Dungeon of Assassins [LitRPG Through the Eyes of the NPCs]

Malvorik shifted his focus into the non-magical world and out of himself. His focus circled her. She was sweating and looked exhausted, but stood up again with trembling legs.

She tilted her head as if she was listening for something. Then she took off and flew a slow circle around the crystal heart.

<Are you all right?>

"That was a bit scary. You could have warned me. But I'm fine now. Let's see: I feel a slight pull that always points in your direction. Like an inner compass. I can feel the currents of magic here in the room. Like a warm wind. There are three glistening lines that go right through you. Have they always been there?"

<These are mana lines. I have chosen my location on a mana node.>

"You shine like a star from the inside out."

<Thank you. I can't wait to see what other skills you've gotten. Or will get as I level up. As soon as we have some, you're welcome to try commanding the monsters.>

"I'd suggest you enlarge your crystal for now. In the meantime, I can rest for a while. I'm still feeling a bit dizzy at the moment."

Malvorik selected the Crystal Growth item in the corresponding menu. The world voice informed him that the growth required 100 mana points. With a regeneration of 24 mana points per hour, it would only take just over 4 hours. He confirmed the action and his field of vision shrank until he could only see the heart room. Then it went dark.

The crystal heart suddenly became conscious, just as it had when it first woke up. He immediately looked around attentively. Selvara was sitting on the floor, boredly filing her fingernails with a tiny file. Before he could say anything, she looked up: "You're awake again? Are you all right?"

<Can you tell when I'm awake?>

"Of course. You stop glowing when you're unconscious. Besides, I can sense your feelings while you're awake."

<Am I actually taller now?>

"Yes, but hardly noticeably. Maybe a millimeter or so more in diameter. What about your visibility?"

Malvorik noticed some messages from the World Voice and called them to the forefront of his vision with a thought.

Crystal size increased: Size 2
Increased range: 20 steps

Mana capacity increased: 20 mana points
Current mana pool: 20/ 20
Mana regeneration: 26 mana points/hour

<This is 2 points more mana regeneration than before. Does this increase every time I grow?>

"The fact that you can draw magic from a larger area also increases your regeneration speed. But you can't draw magic from an unlimited distance, even with an even larger area of influence. So at most, this increases maybe once or twice."

<Let's move on then. How do I increase my sphere of influence?>

Without the fairy being able to see it, he was already going through all the dungeon management menus. He quickly found the right one. The menu allowed him to mark areas within his field of vision.

"Are you even listening to me? I said you have to focus on one direction and then channel mana into the stone. Once it's saturated with your magic, you can influence it."

<I'm sorry. I've just found a menu for it. Here I can draw lines in the stone.>

"I've heard about that. But unfortunately it doesn't really make sense. The other dungeons could never use it for anything useful..."

Malvorik interrupted her: <Vanishing point perspective! It's like drawing in vanishing point perspective. I completely delimit a three-dimensional area with these lines... Like this... Exactly. As soon as it is completely delimited by lines and thus defined as an area, information on the dimensions appears. In addition, the exact volume and a mana specification. Presumably the amount required to claim the area. Simple. This seems to require about 1 mana point per cubic step.>

"That... is interesting. But you still need to take in larger areas, not just the rooms you want to build."

<Why not? That's inefficient.>

"So you get a lot of dead areas where you can't do anything. You don't even notice when enemies dig in there. You can't cross claimed areas without noticing."

<Then I claim a sphere around my dungeon at the end. Maybe some kind of grid or net will do. But for now I want to build a room.>

"Do that." Selvara smiled. She had been warned about this at length. All dungeon hearts had an instinctive need to spread out and dig rooms. It was her job to intervene here, but for now, let the crystal have its fun.

The crystal heart defined an area next to the heart room and a small cuboid in between that would serve as a corridor. Then he pumped the indicated amount of mana into it. A process that took an annoyingly long time. Malvorik realized, however, that he didn't have to actively maintain it, so he could focus his attention on something else in the meantime.

<Selvara...> The thought broke off nervously.

"Yes?"

<Well... Tell me... Is it actually normal for dungeon fairies not to wear clothes?>

"Why should we? We're only with dungeon hearts. No one else gets to see us. It will be years before you are safe enough for me to return to the fairy realm for a while. Before that, I'll dress up a bit, of course, if you have suitable material for clothes. But if not, it doesn't matter."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

<Aren't you embarrassed to fly around me completely naked?>

"Why do you ask? Does it bother you?"

<No, no. Not at all... What is this...>

"What have you got now?" The fairy looked around and noticed a passageway forming out of the heart room. She smiled: "The passage looks good. Make it a little higher though. It's bad style to build corridors where people can't walk upright. The recommendation is at least two steps wide and three steps high. You should build the rooms at least four steps high. Anything with a floor area of less than five by five steps doesn't count as a room."

<I got experience points! Not many, just a few... Did I accidentally kill some moles or something?>

"Expanding your dungeon gives you experience points. At least for a while. Most Dungeon Hearts use this to increase their Dungeon Master class up to level 5. The number of experience points decreases with each level. At level 6, construction work no longer gives XP."

<This is not unexpected. The potential loss phenomenon has already been largely scientifically researched. The higher your highest level, the more powerful enemies and tasks are required to level up. Enemies below your own level give a 20% penalty for each level below. Five or more levels below your own level, challenges no longer give any XP at all. As a result, upgrading the dungeon counts as a level 1 challenge.>

Selvara looked uncertainly at her hands as she wiggled her fingers, counting. Then she looked up uncertainly: "Twenty percent... Yes, could fit."

<The loss of potential depends on the highest level reached. Not the total number of levels. With several classes I can delay this much longer. With multiple classes, there is no automatic level advancement. The XP remain in a pool until I distribute them among my classes. The supply must not exceed 1000 XP, then the automatic class advancement will start and the XP will be distributed evenly to all existing classes. Let's get started then.>

The floor beneath the crystal was given a few deep notches with which Malvorik sketched out a plan of the next rooms he wanted to hollow out. Selvara watched with interest.

"Wait a minute, there are two small rooms that lead off directly from here. One connected by a zig-zag corridor. Two dead ends and a corridor that leads to the actual dungeon. The heart room is usually at the very end of the dungeon. After that, rooms hardly make any sense. What goes in there?"

<One will be an alchemy lab. As soon as I can get equipment and ingredients, I'll start experimenting again. It's always been one of my hobbies. Alchemical experiments tend to explode, hence the zigzag corridor and a thick stone gate. This prevents explosions from reaching into the heart room. The other room is for you.>

"For me?" Selvara stared at the sketch, uncomprehending.

<Naturally. Bed, chair, table, cupboard. For now it's all stone and no upholstery, but once I've analyzed more materials, we'll rebuild it accordingly. The corridor leading in is just big enough for you and just under 2 paces long. It has a solid stone door with a latch on the inside. So you don't have to worry if people conquer my heart room. You'll be safe in there.>

Malvorik only now noticed the fairy's open mouth and wide eyes in his swing. <What is it? Have I done something wrong? Surely no one can expect you to sit here on the stone floor in the heart room all the time?

"Some fairies get a carpet... or a few potted plants..."

<Serious? Not even a room of your own?>

"Dungeon hearts don't usually have an understanding for that sort of thing." She flew up and gently placed a hand on the crystal. "Thank you."

<Well... Well... Not worth mentioning. It goes without saying.>

The dungeon heart set about defining rooms in the corresponding menu and then filling them with magic to claim the areas for itself. As soon as a room was completely claimed, he could feel it like a part of his body. The stone dissolved under his will and disappeared. This time, however, without appearing in his astral storage room. Simply dissolving the stone did not cost any more astral energy, but as far as he understood the build menu, he would have to spend mana again for later changes. He needed one hour for every 25 cubic steps of stone, which in turn earned him 6.25 XP. One for every four cubic steps he enlarged the dungeon. He needed no sleep. His concentration was unshakeable. He never got bored as long as he was working. There was nothing to distract him either...

He noticed a rhythmic knocking and interrupted his work to look around. Everything was empty and quiet in the new rooms. He shifted his mental focus back to the heart room. Sitting on the floor was a visibly annoyed fairy who was listlessly hitting the floor with one of his silver ingots. Judging by the state of the ingot, she had been doing this for quite some time.

<If you want to try your hand at blacksmithing, I'd be happy to build you an anvil and a forge. Well, I would still need wood and leather for the bellows, but perhaps I could improvise something out of thin stone.>

Selvara carelessly dropped the silver ingot and jumped up: "Malvorik! At last! I thought you couldn't hear me at all. You've been digging up rooms non-stop for almost seven days with no rhyme or reason. You were completely unresponsive!"

<Seven days? I wasn't aware of that at all. Why didn't you say anything?>

"I screamed until my throat hurt. For the last few hours, I've tried hammering. It's not unusual for dungeon hearts to focus so hard on something that they forget everything around them. But you really are the pinnacle!"

<Mages learn to concentrate on one task and ignore all distractions. Without all the physical discomforts such as back pain, hunger, thirst and the need to visit the privy, this is of course much easier.>

"All right, then. Let's agree that when I'm hammering around with metal, you take a break and come over."

<I agree. I'll try to pay attention to that. Beyond that, I've just reached 1000 XP.>

"That fast? That can't be possible. It should take months."

<With a regeneration of 2 to 3 points per hour perhaps. In addition, the class automatically increases with the XP gained if you only have one. This causes the XP gain to steadily decrease. I clear 300 cubic steps a day and haven't spent a single XP. As a result, my level consistently counts as level 1 and dungeon expansion as a perfectly reasonable challenge with no loss of potential. Let me show you how this normally works.>

Malvorik made notches in the wall and used them to sketch out his calculations.

At 100 XP you reach level 2, from level 2 the XP gain is reduced by 20%.

Level 3 is reached at 200 XP, which corresponds to 225 XP due to the deduction of 20% from 100 XP.

Level 4 comes at 300 XP, but with a deduction of 40% from 200 XP, this corresponds to 391 XP.

Level 5 comes at 500 XP, with a deduction of 80% from 300 XP, this corresponds to 1391 XP.

<Normal dungeon hearts regenerate about 3 mana points per hour on their puny mana line. This means they have to take constant breaks before they can continue digging. This means they have to work on their dungeon for months to get to level 5. Just for one character class! They must be going mad with boredom and impatience.>

"Most people start out as psychopaths. But you're right. That doesn't make it any better. Mragoth, known as the gluttonous heart, simply ate up his entire surroundings. When he was found, he was floating in the middle of a giant empty sphere, the top of which was a hole in the floor of a steppe. He was surrounded by flying swords and undead pigeons."

<Hasn't his fairy advised him against it?>

"He ate them too."

<That's terrible. What has become of this lunatic?>

"Adventurers dropped a large boulder straight down through the hole. Smashed it in the air."

<Well, let's distribute the XP. That's enough for exactly level 5 as a Mage and level 5 as a Dungeon Master. Having several classes of the same level is most effective. The potential deduction is determined by the highest class. In addition, any XP gain is reduced if you have character classes with more than two levels difference.>

Selvara stared at the crystal: "You level up 8 levels in 7 days. Not even the legendary power levelers of the revenants have managed that. That gives you 4 special skills as a dungeon master and 4 as a mage. That can't be allowed. The gods will punish you!"