Dungeons. It's a word people use to describe places of concentrated mana. Where monsters and creatures are attracted to. Where events have taken place to give the dungeon significance. It is a place named by the events and creatures and mana surrounding it. And they are named by the System. They are placed of fear and death. Places of rewards and riches. Glory. Blood. A place loved by magiscientists. It's also how I found my pet rock, Bert. Yes, he's an actual rock. Yes, he's sentient. No, you're hurting his feelings. Make no mistake, if he wanted to, he could kill you with a thought. He's a good example of the absurdness found in these dungeons.
-Heyth Smithson, human geomancer.
One of the first things Luck did was head over to the bar. He didn't stop as Ace melted into one of the custom leather chairs adorning his living room.
"Ahh." Ace sighed to himself.
Luck didn't stop as Tate looked out what was once a plain door to an indoor garden, which since has been transformed into a windowed glass door with enough wood to maintain the rustic style of the living room now afforded a full view of his Grove.
"Where are we?" Tate changed her angle of viewing, in awe. Trying to find some kind of trick in the window before Rick just went ahead and opened the door. "Dad?"
The grizzled man took a deep breath, a reminiscent dwelling in his movement. He paused outside and looked around, taking in the surroundings. Luck could just barely hear the grass brushing at his feet, but he was focused on selecting what to drink. Eventually, his father returned taking a seat at the bar, but not shy to stare outside. Tate followed suit. Two of them sat at the bar, Tate curiously feeling at the wood.
Sweet smoked wood, as if in preparation of bitter alcohol suffused the bar. Luck ran his hands along the familiar wood, finding his way comfortably behind all the bartending equipment. He gave his family a single eyebrow. Some boast in the gesture.
His father's dark brown eyes cast about the bar in what Luck knew was approval. Luck rose glass in askance, swirling it like a question. That earned a small smile from his father. He met Tate's eyes and she nodded in defeat too, no doubt still entirely befuddled. Affirming they could indeed, go for a drink.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ace raise a finger, not even looking to see if Luck had seen it.
So Luck bartended. He knew their drinks, he could've made decent facsimiles of them too. Luck liked to experiment though. Blue lines sprang about the bar, mostly on the racks of bottle behind him, which had since filled out. He even now had multiple bottles of the same wines and spirits. They were names, mostly. Soaked Apple Wine, Flarefruit Wine, most of the fruit from his bag of enchanted seeds were here. Some he never even personally planted.
He moved like a man in his place. This was nothing new to the three guests, however, so instead they looked around, or in Ace's case, he simply closed his eyes. Luck made idle conversation, noting internally Saga was out hunting, testing his magic. The shar seemed to be in deep thought, but Luck knew he was aware of his presence in the Grove. Saga had become introspective recently.
"There's a healing pool in the back down the hall if you two have any bruises." Luck waved, pouring a drink into a mixer. "Or cuts or whatnot. Or aching feet, anything really." Luck shrugged, not stopping his movement.
"A what?" Tate stared, her omnitanium was relaxed now.
"A healing spring?" Rick's eyebrows rose, some type of recognition in his eyes. "Here?" He sat up slightly in his chair, as if to go, but eyed the now swirling colorful concoction in Luck's possession.
"Dad?" Tate asked.
Luck was surprised. "You're familiar with something similar?" He laid out drinks, sliding them forward in front of them. The colors swirled about, some property of the wine made it seem more like juice, but Luck had taste tested. It was an orange-yellow color, exotic and tropical. But a cool blue ran through the drink, while silver specks floated about. It was not anything like the wine of his world.
Rick spoke. "I've rested in three during my impartation. Between trials, I was easily restored, but when a particular test was longer these would often be present in case of my injury." He took a sip. "Oh damn. That's nice son."
"Ace." Luck raised the third glass and tapped the mercenary's drink on the hardwood, sliding it to the end of the bar.
Ace pried himself from the chair, yawning all the way. The former mercenary grabbed the drink and raised it to Luck, eyeing it slightly. "Thanks, Lucky." He walked into the kitchen, miming cooking in way of explanation. Luck heard a muttering sigh. "Damn, I've got to beat this then."
"Go for it, Dad." Luck responded. He gestured to the hallway ending in the pool. "I'll just tell you now rather than surprising you later since it seems like my companion is busy." Rick was attentive at that. "My companion is a giant predatory cat called a shar. If you see him, he won't mean you any harm. I've no idea when he's returning, he's out in the Grove hunting. Hopefully, we'll get to eat some if he brings something for Ace to work with. That said, he might hit the healing pool first."
Rick opened his mouth. It closed, before opening again. "A shar is a good companion to have." Rick smiled at Luck's look. "I fought a lot of things. They are an intelligent creature. " And Rick left it at that, before walking towards the pool. Luck noticed his interested scrutiny of the leather chairs Ace went on about. He also noticed the empty glass his father left on the counter.
So that left him with Tate. Luck turned to her. But she spoke first. "Oh. This your Grove then." She nodded.
"Doubles as a Dimensional Room." Luck affirmed. "You want to do anything?"
"Huh? I kind of just want to relax, to be honest." She said, her eyes were glancing outside. "I don't think I've ever seen a forest. Like the ones you imagine in your head, not the sweaty bug-filled, baboon jungle we were just in. But... just that." She waved, pointing outside.
"Go for a walk then." Luck suggested. "Nothing will harm you. They'll approach maybe, the confident ones, but nothing will harm you." He responded, knowing that the Grove knew the guests of the druid. The knowledge of the Druids of Old working in the back of his brain. "Maybe try to find Saga out there. Or maybe he'll find you, who knows."
"And Mom?" Tate asked.
"She's still in the Tunnels of Arach." Luck replied, seeing the worry immediately blossom. "Evodim."
"Yes, Master Luck." A voice sounded as if a person just happened to poke their head into the room.
"Inform my father of the time dilation." Luck requested.
"Of course, Master Luck. When you have a chance, call on me so that we may discuss the changes I've undergone."
"Will do, Evodim." Luck replied, noticing the question on Tate's mind. "This is my evolving dimensional room. I named him Evodim. He took aspects of myself, some from my rewards, some from not. And became this." He explained. "Time flows faster in here. We can spend three hours in here for every hour outside. If we're going to relax at all after today, then it's here."
"Aspects of yourself huh? I won't ask the explanation behind this time dilation but at least I got one answer." Tate grinned after a moment. And Luck saw a glimmer of his sister, a ghost of a larger grin on her face, framed by brunette hair, and enhanced by the smile in her eyes. "That explains why this place looks like it does." She quipped.
Luck couldn't help himself and laughed. "Yeah, it does doesn't it?" He smiled.
It wasn't long for Tate to ultimately decide to take that walk. Luck sensed she needed the time to herself. His sister was brilliant. But she tended to think she was the only one with weight on her shoulders, and that thought, more than anything else weighed on her the most. The whole family was the same, though they were much more adept at hiding it, and perhaps better at coping internally.
They had watched a Spectre incinerate a crowd of people. Nothing on that level of violence ever occurs in the city - Luck's home. Not all at once, not all so fast. And incineration? Luck remembered the smell, his nose picking up the smell of smoked wood but remembering the smell of burning flesh. Cremation. He'd never witnessed the smell of burning flesh. And yet, he had to move on.
If Luck were being honest he hadn't felt much guilt killing snakes. Even the small ones. But the baboons - there was some trace of intelligence in their eyes as they died. That was always something hard to get over. Their desperate death throes, as they bled out, reaching for one more injury against their opponent. When Luck sliced their throats or stabbed their hearts, it was the moments after that he remembered, but could never dwell upon.
His father had told them both they would get used to death. His mother had said the same. It was no secret they too had killed their fair share, as was necessitated. In most cases, it was self-defense. They both did so without hesitation, Luck had witnessed it a few times, and heard of it countless more. Sometimes it was by third-party, a given order, or subtle nod that would result in the death of a troublemaker. But perhaps it was the hesitance and regret that Luck saw not during or before the act, but after, that caused himself to have, even after all these years, ill feelings regarding it. He didn't think he ever would get used to it. Perhaps he could, but part of him refused to ever have that normalized. Accepted, sure, he could accept the world for what it was, but to expect it, to shrug his shoulders at it - he wouldn't.
Luck sighed, staring at his glass, tinkling with ice. The liquid's base was flarefruit, he knew the taste by now, but he had already forgotten what else he put it in, lost in his thoughts as he was. "But damn, if that isn't the best thing I've ever tasted." He smirked, he had to give himself credit.
"Give me half an hour and I'll counter that statement." Ace replied. His black hair was only slightly slick, leaning against the doorway into the kitchen. He wiped his hands with a rag as a gamey smell came from the room. "Looked like Saga had been hunting a lot. The cold room is full of meat."
"Yeah, the shar's got a lot on his mind." Luck said. "Too smart for his own good. It's weird witnessing him become more and more intelligent. I'm guessing he's been hunting to keep himself occupied."
"Give him time. He seems like the type to take time alone to process things if a shar even could. Maybe that comes with being a predator too." Ace replied back. "Tric is something similar. She's got better control of her magic. You know Lightning magic is the easiest to lose control of?"
"I could figure. She may be inheriting things from you." Electricity tended to be unpredictable. And Luck posited Ace had some type of enhancement towards his learning. "How about you Ace?"
"It's nice being free." Ace grinned. "It's not the safest life so far, but damn is it interesting. And this time I'm not alone." He laughed, but it was one of those rare times Luck saw through his friend.
"It is interesting I'll give you that." Luck said, elbows on the bar counter. He had already placed everything into their respective places.
"Well, the meat won't cook itself." Ace said to himself, looking over his shoulder. "Back to the kitchen." He said.
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Luck chuckled.
"Evodim? The updates please." Luck asked.
"Ah, of course, Master Luck." Evodim responded immediately as if waiting for a moment to jump in.
Luck had always found Evodim's unhurried, polite and unobtrusive demeanor endearing. Luck gestured for him to continue.
"As you know, my Evolving Trait is linked to you. The magic that surrounds myself, that fuels my change, is wired to your individual growth. Even without it, Master Luck, I wish you only the best." He said.
Luck walked languidly, only nodding to Evodim's speech. He found himself opening the door on the side of his cabin, and staring into a peaceful forest. Before the tree line, was what he might've called his yard, if it were anything as maintained as one should be. Tall grass rose to his thighs clinging to his body. It was pale green, some dotted with pink flowers. And it flowed like a sea in the gentle breeze.
"I am aware, Evodim." Luck spoke as he walked, wading through the greenery. A bird landed on his shoulder and Luck listened to it chirp gently in his ear. It was nice company.
"Your progress with magic is most notable." Evodim spoke, as Luck realized the grass was never so lush before. "The soil surrounding my domain is much more fertile. I know this to be a result of your training and insights with Earth magic. And the growth and fertility of the plants and animals that exist by the cabin are unprecedented. Of course, this is due to your familiarity with Nature magic as well as your Trait. But above all, they grow fast. Time seems sped up for them, but that isn't to say their lifespans are shorter, they're longer in fact. As if time is in their favor."
Luck's amber eyes roamed around the peaceful area surrounding his cabin. A few tall strong trees, but mostly tall grass. It was beautiful. The grass was pale green, but despite that, the sea of grass seemed to have flowers floating on top of it. So much so present were the little pink flowers that grew upon them.
"That explains the health I'm witnessing." Luck remarked. "Did you ever get around to planting all those seeds from the enchanted bag I gave you?"
"Some of those very plants grow before you." Evodim replied. "Many of the plants bear fruit, ripe enough to eat."
And without a word, spots in his vision highlighted themselves in blue. Camouflaged, they were. He idly wondered why, fruits were generally supposed to be eaten to spread their seed. It didn't matter he supposed. A short thin plant grew right out of the ground, bearing a fruit heavier than it seemed it could support.
It was a pale green sphere. Smooth supple skin. Luck bit into the mysterious fruit to find its outer skin nearly non-existent. The second he bit down, his teeth sheared clean through and into refreshing cool juice immediately. A clearness rang through his mind, focus and concentration. The juice dribbled down his chin but left not stain or stickiness. It ran off his skin like water from a clear spring.
And it was called just that, clearfruit. A taste so crisp, cooling and clear it pierced through the conscious too. A magical fruit, he knew. A rather rare one, actually. With properties that enhanced the mind. The knowledge of the druids of old was truly a boon in times like these, although Spirit could probably provide an answer just as quick.
Curiously, for the first time in... what seemed like forever, Luck flexed a mental muscle.
"Hmm, nothing?" He said to the little bird on his shoulder. Luck wondered, Diversi did say only items or things of sufficient power are recognized...
Evolving Dimensional Room: Evodim (Legendary)
A dimensional room is a pocket of space dedicated to an individual. He or she may permit others to enter and exit but it may only be accessed by the individual to which it is tied. The creation of dimensional rooms is a knowledge highly sought after. Only a select few know the secret and less than that have the means to create one. An Evolving Base is one that grows with its owner. The magic tied to these Evolving Artifacts is outside the realm of possibility. As such, they are an extremely rare occurrence and command great power. This Evolving Dimension Room, further, has the ability to direct that growth to the whims of Luck Lockyer.
It took Luck a few moments to really process the significance of that Rarity. Legendary wasn't just the maximum Rarity rating you could get, though that was admittedly an enormous part of it. From what Luck understood, it was representative of natural occurrence, existing amount, the interest of the said item, its value, quality, and uniqueness. That meant... Evodim might be one of a kind. It could mean, there are a number of interested parties of such a thing, that the value of Luck's tool was through the roof, that the quality of his dimensional room was absurd. Or it could mean all of it.
It was likely all of it. And that was Luck being realistic. He had lucked out during the card game with Jerxos, and he knew it. The God of Rebirth had actually gone silent when Luck happened to pick it out.
"Zoning out?" A conversational voice said over the breeze. Like a pleasant windchime.
"What do you think decides whether or not something is recognized by the System? Like the Blind Maze of Arach, or some random item of power?" Luck turned, the System was weird at times, he truly questioned how it determined things.
Standing not far from him, Tate rubbed her chin. Her eyes drifted to the little bird on his shoulder, she seemed more relaxed than she had been before. "I'm not sure. I haven't really done anything with it recently."
"It seems kind of open with information. For example, can you try to think on Evodim - he's my dimensional room by the way - and see if the System gives you anything on him?"
"I know who he is." Tate furrowed her eyebrows. It didn't take long for her to give up. "I got nothing." She shrugged. Her eyes did drift towards the metal on her arms, however. "Try this." She raised her arm. "You get anything?"
Luck flexed that mental muscle again. This time though, he got nothing, despite the fact he knew the metal was omnitanium. "Nothing. Nothing at all, weird. You think we can only pull up those windows on stuff that's ours?"
Tate waded through the grass, a thoughtful yet peaceful expression on her face. "It's likely, but would that mean it would give us information on things that we didn't already know? Like, we could use it to figure what something was if we didn't know what it was in the first place?"
Luck idly pulled out his stopwatch. The one perpetually in his pocket. It ticked and tocked as it had always been doing. He focused on it. It briefly brought his thoughts back to the Arena Fields and the reward room that shimmered with everything from staves and wands to wine and liquor. It was a burnished brown coloring and the times on the clock were written in a different character than standard numbers. But Luck understood them. The pocket watch had a chain that ran around it, looping back and connecting to its body again. It was just as Luck remembered, stylish and timeless.
He did remember a window popping up for it way back then. He tried again.
Master's Timepiece (Epic)
Crafter by a Master Horologist, this timepiece is always accurate to the millionth second. It is enchanted with a small boon of knowledge that affords the holder a rudimentary understanding of time. Intended to be gifted to disciples of horology to the effect of honing their craft.
"Huh. That's more than it was before." Luck said, his eyes taking in the pocket watch. It truly was beautiful.
"What is?" Came Tate's reply.
"The information the System is giving on this pocket watch." He replied. Luck raised an eyebrow, then his eyes went a little wide. "Wait a second, it's enchanted to help understand time! What the... is that why I've been making progress in my Time magic?" Luck was baffled. What were the chances the reward he chose in that room was actually something more than a timepiece? Time magic was supposedly high in terms of difficulty and understanding.
Luck blinked. Was it really the enchantment on the pocket watch or his own understanding that got him so far? How did that work? He could've sworn it was all him understanding the gravity of time, the stillness of a moment, the connectedness of happenings. To pause and slow time. Could he have been under the effect of the enchantment the whole time?
"Maybe more information becomes available the longer you have something? Did you get that before the Update? What is that from anyways?"
Luck realized Tate didn't know. "We told you about Peace, right? That's the town Nayah is from, right outside the Hydr Dunes. It's a hub for adventurers passing through. It was where we were after the Update took place. The place got overrun with snakes and callamoths." He explained. "They have an arena there for prizes, kind of like a gladiator type deal, there are monsters and other challengers you could face. Saga, Ace and I entered, if the announcer was telling the truth, this pocket watch should be worth a single gold aeran. It was in a room full of prizes, anything from beer to a sword to paper. A lot of them were magical." Luck looked at it in doubt. "But I think it's worth much more given the Rarity. We did get it before the Update though. I haven't looked since then."
"Maybe information does become available the longer we have stuff. Talk about lucky though, a pocket watch all magicked up to help you with... well, your magic." She finished lamely. "I mean, but it's a damn random pocket watch in a room full of magical shimmering prizes you said? It had to be worth something."
Luck reread the description. He thought less that it was designed to help with magic, and more to help with the concept of time in general, for those aspiring to make clocks and watches. Disciples of a horologist. That was an extremely lucky break. Who would've thought that some random timepiece might aid him in that way?
"True, I just wasn't expecting it to be anything other than for keeping time." Luck mused. It ticked and tocked lightly, a light clicking that was timeless, whimsical and inevitable. He held it in his hand for a moment, thinking about the nature of time. How long had he been with the timepiece? How long had it been ticking? Was it imbued with magic further, the description said it was always accurate, but what of when Luck brought it into a time pause?
He paused time, staring at the watch tick steadily, five second. Unpausing time, the watch reverted to the correct time, five seconds previous. "Huh, I guess it really was created by a master. There has to be some magic to it then." He said.
"What'd you do?" Tate had fallen backward among the grass. It created a soft bed easily. Her weight wasn't enough to bring the grass down.
"I paused time." Luck said offhandedly, lifting the watch. "It's still correct."
"Still gets me." Tate frowned. "Still not fair."
"Oh shut up, sis." Luck grinned. "You have an everything metal."
They walked about the Grove for a while. There were a lot of different, vital plants about. They were bred from the seeds Luck had given Evodim way back when. Most were edible, and of those that were many were planted right around the cabin. The tall grass acted as a type of shield and camouflage for them, as Luck didn't initially notice most of them. They both helped themselves to some snacks.
"Hey!" Ace's unmistakable voice called out. "Food!" He said simply, before disappearing through the door.
It was a quantity respectable for a full meal. But Ace had opted for something more relaxable. "We have some greenelk skewers here. I made some fruit juice from the fruits outside, refreshing stuff. Seasoned sliders with toasted butter bread, that's more gamey meat, but perfect for a patty. A lot of the fruit comes out to be really good finger foods when sliced."
"Wow Ace," Rick said simply. "Don't mind me then."
Luck laughed, and grabbed a skewer himself. Everything was laid out on a platter, something of a grab and go. They ate and talked, and lounged about. It was comfortable, like good times. The kitchen, the bar, the living room they moved about as their conversation shifted about the topics of Aerae.
"You think so? It wouldn't really make sense for Ethodthem to keep track of everything right? Why would it give free information away? I could just look at something and ask the System? It doesn't seem... right." Ace responded.
"What is this Ethodthem you guys keep mentioning?" Rick questioned, his voice was thoughtful. No doubt Luck's father was truly contemplating things in earnest. He was one to learn fast.
"Yeah, I'm not familiar with the term either," Tate added, furrowing her eyebrows.
"It's the god-given name of the System. An old name for the windows and screens you see for Quests and stuff." Ace explained.
"Good to know." Rick spoke as if mentally marking the thought.
"How about the different Races we see? What's up with that?" Tate said, slightly in awe. "I didn't want to say anything but I was surprised when we got to the Magice guildhall. And then all of Ardun has people of all different kinds!"
"There's a bunch of different peoples on Aerae, so we've found. It's hard to remember them all. Humans, it seems, are in the minority actually." Luck lectured what he knew from Spirit. "You know Humans have subraces?" He explained that too, much to the amazement of everyone present.
It felt like Luck was home despite the subject except for the missing person still gone...
Ace's face was bliss, chewing the meat he prepared. "Now that's a perfect glaze." He threw up an okay sign. "Perfection."
"A nice bath and then this." Rick shook his head, grinning. "I feel like my mana", he used the word hesitantly, "has returned. Enough for me to make a few useful things." He sat down with a grunt. "The whole conversation really puts things into perspective. I've been behind on everything from being in the forest.
"No worries, Dad. Some of this stuff isn't really relevant right now anyway." Luck waved, delighting in the meat. He plucked a fruit off the platter and helped himself further. "What's the verdict for your magic then? Weapons? Equipment?"
"Armor rather, don't you think? Maybe night-vision goggles? Though I don't know how long those will last." Rick grimaced. "We're gonna get hurt eventually. Either we prevent it through protection of preemption." Luck had reminded them during their meal of his regeneration but the fact remained a killing blow couldn't be healed. "Best we be prepared for it."
"We don't even know what we're armoring up for do we?" Tate was the one who chimed in, ironically being the most armored of them all, by default. "And can we even guarantee we'll see anything?"
"Hopefully, the whole dungeon isn't like that." Luck frowned. "How is everyone feeling though? My mana is at full now."
"Same here." Ace nodded, crossing his arms.
"Me too." Tate gave an affirmative too, her hair flowing as she nodded.
A portal opened up in the middle of the room. It was time to tackle the dungeon, no matter the fact they would be risking their lives. He wanted his whole family back.
"You all realize there is a huge chance we die." Ace paused, speaking before anyone moved. "We're not from this world. We don't know the monsters. We don't know magic. Hell, we didn't even know what a dungeon was before this. We don't know if there are traps. We don't know anything, is what I'm getting at." He looked at everyone. "You guys know that right?"
"The world doesn't know us either." Eyes flashed fossil amber.
They walked through.