《The Chimera's Dungeon》 Volume 1 - Chapter 1 - One Step Forward - Chapter 1 - One Step Forward It scared me, the darkness. Theabsence. Thevoid. The way it was everywhere, all-encompassing and all consuming. That''s what it felt like. Like it was gnawing away at me, like I was losing myself bit by bit. I couldn''t remember how long I had been here in this accursed black expanse, trying to fend of the deafening silence with my screams of frustration, my wails of misery. The eternity had long since stripped me of any resemblance of calm and was steadily chipping away at my sanity. ¡°What do you want,¡± I yelled. ¡°When will this end?¡± Of course, there was no reply. There never was. ¡°Let me guess, nothing new? Why not spice things up for once?¡± My rage flooded in, fuelled by frustration and helplessness, it pushed those dreaded feelings out of sight, out of mind- a luxury that was becoming harder and harder to indulge in. ¡°Come on!¡± I jeered, ¡°Tell me what''s on the menu for-¡± I froze, the words caught in the back of my throat. I couldn''t see. Not because of the darkness that typically blindfolded me, but light. It was bright, too bright. As the light faded unhurriedly, my impatience grew to unbearable levels. But slowly, right there in front of my face, I could see it, at long last; change, bringing along with it, hope. Whatever it was, it was getting clearer. It was indistinct, but there! And clearer still. My excitement mounted. Until, finally, I could see it. And I saw a¡­ a menu?What the hell?I thought. I blinked and rubbed my eyes. It was still there so I stared. There¡¯s a menu in the middle of the void¡­I dismissed myswirling thoughts because, obviously, I''m just going crazy. Not that I was going to argue or even complain, despite the urge to do both. Something new, a novelty, had inexplicably offered hope of something else.Anythingelse. An oasis in the desert. It was a distraction at the very least and in all honesty- on the off chance that I wasn''t crazy- then this just might be a way out! Either were justification to be overjoyed.Beggars can¡¯t be choosers, I reasoned,So I''ll play ball with me¡­ my subconscious?¡­What''s the part of you that''s responsible for crazy?I took a moment to try and steady my breathing, to calm myself before investigating further. It didn''t work. I scrutinised ¡®the menu¡¯ as best I could without touching it. It looked vaguely holographic and was rectangular- the size of a decent monitor. I couldn''t see anything connected to it, nor anything responsible for projecting it in front of me. How it floated in mid-air was beyond me. Wait, am I floating? Oh, whatever then. So, forget the floating thing. Apparently, been able to float is normal. Most of the screen was flickering and distorting the information it attempted to display due to what I could only assume was a glitch. However, the dead centre of the screen showcased a box that remained unaffected. That was what really drew my attention, no doubt becauseit remained steadfast against whatever plagued the rest of the system,oozing ''I¡¯m important¡¯. I reached out with my hand towards the menu. My hand jerked back reflexively as a spark of paranoia flashed through me. Taking a moment to stifle the emotion, I hesitantly tried again, touching the menu without incident. Well, there was the fact that it felt solid. Pulling my hand back once again, my eyes darted left and right, searching for a change in the environment. Of course, I saw nothing beyond the thick cocoon of darkness that wrapped around the sphere of light emitted by the menu. My refuge. The contrast of light and darkness only served to make the latter look more solid than ever. After a brief internal debate, I made my decision and chastised myself, Stop stalling. You have NO other options. Focusing on the alert, as I decided it was, I could see it read:
Initiate Automatic Integration?
Y / N:
Ok, maybe I should consider other options.Thoughts fired off one after another,I mean ¡®¡­Dungeon Formation Protocol¡¯? What is this? A game? No¡­ that''s just it, there aren¡¯t ¡®other options¡¯. As weird as this Computer? Thing?! I still don¡¯t even know!I sighed. ¡­As weird as ¡®it¡¯ is, ¡®it¡¯ is my only hope. So, let¡¯s not delay the inevitable, I lamented. I tapped ¡®Y¡¯ and hoped for the best. Immediately followed by regret, a lot of regret. It scaled with the pain. I screamed. It felt like someone shoved a cold blunt rod in my mind and whipped it around as fast as they could, intent on rendering it into paste. What I wouldn¡¯t give fo- *** I don¡¯t know how long I was passed out for but the psychotic menu was still there- for better or worse- when I woke up. It was also no longer flickering, but throwing out a steady source of light, glitch free it seemed.It appears like that fixed it.What kind of technology needs to scramble my brain to fix errors? What was it doing? Integrating me? I hope it didn¡¯t do any permanent damage.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. I don¡¯t know how long I debated with myself over even looking at the menu, let alone touching it again. Not that it mattered, with no other form of stimuli I was bound to cave sooner or later. Part of me knew that and so I did. I caved. The menu mocked me in silence for it. The way it was just hovering there, unmoving. Smirking at me without a face. Laughing at me without making a sound. I hated its guts. The menu now read:
Y / N: Y
Proceed?
Y / N:
I did a double take upon seeing ¡®critical system error¡¯. I suppressed my growing panic.Think! Think! I just need to reason my way through this. I¡¯m a tech savvy guy. Surely, it¡¯s doable,I thought, clutching at straws. ¡°I assume what went wrong was me. At least the first error was. This hopefully means that this system doesn¡¯t need to scramble my brains every time there is a problem because I don''t think I could take that¡­¡± Switching gears, I mulled over the terminology used in the menu, ¡°Hmm¡­ ''Searching for Physical Tether'' and ''Matching Core Not Found''.¡± I paused as I considered what it could possibly mean, they sounded more involved (abusive) then ''integration''. ¡°Is the problem just cascading into every new step? Wait, could that be computer talk for an exit?!¡± I wanted to be optimistic and courageous but I couldn¡¯t with my only chance of escape hinging on bug riddled future tech.Please no more pain, I begged helplessly.What did I do to deserve this? Screw it! All I need to do to be brave, is to be stupid!I gritted my teeth and hit ¡®Y¡¯ with vigour and heroism. I started tocower in trepidationwaver, just a little bit, as I waited. My wait was followed, thankfully, not by regret and pain but a new screen. A glorious, pain-free screen. ¡°Yes! Progress,¡± I cheered. The new menu divvied up the screen into two sections, with the left looking like a series of tabs and the right displaying the corresponding content. The tabs:
(Error: Spawn Countdown Invalid)
(Conditions Met - Initiating)
Seeing the four tabs was devastating, especially the last. The final nail in the coffin. My enthusiasm deflated like a balloon. ¡°So, it is a game!! What. THE FUCK. Is going on!?¡± I fumed. It took me some time to calm down. ¡°It¡¯s my own fault for getting my hopes up. I¡¯m never going to be able to leave this place.¡± I bemoaned. Taking a sudden swipe at the screen, I growled, ¡°But I want to leave.¡± There was no response. Why would there be? I slumped back down, feeling the will to fight leave me. ¡°What the hell am I supposed to do with a game?¡± I mumbled. My eyes went wide as I realised, ¡°Oh, well¡­ I suppose¡­ I suppose I¡¯ll play it. Kill some time.¡± I tried to psych myself up. I knew I should be grateful for this distraction but escape is what I wanted, needed, and this, this¡­ ¡®game¡¯ is just the shitty consolation prize. What a pitiful pep talk. Hope flared up again when I eyed the ¡®Spawn Location¡¯ tab. I knew I shouldn¡¯t think along the lines I was thinking along but I couldn¡¯t help it. If I was smart I¡¯d squash that hope right now ignore the spawn location tab. Getting up from the foetal position I had retreated into I selected ¡®Spawn Location¡¯. The map on the screen showed a bird''s eye view of some untamed grasslands, swaying in a breeze. The movement caught my eye.Is this a live view? Of the real world?! It¡¯s so realistic, so it must be, I thought. Excitement swam through my veins, an exhilarating feeling after all the doom and gloom. In the back of my mind a thought whispered, How hard would it be for tech like this to fake a video? I flicked the thought away like a insect. Imposed text revealed the name of the area as Dousaw Plains.Never heard of it, I conceded, wondering,Is this the¡­outside? Of wherever, whatever,thisvoid is?Obviously not enough to get my bearings, I pinched the screen, zooming out. I saw towns and people and¡­ castles?What?My worry was growing, threatening to drown me. I struggled to keep it at bay. I kept zooming out until I could see something I recognised. Well, that was what I originally intended. Eventually I couldn''t zoom out any further. I saw the map and its contents in their entirety. It was at that point I felt a chill slither up my back, and all that mounting worry came crashing down, inundating me. The excitement in me dissipated, vanishing into thin air. For I was looking at some foreign world. Not the Earth I knew. Volume 1 - Chapter 2 - Two Steps Back - Chapter 2 - Two Steps Back I just stared at the screen for who knows how long. The perpetual ups and downs had taken their toll. I felt numb. ¡°Where am I?¡± I mumbled, ¡°What did I do to deserve this?¡± A bitter laugh left my mouth. I continued to dwell on my chances of getting out of here, or maybe I was just simply refusing to acknowledge how it was likely zero percent. Because if I did¡­ if I did, what should my reaction be? A series of sonar pings awoke me from my introspection. The map of the new world- self named thus as I couldn¡¯t see anything to the contrary- took up my field of view as I moved closer. An old emotion I was all too familiar with welled up within me. A short bark of laughter escaped from my lips. My voice, laced with anger and venom, spat ¡°FINE! You want me to play a game? I will. Not because I want too. Not because I think I have a chance of escape,¡± I was shouting now, ¡°But because I LITERALLY HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO! You, USELESS, piece of crap!¡± ¡°Are you done?¡± Came a voice right next to my ear. I yelped (in a manly fashion), and twisted to stare at the source, dumbfounded for a moment before I choked out in confusion, ¡°You?!¡± He moved a little further into the sphere of light. Nodding, the figure simply stated, ¡°Yes, I¡¯m me.¡± Was he that far away when he first spoke?I suppose I¡¯m just not used to anyone talking but myself. ¡°Oh, screw you! You know what I meant. Why the hell do yousoundjust like me?¡± I retorted furiously. ¡°I¡¯m a specialised ¡®Autonomous Parallel Will¡¯,¡± he stated. Then, considering his words, he reiterated differently, ¡°Well, specifically, I suppose I¡¯m an ¡®Autonomous Parallel Will - Tutorial Edition¡¯.¡± I motioned my hand passing over my head with all the speed I could muster and said, ¡°Specifics?! I don¡¯t even know the basics! And that doesn''t answer my question! Why do you sound just like me? What the hell is going on? Where am I?¡± ¡°I''m a copy of your will, an extension of your subconscious manifested. Although, not physically or even spiritually. Only you can see me, so¡­ just manifested I suppose. As a manifestation of you, of course I would sound just like you. Basically, I am you whilst being a distinct entity in my own right.¡± I started to respond but he beat me to the punch hurriedly saying, ¡°Oh, yes, ¡®Tutorial Edition¡¯ - not only am I a freebie, albeit temporarily, The System has also given me additional knowledge to aid in your development. Hence the tutorial factor.¡± I stared him down. He stared back. I said, slowly, ¡°To clarify you are basically¡­ me plus extra?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You know, for instance, what I want?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then why the Hell didn¡¯t you just explain what you are from the start?! Instead of trying, and failing I might add, to be all mysterious?¡± ¡°Shits and giggles.¡± ¡°You prick.¡± ¡°I¡¯m you, remember? So¡­¡± He flipped me off with both fingers as his voice trailed away. He outsmarted me. Damn I¡¯m good, I thought. ¡°At least your witty,¡± I conceded. ¡°And good looking,¡± he added. Glancing at his head I nervously placated, ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± I let the situation eke some laughter out of me, before the absurdity hit me like a ton of bricks. ¡°OH, FUCK ME! I¡¯m crazy! I¡¯m hallucinating. I¡¯m conversing with myself. Full blown dialogue! Wait, not all hope is lost. I have realized I¡¯m crazy, that¡¯s gotta¡¯ be worth something.¡± I looked towards the other me and muttered, ¡°You''re still here¡­ does knowing and not being able to do anything mean it''s worse?¡± ¡°Now, now,¡± He cooed, his tone annoyingly jovial and mocking before it took on more serious undertones, ¡°I know all your theories. Let me eliminate them for you. You are NOT in Hell. You''re NOT in a nightmare. You''re NOT in a straightjacket in a padded cell. You''re NOT in a coma fuelled dreamscape. This IS all real. You ARE real. Unless¡­¡± As his villain-esque monologue drifted off I couldn''t help but pointedly stare at him and prod, ¡°Unless?¡± ¡°Well¡­ unless I¡¯m real and you''re the figment of my imagination.¡± He looked around, and nodding said, ¡°That would be trippy.¡± I buried my head in my hands. ¡°Just kidding¡­¡± Parallel Me offered. ¡°Come on. If you want, I can promise you everything will be alright.¡± He continued, ¡°I know you want answers and while the knowledge in the tutorial pack is by no means limitless I will be able to satisfy a lot of your curiosity.¡± Ithrew a questioning look his way and Parallel Me reassured me, saying, ¡°Fire away.¡± ¡°Where am I?¡± ¡°No fucking clue.¡± I threw my head back in exasperation and shouted, ¡°Are you shitting me?¡± ¡°I said ¡®a lot¡¯, not ¡®all¡¯. If you had of asked almost any other question this could have gone so much better¡­¡± ¡°Well then¡­¡± I replied and thought of what else I wanted to know. ¡°How do I get back home?¡± Parallel Me¡¯s shoulders drooped. ¡°Again¡­ Haven¡¯t the foggiest idea.¡± Before I could say, shout, scream or strangle something, he hurriedly continued, ¡°Come on, you''re asking all the wrong questions.¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°No! No, I¡¯m not, smartass. But whatever, why don¡¯t you just choose what question to answer?¡± ¡°Brilliant Idea. Sit back, relax and enjoy this crash course.¡± He moved over to the menu and tapped his fingers on his chin, pondering for a moment. The he gestured towards the menu and began, ¡°Ok, in The System-¡± ¡°No! Start with context first! I don¡¯t even know what ¡®The System¡¯ is!¡± I interjected. Parallel Me slowly spun on his heel to face me, saying ¡°Ah, yes. Um, how do I break this to you¡­ baby steps¡­ OK, the world that we have to now consider home is filled with magic-¡± ¡°Like a fantasy world?¡± I stated. The Menu, well ¡®The System¡¯, had already ripped that band-aid off if I was being honest. I mean the first couple of words on the thing had ¡®dungeon¡¯ in them. ¡°Yes, but real, filled with magic and monsters and¡­ Overseen by this.¡± Parallel Me pointed at The System. ¡°Oversee the whole world? What, like a god? The god of the new world is that, some computer?¡± ¡°The System, as near as I can tell, is basically an almost omnipotent force. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s magic, a natural phenomenon of this new world or some unbelievably advanced technology, but it has absolute control. So, for all intents and purposes, it is a god. And now it¡¯s our god. But most importantly, it ensures the world runs like a game.¡± ¡°A game?¡± Parallel Me nodded. ¡°Monsters, skills, spells¡­ The whole nine yards.¡± Already knowing the answer, I asked anyway, ¡°Is this ¡®magical¡¯ world set in the 21st century or some medieval dump?¡± ¡°No, in answer to what you really want to know, there is no modern technology-¡± ¡°What am I going to do to occupy my time?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, without modern technology we¡¯re screwed. All this world has is lame magic.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t judge me!¡± ¡°Do you know how many people would kill for this opportunity?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t give me that! It¡¯s a fantasy world with monsters and ¡®the whole nine yards¡¯. I imagine Humans are on the bottom of the food chain. I¡¯ll probably have to ¡®Level Up¡¯ just to reduce the risk of dying even though, paradoxically, levelling up will probably be what gets me killed.¡± ¡°There aren¡¯t ¡®levels¡¯ per se, besides¡­¡± My attention snapped to Parallel Me. I know that tone. ¡°Besides what?¡± I grilled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you most definitely have to fight for your life.¡± ¡°NOT the part I should beworried about,apparently! Spit it out!¡± ¡°You¡¯re a Dungeon Core¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Part Dungeon Core, I think. The other part is Human, I think.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re special. Yay!¡± Parallel Me exclaimed, his voice strained as he threw up jazz hands. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t do this¡­ please don¡¯t hurt me.¡± *** After a mature conversation with Parallel Me, I established that I was, as ludicrous as it sounds, a ¡®Dungeon Core¡¯. I decided to take it in stride. Mainly because despite how many times I ¡®asked¡¯ Parallel Me, he said there was no changing the situation. ¡°Are you ready to take this seriously? I know it¡¯s a hard pill to swallow but our lives are quite literally at stake. Well¡­ yours,¡± Parallel Me said cheerfully. A behaviour that was starting to get to me. ¡°If you¡¯re me, how are you so damn up beat all the time in this situation?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because of the tutorial.¡± ¡°Why would that affect your emotions?¡± ¡°Dungeon Cores rarely form sentient. Their survival rates are low enough as it is. Without an intelligent guiding hand, they would be screwed. And apparently giving that guiding hand a positive outlook on things helps. Personally, I think fear would be a better motivator, but hay, what do I know?¡± ¡°Dungeon survival rates? That you know about?¡± ¡°The system has given me a lot of information. I would split it into three groups. This first is about the system and mechanics of dungeons. This group is decidedly the most extensive, in terms of detail¡­ The next group is about the world in general, which is the broadest¡­ The final group is about other Dungeon Cores. One¡¯s alive right now. The information I have on them is vague and generic. Like random tips and hints you see on a loading screen. The last two give me the impression that they are composed of information that is likely publicly well known.¡± Questioning the pauses between his explanations, I stated, ¡°You seem unsure.¡± ¡°It¡¯s confusing, I don¡¯t just ¡®know¡¯ I ¡®know¡¯ something. I have to look, search my mind, to see if The System has implanted the relevant information. Like you might ''know'' something that was taught in school, but until you remember that you ''know'', you don''t ''know''. Comparable to distant memories. Ones you forgot you still remembered. Although when I do remember it¡¯s with absolute clarity.¡± ¡°As a soon-to-be dungeon, I suppose its best you tell me everything you know about Dungeon Core survival rates.¡± ¡°As I said earlier, it¡¯s low. It has to do with the way Dungeon Cores form. No one knows the specifics, but it is known that the more mana in the surrounding environment the better. This means that when a Core does form, it will always be born in the same general vicinity of an old one. The same mana hotspot. This has led, to what you and I would call, ¡®farming¡¯. There are different grades of Dungeon Cores and the weakest rated Dungeon Cores don¡¯t create dungeons worth much fast enough. However, the Cores themselves, no matter the rarity, are all EXTREMELY valuable. Plus, the act of destroying Dungeon Cores in of itself is valuable as it creates Heroes.¡± ¡°Dungeon rights are a hard no than?¡± ¡°They are seen as a living thing¡­ Though it¡¯s more along the lines of a dangerous plant. I think this is because of a conspiracy perpetuated by older Dungeon Cores for their own convenience.¡± ¡°So, I''m STILL at the bottom of the damn food chain?!" ¡°Again, only in the eyes of the public. The whole conspiracy thing.¡± ¡°Oh, all right then. Let¡¯s finish this.¡± ¡°You should be excited. Our circumstances seem to be unique, we might benefit.¡± ¡°Right, that¡¯s what my luck is going to do to me,¡± I said, rolling my eyes. We both looked to the menu. Parallel Me suggested we finalise my profile while he simultaneously explains it to me. Two birds one stone. I agreed and after opening my profile, I was greetedwith a wall of text:
Name: none
Titles: none
Race: Chimera: Dungeon Core& Human
Racial Traits: none
Classes: none
Affinities: none
Skills: none
Spells: none
Status: none
As I examined my profile I noticed Parallel Me acting funny. He soon asked, ¡°Nothing out of the ordinary here?¡± ¡°No,¡± I replied. ¡°In that case I can only assume that because of the tutorial upgrade I¡¯m more mentally stable.¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to ruin that earlier pep talk, asshole.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah?¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± ¡°Go on then, fill out your profile,¡± He stated. As I move to comply, I start at the top of my profile. My mind draws a blank. It takes me a moment to realize why. ¡°Oh, shit. What¡¯s my bloody name!¡± Volume 1 - Chapter 3 - Third Times The Charm - Chapter 3 - Third Time''s The Charm I don¡¯t know my own name. Worst of all I didn¡¯t even realise until someone force fed me the reality. Ironically that someone is a copy of me.I fired off the only question in my head as soon as it came to me, ¡°What¡¯s my name?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know, so I don¡¯t know. I thought we established that?¡± Parallel Me responded. ¡°But you did know that I didn¡¯t, when I didn¡¯t know that I didn''t. So, tell me, how did you know something I didn¡¯t?¡± Parallel Me shrugged, ¡°The System.¡± ¡°You¡¯re telling me that the tutorial for ALL Dungeon Core¡¯s, it pointed out that I don¡¯t know my own name?¡± ¡°No. When I was¡­ made, created, I didn¡¯t instantly appear before you. I think I was inside The System. Whatever it was, it lets all tutorial Parallel Will¡¯s stay until they process everything that is put into their heads. When I realised there was no time limit, I took advantage and I stalled. It gave me time to think things through.¡± I did my best to recall the sequence of events that lead to Parallel Me¡¯s appearance. ¡°There was, what? A five-minute delay between me activating the tutorial and you showing up? What could you have possibly accomplished?¡± ¡°For you it was five-minutes. If you must know how long it was for me¡­ I spent many weeks mulling it over.¡± ¡°WEEKS!?¡± I yelled. ¡°WEEKS!!¡± ¡°For me, the passage of time was sped up. How could I not take advantage and plan?¡± Tagging on some temptation, Parallel Me added, ¡°The plan includes leaving the darkness.¡± Leave!I may have, rather worryingly, forgotten other things about my old life but that was the thing. It was now, officially, my old life. I have a new one ahead of me. The only option is to keep moving forward. Then there''s the fact that it does sound like an opportunity of a lifetime¡­ and I REALLY want to get out of this place. What was left of my memories told me I was more motivated to do something than I have ever been. Parallel Me told me that we have three things to do. We had to select my Core material, something he would NOT shut up about. Selecting our spawn point was another. But he also mentioned selecting a speciality. ¡°Selecting a speciality is one of the perks of activating the tutorial. Thankfully we activated the Tutorial from the start, so we should be able to benefit more.¡± ¡°Are you implying you can activate the tutorial late?¡± ¡°Yes. You could say that. To activate it, you need to reach a certain intelligence level- something that can take Core a while to do.¡± ¡°Not all Cores can activate the tutorial at the start? That¡¯s so stupid. Isn¡¯t that the point of a tutorial? Any tutorial? All tutorials? To activate it at the start?¡± Parallel Me just shrugged. ¡°The System didn¡¯t explain why it set its standards so high.¡± Seeing my lack of questions, Parallel Me¡¯s mood quickly morphed as he gushed, ¡°Now hurry up and select your Core¡¯s material! I want to see what happens!¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know what happens?¡± ¡°A Dungeon Core pickingwhat it is made of is like someone pickingtheir own biologicalparents. Logically impossible.¡± ¡°Ok then.¡± Parallel Me¡¯s explanation got me a little excited.Finally, The System is broken in my favour.I selected Core material and a list swiftly formed. I browsed through it, selecting Core materials at random intervals to examine them. I soon confirmed that they got better as they progressed. Naturally, I scrolled down to the bottom and selected the last one. Its summary read:
Core Type: Crystalium
¡®A product of the heavens, this blessed material has no equal. All will yield before it¡¯s might.¡¯
I cocked my head to the side, confused. ¡°That¡¯s it? Two lines? That¡¯s a little lacklustre for something rated as the best¡­¡± The different materials gave different benefits. Take wood for example, something appearing relatively early in the list, it had the benefit of spawning, and therefore having, territory on the surface. That seemed better than this¡­ I started comparing Crystalium to other materials, trying to puzzle out the systems logic. ¡°Material has no equal,¡± I muttered, before exclaiming, ¡°Is it being literal?! Will be un-killable with this?¡± ¡°You would be considered a failure as a Dungeon Core if an invader managed to strike your Core. And on that note, if you can¡¯t stop them they can just keep going until you''re dead. No matter how strong your Core is.¡± ¡°I suppose¡­¡± ¡°Also keep in mind that all Dungeon Cores are part organic and as a result not as strong as what their Core formed from.¡± Part organic, part metal or what-have-you? Ok, whatever, I¡¯ll let that one slide. I have had harder things to swallow these days.¡°Do you think The System is trying to trick us? Or has it made a mistake?¡± ¡°No, I think we should take it at face value; crystalium is a really though material. It¡¯s certainly not the flashiest, there were quite a few interesting abilities from other core materials. However, I don¡¯t think collecting flashy abilities as a Dungeon Core is very hard. Now, changing your Core¡¯s base strength, or the equivalent of genetics for a living organism, not so much,¡± Parallel Me reasoned. ¡°So, we should pick it? Any alarm bells ringing in your head? Tutorial senses tingling?¡± I asked in caution. ¡°This should make at least one of my plans very interesting. So, no, quite the opposite, it¡¯s about time this stupid System worked in our favour.¡± Grinning, I turned to him, ¡°Just what I was thinking.¡± ¡°Well you know what they say, great minds think alike!¡± ¡°What could possibly go wrong?¡± I selected crystalium as my Core material as Parallel Me tensed up. Parallel Me unfroze himself and complained, ¡°Why did you say that? I think I almost shat myself when you said that.¡± ¡°You can shit yourself? I thought you were just¡­ you know¡­ an intangible manifestation?¡± ¡°I mean shit myself metaphorically, of course.¡± ¡°Oh, OK. Me too.¡± ¡°¡­What?¡± ¡°What?¡± Parallel Me sighed. ¡°Why did you say, ¡®Me too¡¯?¡± ¡°Well, if I was ever to ¡®shit myself¡¯, it would only, ever, be metaphorically. Obviously.¡± Parallel Me through his hands up in exasperation. ¡°What the fuck are you talking about? Why did you feel the need to mention that?¡± ¡°Well you''re me, so don¡¯t you know? Not that there''s anything toknow. I was just saying.¡± ¡°NO! I have absolutely no idea as to why you would say that!¡± I looked over to the menu and saw it, my updated profile:
Name: none
Titles: none
Race: Chimera: Dungeon Core & Human
Racial Traits: none
Classes: none
Affinities: none
Skills: none
Spells: none
Status: none
¡°Shall we move on to my spawn location or choose my specialty?¡± I questioned. ¡°Specialty. I don¡¯t think you¡¯re going to find the choice very difficult.¡± The first two names seemed self-explanatory. I wasn¡¯t sure about the last. They read:
¡°What is the last one about?¡± I asked. ¡°The Lord Master is all about you and managing your dungeon. The main benefit is that it lets you walk around in an avatar, a monster of your choice, and support or improve it with other abilities you can get. There are also some things that help you manage your dungeon in general.¡± ¡°An avatar? Sleep?! FOOD?!! That sounds awesome!¡± ¡°Could it be that you want to put your life on the line and directly confront intruders?¡± Parallel Me¡¯s swift suppression of my enthusiasm left me somewhat bitter. ¡°So, we shouldn¡¯t pick it?¡± In a comforting voice, ¡°It¡¯s not like you won¡¯t be able to buy abilities from the other ability trees. You wouldn¡¯t be a dungeon without at least some capability in all these areas.¡± ¡°Then how does it work?¡± ¡°We will get a discount on the cost of the abilities in our specialty.¡± ¡°Ok then, I think I know what the other two are about, but explain them to me, just in case.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Wanna¡¯ lose your job?¡± ¡°You can¡¯t fire me.¡± ¡°I bet I could restart you. Would you still be you then? Or a copy of a newer me?¡± ¡°The trap-master options offer bonuses related to traps you place.¡± ¡°Shocker.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just doing what you told me,¡± Parallel Me grumbled. ¡°The Monster-master ability tree revolves around monsters in your dungeon. And I say, ¡®all monsters¡¯ and not ¡®purchased monsters¡¯ because it is possible to tame ¡®wild¡¯ ones that enter your dungeon and secure stronger loyalties over time.¡± ¡°Sounds intriguing, go on.¡± I said. Parallel Me rolled his eyes and bowed, but not getting any words out before I interrupted him. ¡°You don¡¯t have to bow, I¡¯m not going to end your existence. Even though I could. With but a snap of my fingers.¡± ¡°There is no off button for me I¡¯m afraid. I¡¯m with you forever,¡± Parallel Me¡¯s sentence switched to a mumble, ¡°or until 12 months are up. Whichever comes first.¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Alone?!I felt a spasm of fear in my heart as all the warmth left me.I glanced over myshoulder but saw nothing. ¡°What was that last part?¡± I asked, my voice wavering. ¡°I told you¡­ I¡¯m only a temporary freebie from The System. I¡¯ll only be around long enough for you to get on your feet.¡± ¡°What? I¡¯ll just be by myself from then until the day I die?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll have monsters.¡± ¡°How am I supposed to hold a fulfilling conversation on my intellectual level with some monsters?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t have a choice in the matter.¡± ¡°But what will I do...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, if you live long enough you might be able to afford another Autonomous Parallel Will.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°A Will. You can purchase them in the shop in The System. They¡¯re relatively expensive, but essential for running a large dungeon or dungeons.¡± ¡°I¡­ can just buy another one?¡± ¡°Well¡­ not another one, I¡¯m unique.¡± ¡°Thank god, you''re replaceable! I was so worried.¡± ¡°Asshole.¡± Parallel me said, crossing his arms and glowering. *** After consoling Parallel Me and convincing him that he would always have a special place in my heart I managed to coax him back into a more productive mindset. Something had been bugging me. ¡°What do you mean ¡®purchase¡¯?¡± ¡°The System has a store exclusively for Dungeon Cores. As in, you buy something from a catalogue listed in The System and it appears in front of you. It¡¯s part of what makes a dungeon so valuable, creating luxuries and necessities out of thin air. I¡¯ll give you a demonstration after we spawn.¡± ¡°Cool, next question. Monsters aren¡¯t inherently loyal?¡± ¡°Monsters you purchase, or name, have the ¡®Live to Serve¡¯ title. That title gives lots of cool benefits, but the most important thing is that it guarantees absolute loyalty. Wild monsters, or even second-generation monsters, have no such guarantee of loyalty. However, your mana does heavily influence them, especially if they are monsters conceived or born in your territory. So, unless you name a monster you didn¡¯t purchase, you must rely on the effects your mana has on monsters that gather it. Many Monster Master abilities help with the speed and efficiency of this process.¡± ¡°Influence? It sounds more like brainwashing. Harsh.¡± ¡°Monsters need mana from somewhere, it¡¯s how they grow. It¡¯s a symbiotic relationship- benefiting both us and them. But yeah¡­ the benefits are lopsided.¡± ¡°So, if I want to use monsters I haven¡¯t purchased I risk them rebelling?¡± ¡°It¡¯s unlikely, but yes, it is possible- generally monsters with intelligence are the only ones you have to worry about,¡± Parallel Me explained. ¡°To be clear, I still think monster master is the best option. The Monster Master is the most versatile. And a dungeon with more monsters is considered more valuable as it offers more resources like food and magical monster bits.¡± ¡°Food? Wait, nope! I don¡¯t wanna¡¯ know.¡± ¡°Ok, that settles it. Monster Master it is.¡± I agreed with Parallel Me¡¯s reasoning so I selected it in the menu. ¡°Well I guess all that''s left is to select our spawn location.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure how this will work. No other dungeon has done this before.¡± Parallel Me stated. I brought up the map, which was still populated with red dots. I think they were responsible for all the ¡®pings¡¯ I heard a while ago. ¡°Are they where I can spawn?¡± ¡°No, I think they are dungeons.¡± Frowning, I couldn''t help but ask, ¡°Is there competition between dungeons?¡± ¡°More like wars,¡± Parallel Me scoffed. ¡°Plundering or taking over other dungeons is profitable for dungeons too. Even killing. A Dungeon Core cannot be purchased in the store, but is an ingredient for some really useful recipes.¡± ¡°Recipes?¡± ¡°Purchases that require ingredients- items- to complete.¡± ¡°Can we access the store now, and say, purchase a pen and some paper?¡± I said grinning. ¡°As expected; you''re clever and devious, but there is no access to the store yet-¡± ¡°Let me guess, after spawn?¡± ¡°Yes, but I suppose we could just try and memorise it?¡± Parallel Me suggested. We both looked at the map intently for a while¡­ ¡°Have you memorised anything yet?¡± I asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think so; my memory isn¡¯tthatgood. It''s a detailed map. You?¡± Parallel Me replied. ¡°If you can¡¯t, how can I? Do you know if there are memory spells or something in the store?¡± ¡°No idea.¡± ¡°Hmm, then I guess we¡¯ll just have to commit as much to memory as possible.¡± ¡°Let me know when you¡¯re finished.¡± Parallel Me replied. I could see him fiddling with The System from the corner of my eye. I spent some time perusing the map. Afterwards, Parallel me highlighted one continent in particular, ¡°As far as spawn locations go this is really the only option. On the other contents,¡± Parallel Me gestured to the others, ¡°while they may have many Dungeons, the overwhelming majority of power is concentrated in the hands of one or two Dungeon Cores.¡± He focused his attention back on the first continent. ¡°There are enough top tier dungeons still in the midst of a power struggle to call it an oligopoly. And the continent still hosts a sizable middle class, all things considered.¡± I grimaced, worried. ¡°That still doesn¡¯t sound very ideal for us-¡± ¡°None of the continents are ideal, this one is just the least worst option. Besides the friction between the top three dungeons and the demonic dungeons should mean chaos. It should help us survive and grow stronger, unbeknown to anyone.¡± ¡°Yay! We might get to eke out a living in the shadows!¡± Before Parallel Me could reply to my sarcastic comment I hastened to add, ¡°Yeah, yeah, I know. It¡¯s the best we got. Anyway, where was it¡­? Ah, here, what about this mountain range?¡± I moved the map to what I considered a good spawn location on the continent in question. One I had taken note of earlier. After I motioned to it Parallel Me said, ¡°Very mountainous, unpopulated and¡­ no dungeons for ages. Why is that? There should be loads, this area has a very high concentration of mana¡­ Wait,¡± He expertly manipulated the map as the view quickly changed. It now showed an underground city a distanceoff from my proposed spawn point. Parallel Me continued, ¡°Dwarves. No quite so unpopulated, but not by much. There aren¡¯t very many of them¡­ To be able to keep such a vast area dungeon free, they must be incredibly strong. Huh. The tutorial didn¡¯t really highlight the Dwarves as a super formidable race, or anti-dungeon, but obviously that isn¡¯t the case.¡± ¡°I assume Dwarves are good a building stuff. Maybe the ¡®formidable¡¯ factor comes from weapons they¡¯ve made?¡± ¡°Yes, Dwarves, as a race, are hands down the best smiths. But I¡¯m still not one-hundred percent sure about how they could have done this. Unknowns are bad. I really don¡¯t think we should spawn here, I can only assume they have an anti-dungeon policy, with the strength to back it up.¡± Parallel Me gestured to the vast area free of dungeons for emphasis. ¡°What alternatives are there? Look at the rest of the map. I would be eaten alive, with or without my advantages. Well. Advantage.¡± I enunciated the last word as bitterly as I could. Parallel Me seemed to agree but the map started another search, sound effects and all. I looked for any changes. I think I noticed a dot missing here or there compared to last time, deaths I¡¯m sure, a handful moved slightly-Wait. What was that?It was that same mountainous area as last time. I could''ve sworn I saw a dot. If only for the briefest of moments. What did that mean? Dead? No, it can¡¯t be. There would have been a red dot there on the map earlier¡­ ¡°Hay! Hello?¡± Parallel Me started waving his hand in front of my face. ¡°I think I found another area,¡± he said slowly, pointing to a large island off the coast of the continent hosting the Dwarf Mountains. Not very far away. Relatively speaking. ¡°That¡¯s in the same ¡®dead zone¡¯. How is that any better?¡± I said when I realised just how close it was to my original suggestion. ¡°It¡¯s our own island, beach front views, isolated by water. It¡¯s great. There¡¯s no competition. Ignoring the Goblins.¡± ¡°Goblins?¡± ¡°Seriously, ignore the Goblins. An adult would only be about as strong as a five maybe six-year-old human. We can handle that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s in that dead zone, so obviously it isn¡¯t as isolated from those Dwarves as you think. And it¡¯s a small island in the middle of nowhere.¡± ¡°I know it¡¯s not perfect. The lack of adventurers will limit growth but the alternative spawn in the mountains is the same, because it¡¯s not like we could advertise with the Dwarves around. Though it being anisland seems restrictive space wise, we¡¯re a dungeon so the surface area is almost irrelevant. In fact, it¡¯s a boon since it makes the entrance more defendable. I also think the water affinity would be good.¡± ¡°Affinity?¡± ¡°Affinities are just inclinations towards types of elements.¡± ¡°Like the periodic table?¡± ¡°More like water, earth, fire, air, etc¡­¡± ¡°Very magic. So, our affinity will probably be water?¡± ¡°It would be easy to obtain if we¡¯re surrounded by it.¡± ¡°And that would mean?¡± ¡°We would have access to monsters with the water affinity.¡± ¡°When I think old fashioned luxuries, I think silver, spices, silk and pelts. Not fish. And what would a water attributed dungeon look like anyway?¡± ¡°Affinity doesn¡¯t affect your dungeon like that. But more importantly, I think you¡¯re underestimating how aggressive the world can be. The fact that it¡¯s an island, and is easily protected against most races, is invaluable.¡± ¡°Most races?¡± ¡°Things like water demons might be a problem.¡± ¡°You''re shooting yourself in the foot.¡± ¡°There are normal, land loving, demons too you know.¡± Parallel Me exclaimed, exasperated. ¡°Where are they?¡± I asked. Parallel Me pointed to a continent separated from the one we were currently debating over by an amount of water that I could only describe as ¡®very reassuring¡¯. ¡°Wait, where are the demons that you said the top dungeons were fighting with?¡± Parallel Me¡¯s hand didn¡¯t move. Alarmed, I said, ¡°Are you serious? That island is basically in-between the two continents.¡± ¡°You¡¯re exaggerating. The island is quite far east and out of the way. The demons will probably be more focused on the holy dungeon to the west.¡± I ignored him and started to investigate the earlier anomaly. Parallel Me stood by, probably waiting like a gentleman for me to prepare my side of the argument. Impatience got the better of him as he soon chided, ¡°Did you have a stroke? What are you doing? We¡¯re in the middle of a debate!¡± ¡°Just look.¡± I sighed and continued to try and manipulate the map. Parallel Me drifted over and took a look at the fruits of my labour. My investigation into the vanishing dot. ¡°Is that¡­?¡± ¡°I think so.¡± ¡°An abandoned dungeon? Or the remains of a dead one?¡± ¡°It looks really big.¡± I tried to delve deeper into the earth to see the extent of the dungeon but the screen started to become staticky before it quickly got worse. My heartspasmed at the thought of causing another god forsaken error, so I hurriedly zoomed out. Watching my antics, Parallel Me seemed gloomy. ¡°The size is an indication of its strength and age. I don¡¯t see why a Dungeon Core would abandon such a valuable dungeon. So, I can only conduce the Core is dead. And because Dungeon Cores have an infinite potential lifespan, a dead Dungeon Core means a murdered Dungeon Core- you don''t have a snowball''s chance in hell.¡± ¡°IF it was killed and IF whatever killed it is still around. Would it not be beneficial to take over an old dungeon?¡± Parallel Me deflated somewhat as he conceded, ¡°There are many benefits to taking over a pre-existing, coreless, dungeon.¡± ¡°And they are?¡± Parallel Me sighed and elaborated, ¡°Once a dungeon no longer has a Dungeon Core, the dungeon isn¡¯t really a dungeon anymore- it¡¯s essentially dead, but it doesn¡¯t¡­ ¡®rot¡¯.¡± Parallel Me took my puzzled silence as a motion to continue, ¡°In a suddenly coreless dungeon, there is immediate fallout, yes; all the traps stop working, walls don¡¯t repair themselves, ectara. But unless things are tampered with, the dungeon, no matter how much they would make an earth engineer cry, will remain standing until the end of time.¡± ¡°And we care because¡­?¡± ¡°We care because, while all that stuff isn¡¯t working, it¡¯s still there¡­ All it needs is a new owner.¡± ¡°Are you saying what I think you are saying? A free dungeon?¡± ¡°Not even close. We still have to purchase floors and rooms, same price as we would for a new one, but buying those existing floors and rooms will come with whatever is in them, no extra charge.¡± ¡°That¡¯s still better than starting from scratch.¡± ¡°Hold your horses, there is still the problem of monsters.¡± ¡°They don¡¯t all die?¡± ¡°If a Core dies, monsters tied to the core with the Live to Serve title die. The ones without the title, won¡¯t die because of the Core¡¯s death. They could still be around. And with a dungeon of that size and power, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if some of the monsters left behind had intelligence. They might not take to kindly to the idea of losing their freedom.¡± ¡°Does that matter? We specialise in monster taming. And you saw the first few floors: no threat. We could take our time advancing into hostile territory. However, spawning anywhere else, literally anywhere else but the ¡®dead zone¡¯ would put me ON or NEXT TO a dungeon. It¡¯s just a different kind of danger.¡± ¡°I agree that the ¡®dead zone¡¯ is, ironically, our safest option. The Dwarves might not notice a sudden unnatural spawn. And I refuse to believe that they didn¡¯t take out a dungeon of that size without incurring massive losses. That should put them on the defensive and us in a better position to negotiate if diplomacy is an option.¡± Parallel Me fidgeted as he weighed the options, trying to persuade himself one-way or the other. Eventually he stopped. ¡°No, I still think we should go with the island, it¡¯s the safer option. Come on! Haven¡¯t you always wanted to own your own island?¡± ¡°Let me present you with a perfect argument: I want to.¡± ¡°Wha-¡± Parallel Me started. ¡°I think it would be exciting, exploring an old dungeon. Uncovering the past. Besides how hard can it be to at the very least hide from the Dwarfs?¡± ¡°They might not be-¡± Parallel Me started again. ¡°You are me. You want to too.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Parallel Me opened his mouth and closed it again. Finally, with a shrug of his shoulders, he said, ¡°I honestly can¡¯t argue with that. The logic is flawless. And with the tutorial period, both hiding or fleeing is much easier. If all else fails we could just leave. Head towards the island. You know, as a ¡®Plan B¡¯.¡± ¡°Ok, it''s decided.¡± I beamed. I went to select our spawn point, tapping on the same location that I thought I saw the dot. The menu buzzed. It was a positive, happy sounding, buzz. Both of us turn to it and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so excited to get rid of us, asshole.¡± The world distorted as I was funnelled somewhere unknown. Well, I did know, but it sounded cooler that way. ***
Volume 1 - Chapter 4 - Four Corners Of The World - Chapter 4 - Four Corners Of The World Given the situation I refused to devote even an iota of attention to the notifications that swarmed around my awareness like flies. Thankfully, they retreated before I could voice my anger. I didn¡¯t know what to take in first. Should it be the fact that there were two vessels vying for my attention, tugging on my consciousness? There was something foreign, what I was sure was the Core, as well as a separate entity projected outside of it. Having your consciousness split hurt. But quickly the tug-of-war ended as my consciousness settled into the projection, the Core a vague tug at the edge of my awareness. Is this how a Core navigates its territory? I speculated. Although there was still a link between the two- everything I did, this projection, my Core tried to do too. But the Core, being only a floating ball, translated the movements of my arms and legs poorly. I knew because it started spinning this way and that as it hovered in the air whilst my projected body instinctively thought about running. Why run? THAT was because of the dead bodies that littered the artificial landscape, not that they were bodies anymore. They had long since decayed into nothing but skeletons encased in dusty armour. I might have been OK with them just been skeletons, and not rotting sacks of flesh, but they had to start moving. ALL of them. I don¡¯t know how many because I wasn¡¯t able to count them, energetic as they were. I imagine they were enraged by the explosion.Yeah, I know, fuck my life. Even though I spawned in the last moments of the explosion, I¡¯m pretty sure I just broke something. Some altar like construct, which my Core was now on top of, had significant portions of its top littering the ground around what was left intact.Not only that but the glow that emanated from the inscriptions, these patterns carved into almost every inch of the altar, broken or otherwise, was fading. It¡¯s broken. It¡¯s definitely broken. How did I manage this? I just got here. I haven¡¯t even done anything yet! Parallel Me is, NEVER, EVER, going to let this go. As if on cue he started shouting at me. ¡°Snowball! SNOWBALL! A FUCKING SNOWBALL, you stupid piece of shit!¡± I quickly changed topic, ¡°Is there nothing we can do? Like purchase monsters?¡± The bottom and mostly intact part of the altar looked reminiscent of a step pyramid. It was delaying the slow and uncertain steps of the newly risen undead. I cradled a spark of hope whenever one stumbled and fell down. I was so stressed I couldn¡¯t even laugh. Parallel Me¡¯s strained voice explained, ¡°They are considered hostiles and as such our capabilities in this room, this ¡®contested territory¡¯, are restricted. No monster we purchase can be placed here. Or any purchase for that matter. And before you ask we don¡¯t have any other rooms to-¡± ¡°Is THAT meant to happen?¡± I said, mouth agape with horror as I pointed to MY Dungeon Core. Parallel Me quickly turned and looked, hastened by my tone. Taking in the sight, he whispered, ¡°No. Not even a little bit.¡± He looked shaken. I probably looked worse. My Core, originally, looked suspiciously like glass. Now, however, my lifeline was infected with streaks and veins glowing a sinister blood red. CRACK! The sound mutated into a sputter. Molten fissures scarred the surface as they spread. The originally perfect sphere started to deform. I felt sick all the way to my bones. I took half step forward when a part of the core, outlined by those molten scars, started to cave in on itself. Am I dying? Am I already dying?! Multiple cracks rang out, one after another. The first section apparently could take no more, quickly collapsing in on itself. The same started to happen on the other side. Then another and then another. I looked on, helpless. Then¡­ THUMP¡­ ¡­ THUMP¡­ ¡­ ¡­ THUMP¡­ It sounded jittery at first but soon it turned into a constant roar. THUMP-THUMP! THUMP-THUMP! THUMP-THUMP! THUMP-THUMP! THUMP-THUMP! THUMP-THUMP! THUMP-THUMP! THUMP-THUMP! THUMP-THUMP! ¡°A heart?!" I had no other words. It was beating a steady rhythm now, resonating with the surrounding earth. I looked over to Parallel Me. ¡°What is HAPPENING?¡± I hollered. I was still worried but that feeling had abated somewhat, seeing that my Core was not dying. As if on cue, I felt it. Something cold. Emotionless. Something that promised the sweet release of everything. Death, I knew instinctively. Darkness now tinged the edges of my core, like my core was perpetually between me and a sun, eclipsing it. Is this roller coaster still not over! ¡°Please tell me I¡¯m not dying?¡± At last Parallel Me recovered from his shock. ¡°No, you¡¯re not dying. It¡¯s our newest affinity; death. The System must be doling out some rewards.¡± Parallel Me stopped the words that were half way up my throat by calmly turning around.What is he doing-?I followed suit. It was to my shock, then joy, that I realised the undead had all stopped moving. They were just staring. At first, I thought that they were looking at me, then I realized they were looking at the core. Parallel Me started moving down the altar. Startled by his actions, I blurted, ¡°Stop! They''ll eat you!¡± ¡°I¡¯m just a manifestation, remember? No one can sense me in any capacity except you. And you¡­ I don¡¯t know how you¡¯re outside your Core right now¡­ Maybe you are like me, a manifestation?¡± Parallel Me concluded, before absentmindedly tacking on, ¡°Or another System gift¡­¡± ¡°Why have they stopped?¡± ¡°I would like to know too, but I assume it has something to do with our affinity.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t kno-¡± I stopped and quickly said, ¡°How did you do that?¡± ¡°Do what?¡± Parallel Me mumbled, not taking his attention off the book. ¡°Pull a book out of thin air, like a goddamn magician!¡± Parallel Me scowled in response and turned to glared at me. ¡°The store, where else?¡± ¡°You can do that?¡± ¡°Of course, I told you that you can buy things from the store!¡± Parallel Me carefully enunciating each word and looked at me like an idiot. ¡°I swear, despite you being me, these conversations take twice as long as they should! HOW ARE YOU ABLE TO BUY STUFF FROM THE STORE? HOW DID IT APPEAR OUT OF THIN AIR? WHAT HAPPENED TO NOT BEEN ABLE TO DO SO 30 SECONDS AGO!¡± ¡°Oh,¡± came Parallel Me¡¯s sheepish reply. ¡°I¡¯m the highest form of autonomous will. So of course, I can access the store. If you want to do so yourself, just will the menu to appear in front of you, navigate to the catalogue, find something you want to buy and buy it. As for the contested territory status, it has vanished. I¡¯m trying to find out why.¡± ¡°And it appears out of nowhere? Just plops into existence in front of you?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯m pretty sure I used the exact phrase ¡®out of thin air¡¯ serval times¡­¡± ¡°Honestly? I thought you were exaggerating.¡± ¡°What did you think would happen? We walk down to our local ¡®Dungeons R Us¡¯ to buy it?¡± ¡°I¡­ but¡­ Ok then, whatever. But what about you doing it without my permission?¡± ¡°You would have been fine with itifI asked, so I was able.¡± ¡°How-¡± ¡°I¡¯m you and you¡¯re me, remember? Parallel Wills on my level are used to run entire dungeons, if we had to ask before we did anything we wouldn¡¯t get anywhere. I mean I¡¯m YOUR parallel will. I do what you would do in my shoes, we don¡¯t ever desync because we are still connected.¡± ¡°Dungeon...s?¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t I mentioned that before; you are able to have multiple dungeons and Dungeon Cores.¡± ¡°I honestly can¡¯t remember, I feel like I¡¯ve known you foryears.¡± ¡°Of course you know me, I¡¯m you.¡±Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Not what I meant.¡± Parallel Me frowned. ¡°What? Like you can¡¯t keep track of all the good times?¡± I quickly gestured. ¡°We¡¯re surrounded by dead things, read the book. And it better not be expensive, I don¡¯t know how much¡­ money¡­?¡± ¡°DP - Dungeon Points.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how much DP I have but-¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, basic educational books like this are cheap, especially since it¡¯s related to our newly acquired affinity.¡± ¡°Ok then, read¡­ how long is this going to take? They might flip out¡­¡± After a while, and reassured that I¡¯m invisible, Parallel Me insisted that I do something useful. So, I started to scout my immediate surroundings and double check that the undead were the only surprises we would have to deal with today. Casting an appreciative glance over the equipment on the undead, I was soon sure every single warrior in this place is equipped with some valuable armour and weapons. Even the monsters indulge in this observation occasionally. Now that they weren¡¯t trying to kill me I had the time to notice the various clues shouting, ''different races''.There are the obvious hulking forms of what can only be monsters. Children sized ones. Not children, I was sure after a closer look. They are a little too wide, in a sturdy sense. They must be Dwarfs. I also spotted a few that I suspected to be elves. Their armour was different from the rest, more¡­ elegant. It was just speculation but I felt like I was right. If I had to guess the monsters are team dungeons-must-live. While Humans, Dwarfs and Elves seemed to be team dungeons-must-die. All the races teaming up to kill the bad guy- a dungeon. I¡¯m a dungeon now¡­ Will it be me against the world? As I stared out into the room I felt something nagging at me. Investigating the notion, I looked around. But I couldn¡¯t quite put my finger on it. I let the nagging feeling slip from my mind as I took in room I spawned into. A more accurate word would be cavern. It was truly massive, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if, volume wise, it was equivalent to a sports stadium or two. Overall the cavern was rectangular, and along the two shortest walls were one entry way each. The ground was composed of lose dirt, gently sloping up from one doorway to the other. Ruined structures littered the landscape. The walls, looking more like natural cliff faces, soared up towards the ceiling. The ceiling was riddled with clusters of crystals, each giving off impressive amounts of light. I winced at the scale.Will I ever get to this point? These invaders look like elites and yet there are hundreds of them. How long did it take for a dungeon to grow in order to warrant an invasion force like this? I looked around some more, pondering. My eyes locked onto the most notable thing smack bang in the middle of the floor.That altar sure as hell sticks out like a sore thumb though. What could it possibly be for? Was it this floors trump card?A grin spreads across my face.It must be reeeeallly valuable.I went ahead to, um, investigate but I didn¡¯t get anywhere before Parallel Me issued a summons. It pulled me back into the situation I was probably trying to ignore. ¡°What? Found anything?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes. We should really hurry.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°For now, nothing, hopefully. These undead are very simple creatures. They are veryhierarchical.¡± ¡°Hierarchical? Like¡­ deferring to authority?¡± ¡°Were authority is a more powerfulundead.Specifically, a source of death mana with intelligence behind it.¡± ¡°Does that mean that we can control them for not?¡± ¡°Yes, with simple undead,¡± Parallel Me said, gesturing to those things around us, ¡°they have noself. The few instincts they have stem from the death mana that sustains them. So, to control them all you need to do is inject your own death mana into them and they will just do as they''re told because your will becomes their will.¡± ¡°Ok, and what''s the rush? Didn¡¯t we just get a bunch of powerful minions?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you have realised, but these people, monsters, whatever, weren¡¯t weak when they were alive.¡± I didn¡¯t like were this was going. Parallel Me elaborated, ¡°I don¡¯t know why this battlefield wasn''t rife with the undead before we got here but these are only¡­ ¡®new-born¡¯ undead. While most undead have a slow growth rate, if any at all, in the case of ¡®high level corpses¡¯, it still won¡¯t be anything to sneeze at if, no, when, they get stronger. I know we can¡¯t even handle them now if they tried to kill us. And if we lose control over even one of them- it becomes a hostile and we would no longer be able to place purchases in this room. Our only room. We¡¯d be screwed.¡± ¡°What do we do? Even if we could kill them it would be such a waste.¡± Parallel Me rolled his eyes. ¡°Cheap skate.¡± ¡°I¡¯m resourceful. Besides, in this dungeon, we recycle. That¡¯s my first policy.¡± Parallel Me¡¯s muttered, ¡°Under the threat of death and this asshole still wants to be tight about DP. We are so going to die.¡± ¡°Shut up.¡± I snapped. ¡°Luckily for you I have a solution. Our core¡¯s interspatial storage.¡± ¡°Our what now?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a pocket dimension inside of our core.¡± ¡°Of course there is¡­¡± I took a moment to NOT think about it, before having to think about it. ¡°Won¡¯t putting them inside make the problem worse? We will never be able to take them out. They''ll just mature inside.¡± ¡°No, there is no passage of time inside our interspatial storage.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Excitement tinted my voice as I thought of the possibilities. ¡°You will have to command them to touch your core and then ¡®will¡¯ them inside.¡± ¡°What? You want me to let hundreds of undead armed to the teeth near my Core?!¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have the ability to do it remotely. Stop arguing, we need to hurry.¡± I turned to the undead. I had been fixedly looking at Parallel Me. ¡°What do I do?¡± Parallel Me quickly instructed me in how to use mana tinged with death. I felt silly just thinking that, but swiftly got the hang of it. I was proud. Parallel Me beat that pride with a big-ass stick. All dungeons can manipulate mana with extreme ease apparently. If anything, I showed lacklustre talent in comparison to any other Core. Getting the hang of imposing my will took a few extra minutes, the stakes making every one of them agonizing. But I managed. It felt like dyeing water. Soon the undead were all lined up and disappearing, one by one. There was a slight mishap with the first one. His arm twitched towards his sheathed sword and I swear his empty sockets had hatred in them, aimed right at me. It might have been because I tried to rob him blind, but I¡¯m not an expert on the undead. Regardless, I didn¡¯t try it with any of the others.Just you wait, all your stuff will soon be mine. On the other hand, Parallel Me seemed happy about the show of emotion it displayed. It might have been my imagination but towards the end it seemed as though they were getting... restless. Despite my mounting exhaustion I still managed to place all the undead in my Core¡¯s interspatial storage. ¡°Parallel Me?¡± I asked. ¡°I feel exhausted and¡­ fuzzy?¡± Parallel Me frowned. ¡°Weird description¡­ but I assume it¡¯s because of your expenditure of mana.¡± ¡°OK, err, what do we do now?¡± ¡°That would be a good segue into your profile.¡± The thought of The System brought up all those pesky notifications. I wanted to get rid of them before talking to Parallel me so I decided now is a good a time as any. I picked one of the ones that felt ¡®louder¡¯ than most of the others:
Congratulations! You have seen the whole world! You have earned the mythical achievement ¡°The four Corners of the World.¡± This comes with two rewards. The fist reward is the title: ''Globetrotter''. The second is the mythical item ''World Map''.
¡°Map? That¡¯s the reward, a map?¡± I grumbled. ¡°What use is it after the fact?¡± Parallel Me on the other hand was giddy. ¡°Useful enough for there to be a profession built around it, you muppet. And stop complaining, we both know you cheated. It must be counting The Systems map from when we chose our spawn point. And a ''Mythical Level Item''? Dungeons, Heroes and Monsters are rated as either; Common, Uncommon, Rare, Superior, Legendary, Mythical or Godlike. Mythical is only one away from the best. If we were to buy a Mythical graded item, or monster, do you know how many zeros it would have in its price tag?¡± Beep. A map appeared in my hands and the notification disappeared. I let out a surprised grunt, the map was heaver then it looked. ¡°I¡­ um¡­¡± I gingerly held the map in my outstretched arms. ¡°What do I do? I don¡¯t want to break it.¡± Parallel Me rolled his eyes. ¡°A mythical level item should be quite durable. Let¡¯s have a look, say ¡®Appraisal¡¯.¡± I briefly looked at the map. It showed an antiquity styled map of the world. ¡°Appraisal?¡± I stated, unsure, and a window popped up. Off to the side I could hear Parallel Me say, ¡°Say that and The System brings up a window to show you the profile of an item or even person.¡± I turned to the appraisal window. It read:
[Mythical] World Map:
A detailed map of the world as you saw it throughout your travels. It shows a live birds-eye view of the world within a limited range of your person. Revealed portions of the map update changes automatically. At the cost of mana to initiate and sustain you may scry any location on the map. The map also has some miscellaneous utility features.
¡°Live birds-eyes view?¡± I repeated. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s working.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it works while we are underground.¡± Relieved that my new toy wasn¡¯t broken I started giggling uncontrollably. I carefully placed the map into my Core¡¯s interspatial storage. Parallel Me chided, ¡°Stop giggling, it''s unbecoming of a Dungeon Core. And you¡¯re not going to play with your new toy?¡± ¡°That was only the first notification I selected, there¡¯s way more. It¡¯s about time this System gave me some benefits.¡± Parallel Me said, ¡°Well you go through them then. If there are any that require a decision, wait for my council. I¡¯m going to go do a more thorough scout of the surrounding area.¡± Parallel Me literally blurred away into the distance. ¡°Ok, don¡¯t have too much fun.¡± I replied. I willed the notifications to appear before me. I took my time slowly sifting through them with anticipation. I stopped my search only after finding another ¡®loud¡¯ one. I read the corresponding window with high hopes:
Congratulations. You are an affront to nature. You have earned the title ''Abomination''.
¡°Fuck off.¡± Volume 1 - Chapter 5 - Five Finger Discount - Chapter 5 - Five Finger Discount I left Original Me to his own devices. I didn¡¯t want to, but I didn¡¯t have a physical body. As such, physics could do little to hinder me in moving about in my own territory. And before we stabilised our situation, every second was precious- not multitasking would be foolish. I blurred around the perimeter as my eyes scoured the walls. Being an Autonomous Parallel Will meant that my senses were dependant on the Core and Original Me. The perspective of Original Me might not be very useful but those of the Dungeon Core were. The Core¡¯s perception covered the Dungeon in its entirety, all at once. And I say perception because I was pretty sure that my preconceived notion of how to sense the world is subconsciously getting in the way of an entirely new perspective. I was sure that with practice I could be on par with a normal Dungeon Core and view a dungeon in its entirety in my ¡®mind¡¯s eye¡¯. But for now, however, I was limited to using eye¡¯s, that I don¡¯t actually have, simply because that¡¯s how my mind was used to it working. So far so good. No obvious entrances¡­ Having to block two already is a pain in the ass, but we can¡¯t risk any monsters getting in. While the consequences of blocking the entrances, due to the tutorial period, is limited to just a percentage deduction on earned DP that isn¡¯t a problem since we¡¯re earning exactly nothing. Wait, what¡¯s that? I flew up to the ceiling to get a closer look. Dammit! Holes. They were scattered all over the ceiling. I tried to peer into one of them but the holes were dark, far too dark. It was like a black hole, not letting any light escape. It took me a moment to realise why; the Dungeon territory stops at the ceiling which means the Core¡¯s senses stop at the ceiling. Thus, so do mine. ¡°They¡¯re small- probably used todrop nasty surprises on invaders. Clever. But¡­ it could also be used by small flying monsters. Regardless, I should count it as a potential hazard to our health either way. But the two main entrances are the bigger problem, so we¡¯ll deal with these last. These chores will give Original Me some much-needed practice with mana.¡± Satisfied I had done a thorough job in searching, all things considered, I looked over to the Core.Weird, it kinda¡¯ looks like Original Me is throttling the menu.I laughed at the thought.He¡¯s not that stupid. He¡¯s me after all¡­ is he spending points without talking to me first? I thought I told him otherwise.I blurred closer. ¡°Hay¡­ what¡­ What are you¡­?¡± Original Me stood there, strangling the menu and shouting at it. ¡°You¡¯re an abomination! Your whole family is an abomination! Your creator is an abomination! You¡¯re an abomination! That¡¯s what I will call you, Abomination!¡± ¡°What are you DOING?¡± Not stopping, Parallel Me just looked at me and said, ¡°Come help.¡± I didn¡¯t move. I was a little angry. ¡°Best case scenario you''re wasting time. In the worst case you''re doing that AND insulting something that holds our lives in its hands!¡± I shouted. ¡°It started it.¡± ¡°What-¡± ¡°Here.¡± He gestured and I received a notification. I looked at it. ¡°Fuck off.¡± ¡°I know, right? I have the title ¡®abomination¡¯ now. I imagine it¡¯s within the realm of possibility the I can be ¡®Appraised¡¯? Much like I appraised the map earlier. Anyone who did so to me would see that title, I¡¯m sure. It just screams ¡®Kill Me. Kill this Dungeon for your own good¡¯.¡± ¡°What are its effects?¡± I asked, eyeing the Core. ¡°Effects?¡± Noticing the implication, he continued, ¡°You think that the title turned my core into that horror show?¡± ¡°All titles do something. Let¡¯s have a look at your profile.¡± Original Me complied and opened our profile:
Name: none
Titles: Abomination. The Original Chimera. Outsider. Globetrotter. Monster-Master. Evolutionist.
Race: Chimera: Dungeon Core & Human
Racial Traits Chimera: Dungeon Core & Human {Dungeon Core-You are a Dungeon Core. As a being born and shaped by mana your control over it is superb.+Supreme Mana Control. +Basic Dungeon Abilities. +Neutral affinity.} {Core Type - Celestial Crystalium- +Holy affinity.} {Godlike Class Dungeon Core-Your core type is of the highest order.+Godlike Dungeon Abilities.} {Human-You are one of the blessed few to receive Celestial Crystalium. It will forge your weapon against the scourge of the earth and help pave your way to becoming a Hero. For you are the conduit of the highest order, for the heavens themselves.+Holy affinity.As a human you are capable of magic and your natural affinity is fire.+Fire affinity} {Chimera- +Chimera Abilities.} {Monster-master-You have a specialty in the Monster-master Ability Tree.+Reduced Monster-master ability costs.} {Evolutionist- +Evolutionist specialty. +items in the store.}
Classes: Chimera
Affinities: Holy,Death,Neutral & Fire
Skills: none
Spells: none
Status: {New-born Blessing-As a new-born Dungeon Core you have the temporary blessing of the system.+Custom Autonomous Parallel Will. +Reduced limitations.} {Abomination-You are an affront to nature. The heavens reject you. You are the focus of their wrath. +Weakness to Holy magic.+You may not obtain the Holy attribute.} {Astral Projection-You are a discarnate soul. +Avatar.}
¡°That¡¯s a lot to take in, but for a newbie Dungeon even I can tell that I¡¯m awesome.¡± Original Me stated proudly. After a brief pause he uttered in a tense voice, ¡°But there''s an error, of course there is. And what does it mean by ¡®pending¡¯?¡± Looking it over I replied, ¡°Pending? There must be some notifications were a choice must be made by you. Or you need to simply open the notification¡­ There is an error for the Core Type traits; ¡®Dynamic Patch¡¯, huh? That¡¯s confusing¡­¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. In a tone blatantly lathered in condescension, Original Me lectured, ¡°Dynamic Patch means The System made the effects up on the fly.¡± I rolled my eyes. ¡°Way to state the obvious, idiot. I¡¯m talking about the fact that The System listed Celestial Cyrstalium as a possible Core material in the first place. Why would it, if it wasn¡¯t meant to be one?¡± Original Me just shrugged. ¡°If there¡¯s one thing programs aren¡¯t good at doing, it¡¯s doing things they aren¡¯t programmed to do. You did say our circumstances are unique, right? One of a kind? I bet The System just isn¡¯t coping well, but credit where credit is due, it is coping. I think. I hope.¡± ¡°There is evidence for your first point- it did give us benefits for Celestial Crystalium twice. Once for being our Core¡¯s material and the other¡­ I don¡¯t quite know how to put it, maybe¡­ possessing it as a human? Yes. That is technically true if you think about it. Because of our dual race status- we are human and we do own what we are made out of. At least, I assume that¡¯s how the system sees it.¡± ¡°Possessing it? It sounded more like it was¡­¡± Original me clicked his tongue as he said, ¡°Now I can¡¯t quite put my tongue on it¡­ Maybe gift? Oh, wait, no! Patronage! That¡¯s it. It¡¯s like the Heavens are sponsoring a Hero.¡± I smirked derisively. ¡°I imagine that is the only way to obtain it in normal circumstances, but we got our hands on some any way¡­ but we should speculate later. Any questions about your profile?¡± ¡°Yes, what are we going to do about the title ¡®Abomination¡¯? And now that I think about it, how is the death affinity any better?¡± I sighed and rubbed my temples, saying, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s bad¡­ but it¡¯s not the end of the world. Our strategy will remain the same; hide. Don¡¯t worry; unless we do something unusual, our dungeon will look like any other. Besides, we can only be appraised by preforming an examination on our Core, not the Dungeon in general. And letting someone get that close is not what we were going to let happen anyway.¡± Putting a hand up I halt any further questions from Original Me, saying, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ve already had to put a lot of thought into our safety since I knew we were almost certainly going to pick the most valuable Core type. So, I already recognised that we were going to have to be hermits, even by a Dungeon Core¡¯s standards. The death affinity and now that title have only reinforced the necessity of my plan. We have a lot to do and little time. I¡¯ll put more thought into it, so don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°OK then. You said there are options I must choose from in some of the notifications?¡± ¡°Yes, let''s have a look¡­ Huh, so I was right. You have been ¡®rewarded¡¯ a spirit form.¡± Original Me frowned. ¡°Spirit form¡­? You mean¡­ I¡¯m not a manifestation like you?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I replied, confused. ¡°Don¡¯t act innocent with me! You told me it was safe for me to go and scout earlier! ¡°Wait... I could¡¯ve DIED! I thought I was invisible! What if.... you''re not listening, are you?¡± Grumbling, I muttered, ¡°Trust me, the last thing I was worried about was others bringing harm onto you.¡± ¡°You cold hearted bastard!¡± I rolled my eyes. ¡°We have so much to do,¡± I sighed. ¡°Fine, ignore the fact that I bravely risked my life-¡° ¡°-without knowing it. Doesn¡¯t count¡± ¡°-For the greater good. Anyway, we should get a move on, we don¡¯t have any means to defend ourselves. I assume there are a list of really important things to do first?¡± ¡°Yes,we need to finish your profile- surprises could be dangerous. Then block the entrances, purchase some powerful monsters to be our personal guard, collect any loot for said monsters, resources for a cradle and purchase some monsters as a future investment. Finally, we need to move to a better Core room and build up, down(?), our Dungeon from there.¡± ¡°Personal Guard, huh? I like the sound of that.¡± Original Me said, savouring the notion. ¡°Buying powerful monsters is more expensive than just training some up from infancy. But we need some fire power now. Firstly, it would shore up our defences and secondly they could escort us if necessary.¡± ¡°Escort us?¡± ¡°Yes, remember Plan B? Moving the core to the island if things go horribly wrong?¡± ¡°Is it really as simple as it sounds?¡± ¡°No, there are consequences. You must understand that you are essentially disconnecting your Core from your dungeon. If it¡¯s nailed down, you lose it. So really all you will have left are the store-bought monsters and whatever they can carry. Which is what I recommend we focus our purchases on, just in case. Now on to the notifications.¡± Original Me brought up his notifications and opened them up one after another. He stopped after trying to open the last one and told me, ¡°This last one won¡¯t open, it''s just saying ¡®acknowledging¡¯.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Laughing I said, ¡°We must have a cool item coming our way.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see soon, let¡¯s look at the other notifications.¡± They read:
Congratulations. You are not of this world. You have earned the title ¡®Outsider¡¯. +Evolutionist specialty +items in the store
Congratulations. You are the first of your kind. You have earned the title ¡®The Original Chimera¡¯.
Congratulations. You are a dungeon. +Godlike Class Dungeon Starter Pack
I felt a rush of information force its way into my brain. ¡°What...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, that knowledge will settle. There was a local language pack, likely Dwarvish, in that dungeon starter pack.¡± ¡°...Weird, I have tosearch for it? This is Dwarvish, uh? The letters remind me of Viking runes." ¡°Yeah, I know. I had the same experience when I got everything tutorial mashed into my brain. The feeling is bizarre and utilizing it effectively might be a little harder since it''s a language and not just facts, but using it will become second nature soon enough.¡± ¡°Handy nonetheless. ¡®Evolutionist specialty¡¯, is this what you were talking about when you said that The System sometimes hands out rewards?¡± Grinning I replied, ¡°Yes. I for one am ecstatic, it sounds like it will synergize well with the Monster-master ability tree.¡± Original Me nodded in response. ¡°I assume we should focus on the Monster-master and Evolutionist trees since we get discounts on them then?¡± ¡°Yes. You look through the Evolutionist tree, I¡¯ll look through the rest.¡± Original Me immediately opened the options to have a look. After a time of careful consideration, we both showcased our options. I chose:
Trap-master: {Binary State: You can turn traps off and on in uncontested territory.} - Cost: 10DP {Trap Control: You can turn traps in contested territory off and on, speed slowed the ??closer an intruder is to said trap.} - Cost: 20DP Monster-master: {Cowering Presence: Manually infusing mana into a monster to increase its conversion ??rate is more efficient the closer you are to the target.} - Cost: 18DP Dungeon-master: {Reinforcement I: Increases the strength of internal Dungeon walls.} - Cost: 10DP {Repair I: Increase the repair speed of internal Dungeon walls.} - Cost: 10DP
Original Me, commenting that he wasn¡¯t sure of the relative value of each point of DP after seeing my choices, chose:
{Divine Intervention- Alter the biology of a targeted monster permanently with mana.} - Cost: 900DP {Spark of Evolution- Monsters that consume a monster core have a small chance to undergo a mutation, determined by the traits of the monster core consumed} - Cost: 1,080DP
His choices were a little on the expensive side. ¡°To put it into perspective, by my estimate 100DP¡¯s worth of monsters would be need to come out even-ish against a human.¡± I added, ¡°And, if your curious, I¡¯d say it would be about the same for a dwarf. But for an Elf¡­ 1000DP.¡± ¡°There¡¯s that much of a difference in strength?¡± ¡°It¡¯s no joke, Elves are much stronger that humans. Thankfully they are also rather reclusive.¡± ¡°Are my choices too expensive?¡± ¡°You could argue that. BUT, this ability tree is unique to us, therefore it would be a good idea to get some abilities that no one else has. Not mentioning the fact that they have a lot of potential. Although, the {Spark of Evolution} doesn¡¯t say weather the mutation would be good or bad.¡± ¡°It isn¡¯t- guaranteed to be good that is. There are some abilities further along in the tree that do change that though.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ still, some of my plans just became a lot less time consuming. I think it¡¯s worth it.¡± ¡°Ha, arguing with myself never really lasts long.¡± ¡°I know, but what can we do?¡± I replied as Original Me confirmed the choices. ¡°On to entrances?¡± ¡°Yes, the sooner the better.¡± We travelled to the first one. ¡°Ok, these entrances are within our domain so you should be able manipulate the surroundings through mana very easily. Imagine forming hands with mana and getting those to do the work for you- like telekinesis.¡± I directed and coached Original Me until he managed to blockade the entrance with a mound of compacted earth. We moved to the second entrance and I guided him in repeating the process. Satisfied I told him, ¡°You¡¯re doing a good job. If a bit slow. Now, there¡¯s two of us, so we should split the work. Since I have the tutorial information in my head, I¡¯ll be able to make better decisions about what monsters to get so I¡¯ll put together a list. You can help yourself to a five-fingered discount on anything shiny. Hurry because some of the items are surely the Dungeons and meant to be equipped on monsters- it might change what we should buy.¡± Original Me grinned. He swooped into action. I brought up the menu. I¡¯m looking for maximum strength for minimum DP. I also don¡¯t care about their future growth, I just need some muscle, now. I was only part way through when The System buzzed with a notification. This must be the one Original Me couldn¡¯t open earlier.I grinned.For the system to acknowledge an item it¡¯s giving us, the item must be special. I¡¯m sure Original Me wouldn¡¯t mind me having a look. Reaching out, I opened the notification.
Item acknowledged as a unique ¡®Godlike¡¯ item. Named ¡°The Original Chimera¡¯s Heart¡±. Item added to in recipes in Dungeon and Hero store.
Is that what I think it is!? My heart clawed its way up my throat. The System wasn¡¯t giving us an acknowledged item. It was acknowledging something that was ours in the first place. My hands clutched my head. Our Dungeon Core. The System added a recipe that uses it in the store!Bastard System, serving me up on a silver platter. I shook myself as I tried to muster the courage to look at the recipe, thinking, Please nothing special. Please nothing special¡­. Trembling, I reached out to look up the effects of the recipe. The effects:
+Title ¡®God Killer¡¯. +Title ¡®Slayer of The Original Chimera¡¯. +One Custom Godlike Item.
Oh, my fucking GOD!!I screamed internally. A free CUSTOM GODLIKE item! Is that another way of The System saying I¡¯ll give you whatever the fuck you want! I doubt there was even a mythical level one on the face of the New World until the World Map! The System just put a bounty on my head for all Dungeons to see! One they can¡¯t resist. So much for stealth! ¡°HAY! Original Me, come help me beat the shit out of this thing!¡± Volume 1 - Chapter 6 - Six Feet Under - Chapter 6 - Six Feet Under Finally, something fun. I left Parallel Me in the dust as I raced to collect any discarded items. Traveling through the cavern I bent to pick up the first one I came across, a dagger. It was heavy. Ridiculously heavy.What the hell? What is this thing made out of?I hastily dropped the dagger. It doesn¡¯t look heavy, I thought. Pondering, Is it the dagger?... or me? I reached out to a nearby pebble to test it out, with similar results. This time, however, I had to sit down- exhausted. That used up mana, didn¡¯t it? Looking at a massive, truly massive, heavy sword further away I knew that me personally collecting everything was a lost cause. ¡°What a pain. Ah, whatever. I¡¯ll just get monsters to collect the items. They¡¯ll have to clean this place up anyway, it looks like a warzone.¡± I stopped and looked over my new ¡®home¡¯, letting my circumstances sink in. The light cast by the crystals in the ceiling made the scars of battle plainly obvious. There was another source of light however. My Core. It threw out a blood red glow. And shadows, somehow, making the centre of the cavern darker than the rest. Or maybe it just enhanced the natural shadows around it. The surface of my Core would occasionally catch the light, reflecting a sinister twinkle. The notion drew a small chuckle out of me. It was then that I saw Parallel Me. Weird, it kinda¡¯ looks like Parallel Me is throttling the menu.I laughed at the thought.Didn¡¯t he JUST scold me for that? He¡¯s not that stupid. He¡¯s me after all¡­ I headed toward him. ¡°Hay¡­ what¡­ What are you¡­?¡± Quickly noticing me, Parallel Me¡¯s hands fell away from the menu, suddenly sullen. ¡°It¡¯s bad,¡± He said. His words confirming the worst, my reply came a beat late, ¡°What¡¯s happened?¡± ¡°In summary; there is a bounty on our heads!¡± Stunned I shouted, ¡°What!¡± ¡°How? Our Core has been acknowledged by The System. It has included it in a recipe. What more is its rating is ¡®Godlike¡¯. The highest possible one.¡± Parallel Me stated. ¡°A recipe? In the system¡­¡± I paled, ¡°That means everyone can see it!¡± ¡±Actually, you have to have a special status, such as being a Hero or a Dungeon Core, to view and interact with the system like we do. But still, it¡¯s bad. Now, sooooo many dangerous things will be actively looking for ¡®TheOriginalChimera¡¯s Heart¡¯.¡± ¡°Please tell me they don¡¯t know where we are.¡± The split second it took to Parallel Me to reply was the longest split second in my life. ¡°They don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Thank God!¡± ¡°It gets better...¡± ¡°Was that a sarcastic ¡®it gets better¡¯ or...¡± ¡°It gets better. The description is vague. They have the items name and the effect of the recipe it¡¯s used in. That¡¯s it. They might not even know it¡¯s a Dungeon Core. Really all they know is that a Godlike item called ¡®The Original Chimera¡¯s Heart¡¯ now exists. Given its Godlike rank everyone will assume that some ancient monster¡¯s level up is the cause. I hope. But that does introduce its own problems. Best case scenario they give up and assume it happened on some other continent.¡± ¡°Great! But how are we an item?¡± ¡°Dungeon Cores and Monsters are just living ¡®drops of loot¡¯ waiting to happen in The Systems eyes. And don¡¯t get me wrong. We can¡¯t relax because there will undoubtedly be a treasure hunt of massive proportions¡­¡± Parallel Me¡¯s voice took on a more sombre tone. ¡°If they, or anyone for that matter, ever see what our Coreis, we¡¯re dead. This recipe guarantees that.¡± ¡°...¡± I stared at Parallel Me. He knew this world better than I did. But I wasn¡¯t surprised- Earth had a criminal underworld and it wasn¡¯t run like a game. A ¡®game¡¯ with some seriously tempting rewards. There was surely a ruthless undercurrent in this one. So, the decision was simple, ¡°...Then whoever steps foot into our Core room DIES!¡± Parallel Me responded, ¡°To be cruel to one¡¯s enemies is to be cruel to oneself. It¡¯s US or THEM!¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t have said it better myself¡­ except for the one¡¯s and oneselves¡¯, they would just make me sound like a douche.¡± Parallel Me sighed. ¡°There isn¡¯t much we can do about it other than make sure that there is no chance for anyone to make it to our core room. Anyway, changing topics to one that''s not about our depressing odds- having trouble with collecting our spoils?¡± ¡°Yes, but¡­ sinister twinkle?¡± ¡°What the hell are you talking about?¡± I reached out to its source. No, not my Core but something buried amongst the rubble on the top of the altar. It can¡¯t be what I think it is. I didn¡¯t bother trying to pick it up, just examining it on the ground. I exclaimed in surprise as I read the results. Surely this can¡¯t be right. I gestured to Parallel Me and said, ¡°Go on, examine it.¡± Parallel Me crouched down and complied, saying ¡°Examine.¡± Looking over results, he too exclaimed. ¡°Holy Shit! A Dungeon Core? Wait, a LEGENDARY one?!¡± ¡°It is? I thought I might have been wrong. I mean why the hell would someone put their Core in the middle of a battlefield? Even if this was the last room in their dungeon, which it isn¡¯t, it should be at the very least at the back where it¡¯s safer. And surrounded by a fortress to boot. It¡¯s just here, out in the open. Hell, the altar just puts it on display. Was that the intention? Did they use their own Core as bait?¡± I mumbled, ¡°I bet it feels stupid now.¡± Dazed, Parallel Me tore his attention away from the screen and replied, ¡°Um... no¡­ no. I¡¯m just as confused as you because, yes, this is a terrible location for a Dungeon Core. Even if this was a backup...¡± ¡°Oh, yeah, didn¡¯t you say that Dungeon¡¯s can have multiple Dungeon Cores? Maybe this was their extra?¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°Err...¡± Parallel Me seemed to stop and collect himself. ¡°Yes, a Dungeon can have multiple Cores. In the store you outright buy things like dummy Cores and booby-trapped Cores. But they can only have one true Core per Dungeon.¡± ¡°Oh, so it¡¯s a Dummy Core?¡± ¡°No, the examination confirms that it is an actual Core. Plus, false Cores can¡¯t serve as a substitute for a real Core. If the Dungeon doesn¡¯t have an actual Core, no Dungeon- no matter how many Dummy Cores or the like they have. And you can¡¯t buy actual Cores from the store, you can only turn other dead Dungeon Cores into your own through the store.¡± ¡°So that is an actual Core? Maybe it was their secondary one? They might have used that as a decoy for some super trap. There werea lotof corpses.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t understand, to obtain an extra,proper, Core you have to get a Dungeons,intact, Core.¡± Parallel looked at me pointedly. ¡°...Oh. I get it. I would self-destruct too out of spite if I was going to lose.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t even have to come to that, reducing a Core¡¯s health to zero without breaking it isn¡¯t easy. If a Dungeon wants another Core, the only reliable way to get one is to set them as the stakes for a duel.¡± ¡°A duel? How does that stop a Core self-destructing?¡± ¡°If it¡¯s a duel, agreed upon by both parties, madethroughThe System, The System enforces the rules they made. It¡¯s how a lot of conflicts between Dungeon¡¯s are fought. It allows a Core to guarantee its winnings or limit its losses.¡± ¡°I see. So, no sane Dungeon Core would use an actual Core as bait.... But what if the Dungeon is, like, the 1%. Super Rich.¡± ¡°There are penalties for one of your actual Cores dying, one of which is a loss of 40% of your stored DP. So, if anything, they would have more to lose.¡± ¡°Then what the hell is going on?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ this altar is not a Core¡¯s Cradle. I don¡¯t know what it is.¡± ¡°Cradle what-now?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll explain latter.¡± ¡°OK, so about this mystery. How do we solve it?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t. Ignoring the fact that all we would end up with is a list of speculations with no way to prove or disprove any of them, time is of the essence.¡± ¡°I suppose you''re right.¡± I sighed. ¡°Are damaged Core¡¯s valuable?¡± Parallel Me¡¯s crooked laugh told me yes. Yes, it was. ¡°We can absorb it.¡± ¡°Like put it into our Mental Landscape?¡± ¡°No. We can absorb other Cores. We have a chance to inherit some of its abilities or affinities. With a chunk this size we should definitely get something good.¡± ¡°Size matters?¡± ¡°Yes, the more we have of the Core the better.¡± After a brief moment of hesitation, we both immediately discarded any sense of dignity and started sifting through the rubble desperately. Soon we had found all there was to find. Given that faint traces of mana that lingered around it I could tell that one of its attributes was Death but more importantly it looked like it was all here, not a piece missing. ¡°This is great.¡± Parallel Me¡¯s uttered. ¡°Since it¡¯s all here, instead of absorbing it, we can give it to the system for a free monster one rating below the Core¡¯s, of its main attribute.¡± My head swayed from side to side as I considered what Parallel Me said. I soon replied, ¡±We are already rather formidable profile wise, so a monster could be better. But if the monsters rating is one below the Cores- is that even worth it?¡± ¡°I know you didn¡¯t give the Dungeon¡¯s Legendary rating a second glance, but I suspect that the three overlords of this continent are around Rare or Superior. Legendary max. So a Superior rated monster is a force to be reckoned with.¡± ¡°Ok then. I suppose since it¡¯s going to have to be Death attributed it will have to say in the Core room? ¡°Yes, but we need a secret trump card in here anyway.¡± We traded the Core into The System.
Congratulations. You have turned in a broken Legendary Dungeon Core.+One free level 1 monster of Superior grade, Death Attributed
Not long after we started browsing the options Parallel Me soon offered a suggestion, ¡°What about an Elder Lich.¡± ¡°Feel free to elaborate.¡± ¡°Even the lowest class of Liches are powerful magic casters. An Elder Lich is no exception.¡± ¡°Getting better.¡± ¡°While they may not benearlyas physically imposing as some other Undead-¡± ¡°Getting worse.¡± ¡°Their individual magical prowess aside, their abilities and skill relating to the undead allow them to build formidable armies; turning them into walking calamities. They can overwhelm a strong opponent with numbers. If an enemy tries to use numbers to overwhelm it all they are really doing is providing it with soon-to-be troops.¡± ¡°Getting much better.¡± ¡°What do we have a Core full of?¡± ¡°... This is too good to be true. What''s the catch?¡± ¡°In most places the public opinion of Death Dungeons would be public enemy number 1 if not for Demons. But since we don¡¯t intend on parading the fact around¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s already a moot point since there is no difference in seeing a Lich or our Core at this point. We can¡¯t get rid of the Core so let¡¯s get an Elder Lich.¡± ¡°Are you ready?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡± I said as I purchased an Elder Lich. I wonder how-My thought was cut short as a robed figure sprung up from the shadows in front of us. Death tinted mana swirled in the air, proliferating outwards. I felt some notifications buzzing around me but I shooed them away. ¡°Greetings my Lord.¡± The figure rasped as he bowed deeply in my direction. ¡°Err, hello to you too. Do you have a name?¡± ¡°I apologize my Lord, for I do not.¡± ¡°¡­Do you want one?¡± ¡°I want what my Lord wants for me. If it is your wish, I would be most humbled to accept your gift.¡± ¡°Damn, I¡¯ll take that as a yes- I not really good at picking names. If you can think of one you like, that can be your name¡± ¡°My Lord, I¡¯m afraid a lowly one such as myself cannot name myself.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but roll my eyes.Is he serious or is he just pulling my leg? And how is he long winded and curt at the same time?¡°Let me think.¡± I pondered what a good name for a dead thing would be. A no nonsense dead thing. Looking for inspiration I observed him, intently. His face didn¡¯t look rotten, just withered and taunt. Like his ¡®skin¡¯ had been stretched out over his skull. He had no eyes, just bottomless black pits. I noticed the feeling he projected, the promise of death and destruction. He reminded me of something. Gravel.¡°OK then... let your name be... ¡®Gravis¡¯.¡± More notifications came into existence.Can¡¯t you leave me alone? I¡¯m busy. Gravis bowed even more deeply than before. ¡°My gratitude knows no bounds.¡± The pressure he excluded seemed to sizably increase. ¡°Do you know your purpose?¡± ¡°I live to serve, my Lord.¡± ¡°You are my personal Guard. You will protect the Core Room and my Core. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Of course. Shall I deal with the invaders?¡± ¡°...¡± Both Parallel Me and I froze. ¡°What?¡± I said. ¡°Can¡¯t you feel it? Theirresentment? Theirrage? Theirsorrow?¡± Gravis rasped, savouring his words. Gravis tone became one of rage and fury as he spat, ¡°Their feeble attempts to harm my Master. I will annihilate all those who dare!¡± He turned to the entrance of the cavern. I could hear it now, the chorus of muffled thuds as something tried to make its way through our blockade. The sounds were getting louder and louder.Oh no. We¡¯re under attack. Volume 1 - Chapter 7 - Seventh Heaven - Chapter 7 - Seventh Heaven I took a depth breath to calm myself. Gravis moved forward, placing himself in between me and the entrance.Is it the Dwarves? Have they found us? I knew it was a risk but this location was quite the distance from their capital, or any of their cities for that matter. How could they track us down so soon?My expression grew gloomier when I thought,they also probably looted all the valuables in that area of the old Dungeon! Damn!¡°Gravis.¡± ¡°Yes, my Lord?¡± ¡°Can you command undead? Because I have many in my Core.¡± ¡°Of course, my Lord.¡± ¡°That¡¯s excellent. You said you could sense them? How confident are you in defeating them?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, taking out their leader will render them helpless before me.¡± I frowned at his words.How can you tell the Dwarves are that undisciplined... or is it that the leader is the only threat? Maybe they underestimated me because I¡¯m a new-born Dungeon. Still, how can he be so sure?¡°Gravis! I don¡¯t care if an army of bunnies comes marching through that door, they are NOT to be underestimated.¡± Gravis was quick to reply, ¡°I would never neglect the safety of my Lord.¡± ¡°Good. Neutralise them as quickly as possible. We can¡¯t let them send word back to request reinforcements, or even worse, inform others of my Death affinity. What my Core looks like would probably leak too.¡± As I started searching my Core as quickly as possible I muttered, ¡°Hopefully Dwarves being here is just a coincidence and not officially sanctioned.¡± Knowing I was distracted and could immerse ourselves even more deeply in shit if I made a mistake I focused on the task at hand and asked, ¡°How many can you control?¡± Pulling out more than that would be bad. ¡°It would depend on the type of Undead my Lord.¡± ¡°Err¡­I think they¡¯re just called skeletons?¡± ¡°Ten shall be sufficient my Lord.¡± ¡°OK.¡± I nodded. Assuming his confidence in soundly defeating the invaders wasn¡¯t ill founded, I decided to search for Undead that looked leaner and faster. This was under the assumption that the biggest problem would be making sure they didn¡¯t escape. In other words, chasing them down. But that was easier said than done. They were literally all bone and no muscle. I had to guess- would it even make a difference though? Looking them over I picked 10 Skeletons that I, like earlier, believed to be Elves. Of the ones I picked eight had long and slender swords while two of them had long- and frankly delicate looking- bows.Yes, some ranged warriors would also be a good idea, I¡¯m sure. Plus, Elves are always one of the stronger races in, like, every fantasy world... right?I notified Gravis to be ready the moment I took them out for fear of them shrugging of my control. For the first time since he faced the entrance Gravis looked away, appraising his soon to be minions. ¡°As to be expected of my Lord. Skeletal Elves- and ones on the verge of becoming Fallen at that.¡± His excitement translated into enough movement to shift the shadows that obscured much of his face. I saw hismouthcurve ever so slightly into a smile. I wished the shadows stayed where they bloody where. That ¡®smile¡¯ could have been the twitching of a dried and gaping wound but I wouldn¡¯t have been able to tell the difference. I felt a little chill run up my spine watching it. I had to come to terms with the fact thatthis world¡­ can producethis. ¡°Oh?... Good,¡± Came my strained reply.What kind of nightmarish world am I about to die in? Parallel Me chipped in, ¡°It¡¯s a good thing we put them away. An Undead type ¡®Fallen¡¯ is a when the corpse retains instincts, impulses and sometimes fragmented memories of who it once was. While it makes them a lot more versatile, being able to think and learn to a degree, it also proportionally makes maintaining control harder.¡± ¡°My Lord, I will now use a command spell to permanently take control, however I implore you to focus your mana on not resisting lest you unnecessarily waste it.¡± ¡°Yes, of course.¡± I called upon my previous, merger experience, and willed them to defect to Gravis. ¡°Call of the Undead!¡± Gravis shouted. Dark light pulsed from Gravis¡¯ raised hand. The Skeletal Elves stood straighter and simultaneously looked to Gravis. Not saying a word Gravis once again faced the wall. The Elves followed suit, the two archers flanking him on either side while the swordsmen took the vanguard. I couldn''t help but gape at the contrast between their movements under Gravis¡¯ control and mine. They worked in perfect tandem, showing coordination and purpose that put my previous efforts to shame. Metal clashing against metal resounded as the Elves raised and interlocked their shields, bringing their swords above their heads, pointed forwards and angled slightly downwards. They marched forward, almost in a half crouch. Gravis, flanked by the two rangers, moved at a slower pace. Eventually the warrior Elves were only a dozen or so meters from the entrance, with Gravis and the rangers more than two dozen meters behind them. I placed myself in front of my Core, ready to manipulate some earth into people''s faces, preferably at really high speeds. I knew I wouldn¡¯t be able to, my experience saw to that. But just in case, I was ready. Crack. A crack had spread on the compacted rock that was my blockade. It shook and grew with every thud that echoed throughout the cavern. Boom. The cracks grew wider and longer. I think I could see movement on the other side. Boom. One final blow sent rubble flying everywhere. There was a moment of pause, prompting my heart to crawl up my throat. Then the enemies shuffled onto the field.What?Undead slowly flooded out into the cavern, moving as one.My mind spun as I tried to understand what was happening.Movement originating from the invaders stopped those thoughts in its tracks.The invaders spread out and a figure cloaked in black emerged from the centre. It strode forwards with confidence before it raised his arms above its head and faced the ceiling. I could hear it inhale like a corpse taking its first breath. Its breath was ragged, course and-This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. SPLAT. A sinister streak of dark lighting sent parts of the figures head catapulting backward, decorating the walls in rotten goop. Gravis kept his arm raised as he intoned, ¡°Create Undead!¡±. The figure¡¯s falling body stopped midway as a foot burst out of its chest and landed firmly on the ground. The body started to twist and writhe as one limb after another clawed its way out, pushing away bone and muscle. Gravis¡¯ new creation stood erect and shrugged of the remains of the figure that clung to his body. ¡°Take control of those Undead.¡± He commanded. ¡°As you wish.¡± came the rasping reply. ¡°Call of the Undead.¡± The would-be invaders stopped moving. It¡¯s over?After waiting a few seconds and nothing still happening I said, ¡°Well that was anticlimactic.¡± ¡°Sorry my lord. Should I have out on a show?¡± ¡°Ah... no¡­ no, it¡¯s fine. I told you to neutralise them as quickly as possible. Good job.¡± ¡°You flatter me my Lord.¡± Gravis bowed. I need to unravel this situation. So, the invaders weren¡¯t Dwarves? He never said anything about dwarves. They¡¯re Undead... that would explain how he was able to sense them.¡°Do you sense any more hostiles Gravis? And are these ones under your control¡­?¡± ¡°I sense no nearby threats. Those Undead are under that Lich¡¯s control and he is under mine.¡± A Lich? ¡°Are you saying that, effectively, all these new Undead are under your control for the price ¡®one¡¯?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Oh, that is cheat-y. No wonder the Undead are public enemy... number two? Demons are number one, right? What sort of power do they possess that makes them public enemy number one? Thinking back to the Undead that were so easily subdued when I first arrived I couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Why did they attack?¡± Parallel Me explained, ¡°They¡¯re attracted to the high levels of mana- it is essential for their growth. But if your mana can¡¯t subdue them fast enough then you¡¯ve just attracted monsters just want to claim this territory for themselves.¡± That sounds problematic. ¡°Gravis I want you to clear out clear out and blockade the nest room.¡± ¡°But my Lord, you will be unprotected!¡± Parallel Me said to Gravis, ¡°Leave the new Lich here, that way if anything happens you will know. Besides it¡¯s only the next room.¡± ¡°As you wish.¡± Gravis replied. Watching Gravis leave Parallel Me cautioned, ¡°Are you sure about this, it¡¯s risky.¡± ¡°We¡¯re currently the one of the most valuable treasures in existence and totally defenceless at that. Everything we do is risky. We need to take advantage of the fact that we probably haven¡¯t been discovered and hopefully won¡¯t if we isolate ourselves. Until we are ready that is.¡± ¡°If he dies the new Lich will be a threat.¡± ¡°You called Elder Liches, quote, ¡®walking calamities¡¯. If he can blockade the path to us we will have less raids to worry about.¡± ¡°He is a Superior class monster, nothing is likely to be a threat to him. Especially since, for some reason, the undead have only started to start spawning now. And the longer we leave it the worse it will get.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad we agree. So, let''s purchase some monsters, OK?¡± *** ¡°There are so many options¡­ I feel like a kid in a candy store.¡± I cooed.Parallel Me had just informed me that we had a whopping 100,000 DP to spend, curtsey of being a Godlike Dungeon core. ¡°Don¡¯t even bother paying attention to the expensive ones, we need to start small. A higher number of monsters will take more of an advantage of our {Spark of Evaluation} ability anyway.¡± ¡°Ok, cheap ones¡­ cheap ones¡­ ah I think I found a whole bunch under the ¡®animals¡¯ category.¡± ¡°Did you say, ¡®Animals category¡¯?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I replied. Parallel Me stopped looking over his screen and looked at mine. ¡°What tab is that under?¡± As I showed him the rabbit hole of tabs he looked confused. ¡°What is all this junk¡­ It¡¯s not supposed to be here¡­¡± Pensive, he scrolled through options and looked it over some more. Eventually he said, ¡°I don¡¯t get it. They shouldn¡¯t be here- available for purchase.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Any of it, it wasn¡¯t mentioned in the tutorial, and it gave at least a brief overview of everything in it. Take these animals for example; they¡¯re animals not even monsters!¡± ¡°What''s the difference?¡± ¡°Animals are just ordinary organisms, in that they don¡¯t utilize mana. Monsters are organisms that can, at least on a subconscious level because they have mana cores. Wait, I think I remember you getting, as part of an achievement or reward, items added to the store. I think this is it. It must be stuff from earth¡­ what is it sorting it by?¡± ¡°Earth? You mean-¡° Holding up a hand Parallel Me halted my sentence in its tracks, ¡°Don¡¯t get your hopes up, I haven¡¯t seen any electronics so far and I can¡¯t imagine The System letting them slip through.¡± Soon Parallel Me gave up trying to figure out the organisation behind the tabs. ¡°Are animals useless?¡± ¡°... It¡¯s not like ordinary animals can¡¯t kill humans.¡± ¡°Yes, but; magic wielding people?¡± ¡°Magic or not, who wants to be bitten by a snake or let a bear swipe at your face? At the very least they can become monsters, all they need is a little time. ¡°That sounds like a project for latter.¡± ¡°Yeah. We need something useful now. Speaking of which I think Golems may be a good choice.¡± ¡°Golems, uh? How much would they cost? How good are they?¡± ¡°Well to purchase made of stone from the store costs 1000 DP. They are basically slow-moving meat shields that can only dish out damage if something is stupid or slow enough to stay within reach. Thankfully lower level adventures tend to fall into that slow and stupid category. But more importantly they go very well together with fast moving monsters.¡± ¡°OK, so Golems as tanks and¡­¡± ¡°Goblins. Cheap, fast and they breed like rabbits.¡± ¡°The things you said we could just ignore? Things with the strength of 5-year-olds?¡± ¡°They¡¯re about a head smaller than dwarves and much weaker, yes. But imagine a dozen of them swarming you, frenziedly trying to put their daggers in you.¡± ¡°Are they at least smart?¡± I asked considering his proposal. ¡°Humanoid monsters have rudimentary forms of verbal communication and culture at least.¡± ¡°Do we have to feed them?¡± ¡°Purchased monsters can sustain themselves on mana, but it slows their growth if they have to do so.¡± ¡°If they breed like rabbits that sounds like a yes.¡± ¡°Mana is the world¡¯s best fertiliser, food won¡¯t be a problem,¡± Parallel Me offered, before adding, ¡°They are only 10DP¡­¡± ¡°So cheap! Well OK, if you say so. Hay, they¡¯re all going to die, right?¡± ¡°You mean to adventures? Yes, I suppose most will.¡± ¡°So, it¡¯s not worth training them?¡± ¡°Death is not always the end. Named monsters can be re-summoned.¡± I exclaimed, saying, ¡°Oh, really! Then we should definitely get some monsters with that in mind.¡± ¡°Hobgoblins. I¡¯d say that they are the closest a monster gets to a human.¡± ¡°Any relation to goblins?¡± ¡°Yes, a Hobgoblin is an evolved form of a goblin. In fact, the jump from a goblin (a common monster) to a Hobgoblin (an uncommon monster) is probably the largest jump in power there is amongst common to uncommon evolutions.¡± ¡°Look at you, thinking one step ahead.¡± Parallel Me evilly chuckled, ¡°That¡¯s not the only idea I have.¡± I smiled in response to Parallel Me.Things are final going to get fun! Volume 1 - Chapter 8 - Eight Ways To Sunday - Chapter 8 - Eight Ways From Sunday [Deghwahrum - The Dwarven Capital City] In the depths of a hollowed-out mountain, a pair of Dwarfs silently made their way through the sprawling city of Deghwahrum. One of them summoned the courage to broach a sensitive topic. ¡°He was ranting¡­ and raving,¡±Malake timidly offered, eyeballing Brodfram, trying to gauge his reaction before he felt it safe to continue. ¡°Apparently we¡¯ve angered the gods and need to appease them¡­¡± ¡°When isn¡¯t he?! When don¡¯t we?!!!¡± Brodfram snapped- absolutely livid- holding back just enough of the anger in his tone to make the sarcasm evident. ¡°Sinner this, sinner that. It¡¯s never ending with him. I swear by Odin''s beard that I¡¯m going to wrap my stubby fingers around his neck one of these days.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just warning you,¡±Malake stammered. ¡°This council meeting isn¡¯t going to be one of the good ones...¡± Brodfram snorted as he glowered at something unseen. ¡°When have any of the meetings been pleasant in recent years? I know I¡¯m not bring any good news to the table, you...¡± A glance to his side and shake of the head told Brodfram that neither was Malake. After a flash of depression, this confirmation only fuelled his anger. ¡°Of course not! We¡¯re fucked from so many directions I¡¯ve lost count.¡± Brodfram cursed. With nowhere to relieve his anger, it only served to speed up his gait. Malake struggled to match pace. The conversation dead, they continued on their way, moving towards the imposing building in the distance. *** In a large but sparsely furnished room sat seven Dwarves at a round table. Quiet murmurs and hushed conversation polluted the room as a select few Dwarves seemed content to talk amongst themselves. Snippets of conversation drifted into Brodframs ears one after another. "...I just don¡¯t why he did that¡­" one Dwarf complained. "Drown me in ale, Thradreac! Have you just finished a battle? You smell terrible. Don''t even get me started on how you look," Said another. ¡°Shut your mead hole!¡± Thradreac growled and refusing to take part in the bickering any longer by pointedly ignored any further comments. ¡°¡­hear that you may have a new earth-attribute hammer in stock¡­¡± Brodfram fumed as he took in the head-in-the-sand mentality, the blatant disregard. ¡°Enough with the pleasantries. You all look like shit, spit it out.¡± Brodfram barked, earning several death glares as the murmurs halted in their tracks. Brodfram looked around the room, pointedly meeting each one. He was a little surprised to find that Barthine, that lunatic, was staring off into space. Why isn¡¯t he taking this opportunity to take a few shots at me? I was sure he hated my guts, Brodfram wondered. Irritated, Akgrul rebuked, ¡°Show some manners, Brodfram. The council meeting has only just started. There is nothing wrong with catching up with our peers.¡± ¡°We are in dire straits, manners are about as necessary as sugar on shit.¡± Came Brodframs swift retort. Half interjecting, half to himself, Mufar said, ¡°Sugar is arguably never more necessary than when it¡¯s on shit.¡± Thradreac was the first to reply to the question, saying, ¡°The raids are only getting worse.¡± Ignoring the frowns, he continued, ¡°They¡¯re probing us, testing our strength. I¡¯m sure of it.¡± ¡°What do we have to fear from some savages? I say we gather our armies and crush them.¡± Akgrul offered. ¡°You fool!¡± Thradreac raged. ¡°If it was that simple they wouldn¡¯t have been a thorn in our side for so long- or even at all. With everything that¡¯s happening it¡¯s clear to me that these raiding parties of assorted monsters are doing so at the behest of a third party... or parties.¡± ¡°You¡¯re just getting paranoid in your old age, Thradreac.¡± Akgrul sneered. ¡°All these monsters working together is normal to you, is it? These are wild monsters we¡¯re talking about- not Dungeon monsters! And that¡¯s not even mentioning that fact that all this activity is happening on the border with them no less? Not finding that suspicious is almost as ridiculous as taking our armies out of the safety of the city to battle on the surface!¡± Akgrul moved to defend himself, but Mufar beat him to the punch, saying, ¡°The Parvenu Empire have always coveted our lands.¡± ¡°What the hell for!¡±Brodfram examined. Taking a deep breath, he readied himself for another verbal bout before- ¡°ENOUGH!¡± A voice thundered. All eyes moved to the source- the head of the table. ¡°Forgreth-¡± Akgrul started. ¡°I SAID ENOUGH!¡± Eyes sweeping the room Forgreth solemnly spoke, ¡°As the Head of this Council I am officially requesting your reports- from all of you. And I will not have you belittle this nation''s crisis- crises.¡± Finished, Forgreth sat down and waited. His face didn''t give away even a hint of emotion.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Surprisingly, Malake was the first to stand. Head slightly bowed he spoke. ¡°Malake- Master of the Adventurer''s Guild Union, reporting.¡± His tone, originally laced with pride, had all but faded in its enthusiasm as he continued with his next sentence. ¡°The...er¡­ The numbers are down this year¡­ again.¡± Shuffling slightly, Malake followed up with, ¡°A few curious adventures seeking expertise in evaluating weapons and the like have ¡®bolstered¡¯ the numbers but not enough to offset the amount that are leaving¡­. In all honestly, the majority of the adventures that remain are essentially retired or on the verge of doing so.¡± Agitation was clear on the faces of all present and by the end of Malake''s report many were ready to burst into conversation but Forgreth¡¯s penetrating gaze stifled all movement. Seeing Forgreth¡¯s silence, Malake sat down. Brodfram chose this moment to give his report. Standing he said, ¡°Brodfram- Overseer of the Mines, reporting. It has come to light that previous results from the most recent prospecting operations were false positives.¡± Forgreth¡¯s gaze or no, exclamations of shock and horror broke out. Cutting through the commotion Brodfram said, ¡°With this revelation, it is necessary to revise the earlier estimate downwards and place the operational functionality of the mines at just a few months.¡± ¡°What-¡± Mufar started, rising from his seat. ¡°NEXT!¡± Forgreth bellowed. Not daring to refute, Mufar sat back down in his seat. ¡°Thradreac- High Commander, reporting. The raids upon our outpost along the border with the Parvenu Empire have seen a sudden spike in both frequency and combat prowess. There have also been sightings of enemies near our trade route to the Sayadance Kingdom.¡± Mufar visibly paled at the mention of this. Mufar sighed as he got up. ¡°Mufar- Head of the Merchant Union, reporting. Trade with the Sayadance Kingdom has become increasing difficult in proportion with the decreased output of the mines. With less and less to sell they do fetch higher prices¡­ however this has only fuelled rumours.¡± For the first time Forgreth inquired for details, ¡°Mufar, you have the most contact with the outside world out of any of us. Tell me, what rumours have you heard?¡± ¡°Well, there are rumours circulating that we are intentionally restricting the sale our wares to inflate the prices.¡± After a brief pause, apparently steeling himself he spoke, ¡°There are murmurs the Parvenu Empire is preparing for war.¡± ¡°Truly?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ and¡­ and, well, there are also rumours of us hoarding vast amounts of resources.¡± Mufar wilted slightly under the increased intensity of Forgreth¡¯s gaze. ¡°And¡­ and there are rumours that... that we control a relic that gives us dominion over Dungeons.¡± Seething with rage, Thradreac spat, ¡°These rumours are absolute folly! These lies are no doubt the work of the Parvenu Empire!¡± ¡°To what end?¡± Questioned Brodfram. ¡°We will discuss the reports when they have all been heard- silence.¡± Forgreth interrupted. He then turned to Akgrul. ¡°Akgrul- Head of Infrastructure, reporting. Internal building developments have hovered at previous levels¡­ however, external requests and foreign projects¡­ remain non-existent.¡± Taking in the bigger picture, Akgrul¡¯s report was almost a relief. Brodfram looked to the last council member that had yet to make a report and felt his hairs rising. It didn¡¯t matter what the others reported, Barthine always managed to work it into his ¡®report¡¯- which he just took as an opportunity to preach. ¡°Barthine- Head of The Sanctified, reporting¡­. All is well.¡± Barthine unceremoniously sat back down. Silence engulfed everyone like a tsunami. Eye¡¯s wide and mouths agape, six Dwarfs started at one. Brodfram couldn''t fathom what was happening, he studied Barthine¡¯s face and tried to read his emotions. I have no idea what he¡¯s feeling. Or what he is thinking. As long as I have known him, I¡¯ve always ignored him as much as possible. Brodfram looked to Malake. Noticing, Malake just shrugged and whispered, ¡°I tell you, yesterday he was going absolutely nuts.¡± Brodfram focused his attention back on Barthine, ready to interrogate. If anyone had told him yesterday that he would have willingly engaged with conversation with Barthine he would have tossed that drunkard out of the pub for fear he had too much to drink. However, his mouth was only halfway open before Forgreth cut him off, saying ¡°In that case it is time to discuss our course of action. Firstly, trade with the Sayadance Kingdom. They are, essentially, our only trade partner- we cannot afford to lose them. Mufar, it is essential that you maintain friendly relations.¡± ¡°But how?¡± ¡°I will allocate you some weapons from the garrison to sell.¡± ¡°But Forgreth!¡± Thradreac shouted. ¡°What? You wish to keep weapons for Dwarf¡¯s we don¡¯t have? There has always been an excess amount of equipment gathering dust for as long as I can remember.¡± ¡°Forgreth, the cost to replace the equipment should we need it will not be worth the meagre benefits we stand to receive- and we do so arming a potential enemy no less!¡± ¡°Replace the equipment when we need it? You mean ¡®if¡¯ and you know as well as I do that that ¡®if¡¯ will never come to be, not for a long time. ¡®Meagre benefits¡¯ you say? Have you forgotten that we depend on the Sayadance Kingdom for food? Not to mention other goods we have no way to get our hands on. Maintaining a good relationship with them is essential for our very survival because if they decide to be our enemies, it wouldn¡¯t have mattered how many weapons we didn¡¯t sell them, you know what the end result would be.¡± Thradreac looked frustrated as he tried and failed to think of a clever way to refute Forgreth¡¯s reasoning but he couldn¡¯t- by comparison to the Dwarven Kingdom the Sayadance Kingdom was a goliath. ¡°It¡¯s a risk,¡± Thradreac ventured. ¡°I know, but what do you want me to do?¡± Forgreth relied. Relenting Thradreac said, ¡°I understand. Forgreth continued, ¡°Mufar, with the profits I want you to purchase as much food as you can, non-perishables would be preferable. I know it will be more expensive but do it. However, leave some money aside for Akgrul. Akgrul, I want you to inspect of the defences of every city and use the money from Mufar to upgrade them as necessary in coordination with Thradreac. Malake I want you to notify other guilds that we will be posting exploration missions- looking for ore veins.¡± Brodfram¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°Even if they weren¡¯t suspicious at first, which I doubt, they will soon find out that our mines are running dry!¡± ¡°Yes, two birds with one stone. Firstly, it will help our search for new deposits of ore and secondly adventures often have big mouths...¡± ¡°This is tantamount to telling the world we are weak!¡± Thradreac rasped, trembling. Forgreth sighed. ¡°That¡¯s the point. We are weak, and, honestly, our only advantage is that we are resource poor. We want them to see us instead as an ally that could supply them with a talented workforce. This will hopefully be enough to dissuade any would-be invaders from invading; that it wouldn¡¯t be worth the cost. Our agricultural output in scant, our mines are running dry and we have no Dungeons.¡± Brodfram grimaced at those last words. Why are we so weak? Why are ALL our neighbours strong? Because we have no Dungeons. Haven¡¯t for as far back as the records go¡­ and no one has any clue as to why. Volume 1 - Chapter 9 - Nine Millennia Wonder - Chapter 9 - Nine Millennia Wonder [Veteris - Capital City Of The Holy Land] The priestess couldn¡¯t keep the doubts at bay. She had noticed the oddity of her Goddess¡¯s behaviour and in her many years of service she never seen Her so agitated. As the priestess mulled it over, she muttered, ¡°Could it be the Demons? But how can that be?¡±She has never shown concern over them in the past, not even with their recent activity.Frowning, she stopped her pacing and knelt at the altar. She clasped her hands, ready to pray. ¡°Come.¡± Came an otherworldly voice from inside the priestess¡¯s head. ¡°Goddess! You wish to tell me something?¡± ¡°In person.¡± The priestess let out an involuntary gasp. How many hundreds of years had it been since her Goddess had imparted her word face to face?It¡¯s as I thought, something is wrong. The situation must be terribly grave.Sparing no thought for her image the priestess made haste. Despite the time that had elapsed since her last visit and the constant speculations flittering through her head she made no mistake on her way to the Goddess¡¯s Core Room. [Dermilion - Capital City of the Demonic Land] ¡°I don¡¯t care what it takes, find it!¡± Roared the figure that managed to loom over Digero, despite the distance between them and the fact that the imposing figure remained seated on his throne. Digero could feel every being in the throne room bowing a little bit deeper, trembling and cowering just a little bit more, himself included.He¡¯s so emotional, Digero thought,this is the perfect opportunity to gain his favour. Digero carved his words into his heart and dared his eyes to dart upwards. Peering further into the throne room, lusting after an honoured position at the front of the assembly, or, Heavens forbid, on the steps leading up tohisthrone. A small voice in the back of Digero¡¯s head dared to whisper,Or on the throne itself. He did his best to stifle such ambitious thoughts.His inner circle of personal summons is far beyond my reach, let alonethe throne of the Demon King. It was then that Digero thought one of those few figures on the steps had caught sight of him, but her words soon alleviated him of that notion, and his goose bumps, ¡°Master, to divert resources from the war effort at such a time may be ill advised.¡±You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Digero sensed movement from the throne. He didn¡¯t know what the king''s reaction was as he dared not look, but the adviser said nothing further. Given the lack of rage Digero perceived from the king he could only assume that adviser was silenced out of habit. Almost certainly because of the presence of us.Pawns. Lowly servants the had no privilege to know His Majesty''s plans. Not that you would be hard pressed to find anyone who did not know of the of the war. It was only because of the birth of a treasure that had bothered to summon servants of Digero¡¯s lowly station, it was our luck to be able to assemble in His throne room. Our merger strength barely had the right to put our foot in the door. Digero doubted he would have even told us if it had not appeared on every Dungeon¡¯s Menu. ¡°Each and every one of you will conduct a thorough check of your own territories and report your findings.¡± His voice thundered throughout the hall. ¡°...NOW! Begone from my sight!¡± For once, I was grateful to be at the back of the hall. It saved me from the stampede that followed.Hmp. If I ever become the Demon King, I will never allow this sort of disgraceful behaviour in my presence. Where is his dignity? Digero thought, ambition rearing its ugly- and ever so dangerous- head. *** [POV Switch] The Demon King watched as his minions scrambled to obey, a faint smile tugging the corners of his lip. However, the amusement faded as his thoughts converged on the problem at hand. He eyed his servants that littered the steps. Only the strong were permitted such a privilege. The System guaranteed their loyalty, something he was always grateful for. He focused his full attention on Dextra, the one that had spoken out earlier. ¡°Spit it out.¡± Some of Dextra¡¯s tension receded as she spoke. ¡°Master, with all the preparation that has been put into the war effort, taking a step back now...¡± ¡°No,¡± The Demon King interceded before continuing, ¡°This matter¡¯s importance cannot be understated, we MUST obtain the Chimera¡¯s Heart. If not just to deny our enemies.¡± ¡°I understand the lure of the recipe¡¯s benefits but I still don¡¯t quite see its value outweighing the current opportunity for invasion.¡± ¡°You misunderstand. If anything, this is only reason to accelerate our plans for war. I have no doubt that those three have come to the same conclusion that I have- they are almost as old as I am after all. I bet they have also given out similar orders in the vain hope that no one else has realised... and most importantly, only a fool would ever waste such an item on that recipe.¡± Everyone in the room were complementing what the Demon King was implying. Dextra voiced her confusion, ¡°... I don¡¯t quite understand.¡± ¡°Think about it. Recipes like that, that directly upgrade Dungeon Core¡¯s, aren¡¯t rare. They¡¯re impossible. There is only one way for a Dungeon Core to upgrade its foundational strength in such a way. Cannibalism.¡± The Demon King roared with laughter, elated. ¡°We have witnessed the birth of a Godlike Dungeon Core. Ripe for the taking.¡± Volume 1 - Chapter 10 - Ten A Penny - Chapter 10 - Ten A Penny I looked over the battlefield and watched as my newly created monsters went about clearing up rubble. They were shifting it onto a heap lumped up against the second entrance and the goop left behind by the overly ambitious litch was buried in the furthest pit. It was nauseating- despite the fact that I don¡¯t even have a stomach. Rotten and evil flesh will do that to you. Pondering their mediocre chores, I recalled my first impulse; wanting to have some of the monsters do patrols, but really that just meant staring at the walls. They felt stupid staring at the walls. I felt stupid staring at them, feeling stupid staring at the walls... so cleaning up it is- that was really all there was to do. I wish there was more to loot, that was fun while it lasted. I re-focused my attention on what was left of Parallel Me¡¯s pitch, ¡°...so, all in all, it¡¯s worth it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a hole¡­. that I have to pay for.¡± I enunciated slowly. ¡°It¡¯s a pitfall trap.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not repeating myself. I may as well just get one of my monsters to dig it.¡± Irritated, Parallel Me replied, ¡°NO. YOU don¡¯t understand. It¡¯s a pitfall trap ¡®made¡¯ with DP. That means it¡¯s permanent- in a sense, as it will slowly recover from sabotage.¡± ¡°Sabotage? It¡¯s a bloody hole.¡± I replied gruffly. ¡°HOLES can be filled or covered, i.e. SABOTAGED, dumbass. You think you have a lot of freedom as to what you can do in your Dungeon? Intruders have more. You think they won¡¯t break your stuff?¡± ¡°Oooh...¡± I realised. We were debating on how much DP to spend on traps. We had already purchased some monsters. We decided to keep it simple to start with, get a basic fighting force. Nothing too expensive, but still versatile. Of the 100,000 we had originally, the book about the death attribute cost an irritating 1,00DP. 800DP went towards 80 Goblins at 10DP each. We also spent 600DP on 20 variant Goblins- Shamans- for 30DP each. Since we planned on splitting them up into 5 teams of 20, we also brought 5 Hobgoblins (80Dp each) to head them. This brought the grand total spent on monsters so far to 1,800DP. In other words, a drop in a bucket¡­ well, maybe a cup. Either way, we had over 97,000DP left. Parallel Me buried his face in his hands. Sighing he continued, ¡°Adding in our own mechanisms is an idea for another day, we should just focus on DP built traps for now. But it¡¯s important to put thought into where to put the traps. You want to maximise the effectiveness of the obstacles between you and intruders.¡± Letting lose a smug smile, Parallel Me tapped his nose, ¡°You see, the trick isn¡¯t just about what you can do to hinder them on the way in, it¡¯s also about what you do to hinder them on their way out.¡± ¡°You do realise you¡¯re just as much of an expert as I am, right? Which is to say not at all. We¡¯re noobs.¡± Ignoring my witty comment Parallel Me grumbled, ¡°But of course, we have two fronts to fight on.¡± Putting more thought into it only caused him to curse, ¡°Just thinking about us having two entrances is really pissing me off! We don¡¯t even have a wall to back ourselves against.¡± I clicked my tongue and agreed. ¡°Yeah, I know better than to trust The System but to think it put us on the second floor! That¡¯s not what I picked, but at least this floor is really big. Still, The System is just an insidious piece of crap if you ask me. Hell, I bet it was bored or-¡± ¡°Oh no!¡± Parallel Me gasped. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh FUCK!¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong,¡± I stammered, my voice tinged with worry. I stared as Parallel Me paced, agitated. ¡°No new born Dungeon should have to deal with this shit! It¡¯s just one thing after another!¡± ¡°For God¡¯s sake- tell me what¡¯s wrong!¡± Parallel Me spun to face me, asking, ¡°We had a perusal through quite a few of the first floors, remember? So, tell me, does this floor look familiar?¡± I felt a chill soak me all the way to my bones as the answer came to me, ¡®No, it does not¡¯. I choked out a ¡®but¡¯ before Parallel Me quickly interjected, saying, ¡°But? Think about it. When we looked through all the floors that we could on The System¡¯s World Map, there were no monsters, corpses or undead- nothing. I wouldn¡¯t have let you take this gamble otherwise. But a horde of undead assault us within, what, an hour? Two? Of spawning? Ignoring the size of the place there''s a fucking Dungeon Core in the middle of the cavern. I don¡¯t care how wealthy this Dungeon was, there is no way it would put a Dummy Core on one of the first few floors- let alone a REAL ONE. There can only be one real Dungeon Core per Dungeon- and I see no reason as to why a Dungeon Core that wasn¡¯t suicidal would put their Core on anything BUT the last floor. As evidenced by the other entrance to this room, BEST case scenario, this is the second last floor.¡± This can''t be happening, I thought. ¡°And just when I thought things were looking up for us.¡± We both sighed. Mine conveyed depression while Parallel Me¡¯s was simply irritated. ¡°There¡¯s hope?¡± I asked. ¡°Of course there is, I¡¯m me.¡± Parallel Me snapped. ¡°We¡¯ll just have to do what I thought we would do in the worst-case scenario with the dwarves; abandon our territory. We¡¯ll move to that island.¡± ¡°Abandon¡­¡± I considered the word, and its previous mentions. ¡°Our plan B.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re going to abandon your territory, the earlier the better. At least we haven¡¯t invested in anything we can¡¯t take with us. I wanted to do this on the island anyway.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Enough questions. We need to get started and we don¡¯t have time to waste.¡± Parallel Me was already heading towards my Core. ¡°Buy a chest,¡± he said over his shoulder before he followed up by saying, ¡°with handles on the ends so that it can be easily carried. There should be one in the miscellaneous tab. Assemble the troops, including Gravis-¡± BOOM! I looked up from the menu and over to the entrance only to see rubble, dirt and nearby Goblins sent flying. In place of the once blocked entrance was a massive figure bound in angry muscle and bristling fur, hot breath erupting from its snout. I trembled as the creature lifted its massive head and roared. Its horns gouged deep furrows in the entrance ceiling. Shaking its head lose it ignored the falling stones and dust, locking its eyes with mine. They were blood red. TRUST ME, it was scary. Hefting up the massive wooden club- that I had somehow missed- it levelled it at me. This is just a guess, but I think it wants to kill me.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°M-m-minotaur?!¡± I stuttered. It¡¯s massive! I turned to Parallel Me and hoped whatever insidious Gods responsible for this were watching and wanted us to die a horrible death later. Parallel Me took a split second to process his shock before he started barking out orders to the Goblins, bypassing my authority. I would have gladly thrown this hot potato over to him if he asked, thus he didn¡¯t have to. Soon he turned to me. ¡°Original Me, take over. Keep it out of our territory! I have a few vital purchases to make.¡± To the Litch he hissed, ¡°Inform Gravis, and pepper that Minotaur with as much magic as you can.¡± I focused on pushing back the Minotaur with sheer numbers, despite the fact that it made it harder to hit it with magic. If he stepped on our territory we wouldn¡¯t be able to purchase anything. Looking over my shoulder I could see that Parallel Me was franticly throwing things into a chest under the Core. The minotaur roared in frustration. The tunnel wasn¡¯t large enough for it to swing its club effectively and the weight of the Goblin horde was too much. Another frustrated roar echoed out. ¡°I think it¡¯s going to be OK.¡± ¡°Minotaur¡¯s travel in packs,¡± came Parallel Me¡¯s curt reply. ¡°Why would you-¡± A series of responding roars sounded out in the distant reaches of whatever lay beyond the tunnel. ¡°Crap!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s Go!¡± Shouted Parallel Me. A dull rumble resounded throughout the cavern as mana retreated like the tide, disappearing into the void. I knew that we had officially abandoned this territory. Two Hobgoblins were lifting up the chest when I turned around. The Core must be in it as I couldn¡¯t see it. I suck close to the centre as what was left of my forces escorted me out, using the second entrance. The Goblin Shamans started chanting. The tunnel we just left through shook. I felt my connections to the Goblins rapidly disappearing. ¡°Hurry!¡± At my urging the tunnel soon collapsed under the Shamans renewed efforts. Looking around the new room we found ourselves in, Parallel Me said ¡°I don¡¯t know if there is another way round, but we should assume the worst. We need to get out of here.¡± Snorting he added, ¡®Were the hell is Gravis?!¡± The Litch replied, ¡°He is on his way.¡± ¡°I thought I told him not to roam too far.¡± I said. ¡°Well, if he¡¯s not here soon¡­¡± Parallel Me started. ¡°I can sense him. He is close¡­ He¡¯s getting closer.¡± The Litch informed us, turning towards a particular doorway. ¡°Is he OK?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes.¡± The Litch replied. As the seconds ticked by, Gravis finally emerged from the doorway under much scrutiny. He immediately bowed upon seeing me. ¡°What the hell?¡± I asked. ¡°Please forgive me my Lord. I know there is no excuse.¡± ¡°And yet I would like to hear one.¡± ¡°I sensed your concern about the Dwarves, so I thought it prudent to keep an eye on the ones that showed up.¡± *** [Daven Mountain Range - Unknown Tunnel] ¡°Oh holy light, please behold my plight, to erase this evil in my sight, evil you must smite!¡± Barthine rapidly chanted. A streak of white left his right hand and engulfed the approaching skeleton, disintegrating it into ash and crumbling the others that were to close. But more could be seen in the distance, shuffling ever closer. Barthine clutched the parchment in his left hand tighter. It was all for this, he thought. A scream prompted a look behind him. ¡°No!¡± He shouted as a group of armoured skeletons overwhelmed a now hidden figure. ¡°¡­ I don¡¯t understand! It doesn¡¯t make sense!¡± Barthine wailed. The group of white robed figures tightened their ranks, compensating for the loss. ¡°Please! Church Head! We must retreat!¡± Yelled a disciple of The Sanctified, not taking his eyes of the encroaching hoard. ¡°Why are there Undead here!?¡± Came Barthine¡¯s muttered reply. ¡°It can¡¯t be!¡± Screamed another disciple. Turning to look, Barthine¡¯s face paled further and his blood ran cold. ¡°A wraith¡­¡± He choked out. It was peering out from behind a corner. A chaotic mixture of a soul and mana, wraiths formed a pale mist, hazily retaining humanoid form. Their fractured memories not enough to go on, they were faceless and indistinct. Legend said that their state had condemned them to insanity or insanity had condemned them to this state. They knew many emotions like sorrow, rage and frustration. But not mercy. Never mercy. They weren¡¯t even able to remember their own names. Why save room for the memory of mercy? Any living creature unfortunate enough to encounter one¡­ ¡°Run! RUN!¡± Barthine shouted. They charged the densest part of the hoard. Even if it wasn¡¯t the way they had come, the only path they knew back to civilization, it was in the opposite direction of the wraith- that alone was enough to decide their course. A skeleton, far too small to be anything but a dwarf moved quickly. His hammer came swinging, landing on a disciple with a crunch. He didn¡¯t get back up. ¡°Why?¡± Came a whisper. Barthine¡¯s eyes went wide. Did that skeleton just speak?! That means¡­! ¡°Why!¡± It said louder. ¡°Why did you leave me!?¡± Came its roar. ¡°Yes, why¡­¡± Came another whisper. Then another, ¡°We suffered¡­¡± ¡°For you!¡± A shout. ¡°Our sacrifice! Do you even remember!¡± And another. A canopy of whispers and shouts, of rage filled screams soon filled Barthine¡¯s ears. His words fell from his lips, filled with despair, ¡°Fallen¡­ They¡¯re all Fallen¡­¡± PAIN. Barthine looked down. A sword had sprouted from his chest, piercing a lung. He stumbled, trying to use a nearby wall as purchase. Able to hold out no longer he slumped against it and slid down. Blood was slowly filling his lungs. Pulling his eyes off the floor they came level with a sword- tinged in blood. The bony hands attached hoisted it up in the air. Only, it didn¡¯t come down. Shuddering, the Fallen took a step back. It stopped, they all did, only moving to make way for¡­ the Wraith. Barthine felt true despair fill him. Wait, he thought, Maybe my disciples will be able to make it out. He looked over to where he remembered them being last. They were beat up, scattered on the floor. Why aren¡¯t they getting up? Seize this opportunity and escape! Silence occupied his mind before the realisation did. They¡¯re dead. I¡¯ve killed them! But I was only trying to help. Why did it turn out like this? Barthine jolted, as much as he was able to in this state, from shock. The Wraith had crouched down and brought its face level with his. Does it want to savour my despair? ¡°Hello, I¡¯m me. Original Me. Not to be confused with the other me,¡± Came an eerie whisper from the Wraith, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Barthine¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t get any wider. After a brief pause, the wraith continued, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m real. I¡¯m really here. I prom¡­ise?¡± Pausing once again it soon turned it head and spoke, ¡°I don¡¯t remember you saying that you promise I¡¯m real. You do promise, right? Of course this is relevant¡­ There you go. Was that so hard?¡± Satisfied the Wraith resumed facing me and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I promised me that I¡¯m real.¡± Highlighting his words, he pointed to a spot over his shoulder absent of anything. Barthine gurgled. Blood dribbled down his chin. The lack of oxygen was causing the edges of his vision to be ringed with darkness. But he knew what he had to do. Put this thing out of its misery. Intoning the strongest holy spell he could cast without verbally speaking, faint amounts of holy light soon gathered in his free hand. Barthine hoped this low-level spell would be enough. Cocking its head to it¡¯s side the wraith looked down towards Barthine¡¯s now glowing hand. Barthine unleased the spell and the beam of light rushed to embrace the wraiths face. As the holy light blasted a hole straight through its head it set the mist around the wound smouldering. As the wraith clutched its head in its hands it let out a soul shredding scream that pushed Barthine¡¯s struggling consciousness to the brink of collapse. But he persevered, ignoring all else. So close. As the holy mana once again collected in his hands the Wraith¡¯s head snapped back towards Barthine. Snarling, it dived at him. Soon mist clouded his vision and something started crawling down his throat. He could feel it spreading, taking over¡­ When Barthine¡¯s struggling finally stopped, and he breathed his last, Barthine¡¯s corpse, Original Me, stood up. Volume 1 - Chapter 11 - Eleventh Hour - Chapter 11 - Eleventh Hour As I crawled down the Dwarf¡¯s throat I could feel myself permeate throughout his body, shrugging his mana aside. A strangled scream left my mouth- muffled by the Dwarves insides. I had come in contact with the holy mana still lingering in his arm, but soon it fizzled out. When my influence reached his head, my will battered against his consciousness for control. The resistance I encountered was rapidly fading. When I come across no more, I knew I had won control over a corpse. A hollow victory. I unsteadily stood up. ¡°What. THE FUCK?¡± questioned Parallel Me. Turning to him, I couldn¡¯t help but shrug, ¡°It sorta just, happened.¡± ¡°You accidently possessed someone?¡± ¡°¡­ Yes.¡± I tried to move around some more. ¡°To be honest, I think all I did was take over a corpse.¡± ¡°So, you killed him in the process?¡± I started stretching, working out the kinks. ¡°Hay,¡± I said defensively, ¡°He was already dying, there is a hole in his chest. But what can I say, I just instinctively reacted when he ATTACKED me!!! And after I finally managed to get those undead to stop attacking him too! Ungrateful bastard!¡± I felt things in my inner pockets as my robes rustled and a satchel sway on my hips. I moved to open the satchel. My fingers, a little stiff and my control a little clumsy, meant it was quite the challenge. The satchel was filled with ink, feathers and some other tools I didn¡¯t recognise. However, in seeing it I was more confident in Gravis¡¯ observation. Ignoring my corpse puppeteering practice, Parallel Me said, ¡°OK, OK- I get your point. We¡¯ll talk about this later. We need to leave.¡± We both turned to Gravis. Gravis pointed to some scrunched up parchment, lying near my feet. ¡°And you¡¯re sure it¡¯s a map,¡± Parallel Me asked as I bent over. ¡°Yes.¡± Gravis replied, self-assured. Since Gravis was only able to observe them through the eyes of one Fallen after they had come under attack, I doubted I would get an answer, but I asked anyway, ¡°Do you know what they were doing? Did the give any clue as to their goal?¡± ¡°It seems that they were mapping the area.¡± ¡°So, it won¡¯t be a completed one?¡± I uttered as I unfurled it. Looking it over I said, ¡°Interesting.¡± Parallel Me, on the other hand, said, ¡°Damn!¡± We both looked at each other. ¡°How can you see the map from over there?¡± I asked. ¡°My senses are provided by you and the Core. The Core is in a box, so I¡¯m using you. I¡¯m talking to you while viewing myself from your perspective. It¡¯s weird, get over it. More importantly, what is so interesting?¡± ¡°Unfortunately, it¡¯s not a complete map. And it looks like they weren¡¯t trying to map the whole dungeon, just the path they were taking. The interesting part, for us at least, is that it looks like they originated from the Dwarven Capital city¡­¡± ¡°You can¡¯t be serious!¡± ¡°I am.¡± ¡°You¡¯re in the corpse of a Dwarf. And you want to go into the capital city? Why not just commit suicide and save everyone the trouble?¡± Angry, I asked, ¡°Do you know of a nice clear route to the island?¡± ¡°¡­No.¡± I held up the pouch. ¡°Mapmaking tools. If he made one he has probably made more.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a guess.¡± ¡°And thinking that we can navigate this labyrinth isn¡¯t?¡± ¡°How will you find this Dwarves home? Or business?¡± Parallel Me quizzed, ¡°And don¡¯t get me started on the probability of there being other maps- let alone ones that will help.¡± ¡°He obviously has some status in his church, I¡¯ll just feign fatigue and bluff my way through whatever needs be.¡± ¡°That sounds rock solid.¡± Sighing I continued, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. What do you want me to do? I¡¯m really trying here. I mean, is there much of a difference between walking into a city of Dwarves or a labyrinth of monsters? At least there is hope that the Dwarves can be reasoned with- if I¡¯m found out.¡± I watched as Parallel Me¡¯s stubborn attitude wavered. Going for the kill I said, ¡°At the very least the city will have an exit. If we can be sneaky enough we can use the city to get to the surface and we will be able to use ¡®The World Map¡¯.¡± Hearing that, Parallel Me¡¯s posture straightened. ¡°A city of Dwarves or a labyrinth of monsters¡­ That Dwarf used Holy magic.¡± Not missing a beat, he said, ¡°Holy magic is held in high regard. Holy healing spells are the undisputed number one method for healing, which is by itself something invaluable to adventurers¡­¡± I encouraged, ¡°¡­and, this is relevant because¡­¡± ¡°And¡­ Holy magic is capable of resurrection.¡± Disregarding my reaction Parallel Me continued, ¡°Don¡¯t you see? Its reputation is¡­ mighty. That¡¯s bad because Holy magic is all about smiting Demons and Undead. Which means people wanna¡¯ smite the undead and demons¡­ also because undead and demons are assholes, but still.¡± ¡°So, our affinities¡¯ reputation will screw us over?¡± ¡°Or be our saving grace.¡± ¡°¡­ What do you-¡± Understanding spread across my face. ¡°Wait, we have the Holy affinity!¡± Gravis let out a short bark of laughter. Seeing our looks, he turned serious, offering, ¡°Both death and holy affinities? Surely you jest?¡± ¡°What is he talking about?¡± Parallel Me just muttered, ¡°Later.¡± Through one of the shamans ¡®he¡¯ started sifting through the chest. The goblin brought out a scroll, and threw it at me. After I caught it, Parallel Me said, ¡°Examine it, then accept it.¡± Examining it, a window popped up;
Class: Sorcerer- Novice
You may cast spells of levels 1 to 3, with their respective verbal chants.
Would you like to take on this class?
Yes No
¡°How much did this cost?¡± ¡°Shut up and accept it!¡± As soon as I did, the scroll fragmented into motes of light. Parallel Me threw another scroll my way. The window for this one read:
Tier 1, Holy Spell - Gentle Light
Let¡¯s you project Holy Light that illuminates an area, resistant to anything that would dim it.
Would you like to learn this spell?
Yes No
Once again, the scroll fragmented into motes of light after I accepted it. Looking up the chant I immediately tried it, chanting, ¡°Under holy light¡¯s glare, darkness shall no longer fare.¡± A glow spread out from my hand, lighting up the tunnel around us in proportion to my scream. I ended the spell and looked down at my cooking hand. I clutched it, blowing on it gently. ¡°Ow, ow, ow.¡± Gravis murmured, ¡°Truly amazing, you can use Holy magic¡­ as expected of my master.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯re as compatible with Holy Light as we would have hoped. The heavens did call us an abomination¡­¡± ¡°As expected of my master,¡± Gravis murmured again. ¡°I don¡¯t think Holy Magic cooking me from the inside out is going to help my case.¡± ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t accumulate any more damage, corpses don¡¯t heal. Now, you would have to mess up really bad for people to suspect you. After all, you are using his corpse so they can¡¯t fault your appearance and the ¡®real¡¯ one isn¡¯t going to show up to blow your cover. Hopefully they will just assume you¡¯re acting weird¡­ but if they do mention possession, something closely associated with some types of undead and demons, a brief flash of that Holy light is all you need to shoot down their doubts. Regardless, this gives your stupid backup plan some hope, if finding a map fails.¡± ¡°So, I take it you¡¯re on board?¡± I said, moving towards a Dwarf with intact clothing. I couldn¡¯t very well use mine, they were covered blood and it had a very prominent hole. ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll move with you, coming as close as we dare. If you are successful we¡¯ll use whatever information or maps you can get to plan our way out of here. If you fail to get a map and sneaking through the city with our core isn¡¯t feasible after all, then we¡¯ll have to risk finding an exit through this old Dungeon¡¯s ruins.¡± ¡°If I fail¡­ won¡¯t you also¡­?¡± ¡°Err¡­ No.¡± Parallel Me explained slowly. ¡°Your Core is your body. If it¡¯s destroyed you die, if whatever that projection is ¡®dies¡¯ I imagine it¡¯s just, really, really, really painful.¡± I happily guessed, ¡°So, even though doing this isn¡¯t risking much on a practical level, you still objected out of concern. Aww, you¡¯re going soft.¡± ¡°Hmm? Concern? What?¡± ¡°¡­ Then why all the debating earlier?¡± Parallel Me shrugged, ¡°I honestly don¡¯t really know¡­ Habit? Spite? Amusement?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Hay,¡± Parallel Me called, ¡°I was kidding. Stop walking away.¡±Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. *** It was hard to keep track of time in a windowless tunnel. I was just glad corpses don¡¯t get tired, because if I had to guess, it had been hours. I had practiced a lot of Dwarven creatively cursing Parallel Me, who had stopped a while back, when we saw the faintest glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. ¡°Finally, I¡¯m almost-¡± A slight stumble interrupted me. Steading myself I could feel the finish on the floor, or lack thereof, had changed. It was roughhewn from this point on. Grumbling I proceeded to climb the stairs, also roughhewn. I craned my head and raised my arms, meeting the trapdoor. This better not open up into a street. I strained my ears to listen. Nothing. I pushed ever so slightly, waiting for exclamations of surprise. But none came. I pushed it open further, enough for me to peer around. No shouts still so raised my head further. I saw a dimly lit room and stone walls. But no people. However, there was a bind sport, were the trapdoor was hinged. So, with all due caution I started ascending the stairs while trying to peer around the trapdoor. Soon I was looking out onto a street. This was a dilapidated house, most of the surrounding walls didn¡¯t even make it up to my shoulders (I was a Dwarf so a waist for a human). The only light came from a street lamp outside of the house. Stepping forward I could see that this whole street was filled with old, crumbling houses. In fact, the entire district seemed dead. This old man¡¯s (I looked down to double check the colour of my beard- it was white) actions just got a whole lot shadier. What the hell was he up to? As I looked around, trying to figure out which way I should go, I noticed the ceiling. The one that covered the entire city. Rock- I already knew from The System Map that it was underground but it was still quite the site to see with my own eyes. I¡¯m glad I¡¯m not claustrophobic. I headed towards the brightest area in the distance I could see, cursing ¡°More walking! Dam these stubby fuckn¡¯ legs.¡± *** I had been staring at them for few minutes now, debating. Despite the size of the city the population seemed rather low. I was worried that I would be recognised. Those Dwarves do belong to the same religion after all. Steeling myself, I walked out of the alleyway and towards the group of white robed Dwarves. I didn¡¯t even get halfway before a Dwarf stopped me on the street and greeted me with a gesture I didn¡¯t recognise, saying ¡°Greetings Head Barthine.¡± Crap. Caught off guard I quickly mimicked the gestured and said, ¡°Greetings to you too.¡± Movement caught the corner of my eye. The group of white robed Dwarfs were excitedly moving towards me. One of them called out, ¡°Barthine.¡± Double crap. ¡°We¡¯ve been looking for you everywhere. You¡¯re going to miss the meeting.¡± I don¡¯t have time to attend a religious service! But they were already surrounding me, shepherding me. All the way! Apparently, I had a lot to talk about. Is this a nightmare? Public speaking on a topic I know nothing about! How could this get any worse? They only stopped when we reached what I assume was our destination. An imposing building smack bang in the middle of the city. I clicked my tongue; this religion must have quite the status to have a church this big in the middle of it. ¡°Ah!¡± A white robed Dwarf called out upon seeing us. She was waiting outside the building. Visibly relaxing she said, ¡°I thought you were going to be late for the first time in all your years of service.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dream of it,¡± I offered, trying to think of an excuse to leave. But she was already waiting beside me, eager to go inside. Knowing that walking away now would lead to questions I haven¡¯t thought of good enough answers for yet, I headed in, subtly letting her take the lead so that I could follow. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ve been practicing your speech for ages. They¡¯ll listen this time.¡± She encouraged. She was chatty, talking as we walked through magnificent halls and hallways. As mundane as the topics were, it was all information to me, so, I patiently listened. The most valuable thing I learnt was this was a meeting. Different from ¡®meeting¡¯. Dwarven language, remember? A quirk in translation, I was still a little rusty. What I would be attending, was, to my relief, a lot more private. It helped alleviate some of my nervousness. After stopping outside a door she turned around, saying, ¡°It¡¯s always nice talking to you Head Barthine, I don¡¯t know what The Sanctified would do without you.¡± ¡°The Sanctified wouldn¡¯t be the same without you too.¡± I said nodding, before trying to be confident as I walked into the room. It was sparsely furnished- a round table sat at the centre. Of the seven spots, four were occupied. Three available. Silence grew as glances were thrown in my direction. Would they care if I chose the ¡®wrong¡¯ spot? Is there a wrong spot? I chose one, thinking, I¡¯ll just play the old man card if it comes to it. As I sat down there were one or two greetings in my direction, I simply nodded my head in return. No alarms raised. Quiet murmurs and hushed conversation resumed. It wasn¡¯t until two Dwarves came in and sat down a few minutes later that I thought I might get to know WHAT THE HELL was going on, but no. Idle chatter reigned. I did my best to listen in of course, I was here to spy but nothing interesting came up. That was, until, someone mentioned a smell. I¡¯m not rotting already, am I? But soon one of the two late Dwarves spoke up, clearly unhappy, ¡°Enough with the pleasantries. You all look like shit, spit it out.¡± Another Dwarf rebuked, ¡°Show some manners, Brodfram. The council meeting has only just started. There is nothing wrong with catching up with our peers.¡± But Brodfram fired straight back, ¡°We are in dire straits, manners are about as necessary as sugar on shit.¡± ¡°Sugar is arguably never more necessary than when it¡¯s on shit,¡± Murmured one. ¡°The raids are only getting worse. They¡¯re probing us, testing our strength. I¡¯m sure of it.¡± Said a fourth Dwarf. ¡°What do we have to fear from some savages? I say we gather our armies and crush them.¡± Presented the one at odds with Brodfram. The fourth only got angrier, ¡°You fool! If it was that simple they wouldn¡¯t have been a thorn in our side for so long- or even at all. With everything that¡¯s happening it¡¯s clear to me that these raiding parties of assorted monsters are doing so at the behest of a third party... or parties.¡± ¡°You¡¯re just getting paranoid in your old age, Thradreac,¡± Came a sneered retort. ¡°All these monsters working together is normal to you, is it? These are wild monsters we¡¯re talking about- not Dungeon monsters! And that¡¯s not even mentioning that fact that all this activity is happening on the border with them, no less? Not finding that suspicious is almost as ridiculous as taking our armies out of the safety of the city to battle on the surface!¡± Thradreac said. The timid one spoke out, ¡°The Parvenu Empire have always coveted our lands.¡± ¡°What the hell for!¡± Brodfram exclaimed. I saw him taking a deep breath before- ENOUGH!¡± A voice thundered. I turned around to look. ¡°Forgreth-¡± A Dwarf started. ¡°I SAID ENOUGH!¡± Eyes sweeping the room the intimidating Dwarf, Forgreth, solemnly spoke, ¡°As the Head of this Council I am officially requesting your reports- from all of you. And I will not have you belittle this nation''s crisis¡­ crises.¡± Council! A council meeting? ¡­It just got worse. A Dwarf was already up and talking, ¡°Malake- Master of the Adventurer''s Guild Union, reporting¡­¡± They have an adventurer problem? ¡°Brodfram- Overseer of the Mines, reporting¡­.¡± They¡¯re low on ore!? ¡°Thradreac- High Commander, reporting¡­¡± I almost couldn¡¯t sit still, thinking, they look so nervous. What the hell happened to ¡®a formidable force¡¯? ¡°Mufar- Head of the Merchant Union, reporting¡­¡± For the first time that stern Dwarf couldn¡¯t help but inquire for more details. It brought up rumours that were circulating, ones of war and hoarded wealth. The Dwarves didn¡¯t like it one bit. They continued arguing amongst themselves. I was stewing over the rumours, eventually concluding from their previous reactions that they didn¡¯t seem to be true. I looked up as the final Dwarf spoke, ¡°Akgrul- Head of Infrastructure, reporting¡­¡± There was a brief pause before I remembered that I wasn¡¯t a fly on the wall; I was a part of this council too. The last Dwarf was me. Chaos reigned in my mind. I scrambled to recall the format the others had used¡­ and my name, that would be important. I stood up, ¡°Barthine- Head of The Sanctified, reporting¡­ All is well.¡± I sat back down. They all looked towards me, wide-eyed. I think I¡¯d rather be shitting bricks right now. Thankfully the bossy Dwarf appeared to not mind one less problem, saying, ¡°In that case it is time to discuss our course of action. Firstly, trade with the Sayadance Kingdom. They are, essentially, our only trade partner- we cannot afford to lose them. Mufar, it is essential that you maintain friendly relations.¡± As I relaxed in relief I almost forgot to listen to the following debate. It was an important one, one that finally made me realise, these aren¡¯t the problems facing a Goliath. These weren¡¯t the average hurdles a super power handles behind closed doors. No. These were the impending catastrophes facing a floundering nation. One on the brink of collapse. The Dwarves are weak. *** I got out of there as soon as I could. A disciple of the Sanctified was guiding me, a ¡®sleep deprived¡¯ and ¡®overworked old man¡¯ home. My status probably did most of the persuading. I was agonising over what I had learnt. Not only were the Dwarves not a threat, they were desperate. It was an opportunity for me. They needed protection. I could create loyal monsters out of thin air. They needed food. I could create food out of thin air. They needed raw materials¡­ I think I could create metals out of thin air, certainly metal golems could be farmed if need be¡­ Don¡¯t get me wrong, there are problems. Firstly, communication- I can¡¯t very well do it in the corpse of their dead comrade. I don¡¯t think that a ghostly apparition will go down well either. Secondly, negotiation skills- I don¡¯t have any. Thirdly, secrets- they don¡¯t last. Assuming everything went well and we agreed to cooperate, eventually my existence would leak or suspicions would rise. This has an extra layer of risk for me given my mouth-watering value to all Dungeons and Heroes. Lastly, it¡¯s naive to believe that every Dwarf would be OK with cooperation, even if it was limited to the leaders- illuminati style- let alone the public as a whole¡­ Speaking of conspiracies, Parallel Me did mention one¡­ am I even ¡®allowed¡¯ to let them know Dungeons are self-aware. If I can¡¯t it might be like declaring war on all Dungeons at once. Well, I certainly shouldn¡¯t do anything until I talk to Parallel Me about this potential opportunity. That reminds me, if the Dwarves are this weak, then what the hell has been clearing ¡®the dead zone¡¯ of Dungeons? As such thoughts brought up my own experience, I speculated, Are the left-over monsters from the old Dungeon just overwhelming any new Dungeon born in the ruins? That can¡¯t be right, the dead zone is massive... Oh, another bloody problem to talk to Parallel Me about. The disciple in front of me had stopped. I thanked him. ¡°It¡¯s my honour.¡± He replied. I walked forward towards the door. It was locked so I went through my pockets, remembering I had transferred a ring with numerous keys on it from Barthine¡¯s robes to this one. I took it out and gingerly tried each and every one. The second to last didn¡¯t resist the turn. Click. I stepped into the house and looked around. Let¡¯s find those maps¡­ and hope they exist in the first place. I opened one door after another. I did a quick shakedown of each room. Not that hard considering that each of them was an exemplary example of minimalism, containing only what was practical. Soon I was at the door the last room in the back of the house. A cramped one filled with books, stacks of paper filled my sight. This is going to take forever! But I would assume it was here, even if this wasn¡¯t the last room. A desk occupied a corner. One of the draws had a keyhole. Please! I hurriedly brought out the keys. Eventually, click. Elated, I opened the draw, but no maps- only tools. I flopped down into the desk chair. Where could they be? Looking around the room I saw lots of scrolls but no maps¡­ The things in the draw looked like cartography tools. So where are the maps? There have got to be more, I¡¯m sure. The abandoned district sprang to mind. His actions do appear pretty seedy. Could he have hidden them? But where? I looked around the room. Something caught my eye. Nooo¡­ It can¡¯t be. I stroked my beard. Well, there is no harm in trying. I stood up and leaned over the desk, reaching towards the painting above it. The only painting, or even decoration, in the whole house. I yanked, but only one side of it drew away from the wall. I laughed. What an unimaginative Dwarf. A safe was inset into the wall. No combination required, just a key. I poured over the safes contents, a collection of maps and a pouch of valuables. The pouch went into my robe. As for the stack of maps, clearly, Barthine had conducted many expeditions into the old Dungeon. This was good news for me. I sighed in relief. *** I scuttled from alleyway to alleyway, only getting lost twice. Catching sight of the abandoned district delighted me to no end. I hurried along the street, looking for the house. As I made my way into it, and lifted the trapdoor, I gazed in the direction of the city centre, thinking of the Dwarves plight. ¡°Sorry,¡± I whispered, ¡°But I can barely help myself¡­¡± I made my way down the stairs then the tunnel, soon sprinting, eager to meet up with Parallel Me, for this gamble to finally be over. For it to pay off. They came into view. They were standing around waiting. I sighed with relief. It¡¯s gonna¡¯ be smooth sailing from here. Parallel Me said, ¡°Do you know how lucky you are?¡± I recalled his dependent senses. ¡°Skill played a part!¡± I replied, proud. ¡°Good, we really need to leave.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± It was then I noticed a carcase in a pool of blood further down the tunnel. ¡°What happened?¡± I asked. ¡°It looks like a scout from that pack of Minotaur¡¯s.¡± ¡°Oh, fuck me!¡± I threw the bag down. ¡°Are we going to have to deal with them the whole way there. Are we even a day old? Do we not even deserve a breather? Why bother at this point?¡± Parallel Me locked his gaze with mine. His tone was serious, ¡°Do you think that we have no chance?¡± ¡°It sure looks like it.¡± ¡°If I believed that I would have waited.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t have to choose our spawn within a time limit. For crying out loud, we could have waited for a new damn island to form in the middle of the ocean.¡± ¡°That could have taken million-¡± He moved closer to me, cutting me off, ¡°And yet I saw an opportunity. I thought we had a real chance. And let me remind you, that was when I conservatively pegged our rating at legendary or mythical.¡± His face was inches from mine. ¡°But. We. Are. Godlike.¡± He paused, and then quietly said, ¡°Say it.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Our rating. Say it!¡± ¡°¡­Godlike.¡± ¡°What does that sound like to you?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Let me tell you how it sounds, what it means! It means, WE. ARE. GOD-LIKE! The monsters we can purchase? Godlike! Monsters whose wrath can cow the heavens! The items we can purchase? Godlike! Items that can topple mountains and part seas! The options available to us? More than we could count in a life time!¡± Parallel Me knew me oh so well. He saved the best for last. ¡°Will be able to warp some of our floors so that they are like the size of an entire kingdom! A Continent! A WORLD!¡± ¡°My own¡­ worlds?!¡± Barthine¡¯s corpse¡¯s face twisted into an unsightly grin. Volume 1 - Chapter 12 - Twelve Minutes To Midnight - Chapter 12 - Twelve Minutes To Midnight Parallel Me was trying to teach me as much as possible, making use of all our spare time as we travelled. It was torture. You¡¯d think such cool topics would never get old but his talks were all theory. We no longer have a dungeon and thus have no privileged access to The System. That was how the vicious attacks became welcome brakes. The Minotaur¡¯s, in particular, were the most persistent. Though I suspected it was more accurate to say, ¡®that minotaur was persistent¡¯. But we weren¡¯t under attack at the moment, so Parallel Me was talking. ¡°¡­and this tab-¡± ¡°Why?¡± I interrupted. ¡°Why did The System go through all the effort of making you? Why didn¡¯t it just put all of this information in me?¡± ¡°I¡¯m here because you activated the tutorial. But if you want to get philosophical; Why doesn¡¯t The System just copy and paste a personality for each Dungeon? Hell, why not do it for all living things? Then again, why not just take all that messy chaos out of it; plug people into perpetual euphoria machines?¡± He looked at me. ¡°If you go to the effort of making,¡± he gestured around him, ¡°THIS, I suppose you¡¯re not going to half ass it. You¡¯d want it to be as ¡®real¡¯ as possible- free will.¡± ¡°Is that our latest theory?¡± ¡°Good a theory as any other.¡± Parallel Me cleared his non-existent throat. ¡°As I was saying, this tab is important.¡± He started listing out things that I should go through and do in it. It couldn¡¯t have sounded more mundane and boring. Not to mention pointless. But I nodded anyway, thinking, I know that I have an infinite potential life span¡­ but I¡¯m never touching that bloody tab. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. *** [The Demonic Lands] Digero caressed his purchase once more, blissful. He almost couldn¡¯t believe he had finally gotten his hands on one. With it, I finally have everything I need. His eyes flickered over to what it cost him, resting amongst his other tools. A parchment. It didn¡¯t look like much but to almost every Core on this continent it was a death sentence disguised as an opportunity. Orders from the Demon King. Orders to invade. Although, if Digero was being honest, this year, with what the Demon King was offering to those that volunteered¡­ he was already tempted. Recent circumstances must have put some pressure on him. Digero chuckled at his subconscious assumption of mystery. I suppose he didn¡¯t find that ¡®Original Chimeras Heart¡¯ after all. Consoling himself, Digero set back to work moving the saw back and forth, back and forth. Snap. Reaching down he picked up the severed wing and threw it into his Core. It¡¯ll make a decent souvenir I suppose. The movement awoke a figure bound to an adjacent table. It struggled against its restraints, letting out muffled calls. ¡°Please, don¡¯t hurt yourself, you weren¡¯t cheap either.¡± Done with the saw Digero set it back down on the tool bench, next to the parchment. The parchment seemed to consume his vision and his fists tightened. I don¡¯t have much time. This MUST work. It will work. All the failures have been leading up to this moment! He picked up a tool. As he walked back over to the table the bound figure struggled more. If he had purchased it with DP it wouldn¡¯t do that. It wouldn¡¯t struggle. But where¡¯s the fun it that? Lifting up his skinning knife, Digero cooed, ¡°Don¡¯t worry¡­ I¡¯ll make you beautiful.¡± *** [The Old Dungeon Ruins] In the cavern a shroud of silence had enveloped the surroundings after its most recent owners abandoned it, a pack of minotaur¡¯s in hot pursuit. Signs of battle added to old ones, mana permeated the surroundings and nothing moved, save the motes of dust in the air. They swirled this way and that¡­ all, except one as mana leached over from the aether into this plane what it encountered caused currents, fluctuations, twists¡­ and knots. A speck of a cold and dark crystal drifting over an archaic monument, a step pyramid, in the right place, at the right time¡­
Volume 2 - Chapter 1 - New Beginnings Chapter 1 - New Beginnings - ¡°Are we there yet?¡± I asked. A skeleton levelled a sword at my face. ¡°I¡¯m joking.¡± The skeleton lowered the sword. ¡°But seriously, are we there yet?¡± ¡°Remember, I can do it- if you would do it.¡± Parallel Me stated. ¡°So, ask yourself; would you stab you in the face right now? The answer¡¯s y- land!¡± ¡°¡­I don¡¯t get it?¡± I replied, turning to look at him. ¡°I saw land!¡± ¡°Really, where?¡± ¡°You idiot, turn back around so I can see the horizon again.¡± I turned around to the front of the boat to look and sure enough, on the very edge of the horizon, a hazy promise of land. *** As soon as the boat hit land I leapt onto the beach and cheered wordlessly in excitement. Only after I vented my enthusiasm did actual words leave my mouth, ¡°I think I¡¯ve sailed enough to last a life time.¡± If Parallel Me had eye¡¯s they would have rolled as he said, ¡°You didn¡¯t do squat. TheFallen did all the rowing.¡± I looked over the tireless Undead. It was thanks to them that we had been able to make such fast progress. They didn¡¯t need to eat. They didn¡¯t need to rest. They didn¡¯t complain. When the surviving Goblins got tired, they just piggybacked on the Skeletons. It looked ridiculous, but cut down on travel time as we never had to stop... except¡­ rage tore through me as I recalled those fucking Minotaurs. It wasn¡¯t until we got to the surface that we finally managed to shake them. But otherwise, thanks to Barthine¡¯s surprisingly detailed maps, it was¡­ mostly¡­ easy to find a safe route to the surface. As for a pack of Skeletons walking around in broad daylight, the mountain range¡¯s surface was, thankfully, uninhabited. The only subtlety required was when we¡­ obtained¡­ a fishing boat from a small village on the coast. Don¡¯t think at me like that! We left silver! Yeah, seeing Parallel Me pull out one answer after another for every problem we had worried me too. I still haven¡¯t mustered up the courage to ask how much DP we have left¡­ ¡°Hay¡­ HAY!¡± Parallel Me shouted. I focused on the Goblin that looked absolutely terrified as it snapped its fingers in front of my face. While telling the Goblin to ignore Parallel Me¡¯s orders, I looked over at him. ¡°Sorry, sorry. I was just thinking¡­ I mean we made it,¡± I turned around and spread my arms wide, ¡°to the¡­ island¡­?¡± I looked from right to left. ¡°This¡­ is a really big island. I can¡¯t see the ends of it.¡± Parallel Me replied, ¡°¡­We were able to see it on a fully zoomed out world map.¡± ¡°Gravis!¡± Gravis walked over and handed me the World Map. It had automatically zoomed in to our current location. I stared at it for a bit, moving it this way and that, zooming in and out, trying to get a sense of scale. ¡°I think that the length of this island, using km, can be measured in the double digits, maybe even low triples.¡± Assuming this world is the same size as earth¡­ I tried to imagine similar looking proportions¡­ Then by my guess, I think this island is about the size of Taiwan, Ireland, Iceland or Sri Lanka. Something like that¡­ definitely no bigger, probably smaller. ¡°This can only be a good thing, right?¡± ¡°All things considered, absolutely.¡± ¡°So¡­ I take it that the centre of the island is the best place to settle down.¡± ¡°Yep.¡± *** Gravis reported even more had started following us. Goblins. Not mine, bought with DP, but natives of the island. ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s okay to leave them alone? I know you said their weak, but if all of them on the island get together¡­¡± I cautioned, trying to see them for myself in the dense underbrush. ¡°When we set up our dungeon, Gravis¡¯ magic, a few armoured Fallen and narrow hallways will render their numbers useless. Besides, they have their uses as they are.¡± ¡°Which are?¡± ¡°On top of this islands distinct Dungeon-freeness, it is probably also uninhabited because of the Goblin infestation- if the mainlanders even know that this island exists.¡± ¡°Infestation?¡± ¡°They breed like rabbits. For an organism of that size, trust me, it¡¯s impressive.¡± ¡°¡­So what about Operation: Goblin World?¡± A working title. In the tunnels we had a lot of time to talk about strategies, ¡®Operation: Goblin World¡¯ was just one. ¡°A world floor is out of our reach for now.¡± I sighed. As soon as he had told me about it, I didn¡¯t stop pestering him until he gave me all the details. A World Floor. Just knowing it was possible still excited me. It was an upgrade to a floor, one that could provide an astronomical multiplier to its size¡­ for a price. It required a sizable amount of DP and imposed¡­ restrictions. You couldn¡¯t subdivide such a floor into smaller ¡®rooms¡¯, which means once an intruder sets so much as a toe over the entrance the entire floor becomes ¡®contested territory¡¯. Contested territory restricts most of my abilities as a Dungeon Core in such territory, most notably my ability to place purchases made with DP in it. Given that it isn¡¯t uncommon for almost semi-permanent camps, towns or even cities to be set up on such floors¡­ I should assume I¡¯ll never be able to fully control it again, once adventurers make it that far. But still, The System offered plenty of incentives, super space warping aside, to make it tempting. I allowed my thoughts to drift off, hoping time would fly by on this dull trek. ***Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. I craned my head up, taking advantage of the natural clearing to soak in the view of the islands centre most mountain. Though it would be overshadowed by any mountain from the Dwarven Mountain range, it was still an impressive sight. ¡°That spot looks great,¡± Parallel Me said, pointing. I almost questioned him upon realising he wanted to start the Dungeon halfway up the mountain, not at the base, thinking that someone will tunnel into the side ofit to bypass a few floors. But I stopped when I remembered that he had mentioned that the outer walls of a Dungeon were indestructible. Even the earth above a Dungeon would harden and could repair, much to any would be miners despair¡­ Uh? I wonder if that means that those Dwarves are the only natural miners in the world? As we got closer to Parallel Me¡¯s destination, I noticed his behaviour. ¡°Are you OK?¡± ¡°I have a surprise for you.¡± ¡°A good one?¡± ¡°Yes. Of course.¡± ¡°Well, first pick out a spot for our Dungeon.¡± We were more than half way up the mountain by now, and going any further up would probably result in some cone shaped rooms. ¡°Ok, you don¡¯t happen to have a spade in your box, do you?¡± I could hear the grin in Parallel Me¡¯s answer, ¡°No shovel needed, just set the core down and purchase the territory.¡± What is so exciting about¡­ ¡°On the surface?!¡± ¡°That¡¯s the surprise.¡± He spread his arms wide and slowly spun around. ¡°It¡¯s one of the reasons I wanted the island; for the isolation- the breathing room to abandon our territory and purchase it again, just with different z coordinates.¡± ¡°Does this mean what I think it means?¡± ¡°Better. Our territory on the surface will expand to the same size as our largest floor¡­ So, any people congregating outside our entrance or, in time, the whole island¡­¡± ¡°Towns, cities can have thousands, tens of thousands of people¡­ The DP we could get!¡± ¡°Slow down, that¡¯s a little ways off yet. Yes, a new Dungeon would create a buzz, BUT there would have to be quite the draw for something like a gold rush- a dungeon rush- which we, in our position, don¡¯t want.¡± ¡°Of course, we¡¯ll take it slow.¡± Two Hobgoblins brought over the chest, and gingerly took out the core, placing it on the ground. The moment it did so;
Alert! Valid territory available. Would you like to purchase it for 10% of your current DP?
Yes? No?
As I took in The System¡¯s alert, I pondered the cost. Why 10%... Aww, I suppose it¡¯s to help out hobo Dungeons on the run¡­ How nice of the system to give those chumps a fighting chance. Parallel Me said, ¡°This is a special moment¡­ Would you like to say something?¡± I cleared my throat. ¡°Hippity hoppity, this is now my property,¡± I said, clicking yes. Parallel Me didn¡¯t have time to say anything before my shout interrupted him.
Purchase Confirmed. Cost: 2,880DP.
FUCK ME! ¡°I¡¯m a hobo Dungeon!¡± I did the math. ¡°We have less than 30,000DP! We started with 100,000! What did you spend it on!?¡± ¡°Ok, yes, I spent a lot. I couldn¡¯t risk not having what we need¡­ But we are by no means poor. Most Dungeons start with much less you know¡­¡± ¡°We also don¡¯t have much in the way of an income!¡± Parallel Me sighed. ¡°We do get a base income, determined by the size of our Dungeon¡­¡± ¡°How much?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but it won¡¯t be much.¡± Leaping ahead, he said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, there are still achievements, some of them will award DP, and the native Goblins will do in a pinch¡­¡± I slumped as I considered our frugal days ahead. The isolation was good for our health, but not our growth. The main source of DP was intruders. You earned some when they intruded in your Dungeon, at 12-hour intervals, or when you killed them. Both were proportional to their strength- it should go without saying that the intervals only awarded a fraction of what you got for killing them. However, Goblins, as we have previously established, weren¡¯t that strong. And we wanted to incorporate them into our dungeon, not eradicate them. ¡°Don¡¯t be so glum,¡± Parallel Me hastily encouraged. ¡°I didn¡¯t throw the DP away, I spent it. I got some pretty cool stuff¡­¡± Intrigue coloured my voice in spite of myself, ¡°Like what?¡± Instead of answering, his attention focused on Gravis, who, in turn, was focused on a spot in the distance. Goblins? I thought. How persistent. ¡°Maybe we should¡­¡± Parallel Me started. I concurred with his unfinished question. We could disregard the Goblins, yes, but that was when we had a Dungeon. I hurriedly summoned the menu and with Parallel Me¡¯s guidance purchased my first floor. Minus 1,000DP by the way. The earth rumbled as rock and dirt shifted, flowing into itself. It was an awe-inspiring sight. We stormed in, trailing the core. As soon as the core was placed in the centre of the room it floated up and hovered in mid-air, tethering itself. A feeling I didn¡¯t know I lost rushed through me, grounding me; as if I had previously been floating. Mana was also gushing into the small room, filling every nook and cranny. ¡°Ahhh,¡±I sighed in relief. ¡°That feels more normal.¡± Parallel Me scoffed, ¡°Normal? The mana levels previously where actually considered quite high, not as good as what it was in the mountains, but still.¡± ¡°High?¡± I recalled the feeling of thirst and drowsiness I had come to associate with using up all my mana. It had happened often. ¡°Every time I used mana, it took ages to refill.¡± Parallel Me¡¯s amused ridicule only increased, ¡°That¡¯s what it¡¯s like for everyone that doesn¡¯t have their own personal mana battery.¡± ¡°Battery?¡± ¡°Your Dungeon! You got spoiled when we first arrived in this New World, you were subconsciously drawing on the Core¡¯s reserves of mana, which was basically, at the time, several football fields worth.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell me being in a Dungeon is going to supercharge all enemy mages!¡± ¡°Everyone else will feel the ambient mana levels are elevated from natural levels, yes, but not nearly to the extent you do. It¡¯s a handy home advantage.¡± ¡°Cool,¡± I replied. ¡°Don¡¯t go using it up all the time though- it¡¯s a resource.¡± It had been fun to find out that, aside from the obvious DP, mana also needed to be taken into account. DP limited how much and what I could buy, but mana¡­ well mana was like everything¡¯s fuel. The more mana there was, the faster a trap could repair itself, the faster a spawner could spawn a monster, the faster a monster could grow. Since we had the extra DP we decided to by two more floors, right off the bat and put some distance between the Core and the entrance. They cost 1,000 and 2,000 DP respectively.Though I did get free doors between each floor. At Parallel Me¡¯s insistence, for the sake of demonstration, we placed said floors ¡®above¡¯ the first. We can add floors between already existing ones, but not if there are intruders on lower floors. If they are above the floors in question, its ok. Moving the Core was as simple as giving it a push. Something, Parallel Me said, we should relish while we can as it gets a lot more bothersome after the Tutorial period. I turned to the monsters, telling the living and the dead to guard the first and second floor respectively. As I watched them leave I laid myself down on the floor and let out a sigh of relief. I should look on the bright side. To Parallel Me¡¯s inquisitive looks I only replied, ¡°It¡¯s finally over. We made it. Now we can rest, take a break. What do we have to worry about now?¡± Then came Parallel Me¡¯s dry, strained, cough. Absolute fury coursed through me. ¡°¡­ What?¡± ¡°Well,¡± he tentatively started, ¡°Remember how I mentioned the war¡­ you know, with the Demons¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got to be FUCKING KIDDING ME!¡± Volume 2 - Chapter 2 - New Me Chapter 2 - New Me - I leapt up to confront Parallel Me. ¡°Hay, wanna¡¯ look at that cool stuff I was talking about earlier?¡± ¡°You DID NOT just involve us in a WAR!¡± ¡°I DIDN¡¯T!¡± ¡°Oh, in that case-¡± ¡°-I just want to.¡± ¡°YOU-¡± ¡°-Discreetly, of course.¡± ¡°You have 30 seconds to explain yourself.¡± ¡°Now, everyone knows that the Demonic Dungeons number two goal is to take down their nemesis, the Holy Dungeon so that they can fulfil their number one of goal of being evil in peace.¡± ¡°You said both parties are far away from our island.¡± ¡°And they are. But of the three most powerful Dungeons on this continent, the one in the region we are in belong to the weakest.¡± ¡­A stepping stone. ¡°SO, we WILL come under attack?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know the specifics of anyone¡¯s strategies, but calm down; the attacks are quite public, so I do know a thing or two. Firstly, the Demons always come in by ship. And secondly, almost none of them ever make it to shore, because the top three Dungeons always work together to crush them.¡± ¡°They get crushed? Every time? Then why bother to attack?¡± Parallel Me shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m sure there is a sinister conspiracy behind it- but that¡¯s not the point. The point is all those Core¡¯s¡­. are just waiting to fall into our lap.¡± ¡°Core¡¯s?! I thought you were talking about monsters! You¡¯re saying the demons throw fleets worth of Core¡¯s at a lost cause? I thought you said they were super valuable? Especially one¡¯s strong enough to brave bringing their Core out into the open.¡± ¡°Actually, as best I can tell most of them are new-borns, still in the tutorial period when it is easier to move around. Though they do all have avatars and some monsters. I assume the Demon King fronted the DP for all of those purchases.¡± I scoffed at the name. ¡°Is he the leader? He sounds like a fool, what a waste of resources.¡± ¡°Yes, the Demon King is the strongest Demonic Dungeon and calls all the shots. However, I think it¡¯s a brilliant long-term play, if not cold hearted and cruel. I think the Cores are mostly Commons and he is effectively culling them. Since their absence will mean space for a new core to spawn- which have a chance to be a rarity above common. I assume he wouldn¡¯t send those to their death. Eventually the minimum Core rarity on that continent will be Uncommon. Though, if he¡¯s really ambitious there is nothing stopping him from repeating it a higher rarity as the bar. As for his method of culling them, sending them to this enemies is quite foolish but I assume he just needs one to succeed¡­ to create a foothold. ¡°You have some ideas about what he¡¯s up to?¡± ¡°Pure speculation,¡± Parallel Me admitted. ¡°But irrelevant right now. Are you in?¡± ¡°¡­How many Cores do you think we can get? Surely competition over the scraps will be fierce.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the thing. All the invading Cores have the Demonic attribute so if one of the defending Cores dares to use it they would inevitably gain the Demonic Attribute, i.e. become a public enemy.¡± ¡°Wait, so there¡¯s no way for them- or US- to not gain the Demonic Attribute if it¡¯s used? Maybe that¡¯s the Demon Kings plan- corrupt some greedy idiot. I would like it if we could not be that idiot. I doubt we could survive publicity as it is.¡± ¡°Just another feather on a camel¡¯s back.¡± ¡°I think that¡¯s the opposite meaning of the actual saying.¡± ¡°Just think about what we can do with a Core or¡­ Core¡¯s. Remember the three things we can do with it? Absorb it, trade it in for a monster or build a new separate dungeon- which is as good as an extra life.¡± ¡°If gaining the Demonic attribute is such a big deal then wouldn¡¯t the three top Dungeons also destroy or confiscate all the Cores in the invasion force?¡± ¡°I assume they do go out of their way to confiscate them. Probably with some sea monsters.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know do you? But you want to jump in anyway. Now who¡¯s the risk taker? ¡­So how do we get this free stuff without getting caught?¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad you asked because,¡± Parallel Me gestured and Gravis walked over, carrying something, ¡°One of the items I bought is this.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m looking at?¡± ¡°A Teleportation Scroll.¡± ¡°Oh, cool! Will it teleport the Cores to us?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Will it teleport us to the Cores?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then what the hell do we use it for?¡± ¡°This teleportation scroll works by setting a return point, somewhere you physically are, and returning there when you activate it.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°OK. I think I get where you¡¯re going with this. You want to blindly charge in, grab a Core, then retreat using the scroll! That¡¯s so stupid. I expected more of you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s gist of it.¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t stealth would be involved, especially for ¡®someone in our position¡¯?¡± ¡°Since I don¡¯t know exactly what happens I can¡¯t prepare an effective counter measure, especially when I had seconds to make the decision before we had to abandon our territory.¡± I sighed, stressed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the invasion is many months away. We can make the decision later,¡± Parallel Me reassured. ¡°Why don¡¯t we do something to take our minds off it? And, you know, decrease our chances of dying.¡± ¡°¡­Dungeon building?¡± ¡°Dungeon building,¡± Parallel Me nodded. I rubbed my hands together and opened the menu. Despite the floors and bodies that stood between me and the entrance, I desired a more literal barrier. Parallel Me had already informed me that if we tried blocking the entrances, like we did at our original spawn point, with something that wasn¡¯t DP purchased it would only work during the Tutorial Period. After the Tutorial Period it would just hurt. And it would start killing me. Since it wasn¡¯t a long-term solution we decided we may as well just do it properly from the start. On the upside, the catalogue of doors was extensive. For the most part, the distinguishing factor was their ¡®key¡¯. In other words, the only way a given door would open. A Boss Door, for instance, only opens after the designated monster in the leading room is killed. (The doors are only locked from one side, the room on the locked side of the door is the ¡®leading¡¯ room, the other the ¡®trailing¡¯ room.) A Monster Door is similar in that you must kill all monsters in the leading room. A Key Door needs a literal key to open, but the key can¡¯t be destroyed, removed from the room (which includes placing it in an interspatial container like my Core) and most importantly, forbids monsters in the leading room. Putting it in a hay stack is OK though. Or in a room full of keys. I pity any adventurer that decides to enter our Dungeon. There were also Puzzle Doors and Quest Doors- Parallel Me piped in with his opinion, ¡°I think we should just buy two for now, one Boss Door and one Monster Door. The Boss Door for Gravis and the Monster Door for the Goblins and Hobgoblins.¡± ¡°What about the other types?¡± ¡°Errr¡­ they can be risky. Remember that the doors, like internal walls, aren¡¯t indestructible. And since both Key and Puzzle doors mandate no monsters in the leading rooms, intruders can take their time to do whatever they want. Leave, rest, play by the rules or just brute force it.¡± I looked at the price of the Boss and Monster Doors. ¡°They¡¯re expensive.¡± I noted, while Parallel Me said the opposite. I gave him an inquisitive look. Parallel Me laughed as he said, ¡°After spending tens-of-thousands of DP a few hundred doesn¡¯t seem like much.¡± I groaned in irritation. ¡°What did you spend it all on anyway?¡± ¡°Most of it went towards spells- I¡¯ll have you learn them later. The rest is split between some precious metals and a few items. Like the teleportation scroll.¡± ¡°Precious metals? What could we have used those for? Projectiles?¡± ¡°Again, I was preparing for the worst! It seemed like a good idea to have ¡®money¡¯,¡± Parallel Me lifted his hands to put air quotes around the word, ¡°just in case. Maybe to buy something. Maybe to bribe someone or, yes, maybe to throw it- except to serve as a distraction. Regardless, we did end up using some to alleviate your conscience when we stole that boat, so it did come in handy, didn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°¡­Now that you mention it, what does everyone use as money in a world where Dungeon Cores can just create almost anything out of thin air, infinitely?¡± ¡°Coins made from precious metals. Though, monster cores come in at a close second and bartering isn¡¯t uncommon.¡± Seeing my scepticism Parallel Me continued, ¡°You¡¯re forgetting that while a Dungeon Core can, potentially, make an infinite amount of something they can¡¯t do so in a finite amount of time. Plus, there are things that can remove matter from circulation. Like when an interspatial container is destroyed, its contents are gone. But Dungeons can also play a part. We can ¡®scrap¡¯ something for a fraction of it¡¯s raw material¡¯s DP value.¡± ¡°I suppose that makes sense. Do we need to care about money?¡± ¡°Yes. Although the monster cores are probably more important to us.¡± ¡°Great. We get to participate in two rat races.¡± ¡°But speaking of purchases¡­¡± Gravis brought over a sphere of metal. ¡°Ta-da!¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°This is a Dummy Core. I brought it to be either be a decoy if we were cornered or as a cover if we made it to the island for our eventual debut to the public.¡± I didn¡¯t ask how much it cost. ¡°Does it have a rating?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s rating is Rare and I picked Gold as its type. It should be able to walk the line.¡± ¡°What line?¡± ¡°Not be perceived as enough of a threat to kill but valuable enough to want to subdue. For now, it should have its own floor with our first ¡®public¡¯ boss.¡± Since we wanted to keep certain attributes under wraps it was going to be necessary to have ¡®public¡¯ bosses. In other words, a boss whose main purpose is for appearances. We would put up a token resistance against intruders that tried to reach it but deadly force for those that tried to pass it. We would also try to make it seem like the end of our Dungeon. Beyond the public boss would be, for any intruders, the point of no return. ¡°I know what I want our first boss to be.¡± ¡°Really? Already?¡± ¡°As they chased us down, I realised three things. One, I want a minotaur to be our first boss.¡± Parallel Me digested the information, hand on his chin. He nodded, ¡°On average their intelligence is adequate, though they tend to be muscle-headed. They are strong individually but can also work well in packs. They¡¯re quite humanoid, making armament less troublesome. They¡¯re not too expensive¡­ all in all, a DP efficient purchase. Good choice, no opposition from me.¡± ¡°Two, some stuffed minotaur heads would look good on a wall.¡± ¡°Took the pursuit personally huh?¡± ¡°They hunted us down for DAYS!¡± ¡°Well, if it means that much to you¡­ AND you do a good enough job in building up our strength, we can return to the Dwarven mountains instead of scavenging the invasion force to build up some strength.¡± Does me mean collect corpses? We put every single one we found, or made, in our Core. Given the lack of mana I had access to, it was time consuming. But with the undead carrying a target corpse we could do it, literally, on the move, so there was really no reason not to. ¡°You think it will be profitable?¡± ¡°We found a few decent monsters, and we always went up. Further down would have much better stuff.¡± ¡°But what about the month-long trip it would take to get there?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll just use the Teleport Scroll if we¡¯re not going to do the demon thing.¡± ¡°Huh? You¡¯ve already set a return point?¡± ¡°Yes, under the abandoned Dwarven house, in the tunnel.¡± ¡°While I was gone? Why?¡± ¡°I can reset it at any time, so there was no harm in doing so. It was a relatively safe place, all things considered.¡± ¡°Can we use another one for the return trip?¡± ¡°This is a high quality one with a massive range¡­ It costs 10,000DP.¡± I reached out to a nearby wall for support. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me anymore. I don¡¯t want to know,¡± I whispered. ¡°We could have bought so many monsters¡­¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ll let you mourn the loss of your DP. I¡¯m gonna¡¯ go and start setting up some rooms and traps on the first floor. It¡¯s important that you get a live demonstration instead of all theory, so hurry up.¡± On his way to the exit Parallel Me, turned around and added, ¡°Oh yeah, about earlier, when you were lying on the floor and being all content and happy. I dropped the Demon War news on you not just to ruin your mood¡­ But because you seemed to want to take a break. Well, no other Dungeon is, or will, so we can¡¯t afford to.¡± As he disappeared around the exit to the upper floor, I muttered, ¡°Does that mean I have to spend all my immortal life working? Fuck me.¡± A few seconds later Parallel Me popped his head around the door and shouted, ¡°Wait, what was the third thing?¡± I looked at him. ¡°My name. I¡¯ve decided on my name. Daedalus.¡± Volume 2 - Chapter 3 - New Floor Chapter 3 - New Floor - ¡°Day-da-lus? Where have I heard that name before?¡± ¡°The name is from Greek mythology. Daedalus created the labyrinth to imprison the Minotaur.¡± ¡°Oh yeah¡­ but didn¡¯t his life end in tragedy? Which eventually drove him insane- oh wait, maybe that name is perfect for you.¡± ¡°Shut up. And are you sure that he went insane? I don¡¯t remember that being a part of the story.¡± Parallel Me shrugged, ¡°Well it¡¯s not like I can go check. Anyway, Daedalus, have you finished sulking? Let¡¯s go upstairs.¡± ¡°OK.¡± We left what was our core room, the third floor. Fourth if you count the surface. Moving between floors irritated me. You see, the floors got bigger as they went down, yet remained aligned through their centre. A cross-section would look like a buried step-pyramid. As such, the positioning of a traditional staircase would be a little awkward. But no, The System just space-warped a solution, connecting the entrances and exits with no apparent twist, turns or even distance between them. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that I could feel my Dungeon floors existing one on top of another I would of thought that I was just walking through different rooms on the same floor. As we arrived at the second floor I called out to Parallel Me to stop. ¡°Why?¡± He replied. ¡°You want to start building defences on the first floor, right?¡± ¡°Yes. What makes you ask?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s about something you said during our, err¡­ trip. How it¡¯s ironic; our floors will get bigger and bigger but the earliest floors, the smallest, will always be the most crowded and in need of space.¡± ¡°I did. A guild basically always has more adventurers then their dungeons capacity, especially with lower level adventures. It varies from guild to guild in how they manage the problem.¡± ¡°Well, I think we can do something, using the first floor, to alleviate this problem.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°OK, we have already decided on the rough outline, template, of our Dungeon, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, a handful of normal floors then one World Floor, repeat. Wait, you¡¯re not going to try and argue for more World Floors again, are you? I told you they are expensive and best used sparingly in spite of their benefits since it sacrifices control.¡± ¡°No- well, yes- but that''s only part of it. Hear me out. We turn the first floor into a World Floor, but only using the common level World Floor upgrade-¡± ¡°-The lowest level World Floor upgrade is still 10,000DP,¡± Parallel Me interrupted. ¡°What?! OK then, forget the world upgrade, we just do the second part of my idea; Teleportation.¡± ¡°Are you suggesting what I think you¡¯re suggesting?¡± ¡°Yes, if it¡¯s ¡®intentionally let intruders skip floors in the dungeon¡¯.¡± ¡°You stupid?¡± ¡°I don''t mean to let them do as they please. First and foremost, I want to use one of those teleportation traps you have mentioned, so we can turn it off whenever we want. Secondly, they would only be eligible if they used a ¡®boss token¡¯. Which we could only make available through defeating the boss. Third, it would only be to the floor after the one the boss, corresponding to the token, guards.¡± Parallel Me sighed. ¡°So, you want to do it?¡± ¡°Of course, I want to do that! It sounds bloody awesome,¡± Parallel Me snapped. ¡°Well then-¡± ¡°-Sshhh. I need to think of counterpoints. Someone has to be objective and responsible around here.¡± A few moments later he collected himself and spoke, ¡°First off, what a waste of a floor. You know we would not be able to afford that for ages. Speaking of which brings me to my second point, do you know how expensive that would be? Even a generic teleportation trap is expensive, let alone one you can give parameters and conditions to.¡± ¡°And repairing damage done by high level adventures as they waltz their way through the earlier floors to get to the harder ones?¡± ¡°Just stop. It''s a moot point; we can''t afford it. And if we decide to do it latter we will just renovate the first floor. Happy?¡± ¡°Oh, all right!¡± I begrudged. ¡°I thought that was a really good idea,¡± I muttered. ¡°It has potential,¡± Parallel Me commented, already moving towards the first floor. *** ¡°It¡¯s a hole¡­. that I have to pay for.¡± I enunciated slowly. Parallel Me¡¯s gaze jolted up to lock onto mine, his posture indicating his readiness to rip someone''s head off. ¡°I¡¯m joking, I¡¯m joking,¡± Came my hurried reply.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Parallel Me relaxed his posture somewhat and continued his talk, ¡°At just 10DP the basic pitfall trap is cheap.¡± I looked down at the new hole forming on the floor of the tunnel that connects the first floor and the surface. ¡°I can see why, it doesn''t look very threatening.¡± I suspected only Dwarves would have trouble jumping across it. It didn''t even look like the corner of the pitfall would hit anything ¡®ideal¡¯, like their head, if an intruder did fell in. Parallel Me ignored the criticism and moved further into the tunnel, entering the first floor. ¡°Since we are all alone you don''t have to worry about misplacing traps. Traps can be moved in uncontested territory.¡± The pitfall trap moved along the ground. It came to a stop if front of Parallel Me¡¯s feet. ¡°And never underestimate a good hole.¡± After a few clicks four ghostly apparitions of doors appeared. They were wooden with some iron trimmings. They looked sturdy, if not intangible. They floated away from Parallel Me, all in opposite directions, before stopping and becoming solid. Walls grew from the ground, reaching for the ceiling. ¡°Did you have to pay for the walls?¡± I asked. ¡°No, they come with the doors and before you ask, yes I picked the sizes.¡± Looking around I could see that Parallel Me had created four rooms. One in each corner so that for every room two of the walls were the outer, indestructible, walls. Two hallways, in the shape of a cross, separated every room from one another. The pitfall was at the intersection of the two hallways, which itself was slightly off centre from the centre point of the floor- closer towards the surface tunnel. If an intruder was so inclined they could walk in a straight line from the tunnel to the staircase that leads to the second floor, pitfall jumping excluded. The doors to the rooms faced each other and were in the branching hallway. [ Author¡¯s note: I tired putting the basic outline of floor plan (image) in the post chapter notes, but apparently, I¡¯m stupid because I can¡¯t do it. Here is the Imgur link: https://imgur.com/n9hZuOf ] ¡°What kind of doors are those?¡± ¡°Aside from the fact that they are purchased with DP, and will thus repair using mana and don¡¯t count as blockage, normal doors. They¡¯re not even locked.¡± ¡°What¡¯s to stop intruders from ignoring the side hallways?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll put some treasure chests is some of the rooms. But ultimately, we don¡¯t care. We don¡¯t want adventurers exerting themselves on the first floor, it will make us stand out. Although, since we can¡¯t justify a spawner right now, we will have to purchase monsters as replacements every time they die. That does mean, however, that the monsters can leave the rooms if we need them to- flank any intruders we deem threatening enough.¡± Parallel Me paused. ¡°Feeding them is going to be a constant drain on our DP, however.¡± ¡°Is that your passive aggressive way of bring up Operation: Harvest.¡± Working title. Actually, not really, I liked the refence. We had been debating on which operation to do first. Goblin World or Harvest? The idea behind Harvest was to have fertile World Floor to grow food, allowing us to support boatloads of monsters without the associated costs of buying food with DP periodically. Even its location was up for debate. Currently, though, the plan is to put it on the floor below our Core room. It isn¡¯t as crazy as it sounds, the idea has merits. The way Parallel Me put it was ¡®Dungeon¡¯s are under a never-ending siege. An endless invasion.¡¯ So, having territory behind our Core meant we would always have a safe place. It was really the only location that could be considered ¡®behind the front lines¡¯. It could also be used for my secret experiments. I recently learned that I can not only buy monsters out of thin air, but also manipulate them on a biological level. Obviously, I¡¯m going to have to experiment. I¡¯ll get a white coat if I have to. And a tower with lighting rods. And a crazy-hair wig. ¡°I thought we talked about this.¡± ¡°I know, I know. Operation: Goblin World first. It¡¯ll have to do both jobs until we can afford another World Floor for Operation: Harvest.¡± ¡°¡­No. About you putting the word ¡®operation¡¯ in front of everything. Don¡¯t.¡± ¡°But it sounds cool. I sound cool.¡± Parallel Me turned and stared at the floor. ¡°Let me show you the final piece. A spring trap.¡± In response to his words a pattern of lines and circles lit up a small portion of the floor, just after the pitfall trap, in the direction of the second-floor staircase. ¡°It triggers a monster spawn when an intruder steps on it. I¡¯ve linked a Hobgoblin with a spear to it. It¡¯ll be a nasty surprise to any adventure that jumps over the pitfall.¡± ¡°You can control what it spawns with? Now that I think about it there are actually several topics about monsters that I want to clarify.¡± ¡°This is a good sign. What are they?¡± ¡°I know that you said the catalogue of monsters are divided and grouped by their attribute and rating and that you can only access monsters in a given attribute group if a) you have that attribute and b) the monsters rating isn¡¯t above yours.¡± ¡°Correct.¡± ¡°So my first question is; what happens if a monster has more than one attribute? And my other question¡­ Goblin Shamans seem to have multiple attributes or is it that their spells don¡¯t count.¡± ¡°You noticed that huh? I glad you¡¯re paying more attention. If a monster has more than one attribute, and it can, you have to have all of its attributes to be able to buy it. As for spell casting, yes, you have to have the spells attribute to be able to cast it. Or even learn it.¡± ¡°But Goblins are in the neutral section of the monster catalogue. So how the hell were they able to cast all those spells. Just of the top of my head, I remember there being fire, lightning and earth spells.¡± ¡°Has it struck you as unfair?¡± ¡°Err¡­ My life?¡± I responded, unsure of Parallel Me¡¯s line of questioning. ¡°No. I¡¯m talking about a Dungeon Core¡¯s abilities been so heavily tied to their rating.¡± ¡°It makes sense, it is called their rating.¡± ¡°Well, we both know that The System is nothing if not a game. Which means there must be some level of sportsmanship. Which is why there are built in things that every Core has access to.¡± ¡°Which are?¡± I asked, unenthusiastic. ¡°You have already seen the catalogue of monsters. Every Core receives the same copy-¡± ¡°-But-¡± I interjected. ¡°-YES, weather a Core can purchase or even see all the monster depends on their rating and attributes. BUT, all Core¡¯s get the Neutral attribute upon spawning AND a bunch of variants.¡± ¡°Variants?¡± ¡°Monsters that differ from a typical example of their species in some way. Like a Goblin that spawns with the Shaman Class, which, by the way, gives them the basic elemental affinities.¡± ¡°Oh? Why didn¡¯t you give me the Shaman Class instead of the Sorcerer Class?¡± ¡°The Shaman Class gives you the basic elemental affinities but restricts you to those attributes. Forever. Something I know a greedy collector like you would hate.¡± ¡°Are you implying that I can collect them all?!¡± ¡°I think you can.¡± ¡°That¡¯s awesome, I¡¯ll have to put it on my bucket list,¡± I replied as a hobgoblin came through the second-floor entrance and handed me a piece of paper. ¡°You told me that you were using that to write down my teachings!¡± ¡°I did. I also used one to write down my bucket list.¡± ¡°Bucket list? Are you planning on dying? I already gave you that inspirational speech, what more do you want from me? Here, give me that!¡± Parallel Me snapped, attempting to snatching it out of my hands. I moved the piece of paper out of his reach and handed it back to hobgoblin. ¡°Could you stop interacting with the physical world? I uses up so much of my mana. You said it was a resource not to be wasted and I would like to use it to practice.¡± ¡°Oh, you want to take a look at the other spells I bought? That¡¯s fine, but we¡¯ll do it after setting up something on the second floor.¡±