A Dungeon’s Survival

Cameron

My plans to figure out the true nature of the world were put on hold. The uncertainty and fear I'd experienced when attempting to contact the first admin was enough to make me hesitate to try again so soon. Instead, I was passing my time with some reading.

“I dearly wish he had expounded upon the other reagents that would be required to create such a concoction,” Sir Archibald II lamented.

I don't think that really matters if we don't have access to a Grave Wolf's liver to begin with, I argued.

The awakened Trenti and I were currently going through the journal I'd snatched from the apprentice alchemist. Through his efforts, he'd managed to successfully create several more potions by this point, but the basic recipes Fabian had given him were starting to wane in usefulness. It was because of that that we were looking through the adventurer's notes; we were searching for applicable information and inspiration for him. The majority of the book was not that, however. That was something evidenced by the next page we flipped to.

I don't know whether to be impressed or creeped out.

“Clearly, the man has a steady hand. I can only imagine it must come in useful for his alchemical practices.”

I mean, yeah, but he could have chosen a different subject, like a bird or something. I've lost count of how many pictures of this girl he's drawn. At some point, it's just unsettling.

The entire page was taken up by a picture of the beastkin archer from his group. The line work was fine, and the detail was intricate. Overall, it was a very flattering picture, probably more flattering than girl herself. If it was just the one or even a couple of them, I would have had to commend the boy for his artistry, but it wasn't. Every handful of pages, there was a complete black and white portrait of the girl, and between them were various doodles of her.

Technically there were pictures of other things in the book, too, but the various monsters, plants, and alchemical components lacked the same level of detail that her depictions had been given. Honestly, it was embarrassing. It made reading through the journal difficult, but for the sake of the few scraps of worthwhile information sprinkled throughout it, we continued on anyway.

While I was having a hard time, Archie didn't seem to have any of same qualms about invading the boy's privacy that I did. Instead, he reveled in every little detail written and line drawn. The pictures were artistic masterpieces to him, the misadventures depicted within the words heroic tales, and the lovesick boy, in his eyes, was the protagonist of a riveting romance. Somehow, his commentary made reading through the book even more uncomfortable of an experience than it already was.

I think that's enough of this one for right now, I said after another offhanded expression of intrigue from the goblinoid alchemist, Want to go though a bit more of the monster encyclopedia?

“Ah, yes. Ahem. We could do that,” he agreed in a less than enthusiastic tone.

What am I going to do with you?

“Pardon?”

Never mind.

Reading and analyzing the three books had become something of a daily routine for us. Without the mana to properly work on anything else, I had needed something to pass the time, and as it turned out, Archie was just as fascinated with them as I was. He seemed to derive the most pleasure from snooping through Lawrence's journal, but he, in spite of his disappointed reaction, did also enjoy looking through the other two.

The book on adventurers, despite being a historical work, had bits and pieces of useful information sprinkled in, mostly accounts of different classes, their abilities, and prominent fights that certain well-known individuals had participated in. Archie was enthralled by the stories, and I was able to get a better idea of how the profession worked through it. Overall, it was useful, but it contained the least relevant information for us.

In contrast, the book titled, “Aspearian's Guide to Common First-Tier Monsters,” was the most useful to both of us, but it was also the driest read out of them all. It didn't contain any information on the more exotic species, and the only monsters of mine that appeared in it were Trentis, Shadow Vipers, and Crystal Puffers, but the information it had on them was significantly more complete than any other source I had access to without having Fabian directly check the records of his people.

Of particular interest to me were the accounts of monsters' behaviors and capabilities that weren't expressly mentioned by the System's status pages. For instance, the System told me about the Gummy Caterpillars' ability to infuse the threads they made with a magical poison, but it didn't tell me about the string itself. The book, on the other hand, did, and it went into intricate detail about the strength of that silk. It also went on about how it was used by the bug monsters to snare prey, defend their resting places, and slow down predators so that they could escape.

What I had primarily been looking through the book for were species of monsters that I'd overlooked. While I had access to the status pages of nearly any first-tier monster, they were daunting to look through due to their volume and often times required Fabian to give me clarification on certain details. The monster encyclopedia offered a similar supplementary knowledge.

As it stood, I still had two monsters I could choose to unlock saved up from my previous level ups. I'd been saving them for a while, and I'd had an inkling of what I wanted to use them to get for nearly as long. I just hadn't spent them since I didn't have everything I needed in order to make my idea work just yet, and I wanted to make sure nothing more urgent came up in the meantime.

There were two things stopping me from putting my idea into action currently, and both of them would remain that way until I reached level fifteen. That was when I'd get more slots that I could use to unlock monsters and get the ability to awaken another one. That was when I'd be able to see if the unorthodox way I had set up my Dungeon had merit or if Fabian had been right all along. That was when I would create something far removed from the basic monsters a Dungeon could get, but until then, the slots I had were just sitting there, unused.

My idea was convoluted, and before, I would have needed five monsters of my choosing to get it to work, one as a base, three to convert to aspects, and one more to work alongside it. That had changed back when I unlocked Lizard Men with a perk. They were a perfect choice for the monster that would work alongside the one I wanted to make due to their workable stats and the fact that they were humanoid, the two conditions I had for the role. That left me with a free slot I could use but had yet to.

That was why I'd been looking through the book with Archie. Ideally, I would have used that slot to get an extra plant monster so that, when the time came to pretend that I had reached level fifteen sometime later than I did, I could introduce it into the Dungeon alongside my Lizard Men. I had decided against doing that.

So far, I'd gotten lucky with my perks giving me usable monsters. As long as I got a single plant monster from one of them or from Fabian and Prism going out to hunt, I'd be fine to use that slot for something else, and that would help me to solve my current dilemma. The more aspects I could slap onto my first boss, the sooner I could level up and improve my efficiency. A few more entries into the book, I finally found what I'd been looking for.

Spark Beetles, I read to Archie, threat level low to medium, are small insect monsters that nest within volcanic vents, but during the summer seasons, they leave their homes in search of trees to devour. This behavior can lead to them showing up in unexpected places and, if they aren't promptly dealt with, forest fires. For this reason, if one is ever spotted near civilization, it is paramount that they are either exterminated or that their presence is reported to the Adventurers Guild.

This variety of monster beetle travels alone, but they nest in great numbers. It is recommended that beginner adventurers avoid the volcanic vents that they call home. These monsters, while independently weak, can prove to be an immense threat when provoked in large numbers, enough so that they can be considered to be on par with some of the other dangers that make their homes in the same places.

In contrast to this, individuals of this species make excellent targets for beginners so long as they are sufficiently prepared. The recommended strategy when taking on a lone individual of this species is to attack from range with magic or, if that isn't possible, to crush the target. The use of swords, spears, daggers, and the like should not be used against these foes under any circumstances. Fire should also be avoided at all costs.

Due to the unique biology of these monsters, strikes to their carapace can easily result in sparks. This is dangerous due to the gel they produce under their wings being both flammable and highly resistant to heat. The result of this coveted excretion coming into contact with such sparks is a flaming monster flying around spreading fire to its surroundings. It must also be noted that waiting until the gel burns up and the flames consume the monster is not a viable option. At any time, the beetle can extinguish itself by smothering the fire with its wings.

It was at this point that I realized how useful the characteristic of the species sounded. I had stumbled upon several such cases before this, but upon checking monsters' actual statuses, I found that none of them had been usable for my purposes. When I opened up this creature's in the menu to unlock a monster, though, that was not the case.

[Ability: Flame Gel Excretion

Description: You produce a magical gel that heat cannot travel through but takes to fire easily.

Effect: At the cost of 10% of your mana regeneration being dedicated to the task of producing it at any given time, you secrete a magical gel that is capable of both burning and remaining cool simultaneously. It naturally forms on your back, but with an amount of effort and concentration dependent on your (WILL), you can redirect it to form elsewhere. The potency of its effects is dependent on your (SOUL).]

It had potential. I'd been looking for a fire-resistant ability for my plants ever since I'd seen my boss get so easily set alight, but this ability had completely flown under my radar. With a dark chuckle, I contacted Fabian and asked if the ability would work for my purposes. His answer was a tentative yes.

Hey, Archie, you want some Flame Gel to experiment with?

“Oh, that would be most marvelous indeed!”

With his agreement, I selected Spark Beetles to unlock. It was more limited than some fire resistance abilities, but it also came with offensive potential and a new alchemical ingredient. That was enough to make it more valuable than the others, and with it, no plant I cared about in my Dungeon could be so easily countered again.

Then, I unlocked another monster and converted both of them to aspects. I figured I'd need to pick it up eventually, so there was no reason not to get it too. Once that was done, I brought up the list of aspects I had access to.

[Available Aspects: Necrotic Venom, Velocity Transference, Stunning String, Flame Gel Excretion, Record Memory]