Chapter 4
“You believe that old wives tale?” said Friedreich Maggus.
The stupid boy looks back at him dumfounded.
“That’s just what mothers tell stupid children like you” He continued –his excitement turning to ridicule.
“But bu–” The idiot tried to defend himself.
“No buts!” The Chief suddenly raised his voice –starling the boy into submission.
Friedreich then rose from his seat abruptly, his elbow knocking a stack of books to the floor.
“Get out of this office!” he shouts theatrically “And you better pray to Ekeyr I don’t kill you for wasting my ever so precious time!” He phrases strangely.
A few minutes later, Friedreich glares out the desk side window –having pushed his Trielascope aside, not even bothering with the scratches on the floor boards.
“Traitor” he scowls, eyeing the stupid man from earlier, who was leaving with a confused expression –thirty gold richer.
The poor excuse of woman who calls herself his secretary, Eda –or was it Oda? –had compensated him generously upon his exit. Something about “keeping my position” and “stop threatening the village residents with death” or some such barbernackle.
Anyway, Friedreich turns away from the window, his previously supressed jovial expression fully apparent. Walking around his desk to the guest chair, he kneels down with a grunt, and reaches his hand under the seat.
“The idiot had had the topic of the conversation right at the forefront of his thoughts.” Friedreich idly mumbled to himself –swearing that he heard a sigh.
Standing back up –his back cracking loudly –he now holds a small hand sized plank of dark wood in his hands. Upon this plank were many glowing runes –delicately carved into the wood –which Friedreich had painstakingly scripted to record rudimentary surface thoughts of the closest person.
“You’ll never get use outta it Freddy” he said in a mocking voice, pressing his thumb hard on the runescript.
“Besides” he continued, “Its illeeeegalll!” he stretched out the last word in a juvenile tone –releasing his thumb from the plank with a satisfied expression.
Friedreich’s mind was then assaulted with stimuli as he sifted through the information –avoiding useless thoughts like ‘He’s insane’ and ‘Ida save me’ –Who the hell is Ida?
“Aha!” he exclaimed, having found his goal. He hears a sound reminiscent of a sigh –must be some kind of interference.
Gleaning information from a barely coherent internal thought process monologued by an grossly overly masculine voice was difficult, but it was inevitable that he succeeded.
“A hundred or so leagues north into Kaelisis Forest” he intoned, smiling mischievously.
“Uma! Prepare the carriage!” he shouts without looking away from the plank in his hands.
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As another laugh dies down, I watch the sweeping black miasma swirling throughout my domain. After observing the death mana further for a few hours out of pure interest, I had come to the idea of pushing the particles closer together like I had so many times before. The result was an oppressing field of black, which interestingly enough boosted the ability of my cockroaches.
When I focus on a particularly thick clump of miasma, it reads:
[Death Miasma –Death Mana so focused it shows in the material plane.
All Undead & Death Elementals receive + 5 to all Stats while within its influence]
Satisfied, I check my mana. Finding that I possess full internal mana once more, I summon another seven roaches –bringing my total up to fifteen. I directed four into the final two rooms –two in each – and left the last three to wander in-between. I open my menu to admire the numbers.
[Monster List]
Monster
Type
Price
Amount
Giant Undead Cockroach
Insectoid (Undead)
Summon: 300 Internal Mana
15
On my way out of the menu, something catches my attention.
[You have unspent Attribute/Skill Points. Assign? (Yes/No)]
I had completely forgotten about that. Sighing internally, I select (Yes).
‘Time for some number crunching’ I complain.
For attribute points, I have enough to put a hundred and fifteen into every stat –excluding strength and agility of which I cannot have –with one leftover. However, I don’t think that’s a good idea, for something –both instinct and distant memory –tells me to be more specific. After brief consideration, I decide to focus mainly on intelligence and wisdom, with a secondary focus on willpower and perception.
The final count comes to two hundred to both perception and willpower, with three hundred and eighty three and three hundred and eighty two to intelligence and wisdom respectively. Following my investment, the following message appears.
[Due to adequate Stat advancement, Title: Newborn Fledgling has evolved into Newborn]
‘That’s it?’ I think –stumped ‘How high is the damn standard in this world!?’
I check my status to make sure.
Name: Enriched Newborn Dungeon (N/A)
Titles: Newborn, Mana Enriched, Necromantic
Age: 0
Level: 233, 74%
Race: Dungeon
Sub-Race: Mana Enriched Dungeon
Form : Crystal
Fame: 0
Reputation Lvl: 0
Stolen story; please report.
Health: 555/555
Life-force: 555/5,000
Stamina: ∞/∞
Internal Mana: 4,399.5/4,399.5
External Mana: Ω.361/Ω.361
Mana Potency: 75
Strength: 0 (13 – 100%)
Constitution: 16 (11 + 5)
Endurance: ∞ (∞ + 0)
Defence: 7 (2 + 5)
Dexterity: 5 (5 + 0)
Agility: 0 (5 – 100%)
Intelligence: 4A.19 (4A.14 + 5)
Wisdom: 4A.10 (4A.6 + 4)
Willpower: 2A.31 (2A.26 + 5)
Perception: 2A.14 (2A.14 + 0)
Charisma: 7 (6 + 3 – 2)
Life-Span: ∞ (∞ – 1)
Skills:
{Mana Vision} – Lvl: 1, 2%
{Raise Dead} – Lvl: 1, 6%
{Open Telepathic Projection} – Lvl: 1, 0%
{Mana Enriched} – Passive Lvl: 2, 12%
{External Mana Endurance} – Passive Lvl: 1, 34%
‘What is… that?’ I pause –eyeing the appeared letters and omega.
Almost without thinking, I focus on the symbols.
[-{A} –Equal to 100 of corresponding Stat-]
[-{Ω} –Equal to 5,000 of corresponding Value-]
I pause –the familiar feeling of insignificance resurfacing.
‘If I’m only just reaching these… does that mean I’m a lot smaller than I thought?’ I muse.
After a moment, instinct urges me on once more. I need to apply my skill points, and the annoyance I had felt at the computation involved seems completely illogical to me now. Checking the menu again, I have forty six skill points –so not knowing what to expect, I select (Yes) on the still present prompt. Immediately, a screen appears.
Skill
Effect
Cost
Illusion Field
Create a field of illusionary magic. Have invaders experience a multitude of false stimuli.
150 Skill Points
Chrono Cage
Create a cage were the flow of time slows. Have invaders experience a slower flow of time.
200 Skill Points
Spatial Pocket
Create a pocket space separate from general space-time. Have multiple groups occupy a space simultaneously.
200 Skill Points
Telekinesis
Greatly increased control over objects infused with external mana. Remotely move assimilated physical objects.
500 Skill Points
[LOCKED]
[UNKNOWN]
[UNKNOWN]
[LOCKED]
[UNKNOWN]
[UNKNOWN]
[LOCKED]
[UNKNOWN]
[UNKNOWN]
And they are all ridiculous out of my price range.
‘Oh’ I think ‘Well… later then.’ I decide.
Skill’s being out of the question, I decide to strengthen my monsters. After searching, I find the first cockroach that I had claimed and begin injecting mana –much slower this time. After five minutes, it seems that nothing is happening –so I decide to appraise it while I work. I find that I cannot, and that I only receive this message:
[Unable to Appraise]
Confused, I stop injecting and appraise again –this time working just fine.
‘Can I not appraise while injecting mana?’ I guess.
It seems that is the case, so I again start injecting my mana into the creature without much of a thought –its status screen closing as I do so. As the first hour passes, I increase its mana intake from one a second to three and second. And just like that, every hour I increased it by two –a whole day passing without my notice.
As I am increasing the dosage to two hundred a second –the same rate it was when I reanimated it –it finally elicits a reaction. As I had executed my plan, the roach had been continuing its routine of standing in place –but now it has begun to walk closer to my crystal.
As it completed my unconscious command to be closer, it stills once more and begins to glow. Its thin grey exoskeleton shining like steel, it size slowly begins to increase. It almost looks as if it is stretching, like it has always been bigger, it was just crouched over the whole time.
After five minutes it stops growing –a far cry from the day of feeding –having grown a full metre in diameter. Now a behemoth among the other insects, it slightly bobs like a docked ship as I check its status excitedly.
Name: Mana Enriched Greater Giant Undead Cockroach (N/A)
Titles: Cadaver, Contagious, Hardy, Mana Enriched, Undead,
Age: 3.5 Weeks (+.5)
Level: 5, 45% (+3)
Race: Greater Giant Cockroach
Sub-Race: Mana Enriched Cockroach
Fame: 0
Reputation Lvl: 0
Health: 30/30 (+15)
Stamina: ∞/∞
Internal Mana: 4/4 (+.25)
External Mana: .65/.65 (+.025)
Mana Potency: 6.5 (+.25)
Strength: 14 (7 + 7) (+8)
Constitution: 15 (8 + 7) (+5)
Endurance: ∞ (∞ + 0)
Defence: 20 (7 + 16 – 3) (+3)
Dexterity: 1 (4 + 0 – 3)
Agility: 7 (10 – 3)
Intelligence: 3 (2 + 4 – 3)
Wisdom: .5 (.5 + 3 – 3)
Willpower: 2A.31 ( = Master’s Willpower)
Perception: 25 (25 + 0)
Charisma: -11 (-3 + 2 – 10)
Life-Span: ∞( .3 + ∞)
Skills:
{Mana Enriched} – Passive Lvl: 3 (+2)
{Antennae} – Passive Lvl: 4
{Hardy} – Passive Lvl: 16 (+5 Lvl: Undead) (+5)
{Contagion} – Lvl: 6 (+5 Lvl: Undead)
{Minor Poison} – Lvl: 6 (+4)
{Undead} – Passive Lvl: 5 (+4)
‘Now that’s more like it’ I think –my crystal pulsing in satisfaction.
As the roaches glow dimmed I had feeling. The urge to name my monster rose from nowhere and before I knew it, the words were echoing throw my mind.
“I name you Fervec” I say –projecting my voice outwards.
Upon being named, Fervec glows once again –but only for a moment. Immediately after, a panel appears.
[Skill – {Name Bestowal} Learned}
Calmly intrigued, I focus on the new skill.
[-{Name Bestowal –Bestow a name unto ones creation, granting the ability for its memories and likeness to be recreated upon death}-]
‘Ah’ I think ‘That makes sense’. Though I am not really sure of how.
Disregarding useless lines of thought, I decide that is time to create something new. Sustaining this Death Miasma is causing an irritating limit on my External Mana regen, so it’s time to make it sustainable –and have a little fun whilst. I choose a random wall next to my crystal, and I focus. My vision magnifies –the wall getting closer at a startling pace –and soon I am studying the perfectly flat stone microscopically.
‘This isn’t right’ I think –eyeing the complete lack of microbes and some such life forms ‘There is plenty of mana so why?’ I ask.
The answer hits me and proves me moronic. I shift my perception rapidly, and find –to my dismay –no life mana whatsoever. In spite of present amounts of other mana types –of which even light is among –the energy of life is a no show. Using my power, I briefly attempt to shift some spare earth mana –the second most copious mana around – into what I need and find it rapidly surrounded and consumed by the abundant death energy around it.
‘That’d be why there’s nothing living here’ I conclude. ‘No offense’ I add for the benefit of a passing roach.
To amend this issue, I create an empty room a few hundred metres away from the rest of me. Closer experiment rooms where contaminated by the seeping death mana –and I want this to be sterile. I inject some of internal mana into the space, creating a small amount of external mana within. Quickly, I convert about a third of it into life mana –releasing a relieved sigh when it survived.
As I am considering how to produce bacteria, my domain expands –my little room unintentionally extending my influence. Within this new influence, I quickly take note of the billions of microbes within the earth.
‘Guess I just radiate death and kill everything around me huh’ I muse, immediately opening thousands of microscopic openings into my experiment room.
Almost immediately, the small room is filled entirely with all kinds of microscopic life –from stray bacteria to fungi and algae. Pleased, I swiftly convert the remaining mana into death mana, ruthlessly draining the life everything in the room. Besides the surprisingly large influx of energy upon the deaths –quickly refilling my internal reserves –I have another reason for this course of action.
Guessing that is more efficient, I push all the experiment rooms’ death mana into the microbe corpses. Much quicker –and with practically no drain on my reserves this time –the life forms rise from their rest.
[-Skill {Mass Raise Dead} Learned-]
[-{Mass Raise Dead –use already present death mana to raise large amounts of dead much more efficiently}-]
‘Useful’ I think.