North S'ker 3 Dungeon System Dungeon cleared! P-System Log

Holy fucking balls, that did a lot of damage. That boss had to have been, like, critically weak to fire. Damn.

And I think I got a fair amount of W Inertia. Nowhere near the amount I spent, but the boss gave a lot more than any monster did. It gave over 400, which is insanely high compared to everything I've got so far. Something to keep in mind. Killing dungeon bosses is profitable. I also got... a hundred-ish from the dungeon.

When I'm not breaking reality and pulling broken new skills out of my ass to keep Jerome alive, that is. As it is, I've lost around 500 or 600 W Inertia even after factoring in the gain from the boss and dungeon, so I'm pretty deep in the hole. It'll take a while to regain all of that, so I guess that means more dungeons?

Whatever the case, it looks like Jerome is done for the day.

Party Chat

[Jerome Smith]: I think I'm done. HP is low, mana is low, and I've got new skills but still nothing for regeneration of either.

[Aster K'lon]: Perhaps your System could help.

[Jerome Smith]: Maybe. I feel like it should have some sort of cooldown. I'll ask, but I'm not going to expect an answer.

[Aster K'lon]: At any rate, I believe it is wise to return to the inn after we collect the drops. A night of rest will restore your mana and HP as surely as any skill can.

[Jerome Smith]: Sure. Let's get back.

P-System Log

Just like in the last few dungeons we've been in, a brand new hole just opened up in the back of the dungeon. This Dungeon Core seems to be a known establishment, and I guess Aster doesn't think this deviation is far away enough from the norm or lethal enough to warrant a destruction of the place, so we're just moving on.

Well, it's either that or the bureaucracy of the Dungeon Corps (god, that name is so brilliantly stupid) has some regulations here that don't allow her to kill it. Either way, looks like we're just getting out of here.

Hero's Personal Log 078

Hey, System? I know I've been a bit of a dick. Okay, that's not right, I've been a lot of a dick. I have problems with that. Sorry.

I don't even know if you can understand what I'm saying. It's not like I have any proof that you're more intelligent than a basic chatbot. Whatever.

I know I'm asking a lot. Can I have a mana regeneration skill? Or a health one? I know they're locked, but... you have special powers.

P-System Log

I do kind of want to give him a regeneration skill. I don't know how much W Inertia it would take from my end, but the benefits of it are undeniable. If he gets HP regeneration, then it's harder to take him down. Ergo, his ability to remain confident in his current health stays for longer, which ultimately results in him fighting for a longer period of time. The same goes for mana regeneration, but that also enables him to cast more skills and thus kill more monsters.

Basically, the benefit for both is that he can fight longer, which is nice because it's both pretty fun to watch and it ends up giving me W Inertia in return. In essence, it's an investment.

The issue is, I don't know how much I'm paying for said investment and I don't have hard numbers on the returns it might end up giving me. From what I know of Jerome, I'm pretty sure that he'll be more willing to fight more if he's given more resource, but I can't say that for sure.

Eh. Yeah, I'll go for it.

P-System Message Request acknowledged. Private Message [Aster]

[P-System]: I am going to attempt to grant Jerome a mana regeneration skill.

[Aster K'lon]: Very well. I was wondering when you were going to ask.

[P-System]: Query. You have increased mana regeneration?

[Aster K'lon]: Correct. Thanks to the [Mage] line as well as years of experience, I have a number of exclusive skills both passive and active. Among them is [Accelerated Mana Regeneration], a skill that is rather unique in being both passive and active. I have greater passive mana regeneration as well as the ability to rapidly gain mana once every several hours.

[P-System]: Request. Use the skill.

[Aster K'lon]: I will.

[Aster K'lon]: I have used it. I recovered 98 mana.

P-System Log

Huh. I didn't see an activation message for that skill. I guess it's a hidden skill, just like [Mana Sense]? Annoying, but there's not really anything else it could be.

Still, I did see some of what she did. Normally, the skills activate through the use of mana. I've been copying or modifying the mana patterns of the shit I observe, but that... that wasn't mana. I think it might've been W Inertia that she was using, and at some point that W Inertia disappeared and turned into mana. I think. I'm not sure if I one hundred percent followed what just happened, but I'm pretty sure that's about what it was.

Alright, that's certainly unique. I don't know if I can actually pick up that skill, since nothing I've done so far has been anything quite like it. Then again, I didn't think I could create skills without something to copy, and I just did that pretty casually not once but two times just now.

It's worth a shot.

I'll budget... twenty? Twenty seems fair for a start. It's been a long day, and I don't want to accidentally fuck up and lose way more W Inertia than I need.

Here we go. Mimicking doesn't feel quite right, but I can manage. Just match the pattern of W Inertia that Aster used...

[W%M;G,P]

ADMIN TIER: 0

Access credentials insufficient. Class lock remains in effect.

Skill creation denied.

P-System Log

Well, shit. I guess the class-exclusive skills really are exclusive. Okay, that should have been obvious from the title, but for it to be even to the point of denying me from fucking around with it is pretty interesting. That means that health regen probably also isn't doable, right? Not until I put a lot more W Inertia into my [Unique] skill, at the very least. I think that's the only way I can up this ADMIN TIER bullshit that it keeps telling me about.

Oh, right. I should probably inform Jerome.

P-System Message Skill class lock caused skill creation to fail. Circumventing class lock requires significantly higher XP. Hero's Personal Log 079

Ah, that sucks. That's fine, it was just wishful thinking. I'm just gonna get to the inn and rest, then. That should restore it.

Oh, speaking of XP. Did I get any from the fight?

P-System Log

He's actually being nice. This is such a departure from the Jerome that I know and tolerate that I'm not actually sure what I'm supposed to do. I don't even have any sass to throw at him. Did saving his life really have that much of an effect on him? It was just practical.

Then again, my perspective is pretty different. I'm literally a disembodied voice that can only communicate through fuckin' status screens. I'll chalk it up to that.

Also, there is no way in hell I'm giving him any XP. I just spent like 1200 or something W Inertia on his skills just to ensure he made it out of that last fight alive. He doesn't get to double dip off of that.

At least he asked.

P-System Message

Skill creation consumed XP. Gains used to replace lost XP.

Value remains unchanged.

Hero's Personal Log 080

Yeah, I figured. Getting handed an immunity right off the bat is a little crazy, not gonna lie. That plus a new offensive spell that I totally still need to try out... yeah. Makes sense why I can't afford to gain XP now.

Oh well. We're hitting harder dungeons later, anyway.

P-System Log

And that's that. I guess we're heading back to the inn now. We're out of the dungeon now. Aster stopped to talk to some official-looking guy--probably to report the abnormality we faced in there--and then we got on our way again.

S'ker has a nightlife. I noticed it on our way in, but it's even more apparent now. Even though it's clearly well past nightfall--past midnight, too, maybe? I'm not totally sure how long we were in there--there's a whole load of people walking the streets. I'm taking glances at them as they walk by, and it's really interesting seeing who populates this town. There's the normal DnD races like elves, dwarves, halflings, yeah, but then there's a whole bunch of others. Ones that have skin that looks like it was made of tree bark, people with horns and wings and too many arms, and so many more.

I want to explore this world. Discover the meaning and powers of every last one of these types of people.

But that's an issue for later. For now, we've returned to the inn. Jerome's flopped into the bed already--huh, there's only one, Aster really has no qualms about this kind of thing--and Aster's sat on the floor with a few books out.

For now, we rest.