Arc 1: Preparing Chapter 1 Part 3 The Sky of the Sphere (V2)

Xenotic Conversion

Phase one started

Processing 01% … 100%complete

Initiating Transfer – Phase two

Transfer complete

Xenotic conversion complete

The floating soul looked at the blue holographic screen blocking his sight for a few seconds, then tries to dismiss it – it promptly vanishes. The countdown is still there however, and now reads

[61:17:51 hours counting]

Looking around again the general sees that he is floating far up in the sky far above a landscape – no, it’s the inside of a titanic sphere with something like a mechanical sun in its center. It seems there is a black half-sphere orbiting around that strange sun to create day and night for the lands inside this sphere.

Around him something else floats - a mechanical-looking ball similiar to the sun in the center, but much smaller and with a strange, light blue glow, an orange crystal about one third the size of the ball and one green spark of energy or lightning in the air. Farther away he sees something like light grey asteroid swarms slowly floating around.

He checks the landscapes on the inside of the sphere - they look really strange for someone from Earth. The water is black, not blue, and there seem to be a lot less port towns than he would expect. Most cities and towns seem to be at rivers more inside the different continents - if those can be called continents and not islands that is. Everything looks small, but he can't decide if that is because he's extremely high up in the air or because they are indeed smaller.

Some of those island seem to be connected by road and bridges, but there are a lot of broken bridges visible as well - and why would anyone build a bridge into the direction of the ocean?

Let's table that strange landscape for later. What did the goddess say? Concentrate on [Help]?

Help System activating

Sphere System HELP

Welcome to the Sphere System Help Segment

This system can be activated at any time by concentrating on [Help]. If that is no longer necessary you can change this configuration under [History/Log].

We hope that your life in the sphere will be long and productive or full of challenges depending on your personal preferences.

To ensure this we made the system that will manage your existence as simple as possible – you really should not need such a help because everything should be self-explanatory.

Basically you can call up any of the management screens by concentrating on their name, like [Status]. If you concentrate on any word in any screen, it will bring up an explanation as well – it’s so simple that any idiot can use this.

If the system itself has any question for you – like asking how you want to proceed, then just think the answer and the System or the Gods will handle the rest.

Someone with an attitude wrote that – it would never have passed review if someone had programmed one of the army’s computers with such texts thinks the General to himself. So like a computer screen without monitor, and now I have two more keywords in addition to Help and Quests, that is History/Log and Status.

[Quests]

Infos/Titles Quests Gallery/Knowledge History/Log [Locked] [Locked] Status Storage Core Class: unchoosen Defense Values

Skills Abilities Quests: Overview List

Select quest by name for details The First Question [Limited Quest]

Only one choice... [The First Question].

The First Question [Limited Quest] Questline Bareen's Quests

Details There is a core floating near you that glows in a blue light. This is not the normal look of cores, it seems to have been modified. Ask it for its function.

Hints The crystal and the green spark are something else, only the blue glowing core can answer.

Rewards 50 XP

“Blue core, what are you and what is your function?”

Quest complete, new quest available The First Choice [Limited Quest]

Questline Bareen's Quests

Details You must now choose between a simple existence with simple rewards and a risky existence with legendary rewards.

If you decide to cancel this quest, you'll be placed in an [Average] core and follow the regular sequence for dungeons in a somewhat neutral and safe place.

If you decide to complete the quest, you'll be placed in a [Mythical] core, given additional resources and be placed in the center between countries that are on the verge of going to war with each other, and gain extra rewards if you can redirect that war into a dungeon challenge. Hints Please refer to [Knowledge/Log] entries [The Mana Cycle] and [Enslaved Challenge Cores] for more details.

The Quest can be [completed] or [canceled] by stating so with concentration. Punishment for canceling random [Average Ability] from regular lists [Average Core] Activate Questline "Dungeon Tutorial" [Neutral Placement] Rewards for completing [Heroic Ability] of your own definition [Mythical Core] Activate Questline "Dungeon Tutorial" Activate Questline "Dungeon Programming" Activate Questline "Saving the Life-Cycle" Continue Questline "Bareen's Quest" [Contented Placement] +50 points [Bareen's Favor] Spoiler: Link to documentation To prevent walls of text and to improve the story-flow I will only place basic explanations (like the following one) of how the system works into the story. All in-depth explanations for those who are interested will be placed at

Info's on the Sphere (System Docu and Short Stories)

“Blue core, what is the meaning of those classifications ‘Heroic’, ‘Unique’, ‘Average’ or ‘Divine’?”

Hmm [Complete Quest] as I already decided to go for the top and then let’s see what the other quests are, so that I know what questions to ask next.

[Quests]

Get your starting lists [Mythical Quest]

Questline Dungeon Training

Details To create a dungeon and to defend it from adventurers, you need to place defenses, effects, environments, room structures and other elements. Your knowledge of what elements to place will always be limited, but you have one starting package that will contain three random sets of one each, with one [Limited] set that will always work on the first floors, one set at your maximum rank to plan for and one completely random set up to a mediate rank

Hints As a Mythical core, you'll get one set of random [Mythical]-ranked objects and one completely random set up to [Average] rank in addition to the [Limited] set.

Rewards Random List of Spawns, Traps, Auras, Swarms, Environments, Floor Effects, Modifications, Room Structures, Treasures and Others.

Choose an [Heroic Ability] [Heroic Quest]

Questline Bareen's Quests Details Every dungeon has an ability to set it apart from other dungeons with the same options, usually chosen randomly from the existing lists.

In recognition for your difficult task, you can use your first Request to the Goddess Bareen to get an ability of your own choice - no restrictions up to [Heroic] power levels.

If your choice is too extreme, you'll have to confirm any modification or can replace your choice with a different one. Hints Check the details of your situation and choose something that will help you, preferably to draw the attention of the correct people to you. Rewards [Heroic Ability] of choice, +60 XP

Core Class: The General [Unique Quest]

Questline Dungeon Programming Main Details The core class of a dungeon core determines which skills, abilities, nodes and cores it gains upon leveling. This also determines most of its behaviour and is probably one of the reasons why the non-souled dungeon cores fail so often.

You are to select the type and order of these options for your own core class and if you are successfull this will become a new class for future dungeon cores.

Step Details Select the level gains for the [Limited] levels 1-10 to proceed in this quest. You can do so in your own class screen Hints You can change any slot until you reach that level yourself. You should prepare the list some levels in advance because you will not be allowed to fill an empty slot after it became active - but on the other hand setting the values for levels that you will not achieve for a few years is a waste of time.

The first level option needs to be set before your soul enters the prepared core, and it would be better to have the next few options prepared for leveling as well.

Word from Gods

Bareen: I don't have time to search for souls that can succeed for every one of the hundreds of thousands of cores, and contrary to some of my coworkers I don't believe that random souls can handle this.

So with this quest I give you leave to handle this yourself and hope that this example may improve future cores to succeed without a soul.

Rolandro: Hey, random chance is always fun to watch and always has a chance to succeed better than anything else!

Bareen: Please ignore that gambler. Besides some extra points, if you complete this quest line fully I'll also add some more rewards to your next reincarnation after your work here is done.

Main Rewards Added Power and Options to the main reward of the "Saving the Life Cycle" Questline Step Rewards 150 XP Additional Resources [Unique Quest]

Questline Bareen's Quests

Details A dungeon in a contested area not only needs more resources to handle and survive attention coming its way, it also needs to know how to prevent itself from being tamed.

Hints This quest will be completed by accessing and reading the [Knowledge] entries about [The Mana Cycle] and [How dungeons are tamed]

Rewards +100 XP, two additional Scout Charges, two additional floor crystals, one [mythical] core with a soul anchor installed.

Gain the Attention of the Governments [Divine Quest] [Main Quest]

Questline Saving the Life-Cycle Main Details

The Dverolion Empire, the Combined Cities of Lefor’ga and the People’s Realm of Kaarg share one of the bigger lands with the name “Logronal”. They already had several minor clashes over the control of silver- and gold-ranked dungeons, and most people expect them to go to full war sometime in the next ten to twenty cycles (years) if nothing changes.

Such a war would cause a lot of collateral damage especially in citizen and servant classes that should be protected, and waste a lot of power outside the dungeons that would need to process that power for the stability of the sphere. Two times before a similar war was barely prevented by the emergence of rogue dungeons that could only be destroyed by the combined power of all three, but such a solution would only be temporary again.

Try to find a way to redirect the war efforts back into dungeons, hopefully without being destroyed yourself.

Step Details You can't prevent the war if the countries ignore you. Find a way to attract them to you without having them fight outside your dungeon.

Hints Main quests are both open in solution and solved in steps. You'll get rewards for solving steps, but often the steps are not fixed and anything helping in the main quest can cause surprise rewards.

Punishment If two or all three of these countries initiate a surface war, you will be forcibly transformed into a rogue dungeon to distract from the war.

Main Rewards Reincarnation in a regular life at a place of your choice with all your memories intact and some additional advantages depending on your choice.

Step Rewards Bonus Contract for either a "Voice", a "Trader" or a "Rogue", with selection criteria of your choice.

….

….

“HEY BAREEN! Would it have killed you to mention that if I fail, I’ll be sacrificed to become a distraction and delay for the war???”

….

….

“Bluey, what exactly is a rogue dungeon and what are the differences to a normal dungeon?”

“Wait a second – I am to prevent a war over the possession of dungeons that happens outside of them and/or draw the conflict to enter them, but I will have limited influence outside my own floors? How does that even work???”

…

…

“Back to the basics – Blue core, why are the dungeons sometimes considered to be treasures, and what is their function in the cycle?”

“How large are these lands and countries? Any Information on this or the size of the Sphere in your database?”

“So I need to find a way to lure all three empires into the dungeon without them fighting over the entrance. Is there a place where borders of all three empires meet? What is the area there and anything else?”

“Is it possible for a dungeon to have more than one entry? And can those entry points perhaps be connected by subterranean corridors one or two hundred kilometers long?”

“Hey, I want to talk with Bareen”.

…

“Did you hear my words?”

a computer-based search engine – no intelligence found here…

“Can you open the connection to Bareen for me to talk with her?”

“What is my level, and what is the average level by the time when a dungeon opens?”

[Status]

Infos/Titles Quests Gallery/Knowledge History/Log [Locked] [Locked] Status Storage Core Class: unchoosen Defense Values Skills Abilities Name public Title: Level (L) 1/120 Experience (XP) 50/100 Core Rank mythical Floors (F) 0/1 free Attribute Points 16 Needs: Core-Density (CD) 12/120 Health (HP) 46/46 Mana 46/1 Core-Power (CP) 12/120 Mana 46/46 DP 0/0 Core-Influence (CI) 12/120 Influence Points (IP) 46/46 RankedEscapees 0/0 Core-Size (CS) 12/120 Dungeon Points (DP) 46/46 RankedKills 0/0 Regeneration and Gain Values HP (10% CD/day) 1.2 MP (10% CP/hour) 1.2 [Locked] IP (10% CI/day) 1.2 DP (L/Level-Up) 2 [Locked] Temporary Status Effects Name Effect

“There are soo many questions about this…”