Uraraka has a lot of pointy words to say about Toga - but she has to admit one thing. She knows how to cook a good meal. Once they were done with the pleasantries (this is how Uraraka classifies choking her to half-death) she quickly and efficiently butchered the deer, cutting out the tastiest bits and delivering the pelt to be assimilated by the Dungeon.
They’ve had the Dungeon quickly create everything they need to set up a campfire, placed it right in front of the Dungeon exit, under that overhanging rock, then Toga set it up and cooked the deer, piece by piece over it.
They had no spices and no cauldron, so it was pretty much just roasted meat. But still, Uraraka had deeply enjoyed it. It might have been her now partially wolf-ish nature, though.
Whatever it was, Uraraka Ochaco now had a warm meal in her stomach, and that made everything better.
Even her deep-seated existential dread has somewhat lessened. Truly, mighty was the power of a full stomach.
“Alright then.” Uraraka says loudly before throwing her empty wooden plate through the Dungeon entrance. Izuku told her to do that earlier so that they can reabsorb the objects for a slight return of the mana used. “What do we do next? Do we just wait around until someone shows up?”
No.
We don’t know how long it will be, and we need to absorb new things to expand.
Himiko found some burial site earlier, inhabited by the undead. You could go explore it, find some things to bring back to the Dungeon and so on.
The tunnel is partially collapsed, but I think that you could clear it if you tried to.
“Oh, sure, just give me a pickaxe or something and I’ll get it done.” Uraraka says while flexing her biceps. “Excavating a tunnel in a fantasy world is definitely an unorthodox workout routine, eh?”
Are we going to address Toga drooling at that display of muscles?
No, no we won’t.
***
The problem with the idea was that they didn’t have a pickaxe. Or any other tools. Likely because they required metal of decent quality to craft, and that likely required either replicating an item in question or assimilating more people.
Uraraka still asked to be allowed to see the collapse. Said that maybe she could find another way depending on how exactly the tunnel collapsed, but she needed to see it. And regretfully, they couldn’t just show it to her.
In the end, she departs towards the burial site alongside Toga, whom she seems to be doing her best to ignore.
In the meantime, they had an expansion of their Dungeon to do. Including fixes of the secret passages to make them less susceptible to telekinesis - in this case they’ve added a sort of a locking mechanism that allowed one to lock the fake wall by turning a beechwood switch around and having a stone bar lodge into the walls.
They weren’t sure how good it would be, but it should definitely make it at least somewhat harder for the intruders to bypass segments of the Dungeon.
The next thing was expanding their miniboss arena and giving Uraraka a place to live.
image [https://images.squidge.org/images/2024/03/09/imageb917aab73fdcfaf4.png]
1. Entrance, 2. Narrow Passage, 3. Narrow Passage, 4. Slime Trap,5. Projectile Trap, 6. Miniboss Room. 7. Dungeon Core.
They’ve given both Uraraka and Toga a small apartment each. Unfortunately, doors would slightly weaken the mana flow there, so they ended up settling on curtains. Should give them at least some privacy.
A segment of their Dungeon was altered into a sort of general shortcut, allowing them to (if lucky) circumnavigate most of the Dungeon, making more sneak attacks on enemies’ backs easier.
They also had to move their own Dungeon Core, so it ended up leading to another blackout. By the time it ended, Uraraka and Toga were almost at the Burial Site. Surprisingly enough, no one had died. And there were even no injuries!
Somehow.
Wait a moment
It just occurred to me
Why are you alright with graverobbing?!
It’s not graverobbing.
More like… uhm…
…adventure archeology?
No, Midoriya, it’s definitely graverobbing.
And this is a crime.
We’re committing a crime together, what would All Might think if he saw you right now?
It doesn’t count when the graveyard is overrun by undead, Shigaraki.
Yes it does.
No it doesn’t.
Everything we’re taking from there belongs to said undead, this just puts ‘robbing’ back in ‘graverobbing’.
You’re having Uraraka commit an armed robbery together with Toga right now
Your opinion is irrelevant and will thus be completely ignored.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
“Yeah, I should be able to clear a part of it, though it’ll take me a while.” Uraraka says after examining the blockage. “The other one’s undoable without tools, though.”
“Do you need my help?” Toga replies with a question.
“Obviously.” Uraraka rolls her eyes around. “What, did you think that you’d be allowed to sit next to me while I work and stare at my body?”
“Yes.” Toga nods, earning herself a very hostile look from Uraraka, which makes her shrink. “A-alright, I’ll help! I’ll help!”
And she even wants to lie down and do nothing while others work
Definitely a cat
Sigh, I’d say you need therapy but your obsessive love for dogs and hatred for cats is one of the least problematic parts of your personality.
fuck off
***
It takes them a few hours of using some improvised tools and their own bodies to dislodge a part of the blockage, just enough to allow someone to climb up what was left and crouch right under the ceiling before walking down on the other side.
All of that despite Toga being extremely easily distracted by the sight of Uraraka’s muscles at work. Which Uraraka completely ignored.
“Alright then.” Uraraka stands back and admires her handiwork. “It’s time to go in. I’ll be carrying a torch, you walk a few meters ahead of me and make sure we don’t walk into anything, alright? I’m not the sneaky type.”
“Sure thing.” Toga nods quickly a few times. “Already took my boots off! Let’s get it done.”
image [https://images.squidge.org/images/2024/03/09/image82143f0086355536.png]
1. Entrance, 2. Collapsed Passage, 3. Partially Collapsed Passage, 4. Internal Burial Chamber
***
They walked past the intersection where Toga hunted a skeleton during her last visit to the burial site and continued on, Uraraka deciding to check how long the corridor was before investigating just how deep the place was.
They didn’t manage to get very deep - just enough to see another branching path deeper into the burial site. Because that’s when they heard a voice coming from behind one of the locked doors to the right, the only one between the two branching tunnels.
It’s a female voice, strong but melodious, clear but on some deeper level freezing cold. Whatever that person said remains unknown to them however, as they haven’t understood a single word.
“What was that language?” Uraraka says, cautiously staring at the source of them immediately. Nothing barges out of the door, thankfully.
“Northerners then.” The voice speaks again, this time in a language they do understand, although with a slightly strange accent. “In thrall of a Dungeon Lord. Color me surprised.”
“Who are you?” Uraraka asks, now on full alert, just as Toga quickly walks back a few steps to be closer to the door as well.
“Once, I was a handmaiden of the elven goddess of the underworld, placed here to ensure the eternal rest of those who were buried in this place.” The voice replies. “A lesser deity in my own right. But eventually everyone forgot about this place and forgot about me, and as centuries passed I was slowly corrupted into a daemon of the Breathless Tide. Now my very presence here makes the local dead quite lively, as you’ve already likely experienced.”
Eugh. Lore.
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Shigaraki, with all my non-existent respect to you - be quiet.
It sounds important.
“Oh, errr…” Uraraka clearly isn’t sure how to react to meeting a self-proclaimed deity. “Should we… like… worship you, or…”
“No, child.” The demon(?) replies. “You do not. But I do have an offer for you. You’re the first ones to visit this place in centuries. To be frank, I’m tired of this place and I’d gladly leave it. If you manage to free me from the sanctuary, I’ll agree to serve your master for… what does ten years sound like?”
Uhm, I have no idea what to say to that.
Try to get more information out of her, Uraraka-san.
“I think that we’d have to know more about you and about this place before making any sort of decisions.” Uraraka replies. “What are you exactly?”
“A greater daemon of the Breathless Tide, once close to becoming an archdaemon, but now needing a while to recover to return to that state.” The voice replies. “Pale One, to go by the official name of what I have become. I can wield dark magic, steal the life of others and command the lesser undead. I could be a floor guardian, easily. Perhaps even a first guardian?”
Ninety percent sure that ‘first guardian’ means final boss of a Dungeon.
Ah. She thinks we’re much bigger than we really are right now, because our servants shouldn’t be this intelligent while we only have one level.
We’ll have to delay fulfilling this offer, if we even accept it.
Uraraka-san, can you get any more information in exchange for us helping her in the future?
“We can’t have you right now, but this could change in the near future.” Uraraka replies calmly. “Let’s get it done like this: you’ll answer a few questions of our own, and in exchange we’ll promise to free you the moment we have a floor deep enough to host you. How does that sound?”
“Very well.” The daemon replies. She doesn’t sound particularly horrified by it. “I’ve been here for centuries, I can wait a few more weeks. I should be able to maintain myself in my current, weakened state from level 15 and onward. Once you have it, come back. And yes, I’ll answer your questions. Deal?”
She’s going to wait for it for a looong time
Yes, unfortunately.
Unfortunately?
“Deal.” Uraraka replies.”First question is, what exactly is this place?”
“Long time ago it was a place of burial for the nobility of the elven kingdom of Vestiria.” The daemon replies. “Used by one particular noble family of truly ancient parentage, the Aelkhari. The family is long dead and what’s left of their kingdom bowed to the human emperors, and in all that chaos the location of their burial site was lost to ages. Until you found it.”
Looks like local elves got pwned by the humans, cool
I hate it when for some reason everyone is cooler than humans in some videogame
“How dangerous is this place?” Uraraka asks. “We’re not exactly very powerful right now, you know.”
“The few undead you can encounter on the corridors should be defeatable by you.” The daemon replies. “The problem is the burial chambers. Inside each one of them an elven noble was laid to rest, all of them skilled warriors and mages and accompanied by their spouses, courtiers and so on. If you open any of the burial chambers as you are right now, you will die. And you won’t be able to reseal them easily, which might be a problem. Worse than that, even if you grow stronger and improve your numbers, there are two burial chambers you must never open. First one is the one directly in front of the entrance. As for the other one, it’s the one in the southern corridor, to the right from the entrance, the last one to the left.”
Looks like the other collapsed tunnel might be best left that way.
The question is whether it was collapsed because something was down there or just on a random chance
Listening to the L O R E now?
I’m just really fucking bored and have nothing better to do, got it?
“What’s in them?” Uraraka asks, deciding to confirm Izuku’s words.
“The one directly in front of the entrance houses a select group of warriors that were supposed to act as protectors of the whole burial site if graverobbers had ever breached.” The daemon replies. “They have been locked inside their chamber by me when I fell from grace, but if you break them open, they will return to their old mission and they will slay you. As for the other one, it’s currently inhabited by a rampaging revenant. Does the name Aurkhan the Bloody Handed ring any bells?”
“No.” Uraraka replies. “No it does not.”
“The greatest achievement of the House Aelkhari, the one and only sorcerer-king of Vestiria to ever come from their blood.” The daemon replies. “And also its greatest failure and the reason for its downfall. He slew all of his kin, fearing that they were plotting against him, consigning the name of Aelkhari to oblivion. His reign was one of such tyranny that in the end his own court turned against him. None of them could match him up in combat, and to slay a sorcerer-king outside of the battlefield or a sanctioned duel was seen as dishonorable and blasphemous. So they never slew him. Instead they buried him alive.” She sighs. “He has been yelling profanities and promising them his vengeance for centuries now. It’s been the most annoying part of being locked in here.”
“I…see.” Uraraka replies, sounding slightly nervous about it. That was, indeed, a bit… hardcore fantasy world, it seems. “And now, what is the Breathless Tide?”
The daemon remains quiet for a few seconds. Was this question too obvious for any of the locals?
“An interesting question.” She eventually says. “You must not have many contacts with whatever passes for civilization out there, am I right? Judging from no one finding this tomb in centuries, it’s likely that no one lives around here.”
“Yes.” Uraraka replies. “We’re mostly self-taught.”
And that’s putting it lightly.
“I see.” The daemon replies, before going quiet for a moment. “I’m not going to describe the entire cosmology of the universe to you, and it’s all relevant to some degree. But in most basic words, the Breathless Tide is a pantheon composed of two High Gods, Nex and Calamitas. The former’s the god of undeath, the latter is the god of bad luck, natural disasters and envy.”
That sounds lovely. And peaceful.
All for One was definitely born in the wrong universe, he’d fit right in here
I think that’s the problem.
He wouldn’t be the biggest edgelord in this universe, and he refuses to not be the biggest edgelord of the universe.
Yeah
Really feels like as if he was compensating for something
Like the lack of decent parents?
He doesn’t seem to be particularly gifted in that department.
“So, the undead?” Uraraka asks.
“Yes, in very rough terms.” The daemon replies. “It’s about seeing undeath as naturally superior to both being dead and being alive. As the natural improvement to the current duality of life and death. It’s immortality, in a way. Many might see it as ugly, but that is usually due to the imperfection in their creation. True undead look nothing like the ones that roam those halls.”
Idk, sounds like undead propaganda to me, chief
Yeah, I’d need an independent fact check on that before buying any of that.
“And who is Luna?” Uraraka asks.
“High God from another pantheon akin to Breathless Tide, called the Shadowlight Covenant.” The daemon replies. “Anarchists, all of them. Chaos and change is all they value. Most of their armies turn on each other at the slightest pretext, everyone constantly scheming against everyone else. Every successful revolution just makes another group of their followers stage their own revolution against it in an eternal cycle of upheaval. Their solution to all the woes of the universe is to destroy all consistency in it and make it change eternally. They’re annoying .”
For some reason it feels as if the word ‘annoying’ was the worst insult she knows or is willing to use.
It might be so, yeah
“Alright.” Uraraka nods. “And what does the term ‘Muraekai’ mean?”
“You must have taken a part of this place to your Dungeon already, I’d wager a guess.” The daemon replies, sounding for some reason amused by it. “And that’s how you learned of that name. Muraekai means ‘wall burial’ in several dialects of old elven language. Many elven cultures buried their noble dead by carving out places like the one you’re in on cliffsides. The exact details vary between said cultures, though.”
Okay, so that’s what it means.
Cool.
It’s just boring backstory stuff
Mechanics is what matters
+5% damage buff makes me more interested than any amount of lore and worldbuilding
Yes, well maybe if you considered other things than just ‘+5% to damage’, you’d be a more successful villain.
Ever considered that?
…
Oh, god, why am I giving you tips on how to be a better villain?!
Yeah, imagine what All Might will think about it.
… I don’t want to.
“Alright.” Uraraka nods again, only to turn her head towards Toga and mouth ‘anything else’? She ran out of questions.
Uraraka just mouthed ‘anything else’ to Toga
Oh, thank you.
No, I don’t think we have any more questions right now, at least not unless we ask it about some super basic things, like what the local beastkins are exactly, and if so we might betray how weak we are.
Ask it about how to free it and how we can open the burial chambers.
“How can we free you? And how do we open the burial chambers in general?” Uraraka asks.
“Go down the second branching tunnel, the one after my sanctuary, looking from the entrance.” She replies. “Then go until the end, then turn left and continue until the tunnel ends. You'll reach the deepest room of this tomb, where you’ll find the universal key, hidden behind a concealed door. The rest is just a matter of sliding it into the door and turning it a few times to unseal them.”
Huh? Isn’t that illogical to keep the key when you didn’t want anyone to pillage the place?
Uraraka immediately relays the question to the daemon.
“This place was visited in the past by the members of the House.” The daemon replies, sounding almost…wistful. “They had their own key. Came here, opened up my sanctuary, paid their respects to me and left offerings, before leaving and locking this place down. After all, this place was supposed to keep the graverobbers out and the souls of those interred here inside. They did so every year. Then every decade. And then not at all.” She sighs. “The key I’m guiding you towards was the spare one, to be used in case something happened to the other one. Or if someone locked the visitors inside from the outside.”
Ah, that makes sense.
We should still preferably get a second opinion on it all before we release anything from here.
I think that's all for now.
“Yeah, that would be all from us.” Uraraka relays that to the daemon. “Aside from, uhm, what’s your name? Now that I think about it, you haven’t introduced yourself.
“And neither did you.” The daemon replies. “I don’t mind it either way. But if you truly need a way to refer to me… my old name has unfortunately stopped being relevant when I fell.”
“You never got yourself a new one?” Uraraka asks back, clearly dumbfounded by it.
“Well, it’s not like I had any conversation partners down here.” The daemon replies. Now they sound somewhat… salty about it. “Aurkhan is the only being other than me that qualifies as a truly sapient being, and all he does is yell about bloody murder and gives me headaches. Few others are more or less sentient, but not very good at conversations.” She sighs, before staying quiet for a few seconds. Then she speaks right before Uraraka can. “Call me Aeonia if you want. I might change that name in the future, but for now, it works.”
“I see.” Uraraka replies. “We’ll free you when we have a place for you. And, errr… sorry for asking you one more question, but why don’t you want us to free you right now ? Couldn’t you just, you know, walk away? Why bind yourself to a Dungeon?”
Oh, good question. Thank you, Uraraka-san.
Get a room
“I could, and to be honest it’s rather tempting.” Aeonia replies. “Especially thanks to Aurkhan. But I’ve missed out on the last few centuries, and I’m sure that a lot has changed in that time. I want to spend the decade that I’m offering you on figuring out what exactly I missed. While having a safe space where nothing stronger can jump on me when I’m trying to regain my power. Even if I’m slain in your Dungeon, I’ll just come back, after all. The rest is just me being logical.”
“Alright then, that’d be all.” Uraraka replies quickly, she clearly decided that they’ve overstayed their welcome for a bit too long, and annoying a sealed former deity, however it worked in this universe, might not be a wise move. “We’ll meet you later, then.”
“Go on and have fun.” She replies. “No one cares about this tomb anymore. Feel free to take whatever you want. I’m sure your master is as voracious as all Dungeons are.”
Does it still count as graverobbing to you, Shigaraki?
You considered freeing a demonic being serving the god of undeath from its cage because it tickled your savior complex
You’re not regaining your moral high ground here, Midoriya
You’re just digging your (pun intended) grave deeper
I’ll get back at you eventually.
Keep dreaming