The Tower in the Shadows

I had been focused on expanding my aura and getting ready to alter the basement for the last few days. I decided to add four new rooms to the basement and fill them with the traps and monsters that would be expected. Discovering I could "see" what was within the soil when expanding into the earth around the basement walls was a surprise. I was cautious not to expand onto the surface as that would trigger the energy release that would announce my presence. This involved more aura manipulation, slowing me.

As I expanded, occasionally, a few interesting items in the form of various bones belonging to dead creatures were found. I also discovered where most of the former garrison of the tower was buried when I stumbled across the graves. I was not absorbing anything, choosing to let them lay where they were. The graves were in an area where I planned to add another room; I would need to decide what to do with them. Part of me was not too eager to disturb the graves. Was there an undead thing here? This being a fantasy world with magic and all?

Larry had grown bored sitting in front of my hidden alcove and had wandered off into the tower. While I was waiting for my CP to recover, I noticed that he had moved into different rooms, as all the doors were open. I wasn't concerned by this because he was a wandering mini-boss.

He eventually found a spot he liked in the first room, where the main door was. I often found him in the rafters in a very shadowy and dark area. He seemed to like it there, so I let him be.

My attention was once more down in the basement, using up my CP and expanding my aura when I received a notification alert and felt that something had entered my area of control.

"Open alert."

Alert!

Intruders have entered your dungeon!

"Shit!"

I quickly changed my perspective to the room, where I found something I was not expecting. The men had entered the first room and pulled a donkey through the door. The donkey did not seem happy to be entering my first room. It may have sensed me. I noticed a sort of pressure on my mind, not painful or distracting, just that I was aware of it.

The two men quickly got the donkey in and placed what looked to be a lantern on the table. One had a fire going in the room's fireplace, while the other should watch at the open doorway for any threats coming from outside. Once the fire is lit, the man at the entrance closes it and locks the door. He goes around checking all the shutters, ensuring they are secure, and moving to the door at the tower's base. He opens a door and looks in, noting the room's condition before closing it again. There is no lock on the side of the door and he goes over to the table, brings one of the chairs across and uses it to secure the door. Once he had done this, he returned to the other man at the fireplace.

From their conversation, I gather that they are unhappy with their present predicament while preparing food. They seem to have gotten slightly lost in the mountain range, but with the discovery of my tower, they seem confident that they will soon leave the mountains.

They eat their meal from the packs on the back of the donkey that they had warmed up using the fire. They seem to be in no rush to do anything as they believe themselves safe and enjoy the warmth of a fire. One who had prepared the meals became restless and began to look around the room. He searched through the cupboards and small containers that were scattered around. He eventually worked his way to the final cabinet, where I had left my surprise. He opened it up and rummaged around, discovering the bottle and a small bag of coins.

Upon this discovery, he becomes very excited and quickly goes over to his companion, exclaiming his joy at what he found. They inspect the bottle and the coins. The one who remained at the fire biting into one. Both cried, "Cythian coppers!" They seemed extremely happy that they had discovered them. From their reactions, I determined that the coins were of great value to them, so the silver and gold coins I created would also be sought after. It was good to know that I had the means to generate a currency that the locals would happily use or take.

Vadium was the name of the man who had stayed at the fire. He was looking over the bottle of wine with great interest, but he inspected the seal and the label on the bottle. Studying how he looked at it, I had a sneaking suspicion he couldn't read. It wasn't until they had broken the seal and removed the cork to inspect the contents that they confirmed it was wine.

They quickly began drinking from the bottle, directly toasting their good fortune. They talked about how they would use the money they would gain from this little excursion. This part of the conversation piqued my interest and whatever they were talking about, this "Hylonia's Kiss" was something worth a lot of money to them. Whatever it was, it was linked to the lantern-like object on the table, so I investigated it more.

The lantern was made up of what I think is iron and glass. Inside was a figure with wings. It was glowing a pale pink. A fairy? That was all I could think of what could be as it was tough to make out any significant details as its main body was glowing so brightly. I can make out some facial features and it appears to be staring towards my core. I find this deeply concerning as it is hidden as far as I know. If it can be seen or tracked, I need to think of a new way to hide it, as my defences were far from what I needed to be. The hunger within me that demands I kill and absorb everything stirs at the sight of this creature. I force it down.

"Mana Sight. Activate."

I shifted the way I perceived the world around me.

"Fuck!"

I was unprepared for the magical glare from the creature and the lantern. In my inspection of the item and one contained within, I had come close with my "sight" to the lantern. When my vision changed using Mana Sight, I was unprepared for the glaring light that filled my sight. Both the lantern and its occupants were radiating magic. While studying them, I suddenly got a notification.

Alert!

A level 5 Human has died in your dungeon.

A level 4 Human has died in your dungeon.

Human corpse design gained.

I suddenly experienced a massive flood of essence into my core, which felt great. Returning to my regular sight, I turned my attention back to the two men at the fireplace and realised that they had both died from the poison in the wine.

"Damn, that stuff is fast."

I spent a few moments pondering over the alert and wondered about the "human corpse" part. But before I did anything else, I needed to know something.

"Status."

I called up my stat sheet and looked at my essence level.

"Are you kidding me? 96%!"

I felt like the universe was laughing with me now, mocking me for my slow progress. I could not lie about how frustrating I was finding this whole thing, but there was nothing I could do now, so I turned my attention back to the lantern and what was contained within.

"Okay. Housekeeping before dealing with this."

I looked around the room, noting the two bodies—the donkey and this lantern. The donkey will have several backpacks strapped to it that probably contain something I can use. The bodies need to be disposed of and anything they have on them must be absorbed. Finally, I need to investigate this lantern more.

Deciding to start with the two bodies as they were the easiest for me to deal with. All I had to do was absorb them, figure out what they had on them, and decide what to do with the donkey. Unfortunately, I got a new error message when I tried to absorb them. It turns out that the system counts it as an intelligent being due to the presence of whatever is in the lantern. And as long as it is within this room, I can't make alterations, absorb anything, or create anything until it is either dead or gone.

"FUCK!"

I screamed in my head, along with several other obscenities, as I tried to figure out how to get around this. Then it dawned on me.

"Larry!"

Looking up to see he is in the rafters, at me calling his name, he looks over and down at the room. I quickly sent him a series of mental images of him coming down from the rafters into the main room. He gets up and begins to follow my instructions slowly and cautiously. He watches the two bodies briefly before deciding they are no threat. He scales down the wall and approaches them, sniffing for any sign of danger. After a few moments, he confirms that they are the dead and no threat to him. I hear a tinkling sound and I look over to the lantern. Had the fairy said something?

Now that he is down, more mental images of him chewing through the harnesses on the donkey to release the backpacks strapped to it were sent. I wanted what was in them, even if it was crap. What can I say? I am a hoarder.

The donkey was terrified but made no move as Larry chewed through the harnesses. As soon as it was free, it suddenly moved away from him to the other side of the room, trying to give as much distance between him and Larry as possible.

Without confidence, I moved to the next stage of my plan; again, mental images were sent to Larry, hoping he could understand. It takes a few attempts, but he seems to get the idea and quickly moves to the main door. He quickly scampers up the doorframe to where the deadbolt locking the door is located. He pulls the bolt to unlock it and walks back to the floor. With considerable effort, he managed to get his claws into the door and began to pull it open. Once he had done this, I sent him the next set of instructions. With some aggressive hissing and threatening behaviour, the donkey is encouraged to vacate my dungeon.

"Doing good, Larry!"

Telling him encouragingly because he was doing exceptionally well. Again, I hear a tinkling sound. I turned back to the lantern for a few moments. I watched the fairy. It seemed to be very interested in what was happening. As far as I can see, it had no means to leave the lantern.

Larry climbs onto the table of his own accord as he, too, becomes interested in what is on it. He cautiously approaches it, sniffing all the way, trying to identify what it is. He moves around it, looking at it from all angles as I do the same, studying the design.

Larry suddenly stops dead; his ears perk up, usually a sign that he is listening to something. I was not sure what. I've come to understand over time that it was not just my sight that was useless beyond my aura but my other "senses" as well. His ears twitched quite a bit but then seemed to calm down again. Whatever he is listening to seems to be over. I wonder what it was?

Back to the lantern. Upon studying its design, I realised that part of it was locked with three bolts and was a door from the hinges. I spent several minutes thinking of what I would do here for our two options. The first, of course, would kill what was ever in this container, claiming its essence and possibly magic. True, I could not hold the magic, but I might have been able to make something, a new creature, quick and dirty, to help fill out my defenders. The second was simply to let it go, claiming that whatever this container was and what was left of the two humans had died.

The fact that I had called them humans stopped me for a moment. Did they have families, or were they good people? If so, how are their deaths going to affect them? Was I becoming used to the fact that I was no longer a human but now core?

These questions forced me to pause as I wrestled with the ramifications of what I had not done but arranged to happen. This was the first time people actually died from my actions.

This left me conflicted.

To advance, I was going to have to do this a lot more and to groups, most likely. Kill people.

I was hesitating. I needed to get back and finish what I had started.

"Shit! Get with it!"

Questions for later!

I made my decision. Instructing Larry to unlock the bolts on the lantern as it would release whatever was contained within. I could kill the fairy and get away with it as there was no one else here but deciding (maybe incorrectly) to lean towards the more noble side of my nature. When human and alive, I was an absolute bastard in the forums, but I always secretly leaned towards the good guy options in single-player games campaigns that gave players a choice. So, I decided to continue that here for now.

Larry didn't take long to undo the bolts and the door sprang open. He moved slightly to the side to give whatever was inside a free shot at escaping. It did not disappoint, shooting out of the lantern at incredible speed and through the door into what I realised was the night had fallen.

"Damn, that fairy is fast!"

The second it leaves my aura, I feel the pressure vanish from my mind. I would have sighed in relief if I could anymore, but another thing I could not do. I was finally able to get to work now that I was "alone" again. Starting with closing the main door and cleaning up the mess.