Upon opening my eyes, anticipation creeps over me that I have been suppressing since last night.
The novelty of waking up and getting dressed.
I withdraw my clothes from my inventory and place them next to me, I set my boots on the floor. Rather than equip it, I just want to put them on myself. I take my time with it appreciating every piece of clothing. Socks, shirt, underwear and pants, every piece feels superb. I put each boot and strap them up at the top.
When I''m finished I feel fantastic.
Then I remember the stalker and I suddenly realise that Temi is also a girl, I think.
Nevermind, from now on my modesty will always be well contained within my new boxer shorts, which I will equip before even getting out of bed.
I don''t feel like eating a chicken stew for the third time and it''s hardly the time of day for it, so I head down to the kitchen to try my hand at breakfast. It takes a while and even a cure spell but after an hour or two and a fully wasted pig monster, I have successfully conquered breakfast, whilst acquiring two level-ups in the process. I could probably ask Abi to make me breakfast and pick it up on the next floor, but she won''t be with me forever and I need to get used to this myself.
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 98.4169%">
Skill: Butchery Level 1 has reached Level 2
Skill: Cooking Level 1 has reached Level 2
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
This dungeon seems to be the perfect place for me to acquire skills. Even if some of them where oddly obtained or harder to earn than others, they all have a place in my status.
"I could be a master chef by the time I leave this dungeon."
''It''s not likely.''
Ouch, where''s my back up Temi. Don''t tell me we''re back into ''denial over a possible existence'' phase again.
"I will at least have mediocre skills though, right?"
''Oh yes, definitely.''
Nevermind, disaster averted, no problems here.
She''s fine after that self-deprecating line. Making my self sound terrible always seems to cheer her up and I''m in such a good mood, that I''m not even bothered by it.
Off to floor 26, we go.
It''s magic time and I wonder has to say this morning.
Yesterday we talked about quite a few topics before I called it a day. Turns out that that dungeon Morte is in the middle of nowhere, not many adventures pass by this way, according to Abi. The ones that do try and take her on when they stumble across the entrance, never leave after they have entered. Apparently, she can be very tricky, also her DP is just like my mana as it regenerates over time and she can summon whatever she knows about with it. Does that mean I can summon monsters as she can? I''ll have to run an experiment on that with the other spells I''m going to try. I wonder if they will be loyal to me, like Abi''s monsters are to her or will they be feral. Maybe I''ll earn a new skill, that seems to be how it goes here, right?
Upon reaching floor 26 there''s a fresh note from Abi under the regular stone.
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 98.4169%">
Dear Erin,
I hope your sleep was pleasant and restful, I also wish you luck in your training today. Try your best and do not waver and you will earn this dungeons favour.
How do you like that one?
Anyway, I won''t keep you today, good luck Erin.
See what I did there? Hehe!
Abi x x
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Well, that was a short one. Yesterday I was also rhyming to Abi and Temi, it has kind of worn off on Abi, as you can tell. She''s trying her best though, even if she did explain it to me when it was easily seeable, so I''ll let her pass.
"Hehe, nice one Abi."
''It was ok.''
"Don''t you have any before we begin, my favourite sensei who we never call dim?"
........
"Come on Temi, it was a joke, don''t get your imaginary knickers in a twist."
''Erin, you are such a fool, especially when you sleep and drool.''
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Ha....haha.
"Hahaha. That was really good. Well done."
''Do not mock me. And why would my knickers be twisted? I don''t even wear knickers!''
That''s it, I''m done before I''ve even started. On the ground, crunched up, laughing away. I wonder how it''s possible for Temi to be even funnier when she''s not trying.
Eventually, I calm down, explaining to Temi about another phrase that I don''t fully understand either, from my old world. Now that''s over it''s time for some magic practice!
It didn''t take long to exhaust my mana, literally, I had been at it for less than five minutes. Totally ignoring Temi''s advice ''this time'', I dove straight into the deep end, casting godly magic from the depths of my mind. I earned a good couple of spells, but using them straight after each other in a row, depleted my mana like never before. Not that I ever really had this much to deplete to such a degree in the first place. It also earned me an ear-bashing from Temi, where I had to apologise multiple times before she would let it go.
When''s nice mode going to settle in for the long haul and commit. Anyway, my brief time as a super magus went like this.
Whilst deeply submerged in my arcane tower of destitute that I call my imagination, I cast a flaming vortex spell with each hand roasting both large boars that were stationed in front of me within seconds. The two spells working side by side, made both my hands envelope with eternal flames that then got pulled into an immense vacuum, swirling through the sky towards my dinner... I mean enemies.
Amazed at the raw power that had just come out of my fingertips, I decided to cast the next spell I had been waiting patiently to cast ever since I acquired enough mana and space. There are no enemies left as they must have run off after I roasted both boars, in which case I chose to use the two flaming boars for target practice instead.
Conjuring up the sharpest points I could imagine, two extremely large Ice Spears appear, one over each hand. Just floating there for a moment I once again took in the surreal sight before me and I was reminded of how wonderful this new world actually is, albeit dangerous as hell at the same time. With my though over, I gathered my strength in both arms and launched each one forward towards a burning boar, both hitting their mark with ease.
I wonder if there''s an auto-aim feature?
Thinking of Abi and Temi alike and my dilemma on how to help both, I decided to try a summoning spell to see if I could manage it successfully. It was actually really easy again and I summoned two different elemental beings at once. This earned me a minuscule amount of Temi''s praise but I take what I can get and I accepted happily. Two spells at once are really costly, but they make me look awesome, I''ll have to ask what Abi''s opinion is on it later.
I tried to imagine more magic, but it appeared my tower of fortitude only had four books, and one of them is a repeat as I could only picture one other spell and it just involves destruction.
Either way, I was still going to test it and I was most definitely going to do it double-handed too, that shit is the best.
Hehehe.
I gathered my thoughts and cried out.
"Explosion!"
Before my eyes, a little too close for comfort is something I really hope the owner can fix without too much a problem.
So to sum up my 4-minute magic session, Temi had a good laugh, I nearly lost what hair is growing back again and I''m pretty sure Abi will have something to say about the two gigantic craters in her floor when I return after leaving. ell its that bad, there might even be a letter as soon as I leave this floor. She said she didn''t mind and to try my best, right?
Anyway, right now, this is how I''m looking.
<table style="width: 89.9736%" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 43.9882%">Name: Erin</td>
<td style="width: 51.613%">Health: 139/139</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 43.9882%">Race: Divine Being</td>
<td style="width: 51.613%">Mana: 115/115</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 43.9882%">Level: 17</td>
<td style="width: 51.613%">Stamina: 86/86</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 43.9882%">Title: Goblin Slayer</td>
<td style="width: 51.613%">Class: Dark Knight Level 9</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 43.9882%">Special Attribute points : 0</td>
<td style="width: 51.613%">Dark Knight Points : 0</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="width: 89.9736%" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 21.5543%">STR</td>
<td style="width: 20.3812%">125</td>
<td style="width: 21.9941%">WIS</td>
<td style="width: 27.566%">89</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 21.5543%">MAG</td>
<td style="width: 20.3812%">90</td>
<td style="width: 21.9941%">VIT</td>
<td style="width: 27.566%">96</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 21.5543%">AGI</td>
<td style="width: 20.3812%">100</td>
<td style="width: 21.9941%">INT</td>
<td style="width: 27.566%">90</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 21.5543%">LUCK</td>
<td style="width: 20.3812%">2</td>
<td style="width: 21.9941%">DEX</td>
<td style="width: 27.566%">87</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Skills</td>
<td>Spells</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
Night Vision Level 7
Starvation Level 3
Fear Mastery Level 5
Pain Resistance Level 4
Mental Resistance Level 3
Poison Resistance Level 3
Paralysis Resistance Level 4
Sleep Resistance Level 2
Overpower Level 3
Fear Level 3
Dark Slash Level 4
Sword Mastery Level 3
Unarmed Combat Mastery Level 1
Dodge Level 2
</td>
<td>
Sphere of Illuminating Light
Fire Wall
Identify
Cure
Gravity Ball
Angelic Fountain of Everlasting Water
Burning Vortex ( New )
Explosion ( New )
Ice Lance ( New )
Summon Dark Elemental ( New )
Summon Light Elemental ( New )
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
I know I say it a lot but, I know right!
I could probably match Eto in a one on one fight right now, probably, maybe... Well, it''s debatable.
Anyway, this is what I''ve learned so far.
There''s isn''t many elements but when you combine them, they can change based on which combinations you go with. For example, with fire magic not only can I create heat, but I can also take it away. So when I then combine it with water not only can I make steam, but I can use it to make ice as well. To do this I also have to use time magic to speed up the process of the creation, or so Temi said. Who would have thought it, fire and water making ice with time?
Definitely not me!
That''s what Temi told me actually happens and how the people of Tironia conjure magic believing all those rules. All I actually did, was imagine a spear of ice and then I threw it through the air like Zeus with his lightning bolts.
Oh.
Lightning bolts, that''s next.
Once again feeling like a child I dive straight back into my practice.
Electricity arcing around both arms, I fire off the shots into the irrecognisable carcasses of the two boars until I start to feel my mana running even lower.
Multiple element spells are very costly.
My status actually says that I have 21 mana points remaining and now shows Lightning in my list of spells, they don''t look so bad when compared next to my skills now. Calculating my mana usage on what Temi told me about adding elemental costs, the amount matches up with what I believe I have used, including the four minutes worth of regeneration as well. The small pain in my head is nothing compared to the early days, it must happen when it drops below anything lower than a certain percentage and then gets worse the further you go into the red.
Anyway, that''s enough practice, for now, it''s still breakfast time but I''m starving now that I''ve used up my mana supply. I suppose it''s chicken stew again for me then...
As nice as it was in the beginning, the repetitiveness of the meal is taking a little toll. It''s still delicious but I need more variety. Do I have to stop back at the goblin village before going to the next floor one more time? It would make sense I suppose, preparation is the key to victory. I could use a good few pots of food and it''s not like I don''t have the perfect space to store it in.
"That settles it, I''m going back to the Goblin Village one more time. I need to produce more varieties of meals for this expedition through the dungeon."
''Don''t you already have a sufficient amount of meals in your pot?''
"Yea, but that''s just chicken stew. I need more Temi, remember when I said you will understand after tasting for the first time. Trust me, you really will understand."
''I believe you, Erin, I also look forward to the day when I can test that theory out.''
That was the most she''s spoken on the subject since I started bringing it up. I''m not filling her with false hope as I really do want to create her a body. I reckon she will enjoy this world just as much as I am, if not more, as soon as we get out of the Abi and find some type of civilisation. But for now, it''s time to cook, not too mention I really want to leave this floor to see if Abi is pissed off or not and to see if she can clean up my mess?
That would be awesome. Dungeons are actually quite cool, don''t you think?