Chapter 4: Initilization
Welcome to the Dungeon of Flowers, Bones and Sinew
Slots: 6/7
Your party is currently located at the entrance to the garden maze, reach the manor and face the guardian before he comes looking for you.
Be Warned: you won’t like what comes out of the mansion.
As this is a waning dungeon all challenges have been increased by a percentage of (260%) in relation to how long the dungeon has persisted (10% per year waning). It will not do so much longer. As a result all rewards will take the challenge into account.
This time the first thing Halus saw as he became aware of the world around him was a new notification. He quickly dismissed the message with a flex of his mental will. The action was growing easier.
“Is this going to be a regular thing now?” Shae groaned. The group stood in their same positions, Halus at the front with his arm still extended and the others behind him.
“It wasn’t as bad as the first time.” Edgar patted her on the shoulder. His palm lingered as she relaxed.
“Still didn’t like it” she replied and received nods of agreement from everyone but Halus.
Halus was focused on the Garden maze in front of them.
“So no cells to get out of, then?” Hecate asked with could have been genuine disappointment or really well acted bravado. Fae were hard to read at the best of times, these were not those.
They were outside and the sky was dark and cloudy. The walls of the maze extended around the group with the only exit leading deeper inside. Blue roses provided a spatter of light to the maze that if Halus didn’t know any better he would have thought was dying. Looming over everything in the distance was a massive decrepit dark wood manor. Birds that didn’t quite look right flew overhead in lazy circles.
“I’ll go first. Let me get ahead for a bit and we’ll see what we’re dealing with.” He waited until each member of the group verbally agreed before heading in.
He reached out with his soul force as he advanced. With his senses extended for six meters in every direction his sensitive soul should be able to give him a bit of a warning before it noticed him.
He advanced slowly forward only picking up on the life of the maze walls. The passage was large enough for a group to walk three abreast and still be able to defend themselves without getting in each other's way. That number would drop to two were the group all giants.
Halus kept to the walls.
He took the corners pressed close enough to the flowers that he could feel the thorns tug at his tunic. Ignoring it he did his best to focus on the information coming in through his soul sense. He’d led the aspirants past three turns and two forks in the maze and he was starting to think there was nothing to the challenge but trying to get out. Which might be hard enough on its own.
Halus hadn’t told the aspirants but he was pretty sure he’d lost track of what turns they’d made to get there and it was only after realizing that that he had the thought that mapping their path out could have been helpful. Not that he’d seen any defining gestures to a single hall at this point. Just the same blue roses that had a peculiar light smell of rot to them. What he could feel of the next hall was just more of the same, it felt as empty as the one he was in.
So far the only signs of life were from his group.
He made the turn just as something new entered the range of his senses. He saw them before they saw him. Four people? No, not people. Corpses. Four corpses were tending the maze walls with what looked to be rusted gardening tools. They were covered in deathly wounds that a person couldn’t survive, one’s head looked to only be connected by a chunk of flesh as it hung lazily to the side. Underneath all the blood and grime they were all wearing the same uniform.
His soul rolled over them before they noticed him and the confusion of what he felt made him pause long enough to read the text that appeared above their heads.
Garden Shambler Puppet Lv. 5
Garden Shambler Puppet Lv. 4
Garden Shambler Puppet Lv. 4
Garden Shambler Puppet Lv. 6
He could feel strands of life from what were clearly the dead. They noticed him before he could figure out why.
The nearest corpse took three stumbling steps towards Halus and lashed out with a long and sharp pair of trimmers. Halus stepped out of the reach of the uncoordinated slash but when he tried to trip it in retaliation the Shambler puppet, as the text called it, suddenly became coordinated enough for Halus' lazy low kick at its legs to miss.
It pulled its leg back and turned the retreat into a perfect spin. It tried to take Halus’s head off when the trimmers came back around. A straight kick to its center mass pushed the thing away quick enough for the blade to graze his stone infused skin.
There were sparks as the blades dragged along the front of his neck but the trimmers were too rusted and dull to have a chance to pierce his stone giant flesh.
The other Shambler puppets rushed forward as the first hit the ground. Halus leaped forward instantly with the intent to end the first before the others made it to them. He wasn’t fast enough.
Another pair of trimmers came for his throat, this time he wasn’t able to dodge. Rusted blades drew a bit more than sparks as he turned his charge into a dive out of the way as best he could. The move saved his life but put him far enough away for the downed Shambler Puppet to recover. It also cleared the way for two of them to go after his group.
“Keep your distance!” Halus yelled, the group was further back but the fact that they were still in his soul sense meant they were still too close. He thought to beat them to the group but the last two dead chose that same moment to charge him.
“Oh give me a break.” Halus growled. With a familiar flex of his will he leaned on his aspect of stone and hardened a small part of his soul sense into a wall in front of the two shamblers heading at the defenseless asperents.
The first hit the wall with a crunch that Halus hoped meant it was done with the fight. While the second only clipped the edge of the invisible construct. The force of the blow spun it off into one of the Mazes walls where it vanished. He cursed but didn’t have the time to check on the thing when the two coming his way were about to reach him. Both held trimmers as their main weapon but one of them also had a watering can that it wasn’t afraid to use as a bludgeon.
It came in with a heavy overhead cross with the improvised weapon. Halus used the same trick of hardening parts of his soul sense to block and step into the Shamblers guard. Two left jabs to distract and a spinning elbow to crush the skull put it down permanently.
He pushed the falling corpse into the second Shambler as it ran for him. A gross squelch came from the defeated shambler as the second one's trimmers pierced its back. The dead Shambler slumped to the ground as gravity took hold, its body dragged the trimmers from the dead fingers of its companion. Halus didn’t waste the opportunity. He leapt to the air and before he could start coming back down he hardened a part of his soul to create a foothold to jump higher.
At the peak of his second jump Halus made one more step at an angle. When he pushed off again he did so with a flicking motion to swing his legs up and over his head for added momentum. And then he came down. When his knee hit the Shambler’s face he felt bones shatter and viscera explode out past him.
When he landed he could see that the thing's face was caved in and its head had been warped beyond recognition. Green ooze leaked from its mouth and eyes. The same ooze was coming out of the head and stab wound of the first he’d killed. A quick check in with his soul sense told him the one who had run into the wall was actually down for the count as well.
He was about to start looking for the last one, the one that had been knocked into the maze wall, but a motion close to his aspirants gave him all the warning he needed. A quickly hardened construct appeared just in time to block a pair of trimmers striking out for Hecate’s neck.
Hecate stumbled back with a surprised yelp at the sudden clash only inches from her. The last Shambler had somehow merged with the maze wall and traveled the rest of the way to the group through it like it was water. As the group retreated it stepped the rest of the way out of the wall to follow.
Halus was running towards them. A second strike was blocked by another small shield wall, and a third. It was about to strike at Hecate for a fourth time when Halus finally arrived.
He caught the arm in an over the head cross guard that he turned into a grapple. With his strength and weight from his dense giant bones and muscle the shambler had no chance to pull back. In rapid motion Halus spun behind the shambler, taking its arm with him, he used his free hand to grab the thing by what was left of its hair and slammed it face first into the earth with a sickening crunch.
When he pulled his hand back it was covered in that green ooze and what seemed like plant matter.
Hecate was on the ground, her legs having given out from the shock of almost dying. The others had kept their feet but the pure terror on their faces wasn't too far off from that of the Fae girls.
“Are you okay?” He asked as he reached out his hand to help her up. They both looked at the ooze-covered hand in disgust before Halus switched to his other.
The Fae girl looked like she wanted to cry but she nodded her head and accepted the help up.
“I’m not hurt.” She said and with the way she said it Halus had to wonder if she was telling him or reminding herself.
“Do you need a moment?” He asked the question to the group seeing that they all had been shaken up by the attack.
Prince Edgar seemed the most ready to continue but looking at the group the prince chose to speak up for everyone's sake.
“Perhaps just a few minutes to calm down would be good.” The young man looked at each of his companions with meaningful looks until they all agreed.
Halus nodded in appreciation of the young man stepping up. He also wanted to take some time so that he could look at the notifications the light in his eye was going crazy to tell him about.
He waited until they’d moved further into the maze, and put some distance between the shambler puppet bodies, to see what the light had to say.
You have slain Garden Shambler Puppet Lv. 5
You have slain Garden Shambler Puppet Lv. 4
You have slain Garden Shambler Puppet Lv. 4
You have slain Garden Shambler Puppet Lv. 6
You have no combat oriented path to accept XP at this time.
Congratulations you have slain an integrated monster and proven yourself worthy.
* Status sheet available.
* Basic class Choice available.
* Skill Roll
Halus didn’t know what XP was but the thought that he was missing out on something potentially helpful was irritating in a situation like this. Using context clues he wondered if that basic class choice option would solve that problem in the future. As he considered it another notification appeared.
Basic class choices
The Basic classes are:
* Warrior
* Rouge
* Ranger
* Healer
* Mystic
* Craftsman
Choose
Six options. Halus was presented with six class options. They seemed self explanatory but he had a feeling that he could pull up a more concrete explanation. So he did.
Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
First was the Warrior.
Warrior:
The Warrior is a physical based class that focuses on the physical stats and willpower. Vitality +2, Willpower +1, Strength +2
According to the description the class seemed to be about what he was expecting. Stats didn’t make much sense but he knew what strength, agility and all the others were. If this path increased it by one, he had to wonder how much of an increase that really was. What was his strength now?
At the thought a new notification took over his vision.
Status Sheet:
Name: Halus Bundr
Race: Inverted Stone Giant
Age: 28
Stats:
* Strength: 11
* Agility: 8
* Dexterity:6
* Vitality: 13
* Will: 10
* Mind: 10
* Perception: 5
* Spirit: 9(12)
Traits:
* Inverse Giant (33% base increase to spirit attribute)
* Mineral Eater
Classes:
* N/A
* N/A
* N/A
* N/A
* N/A
Skills:
* (Roll for Random skill selection)
Mutations:
* Adherent of the Gates:
* Soul Sight (Will +1, Mind +1)
* Stones Embrace(Strength +2 )
Halus had an easy time making sense of what he was seeing until he got to the mutations part. This light in his eye, this new reality, called his path a “mutation”? That wasn’t very nice. Halus would have to figure out a way to change that if he could.
His “stats” showed his strength and power in numerical values that he wasn’t sure how to verify. What did a six in dexterity look like?
He wiggled his fingers and had to admit they weren’t the most smooth and quick motions he could make.
He took a moment to check in on the group of asperants. What were their stats? The thought born of simple curiosity had him realizing that it might be best to try and get them “initialized" as fast as possible if these classes could actually make them stronger. For now they were sitting on their butts trying to come to terms with one of them almost dying. Protecting them until they got home could only come down to how well he could help them protect themselves.
He also needed to get stronger himself.
The next class was Rouge.
Rouge
A Rouge is a physical base class that focuses on the physical stats. Agility +2, Perception +2, Dexterity +1
Halus could already see how this was going to go when it came to the class descriptions and their simple explanations. The other classes all had as bland descriptions as the first two.
Ranger
A Ranger is a physical class that focuses on the physical stats. Agility +2, Dexterity +1, Perception +1, Strength +1
Healer
A Healer is a magic class that focuses on the mental stats. Spirit +2, Will +2, Mind +1.
Mystic
A Mystic is a magic class that primarily focuses on the mental stats. Will+2, Mind +2, dexterity +1
Craftsman
A craftsman is a magic class that primarily focuses on mental stats. Dexterity +2, Mind +2, Will +1
The shift in wording to “primarily focuses on mental stats” caught his attention at first but it only took a second to realize it was a minor difference. These class descriptions provided him with almost nothing.
Although, the information on stats still wasn’t as clear as he would have liked. He at least knew that each class could add something to what he already had.
The question was did he pick a class that increased what he already was good at or that covered some of his weaknesses.
Part #5
Halus took a moment to consider. What would the fighting style he already used be classified as? Shae had called him a pugilist. That was true enough as he’d always preferred to use his body as his weapon. But he also relied heavily on his soul to guide and protect him. Was that magic? His Path was to guide and defend, was that a warrior?
Did he still want to be a warrior?
When he was a child, before his siblings had outgrown him, being a warrior had been his dream. Losing that dream to the reality of his size had been hard. Yes, he knew that he could have still lived that life. There were countless non-giants who counted themselves warriors. He’d wanted to be like his father, a powerful man who relied on his body and strength to overwhelm his opponents.
The patriarch of the Bundr clan had once eaten from a vein of ether infused Heart iron. As any Stone Giant would, he devoured the whole vein and infused the powerful metal into his skin and bones. He’d built a legacy of power on his fists. Was that what still what Halus wanted?
He knew it wasn’t. Halus had moved on from the idea of being like his father when his mutation came to light. When he chose to become a guide instead. His soul search had made him who he was today. He felt his class, the first one at least, should be something that reinforced that. The Inverse Giant mutation showed him that he was probably naturally what this world would classify as a magic user. Without even considering the Rogue or Ranger Halus moved on to the magic classes. It really only took another second of consideration to throw away the craftsman class. The last decision was harder than it would have been in any other situation.
In his heart he knew which one he wanted to pick. He wasn’t exactly sure what a Mystic was but he thought it might be the closest of the two options to what he imagined from a magic user. A Healer was a healer though. Here they were in a life or death situation and he was the only one who could fight. The decision came down to if he wanted to improve his groups longevity or his ability to get through groups.
“What’s the move, Guide Halus?” Bab asked, bringing his attention back to the group once again. They had gathered beside him as he considered his options and all watched him with expectant eyes.
“Are you almost done reading whatever news the light had to tell you?” Prince Edgar asked before he could answer Bab. “I think we’ve all caught our breath.”
The Prince’s eagerness suddenly reminded Halus that they had come in here looking for something for the Prince to bond to himself before he passed the first gate. Where he would take a path as a healer. It made sense that if the Prince were to be integrated into the system like Halus he’d probably choose the Healer class. Wouldn’t he?
“Yeah. I’m just about ready but I have to make a choice before i’m done.” He explained the situation to the group. The classes turned out to be the easiest part to explain as it didn't seem so different from a path. That was also the most difficult part. Like him, the aspirants couldn’t understand why whatever system the light used would categorize their paths as a mutation. And why had the name been changed to Adherent of The Gates? These were questions he had had as well but he also didn’t think now was the time to dive into it. He instinctively knew that the new name referred to his path and he would deal with that when he had more time.
“What’s important to try and understand right now are the classes and whatever mystery skill comes with being integrated.” The Prince said, once again proving all his royal training was worthwhile. “I don’t know what the difference is between our paths and classes but for now there is only one real way to find out. Guide Halus, please help me integrate with this new power system. If you do, I plan to choose the Healer class.”
Halus nodded in agreement, as he’d been planning to make sure they were all integrated. The assurance that the Prince planned to take the Healer class meant that Halus’ own choice had been made as well. He pulled his class choices back up and quickly chose the Mystic class. Without his input the Status screen reappeared, with a small change.
Status Sheet:
Name: Halus Bundr
Race: Inverted Stone Giant
Age: 28
Stats:
* Strength: 13
* Agility: 8
* Dexterity:7
* Vitality: 13
* Will: 12
* Mind: 12
* Perception: 5
* Spirit: 9(12)
Traits:
* Inverse Giant (33% base increase to spirit attribute)
Classes:
* Mystic (Basic) Lv. 1 :
First Skill: Kindle
* N/A
* N/A
* N/A
* N/A
Skills:
* (Roll for Random skill selection)
Mutations:
* Adherent of the Gates:
* Soul Sight (Will +1, Mind +1)
* Stones Embrace(Strength +2 )
Not only did he now have a class in one of his five slots but his stats had gone up.
He hadn’t needed to see the improvement in numbers to know it. He was suddenly more certain of what he was doing. He hadn’t been truly sure that coming in here with his aspirants had been the best Idea. In the back of his mind he’d been pushing down the doubt he’d felt since finishing off the shamblers. Now, it was easier. It wasn't that he suddenly believed that everything would be fine but he was a bit more content to see things through.
His mind’s improvement wasn’t immediately noticeable. There wasn’t as much of a sensation of change as there was a speeding up of what was already there. How did you know if you were thinking faster? Could you reliably compare the speed of the before to now? Both felt so natural. Halus could only guess that the difference would become more noticeable as he grew used to it.
Dexterity on the other hand was an immediate shift. Halus had never realized how stiff he actually was. His hands felt more under his control than he could have imagined possible before. People always said that Giants were a lumbering awkward race outside of combat, he’d never seen himself that way until now.
Dexterity was his second lowest stat, Agility his third. Neither was above ten like the rest of his stats. What would his body feel like if he’d brought those two stats into alignment with his other stats. He wanted to see what he could make his body do now, he had the feeling that he could apply his strength better than he could before but wasn’t certain.
Halus might have tried to get the group moving right then and there were he more impulsive, but he had a new skill that he didn’t understand and a second skill still waiting to be generated from a random roll. Instead he thought about his skill, kindle. It was a fire skill, kind of, more of a fire starter skill. kindle allowed him to start a fire where he touched, the intensity of which depended on his will stat and the skills base damage.
Kindle
Start a fire anywhere. Fire longevity depends on fuel source. Base Damage 3 x Will, Damage over time 1 per tick by half of will. Mana Cost 6
Like the classes the skill didn’t offer much information but Halus felt he got what mattered, sort of. The part about Mana cost had him confused on how much mana he had and in the same vein if it tracked damage did it also track health.
Once again thinking about it provided his answer.
Health: 150/156
Mana: 144/144
He couldn’t complain about how responsive this new power system was. As he thought about what he needed to know, the light provided the info like the perfect assistant.
He just had to hope that it was a good enough assistant to know not to pop up while he was fighting something trying to kill him. He touched a finger to his small neck wound and it came back with specks of already drying blood. It seemed a wound of that size was enough to take away five of his health points.
Impulsively, perhaps too eager to try out his new skill, Halus cast kindle on the blood covering his hand. The flame was smaller than he’d feared it would be, but what it sacrificed in size it made up for in intensity. The blast of pain was so immediate that Halus cried out and without thinking he started to pat the flames out on his tunic. Luckily for him his clothes were flame resistant.
The aspirents jumped away from him with cursing surprise.
“Why did you do that?” Shae asked in a way that Halus took as an accusation.
Despite himself he chuckled at the response. She’d taken that same tone his brother always had when one of them was messing up. She really was his daughter.
“It’s not funny, Uncle.” She hissed in a stress whisper.
“You’re right.” Halus assured her. This wasn’t a situation where he should be taking things lightly. “ I hadn’t expected that my new skill would burn me. It caught me off guard, a bit.”
“Was that the random skill you got?” Bab asked.
“No. Apparently the class comes with an ability as well. Its marked as separate from a skill so I think it might be more like an add on to the class.” Halus squatted and used the skill again, this time on the gravel ground they stood on.
When the flame sparked he pulled his hand away fast enough that he managed to not burn himself this time. Gravel didn’t do a great job at being fuel. The flames he created with the skill vanished almost the moment they were born. The only mark that the flames had ever existed were the blackened rocks where he’d used the skill.
“I felt it was important to have tried the skill at least once before I used it in a fight.” Halus was already creating a new flame and working on growing used to the ability as he spoke to the group.
“Well, maybe you should get the random skill now so you can practice that one as well.” The Prince suggested in a tone that Halus knew was a royal trying to suggest but still expecting to be agreed with.
“I planned on it, you’re highness.” Halus nodded lightly with a smile. “I wanted to make sure I understood the limits of this ability before I grabbed another, but it seems all it does is start hot fires.” Halus laughed, knowing he was underselling the skill. He hadn’t chosen the path of the warrior but he could see how a touch that started intense fires could be used by a pugilist.
Starting a fire that caused damage with every hit was useful enough but imagine if he hit something that counted as fuel on his enemy. Right now that was an additional 6 damage per tick that the flames lasted.
It wasn’t perfect for him but punches that left flames behind were better than regular punches, ask anyone.
Satisfied with the skill Halus decided it was time to use his Random selection so that they could get moving before the guardian made an appearance in the maze.
He was getting used to the way the light pulled up what he wanted to see.
Random Skill Roll:
The random skill selection chooses skills related to what you have demonstrated compatibility with in your experience with the system. Possible skill ratings range between F rank and SS rank.
Generate a Skill?
Yes/No?
Halus selected yes with no hesitation. He wouldn't have opened the notification if he didn’t plan to gain something else.
The feeling of his brain splitting, made him wonder if that had been a mistake.
New skill!
Skill: Split Mind (D rank)
Multi-tasking is hard. Might be easier if there were two of you. That isn’t what this skill does, though. Split mind fully splits the users mind in two to carry multiple thought processes out at the same time.
____
At the mouth of the dungeon a clicking figure is debating if he should enter or go report to his masters. He knows what he should do but he also knows what he wants to do. The masters would want this dungeon but there was no guarantee it would still be here when he returned. The clicking of his metal arm in his bones socket reminded him what had happened the last time he had been wrong.
If he went in then he could gain strength and make himself more useful, but it was a risk. The Goblin knew risk but ultimately he decided to grab the dungeon handle and his fate by his own will.
Welcome to the Dungeon of Flowers, Bones and Sinew
Slots: 7/7
Reach the manor and face the guardian before he comes looking for you.
Be Warned: He’s in the Maze.
As this is a waning dungeon all challenges have been increased by a percentage of (260%) in relation to how long the dungeon has persisted (10% per year waning). It will not do so much longer. As a result all rewards will take the challenge into account.