The Tower in the Shadows

To say the last thirty-two days were rough would be an understatement.

Boredom was a Core's greatest enemy. After finishing the third floor, I quickly ran out of things to do, so I had been trying to find something to preoccupy me for the last thirty-two days.

Mostly failing, okay, failing nearly all the time.

I did have a few moments of excitement. I found another Shadow mote had formed in my Dungeon, but I could not absorb it as I was already at full storage. Playing with it before it disappeared did level my Mana Manipulation and Mana Sight skills. They are level five and two now.

So yay, me!

My flowers and grass have grown in. The dungeon minions are wandering around doing their thing. As predicted, except for the deep one I made, the boars had turned the ponds into mud pits. That boar had muddied the water enough to hide its depth.

Things could be classed as "good" apart from one major issue…..

I am Bored!

Larry is doing his best to ignore me.

Why?

I am drifting aimlessly around my Dungeon right now. At one point, I spent two days just opening and closing the building window shutters, which should demonstrate just how bad things are.

I spent nearly twenty days singing every song my enhanced memory recall allowed me to. It turns out that is a lot. This is the main reason I think Larry is avoiding me.

The temptation to alter the Dungeon is intense, but I have resisted, knowing my limited CP total of forty-two available points cannot be wasted. I could not even plan for the fourth floor as I had no new minion type to populate it.

True, I could alter an existing one and use them, but resources are currently limited. I do have two types of mana, but what…….

"Could Bhaldor create a new type of minion from scratch?"

I had wondered about this over the last several months. In theory, I could take an animal that was not classed as dungeon minion material and tinker with it.

What were my options? Apart from not addressing myself in the third person!

I am getting to the point where I might just stop trying……. But that could lead to somewhere bad. Or worse than I am already.

Several animals that had been killed over my time here were on my list. My wine trap and Larry had killed them. Looking at the list, the only thing that I could think of to experiment on was a spider.

It is cheap to create at only 0.1 CP. It is not anything at all, as it is a simple spider.

Perfect.

I decided to experiment in the entrance room. All the doors and shutters are sealed to prevent anything from getting in or out. I don't want to be disturbed in my experimentation.

"Larry, come down. I need you."

It took a few moments, but he got up and climbed down from the rafters.

"Okay. Here we go."

………

"This harder than Bhaldor thought."

……..

"Come on! You can do it!"

……..

Using a faction of a point proved more challenging than I expected, but I ultimately managed it. It took nearly the rest of the day, but I did it. I created one on the entrance room table and watched it scamper around. Before it left the table, Larry jumped up and killed it.

"Right, here we go. Moment of truth."

The first stage is completed now to see if I could "improve" what I created. I started to make a new one and added an entire CP point. The motes of light began to condense and the spider outline began to form. Suddenly, something went wrong as the motes spun faster, and then there was a bang with a flash of light.

"Fuck!"

Larry had been blown off the table and there was a scorch mark on it now.

"What happened?"

Larry was back on his feet with a look I could only describe as glaring. His focus was in the direction of my Core. I repaired the table and went over what had happened in my mind.

"Are creatures that can be used as minions more receptive to injections of CP?"

The only conclusion I could arrive at was yes. So, how was I going to do this?

"Instead of a full point, let's try another fractional amount."

My next attempt was going to be interesting. Larry was now under the table to avoid any other blasts. I focused on the spider and began the creation. As it formed, I added the additional CP point one. The whirlwind of lights and dust quickly took space and a larger spider was now in existence.

"Success! Larry, kill it."

The spider started scampering away, but Larry quickly caught and killed it.

"Right, I know how to do this now. Let's see how far I can take it."

It turns out that the rest of the night was spent altering the spider with different amounts of CP and quite a few explosions. This led to a lot of cleanup of burn damage to the table and spider parts blasted around the room. This was a lot of work before I got what I was looking for as dawn arrived.

Alert!

You have created a Dungeon Minion, a Brown Spider.

Creature Design Gained – Brown Spider.

"Yes!"

At 1 CP, the brown spider was nothing to write home about. Its stats were better than those of the Wisp I had, but not by much. It was a giant… spider with six legs and more hair than I was expecting. Larry had killed the last one created, which gave me the new design.

My CP was regenerating after a night of heavy use. So, I had time to think.

"The plan for the next floor is simple, Larry. I will use the spider as a template for bigger and nastier things. But first, I need to level."

With my Essence at 5%, I was not going to do that soon. Killing my creations did not net me any, so there goes my idea of power-levelling myself.

"Well, that used up most of a day and entire night. Now what?"

I still have the itch to create new minions but lack the resources. I spent an hour flicking through my screens, seeking inspiration.

"Crappy gear. Shitty gear. Not bad…. Pixie Dust."

Pixie Dust. I can't replicate it. Got a limited supply. What can I do with it?

"Wasps. No, it does not match them. Sharoons. I already got Shadow Magic. Boars. No. Spiders. Maybe…. Thinking about its no. Wisp…..Wisp?"

I looked at the Wisp again. A magical creature that uses a light spell to confuse and trick its enemies. Illusionists use light as a means to mislead their audience many times for tricks. Something was coming together in my mind.

"A one-off experiment. Yes, just a quick one."

I looked over the resources at hand again. Could combining the Ghost-light Wisp, Illusion magic, more CP and some of the Pixie Dust work? How much of each?

"Bhaldor will need to get this right the first time."

I could not go all in due to the limiting factor of Pixie Dust. The other two would regenerate. I began to mix and match combinations of numbers in my head. This was informed by my experiences creating my other minions.

This went on for a few hours. Hey, it was something to do, at least.

"I am going to do this."

Finally, I decided to go ahead. I will use half of the Pixie Dust, five CP and ten units of Illusion Mana. This was a risk; losing the Pixie Dust would be painful even if I succeeded.

"Okay, here we go."

I focused on my new creation, I gathered the resources and went to work. I opened the Wisp screen and accessed the customisation options. I started the process and added the resources. I was now committed.

The whirlwind of dust and lights quickly began. I concentrate on maintaining the new creature. The lights are coloured different shades of pink. I could make out the start of the form of something.

Focus.

"Come on, I can do this."

There was a strain during the creation, but I managed to hold it together. With a small flash and a pop, the minion came into existence along with notifications.

"Well……hello there."

Alert!

You have created a unique Dungeon Minion, Pixie Wisp.

Creature Design Gained – Pixie Wisp.

Congratulations!

You have created your second mini-boss.

Please name your unique creation.

Shit! I need a name.

…….

"Puck!"

Congratulations!

Your second mini-boss has been named. Puck.

Do you wish it to be assigned to a room or wandering?

"Wandering."

The Wisp had been significantly changed by the energies and dust I had added. The ball of light was now shaped in the form of a pixie. The figure was about five inches tall and had a set of rough butterfly wings coming out of its back. The figure had no accurate detail as it was made up of light and was a soft pink in colour. Close up, it was apparent it was not a pixie, but it would easily be confused at a distance or getting a glimpse.

It took to the air and began flying around. From my limited experience seeing one, it moved like a pixie. Puck was the only name I could think of, and I might be correct. Puck is the name of a trickster fairy, so let's see.

"Let's see what we have. Status screen. Pixie Wisp. Puck."

Name

Puck

Level/Class

1 - Dungeon Mini-Boss

Race

Pixie Wisp

Essence

0%

Health

20/20

Mana

80/80

Stamina

20/20

Corruption

0%

STR

1

1 Damage base

DEX

4

AGL

25

+25% Dodge

END

2

VIT

2

PER

10

INT

8

WIL

8

LUCK

10

Skills:

Dodge: 1 - 0% Cost: 2 Stamina

Improved Lure: 1 – 0% Cost: 2 Stamina

Spells:

Dazzle – Cost: 5 Mana (Duration: 30 seconds)

Invisibility – Cost: 5 Mana (Duration: 1 minute) Target Self only.

Confusion – Cost 5 Mana (Duration: 30 seconds)

Perks/Restrictions:

Pixie Form

"This is a lot to unpack."

Starting with the stats, Puck was not strong or tough but fast with spells and smarter.

"That makes sense. Small and weak, speed would take precedence."

The different skill was Improved Lure. Checking it revealed that it had a greater chance of attracting a target by mimicking something that could intrigue them.

"Odd, I would have thought that would be more a spell than a skill."

When talking about spells, this is where things get interesting. There are three in total, although the original Wisp had only one Dazzle. I looked each of them up.

Dazzle (Spell)- A defensive spell used to confuse an opponent by creating a loud bang and flash of light that can disorient them.

"Basically, a magical version of a flash-bang grenade. Useful."

Invisibility (Spell)- A defensive spell that makes the user invisible to protect them from hostiles.

"I figured that one out myself."

Confusion (Spell)- A defensive spell illusionists use to confuse their opponents. If successful, the target will miss hearing words, think allies are enemies or wander around confused.

"That one has a lot of promise."

The last thing on the screen, Pixie Form, was just as I saw it now in the rough shape of a Pixie—one last thing to do.

Loot Assignment

Cythian Silver coins x6 (Chance - 90%)

Cythian Silver coins x7 and Pixie Dust (Chance – 10%)

Do you wish to alter the rewards: Yes or No?

"Eh? How come it can create Pixie Dust as a reward, but I cannot recreate it?"

I got an answer to this one.

Alert!

Pixie Dust is an exceptional magical resource unique to the Pixie race.

One of your minions is now part Pixie. Due to this, one of your minions is now beginning to create the resource Pixie Dust, so you can harvest some amounts and store it. This is done passively as long as the minion remains within your Dungeon.

"Okay. I was not expecting that."

I turned my attention back to the new Pixie Wisp as it flew around. As it flew, I noticed small particles of dust falling from it. They sparkled and shimmered as they fell. Pixie Dust.

Larry was watching as well. He had returned to his usual position in the rafters. I felt a warm sense of accomplishment with my latest creation. It had been a risk but had paid off. It flew up and began doing cartwheels around the rafter Larry had flopped down along.

"I wonder how long Larry is going to tolerate that?"

Then, a thought occurred to me.

"How the hell do I keep you alive?"

Puck was a light source in a dungeon with none. Shit! This was going to take some thought.