After the battle in the sands, Merownis and I moved back to the forest area to rest. Unfortunately I hadn’t put any time into building an actual living space. Curling up, surprisingly comfortable on one of the large workchairs I did have access to, I almost immediately fell asleep. Before allowing that, I forced myself to place my latest attribute points where they needed to be for me to get each of the Specialisation achievements.

Character Window

Name

Grant Kaeron

Race

Earth Human

Title

Dragon Slayer

Level

25

Health

250/250

Mana

255/255

Attribute Window

FP:0

Strength

37

Recovery

39

Resilience

46

Dexterity

20

Agility

41

Perception

20

Power

50

Regeneration

50

Command

51

Health

250/250

3.9 per minute

Mana

255/255

51 per minute

Of the attributes which wouldn’t naturally rise to fifty already, I fixed two quickly. By placing nine points into Resilience and my remaining fourteen free attribute points into Agility both would secure their version of the achievement through levelling to thirty. I was surprised to see I had an almost perfect amount of free points to make this work, and just counted myself lucky I hadn’t gone all in on Power or Command as I had originally considered. At 37, the five points from levelling wouldn’t be enough and likewise, the 10 points I would receive in Agility by reaching level 30 would now gain me that one, too.

With the fifteen points per level I now received, I would be able to get Dexterity and Perception to the fifty point benchmark in four levels, technically outpacing Agility and Resilience. I tried to contain my excitement about the promising development, though I shared the discovery with Merownis. He smiled, happy to share that he had actually already received his first achievement during the battle, and would be able to gain at least one Specialisation in Command.

Like myself, Merownis now had the Exterminator achievement. Killing five hundred of anything in a single day was a nightmare. It probably wasn’t very common for someone to hit any of these benchmarks, really. Raising a single attribute wasn’t simple when they mostly relied on each other for efficacy. Even though three achievements were technically possible with the five points per level I had been granted at the beginning of all this, surviving on three attributes like that was risky. The one hundred and fifty points someone would receive would likely be more mixed up as they reacted to their situation, though. It was my achievements and Aspect which made it logistically possible. Considering some of those achievements were stronger because I was the first person to get them, and that the Aspect of the Dragon was considered legendary…

Was I maybe… really, really strong?

While I wanted to wrap my head around that idea, the pain in my side kept me honest. Strong compared to people I couldn’t even see, maybe, but not to the challenges I was facing right now. The scorpion’s venom had been pushed from my system but not before ripping me apart a little. I was very tender, and a little upset I didn’t get a level from killing half an army of giant scorpions. A level up would have made me feel better. “Do you think I might be getting less experience because I have killed so many scorpions at this point?”

Merownis grumbled before cracking open an eye. He was also taking up one of the two large chairs in the workshop. “That’s possible. You get the most when you do something new.” Merownis shrugged, exhausted, keeping his words short. It was something worth checking, though hopefully it wouldn't be a consistent issue. I wasn’t trying to fight any more hordes if I could help it. As with last time, the battle had pushed me close to the next breakthrough but not quite.

All of the achievements adding “weight to my soul” were making it harder for me to level, on top of the higher requirement per level. Naea was snoring on one of the tables, having gorged herself silly on the Scorpion bodies. She would be passed out for some time, so I couldn’t ask her whether it was true. It didn't really matter, I guessed. Either I would hit the bottleneck or not. I could worry about it at level thirty when I eventually got there.

The loot from the scorpions was, naturally, mostly carapace and poison sacs, which were already in the Workshop’s storage. However, thanks in part to the high level of the enemies and the fact that some of them were particularly strong, I did receive a few interesting items, too. Also a big chunk of gold. While the experience may fall based on the amount of similar enemies I had killed, the loot they gave out was worth it for now. I also had around twice the amount of money as when I started the dungeon, at least in Standard coins.

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Inventory Page (Xaverweave Pouch)

Item

Amount

Gold Coins (Standard Mint)

15,422

Gold Coins (Xaverion Minted)

2758

Sorehammer

1

Severance

1

Jingu Bang

1

Guidance Stone of Poison

1

Greater Potion of Healing

2

Spurs of the Flurry

1

Crafting Materials (Workshop)

Item

Amount

Lumber

85

Stone

134

Metal

34

Sundercat Fang

6

Sundercat Claw

10

Sundercat Pelt (Leopard)

1

Treent Twine Spool

28

Giant Scorpion Carapace

461

Giant Scorpion Poison Sac

62

Coloured Giant Scorpion Carapace

27

Scorpion Prince Carapace

5

Scorpion King Carapace

1

Giant Scorpion Stinger

507

I winced at the Sundercat materials, glancing over to the unconscious Merownis and frowning. Would he mind if these pieces became something useful? Had he seen them in the collection and found me vile? Would I judge him for the same? Honestly, only because there weren’t many parts of a human I could imagine would be useful. Maybe a high-level human would be different. Was I a high enough level to have valuable materials within me? It was a strange thought.

There was a lot of scorpion stuff in there at this point. I would need to figure out something to do with them, and I had a few ideas but nothing I was willing to start working on now. I considered upgrading the workshop again, but the surprising comfort of the work chairs had me wondering if I really needed to.

Building Options

Workshop

Upgrade

500g, 100 units of lumber, 40 units of stone, 30 metal

Demolish

25 units of lumber, 5 units of metal returned

The gold was no problem, and with my current strength the lumber wouldn’t be an issue to collect. Stone had gathered almost passively just by moving some of the larger debris out of the way. The Xaverweave Pouch’s method of eating was like a quiet version of Naea, the opening extending wide to gather the materials with ease. Units of metal were the biggest issue. I had enough from the fall of Clive’s to upgrade another time. Except, it might be better to build something else and see what the System would give me for the idea. A kitchen would be good.

With the awkward yet soothing lullaby of my two allies in my ears, I couldn’t fight the tiredness forever. Before I could convince myself to do any more thinking, I fell asleep. In the murky darkness of my fitful rest, I found myself beset by visions. Whether it was a facet of my growing mental powers or maybe just the magic in the air, the dreams I had were vivid. Gladly, I was not plagued with nightmares, but a carousel of scenes I had no context for blurred through my mind in a loop.

A world was born, seeded with life intentionally. For this moment, I watched as an observer from above, and the feelings the sight evoked was excitement, hope and pride. With a distinct shift of time, the world grew bountiful. I walked as a person of the land, enjoying the fruits I had planted so long ago. Too soon, this scene changed into one of fear. The world rotted from the inside. The fruit was poisoned. Neighbours I had waved to now throttled each other for sustenance.

Again the dream tilted, dropping me from the strife to a calm desolation. The plains around me were unrecognisable yet I knew they were the same I had just walked. From bounty to sterile in moments, the sense of loss which stole through me was devastating. It was with wet eyes that my vision pulled away from the destroyed planet, drying them as I found the next. Over and over this cycle continued, my sleeping feeling to me like centuries were passing.

I was still in the phase of dread when I awoke, and my screams were met with piteous looks from the other two who were already awake. While tempted to clear up the confusion, I decided not to. Letting them think I was haunted by the System was easier than trying to explain what I had seen. It was a perspective I had vaguely considered in the past, but only from a distance. Having actual dreams where I was a literal god seemed a bit much, even for me.

I awoke to a new day of work, which was technically only a little into the elongated night time of the dungeon. This would be my… fourth night here based on the sun. Considering I had defeated one Claimant and found another, I thought this was a pretty good pace. The next decision to make was whether to risk venturing out in the darkness or waiting here and doing some crafting work instead. Both were tempting.

The physical darkness didn’t matter anymore. Enough of the dungeon was saturated with mana that so long as I had Manasight active, I could see everything. So long as I understood the mana I was looking at, that is. Being able to see wasn’t the be all and end all of my choice, though. “Does the dungeon change at night?” I asked the pair who would know the most.

Naea nodded, while Merownis shrugged, seemingly confused at the question. I gave my attention to the fairy who held up her hands. “It’s not a dungeon thing. Certain creatures become more aggressive when the sun goes down. That’s true pretty much all over.” Was my hesitance that simple? The base fear of the dark which pervaded the human psyche from the time before we had fire still had an effect, even when the darkness itself was banished? In the dark, we were prey.

Or, we used to be. Looking at the eyes of Merownis, glinting against the dim light of a work candle I had lit, I felt the mentality fall away. The reason Merownis was confused I had asked was because he had always been a predator. His biology and birth in the dungeon were formative.

My own life had told me the darkness was generally safe, because everywhere had been. The System stripped away that privileged mindset and turned the dial all the way up. Nowhere was truly safe anymore, and only by making yourself more dangerous than the threats against your life would you be able to survive. I inhaled, deep and slow, letting the draconic part of myself writhe a little before releasing the calming breath into the air around me.

Merownis’ people had been hunters in every sense of the world. They had controlled their surroundings by being the most threatening thing in the area. Meanwhile, my claimed land had been assaulted right in front of me. The dungeon did not care to hide from me, it would challenge and wear me down until it broke me if it could. Lighting a few more work candles and gathering a slew of materials, I took over one half of the room.

“Go hunting or stay and help, I don’t mind which.” Apparently, the choice was easy as both Merownis and Naea decided to venture out into the dark woods. I barely paid attention beyond being glad they left me in the quiet. With the various colours of carapace before me, the workshop around me and the mana inside, I had everything I needed.

My first personal goal within the System, aside from survival, had been the creation of some boots. Really, any change of clothes would have worked. Still, I was almost nostalgic as I remembered the burning sands which were too much for me at the time. I wouldn’t even feel discomfort anymore. I was much changed, but some of my priorities would stay where they were. The assault of the scorpions was a wake up call.

While I might want to spend time fighting Merownis and learning things slowly, I didn’t have such a luxurious setting to do so. I had a murderous demiplane set on ending me in whatever way it could. As though to remind me, I felt the second Claimant’s position flare with energy. A vast amount of Spirit, enough I could feel it from a zone away, was gathering over there. I had suspicions about a few things that might have occurred, but none of them were good for me. I turned my attention back to the table.

This was exactly why I couldn’t slack off, or let myself get worried about what might come later. I needed strength now, and my instincts were telling me this was the safety and quickest way to do so before taking on whatever monstrosity the second Claimant was becoming. My jaw set, and my mana began to move in opposition.

“Fuck you,” I whispered as I started testing the durability of the carapace. It would take me a while, not just to work out the limits of my materials but the ways in which I could work with these things. Yet, I was confident. Mana Savant was an incredible skill, and it would help me do anything I set my mind to. The attack in the arena had left me feeling vulnerable in a way I didn’t like.

So, for now, it was time to make some armour.