[Tutorial Mission 1: Completed
Rewards: 5 experience, 100 MasP, 1 summoning circle]
Easy as that, my first mission in another world as a dungeon core is over and the second one came right after.
[Tutorial Mission 2: Behold its power.
•Condition: summon a monster, have it defeat a creature, absorb it and reabsorb the monster.
•Rewards: 5 experience, 50 MasP, 200 EnBP]
'What to do now is pretty obvious, but how to do it is the question.'
Remember that my dungeon doesn't really exist yet, and my area of influence is just this little stone "room" that is (quite literally) on borrowed time.
[In this case, establishing the dungeon isn't necessary, as the monster will be eliminated afterward.]
The system told me.
'That seems kind of cruel, don't you think?'
[There's no need to worry, the monster used for the demonstration doesn't have any kind of ego. From the user's point of view, it would be something like a robot with a specific function; once that function is fulfilled, it would naturally shut down.]
'You know you still have to have a certain ethical standard regarding robots, right?'
But since in this case it would be a monster I have total control over, that wouldn't be so bad. Or would it be just as bad?
Anyway, the important thing now is to finish the missions so I can (I still don't know how) get out of this little room before I end up dead again, and permanently it seems. With that said, I went straight to the Monster tab and used 5 MasP to create/summon the only monster available for that price that would fit in this space: the cliché of clichés in any fantasy work.
That's right, the well-known, loved, and hated slime.
The slime that appeared was not like most fantasy slimes; those are usually round or have a more rounded central part, with the bottom part being somewhat like goo and generally having a core that is exposed, or at least visible.
The slime that appeared in front of me was a puddle of green goo crawling on the floor, and it didn't have a core. It also didn't seem like it could respond to any external stimuli; it just lay there like a puddle on the ground.
But even so, I could still feel a connection with it. I tried to talk to it mentally in any way I could, but it was no use. Then I tried to concentrate on that connection and send it the thought of "get up." This time it worked, but when I checked my status on the home tab, I saw that my EnBP had decreased.
[Name: Kaio
Race: Dungeon (child)
Level: 0
MasP: 95
EnBP: 1
Floors: 0
Total area of influence: 6 m² (1.5 x 2.0 m)
Exp: 7/350]
My EnBP would essentially be my mana, which regenerates every hour. The reason it's empty is because I spent it generating experience; I spent 200 just to get 2 to see if there was any way to improve the conversion. There isn't, at least not for now.
Anyway, this left me with 0 EnBP. But that turned into 2 after 2 hours of explanation, because it lasted longer than it seemed. But the EnBP has already turned into 1 for no apparent reason, basically for nothing.
'System, explanation please?!'
[Understood. The more sapient, conscious, or simply intelligent a monster is, the easier it is for the user to communicate with it and influence its behavior. Monsters of this type have been able to understand instructions and intentions without much trouble.]
[However, it would be more difficult to override the mind to control it directly. Conversely, if it has a very low level of sapience, at the level of an insect, it is more difficult to understand very complex commands, requiring the use of EnBP to compensate for the lack of mental activity.]
'In other words, the smarter a monster is, the better it understands what I want it to do, but if it's too smart it might resist or go against my orders. But if it's (for lack of a better word) very stupid, I have to spend EnBP to issue the command "outside the body" and force it into its mind?!'
[Correct.]
'Wow, great, so now what do I have to wait for? A whole day with a green puddle in front of me, unable to do anything?!'
[Not necessarily, just as the user can convert EnBP to MasP, the reverse is also possible. Although the reverse conversion is less than the direct one.]
'Smaller by how much exactly?'
[1 MasP equals 0.5 EnBP.]
Honestly, I was already expecting that, it's not so bad. If this were between people, they usually wouldn't even give back half of what you paid for anything (yes, it depends a lot on the person, but most...).
So I'll think positively about it. And so...
'System, how do I convert MasP to EnBP?'
[The user must literally think of a line connecting MasP to EnBP; the conversion will happen automatically.]
I did as he said, then a window appeared saying:
[Converted 10 MasP to 5 EnBP.]
Well, that should make dealing with the slime easier, now the question is finding something to make the green puddle fight with.
Regarding that, there's only one way, but it will inevitably require my patience. Simply wait for something to pass by (a cockroach, a rat, a centipede, etc.) and use my Authority over the entire area to bring it in front of the slime and give the order to fight.
Plan made, now wait.
****************************
2 days later
Nothing, zero, none, I think not even a microorganism appeared (┛◉Д◉)┛. I had 8 days until this room collapsed and said goodbye to my existence forever. Now it's 6 and decreasing!!!!
WHY IS NOTHING SHOWING UP HERE!!!!!!!!!
Where am I? Near a volcano by any chance?!!!!!!! No, wait, what if I really am, that's checkmate, isn't it!!!!!!!!!!!
'Oh no, I'm screwed, I'm screwed, I'm-'
Wait, what was that? I'm feeling a kind of strange sensation, like when you have a fly on your foot or arm, it's not the same but it's almost like that. Concentrating on this sensation, I finally saw a ray of hope, right at the limit of my total influence I found what looked like a rat or a shrew fighting a centipede.
And it was losing, but that's not important. Finally, I have prey to finish the mission!!!
Focusing on that thought, I used 2 EnBP to bring the two of them to my "room" (this didn't go very well), they appeared very close to where the puddle/slime was, the two animals barely seemed to notice the change of location, still focused on fighting to see who would become whose dinner.
I was initially hesitant about whether I should have the slime intervene and get the weaker one first, then the stronger one. But I also think this is a good opportunity to see what happens when creatures die, or rather, kill themselves, in my dungeon.
This time I only had to wait a little while; the centipede had already coiled around the rat's body and was not only suffocating it like a snake, but also plunging its sharp legs into the poor creature's body. It was easy to see the blood gushing out, and the poor rat, still struggling, was already starting to lose strength and now fighting to breathe.
The centipede seemed to even feel sorry for the rodent and quickly ended its suffering with a swift attack directly to the head.
When it fell dead, a notification appeared.
[Eliminated 1 Esqueritzse (parasitic death), +1 Exp, +1 EnBP, Title: Parasitic Dungeon]
Whoa, there's something here that wasn't there before. I really held back from asking for an explanation now, but I think it's more important to finish the tutorial once and for all. So I closed the notification and continued to see what the centipede would do.
After killing the rat(?), instead of reveling in its prize, the centipede seemed to realize it had suddenly changed location, displaying a great deal of intelligence... at least for an insect (and certainly much more intelligence than my slime (TwT)). It looked around and, faster than I expected, it noticed the puddle of slime and slowly moved towards it.
Why did it decide to do that instead of eating its prey like any other living animal? I have no idea, but that's what it did, and that's better for me.
I commanded the slime to prepare to eliminate whatever appeared near it for 0.2 EnBP (practically a whole day of passive gain). So the centipede perched on top of the slime, examining it with its antennae.
It moved faster than a snake's strike, and wrapped 5 tentacles around the centipede, pulling the insect towards itself, forming a ball with the centipede inside.
One thing that's good to remember is that slime isn't just a puddle of goo on the floor, but a puddle of acidic goo on the floor. I'd say it has a slightly lower acidity than hydrochloric acid, so it's not exactly weak. In fact, even slime itself wouldn't be weak, despite (literally) not having a brain, according to its status.
[Name:-----
Level: 1
Race: slime
HP: 5/5
MP: 2/2
Strength: 3
Agility: 4
Defense: 1
Wisdom: 0
Ability: Digestion, Regeneration (1MP), Sticky Body, Acidic Body]
The poor centipede tried to escape by any means necessary, but apparently one couldn't swim inside a slime. And even if one could, the slime still held her inside, and if she was close to getting out, it would spin her around and disorient her. The... for lack of a better word, torture, of the unfortunate insect lasted at least 2 minutes, until she finally died and was absorbed by the slime, with which several notifications came.
[Electrocterno eliminated, +3 Exp, +3 EnBP]
[Tutorial Mission 2: Completed
Reward: 5 experience, 200 MasP, 50 EnBP]
[It is possible to absorb the remains of the victims, do you wish to do so?]
'Hmm, so I have a way to keep my dungeon, in this case my body(?), always clean, yes, you can absorb.'
[Absorbed Esqueritzse, +5 MasP]
[Absorbed Ectorocterno, +7 MasP]
[Tutorial Mission (final): The True Beginning
• Condition: Find a place to permanently establish your dungeon
• Reward: 20 experience, 500 MasP, 300 EnBP, Customization Kit]
'I have no idea how to complete this one, especially since it would involve leaving here, which I don't know how to do.'
[Now that the user has reached the final part of the initial stages, they are allowed free movement to find a suitable location to establish the dungeon.]
'Wait a minute, that easy? No distance restrictions, no MasP or EnBP costs to move, just unlimited free movement until I find a place for the dungeon?!'
[Correct, the user should just be careful because the time the initial room will remain intact is still limited, and the user's essence will remain in it even if the consciousness leaves to search for the location. Once the time runs out, the room will collapse and the user will be eliminated.]
[The user must also choose a dungeon location that is near a settlement of sentient and sapient beings.]
Well, that's pretty obvious. Anyway, now I'm going to get out of here and start searching. Following what I've already understood about how the system works, I just need to concentrate and...
When I realized it, I was already outside.
'Ahhh, a gigantic blue sky above, and right in front of me was a mountain range.'
'It's no wonder it took two days for something to appear. In fact, considering the size of this place, I think I can even consider myself lucky that it only took two days for something to appear.'
Okay, so now I just have to find a dungeon location in a little less than 6 days, it shouldn't be too difficult, right? (Because I feel like I shouldn't have even thought about that.)