Hello?
[Dungeon Core Boot Sequence Initiated...]
Hhheeellllllooo!?
[Boot Sequence Completed!]
Okay so a computer. Fantastic. Ieee...? What happened to me again?
[Material Absorbed: Human]
I hate where this is going already and I only just got here.
[Achievement Unlocked: Does this Unit have a soul?]
Well yes I thought so but it would appear that someone has transplanted it into... whatever this is.
[Achievement unlocked: Over Achiever]
Alrighty then let's figure out...? Of course the screen would follow me around wherever I looked.
[Tutorial Yes/No?]
It is often said that 'real players' skip the tutorial. I tried that once. I rage quit the game five minutes later and never picked it up again.
[Yes.]
[You are a dungeon core, a mass of crystalised mana formed from the leylines of the world, and you have absorbed your first material which will define your personality and developing consciousness going forward.]
Which would be... me? I guessed. Moving on.
[You create rooms, create monsters, absorb, filter and excite the mana in the surrounding area. For now you must create your first entrance.]
The box went down to the bottom right corner of my vision, not that it did me any good seeing as how my line of sight was currently buried under a mountain of dirt.
[Dungeon Cores absorb non living material that comes into contact with their mana when not in the presence of Sapient Races. Give it a try!]
How exactly?
[Concentrate on the material you wish to absorb.]
Following my line of sight dirt, stone, other adjectives for dirt and other underground things slowly vanished away into blue energy.
[Outside contact with the surface is important for a dungeon to be able to function. For now focus on creating a hole, it doesn't have to be large, and remember that your reserves of mana are limited, at the same time though, cores are not built to survive above ground so don't open your entrance too wide]
Of course they are, bloody tutorials. I couldn't even spit to figure out which way was up and the tutorial wants me to bore my way to the surface!? How do I know that I'm going the right way!?
[...]
Fine be like that. I picked a direction, made the smallest hole I could get away with, and started to dig to the surface. How did I know I was going to the surface? After making a big enough hole I dislodged the material and watched which way it fell, and based on that information I went to the surface. Contrary to my expectations I wasn't greeted by fresh air or sunlight but rather a wall of fog obscuring my point of view. So you mean to say that I can't even open up a window and look outside? Is that what's happening here?
[Congratulations! You have taken your first delicate steps into a brave new world full of wonders and excitement!]
Lady, save me the sales pitch.
[But now we must turn ourselves inwards and tend to the dungeon proper! Return to core room.]
Room? Does the system refer to that thin length of material that I dug out on my way to the surface? For now my consciousness returned to where it started.
[Although it is not much now, as the unit unlocks functionalities additional items will be added to the core room. Expand Core room]
I let out a sigh as material started to vanish into blue lights before my eyes until I had a satisfactory sized room, the sapphire blue golf ball that represented me for lack of better term was sitting on a artificial Stalagmite that I had carved out of the ground, the system once more chiming in to let me know my progress.
[Your core is your brain and your heart, it represents all of your core functions. If it is damaged it could mean serious damage, and if it is destroyed it will mean death, guard it well. Your core links you to the environment, allowing it to be manipulated freely. Additionally it can produce a theoretically limitless stream of material resources and monster labourers or warriors in addition to being a massive source of mana. In layman's terms there are those who will want to seize control of it away from you, guard it well. Your life depends on it]
Of course it does.
[One Core Room doesn't a dungeon make. Much like how the adventurers you will be facing will be layering armour onto themselves to protect their vitals you must put layers of defence between yourself and your entrance. This is done through Monsters, traps and Puzzles.]
A new part of the Heads up Display appeared in my vision, what was previously just a block of text now had stats next to it.
[Mana 1/10 Mana Regeneration 1 Point per day]
I looked down and then I screamed to the high heavens.
[Mana 0/10]
Son of a bi... the sound of a beep indicated that I had returned to consciousness. My frustrated scream had carved the entrance to be a wider hole, if it was the size of a dinner plate before now it was the size of a platter, more importantly...
[Mana Regen 1 per 23 hours]
So need to widen my entrance. I'll put a pin in that.
[Warning! Complete loss of mana will result in core loss of consciousness and temporary suspension of core functions.]
Well I'm not doing that again.
[Much like dissolving material creating defences requires an expenditure of mana. For now please choose a Schema and free monster for your first floor!]
Another sub menu opened up, a list of monsters passed my vision.
[As you only have one floor to your name, you're only able to purchase F-Ranked monster schema's. Additional Schema's can be purchased at every core level increase. Or they can be unlocked by absorbing materials that have entered your dungeon. As you are only a first tier core you only have F-ranked monsters available for purchase.]
If F-ranked meant what I thought it did my prospects look... mighty dim.
[F ranked monsters are classified as 'Creatures that are a Threat to unarmed Sapient beings.' If a monster has achieved sufficient growth they may evolve into a higher ranked creature when the correct conditions are met, similarly a group of 10 or more F-Ranks are considered a E-Rank threat. Please Select one of the following choices.]
[Goblin-Corrupted Descendants of the Fey known as Brownies by the God of Conquest these miserable creatures live their lives as slaves being forced to raid nearby settlements for materials to sacrifice to their dark god.]
[Kobold-A race of small dragonoids created as menial labour for draconic masters, designed to be highly competent engineers with a high rate of reproduction.]
[Bone Hand-The Severed hand of a long dead humanoid, the flesh has since rotted away leaving behind nothing more than a bony grasping appendage crawling along the ground, armed with a curse of life drain to sap the energy of the living.]
[Fairy-A small humanoid like insect capable of quickly flying through the air and just strong enough to carry a small blade to attack with. Weak to Iron.]
[Slime-A highly adaptable creature capable of assuming the properties of any liquid that it has come into contact with in sufficient amount. The possibilities are endless with this creature.]
[Monster Egg-An Egg belonging to an unknown species of monster. Left to fend for itself by a uncaring parent the egg has adapted the ability to roll along the ground for movement, healing magic to repair the damage done to it's shell and the ability to absorb ambient mana to provide itself with nourishment.]
I am scraping the barrel. I have nothing but bargain bin monsters and a tiny hole in the ground standing between me and certain death for a second time. For now if bang for my buck is my goal then... the Monster Egg. If the creature's egg is this dangerous then the creature itself would obviously be of a greater threat level, and a greater threat still once it's fully grown. I am a cheap skate, if I am given an option for several free things I will choose the most expensive one.
[Would you like to purchase the Schema for Monster Egg? Yes/No]
[Yes]
Blue energy swirled around inside of my core room and condensed into an oval shaped object, Brown with spots of blue like crystal, in other words the egg I just used my free purchase to get.
[Now that you have a monster let us create a place to put it. Lets create some rooms.] With what mana exactly? [While Breaking down and storing materials will cost mana at the same time it is possible to convert stored material into mana as well, alternatively Mana can be converted back into material to begin producing resources]
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
A new subsection of the menu opened up.
[Storage]
[In the process of breaking through you should've already acquired some material, lets see what we have to work with shall we?]
[Limestone 30G]
Limestone? If my memory serves me correctly Limestone is supposed to be formed from a giant pile of bones and shells from dead monsters. If I'm sitting on top of that I might be getting schema's left and right, but how do I get them? First thing's first, I can't see very well in this darkness, there's some light coming in from the hole but not much, looks like despite my misgivings I have to start by widening my entrance. And so I waited, long and patiently for the pitifully small mana regen to kick in and give me my one point per day, and then I use that one point to shave away at the entrance doubling it's size. In 12 hours I widened the entrance again, then once more in six, again in three, I reached the point of a two meter tall entrance after what felt like a day of grinding up my mana regen until...
[Mana Regen 1 point every 10 minutes]
Okay that was good. How long have I been stuck here watching those stupid numbers go up? There has got to be a better way of increasing mana then... this!
[Achievement Unlocked: Death Wish]
[Are you suicidal?]
It felt like the system was badmouthing me now.
[You need to move your core away from your entrance! If a monster came in here you'd be dominated in an instant!]
Which would be fantastic except I don't know how to move rooms around.
[To begin with, create another room, and a hallway to connect the two]
Well, now that I was getting mana every 10 minutes as opposed to only once a day, sure lets do that. Carving through the limestone, I carefully excavate around any fossils that I can find. I have big plans for these as soon as the tutorial walks me through turning material into monsters but in the mean time I was focusing on completing the tutorial's latest task which was also conductive to keeping myself alive. The end result was a pile of four to five fossils off to the side of my core room as I spent the next few hours slowly boring my way through the rock until the system told me that I had a hallway, and another few hours to bore out another room and adding to the pile I had put together.
[Now that you have some space to work with the next step is to bring up the map part of the menu.]
And yet more of the hidden features of the menu made their presence known, a simple map showing the two rooms that I had created under instruction, my core room and the room that would be my entrance if what the tutorial was telling me was correct.
[Now select the two rooms.]
Easy enough. I click or at least think I click the two rooms and an option appears to swap them around, and so I did.
[Not counting your core room your current floor limit is five and your current hallway limit is also five. Once your floor is considered to be "completed" you will attract the attention of various deities offering the gift of their patronage to you, giving you a custom made blessing and passively increasing your mana regeneration. In exchange you will be honoured to complete tasks for your new patron.]
Okay sweet. What do I have to do to get a completed floor though? Do I have to max out my floor limit? Fill it with content? Name it?
[...]
Alright fine. Next!
[Finally there are achievements, passive abilities that you get in exchange for completing certain tasks. Let's have a look at the achievement list now.]
And a final part of the menu revealed itself, achievements.
[Here you have all of the actions that have earned you rewards from the system displayed. It looks like you have some achievements already! Let's see what they have to say for themselves.]
[Does this unit have a soul?: Achieve Self awareness. New Features unlocked in the core room] Oh come on! I've barely completed the Tutorial!
[Overachiever: Acquire an Achievement before you've Finish the tutorial. Bonus to Mana Generation]
Is what I've been working with lately considered a bonus?
[Death Wish: For those truly reckless cores who care not for their own safety. In recognition of your attitude a beacon has been lit letting all the Adventurer Guilds know of your location.]
DAMN IT! How the hell am I going to fend off the stupid... no, no stay calm, it just means I have to be a little faster in setting up my defences for whenever whatever comes.
[Congratulations for finishing the Tutorial! Let us hope you have many fun adventures in the future!]
And not a moment after I've finished the Tutorial...
[Congratulations! Through your hard won efforts you have finally managed to reach a high enough level that you have achieved full self awareness and have as a result unlocked new features for your core room. Select a location in your core room to install the Dungeon Core Chat Screen!]
That wall, I have neither the time nor the room to have too many options. Thus a flat slab of stone was carved from the rock to the left of me.
[The Dungeon Core Chat room enables communication and Trade with other nearby Dungeon cores across the leylines. However the Dungeon Core Chat room also enables war between Dungeons. Lose and be prepared to lose everything, win and take what you please from the other party.]
And I don't even have my second level yet! Are people actually expecting me to put up with this? Huu...
[Welcome to Dungeon Core Chat: Please enter Your name.] I suspect that I used to have one, but I currently cannot remember what it is. Huu. Alright here we go.
[New Dungeon Core has joined the Chat Room]
[Graves: ?]
[Jewel: ?]
[Graves: Jewel do you remember your humans talking about a new Dungeon?]
[Jewel: No. I can't say that I do. Hey Old man you remember anything?]
If I had a face I would smack myself in it. Great, the other dungeons have their own intelligence network. Alright then fine.
[New Dungeon Core: I'm new, I haven't gotten a lot of humans yet though.]
[Graves: Where's your dungeon located?]
[New Dungeon Core: Inside a limestone deposit.]
[Lithilas: How many Undead do you have?]
[New Dungeon Core: None.]
[Lithilas: Graves, bring up a list of all of your undead.]
[Graves: Why?]
[Lithilas: Because you are going to start trading your Schemas for Limestone, and then you're going to start rebuilding your dungeon with it.]
[Graves: Limestone? Kind of a weak building material isn't it?]
Limestone is considered weak? Isn't the...? Why is it that every time I try to remember who I use to be and the things I knew I get this weird empty void?
[Lithilas: What's limestone made out of?]
[Graves: Oh...]
[New Dungeon Core: Am I missing something?]
[New Dungeon Core: What's limestone got to do about anything?]
[Graves: Wow really? You don't know?]
[Lithilas: Graves was born inside of a mass grave on a battlefield, he fields undead type monsters, your Limestone is made out of Calcium, the same thing that bones are made out of.]
[New Dungeon Core: So he can control the stuff the same way that he can control his undead? Impressive.]
[Graves: Remaking my whole dungeon is going to take a while there Old Man. I got delvers going through me every day, not to mention I'm already 25 deep.]
[Lithilas: All the more reason for you to get to work.]
The Chat room was silent, presumably Graves musing the decision.
[New Dungeon Core: I Understand how this benefits Graves but I'm not sure how it benefits me.]
[Lithilas: Some undead, particularly bone and skeleton types, can join together with other undead or bones to form larger masses to fight against. In the environment of limestone deposits the undead can become significant and deadly force multipliers.]
Well that's what I get for being a cheap skate.
[New Schema For Sale: C-Ranked Undead Monster Lich. A powerful necromancer wielding the power of death turned into a monster. Selling price 100lb of Limestone.]
Just what kind of whale...! I sucked back and reloaded. I didn't have one hundred pounds of Limestone prepared, and even if I did I didn't have anywhere or anything I could do with a C-Rank monster Schema.
[New Dungeon Core: I'd prefer a F Ranked monster. You're only giving me the schema right? If I do make the investment into a C-Rank monster and it doesn't work out for me I don't want to invest in a C-Rank I don't plan on using.]
A pause for a few moments, as if the other party was processing the mind numbing development that had just appeared.
[3 New Schema's For Sale]
[F Ranked Undead Monster Bone Hand-The Severed hand of a long dead humanoid, the flesh has since rotted away leaving behind nothing more than a bony grasping appendage crawling along the ground, armed with a curse of life drain to sap the energy of the living. Cost 1lb of Limestone]
[F Ranked Undead Monster Will-o-Wisp-A fire affinity ghost that lures creatures to their deaths in swamp lands and feeds off of the negative energy produced by the death. Cost 1lb of Limestone]
[F Ranked Undead Monster Animated Skull: The Severed head of a humanoid reanimated as a undead. Prized as a familiar among necromancers for their machine like precision when casting magic.]
Well, it's not like I am swimming in options over here. I went down the back of the Core room and carved out three blocks of limestone and brought them over to the chat room slab, and I had no idea how to work this thing.
[Jewel: Just take it out of your inventory.]
[New Dungeon Core: Thanks.] Three pounds of Limestone from my digging disappeared from my inventory and was soon replaced by three new schema's.
[New Dungeon Core: Thanks.]
[Jewel: How long are you planning on calling yourself New Dungeon Core? You're going to be awfully embarrassed when your Juniors show up and you're still calling yourself that.]
Well that's true...
["New Dungeon Core" has changed it's name to "Dungeon Keeper."]
[Dungeon Keeper: Better?]
[Jewel: Better. Now start shilling marble if you want anything out of this Jewel.]
[Dungeon Keeper: I think I want to test out what Lithilas said about the undead first.]
With that I logged out of the Dungeon Chat Room and went over to the pile of fossils sitting unused in the corner of my room. A few points of Mana had built up while I was chatting with the others and so spent some of it on the three undead Schema's I just unlocked. A skull, a boney hand, and a small burning ball of blue fire all appeared within my line of sight. Well that's... useful I guess? It would be better if I could do something with the fossils though. The three undead went to work, the hand sorted through the pile of fossils and picked up one of them, a piece of fossilised wood I think, and dragged it over to the skull. The Skull's eyes started glowing a bright green. I watched as my mana was seized from my control and flooded the fossil, watched as it creaked and groaned until finally...
[New Schema Unlocked: Red Wood Tree-A prehistoric species of tree known for its ability to reach an incredible size, an excellent conductor of Mana.]
The stone shattered the dust off and soon took root around where the skull had been sitting, soon growing into a leafy mass. However...
[Achievement Unlocked: Reanimator]
I would ask what that does, but then I saw the hand and Skull duo sorting through more of the fossils.
[New F-Ranked Schema Unlocked: Giant Dragonfly-An giant species of insect resembling a brightly coloured jewel, a hyper successful predator of unranked creatures]
[New F-Ranked Schema Unlocked: Giant Milipede-A Giant species of insect known for it's highly venomous bite]
[New F Ranked Schema Unlocked: Scorpion-An extremely venomous arachnid known for preying on creatures much larger than itself]
[New F-Ranked Schema Unlocked: Trigger Fish-A violent species of fish with a predisposition of chewing up bits of stone, bone and coral into small milimeter sized chunks before spitting it out at high speeds at enemies.]
I blinked stupidly for a few moments. I don't physically have eye lids or eyes to blink with and that was the only way I can describe my reaction. Your job now is to reanimate any more fossils that I bring you, and since I'm not going to call all of you you now I'm calling you Archie. Speaking of which I have... no mana worth speaking about. I guess the little guy's rampage must've taken up a lot of Mana, right then jobs... then... I drifted back into consciousness a little while later.
[Achievement unlocked: Named]
I looked to the Achievement tab.
[Named-Infuse a monster with additional mana by naming them.]
Species will have to work for now. Dragon Fly, I need you to go outside and figure out our surroundings.
The Giant insect in question buzzed like a chainsaw as he went up into the air, and crashed against the fog barring access to the outside world.
Right then... You there scorpion, I want you to put those claws there to work digging out more fossils. Hand and Millipede, I want you two to carry them over to skull here so that he can reanimate them. Wisp can you go through walls?
The Wisp replied by slamming itself against my wall. So so much for being able to scout ahead. Right then Wisp you guard the entrance. I watched the scorpion using it's shovel shaped claws to uselessly scrape at the wall, before becoming frustrated and slamming the stinger on it's tail into the wall like a pick, and seeing the small hole that he had left behind the scorpion kept at it which was good, not as efficient as digging on my own, but it was working. Course until my mana regen gets up to a decent rate it was the best that I could do. I can't ask the others for advice because that's like sticking a big old target on my back saying 'Invade me!' So the next question here was a matter of what the most efficient way to generate mana was.
...I'd figure it out later, for now i need rooms!
----------------------------------------
The Bright orange crystal of Lithilas lit up the core room, even as dust came down from the ceiling from something hitting the entire city hard enough to shake loose the cob webs. If there were any cob webs, the throne room of the royal palace was by necessity quite clean after all.
"Does that bastard ever sleep!?" A resounding crash was the answer to the question.