Chapter 10 - To Be Perfectly Prepared…
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
[System]
…
[June 7th, 03:13:33, 2248]
Before I continued, there was something I wanted to make. Apparently, the dungeon fed its creatures with energy that it passively generated.
This seems to only be the case with respawning creatures or creatures like the Hive that don't truly 'feed.'
It could also be due to the fact that the Hive has certain abilities that allow it to feed this way, but besides that, I haven't felt the need to eat.
In both of my previous lives, I was not someone who ate normal amounts of food. Oftentimes, I felt myself confusing hunger for fullness until the border of starvation kicked in.
It could be that I have a need for food, but as of now, I don't feel hungry. I would need to test if I could survive by eating souls.
Standing in the 'royal' chamber that was my holding place, I decided I needed to make two things.
I don't have a way to make multiple things, as the dungeon doesn't make armor, weapons, or tools for free.
Instead, I would have to make monsters designed to be my tools. They would probably be what most consider 'living tools' or tools that have their own consciousness.
The dungeon also seems to increase the price of abilities, skills, and talents of creatures depending on their size and overall strength.
With the legendary variant of rabbit, the reason they cost so little was due to their size, stats, and their own talent not working unless under a specific circumstance.
It's like one of those abilities that require you to do some stupidly specific tasks in order to activate.
'Upon having a full stomach, I gain the ability to regenerate even my soul!' I almost scoffed aloud at the thought. Some abilities were truly 'remarkable,' but not for the right reasons.
'Create creature.'
[Respawning]
[Non-respawning]
'Non-respawning.'
[Great Rabbit]: 2
[Great White Rabbit]: 5
[The Hive]: 422
[New?]
'New.'
[Appearance]
[Titles]
[Status]
[Abilities]
[Skills]
[Talents]
The appearance of this first creature would be similar to that of the chemical element mercury. A faceless blob that has no form.
No titles. Titles take points depending on how many effects you add and the amount of power you put into them. They can go from moderately expensive to extremely expensive.
For the stats: 135 in vitality, 135 in endurance, and 1 in dexterity.
The point conversation rate for stats should be about 1 point per 12.5 status points.
'Next are abilities...' My thoughts cleared before I began straining my mind. While abilities are easy to make, making something you want specifically will take much more fine-tuning.
This is especially true when you want something specific and the dungeon continues to try and auto-correct your inputs due to the creature you're making not having a viable living source.
"Hah..." I audibly sighed, as it seemed the dungeon wouldn't allow what I was trying. "I may just have to put my plans into its talents."
With that, I tried again.
'The organism attaches itself to another organism and cannot reattach to another being. In doing this, the organism will feed off the energy wafting off the being it is attached to. This allows the organism to grow with its attached being.' Mentally picturing what I want, followed by a detailed description, I successfully demonstrated the first ability.
[Symbiotic Living]
[Rarity: Unique++]
[Description]: The organism attaches itself to another organism and cannot reattach to another being. In doing this, the organism will feed off the energy wafting off the being it is attached to. This allows the organism to grow with its attached being.]
'Taking form as a gray liquid, this living armor can transform into anything its user desires.' With that short mental description, the next ability was made.
[Shapeshifting Material]
[Rarity: Unique]
[Description]: Taking form as a gray liquid, this living armor can transform into anything its user desires.]
With one last talent, this creature would be finished.
'Any and all damage given to the user will instead be given to the armor. When the armor loses all health points, it will have its insides become a liquid that enters its host's body. Once inside the body, the armor on the outside will shatter.' I smiled at that last mental description. This would help me with my armor problem while simultaneously artificially boosting my health.
[First Line Of Defense]
[Rarity: Legendary]
[Description]: Any and all damage given to the user will instead be given to the armor. When the armor loses all health points, it will have its insides become a liquid that enters its host's body. Once inside the body, the armor on the outside will shatter.]
'I'll name this creation…'
[Symbiotic Living Armor]
[Cost: 262 Points]
The second I was finished making everything, a silver-colored blob spawned directly in front of me. The blob didn't hold together and immediately became a thin puddle as if it were a puddle of water on flat asphalt.
It was around three feet in diameter. My face reflected in the silver goo, and I slowly knelt.
"I name you Illusion, the invisible protector designed to uphold the image of invincibility. Be it in shadow or in light, your strength rises and unites. Defender of your king, show all generosity." I softly spoke as I raised my hand above the unmoving puddle. Slowly, I dipped my hand, and when my middle finger made contact with it, the silver goo reacted.
Quickly, all the liquid rushed toward my body, and I felt a prickly sensation run through my body, starting from my fingers.
With Illusion now merged with my body, my bare chest was covered by silver liquid. The liquid quickly began transforming into golden armor.
Starting from my neck, two spikes protruded outward from the sides of my neck and over my shoulders.
Two other spikes formed behind those, but they were a little farther back, almost starting directly under my ears and pointing upward and outward.
Down the shoulders, the arms had three spikes of differing sizes. Many blackish-blue lines ran through the hands of the armor and connected into one big line up the arms.
These lines then form on either side of the breastplate and push downward through the armor.
My second eye, which was just around my solar plexus, was covered by a red glass-like substance.
Just below that, around my stomach, the blackish-blue lines congregated and merged.
Further below, my pants, which held purple blades, were changed as the rim of the blades became gold and the inside became almost completely black.
My feet were covered by a soft black material and golden armor formed over that material.
Three golden spikes grew over the golden armor on the upper part of the boots. At the back of the boots, one smaller, curved spike formed.
The boots were pointed, and I felt as if I were one of those elves in Christmas movies.
A red cape flew down my back from nothing. It was just high enough off the ground that I wouldn't accidentally trip over myself or get it dirty.
Looking at my health, I felt as if my preparations were almost complete.
[Health: 1,534 (184)]
'I'm almost perfectly ready and prepared.' I thought as I flexed my armored hand.
The armor wasn't clunky and felt as if it were almost a secondary skin. It seemed as if it clung to my skin.
"Next is you," I said to myself with a smirk.
I only needed to make one more thing...
'Create creature.'
[Respawning]
[Non-respawning]
'Non-respawning.'
[Great Rabbit]: 2
[Great White Rabbit]: 5
[Symbiotic Living Armor]: 262
[The Hive]: 422
[New?]
'New.'
[Appearance]
[Titles]
[Status]
[Abilities]
[Skills]
[Talents]
Once again, starting with appearance.
The creature was a suit of armor. The armor was obsidian black and had a shine to it. Being 10 feet tall and very slim for its height, the creature would be very skilled at dodging attacks.
Sticking out from the back of the top of the helmet was a long feather-like ornament that looked as if it were hair. It was pitch-black in color and went down to the middle of the back.
The front of the helmet had a 'Y-like' opening in it, allowing sight. On the upper part of the helmet were two horn-like protrusions that pointed backward and upwards.
Two smaller horns were below the ones pointing backward. The smaller horns pointed forward but looked as if they clung to the sides of the helmet due to how close they were.
On each shoulder, there were two sharp spikes. A single spike was present on the elbow of the armor.
A long, tattered, pitch-black cape was attached to the armor. The rest of the armor looked more sleek, as if afraid of the barbarian look it would have if given a more rugged appearance.
'Onto a title…'
I strained myself for ideas on what to make of the title and its abilities. If I made it too broken, then it would cost an absurd amount of points, but I don't want it to be weak.
'Let's just go with the flow; nothing needs to be too over the top.' I thought as I began going down the list of things I wanted the title to do.
[Title]: [Black-Blooded Knight Commander]
- Increase status by 25% while fighting honorably.
- Increases status by 25% while defending their king.
- Massively increases the chance of [Black-Blooded Knight]'s listening to you.
- Increases the status of those being led by you by 5%]
Believe it or not, that title cost a fuck ton. I had internally cringed at the jump in price. However, the title, as I see it now, is almost perfect.
Making it a 25% boost instead of a static boost in statistics would always be better.
"Hah..." I sighed as I went on to put in status points.
'200 in vitality, 140 in strength, 255 in dexterity, 155 in endurance, and 90 in intelligence.' I thought to myself with a self-satisfied nod.
I already knew the abilities I wanted to give this creation by heart. Without even needing to truly think it over, I had autogenerated with two abilities.
[Revengeance]
[Rarity: Unique]
[Description]: Upon being hit by someone deemed lesser or dealt enough damage by any force, the user goes into a berserker rage. Increases all stats by 30% for 30 seconds. (Cooldown: 1.5 hours)]
[Inspire]
[Rarity: Epic++]
[Description]: Upon activation, any being in the surrounding area will feel awe and determination. All allies under the user gain a 10% increase in status for 4 minutes. (Cooldown: 5 hours)]
The skills needed to be able to back up the stats. In the end, I need a being that can hold their own in hand-to-hand and with a weapon.
[Master Swordsman]
[Rarity: Epic+]
[Description]: A master with the sword. While using a sword, damage dealt is increased by 5%.]
[Master Spearman]
[Rarity: Epic+]
[Description]: A master with the spear. While using a spear, damage dealt is increased by 5%.]
[Expert Hand-To-Hand Combat]
[Rarity: Rare++]
[Description]: Your skills in unarmed combat are at the expert level. Deal 3% more damage in unarmed combat.]
And lastly, for the talent, I did something similar to my last creation.
'Armor given life to protect. This being does not need food or water; it only needs magic energy. As this being ages, their armor and body grow in defense and strength. The armor will mend itself over time as long as the being is alive. The inside of the armor has a body... truly living armor...'
[Legend Of The Living Armor]
[Rarity: Legendary++]
[Description]: Armor given life to protect. This being does not need food or water, only magic energy. As this being ages, their armor/body grows in defense and strength. The armor will mend itself over time as long as the being is alive. (The inside of the armor has a body… truly living armor…)]
Another soft smile formed on my face before it cracked. "Should I?" I asked myself with some uncertainty.
"I'll lock it, but give it a description."
'The defender of their king █████ █████ █████. ███ ████████ ██ ████████ shows ███ ████ ████ and ██████ █████ ███████████.'
[Locked]
[Rarity: Chaotic]
[Description]: The defender of their king █████ █████ █████. ███ ████████ ██ ████████ shows ███ ████ ████ and ██████ █████ ███████████.]
[Cost: 977 points]
I felt my inner horde goblin crying as I pressed the purchase button. This would be well worth the cost in the long run.
As I pressed purchase, a suit of obsidian black armor spawned in front of me. It was in the kneeling position.
My right hand rose and held onto the new creation's left shoulder.
"I name you Dimoultion, the commander of the black-blooded knights, defender of your king." I smiled as a white light that looked like pupils formed in the armor while I spoke.
'I have no need to name or save this creation, for you shall be the only one.' I felt myself internally smile harder than I had ever before at that thought.
Quickly, Dimoultion's arm rose over its chest. An even deeper bow of respect was shown.
[Name: Dimoultion]
[Titles: Black-Blooded Knight Commander]
[Status Multipliers: +25% PHY Res, +5% Magic Res, +20% VIT, +15% DEX, +5% INT]
[Status]:
[Health: 2,400]
[Mana: 945]
[Vitality]: 240 (200)
[Strength]: 140
[Dexterity]: 293.25 (255)
[Endurance]: 155
[Intelligence]: 94.5 (90)
[Arcane]: 0
[Armor:
Helmet: Black-Blooded Helmet (+5% VIT, +5% PHY Resist)
Chest: Black-Blooded Chest-piece (+10% VIT, +5% PHY Resist), Black-Blooded Cape (+5% INT, +5% Magic Resist)
Gloves: Black-Blooded Gauntlets (+5% VIT, +5% PHY Resist)
Pants: Black-Blooded Leggings (+5% DEX, +5% PHY Resist)
Boots: Black-Blooded Boots (+10% DEX, +5% PHY Resist)]
[Abilities: Revengeance (B+), Inspire (B)]
[Skills: Swordsmanship (Master), Hand-To-Hand Combat (Expert), Spearmanship (Master)]
[Talents: [Legend Of The Living Armor, Locked]
Abilities:
[Revengeance]
[Rarity: Unique]
[Description]: Upon being hit by someone deemed lesser or dealt enough damage by any force, the user goes into a berserker rage. Increases all stats by 30% for 30 seconds. (Cooldown: 1.5 hours)]
[Inspire]
[Rarity: Epic++]
[Description]: Upon activation, any being in the surrounding area will feel awe and determination. All allies under the user gain a 10% increase in status for 4 minutes. (Cooldown: 5 hours)]
Skills:
[Master Swordsman]
[Rarity: Epic+]
[Description]: A master with the sword. While using a sword, damage dealt is increased by 5%.]
[Master Spearman]
[Rarity: Epic+]
[Description]: A master with the spear. While using a spear, damage dealt is increased by 5%.]
[Expert Hand-To-Hand Combat]
[Rarity: Rare++]
[Description]: Your skills in unarmed combat are at the expert level. Deal 3% more damage in unarmed combat.]
Talents:
[Legend Of The Living Armor]
[Rarity: Legendary++]
[Description]: Armor given life to protect. This being does not need food or water, only magic energy. As this being ages, their armor/body grows in defense and strength. The armor will mend itself over time as long as the being is alive. (The inside of the armor has a body… truly living armor…)]
[Locked]
[Rarity: Chaotic]
[Description]: The defender of their king █████ █████ █████. ███ ████████ ██ ████████ shows ███ ████ ████ and ██████ █████ ███████████.]
I would need to make a living sword for Dimoultion but as of now, my points were...
[Points: 253.22]
Very low…
"Now, Dimoultion, rise."
…
(Third POV:)
[June 7th, 03:30:27, 2248]
On floor 1, the death-lock battle currently happening was starting to shift. More and more players of all classes were very quickly trickling into the dungeon.
The delicate balance between player and monster on the battlefield was quickly breaking. However, the reasoning for this was not because of any of the players.
The large rabbit, constantly replicating from its clones and ingesting flesh, suddenly paused.
It looked up at the dark, cloudy sky. Before doing a near-complete 180-degree turn and running off.
The players hadn't noticed due to the heavy snowfall, and the horde of white fluff attacking them had almost fully disappeared 30 seconds later.
The greedy and level-hungry players could not afford to let the rabbit go. The snowstorm had limited their vision, but upon the first group of players tracking down the rabbit, they realized something.
Even though they were in the range of the creature's sight and were most definitely its enemy, the 11-foot-tall white ball of fluff wasn't facing them.
Instead, the rabbit was foot deep in a frozen lake that it had fallen into. The players watched as their source of experience thrashed around in the water and cleared up the ice.
"There it is! The rabbit is—what?" One of the players grew excited about finding the rabbit but quickly realized he wasn't the first person to find it.
"What is it doing?"
"I don't know. It's been thrashing around in the water for a good minute so far. It won't even attack us."
"Why don't we just kill it?"
As soon as that question was asked, the group of players quickly took a step back and looked at the person who said it.
The player who had spoken up was quickly looked at as if he were the dumbest mother fucker on the planet.
"Is my man's chromosome deficient?"
"""""HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"""""
The players went from staggered and confused to laughter.
*CRASH*
The laughter quickly stopped as they all refocused their attention on the thrashing rabbit that had finally broken through the thickest of the ice.
Now in the freezing cold water, the rabbit pushed its head down. Closing its red eyes, it ran forward as fast as possible.
The water began rapidly moving away due to the now-unseen threat below.
"Uh, what now?"
The other players looked at the one who asked the question, yet they didn't have an answer.
*BANG*
A bang, more so a thump from the earth, was felt. The water from the lake had jumped into the air.
But it didn't seem to stop there.
*BANG*
*BANG*
*BANG*
*BANG*
On the fourth bang, something changed. The water began rapidly retreating. The lake quickly began shrinking as the water flowed somewhere unknown.
Quickly, the players followed the newly opened path and realized that the hole they made wasn't a hole.
"Is this a path to another world or something?" A player asked because he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
They had finally stepped their now-wet shoes into the second floor of the dungeon.