Random Portals

Steven had expected to find the skeletons weakened, or possibly poisoned, but not crippled. None of the skeletons had all their limbs, a few didn’t have any at all. He was just starting to think how easy they were going to be to kill until he realized he had nothing to kill them with but his daggers. He didn’t think daggers were going to do much to a skeleton. What was he supposed to do? Stab their bones? Was that even an option?

Instead, he just began sending the skeletons to inventory. As he did he considered the Naga. He couldn’t imagine the Naga enjoyed it. They had to fight the skeletons without gaining any essence. Steven hoped they didn’t hold any ill will towards him. It didn’t take him long to collect all the crippled skeletons on the main paths. Steven was determined to level up so he could get out of this damn dungeon. He did his best to not leave a single skeleton behind. He tried to stab one with his dagger, but it didn’t do any damage. After stabbing it a few more times, it lost a single percent.

“Oh, you gotta be kidding me!” He quickly sent skeleton to inventory and wished he had a mace or something to do blunt damage. “How the hell did the Naga deal with them?”

He then remembered the spear and got excited. It didn’t do blunt damage, but this was his favorite part. “Loot!”

Odling’s Chaos Imbued Lightning Spear

Rarity- Chaotic

~ Effect]- Lightning damage causes stun. Time stunned is based on opponent's endurance.

~ 17% of base lightning damage jumps to two random enemy targets also causing stun.

~Cost]- Must be charged with Odling mana to access lightning damage.

~ Requirement]- 11 Strength 11 Dexterity 11 Spirit

~Additional Requirements}- Must be born with last name Odling. Weapon must be Soul Bound to wield.

Steven read over the description several times, as he did he periodically looked up to the dungeon, celling in confusion. There was no doubt in his mind where this came from. He wondered why a God had taken an interest in him. He normally wouldn’t enjoy being handed something like this in a game. But this was no game. It was life and death, and he would take every advantage he could get.

He just had a bad feeling that this God of Chaos, or whatever it was called, would come to collect someday. Or maybe the God did simply just like his last name, as Gideon had said, though that was hard to believe. There was nothing to be done for it now. Steven looked up. “Well, thanks. I mean, you could have removed the strength and dexterity requirements. But I get it. We humans do appreciate things more when we have to work for them.”

Now all Steven had to do was gain a bunch of levels so he could actually use it. Also, he had no idea how to use a spear. “You just poke things with it from a distance, right? Oh yeah, and throw it.”

He knew he had a lot of practice in front of him, but he would have to meet the requirements first. Making his way to the hidden path, he wondered how powerful the spear really was, and how did he soul bond it exactly. No sooner than the thought entered his mind, he received a notification.

Would you like to Soul bond, Odling’s Chaos Imbued Lightning Spear Yes/No?

Well, it did already have his name, so he selected yes, hoping he wasn’t making some sort of mistake. The gold spear immediately appeared in front of him, floating in the air as sparks began dancing down it. Reaching out, Steven gripped the spear in the center and regretted it instantly. His entire body convulsed as his eyes rolled back. It felt like his muscles were being fried from the inside out. Then, without warning, it stopped and a warm and spicy sensation ran throughout his entire body.

The feeling was hard to explain, but it reminded him of the time his grandfather gave him some sort of pepper he kept asking to try as a child. He took a huge bite despite his grandmother telling him to not eat it. His grandpa broke out in laughter as his grandma ran him to the kitchen to get him some milk. Steven shook his head. Where had that memory came from? It was so vivid. Blinking away the remnants of the memory, he saw a notification hovering in the air.

Soul bond completed.

You do not meet all requirements to wield this weapon properly. Be warned, if attempted to wield this weapon before requirements are met, there will be soul damage, which may result in death.

Closing the notification and vowing to not use the weapon till he met all the requirements, another notification appeared from behind it.

Cannot send equipped gear to inventory that does not belong to you.

Steven stared blankly at the notification for a long moment before he realized it was the notification he minimized when fighting the knight. It was a perfectly reasonable restriction. One that made his absurd inventory ability just slightly less ridiculous. And something he would have to learn to work around, he got the feeling more and more armor would be on the dungeon monsters as he delved deeper into this god forsaken dungeon.

Closing that notification, another one was waiting behind the first informing him of the same thing. Reminding him, he tried it twice right before Sirus saved him. He would have truly died without the aid of that Naga! That really took its toll on Steven’s psyche.

“Every damn time! Someone else has to save me! First the wisp and now Sirus!”

The gamer in Steven was snarling at his incompetence. He had to become stronger. Relying on others to save him would eventually get him killed. “I will complete this dungeon!”

Suddenly the Dungeon its self rumbled, knocking Steven out of his thoughts. He froze while looking around wide eyed for new threats. He even pulled out his map to make sure there were no new enemies nearby. From what he could tell, there was nothing new in his area he had to deal with. Doing his best to ignore it like he did with the odd sense he was being watched, he headed towards the treasure room or hidden path.

Steven went down any side path he came across, collecting what few crippled skeletons were down them. Down one of those paths, he came across a small cluster of completely intact skeletons, which he stealthily sent to inventory without issue. All he had to do was touch them, after all. If this was a game, he would have been irritated about being on easy mode, but since this was real life, he continued to feel like he was lacking power. Maybe when he got the attributes for the spear, things would be different. A weapon was what he was really lacking. The thought of a sneaking, lightning spear man had Steven chuckle to himself.

The hidden path this time was just set in a random wall. He would have never thought to check this place. There was no waterfall or anything, just another part of the dungeon wall. Before he entered, he checked to make sure his mana and health was full. While also checking his inventory to see how many undead he now had. A smile crept across his face. He now had ninety-eight skeletons and still had seventeen zombies in inventory. Steven then poked his head in the illusionary wall, completely relying on his defensive shard to keep him safe.

To his surprise, the room was exactly the same as the other one. A pit trap as soon as you walked in. A narrow path with axes and even a skeletal archer at the other end. If it wasn’t for the axes still being attached and the archer, he would have thought he was sent back to the first hidden path. Steven smiled. He hoped every hidden path would be like this. It was a great place to offload some undead and gain essence.

Getting a running start, he leaped to the other side. He absently wondered how many people fell in there by just stepping into the illusionary wall, or rather falling into the wall, because he doubted anyone would randomly find this path without a map. Looking down, he didn’t see any remains. Although he wasn’t sure if that was because no one had died in there or if the dungeon absorbed them. Now that he thought about it, where did all the zombies and skeletons come from? And why were they all human? Steven hadn’t seen a single human since arriving in this world. Were they all used by this dungeon lord? Pushing those thoughts aside, he got to work dropping skeletons in the pit.

+52

+56

+48

It would have been convenient to drop several at once, but he didn’t have that option. Besides, was he so lazy he couldn’t hold his hand out while he gained essence? The thought made him roll his eyes.

+51

Steven did his best to not pay attention to the total until he was done. He liked the surprise at the end.

+49

Suddenly, a grin tugged at his lips. He had just got a new supply! Pausing the skeletal massacre, he pulled out his water pipe. He had barely got done loading it before he heard a sucking sound followed by a slurping pop.

“Oh, you have done it now.”

Steven whirled around, eyes wide. Then he saw who it was. “Come on, do you have to do that right behind me? Can’t you appear in front of me? You nearly gave me a heart attack.” Steven said, staring blankly at the pinkish ball of light.

There was a long silence as the human and the Wisp just stared at one another. At least he got the sense she was staring at him. For all he knew, she could be looking at the other side of the room. Steven eventually just turned back to what he was doing. He wasn’t just going to stand there and look at her. He had levels to gain, and a lightning spear to wield! He got the sense the Wisp sighed after he took a hit and then just began dropping skeletons down the pit as if she wasn’t there.

“I will do my best in the future. It’s difficult to get the location correct, I’m sorry. Now there are lots of things to discuss. First things first is the Dungeon Lord has just renounced my services,” the wisp slowly began to turn a lighter shade of pink, “so I was hoping that you would accept me as your familiar…”

Steven turned and simply blinked at the Wisp a few times before tuning back to his skeleton dropping.

“I can be useful, I swear! I can even help you complete this dungeon,” the wisp was now talking quickly. “I mean, I can’t actually help you fight at my level. But I have lots of information!”

Steven was definitely interested in having a fountain of information. He had tons of questions, but this seemed fishy.

“But why me? What do you get out of it?” Steven asked.

“We can take down Sorin together. He is a terrible dungeon Lord!”

“What’s the real reason you want to be my familiar?”

“Don’t you want to defeat this dungeon and claim the domain?”

“Actually, I don’t really care about this domain, isn’t it undead? That doesn’t really sound like something I would want. Besides, that’s not what I asked you. If you can’t honestly answer me, then I’m not interested. Tell me why you want to be my familiar or forget it. I’ll do this on my own.” Steven was in a mood. He had just almost died, and he felt weak and small and didn’t want to be a pawn in someone else’s game.

“Uh, well. You see, it’s kind of a selfish reason…” The light from the Wisp turned dim to the point it was barely even glowing.

“That’s great. That is what I want to know. I need to know your motivation. Why you want to be my familiar?”

“I’m afraid you will turn me away.”

Steven looked at the Wisp. “I will turn you away if you don’t tell me. Are you wanting to take over this world or take out all the other Wisps so you’re the only one or something?”

The Wisp jerked back, “take out all the other Wisps! I would never!” the Wisps light pulsated. “well, maybe I wouldn’t mind taking out the council. Would you be willing to help me with that? Wait! No, that’s absurd! What am I saying?”

“I’m not opposed to overthrowing an evil council, but I would need to grow stronger.”

The Wisp’s light began pulsing faster and faster. “I, Umm…” the ball of light started moving side to side, “well, they are evil! And we wouldn’t have to kill them. Maybe, with enough time… Yes, let’s do it! But we will have to be extremely secretive about it and only speak of it when in these original parts of the Dungeon or your domain.” The Wisp seemed to get excited and Steven was starting to get the sense this Wisp was quite young.

“Your getting a bit off topic! Why do you want to be my familiar? And answer honestly this time.”

The Wisp stopped bobbing, and the pulsating slowed. “Well like I said, it’s a bit selfish.”

“More selfish than taking out your own kind so you can move to the top? Just answer me. Ive got things to do!”

“That’s not why I…” she paused, “okay, it’s just, I don’t want to die.”

“And you will die if you don’t become my familiar?” Steven asked with obvious skepticism.

“Well, no, but I will die if I can’t get access to a domain. All Wisp must have access to a domain’s life force or they will die, and I was cut off from the Domain holder I was assigned to.”

“Okay, now we are getting somewhere. Was that so hard?”

“That’s what you wanted to know?” The Wisp asked in confusion.

“Yes! If you are to be my familiar, you will have to be straight with me. Also, I need you to explain what all that consists of. And if it doesn’t line up with what the system tells me, then it’s a no go.” Steven then took another hit. He knew he probably shouldn’t, but he was getting stressed out.

“The System?”

“Yes, you know the thing that governs this world and gives you levels and what not,” Steven said.

“It talks to you?”

“Well, not so much talk as sends me messages. Isn't that common?”

“No! Not at all. It’s quite rare to receive a message from the, System, as you call it. Or at least that’s what I’ve always understood.”

“Well, maybe it’s because I’m from another world. I’m not sure, whatever the case, I get messages often. By the way, what was your name again?”

The Wisp was silent for a moment before she spoke. “You mortals have a hard time with names. My name is Silviaburlaxatrix.”

She seemed quite proud of it, so Steven did his best to not butcher it. “Silvbur. Silveblax. Sliverblatrix. I’m sorry, but could you repeat it?” The wisp didn’t seem to mind at all. In fact, she seemed quite pleased that Steven was taking the time to try an learn her name at all. It took about ten mins, and he finally got it right. The entire time, the Wisp cheered him on, telling him he almost had it.

“Silviaburlaxatrix.”

“Yes! That’s it!” The Wisp seemed overly joyed that he pronounced it. Making Steven hesitant to ask the next question.

“Would you mind if I called you Silvia for short? I will be sure to introduce you as Silviaburlaxatrix.”

“Silvia.” The Wisp said, as if tasting the word. “No one has ever called me that. It is a perfectly acceptable name. However, I must insist you do not call me Sill or Silly. And if anyone does, then we must take immediate action!”

Steven almost asked why, but Silvia seemed extremely serious about the matter, so he wasn’t going to push it. He could really use a companion right now.

“Deal. All those who disrespect the name of Silviaburlaxatrix shall feel the wrath of Steven!” Now that he said it out loud, it sounded silly besides who would fear a name like Steven.

“YES! No one shall disrespect me again!”

Steven felt like there was a lot to unpack there and decided that was best left for another time. But he was curious why the Dungeon lord kicked her out. He had a feeling it was over him, but why would she risk it?

“So I was meaning to ask, why exactly did this Dungeon lord cut you off from his domain?”

“Oh that. Well, it was completely your fault. But I forgive you! Well, as long as you accept me becoming you’re familiar, that is.”

Steven was just fixing to speak when he received a prompt.

Would you like to accept Silviaburlaxatix as your Soul-Bounded familiar Yes/No?

(Note: You cannot undo this action.)

Steven minimized the notification.

“How exactly did Sorin break the soul bond with you?”

“Oh, we were never Soul Bound, you can’t break those and the council frowns on wisps doing it. It’s mostly because they can’t siphon life force from Soul Bounded Wisps. Or at least that’s my theory why they forbid it.”

“The notification does say it can’t be undone,” Steven said absently. “I have a few questions before I agree to this bond. First, what do you mean by siphon Life force? Also, what did you mean by it was my fault exactly? Did Sorin find out you helped me?”

“You got a notification about me. Was it from the system? What did it say??”

“Yes, it was from the system, and it just asked if I wanted to accept you as my familiar.”

“Amazing! It’s just crazy to think the System recognized me. I’ve just never met anyone that received notifications from the system so casually,” Silvia’s light slowly returned to its normal brightness, “as for siphon Life Force, you know how I said Wisps must have a Domain user or we will die?”

“Yes.” Steven said, one eyebrow raised.

“Well, we drain the Life Force from the Domain to survive. All wisps do. And don’t worry, it’s an incredibly small amount. Even if I tried, I couldn’t drain all the Domains Life Force in my lifetime. I don’t know of any being who could drain a domain, maybe a lesser god. Though, I’m not even sure if they could. Any way, if I don’t gain access to a Domain I will die, and I don’t want to. As for why Sorin cut me off, well, it’s cause you shouted to the Dungeon that I saved your life.”

Steven froze. He did indeed remember saying it out loud right be for the strange rumbling in the Dungeon. His eyes grew wide. “Are you saying Sorin is watching me all the time?”

“He is absolutely watching you, though not all the time he only gets so much time a day to observe over his domain, and he can’t see into the original parts of the dungeon at all, he just happen to be watching when said it.”

Steven began looking around as if he was going to see the Dungeon lord sneaking a peek through a picture on the wall, though it would be more likely he would be looking through a skeletons eye, as he hadn’t seen any pictures.

“We can’t be seen in the original parts of the dungeon. There is no reason to worry. We are safe here. Well, except for the skeleton, pit traps, swinging axes, and the two mimics in the other room.”

Suddenly Steven’s eyes grew wide, and he no longer felt safe. “Mimics…?”