“No mana? What an interesting universe. Prepare our diplomats to make them generous offers. If the guilds want them, they’ll have to bleed for it.”
-High ranking official in [Redacted]
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The book had specifically mentioned that the boss or alpha monsters gave those who defeated it extra loot. However it had not gone into any further detail on the subject like discussing how much stronger the alpha monster was or even if they were completely different from the normal versions of the monster. So it was with great caution that Thomas stalked the outer edge of the roots keeping an eye out for the tiny ambush hills of crabs and straining to listen to his surroundings in case a pack of the cats came his way. Avoiding getting his leg ripped to shreds again was high on his list of priorities.
Luckily for Thomas the ever present mud was pushed back by his watery armor but his sweat stained and ragged uniform was quickly becoming an afterthought. It couldn’t protect him and was therefore mostly useless for this dungeon with nobody to needle him for it.
It wasn’t long before he ran into another ambush hill just inside the massive root system. It was larger than the last but something was different about this one, it was significantly easier to spot because the top layer of crabs had their eyestalks peeking up above the thin layer of mud that hid them. It looked like a small muddy hill covered in black grass that swayed with an unseen wind. When he saw them, the eyestalks stopped swaying and swiveled to lock onto him. Thomas managed to take one breath before the crabs began to move.
Like a single mass they swept across the mud with a speed and coordination that far surpassed his expectations. One wave of crabs would walk on the backs of others underneath them and then switch off once they had walked over the edge like a wave of vicious claws and carapace underneath the mud. Their speedy and relentless approach surprised Thomas but his strength now was undeniable.
Hammers as large as his own body formed in front of his body and descended at the speed of thought delivering deathblows. Or at least that's what Thomas expected to happen. As the hammers descended the crabs seemed to split around their paths of descent and continue to steam towards him. Each hammer still hit a handful of the crabs but after the top layer was crushed the other crabs beneath them crawled out of the way, or somehow pulled themselves out of the way with the help of other crabs.
Panic surged once more through his veins as the fear and surprise almost froze him. The crabs now nearly upon him, missing the first attack was proving to be a terrible mistake. Thought and strength driven by fear is a terrible power to wield and yet an invisible construct born of desperation sprang into existence and exploded outward into the world. The nearly sprinting crabs ran headlong into this unseen wall of force that moved out away from Thomas’s armor. Just like the cat was pushed away from his leg, the crabs were pushed back along with the mud itself. Now with some breathing room he relaxed and formed more hammers this time six instead of two.
Together the crabs surged into motion once more although not as quickly. Instead of starting in their preferred layered ambush they were scattered slightly amongst the mud that was pushed away from Thomas. So when the hammers descended on them, the crabs couldn’t get out of the way fast enough. The snaps of cracking carapaces were music to his ears as he lifted the hammers into the air, covered in mud and shell fragments. The hammers fell once more, the sound of their impact was like thunder as the crabs died by the hundreds each time he swung. Blood rushed to his head as he struck down at the crabs that still lived hiding under the mud. He was no longer weak.
When the battle was over, there was nothing left but crab paste mixing with mud. Nothing to eat and nothing to drink besides leaning forward and taking a sip from his water armor which he did sparingly after he had crushed the last crab. Another batch wasted but he was still learning how to fight with his new powers and gathering confidence for his next battles against not only the crabs but the cats and birds as well. Eventually he knew that he would face them all in battle in order to escape this dungeon.
Thomas looked down at the crab mixing with the mud and sighed he was starting to get really hungry. At least no matter how much he used his power of telekinesis it didn’t seem to get any weaker as he was fighting the crabs. So he still felt quite confident as he trudged through the mud. The brown muck sliding off his watery plate boots as his feet pressed against the hard ground and some of the water. He wanted to eat by the end of the day and he wanted to eat some crab legs, the cats sounded completely unappetizing compared to fresh crab.
It only took ten more minutes of circling the roots to find another group of crabs laying in wait. However this time Thomas was being more cautious than ever and the roving eyestalks didn’t catch sight of him as he quickly hid behind one of the larger fringe roots. It was almost like they knew he was coming, or at least knew that something was killing their ambushes and if they knew that then was it even worth it to continue without the element of surprise. He sat in thought about whether to continue when a ripple in the mud caught his eye.
Roving ambush crabs weren’t noted in the journal and it caught Thomas by surprise. So much so that he didn’t have time to process and form anything with his skill before it was on him and the force of the initial impact pushed him to the ground. In seconds he went from considering going back to the safe room in the middle of the tree to engulfed in crabs. His armor flared white immediately and suddenly felt as hard as steel while the sound of thousands of claws snapping and tiny legs stabbing into his watery defense as he was overwhelmed.
Water held against the crabs that engulfed him for one second, then two, and three. It was dark beneath the crabs and mud that had followed their assault. The raw fear that Thomas had felt before was nothing compared to what he felt now. Heart beating at a thousand miles per hour as adrenaline shot through his veins. His armor flexed and bent under the weight but did not break even for a moment. Not a single pincer sliced through it nor did the sharp crab legs manage to pierce it. That fact was lost on Thomas as he crafted a wall between him and the crabs that began to slowly push them off his armor. Suddenly he could see through his armor again as the thousands of crabs were pushed back. Only a wall of invisible power kept them at bay and even then they scrambled and pressed against his will, sniping and staring at him as if it was his fault that this was happening.
All that mattered was killing every last one of these things. That thought ran through Thomas’ head as fear mounted and yet hunger replied in equal measure that he had to eat. The wall pushed back the tide of crabs further as gaps began to appear, he could see the sky again. Light pierced the mass of crabs that had swallowed him up and the fear turned to rage at himself for allowing the ambush to get the drop on him, at the crabs for thinking they could end his life, and finally at the fear that held him captive. To survive in this dungeon there was no room for fear, or doubt. He had to step into the role of a survivor, a warrior, an explorer and there was no room for error here, no group of old men and women judging him, only the cold embrace of death waiting for him if he failed.
Thomas glanced at the crabs struggling to get to him, to end his life and eat him just as they did to the cat. Sheer walls of power shifted and bubbled outward as the crabs found themselves lifted into the air inside of a massive invisible bag. Nearly every single one was locked inside the telekinetic bag and scrambling to find an edge to jump over. They moved in unison pushing off each other and using some as ladders or ramps and yet they found only the cruel curving edge of inevitability that slowly began to squeeze down on them.
Compressing the space that the crabs were in wasn’t horribly difficult for Thomas even as a few stragglers that he wasn’t able to grab threw themselves at his watery armor hopelessly. As the crab hive mind began to understand that struggling wasn’t going to get it anywhere suddenly every single crab stopped moving at once even the ones that had been attacking his armor ineffectually. Even as his telekinetic power crushed them to pieces the remaining crabs didn’t move an inch, every last one was crushed under the weight of his will.
With the large mass of crabs reduced to a pulp Thomas simply flung them carelessly away from the tree roots and into the open area between the trees because even if his armor protected him it looked disgusting. The mass of crushed crab and mud landed in the empty space as the sound echoed in the air. He froze in place instantly, afraid that the sound would have attracted untoward attention from the birds or even the cats.
After a few moments he moved again, taking a step towards the interior of the trees when he felt a crunch under his feet and slight pressure. A glance downward revealed that he had stepped on and crushed a crab. Its eyestalks even in death locked on him as he continued to walk into the safety of the roots. He didn’t spot any more crabs as he retraced his steps back to the center of the root system, not a single ambush mound moving or still crossed his path. It was almost too easy to make it back to the white branches that formed the ladder even in the twilight beneath the tree that housed him.
Food was still extremely important to acquire to survive in this place any longer than the person who had been here before him. Still Thomas now knew that feeding off the crabs would be extremely difficult given how small they were and just how many were in each ambush. It was exceedingly difficult to single out a few to rip the legs off to even begin to get ready to eat them. The cats would surely be more difficult to fight but with some more training with his powers then it shouldn’t be too difficult to kill a pack.
To escape he had to eat and drink enough to train his powers enough to defeat the exit guardian. Which was so powerful that not even Elindu had managed to defeat it alone and he had likely much more experience without even counting completed paths or considering what a gifted path was. Maybe there was a book about it hidden somewhere in the column he had created. Sooner than Thomas expected he found the branches again and began to ascend the root that led to the safe room.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
The invisible platform that raised him up to the platform that held the door to the safe room felt much easier than it had the day before. With a thought Thomas deactivated water armor with his hands held out and even as the water soaked his increasingly distressed clothing he came away with a handful of water that he immediately drank down with ravenous thirst. Building hunger and thirst weren’t something he noticed all the time but he had to take advantage of the watery skill whenever he could and there was no way he was going to get more of those books soaked.
Safety lay behind a door that opened as easily as a well oiled door from the hotel he worked at and light once again spilled out into the half darkness of the platform as he stepped back into the room. It was just as he left it with the bones stacked on the table, books in a column and a few splatters of his blood from his now healed thumb. The lesser regeneration skill really was no joke because he didn’t even remember it fully healing but it was as if it was brand new.
Thomas closed the door behind him as he sat down in the chair once more, looking at the skull whose empty socket stared back at him as if to question why it was being kept around instead of being thrown out with the dust. With a sigh he picked up the book at the top of the column and talked to his only companion as he read. The dead author never responded to him but in a place like this, forced to step into a role he never wanted, Thomas just wanted someone to listen.
“Alchemy of Transformation by Elindu. You really did like basic titles didn’t you, would it have killed you to write some fiction?”
Silence was his only answer as he turned the pages. Trying to absorb the knowledge left here so long ago by a genius. The problem with trying to learn from a genius was that none of the basics were explained, like how to get a vial of purified mimic blood in this place or one of the many substitutes listed like ten thousand year old rockworm mucus.
“Seriously Elindu, is there anything that would make sense for a beginner here or did you just write in case alchemists would find you work?”
His only answer was the permanent smile etched on Elindu’s skull as if mocking him for being so foolish as to not check the other books first. As the thought ran through Thomas’ mind he scowled at the skull sitting across from him and slammed the book on the table in annoyance. Picking up each book and carefully reading the title on the first page revealed things about Elindu’s alchemy and which books might be the most important to him now while lamenting the lost knowledge of the waterlogged pages of the bottom books. They were truly ruined forever and Thomas set them aside sadly as he began to sort.
“Transfiguration of the Body by Elindu”
“Back to Basics by Elindu”
“Magical Aptitude by Elindu”
“Multiphase Alchemy By Elindu”
“Abyssal Heart Applications by Elindu”
“Splash Alchemy by Elindu”
“Spell Capture Alchemy Theory and Application by Elinu”
Only one of those sounded applicable but all of them sounded interesting and even then Thomas had no idea how to cast magic or even how magic worked given this strange new world. That was besides his skills and perks that he used on a daily basis. Then he caught sight of the next title and his breath caught in his throat.
“Path Optimization by Elindu”
He whispered scarcely able to believe his eyes or ears as he read the title but forced himself to keep going. Sorting based on how helpful they could be to his current situation and how valuable they might be. Only three books ended up in the section that he needed to read immediately: Path Optimization, Magical Aptitude, and Back to Basics screamed that he needed to read them all. With Path Optimization practically screaming at him to read from cover to cover first even if it appeared to be the smallest of the three books that he felt like he could understand the best.
It seemed to read less like a textbook and more like a journal of Elindu’s experiences with the paths that he took in life if not the exact paths that he took, which apparently is a huge secret given only to those you trust with your life. Paths were routes to power, which Thomas knew already but the book said that points themselves were manifestations of raw potential gifted by dungeons for clearing floors that could be converted into tangible strength by the paths in the form of skills and perks. Skills could be activated or turned off and powered by ambient mana, if too many skills were used in the same area it would suck the mana out of the environment and be significantly weaker than normal. Perks on the other hand were permanent benefits that always affected the user even if they were asleep.
Skills and perks had three main path types: X cost paths, tiered paths, and basic paths. Paths with an X cost were considered to be the most powerful in theory because it was technically possible to have a million point path that would make someone incredibly powerful; however that was just a theory as there was nobody willing or able to sink that many points into a single path. Tiered paths were in a way like X cost paths but for one simple difference, tiered paths had a maximum power lesser regeneration capped out at greater regeneration and so forth. Basic paths were the most common and therefore most researched of the three they had a set cost and once paid provided a skill or perk with the same name as the path.
Knowledge is power, and the knowledge contained by that little journal meant it was worth its weight in gold five times over even if it didn’t have the information contained on the final page. As Thomas read it his jaw nearly dropped to the floor in shock.
The book noted that before completing five paths that every single path imaginable was open to any user of the paths system. Any user could take any path until the fifth, whereupon a group of gifted paths or as some called them guiding paths would be offered to the user. Apparently based on the five paths chosen in the beginning the gifted paths would restrict the available paths into something more personalized and advanced that would help the user grow in a more focused direction.
When he read that the paths he could take would be restricted he immediately summoned the paths and the words once more hung in the air in front of his eyes. They spoke of power, and of unused potential as well as his current abilities one step away from restriction, one step away from a focus. Not that he had any idea what his gifted path options might be or if he was ready for that.
Points: 65
Perks: Silvertongue, Lesser Regeneration
Skills: Telekinesis (75), Water Armor
Available Paths: Laser Vision (0/100), Iron Skin (0/50), Steel Skin (0/100), Enhanced Strength (0/X), Mana Battery (0/35), Dragons Breath (0/X), Telepathy (0/50, Polyglot (0/10), Regeneration II (0/50), Invisibility (0/30), Earth Manipulation (0/100), Impeccable Aim (0/5), Sword Mastery I (0/45), Alert (0/5), Shield Mastery I (0/45), Food Infusion (0/30), Mana Manipulation (0/50), Abyssal Mindpalace (0/125)...
Every single option appeared to be worth more than his total number of points, and those that were available didn’t appear to be that great like the polyglot path or even the invisibility path wouldn’t help too much in this muddy nightmare of a dungeon. Dragons breath sounded like a lot of power but with only 65 points to sink into it might leave it weaker than his telekinesis. No, it was likely better to wait for his final path choice among the nearly infinite options in order to give himself the best chance of getting a good guided path.
With a sigh he closed the little journal and looked once more at his skills and perks. He could regenerate from fatal wounds with just lesser regeneration, move and create objects at the speed of thought, and create armor out of water that had no right to be as durable as it was. The armor had protected him against a horde of crabs all by itself and it was only a 35 point path. It was more important to choose the right path for whatever he wanted to do in the future than what would lead to more power immediately. The role of a warrior wasn’t the only role he had to step into. Once he left the dungeon he’d be back in New York City, and if what these books were saying was right the city would be in chaos. Thomas sat in thought for a long time with only the empty room and the bones of a long dead alchemist to keep him company.
In the end Thomas decided to bank his remaining points until he absolutely had to use them. He only had one choice left to make after all and had to make it count but in order for it to matter at all he had to make it out of the dungeon for good. With a grumble and a small sigh he set down the book and looked at the door. The only way he was going to escape was by killing the exit guardian, and he didn’t even know where it was, much less if he could kill it as he was now. Killing the alphas would give him loot without spending points, so that should be his current goal. Find and kill the alphas and then go hunt down the exit guardian to get the hell out of this place but in order to do that he had to leave the safe room again.
With his heart full of anxious energy Thomas opened the door and stepped out into the dungeon setting aside his anxiety and hope for what might happen when he left this place or even when he found an alpha. Thomas the warrior closed the door behind him and looked down at the mud and roots below and knew it was time to fight as much as he could. He needed more experience wielding his telekinesis offensively and his strength was enough that he could at least overcome a few cats. An invisible platform met his booted feet as he activated water armor once more, the watery plate armor forming around his body and threadbare clothes, flaring white as his boots put pressure on the telekinetic power slowly lowering him to the ground.
Trudging through the mud felt just as dreary as it did a few hours ago but Thomas was much more vigilant now. Keeping his head moving as if on a swivel while he made his way back out towards the edges of the root system. Picking a different direction to start from this time he started to feel that something was off when he didn’t spot any ambush hills of crabs in the mud and didn’t run into any of the cats either. Even casting his gaze high up to the canopy of the massive tree revealed nothing new besides a few massive birds flying high above the canopy.
Suddenly he spun around, checking behind him as he suspected a roving crab ambush just like what had nearly gotten him before. The sight that greeted him was expected and yet still surprising. An ambush hill of crabs was behind him but not attacking, thousands of eyestalks locked onto his watery form swayed from side to side in unison as he moved behind a nearby root they stuck back under the mud and the hill moved to an angle where it could see him as the eyestalks once more popped up above the mud and still locked onto him.
Back turned to the open area of mud between the trees Thomas studied the ambush hill as it kept track of his movements and pondered why it might be only watching them. The book had said they were connected by a hive mind that allowed them to coordinate and plan ambushes that fed their little packs. They ate scraps that fell from the tops of the trees or even cats that fell into their traps. If they could communicate via some form of telepathy locally then that made them extremely dangerous in larger groups.
The mud began to shift at his feet as Thomas grew pale with fear and turned around to face whatever force the crabs could bring to bear against him. He could kill thousands with his telekinesis in seconds, there was nothing that they could have besides numbers. Was what he thought until he saw just how big the mass of crabs moving towards him was. It must’ve been every crab in the entire dungeon together with one mind guiding it all.
Twenty feet of a tidal wave of mud loomed large in his vision, it was about a hundred feet wide or more and moved with the speed that beggared belief. Thomas’ eyes grew wide as the massive wave stopped outside of the root system and more eyestalks than he had ever seen sprouted from it, analyzing him with far more intelligence than the group behind him. As his blood ran cold, the mud shifted and rose even higher revealing what lay underneath as the brown muck began to slough free.
A crab larger than any he had ever seen was underneath all that mud, its claws were the size of small busses and its eyestalks that rose from its face were larger than he was. Its mandibles opened as bluish chitin was revealed and thousands of smaller crabs swarmed onto the giant crabs back, as its claws snapped in the air so quickly that a small gust of wind buffeted Thomas’ water armor.
Looking up at the monstrosity that could never have existed on earth, the Thomas of a few days ago would’ve run in fear or tried to hide far away where that thing could never find him. But this place had changed him over the few days he had been in the dungeon and had taught him so many things. The meaning of life and death as he bled out in the mud, the elation of having somewhere to sleep for the night without fear of waking up just as crabs or cats ate him. Staring at the massive crab that loomed over him as thousands of smaller crabs rode its back he realized that now was the time to fight or else he would be trapped here just like Elindu.
This crab was the alpha Thomas realized and he began to laugh at the absurdity of it all. Just days ago he was a failed actor stuck in a dead end job trying to make ends meet and now he was facing down a gigantic crab in a battle to the death. Just as the crab moved to snap him in half with its claws a tentacle of telekinetic power batted it to the side. The fight was just beginning as three more tentacles lashed out at the speed of thought and smashed hundreds of crabs to paste against their own alphas carapace as Thomas spoke through the laughter and crash of battle.
“Come on, I was just thinking about how hungry I was getting!”