Once a dark corner, the hollowed halls where Joulo hid glowed as mana flowed from her. She may not have been as luminous as the others, but she could no longer hide. That’s why she wasn’t surprised when she heard it.
Footsteps. Visitors.
With her eyes glued to the table, she traced the symmetrical woodgrain to avoid eye contact. She heard the creaking as a chair was dragged against marble tile. Someone sat just across from her.
With great effort, she forced herself to gaze upon her visitor. Short and thin, the god of grass was across from her. Lime eyes that glinted mischievously and cards already in their hand. It was clear they were here for a game.
“I am sure you know, but just in case, I am the celestial of the uncountable and the numerous. The divine being that gives life to every blade of grass and leaf to fall. I am the strands of hair on every animal and everything else that can not be counted,” they boasted, drawing out their title. “And Joulo, I am here because I believe you have something that belongs to me.”
Joulo stayed at the cards she held, each one representing the life she owned. The rocks and the mountains, the gifted birds, the ants, spiders, and slimes…. and the Sage Grass that the dungeon had created for her. Her mind raced. Could she play a game? Could she even win? Would she have to just give it up to keep the peace? Thoughts cut off by the celestial before her.
“A rare species of grass that only grows in five places around the world, and even then, they barely survive. I want to make a bet for all the grass in your territory now and forever after.” Though there was a smile on their face, both knew it wasn’t a request. They wanted to gamble for Joulo’s territory, for her domain. Like all the other gods, they desired to take her very claim to divinity.
The System’s very nature made it so Joulo couldn’t deny the request. Her only choice was to raise the stakes and match her challenge in hopes of gaining anything from this interaction. With a racing heart, she squared her shoulders and met the eyes of her challenger.
“I accept your challenge, b-but if I win- umm, I demand all the Sage Grass that grows.”
“Those are understandable terms. I accept Miss Joulo,” they said as a smile filled their face. Quickly they sprung into action and slammed a card on the table. On the planet below, reality shifted as an army marched into Joulo’s mountain range with blades held high. Minuscule warriors that stalked amongst the grass, ready to spring upon anything Joulo might use to fight back.
Unfortunately, they all died instantly.
Living clumps of grass animated by pure magic tend not to fare well in an area without mana.
With the first wave decimated in an instant, another was on its heels. An uncountable amount of warriors were determined to explore the mountains of death. Squadron after squadron of yard clippings marched to their death.
Thus, began a very long day for Joulo.
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A vault to protect treasure.
A buffer that insulated and separated.
A detective that survived in the shadows.
From his home next to the Client, Vault oversaw his domain. He was the shadow that hid the truth just as much as he was a warrior who fought. Two things he wove together seamlessly, violence and mystique.
So when the spiders fled to his domain, he welcomed them openly. They were twisted creatures infected by the magic that gave them life. Greed had warped them to be an enigma of violence. The perfect tool for a detective who was no different.
He watched as they set up shop. As they spun silk threads to cover their new home, only to drip poison on the strings. A poison that changed the silk to become crystalline in its structure. The spiders had crafted relays for mana, as it flowed like an infection back to the center of their web, right to Vault.
He sat quietly as the spiders wrapped him in robes of silk, and he did not protest when they infected him with their mana. He had been imprisoned, but he always knew freedom was an illusion. So he let the spiders spin their spell to funnel information to him. Information that became both the greatest weapon and a potent poison.
The crystal network expanded under his supervision until it reached the Client. Delicately, the mana-infused silk wove around the crystal at the center of the dungeon, where the string and crystal fused. Vault, with the spider’s help, had become a parasitic twin. A string telephone of connections that let him hear the Client’s thoughts. A connection far clearer than when they had used smells to communicate.
> Mana Manipulation Increased: 2
‘Dungeon like bird, need more birds’
‘These new birds not like first bird. Dungeon fix that and make them stronger.’
“Wise thoughts from the Client,” he replied sarcastically, forcing the words through their network. These were the mediocre thoughts of a brain on too much bourbon. Though the Client was not the brightest bulb in the bar, it was clear there was information hidden beneath their words.
Vault could feel the dungeon, the entire domain of monsters, and the flow of mana that gave them life. He could feel the world swirl as mana pulsed from the crystal he protected, as it washed over him like waves upon the shore, only to be funneled through the channels. The spider’s web had become aqueducts of power and life.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
He could feel as mana took shape to give birth to birds from nothing. With each success, the process became easier, quicker, and used less mana. He could feel the dungeon as it breathed power and life was born from that. Through the same strings that let him hear the Client’s thoughts, he could hear the Informant all the better.
> Species Adaptation Available: Arctic Bunting
* Sparrows of Smoke - Gray feathers, black beaks, and zero survival instincts, these birds are as much a part of the wasteland as they are birds. Adapted to survive toxic environments and explode upon death; result of knowledge of: Fire, Mana, Mistakes; Uncommon?
No longer just words that filled his mind, the Informant had become a person. He could feel their disappointment and pain. Resignation so thick in their words, it surprised him to find the Client overfilled with glee at seeing the warp birds struggle to survive.
Like a true detective, he had found the reason the Informant was so resigned. They had to put up with the Client for so long, to make their whims a reality. It chained the Informant to their role in life. It was something Vault understood all too well.
“Your role defines you, but that does not force you to be passive. Nothing can stop you from being your best,” he soothed, his sister’s love influencing him to console the system. To his surprise, it replied.
> Overseer title attained: “W. Vault” - Observe, learn, direct, and communicate. You can now share thoughts and tactics with those you understand on a deep level.
> Dungeon Intelligence Increased: 2
Thoughts and ideas surged through the network of web. Will so potent he buckled under the weight, but he did not stay down. He could feel the dungeon far better than before, he could feel as it learned from him to grow smarter, stronger. This lowly slime could hear the thoughts of the two supreme beings as they spoke over him.
“Birds, go fight dead mana. You are strong and mana is tasty”
“> Warning: don’t kill the birds”
“Birds will be fine. If die, just make more”
Vault had a front-row seat as he tapped into the dungeon’s senses. He could see as the birds took to the sky and slammed head-first into air so dense with mana they exploded on contact. Their feather remains burned as they drifted to the earth like crimson confetti.
“> Would you like to designate bird spawner? Cost…. 250 ant points?” The fact that the Informant was upset they had to call mana by ant points was not lost on Vault. It was, however, completely lost upon the Client.
“No. Birds fine. Nest cost too much.”
That’s when Vault stepped in, unable to take the bickering. He sent a single thought through the crystalline lattice that connected the three. “Just say yes”
“Hmmm…. Maybe spawner useful.”
“> Designating bird spawner…”
The effects were instant. A long spindly stick that held a clump of grass overhead sprouted from the earth. Held high like a war flag, to inspire the birds as they flew to their death with gusto. They had become immune to the consequences of death. A power they used to throw themselves into the flames time and time again.
Through tenacity and velocity, a few broke free from the barrier of the dungeon that caged them. Their flight only lasted a few seconds. The second attempt lasted a few more.
With each hour, the birds reached further into the unknown before they met their demise. Like fireworks that shot through the sky to explode at the end of their path. A legion of the unkillable that worked to pave the way to freedom with their corpses.
Despite the Client not having a plan, Vault was ready. He told Shimmer to show her plant collection to the new friends in the dungeon. Like birds to seed, the troops enjoyed a light meal before they flew to their death.
A meal of seeds, of Sage Grass. Held in their stomach was the only plant capable of propagating within and converting dead mana.
Each corpse left behind just a single seed. A seed that sprouted as the days turned into weeks. They flourished as the patches of grass converted the surrounding mana. Under the overseer’s direction, the patches grew and their edges touched. Like droplets of water, they became one.
It wasn’t perfect. The land beyond the dungeon would still kill the unwary, but it no longer killed instantly. Patches of grass littered the valley they called home, turning it green.
Green foliage, the siren’s call for a certain slime. Vault watched as Shimmer approached the recently expanded edge of the dungeon, plants just beyond her reach. He could hear her thoughts.
“If only I could get just a little bit closer…”
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It had been a week. A long week.
Seven days of social interaction with the god she played against. A hundred attempts to have an army of sentient leaves lay siege to Joulo’s dungeon. Not even one made it there.
As she listened to the god make excuses and false bravado, she couldn’t feel anything but sadness for them. She had started to hope he might win.
As the god lost at their game, the entire world suffered. Small patches of grass withered as they refused to grow. They would soon go extinct, all save for what grew in her domain. Here, the plants were bolstered and thrived, as just three patches of grass became a hundred.
Yet the wealth made Joulo wince with each victory. She had taken from this person. It may have only been a fraction of their domain, but that didn’t matter. Joulo had gained because of another’s loss. It didn’t matter if they did so willingly, because now the entire world would suffer as Sage Grass went all but extinct.
She opened her mouth to apologize, but her breath caught in her throat when she met their eyes. She didn’t see any sadness or even maliciousness on their face. They held a look of pure, unfiltered joy. It was happiness that came from having a conversation with someone as an equal, of not being looked down upon and pitied.
Their look said it all. They were just happy to not be alone, to have a friend. She may have hated talking to other people, but she understood. This time when she opened her mouth, it wasn’t to apologize.
“I d-don’t think I caught your-r name. May i- mind if I ask?” The joy in their eyes lit up as she stumbled over her words.
“I’m Myriad, the genderless divine being of worthless things. The celestial without value or friends. Of everything that can not be counted and holds no value, regardless of its volume. Grains of sand, of grass and leaves.”
“W-well, Myriad, umm, mind if we stop win- umm, playing this game f-for a moment? I h-have something in mind, i-if you would like to- umm, want to help?” Uncertainty filled her voice, as she tried to put a plan together. After all, she made a deal to distract the god of cats.
“Well, I could certainly see the appeal in being persuaded. What do you have in mind for the celestial of rambling?”