"Bring out yer dead!"

*clang*

"Bring out yer dead!"

*clang*

...

"Who's that?"

"Oh! That's Bob! He's a local [Necromancer] and [Artist]. He holds an art class every week and he designed the chandelier for the chapel last year."

"Oh wow! That was an impressive installation. What a strange mix of skills though. I wonder what drew him to that?"

"I don't know, but if it prevents him from razing the countryside, then I support his artistic endeavors."

"Hmm... quite."

-- Overheard Conversation, Streets of Lenoria. From, "The Best of the Joy of Bones." AC 892.

...

[Ninja]Star!!!!"

"Whoa! You're a [Ninja]! What's a [Ninja]?"

The starfish deflates a little, suddenly hesitant. "Err, I'm still working on figuring that out. It looks like I'm supposed to attack from the shadows? But I'm slow, and I have to plan it out. I can only do a couple of attacks before I run out of legs and mana."

Talk of legs remind me of my own situation. I shuffle a bit self-consciously.

"Ah... yeah, I'm missing a leg too. Are you going to be okay? I still haven't figured out how to get mine back yet."

She waves an arm in dismissal.

"Oh, I'll be fine! I can grow them back in a day or so."

I feel a subtle wave of jealousy rise up. A day? Her legs grow back in a day? I want my legs to grow back in a day... Well, at least she doesn't have a shiny carapace like mine. She looks more squishy than anything else, so at least I have that going for me. I dismiss the unhelpful thoughts and focus on what else she said,

"You said you're still working on figuring that out? What does that mean?"

She floats back to the ground and begins moving towards the dissolving boss.

"I got my class a couple of weeks ago! It had a bunch of [Knowledge] and [Lore] to go with it, but I don't really understand it all yet... I imagine you're in the same seashell right? Having just awakened in the dungeon and all."

Her words evoke a wave of confusion, and I realize she must be misunderstanding the situation.

"I didn't awaken here in the dungeon. I'm from outside! I'm trying to find my way out."

...

......

She freezes, her movements halting and then rushes back to me. Her arms wave about in excitement as she starts rambling, just as I had.

"You're from outside? How is it like out there? How did you get in? Is the entrance still there? Are there others with you?"

I wave a claw to try to calm her down.

"Whoa! Whoa, it's just me here. How about we sit down and I'll tell you my story."

I begin to recount my experiences, letting her know of the impromptu teleportation and the trouble with the gods. She listens attentively, only interrupting now and then to clarify matters.

"...and after I passed the sphinx, I entered here... What about you? What are you doing here? How are you talking?"

As I ask my questions, I pay attention to her answer. Her response verifies my suspicions as I activate [Mana Sense] and see her doing... something... with the mana around her.

"Oh? This is [Mana Speech]. Its a skill that lets me vibrate the water around me to produce sound. As for what I'm doing here? Well, I'm stationed here at the boss room for any other dungeon creatures that make it this far. We haven't had anyone awaken or show up in a long time, the others will be so excited!"

"Others?"

"Yep! Dungeon monsters can become [sentient] when they meet certain stat thresholds. As for [sapience]... well that only happens when they get a class, like us, or if they spend enough time gaining knowledge and life experiences. In the second case, they tend to be more... in touch with their animal side."

I nod, thinking her words through.

"That makes sense." I shudder, thinking about what would have happened if I gained [sapience] the usual way. I imagine I would be roaming the dungeon, trying to eat everything in sight and hiding all the time. I'd probably be one angry crab. I dismiss thoughts of Angry Crabby and focus on what else she said,

"So, there's a bunch of [sapient] dungeon monsters somewhere around here, looking for others like them?"

"Yep! I'll take you to them in a bit. But before that, let's see what rewards dropped!"

Oh right! The boss! I join her as the creature completely disappears and a small pedestal rises from the sand. On the pedestal are two items; a token, and a small piece of shimmering crab meat. I start to reach out to grab them before remembering Luna.

"Err... do you want to...?"

"No! No! Go ahead," she waves an arm at me. "This is your first boss drop and I've taken down this guy before." She pats the ground beside her.

"Okay!" As my claw touches the token, it dissipates; mirroring the vanishing dungeon monsters. Bits of mana absorb into my shell as I say,

"What the...?"

'ding'

Congratulations!

You have cleared the first of ten floors!

You have received the first floor token*!

*Token's allow you to return to this floor to resume your progress.

"A token? What does this do exactly?"

Luna waves an arm,

"We're all based out of the safe zone between levels five and six. I can take you directly there, but you can't go backwards or forwards unless you've cleared the corresponding level. So you'll have to start with level two if you want to continue on."

I nod, considering her words, before moving onto the other reward. It looks like a small piece of crab meat, just like any other I've seen. A faint glimmer on it's surface hints at something though... I activate [Mana sense] to look at it and the light almost blinds me. There's a ton of power in this thing. I lift it up in my claw and turn to Luna.

"Do you know what this is? It looks just like crab meat but it's chocked full of mana."

Luna shrugs,

"Eh, just eat it. Dungeons are bound to only offer helpful rewards for boss encounters."

That's good information to know. I lift the small piece to my mouth and throw it in. The meat sizzles, almost like little popping rocks that agitate about as I chew.

*swallow*

As it hits my stomach, I look down at my claws and bring up my status.

Hmm... well that doesn't appear to have done anything. I think it's just shiny mana meat? Oh well, I guess...

*gurgle*

I lean over, claws clutching my mid-section. My stomach is rumbling, minor pain radiating out from inside as the meat begins to dissolve. It's releasing mana into my system... alot of mana.

"Are you okay? What's going on?" Luna worriedly raises an arm.

"I'm *burp* okay... *grumble*... I just, need a second to process... just...*blub* need a second."

As I focus on the mana coming from my stomach, I see it reaching out, radiating into my body as if it's looking for something. A tendril reaches the cracked shell on my carapace and latches on. A second, stronger tendril attaches to where my missing leg should be. A final wave of mana courses through my body. As it recedes, my stomach settles and I begin to recover.

"Well that didn't seem too... *urgk*"

I clutch back over. It's time! My instincts rise as my consciousness falls away. Thoughts are banished as base urges override my actions. I begin to shudder and shake, my old shell detaching from my body as a new shell grows beneath it. Distantly, I can feel a leg growing, new chitin and muscle erupting from my side. As I shiver and crawl out of the constraints of the old shell, I return to conscious thought.

All the cracks are gone! I *snip* my claws in the water, excitement racing through my body. And my leg! My leg is back! I raise and lower it and begin racing around in a circle. My leg is back! I have all my legs! Yes!!!

Luna's speech cuts in the water as my wave of happiness screeches to a halt.

"Are... are you okay? It looks like you have a new leg! So that's good right?"

I freeze, slowly turning to the starfish standing next to me. Slowly, ever so slowly, I cross my claws in front of my body and begin to carefully walk behind my discarded shell.

"What are you doing? Is something wrong?"

Emotions rise as my new shell starts to glow blue from the blood rush. I struggle to provide a coherent response as she takes a single step forward, arm cautiously reaching towards me. Finally, I can't hold it back anymore and my screams of embarrassment peal out into the water,

"Don't look at me! My body isn't hardened yet! Pervert!"

As fast as I can, I [coast] behind my discarded shell and peak over the top. Luna stands frozen on the other side of the room.

*phew*

You played that well Crabby! Now you just have to wait for your carapace to set and you can move on... To Adventure!!