A/N: Anything you recognize isn't mine.
Chapter 2: A Murder
The smallest bedroom of 4 Privet Drive faded around her.
Azalea shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight suddenly streaming down upon her. Squinting, she looked through the gaps in her fingers to view her surroundings while breathing fresh, unpolluted air. What she saw surprised her; she'd thought a 'dungeon' would be restricted to dark underground places. This dungeon was not.
She was standing in an open field. It looked to have originally been a wheat field, but weeds and other plants had reached chest height and had choked out most of the wheat. The plant growth around her looked sickly and brown, and the earth beneath her was dry and cracked. The land was clearly in a drought, something, Azalea was sure, wasn't helped by the hot and dry weather she was feeling, a soft breeze making things feel hotter instead of cooler.
Before her were a couple of dozen rundown, decrepit buildings; most of the buildings were houses though a couple could've been stores at one point. A good half of the buildings had collapsed roofs. The wide, single-lane road running through the middle of the buildings was barely visible, being layered over with earth. From the portions of the visible road, Azalea could see the asphalt had deep cracks running throughout it, with an abundance of tall weeds growing out of them.
Upon seeing no undead before her, Azalea took a step to turn around and look behind her. With the crunch of the cracked earth beneath her, she realized everything around her was eerily quiet. The soft breeze caused some rustling from the dry brush around her, but that was it. There were no cars, insects, birds, speaking, or countless other things Azalea had long become accustomed to hearing as background noise. It was very offputting.
Seeing to enemies behind her, Azalea figured the enemies for this dungeon were likely hiding within the buildings of the small hamlet before her. She'd take care of them - whatever they were - momentarily. Since she wasn't in current danger and the Ministry couldn't detect her, this was a perfect time to test her new physical and magical abilities.
She looked through her list of skills before settling on one. She shifted her wand to her left hand and pointed right at the ground before her. "Blood Needle!" Immediately, it felt like her blood was circulating faster, and the blood in her right hand was especially surging. And then…
Nothing.
There was no blood, no needle, and no blood needle anywhere to be seen.
'Huh? Why didn't… Status!' she commanded.
Looking at her stats, she saw that her MP had decreased by twenty points from its maximum. 'Hmm, I felt something happen, and obviously, my magic was used, so why didn't it activate?' she pondered. Azalea knew she could probably ask the System and receive an answer immediately, but where was the fun in that? Magic was meant to be explored, to be experimented with.
Azalea next looked at the Blood Needle I skill and Observed it.
Blood Needle I
Blood Needle I is a chilling and ominous skill that taps into the powerful depths of blood manipulation. When activated, the Gamer channels magic into their blood, conjuring crimson needles that shoot forth rapidly. A small portion of the Gamer's HP is drained with each needle. At Level 1 of the skill, these needles shoot forth in a straight line and are slower than needles shot at successive levels. Each needle inflicts minor damage upon impact.
The Blood Needle I skill drains a fraction of the target's life force upon successful strikes, transferring it back to the Gamer as health regeneration. This restorative aspect allows the Gamer to withstand enemy attacks and adversity, offering a tactical advantage during intense battles.
However, Blood Needle I has its limitations as the introductory level of this skill. The Gamer must use it strategically, requiring precision and timing to ensure the needles find their marks. Moreover, the life force absorption is minor at this stage, providing only a slight health boost.
As the Gamer progresses and develops the Blood Needle skill, they will unlock more potent versions of this ability. By honing their mastery, the Gamer can come to control more needles, use the blood from fallen enemies instead of their own, and have greater control over the needles' trajectories.
Blood Needle I is an essential foundation for any hemomancer, setting the stage for their journey into mastering the formidable powers of the class.
Azalea bit her lip in thought. The skill description was enlightening but didn't directly answer her query. 'It says it uses my blood, and I did feel like the blood in my hand wanted to surge forward, so why didn't it? The description says I should've lost some HP, but only my MP was reduced, so possibly an explanation along those lines?'
Abruptly, she snapped her fingers. "Of course! How stupid…" She ran a short fingernail - a habitual nail-biter, an anxious habit she'd never bothered breaking - along her right palm, making a shallow cut in the skin until the smallest amount of blood leaked. Azalea's face didn't register the slightest bit of pain.
She stretched forth her hand again and commanded, "Blood Needle." Magic circulated through her blood, surging down her arm and to her hand. A small, glistening needle of blood shot forward and buried itself in the ground, a small punctured hole in the cracked dirt the only sign of it.
Smiling in satisfaction, she gave the command of 'Status' and confirmed her HP, in addition to her MP, had dropped this time. 'Yeah, that makes sense. Naturally, my blood would need an avenue to escape my body for the skill to activate fully. It would probably be smart to read the skill descriptions before I try them out.' Azalea spent the next ten minutes 'observing' her skills and their descriptions.
She found that most of the skills were exactly what they sounded like, especially her passive skills. Some of the descriptions provided numbers and percentages to describe the skills' effectiveness, but Azalea glossed over those details. Math had never been her forte - she was pursuing an OWL in Arithmancy but would never dream of attempting a NEWT in it. She'd never be the type to calculate the number of hits she'd need to hit an enemy with or how many attacks she could endure. So long as her attack, resistance, affinity, etc., values were increasing, that was enough for her.
The hemomancy skills were all fairly interesting. As a general theme, they were designed to improve her health and recovery while providing a life-steal effect. It was all very vampiric. Among those skills, there were a couple of notable ones. First, the Blood Blade skill was similar to Blood Needle in requirements - though it had a greater HP and MP drain - except the blade was designed for cutting compared to a needle's penetration. Second, Blood Imbibing enabled her to use her blood to add a 'bleed' effect to her weapons and magics. Should enough 'bleed' accumulate within a given time on an enemy, 'blood loss' would occur, and a significant chunk of the enemy's HP would be forfeited.
Outside her hemomancy skills, Sanctuary was the other skill that stuck out. For the cost of 2000 MP, which was more than her current maximum, an Area of Effect (AoE) field would be established with Azalea at the center. Any ally inside would receive improved HP and MP recovery, and all resistances would be strengthened. At the current level, the field would only last for ten minutes. While it wasn't a skill she could use now, it would undoubtedly be helpful eventually.
And finally, there was the Soul Cleave skill. Frankly, its effects on both herself and her enemies were alarming. She would definitely be waiting until she gained more theoretical knowledge in animancy before using it. After all, temporarily severing a portion of one's soul to attack your enemy's soul spiritually didn't sound like something she should bandy about casually.
To continue her experiments with her skills (for now), Azalea cast Blood Needle again, this time by consciously pumping more of her magic into the skill. This time, four blood needles shot out successively and buried themselves in the ground within a couple of centimeters of each other. She rechecked her status and found her MP to have dropped by roughly 4 percent and her HP by 2 percent.
Azalea then called out, "Blood Blade!"
Her magic surged through her body with a far more potent force than the Blood Needle skill. Blood floated from her palm and formed a thick crescent arc in front of her hand. The way the sun glinted off it was almost mesmerizing. This process took barely a second before the blade of blood launched forward. The blade elongated and thinned the further it traveled. It cleanly sliced through the tall weeds before hitting the ground two meters in front of her, a nearly meter-long line gouging into it.
Before she could analyze things further, a brief feeling of weakness passed through Azalea. It wasn't enough to make her sway or lose focus, but it was noticeable. Yet again, she pulled up her status and checked the results; her MP had drained another 3 percent, which was in line with what she was expecting, but she was alarmed to see her HP had fallen by more than 5 percent from that single Blood Blade. Overall, it wasn't that much health, but it was enough to reduce its practicality in combat. At least for now.
Walking forward, Azalea knelt and ran her finger along the line her blood had cut. The earth around it was darker and wet from having absorbed her blood. It was hard to tell because of the narrow cut, but it seemed to have penetrated a couple of centimeters into the earth. And considering how condensed and hard the dry soil was…
'So cutting through a normal person's or creature's flesh shouldn't pose a problem. Maybe bone too?' Azalea considered. It wasn't like she had experience with cutting into flesh and bone to tell either way.
'Course, that's only for a range of two meters. It looked like the farther it traveled, the wider area it covered. However, that wider coverage is likely offset by a decreased cutting power.' Still kneeling, her chin propped up by her hand, Azalea continued her train of thought while staring blankly at the hamlet. 'When you take the life-leaching ability of both skills into account, it may be a tossup on whether the needle or blade is more HP and MP efficient. If there's a group of enemies, Blood Blade could deal more damage, possibly resulting in an HP net gain. So I suppose it'll depend on the situation, though I may lean towards using Blood Needle for now, given this first dungeon will have the weakest of enemies.'
'That said, it's not like I must rely on my System skills.'
Standing, she switched her wand back to her right hand - she'd have to train herself to be ambidextrous soon - and cast a banishing charm. Earth and vegetation flew up upon contact, some dirt drifting off with the breeze. When the dust settled, a small crater revealed itself. Azalea smiled. Her banishing charm would've never been able to do that before she became a Gamer; her charm now acted more like a blasting hex.
Keeping an eye on her status, Azalea went through her entire repertoire of spells and was very satisfied with the results. Everything was stronger. Her transfigurations were easier to cast and alter, with the changes lasting longer before reverting, and her charms had far more 'oomph' to them. For example, her Glacius spell was colder and covered a wider area. Similarly, her stag patronus had grown by a meter, and its aura of warmth and happiness felt denser.
Moreover, Azalea knew from having kept an eye on her MP levels throughout her casting that her witch spells were far more efficient given their effects compared to her hemomancy skills. 'I wonder why that is? It could be that my greater familiarity with witch magic makes the difference. Or maybe System skills are inherently more MP costly. System?' She asked.
[There are several reasons your witch magic is currently superior.
First, being a witch is part of your race. It makes you particularly suited to witch magics. Your current affinity for hemomancy still needs to overcome this.
Second, you have spent three years practicing witch magic. If the System had quantified your witch skills and affinity, the levels would undoubtedly be higher than Level 1.
Third, just as there was a natural progression in learning witch magic (first-year spells are taught before the more complex second-year spells), there is also a progression with class skills. With your hemomancer class, for example, gaining mastery over Blood Needle would, in turn, heighten your understanding of Blood Blade, a skill that, without the System's intervention, would be harder to learn. Similarly, had you completed Hemomancer's prerequisite classes, the skills and class knowledge obtained from those would have significantly assisted you in understanding hemomancy and mastering its skills.
Fourth, the System is meant to be the medium by which your Plot is fulfilled; it is not meant to be the Story. The System is a tool. Even if a class skill is at the System's max level, that does not mean they cannot be further empowered. The Player can bypass the need to call out or issue a mental command to activate a skill by instead committing it to muscle memory and becoming so accustomed to using it in battle that it becomes automatic. Mastering skills and making them yours will improve them across the board. The Player may also combine a skill from one class with another to create something more efficient and/or powerful.
Finally, when a class is fully leveled, optional challenges are issued that may be completed at any time. The difficulty of the challenges depends upon the class tier. These challenges are designed to assist the Player in ascending beyond class mastery. The successful journey through a challenge will let the Player gain the knowledge to surpass class and skill limits.
In conclusion, don't let the Game rule you. Rule the Game.]
'I can appreciate that,' Azalea thought. The part of her that craved freedom reveled in the fact that she could reduce her reliance on the System and break past its limits by mastering the knowledge and skills she'd gain. 'Though it seems I may want to do the more basic magic classes next before I go for animancy.'
'Well, I think that's enough experimentation with my magic. Just a quick test of my new physical prowess, and I'll be good to find those undead…I think.'
Azalea ran through various physical tests: jumping, sprinting, a running jump, throwing a stone as far as possible (away from the hamlet, of course), stretching, push-ups, and many more. To no surprise, her physique had improved tremendously. Just how tremendously, Azalea wasn't sure - her only physical training outside her adventures was on a broomstick for Quidditch - but she wouldn't be shocked to find she was already in the top percentiles of witches and wizards. To be fair, this wasn't saying much, given how physically lazy witches and wizards are.
Completing a final sit-up, Azalea stood and brushed the dirt off herself. With a determined gaze, she looked towards the hamlet, which still stood silent. "You can do this, Azalea," she spoke aloud, hyping herself. "You're Level 31 in the first dungeon. You got this."
Reaching down and grabbing ahold of a rock, she cocked back her arm and threw it. The rock soared swiftly through the air before hitting the broken asphalt of the road with a sharp clack. It seemed almost deafening in the near silent environment.
A low groan sounded from the house nearest to the rock's impact. It was soon followed by more and more groans up and down the street. Then came the scuffling and banging and squelching. A short moment later, Azalea got her first look at her undead enemies as one shambled past a broken-down front door.
It was a human, or at least it had been. It - the terms 'he' and 'she' could no longer apply - had rotten flesh. Despite the arid environment, the body still had a somewhat gooey look; bits and pieces of flesh had long since fallen off and with still other parts hanging by a thin strand of sinew. Broken ribs poked out from its chest. Ragged clothes hung from its rotten body - thankfully, they still covered the important bits. Both eyes were pitch black.
Her face scrunched in disgust. Azalea couldn't help but exclaim, "What the bloody hell is that?!"
[A zombie. This dungeon has been populated with the enemy: Zombie - Shambler.]
"And a zombie is…?"
[They are essentially the non-magical version of an inferius. These came into being via contracting a virus. The virus then takes over the mind and body, killing the host and using its new body to infect others.
Zombie Shamblers are the weakest form of zombie. They are characterized by their slow movements, improved durability, and lack of intelligence. They tend to attack in groups, thus making up for their weak individual capabilities.]
By now, twenty-six more zombies had joined the first in exiting their respective buildings, each just as disgusting as the last. Their moans and groans made for an awful chorus as they shuffled toward where the rock made an impact.
A few bangs and groans emanated from the buildings, indicating still more remained.
"Alright, weak, slow, and attack in groups. So I should try to fight those by themselves or find a way to isolate them," Azalea mumbled. "Though, if they do manage to surround me, would I be in any danger?" she asked, thinking about her higher level.
[You may die.]
"And I suppose telling me the exact odds or what factors went into your calculation is out of the question?"
[Correct. Stating the exact probability of survival and providing anything besides general information on your enemy might be construed as advice.]
'I guess that's that. Now, how to get a zombie to separate itself from the group?'
By now, barring a few stragglers, most of the mobile zombies had gathered together on the road. Seeing no living target, the zombies had ceased all movement and noise as though they had entered a hibernating state.
Crouching, Azalea crept closer to the group of undead, careful as she did so to avoid stepping on or brushing up against the more brittle, and therefore noisy, plants. She reached the backside of a building nearest to the zombies without issue. Leaning around the corner, she carefully aimed her wand and cast a stinging jinx.
The white spell sped forward, its trajectory guided by her intent, and impacted a zombie's exposed back, and, instead of the typical welt, the spell tore off a chunk of rotten flesh. The flesh detached from the zombie, hitting the road with a splat. Azalea almost gagged at the sight.
'My spells are stronger, but my stinging jinx still shouldn't do that much damage. I guess they're even weaker than I thought.'
The zombie that'd been hit stumbled a few steps groaning. It must've been a form of communication because even the zombies who wouldn't have been able to see her spell turned and started shuffling toward her position.
'Darn!' Azalea had been hoping she could pull a single zombie away from the crowd if she cast such a minor spell at it. Seeing that the plan had failed, she quickly moved away from her position and circled the other side of the house until she was again behind the zombies. 'Let's try Blood Needle this time.'
Taking her fingernail, she cut the tip of her right index finger until a drop of blood came out. Her HP regeneration had long since healed the cut in her palm, and her finger would be far better to aim with. She formed her hand into the shape of a gun, then raised it to eye level, aimed at a different zombie than before, and…
'Blood Needle.'
The now familiar skill activated, and a sliver of blood shot from her finger. It closed the distance in the blink of an eye, sank into the zombie's fragile back, drove a hole through its heart, and pierced its front. The magic holding the shape and giving it momentum failed, and the blood lost its form and dropped to the earth. Azalea felt the smallest of tingles invigorate her, the needle's life-leeching ability taking effect.
Because the needle had little in the way of impact, the zombie stood its ground and groaned. However, the zombie couldn't tell whether the damage was initiated from its front or back due to its limited intelligence and near-nonexistent nerves. So, it could only relate to its fellow zombies that it was attacked but not where from. As a result, the group of zombies began to wander randomly about.
Azalea was surprised that hitting the zombie's heart didn't kill it. 'I guess they're more durable than I gave them credit for. Or maybe they have a different weak spot?' She also considered that Blood Needle might not be as suitable as some other magic, but she wanted to keep practicing with it. So, she aimed once more and activated her skill.
'Blood Needle.'
This time, the needle dug through the back of the same zombie's head and popped back out from the bridge of its nose. The zombie immediately crumpled to the ground without so much as a noise.
[Zombie - Shambler has been killed. 15 EXP earned.]
Azalea grinned victoriously. 'So, either the head/brain is their weakness, or the two attacks cumulatively killed it. Only one way to find out which it is.'
Selecting a new zombie, she aimed and 'fired.' It pierced its head, and the zombie fell dead. Well, deader.
[Zombie - Shambler has been killed. 15 EXP earned.]
'So, the head is their weak spot.'
[Correct.]
'Oh, so now you can tell me?'
[The Player has already discovered the truth about the enemy; therefore, sharing additional details will no longer affect the Player's judgment.
A Shambler's body is in decay, yet it still manages to function, albeit in a limited manner. Its brain is the least rotted and holds prime importance to its survivability. Any damage to it will result in the cessation of all functions.
The enemies in this dungeon are all Level 3. Given the vast difference in stats, a headshot results in a one-shot kill.]
'If that's the case, this should be a piece of cake.'
From her same position, Azalea repeatedly aimed at the zombies and killed them with blood needles. Since the zombies were moving about slowly and her magic and intent could guide the needles' initial trajectory, she had yet to miss. Only after the four zombies near her were eliminated did the rest realize something was amiss and begin trudging toward their fallen companions. It took another three zombies 'dying' for them to discover her position. But finding her availed them nothing.
'Eighteen left.' Azalea remained where she was even as the zombies approached; the closest was five meters away, and with their walking speed, they never had a hope to close the distance with how quickly she could fire off her blood needles. "Blood Needle!" she shouted repeatedly, seeing no longer any point in issuing mental commands. The System's kill notifications kept resounding in her mind.
'Eleven left.'
'Seven.'
'Three.'
She finally missed her first shot when the second to last zombie tripped over one of its fallen companions, sending it tumbling to the earth just as the needle sped towards it. Its fall clipped the last zombie in its knee, causing it to crash down as well. They both clambered to rise, but their efforts interfered with their compatriots, preventing either zombie from standing again. The scene would've been slightly comical had the subjects not been rotten, undead humans.
Standing straight, Azalea sighed in relief and strode purposefully forward. When she was a meter away from the last two zombies, the smell of the mass of undead registered. "Merlin, that's bad," she gagged. Hurriedly raising her hand, she finished off the struggling zombies and then ran a handful of meters to escape the smell.
[Zombie - Shambler has been killed. 15 EXP earned.]
[Zombie - Shambler has been killed. 15 EXP earned.]
'Whew! Well, that wasn't so bad,' she thought. She gave a cursory glance at her status to ensure her HP and MP were still in good shape. They were. While the life leech aspect of Blood Needle couldn't completely compensate for the skill's HP cost, it was effective enough that her HP was barely dented.
With the group of zombies eliminated, Azalea turned her attention to the buildings with weak groans coming from within, the zombies still inside for whatever reason. There were three such buildings, and based on the noise's volume, Azalea guessed there was only one zombie in each. 'Thirty enemies would make for a nice, round number.'
Carefully walking up the stairs and across the highly weathered porch of the nearest of the three buildings, Azalea peered inside. Not seeing anything immediately, she stepped inside and went where the noise emanated. She soon found the undead, almost all of its body buried under the collapsed roof. Only its head was free from the ruin, a pillar of light shining down on it from the hole in the ceiling. Disliking how executioner-y this felt, she finished it using another blood needle, casting it with practiced ease.
Leaving the house, she quickly found herself at the hamlet's only store. Plastered all over the store's door were signs discussing store policy regarding the use of masks, notifications of new government regulations to curb the surging virus, and general wellness advice for clean living during the pandemic. Raising an eyebrow at the Dungeon's attention to detail and realism, Azalea briefly wondered if this was taken from an actual event in some world's past. Pushing the thoughts from her mind, she pulled at the door, and it opened with a resounding creek.
She spotted the zombie immediately behind the cashier counter, thunking its head against the sturdy stretch of clear plastic that separated the cashier area from the rest of the store. It was too weak to break the plastic and climb over the counter, and the path to the door leading to the store was blocked by a mass of products and their fallen shelves.
Wasting no time, Azalea fired a banishing charm at the plastic sheet, blowing out a large hole. She quickly killed the zombie with a blood needle, not giving the zombie any time to retaliate. The System's kill notification rang out.
'One more to go,' she thought, turning heel and proceeding to the last house. She idly wondered if there'd be a reward for clearing the dungeon but figured the System wouldn't give her an answer if she asked.
…
It didn't.
Soon enough, she reached the last house but couldn't even enter because the entire entranceway had collapsed to the basement, leaving a huge hole. Laying atop the pile of broken flooring in the basement was the zombie, its body distorted from the multitude of broken limbs it sported. However, it was somehow still 'alive,' its body twitching about.
'This one is just sad.' She almost felt pity for the dungeon's conjuration as she ended the last zombie's misery.
[Zombie - Shambler has been killed. 15 EXP earned.]
Walking to the road and standing in the hamlet's center, she couldn't help but think of how this had been her most effortless adventure to date. 'They were no basilisk or dementors, that's for sure.' She idly wondered how easy things would've been were she still Level 1.
'So, is that all?' she asked the System. 'Am I supposed to use ID Destroy now?'
[Alert! Title: Luck's Childe has been triggered.
This dungeon's rarest encounter has been generated: A Murder of Crows.]
"Of course, it couldn't be that easy," she muttered before releasing a big sigh. 'It takes three or four crows to qualify as a murder, right? Why do they call it that anyway?'
From far off to her right, the slightest sounds reached her ears, steadily growing in volume. She looked in the direction of the noise and saw what looked to be a swiftly moving wispy black cloud over the rooftop of a house. As it drew closer, the 'cloud' thinned, and its components could be distinguished.
Azalea paled. There had to be over a hundred of the undead fowl.
Immediately her wand was up and sending out stinging jinx after stinging jinx. She doubted many, if any, would hit at this distance, but the stinging jinx took very little MP, and it was better than doing nothing. Her wand was a blur as she pushed her new physical abilities to their limits.
As predicted, nearly all her spells missed their targets, either from her flawed aim or the crows simply flying to avoid them. But occasionally, a spell connected, its impact sending the bird careening to the ground to crash and die. When this happened the first time, the other crows released loud caws of indignation and increased their speed.
While she continued her rapid casting, Azalea hurriedly brainstormed strategies. She discarded running and hiding inside a building since it would be a delaying tactic at best. She could use Incendio when they drew near; her previous testing of the spell proved it now resulted in a massive gout of flame. Likewise, she could use Glacius to slow or even freeze a group of crows at a time. Merlin, she wished she had her broom right now!
Then she hit on an idea that might work. Transfiguration!
Switching targets, she pointed her wand at a chunk of broken asphalt. Concentrating on her desired image, she pumped her magic into her wand and shouted, "Draconifors!"
The asphalt seemed to melt before rapidly taking on a new shape. In front of Azalea was a black - transfigurations are easier to perform if some details, like color, remain the same - grizzly-sized dragon. Its form was sleek, its claws and teeth sharp. An orange glow lit the back of its maw.
Having filled her spell with the intent of 'kill all crows' and 'defend me,' the dragon needed no instruction. It let loose a roar before spreading its wings, flying rapidly to meet its prey.
Azalea quickly pulled up her Status before pointing her wand at another chunk of road and casting the spell again. Her MP dipped by ten percent, leaving it slightly more than sixty percent full. Resolving herself, she used the spell three more times. Despite the relatively high MP cost, she didn't doubt her actions for a second; her survival instincts had always served her well in the past.
The crows were a half kilometer away by the time all five dragons were airborne and speeding towards them. That distance was swiftly closed, and the world resounded with the roars of dragons and caws of crows. Birds fell through the sky as claws sliced through wings, teeth crunched into bones, and flame melted their flesh. The dragons were ferocious in their onslaught, the Level 3 birds being easy prey. However, from the beginning, there had been well over one hundred crows, and with only five dragons, scores of birds were bound to break through the dragons' charge. After all, their target was the sole living entity in the dungeon.
The dragon's second mandate of 'defend me' kicked in as the crows broke past their charge. With surprising agility, the large beasts turned and twisted in the air to reorient their flight back to Azalea. They continued to kill as they went, dozens of crows having already been eliminated since the battle began hardly a minute before. Being faster, the dragons reached her first. Two black-scaled beasts landed beside her and unfurled their wings to cover her while the other three remained in the air. Five maws opened and unleashed large streams of white-hot flame, their heat far beyond what a mundane fire would typically produce. The air was quickly filled with the scent of burning feathers and undead flesh.
[Undead Crow has been killed. 15 EXP earned.]
[Undead Crow has been killed. 15 EXP earned.]
[...]
[...]
[Undead Crow has been killed. 15 EXP earned.]
The System's notifications kept sounding in her head, and Azalea, annoyed and pumped full of adrenaline, shouted, "Can you please just shut up!"
[Experience notifications have been muted.]
Meanwhile, Azalea kept herself busy while under the dragons' cover. Initially, she had considered using her hemomancy skills to either attack or recover HP, but she rejected that idea; now, her MP held more importance than her HP. Instead, she fell back on her true and tried witch spells. At first, she had thought to use the wider area-of-effect spell, Glacius, to slow or freeze the fowl, but this, too, she rejected because she wasn't sure how the cold would affect her cold-blooded allies. In the end, she chose to use the banishing charm. It was MP-friendly, and as the spell was a bit larger, it didn't require quite the pinpoint accuracy that the stinging jinx did.
From her cover, she peeked out and took potshots at the undead crows from the gaps in her two guardian's wings and limbs. Barely one in four of her shots connected, but at least it was something. From her spot, she saw the hamlet burning around her, lit up by both direct hits from dragon fire and burning crows crashing into the buildings. The air continued to heat up, causing Azalea to sweat profusely and raspily breathe when combined with the smoke.
A sharp pain drilled into her shoulder.
"Ouch!"
[-13 HP]
[Poison: Undead Virus nullified by Poison Resist II, Blood Augmentation - Basilisk Venom, and Blood Augmentation - Phoenix Tears.]
Azalea spun around and found the charred, smoking bird. "Caw!" Its beak flashed forward and pierced into her left hand.
[-9 HP]
[Poison: Undead Virus nullified by Poison Resist II, Blood Augmentation - Basilisk Venom, and Blood Augmentation - Phoenix Tears.]
Interestingly, tiny motes of multicolored light danced away from where she was hit instead of drawing blood, her skin unblemished as the crow's beak retreated. The fowl opened its undead beak and cawed in satisfaction. Azalea fired and banished hex at the bird point blank without pausing to consider the phenomenon. Its body flew off a bloody, unrecognizable mess.
Suddenly, Azalea felt the connection to one of her dragons disappear as it reverted to its original form, the asphalt plummeting to earth with a crash. The magic sustaining it had been exhausted. Even with her massively improved MP reserves that enabled her to create more giant, functional dragons with Draconifors, she couldn't boost the spell duration by much. She bit the side of her cheeks in worry. If the first dragon had reverted, the others would be close behind. Throwing caution to the wind, she commanded them through the link she had with them to unleash everything they had.
The dragons bellowed. The two dragons beside Azalea immediately left her defense and pounced and clawed at their feather foes. Four streams of flame swept throughout the area. Crows plummeted like the burning hail that had once plagued Egypt - the only telly Vernon had ever let her watch were religious programs. Then, the flames, roars, and flying stopped. One after another, the dragons turned back into asphalt, the road slabs crashing around her.
Her body tense, knees bent and ready for action, Azalea searched for more enemies. Her MP reserves being what they were, she didn't dare risk transfiguring another dragon. She could only hope few crows remained and that her magic would last. Her gaze swept to and fro and found…nothing.
There wasn't a single enemy remaining.
Well, that wasn't exactly true. About a dozen crows were floundering on the ground, burning and unable to fly. In their struggles, they still attempted to move towards Azalea, the sole focus in their undead minds.
'Wait, that worked?' she thought in wonder. 'I mean, I figured the dragons would work well, but not this well. They lasted for five minutes, tops. I thought for sure I'd still have a big fight on my hands.'
[Like the Shamblers, these crows were unintelligent and single-minded. Their greatest threat lay in their numbers. However, by staying in a group and charging in mindlessly, they made for easy prey for your dragons. That said, had you not been as high-leveled (relatively) as you are, the probability of you dying would have been higher than 99%. A Murder of Crows is this dungeon's rarest event for a reason.]
'That makes sense,' she thought. 'However, it's also concerning. If my Luck's Childe title can trigger the rarest event on my first time in a dungeon, what can I expect in harder dungeons?' As she mulled this over, she casually strolled around to the few remaining crows and dispatched them. The System's notification rang through her mind when the last crow died.
[Congratulations! Encounter: A Murder of Crows has been defeated.
Rewards:
2500 EXP
1 Gamer Piece]
[Level Up!]
[Congratulations! Dungeon: Undead I has been cleared.
Reward:
1000 EXP]
[Level Up!]
[Fallen foes will now be converted into loot.]
The bodies of shamblers and crows lit up and turned into multicolored lights. Azalea could vaguely make out some shapes within the lights but was unsure what they were.
[By overcoming the terrible luck of Luck's Childe, you've triggered its second effect and have been rewarded with excellent luck.
Reward:
All enemy loot is doubled.]
[Gold will automatically double in quantity. For all other drips, would you like their quantity or quality to be doubled?]
'Quality,' she confirmed without a second thought. Quality always trumped quantity in her mind.
[Confirmed.]
[Would you like to turn on the Auto-Loot feature?]
'Auto-Loot? What's that?'
[This is a convenient feature to save the Gamer time they could spend doing otherwise practical things. All loot drops will automatically be gathered, stored, and organized in your Inventory.
All games should have an Auto-Loot feature.]
Azalea had read up on her Inventory when she was Observing and perusing through her skills and the System's functions before entering the dungeon. So eager was she to explore her first dungeon that she hadn't used it yet beyond a cursory glance at the awarded items the System had already stored there. That said, Azalea knew it would be one of the System's most utilitarian abilities. Already she was planning to sneak into the downstairs cupboard and store her trunk in the Inventory. Her Firebolt would make dungeons like this a breeze.
'Yes. Turn the Auto-Loot function on.'
[Acknowledged. Function now activated.]
[Commencing auto-loot.]
The myriad of loot lights resting on the ground rose and arced speedily toward her, coloring the world in vibrant hues. She subconsciously braced for impact, but none came. The lights of loot disappeared upon contact, being stored in her inventory. The entire process took all of three seconds. However, before Azalea could even attempt to explore her spoils-
[Dungeon: Undead I has been cleared and all loot collected. The dungeon will now close. The Gamer will now be transferred back to the real world.]
One moment she was still in the bright environment of the dungeon, and the next, she found herself back in her dark, standing next to her bed, exactly where she'd left. Closing her eyes, Azalea sat on her bed and took a moment to process the experience.
"That…that was awesome!" she breathed out. Out of all her adventures and near-death experiences, this was the first she'd done for herself. Not to solve some mystery. Not to save a priceless artifact. Not to stop Voldemort. Not to save a person. No, her dungeon experience was something she had chosen to do, something she had done for her benefit. And that made all the difference.
Plus, let it not be said that Azalea did not enjoy the thrill and adrenaline rush that came from dangerous situations.
"Dobby thinks Greatest Miss Zally bein' far too careless."
Azalea sat up and looked toward the high-pitched and squeaky voice. Next to the desk holding Hedwig and her cage was her favorite house-elf. His arms were folded in front of his thin, pillow-clad frame, and he had one eyebrow raised as though judging her. A neon orange sock adorned his right foot, while a neon lime-green one was on his other.
"Dobby felt Miss Zally change, miss, and then she left on a grand adventure. Dobby thinks Miss Zally should have taken Dobby and Miss Hedwig along, miss!"
"Hoot!" Hedwig barked and bobbed her head in agreement.
"You knew?"
"Of course. Dobby is bonded with Greatest of All Mistresses, Zally. A bonded elf must know everything about their mistress to properly care for them, miss," the elf spoke matter-of-factly.
Azalea smiled amusedly at his exaggerated names for her. Were she in public, it may have embarrassed her, but as it was, she found it endearing. "Speaking of that, Dobby, my new ability-"
"The System," he interrupted. "Dobby knows about Miss Zally becoming an amazing Gamer."
A little thrown off, Azalea asked, "How do you-"
"A good house-elf knows all about his Mistress. Dobby is a very good house-elf, miss," he said in exasperation.
"Yes, a good house-elf who almost killed their Mistress," Azalea retorted, a smile tugging at her lips.
As he looked away from her, a small blush adorned the elf's cheeks. "Dobby was trying to save, Mistress."
Azalea went forward and drew Dobby in for a hug, patting him on the back. "I know, Dobby. You're a very good friend."
"Miss Zally hugs Dobby and calls him friend? Dobby has the best Mistress!" he sobbed into her shoulder.
She patted her sobbing friend as she continued with what she was saying before Dobby interrupted her. "My System already told me that house-elves require a source of magic to sustain their existence, so I won't bother asking why you bonded to me. But I want you to know that you can if you ever want to bond with someone else. And if I ever tell you to do something you don't like, or if there's something you want to do, please tell me. I was you to be happy, alright."
He broke off the hug, tears still streaming from his large eyes. "Dobby knows, but Dobby never be's leaving Greatest Mistress." He blew his nose into his pillowcase, then looked back up to Azalea. "Miss Zally will listen to Dobby's request?"
"I will."
"Then Dobby wants to come on Miss Zally's next adventure."
Azalea hesitated. "You do know that it will be dangerous, right? There'll be a lot of enemies trying to kill us."
"Dobby knows," the elf said, nodding. "But Dobby knows that Miss Zally will protect Dobby, and Dobby will protect Miss Zally."
"Preck!" Hedwig interjected.
"Miss Hedwig wants to come too," Dobby translated. However, his translation was unneeded as Azalea was very familiar with Hedwig's communications.
"You sure, Hedwig?" The snowy owl bobbed her head in affirmation. Azalea looked back and forth between the elf's hopeful eyes and the owl's determined eyes while she thought about their requests. Barring an event like a Murder of Crows happening again, she reckoned that both should be reasonably safe, at least in the beginning dungeons. Dobby could 'pop' away from danger, and Hedwig could fly above and away from enemies.
Releasing a sigh, she said, "Alright, you can both come-" Dobby gave a small leap in celebration, and Hedwig hooted happily, "-but you have to promise to be careful. Okay?" They both nodded in agreement.
"That said, I don't think we'll go into any dungeons until tomorrow. I want to take the rest of the day to review everything that's happened and prepare better before entering a dungeon again."
"Dobby agrees. Miss Zally being very stupid for her first adventure. Miss should be more careful this time."
Azalea let out a snort. "I won't deny that."
Dobby nodded sagely. "Miss Zally smart for realizing she's so stupid." He then listed the things he needed to do, tallying them with his fingers. "Dobby's be needing to get foods, get Miss's trunk, get potions…" he trailed off, continuing his list mentally. "Oh! Miss Zally should also summon help!"
"Summon help?" she queried.
"They were Greatest Miss's rewards from the System for her awesomeness at Hogwarts."
Azalea thought back to the System announcement and rewards a few hours previously. "Right…what were they called, again? Gacha, I think? And I got a familiar summon, too."
[Correct.]
While mentally searching her Inventory, Azalea selected the three rainbow crystals labeled as the different gachas and one golden crystal that was her familiar summon. They were gachas for a weapon, a magical item, a skill, and a familiar. "What exactly is a gacha?" she asked the System.
[A gacha is a type of game feature revolving around chance that many Players find addicting. Using the item will summon something random of the specified category. For example, the weapon gacha may give you a plastic spoon, or you may get Excalibur.
Your familiar summon is also, essentially, a gacha. However, anything that brings a living subject from across the multiverse here is labeled as a 'summon' instead of 'gacha.'
The first gacha you use in each category will be at least a 'good' draw.
To use the gacha crystals, crush them.]
'Hmm, that seems pretty quirky and fun,' she thought. 'Let's see what I get, then.'
She randomly grabbed one of the four crystals without looking - she'd be using all three, so it hardly mattered which was first - and crushed it with a squeeze. The crystal turned into motes of golden light that grew brighter and brighter until it was almost blinding. Dobby and Hedwig hurriedly shielded their eyes, and Hedwig let out hoots in surprise. A feeling of excitement welled up within her.
[One familiar summoning crystal used.
'Good' quality guaranteed.
Searching…
Target acquired,
Summoning.]
The golden light reached its climax, and Azalea could vaguely make out a small shape taking form.
[Congratulations! A new familiar has been summoned!
Your new familiar is The Rabbit of Caerbannog.]