Chapter 20: The Sun Is Not My Friend
Ragnar Vhagar, now a creature of the eternal night, paced his Throne Room. His new vampire body was a marvel of predatory grace, but it came with a manual full of fine print, and the biggest, boldest warning was about the sun.
His new racial description had been very clear: [Weakness: Sunlight (Severe)]. This wasn’t just a minor inconvenience, like getting a sunburn. This was a life-threatening, game-ending vulnerability. He couldn’t just guess how bad it was. He needed data.
"I need to run an experiment," he declared to the empty Throne Room. Smashy the Orc, who was standing guard in a corner, grunted. Ragnar chose to interpret this as a sign of scientific encouragement. "I can’t go outside, but I can bring the outside... in."
He pulled out his phone and navigated to the [Creation] menu. His C-Rank in the skill gave him a much wider array of options, including environmental modifications. He found what he was looking for under the ’Facilities’ tab.
[Facility: Sunlight Simulation Chamber (D-Rank)]
[Cost: 50 DP]
[Description: A specialized room that uses powerful, light-aspected magic crystals to perfectly replicate the radiation and intensity of a planet’s star. Useful for research, agriculture, or for finding out exactly how much your new vampire self will sizzle. No refunds.]
"The system has a sense of humor. A very dark, very expensive sense of humor," Ragnar grumbled, but he spent the points. He couldn’t afford to be ignorant about his own weaknesses.
In an empty chamber near the Mess Hall, the stone walls began to glow and shift. Purple crystals embedded themselves in the ceiling, but instead of their usual ominous, moody glow, they began to pulse with a brilliant, warm, golden light. The air grew warm, and the oppressive gloom of the dungeon was banished, replaced by a light so bright it hurt his new, sensitive eyes even from the doorway.