The evening bled into night, And I regenerated mana. 58 of it to be exact, in the hour-and-a-bit between phases of the day. The slow darkening was easy to feel when I had a view of my entire self at once, plus a generous chunk of the outside.
Runes looked like they stacked but not with themselves. And I had already filled one slot with a rune, though lacked the means to make more-- the runes I had were going to be the runes I had. I needed practice. I tried to engrave another thirst rune on some of the expendable stone bricks that comprised my walls. I focused my will, channeling it into a thin, hot, sharp-
Not even finished with the first mana brushstroke, the stone brick melted into useless slag and faded away. It was time to scrap that idea for now. At least until I could find something more durable. My monsters had atrocious defense, but they were my defenses. And if night was coming soon, I knew I needed them. Having enough mana to make a big play, i decided to chance it on a lone imp.
Instead of mana coalescing, it slit a hole in the air, levering it open and drawing a small red creature out and knocking it onto it's tail. It sported a small set of horns, and while no equipment, the set of claws on it's hands could open wounds just as well
"Ey, boss?" he asked, accent oddly cute for a mischievous little bastard. My understanding of it's language took me aback, and I was about to speak but remembered the only way I could.
Trade offer You receive I receive A warm welcome (hi! it's Scarlet, your new boss) The terms of your service.
The imp's little face lit up as I examined it. "Ooh, a dark-dealin' dungeon? These are the terms of my deal. I want a soul-draining knife, twenty mana an hour, and some satandamn respect. got it, sugar-tits?"
A drain blood bolt flew towards the imp's arm. it tried to dodge with a wingflap, but the crimson bolt pierced it's wing. It screamed in pain and indignance, some of it's dark, rich blood draining back to me
Trade offer You receive I receive
Continued existence in this plane.
As many cool fights as you can survive
Continued ownership of the rest of your hit points
Blood.
Kills.
Some satandamn respect
Something I can call you
"I yield, I yield" the imp pleaded, putting his sharp-ended arms up to either side of his head. "I'll go and kill some things. I'll expire kinda fast unless I get some mana though, can I at least have some of that?"
I sighed.
Trade offer You receive I receive
5 mana per hour
Agreement to do your duty
"Wow, five whole mana per hour." the imp snarked. "I accept, not like i'm getting any thinner over here."
Imp Mischievous creature imported right from the nether 19/25HP 50/50MP
Attack: C
Defense: C
Equipment
None
Speed: B
Mind: B+
Effects
None
Spells: Fire jet, Greater Drain blood, Poison spray, Acid shot, Annoy
Summoner
Scarlet Brimstone
Special: None
Dungeon
Scarlet Brimstone
I set my first imp out to grind, and looked over at my mana count of thirty. While I had enough for another imp, and could definitely do something about the mana problem, I decided to create a few practice slimes. The first and last were normal, dark masses of sludge, and promptly set to support my main imp. And just as importantly, their commands included the act of ferrying kills back to me.
Skill: Command has risen to level 4
The middle slime however, was different. It's membrane was dark purple in hue rather than pure black, and seemed stickier than normal. I narrowed my selection over the creature, and examined it.
Purple Slime Toxic sludge 10/10 HP 10/10 MP
Attack: D
Defense: E
Equipment
None
Speed: F
Mind: E+
Effects
None
Spells: Poison spray
Dungeon
Scarlet Brimstone
Special: Toxic buildup
I knew slimes were magical creature in nature, but this one seemed defined by it's singular spell. Poison was versatile, but in such a gamified system most likely translated to damage per second and none of the stackable effects I loved so much. I too sent it out, and already saw my forward troop find something big to start fighting.
"It's showtime you digging piecea shit" he challenged a giant mole, magically induced anger pointed from his outstretched middle claw. steam practically emerged from the mole's ears as it barreled towards the imp, anger transcending the language barrier and sending the mole crashing right into the realm of tactical mistakes. He dodged at the last second, scoring a claw swipe at the imp's side for good measure and doubling over to laugh as it crashed into a wall headfirst. The mole struggled to right itself, barely getting a chance as my two dark slimes hopped across the floor and dissolved away at the mole's upper arms. limbs flailed, barely a threat as the mole's weapons fell off one at a time, and the imp slashed at it's neck for good measure.
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Your imp has slain: Giant mole. +5 EXP.
"Boss lady needs blood. Keep'er upright!" he ordered, two slimes carrying the mole on it's back as to not spill any of the precious liquid. They worked together ponderously, hoisting the mole onto eachother and splashing the head into my basin.
While I had sips before, this was far closer to a gulp. The mole's blood went down like lemonade on a hot day, and for seconds my mana surged, up from 3 to 28.
While the mole was dead, it remained. A drained sack of skin, covered in hide and just as importantly, six metal claws. Knowing I lacked the precision to do this alone, I sent another Dark Deal to the imp in the middle of a fight against another mole.
Trade offer You receive I receive
An infused polearm
Branches
Dissection
Crafting of polearms (more is better)
Thirty seconds of fighting later, both my imp and system responded. "You've got yourself a deal, lady!" he shouted, echoing through the tunnel.
Your imp has slain: Giant mole. +5 EXP.
It was so easy for me to snowball out of control. The system mentioned a command limit, and pissing off people with enough power I knew was going to get me in trouble. Even so, I was only capable of dealing with giant moles through tactics and physics, and would be flattened if anything stronger reared it's ugly head. I saw my imp sprint from the cave and with a running start awkwardly fly over some zombies, all while the slimes brought their mole back. I drained it, mana shooting up to just over 50, and set the corpse and it's six metal claws aside.
Barely a minute later, my imp arrived with a fatigued look on his face, but was smiling from ear to ear. His wing looked torn, a few scales broken, but he couldn't happier as he dropped some branches at my base and got to work. The trio of slimes blobbed around, imp selecting the largest, sharpest claw and scraping away meat from leather. Having nothing to but wait for weird-magic and weapon-making, I asked a question.
Trade offer You receive I receive
A chance to infodump
Knowledge of infused polearms
"Infused weapons are great! they kick ass more than the regular junk. We use'em all the time in the nether, because gold's weak. Most of tha big bosses put a sorta tax on their weapons, so a kill from one of their weapons counts as half a kill for you and half a kill for them. But if you can kill three times as many suckers, it all works out." the imp explained as he tied fangs to branches, tightening them with a bit of fire magic and moving on.
Exactly what I wanted to hear. Of course there was a bit of me going into every infused weapon, strengthening them beyond what wood, fangs, and leather could provide
"All done! one infused polearm, boss lady!"
I tightened my selection to observe his work, and noted the craftship to be... expected.
Moleclaw spear Attack damage 1d8 Durability 125/125 Attack speed 11 Runes None Special: Increased range
I gestured with a line of engraving past the other materials, leaving a mark on my stonebrick floor.
"Fine fine, I'll get to the rest." he agreed, tying spear after spear together and looking more and more tired.
I however, was focused on my will on the spear. not to pierce through it as I would with engraving, but to fill it. embody it. Just as I embodied this basin, this spear would be a natural extension of my body. Strands of magic lashed out from my core and bound the improvised spear like spiderwebs, suspending it from the walls by the corners. More magic pulsed through these strands, fusing and shaping the spear.
Skill acquired: Enchantment
The spear slowly floated down as I exhausted my mana supply yet again, made much more impressive than before. The whole of the spear had darkened over, branch straightened and unified into a real weapon's grip, and the leather-claw construction at the head seeming more like a fang from living flesh.
Scarlet Thirsting spear Attack damage 1d8 Durability 400/400 Attack speed 11 Runes Thirst Wounding time 10 seconds Wounding damage 1d4 Special: Increased range, wounding, lifedrain (wood)
Skill: Inscription has risen to level 2
"Can I- pant go home and rest? This mana you're givin' me isn't enough to stay bound here, and i'm runnin' on- woah!" The imp started to protest. He marveled at the slowly-falling spear, landing with a soft thud on the ground. "This is mine, right? I'll make some more right away!"
I was content to rest, recharge, and infuse more. All practice for rose's new sword and shield.
Until I heard a system notification, and felt my stomach drop. Shut up about how I no longer had one
Warning
You have offended dungeon: Ferrous Hill
Prepare your defenses.
My status window:
Scarlet Brimstone, Blood altar. Core Attributes Skills Actions Life force 60 / 60 Observation 4/10 Infuse equipment 50 mana Spawn Monster 20 mana Mana 28 / 200 Command 4/10 Conjure block 5-10 mana Break block 1-5 mana Mana gain 50 / Hour Patience 3/10 Corrosive shot 3 mana EXP 5 / 55 Selection 3/10 Cantrips (1 mana) Runes 1/8 Level 1 / 9 Inscription 2/10 Place block Drain blood Thirst rune x1 20 mana Level 1 / 9 Patronage 2/10 Poison Spray Tremor Stomp Range rune x0 10 mana Perk Points 0 Enchantment 1/10 Dark deal Summon Monsters Conjure Blocks Spawn: Imp (30), Zombie (20), Dark slime (10) Stone brick (2), Cobweb (5), mossy cobblestone (10) Monsters: Imp, Dark slime x3, purple slime Inventory: empty Perks: Well-armed (monster), Blackening magic (zombie), Arcane tutor (magic) Expand Status Window by trial and error Enemies: Ferrous Hill