(Abominable Mole / level 13)
(Abominable Mole / level 14)
(Abominable Mole / level 12)
---
(Abominable Mole / level 18)
(Star-Nosed Abomination / level 32)
Its body is that of a massive ball of red fur at least 10 feet in diameter. It has dozens of human-like limbs haphazardly placed around its giant form. At its center sits a large pink nose in the shape of a star.
Surrounding it are over a dozen Abominable Moles, but my attention is focused on the Star-Nosed Abominations soul. There are no flames to it. It’s like a purple metal sphere, twice the size of my own soul.
Its soul suddenly shrinks to a point and a flash of light strikes right next to me. Thunder echoes throughout the entire dungeon and I look out at what it just hit.
Toulif stands there with his sword drawn and smoke lofting off it. “The star nose is mine! Gent! Clean up the fodder!”
“Yes!”
Gent waves his wand in the air and a black magic circle appears at his feat. He flicks his wand down and over a hundred grey rocky hands shoot out of the ground grabbing at the moles.
Toulif quickly reverses the grip of his sword and stabs it into the ground. A massive black spike blasts out of the ceiling right above the Star-Nosed Abomination and pins it to the ground.
A massive maw filled with teeth opens up under the abomination's nose as it screams in pain.
My heart is racing. I run into the fight ignoring my critically low mana. I shut off Aura of Vitality to conserve. I have a plan of course. I look for the highest leveled mole in the group.
(Abominable Mole / level 21)
The Mole is held down by several rock hands. I know I’m close to my next level and this is likely overkill, but I need to make sure I level up from this. Let’s kill it in one shot.
Using the same method I used to kill the Abominable Serpent, I use Aura of Strength on my legs to launch myself into the ceiling and back down. I aim directly at the Abominable Mole.
I wait for the last possible second to activate Aura of Durability.
The mole blooms into a visceral red flower as chunks of meat and bone fragments fly in every direction.
It hurts to slam myself into the ground like that, but it's also just so god damn fun.
You have slain a (Abominable Mole / level 21)
-
More experience rewarded
You have leveled up! (16 → 17)
-
You have earned (5) stat points
You have leveled up! (17 → 18)
-
You have earned (5) stat points
(Aura of Durability) has leveled up! (2 → 3)
I quickly distribute 6 points into Intellect. I then sent 2 into Soul and 1 into both Strength and Durability.
I instantly feel relief as my mana goes from 1% to 40%. I’m so glad I got two levels from that. I reactivated Aura of Vitality.
Loud screeching starts coming from the Star-Nosed Abomination as a large cross section of the spherical beast falls off it. Toulif appears standing on top of the monster and nonchalantly swipes his sword down.
The entire monster is violently ripped in half from the strike and rock beneath it breaks apart.
Huh. “He’s strong. I could take him.” I could not, I’m not delusional. I said it for the effect!
I notice something with my Magical Aura Perception coming from Gent. The fringes of his soul for whatever reason, just turned black. The magic circle at his feet grows twice as big and he flicks his wand upward.
He chants “Grip”
All the rock hands around me start turning black and their fingers get longer. The Abominable Moles scream all at once like a chorus as they are all torn apart.
Huh, I guess I wasn’t really needed. I furrow my brows as disappointment starts to settle in. I wanted to fight some more!
I start walking back to the camp when Geltor Jumps onto my shoulder snickering “That was brutal! Hehe.”
I frown and look down to see I’m covered in blood once again. “Whoops, I just cleaned myself too.” At least the cultist robes proved to be durable. They aren’t even slightly ripped.
Toulif jumps to my side and looks me up and down. He scoffs and gives me a wide berth as he points his thumb at me. “Charlie!”
“Uh-oh.” Geltor quickly jumps off my shoulder and a large jet of water suddenly slams into me.
I’m sent flipping over backward and falling on my ass. I gasp for air when the water jet finally dies down. I look dumbfounded at Charlie as he stands there pointing his wand at me.
Geltor is rolling around in circles, laughing his sides out. I’m about to snap at Charlie, but I stop myself.
Between being soaked in blood or soaked in water, I’d rather the latter.
I give Charlie a goofy grin and a thumbs up “Thanks Charlie!”
Geltor stops laughing and looks surprised. He gets up and walks over to me. “I was honestly hoping for a better reaction.” He shrugs “Eh!”
“I’d much rather yell at you for laughing at me… Bitch.”
He scoffs and jumps back onto my shoulder as I wring out my robes. Toulif approaches me once more. “I still have a lot of questions, but they will have to wait. For now, we need to regroup with the vice captain.” He turns to the rest of the group. “Break over! Pack up!”
The cultist immediately starts taking apart the tent, but! “Wait! My stuff is still in there!”
Toulif gives me a confused glance, but I ignore him and retrieve my torn shirt and mushrooms. When I leave the tent, Toulif takes note of what I’m holding. “What’s that?”
“This is my shirt. Which I have decided has sentimental value, and these!” I give Toulif a smirk “These are for if you wanna have a good time.”
Geltor leans over my head “What do you mean by that?” I look up at him with furrowed brows. Looking over at Toulif I also see he didn’t get what a meant.
I sigh “They’re psychedelics. But that's not the reason I’m carrying them. I have them because they can also repair sanity!”
Geltor sputters out “W- what?!” Spitting all over my face.
Now annoyed, I grab him by the head and throw him off me. “You’re spitting!”
Toulif is now staring at my hand. “Reanimating mushrooms.” He tilts his head as he thinks deeply “Can they really repair sanity?”
I nod “Yep! I tested them myself. I got them so I can repair Eva’s sanity.”
“Why would Evan- need his sanity repaired?”
My eyes widened as I realized what just slipped my mouth. I activate Quick Thinking as anger lofts off Toulif’s soul. The only thing that fills my mind at the moment is one thing. “Whoops.”
The other cultists that just finished putting up the tent, start backing up in dramatic fashion.
“Explain yourself, demon! What happened to the vice captain!”
“Uhh- er- I- It was an accident?”
Toulif’s soul dims instead of exploding as I thought it would. He stares silently for a moment before snatching one of the mushrooms out of my hand. He turns to Charlie “Your sanity is at 93 right?”
“Y- Yes!”
He tosses the mushroom to him “Eat this and prove what she is saying is true.”
I watch in horror as Charlie catches it and goes to put it in his mouth without a second thought. I rush to tackle him to the ground and wrestle the mushroom from his hand. “You idiot! I just told you these were psychedelics!”
I see Toulifs soul radiating with anger. For some reason, he is using great restraint to stop himself from attacking me. He sighs as some of the tension is released “I don’t- What is a psychedelic?”
I blink “You don’t know what a psychedelic is?”
“No.”
“Oh.”
I went on to explain that if Charlie had eaten the mushroom that he would have been out of commission for several hours at least. While it would have been fun to see him be knee deep in nirvana, we needed to keep moving if we wanted to catch up with Eva.
The mushrooms and my shirt got stored away with the rest of their supplies. Apparently Toulif is gonna have Charlie eat the mushroom before Eva to make sure it’s safe. He’s still planning on it, but only after we regroup with her.
So, me and my new party set out to reunite with the vice captain!
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
-----
I’m not in a good mood.
I’m currently walking behind Toulif with a duffel bag-like bag, except without all the useful straps, hoisted over my shoulder. Geltor is chilling peacefully on top of the bag I’m holding while giving directions. “Take a right here.”
I grumble to myself “Why the hell am I on luggage duty?”
Geltor hangs off the side of the bag and sways in front of my face “Hey, we needed more hands so we could move faster anyway. If you didn’t help, it would take longer to reach Evan.” He turns back to Toulif. “Keep going straight.”
I frown “You know, I can track Evan too.”
“Nope! This is my job, and I need to do it to go back home.”
I raise an eyebrow. Does that mean he wants to go back to hell? “You want to go back to hell? Why? Wait, how do summoning's work in the first place?”
He smiles and pulls himself on top of the bag again “Ah, you being an Eldritch Horror. Makes sense you don’t know given your layer of hell isn’t included in the pact.”
“Huh.”
Gletor sits on top of my head “Alright Tiffany, time for a history lesson!”
Before Geltor can continue, I feel something from Toulifs soul. He looks back for a moment before shaking his head. “And you made fun of my name.”
“Uh- wait-”
Geltor talks over me “So, the first devil, bless his greatness, made a deal with the god of earth. What the god of earth got out of the deal is unknown, but that's not important. The god of earth filled the first 5 layers of hell with sand and soil. Doing this somehow made those layers of hell much safer, but the first devil didn’t ask this out of the goodness of his heart.”
Geltor snickers, “In order for any demon to live in the first 5 layers of hell, they must agree to the first devils terms.”
I dart my eyes around as I process the info dump “Uh- what are the terms?”
“You must be on standby to be summoned by cultists at all times. When summoned, you are given 2 choices. Kill the summoner and get immediately sent back to hell. Or, Complete the task you are given and be returned. The summoner may release you at any time, at their own discretion.”
I nod slowly “I don’t think killing the vice captain would have sent me to hell.”
“Makes sense, given summoning you should have been impossible in the first place. Eldritch Horrors live in the 8th layer of hell.”
“What layer are you from?”
“The 2nd. It’s a boring place, but it's home. What about the 8th layer? What’s it like?”
Uh- oh. Alright kids, lying is 80 percent confidence and 20 percent creativity! “To describe the 8th layer is literally impossible. A place where reality and reason end. I give it a 4 out of 10.”
Geltor blinks at me for a moment and then starts laughing “Heha- I wanna see it even more now! What about your true form? Can I see it?”
I smirk “Not without killing all the humans around us. My true form does massive psychic damage to anyone who sees it.”
As soon as I say that, the other cultists' souls waver slightly. I think that was fear?
(Magical Aura Perception) has leveled up! (5 → 6)
Ehh, I don’t really care about them. I’m having fun with my conversation with Geltor anyway. But I notice Geltor’s soul starts glowing brighter and his smile becomes malicious. He whispers into my ear “Then why not kill everyone here? I can’t attack my summoner, that window has already passed. But you can slaughter everyone here and get the experience you so desperately want, and I can go home early when my summoner dies. How about it?”
I’m caught off guard by the sudden offer. I want to reject it immediately but it’s like my mind is forced to consider the offer seriously. Was that magic? Or a skill? I mull it over in my head.
But ultimately, that magic only made me consider his offer and wasn’t forcing me to do anything. “No, hurting the captain would hurt the vice captain, and I want to be friends with them.”
Geltor stares for a moment before shrugging. He raises his voice once more “Eh. Had to try. Take a left here.”
I frown. That was intense. Can I learn magic like that? No, wait! Did anyone hear us? I look around and I see no one visibly reacting to the conversation I just had. I don’t think we were talking quietly enough for them to not hear. Did Geltor do something?
(Aura of Vitality) has leveled up! (3 → 4)
I look down from the notification and at my body. I smile. “I’m completely healed now.”
I throw the worried thoughts out of my head as I deactivate my aura and take a look at my status. “Status.”
Name (Tiffany Day) / Age (23) / Race (Human)
Alignment (Chaotic Neutral)
Class (Monk) / Level (18)
Stats / Stat Points (0)
Strength (27)
Durability (53)
Agility (10)
Endurance (10)
Intellect (24)
Soul (32) (-2)
Intrinsic Status
Vitality (100%)
Stamina (38%)
Sanity (85%)
Mana (9%) (max 93.8%)
Traits
(Interloper)
(Serial Killer)
(Ydri’s Jester)
Skills
(Quick Thinking) level 3
(Pain Tolerance) level 4
(Observe) level 2
Class Skills
(Obscene Presence) level 1
(Magical Aura Perception) level 6
(Magical Aura Manipulation) level 4
(Aura of Strength) level 4
(Frost Breath) level 3
(SoulFire) level 4
(Aura of Vitality) level 4
(Aura of Durability) level 3
I look through my stats and skills and feel a wave of satisfaction wash over me. This really is built like a game given how freaking fun this is.
I frown when I look over at my intrinsic status. My mana pool looks to be permanently lower now and it doesn’t recover as fast as I would like. I think over the conundrum in my head.
Maybe there’s a skill that will let me recover mana faster? With my current Intellect, I think it would take about 2 and half hours to fully refill. Though that sounds fast, with me being in a dungeon, it is not fast enough.
Does a skill that recovers mana even exist?
With nothing else to do at the moment, I decided to give it a shot. I look inward using Magical Aura Perception.
I start studying my soul's structure. At a cursory glance it looks like a ball of black fire. I furrow my brows as I close my eyes and look closer with my perception.
My soul has a boundary to it. The flames wisp off randomly from the boundary. It is in the shape of a perfect sphere and I see that they’re cracks running through it. I frown as I realize what I already know.
My soul is damaged.
I shake the thought from my head as I continue observing it to figure out a method to recover mana faster.
After mulling over the boundary with my perception, I find some things. It’s more accurate to call the boundary a container. As in, the soul is where mana is stored. The container is covered in these very minute engravings all across its surface. I’m not sure what they are, but I take note of it.
The most interesting thing I have found is that my soul has bridges. Or, that's the closest word I can think of to describe it. I have two of them to be exact. One goes towards Eva’s direction. This bridge is small and weak compared to the other one.
It’s like every edge of my soul is facing it. What is it? I have no fucking idea!
But it is strong, and it goes off in some random direction into the ground. It is also where my mana is flowing in from. What the fuck is that? I never really question where mana comes from, but now I have nothing but questions!
I sigh as I let go of my speculation. That isn’t what is important right now. Focus.
I feel how the mana is flowing into me. It would be wrong to describe it as a liquid, but it’s like a liquid. It's like, someone heard the concept of a liquid but didn’t have a visual reference so this is what they think a liquid should flow like.
It is very strange to say the least.
As I watch the ‘we have liquid at home’ flow from the ‘concept of a bridge’ I have a very important thought.
Magic is fucking weird. Nope! Stop! Bad thoughts!
I start manipulating my soul with Magical Aura Manipulation. Not to move my soul anywhere, but to do something else. I start rotating it. I spin my soul perpendicular from the direction the mana is flowing in.
The idea is to create a whirlpool of ‘not liquid’ to siphon more mana from wherever it is coming from. Kinda like swirling a bottle to get it to empty faster.
My soul slowly starts to rotate. Mana starts to slosh inside my soul. That's something I usually wouldn’t notice, but I’m paying very close attention at the moment.
My soul is now spinning a bit more. I’m not used to messing with my soul this way, so progress is slow. The mana becomes more turbulent as the spin gains more speed.
Eventually, after a few more minutes, the mana starts sticking to the sides of the container and spinning with it. The mana is still turbulent, but after I put some more effort into it.
A large vortex is created within me.
I feel mana pouring in from elsewhere at a surprising degree. I continue to spin my soul faster and more mana keeps flowing in even faster. The mana spins faster and the spin stretches into the bridge itself. Over the course of about 5 minutes, my mana reaches capacity.
A grin breaks my face as I get a new notification.
Congratulations, you have unlocked a skill
-
(Mana Cycling)
(Magical Aura Perception) has leveled up! (6 → 7)
(Magical Aura Manipulation) has leveled up! (4 → 5)
I pause my excitement as I look at the notification. It’s not a class skill? Why is that?
Mana Cycling / Level (1)
(You have found that creating a vortex within your being has increased the flow of mana into yourself.
Cycle mana to increase mana recovery
That's a lot to unpack.
First, I forced my mana to cycle with Magical Aura Manipulation? Is that why it’s not a class skill? Because even though I used my manipulation of my soul to get it, it’s still a normal skill that anyone can get. That must mean that there is another method in getting this skill then.
Second, if I spin my soul too fast, then it will break from mana slamming into it.
That’s fucking ominous.
I have an inkling that if I have a higher level of Magical Aura Manipulation, that I can safely spin my soul faster. Still though, I’m very grateful for the warning mystery man!
Glee starts to fill my body as I think about my new skill. I stop as a thought crosses my mind. There is a gap in my logic.
I used the analogy of spinning a bottle to create a whirlpool to drain water faster, but that is wrong. That method is used for emptying a container, not filling one.
I look upon my skill with a newfound horror. It shouldn’t have worked, but it did.
“That doesn’t make any sense.” Literally a second later “Eh- fuck it, its magic!”
I refocus my perception outward and immediately pick something up. My head snaps to the right as I recognize what kind of soul it is.
“Toulif, an Abominable Serpent is right around that corner.”
Toulif stops and turns to look at me. I can hear him squint behind his mask. “You knew about the moles too. Do you have a way of tracking them?”
I walk straight past him without answering and put my bag down by the corner. I peek around and see it.
(Abominable Serpent / Level 22)
I smile deeply as I prepare myself for a fight, but Toulif walks past me.
He swings-
A large black arc flies off his sword and slams into the serpent. It is violently ripped in half and sent flying into the distance. It died so fast it didn’t even scream.
My mouth hangs open as Toulif walks past me and keeps heading towards Eva. “Let’s keep moving.”
I take a few more seconds to process what happened. I frown as I realize what traveling with them is going to entail.
Every corner of my being is filled with raging amounts of disappointment.