Ch 220 – Claiming a Dungeon
As the bottom of his jaw continued to drip with blood after consuming the Manor Lord's heart, Deacon wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, though it turned out to be pointless since both his hands and upper torso were covered in blood from performing the Lesser Heart-Fire Ritual in the nude.
Casting Cleanse upon himself, the blood coating the bottom half of his face and torso vanished entirely in seconds, leaving him squeaky clean as he stood in the middle of his ritual circle in the nearest, least likely to visit, room within the Manor as he told his friends that he just needed to take a leak and would come back after.
Best get started on removing any traces I left behind, Deacon mused to himself as he picked up his ritual dagger from where he'd placed it by his feet and stowed it away in his Spatial Sling Bag before dumping out the still-glowing coals from the brazier onto the stone floor. Stomping on them to extinguish any remaining embers, he then put the now coal-free brazier into his bag that he'd tossed outside the circle before beginning the ritual hours earlier.
Afterwards, as Deacon began to re-equip both his armor and accessories that he’d tossed aside before stepping into the ritual circle.
Something that he learned during his time alone, during his self-training, with his grimoire was that rituals could become botched despite having created the perfect circle, having the exact and best materials and tools, and doing everything else perfectly by clothing. Or rather, the materials they were made out of.
This was due to the magic of the ritual; once being performed could be lessened as the materials of his armor or equipment could have some innate magical resistance or could react to the magic in a negative way that would cause the ritual to implode.
And from what he could glean from the grimoire, it was just best to do the ritual nude and not risk it.
Was it awkward to think that he would have to get more hands-on if his friends would like to partake into doing a ritual like the Lesser Heart-Fire or something similar, as he didn’t want them to risk them and the ritual circle going kaboom? Very much so.
Setting the chalk on the floor alight with Ignis, Deacon waited a bit until the flames ate all the chalk before stomping out the flames and smudging the ash until the ritual circle looked unrecognizable, as leaving an unintended ritual circle in some random room that Leon would be renovating seemed to be poor form.
Now fully equipped with all his gear, Deacon stepped out of the cramped servant's room and quickly began jogging down the dusty corridor to the end of the hall before making a sharp right turn and heading directly toward the manor's kitchen.
Just as he was about to push through the kitchen's swinging double doors that had seen far better days, he was greeted with two System Notifications appearing directly in front of his face and blocking his vision.
Dungeon of the Mutant Manor:
Deep underground, hidden from the chaos that consumed the surface world, this manor was once a refuge for the wealthy elite seeking to escape the mutant outbreak that had ravaged the lands above. When the mutant plague reached even this far beneath the earth despite all their precautions, the Manor Lord sealed all the doors and declared a complete lockdown of the estate in a desperate attempt to protect those inside from the encroaching corruption. However, a single mutated rat managed to slip into the manor's storage room through a tiny crack in the foundation just before the lockdown was fully implemented, bringing the plague with it and dooming everyone within.
Dungeon Completion Criteria:
▸ Kill the Manor Lord ✔
▸ Locate the Manor's Main Entrance Key ✔
Status: Completed
Reward: Rat Lord's Signet Ring (Rare)
WARNING: DUNGEON CLOSING IN 03:59:59
Achievement Gained: [Dungeon Diver I]
Dungeon Diver I:
You have cleared a dungeon, thus embarking on your journey to become a Dungeon Diver. Grants: +5 to All Stats.
"Sweet," Deacon said with a smile as he dismissed both notifications and pushed through the kitchen doors into the room beyond.
Another achievement to add to the collection, he mused to himself as he entered the manor's kitchen and took in the state of disrepair.
The kitchen was what one would expect to see in some high-end restaurant, with many preparation stations, sinks, stoves, fridges…except everything was in complete disrepair.
Broken faucets created stagnant pools of water in their basins, cabinet doors were either missing or hanging off their rusted hinges, pots and pans were strewn about the floor along with moldy vegetables and rotting meat, and thick cobwebs hung from every corner while a heavy layer of dust covered everything.
Without paying the mess any mind or even acknowledging the smell of rot and decay that permeated the stale air of the kitchen, Deacon made his way through the cluttered kitchen and stepped into the connected pantry, where there were rows upon rows of tall wooden storage racks lining both walls from floor to ceiling.
On the left rack, he could see large burlap sacks of sugar covered in thick dust but still in decent condition based on the intact fabric, while one empty sack lying nearby showed no signs of mold at all. The sacks of potatoes, rice, flour, dried beans, and similar dry goods stored on separate racks across from them were all completely moldy and had gone bad decades ago, their contents spilling onto the floor in disgusting piles.
Not paying any mind to the spoiled food or the overwhelming stench that got worse the deeper he went, Deacon carefully snaked his way past the deteriorating sacks and navigated around the debris to reach the end of the narrow pantry where a lone torch sat in a tarnished wall sconce. The wall itself extended far outward from the rest of the stonework, creating a large rectangular gap that served as the entrance to a hidden passageway.
Stepping through the concealed entrance, Deacon was greeted with the sight of Bonehead and Valorie sitting cross-legged on the stone floor across from each other with a small campfire conjured between them, both reviewing their Status Pages while the Guild Waystone floated in the middle of the room about four feet off the ground, rotating slowly with the golden raven symbol glowing softly.
So Leon was the one who went and unlocked the Main Entrance Door of the manor, Deacon mused as he walked over to where the Waystone was floating and reached out to tap it with his index finger, deeply pleased by how the smooth onyx stone wobbled slightly from the contact before settling back into perfect balance as it continued hovering in the air with barely any visible means of support. Which, seeing as how neither Bonehead nor Valorie showed me a ring, Leon has it.
Which also means that the person who completes the final criteria of a dungeon gets the reward, Deacon reasoned to himself.
Accessing the Guild Panel directly through physical contact with the Waystone, Deacon navigated through the various available options and menus until he came across the Territories Tab that he'd been looking for.
[Claim Cleared Dungeon of the Mutant Manor as Guild Territory?]
"Yes," Deacon confirmed aloud while maintaining contact with the Waystone, and the moment he spoke, all members of the guild felt a powerful wave of mana rush throughout the entire Dungeon before settling through each of them.
[Territory: Dungeon of the Mutant Manor has been claimed]
Taking out his Leave Tickets from his Spatial Sling Bag, Deacon placed them atop the Waystone, two of which, in a flash of light, the tickets transmuted, gaining the symbol of the Ravenlight Guild; a flying golden raven.
Item Name:Leave Ticket
Type: Tool
Rarity: Uncommon
Effects:
Single-use Teleportation
Description:
A thin, perforated ticket marked with shimmering ink denoting the Ravenlight Guild. When torn, it initiates a short delay before activating a fixed-point teleportation sequence in which you will be teleported to the Ravenlight Guild House after a 5-second delay. This is a single-use item.
Requirement: Member of the Ravenlight Guild.
Noticing two pairs of eyes suddenly focused on him as both Bonehead and Valorie looked up from their Status Pages, Deacon turned to face them while putting away his newly transmuted Leave Tickets.
"Territory officially claimed," he informed them while holding up the index and middle fingers of his right hand up in a 'V' shape as he moved to stand between where they were sitting and pulled out a blank piece of parchment from his Spatial Sling Bag before tossing it into the campfire burning between them.
Catching the parchment as it flew back out of the flames and into his waiting hands now transmuted into his updated Status Page.
It’s been a while since I last saw you, Deacon mused to himself, despite knowing that he’d checked on his Status Page just a day and a half ago.
With that bit of tomfoolery out of the way, Deacon took a good long look at his current stats and smiled at what he saw.
Deacon Surtr Hayes
Race: Jötunn Lv 27
Class: Warrior Lv 26
Health: 2965/2977
Mana: 735/735
Stamina: 2207/2207
Stats:
Vitality: 235 (293) +4 (Lesser Heart-Fire Ritual)
Strength: 224 (291)
Endurance: 174 (215) +5 (Lesser Heart-Fire Ritual)
Agility: 99 (103)
Intelligence: 72 (75)
Wisdom: 75 (78)
Willpower: 110 (115)
Perception: 70 (77)
Free Points: 3
Racial Traits: Skin of Jötunheim (Divine)
General Skills: Identify (Initiate), Meditation (Initiate)
Class Skills: [One-Handed Weapon Mastery (Uncommon+)], Shield Mastery (Uncommon), Academy of Beginnings Sword Style (Rare), Blistering Flames (Rare), Power Strike (Uncommon), Basic Archery Mastery (Uncommon), Power Boost (Uncommon), Two-Handed Weapon Mastery(Uncommon)
Spell Masteries: Fire [Spark (Initiate), Ignis (Uncommon), Flame Armament (Uncommon), Flame Mine (Rare), Flame Art: Flame Steps (Uncommon)], Water [Water Ball (Initiate), Cleanse (Common)], Earth [Gouge Ground (Common)], Blood: [Blood Sense(Common)], BloodFlame: [Ignis Sanguinis: BloodFlame Armament (Epic)]
Affinity: Fire (High) – Innate skill: Undying Flame, Blood (High) – Innate skill: Blood Ascension [Tier 1]
Achievements: Finder of the Hidden III [+15 to All Stats], Saga Walker I [+10 All Stats & 5% to Perception], Warrior's Blessing [+15% Vitality, Strength, and Endurance], Guildmaster [5% to All Stats], Dungeon Diver I [+5 to All Stats]
Mentally allocating his 3 Free Points into Intelligence to bring the stat up to 75 and keep it on par with his Wisdom stat to maintain balance between the two mental attributes, Deacon could only smile at the sight of his steadily growing stats and achievement list.
Putting away his Status Page into his Status Page, Deacon opened his mouth to say something to the other two about their next steps, but stopped himself as he caught sight of both Valorie and Bonehead now holding their Manaphones in their hands and looking at a barrage of notifications they’d just received.
Matching their confused looks as they both glanced up at him, Deacon pulled out his own Manaphone from his Spatial Sling Bag to check the signal and found to his surprise that he was receiving full connectivity, the device continuously dinging as he received notification after notification.
"Wait, did someone already set up a CFMT Tower on this Floor?" Deacon asked in surprise as he stared at his phone's display showing a full signal. "Don't those take like a week to set up?"
Or did some rich noble or descendant of some top guild manage to call their people onto this Floor because of the Hoarder and set up a tethering tower?
However, before either Bonehead or Valorie could respond or offer their own theories about the unexpected connectivity, Leon came bursting into the secret room through the hidden pantry entrance, looking like he'd just seen the devil – or rather, the Hoarder.
"Leon?" Valorie said with obvious confusion and growing concern coloring her voice as she immediately put down her Manaphone. "Are you—?"
"The pond outside is gone," Leon interrupted.
What?