| Congratulations! For reaching level three within your first month of existence, you have earned the ability to select new bonus resources.
| For reaching level three, your Absorb skill has gained increased efficiency.
«Why is the system counting us as under a month old?» Prime asked.
Aide said, «We re-instantiated the core twenty-nine days ago, and the system uses a perfected lunar-solar calendar.»
«Quasi-what’s-it?» she asked. «Perfected?»
Speaking slower, Aide said, «The lunar cycle is 36.7 days. The solar cycle is 368 days, pretty close to the Narrative standard 360 days. Each month in the System is 37 days long, with a “maintenance gap” of half a day at each solstice. Most of the calendars used by the world’s inhabitants are lunar calendars and need a leap month every 36 to 37 years, thus they are imperfect.»
«Okay, well, ignoring the imperfection of each month starting at a different point in the lunar cycle, what can we pick for our new resources?» Prime said.
Aide hummed a moment, then said, «It’s our instantiating choices, minus the ones we already made: water and light elemental stones, mineral nacre, and the three kinds of saltwater plants.»
«So, the two elemental stones, right? Nacre’s nice, but we can get that organically from the shells of all the mollusks you unlocked already. I think I saw abalone on the list, but I can’t remember if you got oysters unlocked.»
«No, and not actual abalone. Abalone reef snails. I wasn’t finding enough magical beasties in their advancement lines so I focused on the fish.» Aide then went on to inform Prime of the properties of the three plants.
Blood kelp was used by aquatic and coastal alchemists to make healing potions. Depending on the Alchemist’s Refine skill, a kilogram of the kelp could yield anywhere from one to five low grade healing potions, or one to three of a mid grade. An alchemist with the right skills could even turn them into pills, bypassing the need for an Aqua Vitae, the generic term for the basis of ingestible potions. Each alchemist usually had their own take on the general formula.
Purple sea grass was also an alchemical ingredient. Most everything with a hint of mana in it was. The grass, however, was used most commonly to make paralytic contact poisons and rarely complicated, targeted healing pills.
The intoxicating oribel was hard to classify, aside from magical and a hallucinogen. In one part of its life cycle, it formed a living film over top smoother waters, like an algae. In another stage, it was a parasitic plant growing over kelp and seaweeds. In yet another stage, it coated the walls of coastal caves like a moss. In all its life stages, the oribel caused hallucinations. The mildest kind came from ingesting oribel algae, while the moss was the most dangerous when its spores were inhaled.
Of the three, the oribel fetched the highest price at market. It was also highly regulated where it wasn’t completely outlawed, despite its usefulness in making mana potions.
Aide finished up, saying, «The oribel could probably unlock quite a lot of interested defensive plants, more so than the strangle kelp I was able to find from the golden veined kelp. It might also open more kinds of plants.»
«Mm. Blood kelp and the sea grass are more likely to be immediately useful, though,» Prime pointed out.
Aide argued, «As a dungeon core, we aren’t going to get any specialist class skills, which means no dungeon core alchemists. The highest level of sapient we can spawn are low sapients with a dependency on us for guidance. If they can get any kind of class, it will an archetype class like Sneak or Fighter, maybe Mystic, and Tender’s a possibility if we do something strange. Without an alchemist, how useful are the blood kelp and the purple sea grass really?»
Prime pointed out, «Chewing on the raw kelp may not have as intense an effect as a brewed potion, but they are still good for our defenders. And what is to keep a Gatherer from learning an Extract type skill? The poison in the sea grass is an oil. Again, maybe not as effective as a Refined version, but still useful for poisoning daggers or incorporating into a dart type trap.»
Then she went added, «Neither of them are restricted to trade in, either, unlike the oribel, and a cargo of dried blood kelp isn’t all that strange, If we can hire on some sort of a liaison to act as our ship’s captain, that should make sailing around to check out the rest of the world even easier.»
«But it’s so strange!» Aide wailed.
«If we have the choice again, or the opportunity to absorb some, fine. Blood kelp first, though, because new and interesting needs to take a back seat to our safety.» Prime thrummed resolution through their bond. She privately admitted to a bit of schadenfreude at Aide’s pouting as the conceded the necessity of Prime’s priorities. She was still feeling the ache of free-handing that 4D trap and sore about the smug schadenfreude that Aide had shown to her, though not to spiteful levels.
If she had been feeling spiteful, she wouldn’t have offered the compromise about acquiring the pattern through absorbing it.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
With the level up choices made, Prime was ready to neaten up the first floor and start building out the second. They were going to need places to hide the freed slaves, after all.
However, before she could dig into that work, Aide said, «So, leveling up like this made me look at how we gain XP. Everyone has three ways to get XP: skill use, defeating System recognized enemies, and performing class related feats.»
Prime’s mood dropped. Aide was usually good enough about not repeating things she already knew until they got nervous, usually about her reaction to bad news.
«Dungeon cores take a lot more XP for every level, but the skill use gives us a little less XP than for when we were in N’kieran’s Role with the Diplomat class. It looks like that’s because Layout, Absorb, and Construct are used near constantly. I mean, Layout gave us XP as you were planning the floors, so it’s kind of like a human having a skill for Walking.
«The rest of our XP has come from class feats. When traps delay delvers, that’s a smidgen. When they cause damage, that’s a bit more, and the same with our defenders. When the loot we put out gets collected, that’s a trickle. Surviving delvers making it to the core room was good the first time, and I don’t know if that’s stopped because its a one time feat or a once per person thing. None of those were as good as getting the rattlings to learn skills, though.»
Prime waited a beat, and Aide had nothing more to add, she said, «You could have just asked me to teach our defenders more things.»
«I think we need more low sapients for that to work,» Aide said, carefully neutral.
Sometimes being the social one of their duo sucked. «Hey, partner. Get off the freaking eggshells. Yes, I’m miffed about you withholding information on that ‘trying out a 4D pattern’ crap and then being a smug snot about it afterward. I also know you only get like that when your head’s been shoved too far into the meta. These nerves you’re holding onto show me you’re feeling remorse for it now, so don’t do it again. Past is past.»
After a moment, Aide asked, «Nerves, huh?»
Prime just waited.
Aide sighed down their bond. «I wasn’t tricking you into anything, but, yeah, I was a bit high on proving to you that you can do the four dimensional sigils. Agents 967—»
Prime nearly flipped her lid. «No! I don’t want to hear about them! They are them and we are us! Stop trying to drag us into being people we are never going to be!»
Aide pushed on. «They retired! 967-Prime earned their Wish,» Aide spoke over the growling protests they could feel from their Prime to say, «and that got me thinking about your Wish. I want you to succeed.»
Even thinking about the life that put her on the path her present life made Prime feel a soul-deep tiredness. «The one thing working for Cosmic Order has shown me is how petty my Wish was.»
«Really?» Aide challenged. «Because I remember a lot of plans to change your world. Like a Storyteller can do.»
«Drop it,» Prime warned.
Aide shushed.
Prime took just long enough staring down their bond with a gimlet eye to ensure that her partner wasn’t going to say more on the topic. Then she turned back to the wonderful distraction of building and actively tuned into the math song, letting it drown out bad memories.
Three hours past dawn, the slavers’ delving party entered the first floor, dragging her out of her distraction.
----------------------------------------
Big Nose had pulled ten of his slaves along for this delve, and had five of his eight hirelings going with them. Each hireling wore an iron-gray ring on either thumb and no other jewelry, not even a luck token. Big Nose had rented cutlasses from the ship’s armory to equip them for this delve, but not even the hirelings had armor.
A’Ferun pursed his lips in disgust at that lack. “Which one is the healer?”
Big Nose pointed to a muskin. She was old enough to have grown breasts, but her features so strongly resembled a mouse’s that A’Ferun couldn’t judge if she was a teenager or nearing an elder’s age. She stood as upright as her digitigrade legs allowed, though her shoulders hunched forward and she kept her head bowed.
“This doe here. You think they’ll need her in a dungeon this young?”
“Walking into any dungeon without armor is a bad idea,” A’Ferun said.
“Eh,” the slaver boss shrugged. He turned to another muskin, a smaller, flat-chested one that held a board and a grease pen. “Make sure your map is good. Different marks for different traps.”
The diminutive muskin nodded while keeping their head bent. Their voice was squeaky as they said, “Yes, boss!”
A’Ferun ordered, “When you’re ready, begin,” and one of the hirelings prodded a felikin and a lupiken to start through the portal. After a count of twenty, the lupiken stuck her head back through. “Hallway’s short, leads to a four meter circle room. Four doors, one key, no traps found. Key opened the right most door and disappeared. Kitty’s checking the other doors to see how they open.”
After the report, the canine head pulled back into the dungeon, and the rest of the slave party began filing in. Kinser slipped in amongst them while A’Ferun waited to hear that there was room enough to stand among the crowd.
Kinser reappeared fairly soon after the last of the slaves had entered. “They’re taking the open door, Lord, the very first on the right. The cat kind found a pit trap in the corridor. Bottom’s full of saltwater and some long, sharp toothed fish. They’re trying to kill it now.” After the report, Kinser ducked back into the dungeon.
A’Ferun turned to the four sailors guarding the room and picked one. “Go get two hooked spears from Stores.” Pointed to a second sailor, he ordered, “Inform Scholar Ep’hram a new monster has been discovered. If it can be removed from the dungeon, he will be given the right of dissection.”
Big Nose opened his mouth.
A’Ferun glared him down, saying, “Monster corpses are not loot. Scholar Ep’hram has discretion over who may or may not be present during his dissection.”
“The corpses are tangible goods,” Big Nose opened with.
“Only as long as they persist,” A’Ferun countered, referring to the tendency of monsters to disperse into mana rather than rot away.
Big Nose opened his mouth as if he planned to argue more, but he seemed to think better of continuing to provoke a noble under A’Ferun’s cold stare.
The two sailors returned before Kinser, and Ep’hram was just bustling in when Kinser stepped back out of the portal. The elf showed more of his discretion by remaining silent as the boundsman reported. “The fish disintegrated on dying and dropped something to the bottom of the trap. The handlers sent one of the selkies to retrieve it, but it looks like there was a second trap at the bottom. I didn’t see it myself, but there’s the scent of thunder in the tunnel and cussing from the handler over the selkie dying. Seems there was a bit of a shock sent back through the control ring.”
A’Ferun pursed his lips again and handed one of the hooked spears to Kinser. Holding the other, he went through the portal, happy to ignore Big Nose and his cussing out of the Lord of Luck. In his hear, A’Ferun prayed that he hadn’t been deceived, that it was still his light guiding the growth of this murder pit.