Wow. That is the most I‘ve ever heard her speak at one time. I start imagining scenes of a fierce death knight standing as the bulwark of our little group. I shake my head to clear the daydream and nod to her. “I hope this works for you” I tell her while nodding to the skill book. Her smile brightens and she gives me a peck on the cheek. “If you do unlock Death type magic then we can look for more spells that might help you.” She places the book in her own storage and we all head over to the door at the back of the dais. When we enter the room we all head to the portal. I remember something right before we go through and call out. “Stop! I need to check something.”
I open my messages to look for the completion notification on the quest that brought us here in the first place, but there is no confirmation that the quest is completed. There were a number of things there I took notice of, like my Identify skill reached level eight, my Air magic reached level twelve and Water magic hit level eleven. Despite it not being the one I’m looking for there is one that catches my interest.
Advanced Mana Control has reached lvl 10. All spells require 10% less mana and have 10% increased range.
Still not what I was looking for though. I check the quest log with a thought and Rising Tide is still showing that it’s open and not completed. I use Identify on the portal in front of us and, as I thought, it’s the Exit Portal. I need to bring this dungeon under my control in order to complete the quest and to prevent it from becoming a risk to my people. My people. The phrase still seems odd to me. Only a few months back I wasn’t even on the world, much less had people. “The quest didn’t complete. I think we cleared the dungeon, but the quest also says I need to bring it under my control. We are missing something I think. Before we leave lets check this room to see if there is anything we missed.”
About ten minutes later we are all back together. “Nothing Vol. We checked everywhere and there aren’t any seems for hidden doors or anything else that we could find” Azzaria tells me.
“Okay, let me try one more thing and then we can go. You should all sit down on the floor for this.” With curious expressions they all look at me but still comply. Then I start a spell I have only cast once before. Not having much experience with it before I didn’t charge it with extra mana, just let it flow naturally according to the knowledge implanted in my mind when I learned it. After a few seconds of feeding mana to the spell structure within me it all gets released into the ground below. Soon the ground begins to shake and I kneel to keep from tripping. Ignoring the exclamations from the others, I start looking around. After a couple more seconds, and when the Earthquake has reached its peak, I find something. In a spot on the wall there is more dust falling loose than everywhere else. When I focus on that spot I can see a faint outline for a door. The dust is falling out of the cracks to reveal its shape.
After some more time the quake stops and I wave the girls over to help me. We all line up in front of the hidden door and on three we push. At first nothing happened, but then there is a grinding sound and the section of wall lurched forward. After we push it in about six feet there is a clanking sound and the wall stops moving. It’s dark in the little alcove that is formed so I cast my Wisp to get a little light. Looking around I see to the left is just a wall and the right has a staircase that leads down, spiraling to the right and under the room we are in. With nowhere else to go we follow the stairs that spiral farther and farther down.
I lost count of how many steps we took and just kept going. We descended for about a half hour before we came to the bottom, into a hallway that leads into a large room. It was so large that the light from my Wisp didn’t reveal the walls to our left or right. Not even the ceiling was visible. We walked forward into the cavernous room with nothing to look at until something took shape out of the dark. A large pillar is finally revealed by my spell’s light. When we finally get close enough I can see that it isn’t actually a pillar, but a large stalactite and stalagmite and inches from the tips of both is a large floating crystal. As my light glints off the crystal, a soft pink light forms within. We all wait to see if anything else will happen but nothing does.
The girls stay below as I step forward and start to climb the rock formation in front of me. It has to be about fifty yards in diameter and made from hardened layers of silt that is rough and easy to grip. When I get to the top of the stalagmite I reach my hand out to touch the floating crystal, but hesitate as the pink glow brightens slightly. Trepidation fills me as I sit there. After a moment with my hand inches away and nothing happening I push forward and place my hand on its surface. As soon as I come into contact with it mana starts to rush out of me into the crystal as the glow intensifies. I get a little dizzy from the sudden drain but before taking even half my mana pool the crystal is filled with soft pink light and I can feel the flow reverse for a moment.
Congratulations! You have claimed a dungeon. As this one is on your land it is now linked to you and your land. Your dungeon is a living being and you are responsible for it. As long as you are alive your dungeon can’t be claimed by another, but it can be killed. Protect and nurture your dungeon and it will benefit you, but if its heart is destroyed you will lose all benefits.
I can feel it. The dungeon is feeding me some information through a thin link that was forged between me and it. Mainly I’m just getting that it’s happy and healthy for the moment. I also see my notifications icon light up, but I decide to review that after I have left the dungeon. Nothing else left here I climb back down to join the girls and we make our way up again. This time I don’t stop them and we step into the exit portal. Finally out of the dungeon I breath a sigh of relief, but being inside made telling the time of day difficult. “IMA, how long were we gone for?”
The response in instantaneous. “You have been in the dungeon for approximately eight hours. I also now have access to the dungeon itself and can relay information back and forth between you and it.”
“There must be some kind of time difference when we enter, making time move faster while inside.” Doing the math I realize that it is about dinner time. “Should be about time to eat dinner. You ladies hungry?” They all answer with an affirmative immediately so we all rush back to the main hall to find something to eat. IMA secures the way to the dungeon as we leave. When we get to what is being used as the dining hall, though it’s really the main hall of the keep, we are met with clapping. I entered last and I‘m a little surprised to see the council members standing, and clapping to our arrival. None of them made it seem like it was a big deal that we entered a dungeon but now they are making something of it.
“What’s the meaning of all this?” I ask with good humor. I look to the council members and it’s Enora that responds.
“We didn’t say anything before but a dungeon of our own can be very beneficial to the town. It’s one of the things that makes the kingdoms strong. With control of a dungeon troops and guards can be trained much faster, and that is how they can have guards and soldiers at level twenty plus. If you allow the guards to train in it then they will be a force to be reckoned with should there be a more serious attack on the town.” At the last part her face sobers up a little, but the mirth quickly returns.
I nod to the gathering as my mind whirls about the possibilities and in understanding. I wondered how the kingdom could have so many that were higher in level of the population in its employ. Now I know. They control the best way for individuals to get more powerful. “I was also thinking that we should have the guards take volunteers from the town in to help them level up as well. I don’t want to stop with just the guards and I want everyone to benefit. Also with more people that can gain their specialties the better they can contribute to the town. This will, in turn, make us a much harder target in the future.”
When I started talking there were some surprised expressions, but by the time I finished they all seemed excited by the prospect. After that we all sat down and started eating. Eager to hear about our little adventure, it wasn’t long be
fore the council convinced Azzaria to tell of our dive into the dungeon. I was distracted by the notifications waiting for me. Since everyone was listening to Azzaria tell the tale with Thia interjecting to add detail I opened my messages to review my gains.
You have earned the title Dungeon Master.
Congratulations! You have unlocked the Perk system. As a land owner with a dungeon present you now have access to the Perk system. You can set the active perk from the Land Development Menu.
You have completed the quest Rising Tide.
LEVEL UP! You have increased your level by 1. You are now level 16. As a Void Human you get 6 points to apply to your Stats and 1 Talent Point. As you are a Mage +1 INT +1 WIS are allocated. You currently have 4 undistributed SP and 1 undistributed TP. You can distribute these from your status page. Continue to increase your level to follow the path of true power. Fight for the RIGHT to survive!
LEVEL UP! Your Familiar Thia has increased in level by 1. Thia is now level 16. As your Familiar she gets 5 points to apply to her Stats and 2 Talent Points. Thia currently has 5 undistributed SP and 2 undistributed TP. You can distribute these from your familiar’s status page. Continue to increase your Familiar’s level to follow the path of true power. Fight for the RIGHT to survive!
You have earned the title Dungeoneer.
The first thing I do is check on the two new titles I got and their benefits. The Dungeoneer title I received for completing my first dungeon gives a flat ten percent increase to damage whenever I’m dungeon diving. The Dungeon Master title is a little more complicated. I received this for claiming the dungeon, but there is a little more to it. It says that no one else can claim the dungeon as long as I live, but it can be killed. If killed the dungeon will release any creatures within.
The Perk system is something I haven’t heard of before. I open the LDM and see the new tab at the bottom. It says my current active Perk is called Bane of the Undead. Focusing on this in the menu I learn that it gives a ten percent damage bonus against undead for residents when on land controlled by me. All the time. I focus on the word Perk again and this time I try to call a menu like I do with my status screen, by concentrating on it in my mind. This does bring up a separate menu for me to choose my active Perk. At this time I only have the one though.
Next I look at my quest log. Since the quest completed, I can only assume that my land and the people are safe from internal threat, at least for the moment. Next is to deal with my level up, and like usual I start with my familiar. I put two SP into INT and WIS each and then the last one into VIT. As for her talent tree I place one into Ball and Chain to max it out and adding another additional attack after the first impact. Looking at the available options I follow Thia’s mental request and add to a new talent that comes off of Knifewings. This only became available recently. Bladestrike brings a lightning bolt down from above, using one of her feather blades as the target. It looks like it will cause a good amount of damage in the first tier but more points into the talent will add additional effects.
Done with Thia, I close her status and go back to mine. I add another point to INT and WIS then another to VIT. Having used one for STR last level I add my extra point to AGI this time. Taking a moment to feel the changes in my mind and body I wait for the odd sensations to subside. When it has passed I open my talent tree for Celestial Mage. Each starting branch of the talent tree tends to follow a theme. There is one for buffs and defense and one for melee attack and defense (which I haven’t invested in because I suck at it).
There is another branch for space and one for time as well. I haven’t been spending much in the time side of things, but the new options show me I should. Not only does it have a few control spells but there is some truly useful utility type talents revealed now. In the end, I place my talent point in the one I have been wanting since I started on the space branch of the talent tree. I place the point, one of three possible to max it out, and then pull up the description in my Grimoire.
Spatial Door: Create a doorway to another location. Must have visited the destination to Know it. Duration: 30 seconds. Cooldown: 24 Hours. Cost: 1000 MP.
The description leaves out some things I am curious about, but I get the answer from the instinctual knowledge that always comes with learning a new spell. There is no range because there is no distance the spell can’t travel. Anything that goes off this planet though will increase the mana consumption exponentially. That’s right, I could leave this planet! Just a guess based on the new information I have, but I think it would cost an astronomical amount of mana to do. The spell is already extremely costly, and the cooldown is long. I do notice that the next tier of the spell decreases the cost and cooldown for it. I might get that in the future but my next few levels will be focused on a few other things that are now open to me.
Focusing back on the conversation I’m just in time to hear about how I used my shield to withstand the concentrated beam of Dark magic the lich cast. Azzaria and Thia are going back and forth by this time in the telling and the differences are interesting to hear. According to Azzaria my idiot (affectionately said) self maintained the boss’s attention by letting it hit me directly and cowering behind my magical shield. From Thia, I heroically stepped forward to take the spell so no others would have to. Putting my safety on the line to spare the others. Funny how they were both right at the same time but one sounds so much better than the other.
With the story told and all the questions exhausted, Bolden turns to me. “I finished a few more of the modified slave collars for you.” After saying that he reaches into a bag at his side and pulls out a dozen more.
I accept them and hand one each to Timbre and Thia. They quickly sync the collars to themselves and store them away in their armlets. “Thanks Bolden. I will put them to good use.” Turning to the girls I address them next. “It still isn’t that late but we have had a long day. So it’s okay if you don’t want to, but I would like to try out something.” When I stand up all three girls follow me to join in a little training. “Alright, this spell is only good for thirty seconds so don’t wait and head through it as soon as the way is clear.” Without waiting any longer I start casting Spatial Door. The cast is long and takes a lot of concentration. It has to be somewhere around a full minute and I can’t do anything else while I cast. I can barely cast it as it is and I am dead to the world during the process. I can sense that the difficulty will decrease as I practice it and increase the level of my Space magic.
When I finish the cast a torrent of mana flows from me into a six foot by six foot glowing blue square in front of me. Looking around I can see the surprised faces of the girls next to me. I didn’t tell them about this before, but they quickly recover and step through the hazy square before them. When I turn around I can see the council all staring at me with open mouths. It’s pretty funny but there are only a few seconds until the door closes. I give them a friendly wave and follow behind my girls. On the other side of the portal I pull out an old rusted sword that we collected in the dungeon. Then I stick the old sword halfway through the portal. When it closes a second later I lift the sword to inspect it. There is a perfect line where the blade cuts off about half the length. The other side must have been left in the main hall.
Turning to the others that are now gathered around me I hold up the ruined sword. “See this? We should be very careful not to be in the door when it closes. Probably best not to even touch the edges either.” They all give solemn nods and I take a look around. We are in the training grounds that I built, just a little ways from the range against the mountain. Satisfied that we are right where I wanted us to be I look back at the girls. They’re still staring at me intensely, waiting for an explanation.
I shrug my shoulders “I just got the spell with my new level up.” That seems to mollify Azzaria and Thia, but Timbre has another reaction. She bounces up and down a couple times and then pulls out the spell book she asked for. She absorbs the book and when she has recovered casts Bone Armor
for the first time. A moment later a fast moving cloud of white dust comes out of the ground and rushes at Timbre. It takes only the blink of an eye for it all to condense around her and form into a macabre armor. The helm is sort of wolf like but without and overly long snout. There are rib bones stacked one on each other to form a breast plate and longer bones encompass the limbs. There are even small spikes that protrude from the shoulders, elbows, and knees.
Now clad in her new eye catching protection, Timbre moves around to test the feel of it. “It’s pretty light and it moves like I’m not wearing it. The spikes are going to take a little getting used to but that’s the only thing.”
I scrutinize my warrior woman’s new look and I got to say it. “Wicked.” I’m a little envious of how cool it looks. But like I said before, it wouldn’t have been very helpful to me. Even if I did have it I probably wouldn’t use it much except for the look, and maybe the intimidation factor. Timbre on the other hand would use it for every fight. After we admire Timbre for a moment we all head to different areas of the training ground. I watch as Thia changes into her Thunderbird form and notice that it’s bigger than before we went in. I open my mouth to comment but quickly close it once again. You never comment on a girls weight. Maybe to say that she lost some, but even then you may be gambling with your life. Better safe than sorry and just shut up.
A Mage Rising: (The Chronicles of Herst 2: A LitRPG Saga) Page 18
