'Why?'
** DING **
Curiosity
'Care to elaborate?'
** DING **
Yes, following your pledge to aid us, we shall explain
I pause to consider my options, and can't help but think of how annoying the dings are.
We believe the rewards shall satisfy your thirst for power
No more dings this time, just a box that fades into and out of my vision. 'Who are you implying has a thirst for power? Not me!'
Overpowered... Main Character?
… Touché. 'Even so, defeating that Ogre is definitely beyond my current means.' I guess helping what is probably the most powerful existence in the multiverse is not the worst choice I can make.
No, it is not and yes, we shall assist, if only to further our own means
** DING **
DUNGEON TAKEOVER
Task: Slay the soul residing within the Dungeon Core and assist The System in taking control of the Dungeon.
Fail condition: Death / Leaving Dungeon premises
Quest Ongoing Accords:
* Trait: Soul Hearth
* Skill: Soul Sense lv 20
* Spell: Essense Duel
* Spell: Rend Psyche
* Spell: Ladle of Lethe
(Lost upon quest complete/failure)
Competition Rewards:
* 1 SysPoints
* increased affinity with The System
Penalty:
* N/A
Accept?
Y / N
'Cool! Please allow me to check. Inspect!' X5.
** DING **
Soul Hearth. Suffuse one's Mindscape with the welcoming warmth and homely protection of the Hearth. A sturdy abode for all who are lost or forgotten to henceforth call home. The mightier a mind, the toastier a Hearth.
Soul Sense. Your senses may now ascertain the core and essence of nearby entities.
Essense Duel - Early. Expert Rank. 50 mana / cast, varies. Know your mind but know your enemies better, less you find yourself disadvantaged. Touch a creature and Will them into your Mindscape where the strength of your mind and souls are pitted.
Rend Psyche - Early. Expert Rank. 150 mana / cast. Cleave. Server. Rupture. Sunder. Rend thy foe!! Slash forth to deliver a rip in space that flies forward through the air for several meters, rending all that stands before it.
Ladle of Lethe - Early. Master Rank. 300 mana / ladle. One man's curse, another man's boon. Conjures a ladle brimming with water from the River Lethe, its presence heeds comprehension onto a soul, be they sip and forget or may they linger and wane.
Hmm~, 'maybe if you could also reward me with one of those spells? Or the trait!' I ask in greed. What can I say, those are amazing spells, and the trait or skill is just necessary for everything to work. Soul magic, deservingly the kind of spells owned by an OP MC. Right?
No
Aww~. Well, I know I'm already swayed ever since I saw that reward, now that its actually possible. I might as well not delay... 'You're sure I have a chance with these accords right?'
Positive, though it would not be easy
'And that Syspoint thing will get me anything in your store?'
True, any one thing from the CredStore
Damnit! 'Yes!' Who can resist?
** DING **
Quest accepted, DUNGEON TAKEOVER
Temporarily Accorded:
Soul Hearth
Mana Sense lv 20
Essense Duel - Early
Rend Psyche - Early
Ladle of Lethe - Early
'So, gonna tell me why you want to take over the dungeon'
Curiosity
… 'o~kayy.'
They do not wholly fall under our jurisdiction, their creation and growth be outside our scope of understanding. Settled into place far before we come to be and is now run by… it is what we wish to discover.
Ye' are not the first to agree to our request, nor will you be the last. Though your demands are much for the nothing you have provided
'Sorry… Fine! First some preparation and planning, then let's get this show started.' I tell The System with high spirits.
A warning and advice. Improve your mind and remember that within the Mindrealm, whatever you strongly desire may come true
Eh? 'Can you please explain?'... but no more blue boxes appear to block my vision. So mental attributes? and, uh?..
"WELL, WHAT WILL IT BE BOY?"
"Ack!" That surprised me.
"Yes, please give me a moment more!" I replied to the Core lady innocently. 'Status!'
** DING **
I allocate the eleven Ap following The System's advice, improving my mental stats in preparation for using Essence Duel, making assumptions that Wisdom and Will might be more the deciding factor but unwilling to disregard Intelligence. So, three to Intelligence, then four each to Wisdom and Will. 'Please categorize spells by their rank in alphabetical order. Alphabetical for the skills too and please separate the one you're lending me. Thanks!'
Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
** DING **
Name: Zane Fair Prayoga
Specification: Male. Human. Argead.
Level: 6 (9748/16000)
Hp: 164 / 164
Mp: 525 / 525
Sp: 295 / 295
Str: 10
Con: 18
Dex: 10
Int: 19
Wis: 20
Wil: 20
Cha: 10
Ap: 0
Syscred: 29818
Fp: 5
Titles: [Mind as old as Time], [Memories of Forever, Forever lost], [Pioneers of Magic], [Prodigy Mage], [Spell Dilettante], [Pristine Peddler], [Dungeoneer Pioneer Smuggleer], [Phantasmic Dungeoneer], [Title Progenitor]
Traits: Adaptable, Metamorphosible Mana, Immortal Mind, Memory Vault, Dungeon Phantasm, Dungeon Transceiver
Skills:
Artificial Infusion 2
Dagger Proficiency 6
Evasion 5
Fear Resistance 7
Harvest Fauna 2
Heavy Armor Proficiency 6
Inspect 10
Mace Proficiency 3
Mana Manipulation 17
Mana Sense 12
Pain Resistance 5
Poison Resistance 3
Sneaking 12
SYMPHONY 8
Taunt 6
Thrown Weapons Proficiency 4
Unarmed combat proficiency 5
Visualization 13
Knowledge Pack 0000000
Map Interface
Shared Map (¾)
Cantrip Spells
Coat - Basic
Disinfect - Basic
Distill - Basic
Ignite - Basic
Light - Intermediate
Mend - Basic
Soften - Basic
Unsoil - Basic
Apprentice Spells
Conjure Dagger - Basic
Conjure Flames - Basic
Lesser Heal - Basic
Magico Disk - Peak
Mold Earth - Basic
Wind Arrow - Advanced
Novice Spells
Conjure Trilattic Swarm Armor - Basic
Latent Coating - Early
Novice Repository - Early
Pocket Suspense - Early
Shape Stone - Intermediate
SmartMines.exe - Early
Spider Climb - Basic
Will-o'-Weal - Early
Will-o'-Woe - Early
Journeyman Spells
Vermillion Lord of Storms - Early
Accorded:
Soul Hearth
Mana Sense lv 20
Essense Duel - Early
Rend Psyche - Early
Ladle of Lethe - Early
I feel nothing from Soul Hearth, what even is a Mindscape? I shrug, that seems like more of a bonus chance where the soul might want to leave the core by its own choice. My plan relies more on Essense Duel and Rend Psyche, I just hope to have enough mana to use them.
"TIME IS TICKING~, SHALL I MAKE THE CHOICE FOR YOU?!"
Damn it! The Ogre started making its way towards me with slow deliberate steps, the massive trunk of a club comfortably placed upon a shoulder. "If you're trying to scare me, its working!" I tell them to boost their ego. Though deep down inside, I know the fear is too real.
Thirty mana into the armor, while I begin running to the right as if planning on taking a roundabout way to approach the core, produces enough Latent Mana from the armor to once again reuse my trusty camo effect. The Ogre rotates itself on time with me, up until the moment my armor finishes applying its camouflage, when I abruptly stop my run while it continues. They are both unnaturally present in my awareness, like, I have a general feel of where they are without even looking.
I hope this works! Letting go of the outer layer of my thick armor, I exit out the back with a thinner layer, both armor still mimicking its surroundings. Wouldn't it be cool if that decoy can keep moving on its own?.. Well, wishes aside, I leave it there with just enough mana to maintain its effect for a few more seconds, while I turn back and steadily make my way around the Ogre's other side, my new sense allowing me to know exactly where it is in relation to me. The creature is still busy trying to spot me, its eyes roaming the space just a little bit beyond where I left my decoy.
I barely made it past the corridor leading to the previous massive chamber when the Latent Mana fueling my decoy armor finally ran out. Wasting no time, the Ogre lashed at the decoy swarm with its tree trunk of a club. I can feel the impact of the hit from where I am, my decoy is unceremoniously trashed. The small triangular plates, besides the ones hit directly, mostly remain unbroken but ends up getting splattered all across that side of the room. While the ones that are hit directly by the trunk has varying degree of damage, some cracked, some got chipped.
The Ogre bellowed its victory!
"NO FREDRICK, I DON'T THINK YOU HAVE WON. DO BE A GOOD BOY AND STAY VIGILANT!"
An Ogre named Fredrick... I silently snicker at the Core's antics, feeling confident that this is coming to an end soon as the two struggle to find me. My slow pace and the camo hiding me well enough from their frantic eyes. Their presence is starting to feel different the closer I get to the core, like they're somewhat similar, two sides of a coin.
** Cruckk **
I pause when the room suddenly went silent. Lifting up my foot… the source of the crunch, a plate from my decoy which is broken in pieces, most likely from me stepping on it, lay there on the ground. Looking up, the Ogre has its eyes set on said pieces, face lost in confusion. Lucky its rather dumb. Though it has a slightly bigger presence to Soul Sense, a more robust soul if compared to me, while the Core instead, has one that is much smaller.
"SMACK IT FREDRICK, DEAR!"
Damnit! I see Fredrick raise its club high enough to slightly brush the ceiling before swinging it down then horizontally in a wide arc, like it's trying to hit a low pitch, unfortunately right at my general direction!
Part Wisdom, part Evasion, and maybe a hundred percent luck. I ran at the swing in a diagonal path which set me up for impact with the Ogre's swinging hand instead of that trunk of a club. An extra layer of my swarm armor repositioned itself before my torso and the rushing arm while leaving some airspace, that hopefully, with the plate's rubbery property and the air in between, would create a makeshift cushion of sorts.
I jump back right before it hits, still feeling the massive impact reverberate all throughout my body, maybe a little miss timing on the jump. To describe the pain would maybe be akin to being in a car crash, when there is a boom then everything shakes before you find yourself splayed out and feeling pain everywhere... but I'll live.
I drown in pain while more of the swarm scatters out from the hit, deliriously maintaining my hold on the swinging appendage, unconciously making good use of my long arms and legs by looping them around the thick limb. When the pain subsides and it feels to me like the swing is starting to lose momentum, definitely not because I'm losing strength, I drop down the meter or so to land (also did not buckle from weak limbs) on stone and cast Essense Duel whilst still touching the Ogre's arm with one of mine.
My mana begins working on the spell, while I feel like shit! Not willing to spend the mana for a lesser heal less I find them insufficient for this next step and with no time to grab my infused cube. The spell pulled at my mana in its attempt to push through a boundary of… something, surrounding the Ogre to reach what I have now confirmed to be its soul, which is the ever felt presence I can feel from it. My mana finally pierced through after using what felt like about a little more than fifty percent of my whole mana pool.
The mana then encompassed the Ogre's soul, greatly increasing my awareness of it, before pulling it back towards me. I can feel a connection of sorts that goes away from it, as the Ogre-soul approaches me, the connection goes taut and begins vibrating hard, like the line of a fishing rod when a fish has been hooked. Forcing my Soul Sense to look further following the connection, I got a glimpse of black hair and, maybe, an expensive looking black suit?
Note to self keep your health pots or life savers within easy reach... was my last strain of thought before the Ogre's essence got pulled into my Mindscape for a duel. I see its eyes close as mine too, begin to close unbidden.
In a blink of an eye, I open my eyes and find myself in an empty expanse. The atmosphere is suffused with a warm orangish glow, white clouds randomly spread along the skies, maybe imagine the most beautiful sunset you've ever seen then imagine something better. The floor consists of… nothing, I can feel that I stand on solid ground, but can not, try as I might, identify what it is made of besides its whiteish dreamlike existence.
A grunt from my right made my head turn, there, I found the ogre standing with a confused look on its face while it stared at everything wearing only its loincloth. To its side stands a woman, maybe in her fifties with the same look on her face, you can tell she has been taking care of herself from the confident way she stands and the gorgeous attire she has on, perfectly hugging her curves while also seemingly suiting her well.
Looking down, I find myself wearing one of my comfy t-shirt and jeans...aint this suppose to be a duel, I reflexively pull at my shirt, where's my armor!?
Maybe detecting movements on their peripherals, the two simultaneously turn their heads at me. 'Health and Mana?'
Health: 19 / 164
Mana 195 / 4548
19 health, I damn near died, huh.
Also low on mana. 525 - 30 for camo - 195 equals 300 mana for Essence Duel? Remaining mana is only enough for one cast of Rend Psyche… maybe I can hit the Og– it suddenly bellowed at me, before growing in size and buffing up even further! Cutting short any budding plan I had barely formed.