The Discarded, Half-Eaten Apple Core New Life - Chapter 76

I gained 85 levels in two weeks while making a Mana stone factory. All crew, brace for impact.

> You gained +680 Intelligence, +340 Wisdom, +510 Willpower, +680 Clarity, +340 Hardness, +850 Attribute Points, +850 base DM, +850 base SP, +850 base Materialization, +850 base Control, and +1120 base MP.

Boom. Holy Cow, sweet Gray Alien. And I still had 95 more levels to grind before coming back to 180 and then opening the doors to the beyond. I was going to be as powerful as God. Oh, wait, I was a God. Sorry for blaspheming, YHVH, my buddy. The Norse might have pulled the wool over this world, but I was there, fighting the good fight. Yeah. Gods had ranks, and I was pretty sure I was at the bottom of the totem pole, despite Róta’s exultations.

I would be so pissed if I had picked any of the other two choices. It was so overwhelming I had no idea if I should put my points in Willpower or not. What did it mean to have another two and a half thousand points of Willpower? And I was supposed to be almost a hundred times smarter and wiser than an average magical apple.

Which I kind of was, by the way.

Historically, most magical apples were dumb. Hercules’ golden apple? Dumb. Snow White’s apple? Dumb and toxic. Touhou’s Bad Apple? [1] Not quite dumb, but depressive as fuck. I loved the song, then I read the English translation. I still love it but boy, it comes from the depths of despair. American Pie? It’s an apple pie, so it counts. Johnny Appleseed and Steve Jobs get a free pass. They weren’t dumb but I was talking about magical apples.

Troy was burned to the ground because of an apple. In the Garden of Eden, everyone knows how that ended up. Got Atalanta from Athens in wedlock and knocked up. Oh, boy. I went on quite the tangent. Bottom line, my baseline was so horrible. If it weren’t for my human soul and Dungeon half, I would be… probably in the belly of a giant rant, and then turned into poop.

Okay, Perks! Gimme, gimme. And cut that “you learned shit” shit. Just give me the Cliff Notes!

Protean Dungeon (Legendary, Dungeon)

Traits

1. Install Magical Trap: You know how to install magical traps. They cannot be placed anywhere near twice the aura size of a Delver. A magical trap may cast a spell you know or use one of the “Trap” effects you learn from Perks. All magical traps have a difficulty rating. Select an integer N. The trap takes N minutes to install. The daily upkeep cost of a trap depends on the difficulty to resist. 2*N DM, for a difficulty of N*sqrt(Willpower). This cost is paid again every time a trap triggers. If a trap makes a mention of N, it means the multiplier chosen. The difficulty to detect a trap is N*sqrt(Wisdom).
2. Shapeshift Trap: You know how to create traps that may change the shape of your victims into a random animal for N hours. Resisted by Willpower.
3. Chaos Gravity: You may set a room or section of your Dungeon to have any gravity orientation you want, and any intensity between 0 and 2G.
4. Lesser Warp Space: You can set a room or section of your Dungeon to skew one spatial dimension by up to 50%. Warped space has an upkeep proportional to the bigger of the original or warped space dimensions.
5. Teleportation Trap: Teleports victims to another section of your Dungeon, one-way only. Resisted by Intelligence.
6. Dimension Gate: You can set a spatial boundary that connects seamlessly to another section of your Dungeon. If permanent, it satisfies the access to the Core requirement. Each dimensional gate requires an upkeep of 10 DM per day for every 100 feet of distance it crosses.
7. Minor Warp Space: You can set a room or section of your Dungeon to skew two spatial dimensions by up to 50%. Warped space has an upkeep proportional to the bigger of the original or warped space dimensions.
8. Warp Space: You can set a room or section of your Dungeon to skew three spatial dimensions by up to 50%. Warped space has an upkeep proportional to the bigger of the original or warped space dimensions.
9. Greater Warp Space: You can set a room or section of your Dungeon to skew three spatial dimensions by different amounts up to 50%. Warped space has an upkeep proportional to the bigger of the original or warped space dimensions.
10. True Warp Space: You can set a room or section of your Dungeon to skew three spatial dimensions by different amounts up to 90%. Warped space has a 1-foot wide boundary for every 1% it distorts. Creatures moving through the boundary gradually shrink or enlarge without noticing or suffering any detrimental effects. The trajectory of light rays is also distorted to give the impression space isn’t warped.
11. Minor Warp Time: You can set a room or section of your Dungeon that changes the passage of time by up to 20% in either direction.
12. Warp Time: You can set a room or section of your Dungeon that changes the passage of time by up to 50% in either direction.
13. Greater Warp Time: You can set a room or section of your Dungeon that reduces the passage of time by 75% or accelerates it by 200%. Objects crossing the boundary speed up or slow down to conserve momentum relative to the time referential.
14. Permanent Shapeshift Trap: Change the shape of your victims into a random animal or monster permanently. You choose at the moment of setting the trap if it will be either an animal, monster, or both. You may also make the transformation last for a period of time, instead of being permanent. Resisted by the target’s (Wisdom+Willpower). Partial failure changes shapes for only N hours.
15. Larger Dungeon: Your Dungeon Volume allotment is 50% bigger.
16. Deformity Trap: Deform the body of your victims, lowering their Charisma Efficiency by 75% permanently. Resisted by the target’s (Wisdom+Willpower). Partial failure changes shapes for only N hours.
17. Species Change Trap: Change the victim’s species to another creature of the same type: Animal, plant, monster, sentient, or demon. There’s a 60% chance that the new species is stronger than before, and 40% of a weaker one. The change is permanent. When this Trap triggers, pay 20x the amount of Attribute Points the old species granted. Resisted by Willpower.
18. Equipment Enchant Trap: Grants a random enchantment to an item worn by the victim.
19. Chaos Banishment Trap: Teleports the victim to a random location (Wisdom) miles away from your Dungeon. The victim appears in a safe spot without any threats in less than 500 feet. If no such location exists, it becomes a normal Teleportation trap that leads anywhere in the Dungeon that is not deeper inside than the trap location. Resisted by Willpower.
20. Minor Wish Trap: When triggered, the next time the person says a phrase starting with “I wish…”, the phrase may become true. If it is an effect the Dungeon is able to cause, it becomes true 100% of the time. If it is something requiring less than 200 DM, it becomes true. Otherwise, only a portion of the wish becomes true, based on the comparison between its cost and 200 DM. A creature may be granted only 3 wishes (of any magnitude) in their lifetime. The victim is not aware they triggered this trap by any means unless you tell them so.
21. Aging Trap: Shifts the age of the victim randomly anywhere between -20 and +20 years. For every 5% the victim is closer to one of the extremes of their lifespan, this value is skewed by 4 years in the opposite direction. N is the number of years gained or lost.
22. Mana Drain Trap: Steals and dissipates the victim’s Mana. The victim loses (1d100)% of their MP if they fail a Willpower+Clarity contest. Partial failure mitigates this MP loss. You do not gain any of the lost Mana.
23. Spawn Boss Monster: Select a monster you know. You can spawn a boss version for 10,000 DM + (200 DM for every level the base monster possesses). It is spawned with 20 more levels and one rarity increase.
24. Recurring Bosses: You can respawn a dead boss, bringing it back to life with all the memories and earned Experience it had. The cost is double that of spawning a new one.
25. Sentient Bosses: If you pay 10x the spawn cost the moment you create a new boss, this boss becomes sentient (but not sapient). It gains a baseline intelligence and a 40% bonus to all its Attributes’ Efficiency ratings.
26. Greater Dungeon: Your Dungeon Volume allotment is doubled.
27. Domain Projection: Your Domain extends for 25ft from your exterior walls at no cost of volume. This extension may not be toward another Dungeon Wall.
28. Core Guardian: You can designate one sentient boss as a Core Guardian. Double the cost to spawn this monster. It gains an extra 10 levels and another rarity increase. A Core Guardian has absolute loyalty and automatically wins any mental or social contest meant to steal its allegiance. The Core Guardian is always under your direct control at no additional cost. It cannot leave either your personal domain or your inner world.

Perks:

1. Swap Delvers: You can swap the location of two Delvers in your Dungeon by paying the same as a teleportation trap for each of them. Both Delvers must either be willing or fail a Willpower dispute. This Perk costs double if any of the two swapped Delvers is in combat.
2. Inspect Monster: You can see the Status page of a monster you spawned and control.
3. Subjugate Creature: You can attempt to take control of any animal, plant, monster, or demon inside your Dungeon. Pay 100,000 DM plus 4,000 DM for every level the creature has. You need to win 10 contested Willpower disputes to place the creature under your control. Subjugated creatures cannot be despawned by you and count double against your Control limit. If it is a creature you can spawn, you automatically learn how to spawn its species. (Unique) creatures cannot be subjugated.

> 8 obsolete Traits were converted into 40% Attribute Efficiency.

Holy… 19 Traits? And most of them are stuff most Dungeons should get. But the traps… And the double Volume… I can grant wishes now? Change species, polymorph, teleportation… change age? Holy… Compress space by 90%? Meaning I could shrink Speranza to occupy a thousandth of the volume it is currently using? What about time? Slow it to a fourth or triple its speed. I tested it… and it stacks with the time change from Demiplane control.

I checked the list again. Enchant items? Make bosses? Core Guardian? Now we were talking. Dungeon stuff. The 40% efficiency went into Willpower. With the amount of Willpower these traps demand, it is only fair to boost it.

Techno-Wizard (Epic, Crafter)

1. Random Gadget: You may spend 5 minutes and some assorted parts to create a gadget. Determine three different effects. The gadget has one of them. Costs vary with the sum of the three desired effects. Effects that were not selected are not valid to make another gadget for 24 hours. The gadget must be used within 24 hours or it breaks down.
2. Spell Gadget: You may spend 5 minutes and enough MP to cast a spell you know, along with some assorted parts to create a gadget that may cast the spell once. The bearer of the gadget decides on parameters like target, duration, etc. Any maintenance or upkeep costs are paid by the bearer. The gadget must be used within 24 hours or it breaks down.
3. Overload Device: You can overload a device after tampering with it for 1 minute. Doing so doubles the device’s performance in two aspects of your choice. The overloaded device explodes after 1 hour of operation or 10 uses, whichever happens first.
4. Supply Depots: You can spawn a Supply Depot inside your Domain for 100 DM, 100 Crystals (SP), and 21 seconds of build time. The supply depot can support 8 Units indefinitely, providing shelter, protection from weather and harsh environments, comfortable living quarters, life support, and nourishment. A supply depot has half your Armor rating and 400 health points. Units inside cannot fight but only take damage if the Supply Depot breaks down. A Supply Depot continues to function for one year outside your domain. If on ground that can be dug, the supply depot can bury itself for extra protection and allow units to walk over it. You can stall up to one weapon emplacement on a supply depot. Pay for the weapon separately.

Wait, I think I know that last one. Isn’t it from… Also, Go-go gadget, schmuck ratchet.

Fabricator-General (Epic, Crafter)

Traits:

1. Voice of the Omegassiah: You can talk to machines, listening to their spirits and identifying both problems and where they can be improved. Machines you infuse with your Divinity function 50% better for 1 month per point of Divinity invested.
2. Foundries of Mars: Metals you smelt or forge become 25% more resilient.

Perks:

1. Improved Drones: Drones you design or program are 40% faster and more accurate.
2. Battle-Tested Factories: Factories you design or build have 100% more resistance to interruptions or disturbances.

[1] The Author deeply regrets not making that one a choice for evolution. Maybe in the rewrite.