Floating in silence, I reflect on what I’ve caused to happen. I’ve ended the lives of multiple people in exchange for experience points. They won’t be the last, but will it always feel like this? I don’t know the answer to that yet, but the only thing left to do is to check the results of all this.
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Name: [Unnamed]
Race: Monster (Will O’ Wisp [Lvl. 9])
Blessing: Chaos-touched
Skills: Manipulate Mana [Lvl. 4], Glow [Lvl. 7]
HP: 45/45 [+1/s]
MP: 99/99 [+1/s]
Skill Points: 40
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In the end, I was able to go up five levels, and my skills have leveled up a bit. ‘Manipulate Mana’ is still slow going, but I have plenty of time to keep working on it. But five levels from three people, huh. The guy that Chaos killed gave me three levels by himself, so he must have been pretty strong. From what I can tell, my overall level seems to be increasing linearly, unlike my skills, but I haven’t figured out how a being's life is converted to an experience point value. Would two people with the same level, but different skills, give the same experience value? Do different types of monsters with the same level give the same value? Does relative strength to your opponent matter? I’ll have to figure these all out at some point for efficient leveling in the future, but for now, I should address the monster that killed the swordsman right before he slashed me into oblivion.
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Across from me is an imp-like monster, pulling his spear out of the corpse. He was small, only a few feet tall, with red skin, stubby horns on his forehead, and a pair of crimson, leathery wings. His spear was simple, a relatively long wooden shaft with a sharpened shard of metal attached to the end. Blood still dripped from the end of it, but with a smug look on its face, it turned around and got ready to go back to the room past the spike trap.
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“Wait,” I called out to it before it took off. I didn’t want to lose this chance.
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“The hells!? Who’s there?” He responded in a scratchy voice, raising his spear, and ready for a fight.
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“I’m the wisp in front of you. I don’t mean any harm, can you understand me?”
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He looked incredulous at what I was saying, looking around quickly all around him for anybody else amidst the corpses and viscera. Finally, he looked back at me before speaking again in a questioning tone.
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“You’re the wisp? No, that can’t be right. Wisps are s’posed to be the only things dumber than the stone golems. How can you be a talking wisp? Just come on out already.”
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“No, really, I am the wisp, I’ll glow right now three times for a second each.” I then do exactly as I said, glowing three times in succession. “See, I’m just the wisp in front of you.”
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“Well, would you look at that, a wisp that can talk. I’ve been alive for quite a while now, but I don’t think I’ve run into any other wisps that were smart enough to talk. It’s nice to meetchya, the name’s Pim. What’s yours?”
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“I don’t have a name. I wasn’t born with one, but how long have you been around, then?”
“Ten days.”
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“Oh, that isn’t that long, is it?”
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“Whatdya mean, ‘not a long time’? I’m practically an elder at this point for a dungeon monster. We usually last about five to seven days before some strong humans come along and start mowing us down, kinda like these overgrown lizards. But, not having a name’s gonna be a pain, so how ‘bout I just call you… Willow. Yeah, that sounds good, how about it, Willow?”
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“Oh, um, sure that sounds fine.” Not the most creative name, but I don’t really have any problems with it. As I think that, my status pops up in my vision.
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Name: Willow
Race: Monster (Will O’ Wisp [Lvl. 9])
Blessing: Chaos-touched
Skills: Manipulate Mana [Lvl. 4], Glow [Lvl. 7]
HP: 45/45 [+1/s]
MP: 99/99 [+1/s]
Skill Points: 40
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Oh, I guess that made my new name in this world official, too late for any regrets now.
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“Oh, by the way, was that really bright glow your handiwork? I saw it from the end of the tunnel, so that and the noise got me interested enough to come check out what was happening.”
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“Yeah, that was me. I blinded them when they were surrounded and distracted, and it led to what you see before you. Honestly, the swordsman almost got me, but you appeared at the last moment.”
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“Lucky you then, Willow, but why would you go through all that trouble? It’s in our nature as monsters to kill all intruders, but wisps don’t have that instinct, do they?”
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“No, I was doing it to gain experience points to level up. As long as I contribute to a fight, I’ll gain EXP, even if I don’t do any actual harm.”
“Seriously? You’re an odd little wisp, you know that? Either way, I’m gonna get going now. I’ll be patrolling the next room solo. Good luck to you, kid.”
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“Why are you alone? Don’t the monsters on this floor of the dungeon travel in packs?”
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“Well, a strong group of humans came by earlier and completely wiped out the pack I was part of. I managed to get away because I have a good nose for trouble like that; that’s why I’ve managed to live longer than the average monster. It was impressive enough to even earn me a name from the boss. He isn’t the ruler of the dungeon, but he’s still up there as one of the floor managers.”
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So there is a dungeon master somewhere in here, with a hierarchy in place. I wonder how strong they are. I'd rather not get on their bad side, at least not when I’m still a weak wisp. But now I have an opportunity. I don’t think I’ll get another lucky break with an inexperienced party soon. That means I’ll need power beyond my own to take on the more powerful dungeon delvers.
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“Hey, Pim, what if we worked together to take on the intruders of the dungeon. I just appear to be a wisp, so I can get close to them and learn about their strategies and weaknesses without alerting them. I can even glow bright enough to blind them and take them by surprise.”
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“Hmm, that’s an interesting offer. Being able to get a read on the intruders would be pretty useful in killing all of them. I’d be able to stay out of sight, too, while you’re stalking them, so I wouldn’t be in any danger. You know what, that sounds like a great idea. I gave you a name, so I might as well take care of ya kid. Let’s do it.”
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“Great! I look forward to working with you.”
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“Well, that’s all well and good, but we aren’t gonna be able to do much on our own apart from picking off stragglers or the already injured. I’m more suited for stealth, swooping in from the dark to get a lethal stab and getting out before they cut me down. We’re gonna need something powerful enough to take on intruders directly, but dumb enough to listen to what we tell it. And I’ve got the perfect monster.”
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“Then let’s go.” With that, we head off towards the entrance of this dungeon level, towards the floor above, in search of the muscle that’ll round out our new team. I won’t have to go it alone anymore; I will get stronger alongside the monsters I’ve become closer to.
