Emie Ascended - Chapter 2

For centuries, I’d been able to accurately gauge the passing of time. But now, I had no clue how long I’d been asleep. Losing a passive sense, much less two, was a strange feeling.

From experience, I knew it wouldn’t be long before I adapted, but it was still unpleasant to know how poorly I now perceived my surroundings. It was like going color blind or losing depth perception but still remembering what ‘normal’ should be.

I stretched my new body, taking in the changes that were both familiar and alien. There were some obvious differences in my body, aside from the loss of spatial sense and the ability to effortlessly track time. Thankfully, my mind seemed to have already adapted to the more physical changes.

“Ugh. Is this adventure really going to start with me wearing basic starter clothes?” I groaned when I saw what I was wearing.

To be fair, they weren’t as bad as the white shirt and linen pants that the simulation had started me with. But still, a set of thin, brown, stretchy leggings and a long, purple tunic wasn’t much better.

They looked better, sure, but they were still made from weak, low grade material that would provide absolutely no protection within a dungeon. At least the boots looked water-resistant.

[Tunic (Common)]

[Pants (Common)]

[Boots (Common)]

Everything was common, and nothing was reinforced or enchanted in any way. In fact, I doubted the materials could even hold an enchantment.

Looking at the item descriptions, I’d forgotten how little information the Dian system provided about the items it identified. The basics would work alright for now, but I would definitely need something better if I wanted to be a crafter.

Hopefully, the Ascender Dungeon would provide a good skillbook for me. I’d heard that they were the absolute best places for a new delver to begin their climb to immortality, though details of why were always vague.

Still, the starting area was supposed to be relatively safe, though I still glanced around to verify there was nothing in my immediate vicinity before taking a peek at my new status.

***

Name: Emie
Titles: Ascender, Contender
Level: 1
Tier: 1

Core Skills:
Demesne (Rare)
Stasis (Uncommon/Unique – usable only within demesne)
Restorative Healing (Rare)
Stealth (Uncommon)

Skill Slots (2/14):
Divide Space (Uncommon/Unique – usable only within demesne)
Dimensional Anchor (Uncommon)
                ***

Aside from the titles, which I hoped could be hidden, everything looked pretty much the same as what I remembered from the start of the simulated life I’d earned as a reward shortly before my ascension.

The biggest difference, aside from the skills listed, was the additional skill slots. I’d only been granted ten in the simulation, and that had been considered on the upper end of average for Ascenders.

From what I’d understood, it was exceedingly rare for any Ascender to have more than twelve skill slots, and eight to ten were more common. The lowest recorded was seven, which was still higher than ninety-nine percent of native Dians.

An Ascender with twelve skill slots was rare, and usually resulted in a new Ascender Dungeon appearing with the Ascender. Which… Rho had mentioned something about.

She’d also mentioned that her clergy (proof that she was connected to the goddess) would be able to recognize my status, though others would not. I sincerely hoped that her priests and priestesses were as discreet as they were in the simulation. Otherwise, leading a relatively normal life might be a lot harder than I hoped.

Considering Rho had mentioned the value of anonymity, I felt there was a good chance that her clergy had some kind of secrecy policy when it came to Ascenders.

I hoped so, at least.

Having four core skills was also going to make me stand out, though I was pretty sure that as soon as I gained a few more regular skills, the details of my core skills would be hidden.

The goddess’s clerics might still be able to see the truth, but any non-divine inspection skills shouldn’t be able to see anything once my core skills were obscured by additional skills.

The rare individual with an evolved Inspection skill capable of seeing such things would be able to see how many regular skill slots I had, and if their skill was very advanced, maybe even what the actual skills were. But my core skills would be obscured.

Like the core of a planet, core skills were located at the very center of one’s soul, with the other skill slots layered above. As the skills grew, so would my soul, thus, generating additional space that could hold more skills.

I would definitely need to fill at least half of my regular skill slots before leaving the dungeon if I wanted to keep the fact that I was an Ascended Trinity Mage a secret.

It wouldn’t hide the fact that I was likely the one who’d sparked the evolution of a new Ascender Dungeon, but there wasn’t much I could do about that. I could only hope nobody with the right skill happened to be hanging out around the realm’s newest Ascender Dungeon.

Done with my examination, I focused once more on my surroundings. There was an unusual number of resources available in the immediate area, which would have raised an alarm if this wasn’t the entry room of the first floor of an Ascender Dungeon.

Ascender Dungeons were known to have the best starting scenario for new delvers, though I never knew it was because it basically created an environment that let new Ascenders craft and regain their old skills.

It made sense.

The first thing I needed to do was test the skills I already had, then I could work on acquiring Teleport. With Dimensional Anchor and the ability to basically teleport into and out of my Demesne, it shouldn’t be that hard to figure out.

Before entering my restructured Demesne, I probed the space with my mind. It was significantly smaller than it had been before I ascended, but not to the degree that I’d feared.

It was still smaller than the original pocket dimension had been when it was first soulbound, but there was still plenty of room to store anything I might need while also serving as a secure residence.

If I had to guess – since I no longer had a Space affinity to simply know – I would estimate the space was around the size of a comfortable suburban home. Comfortable for a half-giant, that was. But unlike a house, I could manipulate the shape, making it so none of the space was wasted.

I did just that, shifting the circular dimensional space so the bottom was perfectly flat, and the top of the space was about twenty feet high, just a little over twice my new height. But it was still just a dark, empty space.

Because my boon gave me control over things like lighting, I increased the illumination within before entering the space directly.

“Oh, wow. I forgot how unsettling it felt to basically stand in the middle of the void,” I said before pausing.

When no response came, I was reminded that the AI that served as my Interface Assistant had been stripped away with the rest of the system from my former realm.

No. That wasn’t completely accurate. Lisa had become a Dungeon Master right before I ascended. That meant she still existed, even if she was no longer my companion. The thought was comforting, even if it did leave me feeling lonelier than before.

Shaking off my melancholy was remarkably easy, making me wonder what kinds of changes this new brain had over my old one. Or maybe it wasn’t my physical brain, but rather a change to my soul?

I had no real way of knowing. Even before I’d lost all the power I’d accumulated in the previous realm, I’d never been capable of perceiving the soul beyond recognizing the pain of soul damage.

Returning my focus to the present, I made the flat ground appear to be stone, and altered the perimeter of the space to appear like a hazy landscape. If I understood the space correctly, the barrier between my Demesne and whatever existed outside would also hide the space from anything that might potentially perceive it.

That wasn’t to say there were void creatures roaming around or anything. But if something did happen to travel through the void, it wouldn’t do to have my soulbound space visible from outside.

Since I hadn’t set it up to be that way, I could only assume it was a feature of the space. It made me wonder if the same feature had applied prior to my ascension.

“Since I don’t have a physical shelter to place here, I’ll just use my Divide Space skill to create a partition,” I said.

Even without Lisa’s response, I’d found that speaking my thoughts helped me to feel just a little less lonely. It was one of the many tricks I’d used to keep my sanity during previous periods of extended isolation.

“I guess I should also isolate a section for storage. I’ll go ahead and put it into Stasis so my skills can start growing,” I said.

After separating the space into three distinct sections, I walked through the closest barrier and entered what would eventually become my sanctuary. I made the barrier function more like a wall than an actual dimensional barrier, so opening a small gap to pass through was easy enough.

Inside the smaller space, I shifted the ground to look more like hardwood floors. I altered the walls and ceiling to look like the ones from my previous residence, which instantly provided a small measure of comfort, even if the space was still empty.

I wasn’t in a completely alien space anymore. I was back in my Demesne. It had just been altered a little – just like everything else.

I needed furniture and décor. I could make some of it, but it would be so much easier to just buy everything once I left the dungeon. Still, I’d need the basics until then since I didn’t want to risk leaving the dungeon without filling several of my skill slots.

With nothing else to do within my Demesne, I returned to the dungeon. I could feel the slightest improvement in the skills I’d used, which pleased me. It would have been nice if Dia’s system tracked such data through the status screen, but it wasn’t truly necessary since the understanding was quite instinctual.

My eyes were immediately drawn to a grouping of thin, bamboo-like stalks. Like the bamboo of Earth, I knew that this plant was both edible and useful as a crafting material.

I scanned the rest of my immediate surroundings. This time, I wasn’t looking for threats, though I kept an eye out for those as well. I was looking for crafting materials and edible foodstuffs. I was going to need both.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to worry about figuring out how to store my bounty. Everything I collected went straight into the stasis storage section of my Demesne.

Harvesting the bamboo was difficult without any tools, but after a little bit of focused effort, I managed to knap a rock sharp enough to cut through the stalks.

It would have been so much easier with a mana blade, or I guess an essence blade since this realm didn’t use mana. Instead, the energy that suffused everything was essence. It was also what was absorbed into the body to increase one’s levels and grow stronger.

As I worked, I kept Stealth active – not because I worried that something might be lurking nearby, though that was certainly possible, but because I wanted to train with the skill so it would evolve sooner rather than later.

As a core Skill, using ability took hardly any effort. It wasn’t quite free to use, but it took a lot less effort than using a regular Skill. That was one of the biggest advantages that those who had multiple core Skills had over others – and part of the reason Ascenders had such an advantage over the natives.

The vast majority of Dian natives only gained a single core Skill, while a very small percentage might get two. Those lucky enough to get a second core Skill were usually thought to be the reincarnation of Ascenders, though only the goddess and her clerics knew the truth for sure.

Unburdened by the resources I’d gathered, I silently made my way farther from my starting point. I’d begun to see signs of other creatures, which implied I had gone beyond the protected safe zone of the floor.

While every floor had a safe zone near the entrance, that space was generally very small. It was enough to ensure you weren’t immediately attacked upon entering the floor, but not much more.

The very first floor, however, was clearly different since I’d wandered quite a distance away from where I started before seeing the first sign of a potential threat.

Not wanting to miss a potential source of essence and loot, I slipped into my Demesne and summoned the straightest piece of hardwood I’d found during my foraging.

Though not a real forest, the first floor of this Ascender Dungeon had obviously been constructed with potential crafters in mind since there was a plethora of naturally seasoned wood lying among the detritus of the forest’s floor.

It wasn’t just wood, either. There was a ridiculous amount of low-grade herbs, ore deposits, and useful stones that made the area a beginner crafter’s dream. It almost had to be intentional, and I planned to take full advantage of the opportunity.

This particular branch had been one of my most recent finds – and also one of the signs of beast activity. Specifically, the bark had all been stripped cleanly away from the branch, leaving the inner wood exposed to the elements.

There were a few creatures that could be responsible for such a finding, but of those likely to be found on the first floor of a dungeon, I could only think of one: Barkers.

They were named such because they collected bark as both a nesting material and a source of nourishment. If I recalled correctly, they mostly nested in the older bark, and ate what they collected from living trees or freshly fallen branches.

Interestingly enough, the small creatures make little yipping noises when they were agitated that sounded a lot like barks too, though it wasn’t the same word as the outside of a tree in the Common tongue.

Selecting the largest, sharpest flake from the remnants of the handaxe I’d crafted, I carefully knapped it into a rough spearhead before attaching it to the hardwood shaft with a mix of tree sap and thin, twine-like vines I’d collected.

The system labeled the final product a [Rustic Spear (Average)], which was better than the poor quality that I expected my first weapon to be rated. I knew it was better than trash, which was the absolute worst item rating possible, but I was still pleased to see my makeshift spear was crafted well enough to qualify as average.

Completing the spear also resulted in the offering of a new skill: Weaponsmithing (Common).

Since I didn’t want my first crafting skill to be centered around making weapons, I rejected the skill offer. I didn’t need the skill to make weapons, even if accepting the skill would make the process significantly easier and likely improved my products.

Sure, I could have just merged the skill into a more generalized crafting skill later, but I didn’t need to accept the skill to do that. Just having earned it would be enough for it to be incorporated if my skills evolved in that direction.

Had the system offered me Artificing instead, I would have probably taken it since that skill was much more generalized and would have suited my plans better. But it didn’t, so I could only move on.

It was time for my very first hunt.