Random Portals

Mana Clog has ended: Mana will resume recovery at its normal rate.

Steven was excited and ready for the ninth floor right until he realized he still didn’t have any mana, and would have to wait for it to recover. Though that wouldn’t take too long.

While he waited, he glanced over his inventory for an item. Once he found what he was looking for, he pulled up the description.

Staff of Nature’s Blight

Rarity- Unique

~ Effect]- Cast a blighted root snare that entangles all enemies in a 20 foot radius dealing blight damage to all enemies in area of effect.

~ Requirement]- Death shard.

~ Cost]- 420 mana per cast. Cast per day 2.

(Note- This staff has been corrupted by undeath. It was once welded by a Dryad and sole guardian of the forest of Gia before she became corrupted by undeath and turned all that she guarded into a swamp land spanning hundreds miles in every direction.)

After reading over it, he couldn’t help but shutter at the note it had. This was the only item he had that had any lore. Even the spear he had gotten from a literal god didn’t have lore. Although Steven had his doubts if Chaos was an actual god or if he had been just some guy that had leveled up a lot. Pushing those thoughts aside, he considered if he should try to use the Staff. He now had four hundred and seventy-one mana. Although that would use most of his mana, and without Eve’s mana potions.

“Its an interesting weapon indeed, and quite powerful,” Silvia said. “although you are too weak to use it, you need more mana. Your entire build is mana intensive. It is a good thing you have an affinity for Spirit.”

Just then, Steven remembered what Jabriel had told him. “Hey Silvia, can you use my attribute points?”

Silvia’s light fluttered. “Who told you that?”

“Is that a yes?”

“I can use your attribute points, yes, but you are insanely too weak to be giving any of them to me, your only level twenty. Honestly, it’s absurd to think you are fixing to take on the ninth floor of a dungeon. Where did you hear about that? Did the Sphinx tell you?”

Steven was confused why Silvia would have thought the Sphinx would know that sort of thing, since he had spent his whole life under a hidden path inside an undead dungeon, now that he thought about it, it was odd the Sphinx didn’t act more surprised at seeing people for the first time.

“What if he did?” Steven said, not wanting to rat out Jabriel. “Anyway, I gained a stat boost of three to all my stats when I received that title. I also have a free point I can give you if you can use it.”

“That is a nice boost. Titles are scarce. Most of the time it’s stumbled upon just like what happened to you, although some try to cultivate them. I suspect someone was doing that with the Sphinx.” Silvia’s light dimmed. “I can use attribute points, although one single point won’t do much. I’m still at the lowest level of Wisp and it will only unlock my first ability.”

“Do you know what that first ability is?”

“It allows me to communicate to a single being, instead of others overhearing.”

“Well, that could be useful.” Steven said.

“Yes, it could be, but so could another fifteen or twenty mana that you could get from using it on your Spirit attribute.”

“I think you should give her the attribute point. It would be nice to not hear the Wisp lecturing you.” Nev added.

“Stay out of this. It doesn’t concern you.” Silvia said.

“I agree with Nev. It would be convenient for you to communicate things to me without being overheard, such as warning me about danger or something, without also letting everyone know.”

“You did get the boost from that title, so I suppose one attribute wouldn’t hurt. When your higher level, a single attribute won’t be so important to you and you can give me one hear and there. Although each time I level up my abilities, it cost an extra one to make it to the next level.”

“Good to know, but we will deal with that when it comes. As of now, how do I send you the attribute that I have?”

No sooner that Steven thought this a notification appeared.

Would you like to allocate attribute points to your familiar Yes/No?

Selecting yes, another page appeared in front of him. It had a minus and plus icon and above that was a zero. Thinking of clicking the plus icon, the zero changed to one. He tried to click the plus icon again, but nothing happened. At the bottom it had an icon for decline and one for accept.

Focusing on the accept, the page vanished and a green light shot from his chest into the wisp.

A quick check of his stat sheet showed he had zero available attribute points.

Closing out the page, he was about it to ask Silvia if it worked but before he could she spoke.

“Yes, it worked and I have already unlocked my first ability. Also, you don’t have to speak out load now just think your words towards me and I will hear them.”

“Wait, does that mean you can read my mind now?” Steven asked.

Silvia chuckled slightly, “no that’s not how it works. You have to want to send me words, and it only works with words you can’t send me thoughts. Which is a much better form of communication, if you ask me.”

“Are you two talking?” Nev asked.

“Yes, isn’t this what you wanted?” Silvia asked.

“Can you open up a group chat with multiple people?” Steven asked out loud.

“No. I will need two more attributes to unlock that ability.”

“Okay, well less you need to tell me things in secret. Let’s just talk out loud, so Nev isn’t left out and we don’t have to explain things to her again.” Steven said.

To Steven’s surprise Silvia agreed, and then they quickly started making plans for the ninth floor which mostly just consisted of Silvia telling them that Steven should deal with the undead and Nev to deal with the Demons. Steven pulled out the Scythe for Nev and she took it. She apparently wanted to fight in her human form for a bit, saying her human form was less vulnerable to fire. Steven then tried to give her the Fire resistance ring, but Nev told him she couldn't use it.

Once done talking with Nev and Silvia, his mana was full, and he nearly took off to the ninth floor in search of Eve. However, he had no idea where the entrance was. When he asked Silvia, she told him he needed to speak with Sirus, and reminded him that Fidah was also his servant, so he went to speak with them. First, he stopped to speak with Sirus and let him know he was ready for the ninth floor and he would be getting Eve back. Goskia gave him a few health and mana potions and wished him luck. Steven then went to speak with Fidah while Sirus finished his preparations.

Fidah was speaking with her clan’s man when he arrived. When she saw Steven, she immediately ran over and took a knee. “Master Odling, are we ready to save Eve?”

“We are, and what about the soldiers?”

“Uh, well, they refuse to go...” Fidah said a bit hesitantly.

“Why should we throw our lives away? Our mission was to capture the Half Naga, not help them.” One of the soldiers shouted, as several others agreed.

Steven looked at the dozen remaining soldiers as they shouted their refusal to fight. Once they finished, Steven spoke. “Fidah, take your clan’s man to the Naga. Tell them I want him to be safe.” He then turned to leave.

“What about the rest of us?” A soldier asked.

Steven turned and smiled at the soldiers. “I’ll let my spider decide what she wants to do with you.”

He heard several protests and screams of panic, but he didn’t turn around as he headed straight for Nev.

Was he becoming a bad person? No, he was doing what he had to do to save Eve. Those soldiers were coming to kill Eve and her clan after all, so now they can help save her.

“Nev, how many drones do we have left?”

“I sense that I have two left alive in this dungeon, although there is only one with us.” As Nev spoke, a drone came down from the ceiling, hanging on a web, reminding Steven of a pale spider man. The drone knelt in front of Steven. “My king, how may I be of service?”

“I want you to survive this dungeon raid, and I want you to become in charge of the other drones Nev is fixing to make.”

A wide grin came over the Spider Queen’s face. “I can make drones out of the Sphinx?” Nev asked.

“No! I want you to make drones out of the soldiers.”

“Of course, Master, I can do that, although the process might be a bit much for others to watch.”

“Ive thought of that you will do it in the Sphinx nest. I will bring Leo back out for a bit.”

It wasn’t long before Steven was sitting next to Leo. He let Nev handle the soldiers. Silvia suggested they use the stone chest for the soldier so Steven could save his remaining portal uses. He talked to Leo a bit. But his mind kept wondering back to the soldiers and if he had done the correct thing. So he just sat there while Silvia and Leo spoke. He was unsure what Fidah thought about it.

He didn’t want to think about sending all those soldiers to become spider food or whatever Nev did to them to turn them into drones. He had made a choice. A choice he wasn’t sure about. But it was a choice. They came to kill the Naga, now they could help. One fight had already broken out between the Naga and the soldiers. It was the soldiers that started it. He had tried to do the correct thing by saving some of them. But they had nearly killed two Naga children. To make it even worse Sirus told him, most of the Half Naga that survived would be taken as slaves.

It was really messed up, from what Steven could tell. These half Naga were experiments by the humans and elves centuries ago and some escaped. And they have been hunted ever since. He knew he was only getting one side of the story. Fidah had thought they were going to eat her, so something was going on. This was something he planned to figure out when he finally got out of this dungeon. But for now, he had to save Eve.

It wasn't much longer before Steven stood in front of the entrance to the ninth floor. Next to him was Nev, with two dozen drones behind her. He didn’t understand how there were twice as many drones as there were soldiers, but he decided it best he didn’t ask. Silvia floated above him and Sirus was to his left with a squad of half Naga. He had Fidah stay back with the Naga. She was to enter the ninth floor after one day had passed. He had also tried to give her the bow he had gotten, but Fidah told him she couldn’t wield it yet due to the lack of spirit and would rather him hold on to it for now.

“It seems we are as ready as we can be,” Silvia said. “most will die, although all that matters is you survive. And the arachnid, I suppose, we do need her aid.”

“Just don’t say something like that out loud,” Steven said as he placed his hand on the shimmering blue wall.

After he selected yes, he found himself in the typical dungeon tunnel the others quickly followed.

“I’m sensing two undead knights guarding the entrance to the main floor.” Silvia said.

“Nev, with me, the rest of you stay here while we deal with these knights.” Steven said.

“Yes my King.” The drone said that Steven appointed above the rest. Steven had named him Charles, which excited the drone to no end. The drone fell to his knees and thanked him profusely. Steven didn’t mention that it was just the first name that popped into his head.

It didn’t take Steven and Nev long to spot the two knights. The Undead Knights just stood there, unmoving.

“Are these the only two that you sense?”

“They are the only ones close by,” Silvia said.

Steven was annoyed by all the armor the knights wore. If only he could just touch them, the fight would be over.

“Tell Nev I’ll open a portal above the one on the left and for her to wrap it up in webs.”

Silvia grumbled, but did as he said. Nev nodded after Silvia relayed his message. Steven was unsure if the undead could hear them at this distance, but thought it safe to use Silvia’s new ability, just in case.

Steven opened a portal directly above the one on the left, and Nev began wrapping it in webs. The other knight jumped back, but after not seeing any threats, it moved to cut at the webs. A spear found its way in the gap of its armor, causing the Knight to seize up and begin shaking. He then opened another portal and both he and Nev went through. Steven had just left his spear in the knight as Nev started demolishing the Knight with her new Scythe. Steven just stood back and watched. He was amazed at how good she was with the scythe, especially since she had just gotten it, but he assumed that was to do with her high attributes. At one point Steven recalled his spear, and just continued to watch as the Scythe beat against the armor.

“Is that armor enchanted or something? It seems stronger than the knights from the last floor?”

“It does appear to be enchanted, also the undead creatures get stronger as you get to higher levels.” Silvia said.

“Well, obviously, I know that we are on the ninth floor. I’ve noticed how the Dungeon monsters get stronger.”

Just then, the armor shattered, and Nev began retreating. Steven opened a small portal and poked his index finger through it, touching the undead knight and sending it to inventory. Nev then moved on to the other Knight, who was still bound, and rolling around, trying to stand.

“I can’t stress how over powered your inventory ability is.” Silvia said.

“Are you complaining?” Steven asked.

“Not at all. I simply cannot wait to torture Sorin inside your inventory.”

Steven’s brow furrowed, and he turned to look at the wisp, “I never thought you were one for torture.”

“We all have our dark secrets.” Silvia said.

Nev stopped fighting the knight, and Steven noticed the helm was shattered. He walked over and sent that one to inventory as well.

“I really need to gain some more essence.”

“That you do!” Silvia said.

Steven was about to open a portal to tell the others that the coast was clear, but stopped as Jabriel appeared.

“Mr. Odling, might I suggest you be a bit more sparing with the portals? At this rate, you will run out before you reach the captured Evesakia you seek.”

Steven took on a thoughtful expression. “Thanks, I appreciate you giving me a warning. Could you tell me how many more portals I can create?”

Jabriel didn’t respond and just stepped through a portal. This irritated Steven a bit, but there was nothing he could really do about it. The bound angel created portals for him flawlessly and he was lucky Jabriel gave him any sort of warning.

“Master, you should not allow your familiar to ignore you in such a manner.”

“Silvia, go let the others know it is safe.”

Once Silvia flew off, he turned back to Nev and smiled. “Thanks for always looking out for me. I expect you to continue to do so, well, until I reach level one hundred, of course.”

Nev didn’t respond to that.

It didn’t take long for the others to reach them, and Steven sent the drones out to scout with orders to avoid fighting.

Silvia led Steven and Nev to the next group of undead. This group consisted of five abominations and two knights, opening a portal for each abomination he had them sent to inventory before Nev had the first knight webbed. He was unsure how much he should use the portals, but he wanted to conserve mana.

The two knights were a pain to deal with. Even as they were bound, it felt like he stabbed the knight’s helm a thousand times before it finally shattered and dissolved. He had already sent the other one to inventory, but he wanted to see how long it would take to break the armor on his own. He was waiting for the drones to come back, anyway. In the end, his conclusion was way too damn long. From now on he would have Nev break the armor.

After sending the knights to inventory, he waited. He didn’t have to wait long before a drone came back. Informing him, they couldn’t go any further with stealth, as there were just too many high-level undead.

Silvia led them to the next group, which was basically the same setup: several abominations with a couple of knights. Steven was coming to hate the skeletal knights, the abominations would have been worse if he couldn’t simply send them to inventory. He shuttered at the thought of running into an armored abomination, but that didn’t seem likely. It wasn’t long before they had this group cleared out as well. It was going smoothly so far. The problem was that he wasn’t making any progress in levels.

The floor consisted of too many damn tunnels for his liking. They would no doubt get lost if it wasn’t for Silvia. They had also not encountered a single demon. Which was more concerning than running into them. After clearing a few more groups they had to stop and rest, Steven had been trying not to use as many portals so he wouldn’t run out at a bad time, and was forced to use his spider king form to send the undead to inventory. He still didn’t have any idea how many portals he could use, although Silvia said she had been counting, but it would take her a few days of observing them to get an idea of how many he could use on average. She said there were too many things to consider, such as the size of the portal. If just a hand was going through or a person, what the effect of sending things to Inventory via portal and so on. While they were resting, Silvia presented an idea.

“Ive been trying to figure out a good way to level you up and I think I have come up with a decent plan to let you passively gain Essence.”

“What did you have in mind?” Steven asked.

“We have all these Naga warriors just standing around. I suggest we let them work on some of the webbed knights in your inventory.”

“Won’t they also gain essence from that?”

“Yes they will. Which will be their incentive to do it. It’s not often they will get the chance to gain essence so easily and so much of it. I would rather you just get it all, but you have plenty of undead now and you need to get another shard before entering the next floor.”

“Then why not just have the drones kill the knights? They don’t gain essence, do they?”

“No, they don’t, but it will give your arachnid more essence, and she can’t even use it till she breaks past her threshold. And seeing she is planning on eating you afterwards, I would rather her not stock pile essence more than she already will be.”

“Wait, are saying she can just save all the essence and gain a ton of levels when she gets past seventy?”

“Yes! I don’t think you understand how dangerous she is and what a monster you will release into the world when she breaks past her threshold. No one in their right mind would take on a servant like her.”

“Is there no way to keep her under my control?”

“Not unless she makes another oath to you after you reach level one hundred, which is highly unlikely.”

Steven thought for a long moment before responding. Silvia’s new ability was already becoming useful. Nev was sitting right next to him and didn’t even know about their conversation, though it was obvious they were communicating, especially with Silvia’s light fluctuating.

“Okay, well, we will just have to come up with something to deal with that later. For now, talk to Sirus about the whole essence grinding thing.”

“Okay,” Silvia said out loud and flew over to Sirus.