The Dramatic Dungeon - A Dungeon Core Story

Right, onto the next thing! I swear, one of these days I’ll collapse due to this constant stress.

My dear actress has unlocked her class, so let's check in on that.

The Screen that pops up does so in front of Juliette, and by her reaction it seems she too can see the screen and comprehend its contents.

Class Selection Successful!

Class “Animated Actor” acquired!

New Active Skill unlocked!

Level Up!

This screen is immediately followed by a second one, seemingly at her prompting.

Status

Name: Juliette

Class: Animated Actor

Level: 2

Creature Type: Animated Mannequin

Skills:

Active:

Passive:

Tragic Passing - Level 1

-

Both of us go to investigate her new skill at the same time, but no further screen pops up, instead, both of us just kind of learn what her skill does.

It seems that once every 30 minutes, she can activate the skill, causing the next blow she receives to seem fatal, but not cause actual harm. Essentially, it's a skill that helps playing dead, like she did against the goblins at the very end. While unlikely to help twice against the same opponent, it seems fairly powerful to just be able to do that. Well, she seems pleased, and so I share in that pleasure a little. It feels surprisingly good seeing my actress grow.

I would like to indulge in that feeling a little longer, but unfortunately, duty calls. And by that I mean a sense of foreboding about that little flag I planted earlier. It's time to fill out my Monster Capacity in case of a future goblin attack.

I start the summoning process again, and feel positively drained. I should probably not do these back to back, they are quite exhausting.

The now familiar scene of summoning a being into existence from outside of existence repeats itself before my eyes, and soon a second mannequin stands before my stage. Like Juliette, it takes a moment to get its bearings, but unlike her, it does not make a beeline for my shiny personage. Instead, it wanders towards the seats, crawling as if searching for something amidst the rotten wood.

Both Juliette and me are watching curiously for a while, before the second mannequin seems to have found what it is looking for. Raising itself up to its full height, it proudly presents the wooden board and the stick it is now holding in both of its digit-less hands (how?), before marching to my position and kneeling down, positioning its stick on the stage in front of it and lowering its head against it.

Much like Juliette before it, it takes a solemn vow to serve and protect, and much like with Juliette, I accept its devotion.

Having thus doubled my fighting force, I feel much safer already. Juliette and the second mannequin are inspecting each other curiously, seemingly engaged in the same weird thought-conversations I sometimes had with her.

Well, nothing for it, while taking a breather from summoning, I might as well check my status again.

Status

Name: The Playwright

Level: 2

Creature Type: Dungeon Core

Affinities:

Inherent: Dual(Transmutation/Illusion)

Acquired: -

Rooms: 1/1

Monster Capacity: 3/6

Unlocked Templates:

Animated Mannequin

Monster Roster:

Juliette, Animated Mannequin, Animated Actor Level 2

-,Animated Mannequin

Hmmm.

My Monster Capacity went up by 2? That comes unexpected to me, but it must be Juliette's increase in level that's… straining my capacity more? I cannot see how else this might be explained. Curious, and kind of frightening, if I only get one capacity per level, will I only be able to sustain one monster that's close to my level? Well, numbers alone don’t make a successful production, but a solo performance would be rather sad. We shall see how this develops with more level increases.

For better or worse, I do believe I should summon some more mannequins when I can, at least one more to be safe. I should talk with Juliette about it, she is the one with the most combat experience in this room. But it can wait until after she and my new guardian have finished acquainting each other.

In the meantime, I should probably try out another function of being a Dungeon core I have not seen before. That’s right, Excavation. I know how to do it by instinct again, and it should not be tiring in the same way that summoning is, so I should be able to do it. Because of my room limit I don't think that excavating outwards is a good idea, but I want to try and get rid of some of the debris marring my domain.

Beginning at the ones obscuring the door from the stage, I start breaking apart the stonework. It is a slow and meticulous process, and it feels strange to do. Essentially, I concentrate on the stone I want to excavate, and imagine chipping at it, as if with a chisel. And under this mental assault, the rock crumbles step by step. Instead of just falling apart however, some of it disappears. It feels strange, because it's still there, just not in the same space as… well, as everything else. The place the rock ends up feels a bit like the place the stuff that makes monsters comes from, just always there. It feels like I could take the rock back from there at any time.

To verify, I dump a little rock on the floor of the stage. Sure enough there is a little rock there now. Can I put it back? Also yes. Can I store anything else there? Nope, doesn't seem like it. Just rock for now. I'm certain that might change as well in the future. Well, let's get on with breaking down the rest of the debris so my singular room isn’t as unseemly any more.

After a while, most of the room is free of fallen rock. I only left some fragments that still have visible carvings on them in places where the seats are rotten away and destroyed, since that is a slight improvement still.

It seems my monsters have finished getting acquainted with each other and are watching my progress. Right, I can summon again, so I go to ask them both if I should summon one or two siblings for them. Juliette thinks one will be enough and the new mannequin defers to her judgment, so I gather up my strength and invoke the magic once more.

Summon: Animated Mannequin!

After a short while, the mannequin is formed, and after gathering its bearings it makes its way towards me and does a formal-feeling bow before my radiant presence. It too swears its vow of allegiance, and with that we have assembled our motley crew.

Time to see whether those goblins are gonna come back for round two!