[-- --- .-. - . --]: effect failure.

retrieve(seed);

store(seed);

sac(host);

[Edgelord] dealt 1102 damage! Enemy defeated! Experience split and distributed! P-System Log

Okay, things just got really weird really fast. Why the fuck is it green?

Is it something like the R System? Another variant? It sure felt wrong as hell to my senses.

If it was, then why has nobody ever said anything about this? Did I just miss the exposition?

Party Chat

[Jerome Smith]: What the fuck is that?

[Aster K'lon]: I have no idea. It's green.

[K]: No shit.

[Jerome Smith]: Well, it's dead now.

[Jerome Smith]: Get any XP?

[Thron of the Fallen Skies]: I leveled up twice.

[Arcs S'tar]: Once and almost twice.

[Aster K'lon]: I leveled thrice.

[K]: Almost a level.

P-System Log

I got around 800 W Inertia from that. Not bad, and that's a hell of a lot if you convert it to XP. I'm not going to spend any of it. Jerome's got enough overpowered shit for now, he can cope. I need to restock and eventually feed my own skill.

Still, the presence of the green System messages disturbs me. Does that mean there's more of them out there? A G System to go along with the R and B?

while(!host):

> assess(host);

> if(baseline_met(host)):

> > assimilate.attempt(host);

?U?GE?NC??E

h?St?le??d?T??Td

killlkillkilllkillkillkillkillkill

eliminate

eliminate P-System Log

And now the situation is getting increasingly complicated. The half-corrupted Dungeon Core's been dormant for a while, but now that we've seen something that apparently nobody has ever seen before, it's acting up. Does it hate the green too?

Because I can feel it. The same burning desire to killkillKILLTHEWRONG killitallburnburbnbrn destroy whatever is causing these messages that I do with R Beasts.

...I'm going to need to take a second look at this. Because as much as my instincts are screaming at me, I don't actually know if those are my instincts anymore. I'm a fucking disembodied System, for crying out loud, it's not like a little modification of my morals is out of the question. It's something I've kind of been noticing but pushing aside for a while. While I was on earth, good ol' Parker Wu, would I have egged on Jerome to kill everything in his path? Would I be constantly trying to increase his abilities and mine through taking fights with everything I could find?

Off instinct, no. Isn't this how I always was?

But my instincts are fucking weird, and I don't know if I can trust them. There's something wrong with this world.

Party Chat

[Aster K'lon]: The corrupted Core is acting up.

[Jerome Smith]: Yeah, I saw. Do we need to kill it?

[Arcs S'tar]: You brought a fucking Dungeon Core in here? One that's been affected by [Corruption]?

[Aster K'lon]: Yes.

[K]: I'm going to kill it.

[Jerome Smith]: Don't you fucking dare.

[Aster K'lon]: The key to defeating the R System may be inside.

[K]: Huh. Okay.

[Thron of the Fallen Skies]: Access to the next room just opened.

P-System Log

Okay, Aster just lied to K's face. Maybe. I don't recall any discussion of there being a smoking gun in that thing, though maybe she has thoughts on it?

Oh, wait, I can totally just ask her. Forgot I was doing that now.

Private Message [Aster]

[P-System]: You believe that there is a secret that might kill the Eternal King in there?

[Aster K'lon]: I never said that. I believe that the key to winning lies in learning how to undo [Corruption]. The Eternal King is Jerome's concern, but even if it falls, there still remains the issue of the corrupting influence that its corpse will likely possess.

[P-System]: Win the battle, lose the war?

[Aster K'lon]: Precisely. As such, it is your task to ensure that when we eventually face down the face of the R System and by some miracle manage to end its malevolent existence, we will be able to reclaim the land afterwards.

[P-System]: You want me to learn to kill the System itself.

[Aster K'lon]: In essence, yes.

[P-System]: Okay. This new thing kind of throws a wrench in things, though.

[Aster K'lon]: It does. Let us complete this dungeon first. Afterwards, we may continue to make judgment.

[P-System]: Sure.

[.-. . ... - .- .-. -] success. P-System Log

If that's not ominous, nothing is.

Anyway, the door is open, and the next room is a passageway. Kind of. It's a not-very-large room made entirely of marble. Looks like it was aped from Greco-Roman construction, which is kinda weird given that neither the Greeks nor the Romans existed here. I think. Maybe this is an alt-history world that diverged some point after that era?

Okay, that's not the point. The point is that there's huge symbols drawn on the ground. One side is fire, and the other half is ice. There's some mana swirling around in the air as well, making one half of the room blazing hot and the other chillingly... chilly. Yeah, I'm not the best at describing things.

Party Chat

[Thron of the Fallen Skies]: Fire or ice, what'll it be?

[Jerome Smith]: No preference. I'll tank it either way.

[K]: Ice. The cold never bothered me anyway.

[Aster K'lon]: I'm more familiar with the magical structure of fire, so I suppose I will countermand that vote.

[Arcs S'tar]: I have [Lesser Fire Immunity] but I also counter ice. Either is fine.

[Thron of the Fallen Skies]: Arcs, you gotta remember the rarity of the dungeon we're in. You might not be able to counter ice here.

[Arcs S'tar]: True. Fire it is, then?

[K]: Fine. Let's go.

P-System Log

The doors are the same as before. A push of mana and they opened easily.

Now, this room is a bit different. Similar tiled structure to before, with the place apparently being a simple empty temple room, but the traps are a little more focused. More themed. There's also more signatures indicating monsters buried within this room than the last, so that's fun. I gotta be on guard for the appearance of whatever that green thing was.

Party Chat

[Arcs S'tar]: I have this room. [Fire Sense] tells me that there's a bunch of flame spells hidden in certain tiles, set to go off on a cycle. They can be disabled temporarily by reaching the other side of the room and engaging the button there.

[Aster K'lon]: There's a cycle. Readings on how strong it is?

[Arcs S'tar]: Probably enough to burn you to a crisp. Even I won't come out a hundred percent unscathed.

[Jerome Smith]: Then do you want me to just clear this place?

[Arcs S'tar]: No. Let me do what I'm good at.

[Jerome Smith]: Sure.

[K]: There's monsters. Fire elementals, at a guess.

[Arcs S'tar]: Ha! That'll be easy. Just give me one second.

[Stareater] cast! Party Chat

[Arcs S'tar]: Had to get the stored energy out. That should take out some of the traps, too. Here we go!

[Thron of the Fallen Skies]: Don't forget to let us get a hit in, okay?

[Arcs S'tar]: Gotcha.

Passive [Lesser FIre Immunity] triggered! Passive [Lesser FIre Immunity] triggered! Passive [Lesser FIre Immunity] triggered! Passive [Lesser FIre Immunity] triggered! Passive [Lesser FIre Immunity] triggered! Party Chat

[Arcs S'tar]: Total of 12 damage. Oof, these flames burn hot. I should stop running through them.

[K]: Quit being a showoff, Arcs.

[Thron of the Fallen Skies]: That's rich. coming from you.

[K]: ...fair.

[Proximity Trigger] triggered! P-System Log Ooh, there it is. Monsters are gonna come out soon. [ASSESS] activating! Bob Class Race Level Fire Elemental Elemental 5 Stat Current Maximum Health 600 Titles [Dungeon Mob], [Celestial], [Slaughterer V], [Through the Fire and Flames] [Water Cannon] + [Manaburn] + [Targeting Laser] = [Hydro Vortex] cast! P-System Log

Damn. Aster's ability to come up with cool shit on the fly will never cease to amaze me. Now that Jerome's conclusively more powerful than her, I guess she's pulling out the stops. Combo moves, extra mana usage, and all of that. Honestly, for someone with only an [Uncommon] class, she's terrifyingly powerful.

[Axe Throw] cast! P-System Log

...and Thron literally threw an axe. The difference is night and day.

Speaking of night, looks like K's making a play.

[Nightbeam] cast! P-System Log

Ah, there it is. None of the attacks have actually hit yet, but it looks like they're all targeting different elementals. There's... four of them in here, and each of them went for a different one.

I wonder which one Arcs is going to target.

[Stareater] + [Advanced Fire Manipulation] = [The First Flame] cast! P-System Log

Holy shit, I've been underestimating Arcs. I think she might've just used up all her mana, but that's an incredible amount of power that she just poured into one skill. Goddamn.

And now we wait for the skills to connect.

...is Arcs absorbing the elementals?

Enemies defeated! Experience split and distributed! P-System Log

Huh. I guess Jerome isn't always necessary.

Onto the next.