According to the ambient quintessence, there’s a high probability that you are approaching a dungeon. You might wish to exercise extreme caution.

“Umm… guys?” I said quietly after the bones were dissolved.

“Yes?” Cassie asked, making sure that her shield hadn’t taken any damage.

“I think I am detecting a dungeon. Is this a bad thing?”

“No!” said Rik, almost vibrating with excitement. “Not at all. If it’s a new dungeon, this will be great! We get the first clear, and this is a newbie zone. It won’t get very powerful and will be a great place to train newbies. We could probably get an exclusive deal and make mad bank. Do you want me to float some feelers out on the boards?”

“Not yet.” I said, “I am not positive, but the way the local magic feels is implying it, and we should be careful. Maybe you could try to say something that will catch interest but won’t tie you into anything.” I wondered if Compuserve still existed. I know in the last year alone, Our ship had gotten more than three dozen shiny new coasters for the enlisted mess.

Rik nodded, and kinda went vacant for a moment. That stare was starting to get associated with ‘doing something outside of the real world’ in my mind. It took a while, and I rewrapped my sling around my wrist and started poking around at the glowing rocks I had found while we waited.

“Okay, I posted that we were poking around in some less explored low-level areas and asked if there was any method to find cool stuff like nodes and dungeons that might have been missed by the surveyor classes. I also asked if they were valuable, and who we should talk to if we find something. Hopefully, we won’t get noticed too much, because seekers could track us down and wreck our discovery if they have a good reason to think we have found something. Keeping things quiet is a good idea until we know what we have and are ready to protect it,” he eventually stated.

I nodded, and Cassie and I started forward. I wanted to take time out to explore my growth options, but I could wait for a more natural break rather than force people to wait around on me. Dealing with my internal essence was much easier when I wasn’t trying to force it all through in zone time, and I wouldn’t do it super fast unless I had no other choice.

We kept our eyes open, but neither one of us detected any traps until we saw a gap in the rock wall ahead. The passage had widened out quite a bit until it was nearly thirty feet, and several stories tall. Ahead of us, a large rock face loomed, threaded with gray granite, but a crack had formed with a large gap at the bottom that could easily accept even Rik’s height and two humans walking abreast.

Instead of more granite beyond the crack, however, it was a stygian abyss, with slowly moving particles of light that looked almost like stars swirling within it. Clearly magical, we stopped and waited for the rest.

This is a dungeon. It appears to have opened recently, but we cannot tell what type it is. It is not terribly powerful, and this group might be successful at exploring it. I cannot read the system’s messages, but I suspect it is level 2 at most. Without exploring it we cannot find out what aspects it embraces. Since it is fairly deep underground, however, I doubt it is a nature or air aspected one, and while it is close to a river, water aspects tend to be coastal or deep in the ocean.

I whispered, “I thought that this would be like… death aspected or something, with those skeletons.”

It is possible but rare unless there is an actual undead like a lich or necromancer creating it. Every dungeon requires a soul, and a life lost to create a core causes an extra layer of, at a minimum, animation-aspected essence to be formed. Skeletons are also not considered evil undead. They try to destroy life, but do not hunger for it and are considered neutral, more like elementals than true undead. The ones you defeated, for example, released animation energy instead of necromantic energy, which meant they were simply animated, probably from local bodies, rather than being summoned.

I nodded to myself, and when the rest arrived I noticed that Mae was visible again. “Well, this confirms it. We are the proud discoverers of a brand new dungeon. It’s not likely to be undead, it doesn’t feel like it, but we won’t know what is in it unless we go in. It feels like it might be doable for us, though.”

Cassie looked a little less confident, but even with Mae’s oddly beastlike features, I could tell she breathed a sigh of relief. Rik, though, was almost hopping around like he would pee his pants with excitement.

I hated to burst his bubble, but… well… I wanted to burst his bubble. “So, do we go in immediately or do you want me to mess around trying to create some expendables first? I am kinda torn, since, while I have an idea about the basics, alchemy here doesn’t work like it would where I am from. Some of these herbs might work, but I don’t really have the first idea of how to prepare them.”

“I vote for going right in. potion recipes are known to drop in dungeons, often using local materials and that way you will have a better idea of where to start, rather than guessing and wasting ingredients.”

Mae and Cassie both wanted to take the chance to create some emergency substances, as I guess my cooking had impressed them with my diligence, but then Shiana piped up.

“I think we should explore this adventure location and gain experience. At higher levels, my sentience will increase and I will be much more responsive. I will eventually unlock a class that will allow me to add magical effects to my ranged attacks, and we should be able to venture into Fey Gallinian without being attacked. I am also an expert in woodlore, and if you need some information on local lore you have but to ask and I might be able to assist you.” She said.

Based on the fact that it was actually a relevant time for her script, I think Shiana was casting a vote in the only way she knew how. “Okay, Shiana seems to want to go right in. Umm… Rik is the leader, so in the end, it’s his decision, but I am okay with exploring a little before we get to the nitty-gritty of crafting and camping. Is it possible to camp safely in a dungeon?”

Mae nodded, “Yes, the first room is usually a safe room, but not always. Most monsters don’t leave their own areas, but there are sometimes wandering monsters. After we kill them, new monsters cannot appear until we leave the floor, so if we find a safe room or clear the floor, we should be safe.”

Cassie shrugged a little, “Yeah, if we can clear the floor we are safe, but most dungeons have a boss or two on each floor, and even if we can take the normal monsters the bosses are a LOT tougher and often have special attacks or nasty effects. I’d rather experiment since even a single healing potion could mean the difference between life and death in a boss fight, and there’s no guarantee we could find anything at all… some dungeons save all the loot until after the boss is defeated, which means no recipes or drops to help pad our health.”

Sorry for interrupting, but I do not understand. You do not plan to get involved much in the more serious fights, correct? Why don’t you simply heal them if they take too much damage? That way you can take advantage of your small size and agility to help your team instead of relying on your minor damage potential.

“What?” I asked loudly, startling all three of the others. Not Shiana, though, she was a rock.

At their inquiring glances, I had to make up something quick. “I got a umm… system message. Do you guys mind if I meditate for a minute or two to figure out what is going on? It might come in handy with our fights.”

Rik shrugged, “Doesn’t bother me. I need to go figure out what the entry requirements for the dungeon are, and if we meet them." And he walked over toward the portal, trailing Shiana. Cassie smiled a little, apparently appreciating the delay, and walked over to the tunnel we had entered from, apparently deciding to take up a rearguard for the moment.

Mae narrowed her eyes at me a little, though, and said “You don’t have a band. You cannot get system messages. You are getting information from someplace or someone. What aren’t you telling us?”

I sighed, sitting in my horse stance tripod, and decided to avoid the truth rather than lie. “I discovered I can do some things, and get some information, in a way I hadn’t expected. Like how I knew you were a kitsune. I can see things like I can see through your illusions when you go invisible, and I just realized I might be able to do stuff with my core I wasn’t expecting that might help us.”

Mae looked doubtful, “Dungeons eat taint and stray aspects, that’s what they exist for, but there’s no way we are going to wait around while you finish building your foundation, that could take days or weeks of meditation even if you didn’t have blockages. Sure, you would be tougher and stronger afterward, but you will still be… umm… small, and wouldn’t add that much to a fight without some more techniques. You are better off staying out of serious fights.”

I smiled a little at her, “That’s not what I meant. There might be some other things I could do to help, but I need to poke at my core a bit to find out if they will work. If I am right, both Cassie and Rik will be happy.”

She shrugged and stepped away. “I am not a cultivator. You guys generally do what you are going to do anyway, but it looks like we are going for it, so try not to get me killed. I don’t come back as you immortals do.”

I winked at her, “I am pretty sure I don’t come back either, so trust me, I will be careful. If I am going to be an immortal, I will probably have to do it the wu-shu way, by becoming unkillable.” and at her startled expression, I closed my eyes and dived into my core.

Everything was churning along just fine when I got there, and I could see thick cords of brownish aspect coiled around my core, which was now much clearer of cruddy taint. I took advantage of the momentary opportunity to peer at the evolutions available for Mnemosyne before she distracted me.

Sprite Habitat- This will allow your sprite to create a comfortable habitat and her personal space within your core. This will make her more comfortable and help her sleep when you do, as well as improve the quality of output she can provide.

Sprite Information Link- With this link, sprites can communicate at range with other sprites, either for socialization or for trading information.

Sprite Materialization- This will allow your sprite to exit your soulspace for short periods, allowing them to communicate with others or experience the outside world. They are still spirits, and cannot physically interact with the outside world.

I didn’t understand. Why didn’t she want any of these things? I seemed to be improving at a decent pace even without evolutions. I quickly decided to select ‘Sprite Information Link’ and fed my excess quintessence into it to activate it.

Mnemosyne turned to me with a yelp, and her eyes grew wide. “Why did you do that?” she asked me.

“You have helped me enormously. I figured that being able to talk to your own kind would help keep you from being bored, and you deserved something for yourself after all of your help. Plus, I have tons of questions, and you might be able to help me understand better if you can talk to other sprites. Was I wrong?” I asked curiously, and she shook her head.

“No, I am not used to people spending valuable quintessence on me. It usually gets harder and harder to gather enough quintessence to level up, but I suppose since you do not level up that is less of a concern. Thank you. This will help a lot.” she replied, sighing and blinking at me through her long eyelashes. Down boy!

I decided to immediately focus on what I needed. “What did you mean by healing?”

She sighed and shook her head, “Well, your next soul evolution would allow you to set aside enough quintessence that you could channel it with push, Running it through people to heal them without expending it. You can still do that, but without reclaiming it you will be spending your excess quintessence instead of saving it for more evolutions, or using it to expand your foundation.”

“Wait, so I can just use quintessence like ice or temporal mana to heal people?” I asked, slightly confused. “I didn’t even realize it worked like the aspected stuff.”

She nodded again, her long red hair brushing her shoulders in agreement. “Of course. Essence is life. You don’t want to do that unless someone is hurt or healing, though, because most people cannot handle too much excess. The bands hold it for adventurers since too much quintessence in your body can do strange things like encouraging weird growths that can kill you. That’s what kills a lot of people on your world, they are so efficient at gathering quintessence that it builds up too much.”

I guess that explained cancer. “So I can hold more?”

“No, you never want to go more than 199% without spending it. Not until you start channeling it effectively. At that point, your body will be ready to hold and channel more, but your top end is something you need to keep in mind until you get to the body phase. Your foundation is barely a quarter finished, but the dungeon should help clear out the rest of the taint and blockages.”

I was winding the animation essence as I went, building yet another little circle in my soulspace. I noticed that, like the others, once there was enough to create its own spinning circle it started to naturally attract leftover strands and particles of its aspect as it orbited around my core. I quickly checked my newly-improved soul sheet and added a thin strand of quintessence to my stealth skill, now that it was hefty enough to support it.

Brantley Gallagher Winterborne

Ice Kobold

Body size: Tiny

Body: Mediocre

Health: 100%

Evolution: 12%

Mana: 100%

Mind: Good

Fatigue: 100%

Reflexes: Extreme

Unenhanced Skill Groups

Logic: apprentice great

Mathematics: apprentice good

Acrobatics: novice good

Physical Fitness: novice fair

Willpower: journeyman mediocre

Piloting: apprentice fair

Socializing: apprentice mediocre

Security: apprentice mediocre

Metalworking: novice good

Spellcrafting: novice mediocre

Enhanced Skill Groups

Survival: expert fair

Martial arts: journeyman fair

Ranged combat: adept superb

Improvised Fabrication: journeyman poor

Essence Manipulation: journeyman fair

Stealth: journeyman poor

Innate

Ice Kobold

Unique soul

Kobolds innately gain trapmaking and scrounging at apprentice level, minor natural weapons, can swim at a trotting speed, darkvision, and minor regeneration.

Ice Kobolds in particular gain 75% cold resistance and 150% cold affinity.

All Kobolds are considered tiny creatures, difficult to target for larger creatures, but are much weaker and less resistant to damage.

Your unusual origins give you a unique soul for your species.

You gain combat meditation which includes mental time dilation, fear resistance, pain resistance, and the ability to access your soul space for mana manipulation and improvised spell creation.

Unfortunately, your special soul also gives you a minor penalty to social skills.

Evolutions

Silver Cord

Sprite Information Link

Gifts and Traits

Draconic Language

Rhydian Language

Quintessence

Aura Domain

Enhanced Verbs

[Observe] great

[Push] poor

Aspects

Quintessence

Temporal

Frost

Animation

“Once we get enough for another evolution, you can either use it to build your basic foundation, if the dungeon has cleaned enough taint, or get another evolution, perhaps beefy.”

I nodded again, I needed to take off. “I hope you enjoy your new link. It’s time to get busy killing stuff!” Yes, burning experience to heal would suck, but if it kept someone alive it would be totally worth it.

“Goodbye, good luck, and have fun storming the castle!” she cried as I popped out, and I began to wonder where she had picked up the Princess Bride reference.

Mae was staring at me intently as I opened my eyes. I had known she was there but hadn’t realized she was watching my every move. “What?” I asked her, looking down at myself. “Do I have a big booger hanging off my nose or something?” I asked, sweeping a hand across my nose.

She shook her head, smiling a little. “No, I just watched as you lowered your energy significantly, and then immediately added an aspect to your chi.” She said. “That’s normally very difficult, adding aspects, and I don’t know what it is, but you just popped it up in a few minutes like you had it all the time. If you survive to break into the next stage, I will pity your enemies.”

“Break into the next stage?” I asked her curiously.

“Yes. Most cultivators never get past the pure foundation stage. Then, they don’t really need to, since it multiplies their lifespans enormously, grants them great physical attributes, and makes them a respected cultivator. I don’t think we can get the sort of materials you need to break into the body stage, though. Often it takes an entire small clan’s resources to get a single cultivator into that stage.”

“But as an adventurer, we will often encounter vast resources, right?” I asked.

Mae nodded, looking a bit surprised, “Yes, the whole idea of questing can add a lot of potential to get what you need. Even if you have to set up the quests yourself and have other immortals fetch them, you could save enormous amounts of time and money by doing that. Mentheen has a different category of immortals, it uses a different word that means something similar, but we have never had access to these creatures before. They can become more powerful simply by questing, and obtaining certain things could be easy for them, where a cultivator would likely die trying to find them.”

I smiled again at her and got to my feet, drifting over to where Shiana and Rik were staring at the portal. Cassie ambled over, and I said, “Hey Cassie, I got a heal.”

She looked delighted, “You did? Is it a simple heal? That could make a huge difference. It’s not very powerful, but could cut downtime hugely and make things overall safer.”

I shook my head. “Not exactly. As far as I can tell, it takes a small amount of experience to use.”

Cassie looked a bit worried. “Sacrifice heals are very, very powerful, but also dangerous to use. You could suck yourself right down to a lower level or death if you are not careful. It’s good that you have it in case of an emergency, but we had better not count on it. I do feel better at doing this with a bit of emergency preparation, though. It doesn't feel like we are going in half ready.”

Rik looked at the rest of us and then gestured to the portal. “Are we ready? It says that this is a dungeon for level 2-6, with two to four party members. We have five, but it is technically only counting Cassie and Me, because the soulbound count as part of my abilities, so we should be a little overpowered for the dungeon at first, and hopefully the whole time.”

I nodded, followed by nods from the rest of the group, including Shiana. She started to open her mouth to say something, but then, surprisingly, closed it again.

We stepped into the portal.