Ambrose awoke in his pyjamas once more, screaming out as one would expect after being murdered, not from the phantom pain that rattled through his body, but out of fury. His room was empty, the door, tools, and bed were missing, even his gem encrusted mace was gone, though Ambrose missed this detail as he dismissed the low ambient mana notification without even glancing at it, hiding several other ones that attempted to gain his attention, arose, and began storming out of the hotel. He even fought back the system as it sapped away the memory of his death, wanting to hold onto it in clarity in case it held any hints towards Telpin and Renna's capabilities that he had missed.
“Greetings Otherworlder. Wel..”
“Not now Prism, I need to kill that a*BEEP*loe before he recovers.” Ambrose said, interrupting his companion. As he realised his mistake Ambrose screamed in anger again as he dismissed the notification informing him that he had broken one of the dungeon rules through his clenched fists as it forced itself into his vision.
“Sorry Prism, I guess I’ll just have to kill the punishment too.” Ambrose said, trying to calm himself.
He reached out to grab Prism, knowing that the orb would remain inactive until the punishment had been executed, with either the creature ripping out Ambrose's tongue and killing him, or with Ambrose defeating the enemy. Before his hand could grasp the floating light, it disintegrated from in front of his eyes as if he had sacrificed the item to the dungeon.
“That can’t be good, I need to get out of here and get back to my body. No way I can beat one of those things without equipment.” Ambrose said with a frown at his pyjamas, wondering if there was a way to save something else as the gear he would appear in.
Ambrose began running down the hall, despite the dark he was confident in remembering the way through the dungeon as well as his current location, relying on his Perception to tip him off when he entered the larger, echoing room.
He heard the ponderous steps of the punishment creature nearby, though he wasn’t too worried. After all, Ambrose knew from his first encounter just how fast the monstrosities were, now he was the faster one.
It wasn’t something he could just ignore however, the creature was made for hunting people down, seeming to always have a general idea of where he was and likely wouldn’t tire out. Though they could be distracted, it wasn’t like he could risk fighting monsters or crafting with it on his tail.
Breaking out into the bright daylight of the dungeon, Ambrose winced as he was blinded and blinked rapidly as he tried to adjust. Vision cleared, Ambrose began the run towards the dungeons entrance. Distracted from his anger after Prism’s abrupt exit he began to register oddities within the dungeon. Realising that he shouldn’t have woken up on the floor. His room shouldn’t have been empty. It shouldn’t be day. Why had Prism called him Otherworlder again? Where was the grass?
As the final thought hit his brain, Ambrose slowed down, the ground below him was green but had no grass, as if the ground had been painted over to keep up appearances. An uneasy chill spread up Ambrose’s back as more odd details revealed themselves with every step. The sky was a clear, single colour much like the ground beneath him where previously clouds had sat. The air felt stale and stagnant making the space feel more like the cave the tunnel entrance suggested would be at the other end, missing the slight ever present breeze. He couldn't spot any shapes that indicated a Loobin group. When he reached the river Ambrose found it filled with the usual water, but its normal endless movement had ceased, and no fish or plants could be seen beneath the crystal clear surface.
Not able to question Prism, Ambrose recalled the notifications he had dismissed and ignored hoping to find a clue.
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BE AWARE OUTWORLDER
Your Awakening spot is in an area of critically low ambient Mana. Further Awakening may not be possible.
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BE AWARE OUTWORLDER
Your Sponsor is no longer covering the cost for further Awakening. Divine Path points can be used to cover the cost at a rate of the sum of achieved Character breakthroughs. For example at your current first threshold Awakening requires a single point, at the second threshold three points are required, six at the third and so on.
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“So the ambient mana levels have gone from low to critically low, the dungeon must be dying. If that’s the case though, how long have I been gone?”
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BE AWARE OUTWORLDER, YOU HAVE DAMAGED YOUR SKILLS
* Your Small Blades Skill has decreased in level: 12 -> 11
* Your Perception Skill has decreased in level: 34 -> 32
* Your Running Skill has decreased in level: 15 -> 13
* Your Stealth Skill has decreased in level: 15 -> 13
Note, Skill knowledge has not decreased, Skill experience needed to increase in level remains the same.
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“Gah, what do you mean burning the logs to increase the fire’s power comes at a cost. At least it only affected the common Skills. Still shouldn’t use it much or it will quickly become impossible to evolve them.” Ambrose grumbled.
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CONGRATULATIONS OUTWORLDER, YOU HAVE NURTURED YOUR SKILLS
* Your Improvised Crafting Skill has increased in level: 2 -> 3
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CONGRATULATIONS OUTWORLDER, YOU HAVE MANIFESTED A SKILL
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
You have gained the Skill Climbing at Level 3 (Common): Rope, walls, cliffs, and trees. Whatever you climb doesn’t matter, only reaching for the top.
* Improved grip while using Climbing Abilities.
* Environmental effects have less impact while using Climbing Abilities.
By gaining Climbing you have gained the following Abilities.
* Climb: Use hands, go up.
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WARNING OUTWORLDER
You have broken a rule of the dungeon. Punishment Dispatched.
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“No other hints. I might as well leave before that thing reaches me.” Ambrose mused while watching the lumbering form of the punishment creature heading towards him.
Ambrose had begun to worry, the state of the dungeon only made sense if he had been gone long enough for Telpin to have done something to drain it directly. Or if he had been gone for years.
As he left the true dungeon and entered the odd limbo in between Ambrose was starved of light once more. He slowly moved forward, but before long collapsed to the ground.
A scream of anguish and fury echoed through the tunnel as Ambrose repeatedly slammed the back of his head against the rock wall blocking his path.
Time passed as Ambrose sat in complete darkness of the collapsed tunnel, mulling over what lay in front of him and the choices that had led him here.
The Ambrose that had woken up after a restless night would have collapsed into a ball and died rather than continue on, he now knew he could actually die, he would only have to deal with returning once more before he would run out of Divine Path points and stay dead, at least in theory. Ambrose didn't consider this an option any more, still preferring to go down fighting, taking whatever he could down with him.
The Ambrose that had woken up after dying for the first time on that first terrible day had had nothing to live for, he had been transformed from an utter loser into a slightly unhinged man stumbling about in a world foreign to him, with only a vague wish of fucking over the god who put him there driving him. Even after he had decided to live, that Ambrose was largely still just aiming towards that unreachable dream.
The Ambrose that woke up after a second terrible day, having been murdered by a narcissistic noble who had decided to listen to the local crazy woman, was at a precipice and was unsure of what to be. He was stuck between a rock and a murderous place in his pyjamas so he was taking the time to reflect, giving his hunter time to wander off, knowing that it was unable to leave the dungeon and likely unable to detect Ambrose’s location inside the entryway. If he kept going, his goal would be far more achievable. It would be far easier to kill a fire wielding noble than a god, even if said god seemed as weak as they came.
Did he really want to dedicate his life to revenge? He absolutely still wanted it, and was going to take it if given the chance. In the end though he was stuck in the dungeon, it would take him years to dig his way out, if it was even possible. There was also the issue of the dungeon dying, he was going to be reliant on it for food and water after all, though it might be able to assist with an exit if he could generate enough mana for it by killing creatures. With either monumental task lying ahead of him, was he really going to let some noble brat occupy his thoughts that entire time? Or some god who the system didn’t even respect?
“I think I am going to need to fix up that Character when I get the chance. Focusing on survival just to get back at some loser is stupid. I should just want to have fun with this, with screwing over manipulative assholes as a side effect. Ooh maybe I can find a way to get paid for it.
I am Ambrose Edward Rogers, and I am going to survive in spite of all who would stand in my way. I will tear them down for daring to try, but at the end of the day they are the real losers, they mean nothing.”
Nothing happened as his grand proclamation but Ambrose felt better about himself. The first Ambrose was a Loser, having truly earned the capital L. The second a deranged and angry man with a knife. The third Ambrose however, was going to live his life for once, while being as annoying as possible to any who would push around those they deemed lesser. What that all looked like, he wasn't sure yet but it would be better than building himself around beating one specific person. He probably gains experience when people think about him.
“Welp, that's enough self inflicted brain damage. Time to die to the weird tongue monster since the dungeon ATE MY DAMN WEAPON.” Ambrose yelled out into the tunnel as he stumbled to his feet, trying to figure out where he should drag the punishment monster. If he got it into enough fights, maybe he would be able to finish it off with a rock or something.
“Moaw.”
Ambrose paused, unsure if he had begun to hallucinate in the darkness and silence. When the sound processed in his brain, his eyes lit up in mad joy as his chances of survival went from ‘Better chance of fighting Mundane’ to a solid ‘winning the lottery is easier’.
“Pandemonium you glorious interdimensional cat.” Ambrose kneeled down and held his arms out to greet the shapeshifter in a hug.
“Moaw.”
“No I don’t have food, we are stuck in a tunnel located somewhere in between two layers of reality.” Ambrose rolled his eyes at the general direction he thought the cat was in, arms still held out in the hope that the cat that was stitched to his soul would be affectionate.
When no fluffy cuddles came, or even a headbutt, Ambrose dropped his hands. “Okay buddy lets just go with the pan form please, if I survive you can eat some of the meaty boy.”
“Moaw.”
“Is that a yes? Gonna assume that was a ‘sure thing pal!’ and not just you going back to wherever you were a minute ago.” Ambrose said to the cat as he began crawling forward, hands running along the ground in search of the cat-pan.
When his hand met the handle he couldn’t help but celebrate. “Aha yes! I have no clue how this will help me at all, but at least I can hit things!"
While glad about not being alone, Pan's surprise appearance really didn’t change anything for Ambrose. The item was a tool, not a weapon. This meant that it didn’t trigger any of the normal knowledge about how to inflict damage that he would have received from a weapon, nor would it qualify for the Melee Weapon Attack Ability he possessed, instead it would use the Item Attack Ability.
The Item Attack Ability only had Items as Weapons affecting its effectiveness, which was a lovely Uncommon level six. These factors significantly reduced the damage he could deal to anything, let alone a creature Ambrose was pretty sure was all meat, no bone.
“Ya know, the pyjamas are actually probably better. Fighting something in these is an utterly terrible idea so we should get some nice Madness experience, plus it's not like my armour gave enough bludgeoning resistance to survive a meat club that breaks bones with a casual swipe anyway.”
Ambrose swung his furry pan in his hand as he tried to work out a plan of action. “Bah, thinking is bad for experience. It's not like I have other tools at my disposal anyway. Hmm, this is normally when people would use their motivational catchphrase before facing near certain doom. While this very much is a Leeroy moment I would rather be somewhat original." He said to the emptiness around him, hoping something would come to him as he paused just before entering the dungeon proper.
"Oh well.”
Ambrose yelled into the darkness as he crossed the threshold and pushed into the dungeon once more, pan raised high.
Maybe these guys will taste like chicken.