Aurora

Blood was dripping quite gruesomely all over the tunnel. My now six vampires and the two dozen Frog demons that I had summoned had slaughtered every goblin that had ran into my halls. When I saw the stream tapering off, I had stopped spending my mana. I wanted to save it for other purposes.

Looking around at the gruesome sight, I should have been appalled, but… I was enthralled. My artistic side was starting to take over. I stalked over to the wall and smacked my hands into the dripped mess. I started moving them without any clear idea. It had been a long time since I’d felt truly free to create whatever. A trance like state washed over me.

When I snapped out of it, almost an hour had passed. According to Losa, I didn’t respond to anything that he did. He stopped short of physical violence of course. I stepped back from the wall I had been working on and glanced at my hands. They were thoroughly stained red from the blood.

Mural of Deposition – You have created a work of art that will shake the very mind of anyone that sees it. Being a dungeon core, the artwork is endued with magic allowing it to persist through the ages of time.

Glancing back up from my hands, I took in the actual wall. It was like I was looking at the apocalypse. The mural I had created managed to depict a world on fire. The crimson liquid had delicate strokes, with bold marks here and there. It resonated with me to the deepest part of my soul. I felt like my life was ending after all. Or maybe it had already and I was truly trapped in this digital world.

I shook my head, banishing the thoughts. I refused to believe I was trapped in here. My rage had gotten the better of me at the expense of almost a hundred goblins, but I had calmed down now. There must be a reason for what was happening to me. I would just have to figure out a way to contact a game master.

Taking a deep breath, I started at the mural before turning and heading back into my dungeon. I didn’t remember how spawning worked in this world. There was a good chance that the goblins would return. If they have any intelligence, they would come with even greater numbers.

I returned to the room I had been working on. I didn’t have a real purpose for it over than to spread my dungeon a bit further out. Standing in the center, I tried to decide what to do when a screen popped up in front of me. I quickly read the details to find that it was telling me to designate the room’s purpose.

There were several options to choose from. I could create a spawner room that would spawn a certain monster type every so often. A Vault that could be used to store any valuables that I might want to keep. Mainly, the room would prevent me from absorbing the item automatically.

At the bottom of the list was an option that I felt was made just for me. A gallery. It would let me hang artwork that I collected for viewing. I felt this option was likely meant to be at the entrance of the dungeon to inspire fear or awe to whoever came into the dungeon. I tapped my arm as I thought it over, and decided to go with the spawner. It would save me mana in the long run.

My vampires and demons stood to the side of the room. I hadn’t issued them any orders yet after the slaughter. The mana cost changed depending on which creature I told the room to summon. The demons were much cheaper than the vampires, but the vampires were altogether stronger than the demons. I bit my lip and choose vampire. The mana in the room was sucked into the center of the room as a blood red crystal chandelier formed above my head.

A timer appeared in my head when I looked at the item. It would take just over two hours before a vampire would be summoned. If they stayed in the room, I would only be able to summon a total of five vampires. Good to know. I walked over to my forces.

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“Demons begin digging again. Vampires. I want two of you to stay with me. The rest, head into the tunnels and bring me prey.” Surely. Surely! One of the NPCs would be able to use the commands. If there was an error from the system change then I would have to do my best to find another player.

The monsters growled in confirmation before they made their way from the room. I watched them go for just a second before I made my way out of the room and back into the natural tunnel. I needed to seal this up so that monsters couldn’t just wander in as they felt. Luckily, my aura just barely made it out here to the other wall.

While I planned out what I was going to do, the one force I sent down the left path returned. The worgs and demons were empty handed. “What’d you find?” The demon walked over to the wall and gestured. After a few different shapes and movements, I got that they reached a dead end. A pity, but at least nothing that could threaten me.

I ordered them to join the others then waved my hand to create a wall of demon stone to block the path. It might be a dead end, but the demon wasn’t very intelligent. I would investigate it later when my aura was larger. I went down the natural cave as far as I could down the right path before creating another wall. This time, I added a door. It would force monsters or any other attackers to focus on the point of entrance. It worked out that the mural was able to fit in the room.

“Losa.”

“Yes, master?” the imp asked.

“Is there any other way to extend my aura without waiting for a level up?”

He scratched the top of his head for a moment before snapping his fingers as something came to him. “I believe creating an Aura Forge would be the way to go. It passively increases your aura slowly, but steadily outward in a direction of your decision. At the cost of some mana of course.”

I smiled shaking my head. “Of course.” I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall as I thought. God, I was glad my body moved properly now. “What ways do I have to increase mana generation?”

“Size, killing, sources of power, artifacts, donation from mortals, meditation, and that’s all that I know of. There is more no doubt.” That was quite a few options actually. I knew about size and killing of course. I had vividly experienced those so far. I looked over to my mural. That had given me a boon of sorts. I wonder if I could create a masterwork that could generate mana. I snickered at the thought. I really doubted it. That would be cheat level.

I tried to ignore the thought but the more I considered it, the harder it was to get rid of the thought. “Losa. How does one create an artifact?”

“There are plenty of ways. Generally, once one has mastered their craft they can create such an item.” I bit my thumb then decided it didn’t hurt to try. I was interested in what would happen. “I’ll be busy for a while. Any new vampires summoned, direct them to help each area in a cycle. If you sense you’re about to reach the outside, make sure to wait for me.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Paint.”

I walked back down the passage until I reached about halfway to the core room. Turning to the right, I concentrated and absorbed everything I was able to in one hit. My dungeon’s level up must have increased the range, as close to three meters squared vanished. I walked into the new hole and started carving a new room. Once it was nearly twenty by twenty, I came to a stop.

Thanks to the junk absorbed off the goblins, I had everything I needed to create the five basic pigments. I held out my hand and dug a small pit before I created all the ingredients. With some elbow grease, I soon had red, yellow, brown, black, and white. They had a few plants on them as well that I was able to make a dull green with. I lacked lapis for blue, but I would just have to work around that.

With the options, I could mix them for some further depth, but I lacked a good part color palate. That didn’t stop me though. In fact, it excited me. I wanted to find out if I could create a master piece while lacking such a necessary competent. I rubbed my hands together as I created a brush and board to place the paint on. I really did have to thank the goblins for rushing so headlong to their deaths. The fabric and said fibers in their rudimentary clothes actually worked nicely once I fashioned the brush.

Now that I had the tools, I needed my subject. I would have tried to paint a god or goddess, but Losa claimed there were none in this world. Maybe if I painted something that looked godly, it would still work for the system that governed everything. I moved to the center of the room that would be my canvas and sat down as I closed my eyes. The room was still present in my mind though as I began drawing with my mental brush first.

This process could take a few minutes to days. I had just had to hope for the former. I slowed my breathing and began. It was time to get serious for once.