Buttopia
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Chapter 44: A Sense of Self
🕑 Added 2024-12-14 00:00:05 +0000 UTCI reached into my storage space and grabbed the bag containing the dungeon core from my first-ever dungeon experience. I closed the bag, setting the core on the table in front of me.
“So I assume you can talk since you did in there?” I asked, not actually sure if it could or if the System storage just connected it to my mind in a way that allowed communication.
“I can now, I was not able to when we first met without direct contact,” the core said.
“Alright, good, so let’s start with why you’ve become so apologetic all of a sudden. It wasn’t that long ago you were trying to take over my brain and use me as some sort of meat puppet. I wasn’t a big fan of that idea, so I recommend coming up with some good reasons not to destroy you,” I said. I wasn’t joking. The increased intelligence of thing worried me, and just because I had a possible plan brewing that involved it didn’t mean I was going to risk this thing taking over my body.
“As I said, I am deeply sorry for that, but I was very young and did not fully understand the world around me. I won’t claim that I have aged much, but I was able to grow outside of the influence of that field that engulfed me the moment I awakened. I think my connection to you, however brief, allowed me to understand the ramifications of what I had attempted. I don’t ask for your forgiveness, but I do beg not to be destroyed. I wish the chance to experience the myriad of existence, but I do not know how I can do that as I am now,” it explained.
Dammit, I was starting to feel bad for the thing. Sure, it had tried to effectively kill me, but if it really hadn’t understood the world around it outside of a base level it was hard to fault it. Dogs and cats were adorable, but they could be monsters in the hands of the wrong person, and this creature was much more intelligent than either of them. Were all dungeon cores something akin to a newborn child? I know Elody had said several had become productive members of the archives, but what did that mean in general? I couldn’t imagine being able to reason with the one we recovered from the deer statue, and the wasp queen, one in my possession, hadn’t done anything since I took it.
“So all you want from me is not to be destroyed at the moment?” I asked. It wasn’t much of a request. I hadn’t been planning to anyway unless my hand was forced.
“Correct, I would like time to grow, and find out my capabilities. What am I, Dave? Did I become something different during our brief bonding?” it asked.
“I don’t know. You likely know more about dungeon cores than I do. I can do some reading in the archives if I have the time, but I do know you aren’t entirely unique, at least in the idea of dungeon cores wanting to grow beyond being any kind of monster. Intelligence-wise, it’s possible, though the one Elody destroyed seemed intelligent enough. Alright I think I’m willing to make a deal with you, but first up, you need a name. Since I already gave Chip one today, how about you name yourself? What do you want to be called?” I asked. I had gotten tired of referring to a clearly sapient being as just it.
“A name, an interesting thought. Can I have time to consider the implications that go along with one and what I would want to be called?” the core asked.
“Of course, as I said, I have a potential deal for you, but I’m not sure exactly yet how it would work; for now, I’m going to let you think on your name while I consider my own ideas a bit more. I’ll start checking in on you nightly. Does that work for now?” I asked.
“Yes, thank you, Dave. I look forward to finding an idea that represents me,” it said.
“Good, then I’m going to put you back in the bag and into my System storage again,” I explained to it.
“Understood,” it replied and did nothing at all while I placed it back in its storage spot. That was one potential problem on the way to a solution, at least. Now to see just what I could do with the wasps and the simulator.
Looking at my options, I considered whether turning the floor to lava would affect me or not. I wanted to turn off all enemies being bosses for now, as that seemed like a terrible idea with the sheer number that had been in there, so I made that change. I took off poisoned as well and replaced it with three times the opponents. It didn’t unselect the two times I had already chosen. Did that mean I was about to have six times many? I was willing to try it, but six bosses could still be a problem.
I started the simulation, and despite both lava settings being on, I didn’t see any real effect from where I was. That was a good start. If I had started at the bottom of the trees, I wasn’t sure if I would have been able to make it to the top before the lava got me. I switched over to my fire elemental orb while keeping both my body-enhancing orbs running as well. I pointed my finger towards one of the flying wasps in the distance, about to launch a bit of fire at it when my fingernail flew off, impaling it instead. I had forgotten about the random mutation, and apparently this one involved claw projectiles, weird.
That had worked well enough to get the wasps’ attention, though, as a giant swarm formed up in front of me, which was exactly what I had been hoping for as I recalled the fire spell again, aiming for the center of the swarm. The fireball exploded outward, igniting several bees and knocking most out of the air. I ran forward, swinging my mallet at those still in front of me. A few minutes later and, I was standing on the corpses of hundreds of dead wasps, with only a few minor stings.
Something smelled off, though. Was it smoke? Why did I smell smoke? Had I used too much fire too close to the trees? No, dammit, it was the lava down below, the trees were on fire. I hadn’t considered that problem at all. I sprinted forward, ignoring any other wasps until I reached the hive. Five of the queens were hovering outside of it. That meant the sixth was inside where she had been the first time.
I swapped my elemental orb over to the aether one and tried to launch the hive into the air. It worked well enough, clipping two of the other queens on the way skyward. My mallet and I came in afterward, crashing hard into the first of the queens I could reach. I felt a second’s stinger pierce my side hard, and something injected into my body. Everything burnt, but I was so close to winning. There were only two still fighting. I couldn’t drop now.
Ignoring the growing burning through my body, I turned and brought my hammer into another wasp’s head, the exoskeleton crushing under the impact. Just one left. I managed to dodge the stinger as it came for me. It couldn’t manage the same as my mallet ripped through its body.
The simulation didn’t end. Dammit, all those other smaller wasps I skipped, I had to kill them too. I switched all my orbs off and turned on my life orb. The smell of smoke was getting worse. I felt my regeneration going to work on the damage and doing its best on the poison, which was enough to keep me on my feet for now. I took a deep breath and trudged back across the bridge, smashing every new wasp that got in my way. I fired a few of my mutated fingernails at some that refused to come close enough. Still, the battle wasn’t ending. There were too many of them too far away, and I couldn’t afford to turn off my life orb. It was only slowly down the poison, not stopping it.
The trees around me were catching on fire now. Interestingly, the smoke seemed to be affecting the wasps, too. Wasn’t that something exterminators did? Smoked out wasps? Okay I just needed to stay alive a little longer then. I rested my back against the rail, watching more of the wasps drop into the inferno below. How many were left? I could see at least three still hovering about, and I only had one of my fingernails left; best to hold onto that for the last one if I needed it.
The planks around me burst into flames as one of the three remaining wasps disappeared into the smoke. In a last-ditch effort to buy myself time, I switched to my aether elemental orb and launched myself into the sky. I had maybe ten extra seconds from this, and I had to make it count. I aimed my finger at the wasp that looked most alive and fired. Its body split in half and fell from the air at the same time the other one succumbed to the smoke. As the ground quickly rushed up to meet me, the simulation stopped before the impact. I sighed in relief. I was getting better at insane tactical decisions.
When mana is properly channeled in a series through multiple orbs, the synergistic effects are impressive. While I have found many mixed types of orbs, strangely enough, the most common I have come across are dual elemental orbs. Apparently, the host can learn to control aspects of both spells, allowing for much greater applications. I’ve witnessed an example of fire and air where the increased flow of air deeply intensified the fire spell, collectively using much less mana than would ever be expected for such a large blaze. The host was willing to demonstrate many different applications of their combination of orbs under the promise I would never share any other identifying information. Doplingint’s Manual on Synergistic Effects.
Doplingint’s Manual on Synergistic Effects
Comments
Rod
What a windfall and a headache
