Huge Helpful Hugger
This creature's fleece-like fur comes in a variety of bright colors. Huge Helpful Huggers have a common racial memory. If attacked, every other Huge Helpful Hugger will remember you as an enemy. Otherwise all they want is a hug. If you allow them to hug you, all of them will attack anything that attacks you
Preferred attacks are Grappling in melee and ranged [Sonic].
Resistant to [Water], [Ice], [Spirit], [Psychic], and [Mind]. Vulnerable to [Blood] and [Body].
I watched the as the neon yellow blanket waddled toward me. It stood four strides high and walked on two legs. The monster was vaguely human shaped. It had stubby, thick legs ending in clawed paws. Long, slender arms draped thin flaps of skin covered in thick, curly haired fur, giving the appearance of bat wings. The spherical head had nightmarish features. The mouth was wide enough fit my shoulders in it. Fortunately, it was closed. The eyes were different sizes, and not symmetrically placed. There was no nose.
Everything in a [Chaotic Neutral] Dungeon that wasn't Magitech had the look of a Ren and Stimpy cartoon. Oversized tongues, hands, and ears were the norm. Imagine a Salvador Dali painting come to life. Order was a dirty word down here. The naturally occurring Magitech that creatures in this type of Dungeon sometimes possessed resulted in monsters that looked like the Borg invaded Sesame Street. Thankfully, the Huge Helpful Huggers didn't have any. All those sharp pointy bits might interfere with the hugging.
“Are you sure we have to do this,” Selenia pined.
“Don't worry,” I said. “It'll be over soon. They just friendly.”
I hoped. [Faith] triggered. That made me a feel a little better.
The demeanor of [Chaotic Neutral] is commonly referred to as crazy. Better words might be 'manic' or 'bipolar.' Creatures like the huggers were manically friendly. Other things down here were not so nice. [Chaos] was the energy behind passion. The most common attitude of the aggressive monsters in this Dungeon was anger, as contrasted with hate in a [Chaotic Evil] Dungeon.
“The last time you told me not worry I ended up covered is spider guts,” Selenia said with some heat.
It was to late to say anything else as the yellow Huge Helping Hugger enveloped me. The orange, crimson, and, green huggers got each of my party members. The warm embrace I felt was followed by a low frequency hum as it enjoyed hugging me. I cast [Mattersight] at full power to make sure everyone was safe from the Huggers and from other things that might happen by. Without my [Astral Grimoire] it took twelve seconds to cast. I managed five casts before we were released. It took slightly over a minute for them to get their jollies.
As the herd of huggers ran off Selenia said, “That was nice. It reminded me of how my mother use to hold me when I was little.”
“I would not know,” Aern'Lenninisal replied.
Emearia asked, “Would we really have gotten [Evil Karma] if we killed them? They are [Neutral] not [Good].”
I answered, “That's what [Measure Soul] said when I checked. Allelessa was right. Not all [Chaos] is [Evil].”
I looked over to see the portal to the Boss Chamber had gone black. The wait was over.
Killing this Floor Boss was the last one on my checklist. Allalessa's friend in the Dungeon schedulers office had come through, even though it had cost me a few gold. I was only able to get three Floor Bosses at Level 6 in the Dungeon in Everdale. The [Chaotic Evil], [Neutral Evil], and [True Neutral] Bosses took some time to arrange, but there just too much demand for the [Chaotic Neutral] Boss in that city. Here in Aeseiriral having an inside connection let me get all four. I was surprised I got into the [Chaotic Evil] Dungeon, when the elven city was almost full of [Lawful Good] people. It had cost five golds, compared to the one or two golds for the other Dungeon entrances. It helps to have friends in the right places.
I had finalized my preparations to Level. [Limit Breaks] provided the [Seek Water], [Seek Metal], and [Spice] Spells to finish out the Karma Quest for a Teir waiver for another [Lesser Metamagic]. I used [Empower Spell: Local Portal], [Empower Spell: Resist Poison], and [Empower Spell: Recharge Stamina] as Metamagics to finish the rewind Karma Quest. Next Level was going to require four Spells and four Metamagics or Styles. After that I would have would to have to rely on Aern'Lenninisal [Teaching] me Spells and Styles to finish my standard choices for Karma Quests. I only got nine [Limit Breaks] every Level after all.
I topped up my Mana, and lit a torch. When I felt I was ready I started pumping Chi through my Virtues. This time around had 8 Virtue Points in [Confidence]. It was time to assign a Purpose. I thought about being surefooted in the coming battle and-
You have 8 out of a possible 8 Virtue Points in [Confidence] and have reached the threshold of 7 points for Level 1 in the Virtue.
Your [Confidence] has manifested the Purpose of making you surefooted for 183 seconds.
I said, “Here I go. Remember, use [Recall] if something happens. No sense in wasting extra [Lives].”
As soon as I touched the portal the blackness vanished to reveal the Floor Boss.
Mighty Magiteched Maw
The biological body of this creature is just a mouth and a mustache. It loves to chew and relies on its Magitech circuits to process its meals. It has [Infravision] and a prehensile tongue.
Resistant to [Body], [Blood], [Darkness], and [Mind]. Vulnerable to [Transformation] and Crushing damage.
A camera with a lens a foot wide sitting over the mouth rotated my direction. Green circuits covering the monster glowed brightly against the dark room. It had two legs with a reverse knees. The legs had a square cross section and I could see hinges in at the knees and ankles. The Magitech surfaces where opaque but glowed the same glow of the forcefields I had seen in starter Dungeon. They glowed slightly to my eyes but didn't cast an light on the wall.
Not that it was needed. My torch dimly lit the walls, and but reflected brightly off the splashes of colors covering those walls.
The excessive attention to specific colors was annoying. In this world every chaotic being wanted to be unique, and every [Lawful] being wanted to be as exacting as possible. The result was you couldn't accurately describe all the different moss and fungus living on the walls without the using the right color. You couldn't just have green or orange. It had to be skobeloff versus celadon, or fulvous versus gamboge. The difference between fulvous and gamboge was a particularly deadly [Poison] versus a tasty treat. Once you put the information in the [Identify] Skill you were never going to forget it. It felt like the very nature of [Lawful Evil] was reaching out into the world using librarians.
I put the walls that appeared be decorated by a technicolor yawn out of my mind and focused on the giant mouth in front of me. Mainly because it had smiled at me. Things that eat you shouldn't smile at you.
It started moving toward me. The terrain was mostly rough and uneven. There were some well worn paths around the room so the maw couldn't come straight at me. Its robot feet were fast but the Dungeon guidebook the Faction had sold me said it was unsteady on those feet.
I headed into the broken terrain. The surefooted Purpose of my [Confidence] Virtue helped but this was the best strategy regardless. When I was what I thought was a safe distance away from the path the monster was walking on, I pulled a torch from [Inventory] and lit from the one I was already carrying. As the maw approached I tossed in front of it, trying to the have the torch land on the path. With [Double Temporal Flow] running, it lazily flipped end over end. The camera spun to follow the moving flame. I took the opportunity to start [Force Punching] the mouth in the mouth.
I got three [Punches] off before the thing's tongue snapped out grabbed the torch right out of the air. It pulled it in and chomped down. The maw screamed and spat it back out. As soon as the wooden stub clanked on the floor the maw's tongue grabbed it again. With the flame dowsed it ate the torch. There was a grinding noise followed by bell chiming. The Dungeon guidebook said the maw would convert any organic matter into energy to [Heal] itself. The flame may have stung but the net effect was to let it recover all its Health. This kiting strategy was described in the Dungeon guidebook. It would work if I could do enough damage, but it could take hours. I had a better plan.
The next best strategy was to trick it off the path. Now that I had an idea of how fast it moved. I changed my location and began casting. There was no place in the area of difficult terrain that was always safe. To kite the maw required constant moving. With the accelerated [Flow] of time, it was a subjective twelve seconds to cast [Local Portal] at my full Spell Level of 6. I needed the Spell Power for range to get it just right. When the maw was almost close enough to hit me with its tongue, a [Local Portal] opened under its front foot.
I skipped away of the tops of the rocks so it couldn't tongue lash me. Its feet started going through [Portal] but it wasn't as fast as me. I had added an extra second to the [Portal] duration, and made the width two stride, with the assistance of [Empower Spell: Local Portal]. I wanted to make sure I trapped it the first time. When the first leg caught nothing but air, the back leg tried to push off and leap over the hole.
Luckily it was already too far down and just crashed into the other side the [Portal]. As it was going down it decided to attack with it's tongue. The extra shove it had given itself put it close enough to hit me. I opened a [Local Portal] in between us to redirect the tongue, but the tongue changed direction in mid-air to latch on to my left arm! By the time the four inch thick tongue had wrapped itself around me the [Local Portal] I had cast to protect me from the tongue had closed and the maw was pulling me towards it!
I stumbled but caught myself rapidly. I managed to get a foot planted against one the higher rocks sticking up in front me. The [Portal] closed around the tongue, but didn't sever it. I looked up and to my left where the maw was hanging from a tongue that disappeared into thin air above it. The camera turned to me. We locked gazes, until the sound of shattering glass filled the chamber. I was pulled rapidly toward the spot on the path were the tongue emerged from. I hit hard.
You take 22 Crushing Damage from impacting the ground.
I rolled off the path as soon as I could. There was a scuffing noise was from the gravel on the trail, where I assumed the tongue had hit. I hadn't seen it. I was too busy getting out of the way. I stood up on the field of scattered stones and looked back at the monster. Its mechanical feet were trying to find purchase on the uneven ground to no avail. My plan hadn't been perfect, but it did work.
I walked around to the other side of where the monster was bumbling around. There was rise that put me about five strides above the elevation of the maw. I began another full casting of [Local Portal]. One portal opened horizontally in before me. The other one opened horizontally, high over the maw. I materialized a one ton steel spike from [Inventory].
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
As it fell through the whole in front of me I exclaimed, “Beep! Beep!” Eat your heart out Wile E. Coyote.
You have killed a Mighty Magiteched Maw
You gain 30 XP, 10 [Law Karma Points], and 10 [Balance Karma Points].
Claim your prize!>
Ding!
Congratulations! You have reached Level 7.
Your Class Power Rating has reached 49
You have gained 13 [Archwizard Ability Points]
You have gained 1 point in all [Statistics] and 1 free [Statistic Point]
The glowing blue lootball rose with the familiar grinding noise of stone on stone. When the stalagmite growing out the floor stopped, I grabbed it.
Ring of [Aether] Munching
Level 6, Rare Magic Item.
You acquire an [Aether Pool] the size of your Charisma.
Once per day the largest [Aether Pool] you are connected to recovers 6% to 18% of maximum capacity when you eat a full meal.
[Recharge Aether] would be a better spell for generating [Aether] than eating a meal, but getting an [Aether Pool] from an item was amazing. [Aether] was the energy that Magitech ran on. This was like getting a personal battery pack. It wouldn't do much for now, so I added it to my growing collection of interesting but fairly useless Magical Items. This was the thirteenth Floor Boss I had killed, and I had an item from each of them. Only the Ratskin Gloves of [Forcepunch] got much use. I had around forty lesser trinkets from Elite monsters I had killed. Out of those, only the Raptor Hide Belt of [Regeneration] was worth hanging on to and I hadn't even used it yet.
It was time start grinding again.
----------------------------------------
The month of Thunderbird rolled into Pheonix. I took the next two weeks to pick up the next seven Floor Bosses and finish my Karma Quests. The four Metamagics I chose were [Empower Spell: Create Flame], [Empower Spell: Seek Water], [Empower Spell: Purge Poison], and [Empower Spell: Spice].
Spice was quickly become one my favorite Spells. The simplest use was when something needy to be little more salty. It didn't actually add salt. It was from the [Illusion] School, so I could make up flavors from memory.
I found a street vendor to fry me up some bland potato chips that I added to my [Personal Pantry]. I had sour cream and onion, barbecue flavor, that cheddar cheese powdered flavoring, and ranch chips. And they were hot and fresh, right out of the oil every time I called them up. The jalapeno flavor tasted right and it was hot on the tongue, but it didn't clear my sinuses or give that slight bit of pain relief from the capsaicin. I gave up on it. At least it didn't empty my digestive track the way real jalanoes did sometimes. The best part was the cheedar cheese powder didn't stick to my fingers.
The Spells I chose to finish the Metamagic waiver Karma Quest were [Quickmarch], [Seek Mineral], [Detect Astral Presence], and [Spark]. [Spark] was almost useless except to light flammable liquids on fire. It was easier to light Greek Fire with [Create Flame]. Zapping people as a joke got me [Evil Karma], so I only did that once to Aern'Lenninisal. I knew it was [Evil], but it's the principle of the matter. How can you have a Spell to create static electricity and never use it to shock someone? It just doesn't make sense. The real reason I got [Spark] was so I would already have the [Lightning] School Mastery for when I took the Tier 2 Spell [Lightning Bolt].
I used the [Limit Break] for Intelligence and 4 Ability Points to get Level 1 in Archwizard Components. I had never been a fan of depending on Spell Components, but I needed one Component type for Spell for Aern'Lenninisal when I hit Tier 2. I only had enough for Level 1 because I had to save my Ability Points for the big buy at Level 9. The Spell Components Archwizards could get with Ability Points were [Quest Components], [Crafted Components], [Cognitive Components], [Living Components], and [Place Components].
I could use [Place Components] to supercharge my [Local Portal] Spell, but it would be rude. The Shrines only recovered a charge over the course of a whole month. I didn't need it anyway. I was looking forward to getting some good music to psyche myself up for [Cognitive Components]. That would have to wait too. Hitting Level 8 meant it was time to meet with my business partner/employer.
Congratulations! You have reached Level 8.
Your Class Power Rating has reached 64
You have gained 15 [Archwizard Ability Points]
You have gained 1 point in all [Statistics] and 1 free [Statistic Point].
Harmin had finally returned to Aeseiriral on the first Bestalday of Pheonix. Aern'Lenninisal and I met him at Bloomemia's office to discuss the business plan.
“Are you sure we have to give back the Amulets. What if Awaesha'Feleen decides to come after me again,” I asked.
“The Shrine of Concealment works almost as well. It requires expensive Spell Components to overcome the Blessing. The Greater Amulets of Scryguard protects against that. Her diviners will already have tried and failed to predict your future. It is highly unlikely that they will keep trying given how expensive Fate Spider Blood is,” Bloomemia said.
“You owe me two hundred gold for the rentals already,” Harmin said. “I am not willing to keep losing money on this venture.”
“You said you were getting them half off from Brindaesal. I though I owed you a hundred gold,” I complained.
“No. I said could afford to not make money while we waited for you Level up. My cost was 100 gold, but I am having to burn my favor with the Battlelord. That is a cost and you will have to cover it. It is your insistence on including Aern'Lenninisal in this plan that makes this is so expensive. You should bear that cost,” He replied.
“Fine. You said I could make that back in a few weeks. How much are we going to charge anyway,” I asked.
“The standard fee is one gold per Quest, which results in an increase of 10 Karma per Alignment Path. Killing the Floor Boss in a large group will give even more than that. We could charge more because they will be earning three times as much in end, but it is better for our relations with our benefactors not to get [Greedy].”
“How would we earn more than 10 Karma. That's all I ever get when I kill a Floor Boss,” I said.
“You are Killing them alone. For every member of your party you increase the Karma and the Experience by 1 Point,” Bloomemeia said.
“What! Each person gets more Karma the more people there are! On Earth you have to divide up the XP among the party. If you fight solo you get more stuff,” I complained.
Bloomemeia retorted, “By all accounts Earth is not a very nice place.”
I was quiet for moment while I digested her comment. “You have a point. So my maximum party size will be between nine and ten people right now. That's about twenty Karma per kill. Two gold per person, nine people paying per party, thats eighteen gold for an hour of work. I could pay you back for the Amulets in a day!”
Harmin nodded with a hungry smile. “Remember Aern'Lenninisal will not be paying, so we can hide what we are doing from his mother. There are costs to cover, and we still split the profits. There are only six people in the coterie who are Level 8, besides you. Until we get them all to Level 9 your Party will be limited to seven people. It takes time for planning and logistics. There must be time for transit. Fighting monsters is not all fighting monsters.”
“Transit should be easy. Can we get someone like Meallean and his roc to fly us around. My [Local Portal] isn't going to be as fast with large groups having to jump through literal hoops.”
“No. Meallean can usually carry the cotorie because travelling in my [Personal Palace] counts as public transit. I sell tickets to everyone. The System doesn't let anyone 10 Levels higher give direct assistance. Doing that negates Experience and Karma gains. It will be up to you to transport them,” he explained.
“OK. Where do I have to take them,” I asked.
Harmin pulled out a map of the continent of Aelmeera. Aeseiriral, Everdale, and Neral City were a little north and east of the center of the land mass. To the far northeast a curving archipelago reminded me of an upside down Alaska. That string of Islands led to the Darkstone Continent, which was just off the edge of this map.
The general shape of Aelmeera was blocky, almost square. There was a protrusion on the western side, a dip in the north, and the southeastern corner was clipped away, removing almost a fifth of what would have been a fairly square shape. With the curving islands it kind of looked like an upside down baseball cap.
The Altrin mountains covered most of the northern part of the continent and trailed down the western coast a little ways. There were two large inland freshwater lakes in the southwestern corner. They each had to be the size of Lake Michigan from the scale on this map. Cities were marked and labeled in black. There were a larger number of red dots placed around the map. From the location of the red dots near Aeseiriral and Everdale I worked out they must be Dungeons.
Harmin dove right in, saying “We have managed to get ten cities to agree to allow you to hunt Floor Bosses in their Dungeons. Because of our close working relationship with the Elven Faction we could not get more. Human cities flat out rejected the idea. We will have to work with that for now. If you get the group to Level 10 we can talk about wilderness Dungeons, but it would be reckless to allow children to travel in lands brimming with monsters, bandits, and slavers. The Legions will be done culling the wilderness by the end of the month, but it is still too big of a risk.”
He pointed to four cities along the southwestern coast. “Meeraeshal, Offeanmesta, Kaelnamaas, and Fennshamela have [Neutral Evil] Dungeons.” Next he pointed to three cities on the southern coast. “Ashrazaeme, Hohensela, and Freanilla have [Chaotic Neutral] Dungeons. Ashrazeame also defends a [Lawful Good] Dungeon in their territory. They have agreed to let you hunt in the [Chaotic Evil] and [Chaotic Neutral] Dungeon entrances there, in addition to the [Chaotic Evil] entrance to their [Neutral Evil] Dungeon.” Lastly he pointed to three cities just south of Aeseiriral. “The Collective of Wood Elves has three [True Neutral] Dungeons for you to use. This will be enough for now, but once the group reaches Level 11, finding a steady supply of [Chaotic Evil] Floor Bosses will be difficult.”
“If we cant get the other races to help because we belong to the Elven Alliance Faction, what about other elven cities. Should we focus on those,” I asked.
“The resistance to helping is coming from elven cities. We belong to the Elven Alliance Faction, but most of the members of your cotorie are the children of senior leaders of the Elven Faction,” Harmin answered.
“Why would a Faction be against the working with the children of their own leaders,” I asked, very confused.
“They wouldn't,” Bloomemia replied. “The Elven Faction is different from the Elven Alliance Faction. Two thousand years ago the Elven Faction created the Elven Alliance Faction to better work with the other races. They donated the secret to creating [Party Chat] to act as incentive to attract people. The Elven Alliance Faction controls the first 20 Levels of Dungeons in elven cities. The Elven Faction, which represents the military power, controls the upper Levels of those Dungeons. The politicians and their allies will not be very helpful to the children of military commanders like Brindaesal.”
“Can I join the Elven Faction,” I asked.
Bloomemia shook her head, and said, “No. It is why the Elven Alliance Faction was created. Humans and other races were originally allowed to join the Elven Faction. It was quickly discovered that because the other races progress faster than us that all the most powerful military officers were non-elves when it came time to offer promotions. To avoid an elven army led my non-elves the Elven Alliance was formed. Do not worry. You have strong ties to the Elven Faction. Leanosel and I both belong. Allalessa's husband is a member. People like you and Harmin are cultivated to work in opposition to politicians that seek to undermine the strength of the elven nations for personal gain.”
“Yes. I take great pleasure in learning I have been a political pawn all along,” I said drolly.
“You enjoyed the pay,” Harmin said.
“Sarcastic responses can't considered a complaint because technically you're saying the opposite of what you mean,” I shot back.
“Will I be allowed to accompany Eric when he fights [Chaotic Neutral] Floor Bosses. It is better for my Karma,” Aern'Lenninisal asked.
“Sure,” I said. “Come to think of it, should you even be fighting when we go after [Chaotic Evil] Bosses. Doesn't that mess with your Karma?”
“It is acceptable. I have taken the Oath of Balance. [Good] and [Evil] Karma are converted into [Balance] Karma for me.”
“That seems overpowered to me. You can fight way more monsters and take a whole bunch of Quests. What did you have to give up to get that,” I asked. Oaths were all about giving up things for power.
“Nothing, other than a commitment to [Balance]. Whenever I do [Good] I acquire [Kismet Points] and when I do [Evil] I get [Sin Points]. I have only a short amount of time to [Balance] them or I suffer Karmic Backlash. I usually take Sin Quests because I am not in the habit of doing [Evil],” he explained.
“That means you have to do [Evil] though. To offset the [Good] you do,” I stated with some trepidation. Was my friend secretly [Evil]?
“I do not have to do truly [Evil] things. Actions which are only cosmetically [Evil] count. Summoning my [Chaotic Evil] Manticore counts as [Evil] for the Oath, but I do not gain corresponding [Chaos] or [Evil Karma Points] for it. I can do simple things in everyday life to restore my [Balance]. I play practical jokes, such as taking all the toilet paper from public restrooms or talking loudly in libraries. That type of activity. It does require some preparation. I must eat many raw egg yolks to get credit for farting in elevators,” he said.
“But you don't play practical jokes on me,” I said.
“Have you not [Noticed] most of the restaurants I take you too have extremely spicy food,” he asked.
“But I like spicy food,” I said.
“I will have to change my tactics,” he said.
I had to open my big mouth.
“So if we get you more [Evil] Zodiac Summons, you can lay off the being mean to me stuff,” I asked.
“It will reduce the opportunities for your discomfort,” he answered.
“What do we have on those Zodiac Shrines,” I asked Bloomemia.
She pulled out a sheaf of papers and handed it to me.
“I was able to find safe locations for all the constellations except Dragon. The only Dungeon Shrine on Aelmeera at Level 10 or below for Dragon is at Korchik. That is in the Northern Slave League. It is not safe to travel there even if you have permission. Somebody is very likely to claim you as an invader from the Darkstone continent and put you in irons.”
Off course the very reason Aern'Lenninisal wanted to become an Archdruid of the Zodiac was going to be a big problem.