As the second group of the day prepared for their run, Zack took a moment to observe all four of the would-be adventurers to get an idea of where they stood. The adult was level three, though they lacked any of the telltale powers that marked them as able to use magic. They didn’t even have a status tattoo. Instead he had two abilities.
[Head for Numbers]
[Passive]
[You are able to rapidly calculate mathematics mentally. The complexity of formulas you can mentally calculate increases with your Intelligence attribute.]
[Head for Languages]
[Passive]
[You are able to rapidly adapt to new languages. The speed at which you learn and internalize new words increases with your Intelligence attribute.]
Zack pondered that information curiously. Up until now, he assumed that the Akashic System was only good for bestowing magical abilities on people. There was more to it than that, though. These two passive abilities were specifically geared towards helping the user learn and develop skills. Zack had to assume that the user, a middle-aged man named Samson, used these skills in the work environment and reached a breakthrough naturally.
The three kids, on the other hand, had only one power between them. The first two kids Zack checked had the baseline ten in each attribute, and not a single power between them. The third, however, struck him as very odd.
[Tyler Storm]
[Human, Empowered]
[Level: 1]
[Health: 100/100]
[Mana: 10/10]
[Stamina: 100/100]
[Strength: 10]
[Endurance: 10]
[Agility: 10]
[Dexterity: 10]
[Intelligence: 10]
[Wisdom: 12 (+2 Empowered Bonus)]
[Elemental Affinity:]
[Wind: Level 1]
If Zack had eyes, he would have blinked in surprise. He had never seen the Empowered modifier before on anyone, and despite being only level one the kid had an elemental affinity. Zack didn’t fully understand what that entailed, but Alex told him once before that unlocking an elemental affinity was a way to level up.
Zack was very eager to see this kid in action.
The party of four got themselves geared up in Greg’s armoury, with the adult among them insisting everyone take a free healing potion. Zack mentally started preparing some replacements while the party proceeded into the dungeon proper. The spawners had already done their thing, replacing the bunnies and flowers that Seth’s group had mercilessly slain not even an hour before.
“Okay kids,” Samson said, turning to address the three younger adventurers, “let’s go over the rules one more time.”
Tyler rolled his eyes, and the other two kids did the same. “The orc already told us the rules,” he insisted.
Zack cringed. It was something they were working on to help avoid any legal issues—a code of conduct, rules their customizers had to abide by or risk being thrown out. Zack had yet to fully pay attention to them, even though he knew he should be intimately familiar with them for both his sake and the company’s as a whole.
Heh. Comapny.
“Yes, but we’re talking my rules,” Samson said, crossing his arms. “First, we don’t know how strong the monsters in here are.”
“If those fat nerds could handle them, they can’t be that strong,” one of the other teens, an overweight boy named Teddy, chuckled. He had a heavy leather cuirass over his chest, coupled with a steel shield and mace. The gear wasn't properly sized for him, but it was the best Zack could do. He made a mental note to figure out how to custom size armour and tools for people who needed them.
“Don’t underestimate people,” Samson reminded him. “They came with their own weapons. We didn’t.”
“Only because mom won’t let me have a weapon yet,” Tyler grumbled. As Zack observed him, he realized that the boy’s hair was a strange green-blond mix. He had a bow slung over his shoulder and a quiver of arrows at his hip. He was skinnier than Teddy, but not in a way that made him appear frail. There was an athletic tone to his arms and legs that spoke to a strict exercise regime. Even his chin was sharp.
“Your mother is still concerned for your safety,” Samson reminded him.
Zack was growing bored with the safety talks, and from the way the teens fidgeted, so were Samson’s young charges. The final teen was a kid with their hair cropped short. They didn’t seem to present as any specific gender, so Zack assumed they were non-binary rather than male or female. Their name, Ace, certainly didn’t lean one way or another. Unlike their friends, they chose two swords for their weapons.
Surprisingly, Samson had no weapons of his own, and instead opted to carry the team’s potions. It would seem he’d serve as their healer. Zack quietly applauded the decision, since it would let the kids fight and have fun without worrying about an adult getting in their way. No sooner had he made that realization did Tyler unsling his bow and take aim at rabbit poking its head out of the grass.
Zack nearly gasped as he felt his mana in the air suddenly shifted. He watched as aether glowed in Tyler’s fingertips, but rather than inject it into his bow or arrows, it seemed to draw magic out of the air. Zack watched enrapture as the ambient mana in the air coalesced around the projectile.
When he let the arrow go, the swirl of magic erupted in a blast of wind. It drove the missile forward with such speed and ferocity that the bunny didn’t even have a chance to dodge. The arrowhead punched right through the rabbit’s head, shattering the magical construct like it was made of glass.
Had Zack a jaw, it would have dropped in shock.
Ace let out a low whistle. “Damn, Tyler,” they said, their eyes wide.
Tyler shrugged and extracted another arrow from his quiver. Already a thread of mana was linking up with his head, a breakthrough imminently approaching.
“I wish I could do that,” Teddy grumbled as a second arrow soared through the air and killed another rabbit. Like the first, it exploded in a shower of mana, but Tyler’s breakthrough didn’t draw closer.
“If you train hard, maybe you two can advance out of NPC and get powers like me,” Tyler shrugged. He didn’t seem particularly proud of his abilities, nor did he seem mean about it towards his friend. If anything, he looked rather nonplussed about the whole situation. A third arrow was aimed and fired, another pulse of wind mana accelerating it to near-sonic speeds.
This time, it punched through a carnation. The flower proved hardier than the dire rabbits, and one arrow wasn’t enough to take it out of the fight. Seeing the floral monster shuffling forward, Teddy moved to intercept it with shield and mace in hand. If Tyler minded his kill getting stolen, he didn’t show it. He simply prepared and unleashed a fourth arrow.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
To Zack’s surprise, Teddy had his hands full blocking the flower’s attacks. He let out a terrified scream when a thorny vine whipped across his shoulder, dropping his mace to clutch at the wound in terror. The attack barely even punched through his armor, and a quick glance at his status was enough to confirm that he hadn’t taken more than two points of damage. Still, to a kid unused to battle, that was clearly more than enough to frighten him.
Ace stepped up to his defense, twin swords in hand. They twirled their weapons clumsily—clearly having never trained with them before. They succeeded in slicing through a few of the carnation’s petals and one of its leaves, but didn’t do nearly enough damage to kill the monster.
Tyler sighed in boredom and nocked another arrow. He barely took a moment to charge the shot before he fired. This time, rather than unleash a quickened shot, he narrowed his eyes. Zack watched as the thread of mana connecting to his head solidified, the boy achieving his necessary breakthrough.
The arrow soared through the air, where it struck the carnation in the stem. Then, to Zack’s delight, the flower exploded. A quick glance at Tyler’s spells explained what happened.
[Elemental Eruption: Level 1]
[Spell, Enchantment]
[Requirement: one elemental affinity]
[Infuse a weapon with elemental mana. Upon contact with an enemy, the elemental mana explodes out of the weapon.]
[Cost: 2 mana]
Tyler stared at his bow in a mixture of confusion and surprise, the first shift in his emotion since his party started his dungeon run. Both Teddy and Ace seemed equally shocked by the attack, too.
“Dude, what the hell was that?” Ace asked. Their swords were on the ground, the explosion of wind mana having knocked the weapons out of their hands.
“I… I think I learned a new spell,” Tyler admitted. He didn’t bother checking his hand—Zack already confirmed he didn’t have a status tattoo. He nocked another arrow and reached for his mana again.
Another arrow, this one aimed at one of the stooltoads at the back of the room. Another explosion of wind mana.
This one didn’t kill the monster, but it took a massive chunk out of the stooltoad’s head. Milky white flesh and liquid oozed out of the mushroom cap, and the toad turned furiously toward its attacker. Tyler stared it down, before readying and firing another arrow.
The attack hit its mark, and the stooltoad exploded into magical chunks. Zack quickly absorbed it, not wanting to leave the monster’s milky viscera lying around the dungeon.
“Dude, that’s so not fair!” Teddy complained. He threw his shield to the ground temperamentally and crossed his arms. For a second, it looked like Samson might step in to intervene, but Teddy just kept talking. “How come you get new powers? You already got a power!”
Tyler shook his head. “Sorry, dude. I couldn’t tell you.”
“I don’t want to be an NPC!” Teddy’s voice rose as he whined. He kicked the mace at his feet, sending the weapon rolling into the tall grass. “I want to learn magic and be an adventurer!”
“Theodore,” Samson warned.
“What, dad? Are you going to tell me it’s okay to be an NPC like you?” Teddy asked, wheeling on his father with venomous disdain staining his words.
Samson looked away in shame. Like the kids, he didn’t have a status tattoo, either. Zack had to wonder if Samson was even aware he wasn’t level 1 like the kids.
To Zack’s surprise, Tyler didn’t seem mad at Teddy’s tantrum. If anything, the green-haired boy was ashamed. He slung his bow back over his shoulder and stared at the ground. “You can fight the rest of the monsters on your own,” he grumbled, trudging to the entrance to stand beside Samson. “I don’t want to do this anymore.”
“What? Dude, this was your idea!” Teddy was practically yelling now, his chubby cheeks red with anger and frustration. “You said you’d help us grind experience and level up! I want some fucking magic!”
“Language,” Samson warned.
“Shut up!”
“Theodore,” Samson’s tone was growing as equally frustrated as his son's, and he raised a finger in warning. That seemed to shut Teddy up, as the chubby boy grabbed his shield off the ground and turned back towards the rest of the dungeon. He looked around for his mace, spotting it lying a few feet away.
There was a bunny perched atop it, sniffing at the weapon curiously. For a second, both Teddy and the bunny locked eyes.
Zack had never actually assigned behaviours to the monsters in his dungeon. For the most part, they behaved akin to how they would in the wild, filling their ecological niche within the environment he crafted for them. Just this once, though, he ordered the bunny to back down.
He didn’t like the way Teddy was throwing a fit, but he understood how frustrating it must be. Back before becoming a core, Zack had been jealous of the talents other people had. That is, of course, until he discovered his love for 3D modeling. That was the closest thing he had a to a superpower, compared to others in his life, and it was something he was all too happy to apply to his new life as a dungeon core.
He could imagine what it might be like to have a friend with a power when he didn’t. Tyler clearly didn’t see his gift as a boon, though, and rather as a burden. It was like the boy’s destiny was all laid out for him. He had power, which meant he would eventually be sent to a magical university for proper training in how to use it. Clearly his parents had him learning archery, there was no way he’d be such a clean shot without some proper training in the art. His breakthrough came fast and easy, too. Likely he had some magic lessons on the side.
Tyler knew what his future had in store for him: a lifetime of adventuring, of throwing his life at monsters to keep non-powered citizens safe. Teddy, by contrast, didn’t have that surety. He was one of those very NPCs that Tyler was training to protect.
As the bunny shuffled off the mace, Zack ordered it to nudge it towards Teddy, as extra encouragement. The weapon was a bit too heavy for the rabbit, so Zack used his mana to give it an extra nudge. Teddy shuffled back in surprise, and quickly snatched the weapon off the ground. For a moment, he held it in a white-knuckle grip. Then he stumbled forward and brought the weapon down on the bunny’s back.
The dire rabbit let out a squeal of pain, but didn’t die. Teddy hit it over and over again, letting out a scream of fury as he vainly tried to kill it. Zack thought he saw a tether of mana trying to connect to the boy’s head, but it just couldn’t find purchase. His metaphoric heart ached at the sight. The boy’s jealousy and rage were stifling his own progression, preventing him from reaching a breakthrough all his own. His lack of control, his unwillingness to adapt to his own weakness, left him shut out from the Akashic System.
Ace watched Teddy with shame on their face. Clearly, they weren’t having fun with this anymore, either. They dropped their swords and trudged over to Samson and Tyler. “I think I’m done,” they said, hanging their head in shame.
Samson nodded and said nothing. The only sounds in the meadow were Teddy’s furious screaming, and the squeak of a dying bunny.
Finally fed up with Teddy’s sociopathic behaviour, Zack decided he had to intervene. His wisp was just a ball of mana threads twisted together into a knot, so he couldn’t physically stop the kid. He could, however, deprive him of a punching bag.
Zack reached out to the injured rabbit, and cringed. The poor creature’s spine and legs were broken. Its health was in the negatives, though it was somehow still painfully alive. Teddy was purposely avoiding its head. As the boy raised his weapon to bring it down again, Zack quickly despawned the rabbit in a puff of magical particles.
Teddy’s mace dug into the ground. He blinked in surprise, looking around in confusion for either his rabbit or a fresh target. Not wanting to give them temperamental boy another target to take out his anger on, Zack quickly went to each monster in turn and despawned it.
“Hey! Stop stealing my kills!” Teddy roared, rushing for the wisp that hovered in the air. He swung his mace impotently, the head passing harmlessly through the incorporeal Zack.
For a moment, Zack considered whether or not he should say something to the kid. As he considered it though, he noticed a red thread of mana. This one connected to the boy’s heart rather than his head. Not a breakthrough, but something else?
A quick check of Teddy’s status surprised him.
[Theodore Trenton]
[Evolving]
[Level: 1]
[Status unavailable during evolution process]
Zack stared at the red thread of mana. This mana was clearly not the same he normally saw during a person's breakthrough, and as a result it was doing something very different to Teddy. Instead of leveling up, he was changing species.
That meant he was going to become something inhuman. What exactly, Zack didn’t know, and he wasn’t sure he was interested in finding out.
“Due to rule violation, your session is prematurely concluded,” Zack said, vibrating his threads of mana to speak to the boy in a robotic tone. “Please exit the dungeon.”
Teddy looked like he wanted to argue, and Zack was surprised when the boy bared his teeth. A pair of sharper looking teeth were jutting out of his lower lips. Tusks.
Is he turning into an orc, like Greg? Zack wondered.
A firm hand grasped Teddy by the shoulder and practically dragged him back toward the entrance. Tyler, it would seem, had finally had enough of his friend’s tantrum. Samson handed Teddy a healing potion, which his son accepted bitterly. As he lifted the bottle to his lips, he was surprised to find it came away a darker shade of red than the liquid in the bottle. He ran his fingers over his gums, pulling them away sticky with blood. He just felt his burgeoning tusks.
The smaller party returned their equipment to Greg, then departed the dungeon. Zack waited until their car peeled out of the makeshift parking lot before turning his attention to his orc coworker.
“How are orcs born?” He asked.
Greg blinked in surprise at the question, and rubbed his neck sheepishly. “We’re… We’re not. During puberty, and for a little bit afterward, some people just… turn into orcs. It’s the same for elves and other races. We all start out as human, but something just clicks and we…”
“Something?” Zack asked.
Greg shrugged. “It’s hard to explain. It’s like… an emotional breakthrough, I guess? It changes us.”
Zack bobbed in place and considered that for a bit.
“That kid, the one they had to drag out. He’s changing, ain’t he?” Greg asked.
“Yeah.”
Greg nodded and sighed. “Good thing we have their number on file. There’s a support group for young orcs in the city. I’ll make sure he gets the help he needs.”
“Support group?”
Greg chewed his lip. “The emotional breakthrough doesn’t help us control our emotions better, Zack. If anything, it makes us a lot worse. That kid’s going to need all the help he can get to control himself and his new strength.”
Zack bobbed in place. “I guess he got his wish after all. He wanted power, and now he’s going to get it.”