Chapter ??_Vivi La Morte

I woke up on a hard slab of shadow-stone. As it happened, Stygian Construction didn't let me make soft material, though I did earn a Death Magic skill by softening it a bit. My nonexistant back hurt a bit. At least I didn't have to struggle my way out of bed. Silver linings! Anyway, I spent a bit more time softening up my bed some more, watching a lump run through the tendril like a vomiting snake (could snakes vomit?), slightly draining the well of brilliant light at my heart.

Now, what was I going to do today?

Probably decorating. If I was going to spend any meaningful amount of time in here, I was going to make sure I wasn't going to… what's that noise?

I heard sound as if someone were splashing around outside. I quickly realized someone must have been dunked in here, too. I needed to help them! I quickly ran over to the side of my box closest the source of the noise, then worked my light-tendril outside, searching around until I felt something solid touch it. I attempted to wrap the tendril around the drowning person, then dragged them inside. Soon, there was a person else myself inside my box of darkness.

{sysmessage}

[Rescuer] acquired!

{/sysmessage}

“You okay?“ I asked the person hacking up a lung on my pitch-black floor, rushing to their side. They were more a vague outline than a solid object, with a core of brilliant red light, which I realized was the first colour I'd seen since falling in here. (Or maybe I just don't notice since everything is the same colour, or something? I don't know, I'm not a sensory psychologist or whatever the correct term for that is; I'm not one myself. Back to the pressing concern.) “Can you stand up?“ I asked again. The person looked to me.

“Ϙ̶͖̽ʇ̵͚͝o̴̮̕ ̷̭̀ɒ̷̤͘w̶̺͋x̸̃ͅ ̸̗͠γ̸͉̈́ó̷̼m̶̻̎?̸͕̅ T̸͔̊ʜ̵̢̇n̴͓͊ɿ̸͙̄ɘ̶̱͒ ̵̞͂ʜ̸̝̓ʇ̴̧̑ ̵̦̌I̵̫̾?̵̩̐” They asked, incomprehensible.

“Oh, sorry. You don't speak English, do you?“ I held out a hand, “Don't worry, I wouldn't if I had a choice; very messy, no consistent rules. Hard to learn.“ The person looked at me, not understanding a word I said. They arose by themself, and I retracted my hand. “ᆿ̵̪͆ö̵̙,̸̩͑ ̶͖̋Í̴͚ ̴̞͌ϱ̸̻͗υ̷̙̕i̶͕̿ƨ̶͚̐ƨ̵͇̉ ̷̬̊z̸͔̀ó̸̝υ̴̟̋ ̶̤̔b̸̯̽ʞ̶̞̎n̶̼̓'̶͌ͅɈ̶͚̚ ̶̢̽ƨ̵̮͝ɿ̴̭̔ɘ̸̮̓x̶̭̔ʞ̵̫͗ ̶̠̔T̵̯̏ʜ̵̞̍ɿ̶̰̓ŏ̵̬n̵̨͌i̵͍͌ɒ̶͚̈́n̸̦͝?̴̜̈” The person again queried. “Sorry, can't understand.“ I responded, checking to see if they had any important parts missing.

{sysmessage}

[Status Check] acquired!

Name

Rhaus Hill

Race

[Human (Elf Lineage)]

Class

[Bowman]

Level

7.82

Health

0/112

Stamina

6/137

Mana

28/34

Conditions

[Intimidated]

[Exhausted]

[Bisected]

[Dead]

Titles

[Dungeon Delver]

[Adventurer (Bronze)]

Skills

[Thronian Language Comprehension]

[Skill Inspection]

[Camping (lv3)]

[Enhanced Reflexes (lv3)]

[Enhanced Sight (lv2)]

[Archery (lv4)]

{/sysmessage}

“Yeah, that'd just about do it.“ I muttered to myself, checking the person - Rhaus - 's Conditions. Must've been a gruesome death. Rhaus quickly ended up sitting in a rudimentary chair I'd made earlier. “Wonder what mine is.“ I turned Status Check to myself.

{sysmessage}

Name

Lake Williams

Race

[Human (Caucasian)]

Class

N/A

Level

N/A

Health

N/A/N/A

Stamina

N/A/N/A

Mana

205/231

Conditions

[Ruptured Lungs]

[Deaf]

[Dead]

[Heavily Burned]

[Liquefied]

Titles

[̷̢̝̩͖̭͉̏̔̈́͊͒̇́̈́̌̈́̿̑͛͛͌͗̓̈́̃̂̓́̔̍̑̿͊̾̽̔̈́̈́͒͒̂̀̾̌̇̈́̽̉̉̆̋̕͘͝͝?̴̨̧̢̡̻͎̻͕̺̜̺̫̙̯̻̻̖̻̝̤̖̰̫͍̲͇̯̋̀́͆̋̊̈́͜ͅ?̵̨̡̧̧̢̩͚̱̞̙̲͉̯̝̬̦͉̭̤̰̲̖̯͇̫̺̲̫̠̼͙̞͈̝̹̪͚̠̞̙̪̥̞̉̐͆̎̑͋̎͒̆̌͒̎̍̂̾̚̚̕̕͠ͅ?̸̧̧̢̼̗̞̳̳̯̟͔̱̞̜̹̬͕͔͉̫̞̩̺͔͔̲̫̜̝̯̺͈̙̳̩̥̦͉̞͙͓̘͎͖͎͖̜̼̻̻͍̫̼̒̊͐̒̊͒̎̎̈̒́̓͗͂͂͗̀̈́̂͊̓͑͆̾̓͊͌̒͌̔̅̏̏̍͂͑͗͒̚͠͝͝͝͠ͅͅ?̸̢̡̨̨̨̧̨̛̣̭͇̪͓̲̝̫̯͙̫̩̞͖̠̻̭̻̗̰̻̯̠̘̥̳̳̣̫̩̙̙͙̱̖̱͕̹̙̘̭͕̹̳̘̗̙̗͔̠̟̹̪̪͕̳̹͖̥͚̻͇̺̤̩̲̖̱̔̊̓̓̈́͋̓̈́̐͒̐̈́̆̌̇̓̕͘̕͜͜͝?̵̢̡̢̧̺̲̗͎͔̠̞̖̭̫̰̩̮̖̗̩̼̼̩̞͎̲̘̯̪̜̙̜͕̹̟̞̣͓̯̭̫̖̮̤̣͆̀̍̂̌̐̓̅̄͝͝ͅͅ?̴̨̧̛͉̯̯̺̺̱̗͙̫͚̼̰̥̩̫̳̙̣͔͉̱͍̪̭̜̖̘̠̥̣̳̹̜̳̣̺͇̼̤̘͚͉̥̘̦̏̔̈́̔͑̐̑̍͋̾͒̌̿͑̃̂́̓̅̽͗̀͂̽̔͂̈̃̂̑̇̇͂͂̀̈́͒̉̐͋̿͑̎̂̈́̒̈́̄̈̇́͗́́̍͂̚͜͝͠͠͝͝ͅ]̴̨̨̢̢̨̛̛̛̛̛̬͉̥̗̞̳͎̖̼͍͎̻̞̤̞̪̞͈̪̝̥̬̣̜̻͇̳͎̀̒͂̉̎̇̈̒̋͗̈̉̈̋̉̆́̈̎̇̂͐̌̒̉͑̽̉̈̾̿͆͑̍͗̎̾̅́̚̚̕͜͝ͅ

[Rescuer]

Skills

[Mana Manipulation (lv2)]

[Mana Sight (lv1)]

[Telekinesis (lv2)]

[Stygian Construction (lv2)]

[Mana Blade (lv2)]

[Carpentry (lv1)]

[Death Magic (lv1)]

{/sysmessage}

Oh. Okay. Well. Ignoring the mysterious glitchy Title that I don't remember evwr getting, it appeared that I had around 6-7x more mana capacity than Rhaus. How much that was in the grand scheme of things, I did not know. However, given that Rhaus's other stats are in the early 100s, I'd have to assume a typical value would be about in that ballpark.

“So, Rhaus (R-ow-s, one sylable because it's a short name), or Rhaus (Ruh-house, still one sylable), as the case may be, I'm going to assume that your death was about as peaceful as mine,” I said, noticing that they noticably started paying more attention as I said their name the first way. I took this to mean that was the way it was pronounced, “so, care for a chat? Oh, wait, already forgot, you can't understand a word I'm saying. This is going to be rough.“ I sighed, thinking over how difficult it was going to be, learning a new language. And I'm probably going to have to expand the area available. It was already a bit cramped with just one person, but now I have to pull up more Styxium and carve out more furniture… Wait! I can carve Styx rock to make a way to communicate ideas with Rhaus more effectively! Eureka!

~¤~¤~¤~

I had been living down here (or wherever we are compared to… well, anything else) for quite a while now. How long that is, I have no idea. We've come to understand each other's languages, though Rhaus's was far easier to learn, and he still get a little muddled, especially on spelling (he couldn't quite get their head around “'I' before 'E', except after 'C' or if it just sort of isn't”). I'd also picked up a couple more people, Hour (How-er) the farmer, whom seemed thoroughly fed up with this whole “Styx” nonsense the moment she set foot in here (after being mauled to death by something called a “Black-Raptor”, a cross between a raven and a velociraptor), and our latest addition, Ræric. Ræric is… unusual, to say the least, and that's coming from someone with one Title covering half of their status. Ræric is a Dungeon Core.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

To be more specific, they're a Dungeon Core that had a great fondness for Kobolds. Loved them so much, ended up making them the only mob type in his entire dungeon. Also, unlike everyone else in my little dinghy, his soul isn't exactly shaped like a human. It, too, is a kobold. His race ended up changing to “[Kobold Warren Core]” (he was, at one point, just a regular Dungeon Core), which Rhas had never heard of before. Ræric's Status is practically oozing the word Kobold. Here, I'll show you.

Name

Ræric

Race

[Kobold Warren Core]

Class

[Kobold Protector]

Floors

Durability

0/392

Points

Mana

372/418

Conditions

[Shattered]

Titles

[Great Dungeon of Kobolds]

[Kobold Appreciation Club Founder]

[Kobold Appreciation Club Leader]

Traits

[Monster Creation]

[Kobold Specialty]

[Monster Uplifting]

[Kobold Breeding Grounds]

[Enhance Monster]

[Kobold Understanding]

[Monster Evolution]

[Marketplace of Ideas]

[Avatar Generation]

[Aura of Kobolds]

[Avatar Possesion]

[Kobold Sense]

[Avatar Integration]

[Kobold Blood]

I didn't even know what an Aura of Kobolds did, and when I asked him, he just said it “makes things more koboldy”, which wasn't that much of an insight, because I can only guess at what being “koboldy” even meant. I digress. My status has gotten significantly stronger since last I told you.

Name

Lake Williams

Race

[Human (Caucasian)]

Class

N/A

Level

N/A

Health

N/A/N/A

Stamina

N/A/N/A

Mana

264/267

Conditions

[Ruptured Lungs]

[Deaf]

[Dead]

[Heavily Burned]

[Liquefied]

Titles

[Rescuer]

[Kobold Appreciation Club Member]

[Inventer]

Skills

[Mana Manipulation (lv4)]

[Mana Sight (lv2)]

[Telekinesis (lv3)]

[Stygian Construction (lv5)]

[Mana Blade (lv3)]

[Carpentry (lv4)]

[Death Magic (lv3)]

[Skill Inspection]

[Foreign Language Comprehension]

[Mana Light (lv2)]

[Search and Rescue (lv1)]

[Teaching (lv4)]

[Storytelling (lv2)]

And, in case you were wondering about my Skills (and Titles (don't worry, the buggy one comes after a while; didn't want it blocking your view of the others)):

[Rescuer]

Saved the life of a noncombatant with no ulterior motives. All beneficial effects targeted at noncombatants greatly increased.

[Kobold Appreciation Club Member]

Member of the Kobold Appreciation Club. Increased abilities in the presence of Kobolds. Slightly increased abilities in the presence of others with this or a related Title. Bonuses scale with the size and influence of the Kobold Appreciation Club. Much more likely to be able to locate members of the Kobold Appreciation Club.

Founder of the Kobold Appreciation Club: Ræric, [Great Dungeon of Kobolds]

Current Leader of the Kobold Appreciation Club: Ræric, [Great Dungeon of Kobolds]

Current membership of the Kobold Appreciation Club: 4*

Current influence level of the Kobold Appreciation Club: Very Small*

*As this group was formed in Styx, these statistics include those with the [Dead] Condition.

[Inventor]

Create something that the culture you are within has not held records of. Greatly increased chance of uncovering things those around you do not know of.

[Mana Manipulation]

Manipulate Mana. Increases proficiency with manipulating Mana.

[Mana Sight]

Sense Mana through the eyes. Increases resolution of Mana sight.

[Telekinesis]

Move a physical object with Mana. Increases strength and control when moving objects with Mana.

[Stygian Construction]

Solidify the water of Styx. Increases strength and malleability of solidified Styx water.

[Mana Blade]

Form a blade of pure Mana. Increases Mana Blade's sharpness and control.

[Carpentry]

Construct an object from large rigid planks. Increases Durability of objects that apply. Grants a sense of good carpentry practice within your culture.

[Death Magic]

Magic concerning Styx and the dead. Increases power, efficiency, and control when using Death spells.

[Skill Inspection]

Inspect the parameters of Status elements.

[Foreign Language Comprehension]

Comprehend the specifities of various foreign languages. Subsumes language-related Skills.

[Mana Light]

Create light with Mana. Increases luminance and colour control.

[Search and Rescue]

Seek out and recover a person in danger. Increases location ability. Reduces harm endangered persons receive during rescue.

[Teaching]

Convey information and skills to others. Increases clarity and retention of information.

[Storytelling]

Convey stories to others. Increased entertainment and educational value.

Ⴇ̴̡̬͍̞̇́̾̅͗ͅɒ̵̨͍͎́̉̆̆͒ͅͅɈ̴̤̠̰͇͓̿̾͆̍̔ɒ̵̡̟̲̞͕̌̓̽̉͒ ̷̧̧̛̩͌̈́̔̒ͅͅɿ̷̬͇̘͓͆̈́̒͝͠ͅɘ̸̬̻̖͓̩̾̃̽͗̀Ɉ̶̧̹̱̭͊̌̈́͒͜͝ɿ̶̢̥̥̠̬̀̃̈́͐͐í̸̧̮͙̺̬̀̈́̽͛ɘ̴̡̘̝͍̖̿̀̀̚͝v̷̧̤̝͇̖̍͌̃͋̽ɒ̵̢̝͇̬͖͆̀̇̂̀ḻ̸̨͈͙͇̇́̈̇͠ ̵̗̹͙̠͙͛̉̉̈́̇i̷̙̤͈̟͆̈͗͑̌ͅm̵̘͔͔̖̜̾̋̊͘͠q̸̢̫̳̤͎͐̋̊͆͝ö̶̧̰͕̞͒̎́̚͜ƨ̵̨̨̳̻̖͒̈́̄̏ƨ̵̧̜̘̠̻̊̽̈͐̕ï̷͔̦͖̈̃̅̓͜ͅd̷̻̻̹͙̪̍̅̃͋͒ḻ̷̗̯̣͎̃̓͋̂̆ɘ̷̦͍̦̙̣͊͂͆͘̚.̷͚͚̣̲̥̇̓͐̒͛

Chapter ??

目录