Chapter 29: New Exploit

Chapter 29: New Exploit

I woke up with Grotto hovering a few inches over my face.

“Gah!” I instinctively reached up and tossed the C’thon away, and Grotto tumbled through the air, then righted himself without hitting the far wall. “What the hell, Grotto?”

[I have finished my initial observations and I was waiting for you to regain consciousness.]

“Did you have to-” I realized I was talking out loud, and swapped to speaking mentally. I didn’t think there was much risk of someone hearing us in the hall, but I wanted to get into the habit of only speaking to Grotto subvocally. This was both to train myself to get better about filtering the thoughts that made it through to him, and also for operational security.

[Did you have to hang there right over my face?]

[I wanted to be alerted the moment you came to.]

[Then watch me from somewhere else! Farther away! Actually, don’t watch me while I sleep, that’s weird.]

[Why is that weird? I have watched many Delvers as they slept within my domain.]

[First, not your domain. Second, that’s still weird. Third, I’m the boss so give me at least...six feet of personal space while I sleep.]

[Very well. I will indulge this aimless request. If that matter is settled, I require your participation to perform an experiment.]

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I wasn’t awake enough for this.

[What kind of experiment?]

[The door to the Closet stayed open while you slept, but I want you to try and close the door while I am inside.]

[Fine. Sure. Go back in.]

Grotto floated back inside the modified inventory, and I focused on closing the door. It took another full minute of concentration, then the doorway collapsed into a point and blinked out of existence.

[Can you still hear me?] Grotto asked.

[Yeah. Hey, that’s pretty cool. That could be useful.]

[Indeed. If I am in here, then I am not subject to the attention or hostility of those around you.]Upstodatee from n(0)/ve/lbIn/.(co/m

[Wait, can you put yourself inside an inventory slot? Can I pull you out through the interface?] I opened the inventory window and waited a minute, but no mini-Grotto symbol appeared.

[It appears that I am unable. The stasis may not be able to receive a living organism, or perhaps it has to do with my status as a Delve Core, or as your familiar.]

[Eh, it was worth a shot. Hey, try taking an item out of stasis.]

I watched as one of my pairs of pants disappeared from the screen.

[Oh, fuck yeah. Now try putting it back.]The pants reappeared. [Ok, hold on.] I climbed out of bed and looked around the room. I picked up a candle and placed it into my inventory. [See that? Can you take that out?]

He did, then placed it back into stasis and I pulled it out of inventory then placed it back onto the writing desk I’d taken it from. While Grotto was inside of the Closet, I could effectively use the entire space as my inventory, with Grotto swapping things in and out of the quick access. I wasn’t limited to only half.

[This will make delivering materials to me much easier.]

[Oh yeah, that’s true. No need to open the door to mess with the contents. You can manage it all from inside.]

It was a discovery that was well worth the rude awakening, and I was sure there were some other ways we could exploit the ability.

Although I understood that Grotto made the discovery with the intent of having me act as a supplier of goods for him, with instant delivery, the fact that he’d discovered such a useful feature pushed me over the edge when deciding whether to go along with his Delve creation. If things got too out of hand, I’d figure it out then... somehow.

Tomorrow’s problems for tomorrow’s me.

I did not immediately acquiesce to his demands that I become a materials supplier, opting to instead spend the morning trying to figure out a more permanent living arrangement. I placed my leather vest in my inventory, since I wasn’t aiming to intimidate anyone, and dressed in an outfit that whispered of money without drawing attention to it.

Something that showed someone with a discerning eye what I wanted them to see, without appearing ostentatious to those who might judge me for the same. The way a two-hundred dollar dress shirt made most people raise an eyebrow when you told them how much you paid, while still drawing compliments from folks who thought themselves chic. Essentially, it was a bunch of overpriced fabrics that served the same basic function as the ones you could get for one tenth the cost. Still, they looked good.

I kept the boa, though. No reason not to look sexy as hell.

Freshly dressed and groomed I set out for Formation’s Deedsman. The Deedsman was a position that carried with it the title of low-lord, and the lord held a hybrid role as both realtor and title officer. Based on the information I sussed out from the merchants I’d visited the day prior, there were no private citizens who managed real estate transactions. It was all facilitated through the city itself.

[It is, though nothing so rudimentary and crude as what I have seen wielded by many Delvers.]

[Doesn’t that take refined chips and essences?]

[It does.]

[Are you going to use my chips and essences?]

[You mean the ones you pilfered from my Delve? I am.]

[How many?]

[One emerald chip will be sufficient to serve as the seed mana for these inscriptions. The poison essences are not ideal for the process, but I can break them down into more fundamental components to get what I need. It may take two dozen or so.]

[I see.]On top of the cost of materials earlier in the day, the startup capital for this project was ballooning pretty quickly. [Any other materials of staggering value you’ll need to get this thing going?]

[You don’t even know how much the essences are worth. But, no. This will suffice for now. Once the obelisk is constructed, the Delve will begin providing its own resources, though the process can always be enhanced by procuring more materials.]

[Maybe I should have started an LLC to offset some of these costs. I wonder if Delve Obelisk is something I can depreciate and claim on my taxes.]

[Your words are nonsensical.]

[See, this is why they need to teach business fundamentals in public schools. Our education system has failed you, Grotto.]

Grotto paused his work and glanced at me with his dark eyes.

[Are you done?] he asked.

[I guess so. Is there anything I can help with? Maybe you should teach me some mana-weaving. Is it hard to learn?]

[I came into existence possessing all the knowledge required to perform the necessary weaves. I am unable to pontificate on the relative difficulty an organism such as yourself might have when learning the art. I also doubt that I would be a suitable instructor for the same reason, and such instruction would be an impediment to completing this obelisk.]

[Well, shit. I should have bought some books or something. Library is on the agenda for tomorrow, but if I’d known I’d be sitting here staring at a fluffy octopus all night I would have grabbed something to make use of the time.]

[If you wish to maximize your utility in this endeavor, then you may meditate and dedicate your mana regeneration to expanding the space.]

[Oh yeah. I guess instead of staring at you I can stare into the void.]

[You have an aura, do you not?]

[I do.]

[Then if expanding this domain is insufficient to motivate you to apply yourself, you can advance your aura while meditating as well.]

[I didn’t say I wouldn’t do it. Just getting myself mentally prepared. Meditation has never been my strong suit. How does advancing my aura work, though?]

[It continues to astound me the amount of knowledge that you lack, but I do not fault you for it.]He spun back to me. [I suppose your Earth education system has failed you.]

[Was that a- a joke? Grotto?]

[Merely an observation.]

[To be fair, there are no auras on Earth. I mean, none that work like this, if there were. Then again, it’s not like I was too plugged in to the new-age lifestyle. So, maybe?]

[Simply meditate as you would normally. Focus on the world around you that falls within the embrace of your aura, and attempt to bring it into focus. And don’t forget to dedicate your mana regeneration, this space is too small to accomplish anything meaningful.]

[At four cubic meters per hour, it’s going to take a lot of meditation to make a substantial increase in total volume.]

[More reason to spend all the time you can working on it. I can further augment the process once the obelisk is online. The obelisk’s functions will also be improved in a larger space.]

[Ok, I get it. We need the obelisk to do a bunch of ambiguous shit, so leave you alone to finish the obelisk.]

[That would be ideal.]