Main Quest 02 Complete.
Reward - [Spell] Menu, Fire Bolt (tier 1), 25 mana.
As expected, the green fairy materialised itself once again. Viv had noticed that when it finished giving out the second quest, it simply turned invisible. He didn’t know what it did after that, but most likely, it just sat there. It was a lifeless construct after all.
“Wonderful. Perhaps you’ve been attacked by now, and if so, congratulations on beating the other party. The world outside is scary, so you need to be prepared the best you can be. A new function of the dungeon has been unlocked for you - the Spell Menu.”
“The Spell Menu is not meant to allow the dungeon core to independently cast spells. Instead, it allows you to infinitely vary your creatures. Every creature can be enchanted with a spell. This grants the creature special abilities similar to the spell, and in some cases, allows the creature to cast the spell directly.”
“There is a limit on how much you can modify a single creature. For example, combining Earth Spike and Goblin would create a Deep Earth Goblin. Modifying either the Deep Earth Goblin or the original Goblin after that would be much more mana intensive.”
“Now, let’s try creating our unique creature. Simply imbue the goblin with a spell to create a new type of creature.”
Quest Received
Main Quest 03
Imbuing creatures with spells is the main way of generating new and unique types of monsters in your dungeon. These monsters will often serve as your sentries and guardians since they are more powerful than regular monsters.
Imbue a creature with a spell
Progress - 0/1
Reward - +2 m/day, +50 Mana.
The little fairy faded from his sight, once again turning invisible. Viv tried to actively follow the disturbance in mana, but the thing left no traces behind of where it went. What was even more annoying is that something subtle was manipulating his soul, trying to teach him how to cast fire bolt.
“Fire bolt. Something novice human mages learn as their first spell. But, since I was being taught the spell instead of a rune simply being created on the orb...” he trailed off, sinking into his thoughts.
[Spells]
Fire Bolt (tier 1) 25 MP
He felt his sight intensify as he thought about the spell, but he ignored the knowledge of fire bolt burning in his mind and started to think about something different.
“Human spells are weak. They use a small amount of mana, and they don’t utilise their bodies at all. They’re afraid of using spells that could hurt them, even in exchange for immense power. Let me show the goblins what a true spell looks like.”
Viv recanted the knowledge of the most popular demonic spell. Even among humans, this spell was secretly passed around in case one day they needed to use it, though no one would admit they knew the spell.
[Burn Life]
It was tough. No matter how hard he tried, the knowledge that he was so sure about started to slip out of his mind. Halfway through, he would forget what he was thinking about, just to remember it seconds later. Attempts started to number in the hundreds as Viv tossed his entire being at this task.
“Damn. You. Bastard. Orb. Fine. If you won’t allow me this, let me show you knowledge that would burn the world.”
Burning with anger at being scorned and restricted of his own free will, he started to chant the language of the ancients. Eldritch beings once strong enough to dominate the world with their mad practices defying the gods. Symbols that would make one go insane by looking at them. The void at the centre of the earth, eating away at everything.
Moments later, the entire cave started to shake. His perfect orb started to crack, the milky clouds turning into dark, thundering clouds. Viv started to regret what he had done, but he had enough of being restricted and robbed of his true power.
One moment, the entire cave was on the verge of collapsing. Next, everything stopped. Just as easily as the spell, the forbidden knowledge wandered off to the darkest reaches of his mind, leaving Viv confused.
“I’ll do it again and again until I can learn the damn spell,’’ Viv vowed to himself, continuing his hard work.
Perhaps the creator of the orb - the giant soul amalgam - had heard his anger, or perhaps it was simply due to his diligence, but after ten more tries, he grasped the entire spell in his mind. It was accompanied by a feeling of something shattering and a loud ding.
Title Gained - [Spellweaver]
-50% Spell Creation Cost
-50% Spell Combination Cost
Allows access to create spells from memory.
Spell Gained - [Burn Life] (tier 1)
“Finally. Now, let’s create the goblin.” It was quite a small thing, but Viv felt pride in this achievement - a small victory over the creator of this dungeon.
Accessing the spell menu, he ran into a different problem. Namely, he didn’t have any more mana. Creating the spell had drained him completely dry.
“Ah, another eight days of waiting. And that is counting the doubled mana regeneration from my title.”
On a positive note, his mana regeneration had increased as he summoned more goblins. He was currently up to 3 Mana / Day. The rabbit dying had given him a small chunk of mana as well. If Viv’s theory of the dungeon absorbing a dying creature’s mana was true, he was excited about finally seeing humans. It would speed up this whole process immensely.
And thus began days of even more hellish training for the goblins. The fifth brother had finally joined the sparring, only ten days behind in training. From the first day he was a coward who didn't like fighting, cowering in the arena whenever they started to fight.
From the previous few days, Viv had discovered that the goblins didn’t need anything to eat, they “ate” the mana in the air. By doing so, they could recover faster than usual from their injuries. Now, by the end of every sparring session, every goblin was covered in numerous lacerations. But, one goblin had it worse than everyone else.
“You, come here.” The third goblin came bounding towards the orb.
He stood there with his hunched back, his shifty eyes looking back and forth. Although he was still stupid, he was the smartest of the goblins, the most cunning of the bunch.
“We’ve got nine days. Consider yourself lucky, goblin, I will be teaching you magic. If you succeed in moving even a little bit of magic, you will be given the privilege of power when the time comes.”
“Yes, master. I smart. I figure out magic,” he said, looking proud of himself.
“If you can’t do it before then, you’re dead.”
If goblins could pale, his face would be sheet white. He nervously kneeled in front of the orb, trying to spit out words of praise.
“Cross your legs. Although I despise human mages, your body is too frail to properly learn how demons manipulate magic,” Viv said, recalling memories from years ago.
“In your mind exists a palace, a place capable of storing any amount of information. It doesn’t matter what it looks like in your mind - most likely, it will be pitch black - the most important thing is gathering mana towards it. To do so, you will need to perfectly memorise a rune, and in your mind, you must be able to rotate it and look at it from every angle, just like you would with a stone. That is the simplest and the most basic task any mage must be able to perform.”
Even now, years later, Viv could perfectly remember the rune. In fact, every part of the village in his mind was made of runes. Every lotus petal, every leaf was inscribed with the language of magic.
Lost in memory, Viv began to disintegrate the wall. It was not a delicate tool that he had available, but Viv had as much time as he wanted. What might’ve been hours later, a massive rune was inscribed on the wall, every line perfectly smooth.
“Stare at it until your eyes water. When they do, stare at it until they bleed. Every time you blink, you should see a shadow of the rune. Every time you close your eyes, it should be there, perfectly clear in your mind.”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“When the others aren’t training, they’ll be watching over you. The moment you divert your attention to something else, they will beat you. They will also beat you for every day that you don’t memorise it.”
This was a crude method. More talented mages would simply imagine it without any other steps. The dumber ones had to use tricks and crutches. He had known a few mages that did exactly this, though they didn’t get far into their magical studies.
Three days later, Viv was pleasantly surprised. Even if it was longer than most human mages, a goblin learning how to draw mana was miraculous. Of course, no one in their right mind would teach a goblin magic, so no one knew if they were talented or not.
“Ahah, me smart. I magic goblin now,” he spat out a bloodied tooth as he celebrated. Apparently, the others still held a grudge.
“Good. Normally, you would determine which element suits you best, but you’ll learn fire. I was planning on imbuing you with fire bolt, but the orb can’t absorb mana fast enough. Instead, let’s see what happens if you simply learn it by yourself.”
“There are three steps to casting magic. First, visualise the spell. Second, channel the mana. Third, modify the rune.”
Whenever Viv had time, that is, most of the time, he would explain how to properly cast spells. Simple techniques such as visualising a globe of fire, setting the rune on fire, and moving mana proved difficult for the goblin. Mostly because there was no way of properly showing what fire was.
It was near impossible to get a decent fire going. The best they managed was setting alight dry moss they got from the cave walls, and that was after days of trying to create sparks with rocks. But, for a brief moment, the goblins saw a glimpse of fire, and that was more than enough.
“The goblins instinctively know what fire is. No doubt they’ve experienced it in their past lives, but their memories are muted or completely gone. With more experimentation, perhaps their memories can be recovered,” Viv stashed it away in his exponentially expanding list of ideas and went back to training the poor creature.
It took another nine days for the goblin to learn fire bolt. By all rights, he should’ve executed the goblin for taking a total of twelve days, but it would be wasteful to do so after investing so much time in him. Still, Viv had to admit, he was decently talented for a goblin. His dreams of contacting Lilac were still distant, but they grew closer by the day.
He turned his attention back to the pack of goblins. The situation was reserved, now the small goblin was a terror to everyone else. He took revenge for all the times he got beaten with rocks.
“Fire bolt”, he said, cackling with glee.
The bolt of fire streaked through the air with a shriek. The first goblin dodged getting hit in the chest, but his arm was in the way. He quickly dropped to his knees, howling in pain. The smell of burned flesh made the other goblins salivate, but no one else wanted to be next. Not after seeing the horrible burn wound on his arm.
“Enough. The rule I set was for there to be no serious injuries. Hold him down.” The goblin didn’t dare to resist as others swarmed over him.
“Place your hand on the ground. Now, fire bolt it.”
More tears and painful shrieks continued, but they had to learn discipline somehow. Not quite as mischievous as imps, but still bad in their own ways. Awfully petty as well, but that had nothing to do with Viv as long as they followed all the rules.
[Spells]
Fire Bolt (tier 1) 25 MP
Burn Life (tier 1) 25 MP
36 MP.
Viv had the feeling he could imbue both into the goblin, but it would take more mana than he currently had. He didn’t have much time to waste, his kingdom could be getting destroyed as he spent time messing around.
The mage goblin kneeled in front of his orb as the rest kneeled to the side. Compared to the process of teaching him magic, this was painfully easy. Reciting the knowledge of Burn Life, he concentrated on the goblin in front of him. The second he did, the goblin lit on fire.
He shrieked and rolled around, trying to extinguish the black flame, but nothing helped get rid of the pain. His skin slowly became darker, red markings imprinting themselves on his skin. His nails elongated, and from his forehead, he grew two straight horns. A small tail started to thrash around, violently kicking up dust.
When the fire stopped, his brothers could no longer recognise him. He looked more demon than goblin, though various features still remained. When he finally spoke, it was with a much deeper voice.
“Thank you master for this blessing. Your servant will never forget it as long as he lives.” Clear and well-articulated sentences far beyond any goblin capabilities, he was a stranger to others.
Creature Gained - Hellfire Goblin (D)
“What a grand name for such a weak creature.”
Main Quest 03 Complete.
Reward - +2 m/day, +50 Mana.
He felt his core slightly expand as the quest was completed. Perhaps to a regular core, this would be an improvement, but his soul could store thousands of units of mana. Before the fairy could appear to give another quest, he carefully examined the hellfire goblin in front of him.
Hellfire Goblin (D)
Due to demonic influence, the goblin has become closer to demon kin. Using human taught magic, it can burn its life instead of mana to cast spells and produce flames.
Abilities - Burn Life, Fire Bolt, Hellfire Blast.
It had gained an additional ability. If Viv had to guess, it was likely due to his title, but the whole process was still a mystery to him. Was it just the body that was mutated, or was the soul affected as well? He shelved the questions away. If he were to wonder about everything happening in the dungeon, he’d create even more questions he couldn’t answer.
“Congratulations, you’re halfway to becoming a proper dungeon. The next step is simple but extremely crucial. Every time a creature dies in the dungeon, a new one is sent to replace it. This can be very mana intensive for more advanced creatures such as the one you summoned right now.” The fairy’s shrill voice resounded in Viv’s mind.
“To mitigate that cost and to allow creatures to grow in intelligence, you need to name them. Naming a creature anchors its soul to the current body, allowing the dungeon to reconstruct it much easier. Such creatures are much tougher than usual, and upon their deaths, once re-summoned, they will keep their memories.”
“You can’t name every creature in the dungeon. Every creature you name will be anchored to your soul. As you expand, so will the number of creatures you can name. Now, try to name a creature.”
Quest Received
Main Quest 04
Naming creatures allows them to grow and learn. This is what allows sentries and guardians to be as scary as they should be.
Name a dungeon creature.
Progress - 0/1
Reward - Goblin Warrior (D), [Traps] Menu, Pitfall (D).
“I thought it was strange... Every time I wanted to name them Goblin 1, I’d stop right before doing so. This is getting ridiculous - I am the Demon Lord of Shattered Sky, how could anything manipulate my will so easily without me even noticing it.” His anger turned into confusion, and then back into fury.
Though Viv would never admit it, the amalgam of souls he felt for a split second started to scare him. This wasn’t the first time his mind was getting messed with. It was the same feeling as when he first saw the void. It was unknown, and thus it was also frightening.
“Right, line up you miserable maggots. It’s time to give you proper names.”
The five goblins lined up in order of their summoning. The third goblin was clearly stronger than the rest, but if he was bothered by standing behind the first and the second one, he didn’t let it show on his face.
“Let’s see if the names I give you determine your futures. You. From now on, you’ll be known as Artorius. Though he may be undead, he’s the strongest swordsman I’ve seen.” Viv addressed the first goblin, who was practically vibrating from excitement.
“Yes, I Artorius now. Strong name. Good name.”
As he said that, Viv noticed the goblin changing. The changes weren’t as distinct as the hellfire goblin, but Artorius grew taller, gaining muscle and bulk as he did. No longer did he have a hunched back. His shady eyes had a hint of fighting spirit in them now.
“You now look like a healthy goblin. Congratulations, I suppose.”
It was a strange feeling he had when he named Artorius. He could sense that the goblin’s soul was tethered to his, weighing down his soul a little. The so-called weight was practically non-existent for him, though he did not plan on having this connection to a thousand creatures.
“The second one. Your name is Blade. It’s a common name, belonging to many and none.”
Despite the differences in who they were named after, the changes remained the same. If anything, the Blade was much leaner and more agile than Artorius, but that has been the case even before naming him. Blade was itching to fight it out with him, but surprisingly kept his cool.
“Next.” The hellfire goblin kneeled next to the orb.
“Your name is now Lyn. A human archmage, someone I used to respect a long time ago. That time is gone now, but I hope you can inherit his power.”
Lyn burned away at his life in joy, producing a violet-black flame. The air distorted from the heat, and soon enough, the rest of the goblins had no choice but to flee.
He had even less distinct changes. The flame on his hand turned a deeper shade of violet, and his demonic features grew more prominent - a much longer tail that could wrap around his body, and distinct, sharp horns.
“I shall treasure my new name,” Lyn said, wrapping his much longer tail around Artorius and trying to grapple him to the ground, testing how strong it was.
“The fourth goblin. From this day, your name is Tamiel. It’s the name of an angel of mercy. A foolish angel, but all angels are powerful.”
Out of every name he gave out, he was most interested in what would happen with Tamiel. If the names did give power, how would that affect a goblin by the side of a Demon Lord?
“What is angel?” Tamiel asked, examining himself from every angle.
“Something strong. Don’t question our lord,” replied Lyn.
“I’ll tell you all more about them later. Finally, you. Come closer. You’re the most cowardly of the bunch, a disappointment if you ask me. That’s why I’m granting you the name of Zagon, the black dragon, one of the strongest races in existence.”
“Glory. Master is kind, master is merciful,” Zagon continued to kneel, hitting his head against the floor in the process.
With the five of them linking to Viv, he felt slightly exhausted, though that might’ve been just because he had to think of five names. He wasn’t sure what he could do with the links for now, but it could be very useful once Lyn learned more spells.
“The five of you were my first creatures - others won’t get the same privilege as you. I expect you to grow and learn to not put the names I’ve given you to shame. Remember, just as easily as I’ve given away these names, I can take them back.” With that, the goblins were dismissed. For once in their lives, they went to the sparring pit willingly, eager to test out how strong they’d become.