It took a few tries to get the command right, but I eventually ordered the golem to dig new rooms connected to my own by stating to simply make more 'rooms,' and projecting an idea of what I meant to it. Strange, but it seemed to get the concept of digging narrow 'rooms' and then making a bigger room after a couple dozen feet of digging. It did not seem to understand the concept of corridors. I kind of expected that, considering what the System said. Either way, it was making good progress on the current hallway.
Luckily it wasn't a construction worker back home, or the poor dude would've gotten a few dozen noise complaints, at the very least.
"So, now that I'm all set up... I can do unimportant things?"
[ You may, but it is advised to wait further. ]
Tempting. No, no, it really wasn't. I hadn't had a single moment to ponder myself, seeing I was stuck in a not-so-cliche fantasy world with a very... 'by-the-book' System. Absolutely no personality in that voice. At least it was vaguely feminine, so I didn't have to listen to robotic A.I. droning in my head. Not to mention half my mind screaming at me earlier to do stuff, which I could only ignore when I was doing the stuff it wanted. I deserved a fucking break! And that break was going to be looking at myself!
It would probably be easy, right? I could already 'move' my vision out, so it was likely just a matter of flipping it.
Hmm.
It appears that I suddenly can't move my vision out. I recovered mana, didn't I?
[ Correct, but you are still in a deficit. Therefore, you cannot see outside your core at this time. ]
"What kind of deficit?"
[ Mana: 4/50 ]
"Fuck me... I gotta wait two more hours?"
[ Incorrect. Twelve is still a deficit, as thirteen is twenty-five percent of your mana. You would need to wait three hours. ]
"Wow. I'd really like to recover it a bit fast- huh-?"
My golem, which was in the midst of digging a new hallway, was marching towards me. It carried chunks of rock in its arms.
"System, what in the fuck is going on?"
[ Your golem is responding to your needs. You need mana; therefore it is bringing you material to consume. ] A hint of slight amusement.
"My attributes do NOT lie. That is one clever golem."
The rocky golem stopped its march right in front of me, dropping the debris. It then left, going back to digging the room I ordered it to make. The room it was making at the moment was going to be massive, as I wanted it to be large enough to do practically anything with. Storage, monster den, treasury, anything I might require. Or if I was feeling 'pretty,' I could make a little garden in there. If I was even able to. It'd just be a nice thing to look at, I liked to think.
[ It is possible to construct areas such as that, but replicating floral life will take mana, and innate knowledge of the plants you wish to create. The best way to gain this knowledge is to consume plant material for mana, or to create plant-like monsters that could help you understand the structure of more average flora. ]
Sweet. Gardens weren't off the table. I'd have to put that on the list too. Definitely low priority though.
[ Current Task List: Garden (Low Priority) ]
What.
[ You can create and view lists to better organize your tasks as you grow as a Dungeon. ]
"Then create a list of all the stuff I repeatedly mentioned wanting to do?! I keep getting distracted by anything and everything!"
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
[ Very well. ]
[ Current Task List: View Self (High priority), Self-Safety/Protection (High Priority), Reach Surface (Medium priority) Garden (Low Priority) ]
"Much obliged. Now, I think I will look at myself."
[ Mana: 4/50 ]
"...I will look at myself AFTER I eat dirt."
I turned my attention to the pile of rocks and dirt that was dropped unceremoniously in front of me and stared at it. I invoked the same feelings as the last time I 'ate' dirt, and the rocks crumbled into a nice plume of dust that swirled around me, before being absorbed. Now that I wasn't half on disbelief-autopilot, I noticed that it felt... weird. Like someone rubbed crumbs on me, and they just dissolved into me. Not that I minded, seeing that this was likely going to be a common occurrence seeing all the mana I required to do anything around here.
[ Materials consumed. Mana is now being restored in accordance with the mana concentration within the materials. ]
[ Mana Concentration: 60% (Average) ]
[ 30 mana restored. ]
[ Mana: 34/50 ]
Wow. Percentages certainly stacked, huh? More importantly, this wasn't low concentration. My golem might be on to something! I wonder what mana-filled mysterious awaited me! Could I even get a surplus of mana?!
[ Having a mana surplus will allow you to shape yourself, making it so that you can become a certain shape, or grow in size, or both. You can only shape yourself using surplus mana, as the chaotic nature of mana that you control yet do not absorb will allow you to crystallize it onto your being easily. ]
"That's wonderful news! Wait, didn't you say something about getting more mana storage, or something, if I got bigger?"
[ Correct. Although being able to store more mana means you must absorb more to shape yourself. ]
"Fine by me. Anything I should know before I eat a couple million worms out of jobs?"
[ Anything absorbed from a concentration of average or below of mana will yield no surplus mana, as it will disperse. You will require high or saturated concentrations of mana in order to gain a surplus, but some extra mana may still dissipate. ]
"Dammit. Nothing is ever easy."
I decided it was best I stopped getting distracted at this point, as I still needed to look at myself. I wondered what I'd look like. A teardrop? A grotesque heart? Who knows! I only knew I was pearl-sized!
Maneuvering my vision over, which was as easy as me thinking: 'I want to see from there,' I paused, viewing things from a pebble I hadn't absorbed. I could 'snap' onto things and see whatever I wanted, but I... wasn't quite sure on how to look at myself. Or flip my vision. I was currently facing a wall from my new viewpoint.
Okay, you got this... just, think of this as... switching your phone's camera! From what's in front of you, to your dimly lit face in the middle of the night! Easy peazy.
It was relatively simple, as I just thought of pressing an imaginary button and flipping views, just as I had done on my phone hundreds of times before. Color me surprised when my nutty logic worked.
The process was slightly dizzying, my view literally snapping backwards, but I saw it. Me.
I truly was no bigger than a fancy pearl, and I was perfectly round like one too. Two sharp protrusions from the ceiling and floor of my room held me in place. Which was strange, seeing as I didn't... consciously make them, or seem aware of them until now. What really grabbed my attention was its- er- my, coloring. I was a multitude of colors, all of which swirled inside me like some sort of snow globe. Some flecks of color were more prismatic, others solidified in shapes inside of me, like little swathes of triangles or groups of octagons- only to be gone in a second and replaced with another swirl of colors and shapes. There was no other way to put it.
I was breathtaking.
+++
The three monsters angrily skittered about, tussling with each other over some scrap of food they had come across in their caverns. Or they were, until a loud rumble aggravated their antenna. They all stopped chittering and fighting, staying as still as they could to ascertain the vibration.
It wouldn't be long until another rumble graced their antenna, the monsters growing aggressive over the noise that disturbed them. Clearly it was another monster, as if it were a natural disaster, they'd have been alerted to it long ago.
They untangled from one another, hissing and chittering angrily at what tunneling creature dared envelop their territory- small as it was. Each one hastily aided the other in tunneling towards the unpleasant vibrations, antenna twitching more violently as they sensed something more desirable to them. Perhaps worth ignoring the tunneling nuisance they had found.
Why, it was a source of condensed and powerful mana, albeit small. Each monster clicked in anticipation, venom leaking from their mandibles as they savored the faint, yet rich flavor of the mana through their antenna.
Of course, only the strongest would get to consume it.
They immediately began to partially entangle each other again, each one trying to dig towards the delightful treat and slow the rest.
+++
The golem continued mindlessly digging as ordered, only pausing when it thought it felt a change in the earth around it. It was quite distant, and likely not of much importance. Not nearly as important as its orders, which were to dig. Orders of which it was currently not following.
Quickly correcting itself, the golem continued digging, punching through layer after layer of dirt.
The Master would be pleased.