20 Dungeon Delver (1/2)
“Do I have to?”
“Yes. You do.”
“Fuck. Alright, what does that involve me doing?”
Torix’s hands moved with a robotic efficiency as he said, “First, an explanation is in order. Sit down.”
A chair spawned beside Torix, so I sat down as he said, “Those with arcane blood are different from normal people. You see, a normal being has their mana tied to the intention and intelligence of their mind. In a sense, the person’s ego or soul or whatever you want to call it.”
He bent his head sideways for a better angle for viewing Althea. He continued, “Arcane blood user's tie their mana to their flesh. Instead of being determined by the state of their mind, their mana is determined by the state of their body. The bonds that once held their soul together are then holding their flesh together.”
He dabbed an instrument into the bowl of bright purple as he said, “This means that the will of the mind is unoccupied. Combine this fact with the natural stability in your blood, and we have an amazing conduit for stabilizing wild, chaotic energies.”
Torix stabbed Althea with tiny pricks of the needles, coloring her skin. He continued, ”That is likely why she was used as an experiment for the eldritch. She could be stabilized as long as her mana didn't run wild.”
I squinted my eyes, “Why don't we just kill her?”
“She may become useful. I’ve yet to allow her to awaken. She may be more easily manipulatable than you would believe. Her innate eldritch energy has other uses as well.”
I frowned, “I was wondering, do I listen to you without thinking because of your charisma?”
Torix turned towards me. An awkward silence permeated before he said, “Yes. That is precisely why.”
I sighed with relief. “Whoo. Damn I was worried I’d become gullible or something.”
He turned back to his work, “No, you haven’t become gullible. You’ve always been gullible.”
I rolled my eyes, “I’m going to harvest some nearby dungeon cores. Are you absolutely sure there isn’t any way of finding them that’s easier?”
“There is. Schema catalogues all rift holders in your world and categorizes them into an uploadable world map. It’s exceptionally convenient. I didn’t mention it for several reasons. Mainly, to let you bring out any unscrupulous elements, like this Althea. You would naturally go towards the most known place nearby.”
Torix shrugged as he said, “That’s the most obvious place for a bounty hunter to set up shop. I figured someone would come over and try to get something from the dimensional tear. I didn’t expect the bounty hunter to be quite so...interesting though.”
I shrugged, “Well, at least you were watching in case anything crazy happened. Thanks for that.”
“I wouldn’t let my apostle die for nothing.”
“But you’d let me die?”
“Would you go into certain death to save my life, your loving mentor?”
“Alright, fair point. I’ll be off then.”
I left outwards, running outside. I’d probably be gone for a few days. I strolled up to the sentinel. “Can I complete two of the quests sent by Schema?”
The sentinel said, “Ah, yes. I’ll connect you with one of his AI’s. They should be able to handle your trite little quest.”
I shrugged, “Yeah, I know what you mean. A quest personally from Schema himself. How trite and little.”
The suit of armor froze in place. After a moment, he said, “Just get your rewards and leave me.”
I nodded before saying, “Of course, of course.”
A robotic voice sounded in my ears, “Two quests completed. Rewards will be received via notification. Thank you for your continued assistance. Goodbye.”
Jesus. No wonder Stacy and David thought Schema was a boring robot. I scrolled through my menu, finding the notifications.
II Gorge on Horrors(Unknown Tier Quest) - You are a monster. Become the eater of monsters.
0/4,000,000 ambient mana eaten | Timeline(2 months)
II He Who Slays the Eater of Worlds(Legendary Unique tier quest) - Most never enter a dungeon in their lifetime. You have been commanded to destroy many. Good luck.
0/6 Dungeons cores obtained | Timeline(2 years left)
I let out a massive, colossal sigh. The fuck was this. I got the next tier of quests without any rewards? I spoke towards the AI, but it responded with silence
”All I got was a notification to complete the next tier of the quest. What the fuck is that?”
”That is your reward. The opportunity to further serve your savior.”
I rolled my eyes before walking out of the dungeon. Schema was a dick, period. Fuck that guy.
After grumbling for a few minutes, I opened the map of earth that Schema supplied everyone. No doubt it was mentioned in the tutorial.
I found there was about 30 or so dungeons within 50 miles of me. Finding rift holders wasn't an ordeal by any stretch of the word. With that in mind, I traveled towards the nearest one about three miles away.
There I found a stream with a waterfall about four feet in height. When I crawled under it, I found a dark cavern lit by green growing seaweed at the bottom of a stream. The water poured from a back wall, around fifteen feet in height. Massive crabs walked around the stream, snapping for fish and nibbling on the glowing seaweed.
Crystals lined the wall, glowing blue like mana. When I walked near them, the mana pulled into my armor, dampening their glow. That's when I walked up to one of the crabs,
Baby Deep Dweller(lvl 14) - This is essentially the larval state of the deep dweller. They feed on algae and various fish until creating a cocoon and transforming into their adult state. They can then feed on much larger prey before growing once more.
This is a new colony without any adult Deep Dwellers. Fully grown Deep Dwellers can snap their claws with such speed and power that they create sonic booms with resulting explosions. Other variants can snap out their claws with an intensity few creatures can match. They are a heavily armored and muscled creature in this state, with a variety of percentage based physical damage attacks.
These little guys, however, can't do any of that. They are just the inklings of a much grander species.
Sucks to be these guys then. From what I just read, they sound ferocious if given time. Not a resource I'd be giving them.
By the time I walked through the cave, there was more dead crab here than a red lobster. I could run by them and just smash them with my feet. Instead of just running through them, I stomped on them with the intent and purpose of crushing them completely. I stepped with such force that the cave cracked.
[New Skill! Stomp(lvl 1)]
Alright. I could get two things done at once here. While I stomped from crab to crab, I tossed rocks towards far off crystals. I did this for several hours, the tedium of it weighing on me. Of course, my willpower was high enough that something like this didn't phase me anymore.
A few skill levels later, I reached the boss, an adolescent Deep Dweller. Less like a normal crab and more like a thick limbed spider, streaks of blue trailed down the orange top of the creature. The eyes glanced towards me, an obvious awareness there. This wasn't a mindless creature like these other larvae.
It's level was a surprisingly high 50, but that wasn't near enough to stop me anymore. It took seconds before I'd torn it to pieces. With the dungeon core in hand, I got to see the awesomeness.
[Brilliant(Intelligence of 20 or more) - Your intelligence is amazing. 1/10th of intelligence added to luck. Mental skills are gained twice as quickly.
[Genius(Intelligence of 25 or more) - Your intelligence is incredible. Another 1/10th of intelligence added to luck. Doubles effect of mental skills. Level of mana(Health due to arcane blood) no longer affects mental acuity.]
[Omniscient(Intelligence of 30 or more) - You are all knowing. +5 mana per point in intelligence. +2 mana per level. Increased critical thinking and memory per level. Emotional tolerance doubled. Spells may be cast silently. Doubles mana costs.]
[Piercing(Perception of 20 or more) - Your perception is amazing. Levels can no longer be blanked out, unless the target is unknown. Extra data on enemies is categorized into your personal archive. Minimap data improved to include terrain, obstacles, and enemies.]
[Flexible(Dexterity of 10 or more) - Your dexterity is good. Doubles flexibility bonus.]
I was worried I may run into another mercenary or assassin at any point, so I selected the omniscient perk. The moment I finalized my decision, something primal changed. Of course the rush of clarity came like a tempest, but the largest change occurred on a physical level.
The bonds of arcane spread throughout me increased in density. When I clenched my fist, they bended with me. When I breathed in, I could feel them coursing through my veins. Like another layer of protection, they held me together, solid as titanium.
With the sudden burst of clarity and togetherness, I analyzed my character screen.
Daniel Hillside Totals Regen Buffs/Debuffs