《Dungeon of Logistics》


 Chapter 1 - The beginning

    Dark black nothingness. A void, swirling with energy and yet entirely lacking anything material. The world between worlds. I was here, that is if ¡°here¡± had any meaning in this place. I use ¡°i¡± as a singular, but im not sure that is of value either. Memories, fragments of past lives of thousands of past souls, merging and mixing together. Momentary glimpses of a life lived and a love lost were held and then forgotten only to be replaced again. Other than this swirling energy, I could perceive nothing at all. I don¡¯t even know if I existed in a meaningful definition of the term. It was a time before I had any conscious thought.


    Then, the void broke. The endless swirling energy gave rise to a crack, a hole to a new world. Through it came her, Sky. I remember her divine power reaching out to the mass of energy, pulling together countless fragments in her grasp. She softly latched onto me among them, pulling me. Like a loving caress radiating around me, breathing life into me, forming us together into something unique. No longer just a part of the mass of souls between worlds, but a new identity. A new being.


    The fuzziness of existence rapidly coalesced into a concrete being which I knew to be myself. I felt I now had a substance to call ¡°me¡±. The swirling echos of lives past faded away, leaving vague feelings and desires. A personality of sorts born of eons of mistakes and triumphs. Divine energy permeated my newly formed self. I felt it search me, prod my collective souls and their lives. I felt¡­. empowered by it. I could now distinctly describe when i was a great general who conquered much of the world through fearless expansion. I knew of a time where i worked in a merchants shop and built a new magic enabled pulley system for transporting goods at port. And smiled during a soft summer night under the stars as a child surrounded by friends.


    Sky began to move me, pulling towards this tear in the world. A tendril of divine light radiated through the whole and grew tighter and tigher, as if a rope was being drawn tought. I couldnt move, i was not more than a bundle of consciousness. If i could resist, i wouldnt know how, not that i would have anyway. I was ready to leave the darkness behind and enter this new light.


    Her divine energy surrounded my newborn soul, giving it a form as it brought me to this world. I still could not sense anything outside myself, but i knew the darkness was gone. Replacing it was the warm divine energy of Sky which fully covered myself. Her will began moving me forwards. I then was struck with the the hardness of a smooth and cold material. She pulled harder, pinning me against this object. Then pushing harder, I semed to phase into it in some way. I felt like I was now falling, rapidly coalescing towards a new destination. Towards the center i fell, and fell. All at once, i was there, in the center, fused with it. A bright flash ripped through my world, light and energy radiated outward, taking with it all the remaining divine energy, leaving me, now born, and alone in this crystal.


    > Hello little one


    Not a voice, but a feeling, a direct communication to my very being. From her. From Sky. From my mother.


    > Welcome, my newborn dungeon.


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    My own core started to open itself to me, my senses merged with it as we fused together into a single being. After a moment i began to not feel the rough interior of it, but i feet its exterior, then a few inches past that, then more, and more, and my perception radiated outwards. Suddenly i knew where I was. I could ¡°see¡± everything around me within a dozen feet all at once. Like i was somehow omnipresent over the entire space. I could turn my attention to any detail or any feature and understand it with intense scrutiny, but everything outside my range immediately turned to interception, like there was not anything outside my little bubble of reality.


    Inside my range of perception, at the center, there was what I assumed was myself. A rough cut crystal of a pale blue color floating 3 feet off a rough cobbled stone floor. Similar rough cut stone walls contained me on three sides with an ornate stained glass window covering the middle one. The remaining side left empty, leading i know not where as it faded from my existence. Presumably there was some sort of door or exit there, unsure.


    Oh and how can i forget, Sky. I seemed to immediately know her name and understand who she was. My mother, my creator, the Elder dungeon of the Sky. A 6 foot tall humanoid figure stood, dressed in a flowing gown of beautiful weaving. Purple and red mixing to form a detailed tapestry. She herself was a feminine dragonic being which radiated power and control. With my perception of the world around me so complete, i could pick out the fabrics of her clothes individually. Each thread spoke to me its history, each bead its make, but when i began to inspect Sky herself i found my sight immediately stopped. Her very existence was a dead zone where my will was halted.


    > What do you think? Its a lot to take in huh? Getting used to domain perception can take quite a bit of time but you seem to be picking it up fast little one


    Her mouth did not move, her words were somehow being transmitted directly to me, being perceived by my crystalline consciousness. I tried to form a thought to reply. What do i even say to my creator? How do i even respond? With what i hoped was a confident and strong reply, i attempted to communicate in the way she had and it immediately came naturally to me.


    "Hello Sky. Everything is so new, so intense. This world. Where am I?"


    Her face flashed with surprise, then a slight smile.


    > Hahah and you speak so soon too! My what a strong soul i have been able to coalesce. Where are you? Well my child, you are in the new world. Where specifically? I believe this to be an older human settlement that has since been abandoned, i hope these ruins serve as a good place for your development and somewhere to keep you safe from harm.


    The new world? Harm? What even am I? Without asking her more I immediately knew. Something of this very world provided me the information as if it was always part of my knowledge. I was in a Dungeon core. A being of power rank 8. A being with complete control over a domain around it with abilities to shape the very world as it saw fit.


    Sky¡¯s cheery face stared off into the middle distance for a moment, her eyes hanging in the air. Then a frown as if something had interrupted her. Her eyes lost her soft warmth and turned more sorrowful.


    > Sorry my child, i wish we had more time¡­.. I must go¡­.. I leave you this.


    A gem materialized out of the air from i known not where, which looked not unlike my own self. She placed it on the ground in front of me. It shimmered with a faint glow and shook un-naturally after she had let go of it.


    > I leave you this edict my child: Learn, Progress, Strengthen. And most importantly of all, do not let them know you are a dungeon.


    And with that she took a few steps and disappeared outside of my domain, gone from my world.

 Chapter 2 - First impressions

    Sky was gone now, and I was alone. It has only been a few minutes ago when I was drifting in the void but now my world is so different. So foreign. But also filled with so much possibility.


    I first began to explore my own domain in more detail, this new form still held so many secrets. My own core remained unmoving and yet I was able to focus my consciousness to sweep through the whole area around me. First, the floor below me, the rough cobbled surface known in great detail to me. Each crack, each stone, each valley and trough on its surface were immediately familiar to me. After a moment I chose a single stone that was loose atop the floor. It was smaller than the larger pieces making up structure of the walls. Focusing, i put my attention wholly on it.


    With a mental nudge, I began to push on the stone. I didn''t push with anything physical as I had no form other than my crystal floating in the center of the room, but somehow I knew I could move it. Harder and harder I concentrated, and then I began to feel something! Some sort of power started to slowly seep out from within my core, leaving its protective shell, and moved quickly to the rock. The power wrapped around its jagged surface, seeping deep through its material. And then the rock moved! First it wobbled, but soon It moved into the air entirely. With my will, it slowly floated just like my core was currently. The rock was flying!


    My new found earth bending slowly yielded new fruits as I was not only able to move and interact with the world around me, but to actually shape it. More effort had to be put into it, but I was able to split the rock in two, shave down its sides into roughly flat layers, and produce a very lumpy cube of stone. Pulling the newly built stone cube closer to my core I found my power over it strengthened. The intense effort I put in a moment ago to shape it started dropping away and the stone began to deform like clay within my core''s grasp. Pushing the rock to the edge of my domain I found the opposite, the stone might as well be pure steel with the way it refused to deformed for me at such a distance.


    For a while longer I continued to explore my own powers, taking, shaping, and placing parts of the wall and floor in new and unique ways, learning how innately I seemed to be able to reform any of these stones if they were saturated with my energy.


    My energy? What was the energy I was using even? It seemed to come from my code and permeate objects before allowing me to shape them. Instead of concentrating on the rocks, I shifted my focus to the energy itself which permeated a rock already under my control. What was this power?


    After a few minutes observing the ways in which this power permeated both the air and deep into solid objects I was able to control its flow almost as well as I was able to control the shape of the rocks. And yet I came no closer to understanding what I was actually doing or how. The more I learn, the more questions I seem to have.


    I finally shifted my attention back to the gift Sky left me which was sitting on the floor, the glowing, shaking, crystal. My domain did not penetrate it, leaving a small hole in my otherwise perfect vision. Even without understanding its depths, I was able to feel the slight outpouring of an aura around it.


    Carefully, I reached out to it and started to draw the object towards myself. It acted just like the rocks previously, moving as I instructed. As it got closer to me, I felt my control over it strengthen, my will becoming more absolute. I knew I could break this open if I wanted to. Did I want to? What would happen if I did? I decided to hold off on that.


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    Concentrating back onto it, I began to push more energy into it to try to see what it contained. Applying concentration evenly to all sides, I was aiming to force my domain directly into it. And yet it didn''t seem to budge at all. Redoubling my efforts, and with my deeper understanding of my dungeon¡¯s control over this domain energy, my power erupted from my core and began to mix with the already thick concentration around the other crystal, pushing harder into it.


    Slowly, I was able to feel the hole in my domain that the crystal maintained begin to close. First only the tiniest amount, but then it got faster and faster and finally the entire hole slammed shut fully granting the crystal to my domain. I now knew exactly what this was! It was another dungeon core!


    This other core no longer resisted my control. Just like the rocks previously, I felt I could move and shape it how I pleased. More than that though, the crystal was not just some rock. It felt alive?


    I called out to it in the way I had previously called out to Sky.


    > Hello?


    . . .


    I tried again after I got no response.


    > Hello?


    . . .


    Then I felt something, like a suction force as some of my energy permeating the core was consumed by the core itself, feeding off my own energy. It kept going, more and more of my own essence pulled into it.


    Soon the core of the dungeon no longer felt empty, it was as if a flame now existed there, flickering with power similar to my own. No, it was exactly my own power. It was like a mini me!


    And then I felt it speak back to me. Softly, weakly, but speaking!


    hello


    Was I a father now?


    > Hello there! I think i just resuscitated you, are you ok?


    Its voice felt monotone, emotionless and cold, but after a moment i got a response.


    War. Destroyed. Resurrected? Subservient. Master.


    More feelings than words, each brought with it a wave of emotion. War? Subservient? I guess it doesn¡¯t have its own domain anymore and now operates through my own. Scary, does that mean Sky could do this to me? Would she?


    > War? What war?


    A long pause. The core did not speak for a long time. And yet, it was a part of me, i could feel its core slowly rekindling itself, growing stronger and reawakening. The power flowing through it was my own and fully under my will. I could feel the core¡¯s confusion, and also fear.


    It did not respond.


    And so instead I began to explain my highly eventful few hours of life so far to it, with the hope that it could give me something from them, not leaving out any details, not that there would be any to leave out.


    I paused after repeating Sky¡¯s words back to my fledgling child. She wanted me to grow, do you know how I can do that little one?


    A feeling of determination came back over our shared connection.


    Growth. Yes.

 Chapter 3 - First Days

    The next few days were a blur. Through careful coaxing I was able to converse with Mini and gain some useful insights from a fellow dungeon core. It took time to interpret Mini¡¯s less than detailed answers, but I have learned more about how dungeon core¡¯s domains work.


    Oh Mini? Since they didn''t have a name before, not one they would tell me, I decided to name them Mini. They are a mini me after all so it felt appropriate.


    Mini has taught me a few things so far, firstly, that a dungeons domain can be expanded by concentrated effort. Just like I had forced my domain into their core, I can force my domain past its current bounds. However it''s much harder to push my domain into something like stone than it is to push it into something like air. As such I''ve been mostly focused on slowly expanding through the halls and rooms in the surrounding cobblestone structure to actually figure out where we are.


    It''s been slow going. The further I stretch from my core the more difficult it is to maintain the connection to that domain. In a few cases it''s literally slipped back and my domain has contracted. I think i don''t have enough power to support the full space I am trying to.


    At the moment I have maybe tripled my domain itself by total volume. I have pushed past the original room I was born into, and discovered that just outside of that range was a stone archway which led to a long stone hallway which extends in two directions, both left and right from this room. Ive been able to claim some of the hallway so far, but its all a slow work in progress. I''ve also pushed out through the stained glass window and found we were at least a dozen feet off the ground as I was unable to reveal anything other than the outside wall of this structure. No ground in sight.


    And what has Mini been up to? Well outside of answering my many questions, Mini has been helping me dig into the stone wall of this room. We are trying to construct a shorter path through the neighboring rooms rather than taking the long path that is expanding my domain though winding pathways. Mini seems to be untethered from some of the restrictions I have as a dungeon core. They can move themselves around unlike my stationary self and are taking advantage of this to literally tunnell themself through the wall. By channeling my own energy they can move and form stone just like I can. We make a good team I think.


    Just then I felt a wave of emotion from Mini and immediately could sense it. Mini had broken through the side wall and into a neighboring room!


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    The flood gates opened and I allowed my domain to pour into the new opening. Being so close to my core it was easy for the newly discovered space to fall into my grasp. In a few moments I was able to increase by another fifty percent or more, revealing a full new room to my control.


    Immediately a few things were known to me.


    Firstly, this new space had a chest! I wonder if it held anything interesting. But more pressing than that, it was no longer just me and Mini here.In the corner of the new space, in a cold and dark corner, I could feel it. There was a small mouse.


    Mini, sharing my senses, immediately flooded me with emotions.


    > Dungeon. Growth. Monsters. Kill.


    That mouse?  You want me to push my domain into that mouse? Kill it?


    > Yes. Strength. Grow Dungeon. Grow Power.


    I still feel so limited. Reflecting on Sky and the power she radiated, it seems insurmountable the gap between us. How does one get to that level? She even had a body! How do I get one of those? It¡¯s probably best I pursuit this method to increase my own power rather than mindlessly expanding my domain.


    > Dungeons grow stronger through their monsters fighting?


    I felt what Mini said was correct, like something deep inside my very nature was telling me that this was the way, this was what it meant to be a dungeon. But hold on, why? Why was this nature something i had to obey? Maybe it was the rebellious streak in me, or some of the fragments of previous souls which imprintented their memories to me, but I wanted to reject this implicit goal.


    Why violence? Why subjugation?


    Sky¡¯s words echoed back to me:


    Be different than we were, be a force of change in this world


    No. Mini, I appreciate you are trying to help, but I will not kill this creature. I will find another way.


    Instead of the mouse, I moved my focus towards the chest in the room. With some careful nudging by both my own domain and Mini channeling my energy, we were able to snap off the rusty lock and pry open the chest revealing its contents.


    Jackpot! A sword!


    Wait, why am I excited? What do I even do with a sword? Additionally, there likely was a good amount of ornate clothes in here at one point, but they were lost to time a while ago. And at the bottom of the chest set a final item, a leather pouch containing what appeared to be gold coins.


    This gave me an idea.