Dungeon at the End of the Universe

Ugh, do I seriously have to do this?

Sure, it was a favour I had promised. And it does seem to be beneficial. But somehow if just feels wrong.

I am, of course, talking about that favour I’d promised Faellen, which it had just cashed in. Much sooner than I would’ve expected, to be honest.

As to what it entails, well…

I’m supposed to start introducing mana to the planet below, Lapis. Naturally, not everywhere all at once. I should first pick some spots where basically no Sipalians live and slowly expand from there.

That sounds way too much like an actual System apocalypse though. The places I pick first will obviously have the most time to acclimate and evolve with mana, turning them into danger zones. And if I don’t do everything just right, if my timing is even a bit off, they could grow too fast and overrun the civilised areas before I have the chance to give them mana.

So, I need some way to control the initial landing site.

Hmm, that sounds like an Ability. Obviously, I’d need to have System be a part of it. But as for all the other stuff? Neither End nor Paradox seem suited to something like this, and Eldritch… I’d have a higher chance of corrupting everything with Eldritch than doing anything productive, so no.

Then I have an epiphany.

When I was Levelling-Up that one time (yes, I’m still only Level 2. Dungeon are slow) I could choose nodes from not only my Aspects, but also Dungeon. Does that mean Dungeon is some kind of pseudo Aspect?

Certainly worth giving it a shot!

I split my focus, one half for searching for the Dungeon pseudo Aspect within me, the other half for observing Lapis and finding a good landing spot.

The planet somewhat reminds me of Earth. Mostly in colouration. There are the blue oceans and seas, as well as the green and brown landmasses. Both the poles also have the customary white ice caps.

There are also the same number of continents, even if they look much more different. Only major difference is that unlike Earth, there appears to be an equal distribution of landmass between the north and south hemisphere.

And… Aha! There’s something interesting.

Pretty much in the middle of one ocean is a decently large island! And- Yes! It also seems unpopulated.

That would be the perfect testing site.

Now onto the more difficult part.

Faellen told me once that Abilities aren’t just gained through Level-Ups. One other way is through repeating an action many times. I would’ve thought I’d get something out of that by now, but maybe me having the extremely general Dungeon Abilities interferes with that.

The other option was to grab a hold of the Essence within me that my Aspects grant me, and weave it into whatever effect I want.

It’s obviously much more difficult, the resulting Ability is much less polished and needs refinement, and there’s also the tiniest chance of it outright blowing up in my face. But it does allow for a lot more freedom.

So, I do what I do best.

I throw some System Essence and Dungeon Essence together. Then I flood it with a bunch of mana. Not just because it needs to deliver that mana, but also for another reason.

You see, I’ve realised something about the form of enchanting Faellen taught me. It itself called it, what was it, pseudo enchanting? Fake enchanting? Poor man’s enchanting? I can’t remember.

But I’ve come to realise that not only is it not enchanting, it’s something much better. I’m not quite sure about the specifics yet, but it feels almost as if I was asking mana itself for help. And why would that stop with enchanting inanimate objects?

The answer is it doesn’t. Maybe it’s more difficult for other stuff, but my Boss demonstrated quite well that it’s possible. So why not try it with an Ability?

So I throw wave after wave of mana at the mix of Essences, I flood and drown it with as much as I can gather, and send my wish to it. Please make me an Ability for what I need. And the mana answers.

The Essence moves and shifts by itself, with no direction from me, and arranges itself into a complex web I couldn’t have managed in a thousand years.

Instinctually, I know what to do.

I throw the woven mass down at the planet, while the System sends me a notification.

New Ability gained!

Seed Dungeon (Dungeon/System)
You may be a Dungeon Core, but you’re also much more than that. You bring together with you many things, heralding a new age for all that come into your path. But chaos is not your intention, so a means of Control was Created.
Create a Dungeon Seed and send it off to find its own way. Also establishes a Link between you, through which you can Control it. But beware, all Links can be broken.

Oh- Oh, Yes!

I can have mini Dungeons! That’s awesome!

I can test various setups there and if they work create an environment in my own Dungeon that mimics it! I won’t have to test stuff on myself anymore!

Cough cough.

Of course, that’s only one use. Naturally it also helps to do what I made that Ability for: controlling and monitoring the spread of mana.

And actually? I bet now I won’t need to kidnap people to my Dungeon moon. I can put some System orbs into those mini Dungeons I make. Ooh, and maybe at the end of those mini Dungeons will be a portal to my actual Dungeon, as a reward for the best.

Yes, this has been an awesome use of my time. Better not tell Faellen how much I like this, this still counts as using that favour.