《The Friendly Neighborhood Dungeon》Chapter 1
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I was just about ready to start looking for ways to kill myself when the magical eyesight kicked in.
I say magical because there is no other way I can explain this complete, 360-degree view I have of everything around me. Currently, I can’t see anything but dirt, however, I can look at myself from any angle I want, and all angles at the same time if I concentrate hard enough.
If that isn’t magical enough, than the fact that I’m apparently a dodecahedron crystal of some type should be.
More so, considering I seem to have no recollection of how I got here, who I am, or have any bodily needs, the only emotions I’ve been feeling since becoming aware are curiosity and boredom. And there was more than enough of the later until a few moments ago, enough of it for me to try to commit suicide. A foolish endeavor in retrospect, now that I know I’m not much more than a piece of rock.
How am I to kill myself if I don’t need to eat or breath, and I can’t even mov…
“Did I just move?”
I try again and sure enough, there is motion. Not my own, however, I can see the earth that surrounds me give way a little. A small area of earth the size of my crystal body compacted itself slightly in the direction I tried to move in.
“Alright! I can finally do something.”
Drunk on curiosity and excitement I decide to go exploring.
“One eternity later,” I say to myself in a weird nasal voice.
Or an equivalent amount of time that feels even longer, I am proud to say that I finally made contact and am no longer alone.
I have made a friend. He’s not much of a talker, which is a good thing because I’m not sure how I can converse with others, me being a sentient rock and all that. However, we do share similar hobbies currently, so we’ve been hanging out and burrowing tunnels together.
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When I was moving earth by myself I wasn’t making good time. Moving at most a tenth of my body length an hour, from what I counted. And yes, I counted, I was that bored. Any faster than that and for some reason, my ability to move earth disappears and I have to wait for a while before it comes back.
My new friend isn’t much faster by himself, yet when I reduce the size of the tunnel I make to his diameter, I can move more than my entire length per minute. He chooses the direction and I help him clear a path. I’m pretty sure that he is an earthworm of some kind so I follow him in hope of reaching the surface, but I think there is something wrong with him. Wormy keeps changing directions randomly and resting all the time.
A moment of disappointment passes once I realize Wormy won’t be helping me reach the surface and I consider leaving him but decide against it. There’s no time limit that I know of and I rather stumble around randomly with someone else, even if that someone is an earthworm that lost its way.
As we continue making tunnels that look like a toddler trying to draw a straight line, the earth begins to shake. Weak tremors in the distance that seem to be growing stronger and coming nearer.
Wormy is panicking and trying to dig faster. He’s stretched out to his max length, trying to slide forward through the tunnel I opened up for him in advance, when a tremor situated directly over us makes part of the tunnel I made collapse.
“Wormy!”
I rush to reopen the tunnel, not caring if the ability disappears before I finish, but I’m not fast enough. Half of Wormy has been squished into mush and the other is wriggling and squirming erratically.
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Not being able to see Wormy suffer like that, I remove a thin slice of earth a few centimeters over him, which makes a good sized chunk of earth fall over the moving remains of his body. I don’t want him to suffer longer than needed so using whatever force that allows me to move earth I press and squish Wormy as quickly as possible.
A moment later I no longer feel any movement.
Earthworm killed!
+1 Mana
For killing an animal the skill [Animal Creation] has been unlocked.
You can now create earthworms.
Animal Creation
Use mana to summon animals.
Warning: Currently, only animals that have died in the dungeon can be created.
Congratulations Dungeon
You have absorbed mana. This is your life essence, and you need it to survive. The crystal is your heart, if it dies you die. Protect it.
[Dungeon Menu] skill unlocked.
Achievement Unlocked
No animals, traps or monsters yet blood still flows.
For killing something by using nothing but the walls of your dungeon you demonstrate that although you are defenseless, it does not mean you are weak.
[Terraforming] skill awarded.
Environmental manipulation
+100 dungeon points.
Dungeon Menu
Type:
Sentient Dungeon
Name:
N/A
Level:
1
Titles:
N/A
Resources
Mana:
1/10
Index
Rooms:
0
Levels:
0
Plants:
0
Animals:
0
Monsters:
0
Skills
Mana Vision
See through mana your core comes in direct contact with.
The higher the density the better.
Dungeon Manipulation
Exert a physical effect on your dungeon using mana
Dungeon Menu
Know thyself.
Terraforming
Alter the environment as you see fit.
Animal Creation
Use mana to summon animals.
Achievements
Environmental Killer
No animals, traps or monsters yet blood still flows.
“So I’m a dungeon? Cool!” I thought with glee that soon turned into confusion, “Then how come I have memories of being human?”
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