The flood of information and sensations that came over me was overwhelming, and for a moment everything went black. I don’t know how long, or even exactly what happened, but by the time I was conscious again my mana had recovered to full. I sent a panicked scan through my Floor but found everything was as I’d left it, which let me relax a bit. At least I hadn’t been found while unconscious. That would have truly been a horrible way to end, without even having a chance to defend myself.
Since everything in my dungeon seemed fine I decided it was high time to really inspect my Status. I had gotten several rewards from finishing the tutorial and I was curious about what they were.
Name:
Veos
Race
Dungeon Core
Floors
1
Level:
2
Experience:
286 / 2000
Mana:
20/20
Mana Regeneration:
10 / Minute.
Edicts:
None
Skills
Swift Descent
Perks
None
Rewards Inventory
Random Creature Template [Mundane]
I’d thought the mana I was holding felt a bit more… voluminous wasn’t quite the right word but it almost described it. My capacity doubling would explain that feeling. And I can’t help but smile at the new 1 next to the category of my dungeons Floors. I had a Floor. It made me giddy with excitement. I almost hoped that someone would walk into it right now.
But no. There would be time for that later, ideally after I’d moved myself down into the ground to be further away from any potential invaders.That was probably where the Swift Descent skill came in, I figured.
[Swift Descent]
Use all your available mana to quickly carve a shaft down towards the planet's core for your own core. Makes more efficient use of mana than normal expansion, but limited to a tunnel no wider than half a meter. Distance traveled based on mana used. Can only be used once per finished Floor.
I activated it, and my senses became blurred and my mind unfocused. I felt a buzzing, a humming all around me, as a wave of new information and a staggeringly large increase in awareness hit me like a rock to the… rock, I suppose. After an unknowable amount of time, it suddenly stopped. I suddenly stopped. I gradually came back to myself, my mind returning to normal. I examined my newly claimed area with gusto. It wasn’t just the twenty meters of shaft, but also almost a meter around the shaft as well. Which explained where the massive influx of sensation came from. The shaft was just that; an empty hole in the rock going straight down. But it was surrounded by a variety of different things. Mostly different kinds of rock to be fair, but there were a few natural openings going off into the side, and there were even a few with water and some mushrooms I realized I’d claimed as well. I realized that meant I could make mushrooms now. Neat.
The tunnel being straight down irked me. The second floor wasn’t supposed to be nothing but a shaft with nothing in it. It was supposed to be expansive, and while it should be below the first floor, that descent should be done through stairs. I had a lot of work to do. Plus I felt the area I’d claimed wasn’t nearly enough to be considered a full floor. I’d gone deep enough, but I still needed to claim… well the rest of the floor.
First things first though; a staircase. I pushed with my mana and claimed more and more stone surrounding the shaft I’d made until it was about three meters wide. After that I began claiming the rock behind me until I was able to carve out a more diagonal passageway down from my first floor to this new level. I didn’t mind the stairs being steep, but they did need to be stairs.
After several cycles of spending and recovering mana I was finally finished. I now had a twenty meter deep staircase that also went for twenty meters before it reached the new level, letting you go one meter deeper for each meter forward. I thought that was symmetrical and nice. After that I made my new stairs end in an archway leading into a larger room. It took a while, especially since I had to be more precise with how I carved out the stone to make it look more artificial. It was worth it, as I didn’t want both floors to just look like a cave. No, the first floor should be the most natural, being the one closest to the surface, but after that the dungeon would begin in earnest. I experimented for a long while until I figured out how to not only dig through the stone, but shape it more deliberately into structures. I even learned how to transform it into a smooth, sleek stone apparently called ‘marble’, which I used, guided by a mysterious instinct, to make chambers a bit like you’d find in a mausoleum, complete with empty stone coffins and even a mysterious altar. Eventually I felt a wall. Something invisible that stopped me from pushing outwards. At the same time I felt something I'd experienced before while I was excavating the first floor cave, only it was different this time, more suffocating. Earlier I’d felt a sense of completion, now there was something missing that made everything feel cramped. Suddenly I realized I’d lost myself in excavating and ignored several messages from the System.
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Second Floor Begun, would you like to select a Guardian?
Second Floor aesthetic intention detected, modifying Guardian options, would you like to select a Guardian?
Second Floor size at 50% capacity, would you like to select a Guardian?
Second Floor size at 75% capacity, would you like to select a Guardian?
Floor aesthetic solidified, modifying Guardian options, would you like to select a Guardian?
Second Floor size limit reached. Further expansion prohibited. Please select a Guardian.
Uhhh... Woops. I guess I’d been missing out on a lot. I really should be paying more attention. At least my inattention didn’t prohibit my selection, I’d just delayed it. Still, I’d need to pay much closer attention to the System in the future, since apparently now that the tutorial was done they wouldn’t be shoved in my face whenever they appeared, instead being relegated to a slight pulsing at the corner of my awareness; obvious once I noticed it, yet ignorable while I hadn’t. I resolved myself to be on the lookout for these messages in the future and steeled myself as I accepted the Guardian selection prompt.
Second Floor Begun! Select A Guardian!
Floor Aesthetic: The Necromancer’s Mausoleum. Due to the Core undertaking the risk of postponing the selection of a Guardian, the options will be altered to fit the Core’s intended aesthetic. Note that Guardian creature selection is still affected by the current Floor and the Core’s level.
Skeleton Golem: A large amalgam of bones from a variety of skeletons. This hulking brute of a monster lacks any form of subtlety, but more than makes up for it in durability and sheer power. It can absorb the bones of any non-dungeon creatures it finds into itself in order to increase its health, defense, and size.
Skeletal Necromancer: The skeletal remains of a necromancer that has retained a spark of their former powers. It is not a Lich, not by a long shot, but it has taken the first step towards becoming one. Sporting a much higher intelligence than your average undead, this monster makes a natural commander, if slightly weaker in one-on-one combat.
Ravager Ghoul: Rabid madness and a craving for taking life given form. The Ravager Ghoul is relentless, thoughtless, and ravenous for anything living. The ghoul will single out the weakest member of any party, and focus all of its energy on consuming them to gain a boost in power and health.
Specter: A spirit of a restless dead, ethereal yet not always incorporeal. A specter does not have much in the way of offensive power compared to more powerful spiritual entities, but in return supports a very high survivability. It has a hard time attacking the living, and the living has a hard time attacking it back.
Oh this was sweet! Maybe delaying the selection hadn’t been a bad idea after all, if it can get me these goodies. Well, the specter left a bit to be desired, and the ghoul seemed a bit too much of a relentless killing machine for what I’d prefer, but the necromancer and the golem were both very interesting…
This would require some serious deliberation. The golem might seem a bit lackluster at first glance but my instincts screamed that a monster that could grow in power innately was both rare and had the possibility to be extraordinarily powerful for its Floor. On the other hand a necromancer was literally what I’d pictured when I was designing the Floor, so not picking it just seemed wrong. And the line about having taken the first step towards becoming a Lich wasn’t something my instincts told me I could just ignore either. I realized I knew monsters could evolve. More specifically I could evolve them, but seemingly only after they’d gained enough experience from defending the dungeon against intruders. So while I couldn’t evolve anything now, not my normal monsters or my Guardians, it was definitely something I’d need to keep an eye on. I wouldn’t want to miss an evolution like I’d done just now with the Guardian selection, even if this time it had worked in my favor. The future evolution and how well it fit my theme were what made me make the choice in the end.The [Skeletal Necromancer] just fit my ideals for my second floor too well. The Golem would have been nice, but I liked having a spellcaster as a Guardian a bit more. It also served more as a commander type, which was a nice way to differentiate from the more animalistic first Floor. With those thoughts reinforcing my decision I made my selection.
Like it had with the leatherwing all that time ago, mana began to rush from all directions, swirling together in front of me. It coalesced into a twister, then with a surge I felt the change, and the necromancer materialized in front of me. It was tall, almost twice as tall as leatherwing at a full two meters, and was clad in a hooded brown robe covering most of its wiry bones. The only exceptions were its hands, which stuck out of the robe and held a black staff with a suitably magic-seeming crystal orb at the top. And its face, which I thought looked typical for a skeleton apart from the blue glint of intelligence I could see in the glow deep in its eye sockets. I felt a surge of satisfaction run through my Core. This was my second Guardian, and it too was perfect.
Skeletal Necromancer Guardian choice grants +15% proficiency with Death-element Mana!
Skeletal Necromancer Guardian choice grants +10% proficiency with Darkness-element Mana!
Skeletal Necromancer Guardian choice grants +10% proficiency with Arcane-element Mana!
Experience gained!
The Necromancer stood still for a few seconds, as if growing accustomed to its new body, before taking a step towards me and bowing at the waist.
“Greetings, sire”, he said. The voice was surprisingly crisp and clear for coming from a skeleton. “Thank you for your gift. It will be my honor to serve you in whatever way you wish.”
I nodded mentally, then sent my thoughts to it the same way I had with the voice back when I first woke up. Thank you. This Floor will be yours, it’s called the ‘Necromancer’s Mausoleum’. Its creatures will be yours to command in whatever way you see fit, provided I do not step in.
“I will do my utmost.” The Skeleton said, raising from his bow… Actually, thinking of it, I should really give my Guardians names. I couldn’t just call him ”skeleton” forever. But the Leatherwing should rightfully be named first, as it had been my first Guardian.
Go familiarize yourself with the layout. I shall give you subordinates momentarily.
Once I had my mana back up to full I sent my awareness up the stairs, and focused my attention on the Leatherwing hanging on its perch above the stairs leading down. The pillar I’d made was gone, leaving nothing but a round chamber with a hole going down. But given that defeating a Guardian was a system-enforced prerequisite for descending it didn’t bother me that much, other than in an aesthetic sense. Still since the first Floor was supposed to imitate a natural cave leading down deeper into the unknown it wasn't that bad. I’d have to be more careful once I leveled up and could start my third though, as I didn’t want the way down to be just anywhere on those other Floors. That was matter for later though, now it was naming time.
I focused on the Leatherwing, examining it closely. The dark red eyes, the sharp teeth and hooked claws. The way its hide seemed to almost shift its pigment to better blend in with its surroundings. Perfect for stalking unsuspecting prey, before grabbing them and dragging them into the darkness.
Stalker. I sent it. Your name will be Stalker.
I felt a surge of mana leave me, flowing into the Leatherwing, strengthening and enhancing it before my very eyes.
You have named your first creature!
Experience Gained!
Your creature Stalker is being strengthened!
Stalker has become a [Leatherwing (Elite)]