Ever since discovering that it was not possible to directly Transmute one pure element into another as it were, Franklin has shifted his long term objectives, from one of alchemy, to that of factorization, with the dream of actuating an industrial processing system of raw materials within his dungeon. To do this, he realized he needed to shape it, to create room for all his eventual machinery, and so thus prompted his circuitous journey to the present, in search of a means of doing so.

Early on, the Shape command had caught his eye, appearing as a promising candidate to this end, but it had been locked behind a level requirement. In an attempt to satisfy it, he had traveled to The Wilderness, in search of monsters to slay. These ended up being the Swamp Slimes but, upon defeating the creatures, he found they did not provide experience. Only later did he learn that adventurers were the correct source, and following the death of Wendell, he did manage to level up, resulting in the unlocking of the long awaited Shape skill. Testing the command, however, Franklin discovered that it, like all System commands are wont to be, was rather lackluster in terms of AP efficiency. Hence, he opted for a different path, delving even deeper into ironworking. This led him to the construction of a bloomery and bellows, which eventually bore fruit in the form of casting iron tools, such as tongs, hammers, and most importantly of all, a pickaxe, which he has since used to greatly expand his dungeon, bringing him one step closer to his ultimate goal of factorizing it.

Reassessing his current state of affairs then, now with the ability to create tools and process ores on a basic level, Franklin considers how best to proceed to advance his factory. To truly get it up and running, he still required a wide assortment of metalworking machinery- ones that will bend, cut, draw, extrude, mill, roll, sand, stamp and weld, just to name a few- as well as additional synthetic materials like rubber and plastic. All of these, he is confident, can be obtained through clever usage of the System, through a combination of Transmute and Craft, but the real problem is... time. To do anything with the System involves time, on a scale he is too impatient to wait on. For example, with Materialize, he can at most manifest 2kg of iron ore per day, assuming he does nothing else. For comparison, a typical modern iron processing plant has a throughput in the tens of thousands of kilograms per day. The difference in scale cannot be more stark, and the bottleneck, the limiting quantity, circles back to the issue of AP…

A pool of 2000 AP per day is just not enough, he thinks to himself, So, when it comes to limiting resources, there’s really only two solutions. Use less or get more.

On the former, he has already considered the notion of something perhaps more “explosive” than mining with a pickaxe to save on AP, namely, black powder, also known as gunpowder. Only problem is, how do I get the potassium nitrate (KNO3)? I mean, I guess I can use Imbue, start with O2 perhaps, and select K, N, and O as the attributes. Problem is, this method still uses AP all said and done, and given how much black powder I anticipate needing… I’m not sure I’ll really end up saving on AP in the end. Hm, if I can find a natural source of potassium nitrate, or a natural source of something I can process into it, similar to what I did with charcoal, that’d probably be the ideal solution. Okay, I’ll have to keep an eye out while I’m exploring…

Regarding the latter, on the subject of getting more AP, this too Franklin has put in a few considerations. So, as far as I can tell, there’s no way to regenerate AP beyond the daily reset. Though… now that I think about it, how does the System determine when a “day” has passed? I should probably investigate this. If there’s a way to “trick” the system into thinking a day has passed without it actually having done so, perhaps I can exploit it as a means of easily refilling my AP….

In any case, the obvious way to increase my daily AP is by leveling up. Only problem with this is… no adventurers have visited since Wendell, and he hasn’t returned either. So… to me then, this suggests only one solution… If I can’t get the adventurers to come to me, then I have to go to where the adventurers are… I have to get to The Outside…

“[More Options]. [Spells].”

Instantly, a submenu appears, showing the different types of spells available:

Spell Points Available (?)

1

1. Abjuration

2. Conjuration

3. Divination

4. Enchantment

5. Evocation

6. Illusion

7. Necromancy

8. Transmutation

Franklin had first encountered this list when he had been looking for a means of magically starting a campfire. Back then, he had no spell points with which to learn anything. However, a particular spell under Enchantment had caught his attention at that time, one that he thought may be exploitable as a means of passing through to The Outside, and thus it is to this class of magic that he navigates, selecting, “[Enchantment].”

A new list appears, and he scrolls through, noting a few other interesting spells as they pass, the display indicating:

ID

Name

Target Type

Current Level

Uses Remaining

28

Charm

Humanoid

0

0 / 0

38

Courage

Humanoid

0

0 / 0

42

Command

Beast

0

0 / 0

48

Command

Humanoid

0

0 / 0

56

Curse

Fey

0

0 / 0

168

Possess

Humanoid

0

0 / 0

312

Sleep

Beast

0

0 / 0

The one that he has been keeping in the back of his mind this whole time, however, is Spell ID 168, “[Possess].” Selecting this, an infobox appears, providing a description that reads:

ID

168

Name

Possess

Target Type

Humanoid

Description

This spell allows you to place one humanoid creature completely under your control. To activate, select a target you can sense within range. The creature will be given an opportunity to resist your attempt, the effectiveness of which lies in its Perception. Upon successful completion of the spell, you possess said creature, having access to all its bodily functions as if it were your own. For each minute under possession, the creature has a chance to break free of the spell, again based on its Perception. If it does so, the spell ends.

Current Level

0

Uses Remaining

0 / 0

Stats

Use Identify for details

This “should” allow me to cheat the system and get to The Outside… After all, the portal message only read, “You cannot go here.” As in, dungeon avatars can’t… It never said anything about dungeon mobs… A technicality but... the System hasn’t exactly proven to have the highest of fidelity…. Well, I won’t know for sure until I obtain a humanoid summon… just another reason to explore The Wilderness, I suppose… If only Cy were more… “communicative”, I could have had him test it for me, but as it is, even if he is able to pass through the portal, I still wouldn’t have much data as to whether it works or not… Speaking of which… Ah, there he is now…

Franklin watches as the green ball of ooze slugs over, stopping at his feet. “...slime…”

“... Let’s, let’s just never speak of it again, Cy.”

“...slime.”

“Right then, shall we do a bit of exploring?” Franklin asks, perking up, “Potassium nitrate and a humanoid summon, let’s see, which portal is the lucky one? Left? Or right? Hm, okay, let’s go with right is right.”

Destination decided, Franklin steps forward, into the purple haze, and a moment later, he emerges out the other end, just in time to…

...suddenly find himself plunging down, sinking into cold water, as the taste of salt fills his mouth and nose. His vision blurs, his ears pop, and when he glances through the haze of liquid, he discovers he has dropped about a hundred feet below the surface. Getting his bearings, he immediately begins to swim upwards, bursting into the open air just as the first message is starting to appear:

You have taken 1 suffocation damage.

Oddly enough, he gasps for breath, though whether from instinct or need is unclear. Then Franklin wipes the water from his eyes, which allows him to glance around clearly for the first time. Treading water, he finds that he is in the middle of what appears to be an ocean, with no land as far as the eye can see. A message popping up a second later confirms his suspicions, reading:

You have entered Sea of Hilia.

As the message fades away, he spots Cy before him, the creature having stretched itself thin enough to be buoyant, allowing it to float on the surface of the water.

“Slim~e!”

“I’m glad at least someone is enjoying themselves,” Franklin mumbles, still spitting saltwater from his mouth, “So much for right is right.” He turns about, looking for the portal, and he finds it behind him, somehow floating just a foot above sea level, the stones of the archway able to remain in midair without any kind of support coming from below. Just like my dungeon core… curious. A gentle wave carrying more seawater into his mouth causes him to snap out of his thoughts, however, and gesturing to Cy, he says, “C’mon, let’s head back and try the other one. We’ll need a boat and some scuba gear for this one…”

Climbing onto the base of the archway, Franklin portals back into his dungeon, finding that he is still dripping wet. A second later, and Cy returns as well, now once again in the shape of a ball. Pointing to the left one, Franklin indicates, “Okay, they can’t both be ocean biomes, right?”

“Slime?”

The two enter the portal.