- Chapter 5 -

Five Finger Discount

I left Original Me to his own devices. I didn’t want to, but I didn’t have a physical body. As such, physics could do little to hinder me in moving about in my own territory. And before we stabilised our situation, every second was precious- not multitasking would be foolish.

I blurred around the perimeter as my eyes scoured the walls. Being an Autonomous Parallel Will meant that my senses were dependant on the Core and Original Me. The perspective of Original Me might not be very useful but those of the Dungeon Core were. The Core’s perception covered the Dungeon in its entirety, all at once. And I say perception because I was pretty sure that my preconceived notion of how to sense the world is subconsciously getting in the way of an entirely new perspective. I was sure that with practice I could be on par with a normal Dungeon Core and view a dungeon in its entirety in my ‘mind’s eye’. But for now, however, I was limited to using eye’s, that I don’t actually have, simply because that’s how my mind was used to it working. So far so good. No obvious entrances… Having to block two already is a pain in the ass, but we can’t risk any monsters getting in. While the consequences of blocking the entrances, due to the tutorial period, is limited to just a percentage deduction on earned DP that isn’t a problem since we’re earning exactly nothing. Wait, what’s that?

I flew up to the ceiling to get a closer look. Dammit! Holes. They were scattered all over the ceiling. I tried to peer into one of them but the holes were dark, far too dark. It was like a black hole, not letting any light escape. It took me a moment to realise why; the Dungeon territory stops at the ceiling which means the Core’s senses stop at the ceiling. Thus, so do mine. “They’re small- probably used to drop nasty surprises on invaders. Clever. But… it could also be used by small flying monsters. Regardless, I should count it as a potential hazard to our health either way. But the two main entrances are the bigger problem, so we’ll deal with these last. These chores will give Original Me some much-needed practice with mana.”

Satisfied I had done a thorough job in searching, all things considered, I looked over to the Core. Weird, it kinda’ looks like Original Me is throttling the menu. I laughed at the thought. He’s not that stupid. He’s me after all… is he spending points without talking to me first? I thought I told him otherwise. I blurred closer. “Hay… what… What are you…?”

Original Me stood there, strangling the menu and shouting at it. “You’re an abomination! Your whole family is an abomination! Your creator is an abomination! You’re an abomination! That’s what I will call you, Abomination!”

“What are you DOING?”

Not stopping, Parallel Me just looked at me and said, “Come help.”

I didn’t move. I was a little angry. “Best case scenario you're wasting time. In the worst case you're doing that AND insulting something that holds our lives in its hands!” I shouted.

“It started it.”

“What-”

“Here.” He gestured and I received a notification.

I looked at it. “Fuck off.”

“I know, right? I have the title ‘abomination’ now. I imagine it’s within the realm of possibility the I can be ‘Appraised’? Much like I appraised the map earlier. Anyone who did so to me would see that title, I’m sure. It just screams ‘Kill Me. Kill this Dungeon for your own good’.”

“What are its effects?” I asked, eyeing the Core.

“Effects?” Noticing the implication, he continued, “You think that the title turned my core into that horror show?”

“All titles do something. Let’s have a look at your profile.”

Original Me complied and opened our profile:

Name:

none

Titles:

Abomination. The Original Chimera. Outsider. Globetrotter. Monster-Master. Evolutionist.

Race:

Chimera: Dungeon Core & Human

Racial Traits

Chimera: Dungeon Core & Human

{Dungeon Core- You are a Dungeon Core. As a being born and shaped by mana your control over it is superb. +Supreme Mana Control. +Basic Dungeon Abilities. +Neutral affinity.}

{Core Type - Celestial Crystalium- +Holy affinity.}

{Godlike Class Dungeon Core- Your core type is of the highest order. +Godlike Dungeon Abilities.}

{Human- You are one of the blessed few to receive Celestial Crystalium. It will forge your weapon against the scourge of the earth and help pave your way to becoming a Hero. For you are the conduit of the highest order, for the heavens themselves. +Holy affinity. As a human you are capable of magic and your natural affinity is fire. +Fire affinity}

{Chimera- +Chimera Abilities.}

{Monster-master- You have a specialty in the Monster-master Ability Tree. +Reduced Monster-master ability costs.}

{Evolutionist- +Evolutionist specialty. +items in the store.}

Classes:

Chimera

Affinities:

Holy, Death, Neutral & Fire

Skills:

none

Spells:

none

Status:

{New-born Blessing- As a new-born Dungeon Core you have the temporary blessing of the system. +Custom Autonomous Parallel Will. +Reduced limitations. }

{Abomination- You are an affront to nature. The heavens reject you. You are the focus of their wrath. +Weakness to Holy magic. +You may not obtain the Holy attribute.}

{Astral Projection- You are a discarnate soul. +Avatar.}

“That’s a lot to take in, but for a newbie Dungeon even I can tell that I’m awesome.” Original Me stated proudly. After a brief pause he uttered in a tense voice, “But there's an error, of course there is. And what does it mean by ‘pending’?”

Looking it over I replied, “Pending? There must be some notifications were a choice must be made by you. Or you need to simply open the notification… There is an error for the Core Type traits; ‘Dynamic Patch’, huh? That’s confusing…”

In a tone blatantly lathered in condescension, Original Me lectured, “Dynamic Patch means The System made the effects up on the fly.”

I rolled my eyes. “Way to state the obvious, idiot. I’m talking about the fact that The System listed Celestial Cyrstalium as a possible Core material in the first place. Why would it, if it wasn’t meant to be one?”

Original Me just shrugged. “If there’s one thing programs aren’t good at doing, it’s doing things they aren’t programmed to do. You did say our circumstances are unique, right? One of a kind? I bet The System just isn’t coping well, but credit where credit is due, it is coping. I think. I hope.”

“There is evidence for your first point- it did give us benefits for Celestial Crystalium twice. Once for being our Core’s material and the other… I don’t quite know how to put it, maybe… possessing it as a human? Yes. That is technically true if you think about it. Because of our dual race status- we are human and we do own what we are made out of. At least, I assume that’s how the system sees it.”

“Possessing it? It sounded more like it was…” Original me clicked his tongue as he said, “Now I can’t quite put my tongue on it… Maybe gift? Oh, wait, no! Patronage! That’s it. It’s like the Heavens are sponsoring a Hero.”

I smirked derisively. “I imagine that is the only way to obtain it in normal circumstances, but we got our hands on some any way… but we should speculate later. Any questions about your profile?”

“Yes, what are we going to do about the title ‘Abomination’? And now that I think about it, how is the death affinity any better?”

I sighed and rubbed my temples, saying, “Yes, it’s bad… but it’s not the end of the world. Our strategy will remain the same; hide. Don’t worry; unless we do something unusual, our dungeon will look like any other. Besides, we can only be appraised by preforming an examination on our Core, not the Dungeon in general. And letting someone get that close is not what we were going to let happen anyway.” Putting a hand up I halt any further questions from Original Me, saying, “Don’t worry. I’ve already had to put a lot of thought into our safety since I knew we were almost certainly going to pick the most valuable Core type. So, I already recognised that we were going to have to be hermits, even by a Dungeon Core’s standards. The death affinity and now that title have only reinforced the necessity of my plan. We have a lot to do and little time. I’ll put more thought into it, so don’t worry.”

“OK then. You said there are options I must choose from in some of the notifications?”

“Yes, let's have a look… Huh, so I was right. You have been ‘rewarded’ a spirit form.”

Original Me frowned. “Spirit form…? You mean… I’m not a manifestation like you?”

“Yes.” I replied, confused.

“Don’t act innocent with me! You told me it was safe for me to go and scout earlier! “Wait... I could’ve DIED! I thought I was invisible! What if.... you're not listening, are you?”

Grumbling, I muttered, “Trust me, the last thing I was worried about was others bringing harm onto you.”

“You cold hearted bastard!”

I rolled my eyes. “We have so much to do,” I sighed.

“Fine, ignore the fact that I bravely risked my life-“

“-without knowing it. Doesn’t count”

“-For the greater good. Anyway, we should get a move on, we don’t have any means to defend ourselves. I assume there are a list of really important things to do first?”

“Yes, we need to finish your profile- surprises could be dangerous. Then block the entrances, purchase some powerful monsters to be our personal guard, collect any loot for said monsters, resources for a cradle and purchase some monsters as a future investment. Finally, we need to move to a better Core room and build up, down(?), our Dungeon from there.”

“Personal Guard, huh? I like the sound of that.” Original Me said, savouring the notion.

“Buying powerful monsters is more expensive than just training some up from infancy. But we need some fire power now. Firstly, it would shore up our defences and secondly they could escort us if necessary.”

“Escort us?”

“Yes, remember Plan B? Moving the core to the island if things go horribly wrong?”

“Is it really as simple as it sounds?”

“No, there are consequences. You must understand that you are essentially disconnecting your Core from your dungeon. If it’s nailed down, you lose it. So really all you will have left are the store-bought monsters and whatever they can carry. Which is what I recommend we focus our purchases on, just in case. Now on to the notifications.”

Original Me brought up his notifications and opened them up one after another. He stopped after trying to open the last one and told me, “This last one won’t open, it's just saying ‘acknowledging’.”

“Really?” Laughing I said, “We must have a cool item coming our way.”

“What does that mean?”

“You’ll see soon, let’s look at the other notifications.” They read:

Congratulations. You are not of this world. You have earned the title ‘Outsider’. +Evolutionist specialty +items in the store Congratulations. You are the first of your kind. You have earned the title ‘The Original Chimera’. Congratulations. You are a dungeon. +Godlike Class Dungeon Starter Pack

I felt a rush of information force its way into my brain. “What...”

“Don’t worry, that knowledge will settle. There was a local language pack, likely Dwarvish, in that dungeon starter pack.”

“...Weird, I have to search for it? This is Dwarvish, uh? The letters remind me of Viking runes."

“Yeah, I know. I had the same experience when I got everything tutorial mashed into my brain. The feeling is bizarre and utilizing it effectively might be a little harder since it's a language and not just facts, but using it will become second nature soon enough.”

“Handy nonetheless. ‘Evolutionist specialty’, is this what you were talking about when you said that The System sometimes hands out rewards?”

Grinning I replied, “Yes. I for one am ecstatic, it sounds like it will synergize well with the Monster-master ability tree.”

Original Me nodded in response. “I assume we should focus on the Monster-master and Evolutionist trees since we get discounts on them then?”

“Yes. You look through the Evolutionist tree, I’ll look through the rest.” Original Me immediately opened the options to have a look. After a time of careful consideration, we both showcased our options. I chose:

Trap-master:

{Binary State: You can turn traps off and on in uncontested territory.} - Cost: 10DP

{Trap Control: You can turn traps in contested territory off and on, speed slowed the closer an intruder is to said trap.} - Cost: 20DP

Monster-master:

{Cowering Presence: Manually infusing mana into a monster to increase its conversion rate is more efficient the closer you are to the target.} - Cost: 18DP

Dungeon-master:

{Reinforcement I: Increases the strength of internal Dungeon walls.} - Cost: 10DP

{Repair I: Increase the repair speed of internal Dungeon walls.} - Cost: 10DP

Original Me, commenting that he wasn’t sure of the relative value of each point of DP after seeing my choices, chose:

{Divine Intervention- Alter the biology of a targeted monster permanently with mana.} - Cost: 900DP

{Spark of Evolution- Monsters that consume a monster core have a small chance to undergo a mutation, determined by the traits of the monster core consumed} - Cost: 1,080DP

His choices were a little on the expensive side. “To put it into perspective, by my estimate 100DP’s worth of monsters would be need to come out even-ish against a human.” I added, “And, if your curious, I’d say it would be about the same for a dwarf. But for an Elf… 1000DP.”

“There’s that much of a difference in strength?”

“It’s no joke, Elves are much stronger that humans. Thankfully they are also rather reclusive.”

“Are my choices too expensive?”

“You could argue that. BUT, this ability tree is unique to us, therefore it would be a good idea to get some abilities that no one else has. Not mentioning the fact that they have a lot of potential. Although, the {Spark of Evolution} doesn’t say weather the mutation would be good or bad.”

“It isn’t- guaranteed to be good that is. There are some abilities further along in the tree that do change that though.”

“Hmm… still, some of my plans just became a lot less time consuming. I think it’s worth it.”

“Ha, arguing with myself never really lasts long.”

“I know, but what can we do?” I replied as Original Me confirmed the choices.

“On to entrances?”

“Yes, the sooner the better.” We travelled to the first one. “Ok, these entrances are within our domain so you should be able manipulate the surroundings through mana very easily. Imagine forming hands with mana and getting those to do the work for you- like telekinesis.” I directed and coached Original Me until he managed to blockade the entrance with a mound of compacted earth. We moved to the second entrance and I guided him in repeating the process.

Satisfied I told him, “You’re doing a good job. If a bit slow. Now, there’s two of us, so we should split the work. Since I have the tutorial information in my head, I’ll be able to make better decisions about what monsters to get so I’ll put together a list. You can help yourself to a five-fingered discount on anything shiny. Hurry because some of the items are surely the Dungeons and meant to be equipped on monsters- it might change what we should buy.”

Original Me grinned. He swooped into action.

I brought up the menu. I’m looking for maximum strength for minimum DP. I also don’t care about their future growth, I just need some muscle, now. I was only part way through when The System buzzed with a notification. This must be the one Original Me couldn’t open earlier. I grinned. For the system to acknowledge an item it’s giving us, the item must be special. I’m sure Original Me wouldn’t mind me having a look. Reaching out, I opened the notification.

Item acknowledged as a unique ‘Godlike’ item. Named “The Original Chimera’s Heart”. Item added to in recipes in Dungeon and Hero store.

Is that what I think it is!? My heart clawed its way up my throat. The System wasn’t giving us an acknowledged item. It was acknowledging something that was ours in the first place. My hands clutched my head. Our Dungeon Core. The System added a recipe that uses it in the store! Bastard System, serving me up on a silver platter. I shook myself as I tried to muster the courage to look at the recipe, thinking, Please nothing special. Please nothing special…. Trembling, I reached out to look up the effects of the recipe. The effects:

+Title ‘God Killer’. +Title ‘Slayer of The Original Chimera’. +One Custom Godlike Item.

Oh, my fucking GOD!! I screamed internally. A free CUSTOM GODLIKE item! Is that another way of The System saying I’ll give you whatever the fuck you want! I doubt there was even a mythical level one on the face of the New World until the World Map! The System just put a bounty on my head for all Dungeons to see! One they can’t resist. So much for stealth! “HAY! Original Me, come help me beat the shit out of this thing!”