Chapter 5: The new Sponsored of the God of Losers_The God of Losers: Mundane

Another man appeared inside the dungeon, their body still in stasis as it finished generating.

It was a long time since anything particularly interesting had happened within the dungeon. With boredom long haven taken over, the small blue orb was looking forward to the chance to actually meet this one. Hopefully, they wouldn’t break any rules, disabling her control of the Nightlight like the last one had.

The orb watched as the man’s body finished generating and he woke. He woke up screaming. The man was stopped quickly but moved himself into a corner and began rocking back and forth. Tears leaked out of his eyes as he vomited off to his side, blocking the doorway. The dungeon accepted the offering. It was exceedingly rare to gain Otherworld materials after all.

The man eventually calmed down, and began to read his glass. The orb was patient, she had been waiting a very long time to be able to talk to a dungeon Resident again. She could wait a few minutes more as they read all the messages. There must be a lot after becoming a Sponsored.

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Ambrose was awoken from his sleep for the second time that night, jolting upwards, screaming. Throat and lungs no longer filled with his blood, the sound echoed throughout the dungeon. He had died. From his perspective it had just happened moments before, with no break between bleeding out, and waking up in that room again. He crawled into the corner his god had berated him in, and at some point vomited though didn't notice when the ooze that had once been his dinner sunk into the floor.

It was at least an hour before he had processed it all. Initially he had felt all of the phantom pain, and remembered it vividly. He felt as his bones were broken. Heard the wet tearing sound as his flesh was separated from his form, as easy as if the monsters were simply peeling an orange.

As time passed, Ambrose could feel the memories being pulled away. He offered them up willingly, still reeling from the experience.

Once all the memories were gone, he felt better. He was still aware that he had died horrifically. So too was he aware that the system had directly manipulated his mind, and while cautious, and mildly worried about the implications, he was glad for its assistance.

Now, he just had to deal with the headache, which he had developed by ignoring the flashing light inside his eyeballs for the last hour.

Mentally condensing down the notifications, he ended up with four down from almost twenty.

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CONGRATULATIONS OUTWORLDER, YOU HAVE MANIFESTED NEW SKILLS

You have gained the Skill Observation at Level 1 (Uncommon): Noticing something is one thing, realising its significance is another all together.

* Increased correct conclusions while using Observation Abilities.

* Increased speed of conclusions while using Observation Abilities.

You have gained the Skill Items As Weapons at Level 2 (Uncommon): When left without a weapon, sometimes a distracting item is all you need to turn the tides.

* Items have an increased effect when using Items As Weapons Abilities in combat.

* Items deal increased damage when using Items As Weapons Abilities.

You have gained the Skill Pain Resistance at Level 1 (Uncommon): When the tough gets going, ignore it!

* Improved control of pain tolerance while using Pain Resistance Abilities.

You have gained the Skill Speech at Level 1 (Uncommon): Trying to inspire someone? Anger them? Or just embarrass yourself?

* Increased effect of emotional damage when using Speech Abilities.

You have gained the Skill Rebel at Level 1 (Uncommon): Too “Cool” for the rules.

* Increased effect of emotional damage when using Rebel Abilities.

You have gained the Skill Small Blades at Level 1 (Common): Slash and stab, bleed them dry!

* Increased proficiency when handling basic, small bladed weapons.

* Increased effect when using Small Blades Abilities in combat.

By gaining these Skills you have gained the following Abilities.

* Derive Conclusion (Observation): Use Observed phenomena to determine an outcome.

* Exploit Weakness (Small Blades): Most creatures are weak to dying.

* Item Attack (Item As Weapons): Go Frying pan!

* Item Distraction (Item As Weapons): Who knew you could use a Nightlight to blind something.

* Tolerate Pain (Pain Resistance): Pretend you don’t need that bone.

* Incite Emotion (Speech): It doesn’t specify which emotion.

* Defy Authority (Rebel): Down with the man!

* Melee Weapon Attack (Small Blades): Stab in the face.

* Throwing Weapon Attack (Small Blades) Stab from a distance.

* Weapon Block (Small Blades) Stop a stab.

* Weapon Deflect (Small Blades) Move a stab elsewhere.

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CONGRATULATIONS OUTWORLDER, YOU HAVE NURTURED YOUR SKILLS

* Your Perception Skill has increased in level: 2 -> 3

* Your Stealth Skill has increased in level: 3 -> 8

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CONGRATULATIONS OUTWORLDER, YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL 3

3 Attribute points have been gained.

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BE AWARE OUTWORLDER

You have broken a rule of the dungeon. Punishment Dispatched.

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BE AWARE OUTWORLDER

Your Awakening spot is in an area of low ambient Mana.

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BE AWARE OUTWORLDER

Your Punishment has expired.

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The Punishments had expired after he had finally died, which certainly explained why he hadn’t died again after calling the dinner bell for a second time, this time, he had announced his location himself, then remained in the corner as if he was a plump little turkey, ready for Christmas dinner.

Fortunately, it appeared that the creatures didn’t celebrate Christmas. Or there simply weren’t any creatures left in the dungeon, after Ambrose’s punishments had blasted through them all, while hunting him down.

Messages cleared, Ambrose’s headache began to die down. No longer quite as tormented by his death, and with no more distractions, or creatures in the dungeon, at least for now, Ambrose began to relax. Closing his eyes, Ambrose decided that it was time to work out some things.

First of all, I need to make a plan of action. Work out what Skills I should focus on raising or unlocking. Clearly I need to be focusing on using Abilities that gain bonuses from multiple Skills, though I only have a few of those, all tied into my Perception. I suppose there’s the first thing to focus on, it has the broadest scope other than my Small Blades, so it probably touches the most Abilities, though I would like confirmation on that from someone.

So Perception would lead me towards more of a… “Greetings Otherworlder. Welcome to the hotel” Still not having learned his lesson, Ambrose screamed.

The orb sat watching, unsure what the human was doing. It had finished reading its glass. After that though, instead of getting up and exploring the space it was in, it had decided to close its eyes. The orb was confused by the actions, and decided that maybe the human was just sad, and could use a friendly greeting.

Her confusion grew further when the human began screaming at her, shaking its head wildly back and forth. Maybe it had forgotten how to talk, and had gone blind. She had heard that occasionally problems could happen when creating an Otherworlder body, though she had never seen it happen before. The orb moved closer to the human, she was hoping that by doing so, it might make out the shape, or light of the Nightlight from closer up.

Ambrose was frantically looking around the room, searching for the body belonging to the, currently, disembodied female voice that had emanated from somewhere in the room. His searching was abruptly stopped, when the previously friendly night light raced towards his face.

Ambrose flinched at the movement, raising his arms in a block, trying to protect his face by stopping the solid glass, pointy ball, from slamming into it. When no blow came, he looked up. The orb sat a hand width away from his arms.

“Wait. Did you speak?

“Yes I did, I am glad that you have remembered how to speak, is your vision fully recovered yet?”

Ambrose was unsure what the orb was referring to. “Uh, yeah, my vision is fine. Thanks.”

“Excellent. Then once again, greetings! Welcome to the Hotel”

“Wait, this place is meant to be a hotel? Why is there a hotel in a dungeon?”

“The Hotel was designed as a space for crafters to stay and develop their skills, and the dungeon as a whole. It is the only way to earn one of the medallions needed to fight the dungeon boss as well, so adventuring groups would also need to stay for extended periods of time. Forcing them to kill more creatures.”

“Okay, cool story. Next question. SINCE WHEN CAN YOU TALK.”

“I have always been able to talk.” The orb responded, a confused tone in her voice. “I can talk to any Resident of the dungeon, as long as they don't have any outstanding punishments.”

Ambrose’s mouth pulled back into a line, realising that, if he hadn’t immediately broken a rule, he would have had the glowing orb available to ask questions, instead of his god. He also wouldn’t have needed to awkwardly drag the thing about for light, as the orb could clearly move on its own.

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“Damnit, I also would have gotten info on a Skill more useful than fuuuuudging jump.” Ambrose eyed the orb at his almost slip up, as if it would rat him out to punishments. Maybe it would send a really tiny one at me.

When nothing happened, and the orb didn’t flinch, Ambrose continued. “Right, so what is your name, I keep referring to you as a night light or glowy orb in my head, which now that I know you understand me, I would rather stop that, even if it's mostly in my head.”

“This vessel is known as a Nightlight, so I am unsure as to your hesitancy. Former residents did choose to assign a name to their Nightlight. Perhaps this is what you were referring to? If so, I am always interested in the choice Residents make.

“Right, well I am pretty terrible at names, so feel free to ask for redos. Uhh lighty? No, that’s incredibly terrible. Someone who names things by some part of what they are with an ‘ee’ at the end is just a failure of a person. Okay. You are a blue, light giving, crystal orb thingy.”

Ambrose sat with his arms on his knees, fingers steepled, as he slowly pondered his orb. Names were important after all. Many different references had quickly come to his head, before dismissing them one by one.

“Lets just call you something simple. It’s a little basic still but how does Prism sound?”

“This is the six hundred, and ninety second time someone has named a Nightlight, Prism. It was a popular name when the dungeon was fully operational.”

Ambrose rubbed a hand against his face, he didn’t know how many people the dungeon had ever hosted, but it certainly sounded like he was pretty unoriginal. “I. Fine it’ll do." He let out an exasperated sigh as he rubbed his forehead. "So what exactly can you do? Clearly you can move around and know a lot about the dungeon, is there anything else I should know about?”

Prism began speaking in a more monotone voice, as if they were an employee reading out the script to a customer for the hundredth time that day.

“Dungeon Nightlights are to provide light, companionship, and information on the dungeon to Residents. The main limitations you should be aware of is that, one, if you have an outstanding punishment your Nightlight will deactivate, becoming stationary and unable to communicate until such time as your punishment is completed. Two, your Nightlight cannot leave the dungeon. Three, you cannot be provided with information on monsters within the dungeon that would provide you an advantage against them.”

Her voice became more animated once more. “Additionally, as an Otherworlder who may lack basic information, you can choose to allow me to provide you with additional information at my own discretion. Alternatively you can choose for me to only provide information on request. So Ambrose, which would you prefer?”

Ambrose’s eyes narrowed. “Hold on a second, Prism. I specifically never introduced myself to you, how do you know my name?”

“The attributes afforded to me are quite substantial. Additionally I have access to an Epic rank Piercing Analysis. You, on the other hand, have no form of blocking or disguising Skills on your sheet. And your stats are at the starting level.”

Ambrose couldn't be sure, but he felt like Prism was either warning him of something, or threatening him. “Right. So I understood what all of that meant. But just in case there's some nuance that I may have missed, can you just explain all of the, uh, everything you just said.”

A sound like light, tinkling glass emanated from the orb, as Prism laughed at him.

“My apologies, I cannot give you any further details. I can suggest you study this vessel. Work out what it can do, for yourself.”

Ambrose held his hands out as Prism moved towards him, no longer propelling itself away from the nearest surface, he was able to gain his first closer look.

Prism was approximately the size of a large egg, with a radius of an inch all around. It was either made of glass or a gemstone and was cut in such a way that it didn’t have symmetry in all directions, with the ‘middle’ section having a larger set of faces than that of the top and bottom.

No runes could be seen on any of Prism’s faces. Nor could Ambrose see any runes inside. The orb was dense and felt incredibly sturdy, Ambrose felt like he was hitting a wall when he knocked on its outside with the back of his fist. He kept turning Prism in his hands, confusion and frustration growing. After a couple minutes of looking however, a pane of glass opened itself in front of him, with a Skill notification appearing behind it.

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Hotel Nightlight of Neterin (Dungeon)

A small orb to act as an interface between the dungeon, ‘The Gaol of Neterin’, and those that live within. Also a perpetual source of light.

Durability: Indestructible.

Special Properties: Dungeon creation (Item cannot exist outside the dungeon that created it).

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CONGRATULATIONS OUTWORLDER, YOU HAVE MANIFESTED NEW SKILLS

You have gained the skill Identifying at Level 5 (Common): What’s the point of looting magic items if you can’t work out what they do?

* Increased understanding of item effects when using Identifying Abilities.

* Increased ease of detecting item effects when using Identifying Abilities.

You have gained the Skill Inspecting at Level 2 (Common): What’s the point of looting weapons if you can’t work out when they will break?

* Increased understanding of item properties when using Identifying Abilities.

* Increased ease of detecting item properties when using Identifying Abilities.

By gaining these Skills you have gained the following Abilities.

* Identify (Identifying): What DOES this button do?

* Inspect (Inspecting): Will it break, or will it break you?

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“So that skill you mentioned is some kind of higher level version of these skills.”

“That is an accurate assessment. Congratulations.”

Ambrose pulled up his Ability summary.

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Abilities:

* Blend (Stealth)

* Create Improvised Item (Improvised Crafting)

* Create Improvised Fix (Improvised Crafting)

* Defy Authority (Rebel)

* Derive Conclusion (Observation)

* Exploit Weakness (Small Blades)

* Fall (Jumping)

* Feel (Perception)

* Hide (Stealth)

* Identify (Identification, Perception)

* Incite Emotion (Speech)

* Inspect (Inspecting, Perception)

* Item Attack (Item As Weapons)

* Item Distraction (Item As Weapons)

* Jump (Jumping)

* Listen (Perception)

* Melee Weapon Attack (Small Blades)

* Observe (Perception, Searching, Observation)

* Run (Running)

* Search (Searching, Perception)

* Skulk (Stealth)

* Smell (Perception)

* Taste (Perception)

* Throwing Weapon Attack (Small Blades)

* Tolerate Pain (Pain Resistance)

* Weapon Block (Small Blades)

* Weapon Deflect (Small Blades)

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“Hey Prism. What’s with Perception affecting so many things.”

“A being's reality is determined by what they perceive. Many knowledge and information skills are based on what you see or feel. Additionally, Perception is the only Skill to publicly be known to reach the Divine ranks, without becoming a Confluence Skill.

Take your new Skills, you were able to Identify this vessel based on what you observed, and by what you already knew. The information you could determine however was lacking. If you increase the number of techniques and methods you have to determine the various aspects of items, you will be able to gather more information.”

“I am also able to warn you that you can end up with false information. So creating a knowledge base from proven information is extremely valuable. This is the purpose of the crafting wing of the dungeon. Or it was, before the degradation.”

Seeing the question on Ambrose’s lips growing as she continued talking, she cut him off. “You will discover Confluence Skills when you max out your first Skill.”

Ambrose nodded, paused, then raised his finger ready to question some more. “The Ranks are, Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary, Mythic, and then Divine, one through nine. The tiers are Mundane, consisting of all Skills possible by any normal being, Magic, which requires Specific Affinities and bends the rules of nature, and then Divine, which takes both aspects to their maximum, requiring you to exemplify the given concept.”

Ambrose took a moment to think over the information he had just been provided.

Before the man could continue pestering the orb, she decided to interrupt his contemplation. “That is largely the limit of the information I can provide you for now. If you are able to restore some of the dungeon I may provide you with additional information.

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YOU HAVE RECEIVED A DUNGEON QUEST

The dungeon ‘The Gaol of Neterin’ has been reduced to its lowest point in history, after an external event caused a drought of adventurers and materials coming into the dungeon.

As the first dungeon Resident in decades to receive this quest, you will need to restore dungeon facilities.

Goals:

* Restore at least one crafting wing of the hotel.

* Complete the crafting challenge.

* Conquer the fort.

* Find the forest medallion.

* Defeat the final dungeon boss.

Reward: Dungeon assigned, variable.

Cost of refusal/failure: The dungeon ‘The Gaol of Neterin’ may die in the near future.

Do you accept this quest?

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Ambrose accepted the quest. “Wait. The dungeon is dying?”

“There have been far too few adventurers in recent years, and no residents. This has caused the dungeon to downgrade to the state you see now. As this dungeon cannot be reduced in size any further, downgrading an additional time will cause destruction.”

“Great, so how do I restore the thing, and what one should I restore?”

“First you will need to clean the hall you wish to bring back, then, you should gather materials from around the dungeon, and from outside. Once you have enough materials, Skill levels, and Attributes, you can create the necessary minimum tools to activate the hall.”

“There are seven halls total. Forging, Enchanting, Tailoring, Carpentry, Engineering, and Alchemy are the core halls, though each had additional facilities for other crafting Skills when the dungeon was fully operational. The seventh hall is the testing hall, and while valuable, restoring this hall would not fulfil the quest requirements.”

"Alright, thanks."

Seeing as dying had apparently fixed his exhaustion issue, Ambrose rose to his feet and began to leave the room. Pulling his Attributes up, he added one to his Speed of Body. When nothing happened, he assigned a second.

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BE AWARE OUTWORLDER

Your Attributes have become unbalanced.

YOUR ATTRIBUTES HAVE BEEN REALLOCATED

* Strength of Body: 11

* Speed of Body: 11

* Strength of Mind: 11

* Speed of Mind: 11

* Strength of Soul: 11

* Speed of Soul: 10

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“A”

“Okay. So I can’t go above, two higher than my lowest stat. I guess that means ‘unbalanced’ is where what? One stat is twenty percent higher than another? It also seems to split everything up as evenly as possible on a re-assign, despite the fact that it could have just left my Speed of Body at twelve, while still being balanced.”

Adding his final point into Speed of Body, bringing it up to twelve for the third time, Ambrose was ready to leave the ominous darkness of the hotel.

“Prism, can you lead me out of here so I can go looking for materials.”

“Of course. Follow me”

Ambrose was undecided. Once Prism had led him out of the dungeon entirely, it would be a simple thing to not return. Provided he didn’t die again of course. He knew that the dungeon would be an invaluable resource however, he just needed to put his fears behind him.

Leaving the hallway of rooms, the pair approached the exit Ambrose had found earlier. No longer hearing anything out front, Ambrose Skulked forward and escaped the hotel. It was now day outside the hotel, letting Ambrose get a good view of the valley outside.

The valley was large enough that it would take at least a couple of hours to cross but it was still small enough that it had a visible endpoint. Several kilometres away, the edge of the valley, in all directions, reached up into a wall, which continued upwards until it formed a large domed ceiling.

To his right, Ambrose saw a forest. To his left, a large mountain. In front of him, in the bottom of the valley, he could see a fort made of wood and stone. A large river stretched down through the valley, seeming to cut it in half. It ran from the mountain, around the fort, and was lost in the forest.

Prism stopped. “The exit to the dungeon is found in the opposite corner of the valley. Until you are able to acquire a functional weapon, I would highly recommend that you move around the border of the forest. I cannot offer you more advice than that. Oh. I do hope you can swim.”

Ambrose looked down at his pyjamas. While it was temperate within the dungeon, he still wasn’t looking forward to having to cross the river.

Without any better choice, the new and improved Ambrose set out. It was time to see his new world for the first time.

Chapter 5: The new Sponsored of the God of Losers

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