Chương 28: Life and Death. But not a matter of life and death.

But not a matter of life and death.

There is a reason besides goodwill that only the truly insane dungeons are culled. Upon destruction, dungeons leak and potentially pollute vast swaths of their surroundings. Today we are going to look at two wastelands directly caused by the destruction of a very old and powerful dungeon. The Arcane wastes, so named for we don't understand the affinities used and created. As well as the Abyssal Tundra Wastes.

The Arcane Wastes stretch for 20km and although contained, consist of some of the most dangerous areas outside a dungeon in the world. Any sapient within the first 20 racial levels gets acute mana poisoning within minutes of entering and symptoms progress rapidly leading to a nearly instant death as they fuse to the environment. The Arcane Wastes are the only place where you can find flesh trees or finger grass for instance.

Unlike a dungeon however, monsters made in the wastes spread out and raid outside of the wastes constantly, giving everywhere within 100km of the wastes a heightened danger level. The Abyssal Tundra Wastes are a dizzying mix of various ice affinities that can freeze even ice-attuned mages given time. The wastes spread all over the eastern peninsula and only stop spreading to the rest of the continent due to Winterhold. The history of Winterhold is deeply entrenched in our own and politically unstable...

however all you need to know is they are the bastion defending the rest of the continent from the wastes. Every single species that makes winterhold home has been altered somehow and many of the known and unknown ice classes can be unlocked given simple proximity to the wastes. And thus the destruction of a dungeon is only permitted when the dangers of leaving it alive outweigh the potential dangers its death might cause.

An Excerpt from the textbook "The Effect of Dungeons on their Environment Volume IV" Innearth was shocked. He had seemed so nice. So normal. It just goes to show you can't tell if anyone's insane unless they tell you. Oh, it's not like he considered doc to be as frightening as a demon through association. But anyone who willingly experimented with... that... couldn't be mentally stable. Innearth: How... how are you still alive? And on that note whyyy. ZeMadDoctor: Bah.

Demons are not as bad as the fear mongering information you no doubt read. ZeMadDoctor: They are simply an endlessly interesting phenomenon.... no they were definitely as bad as Innearth had heard. At one point he looked up the statistics for demon deaths. Apparently over 20 cores died per month through Demons alone. … guess I know why there is Mad in his screen name… he must be cultivating Madness mana. Innearth felt a faint sense of revulsion at the thought.

Innearth: Are you sure you are experimenting with demons? Positive? Again, how are you still alive. Innearth pressed further and then finally told his whole demon encounter. Somehow It was much easier to pour his heart out to a core he had basically just met, than it had been with his closer friends. ZeMadDoctor: Hmmm, Tier 3? Maybe 2. It's hard to guess without having seen it. Maybe? But no, it left a blemish. ZeMadDoctor: Hmm. Innearth: That's not really a response. I very nearly died. How are you still alive?

ZeMadDoctor: Stupid. Of course. I'm insensitive through comments. I hate socializing. Cores so fragile. I always faux pas. ZeMadDoctor: Annoying. Listen I wish I hadn't told you about my hobby. I was having much more fun talking about circuits. ZeMadDoctor: Demons... Demons are from... elsewhere. I'm nearly positive. If you make a life and death material. If you combine the two in a monster. But that seems unreliable. Hard to get right. Much better to just use demonic materials.

Innearth: Why would you want to make a demon? ZeMadDoctor: Annoying. I'm getting there. If you interrupt again, I won't tell. If you use a life and death material. Upon seeding the monster it is consumed. Sacrificed to summon the Demon. The Demon will manifest either inside or around your attempt at a monster. ZeMadDoctor: That's part of why they are so much fun. You can use the same monster type in sacrifices and continue to get different types of Demons.

Innearth refrained from mentioning that for someone who liked experimenting it seemed weird to enjoy something random. Repeatable things. Those were much nicer and more useful. Maybe unique materials got a pass. Feels like you have to know what to do with them though, you can't just use a material because it's unique and automatically get an amazing effect.

ZeMadDoctor: The quality of monster you use to summon the Demon either accidentally or on purpose is how big of a hole you make and somewhat how strong of a demon is able to slip through. ZeMadDoctor: For example. A demon made from the tutorial slime would be nearly harmless. Much stronger than the slime obviously but nothing a Proper dungeon monster couldn't handle. ZeMadDoctor: Making a demon out of a monster with a core. Bit more dangerous. I'm expecting the Demon you Summoned.

Innearth: I didn't summon a demon it was just there! ZeMadDoctor: Sorry. Yes. Correct. The Demon was probably summoned from a monster that had more mana in its creation. Closer to the example you gave me. ZeMadDoctor: It might have been tier 3 because it made a unique material. Useful that. Should make sure you use it. I'll take it if you don't want it. Innearth: Okay. Yeah you're right I should make sure to use it well. I still don't know how you like dealing with the things.

ZeMadDoctor: Why do you like to experiment? I can't really describe it. I just do. Innearth: So that's why you know about death mana? Have you figured out anything useful? Also why are you a Kinetic core if you like making Demons? ZeMadDoctor: Life and death. Not just death. They are... two sides of a coin. Closer to each other than is obvious. ZeMadDoctor: Death creatures do not... do not function the same as life creatures. They aren't as attached to their bodies as life-attuned things are.

They can replace their body easier and even survive outside of it for a time. They also can't age. However, in exchange, they don't heal. Any wound iss permanently a mark upon them. They also don't grow stronger naturally. Like anything that lives. The undead... they are different. ZeMadDoctor: The mana is different too. For death mana can patch up and repair an undead – not heal. You can increase an undead's strength with death mana alone. The problem is that is dependant upon the mana.

It's not permanent if the mana leaves. So does their repairs. ZeMadDoctor: Life mana has many facets. It's not just there to attune a creature to life obviously. I can't figure out if seeding a monster is life mana. But every life-attuned monster you make has a small amount of Life mana in it. Obviously more if you specifically add it with materials. ZeMadDoctor: Finally like all rank 2 mana.

Life and death have less of an attachment to the base physical material and more with intent and the way you apply it They obviously don't all work the same - most toxic materials work better for death mana and most materials that are inside of natural creatures work better for life mana but at the end of the day the effect is the same. Innearth really wanted to comment on how when explaining things doc stopped jumping around and cutting off, but he silently drunk in the knowledge of the demonic doctor.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ZeMadDoctor: Placement of materials matter for both - similar to the circuits actually. the way you apply them - looping into the material and through things for example similar to mental mana connections effect the way the energy is applied. Even what you want to achieve alters the connection slightly.

You can try and make life mana invigorate a monster and give it energy or "heal its stamina" you can make it refill resources or heal the resource back. Of course there's also healing wounds or afflictions. ZeMadDoctor: I think. I think this information is probably a fair trade for the insight into nodal mana circuits you've provided. Most of it you can find out if you buy enough information but some of it is my own. Innearth: yeah… it is helpful. I think I need to re-evaluate it a bit. I…

I think I'll talk to you again sometime if that's okay? Can you give me some time to think. ZeMadDoctor: rude. But fine I understand. Trauma is weird. I'd love to talk about more insights you've gained if you come around. Innearth left the chat and started to think. The first task he wanted to complete was to try and use the null stone left behind by the demon. I think the best solution is probably to protect myself. I want to make sure I'm not wide open, if something like that happens again.

Returning to his core room he stared about. At one point in time, he had tried decorating it and there were still alternating checkered tiles in the floors and walls. At the time it had partly been a place to store the materials but now it just looked half hearted and unfinished. Cutting bits and pieces out of it and splitting it around the room he "painted" over the whole thing with a slightly transparent crystal leaving some of the checkerboards tastefully peeking through at places the crystal was thinner.

Now the room was obviously important but fit his theme much more. Alright now that I've finished my vanity project... Protection. That feels like the best use of this non-affinity material. Excavating a whole area around the entrance to his core room, Innearth started to build a door. A massive sliding door – easily a meter thick and two meters wide – was built upon several principles. #1. It had most of the most effective null stone ripped out of its place in the hallway and shaped into a 30cm thick wall.

This was the core and basis for the wall, for it would smother and block magic trying to pass through it. Layered in front of the stone was a second plate of pure iron – 10cm thick and enhanced with Earth mana to the point it actively smoked. The end of this forward facing sandwich of plates was a small sheet of "vibrating friction-reducing" material Hopefully nothing will be able to take hold of this and move it without my permission. He could have used carbon in the hopes that it would be closer to Diamond…

but the strengthened metal was already plenty strong and he hadn't had much luck with that yet. No, he wanted to cover all his bases with this door. There also wasn't a lot of carbon in his inventory – only 50g or so – and Innearth had decided to save it for Life mana experimentation. The Opposite side was reinforced as well, but the goal was simply to absorb any impacts against the outwards facing sandwich.

Innearth layered spongey Pure mana materials for 50cm or so and then capped it in with a crystalline sheet on the other side. The door was built wider than the hallway leading up to his core room and perfectly sealed into the walls – the bottom had an indent downwards so there wasn't a way to reach underneath and Innearth spent a good while claiming it as his own. The process took a bit longer than normal but when finished he had a functioning panic door.

Sliding it down all the way and his room was completely cut off – his entire dungeon becoming muted, fuzzy and delayed. It felt kind of claustrophobic but Innearth felt safe hidden away in his little room… the longer he kept it down however the more anxious he started to feel. Panic door because using it makes me panic? Either way up you go. As he struggled to pull the door all the way up the rest of his dungeon came smoothly into view his sight returning in a gradient. From 0. 1 to 1. 0 in a few seconds.

Well I'm not in a rush. I'll use the rest of the null material eventually, but I want to try and think about what the best use of it would be. Innearth had two more goals from Doc's explanation. First, he tried to find zombie Silver. It took a moment to scan his whole influence before he found the sad zombie. Time had not been kind to this monster. None of his monsters were life attuned enough to attack it on sight and most tried to stay away from it due to its deathly aura…

however even without being attacked constantly the snake had lost most of its body. 90% of the zombie's scales had fallen off at this point – scattered about the dungeon as it had slid about. The snake's tail – and most of its lower body – had fallen off in several chunks as well. The tepid thick soup of its "undead turned liquid metal insides" had been nearly completely drained and smeared across his halls.

Most of the rings were still intact and hung its skin slightly – as was its solid point of a head – but the monster was no longer able to do much. It slowly dragged itself around – too short to properly slither. I forgot how sad you are now. I guess I haven't been very nice to your body huh former Silver. The snake raised its head slightly and a faint red spec at the end of its cone seemed to agree with Innearth. First things first we should make you a nice little zone huh.

Picking the undead up and carrying it to a room near the top of his dungeon Innearth began making a room of Death mana in the obsidian halls. Just using Death mana wasn't enough to fully displace whatever environmental mana was stuck in the walls. But Innearth got around that by adding strips of different physical materials around the room. Phosphorus seemed to be the most compatible with Death mana and he really hadn't been using it for much else so it became the go-to.

Doc mentioned poisonous materials working better? There are probably much better materials than this… but I have a bunch of it and it's just for the walls. The mana twisted the material into a violent red colour, marbled with black swirls that gave off a inverted sort of light. Remaking the "Death Crystals" that had been enough to snuff out the weaker life force of a small snake, Innearth dotted them about.

They seemed to help solidify his transformation of the room – random environmental mana flowing into them and being "purified" into death mana which was released once more. As Innearth prepared a room for his zombie. He gathered whatever bits of the rotting flesh he could find and brought them up to the room. Despite not having done anything other than start to prepare a zone for the undead, Innearth was already able to spot a change.

Less lethargic, the broken monster started moving about with more energy than it had in ages. Just wait a little longer. Gathering the pieces, Innearth pulled them over to the snake and blasted it with Death mana – scales, strips of skin and metal rings of bones flung up and hung suspended in the air – obvious gaps where parts had been damaged beyond repair. As soon as Innearth stopped pumping Death mana towards it, the loose pieces dropped to the ground once more and he frowned.

(As much as a faceless being could frown) Okay. I guess I can try making it a new body? Combining Death mana and Iron, Innearth started making several interlocking… tubes of sorts around the undead's remains. Trying desperately to maintain movement between the outer rings, Innearth painstakingly made his undead armour. Starting over several times when he didn't like the way they interlocked. He only had one shot and the system panel couldn't really help him here because it wasn't a monster.

Adding several "Death Crystals" to see if it would help, Innearth combined Crystal and Death mana with quartz then dropped the shards into the body letting them grow in between the bones and goopy flesh. More and more work went into this creation – a creation that wouldn't have been fully possible with a living monster even removing the "death" part of Death mana. Taking Doc's advice to heart, Innearth wasn't surprised when Silver's spirit started to claim the armour as part of its new body.

The crystals linked into the undead and started to provide a constant source of Death mana – while the armour kept all its fleshy bits contained so they wouldn't fall off. A new monster grew – one Innearth couldn't say was strong enough he'd consider it a boss… but one that was now able to stand on its own against the rest of his monsters. Mini boss Silver… no it's really no longer "Silver" so it needs a new name. Mini boss Death snek! Deth snek randy! Snaketh the death knight! Yep, that's your new name Snaketh.

May your bones rattle these halls forevermore! Christening his enhanced undead, Innearth pulled back contentedly. Next step? Life mana. Pulling his lava spider schematic into his system panel Innearth blew the body apart and started looking at each part individually. His spiders were strong – but for a frontline defender, they had a glaring weakness – their spindly legs. Okay. Rather than try to make these legs "stronger". Let's see about using Life mana to make them easier to regrow.

Making a small sac of "mercury/Life mana" he ran life mana down the entire leg and then back to the sac in a loop. Mercury had started feeling less expensive the older he got. He no longer had to buy them in cores – just pay the mana cost directly and with the added abstraction of not having to make the cores it… kind of became much easier to spend his mana. Finishing this leg Innearth copied it 7 times, then re attached them to the spider's body before adding a bat and printing them.

They printed separately but simultaneously – the way of linking them with mind mana had been to drag the materials between two open panels where the system had given a little *linked note beside the rest of its stats. As soon as they finished, he sent them charging into snake territory as a test. As always, the pair ravaged his snakes but what he had been hoping for happened – a snake smashed several of its legs off and while it took a while to regrow there was a marketed improvement.

Sadly, the pack of 7 snakes this pair had met had been too much for the duo and seconds after the spider succumbed to their numbers the bat kamikazed to its death as well. Here's an idea. The life mercury doesn't diminish… but it's much less effective than the health liquid made with life and water… so why don't I combine the two and cheat? Making a new healing organ Innearth split it into two sections. The top was a standard healing potion that would be quickly consumed and used to rapidly heal a monster's body…

while the bottom was a non diminishing pool that was solely designed to regenerate the lost healing potion. Yep, this definitely feels like cheating. Remaking the duo Innearth sent them off once again for testing. This time they met a group of 5 snakes and even though the spider's legs were sliced off a few times, they always managed to regrow seconds later. It's not that fair to the snakes to make their already stronger enemies stronger…

So I might as well share the healing joy and give them all a healing sac as well! Altering the greater crystal snake schematic Innearth shoved two healing sacs spaced apart in their lengths – and then flipped to the normal snakes and added one as well. Oh boy… adventurers are going to hate this. Fast regeneration is hard to deal with.: 3 Indecisive Earth Level 21 598/682 exp to next level. System Access Level 3 0/2 requirements met to advance. -Reach the surface -Level 33+ Stats Mana Regeneration 26.

2 unit/min Mana Storage 682. 0/682. 0 units Physical Storage 47% Percent Capacity Titles. Earth Mana Specialization, Crystal Mana Specialization