{User: Unnamed Monster}
What I saw next made shudder...
It was a giant beating heart suspended in chains.
*Ba-dum.*
The chains were several centimeters thick, thick enough for the average sized hand to struggle if it were to attempt to wrap around it. They extended out across above the room, until they phased through the opposite facing walls.
The heart throbbed and undulated as it gushed blood where the chains were pierced into the surface flesh. It streaked across the the tissue until it gathered near the bottom, where a long needle that somehow extended from inside the heart itself, narrowed until it flowed into tiny beads of crimson that fell into the hole beneath it. The hole was surrounded by a wall of cobblestone that made it look like a wishing well.
*Ba-dum.*
Yeah, this thing was objectively frightening to look at, but to my own surprise the sight of it had just caught me off guard at first. The longer I looked at it, the less shocking it seemed to become to me. I wonder if my mind was so shocked I couldn't react properly.
After trying to desperately tear my attention away from the heart, a task more difficult than one would think, I dared to observe the rest of the room wondering what other horrors could be found here.
At first glance it appeared to be some sort of throne room. It was rectangular in shape, several pillars held up the ceiling on both sides spaced apart equally until a 5 stepped dais overlooked the entire room.
The place was barren and contained no furniture yet it still felt full. 'Why?' This place was overrun with subterranean foliage. Moss coated the walls, vines strangled the pillars while mushrooms grew by the bunch at their feet. The floor looked as if an earthquake broke up the solid stone when in truth the invasive flora found a way to break through it overtime. The amount of debris also signified the ceiling caved-in at some point, resulting in dozens of stalactites cascading down like melted wax from years of uninterrupted forming.
What stood out to me as the most strange however, was the fact that there were lit torches here. Solid manufactured sticks that were wrapped in cloth and placed in the rusted sconces attached to the pillars. The stench of oil became stronger the closer you got and were meticulously cleared of any vines before it was ignited.
'Strange.'
Then I noticed something else that would be more concerning. I didn't see an exit. This room was completely isolated.
Before I could even begin to think of the implications, something suddenly appeared in front of me.
[Summoning Successful!]
Solid white text made up of characters that were blocky and slightly pixilated materialized in an instant.
'Are those words appearing in my eyes or are they actually real?'
[Pairing the Dungeon Heart and Dungeon Lord.]
[Prepare for imminent pain.]
'What?'
At that moment a sharp sting of pain rang loud inside my head. Another, then another, until waves turn into a constant barrage that felt as if something was drilling into my head. The pain was so unbearable I collapsed and curled into a ball, I clutched my head, writhed around into several positions but nothing I did lessened the compounding pain other than making myself more comfortable for my continued suffering.
Glimpses of texts, vivid images, and diagrams passed through my head as the pain gradually increased. Everything was going by so fast I couldn't make sense of it.
Then, just when I felt like I was about to pass out, it stopped. Just like that, the pain vanished as fast as it arrived leaving no lingering effects.
After getting up and dusting myself off I recomposed myself to discover that more words had appeared before me.
Raising my hands in front of me I attempted to make contact with the words, but my hands simply passed through them like a hologram.
[Pairing complete!]
[Calibration Complete!]
[Hello, I am Overseer.]
'Overseer? Is this thing sentient?'
[Beginning Tutorial.]
'Okay, somehow this feels familiar to me.'
[Quest: Open Status]
"Open Status? How?"
Then, as if those were the magic words, a long series of text appeared, the words would usually follow my vison wherever I looked so that it stayed centered, but there was so much of it here that it panned downward automatically. Because of this, I learned I could use my hands to control the scroll and interact with the text.
{Name: ???} {Lvl.1} {Species: ???} {Age: 0} {Occupation: Dungeon Lord}^
{Stats: [HP: 89/500][MP: 150/150][ATK:50][DEF: 25][AGI: 30][INT: 110][CHA: 10][LCK:10}
{Skills: [Distortion][S.Devour][Shapeshift][Dark Bullet][Cosmic Fear]}^
Safe to say I was overwhelmed at first.
Looking around the status screen I eventually noticed the small arrows on the sides of several words that would drop down with additional windows once I tapped them. I naturally gravitated towards the occupation label first. What appeared to me was a plain definition of the occupation.
[Occupation: Dungeon Lord]>(The guardian and caretaker of a dungeon heart and its territory.)
I turn my head to look at the heart, causing me to cringe slightly as I realize I'm going to have to protect this thing.
'Was this the reason I was reincarnated?'
That was when I noticed a notification appear in the top right corner of my vision. The icon appeared as a red exclamation point over a scroll icon. I tapped it, which immediately brought up the definition for a [Dungeon Heart].
[Dungeon Heart]>(The core of a dungeon and a manifestation of its soul. The destruction of a Heart will result in the collapse of the dungeon and the death of its Lord by extension. They tend to have a will of its own that rarely makes itself known to its Dungeon Lord.]
'Well, its either protect this thing ordie. Great.'
I sigh mentally at the thought as I begin to wonder what I have to defend this thing against. Ignoring that, I found it interesting that this thing was actually alive as well. That explained the feeling of constantly being surveilled.
I place that thought aside before I reading further on about these skills of mine since the stats I have are hard to get a solid idea of, especially since I had nothing else to compare myself to in order to conclude if the lineup I have is decent. For all I know I could be extremely weak, and a single trip could take out the rest of my life total.
'Speaking of, why am I at [89/500]? Did that wave of pain actually deal damage to me? I feel fine despite being under 1/5 of my normal health. Whatever, I'll put a pin in that as well. This was something I felt like I was going to be doing a lot of in my foreseeable future.'
I tap the first skill and go down the list in order.
[Distortion]>({MP: 30} A short range teleportation spell that can reach 1-8 meters away from user as long as space is available for the user at the end point and is within line-of-sight. A slight distortion around the user will occur when teleportation is imminent.)
[S.Devour]>({MP: 100} The ability to consume a living creature weaker than the user.) >({S.} Allows the user to store non-organic material inside their body.)
[Shapeshift]>({MP: 60} Allows the user to alter the form of their body and change it's density.)
[Dark Bullet]>({MP: 5} A mid range combat spell that spawns a small dark sphere that revolves around the user that can be propelled it in one direction, reaching up to 15 meters.)
[Cosmic Fear]>({Passive: ON} An aura that surrounds the user which gradually causes living creatures to feel a deep sense of primal fear and danger inflicting them with the {Fear} status effect once it reaches a certain threshold.)
'Well, this all sounds good but what really matters is how effective these will be in combat. I just hope I wont have to be forced to fight so soon after coming into existence.'
[Quest: Open Status (Complete)]
[Reward: Dungeon Status Menu, Encyclopedia.]
[Quest: Open Dungeon Status]
'...'
'This is going to be a long tutorial isn't it?'
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{User: Manfred Belfast}
In the nearby town of Tithe roughly 1 kilometer away, a human by the name of Manfred Belfast is enjoying the morning air on his balcony. He sits slumped in an ornate wooden chair as he smoked a glass pipe stuffed with tobacco. Several dozen empty bottles surround his feet as he blindly swept his hand across the pile to find a full bottle. He finds one and brings it to his face to appraise the brand before popping the cork.
Out of dignity, he goes through the extra tedium of pouring himself a small glass of the golden liquid, but a grimace begins to form on his face before he changed his mind mid-way through, bringing the bottle straight to his lips where it falls directly into his empty gullet. He hardly felt the buzz.
Manfred was a pale man with a lean physique, he sleeked back the disheveled licks of black hair that stuck out from his head with his free hand. He twiddled with one end of his lampshade mustache as his leg tapped against the floor watching the sun rise over the distant horizon, a sight that incites more dread than peace.
Looking like a man who lost his battle with sleep, dark bags hung under bloodshot eyes, darting around to observe the people living their lives 4 floors beneath him.
He wore the robes of a nobleman and could be mistaken for one if it wasn't for the badge that was pinned to his chest. The unique insignia of the town's guild for Breakers.
Manfred was a rather successful one, the proof of which was the several dozen medals which lined the dressers and bookshelves of his small and cozy bedroom.
The sun had already finished rising when he was about to drink the last swig of brandy from the bottle, but he was interrupted by a knock at the door inside.
"Hello? Guildmaster Manfred, are you in there?" ,a young woman's voice asked from behind the door.
"Gods above woman, how are you already up during these ungodly hours! Let an old man rest a bit longer will you?" ,he says before downing the rest of his wine with a huff of frustration.
"What do you mean, it's already 9:30! The guild opened three hours ago! Get up already old man before I break down this door and drag you to the front desk to help me with paperwork again!"
Manfred shudders at the thought of being forced to do paperwork, again. So, he reluctantly got out of his chair.
"Fine, I'll be out in 10 minutes."
"Make it 5!"
"Dammit...",Manfred muttered.
Manfred washed his head in a nearby water bucket which entailed dunking his head inside. It woke him up, but it did little to wash away the stink of smoke that still clung to his hair. He threw on some clothes that smelled the least of alcohol and still looked dignified before hurriedly gathering his things.
He had grabbed his smoking pipe off the balcony to take a final puff of it before leaving when he makes a double take towards the large scattering of birds in the distance.
It was too far for any normal person to see clearly, but thanks to his {Farsight} skill, he could see the event occurring as clear as if he was looking through a telescope.
"Huh...wonder what's got them spooked" ,he said curiously before he snapped his fingers to produce a flame between his index finger and thumb to light the the new tuft of tobacco in his pipe.
His movement ceased immediately when he felt a strange sensation ring through the air, most would think it was a gust of wind, but in truth it was a sonic boom. This made something clear to Manfred, causing his head to shoot up once more, looking for something in the distance. That was when he saw it. A giant geyser of dirt exploded from the forest where a flash of red light could be seen.
The realization of what was happening was surreal enough to cause Manfred to drop his pipe, shattering it as soon as it hit the floor. The sound of which didn't do anything to snap him out of his trance.
His lips formed a hopeful smirk, bringing him a sensation strong enough to make him sober again, though it wasn't from the alcohol.