Uraraka and Toga pack all their stuff and begin their return journey. It takes them about three hours to reach their Dungeon, after which they both unloaded everything that they obtained from their trip onto the floor, allowing the Core to assimilate it all.
And then… unlocks. Oh god, the unlocks.
In [Biomes] they’ve managed to get the [Muraekai Burial Site] to 86%. Still not quite there, but they’ve almost managed to unlock it and that made it rather clear that they could get it done pretty quickly.
Frankly, it might have been enough if they visited Aeonia again and carried one or two of the busts from her room to the Dungeon.
Are we getting that next?
No
What?
Dumbass
You remember Luna mentioning how our structure should be internally consistent for peak mana flow?
If you truly want to pick Aeonia up as a Floor Boss, this means having the Burial Site (or any other undead-theme zone, but we only have that one) around level 15 to 20
You want to make one Limestone Cave level, then Burial Site level, then a few other levels and then another Burial Site level?
Oh, right. Good point.
Are we going to make the second level into another Limestone Cave level?
Ye, I’d keep different biomes sectioned, so like 2 to 5 levels of the same Biome, depending on how easily we can obtain more Biomes
Makes sense.
In [Decorations] they’ve unlocked a lot of clutter and furniture themed after elven burial sites, clearly enough. Most of that wasn’t exactly useful right now - they could, technically , improve the living quarters of their miniboss duo (if Tomura was ready to spend his precious points on such a thing), except…
Stop being a fucking dumbass all of a sudden
What, you want some of the beastkin show up again, find elven objects in their living quarters after defeating them and start asking themselves questions of ‘where the fuck did those guys find it’?
And look for the source of those things nearby
You want our precious loot to be pillaged?
You want a potential boss that we’ve pretty much recruited already to get slain?
Oh, fair.
No need to get sassy about it.
You’re the last person who should be allowed to say that.
And then… There was the final category. [Items]. Oh boy, the [Items]. To begin with, there was [Treasures] subcategory. In which they obtained a plethora of items. Mostly thanks to elven tendency to present jewels and other precious items as offerings to their ancestors.
Firstly, from the [Jewels] subcategory they got [Cut Amethyst, Small], [Cut Sapphire, Small], [Cut Emerald, Small], [Cut Aquamarine, Small], [Cut Amber, Small], [Cut Agate, Small], [Cut Chrysoberyl, Small], [Cut Citrine, Small], [Cut Diamond, Small], [Cut Dolomite, Small], [Cut Garnet, Small], [Cut Jadeite, Small], [Cut Lapis Lazuli, Small], [Cut Onyx, Small], [Cut Ruby, Small], [Cut Spinel, Small], [Cut Topaz, Small], [Cut Zirconite, Small].
Izuku can only be curious how much it was all worth on the free market out there. Yes, none of those were big jewels - ‘small’ seemed to be the equivalent of ‘around as wide as your fingernail’, but it still had to be a notable amount of money.
Speaking of money, they’ve obtained new currency. Namely [Old Vestirian, Aeurata] and [Old Vestirian, Seurata], although Izuku has absolutely no idea what was the value of those coins (for some reason, cut square). Also, it was likely that they wouldn’t find anyone willing to accept them.
Then again, they seemed to be made from gold and silver, and that made them valuable even today, and even without any bank officially issuing them. You just needed someone who would recognize the material.
Next were the [Materials]. In [Metals] they’ve obtained numerous objects while getting close to unlocking even more, usually through the other items (as elves clearly didn’t support the concept of offering bars of metal to their ancestors).
The list of full unlocks went as follows: [Levitite I], [Copper I], [Tin I], [Zinc I], [Bronze I], [Silver III], [Gold V] and [Electrum V].
The list of partial unlocks went as follows: [Hidrivum III [67%]], [Steel IV [27%]], [Platinum VI [12%]] and [Aluminum VI [16%]].
In [Wood] they unlocked [Oak Wood II], [Ash Wood II], [Mahogany Wood III], [Silver Oak Wood IV] and [Ironwood V]. Izuku has no idea how the grading there works, and they both decide not to dwell on that for long.
In a newly opened subcategory of [Fabrics] they’ve found fully unlocked [Linen II] and [Cotton III]. There was more than one newly opened subcategory of [Materials], though.
The second one was called the [Enchanting Anchors]. It contained [Soulstone, Small], [Darkshard, Small], [Green Mana Crystal, Small], [White Mana Crystal, Small], [Black Mana Crystal, Small], [Brown Mana Crystal, Small], [Red Mana Crystal, Small], [Orange Mana Crystal, Small], and [Violet Mana Crystal, Small].
And there was also a segment for [Weapons], that used to have only the primitive North Vestirian weaponry, with a single different entry in the form of [Aged Elven Spear] sorted into the [Old Kingdom of Vestiria].
Now that category has obtained the following new entries: [Elven Shortsword], [Elven Dagger], [Elven Ritual Dagger], [Elven Spear], [Elven Wooden Shield], [Elven Recurve Bow] and [Elven Arrow].
Regretfully, pretty much nothing from that list could be used. Why? Well, because those weapons were so good in quality that donning them would immediately propel Uraraka and Toga above their current AML limit.
They weren’t sure if there were any limits on equipping items out there, but likely there weren’t any. It had to be something connected to their nature of being Dungeon-born entities. But what exactly? They had no idea.
However, eventually, all those items were going to be incredibly useful. Of course, there were also other conclusions to the whole situation…
The whole category shouldn’t be called treasures.
It should be called bait.
Yeah
Put a few jewels on sufficiently deep level, and people are going to brave your Dungeon hoping to get rich
Same with coins
All so that a Dungeon can eat them all up to learn how to make itself deadlier and how to obtain better bait
Extremely insidious design.
I don’t like it.
Well, I like it a lot
It’s nifty
Of course you do, sigh.
Any ideas how we can make a second level? And what we’re going to place there?
Not really, what about you?
You’re actually asking me for my opinion?
Yes, and I already regret it
Alright, alright, wait.
The whole ‘new Level’ feels like a major threshold for us. Not just a ‘dig deep enough and it’ll be a new Level’, right?
After all, the bottom of the shaft in that fall trap definitely feels as if it was on the lower level than we’re currently on, right?
Yeah?
It feels then as if it’s something that requires us to grow internally. Grow in strength. Develop ourselves, allowing us to make the Dungeon, you know, greater.
Get to the point.
I’d let our Residual Mana storage fill to the full and see if it’ll unlock us some sort of ‘power up’ thing.
Not the dumbest idea ever, we’ll go with that
And I also have something of an idea for second level of the Dungeon
What is it?
I’ll tell you once we have a second level and once I draw the full/partial design prototype for you to accept
Any hints for now?
I have two of them
1. Sen’s Fortress
2. Fuck it we ball
***
Once Izuku finished attempting to grill Tomura for answers (and failing), he decided to check up on Uraraka-san. He found her, lying on her back on her bed, her entire equipment aside from clothes already stored in the nearby wardrobe.
She was staring at the ceiling, clearly deep in thoughts, her tail resting motionlessly between her legs.
Uraraka-san?
“Deku-kun.” She replies almost immediately, automatically raising her head and glancing towards the curtain that covered the entrance to her small apartment, as if expecting him to be standing there.. “Ah, sorry. It’s hard to get used to you, well, being kinda immaterial right now.” She adds while returning to her lying position.
Feels like talking with UA’s PA system, doesn't it?
“Good comparison.” She chuckles. “So, what’s up? Done with checking out the spoils?”
Yes. Pretty much everything you’ve got us is something we can’t use right now, for one reason or another, but it’ll be extremely useful in the future.
We’ve done some planning on expanding this place, from then it’s pretty much a free time for me, so I decided to check up on you.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“I’m doing fine, but thank you.” She replies. “Could use some softer bed, but other than that, things are pretty okay.”
On one hand, I can’t imagine you lying to me.
On the other hand, I can’t imagine you being alright with being isekai’d here and having to work with Toga and Shigaraki.
“Well, I wouldn’t say that I’m alright with that.” Uraraka agrees with him. “But after a longer while of getting to think about it, I think I can live with all that?”
Really?
“Make no mistake, I’d prefer to be in Japan right now.” Uraraka sighs. “I miss my parents, the internet, TV, mochi, all the life of a city and so on. But it’s apparently not going to ever be a thing, and worse, wasn’t a thing in the first place since we’re just copies of the originals, and so I’m trying to find some positives of our current situation.”
And those are?
“Fighting, I guess.” Uraraka replies. “Exploring too. Ever since the sports festival, I just… enjoy fighting. I enjoy winning fights. I’m alright with losing fights for as long as I’m not completely stomped and can learn from it and get better. And while in our world, the quirks meant getting to fight so many diverse enemies… Can you imagine how many more things we can experience here? So many non-human creatures, daemons, various types of magic, various species, different weapons, even deities , apparently that I could fight against.”
And, likely, kill some of them.
“Yeah.” She sighs painfully while closing her eyes. “I’m… trying not to think about it, to be honest. I know that this will eventually happen, and I don’t like it. I’m just trying to find positives of the whole situation, alright? For my own sanity.”
… sorry.
“Don’t apologize.” She replies while opening her eyes again. “You have nothing to apologize for. You might be a voice in my head, but you don’t know what I’m thinking about inside it, so I don’t expect a telepathy from you.”
Right.
You think that Kacchan will like it here?
“Oh, he’ll love it.” She replies dryly. She isn’t a big fan of Bakugou as a person. Way too aggressive for her taste. She differentiates between aggressive in combat and aggressive in social situations, and while she is perfectly fine with the former, the latter’s a big no in her book. Unless Toga is on the receiving side. “After getting super angry about losing his cherished quirk, he’ll put his back into becoming the deadliest combatant he can be.”
Look. She doesn’t like Bakugou, okay? However, she knows for certain that he wasn’t a raging, murderous sociopath. Yes, he fired his blast at Deku-kun during the Battle Trial, and yelled that he won’t die if he dodge - but not only did he mellow down (a tiny bit) afterwards, he also fired beneath his full firepower.
He wasn’t exactly a hardened killer, he was just way too excited while in combat. But she was ready to guess that he’d manage to switch himself over to that state easily enough.
Shame that Deku-kun can’t exactly see it. Oh, well, she is his best friend, for better and for worse.
Right, I can see that happening.
Errr, how should I put it…
Do you want me to keep an eye on you? To make sure that Toga doesn’t do anything weird while you’re sleeping?
“Oh, my knight in shining armor.” Uraraka replies cheerfully while grinning widely. “You don’t have to worry about that, I’ve dealt with that problem myself. But thank you for your offer. I really appreciate it.”
…
Please tell me that you didn’t kill or cripple her.
I don’t take you for a killing sort, but she literally can’t die, and that changes a lot.
“I’ve done neither of those things.” Uraraka replies, sounding almost cheeky about it. “Just go and check it out. She’s in her room.”
Izuku does just that and discovers Toga, lying on top of her bed, on her chest. She is gagged, her hands and legs bound together above her back with a linen rope. How did Uraraka obtain it? Must have been something she took from the Burial Site and decided to not let the Dungeon assimilate.
Slimy-chan was also there, hiding behind the bed. Was it afraid of Uraraka after whatever has happened in this room?
To… errr, Himiko? Are you doing alright?
Despite her definitely uncomfortable position, Toga manages to faintly nod. The fierce blush covering her cheeks is something that Izuku decides to not dig into, especially as her tail - raised high - also implied that she was pretty happy where she was.
Oh, alright. I’ll leave you to it, then. Have, errr, fun.
He then switches his attention back to Uraraka, all while regretting the fact that he didn’t possess a quirk that allowed him to remove his own memories.
It was really hard to believe that Toga was maybe a year older than them when she was acting like that.
That’s… definitely one way of solving the problem.
But, I don’t know how to put it, but… you do realize that it’ll only make her be more into you?
I’m fairly sure she’s enjoying it.
A lot.
“No, she does not.” Uraraka replies.
Yes, I’m pretty sure she does.
“No, she does not.” Uraraka replies again, but with more force behind the last word. Oh, so she was actively denying it. Alright.
You’re right. She definitely isn’t enjoying it.
My eyes were obviously mistaken.
Although… She might be a villain with a history with us, but I don’t want her to suffer more than she has to.
Aren’t you afraid that she’d get sores or something if you keep her like that for the whole night?
“This is definitely a risk that I’m willing to take.” Uraraka replies dryly. “For real though, this is unlikely. Being in Dungeon, at least in the zone with sufficient Ambient Mana Level, is slowly healing us and restoring our fatigue. I tested the latter by giving myself a small cut on a finger, and it healed quickly. Even if it’s uncomfortable, she’ll be fine.”
I don’t think she can go to sleep, though.
“Are you sure we even need it?” Uraraka replies with a question. “And that it’s not more of a way to skip time? I definitely don’t feel like I have to eat, even if I can, and I don’t think that any of us have any, you know, any need for a toilet. I do think that I might want to bathe though.”
Good question.
I guess we’ll find out tomorrow once we compare your’s and Toga’s experience.
I could try to get you a bathroom, but it would be just a small cubicle with a water bucket.
And even then, Shigaraki is going to complain that there’s a perfectly fine river close by and it’s a waste of RU.
“He’s the last person to be treated as an authority on hygiene.” Uraraka shakes her head, Izuku finding himself completely agreeing with her. “Don’t worry though, I’ll live without it for now, though I’d love having a bar of soap on me right now. Because, yeah, the river is there. In fact, I’m thinking about going on a bit of an expedition to the other side of it tomorrow. Find out what’s there, you know?”
Makes sense. It’s quite close, and we know next to nothing about it.
Might be more treasures or opportunities, might be threats.
You’re enjoying the adventure part of our isekai life, aren’t you?
“Yep.” Uraraka replies while letting herself grin a little. “This whole area is barely inhabited, it’s a complete wilderness, and I have no idea what might be out there as it’s a fantasy world. I feel like an explorer! And this is genuinely awesome !”
Seeing her like this warmed his non-existent heart a little. Her enthusiasm - even if one motivated by ‘I lost so much but there are a few cool things here so I’ll focus on them’ mindset - was infectious.
Alright then. I’m sure that Shigaraki will be fine with another scouting mission.
I also have a small idea on how to improve your combat capabilities! We’ll talk about it tomorrow.
For now, you should probably go to sleep.
“Sure thing!” Uraraka replies. A few seconds later she adds. “Deku-kun, still here?”
Yeah. What is it?
“I’ve made a decision.” She informs him. “I refuse to fall behind a certain someone. If you’re going to call Toga ‘Himiko’, I want you to call me ‘Ochako’ as well.”
Wha?
Really?
“Yes.” She nods. “And if you’re fine with that, I’ll call you by your first name too. Deku-kun is fine, but I still feel as if I was calling you by your hero name. And we’re not exactly heroes anymore, now are we?”
I… guess.
Alright then.
Good night, O-Ochako.
“Sure thing, Izuku!” Uraraka replies, giving him one last grin. “See you tomorrow.”
***
Uraraka ends up untying Toga first thing in the morning. She doesn’t want Izuku to worry anymore, so she immediately checks if the other girl wasn’t injured. Thankfully(?), she wasn’t.
“Ochako-chan!” Toga says, almost dreamily. “How great to see you! Are we doing it again tomorrow? I’m absolutely fine with that. It was awesome .”
“No, you’re not.” Uraraka replies dryly. “You didn’t enjoy it. And if you ever claim otherwise, I’m going to be angry at you.”
“Oh, okay, if you want to play it that way, I’m okay with that as well!” Toga replies while stretching herself on the bed. “I haven’t enjoyed that at all . Worst experience of my life. Please, do not subject me to it ever again! It hurt sooo much!” She replies, while doing her best to appear scared. It doesn’t work, because she can’t stop blushing.
Uraraka can feel her right eye twitch. This was… why did she somehow prefer Toga who tried to stab her and her second best-friend (Tsuyu) over this one?!
Oh, right, they weren’t (technically) teammates, so she could just fight back. Now, it would be awkward to begin with.
“Out of your bed.” Uraraka decides to stick to the subject. “We’re going on another expedition. Not to Aeonia’s burial site, but elsewhere. We’re gonna look for more unlocks for the Dungeon.”
“Do we haaaave to?” Toga replies while quickly snatching and hugging Slimy-chan. “I don’t wanna! Yesterday was exhausting and I wanna lounge in my bed today! Preferably with you, Ochako-chan!”
Uraraka can feel her eye twitch again.
It might be easier for her to develop her ability to kill people when needed than she thought. She just has to imagine Toga’s face on her enemies. And, well, if she’ll have to, then train it on Toga herself.
“Stop giving in to your inner cat.” Uraraka replies dryly. “Leave the bed or I’m going to break your spine.”
“You can always break my spine if you want to, Ochako-chan!” Toga grins. “You just have to ask. If you’re into it, I’ll gladly reciprocate!”
Uraraka’s eye twitches for the third time. She begins to rapidly understand why some people out there became villains. Of the murderous type. But no. No, she won’t let Toga play her like this.
She’ll persevere without giving in to her killing urges. Even if she has to get… creative about it.
“If you work hard, I’m sure that Izuku will appreciate it.” Uraraka replies. That does give Toga a pause. Very brief one. Because then she adapts the same mixture of a cheeky grin and vast blushing on her cheeks.
“Alright, I’ll go, but… there’s a problem.” Toga stretches herself further, freeing one of her hands from Slimy-chan’s embrace and covering her face with its palm. “I woke up today, and then I realized that my catgirl body has been struck by a truly horrid condition! Ochako-chan, it must be a heat ! You have to help me with it!”
“Sure thing.” Uraraka nods, prompting Toga to stare at her in complete shock, clearly not expecting that answer. “For cats, it lasts from February until October, right? So, if I kill you right now and have Izuku and Shigaraki delay your resurrection until winter comes, you won’t have to deal with it. How does that sound?”
“I…” Toga stares at Uraraka for a few seconds before gulping loudly. She must have finally realized that she was going too far with her behavior and that Uraraka, to put it lightly, was done with her bullshit. “I think it passed already and I’m ready for today’s adventure.”
“Good girl.” Uraraka says with mocking sweetness in her voice. “Gather up your stuff. We’re leaving in ten.” Shen then leaves Toga’s room, who quickly jumps out of her bed to start getting her equipment out of her wardrobe.
… I’m deeply impressed by your ability to scare her straight when needed.
Deeply impressed but also slightly scared.
Izuku is slightly scared of her?! This cannot stand! She doesn’t want him to worry, and a big part of why she did what she did was to make sure that Toga was actually being helpful, rather than making things complicated for Izuku.
“You don’t have to worry about that, Izuku!” Uraraka quickly replies. “Toga is just… really irritating, you know? We have a lot of work to do, and she’s not taking it seriously. I think that I have to be a bit more stern with her to make her be helpful.”
Alright.
Thank you for that, we really need more unlocks and preferably a new Biome and some actually dangerous creatures around. Otherwise, aside from traps, we’re nearly defenseless when you’re not around.
“Don’t you worry, Izuku.” Uraraka replies confidently. “We’ll find you something good today!”
***
You know what
I really regret that Toga and Uraraka couldn’t exchange places, you know, back there in Japan
I have a feeling we’d get much more stuff done if Uraraka was in the League instead of Toga
You had Kurogiri that was making sure you didn’t forget about being a villain and focus on gaming, and you still lost him.
The League’s problem wasn’t with Toga or in lack of Uraraka.
…
The local beastkin look and act like barbarians, so why the hell are you the more savage one
Because unlike them, I can hear you.
Now, shh.
It’s time for another adventure.