The blue man mimed placing his hand at the edge of your lairs entrance and for a moment I thought about just pushing him in. The density of my Domain in the room was similar to my inner space and I would have a level of control there that I could probably drive him away with a thought. Kind of how Lu Xian could have made me have a real bad time if he had the focus to spend when I entered his Core.
But that thought passed. I didn't think it could kill the blue man but doing it would probably constitute assault. I took a moment and brushed those intrusive thoughts aside. That just wasn't what I was about and I didn't necessarily want to anger the person who knew a lot more about what was happening then I did and likely was probably a lot better equipped for a fight then I was.
He turned to me and steepled his fingers. "Alright, here's what you do. firstly go over whatever contract you just made with a fine tooth comb and see what you got yourself in to. Then finally become for goodness sake. The interference you caused by opening the gate is starting to fade so I have to go, but seriously be careful when dealing with outer powers. This is coming from experience."
Then just as he had arrived, he stepped out of my frame of reference and was gone. Sadly this visit didn't seem to come with a toy surprise and really just left me with a lot of extra questions. Like who was he, what was he, how was he, where was he, and even why was he.
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I needed to get to work on something, anything. I thought about maybe more surgery on myself, but it had been extremely uncomfortable the first time I did it. If I hadn't lost my shard in the lair formation I could have probably done something low impact. I did have access to more caramelized life mana and I probably should check on my own injury a bit more closely since it was no longer the angry chip in the heavens that it started as.
I had my newest crab check my bandage and saw that the caramelized cloud mana had filled in the chip and had started to crystalize. I decided that I would try and see if I could get interesting results by instead filling the chip with caramelized life mana. First I had to remove the existing material and my crab got to work with its small claws and pointed feet.
At first it was simple to scoop out the pale blue foam that was already in there in there. it was when I got to the sides where it had started to crystalize that it got weird. It was like tapping a tooth ache or hitting your funny bone it sent spikes of sensation throughout my body like I was a building sized board of operation. Luckily the buzzing feeling didn't seem to be a physical reaction and I wasn't shaking the entire dungeon with my antics.
The crab then filled in the gap with caramelized life mana. It immediately felt wrong like there was a pebble in my shoe. The green resin was simply not compatible with me and it was blocking the natural function of my core. It wasn't like it was actively hindering me it was simply a mildly annoying sensation. In my inner place it manifested as a handful of dimply glowing green crystals jutting from the weird inverted tornado my sky now had but they didn't seem to do anything but exist.
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Another thing I probably needed to check on was the gate. I really hopped I hadn't somehow inadvertently made a deal with the literal devil. Those never worked out for the contractee. First step was most likely checking out my new achievements. It turned out that I had two of them. The second was called Guardian and it seemed to just provide me with a special variant slot. It had been automatically filled with the Carrion Stalker Cay Hulk who was listed as 'Unnamed'.
Achievements Effect Gatekeeper [https://i.imgur.com/6MoLeeN.png]
By entering into an agreement with a demi-plane you have granted them access to your Domain. (contract)
Guardian [https://i.imgur.com/H1r0YKF.png] Option to foster a variant monster with increased abilities.
The variant monster widget itself seemed damaged. None of the nobs and sliders were working and the variant slots was just showing a grayed out (1 of 2)
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The more more worrying achievement would have to be Gatekeeper. I had apparently entered into an agreement with a demi-plane. The skeleton screaming at me in a language I didn't know that sounded like it was in pain immediately jumped to mind. The contract was linked to the achievement itself and I needed to know what I was in for and what would be expected of me. I opened the linked window.
The Nimbus Accord Nimbus Accord [https://i.imgur.com/fMMHcSu.png]
Ok I... I can't read this. It wasn't a contract or anything in writing but an image. I know they say a picture is worth a thousand words but this was ridiculous. My guess was that it was an explosion or maybe a swirling storm as seen from above in front of a moon or silver coin. At the storms center was a blue spot that kind of looked like my Core but really this could mean anything.
Without any clear stipulated agreement or even a name, as far as I could tell, of who I was in an accord with. I guess I would just keep doing what I was doing for now and hope I didn't somehow break the rules that I didn't know. for now I would keep an eye on the lair just to be sure nothing came crawling out of it that I didn't like.
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the mist-walker dire hare that I had posted near the dungeons entrance perked up as it heard a sound and drew my attention. Something was approaching through the nearby trees fast. After a moment that 'something' turned out to be a 'someone'. He stopped once he cleared the trees and approached slowly thumbing the pair of hand axes on his hip.
He was a tall man with roughly trimmed brown hair and an equally rough looking short beard and he wore a chain shirt that was made up of miss matched sheets of chain mail. Chains seemed to be a motif for this guy as he had a belt that was a thick length of chain and there were lengths of chain woven into his leather pants and boots. He also had a bracelet on his left wrist that stood out do to the small chains that dangle from it at the end of each one was a charm that had a glowing piece of mana crystal at the end of each one.
Another person arrived shortly after and had to take a moment to catch his breath. You recognized this one a the dungeon management commissions representative Dernan. "Jac. Why are we here so far ahead of the support team. You've been a right ass this whole trip but now you're acting all serious. What gives."
The tall man scans the surroundings then answered his out of breath companion. "I was worried about that tremor. I'll be honest I wasn't taking this job seriously before because Fleshborn aren't really a threat for even a D rank party." Dernan's mouth dropped open and he looked rather hurt. "What? The DMC comes into the guild in a panic about a middling monster with no losses, not even of material, and you don't expect me to haggle? The reason no one else signed up for this was because its beneath their skill level. The reason its advised to fall back when encountering a Fleshborn Behemoth is because of their incredible potential for growth. If left alone for a few years they can be an annoying thing to fight but a new one has strength and fortitude about on par with a hill ogre."
Dernan takes a moment still speechless. His mouth working open an closed a few times before finally realizing something had changed. "So why the sudden change of demeanor and the rush to get to the site?"
They were right on the edge of my Domain so I took the moment to give them a closer look and in response the tall man, Jac, started to slowly retreat.
"Ogre's aren't known for making the ground shake a dozen miles off. Let's head back to the others for now. There isn't anything happening on the surface for now, and its watching us." Jac waved Dernan back and carefully mad his way past the trees never turning his back on your dungeons entrance as the sun sets.
Invader Type Delver Rank Tier C Name Dernan Highkeep Level 5 Skills Mana Sight, Scan, Ambiguous Spellwork
Invader Type Delver Rank Tier B Name Jac the Hack Level 10 Skills Chainmanship, Axemanship, Fistmanship, Pathfinding, Stealth
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In a far away place
Movement and light.
A faint glow fills a chamber.
The denizens are restless.
It was time to move out.