Binding Complete. New Form: Creeping Vine Assigning randomized stats . . .

Assigning randomized class . . .

Random Destiny Seed: greymanroolz - Welcome Kaden River. -

As fast as he had come and gone, my protector had vanished. My new body was gone, too, and replaced with a snaking vine that burst from the sandy clearing beneath me. I hastily rushed to see my stats, ignoring the fact that I'd made the decision solely to try and placate the sole tutorial-like thing I had via the quest.

Kaden River

Title: None Level: 1 MP: 20/20 HP: 20/20 SP: 5/5 Race: Creeper Thorn (Disembodied Soul) Class: Unaligned Mage Role: Dungeon Master (Manifested Form) Evolution Stage: 1 / 1 STR: 2 CON: 3 DEX: 4 LUCK: 4 INT: 10 RES: 4 [Titles] | [Change Class] | [???] | [Main Menu]

It was a lot of information to process and even now, I could take a very long, detailed time to explain it. However, the important thing right now is that this development told me very important things. Since reincarnating into this world, I had random-rolled myself into a very bad situation. Just manifesting this form had me roll randomization on everything... but based on my stats, it seems that the stats are randomized within reason. With how high my INT was, it seemed like the randomization either lowered it to balance the other stats out or invested a ton into them.

Once I accessed my stats, however, I received a pop-up notification to check the [Codex] for more info. Nothing really stood out so I spent a few minutes sitting in the sun and reading.

The takeaway is that all of these stats right now weren't too important except my HP, MP, and Level. Health Points and Mana Points were something that every game I ever played told me were useful to not getting killed and doing things. As for Level, it was apparent with the multiple Evolution mentions that raising it would be vital to growing.

Creeper Thorns being aligned with Nature and my random luck did slightly overlap. I discovered this when I dug into the Manager again.

Manager [Skills] - 4 Known Skill(s) [Magic] - 1 Known Spell(s) [Ability] - 1 Known Ability [Main Menu]

I had four skills: Codex and Map were self-explained and merely allowed me to see a mini-map in the right corner of my sight and access the [Codex]. Vice was another skill; it cost 1 SP and allowed me to strangle an enemy. Given my shape, it was obvious that I'd probably wrap around them. The final skill was Nature Elemental Affinity; it granted me a reduction to mana costs when using magic of the Nature Element. Very simple.

And, of course, the sole spell I knew was Growth. It cost 2 MP per cast, yet healed me for 20% of my maximum HP. A very basic healing spell on its surface... that granted me an extra inch every time I cast it.

The final category in Manager, Ability, had only one option so far: Summon. Compared to my personal skills, it was described and deliberately mentioned that it was inherited due to my connection to a Dungeon.

Yet it wasn't until I had explored all of this in awe that I recalled my original goal. At long last, I navigated my way back to the menu and then to Quests.

[Quests]://Quest_Number_1 Quest Completed

Your race is known as a DM. Rare in this current age, these beings are incorporeal and believed to be those who will bring a great change in the world. Common death rate for a DM is 99.2%.

Select a physical form to manifest in from [Dungeon].

Reward: Capacity Increase, Summon Ability Summon Ability Upgrading...

...

Upgrade Complete. Summon Capacity is now capped at 2 Summons.

0 of 2 slots currently used.

As one does, I leaped at the chance to see how this all worked. It wasn't exactly helping me that I wasn't even attempting to move or learn of my new body. I knew I could move because I rustled side-to-side and even-paced around the clearing like a weird snail-snake hybrid. Hunched and slithering movements that propelled my body almost by second nature made me look rather strange.

The inhabitants of my dungeon still sat at zero but my mana cost per day did go up. Albeit far from ideal, the curiosity had me biting at the bit to try my new ability and try to find out exactly what I can do.

So I summoned two of the Ranbi on the summon window.

It would make me at a slight loss, but that's fine. I was in a world that I knew nothing about and completely without protection. Perhaps it had been fortuitous that I abandoned the total resource-saving idea and rushed to focus on exploring my options. Another idea is that maybe I had internally registered that I could always dismiss them later.

But I was surprised; compared to my current plant body that was only a few feet long and barely off the ground, these rabbits were about as big as small herder dogs. Their odd coloration of hot red and yellow made them stand out considerably, but their ears didn't even come close to passing out the top of the grass.

These ranbi immediately looked me over with doubtful glances; rather than simple animals, they were intelligent enough to smirk at me. But that intelligence also set them into a realization of just how much grass was all around them.

My clearing steadily grew bigger for the next few minutes, with the ranbi methodically uprooting the grass and chewing each lengthy strand down to the last. Perhaps it was the fact that I was a plant but it was almost horrifying watching them make progress the small encirclement out to a few feet in diameter.

To my surprise, I also noticed a specific number change on my menus that weren't simply upkeeping bump-ups.

Daily Upkeep: 2.5 Ma. / 0 Lu. / 0 St. / 0 Me.

4 Ma. / 0 Lu. / 0 St. / 0 Me. Generated Daily

Each Ranbi produced an additional Mana per day. That meant that they could self-sustain their upkeep so long as they were eating.

For now, the plan is to let them do so. I needed time to explore and get used to my body, specifically its new movements. There was also the fact that using Growth was unusual. Almost like parts of my body had been sleeping, using a single casting of Growth to make myself larger felt like a numbed section awakening and gaining its full mobility. As the main body and length of the Creeper Thorn grew longer, it also started to cause my lower section of vine to sprout new, smaller lengths that helped propel me.

And then I got another ding for a quest.

[Quests]://Quest_New_Beginnings After breaking ground, you have a long road ahead of you. Starting small is often the best way to avoid getting stomped out by someone greater. Your dungeon can't go deep yet, can it?

Clear a 10-foot-wide area around your dungeon entrance.

Learn about your new Manifested Form.

Discover the [???] Function.

The first two conditions likely were within my grasp... but the final one left me puzzled. There were many functions that it might possibly be as far as my Main Menu and other pages went. All the years I'd read stories and isekai also meant that I had little understanding of what that could be. I already had this goofy body and basically had to act like a greedy healer and make the Ranbi guard my form.

But... well, it didn't take me terribly long to consider what I'd need based on its description. I can't go deep or whatever — honestly, it was probably impossible to make my way down the stairs properly with my current condition — but if I was clearing ground then it likely meant I was going to build something.

And every dungeon, both above and below ground, eventually gets one thing.

Discovered the [Trap] Function. [Quests]://Quest_New_Beginnings Quest Completed After breaking ground, you have a long road ahead of you. Starting small is often the best way to avoid getting stomped out by someone greater. Your dungeon can't go deep yet, can it?

Clear a 10-foot-wide area around your dungeon entrance.

Learn about your new Manifested Form.

Discover the [Trap] Function. Reward: Unlocked the [Trap] option in [Dungeon].

Invisibility Mode is now off.

Before that pop-up, I hadn't realized that the only noise I'd heard was wind and the ranbi enjoying their meal. Because after that ding and pop-up, I heard the rustling of grasses. Close and far, I could hear everything moving or brushing off one another in a way that carried it just audibly above the wind.

In a way, you could say I was lucky. If I had chosen the Ranbi as my form, I might have completed the quest alone.

I wasn't terribly long or intimidating as a Creeper Thorn but my sheer luck had given me two hungry bodyguards... and I was going to need them.