Chapter 10 - Dungeon Delving

I walk up to the big wooden doors that mark the original entrance to the keep. Pushing against them yields no result, the stone frame itself has warped.

Judging from the map, there is also a fair bit of rubble blocking the doors on the other side as well. Instead, I push aside a bush to find a well used hole.

It's big enough that even a large human could easily crawl through on all fours. Making my way inside, it is pitch dark, only a small bit of the entrance is illuminated by the sunlight outside.

I can sort of make out shapes and forms in the dark, but I'll just end up tripping over things unless I light this place up somehow.

I cast Light (Normal).

The room I'm in is illuminated by a small orb of light hovering above my head, just out of the way so I don't get blinded by it.

Inspecting the room, it seems to have been a sort of office? Rotten shelves once filled with paperwork or books lean against each other. Half a desk lies in a corner, seems the other half has been chewed away by tiny teeth. The floor is stone, although it is covered in a decent layer of dirt, dust and... blood? Here and there, a deep rusty brown color lies in splotches on the ground.

doesn't seem to be anything of interest here, so I move on.

I peek out through the doorway, the door is long gone though. To my left is just a lot of rubble, beyond that is the wooden doors from before. There is a corridor to the right, with a few more openings where I guess doors once were.

Making my way to the closest room, I keep an ear out for movement. I can vaguely hear something moving around somewhere, but it's too faint to make out the direction it is in.

As much as I'd love going in with my spear at the ready, I'm still too wobbly when walking on two legs, so instead I carefully make my way around on all fours.

Standing in the doorway, I scan the room.

Another office? This one has the desk still in its original position, but its lopsided. I make my way around it to check if anything is behind it.

Just when I'm about to go behind the desk, my ears alert to a noise behind me. From out of the corner of my eyes a shadow leaps at me!

I swivel around to face the aggressor, but there's nothing there? A wet "plap" announces that whatever it was missed me. Had it been aiming for where I was going to be? I turn around again. On the floor, near a corner, lays a... puddle? I inspect it.

Unnamed

Species: Slimeling (Celluloid) (Common)

Gender: NA

HP: 4/5

MP: 6/6

SP: 5/5

Attack: 2

Armor: 3 (-1 Vs Fire)

M.Attack: 3

M.Armor: 4 (-1 Vs Fire)

Speed: 10

STR: 2

CON: 2

INT: 3

WIL: 3

DEX: 8

Skills:

Thick Mucous (Lesser)  -  Rapid Digestion (Lesser)

Phagocytosis (Lesser)  -  Regeneration: HP (Lesser)

Regeneration: MP (Lesser)  -  Viscous Body (Lesser - Unique(Celluloid))

Elemental Affinity: Water (Lesser)  -  Hiding (Lesser)

Spells:

Create: Water (Lesser)  -  Water Beam (Lesser)

Social Titles:

Kin Killer - Cannibal

Survivor

*Slimeling*

*A lesser form of the basic Slime. Usually found in great numbers in sewers and other moist places with plenty of organic matter to eat. If needed, Slimes can divide themselves into Slimelings to more easily escape predation. Each Slimeling then becomes a proper Slime once it has fed enough. Usually docile and not a threat to others. If not enough food is available the hungry Slimeling will start actively attacking anything that moves.*

*Rank: 1 Star (one), 3 Stars (A swarm of ten or more)*

I shield my face as a jet of water is shot towards me. The water harmlessly soaks the fur on my hand, not even dealing damage to me.

I almost feel sorry for the thing. It has to have had a hard time if it has social titles such as Cannibal. It fires another water beam.

I don't bother blocking this one. Glancing at its MP, it's empty. But with the MP Regeneration Skill it has, it will be able to fire again soon.

Now, although it isn't a Slime, it can become one. And Slimes have the Simple Shape Body Skill. This sounds cruel, but couldn't I give it food, have it become a Slime, and kill it then?

The Slimeling launches itself at me. I catch it in my hands, taking care that my claws don't extend on accident and pierce it.

It squirms and wiggles in my grasp before enveloping one of my thumbs. A sharp stinging sensation confirms that it has started to digest me. Or at least, it's trying to.

Seems my HP Regeneration outpaces the damage it does?

Regardless, I'd rather not lose limbs to this experiment of mine. Gently removing one of my hands from the Slimeling, I retrieve some pieces of meat, old leftovers I'd stored for a later date before the... incident.

I drop a piece onto the Slimeling. It immediately un-envelopes my thumb in order to consume it.

I gently set the Slimeling onto the floor, and give it more meat. It's kinda amusing to watch.

The pieces are rapidly enveloped into a sort of bubble inside it, and the meat slowly shrinks to nothing as it's digested.

I've run out of leftover meat, so unfortunately I have to use the Quartz Deer meat. I cut it into chunks before giving it to the Slimeling, so it can eat faster.

By now it has doubled its size, at least. I can even see a small core forming in the middle of it.

I spend the next half hour feeding the Slimeling.

A whitish warm glow briefly envelops it, and when I inspect it, it has changed!

Unnamed

Species: Slime (Celluloid) (Common)

Gender: NA

HP: 50

MP: 60

SP: 50

Attack: 25

Armor: 30 (-10 Vs Fire)

M.Attack: 35

M.Armor: 40 (-10 Vs Fire)

Speed: 75

STR: 25

CON: 25

INT: 35

WIL: 35

DEX: 60

Skills:

Thick Mucous (Normal)   -   Rapid Digestion (Great)

Phagocytosis (Normal)  -   Regeneration: HP (Normal)

Regeneration: MP (Lesser)  -   Viscous Body (Normal - Unique(Celluloid))

Elemental Affinity: Water (Normal)   -   Hiding (Lesser)

Simple Shape Body (Lesser - Unique(Celluloid))

Spells:

Create: Water (Lesser)  -  Water Beam (Normal)

Control: Water (Lesser)

Social Titles:

Kin Killer  -  Cannibal

Survivor

*Slime*

*Often called the cleaning crew of Dungeons. Usually non-hostile, but hunger drives it to attack anything that moves. Some eccentric hunters collect their cores, as it is said no two cores share the same pattern, not unlike the fingerprint of a human. Their cores also make decent staff focuses, providing a boost to the power of Water Element Spells*

*Rank: 2 (one), 4 (Hungry group)*

It worked! I had to sacrifice all my food for it though. The newly evolved Slime is cuddling up to me. It seems to have taken a liking to me. No wonder, I fed it a fantastic meal.

But, unfortunately for it, this was also its final meal.

Before it can react, I cast Fracture Armor (Lesser) and Disrupt Will (Lesser) on it, before striking it with a Red Hot Claw (Normal).

The attack shreds its outer membrane, sending boiling innards all over the floor.

*Earned Social Title: Backstabber*

- You attacked and killed someone who trusted you. Others are less likely to trust you after this. *This Title affects future evolution options*

*Earned Social Title: Ruthless*

- Using others for your own gain, regardless of the consequences. Others are more likely to be afraid of you hurting them if they do not obey.

*This Title affects future Evolution options*

*Power Osmosis Activated!*

*Osmosis Successful, displaying results*

*+25 STR, +25 CON, +35 INT, +35 WIL, +60 DEX*

*Skills Obtained:

- Thick Mucous (Normal) - Coats the user in a thick mucous that negates piercing and slashing type attacks. Also makes it difficult to grab a hold of the user

- Rapid Digestion (Great) - Allows the near instant digestion of food.

- Phagocytosis (Normal) - Allows the user to consume food by enveloping it, requires Viscous Body skill to be active to use.

- Regeneration: HP (Normal) replaces Regeneration: HP (Lesser), replaced Skill converted into Skill Expertise. - Recovers 2.5% of users HP per minute, also speeds up limb regeneration.

- Regeneration: MP (Lesser) - Restores 1% of users MP per minute without converting SP, SP conversion still happens if the situation calls for it.

- Viscous Body (Normal - Unique(Celluloid)) - Users body becomes like water, and can stretch and squeeze freely

- Elemental Affinity: Water (Normal) compounds into Elemental Affinity: All (Lesser) and becomes Skill Expertise.

- Hiding (Lesser) is turned into Skill Expertise, Hiding (Lesser) becomes Hiding (Normal)

- Simple Shape Body (Lesser - Unique(Celluloid)) - Lets the user change into other known shapes, though it is easy to spot the difference between the user and the real thing.*

*Spells Obtained:

- Create: Water (Lesser) - Creates a small amount of water. Higher tiers increase amount created at once.

- Water Beam (Normal) - Fires a high pressure water-jet. Higher Tiers increase damage and range of the beam.

-Control: Water (Lesser) - Lets the user control Water as they see fit. Higher tiers reduce MP cost.*

*Updating Stats. Successful*

*Skill Updated: Malleable Body (Lesser) becomes Malleable Body (Normal), Form Edit now available.

Form Edit - Lets the user customize up to two different forms, which can be switched between on the fly, at a cost to SP.*

Egh, I knew I'd get some negative Titles from doing this.

But now!

Now i can mimic things!

Rest in peace little slime, your sacrifice will not be in vain.

But what to do now? I'm out of food (Other than wood...) and I still want to explore more of the dungeon... Maybe I can find more Slimes and get Skill Expertise that way? Hm, So I go out and gather food, then I go back in. Good thing I didn't get very far in before I found the Slimeling.

I make my way back to the entrance of the dungeon. Just as I exit, I hear distant chatter. I can't understand it though. Shouldn't I be able to after hearing it be spoken?

*Do you wish to enable subtitles?*

*Yes - No*

Wh- Wha? Its that simple? I mean, yes! If only I had thought of asking this earlier...

Text starts displaying at the bottom of my field of view. I inch closer to the voices to get a better listen in. I also cancel the Light spell. Don't want to get spotted by mistake.

"Here we are, the Abandoned Keep. Someone recently took out the Boss here, so its perfect for your trial." A male voice says. His tone gives off a no-nonsense vibe.

I don't dare stick my head out to get a look, so for now I just listen in.

"In here you'll face anything from Rats to Mimics to Stonebore Beetles. I think the Boss usually is a Rat King?" A female voice this time, sounds bookish. "Anyway, we'll back you up, so just do your best!"

"I- I'll try..." A quiet voice, another female. "Now, now, put more energy into it!" A deep male voice. He sounds like a jovial fellow.

"I'll try my best!" The quiet female repeats, with a bit more gusto this time. "That's the spirit!" followed by a hearty laugh.

"Come now, the quicker we get started the more time we'll have before nightfall." Mr. no nonsense hurries the others along. I wait until they have entered the Dungeon before quietly following after them. I want to listen in as much as I can to build Skill Expertise for the Language Comprehension Skill for the language they talk.

"The first floor of a dungeon is usually empty, maybe a Slimeling or a few small monsters loitering around." The bookish woman seems to be explaining the general enemy layout of a dungeon.

"Once you get a floor or two up or down, depending on the type of dungeon, you start encountering more and more monsters, and they get progressively stronger." I carefully peek out into the hallway. I can see their backs at the end of the hallway. Seems one of them has a Light spell active.

"And then at the bottom, or top, you find the Boss, usually. Sometimes the boss roams the dungeon, so you might even encounter it on the first floor."

"That sounds terrible." The shy girl remarks. It does sound terrible, doesn't it. Just entering a dungeon and BAM, big bad Boss in your face!

They're moving downstairs now. I follow along, keeping a good distance to them.

"Ah, a welcome party." The deep voiced man exclaims. "Rockbore Beetles make their nests in caves and sometimes dungeons. They like the processed stone better than natural I've heard."

The Rockbore beetles make a threatening "clck clck clck" with their mandibles. I then hear an odd whirring sound. It sounds like a mechanical drill? I peek around the corner and observe the scene. Three Rockbore beetles are posturing at the humans.

Well, now that I have a better look at them, not all of them are human.

The man I assume is Mr. No-nonsense has cat-like ears and a big fluffy tail poking out of his trousers. He's a beast-man?

*He is of the Beast Folk, the people blessed by Earth*

Aha. Then, the other man, stout, stocky, muscular. He has a pair of horns sticking out of his forehead and has what looks like welding goggles over his eyes. A demon?

*A Minars, blessed by Dark.*

So like the dwarves of fantasy? Then there's the bookish lady, she looks human. Nothing odd here.

*Human, Blessed by Life*

And finally the shy girl. She looks a lot younger than the others, and from the way they talked earlier, I'm guessing shes taking some sort of test? Lithe, elegant. Pointy ears and tufts of feathers in her hair.

*Ayvin, blessed by Air*

Shes like an elf. So I'm guessing there's a Humanoid for each base element?

*Correct, save for Death, as that is a blessing granted to all things*

How poetic.

They're fighting the beetles now. Mr. no-nonsense is wielding a bow, the "dwarf" wields a mace and shield. The human is a mage it seems. And the elf? Shes dual-wielding short-swords.

They have a good setup.

The elf takes the lead. Her moves are graceful and fast. Like she's dancing between the beetles. The human mage rains cut upon cut upon them, seemingly formed out of air?

*Having observed the Spell: Wind Blade, you have learnt how to cast it on your own!*

*Spell learned: Wind Blade (Lesser)*

- Casts a sharp blade of air at the foe. higher tiers increase width and speed of the blade*

Oh nice! I can learn spells just by observing! That's super useful. I'm so glad I decided to tail them.

The dwarf is dealing the final blows to the beetles with his mace. Since the ranger did nothing, I guess using arrows against the hard exoskeleton of the beetles is a waste of arrows?

AH! the girl is looking this way!

I quickly pull back around the corner. Did she notice me?

"What are you looking at? Something up there?" The ranger asks. "No, I just thought someone was watching us." The elf replies.

"Someone? Like, a person? Shouldn't be anyone around here though. Most people are smart enough to stay away from these places." The dwarf huffs. "Should we check it out? Just to be sure?" The mage sounds concerned.

Please don't.

"Let's continue, we don't have time for faffing about. We gotta be out of the forest by nightfall."

The ranger takes charge, I'm guessing hes the most senior? Or the leader of the bunch. I wait for their footfalls to get quiet before following after them. I quickly inspect the beetles.

*Rockbore Beetle*

*Closely related to the Logbore genus. This Insectoid monster makes its home in caves or abandoned stone structures, boring into the rock and eating the resulting gravel. Their carapaces are rock solid and their elytra (the protective wing-like structure that covers the flight wings) make decent shields when processed. They possess a super hard, drill-like horn on their head that can inflict terrible injuries upon anyone unfortunate enough to stumble upon a nest.*

*Rating: 3 Stars*

They left the bodies behind? To pick up on the way out, or? Do I take them? Hmm... Let's leave them for now, and if they don't pick them up on the way out I'll take them. Sounds fair.

I walk towards the sound of more battle. The squeaks reveal the enemy to be rats?

Well, they're certainly much bigger than rats from my world. By at least twice. They've lost some of the cuteness I think, when they're that big.

Seems there's a lot of them too.

"Why do they keep coming?" The dwarf sounds exasperated. And a bit out of breath. "I'm running out of MP, guys." The mage informs. "Something is wrong, there shouldn't be this many monsters, the dungeon is still creating a new Boss." The ranger sounds concerned.

Meanwhile, the elf dances among the rodents. Covered in rat-blood and viscera.

She looks to be in some sort of trance?

"Do we retreat? Things are getting hairy, and we're without a healer." The dwarf asks as he blocks a rat with his shield.

"They'll just follow us. We have to persevere."

I take a glance at one of the rats.

Unnamed

Species: Rat (Mammaloid) (Common)

Gender: Female

Status: Diseased: Blood Lung (Normal), Boon of Fertility (Normal)

HP: 20 (-20)

MP: 5

SP: 30 (-10)

Attack: 50

Armor: 45 (-10 Vs Light, +10 Vs Dark)

M.Attack: 5

M.Armor: 20 (-10 Vs Light, +10 Vs Dark)

Speed: 60

STR: 50

CON: 30

INT: 5

WIL: 15

DEX: 50

Skills:

Sharp Teeth (Normal)  -  Condition Resistance: Disease (Great)

Keen Hearing (Normal)  -  Keen Smelling (Normal)

It carries a disease? That's not good. I check the adventurers. All clear for now. But this is bad, they can't move forward, because of the rats, and they don't dare retreat of fear of being attacked from behind.

Unless they run out of rats soon, they'll be overrun. Do I help them? What if they think I'm also hostile?

My choice is made for me, however, as the elf falters. Did she tire out?

"Ah, I'm sorry, I'm all spent." She says, before collapsing to the floor.

The rats immediately descend upon her.

I move on instinct. Using Guard Share, I share my Physical, Fire and Burn resistances with the elf. Launching several Fireball (Lesser) at the rats coming down the corridor to join the fight, I get in front of the pile of rats covering the elf. I let loose a jet of Fire breath.

The rats scream in pain and fear, and the ones that survive make a hasty retreat. Seems that I'm a bigger threat than four Humanoid adventurers?

I quickly check the elf. She's mostly unhurt by the fire, but severely bitten and scratched by the rats. I cast Heal (Normal) and Cure (Normal) on her, before chasing the rats down the corridor.

If I provide enough of an opening, the adventurers should be able to flee.

I'm driving the rats before me, like some hellish sheep-dog. I chase in and out of rooms, making sure that as few as possible manage to get past me.

As I round a corner, I get to a large circular room at the bottom of a staircase. My fur stands on end. I can almost taste the Magic in the air.

The floor is literally crawling with rats. My bravado is faltering rapidly.

Didn't they say the boss was just defeated? Did they lie to them?

But it was inactive before I entered. I don't understand...

What I'm seeing before me is a single cohesive mass of rat. In my old world, a rat king is made when the tails of several rats get tangled together (~google rat king if you're curious~).

Seems in this world, a Rat King is much worse.

I Inspect it.

Abandoned Keep Boss

Species: Rat King (Mammaloid) (Rare)

Gender: NA

HP: 1000/1000 (Shedding type)

MP: 50/50

SP: 750/750

Attack: 250 (+50)

Armor: 250 (-50 Vs Light, +50 Vs Dark)

M.Attack: 50 (+25)

M.Armor: 150 (-50 Vs Light, +50 Vs Dark)

Speed: 100

STR: 200 *MAX*

CON: 200 *MAX*

INT: 25 *MAX*

WIL: 100 *MAX*

DEX: 90 *MAX*

Skills:

Plaguebearer (Normal)  -  Hivemind (Grand)

Remote Body Control (Normal)  - Elemental Affinity: Death (Lesser)

Boon of Fertility (Normal)

Spells:

Withering (Lesser)  -  Curse (Lesser)

Social Titles:

Dungeon Boss  -  Leader

Ruthless  -  Cruel

*Rat King*

*Its body is made up of an innumerable amount of rats, with a sole rat serving as the brain of the monster. Its HP behaves uniquely in that it cannot heal lost HP by normal means, only by absorbing more rats into the mass. This is its only weakness, and a well placed oil-jar and a lit torch can decimate it in seconds. Even getting within eyesight of one is dangerous, as it will use its Death Element spells and Plaguebearer Skill to great effect. Usually acts as the Boss of low to mid difficulty Dungeons, but can very rarely be found in the wild as the next stage of evolution for a Bubonic Rat.*

*Rank: 6 Stars*

All its stats are maxed. And I guess the "shedding type" HP means that as it takes damage it loses that HP permanently?

I COULD try to fight it. but I fear that thing would take me out rather quickly.

Wait. Can't I...

I double check my storage. I still have them!

The soggy lumps of Waxleaf and Foolsbane mush!

Could I use Abstract positioning to drop them onto the Rat King? But would the Toxic wear off once the rats afflicted with it die? I guess I could try once?

I position a lump of toxic plant-matter over the middle of its mass. If I got lucky, I'd hit the brain first try and instantly kill it. That'd be funny.

I drop it. It falls gracefully through the air, before landing on top of the rat king with a soggy plop. A shudder goes through the mass.

Did it work? As I look, its HP rapidly decreases to around 800 before stopping.

Another shudder, and it deposits a sizable chunk of dead rats onto the floor.

How many payloads do I have left? Eight. If it keeps taking two hundred damage per hit it should go down in four more?

As I ponder this, the rats not forming the Rat King have grown tired of my presence. That, or they figured out I'm the one who hurt their King. One or the other.

Hissing and squeaking at me, they advance up the stairs. Is the King unable to maneuver the stairs? I'd rather not find out.

I breathe fire down the stairs. Any bravery they had has left them. Seems the fire is scaring them, but the mage was using fireballs on them too, and they didn't care?

*Kobolds are expert ratters. You using a Skill that comes from a Kobold would naturally make them scared*

Is it really that simple? They recognize the skill and are like "oh no a Kobold!" I guess? Whatever, it's keeping them at bay, so I don't care too much.

I position and drop another Waxleaf/Foolsbane blob.

Another two hundred HP gone.

However, it seems to have noticed me. It's making its way towards the stairs. Crap. Didn't it mention something about getting within eyesight of it?

I would retreat, but then I'd just drag the King over to the adventurers.

I guess I have to fight it now. Let's try a Blind on it.

As I cast Blind (Lesser), the entire Rat King is covered in darkness. I guess it has to cover all the eyes.

Launching off the stairs, I glide over it whilst spewing Fire Breath upon it.

I land at the opposite side of the room, and turn around just as the blind wears off.

*Status updated: Wither (Lesser)*

*Dexterity was reduced by 50!*

I feel my movements slow down. So that's what Withering does? It drops my Dexterity?

*Withering is a Spell that lowers a random Core Stat (Strength etc.) for a while. It can be cured with the Cure spell. Its other spell, Curse, disables the use of a random selection of skills. The higher the Tier of the Skill, the higher the chance it is disable-*

*Status Updated: Curse (Lesser)*

*3 Skills were sealed!*

Just then all my information displays cut out. What happened?

I cant read my own status anymore?

D-did it seal Innate World Knowledge? It cut out in the middle of explaining something.

Getting distracted got me cursed! I don't even know what I have still.

The Rat King is approaching me. Even though it has reduced decently in size from me dropping poison on it, it is still bigger than me by a lot.

Okay, lets just test things out until I can figure out whats disabled.

Fire breath? Nope.

Shit.

I get down on all fours and sprint to another side of the room. I'm still slightly faster than the Rat King, so I can gain some distance on it.

I try a Radiant Beam, wasn't it weak to Light damage?

Nothing.

So... I lost World Knowledge, Elemental Affinity: All, and Fire Breath.

All my ranged options are gone.

Tiring of my game of keep-away, the rat king speeds up. Or did I slow down again?

my status updates aren't coming in anymore.

Wait, don't I have that skill...

I open my mouth, and my tongue shoots out at alarming speed. It has an impressive reach, also. So I can still do something!

Combining the Thick Mucous Skill with the Tongue Action Skill, I make the end of my tongue sticky. Now I can whittle away at it!

Edging closer, I launch my tongue at the mass of rats. Retracting it, I drag a rat along with it.

I bring it into my mouth and bite down. The warmth in my chest tells me it dies instantly.

Of course, I have no way to actually tell how much damage taking out a single rat does. But, if I keep whittling at the mass, I should be able to excavate its brain.

Also, shouldn't I still be able to drop things on it?

In my panic I forgot. Whoops.

Striking it once again with my tongue, I hit it with some paralyzing saliva this time.

Having slowed it down a little, I get some distance before dropping another glob of poison at it.

It seems less effective though. Did it gain resistances?

I feel myself weaken again. Is it repeatedly casting Withering at me?

The longer this goes on, the worse things get for me. It's faster than me now. Doesn't help that I'm starting to notice the effect of being awake for a long time.

The moment it gets close enough, it strikes me with a tentacle formed of rats hanging onto each others tails, like a messed up daisy-chain. The strike knocks me to the ground.

Shit, get up, get up...

Before I can get away, the rats envelop me.

Ah, so this is how it ends... bitten to death by rats...

No! Don't give up! I cant give up!

I struggle against the torrent of bites.

Shit, it hurts... I'm fading...

*Consume*

Hm? Eat? Oh right, Phagocytosis...

*Devour the weak*

My body liquefies as I activate Viscous Body. I can feel rat after rat being engulfed by my form. The King is trying to pull away, but it is too late.

By the second I'm swallowing up more and more of it. Each rat that is swallowed up is nearly instantly digested.

My gaze shifts. In my delirium I can see the Heart. It is hovering in the exact middle of the room. Magic streams, shifts and swirls in bands emanating from the center.

*Feed. Grow strong.*

Ah yes, eating the Heart sounds like a good idea... With the last of the Rat King devoured, I reach my entire being towards the glimmering heart.

I touch it.

I embrace it.

I devour it.

...

I fall asleep.