The Survivor Becomes a Dungeon

Vitmori POV

To say things got busy after that talk with the beings who said they were my handler and sponsors is an understatement. Just so I could get things done, I had to make Reyvyre walk and write so we weren't sitting around for the next few hours as she had me describe my entire experience from when I touched the magic circle until after Pratemis was spawned. She wanted to know everything from the way the higher beings spoke, their personalities, and what their domains were. As I forgot to ask those kinds of questions, I gave her my best guesswork; that the original feminine voice was the one who granted me the aspect of creation, whereas the younger feminine voice and the male voice were likely the ones who granted me life and death.

Despite what I felt was a lack of information, Reyvyre was ecstatic with what I was able to give her and promised that she would do her best to figure out who these beings were so that I could better understand the ones who brought me here. I was admittedly skeptical of her claims, especially considering the possible hundreds of presences I felt in those few seconds during that vote. However, according to Reyvyre, there were many gods known to interact with the world at large; anything from local deities of harvest or fertility to gods and goddesses of intrigue, and of course gods and goddesses of life and death. Even with the excess of religious icons, being granted an aspect the way I have is still a very rare occurrence as not every deity apparently has the power for such a feat.

As we discussed gods and various deities, Rita dismissed herself for some reason or another while Reyvyre stayed by my side. As for Pratemis, I left him with Legosi and Jack, having them show the fire fawn around and handle his introduction with the Haven for me. Meanwhile, I made my way down my mountain and stopped around eighty to a hundred feet up from the mountain base. We walked around this height until I found a natural and sturdy-looking cliff of sorts. I figured if I was going to have multiple spawners for my mana-beasts and monsters, I should make a specific room for them all.

I began by strengthening the cliff with my earth magic, hardening the stone before carving a discrete walkway that led down to the base of the mountain. Going back up to the cliff, I started carving out a short hallway into the mountain face which then opened up into a round chamber I quickly carved out before smoothing out the floor and walls, at which point I started carving out a number of alcoves to place the spawners in.

The endeavor itself took a few hours as I ended up losing myself to my work, at some point I disconnected from my avatar so I could really get down to the details of the chamber. Before long, Reyvyre and Reonim started bringing in the potential spawners she had been experimenting with so I could get a frame of reference on how to make my own spawners. From what I could tell, it wasn't even all that difficult to set one up. The only problem that Reyvyre and Rita had come across was actually activating the spawner itself.

With what my handler and sponsors told me, I had a good idea of how to activate these spawners, so I decided to make use of what was already made. Through my connection with the others, I called on Oururu and Frisby to come and meet me down in the new chamber since they didn't seem to have anything, in particular, going on at this point.

Oururu was the first to arrive, slithering into the chamber with his massive body before shifting back into his snakekin form as he closed the distance and offered me a respectful bow of his head. "It is good to see you Vitmori. How can I be of service?" He asked as he began undoing a button on what looked like an oversized scarf when it then fell into place and looked more like a poncho.

I smiled a bit while looking him over. It seems Miriam was inspired by the poncho I wore when I first met the others since Oururu was now wearing a brilliant red poncho that matched the lining of my armored coat. It fit him snugly around what could be approximated as his neck while he was in his oversized serpent form but now fit loosely in his small snakekin form. The poncho barely hung onto his shoulders with a deep v-neck that exposed most of his lithe, undefined chest; the nearly pearlescent white scales of what would be his underbelly in his serpent form nicely complimenting the brilliant red fabric of the poncho. "Before that, I see you're wearing some clothes now, how do they feel? Are they as restrictive as you were worried about?"

Oururu smiled cheerfully before taking advantage of his long neck to look himself over for a moment when he then regarded me again. "It is quite nice, isn't it? That tailor, Miriam, is quite considerate with the things she makes. She had me shift between my two forms in order to make sure the neck hole could accommodate my body in my larger form. That way I don't have to take this off or leave it somewhere for whatever reason." He explained rather happily as he wiggled his body slightly, making the poncho swish and sway. "It's loose enough to not feel restrictive, yet it covers all the important parts so I can maintain that modesty you wished for me to have." He mentioned with a hint of amusement as he looked at me again.

I chuckled softly at his description before scratching my cheek a little. "While it does cover most of your body, I wouldn't really say it's modest... Well let's just be happy you're a man, rather than a woman." Somehow, it felt like he was revealing more by just wearing the poncho instead of the battle skirt I had him wearing to cover his masculine pride.

Oururu looked a little confused at that, tilting his head at my comment. I suppose he didn't really get what I was saying, then again I'm not about to explain myself regarding those matters. That's when I sensed a hint of alarm and worry as he slithered closer to get a better look at me. "Vitmori, you're missing some of your arm?!" He asked with shock more than just stating it; as if he wasn't really sure what he was looking at but was surprised nonetheless.

I had actually forgotten that I was missing most of my left forearm since I didn't really need to physically use my hands to make use of the earth magic I had been carving this room with. I chuckled a bit before holding up the stump and using my right hand to roll the sleeve back. "Yeah... I was experimenting with magic and ended up melting it off with acid. Don't worry though, it'll grow back... Eventually." I added a little uncertainly. It had been hours since I originally lost it and barely four inches of wood had grown back; I was still missing a chunk of my forearm, my wrist, and the rest of my hand. I suppose if I actually willed for it to grow back, my arm would have been rebuilt much faster, though now I'm just curious to see just how long it would take for it to passively restore itself.

Oururu looked a little unsure of my claim but chose not to question me all too much as he curiously looked around the chamber before looking back at me. "In any case, what can I do for you?"

I bobbed my head intently, happy to get to the matter at hand as I walked him over to an alcove with the beginnings of a serpent statue which stood tall on a stone block with the runes for a spawner carved into the face of the block itself. "I want you to run your mana through this block with me; if it works right, should you ever meet an untimely death, this block should be able to bring you back to life."

Oururu looked over the alcove curiously, and while I could tell he liked the statue that was being made, he felt more than a little uncertain by my claims as his head twisted around to look at me closer to my eye level. "There were one too many 'shoulds' in that explanation just now... How sure are you about this?"

I chuckled softly as I scratched the back of my head. "Honestly? I'm not sure about it at all. I just learned about these things earlier today and you're the first one I'm talking to about this. I don't expect you to die to prove whether or not this works, so just think of it as an emergency safety net."

Oururu was at least mollified by my frankness as he regarded the spawner again, looking it over once more before bobbing his head. "I suppose it won't hurt to have something in place. Very well."

With that, he placed his hand against the stone block and I followed suit. Together we ran our mana through the stone block, filling the runes with the combined mana as something within the stone shifted and came to life. After a few moments, a crack emerged from the face of the block, revealing a dim green glow from within.

I could feel Oururu's hesitation combined with my own as he watched the cracked face of the stone block for a while, and after a silent few minutes of nothing else happening, we both pulled away and shared a glance. "Well... Nothing blew up, so I think that means we did it right." I mused before chuckling a bit.

Oururu seemed to wither at that comment, but he ended up smiling soon enough as he looked around at the various alcoves with potential spawners waiting to be activated. "You've certainly been busy Vitmori. Do you need any help?"

I smile a bit before shaking my head. "Nah, I'm good. I like having tasks to focus on, it helps to pass the nights, ya know?" I do my best to look cheerful at that, I'm sure he probably understands some of what I'm going through as an animal turned person; but at the end of the day, there's likely to be some things he wouldn't fully get.

Oururu just watched me intently, giving a little bob of his head when the pitter-patter of scampering feet caught our ears. Looking to the chamber entrance, we spotted Frisby as she hurried over to us, looking rather apologetic as she moved from running on all fours to jogging on her hind legs. "S-sorry about the delay, I was spending time with Dionyba around her territory and had a ways to go to make it back here." Frisby, for her part, was also wearing some new clothes. She had on a red hooded cloak which had a simple wooden button that kept the cloak secured around her neck and shoulders. It looked to be cut from the same cloth as Oururu's poncho, but I was more amused by how she was starting to look more and more like her namesake.

I simply shook my head at her apology before meeting her eyes. "No need to apologize, it's my fault for assuming you weren't busy." I should've been more thorough when I checked in, instead of just asking the two of them to make their way over to me.

Frisby looked admittedly relieved once I said that, though her attention was quickly consumed by the glowing crack on the stone block. She didn't say anything at first, walking up to the spawner before gently touching the stone beside the magical crack. "Y-you... You have spawners now?" She asked though it seemed to be rhetorical since it was clear that she recognized it for what it was without being told.

My curiosity was piqued as I smiled kindly, leaning back against the smooth stone of the alcove while watching her. Oururu coiled his lower half beneath himself as he waited, seemingly using himself as a chair and relaxing for the time being. "Yeah, I just learned how to make them earlier today. I was hoping to set you up with one just in case anything were to happen." I explain in a fairly nonchalant way, though something about Frisby's expression caught my attention.

I could sense a deep feeling of nostalgia from Frisby; a memory of her brood from before Lichtdren's fall. It doesn't seem like she's even realized she's having the memory, and I'm ashamed to admit my curiosity was getting the better of me.

Tapping into our bond, I focus on her thoughts when I catch faint whispers, fragments of memories. I could feel pride in her work, the joy of being among the other scions as they reported to the one who brought them into this world. They were like her family and she was the youngest among them. Her brood had grown up again, they were stronger now, and she was stronger. It was only a matter of time before she too could become a beastkin like the others... Then... Then...

The memory was gone and I could feel the lingering sorrow in Frisby's heart. She was in tears but she couldn't even remember enough to know why she was crying.

By the time I pulled away from the bond, Oururu was by Frisby's side, gently rubbing her back and comforting the oversized rodent. "Ah... I'm so sorry... I-I don't know why this is happening." She said softly between sniffles, doing her best to at least try to smile while wiping away tears that wouldn't stop. "I-I must have gotten something in my eye... Please, I'm fine. Don't worry."

I could feel Oururu mentally prodding me for assistance. He was feeling more anxious and nervous than he has in a long time now. He wasn't sure what to do around someone who was crying and was hoping I could do something to help.

Even if he was looking to me for advice, it's not like I was especially good around criers either; the only thing I could think of was to do my best to try and distract her from her tears. Looking around, my eyes landed back on Oururu's spawner as I had a bit of an idea before getting to my knees so that I could be closer to eye level with Frisby. "Say... Would you like to attune with Oururu's spawner? If he doesn't mind, you two can share it and I'll carve a statue that features you both... How does that sound?"

I could sense that Oururu was on board with the idea, but he didn't say anything, letting me do what I needed to do to help Frisby move past her tears, at least for the moment. Frisby couldn’t quite stop her tears, but a small smile was on her face as she looked up to me and smiled. “T-that sounds wonderful… Y-You sure you wouldn’t mind?” She asked as she looked up to Oururu, gently placing a hand against his arms as he still did his best to comfort her.

Oururu was all for it as he smiled kindly, even if I could tell he didn’t understand why he would mind if they did share. I wasn’t sure as to the specifics either, though perhaps Frisby simply saw it differently than us. “I would love to share a spawner with you… I don’t mind at all.”

“That settles it then, let’s get you both attuned at once.” I offer as cheerfully as I could manage while placing my hand against the spawner once more. The other two followed suit, though as I started swirling my mana into the stone I was suddenly struck with a rush of energy, my head feeling more full than it should for a couple moments when the sensation vanished as quickly as it had arrived.

When I managed to focus on my surroundings again, I caught a faint flash of purple light coming from the crack of the stone before it quickly shifted back to the green glow of my influence. Looking at Oururu and Frisby, it didn’t seem they noticed anything amiss; Frisby now leaned into Oururu as he draped both arms around her, pulling her into his coiled lap as she settled down from her sudden bout of tears.

I was about to leave them to it when the spawner suddenly pulsed with energy, I could sense something forming in it like the burning tree had done earlier today to make the other fuevimos. But that shouldn’t be the case, right? The Handler and Sponsors said I wouldn’t be able to spawn more creatures from my other spawners due to my vassals being natural born animals… It was only then that I remembered that Frisby was not a natural born, like everyone else.

In the next moment, I watched as an outstretched paw emerged from the crack in the stone, and what emerged was half of a rather wild looking and scraggly brown rat. Now that I think about it, I had to actually clean up and fix Frisby up to make her look like an oversized fancy rat, rather than a New York sewer mutant. The rat scrambled out some more, fully emerging from the glowing crack as it revealed the lower half of its body as… Well… As a snake’s body.