Dungeon sphere: ?

You are a Dungeon. You are nurtured by the tremendous amount of ambient mana that encircles you as a person. You can harness and use ambient mana in your sphere of influence at will. Your influence range is a sphere around you, with you as the anchor point and heart of the Dungeon.

Go, empower your Dungeonheart by conquering other dungeons, and hostile creatures in your sphere of influence to make their power and energy your own.

"Arghhhh..." Avan held his throbbing head while fighting a massive headache after the forceful class awakening. Crouched and coiled, he whipped back and forth under visible strain. Sweat dripped down his face while his mind fought the mental stress that came with his ordeal.

After nearly twenty minutes of constant pain, it finally subsided, and he dropped on the ground with his arms sprawled out sideways. Ouch...

Sore and with aching muscles, Avan tried to relax his cramped body by breathing slow and steady. So unnecessary, holy shit... I can't remember anything that hurt as much. Ever. Felt like something tried to rip out my soul. Quite an unpleasant feeling. He ranted internally, too feeble to move even his jaw to talk out loud.

After relaxing some minutes, lying on the floor, he sat up and moved his quivering hand through his long, black hair. But instead of black, he saw translucent white hair with a speck of gold flowing through in his hand.

Sighing, not in the slightest surprised anymore. Of course... Magical world, magical things happening...

"Well, I like it..." He mused. "Does it really surprise you, Avan? After the whole experience so far? No, it does not..." Shaking his head, he just accepted his new hair color and struggled to his feet.

"At least it doesn’t look bad. Has something remarkable. If I concentrate, I think I can even see through it now..." With his hair still in his hands, he stood there and admired his new hair color. White, even more pure than he could have imagined, and somehow translucent with gold sprinkles shining from its inside. Like in the night, but with a clear white sky and shiny little stars.

Maybe I can sell it now, it could be worth something. Avan laughed.

Letting go of his hair, he eventually noticed something very, very strange. Something that felt off. His perception of the surrounding area has changed drastically. Feelings and impressions he never felt before flooded his mind. Somehow, he could perceive what was in his immediate range. More so than just looking at something. It was more than a sensation. He just knew. He knew how many living beings wherein his sphere of influence. He could feel and sense each little bug, each blade of grass, the moisture in the air, and even everything below his feet. Avan could sense the dirt, the stone, the white Marble, and everything around, below, and above him.

Overwhelmed, he stood there stunned and frozen in his tracks. His mind trying to understand what he felt. Everything was overflowing with this new feeling of wholeness.

Seconds, and then minutes passed by until he could separate this new feeling from his usual self. Concentrating, he could exclude more and more until he only had a tiny slight hunch in the back of his head left. Avan could still grasp and understand the area around, up to ten meters in a perfect sphere, but less noisy and not as intense as before.

And his Identify skill just gave him all the information he wanted within the zone.

[White-horned Rabbit]

A peaceful, small creature with snow-white fur and a little horn on his forehead. White-horned Rabbits are natural and mundane inhabitants of Eos. Their white fur is easy to see, therefore they are simple prey for most predators who often seek to feed on them.

[White Marble]

White Marble is mined under the Dragon peak Mountains in the northeast of the continent Eos. It is sought-after for its whiteness and hard to break structure.

Avan now just understood all of this without concentrating on a single object or creature. He just needed to will it. Everything in his sphere of influence he could sense and identify.

Walking straight to one of these rabbits because he knew where one of them was, he knelt down watching it grazing. The little creature eyed him nervously, but apart from that, it just continued with his meal.

After watching for a while, Avan slowly stretched out his hand and let the cute bugger get a sniff of his hand. Satisfied, it proceeds to eat.

Stretching his arm, a little further, he began to caress the white Rabbit and relished on the feeling he got from velvety white fur. Scratching behind its ears, he just enjoyed the moment.

Like velvet, soooo soft... And just cute. If it weren't kind of a crime, I would snatch this little bugger and never let it go again. He chuckled to himself when suddenly a prompt popped up.

[Do you want to domesticate the White-horned Rabbit as a Dungeon creature? Yes/No]

Ohhhh... He mumbled. Dungeon creature. I am a Dungeon. Makes sense. I just willed it, and the system asked me. Huh... Internally facepalming, he accepted the prompt.

[A White-horned Rabbit has joined you as a Dungeon creature!]

Dungeon creatures are living off your ambient mana in your sphere of influence. It can evolve with your own progress as a Dungeon. Dungeon creatures are devoted to you, and should they die, their soul remains with you for a possible future resurrection. If you wish so.

He felt something settle within. Another new connection formed, awkward at first, but not painful. This new connection allowed him to sense the well-being and status of his Dungeon creature. And allowing him to command it if he wanted to.

"Hey! I am Avan. What's your name?" Avan asked the Rabbit quizzically. Of course, no answer was forthcoming. Yeah, no. Idiot mode. Of course, it doesn’t answer. Genius.

"Then I just name you... Horny. I hope you like it." He snickered while picking it up. It was clearly a male, and when he thought about the possible puns and jokes that would go along with such a name, he had to laugh even more. Sorry, mate. You didn’t talk. Your fault!

So, can Horny understand me, or how do these commands work? He mused. He just knew it worked somehow, but not how. It was as if the information had just recently being uploaded to his brain. "Horny, run to the fountain!" He tried with a verbal command.

Horny struggled out of his arms to jump down and sprinted to the fountain in a rapid dash. After reaching the fountain, he turned around and looked back at Avan with expectant puppy-like eyes.

"Sucess! Can I communicate even without talking? It would be a lot easier when I have to be quiet. And it would look comical if I spoke to him in a town, for example." And so far, everything worked even nonverbal.

Now, come back to me, Horny. Avan tried to send back his will to him. Barely ending his thought, the rabbit came back with a more leisure-like stroll. He reached him and continued eating some grass. Happy with the outcome, Avan decided to check the ruins once more for anything he could eventually sense now but hadn't seen before.

Walking through the area, he could sense the long rotten wooden furniture, but other than that, nothing. Happy with the result, he shouldered his backpack, which he dropped near the fountain where he fell to the ground and walked out of the ruin. Horny automatically followed him without further commands. Probably because he was trying to stay in his sphere.

Determined to move on, the both of them re-entered the forest following the same direction as before. Should be... West. I guess?

They moved slowly but steadily. Horny, to feed himself some [Cinth Mushroom] he found near the network of roots and Avan while watching and enjoying the forest's refreshing atmosphere.

So far, he had lucked out when it came to not crossing more hostile creatures. If someone would overlook the black wolf yesterday. Don't jinx it now, Avan...

He disciplined himself. The sky was mainly clear, except for some small clouds that overshadowed them now and then. He thought he had even seen a deer in the distance, but was not sure. It looked like a deer, at least.

Some time later, he suddenly heard a screeching and grinding noise, metal on metal. With a look at his new companion, he was certain something dangerous was happening. The fur of the white Rabbit stuck out, He made a high-pitched but quietly growl and stared at where noise had come from. Crouching low, Avan unsheathed his daggers and slowly moved forward, with Horny right behind him.

After mere seconds through some underbrush, he saw the source of the noise. A green, pox-covered one-meter-tall creature. The screeching metal noise apparent now. The [Fodder Goblin], as he identified it, was hacking apart some adventurers while devouring shredded human meat pieces. The noise had come from one of the metal parts binding together a leather vest.

Bearing down a puke, Avan watched it in horror as it fed itself and smacked loudly. Blood dripped down the corners of its mouth, hands full of blood and a rusty cutlass in one of the claws. I jinxed it! Of course! No enemies the whole day, Avan. Nicely done. Summoning this dipshit in front of me!

Horny, still beside him, also stared at the [Fodder Goblin] and was ready to attack if Avan commanded so. He felt the readiness. You also don’t like it, hm? He thought with a glance at his companion while still holding back the vomit crawling up with his left hand.

This disgusting thing was an enemy of humanity, without the shadow of a doubt.

Watching the [Fodder Goblin] licking his claws and mouth, soon to be filled again with bloody pieces of human flesh, he felt the horror vanish and his anger swiftly rising. With a near-white grip around both of his daggers, Avan sneaked sideways through the underbrush to get out of the goblin's sight while his teeth were grounding.

He crouched out of the underbrush from behind the goblin's line of sight, and sneaked forward. Until a cracking twig resounded across the landscape. He had stepped on a small wooden stick that was loud enough to interrupt and alert the goblin immediately. It turned around with surprisingly quick movements and started shouting in a high-pitched voice. Avan couldn’t understand a thing. Shit! He cursed.

Before it could attract more of his kind, he decided to move fast. With both daggers in hands, he lunged at the goblin's throat. Which he barely missed – easily dodged with the untrained weapon. The goblin had already seen him coming and had enough time to dodge sidelong and countered with a clawed slash at Avan's right arm. Twisting its body, the goblin simultaneously slashed with the cutlass in its other hand at his stomach. Overcharged, he tried to dodge the weapon aimed at his stomach while preparing for the inevitable wound on his arm.

His body bending, Avan successfully dodged the slash at his belly but shortly after hissed at the goblin when its claw ripped into his right arm until been stopped by bones only. Ripping his right arm away from the weapon and high on adrenaline, he jumped forward and under the still outstretched arm that held the cutlass.

Slashing with both daggers, one aimed at the enemy's throat and one at his pox-covered belly. The goblin's reaction underestimated, he barely managed to scratch its throat, but his other slash aimed at the stomach still resulted in a broad and open wound.

The [Fodder Goblin], surprised about this puny human who had managed to wound him, stumbled backward, and screeched ferociously.

Obviously angered, the goblin was ready to jump at Avan once again. When it suddenly was interrupted by a white streak that appeared on his face. Burrowed deep into its left eye, Horny had bounced at the [Fodder Goblin] and landed a critical hit. The goblin fell dead backward, left eye smashed to a pulp and most likely with a perforated brain.

With heavy breathing, Avan thanked his companion silently with a glance and watched as his companion leisurely cleaned himself.

Examining his right arm, he suppressed the pain coming from the three-clawed wound. Avan dropped his backpack on the ground and checked the close vicinity. He opened the water flask to wash away dirt and grime out of his wound. Infected wounds would be a bad thing after all. Using one of his daggers, he cut a piece of his left sleeve off and used the cloth to seal the wound with a knot.

"Thanks, buddy, that was close. One wound is already one too much." Avan thanked his fellow. The addressed rabbit stopped cleaning himself for a moment, looked at him, and back down again to continue his mission to be clean once again. Smug little shitface, hehe. But more than deserved. Saved my ass, I would say.

After calming down and shaking his head, Avan looked finally around. Fortunately, the fight had not attracted any more of these creatures.

Noticing just now, he saw a cavern with a deep angle downward inside a small mound, at the opposite side of the small clearing. The cavern entrance was around two meters large and wide, big enough for a human to walk through. Its den maybe?

First things first... Willing his backlog to show up, he checked the repressed messages he got from the fight.

*Chime*

You have gained another level in Pain Resistance!

Pain Resistance: 2

*Chime*

You have gained another level in Identify!

Identify: 2

*Chime*

You have defeated 1 [Fodder Goblin].

*Chime*

Congratulations on reaching Level 9!

For leveling up, you gain 5 free stat points.

Please look into your character interface to distribute your free stat points.

...

*Chime*

Congratulations on reaching Level 11!

For leveling up, you gain 5 free stat points.

Please look into your character interface to distribute your free stat points.

*Chime*

You have learned the Passive Skill: First Aid 1

You have learned to bandage yourself in a crude but simple way.

Use clean clothes to close any wound on yourself or your allies. Does not heal any negative status effects.

While blood donations are always welcomed, you should probably be more careful when sticking impure or unclean objects into yourself.

But even a masochist finds a way to bandage the wound, so he can continue on another day.

Avan Leaf

Level: 11

Free Stat Points: 20

Element: Celestial

Class: Dungeonheart (Human)

Subclass:

Stats

Strength: 15

Dexterity: 10

Vitality: 15

Intelligence: 10

Wisdom: 5

Spirit: 5

Okay, I need more speed and better reflexes. This little fucker got me way too easy. Was too slow, in comparison to the goblin.

All twenty points into Dexterity now! Fuck it.

Avan Leaf

Level: 11

Free Stat Points: 0

Element: Celestial

Class: Dungeonheart (Human)

Subclass:

Stats

Strength: 15

Dexterity: 30

Vitality: 15

Intelligence: 10

Wisdom: 5

Spirit: 5

Immediately, he felt more refined. His muscles not stronger, but with more flexibility. Avan jumped a few times, crouched, and stretched. Yep, makes a difference. Maybe I will hold back more points later on, but I need the speed and reaction in fights right now. That was pathetic. He brooded.

Taking a few steps, Avan finally stared at the human corpses. Three men. The resemblance was still there, despite the missing substantial chunks.

He glanced back to the single goblin he just defeated and realized his luck once more. It didn't matter what level those men had been. The single goblin shouldn't possibly manage to kill three of them alone. The thought sunk. There were more goblins somewhere. Most likely deeper in the cave because they hadn't heard the fight.

He tried not to puke and kneeled down and searched the corpses for anything that could help to identify them. He found a necklace with a young woman's picture. And fourteen silver coins, plus fifty-six bronze coins.

So, the typical bronze, silver, and gold currency? I wonder how big the exchange rate from one to another is. He ruminated.

Slapping his face with his uninjured left hand, he realized his mistake in not searching the first adventurers he had found for any coins. Maybe later... With a shrug, he stood up again. Nothing more of worth was left with these men, and they certainly didn't need their belongings anymore. The goblins most likely had taken all the other things and weapons they found on these corpses if the cutlass was any indication for such behavior.

Walking back to the dead goblin, he kicked the corpse for good measure and inspected the cutlass lying nearby. [Rusty old Cutlass] Nope, no need for a downgrade. My daggers are not rusty and definitely sharper than this piece of metal. Looks more like an overused butcher knife right now anyway.

In his thoughts, Avan shouldered the backpack, took a last look at the slaughter, and moved tentatively to the cavern entrance. With a sniff, he smelled blood, unwashed sweat, and something undefined coming from deeper within the cavern.

Avan stood in front of the cave and realized he missed a vital tool he should get before exploring the depths. A simple torch. Yep! Light would be good. And I nearly forgot the basics. He scratched the side of his head.

He stepped back and looked at the area, searching for something resembling a torch or materials to make his own version of it. He walked around the clearing and back the way he had entered, Avan soon found some sturdy wooden sticks. Next, was to find some oil or comparable flammable substance. He decided on some good old resin. He collected it from different nearby trees with his daggers and combined everything with an almost clean piece of cloth from the dead men. Soon after, Avan held a self-made torch in his hands. Remembering the tools to lit it, he rummaged through his backpack and pulled out the flint and knife he had taken from the first camp.

Walking back to the cavern, now with a torch lighting the way, he began his descend downwards.