Chapter 3

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Night quickly arrived. Demaris scans the playground before rushing to the shrubbery that conceals the slime dungeon. He takes a moment to check his equipment, a worn kitchen knife, and a roll of gauze he stole from a first aid kit.

Demaris crawls into the hole and feels the magic of the outside world fade away, completely gone. Demaris has an epiphany, his power doesn't just generate dungeons, he can create small pocket dimensions.

A wide murky cave in a dire morass marks the start to this dungeon. Beyond the murky cave lies a narrow passageway. It's covered in moss, dead insects, and more moss. Small patches of glowing moss appear on the walls down the length of the cave.

With a slow squelching sound, Demaris takes his first few steps on the cold, wet, mucky ground. The air is thick with the scent of damp earth and decay. As he moves deeper into the dungeon, the sounds of his footsteps are swallowed up by the squelching of mud and the occasional drip of water.

Suddenly, a green slime appears in front of Demaris. He crouches low and moves as silently as he can.

Demaris's footsteps are masked by the sound of the slime's splattering jello body. The walls around him are slick and damp, the air thick with the scent of mold and decaying organic matter. With his knife at the ready, he creeps up on the slime, watching as it glides through the shadows with eerie grace. As he moves in for the kill, his knife lashes out and pierces the core of the slime, the sound of the impact echoing through the cave.

Success! Demaris has slain a green slime and without detection to boot. The core of the slime is a monster core, a familiar object to Demaris. The Demonic miasma of the Demons in his previous life would cause normal animals to mutate into beings which utilized magic. When they are killed, a monster core can be harvested to create equipment and technology powered by magic.

Over the next two hours, Demaris battles his way through a variety of slimes, each with their own unique abilities and properties. They fall like wheat to the scythe.

Though a knife is useful, it is nothing compared to the reach of a sword. So when Demaris comes across a strip of iron ore in the cave wall, he decides to transmute a simple iron sword that he can use.

While Demaris can't visualize and maintain a manifestation of a magic circle, he had spent some time learning enchanting in Etherton. Enchanting is primarily the inscription of a magic circle on the surface of something. It was a delicate process that took years to master and Andrew had spent many years in his past life mastering the skill.

There are ten components of a magic circle, which can be divided into two categories: Major components and Minor components. The ten components are as follows: Source Rune (element), Duration, Shape, Distance, Signature, Effect, Power, Fuse, Barrier, and Chain Link Rune. The first seven of these are considered major components.

Source Runes represent an element and are crucial in determining the nature of the spell. Runic numbers fill the Duration component, dictating how long the spell's effect will last. The Shape component determines the spell's appearance when activated, such as a spear or sword. The Distance component ensures the spell reaches its desired range, preventing it from going too far or falling short.

The Signature component is essential for personalization and security, as it requires the magic user's Runic Name or family crest. This prevents other magic users from controlling the magic circle. The Effect component determines how the spell interacts with the target, dictating whether it burns, singes, or causes another reaction.

Lastly, the Power component is perhaps the most critical, as it determines the amount of magic drained from the magic user. Balancing the power of a spell with the magic user's capabilities is essential for successful spellcasting.

The minor components are only to hold the magic circle together. Fuse determines the method of activation; vocal, thought, trap trigger, chant, etc… The barrier component acts as a shield to protect the magic circle from outside interference. Lastly, the chain link runes connect all the components together to act as a glue of sorts.

The Magic circle Demaris painstakingly draws over the iron ore vein is a common enchantment circle for transmutation. Any materials placed in the circle can be reshaped into any object the user imagines. Limitations are only the materials available and the knowledge the user possesses. For example, a bullet can only be made in a transmutation circle if the user has placed all the materials in the circle and knows all the mechanisms behind the operation of the bullet.

The transmutation circle glows as demaris pictures basic iron swords and their method of production in a smithy. The iron the wall oozes free and forms a simple iron short sword. The grip is a strip torn form Demaris's shirt to increase his grip. The blade is two and a half feet long with a fuller down the length of the blade.The pommel and guard are 9th century northern european designs.

Demaris wonders if his new power could potentially creat a storage space of sorts. He envisions a space in a void and exerts his powerful will to force a transparent door to open to that space. After tossin ga rock in, he forces it to close and dissappear. To test if the rock can be retrieved, Demaris envisions the space once again. With the transparent door appearing fo the void and allowing demaris to collect the stone, Demaris counts this as a success. So Demaris stores the extra ore and carries his new blade. he continues on in the dungeon. with caution. As he rounds a corner, he comes face to face with a group of six purple slimes, standing guard around a golden slime in the center.

Demaris was taken aback by the sight of the golden slime, large amounts of Mana fluctuate around the slime, making it the most formidable opponent he had faced thus far.

As the purple slimes rushed toward him, Demaris rolled to his right to avoid a tackle and pierced the purple slime, destroying its monster core. Suddenly, a blinding flash illuminated the cave, and Demaris was knocked off his feet by a purple slime. The Golden Slime had used some kind of flash spell, leaving Demaris temporarily blinded, which allowed a purple slime to tackle him and leave a burning sensation on his chest.

Despite being blinded, Demaris continued to fight with his blade, which he had used to take down countless slimes before. He heard a squelching sound where he had just been, barely avoiding the attack of another purple slime. He could feel years of battle experience kicking in, and he quickly rolled to his left and intercepted a purple slime with his sword.

As Demaris fought, he realized that he needed to keep a close eye on the Golden Slime to avoid being caught off guard by its flash. The fight grew more intense as the Golden Slime began to form growths all over its body, launching tendrils at Demaris. In response, Demaris settled into a stance he had used in his past life, Sword Saint Style. He countered and sliced through the tendrils with each attack, but he could feel his sword losing durability with each hit. Soon the blade would break.

Mana flowed into the short sword as Demaris used a martial skill, Mana Slash, which dealt a wide arc of mana that cut everything in its path, bisecting the monster core of the Golden Slime. The Iron sword shattered form the strain of the martial skill, forcing him to pull his kitchen knife form his belt. He quickly finished off the remaining purple slimes using the knife.

Demaris takes a deep breath, the air heavy with the scent of mud and slime. He feels the weight of his accomplishments settling in as he leans back against the dungeon wall. The silence is almost deafening after the chaos of the battle, and Demaris takes a moment to appreciate it. He listens to the sound of his own breathing, his heart rate slowing as he regains his composure grumbling at how weak his body is.

Looking down at the bladeless Iron Sword, he can see that even the guard, grip and pommel have cracks.

Demaris stand and walks back the way he came to exit the dungeon, his body still buzzing with the energy of battle and the thrill of victory. As he emerges into the bright sunlight, he blinks his eyes and takes a deep breath of fresh air. It feels good to be outside again, away from the dark and musty dungeon.

He looks around and sees the playground nearby, filled with laughing children playing games and chasing each other around. He must have been in the dungeon all night. Demaris feels a pang of envy as he watches them, wishing he could be carefree and innocent like them. But he knows he can never go back to that kind of life, not after everything he's been through, and will go through form here.

He walks through the door of the orphanage and is greeted by the familiar smells of cooking and cleaning. He makes his way up the stairs and down the hallway, ignoring the other children and the staff members as he goes. When he reaches his room, he climbs into bed, feeling his tired muscles ache and throb. Sleep quickly guides Demaris to dreams and rest.