There is No Epic Loot Here, Only Puns

96: Door to Door

Delta desperately wanted to watch Seth, to watch her work be enjoyed and admired but she managed to pull herself away as the man settled down to drink water with Giant. The large frog was actually very sweet when he deemed Seth as a guest and not a challenger.

It was pure ego to stalk each and every visitor. That, and maybe a little bit loneliness in the weirdest terms.

Delta had many friends now. Her monsters, Nu, and even Sis! But there was something about people who chose to come to Delta that made those kinds of relationships more surprising and a little more valued at times.

The love of one's family and the company of those that chose to befriend Delta.

Floating down to the third floor, she let her mind expand, a slow awareness of all that was within her space. She felt her mind wash over the map room with the model of the world and its craggy edges, then seep to the library and its guardian in wait, the creature content to be as unaware as possible.

She swept past Gnashly snoozing in the troll cave and Jeb stirring more Troll Stew. The horrid mixture broken down into several strands of Mana, the multi-levelled bonds that made the thickness of the stew... the shimmering tiny threads that formed the vapor and scent... the simmering Mana that was forming the taste.

There was pure creation in Jeb's cooking pot and only by allowing her Dungeon Senses to take over her human ones could Delta appreciate what was happening.

Jeb didn't get ingredients or harvest food, he stirred his pot, concentrated, and the Dungeon made the Stew like magic. Countless complicated mathematical Mana equations magic but still... wonderful when simply observed.

It was so faithful to what Jeb thought Troll Stew should be that it was actually vile to anyone who tasted it. Jeb himself was a walking light show of shifting orange Mana. His arm was slightly brighter than the rest as it was still healing.

Delta floated there, comparing Jeb to what she saw in Cois.

Cois was a wild inner energy, energetic and constantly reshaping itself as if to remind Delta of the fact Goblins had sheer potential for anything if given the tool.

Jeb was slower... sturdier. His Mana was like growing moss that promised regrowth no matter the damage unless it was from fire.

The Gargoyles, while all different shapes, had the same inner ethereal Mana that showed their stone forms were not their whole being. The Mana sometimes floated in and out of the gargoyles' bodies as if tasting the air.

It showed how even if their eyes and other senses were of stone, their spirits were far more aware of their surroundings than one could guess.

Jack, on the other hand, was hidden mostly from Delta's senses. Perhaps due to the nature of being a Contractee. The tiny flickering of Orange Mana barely shone within Jack but what little sparks Delta saw revealed a deep fissure of many facets. Like a cracked diamond.

Beautiful, but a little sad.

Delta floated through the floor, carefully observing the Feast Hall, Fera's various bubbling dishes that couldn't be prepared in a tiny kitchen on the upper floor, and soon arrived in the Garden of Choice.

She didn't use a Menu in this mindstate. Delta looked at the room and bubbles of potential rose from the sea of Mana. Where things had been chosen by Sis to be worthy of Delta's attention.

The Giant Nu statue had various ideas. Delta tilted her head and saw how, with a staggering amount of Dungeon Points, it could come to life. At the thought of her rare currency, the world shifted to reveal something Delta had never really given proper thought to.

Dungeon Points... Delta held out her hand and a tiny crystal with a shimmering rainbow surface floated over one of her fingers. It was barely bigger than a teardrop.

A single Dungeon Point. It was a crude term for what Delta could now see was something deeply precious. It wasn't a gemstone. This crystalline form was only how Delta's still learning mind could best see it.

The true nature of the energy was far harder to grasp but Delta decided to tackle that another day.

DP was gained when the Dungeon broke down an object or... person. The more unusual or powerful the item, the more DP Delta gained. Her slightly detached mind turned the gem over and saw the lights bend and dance to unheard music.

It was not one type of Mana or even a few. It was almost like the Dungeon condensed the history of the item itself into a single point. Every experience, every second of existence.

The pain, the love, the growth. It was all squeezed down into a single point.

Potential in the purest form. It was siphoned from the item and fed into the System where this energy let Delta make child's play of the world's rules. It was so easy now that Delta could see that the very thing she used to make a jungle from nothing — life and an ecosystem from nothing — was fueled by...

Creation and Potential itself.

But it was also in this moment Delta saw why people gave the most DP of all, short of legendary items no doubt.

Delta detached herself more.

She peered into the memory of the System. The machine and operation run by a being with nothing much else to do, so each part that Delta could even comprehend was neat, tidy... sterile, She tugged and lured the moment when the farmer died in her Dungeon. So long ago but so very recently.

The man died, the echoes of regret and pain reached Delta in this mindset even now. It felt painful and sore but human. Delta used it as a lifeline, knowing which way to go when she was done.

Ready to go home once she was done.

The Farmer died and his being was absorbed. His Mana was taken. Mostly a bit green and brown with hints of red. His history of a hard-working man of the earth but with passion for his loved ones.

"My name is Se-"

"I'll do what I want, you old bast-"

"I loved you... you... you slept with hi-"

"His name will be Dil, like my grandpa!"

"My name is Se-"

The words exploded out the Mana patterns. Like echoes of the man's memories. Delta let them wash over her, like a burning river. She didn't look away. Delta didn't dare look away.

From between the grasp of the Mana flowing from his body, between the love and the pain, between the regret and the pride, a single mote of pure blackness broke free.

The Dungeon System consumed it and broke it down... this wasn't simply a creation of the Brother recycled by the Sister in a dance of the Sun and Moon. The System told Delta this.

This was a brand new resource. Claimed in the act of consuming Man.

Why?

Delta watched the scene over and over.

Why did people have this darkness in them? Why did the System explode with so much DP from devouring it?

"My name is Selvil. I'm just a farmer."

Delta gasped and slammed back into herself. Stars and flashing lights blurred her eyes. She knelt in the Garden and tried to remember to breathe. It took time as if her mind was wading through sludge and muck... struggling to remember why she had to breathe.