[User: Unnamed Monster]
As I cleaned the library I was able to test the extent of my new abilities. More specifically the [Shapeshift] skill. It was an expensive skill, but it's cost was worth it since it had many uses and it's limits only stopped where the caster's creativity did.
Not to mention the skill had a few hidden caveats. Using the skill cost 60 MP at first so that I could change the form of my right arm to simply extend it to reach the cobwebs on the ceiling.
Doing so spent the MP in full, however; once I used the skill again to change the consistency of my arms into that of a gelatin was only 10 MP.
It seemed like activating the skill charged me in full, but any further changes to shapeshifting charged a variable amount depending on severity of the change from the previous form such as when I hardened my limb until it became the same density as steel it cost me 25MP.
Additionally, I could only extend my arms so far until they were capped at around 10 meters.
In the end I settled on long tentacles for an arm that had a consistency that was slightly sticky so that it could collect whatever it rolled over. Though it did deplete me of most of my MP.
Still, I was happy with the result of being able to clean the library effectively. Then before I knew it I was cleaning everything. The books, the shelves, the tables, chairs, walls, lights, the works. I even pushed the limits of my skill as well by creating entirely new limbs to assist me with organizing the books while I cleaned.
I didn't think to question my obsession with this, it just felt right.
"Ahgg, not enough arms. I need more."
(-18MP)
(-18MP)
"Damn, not enough eyes to see where these books go."
(-7MP)
(-7MP)
(-7MP)
"Why is there more dust here, I need more limbs to collect it?!"
(-12 MP)
(-12 MP)
"I'm out of MP. I should have enough in another 10 minutes to form another limb, I should still have time to compl-"
'Time?'
'Wait, I completely forgot I had a timer on my quest from earlier.'
'How much do I have le-'
[Quest: Enter the Library and read 1 book]
[Completion Time: 00:00:00:7:16]
'...'
"Oh."
I thought I wasn't going to be able to complete the quest in time anymore, but I understood that such a thing would be easy once I looked up to see the result of my work.
The [Library] was spotless. The books I had been holding were what now counted to four hands and arms, 3 tentacles were now protruding from my back and were in the process of putting books on the higher shelves though they were now frozen stiff once I had realized I had gotten carried away.
"When, did I do this? I did all this in under an hour?"
It had felt like I blacked out since I didn't even remember anything, I just suddenly became so obsessed with cleaning and organizing the [Library] that my own mind refused to let it be and spurred me to act.
I blinked with what were now all 5 of my eyes as I brought one of the books in my tentacle to my original two hands.
"Radford's Bestiary of Monsters [Vol.8], huh."
Opening the cover to flip the first couple pages gave me an ecstatic feeling as if I was a child opening up a present. I felt my fingers stroke across the pages where I relished its texture where I could tell it was an old book by that alone. I could also tell that the parchment used to make it originated from bark, hemp and plant fibers weaved into a strong tapestry that was then written on with an ink that was created from mostly berry juice and a quill that came from the tail of a large bird I didn't recognize based on the thickness of the ink characters.
My assumption was proven correct once I stopped fondling the pages like an idiot and began reading.
Minutes . That was all it took. Precisely 5 minutes and 48 seconds to read through approximately 6,143 words and flip through 96 pages of monster anatomy, behavior, ecology and physical descriptions. I flipped through the pages as if I was just mindlessly skimming the contents, but no I had full retention of everything I was reading.
Creatures I had never seen before became vivid pictures in my head and I knew everything about them. At least according to Mr. Rayford here.
I looked up in time to see the quest that was stressing me was now complete.
[Quest: Enter the Library and read 1 book (Complete!)]
[Reward: 50 BP]
"BP? What was that again?"
I recalled a memory that came to me instantly which took me back to when I first opened the [Dungeon Status] menu where I perused the screen only briefly before closing it since I was rushing through the tutorial quests. Strange how I thought that since I knew I was the meticulous sort, yet it felt like I had seen this sort of thing dozens of times.
I opened the [Dungeon Status] screen once more where I saw-
[Dungeon Status]>{Name: The Cascade Dungeon}{Age: 0}{Lvl. 1}{Floors: 1}{Type: Cave/Ruin}{Territory: ~9000sqm}{Monsters: 0/20}{BP: 158/300}{XP:0/1000}{Intruders: 0}
Reading through this I opened the encyclopedia page to up the term where I found the definition. The page appeared to me as a book which manifested in my hands, the book had a heavy cover that was embroidered by gold accents and jewels, however; the amount of pages inside were only as thin as a newspaper.
My assumption is that these pages will increase as time goes on and is only as full as my own knowledge is. The concept felt like a challenge to me, one calling to my very soul as it desired to fill these pages.
I flipped through the book until I found what I was looking for.
'Ah, here it is. BP stood for blood points, a resource that can construct artifacts, treasure, rooms, traps, and most especially monsters. Which basically entails everything required to run a dungeon.'
It could accumulate naturally given time, since it was created from the literal blood that dripped down from the heart core suspended in the throne room.
'That's what the well is for then.'
I went over the resources I had available to me where I eventually realized that there wasn't a place to really spend these resources, at least not yet.
Then, as if it was listening in on my thoughts the system granted me a new quest.
[Quest: Read {Book of Attempts} and {Dungeoneering 101}]
[Reward: Shop, 20BP]
I wide smile forms on what would be my usually featureless face once I read the quest. I didn't even realize I had a mouth until now. The simple thought of reading and getting rewarded for it excited me tremendously. Not to mention one of the rewards included the shop, a feature that will finally allow me to get this place up and running.
"I guess I don't mind."
{Name: ???} {Lvl.1} {Species: ???} {Age: 0} {Occupation: Dungeon Lord}^
{Stats: [HP: 456/500][MP: 7/150][ATK:50][DEF: 25][AGI: 30][INT: 110][CHA: 10][LCK:10}
{Skills: [Distortion][S.Devour][Shapeshift][Dark Bullet][Cosmic Fear]}^
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It wasn't until several hours later did I read not only through the books the system asked me too, but several more of those Monster Bestiary Volumes.
That was when I quickly learned how dangerous this habit of mine would become. I had barely any restraint and I got carried away too easily. By the end I of course read way more than I needed to. On top of that, the books I read for the quest were, 'interesting', to say the least.
The dungeoneering book was basically a crash course on all pitfalls to avoid when building a dungeon, no pun intended. There were rules when considering building rooms and structures that I had to adhere to because otherwise the system wouldn't let me. Such as building these things called [Checkpoints] on every 5th floor. Restrictions when building [Monster Nests] next to exits or entrances, or even when placing traps in certain spots.
To summarize everything I've learned up until now though, there is one simple rule to follow.
"I had to make the dungeon possible to clear by these invaders dubbed {Breakers}.'
Which boiled down to making a traversable path to the heart. I couldn't isolate the heart in a room behind several feet or build the dungeon in a way that one would objectively call unfair. I can make things difficult at most, but never impossible.
As for the other book, {Book of Attempts}, it contained knowledge from previous dungeon lords before me. It told of what paths they took when building their dungeons, from what type of species they were and what they outfitted the dungeon with until they met their ends. It was the final info screen at the moment the dungeon heart was destroyed.
There were too many to count. In the end I judged how well they did based on the age of their dungeon. Some reached up to hundreds of years while others only lasted a few days. While it may not be now, this book would be insanely useful to me later on, but I will hold off on referencing it until I finally start the construction process.
'For now, I am still barely getting my bearings in this strange world.'
So when I finally managed to drag myself out of the [Library], I opened the shop page where I sought to spend my 'hard' earned points.
[SHOP]>{Monsters}{Tiles}{Rooms}{Traps}{Upgrades}{Skills}{Artifacts}{Treasures}{Consumables}
"For now, I should take a look at what is available to me at lvl.1 before I proceed with anything. The choices I make now could determine the dungeon's future design strategy."
[Monsters]>{Slime}{Skeleton}{Goblin}{Will-O-Wisp}{Spider}
[Tiles]>{Ruin}{Cave}{Forest}
[Rooms]>{Spring}{Crypt}{Cavern}
[Traps]>{Pitfall}{Dart}{Deadfall}{Battering Ram}
[Upgrades]>{Add Floor}{Expand Room}{Reinforce Trap}
[Skills]>(Today's Sale!)/{Fireball}{Chilling Touch}{Poison Mist}
[Artifacts]>(Today's Sale!)/{Scarred Coin}{Regeneration Orb}{Battle Drum}
[Treasures]>{Warrior's Sword}{Defender's Buckler}{Mage's Robe}{Thief's Dirk}{Ranger's Quiver}{Porter's Sack}{Artificer's Hammer}{Healer's Ring}{Berserker's Belt}{Bard's Wreath}
[Consumables]>{Slime Core}{Memento Mori}{Cursed Totem}{Lesser Soul Stone}{Spider Eye}
After getting a good look through everything, I couldn't help feeling a little overwhelmed by all the options and choices, but there was one thing that bothered me. I got a preview of what the monster's looked like from the system itself, but they didn't look the same compared to the monsters I saw in the bestiary volumes.
All the monster's had glowing red eyes or a red aura that emanated from them, meanwhile; compared to the bestiaries the monster's all lacked that ominous red surrounding their bodies.
I sincerely doubted that a person who depicted the monsters in the books as mindless creatures with primitive instincts would draw them without such a feature unless I was missing something.
"How strange, but I will put that thought aside for now. I need to get a look above ground to see what I am working with as well as the other rooms."
I walk out of the [Dungeon Heart's Chamber] to explore my surroundings.
"Time to stretch my legs and see just what kind of world I am in."
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[User: Manfred Belfast]
The time is late afternoon and the town street traffic is in heavily occupied with passing merchants and locals running errands. Manfred jumps from rooftop to rooftop as he makes his way to the town entrance.
"It is times like this where I am glad I am a Breaker, that foot traffic is crazy today."
Manfred nonchalantly strolls across roof shillings as he puffs on one of his spare pipes, making 4-5 meter gaps look as simple as jumping over a puddle on the street.
'So many merchants passing come by to resupply these days but rarely ever stay longer than a night once they realize there is no business to be found here. Tithe has always been on the slow decline since the surrounding dungeons were purged by the Illiard Republic 4 years ago.'
Manfred clicks his tongue at the thought as the grip on his pipe tightens.
"Damn those purists bastards, it's because of them my dream of being a competent Guildmaster has been hampered."
It was years ago when Tithe town was thought to be the next frontier for young and inexperienced Breakers. The next training ground for great heroes, but then the Illiard Republic came around. The bordering country to their home country of Caspia was seperated by the Rubicord Mountain Range to the north.
They had somehow managed to infiltrated Manfred's guild by planting their own operatives disguised as newbie breakers to slip into the dungeons and destroy them. There was no other faction on the continent that despised monsters and dungeons more than they did after all.
Despite the dungeons being beyond their borders, they must have felt threatened that so many existed in the forest just beyond their mountains. So no one expected them to take action. What made it even worse that Manfred had failed to capture any of the infiltrators which meant that Caspia never had any definitive proof too accuse them of any wrongdoing, a fact that led to Manfred's humiliating demotion and years of public scorn later on.
Naturally, the loss of the dungeons led to Tithe town's prosperity dying until it received the reputation of a town for exiled breakers and ne're-do-wells.
Now here he was relying on the very same people to keep his business, no his dream, afloat.
He wanted to be someone respectable, he wanted the respect of his fellow peers, he wanted it more than anything. Being a Guildmaster had always been a long term goal of his. He was never considered a strong Breaker, another dream he had that he gave up on quickly once he saw the gap between him and others, so he settled for the next best thing. A Guildmaster.
Yet, it was again proving to be something out of his reach. As if the world was mocking him with a carrot on a stick, telling him he will never escape the voices that told him he would never rise above his station as a lowly farmer.
"I have to be right about this."
'I have read it in books a long time ago, what it looks like when a dungeon appears. Dirt geysers is a common occurrence among many of them. The appearance of the dungeon can also change the local ecosystem. It won't be long before monsters start spawning and pushing out the local fauna and predators. Once that happens the Overseers from the Illiad Faith may catch wind of changes occuring in the forest.'
He knew he had to be fast, finding it first and training it would be top priority before anyone else hears word of its existence. He wasn't going to let this chance slip from his fingers.