It's on Floor 6 when Kindle encounters a group of Dungeon Diving Humans, who don't exactly take kindly to the undead. Using ///World Eye///, Kindle already knows all the stats for all four of them.
The messy-haired swordsman with a buckler draws his blade, while a Half-Elf archer who's taller than the rest quickly nocks an arrow and begins aiming. One of them, a Human healer who wears a white robe, backs up as he lets a female fire mage step in front of him, though she doesn't move to cast a spell yet.
Before the swordsman can even approach, Kindle books it. They hesitate, then bolt after them. "Well shit," the Half-Elf huffs, faster than the rest by a decent amount but still keeping a decent proximity to them. "I guess we found that odd skeleton from the notice. You think it has anything sweet on it?"
The healer is already panting a bit, noticing how far ahead Kindle already is. "I don't know, but I don't think we're gaining on it at all—should we be wasting our energy on this? It seems pretty fast." The girl also seems to flush from exertion already, both of them clearly not investing much into their Strength stat. Though, the other two aren't holding up well either, with how quickly Kindle sprints down the dark halls.
Kindle doesn't get to hear much more of the conversation, soon losing them. It's plain to them that this will be a regular occurence during their journey up and out of the Farentz Dungeon, and likely outside of the dungeon as well. In any case, it'd be best if they weren't seen as an undead when in a public space, and while the leather armor and robe they wear covers most of their body, their face needs to be concealed as well.
Not to mention their inability to speak being a problem. Perhaps it's because they were likely from around here before their death, but Kindle can at least understand the Humans. Still, not having a voice box is a problem for a skeleton seeking to blend in, and learning the "Vocal Mimicry" spell formula and actually practicing it will take time.
Still, with no real urgency and a preference for preparation, Kindle heads down to Floor 9 again to limit interactions with Dungeon Divers, and proceeds to begin their work. After dragging a lone Lesser Skeleton Warrior from a group and killing it, Kindle uses the other undead's own blade to carve it's bones while using an intense "Heat" spell to merge parts, making a crude, off-white mask of bone covering their entire face without opening, as well as taking their leather armor for themselves. Afterwards, they hunt a few Lesser Skeleton Mages to cut their robes and fill the gaps in the armor and putting a hood over the rest of their skull, hiding their bony figure.
Now fully covered and concealing their form, Kindle begins work on tweaking a simple spell circle enough to recreate the "Vocal Mimicry" spell. The fact they know about it in the first place is only thanks to Obsidian's initial flood of knowledge when Kindle was given sapience, though even with that and the understanding of basic spell structure, creating a spell circle meant to be consistently modified to produce specific and precise volume, tempo, and tone while making sounds as complex as syllables is a verbose task, especially for someone who doesn't even know how speaking works on a simplistic level. Luckily, Kindle has at least gotten used to tweaking spell circles.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
The first week produces little in the matter of progress, with the only real result so far being Kindle's ability to produce wind. It's lackluster, but not hopeless, and Kindle has plenty of time.
The second week brings far more progress, with Kindle learning how to fine tune the wind to the point where it's no longer wind, but a vibration, a hum. By the third week, Kindle has begun being able to tune the vibration into a more musical note, and by the fourth, they've begun to make simple songs.
Surprisingly, no Dungeon Divers have shown up to bother Kindle, though Kindle just assumes they're lucky. It might just be that the area the Farentz Dungeon resides in isn't very populated, or that the dungeon is larger than they originally assumed.Either way, Kindle continues their work.
And soon enough, after a few more weeks of practice and failure, Kindle was able to design a "Vocal Mimicy" spell, creating a personalized, smooth, and deep voice to use from then on. It costs only a bit of MP, so as long as they don't use it constantly, they shouldn't be concerned with overspending MP outside of combat.
"Test, test." The method of speaking feels oddly unnatural despite never knowing what speaking is like, but Kindle doesn't mind with how useful it is. "One, two, one two."
Kindle spends a few more hours of practicing, singing, conversing with themself, just to get a good feel of the spell. Once they're confident enough, Kindle kicks themself up, and begins their trek back to Floor 1.
It's on Floor 7 that they meet the two Diving girls they first encountered, with Kindle a bit lost while looking for a Floor 6 entrance. "Uh," starts the swordswoman, brushing her short brown hair back as the studies the oddly cloaked figure passing them. "Are you from around here?"
Kindle stops, not trying to look suspicious, but also not sure what to best respond with, answers "... no?"
The quiet after is nothing but awkward, despite there being nothing really wrong with the response. The swordswoman simply huffs, then nods. "Okay, sorry to bother." And without much else, her and the long-haired archer keep walking.
Counting that as a victory despite the fact they feel an odd emotion similar to embarrassment, Kindle continues moving forward. They meet a few other Diving Parties on their way up, but they mostly just nod or give small talk, which ends up being awkward with Kindle's curt responses, leading to the conversations ending quickly.
When Kindle finally spots a staircase upwards on Floor 1, they pause, staring at the steps yellowed by an odd light. They've only known the inside of the dungeon, and while it's dull and monotonous, it's also something they know well enough to not fear. The outside world is new, completely foreign.
But they don't want to quit now, and they certainly don't wish to continue hesitating when it will bring nothing. Instead, they push their anxiety aside, and march up.
When they exit, they are flooded with sensory experiences. The entire area is dark, but lit by torches and the light from the pale sphere in the sky—the moon, they assume. The soft wind blowing through their cloak and the rustling of the leaves is followed by chirps and clicks from unknown sources, likely other creatures in the distant parts of the woods they're in.
In their immediate vacinity, Kindle is surrounded by a few lightly armored guards who merely glance at them and continue on with their posting, wooden pillars and simple structures and tents surrounding it all. An outpost around the dungeon, to ensure whatever monsters get out are handled.
Kindle doesn't risk staying around, and marches out of the dungeon and towards the dirt road. It only takes a few minutes before they realize they have no idea where they're going, but they continue forward anyways, both nervous and excited for adventures to come.
Hopefully they'll get to see many things, and learn many more.
NAME: KINDLE
SPECIES: LESSER SKELETON SPELLSWORD
SEX: N/A
XP: 115/2100
AP: 0
HP: 280/280
MP: 280/280
SP: 280/280
CON: 14
AGI: 14
DEX: 14
PER: 14
INT: 14
SIMPLE ARCANIST (F)
SIMPLE SWORDSMAN (F)
SIMPLE SPELLSWORD (F)
///BIOLOGICAL IMMORTALITY///
///WORLD EYE///
///UNIFIED FORM (F)///
///HEROIC POTENTIAL (F)///
///UNDEAD DOMINANCE (F)///
///INSTINCTIVE CHANNELING (F)///
///NATURAL ARCANIST (F)///
///NATURAL SWORDMAN (F)///
