Dungeon’s Path

Doyle sighs, ‘Well anyway, the people here will not think of it in that way. Just keep the note short and sweet. The cows are a gift. Explain about the difference between the farmer worshiping a god to bless the animal and the animals just worshiping a beast god. Other beast gods have similar things, right?’

Moota nods, “Those basic increases to mutation and chance at sapience are key features of any beast god.”

Doyle laughs, ‘That’s good, they will need to figure out any other beasts on their own though. But yeah, that stuff and of course mention the specifics you grant cows. Also, I guess to confirm the note isn’t a complete lie, tell them that the dungeon, that would be me, has been granted cows as well. Once I have the patterns, I think I will replace the goat on top of my cliff with a cow. Not only is cow milk a thing they are more used to, but a cow will provide more milk.’

Moota frowns, “What if they don’t decide to have their cows worship me?”

Doyle rolls his core, ‘Meh, if that happens I will put some stuff into my dungeon to encourage them but I don’t think it will be a problem. They already experienced an evolved wolf pack. Now I am sure some people would take that as a sign to avoid having their own animals evolve they will take it as the opposite. While I don’t have the best ability to observe them, the general sentiment is, they aren’t sure how normal animals will even survive in the world. The idea of not only having cows, but ones that can defend themselves without needing a person to specialize in their care will be quite tempting.’

Moota shakes her head, “They would still need someone with farming skills. If anything, it will be harder because all the farming skills are based around using things like godly buffs.”

Doyle shakes his core, ‘Putting a lot of limits on the system aren’t we? Just because that is the only way you know of doesn’t mean that is the only way. You aren’t a god of animal husbandry or farm after all. In fact, the heavy dependence on outside forces smacks of a cover up.’

‘This falls under the same sort of thing as the alchemy gods you know not being able to improve. If farmers don’t worship farm god, how would those gods improve themselves? How would they have become gods in the first place? As here proves, not everywhere will worship them. Honestly? This sort of makes me want to limit how much power any god might gain on this planet.’

‘I know that isn’t very likely to work, but I can at least work on it in my own backyard. Besides, I suspect that across all the skills, those who worship a god for it will have a slower, more stable progression to a point. That and any of the true master crafters, even if they were at one point associated with a temple, now be free agents in that regard.’

Moota shrugs, “I don’t have much experience with this. Though I know a god can bless one or two crafters, granting exemplary abilities in a skill.”

Doyle sighs, ‘That’s even worse!  If it is only one or two per a god who gets this divine inspiration, I have to guess they don’t improve unless their god does. I bet this ability to bless someone is being used to stifle potential competition. It likely works similar to the buff that gods get so those crafters can’t improve either. Only the most sensible ones who don’t forget the basics will grow and the gods likely encourage them to only work on things of their new skill level.’

Moota takes a moment to process what was just said. “Why? Why is it the more time I spend around gods and learn about other gods, the worse they seem to be? I got this whole celebration and congratulations when I ascended and it has all been downhill from there.”

Doyle conjures up an extra fuzzy pillow for her hold. ‘If I had to guess, it has to do with how being a god isn’t about the thing they are a god of. From the sounds of it, you can become a god of anything as long as enough people believe in it. While being a god does, give them some power and skill at their portfolio that isn’t at the core of who they are.’

‘At the core of being a god is faith and not in the wishy washy, they believe in you, sense. Rather, I mean that whatever power allows people to become a god. That means that they can be horrible at their portfolio as long as they can trick people into giving their faith.’

‘Now not all gods are going to be slimeball shysters looking for the next patsy. I’m sure that there are a lot of gods who sincerely believe in doing what is best for their followers. Though ironically, I am sure more of those types will be gods of stuff like thieves, conning people, and ruling. A little hard to prevent people from seeing behind the curtain when doing so is almost part and parcel with the profession.’

‘Anyway, we’ve been going on about this for a while and I don’t think there is any bottom to this hole in sight. The people on my third floor look like they are about to leave, and I’m going to need to make some changes once I have the cow patterns. Exchange contact info with Ally and we will chat more about this later.’

Moota scrunches up her face and hugs the pillow tighter, but eventually nods. “Fine, once everyone is off your third floor, I’ll transfer the patterns into your core. Though don’t be disappointed. I’m only transferring up to level five cow patterns. That means you won’t be seeing an alchemy cow pattern, let alone a golden alchemy cow. Just the regular alchemy cow is a level 100 beast, so you are a long way off from even touching on it.”

With that said, none of them have much else to talk about, so Doyle goes back to watching the adventurers while Ally and Moota chat about their experiences with other gods. Suffice it to say, those stories are less than flattering.

The Barrais and company on the other hand never realized anything had happened at all. Not that they should. Once adventurers are on a floor, it is out of the dungeon’s hands. Still, they only beat two of the kobold groups today. While Doyle had missed much of the fights, he was able to catch the end of the second.

With the experience from the day before, the group hadn’t let the kobold mage get off their big spell. This still didn’t stop the kobold from contributing as it turns out fighting an earth mage in a stone tunnel isn’t the easiest. While the party had prevented any large spells, it could still get off several spikes that could pop out from any of the stone surfaces.

Though while the damage to the party wasn’t small, what forced them to retreat was their loot. The ore the party received from defeating two kobold mining areas weighed them down enough that they doubted the next fight would go all that well for them. Plus they had noticed the middle area was the home to multiple assassin vines so even just traveling to the next area could be deadly.

As they reach the exit portal, Doctor shakes his head. “I don’t know if I will keep coming along on these trips if we do them this often. At the very least, I can’t be diving in the dungeon every day. While not that many people are getting sick or injured, there is a lot for me to do.”

Zach and Bell both in agreement. Zach in particular mentions that he is an important part of processing lumber for the settlement. Jeremy shakes his head at this, but after some talk agrees the group should cut back to diving once a week. Then the group leaves the dungeon.

In the core room, Moota jumps down from the hidden entrance to Ally’s room, growing to human size as she falls. She looks around and nods, “Well, I guess it isn’t just her room, which is a bit plain. Anyway, I am going to place my hand on your core. This is required for me to transfer the patterns and also why so few cores like to get their patterns from us gods. While the system doesn’t like people destroying cores willy nilly, gods are some of the few with an easy time doing so once at the core itself. On the other hand, gods have a hard time getting into an awoken dungeon. Are you ready?”

Doyle nods his core, ‘Ready as I’ll ever be. My instincts are going haywire having you in the room itself. I guess when you were up in Ally’s room it counted as having her in between you and me.’

Moota tilts her head to the side, “Huh, that’s a weird one. Then again, instincts aren’t known to be the most flexible of things, especially when they are literally carved into you. Well, let’s get started. This should only take a minute or two.” And with that, she walks over and places her palm on Doyle’s core.

Over the next three minutes, a steady stream of information flows into Doyle’s mind. It feels somewhat like when he got his starter monsters, except more chaotic. Still, it does the job and when Moota takes her hand away from his core, the system pops up a message informing him of his gains.

{Cattle pattern acquired at lv5

Dungeon Cattle (lv2) pattern acquired at lv5

Mad Cattle (lv2) pattern acquired at lv5

Longhorn Cattle (lv2) pattern acquired at lv5

Earthen Cattle (lv3) pattern acquired at lv5

Ashen Cattle (lv4) pattern acquired at lv5

Sea Cattle (lv4) pattern acquired at lv5

Herb Cattle (lv5) pattern acquired at lv5

Cattle patterns consolidated into Cattle Patterns at lv7}

{Cattle

S[7] A[3] C[14] I[2] W[2] P[5]

Skills: Teamwork lv2

Description: A normal cow or bull

Ecology: Grass

Cost: World Energy[8]}

{Dungeon Cattle (lv2)

S[7] A[3] C[15] I[2] W[2] P[6]

Skills: Teamwork lv5, Tough Hide lv1

Description: Like normal cattle except for an increase in their ability to work together and a tougher skin

Ecology: Grass

Cost: World Energy[10]}

{Mad Cattle (lv2)

S[20] A[2] C[8]

Skills: Rage lv5, Charge lv1

Description: Cattle that have lost minds in exchange for immense strength

Ecology: Grass

Cost: World Energy[12]}

{Longhorn Cattle (lv2)

S[10] A[3] C[14] I[2] W[2] P[5]

Skills: Gore lv5, Teamwork lv2

Description: Cattle with exceptional horns

Ecology: Grass

Cost: World Energy[11]}

{Earthen Cattle (lv3)

S[8] A[2] C[20] I[2] W[3] P[4]

Skills: Tough Hide lv5, Teamwork lv2, Heavy Foot lv1

Description: Cattle that have tapped into the power of the land beneath them for stability and defense

Ecology: Grass, Rocks

Cost: World Energy[18]}

{Ashen Cattle (lv4)

S[14] A[5] C[14] I[2] W[3] P[5]

Skills: Heat Resistance lv5, Teamwork lv2, Fire Breath lv2

Description: Cattle that lived in a fire aligned area and have adapted to be a dual element beast

Ecology: Grass, Wood

Cost: World Energy[18]}

{Sea Cattle (lv4)

S[7] A[12] C[16] I[2] W[2] P[5]

Skills: Teamwork lv5, Swim lv5

Description: Sometimes a wizard wants fresh milk, even when his tower is at the bottom of the sea. After being changed though they got left behind after said wizard relocated as they had lost the ability to breathe air.

Ecology: Grass, Seaweed

Cost: World Energy[17]}

{Herb Cattle (lv5)

S[12] A[3] C[20] I[2] W[4] P[5]

Skills: Teamwork lv6, Poison Resistance lv4, Rapid Healing lv2

Description: After years of eating various herbs, a cow can evolve into a herb cow. Through the process they have gained a great resistance to poisons and the lingering herbs heal the cattle at a rapid pace.

Ecology: Grass, Herbs

Cost: World Energy[26]}

{Grass pattern acquired at lv6

Volcanic Rock pattern goes from lv2 to lv3

Wood pattern goes from lv2 to lv3

Seaweed pattern acquired at lv1

Herb patterns goes from lv7 to lv8}