“Rrraaaahhh!”
“Whats wrongs, Master?! Strong Helper shouted, frantically waving her arms about near my core. But Strong Helper did not know how to aid my problem.
“Strong Helper! I’m stuck!”
“Master stuck?! How Strong Helper helps Master?! What Strong Helper needs smash?!”
I sighed, wanting to shake my core. “No, sorry, Strong Helper. Nothing to smash. I am at an insurmountable impasse.”
“Impasse, Master?! Tell Strong Helper where Impasse is! Strong Helper smash Impasse! Strong Helper kill Impasse!”
I chuckled. Strong Helper helped ease some of my frustration with the troublesome decision I needed to make.
“No, unfortunately, smashing won’t work this time, Strong Helper. An impasse is something that blocks you, stopping you from moving forward. And there’s nothing tangible to smash through.”
Strong Helper scratched her bald head as she asked, “Sorrys, Master. Me no gets it. But Strong Helper wants makes Master better. How Strong Helper helps Master?”
“Yes, how indeed, Strong Helper.”
Frustrated, I no longer was. I felt like smiling at my adorable helper. I appreciated her uplifting sentiments. But as for how my creation was to help, know, I did not.
Undecided, I was with the decision I needed to make for my spirit assistant. Looked again at Yellow Screen, I did.
[Notification]
Per Hive Mother’s instructions, the following spirit assistants are now available to be chosen!
Alexandria - Bastille of Knowledge
Iccahrius - Lure of Twilight in the Darkness
Adonis - Herald of Power and Authority
Dacatia - Bringer of Plagues and Death
Fortuna - Hoarder of Riches and Treasures
Gould - Temptations of Irredeemable Sin
T’he Moc - Nightmare of Disaster
Elzoal - The Cataclysm
Please choose your spirit assistant!
Note: Spirit assistants come with knowledge and specialties that can be applied or added to the Dungeon.
Choose carefully.
I looked back at Strong Helper. “Think some more, I must do, Strong Helper. Help keep an eye out for me in case Green Eyes tries to come and eat me again.”
“Yes, Master! Me kills alls furry creature!
“Thank you, Strong Helper!” I replied as I immersed myself with thought.
What should I do? Who should I choose for my assistant?
My head ached. Stronger, I must become. But all choices sounded good. All choices sounded strong. But which one would help me the most?
I pondered some more, thinking deeply.
I chose Ogres as my guardian and obtained my strong ones. But I chose Ogres because Yellow Screen said Ogres were strong.
Yellow Screen did not lie. My creations were strong. No doubt. But what else did Yellow Screen say about Ogres again? Something else besides ‘strong.’
“Yellow Screen, what about Ogres did you tell me when I was choosing my Guardian?”
[Notification]
Request acknowledged.
Reviewing request’s parameters…
Displaying results:
Ogre - Strong but somewhat slow and stupid otherwise.
I looked at Yellow Screen’s response. Closer, I examined this time.
Ogres are strong but somewhat slow and stupid? Slow, I understand. But what is ‘stupid?’
I thought about my creations.
Hmmmm… No offense, but Strong Helper and Strong One are both a bit… off? The two did not speak well like Strong Defender. Wait…
I thought a bit more about Strong Defender. Strong Defender spoke more clearly. I did spend more mana to make him. And stronger I thought Strong Defender would be. But Strong Defender was not.
But if not, then how was Strong Defender stronger? I spent more mana.
Larger, Strong Defender definitely was. But Strong Defender could not beat Strong One. Strong One was physically stronger somehow. But what about Strong Defender? Not as physically strong, but bigger brained, maybe? Strong Defender implied so - said strength was more than just brawns.
Wait! Wait a minute!
Enlightened me, Strong Defender did!
Weak, I was. Anything would make me stronger. But I needed something to fit what I already have. I needed something to make me and my creations stronger!
“EUREKA!” I shouted.
“Master?” Strong Helper jolted then asked with a tilt of her head. “Master okays? Whats eureka?”
I did not hear Strong Helper clearly. I was too focused on my sudden enlightenment. Yellow Screen seemed to say my creations had weaknesses: slow and stupid.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
I did not completely understand Yellow Screen. The meaning of stupid, I did not fully comprehend. My creations were perfect! Nothing was wrong with them! At least, to me, anyway.
But what if Yellow Screen was right? What if slow and stupid were a detrimental weakness that affected them? Beat Green Eyes, my Ogres did. But what if the creatures on the outside were stronger? What if slow and stupid made my strong creations vulnerable beyond what I understood? What if my creations were hurt in the outside world because they were slow and stupid?!
“No! Never! They dare!? Only we eat! Only we consume! Yellow Screen! Me and my creations - we need to know more! We need to be stronger! Not stupid, we will be! We need the power of knowledge! Bring forth Alexandria - Bastille of Knowledge!”
[Notification]
Congratulations!
You have chosen the spiritual assistant:
Alexandria - Bastille of Knowledge!
Per Mother instructions, bringing forth the former apostle of the Ancient: Nous!
“Former apostle? As in a messenger of god? A former messenger? Wait. A god?”
No time to wonder more or ask Yellow Screen.
My darkness - my belly, it felt strange - tingling, quivering. Pins and needles pricked all around my stomach. Unsettling the feeling that churned in my belly. My core - it felt locked onto as if now a homing beacon. A familiar but harrowing presence weighed down heavily on my stomach. Fearsome yet nostalgic - the power reached out and grabbed the mana beyond my walls.
The mana moved as if running away. I recognized a familiar sensation cry out from the external mana. All the small motes of mana were gripped hard and pulled together with a forceful yank. I knew the feeling because I had experienced it before.
“Mother! You’re here, Mother?!”
“Ah, the little soul with much potential. We see thee, Atlas. But silence. We must focus on merging the Realms.”
“Mother! Many questions, I have for you, Mother!”
“SILENCE!!!” Mother snapped at me.
I wanted to jolt up and cower away, frightened by the shrill screams coming from Mother. Thousands of synchronous voices shrieked and shook my stomach, crumbling some of the rocks lining my belly. Mother was furious. An immense pressure slammed down on my stomach with booming thunder. Breathless, I felt, flattened and punched in the gut. I was unable to breathe, even though I was not capable of the feat. I felt strangled by Mother’s overwhelming power.
I wanted to struggle but dared not make a sound.
“Thou wilst learn to obey, child. Else, face Our wrath.”
Consumed by fear, I hastily replied with a trembling voice, “Y-ye-yes, g-good Mother. M-my a-apologies, m-my Mother. F-forgive me, M-Mother.”
“Heed Our warning, child. Learn thy lesson well. Heavier punishment shalt be giveth to those that defy Us.”
Unable to reply out of fear, I could only tremble and watch.
But as frightened as I was, I saw them - the motes of mana grappled by Mother’s presence. With the help of the Internal Awareness skill, I saw part of Mother. I think I saw Mother’s hands - thousands upon thousands of threads that endlessly descended from somewhere unknown above me.
I watched as Mother performed her handiwork. The many threads of Mother's hands chased and enveloped the motes of escaping mana. Mother dragged the resisting mana that squirmed pointlessly from outside into my belly.
At first, the external mana beyond my stomach slowly began to trickle inside, seeping through my walls of melted rock and iron and pooling into my personal chamber. But as if the floodgates of a dam-
Floodgates of a dam? What-
[Notification]
Partial fragments from memories extracted!
River Levee
Water Dam
Consume more fragmented knowledge to create blueprints!
Skills Level Up!
Consume LVL 2 -> 3
Extract LVL 2 -> 3
Absorb LVL 2 -> 3
Internal Awareness LVL 1 -> 2
I worried Mother would be upset at Yellow Screen. Yellow Screen suddenly flickered and popped up again while Mother was still working. But oddly, Mother did not reprimand Yellow Screen.
Why? Why did Mother not punish Yellow Screen? Because Yellow Screen did not bother Mother and only me? But how strange? I know this ‘levee’ and ‘dam.’ Seen them somewhere before, I have.
But I could not ponder any longer. I could not be distracted. Mother was now before me. I needed to watch. I needed to learn. Figure out what Mother was doing, I must.
The once slowly trickling mana coming from beyond my belly suddenly flooded into me, rushing into my chamber. Mother yanked and pulled in all the mana outside into my belly. The gaseous particles accumulated, thickening in the center of my cavern and into a luminous, silver ball of viscous, liquid mana.
Mother kept molding the mana, condensing and squeezing all the tiny motes together, tighter and tighter. Soon the liquid mana solidified, puffing out hot steam into the surroundings.
Strong Helper curled into a ball, trembling as she watched beside me. I wanted to comfort Strong Helper but could not.
Mother did not stop. And interrupt Mother, I dared not.
A master manipulator of mana, Mother was. I watched in fright and awe. Mother repeatedly molded and folded the solid, silver mana into a shard, but she kept sharpening both ends of the stone. Sharper and sharper, the mana stone became. So sharp, the mana stone began to vibrate with a high-pitched ringing.
Abruptly, Mother launched the shard!
I wanted to blink, but I could not. I had no eyelids. The deadly sharp mana stone flew through the air, coming straight for my heart!
I gasped. Mother wants to kill me?!
Strong Helper leaped in front of me.
“Strong Helper, watch out!”
But no. Right before the mana stone hit Strong Helper the sharp stone pierced something else and disappeared. Within my darkness, something even darker appeared. A cut ripped an open wound in the air inside my stomach. Yet, I did not feel any pain.
I saw Mother’s hands - her infinite threads grip the edges of the wound. Pulled, Mother did - yanked and stretched out the cut, opening it wider and wider into a gaping black hole that hovered above the ground. A tempest began to swirl from the hole. All the thick layers of flying dust and debris were sucked into the infinite darkness.
Is that the eroding darkness? Purgatory?
I could not be sure.
[Notification]
New skill obtained through observation!
Dimensional Portal LVL 1 (locked)
Note: Space and Time attributes required before use of skill can be evoked/applied.
Huh? A new skill? From watching Mother?
Suddenly, Mother’s hands, the threads - they intertwined together into one rope and shot into the darkness. Mother’s hand followed a single strand of mana that trailed from the shard. Mother’s hands extended far, endlessly flowing into the hole. Gripped and latched onto something, Mother did. Whatever it was - it clanked and echoed faintly from the darkness. Pulled and yanked, Mother then did, wrested something from the depths of the dark abyss.
“Strong Helper,” I whispered. “Go to Strong One’s room.”
“But Master…”
“Don’t worry. Mother won’t hurt me. Hurry, I don't know if Mother may hurt you.”
Strong Helper cast a downtrodden look but obeyed and headed towards the entrance of my cavern.
Mother did not relent. Mother jerked back her hands hard - the rope of intertwined threads constricted and snapped back. Something unknown flashed and zoomed out from the open hole in the air - pierced through by the sharp shard of mana Mother created. Mother let go of the edges of the hole, and the wound in the air sealed shut - vanishing as if it never existed.
The unknown thing raced across the rocky floor of my belly, carving a trench with a grating metallic noise before crashing with a thunderous explosion near the entrance to my personal cavern. My entire belly rumbled, shaking violently as dust, rock, and stalagmites crumbled to the floor.
“GAAAAAHHHH!” I screamed out at the ripping pain that burst open my belly.
Whatever Mother pulled from the abyss launched and stabbed deeply into the side of my belly. Instantly, part of my personal cavern collapsed. Dirt from the outside avalanched inside through the shattered wall of my stomach. Dust and debris gushed and flung out, smothering everything inside once more.
[Notification]
Warning!
Durability of the Core Chamber has been reduced to zero!
Immediate recovery is advised as predators will be drawn from the leaking mana.
Dungeon Floor Durability - First Floor
Entrance Section: 10/10
Split paths - Each path: 10/10
Right Room - Strong Defender: 10/10
Left Room - Strong Helper: 10/10
Final Room - Strong One: 10/10
Core Chamber: 0/50
Note: 1 mana will recover 10 floor durability
1 Mana obtained from Mana Breathing LVL 1
Available Mana: 9/40
Mana Breathing LVL 1 -> LVL 2
Recover floor durability?
(Yes) (No)
I moaned. The pain was too great. My vision blurred, slowly fading into the darkness. But I needed to act. I needed to stay strong!
“Y-Yellow Screen!” I called out as I struggled to keep conscious. “Use five mana! Heal my belly!”
[Notification]
Request acknowledged.
Deducting five mana…
Available mana: 4/40
Core Chamber: 50/50
There was no time for relief. More importantly, I worried about my creation. I was losing myself. My consciousness was fading. My vision darkened, but I held on. I needed to hold on! I used my skill Internal Awareness and anxiously scanned back and forth for Strong Helper.
Oh, no.
“Strong Helper! Answer me! Are you hurt?!”
Strong Helper did not reply, even at my beckoning. Unmoving, Strong Helper was. Strong Helper laid on her side, buried over by the rush of dirt and collapsed parts of my belly that caved in.
“Strong Helper! Hold on, Strong Helper!”
“Our work ist done. Survive and becometh strong, child. We shalt be watching.”
“Mother? Mother! Help me! Help Strong Helper, Mother!”
Only my frantic, unanswered pleas echoed in the silence.