1 Dungeon Delver
Jared walked into the building of his new job in high spirit, ecstatic. He'd offered to be one of the first to experiment with the delving chairs and he'd been lucky enough to get chosen. As he walked through the building, he thought about this job and what it entailed: Sit in a special chair all day and gather data. That was it, as far as he knew.
He didn't know how exactly he would gather data from a chair, or what he needed to gather, but he had hope they'd tell him so he could do well in this new job. The company he had been hired by- DSI- had a branch in his city like most others in the year 2190- and it looked like every other company building he'd ever seen.
Jared smiled, looking around the front office as he stepped inside and noting to secretary. She smiled curiously as he stepped up to her. "Hello, I'm here about the application. I was told to report for testing today, and to tell you that I'd need to be given the bootleg treatment?"
She looked confused for a moment, then her expression brightened as though recognizing a joke. "Come on in, sir! Just head to the third floor and ask for the training room." She smiled, turning to focus on her computer again. He felt so valued as a human, Jeremy decided not to express his overwhelming elation in words.
As he walked upstairs to an unknown embarrassment, he smiled in excitement. This was going to be awesome!
***********************************************************************************************
Turns out, the first three weeks were him going in and living as a fungus on various things. The first was a foot, the second was a persons head, and then... more natural, plant things that he grew on. The last torture was a pair of boots. He was relieved when he was told he'd adapted enough to actually get a decent body.
Honestly, anything was better than a fungus...
He hummed and started up his chair. It was a remarkably useful thing that connected to his brain. All he had to do was have a special chip implanted in various bones around his body- which took the first two weeks of this job- and then they connected to the nerves in and near his bones, then connected that to the chair. it allowed a wonderful, perfect virtual experience normally. However...
One section of the chair didn't make much sense to him, but that was the part that 'sent' him to other words. Supposedly, it connected to the brain and took all of your thoughts and consciousness, then pulled them from your brain and sent them hurtling into a different world where it built a body, shoved the consciousness inside, and kept track of it.
This little fact made the whole experience far more trustworthy and had his total trust and support, totally not supported solely by his need of- and desire for- the cash this job would provide him. Definitely not. That would be totally.... facetious! Of course! That was correct.
He smiled, relaxing in his chair and listening to the now-familiar start-up jingle. It was so calming and monotonous... He'd go insane if he had to hear much more of it. Shaking his head, he sighed and closed his eyes, letting the chair pull out his mind for diagnostics.
- POV: 1st-
Diagnostics:
memory files- downloaded and saved
physical traits- average
mental traits- ... average
hair- plain and boring
face- better not talk about it
overall looks- nonexistent
compatibility- 99%
emotional state- confused...perpetually
family- rather dull
finances- ah **** nah
Diagnostic complete
analysis complete
result:
ready to connect with server 1039024
-060-
I stared at the screen, blinking for a moment at the absurdity of it. Then I grew incredulous. "What? my face isn't that bad... is it? And what the heck are those ellipses for?" He gawked at the absurd, stupid, ridiculous words. What kind of-
"Incorrect- by this servers standards you are actually on the lower end of the spectrum, sorry, I know humans often like being lied to in these situations so I shall give you an answer that will best suit your specific needs. It is alright. You are a handsome SOB that will get all the ladies- you go tiger."
I blinked. "Oh... AI? Are you here to help me not make an utter fool of myself while I work?" I ignored the direct insult and even worse attempt to lie. That was honestly just pitiful...
"Hello, I am Angel, your companion AI. I am here to assimilate you into the culture and bio rituals of the inhabitants of the server you are traveling to. I am version 1.8.7 meaning that I am the 187th version of the original A.N.G.E.L. database. one version is made for each pilot. by the way, I really can't help you, there is no way to make you not look like a fool, and you will be doing little to no work, that relative burden falls to me."
I blinked. "Oh... well... how do we do this the-" I cut off as a gut-wrenching feeling split my everything in half, and I screamed as a frantic all of text decorated my vision, ending in simple words.
Error;
server malfunction.
status;
Critical.
Emergency random body generation subroutine initiated;
complete.
conscience transfersion process initiated;
Transfer complete.
Integrating system and mind;
Complete.
Adding survival bonus.
Adding survival boost.
Adding survival benefit.
Adding rebirth feature.
Complete.
Processing...
Download complete.
initiating IOS process;
complete
I screamed, then blinked, gasping as I looked around. I was in agonizing pain for an instant, hence the scream, but then...
I looked at the tiny cave around me. I had no idea where or what I was, but I knew that something had gone wrong. Terribly, horribly wrong. I bit my lip- realizing I didn't have a lip as I did so- and looked at the mouth of the cave. It was nighttime, and I didn't even know what species I was... Was that an ocean??? I'd spawned at the base of a pair of cliffs next to the ocean... perfect...
"Um... ANGEL? How do I... function?" He grimaced, worried.
Analyzing current body and form.
complete
analysis;
You are a dungeon core in the land of Pan-harmonica a perpetually medieval time period and a classical fantasy world. It was because of the ubiquity of worlds like this that RnD made it protocol to call different worlds servers, something of a joke.
Dungeon cores are beings that inhabit magical dungeons and level up over time, and if they defeat parties adventuring in them. This world has a unique system of organic growth- while organisms do grow stronger over time, it is not very fast. However, there is a strange mechanic within this server allowing for the speedy growth of individuals; experience.
With experience, organisms grow stronger in different attributes and skills. You, as a dungeon core are unique, however. You have no appendages- yet- and need no sustenance. Your next level-up will be in two hours. Because of various bonuses I gave you just before total server disconnect, you level up faster than normal dungeon cores, are harder to kill and will be reborn if you die or wish to be reborn.
If you wish to be reborn, there will be a bonus given to you based on your stats when you were reborn. For now, I will work on getting myself an appropriate physical form to protect and aid you as you start your new life as a dungeon core. It will take me a month. In that time, you will have leveled up five times, enough for spacial distortions and goblin generation; build your defenses well.
You may be here longer than you wish.
Initiating self reconstruction program;
Forming 3D model
Possible appropriate forms;
3
Form selected
Rerouting all necessary processing power while form is made
Initiating shut down
3...
2...
1...
I blinked, staring. I was... I was a what?
What did she mean I may be here longer than I want to be...? I shuddered, grimacing and looking around again. How would this work... Dungeon... like a dungeon in a game? If so... I couldn't only have this small cave.. so...
"How do I make my dungeon bigger...?" That confused me as I stared at the wall at the back of the cave.
A screen appeared, and I blinked, looking at it in astonishment. It seemed almost like a computer game, like the kind of system you'd see when you pulled up your character's stats. I was confused- this had never happened before... then again, I'd grown excellent at causing whatever mold of fungus I'd inhabited before to grow faster, and feeling the shape of the object.
So... I felt outwards, trying to feel my body. At first, it just the crystal I was made of- then I was suddenly able to feel the cave itself, and I knew what to do. I looked at the status screen.
Name: {Unchosen}
Age: <1 yr.
Gender: {Crystal body, N/A}
Hp: 150 {A beginning adventurer or child with a sword could kill you. Be ashamed}
Mp: 700 {This low, huh? Dungeoning might just take you a very long time...}
Str: 500 {acts as a base for created monster, either dividing a percentage of 'yours' or multiplying to a greater one. This is actually a really good starting value.}
Agl: 495 {Also a decent starting value. As above, monsters will multiply or divide your Agl to decide their own- as you grow and develop these skills, they will also grow and develop.}
Dex: 100 {You had to have a lucky streak, huh? Your monsters will hit hard and dodge well, but be absolute crap at actually welding weapons or doing anything delicate with their hands}
Int: 800 {This... is actually ridiculous... why is your magic so low? Your monsters will be highly intelligent- let's hope they'll be equally motivated...)
Wis: 100 {This is accurate, but disappointing. Raise it to increase magic recovery to more than 0.7 mp per second. Though with how low your mp percentage is, I must say that is a surprisingly quick recovery, especially considering other races recovery rates...)
Charisma: 1000 {This is inaccurate. As a dungeon, you are abhorred by the other races- as a gem, you are coveted and beloved. And to all monsters, you are very beloved. This score decides the effectiveness of all Charisma gained monsters. Considering the level at just plain level one, and how it increases each level up... You'll have a very effective seduction dungeon- if you choose that.}
Fth: 10 {Wow, you are faithless... try leveling up to get a god or leveling down to get a demon/devil. I'd advise the former, but that's up to you...}
Skills:
Will (lvl. 3){The amount of will you have directly decides the ability of your dungeon to level up, and the strength of will your monsters have, which decides their bravery. At lvl 1, monsters will run once five or more of their group die- at 2, they stay until scared away, though they lock up. At 3, they will ignore their fear and keep attacking. At 4, they feel no fear, and at 5 they inflict fear. You are obscenely lucky to start with three.}
Absorb {this skill lets one absorb magic in their personal territory and use it as a means of speeding their level up.}
Territory {This skill allows you to pour magic into your territory, expanding and enhancing it.}
Magic mastery {This skill lets you learn and memorize magic the instant another person uses said magic.}
Dungeon-eer {This is a skill that all dungeons have in common- every single one. It allows one to build a dungeon, and do so using the dungeon-core methods. All one has to do is pour magic into their whole body and shout 'dungeoneer!' and they will be able to start making a dungeon.}
Enchant {you can enchant things}
Traps { you can make traps}
Portal { you can make portals that go various places.}
Monster maker { you can create monsters}
Match-maker { You have incredibly high charisma and the ability to create life- you may now afflict your territory so people will have trouble ignoring their feelings of desire and love. If leveled high enough, this can prove to be the reason your monsters procreate while not under attack, as well as the reason that adventurers let down their guard during a battle. In addition, those in love release more magic than others and feed dungeons even more magic by proxy.}
Pl-Ant man {This let's you create insects and plants at will anywhere}
Crystal garden {This lets you plant a seed and grow a garden of crystals. The only limit to the number of gardens you can plant is that they must be one full mile away from each other. Leveling up may change the properties of the crystals grown.}
Racial ability:
Core {You are a core. The gods hold no direct sway over you or your creations. In addition, they cannot influence you without making you a godly core, which would then remove all of their influence over you. Be careful- some humans now of this and desire that freedom.}
Spell-list:
Eat
Create
Grow
Plant
Care
*___*___*___*___*
I stared at the screen, wondering what was wrong with reality. These were weird, and they made so little sense... I'd just have to be careful and figure it out as I went. I sighed, then focused on the wall and imagined the layout of a dungeon- one that was water themed and I'd enjoy making. I took a deep breath, and then said, "Eat."
The wall was suddenly gone, the cave looking like it naturally descended into stairs and went down. Smiling, I mentally felt out the whole place. It had worked. I even had the pedestal where I'd hide myself in plain sight, hopefully. My only concern was that I didn't know how to get myself there... until an Idea struck. I made a crack under myself, myself fall in and- after losing 35 hp(!)- I let some dust cover me.
I wouldn't be noticed, and unless someone did notice me, I'd be left alone. If they noticed me, well... I was determined to learn how to make quests so they'd simply 'return' me to the alter. I was an orb, so that made it easier. I'd only learned this after feeling my body. I sighed, glancing at my mana had realizing I'd used none. The eat spell only gathered materials... I hadn't actually expanded my territory yet...
I began doing so, slowly gaining a more instinctive feel of the dungeon I'd made as I expanded, and realizing that it was way more complex than I'd imagined. Three separate paths led from the starting room at the bottom of the stairs in three directions. One had an indent shaped like a crystal, one like a sword, and one like a pair of praying hands. The crystal path was a long, twisting path that- after a mile of tunnel, led into an enormous cavern, with a possible lake at one side, and dozens of tunnels leading to smaller caverns.
I had to stop there for now, my magic almost gone- but I felt those caverns, and I could do things to them. So, I waited till my magic was at full, and then planted a crystal seed in the cavern farthest from the main one, with the smallest, most well-hidden tunnel mouth. The size, level, and strength of the seed all depended on how much magic I gave it at the planting- so I gave it all that I had. A starting level 2 seed, with 150 as it's base stats with whatever additional ones it gained. I passed out once all my magic was gone, and that was that. I still didn't know what color I was...
