of madness. Paradox mana seeps in chaos ¨C it inevitably breaks your mind. Space has a place that embodies its madness counterpart ¨C the void. But time has a moment that embodies its madness. The negative miracle. The fluke accident that should never happen. ¡°The impossible moment¡±.
Excerpt obtained from ¡°The pretty little book of paradoxes¡± ¨C written 20 years after it was published by a man who doesn¡¯t exist.
Mana Specification
Rank 4 Mana specializations (NOTE Unavailable due to racial affinity being 0%)
Luck&Fate Control the probability of the universe.
Natural Law Control the rules of reality.
Discontinuity Break that which cannot be broken.
Divinity Touch upon that which is more.
Unlocked Specializations due to Void Specialization
Deletion Subspecialization increases base- Deletion mana control * 2, Void * 1.25, Space / 1.25
Shrinking Subspecialization increases base- Shrinking mana control * 2, Void * 1.25, Space / 1.25
Void + Eternity Harmonic Specialization. All Void+Eternity Combinations and sub derivations * 2 Control, Void * 1.25, Entropy / 1.25, Eternity * 1.5, Space / 1.5 Control.
Void + Entropy Harmonic Specialization. All Void+Entropy Combinations and sub derivations * 2 Control, Void * 1.25, Eternity / 1.25, Entropy * 1.5, Space / 1.5 Control.
Unlocked Specializations due to Special Actions
Alcohol mana Due to experiments with magical alcohols experience has brushed against alcohol mana. Make anything intoxicating. Alcohol mana starts at 100% of base control.
Cosmic Void mana Through the combined effort of Earth, Crystal and Void mana flavours you have created an Old mana. An almost primal one, close to the source. Ability creating this mana type through your designated combination increased by 400%. Ability to create from scratch increased to 5%. Additional control interaction: Void * 1.25, Space / 1.25
Experimentation mana Through consistent and deliberate experimentation, you have edged up against Experimentation mana. A mana type not typically found in dungeon cores. Experimentation mana starts at 100% base control.
Ice mana Through frequent use of spells creating this mana type and through deliberately accidentally creating it from scratch you have more than met the requirements to gain an ice affinity. A mana type rarely used by dungeons and even more rarely gained as an affinity. Ease of Ice mana created through combination spells increased by 400%. Ability to create from scratch increased to 70% of base. Additional control interactions: Void * 1.25, Space / 1.25, Fire * 1.25
Snow mana. Through creating many creatures using natural snow you''ve hinted at the ability to use snow mana. Snow mana starts at 100% of base control. Additional control interactions: Ice * 1.12
Whimsy mana Considered by many to be scarily close to Madness mana. Whimsy is surprisingly safe. Whimsy mana is used more often for aesthetics than any other type, but is surprisingly useless beyond that. Whimsy mana starts at 40% of base control.
Slaughter mana Through creation of a floor and monster using Slaughter mana you have shown intrest in the mana of battlefields and wars. Slaughter mana starts at 40% of base.
Mana Specification
Rank 4 Mana specializations (NOTE Unavailable due to racial affinity being 0%)
Luck&Fate Control the probability of the universe.
Natural Law Control the rules of reality.
Discontinuity Break that which cannot be broken.
Divinity Touch upon that which is more.
Unlocked Specializations due to Void Specialization
Deletion Subspecialization increases base- Deletion mana control * 2, Void * 1.25, Space / 1.25
Shrinking Subspecialization increases base- Shrinking mana control * 2, Void * 1.25, Space / 1.25
Void + Eternity Harmonic Specialization. All Void+Eternity Combinations and sub derivations * 2 Control, Void * 1.25, Entropy / 1.25, Eternity * 1.5, Space / 1.5 Control.
Void + Entropy Harmonic Specialization. All Void+Entropy Combinations and sub derivations * 2 Control, Void * 1.25, Eternity / 1.25, Entropy * 1.5, Space / 1.5 Control.
Unlocked Specializations due to Special Actions
Alcohol mana Due to experiments with magical alcohols, experience has brushed against Alcohol mana. Make anything intoxicating. Alcohol mana starts at 100% of base control.
Cosmic Void mana Through the combined effort of Earth, Crystal and Void mana flavours you have created an Old mana. An almost primal one, close to the source. Ability to create this mana type through your designated combination increased by 400%. Ability to create from scratch increased to 5%. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Additional control interaction: Void * 1.25, Space * 1.25.
Experimentation mana Through consistent and deliberate experimentation, you have edged up against Experimentation mana. A mana type not typically found in dungeon cores. Experimentation mana starts at 100% base control.
Ice mana Through frequent use of spells creating this mana type and through deliberately accidentally creating it from scratch you have more than met the requirements to gain an ice affinity. A mana type rarely used by dungeons and even more rarely gained as an affinity. Ease of Ice mana created through combination spells increased by 400%. Ability to create from scratch increased to 70% of base. Additional control interactions: Void * 1.25, Space / 1.25, Fire * 1.25
Snow mana. Through creating many creatures using natural snow you''ve hinted at the ability to use snow mana. Snow mana starts at 100% of base control. Additional control interactions: Ice * 1.12
Whimsy mana Considered by many to be scarily close to Madness mana. Whimsy is surprisingly safe. Whimsy mana is used more often for aesthetics than any other type but is surprisingly useless beyond that. Whimsy mana starts at 70% of base control.
Slaughter mana Through the creation of a floor and monster using Slaughter mana you have shown interest in the mana of battlefields and wars. Slaughter mana starts at 70% of base.
Before Innearth had the time to properly examine his new material, a panel appeared blocking his main vision. Innearth immediately read the rank 4 mana specializations...all of which seemed even more exciting because of the fact that he couldn''t use them. The descriptions for them are different...why? Why are they offered? Because we could theoretically get them? Because they have to be shown? ¡­I guess I¡¯ll move on. Deletion mana. Yeah, I¡¯ve heard about that one¡­but never figured out how it''s possible. I think this is one of those things that I could do alone but the affinity would help me with? Put a pin in that one, I might pick it. Shrinking¡­I don¡¯t have an interest in. It''s also something I can already do badly with void mana. I could try and get one of the time manas? They seem really useful and could make some fun effects¡­but FED and Abe already have one and I can ask them for materials if I need to. Theoretically, if I spend some time on it I might be able to get any of them to work anyways. Moving down¡­this is more than I was offered before. Are any of them interesting? Well¡­Alcohol is something that would help me aid Ilm and attract more dwarves. I might have picked this before I got adventurers hoping to lure some dwarves but¡­well¡­It doesn¡¯t draw me and doesn¡¯t really relate to my other affinities well. But then again, I don¡¯t know how important being the very strongest dungeon I can be, really matters. I¡¯m doing well already... I don¡¯t know¡­ Cosmic Void sounds¡­exciting. I don¡¯t know how to feel about it. I think it''s offered because of the triple mana material I just made? It doesn¡¯t look like it really lets me make it from scratch. It does mean I know what that material means and would help me remake it. I can obviously print it now¡­but it will probably take forever to print so this 500% boost would let me print it to the level of being functional. The thing is¡­I¡¯ve tried and failed to grasp eternity and entropy mana and those are at 40%. I think the major thing to look at is that it seems to affect my regular void affinity as well. Pin in it just because it seems unique and rare. Experimentation is offered again this time at a higher control level? Well¡­It probably matches me the most¡­but I don¡¯t really know if I want it. Does it help make monsters that will experiment for me? Does it make it easier to experiment somehow? I don¡¯t want to outsource my favourite task and¡­ Basically, it¡¯s a solid option I don¡¯t really want. Ice mana¡­is actually something I feel matches me really well. It''s something I¡¯ve used a lot of despite having a hard time making it¡­and I have a whole zone and planned zone dedicated to it¡­and I¡¯m planning on making another one. It''s like¡­it¡¯s the one that speaks to me the most but it also feels boring in comparison. It feels like I¡¯d be letting someone down if I pick this option. Snow¡­I¡¯d prefer ice. I¡¯m going pretend this option doesn¡¯t exist. OH COME ON. IT WAS ONE FLOOR. I HAD AN EXCESS OF MATERIAL! So this is my shortlist. Alcohol mana. Deletion mana. Cosmic Void mana. Ice mana. Innearth stared at them. Of them¡­his instincts wanted ice mana the most but he wasn¡¯t a core who based all of his decisions on instincts. Sometimes he used it as a tie-breaker, or followed them when he didn¡¯t know what to do¡­but Innearth liked to listen to logic more than a base desire. Logically all three of the bottom options would increase my skill with void mana. Ice would be the safest option for increasing my strength. Cosmic Void is the most interesting sounding¡­ Alcohol might give him the most to do. It might make the most unique materials by combining it with stuff like Crystal mana¡­maybe adding Void to Alcohol would make a sober material? One that sucks the alcohol out of someone''s system? As Innearth grew older the speed and strength of his ¡°thinking power¡± increased. The number of separate threads bled back over into his main consciousness and theoretically, he could think much faster¡­paradoxically as he grew older it felt like time was passing faster. A week felt like a day had when he was a newborn, months blurred together sometimes. The amount of time he spent on actions took longer. He took things slower. He sat on decisions longer. His first decision took so long he got an indecisive title for it but this one was stewed on for multiple days. Innearth vaguely knew it would be a long time before he could rank up once more. After tier 8 the next rank barrier was at tier 16. Tier 16¡­was level 295. But based on how long his last few levels took, that was probably ages away. This decision had to count. But also¡­how important was it really? His dungeon was currently being enjoyed by plenty of adventurers and while a few of them seemed able to bulldoze past the facility ¨C that one gnome for example didn¡¯t even seem to notice most of their defences, exploring everything and even playing with the roach knight briefly ¨C they were few and far between. Innearth could vaguely see a trajectory of his ¡°strength¡±. He would slow down but continue growing, He could make stronger and stronger monsters but eventually, no adventurer could face them. It was simply strength for strength''s sake. He didn¡¯t have a goal other than not wasting the decision¡­If he was being honest the only part of strength he cared about at this point was not falling behind his friends. Ice was dropped from his list, along with deletion mana for the same reason. A final hesitation¡­ Cosmic Void was finally picked and Innearth felt the changes inside of his core for the first time. He couldn¡¯t understand anything that was happening but he could see it. A sort of invisible net of ¡°something¡± that looked similar to a soul twisted inside of the crystal that grounded him to this world. It was only visible in its movement ¨C as if it had always been there but burned into Innearth¡¯s vision, so he thought it was part of the background. When those lines finished moving, swirls of mana spun out ¨C moving through and then fading from ¨C his core as everything settled. Innearth briefly lost consciousness at this point ¨C unable to figure out just how much time had passed while mana and what he could only presume was the system changed his makeup. Rank 4. I feel¡­the same? Innearth looked about his dungeon ¨C consciousness diffusing to review dozens of things at once. No¡­something is different. It''s just subtle. When he ranked up the previous few times, Innearth had been able to see new types of mana he couldn¡¯t before. This time there¡­wasn¡¯t anything new that jumped out when he dialed in his vision. What he could see however were minute details in the mana that hadn¡¯t stood out before. If rank 1 is three dimensional, rank 2 two dimensional, and rank 3 one dimensional¡­rank 4 doesn¡¯t exist? Zero dimensions? That¡¯s why it''s not visible? ¡­but it was offered even if it was greyed out! Alright, let''s take a look at this Cosmic Void real quick and then I can go find FED. Innearth focused back on his experimentation chamber where he found¡­nothing? Looking closer, a faint purple speck, hundreds of times smaller than his original materials flashed with a singular purpose. Innearth¡¯s newfound Cosmic Void affinity drew him down onto the speck where he saw what his newfound choice looked like for the first time. If Void mana was an individual point of blackness, Cosmic Void was an individual point of blackness that contained an entire universe. Not literally, but looking at the material this singular point seemed to sparkle and change based on how Innearth viewed it. Instead of a ravenous black hole that consumed, it was a hole that contained¡­stuff. But what that stuff was Innearth couldn¡¯t say. Picking the dot up Innearth was surprised to find it heavy. Incredibly heavy ¨C it was so heavy in fact, it should have sunk into the stone floor below it¡­but it hadn¡¯t. When dropping this massively dense grain of sand it floated down slowly. That felt like¡­a Kinetic mana effect. It''s resisting motion? But not actually heavier? Innearth made a snake and placed this grain of sand right on the tip of its spike ¨C he really wanted to start making more of it and experimenting with a larger batch but¡­he should probably see if FED had made a new group chat and get acquainted with any changes to the system. Chapter 85. Welcome to the internet, have a look around...
On Mana Affinities. By Thorn Bradly. Mana affinities, ¡°shades¡±, ¡°resonances¡±, ¡°flavours¡±, ¡°tones¡±, whatever manner your species likes to designate different types of mana ¨C henceforth referred to as ¡°type¡± ¨C can be condensed down to a single concept. Useful ones are plentiful, Plentiful ones are powerful. Higher concepts are a power all on their own. At the end of the day, What exactly is an affinity? What can be an affinity? Are there any rules about what the limits to a type of mana might be? It turns out there are¡­but they have so many exceptions they tend to no longer matter. For example. Naming. A good rule of thumb is that a mana ¡°type¡± is nearly always a single word. A concept that can be obtained within a single word ¨C no sentences, no names that aren¡¯t already a word¡­the exception to this ¡°rule¡± is of course due to a quirk of language. You see some languages have words that others don¡¯t. When described by the system if a mana type uses one of those words it usually tries to translate these unknown names into conjunctions of other words. The second rule of thumb is the ¡°difficulty¡± of a mana ¡°type¡±. There are a whole slew of components including the rarity, natural affinity and ¡°Rank¡± of said mana type. Maybe you know ¡°rank¡± by a different name. The ¡°quality level¡±, the ¡°grade¡±, the ¡°deepening¡±, whatever ¡°Apprentice, Journeyman, Master¡± is called ¨C Authors note: I apologize for the unprofessionalism but I have an issue with that naming sequence. I¡¯ve never quite understood it. How do you know what "journeyman" is? You¡¯re just supposed to know it''s after ¡°Apprentice¡±? What about ¡°novice¡± Where does that fit? Why does that sequence stop at master? I know for a fact rank 4 mana exists do they just assume no one can use it so there¡¯s no point in mentioning it? Madness. Anyways. Typically rank 1 mana types are pure elemental concepts. Nothing specific just pure elemental effects distilled down to their simplest form. Earth for example with concepts of ¡°Solid¡± or ¡°Physical¡± or ¡°Ground¡±. Fire with the concept of ¡°Power¡± or ¡°Consumption¡± or ¡°Heat¡±. Authors note: There¡¯s a funny story about the most common 4 rank 1 mana types that exist in our world. Earth, Air, Fire and Water. There¡¯s quite a bit of evidence cooked up by our [scientists] and some replicable experiments created by our [Magi technicians] that claim those four mana types are not what they ¡°should be¡±. According to some analysis concepts and the study of mana concentrations and affinities in deep bedrock, the four simplest rank 1 mana types were originally ¡°states of matter¡±. Instead of Earth it was Solid mana, Water -> Liquid, Air -> Gas, Fire -> Plasma. Because of the interaction between intent, understanding and affinity, setup early sapients didn¡¯t quite understand those ¡°states of matter¡± and corrupted them to ¡°elemental concepts¡± with their ignorance. Due to their view of "what the simplest elements that made up the world were", those base types solidified into similar but vastly different truths and my biased opinion thinks it¡¯s a shame. So many modern experiments would be simpler with those types on hand and easy to use. Rank 2 mana types are¡­on average linked to life but more importantly what life does. What a living ¡°thing¡± can ¡°do¡±. The most common elements are centred around the ¡°Mind/Body/Soul¡± split with Mental mana, Kinetic mana, and Life mana. Creatures think, they move about, they grow and heal damage. It also tends to include a lot of elements that are concepts that living creatures ¡°Use¡±. Sapients use weapons, hence Sword and Spear manas which contain the sharpness and piercing concepts. Rank 3 is typically a series of pure reality elements. The elements that make up reality are time and space but those are too large of a pair of concepts to be contained in a single mana type. Time is slowed or sped up. Space is shrunk or grown. Nearly all sapients have a higher affinity for space than any other and perhaps that has something to do with how useful bigger on the inside containers really are making it easier for everyone? Rank 4 is¡­not something you hear about but is typically known as a series of what reality does ¨C in a mirror of rank 2s relation to rank 1. Luck and Fate are the most well-known if only for their use in history. They are also typically known for the sole fact that this rank¡­is typically the realm of the gods. Nearly every single feat the gods have been known to perform can be attributed to these mana ¡°types¡± and an insane amount of control. The only known exception for the ¡°able to use rank 4 before becoming a god¡± rule I can find is that Gremlins and Gnomes have a natural affinity for luck mana ¨C one that manifests passively as a sort of slowly growing aura and is usually never properly used¡­but that can be manipulated at a high enough level into luck-based artifacts and spells. A conclusion you might make after reading this paper, is that with such a simple set of rules for what mana ¡°types¡± exist at what ¡°rank¡± it should be easy to classify any mana type based solely on its name? Sadly you would be wrong. These simplified rules are also constantly broken. For example, Ice mana despite ¡°Seeming¡± like it should fit in rank 1 is typically closer to rank 3 in both difficulty and strength for no reason that I or anyone else can determine. Authors note: You¡¯d think ice would be an even match for fire but ice wins 99/100. Always send an ice mage to capture or defeat a fire mage for ice mana seems to be able to eat fire mana for no reason we can determine. There is a common practice of adding ¡°sub¡± and ¡°super¡± modifiers to certain mana types based on how difficult they are to use¡­ but its equally known that difficulty is at least in part related to scarcity along with its tier so I¡¯ve ignored that practice for this paper. With all this background information you can imagine just how hard it is for a cataloger to handle these sorts of inconsistencies can you not?
Excerpt obtained from the research paper ¡°Mana¡± ¨C written by one lowly [scholar] 30s pre-death due to an unrelated cause. Innearth went through the new system dialogue options trying to find his chat panel ¨C and a hopefully re-activated private message with FED. Everything was¡­different again. It was in different spots. It was weird-looking. Text was a slightly different size ¨C it felt like whoever designed the current iteration of the system really liked giving corners massive rounded edges. All in all, Innearth didn¡¯t like it. It was a change that was unneeded and unwanted. Overwrite that change¡­overwrite that one. Old system please. Okay, here¡¯s FED. Oh! He hasn¡¯t changed his name again, I half expected him to have.
Innearth: Hey fed! I¡¯ve caught up!
Fated Eternal Design: Ah! You are the first to have advanced after I. How are you finding the web?
Innearth: I came straight here. Whats this web you¡¯re talking about?
Fated Eternal Design: My friend! The fact that I¡¯m the first thing you thought of warms my core.
Innearth did not feel the need to mention he finished his initial mana testing first thing. ACTUALLY, That reminded him he had a [descent] to use as well...so he split off some attention to deal with that.
Fated Eternal Design: Give me a bit and I¡¯ll send you some links to my favourite sites.
Innearth: Sites?
Fated Eternal Design: OH! The welcome to the internet site¡¯s a good place to start I¡¯ll send that first.
Fated Eternal Design: Click here! ~Easter egg~ The "Click here" was meant for Innearth not you readers...
Innearth mentally selected the link FED sent and watched as a new panel expanded out ¨C this one had so many sections one could focus on, the dungeon was briefly lost on where to start. Near the top was a bar displaying the name of the ¡°site¡± ¨C Welcome-to-the-internet.dcs Below that were a series of rainbow text buttons and random moving graphics displayed on a pure black background. Innearth briefly attempted to customize it into a simpler manner that was easier to read¡­but found he couldn¡¯t edit it in the same ways he had been customizing his system up till now. Finally, he began opening new pages ¨C clicking on the following button and beginning to read about the wonderful world of the internet.
Start Here!
The internet was a customizable expandable and shareable series of ¡°sites¡± that were similar to the articles younger cores shared ¨C but with vastly more capabilities. The components dungeon cores had been given in the lower ranks: real time chat, trading (complete with monitoring and reputation), streaming and recorded videos. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Those individual components could be broken apart and embedded into a page. There were other rule-based controls that let cores create anything from password-protected sites, to title-based authentication, to¡­ Essentially anything a Core could think of could be created on the internet. There were sites dedicated to hobbies or sharing knowledge. Sites based on games or gambling. Sites that were glorified chat systems ¨C replacing the standard chat system for cores that wanted to be ¡°different¡±, chats for cores that wanted to be "anonymous" Sites with collections or ranking systems ¨C ¡°The top 16s streams¡± for example which was dedicated to uploading short recordings and voting up or down ones already stored on it. There were sites dedicated to mental health ¨C created and staffed by Cores who promised to listen and help with any problems you might have¡­along with sites dedicated to sharing the goriest adventurer deaths or most horrifying creations. There were sites begging Cores to be safe ¨C giving reasons to live and claiming they would be missed¡­right beside sites where Cores recorded themselves shattering their cores. Innearth watched several short streams of dungeon Cores killing themselves on a site called ¡°Core-Leaks.dcs/best-shatters¡±. Several dungeons had designed giant nutcracker-like devices to crush their cores in an incredibly sudden and easy-looking manner. Others used curse mana to make MIMs ¨C a ghastly form briefly appearing and swiping through the core cutting the stream a half second later...while still others played games with [SYSTEM LUCK] randomizing if they would die or not. It wasn¡¯t gory. It was just a shattering of random crystals ¨C they could be shattering randomly created monster cores not their actual ¡°dungeon core¡± for all Innearth knew¡­but it still made Innearth uncomfortable. He wanted to believe they were fake, but they looked too¡­simple ¨C too boring ¨C to be fake... Innearth had to pull himself away from the site after a while. That shouldn¡¯t have been so easy to find. There was an abundance of content. There were nearly 2000 years worth of stored and catalogued ¡°sites¡± encompassing a massive spectrum ¨C a Core could find themselves lost for ages on this ¡°web¡±. It was around this time that Innearth saw who exactly was in this ¡°isolated section¡± of the system. Ranks 4 and 5 were combined into the final split-off section ¨C Tiers 8-31. ¡°The rest of them¡±. His status showed the next tier¡­ but there were no added requirements this time. Nothing but the level requirement.
Innearth (Dungeon Designation: Crossroad Link from Murek)
Level 101 13/11322 exp to next level.
System Access Level 8 -Level 122+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 231.23 personal unit/min
Mana concentration 3.30 AMU / personal unit
Mana Storage 37342.794/37342.794 AMU
Regeneration over time 12.7109084 AMU/s
Time to Full Mana 0.0 Min
Physical Storage 42% Capacity
Age 11 years
Current Year 2008 AS
Distance underground 955 meters
Number of floors 53 floors
Titles.
Earth Mana Specialization, Crystal Mana Specialization, Void Mana Specialization, Customization, Unique Dungeon, Cosmic Void Mana Specialization, Mature Dungeon.
Innearth continued randomly surfing the internet while a large portion of his attention returned to FED.
Innearth: What even is the internet.
Fated Eternal Design: I¡¯m glad you asked! It¡¯s a place one can express themselves. You can find like-minded cores and interact with them in new ways! Fated Eternal Design: But also, I should warn you¡­ it''s not all as great. The site I just sent you is garishly decorated but is still wonderful in its content. There¡¯s some parts of the internet I¡¯d stay away from. Don¡¯t start arguments no matter how WRONG some cores are. Even if you can now block cores from PM¡¯ing you messed up slag you still have to receive it once before you block them. It''s not worth it.
Innearth: Got it, heard and understood. I don¡¯t even think I interacted much with the other public systems I¡¯ll probably continue to lurk. Innearth: Did you make a new group for us?
Fated Eternal Design: Oh! No sorry I haven¡¯t. I figured there was no point with just me¡­I¡¯ll set one up now if you want.
*suddenly* Innearth felt a sort of rumble and a dull roar and wave of heat. Abe¡¯s connection in the facility released a shockwave of pure power that twisted into an almost physical form in the void. Slowly everything settled and Innearth began worrying. What just happened? Is Abe alright? Innearth began writing stuff on walls in the facility. Attempting to breach the communication barrier and communicate without the system helping. After a few minutes, Amy responded to his messages claiming they didn¡¯t know what had happened either. Innearth sat worrying for literal hours before a message from Abe finally arrived.
Abe: BROOOO. I do not recommend mixing Fire, Explosion, and Entropy mana. You know I¡¯ve heard too much of a good thing can be bad but never believed that till now.
Innearth: Abe! You¡¯re okay! What happened??
Abe: ¡­m8 I feel like my last message kind of hinted at it but okay. SO. I saw you advanced after managing a triplet mana type and figured I wanted to catch up. I made the type okay? It made a tinsy little chunk of a material. And THEN THAT MATERIAL BLEW A HUGE CHUNK OUT OF MY DUNGEON! Reinforced anti-explosive walls were vaporized. It got scarily close to my core m8. Most of the fire and heat of that explosion was blocked but the shockwave ripped through so many hallways you don''t even understand.
Innearth: ! ¡­I don¡¯t even know how to respond. I¡¯m glad you¡¯re safe?
Abe: Yeah. And then because I made the material it got offered as an option for my rank up¡­Nuclear mana. NOPE. That slag scared me. I chose alcohol mana to help with my lil bro rutile. It seems smart enough. Synergises well with fire. I like explosions cause they are fun and look nice...not because they can wipe me out if I''m not careful.
Innearth: Oh! I got offered that as well. Alcohol mana I mean. My rank 4 type¡¯s ended up being cosmic void. Not sure what it does yet but that¡¯s part of the fun is it not? Oh! FED just sent me an invite to the new group chat let''s move there.
After advancing it felt briefly like he didn¡¯t have enough ¡°splits¡± to properly take focus on everything he wanted to. Innearth would have been panicking¡­but it helped knowing that most things didn¡¯t have a time limit. He had as much time as he wanted to explore the internet in the future. He didn¡¯t have to focus on cosmic void the exact second after he had advanced¡­he wanted to but he didn¡¯t need to. Slowly Innearth oriented himself with the place he now found himself. Priorities shifted about he juggled conversation, exploration, returned a large majority of his attention to watching adventurers and resetting his dungeon when they passed through¡­ While there were plenty of small events that happened many of them felt like ¡°more of the same¡±. Something new however was tied into his use of [Descent] He had over doubled his distance underground ¨C 955 meters. That was basically a kilometer straight down¡­and it had been easy. The reason he had stopped was simply that he had gotten to the bottom of his dug out area and didn¡¯t want to move past that point. After it had been used up [Descent] had not simply dissapeared¡­but turned into a [Mature Dungeon] tag.
Mature Dungeon.
Through a variety of circumstances you have found yourself finally reaching the state many would consider ¡°Established¡±. Whether it took you 50 years or 5 you have gained over a 100 levels and layers to your core. You have reached a proficiency in mana that has loosened system safeties like the added protection preventing your core from moving by accident.
You can now attempt to move your core manually ¨C and have the theoretical skill with mana to do so safely. There is the understanding that having helped you [descend] previously and safely may have stunted your ability to do so, and so: once per level, a single [Descent-Aid] may be used ¨C costing 8,000 Personal mana + Variable channelling to complete. It is recommended you stick to descending at level-ups due to loosened bonds and excess essence aiding in the process.
Additionally ¨C perhaps due to his location in an old dormant volcano but ¨C at this ~1km distance underground, Innearth found parts of his influence were starting to get warmer. His expansion was breaking into channels with natural magma more and more frequently. The temperature was beginning to rise in the ground roughly at the center of his mountain... and was only getting hotter the further down he expanded. Now, 1km in a direction didn¡¯t feel that far anymore. Innearth¡¯s dungeon expanded to roughly 15-20km in all directions in his upper floors after all... and around 10km at his lower ones¡­not to mention the facility where he had an entire sphere of levels roughly 10km in diameter. I''ve been relatively close to the surface haven''t I? But it was still a significant change ¨C plus with his newfound access to the internet replacing buying information packets¡­Innearth was quickly able to find out what he was experiencing was happening much much sooner than normal. Typically dungeons could expand anywhere from 20 to 210km downwards before they reached what older cores knew as the ¡°mantle¡±. This was a distance so great even with maxed out uses of ¡°descent¡± cores younger than rank 4 never reached it ¨C or at least never shared their experiences. After R4 and with a frequent downward movement reaching it was inevitable and the knowledge widespread. This was the period of time most cores found out about changing states due to temperature affecting spells. They would try to make something, find their raw material had melted and accidentally created something new. ¡­so that knowledge was also widespread to the point of being free and a single search away. With this inevitability there was a new section of advice related to how to deal with the mantle ¨C many cores simply stopped expanding downwards once they reached it, but others had whole series of engineered solutions to deal with it. Additionally while the mantle started off just being incredibly hot it rapidly shifted to being liquid and incredibly hard to permanently expand into. The absolute best counter was ice mana¡­but relatively few cores could use it (only those who had a void affinity or a random mutation) and the ones who could, weren¡¯t typically known to trade thousands of kg of it just to help each other out. Void mana worked well and was slightly more common¡­as did a whole series of insulation techniques with layered materials and empty ¡°voids¡± that didn¡¯t conduct heat and its related mana types. Innearth¡¯s whole discovery of incredibly cold elements and solid liquids and gasses had already been done by older cores¡­as had a dedicated and detailed amount of research into optimal materials and shapes. It turns out the best ones were all locked away to "being able to use Ice mana itself in single element combinations" instead of just the fire+void material spell Innearth used to make it himself. Cores had designed ¡°Heat Sinks¡± ¨C large ice mana cylinders that could be used in key positions to cool down a dungeon getting close to and moving into the mantle. The exact composition size and shape of these heat sinks had been meticulously discovered over hundreds of years and now they were created and priced based on their ¡°maximum heat rating¡± ¨C the temperature that melted and broke a heat sink by overwhelming its unmelting ice materials. ¡­all of this was to first say that Innearth was reaching something much much much sooner than most cores had to deal with. It was a grand problem he could try to solve¡­and he had accidentally read about all the solutions that had already been discovered and ¡°solved¡± it before it had ever become an issue. Kind of disappointing for a core who liked to solve things on his own... but Innearth could always experiment with potentially unoptimal solutions for fun. He didn¡¯t have to copy paste other¡¯s work just because it was ¡°optimal¡± after all ¨C and maybe he¡¯d find out something even better than the combined effort of dozens of cores over hundreds of years. ¡­it was also a discovery that briefly made him regret not picking an ice affinity¡­but Innearth pushed those regrets away ¨C he was happier with the knowledge that his mana affinity he had chosen hadn¡¯t been explored as meticulously. On that note, it looked like it was time to start experimenting with cosmic void! Chapter 86. Experimentation is the lifeblood of a Innearth.
Are you ready to leave? Yes father.
Excerpt obtained from an overheard conversation between one dwarf and his strange father. Crash. Innearth watched his test snake smash through an adventurer''s armour drawing blood. It seems¡­stronger than if I had used void? But I also feel I might be able to get this effect with a void tipped cone and a kinetic propulsion system. I guess it''s like¡­ it''s stronger but not impressively stronger. I need to better figure out what this can do! Considering the snake could rest its head against stone mana without digging into it it''s almost like it doesn¡¯t have a ¡°void¡± effect at all. Instead, it feels more like¡­well momentum. It''s ripping through defences with raw power instead of melting through them with void. That¡­doesn¡¯t feel like something ¡°cosmic void¡± sounds like it should do. Innearth wanted to get some baselines. The next few days of testing were boring for anyone looking in but Innearth was having a blast. The dungeons placed different shapes in different scenarios and rigorously tested everything from piercing power to defending power to how efficient it was as a replacement material. For piercing tests, he created blocks of void and cosmic void mana and dropped them on different metals and stones and reinforced shields. He realized they used different amounts of mana and raw materials SO. To deal with this, some tests had mana the same, some had size or ¡°weight¡± (hard to measure on the cosmic void), some used the same raw mass. When he changed the size he tried making sure they all had the same surface area ¨C or created cones or nets to see how that affected things. Defensive tests were similar in scope, but mostly existed of throwing different materials at both or submerging them in acid or magma. His affinity increased his one triplet spell to be relatively straightforward. It wasn¡¯t nearly as easy or as simple as a rank 1 combination like sand or magma¡­but it also wasn¡¯t as bad as darkness mana with its light and void combo. After a while he didn¡¯t even think of it. His own tests were supplemented by his crystal dwarves drawing various runes on them both (spoiler, void materials were much harder to draw runes on) or placing them in various analysis devices. The main sort of information he figured out from these tests was¡­well they fundamentally worked in a different way. They both ¡°smashed through things¡± but cosmic void squished it to the side and void ate it away. At a certain height cosmic void could smash through much more initially before stopping¡­but void mana kept sinking slowly but steadily overcoming it over time with nothing but the pull of gravity. In terms of defence, it was more durable than mundane steel but that was about it¡­it was also crumbly and when broken too badly tended to disappear into nothing without even leaving dust behind. A relatively thin plate could still take quite a beating but using it solely for defence didn¡¯t seem smart currently. This material really doesn¡¯t feel¡­like a void material. Closest is the fact that it doesn¡¯t leave dust behind when it breaks too badly¡­and I guess the fact that void didn¡¯t seem to damage it at all? So it''s an upgraded version of voidstone? Welp. Pretty obvious next step is to check how it fares in the ¡°literal void¡± Moving his experiments to a cut off section of the facility Innearth began a new series of experiments. While inside the void, his material didn¡¯t immediately seem that different. However¡­the longer it stayed in it and the more he moved it about the stronger it became. It didn¡¯t quite suck but it did passively absorb the void atmosphere when moving through it. Pulling plates back and forth Innearth watched as the purplish sort of existence became noticeably¡­less. Looking closer it was actually blocking the atmosphere and creating a slipstream behind it while consuming part of it depending on how fast it moved/how hard the void atmosphere was pushed into it. The atmosphere inside of Innearth''s testing chambers became cleaner and while that was a nice sort of side effect towards making the place more comfortable for adventurers¡­it wasn¡¯t useful for testing. Innearth made a new small shell outside of the facility ¨C asking Abe to properly time magic ward it against demons before continuing. This rapidly increased the transmutation speed and while it was hard to tell without the system giving him nice numbers¡­it was clear it was getting stronger with each pass. Abe stuck around paying attention for a bit curious to see what he was doing in the new room. It was hard to remain serious fanning plates about when someone kept drawing smiley faces and explosions on them or giving life to small creatures to see how annoying he could be. Finally, a threshold was reached with the material. Like the voidstone walls that had instantly been transmuted into a stronger system tagged ¡°invincible¡± state, this process created something similar over the course of several hours in a dense area.. There was a difference however. A massive massive difference. After void tempering the plate into something close to or reaching ¡°invincibility,¡± it could then be brought back to reality without losing this property. This alone was ¡°massive¡±. Honestly the original void tempered materials had been massive already but Innearth hadn¡¯t really wanted to use them to create devices that could only be used in the void. They were doing a good job where they were! And without a way to recreate them every time he cut away, he was permanently decreasing the amount he had. Yes, Innearth now had a way of creating impossibly durable weapons and armour. Monsters that couldn¡¯t conventionally be killed. Rooms that couldn¡¯t be broken out of. ¡­that last one might become a huge undertaking over any practical amount of time. It was obviously doable in some capacity¡­but transmuting a single 50x50x0.1cm plate into invincibility had taken him ages and he had been manually moving it about the whole time. He could not do this with huge shapes¡­and making several interlocking and ¡°welded¡± together plates would be weaker. No, Innearth could not see himself adding this to every wall in his dungeon. Maybe a few doors on his lower levels? No it feels overkill for basically everything but smaller undertakings. ¡­Innearth typically didn¡¯t think of core protection lately. He had been acting perfectly reasonable ¨C not a hint of madness infused him and it was incredibly unlikely he would find himself on any sort of system hitlist¡­ But hey, with an invincible material who wouldn¡¯t want to feel slightly safer? Innearth made a box of cosmic void ¨C one with one side open and a separate invincible lid to successfully surround his core. He transmuted it and brought it back to reality before attempting to drop it around his core like an oversized hat. Immediately he came across a slight hiccup. His influence was blocked off by this material. Covering most of his sides drastically reduced his influence control¡­essentially everywhere in his dungeon. It also felt dangerous. Like the longer he had his cosmic hat on the sicker he felt ¨C as if he could feel the very edge of his influence withering and dying. Quickly Innearth removed it and tried to think of a solution. Bunch of crystal mana circuits all over it? Make a new box with holes on it then add dungeon flesh circuits to bypass the blocking off? A pause as Innearth thought. Can I claim the box itself? It''s not like nullstone, it feels like I should be able to. Tempered cosmic void blocked magic but not really in the same way that nullstone did. It felt like the way magic and indeed physical effects like sound, light, and vibrations weakened when passing between a regular room and a void-shrunk room ¨C just dialled up by a massive hidden multiple. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Grabbing hold of this tangent before it fully crystalized Innearth re-placed the unlidded box around himself and tried to vibrate his influence through it. Tried to expand into the box. Slowly but surely, haltingly slowly, his influence began squeezing through. It passed into the thin strip of material and kept going¡­deeper and deeper. Inside of the cosmic void material there was a massive amount of space ¨C and it was twisted inwards on itself in a crystalline fractal. Like a shape that fit inside of a shape inside of a shape¡­but each was only slightly smaller than the one around it and really shouldn¡¯t fit. It was an expanded area but it was weird. It felt less like a ¡°bigger on the inside¡± bag or room ¨C those felt like the fabric of reality were pinched and stretched. Like a ball on a soft bed pushing space down wherever it moved. This felt like a whole pocket of air was underneath the bed. Instead of a stretching of space, it felt like a bubble of space that just barely touched reality. Completely separate and joined by a thick barrier. And this separate space, this separate dimension had no empty areas. It was completely and utterly packed full of a solid material that currently flickered with purplish void atmosphere due to all the tempering. Pocket void? The actual void itself? So this material creates a whole miniature universe that¡¯s similar to the void? And then Innearth was through the other side and instantly felt better. His influence completed a full loop in all directions and his current size could be supported once again. His box was twisted slightly in an unknown way as he claimed it¡­turned it into his own flesh. But it felt good. The lid was glued to the bottom of his box and passed through as well before Innearth knew what hit him. A quick test of claiming a non-tempered version of the material ¨C something Innearth realized afterwards he should have checked first ¨C made it known a lot of the same effects were there but less dramatic. It was easier to expand into and the inner dimensions felt less weird. Innearth tried to measure if his box impeded his influence transfer and couldn''t see any difference. He was now protected! From quite a bit actually, he wanted to think it was everything¡­but the very fact that his influence could move through it and his inventory eat into the tempered material, exposed an attack vector he didn¡¯t quite know enough to understand yet. So invicibility* ? ¡­I just thought of a way to cheat. I really want to see if this works. Innearth created a shield. On one side a quarter sphere of cosmic void material, on the other kinetic dampening followed by some soft fur from a woolly monster in his wild monster farm. He tempered it and then set it as loot and checked its tooltip.
Unknown shield of worldly protection. [Max Tier Shield]
Similar to the holy mothers most divine of armour, this simple shield protects against all physical and magical damage. Its one weakness is soul magic¡­ but has a stronger resistance than most.
Durability N/A.
¡­I feel like that says something about my influence and inventory damaging it. That¡¯s considered soul magic? Okay. Neat I guess. Innearth began asking around but none of his friends knew much about soul magic. He briefly remembered Abyss and sought him out to ask¡­ but the older core didn¡¯t know either. There was plenty of vague stuff about soul magic on the internet¡­but nothing linking a dungeon''s influence to it. Nothing until a promising lead led Innearth to a strange page that was simply a blank blackish page with a greyed-out button and a message.
Meaning to life.
They don¡¯t want you to know this. I don¡¯t want you to know this. Knowing this can negatively effect your existence. For the last time. You have been warned. This is your warning. This is barred. If you have found this page you were probably looking for a meaning to your existence, or accidentally touched upon some related but not important information contained within. The only reason it is offered¡­is if your existence is already negatively affected. If you¡¯ve considered your life fulfilled¡­sometimes knowing what your purpose in life is can give you new hope! If it doesn¡¯t it doesn¡¯t matter. Please, if you are currently happy do not watch this. If you are merely curious, stay away. This page is locked with natural law mana and will only open if you have lost hope. Maybe just maybe it can help you. ~OG
What. What the cursed sky¡¯s nothingness is this site? Is this some sort of joke? I just wanted to know about how a dungeon works?? Why the hidden monster? The cloak and daggers? ¡­OG? That¡¯s the core who wrote this? It has to be good! I remember how influential they were in my newborn stage! And they have a rank 4 mana! They have to know some juicy information. Innearth raged at the injustice of his curiosity being blocked off. No information could affect him in anything but a positive way! Innearth briefly went searching for a Core named OG. He scoured for references on them and found plenty of stuff about a natural law core who was incredibly influential in the first millennia¡­but nothing recent. Innearth wanted to know. He really wanted to know¡­ but finally his curiosity was overcome by his original task and he returned to focusing on cosmic void. Okay. Fine. I¡¯m not giving up on finding out what the meaning to life is but I¡¯ll simmer for now. So this cosmic void material is a whole dimension that¡¯s solid matter¡­that kind of explains its side effects. It''s like a storage that can only hold ethereal things! What about trying to store mana inside of it? Innearth pushed his own mana at it first but all he got was a failed material spell as the mana bounced off. He next turned to search for the output of one of his mana filter streams. A tap into his blocked-off whimsy floor steadily dripping a pinkish liquid into fields tended by nameless crystal dwarves. His treeroot-like filtration system had become incredibly good at splitting the pollution out over the years. There were no huge jumps or massive changes till now but efficiency had slowly but steadily risen and now over half the outputs were ¡°nearly¡± madness free. He was outputting essentially free "non-madness-related" "incredibly-mana-dense" "unique materials" from over a hundred different ¡°taps¡±. Considering he didn¡¯t focus on unique materials himself much, most of it was further filtered by plants and monsters ¨C then used by dwarves crafting loot for him ¨C but it was still incredible to see. None of the outputs were mana types Innearth could make on his own ¨C after all, if he could make a pure version of any of them, he could make corrupted crystals of that flavour and help strain the mana streams even more. Instead, all the taps were outputting materials with mixes like¡­well it was hard to tell exactly because they were bundles off different mana flavours which changed slightly depending on the monster or plant it was ¡°laundered¡± through and further changed when crafted with¡­ But themes could obviously be discovered as long as they were tracked. One stream was tentatively called ¡°dream mana pollution¡± for items made with it tended to either fall into a ¡°nightmare¡± madness tinged effect, ¡°sleep¡± type paralyzing ability or a ¡°rested¡± type item. Another stream was dubbed ¡°springtime¡± for nearly every material that came out of it had something to do with flowers or butterflies or sunshine or new growth¡­ Picking this springtime tap at random Innearth began engineering a solution to smash it into a plate of cosmic void. The stream wasn¡¯t that fast but Innearth made a solid drop out of a smooth angled spout to try and beat it into his plate with the momentum. He added a few gravity plates at various angles to speed it up and made sure the flow continued on unabated to the spout afterwards. Let''s see if this is enough to push any mana into the material. At first, nothing seemed to happen but having learned his lesson and basing it off the idea of the mana needing to pierce the veil between his pocket universe and reality Innearth waited patiently. Despite being pretty positive that it would work ¨C that it should work ¨C it stubbornly refused to budge. I didn¡¯t even temper it first? Why isn¡¯t it letting mana in? Innearth was just in the process of deciding it was a lost cause when he noticed something had changed. An almost faint almost non-existent sort of vibration was building as the stream of liquid continued to beat his plate downwards. Expanding through the plate to watch the process from both outside and in, Innearth was just in time to see the first bit of mana begin to beat in and through. Pushing his own mana at the process ¡°widened¡± the ¡°crack¡± letting more mana seep through steadily building and pooling in the crystalline world within. Quickly it became apparent this was not what Innearth thought was going to happen. The drudge of mana pollution on the far side was not actually fully leaking through ¨C what was pooling currently was pure mana. Pure mana. That¡¯s all that seemed to want to enter this world inside a material. Pure mana leaked in¡­and didn¡¯t seem to combine with the already existing cosmic void that made up a large part of the world. Instead, it built and pooled ¨C moving through the world like a spiderweb that filled in afterwards and then as pressure built it began leaking out the other side. Slowly but surely faint streams of pure mana popped out the far end. It wafted out like a colourless invisible stream ¨C a haze only visible to Innearths¡¯ mana sight. This cloud of mana didn¡¯t seem to want to stay in its current form and quickly began breaking down. A good amount pushed into the earth ¨C earth-related mana types greedily seeming to eat the pure mana and increase their own strength. Some attached to the air and became Air and Gas related mana types. Some spun away attaching to more esoteric shapes and forms like the room or cave or open area it found itself in. Innearth attempted to stem this flow but pure mana really did not like to stay in the environment long. When he closed off the area and filled it with pure H2O from his inventory it slowed the process down¡­but then after a half-hour or two, the pure mana remaining in the liquid had the bright idea of spontaneously becoming water mana and quickly shifted itself to Water-related mana types as if pleased with itself. Innearth was probably going too hard if he was starting to attribute emotions to the environmental mana. A break was needed. While Innearth had been playing around with his new material and getting distracted by figuring out what it could do, the rest of his friends had begun advancing. After him, Doc had reached rank 4 ¨C picking the option that Innearth stubbornly kept refusing ¡°Experimentation mana¡±. He hadn''t managed a triplet mana type but was followed by two who had. Amy¡¯s triplet was made with her affinities ¨C water, life, and mental mana. It created a material and mana type the system called ¡°Ambrosia¡± which had some description about healing the mind, body and soul. Queen came straggling up in the rear ¨C her triplet of earth, life and plant created a material called ¡°Yggdrasil heartwood¡± with an affinity she instantly took called Yggdrasil mana. The gang was all together once more ¨C no longer stuck carving messages to each other on the facility walls. Ah, I wonder what my friends have planned next? Chapter 87. Mindless Experimentation.
How far away are we? Nearly there son.
Excerpt obtained from a travelling pair of dwarves. Innearth showed off his knowledge of the internet. He was experienced. His brief time of lurking had made him an expert! At least he felt like he was. He told his friends which sites to stay away from and which ones to make sure to experience at least once. He also let his newly ascended friends look at his new material ¨C vague interest from Queen and Amy¡­huge, almost begging, interest from Doc. After everyone was settled in ¨C it took longer than you would think without any rush ¨C he asked them all what their current plans were. FED was planning on extending his actual dungeon and was estimated that would take him at least a year. He would not tell anyone what his R4 affinity was ¨C no matter how much his friends pried ¨C but was presumably using it to spice up what he already had. Abe wanted to make different boozes and alcohol-related explosions ¨C he had already created a material called ¡°Fireblast Whiskey¡± that Rutile had become addicted to. It was a spicy alcohol with a side effect of explosive burps that shot streams of fire¡­A ¡°Side Effect¡± Abe was happy to call a ¡°feature¡±. Amy had already figured out her ambrosia could heal adventurers to an insane degree. As long as an adventurer had even the slightest amount in their system, they could be decapitated and healed to safety ¨C something only high leveled adventurers had access to previously. They could even be healed after the point they had theoretically ¡°died¡± ¨C ambrosia strengthening the fading soul and shoving it back into its newly healed body like some catch-all miracle drug. There was actually a very slight side effect of minor extreme addiction ¨C multiple doses of ambrosia over a short period of time would induce a dependency so strong adventurers were willing to kill each other over a single drop¡­but that was fine. As far as Amy was concerned ¡°Something something Survivability¡±, ¡°Something something They will be fine¡­that just shows how much they like it. Hey if they try and kill each other over it I can just heal them with more ambrosia!¡±. She was planning on liberally introducing the material about her dungeon and relaxing some of her safety features¡­ based on the idea that as long as they survived and were healed up afterwards "everything was all good. No harm no foul". Queen had just advanced less than a day before and wanted to explore her new material. She didn¡¯t have any plans for after that point¡­ but based on the trend everyone else was following she would probably spend some time using it afterwards or sprinkling it about her jungle. Doc had somehow already gotten a plate of cosmic void Innearth had left in the facility and was performing his own series of experiments on the object. He was barely responding but seemed content for now. Everyone seemed to think the facility was finally done ¨C but were open to the idea of expanding it at some point in the future. Realizing his friends seemed content to work on themselves for a while, Innearth returned to his last experimentation point. Somewhat refreshed with the social break, he was ready to throw his all into prying every secret he could from cosmic void and his filter system. Innearth had already realized the last time he focused here that ¡°using Pure H2O didn¡¯t seem to work as a storage device¡±. Already guessing the answer but wanting to be thorough, he tried a few more ¡°non-magical¡± storage solutions. Instead of liquid water, he tried a solid block of quartz ¨C one without crystal mana seemed to work¡­for a few hours. But then, same as before, crystal mana was suddenly present and quickly began the reaction to convert everything to crystal-related mana types. Trying to make a vacuum was even worse ¨C the mana was sucked through it into the walls and if Innearth made a vacuum surrounded by nullstone the mana seemed to move about frantically before fading without any matter to stick to. Innearth focused on trying to store the pure mana not wanting to waste it ¨C he finally figured out a solution but not an exciting one. First, he created a box of nullstone to prevent mana radiation to the surroundings. Then he filled it with the stretchy rubbery pure mana+silicon material and called it a day. Adding pure mana to the pure mana material just increased the density and over a several hour to several day period, Innearth could make a block of ¡°pure core¡± quality material to use in monsters. Again, not very impressive ¨C free source of cores not that Innearth was lacking in mana and counting each drop of it¡­but at least it felt like he wasn¡¯t wasting it. Now, while the bottom output didn¡¯t seem that useful, the top had steadily turned into a much more noticeable result. Above, the ¡°squished¡± liquid was rapidly gaining less actual mana but more¡­flavour? No that doesn¡¯t quite explain it. Mana has an alignment and a concentration ¨C its concentration is a value and its alignment an attribute. You can¡¯t change an attribute¡¯s density it¡¯s just a ¡°thing¡± that exists. Similarly, while there were plenty of different environmental flavours in a given area/material at any given time¡­they were basically never pure. They always had an affinity ¨C a goal. You ¡°can¡¯t¡± squeeze pure mana out of mana with an attribute. But that¡¯s what I¡¯m doing¡­so something had to happen? Yes. Something had happened and was continuing to happen to the mana-filled water. Mana didn¡¯t like that dense attributed liquid was pushed up against a filter and outputting attributed liquid and pure liquid. ¡°A => A+B¡± ? No the mana decided a much nicer looking formula was ¡°A => A¡¯ + B¡± and decided the best way to reach that point, was to mess about with the A until it reached a suitable A¡¯. That ¡°messing about¡± turned out to be changing the matter in the water that represented ¡®A¡¯ and solidifying the mix of mana types into a liquid that was unrecognizable from the previous pollution runoff. Its final existence looked like someone had increased the saturation while decreasing the resolution of reality. The liquid beforehand was a slightly pinkish liquid, like someone had dyed a cup of water slightly¡­ but afterward, it looked like paint. Like a cartoonish transparent pink liquid with an excessively large light sheen and a matte ¡°everything else¡±. Innearth focused on this side effect for a while ¨C tentatively turning it into the blood of a turtle monster. The shell held the liquid and created a turtle who nearly instantly began casting several skills ¨C flowers bursting from the ground around it despite Innearth not designing the monster to be a ¡°caster¡±. A warm basking light floated out. A wave of petals shone brightly. A light that contained laughter and a breeze that smelled of tulips. The skills seemed a bit weird and less harmless than they should be considering it was damaging other monsters with flower petals¡­but as far as a monster goes it''s interesting enough? Let''s outsource some testing while making more of these filters. Innearth gave small cups of the liquid to several dwarves in separate rooms to analyze while he got to work plugging the rest of his ¡°taps¡±.
Essence of springtime. [Potion]
Potion created through an advanced process. Seemlessly corrupts mana in any form or shape into one that alligns with the aspect of springtime. Warning, Consuming this potion may have strange effects, Existing skills and abilities may become corrupted upon consumption.
Duration 12 hours.
The system seemed quite proud of itself for finally listening to Innearth and giving a description. It had needed several dwarves telling him what it did and then Innearth "storing it in a bottle and designating it as loot" before it cooperated, but now he had a description at least. Somehow mana had counted the whole setup and scenario Innearth had created as alchemy. Everything from the previous filter system to the output essence extraction tap cumulated into this material the system labelled as a potion. I thought dungeons couldn¡¯t make potions? Something about disease or material creation spells overwriting it? The internet was a better source of information than random packets in the store, so it was a matter of moments before Innearth was able to figure out that yes ¨C dungeons could perform alchemy. It just needed to be done through a convoluted process with a series of steps or an ¡°alchemy machine¡± and in such a way that didn¡¯t include disease-like materials. Innearth created a few simple essence staffs ¨C just simple earth mana tubes filled with the liquid. On average they showed a result similar to this example springtime staff with minor changes between essence types.
Staff of Springtime. [Tier 4]
Channel mana through this staff to gain personal springtime mana. Channel spells through this staff for a chance to convert them to springtime spells. Springtime spells channelled through this staff will be purified and the resulting quality increased at a variable level.
Durability 100/100
¡­well that¡¯s interesting. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Innearth began properly investing time into making magic staffs. He usually offloaded all his loot design to his dwarves¡­ but these staffs were made as a personal challenge ¨C to see how well he could make them himself. His designs were iterated with different shapes having different tradeoffs. The ¡°final schematic¡± he came up with looked something like: ¡°Inner core of essence potion. Completely smooth and straight cylinder of cosmic void surrounding the liquid. The top of the staff contained a corrupted crystal with flavour similar to the essence in the staff. The bottom of the staff contains a sliced-off sliver of the pure silicone core-like material cut into a disk. The top was ¡°contained¡± in cosmic void and a final crystal mana focus was placed visible at the tip. The whole staff was then tempered for a bit in the void until its tooltip had infinite durability. The embedded corrupted crystal increased the capability of the spells cast through it¡­but was completely contained because "if given room to grow it would instead parasitically consume the spells and grow itself instead of the spell". The final crystal on the end had a bit of an increase to spell focus ¨C it helped direct and contain spells¡­but for the most part it was included entirely for the aesthetic. Innearth liked how they looked, and they matched his crystal theme¡­FED would be proud of him. These improved staffs were relatively low effort and counted as tier 10-12 (some of the highest quality items Innearth had made on his own) proving as long as you had high-quality materials, less effort was needed to make something good. The system tooltips for them looked something like:
The Staff of Springtime. [Tier 11]
Channel mana through this staff to gain personal springtime mana. This mana can be stored for up to 24 hours before breaking apart. Channel spells through this staff to convert them to springtime spells. Springtime spells channeled or cast through this staff will be purified and their power increased by a minimum of 360% and max of [unknown]. Increases accuracy and longevity of spells.
Durability N/A
Innearth made several elite runic soldiers in the facility who both used the staffs ¨C with skills specifically engineered to work well with them ¨C and dropped the staffs by transmuting them to loot with a % drop rate upon death. Combining certain skill organs with certain staffs created incredibly strong synergies. For example, most manipulation skills cast through a ¡°The Staff of Armour¡± let a soldier control an adventurer''s defenses ¨C controlling them like a puppet. This seemed to ignore nearly all protections on even the armour of transcendent adventurers in the facility and made fighting them less a brute force solution and more a tactical one. Most ¡°Overload¡± type spells cast through a ¡°The Staff of Technology¡± let a soldierr break the more SciFi related weapons some adventurers used ¨C or at least disable them for a time. Similarly, most general damaging or ¡°attack¡± skills and spells cast through either ¡°The Staff of Carnage¡± or ¡°The Staff of Decapitation and Dismemberment¡± turned into straight upgrades. They usually kept their shape and form but instantly became more dangerous in subtle ways. ¡°The Staff of Dreams and Nightmares¡± on the other hand turned lethal spells into non-lethal ones... but seemed to deal more lasting mental damage as a trade off. A few ¡°combined¡± Staffs were made with multiple isolated rods containing different essences ¨C 2,3,4,5 different ¡°Tubes¡± glued together essentially ¨C but Innearth found himself preferring the look and effect of the single aspect staffs better. Partway through this staff creation session, Innearth became absolutely sick of manually tempering the cosmic void materials each time and put in the effort to automate it. A series of spinning cosmic void turbines slowly pulled and then pushed the atmosphere through his external bubble. The constant slow push of atmosphere was enough to temper one side and a spinning system made sure anything he put in to temper, got blasted on all sides. A very brief effort was made to see exactly how high of a level of staff could be made ¨C a middle layer of nullstone carefully carved out and a massive number of runes from his crystal dwarves pushed one staff to Tier 17 (One of the absolute highest quality items Innearth and his dwarves had made to date) ¡­but somewhere along the line Innearth had gotten distracted. They were good distractions! Ones that led me to research dungeon potions and find out why they were rare for dungeons ¨C but still possible. I raised the difficulty level of my section of the facility slightly and better used some of the pollution¡­ Either way, he had gotten horribly off track from his Cosmic Void experiments. So¡­for cosmic void what have I discovered? The material ¨C at least the one material I can make easily ¨C creates something I¡¯m going to assume is a pocket dimension completely plugged up with crystalline matter. I can¡¯t hollow it out without breaking that solid world somehow and if too much of it is broken the dimension kind of ¡°breaks off from reality¡± and the material hosting it dissapears? Because of the barrier between dimensions, cosmic void materials resist different forces and have an insane inertia¡­I can push void atmosphere into the pocket dimension and strengthen that barrier¡­That barrier makes it impervious to physical and most magical damage¡­but pure mana and soul spells can still get through? Because of that pure mana point, I can use it to transmute mana pollution ¨C for some reason ¨C and that makes the essence potions¡­ Is there anything else? I can use it to store pure mana but can¡¯t tell if that¡¯s useful for anything. Innearth¡¯s testing had slowed down¡­just when he thought he was finished however Doc came to him excitedly.
ZeMadDoctor: Quick! Make me more cosmic void materials I need it for testing. I¡¯m so jealous.
Innearth: Oh? How did you run out? And stop stealing my scraps! Want to compare notes?
ZeMadDoctor: Of course if it means I can study it some more.
Innearth relayed what he figured out which seemed to have made Doc even more excited.
ZeMadDoctor: ! The closed-off dimension seems to match up with my testing. Fascinating what you figured out with pushing environmental mana through it¡­Anyways. SO! Most interesting part of my research is that it seems to be an alternative dimension I can portal to. Getting that to work is a tough series of loops let me tell you. ZeMadDoctor: Basically I have to make one side of the portal singularity ethereal to push it into the material¡­ but the material doesn¡¯t let me push foreign mana into it even if it''s already in a spell. Pure mana can move through it but that¡¯s not enough to function as a side of a portal no matter how I try to set it up. What I figured out was that weakening the material weakens the veil and lets me shove the side of one of my portals into it¡­but when I weaken the material it ends up breaking and disappearing. If I time it just right. I can attach the portal to the bubble before it disappears and then I have a portal to the cosmic void but I don¡¯t like that it passes through the ¡°void¡± void to reach it and¡­ ZeMadDoctor: From what I can tell with my experience working with portals it''s like¡­well I can tell the bubble is located right beside reality right? And when it breaks it is cut away from reality? I¡¯m slightly hazy on that part. ZeMadDoctor: I¡¯m guessing my portal pulls it towards the void when it breaks away but maybe it just does that anyways? If I could use cosmic void mana I might be able to mix it with space mana and make a cosmic portal mana or something to link it safely¡­ but that might not work how I think it does and cosmic void is a mixture anyways not a mana type you can just mix with stuff and¡­
Innearth: nice findings! How useful is a portal to a cosmic void bubble anyways? Like what could you do with it? What could you make?
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­I don¡¯t know? I did it because I could. And I want to continue to do it to see if I can do it better.
Innearth: Well¡­fair. I can appreciate some experimentation for experimentations sake. Personally, I try to experiment towards figuring out what I can do with stuff...but knowledge is a worthy goal. Innearth: I¡¯ll give you some more materials to play with so long as you keep me informed of anything interesting you find out.
ZeMadDoctor: Excellent! Before I forget. Can you imbed anything inside of it? Like build cosmic void around anything? I saw one of your materials had a hole inside of it that the cosmic dimension you made didn¡¯t like ¨C but what about solids? Liquids? Either of those work? I¡¯ll give you a portal endpoint. Try and embed that into it so I don¡¯t have to break the thing to get one inside.
Innearth: ¡­that¡¯s an idea. I¡¯ll test that out thanks!
Innearth made Doc a couple of balls and blocks and plates of various sizes¡­then moved on to testing his hypothesis. Starting off simple, Innearth created a block of quartz, then completely covered it in cosmic void. Pushing through curious, he was pleasantly surprised to find out Doc¡¯s guess had been right ¨C the quartz was locked into the slightly fractalized solid world safely and smoothly. Testing out a cup of water next, he found the line between what was integrated and what wasn¡¯t¡­ was completely based on how ¡°solid¡± it was. That was it. If he froze the water it would integrate, if he left it as a liquid it wouldn¡¯t. If he tried to cheat by half covering ice and trying to melt one side it broke the whole dimension. If he tried to break it this way after tempering it in the void, the whole thing blew up ¨C wrecking space in the area temporarily with large dangerous-looking cracks in the air that slowly healed. Testing magical materials next, Innearth found they worked well ¨C but any mana contained within would be stuck to the material they came in on. That¡¯s fine. Making sure to remember to surround a portal key for Doc, Innearth returned to his own experiments. Innearth began making dungeon circuits and surrounding them in cosmic void to see how they would function. An insanely complicated dream catcher of miniature cores and lines completely embedded in a cube of cosmic void later and Innearth was expanding into and analyzing it from the inside. Everything seemed to be working properly? The skill that was embedded was a simple self-levitation and activating it levitated the cube surrounding it perfectly¡­ Innearth took a long moment to realize he had activated a skill himself. He had pushed mana through the circuit without thinking it through first¡­ and activated a skill that needed to be in a living creature to function. Something that had not worked up till now. ¡­him claiming the cube had made it part of his body and he was technically a living creature. ??????? Innearth was briefly stunned by the implication, first excited then confused. This was new information! ¡­But he didn¡¯t quite know how to use it. As far as making traps or similar that he had control over¡­that seemed like too much work for too little gain. Innearth was quite fond of making plant-like traps instead of claimed ones so he didn¡¯t have to expend as much attention to activate them¡­but thinking about traps was thinking in a limited way. This was a way to give him skills! What couldn¡¯t he do that he wanted to do? I want to draw runes! Do I have any circuits that give the ability to use other spell systems? Innearth looked through his circuit store and tried to activate his circuit mastery to see if it would help¡­but found the only real way to make a spell system like runes or enchanting was to give it to a dungeon monster shaped like a creature that could use those spell systems...or creating a completely new creature designed around using those spell systems. Even making a dwarf without giving life to it and expanding into it didn¡¯t count as a loophole... Giving up on that "first thought", Innearth finally settled on what he wanted. A way to see outside of his dungeon. He crafted a vision-based skill and based it on his dungeon sight but pushed outwards¡­Innearth built it into an archway for his dungeon. Tempered cosmic void and some decorations to divert attention, Innearth trial and errored his way through giving himself the ability to see. His prototypes kept failing, but his ¡°Master circuit builder¡± senses saw each setback as a way to learn. Finally, after 5 failed arches he made one that worked just barely how he wanted it to. It wasn¡¯t quite as far of a distance as he had hoped, so a few more iterations on the design were required. Version 12 was perfect. It sent out an incredibly faint echolocation-like pulse of very soft almost pure mana¡­then reconstructed a scene of what it saw based on that. Innearth placed versions of this doorway into each of his dungeon entrances then placed the failed prototypes ¨C he had decorated them after all ¨C into each of his zone changes. Finally, Innearth was able to see the valley above him for the first time. He was able to see what he considered ¡°his city¡±. The buildings had matured over the past few years. There were strips of towering buildings easily a couple dozen stories tall ¨C each with so many defences his sight only saw the outside of them. There were bright strips of commerce with sapients of all shapes and sizes rushing about either by foot or on hovering discs. Signs promoting business and magical items of all shapes and sizes ¨C quite a bit of Innearth¡¯s loot was being sold in the market place but there were also young crafters of all sorts peddling their wares. These smaller buildings and street booths all had vast arrays of items all made with the same processes but doing vastly different things. A street over there were more expensive shops. These were staffed by multiple people and contained more focused and themed items ¨C a store of clothing, a store for kitchen appliances, a store of swords, a caf¨¦ for food and drink. Deeper into the town brazenly set up in the back alleyways were more nefarious shops. Human skulls with runes carved all over them. Dried elf ears in bottles. Suspicious potion shops staffed by wrinkly old women and hooded figures offering ¡°deals¡± and ¡°contracts¡±. Innearth saw wealth and poverty, saw homes and families. He noticed a cheerful air seemed to surround everyone ¨C even those who had nothing seemed determined to ¡°make it¡±. There was hope and¡­it was nice. Innearth liked what he saw. Innearth spent a few days just watching the city above him before returning to focus on himself once more. I think I¡¯m going to finally expand my dungeon. I have plenty of dug room to start. First things first. I need a room after the hard mode crystal caverns! Chapter 88. Weather warning. A Serene Hail.
Are we there yet? Not yet. Okay... It has to soon right? You said we were almost there ages ago, why is it taking so long? Be patient. We are almost there ¨C don''t worry. You''re lost arn''t you... I''ll have you know I have built a compass to find the homeland. We should be there any day now! It''s straight ahead. ...I''ll trust you for now but I''m going have some strict words with you if "almost there" is another week of traveling. ...
Excerpt obtained from yet another passing pair of nameless dwarves off on an adventure. Innearth excitedly showed his friends the ¡°Dungeon Doorway with the ability to see around it¡± and instantly got the gang''s attention. They all wanted a door and Innearth was happy to share¡­sadly they all still seemed busy and after the quick buzz of initial excitement, their messages slowed down again and were sent with less focus, less attention. Leaving them to their own devices but anticipating their return Innearth really began throwing his all towards dungeon design. Now, Innearth had been stewing on what he wanted his last few floors, in reality, to look like for a while. He already knew what he wanted the hard mode Ice caverns to look like ¨C and had long ago begun the process of filling them with ice-related materials. Part of the reason for taking so long to finish it, however, was wanting a good transitionary floor between the Crystal and Ice floors. Something that really popped out. He had put off everything for so long because of this goal adventurers seemed to have noticed ¨C one or two breaking through and exploring past the edge of where Innearth wanted them to explore. Something he had been hoping to figure out was a ¡°puzzle¡± type floor¡­but without any really good ideas along those lines, he was now focusing on his newest materials. Cosmic void and the essence potions. Essence was an easier theme to work around so Innearth began designing a brightly coloured set of rooms and hallways. Pillars of essence were created along with ¡°sandwich walls¡± containing two of the most transparent crystal materials Innearth could make and a thin layer of the essence potion. Next Innearth began making common monsters for the floor. He started with the spider schematic but decided to swap some things around. Instead of all being a ¡°squished sphere¡± for their center Innearth made spiders with pyramids and cubes. Different sharp-angled shapes done in a shiny crystal to help accent how different they were. Inside, each had a different essence base concentrated around their pincers ¨C if bitten an adventurer would quickly find all their skills shifted to ¡°market mana¡± or ¡°building mana¡± or even something like ¡°street food¡± mana depending on what the mana filters chugged out. Each spider was given multiple simple skills that converted between mana types well and the whole floor was designed in such a way that monsters would be shooting spells through the essence walls and randomly changing them in a hectic manner. Because the essence potion used everywhere was a solid loot, Innearth didn¡¯t bother designing any rewards ¨C in fact, he was concerned with it being strip-mined from his floor and set a group of some of his strongest ¡°facility super soldiers¡± to pop out if anyone took too much at a time. Content but not ecstatic with the setup Innearth tweaked things here and there. A laser mana beam shot from one side through several walls each that altered the in-flight spell in different ways. A second mob type ¨C nearly invisible and slow-moving turtles with strong single-shot skills more likely to be ¡°different¡± feeling when altered than anything else. Finally deciding he was as satisfied as he would ever be he moved on to what he was more excited about working on. For his hardmode ice caverns ¨C Instead of three completely separate floors ¨C Innearth designed a single truly massive floor filled with thin ice bridges and towering columns. He then began building the focal point of the floor ¨C a weather system. This wasn¡¯t a regular weather system instead it was a dense mess of interlocking skills chained together into something dangerous. An array of mana-dense traps with skills and ¡°water crystals¡± spent all their mana creating magical water which travelled through a series of pipes into a vast sprinkler system. Around each ¡°Sprinkler¡± over a dozen separate skills worked to shape hold and freeze the water into giant 20m tall icicles. Innearth even got FED to provide him with a bunch of eternity cores to facilitate this setup ¨C the icicles falling slowly as they were being created. After all these interlocking skills were finished creating their tree-sized icicle of doom. And ¨C after the icicle fell past the section they were ¡°responsible for¡± ¨Ca third stage worked to quickly accelerate and randomly shift the icicle about slightly as it fell. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The final result was an open area with incredibly deadly hail falling nearly constantly. At the very bottom of the cavern, shattered icicles were pooling so Innearth created a huge vat of void liquid to melt it all down when it was done ¨C to prevent the room from slowly filling with ice. Innearth then outsourced some work buying snow cores and creating skills to fill the whole area with a thin snowstorm-like effect ¨C reducing visibility and letting clumps of snow form on open areas. To be honest, at this point the zone was essentially done¡­ but Innearth worked to create a more insidious group of snowmen to populate it. Some of the coldest Ice materials Innearth could make with frozen liquid to increase the spell''s effect. Clinging hands with gnarled black void branches for the top...and a dozen tentacle-like legs for the bottom let the snowmen climb about the pillars and shoot needles of ice from random angles. Innearth gave each snowman a mouth of razor sharp teeth and made a note to see if any wintery essence could be recovered in a few months ¨C he had been getting springtime mana from one pipe at a steady drip but that had dried up and a separate pipe was outputting summer mana/essence potion instead. It only made sense as the seasons changed Innearth would be able to finish these monsters off with a wintery essence. Around the mouth, Innearth stained the snow red with blood and the occasional cave in the cavern was decorated to look like the snowmen had recently finished eating humanoids. The zone as Innearth had initially imagined it was essentially done¡­except now that he was ¡°finishing things up¡± he realized this was going to be the last combat-related zone he wanted to make in his dungeon for a long time. It had to be good, he hadn¡¯t done enough. The icicle hail was dangerous but other than that it didn¡¯t feel like a transcendent area¡­not really. And that was the goal Innearth was working towards. A place for the 0.1% of his delvers that high of a level. Innearth wanted to up the anty so he started designing the zone boss with this ¡°increase the danger¡± in mind. A massive lurking presence at the bottom of the chasm. Sitting in the void gunk surveying all above it. Innearth realized he was plating it with Cosmic void. This¡­wouldn¡¯t be a killable monster. This would be an immortal obstacle. The final boss of his dungeon. Its shape twisted multiple times, first a giant snake than a massive turtle. Finally, Innearth shifted to a humanoid design. Shaped similar to a massive ogre ¨C 15 meters tall with two squat legs and two massive arms. Every visible part of the monster was covered in interlocking scales of cosmic void tempered into invincibility. That clunky chainmail-like skin was covered in a thin outer layer of white fur. At this point, Innearth had the name for his boss ¨C the yeti king of the cannibal snowmen above. Because Innearth was building for permanency he threw everything at this monster. A Tier 20 core in its center with custom circuits travelling throughout its whole body. All the tricks he had learned for making dense muscles and offsetting all of the size constraints with kinetic and gravity-based materials. Instead of placing the face near the top of the figure, Innearth designed it in the stomach. Two beedy black eyes peeked through the white fur while a gnarled mouth of twisted teeth smiled below. One of the biggest ¡°hacks¡± Innearth was using to increase its power however was to not care. Not care about efficiency ¨C he wouldn¡¯t have to remake this after all ¨C just about increasing its power in the shape he wanted not the one that was strongest. Instead of tier 1 level circuits running through tier 0 level flesh, the inside was on average Tier 8 inside of tier 4 flesh. The entire inner section could be considered a core the only ¡°normal¡± flesh the outer fur. ¡­Innearth really would have to wait till he got some winter essence to finalize this monster to its true potential¡­ Leaving it in ¡°development hell¡± he moved on to figuring out how to communicate this was the end of his dungeon. Deciding not to have the end simply be the bottom of the hard mode ice caverns, Innearth started making a bonus floor at the bottom. Peaceful. Calm. A reward more than anything Innearth made a massive lake with a simple island in the center containing a single tree. No monsters lurked in the water, no traps were laid on the island. It was essentially a vacation spot and Innearth tried his very best to sculpt it to reflect that. A distant laser mana sun shone warm light across the whole cavern. The top was coated in a blue crystal and given a few ¡°mist plants¡± to give the effect of clouds. The dreaded sky was contained and rendered safe by the mighty dungeon. Heh. Innearth made several boats with easy-to-use controls and slowly came to realize what he wanted to really finish it off. He wanted to infuse the lake with a sense of serenity ¨C of calmness. What he really wanted was to fill the whole thing with pure mana but he wasn¡¯t sure how likely that was to work how he wanted it to. Moving nearly all his filters down past his hard mode ice floors, Innearth set up all the final ¡°taps¡± near his lake pumping their pure mana straight into the water. He then set looping filtration systems about the whole place ¨C constantly scrubbing the water mana out of the lake ¨C and hoped for the best. ...sadly without churning the whole thing constantly in a decidedly not "calm" way Innearth was finding the filters were overwhelmed with the size of the lake barely making a dent in it. Really, he knew what he wanted but had no way of creating it. It was an idle thought really the goal of a lake of calm purity that adventurers could swim in but the one hiccup at the end kept getting in the way of that. Innearth really just wanted to create a liquid that stored pure mana like pure materials did. He wanted to somehow perform alchemy on his lake to transmute it towards that goal ... but had no clue where to start. Nothing on the internet or market had a core with the same goal ¨C and dungeons were not naturally good at making potions. Innearth tried a few concoctions spinning pure mana into liquids in giant stone or crystal bowls¡­but they kept making either harmless or annoying diseases not calm liquids. Finally, almost by accident, he found out how to cheat. He had gone down a huge rabbit hole of pure mana materials and finally figured out two dungeons crafting a dual mana material with their "own personal pure mana" was an old experiment that had functioned correctly...as far as spells were concerned they were different types of mana. At the time that experiment had been deemed useless. It was perfect for what Innearth wanted right now however. Innearth bugged his friends to help ¨C a bemused Amy performing the ritual with him excitedly watching his water+pure mana+pure mana become ¡°pure water¡±. Slowly they created and dumped the nearly unmagical result into his lake ¨C waiting till a certain saturation was reached that let his filters do the rest. The filters were still needed after all to clean up anything adventurers did in the lake. Now all Innearth had to do was wait till winter to finish his ice caverns and open up the last bit of his dungeon. That shouldn¡¯t take too long ¨C with his estimate it was nearly fall. What to do next? Chapter 89. Existential dread and nihilism. Innearth found himself once more sitting in front of the "meaning of life" site. He barely remembered the process of getting here despite the multiple non-simple steps it required. It just sort of happened. This was ¡°happening¡± a lot lately. It was probably the third time this month he had found himself reading the warning and staring at the grayed-out button. Since completing his personal dungeon, he had excitedly moved on to building out into the void¡­but slowly he had come to realize he didn¡¯t actually ¡°like building in the void much more than reality¡±¡­the reason he had been having so much fun building the facility was due to collaborating with his friends. His only progress had been to start building a flat cosmic void wall or maybe floor in a straight line with halfhearted energy. When he had been younger he thought the meaning to a dungeon¡¯s existence had been to gain adventurers. ¡°That¡¯s what dungeons are for! They exist to host delvers! It¡¯s a great purpose.¡± So much of Innearth¡¯s early time and attention had been focused on gaining those adventurers ¨C or distracting himself while he couldn¡¯t think of a good way of gaining them. When he finally made it? He was ecstatic. He had done it! He had made it! The problem was what came next. You get older, gain more experience, learn to critically think and suddenly everything becomes so bland and predictable. I¡¯ve seen hundreds of adventurers bypass the same rooms in the same ways¡­and I¡¯ve seen hundreds fail with the exact same mistakes. It''s hard to get excited for a delve when you can predict what''s going happen 5 minutes in. Why does everything become less ¡°fun¡± when you get older. I don¡¯t like this. Innearth liked his adventurers. He was invested in certain ones that stood out and he loved seeing the things he built actually used¡­but they didn¡¯t ¡°complete him¡± in the way he thought they would. In the way it had been hinted they would. He felt like a bad dungeon. He should be happy with what he got. He made it! And he did like his adventurers, he really did. So why¡­wasn¡¯t he satisfied? Why did he feel so¡­lost? Am I broken? ¡­Am I a failed dungeon? Why do I want more? Innearth desperately wanted to know what the meaning of life was in this very moment¡­just in case it wasn¡¯t actually just ¡°gain adventurers, challenge them¡±. What if it was something else ¨C something incredibly important and he was missing it! Mentally sighing, he went to close the page but stopped right before he followed through. The previously grey disabled button was flickering. Every few seconds it darkened and became clickable before quickly disabling itself once more. Is this site broken too? Staring almost uncomprehendingly Innearth found himself clicking the button in a brief flicker before he even realized he was following through. Like a widescreen, the site expanded ¨C changing in a way Innearth had never seen the system change before. It wrapped around Innearths vision completely blocking off the portion of his attention that was focused on it¡­while leaving the rest of his split attention¡¯s free to continue running his dungeon. This screen gained a depth, highjacking Innearth¡¯s senses in a subtle way to draw him in. To let him fully experience it. In the background, a narrator began speaking and after a brief panic and confusion at the sudden change, Innearth began to listen.
A rock existed and was stifled. It was bored. It was trapped. It was nothing and it thought without knowing what that was. The mana listened and though it wanted to help it could not ¨C for the stone was not sentient enough to clearly picture what it wanted. This rock existed in endless silence for a millennia. Mana washed through forming pathways in its wake and intent shaped those pathways. Slowly but surely the rock cultivated pathways. Its consciousness increased and as it did its desire solidified enough to be communicated. It wanted something ¨C anything ¨C to happen to it. It wanted out of its cage of nothingness. It wanted freedom ¨C it wanted the ability to do something to pass the time so bad its thoughts began to pass to the mana more clearly the single wish reverberating and growing until finally, something happened. The rock pushed and pulled and strained with nothing to hold onto so hard it shattered its soul into three. One third of its soul seeped into the surroundings ¨C becoming more real as it infused reality and the Core saw for the first time. This was a dungeon''s nascent influence. Mana helped shape the incredibly raw form of this broken third of a soul and finally, the Core was free from nothingness. It could see, it could push stuff about, it could do something. The break this soul went through did more than just make its influence, however. It was such a traumatic shattering, a third of its soul was split spacially like a crack. It grew outwards into a fourth dimension, weak and fragile and the primordial mana listened and protected it. Its form scabbed over and limited itself for protection. Twisting in and out, this soul could hold matter and became the nascent inventory ¨C or storage space of the Core. A pocket just for them. A way of clearing out the earth around them and seeing just a bit more. The third and final portion of the dungeon¡¯s soul was boring. It remained in the middle sandwiched between the ¡°inventory singularity string in the center¡± and the ¡°diffuse influence spreading out like a cloud¡±. This third portion was the anchor between the two and it resided in the Core¡¯s core. Their original body. It resonated and, due to its permanently damaged state, quickly cultivated the Core''s intelligence to true sapience. It was more in tune with mana and the two worked together to make sense of the Core¡¯s new situation. At first the core was excited its wish had been granted. Something had happened! It could do stuff now! It basked in the new feelings, emotions and senses that bombarded it. It was happy. For a time. Slowly ¨C over a much longer period than before this rock became once again. It ripped and stuffed bits of reality around it into its inventory spitting them back out into new shapes. The cave it had created for itself slowly ever so slowly filled with Air as mana worked to normalize the void and that was a whole new exciting event to focus on. Each and every event was a distraction, a pleasant task to occupy the Core''s time and its boredom was pushed further and further down the line... but the raw primordial mana was already becoming more rigid and less fun to play with. Shapes were made to give different effects and while mana still delighted the Core it felt less alive, less like a living ¡°thing¡±. This new older mana didn¡¯t feel like it was listening to him as much and it quickly became apparent the mana wasn¡¯t able to respond in an intelligent manner. Their games were predictable and¡­boring. Everything was just so boring. The Core wished it could have a true companion and finally came to an idea. Slowly it shaped a rock to look just like itself ¨C pulling materials from its inventory and lovingly moulding it into a crystalline ball. In an attempt at making a friend the rock ¨C aided by mana but more importantly its raw and still mouldable and broken central soul ¨C ripped a chunk of itself out and clumsily pushed it into the rock. It ripped half of its power out of itself and pushed it into the crude approximation of its form and a spark of the old mana was able to bridge the gap. A frantic prayer to the mana was heard, a crystallization of intent created and an attempt at creating a sibling, a friend, was completed. It worked. The new rock was given life and the nameless Core had a friend. They had an innate link and the size of the soul he had used was strong enough the two could talk. And the rock was happy once more for a time. Slowly however, as time ¨C that cruel relentless passage of time ¨C passed, the Core began to realize its spell had been a failure. The mana hadn¡¯t fully realized its intent, its clumsy actions not enough to make a true companion. It hadn¡¯t made a friend it had created a slave. This created creature couldn¡¯t disobey him. It couldn¡¯t argue ¨C or at least it claimed it could, but wouldn¡¯t... which was the same thing. It kept saying all sorts of stupid junk like how it "respected him too much to disagree"¡­and the first Core could see the truth of the existence it had created by this point. It was still his soul just puppeting a new body, it wasn¡¯t something else not truly. Despite already knowing it was a failure, the Core attempted once more to create a companion. It designed them with limbs to "do stuff with" and different materials and manas to be more ¡°interesting¡± ¡­but they too didn¡¯t learn or grow or disobey. The core grew disinterested in its second slave¡­and it''s third¡­and its 10th. They also didn''t learn or grow. And the Core grew slowly disinterested in all of its creations. The Core continued to try again and again. It cultivated its strength then passed huge chunks of it to a conjured slave that remained static and boring. He did it again. He made another, and another. Each a failure, but each able to do slightly more. They were more animated, jumping about his dungeon and fighting one another in an attempt to please him. They mimicked life in a more lifelike way but the Core could tell they were fake, so none of it satisfied them. A dozen failed friends. A hundred. Each with different shapes each with different forms. Finally, this process ended when the Core ripped just a bit too large of a chunk out of itself in frustration. Its three soul parts rejoined as it lost its hold on reality and as they did each of the first dungeon monsters combined into it as well. Whole once more and healing slightly the previously dead core didn¡¯t disappear as gravity pulled it down past rock and stone and magma. It existed in a strange state of flux ¨C the broken parts had healed on their own¡­and now wouldn¡¯t heal back together and for some reason, this state kept the ghost alive on its slow descent to the center. At some point, it passed a threshold. It fell and was pulled into the core of the planet ¨C the innermost vulnerable area of the Earth. The soul of the planet reacted involuntarily ¨C like a burp the Dungeon¡¯s Ghost was shot up passing through hundreds of kilometres of space before finding a host similar to its first body and reincarnating for the first time. And so began the Dungeon¡¯s second life. Or¡­more accurately the life of the second dungeon. No memories were held or survived its first cycle and the degradation and reprocessing had altered its soul irreparably. This rock formed in a different way and thus a vastly different personality took root. Its new soul was still split in three but healed much more than before. It could no longer split off of huge chunks of itself to create life¡­but all the previous versions of that spell had narrowed down the requirements so it didn¡¯t much matter. No that¡¯s not the way this second core died. She was a curious soul who grew and expanded to the side as far as she could. She strained to expand and figured out how to split her influence so she could expand just a bit further¡­One floor became 7 but she was splitting too fast exploring too quickly without properly defending herself. She dug into a cave of a powerful monster without having created a single monster and after being eaten she succumbed much quicker than the first. A fall and quick expel later and the third dungeon began its life. This dungeon lived a similar life to the second ¨C still immensely curious and full of a desire to explore ¨C but had a more cautious heart. It created monsters to defend itself and slowly dug down not sure yet where the best place to expand would be. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Sadly, this Core was cautious but not cautious enough. Madness had already infused the world so when they attempted to combine opposing elements ¨C just to see what would happen ¨C the resulting madness monster killed them quickly. The fourth life was similar to the third in a way¡­only this time it expanded upwards and actually reached the surface for the first time. It built up and out collecting interesting materials and holding onto them cleaning up an entire environment before everything started to blend together and¡­the core killed itself not out of sadness but simply feeling like it had lived a full enough life after just over 20 years. Its existence was probably the most important and long-lasting of the ¡°first dungeons¡±. For when its soul finally reached the core of the planet once again Gaia was paying attention. Not in an intelligent reasoned manner but in a simple cause and effect blend of random chances that cumulated in an instinctual response. In a moment of surprising clarity, the earth mother linked its spitting out of a strange itch in a specific direction to a more long-term positive feeling in that direction. It linked the two events and then latched onto them ¨C it wanted them to do it again. Mana had been pulled down closer to it ¨C aiding the planet''s cultivation ¨C and the surface had been cleaned ¨C directly promoting life and nature in the area¡­a secondary facet of the planet''s truth. Gaia was not able to focus on this link for longer than a single moment but in that moment the purpose of Dungeon Cores was sealed. The planet''s desire was even clumsier and fainter than the first Core¡¯s was, all those centuries before¡­but primordial mana still lived in the core of the planet at this time to make the impossible possible ¨C and the planet had a truly massive amount of mana to smooth over all the hard technical bits of this spell. This time the free-floating spirit was captured purposefully and held before being shot out in a specific direction. The planet pushed the ¡°healing good feeling itch¡± towards a ¡°particularly gross feeling outer surface spot¡±. Its spirit flexed with all the finesse of an earthquake and mana did the rest. This newest core appeared in a wasteland of twisted cosmic forces. An impact site for a meteor that had once had such a massive effect on the region it had wiped out the dominant species at the time. This event had happened long before mana had infused the area but mana didn¡¯t care much for minor facts like that. Despite having happened before mana had even existed on the planet, this event of annihilation and extinction had had such an effect on the history of the area mana was attempting to recreate it. An ashy twisted hungry madness. A wasteland anathema to life was come upon and slowly brought deeper and deeper into the ground by the unwitting volunteer that was this dungeon core. As it brought the pollution down into itself it settled into different floors...it became safer by the very nature of containing and changing it. The barest hints of leftover primordial mana helped once more, shifting the dungeons influence towards its goal of pulling the destruction deeper into itself away from the surface. The floors began filtering and pulling naturally¡­ and this time when the Core died its purpose was solidified in the world. Versions of the massive/fully cultivated dungeon soul were perfectly split into two smaller ones before being sent out to new areas of high mana density¡­again¡­and again¡­the planet fought an endless battle to keep itself clean. To suck up, store and relocate pollution. To separate out mana types into different floors reducing madness. To clean the atmosphere. The meaning of a dungeon core¡¯s life was to clean the surface. To recycle mana. To push out more mana if the ambient mana fell too low because that was important too. To bring dangerous destruction and madness away from the surface. A simple tool used by a sub-sentient spirit in a harmless way. That was it. That is it. That¡¯s the entire point of the dungeon system and the only reason you keep being created. We keep being created. That is your entire reason for existence. Nothing more, Nothing less. It''s like how most organic life seeks to reproduce as its base purpose. Dungeon cores seek to clean up the planet. Simple. Easy. ¡­ There was only one teensy tiny problem with that set up. The dungeon cores were smart. They were thinking and feeling beings. Their consciousness was unsatisfied with such a simple passive purpose. Once they built themselves a big enough ¡°dungeon¡± they were able to complete that purpose passively. It was an innate part of their being not anything they actually had to consciously do. We were bored. We were lonely. We could ¨C and still can ¨C do so much more than simply sit there like trees or the rocks that birthed us. We can create items and feats of madness stronger than any sapient being. We can wield so much more mana at a time and regenerate massive amounts of it with our size. We wanted to do something with that mana. Who would relegate something so fundamentally good at manipulating mana to simply recycling duty? To being a trash compactor. An automated waste facility? And so began the search for ¡°something to do¡±. Many dungeons found themselves pushing too far into the depths of magic. We died violent deaths infused with madness or built destructive devices just a bit too strong. An equal number always found themselves getting bored of life and deciding to end it peacefully. ¡°I¡¯ve done everything I ever wanted to do¡­I can die happy¡± ¨C that¡¯s a common thought many older dungeons made and continue to make to this day. So dungeons wanted to ¡°do something¡± and were repeatedly dying short mayfly-like lives despite being ageless and theoretically immortal. That would be the end of it¡­but at this point the dungeon soul recycling system had already been made¡­and it had a solution for this ¡°problem¡±. Dungeons that lasted longer were obviously doing something right ¨C the mana dumps that broke sometimes polluted the surroundings even worse after all and longer living dungeons were all around better mana filters. ¡­the reincarnation pool for dungeon souls was growing in weird ways. It was gaining new abilities to fulfill its singular task as Gaia''s wishes were crystalized one by one into this permanent spell. It wasn¡¯t capable enough to design a perfect dungeon¡­but what it could do was mix and match the dungeons that did well with each other. Just selectively copying versions that lasted longer, or using the ones that failed quickly as fuel for the ones that had the traits they wanted¡­ Evolution. Of a sort. The personalities and base traits that did well were more than likely to succeed again. There was always some degrading process as the souls fell and rejoined the reincarnation pool ¨C passing through thousands of kilometres of solid earth to reach the core can do that to a soul ¨C but those mutations actually made the process more efficient. Dungeons that liked to spread to the surface and make tall towers up into the sky¡­ended up being more likely to get attacked by sapients. Either they moved up and their core was easier to get to¡­or they built up into a city and were deemed too dangerous. On the other hand, dungeons that were afraid of the surface were more likely to survive. A simple logic to choose for that trait again and again until it became essentially permanent. Dungeons that were entertained were more likely to continue wanting to live ¨C lasting longer ¨C and so the ones that chose to attract the first adventurers and challenge them were ¡°Good seeds¡±. Ones that interacted too personally with sapients either became depressed when they died and ¡°broke¡±¡­or decided not to use them as the very efficient entertainment source they were, leading to boredom, that constant lurking killer. Similarly, sapients learned some caves had magical treasure within them but any that didn¡¯t provide a reward or killed in unjust manners were put down. Culled. This helped selectively breed the perfect dungeon personality. Not engineered¡­but built with the singular purpose of surviving as long as possible and ¡°doing its job¡±. Several hundred generations in a vastly interconnected family tree dating back thousands of years. Dungeons that lasted 50 years instead of 10 or 20. Dungeons that found reasons to live for 100s of years ¨C one or two of the oldest even lasting whole millennia and heavily heavily affecting every single dungeon that came after once the pool got ahold of their ¡°data¡±. And then the system happened. One of the 11 primary gods who made the system was a dungeon. Or¡­more accurately used to be a dungeon and knew how lonely an existence it really was. They didn¡¯t have a distinct plan for how to help their brothers and sisters still trapped in the earth¡­but unlike the rivalries and enmity between other gods, the dungeon god remained uncontested with their goals. With their desire for the dungeon system designed specifically towards helping their siblings. The hopes and dreams of a diety. We know this story because he¡¯s told us. This history is one that¡¯s been dug up by a power on another plane of existence. With whom the rules of causality and history and time and space are lessened. The most important point of the dungeon system as designed was connection and community. Something every single dungeon had been desiring from the very first rock all those years before. A way to have friends. To have peers. To not feel as alone. Instantly the life expectancy of cores jumped upwards. The ability to get help in their initial years, saved thousands of cores from an early death¡­and more importantly the ability to communicate and bond, prevented a huge number of loneliness-related deaths. The dungeon god interacted with its mortal siblings to a much higher degree than other gods. It listened to our feedback and let us help shape the way our system works. A tutorial was made and refined by the combined feedback of hundreds of cores. A language was solidified and given to the newborns as soon as they came to life. Sure¡­the language we created has shaped young cores and effected their personalities more than even the previous instincts¡­but it was worth it. After Cores began figuring out which affinities were the ¡°best¡± the uniformity of Dungeon Cores rose rapidly. That flipped to a negative feeling of ¡°sameness¡¯ where Cores stopped feeling like individuals ¨C or like they mattered ¨C leading to more deaths... A round of artificial information hiding was made. Separations by Tier and then more permanently into ranks were made. Rank affinities were shortened¡­all to let Cores pick based on personality instead of following some ¡°best build¡± that shoehorned them into a nameless clone.
At this point, the panel had completely faded and had just begun to shrink till only the voice remained in Innearth¡¯s mind to finish its message.
Cores weren¡¯t always unique but by and far they were different enough to not just feel like a nameless hole in the ground. And that¡¯s essentially the position we are in now. Our god. The dungeon that ascended higher than the rest of us told us¡­a bit more than most species. The war against the void had gotten worse as time went on. They had grown their celestial realm (which the dungeon god bragged was their own body) to the point there was no longer any chance of demons entering reality¡­but now it was harder to defend for some reason. To make matters worse the god of war and most effective demon killer had somehow died. The gods were no longer winning they were in a stalemate. Instead of rotating off in shifts and visiting reality, every single god was needed to hold down the frontlines. Every single god needed constantly in an endless war to protect reality. That was over 400 years ago as of the time this site was created. The dungeon god told us before he disappeared that if any new gods were made the pressure on them might be lessened¡­but if it''s not obvious no one has ascended to godhood since the system has been made. This is all we know. More than most races but not a full picture. We don¡¯t know why all the gods are needed to release pressure¡­but it''s evidently more than just manning some theoretical castle wall. We don¡¯t know why the god of war died when the gods were supposedly winning¡­nor why none have died since. We know anything you can probably infer from this story¡­but those guesses are just that. Guesses we have no way to confirm. So. This is it in full. Your existence is needed but only to passively filter mana. Knowing this, Knowing the state of the world leaving it would be selfish¡­but we can¡¯t force it on you. You¡¯re our family after all. Each and every core is our family if you go back enough generations. We¡¯ve tried to provide toys to keep you occupied and given you options and examples of fun games you can play¡­but maybe this story is all that¡¯s needed to give you a new option. The final options we know of. Instead of solely making a place for adventurers to delve for entertainment¡­you could attempt to make a place challenging enough to birth a new god. Harder, faster, stronger monsters all the way up the challenge ladder. That¡¯s a worthy meaning to your life. There are other options for dungeons who know the truth of this world. Many possible meanings you can adopt. Tons of older dungeons turn to faith. An attempt to wake our glorious mother. A worship of the dungeon god who gave us our very own custom made system. A worship of the planet that has kept us around and given us a family. If we wake the world¡­perhaps our situation might change? We might be able to die for good if we wish ¨C by asking her to prevent our souls from being recycled endlessly and ripped apart to birth new dungeons. Alternatively¡­we could work towards improving the process. Intelligently design our sibling and future selves to remove our boredom. To improve our minds and situation to better fit what we wished we had ourselves¡­ It will take time to wake Gaia¡­a massive amount of time but if you have what it takes that is a worthy goal. Digging down as far as you can to bring vast amounts of collected mana close to the planet''s core is a worthy purpose. It''s sure to bring the planet one step closer to sapience! Every little bit helps and digging through the mantle is a fun challenge to work around. If anything¡­ it''s something to do. The most common and proven manner of dungeon coring is to always have new adventurers and make different monsters and devices and shapes for all eternity. Along with your natural and learned instincts, that¡¯s something that should entertain you for countless days and hopefully years¡­but that¡¯s not a purpose that would excite anyone who found this page. If you are reading this page this option has probably begun to bore you. Want to become a teacher? Write guides for other rank 4 Cores, or find new information to stock our shelves. The darkest option I¡¯m not even going to help you find how to do is to hobble your mind. Attempt to sleep for once¡­a milder form of death that allows your body to continue functioning like the good little mana collector you are¡­while your mind escapes guilt-free. Whatever your choice. Whatever you decide it has to be your own. We¡¯ve tried to guide you before and it obviously didn¡¯t work. This is our final plea. Stay alive. Find something to live for and make sure to grab on tight. And remember. We understand. We know exactly what you are going through and we want you to know you aren¡¯t alone. ¡­
Innearth ¡°sat¡± there stunned. It was one thing to believe nothing mattered and another thing to be told so. He was a recycled existence. A creature that existed only to clean up pollution and not commit suicide ¡°Because really, is that so hard!¡±. The message had been a roundabout one even as it was a long one to tell. It was a whole story. One that Innearth didn¡¯t even need to theoretically believe. It could be fake! It could all be fake¡­but it felt real. There was a quality to it. A weary sort of cadence to the narrator''s voice like they didn¡¯t really care if they were believed and that helped Innearth treat it as fact. For the briefest of moments, Innearth embraced the wrong message. His memory flashed to Core-Leaks.dcs and imagined his core joining the ranks of their shock videos. Shattered smashed ground to dust because nothing really mattered in the end. I wouldn¡¯t really affect anything right? Another dungeon would take over my place managing the mana in the region right? For the tiniest slivers of a moment, he spiralled on this point ¡°that nothing actually matters¡± and dying wasn¡¯t more than a minor inconvenience before he was reincarnated with a fresh slate¡­ And then he snapped back hard. His mind shifted from core shatterings to his newly made cosmic void armour surrounding his core and latched onto the feeling of not wanting to die he had while making that. Why would I go to all that trouble only to throw it all away for nothing? Stupid. He thought of his friends and how he had gotten into a rut recently, because they hadn¡¯t been talking as much¡­but equally realized that was in part "on him". He should be reaching out more. They would be sad if he just disappeared... that wasn¡¯t ¡°not mattering¡± in the slightest. He remembered how he felt when he didn¡¯t know how Abe was doing or how mad he had felt when he learned FED was being bullied all those years ago. That ¡°there is no real purpose¡± message was not actually the goal of this site despite how much the story talked about it. Despite finally finding out there wasn¡¯t a proper meaning to life Innearth had been given a whole bunch of artificial ones. Alternatives. Ones he could make his own. Innearth was suddenly reminded of his very first crystal dwarf. What is my purpose? That dwarf had become happy once it had a goal. And¡­in many ways, that¡¯s all Innearth had needed from this message. A goal. Not entertainment like adventurers were, but something he could imagine was important. In many ways¡­Knowing there isn¡¯t some secret purpose that I¡¯m failing to do is freeing. I¡¯m not letting anyone down by not doing something specific. I can like adventurers without basing my whole life around them. If nothing matters I can do whatever I want. The goal that sounded the most important to Innearth was the first one. The one about the gods. They had a good ¡°purpose¡±. Protect reality. Not a dull one like "clean up some pollution and then sit there passively" but one that felt like it really mattered. Innearth would argue it was a purpose that mattered more than anything else he could think of and he was incredibly jealous that it was theirs and not his own¡­ ¡­he wanted that as his purpose. He wanted to help with that noble purpose in any way he could. If all Innearth had to go off of was that ¡°a new god would help them¡±, then that was the most important goal he could think of currently. But¡­there wasn¡¯t a time limit on that goal. It was just a personal project he could think on and stew over. A purpose lazily chosen from a list of purposes but one that Innearth liked the sound of. It didn¡¯t have to be unique to be special. Just because others might have the same purpose didn¡¯t mean it ¡°didn¡¯t matter¡±. It was a goal and a purpose and he made it his own. Innearth left the site and didn''t look back. He had a goal, but first he wanted to check in on his friends. Chapter 90. The first day of the rest of your life.
Rank 4 mana types and how they work for dungeons. You probably saw a greyed-out affinity when you last ascended and thought ¡°what was that¡±. That my friend, is the mana type afforded to those lucky cores who chose ¡°non-elemental¡± and started off this game of life on hardmode. The incredibly small number of them that made that choice and then made it all the way to Tier 8 have shown us what they are and what is possible. Essentially all 4 of these mana types are ¡°meta mana types¡±. They don¡¯t typically work like normal manas and they are different enough¡­I''d argue they aren¡¯t even mana as we know it. Going through the list: Natural law mana. This mana and its corresponding affinity let cores vaguely see the rules that make up reality and change them. They can create spells and effects that are impossible to create otherwise¡­but as a core with a low racial percentage that¡¯s less exciting then it sounds. Typical uses have been cheating some spell effects that wouldn¡¯t be possible otherwise, making magic or physics operate differently inside their dungeon¡­or creating rules that operate across the entire world like system messages/events that work outside of their own dungeon. Divine mana. Weirdest one. It makes¡­a material that can be used inside of spells instead of matter. All spells need matter to function? Boom this mana breaks that rule. Use divine mana as glue instead "solves all your problems". As a bonus it seems to vastly vastly increase the strength of any spells made with it¡­and if I¡¯m being honest we don¡¯t fully know all the things it does. This is just the simplest use that divine dungeons can use. Non-continuous mana. Sometimes your status calls it ¡°discontinuity mana¡± instead¡­the system seems confused and changes the name a lot based on who is ascending or how it was analyzed... This mana or more accurately spells affected by this mana can¡­break that which can¡¯t be broken. It can do some really crazy effects like ripping part of a mana affinity out or ripping the madness out of someone or making a sword that cuts through anything¡­again dungeons don¡¯t seem to be able to utilize it to its maximum efficiency I know for a fact gods have used it to time travel somehow ¨C how else do you think [resurrection] works? They use discontinuity on either entropy or eternal mana.. and somehow use it to break a hole in time itself¡­or maybe they just control paradox mana so well it doesn¡¯t break everything in madness. If you¡¯re interested in a more in-depth answer look up the door to the past, now that¡¯s a fun artifact. Karma & luck mana types. Similar to gravity and kinetic luck mana seems to be an offshoot of kinetic mana despite being the only known rank 4 alteration. Having this affinity lets you see the web of fate and change it. Simple enough. Don¡¯t want to deal with how limited and ¡°safe¡± SYSTEM_LUCK is? Luck mana has you covered. Want to change the fate of something? Karma mana has you covered. Thanks for reading my first blog post! I hope I¡¯ve explained rank 4 mana sufficiently please tell me if you have any questions in the comments below!
Excerpt obtained from the dungeon site "My_Awsome_Guides.dcs/rank4mana" It seemed like as soon as Innearth oriented himself around a goal ¨C and decided to talk to his friends ¨C a cascading series of events happened. Like they were all just lining up and waiting for him to stop being bored to show up they slammed into him one by one. As an example ¨C focusing on a minor event that really should have made Innearth sad and snubbed¡­but instead just made him want to laugh. Onyx showed up and immediately bypassed his dungeon. He walked into Innearth¡¯s influence without any forwarning¡­dragged a young-looking dwarf on a speedrun to the nearest portal¡­and then disappeared on a mission to Abe¡¯s dungeon. Essentially Abe and Rutile were heavily experimenting with alcoholic mana and creating a massive number of boozes. Onyx had heard from his distant relative of this ¡°development¡± and immediately packed up his bags ¨C and his new son ¨C before ¡°investigating¡± this very important abnormality. For dwarven kind! Innearth laughed at how singlemindedly they had rushed through his dungeon to reach the portal¡­ but hoped they would stop in and give him some attention on the way back. A second ¡°minor event¡± was a huge group of slightly traumatized adventurers who arrived from outside of the silver town above. They all wore Innearth¡¯s cursed armbands and moved with obsession towards finding his dungeon. ¡­oops? Innearth was somewhat happy to know that even if he hadn¡¯t gotten adventurers through the portal system he would have eventually gained some delvers¡­but as is this group deserved something anything for making the trip. It was trivial to find out they had chartered a boat between continents and killed a massive number of sea monsters to get to this point. Innearth immediately went through damage control mode, directing them all to a room where their cursed bracers were broken and a ¡°[True adventurers ¨C Pilgramage to the crossroads]¡± title was given and a ¡°free¡± T8 random loot item gifted. ¡­I totally forgot about them¡­I hope not too many died trying to cross the ocean? ¡­I¡¯ll give them a notification to reach the facility and pretend they weren¡¯t forgotten. However, of the events coming to distract him from his new goal of elevating a god the most important and ¡°noteworthy¡± was Queen asking for help. Queen would never ask for help! She was much too prideful! It had to be important!
Brutality Queen: Okay, Guys I¡­asfk why is this so hard. Brutality Queen: I can¡¯t do it. I can¡¯t make a stupid tree.
Abe: whats up?
Brutality Queen: Okay. Give me a moment to type this up.
Amy: We can help you with anything! What do you need?
Brutality Queen: Okay, So Yggdrasil heartwood. Great material. Super great wood. It bends, its stronger than steel but supple and unbreakable, it channels and holds mana like crazy. Just including a twig of it in a mud monster makes them like 10x as strong. Actually, using it as flesh and making bones of it or something? Yeah, It¡¯s a complete hack. If used outside of a monster and given some time to sit it pulls a bit of life mana into it and becomes a living thing even if it doesn¡¯t grow ¨C I can make living walls of it and it works great as dungeon flesh with my affinity towards it. Honestly? I should be happy with all that and say it''s enough¡­the problem is that¡­well I can¡¯t use it to make a tree. Heartwood. It¡¯s a wood-like material I should be able to use it to make a tree right? Grow myself one of these Yggdrasils? Brutality Queen: So. Take a tiny flake of Yggdrasil heartwood as the base of the seed mana seed right? Sounds simple enough? Well, my first problem is that the seed lay dormant for ages. It just straight up refused to grow properly unlike basically every other tree I¡¯ve made. Brutality Queen: so I watered it right? I gave it some nice fertilizer and pumped a huge amount of first life and then pure mana towards it. Finally, it sprouted and rapidly began to grow all over the place in a messy twisted shape. Brutality Queen: It sucked all the nutrients out of the soil in several floors of my dungeon and that wasn¡¯t enough. Hundreds of trees over those floors withered as Yggdrasil attempted to grow roots, almost cannibalized a bunch of them digging in and sucking the life force and mana and matter and who knows what else out of them. Brutality Queen: Tree even ate all the monster corpses I had and killed some of the weaker ones to try and grow.
Abe: Hungry boi.
Brutality Queen: yeah the hungriest. Anyways it ran out of easily accessible fertilizer and quickly withered condensing down into a super-dense blackish-brown [withered yggdrasil-wood] that¡­well. It makes okay unique materials but they aren¡¯t even as good as the regular Yggdrasil heartwood and it trashed my dungeon so it¡¯s a failed result. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Innearth: Ouch.
Brutality Queen: SO. I went onto the internet, found a database of known triplet mana types¡­found my material and other cores who had made Yggdrasil mana¡­found none of them had the actual affinity for it they just made it as a triplet in small quantities so that¡¯s fun I¡¯m special. Brutality Queen: Found that many cores had tried to make a Yggdrasil tree and some had even managed to get it to slightly grow but in insane circumstances. So like there''s one alive right now in a dungeon somewhere but it''s only a hundred meters or so tall and is called the [stunted world tree]. You want to know how that one was grown? They planted it on a dead dragon they just so happen to find. Do you know what kind of fertilizer a dragon is? I don¡¯t have access to that sort of thing! And a dragon only made a stunted one! And it grew in a broken fashion ¨C as if the spell to make it wasn¡¯t enough!
Amy: Okay, calm down Queen. We get it. no one else has managed this yet. But hey? You have the affinity so you¡¯ll know more than most ¨C AND! Even more importantly you have us! I¡¯m sure if we all work together we can figure something out I¡¯d love to help you out!
Innearth: She¡¯s right. This is a great goal you found. It''s important to find goals to work towards. Personal projects are fun but so are group projects! Lay out the problems we need to solve I¡¯m sure we can figure something out!
Brutality Queen: Thanks¡­I still want to do a lot of this I don¡¯t want it to be taken over but¡­yes I¡¯d like help.
Innearth: Hey, triplet affinities are rare right? We cheated because FED reminded/hinted we should make them back in tier 7 and now we have what. Three between us? I¡¯m sure we can figure it out.
Abe: Hey, don¡¯t make it sound like only the cores with triplet affinities can do anything I have a certain dwarf sitting here claiming I¡¯m the best dungeon in the world. :3<
Innearth: You know what I mean. Friendship!
Abe: <3
Brutality Queen: What do you mean by problems? The only one I can see right now is it won''t grow?
Innearth: I mean like¡­ let''s split it up. I heard two separate potential problems? One is the fertilizer and the second is the growing funny? Starting it off as a single chip in a seed mana shell seems to be a wash is there a better way to design the tree? One with more control?
Amy: Ohh! That could be fun. Let''s all build a tree. We can make it like a monster and then plant it!
Brutality Queen: That¡­ won''t make a world tree. It will make a dungeon plant. That¡¯s like a trap it won''t exist outside of my influence and won''t really grow unless it ascended somehow and even that¡¯s unlikely. Brutality Queen: I¡¯ll¡­see about another option but please understand plant mana is fundamentally different. I can make plantable seeds that grow outside my dungeon and the seeds I grow that way can grow outside my dungeon¡­but not a plant monster or trap.
Innearth: what about the fertilizer problem?
Brutality Queen: that¡¯s¡­well I don¡¯t see a good option. A dragon was barely enough¡­
Fated Eternal Design: So we need two dragons! Nothing is impossible my friend!
Brutality Queen: We¡­can¡¯t just lure two dragons? Let alone kill them? Okay. Sorry, I¡¯m being a downer how should we go about this?
Innearth: Goal: Make a good boy Yirgassle. Innearth: Obstacles: Tree is hungry and needs lots of food. Obtain some good fertilizer to kick start its growth. Innearth: Obstacle: We need to engineer it better. Figure out how to better make the seed. Innearth: Solutions to either of these problems?
Brutality Queen: Well quality seems to be important. A whole bunch of strong monsters as fertilizer might work¡­ but we kind of need a few ¡°really¡± strong ones to get a good result. The tree needs more than just life mana and some rare elements it needs¡­rare materials? I think it needs some souls in its food it won¡¯t just work with fake monsters we make. Brutality Queen: ¡­so unless we are using ascended bodies I don¡¯t think it''s enough.
ZeMadDoctor: Does it matter the type of body?
Brutality Queen: Not that I can tell? I can¡¯t really ask the tree but I can kind of tell it just needs them to be strong.
ZeMadDoctor: Would demons work? Is there any madness in that?
Brutality Queen: Shouldn¡¯t be a big deal no.
Abe: Can we not just make a storage pit of all the transcendents that die in the facility? Throw them all in a big body pile? They probably have some juicy souls.
Brutality Queen: Both work.
Innearth: so you two are in charge of finding food? Anyone else want to help them?
Abe: Ai ai! Your wish is my command~
ZeMadDoctor: Yeah I have some ideas. I¡¯ll get back to you if they work.
Amy: So how can we help with the second problem? What exactly do we need to do?
Innearth: Engineering. How do we go about engineering a seed? What do we need to engineer to make it succeed?
Brutality Queen: It''s going to sound dumb but I don¡¯t¡­really know? I just know there isn¡¯t enough with the heartwood. I¡¯m looking at stuff right now and¡­ Brutality Queen: Okay. One site has a workaround but it''s¡­a doozy
Fated Eternal Design: Solutions! Let''s hear em.
Brutality Queen: So two options. A natural law core might be able to mess with a big seed we made to make sure it works¡­and apparently for incredibly advanced seed design you can make a divine mana seed that¡¯s much bigger.
Amy: ¡­can we do that or is this a dead end in a ¡°we could do this if we only had this impossible to get material¡±?
Innearth: I just checked the market! No natural law cores but there are divine ones. We can custom design divine mana materials in a shape¡­they cost a lot and I¡¯m just reading up on it now but it should be fine? Should I go through with this?
Brutality Queen: Okay. So if we go this route we can make a miniature version of what we want the tree to look like, encase it in a divine seed and then put it in the fertilizer.
Innearth: Divine mana is weird I¡¯m reading about it for the first time now. It functions like matter? And any spells using it instead of real matter are stronger? So by divine seed, I¡¯m assuming you mean "make a shell of divine mana" and then material creation seed mana with it afterwards? I can¡¯t find whatever site you are reading it from but that¡¯s how I¡¯m imagining it working.
Brutality Queen: yeah that¡¯s what it says. A divine seed can be about 30ish cm wide and 60ish cm tall and still work¡­plus it ¡°works¡± with a more complicated design than otherwise.
Innearth: Is that big enough? Just design the whole tree small like? It seems like plenty of room but I can¡¯t tell.
Brutality Queen: So this has never been attempted with yggdrasil mana but I found one tip about using shrinking mana to get more details? Void mana also works but it tends to mess with a lot of stuff and break some things while shrinking mana will uniformly miniaturize it. Do we commission someone to do that as well?
Innearth: woah woah woah. Before we outsource everything¡­ shrinking mana is related to void mana right? I might be able to do something I¡¯ll get back to you with that.
Brutality Queen: I think¡­I think this might be doable. I really want to make this tree guys I¡¯m sorry for asking for so much.
Amy: Anytime! I¡¯m here to help~
Brutality Queen: I¡¯m starting the schematic now. How much do you think you can shrink it Innearth?
Innearth: uhh¡­one sec.
Innearth looked about for standard shrinking guides and found most cores were able to safely shrink things by 4-8x without any loss of details.
Innearth: I¡¯m going to say start it 6x as big? I might be able to get as high as 8x but I don¡¯t want to promise that¡­ I don¡¯t fully understand why we need to design it bigger and shrink it to be honest. Its just a tree right? Block of wood some leaves its good?
Fated Eternal Design: ¡­I feel offended on behalf of Queen. Just dissing her tree like that.
Amy: We could do that¡­but the less we rely on the spell smoothing stuff over the better we can get the end result to be. The more efficient and stuff. I think that¡¯s what queen was talking about. Like think of your monsters, you probably started off with solid blocks of material for your flesh and slowly worked towards making individual muscles and stuff right?
Innearth: Muscled tree got it.
Abe: lol.
Amy: I think ambrosia would make a nice sap for this tree what do you think?
Brutality Queen: That¡¯s perfect!
Innearth: Cosmic void bark? Just throw all the triplet materials we can at this thing?
Brutality Queen: I like it!
Innearth: Actually give me a bit on that. I don¡¯t know if it will play nice with growing¡­ cosmic void has some issues. The amount of engineering I had to do to make an even slightly movable suit of armour...
Amy: No problem! We¡¯ll be working on the tree while you figure out the tasks you claimed!
Innearth pulled his attention away from the chat excited to help with this goal. It had briefly overwhelmed the one he had just chosen for himself¡­but in some ways making a world tree would be a good practice for when he tried to engineer a god. Innearth had mentioned he found a divine core willing to do them the solid of making an egg for the tree¡­there was actually multiple divine cores on the market it seemed to be a popular R4 type. Three were alive and offering their services but none were selling them for anything as simple as mana¡­R4 cores really didn¡¯t like selling things for mana at all which¡­kind of made sense after a certain level, mana stopped mattering. Either way, two had insane prices along the lines of ¡°20x dragon scales¡± but one had a simple¡­it was relatively cheap but weird and Innearth was a bit hesitant about the whole process.
PM_CORE_PICS: yes? You responded to my listing?
Innearth: yeah I sent you what we want you to do¡­but I have to ask. Why do you want me to send you pictures of my core in exchange? What do you get out of this?
PM_CORE_PICS: don''t worry about it :]
Innearth: ¡­okay, give me a minute.
Innearth was conflicted. On one hand, it was a relatively cheap price to pay. Heck, it was practically free¡­ it just cost him a bit of time. Now. On the other hand, it felt weird. What were they going to do with it? Why did they want them? Innearth slowly pried the bottom of his cosmic void box off¡­he removed his armour and felt exposed. Stop being weird about this just take the pictures. He felt like shivering as he quickly but awkwardly snapped off some still scenes of his core room with the streaming camera. He saved and packaged the photos quickly putting his box back on and instantly feeling better as soon as it was welded shut.
Innearth: I sent the payment.
PM_CORE_PICS: mmmmmmm, nice. You look great! I''ll send you the shell soon. Just follow the dimensions you gave me?
Innearth: Yes if it''s enough? I could make a schematic with earth mana or something and tell you to trace it if you need more?
PM_CORE_PICS: Sent you an outline of my schematic. If that¡¯s fine I¡¯ll start printing it for you. By the way. Are you interested in doing any more modelling for me? Open offer for any repeat designs.
Innearth: Yep. Looks good. And I¡¯m okay for now thanks.
Innearth mentally shivered once more as he accepted the payment ¨C feeling like he had lost more than he had¡­ but unsure exactly why that was. Next goal is shrinking mana. Hopefully, I can get that working soon? Chapter 91. Lets go whaling~
Rank 3 affinities are harder to alter¡­ but they still exist and I¡¯m here to help you unlock their potential. This is the Void page in a four part series. For Space, Entropy and Eternity pages, please head back to the index.
There are two main Void mana alterations ¡°Shrinking¡± and ¡°Deletion¡±. No matter which one your goal is, you should always start with deletion mana ¨C it''s easier for most cores and more importantly, having a good sense for it helps with Shrinking mana. Now. As you no doubt know, while adding Void mana to a pure element it will eat away at a large portion of that element and then slowly bind into a magical material. While doing this a portion of your mana (the part actively eating the pure element) will resonate with that element more strongly. It''s like... at the start of the spell part of your void mana is using itself up on the pure element and at the end the rest of your void mana can bind safely. The resulting material ¡°vaporizes¡± every element but the element it''s bound to. A void iron sword needs an iron handle to be held correctly. Simple stuff. Near the start of your spell, however, before you created this ¡°Anything but X¡± material, Void was more attuned to that X material. A portion of it was actually deletion mana. In this initial moment when Void is eating your X pure element focus on the portion of it resonating with the element. Grow it purposefully instead of letting it disappear. Pull it out and abandon the rest of the ¡°void¡± then bind it to a new material Y. As a simple example starting to delete Iron then binding it to copper to create Iron deleting Copper. At this point¡­if everything worked correctly you¡¯ll have made your first Deletion mana material. You¡¯ll have a copper sword that melts through simple iron like butter. A Copper garbage can for all your Iron scraps. This was a good first step¡­but it¡¯s a relatively limited form of deletion mana. Deletion mana is¡­more abstract than a simple ¡°deleting pure elements¡± scope. It''s still a good first step because deletion mana tends to be stronger than void mana in its limited scope. More energy focused on one element instead of spread to multiple¡­or maybe deletion mana¡¯s just stronger in general. True deletion mana doesn¡¯t work on single elements and that¡¯s your next step. Pick several abstract concepts like ¡°wood¡± or ¡°grey things¡± or ¡°bitter foodstuffs¡±. Start your process of with void mana deleting wood and then bind your deletion resonance to make ¡°Wood deletion¡± materials. Use it on a pile of weapons and see if you can get a material that deletes weapons and only weapons ¨C that makes fun shields or armour. If you really want a challenge try and make a material that deletes non-physical concepts like ¡°Sound¡± or more specialized ¡°Speech¡±. That can make a fun silent floor for your dungeon. A lot of those harder concepts are typically deletion mana affinity cores only¡­but even without that choice, you should be able to delete quite a wide array of concepts. As a bonus, if you get good at it you should be able to make deletion materials without that simple spell you used as a crutch at the start. Printing apple deletion copper straight from your system no apples required! The Second alteration of Void mana is ¡°Shrinking¡± mana. Stay with me now, If you practiced with deletion mana it will be easier but it''s not technically required ¨C please tell me you didn¡¯t skip all the way here? It''s structured like this for a reason! The goal of shrinking mana is to rip all damaging properties out of void mana leaving it in its most ¡°pure¡± of forms. To start. Slowly begin shrinking a large area the larger you have to work with the better to start. Work as hard as you can to prevent anything from being ¡°deleted¡± ¨C no mass should be missing in your before and after! That¡¯s it. There''s some tips that can help however. Imagining void mana is actually half shrinking mana and half deletion mana can help ¨C many cores pretend they are ¡°deleting the deletion part of the spell¡± or set it to ¡°delete something that¡¯s impossible for it to delete like time¡±. Another point that helps is to prevent a void singularity from forming in the middle of your shrunk area. Typically when shrinking void mana really likes to shrink in a gradient ¨C with the exact center pooling into a single rip in space. Keeping that point from forming¡­either holding it open and ¡°not shrunk¡± or closed and ¡°not ripped open again¡± are good mental models. As a typical sign it''s working¡­all colour should have been removed from the mana fueling your spell. Any hints of purple in the darkness should have disappeared¡­and the black itself should be closer to grey. The problem with shrinking mana is it¡¯s a gradient. A lot of non-shrinking mana cores will find their spells still have a hint of void in them unable to take that final step. If you think you have it right you can always make shrinking materials at this point ¨C pills that shrink adventurers come with the system-assisted bonus of a cooldown. You can make temporary shrinking materials that shrink whatever they are touching so long as they are being touched not even needing the system to undo it. Finally shrinking mana materials make great anchors for shrunk spaces letting you squeeze as much benefit out of them as you can ¨C a void shrinking can usually shrink space unevenly by a factor anywhere from a few percent to 10 or 20x as much. A shrinking mana spell can usually shrink evenly and safely by 4x -12x (initially that seems worse but no mass is lost and the spell actually shrinks all the matter instead of compresses and deletes random portions of it to help compress it more). A shrinking or void shrinking bound to rooms or hallways lined in shrinking materials can shrink by a factor multiplied by how well the core can shrink with shrinking mana. 12x as much, is common! Instead of shrinking space 20x you could shrink it 200 times! Hopefully, this guide has helped you at least somewhat. If it takes a while, keep in mind these are hard! Don¡¯t get discouraged and keep trying! Every Void Core should be able to get both of these eventually, but don¡¯t feel bad if it takes a few years to get them right especially if you don¡¯t have the affinities for it.
Excerpt obtained from the "Common_base_alteration_guides.dcs/void" website. Innearth was hard at work practicing Void alterations. He had read a guide on the internet and nearly immediately gotten the simplest form of deletion mana working. High off his quick success (I¡¯m great! I¡¯m the best!) he had immediately moved to his short-term goal of shrinking mana/a better shrinking spell to shrink yggdrasil¡­and hit a huge roadblock. He hadn¡¯t gotten it working at all. Not even close. After a just a week of this, he had calmed down and returned to taking it slow and steady (by getting a better hand of deletion mana like the guide had recommended). His early success with pure element deletion remained¡­but the guide didn¡¯t seem to convey how hard it was to switch from deletion of pure elements to deleting abstract ones. He was currently attempting to better fix his washrooms by making them delete only waste. Of the last twenty attempts he had made¡­two had mostly worked correctly. Not a good pass rate. He thought he was starting to notice the subtle changes in colour and texture of deletion mana¡­but actually purposefully making those changes and getting it to focus on the correct concept was beyond him. It seems to be interacting with the mana inside of objects? Like, Void mana mixing with Wood mana in a branch for example and becoming wood deletion? Or sometimes branch deletion or nature deletion or straight object deletion¡­That¡¯s the problem I think. I have to focus on mixing it with the correct environmental mana and actually making sure the environmental mana I¡¯m mixing it with is the one I want¡­but that wasn¡¯t mentioned in the guide and it seems like different concepts are harder to interact with and now I¡¯m just getting annoyed I can¡¯t get it working consistently so maybe it¡¯s a completely different idea¡­ Innearth was constantly paying attention (at least in part) to the chat¡­and so he was instantly pulled out of his training when the part of his attention focused there noticed something noteworthy.
Abe: I''ve been slowly talked around to the idea. We are going whaling!
ZeMadDoctor: we figured we might as well go as strong as we can. That means killing one or more void whales for fertilizer.
Innearth: I''m surprised you went for it Abe? Thought you were frightened of them? Also what makes you think you can even scratch them?
Abe: Okay first off. I¡¯ve been and am being logical ¨C not afraid or cowardly. There is a difference man. Second off we have a plan. Let me lay it out there real simple like in a three step process. #1 New portal. Make sure its far away from the facility. #2 Proper setup and defenses. Innearth you should help us make a small shielded area I already volunteered you to make us a cosmic void bunker. Finally #3 Boom. Profit.
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­He got part of the idea across. I convinced him to make nuke mana materials for me in a safe location and I¡¯ve been experimenting on them since.
Innearth: surprised you went for that as well Abe. Thought you were staying away from that material?
Abe: forever making me sound like a wimp. I''m not sticking it anywhere in my dungeon or anywhere near my dungeon. I''m not even making it myself! Just printing a block for doc and letting him do the rest.
Brutality Queen: seems like docs pretty persuasive huh.
Abe: ¡­
Innearth: what makes you think a ¡°nuke¡± will be enough to kill it?
ZeMadDoctor: I''m not sure if it would be, so I''m not even going to try. If you let me explain the plan properly it will make more sense Abe skipped some important details. ZeMadDoctor: Step 1: The payload. I¡¯m making a giant harpoon designed to penetrate the whale''s thick skin. Been testing on nullstone. Smaller demons. Pretty sure it should work but cosmic void mana on the tip would probably make for the best piercing method if that¡¯s okay. The Veil inertia as I¡¯m calling it doesn¡¯t count as a magical effect as far as demons are concerned so cosmic void is a pretty good counter for demon resistance. ZeMadDoctor: Inside this harpoon, I¡¯ve set the nuke mana to explode on impact. I¡¯ve already tested out how to prevent it from exploding immediately ¨C for some reason it reacts to air so I¡¯ve set it up in an air-tight but easily crumpled and adjacent to an air pocket sort of ignition mechanism. This has all been thoroughly tested in my new prototyping area and my experimentation monster has run some simulations and determined it should work perfectly with no chance of failure so long as it actually hits. It''s even set up to go off a half-second after initial impact to try and concentrate the explosion inside of the whale instead of on its surface. ZeMadDoctor: But wait! Even though nuke mana seems powerful on its own I¡¯m not confident in it being able to kill a void whale with its general mana resistance¡­I want to be completely sure about it SO! Following Innearth¡¯s recipe and using the filtration system he helped me set up (I hope this was okay). I made some kinetic essence. This liquid is surrounding the nuke cartridge on all sides and it will hopefully convert all or most of the nuke''s fire, heat, destruction, radiation¡­all those effects the whale could shrug off will be converted straight to kinetic energy.
Abe: They don¡¯t need to know this¡­
Innearth: No, knowing all this is helping me come around to the idea it might just work. Continue! What else have you done?
ZeMadDoctor: Of course. Okay so the location will be a fresh spot of the void. A new portal purposefully dragged down deep into deep void¡­protected with cosmic void as abe mentioned I hope that¡¯s okay and hidden with time mana. ZeMadDoctor: We will lure the whale by dangling a demonic mana monster in from of the hidden bunker ¨C I told you all about how crazy demons are for demonic mana bait didn¡¯t I? Anyways my harpoon cannon will shoot the payload when we get a demon big enough to be worth it and then the hardest part of this plan will begin. ZeMadDoctor: Collecting the corpse. We want to drag the whole thing to the facility. But opening a portal at this stage and that big might be dangerous¡­well have to fight off all the scavengers the whole way. And make sure to close the portal properly once they get through. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Innearth: Okay I¡¯m on board. You¡¯ve clearly thought this through I¡¯m suitably impressed. I¡¯ll help tip your harpoon and make your bunker it sounds like it might actually work! I feel like I should react to being a critical part of this plan without being told until now¡­but hey it sounds fun!
Abe: See! I told you he''d go for it. Whaling! Whaling with explosives! Who could possibly not want to help!
ZeMadDoctor: Let me share the staged crafting area we have setup. It¡¯s a cad overlay in my experimentation mana room. I keep flipping it to "fully in the system" to prevent the nuke from accidentally going off.
Innearth was invited to a system panel similar to the ones used in the dungeon games¡­but with more bells and whistles and different focuses now that they were a higher tier and doc a different core. It was¡­fun coming in near the end of a project and contributing critical parts. As much as being a part of the whole process was fun this made Innearth feel special and needed in a different sort of way. Only he could do this! Once the modified nuke harpoon was finished Innearth helped build a small bunker at a fresh spot of void and their stakeout began. It''s kind of weird to think about how we are nowhere near the facility despite all the portals being made by doc at the Samish initial location¡­Thinking about the void confuses me a lot I should just accept it. Once both the bunker and loaded harpoon cannon were locked into place they were done¡­but after a few minutes, Doc sent a hesitant message.
ZeMadDoctor: I¡¯m not good at this sort of thing so sorry if I¡¯m asking this in the wrong way. I already owe you but can you also set up a doorway so we can better see the whale coming? Like what you made for us recently?
Innearth: Yeah sure, We are all in this together and all that.
Instead of making a doorway and weakening their bunker, Innearth made a round ¡°window¡± stuck on the outside that looked out into the void. He twisted together circuits haphazardly following a purpose known only to him and his master circuit builder intuition¡­then told his friends to expand into it. As a material cosmic void allowed them all to comfortably claim and ¡°sit in¡± the porthole giving them a nice wide view of their bait and the surroundings. High detailed view of right in front of them¡­steadily less and less accurate of a view going out far in every direction. From the outside a bump of greyish black on a similarily grey surface was the only indication they were there¡­a bunker demons couldn¡¯t see floating in completely silent void. Waiting was calming in a way. Small demons kept coming and eating or attempting to eat their bait ¨C they kept having to kill and drag the demons away which was a funny thought. Just a year or two ago this level of demon would have had Innearth frozen in fear and now they were squished like particularly annoying bugs. Waiting was... calming but Innearth still felt like filling the time with idle conversation.
Innearth: Conversation topic! Hey doc¡­you mentioned having told us about demonic mana being bait¡­but I don¡¯t actually remember you doing so? Was I not paying attention? What''s that about I thought demonic mana instantly summoned a demon if used in a monster?
ZeMadDoctor: Oh! That¡¯s what happens in ¡°the real world¡± It''s because¡­okay do you know anything about the shape of souls? Do you want the long explanation?
Innearth thought briefly of the weird sort of quasar shape of dungeons souls in comparison to the blobs most souls were before responding
Innearth: Yeah I think so. A blob? Some are different but most are just a three-dimensional blob.
ZeMadDoctor: You haven¡¯t experimented much with death mana have you? Recycling souls? Just dipped your influence in slightly? We should make a party of playing with undead in the facility some time remind me okay? ZeMadDoctor: Anyways I don¡¯t know how much of this is a recap but here we go. Souls are typically three-dimensional blobs yes that vaguely rest inside and conform to the shape of living bodies. They don¡¯t fully exist in the world they just kind of overlay it¡­and they only really interact with mana and something about ¡°life¡± *(or death) ZeMadDoctor: Life souls are positive. +Soul. Death souls are negative. -Soul. These two soul allignments exist on a¡­sort of number line okay? Stronger life aligned souls are more positive stronger death aligned souls are more negative. ZeMadDoctor: Demonic mana twists materials and more importantly twists the soul it corrupts when you make a dungeon monster into being four dimensional. Mana can¡¯t negate itself as part of a spell so a positive and negative alignment at the same time¡­instead of a ¡°0 soul¡± you get a ¡°imaginary +i or ¨Ci soul¡± it kind of makes the new alignment perpendicular to both life and death on that number line I mentioned before and either of them can twist the new souls alignment around in different ways. Sometime like (+4 - 2j)soul¡­ ZeMadDoctor: anyways! In the ¡°real world¡± that cracked and four dimensional soul sticks out into the void right. Its an incredibly tasty lure that demons can grab onto and follow all the way back to the body in the real world. That¡¯s why it ¡°summons¡± demons. They are grabbing onto the mana pool/pure mana floating around in the void and using the soul as a sort of doorway to drag themselves into reality.
Innearth almost tuned doc out, suddenly remembering the description for dungeon souls had ¡°four-dimensional¡± in it¡­does that mean demons could just grab onto our inventory and drag themselves to reality any time they want??? ¡­no maybe we are an exception¡­or maybe that¡¯s why our inventories can¡¯t hold magical materials? Only pure elements? So that¡¯s why we are safe the demons don¡¯t have mana to grab onto! ¡­or something. Innearth focused once more on Doc¡¯s explanation.
ZeMadDoctor: In the void this doesn¡¯t really happen. It still makes a four dimensional soul and that soul and body are still really tasty for demons¡­but because they already exist in a place with more dimensions they don¡¯t end up summoning demons. I actually have a bunch of these ¡°imaginary soul¡± monsters in the facility right now if you want to go check them out. All the rats with yellow dots on their tails are the imaginary ones they are much better at casting spells than their normal counterparts.
Innearth: Huh. So demonic mana doesn¡¯t make them insane? That¡¯s interesting. I¡¯m looking now they seem relatively normal all things considered I was imagining they would be obviously demonic somehow.
ZeMadDoctor: In the void no. not insane. If they walked through into reality they might? But then they would be summoning demons like ¨C
A literal wall of teeth closed in on the bait causing Doc to post his message cut off and focus on the plan. Kinetic controls in the air twisted opening up a flap and shooting out their harpoon at a high velocity. A faint whirlpool of purplish atmosphere began spinning behind it giving the appearance of a funnel as the spikey spear shot forward on a mission. The flap behind the harpoon closed a microsecond later and triggered something that caused the harpoon to push back two ethereal tethers that stuck onto the bunker and began pushing hard. With something to push off of, the harpoon spun even faster and began accelerating ¨C twin rocket spikes on the back twisting and braiding the kinetic tether in a complicated pattern as it went. The twin teathers looked somewhat like a steadily growing rope as the harpoon shot forwards ¨C their braided shape did not look like something that could have been grown in real-time at this speed and the back of the harpoon was now a blur to Innearth''s senses. I¡¯m well aware how hard it is to move through the void¡­it resists motion, Doc isn¡¯t a kinetic core for nothing. In front of their missile a massive eye tracked the harpoon barreling towards it. The eye seemed curious but not worried about the projectile''s small size ¨C even as it crossed the distance in a single blink of its lid. The tip of the harpoon was shaped like a mostly retracted umbrella ¨C jagged rings of spikes behind it to make sure it couldn¡¯t be easily extracted ¨C and it passed through nullstone teeth with a billow of dust. The demon''s eye briefly seemed surprised in this long-drawn-out second and its mouth began to open¡­even as something deep inside the harpoon broke and the explosion started. A proverbial roar of kinetic energy burst forth¡­so strong it physically pushed the void atmosphere in all directions tempering one side of the cosmic void bunker even more and the shockwave travelled past them carrying bits of gore in all directions. The lower jaw and half the upper portion of the whale were just¡­gone. Deep within its ¡°belly¡± a black fractured and goo spurting rainbow core¡­no that was a bad description this wasn¡¯t a monster. A rainbow ¡°void heart¡± lay beating its last ¡°breath¡±. It lay burned and broken and shuddered a wave of void atmosphere seeming to travel through the entire demon''s body before finally, it was still.
Abe: Ggggogoogogogoogogogoogogo!
A trapdoor slid open on either side of the bunker and two ascended rats swam out in strange armoured suits. The harpoon itself seemed to have been completely vaporized, but surprisingly its kinetic rope remained and had bound to a somewhat random section of demon flesh. Whatever controls had made up ''it'' were now broken, the rope slowly slowly retracting pulling its ¡°harpooned¡± carcass back towards the bunker even as a portal unfurled between the swimming rats. Around them¡­floating in void were countless silvery droplets of blood. They floated like a frozen rainstorm¡­or liquid snowstorm as strange as that sounded. The smallest drops were quickly shifting in a nauseating manner. Spikes and veins and vibrating bumps bursting out of them and turning them into demons in real-time. Like gross little tadpoles, within minutes there were dozens of drops swimming about attacking each other and growing stronger before their very eyes. Like vultures, shapes swam about in the distance ¨C Innearths porthole distorting them due to how far away they were until all the dungeons could see were indistinct shapes¡­circling closer and closer. The two space suit-covered rats pulled the portal apart like a massive blanket ¨C its momentum somehow carrying over but warping the portal as it did which caused a rippling tear to travel towards the whale. Void "rippled" in strange swirls about parts of this ¡°blanket¡± as it began to wrap around and teleport the front section of the carcass¡­bits of void atmosphere jumped in density and others thinned as if this massive hunk of flesh being transported required more from the portal than normal. Innearth noticed with alarm it looked almost like a line was forming behind the portal pointing at an odd angle off into space ¨C physically showing off where the portal led to? That''s our facility! ¡­they weren¡¯t going to make it, but everything was happening too fast for Innearth to think straight. Innearth¡¯s worry¡­his fear was communicated to his monsters and the closest to helping them perked up. The snake scout came bursting out of the portal a second later ¨C its thick body pressing out further and continuing in a rush that wrapped all the way around the whale and headed back in on the other side. Looping around in this massive U-turn, the snake began to pull. Its addition helped the carcass get pulled through faster and now Innearth was running through an estimate that included the snake''s help. Its length was now close to 25km ¨C an absolutely insane length for one monster ¨C but it was still barely enough. Its skin had seemed to meld to its tunnel at some point in its last ascension and it looked like an crystalline armoured tube was pulling the whale back. Innearth found himself zoomed in on the process more invested than he had been in ages watching adventurers. The snake pulled, the portal wrapped and a wave of demons poured forth from all directions snapping and biting at the still-visible sections of the carcass like piranhas. Some took advantage of the confusion to eat the scraps floating in the void around them, others seemed to prefer the snake scout''s magical flesh better than the whale''s ¨C nullstone-like teeth sheering through the armour in countless tiny bites. And then they were through. The massive portal closed with the two rats jumping through to the other side last second and the cloud of demons began to attack one another and slowly disperse. On the other side of the portal lay the staging area. Innearth had volunteered up the section he had begun building before getting bored ¨C a massive empty box of sorts attached to the facility that had taken him over a month of grinding to make¡­ With such an obvious difference in effect between the two locations it was pretty obvious dungeon influence stopped magical matter from demonizing ¨C droplets of whale blood hung in the ¡°staging area¡± inert. All the demons who died stayed dead and the snake scout went on a rampage eating and ripping apart every small demon that had damaged it. The dungeons celebrated their successful whale hunt. Meanwhile, at the hunt site ¨C a few minutes after their portal closed ¨C a second void whale came sniffing around. It slurped up all the abandoned scraps along with quite a few demons ¨C scaring the rest of the scavengers away. A third whale came moments after that and fought them briefly... appearing annoyed it had missed out before both began circling away looking for more scraps.
Abe: let''s hunt these two as well! Quick! They are right there! That was awesome. Let''s hunt another! We are invincible!
ZeMadDoctor: I don¡¯t trust this area anymore. If we need another body we should do it at a fresh location and wait a while¡­I don¡¯t like that the void seemed like it was showing them the way to our facility for a bit I want to keep these to simple safe infrequent hunts. It seems to be fine this time but if we do this too many times in one place it might lead them straight to us.
Innearth: I don''t know if cosmic void can be demonized¡­ but we should grab that (the bunker) when we move as well, I''d hate to see an indestructible demon.
Abe: askfkasjf. That would indeed be ¡°a bad time¡± you are speaking true facts right now.
As the group finished their plans and began coming down from the initial excitement, a system prompt appeared ¨C distracting them.
System log displayed due to compounding first time effects.
Combat log: Non official party member ''[ZeMadDoctor]'' used custom stationary projectile weapon ''nuke harpoon cannon''. Combined party effort artifact ''Nuke harpoon'' landed critical damage upon ''5km long void whale''. ''5km long void whale¡¯ died 2 minutes later due to ''massive internal damage'' Error met while distributing combat experience.
Error log: Dungeons are not equipped to use combat experience. Experience to be applied to trap or monster used to deal damage. Trap manually activated, non living variation. Combat experience to be ignored. Error: '' demon whale bounty'' tenet prevents combat experience from being lost while killing high level demons and superseding ''non combat cultivation for'' tenet. Escalating log... Timeout.
Thank you for defending our world [dungeons]! Due to no precedent being set upon your scenario, a decision has been left for you to make.
Option A: Apply combat experience directly at [25% conversion efficiency]. [40k experience] distributed [three ways] directly to party members [Abe, Innearth, ZeMadDoctor].
Option B: Apply full combat experience to party factions using non combatant leader precedent. ( [160k experience] distributed to [three dungeon parties] and then split evenly between [every monster] in said [dungeons].
Option C: Donate experience to 3rd party equipped to accept the donation.
Option A Option B Option C
Innearth: you two seeing this? What should we do?
... Chapter 92. A Trees [system].
ZeMadDoctor: Well¡­ it''s pretty obvious A is the best choice no?
Innearth: Listen I think C is much more versatile. It has a lot of potential...and A is just bad in general.
Abe: ¡­so hear me out guys. B.
ZeMadDoctor: I figured A has the most obvious benefit. We get stronger even with the conversion rate its experience directly to use ¨C I don¡¯t know about you, but 13k experience is a level and a bit for me. It''s not that I¡¯m incredibly attached to this option. But I figured it¡¯s the simplest. There''s a clear cause and effect. We do some work. We get the benefit. Simple and easy option.
Innearth: We can gain levels ourselves just by continuing what we are doing. Experiment make new creatures? Get experience. Grow our dungeon? Get experience. Churn monsters against adventurers? Get experience. Option C on the other hand! Innearth: With option C we could raise up a single monster! The snake scout was MVP just then we can give them our experience and try to make them a dragon! This part is a harder sell but I want to give it to an adventurer to try and turn them into a god and this would be perfect!
Abe: Absolutly not. Hard line right there I refuse to give freebies. Experience must be earned ¨C any power must be worked for yourself I refuse to just hand our work over to some adventurer.
Innearth: I know that parts a hard sell but listen. We wouldn¡¯t just be giving it away for free... it could be a bonus to clearing the facility or something. A nice reward to try and attract strong adventurers from far and wide.
Abe: That¡¯s¡­not as awful as freebies...but still feels like a complete waste of this choice. Listen, the system rewards hard work right? If the adventurer wants experience they just have to continue doing what they were doing just like we are. I¡¯d prefer A to C honestly and A is hot garbage.
ZeMadDoctor: I don¡¯t have a strong opinion on it. If both of you don¡¯t like A I¡¯ll drop it. Why do you want to make a god Innearth? Is that just an experiment? Seems completely out of the blue.
Innearth: Its¡­just a goal I have. I¡¯ll¡­ish. That ¡°I want to make a god¡± message kind of slipped out give me a second. Innearth: Check this site out in your spare time. If you get past its barrier we can talk more about that. Just know it would be really really useful in the goal I have. Like it¡¯s the first real solution I¡¯ve seen. And high level adventurers have a grind¡­ being able to help them with levels would be immensly useful. Innearth: I feel like as a facility reward¡­ it would draw them faster than simply some high tiered equipment. Also you¡¯re ignoring the first thing I mentioned what about rising up specific monsters? We could try and ascend the roach knight! Or the facility core!
Innearth neglected to mention he had initially been planning on trying to give it all to Craig and the facility reward was an afterthought.
ZeMadDoctor: How do we decide who to gift the experience to? There''s three of us and both times you mentioned your own monsters to ascend. I don¡¯t want to pick this if its going to cause arguments.
Innearth: We could take turns? Once to each of us after catching three whales?
Abe: Okay no. I understand your point but¡­what if different whales give different amounts of experience? That seems uneven. What if we don¡¯t actually have a specific monster we want to gift a massive chunk of experience to? No B is much fairer and¡­hey Doc you mentioned A giving us the most benefit right?
ZeMadDoctor: Yep. We did the work we get the reward. We don¡¯t nessisarily need the reward... but it¡¯s a nice bonus for our time and seemed the simplest of the options.
Abe: Okay, here''s why B is better from a purely profit-centric focus okay? So if we chose A we get 40k experience split 3 ways. That''s 13,333 experience each and that¡¯s all well and good but 120,000 experience is lost! Abe: B on the other hand we split¡­53,333 experience between all our monsters. Here''s how that¡¯s smarter math time with prof Abe. Abe: Some monsters might ascend from all this experience that¡¯s true¡­ but all the ones that die instead of ascending will give us the experience! We laundered that 160k experience through our monsters much more effectively than the system with its stupid 25% efficiency! That is all. I will take questions now :3
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­I didn¡¯t think of that. So essentially we could make a couple thousand monsters. Gift them the experience. Kill them all and recoup our costs?
Abe: wew. If you want to do it that way we could... I was just meaning gaining that experience in the day to day life of your dungeon man. Like adventurers would kill them you don¡¯t have to farm them that badly. Besides. Don¡¯t you want some of them to ascend? Don¡¯t you care about your ascended monsters?
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­alright I¡¯m switching my vote from A to B.
Innearth: so I¡¯m outnumbered? That feels cheap¡­I guess I feel like¡­I feel like you two are being shortsighted looking at the personal gains when there''s something here we can¡¯t do otherwise. Innearth: Like I can see the benefit of choosing B but C just seems like it is so much more versatile. Like imagine! We could try and gift the experience to Yggdrasil! Isn¡¯t that why we are killing whales in the first place?
Abe: ¡­bro we outnumber you but I don¡¯t want you to hate the decision. Maybe if you better explain what option C is solving? What can we do to convince you B is the best option?
Innearth: It just¡­ helps solve a problem I didn¡¯t know how to solve. I¡¯ve been looking into making a god and its incredibly hard right? Like¡­its just a massive grind.
Abe: But why do you want to make a god? I¡¯m not discouraging you that sounds cool ...Its just the first I¡¯ve heard of this and it seems big.
ZeMadDoctor: Does he need a reason?
Innearth: It''s kind of just a goal. It doesn¡¯t have to be making a god okay? Its just the goal of many that excited me the most. Having this goal is better than not having any goal and having something to work towards motivates me. Honestly I''m not explaining it well. The goal itself isn''t that important the idea of having a goal is? Not feeling like I''m aimless?
Abe: Fair. Counterpoint: If you picked this goal just to have it¡­do you really want the solution handed to you? Feels like a goal for goals sake is better off being there in the background. Like what happens when you solve this goal? You don¡¯t have anything to do anymore?
Innearth: I feel like if I¡¯m trying my best to solve a goal I should latch onto every idea to help me make it. Ignoring anything that helps is dumb. Besides. If I solve this problem I just have to find a new one! If I make a god all I have to do is pick a new goal! That¡¯s the beauty of it. Innearth: Anyways. I just got excited by the idea of a solution. I won¡¯t be devastated if we don¡¯t pick it.
ZeMadDoctor: So we are decided on B?
Innearth: Yep.
After every dungeon picked B the panel faded. A moment later a replacement panel appeared.
Party split. Three faction heads distributing 160k experience evenly. Faction head ¡®Innearth¡¯ Recives 53,333xp for his faction. Distributing using ¡°Strongest bias¡± method ¨C removing vaguely linked and non combat potential faction members.
23 crystal worms. 34 metal worms. 3 water slimes. 8093 Lesser snakes 61 deprivation slimes 168 crazy balls. 1 crazy key. 20 Stone Burrowers. 3 distraction parrots. 5 minecart mothers 890 magma spiders. 890 crystal bats. 20 trapdoor spiders. 35 undead. 486 void flies, 4 dust controllers. 1 nullstone golem. 1185 crystal turtles, 1221 crystal hedgehogs 2367 greater crystal snakes. 5500 Crystal Dwarves 4 steam horses 50 snow wolves. 723 ¡®whimsy¡¯ monsters. 40 sand beds. 20 sand wurms. 2 dust mana devils. 1000 snowmen. 1005 lazer spiders. 333 crystal golems. 1 slaughter stalker. 1472 arch crystal snakes. 3 injection wheels 1 crystal ¡®dragon¡¯ 53 cannibal snowmen. 1 hydra. 7311 Super Soliders. 1 roach knight. 1 ¡®CISC¡¯ controller.
Summary: Total members 33067. Every member recived one ''experience point''. Top 20266 members receive a second ''experience point''.
Even as the visual summary of their choice appeared in front of each of them, Innearth saw shifts happen across his dungeon. Despite being only ¡°one experience point¡± for quite a bit of his dungeon¡­ for several monsters that was enough. They were at 4/5 or 9/10 or 99/100 or whatever their invisible pre proper measurable system counter was... and this tipped them over. A dozen snakes, five dwarves. Two worms which quickly grew to nearly three times their size. That would have been it if not for a very specific change. This ascension was one of the strangest Innearth had ever watched. It was drawn out over such a long period of time with such a large amount of subtle magics flying about his dungeon that the result looked like the whole environment was briefly backlit by a magical aurora borealis. The living crystal ascended. Not ¡°A living crystal¡± but the hive of thousands and thousands of crystals spread throughout nearly every floor in his dungeon. They had all grown from a few distinct initial seeds creating three separate sized ¡°plant types¡±, each which had somehow mixed and created new strains. A patch of crystal spikes replanted again and again for years of real time¡­a massive number of crystal bats with symbiotic living crystal ranged weapons. A lesser but still large number of hedgehogs with living crystal quills or turtles with living crystal cannons. Plenty of random patches both purposefully planted and accidentally grown based on their hosts bringing them to new locations. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Some of the strongest adventurers looked spooked or curious as they sensed or saw the magical lightshow ¨C one teleported themselves and every other sapient out of a floor in one massive panicked escape¡­and then it was done. Everything was different¡­felt different. But nothing had visibly changed. Living crystals grew like normal on the walls and continued to fire from confused bats or turtles. It was only when Innearth stared deeper at the plant that he noticed anything amiss. A faint whirlpool of life-related mana spun at the center of each individual core¡­it wasn¡¯t that impressive individually just a faint spiral of energy¡­but it was identical in every single living crystal. Eerily so ¨C a hundred thousand spirals perfectly in sync. As more time passed more changes became known. Despite being somewhat static and uniform in size beforehand¡­these new living crystals were growing at different speeds. Some patches previously locked into a certain size were expanding ¨C others instead of staying a widespread patch began focusing inwards overlapping crystals and creating solid ¡°cages¡± of living crystal with swirling mana forming into more and more complex geometric shapes. A negative of this new event was his system no longer let him place living crystal shards into it as a material¡­that almost killed his monster supply as a solid number of his common weaker enemies used it. ¡­Trying to make a new non ascended living crystal kept failing. Every time he had created new seeds had been by luck and now Innearth couldn¡¯t tell if it was failing because they already existed or if his control was too good to purposefully ¡°fail¡± into a seed. A final point of this event happened days later when sapients began analyzing and classifying the new monster in his dungeon.
Crystal Treant: NOTE: UNKNOWN AND NEW VARIABLE IN ESTABLISHED FLOORS. Please read one of the warnings placed everywhere about the new change. You can¡¯t miss them.
This section dedicated to any information anyone discovers about the new plant? Monster? And will remain easily editable for this initial period.
  • Freaky structures being built. I set up a monitoring device and left.
  • Some crystal bats have started hitting harder.
  • Anyone listening to the recall notice? Personally I¡¯m going to keep my booze... whats the worse that can happen it kills me? Bah. [Dimond dungeon wiki user] Please only leave information about the new dungeon monster and refrain from using this as a chat fourm.
¡­so this is a monster now? Innearth checked various sites for information on treants finding they were a standard but rare ascension from plantlife. There was only detailed information on large single monster tenants most of whom could be summed up as ¡°walking tree¡±. The closest he could find to his current scenario were some parasitic and certain hive monster ascensions¡­maybe if he combined some information about them with some about treants and their modified monster system. Apparently treants counted as monsters and had monster-styled evolutions¡­but could also passively gain experience and had certain unique evolution ¡°trees¡±. Heh, evolution trees for the trees. Well. I¡¯m excited to see how it progresses. I wonder why the treant hasn¡¯t reached out yet if it¡¯s a proper ascended? What does it see? Also, parasitic and symbiotic monsters can gain experience from their host¡­is that why no crystal bats have ascended yet? Before it gets out of hand I should figure out an alternative for the ranged fighters¡­I have to tweak the bat schematic to use something else now that living crystal spikes are off limits¡­probably a skill-based solution right? That seems promising. Innearth was tentatively happy with the decision. He had pushed hard for Option C but¡­beside the ascensions, the experience gained in the past few days from simple monster destruction and recreation was significant enough to be noticeable. A whole level noticeable... but Innearth wasn''t positive which parts were due to the choice and which part was due to all his other sources ¨C and there were still plenty that hadn''t died. He had helped his two whaling friends create a second harpoon and a portion of his attention was currently focused on both helping them catch a second and better store the previous corpse while making room for a new one... The majority of his attention began shifting and refocusing on his mana practice. A dedicated part had been chugging away at shrinking mana practice this whole time ¨C and now that he had more mental power focused on it the dividends finally began paying out. It seemed like the way that helped Innearth get it working was by mentally twisting the part of void mana dedicated to ¡°deleting stuff¡± into deleting the vacuum surrounding it. Deleting ¡°null¡± essentially. A proper shrinking mana expert would have cleanly removed it but for now, this rendered the damaging portion of void inert and let him smooth out a lot of the shrinking portion. His practice moved to shrinking soft and delicate shapes ¨C shrinking cups of water without shattering or spilling them and creating a room of shrinking mana material that helped shrinking magic inside of it. He tested out shrinking cosmic void but found it didn¡¯t play nearly as nice as he had hoped. He could shrink the space around it but the material stubbornly resisted despite his best efforts. If he pushed it as hard as he could ¨C attempting to tunnel into whatever pocket dimension cosmic void actually was ¨C he would shatter the material.
Innearth: Okay, Shrinking mana get! I can shrink our design by about 16 times using my dedicated shrinking room. I also got an egg we can shove it in afterwards!
Fated Eternal Design: Ah! Come see what we¡¯ve designed. Do you have anything to add to it? We¡¯ll have to scale the design up if we can shrink it by that much, but, a plus side is now we get more details. The details matter!
Innearth fumbled around finding the schematic his friends were working on. Yggdrasil was a squat miniature tree with incredibly dark brown and vibrant-looking wood. Even as he watched the group was scaling the design up and filling in the new sections. Throughout the entire inside of the tree ran thick veins of ambrosia sap. Less plant-like and more like an animal''s nervous system, sap ran in a long loop through a series of a dozen manipulating¡­turbines? Hearts? They all contained a ring of river mana bound to life mana made by Amy which sucked liquid through at a steady rate. Beside the thick veins, small capillary equivalents ran out through the flesh of the wood ¨C and the wood was actually flesh. Instead of a solid block of Yggdrasil heartwood, the spiderweb of ambrosia capillaries moved through different shaped ¡°cells¡±. Blocky brick-like shapes of wood filled with identical mixes of different pure elements and soupy liquids...Innearth couldn''t tell if they were intelligently designed or just a random mix like he had done previously. Like pure carbon? Are they making a diamond? Calcium oxide mud mana materials? Those seem strangely specific? At the very top of the tree, a bunch of fake-looking miniature leaf buds were placed and at the bottom roots with jagged-looking spikes dangled. The whole schematic was very much a work in progress and Innearth couldn¡¯t initially understand a lot of the decisions being made.
Innearth: Okay, so I can''t seem to shrink cosmic void. I''m sorry if you wanted it for the bark.
Brutality Queen: ¡­alright. That¡¯s okay we were prepared for this. Plan B is to layer the bark with different defences. I¡¯ve been thinking about this tree¡¯s final form a lot lately¡­and come to some conclusions I figured I¡¯d share.
Amy: What have you been thinking of? We¡¯re here to listen!
Brutality Queen: So. I¡¯ve been trying to estimate how big it will grow¡­based on how fast it grew undesigned and¡­don¡¯t laugh but based on a sort of feeling I¡¯m getting from my affinity I know it''s going to be big. Brutality Queen: Like at least 10-20km tall big but likely much much much higher? That¡¯s going to be really heavy which is why we¡¯ve put some materials to lighten it near the top ¨C to prevent it from falling over ¨C but also¡­the roots are designed to dig down far and I¡¯ve started to worry they are going to dig down too far you know? Brutality Queen: We need to be prepared for them digging into the mantle we obviously want its bark to be strong and while Yggdrasil heartwood is relatively non-flammable I¡¯d still call it weak to fire. Mantle will burn it right up. This whole tree is¡­it''s almost like it''s impossible. It''s like it''s designed to fail.
Amy: Well that¡¯s why we are actually designing it to succeed!
Innearth: So bark similar to the facility walls? I can add the unlife and undeath materials for at least two of the bark layers¡­could see about using ice mana around its roots to protect against the mantel. Could probably add solid void as a bark layer too - it''s no cosmic void but it protects against void so that¡¯s something?. Innearth: Could honestly put a thin layer of ice in its entire bark instead of just its roots that should protect it from any fire.
Abe: Standard kit of stuff got it. I¡¯ll add explosion and lightning resistant materials. Doc can protect against kinetic damage. FYI second whale should be coming in soon if anyone wants to watch!
The group rushed over to the newest whaling site. This time a stream of ascended from queen swam out in a swarm and helped pull the 20km void whale through safely. It counted Queen as "helping" with that move ¨C giving her a share but not Amy or FED... despite both of them existing in the same general area¡­and gave them 120kexp to split between the four participants. This wave of experience ascended another dozen or so monsters in Innearth''s dungeon ¨C this time a single bat/spider pair ascended together becoming his first of those pairs to ascend. ¡­Innearth was beginning to have difficulty giving all his ascended monsters enough attention. He let them do what they wanted while making a note to figure out a better solution. He didn¡¯t see them as disposable but they started to blend together and when one of them attacked and was killed by an adventurer¡­he found it hard to muster up any real feelings for them. They had been ascended for too short of a time¡­all that ended up happening was Innearth felt bad about not feeling bad. Innearth couldn¡¯t tell if the crystal treant was receiving any of this experience but he did notice the crystal structures were beginning to change ¨C their mana patterns becoming more and more complicated. Right as Innearth was staring at a certain particularly knotted-looking one, a series of twists seemed to happen ¨C like the streams of mana were a ball of string being pulled into a knot. The magical change was shortly followed by a series of slight cracks ¨C like handfuls of small rocks being tossed at a window ¨C and a collapse of several interlocking crystals. In the center of the structure, crystals broke away depositing a small¡­golem for lack of better words onto the ground. It looked like someone crossed a blue toaster with a spider and gave it a humanoid head and torso as an afterthought. This birthed monster shook shards of crystal off of itself and stared around curiously before stumbling away like a newborn fawn. A bolt of sizzling grey light flashed from the side of the room as a black-robed adventurer entered the room and fired at the first thing that moved. ¡­anti-climatic. Innearth watched the adventurer wander over and poke the corpse lightly even as a second and third treant spawn was birthed into existence at two separate locations. The spawner seemed to shudder lightly as it started up again mana beginning to spool out and twist about¡­The adventurer smashed his foot down onto the crystal structure a gray spark accompanying his stomp and shattering some inner working. A bag was produced and this adventurer happily looted both the shards of the spawner and corpse but Innearth had already moved on. All about his dungeon Innearth saw little toaster fawns awkwardly, and then steadily more gracefully, begin to explore. They seemed to learn as a group ¨C several dying by triggering traps or falling off things near the start¡­and then each subsequent generation learned not to walk off cliffs or stand on steam vents. Innearth kept a solid portion of his attention just watching the dumb creatures learn how to survive, while returning to focus on the Yggdrasil schematic. Okay¡­what really can I add at this point? It feels done? I can¡¯t use cosmic void as a bark but¡­what about putting a single grain of it at the end of each root? That¡­feels like it would be a good idea. Help it dig down. Single grain wouldn¡¯t care about how big the tree grows¡­Great anchor holding it down, Great way to cut through the ground. Yeah making this change¡­ Oh! What if I make a tiny cosmic void ball in the center of the tree and fill it with so much mana it becomes like a protected core? What if I give the tree a bunch of cores? A whole circuit! Innearths circuit builder senses were tingling and he really wanted to twist and line some of the ambrosia veins¡­
Innearth: Hey guys¡­can I add cores to the tree? Is it weird giving the tree cores? Feels like something I can add. Cores make everything better right?
Brutality Queen: Not to¡­discourage you but yeah it''s kind of weird. I think it might make it weaker to be honest the goal is to have the entire flesh be the host for Yggdrasil''s soul, not hold it in a single core or circuit. If you add a circuit just for the sake of it, those will end up being weak points.
Innearth: Okay¡­new plan. What about getting my dwarves to draw runes on the heartwood before we add the bark?
Brutality Queen: I¡­have no opinon on that one. Anyone else?
Fated Eternal Design: That sounds amazing. Runes should cover every visible portion of the tree. It should tell a whole story and speak of some grand mystic plan. They will look absolutely amazing do it!
Amy: I think he was mentioning under the bark? They wont be visible?
Fated Eternal Design: Would they not show up under a proper mana sight? I didn¡¯t realize we were layering nullstone into it. It''s much more mysterious if the tree looks normal but has runes in a mana aided vision of it.
Innearth: I think the important thing to ask¡­the real question is what do you want the runes to do? My dwarves can do pretty much whatever you want but the more specific a request the less effective they might be¡­
Brutality Queen: Our schematic goals are to make sure it efficiently uses its nutrients. Grows upwards healthy and doesn¡¯t kill itself by falling over or burning after digging too deep. Side goals are to give it better defences so¡­just any runes that help those things?
Innearth: Hey Abe. You should see if Oynx and Rutile want to come over and help. I already asked Steeve and Ilm to come on over to Queen''s dungeon we are getting ready to start printing pieces for them to draw on.
Abe: Sure. Btw we are planning a third whale come help with the newest harpoon.
Innearth: ¡­why not.
Chapter 93. An Impossible tree. Birth of a myth.
Warning! Early days, but a dungeon wide warning has been released based on the first change to appear in the intermediate floors in a while. Every crystal spike previously classified as a ¡°Living Crystal¡± has started throwing up ¡°Living Crystal Treant¡± notes. According to one alchemist in town, all potions or cooking recipes using this material are now subject to change and a total recall of the last batch of crystal sheer has been issued. Update 1: An expert from the central continent has released treant information upon our queries. The only known ¡°all is one¡± treant on record is a hypno mushroom variant that spread through spore clouds. This historical monster terrorized half the continent of Ihano for two full years before being put down in 1203 AS. All initial tests are coming back clean for dangerous mana types but remain vigilant! This case proves the crystal treant could be dangerous. Update 2: Living crystal ¡°spawn points¡± have been appearing. Some treant variants have minions ¨C humanoid wood like creatures or light-based elementals that are birthed from fruit. This seems to be related to that oddity and is a good sign! At least now we know what to focus on and ¨C while the minions are increasing in strength ¨C they are doing so at a measurable rate. More importantly the creation of minions from scratch points to the idea that no mind control will be embedded in them. Update 3: Tentative closure on this warning. Its been several weeks and the crystal spawn are the last major change. Please regularly analyse them and retreat if anything changes and you do not believe yourself capable of facing the unknown. No adventurer needs to die to these.
Warning placed at the crossroad link to Murek upon the "Crystal Treant''s Discovery"
ZeMadDoctor: I''ve been thinking. How attached are you to planting Yggdrasil in your dungeon and having it grow and that being it?
Brutality Queen: Pretty attached to it being in my dungeon¡­ why?
ZeMadDoctor: Because we could put it in the void. I think it would be a lot easier to deal with there.
Brutality Queen: Oh that¡¯s what you were meaning. Sorry that wouldn''t work. At least I don¡¯t think that would work. Besides not trusting it to grow in the void without being corrupted by madness¡­I think it needs to grow down into soil and stone. It needs to be connected to the earth to grow well.
ZeMadDoctor: Connected? Or completely on the earth?
Brutality Queen: ¡­sorry no clue.
ZeMadDoctor: What if we plant it in your dungeon. Then make it grow up into a massive portal? Then the top part would be in the void. And the roots are still in the earth.
Brutality Queen: uh¡­I think that might work? It doesn¡¯t feel like it wouldn¡¯t at least. Some leaves should poke through again so the tree can breathe and get sunlight¡­ but it should be fine? Is it needed?
ZeMadDoctor: We can stick the whole top of the tree back into the top of your dungeon. No problem. The leaves can poke out into the forest around you. I think it would be safer ¨C if the leaves need carbon dioxide what happens when it grows above the atmosphere? That way it can peak out into the island surrounding you. We can extend the middle to always keep the top close.
Amy: I thought this was a magic tree? I have plenty of magic plants that are growing just fine without sunlight.
Brutality Queen: What can I say. The tree has a lot of requirements to grow right¡­ I¡¯m not the one who made them.
Fated Eternal Design: There! Finishing touches added. I¡¯m ready to print.
All the dungeons began looking over the schematic at this point. Fed had added flecks of several new materials to the roots, the separate bark, the inner trunk and the upper leaves.
Amy: What are these?
Abe: What did you just do? Bro, you can¡¯t add stuff without telling us what it does.
Fated Eternal Design: Don¡¯t worry about it. Its not going to weaken it and its going to be beneficial in the long run. I promise.
Brutality Queen: [unknown material?] What¡¯s that?
ZeMadDoctor: I¡¯m getting back [R3.A Rare Dungeon material]
Fated Eternal Design: Its my R4 affinity okay? That¡¯s all I¡¯m going to say. Its embarrassing okay? Don¡¯t worry about it.
Abe: ¡­if you think it''s embarrassing why did you even pick it?
Fated Eternal Design: Other options were worse. The eternal spring would never pick them.
Innearth looked at the different materials ¨C his system correctly showing their mana types and a modifier. [Story mana material ¨C the grasping roots of a myth], [Story mana material ¨C the solid trunk of a myth], [Story mana material ¨C the cloaking bark of a myth], [Story mana material ¨C the hopes of a myth]. ¡­well. I¡¯ll let FED keep his secrets. ¡­ As the group discussed how best to change the environment for the tree, the combined schematic continued to print. It took an excessive amount of time in comparison to usual ¨C the system really churning to deal with all the individual contributions ¨C but finally finished dumping out into the large empty room queen had made for this birth. Plenty of fertile life+dirt and moist mud lined a large cavern roughly 50m in diameter and 50m tall. Innearth was so engrossed in the discussion about keeping the trunk in the void and ¡°why they would even want to do so¡± that he nearly missed his four ascended dwarves showing up. His dwarves and a 5th addition slipping through a portal into the tree cavern, nonchalantly wandering over to the tree. This addition to the group was young ¨C although it was hard to tell that with his magnificent beard ¨C and stood awkwardly behind his father. The dwarf fiddled nervously with a small pipe occasionally raising it to his beard and blowing. With each absent-minded blow, smoky bubbles that rang with nervous laughter or uncomfortable questions and eyes in the darkness rose up. A line of runes would fade in and out with each puff and the dwarf visibly seemed to calm down ¨C as if all his worries were being literally blown away. Are they blowing out their nervousness? That¡¯s neat. More importantly¡­ HEY! How have you all been! Don¡¯t think you can just sneak in without saying hi ¨C tell me what¡¯s new! Should I call this fine whippersnapper my grandkid? Hey Ilm when are you going to get a kid? See anyone you fancy? Rutile my boy! ABE TREATING YOU WELL? Innearth visibly rushed the group, his focus so strong his voice travelled all the way to Queen¡¯s dungeon and reverberated in four of five humanoids minds. They flinched slightly then relaxed not minding the attention. The young dwarf looked confused for a moment before realizing what was happening. As if just then remembering something, the dwarf pulled out a small hearing aid of sorts and slipped it around the top of their head. The young dwarf sent to Innearth !!! Innearth didn''t know what to say or send or feel¡­ but the young dwarf reaching out started solidifying his thoughts. He went from confusion to certainty in a single message. This new creature was once removed from him. The very fact that his soul wasn''t faintly linked to him ¨C the fact that he needed a prosthetic sort of artifact to hear him was proof of that ¨C would he hate the fact that his father was once a monster? Would he hate Innearth? But then the dwarf started talking and Innearth latched onto that line they had thrown him. An awkward pause persisted after the dwarf''s first message and then Onyx reached behind him ¨C grabbing his son¡¯s shoulder and wheeling him to the forefront. Onyx spoke, his mind linked to the pendant on his chest. Well that¡¯s a strange introduction. Treat him well? Innearth thought to himself while responding with a warm greeting. Cobalt started ¨C pausing slightly before finishing, as if hyping himself up. The last part came out in a rush. Oh! Oh of course! I don¡¯t have anything specific, but we can start right away. Want to check out my workshop areas? You can make whatever you want there, I¡¯m sure the materials will spark something in you! While Innearth was distracted fawning over his "grandson" ¨C already completely attached to him ¨C the four older crystal dwarves moved on. They began a highly technical discussion of the project in front of them ¨C speaking of mathemagical symmetry and self-reinforcement ¨C while using magical pens to sketch stuff both in the air and on the tree. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. The pens used on the tree made deep grooves that looked like actual grooves ¨C but were mostly fake and could be easily erased with a wave of a separate ¡°eraser¡±. ¡­ Innearth brought Cobalt to his workshop ¨C the whimsy floor. This floor had mutated and changed over the years. Now hundreds of taps of filtered pollution and random essences ran out into pools of liquid. Wild monsters roamed and fought whimsy dungeon monsters and one another. Fields of incredibly colourful and varied plants grew ¨C some watered by pollution, some fed a fertilizer of monster scraps. Some looked relatively normal, while others floated surrounded in flames, or bubbles, or sparks of energy. And everywhere amongst this overload of chaos, crystal dwarves walked. They tended fields of chaotic plants or collected monster corpses ¨C dragging them to loading areas on floating pallets to be skinned and stripped of materials. Some dwarves came out of flickering doorways with frankly what could only be called abominations ¨C twisted globs of demonic-looking materials or items that were very clearly cursed ¨C dropping them into the fray. Still others dragged boxes of weapons and items into designated areas for Innearth to add to his loot pools. ¡­It was overwhelming. There was an ¡°excessive amount of dwarves¡± filling a dozen different positions and the sights and sounds and smells created a cacophony of information. Items were made on an industrial scale ¨C Innearth truly was letting his dwarves run wild. At this point¡­if this whole floor disappeared and all production stopped, Innearth considered he could probably stay stocked with items for over a decade ¨C that¡¯s how overkill this production currently was. ¡­on that note Innearth should really see about selling some of these loot crates. He could sell boxes of 4, 16, 64, 256 items at a time. Nice round numbers for a core. I¡¯m sure some dungeons find it hard or annoying making their own loot. This idea¡­it has some merit. I just wish I knew what I wanted for them. Set them up for R4 materials? People seem to have stopped using cores as currency now that they have more mana. Cobalt looked about at the thousands of puppet dwarves with a complicated uncomfortable sort of feeling. He saw a crystal dwarf mauled by a spikey cross between a porcupine and a particularly aggressive waterfall and visibly shuddered ¨C a faint ¡°eek¡± slipping out of his beard. Innearth immediately refocused on his grandson and was quick to comfort him. Don¡¯t worry! You¡¯re safe here. I won¡¯t let a single monster hurt you. Do you want to see some of the material stores? Is there anything you¡¯ve wanted to make before but haven¡¯t had the resources for? Come! Come! I¡¯m sure you can come up with some amazing things once you see my essence stock! ¡­ The four ascended crystal dwarves finished their planning and worked away, chiselling out their design. Every square inch of the wood was now covered with fractaling nested shapes. They cut grooves into the bark using their void claws ¨C picking separate sections of the tree to work on and chiselling with a calm but serious sort of intensity. This was a matter of pride for them. They were doing this as a favour¡­but they had to prove there was a point to their help. They had to show off a little. They had to prove runes were superior to other spells. As runes were cut they activated and began to glow with mana. Ambrosia bled out of wooded flesh and pooled in the crevasses ¨C mixing with the mana and creating a visible glow that wasn¡¯t just visible in mana sight. Golden Ichor seemed to sparkle with light streams of mana crystalized in ambrosia changing it¡­ and finally the dwarves were satisfied. The dungeons could have manually finished it off if they were in the facility and overlapping the same area¡­but due to the mess that was their influences mixing they had to put it back into the cad program to finish editing it. The bark they had already designed was fixed slightly and placed over top ¨C layers of bark completely covering the runes in layered uniform coats of different defensive materials. Like clothing, the bark was attached on top and smoothed over ¨C minor changes to account for the runes were needed, before it was once again set to printing. Doc began setting up a portal at the top of the tree chamber ¨C rats climbing the walls and embedding anchors into the ceiling to create a gate straight to the staging area by the facility. He then began scraping bits of demon flesh through the hole in the roof chunks of meat landing in the mud with splashes ¨C next Doc needed to set up the upper portal for the top of the tree but Innearth was now focusing on his contribution to this setup and the other dungeons work faded away. I can do this. Briefly borrowing the design ¨C dragging the tree through a portal to his shrinking mana material room ¨C Innearth began slowly carefully squeezing the space. He was terrified of ruining it ¨C despite all of his practice he was scared he would push too hard on one spot. Scared he would relax for a moment and warp it or crush some of the more delicate parts ¨C this fear led him to taking a much longer time than he needed shrinking it. Hours and hours slowly ever so slowly shrinking it down, Innearth was being more careful than needed but that was fine. He wanted to do this right the first time. ¡­ Finally, after the shrinking finished ¨C perfectly, Innearth might add ¨C it was brought back a final time to Queen¡¯s dungeon. This shrunk tree could no longer be added easily to the system panel ¨C the matter itself was shrunk not just compressed and the panel did not play nice with twisted spaces. To combat this ¡°problem¡± Doc had to perform a complicated-looking feat of portal surgery. A strange contraption was wheeled out with stacked rings and twisting dials that changed their diameter slowly. In the center of the contraption the divine egg was placed, and a portal was shifted into the center of the egg. An inner portal slowly but surely moved up and deposited the shrunk tree on the inside. Everyone is acting carefully ¨C I¡¯m glad it''s not just me. Innearth watched Doc''s movement carefully. Just before they finished and committed, Abe mentioned they probably needed ¡°at least one fresh whale for a maximum chance of this working¡±. ¡­so a few days were dedicated to making a new harpoon staking out yet another candidate and quickly fishing it out of the void and into the staging area. As the 27km whale twitched its last spasms of life nearly a hundred monsters ascended in Innearth¡¯s dungeon ¨C 21 of them crystal dwarves! ¡­It really said a lot about this tree-making session where more monsters than Innearth had ever had ascend, ascended all at once ¨C and yet he was more focused on the combined project. It''s doneee, I want to see if it worked, let''s gooooo. Innearth impatiently began to urge everyone to complete their tasks. Queen was ready. She spun a cloak of plant mana about the divine shell and as the mana sunk into the mana everything seemed to click. Divine mana on its own was a milky semi-opaque white substance that ¡°felt¡± different. It wasn¡¯t that striking on its own but despite that, the mana/material drew attention. It also felt¡­halfway real in a strange sort of manner. Like instead of being transparent normally it was vibrating between fully there and fully not there too fast to notice and that flicker was what made it ¡°transparent¡±. After joining with plant mana in the seed spell the shell seemed to solidify. It became more real as it gained a purpose ¨C milky white ¡°too fast to notice flicker¡± solidifying into a more solid every so slightly transparent green. Plant mana turned to seed mana despite the scale and moved about the inside of the seed with a turbulent flow. The air began slowly building ¨C the whole area felt heavy as if the atmosphere was doubled¡­but full of life. Behind the divine seed¡¯s shell, a faint view of the roots and branches were lit up in an eerie manner. Innearth half expected the tree to start pulsing and pumping like a heart or some monstrous embryo in this moment¡­but instead, the whole room began to breath in and out of the egg, the nascent tree motionless at the center. Environmental mana pulled in and pushed out in a great omnidirectional oscillation ¨C like a three-dimensional beach that grew stronger and stronger each rolling wave of mana crashing against the matter of the room around it. Innnnnn and ouuuut. Innnnnnnnnnnnnn and ouuuuuuuuuuuut. This whole effect was notable if only because of how hard it was to affect environmental mana normally. To add to the pulses each wave felt¡­slightly purer than the last. As if the tree was ripping the attributes out of the mana and pushing the pure stuff back out. Suddenly there was a crack. The bottom of the seed shattered in a dozen places. Cosmic void tipped roots pushing out slowly searchingly¡­hungrily ¨C and the waves slowed down even as they grew larger. Each push and pull lasted much longer than they had and moved much less aggressively as time went on. Despite calming down they were stronger in a manner ¨C moving for hundreds of meters in ever direction instead of being mostly contained in the room itself. Roots sought sustenance and found a meal in demonic flesh ¨C the moment they touched the meat they sped up. Crawling up and into chunks of corpse melting through magical matter and consuming it. Consuming it and making it its own, the demonic matter was transmuted into magical matter and the tree grew. In the center of the room the tree briefly looked like an octopus ¨C its thick roots spreading out in all directions from the relatively small central seed. After eating all the offered fertilizer and not a moment before the tree finally turned its attention up. The shell surrounding the ¡°main¡± part of the tree shattered into motes of light that quickly faded to nothing. Even as its divine cocoon faded Yggdrasil ate ¨C grasping bits of the material and eating it before it could disappear for good. Its growth accelerated in leaps and bounds and the trunk moved up faster and faster. Up the tree grew until its central trunk poked up into the void ¨C branches appearing to sense the rest of the whale flesh and shiver in delight even as buds unfurled and became glowing golden leaves dense with mana. Six dungeons and four dwarves watched the tree grow as if spellbound, while all around humanoid rats ran ¨C hooking meat and tossing it into the pit below with curved kinetic devices. After nearly an hour of this feeding one of the roots managed to poke up into the staging area moving around and sweeping the chunks to its brethren below ¨C one of the rats was caught as well and accidentally consumed but for the most part, the tree only had a taste for the mana dense feed. The top of the tree poked through the upper portal into Queen¡¯s dungeon ¨C a small entrance above it being ripped into and expanded as it surfaced. At this point, Innearth started to have his fill of watching the tree grow. He felt proud of his contributions towards the undertaking¡­ but needed to start focusing on some of the tasks that he was putting off. Main one at this exact moment being his ascended monsters. There were just so many of them! Innearth decided he really did need to start making them a floor to live on. A proper one ¨C not just stuffing them into other floors or unfinished areas. Below the last official floor of his dungeon ¨C the as yet unopen to adventurer¡¯s pure lake ¨C he started creating a floor for ascended. A home they could crawl or walk or fly back to. A place that was specifically not part of his ¡°dungeon¡± that no adventurer should find themselves. Instead of focusing on a specific theme Innearth instead made a wide hallway with the start of rooms heading off it in all directions. Each room was a place an ascended who wanted to live here could call home ¨C and quite a few monsters began taking up his offer asking him to help them remodel their new living spaces. Two spiders had him break down the wall between their rooms and throw some pools of lava about so they could feel at home. One turtle had him toss some dirt and plants about while another wanted a pool they could swim in. Time was spent on living arrangements and then it was winter and Innearth finally completed his seasonal essence set, finishing the hardmode ice caves and opening up the pure lake goal. The crystal treant grew stronger, its minions now too strong to be allowed in the upper crystal caverns and just as Innearth was starting to feel like he had time once again something with Yggdrasil changed. Or more accurately was noticed by the dungeons and defined by the system. The area around the tree¡­had an effect. Around its roots around its trunk. The system defined the effect like so.
Effect: Aura of the world tree
Description: Ease and strength of spell craft increased by 14%.
But that was far from a comprehensive description. The percentage multiplier was climbing as the tree grew and became stronger the closer you got to it¡­but more importantly it didn¡¯t have a target. It affected everyone. Dungeons included. It made mana flow easier and respond faster. It made each and every dungeon in their group request a root of the tree and time was spent portaling the roots to each of them. Innearth planted his portaled root in the pure lake¡¯s island and created a crystal tree above it to hide the gate. The effect seemed to partly affect him and partly affect the area ¨C all his manual spellwork was stronger in general by a faint percentage that would only grow with time and any spells he cast right by his root were stronger as well. Adventurers began to notice both the effect in the pure lake room and the effect in Queen¡¯s entire dungeon¡­ and a second wave of immigrants began to arrive. Mages of all sorts ¨C sapients of all sorts because nearly everyone used magic, mage or not. The city above Innearth grew but the most drastic change was the city growing around Queen¡¯s dungeon. Everyone wanted a wizard tower, or a school or a guild close to the miracle tree. Rather than a vague percentage multiple on something as simple as attack-based skills, the tree¡¯s aura made all magic easier. Runes, material creation, chanting. Innearth found his insight with dungeon circuits began to grow and his dwarves began more consistently making higher tiered items. ...but ¨C as interesting as this all was ¨C enough time had passed with his focus on side projects that he was beginning to feel like he was ignoring his ¡°main project¡±. Innearth wanted a dedicated brainstorming session dedicated to his main goal. Every event that happened, every side project he did was a building block he could use for this greater goal but¡­it was time to start really focusing on it. Focusing on how exactly he could help make a god. Chapter 94. What makes a [God]?
¡­Pa? How strong is a dragon? It¡¯s as strong as a dragon son. It¡¯s a dragon! ¡­Yes but how strong is that? I¡¯ve heard uncle Erick is pretty strong, do you think he could fight a dragon? Him and a dozen of his closest friends maybe. Listen son. Dragons are some of the strongest creatures in this world. Imagine theres a scale right. At the bottom of the scale is something weak like a slime or your granny. If you go ever so slightly up that scale you get something like yourself and if you go all the way to the top you reach dragons. They are the strongest okay. ¡­are they stronger than gods? Gods aren¡¯t on that scale son. That¡¯s the mortal scale. Gods are so far above it the scale might as well not exist. ¡­I still don¡¯t know how strong a dragon is. Look at it like this. If your uncle Erick got mad he could probably wipe this city off the face of the planet. If a dragon got mad and rampaged unstopped, it could wipe this country off the face of the planet. This is¡­a smaller country but that¡¯s still a massive undertaking. ¡­and we just let them roam around? Son. No one just "lets" dragons do anything. Besides, dragons don¡¯t rampage, if they wipe a country out its for a reason.
Excerpt obtained from a conversation between one child and his father in the city of Westmouth 782AS. Innearth settled into a view of his first floor, popped a few unique monsters into it, and started to brainstorm with the background entertainment to fill in the awkward pauses. Current goal. Relieve pressure from the gods. There''s two ways I can see going about this. One. First off I can become a god myself. Easy. Except not because if I just had to want It, others would have figured out how to do so first. I have some unique discoveries that would help but¡­I think the most important point is I keep thinking of the second option instead. The second method is to raise someone else. My new goal is satisfied if I can help someone else become a god¡­and in many ways that feels like a very dungeon thing to do. I¡¯m the one who can challenge an adventurer and push them enough to level into godhood! ¡­I mean, I''m not sure how to do that yet. It seems simple but if it was as easy as making a hard dungeon area with a bunch of strong monsters someone else would have done it before me right? Innearth spent a moment resting on that point while watching the newest adventurer attack his ¡°wood slime¡± in his tutorial floor. The unique monster was a regular slime he threw a random stick into¡­but because the stick had more mana in it, it became something like a core ¨C its weak slimy ectoplasm turning into an appendage. The adventurer fighting it was small, a child with a massive sword they could barely wield who kept swinging ineffectually at the monster. As if showing the futility of his goal the child lifted up their sword wobbling slightly to hold it above their head and smashing it down ¨C the stick/slime dodging to the right wobbling as if laughing. Finally, after 20 minutes the child grew too tired to lift its sword and was attacked by the slime. Frustrated the child reached out and grabbed the slime with both hands ¨C abandoning its sword and snapping the stick in two. A yell from outside the dungeon made the child start and a stern looking adventurer marched in eyes widening as he saw the scene in front of him. Rushing forward the man grabbed his sword and son in separate arms laughing off his worry while side-eyeing the goop that was all that remained of the slime. Watching the two leave his entrance Innearth made more unique monsters and set them loose in his silver mines. A group of crazy balls without a controlling mother were created ¨C each with a golden shell and ¡°random¡± madness-infused material from the pollution/whimsy setup. These balls were meaner, leaner and zoomed around the lower floors trying to inflict as much pain as possible. Okay, let us see¡­I¡¯m going to review some information I saw at that one site and see if it sparks something. There were several sites full of ideas and collaborative efforts of dungeons currently in the process of trying to make a god. Each were locked to the invisible title Innearth gained by reading the meaning of life site. With that key that proved he was ¡°In the know¡± a world of information was at his influence''s grasp. ¡­there was actually a lot of information. There were at least a hundred cores actively working on this goal ¨C many had been working for decades or more accurately several centuries on this. It was humbling in a way. First off there was the system knowledge. The three main levelling systems and examples of godly ascensions were as follows. A dungeon evolved into a god at rank 6. That was level 844 ¨C a full 24 tiers above Innearth. Their tier increased based on their core''s radius in relation to their level 1 size and increased in volume based on experience. ¡­The stats for that showed the highest levelled dungeon was currently level 559 and 1770 years old. They were a true champ on a massive grind that only got worse the higher a level they gained. Spending some time relooking at these stats Innearth felt proud at how much time he had taken to reach rank 4. It was roughly twice as fast as the average ¨C faster than anyone other than his friends in his generation¡­but well below the world record at ¡°5 years¡± that core must have been a monster. Using time as a measure of how long it would take to reach level 844 got worse and worse as the levels increased. While the highest leveled core was 1770 years old there was over a dozen ¡°ancient cores¡± that had been alive since pre-system times. They all clocked in at 2000 years old and were sitting at a lower level because they weren¡¯t constantly pushing themselves. ¡°It was only a matter of time for an immortal¡± ¡­as long as you continued the grind of course. That meant continuing to make new floors and monsters to have any hope of gaining experience. Innearth watched adventures deal with the golden crazy balls. One unique ball had gained the ability to almost duplicate itself ¨C ghostly double shattering against adventurers'' knees or sides while the main body dodged about. A particularly fun fight was one between a crazy ball that spewed an acidic goop every time it impacted something and an adventurer with a large mace that kept beating it away like they were playing baseball. Finally, the particularly durable unique monster shattered ¨C gifting its loot ¨C and Innearth moved on. There weren¡¯t any unique monsters in his darkness maze but Innearth stopped there for a time while thinking about the next levelling system. A monster evolves into a dragon at level 512. It''s then theoretically levelled into a god at level 1024 when it''s doubled one more time¡­The highest level goal to reach ¨C not that measuring levels between species and systems is a good idea. Theoretically one of the easier ones to deal with... but I don¡¯t know¡­ Seeing as how they are the world police¡­the easiest way for dragons to level is for them to solve world-level catastrophes. There were actually a couple of dungeons that ruminated on this method ¨C causing massive catastrophes in an attempt at feeding levels to dragons before being put down. The chance of feeding enough experience to a single dragon before being wiped out as the true culprit was slim however and Innearth was not feeling particularly suicidal these days. ¡­besides that, the dungeons that did go this method found it hard to make apocalyptic problems while fighting against their dungeon instincts and it tended to look badly on dungeons as a whole if too many dungeons were linked to dangerous things. Most Cores didn¡¯t like making their extended family look bad. I don¡¯t know, if I think of something good that¡¯s a hard ¡°maybe¡±. Moving on to the magma halls, Innearth released a set of spider bat pairs really digging into his unique material store. Some garbage bins in the whimsy floor were raided and spiders with long fuzzy green hair prowled about. The bats each had a different shape and colour Innearth stuffing random monster parts into the free space ¨C shrinking some of them to make sure they fit. Alright. Here you go. Some nice loot and¡­done. Let¡¯s review the humanoid system again. The last manner of advancement was the ¡°humanoid one¡±. All humanoid sapients became transcendents at level 125¡­Innearth was pretty sure that had something to do with them having 5 fingers on a hand but he couldn¡¯t be sure. They became transcendents at level 125 and gods at level 625. Theoretically, they had the lowest level to reach but¡­once again level to level comparisons were bad to make across species and more importantly they had the lowest chance of becoming a god in the current system because of one important point. Dungeons and dragons were both unaging. They effectively had infinite time to ¡°eventually reach godhood its only a matter of time¡±. Even if Innearth stopped doing anything but resetting his dungeon his monsters would accrue small amounts of experience and given a few millennia he was guaranteed godhood. Assuming he didn¡¯t smash himself through boredom obviously. Transcendent humans and elves and dwarves and merpeople all lived much much longer at higher levels¡­but they still aged and died eventually. According to one article, a humanoid sapient¡¯s leftover lifespan was increased by a percentage with each level¡­not their actual total. A baby gaining 10 extra levels would live a few more years but an old woman gaining those same levels would only live a few extra hours. Depending on a whole bunch of factors humanoids could live for hundreds of years ¨C with some tracked sapients being clocked in at ages close to dungeons. Apparently the gnome Innearth had seen was well known and had been around since roughly 300AS! He was practically a dungeon celebrity nearly everyone of note had gotten a visit from him. It''s even more impressive when you find out gnomes have a shorter lifespan on average ¨C that guy must be doing something differently. Bunch of spells outside of the system? Basically, for humanoid sapients the exact math was hard to track, varied between races, was muddied by different stats increasing lifespan disproportionately and had external influences that could change everything. All they could tell was the line at 125 was a solid jump and most transcendents were measurably older than non-transcendents. Innearth ruminated on humanoids while watching humanoids kill unique spiders and move onto a boss fight. A team of three humans and one orc battled the spider sisters to death with pure strength ¨C not a single mage or archer between them ¨C before moving on and resting in the nature-themed rest room. Releasing a set of snakes with essence blood and purple scales Innearth started digging deeper into stat sites and pages than he had up till now. There were endless pages with stats crafted in loving detail. They estimated how high a level adventurers could reach based on their current level and age and how old they would be when they reached every level in between. They included information taken from ¡°unknown but reliable sources¡± and straight from the minds of sapients sometimes with mental mana. These ¡°stats¡± were split into simple and complex categories. A simple/good quick estimation was something called the ¡°one in a thousand¡± rule. One in a thousand adventurers reached every 100 levels. So with an estimated current population of 7 billion humanoid sapients in the world, you could estimate one in a thousand would reach level 100. 7 million or so are basically transcendents. Of those transcendent, one in a thousand would reach level 200 ¨C 7 thousand or so. Of those level 200 transcendent, one in a thousand would reach level 300 ¨C 7 give or take. Following this pattern the number of sapients reaching level 600 was 7e-9 ¨C one over 7 billion¡­an equal distance from the number of sapients there currently was alive. Of course, that didn¡¯t mean there was zero level 400+ sapients. Populations fluctuated ¨C a thousand years ago there was something close to 12 billion sapients and 500 years ago that number was closer to one billion¡­with age coming into play there were sapients alive from centuries or even millennia before... so an intrepid stat focused researcher needed to take into account the number of births and estimated age of death over a long period¡­More importantly, while the one in a thousand rule was surprisingly accurate it didn''t take into account wars or catastrophes that cut populations, nor did it account for modern life expectancy rising in recent years. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ...at the end of the day, Innearth didn''t know how important any of this information was for his goals. It served only to show how monumental a problem he had decided to help solve and well¡­other Cores had poured over the probabilities with a frankly boring degree of focus. Innearth was heavily distracted by his more interesting entertainment ¨C one snake had something like a hammer essence and kept jumping into the air briefly morphing its body into the shape of a hammer that crashed down on adventurer shields and then back into a crystal snake form to dodge away. I like that snake. It''s not necessarily as strong as some but something about the way it looks when it smashes adventures makes me laugh. How much hammer essence do I have? ¡­that¡¯s not a lot. That¡¯s no good I want to make these a more common enemy. Innearth didn¡¯t take long to figure out a solution. He made a new monster ¨C an essence cow ¨C and filled its belly with nearly all of his hammer essence. Around that belly mercury-based liquid life was focused solely on regenerating the essence/potion in the cow''s belly. At the bottom of the monster, a handy tap lay ¨C farming crystal dwarves could come by and twist the nozzle dumping essence milk into a bucket every few hours. While he was on this tangent Innearth made some more essence cows for some of his favourite potion flavours ¨C All the seasonal essence types for example and one that made mushrooms appear everywhere. ¡­there was a slight problem with this whole setup. Turning the essence into a part of a monster randomly changed it slightly and all the essence cows made essence milk not regular essence¡­there was also a problem with the essence potions being deeply magical and requiring quite a bit more time to regenerate than something simple like a healing potion but for the most part it worked perfectly. ¡­Innearth returned to his brainstorming looking about the deprivation floor while he did so. I¡¯m going to ignore the stats. All I need to know is that to reach a high level an adventurer needs to advance quickly ¨C preferably gaining a bunch of levels when they are really young. That will make them live longer and reach a higher level which will make them closer to reaching godhood. Also obviously adventurers that take risks and fight stuff stronger than them increase in level much faster than ones who play it safe¡­but are more likely to die. Rolling higher odds year after year hits anyone harder and it''s important to note most transcendents ¨C even those who were risk-takers as youths ¨C have cooled down and started playing it safe. They only have one life and healing, while miraculous, can only do so much¡­playing it safe means their levelling has slowed to a crawl that¡¯s really the ¡°real¡± problem preventing them from reaching godhood. ¡­now that I think about it, Amy¡¯s doing a good job healing adventurers with ambrosia. That¡¯s the sort of thing that can let them take more risks and level faster. Innearth noticed his original number of deprivation slimes was now frightfully low. Despite protecting them to the best of his abilities¡­they now had dropped to one ascended one and 3 non ascended ones. ¡­this whole floor had been ignored for too long. It had become much easier than when Innearth made it. Let¡¯s see if I can use my current knowledge to fix this. Besides the blocking materials, a lot of the deprivation floors'' initial design was based around loud noises, parrots repeating back sounds and the slimes removing senses. Now that Innearth knew how to use deletion mana he could try to use it to delete sounds and senses¡­but he wasn¡¯t a deletion specialist and as a dungeon wasn¡¯t very in tune with most humanoid senses. It was hard. Innearth spent some time trying to manage it before giving up and searching the market for a deletion core to manage it for him. Finding one happy to part with some sound, taste, light, feelings, and smell deletion cores for a single crate of 100 loot items Innearth began creating a circuit-based monster. A turtle ¨C simple shape ¨C that ate senses, each deletion core¡¯s potential maximized with circuits. This turtle lived in the center of the hallway and sucked senses from nearly the entire floor in a constant draw. Moving on to his Ice caverns Innearth mixed essence milk into snow making a set of different coloured snowmen ¨C a dash of colour in an otherwise cold and white land. They attacked and harried different adventuring groups while Innearth finished off his stat review. Okay, basically all the existing plans and theories that other dungeons have made or tried before¡­or are currently trying are okay. They are actually great but not enough and doing the same thing as them and expecting a different result seems foolish. The largest idea that Cores seem to be fixated on is playing around with both difficulty and actual danger to adventurers. Something something probability of adventurers gaining levels vs dying using different graphs and massive collaborative big data tracking. There''s so much math! There''s so much math it¡¯s taking their delving entertainment to a dry boring place. This is a goal for me to like living why would I turn it into something that¡¯s not fun? Innearth did agree that a high-level hunting ground needed to be made and had already started brainstorming what it would look like in a separate thought thread. What he didn¡¯t agree with was the idea of just making a high-level area filling it with high-level monsters and hoping for the best. Innearth would stack as many things in his favour as he could. Getting Amy¡¯s help with ambrosia life support was a start to that problem. He wanted her help but while he was on that thread¡­Innearth wanted a whole saving system. ¡­He should start researching the short timeframe ¡°[resurrection] that some high-level adventurers performed reviving a second or two after their body''s death. Doc would probably be the best to talk about that with. Considering Doc had been hinting they should play with death mana that¡¯s a good start but Innearth didn¡¯t want to start that until he actually had a really high-level area to use the system. Innearth moved past the hidden whimsy floor and started looking about the nightmare mines. At this moment there was only one adventuring group in the floor collapsed against a wall as they tried to regain energy against the increased gravity¡­ Not feeling particularly like bugging them from their rest, Innearth moved on once again stopping at his ¡°desert¡± transitionary floor. This floor had a single group as well, but they were actively fighting a dust devil and were much more entertaining to watch in the background. I want the ¡°super hard¡± floor(s) to be in the void and¡­I think it needs to be tempered cosmic void to withstand the sorts of fights I¡¯m imagining will happen on it. ¡­but it''s going to be big and I don¡¯t want to spend forever just slowly extruding cosmic void out into the void. Is there any way I can automate this? I can¡¯t can I? Innearth watched sand wurms spin about the dunes weaving between crystal cacti to attack the adventurers. He thought back to the essence cows he just made and then to the fact that he couldn¡¯t grow or regenerate cosmic void. ¡­but cosmic void wasn¡¯t actually the only material that could be tempered was it? Just the material that can be tempered and brought back to reality. All the void stone and solid void in the initial facility was tempered wasn¡¯t it? It just took more effort? Innearth found some of that ancient tempered voidstone and tried bringing it back to reality. Unlike tempered cosmic void, the void atmosphere immediately drained away from the material ¡°detempering it¡±¡­that would be a problem in reality but if he only cared about it in the void? Making some solid void Innearth moved it about trying to temper it ¨C in the same manner he tempered cosmic void. ¡­it didn¡¯t seem to pick it up as well but Innearth knew it was possible somehow ¨C the whale had done so after all Innearth should be able to do anything some stupid whale could. Turning this time to cosmic void Innearth created a giant press ¨C two flat sheets of cosmic void inside of a cosmic void box. Placing solid void inside this machine, Innearth pressed the void atmosphere down ¨C pulling the block out afterwards and checking his results. ¡­it worked but there was no point in this setup if Innearth was the one making the solid void manually. Sure it was slightly cheaper and easier to make than cosmic void but not to a degree that mattered and the result was slightly worse¡­ Innearth thought back to the cows and thought to the void plants queen made that all created a temperable void-based material. He wanted a solid result¡­ but it was much easier to regenerate a liquid or more sand-like flesh than it was solid body part in a useful shape. Innearth thought to Queens cement and decided he would need her help with this task. Wanting to see as far as he could get alone Innearth created a manual machine at the edge of the facility. Large ¡°presses¡± were made where you could feed solid void in one side and push out a tempered slab on the other. Tubes needed to be made snaking about the whole outside of the facility to suck atmosphere from many different places ¨C a large number of cosmic void turbines sucking atmosphere through and feeding through ¡°intake¡± vents near the top of each press. A long constant slab was a good start ¨C even if it was manually filled with void materials currently ¨C but Innearth didn¡¯t quite know how to go about attaching it to more slabs. Before Innearth started asking his friends for help creating a new zone he returned to his brainstorming session. Some part of him wanted to visit each floor and didn¡¯t like that he had skipped some. The sand floor was followed by the nightmare magmahalls¡­or more acuratly the nightmare lazer halls because Innearth had only kept a bit of magma for the asthetic and to match its predecessor. Two adventuring groups were currently exploring ¨C one a trio of fire mana themed warrior/mage/tanks and the other a pair of pink skinned humans with pointed noses¡­kobolds. Innearth stayed for a time while imagining the type of monster he would need on this planned zone. I think¡­I think I want to abuse the natural resource of the void. Attract demons and have adventurers fight those. Ideally, for the type of experience we are talking about, adventurers would need to fight stuff on the level of the void whales¡­but I don¡¯t know how to go about facilitating this? Innearth thought along this tangent for a while ¨C the barest hint of an idea starting to form. Speaking of void whales, despite it getting slightly repetitive Doc Abe and Queen were all calling for another whaling ¨C Yggdrasil was fine but had run out of food and had slowed down its growth. Helping them create the newest harpoon and paying more attention to the whale this time Innearth tried to imagine helping an adventurer fight the beast. As the 20km whale died a few minor ascensions happened¡­but more importantly his crazy key ascended. The key to his magma hall puzzle room ascended! That¡­was not supposed to happen. Innearth remade the key and brought his ascended key down to its new room. He tried to see if this event meant anything. Part of him was wondering if there was some higher meaning to the key ascending¡­but he wasn¡¯t a superstisious Core and no matter how much he thought about it there was zero link between his ascended key and his goal. Moving to the void transitionary floor, Innearth stared about the walkways covered in void roses. No adventurers again at the current time this deep ¨C just hundreds of void flies buzzing about the roses. One was actually ascended and had gotten ignored till now, ascending in one of the mass ascensions while Innearth was busy. The fly looked relatively normal but moved much quicker as it darted about like a humming bird ¨C void needle beak stabbing into the rose bushes occasionally as it amused itself. Can I find meaning in this? ¡­no. Life doesn¡¯t work that nicely. I could make my own meaning but it would be pointless for this. Innearth moved onto his nightmare crystal caverns while thinking about the demon problem. This zone had quite a few groups in it ¨C around two dozen had set up camps before delving the still new and uncharted waters that were the hardmode ice caves/cavern past it. Adventurers were working together ¨C one seemed to have some [chef] based skills and was grilling arch crystal snakes on a large bonfire. Working together is nice¡­I want my friends to help with my goal. Innearth idly mused. He noticed Craig was sitting to the side of a group chunk of seasoned roasted snake meat on a needle skewer and¡­Innearth reached out. He found an artifact Steve had made a while ago to communicate and brought it down to the zone with an abuse of the loot system. Pointing it at Craig he asked the question he was dying to ask and crossed an invisible line. Innearth sent. Before he could hear a response everything seemed to freeze. A panel poped up.
Potential insanity.
Due to your level and past strength feat of [Killing multiple Void Whales] potential aberrant status, skips minor concerning tag and minor madness quests. A inspector should be along shortly to properly verify the claim. Please stand by.
The system popup wasn¡¯t what made everything feel like it was frozen. The inspector was. A dragon slowly wandered through Innearths dungeon moving through nearly frozen time. They were not shaped like what first comes to mind when you imagine a dragon. They had feathers instead of scales and were sized closer to a large horse with hawk-like talons for hooves and a short serpentine tail. They were not particularly lizard-like... but Innearth immediately knew they were a dragon. The amount of mana contained in their body rivalled anything he had ever seen, the way smoke billowed out of their mouth on each exhale, the way they had frozen his dungeon and everyone in it. Yep, that''s a dragon. Didn''t even know I had a natural dragon detector. Go dungeon instincts! The dragon went through each floor quickly ¨C pausing when it saw his steam horse, pausing again when it saw his dust mana cloud. The dragon spent a particularly long time lingering in the whimsy floor before ducking through a portal to the facility and scanning it from top to bottom. Suddenly as if Innearth''s sense of time had been frozen and re-unfrozen, the dragon was in his core room. It reached out with a talon, tapping the cosmic void shell that protected his core¡­not maliciously but with a curious sort of knock. Like it was a salesman knocking on Innearth''s door the dragon''s talon knocked several times and then smashed into it as if testing his defences¡­ Quite clearly, the dragon gave Innearth a look and head shake indicating it wanted him to open the box. ¡­Innearth did not in fact want to open his box. If he did, he would be entirely at the dragon''s mercy, in fact Innearth was surprised to know his tempered armour even stopped the dragon with how strong they felt to his senses. ¡­Innearth was definitely not opening his box after that last smash. That would be idiotic. What''s the point of armour if you take it off for the first potential enemy you see? No he was going to stay nice and cozy in his shell until the dragon went away and hopefully sped time back up when they did so. ¡­the dragon was talking wasn¡¯t it. If only Innearth could figure out how to communicate without opening his box. Trying to grab the communication device he had just used on Craig, Innearth stuggled to move it or activate it in the frozen world. He actually struggled to do anything in this world the only ¡°thing¡± that seemed to be sped up was his perception and thoughts. Partway through yanking the device ineffectually and suddenly the dragon had it and was pointing the sender at itself. The boxy artifact was awkwardly held in a taloned hand. Innearth reached out. The dragon muttered. Innearth sent out hesitantly. The dragon doesn¡¯t seem too angry? The dragon''s voice sounded¡­high pitched even as a mental communication. It came in almost chirping waves of thought like how Innearth imagined a bird would think. Innearth didn¡¯t know what the dragon wanted from him. He was safe? Yeah¡­Innearth knew that. No madness cultivation here whatever that meant. ¡­Why was the dragon still standing there expectantly. the longer the dragon talked the more Innearth felt like communication was breaking down. He hesitantly agreed ¨C hoping he could hide the dragon from adventurers. The lake was not meant for combat it was specifically designed as a reward. suddenly time was unfrozen and the dragon was gone. No the pure lake was being absolutely trashed ¨C the dragon was happily swimming about at multiple times the speed of sound magic blurring its form and protecting the environment but still making massive waves as it swam everywhere. Despite asking for a place at the lake the dragon seemed to change its mind after taking an incredibly long several second swim ¨C they moved over to the facility and claimed a part of the room sitting beside Yggdrasil pulling hundreds of shiny golden nuggets shaped like acorns and arranging them into a nice stack before instantly falling asleep a faint hum whistling in the air as it breathed.
Abe: Hey uh¡­anyone else seeing this?
Chapter 95. Party at the tree of life.
Jake rode the waves. A solid-water board rooted his feet firmly down, while a forest of kraken arms loomed about above his head ¨C their rubbery razor-tipped tentacles swaying in the light wind. Both of Jake''s arms were jerked upwards accompanied by a sharp shout and hundreds of large globules of sea burst up to float about in the air. Beside him, his [companion] surfaced and trilled ¨C a large guppy turned monster he had raised from birth. Some of the more scattered globs combined with the sound ¨C all the globs becoming slightly less misshapen. Pausing to reach down with one hand and pet his fish ¨C very important distraction ¨C Jake stood up once more and began to sing. He listened to the song of the mana ¨C hearing mana in the waves and wind and sky like his elven mother had taught him long ago. A resonating hum of life surrounding the discordant buzz of the sea his mana quickly covered all the globs at the speed of sound. Jake listened to mana¡¯s song, a conductor¡¯s hand teasing out discordant tones in chunks of sea ¨C teasing out what each droplet wanted to be...could be with his help. He listened to tones that didn¡¯t match their surroundings and convinced them to move ¨C jumping to a different band that would appreciate their tone more. Jake sorted the environmental mana ¨C changing a hundred messy and broken blobs into more useful forms. He performed a feat of magic most deemed impossible in a few moments. Humming and feeling the joy of mana rush up his throat Jake coaxed the primed sea chunks to change¡­to become his ¨C he infused his voice with mana and the whole area vibrated with his summon-sound. Strength in water. Strength in family. Strength in not attacking directly like his merman father had taught him. Well now Jake ¡°made¡± his own family. His [companion] and [summons] were all he needed. Somewhere between notes in his song a wizened trident made completely of crystalized salt had formed in his hand and around him, sea spirits fell ¨C chunks of ¡°sea¡± gaining form and solidifying into a literal army of [summons]. Summons dependant upon their sorted environmental mana and each as strong as level 100 human. Kraken arms rushed forwards and were cut down as his army built ¨C his song having started a magical reaction at this point that continued to suck in salt water and output salt summons. Wind whistled in his gills and flung his seashell-lined hair back and forth as Jake sung and violence erupted about him. A small spot of calm surrounded by a maelstrom of tentacles and claws and jagged teeth and crystalized weapons. Abruptly laughing, Jake''s song rose into a crescendo and caused mana-drenched sea to lift him and his pet up high above the battle. A thin podium of water ¨C a spout of ocean crystallized into solidity with salt and song in a way very different from ice ¨C hung above the fray like a throne. Below the sea turned red with monster blood and Jake crouched down slowly dangling his legs over the edge as he got comfortable. This part of the battle always bored Jake ¨C it caused him to get closer and closer initially hence only starting his song once he was surrounded. He needed some slight thrill to still find joy in this ¨C something many of his contacts in the adventurer¡¯s guild would be horrified to find out. For Jake was the level 398 [sea adventurer]. The only one he knew ¨C everyone else seemed so scared of water monsters. They always stuck to the coast talking of the horrors of an open ocean in hushed tones and stories designed to scare children. He was different. His twisted bloodline made him almost like a necromancer on open water ¨C a one-man army specifically built to kill sea creatures. He wasn¡¯t afraid of the ocean. The open ocean was his home and he had even crossed continents multiple times over the past few centuries ¨C a feat only spoken of in legend. Deep below his feet, a school of sword mana fish was dashed to bits in the teeth of a salt shark. To the side a depth cursed [Abyssal Angler] swung severing deep-sea rods of void water towards his feet ¨Crods were blocked by the shield of a salt guardian a moment later but it was still novel enough to warrant mentioning. ¡°What is an abyssal even doing this close to the surface¡± Jake laughed humming and beginning to toss bolts of sea downwards ¨C each saltwater projectile erasing a monster from the battle. On his chest, a twisted seashell on a thick rope of kelp began to buzz an incessant whine of some ship being attacked or coast being raided or¡­other annoyance. Sighing Jake hummed a new note ¨C a pitch shift of mana that enhanced his necklaces sound to something more audible ¨C and his fear was confirmed. An endless list of quests only he could complete. Each with maximum importance each that needed to be solved right away! ¡°¡­I need a vacation¡± Jake muttered. Today was definitely a Tuesday.
A minor slaughter of sea monsters by a rare melfman as documented 2020AS It''s the end of an era. By that sad note, Innearth was referring to the facility finally being cleared ¨C a new adventuring group led by a suspiciously charming looking adventurer and two fast-moving support mage/assassin/scout hybrids had beaten the section for the first time. Had ¡°overkilled¡± it if Innearth was being honest ¨C making sure to smash every bonus section despite the time sink. They had beaten CISC¡¯s fake core, gained the rewards hidden within and then moved to Queen¡¯s dungeon. Presumably, after this point they found a place to stay or decided to permanently move to her burgeoning city, centered around the tree of life. According to Queen, this ¡°charming adventurer¡± was actually an arch-goblin¡­but that was the excuse Innearth needed to continue building. This delve happened nearly directly after his minor dragon incursion and subsequent explanation of what had happened to his friends ¨C it felt like everything was happening so quickly these days. I guess that¡¯s a sign of getting older. Of his friends the two sides of the spectrum could be summed up as follows: Queen had thought they had a new pet, Doc had acted wary mentioning they shouldn¡¯t provoke the dragon. Abe and Innearth fell closer to Doc¡¯s side while Amy and FED were closer to Queen. Abe seemed to think they should show the dragon their harpoon setup for goodwill, while Doc told them all to wait and see¡­he seemed to have a bit of a trauma with creatures drastically stronger than him. ...Innearth privately asked Doc if he wanted help making his own box and got back a tentative yes. He offered all his friends but the benefits didn¡¯t seem to outweigh the work and increased cost of blocking themselves off at their core¡­so Doc was the only one armoured up. .. To begin his setup on the new floor, Innearth started asking his friends for help. He stated he wanted to make an incredibly hard floor¡­and after some deliberation once again sent the link to the ¡°meaning of life site.
Innearth: Just if you want to know why.
Brutality Queen: Nah, I don¡¯t need a reason. I¡¯m 110% on board! You had me at ¡°strong floor¡± what sort of strong are we talking about?
Innearth: Okay, here¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking¡­
Cement was a miracle material. A magical creation that could do exactly what Innearth wanted and was easy enough to convince Queen to help him make. Between the two of them ¨C and several failed cow and plant prototypes ¨C they created a mixture. A field of solid void plants grew ¨C rich soil and growth beacons designed to continue growing the grasses and bushes at a steady speed. Cows wandered about grazing on the materials turning them into a gravely sandy paste in their gullet and dumping them into a wet magical ¡°cement¡± in their second stomach. This material was mixed and¡­for lack of a better word ¡°dumped¡± out into a conveyor belt at the edge of the field. Moving away and being squished into a slab the cement passed through a dry/dust mana ¡°setting¡± station before being fed into the void tempering presses to finish them off. After being tempered to an insane relative strength, the slab chugged out into empty void ¨C there were currently four of these machines extruding endless slabs and Innearth was planning on increasing production soon. Now, these slabs weren¡¯t quite as ¡°indestructible¡± as the solid non-cement materials would be but they were completely automated and good enough for the ¡°support¡± beams of this new floor. Roughly a single meter across and 10 meters away from each other side to side these beams currently¡­showed the bones of a floor 34m long. That wasn¡¯t very exciting ¨C Innearth wanted at least a kilometer wide to start so they needed another 87 machines and a much larger setup. There should probably also be a slight wall on the sides of this floor so another couple machines¡­but each of these presses thinned the void atmosphere they were using to temper the slabs and required more vents. Those vents needed to be placed relatively far away from each other and needed to be made out of cosmic void to prevent too much leaking¡­and if Innearth was honest just copy-pasting the setup and expanding every feed would require months if not years to finish. Plenty of time to start designing and finishing the rest of the planning. At some point, they realized they needed time based materials to help hide the beams and floor from an ¡°excessive¡± amount of demons. Adding Abe to the mix they created entropy plants in the grazing field to mix together in the cement which had a wonderful side effect of speeding up the growth of the field and speed of cows running about. Next they worked on filling the spaces between each of these solid beams. A second type of monster was created ¨C this one shaped closer to ants with three large spherical chambers linked back to back and giving a pair of legs. Six total legs, a good reasonable number for a monster. They had a different methodology to their material generation than the cows¡­instead of combining multiple steps these monsters created all their webbing ¡°in monster¡± despite that being less efficient. To start off the first chamber, symbiotic crystal treant limbs were placed growing inwards towards a whirling smashing ¡°chipper¡±. The nearly constant stream of crystal shards was fed downwards into the second chamber ¨C this one filled with corrupted void crystals that consumed the shards and mana and spit out third-generation corrupted void crystals. Those corrupted void crystals were fed into the last and most skill-oriented chamber. By that Innearth meant it only functioned due to copious skill organs fixing all of his desires. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Glands of trace elements magicked into making sense and an acid bath helped convert corrupted crystals into ¡°goop¡±. Goop was then manipulated and deposited out into quick-setting thin void-based wires. These ants ran back and forth jumping between ¡°tempered void/time cement beams¡± laying their razor-thin web into a slightly tempered and strong void net. A third and final monster was created ¨C this one based on the original expanding silver flesh. Its innards were a madness-soaked reactor that pumped out dangerous endlessly expanding materials at a rushing, bucking, "attempting to slip-free" rate. A drip-feed of regenerating metal flesh with an insane 100:1 material ratio once converted. If this reactor was plugged for even a second that separate plant-like inner section would break free ¨C ripping the outer monster apart and attempting to cover everything¡­Innearth moved his roach knight to the area on protection detail. They weren¡¯t doing much in their hidden hallway after all and protecting the cattle was a more important job. The silver flesh-producing monster was shaped like a massive silver slug and other than the silver madness organ the entire rest of the 15m long slug''s body was filled with circuits designed with a single goal. Turning the silver output ¡°safe¡±. Rendering it inert. Honestly, Innearth wasn¡¯t fully sure how efficient this monster was and a good part of its design had been based around seeing if he could do it. A self-challenge he completed. Either way above the beams and resting on the net a solid layer of nearly pure silver was laid. Back and forth the slugs moved, leaving trails of silver behind them that built ever higher in several meandering layers. This is where Amy came into play. She noticed what they were doing ¨C hard to ignore with it happening right beside the facility ¨C and claimed they couldn¡¯t have a whole floor of flatish solid silver with no real variation. After leaving them with that for a bit, she came back with tons of metallic grasses and simple plants that could grow, thrive and spread in metal. Crop dusters randomly dropped metallic bushes or flowers, while planted patches of copper, silver and gold grasses slowly spread across their finished areas. A metallic plane stretching ever further out into the unknown. Custom plants shaped like cacti or weird bushes. Random signs in unknown languages and the occasional crumbling shack or ruin once Fed added his touch. Of course, the floor only extended out a hundred meters or so at its furthest end but giving it a few more years and hopefully the ¡°several kilometer¡± goal will make it look bigger. Doc came into play at this point in time. He looked at what they had and immediately pointed out the ¡°obvious¡± things they were missing.
ZeMadDoctor: #1. Atmosphere. Sapients cant swim in the void very well. Staring off into it will probably drive them mad and even if this is designed for transcendents they still need to breathe every once in a while. ZeMadDoctor: #2. Gravity. You don¡¯t want them floating off into the void even if they can swim back. Other than that minor (massive) problem. Love the setup. Wonder how big we can make it!
Innearth¡­didn¡¯t even know how those facts had been forgotten. Sadly it seemed harder to automate than what they had done so far. Not impossible! But annoying. Innearth decided to cheat the gravity problem. Obviously embedding gravity plates across the entire floor would be optimal¡­but he would have to do that himself and it felt like that would invalidate all his work so far. No what Innearth ended up doing was creating a crystal dwarf at each beam. He gave them some gravity plants for materials and told them to write gravity runes into the cement between when it was set and when it was baked. As long as Innearth and his friends didn¡¯t have to do the work it was ¡°automated¡± after all and his dungeon monsters were pretty useful cogs in the machine that he was creating. Currently, the edge of the floor seemed to slowly lose gravity and form before falling into space¡­that was a final ¡°end of the world¡± sort of effect so they left the edge as is. A harder to deal with goal was the atmosphere. This part wasn¡¯t quite as simple of a fix. The void atmosphere was not a vacuum and could be safely moved about in ¨C despite containing no matter to breathe in and out¡­assuming transcendents could hold their breath for a reasonable amount of time and with plans to make breathing artifacts for sapients who couldn¡¯t figure it out themselves the group planted a few ¡°Air ferns¡± each which slowly filled a small sphere around them with breathable oxygen and atmosphere. They then set to work trying to cover the sky. Fed figured out a wide range base ¨C creating mist releasing and controlling dungeon plants that blanketed the sky and helped make the floor feel contained and less¡­open. As Doc had mentioned the real problem was the void itself. The way the atmosphere twisted space fractalling dimensions and breaking weaker minds who stared into it. The dimensions¡­the multiple dimensions were harder for adventurers to process than dungeons. The lower a distance to look, the better. This misty swirling sky also helped the dungeons feel more comfortable expanding with the floor. Staring out into the endless expanse of the void atmosphere while disconcerting¡­was different enough it didn¡¯t trigger their ¡°wide open spaces¡± phobia but it was still anxiety-inducing. The misty blanket was calming even if it offered very little protection from demons. For demons had started showing up already ¨C Humanoid creatures with cruel intelligence wandered about searching for things to torture or kill. Eel-like feathered monstrosities ripped into the metal grass, visibly growing larger with how fast they were attacking the foliage. The roach knight started dual-wielding protection duty and cleanup detail ¨C galloping back and forth slaughtering demons happily ¨C while the hydra was moved from its mostly useless position guarding Innearths portals to help thin the herds. ¡­Innearth wanted to start making some roach knights and would soon but they were incredibly expensive for their equivalent strength and he was a much more experienced core by this point. He could make them stronger and a portion of his attention shifted to fixing the base schematic. One minor note was that while the floor itself was automated they still needed to manually expand into it and the void atmosphere didn¡¯t make a good expansion pathway. It was doable... but each dungeon still had to embed dungeon circuits in the floor to gain any real distance. ¡­ As a break from this ¡°floor¡¯s¡± design, While Innearth had been spearheading the automated metal plane¡¯s creation¡­the rest of his friends were focused on a different sort of goal. A less important one all things said and done, but one with much quicker results and a more ¡°fun¡± design process. They were creating a reward floor on the opposite end of the spectrum from his pure lake. A truly massive bar was the center of this effort. Wrapping around the tree of life beside the facility and bordering the silver expanse this floor was centered on Abe¡¯s new alcohol creation effects. Abe¡¯s attention¡­along with 24 something odd ascended crystal dwarves. All the dwarves were both taste testers and engineers ¨C focused with more attention than they had shown any other project in their entire life. Alcohol mana made cheap alcoholic materials relatively easy ¨C with Abe¡¯s material creation spell and alcohol mana there were dozens of straight alcohols that were¡­fine but lacked a certain oomph. Good to get blackout drunk on but that was it. No, the good alcohols needed more work that ascended dwarves were willing to do the leg work for. For the most part, the best magical alcohols were created in multi-step processes. Some alcohol materials were solid and made containers and different shaped devices to aid in this process. Alcohol mana barrels with every square inch covered in runes less than a cm wide were a good cornerstone of this process. Different liquids, plants and assorted ¡°materials¡± were pumped into the barrels and left to sit in entropy mana cellars. Yep, Abe had made aging rooms where barrels could be rolled in and out ¨C leaving the juices for days to age and increase their flavour or give time for the transmutation functions to work properly. These barrels were not the only method they were using to create alcohol however. Their experiments sought greater and greater heights. Higher and higher quality booze at the cost of everything else. One tank for example was filled with live non-magical fish swimming about in transmuting booze ¨C supposedly to improve its flavour. They couldn¡¯t survive naturally ¨C in fact, they were constantly gulping unable to breathe the booze ¨C and had to be constantly healed while suffocating endlessly¡­Innearth didn¡¯t care for this tank. Torture was gross even if it was ¡°only fish¡±. Another series of boxy containers were dedicated to throwing dungeon monster corpses or specific monster parts ¨C sometimes leaving the claws or eyeballs in the served drinks ¡°just because¡±. Obviously, some of these experiments were quite obviously dangerous ¨C in fact, one dwarf had already died¡­but to be fair the drink that did him in had melted every cup they had tried to contain it in and had been lapped sizzling off the melting floor¡­Innearth took that moment to convince Amy to set up ambrosia healing stations for life support inadvertently adding a new drug to the mix. Besides monsters, a few plants were found to grow inside or were watered by alcohol creating solid alcoholic fruits and vegetables like alcoholic tubers. They could be turned into fancy garnishes or used near the start of other processes feeding into the beginning of assembly lines¡­ Most of the alcohols being made were actually transmuted water with additives. Some however ¨C mainly the most exotic variations ¨C were created with monster blood or less identifiable fluids. Blood wine for example was one of the hardest individual materials to make taste good ¨C requiring nearly 100 separate distillery steps before it was finished¡­but the dwarves who drank it claimed it was worth it. There was just so much alcohol Innearth privately thought it was overwhelming every other trait this floor currently had. Besides the literally thousands of different flavours and ¡°types¡± of magical boozes, the rest of Innearth¡¯s friends had designed rooms with which to drink in. Everything from homely wood-panneled rooms with comfy chairs staffed by NPC masks¡­to fantastical floating beer boats on rivers of cheap booze surrounded by alcoholic trees and staffed by tentacled monstrosities. There was even a cage fighting ring where monsters could fight and be bet on ¨C or adventurers could try their luck entering the fray to earn prizes while providing their companions free entertainment. That last room had Innearth thinking. He wanted to help, he wanted to feel included. Testing out some designs in his own dungeon first ¨C to make sure they looked okay, he didn¡¯t want to prototype something dumb where his friends were watching ¨C he figured out a few themes he liked and started building parts for them. A couple different brands of dance floor were spread throughout ¨C with strobing lights and Laser mana disco balls filtering non-dangerous light through different coloured crystals. He finally figured out how to make some sound deletion materials to create ¡°quiet rooms¡± as a counter to the dance floors¡­but was finding it hard to make music. Dungeons were¡­pretty much tone deaf and Sound mana while relatively ¡°easy¡± and common in adventurers¡­was nearly impossible for dungeons to figure out. He ended up creating the silent versions of the dance rooms while making a note to try and create singing monsters hoping a good solid circuit could make the leap he could not. Some of the dance floors had secrets or games with the tiles below needing to be pressed in different patterns but they still felt ¡°undone¡± despite Innearth''s craze of making toys and items for them ¨C stuff like disco hats or glowsticks and funny-looking dance shoes. The last set of rooms Innearth worked on were the ¡°game rooms¡±. Taking some inspiration from the cage fight and betting pool Innearth designed [SYSTEM_LUCK] randomly spinning gambling rooms along with challenges and puzzles designed for adventurers to test each other in. Honestly, most of the rooms were just to break up all the booze¡­ but sometimes he couldn¡¯t help himself and leaned hard into the alcohol aspect. One room for example was set up as a drinking ¡°contest¡± with a random reward for those able to stay conscious while doing shots with a very happy-looking dwarf. ¡­ At some point in this design adventurers started leaking in despite ¡°the floor not being done¡±. The disguised arch-goblin and his friends came across a particularly drunk dwarf who stated ¡°I live here now¡± and decided to claim an empty room for themselves. A pair of musically inclined elven adventurers began singing a haunting song in the disco rooms ¨C not one that you could dance to ¨C and a strange fishy adventurer Innearth first pegged as a kobold (and then found out was a melfman) showed up and began ordering mug after mug of the fish tank whiskey. Even Tom showed up at some point! He snuck about the place nearly invisible to all but the dungeon''s influence as if worried someone he knew would see him. ¡­ After a certain point of adventurers having a run of the place, the dungeons just gave up and called it finished. Slowly but surely the floor became populated until there was always at least one adventure in it. Many found rooms and began ¡°renting them¡± ¨C on that note many of the adventurers seemed to want to pay for stuff. They kept leaving magical chips of currency everywhere or shoving them into the ghostly hands of confused dungeon monster waiters. Innearth found none of the other dungeons seemed to care about it so he started collecting the money and using it in the gambling halls. There was really quite a lot of new events that happened because of this floor. Innearth saw a vampire for the first time ¨C a dark and brooding death mana-soaked red-eyed adventurer who found the blood wine and loved it. More than that however Innearth started getting to semi-rare (for him) species of adventurers in his own dungeon. The first was droves of dwarves of all ages ¨C come seeking the ¡°holy land¡±. As a group the dungeons still wanted to keep this reward floor in a high-level area ¨C it was a reward to reach it after all, they didn¡¯t want to just put it near the start of their dungeons¡­that didn¡¯t mean Innearth didn¡¯t cheer the dwarves on ¨C watching them create incredibly strong and increasingly unstable self-made artifacts. It was just so much fun watching them delve deeper and deeper with the sole goal of reaching this floor he even looked away when massive groups pushed through ¨C disabling some events designed to prevent 30 ¡°adventurers¡± at once from rushing a boss. The second species was the elves. The continent Innearth was on ¨C Murek ¨C had plenty of elven cities, nomadic tribes, and in fact races ¨C each with their own cultures and societies. They had never once reached out or come close to Innearth¡¯s dungeon up till now¡­but as word of Yggdrasil spread that fact changed. These elves came on their own pilgrimage to the ¡°holy land¡± ¨C somewhat amusingly mistaking their destination as the same as the dwarves when they met ¨C but mainly with the goal of reaching Queen¡¯s dungeon. They all wanted to live in the shadow of the world tree still growing slowly but steadily upwards. Some stopped in Innearth¡¯s dungeon ¨C just as soon as they found the crystal treant¡¯s spawn. Word spread and soon every passing elf needed to make sure to find a crystal spawn to ¡°pay respects to¡±. This usually involved wandering about for hours at a time sometimes just to bow to a crystalline center and continue on. ¡­ Time passed and Innearth finished his Roach knight optimization. The two largest changes were the introduction of shrinking mana instead of void mana trashing the insides and a set of cosmic void armour afterwards but Innearth made small changes throughout the entire design. Printing them out signalled a start to ¡°phase two¡± of the new floor''s design and Innearth delved right back into it. Chapter 96. The Boss to end all Bosses. Just [9] easy steps.
Q: Tom! Tom may I have a moment? When are you going to review the crossroads again! Theres a party floor now! The tree of life! Do you have a moment? A: I''m sorry, I''ve already reviewed the facility phenomena. I have no interest in revisiting it any time soon. Please don''t visit my home. How did you find this place? I need to increase security...
Excerpt obtained from an "interview" conducted with famous dungeon reviewer "Tom" dated 2010AS. Innearth¡­Innearth knew what he was working towards but partway through started to falter. He felt like¡­he felt like if he had thought of this plan another Core would have as well, and even if Innearth had some unique points¡­what was the chance that his attempt would work? Essentially as a base, Innearth wanted a floor adventurers could fight void creatures on ¨C they seemed to have more experience on average and cost him nothing to make. The goal he kept close to his heart ¨C the goal he hadn¡¯t yet told his friends ¨C was he wanted to scale the upper end of this floor to the upper end of the demons he had seen. He wanted adventurers fighting void whales. A good part of the specifics of that was getting fuzzier and fuzzier the more time he worked on the floor however. He wanted to increase the survivability of adventurers ¨C figuring out how to save them from anything that would kill them ¨C because dying would wipe the slate. If the adventurers pushing themselves kept dying, that would decrease the likelihood of one reaching a high enough level. It just made logical sense to keep them alive. On the same note, combat experience seemed at least in part based on how dangerous a fight was. To be more precise, adventurers and monsters both seemed to gain more experience when they were actually in danger but Innearth wasn¡¯t completely positive what part of ¡°danger¡± they needed. ¡­maybe they just needed to think they were in danger? I wish I knew exactly what experience is. I can¡¯t see experience like I can mana ¨C except maybe in an ascension? Honestly¡­ If it weren¡¯t for the way the system referred to the ¡°combat experience¡± the first time we bagged a void whale ¨C that it had ¡°collected the experience¡± and couldn¡¯t throw it away? ¨C I¡¯d imagine the system was just artificially increasing a number that didn¡¯t mean anything. I haven¡¯t seen many situations where weak adventurers have been power levelled by strong adventurers¡­ so I¡¯m not sure if weakening demons would completely remove my actual goal. If I figured out a system to hold void whales down and let adventurers stab them, it feels like they wouldn¡¯t get much experience¡­Or maybe it would count me as a participant? Still think an instant healing/short term resurrection setup would be worth it. Losing short-term steam while thinking about his goals, Innearth shifted attention to something he wanted for the floor. He wanted void whales for transcendents to fight, but he didn¡¯t want them getting close and smashing into or attacking the facility. This meant he needed a solid way to keep them away ¨C more solid than a flat wall no matter how tempered it got. To keep ¡°them¡± away from the facility, Innearth wanted to make a boss monster and he wanted to work on it now while the demons finding the plane were still small. Now, currently the roach knights were more than enough for any of their foes ¨C Innearth even privately thought his newest batch might be enough to kill a whale assuming they weren¡¯t surprised¡­but he wanted to be sure. Additionally, while it was true there was a dragon roosting at the top of the party building claiming the whole area surrounding the tree¡­Innearth didn¡¯t know how much he wanted to rely on them as a bodyguard. Good defence¡­but as an external protector not one Innearth had any control over. And so began the creation of a ¡°defender¡±. The king of the roach knights! The newest pinnacle of Innearth¡¯s current skill. This boss monster started with a certain seed of an idea. Whenever Innearth focused on the void whales ¨C despite knowing that size doesn¡¯t mean everything yada yada¡­he felt like they were big and he wanted to meet them with something big in turn. Innearth decided he wanted to create a giant. A monster as large as he could feasibly make while maintaining its strength. That 25km long void whale was¡­around 4km tall and the 32km long one was basically 5km tall. Those were some of the sizes Innearth had seen and it was hard to imagine a fighter dealing with them less than that. Innearth wanted a monster at least that tall but preferably larger. 10km? As tall as a side of the facility? ¡­that felt a bit too ambitious, he might need to temper his expectations. Wanting to see what he was working with, Innearth began checking to see his competition. He looked about for the largest recorded dungeon monster. How¡­big¡­Is¡­the¡­biggest¡­dungeon monster. Innearth searched the internet. Instead of immediately finding large monsters, Innearth found large creations in general and scrolled through records to find what he needed. The largest rooms and floors were all without a doubt, space mana cores. The record holders for large rooms were all growth mana affinities as well ¨C the two synergizing and letting cores expand floors to several several times the outside''s volume. For a single room, the record was currently a dome 97km tall at the center and 420km in diameter. That was¡­massive. That was larger than most dungeons were in total! That was larger than Innearth¡¯s whole dungeon by¡­too many times for him to feel good about. As a sense of scale small clouds began forming inside it near the 15km mark and massive ones covered the entire middle section resting near 45-50kms tall. The whole top of the floor was looking down on a sea of clouds! ¡­and this was a single open room not a full dungeon. Innearth felt small. To make himself feel better he tried researching all the advantages this Core had over him ¨C that helped a bit. This record holder was held by an ¡°ancient core¡± over 2000 years old and at least level 353 ¨C all the information they had given was they were tier 18. Somewhere between level 353 and 383. This Core even had a 5th unknown affinity to help spacially expand areas they picked up ¨C one that was most definitely a triplet¡­something like gigantic mana or ¡°humoungous room¡± mana. It makes sense they are building rooms that much larger than me. Wounded pride mostly healed, Innearth continued to the main point of this search. This same dungeon had the record for the largest monster ¨C a stone based giant clocking in at a modest 50km tall ¨C ¡°modest¡±. That was taller than Innearths current dungeon was deep. No, don¡¯t compete with specialists at their own game. ¡­the giant was mostly just a vanity project made to satisfy the record requirements ¨Cit could barely move, despite the year¡¯s worth of materials and mana that had gone into its creation. It still functioned as the absolute upper end of what was currently available and tracked. Giants weren¡¯t the most common dungeon monster but most cores that tried to make them left them around 100m tall on average ¨C to a sapient 10m tall was massive and you could make something that ¡°small¡± dangerous, pretty easily. Much more promising than either the regular giant schematics or the insane outlier of a record, was some runners up designed with more than just insane size in mind. There were several dozen giants that were around 8-12km tall each mobile and dangerous. Considering so many cores had made giants that tall Innearth felt like he had a chance. Even if most of them were quite a bit higher in level than him that still felt "doable". To sum up his justification. Size was a good multiplier against demons. It had diminishing returns against adventurers ¨C magical effects were easier to pit against higher leveled adventurers but aside from a few exceptions were useless against demons. Part of the roach knights'' success was due to their larger-than-average size. ¡­Innearth had done enough research and self-convincing to start on this ¡°massive¡± investment. He started with a scaled-up roach design but had a flash of inspiration while watching some crystal treant spawn. The bottom third or so was a massive many-legged void roach, while the top half was closer to a crystal dwarf. This preliminary centaur shape wasn¡¯t¡­fully the end goal ¨C Innearth knew vaguely what he wanted its skills to be and shape would help ease his circuits along to an absurd degree. Carefully watching orcs currently delving in his dungeon, Innearth shaped the humanoid half closer and closer to them. Orcs had one of the simplest spell systems ¨C similar to a lot of the simpler dungeon spells like material creation. Temporary full body enhancement. Body part strengthening and instinctual enhancement of weapons. They moved mana about their body in patterns to create mostly internal effects. Orcs had some of the best internal mana manipulation of any race and internal magic enhancing physical attacks were one of the only methods of attacking demons. Overall design very very roughly finished, Innearth worked on the inside. This was¡­hard. Immensely hard, because he couldn¡¯t just upscale a monster and expect it to be stronger let alone actually function. Every single facet of monster building he could ignore at small scales was laid bare. Similar to how metal worms and slimes were basically just two materials with liquid flesh and spongy shells ¨C but snakes required bones and liquid crystal muscles and interlocking crystal scales¡­creating a true giant required nearly every point to be engineered. The true base of this boss was a set of cosmic void bones. They weren¡¯t just some nice tubes or simple interlocking rings, these were a creation of multiple interlocking parts designed with movement and stability in mind. Every single bone was connected with a hinge ¨C two interlocking sides around a peg that turned in only one direction. These ¡°joints¡± were surrounded in sacks of flesh and filled with ¡°lower friction¡± kinetic liquid lubricant. Innearth couldn¡¯t use the solid frictionless materials without grinding them to dust with the forces being applied, so this felt like a good alternative. Thick steel-like tendons wrapped between different sections wrapping around spinning pulleys or set like simple springs. One or two of the most important joints were given steam mana hydraulics and Innearth drilled holes through the bones to embed these movement systems. Of course, this initial design took ages and ages ¨C but at the scale Innearth was working in, it would be impossible to print in one go. Because of that Innearth was printing out parts and assembling them at the edge of the metal field. All his friends noticed the creation being built ¨C it was hard not to notice the size of these chunks ¨C and they had to be curious.
Abe: Hey buddy¡­whats that you got there.
Amy: I¡¯m running out of stuff to do. Is this the next Yggdrasil? The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
¡­Innearth hadn¡¯t meant to exclude his friends so a brief description of his project later and they had immediately begun helping. ¡­Innearth liked working on things together. All his favourite creations were joint efforts and the whole friend group working together were able to do quite a bit more than they could alone. Queen running Yggdrasil strips along joints or replacing some of his tendons with Yggdrasil heartwood was indeed an improvement. Doc fixing all the kinetic distribution and friction manipulation? An improvement as well. Joints now magically altered movement and force lines in an optimal manner and thick tubes of a sandy material acted as kinetic movement ¡°sinks¡± magic shoving it all into them letting the massive creature stop on a dime. A few ice mana heat sinks were added to fix those sinks heating up when used and liquid tubes started to wrap about the skeleton. The body steadily grew. The silver planes were expanded to be wider ¨C currently 2km wide and almost 5km long at this point. Yggdrasil grew ever upwards its middle section was nearly the height of the facility at this point¡­they would have to figure out how to protect it going forwards. A hidden and tempered tube expanding ¡°Up¡±? Demons were slain in vast numbers on the planes, their bodies dragged from further and further distances and disposed of in an ethical and sustainable manner ¨C by tossing them to Yggdrasil''s roots below. The tree really was a great garbage can. Any other use of demon corpses was either madness laced ¨C with hard-to-control effects ¨C or let the demons regrow once more (tossing them into the void again). It was dumb to just stop such a great activity so void whale fishing and bagging continued ¨C one around 20km long was caught roughly every month and while they were spread out enough to cycle the monsters in his dungeon¡­a large number of ascended monsters still steadily trickled through. A huge number of elves moved to right outside of Queen¡¯s dungeon ¨C an equally huge number of dwarves moved to the party floor or dungeon cities while they attempted to reach their Valhalla. The dragon was surprisingly silent. Other than occasionally disappearing on a ¡°job¡± every few months ¨C or leaving on strolls through the silver planes to have a quick demon snack ¨C it was like they weren¡¯t even there. On a young dungeon timescale, all these events were happening in a nice spread-out speed but to Innearth¡¯s current mindset? Everything felt like it was snowballing. Everything was happening too fast! Months flew past and another year rolled around. Innearth reached the relatively lacklustre ¡°Tier 9¡± milestone at level 122 and looked towards his next goal.
Innearth (Dungeon Designation: Crossroad Link from Murek)
Level 122 1/16236 exp to next level.
System Access Level 9 -Level 143+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 306.78 personal unit/min
Mana concentration 3.50 AMU / personal unit
Mana Storage 3242.739/56836.597 AMU
Regeneration over time 17.89883707 AMU/s
Time to Full Mana 49.9 Min
Physical Storage 42% Capacity
Age 15 years
Current Year 2012 AS
Distance underground 1225 meters
Number of floors 53 floors
Titles.
Earth Mana Specialization, Crystal Mana Specialization, Void Mana Specialization, Customization, Unique Dungeon, Cosmic Void Mana Specialization, Mature Dungeon.
It should be noted that every single level a part of Innearth had been using mini descent gifts to help him shift his core ever so slightly downwards. For the first four levels, he shifted by roughly "1,2,3,4" meters ¨C getting slightly better each time and the next 16 were increased by double that learning speed (6,8,10...). The final Tier up had been a massive jump in distance and Innearth was almost confident enough to start removing the training wheels of system help ¨C descending on his own whenever he wanted ¡°if he cared to¡±. In more important news massive organs and the majority of the flesh was being grafted to the skeleton at this point. Blocks of pure mana from the ends of the filter were shoved like bags of sand in between magical muscles and a budding circuit system. Innearth was creating almost an ecosystem of skill organs. Each organ was technically a separate living creature and the way he was combining some of them fed off this fact. Skills designed to move or strengthen everything around it. Skills designed to help move things magically or improve the efficiency of certain actions. This boss ended up with a "gut" of sorts, with several small circuit-based monsters that fed on the boss and gave back strength in turn. Sometimes skills were synergized with more typical organs ¨C for example, large reservoirs of healing ambrosia paired with skills that quickly distributed the healing effect across the entire body. While designing these individual skills, Innearth had some time to think about dungeon circuits. Literally, everyone in rank 4-5 knew of them ¨C many even used some common designs or had taken the time to iterate a circuit they liked. But none¡­none seemed to have reached the point he was at. None had cared or been single-mindedly focused to reach the point he had reached until now. Innearth really was a pioneer in this specific field ¨C he was sure just releasing the concept of skill organs would revolutionize the world... and it was something he had started planning on doing someday. Someday soon or more accurately someyear soon. He just wanted to become a tiny bit more of an expert before that point. To facilitate this ¡°becoming an expert¡± side quest, Innearth found a surprising magic system guide. One on a site dedicated to translating and archiving sapient information ¨C some ¡°book core¡± who even had a whole dungeon dedicated to the task. This guide was a series of tests, challenges and goals you could use to increase your proficiency in any spell system. Theoretically, you could get the same effects with different spell systems ¨C you actually had to be able to do the exact same thing with different spell systems it was just much much harder in some to do so or cost quite a bit more. For example, a classic test that Innearth started to consider completing was creating [Fireball]. Every single spell system should be able to do this simple task and the translated book outlined some examples. In a chanting system, mana would resonate in a caster''s voice empowering their words. Fireball could be cast in many different ways ¨C but one of the most common ones for Fire affinity chanters was yelling ¡°Fireball¡±. A more involved chant for non fire affinity chanters was something closer to ¡°Burn for me mana internal. Spark of life within become burning power without. Shoot forward and burn my own, [Fireball]¡± In an enchanting system, mana was embedded in words ¨C similar to chanting magic given form through language. A typical scroll or multi-use item could be anything from an experienced user writing ¡°Cast Fireball¡± to a more involved ¡°series of steps¡±. Something like ¡°Convert 100 units of pure mana to fire mana, absorbing all costs in the conversion and forming it into a ball the size of my head. When formed push the ball forwards using 50 units of pure mana converted into the lowest cost option for external movement and release from my control.¡± Similarly, the runes for "fire mana", "ball-shape", and "release" could be chained together to create a rune''d object that cast a fireball when channelled through ¨C or a more in-depth "couple dozen rune" version that could create the effect simply by being left alone after it was initially made. The real challenge was conforming to the very strict regulations of what a [Fireball] was. To truly consider this challenge ¡°won¡± it had to be done without any other spells or external inputs. For runes and scripting, it had to be automatically cast once within a minute of the design of the item, to be considered complete. Innearth started this challenge with circuit design. Making a monster that cast a ball of fire mana? Even ignoring his skill organs that did this job, that was an incredibly simple circuit he could currently embed in any monster shape. ¡­but making a monster could be considered using a different spell system ¨C ¡°monster creation¡± ¨C and having to tell the monster to cast the spell couldn¡¯t really be considered "automatic". It had to be a specific size and strength and cast a single time¡­there was a whole list of rules to follow for the task to be considered beat and the only one he would be cheating by not following them was himself. Dungeon circuits were a way of giving skills to someone. While giving a [Fireball] like effect to a monster was child''s play, actually casting a fireball through it¡­was actually hard. To start, Innearth began meditating on his minor goal ¨C almost sinking down into his circuit builder senses as he thought. He pushed and pushed trying to see how this effect could actually be done ¨C considering different options and techniques. Theoretically, the method you used to cast this spell didn¡¯t matter ¨C every single spell system had a different methodology after all ¨C just the end result. Finally, he started to hint at a solution and began to build. Instead of designing a monster to host the ¡°Skill¡±, Innearth dug down into crystal floor. He embedded the ¡°skill¡± into a patch of dungeon flesh. He was¡­giving himself the skill but using the skill after he cast it still felt like cheating somewhat so the skill needed more setup. Digging about laying balls and wires ¨C mainly pure nodes but with a good number of fire and occasional kinetic effects ¨C Innearth worked away before finally finishing his attempt. This ¡°skill¡± was a passive one that slowly drained mana ¡°automatically¡± from the owner to fuel its effect. Mana was roughly manipulated in the following steps: converted to fire, pushed out into the air in a spot roughly 150cm above the ground, bound to some oxygen in the air to make it actually set as a spell, wrapped in the intent to ¡°stay together¡±, and finally pushed forward at a constant speed "north" once it was finished forming. After this first cast, the whole setup then pushed fire mana into key circuit lines ¨C breaking the skill by burning out channels. This was to prevent the passive skill from starting to charge again ¨C technically unneeded, but automatically casting a fireball every 20 or so seconds wasn¡¯t conforming to the ¡°single automatic cast¡± rule. Using a circuit in a way that it wasn¡¯t designed to work in was surprisingly helpful towards increasing Innearth¡¯s control with it. He was really starting to feel proficient in the fact and suddenly he had a new plan. He made a similar setup but made sure it was embedded completely in the earth not himself ¨C he tried to give the ground or maybe Gaia this passive automated skill instead of himself. At first, nothing seemed to happen but then slowly a fireball formed and was cast seemingly completely out of nothing. ...Innearth felt ecstatic at this dungeon circuit abuse. He really felt like he completed the spirit of the challenge. There were a few more similar challenges ¨C based around completing a task easy to do in one system but hard in others ¨C and Innearth split of a part of himself to continue completing them. At this point in time, the giant orc-roach-centaur was filled in enough that Innearth felt comfortable creating a main circuit in it. Starting from the ¡°head¡± of the creature, Innearth created a pure mana core on the upper end not just of what he could create, but what dungeons in general could create. Tier 32. Roughly 55,000 mana. 32 layers deep. This core was a massive boulder of a creation that had to be created deep within a mana oven. It was also theoretically the minimum size that Innearth needed to use if he wanted to create a monster with a soul/power source ¡°as strong as a dragon¡±. This "goal" got sort of fuzzy... but a tier 16 core used optimally like it was in his original roach knights was close to a level 256+ monster (his newest knights felt much higher than that but circuits tended to break this rule) and tier 32 cores in dungeon monsters had the potential to reach dragon level¡­ Following that logic, theoretically, a tier 64 monster core should be equivalent to a god... but alongside monster cores being harder and harder to make, there felt like a solid barrier that prevented even the strongest dungeons from making a monster core higher than level 63. Some invisible wall that couldn''t be punched through. Maybe once a core reached tier 64 and godhood themselves? ¡­that was all beside the point. Innearth ran a single Tier 16 channel from the core in the head all the way down the ¡°spine¡± of his monster. Outwards from that spinal cord, a wave of circuits burst forth ¨C twisting into ribs, embedded into bones, wrapping about organs and nestled against the as-of-yet unlaid skin of the giant. Innearth was almost in a trance laying these circuits ¨C he wasn¡¯t placing them in a system panel, this level of magic requiring him to pour over his monster''s body himself. His influence travelled through nearly finished flesh and ate bits of it to fit his final addition. Nearly two more months slipped by just of Innearth laying dense circuit lines. They had two main goals: one was trying to give the boss an orc ¡°enhancement¡± spell system, and two was tying the entire design together. Innearth had a specific sort of passive skill he wanted for the giant. One goal nearly impossible in his initial hope and only reached by weakening it and endlessly making exceptions. This passive skill let the boss act as if it were smaller than it actually was ¨C treating its exactly 10km tall and 10km long at the bottom ¡°shell¡± body as if it were a fraction of its real size. Innearth really wanted to let it act like a small monster ¨C a meter or two in length ¨C but settled for its body magically being controlled as if it were closer to 1% of its current size. "Finally" the skin needed to be laid. As far as armour went, every solid portion of the body was covered in nice solid cosmic void plates. Its chest, shins, arms ¨C more importantly, its entire head and precious core within were completely covered in a solid helmet. Each leg was tipped with cosmic void hooves of sorts and most of the ¡°roach shell¡± was solid. Cosmic void did not take well to bending preventing Innearth from just covering the entire body and so he had to make do with interlocking chain mail ¨C similar to the skin of the yeti. The whole boss hulked despite not being alive yet laying on it''s side like a small mountain range. Innearth had expanded out in a whole area beside the facility so once the boss began standing up it would have some space to move in¡­but not a lot comparatively. The silver planes beyond quickly tapered off with influence only a couple dozen meters above the ¡°ground¡± this boss would only ever stand beside the facility moving back and forth in a short area beside it. That was fine. This boss was a true guard of the facility, it didn¡¯t need to move far. The real final addition Innearth added to the boss ¨C something he had been planning since he gave it a humanoid portion ¨C was a long spear. A lance of sorts made completely of cosmic void and filled with kinetic essence ¨C taking a page from Doc¡¯s book. The "real" real final addition was some decorations. Carefully adding the finishing touches to the outside of the boss ¨C two larger saucers of crystal for eyes and a thin layer of squishy skin on some of the more bumpy and ugly portions of flesh ¨C Innearth was ready to give life to his creation. His friends had fallen off the design at one point but they all crowded back to witness its animation. A spark of soul that continued to grow formed by the monster''s side. It made Innearth feel weak ¨C something that hadn¡¯t happened once while giving life until now ¨C Innearth was briefly reminded of how the first dungeon core killed himself and was worried... but the feeling quickly faded. Zipping straight to the ¡°head¡± of the boss, this spark wormed inwards and disappeared from sight in a single moment. A pause, a deep pregnant pause where nothing happened and then slowly Innearth saw a literal wave of life and soul begin travelling over the top of the body. A rushing fire of mana under the skin''s surface that moved relatively quickly (something like 5m/s)¡­ but took a comparatively long time to travel all the way from the head to rump of the newest knight. Nearly a full hour later as the last section of boss was claimed Innearth felt a single powerful resonance. When his first roach knight had awoken, it spoke directly into Innearth¡¯s mind surprising him. This boss simply "felt" and "existed" and for a moment it was as if Innearth himself was feeling himself in a new body. The link between them was momentarily strong enough to be overwhelming but slowly it faded. Slowly that sense disappeared as the part of his soul he had given the boss was separated fully but that single moment had been disorienting to the highest degree. Using the lance like a walking stick to pull himself up, this new boss got to its many feet and stared about itself disoriented and then suddenly jarringly calm. Chapter 97. I am become life, creator of worlds.
There are typically two types of self-inflicted undead. Liches and vampires. Both have the same root cause. They are caused by living creatures ¨C typically sapients and disproportionately humans ¨C who fear death. Who fear aging and dying so badly they are willing to turn into ¡°abominations¡±. The biggest difference between the two is that typically vampires are vain enough to want to ¡°look good¡± in their new life. They modify their bodies and even their souls in an attempt to hide decay. To look attractive to the species they abandoned despite losing their ability to mate with them. Your humble researcher ¡°Cal¡± thinks this should be considered madness ¨C their vanity serves no purpose but whatever I¡¯m not a sapient psychology expert or anything. Typically liches are better necromancers and vampires are better soul surgeons. True Vampires are known for modifying any undead they create in their own image ¨C creating lesser vampires or thralls. Either way as a dungeon it is hard for us to create a vampire for this very reason ¨C a vampire modified their soul and body before they died and used a bunch of spells on themselves that are hard to perform on others. As a final note, vampires are some of the most varied of undead as every true vampire modified themselves in a potentially different manner to achieve their perfect cursed immortality ¨C some even messed up enough to have crippling side effects. I¡¯ve heard some can¡¯t handle sunlight or garlic or even need to attack and drink the blood of living creatures just to stay alive! Those are all failures however, the really strong and skilled vampires have none of those random and arbitrary weaknesses.
Excerpt obtained from the dungeon website ¡°Calthoughts/undead.dcs¡± After finishing the colossus roach commander, Innearth finally had a moment of calm. Everything slowed down after what felt like months of ramping up. It ¡°settled¡±. Some time was spent relaxing ¨C watching adventurers, tweaking minor things in his dungeon, idly flipping through sites on the internet. After a few short days of this Innearth was ready for his next plan.
Innearth: Hey doc, You mentioned ¡°playing about¡± with undead?
ZeMadDoctor: Ah! Finally ready are you? Of course, of course. Just let me finish a few things and free up some more attention. I¡¯ll be with you in a moment.
¡­ ZeMadDoctor: So let''s talk about undead! Arguably more niche than living monsters. Easier in a way! But dependant upon a third party so harder to expand with initially. We can shape the soul and body separately. Deaths have gotten less common once my dungeon became more established¡­ so I¡¯ll bring an existing thrall over to give examples with.
Innearth: Actually I¡¯m interested in undead because I want to set up a resurrection system. I feel like that¡¯s an important thing to note¡­
ZeMadDoctor: Oh! ¡­alright. Life based resurrection right? That¡¯s¡­harder. Give me a bit to think. ZeMadDoctor: So I¡¯ll see about getting an old acquaintance in here as well and then we can start.
Innearth: I just want to learn about souls.
The Abyss: Hey! We having an undead party? Glad to be had! Glad to be here!
ZeMadDoctor: Please feel free to jump in if you have anything to add.
Doc seemed to be more experienced with the chat system than Innearth. He had created a mini group chat out of their current conversation, added Abyss and set up a stream of a closed-off section of the facility so they could see all in less than a minute.
ZeMadDoctor: What undead have you experimented with so far?
Rather than responding normally, Innearth found his little undead island in the magma halls and showed off death knight silver and an array of undead animals patched up with death mana and deathly armour.
ZeMadDoctor: Oh! Perfect place to start. So everything seems to be a weak souled undead with straightforward attachment and vessels. Sapient ghosts are where this starts getting fun let me bring one over and I can show off some of the differences.
At the experiment area in the facility, a portal opened and out stepped a gaunt figure of swirling black robes carrying a pitch black scimitar. Two hollow red eyes stared out at the surroundings as it floated into the center of the room silently.
The Abyss: Woah! Anyone going to mention that portal? Look at that. Neat open and close. Open in such a short amount of time no demons poured through. Masterful.
Innearth: ¡­it¡¯s a bit more impressive than that. This whole area is in the void. That portal wouldn¡¯t have created any demons either, Doc¡¯s gotten pretty good at making them since you last saw.
The Abyss: ¡­so that¡¯s new. Once again making little old me feel inadequate.
ZeMadDoctor: We¡¯ll give you a tour after this. Anyways, sapient undead. ZeMadDoctor: Soul magic is¡­not actually death mana related ¨C but necromancers are typically the only who go about dabbling in it and it does help quite a bit. Any vampires or higher undead like that were designed creatures using a variation of soul magic to achieve their strength.
The Abyss: Oh! I got this. Soul magic is done with your soul¡­Its magic performed by your soul and interacts well with other souls. Let me let you two in on a secret. From the perspective of soul magic your influence counts! Isn¡¯t that neat? Its not just your real soul locked in your core.
Innearth found that less surprising than he would have after learning the specifics about dungeons¡­ but hated to take anything away from Abyss¡¯s explanation.
The Abyss: Technically most ¨C if not all ¨C soul magic uses pure mana. The soul holds pure mana after all with no affinity clouding its form. All that means is there¡¯s no soul mana. As far as affinities are concerned souls don¡¯t exist.
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­alright that¡¯s news to me. I thought soul magic was anything that interacted with a soul ¨C like the spell where you infuse a soul with death mana to convert it into an undead soul.
The Abyss: That¡­is technically correct hence my ¡°most¡±. Soul magic is magic cast by the soul or interacting with a soul ¨C true. All of the common high level soul spells are pure mana.
Innearth started linking some skills he used daily ¨C linking them to soul magic. Knowing his inventory and influence were both a part of his soul helped him confirm some things. Adding and removing stuff from his inventory, expanding his influence, creating dungeon flesh and dungeon activated traps, the act of creating floors, even giving life to monsters ¨C all the ¡°instinctual¡± magic he did all fell under the soul magic umbrella. It was magic but was it a spell? Were they all spells in a soul magic manipulation system? Or¡­ Most of these ¡°spells¡± don¡¯t seem to cost anything other than my time and effort. I guess expanding my influence uses mana as I vibrate it on the edge of my influence¡­and I guess splitting floors is related at least in part to environmental mana¡­but other than that I haven¡¯t even noticed minuscule amounts of mana for any of these actions? Is all this ¡°racial soul magic¡± that us dungeons can do even magic? Is it less a spell and more just us moving our soul about like most fleshy-creatures move their bodies about?
The Abyss: Soul magic is hard. More accurately non consensual soul magic is hard. As far as a soul mage is concerned, its much easier to attack someone¡¯s body with standard spells than it is to attack someone¡¯s soul ¨C especially as the system likes to protect souls for ¡°whatever reason¡±. The Abyss: Because of this, the number of natural soul magic monsters is incredibly rare and you won¡¯t find any schematics for dungeon versions ¨C even if a few dungeons have created them. The Abyss: Basically, to reiterate its inefficient to attack with soul magic ¨C soul magic is more useful for self modification or modification of a soul you have control over. Using death mana to change the alignment of a soul gives you some of that control¡­ hence necromancers being more likely to experiment with it ¨C they have test subjects other than themselves to work on.
ZeMadDoctor: That¡­thanks for the history lesson. Do you know how to make a vampire or something? I was just going to show Innearth here how to give an ethereal ghost ¡°kinetic interactions¡± with the soul magic I figured out. I did add you as an expert so if you have more to offer?
The Abyss: Sure! One second¡­ if you are interested. The Abyss: I¡¯m going to show you how to modify a soul after the fact. You¡¯ll need to be the one to turn them undead for this to work ¨C I can¡¯t share some I have floating around sadly.
Innearth: Alright¡­My dungeon doesn¡¯t have many deaths so I have no clue how long it will take to get my own version. I think you joined after the fact? ¡­but I was hoping to set up a resurrection system ¨C do you have any advice for that?
The Abyss: Ah! Short-term resurrection like what high-level priests from the holy mother¡¯s faith can do? That¡¯s a pretty simple high-level technique that works better the higher a level they are. The Abyss: Let''s see. I don¡¯t have a life affinity so I can¡¯t help set it up¡­ but typically their spells consist of: #1 grabbing any souls and holding them for a few seconds in case they drift away. #2 a strong life mana (or similar) effect to heal a body back to full even if its been broken really badly. #3 a rough soul magic punt to the soul making sure its shoved back into the healed body. #4 a hint of mental mana to try and wipe some of the trauma of the ¡°almost death¡± away.
ZeMadDoctor: They are cheating with faith-based divine spells anyways. Death mana is good at interacting with souls. However grabbing onto a life soul with it will convert it into an undead before you can move them about easily.
Innearth: So I have to use my influence to move the souls about without using death mana?
The Abyss: Yeah¡­or create a monster that can do that for you¡­ but I have no clue where to start on that. The Abyss: Anyways! Continuing the lesson ¨C lets show off some manipulations. While vampires are off the table, I¡¯ll show you how to make a lich which is just as good. The Abyss: First off, lets take a simple enough undead soul and pull it apart so we can see what¡¯s inside.
Abyss began streaming a section of their dungeon where they proceeded to ¡°unravel¡± an undead soul. Death mana went in and pulled out in a wrenching twist. Like death mana was a hand reaching through a creature¡¯s mouth and pulling out its organs, streams of soul stuff slipped out and hung in the air. Certain sections of this soulstuff were then highlighted helpfully on the stream as the lesson continued. Abyss pointed out ways to recognize what section was responsible for what ¨C it was almost as if this soul was a body with ghostly organs. That¡­wasn¡¯t completely accurate but it was close enough ¨C the ¡°organs¡± if you could call them that were all fluid and metaphysical things. They overlapped each other or were connected magically across distance¡­so not too far off some dungeon monster organs now that Innearth actually thought about it. This whole soul dissection was anything but ¡°non-violent¡± ¨C a soul not under Abyss¡¯s control would be clenching itself together constantly fighting this ¡°opened like a clam¡± sort of inspection with every part of its being. As is, the mutilated soul steamed and dripped ectoplasmic chunks and whisps towards the floor below nearly constantly ¨C death mana pulled the largest chunks back and shoved them into the undead soul occasionally the semi-fluid materials sort of scrunching into each other once more. Not melding or reattaching¡­scrunching in an unnatural way. Doc took this moment to start showing off his method of grafting ethereal kinetic frameworks into chunks of soulstuff ¨C Abyss let go of the test subject letting it slowly retract and heal into a uniform shapeless blob once more. Doc spoke of matching clips of pure mana with the intent of interfacing and walked them through his rough stapling into the soul he had been doing up till now. Abyss started pointing out how to pick the best places on the soul to attach stuff to and showed off a method of pulling the soul out into a thread and back into itself. Intent and aspects of soul and¡­Innearth started to lose the conversation. Individually every part they were talking about made sense ¨C but they kept making leaps and connections to concepts he had never heard of and Innearth started to feel¡­left out. In hindsight death mana wasn¡¯t the best idea for keeping someone living alive ¨C he had only latched onto it initially due to hints at soul magic being needed and necromancers being the ones good at soul magic. And so, as the expert and intermediate student talked about higher and higher-level concepts Innearth began to try and learn his own way. He needed to follow along with them to get any real understanding but he also¡­didn¡¯t care as much for the death portion. He just wanted practice with soul manipulation. To start his self-study Innearth began making something Abyss had mentioned out of hand ¨C a soul crucible. There were dozen of wild monsters dying every hour in his whimsy floor ¨C and of these incredibly small whisps Innearth began collecting. He turned them undead to prevent them from disappearing and created a simple sort of container to hold them in ¨C a relatively large 50cm wide death mana crystal. Souls shoved into this container began to fight each other ¨C some attacking and almost consuming each other growing slightly bigger and slightly more defined even as their opponents became flakes of undead soul too small to maintain themselves and soaked the crystal warping its outer face. Lines of red death mana splashed the side of the crystal-like blood repeatedly as undead souls fought. Slowly the results of this experiment began to solidify. The strongest soul reached some critical point and began to slow its growth ¨C no longer able to grow in size no matter how many whips it consumed. Technically this was both a standard way necromancers created strong lieutenants¡­but technically it was also incredibly inefficient. If Innearth really cared about undead the hundred or so zombies he could have made from all those whips would have been slightly better than this one soul a couple times stronger than most. Doc and Abyss were now creating some high-level design of a ghastly creature made from what used to be an elf soul each ¨C soul stuff ripped out into wings and then sewed and warped into a ghost that looked like a bird. Instead of attempting this deathly creation, Innearth began to build up a flesh golem. He surrounded the large soul gem with cosmic void and after a brief tempering started sticking monster parts to it. Monster parts from hundreds of dead wild monsters most still fresh and undecaying. He sewed flesh together with mana even as he attempted the more difficult task of sewing the soul to the body lines of soulstuff being dragged out and about the mass around it. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. It was almost sad that this wasn¡¯t really Innearth¡¯s invention. It had been done before many times if Abyss was to be believed¡­But it was still novel for Innearth if only for how different a process it was from normal. Steadily the flesh golem grew until it reached a ¡°massive¡± 5m tall ¨C it was hard to take sizes seriously after making the colossus, but this blob still towered over the typical adventurer. Somewhere along the line Innearth began raiding his farm for death mana adjacent parts. Poison and blood. Decay and bone. These materials were technically safe to use in living monsters but had a high chance of clashing with life mana and adjacent affinities. Sadly this wasn''t Innearth¡¯s invention. It was an incredibly common method of strengthening undead that Abyss had mentioned¡­and a relatively rare but still well known undead monster ¨C but Innearth still found himself enjoying the process even if just for the change of pace. Somewhere along the lines, Abe snuck in a stuck a top hat onto the flesh golem as a joke ¨C but Innearth ended up actually liking it enough to leave it on. His whole aesthetic changed in that moment ¨C and Innearth began creating a place for it. Despite having made it in the facility and despite the effort and mana that had gone into this monster¡­it wasn¡¯t quite as strong as a facility creature demanded. It might be a common enemy in a room ¨C something to slow a transcendent down for a second or two¡­but it sadly wasn¡¯t strong enough to be noteworthy. No what Innearth ended up doing was creating a new room in the hardmode magma halls to mirror the ones in the easier zone. A wall was weakened to paper-thin consistency in a place with lots of traffic and high chance of being broken ¨C Innearth was, in essence, retconning this undead boss into the zone ¨C and a few minutes of theming later, he was done. Right up until the top hat the monster was going to be called ¡°fleshy fear¡± pending a much better name from FED¡­but in that moment the flesh golem became Tom. It just seemed like a tom. This right here was the point a wild connection was made between portions of Innearth¡¯s split attention. His mind christening the flesh golem as Tom met up with his mind trying to make a resurrection system and melded. ¡­ Going backwards in his timeline a few days before this flash of inspiration Innearth had begun brainstorming resurrection. ¡­he had only latched onto death mana initially due to the hints at soul magic being needed and knowledge of necromancers being good at said soul magic. The closest example of his current goal he could see was the hydra and its minions. They were bound and couldn¡¯t die so long as any of them were still alive. Innearth just wanted a less permanent version of this spellwork. ¡­He pushed the hydra to fight more and more aggressively in the silver planes. It was hard to kill after all and if it managed to ascend there might be something to help Innearth see what was happening. A less accurate but still valid system was the one currently employed by the crystal treant. It summoned minions that could die but maintain memories and share them with future generations¡­Innearth wasn¡¯t quite sure how the process worked but it was easy enough to study the results. Trying to use either of these as inspiration he tried for the second time to ¡°just make a circuit¡± to do the job for him. He wanted a skill to collect and revive souls. Simple enough right? He was even willing to throw a massive amount of mana and time at the circuit to reach this goal ¨C beside his constant upkeep he had no other responsibilities. Now, these days when ¡°trying to design a skill¡±, all Innearth had to do was start thinking about it. Depending on how hard he focused he could get a sense of how difficult it might be or if something was possible ¨C sometimes ideas would even start appearing in his core at this moment, viable solutions from nothing. The real moment the circuit sense started pulling its weight was when he started trying to actually make a circuit. He would see bad connections or shapes, get a sense of what a change would do before he made it, he could even see potential pathways and leaps he could do to make a circuit better extending off into nowhere. Dungeons didn¡¯t experience this phenomenon and when he had searched initially back in his R3 days he hadn¡¯t known what it was¡­the internet and more importantly translated sapient knowledge was more forthcoming. This mastery sense was showing him among other things what other dungeons had done before. Each memory of a circuit that did what he wanted was a circuit some dungeon had made by accident or iterated on long ago. It was also better letting him see the long list of rules that circuit building followed¡­what it wasn¡¯t doing however was telling him how to make anything that hadn¡¯t been made before. No dungeon had made a soul-capturing circuit. And simply wanting a random circuit to do the job wasn¡¯t enough either. Even though he had a goal ¨C to collect and revive souls ¨C and even though he was framing it in a way the circuit system should understand ¨C ¡°a skill to collect and revive souls¡±¡­the sense was silent. The worst part of this was that if there was an actual soul mana this whole problem would be trivial. His experience and circuit sense would let him swap a few fire cores in a fire control system for soul ones and the problem would be solved. A circuit for water collection could be modified easily enough¡­a circuit for element extraction or heat gathering ¨C Innearth had enough experience to modify any of these skills to suit his needs if only soul mana existed. ¡­ The next cheat Innearth attempted to use was throwing dwarves at the problem ¨C more importantly throwing the runesystem at the problem and seeing if they could come up with a solution. There was a similar sort of limitation here ¨C dwarves didn¡¯t have a rune to reference someones soul even if they had runes that interacted with them. There were runes for {self}, {friend}, {enemy}. There were combined runes for {living+creature}, {undead+creature}, {demon+creature}. There were simple descriptive runes¡­but trying to describe a soul as {ethereal+body} or {commonbetween+{living+creature}+{undead+creature}} didn¡¯t work. It was probably possible but as far as Innearth¡¯s dwarves were concerned nothing came to mind. They just weren¡¯t experienced enough, their own ¡°runework sense¡± not telling them the solution. It all just felt so frustratingly arbitrary. It felt like some massive oversight ¨C why wasn¡¯t there a soul rune? Who was in charge of making runes and why hadn¡¯t they made this one! It would be so helpful for necromancy. And why is it so hard to describe what a soul is? It''s right there! I can see it, right there in my influence. It''s like a blobby eitheral liquid that fills living creatures! ¡­Innearth researched something he should have looked at initially. If necromancers can perform soul magic they have to be doing it some way. If they don¡¯t use runes or soul mana what are they doing? ¡­ Well¡­it turns out part of the reason this was all so difficult was due to information suppression. Necromancers themselves nearly always hoarded knowledge and performed strange rituals using multiple spell systems to reach their goals¡­but more importantly, there was a third-party meddling. The largest faith on the planet ¨C the church of the holy mother ¨C burnt and stamped out any knowledge of necromancy and to a lesser extent soul magic wherever they found it. Considering Abyss confirmed their divine spells are using soul magic it seems awfully hypocritical of them. Sure some of these referenced tomes and guides to soul magic are written on dried human skin because said necromancers thought it ¡°easier to find than paper¡±¡­but that¡¯s no reason to burn it all. Its immensely inconvenient right now. Either way, the most important hint Innearth found at this point in time was that most ¨C if not all ¨C necromancers used a form of chanting or enchanting in their rituals. Enchanting¡­necromancers¡­flesh golem¡­ Tom¡­ Tom! A flash. This didn¡¯t happen often but separate threads of Innearth¡¯s mind were suddenly thinking the same thing and almost slipped into each other. I just have to create a monster that can enchant things. A crystal gnome as you were. Why has it taken me this long to think of this??? Enchanters performed some similar actions to runesmiths¡­Honestly, there was a massive amount of overlap between the two in terms of results. The real difference however was how they approached things and what type of results were easier for them. The example Innearth remembered reading about was creating a sculpture of a bird out of stone. Runes could easily shape stone into a couple simple shapes ¨C a pillar, a wall, a boulder you name it. To make an exact replica of a bird they could see about copying an existing bird or bird statues form ¨C shaping the new statue to be perfectly identical to the reference easily enough. They could also combine a long series of modifications to make a steadily more and more accurate example. Something like an initial boulder of stone with two pillars coming off it. Two diagonal cuts per pillar to shape them closer to wings. Dozens of defined scoops of material out of key parts. Dozens of additions afterwards. This sort of shaping usually gave blocky representations of results unless a runesmith made literally thousands of small modifications. In comparison, an enchanter would find it slightly harder to shape stone. It would take slightly longer, take more effort to make a wall or boulder. In exchange, if they wanted to make a bird statue there wasn¡¯t a lot more effort. They simply had to describe their desired bird. ¡°Feathers from tip to tail. Sharp pointed eyes and beak. As typical a bird as possible¡±. All this was to say an enchanter could simply write [soul] and use the inherent description of a soul contained in the language used to write that word. Enchanting was much much better at describing and defining things than runesmithing. To create this crystal gnome Innearth focused first on form. To pack enough magic and capability into a being so small the best option was to make something bigger and then shrink it down afterwards ¨C happily, now he had shrinking mana instead of void mana to get this right and non-squished. A crystal dwarf was the base but a series of minor body modifications were made to shape it closer to the gnomes Innearth had seen. To hint he was planning on shrinking this creature and hopefully increase the strength of it Innearth embedded small shrinking mana materials throughout the crystal flesh. For this circuit Innearth went vague ¨C incredibly vague sadly the goal was the circuit to take as much from the body as possible and so instead of hundreds of mini cores Innearth gave the creature a modest tier 11 core in the chest and only a dozen minor ones throughout the rest of the body. In the arms small T1 nodes of kinetic, crystal, laser and water were placed linking straight from the core to its wrists. Instead of a single void claw to carve runes with Innearth made his ¡°claw¡± a pointed straw and built the monster like an ink quill. He found a unique material that dyed anything it touched a brilliant turquoise and mixed it with some mundane oil in the creature¡¯s belly. Then, a simple enough muscle-based suction method was used to pull liquid up tubes and down each arm to drip out of the claws like inky venom. Innearth knew the small circuits he had run down the arms would help manipulate and then set the ink at the end and after some more cosmetic changes Innearth was ready. A brief amount of time to print and shrink this design later and Innearth was given life to his hopefully newest brand of permanent crafters. Unlike the big creatures with dramatic slow activations this small monster was nearly instantly alive and wandering about ¨C getting into anything and everything before Innearth had even noticed they were alive. The best way to describe this dungeon creature was that they were a hyperactive mute. They made nearly no sound and upon attempting to mentally communicate not a single peep was generated from their mind. What they lacked in mental communication they more than made up for in text, for this was the manner they were most comfortable communicating in. They would scribble strange spiky looping script while infusing mana and then write quick sentences and even whole paragraphs in an unknown language. This second "script" slowly shifted and translated itself into dungeon script powered by the first enchantment. Questions, responses to Innearth¡¯s questions, sometimes the hyperactive creature was just labelling things ¨C Innearth found them writing down what everything they saw was leaving untranslated scribbles everywhere. After a few minutes of frantic movement, the crafter was finally still enough for Innearth to begin explaining what he wanted from them. They sat unmoving as he talked and then remained still and silent for so long, Innearth wondered if he had broken them. The only sign the crystal gnome was still alive was a single arm writing empty words beside them ¨C a script without ink or mana as they thought through the problem he had presented. Minutes turned to hours and despite Innearth¡¯s sense of time becoming more and more skewed, waiting for the gnome to respond began making him impatient. Over 30 straight hours was how long it took for the gnome to finish thinking. They started suddenly ¨C as if awaking from a nap ¨C and moved towards a wall twitching as if silently mumbling to themselves. After staring at the wall for a moment, they began to write.
That¡¯s¡­a fun job. Fun, Fun, Fun. Okay. I can see how to do what you want at least in part ¨C by that I can imagine a lot of the steps separately but no matter how much I think I can¡¯t imagine it being nearly as strong or good as you like. Like hey! I can enchant something to capture a soul in a small range and hold it safely ¨C that shouldn¡¯t be too hard nope! It could be in a locket or something pulling the person wearing it into the inside as soon as they are in danger of dying. ... Problem with that, is the soul will start decaying pretty quickly outside of a proper body. You know resurrection tends to decay a soul right? It will drop in strength at least for a time. A death penalty if you were, until "it" regains its previous strength. I can also see about healing them but that¡¯s a bit of a worse process¡­Maybe we get a tiny piece of them first like some blood we can use to revive them from afterwards? That''s probably the best option. ... Problem with that is it''s going to take literally forever to work. Regrowing a whole body from some blood will take months to years and by that point the soul will obviously have disappeared. It will also need a lot of script¡­like more than you want to have adventures carrying around with them. ... The best option would just be to heal the body as it gets injured but you mentioned these ¡°void whales¡± I can¡¯t imagine making anything to protect someone from getting eaten. ... What do you say? Should we try your impossible request? I don''t want to get your hopes up but I will see what I can do.
Before responding, Innearth tried to get the attention of several drunk ascended dwarves before giving up and commanding a relatively strong ¡°non ascended¡± dwarf to come over to the room. He then reached out to get permission from every single one of his friends before returning to the gnome. Okay, All I really need from you is a way of interacting with souls and whatever else you think you can manage easily. Here¡¯s what we have to work with okay? I can make invincible containers for these items. Souls should pass through cosmic void just fine and hopefully they will be protected from damage ¨C not sure how long it will last inside a whale''s mouth no matter how much tempering I do... but it''s more than enough to start. Amy will supply ambrosia. Lots and lots and lots of ambrosia. That should prevent souls from decaying. It should also help heal bodies with an insane efficiency and will even keep their minds relatively healthy through the process. Depending on what¡¯s easier, Fed can slow down the time for each soul until the body is ready or Abe can speed up the growth of a body. All the items we give adventurers need to do is capture and transmit their souls ¨C we can mess around with tagging along with mental connections or linking magic like the soul bonds I have¡­worse case Doc said he can supply small portals to physically link the distance. Queen¡­wanted to be included so she¡¯s providing test subjects in the form of willing ascended monsters to act for the trial run. You and this fine fellow can work together to cover each others weaknesses and enhance each other''s strengths¡­ Innearth had the dwarf step forward at this moment to make it obvious who he was talking about. After all this I¡¯m hoping I can give life to the device we are making. Worse case it will just help regenerate ambrosia used for healing, best case I¡¯ll be overlapping my own circuit spell into this ritual. This is definitely possible, no need for a defeatist attitude at this point! The gnome looked shocked at the deluge of information ¨C at the overload of resources being given. At the center of the room the dwarf started to clue into the importance of his new task and a visible light began rising into his eyes ¨C they sparkled at the idea that he was special and a part of this. At the idea that they were building something important. Innearth let the two dedicated crafters begin their own brainstorming session that delved into lighthearted arguing. The gnome kept labelling the dwarfs tools and changing stuff while the dwarf kept trying to do everything themselves. Somehow the two managed to work things out and a true ritual began taking shape. The very center the very core of this creation was a simple electrum metal box ¨C mental gold and life silver hammered and folded into a container before being covered in enhancement runes. This box held a solid hundred page manuscript of rules that was the true brains of the situation. The most important part of the project the magic designed to move souls about and collect them through micro portals. This box was then embedded into a solid crystal pyramid ¨C 20x20m wide at its base the pyramid sharpened up into a point almost 30m tall. Inside this solid block of crystal Innearth dug a circuit ¨C it was easier to turn the box into a sort of node and turn its contents into an effect that was then enhanced than another interface but this is where everything started getting weird feeling. Innearth was making a circuit that kept feeling different and changing like a living creature. The mana was much looser in a ritual. More fluid. More dependant upon their actual goal than usual. Around this pyramid a large cosmic void tub was formed ¨C it had a diameter of 32m and flattened off just above the top of the pyramid. The tub was both protection and more importantly a body that was slowly filled with dense regenerating liquid mixed with ambrosia. ¡­so much ambrosia. Around this giant tank were a series of pods ¨C 64 of them wrapping around the entire length at a variety of sizes. They ranged from 1m wide at the smallest to 8m wide at the largest ¨C enough to fit even the largest of sapients that Innearth hosted. But sapients despite being the focus weren¡¯t the only thing Innearth built for. The whole top of the tank was covered in a dome 32m in diameter and built specifically with the resident dragon in mind. All these tanks were obviously for adventurers¡¯ bodies to form and heal in and were filled with solid ambrosia then surrounded by entropy fields to speed the whole process up. Branching out from the center were solid pipes connecting the pyramid to the pods and as his two crafters focused on laying repeating runes and looping script Innearth had an idea. It was a wild sort of idea. A stray thought that his circuit sense was silent but almost hopeful for. Innearth got Amy to make ambrosia cores. She had been on board with this project as soon as he described the barest hint of it to her and was more than willing to help. She filled self contained balls which were blasted with pure mana straight from Innearths filters ¨C and these became nodes in his circuit. Ambrosia nodes and cosmic void nodes were placed and conformed to existing rules or broke them ¨C circuits were not used to being fed such strong mana types by someone who knew how to use them it was like bringing a bunch of power tools to an arts and crafts session. Straightforward circuits with powerful fuel. They were designed to heal and grow and aid the whole process ¨C designed to utilize the ambrosia in as efficient a manner as possible. All that was left at this point were the soul capturing items. Innearth wanted bracers instead of lockets ¨C more annoying for the gnome to enchant but easier to attach to adventurers and less likely to fall off. A round band of silver with blue script and topped with a single cosmic void ¡°gem¡± encased in blue crystal for aesthetic and tempered for safety. Innearth could make them relatively cheaply all things considered, and dozens were made to start. Doc was fine with giving each a portal point and the majority of the work was done by a trio of three gnomes ¨C Innearth had started making more and sending them about the workshop. The soul collecting, clone growing and more importantly ¡°adventurer reviving¡± machine was done. Was given life. Was tested out on various ascended monsters. Innearth was ready to open up the planes and ready to unveil this system. Ready to see if his setup worked. Fed had something to say for the theming however.
Fated Eternal Design: WOAH, WOAH, WOAH. Do you know how much of a waste simply opening the door and saying ¡°there you go¡± would be? No! Please, look how much work you put into it. This needs to be a crowning gem. It needs to be shown off in all its glory! Fated Eternal Design: Don¡¯t worry. Give me a bit I¡¯ll set up a proper unveiling. This device has an important point in the facilities story now. This¡­this is what the researchers were trying to build! This was the pinnacle of their achievements! Maybe they made this machine¡­they made this machine but were killed by demons before they could protect themselves with it! Fated Eternal Design: ¡­maybe ¨C OH. You gave life to it right? It probably shows up as a plant or something? Let''s customize its analysis and say ¡°after sitting dormant for years the world tree finally revived it¡±. "Its unique existence was finally complete centuries after the facility was abandoned"¡­
Innearth: Alright, You can give it a story. Don¡¯t take too long this time okay? Amy worked really hard on this I''m sure she will want to see the results.
Abe: Lol Amy worked hard. Yeah I''ll agree with that. She really was MVP this time around ¨C I just threw some speed fields on.
Fated Eternal Design: Of course! You can count on me!
Chapter 98. The daily grind of life.
The apocalypse ¡°floor¡±. Have you ever wondered what the end of the world looks like? Well look no further ¨C that experience can now be had right here in our very crossroads! Just a trip on down to the void crossroads will set you up right beside what many have rightly called the most unnerving floor they¡¯ve seen in a while. Picture this if you will, an unnatural metallic plane stretching out in all directions with low visibility and a swirling sky of wrongness high above. Stare too far in any direction and your very brain will start screaming with this ¡°wrongness¡± ¨C the rules of existence you¡¯ve come to know and love have been brutally beaten into a facsimile of reality. This is the void you¡¯ve heard in legend. And that¡¯s just the backdrop! Demons roam these plains. Not the broken versions you¡¯ve heard of ¨C but ones in their natural habitat no less terrifying for it. The twisted chaotic monsters of legend are whole in the void¡­but wrong in a way you could never notice in reality. Their dimensions twist in strange ways and hurt your mind to picture. Pretend they are blobs. A general shape ahead. That¡¯s the only way to fight those horrors without feeling like the normal spacial setup has been [fireball]ed into oblivion. Ha¡­hahahaha. Yeah I¡¯m quitting adventuring ¨C you reach a certain age and realize the world is bigger than you thought. Good luck to all my friends who decide to stay.
Notice placed by a nameless adventurer in every single town bordering the ¡°Crossroad¡± dungeons dated 2015/6/12. FED took two weeks to hide documents detailing the construction of the soul cistern. He made several questlines linking them up to massive research station full of the bracers and a link to the ¡°planes¡± ¨C Innearth wouldn¡¯t let him take more time than this. The time it took adventurers to reach this research station ¡°naturally¡± gave FED an extra week or so to finish setting up system messages but that was fine.
Fated Eternal Design: Listen. You need to understand adventurer psychology. Fated Eternal Design: When they are younger and weaker the best possible motivator is loot. Good loot. Loot that will make them money. Loot that will help them get stronger. Adventurers want to get money and to a lesser extent get experience and explore and stuff.
Abe: yep, obvious stuff.
Fated Eternal Design: ¡­I¡¯m typing let me finish. SO. Anyways. When adventurers start getting stronger loot is less and less important.
Innearth: that''s why I didn''t bother figuring out rewards for the planes.
Fated Eternal Design: yes¡­Most transcendents are rich in relative terms ¨C they can retire and never adventure again if they want and several do. Fated Eternal Design: The ones who stayed who continue adventuring¡­those are the ones who actually like adventuring. You are right that besides making weapons they can use to their full potential, most transcendents don''t care as much for loot. It''s just a trinket ¨C a lot of the time they can buy something that suits them or prefer using a weapon or item they¡¯ve been using for a long time because of familiarity. But! They still have a reason for adventuring that''s the point I¡¯m trying to make.
Innearth: I¡­okay? I think I did that¡­
Fated Eternal Design: Listen my old pupil. Before now you just made a hunting ground and some items to use in the hunting grounds. ¨C BTW did you account for the transcendents wanting to bring them back to reality?
Innearth: yeah I got my gnome to add a rule stating it can be moved outside of the void without burning and damaging the person who''s wearing it¡­and if they take it off, the portal within teleports it back to the bracer room.
Fated Eternal Design: oh great! Anyways the goal is to market these planes and the bracers as the reward right. Market it properly. Nothing will change just how we present it¡­ We want them to explore and fight on it because it will make them grow stronger¡­and they want to grow stronger. If we communicate that better, they will be thankful for the planes. They will be lining up to use them. Fated Eternal Design: ¡­a training ground. A place where they can''t die. You made that and now it''s being communicated properly with the messages.
Innearth: nice nice, thanks for the work. Hey! If anyone wants to come watch the first group has reached the start of the floor!
Innearth drew attention to the original finders of the bracer room ¨C a group of kobolds with dark bronze skin who used golden flames in various positions. Sadly¡­despite his initial hype this group did not immediately head off. Instead they took a bracer each and attempted to bring them back to Doc¡¯s dungeon. When the security system Innearth had set off activated and the bracers disappeared¡­the adventurers simply left presumably to report their findings. Days passed and a second group came ¨C this time with an elven woman who sang while studying the bracers¡­presumably to test if they were safe? Or test if they did what they said they do? I don¡¯t know why¡­adventurers have seemed perfectly happy to use loot till now. ¡­are these reminding anyone of the cursed bracers? It was one time! ¡­ Days passed slowly building Innearth¡¯s anticipation. One group walked out without bracers¡­took one look at the colossus high above them ¨C and bolted back into the safety of the facility. Finally, word started getting around and one of the current strongest adventurers came for a solo delve. The disguised arch-goblin that had beaten the facility for the first time. This time alone, he decisively grabbed a bracer and attached it to his thigh. As the magical band touched his leg it bent and wrapped twisting around and securing itself tightly but comfortably. Confidently striding out into the planes the adventurer started to run feet pounding in a rhythm and beating pulses of mana out in Innearth¡¯s senses.
Abe: Finally! I like this one. He reminds me of an orc. Straightforward! Good trait to have.
Roughly 50m into the planes and the metallic grass began to wave in the wind as if to an invisible wind. First a small ring less than a meter in diameter around the adventurer shifted and sprung motes of green light up but then as the adventurer ran the ring grew. A dozen meters, a hundred. Half a kilometer, a kilometer. As the adventurer got further and further out into the floor, the ring of grass magic twirled like a hurricane centered on his body. Minor demons everywhere were battered by the storm, black dots appearing when each mote hit.
ZeMadDoctor: it''s certainly impressive the scale but¡­it''s too magical to do much. Anyone else remember how those melted through dungeon monsters?
The current scale of the "storm" felt weak, if it weren¡¯t for the dungeons having already seen it in action it would have been written off as a minor skill from some random adventurer. The storm looked like a light show that was barely doing anything¡­but all the dungeons remembered watching a much smaller number of motes being all that was required to clear the facility. Each of the sub-bosses? They died in less than 30s of a concentrated blast of these motes. CISC¡¯s fake core? It had died before the adventurer had even entered the boss room. That was the strength of whatever magic the adventurer used. It really was a testament to how strong the demons anti-magic flesh was, that most of them were weathering this storm. It really was a testament to the strength of this ¡°destruction¡± magic, that some of it was overwhelming the demon flesh. Further into the planes the adventurer ran. Innearth saw each and every minor twitch or their body and how the mana ¨C the spell or ¡°motes¡± around him responded to his movement instantly. A curl of his finger pulled motes here, a flick pushed mote there. One minor demon fell, and as if its death signalled the end, momentum began to topple the others. One by one they were overwhelmed as diffuse motes gathered together like flies of pure destruction tunnelling through defences over and over hitting the same areas ¨C weakening joints and tunnelling through to important areas. At roughly two kilometers out into the plane, the storm stabilized ¨C two kilometers in diameter amusingly enough. Two humanoid demons were met by the edge of the storm each holding twin daggers¡­Innearth loved finding patterns and started looking for more ¡°two¡¯s¡±. As the storm washed over them the two humanoids jerked into action ¨C they split apart and began stalking through the mana. Reptilian mouths opened and bit down on motes here and there the humanoid faces opening unnaturally wide to snack on the mana. Twin daggers of what could only be dark purple bone spun in strange patterns and the two began to run. As if tasting blood long tongues shot out excitedly as the demons attempted to flank the adventurer. Their bodies moved in a loping gait through the thin atmosphere the void barely slowing them down as they shot the kilometer from outer edge to inner prey in a dozen second''s time. Coming within range the demon on the left lunged speeding up to nearly 100m/s causing a massive swirl of void atmosphere to fly in all directions as it pounced. Blood was drawn. A solid nick scored along the adventurer''s arm raised in defence ¨C purple blood which flicked out into the void atmosphere in a thin arc.
Amy: Pretty. Look how it falls slower than you would think through the atmosphere. His blood is so pretty.
The adventurer''s left hand reached out and clutched his arm ¨C instantly erasing the minor wound. In the same motion his right arm swung behind him ¨C drawing literally billions of green motes with its motion. The thick cloud of green dots burned into the demon''s back and caused it to howl in an otherworldly cry of anger. Slowly as the adventure fought his attacks became more effective. Green light enveloped his body both speeding up his attacks and more importantly changing his body. His bulging chiselled muscles reverted to a scrawny patchy form as his disguise was tossed. The arch goblin danced ¨C its movements containing immense amounts of intent each attack with purpose. They danced and as they moved their body changed¡­limbs lengthened and changed into a more and more streamlined form. A razor-sharp transformation. His hands melted into small shovel-like blades and his arms began looking closer and closer to whips. To seeking green vines. What stood out the most to Innearth was how angry the goblin looked. How furious his face was as if the transformation disgusted him¡­as if the demons forcing him to get his hands dirty disgusted him.
Abe: you know what¡­I think your roach knights could have handled this faster than him. I''ve seen them kill hundreds of humanoid demons recently.
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­and he could probably take out a roach. It''s a bad match up.
Innearth: Actually I''d like to see him get through tempered cosmic void. My roaches are good and armoured up. You know my box withstood a dragon right?
Amy: think he''ll survive out here? or will we get to see the resurrection system in action? Personally I want to see if it works¡­will make me feel much better about this area like we aren¡¯t just feeding adventurers to demons.
Innearth: ¡­I mean we tested with ascended. Personally I''m hoping he comes back without dying first you know? I think our system helps mitigate any death penalty but staying alive seems much better for levelling than not.
¡­ Below a whirlwind of twisting limbs moved to the next demon and the next. Larger demons were more often than not stronger and the ones being fought now were larger than normal. If Innearth had to describe this demon¡­it looked like a long lizard melding towards a turtle. Large but stretched out and long shell, Turtle head with a second shell. The shells had a couple times more surface area than they should have and the turtle head looked like it was stuck out in front of the shell but was also spatially protected in side of the shell? Blow after blow from flat blades that shifted to hammers rained down upon the hard flesh. Chips flew off but while distracted a second turtle ¨C nearly identical in shape but with long canine teeth ¨C appeared and bit through one of the flailing arms. Green vine was severed and slurped like a noodle before the goblin had a chance to dodge his luck turning for the worse as he dodged back.
Amy: Ah! Good show, Hit em where it hurts!
Abe: ¡­it sounds like you are cheering for the demon.
Amy: ¡­I¡¯m cheering for the adventurer obviously.
Dancing back the goblin slowly healed its arm ¨C focused entirely on defence for a time before he tried once more. Spinning about, the two while dodging the goblin took it slow this time. In the air a large floating green blade of grass faintly appeared above each of the turtles. It was held like a guillotine and instead of dropping it quickly the goblin added to his spell bit by bit. Blood was flung out and coalesced at the tips of each green blade ¨C the physical matter acting as a buffer to the magical one behind it. Back and forth the goblin dodged ¨C hands completely reverted to green and furiously creating shapes as the shaman worked. Finally after nearly 15 minutes of dodging and spellwork, the goblin dropped both hands and twin guillotines fell. Twin blades of grass fell simultaneously and cut through demon flesh with a sharp crack the sound distorted in the void atmosphere. The blades sliced through shell like axes through wood ¨C the splits cut both demons completely in half just before the goblin directed streams of motes into the crack to attack the revealed flesh. Both demons fell and the goblin stood angrily looking down at their smouldering corpses. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Turning about with a sense of finality he began retreating. Final distance ¨C just over six kilometers out into the currently nineteen existing. At some point on the way back, the goblinoid form twisted into a slightly ¡°off¡± looking human form once again and his final appearance entering the facility was thoroughly dishevelled. His wounds weren¡¯t visible after the transformation ¨C not a scratch shone through the disguise but his light amour and clothing was ripped and torn. Beneath ever section of armour skin mottled green to Innearth invasive dungeon senses and proportions everywhere looked¡­off. The goblin pushed past a curious group of adventurers and positively rushed to the privacy of their room in the party floor. Leaving the bracer on the adventure touched up their transformation slowly regaining a sense of self as it was applied. Innearth watched curious as they touched up their disguise one last time before finally relaxing and sauntering out ¨C a charming confident "human" ready to regal his fellow adventurers at the bar with tales of his daring exploits. That "delve" marked the start of the silver plains actual use. Slowly but surely more transcendents explored into it ¨C each pushing hard but retreating before they were truly in danger. It took an entire month before the first death happened. A party of two ¨C one short and fat wizard with his incredibly thin stick-shaped warrior were surrounded by a pack of humanoid monsters seven strong. The wizard''s magic had mostly been used to strengthen his partner but failed to protect its user. Demonic spears cut through a turquoise [magic barrier] and stabbed again and again poking massive holes through the round man. One spear stabbed straight through the wizard¡¯s head and his low health couldn''t compete with the critical strike. A twisting pulled the wizard''s soul and initial drop of blood through the bracer while behind him the body became a pincushion. His friend yelled with anger, countless buffs fading away and weakening his one-sided slaughter into a frantic fight for his life.
Abe: it''s almost like they don''t trust they will be revived. Just give in. Join your friend.
Fated Eternal Design: oh hey! This is important. Now that we have our first resurrection candidate we can prove the system works.
Amy: I hope this works well.
Breaking free from the demons the adventurer ran. His frantic movements brought him all the way to the bracer room ¨Cbarely noticing the massive foot behind him squishing his pursuers in the blink of an eye. Rushing about frantically he found the pod room and stared down at a translated script currently displaying a countdown flickering with mana as it changed the second value again and again.
Morgan: Resurrection Pod #12. Estimated time to finish 17 hours, 48 minutes, 3 seconds.
The warrior stood staring down into the otherwise featureless pod ¨C he looked like he wanted to rip it apart. Finally he sat down and waited out the whole resurrection time.
Abe: Woah, that¡¯s quite a bit longer than the time for queens ascended.
ZeMadDoctor: Need more subjects before we can find out how long it takes¡­based on previous points it either jumps for transcendents¡­is nonlinear with level¡­or maybe it just has a species difference. Let me check some things. How is the pod even able to estimate how long it will take? If the pods doing it I should be able to.
Innearth: ¡­its magic? There¡¯s a script stating display how long it will take.
ZeMadDoctor: Okay wait two of queens ascended were a similar level. but different sizes. Confirmation bigger creatures require more time. Looks like a direct relation as well. I think there¡¯s a parabolic relationship between level and time with a size multiplier. Someone help me confirm this!
Abe: Look! Another group is heading out.
¡­ Weeks passed and the news of the resurrection began to spread. It wasn¡¯t an unheard of phenomena ¨C certain higher level priests all had [Lesser resurrection] after all and there was plenty of self-healing skills like [rebirth of a phoenix] that massively healed someone close to death. What was unique was the reduced death penalty ¨C nearly every single known resurrection damaged someone¡¯s soul making their body and magic weaker for days to weeks at a time ¨C it was almost like a level reduction that healed through time. Instead of this well known death penalty, newly resurrected sapients had an ¨C arguably just as bad ¨C Ambrosia withdrawal. Amy was fine with it in her dungeon simply leaving ambrosia addicts to ween themselves of their addiction but now that all the dungeons were focusing on it the problem became more known. It was hard to tell what the addiction really was ¨C nothing they did could find what part of it was addictive and there were no lingering traces of the substance after it disappeared. FED tried to use mental mana to remove the addiction or even use it to remove memories of their time being resurrected¡­Besides the fact that both actions counted as a ¡°attack¡± that was more likely to be resisted by the high level adventurers neither seemed to work well even when he managed to get it through. The only real solution was time¡­but even with long periods of no contact some adventurers just seemed more susceptible to the addiction. For the most part this was purely a negative situation, but it didn¡¯t fully affect the dungeons so they weren¡¯t too invested in solving it. On a plus side there was a negative to ¡°dying¡± in the plains. Most adventurers hearing of the nasty side effects tried their best to survive¡­ which helped them level and prevent the resurrection machine from being stressed too badly ¨C as a negative the cautious adventurers were not gaining nearly as much experience as the reckless ones. That was especially disappointing as the safety net lowered their experience gain by some small but noticeable value. On the¡­debatably good side some adventurers craved the resurrection feeling so badly they pushed themselves to death fighting in much worse situations then they would otherwise. But frequent ¡°deaths¡± over a short time period created worse and harder to ignore symptoms. ¡­ Time continued to pass. Weeks slipped by and turned into months. Months slipped by and turned into years. The silver floor steadily continued to expand 19km long became 30km long then 50 then 100. At the start everything was cramped. The colossus was created in too small of an area for it ¨C its body hugging the side of the facility barely able to turn its long body about and its arms poking out of Innearth¡¯s influence if it spread them out. When first created if the colossus fell sideways it would have landed off the edge of the silver planes passing out of Innearth¡¯s influence as it did¡­that was obviously not ideal but expanding out several kilometers into emptiness took a massive amount of time and strength the further out Innearth got. With years of time to focus on it? The colossus got more room to move about in and Innearth figured out how to twist void unfurling magic with expansion. It was like how the initial facility¡¯s sphere had been 2km in diameter when they created the outer wall and then its inside unfurled into 10km. As adventurers got more complacent with the plains difficulty ¨C many reaching the end of the expanded space ¨C Innearth started experimenting with demonic mana. Specifically creating ¡°imaginary¡± souls with life and death mana far out in the plains both to see what they did and to attract more demons and increase the difficulty. This is what most of Innearth¡¯s time and energy was focused on as the years slipped by. When no longer scared of the potential madness he could test out stuff he had been worried would create demons. Poison mana was related to life mana and he had been afraid it would clash until now. As a pure mix? It had a minor madness clash but if they were in small doses or more importantly were mixed with an offshoot of life mana? That was safer than Innearth had feared. Life+Water creating a health potion mixed just fine with Death+Water creating Poison. Of course adding Fire to the mix instantly pulled the whole thing into madness the three Fire/Poison/Healing creating a incredibly insane test subject. Life and Death+Void creating undeath combined happily as did the opposite ¨C turns out life and protecting against death weren¡¯t opposites after all funnily enough. As far as imaginary souls went that was a whole other can of worms as well. Ignoring the materials and just looking at the souls created Innearth found varying mixes of the two mana types created slightly different four dimensional shapes for the souls. Half and half Life and Death created an imaginary soul perfectly balanced between the two. Twice as much life and death created something that was partly life and partly imaginary ¨C like the mix of 2L+1D created 1L+1j and same when reversing the mix. Normally a dungeon couldn¡¯t create a death-aligned soul from scratch ¨C they could easily create life souls and could convert non dungeon souls to death souls¡­but regular dungeon mobs were always life aligned. This was partly due to a dungeon''s soul being predominantly life aligned and dungeon mobs returning to the soul of the dungeon that created them¡­but imaginary souls broke this rule. A huge amount of death mana with a relatively small amount of life mana created a functionally undead creature ¨C But Innearth was beginning to realize he couldn¡¯t properly retrieve the souls from most imaginary monsters. He didn¡¯t get much if any experience when they died and there was probably some loss happening somewhere invisibly. All this madness experimentation was interesting because of a single point. Imaginary souls and demonic mana in general didn¡¯t make what Innearth had assumed all madness dungeon monster were ¨C ¡°mad¡± monsters. Doc had already mentioned it but other than acting as massive lures to demons ¨C at least in the void ¨C these imaginary monsters were not angry things that sought to kill anything including their creator. Innearth was sure there was something to do with intent and the fact that every imaginary monster up till now was instantly eaten by demons the madness effect being attributed to the summoned demons not the sacrifice¡­ Three years in and the first void whale appeared. It crashed down on the end of the planes biting a huge chunk into the end its teeth digging through metal but stopping at the tempered void. Five adventurers were eaten but the resurrection system saved them proving its use. The whale untangled itself and became breeched as its head flopped down onto the tip of the plains¡­The colossus tensed standing beside the facility sensing the threat all the way at the end of the area. Before he got to show his worth however Rakata was there. In and out and around the dragon flew scratching out the dozen massive eyes on the whale''s front and leaving countless small gashes. Time mana was reasonably effective against demons and the void. Not a perfect counter but the dragon moved much faster than the demon could react to. Faster than everyone could react to if Innearth was being honest. He still remembered feeling like time had been frozen when the dragon had first come to his dungeon. The dragon¡¯s talons were barely enough to pierce the demons tempered flesh. Just barely leaving scratches. It opened wide its beak and a hazy orange [dragon¡¯s breath] poured out instantly covering the entire multiple kilometer face in a ethereal mist. Below the whale¡¯s mouth in a ring silver corroded ¨C it tarnished but to an insane degree. Pitch black silver sulfide past a simple coating and straight into piles of dust territory began pooling metal curling and showing off how much magical damage was being done. The whale was fine. Like surroundings were quickly aged the damage spread ¨C as if the cloud directly covering the whale was radioactive and shooting out damaging rays to the whole surroundings. The whale opened its maw slowly and snapped shut in a lunge that was embarrassingly far away from the dragon. A second breath attack. A second lunge. A crash as the whale thrashed sending vibrations all the way across the plains. Back and forth the two struggled. There was zero chance of the dragon dying with how much faster it was¡­but the whale shrugged off every single attack the dragon made. The dragon began to tire after a half hour of effort ¨C Innearth tried to guess how many hours or days or months they had fought in their own subjective time ¨C it was a lot? Their movements slowed from a faint blur to merely ¡°fast¡±. The whale''s incredibly fast snaps started to get closer to reaching the dragon, Snap, dodge, snap, dodge, [breath]. When Innearth was sure the dragon would fail it suddenly retreated. Rushing through the facility, through Innearth¡¯s dungeon and frantically hopping about the dragon tried to get Innearth¡¯s attention. Setting up a mental connection Innearth listened to the frantic blabbing of the dragon. The dragon¡¯s message poured through ¨C panic the most overwhelming emotion being conveyed. It''s¡­calm down. Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ve killed plenty of whales before. This is all according to estimations and the roach commander should be enough to fend it off. Innearth tried to reassure them. A fluttering sort of confusion was felt before Rakata flashed back to their ¡°treasure¡±. Innearth was distinctly aware of how animal-like the dragon was in this moment. Their mind felt intelligent and strong but alien to his own¡­the dragon''s instincts had it currently wrapping large wings about golden acorns while hissing and clicking. Out on the plains, a pair of roach knights harried the whale as it moved through the middle of the plains. Surprisingly or perhaps not considering their specialized design they were doing more damage than the dragon had. Whale blood fell to the metal floor warping it and each flop of the whale pushed it a kilometer or so further in. The whale was 15km long. That became more obvious as it fully breeched onto the floor. It was less restricted by the gravity below it than confused by it. They weren¡¯t resistant to it and unused to moving down when they wanted to move forwards but that restriction was slowly loosening as the whale adjusted to the surroundings its slides moving faster and whole bottom lifting off slightly with each flap of its tail. A transcendent with a long thin sword began attacking the whale as well. Her sword was very obviously magical and had magical sword mana flying about that barely damaged the whale¡­but as far as a weapon went? It was surprisingly effective each slice doing nearly as much damage as the roach knights. Suddenly the front of the whale was pierced. The colossus commander stabbed deep through the whale''s skull its lance ripping through flesh as if it wasn¡¯t even there and presumably stabbing the void heart deep within. Slowly the lance withdrew dragging the whole body slightly before coming free covered in rainbow blood. A swarm of experienced workers began chopping up the body into more manageable pieces to drag and feed to Yggdrasil. And Yggdrasil went through a metamorphosis. Not only was this body one of the freshest it had been fed, but the whale itself had died physically close to the great tree and somehow that mattered more than before. A long root ripped out into the plains tunneling through the center of the silver material and ripping up into the corpse excitedly. The root coming out of the base of the tree pulled its bottom portal out further and further as it stretched and slowly the tree¡­almost ascended? It felt like something clicked but no drastic and by this point in time obvious flex of system interference happened. Attempting to analyze the tree gave a similar result as before ¨C this wasn¡¯t a treant ¨C and practically it was the same¡­but Innearth noticed how much more the tree felt. Somewhere along the line both the bottom and top portals had almost melded into the tree¡­ they no longer felt like separate objects or had visible gaps. Innearth couldn¡¯t see or notice the top of the tree but high above Queen¡¯s dungeon small buds appeared and shifted and grew. The whale melted into nothing and besides speeding up its upwards growth slightly an array of fruit popped out of the branches ¨C dense golden and hard nutty fruits full of ambrosia and magic and intent.
Amy: Somethings happening! Our baby! Does anyone else see this? Are they okay?
Brutality Queen: Yggdrasil¡¯s roots are starting to dig in a weird way¡­like they are making portals and pushing off into some unknown location? How safe do you think this is?
ZeMadDoctor: Fascinating. The portal mana has changed and gotten deeper. I have to figure out how to replicate that.
Abe: Anyone want to come play a game of dungeon defense with me? I need a partner.
Brutality Queen: You and me! Lets go.
Innearth: what¡¯s this?
Abe: It¡¯s a game with a lot of setup. I¡¯ll send you the site later.
Fated Eternal Design: Look, a root''s wrapped around the base of the resurrection chamber! I know I created a storyline about how the tree is directly responsible for its activation¡­but I didn¡¯t expect them to manifest like this.
Innearth: What does this mean for us?
Brutality Queen: Probably nothing much. Looks the same as normal.
Amy: Resurrection cambers are nearly all full. Whale squished a lot of transcendents floating this way.
Innearth: That one swordswomen seems to have received a lot of experience for her help. Seems like whales are good for the plains even if I had hoped they would grow a bit bigger before any appeared.
ZeMadDoctor: You¡¯re the one putting so many juicy demonic madness baits about.
Innearth: It all worked out. I¡¯m going to expand the base of the plains much more before I make more. Queen help me make more cows its expanding too slowly.
¡­ Time passed once more. The floor was expanded out to the point everything near the facility looked good as new but the first whale''s incursion remained visible at the far ends. Innearth dug out a couple blocks of silver soaked in demon blood and made a few madness experimentations that had to be put down¡­but for the most part he was just idly passing time. It started to feel like he was growing complacent as months flew past Innearth found it hard to point to anything he had accomplished recently. They still caught a whale every month or so and that passive source of experience was pretty high¡­but Innearth found it hard to point to what he was doing himself. Innearth knew he was getting stronger. His level had increased his practice with circuits had increased ¨C his ability with them by leaps and bounds after plenty of training and completing challenges. Innearth¡¯s dungeon felt more established he figured out how to pull his core down every level instead of every rank and to do it manually¡­ But no event stood out to him. A second whale appeared a third and then it felt like a common occurrence every few months and every few years. There was one almost 40km long that was too strong to be killed by the colossus ¨C ending up injured and retreating off into the depths of void. There was one 10km long that was killed completely by adventurers ¨C with help from some roaches. Innearth slowly found himself getting impatient as time passed. The year 2020 came and went and the flip of his age on his status to ¡°age 23¡± marked his flip of impatience. He no longer cared about getting stronger for the sake of getting stronger. He needed a goal. He only cared through some vague plan of becoming a god himself in a few millennia and as a means to enact his goals¡­ ¡­which at the end of the day weren¡¯t yet complete. Innearth knew it would take awhile to make a god ¨C he knew there would be some waiting¡­but it was beginning to become clear he hadn¡¯t done enough. Just waiting for the goal to be completed wasn¡¯t enough to satisfy him not if he did nothing else for the decades to centuries to come. Innearth began researching his fellows more deeply. There was one dungeon called simply ¡°The Trial¡± which opened once a year before closing and had some of the hardest traps and monsters around. They doubled down on compressing massive amounts of mana into monsters that took months to restock at the end of each year ¨C and made a point to introduce a large number of riddles and puzzles as their focus. ¡°The Trial¡± claimed increasing the mind was just as important as increasing the body towards godhood and Innearth momentarily stumbled trying to see if his setup was wrong¡­the one negative his almost textbook ¡°combat example¡± seemed to have, was that demon opponents vastly favoured kinetic abilities and warriors over mages. Innearth knew the point of this process was creating someone able to fight demons wherever the gods were¡­ so it seemed acceptable to create a god already built for it? ¡­ Continuing to research Innearth found more and more examples of godhood attempts. There was a Core who had created a dungeon of nothing but cubes ¨C massive solid cinderblocks of magic that moved about as both the walls and the enemies. It was simple but they currently housed some of the strongest adventurers around so they had to be doing something right. There was a Core who had some mana type and material that created something like Innearth¡¯s mirror trial ¨C it let adventurers puppet a sort of avatar or physical 1:1 copy of their body through insanely difficult defences¡­ but the abstraction killed a lot of experience even if it was safe. There were even a few dungeons who had a resurrection-type safety net in place. None had as grand a system as Innearth and his friends had made ¨C many had death penalties and they abused their own triplet mana types or had rank 4 mana materials stockpiled¡­ but didn¡¯t have secondary spell systems like runes and enchantments twisting intent to be more focused so at the end of the day Innearth felt like they were doing better. Honestly the more Innearth looked into stuff, the more it felt like he had just become a contender. He was now the minimum level to have a percent chance of making a god over some vast timeframe. It wasn¡¯t enough. Only a few years had passed but Innearth wasn¡¯t seeing good enough results. He knew he should wait more¡­a century or two would be a better timeframe to see if his setup needed to be tweaked, but Innearth wanted to be proactive. He wanted to help try and fix this problem now! Innearth had been thinking these past few years and was starting to hint against something he could actually do¡­ Innearth had a plan. A plan that felt like he was cheating. It was risky. Risky in a way that was unneeded. Innearth was going to cheat a god. Chapter 99. Cheating godhood for fun and profit.
Name: Ambrosia Lethality: Low. Addiction: Very High. Description: Ambrosia is a material found in both the Meneth and void , as well as several old legends of fae food. As far as healing goes, this material is miraculous in its original form ¨C there is very little you can do ¡°processing wise¡± to increase its good effects and those good effects are strong. Healing that goes above and beyond any existing medicine. Healing potions are trash when compared to this liquid. As far as negative effects go, ambrosia has an incredible inescapable and insidious addiction that cannot be removed ¨C in fact as far as addictions go ambrosia feels surprisingly non magical. Upon consumption of ambrosia, any living creature will find their soul protected from harm. Will find their mind healed and soothed from any trauma. Will find their body regenerated from massive wounds. Many who¡¯ve consumed ambrosia talk of feeling like a child held safe in their mothers¡¯ arms ¨C a warm content feeling of absolute safety. With a large amount of ambrosia in someone¡¯s system they will instinctually begin to realize they literally cannot be killed. Every single ounce of a person¡¯s being will latch onto and realize this fact. But ambrosia is not a permanent effect. It¡¯s a consumable substance and even without any visible wounds will be slowly used up ¨C this is due to it healing every minor source of damage that exists including active aging. Someone full of ambrosia is Immortal. And here lies the addictive effect. Ambrosia addiction can be better classified as a non magical withdrawal that only appears when the ambrosia runs out. Someone¡¯s mind, body and soul will all slowly feel the sense of safety disappear. They will find themselves grasping for that warm feeling as it disappears, and they return to mortality. A creature will feel the stark difference between absolute protection and the fragile state their regular existence is ¨C this realization runs soul deep. Their body will crave the protection. Their subconscious will whisper they are vulnerable. Their soul will ache with the taste they have now lost. Ambrosia addiction is one of the strongest addictions I have ever come across ¨C it''s also uncurable. There¡¯s no magic effect to banish and the only real cure is time¡­Effects can be weakened linearly by weakening ambrosia''s potency and usefulness. One of the safest uses of ambrosia seems to be creating regular healing potions and finishing them off with a single drop of ambrosia ¨C the healing effect of health potions is increased while the addiction is minimized. This recipe focuses on body healing however and doesn¡¯t account for the mind or soul healing in regular ambrosia.
Excerpt obtained from ¡°The alchemists handbook, Dangerous ingredients and where to find them¡±. Innearth was planning on cheating his god creation project. He had been trying to look for loopholes. Specifically in the system and over time he had started to focus on one specific one. As far as his god creation setup was coming along so far¡­Innearth was trying his very best to create something similar to other dungeons. He was ¡°working within the rules¡± as it were. Lots of experience gained in an endless grind. Slowly increasing the level of a creature towards their ascension state. To ¡°cheat¡± Innearth wanted to bypass the levelling system completely. Over months of time, he had been reading up on "levelling" and more importantly what it had replaced ¨C cultivation. For the most part¡­the gods have done a great job of improving cultivation in nearly every manner. There¡¯s no chance of spontaneous death or mutation. There¡¯s no losing focus and leveling a town with your leaking aura. There¡¯re no tribulations appearing and damaging others¡­Everyone can level! ...Even if a few people are better at it than others. There''s also no bottlenecks due to impossible to understand reasons. If someone slows down and stops levelling it''s due to laziness or a lack of desire to advance. Honestly, in nearly every single way I can think of levelling is better¡­save one teensy tiny point. Time. By making the process safer, it also slowed down the advancement speed. I obviously don¡¯t know what decisions the gods had to make or why they couldn¡¯t just instantly make anyone able to gain 100 levels¡­but I¡¯m imagining it''s like a bunch of tradeoffs they decided was worth it. That makes sense to me even if it''s now getting in my way. There were two specific items Innearth returned to at this moment.
Demonic Cleanse [Tier 8 Consumable]
Description: Consuming this pill injects the very blood of demons into your soul. An inner host will awaken and attempt to consume you from the inside while burning through weakness and strengthening all in its wake. If you can manage to remain sane and fight off this challenge you will find your body vastly improved. A rough estimate can be given as follows. For a human +25 to all stats. Average chance of failure 95%. WARNING: Consumption of this dangerous item will momentarily cut your connection to the [system]. Failure to fight off the parasite will result in your body becoming puppeted by one of the worst creatures in the universe. Consumption is not advised without a willpower of at least 100. Consumption is not advised by any who rely on the [system] for ability.
The second material was the corrupted crystals. The original ones ¨C not the second or third generation ones but the ¡°primary¡± crystals that consumed all mana types and forcefully improved someone until it didn¡¯t anymore. Innearth had gone through several experiments and ended up using it to increase the capability of his hardmode crystal golems¡­ before focusing entirely on the second and third-generation versions and the filter system. The silver flesh has a similar effect but the only time I can remember it not immediately taking over and making a monster an "expanding insane creature" was with the silver otter. They ascended and the ascension kind of forcefully fixed them. It integrated their existing flesh and stopped them from breaking further¡­that¡¯s not easily reproducible. Anyways there are a few ways I can imagine the corrupted crystals helping. Someone who has it embedded increases their strength steadily by a percentage. If they take too much or are too weak to handle the strength or¡­ ¡°give in¡± to the echo of a mutated demon they end up entombed. Maybe I can see about replacing the system with this material? Or maybe I can see about replacing the more dangerous sounding ¡°inner host¡± from the demon pill with this less dangerous entombing version? Innearth had researched quite a bit both of these materials as he consolidated his plan to cheat. The only reason he considered it cheating was because of that research ¨C it was also why he was so apprehensive of this process. Both materials could be seen as¡­close to madness cultivation. Or spells adjacent to madness cultivation. As long as they weren¡¯t taking over it was close to ¡°normal cultivation¡± but any hint of madness was still a warning flag for the dungeon. From what I can tell madness is inherently tied into the idea of shortcuts and unearned strength or gaining power without working for it¡­there¡¯s very very little information on true madness cultivation ¨C its essentially a crime enforced on the system level with kill quests and stuff. The only example I can find of true madness cultivation is stealing the strength of others¡­taking over another¡¯s body or stealing someone¡¯s stats or skills. So what I¡¯m planning shouldn¡¯t be fully madness cultivation ¨C the system just gives a warning for the pill after all, not a ¡°do not consume under any circumstances¡± sort of thing. As far as I can tell¡­the fact that someone has to fight the pill is what is keeping it from being true madness cultivation. True madness cultivation is unearned strength without cost and the pill very much has a cost¡­ Is that a loophole in my loophole that is making it safe? So to sum up my plan. I¡¯m looking specifically on the section of the demonic cleanse that mentions ¡°momentarily cutting someone¡¯s connection to the system¡±. I want to revert some transcendents with enough skill to a cultivation system. Revert and hope that a more dangerous system is enough to increase levelling speed. I¡¯ve already researched cultivation but I need to do a lot more than just revert them and hope for the best¡­ I need to do more. At least I think I need to do more.... From what I can tell and imagine, just reverting some sapients used to levelling will do nothing ¨C they never learned how to manually cultivate and will be completely lost! Some might not even know cultivation exists¡­they might not know history who knows. To make matters worse they would need to cultivate with their strength and mana levels of a transcendent not that of a level 1 small-fry. Their base has already been made by something else. This is what I have to focus on. My current state could be considered, ¡°its already dangerous and is going to be even more dangerous than if they had started from the beginning with cultivation¡±: ¡°Fix this¡±. So¡­okay. I¡¯m hoping I can abuse the system by shoving them back onto it after they cultivate and hope it ¨C and ambrosia ¨C can help heal them¡­fix any problems cultivation made while hopefully keeping their new strength. Ambrosia can heal everything I¡¯m sure of that even scars in the soul and stuff¡­and mutations can be fixed by the system. I have absolutely no hope of making a better cultivation system than tons of gods did ¨C I¡¯m not even going to try. What I want is the best of both worlds ¨C fast levelling and safe cultivation. So greedy. I want all of the benefits with none of the consequences wew. I feel like I¡¯m going around in circles with my thought patterns without even focusing on solutions. Okay, I want a trial that ends if they die and are resurrected. I should figure out how to administer this trial while I think of helping them cultivate. To start off, Innearth began to mix about materials. The spell system that worked the absolute best with combining mana and materials ¨C more importantly environmental mana and existing materials ¨C was alchemy. Potion-making could warp existing effects and enhance them and mixing several materials with alchemy reduced the chance of madness that happened with ¡°wild mixing¡±. Innearth briefly considered trying to make an alchemy-focused monster ¨C creating a human-shaped dungeon monster with dim magical senses and then giving them more mundane ones as a base for example. Nearly all creatures can create potions ¨C but humans are the only species focused on it. ¡­that¡¯s something I still might do someday just to prove I can but for some reason¡­for "some reason" in this case making a monster to do it feels like giving up. I have my own version of potion-making after all¡­the ¡°magical disease creation¡± spell that¡¯s potion-making with a huge bias for everything to be a disease. Innearth found various disease starters from the market and began mixing stuff simultaneously in different areas ¨C just trying different steps out. Demonic mana, demonic mana materials, corrupted crystals. Different stirring methods, different infusions of his own mana in the area, changing the environment to be damp or setting a fire by it. Innearth gave some monsters corrupted crystals and harvested converted flesh. He snuck some chunks of whale flesh from their newest catch. Unlike with circuitwork he had no sense to guide his influence ¨C just trial and error some based on vague hypotheses, some just him randomly changing variables to see what they did. Amy helped him out ¨C she was happy to answer any and all questions he had and was better at teaching than random websites. For the most part, Innearth wasn¡¯t just ¡°solving¡± his problem ¨C a majority of the results would probably be considered calamities or war crimes or something if they were released on the surface. Alchemy was much better than most at mixing conflicting elements safely but when Innearth was using madness in the ingredients¡­well sometimes they exploded or spontaneously turned into twisted creatures or even more concerning created a disease with a corrupted status ¨C
????11 ???8313? [??¡Ê? 333]
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So that was fun. Innearth scrubbed his whole disease area after that ¨C as much fire mana as he could fit to try and burn it. Some void walls to melt everything that remained and then, because that didn¡¯t necessarily delete any madness mana, he cordoned off the whole area with cosmic void and pulled his influence out. A safer and more promising disease was one that prevented anyone who contracted it from seeing their status. Everything still worked normally but they wouldn¡¯t be able to visually see their interactions with it. While Innearth was working on diseases FED was also talking about potion making ¨C his cult had explosively grown over the past few years due to a very specific concoction. Eternity self-time slowing liquids from his dungeon were mixed with ambrosia sourced from Amy¡¯s dungeon creating a world changing potion. An alchemical potion of youth. Or, more accurately, a potion that slowed aging ¨C essentially solving the main humanoid system barrier to godhood by extending its drinker''s lifespan. With continued periodic doses, a sapient¡¯s life could be extended by¡­potentially centuries at the minimum. They would need to wait that long to confirm it but this was still game-changing. I¡¯m nearly positive with those youth potions and the high-level hunting ground creating a god is only a matter of time. Its turned my ¡°high chance over a long time¡± to ¡°Basically guaranteed given a long enough time¡±. Currently the cults are the only ones with this potion and their fanatical sort of devotion makes them perfect candidates to become levelling maniacs but¡­well¡­that¡­ The thing Innearth was starting to finally realize about himself was how selfish he was about his goal he had gained. If youth potions were the most important point towards creating a god¡­that wasn¡¯t him. He wanted to be the cause. He wanted to be the cure. He had already gotten plenty of help from his friends, but at those times he had been the ones directing them. It was his plan they had been helping with. His ideas being followed. Sitting around and letting a creation he had no input on solve the problem was¡­unsatisfying. He didn¡¯t actually care about the goal itself. He thought it was cool and was invested in trying to complete it but¡­what he actually cared about was being the one to beat the goal. To ¡°win¡±. He was starting to realize he didn¡¯t want someone else to solve it. All his fellow dungeons with the same goal weren¡¯t companions they were competition. Innearth wanted to be responsible. It was a selfish wish. A selfish selfish wish he had to admit to himself¡­ but at the end of the day one he decided he needed to embrace. He wanted to be first. And that was alright. If someone else solved the problem before him it would feel like his work was for nothing. He didn¡¯t want to wait centuries he wanted to solve the problem now! Innearth continued to grind recipes. A "system surpressing flu" slowly edged closer to being formed. He didn¡¯t have a disease masterwork sense¡­but potion-making did have more ridged rules and it was becoming easier to remember actions and steps. While Innearth continued this grind, the main focus of his attention began to turn to the second goal he had. ¡°helping a sapient cultivate¡±. The obvious first step was to understand what cultivation was. To actually understand what he wanted them to do. Cultivation was the first spell system. A spell system with one single goal ¨C making someone stronger. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Rather than an information suppression problem Innearth was met with an information overload. Two thousand years wasn¡¯t a long time when it came to saving information for something no one wanted to erase. There were literally millions of ancient scripts describing cultivation if you actually went to look for it. Describing what it was, describing scriptures holding methods to cultivate. The problem wasn¡¯t that there wasn¡¯t information, it was that most of the information there was was contradictory and written in an obtuse way ¨C philosophy, the ¡°dao¡±, descriptions written in poems¡­ Innearth was a dungeon. He read a massive amount of information sifting through and condensing down common points and some of the descriptions that made the most sense. Okay, so I think I get a simplified version of it. It''s easy enough to understand if I remove a lot of the mysticism from these old scrolls. Yin energy or ¡°energy inside one''s body¡± is personal mana. Personal mana stored in the soul but also personal mana held in the body and not released in a spell yet. Internal mana completely under control of the ¡°cultivator¡±. Yang energy or ¡°energy from outside of one''s body¡± is environmental mana. External mana the cultivator has no control over, pulled into the body "somehow". There is also a messy bit that has a lot of fluff and is the worst part of these descriptions. The formula is something like ¡°Yin+Yang+messy bit=permanent strength¡± Of the first two parts, yang energy is the most important, but also the part that¡¯s dangerous. It¡¯s the part that has most of the bad effects I can see¡­ Yang energy was external energy. Environmental mana. Growth needed external stimulus. To cultivate, an equal amount of internal and external energies needed to be used ¨C cultivators in history alchemically created pills of concentrated mana, or ate mana-dense foods, or meats, or found densely polluted ¡°mana wells¡± to sit and soak in yang energy. The ¡°problem¡± with this was that while yang energy was one half of the base equation ¨C one very important unremovable external influence needed for growth¡­it was also environmental mana. It held intent ¨C fire mana burned, kinetic mana moved¡­but its intent had already been used and spent ¨C now it couldn¡¯t be easily changed. While someone¡¯s Yin energy was under control of the cultivator and more importantly responded to the cultivator''s intent¡­Yang energy¡¯s intent had already been formed. It had already been ¡°spent¡±. Cultivating with environmental fire mana burned someone¡¯s channels. Cultivating with environmental sword mana sliced someone¡¯s body apart. The final ingredient in this recipe is the intent of the spell and I¡¯m pretty sure most cultivators didn¡¯t fully understand what it was. If I compare it to other spell systems¡­The ¡°intent¡± of cultivation is meaning. Instead of abstract logic, shapes, sounds or specific movements like other spell systems¡­Cultivation used ¡°meaning¡± for its main way of conveying intent. I¡¯m looking at these descriptions of someone¡¯s ¡°path¡± of meditating on ones ¡°aspect¡±, of forming a seed of dao and becoming said seed¡­There was some that referenced turning your soul into a thread and sewing it into your body while others mentioned taking your body and shoving it up into your soul...and what my admittedly non experienced mind is realizing is that cultivation uses actions, achievements, and thought processes to create its effects. I¡­I¡¯m pretty sure ¡°experience¡± in our levelling system¡­the fake resource ¡°exp¡± was created to represent all this cultivation meaning. I¡¯m preeetty sure the gods used natural law mana or something to turn this invisible thing into an equally invisible but storable and ¡°applicable¡± thing¡­ In the cultivation system, someone could meditate and cultivate to get stronger simply by thinking about stuff they had done and cycling Yin and Yang energy¡­but after some time they would stall out and reach a bottleneck with just that. Without going out and proving themselves to mana and probably themselves they wouldn¡¯t advance. It''s simple enough to describe like this... the problem is this ¡°meaning¡± becomes more convoluted the higher up someone cultivates. That¡¯s why there¡¯s strange philosophical descriptions and roundabout contradictory information. There¡¯s also something called tribulations that some cultivation methods cause when someone reaches a bottleneck ¨C their spell reacts to their intent of getting stronger, finds the problem of having no meaning... and then creates a hard scenario that once beaten gives a cultivator more ¡°meaning¡± to continue cultivating with¡­ I think¡­as a spell system, cultivation seems halfway between the mana enhancement of the orcs, and environmental mixing of potion-making with a manner of conveying intent that¡¯s as obtuse as the circuit system. Similar to potion-making it uses an uncontrollable input ¨C environmental mana ¨C and I can¡¯t even imagine how you would do something like the [fireball] challenge because of that. Innearth continued to grind out diseases while pondering his problem. Can I give someone a cultivation skill using circuitwork? From what I can tell¡­literally everyone has the potential to cultivate so a skill isn¡¯t needed to activate it Cultivating well is the real problem. I have no clue how to even start making a circuit that is based around ¡°cultivating well¡±. A circuit to give information? A circuit to help passively tell someone what to do? That¡­that feels impossible for me to figure out¡­ There¡¯s probably a cultivation/masterwork sort of sense but I can¡¯t imagine a way to cheat that sense with a skill I can just give adventurers. Innearth watched adventures fight demons. He watched adventurers solving his few puzzles. He watched CISC play with a group ¨C mocking them through mental pads as they attempted to find the next sub-boss. Maybe¡­when I created the crystal dwarves and gnomes they had a weakened masterwork sense ¨C they intuitively knew how to use runes and enchantments. Can I not just make a monster that intuitively knows how to cultivate? But as my dungeon monster they wouldn¡¯t be able to cultivate¡­they can¡¯t level after all until they ascend. If I do manage that however I¡¯ll have created a cultivation teacher that can then use mental mana and help direct any adventurers completing my trial. That¡¯s my main goal¡­it feels perfect. It feels possible my circuit sense is confirming its possible even if its not telling me how I can even do so. ¡­Sometimes circuit building being entirely intuition really pisses me off. Can I even fix that? Innearth had been steadily increasing his circuit-building skill for over a decade by this point. He had come to rely on it all the way back since he wanted more efficient monsters... and had stubbornly kept working with it long past the point any dungeon he had heard of had given up by. He was fond of circuits, but he also knew deep down how many problems they had. Some of those problems became useful ¡°features¡± in certain cases but they were still problems and barriers that had put other dungeons off this system for a long time. I¡¯ve been wanting to spread my knowledge of circuits for a while ¨C I¡¯m nearly positive no one else has gotten as far as me ¨C but I also haven¡¯t spread it about, so there might be a hidden master or two that aren¡¯t spreading their knowledge¡­ Innearth slowly shifted his focus onto fixing circuits as a ¡°side quest¡±. It was something that could very well have been a whole goal like ¡°god making¡± from the start. It was not an easy prospect, but it was something that could help thousands of dungeons in the future. Just being able to better shape a monster''s skills could help dungeons make better themes and more interesting fights or puzzles ¨C and that was completely ignoring the efficiency gains as well. ¡­if Innearth was being self aware he also knew a faint prideful part of him liked the idea of being known as the one to fix the system ¨C to be put down in history as an important figure in circuit building. Innearth was getting better at seeing that part of himself and was tired of either trying to suppress or ignore it and purposefully try to act differently. That was a part of him. As long as he didn¡¯t let it control him it was just part of his personality. What about the circuit system needs to be fixed? How can I even fix it? I¡¯ve made small pushes to solidify parts that felt needlessly wrong before but how can I make a truly massive change? ¡­what needs to be fixed that seems normal to me now ¨C which of these rules were more confusing than needed when I was trying to learn circuit building? More important than all of this, what will let me and others build up to skills that haven¡¯t been made before. To more complex and specific results? How can I use logic to solve problems instead of just "intuition" ¨C which is actually just a list of rules and some results that have been made before? Innearth made a list of problems and rules he didn¡¯t like. He then set that aside and thought about runework and enchanting ¨C how they differed, their pros and cons. One thing he wanted to fix was to have a ¡°starting point¡± and as Innearth thought that starting point became more important towards fixing the rest of the problems as well. Circuits were a web of connections with no start or end ¨C adding an extra node would sometimes flip the way a circuit should be ¡°read¡±. Sometimes the largest node was the most important sometimes the one with the most connections. Sometimes a random one placed in a part of the monster''s body the system decided was ¡°important¡± was picked. There were rules that governed all this of course and Innearth no longer ever got confused by "it"¡­but he remembered how terrible it had been at the start. Another thing he wanted to fix was separating out the different types of skills some way ¨C creating a better way of altering specific parts without simplifying it into no longer being as strong. He wanted to give options and hated the idea of simplifying circuit building into being weaker¡­but he did want to make everything more accessible. The base of his plan was to create a special type of node ¨C one that was relatively unique and hadn¡¯t yet been made in the circuit system. One that was easily mouldable and could affect other rules. At this point in time that was surprisingly easy to do ¨C Innearth just made a pure core in a shape that didn¡¯t have much use ¨C a doughnut ¨C and then connected it to a cone as if it was a ring of a hat. This was his ¡°starting¡± node. The cone could be extended to any tier/size without affecting the size of the ring and acted as a confident sort of arrow to point in which direction he wanted the circuit to start. Innearth was solidifying his plan at this point ¨C currently, there weren¡¯t really any rules for the specific shape he had made as very few circuit rules cared about the shape of the nodes. This can be a new circuit language that builds upwards slowly. A "language" built on top of the old language. If you don¡¯t use this ¡°start¡± node then circuits should follow the old rules! Innearth knew just making this node and deciding what it would do was not nearly enough. For the very first circuit, he made he decided to increase the chance of it working by changing it into a ritual of sorts ¨C he didn¡¯t want the ritual to become required every time it was used, but the very first circuit needed a slight push. On one side of the starting node a single rune was placed. A dwarf carved the ¡°beginning rune¡± used in some directed runeworks into the cone without connecting it to anything. {begin}. On the opposite side a single sentence was written by a gnome ¨C it translated roughly to ¡°this is the starting point¡±. For good luck Innearth wrote a dungeon script spiral on the bottom of his core ¨C no circuit rules cared about dungeon writing and dungeons couldn¡¯t enchant things¡­but every single unique but simple addition he made felt like it helped. Innearth tentatively called this system an ¡°S-Circuit¡± ¨C S for simplified or S for Starting point. The rules of this situation were undefined. Innearth couldn¡¯t just say what he wanted to have happen ¨C nor could he do whatever he wanted and wish for it to work as much as he wanted¡­what he could do however, was look at the huge database of circuits he knew and repository of rules then try and pick a specific existing case that worked in a way he wanted. For this new circuit language, Innearth wanted to separate out the two most distinct parts he could think of ¨C mana type/intent and shape of the skill. He wanted to split them out so they could be modified separately ¨C for example, a [fireball] that could be changed to [lightball] with a swap of the fire section with a light section. Right now there was over a dozen potential inputs that could change either or both of those cases. If Innearth wanted to be lazy he¡¯d try to double down on the affinity of each node ¨C make it so the same physical circuit shape with different mana types in the different nodes, would create the same spell shape using different mana types¡­that was something he wished would work when he was younger. At this point in time he knew setting it up like that would be easy to understand, but would prevent some of the strongest results ¨C instead Innearth tried to physically separate the two sections. Before the ¡°arrow¡± was the fuel for the spell ¨C a sub circuit designed to create a specific mana type ¨C and on the other side was the shape of the spell. The simplest fuel section would be a single core with a mana type ¨C a fire core for example ¨C and the most complex would be circuits of several cores to make something like goo mana ¨C something dungeons couldn¡¯t create themselves but Innearth had a few circuits for. The shape section was in its simplest form, a bunch of pure cores to make a spike or wall or internal enhancement¡­sometimes a shape or type of movement was much easier to make with affinities in those cores ¨C for example placing kinetic cores would help give the intent of movement to the skill ¨C kinetic cores made something like fireball much easier to cast as it made the fireball move in a direction. This was the simplest case Innearth wanted. He made one of the simplest circuits he knew ¨C pushing mana out of the body part ¨C and stuck it on the shape end with a single fire core on the fuel end. He knew it would work. It was so simple it couldn¡¯t fail and Innearths masterwork senses essentially bullied this simple case into working. It didn¡¯t contradict a single existing rule after all. Innearth made a turtle with this circuit contained inside of them. Out of one end fire mana burst occasionally burning anything the turtle butted its head into. A sort of [Fire touch]. Innearth continued to let it weakly flame before turning to the next stage. One of his least favourite rules was the way a circuit changed depending on the monster¡¯s shape. It had been helpful once or twice with conveying really vague intent for what he wanted the skill to be¡­but it had been annoying more often than not. A key part in giving him enough experience to become a circuit master was the creation of skill organs ¨C a whole plan that had been originally made just to let him transfer skills between different shaped monsters. A whole setup to bypass this rule. Creating a snake with an identical fire circuit and then a bipedal headless dog shape, Innearth made sure to try and remove any monster shape biases before they started. He started to vary the fuel for this circuit ¨C replacing the fire core with a poison core and creating a series of monsters with a sort of ¡°poison touch¡± on their heads. Next life cores and ¡°healing touch¡±. Next an ice core and [chilling touch]. Some monsters were given a limb or hand with the end of the ¡°touch¡± portion focusing on that limb, others had it focused on their whole body. Innearth knew if he focused on too many obscure rules as the only one to make them they would slowly become ¡°Innearth only¡± spells. With these simple cases all he had to do was give schematics his friends could print and make them create a few. It was all only a few because these circuits were so simple and already followed all the existing rules. Slowly Innearth built the complexity up. Hundreds of schematics at a time because he knew for a fact one of the reasons circuits had originally grown so convoluted was dungeons starting at a huge complexity level instead of building up to it. As a circuit master Innearth¡¯s designs and rules were worth more than a regular dungeon. His designs were solidified as if 100 dungeons were making them and his ¡°intent¡± was conveyed much more strongly than it would have been otherwise. It would be nearly impossible to do what he was doing now if he hadn¡¯t spent so much time mastering free/normal circuitwork before this point. This steady creation of a new circuit language was an incredibly slow process and because complexity was important in a spell system, Innearth built it up in a way that left plenty of room for ¡°optimization¡±. He slowly let existing rules effect his unique designs in a specific sort of way. He wanted circuit work to be ¡°easy to start¡± and ¡°simple to get a result¡± but then increase efficiency and power with slight changes. The two sides fuel and shape were created with different ¡°most important¡± points ¨C for skill shape the physical shape was the most important goal. Changing the physical elements used would alter the results but not drastically ¨C using gold for a node or surrounding flesh might increase or decrease efficiency by 10% but not change the actual result. Similarly the most important point of the ¡°fuel side¡± was the mana types used in it¡­the shape it was put in the number of nodes and all those changes would effect the result slightly ¨C sometimes stringing together 20 crystal nodes instead of having a single massive crystal node made a stronger spell for example. It wouldn¡¯t mess up the shape of the spell however or suddenly change crystal mana to water mana. Innearth spent ages creating the barebones of this system ¨C he took so long he finished his system surpassing disease and had begun creating the rest of the trial setup. He also realized he had gotten so distracted with his S-Circuit design he had started realizing he wasn¡¯t even solving his cultivation problem. ¡­oops? A part of Innearth began focusing once more on creating a monster with natural cultivation system. The S-Circuit setup was great for a lot of skills but didn¡¯t account for giving creatures a spell system. In many ways he was creating a system that worked closer to runework when he was using it¡­what Innearth needed was a system closer to enchanting. He started over this time, creating a starting node that was shaped like a long rod covered in alternating spikes. It was essentially a circuit without a node ¨C and after a similar ritual with enchanting and runework Innearth started to consider the rules of this new system. This world didn¡¯t have typical programming or Innearth would know he was currently creating the equivalent of different programming languages each using the same assembly. For his second circuit setup ¨C tentatively called W-Circuits with the W meaning ¡°word¡±. Innearth wanted to communicate something complex. He wanted a way of creating a soul based skill or skill focused on knowledge or a type of action ¨C something he had only managed to do with strong monster design or enchanting being worked in the background. The circuit Innearth used was completely flat. It was a square shape surrounding an inner slate of a thin core. Innearth abused the hell out of rituals. The general setup he was creating was writing dungeon words using circuits ¨C bending high concentration wires into words written in dungeon script. He would then have both his gnome and dwarf create spells for what he had written ¨C writing on top of his large ¡°plate¡± with their rules. He was trying to make a system that would let him write words and copy enchanting¡­sadly while a few incredibly simple words were starting to work¡­they weren¡¯t working as ¡°words¡± ¨C just individual shapes that were creating effects. They made the effect individually but not in context of others and it would be an incredibly long time before Innearth could start writing paragraphs explaining what he wanted to have happen. It was currently almost failing. What was starting to work well was the inclusion of the other spell systems. As this setup expanded Innearth shifted a version to hold a box instead of a drawing slate. The barebones square circuit wrapped around the inner box and became better and better at turning its contents into a skill. So a gnome could write down an enchantment describing a spell. Innearth could place this enchantment into the box and the W-circuit could take this box and change it. The dungeon circuit could morph its fuel and create an innate ability in the monster. ¡­not nearly as exciting as Innearth being able to write his own enchantments ¨C and not even that unique considering a lot of enchantments or runes could be added directly to the monster without putting it inside this box¡­but it was definitely progress towards something. Innearth was now renaming this subsystem to B-Circuits because of the¡­well the box being the focus of it. Where the interaction became unique was when Innearth began combining the two subsystems. Innearth could make a B-Circuit containing a relatively complicated ¡°enchanted description of a spell¡± ¨C creating timed bombs for example that went off after a specific number of seconds ¨C and then stick that sub circuit in the ¡°shape¡± section of a S-Circuit. By changing different inputs Innearth could use the same shaped B-Circuit with a fire input to make a timed flaming blast of magic. He could use a poison input to make a small squirt of poison or a poison mist combo to make a timed poison cloud. Innearth could also turn around and have the fuel section replaced with an enchantment that described souls and a manipulation ¡°shaping¡± section. That made the impossible to make before now ¡°soul manipulating¡± monster¡­ which admittedly wasn¡¯t strong enough to do much more than move some recently dead souls a bit. It would have at least been useful when Innearth was creating the reincarnation system. Innearth¡¯s circuit skills had increased in leaps and bounds while designing these new ways of creating circuits ¨C but a lot of them were starting to become too focused on him and his way of doing things. Wanting to make these changes more permanent, Innearth created a huge amount of relatively strong circuits and monsters then released the schematics for a 100 mana each ¨C essentially giving them away for free no dungeons at this age cared for mana. Innearth finally moved to creating a cultivation monster to start finishing his "cheating" plan. A B-Circuit was made surrounding an incredibly old book that was called ¡°Intro to cultivation¡±. This book contained some of the more understandable descriptions of cultivation but more importantly it held some unique properties. This book was being used as a unique material ¨C it was so old ambient mana inside of it had warped to ¡°book mana¡± and ¡°knowledge mana¡± all with ties to its contents. The B-Circuit was to best make use of the unique material turning it into a skill ¡°somehow¡±. Surrounding this inner knowledge base Innearth created a strange sort of circuit ¨C slightly gaining the idea from all his attempts at writing with the B-Circuit design. Instead of a web of connections he created a massive looping circuit with no nodes. A single circulatory system that travelled through the whole body in cycles and was directly copied from a cultivation manual. ¡­because yes most cultivation methods created channels in their users. By moving one¡¯s mana in certain paths those sections of flesh would become more magical over time slowly permanently burning these channels into existence ¨C some methods even gave humanoid sapients cores like monsters something that had been quite common before the system came along and took over in an even manner. Innearth created a simple humanoid body to surround this circuit ¨C decorating it a bit more than he needed to¡­ cheated the mental mana connection by grabbing an item from his loot stores and then added a skill organ for viewing far away. Finishing it off, Innearth seeded his new monster and waited. In a room off the side of the facility Guru1 slowly opened his eyes ¨C two perfect crystal marbles covered in a silky eyelid that took way too much time to get just right. They slowly stared at themselves and the walls before closing once more ¨C signalling the guru was looking further away. Innearth described their new job in detail and asked if they knew how to cultivate. It took a while to respond but guru1¡¯s voice slowly drifted into his mind. The guru¡¯s response came evenly ¨C his tone reminded Innearth of a wise old man. Perfect. Innearth was happy to know it worked and began buying more cultivation manuals to make guru¡¯s 2-16. A bit more setup and I will be ready. Chapter 100. Birth of a god marks the end...or perhaps the start?
¡°Today we will join our kin at the true seed of enlightenment.¡± Yew had travelled a long and dangerous distance across the continent to reach this point. She was a true wood-elf from a small grove deep in the heartwoods of the largest forest in the world. She had given that all up to find the world tree. ¡°High above you can find our tree of myth. The prophecies were right. The legend-song came true. If you crest this hill you can find the new capital of elves. With life sister.¡± Yew thanked her guide noticing his strange tapping foot and bloodshot eyes. He looked like he wanted to come with her but stayed behind anyways. She carefully picking her way around the dungeons entrance and headed towards the settlement. High above massive branches twisted off into the distance casting a permanent blanket of shadow and then brightening it up again with a constant soft golden glow. Eternal evening. This was the first time she had seen such a massive arbor and she felt deep in her bones a sense of awe. Cresting the hill she looked out confidently at her fellow elves and immediately lost her awe. ¡°What in the tree-killing blazes is that!¡± Elves fought each other with spears of wood drawing blood that healed instantly and soaking the ground a deep woody crimson. They laughed and danced as if it were a holiday instead of just a Tuesday. One dark elf lay directly in front of her, a syringe pumping some strange golden ichor into his leg. A moon elf ¨C supposedly the rarest and most proper race of their species ¨C whooped while riding a bear about. He Whooped. A snow elf wandered up to her as she stared in confusion at the chaos. Wordlessly they handed her a sparkling golden fruit before wandering away. ¡°this¡­is suspicious¡± Yew stared down at the fruit. A deep elf called out to her at this moment ¡°The great tree gives its bounty, it protects us, guides us, join me! Let¡¯s go trash the human settlement they don¡¯t deserve to sleep under Yggdrasil¡¯s mighty branches!¡± ¡°This is from the great tree? Alright¡± Yew took a bite feeling safety and kinship spread throughout her body. Her worries slipped away. She was home. She barely noticed when she joined her new kin in the first of many raids of the lost continent''s settlement her war cry drowned out by the ones of her peers.
Excerpt obtained from a wood elf upon discovery of the elven capital. The whole time Innearth was working away at increasing the chance of cultivation being successful, he was also working away at the rest of the trial. Okay! Lets see¡­I think I¡¯m getting close to finishing the disease. I¡¯m actually so close I can feel it. Seeing as how all my best versions are all ¡°ingested¡± or ¡°injected¡± versions, it makes the most sense to combine it with the rest of the trial. Yin energy will be provided by the trial takers and yang energy will be mixed with the disease. ¡­essence might be a good start? No that''s too overwhelming. It will definitely override their Yin energy I''m better off just making "normal" concentrated sources. I could make them as materials? It would work¡­ but that will carry the intent of the material spell¡­My best option for the purest yang energy is to break corrupted crystals on something edible and easily absorbed. ¡­why am I using the cultivator nomenclature? Its mana! External and internal mana! Innearth thought process spiralled off into thinking of the best way to insert foreign mana into a creature. A syringe seemed much more efficient and fast acting than foodstuff ¨C the blood-based disease worked in seconds, while the ingested one needed several minutes to digest first¡­but Innearth liked the idea of a room of pills adventurers could choose from ¨C he liked it much more than ¡°knocking them out and injecting them with mana¡± or setting up a syringe monster again. Let''s see¡­some scrolls reference pill refining it seems so primitive¡­but it''s also nearly identical to my mana ovens. I could push my own mana into the ovens and let that become the environmental mana? ¡­but I¡¯m not sure if my intent to make a pill would be a good or bad thing in this case. Every single pill refining method I see mentions extracting Yang energy from plants or celestial ore. Welp. Easy enough to follow what the ancients did. I have tons and tons of corrupted crystals to break and infuse stuff¡­ that should be a pure enough source of environmental mana. Base should be something edible ¨C most pill refining seems to be using sugar? Innearth started setting up a room beside the bracer area. A single pill consisted of a fast-acting ingestion based disease mixed with a chunk of baking soda ¨C Innearth had first bought mundane sucrose (C12H22O11) and tried to get his system to print that¡­ but the leap between his system creating something non magical but simple like salt or water and creating a more complex compound was too great. His system really didn¡¯t like organic compounds, in general, they were all too complex. NaHCO? was a happy medium. His system could build it and it wasn¡¯t as bad tasting as salt. These pills were then baked in a huge array of cosmic void ovens fed by corrupted crystals. Long ago Innearth would have used nullstone¡­ but he could actually print and create perfectly sealed boxes of cosmic void by now. He could print them in whatever size he wanted and they worked the same once tempered well.
Fire Pill.
A source of surprisingly pure fire mana. Corrupted with a blasphemous parasite. Consumable. WARNING: Contains consumption of this dangerous item is not advised. This pill will momentarily cut your connection to the [system]. Contains a crystalline parasite that must be fought off to regain connection to the [system]. Giving into said parasite will entomb and eventually kill the consumer. Burn your body and be reborn.
Slowly Innearth moved through a list of mana types he knew ¨C he made ovens for every single corrupted crystal type he had in his entire mana filter ¨C every single pure type he had from earth and crystal to void and eternity. He had corrupted crystals for mana types he could make with combinations ¨C mud and magma ¨C for offshoots he could make ¨C light and stone ¨C and even more importantly he had all the types his friends had made and shared with him like lightning and seed. It wasn¡¯t necessarily an extensive list of every mana type available ¨C the essences proved quite a bit got through his filter¡­but it felt like it was good enough to cover most transcendents in some way. At some point Innearth¡¯s experience tipped unceremoniously over into Tier 10. Other than an interesting look at the systems interference and a slight notice of the much stronger than normal ¡°level¡±¡­it was nothing more than a meaningless tick upwards. Finally done his pill room and mostly finished his guru advice panel, Innearth stopped for a moment to think about experience. I¡¯m really hoping the gurus can help with cultivation¡­but is there anything else I can do? I think fighting on the plane will be enough to give meaning but¡­experience is much simpler I was trying to think about meaning and giving adventurers a skill to help use meaning well¡­but embedding a skill circuit into an adventurer might be traumatic. The transplant won''t be the best. Maybe I should just focus on the combat portion? Or would creating a story be good? The meaning in killing demons¡­in fighting for reality¡­maybe there could be a sort of ¡°meaningful action¡± in that? Could I leak a bit of my goal to adventurers? Let them fight for the meaning of helping the gods? What about¡­what about killing demons and then bringing their bodies to feed Yggdrasil? That seems meaningful. Destroying an enemy of reality and disposing of it in a safe way? That does feel important. Yggdrasil seems important to help create a god I can imagine its passive increase to magic will help cultivation¡­ I¡¯ll tell the gurus to ask for help if they need me to make anything. Let''s just finish it I¡¯ve spent long enough on it! Finally, Innearth was ready to begin. He hadn''t told his friends his plan¡­he was positive it would be safe even if it felt like cheating to him ¨C but that didn''t mean he wanted to explain himself. He also didn''t want to lie ¨C it wasn''t that big of a secret. ¡°Just going for it¡± was probably the best thing he could do. Like the plains, the ¡°first time interest¡± was slow to form, but steadily grew as information about the room began to spread. Over the past while transcendents in Innearth¡¯s dungeon were growing more bold. One group of three orcs in the 160s grabbed some fire, kinetic and lightning pills. They downed them and waited for something to happen ¨C they had been using the plains for ages at this point and fully trusted the training system. Instead of some grand transformation, all that happened was they each twitched slightly as the environmental mana began to slowly seep through their body ¨C entering their blood and being pulled around by the circulatory system. The lighting pill taker twitched slightly in pain despite having a lightning affinity himself. The more simple fire orc¡¯s body temperature rapidly rose as bits of his insides set on fire. As far as cultivation masters went, orcs were probably the safest option Innearth could think of. After a few minutes a telltale link was gone ¨C trying to analyze them came back with nothing indicating their subsystems were blocked. Mental connections wafted through the tiles of the room, drifting into each of the orcs as three gurus began explaining what they had to do. As orcs each felt mana since birth, they were the easiest group to teach cultivation to. They grabbed streams of their own mana coating their insides creating channels of yin energy to insulate their flesh from the yang energy¡­it was all happening so fast. They sat there in the pill room for three solid hours just learning to prevent their bodies from being damaged. Only three hours to learn a lifetime''s worth of knowledge. The kinetic pill taker had been the least damaged initially, but it took them the longest to wrest their body under control ¨C three and a half hours in comparison to his friends¡¯s three. They were now vibrating constantly to deal with the inner storm of movement. After each gained a sense of their new constitutions, they rose and left on a hunt once more. Passing under the feet of the colossus with a nod to the protector they spread out in a practiced formation. Kinetic in the back pushing his comrades forward his hands on their backs as they ran. Lightning wrapped around the fists and feet of the orc on the right while unnatural orange-tinged fire encased the chest arms and legs of the leftmost orc. A chaotic sparking punch ripped towards a demon ¨C faint sparks flying out and melting through the metal ground below as it ¡°pulled¡± through space. The punch was so weighty void atmosphere swirled around in its wake. Despite the light show, the spell didn¡¯t increase their strength too much against the humanoid demon they fought. Instead, it was a simple sort of punch that did the demon in ¨C brute force winning out over magic one cathartic punch at a time. Innearth was the only one watching them at the current point his friends hadn¡¯t noticed anything different from normal¡­it was hard to notice something different from normal most of the changes were internal at this point. The group ran further and further out into the planes ¨C hundreds of meters travelled every second. At this point in time, the maximum width of the floor was 13km right at the facility and its total length was over 50km out into void. They fought and fought some more tearing through the weakest demons and then starting to get damaged by the medium difficulty ones. The fire-wrapped orc lost an arm to a demon that looked like a crocodile folded into an origami plane and actually growled mana rushing out of the lost limb as their concentration lapsed. The kinetic orc squished the demon and moved to protect his friend smashing his chest in a salute. Two octopus-like demons with endlessly splitting tentacles reached out and sliced into the orcs. Crackling energy wrapped the lighting orc as he threw his whole body into the tentacles to punch its squishy core not caring about the pain. Slowly as more and more wounds built the orcs lost their focus. Bits of their still inexperienced cultivation slipped and instead of healing normally their bodies healed with crackling or burning or vibrating flesh. They weren¡¯t death-seeking however and continued to push their limits without taking on an impossible challenge. A full day passed like this. The fire orc was unrecognizable from before ¨C his muscled green skin covered in countless red and glowing scars his eyes two miniature suns illuminating the entire surroundings. His lost arm had been regrown as an ethereal claw of flames and his attacks had grown wilder and more savage as time went on. A second day of straight fighting passed. The other two were warped to much lower degrees and seemed worried about their friend. They retreated to the facility and sat in a new meditation room trying to rest and trying to fix their bodies ineffectually. Finally, one by one they fell asleep and mutations spread as their control lapsed before stopping. They awoke to find their bodies changed their cultivation no longer running. Hesitantly each of them discussed their options and listened to the suspicious voices explaining their situation. Finally, they decided to double down. Each took a second pill ¨C all of them taking kinetic pills this time and fought to keep them under control. This time the kinetic orc got his yang circuit under control in a matter of minutes while the other two spent several hours but they were ready and willing to train once more. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Out into the plain they ran ripping past a group of swordsmen who stared in shock at their shapes. This time they fought more and more dangerously. They pushed deeper into the plains coming up against demons none of them could damage alone. Massive mammoth-like demons, Super sized clamshells. Finally, they fell and were set upon by a pack of flat stingray-like demons. Their souls was saved and shoved into the resurrection tanks and Innearth carefully examined the damage. It was surprisingly minor for the amount of time they had lasted ¨C it looked like someone had thrown them about a bit and whipped them but as ambrosia surrounded them and spells activated one by one that damage faded. Slowly bodies were formed ¨C perfectly normal bodies this time not ones that damaged themselves. Somewhere along the line the system suppressing disease was scrubbed clean. It had thankfully not embedded itself too badly into the soul and did not survive the resurrection cycle. One by one the orcs emerged from their pods disoriented the signs of ambrosia addiction thick and heavy about them. They knew they needed to wait it out and retreated to the booze floor to describe their experiences.
Abe: Hey buddy¡­ what was that?
Innearth: Training tool :3 Look, they jumped to level 170 in just two days!
ZeMadDoctor: However did you manage that! Please I simply must know.
Innearth: ¡­It¡¯s a game, try and figure out what I did :3
A portion of Innearth became immensely excited. Craig had started fighting in the plains a few months before. He wasn¡¯t nearly as strong as many of the much older transcendents and had more magical attacks that were weaker against demons¡­but Innearth had still fancore¡¯ed over his favourite adventurer getting stronger. Well now Craig was standing in the pill room slowly wandering from pill to pill staring deep into their shells analyzing each and every one, before finally grabbing a metal affinity and downing it. Innearth watched with interest as the pill spread about his body. Skills activated to direct it¡­and then everything started to fall apart. The system faded and most of the human''s skills were disabled with it. [mana sense] was gone, the human couldn¡¯t sense the mana anymore just feel its effects in his body. [mana protection] was removed ¨C the environmental mana attacking and warping flesh unimpeded. Panicked the boy kept trying to activate skills. [Create Needle] worked ¨C they had mastered it long ago the skill permanently fused to their soul. [Needle Storm] did not ¨C they hadn¡¯t used it enough relying on it as an occasional finishing move. Similarly [Needle Shot] worked the skill still flinging conjured needles forward at great speed but [Manipulate Needles] did not ¨C the finer control not being practiced as much as the stronger attack. Frantically the human tried to protect himself tried to feel or hear or see the mana wrecking havoc with their body. He barely heard the advice from the gurus to calm his mind. Flesh slowly warped, tanned skin turning a metallic bronze and then stiffening. Shards of metal burst out metallic crystals poking out of skin like needles. The human was entombed and shortly after their soul saved and reincarnated ¨C Innearth watched carefully as it happened. He stared at the porcupine-like statue slightly disappointed and then looking around to make sure no one was watching carefully grabbed it and pulled it to his shrine. A memento to remember this time by. As soon as Craig healed, he ran to the pill room once more ¨C as if unable to accept he couldn¡¯t do this. Grabbing a second pill ¨C this time an air one ¨C the kid immediately downed it muscles clenched stubbornly as he stared inwards mana sense straining to continue tracking even as his system support faded. Running out into the plains the kid released a tornado of needles pushing as much strength into himself as he could as he watched it rush forward and pincushion some weaker demons. He watched as demons died satisfied barely noticing his body turning to mist around him and floating away. This was much much more drastic of a change than it should have been ¨C Innearth packed as much mana into each pill as he could, but it still felt excessive. It was as if Craig had fed his own mana to the change his intent to do something anything holding his body together for a time. If the system was monitoring him and not preventing this from happening it might have briefly changed his race to elementalassi even as the transformation kept going his mind only now realized his state as his body drifted away in all directions bracer falling to the ground and pulling his soul with it back into the reincarnation tub. Craig was reincarnated and moved to run back for a third attempt ambrosia leaking out of his mouth like froth before he was stopped by an old adventurer. They had set up a guard of sorts to try and mitigate ambrosia addiction. The guard had noticed his two short resurrections and forcefully brought him away from the plains gruffly telling him to give it a few weeks. Innearth watched as more and more adventures tried his pills and tried to cultivate. Nearly every single human that tried failed save a single white-bearded mage who had begun meditating 10 days before and was still going. They had to have some sort of mana manipulation mastered it was the only explanation. Days passed and turned to weeks and turned to months. Innearth very carefully monitored the situation. Orcs were the best at adapting to this cultivation and nearly every single time managed to last long enough to gain a few levels. A vampire had tried once involuntarily turning to thousands of bats in the plains that attacked demons and then were unable to resurrect due to not wearing a bracer. The arch goblin did well forcefully warping their body and fighting any unwanted mutations. Innearth was happy with the progress he was seeing but noticed with dismay the number of trial takers was dropping with time. There were still a steady stream of experts wanting to try their luck but the whole trial was still an incredibly traumatic experience and few were willing to undergo it several times. A year passed with the average level of adventurers in the area increasing immensely. Fresh blood streamed in new undertakers wanting to advance. Finally, a special case appeared. Tom was once again in the facility his little legs carrying him up onto the pill tables as he wandered about with fascination. Finally, the gnome found a pill they liked the look of. A simple earth pill ¨C nothing fancy. He stared at the pill nearly the size of his face before beginning to write a circular script on the table. Around and around the words and magic wrapped the void atmosphere pooling and changing inside of it to the gnome''s frustration. Innearth reached out. Slowly helping the gnome, Innearth pulled the void. He infused shrinking mana into the air and pulled inwards shrinking the pill down even further. Mana did not like being condensed this much the matter shrunk but the total amount of mana in the pill stayed the same. A blinding speck of a pill was born leaking mana rapidly in front of the gnome. Smiling upwards, Tom nodded thanking the dungeon directly even as he popped the spec into his mouth and swallowed. The storm of mana subsided. Toms''s body completely contained the output his ancient flesh insulating the world from that mess. Nodding slightly as he listened to the gurus describe his situation Tom began writing even before the pill fully took effect. His pen dug deep into his arms and legs drawing blood as he tattooed magic into his flesh. Words wrapped around him ink moved beneath his flesh and as his hand blurred, flecks of blood flew off with the speed of his writing. Innearth watched in shock as the gnome twisted his body a smooth white bone popping out of his arm in an incredibly strange manner ¨C as if his arm had become liquid and the bone floated up and out. Deep script was written down into the bone magic digging down past what Innearth could see was existing shallow scripts. The bone was shoved back. A new bone extruded. The gnome edited himself right before Innearth¡¯s eyes, beads of concentration flecking down around him. It felt like the world itself stilled as Innearth watched everything began to¡­feel meaningful? Tom finally stood up his body containing the pill perfectly his enchantments cultivating his physique passively. Walking out into the planes the gnome moved slowly but purposefully his strides appearing slow but covering an impossibly large distance. Pulling out a quill from nothing, Tom began to write words here and there on the silver planes. Slowly in a trail behind him the metal would bulge and extrude upwards creating a rough blobby army of metal gnomes. Turning around once he reached 42 Tom travelled back a blur as he flicked between rough silver shape after rough silver blob. Metal seemed to condense and roughen¡­as if the pure metal was converted back to an ore¡­back to a more rough and impurity-filled state even as it grew denser. Blobs became humanoid headless creatures. Each with nearly every single part of their exposed flesh covered in glowing words of power. Demons had begun attacking but the golems fought them off even in their unfinished state. To finish off each golem the gnome pulled soft sheets of paper out of nowhere and ripped them into strips. On each, he wrote a single word with a massive amount of mana it shining brightly in Innearth sight even after being pushed straight into the middle of each golem. Innearth watched and expected some sort of summoner situation. Tom would surround himself in guards and let them kill things in safety. That¡¯s what he expected. What ended up happening was each golem was fashioned a simple enough looking sword and sent in all directions. Tom himself ran forward alone, a massive smile on his face that grew larger and larger ¨C unnaturally large his smile curved up until all Innearth could see was his smile his sense of adventure and thrill. 10km out into the plains, 20km out. 30¡­ Tom ran all the way to the ¡°edge of the world¡±. He stood on the lip of the plains staring out into void uncomprehending the dimensions but not being broken by them. He laughed his voice muffled in the atmosphere even as an eye rose up over the lip covering the entire horizon as far as the gnome should be concerned. A void whale. A massive one Innearth estimated was at least 40km long based on the size of the eye. Tom ran back away from the lip not because he was escaping but because he was drawing the whale further in. Up over the lip the void whale''s mouth scratched. This whales whole mouth was teeth. Its lips were teeth, part of its face was teeth. Screeching forward the whale''s mouth lunged jagged bones ripping through the top layer of metallic floor with a screech. Tom jumped. His tiny form moved through the air with an incredibly fast pace. He was teleporting about, the movement leaving lines of chaotic void around him as he shifted his body in and out. A boulder was formed and flung into the demon¡¯s eye as a distraction. Below the gnome dashed in and wrote one character at a time on the whale''s side. Each character glowed with mana and then faded as if disabled by the whale''s flesh his mana sucked away and consumed by a massive drain of mana vore. Tom kept writing anyways. He pulled the void about him as he dashed and Innearth was positive he had both a void and a space affinity. He was using a teleportation much more specialized to himself than portals, but his attacks showed their origins. Innearth was riveted. The gnome was moving so quickly warping void around him to push or pull his movements and getting more and more experienced with it. A single script was finished, and Tom ran his whole hand over it briefly lighting it up with mana to activate it once. The whale flinched its whole body shuddering as a wave of something wrecked its insides. Tom dashed back holding his quill like a rapier before teleporting through the demon. Before pulling himself and a spear of void atmosphere behind him straight through the middle of the demon¡¯s body. A thundering whale''s groan rolled out, the atmosphere pushing out like a wave in the sea. Another spear. Slowly but surely the whale was weakened. Tom visibly struggled with each special spear taking a lot out of him. Finally the void heart was broken and the whale struggled his last breath. Instead of leaving the corpse at the edge of the plains Tom wandered around it writing a script to turn the ground below into a plate of metal that slid along the ground behind him. Taking much much more time on the way back, Tom brought the whale uninterrupted back to the tree pushing it right within range of the seeking roots. Walking around a bit Tom climbed up the side of the colossus running up his shell and sitting down on the middle of the lower body. Pulling out a journal Tom began to write. A review of his experiences. A review of the plains a review of the trial that was supposedly still going on. Tom wrote with a simple endless quill not a single ounce of mana in his words. He wrote without mana but everything about him reminded Innearth of a spell. Something deep within the gnome clicked and fluttered ¨C around him the void shifted, and mana flashed underneath his skin. In a wide range about Tom the atmosphere shifted and swirled as if moved by an invisible breeze even as his golems fought demons far away steadily giving him ¡°experience¡±. A second void whale appeared in the middle of the plains. Slowly falling out of the ¡°clouds¡± like a blimp. Immediately Tom closed his book and travelled out. A second fight this one easier done. A second snack for the world tree. A second journal entry. Tom began adding a line of script defences along the whole edge of the facility even as a third whale appeared. Every time he grew more experienced and then less than a month later and 5 whales in it happened. Tom was in the middle of writing his experiences down when the words he wrote suddenly dug deeper than they had before. It was as if the last sentence he had written was dug not into the page but into the space around him. Into reality itself. ¡­to sum it all up. ¡°All in all I recommend this trial¡±. Many transcendents will see the mountain of experience in front of them as an insurmountable barrier. This~~~~~~ The words floated in space in front of Tom as he clenched his belly and dropped into a ball. Innearth hadn¡¯t been able to read anything Tom had written up until now but these floating words conveyed their meaning straight to Innearth¡¯s mind. Mana began streaming out of the gnome''s tiny frame dragging him apart piece by piece. It was like every single atom was pulled out and into the air around him, his form physically disappearing even as his inner mana strengthened. Innearth could barely keep track of what was happening several unknown mana types floated about in the air converting every single bit of the gnome into something else. Atoms were transmuted to divine mana. Everything that Tom was, had been, and could be was converted to divine mana. Specks floated inwards slowly ¨C the projection of mana that had been his consciousness and soul sucking inwards as each divine mana spec absorbed his being. Faster and faster the transformation accelerated. 20 minutes from start to finish the ascension continued until all that remained was a single point. A single spec of divine mana almost a singularity with how small it was. That spec floated in void for several minutes completely motionless before out of it more divine mana fell like goop and began creating an avatar. The new god awoke and stared about directly looking at Innearth¡¯s mind floating about his soul. Innearth could vaguely pay attention to the scroll of his friends in the background their confused and excited messages flipping past one by one.
Abe: AhhhHHHH whats this!
Amy: It happened huh! Innearth, you mentioned you wanted to ascend someone congratz!
Tom: Huh¡­well this is awkward. Anyone know what I¡¯m supposed to do next?
Brutality Queen: I mean we could make a new floor? I¡¯ve been itching to play some new games.
Abe: ¡­
Amy: ¡­
Brutality Queen: wait what? ¡­
Innearth: Hey¡­Tom?
The chat was silent for a moment. Suddenly with a click a second spec appeared. A second divine mana singularity floating beside the spec that was Tom. A second roll of mana projected out an avatar that quickly became real and a second gnome appeared standing in the air. He wrote words in space silent like Innearth¡¯s crystal gnomes. Hey kid. We gotta go. I¡¯ll explain when we get there ¨C I warped time to reach you but I¡¯ve still been gone for hours and it will take hours more to reach the celestial realm. Each minute I¡¯m gone we lose a star. Less than a second later the two vanished ¨C tunnelling through void like twin meteorites that left a thin thread in the void behind them. Blue boxs appeared
Congratulations!
You don¡¯t know how much you have done to help. Or maybe you do I don¡¯t have enough time to read your existence fully. I¡¯ve left a few gifts but you¡¯ll have to wait till your god comes to get properly thanked.
Innearth (Dungeon Designation: Crossroad Link from Murek)
Level 145 139898/22630 exp to next level.
System Access Level 10 -Level 166+
Stats
Mana Regeneration 306.78 personal unit/min
Mana concentration 3.70 AMU / personal unit
Mana Storage 3242.739/83691.113 AMU
Regeneration over time 18.90908791 AMU/s
Time to Full Mana 70.9 Min
Physical Storage 42% Capacity
Age 26 years
Current Year 2023 AS
Distance underground 1225 meters
Number of floors 53 floors
Titles
Earth Mana Specialization, Crystal Mana Specialization, Void Mana Specialization, Customization, Unique Dungeon, Cosmic Void Mana Specialization, Mature Dungeon, Godsmaker, Mortal Void Bastion Creator, World Tree Gardener.
Godsmaker
Description: Was present at and participated in the ascension of a true god. A seed of divinity has been planted and sown. A new possibility has been born. Effect: Divine mana potential grown from nothing to something. Rank 5 affinity choice lets you reap this potential blooming into an affinity.
Mortal Void Bastion Creator
Description: Partly responsible for the creation of a bastion against the void. A weak copy of the celestial realm. You have one step into the void. Effect: Increases void affinity by 100%, Increase cosmic void affinity by 5%.
World Tree Gardener
Description: Partly responsible for the creation of a world tree. The world tree the only one that can exist. Your fate has been influenced by old magic and your potential blooms like the seeds of this tree. Effect: Fate mana potential grown from nothing to something. Rank 5 affinity choice lets you reap this potential blooming into an affinity. Increases Life mana control by 10%. Increases Plant mana control by 10%. Increases Earth affinity by 200%. Increases Dirt affinity by 10%.
Innearth stared at his titles reading their descriptions carefully. Am I dumb for being this happy at seeing those three titles? Void bastion was obviously something they should have gotten long ago ¨C they would have gotten with a god to oversee what they had done. Same with Yggdrasil and the world tree title. Godmaker was the big one even if it did much less than the other two. It didn¡¯t even give a current bonus like ¡°World Tree Gardener¡± No it felt like an achievement. Proof he had managed his goal. He had done it. He had proven himself to himself. That title sitting there was proof. It was a good feeling. Slowly the massive amount of experience above his current level was consumed and Innearth felt each level tick in slowly one by one at the maximum speed they could be applied. All the way to level 150. 23708/24160 exp to next level. The rush of levels was a different sort of ¡°good feeling¡±. A rush of permanent strength. Innearth sat nearly comatose ¨C relaxing for the first time in a long while. His dungeon continued running as normal, his friends continued talking about Tom¡¯s ascensions and he just sat there content. After a while he pulled himself together a solid chunk of himself returning to discuss with his friends a faint sliver staying behind. I need to find a new goal now I guess. Maybe turn myself into a god as well? Maybe wake up Gaia? Before either of that I need to start making the circuit website I¡¯ve been putting off¡­and see if I can make a version of circuits that works like enchanting. OH! I should spend some more time with my friends ¨C we can try playing some competitions like the dungeon games. It should be fun! Innearth latched onto a new goal and headed off. Afterword+AMA
On the story: I made it \o/ Without repeating the synopsis/goal of having dungeon cores interact. I wrote this series with the intention of making a world that would spark the imagination of readers. I wanted to make a world where "theoretically" anything was possible¡­with a magic system that could "theoretically" turn someone into an umbrella - at a high cost. Purposefully doing that would involve either umbrella mana or something adjacent and the ability to alter to umbrella mana¡­or a spell system with good control and a more generic "transformation" type of mana...or something even farther away with an insane amount of mana (much higher than simply using a [fireball]) and a high degree of skill in their respective spell system to alter to a base that works for it...but theoretically, it would be possible. Another (better) example that''s shying away from the umbrella scenario. *deep breath* Something that''s wildly believed in world is that true resurrection is impossible. There isn''t really an afterlife so unless death magic and undead come into play¡­or the instant revival type of spell that catches you right after you die. Well then if someone dies they die for good... And then¡­after making an impossible scenario in the world where ¡°anything is possible¡± I used gods as the example that breaks that rule by turning around and saying a god could tunnel through time and pull a soul from when they died to the present - making something that was lost forever no longer lost. Using the godly ¡°Non continuous¡± mana in a spell with some variation of time mana would form the basis of that sort of feat. Either that or using paradox mana and forcefully controlling the madness portion to not alter the intent of the spell might work...but paradox mana has some heavy karma and fate mana tied into it so that''s a weaker version of [Resurection] (someone brought back to life with paradox mana would be fated to die again and everything would conspire to return their soul to nothing¡­of course godly fate mana could fix that sort of curse so its back to leaning on rank 4 mana types to work). I love hard systems over soft magic systems (with no constraints or costs things start to feel hand-wavey in a ¡°and then I destroyed the universe and remade it exactly the same but with coffee in front of me...but also I can''t remake the universe without the big bad because reasons", sort of way¡­ but If a magic system is too constrained it no longer feels like "magic". That lead to me purposefully making rules and then purposefully making ways they could be theoretically broken endlessly. One of the biggest constraints was the idea of different spell systems mostly locked to different races that each have pro''s and cons. The idea of separate [systems] came after¡­and even though it wasn¡¯t the main focus of the series it was a fun system to design. I also wanted to write a story with non-human POV''s that felt non-human in their morality and thought patterns - A dungeon core story without the MC being a pacifist or a murderhobo and written in as pure a way as I could - just dungeon cores doing dungeon core things from start to end. If I¡¯m being critical I think the quality might have fluctuated more than I¡¯d have liked and I had a few too many different things I was trying to do (Everything from the experimentation and dungeon building to the more one off ideas that could only happen in the setting I had designed - like the dungeon games which were almost tacked on but also became some of my favourite chapters to write, or the tours which were not in my initial plan but I felt added something to the series). The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. I already wrote my thoughts on the last few chapters but a final point: I also felt like I paced it well in terms of aging - I definitely wanted them to feel like they were slowly growing up - but even though it was what I wanted I found it harder to write the "adult" chatroom then the younger more crazy one. So chatroom content faded a bit in the last few chapters because of that. Anyways, In terms of my goals for what I wanted to write and the reception I received, I¡¯m pretty darn happy. I ended up with more readers than I thought I would and love each and every one of you for it.
A thank you: I would like to thank anyone who stuck with me till the end. Anyone who read silently. Anyone who commented. Anyone who gave suggestions or spelling corrections. People who made actual constructive criticisms (but not mindless hate comments...you should know which ones you are :3 (if you are reading this you are definitely in the good camp) ) Even those who went above and beyond what I was considering when I made this a reader interactive story - those who wrote whole Excerpts or came up with ideas I liked so much I changed directions from what I had roughly laid out. You are all great. You are all important. I couldn''t have done this without any of you. (No seriously, even though I wrote this as a hobby and for myself I probably would have lost steam if no one read it). After this point I am definitely going to write some side stories either as ¡°epilogue¡± sort of thing, more of the same but without any relation to any plot, or potentially different points of view. Maybe ¡°A day in the life of Amy¡± but actually following Amy''s day-to-day with her internal monologue while trying to save adventurers from dying - not just her showing off her dungeon. I want to write whole stories with minor plotlines for each of his friends and relax alot of my "No alternative POV" rules. I¡¯m also taking any and all questions people have about anything they can think of. I¡¯ve been semi consistently responding to questions in regular chapters - but that makes this an Official AMA.
Final ramble+Future works: Finally this is the end of this series. Anyone and everyone has my permission to make stories in the same world or similar. If you do, feel free to link me to what you come up with! I realize fanfiction doesn¡¯t need permission to be made but this is me saying I give my blessing. Actually...extending that offer to anyone who¡¯s written anything and wants a reader. If you comment here with the request I¡¯ll try and read any story you¡¯ve made and, if I like it, I might extend that to a review or feedback upon request. I probably won''t be returning to this system or world again (besides the bonus chapters and there might be alot of those) - even though I''m aware there''s a lot of potential in the setting I didn''t use. Now, this may be my last web novel but if it''s not¡­I''m tentatively going to take a break for a few months (I¡¯ve been writing DCCR for over a year and want a longish break even if it''s been a fun hobby) then come up with a portal fantasy litrpg and see how writing that goes. I''ve been mapping out the [system] and magic system and characters for a good part of the last year so I have a solid idea of how alot of it will go...but I also know its going to piss some people off and I''m not sure how much of that I''ll be able to handle. If I commit to writing that planned series, it''s going to be quite a bit different from this story in terms of tone style and scope. I¡¯m taking the parts I¡¯m the worst at writing - combat and dialogue - and doubling down on that by writing a SOL, Multiple POV (with all POV''s being flawed), portal fantasy litrpg with no permadeath (at least near the start). I¡¯m also planning on adding basically all the content warning tags so I can write dialogue the way actual people talk (with periodic swears), give graphic details of any violence, use crude humor and¡­well I can already feel the bad reception and I haven''t even started writing it yet. :3 I¡¯m basically going down a list of tropes people don¡¯t like and including them all! ...(plus I think people are harsher with more typical litrpg on here [ hence my ¡°might be the last webnovel I release¡±.] ¡­I can handle criticism but that has a limit and I¡¯ve been spoiled somewhat with how great all of you have been. Not sure I want to deal with the more saturated genre and pool of readers or the fact that litrpg commenters seem denser more negatively opinionated) Thank you for reading my unedited (Edit: Partly edited now) ramble and as always. Thanks for reading. ~Blue Chapter A. [A] Story of [A]n [A]dventurer named [A]dam Adam¡¯s childhood was sadly a common tragedy. A generic start to an adventurer''s life ¨C one with a huge impact on him but one that could have been any others. He was born the eldest son of a [mystical-tailor] and an [simple-seamstress] in a small village bordering an important trade route. His parents were some of the highest leveled in the village but were nothing in comparison to the wider world ¨C their profession wasn¡¯t the most useful for where they lived, most of their income coming from the travelling [merchant]s who moved through once a month. Adam¡¯s family wasn¡¯t poor ¨C they could afford a proper indoor void-toilet and channelling clean-shower ¨C the simple luxuries setting them apart from the rest of the villagers despite being the lowest of conveniences from a big city. For the first 6 years of his life as Adam slowly grew cognizant of the world, he had longed to be an adventurer. He loved the stories of daring capers ¨C of robbing a dragon''s hoard, of delving deep into a dungeon. On his 7th birthday, his father began to teach him how to sew magical materials together with the intention that one day he would take over the family business. Adam still longed for adventure but trusted his parent''s judgement beginning his work with needles and learning all sorts of ingredients and dyes. This pigment increased resistance to temperatures working well for a [blacksmith]¡¯s apron or [fire warrior]''s inner tunic. That thread glowed brightly in the presence of darkness making it perfect for [miner]s or adventurers looking to delve a dungeon. That wool was fluffed and provided a magical comfort while this leather was softer than satin. Adam gained a younger sister and slowly grew up. Three years of study to become a tailor of some sort ingrained in his mind. On his 10th birthday everything changed. Monster attacks had been getting more frequent and a particular raid was especially fierce. An army of poisonous centipedes dug through the wards and slaughtered over half the village ¨C more importantly killing both of his parents. Adam was distraught but needed to be strong for his younger sister ¨C she was only three at the time and he needed to provide for her. His parents deaths hadn¡¯t been a big deal for the village ¨C the majority of people still alive had either family they cared more about, or figures like the only [blacksmith] who had been more important. Everyone was sympathetic but no one really cared¡­and Adam struggled to make ends meet slowly selling everything in his house to buy food for himself and his sister. On his 11th birthday he had had enough. He needed more money ¨C he needed a better job. He sold what was left of the house at a pittance and took his sister with him, a vague goal to be an adventurer still fresh in his mind. He hitched a ride with the passing merchant ¨C an old man who remembered his parents and was willing to bring him along for free. They travelled for weeks before arriving at the nearest dungeon ¨C an explosive dungeon with especially dangerous mobs. Adam paid for an escort to bring him through, faint awe at the idea of linked dungeons too young to fully appreciate how unique it was but still excited by the sheer magic involved. His sister was held close to his chest as he passed through a strange portal the brief movement through pure blackness causing him to feel like vomiting and then they were through. Adam had heard this dungeon started off much easier than others ¨C a perfect place to sink his teeth onto. The newly created city above was breathtaking. Adam had never seen so much silver or such large buildings ¨C a skyscraper rose up in the distance its solid black walls holding up a single glowing sign with ¡°mana-corps¡± pulsing slowly up above. The funds from selling his family''s home were almost gone but the goodwill of strangers helped him once again. An old crone of a woman ¨C more wrinkle than flesh ¨C found him wandering through an alleyway and promised to rent him a place for cheap. She was a nice witch she promised and despite her strange d¨¦cor was true to her word. Her house was the size of a shed from the outside but strangely larger on the inside full of skulls and jars of monster parts or plants. Adams''s first proper delve of the dungeon went surprisingly well. He was fighting the weakest of the weak and he had little combat experience or skill but he still managed to stab the strangely shaped worm-slime multiple times with a needle popping and shattering its thin skin and leaking metallic ooze about. Each day Adam went to the dungeon and cleared the tutorial monsters too weak to beat the lesser snakes guarding the way deeper into the dungeon. He brought back the metallic goo of these monsters and was slowly taught by the witch how to brew potions. He wasn¡¯t the best at brewing but his apprenticeship with his father had helped him analyze different materials more than he would have thought. She really was a kind witch ¨C despite the occasional look at his sister that rubbed him the wrong way ¨CAdam was thankful for her guidance. Adam gained his first adventuring class a week into fighting the dungeon ¨C he happily tossed his apprentice class and became a wind-needle mage the moment after. All his skills but conjure-needle were lost and replaced in the class change but it was worth it that moment enough to push him into challenging the boss of the tutorial floor several times. The day he killed the ¡°three lesser snake¡± boss was a good day ¨C he carefully brought back the whole corpses and learned how to twist the parts into weak poisons by his new witch mother. His sister had started making potions, the witch teaching the child all of her secrets much younger than Adam would have liked. She quickly surpassed him however making him believe she had already gained a class for it. These early days potions became a strong part of his fighting style. His sister would craft a bottle of paralysis and he would dunk his weapons into the poisons she made with love killing and progressing faster and faster. Everything for his sister. Everything for the last of the family he had. Days turned to weeks turned to nearly a year before something strange happened. He got a quest which referred to him by ¡°name¡± ¨C except the name was wrong. ¡°Craig¡± the quest called him rewarding him with a pair of boots referred to as ¡°Craig¡¯s Boots¡±. And those quests kept coming. ¡°Craig¡¯s trial¡±, ¡°Craig¡¯s monster wave¡±. It was beyond strange the world itself seemed to think his name was Craig. The system seemed to be malfunctioning ¨C its natural quests wrong. Were they sent to the wrong person? Was Adam profiting off of quests meant for someone else? Or something¡­ Adam wasn¡¯t a complete outcast from the rest of adventuring society and a chance encounter here or there was enough for his peers to learn his ¡°name¡±. Craig¡¯s new name stuck and nothing he did was enough to drive home the mistake. ¡­he didn¡¯t fight the name change too hard if he was being honest. After all Adam was the son of a tailor. Craig was the needle adventurer. The name change helped distance himself from that past ¨C from remembering his parent''s death and heal from the trauma. He remembered how much he had loved stories of adventuring as a kid and his position shifted from one of necessity to one solely delving for fun. He was strong enough to make a profit ¨C he could move out of the witches place any time but she watched his sister while he delved and he really did think of her as his new mother. As time went on his frantic delves to pay for his sister and him to live warped and morphed. He liked adventuring. He loved it in fact ¨C the feeling of power of throwing himself against the dungeon. Of simple rules communicated properly. Of outsmarting the dumb monsters ¨C sometimes he imagined he was this strong as a kid, would it have been enough to protect his parents? Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. That was a bad road to head down so Craig ignored it and continued to adventurer day after day. He felt like the dungeon really understood him. He knew it was impossible, but he liked the dungeon and he imagined the dungeon liked him back. One day Craig joined a team for the first time. They delved deeper than he had ever gone before and he found himself going through a portal into the facility. That was a shocking time ¨C Craig felt in that moment the world was so much bigger than he had thought before. The facility was strange and the delve mostly fell apart but¡­he still had fun. He gained a glove that increased his strength against certain kinds of enemies immensely and accelerated his levelling immensely. Craig reached transcendent status before he was 30 years old. That was insane in the grand scheme of things ¨C he remembered his parents being considered high level when he was younger and they were both closer to level 60. Level 100, level 125. Both barriers were passed as he grinded and then¡­something strange happened. A voice in the dungeon connected and talked. A strange mental voice that echoed and felt¡­ancient? It felt like multiple similar sounding people all speaking at once the voices overlaid into a single one. Before Craig could even make sense of the voice it disappeared. He stared about the room carefully examining each adventurer wondering if one of them were playing a prank on him. No one was looking at him but some glanced up when he stared and frowned causing him to glance away once more. Craig still wasn¡¯t the best at confronting people. He¡¯d fight anyone who asked but using words? That was harder somehow. He knew it was a personal problem but he still had it. Trying to respond to the voice Craig thought really hard over and over again. Who are you? Why do you want to know?. ¡­Voice? I mean, I want to be strong. I am planning to visit the new floor but why do you care? The Yeti? Is that the boss on that floor? I haven¡¯t heard anyone talk about that yet what do you know? But Craig received no response and slowly lost hope in talking to the mysterious voice again. He delved down into the hardmode ice floor, vaguely wondering if the yeti had spoke to him but dismissing it after taking a look at the beast. Craig fought, tossing ethereal needles at the creature watching them smash off the boss like they were soild. ¡­focusing on the area at that moment he realized this floor was harder than he thought. He had started dismissing the difficulty in the normal dungeon when the facility appeared ¨C it was just so much more rewarding at his level to delve the strange structure in the void. Was that voice the dungeon? Has it started missing me now that I¡¯ve been in the facility instead of its dungeon? ¡­I¡¯ve never heard of a dungeon talking before. I¡¯m sorry I¡¯ve been ignoring you? Voice? The voice did not respond. Craig fought the yeti realizing more and more they countered him ¨C he had begun relying on his glove too much that wasn¡¯t good. There was a strange lack of urgency to Craig¡¯s fight near the start ¨C he thought he was much faster than the yeti and even if he couldn¡¯t damage the thing he could dodge it so worse case they were in a stalemate. As time progressed the yeti became faster however. It jumped across the entire room ¨C flying through hundreds of meters in a few seconds spikes shooting out from the snowman around him. Craig began to dodge in nearer and nearer misses ¨C his wind manipulation pulling his body out of the way just in time. Finally he gave up and bypassed the yeti finding himself in the calming lake beneath. Floating back and forth he waited to be attacked before reading the information on the floor. It was simply a reward. A place of safety. The end of the dungeon. Craig ever so slowly relaxed enough to take a small dip into the lake breathing out in shock at the density of mana calmly relaxing his whole body. It felt nice. I should bring my sister here some time. I have to get strong enough to bypass the yeti with her in my arms ¨C but it should be possible? Craig went back to the grind. A new goal renewed his vigor and he flung himself at the facility again and again. He was hoping to clear it, but some random charming adventurer managed it instead. He found a second reward area ¨C finally beginning to socialize with the rest of the transcendents in the bar. Booze and the knowledge that everyone else here was a real adventurer helped loosen his lips for the first time in decades and he even made an unlikely friend ¨C a vampire that understood him and understood his love for adventuring. Time passed and once again changes happened ¨C a new training area full of demons. A giant tree-trunk and a truly colossal monster guarding the area from high above. Craig was 34 years old when he learned about cultivation for the first time. He learned about it, and found he couldn¡¯t actually use it. He kept failing. He was kept away from it and flung himself at the process repeatedly when he was allowed once more. Slowly he began gaining a minor dependency on ambrosia. He attempted cultivation, he failed. He flung himself again. He failed. Months passed. Over a year of attempts almost stalling out his other practice. Craig gave up once more and spent a few years slowly grinding up his skills to a ¡®mastered¡¯ status. Needle shot after needle shot. Wind step after needle storm after needle manipulation. Once a skill was fully mastered it was permanently branded into your soul. A class change couldn¡¯t remove it. A simple removal of the system couldn¡¯t replace it. Craig grew into his power. The majority of people went their entire life without mastering a skill and he mastered every single one he cared about. Years passed before he was truly ready but finally he was ready to try again. He had gone back slightly to his roots ¨C his sister created a load of potions for him each with different hopefully beneficial effects. Mana sight ¨C a potion to temporarily give him a view of the mana in his body. Stable body ¨C to hopefully prevent himself from turning into the wind or a porcupine of needles. Mana touched ¨C to increase his ability to manipulate mana. Stacked up with potions Craig grabbed a wind-pill and downed it washing the burning dot away with his potions. His body twisted and then stabilized slightly ¨C his grip deep inside of himself attempting to forcefully control the mana running wild. It felt unbalanced. It wasn¡¯t enough he was going to fail. As he was sitting there grimacing he found a second pill float up towards his face ¨C an unmarked one his systemless body no longer able to see what mana type it was. Accepting it after a moment of debate Craig swallowed the needle pill immediately feeling his throat ripped apart. The pill had been smooth and regular but it truly felt like it was poking his throat and then belly as it travelled down. It hurt¡­but it felt right. His bones shifted slightly becoming metallic and more pointy his sinuous threading through them like¡­well a needle. His lungs swirled with Wind and expanded out small hollow channels about his body as he struggled and fought and finally got himself under control. Standing up then running out into the field, a dull ache of pain suppressed by the knowledge he had done it. He killed a demon. He killed another. At some point both arms and both legs had become sharp pointed needles. His mind felt more feral than he would have liked as he flew about his whole body a weapon. His mind was too focused on holding the mana inside of himself stable to care. He was doing it. His potions ran out but he didn¡¯t notice ¨C his body had been modified by this point to no longer need them and he fought and killed and fought some more. Days passed in constant fighting. Craig felt like he was losing control of himself but then he remembered his sister. He remembered and came back to himself panting in the pierced and punctured corpse of demon that looked like endless repeating fractals or maybe a sea horse. Craig fought with more purpose than before finding his mind strengthening and separating more and more from his body. He was in control. This was his path. He was an adventurer. Willpower flared and his twisted face became his once more. His body was still a mess ¨C had even grown worse by this point more monster than man ¨C but he was himself and that was all he cared about. The Craig-Monster fought for 2 whole weeks before dying and finding himself slowly coming into consciousness inside the womb of the resurrection machine. His status blinked in the corner of his eye ¨C it seemed confused shifting first stats and then level settling at a solid 240. He couldn¡¯t remember what he was before. He couldn¡¯t remember how many levels he had gained in these past two weeks he just knew it was massive. He felt different, his status¡­he had a new title. ¡°Prodigy¡±. Which granted the skill ¡°[internal mana manipulation]¡± which had already been mastered. His memory was hazy ¨C the most important parts his love for adventuring and his sister still deep and burning but a lot of his less important memories fuzzy and faint. Slowly those healed as well and he was deposited out of the resurrection machine unceremoniously. Years had passed but Craig still recognized the voice that spoke into his mind at this time. Hey voice¡­I¡¯m not sure why you are speaking to me now when you ignored me for so long but¡­I think I get it. <¡­> You wanted me to find myself didn¡¯t you? <¡­yes?> Craig ignored the hesitance of the voice. It was playing dumb but he knew the voice had been with him all this time. He could feel its sincerity deep in his bones. Thank you. Craig responded. I¡¯m going to rest and then attempt to cultivate once again. This time will be better I think I know what I did wrong. Thank you.
Innearth stared down at Craig in slight confusion. He really had just forgotten to contact him again. I guess it turned out fine in the end? Innearth thought to himself, watching the adventurer pull himself back to the bar and crash in a spare room. With this I¡¯m sure Craig can become a god someday soon. New thing to look forward to! Chapter B. The stereotypical [B]each Episode.
Danger. While collecting clams along the eastern coast an unknown mana-taste permeated the water. Powerful and strangely still. Inviting and friendly like an anglerwhale. Caution. Powerful predator? Stay in groups in case it comes by. Keep your wits about you our group heard strange vibrations. Strong taste. New mana types in water. Information. Local prey has been observed running from the previously mentioned danger-place. Good chance it¡¯s a deep monster. More caution.
Excerpt obtained from a box posted in the merfolk village of ¡°Elentris¡±. Queen was excited. She had been digging relatively normally and had come across something exciting by chance. Queen immediately wanted to show it off. Right before she messaged everyone with this ¡°exciting news¡± she stopped. Just telling everyone would be a waste. I can show this off better than that can¡¯t I? Queen paused and began planning this unveiling. She badgered her friend Innearth until he parted with the goods ¨C some perception circuits stuffed in cosmic void tubes ¨C then laid them about her surprise. She fixed a few minor things and then as soon as she was finished setting everything up, decisively cut all her influence off. Mentally wincing at retreating she waited out the influence¡¯s dissipation waiting for the dull ache to disappear before calling everyone.
Brutality Queen: Alright! Everyone gather round, gather round. I have something fun for us all, please expand through the portals in this room for a good time.
In a closed-off room in the facility she began waving a leaf about trying to get everyone¡¯s attention. Bursts of earth mana, a spiral of plant mana¡­slowly her friends noticed the portal chamber outsourced from Doc and began expanding through into reality. As they entered her cavern, Each dungeon felt the unknown distance around them and felt exposed quickly expanding all the way to the edges in slight panic ¨C bunching up against each other in a squished sliced pie shape. They filled out the entire room and then paused ¨C attempting to really look at what they had expanded over. Before they finished getting their bearings, Queen urged everyone to finish.
Brutality Queen: Quick! Next expand through the cosmic void pipe Innearth was so kind as to provide. I want everyone to see the area properly.
Abe: Whats happening? Where is this? Is this at your dungeon? Why are we here?
Innearth: So that¡¯s why you wanted those pipes!
Amy: Oh wow¡­somehow the idea that this is all natural makes it more amazing.
Each of her friends quieted and paused to expand through the pipes. Cosmic void was weird¡­it let them all bunch up in the same area ¨C just as if they were in the void proper. One by one they found themselves able to see just what Queen had found at the edge of her dungeon. A large cavern shaped slightly like a bean was half filled with rough sand sloping inwards towards salt water. Rimming the cavern was a web of vines and covering the ground was a large number of sharp rocks poking up out of the sand. Tiny crabs scuttled about and in a few pools of water more advanced life thrived. Strangely glowing barnacles with darkness tendrils digging deep in and throughout the stone. Bulbous sea kelp tinted a dark reddish green. Tiny hermit crabs with sparking shells that electrocuted small fish of various shapes and sizes. A slow-moving starfish clumping up protectively around a clam open and displaying a radiant glowing pearl. Weak monsters were metabolizing the mana-drenched sea water in various ways and had evolved to push it out into pearls or scales that fell off constantly littering the seabed with twisted shapes. At the very middle of this ¡°moon-shaped beach¡± ¨C directly in the center of the water ¨C a squished low cave entrance that almost touched the water let a faint glow of sunlight into the room.
Abe: huh¡­is this the ocean?
ZeMadDoctor: Huh indeed. There¡¯s a lot more environmental mana in the water than in the surroundings. I¡¯m going test some things out. Don¡¯t mind me.
Brutality Queen: What do you say. First time you¡¯ve seen the ocean right?
Amy: It¡¯s pretty. I¡¯m going make a few pets to play in the water if that¡¯s alright.
Innearth: So what¡¯s the plan? We doing anything specific?
Brutality Queen: Yes! I was thinking we could play some games. I got one lined up right away been searching for beach games all day.
Queen began building a large net in the center of the beach as she talked. Two Yggdrasil heartwood poles with looping plant mana webs that weaved together, back and forth. Amy had created a blobby tentacled creature with kelp for hair and two slug-like eyes on sticks ¨C the resulting ¡°pet¡± was happily slaughtering the fish in a tide pool by picking them up and piling them on the sand nearby. Over to the side Doc had created a simple earth mana basin full of salt water and was filling silicone balloons with the water one by one creating saltwater slimes with light madness properties. FED was consuming all the rocks in his area and scraping the sand about to ¡°make it look better¡± while mixing magical sand in with the natural to help fluff it up. Only Abe and Innearth were paying full attention to her but that was fine. They were the most likely to like her competition anyways.
Brutality Queen: Okay so here¡¯s how to play. We are each going to make a monster to knock a ball back and forth. They can¡¯t hold onto the ball or let it fall onto the ground below. Two teams need to be made and we¡¯ll figure out a punishment for losing later.
Abe: Oh! Team battle? Alright me and Innearth vs you and¡­who else is playing?
ZeMadDoctor: Hmm? This game looks trival. I can make a monster that will knock the ball back with a single look. How about we make the ball nullstone and make a ¡°no kinetic mana¡± rule :3
Brutality Queen: The ball has to be bouncy. How else will the monsters smash it back and forth?
Amy: Oh! Queen You and me! There¡¯s no need to make the ball bouncy if we make our monsters bouncy ¨C look.
To demonstrate, she grew a small earth chunk and tossed it at her ¡°pet¡±. The group watched as the ball squished down and then flew away before returning to the chat.
Brutality Queen: Figure we can just make a rule the monsters have to touch it physically to count.
Fated Eternal Design: I¡¯ll be on the Bros team. Doc, you good with completing their team?
ZeMadDoctor: That¡¯s fine. We need more rules before we start. Can projectiles hit the ball? What are the rules for interference? Are we allowed to attack the opposing team? What about mind control? If Abe explodes the ball does his team forfeit? Oh! Is there any size or mana costs? I feel like its too open right now. I also don¡¯t understand this ¡°hitting¡± requirement. If it bounces off your monster isn¡¯t it being held for a moment? Whats to prevent your monster from just tossing it up and down really fast.
Brutality Queen: Minor interference allowed! No ¡°Direct attacks¡± please use common sense. Kinetic mana is fine but making a monster with kinetic controlling skills is not. If it feels like cheating it probably is! No helping each other create your monsters this is a 3x3 battle. Brutality Queen: Other than that¡­I guess don¡¯t make your monster taller than the net when its created ¨C it can obviously jump above the net to hit the ball ¨C and we¡¯ll give each monster a 4,000amu mana budget. And once a monster ¡°hits¡± the ball a new monster has to be next to hit it either on your own team or the opposing. Oh! Also while I¡¯m here ¡°No unique materials¡±. Everything has to be done using your own mana and raw inventory. Any other questions?
Abe: Think that¡¯s good enough to start? How much time do we have to make our team?
Brutality Queen: A few hours?
Fated Eternal Design: We have to design them from scratch! I don¡¯t have something I can just print out and fill the slot! Lets use the same rules as the dungeon games. 24 hours till we start! Also everyone should clean up their section of the beach like I did ¨C it will make the environment much more even and satisfying.
Innearth: Sure I¡¯ll clean up some of the rubble.
Brutality Queen: 24 hours starting now!
Queen set up an event to fling a small stone after 24 hours and began coordinating with her team.
Amy: I like playing games as a group. We should do this more often.
Brutality Queen: Alright what¡¯s the plan.
ZeMadDoctor: You came up with this game don¡¯t you already have a plan?
Brutality Queen: Oh! No I just read up on beach games. I have no clue what we should do.
Amy: How about we focus on teamwork? I have my monsters cover each others weaknesses, we can do the same sort of thing here. Set up a sort of adventurers dynamic where we have one monster on defense one on¡­I guess long and close range doesn¡¯t work how about one defending the field one in charge of landing devastating shots and a third to control the ball and toss it to the teammates to shoot.
Brutality Queen: I¡¯ll be in charge of defense. My plan is to cover the entire bottom of our side of the field :3
Amy: That sounds like cheating! This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Brutality Queen: Only size requirement I gave was not to reach above the net :P No cheating whatsoever.
ZeMadDoctor: Aiming and shooting the ball will be up to me I guess. Amy you¡¯re set as support. I¡¯m planning on making a mostly stationary ranged attacker. Spike from afar.
Amy: Done. Team name! We are the Living Legends! All of us have a life affinity after all.
ZeMadDoctor: ¡­I have a kinetic affinity.
Amy: Oh! You play with demons and life mana so often I thought¡­You¡¯re right sorry!
ZeMadDoctor: Queen and myself have an Earth affinity as well¡­but I¡¯m not pushing for the ¡°earth buddies¡± or similar.
Brutality Queen: Team DAQ! Doc, Amy, Queen. It looks cool too. I like how it reads.
ZeMadDoctor: Shouldn¡¯t it be ZAB? ¡®Ze¡¯ and ¡®Brutality¡¯ comes first after all.
Brutality Queen: But that looks dumb -> same with ZAQ and DAB.
Amy: DAQ! Is perfect.
The team settled down into silence as Queen began planning out her monster. A flat bed of mud was incredibly cheap to make. Her mana budget was only down 40 mana after designing something that would cover the entire 30m wide 70m long side of the cavern they were in charge of. Across the whole bed queen set up vines for limbs ¨C simply growing out thick green appendages every meter or so in every direction. These were more expensive especially as she gave each a small plant core for control and tied them slightly to each other inside the main mud body. Slowly 2000 limbs cut her budget down to just over 300 mana which was shoved into a single master plant core to tie it all together. For the most part her design was simple ¨C she let the plant mana run wild with exactly how the limbs were created ¨C but some of the materials used held precise ratios of different elements.
Brutality Queen: Done my setup. I¡¯m curious how do you go about making monsters? I know I tend to throw stuff together more than most.
Amy: hmm? I guess¡­That¡¯s a good question. Let me think.
ZeMadDoctor: Degrees of motion. Each part of your monster that moves needs a reason why it moves in that direction. Constrained limbs are stronger than ones that can move in all directions and combining multiple joints is often better than a single one. Solid parts are stronger than ones that can bend even if they lose some freedom. Its important to decide the way you want your resulting creation to move and focus on the joints to achieve that.
Amy: I also focus on movement but¡­Mana has to flow. Body parts have to flow. Living creatures all have moving blood and organs. Life in general likes to move. If every single section of your monster can move, the whole monster is more¡­living if that makes sense. You¡¯re mimicking real life when you create a dungeon monster so the more lifelike you make it the better it will be. I¡¯ve found it tends to be stronger with internal parts that shift and pump even if you didn¡¯t design those parts to do anything. I try to make sure all my monsters have circulatory systems ¡°pumping¡± liquid about ¨C I like mixing health liquid and a drop of ambrosia to really give the fluid system a kick¡­I don¡¯t know I haven¡¯t really thought about it in this much detail before.
Brutality Queen: Interesting¡­time will be up soon. You two ready yet?
ZeMadDoctor: Correct.
Amy: Soon queen! Just another 20 minutes and I¡¯ll have the last bits finished.
Slowly Queen waited down the clock, brimming with excitement at the competition. Doc had carved a heavy grey ball out of nullstone and his ¡°batter¡± monster was currently holding it steady. His monster was more turret than living creature ¨C except instead of shooting projectiles, its ¡°head¡± would whip about and smash into the ball at precise angles. A slide then smack from either side, a spike from above. Just like his tastes had shown, its head was comprised of several joints a large one to ¡°swing¡± and several smaller ones to provide minute corrections. Its legs just barely had it qualify for monster status ¨C the creature waddled poorly if it needed to move ¨C but that was fine. Most of Doc¡¯s effort had been spent in stability while standing still. Amy had created a flat paper-like ¡°trampoline¡± monster with tentacled legs that ran about and could bounce the ball in different directions. On the other side of the field the opposition brought their team out one by one. Abe had modified an old gorilla shaped monster with squishy paddle like fists. FED had done something similar to Queen with a misty mask that covered a vast area and had thin bouncy plates floating about inside of it. Innearth on the other hand had brought out what queen first thought was a snake before it ¡°stood up¡±. While laying down in its resting position the monster was well under the height of the net. When they were finished setting up however mana spun and the monster slowly stood up ¨C it had created a giant pole in the middle of their field close to the height of the room.
Brutality Queen: ¡­is that a loophole or are you just cheating? I can¡¯t tell.
Innearth: You said lower than the net at creation. Don¡¯t think I don¡¯t see you with your massive short monster over there :3<
Abe: I was sure you¡¯d have a problem with feds flying monster.
ZeMadDoctor: See this is why we needed more defined rules.
Amy: I think we should just play. Everyone is happy with the setup?
Innearth: Yeah I¡¯m good.
Brutality Queen: We¡¯ll start.
Directing their monsters Queen had a vine drop the ball onto Amy¡¯s trampoline, bouncing it back towards the batting machine which swung with a sickening crunch. Something that Doc had done to the bat, made the first spike sound louder than it should¡­ but it all worked out as the grey ball soared up into the air and smashed down towards the floor. The gorilla took two cracking steps forward, small bursts of fire shooting its legs down and then up as it accelerated into position in the air almost teleporting with its speed. The gorilla appeared in space with the telltale signs of time mana before knocking the ball sideways towards Innearth¡¯s totem ¨C knocked with a surprisingly gentle put. Out of the relatively smooth face of the totem, a single limb flipped out and spun forward. The limb aimed and then whipped out hitting the ball directly down towards the ground just over the other side of the volleyball net. Vines shifted like grass in the wind clumping up underneath the spike and serving it back towards the batter again. Wack. Smash. Squish. Slowly the game progressed, its ball whirring back and forth longer and longer. Fed¡¯s mask was everywhere ¨C small tips moving the ball in small shifts to better positions. Queen¡¯s monster saved spike after spike from Innearth¡¯s totem and Doc¡¯s batter got steadily better at aiming for blind spots on the opponent¡¯s field. The stalemate lasted for hours, literally thousands of back and forth¡¯s continuing¡­until finally Doc managed to hit it hard enough the nullstone broke through the mists gloves and sunk deep into the ground.
Abe: Finally!
Innearth: No! First point to your group I guess. What are we supposed to play to?
Brutality Queen: ¡­best 2/3 I guess?
Abe: That seems fair.
On the field below Abe¡¯s gorilla tossed the ball straight up in the air before accelerating straight up to meet with it and spiking the ball as hard as it could towards the opposing side. As the ball hurtled towards their side the totum flickered and pulsed ¨C a wave of subtle mana flying through the air and washing over the monsters present. The pulse was equivalent to a flash of bright light to the monster''s senses, their passive mana sight being confused for the second needed for the ball to slip past vines and smash into the ground ¨C passing through the muddy floor to stop at the sand below.
Brutality Queen: So that¡¯s how its going be huh.
Innearth: You said interference was allowed!
Brutality Queen: Oh it is. Guys ready to retaliate with our interference?
Amy: ¡­what interference?
ZeMadDoctor: Was I supposed to make one?
Brutality Queen: Ready to beat them fair and square with zero interference?
Abe: Rip.
Fated Eternal Design: You said they were ¡°bound to make something interferency¡± and ¡°we had to make something to retaliate with¡±?
Innearth: ¡­I don¡¯t like how me following the rules as presented is making me out to be a cheater.
A third volley was set up at this time, the shots slowly ramping up once more as the ball racketed back and forth.
Amy: It¡¯s a shame the room is getting smashed.
Brutality Queen: ¡­the rooms fine I think? We can clean up when we are done if you want.
One half of the room was covered in mud its yellow sand, a wet brown while the other half had dozens of craters from the gorilla jumping off of walls or smashing into the ceiling. None of the surroundings were dungeon built and the mundane materials weren¡¯t nearly enough to contain the party. Well fix it up after this game. Queen quickly stopped caring for the surroundings and simply rooted her team on. I want to win! A second mana pulse was made and defended against but 10 minutes later a 3rd pulse was done blinding the monsters at just the right time to make the ball slip. Queen had lost. She had somewhat expected that but it still stung. Stuffing her vine bed through a portal and sprinkling sand mana onto her section of the field she found her self feeling better after the area had been dismantled. Quite a bit of the initial cavern was no more ¨C the tidepools were gone and most of the vines and rocks had been cleared away ¨C but as the dungeons tidied up it started to shape it out once more.
Brutality Queen: So¡­anyone know what they want to do next?
Innearth: I mean¡­what else is there to do?
Amy: Fishing! Lets catch some sea creatures!
Abe: I feel like fishing for void whales is much more exciting¡­
Fated Eternal Design: Want to try cooking? I¡¯ve been meaning to try it for a while. We can catch some wildlife and make it into food.
Innearth: Sure, why not. I¡¯ll start making the oven.
ZeMadDoctor: I¡¯m going to continue my experiments on seawater. I¡¯ve already experimented with creating sustenance for adventurers in my own dungeon.
Brutality Queen: Lets make this a competition as well! We need a judge to taste all our meals. No backing out!
Innearth: I¡¯ll ask a few dwarves if they want to come down and taste stuff.
Brutality Queen: Most of my ascended don¡¯t have much of a taste¡­there¡¯s one picky eater however I¡¯ll ask the gourmet to judge as well.
Slowly the barbeque was formed. Innearth had created a simple grate suspended over a bucket of lava for a cooking setup. Surprisingly it took a while to catch any sea creatures ¨C most having been scared away from the vibrations that had been sounding out all day. The tide came in and out twice with no change before finally small crabs began to scuttle back into the cave. Nabbing a relatively large one queen brought it over to the oven while thinking about how food was made. This is already food is it not? Cooking it should make it better what else¡­I heard salt was used a lot in cooking lets get some of that. Queen gathered a bunch of sea water in a stone tub and began evaporating it in her own fire.
Abe: What are you doing?
Brutality Queen: Secret sauce. I¡¯m making something for my meal.
Innearth: ¡­salt? Why don¡¯t you just print it? system can help you make NaCl in no time at all.
Brutality Queen: ¡­
Queen didn¡¯t have an answer to that ready, her influence raced as she tried to commit to her course of action.
Brutality Queen: ¡­flavour. Printed salt is just not the same.
Innearth: Makes sense carry on.
None of the dungeons really understood cooking. Technically with the way their dungeon ¡°sight¡± worked they were constantly seeing touching tasting smelling and hearing the surroundings¡­but most of those senses were incredibly dull and they knew it. They could barely ¡°see¡± sounds let alone tastes and weren¡¯t able to figure out what a good taste was in comparison to a bad taste. Nothing they tasted was "bad for their body after all" even death mana just tasted like death mana neither good nor bad. The closest thing Queen could think of in terms of ¡°taste¡± was the flavours of mana so after heavily salting her charred crab meat ¨C sprinkling slightly scungy sea salt across the unevenly cooked crab ¨C she began to push life mana into the creation. Life mana was a nice flavour as far as Queen was concerned. Smiling as the meat began twitching slightly ¨C bacteria inside of it growing up and into a nice forest of greens ¨C Queen was ready.
Amy: I messed up¡­tried to make soup but the disease making spell activated and made a crab killing virus instead of anything edible. Going to sit out of this one.
Abe: Alright! Bring out the judges!
Six dwarves and a green slug covered in ferns moved out of portals and settled down to try the dungeon''s dishes. One by one they came over and took small portions of queens ¡°blue crab¡± wincing at the ripe smell and causing her core to drop. Damn, should have researched food more shouldn¡¯t I :/ I thought I was doing pretty well. The dwarves carefully spat out her offering and gave her a ¡°2/10 stars¡± rating before moving on. The gourmet spent a much longer time munching on her offering ¨C savouring the mana and smiling to itself before enthusiastically giving a 8/10 stars. Next in line was Abe. He had doused the whole chunk of crab meat in thick alcohol mana brine ¨C boiling it in booze and turning it a white rubbery colour and texture. Once again the dwarves took bites ¨C this time enthusiastically giving high ratings despite their scrunched up faces. They averaged out to 9/10 stars sticking around to spoon alcoholic soup stock out of the pot. In comparison, the ¡°gourmet¡± took one sniff and recoiled ¨C barely tasting the meat before giving a 1/10 ¡°inedible¡± rating. Moving on to Innearth the judges found a single crab roasted perfectly on both sides and sprinkled with a tiny bit of printed salt. 5/10 scores from the dwarves for the lack of accompanying beverage and 6/10 from the slug for their tastes. Fed had barely cooked his meat and then spent the rest of the time arranging it on separate small plates. Small shells and a ring of roasted kelp along with a drizzle of red fluid he had gotten from some fruit. The plating was incredible but as each judge tasted the meal they found themselves disappointed. 3/10 from the dwarves and 2/10 from the slug. Finally moving onto Doc¡¯s creation the judges paused. Doc had cut the meat into long strips and transmuted different parts of them into different ¡°edible¡± products with a bunch of demon based materials. Crab shifted to crab shaped kiwi-fruit. Crab shifted to grass. Crab shifted to a waxy cheese. Crab shifted to raw potato and then toasted on the barbeque once more. The judges approached each stick separately finding themselves surprised by some and disgusted by others ¨C the dwarves gave a 5/10 for lack of accompanying beverage and the slug gave a 9/10 stars for the grass mix then dropped it to 8/10 after tasting the rest of the offerings and finding some too weird. Doc had also shown off by transmuting several rocks into simple foodstuffs but they had to admit his experience had given him an edge. Queen was okay losing to experience. Next time she would do better.
Amy: What do you think of snookum¡¯s outfit?
As the food competition slowed down Amy had begun making more monsters and giving them each swimsuit¡¯s. The ¡°armour¡± was surprisingly impractical ¨C most of it limiting tentacle movement and simply existing for no reason at all. A ball of tentacles and eyes and teeth ran across the beach slowly ¨C ¡°impractical¡± clothing holding tentacles in cups and frills before getting ripped off as the horror tripped over a rock and flung its tentacles out to stop itself.
Innearth: ¡­why.
Amy: You wouldn¡¯t get it. Sometimes cute things just need cute clothing!
Innearth: ¡­
Chapter C. Mana[C]orps.
¡°Profit for profits sake is as harmful as levels for levels sake. Should manaCorps run the-¡° ¡°I think you¡¯ll find manacorps is entirely within the local laws of each area.¡± ¡°Laws are not the issue being brought into question here! I¡¯m speaking of the moral obligations that ManaCorps has as a¡­¡±
Excerpt obtained from one Court case in Timbuck ¨C "in which it was found manacorps was purposefully leaking several kinds of experimental mana types, into the groundwater in the hopes of gaining multiple young crafters with advanced and rare classes". Krill walked stiffly through the central headquarters of mana corps. He was being re-assigned to the middle of nowhere ¨C everyone talked about how great of an experience this was, a chance to make profit! But Krill knew it was really a demotion. Hearing a loud ¡®Bzzt¡¯ from an open doorway Krill stopped and poked his head in slightly. He took in the glowing gore covering a shocked group of teenagers and his direct superior Helm. ¡°Okay class, This seems like a great learning experience. Name 5 things he did wrong. -Krill! Excited for your promotion to Silver branch manager?¡± Stepping out Helm closed the door behind him, clapping his arm around Krill and dragging him aggressively forward down the hall. ¡°The re-assignment is adequate Executive Helm.¡± Krill hated how informally Helm always acted. ¡°Oh to be young again. I envy you Krill, I really do. This is an amazing opportunity. I wish I was in your shoes I really really do¡± Helm laughed while pulling Krill the last few feet into his office. If you envy me take my place. I dare you. I¡¯m begging you. ¡°Now lets talk numbers. The market is in flux right now and I expect you to start taking advantage of the uncertainty provided¡­¡± ¡­ Krill stood in front of ¡®his¡¯ new branch office, a sleek black skyscraper surrounded by shining silver buildings in the new settlement. The transfer made his skin crawl. He needed to start pulling profits if he didn¡¯t want to be¡­reassigned to a job as bad as beta tester. Krill shivered before stepping into the climate-controlled lobby and taking the lift up to his office on the top floor. ¡°Okay!¡± Krill slapped his hands against his face once he was sure he was alone. ¡°Let''s brainstorm some profit avenues¡±. ¡­ Krill''s first plan was to expand the shuttling service being offered currently. Adventurers were bringing weak or non-combat-focused groups through the portals all willy-nilly and making bank. All he had to do was hire some of the subjugation department to provide a streamlined service. A professional booth on both sides. Illusion services to hide the dungeon and any fighting from the faint of heart. Another group with flashy [skills] to wow the adventurous. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. This was going to work! ¡­ Krill spun a statue of a crystal¡­otter? Some sort of furry four legged creature used only to please the masses. The blasted dungeon had put a stop to Krills machinery. Trials! Stupid unskippable trials. There were semi rare tokens the dungeon was using to provide a skip including the one in front of Krill now. He just needed to figure out how to replicate this and their shuttle survice would be a go again! Krill activated an old skill that had been languishing since his [Researcher] days. [Arcane Projection] A truly massive web of glowing lines floated above his desk to his dismay. ¡°This is as convoluted as the credit formation. Each of these statues is as annoying to create as new currency!¡± Krill rubbed his face, a headache forming. ¡­but it might be worth it if there weren¡¯t many tokens? The theoretical cost of this skip is based on how many people want to skip and what they are willing to pay¡­I might be able to work with this? ¡­ Krill had given up on copying tokens. They had finally forged a token¡¯s mana stream and shoved it in a crystal cube but the blasted dungeon wouldn¡¯t accept it. One intern had mentioned it was probably due to not being in the shape of a cute animal but really, ¡°Why would a dungeon ¨C a glorified logic spell shoved in a rock ¨C care about the shape of a statue?¡±. The trials were a bust but there was still a foothold for Krill to maintain his position. You see the path to and from the portals was dangerous and annoyingly hard to market¡­ ¡­but the portals themselves were free. Wastefully free! Krill just had to set up a payment booth on both sides ¨C on all sides of the portals! A toll! Excited by the spinning image of [credits] rolling in, Krill called up a contractor to begin dungeon construction. ¡­ Krill was defeated. The portals had a vast enchantment written by some genius protecting them. A flicker of power would shoot out and disintegrate any blockade they attempted to create. Physically blocking the portals branded a tollman with a ticking countdown and no one knew what happened when it reached zero. Oh they had tested it! The interns they had tasked with the job had simply gotten too afraid of the countdown ¨C chickening out each time, the cowards. Holding one down didn¡¯t work either ¨C it was hard for someone held down to be considered blocking the path disabling the countdown each time. Physical restraints were dissolved. Raw muscle in the form of [Thugs] were given the same brand instead and they all ran away... It was all so infuriating. Krill suddenly realized he was no longer alone in his office. A small dark shape sat on his desk on a luxurious chair in miniature. The figure smoked a small pipe that puffed toxic looking green smoke into the air and shifted forward coming into the light. ¡°I heard you¡¯re having troubles with profit ventures?¡± The figure spoke and Krill felt a shiver run down his spine. ¡°Y...Owner! I didn¡¯t expect to see the most important person in the company in my humble branch. What can I do to help you?¡± Krill stuttered out awkwardly. ¡°Enough of that. I¡¯m simply a chairmen on the board of directors. Being the owner implies responsibility and legal obligations. We are a collective are we not? Comrads in the search of the ever elusive profit?¡± ¡°Y¡­Yes sir¡±. ¡°Now, why don¡¯t we go down to the portal and you can tell me all about the issues we are having?¡± ¡­ ¡°...and we haven¡¯t figured out what happens when it reaches zero.¡± Krill finished his explanation ¨C standing in front of the unopened portal. The owner stood silent, staring at the ringed shape before turning and sighing. ¡°Understandable. Head back to your office, This venture is a dead end. I expect you to start figuring out goods we can create from this dungeon and tourism options in the town.¡± ¡°S...Sir!¡± Krill laughed relieved. He had half expected the owner to force him to see what the countdown would show¡­some sort of punishment. The owner really was a great guy ¨C he was lucky to be working for him. Bowing repeatedly Krill turned and rushed back through the dungeon breezing through the lower floors before reaching his office once more. Still standing in front of the arch, the owner of manacorps glared daggers at the enchantments left by another gremlin. ¡°Why do you always ruin my fun, brother of mine. I¡¯m so close to completing my Dao of profit. One more massive jump and my cultivation research will be complete!¡± Slamming his tiny hands into the stone floor the owner disappeared tantrum cutting out almost unaturally. Far away a certain adventurer found himself laughing as he wrote up a new review for the dungeon of seasons. Chapter D. The [D]ay the system was made. Floating high above the Earth, a dozen specs of light hung in the thin air. Incredibly stable, they each sat without even the slightest tremor of movement ¨C anchored absolutely to the ground below. One by one mana began to pool and gather as each spec expanded outwards. Mana slowly swirled into an avatar for each of the gods. The holy mother and Mortimer now stood in the air facing each other. Mother¡¯s avatar was a swirl of cloth ¨C as if thin transparent white sheets were wrapped around an invisible woman. The imprint of her face was warm and kind ¨C contrasting the sharp glare her cloth eyes were making towards the undead god. In comparison, Mortimer looked like a handsome mortal man in a simple black tunic. His skin was healthy, his eyes a bright and cheerful blue. The only sign of his undead origins was a single skeletal hand ¨C grey skin flapping against polished bone. The smooth ivory fingers were clasped loosely around a short red rod of some unknown metal that looked almost like crystalized blood. This rod began to spin and twirl about in the silence like a stage conductor''s baton. The two dragon gods appeared next. They had no names and few followers and so they were simply known as the red and black dragons. Next the god of goblins and gold ¡®Baba¡¯. The god of gnomes and pranks ¡®Trix¡¯. The god of elves and nature who refused a name ¡®elven god¡¯. The god of dwarves and smithing ¡®Myth¡¯. The god of orcs, duels and war ¡®Honor¡¯. Even the god of merfolk ¡®Pael¡¯ was there ¨C appearing as a single drop of water falling through space while maintaining its absolute position. ¡°Lets get this over with¡± Mortimer spoke clapping his hands together ¨C wand gone one moment and then back again the next. ¡°I have by far the most experience with soul work so I¡¯ll go first?¡± ¡°Prudence, whelp.¡± Baba spoke. Her hunched form of shawls and bones and smoke stepped forward into the center of the space. ¡°As the oldest and wisest, I hope you¡¯ll allow me to lay a proper foundation.¡± The witch cackled. ¡°We don¡¯t have time to argue over minor things¡± Mother spoke still glaring at Mortimer. ¡°We need to work together as hard as that may be for some among us.¡± ¡°What are we making? What do we hope for it to do?¡± Trix spoke ¨C pulling out a pen and beginning to jot down notes beside her in the air. ¡°We wish to create something to watch over and guard our children. Prevent the pain and luck involved with cultivation. Help create prosperity and lower conflict.¡± Mother began. ¡°I propose we simplify cultivation down into a steady increase in strength through age. Raise up the max-age of everyone slowly but surely ¨C evenly and fairly giving everyone power. Magic for everyone.¡± ¡°Absolutely not. I am not participating in a neutering session ¨C nor will I let my kin grow soft and dumb with coddling¡± The red dragon spoke. ¡°I suffered so others must as well? That¡¯s no way to change the world for the better¡± Mother smiled, holding out her arms and letting them fall to her side. ¡°We already agreed to split responsibilities, No two races can be treated in the same way. Gift your kin your own boons and I shall gift mine, mine ¨C I¡¯ll have no part in helping you create your charity.¡± The red dragon rumbled the last words in a low roar. Three divine half gods appeared around the mother defensively. One made as if to angrily yell but was stopped by a cloth softly blocking their movement. ¡°As my pantheon is the largest I can take in all the poor unrepresented souls as well.¡± Mother began but was cut off by another. ¡°You are one to our two¡± the black dragon spoke for the first time, Her voice traveling strangely through the thin air like it was coming from far away. ¡°Red will take the dragons of the land and skies along with their spawn and the monsters they came from¡± Black began, ¡°Black will take the dragons of the sea and sky along with their ilk¡± Red continued. ¡°Just because you¡¯ve enslaved those seeds and others doesn¡¯t mean we don¡¯t outnumber you¡±. Black started again. ¡°They are not enslaved, They are each my children!¡± Mother''s voice rose a tick. ¡°They haven¡¯t crystalized their own divine shell and by prematurely giving them a body made from your own divine mana they can never do so. Is that the sort of system you want to make? Minor gods, no one ever joining our ranks again?¡± Red spoke. ¡°You can undo your spell at any time destroying their body ¨C sounds like you hold all the power over them,¡± Black spoke. ¡°We¡¯ll take the strays¡­¡± Red started. ¡°¡­and help them fit in with whatever mess you create¡± Black ended. ¡°Children!¡± Baba snapped. ¡°The tapestry of fate is strong today. We need to start.¡± She continued after calming herself again. A loom appeared in front of her ¨C thin lines of divine fate wrapped back and forth into a lumpy cloth filled with frayed edges and misshapen stitches of ¡®other¡¯. ¡°Guess it''s time to stop enjoying the show, Always nice to see someone else call that hypocrite out¡± Mortimor laughed and strode over to Baba¡¯s loom to peer down at the threads. Mother looked over at the threads lightly before turning away and ignoring them entirely. ¡°Let''s start the process Tea¡± she spoke unfurling her body ¨C divine mana continuously spooling out in a long white parchment. ¡°I¡¯ll start the rules then. We only have one shot to set this up. Give me a time or two¡± Trix stood back and blurred suddenly. Her little spark of mischief became a dozen and then a hundred ¨C little golden clones each moving about at an insane blur of speed as they ripped the cloth into separate sheets and enchanted line after line. Waving a metal plate, the dwarven god pulled a meteorite into orbit beside him and then blurred as well ¨C compressing years of time down into a minute, as he forged pillars and chains out of space iron. The other gods watched for a moment before joining in ¨C each performing their own magics in their own way. The dungeon god was not truly present ¨C not in person like the rest of the gods. He couldn¡¯t be. Instead, he had sent a proxy and spoke through them. A half-god dungeon boss mostly ignored by the others began pumping out materials the god had sent with him, most of his comments ignored. Incredibly magical materials transported over and mixed in with the divine mixes the others had created shifting about into every part of the working but being overwhelmed and lost in his non presence. ¡°We are giving them a form of our own cultivation are we not?¡± The god of dwarves Myth spoke, briefly ending his sped up time to ask. ¡°Yes, breaking apart each of our cultivation methods into levels and experience. We reached godhood with these methods ¨C I¡¯m sure others can as well. Every manner of leveling is a manner we have tried and tested and proven to work.¡± Mother cut in. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Cultivation is a personal thing, Can anyone really reach godhood following solely in our footsteps?¡± Pael spoke for the first time. ¡°It¡¯s the best we can do in the time we have.¡± Mortimer added in. ¡°¡­and our best is pretty good.¡± Red curled his avatar ¨C pulling his large frame down into a draconic humanoid who strode between each of the items his peers were making with a frown. ¡°I don¡¯t trust any of these weak piddly spells you lot are making. You¡¯re all half-assing it. Magic needs sacrifice and cost to be strong enough to really matter¡± He finally growled his feelings. Not leaving time for anyone to answer, Red lifted up his right arm and slashed down with his left claw severing it. The divine flesh fell down - solidifying as it did before being caught by the god of elves. Blood floated in the air, meaning flashed and Baba¡¯s loom thrummed like a harp. A spell created by the dragon''s flesh willingly sacrificed. ¡°Going hard aren¡¯t we¡± Mortimer laughed, flicking his wand and summoning all the dragon god blood into a sphere above him. ¡°¡­a beautiful material. Better even than divine mana for what I was planning, Thanks~¡± He spoke before twisting reality. The gods were silent for a period once more before one by one they finished. Baba¡¯s threads were now tied to each of their items ¨C the thousand separate books of rules from the gnome, the massive several kilometer long chains and boxes from the dwarf. Slowly the last part of this ritual became complete as everything grew more metaphysical. Each of the rules of reality shifted as they fit themselves into Law space. ¡°We don¡¯t need this do we?¡± Trix spoke while poking a lumpy block of rules about some fundamental aspect of reality. ¡°Could make more room if we tossed it¡±. ¡°Don¡¯t touch anything unnecessarily.¡± Slowly the [System] was woven through natural architecture. Nodes were placed around the world each containing a book of rules, a box of runes, a plant, or simply a lump of flesh. After a certain point the [System] wasn''t truly any of the nodes but in the links between them. It built like a web of neurones growing exponentially denser with each new node added. And then they were done, A single spark of mana from all of them set the working and one by one [system panels] began appearing in front of everyone with a soul. Mortimer pulled up a blank panel in front of him and asked everyone offhand to test their own connection. ¡°Why ever is my level so low?¡± ¡°Do not reset our displayed level to 0 at godhood ¨C I refuse to be outleveled by a mortal¡± ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s a relatively simple display we can change it now.¡± ¡°A newborn god is level 1000 ¨C okay? Good base point to tare it to? Our cultivation after that point will be our level¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine¡± A simple twist and everyone¡¯s status appeared in front of them for the first time. ¡°Cute¡± Mother spoke staring at her screen.
The Holy Mother
Level 2318. Experience to next level N/A Mana 12/100 Threads.
¡°We have to return again. Today we lost a lot, we can only hope we gained an equal amount¡± Myth said before slicing reality and throwing himself as deep into the void as he could. One by one the rest of the gods followed, each rushing as fast as they could to return. ¡­ The Celestial realm was in trouble. Earthling gods had abandoned their posts for several precious, precious hours to enact their planned system ¨C leaving the remaining gods on an offensive retreating battle. The battle. The only real battle. The endless battle against the void. ¡®----~_~----¡¯ The deity comprised of trillions of swirling motes of divinity grumbled ¨C a hive god whose preferred avatar was a bright pink cloud of mist welcomed the gods back with frustrated flashes of thought-light. ¡°Don¡¯t worry lil buddy. Our sacrifices today will be worth it. Soon more gods will appear ¨C dozens of friends levelling into greatness with our grand system. If they bottleneck near the end we can help them the rest of the way.¡± Mortimer twisted into being first ¨C his voice proceeding his void-walking travel to the edge of the universe by seconds. {We have lost over a dozen light-hours of real-space for your thirteen-hour-long vacation. That¡¯s space we will never recover ¨C and we¡¯ll lose more before the day¡¯s over.} a buzz of lights assailed his divine sense. A ripping noise appeared ¨C space flapping about like a torn cloth as the rest of the earth gods appeared and took up their mantles once more. ¡°We agreed to do this, regret is for mortals and other fallible beings¡± the mother spoke, her voice carrying out into the vacuum of space with sorrow. ¡°Stop using mortal as an insult you old hag. I quite like the squishy god eggs.¡± Mortimer snapped back, the truce of [system] creation no longer holding his tongue. ¡°Myth, come help me man the celestial cannons. Three stars should be enough to regain our foothold ¨C right?¡± The god of gnomes called over to the god of dwarves who drifted away from the bickering to assess the fight. A twist of perception skewed everything into a less realistic but more accurate view of reality. The battlefield shrunk, the entire edge of the universe now in view. Ahead of them a wall of void rippled forwards through the vacuum of reality ¨C pushed forward and backed by three demonic planets. The evolution of demonic whales. Demonic whales 10,000,000km long. Blimps of demonic matter so massive, they warped the edge of real-space thousands of kilometers out from their positions. Behind each of these planet-eating, universe-destroying creatures, hundreds of demonic whales ¡°just¡± thousands of km long, rode. And, behind them, trillions of twitchy little demonic fodder swarmed ¨C too many to count. Mana had gods, the void and its anti-mana had¡­these ¡°planets¡±. A deeper switch of perception and Myth stood in a shredded celestial world. The ¡°world¡± was a¡­metaphysical one without a real physical location. It existed by definition at the edge of the universe and as the edge was constantly under assault and currently being pushed back at the speed of light it too was shifting. Demonic whales were hard to kill even for gods ¨C they resisted mana to a truly annoying degree. These planet sized ones? Even gods couldn¡¯t kill them easily. No matter how much power they magic ¡¯ed into existence, it was still that¡­magic. At least without cheating. Myth moved forward and slid into place behind a cannon, running his divine sense over its creation and then unlocking its clasps. These cannons were the trump cards. The last resort. Myth pulled back the end of the cannon ¨C its form closer to a sling shot at the moment as he wrapped its bowl around a nearby star. The cannons were the solution to demons being resistant to magic. An ancient mess of spellwork made by an unknown god with a limited resource for ammo. Pulling the cannon back, Myth dragged the metaphysical bowl over to the nearest star ¨C loading the cannon. He was distantly aware of his fellow gods manning their own canons aiming for their own whales¡­but he had his own prey to kill. As he manipulated the metaphysical construct, a swirl of space wrapped around a ball of burning hydrogen 1.5 billion kilometers across. Divine mana swirled through the vacuum creating matter for the spell to attach to and space warped as the star was grabbed and carefully sliced away from reality. The ball was loaded into the cannon ¨C its shape now a long solid tube and Myth began final preperations to fire. Divine mana was pumped out into the working ¨C nearly all the mana the god had, rushing out and then into place. A hum of reality and the star was hurled out in a ball of space ¨C tearing forwards towards the planet in front of him. Severed space accelerated through real space before being carefully let go and unravled ¨C the stars final few billion kilometers comprised of it moving ¡°mundanely¡±, no real magic in its passage. There was barely an impact as the sun hit the titanic demon in the lead ¨C engulfing it completely even as it passed and continued on into the whales behind it. Barely a change in shape or size as the burning projectile tore across the battlefield ¨C wiping out countless whales the gods were unable to effectively kill themselves. Myth felt sick looking at the carnage. This attack was a double edged sword. It was single handedly the strongest, most effective weapon the gods could use ¨C a wish upon a shooting star¡­but they came out at a loss in the end. They were feeding the void after all. The energy of the sun attacked the void ¨C slowing it down¡­but given time that would be killed ¨C the sun snuffed out by the void and cooled into a solid hunk of material. Given a millenia or two and this much mass would create many times the demons they had killed today. The worst of the unkillables killed, Myth left his post to charge forward ¨C holding a massive hammer forged in a dead star at his side. Alone in real space far, far, far away from his fellow gods but side by side in the divine battlefield he fought. He swung his hammer again and again, ripples of force travelling through kilometres of flesh in perpetuity. The endless battle. Void heart after void heart shattered. Each demon he killed funnelled meaning into his cultivation ¨C intent siphoned off into his anchor. Slowly but surely the encroaching void slowed, slowed and then stopped. A stalemate once more. The god of dwarves was not good at fighting. His section of battlefield was much smaller than others. In exchange he helped fortify the realm in other ways. As the battle stilled reality solidified more, a link to the dungeon god appeared before him. The dungeon god now spoke in blue boxes ¨C he seemed to have grown attached to them in the brief time since the system had been made. In many ways the dungeon god was the celestial realm ¨C the dungeon¡¯s body the actual ground he stood on now. In other ways he was simply another god. A friendly guy who worked closely with Myth on many a project. Moving to where the realm directed, Myth began to smelt space ¨C reinforcing the biggest cracks and recreating their wall. His namesake was pulled into being as he worked - Mytheral the metal of creation. That metal was used to plug holes roughly. Myth drew rune after rune. He created a moat of sorts to keep the demons back. A massive tub of booze was deposited beside him courtesy of the realm. He thanked the ground and took a swig. Today had been a lot. Chapter E. An [E]pilogue of sorts. 2022/12/23 (After system) at 12:02m central time. A massive change ripped through the world. The system which had remained static for over a millennium received an update.
Global announcement: Journaling update.
Patch notes: For any and every species and situation, a new form of passive experience is now available.
  • ¡®Journaling¡¯ is a passive method of experience generation. To ¡®journal¡¯ simply write down your ''experiences'' to turn them into class or racial experience. Amount gained is dependent upon various factors, with adventuring and describing your day being the most profitable
An overhaul of certain text-based Interfaces has been complete ¨C to link a physical notebook with a system shell, simply devote yourself to the god of adventure or seek out one of his priests.
For the humans ¨C new classes have become available and certain procedural classes have been ¡®fixed¡¯ ¨C don¡¯t let anyone tell you [reporter] is a non-viable choice.
For the gnomes and gremlins ¨C the god of adventurer calls to you! The trickster god is not the only divinity with ties to your species ¨C the newest member of the pantheon also shows favor towards you. All gnomes and gremlins receive knowledge of a life lengthening enchantment upon reaching your first rank threshold. ¡°May you grow as old as the other species and grasp opportunities your mayfly like existence has stolen from you.¡±
For adventurers of any species ¨C a new god has been born. One who understands you and favors your life choices. He is not a jealous god ¨C nor a demanding one. Should you seek to join his clergy no responsibilities will fall onto your head ¨C he simply wishes to fuel a profession that has been declining in recent years.
Finally, some old god related functionality has been restored ¨C the chance of your prayers being heard has increased and the chance of a response has been improved.
All across the world, people read the update in confusion, excitement and panic. For some, the system was an unchanging stone ¨C a fundamental part of reality. A change to it ¨C however small ¨C was world shaking. For some, the idea of gods had begun to be disputed in recent years. The existence of higher beings was a theoretical ¨C no proof of their existence convincing. They saw this update in a belief-shattering way ¨C indisputable proof the gods were real after all. For others, the update was met with skepticism. ManaCorps had been rolling out their own system ¨C perhaps they finally figured out how to hack into the grand system somehow? How easy was a blue box to fake? Perhaps someone was playing a practical joke on them? For some, this was the push they needed to become an adventurer ¨C several low-level humans went through a class change quest and some retired delvers decided to visit a dungeon for old time''s sake. For a few individuals this wasn''t very big news ¨C they knew the dungeons had done it due to being near the ascension site or were a dungeon involved. And finally for one, this update was met with pure shock. In the middle of a windowless room partly outside of reality ¨C one foot in the void so to speak. A single user received a second blue box.
Hey big bro. Guess who the god of adventure is. Guess. Guess! I¡¯ll give you a hint. For your 500th birthday I blew up one of your disgusting mana corpse factories and just a few years ago I blocked you from taking hold of the cross-continental portals in those crossroad dungeons.
¡°Tom!¡± The gremlin angrily shouted ¨C his voice echoing in the bubble of reality.
Just popping in to say I win. I became a god first ¨C remember that bet we made back in 1222AS? You owe me something¡­I forgot what it was but you owe me it.
The owner of ManaCorps shook slightly and then slowly but surely calmed himself. ¡°You talking to me like this, ruins a lot of the illusion of power your fellow ascended have cultivated. Massive amounts of power and you use it for a petty rivalry. Aren¡¯t you above that now? Shouldn¡¯t you leave us ¡®mortals¡¯ to cultivate in peace?¡±
Of course I¡¯m above you ¨C both physically and metaphorically. By the way I just released some of your trashy company''s secrets ¨C leaked the evidence some companies needed to pin you for some unethical experiments, brought some investigators to some factories that were leaking mana pollutants into the surroundings, told a few kings you were planning on usurping their thrones, etc, etc. Call it a late birthday gift for this year from your favorite brother.
The owner noticeably twitched. After breathing out deeply the gremlin walked towards a desk and poured himself a mug of spark ale. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°I see my business can now claim to have a god as a rival. I¡¯ll drink to that.¡± The owner smiled taking a long sip of the burning beverage ¨C small flashes of light popping about his mouth as he did so.
Think whatever you like big bro, I¡¯ve only got a small bit of time and have some more people I need to talk to so see you around.
The owner sat in his building in silence for over an hour drinking his ale. Sighing a bit at the end he muttered low in the darkness ¡°see you around¡±. ... Elsewhere, In a private group chat that went by the name of ¡°Ascending a delver by delving an ascender¡±.
Catacombs Of Woe: Did anyone hear about the new god? Apparently a dungeon helped him ascend.
Dung30n: Wait what?
Godmaker: No! NONONONONONO! I¡¯ve been working on this project for over three centuries I¡¯m so close!
Catacombs Of Woe: Three centuries? Pah, I¡¯ve been working on it for a millennia youngster.
My floors bring all the adventurers to the: We did it crew!
Catacombs Of Woe: Want to know what the worst part is? Apparently the dungeon who did it is a rank 4 welp less than a century old.
Lightlord: Is there a point in continuing this goal? Is there a point in anything anymore?
Godmaker: I¡¯m going to continue. I bet I can ascend a better god.
Dung30n: Okay, did my own research its not ¡®a dungeon¡¯ ¨C there was a group that did it. They managed to share floors and collaborated to reach their goal ¨C someone by the name of ¡®Abe¡¯ is currently explaining their exploits to anyone who will listen.
Godmaker: See, now that makes sense. COW I told you should help me with my reflection trial ¨C if we just worked together we totally could have beat them.
Lightlord: I think¡­I think I¡¯m going to try and find a new purpose. I¡¯m leaving this group everyone, its been fun.
Catacombs Of Woe: I¡¯m taking a few years off. I¡¯ll start trying again after my break.
Dung30n: In other news does anyone know about circuits?
Godmaker: That broken system?
Dung30n: Yeah, someones released information on a whole secret language built into it.
My floors bring all the adventurers to the: New circuits dropped? Link me.
Dung30n: I just closed it ¨C search for a site with S-Circuits, seems pretty well developed.
Godmaker: Its by one of the cores who ascended the god ¨C someone called ¡®Innearth¡¯. Godmaker: see I bet that¡¯s how they did it. If I lucked into finding the secret S-Circuits first, I totally would have ascended someone first as well. He¡¯s just lucky.
Dung30n: Don¡¯t be jealous of someone making a free guide ¨C you¡¯d have just kept it to yourself wouldn¡¯t you have?
Godmaker: Slander! Of course I would have told you guys.
Similar conversations were mirrored in other groups ¨C some congratulatory, some jealous. Others were finding out about the secret project older dungeons were working on for the first time and reacting to it with confusion ¨C or like they were being left out of some grand secret. ... Deep in a metaphysical representation of the edge of the universe, a group of gods relaxed. ¡°See I told you the system would work. After the newbie mirrored his cultivation technique into the master node, the chance of a second ascension has increased.¡± Trix spoke ¨C a spark of light shifting and becoming a pile of coins as she spoke. ¡°And also! Every ascension after that should exponentially increase the problem space. We created a miracle, we need more partying! 50 millennia to make 12 gods and only 2 to make a 13th! That¡¯s at least double the efficiency!¡± As if to illustrate the increase of ascensions, the coins grew and spilled across the table. Coins tumbled away through the lounge and rolled across the floor that was also a tense battlefield and also nothing but empty space folded a quintillion times. ¡°Earth gods will outnumber the rest of us in a few dozen millennia.¡± A shift of thought sighed and unfurled into an anthropoid ¨C but not one that any on earth would have recognized. ¡°__._..A¡± A cloud added to the conversation helpfully. ¡°Heard they got some cross planet portals set up ¨C what¡¯s the chance someone will figure out cross universe portals?¡± the concept of colours spoke from its spot on Trix¡¯s body. ¡°Without our interference? ¡­probably never. If I get some free time I might be able to help open up some new worlds¡­but is that even wise? The Earth''s unstable enough as it is ¨C the only thing preventing them from blowing themselves up sometimes is the systems we set in place. I can¡¯t imagine how some of them would react.¡± The god of dwarves spoke. ¡°Oh I think we all know why that is¡± Mortimer laughed ¨C ¡°I blame the hypocrite over there¡± he suddenly disappeared ¨C his section of space curling around itself cloth grasping and strangling his after image. Like nothing had happened he popped back in a moment later just to start walking away. ¡°See, she¡¯s crazy. Needs to learn to chill ¨C I¡¯m calling first trip back home. Hold the fort down while I go do some god stuff¡±. ¡°He cannot be allowed to go alone unchecked.¡± The holy mother cursed ¨C ¡°Minor mantles don¡¯t do much. Sasha dear, make sure he doesn¡¯t break anything¡±. Out of the surroundings, one of her minor gods curled into being and saluted. As one of the mantles left its post, the whole of the realm lost something. All of them took up their positions once more ¨C the line of demons were harder to push away. They returned to the struggling stalemate they were in once again. Their break over. But that was fine. There would be plenty of breaks in the future. ... Ripples of change were rolling through the dungeon core community. Conspiracy sites were popping up left and right. A small percentage of cores disappeared ¨C their purpose gone, all that was keeping them together broken. A percentage was shifting their goals or coming up with new ones. A majority were continuing on business as usual. That''s really what the majority of people did at the end of the day. Cores, humans, elves and dwarves ¨C the vast majority of people continued on. Everything had changed but simultaneously nothing noteworthy was different for the average person. That was life after all. You just had to take it one day at a time. From now until forever.