4 Chapter 4 - Protection (1/2)
I followed her out and ran for the storage shed. I grabbed the sicile from inside then ran for the enormous plant. I had thought I could just harvest all the pods and feed any new negative emotions I came across staying in this prison so I had a constant supply of the pods. Seems that wasn't the best of ideas.
Vanessa was quickly picking all the pods she could reach one by one. I ran past her and swung the sicile at the trunk. A normal sicile wouldn't be able to handle a tree trunk, but I already knew it wasn't normal and it wouldn't hurt to give it a try. Besides after seeing the mini bed I had another idea.
The trunk cut like soft butter but didn't fall over. I reached up and touched the trunk then looked back at the storage bin. ”Store.” I said aloud hoping it would work. If the sicile, hoe, and watering can were magical why not the storage bin?
Nothing happened for a moment then to my delight the trunk, its branches and all the leaves and pods shrank down into a mini tree which then flew through the air and landed in the storage bin. Feeling elated I placed my hand on the stump and repeated the process. The stump and all its roots shrank down and flew over to the storage bin leaving a large hole in my dirt tile. As I said earlier every part of the plant was useful.
With the Neglism stored in my storage I gave Vanessa an impish grin as she stared at me in shock holding an arm full of the pods, then headed back into the shack. ”Set the pods in the sale bin.” I told her before going through the door. For some reason I felt rather proud of myself.
When Vanessa followed me in she had a serious look on her face. ”How did you know about that feature?” she asked me.
”Guessed.” I replied honestly. ”The other tools are special and large objects can be shrunk down to fit into the bins.” I said then nodded at the bed as I reached for the crystal.
[Level Up marker awarded.]
[Eight Neglism pods placed in sale bin.]
I decided to sell each of the eight pods for forty iron coins doubling what I had available. Then I looked at the first notice to appear. ”What is the level up marker?” I asked.
”It does what you are guessing. They could just give you a silver coin but they want to ensure you use it to level.” Vanessa replied moving to sit on the edge of the bed.
As attractive as she was I could ignore her most of the time, until she sat on my bed. As I thought about it I realized what it meant when she said she was stuck here too.
”Why are you here?” I asked her again.
Vanessa sighed. ”Do we need to have this conversation now?” she asked. ”Even if we removed the Neglism from your field it doesn't mean that the guys who show up won't cause us problems.”
”Then how do we protect ourselves? And why didn't I have any protection before this?” I asked.
”Huh?” Vanessa asked confused then glared angrily as she got off the bed and walked over to my side. Being that close I could smell her, it was a pleasant aroma, something like honey and apricots. She touched the crystal bringing up the main screen then scrolled down to looking at all of the locked options. She frowned seeing all the grayed out options. ”Use the level up marker. They did say they would reset the system with the level up.” she told me.
I had no reason to refuse. I couldn't stay as I was. I selected the screen that indicated the Level up marker and used it. The crystal flashed brightly for a moment then my screens disappeared. A second later the crystal's glow disappeared for a split second only to reappear even brighter.
[System reset.]
[Dungeon Core(Repurposed) Level 2
Dungeon MasterJason
Dungeon GuideVanessa
Dungeon Size9 tiles
Funds37 Bronze 80 Iron
Available options
Crop Store
General Store
Dungeon Expansions
Guardians
Minions]
”This is what your screen should have looked like when you arrived, except the level, and the funds. Now select the guardian option.” she told me.
”Can't you?” I asked. She seemed to know more and was clearly able to use the crystal, why was I even needed here?”
”No can do. I can access the menu and the logs, but any purchases or changes to the dungeon are out of my control.” she explained.
”You keep calling it a dungeon. What does that mean?” I asked. ”While it is a prison I don't think it looks much like a dungeon.”
”It's not a prison, the barrier is there for your own protection. We aren't the only ones here. There are plenty of other people, monsters, and beasts out there.” she replied.
”Monsters?” I asked skeptically.
”You just grew a plant that ate negative emotions and are going to be skeptical of monsters?”
”You have a point.” I replied grudgingly.
[Available Guardian slots: 2