Right. First things first, what can dungeons do. Know thyself and all that.

[Eita] So, what exactly can dungeons do? It’s no good to just have a bunch of assumptions in my head and run off and end up doing something stupid after all.

[Saeri] Um it’s all just information I read at some point if that’s ok. Dungeons cores consist of a core and a soul. People think that a soul is summoned at random by either the core or one of the gods. Usually it’s an animal or insect or something though so a dungeon is pretty unstable at the start. Dungeons usually don’t learn to think very well until they’ve grown quite a bit. Then the dungeon core creates a body that the soul is familiar with. It’s sort of a reflection of the dungeon core and it’s the easiest way to predict what sort of dungeon it will be. When the dungeon core is destroyed, the body is destroyed, although since the body is made of mana it can be destroyed and remade. Ah, that’s right. All living things tied to the dungeon seem to have a crystal. It seems to act like a second heart, except it absorbs mana from the environment and distributes it, just like the actual dungeon core.

Uwah is she really telling me there’s a crystal embedded in my body?

[Saeri] Oh and the special thing about dungeons is their power over mana and matter. While it doesn’t say anything about their abilities as a mage, dungeons are naturally competent at controlling mana and turning it into matter, and vice versa. Their ability to break just about anything down into mana and to use it to create monsters and treasure is what makes dungeons unique.

[Eita] Well. I knew there was a lot to learn but that’s a lot to take in. I guess I’ll have to mull over all of that and ask you more later. But first things first, I heard something about destroying and creating matter. That should get us a nice place to sleep. So…. how do I do that?

[Saeri] If you think status you should get a screen with your innate skills. Thinking about the skill, you should get a feeling of how to use it.

Huh. I wonder how that works. Well, no harm in trying. Status

Name Eita Race   Dungeon Level 1 Mana 100 Mana Generation 1 / hour Dungeon Points 10 Skills Territory Expansion, Mana Sight, Mana Conversion, Dungeon Presence, Avatar, Dungeon History, Dungeon Summoning, Dungeon Soul Binding

Avatar Race Human Strength 4 Vitality 4 Speed 4 Perception 5 Mana Control 5 Mana Pool 100 (Shared)

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[Eita] Hm. Most of these are pretty self explanatory. Let’s see what these skills do.

[Territory Expansion] allows the user to push mana into the environment to claim it as part of the dungeon. Mana regeneration is proportional to territory claimed.

[Mana Sight] allows the user to “see” the flow of mana.

[Mana Conversion] is a dungeon specific skill. Allows for the conversion of mana to matter, and vice versa. The pattern of things broken down in this manner is retained by the dungeon.

[Dungeon Presence] is a dungeon specific skill. Allows for the dungeon master to be everywhere in the dungeon at once. Default state of existence if the Avatar is destroyed.

[Avatar] is a false body. This avatar is gifted by the gods and takes a form the soul is comfortable with. If destroyed, a new one may be created with mana. Does not have a mana pool of it's own, uses the dungeon's mana pool.

[Dungeon History] is a dungeon specific skill. Allows for the viewing and purchasing of various dungeon abilities or summons, as long as they have been independently developed by at least 2 dungeons before.

[Dungeon Summoning] is a dungeon specific skill. Life that leaves the dungeon requires a mana crystal. Automatically summons a soul fragment to be bound to life created by the dungeon.

[Dungeon Soul Binding] is a dungeon specific skill. Allows the dungeon control over some souls. Souls already under the dungeon command can be altered to become less sensitive to death. Souls under the dungeon command can be reused automatically if another body of the same type is prepared.

Ok I guess the most of those are alright but what’s with that last one....

[Eita] Right…. Well let’s just start by converting some of this wall into mana I guess?

[Mana Sight]

Woah. Have you ever taken a dusty object and polished it and watch the color transform from dusty and bland to a richer, deeper color? It feels like that. The world seemed to gain a layer of color. With this new mana sight, it felt like I was colorblind my whole life and I’m seeing the world for the first time. I could see the density of mana changing, swirling. I could see veins of higher density mana through the tree trucks. I could see that the mana was getting thicker towards the piece of amethyst that is now my core. Interesting.

I take a closer look at the back wall of the cave. I could see the mana pulsing just underneath the surface. I stretch my hand towards it and

[Mana Conversion]

The real world seems to fade as the mana is brought further into focus. I tried willing it to cut a cube out and I could see, if one could see something that was only inside their head, lines stretching into the rock. It was almost like drafting that I did back in college. I had spent untold hours creating sketches and models. And with this, there is no clunky interface. I think I can work with this.

It took a little time, but I created a temporary bedroom for the two of us tonight. A simple four poster bed of rock. Absorbing the other offerings allowed me to make several rabbit hide bed sheets. Rabbit hide stuffed with herbs worked fine as a pillow. We had rabbit meat roasted over an open fire. Luckily Saeri knew how to start a fire easy enough. We called it an early night after eating and chatting some more. Of course I slept holding Saeri extra tight. She might be young but she is an adorable little thing after all.

My last thoughts before drifting off with her was that this wasn’t so bad. This dungeon business seems interesting and I’ve got a few ideas in my head. As long as it’s interesting, isn’t it fine to live as a dungeon?

Well, not like I can do anything about it anyways. I’ll just keep doing what needs to be done and try to keep things interesting, as I’ve always done.