“I died.” Fia blankly stated, unbelieving of the notifications in front of her face.
“I suspected something of the sort.” Replied the lich, Season Darkbark Fellwood. His empty sockets with two tiny pinpricks of green glowing light floating in the center stared at her for a moment. “There are many ways to change your appearance, but your species is no longer human. You [Identify] as an Arachne, and I highly doubt you would be able to obfuscate against my Skills. I don’t believe your body has changed, I believe your soul has been put into a new vessel.”
“I see.” She lied. “But why not into a new human body? Why am I a monster?”
“Arachne are not monsters, as I have stated before. They are a Fated race.”
“Yes, like vampires and liches and demons. Monsters. No offense.”
The lich stared at her, unspeaking for a moment. “Fated races are not monsters. Monsters do not have any intelligence. They lack sentience, sapience, will. More physically, they lack brains, and instead have magic crystals replacing their brains. But the important distinction is that Fated and Freewilled races both are intelligent and capable of emotions. They are aware of themselves as individual beings. Some monsters may have some semblance of intelligence, able to think and plan, like a smart predator, but they are not sentient.”
“The distinction matters not.” Fia bit back, frustrated. “I’m no longer human. It’s not even like I’ve become an elf or something. I’m a spider-woman-centaur-thing!”
The lich nodded. “And alive. And, more importantly, a Dungeon Master. Many would kill for that kind of gift.”
“How is that a gift? I can control a dungeon, now? Have to create traps and tell monsters to kill other people who enter my ‘lair?’” She spat.
“Lairs are different things entirely. I have a lair. But I see that you are not that educated in distinctions. As for how it is a gift; immortality, for one.”
“I am immortal?” Fia asked, taken aback.
“You are, now. That’s part of why I am here. We will be neighbors, now, you and I. But we can come back to this later. Maybe continue reading your System notifications?”
Fia sighed, her upper human body drooping down. She re-opened her notification log, and browsed it again.
[Notification History]
Notice! You have died.
Warning! Dungeon Masters cannot be killed during their gestation period. Attempting resurrection.
Notice! Level 10 - World magic unavailable.
Notice! Level 9 - Legendary magic unavailable.
Notice! Level 8 - Grand magic unavailable.
Notice! Level 7 - Archwizard magic unavailable.
Notice! Level 6 - Master magic unavailable.
Notice! Level 5 - Expert magic unavailable.
Notice! Level 4 - Proficient magic unavailable.
Notice! Level 3 - Journeyman magic unavailable.
Notice! No resurrection spells of lower level exist.
Critical Warning! Corpses are not valid Dungeon Masters. Dungeon Masters cannot be dead during their gestation period, requesting [Administrator] intervention.
Warning! Abnormally long [Administrator] intervention wait period detected. Time elapsed: 1 second.
Notice! Checking priority queue.
Ding! Would you like to absorb all creatures in dungeon territory to add to the list of available monster spawns?
Error! Dungeon Master unable to respond. Automatically resolving.
Ding! All creatures in dungeon territory have been absorbed.
Ding! Special permission granted by [Administrator]. One-time use ability to create new non-monster body from list of available monster spawn. Would you like to use this ability now?
Error! Dungeon Master unable to respond. Automatically resolving.
Notice! Checking soul compatibility with new body.
Notice! Of available monster spawns: [Arachne], [Aranea], [Arrack], [Common Spider], [Ettercap], [Giant Spider], [Silent Spider], [Sorrow Spider], [Web Drake], [Web Weaver], [Werespider], monster [Arachne] has highest soul compatibility (46%).
“I told you Arachne were monsters.” Fia said, showing the lich her notification log.
“Normally, they aren’t. Dungeons have the unique ability to copy other organisms and create monster versions of them. They can even create humans that are monsters, you know.”
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Fia was silenced with this information. She wanted to fight this, to hate this situation, hate what she had become, but honestly… She was instead finding herself not caring too terribly much about it. She could deal with it. She could survive. Besides, it’s not like she was completely some spider monster. She still had a little over half of a human body. She hadn’t moved from the spot since she woke up, other than to turn around a little, and that was an awkward shuffle of limbs. She wasn’t used to her new body yet at all, but she’s sure she’d manage. The worst part would have been trying to live among other humans. She hadn’t lived in a city in years, being a [Bandit] and all, but she had had a small group of fellow bandit companions. She was not sure she could go on all on her lonesome, surviving in the wilds like some hermit. She spoke her concerns aloud to the lich.
“Well, that’s not something you can be concerned with anymore. You cannot leave your dungeon’s territory for long.”
“Wait, what?”
“Once your dungeon is established, you’ll have monsters and traps and such, like all dungeons. Do you know why Dungeon Masters make these?”
“Yes, I’ve heard of this at least. To protect the Dungeon Core. If a Dungeon Core is destroyed, the Fellowship or Raid Party who did it can get a Boon.”
“Indeed. If a Dungeon Master leaves the dungeon’s territory, however, all of the monsters and traps deactivate. This leaves your dungeon entirely undefended, which would basically spell your doom if anyone came along.”
Fia chewed on her cheek while thinking. She turned to her right, away from the lich, to look at the glowing green crystal that had formed on the ground while she was in a cocoon, now lightly floating above the ground a few strides.
“You can’t take it with you. Dungeon Cores can’t usually be moved. I know they can be moved to different rooms under special conditions, but I don’t know what those are. I’ve had a few acquaintances who were Dungeon Masters, like yourself, in the past. But I am not one. I do not know everything about your situation.”
Fia nodded in understanding. She’d have to figure the details out herself, but the lich was helping her with the broad strokes. Which begged the question; Why? “Why are you helping me?”
“Like I said before, when I told you that you were immortal. That’s part of why I am here. We are going to be neighbors, and one day you may be quite powerful. I will help you now, for a time, and for a favor owed down the line.”
“So you think I’ll be some big powerful Dungeon Master one day and you want a favor then? Some loot?”
“Perhaps, perhaps not. That is for when the time comes. Or, you could not be in my debt. I would prefer us not to be enemies, however. The last Dungeon Master in this area and I had a few nice arrangements before she fell, and I would like similar ones to reappear.”
“Alright. You help me figure stuff out now, I owe you a big ol’ favor in the future. And we might have some trade agreements or some shit, am I understanding you right?”
If the lich had eyebrows, she got the feeling one would be raised up, as it stared at her for a few seconds. “You’ve lost your earlier decorum when addressing me. No matter, yes, that is indeed why I am here.”
Fia had a lot to think about, and she felt like things were moving a bit too fast for her. She died, then came back to life as an Arachne, a spider-centaur creature. She was a dungeon master, which apparently meant that she’s immortal, but if her Dungeon Core was destroyed, she would die. Kind of like the lich with his phylactery, she presumed. Now this lich, an ancient and powerful being that most people will never even see, was willing to help her, whilst putting her in his debt. But did she have any kind of choice in the matter? Not really. None at all, in all probability.
“Alright, Lord Fellwood. I agree to the terms. What now?”
“What does your notification log say after where you stopped?”
“It says I’m Fated now. Some warning about how the new body will transform me from Freewilled to Fated. My base stats changed. Also something about my body’s age and soul age being different, and defaulting to my soul age. Nothing else really important after that, though.”
“Interesting, but not surprising. Well, since you’re new to this, I will take the liberty to explain. As you know, most mortal races like humans, elves, dwarves, ect, are Freewilled. Freewilled races have the ability to determine their fates of sorts. They can choose to commit evil deeds or good deeds, follow whatever god they wish, be absolved of their sins, ect. Fated races are different. While it is different for every single Fated race, usually it means that the Fated race has no qualms about killing. For example, a vampire will always see mortals as food. They can never form true friendships with a mortal, or fall in love with a mortal. It is simply impossible. They are Fated. Does this mean a vampire will kill every single human it ever lays eyes on? No. Some may live among humans, secretly, avoiding suspicion. They are still sentient, sapient, and intelligent. They can make their own choices, for the most part. They might even form true friendships or loyalties to others of their kind, or other Fated beings.”
“Well, what does that mean for me? I won’t care about killing humans that enter my dungeon?”
“Like I said, it is different for every Fated race. I do not know the full mechanics of your Fate, your ‘curse,’ but I suspect what you just said is likely part of it.”
“I also found myself not really caring about my Arachne body anymore. I feel like I should be more bothered by it.”
“Perhaps that is part of it, too. Or perhaps not. It can be hard to tell.”
“Well, where do we go from here, what do we do now?”
“Have you tried looking at your status?”
“I have not, I ignored it for now.”
“Perhaps, then, take a look. Take stock of your new abilities.”
[Status]
Name: Fia Rush
Species: Arachne
Age: 19
Level: 1
Class: Dungeon Master 1
Vitals:
- Health: 51
- Stamina: 51
- Mana: 50.8
Stats:
- STR: 10
- CON: 10
- DEX: 20
- AGI: 15
- SEN: 15
- INT: 10
- WIS: 10
- WIL: 10
- CHA: 10
- SOU: 10
Titles:
- [Dungeon Master]
- [Reincarnated]
Perks:
- [West Firnian Language (Human)]
- [Labyrinthine Understanding]
- [Acrobatics]
- [Insight]
- [Webweaver]
- [Lowlight Vision]
Skills:
- [Status Check]
- [Identify]
- [Spider-Climb]
- [Spawn Monster]
Spells: [None]
Resistances: [None]
Status Conditions:
- [Gestation Period]
Affinities: [+]