Chapter Seven

Hiding in Plain Sight

“Really?” Toot looked surprised. “You already have a plan to keep a low profile, as a dungeon? I’ve been wracking my brain and can’t come up with a single way.”

“Let’s just say that I have an inkling, but I have a few questions before I tell you. For example, where are we? My idea depends on our location, and I don’t mean the world we are on, but you can still provide that information as well.”

“If you say so,” Toot said dubiously. “I picked this location, this cavern to be exact, for several reasons. First, it is near a town. Most dungeon cores begin their lives in remote locations. Some are in the wilderness, some on mountains, some open on cliffsides, and so on. Point is, they are far away from civilization and are not easily accessible.”

“Go on,” Dev said with a hint of hope in his words.

“This is done for several reasons. The first is to protect the core and give it time to grow. Fresh cores don’t last long if any Torm, Deek, or Hoary can just stumble upon them. By putting you in a location near a society of some kind it will throw the overseers off. They won’t think to look in a village or city for a dungeon. This makes it a little more dangerous for us, for the reasons I just said, but it makes our odds better in the long run when dealing with the real threat.” Toot looked at the core waiting on a question or a comment, but getting neither he moved on.

"I chose this world because it has new cores being added all the time. You would be one out of a thousand, whereas on other worlds a new core’s arrival would stand out like a forest fire.” Toot folded his arms and frowned, “Maybe that wasn’t the best idea, but I think the reasoning is sound.” Then he added, “The world we are on is called Anoubliette. It is full of magic but is less than spectacular in flora and fauna. It has so many dungeons because very few last for more than a year before being destroyed.”

“You knowingly brought us to a place where the average dungeon’s life span is a year?” Dev choked back some anger, he was trying to see where this was headed, but if he was only going to live for a year he’d have preferred facing the overseers head-on.

“Yes,” Toot nodded, “I believe that you, as a deviate dungeon, will be more flexible and adapt to this world in ways that other dungeons can’t.”

This mollified Dev somewhat. He could understand that reasoning even if he didn’t like it. Who knew? Maybe Toot was right and he would be a good fit for the world of Anoubliette. He could extend a little faith and trust to the tutor, after all, wasn’t that why he’d wanted him as a companion?

“Anoubliette has more mana than any other world, which makes it a prime seeding location for cores. Most cores pick mana as their power source for a good reason. So, while it may seem like you aren’t pulling in a huge volume of mana per minute you are getting far more than you would anywhere else.” Toot took in a deep breath, “And that was the biggest factor in my decision to bring us here.”

“I can see your reasoning. I’ll have a steady power supply and decent cover from the eyes of the overseers.” Dev saw the rationality behind everything that Toot did, and was thankful that he hadn’t just put them down somewhere without considering the consequences.

“There was another factor that came into play when I selected this exact spot.” Toot said.

“Which was?”

Toot smiled and pointed to an area just out of Dev’s sphere of sight.

“I know you can’t see it, but just out of your range of vision is the corpse of a man who was murdered and thrown into this cavern. Aside from his body, which is still fairly fresh, he has coin and equipment that you can acquire.” Toot’s eyes studied the man’s body. He wasn’t robbed, or they would have taken his things and then hid the body. Either he died accidentally or he was hastily killed and hidden. Either way, it was the deciding factor on which location we came to when arriving on Anoubliette.”

“Oooh, more things to absorb? Show me!” Dev was suddenly swept back up in the process of intaking of meshes and attributes from creatures and things; the concern of being killed for being so close to a settlement was instantly forgotten.

“As I said, I couldn’t just appear here with you due to rules, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t take steps to help along the way.” As he spoke he began pulling plants from his pockets. “That’s poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac to begin with. I grabbed some berries and nuts as well. Those are foodstuffs you should be able to manipulate into something the local population might love and seek out from you. You want things to draw adventurers into your dungeon.”

Toot also tossed several small branches onto the cavern floor. They weren’t large, and he watched as everything he tossed down within Dev’s sphere of influence vanished in a poof of grey mist.

“Those are twigs from fruit trees. You won’t be able to replicate an entire tree from their matrix, but you will be able to design seeds from the information they provide. Then you can speed up the growth of those seeds until you have an adult tree that you can duplicate.” His hand wriggled around and he withdrew a rope-like item and added it to the non-existent pile he’d tried to build.

“That is a snake. It looks venomous, but I’m not sure. I caught and killed it when I was trying to catch a rabbit for you. For some reason, most dungeons start with rabbits as their monsters. I was reaching out to smack a rabbit I’d found between the eyes when this snake came at it. I hit the snake, and the bunny got away.” Toot gave a dour look at the thought of the lapine escapee.

“Now I want a rabbit,” Dev said dejectedly; he focused on what he’d lost rather than what he’d just been given. It was a greed that he hadn’t felt until he’d discovered his ability to absorb things.

“You wanted that spider, too,” Toot added as he tossed down the last bit from his pockets. “That’s a feather. Like the trees, there’s not enough there to make a bird from scratch, but you’ll be able to make an egg and grow it until you have the adult bird.”

“I still want that spider. Why can’t I absorb it like I have everything else?” The core was irritated that he couldn’t eat everything he saw.

“Ah, that’s because it has a consciousness. It is alive and aware, and so it is different from standard plants, objects, and dead things. I say standard because there are some plants that can think for themselves, and undead as well. I dare say you might even encounter a sentient object, such as a statue or golem.” Toot glanced back over his shoulder and said, “I’ll get you a rabbit, don’t you fret. Now,” he said as he looked back at Dev, “Where’s that spider?”

Dev talked his tutor into the general vicinity, and as soon as Toot saw the spider he stepped on it as delicately as possible. The arachnine corpse vanished in a very small cloud and the core let out a contented sigh.

“I have so many things to look over and examine now. Thank you, Toot.” Dev’s gratitude was sincere and he was mollified by the spider’s acquisition. “Can we get to the other corpse and its gear?”

“Not yet. I want you to absorb this deer carcass I’ve been dragging all over the gods’ country. Once you do that we’ll talk about the whole process. After that, we’ll see what the body has on him. I don’t know for certain what all he’s carrying.”

“If you say so, but don’t take too long,” Dev said dejectedly. He wanted more, and he wanted it now.

“This is a good time to learn to curb your appetite. If you don’t do so soon you are going to have a difficult time not killing everyone that enters your dungeon.” Toot’s voice was stern, letting Dev know it was time to pay attention. He’d only been half-listening as he absorbed the semi-devoured eaten corpse of which there was no longer a trace of ever existing in their cavern save for a hint of decay.

“So, the screen has populated with what the creature was, name, common name, basic information, followed by any special traits or attributes it had.” Toot stared down at the core looking as if he could see the core reading. Maybe he can, Dev considered, he had no idea of what a companion could or could not see when a core was in their menu.

“Beside all of that mess, you will see a wire framework of the thing you just absorbed. That is called a mesh. It is a general pattern that tells you what form the thing takes, and if you look inside there will be additional meshes for internal organs. It goes right down to the cellular structure, or molecular structure depending on what it is made of.” He waved his hand dismissively so as to ward off any questions. “It doesn’t matter if you know what a molecule or cell is, the program does and that’s all that matters.”

Toot scratched his head and considered his next words carefully. “What you do is fill the mesh with mana and it rebuilds the creature from scratch. There are two settings, duplicate, and variety. Duplicate means that you recreate the mesh’s form with one-hundred-percent accuracy. Each thing you make will be identical. Variety means that it will be the same type, but will be able to be differentiated from the original mesh.” He took in a deep breath, “Each mesh comes with a Skin. A skin is what the item or creature looks like. For example, a goblin skin could be overlaid on a human mesh, but it would not look right. If you want human-sized goblins or humans that acted like goblins you would create new skins that would fit the mesh.”

“I think I understand. I saw the Skin tab but glossed over it in lieu of getting more things to create.” Dev pulled up the Skin tab on the deer and saw a flattened design that was in color and broken into parts. The head was separate from the body as were the legs. He could see that he could change the color of the fur with a thought, or give the eyes a tweak changing them from black to red. That was very interesting.

“Now,” Toot interrupted his train of thought, “There will be an add on screen that will let you add or subtract bits of the deer to be swapped with something else. This is where you are different, and is your greatest strength. Because you, being all dungeon types, can mix and match with impunity.”

“What do you mean,” Dev asked. He knew this was something major just from Toot’s stressing of the word different.

“Every other dungeon can only create creatures and objects that line up with their dungeon type. A flame dungeon, let’s say, can only alter frames and meshes so that they can accommodate fire in some way. Not you though. You can use everything. A water elemental dying in a flame dungeon just provides some mana to the dungeon upkeep, the rest is useless to it.”

“What you are saying is that the deer, the snake, and the spider are all nature-based, and I can merge them with a water being or flame being in some way that other cores wouldn’t be able to do?”

“Precisely. All dungeons are forced to specialize; except for you. That doesn’t mean that you can’t handle fire as well as a flame dungeon or plants in a nature dungeon. The truth is, from what I can tell you are superior in every way. You are far more flexible than the other cores, and I think we are just dragging our claws across the surface. Given time I think you might be able to give the gods a run for their coins.” His face remained stoic but his voice ticked up showing just a hint of excitement. “We’ll go into the process of copying and transferring attributes like magic and curses or biological features shortly. I don’t want to hit you with a huge info dump. Best to parse these things out. Give me a moment.”

Toot stepped out of view and Dev realized that he was going for the body that he couldn’t see. There was some huffing and puffing and then the old man reappeared, dragging the body of a muscular man by the foot. Toot’s face was red and he was sweating and Dev wondered if becoming an old man was the best idea that Toot had come up with.

As he dragged the corpse further in Toot yelled, “Don’t absorb him or anything on him just yet.” The old tutor bent over and gave the body a once over. “This is a man in his mid-twenties. He was in good health and well-groomed; which means he had money. Probably some low to middling nobility. He is wearing a silk shirt and breeches, a coin purse, fine leather boots and gloves, a long sword, and a blackened sleeveless chainmail shirt.” Toot lifted his left arm and looked at a gaping wound. “That’s what killed him, they stabbed him in the armpit. Dagger’s still there, too.”

For some reason, Dev’s non-existent ears perked up at the sound of the words coin purse. He didn’t know exactly what they meant but they stirred something buried so deeply within him that it made him even more curious to see what the pouch held.

“Eat this dagger,” Toot said as he dragged it from beneath the dead man’s arm. He tossed it onto the ground and it had vanished in a grey haze before it even had time to clatter. “Now, just tell me what it says.”

Dev scanned the item, ignoring the mesh, and looked it over thoroughly. He was less than impressed.

“It was a common steel dagger, it has an eight out of ten durability, and needs sharpening. I can go into more detail, but it will cost me two mana to replicate. If I want to increase its durability I’ll need to add an additional point of mana. The same point of mana is required to give the blade a razor’s edge. After the durability is maxed and the blade honed I will be able to create the same weapon with a ten durability for two mana.” Dev also recognized that he could also make a wooden version of the dagger for one mana since he had absorbed the knowledge of what wood was when he ate the twigs Toot had brought him. “It has a value of four silver.”

The big thing he noticed was that the dagger had given him one point of Blood when it was absorbed. It had just been pulled from a fresh corpse, and so the blood on the blade must have still been viable enough for him to take in as power. He noted now that he could leave it as a unit of Blood or transfer it over to mana. He also saw that he had gained three points of Blood from the snake, but none for the spider. He now had a total of four blood units to help fuel his need for power. Dev made a mental note to discuss this with Toot later.

“Good, now do the same with this.” Toot tossed the longsword, sans its sheath, and Dev greedily devoured it the instant it hit the ground. Was it just him or was his absorption rate getting faster? Maybe. Maybe it was just his imagination.

Dev studied the sword intently and nearly exploded when he noted that the blade was a far cry from the common dagger he had just consumed.

“This is an exquisite longsword. It has a durability of ten out of ten and carries two enchantments. The first is a weaving of magic that,” Dev chirped.

“An enchantment,” Toot corrected.

“An enchantment,” Dev continued excitedly, “That keeps the edge perpetually sharp. The second enchantment keeps the sword in constant repair. It will not bend, rust, or break unless it encounters a greater enchantment. It still does normal damage and carries a value of eight hundred gold. It is composed of a metal called Iconel, which makes this sword classified as rare. So far as I can see it is in all other ways comparable to a normal sword.”

Dev looked, and saw that he had taken in the two enchantments, they were listed under a newly formed tab titled MAGIC, but unlike everything else on his lists, they were grayed out. He mentioned this to Toot, who readily supplied an answer.

“You will have to examine and study magic before you can add them to items, so the sword you create will look like the original, but will be normal in every way. Not that anyone without wizard’s sight would even realize that it wasn’t the same blade.” He then encouraged Dev to eat the man, clothes and all, but still clung to the coin purse.

The chainmail was of average quality, but Dev didn’t spout stats or provide information on it since Toot hadn’t asked him to do so. It was the same with the clothes; they were quality leather and fine silk and as far as Dev was concerned, nothing special.

The body belonged to a male human and had seen twenty-five years pass before his murder occurred. The body was muscular and weighed two-hundred and fifty pounds, and when standing would have reached six feet and three inches in height. It provided him with another fifty points of blood power and could be rebuilt for forty power points of mana. This is where things differed. If he used mana then the body would live, arriving fully grown as a blank slate, but if he used two-hundred blood points he would be able to access the memories that were housed in its brain. This meant that he could recreate the man with normal items for under one hundred mana.

“He’s been dead too long for you to gather his skills such as using blades, magic, or whatever. In order to get that information, you must absorb them within an hour of their death. So for right now leave him unconstructed, he might look intimidating but he won’t be able to walk properly let alone swing a sword to defend you.” Toot jingled the coin purse and the sound made Dev focus like a dog watching someone eat a sandwich. He might have even mentally drooled a little.

“You’ll note that you will now be able to create several types of men. You can do this by combining the dearly departed lad with the snake mesh, the funglow mesh, the spider mesh, or even the granite mesh. I would include things like the plants, and wood, but you get the idea. You have no restrictions. But let’s stay focused on this last bit for now.” So saying he reached into the pouch and drew out a coin.

“This is a copper coin. It is a form of currency. It is used by sentient beings to purchase goods and services. One hundred copper coins have an equal to a single gold piece. The breakdown is as follows ten copper equal one silver piece, ten silver equal one gold, and 10 gold coins equate to one piece of palladium, and one hundred palladium coins are equal to one rhodium piece.” He gave the core a wink, “Mind you it’ll be a number of years before we ever see a palladium coin, and it will be the day the gods smile upon that a rhodium one shows up.”

The copper coin was mildly satisfying, but it wasn’t what he’d been hoping for. Dev stared at the pouch and his metaphorical stomach growled.

“Here’s several silver,” Toot said as he tossed a trio of coins at the core, and two gold pieces.” For good measure, he threw in the pouch too. “With those we’ll be able to lure in a goodly amount of delvers, raiders, and adventurers into our depths.

Dev sent Toot a mental nod as he examined the gold piece he’d broken down. It was utterly mesmerizing. There was just something about the way it glittered and flashed in the light, and the sound it had made when it had hit the ground was orgasmic. Dev had been so entranced by the flying coins that he hadn’t gobbled them up when they first appeared. He replayed their images floating through space over and over, only stopping when he heard Toot’s voice calling him back to reality.

“Huh?” Dev asked, not having a clue to what the man, his stalwart companion, the bringer of gold, had just said to him.

“Ach, I knew it was a bad idea giving you gold. I said,” Toot raised his voice an octave like he was speaking to a deaf man, “What was your idea to go unseen by the overseers? And why didn’t you absorb both gold coins?”

Dev didn’t respond. Instead, he created a column of granite that formed beneath the singularly remaining coin that rose to a height of four feet before it stopped. The gold coin rested on the base like a piece of treasured art.

“That is my first gold coin, and I will not absorb it. It shall forever remain there as a reminder of the day I discovered gold.” As Dev spoke there was the clatter of coins falling into a large pile. Toot’s eyes raised in question of what Dev was doing.

“I shall rest my core there,” indicating the pile of coins with a mental nod, and Toot mechanically picked the small stone up and sat him in the pile so that the core wouldn’t roll free.

“You used up all of your mana to make those coins, didn’t you?” Toot licked his lips nervously.

“Yes, and all the blood points I had as well,” Dev said it so matter-of-factly that Toot had nothing to say. He watched as the man’s shoulders slumped in resignation. Defeated, the old man stepped back and watched another coin fall out of the air.

“You’re planning on filling up this entire chamber, aren’t you?”

“In time,” Dev replied honestly. “My complete plan is to create a huge chamber to store gold in, but I’ll have to gather more mana and blood to do that, so we need to get started on doing everything we can to avoid the overseer’s gaze and gather as much mana as possible.”

“How do you plan on doing that,” Toot asked, eager to see what the greedy stone had in mind.

“We are going to go into town and open a shop.”