Aurora

I stepped back from the wall. A mural depicting the scene from last night almost glowed in the dim light of the cavern. I was pleased with how ferocious my vampires looked as they tore through the weak goblins. A smile formed when I got a notification from the system.

Mural of Slaughter – You have created a work of art that will shake the very mind of anyone that sees it. Being a dungeon core, the artwork is endued with magic allowing it to persist through the ages of time. All troops created by the dungeon that witness this work of art will have their combat strength increased by five percent for a year.

That was interesting that it only lasted a year. Though, it made sense. Artwork was just like that. No matter how famous it was, most people would forget about it quickly. It would only take a few weeks for some while others could go much longer and still be able to recall something they had seen.

While the mural I created was on par or perhaps even better than the one I created that brought the demon lord back, the piece of art still hadn’t registered as legendary, only clocking in at Epic. The cooldown for that was coming to an end soon, however. I needed to think about what I wanted to create so I was ready. I had caused worldwide problems last time. With my knowledge of my situation a little clearer, I wanted to see what sort of trouble I really could get up to.

I cleaned my hands then headed for my throne room. I had a few things to take care of and needed to think about what I wanted to do. I had leveled up personally, putting me at eleven. However, I didn’t get a spell this time. Instead, it looked like I got a boost to a stat of my choose. That didn’t mean the list was any shorter. In fact, it was several times longer.

I sat down and pulled my menus open only for a sound of footsteps to distract me. I looked away from the glowing magical screen and found Everild coming toward me with an excited expression. “My queen! I have done it!”

Closing the menus, I waved him closer. He knelt in front of me holding a cushion with three identical rings and a necklace on it. Since I had ordered him to focus on mental abilities, these should meet those requirements. I picked up one of the rings. It had a ruby in the center of it, which I realized quickly was actually the red crystal that we were digging up. The silver band was a nice touch. I slipped it on to check the effects.

Ring of the Seer – Unique – Mental Abilities gain a 5% increase in strength. Peering at the ring from several angles, I nodded, pleased with it. I didn’t expect something game breaking from the start. Every little thing helps. Adding the other rings, gave me a fifteen percent increase.

I gestured to the necklace next and Everild got the hint. He quickly moved around the chair and helped me put it on. If I paid my creatures, I would have had to give Everild a raise. The necklace was beautiful, with a gold chain and what looked like a moonstone. We had gotten both from my trip to the city beneath us. Necklace of Lament – Unique (+) – Mental Abilities gain a 25% increase in strength.

“These are quite impressive, Everild. Continue to work on these.”

He rapidly bowed his head over and over. “Of course, your majesty.”

He backed out of the room and silence returned to the room. I pulled up the status screens again only to get interrupted by York. I sighed and closed the screens to look at the demon. “What is it?” I asked doing my best not to snap at him.

“My queen. I have finally created a new version of the Mana Pistol. It should be able to handle a few more shoots from your magic at full power.” He held out a pistol. The crystal reminded me of glass. A band of metal wrapped around it to add strength, or at least, that was my assumption. It was heavier and a bit longer than my previous models, but it felt good in my hand.

“Thank you, York. I will test it out when I am done here.”

Leaning on the arm of my chair, I looked through my status screen. The little massacre last night had finally given the dungeon enough experience to level up. When I thought about how much killing it had taken to raise it and instantly started to dread for the future. Either way, I had to take care of the rewards of leveling up.

I swore I heard something in my head snap as another person called for my attention. Closing the menus again, I looked up to find Zaras. I sighed decided that I would worry about it later.

~~~

I stretched as I leapt down from the tree. Maxwell’s village was awake and busy as usual. Judging from the smell in the air, it seemed like breakfast was well under way. I dusted myself off before heading for the cooks. Not that I was going to eat anything. These bodies lived on mana for the most part.

“You smell weird.” I jumped at the voice. I looked behind me to find a blue head of hair. The body it belonged to was a short girl. Moving my gaze down, I found a cute looking child that looked to be around ten or eleven years old of what would be Earth Asian descent.

I smiled as best I could. “Must need a bath…” I remarked. This body had been outdoors then entirety of its life.

“That too,” my twitched at her tone. “But there’s something else.”

I ran my hand through my hair, nervously. “Not sure what you mean.” I might be best not to leave this body just lying around. This person looked like a child, but something was telling me that wasn’t quite the case. That was only hammered home when she smiled revealing a row of shark like teeth.

“Well, not that I care.” With that, the girl skipped away like she didn’t have a care in the world. I couldn’t help staring after her for a while. Since she wasn’t outright hostile, I would take it as a win for now. I reached up and wiped my hand across my forehead.

I glared at my hand that was covered in sweat before I grinned. “Looks like there’s something a bit more dangerous to that girl than meets the eye.” I hadn’t sensed anything, but my body was smarter than me it would seem.