I looked to the room adjacent to my sanctum, the one Cardinal had claimed as her own and examined the rows of silk bound mushroom sacks. I remember the info saying that they needed a lot of room to farm in so I started hollowing out another large chamber this time on the opposite side of hallway to where my soon to be queens chamber and sanctum are located, the rock peeling away into an angled shaft going down into the depths another ten feet and then levels for another meter or so before hollowing out into a room attempting to pull inspiration from the hanging gardens I saw in Cardinals dream until it's close to what I saw. An oblong cylinder, not quite drawn out length-ways enough to call it an oval but not quite circular either, it has high domed ceilings and a low set foundation stretching far above and below the floor of the hallway about forty feet from top to bottom so when you enter you are centered in the wall on a sheer edge where you cant see when it begins below or ends above in the dark. I then started carving and filling the Celtic designs when I abruptly ran out of mana, feeling the world go black and I was asleep again.
I woke up quicker than usual, probably because of the commotion happening in my courtyard. I decided to take a peek and there was a small pile of corpses, ants who were not fast enough to slip away from Cardinals mandibles and all of them were decapitated. Their corpses were just beginning to gather flies when a brown dumped another one, scattering the pests and then returning with the lifeless head, placing it in the pile as well. Hoping it wouldn't elicit a poor response, I consumed the bodies. A very rich but peppery flavor almost like if you had a good beefsteak then just dumped the pepper mill out on top. And kinda rubbery, not the mouthfeel rubbery more like the flavor of chewing on a new rubber band type of rubbery. Thankfully there was only a small reaction from the nearest ants, a few browns who fluttered their wings and jumped back at the sudden disappearance of the bodies but other than that none of the others seemed to care or notice.
There were hundreds of male suitors here, and only two others had joined black and silver in the winners huddle. One was a deep maroon red with blazing orange eyes similar to Cardinals’ and the other was a pale gray, with solid black eyes and wings that seemed to absorb all the light entering them. Originally I was feeling too tired to care what discern had to say about their subspecies but after consuming the bodies I was feeling pretty good, looking back at my core it seemed to be completely full, and there was a strange dense wisp of mana fluttering through the air like thin steam, I used discern and it was apparently an overflow of mana, the nitty gritty of the details is that it will slowly dissipate over a day or so, but as I use mana it will filter into my core replenishing the pool reserves as it's used. Back outside I decided to discern the gray and black one first
“This subspecies is strictly diurnal, favors being outside rather than inside its colony and does exceptionally well in arid climates. The next ant was more interesting in my opinion.
“This Dire Ant subspecies is partially aquatic and able to swim extremely well, they can produce a silk that naturally hardens when coming into contact with water allowing the construction of underwater hive structures all members have Aqua-I but are particularly weak compared to other ants while on land.”
Oh daddy likes. Water is my current biggest weak point when it comes to mana efficiency and this ant has the water aspect meaning there is a slim chance I could get it, granted it’s a very greedy way of looking at things and I admit I'm not the biggest fan of the red and orange because it reminds me of a gaudy pair of running shoes. However I know it's ultimately Cardinals choice, at least I'm fairly sure it is, and I'd rather not make my opinion known to avoid bias so I turn back to my sanctum and enter my crafting mindspace, Using discern on the lumen crystal again.
“Lumen crystal Common magic gem. These gemstones are often found in high mana density caves, as they absorb the ambient mana around them they ignite a crystalline Mote of Ignis seated at their center, generating light and heat."
“Interesting.” I say to nobody as I take a crystal and begin to enlarge it, the silvery-red core doesn’t seem to change shape or mass with the size of the crystal when I expand it but when I make the crystal smaller past a certain point the core shrinks as well. I enlarge the crystal then slowly shrink it to as small as I can before the mote begins shrinking, giving me a crystal about the size and length of a cigar. I then shear away the quartz and the mote shrinks with the loss of mass. I reset the crystal and make it about an inch bigger in diameter and begin boring a hole from the side, down into its core, this time the mote of Ignis doesn’t shrink and by the time I can grasp the core with my invisible shapers and yank it free of the quartz my mana is down to half, having blown through the overflow reserves, this was a very energy intensive process even with my terra and ignis aspects. I shed the quartz, leaving myself with just a mote of Ignis no bigger than a pinky fingernail clipping and use discern on it
“Mote of Ignis, rare, high quality,. This delicate gem is a mote of crystallized primordial fire, an infantile growth stage of a pure Ignis aspect crystal. If left undisturbed for a few hundred years with high density ambient mana, this will grow into a full aspect crystal. This is a high quality alchemical ingredient and when finely ground can be used as a high quality fuel source additive for magical forges and alchemical burners. Note: crystals and motes grown in dungeons and alchemist laboratories are not natural and therefore cannot grant an individual with the aspect held within.”
Beaming as I add it to my shelf, I turn my attention to the parts gained from the Dire ant corpses I had just devoured, I grab a wing and use discern on it
“Dire Ant Wing, Common. This is the wing of a Dire Ant, a common alchemical ingredient composed of basic natural polymers. Identical material makeup to the protective shell of the Dire Ant eye plate, it is resistant to acids and heat.”
I take the wing and wrap it up into a cone, sealing and flattening the bottom and then rounding out the body, I taper down the open end to the size of a quarter, and squash the whole thing down just a little effectively making it into a small plump bottle with a short neck and thick walls. Shifting the color while fusing all the individual layers of wing to make it perfectly clear but iridescent, I finish it off with a stopper made from quartz that fits tightly for a perfect seal. Satisfied with the outcome I put it back on the shelf, I had a plan for that later regarding the fluid in my core, but it could wait, I grabbed a chunk of feldspar and formed it into a smooth slab, and began carving my thoughts into its surface.
“Working with stone feels much more natural than water, even something as simple as consuming and materializing it made the stuff pull away from my mana and writhe as if I was trying to kill it. Working with dead animal parts requires Mors, Vita, and something else. I can feel that I'm missing something important in the flow of mana and I'm certain it has to be an aspect. If it's not then I honestly don't know what is making it more difficult. But I have Mors-I and Vita-II, so it is doable, just expensive. As far as stone, dirt, and simple crystals go, Terra-II makes molding it easy while being very cheap, and I can eke out fine details for almost no extra cost. I think I'm getting the hang of how aspects work and now I just need to find a reliable way to get more.”
Stolen novel; please report.
I stop etching and turn around to the empty space behind me willing into existence a simple wooden file cabinet with cloudy quartz inlay on the corners and drawer handles. Opening the first drawer, the inside seems to go on forever, not looking away I form a bright lumen crystal and drop it into the void, mystified as I watch the light slowly fade into a spec growing dimmer and dimmer until it vanishes. I have to avert my gaze because it starts making me dizzy and I feel a shiver radiate through me even though I don't have a body, when I look back it's just a simple drawer with a wood bottom. Ignoring the non-Euclidian nature of what I just witnessed, I stand the tablet up inside half expecting it to fall into the nothingness just below the false bottom but it fits perfectly and doesn't go anywhere. I shut the drawer, and make a little placard out of granite, inscribing it with three little words, "Notes on Aspects" and fill the engraved letters with oak, I fuse it into the face of the drawer making a seamless transition between the wood and rock. I closed the drawer and leave the mindspace, then re-enter and open the drawer again to make sure my tablet didn't fall into the forever extending wood walled void inside. After double checking and finding it still there, I finally remove myself for the last time for now. Low on mana I decided to just lounge about my sanctum and play chess with myself . I've discovered that the nearer to my core I keep my consciousness, the faster the mana recharges, which is why I think when I'm asleep my mana builds the fastest, because I'm drawn completely into my core. Looking for a way to remedy my mana shortcomings I discern my core remembering something about attributes and I still don’t know anything about them
Level 5 Unnamed Rare Dungeon Core — Aspects: Terra II, Ignis I, Vita II, Mors I, — Mana Volume: 8 of 50, Mana Density: 50 of 100 — Attribute Aether: 5 Attributes: none, Bonded Creatures: 1 Named Creatures: 1
It appears I’m level five now, I guess I'm pulling experience from the kills Cardinal is getting off those poor bastards that are too slow, that’s convenient. I look through the information in my head, specifically at attribute aether. Whatever aether is I apparently have five but they aren't doing anything as far as I can tell. The word feels familiar but I'm drawing a blank. It would be nice if I had some kind of guide book or instruction manual but it wouldn't be a meaningful life if it was that easy for me I suppose, don't get me wrong I enjoy a challenge as much as the next marine, but sometimes this just feels unfair. Racking my brain for ideas the first thing I can think of is to say menu, but nothing happens, of course, why would it. This isn’t a video game, everything that has happened thus far has been due to sheer luck or accidentally brute forcing my way through to an answer.
“Aether.” I say in my outer thoughts, but nothing happens,
“Attribute Aether.” Still nothing,
"Upgrades?" I say in a slightly questioning tone, becoming annoyed. Also nothing.
"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." I say feeling only slightly idiotic, and the silence seemed to mock me with its lack of response, which is mildly frustrating even though I had a strong suspicion that one wouldn't work.
“Attributes.” I feel a breeze pick up around me but I'm still in my sanctum where there is never any airflow. My vision goes hazy and then I feel myself getting heavy, not uncomfortably but it's a tangible feeling, I’m unable to move and I can’t feel any of my dungeon except for my sanctum, with nothing else to do I focus inward, seeing my core in my mind and I'm drawn deeper into it until I enter a black void with little beads of light like morning dew hanging off a barely visible spider web. When I peer into the droplets of light I am drowned in heaps of information and static that I can't comprehend. It's not painful, just uncomfortable, like putting my hand into a stream of water that's moving too fast and gives a slight stinging sensation. Suddenly a lumen crystal falls through my form from some unknown place and shatters on the floor sending a small flash of red sparks in awkward directions and causing a reverberating echo like shattering glass to sound out in the absolute quiet.
"Was that the..." I look up into the void above me trailing off my words, squinting, but there's nothing and a shiver runs through my not-body again, I turn away floating down the line. Urged by some unknown force to follow the strings of light I eventually find a nexus of sorts, like a bicycle wheel with a thousand spokes.
In the center is a single glinting orb, but this one is gray instead of static and I can see myself in it, not whatever this form is, my previous body. I look pale but otherwise unharmed and laying with crossed arms in a gray void, wearing my fatigues and jump boots. It’s hard to tell in monochromatic colors but they look crisp and new with none of the marpat pattern faded or worn off at the joints and cuffs , my ballistic vest, helmet, and backpack are gone but I have my webbing harness, a synthetic leather new production Alice belt and load bearing suspenders with incorporated molle loops and a few other misc attachment points. They were being phased out when I had enlisted because the new ballistic armor the government had developed was incompatible with it, but my division never received a shipment before I bit the dust. Attached to my left suspender strap sits my knife in its sheath, an old K-Bar that's no longer circulated as standard issue but I got it as a gift before I deployed from... someone. Trying to remember who makes my head hurt so I move on. The right suspender holds an IFAK that looks empty but I can't tell since it is Velcro'd shut. An empty ammunition pouch with room for three mags and twelve spare slots for specialized shells sits on my right hip, and my shotgun scabbard with no shotgun inside is on my left. floating underneath the orb I could see a dump pouch, though I never put empty mags in it because I always fit those upside-down back into my carrier. I did however usually fill the thing with a spare mix of 00 buck and slugs, unless I knew the shirt was going to be stopping by, of course.
"Quite the sparse kit I have there." I think as I reach out with my mind and touch the colorless droplet and the surface ripples into color and illuminates pathways to other droplets with golden strands the gold stops and removes the static from any droplets they touch leaving a gray void in its place with blurry swirls of mist cascading into shapes I can’t make out. Looking back to the droplet I am touching I can see my figure now colorized, woodland marpat deep and vibrant and the metal buckles on my webbing are a dull brass, contrasting with the dark black leather. I can now see that my body is breathing and my eyes are fluttering behind the lids as if I was in a deep sleep with vivid dreams. I pull away from the orb and the color doesn't fade, nor do the golden strands emanating among the hundreds of silvery gray ones. I follow the closest to me, moving back in the direction I had come from, I stop at the newly shining dew droplet. The mist inside coalesces into a swirling void and even though there aren't any words I can feel in my mind what it's relaying to me, “mana”. I reached out and touched it, the surface rippling with color until the void within is a familiar blue-gray and the swirling mist fades into a vibrant orange that resonated within me. The next orb in line was no longer static and I could see the cloud within was condensing and evaporating and in my mind it relayed as mana density.
I kept this in mind as I moved across the nexus to another golden line, letting it lead me to another orb and instead of a simple mist it reached into my mind and gave me visions of hammers beating metal and molten iron being poured into casts, I touched it without a second thought, metalworking would be useful. This process continued for some time as I pursued my choices. I'm not sure how long but I could feel the day still ticking by in the outside world. As I touched the final orb and its pathways to the next orb were illuminated, I was pulled back out into my sanctum, the heavy feeling gone and I could sense my dungeon once again. The silk fungal sacks were undisturbed, Cardinal had just decapitated another poor sod trying to woo her, and I once again use “Discern” on myself.
Level 5 Unnamed Rare Dungeon Core — Aspects: Terra II, Ignis I, Vita II, Mors I, — Mana Volume: 75 of 75 Mana Density: 100 of 100 — Attribute Aether: 0 Attributes: Avatar Form I, Mana I, Metalworking I, Gem Crafting I, Alchemy I. Bonded Creatures: 1 Named Creatures: 1