Rays of Sunlight danced through the ever-moving branches of giant trees, overlooking an elongated lake, of the ravine and its interconnected river system. Small stones lined the banks, alongside massive weathered formation and high above was an old rickety bridge.
A clear blue sky, not a cloud in sight. Birds chirping, cicadas buzzing, it sounded like summer, it sounded like eternal peace and harmony.
[ PING! ]
Peace and Harmony has been disturbed!
[ PING! Hello-Hello! ]
Churning and stirring, the ground was becoming uncomfortable.
Naomi's eyes split open biblically like the Red Sea, flexing her lids to compensate for the blinding natural light, before narrowing her sights on the trees above. Who was this yelling in her head?! How dare they wake her from her slumber!
Sitting up without reservation, she immediately noticed her black hair as thick locks from her bangs fell into her face. Stones and pebbles fell from her hair and her clothed backside. She squinted her eyes, smelling the air with one deep inhalation.
It was warm here, with a cool breeze, just like home.
[ PING! Hello!? It is I, the MetaCraft System! Here to help you craft whatever your imagination and heart desires! ]
"Oh! ...Jeez... What's with the Pinging?" Putting a pinky in her ear, she raised her left cheek in confusion, before turning her head to look at the water a few feet away.
It wasn't just any water. It wasn't murky, polluted, it as clear with a blue tinge. She could see the bottom, she could see little red fish swimming against the current and even strips of brown algae.
[ PING! Is that all? "Oh?" And you're bothered by my pinging? Haha! Oh boy! ]
"Give me a minute you bothersome lame brain! I'm taking in my surroundings!" She'd snap as she stood up, dusting off what appeared to be an expensive two layered white and navy blue dress with a gold decorated stand-away collar.
Her eyes traced over the roots which bulged from the ground, at the foot of every tree. Some of them even forming natural steps of dirt to higher ground.
Moss, little white flowers and wild berry bushes. Nature was all around her, everywhere she turned her gaze, it took over her sight.
[ PING! Bothersome...? Lame Brain!? Hostess I… ]
"I'm like just under five feet tall..." Naomi couldn't help but point out bitterly, tapping her bottleneck boots on the ground, ignoring the system. "These shoes hardly have a sole!" She sucked on her teeth in annoyance.
[ PING! Lady Maddison! ]
"WHAT!?" She'd roar as she cocked her head off to the side, flinging her hair as she did, as if there was someone to see... but there was no one there. "And who the heck are you calling Lady?"
Coyly wrapping her arms around herself initially, she began to wander.
[ PING! My name is Meta, it's a pleasure to serve you. ]
"Uh-huh… You going to proclaim to be my best friend?"
[ PING! No, but I would like to be your friend! I don't have any. ]
"Ooooh?" Naomi was following the river current, pebbles torturing the bottoms of her feet through the thin leather of her little white boots. "I'll think about it..." She stopped as she took a single a circular wobble-like motion to take in her surroundings.
[ PING! What's there to think about? ]
"Where is this Dungeon I was told about…?" She ignored the system as she brought her left hand to her cheek in thought. Blinking a few times, she started to caress the small bits of white diamond shaped scales on her face.
[ PING! Glad you asked! Due Northeast, two hundred paces. ]
Naomi pondered as she began walking in the Northeast direction, basing her trajectory on the location of the afternoon day sun. "So.. IF you want to be my friend, tell me… What's on my face?"
Her eyes flickered over to her shadow, as if she had seen something move in the corner of her sight.
[ PING! They're scales! Would you like to see your Status? ]
"What's a Status?"
[ PING! You said it! ]
|| Name: Naomi Riley Maddison
|| Job Title: Dungeon MetaCrafter
|| Classes: N / A
|| Race: Moe Dragon Girl
|| Level: 0
|| Training Points (TP): 0/5
|| Skill Points (SP): 0
|| Aether Points (AP): 150
|| Commands:
Naomi gasped as her jaw practically dropped when a greenish transparent screen appeared in front of her at eye level. "This is like one of my idiot brother's light novels!"
[ PING! Isn't that the person who killed you? ]
"Yes..." She'd utter under her breath, hate evident in that very word. The night that was supposed to be the best in her teenage life was wasted, accidentally killed by her stupid older brother!
What exactly was he planning on doing with her if it didn't kill her anyways!?
Naomi narrowed her eyes on the gaping mouth of a cave… Or was it a mine? There was a clearly fabricated entrance to this Dungeon made out of polished smooth slate stone bricks.
The entrance from what she could tell, was so polished and clean, the moment she was within a few feet of them, she could see her reflection. She stared at the one gold eye and the other blue eye which was staring back at her.
"Whoa..."
[ PING! Like the New Looks? ]
"Cute… Why am I so short though?" She brushed her fingers against the smooth surface of the slate stone interior wall of the dungeon only for her to glance down at her lacking bosom. "And still ...small...?"
Naomi had to be around four feet eleven inches tall right about now, with a layered jaw length hairdo. There were little dark golden horns protruding from right above her short pointed ears.
She was clearly babyfaced with a rounded head, a pink tinge on her pale skin, a thin visible neck, there were very few blemishes. The only thing that lacked symmetry was the color of her eyes!
[ PING! You're a Moe Dragon Girl! You're supposed to be small. ]
"And… I know middle schoolers with bigger breasts than me!" She pushed herself off the wall, her eye twitching as her feet began to relax a bit on the flat surface of the dungeon floor.
[ PING! I did not choose your appearance. You have my condolences? ]
"No matter, I didn't want to be here anyways…" she let her arms fall to and dangle idly at her sides as she walked on. The further she got into the dungeon, the less natural light there was. Blue flaming torches began to light the way, igniting along her path.
[ PING! Would you like to learn how to use the Crafting Interface? ]
"Crafting Interface?" She asked before an large green interface appeared in front of her, startling her enough to nearly send her falling backward to the stone floor!
"What the heck is wrong with you!?"
[ PING! Whatdoyoumean? ]
"..." Naomi clicked her teeth together harshly before poking the interface, her finger going right through it. "How do I use this?"
[ PING! With the MetaCrafting System, you can use AP to create literally just about anything from anything. It costs ten points to make food, twenty points to create regular items, and fifty or more points to create magic items. Constructs can cost as much as a hundred or more points! ]
"...Uh… How do I get more AP?" Naomi found herself reluctant to ask the question.
[ PING! Hm? Right. Aether Points are acquired by defending the Dungeon properly against Invaders. ]
"So… You're telling me I have to kill people to be able to craft things?"
[ PING! Or destroy things that already exist. ]
"Like a twig…?"
[ PNG! Yes, Precisely! ]
A small grin formed over her lips as she glanced behind herself to look toward the entrance she had once came in. Yet, that grin faded quickly as she noticed there was no longer an opening there.
Was she lost already!? How'd she get so far deep into the Dungeon without taking note!?
[ PING! Your first party of adventurers has found the entrance! Prepare yourself! ]
"Oh by the love of Pete..." She muttered under her breath as she began walking back in the direction of which she came, biting her lower lip. She wasn't a gamer, but she had seen plenty of fantasy movies, she just needed to think!
Closing her eyes as she began to hear the clashing of weapons up ahead, she came to a halt in her advance. She tried to imagine, to construct, to build a magic tool with desired effects.
Suddenly when she opened her eyes, an item was floating in front of her in place of the screen.
[ PING! -50 AP, Lesser Yew Wand of Flaming Current. Charges: 10/10. ]
[ PING! Milestone Reached: First Item Crafted. +5 TP +25 AP ]
[ PING! DooDooDooDoo! LEVEL UP! +100 AP +3 SP]
|| Name: Naomi Riley Maddison
|| Job Title: Dungeon MetaCrafter
|| Classes: N / A [[ Open Skills Menu ! ]]
|| Race: Moe Dragon Girl
|| Level: 1
|| Training Points (TP): 0/10
|| Skill Points (SP): 3
|| Aether Points (AP): 225
|| Commands: