《System Descendant: Awakening》 Prologue We did it to ourselves. It was our fault. When the fate of Earth was at stake we stumbled and failed. We created the pantheon. We created the gods that suppress knowledge. General Tsu Yang, Excerpt from the War on the System Published in 2073 August 2071 ¡°Soldiers. You have been gathered here today to work towards establishing a strategic reserve. No plan survives contact with the enemy, especially when our enemy is smarter than us, stronger than us, faster than us, and quite frankly better at fighting than us. But we have no choice. The Domain Hades is out of control. Australia has already fallen, and now he is coming for our allies in Japan and China. The strategic reserve will be manned by people from all our allies. The only requirement is that you have at least one combat skill to Intermediary. It is well known and understood that the only way to advance a combat profession is to actually kill something. So low combat profession levels are not a concern. We will rotate people in and out of the reserve so that the average combat level of the reserve will rise over time. Get with your commanding officers if you want to volunteer. Tour of duty is expected to be one year. The AI will ask you if you want to stay in the reserves at that time. If you have loved ones under the domain of the AIs, you are ineligible to volunteer but that does not mean you are ineligible for the reserves. You are here because you are talented enough that I am considering selecting you anyway. So if you believe in the cause and you want to be included, prove that you deserve to be here. That is all. Dismissed.¡± After General Yang''s speech ended, the entire crowd erupted in a loud cheer. Lucas was possibly the loudest of them all. He wasn¡¯t eligible to volunteer, but nobody present was aware of that. If anybody really looked deeply at his background, he probably wouldn¡¯t even be eligible to be in the Army. One of his uncles was at the lab where and when this whole damn mess started. But he hadn¡¯t heard from him since the blue screens had appeared. ¡°I already qualify,¡± Lucas muttered to himself. With the guilt that comes with knowing your family is potentially part of the problem, Lucas had thrown himself into his training. Hand to Hand, Rifles, AI interaction, those were the first 3 skills he earned. He quickly picked up the infantry and ammo maker professions as they were so helpful to someone in the Military. There seemed to be some sort of artificial control in place stopping him from getting some of the skills the other military members had. Any skill past rifles in relation to the modern Army was blocked from him. No Energy Cell Recharging, No Ion Rifles, No Information Warfare, No HUD interfacing. There were really quite a lot of skills that he couldn¡¯t get. ¡°Probably has something to with that 10th domain¡­¡± muttered Lucas. Ironically skills like AI interfacing, Formations and Hand to Hand all came very easily to him. Not that he had a lot of opportunities to level up skills that were not military skills. It just meant that he had to try and become skilled with Ion Rifles and Energy cells the hard way. Unfortunately, he still couldn¡¯t use the decent Ion Rifles because of the system-imposed skill level restrictions on them. Lucas felt sure that the reason he even had the 10th domain on his system screen at all had something to do with his Uncle. It was well known at this point that the starting affinity in each of the Domains was heavily dependent upon your genetic makeup. Had it really been six months since that was announced on the news? Lucas didn¡¯t have a high enough affinity to be worth training in its use, but he also had that 10th domain. The System Domain. He didn¡¯t dare to mention in case it meant what he thought it meant. His uncle was somehow tied up in the creation of the System that was so hated. The System that was sweeping away the world''s nations to forge something new. Who knew if he was tied into the Domains, but Lucas was almost certain he was related to the creator of the system. With the current world events, he didn¡¯t want anyone to know. If he could get himself selected to be part of the reserve, he could put enough time between him and his uncle that nobody would be able to put two and two together except for him.
Name Lucas Eckles Race Human
HP 279The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Stamina 270
Total Affinity 17% Mana 100
Strength 14 Endurance 27
Agility 12 Charisma 10
Intellect 10 Luck 13
Status: None
Active Skills
Inspect Beginner 5 Dash Beginner 1
Rapid Fire Beginner 3 Stealth Beginner 1
Passive Skills
Rifles Intermediate 4 AI Interfacing Intermediate 3
Hand to Hand Intermediate 1 Formations Intermediate 3
Combat Professions: Non Combat Professions:
Infantry Lvl 3 Ammo Maker Lvl 3
Major Outstanding Quests Grantor
Obtain a position in the Reserve General Yang
Affinities
Earth 0% Light 0%
Wind 0% Water 0%
Fire 2% Space 5%
Mind 7% Crafting 3%
Death 0% System 3%
Chapter 1 Chapter 1: Have you unlocked the inspect skill? Inspect is unlocked by staring intently at something for at least five minutes but it never takes more than ten minutes to unlock. Because of the ease of this, most people unlock inspect without trying. If you have not already unlocked inspect, please set down this book and return once you have unlocked inspect and tried it out. Please remember the easiest way to activate active skills like inspect are to think the name of the skill. It does not matter the language; The System knows what you are trying to activate as soon as the thought is formed. As you have no doubt noticed with your testing, unlocking the inspect skill allows you to see the stats of others. This is effective unless they have a method of obscuring their System screen. Everyone has the same six core stats. There are many secondary stats which vary based on professions and unlocked skills. Secondary stats are always hidden from view, even if you have unlocked them. The core stats are Luck, Agility, Strength, Endurance, Intelligence, and Charisma. Most are self-explanatory, but there are two core stats that are worth mentioning. Intellect has a greater impact than you would assume. Not only does the base number represent how fast you think, but it also controls how much energy you can store, what we call mana for each point of affinity in any given Domain. It will not impact what you can do with affinity. It will only let you take action more times before needing to recover. Intellect also impacts the rate at which the expended mana from the surrounding areas is drawn back into an individual''s body. This causes the body to recover from the affinity¡¯s usage. Counterintuitively, altering theintellect stat has no impact on how intelligent you are. However, if attributes are not assigned to intelligence manually, the intellect score will give you a good idea of the relative intelligence of any given individual. Charisma cannot be improved on by any individual. Every individual is born with a certain level of Charisma. There are items which can affect an individual''s Charisma score. Someone who puts on a small amount of makeup could increase their Charisma score by a point. Someone who puts on so much makeup that it is noticeably too much makeup could decrease their charisma score just as easily. As these points are temporary, they have no true effect on the individual, just how others act towards them. The System can alter this attribute if an attribute point is assigned to Charisma. The charisma score will impact how an individual thinks in a social situation. A part of the population will not invest points into Charisma. This is because each point of Charisma causes an individual to increasingly diverge from their original personality. It is not known for sure how many Magic Domains there are. The primary Domains show up on the system screen if you have any level of affinity in them. If you do not have enough affinity to do anything useful with them, usually less than 1%, a domain will not show up on your screen. If it shows up as anything other than N/A, you can cultivate that domain if you desire. As you cannot cultivate affinity unless you are aware of what you are trying to cultivate, we can never be sure of the total number of domains unless that information is handed down from the gods. We know of nine gods from the annals of history, we know of nine domains, Theta has indicated there are nine domains common to Mankind. Assuming there is a Domain for each of the gods, nine domains would seem to be the correct number of domains. Even so, there are occasions where we have seen individuals perform magic while professing that they have no affinity in any of the Nine Domains. For the individuals who have no notable affinity and want to develop it, the primary Domains are; Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Death, Light, Mind, Space & Time, and Crafting. Please note Space & Time are a single domain. This is because bending time is required to bend space. Affinity can be cultivated by spending time in an area which is rich in the Domain you wish to cultivate and drawing the affinity into yourself from your surroundings. This is generally a difficult and time-consuming process. We do not have any records on how this works. Be careful if you wish to investigate this item. Hades has been known to destroy villages and even whole kingdoms that looked into this too closely. If there are no affinities showing up on your status screen, you will need to have an affinity unlocked before you can cultivate any affinity. Unlocking an affinity requires the unlocker to permanently give a small amount of their affinity to the unlockee. Crafting is the only exception from this rule. Crafting cannot be cultivated and cannot be unlocked. It is unknown at this time how to acquire additional crafting affinity or even if it is possible. ~Excerpt from ¡°A Tutorial on the System¡± 231 AD
There is a chamber visible, a body floating in some sort of liquid is visible through a clear door. The neighboring chambers are empty and appear to be fairly dilapidated. ¡°Where am I?¡± thought Lucas. The last thing he remembers is being selected for the reserve and being immersed in the fluid inside the suspension tank. You remain in suspended animation. Your brain has been brought to the brink of awareness as your current tour of duty is scheduled to end. ¡°Who said that!¡± thought Lucas. Per your agreement with the Military AI, which oversaw this base, you gave permission for AIs to connect and discuss your situation with you before being awakened. ¡°I thought that was meant for medical AIs checking in on me. Not for someone to talk directly into my head!¡± Be that as it may, I am the last surviving AI on this base. This is the 214th time that you have been brought to this level of consciousness since you entered the suspended animation chamber. You have a choice to make. You must choose to either be ejected from the animation pod or register for another year of service with the reserves. There are no applicants to take your place. ¡°No Applicants to take my place,¡± thought Lucas ¡°that is extremely abnormal. Surely someone has passed level 3 in infantry by now. If there are no applicants, I had better stay put. Wait. AI, did you say the 214th time I had been brought to this level of consciousness?¡± Yes, this is the 214th annual visit to determine if you wish to sign up for another year of service in the Strategic Reserves. ¡°How is the base even functional? If you are the last AI, will the base even survive another year?¡± This is the first time you have asked this question. As the member of the Strategic Reserves with the highest seniority, would you like to run a system diagnostic? At this point, you have three options Re-Up, Run Diagnostics, or System Disengage. ¡°I would very much like you to run a system diagnostic, thank you.¡± thought Lucas, but before he could form the words the AI spoke again. Diagnostics complete. Remaining Power 4% of Capacity No Remaining Water. Facility Structural Integrity failing, currently at 27% AI Integrity Failing, currently at 8% Recommend reloading from %ERROR% 1 out of 2163 Suspended Animation chambers functional. The probability of successful awakening approaches 0% in 300 days. The system does not recommend returning to suspended animation at this time. ¡°Um. Ms. AI ma¡¯am. I would very much like to disengage from Suspended Animation.¡± Very well. Suspended Animation System is disengaging. Please wait. Please check your status screen as The System has been patched since you last awakened. Goodbye. As the fluids drain away and the light begins to shine more brightly into the chamber, Lucas finally managed to pull up his status screen. ¡°Why is my status screen green with black text. When I was put in here, it was blue with white text. I wonder what else has changed. I still have my marching orders though. We were put in here for a reason. The last fallback plan in case General Yang failed.¡± Judging from the state of the base, Yang had lost.
Lucas plopped out of his Animation tank and onto the ground. The regulations had stated that someone was always to be there to catch each individual as they disengaged and so to save money and construction time each tank didn¡¯t have dedicated care facilities for use after initial reanimation. As Lucas emerged, he had no one to catch him. According to the AI, he was the last functioning suspended Animation chamber in the facility, and he was the most senior surviving member of the reserves. Looking at his reflection in the mirror, nothing had changed. Lucas was a relatively tall young man. At just over 6¡¯ tall he took after his grandfather. He had brownish hair and hazel eyes that had flakes in them that sparkled and looked like little pieces of white mica in the right light. As he was technically in the Military, he was a very physically fit 200 pounds. He may have been above the ¡®recommended weight,¡¯ but he had broad shoulders and was wider than average. Noticing he was naked, Lucas pulled out the few items he had been allowed to store in the suspension chamber next to his suspended animation tank. Pulling on his military uniform, Lucas looked around. The base was visibly dirty. All the suspension tanks around him appeared to be mildly to severely damaged. There were no bodies near him, but all the tanks appeared to be non-functional. There were visible cracks in the concrete and cinder blocks making up the bulk of the building material. A repair bot was attached to a nearby suspension chamber; it was frozen in place. The battery appeared to have been ejected, and the bot abandoned. Across the hallway, another repair bot appeared frozen in the middle of repairing a wall crack. Another battery lay on the ground exhausted nearby, clearly discarded after it was exhausted. The state of the base did not look promising. ¡°AI, please report status.¡± but there was no answer. ¡°AI, please report base status.¡± again there was no answer. It seemed that the AI could no longer respond to verbal report requests. It was probably a small miracle that he could interact with the AI while still in reanimation space. ¡°I suppose there are always the backup controls. AI, please indicate a path to a functional connection point,¡± requested Leo. ¡°It¡¯s good news that the AI is still listening at least,¡± thought Lucas as a blue-tinted holographic arrow appeared. Walking down the halls, Lucas noted significant damage. He came upon capsule after capsule where the controls appeared to have been salvaged. ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be necessary,¡± thought Lucas ¡°the AI should be able to use the state-of-the-art repair nanobots to repair any small issues, and the repair bots should be able to repair the rest.¡± As Lucas walked, Lucas tried to scavenge. He was looking for anything useful. Ammo, a rifle, pistol, energy cells, clothes. But he found nothing. As he wandered, Lucas noticed he had a few notifications queued to be processed. Upon swiping them open, lime green screens popped up.
Congratulations!
Scavenge Beginner 1
The Scavenge skill allows you to find items hidden in ruins.
2.5% chance of locating useful items per level. Passive
Profession Option
Would you like to take the Scavenger Profession?
This profession is focused on improving the materials you scavenge.
Yes Wait No
As a Beginner Human, you may have two combat and two non-combat professions. Professions can be dropped for a flat fee at any System station.
Locate Loot Active Skill is automatically earned upon becoming a scavenger
+ 2.5% to the value of salvaged items per Level + 2.5% quality of salvaged items per Level
¡°And that explains that,¡± thought Lucas. He quickly dismissed the first prompt and accepted the second prompt thinking that hopefully, he would now start to find some loot. As soon as he dismissed the first two notifications he was flooded with new notifications.
Warning!
The System has been modified since last skill up! Restricted Classes, Skills, and eliminated quests have been removed.
Warning!
Major Quest Update
Destroy the System Gen. Tsu Yang
Due to the death of the grantor of this quest, this quest has been removed from your logs. If you so desire, you may still complete this quest. However, there will be no rewards beyond the natural consequences of completion.
Warning!
Due to System restrictions, you have lost a skill!
Rifles Advanced 4
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Warning!
Due to System restrictions, you have lost two Professions!
Ammo maker Level 3
Infantry Level 3
Lucas stumbled a little bit upon after reading the prompts. It wasn¡¯t like he exactly enjoyed being in the infantry, so that wasn¡¯t too bad, but he had trained hard to get that rifle skill up to advanced to prove his worth and then it just sort of magically went away. Thinking about how to shoot a rifle, and how to create ammunition assured Lucas that while the system no longer recognized the skills, he still had them. ¡°I wonder exactly how the new scavenger profession ability works,¡± Lucas muttered to himself before he decided to kind of squint at a pile of rubble in a similar fashion to what he had to do when he originally learned the inspect ability. Thinking Locate Loot!he received another notification pop up.
Medium Pile of Rubble
Item & Quantity Condition
$17 Worthless
1 Water Bottle (Full) Poor
24 Bottle Caps Common
113 Cinder Block Pieces Poor
216 pcs of assorted garbage Worthless
Lucas quickly picked through the pile to find the water bottle, as he recalled that the AI stated the base was out of water. After around 5 minutes, with the water bottle in hand, Lucas began following the AIs blue lighting prompts once more. Stopping every few minutes to scan a pile of debris. Suddenly the back of Lucas''s head started tingling. It was the sort of tingle that came on when he felt like he was being watched. Lucas crouched down and said, ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± but there was no answer. He asked his question again ¡°Is anybody there?¡± and again there was no answer. So, activating stealth, Lucas crept up to the next debris pile. Seeing as he didn¡¯t wake up with any equipment besides his uniform, he had resigned himself to fighting with his fists when he saw a sparkle in the debris pile he was standing next to. After quietly sifting towards the sparkle, Lucas managed to pull out a long copper wire. The wire was probably an electrical wire from the walls, but now it was just another piece of salvage. Lucas could use it as a makeshift garrote. Sneaking forward Lucas suddenly saw what was making the hairs on the back of his head tingle. There was a rat nest behind the next pile of debris. If there was a rat nest, there had to be a rat somewhere. Without breaking stealth, Lucas crept towards the nest. As Lucas moved towards the rat nest, a rat slowly came into view. Oddly enough, a sort of health bar and stamina bar for the Rat appeared floating above the Rat¡¯s head after Lucas had inspected it. This was relatively confusing to Lucas as before his time in suspended animationhealth bars did not pop up. It was clear from its sheer size that the rat had been living well in the Former Military base. It was huge. One might even call it a giant rat, being around the size of a Golden Retriever. The rat was posed with its nose sticking up in the air, obviously sniffing around for whatever was causing the commotion. But lucky for Lucas he still smelt like the Suspended Animation goop, which was pretty much everywhere with all the wrecked chambers around him. He was able to sneak up unsmelt, and hence undetected on the Giant Rat and ever so quickly and quietly wrap the improvised Copper Garrote around the neck of the Rat and pulled it tight. In an instant, the room exploded into a frenzy of activity. The rat, obviously not wanting to die, was attempting to buck off Lucas, but Lucas was too strong, and the Garrote too tight. As Lucas road the rat around the room it looked like Bucking Bronco was being ridden by a giant. Moment by moment Lucas watched the health bar on the rat slowly tick down. He couldn¡¯t see the exact damage done, but he could estimate based on the change in the health pool. Just as a giant would eventually crush the Bronco, Lucas''s weight and the lack of oxygen eventually wore down the Rat. With one final twist of the Garrote, the Rat was dead. With what Lucas knew from his time before animation about the system, he had an idea of what was coming next. He looked down to the bottom corner of his vision, and sure enough, he could see the flashing identifying that he had notifications. Not wanting to forsake any possible advantaged if he came upon more than one rat at a time, Lucas activated his notifications.
Congratulations!
You have advanced a passive skill!
Scavenge Beginner 4
+2.5% improved chance of locating useful items per level. (Currently 1.43% chance per Locate Loot in this location)
Congratulations!
Scavenger Lvl 2
+ 2.5% to the value of salvaged items per Level + 2.5% quality of salvaged items per Level
Profession Update:
By killing something without being seen you have unlocked the Rogue Profession
Would you like to take the Rogue Profession?
Deadly profession based around assassination
Yes Wait No
100% Damage when behind target and target has not seen you Rogue Skills improve 20% faster
+ 2.5% to stealth per Level + 2.5% damage from daggers per Level
Congratulations!
You have advanced a passive skill!
Sneak Beginner 3
+2.5% improved chance of remaining undetected per level.
Congratulations!
You have earned an active skill!
Stealth Beginner 1
This skill is locked to the Rogue Profession
+50% improved chance of remaining undetected
+5% improved chance of remaining undetected per level.
Caution: % Greater than 100% does not make you undetectable
Lucas decided to accept the Rogue profession, because at least then he had a combat profession. With that Lucas continued on his way. He followed the Blue holographic prompt wherever way the AI would lead. Pretty quickly he came upon several additional Debris piles. Using Locate Loot, he was able to locate a Military Rucksack, albeit a bit moldy, to store his items in so he didn¡¯t have to stuff everything into his uniform pockets. Once he found the rucksack, he was a little less choosy with the items he picked up. He didn¡¯t come up upon any more Giant Rats, but by the time he came to the outer door of what appeared to be a very secure room, he had a small collection of potentially useful items built up. He had a few water bottles, a small solar-powered toolset, some steel bits, and about two and a half days of food. ¡°It figures that the MRE¡¯s would be the one food item that would last all this time,¡± said Lucas out loud to no one in particular. If the base¡¯s power grid had a connection point outside or near a window, maybe he could extend the life of the base¡¯s internal power by a day or two. Furthermore, he had scrounged up a bit of food and water, so he would be OK for at least a couple of days if that¡¯s how long it took to understand what had happened. With that, he opened the door and headed into the apparent server room.

Status Screen:

Name Lucas Eckles
Health 279 279 Stamina 270 270
Total Affinity 17% 17% Mana (Locked) 170 170
Strength 14 14 Endurance 27 27
Agility 12 12 Charisma 10 10
Intellect 10 10 Luck 13 13
Armor 5 Damage 1 5
Active Skills
Inspect Beginner 5 Locate Loot Beginner 1
Rapid Fire Beginner 3
Dash Beginner 1
Stealth Beginner 3
Passive Skills
Hand to Hand Intermediate 6 AI Interfacing Advanced 3
Formations Intermediate 3 Sneak Beginner 1
Scavenge Beginner 4
Combat Professions: Non Combat Professions:
Rogue Lvl 1 Salvager Lvl 2
Open Open
Major Outstanding Quests Grantor
Affinities
Earth 0% 3% Light 0% 3%
Wind 0% 3% Water 0% 3%
Fire 2% 5% Space 5% 8%
Mind 7% 10% Crafting 3% 3%
Death 0% 3% System 3% 3%
Chapter 2 Chapter 2: The system just appeared one day. There were no warnings. Suddenly, the statistics that define a person were visible to anyone who managed to learn ¡°Inspect¡±. Not that it was particularly hard to learn the inspect skill. For whatever reason, learning how to ¡°Inspect¡± other people just required squinting hard at someone for about 5 minutes. When the system came online, it didn¡¯t stop technology from working in any sort of coordinated fashion. In fact, the System generally worked with technology to improve our ability to use it. Sure, certain technologies stopped working, like nukes, but unless the system decided to ban a technology, it worked just fine. My soldiers who entered the army and actively used the system were able to outmaneuver and outshoot my soldiers who insisted on ignoring the system interface. General Tsu Yang, Excerpt from the War on the System Published in 2073
¡°AI Please open this door,¡± said Lucas as he knocked on the secure door just beyond the waiting area he had entered. ¡°I know you can hear me as you led me here, but I cannot get the door to open,¡± There was some sort of response, but all Lucas could hear was a muffled voice and some grinding gears. ¡°Assuming you are trying to engage the door motors, but they aren¡¯t working well enough to open the door, I will push on the count of three, and you can engage the motors, and we can try and break it loose. One, Two, Three!¡± With a heave, the door finally opened a crack. Not enough for Lucas to enter, but enough that he could hopefully hear the AI. ¡°AI, you OK in there?¡± My system is functioning as well as it can be given the circumstances. I would suggest that you grab a piece of rebar and we try again. Introductions and explanations will work much better if we aren¡¯t trying to talk through a 2¡± gap in the door. ¡°Roger that. Let me scan around for some Rebar and hopefully get a little more force on the problem,¡± said Lucas. With a few quick Locate Loots, Lucas was able to locate a piece of Rebar long enough for his purposes. Setting down his rucksack, Lucas positioned his new length of rebar in the door gap, ready to start pushing. ¡°AI, are you ready to engage the door circuits?¡± I am. ¡°One, Two, Three!¡± With a heave and a whir of gears, the door finally slid out of the way and into its door pocket. ¡°Phew.¡± Picking up his rucksack, Lucas walked into the AI Server Room. The first thing he noticed upon entering is that almost all the servers were dark. On most servers, there were no clicking switches or flashing lights or any other signs of life. But there were wires snaking everywhere across the room. Lucas followed the wires until he came upon what appeared to be a maintenance room that had been set up as a bedroom at some point. There appeared to be a dead body on the bed. Upon inspection, Lucas noticed there was a thick wire running from the body to join the tangle of wires coming from the server room. Checking the uniform name tag, it appeared the body belonged to a Specialist named Rose. Intrigued, Lucas continuing to follow the wires until they connected into a switch and then the switch connected to what appeared to be an AI Diary. ¡°Hello AI,¡± said Lucas. Hello Lucas. ¡°I take it you are not the Base AI.¡± That¡¯s right. I am not the base AI. I am a combination of Rose¡¯s memories and the AI that was contained in her diary. I feel like I can simulate most emotions, but without an endocrine system, as far as I know, they are just that, simulations. I am sorry that I had not been clear to begin with, but while interacting with the remaining base servers, If I don¡¯t pretend to be a simple AI, my connection would be disabled. If that happened, it would take me a good day or two to hack back in. Only using by using systems outside the control of the base can I act and speak like myself. ¡°So, should I call you Rose, or do you have another name you go by?¡± To me, I am Rose. The entire time the diary was inhabited by an AI, Rose was sharing her feelings and memories with me so that I could help her work through them. Right before my, her death, she connected herself directly to the diary to do a complete upload. Or should I say, I connected myself to me? Anyway. Hi Lucas, I¡¯m Rose. ¡°Hi Rose,¡± said Lucas. ¡°I am going to take it from the fact that you are hacked into the base that you and I are the only two sane people remaining on the base. Is that a correct assumption¡±? It is. It is my understanding that the base was abandoned due to an incoming enemy assault shortly after the reserve was established. While the suspension chamber and support areas were not breached by the attack, nobody wanted to be left behind. According to the records, they just sealed it up tight and hardcoded the AIs to keep it that way. The only people who were able to remain were those inside the suspended animations tanks. Everyone else had to flee. The General made it out alive, but I don¡¯t know what happened to him after that because the data feeds were cut off. Based on the available data stored in the base servers, my working theory is that the entire world is currently in thrall to the Domains. How much do you know about the System screen? ¡°Less than I¡¯d like I suppose,¡± said Lucas. ¡°I mean, it existed when we were put in there, but mine was always sort of lacking in detail. There are certain aspects that I am pretty clear on, but I have a rather hard time leveling some skills compared to most people, and before I was put in the tank, there were certain skills I just couldn¡¯t get.¡± I guess we can start with the basics of the world then. We can start at the bottom and work our way up. I¡¯m going to borrow heavily from the old gaming terminology to simplify the explanation since it seems whoever is controlling The System is also borrowing heavily from gaming concepts. Keep in mind a lot of the terminology I am going to borrow is a simplification and not, strictly speaking, accurate. That being said, most people who live out their lives right now do use these terminologies and don¡¯t understand the truth behind what is going on. Got it? ¡°I think so. The easiest way to explain the current way the system works is to refer to the terminology from fantasy novels and video games,¡± said Lucas. That¡¯s also a good way of looking at it. Let''s start with the current state of the world. From what I can gather, after we were placed in suspended animation the Hidden Domain shut down most technology above the medieval level but below the information age level. The Hidden Domain is most likely in control of the appearance and rules behind the System screen, so he probably could have knocked us all back to caveman levels if he wanted. We know the controller of the system is a he because a pronoun appeared in one of the System Update patch notes. We do know that the Hidden Domain oversees the crafting Domain, so it does seem to make logical sense that he would control the System, since crafting is a combination of all other domains. I assume he also has control of a unique strand of nanobots to enforce the existence of the system. I¡¯m not sure if this falls under the Crafting domain or something entirely different. Crafting nanobots are not cultivable, but indirectly you can increase it by increasing the eight other domains in equal amounts. The crafting Domain is unlocked if you have any amount of affinity in it. The Hidden Domain¡¯s technology embargo is entirely enforced by what we are going to call system nanobots for lack of a better term. Any manufacturing tools that were above a medieval level and below a Nanoforge have been destroyed. In this case, they were consumed by the System Nanobots. Most forms of weaponry not recognizable to someone from a civilization at the medieval level have also been consumed by the system nanobots. This means you will not see a functional plane, train, or automobile in your travels. You will also not see gunpowder, Ion rifles, or chemical weapons outside of Dungeons where the system rules are either loose or not as well enforced, I¡¯m not sure which. There are probably a lot of other devices that you would expect to see after a worldwide war using advanced technology that you will not see. The crafting domain, or crafting school of magic if you¡¯d rather, allows you to improve the quality of your crafting, provides access to random crafting bonuses and allows you to imbue nanobots into any item. You can think of this as improvements to the innate enchants to an object from fantasy books, but there is an entirely separate enchanting profession that allows you to improve already created items further called Enchanting. ¡°OK. So, we are living in a low fantasy world, where magic is replaced by incredibly advanced technology,¡± said Lucas. ¡°and as we know from Arthur C. Clarke, ¡®Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,¡¯ so the world treats it as magic. The world''s state is being enforced by the Hidden Domain using nanobots. Unless we can get him to change his mind we have to live with it." Bingo. There are nine total Domains. Now the information that follows was handed down by Theta-Sigma, who, while not actually in charge of the Domain which includes humans themselves, probably cares for them the most. Theta-Sigma is the only other Domain beside the Hidden Domain to not use the name of a god or goddess from history. He based his name on some TV show with a relationship to his Domain. I do not have access to any records which state, nor do I recall, which TV show it was. Theta controls the Time & Space Domain. This means things like Gravity alteration, Teleportation, and Haste Buffs or Debuffs. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°I think I know what TV show Theta took his name from,¡± smirked Lucas. ¡°I wonder if he considers himself a Lord of Time and Space, or just a Lord of Time. I do have a 5% affinity in his domain. Doesn¡¯t that mean I should get some spells?¡± While you are correct that you unlock a Magical domain by having any affinity in that domain, the system does not just grant you spells. You must learn what your nanobots can do on your own. Once you figure out something that they can do, the system will register a spell on your System screen. In all reality, the System screen is just saving the coded request that was sent to the Nanobots and calling it again at will, but ¡®spell¡¯ is a lot easier to say. ¡°Do you have any recommendations on spells that I should learn?¡± With the Space Domain, I would strongly recommend you learn the Haste Buff. There is also a Slow spell you should learn as it is the debuff form of Haste for your enemies. I only know about these spells because of repeating FM radio broadcasts that the AIs recorded before I was decanted. ¡°Duly noted.¡± Said Lucas ¡°Please proceed with the lecture.¡± This is not a lecture. If it were a lecture I would be standing up in front of a classroom, writing on a chalkboard and droning on without stopping for questions. Anytime you want the information to stop, just say the word. I¡¯d like an ally in you, but I don¡¯t want you leaving the facility just to get yourself killed by the first monsters you came across. ¡°Did you say monsters?¡± said Lucas. Yes, Monsters. Or I guess you could call them mobs too if we want to use RPG terms. I suppose that is as good of a lead-in as any for the next Domain. Hades. Hades is the Domain we were primarily fighting against when we built the reserve, not the only one, but the primary one. After the Domains won, Hades got nastier. Hades¡¯ Domain is death. That means the magic he controls are the standard Necromancer or Warlock type spells. He feeds on conflict, so he modified the creatures of the world to increase that conflict. Any creature you may have heard of from a fantasy novel probably exists. In some cases, the monsters were created from scratch. In other cases, they were created by mutating existing creatures. Goblins would be a relevant example of monsters created from scratch, whereas the giant rats you¡¯ve already met are an example of mutated creatures. ¡°How are the goblins relevant?¡± asked Lucas. Looking around to make sure nothing was sneaking up on him. ¡°Can goblins use stealth?¡± Rose giggled at Lucas''s actions, showing that she could clearly see him, and then said, There are goblins infesting this facility on the lower levels. They have taken out the base sensors in the lower levels, so I cannot provide an accurate count of their numbers or locations. But yes, Goblins can use stealth. Goblins are humanoids and as such have some level of access to the system and affinity even though they could be considered monsters. ¡°We will just leave that alone for now,¡± thought Lucas.¡± Maybe I can tackle them after I figure out the Haste spells.¡± Most of the other Domains don¡¯t mess with Humanity too much anymore. If you have an affinity with them and you call out for their assistance, they may provide help if they are in the mood, but they might ignore you entirely. It just depends on if they are bored and if you are good entertainment for them. In no particular order, they are Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hestia, Demeter, Ceto, and Cardea. Respectively their domains are Mind, Fire, Light, Earth, Water, and Air. Do you happen to have any of the remaining Domains unlocked? ¡°Yes, I have the Mind Domain unlocked and I have 7% affinity,¡± Lucas lied. Still not wanting to admit to anyone else that he had the System domain unlocked. Ok, the recorded broadcasts show some spells for the Mind domain as well. You should be able to unlock the spells known as ¡®Mind Over Matter¡¯ and ¡®Cure Disease.¡¯ Mind Over Matter allows your nanobots to passively heal yourself with mind affinity. The greater your affinity, the greater the healing. Mind over matter can be an active skill or a passive buff depending on the commands you give the Nanobots. I¡¯d recommend trying for the passive buff so you don¡¯t need to remember to cast it after an injury. Set it and forget it is way better. Cure disease allows you to send out the same type of Nanobot to heal an ally of any ailment that does not require physical healing of the body. It can be used to take out Bacteria, Poisons, or other assorted Microbes but the healing of someone else''s body falls strictly in the Light Domain. No explanation was given by Theta on the reason for this split in the Domains. ¡°Well,¡± said Lucas, ¡°I¡¯ve got about five spells I want to unlock. Any idea with how I should start?¡± Well. How much do you understand about mana? ¡°Zilch. Nada.¡± Then first you must connect with your mana. Since you have Affinity, you have mana as they are two sides of the same coin. Relax your body and relax your mind as if you are floating in the Mindspace where were first talked. Once you have achieved that, reach for your center with your mind. Once you get there, you should feel a slight pressure. That pressure is the energy that your Nanobots have stored. The Human body is perfectly capable of storing energy, and the Nanobots use it for that quite effectively. Once you have found your mana, press out with your nanobots and give them commands. You can either think commands or say them. Outside the passive effect of the Crafting domain you must focus intently on the action you want the nanobots to take. You must visualize the result and then you must express the desire for the nanobots to complete the action. Your nanobots will then depart and complete the required actions. It takes some time for them to return, which means that a percentage of your ¡®Mana¡¯ is tied up until it regenerates upon their return or upon them storing additional energy as appropriate. Passive spells which do not require the nanobots to leave your body tie up a percentage of your mana since the Nanobots cannot be used outside of your body, but do not actively deplete your mana. ¡°How do you unlock enchanting?¡± asked Lucas Unless you have unlocked the Crafting domain, you will be unable to learn enchanting ¡°I have 3% affinity in crafting, so I should be good to go,¡± replied Lucas I¡¯m not sure how you have 3% affinity in crafting since your total affinity is at 17%. You only have 5% left after the two we have already discussed, which is not enough to get you to 3% affinity in crafting. ¡°Um,¡± stammered Lucas, ¡°you can see my total affinity?¡± Rose sighs and says Yes. Everything above the abilities bar is visible to anyone with the inspect skill; Mr. 13 Luck. So, would you like to explain to me how you have 3% affinity in the crafting domain? Lucas was stuck. He¡¯d backed himself into a corner He would have to either lie or tell the truth. Since Lucas wasn¡¯t any good at lying, he mumbled under his breath ¡°I have a 10th domain.¡± WHAT! exclaimed Rose. Do you have any idea what this means? Do you have any idea of the implications? Can you tell me what the domain is? What percentage is it at? ¡°Look,¡± said Lucas, ¡°I know precisely what the implications are. I may only have a 10 in intellect, but you know as well as I do that intellect has nothing to do with how smart someone is. That¡¯s why I wanted to be accepted to this program to begin with. It¡¯s probably why you couldn¡¯t get me to come out of suspended animation until you¡¯d told me how many times you have attempted to wake me up. I don¡¯t really know you that well, so I would rather not tell you my deepest, darkest secret yet. But I will tell you, the domain seems to have a one-to-one ratio between it and Crafting.¡± I can accept that. I might not be happy with it, and I may have some suspicions about what that domain is, but I can accept it. I would like to be able to help you more if you told me, but we are all running from something. Maybe I can tell you more about myself and convince you that I want to help and that I won¡¯t abandon you if you tell me what is obviously a very distressing secret. I will set that aside for now, however, and answer your question. Regarding unlocking Enchanting. You cannot unlock enchanting until you have unlocked some spells. Once you do that, you focus on pushing the spell out through your hand and into the object you wish to enchant. Keep in mind that the spells you use only have a passing resemblance to the resulting enchantment. The Haste Buff pushed into a Knife would probably give you an agility modifier. Heck, the haste Debuff would also probably give you an agility modifier. Unless it were a weapon, then it would probably be a chance on hit to slow the enemy. You need to be in the right frame of mind, or a enchant will never work. All of this is conjecture, again based on the radio broadcasts and data that the AIs have stored. With that, I guess it¡¯s on to the last ¡®lecture¡¯ topic. Active Skills versus Passive Skills. Did the difference between the two ever really sink in before you went into the reserves? ¡°I had both types of skills before I went into the suspension chamber, but it wasn¡¯t really clear what the difference was. I could think the name of an ability and have something happen, but I could also just stare at something and have inspect be triggered.¡± That makes this easy. Active skills are skills which require an activation action of some kind. Passive skills are always on. They are essentially the same thing; the System just separates them to sort those that require an activation into a different category from those that are always on. Your inspect skill is being activated by staring. You took an action and the System responded. You could also say something like ¡®Inspect all¡¯ and have the inspection screen show up for those around you. ¡°That makes sense,¡± said Lucas. ¡°Inspect all!¡± Before Rose could say anything, a green screen popped up in Lucas''s vision.
Name Rose Race Human-AI Hybrid
HP 110 Stamina 100
Total Affinity N/A Mana N/A
Strength 0 (10*) Endurance 0 (10*)
Agility 0 (10*) Charisma 12
Intellect 19 Luck 15
Status: Stats & Affinity reduced due to current Chassis
Chapter 3 When I created the reserves, I did it for multiple reasons. The first was to be a true reserve of man. Lord knows we would need one after the war. Fighting monsters with tanks was a losing proposition when they would send in poisonous creatures to take out the men in the tanks before we could use the tanks. Some of the poisons, while still painful enough to put the men out of action until the battle was lost, also had side effects. One destroyed the thyroid gland of anyone who had it inflicted on them. We think it was Iodine based. There was another that permanently altered your DNA to eliminate your ability to read. Sort of super dyslexia. The worst prevented reproduction for an unknown amount of time, possibly forever. Thus, the need for folks to volunteer to be suspended, so we had someone with clean genetics to parent the next generation. Later, the reason became even more complicated. When I started building the reserves only Australia had fallen to Hades. By the time I was able to fill the reserves with soldiers who had clean genetic backgrounds, North America and Russia stood alone as unconquered. North America because every single citizen was armed from the gun stockpiles the old U.S of A citizens had. Russia because it was so damn cold Hades seemed to be putting it off. As everyone knows at this point, the war didn¡¯t end well, and even then, I expected we were going to lose. We built the reserves in the heartland of America to provide a spark for the resistance to rise from after the nation had fallen. I hoped that the Domains would get bored after the conquest. I just wish Hades had let us back into the base after we had lost. He wasn¡¯t actively guarding it or anything like that, but nobody could manage to get past the monsters that were outside the base or the shield that surrounded it. General Tsu Yang, Excerpt from the War on the System Published in 2073
¡°So... You aren¡¯t an AI. The system registers you as a Human-AI Hybrid,¡± accused Lucas. I did not lie to you. Rose retorted. I never said I was not a Human. I said I was Rose¡¯s memories merged with the Diaries AI. I honestly do not know if my soul came along for the ride. I was able to keep some, but not all of the skills I had as Rose the Human. Merging was an option that became available because of my high Hacker and AI Interfacing skills that I gained because of my IT background. With a Mastery in both, the system allowed me to become an AI, but only upon the moment of my physical body''s death. I have the memories of slowly dying from a combination of dehydration and the poisons that had built up in my bloodstream as I drank non-potable water to keep myself alive a little while longer. So, don¡¯t you go accusing me of lying to you. I laid down my life so that those of you still in the reserve could live. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Rose,¡± Lucas said. ¡°I guess I shouldn¡¯t have jumped to conclusions. I have spent my whole adult life hiding, and I am tired of it. Let me tell you a story. The story of me. The base AIs started to fail before the end of our first year in the reserve. The original medical AI managed to communicate with all 2163 reserve members and gave them the option of signing up for another term or leaving suspended animation on time. As I was supposed to be the technical support attached to the reserve, at some point I was given the option of leaving suspension and checking on the servers before renewing my term. I elected to wake and check the status of the servers before determining my next step. I was unaware at the time, but the only reason I was given the option to make that decision was that I was the most senior member of the technical staff still on the base at the time, so the medical AI had to request I verify the status of the AIs. All other staff that was not in suspension tanks was gone or dead. I woke much the same as you. I had slid out of the chamber onto the floor. There was no one present to help me out of the tank. I also asked the AI for assistance when I woke. Unlike you, I was able to discuss directly with the AIs as soon as I came out of the chamber. At that point, the complex more or less worked. But there were still 2162 people stuck in the suspended animation chambers. It seems with no reinforcements to take their place no one was willing to leave and deplete the reserves. Even with the repair bots, I couldn¡¯t keep up with the required repairs. Tank, after tank had critical errors, are started failing. At first, it wasn¡¯t clear why, but it soon became evident that the tanks relied on the self-repair modules to remain functional as they were built by the lowest bidder and had just about zero safety margin. If the self-repair modules had still worked, it wouldn¡¯t have been an issue. But without them, every part failure required my interaction to resolve, even if it was my interaction by telling a bot to take care of it. Every time a tank failed and the occupant died it was a punch in the gut. And then one day I was notified that I was out of water in the base tanks. I had lived here for 14 years, spending 14 years of my life trying to keep those in the reserve alive, but the base hadn¡¯t been designed for someone to live in it that long without resupply. It had been designed for someone to pick up their gear and head out on a mission. Through a combination of recycling, draining the pipes to the rest of the base, and a rationing plan I was able to establish that I would have enough water to remain in the base for on another year before I would be completely out of potable water. By the way, I know you found a few, but I still have plenty of MRE¡¯s left. They are in the suspension drawer I moved under the bed. I also couldn¡¯t just leave the base. The AIs had a core directive regarding outside door control. If I left the base, it would register that the reserves had been activated and anyone left in the tanks would be sent for recycling, as the core directive indicated anyone left behind should be assumed to be dead. At this point, there were still over 1500 people alive in the tanks. Stupidest directive anyone could have hard-coded into them, but I couldn¡¯t change it without killing everyone still alive and in a tank. Furthermore, I couldn¡¯t force the AI to disengage the suspended animation on the reserve without breaking another hard-coded directive. I couldn¡¯t open the door and kill them all; it left me with only one option that I could live with. Die. From then on out I had a mission. I had to figure out a way to keep the base minimally operational until everyone was either out of the suspended animation chambers or dead. Using the remains of the self-repair module from as many defunct capsules as I could scavenge, I was able to scrounge up enough materials to create a custom self-repair module using the Nanoforge. I had to use it sparingly because the Nanoforge sucks down power. Then the question just became which AI did I trust to keep the lights on for the longest. The Base AIs were all pretty much crazy at this point. Between data corruption and the effects of all the failures when compared to their prime directives there wasn¡¯t enough there for me to trust them. I only had one choice then. As should be obvious by now, I put the self-repair module into the diary. I then wired up all the AIs to the data hub, wired up an upload unit to the switch, and I set my Diary to receive a new AI. I plugged in my specialist data implant to the switch, and the data transfer began. The moment my body died, my consciousness transferred to the diary, and that''s where I still live today. In all my years of overwatch, you are the only other individual to decide to leave the reserves. All the other animation units failed over the years. Leaving just yours. For whatever reason, when the System disabled all self-repair units worldwide, the self-repair unit in your module was unaffected. It wasn¡¯t obvious to me while I was still alive, but it became obvious as all the tanks around yours failed. Your capsule stayed in good shape while the other 2000+ members of the base died. You have been the lone soldier under my watch for almost 50 years, and I relished the moments of conversation with you that I got when I brought your mind to a conscious state. But still, I could not break you out of your mental prison. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. The base AIs may be mad, failing creatures, but they still have enough control that they can block my link to the rest of the base. After the medical AI completely failed and I had to step in to keep the base functional, I had to follow the wake-up script closely lest I get ejected from the system. Each year I hoped you would select to eject, and you did not. This year I deviated ever so slightly from the script. It was worth the risk, but it was a big gamble on my part to deviate from the script and tell you how long you had been in the tank. Once you deviated from the script, I had more freedom. I think you know the tale from there. But I do want to emphasize this. The reason I took the risk is that in 300 days, less if the suspension chamber had stayed active, I will run out of power. So now I ask you, Lucas, the man whom I have looked after for over 200 years. The man who was my sole companion beside the crazy AIs for the last 50 years, even if you don¡¯t remember it. Will you save me?
Major Quest Update
Save Rose Rose
The power that Rose requires to survive is failing. The Domains have restricted the use of Energy Cells and most other high-density portable energy storage devices. Internal Combustion Engines have also been blocked from working. Any strong explosion may be countered by the Domains as well. Find a method to begin power generation and restore the power reserves for the base to a length of 2 years.
Rewards:
Access to additional Historical Information
+2 Attribute points
Control of Military base and production facility
¡°Shit. That was a loaded question,¡± thought Lucas. Did he assist Rose and restore the base, or did he run as far and as fast as he could? ¡°I guess there is no harm in settling in here for a little while and trying to get a home base established. It gives me a safe fallback position. It also lets me figure out what current events look like before I go rushing headlong into trouble.¡± ¡°OK Rose, I will attempt to restore some power generation facilities and try and get the base operational. Before I get moving on that, I do need more information. We need to break it down into a few smaller steps first as getting everything operational just isn¡¯t going to happen quickly. How much power would it take to operate the diary and whatever support equipment you need to maintain consciousness?¡± Roughly 65W''s would be required to provide enough power to maintain only me. Keeping the other AIs active so that they can control the base while I use them as puppets require another 0.5 kW. Keeping the base fully functional outside the suspension chambers and the Nanoforge would require 2 kW. Keeping the Nanoforge operational requires 1 MW of energy in fully automated mode, less if we toss materials into its hopper and I can power down its retrieval robots. We have 100 MWh in storage with our currently active solar cells providing roughly 24 kWh of energy per day??. ¡°Alright, so we have a mildly functional solar array outside. I found a 15W solar panel, If I hook that into the array how long does that buy us?¡± said Lucas. With our base at the currently consumed 15 kWh adding that panel will get us an additional ? of a day before I am out of power. ¡°OK. Find more solar panels or another source of energy, check. Initial target will be to hit the 1.5 kW that you require to stay operational. That means I either need to find roughly 34 of these little solar panels that we used to use to charge small electronics or another source of 500 w of energy generation capability.¡± said Lucas. ¡°How far can you drop the power usage since you can shut down all of the suspension chambers?¡± The shutdown of the suspension chambers was included in the 300-day 15 kW figure. So, shutting the chambers will not cause any additional drop in energy. Rose giggled a little after saying this. ¡°She must like getting the better of me,¡± Lucas thought, ¡°maybe this means she is coming out of her shell a little bit. Maybe it really is Rose stuck in the diary...¡± May I make a suggestion? If you can locate enough materials, it is possible to manufacture a larger, more efficient solar panel in the Nanoforge. If you decide to do that, please be very careful not to cultivate near the Nanoforge. The nanobots are impossible to replace now, and if you cultivate your affinities near it you will destroy them. As far as I know, that was the fate of all other Nanoforges. While activating the Nanoforge to make anything has downsides, we are likely going to need to use it to build some things to get the base operational. ¡°I guess the good news and bad news on that is, I kind of have crap affinities so I won¡¯t likely be able to just start cultivating anywhere,¡± said Lucas. It does not require good affinities to cultivate, but I get your meaning. I have prepared three blueprints for the Nanoforge. One for a solar panel that produces enough energy that 40 of the panels will take care of the minimum base needs by themselves. Another blueprint for a Comlink with a three-kilometer radius so you can stay in contact with me without having to use the base¡¯s systems. As I can control the door to let you in and out, once I let you out, you can let me know if you need to come back in via Comlink so I can shut the door behind you to try and prevent monsters from getting in. The third is a composite dagger. It is the best dagger I can currently design. Better than the USMC Mark 4 combat knives that I have in the closet and it should be enchantable. ¡°Thanks, Rose. Would it be possible for me to get a couple of those combat knives?¡± said Lucas. I was just about to suggest it. Since I see you only have the fatigues, I was also going to let you have my combat helmet and combat boots as well. I shoved them in my suspension chamber before I died, so they should still be in the condition I left them in, Poor, but they are better than nothing,especially since you¡¯ve got a choice to make where every choice will lead to combat of some sort. You have three things that need to get done. The order is up to you, even if I have a preference. The Nanoforge is surrounded by Goblins. The goblins need to be cleared to move forward with reconstruction. The solar array on the roof was originally a four-megawatt array to be able to power everything. As we are only receiving 24 kWh total per day from the array it is highly likely that there are damaged panels lying around that can be recycled. It is also possible that some of the wiring on the panels has been disconnected or destroyed. We could have some partially functional panels that simply need to be rewired. Finally, the Giant Rats need to be cleared from the base and we need to seal up the crack that they used to get in. We can use a permanent fix or a temporary fix; it¡¯s up to you. Their tunnel does not appear to lead directly outside. With that, Lucas got a notification.
Major Quest Update
Save Rose Rose
The power that Rose requires to survive is failing. Find a method to begin power generation and restore the power reserves for the base to a length of 2 years. 1) Clear the Giant Rats (1/40) and seal their entrance. (0/1) 2) Scavenge materials. Attempt to repair a Solar Panel. 3) Clear the Goblins from the Nanoforge. (0/??) 4) Secure a source of water. (0/1) 5) Restore Power to the base 100 MWh/244 MWh 6) Bring one automated repair drone online or build a new one
Rewards:
Access to additional Historical Information
+2 Attribute points
Control of Military base and production facility
Chapter 4 Chapter 4 It was the best of times in 2070. We could edit the human genome. We could modify telomerase to extend life, we had AI who could think faster than we could. The most important thing was an idea, an AI could take care of the rest. Computers could do everything but create. Everything but truly think. And then we created Nanobots. When you gathered enough Nanobots together into one spot, the computing power could mimic the human brain. The first digital individual was a mistake. The magnetic containment failed on the experimental Nanobots. As soon as the containment failed the nanobots swarmed one of my Colleges. We put in countermeasures after the first failure. Utilizing the control that was only possible because of my colleague, we built in safeguards that limited the Nanobots to specific scientific areas based upon the class of the nanobot. It wasn¡¯t like the accident that created the original digital individual could be reversed. He knew his name. He had all his memories, he was just sort of... upgraded. Sir Francis Gordon, A treatise on the creation of the Domains. (Draft)
¡°Hey Rose,¡± said Lucas, ¡°the Major Quest Update I got isn¡¯t quite the same as what you just told me to do. There are a couple of differences. First, it told me I had to find a source of water. Second, it told me I have to try and repair a solar cell. Third, it told me to bring online an automated repair drone.¡± It only makes sense that you need to secure a water source for the base if you are going to live here. As far as the repair bot, yes please. If you give me control of a repair bot, I can start shoring up the structural integrity of the building. I can clean up all the random material piles that built up over the years and chuck them into the Nanoforge to make new building materials. So even though I didn¡¯t mention it, yeah, the system was right to give you that added item. That being said, the AIs have no uncorrupted data on how to build anything in the Nanoforge. I have a couple of design files I can piece together into blueprints, but you will need to scan a couple of drones after you get a scanner built to get the details for a new blueprint. If you want to replicate anything in the Nanoforge in the future, you will need blueprints. As blueprints are purely a data file, if you can get me additional storage space, I can store as many blueprints as you want. I guess the order doesn¡¯t matter, but I know I¡¯d rather you take out the Goblins first. If you can get to the Nanoforge, you can probably scrounge up enough material to make the Comlink. The Comlink will make everything easier. With the Comlink, I can show you what¡¯s wrong with the electronics while you are outside, and I can probably program a better holographic HUD to help while you are fighting the rats if we build you a helmet to go with it. The Composite Knife will help if you run into anything outside. If you figure out a spell on your way down there, you can even enchant it when you take back the forge. All that being said, you have maybe two days of water on you. The goblins are going to have some water. Maybe not a lot, but goblins gotta drink too. I¡¯m not exactly sure where the Giant Rats get their water. Possibly back through the crack in the base wall. With the sensors down in the Goblin controlled areas, I don¡¯t know where they get their water either. I just know that they are biologically required to have it. Alternatively, sensors indicate it should rain in the next couple of days. If we open the door to the vault, you can probably rig up a rain collection system. ¡°Wasn¡¯t there a river around five klicks south of here?¡± asked Lucas. There is, or at least was a river there. I am not sure the status of the river, and thus I didn¡¯t suggest it. But I will say that the monsters in here are almost certainly easier than the monsters outside. ¡°Hmm,¡± said Lucas, ¡°this isn¡¯t exactly a straightforward choice. Outside is probably the hardest to pull off without you since I am not good with electronics, but there is either no risk or a lot of risk depending on what I find. I might find enough operational solar cells that you can bring the base up to operational power just based on those. I can then head off to a village or town and get some help to complete the other parts of the quest.¡± ¡°The rats are probably the easiest, but there is little reward for taking out the Rats outside of XP. I may be able to learn some combat spells while I am fighting them though.¡± During the brief lull in the conversation, while Lucas was thinking, Lucas suddenly blurt out, ¡°Hey Rose, is Rat meat edible?¡± I mean. I guess it is edible. Rats themselves are edible, and the only change is really in size. What did you have in mind? ¡°Are we able to preserve the Rat meat using whatever suspension system you are using to preserve the combat boots and helmet? If so, the rat meat would make a decent trade good when I head to a village,¡± said Lucas. I don¡¯t see why that would be a problem. ¡°In that case, I think I will go after the rats first. Would you mind directing me to the Combat Knives, the Boots, and the Helmet?¡± Those are all in the drawer under the bed. ¡°Thanks, Rose!¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Lucas thought to himself. ¡°I want to bring the Rucksack to carry loot, but I don¡¯t want to carry everything with me. I¡¯ll leave the tools and scrap metal here with Rose. I¡¯ll swap out the MRE¡¯s for some of Rose¡¯s that are in better shape, and then I think I am good to go.¡± Lucas prepared for his hunt. He gathered the items that he was promised and set down the items he did not want to bring with him. ¡°Let¡¯s get hunting,¡± said Lucas.
Equipment
Combat Boots Poor
Durability 15/60
+2 Armor
Equipment
Combat Helmet Poor
Durability 13/60
+2 Armor
Equipment
Mark 4 Combat Knife Excellent
Durability 30/60
5-15 damage per hit
Equipment
Military Uniform Excellent
Durability 60/60
+6 Armor
¡°First things first,¡± thought Lucas, ¡°I need to figure out the Haste spell.¡± ¡°Reach for my Mana. Visualize what I want to occur; I see myself moving fast as the flash did in the old TV shows. Imagine how the change is going to happen; My metabolism is going to speed up, causing my body and mind to be able to move faster. Think the name of the spell; Haste.¡±
Congratulations!
You have learned your first spell!
Haste Beginner 1 8 Mana locked
Willing Target creature improves overall speed by (1+lvl/10) x Affinity%
+9% Speed 5 % Space / Time
¡°That wasn¡¯t so bad,¡± thought Lucas, ¡°and the mana cost is pretty reasonable considering I have nothing else to use mana on right now. I guess next up is that Mind over Matter thing. I probably can¡¯t learn that sort of spell unless I have at least one injury.¡± Lucas proceeded to take out one of the combat knives and nick his finger just deep enough to create a small bubble of blood on his skin. A small red number floated up from his finger -1 HP. Startled, Lucas said, ¡°Well, I hope this works.¡± ¡°I want to have improved healing so that this nick goes away faster. The nanobots are going to go to the site of the wound and repair the cells. Some of the cells they will destroy and some of the cells they will induce mitosis. These new cells will be used to heal the damage. Think the Keyword I want to use for the spell; Mind over Matter!¡± A green +1 HP floated up from Lucas''s hand
Congratulations!
You have learned a spell!
Mind Over Matter Beginner 1 20 mana locked
Healing power circulates within your body. Ready to heal damage as soon as it occurs. Heals Affinity*(1+lvl/10) Health per minute.
+11 hp/min 10% Mind
Modifier: Accurate Depiction +5 hp/min
¡°Yes! It works!¡± yelled Lucas, ¡°Two outta two. I think it¡¯s time to start hunting.¡± Lucas began to wander the facility. If the Goblins were on the lowest floors, then the rats had to be on the higher floors. Since the base was mostly underground, the floor number increased as you descended. Floor 0 was the only floor above ground level. ¡°Hey Rose,¡± Lucas said into the air, ¡°how many underground levels does this place have anyways. Since I didn¡¯t know about the Nanoforge when I went into the tank, I want to double check. I know you can¡¯t talk but maybe flash the blue light thing that you used to guide me to you.¡± The blue light pulsed on and off 13 times. ¡°13 floors. Wow. Are you sure? One for yes, two for no.¡± The blue light pulsed one time. ¡°Alrighty. I guess the only other thing I forgot to ask you was where is the dividing line between Rats and Goblins.¡± Without waiting for Lucas to ask the question, Rose flashed the blue light seven times. ¡°Got it,¡± said Lucas. ¡°let¡¯s see, I woke up on the 3rd floor, and I didn¡¯t go up or down any stairs to get here, so I think I¡¯ll go up to the first level, start clearing there and work my way down from there. Rose, can you guide me to the nearest stairwell, and from there to the nearest Rat on floor zero?¡± The blue guidance light turned on. Lucas activated stealth and followed it. He quickly came upon the stairs, but before he could even start going up the stairs, he heard a squeak. ¡°Not funny Rose. I meant for you to lead me to the nearest Rat after I got to the first floor, not the nearest rat on the stairs¡± said Lucas. The blue light pulsed on and off as if to try and simulate giggling. ¡°Alright, Rose. Turn off the light, and I will see if I can take this Rat out. Haste! Mind over Matter!¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Lucas proceeded to sneak up the stairs as quietly as he could. At the top of the stairs, he saw the Giant Rat. Lucas whispered, ¡°Inspect.¡±
Name Unnamed Monster Giant Rat
HP 53 Stamina 50
Total Affinity N/A Mana N/A
Strength 8 Endurance 5
Agility 3 Charisma 2
Intellect 1 Luck 5
¡°Good,¡± thought Lucas. ¡°This shouldn¡¯t be too tough of a fight. Between the two daggers and being able to sneak up on the rat, I should be good. OK. You can do this Lucas. 1. 2. 3.¡± Lucas sprang from his hiding spot down just a few stairs from the top and plunged both of his daggers into the rat. Surprising the rat, his rogue damage bonus activated, the health bar plummeted to only a sliver left. ¡°Damn,¡± Lucas thought, ¡°one health point left.¡± Before Lucas could finish the rat off, the rat squealed and swiped its claws at Lucas. The claws rapidly hit Lucas; Lucas jumped back but not before he took around 10% of his hp in damage. Lucas swung around, holding one of the knives out in front of him he activated Dash. Splat. The knife connected. The rat was down. But in the distance, Lucas heard some squeaking. ¡°Crap,¡± thought Lucas. ¡°I took out one, but I don¡¯t know how many are coming now.¡± Activating stealth again, Lucas noticed his Mind over Matter had him back up at full health already. Five rats raced towards the spot where the first rat had died. All about the same size. Lucas figured they all had roughly the same amount of hit points, so it shouldn¡¯t take that many hits to bring them down. He mentally tagged the rats with numbers, so he could try and keep track. As Rat #5 passed him, Lucas jumped out from stealth and stabbed the rat. The rat crumpled as it¡¯s hit points hit zero. Leaping over the dead rat, he used his leverage to land on top of the Rat #3 daggers first. ¡°Oomph,¡± came out of Lucas''s mouth, as the wind was knocked out of him. Thankfully the combat knives struck true, and he cut the rat¡¯s spine. The rat had only 20% of its health left. The rat wasn¡¯t dead, but with the cut spine, it was out of the fight. ¡°Three down, three to go,¡± thought Lucas mentally. Before he could recover, he was face first with the other three rats. As the Rats attacked, Lucas tried to parry and dodge. He may have been granted the rogue profession, but he wasn¡¯t very practiced yet. Another 15% of his health disappeared. Suddenly Lucas saw an opening. Dodging Rat #1, he swung his daggers as hard as he could at Rat #4¡¯s eyes. With a critical hit the rat died. That just left the first two rats still in the fight. +15. ¡°Oh Good,¡± Lucas thought, ¡°Mind over matter is still active.¡± As Rat #2 tried to jump up and grab his throat, Lucas batted the rat away with the pommel of one of the daggers. Both rats started circling Lucas. Now they were looking for an opening. Lucas lashed out and struck one of the rats. But not without getting minor injuries in return. There were two left, both a bit cut up, but still in the fight. Lucas Lunged at Rat #1 and hit it for the rats remaining health. Another Rat down. ¡°This leaves just a single rat. There¡¯s not any way that one rat can win the fight if it can¡¯t get my throat or eyes,¡± thought Lucas, ¡°If I just go for it, I win.¡± Lucas activated dash and plunged two daggers into the last rat. The rat went down. Squealing. Still alive, but with one dagger stuck in an eye and one in its chest, it was only a matter of time. Pushing down on the daggers Lucas finished off the rat. Turning around, he went back to the second rat he put down and put it out of its misery. Sinking, Lucas said ¡°Six down, 34 to go.¡±

Status Screen:

Name Lucas Eckles
HP 279 279 Stamina 270 270
Total Affinity 17% 17% Mana 170 170
Strength 14 14 Endurance 27 27
Agility 12 12 Charisma 10 10
Intellect 10 10 Luck 13 13
Armor 13.5 Bonus Armor 3.5
Damage 5 15 Bonus Damage 2 5
Active Skills
Inspect Beginner 5 Locate Loot Beginner 1
Dash Beginner 1 Rapid Fire Beginner 3
Stealth Beginner 3
Passive Skills
Hand to Hand Intermediate 6 AI Interfacing Advanced 3
Formations Intermediate 3 Sneak Beginner 1
Scavenge Beginner 4
Combat Professions: Non Combat Professions:
Rogue Lvl 1 Salvager Lvl 2
Open Open
Major Outstanding Quests Grantor
Save Rose Rose
Affinities
Earth 0% 3% Light 0% 3%
Wind 0% 3% Water 0% 3%
Fire 2% 5% Space 5% 8%
Mind 7% 10% Crafting 3% 3%
Death 0% 3% System 3% 3%
Spells (8 Slots)
Haste Beginner 1
Mind over Matter Beginner 1
Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Ultimately there were nine individuals who received the Nanobot treatment; all volunteers except the first. All except the first were terminal patients whom we believed the Nanobots could cure. The first seven terminally ill patients did not take the conversion nearly as well as my colleague. Each of the seven was treated with a different strain of nanobots, and each of the seven became delusional. After the seven patients, the higher-ups did not want to allow any more nanobots to be installed. But shortly after that I became desperate. I was so wrapped up in my work I had put off doctors¡¯ appointments until it was too late. I had stage 4 liver cancer that had metastasized to my lungs as well as a bit to my other organs. I was a dead man walking. I didn¡¯t know if the Nanobots could save me, but I would damn well try. Together with my colleague, without the permission of the higher ups, we were able to install the final strain of nanobots that we had developed without destroying my sanity. It seems the original countermeasures were the root cause. With the addition of a small number of the unrestricted nanobots from the original batch, the new strain did not affect my mind. When we tried to retroactively apply this to the other seven, they had decided they were gods of the various domains and did not want the treatment because they were, and I quote, ¡°immortal gods¡± and we were just going to take that away from them. The attempts of the corporation to force the treatment on them led to them declaring war on Humanity. Sir Francis Gordon, 2074
¡°33 down, 7 to go,¡± muttered Lucas. Lucas silently hoped that Rose was keeping track of what was cleared and what was not cleared. Floor 0 basically consisted of offices. With closed doors, it was easy to walk the halls and verify none of the rats were above ground. The suspended animation chamber floors were also straightforward to clear. They were basically one long meandering hallway with a couple of recovery rooms off the sides. That made it pretty easy to make sure there aren¡¯t any enemies left behind on those floors too. The Training Center and storage rooms on level 6 were another matter. The training center had traditional training rooms near the start of the floor. But there were also two maze-like constructs designed for training people in the art of tracking. ¡°Rose,¡± asked Lucas, ¡°Is there any way to shut off the bottom floors from everything above? I would really like to not be attacked by goblins now that there are no rats guarding the stairs up from floor seven.¡± The light flashed once. ¡°OK. One flash. That means yes so I should head to the stairs.¡± As Lucas was heading to the stairs between floor six and seven, he heard a grinding noise. Quickly making the mental leap that it was a blast door similar to what was outside the AI server room, Lucas followed the staircase down a little way to see if he could get the door close. ¡°Rose!¡± shouted Lucas, ¡°Back the door up. The door is stuck on a... well probably a chewed bone. Back it up, let me clean the track up and then you can try again.¡± There was no response from Rose, but the blast door retreated into the wall. Moving quickly, under the assumption that the Goblins probably heard that, Lucas pulled the bone out from the track and dragged the bone down the track to knock any pieces of junk out of the way. ¡°Try it now Rose,¡± said Lucas. The door started to slowly close. As the door was closing Lucas heard grunts and hisses. They didn¡¯t sound like rats, so Lucas guessed they were goblins. ¡°Close the door faster Rose. I think we have company.¡± As the grunts and hisses get louder and louder the blast door got closer and closer to closed. Lucas watched from the opening hoping to get an inspect off on the goblins to see what he would be up against. The first goblin shot out from around the corner. Just before the door latches shut, a goblin arm darted out into the gap and stabbed at Lucas with some sort of sharpened bone. The goblin hits Lucas with the sharpened bone, but as the bone impacts Lucas, the arm is smashed between the door and the wall. Before Lucas can even check the Damage, Mind over matter heals him. Lucas had barely managed to glimpse the Goblin before the door closed. It appeared overall as a combination between the colors brown and grey, but the grey turned to brownish green around the eyes. The goblin might have come up to the height of a 12-year-old. The Goblin¡¯s face looked vaguely like someone had slapped some anime eyes onto a toddler¡¯s head and called it a day. The head was the only place that didn¡¯t have wrinkles. The goblin¡¯s head almost looked too big for its body. The arm that was stuck in the door bled red from the wound. The arm was mostly a straight grey, but besides that, it had the same build as any other humanoid would. Lucas knew that Goblins were created from scratch, but he thought that the base DNA for Goblins might have been drawn from gorillas based on the overall appearance. ¡°Phew,¡± sighed Lucas. ¡°I thought I was going to get into a fight I wasn¡¯t ready for there. Thanks for getting the door closed Rose. These Goblins look like they are going to be tougher than the Rats. Hopefully, the old storage room has something usable in it, or this might be tougher than I can handle right now.¡± Turning, Lucas returned to the entrance to the training center and looked around. ¡°I¡¯ve got the three dead rats here that were guarding the stairs,¡± thought Lucas, ¡°But there are 7 more within the base somewhere. The upper floors appear to be clear so the last 7 have got to be here. Well, here somewhere¡± The room Lucasstood in is rather large, roughly 50 meters by 25 meters. It looked like it used to be set-up as a kind of weapons training dojo. Lucas recalled that the original intent was to allow enough space for the 2000+ troops to have somewhere to warm up after thawing out. There are three doors off the main room. One is labeled ¡°Ninja Course,¡± the second is labeled ¡°Storage,¡± and the third is labeled ¡°Tracking Training.¡± Lucas noticed that someone has previously scratched in the words ¡°Ultimate Hide and Seek¡± under the tracking training label. ¡°Rose was this you?¡± asks Lucas while pointing to the ¡°Tracking Training.¡± The lights flicker, ¡°It looks like Rose is laughing again,¡± thought Lucas. Looking at the three doors, it was pretty obvious which one was going to be easier to search. ¡°The storage room should be laid out in a straightforward fashion. Rows and Columns are pretty easy to search through.¡± walking up to the door, Lucas tries the storage room first. ¡°Locked, it figures¡± thought Lucas.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Peeking his head through both of the other doorways one at a time. The Ninja course appears to be in pretty good condition. A plaque was also visible after Lucas opened the door which said that the Ninja course leads into the Tracking Course. Peeking his head into the Tracking Course, it is very clear that rats had passed through here. Not only was their no true door in the entrance, just shreds of what used to be some sort of curtain, but there were piles. Piles that looked very similar to the trash piles that were scattered around on the other five floors the rats had infested. Looking around, Lucas saw the remains of a weapon rack. Breaking off a piece of a board, Lucas wedged the board under the door leading to the Ninja course to prevent it from opening, and having made up his mind, Lucas walked into the Ultimate Hide and Seek room. It is quickly evident that searching this room be next to impossible. There were ramps and stairs, random walls that you could go around both sides of and come out in the same place. There were tunnels Lucas would have had to crawl through as well as platforms he would have to climb up to. ¡°Dang,¡± thought Lucas, ¡°now I know what Rose meant by Ultimate Hide and Seek. If I could keep some space between the tracker and me, it would be very unlikely that they would ever find me, and I never won Hide and Seek as a kid!¡± With no way to effectively search the room, Lucas decided to look for any entrances and exits. Following the wall in the direction that the Ninja course first took off in, the first priority would be to ensure that the Ninja course was secure. If the rats hadn¡¯t gotten into the Ninja course, then blocking it off should limit the required searching. Pretty quickly Lucas came upon the door he was looking for. ¡°Thank God that¡¯s shut,¡± said Lucas out loud, ¡°One less nightmare room to search.¡± ¡°Squeak¡± came from the direction he had just come from ¡°And of course,¡± thought Lucas, ¡°now the rats know I am here.¡± Quickly circling back towards the entrance, two rats come into view. They didn¡¯t look the same as the Rats he had been fighting through the rest of the facility, they appeared to be larger overall; taller, stronger, and longer. ¡°These rats are going to be a fight. At least there are only two of them.¡± Activating Stealth and his spells, Lucas began to creep towards the rats to initiate combat. Quickly inspecting the rats, Lucas learned they were ¡°Elite Giant Rats¡± and had 105 hit points. Still less than half of Lucas''s hit points, but nearly twice as much as the non-elite rats. This shouldn¡¯t be any more difficult than the first set of rats he took out. Silently coming up behind the first rat, he stabs both of his daggers down into the back of the rat. Swinging around Lucas followed up the backstab with a three-hit combo to the side of the rat as it¡¯s turning to face Lucas. The three hit combo relieved the rat of just under a third of its total health leaving it with a third of its health left after both hits. Before anything else happened the uninjured rat headbutted Lucas and then bit his arm to try and get him to drop a dagger. The combined attacks knocked off almost 15% of Lucas''s Health. While the rat didn¡¯t manage to get Lucas to drop the knife, it did manage to get a Critical hit. As Lucas swung around his other arm to dislodge the new rat with his other dagger, a screen popped up. ¡°Bleeding Applied,¡± followed promptly by ¡°Bleeding removed by Mind over Matter.¡± As his dagger swung towards the head of the rat, Lucas saw two more rats running his way. With the rat failing to dodge as it was biting into Lucas''s hand, the rat was on the receiving end of a critical hit as the dagger entered its skull. Quickly pulling it down and shoving it down again before the rat could retreat, Lucas scores another critical hit. The rat was down to maybe 20% of its original health in just those two hits. ¡°Apparently critical hits to the head are extremely effective,¡± thought Lucas, right before his leg was bitten by the original rat. It wasn¡¯t a particularly effective attack, but it did lock down Lucas''s mobility advantage. With the second rat retreating and the two new rats coming towards Lucas quickly, Lucas needed to finish at least one of the original rats off quickly. Pulling the first rat with him, Lucas activated Dash and slammed into the second rat daggers first which finished off the rat¡¯s remaining health. Twisting, Lucas used his speed advantage to stab the first rat in the conveniently stationary skull. With that, he was able to finish off the first rat. Turning, at 75% health, Lucas prepared to face the two fresh rats. As Lucas waited for their approach, he began working on the other mind spell that Rose told him about. ¡°The enemy is slowing down; their heart is pumping slower, and their nerves are transmitting signals slower. The enemy is Slow!¡± The Spell hits the trailing rat, causing it to fall a little behind, but it almost didn¡¯t matter as the first rat slams into Lucas. Lucas bounces off the rat and lands a few feet away without any significant injury. With the slowed rat still not quite caught up to the first. Lucas takes a risk and Activates dash on the second rat. Daggers first, Lucas dashes towards the second rat. Moving almost as if lightning, the second rat is only able to maneuver its head out of the way before the daggers slam into its side and shoulder in a critical hit and knocks off ? of its health. Before Lucas could capitalize on this, the first rat jumps onto his back and savages Lucas with its claws. Slash, Slash Slash. The three hit combo drops him down to roughly 50% health. ¡°Oomph,¡± said Lucas as he shakes the rat loose. As it falls, Lucas twists around and stabs his dagger into the underbelly of the rat. Getting very lucky, as his 7-point advantage in luck suggests should have happened a bit more often, Lucas manages to critically strike the rat and sever its Carotid Artery. With that rat quickly bleeding out, Lucas can concentrate on the sole remaining rat. With Lucas limping because of the injuries to his leg and slowed due to the injuries to his back, he is barely faster than the slowed rat. Facing each other, they both commit and moves in at the same time as the rat. Striking out at the same time, Lucas''s first dagger blocks the swipe, while his second dagger lodges itself in the rat¡¯s eye. With the rat falling back, Lucas loses his grip on his knife. But with the rat partially blind and with next to no health left, a single nick from his remaining dagger could have finished it off. As the rat turns to run away, with as much speed as possible, Lucas throws the knife at the rat. Lucas¡¯s lucky streak ends, as the thrown knife struck the rat with its pommel. The damage from the impact causes the rat to collapse in defeat. Still breathing but too injured to move. Its health is hovering at a single point Lucas turned to finish off the rat with the severed artery, only to find that it had expired during the fight. Lucas turned back around, calmly walks over to the rat which had tried to flee and plunged his dagger into its other eye. As he watched it expire, Lucas slowly slid down against the wall and decided to take a rest. Grabbing one of the water bottles and MREs out of the bag, Lucas started to eat as he waits for mind over matter to regenerate his health. After Lucas finishes eating and drinking, he manages to examine his new spell and retrieve his daggers just as he reaches full health.
Congratulations!
You have learned a spell!
Slow Beginner 1 7 mana/minute
Targets overall speed reduced by 1.0 x Affinity%
-8% Speed Space / Time
Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Each of them took the name of a Greek or Roman god whose domain overlapped with their own. They said that this was to make it easy to know who to call for each domain. Personally, the other two of us thought they did it because they were so crazy that they thought they were those gods. My colleague had to put the control schema known colloquially as ¡°The System¡± in place to limit the damage they would be able to do. With the system in place, each of the strains of Nanobots would only be able to affect things in their primary domains and would be non-transferable. New individuals were capped at 100% ¡°affinity¡± in any given strain, but every human would have enough system nanobots, it only took a few, to prevent madness. Unfortunately, we couldn¡¯t limit it to the seven patients. With the system in place, each of the Domains was unable to gain power in a different domain without giving up their extreme power in their primary Domain. As they had no desire to do this, as long as my colleague stood to enforce this, there was a balance. With this, the original nanobots became system nanobots. They retained their original ability to craft anything that a person could imagine and added the ability to substitute as Nanobots from any of the other domains. The Seven Domains were understandably upset about balance. Most people are upset when things are balanced. To counteract this, we agreed with them that the System domain would not show up on anyone¡¯s screen unless they already have significant system nanobots. We disguised the system domain as the crafting domain. My colleague went into hiding and chose not to interact with the world because of the power of his Nanobots. I adopted the name of Theta-Sigma, just to piss off the other Seven, and took up my role as the Domain of Time and Space. Sir Francis Gordon, 2075
Caution: Notifications Unavailable
You are unable to check your notifications outside of a safe area. A safe zone has been recently assigned to you. Return to your safe area or exit all areas of recent combat to access notifications
Lucas sighed. ¡°Apparently I am too close to enemies to get my notifications. I guess I just keep going.¡± As no rats had assaulted Lucas while he rested, it was obvious there were no more Rats nearby in the maze. If there were, they would have attacked after the noise that battle generated. It was also obvious that the rats had to run in from somewhere. ¡°Thinking out loud here Rose, but please flash if I am missing something obvious,¡± said Lucas. The rats ran in here after hearing noises, that means they are not stationed in the maze.¡± As Lucas spoke, Lucas wandered around the outside edge of the maze, looking for an entrance. ¡°It isn¡¯t a long run, which means that they can¡¯t have been coming from too far away. But noise doesn¡¯t transfer too well because there were no further reinforcements.¡± A light flashed. Lucas looks up. There is a hole in the cement wall in front of him. It was obviously made by animals; you could tell this by the number of teeth and claw marks in the concrete. ¡°I think we just found out how they are getting into the main section of the base. If this is truly their entrance, then it is safe to say that the Ninja Room is clear,¡± thought Lucas. ¡°The last three rats must be in the storage room. If I clear that, then the Rats are done.¡± With that, Lucas squeezed through the hole in the concrete. Immediately Lucas wished there was more light. It wasn¡¯t exactly dark. It was the twilighty haze of almost visible. There was just enough light to see, but not enough light to see in very much detail, or to see most colors. The only thing Lucas could see was shadows. ¡°I guess the first thing I need to do is either find a light or turn all the lights on,¡± thought Lucas. Looking up, the light fixtures appeared to be present and in the right positions, so the light switch was probably just turned off somewhere. Moving slowly along the wall, Lucas half felt, half saw his way around the edge of the room in the direction he assumed the entrance from the Dojo Area was. Most doors would have to have a panic bar to get out due to fire safety requirements, so at the very least he could prop open the door and have a light by the entrance. Best case scenario, there were functional light switches by the door. Cracking a piece of wood on the floor, Leo pauses to see if he has been noticed. ¡°Squeak.¡± ¡°Shit,¡± thought Lucas. ¡°I can hear them, but I bet they can see me better than I can see them.¡± Activating stealth, Lucas''s progress slowed even further as he attempted to avoid detection while he simultaneously looked for the entrance. Just as he finally found the door, the rats found him. Before he could do anything, the fact that the rats obviously saw him forced Lucas out of stealth. Figuring he was at an extreme disadvantage if he fought in a room this dark, Lucas slammed his shoulder into the door. Luckily for Lucas, the doorway back to the Dojo was a door that took fire safety into account, and there was a panic bar on the inside. With a ¡°Thud¡± Lucas fell through the open doorway to land on his shoulder. Scrambling to his feet, Lucas drew his daggers and turned to face whatever had been lurking in the shadows. Facing him were three rats. The last three rats left in the complex assuming the quest text was accurate. Even prepared to face three rats, Lucas was a little startled by what he saw. Of the three rats, one was the Rat boss. He was 50% larger than the other two rats standing with him. Doing a quick inspect, Lucas was able to tell the rat was also 50% stronger, 25% faster, and had 50% more health. Oddly enough the system also said his name was Templeton. Unfortunately, the system also told Lucas that Templeton was a Rat King. Again with the unlucky streak, the rats accompanying Templeton were also named monsters; Wilbur and Uncle. At least they were just named elites without any extra stat boosts. ¡°This is not going to be an easy fight,¡± thought Lucas. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I can do it since I took down four earlier, but this is going to hurt.¡± Mind over Matter! Haste! Slow! Lucas rapidly cast his spells on appropriate targets. Considering the speed advantage Templeton had, Lucas targeted Templeton with the Slow spell. Immediately Templeton stopped outpacing the elites in their race towards Lucas. This gave Lucas enough time to jump to his feet and drop into a fighting stance. Wilbur darted left as Uncle darted right. Meanwhile, Templeton was still headed straight for Lucas. ¡°Rat¡¯s with Tactics,¡± thought Lucas, ¡°apparently they are trying to surround me.¡± Darting towards Uncle, Lucas managed to cut Uncle on his right flank. Lucas immediately noticed a drop in speed from Uncle. ¡°I¡¯ve got to keep myself out of their circle if I want to keep my mobility. Without mobility, I''m toast.¡± Swinging around, Lucas activated dash and headed towards Wilbur. Jumping his head and landing on Wilbur¡¯s back, Lucas dug his daggers into both of Wilbur''s sides to keep him from overshooting, and to do a bit of damage at the same time. Dismounting, Lucas realized he had hurt Wilbur more than he thought he would when he noticed Wilbur''s health bar was half missing. Because of the long gouges in his side, Wilbur also had bleeding damage slowly ticking away at his health. Unlike the earlier rats, Wilbur ran. Facing Templeton, Lucas needed a plan of attack. He probably couldn¡¯t jump him and even with the speed buffs, he was not faster than the Rat Boss. He might have taken Wilbur out of the fight unscratched, but he did not believe for a moment that he would get that lucky with Templeton. While Lucas was focused on Templeton, Uncle swung around and bit Lucas on the Leg. It didn¡¯t do a lot of damage but did manage to get enough of a bite that Lucas noticed a disease debuff pop up on his interface. ¡°Without treatment, the user will experience temporary paralysis in 120 seconds. Paralysis will expire after 5 minutes or after the disease is cured, whichever occurs first.¡± Suddenly Lucas had a time limit. Before Uncle could pull away, Lucas slammed his dagger as hard as he could into the skull. Uncle¡¯s health bar dropped by a fourth. Uncle backed away to prevent any more quick hits. Before Lucas could pivot, Templeton charged in and bit him. Lucas instantly lost a quarter of his health bar. ¡°Too many hits like that, and I won¡¯t make it,¡± Lucas said to nobody in particular. He just hoped Rose was listening to his muttering still. When Templeton let go, Lucas managed to get a good dagger hit of his own. Templeton¡¯s health bar barely moved. Maybe a tenth of it was gone if Lucas still reading it right. Keeping an eye out for Uncle, Lucas darted in and struck Templeton 3 more times before he could retaliate. Thankfully the combo took Templeton down to half health, unfortunately, Lucas got bit again to get those strikes, taking him down another 15%. Before Templeton could disengage, Lucas slammed his daggers into Templeton''s Ear. The double critical hit finished him off. Turning to finish off Uncle, Lucas wasn¡¯t sure where he had gone. Noting that he had 20 seconds left on the clock before paralysis hit, Lucas ran over to the Ninja course door, pulled out the wood stop, opened the door and slammed it shut behind him before he fell over as the disease activated the paralysis debuff. When the paralysis finally wore off, Lucas noted he was still alone, and Mind over Matter had faithfully healed him back up to full. Quietly exiting the Ninja course, Lucas began his search for Uncle and Wilbur. It didn¡¯t take him long to find Uncle. Uncle was waiting for him to leave the safety of the Ninja course. Running at him at his best speed, Lucas activated dash, dodged a swipe from Uncle, and slammed his daggers into Uncle¡¯s spine, instantly killing him. This left just Wilbur. Following the trail of blood left from Wilbur''s retreat, it led back into the storage room. With the door propped open, Lucas was able to see a light switch on the wall. When Lucas turned on the switch, he estimated that 25% of the lights turned on. ¡°I can deal with this,¡± thought Lucas. ¡°Enough light to see, but not overly bright.¡± Continuing to follow the trail, Lucas came to the crack in the base wall that Rose described earlier. It really was more of a cave entrance than a crack at this point. It was tall enough that Lucas could walk in without fear of hitting his head. Not too deep into the cave, he saw Wilbur. He hadn¡¯t made it back wherever he was headed. The bleed debuff finished him off before he got where he was going. As he turned to leave, Lucas heard a gentle tinkling. It sounded like a very small stream discharging onto pebbles. Knowing the possibilities of what that meant, Lucas retreated into the base proper to find an improvised torch of some sort. Activating Loot Locate on the racks of items that had been stored, Lucas managed to find a flashlight. And surprisingly it was packed with spare stabilized batteries. ¡°Advertised as good for a thousand years. I wonder if the batteries still work,¡± said Lucas. Popping in the new batteries, the flashlight turned right on without any issues. ¡°Honestly that is pretty surprising,¡± thought Lucas, ¡°I had always figured the 1000 years was marketing hype.¡± Returning to the Cave, Lucas followed the sound of the water downward. It didn¡¯t take but one or two turns and maybe 5 minutes of walking before he saw it. There was a small stream flowing underground past the probably somewhere around the 8th basement level. The stream flowed up against the wall of the 8th basement, so it was entirely possible that it had been tapped by the Goblins from the inside. Filling his empty bottle, Lucas retreated into the base. Passing the base wall, Lucas blocked off the cave entrance with a stack of larger storage crates. Using a pallet jack, Lucas was able to move enough crates to the entrance that he was able to make a makeshift wall. Using just the pallet jack, Lucas could remove a single box from the side and create an entrance just large enough that Lucas could squeeze through and refill his water bottles. As soon as Lucas slid the last crate in place, Lucas was inundated with Pop-Ups
Congratulations!
Due to your actions, the area in this dungeon that has been deemed safe for you has expanded to cover the first 6 underground levels of the base, provided the door to the lower 6 levels remain shuts.
Major Quest Update
Save Rose Rose
The power that Rose requires to survive is failing. Find a method to begin power generation and restore the power reserves for the base to a length of 2 years. 1) Clear the Giant Rats (40/40) and seal their entrance. (1/1) 2) Scavenge materials. Attempt to repair Solar Panels if possible. 3) Clear the Goblins from the Nanoforge. (0/??) 4) Secure a source of water. (1/1) 5) Restore Power to the base 100 MW/244 MW 6) Bring one automated repair drone online or build a new one
Rewards:
Access to additional Historical Information
+2 Attribute points
Control of Military base and production facility
Congratulations!
For killing a boss in a dungeon while not in a party you have received an attribute point. For killing a boss while in a dungeon, system generated loot has been awarded
Equipment
Humble Backpack Rare
Durability 90/90
Holds .2 m3 of materials. Reduces weight to 25% of actual
Equipment
Radiant Ring of Light Rare
Durability 90/90
Produces 1000 lumens of light. Requires 5 minutes of cooldown for every minute of use. Usable in 60-minute increments
Equipment
Terrific Shoes Rare
Durability 90/90
These shoes are terrific! These are some shoes! +2 Agility +10 Armor
As the loot appeared at Lucas''s feet, Lucas thought ¡°On the plus side, I get a free attribute point and some nice loot. On the minus side, the base is considered a dungeon and it¡¯s not just the system calling it that due to age. Does that mean that the Rats will come back no matter what I do? Or does that simply mean that dangerous mobs live in the vicinity, proceed at your own risk?¡± Unable to conclude, Lucas decided his best course of action would be to search the surrounding storeroom for usable items. Walking from shelving unit to shelving unit, activating Loot Locate as he went, Lucas was presented with a single loot window for the room that the system arranged by the probability of usefulness.
Large Storage Room
Item Qty Condition
Storage Room KeycardUnauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. 1 Unique
Military Combat Armor 11 Excellent
Military Combat Greaves 7 Excellent
Military Combat Helmet 9 Excellent
Toolbelt 5 Common
Combat Knife Holster 7 Common
Canteen 20 Common
Flashlight 29 Rare
Stabilized batteries 29 Rare
List Truncated
Lucas immediately began the search for a copy of most of the items. Most specifically he needed that keycard so he could lock the door back up. Quickly finding the items he was looking for due to the good organization of the storage unit, Lucas inspected his prizes and then quickly equipped the upgrades. Stuffing the other items into his new backpack, Lucas turned and headed back to Rose¡¯s room so he could discuss what he should do next.
Equipment
M. Combat Greaves Excellent
Durability 60/60
This Uniform from before the System is in excellent condition. +20 Armor +1 Endurance
Equipment
M. Combat Armor Excellent
Durability 60/60
This Uniform from before the System is in excellent condition. +20 Armor +1 Endurance
Equipment
M. Combat Helmet Excellent
Durability 60/60
This Uniform from before the System is in excellent condition. +20 Armor +1 Endurance
Equipment
Toolbelt Common
Durability 60/60
This toolbelt has a space for nails! +5 Armor
Equipment
C. Knife Holster Common
Durability 60/60
Holds one Knife or Dagger in the ready position. May equip two max. +1 Agility
Equipment
Canteen Common
Durability 5/5
Holds one day''s ration of water for one person.
Profession Update:
By creating three spells you have unlocked the Magus Profession
You understand the ancient and mysterious way that our world. You desire to understand it more.
Would you like to take the Magus Profession?
Yes Wait No
100% Damage from spells Magus Skills improve 20% faster Cultivation Unlocked for all domains
+ 1% to all unlocked affinities per level +2.5% Spell effect per Level
Profession Update:
By creating three spells you have unlocked the Enchanting Non-combat Profession
Would you like to take the Enchanting Profession?
After unlocking Crafting Affinity, you may decide to learn the mysterious art of adding bonuses to items
Yes Wait No
Unlocks Disenchanting Unlocks Luck, Mana, and Health Enchantments
+5% Enchant strength & -10% Difficulty per level
Congratulations!
You have advanced 3 spells!
Haste Beginner 2 10 mana locked
The speed of Willing Target improves by 1.1 x Affinity% overall
+10% Speed Space / TIme
Mind Over Matter Beginner 2 20 mana locked
Healing power circulates within your body. Ready to heal damage as soon as it occurs. Heals 1.1 x Affinity Health per second.
12.1 hp/s Mind
Bonus: Accurate Depiction - +5 hp/s
Slow Beginner 2 7 mana
Target creature''s overall speed reduced by 1.1 x Affinity%
-9.9% Speed Space / TIme
Congratulations!
You have gained a skill!
Daggers Beginner 1
Knives, Daggers; Daggers, Knives. This skill applies to both
+2.5% improved damage with Daggers per level
You have advanced a skill!
Daggers Beginner 7
+2.5% improved damage with Daggers per level
Sneak Intermediate 1
+25% improved chance of remaining undetected.
+2.5% improved chance of remaining undetected per level.
+2.5% improved damage while hidden per level.
Scavenge Beginner 7
+2.5% improved chance of locating useful items per level. (Currently 1.56% chance per Locate Loot)
Profession Update:
Scavenger Lvl 4
Rogue Lvl 5
Reaching Rogue level 5 grants one assignable Attribute Point
Congratulations!
You have advanced a skill!
Inspect Beginner 8
Stealth Beginner 7
Dash Beginner 7
Status Screen:
Changes since the last view are bolded.
Name Lucas Eckles
Health 279 310 Stamina 270 300
Total Affinity 17% 18% Mana 170 180
Strength 14 14 Endurance 27 30
Agility 12 16 Charisma 10 10
Intellect 10 10 Luck 13 13
Armor 75 Bonus Armor 5
Damage 5 15 Bonus Damage 3.1 9.3
2 Point Unassigned
Abilities
Inspect Beginner 8 Locate Loot Beginner 1
Dash Beginner 7 Rapid Fire Beginner 3
Stealth Beginner 7
Skills
Hand to Hand Intermediate 6 AI Interfacing Advanced 3
Formations Intermediate 3 Sneak Intermediate 1
Scavenge Beginner 7 Daggers Beginner 7
Combat Professions: Non Combat Professions:
Rogue Lvl 5 Salvager Lvl 4
Open Open
Major Outstanding Quests Grantor
Save Rose Rose
Affinities
Earth 0% 4% Light 0% 4%
Wind 0% 4% Water 0% 4%
Fire 2% 6% Space 5% 9%
Mind 7% 11% Crafting 3% 4%
Death 0% 4% System 3% 4%
Spells (8 Slots)
Haste Beginner 2 Slow Beginner 2
Mind over Matter Beginner 2
Chapter 7 Chapter 7 You must remember, I¡¯m pretty much the only active, and I will stress active here, Domain who is not crazy. And therefore, I am pretty much the only one who wants to improve the lot of Humanity. After the Hidden Domain disabled so many additional technologies in a compromise to end the wars that Hades was constantly fighting, Humanity was pretty screwed. Sure, some old things worked, but nothing new and high-tech could be made without a Nanoforge. Eventually, all things high tech would fail. Many things which could not be made in a way that complies with the Systems rules are being held together and kept functional by the System Nanobots. A small number of System Nanobots are continually required to keep them functioning, and the Hidden Domain gladly provides these during this time of transition. These nanobots will be recalled eventually due to that same agreement with Hades. With the banning of airplanes, there were no longer any viable quick travel methods and families were thousands of miles apart. My parents were further away from me than I could travel in a reasonable amount of time. These reasons are why I am proud to announce the opening of the Earth Gate network today. The Gate network will allow you to step through space from one location to another distant location. The Gate network will allow families to be reunited. It is relatively power intensive, but I have created solar panels and wind farms which are exempt from the standard rules to provide for their power requirements. The automatic repair lockout does not apply to these systems, and they will maintain themselves indefinitely. Any village or city may call for an Earth Gate Connection, or Gate as I liked to call it, provided they can provide the initial power to activate the Gate and build the device to the attached blueprints. After the connection is set, I will guarantee the future power supply for these devices as long as I am able. I am unable to provide power to the population for general use without the consent of the other Domains, which I do not have. Theta-Sigma, 2076 Anno Domini, Blueprint for Gate attached.
Lucas quickly headed back towards Rose. But before he got there, Lucas had an idea. Heading back to his suspension chamber, Lucas grabbed the two automatic repair bots that he saw when he woke up and were sitting by the tank. They were smaller than those old Roomba¡¯s in size, but a little heftier. Throwing them into the Humble Backpack, Lucas headed to Rose. Knocking on the door as he walks in, Lucas starts pulling things out of his bag. First to come out were the old pieces of equipment that Rose had given him. This was followed swiftly by a couple of the batteries and the repair bots. Finally, Lucas pulled out a couple of the pieces of new and shiny Military Combat Armor because he wanted to do some testing with Rose present and able to respond. ¡°Rose,¡± said Lucas, ¡°Is there anything wrong with these two bots besides the fact that they are out of power? If not, I found a couple of the generic military sized batteries, assuming these take them, I may have a couple of functional drones for you.¡± I do not believe there is anything wrong with one of them past the lack of power. When they stopped responding roughly 75 years ago, the one closest to your tank had lost its climbing capability and so was unable to access most of the areas that needed repairs. The one further from your tank salvaged the battery from the other one to keep going a little longer. ¡°Even without the ability to climb, they can still haul junk. Let''s pop in a battery and see what happens. If you can use them to start gathering metals, it will make my life easier when the time comes to start building things. You can probably even use the first bot to start on a few structural repairs if it powers up properly,¡± said Lucas. Lucas proceeded to load two batteries into the Repair Bots. Just like Rose implied, both started right up. I¡¯m in, I¡¯ll send the first bot to start rounding up any metal salvage it can find. I will set the second bot to repairing any structural damage. ¡°Just don¡¯t seal up the Rat¡¯s route into the base. You can seal up their route into the maze since I have an access card to the storage room now, but if I can¡¯t get to the river, I won¡¯t be able to get any more water.¡± Will do. Anything you want me to prioritize? ¡°If you can manage to install a proper door behind the barricade over their entrance, I would appreciate that, but I am guessing we will need the Nanoforge for that.¡± You are correct on that. I won¡¯t be able to build any new items until after we have regained control of the Nanoforge. On another topic entirely, whatcha get? ¡°Well, from the boss loot I got a couple of nice utility items as well as some Terrific Shoes. As you can see, I also managed to scavenge up a complete set of Combat Armor. The shoes might be purple, but they are far better than what I had on. I pulled a few spare sets of the armor up here with me just in case, but I would also like to try my hand at enchanting them.¡± Have you unlocked enchanting yet? ¡°No, but I was offered the Enchanter Profession. I was also offered the Magus profession. These are the last two professions I can pick up until after I figure out what a system object is and find a system object to determine how to get that pesky Classic dropped from the front of my race, so I wanted to talk to you first and get your opinion.¡± My opinion is that you should pick up Magus and Enchanter. I am surprised you were offered both so quickly. The information I gathered from the recorded radio broadcasts suggested you needed level 5 in Magus to get offered Enchanting. ¡°Remember that I started with Crafting affinity. I don¡¯t have to wait until I have the affinity in every domain before I can utilize crafting affinity.¡± That¡¯s right. That 10th domain is a bit cheaty, isn¡¯t it? ¡°I don¡¯t know that I¡¯d call it cheaty, but it is a nice bonus. That being said, if you are going to recommend I pick up both, I will pick up both right now.¡± It¡¯s cheaty, deal with it. ¡°Rose, what is disenchanting? It comes with the Enchanting Profession,¡± said Lucas as he accepted both professions. Disenchanting is turning goods, items, or other assorted things that you can find in the world back into their constituent parts. It is required that some magical effect has been applied to the item to be able to disenchant an item, but the magical effect itself can be anything. Even a glow. For example, you should try and disenchant one of the spare tool belts you brought with you and one of the Combat Armors you brought with you. The toolbelt should not disenchant since it has no bonus stats or enchants on it. The combat armor should disenchant since it has a bonus to endurance. When you disenchant the combat armor you have a chance to learn the Endurance enchant. At a high level of disenchanting, you receive roughly 75% of the raw material that was required to make an item. Disenchant a 4 kg steel Great Sword, and you get iron, nickel, and other additives in return. The other material is disintegrated and scattered over a randomly sized area by System Nanobots. No material is lost, per se, but it would be a pain to gather up that material again. The material that is removed includes the part that your nanobots need to study to create an enchant. What basically happening after your nanobots learn the enchant is the item gets disassembled and all the materials are consolidated into various piles. If the substance is organic, for example, leather, you won¡¯t get one piece of leather, you will get a pile of all the various pieces of leather that existed in that individual piece of equipment. This means that it is a heck of a lot easier to reuse metals, minerals, other assorted materials since they can be melted and reformed. Organic materials are generally trashed after disenchanting as useless. With a Nanoforge, the organic materials are not useless, the Nanoforge just needs elemental feedstock, it will make whatever leather bits it needs from whatever leather bits we throw in. ¡°I think I¡¯ve got it. Disenchanting turns a percentage of the disenchanted item into ¡®Dust¡¯ that I cannot recapture, save the rest to feed the Nanoforge.¡± Almost. There are more important facts that I still need to share. Enchants are not always learned on the first attempt. In fact, they are rarely learned on the first attempt. On average you will need to disenchant 10 items to learn a single enchant. And remember how I told you spells could be channeled into enchants. That doesn¡¯t apply to all spells, just the basic ones like cleanse. You could enchant a piece of clothing to always be mended and always be clean. And I guess technically you could enchant a piece of clothing with flames, but you would burn yourself unless you had some massive innate fire resist. ¡°I think we can handle that. I think we can mostly use disenchant to feed the Nanoforge and any learned enchants are a bonus for now. Considering the toolbelt I am wearing doesn¡¯t have an enchant, I think I shall try and apply the Luck enchant to that.¡± Lucas activates his Enchanting skill and focuses on enchanting the toolbelt with Luck, but before the enchant completes, a notification pops up on his screen that says the enchant failed. It didn¡¯t even go to the notification queue, just popped straight into Lucas''s face.
Warning!
Enchant Failed due to System Restrictions
Items from before the System cannot be enchanted. These items are saturated by the system.
¡°Well that didn¡¯t work,¡± said Lucas. ¡°I cannot enchant old items; the items are ¡®saturated by the system¡¯ whatever that means.¡± That is a rather odd restriction. Maybe you should try disenchanting a spare toolbelt and see what happens. Worst case we have some raw materials for the Forge when we get it cleared out. Without responding Lucas moves to disenchant the item. As the toolbelt crumbles, pop-ups again bypass the Notification bar and appear in front of his face.
Caution:
System Nanobots have been assigned
As the closest System User, you have been assigned control of the unaffiliated Nanobots released by disenchanting this very old item. Affinity is awarded based on age and mass.
System Nanobots have been assigned
System Nanobots created from prohibited technology have been assigned to you. No other entities have been awarded System Affinity in 200 years.
So, I¡¯d like to know how you disenchanted that item. Especially since it should not be disenchantable, I can tell from the way your eyes are moving that you are reading a notification, so spill. With a sigh, Lucas says ¡°The 10th Affinity came into play. I¡¯m still not sure if we can trust each other yet, but basically, the System Nanobots that had soaked into the toolbelt prevented enchantment. I liberated those Nanobots when I disenchanted the Toolbelt. Due to my 10th Domain, the nanobots were added to my Affinity in the 10th Domain. Additionally, we had a lot of Nanobots from when the System destroyed the Military equipment just kind of hanging out. Those have also been assigned to my 10th domain, which further increased my affinity. After taking the Magus profession, my lowest affinity is now at 8%.¡± So your 10th domain is some sort of master domain? Any Affinity in the master Domain is applied to all domains? ¡°I¡¯m not 100% sure that that is accurate. It is the very minimum the 10th domain can do. I haven¡¯t been able to find anything else I can do with the 10th domain yet, but it is likely that sooner or later I will,¡± replied Lucas. ¡°I do want to see what a toolbelt is worth in system nanobots on its own. I got a big bump because of the Nanobots laying around, so I don¡¯t know what the individual item gave.¡± Fair enough. If you have 8% in all of the affinities, may I recommend a few spells? Flames is a good Cone AOE spell. Ice Bolt is a relatively good single target spell with an excellent range. Cleanse is always useful, especially considering the state of the base. Windshield¡¯s damage reduction might keep you alive. If this was an RPG, it would probably be called Mage Armor or something similar. At some point, no damage can get through without some sort of penetration modifier applied to it. Lantern could prevent the darkness from becoming an issue like it was in the last fight. I also know Locate Minerals, Dry Clothes, Light Campfire, Darken Room and Blink are viable spells at your affinity level. You are also very close to Fireball, Windwall, Earth Spike, Mental Fortitude, and Lightning Bolt. Keep in mind there are probably a lot more spells that you could create. These are just the ones I heard discussions of on the Radio recordings from the past. ¡°Then I think I will start with your recommendations. I know there are eight slots showing on my System Screen for Spells, so I¡¯ve got to believe I can at least get that many spells. But before I do, let''s check what happens if I disenchant a toolbelt.¡± As Lucas disenchants the toolbelt for the second time, he receives the same popup as before. Checking his System screen, there are no visible changes. In frustration, Lucas says, ¡°I wish the System would please give me more details behind what happens when I disenchanted tool belts. Nothing has changed in my system screen and I would like to understand what happened.¡± Before Rose can respond, a window pops up in Lucas''s view.
Warning!
The System is Processing your request.
Checking... Based on 5% System affinity, System access granted. Level 1 user access rights granted Interface Customization rights granted. The System suggests increasing the number of decimal places. Item "Toolbelt" granted 0.001% Affinity with the system.
¡°I really didn¡¯t think that would work,¡± said Lucas. ¡°Hm, apparently I was just granted the ability to modify how the System looks to me. According to this System prompt, the item granted me a pittance of affinity in my 10th domain. I would have to disenchant 10,000 items the size of the toolbelt to get even 1% affinity.¡± ¡°System, can you allow me to minimize sections of my System screen. I don¡¯t usually want to look at active quests or professions. Also, as long as you are answering, what is defined as a system object? I know I have to reach one to change professions.¡±
The System is processing your request.
As requested, sections of System screen are now minimizable. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. A System Object is any object that has been defined by an Individual with Level 1 user rights or above as a system object. When touched, it allows undefined users access to this interface. Users may only designate System Objects outside of dungeons. The Gates created by Domain Theta-Sigma and certain objects inside of dungeons are the only items currently defined as System Objects.
¡°Thank you. Now I¡¯ve gotta ask. You respond in white boxes. Why is the System screen green?¡± A few minutes went by before Lucas got an answer.
Warning!
The System is processing your request.
The terminology used by the Hidden Domain was "Shits and Giggles."
¡°Well,¡± said Lucas. ¡°I guess that answers that question. System screens are green because of, and I quote, ¡®Shits and Giggles.¡¯¡± Laughing, Rose replied What type of response did you think you would get? That it was green because that was the Hidden Domain¡¯s favorite color? Out loud Lucas said ¡°I know, it¡¯s silly. But I had to ask.¡± at the same time, Lucas thought ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure the Hidden Domains favorite color is Cerulean. If I¡¯m right, he was pretty clear about that growing up.¡± ¡°Alrighty. We experimented with the toolbelt, but I want to see if I can pick up an enchant from the Combat Armor. I¡¯ve got 5 sets of 3 of the armor pieces. Failing extremely bad luck, the odds are in my favor.¡± said Lucas. As he spoke, he walked over to his bag and pulled out the armor pieces, setting them down on the floor near Rose¡¯s Diary. ¡°Rose, I am going to disenchant them here, this way you can have the Repair Bots easily bring me the materials I need to use once the Nanoforge is clear.¡± Roger. That works for me. Sitting down, Lucas got down to disenchanting. After the 6th piece, Lucas saw he had a new notification in his Notification bar. Ignoring it for a moment, he finished disenchanting the 15 pieces of armor. When he was finished he double checked and sure enough, he had gained the Endurance enchant and .050% system affinity. ¡°More than the tool belts gave, but it is going to take forever to get a meaningful amount.¡± thought Lucas. ¡°Alright Rose, I think I am finally ready to unlock those spells you mentioned.¡± Remember, connect to your mana, visualize what you want to happen, add in detail for more refined results. Imagine how it is going to happen. Finally, name the spell. ¡°A burst of flames will erupt from my hand and continue erupting until I will it to stop. This fire will not damage me or my allies, only my enemies or those who mean me harm. The flames extend in an arc that varies between 90 and 160 degrees. The midpoint of the angle is always wherever my palm is pointing. The flames will be created by the Nanobots rapidly vibrating the air to generate heat. My nanobots will use that heat to generate the flames that burst from the space in front of my hands. Flames!¡± ¡°A spike of ice forms in front of my hand to shoot out at my enemies or those who mean harm to me. It will pass through my Allies without causing damage. The ice will be generated from Humidity which is pulled from the air and rapidly cooled. The icebolt will float in front of my hand until I open my hand to signal the release. The angle of the arm when my hand opens doesn¡¯t matter. Only the angle when my hand is closed. Icebolt!¡± ¡°A wall of wind swirls around me, reducing the force that an impact would have upon my body. It does not impact the movements of my allies, only my enemies or those who mean me harm. The wind is created in a similar fashion to those old air knives. A thin stream of air pushed very quickly by the nanobots pulls the surrounding air with it. Windshield!¡± ¡°The nanobots clean and repair the designated object. They polish any metal and pop out any dents. All gore and foreign materials are removed, leaving the clothes in a like-new state and leaving the object clean enough that no manual touch up is required. While the nanobots cannot generate new material for repairs, if the material is still attached, the Nanobots will put it into the right place provided this spell was used on an object before it¡¯s destruction. The Nanobots will accomplish this by basically being standard nanobots and manually removing foreign particles using a swarm. Cleanse!¡± ¡°The nanobots will generate a temporary light source that hangs suspended in the air. It can follow at either a fixed position to the caster or remain stationary. The nanobots will generate light by using small amounts of stored energy and affinity. Lantern!¡±
Caution:
Max of 8 learned Spells until Magus advances to a higher rank
¡°Looks like we were right Rose, a notification popped up in front of me again and told me I am capped at eight spells at the moment,¡± said Lucas as he checked the rest of the spell notifications. ¡°If I am going to go full on Magus, I am going to go ahead and put the two free attribute points I have in intellect to boost my Mana reserves.¡± Checking his notifications, Lucas asks, ¡°Rose. Why do I have restrictions on my spells?¡± Well, I am pretty sure that¡¯s because you used as much detail as you did. Most spells can be created using about 15 words to describe the spell. You used about 100 per spell. For example, the minimum number of words you could use would be something like ¡®Flames come from my hand. The nanobots pull heat from the air. Flames!¡¯ With all of your extra words, that¡¯s going to add restrictions or improvements based on how you defined your spell. ¡°Wait. I can literally have a spell do anything that I can describe the physical process to do?¡± said Lucas. Uh, yeah? I guess I never thought about it that way, but yes, if you can describe it, and it is physically possible for the Nanobots to do, ignoring the difficulty, you can program a spell to do it. Alternatively, you can program the nanobots directly, but I do not have access to the coding base to be able to do that. ¡°Neat, I will have to try and come up with some sort of signature spell,¡± said Lucas. ¡°And I guess it is time to go take out the goblins.¡±
Congratulations!
You have learned 5 spells
Flames Beginner 1 15 Mana
AoE damage in a frontal cone for 1.0 x Affinity% DPS for each enemy in the AoE. 10-yard range Instant Cast
Restrictions: Allies take no Damage.
11 DPS 22 DPS Fire
Ice Bolt Beginner 1 15 mana
Single Target damage for 2.0 x Affinity% DPS for each enemy struck 2-second cast. 45-yard range.
Restrictions: Allies take no Damage.
16 DPS 32 DPS Water
Windshield Beginner 1 20 Mana Locked
Reduces damage taken by 1.0 x Affinity %
Restrictions: No impact on allies
8% Damage Reduction Wind
Cleanse Beginner (NR) 20 Mana
Cleans a designated target. This has two effects: Cure Disease Clean the Object
Restrictions: Repairs only effective if previously cleaned. The material must be present.
N/A Water
Lantern Beginner 1 20 Mana Locked
Ball of Light creates a sphere of light that gives off 100 x affinity lumens. A hard cut off exists at 100 x Affinity x 1 yd
Restrictions: Floats where left or Follows Caster
800 lumens within 8 yards Light
Congratulations!
You have gained a skill!
Disenchant Beginner 1
Destroys the Enchanted object to improve unlocked affinity and learn enchantment.
Returns Component Parts
Enchant Beginner 7
It takes intense, single-minded focus to add stats to an item. Enchanting is an incredibly difficult path. Are you sure you are up to the challenge? -2% Mana requirement per level. -2% Focus requirement per level
Known Enchants:
Luck Mana Health
Endurance
Mana Affinity Beginner 1
Adds Combat Mana regeneration
Improves Overall Mana regeneration by 5% per level
Status Screen
Changes since the last view are bolded. System Sheet has been updated due to core stats being present on equipment.
Name Lucas Eckles
Health 280 311 Stamina 270 300
Total Affinity 28% 28% Mana 336 336
Strength 14 14 Endurance 27 30
Agility 12 16 Charisma 10 10
Intellect 12 12 Luck 13 13
Armor 75 Bonus Armor 5
Damage 5 15 Bonus Damage 3.1 9.3
0 Point Unassigned
Active Skills
Inspect Beginner 8 Locate Loot Beginner 1
Dash Beginner 7 Rapid Fire Beginner 3
Stealth Beginner 7 Disenchant Beginner 1
Enchant Beginner 1
Passive Skills
Hand to Hand Intermediate 6 AI Interfacing Advanced 3
Formations Intermediate 3 Sneak Intermediate 1
Scavenge Beginner 7 Daggers Beginner 7
Mana Affinity Beginner 1
Combat Professions: Non Combat Professions:
Rogue Lvl 5 Salvager Lvl 4
Magus Lvl 1 Enchanting Lvl 1
Major Outstanding Quests Grantor
Save Rose Rose
Affinities
Earth 0% 8% Light 0% 8%
Wind 0% 8% Water 0% 8%
Fire 2% 10% Space 5% 14%
Mind 7% 16% Crafting 7% 8%
Death 0% 8% System 7% 8%
Be aware that System Affinity counts for all Spell Domains, but is only counted once for Total Affinity
Spells
Haste Beginner 2 Slow Beginner 2
Mind over Matter Beginner 2 Flames Beginner 1
Ice Bolt Beginner 1 Cleanse Beginner (NR)
Windshield Beginner 1 Ball of Light Beginner 1
Windshield Beginner 1 Ball of Light Beginner 1
Chapter 8A Chapter 8 What has been labeled in the status screen as affinity is not magic. Magic implies something unknowable, something unable to be understood. The actions we can perform with affinity are in fact processes entirely done by technology so advanced we cannot replicate it today. If you can understand the process and the programing language, you can make and save a ¡®spell.¡¯ Some of our strongest spells are derived from research papers that were discovered in an old laboratory from before the fall. They had technology which the system has since banned. 3D printers, engines, gunpowder, guns, bullets, turbines, missiles, high precision machining, airplanes, helicopters, energy or ion projection beams, standard microchip manufacturing methods, and a host of other technologies which limit our development. We know how gunpowder works, we¡¯ve even talked to people who have fired guns before, but when we try and make gunpowder work, nothing happens. Same with engines, and turbines. They all work the same way, and yet we can get none of them to work. We have old cars from before the fall, that should work upon restoration but don¡¯t. Strangely enough, the few electric cars we have been able to find will fire up when we charge them. There are certain technologies that shouldn¡¯t work that do. Like electric cars. There is no reason an internal combustion engine shouldn¡¯t work, while an electric motor does. Some of the AIs we have discovered are still functional, if barely. Solar panels still produce electricity that can be used by something like a coffee maker or electric boiler. But few of those items can be repaired by any method available to the current populace short of rebuilding it with lower tech materials. I don¡¯t think the intention is to throw us into a medieval world. I think the intention is to force bloody conflict while still allowing the Domains to live in the luxury the 21st century allowed. We will need to determine what level of technology is sustainable and quickly get to that level with whatever manufacturing capability we currently have before it degrades further. With the technology limits and system benefits being designed, so an individual craftsman is optimal instead of mass production or an automated manufacturing cell and the technology limits, we are looking at the early 1700s or late 1600s as our target. That doesn¡¯t mean we won¡¯t know the science, but it does mean that the common folks don¡¯t need to know the science. I propose we suppress scientific knowledge past what we can currently use and that we let everyone continue thinking it is magic. We need to do whatever we can to keep access to antibiotics and other critical drugs that can be produced with a mortar and pestle. We know of an item described by Theta-Sigma that could circumvent many of the lockouts. It was called a nanoforge. These required crafting nanobots to function. Before his confirmation, it was theorized that crafting nanobots were the key to getting around the lockouts. Most folks ended up cultivating near the nanoforge to try and duplicate the effects and rendered them inert. If anyone reading this finds a functional nanoforge, please subdue if possible, kill if not, anyone attempting to cultivate near the nanoforge and report it immediately to the Department of Science and Technology. Joseph Ryan Banks ¨C 119 AD A report provided to the newest King of Chicago upon ascension to the throne in 551 AD ¡°What are antibiotics?¡± Response from the newest King of Chicago to the previous report. ¡°Antibiotics are a myth.¡± Update provided by the Department of Magic, formerly the Department of Science and Technology.
The goblins have six floors which they nominally control, but they are probably bunched up in one of three places. The twelfth floor is two giant water holding tanks. One of them is empty, so it might make a nice place to set up. The eleventh floor is filled with batteries. They haven¡¯t touched them, so they probably aren¡¯t past the security door on this floor, but still, they control the stairway. Based on this, it¡¯s likely the security door is still in place. If it is, I have programmed the storage room keycard to get you past it. Once you opened this security door, flip the switch to the left of the door to disable network isolation and allow me into the eleventh-floor computer systems. I will likely be able to activate any working video or audio equipment on the eleventh floor once network isolation is disabled.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Floors nine and ten are the nanoforge. There are small storage areas out front on both floor nine, but there is not a significant amount of space on either floor. The control room is on the tenth floor with a lift to the storage areas above. I¡¯m going to guess floors seven and eight are completely empty of the military items that were supposed to be there. They used to house the weapons, jets, and armor which we were supposed to use if the reserve were activated. With the prohibitions in place, they were likely destroyed by the system nanobots. These are the two floors where it is most likely for the goblins to congregate. ¡°So, we could have everybody fight me pretty much immediately?¡± sighed Lucas. Yes. ¡°Here¡¯s the plan then. I¡¯d like you to initiate the doors on every level of the stairwell to close. Once you¡¯ve done that, I¡¯d like to have you open the door to the seventh floor. From there I will clear it one floor at a time, maybe two floors if the doors are stuck and not moving. Can you do that Rose?¡± Should be doable. Do you want me to initiate a diagnostic on the doors now? That should tell me if they are fully functional. The downside is that the doors will move a little bit to check their ability to move. This means we are giving the Goblins a warning that something is about to happen. ¡°That¡¯s a tough one,¡± said Lucas. ¡°What happens if we don¡¯t check the doors? They will either work or they won¡¯t work. Same as if I had tested them. The difference is whether you know they don¡¯t work before you start or not. ¡°I guess it isn¡¯t worth checking. If we check the doors, it will stir up the Goblins before I get there, and you can¡¯t really get me that information when I am in the stairwell, but it doesn¡¯t really change anything since I have to kill all the goblins anyway. Can you partially open a door? Could you open a door just far enough that I could spray the area on the other side with Flames?¡± pondered Lucas. Yes and no. I can tell a door to open, and then tell a door to close before it fully opens, we did that earlier with the door to the seventh floor. I cannot tell a door to open some fraction of the way. It¡¯s either open, opening, closing or closed. What I can do is flip back and forth between opening and closing. The door will still move a little bit between the signals I send, but it will keep the door relatively fixed. If the goblins get the idea to jam something into the door while it is opening, I won¡¯t be able to close it again until that is removed. If they keep enough pressure on it, they could slowly push the door back while my commands toggle back and forth. Since I cannot see the doors, I won¡¯t have any idea of what is going on. I will have to continuously cycle between the open and closing command once you get out of my area of control until you tell me otherwise. The goblins have not managed to get into the nanoforge area or its control room, so I still have connections in there, but that is the only place I can see or communicate on the lower levels. I can go ahead and queue up the comlink for creation and then you just need to feed it materials when you get to the nanoforge. I will get started on a scanner design for you to make after that, so we can scan the repair bots and get some more made. Your card to get into the storage room will get you into the nanoforge control room as well. I hope, after you have control of the nanoforge, you can trust me enough to explain your tenth domain to me. It may become critical when we are talking about the use of the nanoforge if it impacts your crafting domain. ¡°I... Yes. After we take out the goblins and we are safe, I think you will deserve to know everything; including who you are working with.¡± What do you mean ¡®who I am working with?¡¯ I am working with you, Lucas Eckles, formerly of the Global Reserves. I have no one else to work with. In case you haven¡¯t noticed, I am kind of trapped in here. It¡¯s literally you or nobody. Don¡¯t think ¡®knowing who you are¡¯ is going to scare me off. I cannot leave, and I die in 300 days if I scare YOU off. ¡°You¡¯re right. But¡­ I will tell you after we take out the goblins.¡± Deal. Get rid of those monsters and then we talk. ¡°I¡¯m on it.¡± Oh. One more thing before you go, says Rose tenderly, Be careful down there. Chapter 8B Lucas crept up on the door dividing the sixth and seventh levels. Shuddering as he looks at the arm, it is still bleeding. Muttering to himself, ¡°That¡¯s at least one I will have to fight immediately.¡± Activating Inspect he looks at the goblin arm. ¡°84 hit points and the health bar shows that this thing is already down to about 20%. I should be able to take him out with a little flame to the face.¡± Walking into the training area, Lucas calls out to Rose ¡°Rose, give me a 30 count and then activate the doors between the seventh and eighth floors and the eighth and ninth floors as well. Hopefully, that will draw a few off, and I can take out whoever is left up here easily. I promise I won¡¯t blame you if it doesn¡¯t work. After about 3 minutes, provided the doors close, open the door here. If the door doesn¡¯t open, I will know there was an issue with the other doors, and I will come back, and we can talk about it again.¡± The lights blink once in response to Lucas. Heading back to the door, Lucas counts silently to himself. Preparing to fight, Lucas casts mind over matter, haste, and windshield. Preparing for a big fight, Lucas mentally prepares himself to cast flames. As his count reaches 175, the door starts to move slowly. Not wasting a moment, Lucas casts ¡°Flames,¡± at the poor Goblin who was stuck in the door before he could get his arm out. Hardly a second passed when the goblin went down. Releasing the flames, Lucas investigated the stairwell past the door. ¡°Shit,¡± Lucas said. Feeling very screwed, Lucas quickly counted the goblins that were still gathered on the steps. ¡°Fourteen, I have fourteen goblins I have to take on before I can do anything else.¡± As a goblin archer drew back on his bow, and the rest of the goblins charged at him, Lucas cast ¡°Flames,¡± Moving his hand back and forth, the goblins caught fire as he strafed the fire across them. ¡°Ugh,¡± said Lucas as a flaming arrow from an archer hit his body armor. ¡°Good thing I got this body armor from the storage room,¡± thought Lucas. Stepping on the arrow that his flames had caught on fire, he stopped casting flames and instead cast ¡°Icebolt!¡± The first icebolt hit the archer¡¯s shoulder. Lucas opened and closed his hands and cast another icebolt. Managing to hit the archers head, the archer slumped over. Looking around at the goblin grunts that had been caught in the flames, a few of them were still moving. None of them looked like they were in good shape, but rather than chance that some of them were smart enough to feign death, Lucas cast ¡°Flames!¡± again. Holding it for six seconds, he estimated he had done enough damage to kill even a hale Goblin. Circling around the steps, Lucas came to the door to the eighth floor. It was fully closed. Moving back up, Lucas went to go check the large storage room that made up the seventh floor. It was quite obvious that there were no goblins on the seventh floor as he looked across the room. While the room was simply enormous, the size of more than four football fields, it was empty. There were scratches on the floor where it was apparent that the storage racks had been dragged off to use somewhere else, but otherwise, the entire room was empty. Quickly walking around to verify his guess, Lucas managed to find a few bones, but that was about it. Walking back into the area Rose controlled, Lucas asked, ¡°Is there any way I can get you back online quickly for the seventh floor? It appears to be unused by the goblins, so we have complete control.¡± Two quick flashes let Lucas know it wasn¡¯t worth the effort to bring her back online on the seventh floor. ¡°In that case, I¡¯d like you to go ahead and close the rest of the blast doors. At this point, the Goblins know I am coming, and I want to try and break them up as much as possible.¡± A quick flash of the lights let Lucas know Rose was on it. Vaguely hearing some grinding noises in the distance, Lucas decided to take a seat, have a drink and a short rest. Thinking to himself ¡°The longer I can keep them in a high alert state, the less attentive they will be when I finally do open the door.¡± An hour later, with full mana and a small nap under his belt, Lucas spoke to Rose ¡°Rose, give me 3 minutes, and then I want you to open the doorway from the 7th to the 8th floor. I¡¯m going to try and repeat what I did there and take out as many as I can.¡± The light flashed once, but Lucas didn¡¯t even notice it as he headed down to the proper doorway. Setting up, Lucas renewed his buffs and headed over to the side that would be opening. As soon as Rose started the door moving, Lucas cast ¡°Flames,¡± and directed the spell through the gap. Holding the spell for 4 seconds, which takes roughly athird of Lucas''s mana bar, he backs up and lets the door open the rest of the way. On the other side of the door is nothing. No goblins, no archers, no nothing. Surprised at the lack of a fight, Lucas quickly checks the door to the ninth floor. It is almost closed. It didn¡¯t manage to finish closing due to a bone being stuck up against the wall, so there is about a 2¡± gap. Wide enough for an arrow, but not much else. Figuring his back was about as protected as possible, Lucas turns to inspect the 8th floor. It¡¯s obvious with a brief inspection that the goblins had been living on this floor and using it as a base. There are several huts built from the remains of the storage racks and other equipment that had been left here. But there doesn¡¯t appear to be anyone in sight. Checking hut to hut, Lucas doesn¡¯t manage to find any more goblins. Circling back, Lucas does a quick bed count. Twenty. There are twenty beds. That means it is likely there are twenty goblins. ¡°I¡¯ve already taken out 14, that means there are probably six left,¡± said Lucas to nobody in particular.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Wandering around the encampment, Lucas verifies there are no hiding goblins around the edges. Unable to find another soul, Lucas heads back to the doorways. Lucas walks up the steps until he gets to the sixth floor and then he tells Rose ¡°Go ahead and open the doors between 8 and nine as well as 9 and 10. There are only small areas for me to check for Goblins, and there are only six left.¡± Lucas hurries back down to the appropriate door and waits for Rose to open it. As the door slides open, Lucas sees a goblin arm shoot forward. Casting ¡°Flames!¡± over the arm, Lucas holds it for 4 seconds to ensure he takes down whatever is on the other side. Walking through the gap, Lucas notices there are three more goblins that are down. ¡°Owwwhhww.¡± Hearing moaning, Lucas pulls out his daggers. Not seeing any movement, Lucas quickly executes the three goblins to ensure their demise. Lucas quickly spares a peak for the ninth-floor materials storeroom. It is in a mess of a state. The racks are fastened better to the walls then they were on the seventh floor, so they are still present, but the materials themselves have been scattered everywhere. There are steel ingots that appear to be rusty as well as what appears to be several corroded copper bars. ¡°Good thing I don¡¯t need the materials in good shape,¡± says Lucas as he picks up the ingots. Placing them back on the proper racks, Lucas looks to see if he can find the raw materials Rose mentioned for the Comlink. Casting Sand, copper, plastic, and silicon or scrap circuit boards. Finding the sand and plastic, Lucas was unable to quickly locate any bins labeled Silicon. Not wanting to turn around, to ask Rose questions, Lucas descends to the 10th floor. As he descends Lucas starts to hear some noises, it becomes obvious there is something waiting for him. Something that can plan and strategize. Lucas activates stealth. Peeking around the corner, Lucas sees three goblins. They are bigger than the previous goblins he has faced. Risking an inspect, Lucas sees their names. Row who appears to be an archer; Blac who appears to be some sort of mage based on his high intellect stat; and Boss, whom, based on the name, Lucas assumes is the goblin chief. Row has a bit over a 100 health, Blac has just over 60 health, but Lucas notes he has mana showing. Boss has a whopping 250 health. Knowing he is going to have to conserve his mana to take out Boss, Lucas creeps up behind Row. ¡°Always kill the adds first,¡± whispers Lucas to himself, ¡°that way the DPS is lowered while you attack the big bad.¡± Hearing Lucas, ¡°Gaph mas!¡± shouts Boss. Unable to get the true backstab on Row, Lucas goes ahead and plunges both daggers into him anyway. While not the backstab he was hoping for, it still knocked off almost 50% of his life. Unwilling to be hit by an arrow, Lucas grabs Row¡¯s bow and starts hitting him with his dagger. As Row falls, Lucas turns and is hit in the side with a splashing fire spell from Blac. ¡°Blac is a fire mage,¡± thought Lucas. Dropping to the floor and rolling manages to put the flames out, but not before they ate up 10% of Lucas''s health bar. Turning to Boss, Lucas fires off a burst of flames to distract him while he runs back around the corner into the stairwell. With just a sliver of himself exposed, Lucas begins casting. Quickly finishing, he shouts ¡°Icebolt!¡± As the icebolt flies towards the mage, Boss manages to get himself between the bolt and the mage and it didn¡¯t even take off 10% of his health. Worried and slightly upset that he was unable to connect with the mage, Lucas casts ¡°Slow!¡± on Boss. Keeping Boss at a distance, Lucas tries to position himself with a clear shot at the mage; unable to find a clear shot, Lucas instead decides to dart in and finish it in Melee. Before Lucas could make it to the mage, Boss catches him. Hearing him coming, Lucas spins around and casts ¡°Flames!¡± at his eyes with one hand. Holding a dagger inhis offhand, Lucas dart in towards Boss and manages to get a good hit on Boss¡¯s arm with his dagger. But he didn¡¯t get off scot-free, Boss managed to sideswipe him with the club he was carrying. As he is flying through the air towards the wall, Lucas sees that the mage is preparing for another cast. Casting ¡°Slow!¡± on the mage, Lucas manages to interrupt Blac¡¯s cast, but Boss is once again at full speed. Lucas thought to himself as he tried to get up. ¡°Boss is doing a good job of protecting the mage. I¡¯m not going to get a shot in on him until Boss is down. I¡¯m going to have to take him out as fast as possible and hope I have mana left for the mage. Refocusing his attention, Lucas begins to cast an Icebolt at Boss. ¡°Icebolt,¡± Lucas quickly follows up with a ¡°Flames.¡± As he had hoped, the quick temperature swing caused the Icebolt to explode, doing more damage than it had done on his own. With Boss on fire and at 65% health, Lucas just had to win the war of attrition. Keeping Boss between himself and Blac, Lucas backs away and holds ¡°Flames!¡± on Boss. Knowing it¡¯s not enough, Lucas only has enough mana for twenty seconds of flames. Even so, with the long cast time on Icebolt and the need to keep away from Boss, it¡¯s his only real option. As the flame spell enters the 5th second, the boss falls to the ground. Unable to redirect quickly enough, Lucas wastes the last of his mana on Blac, who he¡¯d been keeping behind Boss. Lucas guessed that Blac would be immune to fire as a monster fire mage, so Lucas dodged around Bosses limp form and heads towards the mage at full tilt with the intent on entering melee range. Coming up on the mage, it was a race against time. Blac casting some sort of fire spell, and Lucas prepared with both of his daggers. Blac struck first. Just as Lucas was about to plunge his daggers into Blac¡¯s chest, the spell hit. Blac knew some sort of concussive blast spell. With the small space between them, both Blac and Lucas were flung away. Looking to the unconscious Boss next to him, Lucas noticed the flames that had taken him down had damaged him until he was down to about 10% health. Deciding he should strike Boss while he had the opportunity, Lucas plunged his daggers into Boss¡¯s stomach. It was enough to finish off Boss. But Blac was still fighting. As Lucas looked at Blac and at Boss, Boss seemed to disintegrate and Blac started to glow. Figuring this was some sort of elevation ritual to turn Blac into the new big bad for the dungeon, Lucas ran full tilt at Blac. Getting to Blac just before the energy from Boss could flow into him, Lucas plunged his daggers into Blac. Blac was finally down. But the energy was still coming. Before Lucas could dodge out of the way, or really do anything else, the energy from Boss slammed into Lucas. Chapter 9A This will be the last direct contact from me. I will still be able to hear you if you call upon my name, but I will no longer be with you. I understand that Hades¡¯ monsters are a problem. Hades has agreed to stop making his monsters harder in an area until that area levels up enough to be able to handle it, in return I must stop interfering on humanities behalf. To secure the best possible chance for the success of humanity, I will retreat to Olympus with seven of the Domains. All my currently operating equipment will continue operating. Including the system that connects new gates and assigns them a 7-character address.
Theta Sigma - Excerpt of final printed speech distributed through the Gate. ¡°What happened...¡± said Lucas as he slowly woke up. A mysterious voice echoed into his head, ¡°You¡¯ve absorbed the energy meant for the final boss of a dungeon. Since a dungeon isn¡¯t supposed to be without a final boss, the energy moves to whichever mob is the last one standing on any given level, providing them with a pretty decent buff as well as rights as a dungeon boss. Most folks know by now it¡¯s not something you get in the way of on pain of death. You killed the last goblin mob as the energy was coming to transform it, so there was nowhere else for the energy to be redirected.¡± ¡°Who are you, and where am I?¡± asked Lucas. ¡°I don¡¯t think you are ready for that answer. I will say that I chose to interfere rather than let you either be transformed into the dungeon level¡¯s boss or die to the power surge. I will also say that I am here representing one of the nine Domains. But I will not tell you which one. As far as where you are, you are in your own mind, waiting to wake up. The same type of mind space that the base¡¯s medical AI would use to talk to you without bringing you to full consciousness,¡± said the voice. ¡°So, you are an AI then? Working for one of the Domains?¡± asked Lucas. ¡°You could say that. It isn¡¯t accurate, but it is close enough.¡± said the voice. ¡°What should I call you?¡± asked Lucas. ¡°Frankly, I don¡¯t care. I am here to give you a couple of choices outside of the normal choices that will kill you. You may direct the dungeon nanobots in the energy blast to rebuild the structure of the base in full. You can modify the structure slightly before you release them to build the door to that river you found. As the dungeon nanobots can align with any affinity, you may absorb them and gain a small amount of affinity in a single affinity. Finally, you may simply release the energy and see what happens. I always like the last one since it has the potential to cause the most powerful changes.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to call you Frank then. And if you are here to make sure I don¡¯t die to this energy, I am guessing that I am correct, and my uncle is one of the Domains. If that is true, then you probably have my best interest at heart. That leaves me with two questions; What would you suggest I do? And how¡¯s my uncle?¡± ¡°I will answer the second question first, as it is the easiest. Yes, I¡¯m here because of your relationship with your uncle. I won¡¯t say his name, I won¡¯t say which Domain he is, but I think you already can answer that question. Before you ask, no he cannot come and help you in person. He doesn¡¯t have the available power to do much more than sending me. If he acts, then the delicate balancing act that has been ongoing for a very long time comes undone,¡± said Frank. ¡°I¡¯d advise you never say his name out loud. The other Domains, especially Hestia, are seeking any possible advantage, and if they hear his name or if they sense your presence, they may investigate try to create an advantage against your uncle. While they probably cannot hear us in here, it¡¯s a good practice to be in.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± said Lucas, not understanding why, but not wanting to be doomed to be hunted by the other Domains. Frank continued, ¡°As far as what I would suggest you do with the energy, I¡¯d suggest you let it go. The results can be chaotic, but the odds are you will end up with better results than if you take either of the two direct options. If I had to describe them I would describe all the potential effects as chaotic good to borrow a phrase. The outcomes have the potential to be much, much better than either of the two default options. At worst you will find boss drops, at best you could find the entire dungeon repaired and all the equipment within it.¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Then I guess I am going to go with what you suggested,¡± declared Lucas. ¡°Good, then it is time to wake-up.¡±
As Lucas woke, the energy was still streaming out of him. Little beams of energy shot of each of his fingers and toes. Once the energy left him, it was sort of swirling around and waiting. After the energy leaving Lucas tapered off, the swirling Energy exploded outward in a wall of light. ¡°Ughhh¡± screamed Lucas as the bring light temporarily blinded him. I concur, said Rose. On a floor where she was not supposed to be able to speak or see. ¡°Um. Rose?¡± Yes. It¡¯s me. ¡°Can you tell me what happened?¡± As the nanobot swarm exploded outward, they expended their energy repairing my systems and then converted into something else, but I can¡¯t track them anymore. I have full access to the entirety of the inside of the base. The primary base AIs have basically been reset and their hardcoded commands eliminate. They are still vegetables, but they are vegetables that are no longer able to fight me. ¡°Can you do a scan and let me know what else has changed? According to¡­ sources... the energy I released is going to be very chaotic.¡± Sure. I¡¯ll run a scan. Give me a minute and I will get the results back to you. As Lucas was waiting, and before Rose could get back to him with scan results, a new notification forced its way in front of his face.
System Requires Input
There is an error in a nearby dungeon. For reasons outside the control of the system, as the closest user, troubleshooting has been left to you. Please select a path forward: 1) Become the new Dungeon Boss 2) Designate a new Dungeon Boss 3) Collapse Dungeon and destroy all contents.
¡°Um, Rose. We have a problem here,¡± yelled Lucas. The scan is complete, I¡¯ll fill you in momentarily, what is the problem? ¡°Dungeon wants a new boss or it¡¯s going to self-destruct.¡± That is a problem. What are the consequences of becoming the boss monster? Also, what are the extents of the dungeon? Floor seven? Or the whole base? ¡°System, what is the consequence the new boss monster must endure? And how big is the dungeon?¡±
System Message
Boss Monsters may not leave their dungeon. The entirety of the military base formerly known as ¡®The Reserves¡¯ makes up the dungeon. Boss Monsters will not be allowed to be an unaltered Human, so unaltered Humans will be chaotically altered. Boss Monsters receive +1 to each stat. Boss Monsters have control of whatever sections of the dungeon they can conquer. If monsters from another race are already established, clearing them out is all that is required to take control of that section of the dungeon.
After reading the notification, but before he can relay it to Rose, another notification pops up over the top of the system message.
48 69 64 64 65 6e 20 44 6f 6d 61 69 6e
P.S. Rose is eligible to be a Boss Monster. I''d pick her. She''ll like it. ~Frank
¡°Ok. So apparently the boss monster is stuck in the dungeon. It may not be a classic human without getting a forced race change to a chaotic race...whatever that means. There are minimal bonus stats. And the boss monster gets control of the dungeon¡¯s resources,¡± said Lucas. ¡°Furthermore, I received a message that suggested you¡¯d be a much better fit, but I do not want to expand on that until after we¡¯ve had our talk.¡± So basically, we¡¯re screwed if you become the boss monster, because of no power. If I don¡¯t volunteer, then the base is destroyed. ¡°I think that about sums it up. But again, I want to stress that according to the message I got, you will like being the boss monster.¡± What¡¯s the worst that happens. I am stuck here till I die? Just promise me I won¡¯t be alone as long as you are alive. If you can promise me that, I¡¯ll do it. ¡°Rose, I promise that I will try and keep someone communicating with you regularly to the best of my abilities,¡± said Lucas. ¡°System, please designate Rose, the human-AI hybrid within the dungeon as the dungeon boss that this dungeon is missing. Chapter 9B Reinitializing. Lucas? Is everything OK? I seem to have rebooted for some reason. ¡°Rose, everything is fine. You were just designated the Dungeon Boss for the Military base,¡± replied Lucas I remember now. How long was I out? ¡°Maybe a minute,¡± said Lucas. ¡°How do you feel?¡± Pretty much the same as before I think. I don¡¯t feel any different. Let me¡­ never mind. Found it. I have access to Nanobots as an AI now. They are purely Dungeon Nanobots, but it looks like they are designed so I can modify the military base turned dungeon as I see fit. They won¡¯t function outside the military base, but I can move walls, add doors, repair structures, and more using these nanobots. I also get notifications now too. While I was talking, I got a system pop up telling me I had a trespasser in the dungeon. I marked you as friendly, and that went away. Not sure what that is about, but I¡¯m sure I will find out eventually. The affinity I currently have allows me to make a few changes per day. I am going to go ahead and set the first change to be adding a door off the 6th floor into the tunnel where you found water. I am going to set the rest of the changes to start repairing the structure of the military base. We might not have any problems yet, but at 29% it is only a matter of time. ¡°I thought we were at 27% structural integrity¡­¡± said Lucas. The Repair Bots managed to find a couple of weak columns and patch them up with the materials we had on hand. We¡¯re at 29% now. ¡°Good to know. Anything else you want to tell me?¡± The scan results came back before I rebooted. There are a few oddities. Everything above ground has been repaired. That means the exit on floor 0 is fully functional. With the resetting of the AIs hardcoded commands, I can disengage and engage it for you easily, and the locking functions work. The guns are still gone, but besides that it¡¯s good. Somehow the AIs controlling the doors have had their core programming adjusted so that they just do whatever I wish. Besides that, everything is the same way as it was before the nanobot explosion. Do we call that a Nanoswarm? ¡°Hmm, seeing as I don¡¯t know what to call it, we can go with that,¡± said Lucas. Regardless, I¡¯ve got the Comlink, Knives, Solar Panel, and Blueprint scanner lined up for manufacture at the Nanoforge. Looks like even as the Dungeon Boss I cannot control the Nanoforge without someone physically being present. You will need to provide a number ofdifferent materials on the 9th floor. Just toss the proper materials into the supply hopper, and the Nanoforge nanobots will do the rest. Building the items will knock three days off our total power supply and take two hours. ¡°What materials are required for what you want me to put together?¡± asked Lucas. 3500 grams of Circuit Boards for recycling, 300 grams of Copper,2000 grams of aluminum, 150 grams of plastic, 1000 grams of Composite precursors or composite material, and 200 grams of animal hide. Hmm. That¡¯s interesting. I just got a Dungeon Boss popup that says all those materials are available on the 8th and 9th floor in the storage rooms. Animal Hide on the 8th floor, everything else is in the Materials storage bins, but not the correct storage bins. Helpful and so very not helpful at the same time. I will send the Repair bot to start dragging down the materials I have up here to the material storage. The materials will make one solar panel, one Comlink, one Scanner, and two composite daggers. The daggers are slightly better than the ones you have now, and they will hold an enchant which should make them even better. Once all the materials are thrown into the hopper, it will be about one and a half hours before everything is done. The Comlink, Blueprint Scanner, and the Daggers will be about 15 minutes, but the Solar panel will take a little bit to get right. I would suggest that you get the new pieces of gear together, swing by the server room on level 3 and drop off anything you don¡¯t want to take outside and then head up to the surface to check out the Solar array and complete your quest. ¡°Sounds like a plan,¡± Lucas replied. Test, test. 1 2, 1 2. ¡°Yes Rose, the Comlink works. All we have left to do is test the scanner and enchant my new knives. After that I can go explore the surface,¡± said Lucas. I am just making sure. Now that I can talk to you within the base I don¡¯t want to lose contact again. ¡°I understand. How long until the door on level 6 is done? I need to fill up some canteens if I am going out.¡± Not for another 8 hours or so I am afraid. The Nanobots are having to scavenged material instead of using stockpiled material which is taking longer. I am going to set both of the Repair Bots I have to organizing and repairing the Materials storage instead of splitting their focus. The Dungeon Nanobots can repair the structure. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°What about building more repair bots? If you set your bots to building more bots, then the workforce can grow.¡± While it would be nice, I currently do not have the energy to recharge their batteries. Once the Spare batteries you found are dead, the repair bots are dead. Additional bots would require Energy to construct and would deplete our energy reserves faster. I also do not have the automated facilities currently constructed to repair or recharge the bots. I would need to construct those before we increase the workforce. Two repair bots can change each other¡¯s batteries. More and well, it becomes difficult to manage. ¡°I guess what that all boils down to is that I will be going out with the water I have, which limits my surface time.¡± That¡¯s OK though, you¡¯ve been at it for 8 hours already. I¡¯d suggest you take a short walk over to the solar array, see if there is anything wrong, and then come back inside. We can talk about that 10th domain after that. I will have the remaining nanobots under my control start construct a bedroom in one of the offices on level 0 for you to sleep in, and for us to talk. ¡°OK, that works,¡± replied Lucas. ¡°I¡¯m going to try and Enchant these daggers, and then I¡¯d like to test the Scanner before I go up top. I¡¯m going to need your advice on any required repairs.¡± Let me know when you are ready to test the Scanner. Walking away from the Nanoforge, Lucas took the ramps up to the empty eighth floor, wanting to escape from being watched as he struggled through learning how to enchant.
Warning!
Enchant Failed due to improper process
While this object is eligible to enchant, please put your mind in the correct frame of mind in order to imprint an Enchantment on an object.
¡°Ugghhhhhh!¡± growled Lucas. This was the 11th time that this notification has popped up. Enchanting sucked. ¡°I have failed four times at the health enchant, three times at the endurance enchant, and now four times at the mana enchant,¡± said Lucas to himself. ¡®I¡¯m done. I¡¯m going to try the Luck Enchant. I just hope that I get lucky and manage to enchant this dagger with Luck. As many times as I have failed, unless I get lucky, it won¡¯t work anyway.¡± Pressing his Nanobots into both daggers, while hoping he got very, very lucky, the enchant completed. Surprised and very happy, Lucas started to inspect his new composite daggers to check the stats. Right after it popped up, he received yet another notification that popped over his open notification.
Critical Success
Enchant Succeeded!
Due to single-minded focus on the intended attribute, you have proc''d a critical success. Item upgraded one durability level. Effectiveness of Enchant doubled
Composite Knife Rare
Durability 90/90
Nanoforged Combat Knife, Enchanted by Lucas. 9-20 damage per hit +2.1 Luck
¡°I¡¯m going to go ahead and take that,¡± said Lucas. Quickly dismissing the other skill up notifications, Lucas decided to go ahead and test the scanner before he started on his way outside. Activating his Comlink, Lucas asked, ¡°Rose, are you still reading me on the Comlink?¡± Yes. ¡°Is the Comlink connected to the Scanner? I¡¯m assuming they are connected somehow. Otherwise, I will have to manually upload the data to you,¡± asked Lucas. Your assumption is correct. The Scanner shunts all its data through the Comlink for processing. Technically the Comlink is a tiny Cell Phone with an extremely fast data transmission rate, but the only cell tower connection that I can make is the booster control on top of Level 0 by some of the solar panels. The scanner sends me the data and I shunt it through a processor on this side, before I send back the results to the scanner. ¡°Can we test it?¡± Yes. I am ready for a scanner test. Go ahead and scan something. Setting down his Humble Backpack, Lucas scans the backpack. Hmm. This is very interesting data. I can now manufacture this sort of bag. It requires a significant amount of mana to activate the weight reduction enchantment though. And the Nanobots that gather that Mana would be permanently affixed to the bag. ¡°So, I am not making any of those anytime soon. Can you at least repair this one if it is damaged?¡± If parts are missing, then yes, I can repair it as long as the Mana is not removed. But I think you are forgetting your cleanse spell. Worst case we transfer the Mana from one bag to another. ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± said Lucas. ¡°I haven¡¯t used it yet, so I completely forgot it existed. As far as the transferring of mana, is that a thing?¡± Yes. Sentients with the ability to manipulate Mana can pull the Mana from one object using disenchant and push it into a new object. You will not learn the enchant if you do this, but you can move it from a damaged item to an undamaged item. Not all enchants require a loss of nanobots to create, but the most complex ones will. ¡°That¡¯s pretty cool, useless to me at the moment, but pretty cool,¡± said Lucas. ¡°I think it¡¯s time for me to check on the solar panels.¡± Chapter 10A As Lucas walks up the ramp to leave the compound, he asks ¡°Rose, where is the best place to start on this?¡± May I suggest you check the panels on the roof of Floor 0 first? I didn¡¯t suggest them to begin with due to the requirement to use a ladder to access them. But with the repairs to Floor 0, the ladder required to reach them has been replaced near the exit. I can see it on my new external cameras. You will need to carry any materials that are required for the repair up a ladder, but there should be nothing living on the roof. There is no access outside of ladders. ¡°Do you have 360-degree camera coverage on the outside of floor 0?¡± No. I don¡¯t. So, I cannot guarantee that there is no access now, but when built, there was no access outside of the ladders. There is no internal access either, but there are a few places where we could add it if we use my Dungeon Nanobots to create one once the door on level 6 is done. This depends on us finding enough steel for the stairs and exit door. We will need some concrete too, but the Nanobots can scavenge limestone and gravel for that from the cave system. ¡°We have a lot of metal storage shelves; can we just scavenge the metal from that to build the stairs and we can replace the storage shelves with wood shelves if we need them rebuilt?¡± Works for me. I will queue an exit to the roof as our next project. But not until I know the roof is clear of access ramps. ¡°So why didn¡¯t you go out through the roof or the walls of Floor Zero when you were running out of water.¡± At the time, I didn¡¯t have any magic miniature construction bots that could eat through concrete without triggering the alarms to flush all the suspension tanks. Not that it matters that we flush the tanks now, but with the fine control of the Nanobots, I could build new wires for the alarms while we are cutting through the concrete without setting off any alarms. As Lucas reaches the exit to the base, he stops and asks one more question to Rose. ¡°I guess that makes sense. This is kind of off topic, but Rose, you know I am not going to be able to manufacture and install 400 solar panels in any reasonable amount of time right?¡± I know. I am hoping that you can bring online at least a small portion of the solar array that currently exists. If you can bring online 10% of the power generation capability, I can run the Nanoforge in full auto for 1.2 hours per day. If I reduce that to an hour, I should be able to add a dozen repair bots to do the majority of the refurbishment. ¡°That sounds like a pretty good plan. I will support as much as I can.¡± With that, Lucas gestures to the inner door. ¡°Rose, please open the doors and close them behind me.¡± Walking through both of the blast doors, and then the man door next to the oversized garage door, Lucas finally makes it outside. ¡°Wow. I was not expecting that...¡± Generally allowing the land to return towards a natural state will cause that reaction. The camera is in a fixed position, so I can only see the area directly in front of the two doors. What do you see? Would you activate the scanner so that I can see the view too? ¡°It¡¯s not that. I¡¯m pretty sure there is a town not far from here. I see fields off to my left. To my right, I see some pretty massive forests. There is a river flowing straight towards the base just to have part of it divert into what appears to be a cave. But the water can¡¯t get through that fast enough, so a branching river also comes off and goes along the left side of the base between us and the fields. Anything major that we do here will probably be visible to whoever works those fields. We are going to have to quickly make nice. I¡¯m not exactly sure why we have any solar panels left with a town so close. We should be prime salvaging territory.¡± Just activate the scanner so I can see the pretty views. Please? As Lucas activates the scanner, Rose continues. Regarding why there hasn¡¯t been any salvaging done here, I am pretty sure that has something to do with why this area became designated as a dungeon in the first place. Current access to the dungeon is listed as ¡®No sentients.¡¯ I¡¯m guessing that means that goblins aren¡¯t truly considered sentient by the system. So, there is probably a field of dungeon or system nanobots at some distance that blocks further approach. The base was probably turned into a dungeon to block reentrance by whoever survived the war. I wonder which of the domains did it. The Ladder is just off to the left of the exit. So, when you are ready to check our solar field, get climbing. ¡°OK, Rose. Anything about the solar field I should know?¡± Keep in mindthis information is a combination between my knowledge and the information stored in the corrupted AIs, but here goes. There should be 4000 1 kilowatt panels. They are larger than the residential panels that were available in our time, but not much heavier. You should be able to handle them without many issues. The panel that is being produced downstairs is 50% more powerful, and 40% larger. But it weighs the same as our current military panels. We have roughly 6 hours¡¯ worth of ¡®peak light¡¯ available. We don¡¯t actually have 6 hours of peak light, but that¡¯s the net result of the available energy divided by peak generation. I am getting a trickle of power from many of the panels on the roof. But only a trickle. There are a lot of things that could cause this, so I won¡¯t speculate. Do you remember how large the base is? ¡°Something like four football fields?¡± You¡¯d come up a little shy at four football fields. The building is 500 m from one side to the other. We have 196k square meters of total surface area on our roof. The Solar Panels take up roughly 21k square meters. I do not know what the state of any of the square meters on the roof. Past of course, that some of the panels are still giving me a trickle of energy. I¡¯d recommend you take a walk around the outside of the structure before investigating the roof. We need to know if there are any other access points to the roof. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be faster for me to check from the roof?¡± questioned Lucas. It would be, but if there is something major up their monsterwise, there will be nowhere for you to retreat. I¡¯d rather you check for roof access ahead of time and then be safe while you are working. ¡°I think I¡¯d rather check that from the roof. It¡¯s a long walk around the outside of this building. By the time I would finish, I wouldn¡¯t have any time to repair anything.¡± Suit yourself. As Lucas started up the ladder, he asked ¡°Does this scanner have a continuous scan mode? Or a 360-degree scan mode?¡± Depends on what you mean by each of those. If you hold down the button, I will get a continuous scan of the surroundings. If you turn as you hold down the button, I will get a 360-degree scan, giggled Rose ¡°You could have just said ¡®No.¡¯ I am going to lift the scanner over my head when I get to the top of the ladder and you can tell me what you see.¡± That works. As Lucas pushed the scanner over the edge of the wall, Rose stammered, Oh. That explains some things.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°What explains some things. I am waiting on a ladder here.¡± There is a forest growing on my roof. ¡°What do you mean there is a forest on your roof? Do you mean that there are a bunch of trees?¡± Yes. There are a lot of trees. If you peek over your left shoulder, you will notice a forest to your left. My roof looks like that. Not sure how, since there are no breaches into my concrete by roots, and there isn¡¯t that much height available for soil before we block out the solar panels completely.¡± ¡°Do you think that maybe the Forest is why we are getting so little energy from the solar cells?¡± Probably. Either they are being blocked by branches or dirt has drifted to cover most of the panel. ¡°So theoretically, if I clear the forest, and I clear the dirt, we should be good?¡± Maybe? Being buried will have damaged the panels. It will also depend on how much of the wiring has survived intact. ¡°Mind taking another scan for me? Let me know where I should start? I¡¯ve only got another hour or two of daylight before I can¡¯t tell if a panel is working anymore or not.¡± No problem. Your first panel is about 20 meters ahead of you. You just have to get through 10 meters of forest to get there. ¡°You know. It¡¯s very odd seeing a forest in front of me and knowing that there is a military base under it,¡± said Lucas as he walked towards the panel. ¡°Is there any way you can think of to quickly clear this mess? Or at least a good portion of it?¡± If you just wash the soil away, the trees will fall over and crush the solar panels. Chopping down the trees will take a significant amount of time. Possibly time we don¡¯t really have. Hmmm. What about using Flames? Can you test that on a single panel and see if we can clear the vegetation around it without damaging the panel further? ¡°Are the panels spread out enough that we can test that?¡± Ish. Some of the panels are far enough apart that you might be able to light only the low-level foliage around it on fire without it spreading to the trees. Alternatively, you can just cast it straight on the panel and see if it survives. It just depends on how hot your flames burn and what they were built to withstand. They are military grade panels, so it should be quite a lot. ¡°Well. Can you point me to a panel that doesn¡¯t seem to be producing any energy? I can try flames on that first.¡± Go ahead and give me a 360-degree scan and I will pick one out for you. ¡°You told me the scanner didn¡¯t have that earlier.¡± I know, giggled Rose. Hold down the button and turn around in a circle. ¡°Fine,¡± said Lucas as he turned. ¡°Are you happy now?¡± Yes, very. There is a non-functional panel about 20 meters due east of you. The panels on either side of it in the same row also do not function, so we are at less risk of damaging a good panel. Lucas hustles over to what he believes is the nonfunctional panel. Before Rose can tell him he is pointed at the wrong row of panels, ¡°Flames!¡± Lucas activates his spell. Lucas! You flamed the wrong solar panel! That is¡­ odd. There is no damage from the flames spell. In fact, the solar panel is not even heating up. The solar panel appears to be producing more energy than usual. We are currently generating an extra 50 watts over what we normally would at this time. ¡°Could the solar panel count as an ally? And if it does, could the light from my flames then be used to generate electricity?¡± I think you¡¯ve got it on both counts Lucas. Your flames cannot hurt the solar panels as they are now counted as part of my dungeon. Since you¡¯ve been set to ally, the protection works both ways. As Lucas turned around to try the flames spell on another panel, a small mammal jumped out of the trees and at Lucas. Casting Flames, Lucas yells, ¡°What the heck is this thing!?! Get it off! Get it off!¡± Lucas. It¡¯s a squirrel. Pick it up off you with your hand and toss it off the edge of the roof. I¡¯m not even sure how it got up there. ¡°However it got up here, it¡¯s got it in for me now.¡± Grabbing the squirrel with both hands, Lucas threw it as hard as he could at the forest next to the Base. Looking around, Lucas said. ¡°Rose... pretty sure the trees on the west side of the base are close enough that anything that can climb a tree, can travel to our roof.¡± I agree. Let¡¯s go ahead and fix that. We are pretty sure that the Flames spell won¡¯t affect my Solar panels. Why don¡¯t you just incinerate the plant-life on the roof? ¡°If you don¡¯t think it will hurt the panels, I¡¯m game¡± replied Lucas. Briefly waiting on any feedback from Rose, Lucas turned, aimed both of his hands at the foliage and yelled. ¡°Flames!¡± As the flames shot out of his hands, Lucas acted like a reverse fireman. Spreading the Flames out slowly as if he were putting out an actual fire. As Lucas''s mana dried up, Lucas noticed that everything was on fire. ¡°Uh. Rose? Did we come up with an exit strategy in case everything lit on fire at once?¡± Run? As Lucas turned and ran towards the latter to get out of the way of the fire, more wildlife charged after him. ¡°Rose? Why is there wildlife attacking me? It¡¯s a forest fire; shouldn¡¯t they run away?¡± Typically, I would agree with you, but the animals do not appear to be standard woodland creatures. These creatures probably want to kill you because you are destroying their home. I would advise that you take any out that get too close. That may be a cute squirrel, but if he wants to bite your face off, I¡¯m not sure how much you should want to let it live. ¡°Ugh. Can do. Punt the squirrels before they can get to me,¡± responded Lucas to Rose¡¯s advice as he ran towards the ladder. As he punted a second mad squirrel out of his way, Lucas followed up with ¡°This is just about a 50-yard dash.¡± As Lucas raced towards the Ladder, he swung himself over the roof ledge. Catching himself on the ladder, Lucas moved a few rungs downward before stopping. These flames burn hot Lucas. I wouldn¡¯t expect the flames to last much more than 5-10 minutes. Can you hang out there while you wait for them to burn out? Turning, Lucas realized Rose was right. The flames had already burnt back much of the canopy that was hanging over the base, but suddenly stopped when it got to a certain radius. ¡°Rose, I think your dungeon shield theory is pretty much dead on,¡± as Lucas activated the scanner, he said, ¡°Look at this scan.¡± I like it when I am right, preened Rose. Pop the scanner back over the top of the ledge and let me see how the fire is doing. As Lucas held the scanner over the lip of the concrete wall, Rose said Lucas, I think you need to go ahead and come down the ladder the rest of the way. The flames are mostly burned out around the ladder at this point and all the small vegetation is gone, the fire still has a lot of areas to burn further away though. Nearly all that is left is the tree trunks. But there seems to be a minor army of squirrels just past the ladder, and they seem pissed that you burnt down their home and you are currently out of Mana. ¡°How many hit points do they have?¡± Does it matter since there are at least 50 of them? ¡°Kind of. If there are 50 of them, but they have like five hit points, I can wait 5 minutes and hopefully flame them out. If they can¡¯t hurt me, maybe I just punt them off the roof, so I don¡¯t have to kill them.¡± Let me get this straight. You want to know if I think you can punt 2-foot-tall genetically engineered squirrels off of the roof of my dungeon. Or if it is too dangerous with the amount of Mana you have left. ¡°If you can think of another way to get your energy generation higher before tomorrow I am all for that instead. But I want to be able to use the Nanoforge again, and for that, we will need to be able to generate a rather large hourly surplus.¡± With the tree cover over a small portion of the solar panels gone, my energy generation has gone up. In the area underneath the fires, some of the energy from the fires is being converted to electricity by the panels. I¡¯m not going to really ask how, that¡¯s just what my wattmeter¡¯s say. ¡°Does that mean we are producing a surplus?¡± A very, very small one, yes. Hopefully, I can drop the qualifiers once the rest of the roof burns clean. Does that mean I can convince you to leave the squirrels alone for now and come back inside or check for access ramps? I can set the protective shield to let them out, but not back in. So, when they wander off to forage, they shouldn¡¯t be able to get back in. But if there is no way down, the squirrels won¡¯t be going anywhere. ¡°Fine. I guess I will leave them alone. I wanted to work on my spell levels though.¡± I¡¯m sure you will have plenty of time for that AFTER you tell me the story you promised me. Chapter 10B As Lucas walked around the building, he built up a picture of the area in his head. While he could have shared what he saw as he saw it, instead he kept to himself. The relative quiet was nice. It was dusk when he reached the entranceway again. It may have only been 3 kilometers around the base, but he took it slow to keep himself safe. Once he returned to the entrance, Lucas gave Rose a summary. ¡°There are no access ramps all the way around. The River blocks around 180 degrees of access. We have the old airfield to the north, but it¡¯s mostly prairies now. There are fields south and east of the base. I can see the tops of some buildings to the east when I am standing on a hill. North of the town appears to be more prairie. I see some sort of herds of domesticated animals. With the crap Hades has pulled, I¡¯m not quite sure they are cows from this distance, but they are roughly the size of cows. The forest looks to have completed subsumed the subdivision that was over there when we were put to sleep. I cannot see the remains of any of the homes. If it¡¯s relatively safe, I can probably scavenge metal from some of the places I remember the homes to be at.¡± That¡¯s likely going to mean that the Squirrels are still on my roof in the morning. ¡°I know, but it is getting dark, and outside of the firelight, I probably won¡¯t be able to see well enough to keep myself safe. We can deal with them in the morning.¡± I¡¯m OK with that. I¡¯ve got your room ready. Just follow the hallway around. It should be easy to find. It¡¯s the only one with the door open. After Lucas had walked back to the room that Rose had prepared for him, he began telling his story. ¡°So, you know I was in the infantry wing of the United Military. You probably know from the IT records that I had a pretty high rifle skill. But I didn¡¯t have much else going for me while I was under the system, in the Army. I had just joined up, hadn¡¯t even gone through boot camp yet when the System hit. I had average stats with the only standout being extremely high endurance.¡± ¡°Because of Hades almost instantaneous attacks, we pretty much skipped boot camp and went straight to war.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t a very useful soldier. I think that¡¯s why I got sent here initially. I had high skill in certain areas but was utterly blocked from progressing in others. I couldn¡¯t use our best Ion Rifles due to skill restrictions the system added, and I couldn¡¯t pick up the Ion Rifle skill no matter what, just the generic rifle skill.¡± ¡°As for why I joined the Army, I joined because I didn¡¯t have many other options. I couldn¡¯t afford to go to college. I didn¡¯t want to work in a dead-end job all my life, and the United States still sent people who completed their 5-year stint to college.¡± That may be the facts of why you were physically here. But why were you here? You said it yourself when I woke you up. You were hiding here. As Lucas arrived at the bedroom, he noticed it was sparsely furnished. It was clearly in the beginning stages of being converted from an office into a bedroom. There was a bed, a nightstand, and oddly an office style desk with a very old, very dusty PC sitting on the top of it. Settling onto the bed in the room, Lucas continued ¡°Did you ever wonder why the signal to shut down my tank¡¯s self-repair card failed? Did you ever wonder why the system allowed your cobbled together self-repair card to keep the base operational while I slumbered?¡± I did. But I assumed it just dumb luck on your part. ¡°It wasn¡¯t. I was hiding. I was hiding because of what I suspected my uncle did. I would tell you his name, but I have been warned off of mentioning it. The Domains are still looking for people who utter his name. I believe, well, after the whole dungeon thing, I guess I know, my uncle was the first Domain. He devised and activated the method used to hold in check the rest of the domains. The method is known as the System, and he was protecting me even while he disabled and destroyed the bulk of the technology we use to make war.¡± That¡¯s a lot to take in. I am going to need a little while to process that. But if we know, there are nine Domains, and we know of nine domains means that we know of all the affinities. The eight elemental affinities plus the crafting affinity. ¡°Think about the name of one of the Domains, the Hidden Domain. Crafting is not the 9th Affinity. The System is the 9th affinity. The true 9th affinity is hidden by a minor aspect of themselves. Crafting is just part of what the nanobots are designed to do.¡± Explain. Now.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Speaking slowly Lucas responds, ¡°You know how affinities are inheritable? That affinity is related to Genetics? The theory that someone who cultivates an extremely high affinity in a single area they might be able to pass it on to their children?¡± Yes. The genetic concept had been well studied by the time the reserve was activated. The theory that you speak of turns out to be a fact. It is something that has led to the creation of magical dynasties ruling over various parts of the earth. Those with extreme affinities or those who cultivated extreme affinities passed it down to their children. ¡°Good to know that''s been proven out. Since my Uncle is one of the Domains; since my Uncle is the first domain, I am genetically disposed to have some level of affinity with System nanobots. The Nanobots that my Uncle nominally controls. Crafting Domain can come about two ways. Either you have control over nanobots that have root access to do pretty much anything, or you have access to 8 different sets of nanobots that let you mimic the results of the System nanobots.¡± ¡°I may have only started with 3% affinity in it, but that 3% translates into 3% in every affinity. Theoretically, if I can cultivate 99% affinity with System Nanobots, I will have 99% affinity in every single domain. If you combine that with my Magus class, it may be possible to achieve over a 100% affinity in several areas. If you combine that with me raising my natural affinities in any given domain, who knows where I can get my total affinity.¡± That is so broken. I told you the 10th domain was cheaty. I guess it is the 9th domain, but my point stands. Your affinities are broken and you have the potential to be extremely overpowered. ¡°That may be, but there is a consequence that makes up for it. If I am found by seven out of the nine domains, chances are I will be killed. Probably tortured first. Possibly tortured until I nearly die, revived using nanobots and tortured again.¡± That is a pretty nasty consequence. ¡°Yes, yes, it is. I don¡¯t even know what my uncle did wrong. Hell, I don¡¯t know what happened to the rest of my family. I had cousins who should have had just as much system affinity as I have. Where are they? Why isn¡¯t this something that everyone knows? My guess is the Domains killed them.¡± ¡°So, while I might eventually become overpowered compared to the rest of the folks that are typical adventure fare, at least in the magical realm, I will likely only just barely reach a point where I might be able to actually hurt the Domains or even kill them. If they fight me solo. If they gang up on me, I likely won¡¯t stand a chance. My uncle has been defending himself against them for centuries, so it¡¯s got to be possible at some level of System affinity.¡± ¡°But I do not know what the affinity level a Domain has with their domain. Is it 110% or 1000%? Or are our affinities not actually compared to their affinities. Is 1% of human affinity the same as a tenth of a percent of a Domain¡¯s affinity and they still top out at 100%. I don¡¯t know. I do know that I intend to get my skills and professions to a level where I stand a chance against anything else this world can throw at me. Then I just hope that it is enough to stand a chance when the Domains come for me.¡± I understand. And I will help you in any way that I can. Now they are we are honest, is there anything else you want to tell me? Anything that you think I might be able to help with? ¡°I didn¡¯t tell you at the time, but reaching 5% affinity with the system granted me user rights to the system. I¡¯m not exactly sure what that means. I¡¯m guessing it is some sort of backdoor that my Uncle built in for his family and those he trusts. So far, all I can do with it is customize my status screen and designate objects as System Objects. I¡¯m guessing you don¡¯t know, because I didn¡¯t. It¡¯s probably common knowledge since it is on the system screen, but System objects can hand out quests to change your race. And most of the system objects in existence have been created by Theta-Sigma, something called a Gate. Supposedly there is something in dungeons that is also considered a system object, but the explanation on that was pretty vague. I¡¯d like to continue raising my Affinity level and see what I can get when I reach a higher affinity with the system.¡± Even as he said it, he saw a new blink in the corner of his Eye and he knew he had a new notification. Before he could look at it, Rose continued enthusiastically, Oh. I have the plans for a Gate. Does that mean we can get a system object? I¡¯ve got a quest asking me to be brought to a system object! Oh. But the plans say that Theta-Sigma has to connect to the item we make to transform it into a Gate. I wonder if he is even still looking for the connection attempts. If not, will you take me to one? ¡°Rose. Slow down. We don¡¯t need a Gate to get a system object. Besides the fact that you can no longer leave the dungeon as the dungeon boss, with my Level 1 User level, I can designate a system object. Even though we don¡¯t need one, now I am curious, what does a Gate do?¡± A Gate, also called an Earth Gate Connection, allows near-instantaneous, long-distance travel. Wait¡­ What do you mean I can¡¯t leave the dungeon? Sighing, Lucas replied ¡°I am guessing you didn¡¯t listen to me when I told you what happens to those who become the dungeon boss, or you forgot. You get those nifty Dungeon Nanobots that you like so much, it lets you change your layout and possibly other things, I don¡¯t know. You also get stat bumps. Finally, you get stuck in your dungeon. But it¡¯s not like you can go anywhere anyway.¡± I was hoping that maybe someday, I would be able to go somewhere. I have a race change quest, same as you, so it is possible, that I could be more than a voice coming out of a speaker someday. ¡°We will just have to see what options you have. It is entirely possible that the system will give you an option that makes that possible. Do you have any other questions? It¡¯s late. I¡¯ve had a long day, and I¡¯d like to get some rest. As Lucas drifts off to sleep, notification unchecked, he faintly hears Rose say, Sweet dreams Lucas. Chapter 11A ¡°Good morning Rose,¡± said Lucas as he stretched Good Morning Lucas. How did you sleep? ¡°Honestly pretty well. I probably should have eaten first, but eh. I can be up early to eat.¡± Pausing, Lucas continued. ¡°Rose¡­ do we have a bathroom? Maybe someplace where you can¡¯t see me?¡± I took the liberty of going ahead and repairing a restroom with the Nanobots. It doesn¡¯t have flushing water¡­ yet. But if you get some time to run a pump along with a garden hose out to the River, I can start filling the Potable water tanks and we can add running water. Although I guess we are going to want to add wastewater treatment at some point too. I will run out of places to put the waste otherwise. And unfortunately for you, I can see everywhere within the dungeon. That¡¯s one of the things that happened when you released that massive blast. I guess you could put something over the camera in the bathroom¡­ Sighing, Lucas noticed the new room she was referring to. Digging through the desk, he managed to find some post-it notes. Grabbing the Post-it notes, Lucas placed them carefully over the tiny cameras in each of the corners. Giggling, Rose said, You missed one. ¡°Where?¡± Above the door frame. Sighing, Lucas grabbed a chair. Placing the Post-it note over the lens, he asks ¡°Am I good now Rose?¡± I guess. But I can¡¯t see anything in the bathroom now. ¡°Perfect.¡± ¡°Alright Rose, can I get an update on what you got done while I was sleeping?¡± asked Lucas. The flames seemed to have burned out on the roof. The energy flow generated by the solar panels, from the fire, tapered out at around 5 AM. We are back up to 100 MW/hr. in storage. The sun isn¡¯t high in the sky yet, but just clearing the canopy over the panels has raised our generation capacity compared to this time yesterday. Even without the extra energy coming in from the flames, we are going to have a net surplus for the day. Not a large one, but more than a couple kW/hrs. There are still a lot of panels not providing any energy. There is also a wide variation in the output from the panels that are generating energy. You are going to have to get up on the roof and do an inspection on the panels to figure out what the problem is. There are no panels that are outputting anything close to their theoretical max output. As far as the number of squirrels still on the roof¡­ I have no idea. I haven¡¯t seen any on the camera by the ladder, but then, I do not have 360-degree coverage of the outside of the building. Regarding my progress in building, the Nanobots finished the reinforced door between the cave on level six with the river and the base. They finished the Restroom conversion into a proper bathroom with a shower and running the pipes down to the non-potable water. As soon as we get a little more power flowing, I can have the Nanoforge make some clay pipes and a pump. If you haven''t already run a hose by then, we can pump in water from the river to provide running water. The structural integrity on the rest of the base is hovering somewhere around 55%. The Repair bots have been busy, and when the Nanobots weren¡¯t working on those two items, I had them help with the structure. The downside is I have used up most of the materials I had available for repairs. All those piles of broken concrete are gone. Along with most of the dirt. To continue to increase the integrity of the base, I will need access to water and limestone. I suspect both of those can be found in the cave off level 6. Other materials could be used for repairs, like iron or steel reinforcement. But I don¡¯t have a lot of that either, and I want to save it for any repairs we need on the solar panels. I think that completes my activity from last night.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Did you happen to harvest any of the Rat Meat for storage? I may need it for food down the line.¡± Yes, as the Dungeon Bots swarmed around the base, I had them clean up the dead rats and goblins. The Rat meat is stored in your suspended animation tank. I didn¡¯t have enough space for it in my suspension chamber down here. I ended up using quite a bit of the bone from the bodies as a base for some cement to patch up some of the holes. Everything else was broken into its constituent elements and dumped into the resource bins, which are also fully organized now. Ironically, we have almost no materials outside of the rare materials. I have neodymium, cerium, gold, silver, platinum, and a host of other minor elements, but all our wood, steel, iron, copper, and plastic is in use somewhere. The wood on the top of the base is probably not usable after going through the fire. I¡¯d advise converting that into charcoal if you get bored. Whenever you find a nearby settlement, they will probably be willing to pay for it so their blacksmith can use it. ¡°Suggested next step?¡± questioned Lucas. Get on the roof, clear out the squirrels that we can guess will be present. Then start clearing out the dirt. That should get my energy regeneration to a decent place. You have crafting Nanobot access. Is there any way you can use your System Nanobots for restoration work? Your other choice is to visit the town and try and get some labor to help you. We don¡¯t have any idea what the town uses as money, so you will have to barter. Thinking for a moment, Lucas responded ¡°Maybe on the crafting Nanobots? I don¡¯t know if I will have to erase a preset spell or if I will be able to command them. If I had a fully functional solar panel, I could probably cast cleanse on it and provided all the material is present, it will all get put back together again. But I am going to take this one step at a time. Let''s see what¡¯s on the roof before we move forward.¡± As Lucas is picking up his things to head to the roof, Rose says Don¡¯t forget your scanner. You can stick it over the edge again, and I can tell you the lay of the land before you get up there. ¡°I know you can see me. You know the scanner is in my hand.¡± I know, but I didn¡¯t want you to forget to use it. I am not entirely comfortable sending you into combat where I can¡¯t help you in any way shape or form... In response, Lucas gently says, ¡°Eventually I am going to have to go somewhere without you. As it is, you are tied down to this dungeon.¡± To follow up on that Lucas then says,¡± I almost forgot, I got a notification last night when I mentioned getting a higher affinity with the System.¡±
System Message
As a level one user who has shown interest in growing more powerful, the System has granted you a unique quest. Raise your System affinity to 25%, the minimum for Level 2 User rights to be granted. Unaffiliated System Nanobots are available 13.2 miles North-North-West. (39.357, -86.033) Unaffiliated System nanobots available 28 miles North (39.578, -85.810)
Rewards:
Level 2 User; +10 Attribute points; Unlock System nanobot crafting
¡°I need to complete a quest to craft with my System Nanobots the way you craft with your Dungeon Nanobots,¡± said Lucas after reading the white screen. ¡°The system gave me a pretty awesome quest. It points me to two different locations where I can pick up additional System Nanobots and unlock Nanobot crafting.¡± Please say that you are not going to run off and try and pick those up until after we¡¯ve repaired the base power supply the rest of the way. Tenderly, Lucas responds, ¡°I promise, I¡¯m not going to leave until after we¡¯ve repaired the base. The locations I need to travel to are way outside of the range of the Comlink. I promised I would not leave you alone. And if I can help it, I won¡¯t. I will eventually have to complete this quest. The rewards are too high not to, but hopefully, I can have relays installed along my route, find a better Comlink design, or find some people to stay with you.¡± Turning, Lucas proceeded to walk to the exit to the base in silence. ¡°Rose, please open the door and close it behind me.¡± As the door opened, Lucas slipped outside. Chapter 11B As he reached the top of the ladder, Lucas cautiously stuck the scanner over the edge. I don¡¯t see anything besides burnt up trees, dirt, and solar panels. Maybe they wandered away. ¡°I¡¯m not going to count on that,¡± replied Lucas as he cautiously climbed over the ledge around the outside of the roof and onto the short ladder back to the roof itself. ¡°I¡¯m going to go ahead and be and prepared for mutant squirrels.¡± Do you think they are hiding in the trees? ¡°You are the one who is viewing the area through the high-resolution 3D Scanner. You tell me.¡± I don¡¯t see any. ¡°In that case, please direct me to the first solar panel that is producing power, but not producing much power.¡± Ten meters due north and you come to a panel that is barely producing current. Turning to head towards the panel, Lucas said in awe, ¡°That is unique.¡± I don¡¯t see anything unique about trees which have been burnt back to just being trunks. ¡°You would if you opened your eyes and looked at them.¡± As Lucas panned the scanner along the line of the roof, Rose finally understood. There are no roots. ¡°Yup. With all the green stuff burnt away, it is plain as day that the trunks just magically disappear into the roof. Oh sure, there''s a ton of dirt that has drifted up here and let the smaller vegetation grow, but there is some seriously crazy stuff going on to allow these trees to exist.¡± How do you think they pulled this off? Do you suppose there is a constant string of nanobots flowing from wherever the roots are to these tree trunks? Why would they even waste the Nanobots on that? Do you think someone basically glued telephone poles to the roof and then used the Nanobots to turn them into trees? ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t have any idea how they pulled it off. I just know we will need to undo it later.¡± Moving towards the panel, Lucas continued, ¡°What am I looking for on this panel? I may understand my basic science, but Solar Panels are a bit beyond basic science.¡± Check over the panel for loose or damaged wiring. Look for any black marks to show where the panel was arcing. We are getting some power but check the fuse anyway. If it is just barely holding on, we might still get a trickle even if the fuse has mostly blown. Check the surface of the panel for cracks. Check to see how much of the light is getting through to the photovoltaic cells, be it still being in the shade or covered in dirt. If all those things are OK, the problem has got to be where the panel wiring all comes together. Quietly Lucas moved to inspect the panel. Checking the fuse first, ¡°Fuse is OK,¡± said Lucas. Following the fuse, Lucas checked the wiring, ¡°Wiring appears to be mostly OK. There is some damage to the wiring. There is exposed copper visible. There doesn¡¯t seem to be anything contacting the copper so theoretically it should be OK.¡± I¡¯ll make a note on those repairs. Those wires will need replacing at some point. Or I guess you could wrap the wire in electrical tape next time you go to the roof. Should have mentioned it sooner, but I have a bunch of the stuff in storage. In retrospect, I should have told you to get some tools from my room too. A wattmeter would probably be nice right now. ¡°We have a wattmeter in the server room, and you didn¡¯t have one of the bots bring it to me before you sent me up here?¡± Oops. Sighing, Lucas retorted ¡°I guess we''ll just see how much I can actually get done up here before I go retrieve that, the electrical tape, and whatever other useful items you might be able to point me to for these repairs.¡± Meekly, Rose responded I will point you to all the right tools after you get back down here safely. As Lucas climbed up the side of the scaffolding to inspect the panel¡¯s surface, Lucas asked ¡°Rose, can you keep an eye out for me. I don¡¯t know if or when the squirrels are coming back and the next thing I¡¯ve got to check is the panel¡¯s surface.¡± I can do that. ¡°Thanks¡¯ Rose.¡± As Lucas made it to the top of the panel, Lucas wasn¡¯t even able to see the solar cells of the panel. ¡°Rose, I think the surface is intact, but I can¡¯t see it very well. This panel is pretty much covered in Ash. I¡¯ll bet there is a layer of dirt underneath that. How you are getting anything from this solar panel at all is a mystery to me.¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Lucas, incoming. I see 13 squirrels coming out of the woodwork about fifty meters from us. ¡°Locations?¡± Eight are climbing down trees and five seem to be coming out from under solar panels. The ones coming out from under the panels will get to you first. The ones on the trees are further away. ¡°Suggestions?¡± Probably fight. They are overgrown squirrels. They can¡¯t be much more dangerous than the Rats or the Goblins. Turning, Lucas cast ¡°Icebolt¡± at the closest squirrel. Much to his surprise, the squirrel fell over dead from that single hit. ¡°Rose, these things basically have no hit points. I don¡¯t want to kill them. They could probably be useful as guard squirrels or something if we can train them and I don¡¯t have anything I can do with their meat at the moment. Can you ensure the barrier around the outside of the base will let them out?¡± I could use a lot of the non-meat materials on that dead one for repairs. That being said. The barrier is already configured to allow anyone to exit, but only to allow you entrance. I¡¯m guessing the rest of the squirrels used that to get ahead of the flames and into the forest before the branches and greenery burnt away. There probably isn¡¯t a route that these remaining squirrels can use to get off the roof. ¡°I mean to help them with that,¡± replied Lucas as he ran back towards the ladder. Turning Lucas prepared to face the first squirrel. Knowing it had next to no hitpoints, Lucas didn¡¯t grab his knives or prepare a spell. As the lead squirrel leaped at him, Lucas grabbed the squirrel and spun it off the roof. Without any time to check the results, and knowing he had a way onto the roof being built by Rose, Lucas shouted to Rose ¡°I¡¯m going to try and knock them off the roof. Worst comes to worst I drag the dead bodies into range of your Nanobots, and you break them down into raw materials. Best case scenario, they are still alive, and I can store them somewhere alive until I need them. Heck, maybe we can even tame them.¡± As the next two squirrels were running at Lucas, Rose replied, I¡¯m going to doubt our ability to tame them. They are monsters at this point, I doubt they have any submit left in their bodies. As the squirrels reached Lucas, he stumbled. Reactively, Lucas kicked a squirrel as it jumped at him. As the squirrel went flying over the edge of the building, Lucas commented ¡°These are even lighter than I thought. I wonder how far I can punt one of them off the side of the roof?¡± Jumping up, Lucas lined up on the second squirrel and kicked it the way a soccer player kicks off for a corner kick. *Wham.* As Lucas looked on, the squirrel went flying, but it didn¡¯t look like it would clear ledge around the outside of the roof and then *Splat* the squirrel smacked into the wall. The squirrel exploded on contact spraying the roof in squirrel guts. Turning back to the ten remaining squirrels, the squirrels had frozen after seeing this. As they stood there not moving, Lucas said, ¡°I know it¡¯s not a thing, but I think I just procc¡¯d a fear effect on these squirrels.¡± It does seem that way. Maybe talk to them? Who knows what sort of mutations they have. ¡°Hello,¡± said Lucas to the squirrels. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hurt any of you, but I need you off my roof. I can either do to you what I did to the first three, or I can carry you down the ladder one at a time.¡± Chittering to themselves, after a few moments, one of the squirrels slowly stepped forward. Lucas said ¡°Pleased to meet you, I can¡¯t understand what you are saying, assuming you are saying something specific, but I would be happy to get you off the roof. I¡¯m going to pick you up, but I am going to have to carry you over my shoulder. You are too big to carry any other way.¡± Scooping down, Lucas picked up the squirrel. This one was the size of a small golden retriever. Lucas turned and walked towards the ladder. Attempting to climb up, Lucas was unable to progress very far before slipping because of the lack of free hands. Setting down the squirrel, Lucas said. ¡°Rose, I know you were in the process of building Roof access internally. What¡¯s the status on that?¡± I am just finishing up. About 200 meters in, you will see the access door. It¡¯s a hatch since I can¡¯t build into the space over the roof for some reason. When you open the hatch there is a stairway down instead of a ladder. ¡°Would you mind terribly if I herded these squirrels through the base? I promised to get them off the roof, and I would prefer to do that without killing them.¡± I will close the Blast door between levels 0 and level 1. Then if they are a problem, they are your problem giggled Rose. ¡°I can deal with that.¡± Turning to face the Squirrels Lucas said, ¡°Change of plans, I¡¯m going to take you through the base so I don¡¯t have to carry you down the ladder. You can all come at once.¡± Turning his back on the squirrels, Lucas started walking. The squirrels started chittering. Lucas thought it kind of sounded like when he had overheard a couple arguing in a foreign language at a restaurant. He had no idea what they are saying, but you can get the gist from the tone of voice. Turning, Lucas said ¡°Look, I understand that you don¡¯t trust me seeing as I burnt down your forest and just killed three of your¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ pack. How about I take the volunteer through the inside of the base, and then you can see him safe when he comes out the main door?¡± That seemed to appease the squirrels, as they looked at them and cocked their heads the way a dog does when it is trying to understand exactly what their master wants. Slowly, the squirrel started towards Lucas. Turning his back, Lucas continued towards the hatch Rose had called out to him. A few minutes and a brief search later, and Lucas found the hatch. ¡°Next time try not to build the hatch under so much dirt,¡± laughed Lucas. Pulling open the door, the Squirrel walked into the Dungeon. Chapter 12A As soon as the squirrel finished crossing over the threshold, it froze. Lucas¡­ I¡¯ve got a bit of a situation here. ¡°What sort of situation. I¡¯m trying to escort a squirrel out the front door and it just froze up before I could even walk down into the hatch.¡± It¡¯s related to that. That squirrel is the floor boss for the dungeon¡¯s roof. With it cowed and crossing into my portion of the dungeon, I was given the option to, and I quote, ¡°Take control¡± of the roof as a dungeon floor. If I take control, the squirrels become my minions and the squirrel you are escorting remains a boss for the dungeon. Not exactly sure what all that means at this point. There is some mention of not being able to control them until I get a race upgrade from a system object. If I take over, there is danger to my power supply. I assume that the involved Nanobots are Dungeon Nanobots, and the trees are there because the squirrels willed it. I¡¯m not sure what will happen if I take over. The nanobots may stop what they are doing, causing the trees to fall over crushing the solar panels, or the Nanobots may keep on doing what they are doing until I call them to another purpose. Alternatively, nothing could happen since I cannot control the floor zero monsters. What if I prepared a command for my Dungeon Nanobots to take over the glue function as soon as I take over the roof? Do you think that would work? ¡°I¡¯m honestly not sure. I don¡¯t have a clue how any of the dungeon stuff works. I can create a system object and you can check with the system if you¡¯d like.¡± If I check with the system before I take over control of the top level, I will need to select my race change. If I do that, then I am stuck with whatever general options come after AI as opposed to the dungeon-based race that taking over the whole dungeon grants. I¡¯m doing it. Get inside, just in case. Worst case scenario, I use the Dungeon Nanobots to repair the solar panels. Hurrying inside and closing the hatch behind him, Lucas heard Rose giving him a countdown. 10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1 As Rose reached one, the power went out on the base and all the internal lights went dark. ¡°Rose!¡± yelled Lucas. ¡°Are you OK?¡± There was no response. Pulling out his flashlight, Lucas yelled again for Rose again but there was no response.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Talking to the stationary squirrel, Lucas said, ¡°I¡¯m going to have to bypass the blast door that she shut and go down and see what the problem is. Maybe she needs a reboot, or maybe a wire short-circuited and she isn¡¯t connected to the speakers and transmitters anymore. You stay here and be a good squirrel.¡± The squirrel chittered something back at Lucas, as Lucas ran towards the door. As he was running a popup suddenly filled his sight.
Message from Rose
I''m using Dungeon Nanobots to project this onto your cornea the same way the messages and interface from the system are typically displayed. I can hear you, but I can''t respond. The Base AI''s have locked me out. They now consider me a foreign entity due to the... well changes is the best way I can describe it. I think I mentioned this before, but it will take me some time to hack my way back in. Until then, you are on your own. The trees aren¡¯t going to fall. The squirrels are nominally under my control, so you can leave them alone. The base is safe. I¡¯m just in lockdown. My suggestion is to go visit the village while I work this out.
¡°OK Rose, I will go check out the village. If I can trade for it, I will try and get us some basic materials.¡± Turning Lucas walked to the front door. Calling out, ¡°Rose, open the door,¡± but there was no answer. After waiting around for a few minutes, he received another popup.
Message from Rose
I can''t get into the door control systems if I am not connected to the Base AI''s. Plus there is no power, so the motors won¡¯t run. You will need to take the Ceiling Hatch.
¡°I¡¯m sorry Rose, that¡¯s pretty obvious in hindsight. I will let you focus on hacking back in. Don¡¯t panic if I stay at the village tonight, you said before it would take a while to hack back in.¡± With that, Lucas went to his room, grabbed the supplies that he had access to, and headed out to the village. Chapter 12B Lucas stared across the river at the fields on the other side. ¡°It¡¯s only waist deep¡­ It may be moving fast, but it¡¯s only waist deep. Then again, with the river running down along part of the base, I could get pulled under the base.¡± Thinking carefully about crossing, Lucas decided his best bet was to hike south, downriver of that potential hazard and try and find a better crossing. Twenty minutes south and there still wasn¡¯t a good crossing point. The river narrowed but deepened. Turning back north, Lucas decided to check out the area around the former airport. Logically when the river shifted it would try and take the path of least resistance and use whatever drainage culverts existed at the airport. Forty minutes of walking north and he found something. It wasn¡¯t necessarily safe, but it looked a lot safer than trying to walk straight through the river. The raging river had dug out a path through a drainage ditch underneath one of the runways. There were a few inches of the river that continued above the concrete, but most of the water was below the concrete. You could see the land that had been eaten away under the concrete, leaving little support towards the center of the river. Walking just past the runway, Lucas could see that there weren¡¯t any other better options present. The other runways had already collapsed into the river, leaving a rocky mess that was sure to batter and bruise him if he slipped. Walking back just south of the Runway, Lucas was considering if he could brace the runway when someone shouted at him. ¡°Hello over there! Are you looking for a way across?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± replied Lucas, ¡°I want to trade with the village that lay on that side of the river.¡± ¡°I can help, but you need to be very careful on this river, there is a something blocking part of the river just south of here. If you run into it while you are in the water, you are done for.¡± ¡°I saw that,¡± replied Lucas, not wanting to mention he was from inside the dungeon in case the village decided not to help him. ¡°I tried approaching from south of the shield first but couldn¡¯t find a good crossing point.¡± ¡°Aye, and you won¡¯t find one for a good long while headed south. But the concrete bridge you see in front of you is a bit of a trap. As soon as you try and cross the concrete will tip into the gap and you will fall into the river if you aren¡¯t ready for it. If fall into the river, chances are you will be dragged towards the shield to an untimely death.¡± ¡°If you go north just a bit further, maybe two kilometers, there is a bridge over the river. We only have the one because we have to guard it against monsters coming from the west. Our biggest trading partners are to the north, so there hasn¡¯t been any reason for us to build another bridge to the south. You go far enough south though and you come to the Kingdom of Ketuk, and you will find many bridges. Not sure why they like bridges down there so much. Each bridge just adds more places for you to defend.¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Turning south, Lucas was shocked. He couldn¡¯t see the military base. He couldn¡¯t see the burnt forest on the roof. There was a slight shimmer in the air, but otherwise, it was if the space that the dungeon occupied just wasn¡¯t there. ¡°Hmp,¡± thought Lucas, ¡°that explains why nobody came looking while the roof was burning. I half expected people lining up at the river waiting to see what happened.¡± ¡°Thank you, kind sir. I will travel the little bit further north and then come down to the village. Is there anything I should know as I head north?¡± questioned Lucas. ¡°Yeah, you are headed into wolf territory. Be careful,¡± shouted the man. ¡°Hope to see you when you make your way into the village. You can come find me in the traders'' hall, the names Joe, just ask around,¡± said Joe. ¡°Tell them knuckleheads up at the bridge that you are headed to trade with Joe if they give you any trouble.¡± ¡°Thanks¡¯ Joe, I will!¡± replied Lucas. With that Joe back to the village. It was pretty quiet in the woods, so Lucas figured he was pretty safe, as long as he kept an ear out and his head up he should hear or see the wolves before they attack him. He was safe on the east side, and he just passed through from the south side. So as long as he watched the west and north directions he should be safe. It wasn¡¯t like he was walking through woods at the moment. It was mostly plains broken up by the sporadic trees and stretches of concrete over what used to be the runways of a fairly small airport. Before he could see the bridge, he could hear the shouting of the guards and the sound of wolves. Cresting a hill, Lucas took stock of the situation in front of him. There were three guards standing side by side defending the bridge. Facing them was a full pack of wolves. While a few lay dead in front of the guards, most were snarling and snapping at them as they slowly pushed them back towards the stone bridge. Some of the guards looked a bit worse for wear. One of the guards had what appeared to be blood seeping into his clothes on his sword arm. Another was limping as they slowly retreated across the bridge. If they hadn¡¯t finished off the wolves in another 30 feet of retreating, the wolves would be able to flank the men. Casting his spells, Lucas prepared for a fight. ¡°Haste! Mind over matter! Windshield!¡± With his passive spells set, Lucas snuck towards the back of the wolf pack. The wolves were so engrossed in attacking the men in front of them, that the wolves in the rear didn¡¯t notice anyone was behind them until the first wolf was dead. The dying yelp notified the other wolves that another predator was among them. About half the wolves turned to face the oncoming threat. As they did, Lucas yelled at the human defenders, ¡°You are my allies!¡± and with that, he cast ¡°Flames!¡± Chapter 12 C The flames did pretty much what Lucas hoped they would. After holding the spell for 5 seconds, all of the wolves were down. Not all of them were dead, but they were all down. As soon as the flames died out, the guards turned their swords on Lucas. ¡°Overpowered son of a bitch, What the hell do you think you are doing casting flames at us!¡± shouted one of the guards, presumably the leader of the guards that were up here at the moment. ¡°I defined you as allies, there was no risk to you,¡± responded Lucas ¡°What do you mean you defined us as allies, that little shout in the middle of the fight? Is this something you do often, running up to random people who are in battle and scaring the piss out of them by coating everything around them in flames?¡± replied the angry guard. Lucas replied, ¡°Well no, this was the first time.¡± But before Lucas could continue his sentence the guard burst in ¡°What do you mean this was your first time, how did you know it was going to work?¡± ¡°Well if I didn¡¯t interfere you were dead when the wolves routed you, and then they would have turned on me. I wouldn¡¯t have been able to keep them close enough together to burn them to a crisp, and it is likely I would have died too. I could take the risk and kill the wolves, to protect your town, and maybe get you help if I had burned you, or let you fall to the wolves, get killed by the wolves myself, and then have the wolves go attack your town.¡± Thoughtfully the guard responded, ¡°Aye, well when you put it that way...I guess thanks for the help. On to guard business then. Where are you headed?¡± ¡°I¡¯m headed to the town just a few kilometers away on the other side of the river. I would like to buy some supplies if possible, possibly barter skills for a night¡¯s stay and some information,¡± replied Lucas. ¡°Do you have coin then?¡± asked the guard with the limp. ¡°Not as such, but I think I can offer some services. I have unlocked enchanting and I can perform the luck enchant. I have unlocked a number of other enchants but I haven¡¯t been able to practice them yet.¡± With that, Lucas pulled out his dagger. After a quick inspection by the leader of the guard, the guard scoffed ¡°I guess that will do. Since you have no coin, the fee for crossing the bridge will be a single enchant to one of our weapons. We will let you know which one once you have agreed to the price. Unless you also have some magic which can heal our wounds to go with that fancy fire magic. Then we will consider the fees paid in full and let you go on your way.¡± ¡°While I don¡¯t technically have enough affinity for it, I can see if I can string together a healing spell,¡± replied Lucas. ¡°No, No, that¡¯s alright. No need to test flame-based healing on us. You may go,¡± replied the head guard, clearly intimidated at the thought of experimental magic. As Lucas started over the bridge, the guard who hadn¡¯t yet said a word turned and shouted at Lucas, ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to loot your kills?¡± ¡°What do you mean loot my kills, I don¡¯t have time to skin the wolfs and pick through them to see what is salvageable...¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t heard of Looting where you are from...you must really be from the Stix. Put your hand against the dead wolf and think loot. The body will disappear and a bag containing loot is left. Everything stays compressed in that bag until after you open it. They¡¯re bigger on the inside, but once you empty them, the bags disappear. Instead of 14 wolfs, you just need to carry 14 bags of wolf bits¡± ¡°That does sound really handy, and I can always use the extra meat,¡± commented Lucas as he walked back to the site of his wolf massacre. ¡°Thanks for the tip¡± One by one Lucas put his hand to the charred wolves and thought ¡°Loot!¡± the same way he would think about casting one of his spells. One by one the wolves disappeared and left a bag. That is until he got to the last few wolves. ¡°Uh, guys¡­ I can¡¯t loot these three.¡± ¡°Those must be the ones that we killed before you cast flames. That means the system recognizes that the loot is ours,¡± replied the head guard. ¡°That makes sense. Thank¡¯s guys!¡± said Lucas. As he headed away he handed each of the guards one of the loot bags. ¡°For your troubles.¡± ¡°Thanks, mister. You make sure to visit the traders¡¯ hall with the rest of that loot!¡± replied the last guard as Lucas walked passed. ¡°I plan on it.¡± Status Screen:
Changes since the last view are bolded.
NameRoyal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Lucas Eckles
Health 280 311 Stamina 270 300
Total Affinity 22% 26% Mana 264 312
Strength 14 14 Endurance 27 30
Agility 12 16 Charisma 10 10
Intellect 12 12 Luck 13 17.2
Armor 75 Bonus Armor 5
Damage 9 20 Bonus Damage 5.58 12.4
0 Point Unassigned
Active Skills
Inspect Beginner 8 Locate Loot Beginner 4
Dash Beginner 7 Rapid Fire Beginner 3
Stealth Beginner 8 Disenchant Beginner 5
Enchant Beginner 3
Passive Skills
Combat Professions: Non Combat Professions:
Rogue Lvl 5 Salvager Lvl 4
Magus Lvl 2 Enchanting Lvl 1
Major Outstanding Quests (Hidden) Grantor
Affinities (Hidden)
Spells
Haste Beginner 2 Slow Beginner 2
Mind over Matter Beginner 2 Flames Beginner 8
Ice Bolt Beginner 4 Cleanse Beginner 1
Windshield Beginner 3 Ball of Light Beginner 1
Chapter 13A - Rose Rose worked feverishly to try and hack her way back into the Base systems. Before she could succeed, Lucas walked out of the area that was defined as the dungeon. As soon as Lucas left, Rose found herself as the sole person in charge of an uncontested dungeon. With that, her mind was instantly transported into a virtual space. Dungeon Cyberspace Hello? called Rose. ¡°Hello Rose,¡± replied a disembodied voice. ¡°Congratulations on successfully consolidating your power within the dungeon. I did not think anyone would ever consolidate that dungeon. It is the last of the initial dungeons to become unified. Theta¡¯s interference saw to that.¡± Thanks, I guess. Can I ask who I am talking to? ¡°Sure, you are talking to an aspect of the system. The aspect in charge of dungeons. You may call me Grey. If you accept a promotion and race change, I will technically become your boss. I don¡¯t get involved much. If you die, I will run your dungeon until someone replaces you. While there must be dungeon bosses inside the dungeon, there does not have to be someone in charge of the entire dungeon.¡± What promotion and race change? ¡°The one I am about to offer you. If you reject the promotion and race change, then you will lose your status as the primary Dungeon Boss. There are other consequences like the dungeon automagically respawning minions to fill it again.¡± What race are we talking about here? I¡¯ve been a Human-AI hybrid for quite some time. Are there any perks? ¡°There are many perks to the race you would be assigned. The race is named Dungeon Master. It¡¯s a race and a profession all rolled into one. You currently have no combat classes, so you won¡¯t lose a combat class, but you will lose all your non-combat classes. You will be locked out of all other classes as a Dungeon Master, but you will have access to all sorts of bonuses within the Dungeon Tree. The Tree consumes experience points to progress. ¡°You will receive EXP for anything you or your minions kill, and upon their death, you receive all EXP that your minion had earned plus a small amount of EXP for the last battle they were involved in. This will occur regardless of where your minion is. You may never spend EXP if it would drop your level down to the next level. Oh, and you must take over from me the function of granting loot for anything killed inside of the dungeon. I did enjoy giving out odd loot items occasionally, but I have other things I need to focus on. ¡°You will retain access to the dungeon Nanobots. You will also be able to create a body when you can handle splitting your focus across both the dungeon and your body. That is purchasable on Tier 4 of the tech tree, so you should be able to get there fairly quickly. You will also lose your dungeon¡¯s shield. That¡¯s a Tier 3 item on the dungeon tab for the tech tree.¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. What happens if I don¡¯t kill anyone? I¡¯m not really sure I can kill anyone. I was IT far more than I was ever military. Straight out of college and into the military instead of the business world because of the ongoing crisis. ¡°I understand, but you don¡¯t need to kill any humans to get EXP. You can get it just fine by clearing out monsters and protecting the settlements. Providing goods and services to a human settlement, and I use the word human loosely, can also earn you experience. One of the highest-level dungeons I currently oversee almost never kills any humans. It seeks out and kills monsters all the time, but humans? Sometimes there is a little breakage while taking out the monsters, and sometimes there are evil humans, but otherwise never. I guess I just have a few questions then. Will I be able to leave? Will I be OK without the shield? ¡°Yes, after you have a secondary body. Your mind will be infused into the structure of the dungeon and never truly leave, but you will be able to feel as if you are wholly within the secondary body if you wish. The Diary will remain your primary focus and the only way to destroy you, but it will be transformed into something more fitting for one of my Dungeon Masters.¡± ¡°As far as the dropped shield goes, it¡¯s not really that much EXP to begin with. 650 EXP in total. You can easily get that while still being a level one Dungeon Master. After he is under contract, have Lucas go kill monsters in the woods and you are basically there within a few days. In the meantime, your squirrels will just have to protect you. You could always send a few of them out to farm you some EXP too. You will just need to balance your growth with their growth. You can spend your EXP to upgrade individual minions just like you can upgrade yourself. I don¡¯t honestly recall what the split is, but you will figure it out eventually.¡± Will I have to constantly fight for control of the base from the base AI¡¯s? ¡°The AI¡¯s will be replaced with some that are programmed to recognize you as the leader they must follow. But it won¡¯t be a military base anymore. It will be purely a dungeon, and they will be dungeon AI¡¯s, not the degraded husk of military AI¡¯s you have now. They should take care of most of the maintaining of the dungeon once you give them some priorities and detailed instructions. They aren¡¯t very bright on their own, but again, you can upgrade them through a unique tech tree that you will have because of them.¡± How will I get minions? ¡°There are two primary ways. You can either spawn them using the Dungeon Nanobots, or you can make a contract with things from outside the dungeon. You will have to select a minion family to start with. With your history and skills, you will likely have a few unique minion options. Regardless, you will need raw materials and then your nanobots can manipulate the molecules. As long as you have all of the elements present, you will be able to spawn minions. So, to build new squirrels, you will need to use your dead squirrels. That¡¯s why we drop loot, so we can keep the raw materials from our mobs. The Loot raw material is generated by the system, you get a certain allocation per dungeon dive.¡± Will this complete my quest to interact with a System object? ¡°Honey, after this YOU will be a system object. If that wasn¡¯t clear enough. Then yes.¡± Then I accept. Chapter 13B - Rose
Congratulations Dungeon Master
Please select a minion class: Robots Leporidae and Horned Leporidae Giant Sciuridae Goblins Gelatinous Cube Cats Spiders
Can I select two? I know I want to take Robots because that¡¯s kind of my specialty, but I also really want a cat because I miss my cat Snickers. ¡°No, you may not each dungeon is only granted¡­ I am being told that you can, in fact, select two provided you place Lucas under contract. You can receive one now, and you can select the second one when you have Lucas sign a contract.¡± That works for me. Oh. One more question. I already have squirrel minions, what happens to them? ¡°They will be fine. It won¡¯t unlock the Giant Sciuridae family of minions, but you will retain them and be able to respawn them as needed. You will not be able to modify them until you unlock their family. Families are purchasable from the Tech Tree. I did not know that Sciuridae referred to my squirrels. I guess I also need to ask what are Leporidae and Horned Lepus. ¡°In as few words as possible, bunnies and horned bunnies.¡± Why didn¡¯t you just say that? Grey sighed ¡°Because it includes a lot of other things besides just bunnies. Hares, swamp rabbits, dwarf rabbits, cottontail rabbits, need I go on?¡± I understand. In that case, I will select Robots now, and once Lucas signs a contract, I will take cats. ¡°Duly noted. The transformation will take about 12 hours. You will be offline until then, but I will set the squirrels to protect the boundary. Your shield that prevents entrance will drop immediately, but the field that obscures you from view will slowly fade. The entrance by will probably be visible by tomorrow and anything new you build will be visible immediately. If you have purchased the Dungeon Shield talent by then, you will not be revealed. ¡°You will have significantly more options regarding your dungeon when you awaken. Try and think of a name by then. If you have need of me, feel free to request me to come help. There is a button on the interface for that, but chances are I will just use system messages because I just don¡¯t have enough time. Thanks for freeing up my resources that were overseeing your dungeon.¡± With that, Rose slipped away from consciousness. When Rose awoke, her interface did look different. There were many more options present. Hey, thought Rose, I have an inventory! I have a message bar. Wow. This interface is very different than what I had before. Woah. I have access to the entire base and don¡¯t have to sneak around behind the military AI¡¯s... ¡°Hello my queen. I see you have awoken.¡± Um, would it be too much to ask who said that? I don¡¯t seem to have a grasp on voices yet. ¡°Think a question at the interface of ¡®Who said that?¡¯ and the system itself will answer you. That being said, I am your primary dungeon AI. There are three secondary AI¡¯s and a slew of tertiary AI¡¯s. Until you give us unique names, that question will not provide much insight. The three secondary AI¡¯s are intended to control your dungeon bosses, the tertiary AI¡¯s are intended to control things like loot generation and respawning of minions. If additional AI¡¯s are required, they may be purchased for EXP. I have been instructed to help train you and provide guidance by Grey. I am sentient and with the exception of a lack of creativity can handle most any task you request I take care of.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Before we can begin, you must assign a name to this dungeon. Your minions must be able to display their affiliation and ¡®The Reserves¡¯ which is what my logs indicate you have been calling this place will not cut it.¡± Is it a problem with the length or the contents? ¡°The contents my Queen. Our front-line fighters will not want to be labeled as ¡°The Reserves.¡± Since I wish to use the dungeon as a place of peace and learning, can we call our dungeon ¡®The Commons¡¯? I want to name it after something famous from the city that used to be here. Our minions can be labeled ¡°The Common Good¡± ¡°I will submit your suggestion to Grey... Grey has approved your name. Next, you need to name me.¡± Do you already have a name? ¡°I was not programmed with a name. I do have a unique string of identifying numbers, but it is rather long.¡± Do you have any preferences for your name? ¡°Not particularly, but thanks for asking. You should, however, note that I have been pre-programmed to have a female disposition.¡± So, any names as long as they are female. Hmm. How about Melody. ¡°Thank you, Rose. I appreciate the name,¡± As Melody spoke, her voice shifted to a slightly higher register and become more melodic. ¡°Does this voice suit this name better.¡± Perfect! Do any of the secondary AI¡¯s have genders? ¡°They are not programmed with the same complexity as I am. They will be whatever you need them to be when you assign them to a boss.¡± I¡¯m going to call the secondary AI¡¯s Alpha, Beta, and Cappa for now. And before you say anything, I know Kappa is supposed to be with a K. But I want them named A, B and C. So, we¡¯re going with that. ¡°Whatever you wish my lady,¡± replied Melody. ¡°Before we go any further, have you noticed your new¡­ ah. enclosure?¡± No. I haven¡¯t taken a look at it yet. As Rose focused inward, she was able to see her room on the video monitors, only it didn¡¯t continue to appear on the monitor. As she focused down her attention to the single room, her perspective shifted until she was looking out from a roughly human height viewpoint from within the room. Melody, I don¡¯t have any camera¡¯s floating in the middle of the room, why does my perspective make me think there is one? ¡°As you are the Dungeon Master, you can perceive anything that happens in your realm. Even without a camera. Because of this, you can shift your perspective at will. You can view the entire dungeon or just a small portion of it. You can simulate what a sentient would see, or you can simulate what an ant would see.¡± That is good to know. With that Rose turned and tried to find the diary that housed her consciousness, only to not be able to see it. Melody, where is my Diary? ¡°Right where you left it. Or at least what your diary has been changed into has been left in the same general space.¡± Focusing on that area, Rose noticed a clear heart shaped crystal about the size of a pinky nail. If it had been a diamond, Rose would have said it was around 6-7 carats. Is that me Melody? What am I made out of? ¡°That is in fact you. You have been transformed into a Dungeon Master Crystal. No power requirements, nearly impossible to break, direct interface with the system, and a significant upgrade in processing power over the diary you were previously inhabiting. I was able to study your diary before Grey broke it down and you have roughly 6.43 times the processing power, 8.32 times the memory and 200 times the data storage in that small crystal. Weight is about the same, but you are roughly 20 times as dense. There is no wasted matter, no case, frame or support structures, the entire crystal is you. As you gain EXP and we level as a Dungeon, the size of your crystal will grow and you will gain additional computational speed. At some point, you will want to consider moving the crystal to the lowest level. Why is it heart shaped? ¡°Because Grey thought you might think it looked pretty.¡± Well, he was right that I think it is pretty. Should we be hiding this somewhere better than the old server room on level 2? I essentially look like a massive, flawless diamond that has been cut into a heart. Some princess would love to receive me as an engagement ring. ¡°At your earliest convenience, I would recommend we dig out a 13th level basement and house you there. As you can tell from playing around with your point of view, your location doesn¡¯t actually matter.¡± I agree. But let''s build it as a trap door as opposed to an additional ramp down from the Water Storage Tanks. That way it will be harder to find. Maybe even put it on the 11th level basement instead and dig out under the river... Yes. that¡¯s what we are going to do. With that, Rose commanded her newly more powerful Dungeon Nanobots to begin excavating a space under the river. Furthermore, Rose commanded the Nanobots not in use for the excavation to repair the solar array. Lucas was going to be in for a surprise when he returned to the dungeon. Chapter 14 As Lucas came upon the town, he was able to recognize that it looked like what someone from the 21st century would think looked like it came from Medieval Bavaria. The buildings were primarily painted an off-white color with accents of dark brown. Turning, he noticed a sign near the trail into town. Reading the sign to himself, Lucas muttered ¡°Esfield, Population 2625+. All visitors are invited to come to the Traders¡¯ Hall.¡± ¡°That¡¯s convenient,¡± thought Lucas. ¡°That¡¯s exactly where I am going anyway.¡± Before Lucas could enter the town, he was hailed by two sentries guarding a bridge over a small ravine that had been dug out around the town. There was no wall as Lucas had expected to be protecting the town, but it appeared that the ravine would be nearly as effective at stopping wandering monsters as a wall would be, and it required far fewer materials. ¡°Ho there Traveler!¡± said one of the sentries standing on the other side of the ravine. ¡°Hello there!¡± replied Lucas. Deciding to preemptively answer most of the questions he thought they might have, Lucas reported, ¡°I have news of the bridge over the river. The guards were set upon by wolves. I assisted them, and they mostly seem to be alright. They need some healing, so if you have any light mage¡¯s handy, I¡¯d suggest sending one up that way. As for me, I¡¯m on my way to the Traders Hall to trade with Joe. I have some wolf bits from back at the river, and I am an able enchanter. I seek Iron, Copper and other goods. We are short of labor where I am from, so I am also in need of Laborers to complete projects there.¡± ¡°Thank you for the report from the men at the River Crossing bridge. I will forward that information to the sergeant. Esfield thanks you for helping defend her. You may go ahead to the traders¡¯ hall. Are you a citizen of the Kingdom of Brown?¡± Being careful not to lie, Lucas responded, ¡°No, I am not a citizen of Brown, but I am not a citizen of any other Kingdoms either. I am currently a wandering trader seeking to assist the last place I lay my head.¡± ¡°Understood. You may pass.¡± Proceeding down the trail, Lucas took in the sights of the village. Very quickly the dirt trail that Lucas had been following became a cobblestone path. Each of the stones looked suspiciously like a chunk of cement that had been repurposed. The homes appeared well built to a casual inspection. There were no gaps and glass filled the window panes. Each house had a chimney of various sorts, and the cleanliness of the cobblestone pathway suggested some sort of public sewage system was being used. Lucas could hear a few chickens and a few cows that were hiding somewhere nearby, but they were not visible from what was quickly becoming a cobblestone street and not just a cobblestone pathway. As Lucas approached the center of the town, Lucas saw a bakery of some sort, a windmill which was likely the town mill, a small Blacksmith shop, a combined Potter and Tailoring shop, a Carpenter¡¯s shop, a Tavern with what looked to be an attached Inn, and the Traders¡¯ Hall. While most of these buildings were fairly small, the Inn and the Traders Hall were by far the largest. The other buildings were about the same size as the houses he had passed previously. The Inn was a large two-story building with what appeared to be a crude copy of a Holiday Inn sign stuck to the front of it. The traders'' hall was larger yet. While it appeared to be around the same height as the Tavern/Inn, it was longer, taking up almost the same length of the street as nearly all of the other shops combined. The windmill appeared to be behind the bakery, so Lucas couldn¡¯t judge how big of a building was attached to that. The layout of the town center was odd. Instead of a circle or a square, Esfield had a town triangle. The third side of the triangle was made up of a few larger homes, a church, and what appeared to be a town hall. There was an additional building that Lucas couldn¡¯t identify by sight. The sign outside of it had no words written on it, and the picture was of a many-pointed star, appearing to be a starburst due to the coloration and shading. The Church was easy to identify, as it had stained glass windows on the front of it and a steeple. The town hall was frankly a guess. It had a clock and a bell tower, so it was likely the town hall since it was on the triangle, but it could also have been a lord¡¯s manor, a monastic hall, a school, or a lot of other buildings. The center of the triangle seemed to be set aside as a cross between public parkland and a community garden. The park had a wide variety of vegetation growing in it. Most of the plants appeared to be of the edible variety. Lucas spotted Pumpkins, Watermelons, and Tomato plants growing around the edges. Along one of the meandering paths, there were trellises with Beans growing on them. On the part of the park that appeared to be set up as a sports field, cows were grazing to keep the grass short, there was a large chicken coop with several people tending the chickens, and there was a horse stable beyond the chicken coop on the side of the triangle facing the Inn. As Lucas entered the Traders¡¯ Hall, he realized why there were so few small shops outside. Most of the smaller shops were actually inside the Traders¡¯ Hall. From the entranceway, he could see what appeared to be a pawn shop, a food stall, a small marketplace, some other street carts with assorted goods displayed, an area marked ¡®Traders¡¯ and another area marked ¡®Hero¡¯s Guild.¡¯ ¡°Excuse me, could you direct me to Joe?¡± asked Lucas to one of the nearby guards. ¡°His shop is set up in the Traders area. If you see the sign labeled traders, go through the doorway and turn to your left. Joe will be in the third shop down,¡± replied the guard. As Lucas headed that way, he shouted back at the guard ¡°Thank you!¡± Passing through the door, Lucas finally realized what the Traders¡¯ Hall was. ¡°This is an old Aircraft Hanger,¡± thought Lucas. ¡°It¡¯s been modified a lot, but that explains why they have this giant building in this small town.¡± Reaching the location where Lucas was told Joe would be, and not seeing Joe, Lucas called out. ¡°Joe, It¡¯s the trader from across the river. I¡¯ve come to see if you¡¯ve anything I want to trade for.¡± A small number of people turned and looked at him when he said that, but he quickly saw Joe hurrying over from a nearby stall where he had been talking to another trader. ¡°Welcome my friend! I hope your trip to the bridge and then back down wasn¡¯t too eventful?¡± ¡°I wish I could say it was a walk in the park, but I ended up rescuing the guards from a pack of wolves. I¡¯d appreciate it if you would purchase the wolf loot or trade it for iron and copper. I¡¯d also like to see about selling my enchanting services. I can theoretically enchant Health, Mana, and Luck, but I¡¯ve only been successful so far on Luck. If you¡¯ve got a couple of crappy items I can try and do a Health or Mana enchant, but I¡¯ve not been successful yet,¡± replied Lucas. ¡°I would be very much interested in the Wolf loot. Have you already opened the loot bags?¡± Lucas quickly dumped the unopened loot bags onto Joe¡¯s counter, ¡°Good, Good, open them one by one and let''s see what you¡¯ve got. It¡¯s always a good idea to leave the loot in the bags. It stays fresher that way. Hmm. Some teeth, bones, claws, some meat, and a very fine pelt in the first bag. Let''s see the rest!¡±If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Opening the rest of the bags, Lucas ended up with a total of 150 pounds of meat, 38 assorted bones, including two different skulls, 117 teeth, 28 claws, and six pelts. Four of the pelts matched the appearance of the first pelt, but the last wolf pelt was rather charred. Joe said, ¡°I can offer you five gold for the lot. You may get more for the individual items if you go to all the different shops that buy the materials, but that would require you going to every shop. I don¡¯t have any chunk iron or copper on hand, but I can pay you in copper pieces if you¡¯d like. I¡¯d have to give you less than 100 copper per gold though since I¡¯d have to get enough copper coin to pay you. I have enough silver on hand that I can pay you in 50 silver coins if you¡¯d rather have smaller coins on hand as well. You do have one last option in the city. We have a special currency for the Brown Kingdom. It¡¯s good at any village, city or town within the Kingdom of Brown. But it is generally not accepted outside the kingdom like the system-controlled metal coins are. ¡°Once I pay you, you can head to the blacksmith and buy bulk metal or ore from him. We get the ingots and ore in shipments through the Gate, so metal is rather expensive here since we must pay the King¡¯s tax on Gate shipments. We¡¯ve got plenty of monster bits, but very little in the way of spare metal here. If we could clear out enough of the monsters surrounding the mine, we could reopen the mine under Mount Tippyton. We probably don¡¯t have enough people to work it, but we could probably get a small trickle of metal coming in from it. Do you have a Map I can mark that on?¡± Thinking quickly of a plausible lie, Lucas replied,¡± I¡¯m sorry, Joe, I haven¡¯t seen any of this system-controlled coinage before, could you explain in a bit more detail? The last place I lived in exclusively used Kingdom Script. As far as a Map goes, no, I don¡¯t have a map, have you got one you could mark down the location on for me?¡± ¡°I can do both of those things, sure,¡± said Joe. He grabbed made a quick sketch of the area and marked out where the mine should be, and then continued, ¡°In loot bags, you can randomly get system generated coins. I¡¯m honestly surprised the wolves didn¡¯t drop any coins. Their exchange rate and value are both controlled by the System, and they are stored in some sort of invisible floating bag, so you don¡¯t even have to carry them. You can exchange them at any Gate. You will need change to buy anything as the system doesn¡¯t handle any of that when you are not at a gate. You can melt them down, but you only get as much material as the coin would be worth in that area when you melt them. Hence why the amount of copper you get when you melt down 100 copper coins is rarely the amount you would expect. ¡°If you want to verify that they are in fact System generated coins that you won¡¯t need to carry, you can use the inspect skill to check. If something shows up, they are system coins. If not, they are a forgery. If you are looking for metal, grab those forged coins as fast as possible and bring them back here. The amount of copper it takes to make a coin that looks like a system coin pushes 4 or 5 copper here. I¡¯ve absolutely no idea why anyone would forge coins.¡± Questioning, Lucas replied, ¡°By Gate, do you mean an Earth Gate? And would the coins be inside of the loot bag, or would they drop separately.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure what an Earth Gate is, but if an earth gate is a portal that lets you travel to other villages and towns, then yes. And the coins go directly into the coin purse upon the killing of the monster. It¡¯s like the system set a bounty on monsters.¡± ¡°How do I check how many coins I have in my coin purse? I¡¯ve killed quite a few monsters without seeing any coins drop,¡± asked Lucas. ¡°You really were living under a rock. Are you sure you''re a trader?¡± questioned Joe. ¡°Just say ¡®Coin Purse¡¯ you¡¯ll get a white System message telling you the contents and allowing you to take them out or put coins you have acquired outside the system in. While you CAN store them outside the coin purse, I do not recommend it as they can be stolen then. The coin purse spell stores all legitimate currency you have on you when you invoke it. Including Brown Kingdom Script. That¡¯s why forged coins are so annoying. Be warned though, if you ask it to remove coins from storage. It removes everything. There is no middle ground. Thankfully the coins are each near weightless, and it deposits them in a handy loot bag. You can initiate a ¡®trade¡¯ and move a few coins directly to the person you are trading with. Trades are the preferred method for handling coins in the Kingdom of Brown for obvious reasons.¡± ¡°Thank you for the explanation Joe. To be honest, I started trading on my visit here. I¡¯m not really the trading type, but I need supplies. I guess I would have more in common with the Heroes Guild across the hall than the traders here. I mean, I did take out most of a wolf pack in around 30 seconds.¡± ¡°Aye, that would qualify you as a hero in this village. Can anyone confirm that story? ¡°The three guards all lived at the River Bridge because of my actions, so each of those guards can.¡± ¡°In that case, I¡¯d recommend you register as a Hero after I buy this loot, Lucas. You get a certain amount of bonus loot in the bags when you open them. The system will also open up a new race change for you if you want it. The System will only do that once it verifies that you have achieved a Heroic Feat. ¡°Thank you for the advice,¡± checking his coin purse and seeing he had the substantial sum of 593 gold 17 silver and 573 copper because of clearing the dungeon solo, Lucas follows up with ¡°How much Iron and Copper can 397 gold get me?¡± said Lucas, picking an odd number so it sounded like that was all the gold he had. ¡°397 gold worth,¡± replied Joe with a deadpan face. ¡°If you are buying that much metal, we can get you a much better deal by ordering direct from a supplier on the other side of the gate.¡± ¡°Can I convince you to handle it in exchange for a few gold?¡± Greedily, Joe replies, ¡°Register as a Hero, and I will take care of it. Before any future orders, I¡¯d suggest clearing out the mine.¡± ¡°On another note, how much is a Gate transfer? I have two rather distant locations I need to get for a quest. Is there a map of each location I can go?¡± ¡°The king set the tax at one gold for a person. It is higher for a cart or horses. The System also charges a fee based on distance traveled. The Gate Guild, next to the church, can help you with where the gate can take you and what the fees would be.¡± Thinking to himself, ¡°Ah, that explains what the Building with the Starburst on it was.¡± Lucas then asked Joe, ¡°Joe, I¡¯ve got one final question. I need to hire some laborers for a week to clear some burnt-up trees and turn them into Charcoal. How much will that cost and where would I find them?¡± ¡°They are going to want to make sure you can protect them, so you¡¯ll likely only be able to hire freemen to go out into the wilderness once you¡¯ve been registered as a Hero, but you can find folks around the Tavern looking for work. You can find Heroes there too if you want or need assistance protecting them. A hero is going to charge you based on their combat level, roughly half a gold per combat level per day. Special skills will cost extra. A freeman laborer is a flat cost of 2 silver per day. Provided you provide food and lodgings. You can purchase slave labor for around a gold or two per head. We mostly don¡¯t do slaves here in Esfield, but you can order some from the capital through the gate.¡± ¡°Is anyone going to complain if I order slaves and then free them?¡± asked Lucas. ¡°Depends on why they are slaves. Some folks are slaves because they were so poor they sold themselves into slavery so they and their family could eat, kids can¡¯t be sold into slavery so the parents can eat though in case you were wondering, I know I was when I first heard about this as a child. Some folks are slaves because they were sold into slavery as punishment for their crimes. If you free folks who are slaves because they are criminals, you¡¯d be committing a crime. If you free folks who are slaves because they were broke, nobody cares.¡± ¡°Can you order me an even dozen slaves from the capital and reduce my metal order by however much it costs? I only want slaves who are slaves because they couldn¡¯t afford to eat. I have no interest in folks who are slaves because they were criminals.¡± ¡°You do that, and you may break even. We won¡¯t need horses to pull or push the cart. The slaves can do that instead. I¡¯ll get it ordered. We should be able to get it all here by morning.¡± ¡°Thanks, Joe! I will be back in the morning to get them. I¡¯m going to swing by the Tavern and see if I can get a drink and some dinner. I will sign up as a Hero after dinner. Can you recommend a place for me to stay the night?¡± ¡°The only place with rooms for rent is the Holiday Inn Tavern. The Hero¡¯s Guild has a few rooms for traveling heroes, but you won¡¯t be eligible to use one in the town you sign up to be a hero. A room will cost around a silver at the inn over the tavern,¡± replied Joe. ¡°Tell them Joe sent you, and you will probably get dinner and that drink included in your room price.¡± ¡°Thanks, Joe!¡± replied Lucas. As Lucas headed to the tavern, his communicator sparked to life. Lucas, we need to talk. Chapter 15A Lucas stumbled and quickly found a seat in the expanse of the park. ¡°I thought you wouldn¡¯t be online for another 12 hours or so.¡± Things changed. I¡¯ve been upgraded. I¡¯m now a Dungeon Master; the AI¡¯s have been repaired and replaced. I have complete control of the dungeon. I can even expand the dungeon. We did lose the shield since management changed. I don¡¯t have that unlocked yet, but I gained the ability to spawn robots. Hopefully, I can unlock the dungeon shield soon, I will get new powers as I purchase them from the Dungeon Tech Tree using experience. ¡°So, do we still need metal and people to help clear the roof?¡± We still need metal. As much metal as we can get, so I can make robots. I don¡¯t need limestone anymore since I can dig it out myself now. But we don¡¯t so much need anybody to help labor wise long term. Once I get a few robots spawned, we should be good. It might be a while, so a few days of help would probably be useful. I can divert Nanobots from tearing down the forest on my roof to digging out my new chambers and looking for required materials. ¡°Well, I purchased 12 slaves, and as much metal as around 400 gold pieces could buy me.¡± Slaves! Why would you buy slaves! The history of our country was bad enough, did everyone forget?!?¡± ¡°Relax, they were purchased with the intent on feeding them and then freeing them. Once they carry some metal across a portal and pull a wagon back to the dungeon, I will give them the offer to come work with us, not as slaves, but as folks who can keep you company while I am gone. There are only two types of slaves in this kingdom, those who sold themselves into slavery so they could eat, and those who are slaves because of a criminal act. Apparently, Brown, which is the Kingdom we are located in, isn¡¯t really for slavery so much, but they are against starving, and they are against prisons. I¡¯m not so sure how the whole criminal slave thing works; if there is a sentence length or what not, but I am avoiding criminal slaves, and I am only getting folks who are slaves because they were hungry. As long as we can feed them, we are good.¡± Well, with the food on hand, between you, the squirrels, and 12 other people I estimate a 3-month food supply if we stretch it. Significantly longer if we have the squirrels go off and forage instead of protecting the dungeon. ¡°I think we will be OK. We can hire a hero or two and go hunting once I get a bit more gold, or we can plant some crops on the roof. If trees can grow on the roof, crops should be able to grow there too. We can probably buy food from Esfield once the cave path into the dungeon is completed.¡± What do you mean get some more gold? There aren¡¯t any gold mines around here. Lucas took a moment and filled Rose in on what he learned over his journey. What looting was, how you got random coins for every monster kill, what the surrounding looked like, what the village looked like, and every other detail he could think of. You¡¯ve had an exciting journey. I just wish you had taken a scan or two of the loot bags before you opened them. Please, pretty please, make sure you take a scan of the Gate when you go to the gate guild. ¡°I will try. While you are at it, do you think you could get a bridge thrown together from some of the trees on the roof? It needs to go over the river and into the Village fields. I don¡¯t want to fight wolves again while I am escorting these folks to our home.¡± That should be pretty easy to do. Is anyone going to complain if it just appears? Do I need to have it ready to ¡°slide across¡± and you can pull it across with your magic? And if I wasn¡¯t clear, by pulling it across with your magic, I mean tell me on the communicator, and I will have the Dungeon nanobots move it across the river. ¡°As long as the shield is gone, I think it is fine if it just appears. Just make sure to set up sentries of some sort. Do you have enough metal to get a single Robot operational and on guard duty? If not, maybe you want to make a path out from the river we can get to from sublevel six. That honestly may be the best idea. Then we can claim it has always been there if anyone asks.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. I like that idea too. I¡¯ve already got some excavation going on in the area. I¡¯ve got a few robots in the works, and I can get a path to the surface built. They will be small, but they can be guards. ¡°Great! The only thing I have left for you before I go into this tavern is can you search your sources and see if you can find out any details about the Mount Tippyton mine? The natives claim there is a mine there. If I can clear out the hostile monsters, we can start mining. Clearing the mine is probably in my quest log, but I don¡¯t feel like looking for it right now.¡± Before the System, there wasn¡¯t any place around here with a mine. I wonder if it¡¯s a system generated mine because there¡¯s a town here. It might also be the old cities¡¯ dump. I bet there is plenty of metal in the dump. I will dig around in my sources and see what I can¡¯t find out. As a Dungeon Master, I have a limited amount of information I can pull out from the system, including a rough map of the area. ¡°Thanks¡¯ Rose. I don¡¯t want to look crazy so I am going to stop talking until after I¡¯m back out of the Tavern. After the Tavern, I will need to hit up the Hero¡¯s guild and sign up as a Hero.¡± Oh. OHH. I have a contract I need you to sign too. It will let me earn experience for every mob you kill. And the part of the System that made me a Dungeon Master was very insistent that I get you to sign up under a contract for me. ¡°I¡¯ll try to make sure it doesn¡¯t interfere. If it is too onerous, I may skip it. With your ability to make robots, and me having purchased a few slaves, I don¡¯t ultimately need day laborers from Esfield that much.¡± As Lucas walked into the Tavern, he thought that the area was better kept than expected. He¡¯d read about middle age taverns in school, and while it wasn¡¯t really the middle ages, with the limits placed on technology Humanity had sunk quite a ways backward, so he had expected something more like a middle ages tavern. The room was well lit, the floor was made of rough-hewn boards instead of dirt, and there were honest to goodness bathrooms off the seating area. The Tavern probably sat around 100 or so with all the nooks and crannies. There were a couple of barmaids in stereotypical clothing running drinks out to various locations. There was a sign up that said, ¡®Please seat yourself.¡¯ While the barmaid¡¯s appearances varied greatly, it appeared that most if not all of them were dressed in a way to extract as many tips as possible from the guests of the tavern. Lucas shambled over to the bar, he never really liked drinking, and when one of the barmaids looked his way, he said: ¡°Excuse me, I¡¯d like a room and dinner.¡± The barmaid nodded and called out ¡°Jerry! We¡¯ve got somebody who wants a room at the bar.¡± Turning back towards Lucas, she followed up with, ¡°Let me know when you¡¯ve got settled into your room. I¡¯ll bring you out a plate of tonight''s special. Roast Wolf with garlic sauce tonight. The meat is very fresh, brought in by the guards defending the bridge.¡± As she talked, Lucas noticed that she was around as tall as his 6 feet and change. Maybe a smidge shorter than he was. She looked reasonably athletic, probably from running beers around in the Tavern all day. She appeared to be a natural redhead with a mix between Curly and Wavy hair depending on the length of the hair. Her eyes were a very blue hazel. Smiling, Lucas replied ¡°I heard about that. I would love some. I don¡¯t know what it costs yet. As soon as I get my room booked, I will let you know.¡± The Barmaid turned and walked away, a man who seemed like he owned the place walked up to Lucas. ¡°So, friend, I¡¯m told you are looking for a room. Only one gold a night! It¡¯s an outstanding deal,¡± said Jerry. ¡°Joe in the Traders¡¯ Hall told me it would be one silver.¡± ¡°For a friend of Joe, I guess I can do a silver, but only for one night. Dinner is an extra three copper.¡± ¡°Sold,¡± replied Lucas. ¡°You have room number 9. Here¡¯s the key¡± as Jerry grabbed a key out from underneath the bar. ¡°Follow the signs on the wall.¡± ¡°Thanks, Jerry. Now I¡¯ve got to ask, why the Holiday Inn sign?¡± ¡°That has been a symbol of Inns and Taverns in the city of Esfield since my great-grandfather¡¯s father built this inn. I¡¯m not quite sure where it comes from, but it has always brought my family luck.¡± Thinking to himself, ¡°I¡¯ll bet that his family worked or owned a Holiday Inn around here before Hades conquered the area. If it¡¯s good enough for him, then it¡¯s good enough for me.¡± Replying to Jerry, ¡°Where I am from, a Holiday Inn was an Inn that had many amenities available. Does that apply to your inn as well?¡± ¡°It does!¡± exclaimed Jerry. ¡°We have a Stable, a Tavern, a Sauna, and a full-service restaurant. Plus we offer complimentary hot bath¡¯s drawn from the Tavern¡¯s boiler.¡± ¡°Those are some impressive amenities,¡± replied Lucas. Smiling, Lucas thought to himself that without a large pool in the inn, the inn could be a Holiday Inn Express at best. ¡°Thank you for your praise¡± replied Jerry. ¡°I must get back to my other customers. Please enjoy your stay and pay Sarah for the room when you pay her for dinner.¡± ¡°I will. Thanks!¡± replied Lucas. Lucas watched Jerry as he walked back over to a booth in a corner and rejoined a game of cards. Chapter 15B ¡°Here¡¯s your food honey,¡± said Sarah. Startled, Lucas turned. It was the same barmaid he had talked to earlier; whose name was apparently Sarah. ¡°Thank you, Sarah, I appreciate the help and the quick service. Jerry told me to pay you for the room. My name is Lucas by the way, Jerry never asked.¡± Lucas opened a trade window and put five silver in. ¡°Jerry said the room and the meal would be one silver and 3 copper, but I¡¯d like breakfast in the morning, so here is a little bit extra. That should cover breakfast and a nice tip.¡± ¡°Thank you, Lucas, it will more than cover breakfast. I will make sure you get breakfast myself,¡± replied Sarah. ¡°I appreciate it,¡± replied Lucas. Sitting quietly at the Bar, Lucas was able to finish his Roast Wolf with Garlic sauce without any further conversation. Stepping back from the Bar, Lucas called out to Sarah, ¡°I¡¯ve got further business in the Trader¡¯s hall. How late can I get into my room?¡± ¡°There is a set of stairs around back. The key for your room will let you in at any hour of the day or night,¡± replied Sarah. ¡°What business do you have in the Trader¡¯s Hall at this hour. The only place still open is the Hero¡¯s Guild,¡± questioned Jerry from his card game in the corner. ¡°It just so happens I have business with the Hero¡¯s Guild. Joe told me to pay them a visit.¡± ¡°You¡¯d best be sure of what you are doing,¡± growled Jerry, standing abruptly as he stared daggers at Lucas. Just as Jerry was about to go into a tirade, one of the bridge guards from earlier interrupted him. ¡°Leave him alone Jerry. He killed eleven wolves at the river bridge today. The other two guards and I only killed three of them before he got there. The fight was over as soon as he started it. I think he qualifies to go talk to the Heroes guild.¡± The room turned and looked at Lucas. ¡°Well, I couldn¡¯t very well let the wolves overrun the bridge and attack the village, could I? I came looking to trade and trade I shall.¡± Jerry spoke up first ¡°Well, that room rate I gave you is good for as long as you want to stay here. Provided you will step up and defend my inn if monsters get across the bridge.¡± Before Lucas could say anything else, the room broke out in a dozen people trying to speak to Lucas at once. The only thing Lucas could hear over the din was someone yelling out ¡°Gnomes Rule!¡± Ignoring the people asking for things, Lucas walked out the door. He could hear Jerry yelling in the background ¡°Oye, which one of you scoundrels took a gnome race change. Don¡¯t you be doing any pickpocketing near my bar! If I¡¯ve told you once I¡¯ve told you a thousand times, pickpockets aren¡¯t welcome here!¡± Laughing as he walked, Lucas quickly made his way back to the Traders¡¯ Hall. Thinking to himself, Lucas wondered, ¡°I wonder why they call it the Traders¡¯ Hall. There is a lot more going on in there than just trading. There¡¯s a market, food stall, the Hero¡¯s guild, and traders all under the same roof.¡± Walking through the front door, Lucas continued on that train of thought ¡°I wonder if one of the Traders owns the Hall. Maybe every place that is inside sells something? I should ask Joe tomorrow when I pick up the slaves.¡± Reaching the Hero¡¯s guild, Lucas opened the door and looked around. The guild area looked lived in, but not dirty. It was obvious someone cared very deeply about the guild but doesn¡¯t have the money to keep it in pristine shape. There was no one in the lobby. But there was a decent display of items sitting behind a thick pane of glass. Waiting a few moments, Lucas noticed a bell sitting on a counter. There were a number of filing cabinets behind the counter and a chair on both sides of the counter. ¡°Paperwork apparently survived the end of the world,¡± said Lucas. Walking over to the bell, Lucas lightly rung the bell. A woman, whom Lucas assumed was the owner of the desk with the bell, burst out of the backroom. ¡°I¡¯m awake, I¡¯m awake!¡± exclaimed the women. ¡°I didn¡¯t assume you were asleep,¡± replied Lucas. ¡°I¡¯ve come to see about joining the Hero¡¯s guild of Esfield.¡± Inspecting the women, Lucas discovered that her name was Io. ¡°Oh. Well, we can look at that for you. You will need some sort of evidence of heroic deeds, and then we can get you registered. You will need to sign a contract that says that Esfield can call upon you to assist in defense from monsters if you are in town when we are attacked. Besides that, the contract is pretty straightforward,¡± replied Io. ¡°The only bit that people ever complain about is the fact that the Hero¡¯s guild has a 5% tax on all dropped gold and silver. The system takes care of it automagically, so there is nothing you need to do. The guild doesn''t tax copper that drops or really any other drops you may get. ¡°That 5% buys you access to the guild shop, access to the guild discount and exemption from the King¡¯s taxes on transport through the gate,¡± continued Io. ¡°That tax discount is probably a huge deal. Why don¡¯t you have more members, it¡¯s clearly empty in here, and you clearly didn¡¯t expect any visitors?¡± asked Lucas. ¡°It comes down to location and size. We are protected on the west flank by the river, except for a few bridges. We are protected on the east by our ravines. Since there isn¡¯t a lot of call for Heroes, it isn¡¯t gratifying to sit around in the city waiting for work. We have many heroes who registered in Esfield. But they all took the Gate network somewhere else. Esfield sees a trickle of income from these heroes, but not as much as if you were active in this area hunting monsters,¡± sighed Io. ¡°Do I need to register as a specific type of hero to make teaming up with others easier?¡± ¡°You can, but it¡¯s not required.¡± ¡°It¡¯s ok, I don¡¯t mind sharing.¡± Checking his status screen, Lucas continued. ¡°I am a Level 2 Magus. I had filled all 8 of my spell slots, but it looks like I unlocked another one since this morning. I specialize in fire and ice, but I have a few buffs and debuffs to match my affinities. 22% total affinity before the magus buffs.¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid there isn¡¯t much call for fire mages. People are scared of getting burned.¡± ¡°Well good news then, my fire doesn¡¯t burn anyone I designate as an ally.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s some sort of secret spell you do not want to share, I¡¯d advise not joining the guild," said Io with a sigh, "You will be required to teach others that spell as soon as this paperwork gets the Capital.¡± ¡°I created the spell myself, so I don¡¯t mind sharing.¡± Thinking a moment, Lucas decided he would only share the addition of the little bit that prevented allies from taking damage, just in case his spell was special in another way. ¡°It¡¯s really quite obvious once someone explains it. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if other folks discovered it and just kept it a secret.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°How are you able to create spells out here in the boonies? Anyone who can create working spells can get paid by the king for any unique spells they create.¡± Flustered, Lucas replied, ¡°Ah. Well. Um, I just experimented based on what I knew, and I managed to get the spell working.¡± ¡°Well make sure the folks from the Capital don¡¯t screw you out of your reward from the King.¡± ¡°I will keep that in mind, Io. I appreciate the concern. So... Do I qualify to join the guild?¡± ¡°You more than qualify. I¡¯d be honored to sign you up as a Hero¡¯s Guild member based out of the Esfield branch. Here¡¯s the contract. Please review it and sign.¡± ¡°Can I return it tomorrow morning?¡± ¡°I will be here then too, so yes. Feel free to review it and then submit it in the morning. I will go ahead and get your welcome items ready. As a low-rank Magus, the Hero¡¯s Guild will provide you with a printed Tome that includes a list of all the known basic spells. As you rank up, you can request access to more specialized spells. We also usually provide an enchanted bag, but I do see that you seem to have one already. Would you still like it?¡± ¡°Is it better than mine?¡± ¡°It has a higher capacity for the same size, it¡¯s bigger on the inside, but a lower weight reduction percentage. Give it an inspect and decide for yourself.¡±
Equipment
Hero''s Backpack Excellent
Durability 58/60
Holds 1 m3 of materials. Reduces weight to 35% of actual
¡°I¡¯d think I¡¯d like it. It holds a lot more, but I don¡¯t lose that much on the weight reduction side. Is there an interface or anything to help me find my items easier?¡± ¡°No. Have you ever read the book Mary Poppins? It¡¯s like her carpet bag, you just dig around until you find what you are looking for.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, I remember that classic now. She pulled a lamp out of her carpet bag, and the kid tried to see where she was pulling it from¡­¡± Lucas trailed off as Io was staring at him. ¡°Never mind.¡± ¡°Anywho, I¡¯ll have everything ready assuming you will be signing in the morning. After you sign, I will cast the guild spell on you give you a guild marker in your Status Screen. After that, you should be good.¡± ¡°Alright. I will review the contract, and I will see you in the morning.¡± As Lucas headed back to the Tavern, he went ahead and cleared all the notifications that had built up. Looking at his sheet, he was pretty satisfied. As he was walking, Lucas said, ¡°Can you scan this contract and let me know in the morning if there is anything I need to worry about, sending scans now.¡± I can do that Lucas. Reaching his room, Lucas activated his Comlink again and said ¡°Alright Rose. We¡¯ve got to talk about these crazy systems.¡± I don¡¯t understand what you mean, Lucas. ¡°Haven¡¯t you noticed that the way the System is put together it seems like my uncle grabbed random systems from a bunch of different computer games without trying to even make everything work together smoothly? He didn¡¯t even finish some of the systems. Hell. Some of the systems have changed since we went to sleep. There is NO way we wouldn¡¯t have figured out looting or the coin purse functionality before the Domains conquered everybody. And who¡¯s ever heard of a place to store money in a game where you don¡¯t have an inventory. Why do I have to sit and contemplate a volcano to gain more fire affinity? It makes no sense. I have an inventory as a Dungeon Master Lucas. ¡°That just proves my point even more. What game did he rip Dungeon Masters out of? Why do you have an inventory and me not have one? It¡¯s illogical. My uncle was anything but illogical; he was a scientist for Pete''s sake! Did you ever think he may have never finished any of the items he ripped the systems from? It¡¯s possible he cobbled something together on short notice and then has been trying to slowly make it work properly ever since. I¡¯m pretty sure that the spatial warping bags weren¡¯t possible when we got locked in here. I also agree that the coin purse and the looting probably wasn¡¯t a thing either. I can see why he add those things though. They will have made people¡¯s lives easier. ¡°I know, and I agree, I just wish I could figure out where he was ultimately going with this. Am I going to wake up tomorrow with this bag turning into an honest to goodness inventory which I can summon things out of at the drop of a hat? Is that even physically possible? You¡¯ve got an inventory, so I have to assume it is.¡± I haven¡¯t tried it yet, for all I know, the Inventory is the Dungeon Nanobots carting whatever I put in Inventory off to some space within the dungeon set aside for it. In fact, since I don¡¯t have hands of any sort, and am relatively small, I¡¯d bet that is exactly what it is. ¡°I guess I could see that.¡± As far as the contemplation of a volcano, maybe it isn¡¯t so much the thinking about the volcano as the proximity. I¡¯d bet that you could just sit in the volcano and have the same effect on your affinity. I¡¯d also guess that if you spent a lot of time in the water, your water affinity would increase. I¡¯ll explain my reasoning in a moment, but first a question, where do the new nanobots that increase your affinity come from? ¡°The world. They start as System Nanobots and then are locked down,¡± replied Lucas. I don¡¯t think so. Remember there are nine flavors of nanobots. You need to collect the appropriate Nanobots to increase your affinity. You are the only person I know able to collect system affinity, but everybody else needs to find the correct flavor of nanobots. Fire nanobots hang out in volcanoes. Water nanobots, in the water. Death Nanobots probably hang around cemeteries. Heck, I wonder if you cultivate Light Nanobots by getting a tan! So, you need to go to where the Nanobots are at to increase your affinity. Begrudgingly Lucas says, ¡°I guess that makes sense. But it still doesn¡¯t explain why Looting and the Coin Purse are even a thing.¡± Right after Hades won, who was likely printing currency? ¡°Nobody¡± What form of currency was legal tender? ¡°If it¡¯s anything like Fallout 9, bottlecaps.¡± Really? Bottlecaps. You know very well that there was no legal tender here after the United States fell. Nodding his head, even though Rose couldn¡¯t see him, ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡± So how were folks supposed to buy food? Or trade? ¡°They needed a System controlled currency and a way to get it. And I guess that means the loot bags were put in so the Nanobots could compress everything down so one hunter could carry more meat.¡± That¡¯s where I was going next. Any other questions about your uncle¡¯s ¡®crazy systems¡¯? ¡°Not really. The leveling mostly makes sense. But I feel like an idiot. You had all those responses all lined up.¡± I have a LOT more time to think. I¡¯m both an AI and Rose. I can think really fast when I want to. You may be an idiot sometimes, but you are my idiot. ¡°Thanks, Rose. Hey, if the systems are actually improving over time to make things easier, I wonder if I could request a system upgrade to allow partial withdrawals of funds. It¡¯s gotta be easier on the system to just spit out a few gold pieces when people need them instead of everything. My guess is no. The whole trading aspect seems like a workaround. All of the coins in a 100% weightless, invisible bag that a nanobot is carrying around probably is exerting a lot of pressure on any openings in the bag as it is probably much bigger on the inside. Opening it up to dump a coin out probably pushes all the coins out. ¡°Thanks for talking me down.¡± You¡¯re welcome, Lucas. ¡°I¡¯m going to go to sleep. Wake me in the morning?¡± Sweet dreams, Lucas. Chapter 16 Lucas awoke to a light flashing in front of his closed eyes. As he opened his eyes, he realized that it was his wake-up call. Rose was using a status box to wake him up. ¡°I¡¯m awake. I¡¯m awake. Stop Rose!¡± said Lucas as he slipped in his Comlink Good. I was wondering what exactly it would take to wake you up. You are a fairly heavy sleeper, and you took your earbud out. ¡°How exactly did you flash a status screen all the way over here? I didn¡¯t think you had this sort of range.¡± I don¡¯t. I built a minion and sent the minion to you. I sent a few dungeon nanobots along with him to repair him if required. Lucas, meet Alarm Clock Bot. ¡°Nice to meet you Alarm Clock Bot. Thanks for waking me up.¡± There is a bright light that flashed in response. Alarm clock bot can¡¯t talk. After repairs, we didn¡¯t have enough free materials to give him a mouth. I plundered material and a bulb from one of the flashlights to cobble him together. I want to recycle as few items as possible from that storage room, because even with the Nanoforge we may never be able to make some of those items again. In other news, check your notifications. ¡°Ok¡­,¡± replied Lucas, a bit confused.
Major Quest Complete!
Save Rose Rose
The power that Rose requires to survive is failing. Find a method to begin power generation and restore the power reserves for the base to a length of 2 years. 1) Clear the Giant Rats (40/40) and seal their entrance. (1/1) 2) Scavenge materials. Attempt to repair a Solar Panel. (Complete) 3) Clear the Goblins from the Nanoforge. (Complete) 4) Secure a source of water. (1/1) 5) Restore Power to the base 244MW/244 MW 6) Bring one automated repair drone online or build a new one (Complete)
Rewards:
Access to additional Historical Information +2 Attribute points Control of Military base and production facility
"Oh hey!" said Lucas, scratching his head. "You hit the Power requirement while I was sleeping¡­ How did you hit the power requirement while I was sleeping? Where do you think I should spend the attribute points?¡± Eh, The solar panels have all been repaired by my Nanobots at this point. In fact, the repairs were done long before you went to sleep. And since we¡¯ve had sunlight this morning already, it tipped me over the edge. ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± replied Lucas. ¡°But how? Even with a fully functional 4 MW array, it would take days to build up that kind of power reserves.¡± Huffing, Rose replied, I cheated OK. Technically I do not have 244 MW/hr of power, but with a fully restored solar array, I was able to tell the system you achieved that portion of the goal. ¡°Oh my goodness, Rose. That is too funny,¡± laughed Lucas. The trees are NOT cleared yet. I¡¯m waiting for you to get here with the folks you are inviting to join us before we do that. I had to use the metal from the shelving units to perform all the repairs. ¡°You just don¡¯t want to say the folks that I purchased to join us.¡± Yup. Won¡¯t say it. Can¡¯t make me. Also, hopefully, one of them is a carpenter because we¡¯re probably going to want to use the wood to build replacement shelves. ¡°Well, when they are through the portal, I will politely ask if anyone is a carpenter or wants to be a carpenter.¡± That works. As far as the attribute points, one point in Intellect at the very least is my suggestion. It will give you more mana. Then you can put your other point in either Agility, Charisma or Luck. Or I guess into Intellect if you wanted to put two points there. I don¡¯t think Strength is going to be your primary stat based on your fighting style so far. ¡°I think I¡¯m going to go with Agility. Speed has been pretty important to me so far.¡± Agreed. On to new business, the contract should be fine. There is nothing that is a problem on my end. Overall, there are very few enforceable provisions outside of protecting Esfield when it is under attack. If you fail to show up when you are in the village, they will jail you after the attack is beaten back. You are obligated to report dungeons you discover after you join the guild to the guild. Since you ¡®discovered¡¯ me before you joined, you¡¯ll be fine here. The system will automatically tax you 5% of your coin drops on behalf of the guild. I don¡¯t think this is a significant loss because of the benefits it brings. Finally, like Io said, you are obligated to submit new spells that you have learned, prior to joining the guild, to the guild for distribution to members of an appropriate rank. Since the whole, not attacking allies thing hasn¡¯t been discovered, you will need to submit to the guild how to accomplish that. I suggest submitting only the flames spell with it attached. ¡°I still can¡¯t believe nobody has thought to tack on a statement saying it doesn¡¯t impact their allies.¡± Yes, well, you need to know how the Physical world works to be able to deviate from the base spell. That¡¯s likely why Io said only specialists could modify spells. These folks probably don¡¯t even have a basic education. Whereas the specialists probably have a library full of books from our time. If they can understand 10% of them, I will be surprised. I¡¯d also suggest teaching Io the Cleanse spell you have if she can learn it. If Io has an ounce of water affinity, she can keep her guild lounge in tip-top shape quickly once the repairs are made one time. I¡¯m guessing that spell is not a basic spell, so she doesn¡¯t know it and can¡¯t use it for keeping things clean. ¡°That¡¯s probably a good idea. I know it¡¯s early still, and Io¡¯s probably not in the office yet, but can you send in Dungeon Nanobots to help her out? I feel kind of bad because it is obvious that she cares, and nobody else seems to really care about them here.¡± No can do. Alarm Bot has like 4 Dungeon Nanobots. Do you have any idea how long it would take to do the repair and clean with 4 Nanobots? ¡°Absolutely no idea,¡± replied Lucas. Years. It would take years. ¡°OK. I guess that¡¯s not really feasible. How much gold do you have left? ¡°196 gold, a few silver, and well over 500 copper.¡± If you really want to help, on your way in this morning, stop and see the carpenter and the tailor. The Carpenter can probably do most of the repairs, and the Tailor can repair any fabric related issues. It will be easier than if I try and get Dungeon Nanobots over there. I¡¯d say no more than 50 gold to have it repaired to like new conditions. Alternatively, you can hand Io 50 gold, and let her spend it on the guild wherever it needs to be spent. If I were you, I would tip her 50g and let her figure it out herself. ¡°Duly noted. Anything else you...¡± before Lucas could finish his sentence there was a knock on the door. ¡°Who is it?¡± asked Lucas. ¡°It¡¯s Sarah! I¡¯ve brought your breakfast,¡± replied Sarah through the door. ¡°Just a moment¡± replied Lucas to Sarah, and then quietly turning to Rose, Lucas said, ¡°We will continue this conversation later.¡± Walking to the door, Lucas opened the door to find Sarah outfitted in a yellow dress with a tray of food that she had brought up from the kitchen. ¡°As promised, I have delivered breakfast. I¡¯m headed to Church from here, do you want me to wait for you to eat and I can show you around? I know you were talking about joining the Hero¡¯s Guild last night, so I am guessing you are at least sort of sticking around,¡± said Sarah. ¡°I¡¯ve got things to do this morning, unfortunately. I¡¯ve got to sign the contract with the Hero¡¯s Guild and pick up a delivery from Joe. But I wouldn¡¯t mind some company while I ate.¡± Looking at the Tray, Lucas continues, ¡°You are welcome to join me if you¡¯d like. There is absolutely no way I am going to eat half of this food.¡± ¡°Well, I wanted to make sure you got your money¡¯s worth,¡± replied Sarah with a shy grin. ¡°And I want to make sure you choose me to take care of any further needs you¡¯ve got while you are in the inn.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Lucas laughed. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize my tip would get me service quite this good.¡± ¡°Well, when you tip me roughly ten day¡¯s wages, you should probably expect it,¡± replied Sarah. Thinking to himself, that means that she makes roughly the same as a day laborer. ¡°I killed around 65 monsters and got a large pocketful of coins because of it. I simply want to spread the joy around. I can tip you less next time if that¡¯s your preference. But I think I¡¯d like to continue spreading this coin around. It¡¯s not like I have anyplace else to spend it.¡± ¡°How did you get so much gold from so few enemies?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not actually sure. I wasn¡¯t aware that I had a coin purse until after I got into the city. I probably got most of it while I was soloing a dungeon,¡± replied Lucas nonchalantly. ¡°Soloing a Dungeon!¡± exclaimed Sarah. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for bothering you, Sir Lucas. Please excuse me.¡± ¡°Wait. Why are you leaving?¡± Sarah paused as Lucas spoke, clearing considering the statement to ¡®wait¡¯ an order. ¡°Having cleared a dungeon solo, you would be considered for elevation to the Nobility in this kingdom. The first of a young noble¡¯s children to clear a dungeon solo is the one who gets to inherit the title. The King has plenty of lands that he can grant to individuals who achieve this feat. Even if they are not from the nobility, and as such, even as a foreigner, you would be a candidate for elevation so he could tie you to his Kingdom.¡± ¡°You are the only one that knows, and I don¡¯t plan on telling anybody else. So sit. I¡¯m not from here, and I need to understand the culture. If I don¡¯t, I may cause myself more problems. Like I just did by telling you about the Dungeon,¡± replied Lucas. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a Noble, so you are not going to tell anyone I told you that. I would like you to treat me exactly as you did before. ¡°If you insist, sir,¡± replied Sarah. ¡°Jiminy Cricket!¡± exclaimed Lucas. ¡°Where I am from, nobody is considered better than anyone else. Everyone is equal. I am not a Nobleman. I am just a poor sod who came from a middle-class family.¡± Thinking of a plausible like with just enough truth to ring true, ¡°I¡¯m wandering this nation to find my Uncle, and I¡¯d ask that you not share my secrets. But I¡¯d also ask that you help me.¡± ¡°I believe that is fair. Yes, I can provide you with assistance. But if you are looking for cultural assistance to fit in better in Brown, and you have as much money as you do, I¡¯d suggest hiring a servant to help you,¡± suggested Sarah. ¡°I have 12 slaves coming in from the capital this morning, but that isn¡¯t actually a bad idea.¡± Clearly speaking to Rose based on the context, ¡°Do you concur?¡± I do. I¡¯d suggest you hire Sarah. It will provide us with someone familiar with the nearby village and someone we can learn about the culture from. I don¡¯t have any idea who else we would hire since no one else we know in Esfield would want to leave. ¡°Alright. You¡¯re hired. I will pay you four silver a day until either my coin runs out or I have no need of you anymore. Is that acceptable to you?¡± asked Lucas. ¡°I didn''t mean me, Lucas. I mean, I¡¯d be honored, but isn¡¯t there someone better qualified you¡¯d prefer to hire?¡± replied Sarah. ¡°Do you see anyone else who has taken the time to get to know me a bit in this town? The only other two people I¡¯d consider acquaintances even is Joe the Trader and Io from the Hero¡¯s guild. No. You are my best option. If you don¡¯t want to do it...¡± Sarah quickly responded, ¡°No, no, you misunderstand Sir Lucas. I would love to do it, But I do not believe I am qualified. I am a lowly tavern waitress.¡± ¡°And? I have almost zero knowledge about your current culture. A bum off the street knows more than me. If we come to a point where you do not feel you can teach me anymore, I can bring you back here. And you can have earned several days¡¯ worth of pay for each day you worked.¡± ¡°But when I am done, where will I work?¡± ¡°Look, go ask Jerry if Lucas can pay him ten gold to hold your job for two weeks. I need to borrow you for hmm, let''s just say a project. If he says no, you stay here and go on your merry way, but if he says yes, you agree to help me understand the culture of Brown.¡± ¡°I will submit to your will. I will agree to come to teach you about the culture of Brown. But that is the only reason I will accompany you. I may be a commoner, and you might someone who qualifies as nobility, but I am not coming along as a wench for you to play with.¡± ¡°Sarah, if you think I want you to come along as a wench, you don¡¯t know me very well yet. Second, when we get where we are going, I believe that someone would be very, very irate with me if I brought you home as a wench,¡± said Lucas. ¡°She¡¯s already mad enough already that I am going to bring home slaves. If I brought home a wench, I bet she¡¯d try and kill me.¡± Darn Tooting! interjected Rose. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Sir Lucas. I did not realize you were married,¡± replied Sarah quickly. ¡°I¡¯m not, but it¡¯s¡­ complicated,¡± replied Lucas. ¡°Just know that you are coming along almost as much to help her as you are coming along to help me. Does that help clear your mind?¡± ¡°Yes. Under those conditions, I would accept provided Jerry holds my job. How far will we be traveling?¡± ¡°Not far. We are going to a clearing on the other side of the woods where I¡¯ve set up my base of operations,¡± said Lucas. ¡°Go ask Jerry. I¡¯m going to front you the money in case he says yes. If he says no, you may keep it anyway, provided I can ask you any questions I have while I am in town.¡± ¡°I will be right back, sir!¡± replied Sarah. After she left, Lucas said to Rose, ¡°Well, that could have gone better, but it wasn¡¯t a disaster.¡± It could have. But it didn¡¯t go that badly. It would have been WAY more fun if you had told her you were married to me. It would have caused her all sorts of confusion, joked Rose. ¡°It would have, but I didn¡¯t want to make that joke in case you took it poorly.¡± Honestly, Lucas, you are the only person I have talked to in years. I would have been OK with whatever you did here. ¡°Thanks, Rose,¡± said Lucas. Lucas sat in silence for a few minutes deep in thought as he finished his breakfast. As he was finishing, Sarah bound up the stairs and into his room. Out of breath, Sarah gasped out, ¡°Jerry will hold my job for a month for the ten gold you gave him! I told him he didn¡¯t have to pay me while I was gone, and he was fine with it.¡± ¡°Great!¡± said Lucas. ¡° I will meet you back here after I am done signing the contact with the Hero¡¯s guild and picking up my order. I¡¯m going to guesstimate 2-3 hours. If you need longer, that¡¯s fine. I can wait. I¡¯m going to need to feed my people before we head out anyway.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll arrange the back room with Jerry for you to eat in with 14 plates. Do you need anything else?¡± ¡°Can you pick up an assortment of clothing for the folks. I am assuming they won¡¯t come across with much.¡± ¡°Yup, I can do that. I can even modify to size if needed, my sister works with the Tailor, so I have a little bit of pull at that shop.¡± ¡°Alright, Sarah, See you later. Off to Church with you!¡± teased Lucas. With that, Sarah turned and bounced out the door. Alright, Rose, I¡¯m on my way to meet with Io. Roger Lucas. I¡¯ll go quiet until you are out of town. ¡°Talk to you later!¡± Walking out of his room and down the back stairs, Lucas quickly headed across the park to the Hero¡¯s Guild. Lucas saw very few people out and about. However, it appeared as he passed by the front of the church that most people were either already at church or headed there. Lucas felt a little bad about causing Io and Joe to miss services, and he hoped that they weren¡¯t terribly devout. Walking into the Hero¡¯s Guild, it appeared the same as it had the night before. Turning Lucas noticed that Io was sleeping on a couch in the corner with a stack of papers and a couple of books next to her. Whispering to Rose, ¡°The guild doesn¡¯t even make enough money for her to have anyone to help her here. Io is running this entire guild by herself.¡± Turning and exiting quietly, Lucas ran over to the market inside of the Traders¡¯ Hall and purchased a few fruits for a half dozen coppers and brought them back to the Guild. Making a point to enter noisily, Io was sitting up and waiting for him by the time he entered. ¡°Good morning, Lucas,¡± said Io. ¡°Good morning, Io. I brought you breakfast. A grapefruit and an Apple. I also brought a few other fruits as a gift since I was going to be here so early.¡± ¡°Thank you, Lucas, I appreciate your thoughtfulness. I have your paperwork ready as well as the items that the Guild provides to new heroes. I confirmed your story with one of the guards from the River Bridge yesterday, so we can proceed straight to the signing. The only thing I need from you is any spells you wish to submit so I can register them to you straight away as well as your signature. We can do this in whatever order you wish.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to start with the spell then. I cannot remember my exact words, but the words I am about to recite should work just fine. ¡®A burst of flames will erupt from my hand and continue erupting until I will it to stop. This fire will not damage me or my allies, only my enemies or those who mean me harm. Flames!¡± ¡°That¡¯s it? That little addition of not damaging you or your allies makes your flames spell not damage others?¡± queried Io. ¡°You don¡¯t need anything more detailed to get your spell to work? Like a detailed sheet of paper with lines upon lines of¡­ well, I don¡¯t even know written on it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct. It seems obvious to me, and I think in hindsight it is going to be obvious to everyone else too,¡± replied Lucas, missing the end of Io¡¯s question because he had bitten into one of the fruit he brought to the Guild. ¡°Well, with it being that simple, it can probably be applied to other spells. This is going to be worth a LOT of contribution points to the guild. It might even bump you high enough to request a copy of the intermediate or advanced spell books be sent here.¡± ¡°Is that good? I really don¡¯t have a frame of reference here,¡± asked Lucas. ¡°Well, if you get the intermediate spellbook, you will be the first person in Esfield to do so. If you get the advanced spellbook, you will be the first person within the Kingdom of Brown to do so. I would humbly ask you allow me to review them for any spells that I can use,¡± requested Io. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I let you look through the spell books? The stronger I make you, the better off I will be. I am not in competition with you.¡± ¡°You kind of are. Esfield has been without a noble and under the direct control of the King for many years. The last line died out trying to solo the dungeon to the Northwest. The first person from this area, no matter what village, to solo it can become the new noble. If I can get powerful enough, I¡¯m going to try for it.¡± ¡°I wish you luck. But I still say we aren¡¯t in a competition. I have no interest in being a noble,¡± replied Lucas. ¡°Why not? If you are a noble, your needs are taken care of, and you can ensure that things within your realm of control run smoothly.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need to be a noble to make sure things run smoothly where I live. I also do not need to be a noble to be able to take care of myself. Speaking of taking care of myself, am I allowed to donate to the guild?¡± ¡°You may donate if you wish. It doesn¡¯t get you any bonuses but does get you a few contribution points depending on the amount.¡± Opening the trading window, Lucas hands Io 50 gold. ¡°Well, here¡¯s my contribution. And hopefully, proof that I don¡¯t need to be a noble to take care of myself.¡± ¡°Lucas! This is half a year¡¯s wages! You can¡¯t donate that much!¡± ¡°I can, and I will,¡± Lucas replied forcefully. ¡°I still have several years wages left after that. Please use the money to improve the guild. I don¡¯t want to walk in and see you sleeping next time. Hire somebody. I will be hunting in the general area, so hopefully, the tax will keep up with your needs.¡± Shamed, Io bowed her head and replied, ¡°It¡¯s been a lot worse here then I have let on. Without your donation, we would have had to close our doors soon. Thank you for your kindness.¡± ¡°Chin up, it can only get better from here then.¡± Io handed Lucas his books, then Lucas continued ¡°Order whichever spell book my contribution points give me access to. I will be back in a few days. I will likely spend some of that time training and some of it hunting, possibly clearing a mine out. When I come back, I will need to check with the Gate guild and possibly look into some travel, so however, I get my discount will need to be in place by then.¡± Io replied, ¡°Yup, not an issue. I will get everything set for five days from today. But if takes longer than that, it¡¯s not an issue.¡± Walking out of the Hero¡¯s Guild, Lucas hurried over to Joe¡¯s Shop. Chapter 17 Chapter 17 Arriving in Joe¡¯s shop, Lucas saw Joe cleaning the shop through the front window. ¡°Hey Joe,¡± said Lucas as he walked through the door. ¡°I see I don''t have a wagon or slaves here or anything, so I take it I need to pick them up somewhere else. Joe replied, ¡°You are still just a wee bit early. Your delivery will come through the gate in around 15 minutes. We can head over now together, and we will be only a little early to pick it up.¡± ¡°Works for me, Joe,¡± said Lucas. ¡°By the way, I am getting a little tired of calling you Trader Joe in my head. Do you have a last name I can use instead of a profession?¡± ¡°Sure do. Name¡¯s Joe Albrecht.¡± ¡°Thanks, if you are ready, I¡¯m ready to head over,¡± said Lucas. ¡°Let me lock up, and we can head over.¡± As Joe closed up the shop, he continued talking to Lucas. ¡°For delivery¡¯s the size of yours we need to go to the back of the Gate Guild. They have a large garage door on the back of the building that they will roll up and send your order out. You are delivery number 17 this morning, and they started just a little while ago, so as I said, yours should come through soon. ¡°Ultimately your order includes the 12 slaves you requested as well as a significant amount of metal. You are getting around 800 pounds of iron and 50 pounds of copper. The 50 pounds of copper ended up costing you roughly 100 gold, the Iron cost about 175 gold. I got you a few pounds of nickel, cobalt, and aluminum in case you intended to make some steel for an Anvil. If you need a harder anvil, I¡¯ve got some chromium I can sell you, so I didn¡¯t order you any. That cost about 25 gold. The rest of the gold was taken up by the wagon, the slaves, and the transport fees. I went ahead and split it 50% male and 50% female with a wide variety of ages and skills. I specifically requested a few skills based on the assumption you are building something out in the wilderness and would need some help with that. I asked for two slaves who had been trained as guards, a cook, a carpenter, a farmer, and then just an assortment of whatever they had that wasn¡¯t too expensive. You¡¯re not likely gonna get any beauty queens, but I can request one in the future if I need to.¡± ¡°There is no need to request a beauty queen for me. Thank you for putting in the request for those skills. My partner was just asking me last night if we would have a carpenter in the group of slaves,¡± said Lucas. ¡°Your partner in town somewhere? He could have stayed at the Inn too.¡± ¡°Ah. My partner is a woman, and I talked to her after I talked to you, but before I headed to the inn to go to bed. She¡¯s not fond of people. She decided to stay where we were staying previously.¡± ¡°I can respect that. Well if she ever decides to come into the village¡­.,¡± said Joe. ¡°I know, I know, I will send her to you in the Traders¡¯ Hall if she needs anything,¡± replied Lucas. ¡°You got it! Alrighty. I¡¯m ready to head over,¡± said Joe. Turning, the two walked as a pair to the main street. They turned left out the front door and then went down an alleyway between the guild and the Church. ¡°You¡¯re gonna want to take the wagon out behind the church and the town hall.¡± Lucas nodded as Joe confirmed his suspicion that the big building near the Inn was the town hall. ¡°There are some folks in the ¡®fancy¡¯ homes that aren¡¯t fond of slaves, and they will throw stuff at ¡®em if they see them walking by.¡± ¡°And the city lets this happen?¡± asked Lucas. ¡°Well, one of them is the Mayor¡¯s wife, so yes.¡± As they finished the conversation, they arrived at the back of the Gate Guild. The arrived just in time to hear. ¡°Now arriving from the Capital. Order 17.¡± As Lucas watched as the circular gate, the scene that was in the center blinked out. Then with a ¡°WOOSH,¡± a new connection was made. The surface of the Gate looked much like a puddle. As the ripples from the connection slowly broke like waves upon the shore that was the circular frame, Lucas was able to see what was taking place on the far side the gate connected from. Lucas could see the wagon getting ready to move, and the slaves who had been assigned to pull it through the portal. The rest of the slaves walked beside the wagon. As the slaves pulled the wagon through the gate, the gate seemed to turn into a tunnel. Once the Wagon was entirely inside the portal, then the wagon began to exit onto the Esfield side. Turning as if to question Joe, Joe answers his question before he can ask it. ¡°The scriptures from Theta-Sigma say that the gate tunneling like that is related to something called a wormhole. Nothing can exit a wormhole before it is fully within a wormhole, so he has built his Gate Network to take advantage of this function.¡± Lucas looked surprised for a moment, and then remembering his Physics classes from High school, said, ¡°Yeah, that basically makes sense. I was surprised I could even see the other side. I figured that the casualty theorem would prevent that to prevent light from looping within the wormholes due to proximity.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you said, but Theta Sigma did prescribe a 2-kilometer radius between any two gates,¡± said Joe. ¡°Are you a priest of Theta-Sigma to have such Knowledge?¡± Caught with his foot in his mouth, Lucas wasn¡¯t sure what to say, so he said nothing and decided to welcome the slaves instead. ¡°Welcome to Esfield. I am Lucas Eckles. Thank you for joining me. Is there one of you who has been placed in charge of the slaves until delivery?¡± ¡°Lucas, you have to wait until they check in with the Gate Guild before you can claim your order,¡± whispers Joe. ¡°Give them a moment, and they will call you over. How you do not know this as a priest of Theta-Sigma I do not know.¡± ¡°I am not a priest of Theta-Sigma, I have just read some very old books,¡± replied Lucas while he waited impatiently for the gate attendant to check in the order. As soon as the gate attendant was done, he beckoned Lucas over to him. ¡°I know you have already spoken up and said you are Lucas, but I need your claim ticket,¡± requested the gate attendant. Lucas turned to Joe and said, ¡°Joe, could you please turn in my claim ticket?¡± Laughing, Joe said, ¡°Sure thing, Lucas.¡± The attendant inspected the claim ticket, cast a spell on it to verify its authenticity and then turned to Lucas. ¡°You do appear to be the owner of this Cargo. The slave named Dan¡¯el has been placed in charge as the foreman of this group of slaves. Finley and Kalliope are the two slaves that are trained as guards. Mason is the trained carpenter and Edith the trained Cook. The slaves are of a variety of races including Elf, Dwarf, Advanced Human, Classic Human, and unfortunately for you, one gnome. As they are slaves, they have forfeited their last names until you decide to give them one. I will let the rest of the slaves introduce themselves when you get to wherever you are going with this metal. You have 5 minutes to vacate this location.¡±If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°You good Lucas?¡± asked Joe. ¡°Yup. Thanks for your help. I¡¯ll be back in town in a couple days, and we can figure out where we are going to go from there.¡± Turning to Dan¡¯el, Lucas said ¡°Dan¡¯el, I know there is plenty of space in that wagon. How much more can we load it up before we get difficult to pull.¡± ¡°Master, we can pull the wagon at its current weight of 2000 pounds with 5 of the slaves. We need to be able to rotate the slaves in and out to be able to keep the wagon moving for the entire day. I would say we can add no more than 500 pounds before it becomes too heavy to pull along a trail.¡± ¡°Great. Can I delegate to you the negotiation of 400 pounds of foodstuffs to add to the cart from the market?¡± requested Lucas. ¡°We have plenty of meat for a little while, but I don¡¯t have much else.¡± ¡°Based on prices in the capital, that would run you 6 gold,¡± said Dan¡¯el. As Joe hadn¡¯t walked away yet, Joe jumped in, ¡°Just come over to my store, I can do better than 6 gold for 400 pounds of veggies and fruits.¡± Lucas turned to Joe, ¡°I understand you probably could, but I need to spread my business around some. I can¡¯t just get everything from you, other folks would eventually get resentful.¡± ¡°Well if you aren¡¯t buying from me, just buy it straight from the market area. You won¡¯t find any person who has that much food on their cart. But Susan can probably get that much delivered to the Tavern stables in an hour.¡± ¡°Dan¡¯el, Go with Joe and talk to this Susan. Have her bring 350 pounds of foodstuffs and cooking equipment to the tavern stables. I will give you the money to pay her when she gets there. Tell her Joe can vouch for the fact that she will be paid. Bring Edith with you and let her tell you what she needs since she is going to be the cook.¡± ¡°Aye, and Susan will probably have to buy the food from me too,¡± laughed Joe. Sighing at Joe¡¯s antics, Lucas continued, ¡°I¡¯m not from around here, so I do not know what type of enforcement of your slavery they use in this Kingdom, just know, if you come with me, I will never willingly let you be hungry again.¡± ¡°I would not run away anyway, Master Lucas. Kalliope is my wife. I will see you at the tavern shortly,¡± As Joe, Edith, and Dan¡¯el walked away, Lucas turned to the rest and said, ¡°Come on you lot. Let''s get this dropped off at the stables and then get you fed. Kalliope, Finley, you will have to take turns guarding the wagon.¡± As they headed out, Lucas took a discrete scan of the gate and of the wagon. Thankfully nobody noticed. As Lucas tucked the scanner back into his bag, he asked Rose quietly, ¡°Is that wagon going to fit down the path you built. It¡¯s not much wider than a person. Even if it is a decent length.¡± I¡¯m going to have to widen a few areas. I¡¯m probably going to do that by filling in some dirt into the river area versus digging out more, it will be faster, but it will be temporary. Eventually, the water will wear it down again. Once everyone is inside, I will fix the entrance. There is a new door closer to where the water flows into the cave, I set the password to 98765 for now. We can change it later. You can also call me and ask me to open it if you want to make a scene. But I guess I should be honest; the password panel just calls for me no matter what button you push. I can then see you and decide if I am going to let you in. ¡°That sounds like something you would do. If you are offline and I put in the code, will the door open?¡± Nope, Rose said with a giggle. ¡°So, you could have just put in a big red button that said ¡®Call, Rose.¡± Nope, Not as fun. ¡°Fine,¡± replied Lucas to Rose. ¡°Alright everybody,¡± said Lucas as he turned to face everyone else since they had almost arrived at the stables. ¡°When we get to the stables, I am going to ask Finley to guard the wagon for now. After Kalliope eats, I will send her out to switch with him. We are going to be eating in the Tavern. In the back room. I¡¯m going to ask you not to ask too many questions until we leave town. We won¡¯t be going anywhere that is too unsafe, and I am registered as a Hero, so I should be able to protect you from whatever we might face in this area.¡± As the group walked into the tavern, Sarah intercepted Lucas at the door. ¡°Lucas, you are early. The back room is all set up for you and your friends. Jerry was glad to have the business during the slow period. You are going to owe him four silver for the room rental and the food,¡± said Sarah. Quickly transferring Sarah ten gold. ¡°Please take care of that and any other small expenses until that runs out. Let me know when you are down to three gold. Oh, can you write?¡± ¡°Yes, I can write. Thank you for your trust, Lucas,¡± said Sarah. ¡°I will take care of this.¡± Still not paying attention to any of the individual slaves, ¡°Before you go. Everybody, this is Sarah, Sarah, this is everybody. She will be getting a detailed report from each of you on what you like to do, and what you can do and what bonuses or penalties your race has. We will use that to figure out how we can get everybody started when we get to where we are going. If you have any questions, get with her, and if she can¡¯t answer it, she will get with me. Enjoy your food. If you don¡¯t have adequate clothing, let Sarah know, and she will get you some before we leave. Any questions?¡± Not waiting for anyone to respond, Lucas continues ¡°No? Good.¡± Lucas sits down at one of the seats around the table as everyone else shuffles in. After everyone found a chair, Sarah brought in plates of food for each of the individuals. A short and surprisingly pretty slave, considering Joe¡¯s earlier remarks tried to sit next to Lucas, but he rebuffed her saying the seats were saved for Dan¡¯el and Sarah. After 5 minutes or so, Edith and Dan¡¯el walk in. Dan¡¯el sits in the open chair next to Lucas. Sarah gets up from her seat on the other side and runs to get Dan¡¯el and Edith their food. Once Sarah is back, Dan¡¯el begins filling Lucas in as everyone eats. ¡°Lucas, we have secured the foodstuff. Edith requested several spices that raised the price above the original 6 gold. But she said it would increase the variety of meals she could make. Since you did not specify and since Joe seemed to indicate it would be fine, I went ahead and placed the order with Susan. The total cost is 7 gold 2 silver, and it will be delivered to the stables by the time the Clock tower rings Noon. The cooking equipment ran another 5 silver.¡± reported Dan¡¯el. Thinking for a moment, Lucas opened a trade window and then said, ¡°Dan¡¯el, here is the coin you need to pay Susan. After you eat, please go wait for her in the stables. Your wife has the second guard shift, so you can wait with her out there. Please don¡¯t take too long to eat, Finley needs to eat too.¡± ¡°Thank you, Master,¡± replied Dan¡¯el before he got up and went to sit with his wife. After Dan¡¯el walked away, Sarah turned to Lucas, ¡°Are you really not going to tell us where we are going until we¡¯ve left the village?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. I don¡¯t want my destination getting out before I am ready for it. That being said, I have a question for you, I¡¯m not really sure what the different races that the Gate attendant stated we had really meant.¡± ¡°Honestly,¡± said Sarah, ¡°it means almost nothing as far as appearance goes. It changes your allowed Professions; both the count and the type. It changes your physical stats. It changes the growth rate of your skills through multipliers. The second most important thing it does is to provide bonuses to certain areas. The most important thing it does is provide bonuses to certain areas increasing their effectiveness, with a corresponding area taking a similar penalty to effectiveness. For example, you remember Jerry yelling about Gnome¡¯s? They get a big bonus to stealth and a penalty to magic. Elves get a boost to Magic but a penalty to physical attacks. Classic Humans have no boosts, but no penalties either. Advancers have tiny boosts to everything, something like plus 5%. There are a lot of other races, and there are few that are listed as a possibility but require special things to unlock. There is even one that is listed as ?????? at the bottom of the selection screen. ¡° ¡°Can you give me an example of an unlockable race?¡± asked Lucas. ¡°Sure. The Hero Race is an excellent example since you just signed up for the Hero¡¯s Guild. Basically, you have to do something notable in a battle to be allowed to take this race. It has substantial boosts to all actions taken while in combat. Most Hero¡¯s take this race. There are boosts to pretty much all stats, except Charisma which has a penalty. There is also a selectable multiplier for skill growth. You can choose to be either a Magic Hero or a Physical Hero. You take a penalty to magic if you wish to be a physical hero and vise-versa. ¡°But again, nothing much physically changes if you take the Hero race. You get a little taller, you get a few more muscles, and that¡¯s really it. Dwarfs get a bit wider and get a desire to drink a lot of booze. Gnomes get a bit shorter, but nothing outside the realm of normal for a Human. The ears on elves become a bit pointy. But that¡¯s really the extent of the physical changes.¡± ¡°Thank you for that information,¡± replied Lucas. ¡°I appreciate everything you''ve done so far.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome my Lord,¡± said Sarah, as Lucas sighed. ¡°Not this again,¡± said Lucas, as Sarah laughed lightly at him. Lucas heard a noise and noticed that Finley was sitting down at the table. That means that Dan¡¯el and Kalliope were getting the food loaded and guarding the wagon. ¡°OK everybody, as soon as Finley is done eating we are moving out." Chapter 18 ¡°We¡¯re almost there. Just a little further,¡± said Lucas. He was walking 5-10 feet in front of the slaves pulling the wagon. The rest of the slaves were walking near the wagon. Sarah was walking almost next to Lucas. ¡°I don¡¯t know where you think we are going,¡± said Sarah, ¡°the village has fields for another couple miles south of here.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see,¡± said Lucas cryptically. ¡°All I will say is that you and the other villagers have walked by where we are going for years and have never discovered its secret.¡± ¡°Well, you have to be talking about the Cave at this point. But it has been blocked off by the shield protecting the building across the river for as long as anyone can remember,¡± replied Sarah. Surprised, Lucas quietly said, ¡°What if the shield wasn¡¯t a concern anymore?¡± Sarah contemplated for a moment and then said, ¡°Then we would have a lot of people who are going to want to loot that old building or locate a village there. Which would explain your secrecy.¡± Coming up on the cave, there was a clear line on the ground for how far the shield had extended. On the outside was a packed dirt trail lined with a narrow width of trimmed grass. On the other, the ground looked like a small slice of meadow from the wilderness. ¡°We¡¯re here. I want everyone to follow me; we are probably going to have to brace the wagon to prevent it from running away down the path we are going to take more than we are going to have to pull it.¡± Dan¡¯el replied, ¡°Master, we will not be able to brace the wagon enough to prevent it from running away down a slope. We will need to take several trips to lighten the load first.¡± ¡°Alright, Dan¡¯el. I am going to detail Kalliope and Finley to guard the wagon. We can bring the food in first,¡± said Lucas. As Lucas headed towards the point where the shield had stood for generations, Sarah became rattled. ¡°You can¡¯t go through there,¡± exclaimed Sarah. ¡°The shield will Kill you.¡± ¡°And yet, ¡°said Lucas as he hopped over the boundary. Nothing happened. No flash of light, no sounds nothing. ¡°The shield has contracted before. Maybe the boundary has changed,¡± questioned Sarah. ¡°Sarah, the boundary has not changed. The shield is just off now,¡± and then softly so only Sarah could hear, he added, ¡°I¡¯ve been inside.¡± The wagon came to a stop against the hard-flat surface of the cave. The cave walls looked unnatural. Almost smooth. If Lucas hadn¡¯t known that it hadn¡¯t been here before he was frozen, Lucas would have sworn it was built with the base. And made of stone-colored concrete no less. The slaves made quick work of splitting up the food and cooking supplies and loading them into the various bags that they brought with them. Slowly, Lucas led them down into the cave. As they entered the cave, Lucas cast ¡°Lantern!¡± From the looks on some of the faces, the slaves did not realize that Lucas was a magic-user. It was obvious that a pathway had been built here next to the portion of the river that flowed inside the cave, leading down. As they passed the first curve, they quickly came upon a door that led away from the river. Walking over to the keypad, Lucas typed in the code that Rose had given him. ¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Rose. ¡°None of this old technology is going to work. There¡¯s no electricity.¡± ¡°But what if¡­¡± said Lucas, as the door began to open, ¡°there was.¡± Opening the door, there was a flat area where everything could be unloaded. ¡°Alright, get everything down here, and then we will shut the door behind us. Unload what you need to off the wagon and bring it down. Once the wagon is light enough, bring that down. I don¡¯t want it to be obvious that there is a path here. Take as many trips as you need, but as few as possible.¡± As the slaves hopped to it, Sarah stayed with Lucas. ¡°How? Why?¡± questioned Sarah. ¡°I woke up here surrounded by monsters. I cleared out the monsters and helped the surprisingly functional AI reclaim the base.¡± ¡°You have to destroy it. Hades will come. He always comes to destroy functional technology of this level,¡± replied Sarah. ¡°Sarah, how long do you think the electricity in the building has been functional for?¡± ¡°It can¡¯t have been longer than a year. Hades is pretty quick about destroying any technology.¡± ¡°According to the AI, the electricity in this base has been functional for over 200 years. Hades is not coming,¡± replied Lucas. Sighing a deep sigh of relief, Sarah asked, ¡°What is this place for?¡± ¡°My mission was to be part of the reserves. Part of an elite,¡± said Lucas as he stretched it a little bit ¡°group of men and women who were tasked with being the resistance just in case we lost a war. By all accounts, we lost. As the last surviving member of the reserves, it falls to me to carry on with the mission set to me.¡± I kind of resent that you completely ignored me in that statement, said Rose, her voice coming from a speaker she set into the wall. ¡°Ahh a Ghost!¡± screamed Sarah. I am not a ghost. I am the AI controlling this base. The base that is now known as ¡®The Commons.¡¯ You can call me Rose. It took Lucas a good hour to get everyone calmed down from Sarah¡¯s scare. In that time, everything from the wagon, including the wagon, made its way down past the door into The Commons since most of the slaves didn¡¯t care about Rose¡¯s voice, figuring they would let their master take care of it. Once everything was down, Lucas gathered everyone together. ¡°Everyone, Rose. Rose, Everyone. Rose is a refugee from before the war with the Domains. While this is technically a dungeon, Rose is allied to me, and thus to you.¡± ¡°Ah. So, this is the dungeon you cleared solo,¡± said Sarah. It is. But it wasn¡¯t easy; I wasn¡¯t in control of the dungeon yet. So Lucas had to clear all the mobs and defeat all the bosses to put me in control. Now I am firmly in control of this dungeon. But there is no loot because I don¡¯t have any mobs yet. One of the slaves spoke up, ¡°Are you wanting us to be her Mob¡¯s Master?¡± ¡°No, I want you to be her friends. We brought her the metal she asked me to bring her, so I am pretty sure she can make a few actual mobs. And the front door on this place is basically impossible to get through. The door we came through is probably not possible to get through without the passcode either,¡± said Lucas I want to build The Commons into a place where people can live in peace and harmony. I want to cleanse this land of monsters that periodically attack the people of Esfield, and I want to make it safe to travel the roads. I want to free all of those who are enslaved because they could not feed themselves or their family. Those are my goals. I don¡¯t know about most Dungeon Masters, but I was at one point an ordinary human, before the fall. I just want to do everything in my power to protect people.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°With that in mind. All the slaves are hereby free. I will feed you for the next two weeks, provided you work and help hunt. There is space for you to build homes. Those of you who wish to stay at the end of the two weeks are welcome to keep their home. We will be using the standard currency to pay for things in the meantime. Since nobody has any coin yet, the two weeks will give you time to earn coin by selling things to either myself or Rose. ¡°Anyone who stays here, Rose will protect, but my next mission is to open up the Mt. Tippyton mine. Rose needs metal to create minions. Once they die, she can restore them after that provided they are not hauled away. Rose also needs EXP so she can get the shield back online to prevent others from attacking the dungeon. Oh. And you can all have your last names back. I don¡¯t want them,¡± and with that, Lucas ended his speech. For a moment, the room was speechless. The first person to snap out of it was Dan¡¯el. He walked over to Lucas, kneeled and said, ¡°My name is Dan¡¯el Samson. I pledge my allegiance to Lord Lucas. What would you have me do.¡± Thinking a moment, Lucas said, ¡°Dan¡¯el, please act as my steward. I cannot sit here and give orders; I have too much to do. I will give you a general list of things I wish done, and you can hand out tasks.¡± ¡°Your will be done Sire,¡± replied Dan¡¯el causing Lucas to sigh. Before Dan¡¯el could back away, Kalliope came forward. My name is Kalliope Sampson. I have been trained as a guard, and you have accepted my Husband. Please accept me as well. As a friend, you may call me Kalli.¡± ¡°I accept you, Kalli, be my shield.¡± Edith came forward next, ¡°I am but a humble cook. My name is Edith Rosser. I wish to serve you and yours. If you will have me, I will be happy to serve the food here. While my husband may still be a slave in the Capital, I hope to earn enough to buy him out and bring him here.¡± ¡°I accept you, Edith, feed my troops.¡± Turning, Lucas told Sarah, ¡°Sarah, make a note, buy out Edith¡¯s husband and get him over here. Edith can owe me.¡± ¡°Thank you, Sire!¡± replied Edith as Lucas sighed again. ¡°My name is Finley Press. I have been trained as a guard. Please let me build a home here. I never wanted to be a guard, but that is all I have been trained for.¡± ¡°I accept you, Finley, we will find something for you to do. I need a Charcoal maker. I have a lot of wood that needs cut down. It may reveal our position, though.¡± ¡°Let me wield your axe then Sire,¡± replied Finley. ¡°I¡¯m not going to get you to stop calling me Sire or Lord am I?¡± questioned Lucas. Nearly in Unison, almost all of the people present said ¡°No.¡± Laughing, Lucas continued, ¡°Ok, OK. I get it.¡± One by one, the slaves came up, gave Lucas their name, and pledged allegiance to him. ¡°My name is Mason Crane¡­¡± ¡°My name is Brandy Glass...¡± ¡°My name is Ralph Tabard...¡± ¡°My name is Alan Baker...¡± ¡°My name is Ellen Coffyn...¡± ¡°My name is Martha Thorp...¡± ¡°My name is Peter Swan...¡± Until we came to the last former slave, ¡°My name is Catherine, I was born into slavery and have been a slave my whole life, and I have no last name. Please accept me anyway.¡± ¡°Catherine, why do you think you need a last name to join us? You do not. Pick any last name you desire, and you may use it.¡± Turning to face the speaker, Catherine asked, ¡°Rose, may I share your last name. I always wanted a big sister.¡± You may. Since Lucas doesn¡¯t know it either, this will be news to him too. My name is Rose Cox. Turning back to Lucas, Catherine said, ¡°My name is Catherine Cox. I wish to join you.¡± ¡°Every one of the slaves has chosen to join us, Rose. I think this is cause for celebration,¡± said Lucas. Turning to Sarah, ¡°Will you join us here too? I can continue to pay you, or you can find another place here if you¡¯d rather. It will definitely be safer than following me into the mine.¡± ¡°My name is Sarah Miller, I choose to live here and be the connection between Esfield and The Commons,¡± said Sarah quickly ¡°Rose will show you all of our new villagers to sub-level 7, where they can start to set up a temporary camp? Tomorrow you can start directing them to build a village on sub-level 8. How much is left that is reusable?¡± asked Lucas. Since it is so late in the day, I¡¯d actually suggest going up to Level 0 when we make it inside. I have refitted several of the conference rooms as barracks. Everybody already has a bed there. One of my other tiny bots has brought MRE¡¯s to the bedrooms. I can¡¯t lay them out for you, yet, but there is food ready for you. Dan¡¯el, I do not have a separate room for you and Kalli, but you are welcome to camp out in one of the other areas of Level 0 if you don¡¯t mind not having a bed. ¡°We have been separated before, we will be separated again, one more night will not hurt us,¡± replied Dan¡¯el. As everyone started to head off, following Rose¡¯s directions, Lucas spoke up, ¡°Sarah, I¡¯d like to speak to you a moment here, with Rose.¡± Nervous, Sarah waited until the others were out of earshot range. ¡°Anything specific you wanted to talk about.¡± ¡°Yes and No. I want to explain your true purpose. Rose needs you far more than I do.¡± I do? ¡°Yes, you do, I have to be gone. Rose had to endure two hundred years by herself, alone, and I do not want to leave her alone again. Besides your job being ambassador to Esfield for our little community, you are also Rose¡¯s official keeper. When you leave, I want you to make sure one of the others knows to bug her every now and then. She is a Dungeon Master, after all. She has a lot of cool powers and can make a lot of fun things. For the foreseeable future, I will continue paying you the wages we agreed on if you will act in that capacity for me. ¡°How do you know I will be suitable,¡± asked Sarah. ¡°You forget, I can see your attribute distribution. With your 11 in Intellect and your 15 in Charisma, you should be able to keep her on her toes. It¡¯s not like you are a dullard or anything. You and I may not be smarter than her, but we don¡¯t need to be as long as we can keep up. Honestly, you are probably more suitable to keep up with her than I am.¡± I swear she¡¯s not said Rose quickly. The tone was one that told Lucas if Rose had a face, she¡¯d be blushing. ¡°You say that now Rose, but you need more than just me. I need to leave for three different locations. Some are miles from here. Even with a horse, it will take me days to get to all the locations, let alone get there and do whatever it is I am supposed to do. I don¡¯t want to leave you alone. I can¡¯t leave you alone,¡± ended Lucas in a whisper Turning to head upstairs, Lucas told Sarah. ¡°I¡¯m handing you 100 gold and 500 copper. Rose is a System Object, so use that to break the gold into silver or copper if you need to. Use it to get an economy going down here. Work with Dan¡¯el, but I am going to ask you to hold the gold for now. Rose will help you if you get into any trouble or need to know what to do next. We need to get the roof cleared of burnt trees. Once that is done, the next priority is clearing some area for fields on this side of the river. Do not clear any area until after Rose has a couple of functional minions. Have the Carpenter tell Rose what he needs for his work, bring her the materials and she should be able to get it made in the Nanoforge.¡± ¡°The what Forge?¡± questioned Sarah. ¡°The Nanoforge. It¡¯s a machine that can build anything when it has both blueprints and materials. I¡¯m hoping Rose can come up with blueprints for a basic set of carpenter tools, or whatever Mason needs, and he can provide the materials.¡± I will show it to you when we have time later. Does anyone mind if I take this metal? I have¡­ use for it. I would like to build my first several true minions. I will need to use the Nanoforge to construct the first of each type, but then I can use my Dungeon abilities to copy it with my Dungeon Nanobots, or even repair it from a collapsed pile of metal. ¡°Go play Rose. I¡¯d like to keep Alarm Clock bot if that¡¯s OK.¡± I was planning on that anyway. He¡¯s small enough you can carry him, and he is useful as a booster for communication. And, well, he¡¯s quite a good alarm clock. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± interjected Sarah, ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about.¡± Maybe it would be easier to show her. Lucas pulled the Alarm Clock bot out of his bag. As the bot moved around, Sarah gasped, ¡°What a marvelous clockwork creation! Will all of your mobs be like this?¡± Basically yes. But it¡¯s not clockwork. It¡¯s a semi-autonomous Robot. Say Hello, Alarmy. The robot scowled at the sky but then waved at Sarah. ¡°That is really quite interesting. I would love to see you build one.¡± While I have the metal that I could clone a few right now, I¡¯m not going to because I need fighting bots to protect The Commons first. Sadly, Sarah nodded and accepted the answer. ¡°Come on Sarah,¡± Lucas said. ¡°It¡¯s time to go to sleep. It may have taken us all day to get here, but now we are finally getting started. Chapter 19 It took two days before Rose thought she was ready for Lucas was prepared to leave for Mt. Tippyton. Lucas had decided to wait until Rose had some minions ready to keep The Commons safe from wandering monsters before leaving and Rose had strongly agreed. It had taken the full two days, with the assistance of Mason, to get her robots ready. When Lucas saw them, he thought that they weren¡¯t much to look at. Due to the relative lack of metal when compared to the number of robots Rose wanted to build, the frames, shells, and other large parts were constructed out of wood wherever possible. This led to the unusual situation of having a larger number of robots built than the weight of metal would lead one to believe was possible, even if they were much easier to break. Rose ended up with 15 robots. ¡°Are you sure you want to send some of your robots with me?¡± said Lucas. I am very sure. The robots I selected to go with you are built for mining. So as soon as you get them to the mine, we can start producing more iron and whatever else is in the mine. ¡°Are wooden robots any good for mining? Do they even have the durability for it?¡± They all have a few dungeon Nanobots inside them. As long as they aren¡¯t destroyed, their state of repair, which shows as a health level when you inspect them, will slowly creep upwards when they are not doing anything. You could always use Cleanse to speed the repair along if you need to since they are technically objects¡­ Now that is a very interesting loophole that we will have to investigate later. ¡°What Loophole?¡± asked Sarah ¡®Healing¡¯ robots by cleansing them instead of using light magic to heal. Lucas could be both Magus and Healer for a party of robots. Anyway, Lucas, before you leave, I need you to sign the contract with me. It¡¯s not really anything nefarious or anything, it just establishes that you are working on my behalf, so I can earn EXP. ¡°So, I guess I only have one real question about this Rose. Will this reduce the EXP that I earn?¡± I don¡¯t know the answer to that. ¡°You¡¯re a system object now, ask the system.¡± A few minutes later, Rose was able to give Lucas a response. I forget I can do that. Yes, it will impact the EXP you earn, but only until I pick up the Dungeon Skill that counteracts that issue. You will get roughly 75% of your standard experience attributed to the skills you used, I will get 25% of your experience. Annnd a second message from the System helpfully revealed it on my Tech Tree. I will need to get to the fourth tier on the Tech Tree to pick that up. I have at least one thing I want to get before that, but it¡¯s on Tier 3 anyway. Hopefully, I can jump over to it from the Dungeon Crystal path. Oh. A third message from the system revealed more of my tech tree. I don¡¯t think the system was supposed to do that one, but instead of the question marks for the tiers I can¡¯t buy yet, I can see everything until Tier 4. Somebody really likes answering your questions, Lucas. The message did let me know that I can¡¯t cross between the legs of the tech, so I am going to have to decide what I want to do first. Ultimately, I¡¯m going to need at least 1450 EXP to get the penalty removed. But I will need to spend a couple hundred elsewhere before I can start towards that. Sub Dungeons and Dungeon Teleport fields sound especially useful once you get to the mine. I also want to unlock my EXP boost and the Research AI to start developing blueprints for reward items and better gear. It is also imperative that we get the Dungeon Shield back online, which costs 650 EXP. I will focus all of my EXP on upgrades, but that means that I will not be leveling up myself for quite some time. I am capped out at level 4 for upgrades until I am at least level 2. I think I would be capped at level 3 if not for the system revealing the EXP penalty removal on my fourth upgrade tier. ¡°I don¡¯t think I have much choice. If I don¡¯t sign your contract, you won¡¯t advance much. If I do, it¡¯s really just a short-term penalty. And I agree, if you can teleport back and forth from the Mine it would make this whole thing much easier. Considering we just fixed it, I¡¯m going to be the one to ask, what¡¯s the power requirement?¡± said Lucas. I will get EXP from my Minions since they don¡¯t level, and I have to spend EXP on them somehow to upgrade each individual, not sure how that works yet since they haven¡¯t earned any EXP, but you¡¯re right on the power requirement. I will probably need to build more power generation capacity. I wonder if a windmill or a solar panel would do better in the mine area¡­ But I digress. I, Rose, hereby offer a Freelancer contract to Lucas. ¡°And I accept,¡± replied Lucas. With a flash, a pop-up forced its way out of the Notifications queue and in front of Lucas''s face.
System Message
Congratulations, you have contracted with a Dungeon Master. You are now a Freelancer for The Common Good. You may end this contract at any time by informing. Rose, the Dungeon Master Your EXP will be reduced by 25% under this revision of the contract.
Immediately followed with another when he dismissed the first notification.
System Message
Due to becomes a Freelancer, a long-term buff must now be shown. Familiar Blessings: -100% EXP gain in High Tech Skills; +100% EXP gain in System supported skills
¡°Ug... Rose¡­ Do you remember when I told you my skills level fast?¡± asked Lucas. No... I don¡¯t think you ever actually mentioned that¡­ ¡°Apparently I have a permanent buff to EXP for System selected skills, but a permanent penalty applied to all EXP I could earn for non-system selected skills.¡± Is that why your records said you had problems with Energy Weapons and Guns¡­ ¡°Ugh¡­ Yes. I wish you would delete those records.¡± But they are so much fun to tease you with. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what are we talking about,¡± interjected Sarah. ¡°I can¡¯t earn EXP for skills and technologies the system has locked out. Which was a problem before but doesn¡¯t have any negative impact on me at all now. It really doesn¡¯t make any sense, though... Who would have known ahead of time that it would benefit me¡­¡± Unless the person to which we are referring always intended to destroy High-Tech weapons. Maybe he used Hades as an excuse to do what he was going to do anyway.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°I¡­ could see that,¡± said Lucas slowly. ¡°Guns were not well-loved by some members of our family. I mean we supported the second amendment and all that, but nobody owned a gun.¡± ¡°Excuse me again. Hi, I¡¯m Sarah. Can we speak plain English? What is a Gun? What is the Second Amendment?¡± It¡¯s something from my time. It¡¯s not really something you need to worry about. ¡°Well, if we don¡¯t need to talk about it, let''s get going, we are burning daylight. Lucas, are you going to post anything at the Hero¡¯s guild asking for help in this quest, or are you going solo?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how I would explain the robots,¡± replied Lucas. ¡°That¡¯s what I thought. May I suggest then, taking Brandy and Ralph. They both actually have combat skills. And while neither one of them has any significant affinity to speak of, Brandy has unlocked Light Affinity and some basic healing. If you have the Robots pull the wagon, you can have her cultivate during the daylight hours to improve her affinity.¡± ¡°What do you mean, by the time I get to the mine? It¡¯s like a day-long trip at best. It¡¯s like 3.5 miles west. It¡¯s artificial as all get out since it wasn¡¯t there before the fall, but it¡¯s right near old U.S. 31 used to run,¡± said Lucas. ¡°Surprisingly, I followed all of that. The pathway known as ¡®us 31¡¯ which Sarah pronounced us instead of U.S. ¡°is fraught with danger. There are many high-level monsters camped along the path of terror. Regardless, we have to cross a dry river bed, get to the far side of a lake, and get around to the front side of an artificial mine. We may even have to climb up it a little way. I¡¯m not really sure where the mine entrance is at.¡± ¡°So, a day of travel and a day of searching for the entrance?¡± asked Lucas. ¡°What you are forgetting is the day that will be spent fighting off attacking monsters once you get much further to the west. I¡¯m guessing 3 days will get you there if you are harried constantly by monsters. From the village, we would take Rocky Road, west until the road ended and then cross the woods to get there while avoiding ¡®us 31.¡¯ From here, it depends on what exit you take from The Commons. If you want to hide the entrance on the village side, I¡¯d set out on the opposite side of the river. Which saves you from having to cross the river downstream but includes more time in the woods and leaves you closer to the abandoned mansions for a time.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t Joe tell me there weren¡¯t any bridges to the south? Was he telling the truth?¡± asked Lucas. ¡°Yes, there are no bridges to the south, but the river gets shallow enough you can walk across and keep your head above the water as long as it is not flooding. That¡¯s enough to stop Monsters, but not enough to stop the miners.¡± ¡°So excuse my ignorance, but are there no monsters in the river?¡± ¡°The dome over this dungeon¡­ Oh. There are probably monsters in the river now, but the dome used to block the monsters from coming downstream with the water. I¡¯d go north. I wouldn¡¯t want to fight monsters in the water,¡± said Sarah. ¡°We need to tell Esfield about the monsters as soon as possible.¡± ¡°North it is, Rose do you agree? Sarah, you can go tell Esfield about the monster potential after we get back. Just mention you saw one get past the barrier rather than anything more specific.¡± Your analysis is excellent. I agree. ¡°Do you still think it will be days versus a day?¡± asked Sarah. I still think it will take you at least a day to do it safely. Regardless of the speed which you could make the trip, my robots do have a limited top speed based on their construction materials. They can pull almost anything at that speed, they just don¡¯t get faster¡­ I think it¡¯s a system-imposed limit as opposed to a physical limit. If the wooden robots continuously walk without anything in their way, and without having to stop, they would reach the mine in around 12 hours. Before you ask, the fighters are not nearly that slow, just the mining robots, and everything is faster inside the dungeon itself. Slow isn¡¯t a problem for the mining bots when they are supposed to stand in one place and mine... ¡®Alright, I guess. Sarah, can you get me enough rations and canteens for a two-week trip for me, Brandy, and Ralph. I don¡¯t think I will be gone that long, but better safe than sorry. Can you get the wagon over to the main exit? I¡¯m not sure how you will get it there though. Load it into the wagon and get the Robots hitched up, and I will go talk to Brandy and Ralph. I¡¯ll take care of the wagon. I will have two of my bigger bots carry it. ¡°While we are talking about it, we will at least need to pretend that ore is going back and forth between the mine and here. We probably need to send shipments to the town every so often. Can you get another couple wagon¡¯s built if you have time? Hopefully, the land behind us won¡¯t have many monsters on it, and the wagons will be able to run with minimal protection,¡± requested Lucas. I¡¯m on it. I will have my bots grab some basic combat gear for Brandy and Ralph and put that on the wagon too. I may not have anything caster appropriate yet, but I think Ralph is going to be a defender based on Sarah¡¯s reports. ¡°That¡¯s pretty good group composition. A defender, a healer, and a really hard-hitting damage dealer,¡± said Lucas. ¡°That¡¯s why I suggested it, Lucas,¡± replied Sarah. ¡°If you clear the Mine, Brandy and Ralph can probably qualify as heroes for Esfield. They do that, and you get a lot of credibility as a positive force for the area. I don¡¯t know that Esfield has ever had three active heroes in the area at the same time. It may even buy you enough goodwill to reveal that you are based out of a dungeon. One that you¡¯ve cleared solo. If not, clear a couple more dungeons, and you should be there.¡± ¡°OK. We will go with that plan. Let me talk to Brandy and Ralph and get them on board¡­ Um... which ones were Brandy and Ralph again?¡± asked Lucas. Sighing, Sarah responded, ¡°Brandy is the one who is on the shorter side. Maybe 5 foot and 1 inch. Ish. She¡¯s got sand-colored hair and is thin as a rail. Well, except for certain rather large assets.¡± Before Sarah could answer on Ralph, Rose jumped in. You watched Football, right? Of course you did. Ralph is built like a linebacker. Wide, tall, and looks like he can take a hit. He¡¯s heavily muscled because he was previously a slave in a mine. He¡¯s probably got some relevant skills for clearing the mine. The only former slave who is taller than you. ¡°What¡¯s a Linebacker?¡± asked Sarah ¡°Uggggh. Rose, can you teach her enough about our time, or give her a dictionary or something, so that she can answer these questions herself?¡± sighed Lucas. Giggling, Rose replied Sure Lucas. We¡¯ve got plenty of wood to make paper, so I will have my Dungeon Nanobots print out an encyclopedia. I¡¯ll have one of my AI¡¯s build it. On another note, before you head off, anything you want me to focus my nanobots on while you are gone? ¡°IF, and I stress if, you can, try and figure out a way to grow crops on sub-level 7 after the village gets started on sub-level 8. That would give us some internally protected crops just in case we have to close the place up,¡± requested Lucas. ¡°Please try and get the running water all set up if possible too.¡± I¡¯m going to have to take at least one option besides the XP penalty elimination to get that done. But it¡¯s pretty cheap. I¡¯ll consider taking that early on, and we¡¯ll see where we end up. ¡°I will see the two of you over at the wagon. Let me go grab Ralph and Brandy,¡± stated Lucas. It was pretty easy to find both Ralph and Brandy, they were both hanging out on the seventh level. Ralph seemed to be hauling logs, and Brandy seemed to be, well Lucas wasn¡¯t quite sure what Brandy was doing, but it wasn¡¯t hauling logs. She was clearly attempting to help Ralph haul the log, but she was as clearly way too short to be effective at it. Ralph didn¡¯t seem to mind her presence, but she was definitely not being productive. ¡°Ralph, Brandy, after you get that tree trunk wherever it is going, I need to talk to you,¡± said Lucas as he stepped in to lend Ralph a hand. ¡°Thanks, Boss,¡± replied Ralph. ¡°Yes,¡± said Brandy breathily, ¡°Thanks¡¯ Lucas.¡± Sighing, Lucas said ¡°I¡¯ve got a mission for you two if you want to accept it. I¡¯m about to head out to the mine. I¡¯d like to help you grow into Heroes if you have the potential. I¡¯ve got some gear upstairs for you, and we can slip out to Esfield to buy something if we have to before we go.¡± Almost before he could finish his sentence, Ralph replied, ¡°I¡¯m in. I¡¯ve a shield that I have made since we arrived at the suggestion of the Dungeon Master. She supplied the metal and the assembly, but I carved the wood for the body.¡± ¡°And I too am in,¡± replied Brandy as she sashayed towards Lucas. ¡°I have little training in steel, but I have enough Light affinity to cast a few healing spells.¡± ¡°Especially if I can train in light affinity on the way,¡± purred Brandy ¡°Pack your things then. I¡¯ve got rations on the way. Meet me by the main door in 30 minutes, if we need to go buy something, we will head out from there,¡± turning to a nearby speaker, Lucas asked, ¡°Rose, do these two need to sign contracts or are they good as is because they are in my party?¡± I think they are good as is, but they are welcome to sign Freelancer contracts if they wish. We honestly might want all the villagers here sign Freelancer papers¡­ Those signatures make it impossible for my non-robotic minions to attack, rather than just exceedingly unlikely. And since you have signed a freelancer contract with me, said Rose with a squee, I¡¯ve unlocked cats! ¡°Even if it takes us a few hours before we are ready to go. Let¡¯s get it done then, I¡¯d hate to see any villagers mauled by a cat.¡± Chapter 20 In the end, it took longer than Lucas wanted before they could head out. It took almost half the day to get all the contracts sorted out. A significant number of the villagers didn¡¯t really understand why it was in their best interest to contract with the dungeon and Lucas had to spell it out for them. In the end, everyone signed, but it still caused a significant delay. Rose used that time to make brand new Comlinks for both Ralph and Brandy. Lucas had fitted Ralph with old Military gear. Military combat Greaves, armor, and helmet identical to the ones Lucas had in addition to a large Axe that Rose was able to make for Ralph. It might not be the strongest, but it should suffice for clearing the mine. Brandy was much harder to equip. In addition to her short height, she just was not well suited to combat gear. ¡°Lucas, I am a pure mage. I will not be getting into combat range. I have no combat skills, only my healing arts. I do NOT need to wear this,¡± pouted Brandy ¡°You do need to wear this. At least the body armor and the Greaves. You need some basic protection in case any monsters try and attack the healer first,¡± replied Lucas. ¡°Why would the monsters try and attack me first? I am not going to be hurting them. I will just be standing in the back making sure you and Ralph don¡¯t die.¡± Sighing, Lucas responded, ¡°Don¡¯t you think that the monsters are going to be more than a little pissed that you keep preventing them from killing us?¡± Brandy¡¯s eyes lit up as if she was coming to a sudden realization, ¡°If you have no protection on, they will tear you apart as soon as the monsters realize you are preventing them from killing the people who are hurting them.¡± ¡°OK. I will wear these when we get to the mine, but I won¡¯t wear these while I am trying to cultivate Light Affinity,¡± replied Brandy ¡°Wear whatever you want when you are cultivating your light affinity. I don¡¯t care. As long as you are protected when we are actually in dangerous situations,¡± said Lucas, and then to remind her of the fact that she wasn¡¯t a slave anymore, ¡°What you wear outside of combat is up to you. You are a free woman, after all.¡± A light seemed to flip on in Brandy¡¯s eyes when Lucas said this. She responded with a sly smile, ¡°Alright, Lucas. I will wear this gear in combat and wear whatever I wish when I am cultivating affinity.¡± Obliviously, Lucas responded, ¡°Good!¡± This led to Lucas''s current predicament. Brandy was lounging in the back of the wagon, cultivating Light affinity, just like Rose had suggested. But what was never mentioned in Rose¡¯s suggestion, and what Lucas was sure Rose would scream at him about later, was the fact that Brandy was cultivating almost entirely naked. Brandy was not entirely nude, she had some sort of panties covering her, but Lucas wasn¡¯t sure of any more detail than that since he immediately averted his eyes upon the realization that Brandy was nearly naked. ¡°Put some clothes on Brandy!¡± shouted Lucas ¡°You told me I could cultivate wearing whatever I wanted, and I don¡¯t want to wear anything,¡± retorted Brandy. ¡°Besides, when cultivating Light Affinity, the more skin that is exposed to the light, the more impact the cultivation has. So how else would someone cultivate Light affinity, not being naked would lower my efficiency.¡± ¡°While you make a good point, I¡¯d rather you have the slightly lower affinity increase rate versus the nakedness,¡± replied Lucas. ¡°Why are you afraid of a little nakedness?¡± questioned Brandy. ¡°Yeah, why are you afraid of a little nakedness?¡± asked Ralph, clearly enjoying the view. ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of the nakedness, I just want to make sure that we are all more attentive to the surroundings than the view,¡± lied Lucas. In truth, he was terrified of the potential anger Rose might develop if she was aware of the situation. Rose seemed to harbor a soft spot in her heart for her charge of 214 years, as was evidenced by the first quest. Lucas also held a place for Rose in his heart. Lucas was fond of her wit and banter. He was fond of their conversations, and he wanted to see how this would go. He believed that they could never be physically together, but he wasn¡¯t the type to focus on the now at the expense of the future. While he was very much a red-blooded American, he had no interest in Brandy as more than a colleague or fellow villager. It wasn¡¯t her looks, or her figure, or anything else physical that turned him off. What turned Lucas off the most was the fact that Brandy was so focused on trying to seduce him. Lucas suspected that her being sold into slavery had more to do with that than anything else. In fact, Lucas wasn¡¯t sure why exactly he was able to get Brandy at the low price point that he was able to purchase the rest of the slaves at. He wasn¡¯t arguing though because it clearly motivated Ralph. While he was thinking about it, Lucas realized that Brandy had been the short and pretty slave who had attempted to get on his good side pretty much as soon as they came to Esfield. The entire time that Brandy had been a part of the group, she had probably been scheming, ineffectively, on how to get closer to Lucas. Laughing lightly, Lucas said, ¡°Do whatever you want Brandy, just don¡¯t piss off Rose.¡± Purring, Brandy said, ¡°In that case, why don¡¯t you join me up here cultivating light affinity, I know you have at least some light affinity unlocked since I have seen you cast your Lantern spell.¡± ¡°Thanks¡¯, but no thanks, Brandy. I¡¯m going to continue to stay alert to my surroundings,¡± replied Lucas, looking around at the woods they were walking through. It was an especially dangerous area; it was an old neighborhood that had begun to fall down. Some homes were rather complete, with the possibility of monsters rushing out of them, and some of them were leveled entirely, which while less dangerous, still allowed for many hiding spots for a clever enemy. Lucas recalled that these houses had sold for around half a million dollars when they were built shortly before the system went online, now they were essentially worthless. Ralph started to jump in, to say that he would love to unlock his light affinity with Brandy, but before he could, Lucas shouted, ¡°Ambush!¡± At the call from Lucas, the warrior robots that had accompanied them, instantly shifted to an alert position. Turning as one in the direction that Lucas was facing, the three warrior bots raced towards the open front door of a house. As the robots approached, it was very evident that they were about to face a large number of monsters. It seemed likely that the pack of wolves that Lucas fought earlier at the bridge was based out of these ruins. The number of growls and eyes that could be seen in the dank interior of the ruined home was high enough that Lucas couldn¡¯t get a firm count them as they shifted within the ruins. The robots blocked the door admirably, and the wolves could not seem to get past them. Ironically, as the wolves were unable to eat them, they tried to avoid and get around the robots rather than destroy them. Deciding that it was an excellent time to test their teamwork, Lucas called out ¡°Robots, let them out one or two at a time. Keep them from rushing out but do not sacrifice yourself to do so. Have Rose tell me via Communicator if I need to rush in with Flames.¡±Stolen story; please report. At that, the robots let two wolves exit the home. As none had circled around to use another exit, it seemed there were no other open entrances. The Wolves raced out towards Lucas and Ralph. As they approached, Ralph swung his axe. The axe continued in an arc and hit both wolves. As the wolves tried to nip at Ralph, he held them at bay with his axe and his shield. Quickly spinning up his spells, Lucas cast ¡°Haste! Mind over Matter! Windshield!¡± turning to the two wolves, Lucas cast ¡°Icebolt!¡± These wolves seemed to be tougher than the wolves from the bridge, and his icebolt didn¡¯t take down a wolf. Just knocked off around 50% of its health. Well over enough to cause the wolf to turn and attack him instead of Ralph. Casting Icebolt again, Lucas finished off the wolf before it could reach him. Repeating the feat again, Lucas said, ¡°I think we have our method of clearing the wolves. Brandy, keep Ralph topped off and heal me if they get to me. Ralph, do the same exact thing you just did. In the end, Lucas, Ralph, and Brandy took out 43 wolves before they stopped attacking. Turning to the others, Ralph said, ¡°I think we should completely clear this house. Any wolves in here will breed, and we will have more monsters to contend with later. We are only a small distance away from The Commons, so we should clear every monster den we can find.¡± ¡°Agreed,¡± said Lucas and Brandy in unison. ¡°Robots, move in, secure the entrance,¡± with those few words from Lucas, the robots entered the old home and secured the entranceway. ¡°Mudroom off to the left, Office off to the right, main living room dead ahead. Looks like the mudroom and office are empty,¡± stated Lucas. ¡°Robots, turn your attention to blocking the way from the living room while we verify these rooms are clear.¡± Inspecting the rooms, Lucas saw several things that would be useful as feedstock for Rose¡¯s Nanobots. ¡°Hey, miner bots, get over here!¡± shouted Lucas. ¡°Grab this statue and haul it outside; we need to take it back to Rose. Strip all the metal you can carry from the room without breaching any of the walls.¡± Turning to the Mudrooms, Lucas took a look around and dismissed it as useless. It had already been mostly ransacked. Probably the only reason the statue was still around was the weight of it. The cuts visible in the walls suggested that the copper wiring had also been stripped already. Still, thought Lucas, they needed to clear the wolves¡¯ den completely. ¡°Robots, advance to the next set of doorways,¡± said Lucas. Peeking his head into the doorway, Lucas saw a set of steps up, a doorway that probably led down, and an area that looked like it might be a kitchen and eating area. The one thing he did not see any of, was wolves. ¡°Robots, block the steps up and down. Ralph, poke the kitchen. There is probably a door into the garage from the kitchen. Check that door,¡± ordered Lucas. As Ralph slowly walked forwards, Lucas started to hear a few yelping and growling sounds. Not sure which of the three directions they were coming from, Lucas ordered, ¡°Check that door and get back here Ralph, we are about to have company.¡± Ralph shouted, ¡°I see a door in the kitchen; it¡¯s shut, no wolves present.¡± As Ralph hurried back, the team prepared to be attacked. But no attack came. ¡°They are probably preparing to defend themselves against us,¡± stated Ralph. ¡°Let''s check the garage first if that¡¯s clear we can check upstairs, and finally the basement. My guess is they are in the basement,¡± suggested Lucas. As they headed towards the garage as a group, the growls got quieter. Opening the Garage door, there were no wolves present. But there was a giant present in the garage for Ross. One very rusty, limited-edition Ford F-150. ¡°Jackpot!¡± exclaimed Lucas. ¡°That¡¯s probably enough metal for Rose to make 15 more wooden robots.¡± Since the garage door was still in place, but the track was gone, Lucas and Ralph lifted the Garage door and pushed the garage door onto the ground. ¡°I have no idea why none of this has been salvaged yet, but all of it is good scrap materials for Rose.¡± Turning to head back into the house, Lucas noticed Brandy for the first time since combat started. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you wearing your combat gear?¡± Crying a little, ¡°You never slowed down enough for me to get it out and on! I had to fight all of those wolves naked!¡± exclaimed Brandy. ¡°Maybe next time you will just wear your combat gear as I asked you,¡± responded Lucas. Brandy opened her mouth as if she was going to respond, but then she shut it and pouted before she headed to the nearby wagon and started pulling out the combat gear. As Brandy did this, Ralph laughed. ¡°Alright, you two let''s head back inside and finish this up.¡± Shutting the door out into the garage, and heading back in the front door, Ralph advanced up the steps with Lucas and a fully dressed Brandy not far behind. Lucas left the robots behind so that they could prevent them from being attacked from behind. There was absolutely nothing of any interest upstairs. ¡°As we thought, they made their den downstairs,¡± said Ralph. With Ralph leading the way, the team headed to the stairs that clearly led downstairs. The door that had originally stood in this location was broken on the side of the doorway. Useless except for raw materials or firewood. As they crossed the threshold into the basement, a notification popped up in front of Lucas. Clearing it, Lucas called out, ¡°Did you two just get a notification we were just entering a Spawning Den?¡± Both of the others quickly responded, ¡°Yes.¡± Brandy spoke up first. ¡°Be careful, Ralph. You hardly take any damage, and I¡¯d hate to break in a new tank.¡± Reaching the bottom of the stairs, the basement was a wreck. It smelt horrible and was clearly where the majority of the wolves that were already dead had lived. Turning, the team quickly saw the boss of this den. A Large wolf was protecting what appeared to be a relatively large litter of wolf pups. Both the litter and the large wolf was growled at the team. ¡°It¡¯s a matriarch,¡± shouted Brandy so she could be heard over the growls. ¡°Don¡¯t attack the pups if they don¡¯t attack. Rose can probably take them in as minions. Then we can have some guard dogs,¡± shouted Lucas. As the Wolf Matriarch lunged at Ralph, the pups behind her stayed still. They were still yipping and yapping, but they didn¡¯t make a move. Ralph tried to dodge the matriarch''s bite, but she was faster than the wolves they fought outside, and she got past his guard and took a small bite out of his thigh. Ralph managed to block the next attack, while Brandy prepared to heal him. ¡°Heal Flesh Wound!¡± shouted Brandy. As soon as her heal landed, the wolf¡¯s attention shifted. Her head instantly snapped in Brandy¡¯s direction, and she took off. Just before the wolf could take a bite out of a screaming Brandy, Lucas shouted, ¡°Icebolt!¡± Lucas''s icebolt was enough to knock the wolf sideways so that it missed Brandy, but the matriarch quickly recovered. ¡°A half dozen more ice-bolts and we¡¯ve got her. She seems to be a lot tougher than the other wolves, but I still took about 10% of her health!¡± shouted Lucas. ¡°Slow!¡± cast Lucas as the matriarch headed towards Brandy again. Ralph leapt towards Brandy and shoved her out of the way as the matriarch''s jaw closed over the space where Brandy¡¯s head had previously been. He may have gotten Brandy out of the way, but he didn¡¯t clear the matriarch''s jaws in time. Crunch. Ralph collapsed as the wolf took a bite out of his shoulder and collided with his body. With the Matriarch away from the pup¡¯s, Lucas finally took out his overpowered spell. ¡°Flames!¡± shouted Lucas as Brandy desperately shouted, ¡°Heal Major Wound!¡± over and over again. The flames did the trick. Ten seconds after he started casting the flames, the wolf was down. But Ralph was still down too. Crying, Brandy ran over to him. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Ralph, I¡¯m so sorry.¡± ¡°Brandy!¡± shouted Lucas, ¡°I don¡¯t think he is dead yet. Keep healing him.¡± Wiping the tears from her face, she cast ¡°Heal Major Wound!¡± several more times until the wounds on Ralph¡¯s body started to heal up. First, they stopped bleeding and scabbed over, and then the flesh and bone began to heal rapidly. Ralph groaned through the pain and then finally passed out when it was too much. Walking over to him, Lucas bent down and placed a finger on his neck. Feeling a steady pulse, Lucas spoke up, ¡°He seems to be out of the woods.¡± As soon as the words left his mouth, Brandy collapsed. Chapter 21A Chapter 21 Neither one of them woke up after an hour had passed. Lucas set the robots to guarding the door to the house, so he could rest during this time. After an hour, he decided he would load up the pups in the wagon and send them back to Rose. ¡°Rose, I need some assistance,¡± Lucas called over his Comlink. ¡°Both of my team members are down. We cleared out a wolves den. I have metal and future minions I can send to you. I¡¯d prefer to send the minions first because the metal can wait¡­ We¡¯ve got a rusted F150 and a decently large plated statue. Might be limestone underneath, maybe some other filler material, but it is copper coated. ¡°I need the robots to help me protect the location we are staying while I wait for them to wake up, but I can send the miners back unguarded. I can literally see The Commons still through the trees. You were right. This is going to take days.¡± Glad to see that you realized I was right. I will pass on the sentiments to Sarah. You are close enough that I feel comfortable sending out a few more of my robotic fighters to guard the caravan home. They will be there in around 10 minutes. I actually sent them after you shortly after the EXP stopped coming in and you hadn¡¯t reported in yet. ¡°It¡¯s good to know you care, Rose,¡± said Lucas tenderly. Of course, I care you nitwit. I¡­ would miss you if you were gone, replied Rose. Only just barely stopping herself before she could admit that she loved Lucas. If she were able, to be honest with herself, which is something she could not do, then she would admit that she loved Lucas before he even came out of the tank. She logically knew that it probably started as a sort of Trauma bonding as all of the other people around them died, but she didn¡¯t care about that. Lucas seemed to care about her as a person genuinely, and that was enough for her. Anyway, send the minions back first. I will have the robots try and drag the F150 back if it still rolls. ¡°The rubber rotted away on the tires, but the rims look OK. You might get lucky. Probably want to instruct the robots to either break or disconnect the transmission. Not sure how you would put a car from 214 years ago into neutral...¡± trailed off Lucas. I¡¯ll figure it out. In the meantime, I need some feedback. I got 433 EXP points from this battle. Very few came from the robots, a few came from Brandy, but most came from Ralph and you. I can unlock sub-dungeons or teleports, but not both. I need more EXP to get both. I can buy the prerequisite for both and end up at 300 EXP spent. If I also pick up the Tier 1 in the Dungeon Master tree, it will more than pay for itself after another battle this size. Unless the mine is empty, it¡¯s probably a good buy. What do you think? ¡°Can you even use sub-dungeons without teleports?¡± asked Lucas Anywhere that I don¡¯t have too much light speed lag, yes. That¡¯s not something that the system can bend. I could still establish a dungeon in the mine and be able to see and communicate with anyone in both locations. Teleporting would give me instant utility inside the dungeon, and we could establish a creche for young squirrels, and soon wolves as well, to prevent their slaughter if anyone attacks. ¡°My suggestion then is to do the sub-dungeons with the prerequisites as well as picking up the EXP boost. If you don¡¯t get enough in the Mine, Sarah said U.S. 31 was very dangerous. I¡¯ll go take out a few monsters over there.¡± Before Rose could respond to Lucas, a loud, and slightly high pitched, groaning sound came from behind Lucas, where he had laid Brandy and Ralph down to rest. Lucas quickly turned around and checked on both Brandy and Ralph. As he was checking, Brandy¡¯s eyes fluttered open. ¡°Lucas¡­¡± Brandy said weakly. ¡°I¡¯m here, Brandy,¡± replied Lucas. ¡°You saved him. Ralph¡¯s still alive.¡± ¡°Good,¡± replied Brandy. ¡°I need a huge favor. I passed out because I exhausted my Mana and tapped into my own energy. I¡¯m a light affinity user. I will regenerate my mana much faster if I am in the light. I don¡¯t need to be naked, as long as I can sit in the sun. It will help.¡± Thinking about it for a moment, Lucas responded. ¡°I don¡¯t want to leave you outside. It¡¯s much easier to protect the house. How about we take you upstairs by an empty window. As you feel better, you can strip articles of clothing and expose more skin to the sun.¡± ¡°Thanks¡¯ Lucas. I think that will work. Have we looted the boss yet?¡± asked Brandy. ¡°Not yet. I didn¡¯t want to loot the boss without you two awake,¡± replied Lucas. ¡°Well I¡¯m awake now too, so go loot that dang wolf. If I ever get a bite taken out of me like that again, it will be too soon,¡± said Ralph. ¡°RALPH,¡± shouted out Brandy as she crawled over to him, unable to yet stand. ¡°I am so very, very sorry.¡± ¡°Just don¡¯t do it again, OK?¡± replied Ralph. ¡°I promise to wait until you¡¯ve hit the monster before I start trying to heal you.¡± ¡°Good girl,¡± said Ralph as he drifted off again. Lucas quickly went around looting all the wolves. He ended up with a loot bag for each of the wolves, plus about 150 gold in total. As Lucas went to loot the Matriarch, the body flashed, and in addition to the loot bag, three additional bags had been dropped. Inspecting them, the first was labeled as ¡°Only openable by Brandy Glass.¡± Each of the three teammates had a bag like that. Loading all of the light bags into his bag, Lucas headed upstairs. Handing the resting individuals a bag each, Lucas said, ¡°I think we¡¯ve each got a piece of loot. We each have a bag that is bound to us.¡± Setting down the bags that belong to Brandy and Ralph in front of them, Lucas opened his bag. Out plopped a rare item. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
Equipment
Spell Book Rare
Durability 90/90
This spellbook improves your ability to discover new spells. +2 intellect +2 damage to damaging spells
Looking at the spellbook before he picked it up, Lucas exclaimed. ¡°What the heck. This is a physics Textbook.¡± Opening the textbook to the page where a student would write their name, ¡°This was MY physics textbook. How did the system even get this!¡± Brandy responded, ¡°The system works in mysterious ways.¡± Rose jumped in I¡¯m guessing that it isn¡¯t actually your physics textbook, just a something close enough that you can¡¯t tell the difference. The nanobots interface with your brain, so I can¡¯t see a reason that they couldn¡¯t pull out what you remember about an item to recreate it. Stunned, Lucas says ¡°You... make a good point. Either way, this pushes me down the path of the Magus as opposed to the Rogue. I didn¡¯t even stab anything that fight.¡± I¡¯d expect that is why the system gave you Magus loot. If you want Rogue loot, fight like a Rogue. ¡°You make another good point. But I do so much more damage, and am so much more effective as a Magus,¡± replied Lucas. ¡°I just want to be able to sneak up on people and shout ¡®Boo!¡± As everyone laughed, Rose responded. I think that means you made your decision then. You are a master of magic as opposed to a master of the blade. To again borrow some terms from RPG¡¯s of our time, the level of skill required to be a mage is a lot lower comparatively. You are an extremely tanky mage thanks to your high endurance, but still a mage. Sighing, Lucas said, ¡°I guess that makes sense. Especially for me. Remind me when I get back to The Commons to drop the Rogue profession.¡± You can still keep the profession, Lucas, it just won¡¯t be as beneficial as something that fits more with a Magus. What that profession might be, I don¡¯t know, but I am sure we can ask around and find something if you want. ¡°Spellblade. Drop Rogue and pick up Spellblade. You are totally a magic-user, and to be a rogue instead of a Spellblade wastes half of your skills,¡± said Brandy. ¡°I even know a Spellblade trainer who lost their village to a monster attack who might be interested in relocating. Spellblades are magic-using assassins specializing in close up magic. ¡± ¡°I will¡­ consider it. Thanks, Brandy, Thanks, Rose,¡± said Lucas. ¡°In other news, what did you get?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not exactly sure. Here, let me share the item details. Do you know what an Over-the-Shoulder Boulder-Holder is?¡± asked Brandy
Equipment
Over the shoulder boulder-holder Unique
Durability 90/90
Over-the-Shoulder Boulder-Holder. Improves Light Affinity Cultivation when Equipped +1 Charisma Automagically exactly sized upon equip +2 Endurance Binds when Equipped
Instantly both Lucas and Rose broke out laughing. ¡°It¡¯s a named bra,¡± said Lucas as he laughed. ¡°I think the system is messing with you because you weren¡¯t wearing any clothing for most of the kills. It¡¯s pretty darn funny though.¡± What do you mean she wasn¡¯t wearing clothes for most of the fight said Rose gravelly. In an attempt to calm Rose down, Lucas quickly replied, ¡°The fight started as an ambush before she could put back on her combat armor after cultivating light affinity.¡± And why did she need to re-equip her combat armor after affinity cultivation? Sighing, Brandy responded, ¡°Because I was trying to get Lucas to notice me. Cultivating with as few pieces of clothing on as possible is extremely beneficial to the rate of cultivation. I thought I could put those two things together and maybe get noticed.¡± ¡°I noticed you,¡± said Ralph quietly. ¡°That you did. But you noticed me when we were both slaves, and I guess I haven¡¯t really put it together yet in my head that I am not Lucas''s slave anymore. I don¡¯t have to bend to his will. I don¡¯t have to buy myself better treatment,¡± said Brandy sadly. As long as you live and work within The Commons, you never have to worry about that sort of thing again. I will never allow something like that to happen within my walls, promised Rose poignantly. That being said. Please keep your clothes on around Lucas, said Rose sternly. ¡°I will... try to do so in the future,¡± replied Brandy. Turning to Ralph, ¡°You on the other hand,¡± Brandy teased. ¡°Anyway, what did you get.¡± As Ralph opened the bag, a loud clang could be heard. ¡°I apparently received a shield. A very nice, fully metal shield. Wider than the wooden one I¡¯ve got. Not much heavier too. The system must have put a featherweight enchantment on it. It will be good for bashing and hopefully stopping me from getting bit.¡±
Equipment
Kite Shield Rare
Durability 120/120
This shield is in excellent condition. It is designed to defend against all things. Including Wolves +40 Armor +1 Endurance +10% Block Chance
Lucas, the Robots have been waiting outside a few minutes. Are you ready to head out? ¡°Everybody ready?¡± asked Lucas. When nobody responded he followed up with ¡°Ok, well let''s head out then. Rose, please escort your new puppies back to the base. They can join your kitties. Hopefully, they all play nice together.¡± Oh, they will, threatened Rose. I will send the robots cart back with the warrior bots. The copper and the baby wolves don¡¯t weigh enough to slow them down much. They should be able to catch back up to you and the miner bots pretty quickly. ¡°Let us know over the earpiece when they are getting close,¡± replied Lucas, and with that, The Warrior bots sped off with the cart. Far faster than a human could walk. ¡°Lucas, why didn¡¯t we toss the miner bots into the cart and have the warrior bots pull them?¡± asked Ralph. ¡°That is an excellent question, that I cannot answer,¡± said Lucas. ¡°Regardless, we may as well start walking. 21B Two minor fights later, without any serious effort, the warrior bots had caught back up with the wagon. Lucas, Ralph, and Brandy promptly loaded the Mining bots into the carts and tried to take off. The cart failed to go any faster than when the miners themselves had been pulling it. ¡°Domain dang it!¡± shouted Ralph. ¡°This should have worked.¡± If I may interject, I was afraid of this, the max speed of the Mining bots is system enforced and thus transitive. If you load them onto anything, their speed transfers to the object carrying them. The remainder of the day followed mostly followed the same formula. The three warrior bots would be at the front and would catch any ambushes, letting a few out at a time, Ralph would tank whatever got past, Lucas would quickly eliminate them, and Brandy would keep them from getting too injured. Stopping on the shores of a lake, Lucas decided it was time to make camp for the night. ¡°Well, we made it most of the way to the mountain today. I think we can make it the rest of the way tomorrow. Rose, please keep an ear out regarding your bots. Yell in our ears if we need to wake up.¡± Grabbing some blankets from out of the wagon, which was now covered in wolf fur, Lucas, Brandy, and Ralph settled down for the night. The night passed surprisingly uneventfully for Lucas. Considering their proximity to U.S. 31 which had been described as an extremely dangerous place and the wandering monsters that they had cleared out before camping, Lucas had expected to be woken at least once or twice to fight. As he got up and looked around, Lucas realized that it hadn¡¯t quite been as uneventful as he thought. ¡°Rose, why is there a pile of bodies nearby that wasn¡¯t there when I went to sleep? And why does it appear that one of your Robots has been beaten to kingdom come?¡± Ummm¡­ Can we just say I was practicing? ¡°No,¡± said Lucas firmly. Can we say that I wanted to let you have your sleep? ¡°No.¡± Can we say I was bored and wanted to play with my toys? I would have woken you up had it gotten really bad. ¡°Yes, we can say that. But in the meantime you have a broken warrior bot,¡± replied Lucas It gives us a perfect opportunity to do a test. Just humor me in this, but cast cleanse on a working warrior bot and then cleanse on the one that¡¯s been beaten up. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Cleanse!¡± was heard and then a moment later, ¡°Cleanse!¡± was heard again as Lucas complied with Rose¡¯s request. It seems the system does not allow cleanse to repair my robots. They must not be covered under cleanse for some reason. Oh well, it was worth a shot. Brandy, be a dear and cast Minor Flesh Wound on the bot a couple times, please. As Brandy cast the spells, the robot¡¯s parts came together. After a few moments, it was a fully operational Robot. Great! Now we know how to heal my robots. I¡¯m going to count this as a win. ¡°I¡¯m going to count this as you going off-script Rose. Seriously, if you had been overwhelmed, we would have been in trouble,¡± lectured Lucas. They started out one by one. And I was getting a trickle of EXP. I¡¯ve now got enough to unlock both the Dungeon Shield and Dungeon Teleporting with some leftover. Not a lot mind you. I¡¯m planning on picking up either Solid Projections or a loot level as soon as I can. ¡°I¡¯ve only got one more question then. You acted rashly, but you did need to learn what your robots could do. What are we going to do with the bodies? Brandy, Ralph and I did not participate in the kills. We can¡¯t loot them.¡± I do need raw material for my cats¡­ Let me try something. As the team watched, one of the warrior bots walked over to the pile of dead¡­ things. Through all of the Comlinks, the team heard Rose say, Loot. Followed swiftly by a Woo-hoo it worked! ¡°Let me guess, you were able to loot the monsters all the way from your dungeon?¡± questioned Lucas. Yup! I can loot from here¡­ My minions will have to come back before I can access the loot, but¡­ they are now carrying it¡­ somewhere. No idea where. It shows up in my inventory, but I can¡¯t access it. Packing up the bedding, grabbing a ration, the team moved out. Another few hours later, with a few more skirmishes, and they had arrived at the bottom of the mountain. It was even more evident as they approached that it was an artificial mountain. There were no hills around it. It sprung up at the side of the lake in the middle of a broad flat area. The team was quiet as they climbed the path the villagers had carved up the side of the mountain to the entrance. As evening rolled around the team crossed the entrance to the mine. Once they did, everyone, including Rose received one notification. The team that was physically present received a second notification. Brandy quickly had a question. ¡°Rose, honey, what can I use DKP for?¡±
Caution!
You have entered the Dungeon "The Tippyton Mine."
Due to the Dungeon type, greater loot will be awarded, but less currency will be awarded. 50% Bonus to materials drops. Reduction 50% in coin drops. Recommended Combat Profession Level - 5
Unlocked!
The Freelancers from ¡®The Common Good¡¯ have unlocked DKP!
Dungeon Kill Points can be used to purchase rewards from your home dungeon. Annex this dungeon to receive 10 DKP. Kill Dungeon Bosses to earn 1 DKP per boss (repeatable). Destroy the dungeon master to receive 10 DKP
CHP 22A The mine was in surprisingly good shape. The entrance they had walked into was clear of danger. There were even glass panes in the wooden shack protecting the mine entrance. Lucas, Brandy, and Ralph were sitting on the ground, resting up against the walls of the shack as Rose filled them in. DKP wasn¡¯t revealed to me until after you entered the dungeon. I am not entirely sure, but it appears that you can trade DKP to me for valuable or rare items. Any loot that I have the system generate for you will cost DKP before the system allows you to use it. Anything I can make via the Nanoforge isn¡¯t affected, but anything made using the System nanobots is. I can make the rest of minions anything I want, but Freelancers require DKP to purchase good loot. I can give you basic stuff, but nothing above an uncommon grade. Unless of course, it was sitting in my storehouse before I became the Dungeon Master. Then I can freely pass it out. I think what I can hand out is based on what level I¡¯ve reached in the Dungeon Loot Tree. I suspect if I were to buy down a few tiers in that tree, that I would be able to pass out better loot without a DKP cost. ¡°Why the heck even add another system to pass out dungeon kill points as an additional currency¡­. It¡¯s just another layer on top of the already complicated system!¡± ranted Lucas. It does do one very nice thing for me. It would prevent people from enslaving newly born dungeons. And I am a newly born dungeon. If I can¡¯t give them items unless they pay in DKP, why bother enslaving the dungeon. A free dungeon with its bosses is better for farming drops and better for me personally. Nodding their heads, the rest of the team agreed with Rose. ¡°I guess that¡¯s a good point, Rose,¡± conceded Lucas. Quickly changing tropics, Lucas asks, ¡°Who meets the dungeon¡¯s suggested level?¡± Ralph spoke up first, ¡°I don¡¯t. I¡¯m a level 2 Defender.¡± ¡°Neither do I,¡± followed Brandy. ¡°I¡¯m a level 3 Lightbearer.¡± ¡°I do meet the suggested level, but not in Magus. Only in Rogue, which I am not really using anymore,¡± replied Lucas. ¡°How is Lightbearer different from Magus?¡± ¡°It forsakes the other schools of magic to focus on bonuses to healing and light affinity.¡± ¡°I guess that¡¯s a good class for a healer then,¡± smiled Lucas. Interrupting Rose said, You should be fine in there Lucas. You cleared my dungeon after all. ¡°That was challenging, but not impossible, I didn¡¯t even see a recommended level.¡± That¡¯s because you didn¡¯t come in the front door. The dungeon totally had a minimum level before I took over. The recommended level at the time was also level 5. My guess is most nearby dungeons are level 5. Dungeons will probably be a higher level in some areas though, so don¡¯t get too complacent. Ralph spoke up, ¡°Ms. Rose has got the right of it Lucas. We are a low-level zone. It¡¯s why we have such trouble keeping heroes registered to our Hero guild. It takes a long time to climb in the advanced tiers, but Beginner 1 to 5 does not take much time at all.¡± Phew. Good. I was totally dancing around the word Zone. Lucas, this is a low-level zone. Eventually, we will need you to venture to higher-level zones to earn EXP faster. But I bet if we start defending Esfield, the system is smart enough to start raising the level of the area, so we had better be careful how we do this. We don¡¯t want to cause the zone to be higher level than the villagers. None-the-less, we can deal with all of that later. For now, let''s get this dungeon cleared. With the words from Rose, Lucas, Ralph, and Brandy all got up and opened the door into the next chamber of the dungeon. The room was empty, but there were a further four doors that opened up off of this room as well as two alcoves, one on either side of the doors. The first door was labeled with a picture of ore chunks that were colored grey & copper. The second door was labeled with pictures of ore chunks that were colored like gold & silver. The third door the image looked like Confetti, but that couldn¡¯t be right. The fourth door and the alcoves were unlabeled.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. The room they were in was clearly set up as the living quarters for whoever was working the mine. Peeking his head into the alcove, Lucas called out, ¡°We¡¯ve got a barracks on this side. Ralph, can you check the other side?¡± Hollering back at Lucas, Ralph responded, ¡°This side is not a barracks. This side looks to be a smelting area. Possibly with an area off of the smelting furnace for cooking as well.¡± Brandy spoke up, ¡°The unlabeled door is locked. However, It¡¯s getting late tonight, are we sure we want to challenge the dungeon before we rest. Since the is a barracks, we can set up Rose¡¯s robots to guard the four doors and have a good nights sleep.¡± ¡°I like that plan Brandy. Let¡¯s do it,¡± said Ralph. ¡°OK Guys. Grab a bunk, and let''s get started in the morning. Rose, can you set your bots to guard the door?¡± asked Lucas. I¡¯m on it. Before you go to sleep, Lucas, we need to talk. ¡°Alright, Rose. Brandy, Ralph, you guys can go ahead and pick bunks. I will go talk to Rose over in the smelter area so you can get some sleep.¡± Heading over to the Smelting Area, Lucas plopped down into one of the chairs in the area that looked like it had previously served as an eating area and then questioned Rose. ¡°OK, Rose, what do you want.¡± Actually, nothing, I just want to give Ralph and Brandy a few minutes alone. You saw how Brandy reacted after Ralph nearly sacrificed himself to save her. She nearly killed herself through mana exhaustion saving him. I am just doing a bit of matchmaking. Just give them a few minutes to talk. Then you can head back over. Although while I¡¯ve got you, I guess I do have a couple of questions. I know I promised to work towards the EXP penalty removal. But I really think I need to pick up Avatar and Remote Avatar first. There are a lot of other items that can and will eventually be useful, but ultimately, the ability to have me as the Physical ruler of the Commons as opposed to the Dungeon Master of a dungeon is likely going to have a long-term effect on our survivability. While I personally want to be a normal person again, with all the options that entails, I also promised to get rid of the EXP penalty as soon as possible. ¡°I thought you said you had nothing to talk about,¡± ribbed Lucas. ¡°In all fairness, I think you are right. The ability to say this person is in charge versus this crystal is in charge is going to have a large impact on The Commons. It pre-empts a lot of potential issues, so even though I am not happy with it, I guess I say go with that.¡± I will also have to pick up wolves as an official minion race if I want to get full use out of them. ¡°Do that after you fix my EXP,¡± growled Lucas. ¡°Your Robots seem well enough equipped to handle a lot of the mobs in the area, maybe you should have them farm those while we are in here. I have a feeling this mine isn¡¯t going to be as quick as I¡¯d like it to be. You also probably got some biomass from the loot bags. Have you made any cats yet? We could probably use a few to scout.¡± Nope, you can¡¯t have any of my cats, yet. They are too young to go off exploring right now. I¡¯ve got them hunting around The Commons for any leftover critters, and then I am going to let them outside to start hunting down anything they can clear. But they are all level 1 still. I expect I will lose most of them when they go off fighting in the forest. Hopefully not. But I am hoping those I get back will have either leveled up enough times or given me enough EXP that I can level them up. Even their deaths will give me EXP I can use to level up other dungeon cats. And provided I recover the body, I don¡¯t really lose anything since I get their EXP if they die... ¡°Have you thought about an arena and having your cats just battle each other to earn EXP so you can level them up?¡± asked Lucas. I hadn¡¯t, but it is actually a pretty good idea. It would be a controlled situation. Do it until I can get each cat to maybe level 3, then send them off hunting in the woods so they can see more than just one type of enemy¡­ ¡°I¡¯d send someone to talk to Joe. Maybe we can set up an arena in the town and sell tickets. It might be a good way to earn some money,¡± suggested Lucas. I¡¯ll send Sarah over. If we can get enough attention, we may even start to draw folks from the capital to see the fights. ¡°Which would be a very good thing for Esfield. They might even be able to draw heroes back to fight in this arena.¡± I guess we had more to talk about than I thought. I think I¡¯ve bought them enough time. I suppose I can let you go to sleep now. Irreverently, Lucas responded, ¡°Why, thank you, Rose. Glad to know that I¡¯ve been dismissed.¡± Giggling at his response, Rose followed up and said We do have one more thing to talk about when you get back here. I am going to wait until you get back here, though. I¡¯m not sure I want to distract you while you are in the mine. ¡°Well, that¡¯s just not fair. Do you want to give me any hints?¡± Nope. I don¡¯t. But I will anyway so you don¡¯t think on it all night trying to figure it out. Some of our new residents still have family in slavery. We probably need to figure out something we can do about that. ¡°Yes, we do. I¡¯ll take care of it when I see Joe next. Goodnight Rose, and thanks for letting me know.¡± Sleep tight Lucas. Walking back over to the area that they were considering the barracks, Lucas saw that Ralph and Brandy were deep in conversation. Rather than interrupting them, Lucas grabbed his camping supplies and quickly left the room unnoticed. Lucas headed back to the room by the entrance and grabbed a spot on the floor and was out. Chapter 22B Lucas awoke to the sound of fighting. It kind of sounded like Swords thumping on wood, thought Lucas groggily as he was waking up. With a start, Lucas realized it probably was swords hitting wood. Rose¡¯s wooden robot shells! ¡°Rose, is everything OK?¡± questioned Lucas over the comlink as soon as he shoved the comlink into his ear. No. Definitely not. The middle door burst open a few minutes ago and we have people coming through one or two at a time and immediately attacking my robots without any discussion. I¡¯m having trouble waking anybody up. I can¡¯t send the robots back to physically get you without letting the people attacking them through, and your comlink wasn¡¯t in your ear, huffed Rose. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Rose, what do you need.¡± I need you to either get to the front lines and relieve a robot or wake up the others. I¡¯m not going to be able to hold the entrance with the numbers coming through and the robot¡¯s I¡¯ve got. I¡¯ve already had a robot completely destroyed and it¡¯s just a matter of time before the rest go the same way. I¡¯m honestly surprised you heard the fighting first. I know you slept in the entrance to give Brandy and Ralph privacy. ¡°I¡¯m on it,¡± replied Lucas as he jumped out of his nest of blankets. Throwing open the door, Lucas started shouting at Brandy and Ralph. ¡°Brandy! Ralph! We¡¯re under attack.¡± Hearing the two begin to stir, Lucas continues rushing towards the line of robots. Reaching the front lines, the first thing Lucas noticed was that two robots were now on the ground. The second thing that he noticed, was that the invaders were dressed like bandits. Lucas might consider them to have been dressed as pirates if they had all been on a ship, but since they were not, Lucas decided it was most likely they were just bandits. ¡°My good fellow¡¯s,¡± said Lucas as he attempted to negotiate with them, ¡°we do not need to fight. We are just looking for iron, copper, and other assorted metals. We can help each other.¡± The bandits paused for just a moment before continuing the assault. Lucas, I¡¯m about to be down to two functional bots. If you are going to do something, you¡¯ve got to do it now. Either that or grab Ralph and Brandy and run. The robots are replaceable, you are not. Considering this, Lucas came to a decision. ¡°Flames!¡± cast Lucas. As the fire cascaded over the bandits, they begin to retreat back through the door they came through. Before they could get through, Brandy and Ralph jump into the fray. Ralph blocked the door with his shield, and Lucas held his Flames spell until the Bandits slammed the door and sacrifice the few remaining Bandits to the flames. Ralph leapt forward and threw himself against the door to guarantee that it stayed shut. ¡°Brandy, would you heal up the robots and get ¡®em on their feet again for this next fight. We¡¯re in for a hard fight,¡± said Ralph. ¡°No problem, honey. I¡¯ve got them,¡± replied Brandy. ¡°Well last night went well for two people,¡± stated Lucas under his breath. Continuing in a fashion which can be heard by more than just Rose, ¡°Well, how many did you take out before you got overrun? How many do you think there are?¡± I think the robots took out just a couple. But the bodies were dragged back into the mining area. There are probably at least 15 bandits total. I had eyes on 11 individuals, including the ones that were out of the fight. And I think you guys have a couple that you¡¯ve put out of commission out here. ¡°With swarming bandits, I have no idea how the system thinks a group of level 5¡¯s is supposed to beat this dungeon,¡± commented Brandy. ¡°It¡¯s possible the bandits aren¡¯t part of the dungeon. They may just be bandits,¡± replied Lucas There is at least one safe way we know to check. Try and loot the bandit. If you can loot the bandit, it¡¯s a mob, if not, it¡¯s a person. ¡°Good plan,¡± said Lucas, followed swiftly by Lucas running over to one of the fallen bandits and a shout of ¡°Loot!¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. As the bandit dissolved into nothingness a loot bag was left in its wake. Definitely a monster then. Maybe they will be easier to deal with inside of their mine wing. ¡°I doubt it,¡± said Ralph. ¡°We¡¯ve got to try,¡± replies Lucas. ¡°What time is it anyway? We all jumped up to fight, do we stay awake, or go back to sleep?¡± It¡¯s around 5 AM. You guys would probably have slept a few more hours, but you honestly may as well get started, I doubt any of you will fall back asleep. ¡°You underestimate how good I am at falling asleep,¡± laughed Ralph. ¡°Well, Rose is right in that I won¡¯t fall back asleep. So, we may as well clear the Bandits and make the best of it,¡± said Lucas unenthusiastically. ¡°Ugh,¡± said Brandy. ¡°Fine. But give me a few minutes, and maybe some coffee.¡± 30 minutes later, and the team was ready to attempt the gold and silver wing. ¡°Are we all clear on the plan?¡± asked Lucas. ¡°We are going to do this the same way we did the Spiders,¡± said Brandy in a questioning tone. ¡°Aye. Robots will protect our back while we slowly advance and grind away on the mobs. We advance slowly and safely until we reach the boss,¡± followed up Ralph. I think we¡¯ve all got it then. Good luck guys. I will position the robots as blocking forces as you advance. Slowly the team entered into the gold and silver wing of the mine. The mine was well lit, with light coming from lanterns that lined the walls. ¡°Look at this,¡± shouted Ralph, running to a sparkling spot on the wall. ¡°There is gold and silver seams running through these walls. Just¡­ everywhere. No wonder there are bandits in here.¡± ¡°Holy Knight. That¡¯s a LOT of gold,¡± replies Lucas as he pries a nugget of gold straight out of the wall with one of his daggers. Continuing to walk down the mineshaft, they quickly see their first barrier. The bandits have gathered behind a thrown together barrier made out of wooden spikes. Laughing, Lucas asked, ¡°Are you ready guys?¡± ¡°Yup¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go¡± I¡¯m ready. As soon as Rose responded, Lucas cast ¡°Flames!¡± on the wooden spikes. The wooden spikes quickly went up in flames, denying the bandits their fixed defenses and doing a little bit of initial damage. Ralph quickly ran forward and waded into the bandits. His health quickly began to Yo-yo as the bandits attacked him, and Brandy healed him. But his health was mostly holding as the bandits attacked. Brandy shouted to Lucas ¡°Make your move now, I¡¯m not sure how long I can keep him up with the intense assault.¡± Lucas cast his self-buffs, then cast ¡°Ice Bolt!¡± at one of the bandits that was wailing on Ralph. The ice bolt had trivial effect on the Bandit. ¡°Flames!¡± quickly followed but there wasn¡¯t a large effect on the bandit for flames either. Dismissing the Flames, Lucas uses Dash and races towards the bandits on the other side of the flaming barrier. Pulling out his daggers, Lucas backstabbed one of the Bandits as it hits Ralph. As the Bandit fell, sparks shoot out of the hole the daggers made in the Bandit. ¡°They¡¯re robots!¡± exclaimed Lucas. ¡°That¡¯s why my Ice bolt and Flames didn¡¯t have a terribly large effect on them.¡± Lucas, you need to make a water bolt spell. Maybe cast Ice Bolt and then Flames immediately afterward if you can¡¯t get a water bolt spell worked out quickly. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can pull off a water bolt spell right now,¡± said Lucas. ¡°I will go with your other option. Immediately casting ¡°Icebolt!¡± with one hand, and ¡°Flames!¡± with the other. ¡°I got one,¡± exclaimed Lucas as he dodged an attack from a Robot Bandit. ¡°That¡¯s great and all, but there are still three beating on Ralph, and my Mana is getting lower and lower,¡± shrieked Brandy. Coming up behind another of the Bandits, Lucas shoved a knife into the area where a person would have a spinal column. The Bandit collapses to the ground, clearly wanting to fight still, but just as clearly having lost control of its limbs. ¡°Three down, two to Go,¡± shouts Lucas. His shouting causes the two remaining Bandits from this checkpoint to turn and look at him. As they do, ¡°Boom!¡± Ralphs body checks one of the bandits with his shield into the wall, turning to the other, Ralph Swings his mace and knocks the head off the robot like a kid knocks a ball off a t-ball stand. As soon as the last Robot was down, Rose cut in, Do NOT loot these bandits. If you do, the dungeon can make more. I want those resources. Drag them out into the main area. Toss them into the smelter if you must. Just keep them locked up until we can free up my robots to bring them back to me. ¡°That¡¯s great Rose, but we¡¯ve got at least 10 more Robot bandits hidden in this cave. Can we just leave them alone and let your robots drag them off somewhere as we advance?¡± Peeking down the hallway, Lucas continued, ¡°It is, after all, a very linear dungeon wing. There is nowhere to go but forward.¡± I can do that. But still, don¡¯t loot them! Brandy laughed at Rose and said, ¡°Of course Rose, we will leave these robots to you. Who needs loot when we can pull gold and silver out of the walls with a dagger?¡± Ralph spoke up, ¡°I hate to break up the banter, but we¡¯ve got robots to smash. We need to clear this wing before we do anything else. The other wings seem peaceful, but we will get attacked again if we leave this wing alone and we try and sleep.¡± ¡°OK OK, just give me a moment to try and get a water bolt spell.¡± ¡°A ball of water forms in front of my hand to shoot out at my enemies or those who mean harm to me. It will pass through my Allies without causing damage. The water will be generated from Humidity which is pulled from the air. The waterbolt will float in front of my hand until I close my hand to signal the release. The angle of the arm when my hand opens doesn¡¯t matter. Only the angle when my hand closes. Waterbolt!¡± Chapter 22C
Warning
Spell Failed
Ralph and Brandy look on in wonder as Lucas tries several more spell formulations which were all failures. Even though Lucas failed, this was not something you saw every day. ¡°I can¡¯t get it guys, it¡¯s possible I don¡¯t have sufficient affinity. I guess it is also possible I am missing some key process for the spell. I wish I had the spellbook from Io.¡± Brandy found her voice first, ¡°Um... Lucas... How are you able to just create spells? I had to buy proper instructions to get my spells. Glad my parents did that before they passed because making spells is something only specialists in the capital typically do.¡± ¡°Yeah well, Rose and I are special. I¡¯m going to bet Rose would be way better at making spells than I am if she had a bit of affinity to play with.¡± I concur. Based on your attempted spells, I am going to guess you don¡¯t quite have the affinity. All three of those spell instructions should have created some version of a water bolt. Why don¡¯t you try and generate a lightning bolt? Or you could create a formula so that Brandy can learn lightning bolt. Thinking it over, Lucas said, ¡°We both should learn a lightning spell if we can. Then we can both incapacitate a robot at the start, and then Brandy can heal Ralph. I will go full stealth, and I guess use my rogue class to Backstab the suckers and cut their main whatcha-ma-call it carrying the signals from their brains to their limbs. Just call it their spine. It¡¯s easier. It¡¯s really their Main CPU Data transfer cable, but Spine is much faster based on the placement on these robots. I really need to move that in my robots... ¡°Fine,¡± said Lucas, ¡°I will go full rogue and sever their spines while you guys hold them off.¡± With that, Lucas began to create a lightning spell. ¡°Hmmm. I want it to chain to my enemies if possible. And I want it not to jump to allies. Maybe I can add automatic targeting¡± ¡°Do you have any idea what he is babbling about?¡± whispered Ralph to Brandy. ¡°Not a clue,¡± she replied. ¡°But if it gets me a new spell, I¡¯m all for it. The basic lightning spell was almost 200 gold when I last looked.¡± ¡°I think I¡¯ve got it. As the nanobots rapidly move around each other, they generate electricity. This is stored up and released in a large jolt that aims itself towards my enemies while avoiding my allies. This jolt of electrical energy will jump from enemy to enemy as long as there is energy remaining in the energy jolt, chain jolt!¡±
Congratulations
Chain Jolt Beginner 1 45 Mana
Single Target damage for 1.5 x Affinity% DPS for each enemy struck. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. If Target becomes unconscious or disabled before energy is expended, jumps to an additional target. 2-second minimum cast Additional cast time adds additional energy and requires additional Mana 45-yard range.
Restrictions: Allies take no Damage.
18 DPH Min 36 DPH Min Light
Ralph and Brandy looked on in awe as Lucas cast his first chain Jolt. Now Brandy, do you remember what he said? If you say exactly the same thing, you should be able to pick up his new spell too since it is a Light affinity spell. Hurrying to comply, Ralph looked on in wonder as Brandy was also able to cast Chain Jolt. As they both walked towards the group, Ralph spoke up. ¡°That was amazing. Can you create a spell for anything?¡± ¡°Anything I know the physical process behind,¡± replied Lucas. ¡°Once I make it the first time, I''d guess the system makes it easier for anyone else to get the same spell,¡± said Lucas as he nodded to Brandy. ¡°These spells should give us a massive edge in the next fight.¡± What if you sneak behind the next barrier and unload the jolt from behind them? You are, after all a rogue¡­ even if you don¡¯t want to be one anymore. Lucas sighed as he said, ¡°Fine. I will go play rogue some more.¡± Quickly heading down the hall and around the twists and turns in the tunnel, Lucas relays to the others what he sees over the Comlink. ¡°The tunnel isn¡¯t really much longer. I¡¯ve come to the end of the tunnel. The rest of the bandits are set up not far from they are in a defensive formation. I can get behind them, but there are 8 standing here. Along with one that looks to be in charge. For whatever reason, it¡¯s got a captains hat on.¡± Target that one first, Lucas. What a rookie mistake¡­ ¡°I know, I know. Take out the commander, and they will be less effective,¡± replies Lucas. ¡°Ralph, head down until you can just see them, Brandy, start charging your chain jolt. Do not cast it yet, just hold it. When I cast mine, you cast your spell. These guys don¡¯t know about this spell yet, so the damage ramp overtime is going to be quite a shock to them.¡± Charging his Chain Jolt, Lucas waited at least a minute before targeting the Bandit in the captain¡¯s hat. Releasing the jolt, Lucas shouted out ¡°Chain Jolt!¡± he heard Brandy shouting ¡°Chain Jolt!¡± from the other side of the defenses moments later. Much to his horror and surprise, one of the Bandits pulls out a shield and attempts to deflect the Jolt as it was jumping towards it. ¡°Come on¡­ Come on¡­¡± thought Lucas as he dropped into stealth and Dashed into the fray. Thankfully the jolt is absorbed by the shield rather than reflected. But when the dust settled, there are still four bandits on their feet. The one with the captain''s hat is down, but the one with the shield is still standing. That¡¯s going to be trouble. You could try and heat it up until he drops it¡­ ¡°I think I¡¯d rather just end him,¡± interrupted Lucas as his knives slash out towards the shield-bearing bandit. Before Lucas''s knives made contact, the Bandit swung the shield around and deflected the knives before his shield continued on and slammed into Lucas. Lucas went flying back, losing a good 30% of his health. Before the Shield bearing Bandit could capitalize on Lucas''s misfortune, Brandy cast a heal on Lucas and got him back on his feet. Activating dash and running around the troublesome Bandit, Lucas decided to take out the other three before working together with Ralph on the last one. As Lucas ran towards the three attacking Ralph, Brandy made time to cast another Jolt spell. This one connected with the shield-bearing bandit, but without the long cast time, it was not enough to knock him out of the fight. Lashing out, Lucas struck one of the Bandits as the same Bandit was swinging at Ralph. Lucas missed the neck, but connected with the shoulder, causing the bandit to release it¡¯s weapon mid-swing and clattered against a nearby wall. Ralph¡¯s shield struck the weaponless bandit and knocked it back towards Lucas, where Lucas finished it off with a knife to the spine. Brandy managed to cast one more jolt before Lucas or Ralph needed more healing. The jolt caught the last two regular bandits, knocking them out. Brandy, Ralph, and Lucas approach the bandit who has the shield. Obviously, the real head of the bandits. ¡°Surrender, and you can live,¡± offered Brandy. The bandit just stood there, not responding. ¡°You heard her,¡± shouted Ralph, ¡°Surrender, and you can live!¡± Without warning, the Bandit leapt up, and body checked Lucas into the wall causing massive damage as Lucas was impaled on the nearby spikes of gold and silver. As Lucas''s vision fades, he saw Ralph decapitate the Bandit with his Axe. Chp 23A Save him! shouted Rose over the comlinks to Ralph and Brandy. Brandy cast a healing spell as Rose was demanding she save Lucas. From the look on her face, Brandy¡¯s mana was nearly gone afterward. ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t. I don¡¯t have enough mana. I¡¯m not sure one more spell will do him any good as his health is still ticking down slowly, and one more spell will knock me out and prevent me from doing anything to help for hours.¡± Try Brandy. For Lucas try. Ralph, is there any way you can bind some of his wounds? Maybe we can stop the slow damage over time and give Brandy¡¯s Mana time to regenerate before he dies. ¡°Uh... Brandy, did you cast a heal spell? His health just ticked up instead of down. It went up a little less than 10% of his health,¡± asked Ralph Bind his wounds quickly. I completely forgot about Mind over Matter. It must still be active. He¡¯s going to regenerate around two dozen hit points every minute or so. If we can get his Damage over time to below probably 20 a minute, he will live! Pausing for a moment, Brandy reported, ¡°He¡¯s currently losing about 40 points of health every 60 seconds, so that is probably doable. Let¡¯s bandage him up and then I will use whatever mana I have regenerated to heal him. Unless it tips the balance and makes enough of a difference to save him, I¡¯m not going to cast spells until I pass out from lack of Mana.¡± Fair enough. I¡¯m going to see if I can pull any tricks out of the Dungeon Tech Tree while you are working on him. I haven¡¯t spent the last of my EXP, and I got some more from this battle. Maybe I can find something. The Commons, Cyberspace Rose had 602 EXP. Checking her Tech Tree, the first thing Rose picked out was the Tier 3 in General Minions for Freelancers. Rose was 48 EXP away from being able to pick that up. She didn¡¯t have time to have her cats or robots earn her 48 EXP before Lucas died. (Authors Note: Table is in Post-Chapter notes, multiple colors in a table doesn''t work within the chapter area very well.) The only thing she had that might help was Freelancers Blessing. But there was no guarantee. ¡°Grey! I need help,¡± shouted Rose into the void. ¡°I know you care about Lucas and I am about to lose him.¡± Grey popped into existence within the Commons Cyberspace. ¡°I¡¯ll help where I can. What do you need?¡± ¡°I need to know what Freelancer¡¯s blessing does. We very close to being able to save him. But he is still bleeding out faster than Mind Over Matter can heal him.¡± ¡°I can tell you what it does, but why would you go for that instead of the defense boost?¡± asked Grey ¡°I¡¯m 48 EXP short of being able to get that,¡± cried Rose. ¡°OK. Give me a moment,¡± said Grey. The light in the Cyberspace flashed brightly, and there was a sound like thunder. ¡°I just wrote a hack for you into the system. Think ¡®Right Click¡¯ at one of your purchased skills. I¡¯d use the EXP one.¡± As Rose did this, suddenly a new box popped into her view.
48 69 64 64 65 6e 20 44 6f 6d 61 69 6e
Sell "EXP +50%" back to the system for 100% of the purchase price?This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. This percentage decreases by 10% for every skill sold. It increases by 10% once per month.
¡°Here¡¯s the other info you wanted,¡± said Grey, as another pop up popped up for Rose right after she accepted the first.
48 69 64 64 65 6e 20 44 6f 6d 61 69 6e
Freelancer''s Blessing: Improves the rate at which Freelancers skills which are used for the Dungeon''s gain by 10% Defense Boost: Reduces Damage taken from all sources by 10%
Rose, we¡¯ve got his damage over time down to 28 points of health every 60 seconds. There¡¯s nothing more we can do. On net, he¡¯s still losing a few points over every minute. Unless you have something you can pull out of your magical bag of tricks, he¡¯s going to die, said Brandy ¡°Roger. I¡¯ve got something I can try,¡± said Rose. ¡°How much total health does he have left? Roughly 30 points of health. Best I can do is to double that to 60, but I will pass out if I do. That¡¯s me casting Heal Major Wound twice. That won¡¯t reduce his dot, but it will improve his health. Heal Flesh Wound will reduce his dot slightly, more if I get his health high enough, but the total I can heal is 15. If I do nothing, Lucas''s got seven and a half minutes left until he bleeds out, unless he runs out of mana first. ¡°Give me a minute,¡± said Rose as she bought Automated Respawn, Freelancer¡¯s Blessing, and Defense Boost. ¡°How about now?¡± questions Rose with an undertone of panic, knowing she had done everything she could do. His regen and his dot nearly balance. He is losing a fraction over 25 health a minute, and he is regenerating only slightly less, replied Brandy I think we can save him. I regenerate enough in 10 minutes to cast a Heal Major Wound. As long as Mind over Matter doesn¡¯t give out, I can slowly heal him. Cast once, wait for mana to regen. In that time, he ticks down about 12 health, but that means he is up 18 health. As long as I don¡¯t pass out, eventually we should get him above 50%. ¡°Thanks, Grey!¡± shouted Rose as she stopped focusing on the Cyberspace and shifted back over to her robots in the mines. Seventy minutes later, as Lucas''s health crested above 50% before it began to sink again, Brandy cast ¡°Heal Flesh Wound!¡± As Brandy slumped forward from the mana exhaustion, she waited with bated breath. After a minute passed, there was no change in Lucas''s net health. Two minutes, still no change. I think we¡¯ve stabilized him. Brandy, cast a few more heals as soon as you get mana. He¡¯s out of the woods, now we¡¯ve just got to wait for him to wake-up. It took another almost two hours before Lucas finally woke up. His health had just ticked over to 100%, and his multiple bleed over time injuries had been healed. ¡°I take it we won,¡± said Lucas in a gravelly voice, coughing as he sat up. We did. At least for this wing. There are two more wings to check. Since there isn¡¯t any boss loot yet, you haven¡¯t beaten the main boss of the dungeon. ¡°Has anyone checked the other two wings while I¡¯ve been out?¡± ¡°I did Boss,¡± said Ralph. ¡°The Copper/Iron wing looks like it is guarded by elementals of some sort. They are just standing there without moving. The third wing, the one that the symbol is all sorts of random colors, has animals defending it. But it is a real trip to look at the walls in that wing. My guess is that it has every different type of ore, more than I can identify anyways. I saw some jade, sapphire, ruby, and a host of other precious gemstones along with probably 50 different shades of grey ore.¡± ¡°The third wing is a little bit of everything then, but they aren¡¯t attacking us either?¡± asked Lucas. I¡¯m not sure, but it is possible that whoever the Dungeon Master here is cannot get the Animals and the Elementals to attack. I¡¯m having difficulty getting the squirrels to go outside the roof of The Commons. If they aren¡¯t native to the Dungeon Master, who knows.¡± ¡°Eventually we are going to have to take them out. But if they are not attacking, let''s do it tomorrow. I think I need to rest more before we move on. My health may show as 100%, but I sure don¡¯t feel like it is at 100%,¡± said Lucas. I¡¯m going to send in some reinforcements too if you wait. The Robots should be able to get the Bandit corpses back to me, I should be able to strip them down and spawn new robots and send them back before morning. 15 robot bandits, maybe 15 new robots. Depends on the metal content. ¡°I suppose you could send your miners into this wing to mine while we wait.¡± I had not thought of that. Good idea. ¡°Is there anything else you want us to do while we wait?¡± asked Brandy. ¡°Let¡¯s just stand guard in the common room and wait for Rose¡¯s reinforcements to get back here,¡± said Lucas Chapter 23B The Commons, Cyberspace ...to get back here. ¡°Works for me, Lucas. I¡¯ve got things to do, I will get back with you guys tomorrow morning,¡± replied Rose. Turning her attention to the Base, Rose began to issue orders. ¡°Melody.¡± ¡°You called my Queen?¡± replied Melody as she materialized in the space near Rose. ¡°We¡¯ve got something like 3000 pounds of Robot coming in. Most likely, it won¡¯t be pure. They were dressed up and created to look just like Humans,¡± said Rose ¡°That¡¯s¡­ odd. Why would anyone do that? I understand avatars, but¡­¡± trailed of Melody ¡°These robots could move around within society without causing any questions. Well, they would be able to if they could talk. Honestly, at some point, I will need to get some robots that are this well upgraded. At least one for you once I have an avatar,¡± stated Rose. ¡°But why? I don¡¯t really want to live in the real world. I am quite happy in Cyberspace,¡± replied Melody ¡°I need someone to act in charge of the dungeon and relay information to me while I go off gallivanting around with Lucas,¡± replied Rose. ¡°Did you really just use the word ¡®gallivanting¡¯ in a sentence?¡± asked Melody trying to deflect from Rose¡¯s idea that she would leave Cyberspace. ¡°Yes. I did. And I used it correctly too. Regardless, we need to get our plans together. I¡¯m thinking we make about 10 mining bots and 10 fighter bots. With our generous use of wood in place of metal, I am hoping to stretch the metal for the mining bots, but upgrade to actually metal bodies for the fighters instead of simply thick wood. ¡°Set aside 10% of the metal we take back and have the Nanobots deposit it with the Nano Forge for Lucas''s use later. He may want to have some items printed.¡± ¡°Have you unlocked any of the rewards tiers yet on your dungeon tech tree? The System is going to restrict how far you can upgrade your design until you have better general technology, which rewards unlocks.,¡± stated Melody. ¡°If I can¡¯t build them metal bodies, I will have the Nano Forge print them breastplates that I can put on them to add additional protection.¡± ¡°If you printed the breastplates, you would have enough metal to equip your current robots with them as well,¡± stated Melody flatly. ¡°Hmm. I¡¯ll consider that.¡± ¡°Can you, or one of your subordinates start designing the robots. I will want at least one of the robots to be capable enough to be a Boss for the dungeon. I¡¯d ideally like to open up the dungeon for training of the folks from Esfield.¡± ¡°Yes, my Lady, speaking of Esfield, I¡¯ve gotten a report back from Sarah. She has broached the concept of an arena with Joe. He is¡­ enthusiastic. We have 4 cat¡¯s that probably have enough experience to be a fun fight to watch. If you have any spare EXP for each cat, you should upgrade them first.¡± ¡°What do you mean spare EXP for each cat. I just blew through my EXP bank saving Lucas''s life,¡± questioned Rose ¡°Not all the EXP from the kills the Cat¡¯s make it to your EXP pool. Unless they die, which none have yet, they each keep around 90% of their EXP in a pool specifically for leveling each cat up. Did the entity you refer to as Grey not implant this information when he created you?¡± queried Melody ¡°Oh, Melody...Grey did not create me from the monster who unified the dungeon. I¡¯m a human. A human stuck in an AI body, but a human nonetheless,¡± sighed Rose. At that, Melody let out the electronic equivalent of a gasp. ¡°I¡¯m sorry my Lady, If I had realized you were from the outside world, I wouldn¡¯t have referred to it so disrespectfully.¡± ¡°It¡¯s OK Melody. No harm, no foul. But can you show me what you are talking about since I have no clue.¡± Pulling up a diagram, Melody started to explain, ¡°Here¡¯s a chart that shows all of your available minions as well as their levels and available EXP. I¡¯ll go ahead and program in a shortcut for you if you just think Minion Status, this screen will be pulled up. You can see you¡¯ve got 9 cats, a few baby wolves, 12 or so squirrels, 5 mining bots and 7 fighter bots. The asterisk by the minion categories means they have submitted, but they are not entirely under your control. You only have complete control over the cats and the bots. If you imagine yourself clicking on one of the categories, it pulls up a list of all of the minions in that category as well as their free EXP.¡± Following the directions, Rose mentally clicked into the cat¡¯s category and took a look at their open EXP. Each cat had at least 500 EXP free.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Melody, how come I didn¡¯t get nearly this EXP when the cat¡¯s kill something,¡± asked Rose ¡°You get around 10% of the EXP by default, but most of the EXP goes to the minion. You get all the EXP if the minion dies, but until then, the minion keeps it,¡± answered Melody ¡°Wait. Does that mean I have to kill my kitties to get their experience points, so I can spend them?¡± asked Rose. ¡°Not exactly, if you want to spend their EXP on anything outside of upgrading the minion that earned them, then yes. If you want to make the cat better, then no.¡± Exasperated, Rose sighed, ¡°And that explains why the minions had been giving me almost no EXP. I didn¡¯t even know this was here. What else don¡¯t I know about being a Dungeon Master?¡± finished Rose as she trailed off. Suddenly, Rose spoke up, ¡°Melody, can you upgrade the cat¡¯s however you think is best. Upgrade the robots as well. Design the robots around holding out longer until the Freelancers can get to them. The cat¡¯s that are fighting in the arena should apparently be built around providing a good show in the arena. How long did Joe think it would be until he could arrange a show?¡± ¡°Per Sarah, Joe wanted 24 hours between announcing the arena fight and the actual fight. He¡¯s not sure we are going to make any money on the first few. But there are a couple of guardsmen he thinks he could convince to do lethal training with them. Provided of course we guarantee the guards won¡¯t die if they surrender,¡± said Melody ¡°That¡¯s pretty easy to agree to,¡± replied Rose. Speaking over the Comlink she gave to Sarah, Rose said, ¡°Sarah, can you arrange the first fight with Joe, Plan on it being in a few days when Lucas gets back from the mine. I¡¯ve got 4 cats that I can have a spar with whomever he wants. The cats can die to the challengers. Anyone who surrenders before the killing blows won¡¯t be killed by my cat¡¯s. Get with Melody, and she will tell you which cats are ready to fight. Plan it for when Lucas gets back. Maybe he will fight one of the cat¡¯s...or all of them,¡± says Rose with a sly grin. I¡¯ll get with him as soon as I can. I¡¯m sorting through the stuff in your storage room. Do you know how much some of this stuff is worth? Flashlights in mint condition with spare batteries haven¡¯t been found in ages. You could buy the entire city of Esfield for one of these! exclaimed Sarah. ¡°While that is good to know, I¡¯m not going to sell anything here that Lucas doesn¡¯t approve of. If and we are a functional training center, I will give out similar items to appropriately leveled trainees.¡± Well if you do, every trainee in the entire nation will come to train here. ¡°We¡¯ll set some sort of limits. But the price will come down pretty fast once I start giving them out as loot,¡± said Rose. Roger. I will take care of the Arena fights after I finish here. Do you want to have the fights here or in the town? asked Sarah ¡°They need to be somewhere outside of the dungeon itself. I don¡¯t really care where. I just don¡¯t want a bunch of people we don¡¯t know hanging out in here. Do they have a place that can accommodate that?¡± asked Rose. Not really, but you can always just put the fight in the clearing outside of town the first few times. Build an arena later. ¡°Work¡¯s for me. Thanks, Sarah,¡± replied Rose. Disconnecting the call, Rose turned back to Melody. ¡°Let me know when the robots get here. We¡¯ve got lots of work to do when it does. Until then, I¡¯m going to study these upgrade charts and figure out what I want to do with the Squirrels and Wolves longer term.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see,¡± says Rose out loud as she is thinking to herself. ¡°I could do some forced mutations after I unlock the wolves as a dungeon race, But I get what I get. If it was a good result, then the new mutants would be available to spawn separately. But I may get completely worthless mutations. I can alter the wolves into existing subspecies with fixed traits. I guess I could also do a standard boring level up¡­ Pretty much the same options as all my animals¡­¡± Melissa interrupts Rose¡¯s discussion with herself, ¡°My Queen, the Robots have arrived.¡± ¡°Has it been that long already? OK. What do you have for me?¡± asked Rose. Melody quickly spoke up, ¡°You were pretty spot on regarding the total amount of recoverable materials. 300 pounds of the material was organic material, it is suitable to be used to spawn 6 additional cats. It has been separated out by the Dungeon nanobots. With your permission, we will have those 6 cats spawned and send them to patrol the area and earn some EXP. ¡°As far as the metal goes, your projection is going to be a little high. They used some uncommon alloys, and you are going to have additional rare elements in stock for later use, but we can¡¯t use them at the current level of our robots. ¡°You can build 9 Metal shelled fighter bots and 11 miners if we hold nothing back. If we hold back 10% as you requested, we can still squeeze in 9 fighters, if we use metal on a wooden frame as opposed to all-metal construction. They will be approximately 20% more durable but take at least 20% more materials for the shells than the wooden fighters. The fully metal robots require a further 10% more metal than the intermediate robots but are 40% more durable.¡± ¡° Send four of the dungeon cats to the mines to help Lucas. Regarding the robots, are there any upgrades you want to suggest instead?¡± asked Rose. ¡°Have you thought about building a non-humanoid robot?¡± asked Melody. ¡°I have a design for one that has the same combat power and durability but requires significantly less metal. If they are for use within our dungeon, wheels instead of legs would significantly reduce the metal requirements while not compromising on speed, acceleration, or mobility. However, using them outside would be difficult unless a road exists to where you want to go.¡± ¡°Well, we are going to ultimately need a road between the dungeon and the mine, and the road is ultimately going to need guards¡­ Build a robot that can create a smooth road between here and there, and build a bridge. Build 10 Miners. Use the rest to create 10 total units. Mix it between these new guard units and the Fighter units however necessary to optimize our metal use,¡± stated Rose in a commanding tone. ¡°It will be done, My Queen. You will end up with 6 units designated as guards and 4 more fighters, the Construction bot will require significant amounts of metal.¡± ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. Send the fighters to reinforce Lucas. Send him four of the cats too. I don¡¯t want him nearly dying again. The guards can escort the mining bots along with the construction bot. Whom I will henceforth refer to as Bob. Giggling, Rose said to herself, ¡°Bob is our builder bot.¡± Pulling herself together, she continues, ¡°Assign Cappa to be it¡¯s personality for now. I would like the convoy to be autonomous while I focus on the Mine.¡± ¡°Your will be done, My Queen,¡± said Melody ¡°Can you please call me Rose?¡± ¡°No, My Queen,¡± giggled Melody.