Chapter 16
I kept falling until I smashed through what felt like a spider web. The sticky threads held arresting my descent for a fraction of a moment then snapped and I went through the gossamer like fabric. All at once the sensation was gone and I was back in my Dungeon Heart. It’s normally regular pulse of soft illumination was gone. But as I steadied myself and focused it returned once more. Weak at first but with each passing Nano second my thoughts became clearer and the pulse became stronger; until both were normal. They were normal like I had not just been the object in a fight between gods.
Mentally muttering to myself I examined my small domain. “I’m pretty sure neither of them actually even care about me. I’m just a toy to fight over. Like 5 year olds they will quickly get bored and forget about me.”
“I will never forget about you my love! You are special to me and my sister will not have you!”
“Oh, Babe, do not listen to the primadonna. Kick the prude to the curb. Sure I may get bored with you in time, but our time together you will never forget.”
I tried to ignore the arguing Goddesses whom were currently using my head as an arena. Thankfully a Ping and the appearance of a prompt assisted in this.
Achievement earned: Touched Noria
You have touched the harlot Goddess Noria in an intimate way.
Effect 1: Able to speak to Noria – Just because you talk doesn’t mean she will listen. Actually you can count on the fact that she won’t.
Effect 2: Divine Connection to Noria’s domains – Frost and Spirits
Effect 3: Language granted – Deathspeak
Effect 4: Locked
Effect 5: Locked
Reading the prompt I ground my teeth, “Oh geez not what I needed.” Another prompt appeared.
Title Improved.
You have unlocked a new aspect of one of your titles.
Title: Touched by Divinity
Your soul has been touched by a God or Goddess forever altering you.
Effect 1: Astral Projection
Effect 2: Ethereal
Effect 3: Unknown
Effect 4: Unknown
Effect5: Unknown
Clearing this prompt away I realized how much mana was free in my domain. The apprentice transferring mana to me had never ceased in his duty. I had just ceased in absorbing the loose mana. With a thought I grabbed the mana and pulled it toward my heart. The familiar rush of mana was comforting. I mentally smiled realizing the goddesses had also stopped arguing in my head. My peace was sort lived. An odd presence was suddenly in my small domain.
“Oh this is quaint.”
I groaned, “Hello Noria what can I do for you?”
“Well first off babe you can come out and give me a proper greeting.”
I felt a tug and I was suddenly standing next to Noria beside my Dungeon Heart.
“What the…” I exclaimed in surprise. Then seeing the apprentice just outside the binding circle had still outstretched I gasped. “Shit!” Looking around quickly I realized there was nowhere to hide.
Bahahahahaha Noria broke into a fit of laughter seeing my panic, “Oh babe! You should have seen your face!”
I pointed at the apprentice whom had not reacted to the appearance of two people just a fraction of a meter away. “What about him? Wait what is this?” I went from pointing at the apprentice to gesturing at myself.
Another presence appeared behind me and Ellinoria’s angry voice responded, “Mortals can’t perceive gods in our natural form. It would shatter them; body, mind, and soul.”
I wanted to look at Ellinoria but my domain was too small to move back I did not feel that turning my back on Noria would been wise, so I just asked. “And me, can’t they see… whatever I am.”
Noria smiled, “You’re a spirit right now babe. Don’t your read your messages. I know a number of completely worthless gods and goddesses whom would be utterly crushed to find out that you thought so little of all their hard work.”
“Ethereal?” I asked.
“Not just a face after all! There is a brain in there!” Noria said walking over the binding circle and looking around the room.
Did she just call me ugly? Turning to glance over my shoulder at Ellinoria the Elf Maiden smiled then glanced back at her twin and frowned.
“He is not your babe! My love is very smart, and kind of not so bad looking.”
Now that was an insult! Sure maybe I don’t have the unnatural good looks of an elf, but for humans I wasn’t bad!
“So anyway babe, as nice as this little cage of yours is I came by to give you a gift.”
Noria waved her hand and two dark things appeared floating around my heart. Each one looked like someone had freed a person’s shadow and allowed it to wonder off.
“Ugh…”
“No need to thank me babe. Just a couple Shades to liven up the place. Well I’m off, see you in a couple weeks.” And she was suddenly gone.
Not to be outdone Ellinoria waved her hand and two golf ball sized orbs of pale green light appeared near the ceiling: They immediately began a slow lazy circuit around the inner edge of my binding circle. “Wisps.” She said before vanishing.
“Wait! What am I supposed to do with these things! And won’t someone notice them!” I cried out. All four entities paused in their flights for a second before continuing and starting to make noises. The Shades began to let out low mournful groans and the Wisps tingled like wind chimes in a soft breeze.
“Oh don’t worry love. Mortals can’t sense anything inside a Dungeons territory unless they are in it too. So no one will even know they are there.”
“No one except me.” I grumbled as a particularly loud set of moans and jingles echoed around the room. I retreated to the quiet of my Dungeon Heart. The irony was not lost on me. For months now I had wanted a way to see and hear what was going on outside my heart. I wanted a familiar way to see the world. Now I had one and I was running back to the quiet solace of my heart. I envied the Apprentice whom all this time had not so much as twitched a muscle in reaction to events happening around him.
Hiding in my heart I waited for the four new additions to wonder out of my little slice of hell. To my surprise they continued their little circles through the remainder of this apprentices mana transfer and three more. As the fifth apprentice of the day neared the half way mark I attempted to examine them like I could my own creations.
Name: Sara
Species: Death Spirit Variant: Shade
Level: 10 78%
Common Statistics
Health: 150 / 150 Health Regen: 15 / Hour
Mana: 50 / 50 Mana Regeneration: 5 / Hour
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
Core: None
Strength: 05 Dexterity: 10
Constitution: 15 Intelligence: 05
Will: 05 Charisma: 05
Name: Pip
Species: Life Spirit Variant: Wisp
Level: 10 21%
Common Statistics
Health: 100 / 100 Health Regen: 10 / Day
Mana: 100 / 100 Mana Regeneration: 5 / Hour
Core: None
Strength: 01 Dexterity: 20
Constitution: 10 Intelligence: 05
Will: 05 Charisma: 05
Astounded that it worked I projected my spirit from my Heart with a gasp. “ECK!!” I screamed appearing half way inside a Skeleton waiting for the Master Necromancer. Stepping to the side I shivered. “Oh that is going to take some time getting used to.” Shaking my head I looked at the two sets of creatures. “Umm… Sara are you able to understand me?”
One of the shades moaned louder. “Umm I’ll take that as a yes. How about you Azriel?” nothing happened for a moment then one of the Wisps dipped slightly in its orbit akin to a nod. “Huh.” I muttered trying to wrap my mind around the situation.
With a smile I tried to use the Wisp’s senses like I did the creatures I created. To my annoyance nothing happened. Shifting I tried the same to a Shade. Again the attempt failed. “Huh, so you’re not my minions I take it.” None of the noisy creatures daned to respond so I continued to muse. “So are you something else? A slave perhaps?”
One of the shades whizzed past me agitated. Before I understood the threat it struck me like a linebacker. I flew off my feet and into the air. I smashed into the magical barrier holding me captive like it was a solid wall and crumpled to the ground like an old sack of potatoes.
After assaulting me, the shade resumed its slow spiral around my heart. Standing up quickly I began to snarl in anger, then paused. Looking down at myself I was not hurt. In fact my clothes had not even gotten dirty from the thick layer of dust on the floor. “Huh,” I said. “Well even if that did not hurt, it was not very nice. Maybe I should destroy you and take your mana.”
The shade moaned. “I guess that does answer my question about you being my slave though. So not a slave, nor a minion. I am pretty sure we are not family…. That leaves…” I thought for a moment then snapped my fingers, or tried to but nothing happened. My fingers made the movement but there was no sound. Frowning I shook my head. “The other options is Inhabitant. So does that mean you want to live in my dungeon? I briefly considered that they may not fit into any of those categories but I did not get the sense of an intruder so I dismissed the thought. Somehow the goddesses had given me creatures that my inner self recognized as mine somehow. I waited for a response from the spirit but never got one. Frowning I shrugged that must be the situation. They were not leaving my territory even though I’m pretty sure they could… right? Shrugging I continued my thought process.
“What if I do not want you to live in my dungeon? It is not like I have much room for you. And what are you going to do the whole time float around in circles? The Shades moaned and the Wisps jingled uninterrupted. Frowning I shook my head, “No this won’t do! You’re not welcome!” The moment I put the thought through my head my instincts told me of intruders close to my heart! Gritting my teeth I ignored the reflex to attack and devour the interlopers. The shades screeched and clung tighter to my Heart. The wisps shot upward into the ceiling, but stayed in my claimed territory. Before I could do anything else I felt myself spin and start creating a Skeleton.
My instinctual self-had detected the completion of the Mana transfer and taken over to complete the Master Necromancers commands. Rolling my eyes I stopped fighting the odd impulse and completed the creation. The apprentice seeing nothing odd about the new Skeleton turned and left the room. The next apprentice entered and two things struck me at once. First the next apprentice was my Andrea. Second I was still pulling mana from somewhere!
Watching Andrea approach I detected a slight hesitation in her step. She was evidently unsure of what to expect with this meeting. Truth be told so was I. This girl was a key tool in any plan I had come up with to free myself, but she was still an unknown asset. Would she be a willing slave? Or would she fight me every chance she had?
Another part of me felt for the other source of mana. I found it quickly! I was pulling small amounts of mana from each of the four spirits! The amount was small but it appeared the spirits did not EVEN notice the lost mana. So if I kept them around it would increase my mana regeneration like living batteries.
With a shrug I turned toward Andrea as she finished the short walk to my binding circle. I noticed the closer she got the slower and less sure she became. She had entered the world sure and confident the vision of someone with purpose and a do not fuck with me attitude, now just a few short steps away she was nearly huddled in on herself as if she was expecting a beating.
I had torn reactions should I try to reassure her? Or should I reinforce this response and train her to fear her new dungeon overload.
She paused at the edge of my circle, “Dungeon may I come in?” Not sure if she could hear a response I just waited to see what she would do. After a minutes hesitation she stepped over the border and frozen; eyes flying wide. First she focused onto the dark Shades moving around my heart like dark oily living shadows. Then they flew up to the jingling wisps as they chased one another around. Finally her eyes settled on me. The whites of her eyes were so large that her eyes had nothing but pupil showing. She took a half step back out before I raised my hand and smiled.
“Don’t go.”
She paused unsure still prepared to flee.
Trying to reassure her I gestured around my little area. “Welcome to my humble abode. A few things have changed since your last visit.” I kept a wide smile on my face the whole time.
Contrary to my desired reaction though the broad smile seemed to unnerve her even more. Stopping the absurd grin I shook my head, even in this life I could creep out girls… Returning to my heart I spoke to Andrea.
“These are my new inhabitants. They will not harm you since you are mine. So we need to talk.”
Andrea hesitated before carefully turning to my heart, “Talk about what?”
“Our future of course.”
I saw a tinkle of hope like a brief spark in her eyes; just for an instant then it was gone. “Do you not mean your future? I am just your slave.”
“You are a salve for now perhaps, but that might be able to change in the future. For now though my future is your future. Regardless of how you feel about me,” I made an educated guess. “Even though you’re my slave now, you were not any better as a slave of the Necromancer, correct?”
Andrea made a hesitant noncommittal shrug.
I push on, “But as a slave for me you have something going for you that you did not have before.”
This time Andrea took the bait, in a self-mocking tone she asked, “I do? What is that exactly?”
Got her I thought. “With me, your situation improves. Mainly because I need you; your old master had many slaves and you were one of many. Now you’re my only. That makes you a lot more important and valuable.”
Andrea shrugged. “So? What would you have me do?”
“Tell me about yourself.”
For the next hour and half Andrea did just that. After she finished with her story of what brought her here and how she became my first slave, a quiet pause settled over my domain. Even the spirits seemed to enjoy a good story. Finally I broke the silence.
“Well that sucks.
Andrea frowned, then slowly smiled and finally began to laugh. “Yes, yes it certainly does suck.”
Smiling myself I issued her a command. “Okay well time enough has passed. I need to plan. Stay safe, and return to me on your normal schedule tomorrow.”
Andrea nodded a brief curt nod and spun to leave. A few steps out of my circle she paused, “What about the Skeleton I was supposed to…”
She broke off when a new Skeleton formed besides the others. I had used some of the spare mana I gathered from the other apprentices to cover the mana transfer Andrea was supposed to do. Seeing the Skeleton appear I watched through dead eyes as she smiled and left. Another apprentice entered the room a few moments later and began the transfer process none the wiser.