The Dungeon Without a System

Chapter 58

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The Dungeon, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea

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My little spies quickly infiltrated the walls, floor and ceiling of the room being used to 'scan' my Fungal Key. While once I would have worried about them being spotted, after months of careful breeding and modification my rats were quite adept at escaping the attentions of even the two women with mana-sight.

How did they do this? By being almost entirely manaless.

I couldn't remove the mana from them entirely, of course. It's omnipresent. I could, however, remove as much mana from their bodies as possible. Periodically, they would return to their nests and stand on a disk of metal, enchanted to suck the mana from any being that touches it and send it down a small tunnel to my dungeon.

In this way, the rats would become effectively invisible to mana-sight. It also distanced them from me, in the cases where they were spotted. What dungeon monster would have no mana, after all.

In any case, a dozen tiny ears, eyes and noses gave me a decent view into the room.

"It's... certainly interesting." The Enchanter, a aristocratic-looking older gentleman, stated as he handed the Fungal Key. "It doesn't even seem like a key, there are no tines. It looks more like a rod of fungus with one end bent into a circle. Despite that, it is indeed a key. From what I can intuit, the enchantment it carries is half-formed. It's designed to interact and merge with another, most likely the door you've described. It's quite fascinating."

The gentleman placed the key back down on the table, and looked up at the four guilders around the table.

"It is my understanding you desire me to attempt to duplicate this item, more specifically the enchantment bound to it." He stated, to which he received four respectful nods.

"Yes, Master Enchanter Untique." Neo confirmed. "We weren't sure if it was possible, but being able to make our own keys would greatly lower the difficulty of the Fifth floor." It would. And it would also piss me off. I worked hard on that forest! This would have them bypass a fetch-quest in a zombie-infested forest with ever increasing waves!

I mean, I can understand WHY they want to bypass it, but I'm certainly not going to let them.

However... This is a rare opportunity to watch a human Enchanter at work. No one I've killed has seen one at work, and given their value I don't believe one would willingly enter such a notoriously deadly dungeon.

As they made a few preparations, I settled in to watch with the keen gaze of half-a-dozen rats. One in particular I had managed to give partial-manasight. It was not total, as I was sure Neo and Isid's was. Instead, this rat saw the ebb and flow of mana overlaid over his normal vision. It was slightly psychedelic, and It gave me a few theories to test.

Was total manasight processed by Neo and Isid the result of their normal vision slowly failing over their lives, until some maturation point? Did they gain this trait later in life, and their visual cortex came under such stress that their normal vision shut down? Or were they born with manasight, and had never known the electromagnetic spectrum?

With this single success, I would hopefully be able to replicate the trait into specific members of my other monsters.

My wandering attention sharpened as the Enchanter called for silence.

I watched as his mana swirled in his core, then flowed down his left arm into his hand. In that hand sat the Fungal Key, within a cage of fingers. The mana pooled in his palm for a moment, then six small tendrils split off the circular mass, spreading up his fingers. His fingers twitched, and his face twisted in effort as the mana pierced his skin and drifted down to the key in misty showers of mana.

The mana passed through the key, and my metaphorical eyes widened as a misty copy of the key, made of mana, began to drift with it down into his palm.

OK! That's far enough.

I triggered the kill-switch on that key's pedestal.

In the next instant, the fungal key dissolved into so much mushy slop, the delicate enchantment within ripping itself to pieces. The Enchanter winced, closed his eyes and raised his right hand to his temple.

In his left hand, the slop dripped between his fingers and began pooling on the table below. The man sighed, and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the rest of it off.

"While a good plan, It was not to be." He stated. "The dungeon must have inserted some kind of trap into the enchantment that I was unable to discern. I was halfway through the copying process when it just.. unraveled and tore itself to pieces." He said, as he looked levelly at the Guildmistress.

"Despite the... less than optimal outcome, you will be paid in full for your services, Master Enchanter." Neo stated as she nodded at her assistant, who produced a pouch of jingling coins. "Anything we can learn of this dungeon and it's secrets is worth it's weight in gold, if only to inform and refine any future attempts."

"Much obliged, Guildmistress Losat," the enchanter said with a respectful nod. "As for our... other business?"

"We will discuss it further in my office, if you please. The walls have ears..." Neo stated, staring directly into the eyes of a rat, through the wall.

Shit. They've been away from their nests too long. That particular rat has a light dusting of mana on his fur, rendering him visible to the perceptive Guildmistress. Their cover's blown. Flee, my spies!

To your nests!

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Drake-Kin Village, The Seventh Floor, The Dungeon

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Kata wove through the crowded market, making her way to the fishmonger. Every Drake-kin she passed, she was once again reminded of her new status in the village. Rather than prisoner to be watched, she was a fellow member of the village

None looked at her with that wariness they once had. No double-takes or lingering gazes as they judged if she was behaving. Gazes passed over her with little more than an acknowledgement of 'oh, it's the human.'

Kata, despite still being restricted to the village itself, was taking to her newfound freedom with gusto.

Between the grey and earthy hued scales of the average villager, Kata spied her target.

The fishmonger was a beefy-looking Kobold. Compared to the Drake-kin around him, the differences between the species were as obvious as the similarities.

Where the Drake-kin stood universally taller than six feet with straight spines and lithe muscles, Kobolds stood at an average of 4' 6", with hunched back and a lean, wiry figure.

Kobolds were bipedal lizards, with small horns, large eyes and tails almost as long as they were tall. The Drake-kin were more... refined, in a way. They were still bipedal lizards, of course. However, they possessed smaller eyes set beneath large brows, a shorter, more refined snout and an array of horns in various configurations and arrangements.

A Kobolds' claws were large and indelicate, while a Drake-kin's were closer to scaled hands with sharp, protruding nails.

Kata approached the muscled Kobold with an easy grin and casual posture. "Hey Fisher. How's the family?"

Fisher, for that was his name, gave a toothy grin in response. "Happy, with full bellies! Good haul yesterday. Caught too much, so here I am." The Kobold waved his arms to the sides, drawing Kata's eyes to the selection on display.

Arrowfish by the dozen, a baker's dozen of Silverscales, and three large Bloodfish. There were other fish as well, ones she recognized from the surface.

"How'd you get Arrowfish? I thought they kept cutting through your nets."

"They were. Three weeks work, gone." Fisher claimed, throwing his claws in the air. "Bought a cage. They can get in, but not out. Problem solved!"

"Well done." Kata said, "What's the price on these Bloodfish?"

"Ooooh. You want good stuff, huh? Caught them myself, took an hour each!" The Kobold began, his mercantile nature coming to the fore. "Twenty Talons each!"

Kata set her expression. Time to barter.

"Twenty Talons? You're practically robbing me! They're more than a day old, and from the looks of it you weren't exactly careful when you butchered them. Ten Talons." The Kobold raised a fist to his chest, resting it above his heart.

"Ah! You wound me, Kata. Alright, alright. For you, Eighteen Talons." Kata rolled her eyes.

"Eighteen is still expensive, even for Bloodfish. I think Beater over on the other side of the market could sell me better fish for less," she countered. "Twelve Talons."

"Beater! Beater smacks his fish with club! Fish terrible quality! I use net, and cut into heads. Meat great quality!"

"Never said his catch was good. Just cheaper. I'd be willing to spend less on the fish, even if it's a bit tenderized. Fifteen, and that's my final offer!"

"I can do fifteen. You need cold bag?" Fisher shook Kata's hand, and indicated the neatly folded pile of cloth sacks. Kata pulled fifteen of the silvery, square coins. Each coin was emblazoned with a faceted teardrop on one side, and the other a detailed Drake-kin claw. Hence, their name.

"I'm good. I've got one." Kata replied, pulling a similar bag from her shoulder bag. Hers was emblazoned with a white snowflake, which shimmered in the teal light. Kata collected her fish, passing the coins to the Kobold as she did.

"Ooh. You got a good one. One of Tears?" Fisher asked, a curious glint in his eyes. Kata nodded.

"Aye, Huea gave me one the other day. One of the prototypes, I think?" She opened the bag, which released a brief gust of cold, dry air. "It was a bit too strong, freezes most things solid. Good for long-term preservation though."

"Very... Cool," the Kobold said. Kata groaned.

"I should never have taught you guys about puns." She complained. "How do you come up with them? Half of them I've never even thought about before." Fisher shrugged.

"Only the Creator knows." He stated, briefly closing his eyes and putting his hands together in prayer.

Kata shuffled in place, feeling a little awkward. "Anyway. I've got other stuff to buy. See you next week, then?"

"I'll be right here!" Fisher said as she walked away.

Kata spent the next hour navigating the market. Once she'd bought all she needed, she left for her home. As she walked, she considered the changes in the village. A large number of eggs had hatched recently, leading to small packs of Drake-kin roaming the village at all hours of the day, minded by Drake-kin who could keep them out of too much trouble.

The biggest change, of course, was the introduction of the Talon. The transition from bartering to coinage was relatively smooth, not that Kata had seen such a transition before. The value of an individual Talon was in flux right now, as the villagers worked out what they considered decent prices for goods and services, and what the providers believed their time, effort and product were worth.

The coins themselves were of a silvery metal that glinted under the mana-sun quite pleasingly. It wasn't the same metal used in their armor, nor was it Iron or some other ordinary metal. There was something... ethereal about it.

Kata pulled one of the coins from a pouch, and brought it up to her face. She'd been especially sensitive to mana after her long deprivation, and she could definitely sense the mana in the coin. Supposedly they were enchanted for hardness and heat resistance, to prevent someone from melting them down and using the metal for something else.

Kata was sure there'd be some other enchantments on there, but she wasn't an enchanter, nor did she possess manasight.

She entered her home, and began prepping her dinner. She'd need a decent portion tonight. Tomorrow she was to duel Mushu again. With her mana returned to her, Kata was sure she'd put up a decent fight.

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The Dungeon, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea

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With the human's attempt to copy the Fungal Key in a puddle on the floor, I turned to the Fifth Floor once again. I contemplated the pedestal in the Mushroom Forest, which I had so far prevented from respawning it's key.

If I just let this respawn right away, they'd only come back for this one. I want them to make use of the entire forest. To that end...

I tied the five pedestals to each other. If the number of active keys dropped to three, one of the empty pedestals would spawn a new one. With five pedestals that meant that the majority of the time, two would be 'recharging.' Keep in mind this is active keys. Keys taken from the pedestal are still counted as active. Keys dissolved or used will be considered 'used.'

Isid and co would return to this pedestal to find it empty. I was fairly sure they knew there was more than one pedestal, but just in case...

I had a metal plates embedded into each of the five pedestals and tied them into the counting enchantment. The metal plate would display the number of active keys, and the number of total keys. As I finished, glowing letters appeared on the plate embedded into the empty pedestal. The letters were red.

4/5

A quick check of the other four revealed the same, though the letters were a pleasant green and the messages different.

That done, I moved to the Boss.

The Metal Golem was already close to it's transformation before the fight, and since then it's power has only grown. After the last battle, I had provided it a new core and lens. This time the lens would do more than be an unnecessary weakness. I had originally added it for the aesthetic, but as I had seen, it was more of a hinderance.

This lens was enchanted. Mana channeled into one side would fire out the other as a powerful laser. The new core was larger than the old one, but that meant little in the face of the impending transformation.

I watched eagerly as the Metal Sprite within the Potentium Golem pulled it's mana in, then exploded back outwards in it's new form. The Metal Spirit was much as the same as others transformed within Potentium bodies. The Spirit itself became much more powerful, and the synergy of having a Potentium body AND it being metal just emphasized that.

The body itself, surprisingly enough to me, wasn't some nightmare of bladed tentacles like I expected. Instead, it took on the form of a silvery humanoid, with four hovering blades fanning out from it's back like wings. It's body resembled a Kobold in size, though it's head was very much a human shape, besides the fact that it had no face.

Yup. Just a smooth metal surface.

The lens and core were situated in the chest. Hmmm.

Spirit, Congratulations on your ascension. If you wish, I have a name for you I believe would be appropriate.

... What is the name?

Paragon.

... What does it mean?

It means "The model of excellence." One who exemplifies all the greatest qualities and attributes of their kind.

... I like it.

As I watched it test its new body, I came to a realization. It was far too strong. The reaction of the Platinums to Igna was quite evident of their power, even if they were misidentifying them as Elementals.

Paragon, I believe you would be better suited to a lower floor. One... Not yet built. For now, would you guard my core?

... Very Well.

I led it down to my core room, and set up a younger metal sprite in the boss room. It did not configure itself in quite the same way, but it was similar enough.

Just as I finished getting that all set up, I became aware that the Isid-Haythem-Clich raid had once again entered my dungeon.

I checked how much time had passed, and was surprised that it had only been two days after their last delve. They normally waited longer between these deeper raids.

I wonder what they've prepared.

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Max Porteous, 2022