《Heart of The Home》 Prolog - the slaughter As I stretched the couch underneath me groaned in protest. I had just finished a reading binge of my favorite light novels. I had been reading them since I found them in middle school. online novels had quickly taken over my life. my name is Ryan Hollberry, I had recently turned 23 last month, not that anyone knew. My family stopped taking care of me the moment they didn''t have to legally. now I worked 8:00 to 6:00 at a shitty little gas station, just to pay for a shitty little apartment and internet. I was sick of it. But then the thing I had been praying years for happened.
WELCOME TO THE APOCALYPSE
your world has been decided to be the next lucky contestant in the Great System! we will be adding in classes, magic, and a full system, how lucky! good luck surviving!
"YES! YES! YES! It finally happened!" I had dreamed of this day for most of my life. A system came! I literally dreamed about this for years. I had long ago made what I affectionately termed my "destiny plan". Step one - get to safety, step two - start training in magic manipulation (if that¡¯s a thing), step three ¨C make zombies/ become necromancer, step four ¨C profit (survive and thrive baby!). I jumped off my couch and began running towards the closet. Back when I first made my destiny plan I bought a bunch of swords and tools and put together a survival pack. But then the ground started shaking underneath me. I livedon the 13th floor of avery old apartment building, the only reason the thing hadn''t collapsed is luck. I only lived there because of the rent; it was cheap. the building hasn''t seen a handyman or a repairman in at least 40 years. and it seems it just ran out of luck. I started booking towards the closet if I could reach it, I might be able to survive. Sadly, it seems like I was destined to die as I felt the floor buckle underneath me, ¡°oh shit!¡± was all I could mutter before it all went black.
whatever change was caused by the advent of the system wouldn''t be known to Ryan Hollberry. as the earth changed and expanded under the manipulation of the system it caused the 86-year-old apartment building to collapse. right underneath Ryan. as the building collapsed Ryan''s life ended. his soul floated inwards and sideways, moving in directions it didn''t know existed.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. he ended up dying not knowing how he died. his soul going back to the great cycle that is reincarnation just as it was connected to the rest of the multiverses cycle just for a moment.
In another world deepoutside the system''s part of the multiverse, the was a small village. the village of Randyll is a small frontier village on the very edge of humanity''s kingdoms. Randyll rested right on the border between the grand Solstice Empire and the orcish conclaves. The village was a bit generous of a term, it was more like a loose collection of buildings where farmers would go to sell their crops and go to church. Randyll was founded only four years back. there was only four actual building in town, not counting the six farmhouses, there was the Inn, the trading post, the blacksmiths, and the mayor''s house. It was a bit of an exaggeration to call it the Rusty Plow an inn, it was more of an alehouse with a few extra rooms. it was cheap beer and ciders, that attracted any customers to the squat building. next to it, standing near the main road, was the trading post. Meyers House of Trade was a small one-story building it had the only stable in town right next to it. Meyers House of Trade was the only place you could sell anything, it was founded by a friend of the mayors. Across the road from that was the blacksmiths, it was a stereotypical smithy, a squat stone building, with a large forging area near the front and a small shop inside. The village hall was where the mayor lived with his young son. It was a two-story building with a basement where the town held church services. It was starting to get a bit run down since the mayor built it himself. the mayor was a rank two commander that was given the land back when he retired. He decided to set up a town as many had before. he lived alone with his son because his wife died when giving birth. the first real harvest just came in, so the entire village was celebrating. they were having their first harvest festival, the inn supplied alcohol, the blacksmiths made decorations, the mayor hunted a rank 1 beast, and Meyers hired a few entertainers. The excitement was palpable. But as with most stories, tragedy struck. As the villagers celebrated an orcish war band stormed the village in the night! The burned and slaughtered their way to the village square. People tried to run but the village was surrounded. The mayor tried to fight back but he was eventually captured. Having won slaughtered most of the villagers they captured the rest and dragged them down to the church. After they were all rounded up a large figured in a cloak hobbled out of the darkness. ¡°well commander, did you really think you beat us back?¡± a hoarse voice echoed from the figure. The mayor started shaking. ¡°well no matter me and my brothers will have our revenge in time¡­¡± the figure crooned to the mayor. The mayor recognized that voice from the battle that one him this land, it was a hunt for a pair of orc leaders. The most brutal ones the humans fought. He managed to kill one of them the other apparently survived. The orcs slowly started chanting as the figure signaled them. They dragged the mayor¡¯s young son from the crowd and held him over the village alter. With a cheer from the orcs, the figure whipped out a knife from the cloak and slit the throat of the child. The orcs chanted in joy as they started and finished the slaughter. That night the village of Randyll burned.
With the blood spilled on the alter the soul of the sacrifice which had already started to fade into the great cycle was called back. Bu on its way out it got snagged on another soul¡­ chapter 1: awakening and sleeping Darkness. That was the first thing I saw. I tried to get up, try being the operative word there. ¡®oh, shit am I trapped under that crappy building!? Please, gods, don¡¯t let me die in such a stupid way¡­¡¯ at first I thought my lack of pain was a shock. After about half an hour of freaking out at the possibility of being crippled, I managed to calm down and take stock of my situation. ¡®I can¡¯t feel any of my body parts, I can¡¯t see anyth- what the hell is that.¡¯ In the corner of my vision, I could see a small blue thing that looked like a cross between a sunspot and a cockroach. As soon as I focused on it.
Congratulations!
by dying at just the right moment and an event that has happened and will happen somewhere in the multiverse you managed to be the lucky version of you who reincarnates! As having been a subject of the Great System and having traveled to a non-system-controlled universe. We have decided to hire you like an expansion associate. Yay for you! Currently, you are being held in stasis until you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy if you decide to decline, we will have to immolate your soul¡­
¡®I didn¡¯t realize text could be threatening.¡¯ I began skimming the document.
¡­ in case of betrayal on the part of the signee, you hereby sign away your right to free will... ¡­ if on the off chance we the system reserve all rights to cancel the contract and immolate the signee...
It seems as the first thing that happens to me after reincarnating is I am pressed into a soul-destroying contract¡­ I reluctantly sign the obvious trap.
congrats! Now as a fair and kind company we will even give you an advanced wage! Your wage is an extra point of mana regen and your benefits are we don¡¯t kill you. How kind of us.
¡®I just became a wage slave. Happy me¡¯ I could physically feel how hard this will screw me over later. Whatever couldn¡¯t have changed it.
we will unfreeze you soon but before we do we will give you a few gifts to help you survive in your new world. Have fun!
As soon as that message flashed across my, vision? Mind''s eye? Whatever, as soon as that message disappeared, I felt like I was hit by a bus! I mean we are talking full-on truck-Kun. After my wave of nausea passed I kept my eyes closed waiting to see what my new clearly heroic form will be after being isekai''d. I feel wet, I slowly open my eyes and see¡­ nothing? ¡®please don¡¯t let me be born blind, I¡¯m not ready to be a blind senior!¡¯ then I realized I didn¡¯t have eyes to open. I tried to reach up to my face but I realized I can''t move. This could only mean one thing¡­ I AM A DUNGEON CORE! FUCK YEAH. Okay, I got to start planning out what elements I am going for, I think I should go for a mix of undead and holy to cover for each weakness. Alright, I just need to wait for my helper. Please don¡¯t be a fairy¡­ <<<>>> Okay? Either I¡¯m really far from anything else or nothing is coming¡­ time to start experimenting! The natural step is to find my mana. I think meditating is always good for that, bare minimum its good for the soul. <<<<30 minutes later¡­ I think¡­>>>> Well it turns out I can''t fall asleep but I can REALLY tired¡­ didn¡¯t find any mana either. Okay next up let''s see about finding a menu. Open, system, pause. Okay, that stopped being funny everyone knows that you have to say/think status.
Status name: Ryan Hollberry, RandyllThis tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
titles: Expansion associate, progenitor, haunted race: house Classes: System Expansion Associate, Home,
stats Teir:1 Rank:1
health: 524/20,000 regen: 0/hr. Exp: 100/0
stamina: 0/0 regen: 0/hr. Religion: the nine
mana: 5/20 regen: 1/hr. Loyalty: The Great System. No one else.
Strength 50 Creed: none
Constitution 50 Unassigned points: 0
Dexterity 0 ???
Structure 160 ???
Intelligence 10 ???
Wisdom 10 ???
Charisma 6 ???
Luck 19 ???
Skills
Spirits: lvl. 1
Heart of Hearth: lvl. 1
Expansion Point: lvl. max
Leaders Domain: lvl. 1
Okay, a few things¡­ what in the Sam fuck does it mean by my race being HOUSE?! What the hell are those stats, those classes!?! Why is my health so low? Why don¡¯t I have any regen? Okay¡­ okay¡­ calm down. I¡¯m so fucked¡­ nine hells, what am I going to do with this shit¡­ Okay, I have one last hope. Maybe I can get some more info out of this crap¡­ I try to focus on the classes first.
Class information
System expansion associate: You have selected to become these dimension¡¯s first expansion associate! Your job is to create system expansion beacons and defend them. You get a few bonuses to make your survival a possibility, and custom text by one of the System Minds.
Home: You weren¡¯t made for killing that¡¯s for sure! You gain experience by having the sentient beings inside of you flourish and grow. you must fight off all the pests and nuances that come with being a house. You are also the progenitor of this class and the only species it applies to.
Huh yeah, none of this helps. If anything it tells me I will be playing tower defense until I¡¯m killed by magic termites. Yay me! Okay next the titles
Titles information
Expansion associate: You are an expansion associate. Yay! Good luck with that.
Progenitor: You aren¡¯t just the first of your species or of your class no you¡¯re the first of an entirely new type of being! A house¡­ a sentient house¡­ with classes¡­ yeah, this world isn¡¯t ready for you¡­ oh well, not the systems problem.
Haunted: Guess what you got the spooks! You probably should tell your prospective partners before they move on in¡­ who knows, if they don¡¯t bring protection they may get haunted too¡­
Nothing new¡­ nothing new¡­ wait? What? I¡¯m haunted too? What is this the grudge? Great, just wonderful, maybe this will keep the magic termites away for now. Okay, last chance please oh god let me at least have a chance!
Skills.
Spirits Lvl 1: You can summon a simple house spirit to help maintain the house. They do everything from cooking, cleaning, construction, excavation, but no combat the poor things are to slow to have any real power behind an attack. At higher levels, you gain the ability to summon other spirits.
Heart of Hearth lvl 1: You emit an aura of warmth and safety. Those that stay inside or within ten feet of you heal faster and rest easier. Draws in not only the lost and weary but also animals so beware.
Expansion point lvl max: Makes it an object act as a focal point for the system you already have one, it¡¯s your alter. If it breaks you die, we figured you would be more motivated to protect it. At later levels, you can make more points.
Leaders Domain lvl 1: You are a natural leader counting your past and your status as a progenitor. You inspire those around you.
Finally, something I can work with, this Spirits skill seems to be my only hope. Since I am a house maybe I can get healed by getting fixed, hopefully. Okay, let''s go on ahead and try this. I push my will in the general direction of the skill and it works. And I almost pass out. A space in front of me starts glowing and the light slowly forms into a small pure white figure about six inches tall. I learned a few things from this, namely, I can see. As I get a glimpse around my surroundings, I feel nauseous. I¡¯m surrounded by burned corpses it looks like there was a slaughter in here. The small white figure opens its eyes and then blinks at its surroundings. Seemingly horrified, ¡®I¡¯m with you, little buddy!¡¯ Thanks to the light he emits I realize I¡¯m just in a basement, a basement full of corpses! They look old too... like they have been here for months. I feel another wave of nausea and tiredness wash over me then t goes black. <<< >>> ¡®HOW DARE IT! HOW DARE A MESS LIKE THIS EXIST!¡¯ as the brave little house spirit flew into a burning righteous rage, it felt its creator¡¯s attention fade from him. it immediately flew into action they tried to take the mess outside, but the way was blocked! How much more of a mess can there be! the little spirit was astonished and horrified he immediately jumped into action hauling rubble across the room at lightning speed. After a few hours of clearing the way it came to the outside and what he saw horrified him. A sprawl of burned wood and collapsed timber spread before the little spirit. The spirit realized what faced it was a task larger than itself. It decided that the best thing was to get started cleaning. So, it started hauling the trash from downstairs and moving it to the remnants of the fireplace. As it pulled stuff into the fireplace a blue flame formed on the refuse and dissolved the trash. With each object consumed by the fire, small cracks sealed shut in the basement and wood started to regrow. chapter 2: regrets Have you ever woken up after a blackout? A pounding hangover and disorientation? Well, that¡¯s what I felt when I finally regained consciousness. I blearily tried to rub my eyes only to remember I didn¡¯t have arms anymore or eyes for that matter. The memories of what happened to me came back and I just kind of mentally sat there for a while, stunned. I decided it would be best to check my status before doing anything.
Status name: Ryan Hollberry, Randyll
titles: Expansion associate, progenitor, haunted race: house Classes: System Expansion Associate, Home,
stats Teir:1 Rank:1
health: 1670/20,000 regen: 0/hr. Exp: 100/0
stamina: 0/0 regen: 0/hr. Religion: the nine
mana: 5/20 regen: 1/hr. Loyalty: The Great System. No one else.
Strength 50 Creed: none
Constitution 50 Unassigned points: 0
Dexterity 0 Spirits: 1
Structure 160 ???
Intelligence 10 ???
Wisdom 10 ???
Charisma 6 ???
Luck 19 ???
¡®damn it!¡¯ so if you run out of mana I pass out. Wonderful. And with my regeneration, I don¡¯t get back up for a few hours. But I supposed that was fine in the end, I am a house. Houses don¡¯t exactly move so I should be prepared for a lot of doing nothing. After checking to figure that out I hesitantly turned my focus back to the room around me. ¡®oh, thank the gods¡­¡¯ lucky me I wasn¡¯t surrounded by corpses anymore. And there seemed to be a hole in one of the walls. Then I saw the little spirit tumble out of the hole and land in a heap. he then started to get up. I say started because he was slow with a capital S. When I was a little kid, I went to the San Diego Zoo, there I saw Galapagos tortoises, they moved faster than my spirit did. I watched as it moved at a glacial speed. It got up then waddled over to a burnt piece of wood on the ground. It picked it up and then walked back to the hole. I wanted to see where it went and then to my surprise, my vision followed it into the hole.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. It seemed that the spirit had dug a path up the stairs, which I didn¡¯t know was a thing yet. ¡®Come to think about it I dot even know the layout of my house? Body? Oh, this will take some getting used to¡­¡¯ The spirit climbed out of the other end of the hole, then I figured out why my health was so low. Someone burned me down. It eventually came to a half-collapsed fireplace, where he dragged the piece of wood into it. A blue ghost like flame sprouted from the air and consumed the wood. I didn¡¯t know what to think about that. I guess I eat by burning things in my fireplace, and wood tastes like French-fries. ><><>+10 HP<><>< Oh, that explains why my health is higher. So, the little spirit has been clearing the rubble in the basement. Wait a minute, what did it do with the bodies. Oh no. I think I¡¯m going to be sick¡­ I would have puked if I could. So instead I just kind of freaked out flailing my imaginary arms and running, which was surprisingly fun, and mentally running around. Until I my imaginary inflatable tube man style arm hit a chunk of wood sticking out of the ground and nocked it over. ¡®holy shit I have telekinesis!¡¯ I reached out and punched one of the rocks. CHSSHHH. A mind rattling sound of breaking glass sounded off in my mind and I was stunned for a moment. That damn rock broke my concentration. I wound up another punch this time imagining my arm as a wrecking ball, I felt something deep down in me stirring towards my mental fist. I swung and the rock shattered! Then I felt the nausea and tiredness again. ¡®oh shit¡­¡¯ <<<< another 6 hours later>>>> ¡®what¡­ where¡­?¡¯ I feel like someone tied me to a boat and used me as an anchor. ¡®damn, I must have drained myself of mana. What even happened it seems so hazy¡¯ then like thunder a massive ringing noise went off in my head.
Congrats! You have unlocked the technique demolishing fist!
Demolishing fist- (5mp) the might of the industrial industry is not to be disrespected. You have managed to catch a glimmer of the essence of demolition from your home plane. Nice try! This inefficient and almost effective technique is your first creation!
Oh. OHH. That means I can create martial techniques? Guess I wont just be bored and sitting here forever. That reminds me I don¡¯t even know what¡¯s around me. I drew my conscience from where I seem to rest in the basement, and looked back at my body, or more accurate the rubble that it is. Yep, still look like I was firebombed. Looking past that I saw wide fields and sparse trees surrounding me. And as I looked out what I thought might have been my front I saw what looked like other houses. I quickly looked away, it felt looking a dead person in the eyes. When I looked away, I noticed my spirit still working hard. It makes me feel a little better seeing the slow-motion little doll tumble and bumble around, busy as a bee. Its been clearing the area around the fireplace for a while now and I just kind of zone out watching it. Eventually it manages to clear out what might have been a room before whatever burned me down happened. Then the spirit stopped and did a little dance, when it finished it jumped up the air and I got a message.
Spirits has leveled.
New type of spirit! Basic Builders! Capable of basic construction allows you to make new buildings and addons. Can easily rebuild what was once made.
Ooh. I wonder how much those cost? ><><> 10MP <><>< Oh, okay so the notifications tell me things too now? How much MP do I have? ><><> 9MP <><>< Alright I can afford one! Now that I think about it, I¡¯m going to be living the fantasy equivalent of paycheck to paycheck. I should figure out how to meditate or something to increase my regen. I focus hard on me summon spirit option and mentally scream ¡®BUILDER¡¯ at it, it makes me feel like stupid, but it works. With a little bit of fanfare and what sounds like trumpets a small two-foot-tall portal opens and another doll jumps out. This one has a similar featureless body but its bigger than the other one, and it has a little bob the builder hat on, it even has a picture of bob on it. The doll hops out and stands there in a pose that looks like it was prepared to monologue about its evil plans. It eventually opens its eyes and looks around confused then looks at itself and looks scared. Poor little guy¡­ I think ill call this one bob. ¡®I¡¯ts okay bob don¡¯t worry your safe buddy!¡¯ bob looks even more scared, then it just stares off into space for a moment before sulking a bit. DDIIIINNNNNGGGGGGGG ¡®Holy shit!¡¯
New menu unlocked
Constructions tab available. We left a little gift for you there.
Ooh I sense opportunity for growth. This should be good. <<< >>> I charged out of the portal ready to slaughter the enemies of my summoner. You think I would get tired of being summoned by that pumped up demon king to kill off heroes, but it¡¯s actually quite fun! At least compared to the normal nothingness that a devil like me is usually subjected too. a long time ago before I was an archdevil I had tried to break free of the system causing to ¡°appropriate¡± me. Ever since then I have been one of its trading chips it uses to get the things living under it to dance for its entertainment. As I leaped out, I stretched my massive frame as large as I could go and stood there waiting for the calls of alarm and fear, but all I was met with was silence. Confused I opened my eyes and looked around. I seemed to be in a basement for high giants. My massive 8-meter-tall frame still made me look toddler sized compared to the ceiling. Then I looked down and noticed I wasn¡¯t my usual giant self. I looked like a bipedal marshmallow. ¡°what the fuck!?¡± I tried to scream only to realize I didn¡¯t have a mouth. Then suddenly I heard a loud voice call out in my mind ¡®it¡¯s okay bob don¡¯t worry your safe buddy!¡¯ you have to understand part of being a devil as high tiered as me one of the benefits is that my mind was a fortress only breakable by gods of the mind and the system itself. I lost my shit for a good couple minutes, until a blue screen I was all to familiar with popped up. Reassignment¡­
Congrats!
You have been graciously gifted by the system a new position! Your species has changed from [Grand Arch Devil] to [minor house spirit] Your class has changed from {infurnium sword dancer} to {minor construction specialist} Your level has changed from <8692> to <0> exp needed to get to next level <10xp> Good luck with serving your new position! Follow all orders and you might not get latrine duty!
I shivered when I read the bit about latrine duty. It isn¡¯t an actual latrine its where all of the rot and hatred and corruption in the dimensions the system takes over is stored. Latrine duty itself is being turned into a living sponge for corruption. Gods help me¡­ I went and sat in the corner of the room trying to figure out how I got fucked over so thoroughly.