Literature / Delve

What would you do if you woke up alone in a forest in nothing but your pajamas?

This is a story about a man named Rain Stroudwater trying to answer that question as he navigates a world of monsters, magic, adventure, and numbers going up. It isn't all fun and games, though. Survival is tough when you are alone, and the dangers of this world are not to be underestimated.

This is a world governed by a system of stats, skills, and dialog boxes. It is vital to know how the system works if you want any chance of having a life of meaning. Too bad someone forgot to include the instruction manual.

Delve, by Senescent Soul, is a web fiction available online free.

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This fiction provides the example of:

• 24-Hour Armor: Tallheart always wears full plate armor to protect himself from his own raw strength. Once Rain gets the Dark Revenant's Armour he adopts this practice too after his near death experience. Thanks to the best spell ever he never needs to take it off to bath or even go to the bathroom.
• Abandoned Mine: Rain's first group quest is to a mine that had been overrun by dark hounds that killed all the miners. While at first it seems like they Dug Too Deep later inspect suggested the monsters busted into the mine themselves.
• Absurdly Low Level Cap: Played with. The actual level cap is currently unknown, but it would have to be over 75. However a person's level cap is set by the Essence Monster they help kill. It seems having a cap below level 10 is fairly common among the awaken due to the rarity of stronger Essence Monsters on the surface. Outside of the depths we have yet to see an Essence Monster above level 20. Although that doesn't mean there aren't any. The higher difficultly for hunting down and killing stronger Essence Monsters makes the process rather expensive and relatively few can afford it.
• And I Must Scream: During the DKE takeover, Watch member Melka remembers her head is cut off by Velika, and then spend some time seeing her headless body before having it attached again.
• An Ice Person: Mahria, daughter of Halgrave & Lavarro, casts ice magic. Her ambition is to unlock a secret mage class, supported by her mother, to the point that she intentionally held back in picking a class even though she is already stronger than the usual Level 5.
• Anti-Grinding: The world has a system where people have a kill an Essence Monster in order to awaken and obtain level up functions. Additionally, the limit for a group to awaken is 8, the maximum amount of people in a party. Rain participating and having a Level 18 cap when he first found himself in this world is very lucky for him.
• Area of Effect: Auras in a nutshell. They will effect any applicable targets with in their radius.
• Armor and Magic Don't Mix: Metal will absorb magic and throw off the aim of spells. While this does allow for strong protection from magic attacks until the metal is saturated, it prevents mages from wearing armor. Instead they are forced to wear enchanted clothing for protection.
• Armor Is Useless: Averted, here armor (especially with good enhancements) can protect yourself from being killed.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Tallheart forges an mana efficient heavy armor and stat allocating ring (which are both bound) to Rain because Rain has been nice and helped him work in his shack.
• The Blacksmith: Tallheart (a cervidian, a tall deer-like figure) class.
• Blob Monster: Slimes are weak (but still lethal) creatures that even the unawakened can kill. They can be tamed by a Tamer class with a taming skill set or being purified enough to be a neutral monster & then get enough mana to slowly become close to the user.
• Broken Pedestal: Mahria towards her mother Lavarro after Lavarro (mind controlled by a Watch leader) reveals that she's a murderer.
• But Now I Must Go: In Chapter 68 Ameliah had to leave Rain for Jarro in order to learn about Velika.
• The Chains of Commanding: The guild leader of Fel Sanadis, Halgrave made a deal with the Watch to police his guild in order to manage the guild. This includes punishing members when they gone out of line, like fining & exiling Rain for opening casting magic in public and reporting a dangerous awakened after it caused a disturbance to the public even if it's his ex-wife.
• Cincinnatus:
  • Downplayed with Rain towards Fel Sanadis. After his escape from the underground, his unintentional pressure & support got the unawakened to follow him and in stabilizing & protecting the weak.
  • Played in full later on at Three Cliffs. Following the Empire's attack on the pirate city most of the pirate kings have fled or died. The remaining pirate king can't be bothered to worry about anything outside of his garden and simply lets Rain take charge. Rain then cleans up the city, both literally and figuratively, and installs a new system of government, while also outlawing several transgressions.
• City Guards: The Watch is a presumed world wide variant of this, focusing on maintaining order against some awakened that might cause harm to the world.
• Class and Level System: People can chose a class at level 5 and will be unable to level up until they chose one. There is an unknown number of classes to chose from, as several classes are hidden from the menu unless you meet the requirements, which can be anything from having certain skills to allocating stat points a certain way, and even other methods. Classes can be changed at level 25, level 50, and presumably level 75, which can include stronger versions of their original class.
• Cool Airship: Rain wants one. Unfortunately this world seems to lack any. He hopes to one day invent one.
• Crapsack World: Depending on the rank of the area, monsters can spawn out of thin air in the dark. This could result in the destruction of a major city in the event of a rank shift. To make matters worse, because of how Anti-Grinding works in this world, most people can't obtain levels or are stuck with low level caps. This leaves them at the mercy of high level awaken. In areas where the Watch's influence is little or non-existent the unawaken have learned to treat the awaken as natural disasters to be avoided and get out of their way.
• Eating Optional: Monsters don't need to eat, they chose to. They will even eat other monsters other than slimes or their own kind. However they can survive indefinitely on mana alone, meaning they can deplete all food sources in an area and still not die out.
• Eating the Eye Candy: Following Rain's physical changes during the delve Ameliah makes frequent commends on his muscular body when ever he is out of his armor.
• Elemental Powers: For an aura user, Rain has the elements of fire and ice to protect himself. In a weak setting, he can control the temperature of his surroundings; in a strong setting, his surroundings either burn or freezes when he damages monster, though it has the risk of harming himself from the surroundings.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Rain isn't to keen on being called the Night Cleaner or Death Zone. He dreads Kettle coming up with new monikers for him and spreading them around. He also doesn't like being called lord, which several people including Velika called him at times and works to discourage it.
• Epic Ship-on-Ship Action: The Heart of Adamant and Tread of Industry try to recapture the Temerity, formally the Fist of Progress, after it had been salvaged and modified by Ascension. The Temerity wasn't fully repaired and lacked it's barrier, but proved too difficult to capture. It was able to outpace it's sister ships and eventually get away.
• The Exile: Rain is briefly kicked out of Fel Sanadis, for after he learns the language and paid the fine days later, opening casting Purify in front of the public, which makes the Watch target the Guild.
• Explosive Overclocking: The Incarnation are the Empire's trump cards. They are able to unleash incredible power to the point where they can fight on par with gold plate adventurers. However once the enchantments holding their bodies together wear out they will literally explode.
• Flawed Prototype: Tallheart has repeatably taken apart the forgewagon and rebuilt it. The early versions tended to break fairly often. Rain's limited understanding about the inter workings of an engine has required them to make frequent changes as they work to figure out the details.
• Giving Radio to the Romans: As of chapter 200 the radio still need work, but Rain has taught a few people about electrical generators, light bulbs, and steam engines. His limited knowledge about how the technologies actually work has slowed down development, but he has found people who can fill in the gaps themselves once they understand the concepts behind it.
• Good with Numbers: Downplayed with Rain, where he uses math to calculate the effectiveness of his skills.
• Heart Is an Awesome Power: Purify, an elementary aura spell that purify poison, corruption, and contamination, becomes this to Rain, since with his understanding it cleans the body, deletes excrement, removes hangover and makes slimes less hostile.
• Hidden Elf Village: The Cervidians had a hidden village where Tallheart and Snowlilly grew up. Unfortunately it was found and destroyed by the Empire's hunters. Tallheart and Snowlilly seem to of built a new one and were smuggling their scattered people to it.
• Incompletely Trained: After the DKE's takeover, Velika is handled with the responsibility of managing Fel Sanadis while being locked in the barrier. Deconstructed since she's here to increase her level cap in order to reach gold plate (level 50), not handling a land that she isn't trained for, thus she had to work with the nobles that she know are taking advantage on her inexperience. And after learning that Westbridge is dead, she fell into depression that she can't get out.
• Imaginary Love Triangle: Rain, Ameliah, and Tallheart are very close to the point were people mistake the three of them for being in a sexual relationship. His affections for Ameliah aside, Rain was a bit weirded to hear people were assuming he was having a three way with Tallheart.
• I Call It "Vera": Bosco was an unawakened noble who had an enchanted spear he named Mercy. It was a bound weapon, meaning it's enchantments only worked for him, but also he was the only one who could recharge it, something the unawaken can't do.
• I Owe You My Life: Rain gains Val's loyally after saving his life on more than on occasion.
• Kill It with Fire: A few characters pull this. Rain's immolate causes targets to burst into flames once it has dealt enough damage to them.
• Language Barrier: Rain starts off not knowing anything about the language in his new world and he has to take time & clarity (literally in his case) to understand how to construct sentences.
• Living Lie Detector: The Watch officers all seem to have this as standard with varying degrees of potency. Sentinels are required for reading an awaken above a certain level, so it isn't foolproof.
• Lockdown: Citizen Westbridge traps Velika and the inhabitants of Fel Sanadis in a mana barrier what even Velika is unable to get out.
• Locked in a Room: After the Watch's failed ambush against Velika, Rain (who himself is ambushed by the Watch when his team leaves the lair) finds himself spending about a week under a bathroom...with corpses of the Watch, though he gets a pet slime in the process.
• Loyal Phlebotinum: Bound weapons are effectively this. Their enchantments will only function in the hands of those they have imprinted upon. The trade off is that only the owner can recharge their mana, which they need a special skill for.
• Magic Pants: The Shift skill from the Arcane Shifter tree allows for the user to turn into a monster for as long as they can sustain the mana cost. Their clothing disappears during the transformation.
• The Magocracy: A variation of it anyway. While being awaken isn't hereditary, nobles are more often then not awaken. They control lairs that allow them to awaken their children and typically pass their builds onto them. Normally they wait until a certain age to do so. However this is not always the case as some nobles have chosen to harvest their family lairs or for what ever reason don't awaken their children. The exact details vary from region to region, but typically the head of state or ruling class are often high level awaken.
• Mechanically Unusual Class: Rain is considered weird by Fel Sanadis (or even the world), as he is a mage specializing in auras, but wears armor.
• Might Makes Right: Possibly because of how leveling works (see Anti-Grinding) and how harsh the world can be, an utility class is seen in a lesser light compared to Dps classes. Even Rain admits that he can make it work due to his relatively high level cap when he's awakened.
• Mook Horror Show: In Three Cliffs nearly a whole Imperial Forth throws everything they have at Rain, from melee to every element they have. His equipment and oscillating wards protect him from their attacks while immolate burns through their health. Despite their best efforts they all burn. Even the Mind who was watching the battle was freaked out by this, unable to fully understand what happened despite their vast knowledge.
• Monster Whale: Whales are the biggest problem for naval travel, short of the seldom seen leviathan. It isn't clear how much they have in common with Earth whales, but they seem to be about the same shape, but also have lots of teeth and are big enough to swallow a man whole. They have been known to attack ships and have more HP than the damage limit, causing battles with them to be drawn out as not even gold plates can kill them quickly. However they avoid shallow waters, as they have to periodically dive down into ranked zones to replenish their essences.
• Mugging the Monster: A group of looters surround Rain, demanding he give them everything he had, but as soon as he lowered his hood they only wanted to leave.
• Mundane Utility: Purify can destroy any sort of poison, contaminant, or virus. Rain uses it to clean the floors, do laundry, even avoid going to the bathroom.
• Nobody Poops: Subverted somewhat, but is something of a running gag. Purify deletes all filth,including excrement, even if it is still in the human body. This prevents the need to use the bathroom if it is used regularly. Although Rain has excluded someone from it's effects after they pissed him off.
• Non-Combat EXP: EXP can be gained simply by using skills, even if there aren't any monsters around. Worker classes are unable to gain EXP at all from combat. Rain has exploited this thanks to his high mana regeneration, using his skills constantly, allowing him to gain levels and ranks quickly.
• Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Rain, as described by Velika in the awakening expedition, his abilities is impressive for their group (which consists of the unawakened), but pitiful when compared to where she lives.
• Perpetual Storm: The Maelstrom is a giant wall of wind in the center of what was once a desert. Its effects are wide reaching enough that it has caused perpetual rainstorms far beyond the visible range. Given that it was caused by reality shattering it's unlikely the storm will subside anytime soon, if it ever does.
• Person as Verb: Pulling a Val becomes code for doing something reckless and stupid after Val almost gets himself killed a few times trying to raise his cap.
• Playing with Fire: Several characters. More prominent with the teenage and rookie fire mage Kettle, but more literal with the seven year old Ava, who sets herself on fire and runs around the camp for fun. For some reason, the horse Dust enjoys this and chases after her.
• Point Build System: By default, everyone has 10 points in each Attribute. They get 10 points for each level, which they can distribute as they wish. They can be temporally boosted with stat rings. A poor balance of points can hobble a build.
• Practical Currency: Tel and crysts are magical crystals found in the bodies of monsters and are used to craft magical items. They can be used as currency though only adventures and those who cater to them care to do so. Everyone else uses the Gold–Silver–Copper Standard.
• Precursors: The Majistraal, an ancient civilization that created the teleportation network and quite possibly the system. Ether their founding or destruction marks the start of the current calendar, which is in the 3000's. Their artifacts are famously indestructible as everything short of that has long since been destroyed.
• Regenerating Mana: Clarity stats are focused on increasing mana regeneration. A class called Dynamo is focused on fully investing in this. It is Rain's class.
• RPG Mechanics 'Verse: Monsters give EXP, check, leveling system, check, user interface, check, health and mana bars, check, stats and skill points, check, monsters spawn out of thin air, check.
• Semantic Superpower: Purify erases poison, corruption, and contamination. This allows it to dissolve all matter of filth and even dead bodies. What it will and won't dissolve depends on the user's perception and can be twisted to suit their needs, such as not dissolving the corpses of edible monsters that it had done before or erasing the alcohol in a person's system if you perceive alcohol as a poison.
• Shameless Fanservice Girl: Velika is a downplayed example. While she doesn't go out of her way to show off her goods she seems to have no qualms about being seen topless or naked. She also isn't above publicly propositioning men who catch her eye.
• The Six Stats: There are 6 base stats, these include:
  • Clarity, improves magic regeneration and ability to remember things. The monolith (fully investing in this stat) class is Dynamo, which makes the user scatterbrained due to low Focus.
  • Endurance, improves stamina & resistance. The monolith class is Tortugo, who would lose the ability to feel anything.
  • Focus, improves mana capacity and magic damage. The monolith class is Animus, who would develop headaches due to low Clarity.
  • Recovery, improves health regeneration and food needed to sustain itself, though the feeling of pain inflicted still remains. The monolith class is Vivificant.
  • Strength, improves health capacity and physical ability. The monolith class is Fortifico, who risk hurting themselves doing tasks due to low Endurance.
  • Vigor, improves stamina regen and muscle memory learning speed. The monolith class is Dustrio, who can run for days without stopping, at the cost of tearing themselves apart.
    • Noted however, that applying stat points towards stats through level ups only improve a body's tolerance to execute tasks related to the finalized stat, and training is required to reach its maximum potential. For an example, a person with a Strength stat of 20 but constantly trains to reach its potential will be stronger than a person with a Strength stat of 60 but isn't as dedicated towards constant physical training.
• Skill Scores and Perks: The awakened obtain skill points that they can spend on skill, which they can later improve and use. Ameliah's class Uncertain Savoir has the ability to reallocate skill points to her preferred build if left uninterrupted for a period.
• Slave Liberation: The slavers of Three Cliffs start freeing their slaves in mass after Rain takes over the city and outlaws slavery. Given that with in a hour of arriving in the city he humiliates the town's only silver plate guilder and met with the remaining pirate king and left in one piece, the slavers assume if he wants them dead then there is no stopping it and quickly cave to his demands.
• Start My Own: After the fall of Fel Sanadis, Rain chooses to form his own mercenary group/company called Ascension from scratch.
• Stealing from the Till: Fel Sanadis guild counter manner Rankin has revealed to be embezzling, through overcharging the quest giver and paying the headquarters in a reduced amount, keeping some of the cash to himself.
• Trapped in Another World: Though after some after adapting to the world, Rain decides to stay since there is nothing there in his own world.
• Unflinching Walk: Invoked by Rain during the expedition to the Fells. After using immolate to cause a pack of kin to combust he hides the mage burn he inflicted upon himself and casually walks back to the rest of the group without looking back, just to show off.
• Utility Party Member: Rain's class best described by Velika in Chapter 87,
  " No, not impressive at all. Except for the absurd mana regeneration. And that monster-dissolving cleaning spell. And the temperature control… And the speed aura… Okay, fine, he’s not TOTALLY useless. ."
• Wham Episode:
  • Chapter 72: The Democratic Kingdoms of Ekrustia (DKE) starts to siege Fel Sanadis.
  • Chapter 89: The Watch rallies some of the awakened in Fel Sanadis to ambush Velika...and fails.
  • Chapter 93: Lavarro killed Citizen Westbridge.
• What You Are in the Dark: On one of his schemes to raise his cap, Val contacts an information broker to buy what he knows about the Fells lair. After concluding their business the broker states he is aware that Val is rather close with the Night Cleaner (Rain) who had been making a name for himself lately and offers to pay for any information he doesn't already know. Val knows a number of things about Rain at this point, including his otherworldly status, level, and skills, but owes Rain far beyond money and colorfully tells the broker to leave.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Carten doesn't like snakes or things that look and act like snakes, such as the case of the crawler vine, even if it is already dead. He will still fight one if he really has to. It has more to do with the way they move, which he doesn't feel is natural.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: A one point Ameliah dresses herself up in dirty clothes, a makeshift sling, and somebody else's blood and limped along with a broken bow in order to infiltrate a camp of cervidian hunters to mark targets and recuse the hostages. Any struggles she makes were carefully measured so as to not hurt the captors... mostly. She then pretended to be unconscious after they punched her in the gut.
• Wretched Hive: Three Cliffs seems to be shades of this, doubling as a Not-So-Safe-Harbor. It is ruled by pirates, at least when they can be bothered to govern the place.
• Wrong Assumption: After equipping himself with the Dark Revenant's Armour made by Tallheart, Rain is seen by Fel Sanadis as a man acquainted with a person of power.