《The Abyssal Sanctum》 Prologue Iron beard raged across the battlefield and slaughtered his enemy long after his brothers in arms lay dead and rotting behind him. He trusted in his blade as he sliced clean through the armored elf standing before him. His arm swung out pulverizing the skull of another soft skin coming up behind him. Iron beard found the elves insultingly weak, cursing these wretched locusts for felling his brothers. He churned mana in his body before slamming his fist into the ground causing the ground to come alive and stone spikes to burst out of the ground targeting the elven swarm. As the spikes retracted back into the earth dozens of the blond haired bimbos fell to the ground around him. Iron beard heard a voice call out from an elf with embroidered mithril armor walking out of a throng of its soldiers. ¡°You don¡¯t have to die, you know. Lay down that weapon of yours and let us through. You can¡¯t fight this war forever,¡± said with a smirk and a sing-song voice. ¡°I¡¯m gonna kill all ye damned soft skins. Ye don¡¯t stand a chance ye swords wouldn''t even cut butter let alone me flesh or armor,¡± Iron beard spat. ¡°While it may be true that we elves aren¡¯t known for our weapons, don¡¯t you think that was a little unfair. Our blades cut through your comrades easily enough. Besides we both know the only thing keeping you going is that pointy little thing you¡¯re holding,¡± the elf said with a wide grin. With that Iron beard leapt forward smashing his fist against the soft skin¡¯s mythril shell launching it backwards. The elf landed on his feet and wheezed before unsheathing his own blade. A rapier embroidered with runes and gems. ¡°You¡¯re not the only one with a mythical blade you know,¡± the elf scoffed, as the runes along the blade began to glow. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Iron beard spat, ¡°That¡¯s not even an elven blade. Ya had to steal that from the dwarves just like every other nice thing ye damned soft skins get.¡± The elf scowled and then rushed forward his blade allowing him to move far faster than the eye could see. Iron beard gritted his teeth and sidestepped the blade and gave the elf another punch to the ribs. The elf slid backwards and then swept forward with his blade. Iron beard swung his blade forward slicing clean through the rapier and the elf wielding it. With that his blade caught alight with unholy flames and he turned toward the rest of the elves standing before him. He charged forward crashing through the front line, his sword leaving death and corruption in its wake. The dead rising as demons inhabited their bodies and joined the fray. Hours of blood soaked carnage continued as Iron beard led his violent crusade through the elven army. The slaughter lasted another day and a half before all that remained was a blood soaked bog of mud and viscera. Iron beard fell to the ground exhaustion starting to take hold from the many wounds littering his body. He gritted his teeth as life began to ebb from his body. His heart beat and blood was pushed out of his body. Iron beard lay his sword on the ground and began corralling the last vestiges of his mana. ¡°Old friend do not worry it¡¯s my time to go. And I think it may be yours as well,¡± the old dwarf said before a cough raked his body, specks of blood speckling his gray beard. ¡°May you never have another master.¡± With that he took one last look at his greatest creation before allowing his mana to flow into the earth causing the earth to become almost liquid, swallowing the sword into the earth''s warm depths. The birth of a dungeon and a deal with a demon A dungeon core¡¯s birth is not a fast process taking decades or even centuries for mana and souls to coalesce into a core. However when they are fully formed it can take the barest hint of mana to wake them. And that¡¯s exactly what happened. If a person had witnessed it, they probably would have been amazed. Not so much by the awakening process, which was imperceptible, but rather by the core that valued a fair bit more than a king''s ransom. Now, not all cores are created equal. There are a grand total of five core types recognized by the researchers of the Profane Hessian and the Holy Atricet Empires. The first and most common core type are the Artificial Mana Regulator Cores, AMRC¡¯s for short. They are commonly used by the wealthy as home security systems and even as a cleaning service. The second core type are often referred to as floating sphere by adventurers due to them being just that, spherical floating rocks. The third core type and the kind of middle ground between the ¡°true¡± dungeons and the lesser dungeons are the metal cores. They are your standard run of the mill dungeons with monsters and treasure. The forth core type, and the true dungeons, are the crystal cores. These cores have a great deal more intelligence than your average rock and have traps and puzzles in their depths. Finally, the fifth core type, and arguably the most diverse and interesting type of cores, are the forge born cores. These are objects that, over time, gained sentience and became dungeons. Forge born cores are by far the rarest type of dungeons. There are four known to exist: a mop, a copper coin, a rusty great shield, and the crown of a long dead king. Returning to the newborn core, it was obvious at a glance which type it was. The sword lay trapped deep underground, yet was still gleaming and sharp, truly a testament of a master craft dwarven blade. As it woke, system messages began to flow into its mind.
Core detected allocating traits....
Matches detected... processing...
Trait acquired
Soul prison
Those beasts you have truly blessed and made your own will not truly fall as long as you live
Trait acquired
Eternal corruption
Those that should dare to wield your glory without your will, will find that they are not the master
Trait acquired
Champions blade
You are one of the few cores in this world that need not cower in fear. May you cut your enemies asunder
The core blinked as it tried to process the information. Or it blinked as much as a core could which wasn¡¯t a lot more than a mental blink. After it made the mental blink, it gave up on sorting through the information and instead gave in to its instincts telling it to assimilate and mold the earth around it. So instead of dealing with, or even thinking about its status and the new traits it had acquired, it began to push its mana into the surrounding area. It was slow going, maybe a centimeter every few seconds and after a few hours it had a ten by ten meter, roughly cubic area under its control. With that it began to mold the stone intending to create a square room with rounded corners. This process was much faster than the first and was completed in just under an hour. After that, it began pushing mana out again before it hesitated. Its instincts were telling it there was something missing and it instinctively opened its status in hopes of finding what that was.
Status
Species Dungeon core
Rarity inapplicable
Name Sanctus Sanguis
Dungeon name none
Floors 0
Generals 0
Champions 0
Elites 0
Affinities Holy,Profane
Mana 96/100
Enlightenment 100
Transcendence 100
Soul 0
Something in Sanctus¡¯s mined clicked as it realized what it was missing. It needed its first general. With that, a system message popped up asking Sanctus to select a starting monster. Sanctus promptly ignored it and instead it created a fine thread of mana and threw it outward and waited. As the hours passed there were a few nibbles on its line but none actually bit until Sanctus felt a tug on the thread. With that Sanctus pulled the thread back in and out of thin air walked a man wearing a dark red suit with a black tie. The man''s eyes glowed yellow and had slits like a snake, but other than that he looked kind of like an accountant, thin with jet black hair and a proper goatee. He adjusted his tie and gave a bow, ¡°hello my name is Markus and I¡¯m here to inquire about the employment opportunity I was recently made aware of.¡± Sanctus looked at the creature standing before him and tentatively reached out to its mind, ¡°Markus will be a general?¡± Sanctus questioned, testing out the mental connection. ¡°Well yes that is what I wished to speak to you about,¡± replied Markus. ¡°May I ask you a slightly personal question?¡± ¡°What does Markus want to know?¡± Sanctus asked. Markus readjusted his tie and then continued. ¡°I really must apologize for asking my potential future employer such a personal question, but do you happen to have a trait called soul prison?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Sanctus replied without thinking much of it. ¡°That¡¯s wonderful,¡± Markus responded in a slightly more excited tone. ¡°As I said before my name is Markus and I am interested in serving as the first champion of your dungeon. I am a greater demon, but I imagine you¡¯ll want further details. I¡¯ll start with my strengths and weaknesses. My weaknesses include a lack of mercy for invaders, timing that is almost too perfect, and sometimes I get a little carried away toying with my prey. As for my strengths, I have an excellent affinity for both fire and plague. I have spent several centuries studying and refining tactics in warfare, and I am well versed in organizational development and workplace management. If you elect to hire me, I assure you that you will not regret your decision.¡± With that he knelt down and bowed his head. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Sanctus felt its instincts guide it as it wove mana and transcendence around the demon kneeling in front of it.
You have forged a pact with the greater demon Markus.
After talking a little more with Markus Sanctus started pushing mana back out into the stone around its little room. A few days went by as Sanctus continued to spread out its mana and mold the stone. At first, becouse of Markus¡¯s request it made a small room next to the core room with a table and chair made from stone. Sanctus then started marking an intricate cave system. When Sanctus finished, the cave consisted of five larger rooms shaped like ovals about two kilometers long and one wide with twisting tunnels snaking between them in a way that one would need to go through each room before making it to the core room. After the basic layout was made Sanctus created stalagmites and stalactites throughout the rooms and in a few of the tunnels Sanctus then created a few ponds, rivers and even a lake in one case. With that done the only thing left was to make an entrance to the surface. So for the next eight hours Sanctus pushed mana towards the surface. As Sanctus pushed mana upwards, there reached a point where it was evident that there was no more stone above and instead it was sand. Sanctus continued spreading outward until it found the stone slope upward where Sanctus then focused its attention. Eventually Sanctus felt its mana touch air and evaporate and so it stopped its upward rise and instead began the process of moving stone. When Sanctus broke out into the surface it had Markus go to the entrance and look outside. From this Sanctus learned that it was on a mountain island with a grassy plane to the west and crashing waves on the north and east. From the entrance on the mountain, the south was not visible. Markus said that being on an island had some benefits and drawbacks. He also advised that Sanctus could make another entrance in the water, flood a few tunnels, and add more of the rivers and lakes to make the dungeon amphibious. Taking the advice from Markus, Sanctus set to work building new lakes and rivers as well as some new tunnels connecting them. Finally Sanctus opened a hole under the sand it had found earlier and watched as water flowed in. Instinctively Sanctus guided the water with mana making it follow the paths and stay in the intended area. When this was done, Sanctus went back through the first floor to look for any unnatural edges or patterns that might give the cave away as a dungeon. When Sanctus had spoken to Markus earlier he had told sanctus that it could be dangerous for Sanctus to be discovered by enlightened races too early. Markus also said that the fact that Sanctus summoned a demon ment that it was a heretical dungeon and the church may not be happy to find Sanctus¡¯s existence. After Sanctus finished its work, it was time to wait. After about six hours, the first creature appeared. It was a small octopus about 60 centimeters from the end of its tentacles to the top of its mantle. Sanctus noticed the intruder immediately and excitedly ordered Markus to kill it. Markus made his way to a river near the small cephalopod and as the octopus slowly entered the river Markus¡¯s hand shot into the water grabbing the creature. With a squeeze and a sickening squelch it was dead. With its death, information about the creature streamed into Sanctus¡¯s mind. It instinctively knew the code needed and how the mana would have to be spun and weaved to create the flesh of this creature. Without even realizing it Sanctus started weaving the pattern and a small octopus plopped into the river next to Markus. Markus glanced at the creature before promptly walking away still holding the pulped octopus. Sanctus made a few more of the creature while he waited for something else to enter the depths. It didn¡¯t take long for other creatures to enter the cave and within three days Sanctus had the blueprints for a black horse fly, common shore crab, blue tailed minnow, common wolf spider, lesser vampire bat, brown rat and a very unlucky raccoon. Sanctus made a few of each creature and watched. After a day Sanctus felt something was off. Sanctus had witnessed a few of his creations kill and consume each other and his instincts said that this was normal and a good thing. However Sanctus hadn¡¯t witnessed any of the creatures that were being eaten feeding. Or at least it hadn¡¯t until the second day of observation when one of the shore crabs ate some seaweed that had drifted into the caves. That¡¯s when it hit Sanctus that creatures being eaten needed to eat plants. Because plants didn¡¯t process as invaders to Sanctus¡¯s instincts Sanctus had never even tried to create one. With this realization Sanctus began to create moss, seaweed, and a few mushrooms that had either drifted in through the water entrance or were brought in through the fur of some of the creatures. After this Sanctus replenished the prey animals and sat back to watch. After another few days of tweaking the number of creatures and the ratio of prey to predators Sanctus finally got a message.
First floor complete
Greater demon Markus appointed as first floor general
First floor will now take on characteristics of greater daemon markus
With that slightly ominous message the entire first floor of the dungeon shuddered. Glowing red veins began to appear on the floor of the caves as rock melted into tiny streams of molten rock flies and bats began to swarm together and Sanctus could see the diseases form inside their blood. The rats started to blister and become bloated, and the raccoons began frothing at the mouth and losing fur. On the other end of things the crabs began sprouting spikes, the fish became partially rotted and dark oily substance began oozing out of their rotted flesh. The spider¡¯s silk caught alight with ghostly blue flames and one of the octopuses grew claws on its suckers with glowing red tips and bright red circles appeared all over its body. However the others octopuses merely seemed to become slightly more venomous. As this took place Sanctus looked toward Markus whose jaw was currently so far down that if it dropped any lower it would probably pop out of its socket.
Summoning honor guard for General Markus¡­
As the message appeared burning rifts appeared in the air around Markus and pale ghostly figures with bright red eyes and sharp fangs clawed themselves out of them. Sanctus gave them a glance and identified them as lesser vampires. Once they were out of the rifts they knelt in front of Markus, who by then looked like his eyes were going to bulge out of his head.
Naming dungeon
Sanctus felt mana beginning to spiral and pulse as it was pulled into its blade. As this happened Sanctus felt the world slow and a sharp pain shoot through its mind. The world faded and Sanctus fell asleep for the first time since it awoke as a dungeon core. When Sanctus woke there was a message hovering in its vision.
Congratulations on creating The Abyssal Sanctum. May those who dare enter your depths finde glory or death
After Sanctus read the message it noticed Markus standing in front of its core. ¡°My liege, are you alright?¡± Markus asked in a voice that sounded just barely more proper than it did worried. ¡°Yes Markus I¡¯m fine, just a little core ache,¡± replied Sanctus in a tired tone. ¡°Did anything happen while I was out?¡± ¡°No my lord everything is as you left it,¡± Markus said with a slight readjustment to his tie. ¡°Good I¡¯m going to look around,¡± Sanctus yawned as his mind drifted off to examine the dungeon creatures. As Sanctus watched the creatures it was surprised at the fact that the diseases affecting some of them seemed to not be hurting them in the least. If anything the creatures seemed to be stronger and more energetic than they had been before their transformation. Some of the rats were even swarming together to kill larger predators. The flies were another thing entirely swarming together and devouring unlucky creatures leaving nothing but bone. Sanctus gave an internal eye roll as it mentally noted the changes. ¡°Real inconspicuous...¡± Sanctus thought sarcastically. With a slight chuckle it started to turn its attention back to Markus, but it felt something visceral shoot through it. Sanctus whirled its attention to the entrance of its cave just in time to see a large brown boot step into the entrance. The Beginnings of a Cult Jake was a hard working man or at least he thought of himself as such . He tended his flock and was the sole provider of meat and wool for the island village nicknamed rats nest for its robust rodent population. He was a somewhat superstitious man which was not uncommon for these island folks. Many saw the singular mountain on their island as a kind of religious icon and made frequent trips to its summit to pray to whatever power had brought this land out of the sea. It was on one such trip up the mountain that Jake came across a strange cave he had never seen before. He thought this a bit odd because he had been up that very path more than a hundred times. Ever since he could walk he had made trips up that very path and never seen this cave. Curious he tentatively took a step into the cave. Looking in he noticed something near the sealing it was a spider that was spinning a web of blue fire. With a slight start he dropped to his knees, bowed his head and gave a short prayer to whatever entity blessed the mountain with their presence and quickly left. Jake quickly made his way down the mountain and to the village. Once he entered the village he quickly made his way to the town seamstress. A small bell dinged as he entered the establishment. ¡°Oh Jake how can I help you today,¡± asked a wirey old lady from behind the counter. ¡°Arlene I just made my way up the mountain for my daily prayers and on the way I came across a cave. I think I felt something inside it. Also there was a spider weaving a web of blue flame. If that¡¯s not a sign to seek your advice I don¡¯t know what is,¡±Jake said excitedly. ¡°I will come and see but if this is nothing and you make me close my shop I want a weeks worth of mutton,¡± replied Arlene with a slight sneer. Jake nodded and with that Jake helped Arlene close up the shop. As they were walking up the mountain Arlene began to speak. ¡°Well if the sign really was to come find me you might be right about a greater demon taking up residency. I mean an angel certainly wouldn''t want anything to do with me.¡± She said with a chuckle. ¡°If it is a deity, shouldn¡¯t we bring it a gift at once?¡± Jake questioned. ¡°Yes I believe we should however not until we know whether it is a demon or an angel. There are some formalities that must happen first,¡± Arlene said with a hint of a smile. As they came around a bend in the path they saw the cave. As Arlene got closer to the cave she began to grin even from the distance she could feel demonic energy seeping out of the cave entrance. She stepped into the cave entrance and felt the transcendence wash over her; this truly was the home of a demon. She took a few more steps inside and a message greeted her.
You have entered the Abyssal Sanctum
Arlene bowed low and gave a short prayer before exiting. She and Jake hastily made their way back to the village. This was big and there were important things to do. Sanctus talked to Markus about the humans that entered his dungeon. According to Markus they were of a cult and could be useful. Markus also said that some creatures have souls and that for a dungeon this was important. Apparently the creatures Sanctus had killed so far were not of a high enough rank to have a tangible soul. Markus explained that all living creatures had an intrinsic rank G-SSS and through a process called leveling a life form could raise that rank this is called evolution in monsters, and ranking in ¡°enlightened races.¡± In reality there wasn¡¯t really a difference. This process of evolution would make changes to a creature''s body, mind, and even soul. Something that Markus stressed was that a creature having a higher rank didn¡¯t necessarily mean it was better in combat than a different creature with a lower rank; it was more like it had the potential for higher stats and better abilities. For instance Markus himself was S rank however his actual combat abilities were closer to low B or high C rank. One of the reasons a creature could have a lower combat rank then their true rank is if they have powerful traits like greater daemon or archangel influence. Markus finally came to explain that for the monsters in Sanctus¡¯s dungeon to level they needed to kill creatures that were at least D rank because the souls of lower ranked creatures weren¡¯t strong enough to remain tethered to reality in the manna filled environment of the dungeon. However invaders were able to level through killing any of the creatures in Sanctus¡¯s dungeon because the very environment that makes souls dissipate actually allows for energy ripples to form when the bond between the dungeon and its creature breaks. Markus then started to talk about the history of leveling and Sanctus drifted off to investigate the return of the humans from earlier. Sanctus was surprised to see that there was another human accompanying them. Well less the additional human and more the state they were in. The human looked to be in her early twenties with light blond hair and tan skin. However the shocking part were the ropes and chains that bound her wrists and ankles and the very recent gashes on her forehead that spelled out the word repent. The human with the most mana spoke to the original human who gave a nod and pushed the new women inside. As soon as she was in the dungeon she seemed to shiver with fear and looked like she wanted to leave. However a few well thrown rocks from the other two convinced her otherwise. As she entered its depths Sanctus felt a hunger awakening within it, but with hunger came another part, a more nurturing part that almost of a sick parent wanting to improve their children. Sanctus acknowledged these parts of itself and basked in them for a moment however Sanctus also knew it would not relinquish control to them. It¡¯s not like Sanctus was going to let the human survive but Sanctus also didn¡¯t want to waste the soul that had just entered it¡¯s depths. Sanctus quickly ordered some of its rats to make loud screeching noises down paths Sanctus didn¡¯t want the human to go. Slowly herding the soul to the one that would devour it and in the next few steps the woman slipped on the edge of a riverbed and red ringed tentacles swallowed her into the water. A moment later, the water turned red. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Sanctus was happy that the plan worked. Sanctus had wanted the uneak octopus to kill her and empower itself whether or not this was a good choice Sanctus didn¡¯t know however the very first creature it had created had a special place in its core. That and Sanctus was curious about why it had had a different reaction to Markus becoming the general than the others. Earlier when Sanctus had asked Markus about it Markus had said that it cold have a variety of reasons ranging from it being Sanctus first creation to just dumb luck. After this Sanctus had grown a fascination with the creature and had gone as far as ordering all other creatures to avoid killing it. Sanctus now doubted anything in the water could kill it after watching what it did to the human. Who¡¯s remains it was currently eating. When it noticed Sanctus¡¯s presence it gave a small wave with a tentacle before returning to its meal. Sadly Sanctus could not watch the octopus forever it also had to find out why the human had come into its depths and if so whether there was a way to get more. So Sanctus turned its attention to the best source of information the dungeon had to offer¡­ Markus. Markus explained that his presence had probably led to the creation of a cult and that the woman was most likely intended as a sacrifice. Markus also said that more of these sacrifices would most likely come in the following days. Markus was right in the days to come more people were forced into the dungeon and more still were joining the cult. Sanctus tried to direct most of the sacrifices to his favorite octopus however some died from other things such as the new traps Sanctus had created. In the past days Sanctus had started to create a few pitfalls to scatter across the first floor and out of the ten sacrifices Sanctus had received three fell victim to them one killed itself but the other six were all killed by the octopus. What was interesting is that the souls Sanctus was receiving could be stored in its core. At the beginning it was just immediately giving them to its octopus but Markus had convinced it to at least save the souls from the humans the octopus didn¡¯t kill. This ment Sanctus currently had three unused souls and he had an idea. It was going to create its first D rank creatures. The difference of creating a E ranked creature and a D ranked creature was much more complicated. To create a D ranked creature Sanctus had to mold it and replicate the blueprint manually. Sanctus started by creating a replica of the human creatures and then went forward making pale skin, violet photosensitive eyes adapted to life underground there fingernails were long and black ending in points long hair flows down their back looking almost alive cuts appeared on their necks and with a burst of instincts Sanctus whispered a name. ¡°Sororitas Nocti¡± with that, a shimer swept across them and a message appeared.
Species Sisters of the night
Rarity
Habitat humanoid
Average species Stats amphibious
Str 15
Dex 25
Con 10
Int 25
Wis 15
Luck 5
Description These humanoid monsters were created by the dungeon Sanctus as a more dangerous human that was adapted to life underground. Little else is known about this creature.
Not so secret dungeon Cassius stood atop the bow of the ship, his party members in varying states of alertness behind him. That morning they had received a distress call from a nearby island and the captain of the ship had agreed to make a detour. ¡°Hey Cassi do you think there will be any hot island chicks?¡± Asked Julien the party¡¯s warlock. ¡°How is that a relevant question?¡± Cassius replied with a deadpan glare. ¡°Of course it¡¯s a relevant question!¡± jumped in there roge who Cassius knew had been sleeping just seconds earlier. Cassius swore that girl had some sort of elven blood in her for how lightly she slept. He looked to the other two who nodded or shrugged. Before giving a sigh of defeat and saying. ¡°I don¡¯t know whether or not there are any attractive women.¡± The rogue and the warlock high fived before walking off to talk about their exploits. It took another day and a half before they reached the island. As the ship docked the party jumped over the railings glad to finally be on solid ground. The town they entered seemed more accurately described as a large village, but there was something wrong with it. There were no people in the streets and most of the houses had boarded up windows. The group continued alone through the main dirt street until they reached the only brick building in the city. Julien quickly ran over and started knocking on the door keeping up a fast, unending flurry of knocks. Julien had barley been knocking for more than twenty seconds before a rather plump man in silken robes answered the door. He looked around nervously before jest jesruring for them to come inside. ¡°Hello I¡¯m Elliot the Baron of these lands and the one that sent out the distress call.¡± The plump man said upon entering a large room covered on every wall with paintings. In addition to paintings the room had an excess of luxurious cushions and couches to the point one could barely move without tripping over one. ¡°We came as fast as we could lord Elliot. Do you mind filling us in on what exactly the emergency is and why your city looks like a ghost town?¡± Cassius asked biting the last few words out as he watched Julien and the rouge begin throwing themselves at the pillows. ¡°Yes, yes I do suppose that would be helpful wouldn''t it.¡± Elliot said with a nervous chuckle before continuing. ¡°You see a couple weeks ago people started going missing. It started out with a person a night but it quickly escalated to the point where when we woke up this morning five people were missing and we don¡¯t even know what¡¯s causing it.¡± ¡°Are there any monsters on this island capable of this that you know of?¡± Cassius asked knowing full well that an island of this size could support little more than a small goblin village. ¡°No not that we know of however there must be, because at night when the screaming starts it goes inland.¡± The Baron said sheepishly. ¡°So you mean to tell us that people are going missing in the middle of the night. Not quietly mind you but flat out screaming and you haven¡¯t sent any guards to you know¡­. figure out what it is?¡± Julien cut in. A disgusted look plastered on his face. ¡°Well you see we did send out guards the first few nights but they either disappeared or found nothing.¡± Elliot said, sounding even more sheepish. ¡°Well isn¡¯t it obvious then?¡± Julien said standing up. ¡°People are doing this. We all know this island isn¡¯t nearly large enough to support a monster capable of this and if the screams go inland it¡¯s very unlikely we are dealing with a sea creature. It doesn¡¯t take a genius to figure out you probably have a group of people going on a killing spree.¡± ¡°Julien.¡± Cassius interjected with a warning tone ¡°you don¡¯t know that we are dealing with humans.¡± ¡°No Cassius Julien is right. It is far more likely that we are dealing with humans and the people know that too. You saw the distrust and the heavy atmosphere. People deal with monsters differently than they deal with their own.¡± Responded the rouge with a long sigh. ¡°But-¡° ¡°See Cassius Tina agrees.¡± Julien responded smugly. ¡°Yes, well it would be helpful to do some investigation. Would it be too much to ask you to point us in the direction of the screaming, lord Elliot?¡± Cassius said in a defeated tone. ¡°Yes of course. The screams head east toward the mountain.¡± Elliot replied. Stolen novel; please report. With that Clare the party¡¯s cleric stepped forward ¡°I think it may be time to take our leav. I would prefer we make progress before sun down.¡± Cassius nodded and the group headed out. Julien suggested they set up camp on the mountain and wait for the screams. The rest of the party didn¡¯t love the idea but nobody had a better one so it was decided. They would try and find a place on the mountain to set up camp.
With the creation of its first D rank creature Sanctus decided It was time to create a new floor. After considering it for a moment it began pushing mana downwards slowly expanding its domain into the earth. It was tedious work and after a few hours of it Sanctus finally figured out that it could split its attention. It had a small part of its mind push its mana further while the majority was able to focus on the rest of its dungeon.In particular the new creature that had just swam into its dungeon. Sanctus watched as the eel swam deeper into the depths of the dungeon. With almost giddy excitement Sanctus sent its favorite octopus to go deal with it. Speaking of the octopus it had begun toying with its victims, pulling them under water and letting them drown. It was a rather gruesome form of execution however, to the octopus it seemed to be important. With the drowning of its victims it had also started a collection that it squirreled away to a dead end tunnel it had turned into a sort of den. The cave had become almost a forest of dead bloated bodies floating in the water. Sanctus looked at the den for a few moments before feeling the death of the eel. Sanctus considered the blueprint and decided to wait until the second floor had been developed before creating any eels. Sanctus then refocused its attention on its entrance waiting for the cult to return with new prey. Sanctus felt the familiar feeling of souls entering its dungeon, but these were different, brighter. Sanctus looked closer at the intruders, there were five of them, a shiny blond one, a relatively small one who¡¯s features were hidden by an embroidered cloak, a pointy eared one holding a curved stick, and two that felt similar to Sanctus¡¯s mana yet different from each other. Sanctus watched them continue into its dungeon yet hesitated to send them to its octopus. They seemed different from the other humans that entered its depths and Sanctus didn¡¯t want to risk putting its favorite creature in danger. The group continued downwards until they met the first pitfall. Sanctus felt a spike of anticipation as the intruders approached the trap, however much to Sanctus¡¯s disappointment the cloaked one stopped the group before they met the trap. Sanctus focused closer and heard the words they were saying. ¡°Definitely a dungeon, the trap is too seamless, it¡¯s like the pitfall was formed naturally,¡± the cloaked intruder said. ¡°This could explain a lot. A profane dungeon capable of summoning a greater demon combined with a fanatic group on a secluded island would perfectly explain the disappearances and general sense of distrust in the city,¡± replied the shiny one. ¡°We should return to the entrance and message the guild for further instructions on how to handle this.¡± The others seemed to agree and the group headed back the way they had come. Sanctus cursed internally as its prey exited the dungeon. It had really wanted to kill those intruders and find out what made them bright. Alas it seemed Sanctus would have to wait for that answer. It gave a sigh of defeat before returning to the tedious project of pushing mana and waiting.
As the group made it out of the dungeon Cassius was already pulling out his guild crystal. Cassius then threw it to Julien who began feeding it mana, this caused it to light up and flash colors for a few minutes before it suddenly projected the upper torso of a burly old man. Who then began to speak ¡°This better be important Cassius I¡¯m on my lunch break,¡± Cassius chuckled before responding, ¡°yes sir, it is important. We found a profane dungeon while investigating a distress call. We think there is a cult or some other form of religious fanatics that are sacrificing other people to the dungeon.¡± ¡°Yes I see, that does complicate things. Do you know what type of core it has?¡± Asked the old man. ¡°Most likely crystal possibly a very powerful metallic,¡± replied Cassius ¡°I see. That complicates things if it was weaker I would tell you to destroy it, but the possibility that it is a crystal core changes things. They are a valuable asset and if the dungeon wasn¡¯t religious I would tell you to allow the locals to proceed with their sacrifices for the pure reason of jumpstarting its growth. However the fact that it is profane means that if we allowed a murderous cult to continue sacrificing people to it the church might feel we are showing the cult favoritism,¡± rambled the old man. ¡°So how exactly do you want us to deal with this?¡± Cassius asked. ¡°See if you can lure the cult into the dungeon. Then kill them for illegal activities. That way the church will be happy and the dungeon will benefit from their deaths.¡± The old man said with a bloodthirsty glint in his eyes before ending the communication. Cassius and the other group members were not surprised about the orders they had been given. This kind of thing was not too uncommon. The guild would look for any excuse to have people die in a fledgling dungeon, after all the quicker the dungeon could be big enough to make a substantial profit off of the better. Cassius sighed before turning to Julien ¡°see if you can¡¯t make a psychic lure in the dungeon. We will lead the cultists as deep as possible before killing them. Remember to try and let dungeon creatures get as many kills as possible.¡± Julien nodded before muttering ¡°we better get a bonus for this,¡± under his breath. A Deal With Markus It wasn¡¯t long before Sanctus felt the bright people return. However to Sanctus¡¯s disappointment they did not venture far into the dungeon, but instead four of them set up a small shelter in one of the branching tunnels while the last chanted something and bent mana around the entrance. Deciding that the group wasn¡¯t going to venture into the dungeon Sanctus gave a disappointed sigh and sat back to watch. About five hours later the group seemed to have settled down to wait. Sanctus was tempted to send a group of rats after them, but decided to continue keeping the rats in the larger rooms. As much as Sanctus wanted to attack its potential prey, it had internally decided to wait until they entered one of the areas that were intended for them. Sanctus was a little surprised at its own decision, it was like the decision was made for it. Sanctus grasped at the feeling. It was like grasping at an oiled metal sphere underwater. In a moment Sanctus had completely forgotten what it was doing. Sanctus returned its attention to the people in the tunnel. The majority were resting or playing with cards, however the one the others referred to as Julien had left the group and wandered deeper into the tunnels. Sanctus watched as he entered the first of Sanctus¡¯s larger caves. This was the furthest a human had entered into the dungeon and Sanctus was ecstatic. With a twitch of the mind Sanctus sent a swarm of plague rats at the human. Much to Sanctus¡¯s dissappointment Julien simply lifted off the ground, hovering just out of the rats jumping distance. Sanctus felt a tinge of annoyance at the human''s simple escape, but if the human wouldn''t fight the rats he would fight the flies and bats. With that Sanctus sent the swarms at the floating human. Bats and flies that would normally be natural enemies given the bats'' insectivorous diets swarmed together to assault the intruder.
Julien hovered above the ground not wanting to kill the dungeon''s creatures. All he really wanted was to talk to the dungeon''s summoned general and potentially receive a curse. It had been nearly five years since he received his last one. It was rare for a dungeon to have a profane affinity, rarer still for the core to be a high enough grade to gain political protection from the church. The two curses he had received in the past were both given to him by greater demons in one of the few profane dungeons in Hessia, Hessia being one of the few empires that would not allow the church a foothold within its borders. Unfortunately that one was a very weak dungeon. A copper core with a total of twenty floors. However given the core''s type and grade it only had two greater demons and their power was less than ideal. Of course there were always summonings but they were far too expensive for an aspiring warlock even a decently powerful one. The sound of buzzing and beating wings broke him out of his musings. Glancing at the approaching hoard he held out his hand and allowed chaotic energy to build up in his palm. Concentrating he allowed the energy to break his skin and pull a fine strand of blood around him. With a snap of his fingers (more so for flare than anything else) the ring of blood quickly expanded to form a sphere around him. As the energy decreased to a trickle the blood began to congeal forming a thick viscous barrier around the warlock. Things that flew generally did not continue to attack something when they were weighed down with coagulating blood. Julien closed his eyes allowing his mind to view the area around him. He gave a slight chuckle as he watched the swarm of insects and bats try to find a way through his defense. With a slight snort Julien refocused on his original goal. He stuck his hand in a pouch at his side and began pulling out items. Julien pulled out three candles, a vial of what appeared to be silvery blood, and a large leather-bound tome that could not possibly have fit in the rather small pouch. Once Julien had all of the items floating in front of him he began to use his mana once more. Julien uncorked the vial of blood. Slowly pouring the blood into the air, he carefully directed it with his mana, forcing it into a complex pattern in front of him. A small flame was brought to life before him and he used it to light the candles. Finally as the candles took their positions around the ritual pattern Julien grabbed the tome in front of him and opened it to a page depicting the ritual. He placed his hands on the pages and gave a chant. When the last word left his lips, the words in the book began to glow and he closed his eyes. It didn¡¯t take long before Julien heard a voice ¡°It is nice to see that there are still those who respect the old ways.¡± Julien¡¯s hairs rose across his body, a mixture of fear and anticipation coursing through his veins. He bowed slightly making sure to keep his eyes shut and make as little noise as possible. Not long after, the voice returned sounding pleased, ¡°You may open your eyes and speak.¡± Julien forced his body to open his eyes slowly. He took in the sight of the demon standing before him before saying, ¡°My thanks for accepting an audience. I wish to make a deal.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The demon smiled before taking his turn to speak, ¡°What is it this deal would entail?¡± Julien gave a mental sigh of relief, the scripted part of the encounter was finished and the demon was interested. On top of that, this demon was not a weak one, but a full fledged greater demon, unlike the two he had made deals with in the past who were barely classified as such. ¡°My party arrived here earlier today and we stumbled across your masters entrance. We have been instructed to kill the cultists who are currently feeding this dungeon. We would like to complete this action in a way that would provide the most benefit. We plan to kill them inside the dungeon. However this is not what I came to discuss. I would like to follow this pantheon.¡± At this point Julien¡¯s heart was racing. A crystal core with a profane affinity would certainly summon other powerful demons. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and Julien did not want it to go to waste so he continued, ¡°The dungeon that you have made your home is sure to contract more unbound demons in the future. I am currently unaffiliated and am prepared to exclusively worship you and your future family.¡± The demon seemed to mull it over for a minute before finally saying, ¡°I will agree to these terms under the condition that I may remove the other two curses that cling to you. Their weakness would be a stain on this pantheon''s first follower. In exchange I will place one of my own.¡± Julien felt a tiny spike of disappointment. While it was true that the curses were weak, they were still the most precious things on his status. For warlocks, curses were not only valuable tools but also what distinguished them. As much as Julien wanted to plead with the demon to let him keep the curses, he knew that it was a fair thing for the demon to ask and that a curse from him would more than make up for it. ¡°I accept these terms.¡± The demon smiled before placing a hand on Julien¡¯s chest ¡°My name is Markus, and as a greater demon of the Abyssal Sanctum I here by strip the pitiful stains from this mortal. May you be reborn as a worthy follower.¡± As Markus said those words Julien could feel the curses on him burn away and a new one form that felt far more stable and intricate than those before.
You have been given a curse by the greater demon Markus
Julien excitedly opened his status to check on the curse.
Curse Purebloods brand
Rank A
Description You were given this curse by the greater demon Markus after you entered the Abyssal Sanctum and pledged yourself to the demonic pantheon within.
Effects Grants the bearer immunity to both disease and age. Additionally it heals the barer every time they kill a creature with blood for the equivalent mass to that of the blood in the victim. Healing will begin with the most life threatening injury and end with minor cuts and scars. If the bearer is uninjured the blood will instead grant mana that can exceed capacity without negative effect.
Julien¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. The curse was well worth it and there were few who could claim to have a better rank A curse. Julien bowed his head and when he raised it again he was alone in the sphere of blood with nothing remaining of the ritual save for the tomb that had at sume point returned to his bag. Julien dispelled the blood and left the cavern. It was growing late and the cult would arrive shortly.
Sanctus was surprised when Markus had asked for permission to potentially make a deal with the human. Markus had explained that humans make deals with demons in a similar way demons do with a dungeon like Sanctus. Markus had also said something about followers being good for demons and mortal souls joining a pantheon. Sanctus was excited when Julien said that his group would kill a large group of people in his dungeon. While it was true that they were bringing Sanctus meals, Markus said that there would soon be an influx of humans and the cult would not have been able to continue. This way Sanctus at least got to reap the benefits of the cultists themselves. In other news, Sanctus had finished pushing mana into the stone below it and had decided what it wanted its second floor to look like. It would be a large open space with water covering most of the floor. There would be sandy islands and paths adding a land route to parts of the floor, but it would be impossible not to get your feet wet. There was just one problem Sanctus had just seen someone fly. It wouldn''t do for invaders to be able to fly across the floor. Fortunately Sanctus had a solution. This floor would have wind that became more forceful the higher you went. In addition, the higher elevations would have hair thin strands of sharpened silver to tangle and cut any creature trying to fly. This would also make the water choppy and allow Sanctus to change up the sand paths by directing wind and currents. Happy with its idea, Sanctus began carving out the area. As it did this, Sanctus shifted the majority of its attention back to the group of invaders and watched as the one named Julien rejoined his comrades. Julien seemed to excitedly tell the group something that all but one who was wearing a white hooded robe seemed to be excited about. They sat around and talked for another half hour before Julien stood bolt upright and signaled something to the others. Sanctus was only confused for a second before it realized what the warlock had a moment earlier. The cultists had arrived. The Fate Of The Heretic Sanctus watched as the cultists entered the dungeon, almost as if they were in a trance. They continue for about ten steps before starting to look around in confusion. They started moving backwards, but as they turned to leave they were met with a charging Cassius. Now, most of the cultists were normal village folk and a charging adventurer in full plate armor was just about the most terrifying thing they had ever seen. Terrified cultists clambered over each other in an attempt to get away from the charging adventurer, as Cassius impaled one of them on his sword. This convinced any of the cultists that hadn¡¯t started fleeing to do so. The cultists ran in a mob, barely stopping at the pitfall as the first few fell in. It only took them another twenty minutes to make it to the first cavern. They started to spread out and calm down a little as they noticed the armored human was no longer behind them. Taking this moment to bring some unity to the group an older wrinkled woman, that oozed mana similar to Julien but much dimmer stepped forward. ¡°We stand inside the sanctuary of our master, we must protect it with our lives!¡± The woman¡¯s words seemed to release a small amount of her mana that washed over the people around her. The words had an immediate effect on the cultists. No longer were the cultists terrified wrecks, they were invigorated. Cultists grabbed rocks off the floor or took knives out of their pockets. The cultists looked crazed as they waited for the adventurers. Sanctus was not interested in waiting for the adventures and instead sent a small swarm of rats at the cultists. All hell broke loose as cultists and rats tore into each other, the bloated forms of the rats clawing and biting at the crazed cultists. During the mayhem, the adventurers finally made their entrance. Bursting through the tunnel entrance they slammed into the cultists pushing them further into the chamber. Sanctus allowed more of its monsters into the fight. Sanctus was hoping that one of the adventurers would die in the chaos but knew it was unlikely. Instead, Sanctus basked in the sheer quantity of souls meeting their end. Waves of power washed into it.
Sidney was disgusted by the wretched dungeon that she was forced to feed. The fact that her team was allowed to purge the cult, only minor solace. With a look of disgust she raised a hand into the air. Wind suddenly picked up making her cloak billow out around her. The look of disgust turned to a sneer as she lowered her hand in a chopping motion, ¡°repent!¡± Blinding light erupted out of her shining across the cavern. Javelins of light striking the filth around her. The light coming from her slowly pushed back the monsters and cultists before dimming and plunging them back into the dim darkness of the dungeon. She looked at her team in satisfaction quickly glancing at Julien with a smug smile. He looked surprised and slightly annoyed. Cassius looked like he was about to give Sidney another lecture about showing off and purposely harassing Julien. However unfortunately for him Julien had a different idea. Julien stepped forward and spread his arms causing a dark miasma to coalesce around him. Sidney was unimpressed she knew what he was attempting and the mana cost. She internally laghed, desperately hoping he would make a fool out of himself. She watched as the miasma formed tendrils and seeped into the ground. With that Julien gave a smug grin as Sidney watched pitch black spikes that almost seemed to devour light shoot up through the ground. Sidney¡¯s jaw dropped as the spikes impaled dungeon monsters and a few cultists who began sprouting thorny tendrils that lacerated them and anything unfortunate enough to be around them. Sidney pouted and Cassius looked exasperated while Julien began to laugh.
Sanctus watched as the adventurers drove the cultists backward. The adventurers seemed to not even take the fight seriously as they showed off and used needlessly flashy tricks and abilities. The only one not doing this was Cassius who as far as Sanctus could tell had given up on convincing his party members to take their assignment seriously. The original sixty or so cultists had dropped to twenty the numbers quickly dropped further until only the witch was left. Cassius stepped forward out of the group of adventurers and gave them a look. ¡°Don¡¯t kill the witch, her death is far more valuable than the other cultists. Better to let the dungeon kill her with one of its creatures,¡± he said before stepping up to the witch and knocking her out with the flat of his sword before she could do anything. ¡°Now we leave and let the dungeon clean up the mess.¡± The rest of the party nodded before turning away and walking back to the passage they had come from killing any of the monsters Sanctus had told to attack them. Sanctus gave an internal sigh before ordering a couple raccoons to drag the body to the nearest river. When they were close enough a tentacle grabbed the witch''s leg and dragged her into the water. The cold water woke the witch who with a look of pure terror was dragged under the water. A few minutes of thrashing later and the water was still. A minute later and the witch was dead. With her death something in Sanctus¡¯s octapuss clicked.
Congratulations! Your fire corrupt octopus has the potential to rank up please confirm evolution Warden of the drowned.
Sanctus looked at the message and instinctively knew that the system had selected the strongest evolution out of those available. If Sanctus really wanted to it could pick a different evolution, but Sanctus did not intend to do so. Sanctus quickly confirmed the message and watched as the flesh of its first creature rippled and stretched. It grew to an impressive three meters long. Webbed membranes grew and connected the octopus¡¯s arms. Its color shifted to a pale gray and long chains with glowing tips grew out of its mantle. As its transformation neared its end the creature''s flesh began wriggling again. The reason was made clear as human like faces in expressions of despair or agony pressed up on the inside of the creature''s skin. It looked like there were people on the inside trapped, forever having terrified expressions. When the transformation was completed another sister message flickered into Sanctus¡¯s vision. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Evolution successful
Species Warden of the drowned
Classification Cephalopod
Habitat Aquatic
Stats
Str 31 Dex 42
Con 42 Int 23
Wis 27 Luck 9
Description This living nightmare was the first monster born into the Abyssal Sanctum. The creature spent the beginning of its life hunting small fish and crabs that made their way into the dungeon. When the demon Markus became the floor general this creature was infused with part of his influence giving it an affinity for fire. With its new size it began hunting larger prey. This is when it developed the tendency to drown its victims. This trait is shown strongly in its evolution, a creature that uses the enemies it drowns as weapons and minions.
Sanctus looked over the information mentally noting that disruption was more acutely life¡¯s story, but other than that everything was more or less what Sanctus had expected after seeing the creature. Sanctus felt a flutter of pride before turning its attention to the souls it had obtained. At almost the same time Markus entered the core room and began to talk,¡°My lord, since you have started creating your second floor and you recently acquired a surplus of souls I would encourage you to create a champion for this floor.¡± Sanctus gave a mental nod and Markus pushed a thread of mana toward Sanctus. Sanctus grabbed the thread and began weaving it through the souls then Sanctus began to mold mana creating forms they looked like humans with a few differences some had an extra arm, others had extra eyes still more had fangs or claws. Sanctus made each one unique, slightly different, less human this continued until Sanctus made it to the witches soul. It was brighter than the others so Sanctus built the body with more care than the others. Sanctus began by creating the abdomen and legs of a spider allowing Markus¡¯s mana to help paint golden runes on the carapace. From where the head of the spider should be sprouted the torso of a woman with chitin acting as armor. An arm far larger than it should have been, began to form on her left side ending in a six fingered clawed hand. For the right side Sanctus created two limbs one was a slender feminine arm with a delicate looking hand. While the other was a hooked mantis looking claw that sprouted from her upper back. Sanctus made a head with for eyes one normal sized eye on the left and three smaller on the right. The mouth was that of a woman and the hair was long and silver. With all the bodies done Sanctus started the second step Sanctus left the spider monster naked and without a weapon because frankly her chitinous armor and natural weapons were more than enough. However for the others Sanctus wove robes of black silk embroidered with runes made from the burning silk of Sanctus¡¯s spiders. Each robe had to be made separate so that it would fit its intended owner. After the robes Sanctus created knives and sickles for the creatures to use as weapons. Finally all that was left was to weave the souls into the bodies.
The corrupted cult has become the champion of the first floor.
With that message the creatures neald. Sanctus¡¯s instincts screamed that it was not done and Sanctus agreed. Mana began cascading out of Sanctus pushing the stone around the room molding it and making the room expand. Pillars began rising out of the ground in two parallel lines that ran from the entrance to exit of the now elongated rectangular room. Pedestals came up connecting to the walls behind the pillars. Status of odd limbs and organs resting atop them. Sanctus made the exit a set of stone doors with golden patterns etched into their surfaces. Sanctus then changed the floor to be bones. Skulls spines and other bones knit neatly together to create relatively even flooring. Sanctus also made a portcullis that could be raised or lower with a lever at the back of the room. Finally Sanctus created a spiral left turning staircase behind the doors to connect the room to the beginning of Sanctus second floor. This was mainly to force anyone who got there to kill the cult or risk going down stairs that would be easier for those coming from the top to fight on. With that final touch Sanctus felt like part of it had just snapped into place and it was time to truly get to work on the second floor. Revelation As soon as the group exited the dungeon Cassius started the tongue lashing, ¡°what have I told you guys about messing around in a dungeon!¡± The rest of the group looked at their feet. ¡°It was a newborn one and we were fighting a cult full of villagers,¡± responded Sidney in a dejected tone. ¡°Oh a weak dungeon and we are fighting villagers. That¡¯s your excuse? What if, what is very likely to be a crystal core got offended by the liberal use of holy magic. Or if the demon Julien made a pact with decided he didn¡¯t want to be a bystander. Just because generals generally don¡¯t try to murder people doesn¡¯t mean they can¡¯t. Look I just want you guys to be a little more careful,¡±Cassius sighed. ¡°We¡¯re sorry¡± Julien replied dejectedly ¡°it won¡¯t happen again.¡± ¡°Well it¡¯s not all bad. At least we completed the mission. Let¡¯s get back to town and send a report.¡±
Sanctus beamed internally. The second floor of its dungeon was currently a sixty by thirty by ten kilometer rectangular prism. It was about twice the size of Sanctus¡¯s first floor and slowly filling with water. Sanctus then began carving the room getting rid of the sharp corners and adding flares like stalagmites and stalactites. Finally Sanctus created sand. The process was strange and different then creating larger rocks. To create sand Sanctus had to weave its mana into hundreds of thousands of different points. It was a grueling task and Sanctus was forced to start slow, but began to speed up once it discovered that it could make a giant rock and break it down into sand. That¡¯s when Sanctus hit the next problem, sand and stone are different and it had taken Sanctus a few minutes to realize what it was. Sand contained large quantities of silica, shards of sea shells, and fish bone. This meant Sanctus had to restart the sand project from the beginning. Sanctus groaned internally as it had to dissolve the not quite sand and replace it with sand with higher silica content. By the second day of sand making Sanctus decided that it hated sand. Finally the sand was done, it had taken nearly three and a half days to make the amount of sand required to form islands throughout the mostly water filled floor. Once the basic layout of the floor was done Sanctus began to move the core room Sanctus pushed the room to the far end of the second floor and attached it under the water. Sanctus allowed the water to fully submerged the room. The only problem was the wind Sanctus wanted. If Sanctus focused it could produce the wind however it didn¡¯t want to use all of its concentration just to make wind blow. Deciding to ignore the problem Sanctus moved on to what it was most excited for. It was finally time to get a new general. Giddy with excitement Sanctus formed a thread of mana and threw it into the same place as it had when it had summoned Markus. Sanctus waited in anticipation for the inevitable tug on the string of mana. Sanctus didn¡¯t have to wait long before it felt the tug. However this tug was not the same as it had been from Markus. Where Markus had gently tugged this tugging felt erratic and forceful. Sanctus pulled and a girl with medium length blond hair and six wings sprouting out of her back shot into reality. The water pushed away from her creating a bubble around her. The second thing Sanctus noticed, after the initial observations of wings, air bubble, and blond hair was that not once did she stop moving. It was as if she didn¡¯t have the ability to be calm and instead had to race around the room. She did this for about five minutes before she ran over to Sanctus and began bouncing up and down. ¡°HimynameisCetrialandimtheangelyousommonedimsohappytomeetyou!¡± ¡°Um what?¡± Sanctus said as it tried to process the mess of words that had just left the woman''s mouth, ¡°can you say that a bit slower?¡± The woman pouted a bit but repeated herself, ¡°Hi my name is Cetrial and I am the angel you summoned. I''m so happy to meet you! Now can we make the contract?¡± She posed for a second before giving a look like she had forgotten something, ¡°oh right my affinities are storm and insanity and I don¡¯t really care what traits you have.¡± She then stared at Sanctus expectantly. Sanctus chuckled internally as it let its instincts guid it, allowing mana and enlightenment to weave and wrap around the angel.
You have forged a contract with the archangel Cetrial
After that message popped into existence Cetrial dove out of the core room and began running around her floor. Sanctus however turned its attention up a floor excitedly calling for Markus to see the second floor. Markus nodded and walked down the stairs from the cult room. The second he exited the staircase and stepped into the room he was tackled by an ecstatic angel. ¡°HI IT''S SO NICE TO MEET MY FELLOW GENERAL! Huh what kind of angel are you?¡±Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°I¡¯m a demon and we are in a heretical dungeon.¡± ¡°That¡¯s impossible! I felt the core forge a contract with enlightenment.¡± A flash of confusion danced across Markus¡¯s face before he spoke, ¡°um Sanctus.¡± ¡°Yes Markus.¡± ¡°If I may ask. What are your affinities?¡± ¡°Holy and profane. Why?¡± ¡°That is an unusual combination.¡± ¡°Yup!¡± Butted in Cetrial, ¡°it¡¯s like if someone had a heat and cold affinity their mana would attack itself.¡± ¡°Although holy and profane are slightly different from elemental affinities,¡± Markus began slowly, ¡°theoretically in a dungeon the conditions allowing this pairing could be possible.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s obvious!¡± ¡°How do you suppose Cetrial?¡± Markus asked. ¡°Well we are both here right?¡± Markus pinched the bridge of his nose, ¡°that¡¯s not exactly what I meant, but you have a point. The one problem is that a core should not be capable of generating both of those affinities. A human may be able to because it is more randomized. A core however pulles their affinities from the surroundings during their birth and since holy and profane affinities act similar to water and oil it should not be possible for a core to have both.¡± ¡°What if it already had them?¡± Cetrial asked. ¡°How would a core already have affinities?¡± ¡°Well Sanctus is a forge born core right? So if a sword was built with let¡¯s say holy and profane artifacts and it somehow became a dungeon wouldn''t the dungeon have those affinities?¡± Markus thought for a moment before responding ¡°if a blacksmith somehow created such a weapon and it was somehow buried in a place where it could become a dungeon. Then maybe?¡± ¡°Is this a problem?¡± Asked Sanctus ¡°I don¡¯t think so, it''s just that you managed to create the first pantheon containing both angels and demons. Sanctus I think you should be quick about populating this floor. The church and cult will have mixed feelings about you and I think it¡¯s best you have some more protection before you get any more invaders. Also in my personal opinion I believe Cetrial and I should take a slightly more active role in defense. I¡¯m not suggesting that we fight each invader to the death, but I don¡¯t think we have the luxury of making this an easy to clear dungeon.¡± ¡°Ok Markus I¡¯ll get to work.¡±
It had been three days since Cassius and his group had killed the cultists. When they gave their report the guild had ordered them to wait on the island for the guild to send an official to take control of the city. While the guild was not in control of the government it was a powerful organization that had near universal authority when it came to dungeons with crystal level cores. This was because most of the kingdoms could agree that they didn¡¯t want a kingdom to be able to hord all of the dungeons of a particular affinity. It was like a kind of truce the kingdoms had with each other. The guild acted as a third party allowing adventurers to travel through kingdoms freely. This would allow people to level and advance their rank while allowing kingdoms to get rich off of dungeon resources. It was similar to how the church and cult operated, but with less controversy. The fact that both the cult and the church approved of and used the guild to train members was also a big reason the guild had power. Cassius thought about how much controversy this dungeon would create. A profane dungeon in a minor kingdom in between to religious superpowers. The Hessian empire would be thrilled while the Atricet empire would definitely not be. The fact Julien had confirmed that the power of the demon meant the dungeon was at least a mid range crystal core would not help matters. At least Julien was happy with the curse he had gotten. When Julien had told the group about it Cassius had finally realized why someone would want a religious class. Those kinds of effects could easily allow some to take on enemy¡¯s ten levels above them. ¡°Hey Sidney if you don¡¯t mind me asking what is the difference between blessings and curses?¡± ¡°Hmmm other than curses being disgusting, and having names like brand, and blessings being beautiful and having names like sigil the only difference is in their affinities like whether the affinity of the mark is aligned with profane or holy. Take plague for example, it is an affinity that is aligned with profane whereas something like greed is more aligned with holy.¡± ¡°What makes an affinity more profane or holy?¡± Cassius asked confused. ¡°It¡¯s whether or not it is more stagnant or chaotic. Something like greed or gluttony is the hoarding of something whereas plague is change, pathogens evolve and change to better attack the body.¡± Sidney replied. ¡°Then why is holy light and profane dark and what about elemental affinities?¡± ¡°Light is perfect and reveals everything whereas darkness allows chaos to thrive. Anything can be happening in front of you without you knowing. Elemental affinities like fire, water, earth, etcetera are neutral and don¡¯t have an alignment.¡± Sydney finished ¡°Thank you Sydney.¡± ¡°No problem ¡° Cassius thought this over to him it all sounded the same. How cold you have light without dark or stagnation without chaos for that matter. Cassius sighed and called the rest of his party over. ¡°The guild officer will arrive in half a week. When they get here weare to go complete the dungeon and confirm it is a crystal core until then we are to leave the dungeon alone. Julien you may go once a day to the entrance of the dungeon to perform any rituals or warship to the demon inside, but you can not go more than forty meters in and the rest of us are to stay in the town.¡± The team gave their ascent, nodding or murmuring their approval. ¡°Until then let¡¯s get acquainted with the tavern.¡± This got a much more excited reaction. Cassius smiled as Julien pulled him in the direction of the taver. If Cassius knew one thing about adventurers it¡¯s that they liked their ale. Assimilation The Andl¨¢t Vatn had been running for a long time. Always swimming, always hiding, they fled from the being tracking them. They had been fleeing for years from the creature they had stolen from. Fleeing from the monster that wished for their annihilation. However the beings that referred to themselves as the Andl¨¢t Vatn were not only running, but searching. Searching for a legend that had been passed down to them by their mother hive. They searched desperately for the one thing that might bring them salvation as protection. They searched for a dungeon. They did not search for just any dungeon for that would not have taken them years. They searched for a true dungeon, one capable not only of hunger but also assimilation. It had taken nearly four decades, but finally they felt it. They felt the faint trickle of mana that they had felt countless times before, but this was not the dirty leek of corruption most dungeons released, but a faint whisper of something more. The mana was almost seductive, it called to them promising power and safety. The swarm followed the whispers to a sinkhole in the otherwise barren sea floor. An unnatural looking crater that the swarm had been looking for.
You have entered The Abyssal Sanctum
The Andl¨¢t Vatn surged into the dungeon, both excitement and terror filling them. As they flooded in they knew that if they did not convince the dungeon to assimilate them they would surely die. Even if they were able to escape the dungeon they would not be so lucky with the beast that hunted them.
Sanctus watched the writhing mass of leeches as they entered its dungeon. The leeches were the second monster to answer the call Sanctus had begun releasing into the outside world. It was a bit like summoning angels and demons in the sense one world create a small thread of mana and throw it outside. Of course the difference was that a creature would actually have to come to the dungeon and not just pop into existence. The tactic of calling monsters was suggested by Markus and Cetrial. They had said that true dungeons often made deals with monsters as a quick and easy way to boost their defenses. The only problem with this was that not all monsters were interested or even intelligent enough to make any kind of deal. This was evident with the first monster that had entered the dungeon. The shark had gone on a rampage the second it entered the dungeon, killing nearly a quarter of Sanctus¡¯s aquatic creatures only to finally be killed by Sanctus¡¯s favorit octopus. On the plus side Sanctus had gotten the blueprint for blufined shark. After that incident Sanctus had asked its general¡¯s why it couldn¡¯t just kill all the monsters that entered its dungeon and just take their blueprint instead of having to come to an arrangement with them. In short it had to do with the creature''s knowledge and traits. If Sanctus were to kill a level five monster with a regeneration ability Sanctus would not get a blueprint for level five monsters with regeneration. Instead Sanctus would just get the blueprint for the monster without its level or abilities. Of course Sanctus could help a creature level to some extent, but abilities were another story. Abilities were unique to each creature, there were common traits but a creature still had to develop it on its own. Sanctus was pulled out of its thoughts by flickers of mana coming off the swarm of leeches. Sanctus focused its attention on the mana and a clearer message began to filter through. ¡°Great one we hear you whispers we serve. You protect?¡± Sanctus struggled to understand this being that seemed to want protection. Listening to the mana was different than the telepathy it was used to and the creature¡¯s struggle with speech did not help the language barrier. Sanctus used a wave of mana to copy the creature¡¯s form of speech, ¡°From what do you require protection?¡± ¡°Deep one. Us stole deep one.¡± Sanctus reeled from the emotion lacing the mana coming from those creatures. They truly feared the ¡°deep one¡± they spoke of. This fear they held caused Sanctus to pause. Was it really the right decision to assimilate this creature? Finally curiosity took over and Sanctus offered the creature a thread of mana.
You have assimilate Andl¨¢t Vatn
Name Andl¨¢t Vatn
Species deep leech hive
Classification swarm
Habitat aquatic
Satats
Str 2X38
Vit 4X38
Dex 5X38
Int 53
Wis 47
Luck 1
Special traits
Blood sense
Anti coagulation
True swarm
Abilities
Cure
Frenzy
Title
Drake heart
Sanctus was amazed. None of its other creatures had developed any traits or abilities much less a title. Of course this didn¡¯t mean none of Sanctus¡¯s creaturs could use magic or things that could be mistaken as an ability. The thing about traits and abilities was that they were very rare. Something like a mage learning to cast a fireball was not an ability it was simply a use of magic. Or how the warden of the drowned could control the undead bodies of things it had killed. It was something the whole species could do, not something special about the individual. It would be like a bird being given a trait for wings or humans having a walking trait. So the fact that the creature had them was very exciting for Sanctus. Which brought it to the title, Sanctus focused on it and more information popped into Sanctus¡¯s minde.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Drake heart
Effects none
Description While it may be diluted, dragon blood flows through this creature''s veins. Strangely this blood is not native to this species
Things started to click in Sanctus¡¯s mind. When the creature had said that it had stolen the deep one, it had been talking about its blood. A flicker of doubt went through Sanctus. Sanctus was proud of its dungeon, but a dragon was quite a bit more than Sanctus could handle. The only thing that gave Sanctus any hope was that the title said ¡°diluted¡±. Sanctus nervously turned its attention to the newest member of the dungeon. ¡°Please don¡¯t tell me you have a dragon chasing you¡± ¡°There is a leviathan that has been chasing us for years.¡± Sanctus¡¯s heart sank while not a true dragon leviathans were no laughing matter. Part of Sanctus desperately looked for a positive saying ¡°at least the leeches can communicate now,¡± but Sanctus was already in too much of a panic to care. Sanctus called its generals and explained the circumstances. ¡°Best case scenario it doesn¡¯t fit in the dungeon and you lose access to the water exit worst case scenario you lose the entire first floor,¡± Cetrial said worriedly ¡°Before we speak any further about this I suggest Sanctus name the warden of the drowned so as to provide it with the benefit of soul prison.¡± Markus added Sanctus glowered. Its generals both thought that the leviathan would spell disaster and Sanctus agreed. It quickly took Markus¡¯s advice and located its favorite cephalopod. Looking into it Sanctus called oppon a large chunk of mana instinctively forming patterns and runes.
Ceto blinked as she was given a name. She could feel the name engraving itself into her soul and relished it however she knew that not all was well. She could sense her creators worry and distress, but did not know how to alleviate it. So she sent a feeling of thanks and happiness to her creator hoping it would somehow help. She was the creators first creation if you didn¡¯t count the entirety of the first floor. ¡°First creature¡± she corrected herself internally. When the creator''s attention left her she returned to what she had been doing. Pushing herself out of the water she began the slow and grueling journey to the second floor. She had never been, however she had heard that it was mostly water. So she dragged herself and the best corpses from her collection and set off. It took a couple hours of slow crawling to make it to the first floor boss room. Once she got there however the first floor boss helped drag her across the room saying something about not wanting dead corpses to stink up the room. Ceto hated stairs, they were the worst. All but one of her corpses had been brutally massacred by the dreadful things, not to mention the cuts and bruises she had sustained during the unfortunate tumble. She gazed out across the second floor and gasped. The water stretched out for as far as she could see dotted with sandy islands and peninsulas. She quickly dragged herself and the one remaining corpse to the water. Glad that she could finally stretch out in the water. Squishy land octopus was not her favorite state of being.
Sanctus returned its attention to its generals desperately hoping they had come up with a plan. They had no idea when the leviathan would arrive and time was quickly running out. The plan that the generals had come up with was to simply guard the water entrance as best they could and desperately hope the leviathan was not strong enough to destroy the whole dungeon. It was a lackluster plan, but it was their only real choice. There was no way that they could kill the beast with the creatures Sanctus currently had in the dungeon and there wasn¡¯t exactly a way to hide the dungeon so desperately trying to annoy it into leaving was their only option. On another note Sanctus made a small water tunnel to the second floor and began feeding more and more mana to leeches in an attempt to help them build a nest and create more offspring. When Sanctus formed the tunnel it noticed that Ceto seemed to glare at it for a moment before swimming away. Sanctus wondered how Ceto had gotten to the second floor in the first place while it worked on creating blue finde sharks and eels. These creatures would eventually inhabit this floor, but for the time being they would be a defense against the potential leviathan attack. Three days had passed and Sanctus had been busy creating an army. The force consisted of the poisonous octopus, blue finned sharks, and eels. They gathered on the second floor awaiting the leviathan to arrive. Markus and Cetrial had spent their time sparring, Ceto had ignored the whole thing and built herself a nest, and the leeches had nearly tripled their population. Their preparations were as complete as they could get and Sanctus was ready. The army began to move to the upper floor of the dungeon. Encircling the exit and waiting for the inevitable attack. All was still for a moment then the ground exploded The Hatred of the Deep The ground shook under Cassius¡¯s feet and the inn he had been sleeping in only minutes earlier groaned and bucked. Sydney and Julien burst into his room with the others not far behind them. ¡°Julien, Sidney, do either of you have any idea what is going on?¡± ¡°Not a clue we came here because we figured you would have the best idea,¡± Julien replied in a slightly panicked tone. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Grab your gear and meet me outside.¡± The others nodded before rushing back to their rooms. Cassius walked over to the pile of plate mail in the corner. He struggled to walk at first, but it was crazy what a high enough dexterity could allow you to do. Grabbing the armor he quickly slid it on, silently thanking the enchanter who put the resizing enchantment on it. Once they were all out of the inn Cassius began to speak. ¡°There are a few obvious things this could be. The first is a natural earthquake-¡° ¡°It¡¯s not,¡± interrupted Mya. The ranger didn¡¯t talk much, but none of them doubted any claim she made about the natural world. ¡°Well, then my only guesses are either two S rank monsters fighting or the dungeon creating its second floor.¡± ¡°If the dungeon really has a crystal core like Julien claims it¡¯s unlikely that we would even notice it creating a new floor,¡± Sidney replied. ¡°Um, regardless of what¡¯s causing this, shouldn''t we evacuate the city? I mean there¡¯s no way that they are on land so shouldn¡¯t we get people away from the tsunami zone.¡± Replied Hannah pointing towards the horizon. The rest of the party turned to look at where the small rogue was pointing. A wall of water was gradually making its way toward the shore. ¡°We need to get everyone on high ground,¡± They all said in unison.
If Sanctus could it would be in a cold sweat. The monster at its doorstep had completely annihilated the entire army Sanctus had created.The leviathan didn¡¯t even seem to notice the fact that anything had tried to attack it. The beast just continued to ram its head against the entrance of the dungeon causing violent tremors. Sanctus had thought that it would be able to at least annoy the leviathan, but it now realized just how wrong it had been. It looked back at its slowly reforming elites. ¡°How on earth did you actually manage to piss that thing off?¡± Sanctus asked hopelessly. ¡°The leviathan was asleep. We thought it was a large fish,¡± The leeches explained sheepishly. Sanctus was frankly in awe of the creature. It wasn¡¯t sure if the writhing mass of bodies was the luckiest or unluckiest creature in the world. The fact that they had stolen blood from the leviathan was a plus, but the fact that it now wanted to kill them was definitely not the greatest thing. Sanctus¡¯s stress had subsided a bit when it discovered that the leviathan was far too large to enter the dungeon. The only problem that remained was the fact that Sanctus still had an overgrown eel ramming its head into one of the entrances to its dungeon. So Sanctus waited for the thing to get bored. It took nearly a week for the creature to get tired of ramming it¡¯s head into the entrance, but sadly that didn¡¯t mean it left. Instead the leviathan had decided to wrap around the entrance and continually create mana constructs to invade the dungeon. Sanctus had initially been ecstatic about the prospect of infinite souls, however this quickly turned from excitement to annoyance when Sanctus discovered that mana constructs didn¡¯t have one. It groaned internally as another mana construct was killed by a swarm of rats. This whole predicament was bad. The fact that the constructs didn¡¯t have a soul meant killing them ended up being a net loss in mana meaning the leviathan was slowly starving Sanctus. After about a day of this Sanctus finally told its generals to try and talk to the thing.
Cet had lived for a long time and it had taken him years to actually purify his blood into something even remotely similar to that of a dragon. Then to have a lowly pest take a portion of that without any effort was an insult. It was an insult so bad that Cet would not rest until the worm was dead. Now the thing had made its way to an infant dungeon with soul prison. Cet chuckled as he created more mana constructs, all he had to do was bleed the dungeon of all its mana and he could finally have his revenge. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Cet was broken out of his thoughts as two figures appeared in the dungeon¡¯s entrance. A feeling of surprise flashed through him at the sight of the two S ranked beings. He had thought the dungeon a newborn, it should not have access to anything above C rank let alone S. Then it hit him, the S ranked beings in front of him were of a celestial nature. ¡°So this dungeon is home to the shards of gods. Is that supposed to scare me?¡± ¡°Not at all, we wish only an audience with you,¡± replied one of the creatures in front of him. ¡°Tell me, do I speak with demons or angels? It has been a long time since I last spoke to a god-shard.¡± ¡°One of each baby,¡± Replied the other. ¡°Is that so?¡± Now that Cet had been told he could easily distinguish them. It bothered him however that in all of Cet¡¯s life he had never seen a dungeon with shards of two natures. ¡°That is indeed correct,¡± responded the demon. ¡°So I suppose this means the dungeon wishes to beg for its life?¡± The two beings flinched, but ultimately nodded. ¡°Now the problem we run into is that your dungeon has something that belongs to me.¡± ¡°Yes, the blood.¡± The demon produced a vial containing red liquid. ¡°We can return all that was stolen¡± ¡°Foolish demon, that is the problem. Your dungeon has the blueprint for my blood in the form of those leeches. No, if your dungeon wants to live it must prove itself worthy of my blood,¡± Cet would not have ordinarily given this option however the dungeon intrigued him. ¡°How can we accomplish that?¡± Asked the demon. ¡°Figure it out, and I would urge you not to take your time lest I regret my decision,¡± He said mimicking a human smile while baring his tree sized teeth.
Prove itself worthy? What was that supposed to mean? At least he wasn¡¯t being attacked anymore, instead the leviathan had just decided to plug the hole that was the dungeon''s water entrance. ¡°Stupid overweight fish,¡± Sanctus grumbled internally as it began repairing the damage on its first floor.
The city was all but destroyed. Three and a half days of tsunamis tended to do that to a place. Julien scowled as he looked up toward the slowly descending air ships. They had finally gotten here, the ship¡¯s came with a small army of builders. Julien stretched, a small smile flicked on his mouth when he thought about warm beds and hot food. Cassius walked up to him. ¡°Go fly up to the airships and help them dock,¡± Cassius ordered. ¡°Why me? Can¡¯t you make Sidney do it?¡± ¡°Julien, you''re the only one of us with the ability to fly.¡± ¡°So?¡± Julien grumbled as he rose into the air. It took nearly an hour for the ships to dock and another week for them to finish building a few basic necessities. Julien and the rest of the party had helped when they could but ultimately not been much of a help. Apparently the builders had no use for ¡°you dirty lot of destructive blow heads.¡± The ¡°plus side¡± of the tsunamis had apparently been the fact that the city could be built closer to the dungeon. Julien chuckled and then poked Hanna, ¡°Cassius said we could go to the dungeon today.¡± Hanna smirked before poking Mya and saying the same thing. Mya poked Sidney, but before she could say anything Sidney gave her a glare, ¡°yes I know we have to go to that infernal dungeon.¡± Julien smirked and poked Hanna, ¡°Sombodys grumpy.¡± Laughing, Hanna turned to Mya only to find a grumpy Sidney standing in front of her. Cassius coughed to cover up a laugh, ¡°Well, should we go?¡± Cassius asked. The others nodded and they started off. Julien was excited to return to the dungeon. It would be fun to blow off some steam. Plus he could finally use his brand again. It was a relatively short walk to the dungeon with Cassius blabbing about responsibility and ¡°objectives¡± while Sidney complained and Hanna juggled knives. When they finally got to the entrance of the dungeon Cassius finished his speech with a final, ¡°got it?¡± ¡°Mmhm,¡± Julien instinctively responded and they stepped into the dungeon.
Sanctus watched as the adventurers cautiously entered its depths. It confused Sanctus why any creature would purposely invade the death trap that was a dungeon. However a quick chat with Markus explained some things. Apparently there were two main reasons: the first was levels and ranking. The consideration of mana in a dungeon was high enough that souls could leave imprints on people who killed them, enlightened races called this experience. The second reason was loot. Markus had said that most of the monsters in dungeons had some kind of value. Also higher ranked dungeons were expected to produce treasure and weapons. Sanctus wanted to be considered a high ranked dungeon and therefore created a few chests around its dungeon placing coins, metal trinkets or weapons in them. With an internal chuckle Sanctus had a great idea next to every chest it put a second oneeach containing a trap or something undesirable such as a severed human head. Sanctus then wove mana around the two chests and they merged together. If the adventurers didn¡¯t manage to pick the lock correctly or dispel the magic they would lose out on the treasure and get a nasty surprise instead. Sancus couldn¡¯t wait to see the human¡¯s reactions. Dungeon Dive
You are entering the abyssal sanctum
The group paused for a second before continuing into the dungeon. ¡°Crystal cores are crazy. Their names don¡¯t make any sense.¡± Cassius muttered Julien cocked his head, ¡°how so?¡± ¡°Well a normal metal core, let¡¯s say between copper and platinum. They have names like earth dungeon or fire dungeon. You know more like descriptions rather than an actual title, but then if you take a dungeon with a crystal core or even a high metallic core like mithril they have names like ¡°The Broken Cavern¡± or ¡°Abyssal Sanctum¡±. What is that even supposed to mean?¡± ¡°Maybe it has something to do with intelligence. I mean crystal cores have been known to hold grudges and occasionally interact with enlightened races.¡± Sidney responded with a shrug. ¡°I always thought names were the system''s way of telling you what kind of dungeon you¡¯re entering. Like lesser dungeons having simple descriptors because there is nothing to explain, but true dungeons having a more esoteric description,¡± Hanna chimed in. Cassius thought about it for a minute before shrugging and returning his focus to the caves and passages in front of him. It didn¡¯t take long for them to make it to a large cavernous space. As if entering the room had flipped a switch they were immediately attacked by a group of rats. Cassius motioned to Julien, with his brand it would be more beneficial for him to take care of the weaker things that attacked them. Julien nodded and quickly disposed of the rats with a short sword that had been strapped to his hip. Continuing onward they were attacked by a few more rats and a swarm of flies before making it to the other side of the room. Entering the tunnel they found there they noted the presence of creatures. It would seem that the relatively peaceful nature of the first tunnel would not hold true for this one. Unsurprisingly the second tunnel was much more dangerous than the first. Not only did monsters like bats and spiders continuously harass them, but the frequency of pitfalls sharply increased. The process of fighting through tunnels and then caverns continued another two times before Cassius decided it was time to set up camp. ¡°Hanna, Julien, you guys take first watch Sidney and Maya will take second and I¡¯ll take third.¡± The others nodded and the group set up camp. It was not unusual to sleep in a dungeon, it certainly was not the safest, but staying awake for potentially days on end was far more likely to get you killed. Cassius awoke to the sound of fighting. Looking around he could barely see anything. It seemed that the dungeon mimicked a day night cycle by allowing the molten rock to cool down significantly during the night. He quickly rose to his feet ready to join the fight claws raked across his back, making screeching sounds as they skidded across his armor. He swung his left arm out clipping the creature with his shield following up with a slash from his sword ending the creature. A moment later the sound of fighting came to an end. ¡°What were those things?¡± Cassius asked the others. ¡°Sisters of the night, rank D,¡± replied Maya in a worried tone. Cassius sighed, ¡°D ranked monsters on the first floor. This place is nasty.¡± Cassius considered the situation for a moment before deciding they would use everwake potions. While they were expensive Cassius didn¡¯t want any more surprises. The rest of the party agreed and they set off again. They passed through the final two caverns without much excitement and finally stood before a massive stone arch. There was a thick dark fog obscuring what lay beyond. ¡°Be careful, it''s likely that¡¯s either the core room or a boss chamber,¡± At Cassius¡¯s words the others nodded and approached slowly. When they all entered they heard steel slam down behind them. The fog cleared revealing a small army of robed monsters. Cassius raised his shield blocking a bolt of arcane energy before charging toward the cult. Cassius flew into a rampage as his class ability came into effect tearing through the mutants. His shield dropped to the floor and his fist lashed out slamming straight through another monster''s head. Cassius carved a bloody path toward the leader of the group. Finally reaching the monster he didn¡¯t give her a chance to fight his blade plunged into the creature while his hand lashed out and crushed her skull. He turned only to see that the rest of his team had already dealt with the remaining of the cultists. ¡°You were as terrifying as ever Cassius, but do you really think that was necessary to deal with a first floor boss?¡± Asked Julien with an exasperated look. Cassius gave a look of slight embarrassment before sighing and continuing toward the exit.
Sanctus watched the events unfold with slight horror. The fog had been a last minute idea to prevent the adventurers from just taking pot shots at the cult without first entering. Although with this group it didn¡¯t really seem to matter. Sanctus¡¯s first guardian had been completely demolished by the group. And on top of all that Sanctus had forgotten to put a chest in the room. That was the other thing Sanctus was upset about, the adventurers hadn¡¯t found a single chest yet. Sanctus gave an internal huff and returned to watching the group. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Sidney stepped out of the staircase and felt a strange feeling slam into her. Glancing at Julien confirmed her suspicion. ¡°Cassius, this floor is completely filled with holy mana.¡± ¡°What do you mean? Is someone else down here?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know but Sidney¡¯s right,¡± Julien replied. ¡°This place is stale.¡± Sidney scowled, but nodded. The group walked further onto the sand. Sidney began to think, a chill going down her spine. If this was what she thought it was, it would bring a whole host of problems. Glancing again at Julien she could tell he was thinking the same thing. Before she could fall back into thought she heard Hanna squeal. ¡°A chest!¡± Sidney turned in confusion ¡°what?¡± ¡°Look, it''s a chest with treasure!¡± The rest of the group looked to where the roge was pointing and sure enough partially buried in the sand was a stone chest. ¡°It looks locked,¡± Commented Maya in a deadpan tone. ¡°Not a problem,¡± Responded Cassius. He strode over and tore the lid off revealing a few small silver bars. Cassius triumphantly reached his hand down only to quickly yank it back out when the silver bars bubbled and turned into flies. A wave of Sidney¡¯s hand caused tiny lights to appear around the flies cooking them. ¡°Maybe we don¡¯t do the brute force method next time,¡± Hanna said exasperated. After about a day of walking and the occasional forced swim Hanna spotted the second chest, it blended in with the sand and it took Sidney a minute to see it even after Hanna pointed it out. This time Hanna carefully inserted small metal hooks, a few seconds later they heard a click and the chest was pushed open. Hanna pulled out a small necklace. Sidney¡¯s eyes widened, ¡°May I take a look at that?¡± ¡°Sure it''s good quality, probably around one and a half gold,¡± Hanna replied tossing it to Sidney. Looking it over Sidney began to shake her head, ¡°This is a talisman.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± Nearly all of the others asked in unison. ¡°Ya she¡¯s sure,¡± responded Julien, a scowl plastered across his face. ¡°This pretty much confirms the existence of an archangel.¡± Sidney nodded and gestured for them to continue. Then paused, ¡°Is it alright if I keep this? It can come out of my cut.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine there is no need to take it out of your cut,¡± Cassius said after looking for confirmation with the others. ¡°Thanks,¡± Sidney responded, happily putting it on and beginning to circulate mana through it. Another few hours passed before they reached the end of the floor. ¡°Please don¡¯t tell me we need to go underwater,¡± groaned Maya. Cassius shrugged, Hanna grabbed two small plants out of her bag and plopped one in her mouth. Maya gave another defeated groan before taking the other and putting it in her mouth. The rest of the group had their own ways of breathing underwater and thus didn¡¯t need to use bubble sprout. The small plant was capable of rapidly producing fresh air and so all one had to do was place it in your mouth and breathe through there. They swam down and found a small cave entrance where they came face to face with two monsters. A huge octopus and a writhing mass of wormlike creatures floated in front of them. Before either party could react they were met with a blinding light. The group reeled and before they could react both creatures rushed past them exiting through the whey the party had entered. When their vision cleared they could see a winged woman standing in front of them. Her wings gave a flap and all the water in the room vanished. ¡°HI MY NAME IS CETRIAL! DO TRY AND SURVIVE!¡± With no further warning the angel leapt forward with blinding speed. It was all Cassius could do to desperately lift his shield, the blow sending him into a wall. Maya began firing arrows only to have the lightning jump from the woman and blast apart each arrow. Cassius returned to the battle as Hanna and Julien joined in. Sidney stood there shocked at witnessing an archangel. Sidney fell to her knees staring revenantly at the being in front of her. The angel suddenly appeared in front of her, ¡°STAND UP AND FIGHT!¡± She screamed before giving Sidney a sharp kick to the ribs. The angel then turned and parried Cassius¡¯s blade with her bare hand. She then kicked him into the same wall she had previously. Then she rushed towards Julien and suddenly stopped. ¡°You smell like Markus.¡± ¡°Umm, okay?¡± Said Julien in a questioning tone. ¡°Is that a good thing?¡± ¡°Huh, it''s just a thing. Think of it like noticing your brother''s pet running around your bedroom.¡± ¡°Brother?¡± The party said in unison. ¡°Uh kinda, we are in the same pantheon so it¡¯s similar.¡± At those words the group just stared dumbfounded. ¡°Uggg, your looks of confusion just killed the mood. You win. good job making it through the dungeon, now go home.¡± The group of adventurers just continued to stare. ¡°Umm, don¡¯t we usually get a reward or something for completing the floor?¡± Hanna asked with a sly grin. ¡°Floors not done, go away.¡± The party looked at each other before Cassius stepped in. ¡°Can we see the core?¡± Cetrial considered it for a moment. "The one that smells like Markus can and the girl that stinks of another angel can if she renounces them and becomes my pet instead." Sidney shrugged, all she had was a minor blessing from a weak angel that had taken residence in a small church she had lived near. Cassius looked at Sidney and she nodded. Sidney took a deep breath and said ¡°I accept.¡± As those words passed through her lips Cetrial gave a wicked grin and Sidney¡¯s vision went black. Insanities Blessing Sidney blinked awake and clutched her head.
You have been blessed by the Archangel Cetrial
Sidney rubbed her eyes and opened her status.
Blessing Blinde Jesters Crest
Rank A
Description This blessing was placed upon you by the archangel Cetrial in the Abyssal Sanctum. You have given her loyalty and in return she has granted you power.
Effects Cetrial has placed her mark upon your mind, the less you resist the stronger you grow. ¡°Sorry but you don¡¯t get to see the other effects just yet. That one is enough for now. Love Cetrial.¡±
Sidney felt a dropping sensation in her gut. She could feel something deep in her mind, scratch and chatter. Clutching her head she desperately pushed the thing into a corner of her mind. To her surprise the thing seemed content there and just continued the endless chatter. ¡°Anyway now that that¡¯s done I¡¯ll show you two the core,¡± Cetrial said with a wave of her hand. Cracks appeared in the air as the angel broke her own illusion. There in the stone in front of her was an ornate sword, blade embedded in the stone below it. Sidney stared at the blade and the complex runes that ran across it. There was no doubt that it was the core. Constant leaking of mana making it very clear. ¡°Well this is unexpected,¡± Blurted a slack jawed Julien. Sidney gave a short nod and turned to the cave entrance, ¡°We got what we came for let¡¯s go Julien, before we overstay our welcome.¡± Julien gave a grunt of confirmation and they exited the room and rejoined the others. With a few nods and gestures the group confirmed that the two had seen the core and made their way back up to the surface of the water. Once they had pulled themselves onto land Cassius pulled out a small cube and placed it on the ground. The rest of the party drew lines and runes in the sand around it and about fifteen minutes later the cube flared up and they were standing at the entrance of the dungeon. They began walking down the mountain Cassius barely waiting another seconds before asking what they had seen. ¡°The dungeon has a forgeborn core. It looks like a sword with thousands of runes I couldn''t understand or even truly grasp the shape of running along it in neat and organized patterns. Looks like old dwarven craftsmanship. There were some jewels and engraved patterns on its hilt, but it didn¡¯t seem to be ceremonial,¡± Sidney replied. Julien nodded, ¡°I agree with Sid, but I¡¯d like to add that the jewels were cores. I have no clue what the metal of the blade was, but the hilt was definitely orichalcum.¡± Cassius nodded slowly ¡°This is definitely an odd dungeon. Did the rest of you notice that the second floor didn¡¯t have a guardian. The two monsters in the core room were elites.¡± ¡°Dungeon probably wasn''t done with the floor. Didn¡¯t look like the angel had influenced the floor yet,¡± Replied Hanna. Cassius sighed ¡°We''ll give a report to the guild and just tell them that the second floor is likely to change.¡±
Sanctus watched the party leave, having a twinge of disappointment at the severe lack of death. With a sigh Sanctus turned its attention to a small project that it had started. It had up until this point been purifying the water that entered its dungeon from the sea. That is to say getting rid of dirt and microscopic life. To Sanctus this had seemed like an excellent way to keep the dungeon clean and free of disease. Recently however Sanctus had come to a realization. What if there was microscopic life that would later grow into more usable organism? This led Sanctus to get a few cubic meters of sea water from the outside and place them into separate containers. After that Sanctus f had let them sit and it was finally time to check on them. Sanctus was not disappointed there were a variety of new creatures in the pools, but Sanctus was interested in three in particular. A bobbit worm, a cone snail, and an anemone. Upon viewing the last of these creatures something clicked in sanctuses brain. It had known what it wanted the second floor guardian to be, but something had felt off. Sanctus now knew what that something was. The idea had felt plain, unbalanced, and uninteresting, but now Sanctus had just the thing. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Cetrial, it''s time.¡± ¡°Hmm okay.¡± Cetrial made her way over and Sanctus began. First it moved the core room back and away from the second floor exit. Then Sanctus began to mold the space in between creating a sphere with a diameter of five hundred meters. Once it had the sphere Sanctus began pulling and pushing the stone creating stone columns that haphazardly connected parts of the sphere. Sanctus began creating tunnels about two meters wide that wrapped around the outside of the sphere creating dozens of holes. Finally Sanctus created a narrow bridge straight across the room from the entrance to the exit. Then it was time for a little help from Cetrial. Sanctus created an anemone and an eel and began to feed its own mana and that of Cetrial into the creatures. The eel began writhing and growing reaching a width of a little over a meter and a half and a length of about twenty three meters, it¡¯s skin began changing colors and thick boney plates bagan forming on its head. The anemone on the other hand grew to cover the entire room, spreading across every surface except the bridge creating a forest of glowing green tentacles waiting for something unlucky enough to fall into its grasp. With a final shudder the eels helm of bone snapped into place and other bone grew in patches across its body. When all was done the creature gave a defining roar telling the rest of the creatures on the floor that it was their turn. Cetrial¡¯s mana coursed through the floor causing wind to start up and static electricity to charge the air. Lightning began striking in random locations and the sand turned to glass. The sharks grew four more eyes and began summing faster and more erratically. Crabs grew larger and seemed to gain charged electricity in their claws, other eels grew smaller less developed bone armor and a few cone snails grew to rediculus size with an additional three tentacles. The bobbit worm also grew bigger and looked even angrier than usual and a school of fish began having small bolts of electricity bounce between them. Finally Ceto and the leeches got their turn. Ceto developed an affinity for electricity and the leeches suddenly swarmed together and took on the appearance of a human before collapsing back into a wriggling mass.
Summoning honor guard for angel Cetrial
Five manikins appeared around Cetrial in different stages of disrepair, some missing fingers or feet with various cracks and parts chipped off. However, one thing was the same on all of them. A wide grin plastered across their faces nearly reaching their ears. Cetrial squealed and immediately began putting them in poses and playing with them. Sanctus refocused on its new guardian weaving souls throughout the two beings until they became one entity.
Mitra thalassas has become the champion of the second floor
As that message appeared one last change happened, softly glowing orange gelatinous spheres nestled deep within the tentacles of the anemone took form.
Cet noticed the changes within the dungeon, but alas the changes did not come with something worthy of his blood. There was one creature that the old one thought had potential, unfortunately it already had traces of another legend within it. Cet gave a low sigh if this dungeon couldn¡¯t produce a worthy descendant soon he would destroy it and try again. After all this was the reason he had allowed the leeches to take his blood. He could for the moment remember everything. Before the leeches it had been a lamprey, before that a shark. He would allow them to escape, they would desperately search for a powerful dungeon and then Cet would repeat the process. Cet did this for two reasons the first was to search for a worthy being the second was because the ancient being was dying and eating dungeon cores would hopefully give him just enough time to find an heir. So in a sense there was only one true reason he did what he did, he wanted a legacy. Tears flowed into the salty water as his memory wavered again and the rage at the leech resurfaced. Cet once more wanted nothing more than to destroy this place and reclaim his blood. However he somehow knew it was not yet time.
When the party returned to the city they could barely believe their eyes. In the time they had been gone buildings had sprung up and other adventurers and even merchants had made it to the island. It was almost at the point of a small city resting at the base of the mountain. They made their way to the guild hall while admiring the progress of the builders. They entered the guild hall and made their way to the front desk where a small board looking red head told them that the guild master would be with them shortly. The wait took around half an hour and they spent most of the time discussing their recent stay in the dungeon. When the receptionist at the counter finally called them they got up and made their way to the guild masters office in the back of the building. The man that sat at the desk was a giant, both literally and figuratively he stood at around eleven feet tall and was hunched over a piece of paper. ¡°Hello, we are here to deliver our report on the local dungeon,¡± Cassius said. At this the giant looked up and spoke, ¡°So this is the infimus ¡°Dream Team.¡± Yes I do believe that is the purpose of your visit. However may I ask why you guys chose the name that you did for your party¡± ¡°It¡¯s a bit silly but we were the fastest five to complete C rank out of the entire guild in the last eighty years,¡± Sidney said with a slight blush. ¡°So it is true that you made top five. That is quite impressive. Now why don¡¯t we move on to that report.¡± Cassius bowed, ¡°We cleared the dungeon relatively quickly using everwake potions. There was one group of D ranked monsters on the first floor. They were humanoids that attacked us when we tried to rest. The first floor boss what¡¯s a swarm fight with around a dozen D ranked cultists and a slightly higher D ranked which all had odd mutations. We believe that the second floor was not yet complete, however we did confirm to elites a octopus and a swarm of what appeared to be leeches, however we did not kill either. We found a few chests and this is where it gets interesting. The chests seem to require someone to unlock them otherwise the content will be replaced with something unfavorable. Lastly and most shocking is that the core is a forge born that can summon both demons and angels.¡± The Start of a Legend A long silence stretched across the room and the guild master slowly looked up from a stack of papers. ¡°I don¡¯t think I heard you correctly. Could you please repeat yourself?¡± Cassius nodded, ¡°The dungeon has both angels and demons.¡± ¡°You¡¯re joking.¡± Julien gave a small smile leaned across the table and whispered, ¡°Afraid not.¡± The guild master slumped backwards, a look of exhaustion covering his face. The guild master finally gave a small sigh and said, ¡°Well on the bright side I¡¯ll be very wealthy after the decade long headache this is going to cause.¡± He shook his head as if to shake off the thought, ¡°What is the estimated rank of the core? Also what exactly is it?¡± Cassius shot the party a look for confirmation before saying, ¡°Our guess is mid to high crystal. And while I never personally saw the core, the two of us did say it appeared to be an ornate sword.¡± The guild master gave a nod before opening up a drawer in his desk and pulling out a small crystal. He looked at it for a moment before tossing it to Cassius. ¡°I¡¯ll be in touch, my name is Connor and I assume you know how to use one of those things.¡± He said with a gesture toward the small crystal. Cassius nodded and Connor continued, ¡°I want you to lead hired guards to the entrance to the dungeon and I want you to set up a checkpoint. When that is done tell the guards to make the cost of entering the dungeon at ten copper with entries ten minutes apart with the exit tax at ten percent of earnings for registered guild members and sixty percent for unregistered divers.¡± At those words Cassius frowned, ¡°Excuse me, aren¡¯t those rates a bit low? Especially for a crystal rank dungeon dubblie so for one with actual treasure?¡± A grin spread across Connors face, ¡°Is it? Because I thought that would be the perfect rate to feed this cash cow. Make sure that the guards know to allow night dives and don¡¯t set a minimum entry rank.¡± Cassius nodded understanding what the guild master ment. If there was no minimum entry rank people would flood the dungeon many of whom would not be nearly strong enough to survive even the first floor. The guild master wanted to ¡°legally¡± sacrifice the local commoners and attract merchants and guild members. Connor broke Cassius out of his thoughts by standing up and walking over to a chest at the back corner of the room. Runes on the chest glowed briefly before Connor opened it and pulled out two objects. The first was a sack likely holding a variety of common monster parts ranging from goblins to cobalds. The other was a small ornate box with a lock on the front. Connor tossed the sack to Julien and handed the box to Cassius, ¡°Bring these to the dungeon and leave them at least ten meters in and out of sight from the entrance. Don¡¯t open the box and take amnestics after you finish. We wouldn''t want you to remember giving the dungeon something that went missing from the Atricet empire treasury.¡± Julien gulped and Cassius looked nervous, but nodded. ¡°Then, do be off now.¡± The party quickly got to their feet and left the room leaving a grinning Connor behind them.
Cet smiled, a moment of clarity spreading across his mind. With it he reached out manipulating the minds of the humans on the land nearby. He needed them to bring the dungeon something special. Something no sane human would have the bright idea of doing. Everything was working perfectly. This would be the one, the lifeblood that would feed his legacy. The dungeon would be like an egg housing Cet¡¯s legacy until it was ready to break free. Dungeons were inelegant beings however they were still easy to predict and manipulate. The dungeon would raise it¡¯s own demise.
Sanctus watched curiously as the adventurers from earlier returned only to leave a couple items around the bend of a tunnel and leave. Sanctus thought for a moment before having Markus retrieve the items. Once they were in the core room Sanctus had Markus dump the contents of the sack onto the floor. Organs, eyes, fingers, and other miscellaneous pieces of monster spilled onto the floor. Sanctus stared at it all for a moment before happily dissolving them to learn their blueprints. Markus just patiently waited for all of the blood and guts to be cleaned. When Sanctus had finished with the monster parts it turned its attention to the box. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Cassius and his team walked away from the dungeon having placed the sack of monster bits inside. ¡°Why did he have to send us to drop off some sack of monster bits in the dungeon? Don¡¯t they have interns for that?¡± Hanna complained loudly. Cassius and Mya shrugged, but Sidney and Julien frowned and glanced at each other. ¡°I¡¯m not so sure that¡¯s all we did,¡± Replied Sidney slowly. Cassius froze, ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Well I think we took amnestics,¡± Sidney responded, glancing at Julien for confirmation. Julien nodded, ¡°I agree with Sidney there are a few blank spots in my memory that shouldn¡¯t be there considering my intelligence stat.¡± It was now Sidney¡¯s turn to nod in agreement. As the others looked at them in confusion. ¡°So you think we purposely decided to forget what happened?¡± Maya asked skeptically. ¡°Umm, yes,¡± replied Sidney in a confused tone. Hanna scrunched up her face, ¡°That¡¯s so weird. Why would we want to forget something? Actually, never mind, I can think of a few.¡±
Sanctus and Markus had tried to open the small box for nearly four hours before they finally gave up and just put it in the corner of Sanctus¡¯s core room. They had decided that if it was something important it would eventually do something and it was a better use of Sanctus¡¯s time to start working on a new floor. Markus had said that it would be ideal to have at least three floors before a large number of adventurers arrived. However he also said they would probably have to make dew with two and a half. Apparently Sanctus was growing a bit slower than the average dungeon who could generally make their first four floors within a month or two. That was the other thing that Markus said. After four floors Sanctus would have to do something special. When Sanctus had asked him what he meant Markus had told him that all he knew was that the creation of the fifth floor was what truly defined a dungeon. And that many lesser cores only ever made four. Markus had also told Sanctus not to worry about it and just focus on the third floor.
Chase ran off the boat the second it reached land. Not because he disliked boats, but because he had finally made it to a town with a dungeon. It had taken him two years to make enough money to buy gear and afford a guild membership. He had always wanted to be an adventure, the thought of glory and riches was an alluring one. As he ran through the town he thought of all the stories he had read of the hero¡¯s of old. Once every five hundred years or so a person was born who would eventually develop the hero class and go on to accomplish incredible feats. Briefly he fantasized about being the next hero, thinking of all the incredible feats he would accomplish. He promptly ran into a wall and realized that he had made it to the guild hall. Sheepishly Chase pushed open the doors to the guild hall and stepped inside. He was expecting there to be tons of high ranked adventurers milling around and glaring at newbies, but instead it was mostly people around his age with shoddy armor standing around chatting. He walked up to one of the receptionists and asked if he could register with the guild. The board receptionist brought out a contract and a registration form and told him to begin signing up. Then she brought out an ornate stone and placed it in front of him. ¡°Place your hand on the stone and try not to flinch or pass out.¡± The receptionist finally said in a broad tone. Chase quickly placed his hand on the stone and gasped as he felt something leave him. The receptionist''s eyes widened slightly, ¡°huh, you have a good affinity for profane and a decent affinity for fire. Not bad, kid.¡± Chase beamed and quickly handed over the registration fee of five silver and handed back the papers. The receptionist gave a small smile and said, ¡°Be careful, people with your level of talent don¡¯t turn up every day.¡± Chase practically floated away from the reception desk. Everything was going like he had imagined. ¡°Hey, excuse me, we overheard what the receptionist said and we were wondering if you wanted to join our party.¡± Chase whirled around to see a girl around his age looking at him expectantly, ¡°umm-¡° ¡°Don¡¯t worry we¡¯re not just trying to get you on our team because we think you¡¯ll carry us. My name is Tessa and I¡¯m the party leader. I''m a fighter with good physical stats and a resilience trait. The two behind me are Jace and Lilly. Jace has an excellent lightning affinity and Lilly already has a rogue class and multiple traits.¡± Chase wanted to jump with excitement. Everything truly was going to plan, ¡°Thanks for inviting me into your party. I promise not to let you down.¡± ¡°Great! Are you ready to hit the dungeon?¡± Chase nodded and the group headed out. The group used the walk to the dungeon to finish introducing themselves. Jace and Lilly were siblings who had just recently come to the island once word of a dungeon came out and Tessa was born on the island and thought of the dungeon as an opportunity. Chase explained how he had been heading toward a different dungeon before he found out that one had appeared here and wanted to be one of the first to explore it. When they made it to the dungeon they were excited to see that there was almost no line. After half an hour the group made it to the front and handed over the entrance fee. The man sitting at the toll booth counted the coins and then let them through. Dark Secrets
Chase could barely contain his excitement at the message that appeared in his mind. He forced himself not to beam as he entered the dungeon trying and quite possibly failing at holding himself in a casual manner. Chase and the rest of the party continued onward until Lilly, in a panic, told the party to stop. The rest of the party gave her an odd look until she walked to the front of the party and inspected the ground. After a few seconds of inspection, Lilly knelt down and struck the ground in front of her with the butt of a dagger, shattering the thin layer of rock hiding a pitfall with jagged spikes at the bottom. They spent another fifteen minutes breaking more of the stone and judging the distance before carefully jumping over. After that encounter the party moved a little slower, the thought of falling onto those gut wrenching spikes still fresh in their mind. After two more pitfalls and an hour and a half of walking they made it to a large cavernous room. The party continued onwards slowly until a rabid looking raccoon came charging out of the bushes. Tessa flew into action charging the creature and lunging out with her sword. The raccoon hopped to the left of the sword and charged Lilly. Jace conjured a small ball of lightning and threw it at the raccoon. The lightning ball sailed over the raccoon, whose charge was finally stopped by one of Lilly¡¯s knives in its face. She gave Tessa and Jace disapproving looks before gesturing that they continue. They didn¡¯t make it five meters before a rat was charging toward them. Tessa managed to impale the bloated thing which after a bit of shrill screeching squelched off her sword dead.
Sanctus was overjoyed at the fact that there were so many humans entering its dungeon. Ever since the bright humans left its dungeon, there had almost always been at least one team of adventurers running around. The constant trickle of souls from unlucky adventurers allowed Sanctus to expand faster. It was at the point that Sanctus had nearly the entirety of the third floor hollowed out. When Sanctus looked at the creatures that entered into its dungeon it originally just categorized them by how bright they were, but recently Sanctus thought about it further and decided that the colors of the souls might mean something. As Sanctus watched, it discovered that the color of souls represented their affinities and the sharper the lines and patterns of the soul the stronger the affinity. This left Sanctus with a realization and a question. Most creatures were a rainbow of colors with most of the affinities being too weak to actually be usable. The exception to this rule were the colors black and white which were only within specific individuals. These colors were easy to identify as holy and profane, thanks to Markus and Cetrial. What had Sanctus confused was the fact it didn¡¯t Sanctus see either of these when it looked at itself? Sanctus once again turned its attention inward, looking at its own soul. Sanctus¡¯s soul was a bit different than most. The first difference was the mass of souls that orbited around it. Sanctus chalked this up to the fact that it was a dungeon core. The second difference was that Sanctus¡¯s soul perfectly fit its body. The final difference however was the most shocking to Sanctus. It¡¯s soul didn¡¯t have the same kind of consistency as all of the other souls it had seen. Where most souls looked like colorful lights, sanctuses looked nearly indistinguishable from gold, not golden light mind you, but cold metal. There was no glow coming from the metal and if Sanctus could not sense the fact it was a soul Sanctus would have assumed it to be ordinary metal. Sanctus scand everything in its dungeon desperately looking for something similar before finally stopping on Ceto. The octopus¡¯s soul had noticeable red and yellow as well as a flicker of black, but this is not what Sanctus focused on. There was a tiny coiling strand of silver similar to sanctus¡¯s own gold in the octopuses soul. It was as if there was a tiny silver string drifting in its soul. Sanctus studied it for a while, but in the end it just got frustrated, turned its attention to the newly hollowed out third floor that it needed to fill. Sanctus grumbled in frustration, it wasn¡¯t sure what it wanted to do with this floor and after mulling over it decided that it would figure it out after summoning a general for the floor. So With that for the third time in its life Sanctus threw a strand outward allowing for the celestial beings to see its call. It didn¡¯t take long for a being cloaked in pure shadow to appear before Sanctus. The being spoke in a dark soothing whisper, ¡°Hello my name is Erebus and I wish to answer your call. I am a greater demon with a pure umbral affinity and I believe that I would be an excellent fit for your third floor.¡± ¡°How do you know that you would be on my third floor?¡± Sanctus asked nervously. ¡°Saw you from beyond. I have been waiting for your call.¡± Sanctus was nervous for a moment, but when it listened to its instincts it knew that this demon did not wish to harm it and that it would be a powerful general for its floor. With that confirmation Sanctus let the pact take form. You have formed a pact with the ErebusIf you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. The moment those words faded Erebus walked over to the small box Sanctus had been given by the bright adventurers. Erebus picked up the box, turned it over and then whispered, ¡°Open please.¡± Sanctus heard the sound of a soft click and the box popped open Erebus scooped out a cracked orb. The moment this happened Sanctus felt the dungeon lurch, tremble, and a blinding soul appeared in front of Erebus. It was so bright that Sanctus could barely look at it. ¡°Hello Cet,¡± Erebus said in his soft whisper. ¡°Careful worm, lest I eat you.¡± the soul replied angrily. Erebus laughed, ¡°You don¡¯t exactly have time for that do you.¡± Erebus asked, holding out the sphere, ¡°Go on, be a good boy and complete your purpose in life.¡± The soul of Cet growled, but walked over and touched the orb. With a flash of light Cet¡¯s soul disappeared and Sanctus felt sick as dozens of the souls that orbited it were pulled into the sphere. With a loud crack a shard of the orb cracked off and rancid yellow liquid seeped onto the floor. Erebus pulled other shards off and unceremoniously poured the rest of the liquid on the ground. Inside of the egg was a sickly looking lizard. Erebus shook his head, ¡°What a waste. They kept it in that box for far too long. If you want to save what¡¯s left of it I will help.¡± Sanctus¡¯s mind reeled, but desperately grasped at the words the demon spoke. Quickly Sanctus pulled mana from the demon standing in front of it. Mentally prodding and searching for a way to save it. Finally becoming desperate when the soul of the creature left its body Sanctus wove a web around it. Sanctus pushed the soul back into the creature quickly before the web could fade. Then Sanctus used a human blueprint to fix certain damaged mana paths. Sanctus briefly wondered why the humans had correlating mana paths before refocusing on the task at hand. The creature¡¯s body grew in front of them churning and oozing until only bones remained. Sanctus had a moment of panic before a message appeared in its mind.
You have acquired the title phylactery
Chase desperately gripped a stalactite as the dungeon shook. The earthquake lasted barely a minute before stopping. When it ended Tessa asked them all if they were okay, to which they responded in the affirmative. Chase was just marveling at how lucky they were not to have had a stalagmite fall on them when a wave of mana knocked the party off their feet.
Tessa woke from unconsciousness an unknown amount of time later. She crawled toward the nearest member of her party, her ears ringing and her vision blurry. She shook Chase desperately hoping the slippery feeling on her fingertips wasn¡¯t blood. Tessa felt movement and sighed in relief as Chase slowly woke up. As Tessa¡¯s vision cleared she saw Jace and Lilly already getting to their feet. The party pulled themselves up and stumbled back through the dungeon. As they made their way out of the dungeon they passed the corpses of two groups of adventurers. When they finally made it to the surface night had already fallen. They slowly made their way down the mountain and into the town in a daze. Or maybe they were carried down the mountain? Tessa didn¡¯t know. Her eyes closed and when she opened them again she could feel a cold cloth pressed over her eyes. She heard words being spoken above her but the ringing in her ears didn¡¯t let her hear most of what was being said. Then she heard a new voice, ¡°Those¡­ kids¡­. Mana poisoning¡­ bad¡­ might¡­ survival is unlikely.¡± A sharp pain raked her body. It felt like something chopping her apart and putting her back together. Iron flooded her mouth and began seeping out of it. With one final agonizing spike of pain the ringing in her ears stopped. She could hear the voice again, but clearer this time. ¡°That girl sure is something isn¡¯t she? Do you think she knows what she did? Oh I think she¡¯s awake. Sorry young one, you need to sleep.¡± Tessa felt a soft hand press against her forehand and she felt herself slip into unconsciousness once again.
Julien looked at the girl sleeping in front of him before turning back to Sidney, ¡°Poor girl.¡± ¡°She saved their lives,¡± Sidney replied, ¡°But she also nearly sentenced them to a fate worse than death. We should just kill the girl and get this over with. She used forbidden magic.¡± Julien nodded slowly, ¡°That¡¯s what we should do, but she probably doesn¡¯t even know about the affinity ,no pun intended but psychomancy mana generally has a mind of its own.¡± Sidney sighed, ¡°Place a mana seal on her, and we can pretend we don¡¯t know anything about this. If they ask about the seal we say it was to prevent further mana poisoning.¡± Julien nodded and then set to work.
Erebus smiled under his cloak of shadow, everything was going splendidly and he didn¡¯t even have to kill that many demons to answer the call. There had been two others that the system had seen as more compatible candidates for Sanctus call, but it hadn¡¯t been hard for him to fix that. This was the most interesting dungeon to pop up in a few millennia and it was a place safe from those that would like to see him dead. Sanctus was the perfect pantheon. The demons and angels in this dungeon would eventually stand above all the rest and Erebus wasn¡¯t about to let the chance to be one of them pass him by. The foolish gods that thought Erebus was finished would soon realize their mistake. But it was already too late he had made the pact. The foolish gods may not remember the sword that now pretended to be a dungeon, but Erebus did. He was not so easily distracted by the dual affinities. He touched his cheek, his fingers brushing against a scar, how could he ever forget the sword that gave it to him? He looked at the blade with fondness, that ancient sword had won wars and slayed kings, ¡°To think, the very blade that spelled my downfall would be the cause of my rise.¡± The Dark Fortress Sanctus stared at the creature before it.
Sepecise Wyrmlitch
Classification lesser drake
Habitat universal extremophile
Stats
Str 10 Dex 10
Con 10 Int 50
Wis 30 Luck 36
As Sanctus looked at the creature a plan forming in Sanctus¡¯s mind. On the third floor of the dungeon the ground began to shudder and split open, dark granite rising out of it. Towers and walls of smooth black rock began to take shape. A path formed from the entrance of the third floor to the rising castle. Next to the path, wizened trees began pushing their way out of churning soil that had begun to spread across the floor. Small lanterns began to form along the path just bright enough to see twisted shadows. When Sanctus was finished, what remained was a dark castle at the far end of the floor overlooking two groves of twisted dead trees. Splitting the grove apart was a stone path leading all the way from the castle to the entrance. Sanctus hesitated for a moment before finally calling out to Erebus. It could feel a tiny mental nod and sensed Erebus step onto the third floor. Before Sanctus could even begin pulling mana out of the demon Erebus opened his arms and allowed his mana to flow out of him. Sanctus cautiously touched the mana and found it responded instantly, allowing itself to be twisted and wheeved across the floor. The mana itself was strange. It was both unsettling and comforting. Like the combination of an all consuming predator and a warm embrace. Once the mana had finished infusing the air Sanctus allowed its centerpiece to ener the floor. The cat sized skeletal lizard bounded through the entrance and made a beeline for the dark mass of demon. Taking a leaping bound the creature flung itself into the arms of the bewildered demon. The shadowy creature carefully held the creature. This prompted it to stretch out a pair of bony bat-like wings, curl up, and go to sleep. The demon seemed to stare at the creature before barely whispering, ¡°I didn¡¯t know undead could sleep.¡± Erebus gave a slight shake of his head and then began making his way to the castle.
Markus cautiously stepped into the third floor pausing for a moment as the dark miasma enveloped him. Markus began walking forward once more, making his way to the castle in the distance. When Markus made it to the entrance he gave a quick knock and the gate rose. Sanctus had told Markus about their resident litch, so he was not surprised when a rotting corpse was what was waiting for him on the other side. The undead led him into the castle until they entered a throne room. Sitting atop the throne was a glorified lizard getting scratches from a dark figure standing to its left. Markus hesitated for a brief moment before he began to speak, ¡°If I may ask. Why are you here?¡± The demon before him looked up from the wyrmlitch and gave a soft chuckle. ¡°This is my home, the third floor of the abyssal sanctum.¡± ¡°Why would someone with your reputation willingly bind yourself to a dungeon?¡± Markus responded carefully. ¡°Ahh yes my reputation. A gross exaggeration, don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°I highly doubt that.¡± ¡°Plus dungeons contain monsters, what''s one more?¡± Markus reached up and adjusted his tie, ¡°Well then may I ask why this particular monster chose to make its home in this dungeon?¡± Erebus chuckled once more before responding, ¡°I wanted to make some new friends. Can you blame me?¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Markus gave a slight scowl. ¡°Since when are you one to make alliances?¡± ¡°We aren¡¯t allies, we¡¯re family. Don¡¯t worry your big brother won¡¯t hurt you, besides we both belong to Sanctus body and soul. You know as well as I, betrayal isn¡¯t exactly an option.¡± Markus looked at the demon one more time before turning around and leaving the dungeon. While it was true that once a demon bound themselves to a dungeon hurting it wasn¡¯t exactly possible. A demon wouldn''t be able to do anything it believed to be harmful to the dungeon. For that matter hurting the thing that protected your soul generally wouldn''t increase your life expectancy. Markus thought it over for another minute before deciding he would speak to Cetrial about it later.
It had been two weeks since the party''s last dive into the dungeon. And since there hadn¡¯t been anything like the earthquake in that time, Lilly and the rest of the party had decided that they would attempt the dungeon once again. By now the first floor had been completely mapped and the monsters had been properly cataloged so dives of the first floor usually took less than two days. The group was doing relatively well for themselves having avoided the areas with the most dangerous monsters and having made it all the way to the champion room. ¡°Before we enter let¡¯s make sure we have everything we need.¡± Tessa said to her party while she paced in front of them. The others nodded in unison while they quickly pulled vials containing various liquids out of their bags. Tessa bit her lip and continued, ¡°Remember the plan. Lilly, being our strongest member, will take down the witch while me and Chase act as a wall between the normal cultists and Jace. Jace we are trusting you to act as both cover fire for Lilly and crowd control on the really closely packed groups of cultists.¡± Lilly nodded and stepped forward. ¡°Remember guys, once we go in the only ways out are the death trap called running to the next floor and killing all of the cultists.¡± The party once again gave a few nods, before Jace broke the silence. ¡°Well if everyone is ready there¡¯s no point in doodling.¡± Chase pumped his fist, ¡°We got this!¡± With those words the party stepped up to the entrance, looked at one another, and charged into the fog. Lilly immediately split off to the left, dashing past the hoard of cultists to engage the witch. Meanwhile Chase and Tessa dashed into the closest two cultists, smashing them down with their shields and ending them with quick slices from their swords. Jace began hurling lightning at anything that was coming at the two warriors from the sides. Lilly moved past most of the cultists with ease sliding past any in her way and lunged at the monster that led them. A huge fist intercepted her, launching her straight into a pillar. She felt bones in her back creek, a scream escaping her mouth as her lower spinal cord snapped. Gritting her teeth she unkorked a bottle of blood red liquid and downed it. She rolled to the right a second later, dodging a swing from the witch''s fist. Lilly inhaled sharply as shrapnel from the now pulverized pillar bit into her cheek. Not giving her any further time to react the monster conjured a ball of fire in its smaller hand and hurled it at Lilly. The ground where Lilly had been just a moment earlier exploded in localized inferno. Lilly could distinctly feel that her spine had not been perfectly mended, however it was in a much better state then it had been in a few seconds earlier. She finished her roll on her feet using her momentum to continue into a run. She dashed behind the witch and struck out at one of her eight arachnid legs, barely managing to put a small chip in it. The monster roared at this transgression and a fiery whip formed in its humanlike hand. Lilly dodged two wild swings from the whip before a third slid past her left thigh, melting the small metal pieces of the armor there. Lilly grit her teeth once again, fighting through the pain of molten beads of metal burning through her skin. She used the pass of the whip to allow herself to slip under the monster''s guard and stab a knife into an important looking tendon in the monster¡¯s bulbous arm. The creature shrieked and used its mantis-like claw to grab hold of the left side of Lilly¡¯s waist. Lilly let out an ear splitting scream as she tore out of the creature''s grasp, quickly downing another two potions. She could feel the skin heal over, trapping the beads of metal that were quenched in her blood, on the inside. She quickly glanced at the other members of her party before activating her ace. The world around Lilly slowed and she began to move forward leaving semi corporeal illusions of herself that constantly flicked in and out of reality in her wake. The monster charged forward in slow motion banishing one of her illusions and lashing out at her with its whip. Lilly stepped out of a separate illusion and buried a blade into the creature''s lower right armpit. Suddenly glowing runes appeared across its body and the world suddenly sped up again. The witch smiled as its claw snapped forward towards Lilly¡¯s neck only for a bolt of lightning to smash into it, stopping it in its tracks. The moment of hesitation was all it took for Lilly to stab a second knife into the witch''s throat. The gurgled and fell onto its spider-like thorax. Lilly backed away slowly as the monster coughed up globules of blood. The creature looked at Lilly staring directly into her eyes before smiling. It wasn¡¯t a cruel or malevolent smile, but a shy smile you might give to a new friend. Lilly took a step back, unsettled. This made the witch smile even more, a gurgling chuckle leaving her throat. Then the monster did something truly unsettling, it shakily moved its one human arm and plunged it into its own chest. Lilly stairs in morbid fascination as the monster pulled out a dark curved dagger covered in sticky yellow ichor. Still starting at Lilly it held out the dagger hilt first toward her. Cautiously approaching the dying monster she carefully took the blade. And as the witch let go of the blade, it slumped, the last vestiges of life finally leaving its body.