Gwen smiled as John welcomed her to his city. She had expected her partner to be a newly manifested Core, so being paired with a reincarnated soul like John’s had been a surprise. But a welcome one to be sure, as she had been expecting to have to teach a newborn core about social mores and why you can’t just kill everything that you come across. It’s not that most Cores are bloodthirsty, only that death is one of the quickest ways to obtain mana from a living being, even if it is not the best way in the long run. These new cores didn’t have any time to mature, so they were often impatient in much the same manner as a toddler, while still having an intellect closer to that of an adult, That Johns first concern upon their arrival in this world had also been endearing. However, she was worried about what changes the death and trauma in the coming days were sure to bring to John’s personality.

John was excited to check all of the notifications and what they had unlocked. However, he figured he should send Gwen on a quick errand before he got started on those. “Hey Gwen, I have a quick request for you. There’s a bunch of useful items at my apartment, would you mind going and picking them up?”

“Sure, but how do I get there?”

John sent Gwen a mental map to his apartment building and his apartment’s location in his building. It was on the third floor, but he figured she would be able to fly up to get into it. “Will there be any problems getting there?” John asked, “I assume you can fly there, but do you have any kind of camouflage ability and a bag of holding or something?”

Gwen held up three fingers and put them down as she answered the questions. “Yes, I can fly there, I have access to illusion spells to keep me invisible, and I have a bag with extended storage that can carry a great amount of weight, which I assume this bag of holding you are referring to is.”

“Great, when you get to the apartment, basically take everything that isn’t nailed down, including the furniture and even the blinds. If the bag and System don’t give you some kind of inventory, I’ll let you know what items you have to be a bit more careful with.”

“Nope, anything put in the bag is registered to my inventory, and the System protects it while it is in the inventory. If I have to make a return trip, I will let you know when I get back.”

“Sounds good, I’ll see you in a little while,” John said with a mental smile directed at her. He also felt a bit of relief; he didn’t want anyone getting a look at his browser history. There wasn’t anything disgusting in it, but nobody wants to feel judged about what they have looked at on the internet. As Gwen headed up the ramp, he created an opening for her to exit out of the Dungeon and closed it up after she left. By the light outside, he assumed it was roughly 10 p.m., and with Gwen’s illusion abilities, he wasn’t worried about anyone seeing her or the Entrance. As Gwen left, John pulled up the notifications he had received as he had received earlier.

6 Materials Received

9 Creatures Received

2 New Dungeon Abilities, Dungeon Ability Level Up

John decided he would first check the Materials, then the Dungeon Abilities, and finish off with the Creatures. Some kind of instinct let him know that would roughly be the shortest to the most extended amount of information.

Materials Unlocked

Topsoil, Clay, Sand, Concrete, Steel - Rebar, and Gravel

John figured that he must not entirely be low enough to get any bedrock materials, or that they had been cleared away in building Sorensen Station. The Materials he received were likely good enough for anything he would want to create at the beginning of his Dungeon, and if the sand was high enough silica content, he could make glass with it. The list of materials appeared to go under a new tab in his status John had unlocked, the Creation Tab. As he finished that thought, he brought up the abilities he had obtained and levelled.

Absorb Level Up. Current Level 3.

As John read this notification, he instinctively knew that the Absorb ability has become slightly more efficient. John hadn’t felt this increase while working, so it must be tied to reading the notifications.

Soul Space, Level 1, Beginner

Description: The Dungeon gains a Soul Space where they can manifest a body and meet with bonded entities or soul projecting beings. They can also make versions of objects they can create in the Soul Space that allow them to work on specific skills and abilities in the Soul Space.

Prerequisites: First Dungeon Room completed.

Subskills: None

Research Points Needed: 0

John must have gained this Ability while he was roughing out his first room. He wouldn’t consider the barren place anywhere close to completed yet, but to the System simply defining the rooms space must count as completed. John would test this Ability soon, but first, he figured he should check what the other Ability is.

Domain, Level 1, Beginner

Description: Dungeon can establish a domain outside their Dungeon. Initially, this is the size of a building on top of the Dungeon.

Prerequisites: Establish a first room and an entrance.

Subskills: None

Research Points Needed: 0

Establish Domain?

YES/NO

John mentally selected YES and gasped as his vision suddenly grew, along with an awareness of what was occurring in all of Sorensen Station. Sorensen Station was currently empty of all sapient life, though he could sense a couple of pigeons and crows among the rafters and the roof. John also could see outwards from all areas of the Staton if focusing on looking outwards, though only to the extent that John would have seen with his naked eyes. He could feel that some of the rules would be different in his Domain than in his Dungeon proper. For example, John knew that Absorb could be used much more straightforward in his Dungeon than in his Domain; it would cost mana to absorb something in his Domain, and John would not be able to Absorb anything if a sentient was in the same room as it. John wanted to try this out, so he selected a pen to absorb. As he did, he got some notifications that he opened right away.

Absorb Level Up, Current Level 4

New Materials Unlocked

Plastic, Ink - Dark Blue

Dyes & Pigments Unlocked

Ink Colour - Dark Blue Unlocked

Item Pattern Unlocked

Pen - Dark Blue Ink (2 Mana)

Dungeon Research Unlocked

Dungeon Ability Creation Subskill: Blueprint (1 RP)

John quickly used his Creation Ability and the Pen - Dark Blue Ink pattern to replace the pen he had absorbed and received another notification.

Creation Level Up, Current Level 2.

John could feel that any creation would be slightly more efficient, though the difference hadn’t been enough to reduce the cost of creating the pen by a noticeable amount. He could also feel that his mana capacity had increased, so he figured that he should bring up his status to go over the changes.

Name: John MacIntire

Race: Core

Title: The Inquisitive

Health: 100/100

Mana: 93/105

Research: 0 RP (+1 RP/Day)

Skills: Negotiator 21

Abilities: Absorb 3, Research 1, Creation 2, Soul Space 1, Domain 1

Titles: The Inquisitive, The Negotiator

Achievements: Inquisitive Mind, Let’s Make A Deal

Besides the changes to his skill level, John noted the increase in mana, which on an instinctual level he knew was due to absorbing new materials and obtaining new patterns. Absorbing items in his Dungeon would restore him to his max mana, but it would take consuming a large number of known Patterns and Materials in his Dungeon to increase his maximum mana. To test this theory, John quickly absorbed a couple more pens and replaced them, gaining a Red and Black Ink pen patterns and materials and dies for the ink colours. After doing so, John had increased his maximum mana by one. Still, John was a bit miffed that each pen was represented by an exclusive pattern, rather than consolidating under a pen group. He half expected to hear another DING! as he though this, but his attention was then directed towards the new Research available under Creation. Realizing that Blueprints must give some kind of customization and consolidation ability, he moved on to the next set of notifications for the Creatures he had absorbed.

Creatures Absorbed

1 Rodent Type, Slime Mold, 2 Eulipotyphla Types, 1 Apocrita Type, 1 Beetle Type, 1 Worm Type, 2 Myriapoda Types, 1 Arachnid Type, 1 Dictyoptera Type

He could feel a new tab for Creatures created under his Creation tab, along with a list of the creatures he currently had available for Creation generated and their general information. John pulled up this new tab in his status.

Creatures

Rodents

Slime Mold

Eulipotyphla

Apocrita

Beetles

Worms

Myriapoda

Arachnids

Dictyoptera

As John concentrated on each Creature Type, he was given a popup with more information.

Rodents

Element Affinity: Neutral

Subtypes: Mice, ???

Abilities: Litters, Communal Nesting, Burrowing, Mild Intelligence, Low Light Vision, Fast Breeding Cycle, Panoramic Vision, ???

Cost: 1-5 Mana

Slime Mold

Element Affinity: Neutral

Subtypes: None

Abilities: Iridescence, Biological Network, Asexual Reproduction

Cost: 0.5 Mana

Eulipotyphla

Element Affinity: Neutral

Subtypes: Moles, Shrews, ???

Abilities: Litters, Burrowing, Vibration Sense (Moles), Advanced Sense Of Smell (Moles), Swimming (Moles and ???), Panoramic Vision, ???

Cost: 1-5 Mana

Apocrita

Element Affinity: Neutral

Subtypes: Ants, ???

Abilities: Hive Mind, Sting (Pain Toxin, ???), Flight (Insect Wings), Colonies (Bugs), Exoskeleton, Mandibles, Stout Strength, Panoramic Vision, Litters, Hovering

Cost: 10 Mana per Colony, 0.5 Mana For Non-Colony

Beetle

Element Affinity: Neutral

Subtypes: Ground Beetle, ???

Abilities: Mandibles, Flight (Insect Wings), Exoskeleton, Burrowing (Ground Beetle), Stout Strength, Panoramic Vision, Litters, Hovering, ???

Cost: 1-3 Mana

Worm

Element Affinity: Neutral

Subtypes: Ground Worm

Abilities: Burrowing, Compost and Aeration (Dungeon Skill), Vibration Sense

Cost: 1-3 Mana

Myriapoda

Element Affinity: Neutral

Subtypes: Centipede, Millipede, ???

Abilities: Mandibles, Exoskeleton, Burrowing, Venom Bite (Centipede), Defensive Curl (Millipede), Panoramic Vision, Litters

Cost: 1-10 Mana

Arachnids

Element Affinity: Neutral

Subtypes: Spiders, ???

Abilities: Mandibles, Exoskeleton, Burrowing, Venom Bite (Spiders), Web Weaving (Spiders), Panoramic Vision, Binocular Vision, Gliding (Webs), Strong Legs (Jumping Spiders), Luring (Spiders), Hunting (Portia Spiders, Wolf Spiders), Young Carrying (Wolf Spiders), Litters, Disease Bite, ???

Cost: 1-5 Mana

Dictyoptera

Element Affinity: Neutral

Subtypes: Termites, ???

Abilities: Mandibles, Exoskeleton, Burrowing (Termites), Wood Burrowing (Termites), Panoramic Vision, Flight (Insect Wings), Litters, Hovering

Cost: 0.5-5 Mana, 10 for Colony

John was surprised by the number of Abilities these Creatures have, and he wasn’t sure why some of the subtypes were so generalized. However, as he concentrated on some of these more general subtypes, John found specific patterns for different species. John also found that if he created a general subtype, it would have all of the abilities for that kind of Creature unless an Ability was tied to specific species like under Spiders. He also guessed that the question marks must represent subtypes he had yet to absorb with abilities he had still to discover. So really, John only had full access to the Slime Mold type of Creature. John figured he should check out what these abilities do, so he attempted to concentrate on the Litter Ability.

Litters

Description: ???

Prerequisites: ???

Research Points Needed: ???

Cost: ???

Drops Skill Gem Usable By Adventurers: ???

As John saw this screen, he felt the presence of another notification.

New Research Available.

John quickly went to the Research tab and saw a new line of Research under Research Available, which was Creature Customization (10 RP). John quickly pulled up the description for that Research.

Creature Customization

Description: Gain a better understanding of how to create creatures, leading to more customization abilities.

Research Cost: 10 RP

Benefit Of Research: Allows Creature Abilities to be Researched and then applied to other Creatures and Monsters. A better definition of what characteristics to include when creating a Monster from Creatures. This Research also allows for the hybridization or a combination of Creatures in the Creation of Monsters.

Parent Research: None

Research Unlocked: 2 Creature Hybrid and Combinations (20 RP), ???

Dungeon Ability Unlocked: None

Creature Customization appeared to be another extremely promising avenue of Research, and John decided that it would be his current top priority after Blueprints, Trap Creation, Mana - General, Interdimensional Internet Connection, and Mana To Electric Conversion. “Huh,” John thought, “there is a bunch of Research to do. I guess that’s like any endeavour, though.”

John fooled around with his Creation Ability in his first room while waiting for Gwen to get back, hoping to level it up while he waited. It was at this time that John was tempted to move the Interdimensional Internet Connection to the very top of the list because he began to miss the sound of music.

Gwen had felt excited as she flew towards John’s apartment; she was exploring a whole new world. Even the roads were different and seemed not just to be packed dirt, wood, or concrete, but instead were made of some other material. She made sure to keep well above the cars that John had mentioned as she, seeing firsthand just how fast they were moving and how much they must weigh. As she got to John’s apartment flew in through the window, it was the first time she felt annoyance since coming to Earth. She realized how long it would take and how much it would weigh to move everything in the apartment into her bag, even if the weight was reduced to a tiny fraction of what it was before going in the bag.

Almost three hours after she left, Gwen arrived back at the Entrance that John had previously had open. As she approached the Entrance, it quickly opened up and then closed again as she passed. This reaction’s quickness was due to John sensing Gwen as soon as she crossed into his Domain. John could see that Gwen looked exhausted as she brought the bag back into the first room, so he said: “We’ll discuss where to spend the Research Point I got as the clock passed midnight, what items you got, and the updates to my status tomorrow morning if you want to go to bed.”

“Mmmmm…” was the only reply John got as Gwen pulled his bed out of her bag and flopped onto it, before beginning to snore lightly.