Dungeon Crawling

After noticing the slime, said slime lunges at me, catching me off guard. I barely dodge the slime's lunge and try shouting the name of my only attack skill, "[fireball]!" I feel a foreign energy condense in front of me in the shape of a ball, before igniting and flying forward towards the slime.

*FWOOSH* *BOOM*

The fireball hits the slime and makes a small explosion, killing the slime. The grimoire then reappears and says I got 10 EXP from killing the slime. I then check my stats.

Name: Genesis

-Personal Info

Race: Phoenix

Age: Baby

Titles: Reborn, Blessed by Fire

-Leveling Info

Level: 1/10

EXP: 10/50

-Stats

HP: 150/150

MP: 140/150

STR: 5

VIT: 5

AGI: 7

INT: 7

-Skills

Active skills: Fireball

Passive skills: None

Race skills: From the ashes

'Hmm... So, if my math is right, I need to kill four more slimes to level up' I think, "alright, no problem".

Time skip - Four slimes later

"Finally, done!" I exclaim, "Why were those slimes so hard to find?" I then open my grimoire, which while I was looking for slimes learned how to have it float Infront of, or behind me, "Let's look at my stats"

{

-Personal Info

Name: Genesis

Race: Phoenix

Age: Baby

Titles: Reborn, Blessed by Fire

-Leveling Info

Level: 2/10

EXP: 0/100

-Stats

HP: 150/150

MP: 190/190

STR: 7

VIT: 5

AGI: 8

INT: 9

-Skills

Active skills: Fireball

Passive skills: None

Race skills: From the ashes

"Huh, looks like my Stats automatically increase after I level up" I then close the grimoire and put it behind me, "let's look for more slimes" as I says that the grimoire disappears again, "oh no" I feel the tug come from my right, I look right and see a goblin run right at me! "EEK" I quickly shoot off a [fireball].

*FWOOSH* *BOOM*

I missed! The goblin then slashes at me with its claws, its attack lands.

*SLASH*

"OUCH, YOU STUPID GREEN MAN!" I then go in for melee with my talons and beak, I turn towards the goblin, jump up, and pin the goblin down, before promptly pecking his eyes out, killing him.

The grimoire then appears to show me that I have gained experience, 30 total from one goblin, "so that means if I kill 3 more... I get to level up!".

I then start to search the forest for more goblins, when I realize something, 'Where is the dungeon, I have to conquer to become a DM?'.

The grimoire then moves in front of me and flips to another page, to reveal a message, "You are currently in the first of five floors of said dungeon".

"So, I just got kind of dumped here, eh?" I lamented. "Oh well, that just makes things easier for me in the long run (I think)".

After that short 'break', I began my journey again, hunting down any would be foes.

---A few hours later---

{

-Personal Info

Name: Genesis

Race: Phoenix

Age: Baby

Titles: Reborn, Blessed by Fire

-Leveling Info

Level: 4/10

EXP: 15/225

-Stats

HP: 160/160

MP: 210/210

STR: 9

VIT: 6

AGI: 11

INT: 11

-Skills

Active Skills: Fireball

Passive Skills: None

Race Skills: From the Ashes

}

After a few hours of 'grinding', I got my level up to four, 'Just six more levels.'

I also learned how to fly, it wasn't easy, but I did it.

I wander around the dungeon's first floor not finding any more monsters, "Are all the monsters in this floor dead?" I say out loud, "I guess I should go to the second floor."

I soon find the stairs to the second floor. Going down them I look behind me at the trail of blood and destruction I left behind me.

For an unknown reason this puts a smile on my face.

When I reach the second floor, I am greeted by the sound of frogs and flies.

I look around outside of the stairway entrance and see a marshland.

"Well, this'll be interesting to fight in."

I step off of the last step of the stairs and officially onto the second floor.

And immediately I sense something with to my right.

I turn towards the threat and prepare myself for a fight. When the threat appears, I am confused at why this is a threat to me.

"It's a... frog?"

It was abnormally big, but that's beside the point.

Me and the frog have a small stare down for a moment, until the frog suddenly jumped at me.

"Oh! Sh#t!"

I instinctively launch a fireball at it.

The fireball hits its target, causing it to be pushed back from the velocity and force of the blast.

I look at the body of the frog and sigh, 'Right, so- wait I didn't get a notification for killing it.'

As I was thinking this the frog got back up and started to form a blue ball.

'Sh#t, that's dangerous!'

The frog then launches the ball at me, and mid-flight it forms into a blade of water. I try to dodge, but my reaction was too slow ending with me barely escaping, but not without damage. I was hit in the wing, causing my left wing to fall to the ground, and disabling my ability to fly.

"AAAGH" I hit the ground in pain, looking at the place my wing should be, before I turn my attention to the frog.

I look the frog in the eyes, "Alright so I may have underestimated you, but that won't happen again." I say before I run towards the frog as fast as my little bird legs can carry me.

The frog, seemingly surprised at me suddenly charging it, is confused at what to do against me.

Use a water blade? I'll dodge it unlike last time. Run away? I don't have 11 AGI just for show you know.

So, the only thing the frog could do was panic as it thought of plans to escape.

While the frog was lost in thought thinking of how get out of this mess, I was already pinning the creature down, pecking its eyes and brains out.

"THAT'S WHAT YOU GET YOU LITTLE FROG B#ST#RD!" After calming myself down (through the maiming a recently deceased frog's body) I open my grimoire and see that my struggles were worth it.

{

+Personal Info

-Leveling Info

Level: 4/10

EXP: 65/225

+Stats

+Skills

}

'So frogs give me 50 EXP... I need to kill 4 more?!' I think, before groaning.

"Alright, let's go kill some more frogs, but first..." I look at where my left wing should be, "Let's try this out."

I sit down and think about how I use the [From the ashes] spell, when suddenly fire starts to form around me in a ring.

The fire ring then starts to increase in height and intensity, eventually consuming me in flame.

Little did I know that the ring of fire had become a pillar, with me at the center.

Inside the ring, I felt my wing reforming at a rapid pace. Still though this process took around three minutes to complete.

But when it did two things happened, first I got my wing back and any other injuries were fixed up and also my body was cleaned of any blood and dirt.

Two, the area around me was burnt to a crisp, with a few frog corpses.

I open my grimoire and see that I had gotten some EXP from the frogs being dumb.

{

+Personal Info

-Leveling Info

Level: 4/10

EXP: 215/225

+Stats

+Skills

}

'Just one more'

I start to fly around the marsh and look around for any frogs. I eventually find one, but it's in a fight with a giant mosquito.

Wait a minute... A GIANT MOSQUITO?!

The mosquito looks like its winning, until I get the smart idea to steal it's kill, finally leveling up to LVL 5.

Before I could check my new stats, the mosquito, who is now very angry, flies towards me.

I manage to launch a fireball before getting impaled though the chest.

Fortunately, I managed to hit and kill the guy. But unfortunately...

HP: 0/170

"Well crap, at least I leveled up."

As I am saying that I feel myself disintegrate, as I fall into unconsciousness.

---Third Person POV---

"Alright guys, we are heading into the new unexplored dungeon that was found recently." Says a man clad in full plate mail excluding the helmet.

"So, get your stuff in gear and let's go! There's potential money to be made!"

"""YEAH!"""

---Five days later---Genesis' POV---

After five days of what felt like a dreamless sleep, I woke up to a fire surrounding my ashes and forming into a dome that fits me perfectly (my size is around the same as a hawk).

After the dome of fire dissipates, I am left in its place, "Well that was unpleasant."

I look around, before I take off from the ground and into the air, 'Flying is so... liberating.'

I scan the area for any monsters, and see another mosquito, "Death from above! (Always wanted to say that)" I say to myself, before launching a fire ball at the unfortunate insect, who didn't notice it in time, resulting in the blood sucker getting burnt to a crisp.

I land and then remember something, "I never checked my status when I leveled up. Might as well check it now."

{

+Personal Info

LVL: 5/10

EXP: 180/338

HP: 170/170

MP: 200/210

STR: 9

VIT: 7

AGI: 13

INT: 11

Active Skills: Fireball, True Fire Manipulation

New: True Fire Manipulation:

You are able to control any spell that is associated with fire, even those of others creation. EX: Fireball, Lava Blast, any temporarily summoned creature with the fire affinity.

Passive Skills: Fire Immunity

New: Fire Immunity:

Gives you full immunity to fire based damage, from attacks or not. EX: Hits from fire-based magic, Swimming in lava, Excessive heat. Can be toggled.

Race Skills: From the Ashes

}

"Ok, so I don't lose levels when I die, that's good to know." I was just about to close the grimoire, but as I was doing so, I noticed a new page marker, "What's this?"

I go to the page that the book marker is on, and my face immediately darkens.

'Death counts?!' the page was keeping track of how many times I've died and how I died.

I close the book and sigh, "Guess I'll always be reminded of my past mistakes."

I decide to leave this floor in hopes that the next one treats me better. I look for the stairs to the next floor from the sky and eventually find them.

I head to the next floor and hear the sound of wind blowing by me.

When I land on the Third floor, I see ahead of me a few mountain tops connected together by bridges.

I cross one of these bridges and are attacked from nowhere by what looks to be a bird.

Remembering what happened the last time I thought something was harmless and get ready to defend myself.

The bird, which I swear it looked like it just smirked at me, swoops in towards me before stopping a few feet from me and flaps its wings, launching a few feathers at me.

Me being prepared to dodge did just that before launching a fireball at the enemy bird which hits causing it to fall to the ground on fire.

Getting an idea in my head I decide to test out my new ability, [True Fire Manipulation].

I go over to the bird, which is still on fire, and try to manipulate the fire on the bird's body.

After successfully controlling the flame, I move it towards the birds open mouth, and force it down it's throat, cooking it from the inside.

I fail to hold myself back from saying the words, "Fatality."

I open my book and see that guy gave me 80 EXP!

"I guess I'm gonna be cooking a lot of chickens (birds)."

I begin my slaughter of the birds around these mountain peaks. After a while of killing birds, I began to notice that the birds are the only monster type on this floor.

When I was finished, I had killed around eight birds (including the one I cooked from the inside), which to be honest were really hard to find.

But the struggle of finding all those birds paid off.

{

+Personal Info

Level: 7/10

EXP: 55/761

HP: 180/180

MP: 100/230

STR: 11

VIT: 8

AGI: 16

INT: 13

+Skills

}

I reached level 7! And I'm not seeing any more monsters around this floor so onto the next one!

---Meanwhile---

"Alright boys! We made it to the dungeon." A man in full plate armor yells towards his comrades, with an elven woman bound in chains behind him, wearing nothing but rags.

"We bought this fine young woman for one purpose, to scout the dungeon for us, see if there's any danger before we go on in." he says gesturing to the chained-up woman.

"Now, who's ready to get rich?!"

"""AYE!"""

---Back with Genesis---

"Oh, lava, that's fine." I say before diving in a river of lava like its water.

"This actually feels kinda nice." I say while floating with the lava, "It's like floating on a lazy river, except it's lava and I don't have a tube."

After a bit of relaxation via lava bath, I get out of the lava and start to look around for monsters.

After a few hours of searching, I find a tall humanoid being with red skin, black horns, and an obsidian sword, oh and I forgot to mention their orange glowing eyes.

"From slimes, frogs, and birds to this sh#t?"

I continue to look at the creature, until I get an idea, 'Lava, natures acid.'

In other words, I am going to use my [True Fire Manipulation] to control a blob of lava to float above the monster's head.

The monster, seeing a shadow on the ground, decides to look up, and is met with a face full of lava.

While it is screaming and flailing about, I was chilling in a nearby lava pool, because why not?

After a minute of flailing around in panic, the monster finally crumbled to the ground, dead (And very melted).

I look in my grimoire and see that that monster gave me 95 EXP. I also check my EXP bar while I'm at it.

{

+Personal Info

LVL: 7/10

EXP: 150/761

+Stats

+Skills

}

'This may take a while considering how hard it is to find monsters down here.'

I get out of the lava pool and look for more monsters.

---Meanwhile---On the first floor---

"What the hell is this?!" exclaims a man in leather armor.

At the front of a group of 7 people, with one of them being a slave, there is a man clad in full plate mail.

"What caused this..." the man looks at the carnage before him, then looks over towards the slave he brought with them, "Oi, you, identify what caused this."

The elven woman, who has a murderous look in her eye, looks at the man before clicking her tongue and walking away to find clues as to what caused this massacre.

Shortly after leaving the elf returns with a medium sized red and orange feather, "It looks to be a bird of some kind." she says in an unhappy tone, "I also found more goblin bodies and slime, almost forming some kind of trail."

The man in plate armor thinks for a moment, before gaining an evil grin on his face, "That just means whatever is down here is strong and is probably worth something, as a corpse or pet."

The men that are with him also get evil grins on their faces just thinking about the money they're gonna make. The elf just clicks her tongue at the greediness of the men she's been enslaved by.

"Now, let's go!"

"""YES SIR!"""

---Back with Genesis on the fourth floor---

After killing everything on this floor, and I mean EVERYTHING, I finally got to LVL 9, and found the staircase that leads down to the last floor.

Bad thing though, is that the last floor only has one monster on it, the boss of the dungeon.

I head down the stairs, hoping I'm ready for this fight.

When I enter the floor, I am in a small room with brick walls and a door, that has a lever next to it, that leads to what I'm going to assume the boss room.

I walk to the lever and pull it, causing the door to lower into the floor.

I look inside to see a roman style coliseum, bathed in sunlight, with a light-colored humanoid creature standing in the center turned away from me.

"So, you've finally arrived." the being says, before turning around and scoffing at me, "You don't look like much to me."

Suddenly the day turns into night, and the creature turns dark, "So let's just get this over with."

When I hear those words, I start preparing a fireball.

The dark being forms two daggers made of pure darkness, before sinking into the ground.

Me being the anime nerd I am, assume that he's going to appear behind me, so I turn and launch a preemptive fireball in that direction.

Only to feel a dagger slash across my back.

HP: 140/190

'Ok that was smart, but I won't fall for it again.'

As I prepare to launch another fireball, the sky brightens as it turns to day and the humanoid monster turns light again.

The monster's daggers soon become replaced by a sword and shield made of pure light.

The monster then runs towards me, shield raised, and slashes at me with it's sword.

Fortunately, when I dodged it's attack, they left themselves wide open.

I took this chance and instead of launching the fireball I had formed; I flew in for a swipe with my talons.

I hit the monster on it's right arm, causing it to drop its sword.

It creates a new sword, and then plunges it into the ground, afterwards holding it's shield in front of the sword.

A magic circle then begins to form around it, as the cut I left on it's arm starts to close up.

'It can heal itself?!'

I think for a moment before remembering something, 'Burnt injuries don't heal as quickly as normal ones do.'

I make my plan just in time for the day to turn night again.

The monster discards it's sword and shield, in favor of it's daggers.

This time I'm prepared and have a plan of attack.

The monster tries it's shadow walk thingy, but I stop it from getting to close by launching a fireball at my feet, creating a source of light.

The monster is forced out of it's shadow walk by the light produced by the fire and becomes disoriented.

I use this chance to hit them with a fireball. which ends up doing a lot of damage as their left arm gets blown off.

The monster realizing it can't fight me in the light, decides to retreat a little bit.

I have a pretty good idea of what it's trying to do, so I foil it's plan by making a trail of light using my fire balls as the light source.

Before I could get to the monster though it turned day again, making that trail of fireballs a waste of MP.

The monster then summons it's sword again but fails to summon their shield.

Realizing this the monster decides to try healing itself, only to find that the arm that got blown off was cauterized and is unable to be healed.

I check my MP.

MP: 195/250

'Ok, I have plenty, I think' I use the fire that I used to light up the arena, which is still burning, to make a spear shaped projectile.

I launch the spear of flame at the boss, which attempts to block it with it's sword.

Unfortunately for it, I can manipulate the spear however I want to.

I controlled the spear to go up over the boss monster and around into it's back, running it through.

"Well done... little... one." the boss says in a raspy voice, before it evaporates into particles of light.

After a moment of silence, I check my MP again.

MP: 36/250

'Damn that spell took a lot out of me.'

I also check my health.

HP: 151/190

'Other than that one hit I took from behind; I didn't take a lot of damage.'

I look over to where the boss had died and see a blue glowing crystal.

'I have an idea of what this might be.' I fly over to it and inspect it.

{

Dungeon Master's Core:

A crystal core made up of pure mana. Using this core will register the user the dungeon master of the Unnamed Dungeon. To use one must tap the core against their chest.

}

'So, I just... do this?' I lower my chest toward the core and lightly push my chest against it (The reason I'm not just picking it up is because I don't have hands.).

When my chest makes contact with the core, I start to feel a weird sensation in my chest, like something is being pulled into it.

I stay in that position for about two minutes, before the feeling stops.

I get back into an upright position and open my grimoire and see a new book marker as appeared.

"YES! This is what I was waiting forever to get!" I say out loud in excitement while looking at the marked page.

{

Dungeon Controls:

+Add/Renovate floor

+Add/Change Monster Spawns

+Add/Change Floor Bosses

+Add/Remove Traps

+Renovate your room

+Change your title

+Add/Remove treasures

}

I start to think about all the possibilities, before my eyes land on the amount of currency I have to spend on the dungeon.

"I only have 100 DP..."

I look on the page for information on how to get DP.

---Meanwhile---Third Floor---

"Damn birds!"

"Why do these feathers hurt so much?!"

"Just kill 'em already!"

A man clad in full plate armor, along with his crew of six, including him, plus a slave (so seven in total), are exploring the dungeon that Genesis just took control of, "Clear the way! We just have to get to the next floor, and they'll leave us alone!" the plate clad man says.

The rest of the crew (minus the elven slave) get to work on clearing a path to the staircase which isn't too far away.

When they reach the stairs, the birds back off from the group.

"See? What I'd tell ya?" the leader says to the group, "Now, let's get going to the fourth floor."

"""RIGHT!"""

---Back with Genesis---

The guide to being a DM was very helpful. To sum it up I get DP a few ways:

1. Raiders dying in my dungeon gives me a lot of DP.

2. I let them meander around the dungeon which gives me passive DP, but it only lasts so long before I stop getting DP from them. This resets however when the Raider leaves the dungeon, causing their DP gain to slowly go back up. It like drinking out of a well, when it's empty, just leave it alone until it fills back up. A terrible comparison, but hey it works.

3. Killing raiders gives me DP by killing them myself (while in the boss room) gives even more DP than that.

I also have abilities that are only available to me in the dungeon, such as:

1. I can teleport around the dungeon however I want, unless I am in combat of course.

2. If I kill someone in my boss room, I gain more power that is only available to me in the dungeon.

3. The most obvious part of being a DM is customizing the dungeon however I want! This costs DP though.

After my excitement fades away, I am hit by a wave of exhaustion, probably from clearing this whole dungeon by myself without sleeping.

I check my status one more time before going to sleep.

{

-Personal Info

Race: Phoenix

Age: Baby

Titles: Reborn, Blessed by Fire, Ruler of the Unnamed Dungeon

New: Ruler of the Unnamed Dungeon

Allows you access to the dungeon controls. Can be used to whitelist raiders turning them into guests when they visit the dungeon. Allows the ability to teleport to the dungeon whenever you wish alongside teleportation inside the dungeon while not in combat. When teleporting to the dungeon, a marker is left on the spot you teleported from, allowing you to teleport back to your previous location.

-Leveling Info

LVL: 9/10

EXP: 552/1,713

+Stats

-Skills

Active Skills: Fireball, True Fire Manipulation, Fire Spear

New: Fire Spear:

Creates a spear or javelin made of flame to do heavy damage to a target from a short distance.

Passive Skills: Fire Immunity

Race Skills: From the Ashes

}

"Huh, a new skill and title *Yawn* I should sleep, all this dungeon crap has made me tired beyond belief."

---Meanwhile---Fifth Floor Stairs---

"It's weird, we didn't come across any monsters on this floor."

The man clad in plate armor replies, "That just means the creature that killed them all is on the final floor."

The female elf slave they brought with them is off to the side holding something.

A red and orange feather.

'Whatever this thing is, I don't think these idiots can beat it.'

The elf looks at the man in plate armor as he hypes up his crew.

'We're all going to die.'

---Back with Genesis---

As I was sleeping, I felt my danger sense go off.

I quickly wake up and look towards the stairs, to see a few people walking down them.

'Sh#t, humans?!'

A man in plate armor is talking to a woman dressed in ra- WAIT A MINUTE IS THAT AN ELF?!

The elf woman that the plate armor dude was talking to scowls at him before walking towards me.

I look at the elf that is walking towards me and see a metal collar around her neck, 'So that's how it is.'

I look back over towards the man and his group looking at me with greed in their eyes.

I look at the elf and decide to do something that may get both of us out alive. She is most likely enslaved via a contract that will kill the slave if the master dies.

It's a gamble, but I pluck one of my own feathers out and offer it to the elf. I'm hoping that this'll revive her if she dies.

The elf seemingly acknowledging my offering takes the feather, and once she does, I take flight, rushing towards the plate armored man and his crew.

The plate armored man simply smiles evilly, as he signals his men to attack.

'Pathetic, can't even do his own work.' I start by slashing a man in leather armor across the face before using a fireball to prevent healing, though I'm pretty sure the fireball killed him (It was a direct face shot).

I then turn to the next guy who tries to hit me with a spiked mace. I swiftly dodge the swing and try out something I came up with on the spot.

"[Fire Feathers]!"

I ignite my wings before flapping them which launchs a barrage of feathers covered in fire. The man with the spiked mace is riddled with multiple feathers, each cauterizing the holes they made in his body.

I turn towards the next man who happens to be a mage. He prepares a fire-based spell to attack me with.

'I almost feel bad for the guy.' I ignore him for now and swoop down onto an archer who was shooting at me (And missing horribly) the entire time.

I hit them hard enough that they fall to the ground, and me being the brutal person I am decided to peck them to death.

The mage finishes his spell and sends a fireball my way, which I promptly return to them using [True Fire Manipulation].

The man, who was clearly unprepared to be hit with his own spell, had no time to protect himself, resulting in his death.

The last two people are the guy in the plate armor and a man in beige robes.

The man in robes, in a desperate attempt to kill me, runs right at me with his staff held high.

A simple [Fire Spear] ends that real fast.

It's just the plate armor guy left. He has a panicked look on his face.

"Damnit, fine I'll do it myself." The man pulls the great sword that was on his back out of its sheath and gets into a defensive stance.

'It's time to end this.' I decide to try out a move I've been wanting to test since I fought the former boss of this dungeon.

I turn towards the elf, who was just sitting there still holding the feather I gave her.

I turn back towards the man in plate armor, before flying high into the air and using the skill.

"[Dive of the Phoenix]!"

My whole-body bursts into flame as I nosedive into the man, exploding into flames on impact.

The man I just dived into is no longer there, just a small, scorched crater with ashes raining down.

Soon though the ashes converge into one place, reforming into what they were before the explosion.

"I LIIIIVE." I say in an over dramatic way before look back over towards the elf who is on the ground, unmoving.

'Sh#t!' I run over towards their body, but halfway to it I collapse suddenly feeling very tired, "What the hell?" my grimoire opens to an empty page that just says ageing up.

'Well at least this was all worth it in the end...' I think as I fall into the grasp of unconsciousness.

---The elves POV--- 1 Minute after the fight---

I awake with a jolt, gasping for air, "What happened?!"

I look around the arena I was brought to and find the bodies of the men who brought me here against my will, a majority of them burnt in some way.

But that doesn't matter. What does matter is how I am still alive.

I think for a moment, before remembering something, "The feather!"

I find it sitting on the ground next to me, but there is something wrong with it.

It lost all of its color.

'Did the feather revive me?' I look around and find a glowing red and orange egg that goes up to my waist.

I get up and walk over to it, but before I could get close a ring of fire formed around it, threatening to burn me if I got any closer.

'I guess I should just wait here, I have nothing better to do.'