Chapter 13: Preparing to dungeon dive
We get up early and prepare to leave. There was no indication of alarm for the rest of the night, so it would seem that my cleanup operation was thorough enough. Sophia tells the guards that a maid stopped by the room last night informing us that the lord was drawn away last night on an urgent matter and that he apologizes for not being able to see us off. I give Sophia a run down of last night’s events once we have set off.
“Did you really have to kill the maid, she was most likely forced?”~Sophia
“Her contract was likely also forced on her, how long do you think it would take for someone to force her to tell them that I was successfully captured last night. It would give them all they need to know to determine that I can somehow escape from captivity while sealed.”~me
“And how did you manage to escape? Also, did you get any useful information from the lord?”~Sophia
“I have the shadowmeld skill. I’m hiding it and some other things with a status disguise skill. That lord told me that he was acting on orders to not let a hero fall into the hands of their adversary. This was most likely arranged by your father. Based on their lack of expressions this morning, I don’t think anyone in the guard knew of last night’s arrangements. I wouldn’t be surprised however, if they were arranged to deal with me some point before we reach our destination. Last night was improvised by that lord for his own greed, not within the plans that had been arranged. He had intended to sell me, rather than kill me as ordered.”~me
“Whoever gave him his orders clearly didn’t tell him everything. Perhaps that lord was merely a probing attempt and the worst has yet to come. I hate feeling so helpless.”~Sophia
With that last statement, I nodded my head in agreement and we both restart our training. Three days later, I managed to hit stage three in mind and Sophia hit stage two in body.
<Status> +[disguised stats], -[hidden stats]
Name: Lilia | Age: 20 | Sex: Female
+Race: {Vampire(50%)}{Blood demon(25%)}{Dragon(20%)}{Dryad(5%)}
Cultivation Stages: {Body: 1(90%)}{Mind: 3(0%)}{Spirit: 0}{Divine: 1(36%)}{Law: 0}
Energy Reserves: {Qi: 50/100}{Mana: 200/1000}{Spirit: 10/10}{Divine: 80/100}
Attributes: Str: 100(50%) | Vit: 100(50%) | Agi: 100(50%) | Int: 1000(50%)
Soul Potential: 41
<Skills>
{passive}
[Sense Mana 2]
-[Soul Devourer 1], [Sense Presence 2], [Sense Intent 1], [Sense Danger 1]
{active}
[Mana Control 1], [Mana Shaping 1]
-[Shadowmeld 1], [Contract(activate: 19sp)]
<Status>
Name: Sophia | Age: 23 | Sex: Female
Race: {Wood Elf(50%)}{Human(50%)}
Cultivation Stages: {Body: 2}{Mind: 2}{Spirit: 0}{Divine: 0}{Law: 0}
Energy Reserves: {Qi: 130/130}{Mana: 600/600}{Spirit: 10/10}{Divine: 0/0}
Attributes: Str: 100 | Vit: 100 | Agi: 190 | Int: 600
Soul Potential: 120
<Skills>
{passive}
[Sense Mana 3], [Sense Presence 2], [Sense Danger 2]
{active}
[Mana Control 3], [Mana Shaping 2]
I told Sophia to focus her efforts on raising her agility, then to work on her vitality because it will help us if we need to run. I’m going to do the same once I stage up and I’ve activated my agility boost trait with some of the excess sp from my earlier kills. I seem to get extra sp for having been the one who made the kill. Having the entire day to cultivate makes it very easy to focus. Another week passes uneventfully, these escorts are way too focused. I have had zero alone time with Sophia the entire time. One of the elites is either driving the carriage or standing guard by our door at the inns at night. My stockpile of faith energy has run out, I’m now keeping my divine energy at about seventy percent full since I can only gain sixteen divine energy per day from the two of us. I’ve figured out my cultivation limit for progress each day when I got to stage three. I can only cultivate about sixteen hundred attribute points in intelligence for each day if I spend the entire day doing so. Which means my daily limit at the same stage for training physical stats will be about four hundred. And my other normal cultivation for divine energy will be about eight hundred. Every stage increases the time needed to cultivate each unit of improvement. I will likely be reduced to eight hundred intelligence gain per day at stage four. We have successfully arrived at the dungeon city of Kellor on the border. Our progress is…
<Status> +[disguised stats], -[hidden stats]
Name: Lilia | Age: 20 | Sex: Female
+Race: {Vampire(50%)}{Blood demon(25%)}{Dragon(20%)}{Dryad(5%)}
Cultivation Stages: {Body: 2(0%)}{Mind: 3(0%)}{Spirit: 0}{Divine: 1(46%)}{Law: 0}
Energy Reserves: {Qi: 100/200}{Mana: 8000/10000}{Spirit: 10/10}{Divine: 70/100}
Attributes: Str: 100(50%) | Vit: 100(50%) | Agi: 400(50%) | Int: 10000(50%)
Soul Potential: 32
<Skills>
{passive}
[Sense Mana 2]
-[Soul Devourer 1], [Sense Presence 2], [Sense Intent 1], [Sense Danger 1]
{active}
[Mana Control 2], [Mana Shaping 1]
-[Shadowmeld 1], [Contract(activate: 19sp)]
<Status>
Name: Sophia | Age: 23 | Sex: Female
Race: {Wood Elf(50%)}{Human(50%)}
Cultivation Stages: {Body: 2}{Mind: 2}{Spirit: 0}{Divine: 0}{Law: 0}
Energy Reserves: {Qi: 200/400}{Mana: 500/1000}{Spirit: 10/10}{Divine: 0/0}
Attributes: Str: 100 | Vit: 300 | Agi: 800 | Int: 1000
Soul Potential: 120
<Skills>
{passive}
[Sense Mana 4], [Sense Presence 3], [Sense Danger 2]
{active}
[Mana Control 3], [Mana Shaping 2]
Our status may seem incredible, but the actual increase in ability isn’t reflected by the numbers seen. True growth in ability seems to operate at declining rate, each new point of attribute gives less actual ability than the last. The cultivation stage acts as a multiplier, someone at the bottom of stage three is much stronger than someone at the top of stage two.
We arrive at the border town as scheduled and Sophia informs the guard that she intends to experience what it is like to raid a dungeon, to please select four other team members to accompany us. Somehow, there is absolutely no argument from the guards and the four elites nominated themselves for the trip. I can’t help but think that something isn’t quite right and that my plan to disappear in the dungeon is a bust. We have an entire week of extra time in our schedule and we are set to arrive at Belgra’s capital in only two more weeks. The guards tell us to take a rest at the inn, that they will buy appropriate supplies to raid the dungeon tonight and we will set out first thing in the morning. Even though Belgra is a large dungeon city with a lord present, Sophia rejected the lord’s attempt to invite her to his estate for her stay. We instead checked into a very high class inn that caters specifically to nobles and rich merchants. Being a dungeon city, Kellor is much wealthier than any stop we have made prior. I unload some of the luggage that contain a few luxury items and am able to give Sophia her first real bath and massage in almost two weeks. We methodically cleaned ourselves from the road dust, messed around in the sheets and cleaned ourselves again. Later in the evening, the guards bring us the information on the dungeon that we will be raiding tomorrow and I am able to discover why I had the feeling that they agreed too easily. It’s shallow! Even though it is supposedly one of the older dungeons, it only goes as deep as nineteen floors. Dungeons typically raise in difficulty at a rate of one stage after every ten floors, starting at stage one. The nineteenth floor of a dungeon is only as difficult as a high level stage two cultivator, not even close to being a challenge for these elites. After going through the information, we snuggle together on the bed and go to sleep.
“Going on your first dungeon experience are you?”~Kat
“Yes. Though I am somewhat curious as to why this particular dungeon is so shallow.”~me
Once again I’ve found myself chatting with the Goddess in her divine realm. Although I’m starting to get curious as to why I’m always naked here.
“I wouldn’t call a thirty-six floor dungeon shallow and you’re only naked because you don’t know how to wear clothes with your astral form.”~Kat
“You’re not going to tell me how to do that are you? The humans only have up to floor nineteen known to them, seeming to believe that is the extent of the dungeon. Could you tell me why?”~me
“The tunnel leading to the twentieth floor is somewhat obscured. I won’t directly tell you, but I will give you a little hint. It is disguised as something commonly found in a dungeon, yet it is easily avoided because it is not hidden at all. Since the lower floors have never been entered, there are many undiscovered treasures within. You may even find something that would be very useful in the near future.”~Kat
We chat for a little while longer. However, she completely ignores any attempt I make to understand how to wear clothes on my astral form. I bring up the issue of how magical contracts are leaving very little opportunity for anything to affect the established order, stagnating cultural growth. She thanked me and tells me that she will look into placing limits or restrictions on it in some way. I ask her about my declining speed of cultivation and she only tells me it’s possible to increase, but I’ll likely soon discover it on my own.
“Sweet dreams, Lilia.”~Kat
