by Drew Jager
He screamed.
She screamed with him, thinking it was in excitement.
He took another few moments to collect and calm himself. "Bel, do you know where we are?" He asked, trying to change the subject to anything else.
"Yeah! We are located in the south-western part of the Ilvan Forest, we are actually pretty close to the edge of a part of the Forest that borders the Ferst Plains. I don't think we need to worry about the Sapients that live in the Plains for a while though, the Elves and Gnomes will notice us way before the Humans or Beast-men do." Bel stated this last part with a bit of a more serious tone. He got the message.
"How about we get started then, okay Bel?" He liked his new home, but something about it just didn't feel like it was his yet, he wondered if he could do anything about that.
"Okay! First things first, go ahead and claim the room. Luckily for you, it doesn't cost any Mana to claim a Room you create. Not to mention whatever rooms you make it in the future will be automatically claimed for you." Well, that was convenient.
"Sure...how do I do that?" He asked sheepishly.
"Well, you need to use the Mana you've accumulated, and spread it out into the room we are in. Just imagine pushing yourself to every corner of the room... and uh, see if that works?" He felt less than confident at that last remark but didn't want to be the cause of their first argument. Maybe if she started tossing out that chime he would be ready to throw down, but not yet.
He focused as best as he could on his own Crawl. What a pretty gem! Look at all my different sides, look at how I shine! Focus Will!
He could tell there was something inside his gem. If he was a betting Crawl, which he might be, he would say that was his Mana. He tried to grab ahold of it, but it was a lot more slippery than he thought, and he couldn't seem to get a good grip around it.
It wasn't until Will relaxed and took an unnecessary breath that he found he could move the Mana outside of his Crawl, and into the space with very little effort on his part. His Mana seemed to instinctually want to conquer and devour anything he sent at it. It makes me so proud.
Not long after, he had a clear view of the room they were in, it was a little over 3ft wide and 4ft tall. A room of wet stone, with strands of moss creeping in through the cracks. He couldn't see any sunlight coming out through the cracks, so he made an educated guess that he wasn't all that close to the surface. It was strange for him, being able to suddenly see hundreds of times more than what you could just a moment ago, but he was taking it in stride.
Will found that if he focused on one particular area he could see every little facet and detail, but if he let his mind wander he could still see the general outline of the entire room, even without paying direct attention to it. Neat!
"Great job Will! Now that we have this room claimed, why don't you go ahead and make a new room? First thing you should do, is dig out a tunnel." He was blinking furiously at the idea of expansion, it appealed to him as few things really did.
He was ready to start carving out his empire when a thought brought him crashing back down to reality, "Hey Bel, how much Mana do I have? How do I get more?" She was smiling at the questions. What a pretty smile.
"At the moment, Will, you're a level 1 Crawl. Good for you! At level 1 you have access to 10 Mana, and you regenerate 10 Mana every Sunrise. Why am I telling you this though? Let me just show you your Dungeon Menu."
Chime
Name - Willem Chosen Monster - Beasts Mana - 10/10
Species - Dungeon Crawl (Lv.1) Chosen Location - Ilvan Forest Mana Regen - 10/d
Number of Floors - 1 Number of Monsters - 0 Resources - 0
Will flinched, a miracle he didn't scream. Say what you want about the Chime's antics, it had useful information when it felt like sharing. Something was bothering him, though.
"Hey, Bel, why is my name Green?" He asked, more curious than anything else.
"It's your Affinity, each Dungeon gains an affinity based on their location and Monster choice. You chose a Forest, and then the beasts that reside in that Forest. So you became a Nature Dungeon." He really wished he had this information at the beginning. It wouldn't have mattered though, Deer-apocalypse would happen one way or another.
"So, do I get any benefits for being a Nature Dungeon?" He asked greedily. She just smirked at him, "As a Nature Dungeon, you're going to receive benefits to all plant-based Dungeon aspects, as well as bonuses to the Monsters of Nature. It may sound strong, but remember, all Dungeons get these kinds of bonuses depending on where they chose to settle."
She sure can be smart when she wants to be. He thought to himself, he may as well push his luck and try to find out everything he needs to know BEFORE he needed the information.
"What about Two-legs?"
"What about them?" She asked curiously.
"Well, do they have Affinities like Dungeons when they choose to live somewhere?" She was giggling at him now. It would have upset him a lot more if he didn't think it was adorable.
"Not exactly, Will, the Sapients do have Affinities yes, but they get them randomly and from birth. It's actually the source of a lot of infighting between the many races. Some races, however, do seem to have a natural inclination towards certain Affinities. Elves, for instance, have a higher Affinity for Air, Shadow, and Earth. Keep in mind, the Two-legs Affinities are the most basic, they aren't as specialized as Dungeons are."
"I'm not sure I understand, so Two-legs can't be Nature affinity?" He asked.
"I guess it's possible, but that would require two or even three different affinities, and that kind of power doesn't belong in a Sapient anyways. The amount of Mana would make them pop like a balloon." At the word 'pop', she mimed an explosion with her hands and made a sound with her mouth.
She continued, "There are six main Affinity types. Earth. Air. Water. Fire. Shadow. Light."
"What does my Nature Affinity come from?" He asked excitedly. This was all so much fun, and he was curious to know where he stacked up related to other Dungeons.
"As a Nature Dungeon, you have mainly Earth Affinity, thanks to your choice of the Ilvan Forest. However, since you picked Beasts as your main Monster, you also gain a slight Water and Air Affinity as well."
"Why would Beasts give me Water and Air, though?" He thought that didn't really make much sense, considering animals weren't made out of that much water, or air.
"Well, it's the same reason the Dragons are Fire Affinity, it's all about their origins. Beasts are parts of Earth, Water, and Air, because it's how they were created. The Earth for their strength, and solidarity in the predators. Water to conform, and adapt to whatever situation comes their way, like in the prey animals. Then finally Air, for the free spirits that reside in all beasts." She was in full on lecture mode.
"Beasts, and all other Monsters for that matter, have a little bit of every Affinity in them, and there are much more detailed reasons each Affinity applies to a specific species, but that's a lesson for another time." She winked at him, then continued.
"However, for Beasts specifically, it is mostly Earth, Water, and Air. Couple that with the fact that the location you chose is quite in tune with the Earth, and you've got yourself a Nature Dungeon. There have been some odd combinations of Dungeons throughout the years, and if we survive long enough we may even get to meet some of them!" She was getting really excited at the idea of meeting other Cores, and their Guides. It made Will feel a little insecure, then he remembered they were stuck together for the next few centuries and quickly got over his insecurities.
"I'm still glad we picked a Nature Dungeon though, I don't know what I would have done if we got stuck with something like Skeletons." He mentally shuddered.
She was smiling from pointed ear to pointed ear. "I know! I can't wait for us to get started, speaking of, don't you have a tunnel to be mining out?" She didn't look like she was really suggesting, more like demanding.
"Yes ma'am.." She frowned at that. Best not call her old just yet, save that on
e for later. "How much will the tunnel cost me to dig out?"
Chime
Excavate
Mana cost varies
Manually carve out a section of the Dungeon to the specifications of the Crawl.
Tunnel
5 Mana per Tunnel
Dig out a 6ft tall, 4ft wide, 10ft long hole into the direction of the Dungeons choosing. It can be connected to Rooms or added onto existing Tunnels to enlarge them.
Room
10 Mana per Room
Dig out a 12ft tall, 12ft wide, 12ft long room. It can be connected to Tunnels or added onto existing Rooms to enlarge them.
Boss Room
25 Mana per Boss Room
Dig out a custom room for a specific Monster. It can have (1) per Floor. It cannot be relocated once placed.
Relocation
5 Mana per Tunnel
10 Mana per Room
Manually move a Tunnel/Room into a different section of the Dungeon than where it was originally built.
New Floor
100 Mana per New Floor
Moves the Crawl Room down and allows the creation of a New Floor.
"Why is everything so god damn expensive!" He was beyond annoyed. It would take him weeks just to get a decent Dungeon going!
Bel, ever the voice of reason, chimed in with, "Calm down, you drama Crawl, once you level up it won't be so bad!"
Grumbling to himself the entire time, he focused on the choice to dig a Tunnel and watched as his available Mana dipped to 5/10. Then, he looked to her, and asked, "Bel...which way is down?"
After a few minutes of laughter pointed directly at his Crawl, he finally got her to point towards a wall in-between wheezing gasps.
Now in an even worse mood, he shoved his thoughts into the idea of a Tunnel and watched as stone, moss, and all other little tidbits were devoured by a golden green Mana. His Mana. By the end of the little spectactle, he felt much better, and also surprisingly full. Why did he feel full?
"Which way is down he says? Oh my gosh, I can't wait to tell Mom that one, that's definitely going in the hall of fame." She was frantically whispering to herself, but since it was just her and Will alone in a quiet cave, he heard it anyways.
"Hall of fame?"
"Oh! Uh...nothing?" He was beginning to get annoyed again, but she knew him too well.
"Hey Will, are you feeling full?" She deflected.
"Yeah! I don't know why, but after I ate away the Tunnel, I feel better, maybe even a little stronger." She was nodding along furiously.
"Yep, that's because you just absorbed your first resources!" Oh, those things, Mr.Blue mentioned those earlier. I also saw them on that Dungeon Menu Bel showed me. "Well that's good, how do I use them?"
Chime
Chapter 3 - Mr.Blue's Heroes
Resources
Gained by absorbing various non-living materials, used as currency for Dungeon Building.
Current Resource Count - 32
Will slowly exhaled, even if the gesture was meaningless. It just seemed like the correct response to frustration. Add Resources onto the growing list of things he wished he knew about sooner. Thankfully they hadn't gotten very far into this Dungeon Building process before it became available.
"Okay Bel, what's the difference between Mana and Resources?"
Bel was spinning around in circles, happy to be able to show off her Herald knowledge, "Well Mana is used to directly upgrading your Dungeon. So adding Rooms and new Floors all take it, but the finer details all need Resources. It wouldn't make much sense if it cost Mana just to make a pretty rug or throw pillow. So that is what Dungeons use Resources for."
Bel took a deep breath and continued, "Resources can also be used to upgrade existing rooms if you want to go back and make the walls stronger, or add more lights." Will was happy to hear this since he was worried he would be stuck waiting weeks for his Mana to come back for him to keep building.
There was one thing Will did not hear her mention, and he had to know, "If Mana and Resources only upgrade the Dungeon. What do I use to buy Monsters?" He asked.
She shot him a glare, "Don't get ahead of yourself now Will, there is a reason I haven't told you about those for now." The idea that she was hiding things from him hurt his ego more than he would care to admit.
Bel, sensing she may have made a mistake, followed up with, "Oh Will don't be like that, I only kept it from you because I was worried if I showed you how to make Monsters you would want to rush into that and neglect the other areas of your Dungeon."
Will knew she was right, but it still hurt to not be trusted. "I promise I won't neglect any of my Dungeon duties if you promise not to hide anything from me again?" He offered.
Bel's smile was so radiant it made the entire Crawl Room shine, "Deal! The way you buy Monsters is with Monster Points, you get 100 MP for your first floor. 200 MP for your second, and so on and so on. The stronger a Monster is the more MP it is going to cost." Will was glad he didn't know this earlier, he wouldn't have been able to restrain himself.
With great difficulty he swallowed his curiosity and soldiered forward, he would save Monsters for later.
"Okay. Can you tell me what the best way for me to get more resources is?" He asked.
Bel smiled at his restraint, "The quickest way, aside from digging out Rooms and Tunnels and absorbing what you displace, would be consuming non-living things. So basically anything that isn't a living and breathing creature or Sapient that comes into your dungeon can be absorbed by you and turned into Resources. Not to mention that whatever you absorb, you can then recreate whenever you want. For a price of resources that is." That sounded ridiculously convenient. Now whenever Will wants, as long as he had previously absorbed something, he could make it again?
"So...what did I absorb when I made that Tunnel?" Will asked Bel. Her eyes took on a glassy stare as she looked at an unseen menu.
"There's a full rundown on what you absorbed but that's a whole bunch of numbers neither of us wants to deal with. Just know you got a whole bunch of Stone, Moss and a little bit of...Ohh! You got a little Silver Ore. Lucky you!"
"Yay! What's Silver?" Will asked with as much bravado as he could.
"Haha, it's one of the common forms of currencies among the Sapients, it's a great way for us to attract some Two-legs into our Dungeon when we are ready. They love the stuff, and since we can just keep making it then they will keep coming back to mine it. All you have to do is put a little in a part of the Dungeon and people will come in just to get a piece of it." Bel said with a small smile.
Apparently having a way to keep the Sapients sticking around my Dungeon is a good thing. Duly noted.
"Now hurry up Will, I can tell that the Sun is going to be rising soon and when it does your Mana is going to refill." How the hell does she know the Sun is rising? Aren't we both stuck in a cave?
"Well, I've only got 5/10 Mana left. So what can I even do with it? It costs 10 Mana just to buy a room!" Will complained aloud.
Bel flew over and smacked the top of his Crawl, "You stop that right now, no Crawl of mine is going to be a whiner."
Will grumbled to himself, "I'm not a whiner..."
She continued as if not hearing his sad attempts at an argument, "Did you forget that all you have in way of a Crawl Room is a little hole in the wall? Why don't you work on expanding this room out until you use up the last of your 5 mana? Then when the sun rises you can start on a new Room." Will was impressed, mainly because until now he wasn't sure his Herald knew how to count. Good for her.
"Why am I getting an urge to smack you again?" Will froze.
"Aaa-nyways, I'll go ahead and work on the Crawl Room as my brilliant Herald suggested." Bel blushed at the blatant pandering and Will internally sighed in relief.
Focusing his remaining Mana onto the Crawl Room, he felt his Mana spread out across the room as it devoured any stone in its way. It was an odd sensation, but not unwelcome, as it scratched that primal itch of needing to
expand that he had been feeling ever since becoming a Dungeon Crawl. He didn't have much to work with since he only had 5 Mana, so he settled on widening the room until it was 8ft by 8ft. He also added a large stone podium into the center of the room that his Crawl would rest on. He spent an unnecessary amount of time and Mana decorating the stone.
When he was done there was a 5ft tall stone pillar in the center of his Crawl Room with crudely drawn trees and even cruder looking Deer etched into the sides. Until Will got to actually see a Deer in the flesh, he was just going to take some artistic liberties and assume they had large fangs and spiked tails. Why wouldn't they?