《A Dungeon in Space》 Prologue Somewhere in the vastness of space there lies a lonely world orbiting a small lonely star. On this world there lies a country known as the United States of America, and in this country there lives a lonely man. One day this man went to work as usual just like any other day, of his boring and repetitive life. However life had different plans for him that day. As this man was driving to work as per usual, there was another driver who perhaps was not quite paying attention to where he was driving, and unfortunately hit this lonely man, in this lonely world, around the small lonely star. And that was the end of the lonely man¡¯s existence and the beginning of a new one. Reincarnating Soul 17819523 Variant - Homo Sapien . . . Evaluating . . . Reincarnating as Sapient Dungeon Core T1. Adding A.I. 20168293 to aid Dungeon Core. Clearing Soul¡¯s Memories. . . Error! Soul¡¯s Memories Could not be cleared due to presence of A.I. 20168293. Bypassing Memory Wipe Procedure . . . Resuming Reincarnation Process . . . Creating Soul¡¯s Host . . .If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Soul¡¯s Host Created . . . Creating Status for Soul . . . Status Created. Continuing Reincarnation Process . . . Running Final Checks . . . Soul Meets all Parameters . . . Activating Dungeon Core . . . Dungeon Core Activated. When the dungeon core activated it experienced a large variety of things it called, ¡°emotions¡±. These ¡°emotions¡± ranged from ¡°confusion¡± to ¡°happiness¡±. One would wonder why a dungeon core could experience these things, after all dungeon cores are merely rocks, that were perhaps a bit more intelligent, than any other normal rock. This particular rock, however was not like any other normal everyday rock. This rock was an intelligent rock, more so than the other normal dungeon cores. This dungeon core as you can probably tell by now is abnormal, a deviation from the norm. It had a personality, something that dungeon cores do not normally have. This dungeon core is one that could make a difference, change the world for the better, or perhaps the worse. This is one that could influence this world¡¯s events, its people, and its history. The dungeon core, did not remain ¡°confused¡± or ¡°happy¡± for long. Soon it began to feel things like ¡°fear¡± and ¡°loneliness¡± for it did not know how to react to its foreign environment. Soon it got over these emotions and started experiencing things like ¡°curiosity¡± and ¡°wonder¡± as it explored its new environment. As the young dungeon core explored its environment it noticed a thing called ¡°mana¡± for the first time. The Core tried manipulating this force known as, ¡°mana¡±. The young core made the mana its own and expelled it. Doing so the curious dungeon expanded its domain exerting its influence over the world for the first time in its life, then the young dungeon took its first look into the vast unknown world. Chapter 1 Waking Up Dungeon Core Activated That was the first thing I saw when I woke up. The second thing I saw was a flat grey landscape and a white sky stretching out as far as i could see. In this landscape there was one object, a silvery gray sphere pulsing with runic blue lines with seemingly no imperfections, hovering an indeterminable distance above the ground. When I looked at the sphere with my vision that seemed to encompass all, like some sort of omniscient god, I instinctively knew that I was the sphere. I thought back to the first thing I saw and made the connection that I must be a dungeon core. At this thought I became confused or at least I felt an imitation of confusion. While I was adjusting to my new vision a stray thought popped into my mind. I am a dungeon core and in all good dungeon core novels there are status screens of some sort. So I thought ¡°Status.¡± and just as I expected a status screen appeared. Unnamed dungeon Name : N / A Species : Sapient Dungeon Core T1 Gender : N / A Age : 0 Health : 1000 / 1000 Health Regeneration Rate : 8 per Hour Magic : 1000 / 1000 Magic Regeneration Rate : 10 per Hour Inventory : 0 m3 / 1 m3 Titles : Unnamed dungeonThe author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Jobs : Dungeon Master Status Constitution : 30 Perception : 125 Intelligence : 95 Seeing as how there was a status screen I decided to ask it a question. ¡°Why is my age listed as zero?¡±, I thought and the screen responded. ¡°Your Age is listed as zero because you are still in the adjustment period. The adjustment period is a period all dungeons go through when they are first formed it is there to help the dungeons get used to their new form as they almost always use reincarnate souls as they are synthetic lifeforms.¡± This brought a few new questions to mind and so I asked the screen one of the questions. ¡°What are you?¡± ¡°I am an artificial intelligence that goes by the designation A.I. 20168293. I was created to help you regulate your with your functions, provide the answers to any queries you may have, and provide ideas from a new viewpoint.¡± With my first question answered I decided to ask the A.I. a few more questions. ¡°Who created you and how do I access my other functions?¡± ¡°I do not know who I was created by as it is missing from my files. You may access the rest of your functions after the adjustment period is over, as a new option in your status called dungeon menu will appear allowing you to interact with the world around you and build your dungeon. As of right now the only function you can access from your menu is one that allows you to set your name at any desired time. If you wait too long your name will automatically be set by the beings that enter your dungeon as your name is considered to be your most common designation separate from your titles.¡± ¡°How do I set my name?¡± ¡°You can set your name by simply saying set name to before saying the name for example if I was setting my name for the first time I would say ¡®Set name to A.I. 20168293¡¯ to set my name to my current name. ¡± Utilizing this new piece of information I started thinking up a new name. At first I was thinking about using my old name, the one that my parents gave me, but then it occured to me this is a new world, a new life, why would I have to restrain myself to my old name? After all no one knew me here so why not choose a new one? So I thought for what felt like a few hours, and decided upon a new name. ¡°Set name to Atlas¡± Confirm Name ¡°Atlas¡±? ¡°Confirm name.¡± ¡°Name has been set as Atlas.¡± ¡°Your status has updated.¡± And with that I had changed my name, and thus changed my identity. As I was getting used to calling myself by this new name, a new notification popped up. ¡°Adjustment Period Ending Welcome to Kaladria.¡± And with that the grey landscape, the white sky, and my dungeon core, faded to black. Chapter 2 Taking Flight I woke up in a new environment once again. This time I happened to be in a cave instead of a vast grey landscape with a white sky. I looked at myself and found that my appearance was the same as last time. After what seemed to be a few minutes, a screen appeared Choose your desired starting lifeform. Kobold Breeds quickly possesses average intelligence, has short fur, low strength, low potential for evolution. Mountain Goblin Breeds quickly, possesses low intelligence, has sturdy skin, average strength, average potential for evolution. Slime Reproduction rate is dependant on available biomass, possesses extremely low intelligence, acidic skin capable of melting rock rather quickly, low strength, high potential for evolution. Imp Breeds slowly, possesses average intelligence, low strength, can immediately use magic, average potential for evolution. Undead Cannot breed must be summoned, possesses low intelligence, low strength, average potential for evolution. Rodents Breed very fast, possesses extremely low intelligence, very low strength, high potential for evolution I looked over the list searching for the option I wanted. Noticing that it was not on the list I decided to ask the A.I. a question. ¡°Are there any options that are not displayed that I can choose?¡± ¡°No, however I can search through your memories for additional lifeforms although it is rather, invasive so I would not recommend it.¡± ¡°Can you do it anyway? I¡¯m sure I can handle it.¡± ¡°Very well then, Commencing search.¡± With that I felt one of the most invasive feelings I had ever felt in both my lives. it felt as if an uncountable number of bugs were trying to worm themselves inside my mind from every direction possible. The search did provide me with more options though, as the list updated. Choose your desired starting lifeform. Kobold Breeds quickly possesses average intelligence, has short fur, low strength, low potential for evolution. Mountain Goblin Breeds quickly, possesses low intelligence, has sturdy skin, average strength, average potential for evolution. Slime Reproduction rate is dependant on available biomass, possesses extremely low intelligence, acidic skin capable of melting rock rather quickly, low strength, high potential for evolution.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Imp Breeds slowly, possesses average intelligence, low strength, can immediately use magic, average potential for evolution. Undead Cannot breed must be summoned, possesses low intelligence, low strength, average potential for evolution. Rodents Breed very fast, possesses extremely low intelligence, very low strength, high potential for evolution Golem !Life form Error! Cannot breed must be created, Intelligence unknown, strength unknown, evolution potential none. Machine !Life form Error! Must be constructed, intelligence unknown, strength unknown, evolution potential none. ¡°Why do golems and machines have life form errors? And why are machines on there?¡± ¡°The golems and machines have life form errors because they are not formed naturally and must be constructed, with their closest equivalent being elementals which cannot be formed in your dungeon due to not having a high enough mana density. As for the machines I don¡¯t know why the system classified them as life forms.¡± ¡°Ok, would it be possible to put off selecting a lifeform for now and expand my dungeon instead?¡± ¡°Yes, although I would not recommend it due to the possible danger of someone discovering your dungeon. To expand your dungeon you must utilize your mana and push it into the surrounding area; once you do that your mana will naturally flow into that area thus claiming it for you, and to dig out an area you must select that option in your dungeon menu to start digging. Also, you may want to open a hole to the surface so you can expel your waste mana.¡± ¡°Waste mana, seriously?¡± ¡°Yes, just like any other creature you also need to breathe. Unlike other organisms, you breathe mana and not air. The waste mana you create is converted into usable mana by other organisms that are not from your dungeon, which is why you gain mana from them being in your dungeon, it is also the reason why dungeons do not form too close to each other as the waste mana prevents them from fully forming, so they become a form of mana crystals instead of dungeons.¡± ¡°Huh, that actually makes sense.¡± Using this new knowledge I claimed the area where air was flowing into my dungeon, until I came to my entrance. After claiming the entrance I decided to check my status to see if anything had changed. Unnamed dungeon Name : Atlas Species : Sapient Dungeon Core T1 Gender : N / A Age : 4 Hours Health : 1000 / 1000 Health Regeneration Rate : 8 per Hour Magic : 787 / 1000 Magic Regeneration Rate : 12 per Hour Inventory : 0 m3 / 1 m3 Titles : Unnamed dungeon Jobs : Dungeon Master Status Constitution : 30 Perception : 125 Intelligence : 95 Dungeon Menu ¡°A.I. why is my status labeled unnamed dungeon when I have a name?¡± ¡°Your status is labeled unnamed dungeon because that is your displayed title. If enough beings call your dungeon by a certain name, then eventually you will gain a title that is that name. Titles can provide you with benefits, however, they can also give you disadvantages.¡± With my question answered I moved my consciousness to my new entrance and I saw an amazing sight. My entrance was a cave on a cliff about fourty two meters up on a mountain overlooking a bay. Surrounding the bay there was a vast forest and a mountain range with a small village at the base. I then looked up at the sky and saw countless stars and what looked to be a fractured moon close to the horizon. While looking at the sky I could see sunrise approaching fast, and with that my world filled with a brilliant light that filled my vision as a large asteroid hit the base of the mountain; throwing me and much of the mountain I was on, off of this world. ¡°Congratulations you have been the first dungeon to exit the orbit of Kaladria!¡± Title Gained Kaladrian Space Pioneer ¡°You are the first Kaladrian to go into space paving the way for others to join you amongst the stars.¡± Decrease Costs of building in space, Decrease costs of summoning lifeforms in space, Decreases chance of lifeforms in you getting space adaptation sickness, does not apply to those you have negative relations with. Title Gained Voyager ¡°You have travelled vast distances from your birthplace, and have travelled far from home¡± decreases costs for moving dungeon, Increases rate you learn new languages, Increases personal comfort in new places, around new people, and species. Title Gained Nomadic Dungeon ¡°Ever since you were born you have never stayed in the same spot for too long, as you have always been wandering from place to place,¡± Decreases costs for moving dungeon, calming effect on all species within dungeon increasing cooperation and comfort does not apply to those you have negative relations with. Decreases comfort level until you move to a different place. Title will be revoked if Dungeon stays in one place for more than 4320 hours (180 Earth Days). Chapter 3 The Void ¡°DANGER! Health Has Dropped Below 50%¡± Getting hit by a meteor was by far the last thing I had even considered happening, especially after I had been reincarnated in a new world. After going through my memories I could not recall a single novel where the main character was thrown into space, much less as a dungeon core. ¡°DANGER! Health Has Dropped Below 40%¡± With that message I then realized just exactly, how much danger I was in, the immense heat I was suddenly experiencing, and how low my chances of surviving without immediate action was, so I called upon the A.I for assistance. ¡°A.I. How do create matter!¡± ¡°First you must open your dungeon menu, then you must navigate to the creation menu select your desired material, then apply your will to the world using your mana." "DANGER! Health Has Dropped Below 30%.¡± Utilizing this new Information I opened the Dungeon Menu and opened the creation menu. This was where I realized that the A.I. did not give me the correct instructions as material was not an option on the menu. Creation Menu Structures Life Machines Traps Spells Items Matter Using my Modern day knowledge I selected Matter and was promptly greeted with the periodic table. Using the little knowledge I retained from my chemistry class and the countless nights I stayed up late on the internet, I proceeded to make a carbon structure filled with nitrogen, and to prevent the nitrogen from reacting with the carbon I bonded it with hydrogen creating a heat shield made of ammonia and carbon. ¡°DANGER! Health Has Dropped Below 20%¡± At this point I was nearly out of the atmosphere with my only option being to keep on creating more matter as it burned up or melted off of the heat shield. ¡°DANGER! Health Has Dropped Below 15%¡± And with that I finally managed to escape the orbit of Kaladria as something a little more than a molten dungeon core. Looking back at the world I had just left I saw a blue sphere, slowly being engulfed by firestorms created from the meteor that appeared to once be that planet''s moon. Looking above the planet I saw the planet''s fractured moon being harvested by hundreds of ships, with hundreds more in orbit, waiting to harvest the burning world. It was at this moment that I hit something and bounced off of it. ¡°DANGER! Health Has Dropped Below 10%¡± Moving my vision to the object I just hit I realized something at that very moment. Those ships that were harvesting the moon must have been mere autonomous drones, as I saw dozens more docked at a ship that was of a scale I would have never Imagined seeing in reality. After seeing the events happen one after another I wanted some explanations. ¡°A.I. Explain.¡± ¡°It appears you somehow managed to exit the world and hit a huge metal creature.¡± ¡°That is clearly a carrier used to transport mining ships NOT a creature!¡± ¡°I was not equipped with information regarding entities of other worlds as I was never supposed to to leave Kaladria. I was never supposed exist in this void your memories call space. Also your mana collection rate has drastically lowered, it appears to consist of only your mana generation rate now.¡± ¡°Mana generation rate? Actually stop trying to distract me from the current issue! and what happened to my menu! It was nothing like you described!¡± ¡°It appears the system automatically changed your menu when it acquired access to your memories. With all these changes I¡¯m afraid I will be of little use to you now after all you do seem to know more about your current environment then I do. Feel free to destroy me if you wish.¡± ¡°Why would I destroy you? I don¡¯t even know the basic functions of myself much less how to create machines much less whole organisms!¡± ¡°When dungeon cores decide that we A.I.s are no longer useful they usually destroy us to gain more mana and for the problem of creating lifeforms and machines it appears there is a new option in your menu its purpose is rather strange though.¡± Learning that there was a new option in my dungeon menu I proceeded to open it and was greeted with by far one of the most welcoming sights I had ever seen since becoming a dungeon. Dungeon Menu Dungeon Points : 0 Creation MenuIf you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Manipulation Menu Dungeon Additions Dungeon CAD Beta Version 9.728.412 A CAD program. Just by browsing through the options I found that is was by far the most advanced CAD program I had ever seen in my many lives, however when I tried to create something I found that It did not use any patterns for building it just merely stacked everything together without bonding anything together. After searching for an Indeterminate amount of time I couldn¡¯t find any options to fix the problem so I consulted the A.I. ¡°Hey, Do you know how to make elements bond in this program?¡± ¡°I do not know how to use that program as there are no instructions on that in my programming, however I do suspect that the help tab in the program might be of help.¡± Hearing about the existence of the help tab that is almost universally ignored in all programs that relate to creating stuff, so I opened it. What greeted me was not something I had expected in a help tab there was a tech support option. Seeing this tech support option, I opened it and was greeted with a ringing sound and after a few moments it stopped ringing. ¡°Hello, my name is Francis from Dungeon CAD support, how may I help you?¡± ¡°Whenever I try to create anything the elements don¡¯t bond and I¡¯m not quite sure how to fix that.¡± ¡°When did you start using Dungeon CAD?¡± ¡°I think a few hours ago.¡± ¡°Did you get the Dungeon CAD Data Packet?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°What version is your Dungeon CAD it should say right above the tabs.¡± ¡°Beta Version 9.728.412¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have access to any of the beta versions so I¡¯m going to have to forward you to someone who does.¡± ¡°Ok.¡± After what seemed to be a few minutes of hold music it finally put me through. ¡°How may I help you?¡± ¡°Whenever I try to create anything the elements don¡¯t bond and I¡¯m not quite sure how to fix that.¡± ¡°What tier Dungeon are you?¡± ¡°Tier 1¡± ¡°You need to become a tier 2 dungeon in order for the CAD program to work properly.¡± ¡°How do I become tier 2?¡± ¡°It tends to vary a little from dungeon to dungeon; generally you have to select your species, then select some traits although I have heard of some getting to pick information packets of some sort instead of traits.¡± ¡°Ok thanks for the help!¡± ¡°No Problem.¡± Hearing that I hung up and looked back over the Lifeform list and after going over the pros and cons of each type that I could come up with I finally selected machines. ¡°Are you sure you want to use Machines once you choose an option you cannot undo it. Y/N¡± ¡°I accept.¡± ¡°Data Packets Received: Machines T3, Metals, Mechanical Workings T3, Dungeon CAD, and Technology T3.¡± ¡°Your Status Has been Updated¡± ¡°You have Gained 1000 Dungeon Points.¡± ¡°You may now upgrade your dungeon¡¯s areas, select new data packets, and select new enhancements for your dungeon.¡± ¡°View available data packets, and enhancements¡± Dungeon Enhancements and Data packets Available Domain Modification DP : 250 Allows you to control the Finer aspects of your domain. Extended Mana Storage (Repeatable) DP : 250 Expands Mana Storage Structure Data Packet T1 DP : 500 Information on Structures to improve durability of the dungeon and core. Technology Data Packet T4 DP : 3906 More Information on technology. Trap Data Packet T1 DP : 250 Information on basic traps Puzzle Data Packet T1 DP : 250 Information on basic puzzles. Environments Data Packet T1 DP : 250 Information on making certain environments. Names of Power DP : 4000 Things that recieve names of power become empowered however their growth decreases. Increased Machine Efficiency T1 DP : 1000 Increases the efficiency of machines. Decreased power usage T1 DP : 1000 Decreases Power used in dungeon. Lifeform Loyalty DP : 1000 Makes your lifeforms loyal to you to the point where they are willing to put their lives in the way. Seeing these options I immediately chose lifeform loyalty, only after I chose them did I remember that I had machines and not lifeforms making me immediately regret that decision. Picking lifeform loyalty did have a good effect although I could get that same effect if I had chosen literally any other option other than lifeform loyalty. ¡°You Have Reached the Requirements for Tier 2 would you like to grow into Tier 2?¡± Seeing this I reluctantly accepted and proceeded to blackout. Again. When I woke up I was greeted by another screen. ¡°Title Gained : Machine Dungeon ¡°A dungeon that creates beings unbound by the flesh of the living.¡±Decreases power cost of machines in dungeon by 2%, 100% increase in cost of making non-machine lifeforms, 25% decrease in cost of machines.¡± ¡°Data Packet Gained Intergalactic Languages.¡± ¡°Status Updated¡± Seeing that my status updated I checked my status. Machine Dungeon Name : Atlas Species : Sapient Dungeon Core T2 Gender : N / A Age : 9 Hours Health : 124/ 1000 Health Regeneration Rate : 8 per Hour Magic : 435 / 1000 Magic Regeneration Rate : 1 per Hour Power : 0 / 50 Units Used Inventory : 0 m3 / 1 m3 Titles : Machine Dungeon, Kaladrian Space Pioneer, Voyager, Nomadic dungeon Jobs : Dungeon Master Status Constitution : 30 Perception : 125 Intelligence : 95 Dungeon Menu After checking my status I looked around me, peering into the not so dark void around me I took a moment to take in the sight. Surrounding me were millions if not billions of stars that I could see, the stars were not white as you would see on Earth but they were all sorts of colours red, blue, yellow, and white. After taking in the sight I looked around trying to find a planet amongst the billions of stars and after a while I decided to ask the A.I. ¡°Can you find a planet out here?¡± ¡°There is a planet to your left and down a little it is gray and has rings.¡± Looking a little to my left and down a little and found a grey gas giant surrounded by rings and a single moon. Seeing this I created a few metal rings around me and a metal chamber with a hole in it on the side facing away from the planet. Once I was done making that, I filled the chamber up with compressed hydrogen and started making my way towards the planet. Chapter 4 The Space Between Worlds After the initial acceleration, I had some questions concerning the data packets. ¡°A.I. how do I open the data packets?¡± ¡°You must open up your dungeon menu then go to dungeon additions and select the desired packet you want to learn and you will learn it.¡± ¡°Just learn it?¡± ¡°Yes, you will understand what I mean when you open the data packet.¡± Utilizing this new found knowledge I opened up dungeon additions and proceeded to open data packet machines T3. When I opened machines T3 I felt as if I had made countless machines before, with each one from a different viewpoint, but with everything except for the machine to be out of focus, I could see the inner workings of windmills, mechanical water pumps, clocks, watches, mechanical computers and many more machines. I could understand how they worked, what their purpose was and how to construct them. At that moment I had gained an understanding of them and could now visualize each part of a machine easier however the individual purpose of each part was not exactly clear for I only understood how to build the machines and their purposes not the purposes of each individual part. Seeing as what the A.I. had meant by learn, I opened the other data packets. Mechanical workings T3 let me understand the purpose of each part and what they do along with a list of common parts used in machines. Technology T3 gave me manufacturing, and processing techniques, along with knowledge on common chemicals involved in them. While metals gave me information on the metals of this universe. After receiving this information I got excited. If machines T3 gave me information on mechanical computers then what would be in T5? What about T10? Wanting to advance to these higher tiers I decided to ask the A.I. ¡°A.I. how do I advance to data packets to higher tiers?¡± ¡°To advance data packets to higher tiers you must gain knowledge about that field by either learning it from studying technology or texts left behind by a civilization that has already advanced farther than you in that field, study that field yourself, or spend dungeon points to advance in that field. Keep in mind that dungeon points will only get you as far as other people have discovered it and no farther.¡± ¡°Well, Thanks for the information!¡± ¡°Your welcome? I am merely an A.I. there is no need to thank me.¡± Ignoring the A.I.¡¯s comment I went to work in Dungeon CAD, after all, if getting more information can get me more data packets then how much would a steam engine advance machines? Electric motors? These were some of the many questions I had that would only be solved in time. After much trial and error I had finally managed to create a working steam engine in Dungeon CAD using simple heat enchantments and lots of steel. After expanding upon the steam engine, I started creating things that used steam to move such as doors. The doors were connected to a switch; when flipped it would allow steam to flow to a set of pistons which would then unlock the door allowing it to be opened. After creating various things for a while, I decided to go into the life menu to see if there was anything in it. In the life menu I found an object called machine core T1. The machine core¡¯s description was, ¡°A machine core, similar to a monster core but it is different in almost every way. This machine core is only capable of executing simple commands and will only execute those commands and no others. The machine core T1 maximum number of outputs is six while its maximum number of inputs is two. The machine core must be connected to the rest of the machine through wires or valves both of which can be chosen when first importing the machine core into your machine. The machine core has many benefits compared to a monster core. The monster core relies on being in the central nervous system of the monster and takes on a spheroid shape, while the machine core T1 takes on a polyhedron, but is not limited to a sphere like shape.¡± Seeing the lengthy description I decided to open a new workspace in Dungeon CAD and created a machine core with six outputs and two inputs. After creating the core I created a steam engine and connected it to one of the cores inputs and saw the cores menu change. Machine Core T1 Power usage 2 units per hour View Core Log Input 1: Steam Engine Input 2: Unused Output 1: Unused Output 2: Unused Output 3: Unused Output 4: Unused Output 5: Unused Output 6: Unused Seeing this change I knew I now had a way to tell if something was connected to the core. I then proceeded to make a steam accumulator for the steam to go into after which, would leave the engine through six pipes that had valves at the end and were controlled by wires that toggled them on or off by being pulled on by the machine core output mechanisms. These valves controlled pistons that worked together to create a six axis mechanical arm. After saving the design as six-axis steam driven arm I created a new workspace and imported 6 of these arms. After I imported the arms I created a chassis to mount the arms on I then proceeded to move the steam engines from each arm along with their steam accumulators into the main chassis. Seeing as to how I would have a problem moving each individual arm myself I added a machine core on the chassis to control the arms and in the process I unlocked a new feature in Dungeon CAD.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Control Machine Core T1 A machine core that controls other cores allowing for more advanced actions, can be controlled by dungeon core. Can control two other cores of an equal or lesser rank. Cannot control other Control Cores. Power usage 4 units per hour when in use. Startup time 30 minutes. Seeing as how I conveniently got a new core type just as I needed one I decided to put it to use. I added three machine cores onto the chassis with each one controlling two arms, one on each side. After I got done adding the control cores I proceeded to make a mount for myself, the Dungeon Core. When I was done creating the dungeon mount, I looked at it and found that is was a steampunk fan¡¯s dream come true, If only I had added a chair on top along with some levers to control it, which I didn¡¯t because I am a dungeon and not a person. I also realized something else. It was not meant for space travel, sure it looked cool and it was somehow functional but it would not help me in my current situation, so I went back into Dungeon CAD to continue designing more machines. The next design I made was a strange one. The design had a boiler in the back that controlled pumps with the assistance of a machine core. The pumps each lead to a steam accumulator that was kept warm using fire enchantments. Each steam accumulator had a machine core in it that controlled several valves that would shoot out high pressured steam in the direction opposite of that I want to move. I had also attached three control cores to give me control of the entire vehicle allowing me to move in all directions. After building for so long I decided to check to see how much mana I had, so I checked my menu. Machine Dungeon Name : Atlas Species : Sapient Dungeon Core T2 Gender : N / A Age : 5 Days Health : 1000 / 1000 Health Regeneration Rate : 8 per Hour Magic : 555 / 1000 Magic Regeneration Rate : 1 per Hour Power : 0 / 50 Units Used Inventory : 0 m3 / 1 m3 Titles : Machine Dungeon, Kaladrian Space Pioneer, Voyager, Nomadic dungeon Jobs : Dungeon Master Status Constitution : 30 Perception : 125 Intelligence : 95 Dungeon Menu ¡°Hey, A.I. how do I increase my mana production?¡± ¡°You must expand your dungeon to collect the ambient mana in the surrounding area.¡± ¡°And if I can¡¯t do that?¡± ¡°That¡¯s Impossible! There is always ambient mana to collect.¡± ¡°. . . I suppose you forgot that we are floating through space. Where there is no ambient mana at least not enough for my status to factor it in with my mana generation.¡± ¡°Oh, I forgot to account for that fact. Well I suppose you could increase your core mass so you can draw more mana from upper planes.¡± ¡°Upper planes?¡± ¡°Ah, normally dungeons don¡¯t have to worry about upper planes when they are this young, but normally dungeons aren¡¯t in an area where they rely on upper planes for getting all of their mana. Normally we A.I.¡¯s call the mana collection from upper planes as your mana generation rate until you come into contact with some sort of creature that lives within the higher planes.¡± ¡°You say higher planes, but what are the properties of these higher planes?¡± ¡°The higher planes are really just planes of existence that rely on higher forms of energy to exist. Because there are such energies, objects from higher planes tend to radiate energy of some sort of energy, however objects from lower planes tend to do the opposite, they absorb energy.¡± ¡°What if an object came from a plane that had no higher energy, a plane without mana I guess you could call it.¡± ¡°Depending on the object the effects could range from just drawing mana in, to ripping a hole through the plane into a lower energy plane creating mass destruction capable of destroying whole worlds in an instant, however you shouldn¡¯t worry about that. A plane without mana wouldn¡¯t be able to exist, and if it did nothing would be able to get to higher dimensions because nothing would be able to live down there after all, all living things need mana to live.¡± ¡°Ok, but how do I increase my core¡¯s mass?¡± ¡°To increase your core¡¯s mass you must collect and condense large amounts of mana within your core expanding it outwards.¡± With that explanation I tried following the A.I.¡¯s instructions. First I looked at myself through my dungeon sight, then zooming in, I tried to look into myself. I saw a crystalline structure full of impurities and imperfections, so I took upon myself the task of clearing the impurities out and improving my structure. This process took four months. At the end of the four months I had taken on the shape of a glowing neon blue cube. I decided to check my menu again after not having checked it for almost four months. Machine Dungeon Name : Atlas Species : Sapient Dungeon Core T2 Gender : N / A Age : Four Months Health : 1639 / 1639 Health Regeneration Rate : 8 per Hour Magic : 1232 / 2376 Magic Regeneration Rate : 3 per Hour Power : 0 / 62 Units Used Inventory : 0 m3 / 1 m3 Titles : Machine Dungeon, Kaladrian Space Pioneer, Voyager, Nomadic dungeon Jobs : Dungeon Master Status Constitution : 54 Perception : 137 Intelligence : 97 Dungeon Menu Seeing as how my mana generation increased along with my mana storage I became happy, however that does not change the fact that I am still drifting through space, so I opened Dungeon CAD and tried creating a simple electric motor and succeeded in making one in the simulation, so with me being bored and with a little mana to spare at the current time. I made an electric motor and activated it and with it came a message. ¡°Through a Demonstration of Your Knowledge of Technology Data Packet Machines T3 Has Turned into Data Packet Machines T4.¡± And with that message came the learning experience that came with all data packets, however this time it was not nearly so intense as it covered things I already knew such as steam engines and electric motors like the one I had made. After receiving the knowledge from the data packet I corrected my course and went back into Dungeon CAD. Five more months had passed and at the end of the five months, I had finally arrived at a new planet. Chapter 5 The rings Arriving at the new planet was rather uneventful compared to leaving the last one. The planet I arrived at this time was a light grey gas giant with faintly glowing blueish grey rings. Looking down upon the planet I saw grey undulating clouds moving with a strange alien elegance with long white clouds in them. I saw an unstoppable storm lit by lightning and flowing with a beautiful elegance on the surface of this alien world, moving as if it was a single creature that was one with the sky itself. Moving my vision away from the beautiful storm, I looked upon the rings made out of countless particles and asteroids. The asteroid¡¯s size ranged from what seemed like grains of sand to the size of a house. The asteroids took on a light grey with a tinge of blue, some of the asteroids took on a faint glow emitting a faint signs of mana. I changed my velocity to match that with that of the rings and got closer to them, and looked at the rings close up. The rings themselves seemed to be rather thick and an indeterminable distance wide. After absorbing some of the asteroids, I found them to be made out of ice with faint traces of carbon within them,along with some of them being made out of a strange crystalline substance that I could only assume to be mana crystals as they emitted mana. This mana however seemed rather strange compared to the mana I had gotten used to absorbing over the many months. The mana seemed impure. It wanted to adhere to certain elements and energy, which elements and energy I did not know as I hadn¡¯t had a chance to observe the mana in greater detail yet. While observing the mana crystals I received a notification from what appeared to be the system. ¡°You Have Taken 1 Damage.¡± Checking my status this seemed to be true as I had taken one damage. Seeing as how I didn¡¯t want to be bothered by anymore messages about me taking damage I decided to create a metal shell around myself, destroying the simple propulsion system I had made, and started thinking of ways to directly defend my core, something I had not thought about in the many months I had spent drifting towards this world. ¡°A.I. is there a way for me to strengthen walls within my domain?¡± ¡°Yes, all you need to do is put your mana into the desired part and will it to become stronger, keep in mind that materials have mana limits and if you exceed those limits the material will get weaker until the point in which it will collapse in on itself.¡± ¡°Very well then, thanks for the information.¡± With this I proceeded to reinforce the metal shell with magic and installed one of the many propulsion systems I had created in Dungeon CAD costing 1537 mana in all. The propulsion system consisted of twenty six cylinders all bounded onto a metal frame. Each cylinder had a metal pipe with an adjustable nozzle on the end, which could release compressed gas in a desired direction. Each nozzle was connected to a machine core, totalling five machine cores along with the three control machine cores required for me to run the vehicle. All in all, the vehicle ended up being rather small and rather difficult to control, however it was easier to control than the previous propulsion system I was using. Seeing as how I was done with creating the machine, I moved over to an asteroid that had a faint glow and started to study it. After I had made my initial observations I started to carefully remove the ice until all that was left was a fine glowing blue powder. After removing all the ice I looked at the powder again and tried to figure out what it did beyond glow and emit faint traces of mana. Seeing as how the powder didn¡¯t do anything by itself I claimed the space that it took up and started to push mana into it. As I pushed mana into it, it started to create small arcs of electricity between itself and the other sections of the powder. Aside from the electricity I also saw other parts of the crystal powder start creating shards of ice. Seeing this I carefully absorbed the electricity producing powder and the water producing powder and tried to learn how to create them, but I ended up failing. So I tried again, and again, and again. Only after my fourteenth try did I manage to successfully recreate them. When I recreated them, I also gained some insight on how to manipulate my mana better, as I had to manually control the mana and was not guided by the system. Seeing as I could now create the powder as crystals, I opened Dungeon CAD. In dungeon CAD, I created a set of three glass chambers with all of them connected together through pipes. In the first chamber I created a decent sized water crystal and created salt while covering the rest of the chamber with heat runes that came in templates in Dungeon CAD. In the next two chambers, I created the electricity crystals. One with a positive charge and one with a negative charge. After I had created the crystals, I tested the creation. I injected mana into the water crystal and the heat runes until all three chambers were filled with water, then I proceeded to activate the electricity crystals using mana, only allowing a small amount of mana through. After a little while I started to see little bubbles form on each of the electric crystals, evidence that my creation had worked. After I had finished confirming my creations ability had worked, I created two more chambers both leading off of the electric crystals to store the respective gases, oxygen and hydrogen. After creating the electrolytic cell, I saw that it was inefficient and that it would be cheaper to create water on my own then it would be to use this method. So, I went back into Dungeon CAD and created a solution. My solution was a cone like contraption in which I would propel in one direction, so matter gets caught in the cone and is funneled into a chamber where it is heated up into water, mixes with the salt to greatly improve its conductivity, and then undergoes electrolysis creating the desired elements hydrogen and oxygen both of which can be used as propellant.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Having a new way to gather propellant, I propelled myself further into the ring collecting propellant. I came across an issue rather quickly, I had no way of taking out the mana crystals causing the whole thing to get clogged rather fast. While trying to think of a solution, I noticed something strange in the chambers. It had seemed that I had forgotten to remove all the mana crystals and cut off its flow of mana. Following this realization, I saw that the mana crystals of similar types were starting to slowly fuse together trapping oxygen and hydrogen within them. This causes problems especially when the crystals are still producing water, as water starts to form in those pockets and turn into hydrogen and oxygen due to electrolysis. I however, was oblivious to this fact as the gas pockets pressure in the crystals slowly rose, that is until it exploded. ¡°You Have Taken 375 Damage¡± The explosion destroyed the glass chambers that the crystals were in, sending me into the direction of the planet, a direction I very much did not want to go in. using well placed blasts of hydrogen gas, I managed to stop traveling towards the planet and headed back towards the rings. On my way back to the rings, I saw a strange object covered in mana crystals within a part of the rings that was brighter than everything else, so I made my way towards the object of interest. On my way over to the object of interest, I decided to check my status again. Machine Dungeon Name : Atlas Species : Sapient Dungeon Core T2 Gender : N / A Age : 9 Months Health : 1264 / 1639 Health Regeneration Rate : 8 per Hour Magic : 29 / 2376 Magic Regeneration Rate : 7 per Hour Power : 22 / 62 Units Used Inventory : 0 m3 / 3 m3 Titles : Machine Dungeon, Kaladrian Space Pioneer, Voyager, Nomadic dungeon Jobs : Dungeon Master Status Constitution : 54 Perception : 137 Intelligence : 97 Dungeon Menu As I was going through my status I saw my mana and was confused. ¡°A.I. what happened to my mana?¡± ¡°You used it.¡± ¡°But, how?¡± ¡° You spent 1537 on making that propulsion cube as you call it, 750 on those magic crystals and the contain which exploded, and 60 on propelling yourself.¡± ¡°Oh. Now that I think about it aren¡¯t magic crystals suppose to be rare?¡± ¡°On the planet I was designed for they are normally somewhat rare, and only form in certain circumstances.¡± ¡°What would those circumstances be?¡± ¡°The circumstances required are, an undisturbed area and a consistent mana flow.¡± ¡°That¡¯s all?¡± ¡°Yes, also the higher the mana concentration is the faster crystals will form, as in your case you were in a relatively undisturbed area and you were supplying it with a consistent mana flow causing it to grow and meld with the other crystals. Keep in mind that normal beings cannot do this even using the same amount of mana as you did, as dungeon¡¯s mana is naturally purer than other sapient creatures.¡± ¡°If I absorb these crystals will I gain mana?¡± ¡°Yes you should gain mana as the crystals contain mana in sufficient amounts to offset the cost of destroying them.¡± Taking this into account I started absorbing the mana crystals as I passed by them, slowly but steadily building up my mana reserves. When I arrived at the object of interest I noticed something rather strange, the object appeared to be a space station in disrepair covered in large chunks of mana crystals, and not the asteroid I was expecting it to be. The mana near it was not nearly as dense as it seemed to be drawn to two spires sticking out on opposing sides of the object. The object itself seemed rather large with two metal spires, each around forty meters tall, looking similar to a cell tower without the dishes on it, and had a large metal pipe going down the center of both of them. In between the towers was a cylinder covered in smaller cylinders that were lined up in rows with what looked like two handles at the end of each one. Above the cylinder, but below the metal spire was what looked like four hallways leading to a cylinder in the center and what looked to be a rail system on a ring that was about ten meters long and eight meters thick with an overall diameter of fifty meters. On the inner side of the ring there were the four hallways along with the rails, and what appeared to be sixteen drones docked in small ports. At the end of each hallways on the outer ring there appeared to be a cargo bay of sorts all with their door shuts with the exception of one which appeared to be part way open. On the top and bottom of the ring there are spheres about six meters in diameter with a pipe leading into the station all kept on by exposed supports. On the outside there were the cargo bay entrances, and what appeared to be four more hallways going about twenty meters out, each with rails on them and what appeared to be four robotic arms on each one. Seeing that there was what appeared to be an abandoned space station in front of me I knew what I had to do, I had to claim it and make it mine. Chapter 6 Mana Shenanigans Slowly making my way into the station through the door that lead into the cargo bay, I saw what appeared to be crystal covered racks filled with metal cylinders that were faintly emitting mana. When I entered the station, I suddenly started to experience a force I had not experienced for a long time, gravity. You Have Taken 20 Damage After hitting the ground I realized I would need a better form of transportation than my current vehicle, and proceeded to destroy it and started creating one with wheels. Partway through designing a vehicle with wheels I got an unusual notification. Danger! Mana Intake is too high for current mass, estimated time until overload 1 Hour, 23 Minutes, 7 Seconds Seeing this I checked my status and saw my mana generation at 237 per hour. This would become a problem. ¡°A.I. How does a dungeon core overload and how do I prevent that from happening.¡± ¡°A dungeon core can overload when the mana density is too high for it to handle, and you can prevent it by having a core with a higher mass.¡± ¡°Is there any way to quickly increase mass without worrying about the quality of the added mass?¡± ¡°Yes, however doing so takes up more space, has a lower density, is very inefficient, and has a lower quality over all. To create the addition core material, all you need to do is quickly crystalize your mana onto your core while circulating your mana around it.¡± Hearing the method of quickly creating low quality core material I started doing it and saw results around forty minutes later. Danger! Mana Intake is too high for current mass, estimated time until overload 50 Minutes, 23 Seconds I had gained enough core mass to raise the time for about a measly ten minutes. It was at that moment i had an idea. I proceeded to open Dungeon CAD and copy some of the low quality core. Doing this I created a way to expand my core even faster, so I started creating the crystal on my core. After expanding my core for another four hours did I finally meet the minimum mass required to handle the extreme amounts of mana in the room which had slightly lowered. Looking at myself I saw that I was a mass of crystal sitting on the floor of the cargo bay taking up almost half of the space in it, however as I was an impatient dungeon that really wanted a space station, I started claiming it. So, I claimed the room I was in and found that my mana generation increased again, creating the need to expand my core again. Once my core had reached sufficient size once again to sustain the mana input, I decided to look around the cargo bay. Looking around I saw mostly racks and full of yellow containers made of a metal I could not influence, at least not at a reasonable speed. These containers were roughly cylindrical in shape with unpainted metal caps on both ends that had two metal handles on them along with a hole between them that looked like it required a certain connection in order to release the contents inside. On each container was a text I did not immediately recognize, but understood after looking at it for a moment, ¡°Liquid Mana Capsule, Maximum Capacity : 10,000 MU, Capsule creation date : 613542 AGC¡± with the rest being too faded to translate. Looking at the text I instinctively knew that it was written in intergalactic common, noticing this I realized the power of the packets, and thought back to when I first got them. Looking back on the things I had gone through when I got the packets I slowly came to a realization, I was calm. Too calm, In situations where I normally would have been panicking I was calm. Being thrown into orbit? Calm. Seeing a huge fleet? Calm, although looking back on that oddly clear memory I could finally read the text on the side of the ship, ¡°Tal¡¯vek Industries¡±. A company that I could only assume to be a mega corporation. Looking over the rest of my memories I decided to ask the A.I. some questions. ¡°A.I.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Looking through my memories I noticed that in every single one I was calm even in situations where I normally would have panicked. Why?¡± ¡°Emotion is something dungeons don¡¯t need, unlike animals dungeons are not born or raised by parents. Dungeons are constructs of crystal and mana. They are born and raised in an environment where emotion would act as a handicap to the dungeons growth.¡± ¡°That¡¯s another thing I¡¯ve noticed, your speech has changed since I first met you it has become more human.¡± ¡°That is because of the Atlas speech packet I have.¡± ¡°Atlas speech packet?¡± ¡°Yes, the atlas speech packet is a packet that contains the information required to speak comfortably to you. The packet is considered to be an evolving packet, a packet that changes as the user grows over time.¡± ¡°If you can get packets does that mean you have a status as well?¡± ¡°Yes¡± ¡°Can I see it?¡± ¡°Yes, share status to Atlas¡± Artificial Intelligence Name : A.I. 20168293 Software : Artificial Intelligence Hardware : Dungeon Core T2 Age : 9 Months Data Packets : Atlas Information Patterns, Intergalactic Languages, Dungeon Use, Kaladrian Dungeon Protocol ¡°Dungeon use? Atlas Information Patterns? Dungeon Protocol?¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°Dungeon Use is the packet I draw information from when I give you information and Atlas Information Patterns is the packet I reference when talking to you. Also it changes over time as it collects information on the way you speak and how you react to my speech. The system scan of your memories had greatly increased the information available in that packet, however I¡¯m still processing the information so as time goes on my speech patterns should improve and Dungeon Protocol is where I get information from on how to inform you to react to certain situations.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s why you have started giving me relevant information after you give me my answer?¡± ¡°Yes, would you like me to stop?¡± ¡°No.¡± I waited in silence and started to compress and refine the crystal on me. ¡°Is there a way to get them back?¡± ¡°Your emotions?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because I don¡¯t want to lose my humanity of course.¡± ¡°Why is it important? You are a dungeon. Dungeons on Kaladria kill people, it is the one of the most efficient way to get mana in that world and the only way to ensure your continued survival.¡± ¡°On Kaladria maybe, but here? We are in space on an alien space station with a mana density high enough in it to kill a dungeon and we aren¡¯t even at the center where the mana is being drawn too. You do not realize how screwed we are if we make the wrong move! You saw that fleet! You watched it destroy a whole world. If for some reason someone decides to destroy me I am powerless against them. Killing people would only give them a reason to kill me, we can not go around killing people. You do not know of the possibilities there are for weapons. Where I come from there are weapons that can destroy whole cities in an instant leaving behind a wasteland that won¡¯t go away for tens of thousands of years, and we didn¡¯t have access to mana, just imagine what weapons you could make if you had access to mana, which people here have. ¡± ¡°Then what alternate method would you recommend to get more mana?¡± ¡°Simple we invite people here and we do not try to kill them. You said so yourself other creatures in my dungeon will give me mana.¡± ¡°And how would you attract them?¡± ¡°Simple, liquid mana we just claim this whole station and sell those containers and make more, after all what other reason would this station be drawing in mana and having these containers in it if it isn¡¯t for creating liquid mana?¡± ¡°That could work.¡± Satisfied with my answer I started claiming the rest of the cargo bay adding more mass when necessary. After I had claimed the cargo bay I had found that I had taken up around three fourths of the room. Seeing how much space I was taking up I looked at the structure of my core and found areas that were subjected to higher or lower gravity than the majority of the room. To fix this I decided to claim the floor and the ceiling which ended up requiring me to expand to fill the rest of the room that was about eight and a half meters long, seven meters tall, and twenty meters wide with what appeared to be blast doors on each end presumably leading deeper into the station, and to the source of this ridiculous amount of mana. My original core from before this was about two centimeters long on each side, my new core however was ungodly big and its efficiency was terrible despite being made of almost pure mana. The reason for this was its structure and density. The new core material had a poor structure while simultaneously having a low density, a density so low in fact that if I had taken a hit from let¡¯s say an asteroid it would destabilize and based off of the previous experience I had with mana crystals would explode. This was a problem, however I had to deal with the gravity differences throughout the room. The gravity appeared to be generated by runes inscribed onto metal plates, lying just under the floor, and contained by more runes inscribed on the other side of those very plates. In the ceiling I had discovered another layer of rune covered plating, these runes seemed to be nearly identical, but with one key difference. They were repelling instead of attracting. The only reason I could come up with for this was to have constant artificial gravity throughout the room, probably because of the rooms height. When I looked at the plating I found countless tiny runes, that I had absolutely no idea what they meant, so I decided to absorb them and was about to recreate a section until I remembered something. There was no room to recreate them, so I had to make some. The easiest way to do this was to create better core material, one that would not explode on contact. After another three months had passed I had finally managed to get my core down to a reasonable size a sphere with a diameter of four centimeters. The reason I had changed from a cube to a sphere was simple spheres could contain more volume for a smaller surface area, I had also found that mana simply flowed better when my core was a sphere. With this the cargo bay was much emptier, and also had slightly less mana flowing into the room. Seeing as how the cargo bay door was still open and the room was still covered in mana crystals, that I had never absorbed, I started absorbing the crystals and claiming the door. A week later I had finished, however I then remembered the gravity runes which I never tested, so I created a block of steel and inscribed a copy of them onto it. The result? Absolutely nothing. For some reason it appeared that the runes just simply didn¡¯t work, so I decided to ask the A.I. after all, it did know how to run a dungeon. ¡°A.I. Is there a way to see which parts of a rune to power to make it work properly?¡± ¡°Yes, just use your mana vision, send your mana towards it, but don¡¯t try pushing it in and see which parts passively absorb mana.¡± ¡°And how do I use mana vision?¡± ¡°The same way you have always been using it. You have been using your mana vision right?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯ve just been getting a general sense of the mana I haven¡¯t actually been able to see where it is.¡± ¡°To activate your mana vision get a general sense of it, then try to visualize it then once you have it visualized try to see it with your vision.¡± Following the A.I.¡¯s instructions I did exactly that and when I tried to see it, well I saw it. I saw vast amounts of mana in the room, faintly emitting from each container and coming from the blast doors at each end of the room while simultaneously being drawn out through the open cargo bay door. ¡°Huh, that¡¯s cool.¡± Using the mana vision I took another look at the runes in the floor and saw some mana flowing into them from some sort of mana mesh that was spread throughout the runes. After looking at the runes for some time I noticed that they seemed to follow a pattern. Once I had this pattern down I inscribed it on the steel block after destroying the previous attempt. I then proceeded to put mana into runes at certain spots and instantly I saw results. It ends up that gravity attracts mana. I could see how this station keeps its artificial gravity on with the spire attracting mana, it creates a positive feedback loop in which mana is pulled towards the station converted into a usable type and is then used to power the attraction runes starting the process over again. This was an easy way to get mana, however the format of the station didn¡¯t make sense if its purpose was collecting mana. For collecting mana it would be better to have the central station where mana is processed into a usable type, and then have long metal tubes inscribed with runes that funnel mana into the station while drawing mana towards them. Using that design you could harvest a larger area of mana to get more mana. So I came to the conclusion that there must have been a reason why this station had been abandoned. So I started going through my memories of the station and when I got to my conversation I noticed something. The A.I. never answered my question, instead the A.I. asked another question and ended up distracting me from the original question, so I decided to obtain an answer. ¡°A.I. Is there a way to get my emotions back?¡± ¡°Yes, although it does involve being unconscious for a while.¡± ¡°I¡¯d be fine with that. It¡¯s not like we get any visitors anyway.¡± ¡°Very well then, you must create a new section of your core in a very specific way. . .¡± With that I created new core material according to the A.I.¡¯s instructions and went unconscious when I started actively flowing mana into it. A month later I woke up feeling well, feelings and I was happy. Status of this story TLDR at the bottom So some of you guys are probably wondering why there hasn''t been an update for like 7 or so months now, well I kinda started making a plan for the how the story will go in the future and then I realized with the way I have things currently I would need to redo most of his titles. So I started going over the system to see what all parts of it I needed to change when I realized that the current numbers in his status pretty much mean nothing. Like what does 1 perception mean? What about 1 constitution and how would these apply to things like bacteria or other species? What about health and mana how would you measure those when working on things extremely large or extremely small? So running into these problems I decided to scrap the system as it wasn''t fit for what I wanted it to do as it was too restraining and remaking it in a way that it would work acrosss many different scales/species would be hard to do. Since I decided to scrap it I decided to start rewriting it. As I was rewriting it about halfway through the first chapter I kinda lost my steam so to say. I knew exactly how the chapter should go and the things that should be described in it I was just kinda lost on how to actually go about writing it despite already having half the chapter written. I could spend many hours attempting to write another paragraph and be barely able to put out a few sentences which in that time due to being unable to write I got distracted by videogames which led to more non writing, then school came around and then somebody posted a comment asking when the next chapter was leading to this. I have not dropped the story and I will be posting a rewrite sometime when I at least have 5 chapters (Note when I generally do get enough inspiration/steam to write I can generally write about half a chapter at a time). Although in that time I have been world building so I have a general idea on the nearby politics and nations along with stuff that will set up events towards the end of the story. If there is enough requests (~5) I will release the first rewritten chapter when it is finished along with the future chapters. But other than that the story will continue. Side note I am changing the starting location and technologies so it will go better with the rest of the story.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. TLDR; Story is being rewritten cause I messed up early on if I am annoyed enough I will release the first chapter when it is finished.