Adventurer’s guild town Ragnarök…
“The scout is back sir.” (Assistant)
“What about the information! Anything worth my time?”(Guild Master)
“He taking to the receptionist right now, but he looks kind of shaken off. Maybe something unexpected happened while he was scouting.”(Assistant)
“Oh, don’t worry about such things he is an adventurer. And if he thinks he can’t take this kind of work anymore than he can leave, not like anyone’s stopping him. There will be one less dead to out account for, if nothing more.” (Master)
“You shouldn’t say such things grandpa! He is also a human. So what if he is not skilled or high leveled or brave…” (Assistant)
“It means, he has no redeeming qualities. It’s not like I don’t care, but Adventuring is not for everybody. People need power, courage and the will to live in this line of work. It is…”
“Humph”
“*sigh*…You are too soft, my dear. That’s why I said this line of work is not for you. But you…”
“I don’t want to hear anything about this! You also know why I don’t want to leave you alone. Who knows what kind of destruction you will create in my absence?”
While they were arguing with each other, a knock rang on the door.
*Knock, knock*
“May I come in sir?”(???)
“Who is it? “
“It’s Jade, hime – sama.”
“Looks like the receptionist is here, Come in.”
The door opened and a neatly dressed, but pale looking girl entered.
Her big eyes as the moon scanned the whole room which. The room looked more like a Floristry. It had pots upon pots of flowers and herbs stacked and lined neatly. Rows upon rows of such pots were covering the whole room and only a small alley was left at the center for anyone entering in to go from the center to the open space which was adorned by a mahogany desk and two chairs.
She was still checking interior of the room when she noticed an old grizzly bear and a pretty coyote looking at her.
Every time she comes here, she is always presented with such a view. Oh, don’t get it wrong, it’s not because they are actually beasts, but because she has a skill which lets her see the true nature of person. This is also the reason why she was given the responsibility as a receptionist.
She came in and bowed respectfully lifting the corners of her frilly dress, and then she attentively stood up and told them the news which she had bought.
“Pardon me sir. but I have come to inform you….”
“Just speak already! What did that incompetent rascal say? Is it worth giving others a job and him a reward?”
“Yes sir, according to the scout at the place of the explosion there is a deep dark hole going straight into the ground. It somehow looked like an ant mound, but because of his low level, he got scared and he didn’t go in.“
Her master stared at her for a second before he finally spoke,
“So an ant mound, huh. They are not dangerous. Let I….”
He was going to say that he would go on his own and finish it, but he was stopped in the middle by his beautiful and controlling granddaughter.
“Grandpa, an ant might only be a ‘F rank’ monster individually, but in their mound they are present in hundreds if not thousands.”
“So what I can k…”
He wanted to discuss and give a reason but his lovely child flared.
“IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU GRANDPA. You are the guild master now. you are not an adventurer anymore.”
“So what do you do think needs to be done.”
“A single ant holds no threat to anyone, but their threat level lies with their numbers. Because not much time has passed from the day when that explosion occurred, I think it will be enough if we send a C Rank party to the site. They will be able to take care of the mess on their own.”
He gave no reaction and agreed silently. Why? because like he is only the guild master in name. Though his strength used to be a cut above others, but his old age took most of it away and his glory became a thing of the past, and all the important decisions are taken by her after all.
“Okay. We’ll do as you say. Jade go and place an Ant extermination job of ‘Rank C’ and let the reward be 15.”
“There is one more thing sir.”
“What is it now..?”
“Yes sir. According to the scout, when he was coming back from the site of explosion he felt the ground vibrate and then he felt a dreadful aura emitting from that direction, seeping out of the cave. He said that maybe whatever was in the cave got enraged because he was roaming around near its home.”
Hearing this Arnold started laughing out loudly. His laugh shook the whole building. Adventurers started running outside the guild, fuming and cursing at the guild master because they know that he has a tendency to laugh. He laughs like this whenever something interesting happens and his interests always end up becoming their headache.
“Ha-ha. Jade go and put a job for ant subjugation as a ‘B rank’ threat. Let the reward be 30 gold coins and whoever finds anything out of the ordinary will be rewarded with another 30 gold coins. Let’s see what you are.”
* * * * *Back in the Cave* * * * *
Status WindowNameNoneRaceCrystal coreLevel2AffinityFire, Dark, LifeRank0JobDungeon coreNatureNeutral(-1)ClassNoneTitlesBorn Killer, Named Helper.--------Health85Health Reg.1.1/minMana425Mana Reg.1.3/minVitality8Knowledge32Resistance10Intelligence18----Skills (Passive) :Mana Control lv(3), Mana Regeneration Lv(2)Skills (Active) :Outburst(Special), *Locked*, *Locked----Skill Points6
Well, this is how it is.
This is what my status window looks like.
I am Lv 2 dungeon core. Whose knowledge and wisdom stat are very high, even though I was born just a few days ago and am only on the second level.
Knowledge in the 30’5 and intelligence in 20’s what else would I need.
When I told Minie about my status she was left shocked beyond measures with her eyes wide open and her jaw almost touching the floor.
When I asked her about it she told me that the status window she was talking about is related to the dungeon, but the one I opened is for me. one that shows my very own status.
She told me that every Dungeon has a control Interface, which is used to control all the aspects of a dungeon and the dungeons status is one of its functions.
Minie also told me that all the status windows and the information windows are made up of mana. So without having any mana control, I wouldn’t have been able to see them.
Oh! About mana control, I got another skill called ‘Mana control’. Just like its name says, it is a skill that helps me to control my mana. According to Minie, I would be able to directly control nature’s mana once my mastery over it reaches the sage level.
But the goal is a little too far away. For now I can only attract it towards me to absorb it and nothing more.
I wanted to move on and do something productive when I noticed that I had another title other than ‘Named Friend’.
‘When did I get it? I don’t remember receiving any notification informing me about it.’ When self pondering didn’t bring me any result, I consulted with Minie about it.
“Minie, I have something to tell you. It’s about the title I hav…“
“Huh! What, anything wrong with your title?”
“No just that I noticed another title besides Named friends in my status window.”
I asked her about it but I was answered with silence. I thought maybe she was thinking about its possibilities and such, but no she was mesmerized.
“What! How is this possible? When did you get it? Why didn’t you tell me about it!” she was almost screaming by the end of it.
“I’m sorry Minie, please calm down. It’s not that I didn’t tell you. It’s just that I didn’t know. I just came to know about it after looking at my status. So don’t get mad. Okay. “
“Ah! Sorry. You need to stop with your surprises or I might die one day cause of them. So tell me, what does it say?”
Title: Born A KillerGiven to those who kill someone within Minutes after taking birth.Effects:
Gain Intelligence and Knowledge of subject killed
Gain Skills at twice the speed for half the effort.
Reward:
*Locked*
*Locked*Bonus Reward:1st Dungeon floor unlocked
*--------*
*____*
She looked at me and I looked at her and we both continued the staring game for sometime before Minie sighed and said to me.
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
“Well, lucky aren’t you. Seems to me like while exploding all of our mana out, you somehow ended up killing a poor being. Well, this at least explains your knowledge and fast skill gaining ability. Good for you, good for me. No, it’s good for both of us.” And then she smiled.
“This is a good thing, is it not? I mean, I can get stronger faster and the stronger I get, the stronger our dungeon will be.”
Gaining skills at twice the speed for half the effort, is this not the stuff from legends. So that’s why I could gain those skills so easily. But this scares me a little. If I didn’t have this title, then wouldn’t I have also wasted a lot of time trying to gain Mana control and regeneration?
Talking about the ‘Title’, on the status window I can see that I really have affinity with dark element.
‘So those dark particles weren’t getting absorbed for nothing, huh.’ I think that I should tell her about this before she finds out on her own because that would be a disaster.
I know, I know I said that I would give her a surprise, but I think she’ll feel more shocked than surprised if she came to know about it on a later date. I think it’s better for my health if I give her all the shocks at the same time. So, the shocks don’t come to shock my ass too.
So I politely and romantically called out to her, “Minie!”
“Yes? Do you want to ask anything about it or should we move on and start the next thing?”
“No, actually I have something to tell you.” I couldn’t help but fell agitated and nervous. It felt like I was confessing to her.
“Ahaha.” She blushed and a little laugh escaped her mouth when she heard that I had something to tell her. Her face and neck reddened and she sheepishly nodded.
*…….* And i couldn’t understand what she was behaving so bashful for.
Oh shit! I think she heard that.
“Oh I am sorry miss for my rude behavior! But the thing I want to say is important so let’s skip onto it.”
She looked at me like she was getting ready to fly high up in the sky. I don’t understand, I really don’t know what she is thinking. When I said ‘It’s important’ the redness of her face increased and its color got deepen. But me who was color blind could not see the change and I carried on with my plan of breaking her heart.
“Anyways, what I wanted to tell you so bad is that I think I have got affinity with another two elements. It’s dark and life actually. Actually I have known about it from the time when I first did meditation. I wanted to keep it a surprise, but now I think I shouldn’t keep things from you.”
But once again I was greeted by silence. I waited and waited for her voice to each my mind so that I could feel her emotions and decide what to do next but no nothing came. Only silence rang in my silent world.
“Minie?” I called her, but nothing again. I was going to scream loudly in her mind when I heard her mumbling something.
“Suu, and hear I thought that he… idiot, I am such an idiot. Why would a dungeon, why would anyone like me!”
She was talking so low and so slow that if I was listening with my ears then I wouldn’t have been able to hear her at all, but because of our mental connection I heard everything crispy and clear. And her fluctuating emotions were enough to remind me that maybe I said something, or maybe the way I said it gave her the wrong idea and now it is hurting her.
“No, Minie, I like you. Why wouldn’t I like someone who left her home to take care of me? Tell me, what comes after my name?”
She looked up and looked at my crystal body. She wiped the streaking drop of water leaking from her eyes and replied in a shaking but happy voice.
“What come after it? I don’t know.”
“It’s your name.”
Her eyes opened wide when she heard me say that and finally her smile devoid face started shining like the first ray of a glowing sun. She laughed a little and we went onward with our conversation.
“Haha. You are actually quite sly, like a fox. But still Dark, fire and life affinity. It’s seems strange, but also feels, nice. Heehe.”
“Umm, don’t get sad okay. Its not because I was keeping things from you, but…”
“No, I understand. Even if you hadn’t told me it wouldn’t have mattered. After all, you are not obliged or bound to tell me everything.”
“No! i maybe not be contract bound or whatever but don’t say that I am not obliged to do that. Don’t forget that we are partners, certified by the system. So, don’t say that!”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t worry actually I have one more thing to share. It is not surprising like the affinities, but Is actually more mysterious.”
“Huh, something much more mysterious than having triple affinity! What is it?” Her small mouth opened and her sweet voice refreshed the atmosphere. The life devoid cave returned to its former demeanor and I was able to get my only friend to laugh again.
“It’s the title. My first bloody title ‘Born killers’ not only gave me the double skill gaining speed, but also two locked skills.”
“Locked skills?”
“Yes, locked skills. Can you tell me anything about them, because the system is not telling me anything about them?”
“Well, if we are going to talk about all of the stuff, then let’s start with your affinities.”
“Umm, Okay. I have got no problem with that.”
“Well, Firstly dark element. Dark element as its name says is the element of darkness and actually is also my element. Mostly that whose profession is associated with stealth and the like has this affinity.”
“Ah! Okay. So, thieves and the like, but why do you have dark elemental affinity?”
“Oh! We are fairies; we are not included in the category created to define human standards.”
“Okay, seems legit. You are a guardian after all. So, what about life element?”
“Yes, life energy contains the power to heal. Well most of its abilities lie with controlling plants and stuff, but you also get boosted healing capabilities and some healing spells. It is a very rare element to have and is actually in great demand. A kingdom that has a high level nature/life mage will never have food shortage after all.”
“Oh, so can I also grow plants and trees inside our dungeon?”
“You can but you will have to master it, otherwise no.”
“Ah! That will take a very long time. It’s such a shame, well, what about the locked skills. Do they also have conditions which need to be fulfilled before I could use them?”
“Yes you cant use them.”(Minie)
“What the…”
“I didn’t mean to say that you will never be able to use them, but that you won’t be able to properly use them without becoming a mage or something and about those locked skills, I don’t know anything. Maybe like you said there are some conditions, which need to be fulfilled before you get to use them.”
Shit, affinities which need to be devolved and skills that I can’t use. This is just great, so how…..
“Ah, but there is one good thing that happened...”
“What is it…“ I couldn’t help but get excited when I heard her say that. Maybe something good had finally come to wet my feet and help me traverse this hot and tearful desert called life.
“Your title unlocked your first floor. Now, you won’t have to work for that. Now, that is good news, isn’t it?” She replied cheerfully.
“Floors! What are floors? Why do I need to work to create new floors?”
I couldn’t help but jump when I heard that got something for free.
“Aiyo! ...you see, for a dungeon to grow it need to expand. Now you can either expand horizontally or downwards, but you can’t grow upwards. To grow horizontally you need to create rooms. That is the place where common monsters take birth, monsters which will help defend your castle.”
“So, can I create as many rooms as I want?” Rooms, Monsters, Caste, Floor. Room, Monster, floor… I repeated it until she didn’t reply.
“Hah… As many as you can” she said that and I felt bliss.
I couldn’t believe when I heard her say that I could create any amount of floors.
“Really?” came as my reaction.
”No” (Minie)
Damm, this is irritating. It’s like being promised a three room villa and being given a three room shack.
“Well, you can only create rooms according to your mana capacity. As the rooms and floors are created from your own mana, so if you went overboard and created more than you could handle, then your dungeon might collapse, destroy everything, fall down on you and kill you. So don’t do that okay.”(Minie)
So there’s also such a thing. Shit! Being a dungeon is hard work. If I didn’t know then I would have really created a one second monster dungeon. Why one second? Because it would have collapsed after that one second.
My concerns deepened with her one sentence, so I couldn’t help but ask her something which concerns not mine, but also her life.
“What about monsters? Are monsters also dependent on my mana? And can I only create a limited number of them too?”
“Intelligent aren’t you Rocky. Yes, again the number of monsters are also dependent on you mana capacity. But there is a cache here and about it, you will know when the time comes.”
I asked Minie, if she could see my status and the answer was a no. She said some people have skill to appraise others and a high level appraisal skill can help check out almost anything including other peoples status, but there are also limitations.
This appraisal skill sounded so great that I couldn’t help but ask Minie to help me acquire it, but I was refused without mercy.
As for the reason I don’t need it, was what she said.
“You are a dungeon core. You don’t need something like an appraisal skill, you have your own dungeon control panel where you can see everything about everyone who will enter your dungeon.” is what she said.
What is a Control panel? I asked her that, but she is still a little sad and said that she was going to sleep.
I don’t even know why she needs something like sleep? I don’t sleep, but she does. Well, I don’t need sleep, not until I go into my intense mana recovery mode and have dreams about scary and disgusting blobs.
It is all good and well, but, what am I even going to do while she sleeps?