Blue core, p.43
Blue Core, page 43
part #1 of Blue Core Series
Breeding Station (50 biomass): Used for breeding monsters
Blue Core Breeding Station 10 (250 biomass): Used for Blue Core breeding.
Purifier Breeding Station 6 (500 biomass): Used for Purifier breeding.
Fluid Handling || Upgrades: Heat Resist 6, Corrosion Resist 1. Maximum pressure increased. : Level 9
Pipe
Valve
Pump
Tank (scalable)
Filter
Ecology: Level 10 Max: Ecology costs reduced. Growth time reduced. Yields increased. Mundane mutations allowed.
Dirt
Tayan grass
Tayantan tree. Fruit: Blue Tayan Fruit. Restorative properties.
Tayan moss. Mild Healing Properties.
Chrystheniums:
Grey: Produces Stone. Gem: Earth Primal Source
White: Produces Ice. Gem: Ice Primal Source
Red: Produces heat and Iron. Gem: Fire Primal Source
Steam: Generates Steam. Gem: Hot Stone
Carbonized: Absorbs Heat. Generates Coal. Gem: Alchemical Coal
Crystalline: Crystallizes Local Resources. Light-Sensitive. Gem: Alchemical Diamond
Latticework: Generates Mana Latticework. Light-Sensitive. Gem: Core Lattice
Blue Chrysthenium: Generates Water. Gem: Water Primal Source
Deepwater: Increases Local Pressure. Enriches Local Resources. Gem: Purifying Stone
Green: Increases local plant growth. Gem: Nature Primal Source
Mossy: Regenerative Pollen. Gem: Healing Primal Source
Radiant: Produces Light. Gem: Light Primal Source
Umbral: Produces Shadow. Gem: Shadow Primal Source
Illusory. Invisible. Gem: Illusion Primal Source
Wind. Generates breezes. Gem: Wind Primal Source
Storm. Clings to ceilings. Generates rain and lightning. Gem: Storm Primal Source
Kinetic. Pinwheel. Captures wind and water power. Gem: Kinetic Primal Source
Mundane Flora (Expand)
Metallurgy: 5
Crucible Crystal (size 100): 20 Gold, 50 Iron, 150 Stonesteel, 3 Fire Affinity Source Gems: Converts metals to liquid version.
Alloy Crystal (size 200): 50 Gold, 50 Iron, 250 Stonesteel, 5 Kinetic Affinity Source Gems: Mixes liquid metals into alloys.
Infusion Crystal (size 100): 20 Gold, 50 Iron, 150 Stonesteel, 10 Purifying Gems: Allows mixing of non-metal stored material with liquid metals.
Hardening Crystal (size 100): 20 Gold, 50 Iron, 150 Stonesteel, 10 Alchemical Diamonds: Converts liquid metals into solid form.
Fabrication: 5
Assembler: 1000 Biomass, 10 Gold, 10 Steel, 100 Stonesteel: Allows Dungeon to assemble dungeon items into more complex products.
Fields: 10: Field costs reduced. Field deployment time reduced. Field strength cap increased. Multiple field types can be used at once.
Regeneration 7: Improves Health and Stamina regeneration
Rejuvenation 5: Significantly improves Health, Stamina, and Mana regeneration
Murk 5: Creates tangibly obscured area.
Growth 5: Improves the growth rate of flora. Consumes [Fertilizer].
Abundance 5: Significantly increases flora growth and yield.
Spatial 6
Spatial Control 5: Up to 10x growing or shrinking along any number of axes.
Link 5: Provides transport between two doors (mana cost per use)
[Portal] 5: Creates constant connection between two openings
Teleporter 5: Provides a permanent transport system between two points
[Spatial Overlay] 5: Overlaps two areas of space.
Skills
[Customization]: Combines [Alteration] and [Camouflage]: Allows complete customization of all dungeon features to any scope. Allows saving of customized versions.
[Combat Customization]: Allows application of [Customization] to foreign dungeon material within range.
[Relocate]: Move a dungeon feature. Time based on complexity and size of feature.
[Temperature Control 9]: Increase and decrease temperature of areas inside dungeon.
[Reclaim 7]: Remove a dungeon feature and absorb a portion of its cost.
[Warding]: Adds [Warding] Field as well as active ability. Active ability allows the dungeon to deflect or suppress any scrying within range of [Genius Loci].
[Mana Manipulation] 7: Allows the Dungeon to directly manipulate its mana structure.
[Mana Logic] 1: Allows the Dungeon to link mana structures.
Abilities
[Tempered Wisdom] 5: Combines Insight, Intuition, Foresight, and Luck. Provides low-level instinctive knowledge of the world. Allows appraisal of individuals and items. Unlocks magic use. Allows for projecting probable outcomes.
[Blue Core]: The Dungeon takes direct possession of bred entities. Breeding options restricted. Unlocks dungeon options.
[Genius Loci]: The Dungeon no longer needs sensory organs to discern its own interior or the nearby area. Massively improves the ability of the Dungeon to appraise individuals and items inside it. Effect degrades with distance from dungeon architecture.
[Soul Perception] 5 - The Dungeon can detect some aspects of the soul.
[Fluid Handling]: Unlocks Fluid Handling category.
[Dungeon Ecology]: Unlocks Ecology category.
[Spatial Manipulation]: Unlocks Spatial Fields
[Metalworking]: Allows integration of stored metals into dungeon elements.
[Metallurgy]: Unlocks Metallurgy category.
[Efficiency] 5: Global reduction in mana and material costs.
[Extension]: Genius Loci effect extends through Companions.
Companion
Induct Companion
Shayma Ell: 6
Manage Skills
Iniri Tarnil: 2
Titles
[Breeder]: Improves Breeding options
[Blue Core]: Restricts Breeding options. Unlocks Breeding options.
[Purifier]: Severely restricts Breeding options. Unlocks Dungeon Options. Unlocks Companion Options.
[Source Purifier]: The Dungeon's Source creations evolve to Primal Sources.
[Merciful]: Gain experience from driving off enemies without killing them
[Sworn Protector]: You may summon your Companions to your Core
[Defender’s Superiority]: Gain experience for creating new defensive options
[Dungeon Conquerer]: Unlocks combat versions of [Assimilator], [Boring Tendril], [Customization].
[Dual-Core]: Unlocks Core Specialization Traits.
Traits
Trait Points: 4
Purchased
Material Precision: Three decimal points of precision for material quantities.
ANATHEMA Disruption: Your mana becomes a [Bane].
Available
Mana Efficiency: Improves flow of mana within the Dungeon. Higher flow provides larger benefits. (1)
Tracking: Companions can sense the location of the current ANATHEMA. (1)
Burrowing: Upgrades [Boring Tendril] into [Burrower]. (1)
Field Potency: Increases the maximum effect of Fields. (1)
Core Specialization: Ecology: Allows creation of additional resource types with [Dungeon Ecology]. Unlocks the ability to generate abstract Affinities with [Dungeon Ecology]. (4)
Core Specialization: Defense: Increases experience generated by defensive structures. Unlocks additional defensive materials. (4)
Core Specialization: Dungeon Combat: Increases potency of combat versions of Skills and structures. Unlocks additional combat Skills. (4)
Core Specialization: Habitation: Grants Dungeon Skills based on the species of Dungeon inhabitants. Improves the species traits of Dungeon inhabitants. (4)
Core Specialization: Companions: Unlocks additional Companion options. Increases rate of Companion advancement. (4)
Spawn Core: Allows the Dungeon to generate additional Cores. (20)
Manifest: Allows the Dungeon to condense its mana into physical form. (30)
Antithesis: The dungeon’s existence becomes inimical to its ANATHEMA. Contact results in annihilation. (35)
Inventory: 109473 items (expand)
Wait. I’d eaten a level nine core, why was everything level seven? In fact, given that it had only been in control of Meil, and not even all of Meil, how the hell did it get to be level nine in the first place? Either they were cheating or I was gimped or...something. It wasn’t fair that a pathetic little dungeon core like Meil’s could be three levels higher than me.
Given that I’d tangled with something significantly higher level than me, and apparently I was not optimized, for a dungeon, I guess I should have felt lucky that I’d come out on top. Mostly though I just felt awful. This was the first time I’d actually seen Core HP something other than full, and now that I had two cores, both damaged, that meant I got to experience twice the hurt. Joy.
What I didn’t understand was how I had no mana. Actually zero. I didn’t think I’d ever gotten that low before, and even if it was at zero why was it staying there? Weren’t my mana dynamos...oh. Right. They probably weren’t working. Given how much everything hurt I was probably pretty wrecked. Still, there was natural regeneration so...was something still active?
I fumbled out blindly, vaguely feeling that there were some Fields still active, and shut them off. Instantly I felt better as my mana was no longer being drained to zero or below. Half the aches and pains went away once I was no longer trying to support something I physically couldn’t, but only half. Clearly whatever had happened during dungeon-to-dungeon combat had really messed me up but, as they say, should have seen the other guy. Focusing [Genius Loci] only sent a sharp stabbing pain through me, rather than a blinding one.
Meil had become...well, me. I was the other guy.
That was not unexpected. I wasn’t really intending to hold the city, but if the other dungeon had taken it over, and I had taken over the other dungeon, it was a logical conclusion. What was unexpected was that the interior of my real body, or whatever it was going to be called because it wasn’t like one part of me was less me than other parts, was in shambles.
First off, everything was dark. Not that I needed the light to see with [Genius Loci], but it was probably pretty unpleasant for everyone stuck inside the various chambers. I went to fix that right away, turning on light panels instead of bothering with the whole sky thing. I wasn’t up for that yet. The revealed scenery was not pretty, since somehow all my buildings were melted and deformed, even the wood parts which made no sense. It had to have been some sort of dungeon-specific attack, since it only affected things my biology was wound into, primarily buildings. The spatial fields were perfectly fine. Thank god, because if they’d collapsed everyone would be dead.
The mana dynamos were pretty well broken too. Most of the elements were in place but almost all of them were dead, withered flowers and trees peppered throughout huge swaths of grass gone dry and brown. Still, some of them still lived and I was practiced enough with [Mana Manipulation] to string things back together. It was a frail and limping thing at first, compared to what I’d made before, but it was enough for a start.
"Ah, you’re awake." Ansae stretched and yawned, apparently just waking up from a nap as mana started to move. "Good job not dying."
I had a dozen smart replies for that, none of which I could get to her so I just let her be and continued inventory. The farmers that had remained behind were looking particularly unhappy, though a few ragged cheers floated out as light revealed their tattered farms. From the look of it they’d made a bonfire, which normally would annoy me but in this case I didn’t blame them.
The defenders and refugees stuck inside the main chamber and attached killbox had Classers with them to make their own light but they, too, welcomed the return of life to the area. The teleportation field had broken at some point so everyone was stuck on that side, but given how many people were filling the hospital beds I’d made and even spilling out of them onto the floor, that was probably okay. The beds hadn’t collapsed since I’d made it a habit to pull myself out of the furniture so it stood on its own, but parts of the hastily erected chamber were showing clear signs of distortion, which couldn’t have been very pleasant.
Keri was drowsing where she sat, and Annit looked exhausted as the two of them stood guard over the wounded. I hadn’t thought about it before but of course Annit would have to know something about healing, even if it wasn’t her Class, after hanging around Keri for so long. Between the two of them it looked like they’d managed to stabilize nearly everyone, but only nearly. Off to the side twenty-two corpses were lying in rows. They all looked like they were civilian refugees, sliced half to ribbons, evidence of the fight I’d completely missed.
Tapping into my Companion bonds, I found both Iniri and Shayma in a house in Meil. Iniri looked to be deep in discussion with a whole group of people I didn’t recognize, despite it being barely after dawn. It was all politics: who was doing what and owed which and laws and things that I was, yet again, glad I didn’t have to deal with. Shayma was asleep, lying on a bed upstairs with her arms wrapped in bandages.
I hated to wake her, especially since she was hurt, but since I’d been insensate for so long I needed to ask questions. More importantly, I needed to let everyone know that I was okay. Though only okay for now, since I was still trying to set back up all my ecology stuff. It was surprising how quickly I ate through my biomass and stone stores when I didn’t have the income from the dynamos. Even though it’d ramp up as things got fixed, by my estimation it’d take me hours to get the first one back to form.
"Shayma, I’m awake! Are you okay? How is everything?" She stirred, blinked blearily, then opened her eyes wide.
"Blue! You’re alive!"
"Yes, I was just out for a while. There were…" I found myself struggling to articulate the way ANATHEMA had knocked me out and was annoyed by it,. Was it hard to express or was this more Dungeon shenanigans? The fact that the very word resulted in internal strangeness, like I couldn’t conceive of it without shouting inside my head showed that that was still an issue, even if I wasn’t directly under the control of it anymore. "The dungeon system screws me up when it kicks in, and it did for that fight. I think it was due to the ANATHEMA thing. I actually have a bunch of things to discuss with you later, remind me. But right now, what happened to your arms?"
"Um. I found the Red Core and wrapped my arms around it so you’d have access to it directly. It worked! But it burned me a lot, so." She started to shrug, stopped. "[Regeneration] is taking care of it."
"Oh jeez, I’m sorry. I’d whip up a healing Field for you but pretty much everything is broken right now, I’m still fixing it all. I’ll do that as soon as I have any mana to spare though." That was awful. Sure, I knew there was a chance of her getting hurt when the assault was going on, but it sounded like I’d been the one who hurt her, through...whatever the hell the dungeon body was up to while I was under. Calling it me and not-me at the same time was inconsistent, but whatever. I still felt responsible. It was times like this that I really felt the lack of any way to just hold my little fox. Just hold her, not fuck her, and so far I hadn’t unlocked a [Hugging Station].
"It’s okay! I’ll heal, and you absolutely destroyed the Red Core. That dropped Vok Nal in his tracks and Iniri took care of the rest." Shayma carefully swiveled to get out of bed, since she couldn’t use her arms or hands for anything. Someone had dressed her in what looked to be cotton pajamas, which would certainly be more comfortable than her other getup. Though when I thought about it, her armor had probably been ruined if she’d been burned that badly.
"Ruilin!" She called, alerting the Level 25 [Soldier] posted outside her bedroom, who rushed inside instantly, alert for anything. Not someone I’d seen before, so someone from Meil? He seemed competent enough anyway, since after assuring himself Shayma was in no immediate need of help he saluted.
"Ma’am!"
"Can you send a message to Iniri that Blue’s awake again?"
"Yes ma’am!" He ran out of the room, headed down the stairs.
"I was worried," Shayma said quietly.
"Says the lady who can’t even use her hands."
"I’ll heal from that. But if something happens to you…"
What was there to say to that? "To be honest I’m worried too. Turns out I’ve got less control over myself than I thought and that’s not going to end well. No idea how to fix it but you and Iniri and Ansae should all know about it. It might be time for Iniri and Ansae to finally meet."
Shayma blinked. "You sound like you’ve been doing a lot of thinking."
"No, I just feel very clearheaded today. In pain, but clearheaded. It’s going to take a while to fix up...uhh, everything."
"Meil is a bit of a wreck," Shayma agreed.
It was. The tower that had been at the center was completely gone, a weird shapeless mound of stone where it had been. It looked like the terminal version of whatever had distorted my buildings, with my second core buried underneath it, but it was the only thing so melted. I didn’t know how I had melted it but clearly I had, and done a number on everything around besides. Some were burned, others collapsed, sunken into the ground, cut in half, blown over...
Probably a good third of the city was in ruins, which made the death count I’d seen pretty low. Either that was luck, good planning by someone, or the population had already been scarce before the attack. I hoped it was one of the first two, since there were a couple thousand people still within the walls despite the damage. There were only a few hundred civilians on the other side of the teleport field though, so it might well be most of the current population came from outside the city. I could easily see Vok Nal plundering the population to make up for the army he’d lost.
"Everything is a wreck. I guess the mage-kings have their reputation for a reason."
"Yes." She agreed. Then hesitated. "I think everyone picked up a little Depletion, but Yamal...could you take a look?"
