After posting my findings on the forum, and a request to investigate the Darkness mana, I went back to my studying. Particularly into mana, since it would be rude to leave that to everyone else. Before my alarm went off, I was able to find some decent information.
To start with, Darkness mana wasn't some innately evil thing. In fact, Darkness was considered the closest type of mana to the Heart. Many varieties of emotion were tied to it, and those emotions tended to lend significant power to magic. Love, regret, patience, compassion and despair were all examples of emotions that were highly compatible with Darkness magic.
The actual subtypes of Darkness mana were... a little scary. But again, not evil. Death, shadow, void, etc. Apparently the most common was shadow mana, which would gather anywhere there wasn't light. Some of the Darkness mana flowing through my dungeon was actually shadow mana that had cozied up with the earth mana inside the stone. Come to think of it, I think I read about that somewhere in the Creature menu?
Death mana was the most dangerous, not because it was innately evil, but simply because it wasn't compatible with living things. Somehow, it would limit the movement of things, even causing them to crystallize with enough exposure. Certain types of undead were supposed to use that trait to gain immortality, by literally halting the movement of their cells and preventing decay. It didn't sound very scientific, but that's magic for you.
There was a countermeasure for it. A subtype of Light mana could revert Necrified materials to their normal state, but it would cause the death mana imbued into the substance to be released. Usually bad for anybody nearby. Not to mention, the Light mana was said to 'Irradiate' the substance, which reminded me of radiation poisoning. It all sounded very risky.
That was as far as I got before the alarm made the Interface start buzzing in my hands. I don't know why I expected it to ring or something... It never gave me the option to change how it would warn me.
Whatever... I had sixty CP at the moment. Just enough to create a Kindlesprite. I took a moment to find the relevant entry in the Creature menu, but I didn't press the create button. I just stared at the screen without focusing my eyes on it.
Despite being artificial beings, they would most likely have some degree of personality. I found myself pacing once more. These creatures would have their own thoughts and opinions. If they didn't like me... I would be trusting them to protect me. My Core. What would happen if I said something dumb, or they were offended by something I said? Could they betray me? Leave me to my fate?
What if I got attached to them... And they died? Something like that was terrifyingly likely. They were supposed to be strong, but the enemy was too. And people make mistakes. If we fought again and again, even if we were perfect at first, things would fall apart eventually. Nothing lasts forever. I threw myself into my bed. I wrapped my arms around my knees and looked back at the screen.
Maybe... I should look through the menus again. Find something else. Something cheap, and disposable. Something dumb and obedient. But... Too weak. It wasn't practical. Nothing called to me like the Kindlesprites. Something about them felt right. Still, it terrified me.
I tried to calm myself. To think things through rationally. I deepened my breaths, which had become far too shallow. This had to happen. I needed creatures. The worms followed my orders, so these creatures probably would too.
One.
Two.
Three.
I breathed out. In order to survive, I needed help. And they would need me for their survival as well. Mutual benefits.
My breath hitched. Wasn't that just selfishness? They wouldn't be in danger in the first place if I didn't create them. Wouldn't they resent me for that? I certainly resented it. The edges of my vision were darkening. I blinked...
Three.
Two.
One.
And breathed out again. Breathing exercises were a lot less effective when you didn't need to breathe... I allowed my Mind to latch onto a random thought. It was nice not to get light headed from hyperventilating though. I giggled to myself, a little hysterically, maybe.
It would be nice if the Kindlesprite could just appear already. Once it was done, I would be able to get on with it like I always did. The Interface briefly hummed in my hand, snapping my attention to it.
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Creating Kindlesprite. Warning, 60 CP will be consumed in the Creation. Halt action? | Cancel | |
"Huh?" I choked out the breath I'd been holding. The Interface slowly counted down.
Three.
Two. Ah, it must have done the mind reading thing again.
One. As long as I do nothing...
A Kindlesprite appeared.
This time, with Aura Perception, I was able to see what happened more clearly. A sudden surge of energy flowed out from my Crystal Core. So, so much energy. Enough that I wondered if it would be visible even without my Perception. Some of the mana that had been wafting through the air, particularly the angry rainbow flows that had been choking me without my notice, were captured in the flow and integrated. It flooded into the air in front of me, and in the span of a blink, bones, veins, muscles, skin and hair formed. There was a moment's pause as the remaining energy lazily drifted through the air, before it converged into a thin dress on the creature's body. Free of charge, I guess?
It was only slightly shorter than me. In fact, I probably would have been shorter before the Refinement pattern boosted me. Its hair was long and pure white. Its skin was also white, but with a somewhat waxy texture and a few grey smudges that reminded me of veins. The body was feminine in a way that I would have been jealous of before my Refinement. The dress was very thin and colored an opaque maroon, barely covering her knees and leaving the shoulders exposed. The eyes were the most striking thing, however. The outer edge of the Iris was black to contrast the white of the sclera, but faded to grey near the pupil, which was filled with brightly colored mana to my enhanced Perception.
I felt a surge of anxiety as I watched the creature blink dumbly for a moment. Then its eyes focused, and it turned its attention to me. It spoke with a calm tone, inflectionless and flawlessly beautiful. "Greetings, mine Archon. How may I serve?"
I swallowed and took a shaky breath. However, I felt compelled to correct something on the spot. "Just Selene, is fine. I'm Selene. Do you have a name?" I held my hand to my chest to try and feel my heartbeat. Of course there was nothing, since I no longer had a heart. Not exactly helpful for calming down...
The Sprite tilted its head marginally, and responded, "My Lady... Selene. I have no name, and will not..." It paused for a moment, eyes going slightly out of focus. I tilted my own head at the action, waiting for the end of the sentence. It blinked again, turning its attention to me once more. "My kind do not receive names until we evolve. I apologize."
"Ah, no. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... Anyways... Uh, by the way, is it alright to call you a her?" I felt stupid for asking. Mentally wincing, I waited for a response. There was another moment where the Sprite stared at me blankly. Then it- she nodded without speaking. Right, dumb question. Moving on. "Umm, I read about this already, but you should have some knowledge when you're created. Could you share some of what you know with me?"
Her eyes went out of focus again, then she nodded. "I was granted knowledge related to my race, and to certain tasks that would benefit my Lady Selene. The remaining gaps were filled in with my Lady's 'Common Sense' to increase cohesion between Creator and Created. Was there something in particular my Lady wished to know?"
My common sense? Maybe that was how she was able to speak English? "Just Selene, no Lady or anything. Umm, could you tell me more about how your species... Umm... Repops. For like- figuring out the best use of CP for the next few months." I blushed as I realized what I was asking, dropping my eyes to the ground.
"Selene." I was startled and looked up as she tested my name, only to see her eyes go out of focus as she thought about my question. "My kind are formed around a Promethean Core, crafted from Primordial Clay. The process will occur naturally when enough Clay is gathered, but it can be accelerated by a skilled Sculptor."
That... was interesting. "What do you mean by a Sculptor?" I inquired. I leaned forward as I waited for the answer, then realized that I was curled up awkwardly in my bed while she stood in front of me. "Ah wait, please sit at the table with me."
She blinked at me as I relocated, then carefully pulled out a chair for herself and sat as if it might crumble at her touch. Maybe it would, though I wasn't going to ask what her weight was. I gestured for her to continue. "A Sculptor gathers cast off Clay and molds it into the shape of a Promethean Core. With enough skill, the sculptor can engrave runes and sigils into the Core that will enhance the Core's power. Such can be done even after a Kindlesprite has awakened."
I frowned slightly as I asked, "Isn't that painful?"
She shook her head once, then said, "My kind do not feel pain as humans do." She gazed at me sharply for a moment, as if she was looking into the center of my being. "Nor do you, m- Selene. Sculptors are often taught healing magic that they can use to repair any damage that occurs as a result of their duties."
I was too flustered to respond for a moment, but then I found a question. "I- umm... Can you become a Sculptor for me? I need to get as many Kindlesprites as possible before the end of the month."
Her eyes lost focus again as she thought about it, before slowly shaking her head. "I do not believe I am fit for such a role." I frowned slightly as I started considering this, but- "However, I will take on the role until another appears who can perform it. I will need a healing spell to begin, preferably a regeneration spell." She informed me as if it were natural.
Hmm? I was confused for a moment, but she did say that Sculptors tended to learn healing magic. Actually, I already had a way to raise regeneration in my Specialization, right? But it required moonlight, and I didn't know how that worked in the dungeon. For just a moment, I focused on that thought, and the Interface responded.
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Elegy of the Pale Moon The land here shifts and sways to a haunting melody. The night will never be forgotten so long as the Pale Moon continues to cast its enchanting light. Requirements(Unmet): Room must be no less than 100m x 100m x 100m. Requirements(Met): Effects:
| Apply (-CP) | Back | |
I was glad it worked, but this was not what I expected at all. The whole thing had a suspicious feel to it, especially since it had more glitched text, none of which made any sense. Just looking at the Effects, it looked very promising, but that requirement for a one hundred meter cube room was rough. I could probably manage the moonstone, but... For the time being I dismissed the prompt and brought up the Spell menu.
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True Regeneration
Cost: 1 CP for Interface casting.
| Cast | Add to Spellbook | Back | |
Compared to the base Regeneration, there were differences in speed and the quality of healing. I had some concerns, but they were minimal. First I cast the spell on the Sprite, and then I used the Teach function to have her learn to cast it herself. At a cost of two CP.
I was confused for a moment, but then I realized that in the time I'd been panicking and talking with the Sprite, an hour had passed and I'd recovered enough CP for the fee. Either way, I set the Interface aside and excitedly asked, "So, now what happens?"
She held her left hand up, seemingly observing my magic questing for injuries to her body. She gave a satisfied nod, then brought her hand down hard on her other arm, causing a jarring *CRACK* to echo out. I was too stunned to react as she repeated the motion three more times, finally severing her hand.
She examined the damage to her arm, watching as it visibly began to regrow. Then she reached down and picked up her severed hand, holding it up for me to see. "Now I begin collecting Clay. At this rate, I should be able to craft a Core within five days."
...i had a feeling something like that would happen. Because after all, where would a sculptor get the clay needed if there is a only one source of clay? Which is themselves? Though on the brightside, once there start being more of her kind such a...concerning process shouldn't be necessary.
That aside, that 'Elegy of the Pale Moon' spell seems cool. Long as its not actually an elegy of the Pale Blood Moon she should be fine though. Though with those glitched lines of text i have some concerns.... However either way, it would be a good to always benefit from the blessing of Nyx where things are enhanced during night time if its technically always night time. Wonder where she would get the moonstone though? Perhaps willing it into existence through magical shenanigans? Also curious about how Field effects actually work because it sounds like regular ones are applied on a per-room basis (which has some questions by itself) but the Unique one says only one can be active at a time. So does that mean its like a passive effect for the entire dungeon? Or is it only possible to use it on one room and thats it? Hopefully the former. Though that could have some of its own complications as well, like if one was using creatures that disliked moonlight or the evil baddies were also strengthened by it. Perhaps it could be turned off selectively?
And on a different mostly irrelevant sidenote, the Elegy changing plants to grow with moonlight does make a certain amount of sense. Considering moonlight is just reflected sunlight. Though this is fancy magical moonlight
Technically a Sculptor's primary duty is just to manage the Clay that naturally falls from the body. It's just that collecting the Clay that falls unnaturally is no less useful, and takes far less time to get started.
Technically the Elegy is a Trap, rather than a Spell. Odd decision, I know. Getting the Moonstone is as simple as Crafting it or Buying it from another dungeon or even from a jeweler on Earth.
Something to look forward to. 
I made a small error in the description of the Unique effect which I've since fixed. I don't know if it'll answer any of your questions, but anything more than that would be genuine spoilers.
That was a well done chapter, a bit too much brooding for the MC compared to her usual demeanor - but big decisions usually do that to a person.
And in regards to the self harm, that was an interesting way to generate more clay, i wouldn't have thought of that, and i think it works only because of not feeling pain/absolute devotion.
The spell is kinda scary, especially if you go the torture/dark route - no matter what you do to someone, you can keep them alive and force them to re-endure the pain(redo of healer used it - 18+ revenge anime that went too far into the s*x from the revenge IMO)
Well, her usual demeanor was when she was alone. She's got some problems with people.
I wonder if I should add a pain null effect to the regeneration itself? It's mostly irrelevant since pain is resisted by most of my characters, but maybe lorewise it might be important.
@Cipiteca396 the problem is not the regeneration, but the possibility to for example cut/break someone's fingers and then using it to fix/regrow the lost fingers so they can repeat the process.
Usually in stories the healing itself doesn't cause pain - there are exceptions to the rule, but thats what they are - exceptions. If you wish to add them, then you can
express the pain someone feels as the bone moves and go back in place or whatever it is to let us feel the pain the characters experience
Ive put an example in spoilers to ease the skipping of it for those who don't want to read gore example
@DurinTorde While one could hypothetically use the spell for torturing someone or something this is true. I really doubt Selene or the Author themselves would be the type to go that route from what i've seen so far.
@therandompers You're right that I wouldn't write it, and Selene wouldn't do it. But there's a whole world of people with access to this spell. It won't be addressed in story, but I do like to have fail-safes to prevent nasty stuff from happening off screen.
In this case, the regeneration spell has an extremely long active time.
Having thought about it over night, all healing magic nullifies pain that it can repair, while leaving injuries it can't fix alone. So the victim knows they aren't better yet. If there are no injuries, the healing magic will remain attached to the Aura, slowly dissipating over time. This allows for 'Overhealing' which is where you cast healing magic on someone in preparation for a fight.
The first time someone takes a wound, they can receive First Aid without demanding the attention of a healer. This is especially effective for long active time spells like regeneration. The spell would remain in effect, healing new wounds as they appeared and nullifying the associated pain. If no wounds appear, the spell will simply remain dormant for weeks.
So unless the torturer is planning on boring their victim to death, this is not the appropriate spell to use. That doesn't exactly remove the possibility of using quick cast healing spells like DnD's 'Cure Wounds', but at that point it would be more evil just to manually reset the bones.
I will also mention that there is a way to punish people for doing sh*t like that, I just don't intend to make it a focus of the book.
Under certain circumstances, the Interface will offer a menu titled 'Authority'. Which does authority things.
@Cipiteca396 cool, great to know, from the other users comments, i see that my intention wasnt completely clear, but you addressed it nonetheless.
It was more about the nefarious possible use then the actual use by Selene. I also think that so far from how i see her she wouldnt do it - just that not everyone is nice. A way to maybe introduce the consequences might be that in one of the chat chapters later on she encounters a post about getting punished/spell not working/spell bugged/long lasting effect of spell when cast on healthy people