《The Realm Beneath: A Dungeon Story》 Prologue Prologue. At first glance it appeared that nothing was happening at all, in fact whenever it tried to look nothing did happen. It was when it glazed over and watched without watching that things seemed to happen. But that was rather boring. To take away from the boredom it tried to remember things, what things? It questioned, before even those questions faded away in the mists of time. What were questions? The grey mist billowed up around it again erasing those metaphysical thoughts. So, it went back to watching, everything paused. It looked away and the motion started again. Odd. Slowly it gazed back at the things happening, passively absorbing all that was going on. Mirrored in those passively blank eyes the world started its motion, just a land mass drifting around and occasionally bumping into others of its kind.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Great rifts and pillars formed and collapsed to dust, land sundering and reforming in fractions of time. Uncountable. Gradually it learned that it could control its focus, that the more it focused the slower everything went. Eventually it found a pattern and it observed the passage of time, the rise and fall of the seas and skies, the passing¡¯s of seasons like hours on a clock, the gentle rising hand of the giants that lay between the lands, reaching up in a peak, brushed white. And slowly over the many eons that it watched, it saw something forming, a tiny mote of existence that drew the colours of the world towards itself, leaving everything in greyscale. As if responding to this, the world decided that colours were good, and to start producing the colours it made little moving pests, pests that never sat still, they moved in constant vibration. The colour returned to the world to its happiness, and the creatures? Well, they made pretty patterns as clusters of them rose and fell and died and lived in the moments between seconds of the clock of time that kept the world running. The being watched blankly. The mote that sucked up all the colour began to grow into a small crystal. Scream! It jumped as from the ever-silent void a scream broke out. Shattering the illusion of the world. For eons still the being looked away ¨C scared. But the boredom got to it and it turned back to stare at the world. Over time it came to realise what was happening again and again before the grey mists rose and stripped it all away. The screaming faded into the background again and again until¡­ It felt a tug, and a scream broke out all around the ever-quiet. Reverberating and echoing until even the echoes died and quiet reigned supreme. Chapter 1 Chapter 1 Awareness. What is it? Furthermore, what does it mean to be aware? Well, whilst the dictionary would say it was knowledge or perception of a situation or fact. To me it meant pain, not physical per se but certainly mentally. It came in sharp bursts that seemingly shattered my mind leaving me wallowing in an inky blackness without a hint of light. An impossibility I was sure, as for it to be as dark as it was I must be blind. Surely, I wouldn¡¯t have been born blind! It lasted for ages, who knows how long those waves of lancing pain lasted? Not me! But with each one my awareness increased. Gradually I could see again as the darkness retreated to the recesses of my mind, and then, with one final burst, it left entirely. My aching mind the only sign of the pain that had broached me. Now that I could see, I decided to look for the first time in my short life. The world was awash in blue, patterns of light and dark that permeated my vision swirling around, moving and shifting like the wind as eddies and ripples upon the water do. Infusing the patterns of my world was the blue, this blue seemed to merge with them so that the patterns glowed with a faint light, moving in an endless stream, past me and off into the distance they went, to where I couldn''t even comprehend. Off, and off it went leaving me far behind. As I watched the blue marching off like soldiers, I felt a sense of sadness flood through me, welling up from somewhere, I did not know where. Like a mother watching her sons trudge to battle, I felt the sorrow of that loss. I screwed up my eyes trying to bottle down that sadness. I had blinked. And upon blinking and opening my eyes, the world was washed in greens, though not as intense as the blue was, this new green seemed to get more intense the higher it got. Higher? Where did that thought come from? I wasn''t aware of any height or reference frame by which to measure it, but still, it felt right. Like layers the green blossomed away and out of my vision. The sadness that I had felt from the blue was gone now as I stared at the greens. They pulsed with colour fading away to the background green and then flaring in vivid colour seconds later, like a heartbeat, it thump thumped along to its own rhythm, ignoring all that was not it. Blinking again and the world was washed in reds, and oranges. This time they darkened and became more intense the further down it went. Down? Where did that come from? But I was just as certain I was right as I was about the aspect of height. Yet I knew I had never experienced any of these. The reds filled me with a sense of wonder as the colours seemed rich and happy, they didn¡¯t pulse like the green or march ever onwards like the blues, rather they seemed to waft up and suffuse the world with a gentleness and comfort that I found lovable, they flowed around everything centring around each and every creature. Well, everything except me. Stupid red¡¯s, ignoring me. Well, I didn¡¯t need them! Each time I blinked, the aspect with which I saw the world changed colour, but still the underlying patterns were evident. Undisturbed by me, they floated along to their own tune. From the Blues, Greens and Reds there was also Purples, Browns, Blacks, Whites, Yellows, Silvers and Greys with hundreds of shades and colours in between, in a near endless spectrum of colour. Eventually I realised that what I was seeing was the texture of the earth around which I was surrounded, the fractures and cracks, the different composites of the harsh rock conditions, the macrostructure and imperfections that made up my newfound environment. Stretching my vision, I could see signs of life above me. Bugs and critters crawling around and exploring the soft, loamy earth somewhere up above me, carrying out their lives oblivious to me. They went back and forth searching for something, something that eluded my sight. Carrying on with their lives, finding food, water, building their colony, and surviving to repopulate like any good member of a species. I don''t know for how long I observed their lives but before long a new generation was born, and all the while information was filtering in to my subconscious mind. Collecting and collating it all into a comprehensive picture of what was around me. As I watched them go about their lives, the colours slowly drained away, it didn¡¯t flicker constantly between all the colours and soon they all seemed to coexist as some sort of vivid picture. The picture showed me earth. Lots and lots of earth, earth everywhere in fact. I was buried deep within the earth. So far down that I couldn''t find any sign of the surface, yet the pressure wasn''t so immense that I felt I was buried too far down. The surface must be close I concluded, yes close to me, I was certain of it. A feeling welling from with me. I was near to the surface. I thought that I must be quite small for this to be true and so I made an arbitrary unit of measurement, I called it the Metre or m for short and it was 20 times my width in length. With this concluded I felt happy and content and I decided a nap was in order. Sometime later I woke feeling odd, what was different. As I observed everything I could sense that nothing had changed, so what was different? There must be something? A few moments later, I realised what it was. I could feel the layer of earth that contained life somewhere above me. It wasn¡¯t a horizontal layer though, it seemed to be at an angle sloping upwards. Neat! I could feel it. I could FEEL! That was what was different, before I could see it, but now? Now I could FEEL IT! It was amazing. From this information I could assume I was in a mountain of some sort. Mountain? Where did that come from? Oh well, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll find out at some point I thought dismissing it. With my position and environment answered I now had to find out what do next. I had first searched outside of myself, so, now it seemed about right to search inside. I tried to move any limbs that I could, but I couldn''t find anything there, hmm how odd. Since I wasn''t in pain I could assume I wasn''t broken. Well, that¡¯s good! I pondered this matter for a long time before it occurred to me to observe myself the way I had my surroundings. When it worked, I felt like an idiot, I almost glanced around in embarrassment before realising that no-one would have noticed. Thank god. God? No never mind, I¡¯ll ponder on that another time. Further analysis revealed I was some sort of crystal, gem or stone. Not without flaws though, I could sense I had cracks and fractures on the macro and micro scale as well as chemical dead ends where the crystal structure was broken up or twisted slightly creating imperfection in my body. It annoyed me to no end and I promised myself that if possible in the future I would improve myself I would be the most perfect gem ever. People would stare, awestruck at my majesty. But first¡­ first I would¡­ what would I do? An issue for later. Before too long, I began to feel a little hungry, it worried me as I seemed to have no way to combat this issue, you know, not being able to move and all. But I resolutely put it out of my mind in favour of exploring my territory. Looking around where I could, I had soon gotten an accurate picture of everything possible to see. It was at this point that the issue of my hunger resurged with much harsher pangs. What once had been a minor concern was now pressing on me heavily, I had started to feel mightily uncomfortable and it was bordering on pain. On perhaps only a whim I sucked in a strand of colour, red if you must know, stupid red! I felt a warmth suffuse my body and I felt overwhelmingly full. Oh, Lovely red! You aren¡¯t stupid anymore!A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ~~Congratulations! You, ______ New Dungeon have reached level 1. Having found the skill of |mana absorption| you can now feed yourself, survive and thrive. You need only to think Menu to open up a world of opportunity~~ ~~New skill acquired: |Mana Absorption|~~ ~~New item acquired: ~~ Thinking menu to myself a new window popped up in front of me.
Menu
Name ??? Race Dungeon
Titles Renown Undiscovered
Skills ^ 1
Rating 1E Level 1
Health 10/10 Mana 1/2 (2 for Lvl Up)
Knowledge 10 Dungeon Points 5
Status Ok Attunement F1
Rooms 0 Floors 0
Bosses 0 Monsters 0
Creatures 0 Creature Types ^ 0
Unique Items 1 Item types ^ 1
Manipulating my menu, I managed to open the dungeon guide for dummies and began to read enthusiastically not having much else to do. ~~Hello New Dungeon and welcome to the world. Your first question I imagine is what is a dungeon? A dungeon is a volume of land that is under the control of a dungeon crystal, (that''s you). You, the dungeon, must manage the land, cultivate its life and existence and live. Like any other aware being, your primary instinct is to live. And in order for you to do this, you must make your dungeon uniquely you. By expanding your area of influence and creating caverns, mazes, rooms and floors whilst sustaining life and ecosystems. You will find a purpose to live for. Another avenue you may wish to pursue could be that of a dangerous dungeon. By opening up your body to the surface world and inviting down the sentient races to challenge the monsters you create you will find a world of amusement and fun awaits you. By offering rewards you can entice adventurers from Stone to Scarletite and exchange in a competition to see who emerges from a life and death battle. ... ~~ When I finished reading the book, I had a much clearer idea of my existence, and the idea of creating a dangerous dungeon appealed greatly to me. I was a dungeon, a being that would create a network of caverns to sustain life and challenge adventurers, if they died I would absorb their life energy and Mana with which to challenge another. Having a masterful control over magic, I could accomplish things that would blow the mind of the other sentients. Whilst it would have been fun to perhaps try that, I was not keen to expose my secrets to them. Secrets with which they might beat me. I got the feeling however, that I wasn''t a typical dungeon and having felt that, it provided me enough evidence to suggest it was in fact the case, a normal dungeon wouldn''t have thought this, of that I was sure. I was buried in a mountain as I suspected, though not too far underground, it seemed my scale was off, and I was in fact no more than 50m from the surface, sigh. Having nothing else to do I set my mind to building my dungeon. I first began to absorb mana from my surroundings, that''s what it was - my vision - by the way, mana, from the stones and earth and life and more. With the stupid delicious fire mana rising up from below. Where from, I had no clue but somewhere down there it was produced. ~~Level up: 2~~ ~~Level up: 3~~ ~~Level up: 4~~ ~~Level up: 5~~ ~~Level up: 6~~ ~~Level up: 7~~ ~~Level up: 8~~ ~~Level up: 9~~ ~~Level up: Congratulations on reaching level 10. ~~ The requirements to reach the next level were greater each time, exponentially so, and each time my mana reset to 0. Additionally, I needed to use mana as my power source for my dungeon-based activities. Deciding I needed a room to start with, I began to absorb the stone in a circle around me until I had carved out a sphere of radius 4m with a central column to support my crystal. ~~New skill acquired: Material Absorption~~ Next, I kept the bottom of the sphere and flattened the bottom to create a kind of dome and kept expanding until I had a rough dome of 10m across by 5m high. Just making this room had spent all of my mana several time and I had to wait another full day to recoup my losses, it was slow progress. I pondered my issues for a long time. Unfortunately, it was a hard problem and thinking on it wasn¡¯t helping much. I decided that for me to formulate any kind of plan I needed to have a greater awareness of my surroundings, so, for the next few weeks, I spent my time pushing mana into my sight, expanding my vision until I could see the top of the mountain, a whole kilometre above me. Since my vision expanded like a bubble it meant I had a lot of open air in my vision which was clearly not going to be a good strategy for me. I had also discovered that I seemed to be in an enormous mountain, which whilst it seems good it was evident that there was nowhere for humans, or any other species of adventurer to set up camp. Hmm what to do? What to do? Eventually, I decided that I would try to sink my crystal down until I discovered the bottom of the mountain, expanding my bubble if necessary, so that I could always feel a few metres of air at the surface. ~~New skill acquired: excavation~~ The problem with this was that I had underestimated the size of the mountain. It took me the next couple of years or so to accomplish this, and if I wasn''t so stubborn I probably would have and should have given up long ago. But I was stubborn as hell and I finish what I start. I had fallen through the mountain about 4km and my vision now extended out about 5km in all directions, so it still comfortably encased the upper reaches of the mountain, the useable bits anyway, the very tips of the peaks that I had once known all about were thin and craggy with no useable space. I had also had to level up in my spare time as with my insufficient mana capacities I could accomplish much at any one time, so for a beginner dungeon I was probably overpowered.
Menu
Name ??? Race Dungeon
Titles Renown Undiscovered
Skills ^ 3
Rating 1C Level 45
Health 3,451/3,451 Mana 9,800/22,960 (22,960 for Lvl Up)
Knowledge 15,000 Dungeon Points 15,468
Status Ok Attunement E3
Rooms 2 Floors 1
Bosses 0 Monsters 0
Creatures 0 Creature Types ^ 0
Unique Items 1 Item types ^ 40
Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Now that I had sunk myself down into the mountain I had discovered that around the base of the mountain to the east was a forest. A forest with large trees and small ones alike, a forest with lots of shrubs, flowers, moss and numerous florae littering the wooded environment and sparse regions similarly. Bugs, beetles and various insects, arachnids and other such creepy crawlies existed within its grasp. During the years that I had worked to bury myself, knowledge had leeched into my mind from somewhere beyond. I had a knowledge equal to that of a fifteen-year-old child. A general sense of how life worked, the systems by which the major races survived, and an idea of the geography of the world, but not much else. I wasn¡¯t counting the intrinsic knowledge of how to work with mana as that seemed to be a species trait and not studied or learned knowledge. From what knowledge I had absorbed, I knew that this land was divided into 8 equal sections, sections that each had different climates and races that lived within them, and strangely enough, they all bordered my mountain. Around the outside was another mountain range and what was beyond it I didn¡¯t yet know. Perhaps no-one did. The forest was to my east, well a direction I was now calling east. Anyway, it was a large swathe of land with dense trees and sparse clearings that was home to the nature affinity creatures. Creatures of all manner and matter, there were big ones, there were small ones, there were sneaky ones and stealthy ones, there were ones with many legs and others with not so many, there were timid ones and aggressive ones, there were loud ones and silent ones and many more besides. As a climate it was the most peaceful within itself. Having no civil wars as the nature affinity was closely tied with life which meant that the inhabitants were far more peaceful than those of other lands. To the north, the grasslands, with waist high grasses, small hills and valleys and clumps of woods, there were large beasts aplenty in this continent and they were the ones that called it home. In between these two was a swampland - that had the more reptilian beasts - and jungle like environment with dangers aplenty, but lots of good quality alchemical ingredients. Carrying on clockwise to the south east was an oceanic place with a few islands and deep-sea trenches. The aquatic life was plentiful and the land untainted here, the fishes and mammals that called it home seemed to avoid the trenches for they held dangers of ancient proportion. The sea froze over to the south evolving into an arctic tundra which was so cold that mana actually froze. Becoming the expensive mana crystals. Besides dungeons this was the only other source for them, but adventurers had to go through the most inhospitable climate to recover them and most never did. Bordering this tundra, was a mountain range home to the rocky life that dwelled so hidden, huge lumbering behemoths and small stocky creatures that ran around constantly. Legend said that dragons existed in the westernmost peaks, but I wasn''t sure I believed that.. Following around, to the west was a large desert, devoid of moisture, this baking heat was almost as bad as the tundra and there was nothing to be found out here. The last section of land, the savannah, was home to the most common creature. The human the only sentient I had yet seen as there was a small settlement nearby, though it didn¡¯t fall within my domain, I could occasionally taste its presence when the wind blowed just so. Weak in body and mind but with limitless potential these were both the weakest and strongest race to inhabit this world. The others, the elves and dwarves and all the others mentioned in the book, I had yet to find, for they never seemed to stray near my mountain. It was a shame that only these short-lived sentients would be the ones to challenge my dungeon ¨C at the start at least - most searching for a wealth I couldn¡¯t provide. Dungeon, oh yeah that was what I was supposed to be doing. Whoops! Many ideas had riffled through my mind as I was pondering the landscape and I made sure to file them away for later use. I could see myself with a great many plans and a huge expansive dungeon, but I had to build it first. I had had an idea for the structure of my dungeon already, so I set out to build it with a happy humming and a bouncy cheerful heart. I was pleased with my position in the mountain, it wasn¡¯t too near the top to make it difficult for adventurers to get to nor too deep in the earth that the ground was impenetrable, and I had a good range of things within my domain. First, I stretched my awareness up and away, away from my crystal body and up towards the top of the mountain. Until I reached a point where if the walls were 20m thick I would still have a good-sized floor area to work with. This was about 4km above me though, so I had to travel quite a way to start work, an annoyance I was happy to deal with if it meant protecting my core. The book had said that the high tier mages needed dungeon cores for spells and enchantments and whatnot, something I was pretty sure would kill me. I started by connecting it to my core as I had to have a mana flow to work, then I began absorbing the earth until I had my cavern. Using some of the earth I had just received I packed the walls tight and increased their density. By pouring in some of my mana I was able to alter the structure of the earth. I increased the bonding of the molecules by enhancing it with mana cables. I strengthened them until I was sure there was no way short of godly influence they could collapse. Then I took a look at their surface. About 1 foot into the wall I modelled it after a diamond creating a hard, impenetrable surface. The front foot was soft and sticky to entrap weapons should they be struck into it. Stop them digging for anything where I didn¡¯t want them to, they¡¯d need a pretty high-tier mage to get past that. The cavern was a good 100m across to where I would build the staircase down. At a height of 40m it would allow me to cultivate enormous trees and create a wonderland of nature and danger. First, I covered the floor with a thick layer of earth about 3m deep. And compacted it so that it was fairly firm. Spending some dungeon points I unlocked all the basic flora, the knowledge suffusing me hurt in a good way, like a good workout, all my facets ached in a pleasurable way, I sighed happily and continued by covering the ground in a layer of grass. Seeding and growing it by feeding it mana took a while and was surprisingly expensive, I managed to gain a skill from it though. ~~New skill acquired: Mana Suffusing~~ Until I got more experienced it would be very expensive to grow this ecosystem, but I could only persevere despite my wants. It wasn¡¯t long though it felt that way to an impatient soul like me, I could spend a year or two digging straight down doing nothing but at least I was making progress, now that I¡¯d started to build it was all I wanted to do. Soon however, I had a thick, lush layer of grasses coating the floor in various shades of green. The other plants took longer to grow as they were more complicated, and I had less practice at them, but I was making progress and was a happy camper, I¡¯m sure I would have been grinning had I a face to show it. Cultivating walls that seemed natural and not maze like to divide the space into rooms was a little trickier, yet I managed it in good time. The walls had to be made of a more hardy and rugged plant with thicker branches than most of the other common types of hedges used in the world. I had to guide them to grow properly all the way, letting them grow naturally meant a far looser mesh than I needed and so I had to coax them all the way until I tied off their progress. Then it was on to modifying them. First, I started by increasing the colour intensity of the leaves to a more vibrant darker green. Rich in colour and tougher as well. The branches that had coiled around each other despite my best efforts were making the walls thicker and more reminiscent of an actual barrier. I decided it would do as it provided a bit more of the natural variance that seemed to fit.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Next, I delved into the anatomy of the plant itself. I bolstered its feeding by increasing the efficiency of the oxygen carbon dioxide exchange, hopefully helping make the place a little fresher than you would expect a cave to be. The roots grew deep and wide extending for metres and metres below the ground. In fact, I carved small channels through the ground and let water run from one side of the room to the other to help the plants thrive as they could drink from these fresh water supplies, making a source of water used a constant supply of mana but it was far less than I was getting naturally so I didn¡¯t worry too much about it yet. I had decided to sustain my creatures on an ecosystem instead of by mana like the book had posited, both were options, but an ecosystem was a far more delicate balance that could help me save mana in the future. I could always revert to feeding everything by mana. Soon my constant work paid off and I had a basic layout. From one room to the next it would take only 15 rooms to get from one side to the other where I would place the descending staircase. I had a huge plan for my dungeon and as such I had to withhold from placing too many dangers too soon. The first floor had to be easy and linear. Something a small child could accomplish. After all I wanted my dungeon to attract creatures from all over and a dungeon that adventurers could train in from a young age that just kept going and going was bound to be a huge draw. Well, I hoped so. If this was to be based for young ones, then traps would have to wait as I felt they would be too unobservant and may just end up dying straight away you don¡¯t kill of the young generation if you want to survive, let the old and weary die cause they sure as hell won¡¯t replace the younglings. With the floor base done it was time to work on the detailing what would I include, what dangers? What creatures? What would I put in there? Right so level 1, level 1 I thought to myself what I should include at the start. Humans and the other sentient races were top of the food chain. At least that¡¯s what the book claimed, and I had no reason to distrust it yet, nor ever hopefully. They had relatively little to fear except for magic monsters, dungeons and of course themselves. Even most basic animals posed very little threat to a child. Only top predators of the normal ones would pose any threat. But of course, I don¡¯t want to kill them straight off. A dungeon should get harder and harder until an adventurer will die trying to backtrack and die trying to fight the floor boss. Hmm I thought in my mind. Plant based monsters should be quite a good one for the start. Static and slow they shouldn¡¯t pose a problem for anyone. Yep! Let¡¯s go with that! Right, lets go. First things first, then second things and so on. Let¡¯s make the walls a little more dangerous and then introduce some tree monsters I thought to myself, I had found thinking to myself in this manner had helped me decide what to do. Right now, my floor had a stable height. And I had a lot of space to work with. The grasses and shrubs were about waist high and the walls only 5m or so. So, a height change would be good as well. I started by growing some hardened brambles within the walls, not sentient, these were just a passive threat, an annoyance. Larger, tougher and with sharper spikes, it would still take an unbelievably stupid, persistent effort to hurt oneself seriously in them. Perhaps someone will do it, I think I¡¯ll make a monument to them if they do. A Darwin award. Next, the trees. I manoeuvred my vision, so I was centred in front of the would-be entrance. Looking across the floor I could see where the stairs would be. It was a semi straight line and one which the adventurers would trace fairly readily. Along where I assumed a path would be traced I began to plant some trees. About 50 trees for the room, 30 along the main path and 20 dotted through the rooms. 30 of these trees were harmless and the rest were dangerous. I went for an apple tree as the safe ones. I had a plan to in the future bring back the flora and fauna of earlier levels with dangerous new twists. These fruit bearing trees were safe but later I¡¯d make them highly poisonous. Hopefully I¡¯d catch someone out. The dangerous trees were to be weeping willows, not all of them mind you, but enough that you wouldn¡¯t know which ones. Large trees that had branches that grew up and then curved down under their own weight. The thin branches were soft and droopy. Flexible and soon to be strong. So, I delved into the material and increased their tensile strength once again using my mana cables. Then I began to infuse my magic into it creating a living plant. It would wind its branches around you slowly and either begin to crush you or fling you back onto the trunk. The trunk would have a literal weeping effect with a thin viscous coating which would be highly poisonous and kill quickly if entering the bloodstream. So, any adventurer with lacerations and cuts from the brambles and rose bushes would die quickly without aid, a highly poisonous but relatively easy to cure poison. Apart from that it wasn¡¯t very dangerous. Each tree took a centre place in the side rooms and these were large trees, they took up all the space in the room however I made them activate only when touched. If disturbed by alive forces the branches effected would come alive and try to kill you. A 15m diameter, the trees were a sort of maze to get through and in a notch in the trunk over which the poison flowed sat a small wooden chest. Behind the deadly waterfall it sat dry and unmovable. Containing very little of value only a few coppers at most. With the rooms done I just had to cultivate those along the main path. Smaller willows now only 5m diameter and a little stronger as they got closer to where the stairs would be. Next task would be the main path. Or should I create one? I thought to myself. Ah I had it. I would just modify it so that a natural path formed. Along the way a flattened the ground slightly and thinned out the underbrush to make movement slightly easier. Naturally adventurers would move this way and over time a path like the one I wanted would be created. More natural and it just seemed better. After that I just had to populate it with animal life and the first floor would be done. Then I could start on the second floor, third floor and so on. I paused for a few minutes contemplating the floors and just picturing my future self, illustrious, adventurers would come from all over to brave the depths of my dungeon. I revelled in it for a moment before snapping back to myself. I wanted an ecosystem, something with very little management needed. So first I created a good stock of insects. Little families, colonies, whatever they were. Dotted around the room they would just populate the floor with a depth of sound and life. Small birds would eat the insects and these in turn would be eaten by a large eagle. A 4ft wingspan and inch long talons kept the populations in control. The eagle family had a small nest in the ceiling of the room. Obscured from all angles unless one stood on a tree by the stairs. Of course, said tree was a killer. On a whim I made the nest hold a small treasure trove. Lots of coin and a few gems. A reward for the eagle eyed, hah, nice pun dungeon, nice! The little alcove was fairly warm and cosy. At least I thought so. With the flying life done I needed floor life. A few ant nests, some snails and slugs and beetles and shrews and mice. This was the foundation of the underbrush. Some hedgehogs that I made have steel like spines - just cause - foraged around and in some small burrows were some grass snakes. These weren¡¯t threats to any but the really stupid adventurers. With that done I thought I had finished the first floor. Taking a look around I confirmed it. Yep! Well done me! After a self-congratulatory moment, I started work on the stairs. Wooden of course, to fit in with the theme, I wasn¡¯t insane. I took the roots of the willow near the entrance and encouraged their growth until they stretched down another 30 metres with about 20cm steps - perfect right angle steps. With a half turn to drop the adventurers off on the next level the wooden latticework took the better part of a few hours and lots of mana. Before I started work on the second level I checked my stats.
Menu
Name ??? Race Dungeon
Titles Renown Undiscovered
Skills ^ 11
Rating 1A Level 45
Health 3,451/3,451 Mana 6,320/22,960 (22,960 mana for Lvl up
Knowledge 16,208 Dungeon Points 11,983
Status OK Attunement E3
Rooms 35 Floors 1
Bosses 0 Monsters 30
Creatures 1,231 Creature types ^ 70
Unique Items 1 Item Types ^ 40
Looking good since it took about 4500 mana for floor one I estimated I could accomplish this next one with the remaining 6000 as it would be slightly bigger. In fact, every floor would get bigger as I progressed down the mountain as I had more room to work with. Having been caught up in my revelry I looked and saw several notifications blinking in my vision, the mana patterns had hidden away whilst I was focusing. Now though I looked at them. ~~New skill acquired: Material deployment~~ ~~New skill acquired: Material reinforcing~~ ~~New skill acquired: Mana reinforcing~~ ~~New skill acquired: Mana control~~ ~~New skill acquired: Mana based biological modification~~ ~~New skill acquired: Crafting~~ ~~New skill acquired: Treasure creation~~ ~~New skill acquired: Enchanting - summons~~ Chapter 3 Chapter 3 The end of the stairs was going to exit into a cavern quite high up. So, I once again started by shifting the earth into the walls making them stronger and sturdier. The same style of walls as the first level, soft then strong. After a few hours of work, I had the cavern shape dug out. From the bottom step of the stairs that entered this cavern the ceiling went up another 10m. However, the stairs entered the cavern at the top and so the cavern extended down a long way, 100m in fact. Over 200m in diameter, this circular section of the mountain was more rounded than up top. The ground was perfectly flat as I planned to change it a lot before the floor was done. At the moment, I was attempting to modify the ceiling. To make it look more natural, as if a real cave had developed such extensive life. I don¡¯t know if you have ever tried sculpting the ceiling, but let me tell you, it was much harder than it seemed. Sentient peoples seem to subconsciously look for patterns, and so, when trying to make anything look natural, there will always be patterns that sneak into the randomness and break the illusion. Though nature isn¡¯t random, as processes end up shaping everything there is, I find it almost impossible to replicate. This is because there are weak points in the rocks, wind patterns and atmospheric dust that wears away at those points and many more tiny things that shape the world, copying everything is just infeasible, especially on the scale I¡¯m working on. Struggling to emulate the end result is even harder than it seems and soon I give up, hopefully it is good enough. After struggling with this for so long, my mind aches enough that I stop for a few moments. Once the ceiling was complete, with its not random randomness, I continued with the floor, since the cavern was 100m further down I had plenty of space to work with. As before, I created a dirt layer, though it was deeper this time around, deep enough to support big trees and lots of vegetation. I figured that 10 m of topsoil, slowly getting denser the farther down it went, would be good enough to support the trees. I was right as it turned out. A small babbling brook wound itself through the ground, cutting in wide meanders across the land like a snake, the stream had a few tributaries that fed it, creating a network of water that would allow the trees to grow properly. These tributaries wound in and out of view, through the trees and under the roots ¨C well it would do once I¡¯d grown the trees. The main branch of the stream started life from an undercutting in the wall, 10m into this wall I hid a small cavern with a golden treasure chest containing coins and gems. In this cavern, a water source provided water to the stream and tributaries whilst at the other end of the brook the water was removed with a banishing enchantment. Unlike the previous room, this one would have huge trees and unfortunately for me this took a lot more mana and time. Encouraging their growth, until the trees started to brush the ceiling, took me a few days, but it was worth it. They were a good few meters in diameter with dry cracked bark and thick branches that inter wove to form a tough layer of plant. This time, there were proper paths, or at least there would be after I was done. Dotted around the new woodland I had the remnants of a few camps, what fate befell these fictional adventurers would remain a mystery to the future adventurers. Some were temporary shelters and fire pits with paths drawn in between whilst others were just a more comfortable spot to call a bed. Some old tools and remnants of a hard life decorated these settlements and provided some unique character, the weathered look and camouflaged parts helped them blend in. I made sure there was nothing of great value there, it was after all just aesthetics and not of great importance to the level. But I was proud of my home and if I had to live here forever more, then I wanted to make it perfect. But what challenge should this floor pose? The floor was fairly similar to the woodlands and so I suppose the natural predators of the woodlands - but beefed up ones - would be appropriate for a dungeon. If the ground was to be a dangerous hunting grounds, then the trees would be for the agile rogue, a sky path on the interwoven branches. Yes, that sounds good, multiple routes favouring different types of adventurers provide more depth and diversity to my dungeon. From the stairs, the adventurers would step down into the canopy as a tree grew up to meet it underneath and the roots of the willow up above extended down until they wound seamlessly into the branches of the largest tree I had grown ¨C a giant redwood (giant sequoia) ¨C so far. With a girth of 8m at the base it had plenty of space for a small spiral staircase inside to allow the adventurers to descend to the floor. Along the way, several exits dropped the adventurers off onto various sky paths and these paths started off the sky route, it was a veritable maze with lots of pointless paths and dead ends to make it very annoying. Though it was an annoying maze, more treasure could be found up here than down below. However, to get the prizes aerial transfers from one path to another could be taken if necessary and sometimes they were the only way to get to the secret places. Though I expected that might pose a challenge, I doubted they would be taken often. Of course, you could see all the way to the floor a good 50m below, what was the point otherwise. I had had a good laugh thinking about some cowardly adventurer afraid of heights venturing in thinking, ¡®it¡¯ll be fine, I¡¯m entering a cave, no heights in there¡¯ only to be dragged along by his other colleagues. Going down to the second level, only to be dropped off on the treetops, perhaps they¡¯d fall through in sheer fright. Now that would be quite funny. In terms of the actual path though, it was made of the bigger branches, often those with widths of a foot or less and the surrounding branches crossed over to interfere with their progress. Some of the path sections were just an entangled bundle of vines forming a carpet that they had to traverse, it was certainly strong enough for any adventurer, but it was slippery, with holes and tangles that would pose a problem for all but the most fleet footed of individuals. I expected a fair few would fall out of the trees only to splatter on the floor with a soft thump and a bellowing scream. Once again, there would be no floor boss, I¡¯d save that for later, it didn¡¯t feel right to have them yet. After all, I had plenty of time to incorporate that in my dungeon. It would be very very large and increase in difficulty gradually so for now I didn¡¯t feel it was necessary. After finishing all the flora, it was time for the fauna. As I had planned earlier I thought that the natural predators for the woodland would be a good fit. To have the predators though I needed a functioning ecosystem, it had to survive and thrive over time. From the introductory book I had determined most dungeons were small and had an almost constant difficulty level and style, obviously it changed throughout the whole dungeon and it increased over time as well, but they most often didn¡¯t progress through the ranks from level to level. Being small meant they could manage all the creatures and floors actively. Whilst I wasn¡¯t the first to do so, I was challenging this trend. Working with ecosystems helped me manage the dungeon as I couldn¡¯t afford to concentrate on all floors at all times, especially if adventurers were at different points and so they would need at least minimal monitoring. Towards this end, I once again started by creating the bugs, beetles, insects and other bottom feeders that would eat the vegetation. From there, I started on the birds. They were tougher and more dangerous than the small ones from the last floor, however when compared to the eagle they were basically harmless. Though having said that, the eagle was more of a monitoring system unless challenged or commanded it wouldn¡¯t do anything to adventurers. An optional boss I supposed. Unlike the eagle and the small birds from the first floor that were passive, these birds would try and interfere. They had one move, which was a sudden barrelling strike to try and knock adventurers off the branches. Unfortunately for me, most regular birds didn¡¯t do this, and so, I had to create another monster race by drastically modifying them. Getting them to blend in with the passive birds I would add next was the hardest part and, in the end, I was quite proud of my achievement, these stealth attacks would be quite effective, if a bit weak. Apart from some black tipped feathers it was hard to tell the dangerous species to the regular ones, once the news got out the adventurers would have to watch the birds carefully, perhaps so much that they would miss the other danger. The last predators of the trees were a couple of huge snakes. 10m long and 20cm wide they were coiled around the branches, hiding in plain sight. With a dark green skin and a diamond pattern they were perfectly blended in. They had large fangs, but no poison and they would constrict to kill their prey. These snakes would be very dangerous and so I slowed them down significantly, no more lightning fast strikes. With a bit more work I had finished the floor. It was now the proud home of bugs, beetles, rodents, rabbits, foxes, wolves and big cats with a few smaller reptiles and the like along the water edge. A small family of otters were nested in the roots of a particularly large tree on the riverbank. The roots of said tree were cage like and could act as a path for adventurers to cross the stream. Completely passive, and just for fun I had included the otters on a whim, they would feed on some smaller fishes, frogs and aquatic life that also played home in the stream. Obviously, the main danger was the wolves and large cats. I had one large Wolfpack and a few solitary cats scattered towards the end of the level as they were more dangerous. I held back on the modifications despite wanting to see how far I could go. I only went so far as to increase their ability to climb and jump. I didn¡¯t feel the need to go further as I thought this was a fairly dramatic step up in difficulty.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. On another whim, I placed a family of water elementals in the cavern at the start of the stream. They could defend themselves and they also helped keep the water crystal clear and clean, lessening the mana for the water and only increasing it in general by a small amount. With that I felt that the floor was finished. I settled down for a few minutes to see the ecosystem come alive. As the time passed me by a problem occurred to me fairly quickly. Unlike the first floor with very few predators and only small ones at that this floor had several large predators in the snakes, wolves and big cats. I suppose the foxes counted as well. The cats and the wolves were meant to ignore each other primarily and so they couldn¡¯t feed on each other. The largest food stock I had were the rodents which were not sufficient. The rodents should be for the foxes, birds and perhaps the snakes. Spending some more dungeon points I unlocked the woodchuck (groundhog) and warthog for the forest. The ecosystem seemed to balance out quite well after that and though I waited for a while it seemed to have reached a good equilibrium between predators and prey. Next, I pondered the third floor. How should I get down? Roots had been done already, plain stairs would be done from the surface to the first floor. Hmm¡­ I thought to myself. Got it. At the end of the stream I started digging down, down by about 20m into a little basin. I had a waterfall that would carry adventurers down. Now they just needed a way back up. A path up through the stone was needed and so I dug back up into one of the trees. A timed entrance let them out of the trunk, but it wouldn¡¯t allow anyone back down without completing the level first. They would have five seconds to get out before the door closed on them again. Obviously, it couldn¡¯t be opened from the outside, that would be foolish. Checking quickly, I had a descent supply of mana left so I carried on working. Like before, I created the chamber by pushing the stone into the walls strengthening it. It was getting noticeably harder as the stone became harder and denser and it took more effort to get rid of it. In fact, after clearing half of my new chamber I ended up unable to force more stone into the walls. I still had a large block in the centre of my new room though, so, great! At the moment I had a ring of 600m across with a 450m circle of stone in the centre. Sighing I started the arduous work of getting rid of the stone. First, I applied mana to the weak points and converted it into energy which blasted apart the walls. Then I started crushing the rubble into a finer powder, a dust. Then I started absorbing it, if it was loose, it was easier to absorb, and it saved me mana. Like it was dissolving, the dust vanished from sight slowly and then it was inside me, filling me up with a pleasant feeling as a lovely meal does. Where it went, I don¡¯t know, but I still had access to it at the least. A separate dimension I suspected, perhaps a self-contained pocket dimension tied magically to my core. Anyway, it was the least of my worries at the moment. It worked and that was all that was important. When I was finished carving out the room I had completely run out of mana and I felt weak and drained, like I¡¯d ran for my life. So, I settled down to rest for a while, to recoup my mana and refresh my mind took far too long. Little did I know I would rest for about two weeks. It was at this point I realised I had a problem and I called up my status window.
Menu
Name ??? Race Dungeon
Titles Renown Undiscovered
Skills ^ 11
Rating 2D Level 45
Health 3,451/3,451 Mana 22,960/22,960 (22,960 mana for Lvl up
Knowledge 17,117 Dungeon Points 10,456
Status OK Attunement E3
Rooms 129 Floors 3
Bosses 0 Monsters 308
Creatures 14,792 Creature types ^ 141
Unique Items 1 Item Types ^ 80
As I could plainly see, I had an imbalance. I was a rank 2D dungeon with lots of mana and capability, yet I had done nothing really. I was trying to become this huge and expansive dungeon with numerous rooms, floors and huge caverns that just soaked up all my mana. Without a way to gain mana I was never going to reach my goal, this upset me greatly because it seemed that spending a couple years drilling down through the mountain and expanding my vision had been for nothing, yes I had gained a few levels and I had a lot of mana to work through it was no where near enough to be going on with. I had a big pool of mana, but it filled up really slowly, especially since I had sucked up a lot of the mana present in the mountain and I had to wait for it to seep back in though the ground. I had travelled maybe 1/1000th the height of the mountain in terms of floors and used 40,000 mana but I had no way of recovering it quickly and to maintain the dungeon a lot of my mana was going to the floors I needed to maintain. Disaster! This needed correcting and correcting soon. If the trend in how much mana expanding used continued, then the further underground I went and the larger my caverns were I would be spending millennia working away on this before I could grow to a truly great size. Not to mention I would have no experience fighting when I finally emerged. Not good! What should I do? I questioned myself for a while. Whilst I had wanted to be complete enough to be safe I would have to open up to the surface soon. I decided to finish of the first few floors before I opened up to the world. Just getting down five floors would be very difficult and whilst the first two were normal they were going to increase in difficulty more rapidly than I had originally intended as I wanted to be decently protected. Later on, I would have to separate them out a bit. So, I set about working floor three was a swamp. The waterfall fell down and deposited adventurers in a mucky swamp a warm sticky marshland. Wet was the prevailing experience of this floor. The water was a pleasant crystal clear in the basin however that quickly faded into an algae coloured green a short distance away. A murky green that could hold significant dangers, they would never know. Vegetation was even more prevalent here than the previous two floors. Several groups of adventurers could be here without anyone knowing as the thick vegetation would block out views and sounds remarkably well, in fact I expected that to be the case. Speaking of sounds, this time the normal insect activity of the upper levels was several more times intense, an ever-present hum and buzz that would follow them around giving no reprieve. Large, loud croaking frogs, the flittering wings of large insects and the scream of the grasshoppers. The slight rustle of leaves in the wind despite it being underground provided a gentle background sound to the chirping of birds and the sounds of bugs. It¡¯s the sounds of life, annoying life, but life nonetheless. The constant sound of running water, the trickling, babbling water should mask the occasional splash of fish and predators, and freak out the adventurers regardless. As before I had a complex food chain. At the bottom was the plants: reeds, algae, lily pads, floating soldiers, grasses, ferns, flowers, shrubs, mangroves and trees all suited for swampland were the basics. Then we had the snails and crustaceans and small bugs, pond skaters and larvae. Dragonflies and butterflies flew alongside bees, flies, wasps, and beetles to the flowering plants and greenery. Small fish and larger fish swam in the waters moving all around the whole floor. The deeper waters contained the dangerous predators, alongside the small shoals of piranha species ¨C from red-bellied to black piranhas and many more - there were alligator gar and goliath tiger fish, although the latter two were a rare find. The top predator though was a bask of Caiman that would hide in the marshes, completely disappearing from view. I felt that this would be too dangerous off the bat and so I had them modified so that their eyes glinted all the time. Aware off this, they would spend a bit more time submerged. The mud and silt layers were quite deep and that made movement much harder in the swamp. I felt this was a much harder layer so again, there was no floor boss for them to engage. However, I did continue the secret room trend. The eagle nest on floor one, the elemental home in the stream on floor two, it was continued here. In the largest of the swamp trees that grew to 30m and pressed up against the ceiling was a cut-out room invisible unless the tree was climbed. A giant snake lived here and there was another large treasure chest. I remembered to quickly add some normal loot throughout the level and I went back and added it to the ground of floor two as well. Then I implemented a system that randomised where loot occurred throughout the treasure chests. In floor one there were several chests but only in 30% of them there would be loot and that was randomised for each party that entered my dungeon each time. Finishing off floors four and five took me another few months as I ran out of mana yet again. I now felt I was ready to open up to the world. I had a spare 6000 mana that I used to fine-tune my dungeon a bit. As I was doing a visual run through I noticed that the mana had a different density along the correct paths. More specifically along the correct route the mana was denser as it came out from my core, so I started instituting a ventilation system from my core. Once the mana levels had equalised and I could no longer detect the correct paths I felt I was now truly ready. Moving my vision up to the start of floor one I built some basic stairs before blasting open the entrance.
Menu
Name ??? Race Dungeon
Titles Renown Undiscovered
Skills ^ 11
Rating 3C Level 45
Health 3,451/3,451 Mana 1,960/22,960 (22,960 mana for Lvl up
Knowledge 19,000 Dungeon Points 9,009
Status OK Attunement E4+N3
Rooms 457 Floors 5
Bosses 1 Monsters 1,981
Creatures 39,783 Creature types ^ 1,410
Unique Items 1 Item Types ^ 212
~~Congratulations Dungeon you have breached the surface. Now in the true realms of a dungeon you will have to protect your core~~ Ha-Ha I thought already done before reading further ~~Since you have chosen to become a dangerous dungeon and wish to challenge the sentients your core will be moved to the last room of your last floor. Your core must be accessible at all times and any attempt to circumvent this will fail. Have fun~~ Looking around, I discovered I had been moved back up. Up to the end of my fifth floor. ¡°Son of a bitch!!!¡± I exclaimed before jerking in pain. Blinking in confusion it took me a while to realise I had spoken aloud. And very loudly at that. I could see the distortion in the mana from my voice. I must have projected my voice into the mana and distorted it enough for it to produce sound in the real world. Not that mana wasn¡¯t in the real world it just wasn¡¯t one of the main senses to races other than dungeons and dragons. Another thing I noticed of course was all my creatures. They were everywhere little specks of light like the stars in the night sky. Now that my core was much closer, I could see my active domain much clearer. I had greater awareness, greater control and just more of everything in this area now that my core was there. I was half grateful and half distraught about being moved. On the one hand, now my time spent digging down really had gone to waste, but on the other hand I had greater control over my dungeon which would be a huge boon. I quickly remodelled my entrance to be a bit more detailed before going off to sulk for a bit. Stupid sarcastic messages, pfft. Chapter 4 Chapter 4 ========== [???] An explosion rattled the air, it burst from the peaceful atmosphere like the crash of a cymbal at a high-class opera ¨C unexpected and most certainly unwanted. It seemed to linger in the air, humming and reverberating as it slowly died down. As well as hearing the thunderous roar, I could feel it, a vibration running though me like a slap on the back from a mighty drunk dwarf. From my skin to my bones, it rattled around me, making me thrum with the power and violence it held as near and dear. Following the explosion, there was a brief moment of complete silence, as if the world itself had stopped, putting everything on hold for just one moment. And yet, Like the eye of a storm, when peace settled in, you knew that in naught but a moment it would be gone again. And sure enough, a few moments later, the world started again, time resumed, the storm took hold, and I found myself cringing as the roof rattled. The metal sheeting of the shed began vibrating, as if on this perfect day it had begun raining, heavy rain. The sound was sharper though, tinnier and dryer than the wet slapping drum of the rain pounding down. Amongst the hail like storm a few softer hits thumped down, like an elderly inn keeper beating the dust from her carpets or a particularly vicious parent disciplining his naughty child. The soft thumps that rang out around the place ended this subdued firework show with one final, large thump that smashed down just outside, pelting the windows of the shack with gravel and debris. When the cacophony of noise stopped, I relaxed my shoulders and jaw, rolling them around to work out the kinks that had developed as I was wincing and hunching up, reflexes I assure you, I¡¯m not scared, no way, no how. Half expecting the bombardment to continue, I busied myself tidying up the shed, half of the tools had fallen from the walls, they were held up by a few thin nails that had been punched into the wall years earlier. Over time, the weight of the resting tools had slowly bent them towards the ground until it was a daily battle to rack them up again after use. I just had to find the time to fix them and alleviate my problem, but between the odd jobs for the village and my retirement I hadn¡¯t found the time yet. It took me a good few minutes to hang up to tools properly, time that only increased the apprehension at what I would find outside. Would my garden be ruined? Oh, please no! I begged to whatever gods were up there, I had spent ages and ages on the horticulture. ¡°Please don¡¯t be ruined¡± I chanted to myself like a mantra as I opened the door. I quickly discovered another problem though, when I tried to push the door open, it wouldn¡¯t budge. Well, that was a lie, it did budge ¨C just a little ¨C but, like a spring it just pushed back at me. I sighed in frustration, tilting my head back out of instinct, as I stared up at the ceiling I noticed the large buckled crack in the doorframe. Dented was more accurate and it had effectively locked me in. Great! Just Great! Calming myself, I looked around the shed. Nothing really useful for this, all the big tools were outside, the shed was for the detail work and so the tools were all fairly dainty little things. Since I was just eager to get out, I picked up a hammer. The largest one of course, and just started wailing away on the lump until it was out of the way. Perhaps I took it too far, but it felt good to vent my frustration- I was already in a bad mood before the explosion, having just ruined the piece I was working on - in fact, there was now a few cm¡¯s of gap that wasn¡¯t there before. I sighed, at least the door would open though. Setting down the hammer, I pushed open the door. It moved with a rattling creak and groan as the metal shifted, then it stopped. I tried again. It stopped. It was still stuck. Raising my eyes, I took a step back then in anger just shoulder barged it out the way. The door slid open. Stepping out of my shed I looked around in dismay. There was only one way to put it. My lawn was fucked. Not just fucked; absolutely fucking ruined. It looked like a bomb had gone off and considering the explosion, I was betting I could convince someone of that if I had to. My lawn was covered in dirt and stone. From the layer of dust to the large chunks that lay strewn around the place, it was not quite how I remembered it. The grass was barely visible beneath a thick uneven layer of mud and rock dust. A large clump of mud had been blocking the door from opening and now it was spread across the last step. Just more work for me to do, Yay! I thought half-heartedly to myself. With a final huge sigh, I stepped back into my shed, found my gardening tools and got to work. *** Four days later*** I had finally gotten my garden shipshape. And when I say ¡®shipshape¡¯ what I really meant was ¡®barely passable¡¯. I had cleaned off the roof and repaired a couple of leaks in the house as a first priority, couldn¡¯t have water leaking through to the beams and struts, a fine way to have an accident that! Similarly, I repaired the shed, properly this time, instead of assaulting it with a hammer. Just digging out my lawn from the muck and tipping it away took the majority of the four days of work. The grass was finally back to a shade of green, though it was more of a faded, tired grass colour, plastered grey by the dust, it would all clear up again when the rains fell. Though that might be a way away judging by how unexpectedly dry the summer had been so far, on the slopes of the Avalt, summers were usually dry, but not to this extent, the last rains had been more than a couple of months ago and the plants were beginning to wilt. I¡¯d managed to keep the garden fresh using a water summoning enchantment and the pondwater, though on the matter of the pond, it was the only major problem left to deal with, but I¡¯d leave that for a while. I¡¯d have to drain it and redo it as it was full of dirt that was now a layer of mud filling it up. The dust and rocks and general rubble had killed everything bar the bugs and the dead life had started to decompose releasing bad smells. I finished some last bits of clearing, before standing back and looking at all the work I¡¯d done, despite it still being worse than before I felt proud of myself. Washing my hands, I stepped back into my house, closing the back door with a loud slam. I slipped out of my boots and was just about to sit down with a nice drink when I heard a loud knock at the door. I placed my mug down went to answer it. ¡°Hey Sig¡± a jovial loud voice called out to me. ¡®Sig¡¯ was a nickname, one I didn¡¯t mind ¨C I was actually quite fond of it. Sigurd Vasagen was my full name though no-one in the town called me that anymore. I had retired from the life of an adventurer, a life many dreamt of, but few understood, it was a tough life, but the rewards were well worth it if you were careful. The small quaint town of Littlebrook was my home now, and though relaxing in the peaceful village where time passed so slowly was lovely, I did find myself missing the rush and the experience of the adventure. At this point though I was committed, and I couldn¡¯t bear to abandon the house anymore. I was happy living off my savings and doing odd jobs in the village, selling off some of my metalworking creations whenever the traders came by. We rarely received traders here. Littlebrook was as much of an embodiment of a name as anything else. It was literally in every sense of the word, small. Unlike the big cities, life here was predominantly about helping people. We had no mayor or town leader and no real use for money. We used it, but if someone was struggling to pay taxes anyone and everyone would pitch in. It was more like a family than a community, and I liked it that way. We were a small town of forty people with four streets with five houses on each side a market place and a few logging cabins and woodland huts for the hunters and gatherers. The side with the hunters¡¯ woodland was towards the mountain and on the other side was a couple of small fields that the farmers used. The mountain was called the Avaltjarn or ¡°The Avalt¡± for short, it sat at the border between all the lands and extended up to the skies beyond even the birds could see. A magnificent sight. ¡°Hey yourself¡± I said opening up the door, on the other side was a young lad, twelve years of age, John his name, he was almost hopping up and down with excitement. Absent-mindedly I wondered why. ¡°Have you heard?¡± He said, before continuing without giving me time to respond. ¡°The explosion, it was caused by a dungeon we think. Up in the mountains, Rayver said he saw it when hunting. A cave, in the peaks, it just like blew open and it¡¯s a pitch-black opening. He said it had an odd look to it, we thought you might know, being an adventurer and all.¡± He rattled out not even taking the time for breathing. ¡°Slow down lad, a former adventurer mind you¡± I replied with a chuckle placing a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Come in, come in. Let¡¯s discuss it over a drink¡± It took almost a quarter hour to get anything from him. He was too giddy about it to explain properly. John was one of those who wished with all their heart to be an adventurer, he played swords all day till his mother shouted at him to do his chores, he was always pestering me for advice and stories. I hesitated to tell him what it was really like, he was fascinated by it and I didn¡¯t have the heart to tell him the truth. But now, with a possible dungeon up on the slopes it was quite likely that he would get that chance. We were lucky that he wasn¡¯t so rash and stupid as to delve inside alone. The story I finally managed to get from him had Rayver climbing up farther than his normal hunting haunts. He had reached a cave that hadn¡¯t been there before. Rayver claimed to have felt an ominous, overwhelming feeling crawling up his spine. It sounded similar to what I had experienced during my dives and it only further confirmed that in my mind, we were dealing with a real dungeon. A new one as well. It was both good and bad news for the town. Dungeons were extremely profitable, and this was sure to be great for the town, but it would be bad as well because the town would lose its lovely quaint feel. Hopefully we could remain smallish and keep the quiet atmosphere I so cherished. Though I wouldn¡¯t be averse to a few more dungeon dives, you know, liven up the life a little. Though considering how high up the cave was, it was likely that the adventurers would use the town as a base camp and construct a settlement higher up for resting between dives. Since we¡¯ve got a potential dungeon on our hands, I guess I¡¯ve got to explore it. The accolade ¡®First to conquer a new dungeon¡¯ was something every adventurer yearned for, myself included. Quite often a new dungeon would offer new rewards and prizes that get moved down to later levels once they develop. It was why guilds paid so much for information on new dungeons, that and the new challenge and place for adventurers to go. Dungeons were quite rare and with the current rate of shutdowns there was a growing need for big dungeons to entertain all the adventurers. ***2hr later*** I was nearly to the entrance now, two hours after leaving the town I had made it, sweat poured down my brow soaking my eyebrows and beard, the way up was fucking horrible, stupid dungeon making it inaccessible. I was less fit than I should have been for a solo adventurer, but I wouldn¡¯t be able to contact my team for a while and I had doubts they would even want to get back into the life. Besides, all I had to do was get in, confirm it was a dungeon look around and then get out. My clothes were getting a bit ripe as well by this point and I was looking forward to changing out of them. Hopefully the dungeon would soon realise how badly it needed steps or a path to its entrance. I soon realised that my mind was wandering and pulled it back on track. A wandering mind meant a straight path. Straight to the grave for an adventurer. It was nearing midday, John had caught me in the morning getting in some pre-work gardening and I¡¯d set off shortly after our talk. Setting my pack down, I lay down on a rock enjoying the feeling of my spine straightening out, hunching over whilst carrying my pack had started to ache and I needed to rid myself of that distraction before I began the delve. Yawning a bit and took a good long rest. Forty I may be, but I wasn¡¯t that out of shape. Okay, okay, maybe I¡¯d lost a bit, but I was still good enough to realise this was a hard climb for all but the strongest adventurers, and with no prior knowledge I needed to be fresh. After my nap I got to work, since poor planning provides piss poor performance then preparation provides perfect performance. Yawning and stretching, I got up and started a basic stretching regime. Just to limber up a bit you understand, not because I was old. Next task, equipment. Getting out of my sweat soaked clothes I dug into my pack and pulled out a fresh set of underclothes and some soft leather gear. Warming it between my hands by rolling it made it especially supple and it helped me pull it on. On comes a belt with lots of pouches. They rest at my hips and I fill the left side with healing supplies and the right with dangerous things. From healing potions, bandages and gels on my left to poisons, bombs, elemental attacks on my right I was alchemically prepared. I pulled out my great axe and whetstone and began the long process of preparing it for battle. First, I reoiled the wooden handle then I started sharpening the blade. Pulling the cutting edge into the block towards me then pushing it back away until I had it razor sharp. Then inverting the motion until I had it even sharper. After oiling the blade, I re-filed it again, taking the edge away again. You don¡¯t want a sharp blade in battle as the edge chips, fractures and begins to seriously degrade. A degraded blade means a badly performing weapon which can mean the difference between life and death.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. From my pack I grabbed some metal bracers and clipped them on the forearms, a weaker vambrace, but for my style it was perfect. Similarly, greaves, pauldrons, rerebraces, cruises and a simple breastplate clipped on beefing up m protection significantly. Made of fairly thin steel and leather it wouldn¡¯t stop very large powerful mobs but those I wasn¡¯t worried about. They were usually very slow, and I could dodge. My armour was for slasher, or piercer style mobs, not crushers or bruisers. Fast ambushed takedowns that were very hard to dodge was why I had the armour. I took a couple of practice swings a few more stretches to settle it in place, and I was ready. I collected my old clothes and stuffed them in my pack, slinging the pack beside the entrance as I stepped into the black zone. ========== [Dungeon] When I returned from my sulk, I had calmed down significantly. Yes, I had partly wasted a couple of years, but in that time, I had grown up and matured enough that the starting levels weren¡¯t poorly thought out or a waste of mana to maintain. I had had a plan from the very start and it showed. Furthermore, I had gained a lot of levels and mana, enough to be able to construct things at a decent change and have enough of a safety margin. Speaking of mana, once I¡¯d blown open the entrance the mana had began to pour into the entrance spilling down into the dungeon, I hadn¡¯t realised it, but I had sucked out all of the mana in the mountain, depleting the whole area. The mana in the air fled into my domain to equalise the densities. I felt alive again and charged with energy. During my four-day sulk I had regained all my mana, and I was eager to get to work, so I set about building the next floor. I had planned for a rest area; the first five levels would challenge adventurers at a decent level, but I had no illusions that the top tier ones wouldn¡¯t just breeze through it. And so that¡¯s what I decided on, I wasn¡¯t going to change my plan just because the stupid God or whatever had forced me to the surface. So, despite my worry I was going ahead and building a lovely rest area for adventurers before they challenged the next five floors. First, I carved out the room. Much smaller this time, I might as well make minimal work for myself, right? About 200m wide, it was circular room of 30m in height, the stairs from the fifth floor led into a hall that extended half way into the room. On either side of the hallway was a two-layer dorm of sorts. There was a number of rooms as a 3*3*3m room with a bed a chest and a locking door. Every ten rooms a toilet was placed. It was just a small room with a raised box. Like an outhouse; it had a hole that led to a banishment enchantment. Whilst I didn¡¯t care about how dirty the adventurers were, I did care about my dungeon, it just wouldn¡¯t do for something as high class as myself to have faeces all over the floor. I wasn¡¯t some sort of sleazy lowbrow whorehouse, filled with crass philistines, and uncultured proletarians after all. I was a dungeon! A dignified existence for sure. Opposite to the entrance to the sixth floor, well the future one, I had yet to build it after all, this was where the stairs would go. The sixth floor would not carry on the woodland theme. No, I would change it up, five levels and then a break sounds good. I had never planned on being just a nature dungeon, it was too simple, too easy and not different enough, I wouldn¡¯t be just another dungeon, one mark upon millions, just a star in the sky. No! I would be the sun to their stars, unique and respected. The woodlands were the easy levels, to ease people in. An organised party would have no trouble passing by the obstacles, they would have to get to know it first though, it still held dangers. What should the theme for the next five be? Ice? Fire? Water? Air? Ground? Or¡­or¡­or¡­ My ideas were endless, and I could sit here pondering it until the dwarves passed out. But, I digress, I had work to do, and that was what I should be thinking of, rather than cheap idioms about the ever drunk dwarven folk. The rest of the room had an empty bar and merchant section. The merchants would be able to set up tents or gazebos with a little stall in it to sell their items. Any life within my territory would grant 5% of its mana regeneration to me at all times, so the longer I could keep them in the dungeon the better. The amount of mana it took to build this place and maintain it would hopefully be recouped from the overnight rests and merchants. At the end of the day, even if I was losing monsters and life to the adventurers I wasn¡¯t really losing, I would almost always end up gaining, either from the items they dropped, the experience of fighting or the occasional death. The mana tax was just another thing to help my growth. If this wasn¡¯t the case, then there would never be Dungeons as they would slowly die. A dungeon that had adventurers and wasn¡¯t killed would grow to be prosperous and big. I built several stone tables and chairs to cover the empty expanse of floor. They were for people to socialise in and hopefully to prolong the time they spent resting. There was no need to give them a whole lot of comfort, after all I was trying to kill them. As a last thought before I moved on, it occurred to me to continue the woodland trend here too. I quickly covered the floor with a layer of dirt and cut in some paths and a nice winding stream. The natural spring in the corner flooded through the channels, the stream ended up cutting through the middle, separated the housing from the social area and a series of small footbridges were the only dry way over. Nothing captivates humans like the opportunity to gorge themselves on food and sweets were the epitome of this facet of personality. To this end I managed to grow a few fruit bushes, it took another couple of hours, and a small investment in mana but I thought it was worth it. There were a range of currents; red, black, white and a few berries as well. In a few spots there were some overhanging trees, in small groves that provided a much-needed texture to the room. Along the waters¡¯ edge were some bamboo shoots and a few reeds; small fish wove in and out using them as cover. Unlike the monsters though these wouldn¡¯t respawn readily. After one month any that were killed would respawn and I thought I might have to change that. Too small to eat they shouldn¡¯t be killed by the adventurers but you never knew. I finally looked back on the room and decided it only needed one change. The stone buildings had to be turned into wooden cabins, it fit the aesthetic more. I tore down the buildings and instead built a series of small log cabins throughout the resting side of the room. This would be a safe zone and I decided to mark the boundary of the stairs with a short pulse of golden light to signify such. When entering the safe-zone it would flash gold and when exiting the second half of the staircase would flash red. I took a second to add a black mist to the entrance of floor six. It would obscure the adventurer¡¯s vision and it was just there so that no-one would be able to plot and plan from outside. They would have no idea what the inside state would be, and they wouldn¡¯t be able to gain anything that they hadn¡¯t already found out before entering. I also thought that it gave off an ominous feeling. I liked that. I had finally finished the safe zone! It was time to move on to floor six, but what should I do? I could also do a maze, labyrinth or puzzle. Most adventurers were not known for their high intelligence, but that might be a stereotype consistent with the loudmouth bruiser types, the ones that drew all the attention. I didn¡¯t feel like a puzzle fit properly so I would save that, they also required a lot more planning and I was wanting a few more levels before the adventurers came. Labyrinths had such versatility too, they could be really cool, but I couldn¡¯t make them extremely dangerous at floor six, that would be a waste. Hmmm what to do? What to do? Ideas trickled through my mind like leaves in a wind, yet none seemed to stick. I had visions, but they seemed to just stay out of reach; the fuzziness on the edge of my mind. Concepts not ideas. As I pondered, time passed quite quickly, too much time in fact, by the time I had grasped the basic concept of what I wanted almost six hours had elapsed. I once again started the rather tedious process of excavating a chamber to begin. The next five major floors that I had planned out were going to be a set of similar themed ones, very large ones. As such it took even longer process to carve out the space for floor six. I packed dirt in to the walls, well I say dirt, but I really meant stone, dirt sure as he''ll isn¡¯t dirt any longer, not at this pressure. Again, about halfway through I had to resort to just absorbing the stone. All in all, it took a good four hours to open up the cavern. It was about 700m long and 300m wide with a height of almost 100m. However, this time the ceiling was not a picture of uniformity. It went up to a 100m height only once and in several places the ceiling was only 5m height. On average though, I estimated that it was about 40m in height. With the base done I started conjuring water until it settled to about 1m above the floor. Freezing it was next and that took a significantly greater proportion of my available mana. Fortunately, I was only aiming to do this one floor as of right now. I was running out of mana quite quickly and conjuring resources from nothing rather than those that I had collected while excavating took a lot more mana. I didn¡¯t think I would have much left once I finished this and by that time I expected the adventurers would be here. I had used about 5000 mana just excavating and covering the floor in ice. I felt that I would just have enough mana left to complete the floor, it was touch and go but I reckoned I was going to manage. My next task was to cover the walls and ceiling in ice, it wouldn¡¯t look right I it was only the floor. This was made more complicated by the fact that water flows, who would have thought huh? In the end, I got around this issue by raising some stone walls and filling the intervening space with water. After it had frozen solid I had a nice thick wall of ice and a thin ceiling that slowly dripped water. Enchanting it to stay permanently frozen took another chunk from my mana, but it wouldn¡¯t do for the first fireball to melt through to the stone. So, enchanting it was a must. The smooth walls weren¡¯t right and so I had to texture it. I found out quite quickly that throwing rocks at the walls chipped them and it gave me a fairly natural look. I was pleased, it was far easier than going over it like a sculptor. I didn¡¯t even have to be precise, in fact the sloppier I was with my mana the better as the rocks hit almost randomly. A while later the texturing was done. I had done the floor as well, most of it was done with much smaller rocks so that the divots and cracks were small enough to provide enough grip so that it was feasible to walk across. There were of course some super smooth sections as well - I wanted to see them dance - but in general it was possible to walk around. Now it was time to fill the room. I found an effect enchant in the store that would provide perpetual snow, perfect. It was just what I was looking for. The first time around I infused too much mana and I soon had a snowstorm that was impossible to look through, slightly less told myself. It took a further three tries before I got it right; a good four to six inches of pristine snow and a light dusting that would settle on the shoulders. Enough to chill you but not kill you; perfect. I¡¯d save that level of chill for later. Stalactites hung tight from the ceiling, looming like the sword of Damocles whilst the stalagmites protruded like buttresses from the floor respectively. Unlike the traditional cone shaped ones, these had razor sharp edges and wicked points; triangular in shape they looked every bit as deadly as they were. My first traps were the stalactites or the ¡®stalac-not-so-tites¡¯ as I called them fondly. Some of them were loose enough to be dislodged either by mana or being knocked during a fight. They would come crashing down with no warning either shattering into deadly flechettes or impaling the floor and anyone ¨C monster or adventurer ¨C that came between. However, there were only a few of these dotted around. In all of the room here were only thirty-seven that would fall and probably kill anyone unlucky or unskilled. The room still felt incomplete however and decided that I needed a centrepiece. I spent several hours painstakingly carving it out of the ice with mana, but I was very proud of my accomplishment. In the very centre of the room, where the ceiling climbed to the monstrous height of 100m, I had built a huge ice arch, it was several metres wide and a few feet thick with decorative runic designs cut into it. The actual ice was frosted whilst the runes were clear allowing one to look through, of course it was only an arch and they could look through from the front and back. Within this wonderous arch was a beautiful, majestic statue, illustrious. An ice dragon. It had a slender body and large wings that arced up into the arch over it, coming to rest at the centre. The dragon was depicted as if it was landing; mid roar. Periodically it would spray the entire room with its frost breath, a timed attack and my second trap. The breath was frigid and piercing, much colder and damaging than the room itself. It was a very dangerous attack for those that felt this room was a challenge. Next, I needed monsters. Huge lumbering Yetis were my choice, they had shaggy white fur and ice blue eyes that glowed when they awoke, curved horns protruded from their foreheads and followed the line of their jaws ending in curved points by the hooked mouth that looked mighty dangerous, filled with large sharp teeth as it was. Their horns and teeth were aided by the sharp claws on their hands and feet. A tough package for the adventurers. They would be disguised as huge snow drifts and beneath each sleeping form was a treasure chest to reward those that managed to kill them. I had some ice phantasms that flew around harassing people and if they stepped on a yeti accidently the phantasms would disappear, and the team would be left facing a huge angry yeti. Ice phantasms were a fast-nippy creature, made of crystalline ice infused with mana. Ice phantasms were often made by mages or summoned from the frozen wasteland to the south where the crystallising mana allowed them to form. They moved by floating around and lashing out with small bites and frost damage, unlike their more powerful counterparts; the elementals, they were restricted to small serpentine forms that posed little danger to the adventurers on their own. Since the Yetis were quite tough enemies, I doubted many of the adventurers would be getting the prizes for this level. If there was anything I didn¡¯t need was pissed off adventurers burning everything to the ground in protest. Some more loot was in order, but I couldn¡¯t make it too easy. A few minutes browsing the store got me to an entry I thought was interesting. ~~Magic Dragonflies (Minor) ¨C Ice ¨C 900 points These little creatures¡¯ will flit and fly around the place spreading joy to all who see them, whether it is the sheer beauty they posses or the incredible value they hold as crystallised mana makes up their body, your adventurers are sure to love them. A tricky challenge to capture and not too expensive it could be well worth a purchase to spice up your dungeon leaving a cool atmosphere. ~~ Some magic dragonflies were in order then. Crystallised mana was important as it could be used as a battery to boost the power mages had or restore their mana. Only the frozen south naturally produced mana crystals and so any form or so was celebrated. They could also be captured as pets, selling well to the ultrawealthy. Only twenty existed per iteration of the room and once the occupants left they would respawn, they made their homes up in the peaks of the room, but their natural curiosity meant they would fly down to investigate the room. By this point I had used up three quarters of my mana and I had finished, it wasn¡¯t enough to start the next room. So, I sat back and pondered where to put the hidden treasure this time. It was obvious really. On top of the arch! A small chest with the customary prizes, done. A few small tweaks finished off the level. The ice was colder, much colder enough to begin freezing the adventurer¡¯s hands if they touched it with exposed skin for any length of time. Small patches of spikes, only 5mm in length and fairly fragile they would be painful but not even useful to help climb. The rest of it I made smoother, and more difficult to scale and hid the chest behind well frosted ice. In fact, there was no way to see the prize until you had already climbed the arch. Mages with flying familiars would be the ones to discover this. Hopefully once this one was discovered it would lead to people trying to find the rest of the hidden secrets, though I expected it would take a few people finding them in multiple levels before people caught on. I sat back and admire my work, five levels of nature-based floors, a safe room and an icy dragon lair. All I was missing was a final boss to stop any evil hearted challenger. But what to choose? I scanned through the store but nothing I found was that great. There were the ice elementals and greater elementals, the Ice astral types and boosted Yetis. But nothing that worked. What to do? What to do¡­ Once again, the answer was obvious, it had been sitting in front of me all the time. Literally. The dragon. I looked at the store hoping to find a way to imbue life. ~~Empower Creation (natural instinct)- Enchantment ¨C Mana ¨C 5,320 points Using the power of mana imbue life to a creature of your creation by charging the mana heart in its chest with all the mana types and imposing your will upon it. WARNING! Needs the item to function. ~~ ~~Mana Heart (Blue) ¨C Item ¨C 2650 points (1) This one time use item allows mana to be stored and converted into life energy, it allows the user to impose a series of axioms to which the mana must follow. This is most often used in conjunction with life giving skills to create Automatons and Golems. ~~ The dragon would take a lot of my points, but I felt it would be worth it. It drained almost all my mana to do it, but I was really pleased with the outcome. I had a hidden boss, that could become my boss if I ever needed it to. It was beautiful and in place of a heart was a stunning sapphire that pulsed with blue life energy. In fact, it could be seen from outside, a faint blue pulsing that resonated with the place. As a final thought I enchanted the dragon to be freezing cold. Literally anyone who touched it would find their skin beginning to freeze, far faster than the arch. Brief touches would barely hurt but I felt for anyone stupid enough to touch it for long. Anyone that was stupid enough or brave enough to challenge the dragon had but to attack it and it would wake, killing every invader of its domain with ruthless efficiency. The mana heart in its chest was prize enough for any that managed to destroy it. The last task was of course, to carve out the stairs. Curving around twenty times, these were the longest stairs I had done yet. Just as I finished carving out the ice banister to go along with it, I felt a small electric shock. It ran straight through my mind and then a huge thump, thump. A monotonous beat that demanded I focus on it. Almost like a heart.
Menu
Name ??? Race Dungeon
Titles Renown Just Discovered
Skills ^ 13
Rating 3A Level 45
Health 3,451/3,451 Mana 1,873/22,960 (22,960 mana for Lvl up
Knowledge 20,019 Dungeon Points 400
Status OK Attunement E4 + N2 + I1
Rooms 512 Floors 6 +(1)
Bosses 1 + (1) Monsters 2,002
Creatures 43,009 Creature types ^ 1414
Unique Items 1 Item Types ^ 239
Chapter 5 Chapter 5 ========== [Sigurd] My first thought was, wow! This darkness goes on for a while, ten steps in and I¡¯m still not out of it. However, another few, slow, deliberate steps carries me out. One would think that spending two minutes advancing the fifteen steps to get through the darkness was slow, but since the dungeon was unknown I wasn¡¯t taking chances. I¡¯d heard rumours that new dungeons often tried to throw everything at adventurers straight away in a frenzied effort to kill them, once they had matured and become stable, then they could be farmed. It was often said that a new dungeon was the most dangerous one and I felt that it may well be true, when they were still getting to grips with things and all the dangers hadn¡¯t been catalogued yet anything could take you by surprise. Emerging from the darkness, I stumbled around like a baby deer, new to the new world. On uncertain legs I stood, taking in the sights and smells, as everything blossomed around me. Instead of the small cramped tunnel I was expecting, a large open woodland greeted me. The sounds of life explode over me as I step from the darkness and into the light. There¡¯s the rustle of the grasses and the leaves in the wind. There¡¯s the humming buzz of flying creatures and the occasional tweet tweet of the birds that call out at me, splitting the serenity of the place. The sweet smell of sap and wood mixes with the earthiness of the land as it invades my nostrils, carried forth with my each and every breath The fist floor is a huge cavern populated with a lot of greenery, the floor is coated in a thick layer of grasses that obscure the floor. Waist high they could be hiding all manner of creatures. Emerging from the grasses are thick wall like hedges, they don¡¯t block much, but they divide the floor into rough rooms, within these rooms are large drooping trees, their thin vine like branches brush the floor as the wind shifts them. Across the room, on the opposite side, I thought that I could see a simple staircase. A cave exit, under the branches of one of the droopy trees. Taking a few more steps, my focus returned to me with a sharp shock. That was bad Sig, I chastised myself, I was rusty, having gotten distracted so easily. Whilst I was staring around, mouth open like a gormless idiot, I could easily have been taken unawares. With my senses returned, I carefully observed my surroundings looking for any kind of threat. None appeared however, I was lucky my mistake had gone unpunished. Though it wasn¡¯t that likely I would have died to such a mistake it was something I couldn¡¯t afford to make alone. As I set off exploring the floor, I pushed my way through the grasses, avoiding the thicker patches as best I could. Though the level seemed to be fairly straight forward I hadn¡¯t found anything but the walls, they were made of tough wood with thousands of small innocuous spikes on. It was odd, nothing that I had seen so far would pose any threat, there were no large animals or even predatory ones that I could find, no traps for the careless to blunder into, nothing at all. It seemed to be just a small cavern filled with life. I continued to explore the floor for about half an hour before I spotted it. Under one of the trees was a treasure chest, it was a similar colour to the wood and hidden in the roots of the tree. As I got closer, I realised something felt off to me, the tree looked wet, odd. Edging my way in I thought it looked like it was coated in something, like a slick film covering it, sap? I pushed aside some of the dangling branches my axe head as I prepared to step within the layer of branches. This was a mistake! They reeled back and the whole tree seemed to come alive. It whipped out at me sending me sprawling, back to the floor. Thankfully I had fallen out of its reach. Standing back up, I looked around quickly, no approaching threats. This was something new! I had never heard of trees like this, sure there were plant mobs, but they were more like animals when the dungeon was finished with them, giant plants that could swallow a man whole, mushrooms that hopped around, but a tree that came alive, odd! I was smiling as I thought about it, this was new! I was excited to delve further, this was great, new things to explore, I had originally given up delving because my team and I were weary of the same things day in day out, the deeper dungeons that had things we hadn¡¯t seen were far too dangerous for our average team and all the others I had experienced myself. Returning to the tree, I pondered the best way to approach it, eventually I decided to give it an early pruning. I stood, just out of reach, calmly hacking at the tree until it couldn¡¯t get at me anymore. As expected, the chest was a little meagre, containing only a few low value coins. But I was happy nonetheless. The trees looked wet from afar because they seemed to be coated in a thick sap, it clung to the bark forming small rivulets that ran down the cracks. I didn¡¯t have a vial on me for this trip and I wasn¡¯t taking any risks by trying to collect some, an issue for the next trip. Time for floor two, perhaps there would be danger there, floor one had been an easy one and I suspected the dungeon wouldn¡¯t give out another free shot, it had to recoup the mana lost at some point and it couldn¡¯t just give out these levels if it was to be sustainable. After another hour, I had neared the stairs, they were made from the roots of the willow at the exit. Very clever dungeon, very clever. It fit the aesthetic of the room perfectly, and considering the trees were alive before, it induced a note of panic that they would disappear from beneath me, if you looked carefully you could see through the roots; a long drop would await me if the stairs went away. I already liked this dungeon, I suspected that learning its depths would be a great deal of fun. As long as it got harder and more profitable then this would become a major part of the world¡¯s economy. I walked down and around, spiralling down about 15m before emerging from the side of the wall of the next floor. Floor two was similarly themed in terms of nature. The steps emerged from the side of the cavern, up high, below me was a floor of foliage, the canopy of the tree tops, I took the next few steps down carefully, I didn¡¯t want to fall through to the floor below, not knowing how far that drop was, was both good and bad. On one hand I didn¡¯t know how far the drop was and I couldn¡¯t see it, on the other I didn¡¯t know if I would survive the fall. I was betting that I wouldn¡¯t. In front of me was a tree trunk that brushed the ceiling several metres above me, the tree was several metres around and cut into its trunk was a small opening. When I got closer I could see that this was a staircase, original. I liked this dungeon. The tree coiled down a long, long way, and at several points along the winding staircase there were paths that led out into the different layers of foliage. I preferred the stability of the ground and so I continued down the tree in hopes of reaching the bottom. A few more loops around and I paused at the exit, the floor was dark, the trees having blocked out enough of the light that fell from above to lace the whole floor in shadows.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The floor was coated in a layer of dead leaves and twigs that had been compressed to a woody surface that would at least not be too slippery. Stepping out onto the soft ground I whipped out my axe expecting an attack, but nothing came at me. It was once again an almost uneasy silence, disquieting and eerie. I looked around trying to get my bearings, unlike the first floor, where I had entered from one side with the goal to get to the other, this time I had been dropped off in the centre with no idea of where the stairs were. The trees were huge towering monoliths, they climbed up and out of view as their leaves spread out to form the canopies I had passed through on my decent. As I looked around, I couldn¡¯t see any life, though the signs were there. Birds fluttered around, their wingbeats fluttering around, the occasional snorting grunt echoes from somewhere off to my right and down on the floor to my left, the ground had been disturbed. From what I knew I thought it might have been a wolf paw print, I wasn¡¯t an expert, but I could see the distinct signs of the pattern, the toes and claws. The dungeon had finally introduced a predator, at last. I was looking forward to a fight here, nothing got the heart racing quite like it. I would have to be flawless though, since I had no support I couldn¡¯t even risk an injury here, there would be no-one to drag me out. Further to the left, the soft tinkle of flowing water caught my ear, it was a slow, trickling stream if I had heard correctly. I made my way over to the stream. I was in fact correct, it was a small stream, perhaps a meter wide and fairly shallow as well. The woodland was peaceful, the gentle breeze, the trickling water and the sounds of the animals. Animals I had yet to meet. An illusionary paradise. If your idea of a paradise was an isolated cavern deep in the bowels of a mountain, filled with things that want to kill you. The only benefit of which is the backbreaking training and the enriched mana that strengthens you from spending time here. It was still great, but I had moved on and the peaceful house in Littlebrook was right for me now. Since the stream wasn¡¯t anything special, I set off exploring the woods. It wasn¡¯t long until I ran across a pack of wolves, I had just rounded an especially large tree when I encountered them. At first only one had attacked jumping upon me from where it had hidden behind the great tree. It scratched me lightly, the claws of its front paws catching behind a strip of metal. The armour had taken most of the blow and though it was a bit mauled, nothing serious had broken. One nice looping swing from the axe bit into the wolfs neck and dispatched it. Seeing the wolf dispatched its packmates decided to jump into the fray, though too late to save the initial attacker. Coming up from the death dealing blow I caught a bite on my forearm, the teeth began to close, clamping around the metal and squeezing my arm tight. I managed to shake off the wolf before swinging my axe from high to low. The blow cleaved into flesh, shearing throw muscle and bone alike and taking off its hind leg. I buried my axe in the poor monster¡¯s head, dispatching it with ruthless efficiency before rolling over its now dead body to avoid a swipe from its packmate. Four left. It took me a good ten minutes of solid fighting before I managed to kill them all and I wasn¡¯t significantly worse off. I had used up one health potion and my armour would need some repairs from a leather worker but all in all I was doing pretty good. The wolves hadn¡¯t proven too much of a challenge for me and I¡¯d earnt enough from the pelts and coins I¡¯d found so far to replenish everything. The rest of the level was fairly simple, and I had managed to find a few treasure chests with only slightly better loot than that of the first floor. The oddest thing I had found so far had been the half-buried campsites, it looked like there had been civilisation here despite it being in the middle of a dungeon. I assumed they were just there for decoration, perhaps they could be used to set up temporary camps for further explorations. Though why anyone would want to camp inside an active level, such a short distance inside was beyond me. With the floor pretty much explored, it was just about time to search for the exit. I returned to the stream, locating it by sound as I could hear it from everywhere in the floor. The stream was loud enough to hear and also a unique feature which meant it was very useful. From the stream I would be able to get my bearings and work out where I had yet to go. There - I assumed - the exit would be. As I walked along the river, following it on its journey I was taken unawares by a big cat. It had leaped down from one of the sky paths in the trees that overlooked the stream and landed on me, sending me crashing to the ground and rolling away. I had a deep gouge in my arm and a broken rib from the encounter, but I managed to dispatch it as it lunged for me again. My axe tearing through the torso separated it into two. Its body, now in two pieces hit me and I fell back once again, into the stream. I sat up spluttering and pushed the cat torso off of me. However, just as I was getting to my feet there was a huge rush of water that sent me tumbling down. In my confusion I was swept along, my focus on holding my axe and trying not to breath in the water. Before I knew it, I felt the ground disappear from underneath me and then I plummeted down. I screamed, much to my embarrassment and managed to rotate in mid-air, just in time to see myself face plant on solid ground a good 50m below where I had fallen. My vision flickered and then went black. ========== [Dungeon] When I looked for the source of the thumping beat, that echoed around my chambers I saw a man. He entered the dungeon cautiously, stepping forth into the black mist with slow deliberated steps and each time he checked the ground with his axe handle. It took him about two minutes to exit the 5m of darkness that clouded his vision before he emerged into my first floor. As I observed his progress it occurred to me that it would be funny to put stairs going down to the first floor instead of the flat ramp currently there as I doubted that most adventurers would be as careful as him. Back to the man, he was about 5ft 6¡± tall with dusty blonde hair edging on white and a deep blue pair of eyes whose lustre had faded with the years. A square jaw bristled with a thick brown beard half of which was going grey. The grey hairs and the few wrinkles that I could see, gave away his age as middle-aged. He had broad soldiers covered in leather and steel, his waist held a belt with several potions and pouches and in one hand he held an axe. Originally, he had held it with two but upon gazing at the room he had let it fall into only one and hang from his fingers until the axe head hit the floor with a soft tink. This lax vacant look lasted only briefly before he snapped back to himself. Pausing briefly, he pulled a face that made me think he was chastising himself and then glanced around with a more direct, pointed look. Analytical it seemed. He moved forwards and proceeded to examine the plants, grasses, bushes, walls and all the various forms of wildlife he could find before eventually spotting a chest. He marched forward and cautiously pushed open the branches. Fool. I winced as he was sent falling back. But most of me celebrated that my plants could catch someone with at least a little experience out. The man was obviously experienced and he soon regained composure and began calmly chopping his way through the tree. Walking down to the second floor, he stared at the steps apprehensively before plucking up his courage and braving a step. Upon seeing that the roots hadn¡¯t collapsed he continued on. He paused again at the entrance to the second floor, before spotting the staircase and making his way over to it. I felt that it took him far too long, if all the adventurers were like this, then I¡¯d never get anything done, the incessant pounding that followed along with him demanded my attention and prevented me from working. Thankfully it wasn¡¯t long before he was on the floor and examining something I hadn¡¯t noticed. It was a wolf print. I decided that I still didn¡¯t care about it. I had neither the desire nor the time to spend to keep erasing them and it wasn¡¯t as if the mystery of wolves would have lasted very long, as I assumed the guild would soon come and catalogue everything to tell all the rookies. It wasn¡¯t long before he encountered the wildlife, a wolf. It jumped out from behind a large tree as he was focusing on its packmates and though it seemed to get him good he slew it in quick order. The rest of its pack followed shortly. Shame, I was rooting for his death. Like a sneaky rogue, he worked his way through the level with ease. But I had one trick left up my sleeve, and by god it worked. Taken by surprise, he was tackled hard by one of the big cats and it ended up knocking him in the stream before he slew it. The Water Elementals, sensing a presence entering their stream, sent a wave of water down, to wash away the intruder. This wave carried the man away, down the winding stream and out over the waterfall. He fell, and he fell fast and landed hard. I winced for him again as he tried to raise his head to look around but, in the end, it fell to the floor limply, and with a wet slap he blacked out. Strangely, nothing major came along to kill him, in fact only the insects and the non-predatorial creatures investigated him. He received a good few stings and bites that if left untreated could become infected, but I suspected one of the potion things on his belt would cure it all. I could have directed the actual threats to him, killing him during his rest, but I felt that for the first adventurer, especially one with a bit of experience, a non-interference policy should be best observed. I didn¡¯t want to be killed after all. Besides, there was something about him I liked. He was lying on a semi-hard section of ground in the swamp floor. It was a section of grasses that kind of floated on top of the water but were still anchored in place, so they didn¡¯t end up drifting around. As he slept, water lapped around his waist and started to soak into his clothes. I predicted that it would become pretty uncomfortable for him. Not that it wasn¡¯t already. He was soaked from the waterfall and in a hot steamy room taking a ¡®nap¡¯ in a muddy hot puddle of water being bitten by my creatures. All to soon he started to wake up, but he appeared groggy and out of it. I guessed he would continue working his way through the dungeon once he had perked up a little. Since the thundering heartbeat wasn¡¯t lessening I sighed and settled down to watch him bumble his way through until he either died or decided to walk out. Chapter 6 Chapter 6 ========= [Sigurd] I came to, dazed and confused. I groaned, pressing my hand to my head. I blinked twice before realising my hand was wet, in fact, more than just my hand was wet; I was soaking. What was going on? Where was I? In a flash, it all came back and I tried to scramble to my feet. I was in a dungeon, and a dangerous one at that. Memories of the wolves surfaced and the cat that knocked me into the stream followed soon after. I had been washed down stream and dumped off here, in this¡­ swamp? Predictably, as I tried to get to my feet in a hurry, the floor moved, and I fell over, face first, in a puddle, swallowing a load of the dirty water. Coughing and spluttering, I rose to my feet, wiped the water and dirt from my eyes and brow and drew my axe. Taking a couple of seconds, I observed my surroundings. I was standing in a steamy, smelly, stagnant swamp. The ground shifted dramatically as I moved, and I sort of waddled as I took a few steps forward. Damp was the prevailing smell. Though you wouldn¡¯t normally describe damp as being a smell, it was the only description that fit. Everything was wet, and the over-ripe smell pervaded the air in clouds. The moisture in the air, - humidity I¡¯d heard it called by the artificers ¨C filled my lungs, cloying and with the heat of the swamp the whole atmosphere was oppressive. It was much more like a dungeon usually felt. Though dungeons normally had that domineering effect because of the density of the mana they exuded, not the physical atmosphere. However, with the size of this dungeons caverns I supposed it was unlikely that the mana would have that effect. Though the atmosphere was oppressive, what was really most unsettling was the sonorous humming buzz from the thousands of insects that called this place home. A vociferous outcry, protesting at my intrusion. I swatted at a cloud of midges buzzing around my face as I looked further afield. Marshy trees grew off in the distance, their creeping vines and mangroves intertwining with each other, latticing boundaries on the water¡¯s edge, a perfect hiding spot for all manner of creatures. I marched over to the edge of my little wobbly island and peered into the water beyond. The water had a crystal-clear surface layer that faded very quickly as the algal bloom and silt increased dramatically. I took a step off, yelping as my foot plunged far deeper than I had expected, the water which was up to mid-calf originally flooded up to mid-chest making me gasp as it engulfed me. As I stood, slowly sinking into the silt I felt something. A fluttering brush against calf and then a big hit which I dodged narrowly by quickly jumping out, back onto my wobbly island. Staring into the depths, I saw a flash of green scales and a powerful tail flick before it disappeared into the murky depths. The brown-green water obscuring all traces. From the glimpse I caught, I thought that the scales looked big and it gave me the sense that this was significantly more dangerous. Off behind some of the thick vegetation, a cacophony of noise echoed out; birds rapidly taking flight and the loud snap and squawk followed by a large splash sounded as some unfortunate bird lost its life. The branches rustled as the birds all landed out of reach of whatever lurked bellow. I slapped at a biting bug that had decided I was its next meal, killing it against my arm and smearing its blood, blood that burned, on my hands and arm. I quickly bent down to wash it off and the pleasure of the cooling water removing its acidic remnants took me by surprise, much like eating a hot chilly I thought. I had an important decision to make right now. Press on and take some risks in the unknown or retreat and get a significantly reduced price for giving information on an unmapped dungeon. The adventuring guilds payed out for info on new dungeons, but mapped ones even more so, though woe-betide anyone who sold incorrect information. Don¡¯t get me wrong, a new dungeon that was undiscovered was worth a lot of money, but if the dungeon was mapped out initially, by its discoverer, then the guild payed a lot more as it meant significantly less risk, they wouldn¡¯t have to send in the confirmers. The confirmers ¨C terrible name by the way - were a group of strong adventurers for each guild that often-explored new dungeons, mapped them and rated them for the guild. This was done so that newbies didn¡¯t go too far or try a challenge that was far beyond them only to die in unexceptional fashion. The guild wasn¡¯t about protecting people from stupidity, but they didn¡¯t want people to die based on incorrect knowledge. Taking stock, I realised that I had a lot of cuts and bruises, few serious ones though which was good. I had an injury to my rib, cracked, fractured or just bruised I couldn¡¯t say. Additionally, my shoulder had seized up and I could barely move it, I must have landed on it as I didn¡¯t recall taking a knock there. My weapons and armour were damaged slightly, and I was very uncomfortable. Overall, not great, but not too bad either. But, I was in pretty shabby condition and despite wanting to continue I hadn¡¯t gotten to mid aged by being reckless and stupid. Retreating was a sound decision and the one I went with. If I had known the dungeon and I wasn¡¯t alone, it might have been another story, but I wasn¡¯t. Looking up, I realised that my 50m estimate was very wrong, it was 30m at most and I would bet it was less than that. The stream that had carried me down tipped over the cliff in a beautiful cascade of crystal clear water that crashed down to the swamp. The waterfall that formed was a majestic but unnatural pale-blue and behind it was a dark shadow. Investigating further revealed a cave. Within, a short path lead to a spiral staircase that wound its way up and up and then narrowed significantly. At the end, there was a lever. Pulling it opened up an exit and as soon as I left it, it slammed closed behind me. I was back on the second floor, in the woodland and if I wanted to leave I had to climb back up, I sighed. I was hoping for a shortcut to the surface, but I guess that wasn¡¯t to be. Strangely, despite being aware of all the respawned animals they didn¡¯t attack me as I worked my way back to the tree. Though it was often a feature of the dungeons, with this one I hadn¡¯t imagined it to be the case. It didn¡¯t feel right somehow. Though my trip back was uneventful I felt watched I thought that if I tried to loot anything my temporary retreating protection would be rescinded quite violently. I imagined the protection was on a cooldown so that I couldn¡¯t loiter here as a new safe point before continuing. I certainly wasted no time making my way back and I took the stairs back up to the canopy a few at a time. Up some branches to the stairs and onto the first floor. Exiting from here took no time as it was a simple small floor. Walking back to the entrance, there was no black fog to blind me and I emerged into the fresh open air as dusk was beginning to descend. Breathing deeply, I collected all my stuff, took my armour off and then dried off and changed into fresher clothes.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. I set off to bring news to the village, though it would have to wait till the morrow. Right about now a nice, relaxing bath was in order and a hearty dinner too. The journey passed quickly and nearing sunset I could see the village in greater detail. The thin, drystone-wall, spotted wooden houses with slate or straw roofs and plentiful fields cast shadows over the land that obscured the village in a haze as I looked on. In a few windows there was the flickering of fire or the dull glow of a magelight illuminating the families as they began to settle down for the evening. Smoke rose from a couple of chimneys and silence reigned supreme. Perfect. It took only a couple of minutes to reach home and a few more to settle down into a bath. For a long time, I contemplated going to sleep but for that I got out and slid into bed, my stuff could wait for tomorrow. With a sigh, I pulled the covers up and closed my eyes as darkness flooded in and my mind slid off into the land of dreams. ========= [Dungeon] The horrid pounding abated fairly quickly, as soon as he left in fact. He had made it to the swamp and upon gaining consciousness decided to jump in the water, a mistake he quickly rectified. I think that it spooked him enough that he decided to leave. A shame, I was looking forward to digesting him. On the other hand, I suspected that he would be coming back soon enough, and the horrible pounding headache had faded and that felt nice. I polished off the changes I wanted to make fairly quickly, first, the stairs at the start. I smiled again imagining him tripping down them A lot of minor smoothing issues that had become apparent whilst he was working his way through my dungeon took me a while to implement. Things like moving the trees slightly, adding a few branches here and there, adding scents and a few new creatures to liven up the levels. Just general polishing for the level. To the first level I added a gecko that was completely harmless but unbelievably fast and impervious to magic. Its scales were worth a huge amount and so I placed it as a sort of game for adventurers to try and catch these things. I also made a few cosmetic changes to the levels such as deepening the greens on the leaves in level two. Mostly however it was balancing work. The next issue was my limited mana, it was really halting any work I wanted to do. The adventurers helped as they naturally exuded mana that I could leech and if they died I¡¯d get all of it. Perhaps I should have finished him off, but then I wouldn¡¯t get an influx of adventurers. Hmm¡­ what to do? What to do? Well it¡¯s a bit late now, I suppose it doesn¡¯t really matter anymore. Just to get a look at the problem, I observed my surroundings and at how much ambient mana there was. There was clearly a problem here, the difference was staggering. The ambient mana far far outweighed what I had. I had control over a huge area and I should have easily been able to up my mana absorption. Which would in turn up my development pace. After a few hours of analysis and meditation it occurred to me just to try gathering it actively, I mean that was what I had done back when I first became aware. Soon after that I had just let it passively filter in as I planned out what to build. To my surprise ¨C and also my expectation - I was right, it worked, and I was gathering mana faster than ever. My mana quickly started filling. Though it would still take days to completely fill rather than a week and a bit, but it was faster than before. I was extremely pleased. Having fixed my dungeon as best I could for now I began to work on the seventh floor. It would be a continuation of the ice theme from the previous floor. Even though the room was smaller I would need more ice. My plan for this room was one that was a physical challenge. It required a cuboid shape to be cut out of the mountain. 50m wide and tall but 200m long. The walls had an undulating wave like shape to them. They ran the length of the room and certainly didn¡¯t appear to be natural, though for this room they certainly didn¡¯t have to appear natural. I only had to carve out the top triangle of the room as it was going to be a downhill sloping floor. It made the task a lot easier. What would happen is that the adventurers would emerge onto a two-meter-wide platform that spanned the width of the room. From there the remaining 198m was a downhill slope that would have to be navigated, of course it would be coated in ice, I wasn¡¯t mad, not yet. There would be stop off platforms where there were treasure chests containing loot depending on how hard to get to they were. Some of the prizes had monsters suitable for defending them and others were just free. I couldn¡¯t give them everything free after all. And to this end I made sure there were places the ramp just ended and it would dump the adventurers into spikes, hopefully killing them. Once the slope was done, and an even slope it wasn¡¯t - it had ridges, banked curves, bobbles and waves in it that would make painful jumps to land ¨C I started coating it in the ice. On a whim I added tunnels that went down steeper and like a huge waterslide that went into the stone it emerged again flinging them through the air. Some of them shot adventurers 20m high only to land in a snowbank. Of course, one such snowbank also contained a yeti, how could it not. Some shot them out onto other paths or into walls. Just the average ice slide you know. After it was coated I had to even it out, cover the rest of the stone tunnels surfaces with ice and polish the whole floor so that it was impossible to stand on, we couldn¡¯t have them just walking around. The point was, that adventurers would have to slide on their backsides down and use whatever they could to change direction and whatnot, a puzzle of physicality and memory. I filled the room with obstacles such as weak ice walls that could be barrelled through and sharp ice spikes that would kill people of any rank - I mean, unless you¡¯re unbelievably powerful, there isn¡¯t much that can stop an ice spike through the brain or chest from killing you. On the opposite wall, I cut out a 25m by 25m by 10m room that could be seen from the start. There were 10 chests filled with good loot and one powerful yeti guarding it. This would be this level¡¯s hidden secret, though it wouldn¡¯t be secret exactly, how you got there would be. Additionally, I placed a sign that read ¡°Congratulations adventurer for making it to the ice run¡¯s hidden secret. Here is your prize. Did you find the other level¡¯s hidden secrets I wonder?¡± Just another clue, I wanted them to search for the secrets. Then I could change them around and make interesting traps. Mentally I began laughing, evilly I assure you, there¡¯s no other kind of laugh that¡¯s appropriate. Now, to make a way to get there. How would an adventurer get up there? I instantly dismissed a staircase out the back, that just wouldn¡¯t do. Hmm¡­ Yes, got it! I altered some of the paths to make use of a huge section of the tunnels and paths, a very hard route that they would need to go down without slowing to get there. It ended up launching the adventurers into the air to land on the yeti. After adding a few more traps, brutal slides and of course the treasure chests the room was almost complete. At the start by one wall from the starting platform I placed a chest. Plain and wooden, it contained the gear needed to change direction. A small steel pick like tool that could dig into the ice by melting it briefly. It had a fire enchant on it to allow a sliding adventurer to change direction and slow down if they needed to. In the lid of the box I inscribed a brief explanation of the tool: ¡°A small hand-held pick for hacking ice. It has a useful fire enchant that helps it dig into supernaturally cooled ice. One feels it could be useful in the future, TAKE ONLY ONE!¡± A pretty blatant clue, but some adventurers are as thick as the hairs on a dwarf¡¯s backside after all, you couldn¡¯t trust them to work anything out. Level finished.
Menu
Name ??? Race Dungeon
Titles Renown Just Discovered
Skills ^ 13 Visitors T=1, C=0, D=0
Rating 3A Level 45
Health 3,451/3,451 Mana 7,804/22,960 (22,960 mana for Lvl up
Knowledge 21,019 Dungeon Points 400
Status OK Attunement E4 + N2 + I1
Rooms 529 Floors 7 +(1)
Bosses 1 + (1) Monsters 2,062
Creatures 43,709 Creature types ^ 1414
Unique Items 1 Item Types ^ 251
Chapter 7 Chapter 7 ========= [Sigurd] I awoke to the sound of knocking at my door. Groaning, I sat up, gasping in pain as my chest tried to kill me. I guess that¡¯s the rib then, fractured most likely. I¡¯d have to visit the healer in Oar¡¯s Rest or Barkamstead if there wasn¡¯t one there. Sliding my feet over the side of the bed, I completed the sitting manoeuvre and just stared at the wall for a few seconds as my body learned it was awake. Stretching, I rolled my head around, rubbed the back of my head, wiped my eyes and stood up, yawning as I went. Reaching over, I took a sip of water from the mug I kept beside the bed, before hobbling over to the dresser. I slipped on a pair of trousers and a crude cotton shirt, enough to be decent. Some sandals to walk on and I was ready to greet the day, and I supposed, the person at my door. I walked through to the kitchen, put a pot of water on and then went to see who was at the door. Unlike the frantic knocking of John, this was the slow measured knock of someone who was not in a hurry, just someone living at their own pace. As such, I didn¡¯t feel the need to rush to the door either, which was good, as walking hurt a little right now. Taking a second, I opened the door and blinked at the harsh light. It seemed to be midday, I must have overslept then. I guess I can forgive myself as I did do quite a lot yesterday, delving a dungeon is exhausting after all. With a quick glance, I confirmed that the man standing with his fist raised to knock again was a friendly, before mumbling ¡°come in.¡± ¡°Thanks¡± he replied in a neat and clear voice. He followed me through to the kitchen and took a seat when prompted, whilst he was settling down I made some Aeldra to drink. It had a strong earthy taste and got blindingly hot, it was refreshing, and I loved the taste. It was made from the great Ael tree that grew in mana rich environments and as such it absorbed it, the drink used the inner bark and as it steeped in the water, the mana seeped out giving the hot water a nice infusion of flavour and mana. Aeldra was a great pick-me-up and was a phenomenal way to start the day, the only problem was the expense, it cost an arm and a leg and the only reason I had lots was because of my days as an adventurer, still, I only got it out when I had guests or when I really needed it. I poured two mugs and set the pan back on the heat to keep warm. I set the mug down in front of him and took my seat. As I sat down, he sighed in contentment, placed his mug back down and started to talk. ¡°Sigurd, thanks, that really hits the spot. Now, about that dungeon. It is a dungeon if I¡¯m not mistaken, especially from the state of you.¡± I nodded in confirmation. ¡°Ok¡­ well¡­ right. It is a dungeon¡­ It¡¯s a dungeon! It is a damn dungeon man! Oh, thank the gods, this could be so good for us. Don¡¯t you see?¡± he exclaimed in increasingly excited statements, before frowning at my expression, I just wasn¡¯t as ecstatic as him. ¡°Yes, I see. But it will also be a time of great change. With this discovery, the quiet, quaint little village we once knew will surely disappear and, in its place, who knows what will be built. The dungeon guild will want control of the area for sure and it¡¯s hard to dissuade them. They¡¯ll build an outpost and small town at the entrance, but they will need a centre of trade. And it¡¯s easier to convert this than to build from scratch on the side of a mountain.¡± I replied with measured words, offering caution and what I considered wisdom. ¡°Yes, good points, and points well made. But, we¡¯ve been stagnating here. This village hasn¡¯t seen change in many many years and nothing new ever happens. By all measures we¡¯re peasants. This will bring in gold regardless of the finders¡¯ fee. We¡¯ll see a period of great economic growth and if we play this right then we will no longer be peasants, and think about the kids, what future do they have here, a life trapped in a village with no excitement or future. We¡¯ve no need of more blacksmiths or farmers or whatever, what can they do but leave, with the dungeon though the village will evolve, and opportunities will come flooding in.¡± He responded offering a verbal riposte.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°True, all true, but we must preach caution. You¡¯re right about that, but only if we play this well will we come out ahead, but if we don¡¯t we¡¯ll be thrown in the deep end and left to drown. Let¡¯s not drown in our excitement. Besides we have to do something, now the dungeon¡¯s broken the surface it¡¯s not going to be secret for long. We¡¯re lucky there aren¡¯t many settlements nearby. At least on the human side. Who knows about the other sectors.¡± ¡°Too right Sig. Will you head off tomorrow then, if you take the T-pads it¡¯ll only take two or three days.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll head off once I¡¯ve healed up enough should be tomorrow or the day after when I¡¯m well enough to ride, it¡¯s a hard ride to Oar¡¯s rest and a fractured rib ain¡¯t gonna help matters much.¡± He winced at that, fractured ribs are blasted painful in the saddle and I wasn¡¯t looking forward to traveling on one. ¡°So, what was it like?¡± ¡°Well, where to start? Where to start? Hmm¡­ I guess, it was different from the usual.¡± ¡°Whatever do you mean?¡± He asked entranced. Even for the peasants the dungeons were interesting. ¡°It started off with a pitch-black entrance, so you can¡¯t see anything at all. Then you fall out into this huge cavern. Unlike most dungeons which usually start off as small rocky passageways with creatures along them, linear pathways as well. You¡¯ve got to fight to proceed. Here though, it was full of nature. Plant life abounding. There were no predators to speak off but responsive trees from the start. It was very easy for a first level. In fact, you could just walk straight to the next floor if you wished.¡± ¡°Really.¡± ¡°Yes, in fact, there was really nothing to the first floor, unless you wished to earn some loot in which case you would have to fight off the trees, trees? I know, surprised the hell out of me. Pissed my right off it did.¡± -And so, they continued chatting for a good hour before the man named Dale said he had to go report the info to everyone else in town- ¡°Thanks for the Aeldra and the chat¡± Dale said before letting himself out. ¡°No problem¡± I replied to an empty house as the door slammed shut just a fraction too soon. Standing up, I took a few minutes to wash up the mugs and pan, soaking my bruised and battered hands in the process. I need to get better gloves. When I had come out of the dungeon they had been shredded. Proper mage-styled leather that wouldn¡¯t be destroyed by the dungeon was in order. Putting the stuff away, I applied a healing salve and some bandages washed my hands again and then went to sort out my stuff from last night. I grabbed my bag from the entrance hall and dragged it through to the washing room, trying to avoid flexing my side too much. The washroom had a couple steel racks that were heated by waterfilled tubes from a mage fire that required only a handful of powder and lots of wood to keep going, the artificers had mundane ones they called radiators, but I wasn¡¯t going to rely on technology when the mage powered ones worked just fine, I knew where I stood with them. Anyway, these heating racks, I kept on constantly, they warmed the house and helped dry my clothes. Passing through the drying part was the actual washing room, separated off by two cheap doors I had scavenged from the carpenter¡¯s apprentice, he had thought them failures so I snapped them up for a pittance. Dragging my pack through, I emptied it on the floor, letting my armour, clothes and supplies tumble out. I went and set three tubs of water on to heat (one full, one half and one almost empty) and in another smaller one I placed a block of soap. I also set one tub of oil to heat on the higher racks, so it was only warm, not hot. Whilst that was heating I placed the armour on the stand and then gathered up my supplies and separated it into two piles: ruined and fine. All my herbs, bandages and a few potions as well as the food went to the ruined pile as well. Straight to the bin. By now, the soap had melted and that got poured off into the full water tub. A quick stir made some bubbles and cleaned the soap pan enough to be put away again. I threw the clothes into the soapy tub and walked over to the armour. Unclipping the plates, I chucked them into the one full of oil. Next, I pulled off the cuffs from the leather and chucked them into the soapy water. The cuffs were cotton sections that clipped to the leather at each end and stopped it rubbing against my joints whilst also extending over the metal to stop or at least limit the sounds of metal clanking together. Clangourous sounds ringing out were not the best if you wanted to be sneaky. The leather was then placed into the tub half filled with water. Next came the weapons. I unpinned the axe blade and placed it in the oil. The wooden haft was set up above to dry. The blades of the swords were strung up so that the blades were resting in the oil whilst the handles above were out and they could dry. Once this was done, I went over to the cupboard and pulled down the scrubbing rack. Placing it into the soapy water I took the clothes and started scrubbing them thoroughly until the water turned a fairly disgusting shade of brown. This took about 15 minutes, enough time for the leather to soak, it was then taken and set to dry alongside the wooden axe haft and the pack itself. Taking the tub half filled with water that used to have the leather in, I placed it beside the mangle. The one almost empty went underneath and the soapy one went on the final side. Taking the cloth, I ran it through on setting one before dropping it into the half-filled tub to rinse. I repeated this on setting two. I quickly placed the now dry leather into the oil and went back to the mangle. Once through the five stages I emptied the tub underneath and replaced it. Checking the clothes, I found none had any excess dirt, so they were all strung up to dry and the water thrown out to the grass. Taking the leather out of the oil I set that to dry over a set of tubs and then pulled the metal bits out. Wiping them dry with a cloth I set them to finish drying before sharpening the blades and tidying up. I restocked the fire and went off to the kitchen to have dinner before heading off to bed for a nice rest before a big journey on the morrow. Chapter 8 Chapter 8 I woke early, the sun just kissing the horizon, like a mother to her child, before she leaves on a journey, a fitting start to my own. A quick breakfast, with a cup of aeldra to perk me up, gets me going, it¡¯s time to start moving, ¡°up and at them¡± as my mother used to say. I had packed a bag of food, my sleeping mat and a couple water pouches as well as a small tent the night before and they filled up the saddlebags on my horse to the extreme. I would have liked to take more, but if I could buy it if necessary. I refitted my chest piece and scabbards. Put together my axe, grabbed my dagger and had a quick run around the house to check if I had forgotten anything. I hadn¡¯t, not that I¡¯d know of course but I felt like I had the necessities. I smiled and stepped across the threshold, into the morning air. I sighed, slapping my head in annoyance. As it turned out, I had in fact forgotten something. A map and compass would be quite useful for navigation, essential even. I exited into the fresh morning air for the second time and breathing in a cold lungful I allowed myself to smile again. There was nothing quite like the eerie quiet of the early morning, the world came alive around you and time past in the blinks between moments. You felt alive, and at peace, serene. I loved it. My smile soon faded as the pain of riding my horse gripped me, shortening my breath and making me gasp with each jolting step. Fucking horse! I swear it was dancing a fucking jig on purpose. ¡°What do you want? I give you a nice stable and food!¡± I asked rhetorically, of course it wouldn¡¯t reply, couldn¡¯t even. Fucking horse! As I travelled I said farewell to the few people up at this hour, farmers most likely. Though I tried to keep the swearing to a minimum it crept out a little. Wincing, I headed off down the road at a leisurely pace, bracing every time the horse shifted or jolted around on the uneven path. Fucking path! As I went, I started humming, a good tune could take my mind of the stabbing pain and watching the gravel, trees and hills go by distracted me enough that progress started to creep in. The sun started to slowly crawl across the sky, rising properly as the land came to life. The birdsong faded, away and the wind picked up from the dead calm to a cooling gentle breeze that pressed me forwards, giving me a nice shove, ¡°get on your way¡± it seemed to say. The leaves rustled, disturbed by said gentle breeze, it carried the smells of the country across my nose, from the woody earthy smells to the ones of freshly cut grass and hay to the more unpleasant ones from the animal manure of the nearby farms. ¡°Lovely!¡± I said sarcastically as I wrinkled up my nose to try hide the pungent smell. Still, I preferred it to the squalor and rush of the towns. Off to my right, a small brook babbled and bobbled along on its way to the sea. It took a few meandering turns under bridges and across fields and paths. I would have to cross it several times before reaching Oar¡¯s Rest. Whilst the small stream eventually ended up joining a rapid ravenous river that ate up the land as it cut and forced its thrashing, lashing water towards the sea. The river then widened at its end, as it was calmed by the gentle lapping of the sea against it and all returned to the natural bliss of nature. The sky, a nice, rich, pale-blue, had nary a cloud in sight. Instead, just a few wispy vapours coloured its marble blue surface. They rolled and played gently with each other - like two kits do - in the far distance, and where they met the ice white of the horizon they faded away, an echo. I felt at peace. As one with nature. And I whistled merrily as my joyous mood escaped through my mouth hopefully to infest the world. I looked down and marvelled at the little wispy tornadoes kicked up by my mounts hooves on the loose gravel track. It settled down quickly leaving little evidence we had passed through, but the swirls of dust laden air were fascinating and again it passed the time and distracted me as the leagues passed me by. The sun rose higher in the sky as the day blended together, and my horse marched on under the heating day, a tireless soldier carrying its friend to safety. Soon it was time for lunch and a rest, she had done well and despite her dancing a painful jig she had carried me safely all day. I pulled up in the shade of a tree, near the bank of the stream. Picketing my horse so that she could graze on the lush grasses that fed off the stream and take a nice refreshing drink, I washed my hands and face in the cool water before slicking my hair back and rooting through my pack as the water trickled down, soaking into the shirt and making me gasp as droplets rolled down my back tracing my spine with their ice cold fingers. I shivered despite the heat and started to cook. A deer stew was easy to heat up using a mage powder fire and it was delicious. The horse got two handfuls of oats, a carrot and an apple as well as a brush down. I pulled my hat over my eyes and drifted off to sleep for a few minutes nap. ========== [Dungeon] The construction of floor seven had gone smoothly and floor eight had gone much slower, though just as smoothly. After sliding down the seventh floor, ice maze, they would end up sliding down to the eighth floor, I thought it was a fitting way of getting down and it changed up the stairs that I had used so far. If they didn¡¯t slow themselves down, they would just slide straight off the platform and plunge into the icy cold water of floor eight, a very likely death followed that. If they managed to stop in time, then they had two options, they could walk up the stairs that followed the slide side-by-side to get back to floor seven and then fully backtrack, or they could press onwards, exploring floor eight and those beyond. Obviously, I had yet to make those, but I didn¡¯t expect anyone to get down here in so short a timeframe. If they decided to press on, they would have to navigate their way across floating blocks of ice and static platforms to get to the other side. The blocks would roll in the water and the platforms wouldn¡¯t. I couldn¡¯t make them all roll as otherwise there would be no battles here and therefore no reason to give them treasure and hence the level would have been pointless. So, the blocks were the path to the platforms where they would have to face a battle. This level was the most linear in regard to how it was explored, since the water was pretty much impassable they would have to take the ice paths and though there were several routes it was still fairly straight forward. I thought that perhaps a skilled mage may be able to magic up some solution to the water, but I wasn¡¯t expecting it.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. For the battles on the platforms I had thought of many a creature, but I eventually settled on polar bears. The penguins, though cute had been far far too weak, I might incorporate them later but for now it hadn¡¯t worked. The ice constructs didn¡¯t feel right and they took a lot of mana to work, unlike the phantasms and the dragon I wanted something that was always active and a solitary threat. Polar bears fit the bill fairly well and as such they were the main threat to the adventurers. But, of course I couldn¡¯t leave it that simple, I was creative and glorious and that simply wouldn¡¯t do. Worse than the polar bears were the orcas, though the bears were mandatory fights and the orcas weren¡¯t if you encountered them it was basically game over. That was why this floor was so slow going, it was the largest cavern by far, it had to be in order to house the orcas. So, at 1800m across and 700m wide no matter the depth it would have taken me a while, but at 200m deep the amount of stone to move was ridiculous. But I had put in the work and the level was nearly complete. Swimming in the chilled water were two pods of orcas, ten in each. They would periodically scour the blocks and platforms for large food and come crashing down on them, presumably killing any adventurer unlucky enough to be there. To sustain them, the water was rich in krill, fish and seals though balancing out the ecosystem proved to be quite challenging with such large creatures. Up in the roof, 50m above the perilous waters, seabirds roosted. They would divebomb the adventurers to try and get them off the ice and into the waters, floor two had inspired me to reuse the divebomb and I felt it fit here quite well. Getting them nested was quite difficult and I had to create another level above the cavern to accommodate them, a small grassy knoll with a height of five metres and enough grasses and plants that they could build their nests in the stone walls of the main chamber, their young could then grow up in peace. Though this wasn¡¯t going to be the secret of the level, if anyone managed to get up here then well done them, it was almost impossible to see anything, and the fifty metres of air would be quite a challenge for anyone. As such, I placed a chest with rare jewels, equipment and money, far more than anything I had given out so far, though I exceed it may be hundreds of years until it was found. There were a few other rare creatures, inhabiting my sea. They were worth lots of money to the alchemists apparently, I wasn¡¯t so sure, but they snapped up the remainder of my points and I felt it was worthwhile. Crabs in the depths and various crustaceans could be fished for, their carapaces and claws or eyes were valuable, though I didn¡¯t expect that anyone would spend much time fishing. Greenland sharks and white sturgeon swam in the depths surfacing occasionally. These basking goliaths rivalled the orcas for size and were worth far far more money. The Greenland sharks swam in the frigid waters of the south and they were the only large creature that managed the cold that well, they formed a layer of mana infused fat that shielded them from the biting cold that was the only known source of pliable mana. My waters were nowhere near that cold and so the white sturgeon and orcas could survive. The sturgeon had hardened spikes that ribbed their body for protection. These were often used for inscribing and enchanting as they were hard enough to etch most materials and they could carry a mana current easily. Considering that the creatures held a lot of value to the right people, there were no treasure chests on the ice course. They had to use their ingenuity here to eke out a profit, and I was hoping the lack of treasure meant that some of them would have a closer look. Right now, I was pondering what to do about the now required hidden secret. I had included one in every level so far and I was planning to continue that tradition here. I was well and truly stumped on this one though, there wasn¡¯t much here. But in the end, it came to me as it always does. When the orcas crashed down every 2hr they would set a lump of ice rolling. The lump of ice would be hollow and inside was a room with two treasure chests. The adventurer would have 2 minutes to get in and out before the entrance would be submerged for another 2hr. I was done. It took me a couple more hours of trouble shooting but I had soon actually finished the level. It was virtually impossible to avoid the orcas and so, as an early warning system, twenty seconds before they came crashing down a bitterly cold wind that blew spray around would blow. The orcas would come crashing down causing a wave that would make everything unstable and would start the entrance to the treasure spinning for its singular two-minute spin. Then everything would normalise for another 2hr upon which the next pod would come crashing down. The orcas could of course be seen at other times and occasionally they would breach and upset a platform as they surfaced, but that was purely by accident. The difficulty was starting to ramp up now towards the serious adventurer rating and I would have to think carefully about what to do. I was out of points and creating new levels would be much harder without them. They were used for everything, from buying materials and enchantments, to the treasure that I gave the adventurers. I had one hundred left and I needed to preserve them for emergencies. You got points for achievements, progress and numerous other things including levelling up. It was why I had managed to make so much progress. Most new dungeons took ages to make new levels because they were restricted by mana and points in what the could do, and now so was I. There was one more level to do before the boss level. After all woodland had four levels then boss. Starter, forest, swamp, rainforest and boss. Ice would have, Tundra with the dragon, Ice Run, Frozen Sea, something else and then boss. The question was, what would that something else be? Frozen forest maybe. Or a frigid ice maze. No, the ice run was kind of a maze with the hundreds of different paths and I had had enough of forests for the time being. Something else on an ice level. What to do? What to do? Got it! Pity I had no mana or points right now, I would have to wait. Besides, I still had to make a staircase down. I sighed, so much to do and so little time and mana. Hopefully once that fellow tells the guild I can get an influx of adventurers and points and start to make progress again. ========== [Sigurd] After my nap, I packed up and I was on my way in no time, setting the pace once again. I think the horse was glad to have had a break as she set off with considerably more gusto than she had had before we took our break. I wanted to get to Oar¡¯s Rest before sundown and so I pushed us on. Oar¡¯s Rest came into view a couple of leagues later sitting on the horizon. I would be there soon, I couldn¡¯t wait, getting a good rest and fixing up my rib were priorities. Slowly the town separated from the horizon, and it wasn¡¯t long before the smoke could be seen, rising up and over the wall. The smell of town life blew its way down to me and filled my nostrils. It housed around two-hundred-and-fifty residents and twenty traders at any one time compared to Littlebrook¡¯s fifty and zero respectively, a town to our village. As I made it further, the shapes of houses and shops began to distinguish themselves from the landscape and it wasn¡¯t much longer until I could see the gate and hear the sound of shouting, the banging of hammers on anvils and the general hustle and bustle of a minor town. Oar¡¯s Rest was my destination as it had a transport pad to the nearby city of Barkamstead. Barkamstead was a minor city and as such it had lots of transport pads including one to the interchange. From the interchange I would go to the Capital and within the capital was my destination. The Adventurers Guild. I entered the town towards evening and immediately went to the healers, it cost me one whole gold! A right scam I tell you! But if it healed the pain, I was willing to pay it, if begrudgingly. Then to the inn to have a hot meal and spend the night. They served a good flagon of ale and a hearty beef stew with potatoes and steamed veg. It may not have been the best, but it was welcome and tasted pretty damn good to me, much better than my own fare that¡¯s for sure. I quickly headed upstairs, locked my door, shrugged out of my armour and slipped into some night clothes. Checked the bed and finding it satisfactory, I climbed in and promptly fell into a deep sleep. It was at ten the next morning when I made it to the transfer pad. In a queue of three, I waited whilst their documentation was checked. It took maybe fifteen minutes to get to me and a further five to get everything checked out, I paid the two silver it cost to use the pads and declined the explanation of how to use them before stepping up inputting the information and setting it into motion. It was a short wait before my vision burst in white and I felt my stomach bounce around as I transferred. Landing slammed me down and the impact on my knees was quite hard, it wasn¡¯t for the old and frail that was for sure, if they needed to travel it was by the old-fashioned system of walking or riding. I was at the transport hub in Barkamstead. It was a minor city and like all cities it had that unique smell, much more hustle and bustle and a lot more ambient noise. Looking around I quickly found a queue for the Interchange and joined the queue as fast as possible. Whilst it might have been fun to explore a little I wanted to get to the capital pronto. It was maybe one-hundred-and-twenty people long, but it split into five at the front allowing the staff to deal with the people fairly quickly. One hour and ten minutes queuing and I was at the front. It took the standard two and a half minutes to get through and off to the interchange I went. Unlike at Oar¡¯s rest this one was not programable and only went off to the interchange. This was why the time was much shorter. Small towns had the programable ones as they were more useful, the towns often didn¡¯t have the money to buy lots of the pads and so the small ones worked well enough. The interchange was even busier than Barkamstead and I hurried to the capitol lines. About six-hundred people were using these. The transport pads here were the most efficient, they were for the capital after all. So, I was only left waiting a quarter hour to get to the capital. And in a flash, it was done. I was through and safely in the capital. The busiest, largest human settlement of them all. Adventurer guild here I come! Time to get rich¡­ as a community of course. Chapter 9 Chapter 9 ========== [Dungeon] A couple of days had passed since the man had left. Though it meant that I could get back to work, there was something missing now. It felt¡­ It felt¡­ Lonely? Yes. Lonely. That was it. Was I lonely? Perhaps. Though I wasn¡¯t sad about getting back to work, I felt more alone than I ever had before, and it was peculiar to me. At no point in the span of my life had I felt anything like this, nor had I ever experienced anything even resembling companionship or company. I had never been in proximity with a person and I had never even seen one before, before this man stepped inside me. Never had I thought of what it might be like to spend the rest of time alone. I hadn¡¯t even conceived that a feeling such as this might exist. Yet here I was, alone. The echoing silence of my dungeon rang like a gong in my head. I was alone! Alone! I felt incomplete. For the first time in my life I had felt the joy of company. And even if the man hadn¡¯t known I was there, watching him explore the depths. I had known him, and that was enough. I had felt the beating of life within my caverns and the experience was electric. I had felt alive. What I had originally thought was an annoying, incessant drumming that stopped my work was life, conscious life. The feelings had shot through me. Now, in its absence, I felt the hollow, solitude flooding back in. Why had they left me? Would they be back? Or¡­ Or, would they leave me forever? NO!!! They wouldn¡¯t do that! I was useful! How could they leave me? They couldn¡¯t! They would be back, I was sure. I¡­ I had to be ready, if the challenge was never ending then they couldn¡¯t leave! Why would they want to leave then? They wouldn¡¯t! Snapping out of it I checked on my mana. Fully charged! I thought it seemed pretty reasonable for a few days of meditation gathering. If I was exact and efficient with my building, I felt that I could get the next two floors done and dusted. Finishing off the ice levels was my plan for the next few days. Hopefully I would be able to move on to the next set before the man came back. The floors I was planning on creating were in fact quite easy to do, in regard to mana consumption at least. Actually getting them to work though? That would be difficult. Everything about my dungeon was supposed to be a self-sustaining. I didn¡¯t want a huge maintenance job on my hands, limiting what I could do. That was the original plan. Now though, I was keen to take a greater interest in my dungeon. I suspected that whilst I would gain a lot of mana from the adventurers being killed. I would also be spending a lot of that mana, in two ways especially. First: I would have to repopulate my dungeon with all the killed mobs that weren¡¯t part of the ecosystem. There was only so much reproducing my creatures could do and be battle ready. I was expecting to have to repopulate whenever a dangerous team came in and cleared out the floor. Whilst this didn¡¯t pose a problem right now, it might in the future. Furthermore, I suspected that replacing a big mob boss would be quite expensive. Secondly: I would be spending my mana on replenishing chests and resources that the adventurers took as well as switching things up a bit. After all, if the floors were always the same, then what on earth was the point in most of them. It would become boring and tedious and I was not going to get that label. Dungeons had to grow and there must be a way of re-organising it. Surely it wasn¡¯t that I had to destroy and recreate everything if my levels were wrong. The system seemed to have everything imaginable in the store and I thought it unlikely that it would have overlooked this. Focusing on what I wanted, I began to push the mana, filling up the mental shape of my dungeon when. Ding! ~~New skill acquired: Re-organise~~ It was called re-organise and it basically allowed me to magically re-organise my dungeon. It was seemingly able to cut out what I wanted and insert it where something else was. All I had to do was to make sure that the gaps left over were filled up by the sections that were replaced. If I took a floor out, I would hold it in magical limbo and then swap it around and fill in the gaps. In this manner, I managed to start swapping floors and do all sorts of chaos. Playing around with it entertained me for quite some time. I ended up resorting to the original though. I was happy with it so far. It did however give me ideas. For the ice run, this would come in handy as I could change up the routes and tracks. From day to day, places would change, potentially catching out unwary adventurers. After all, once some experienced ones learned of the early levels, they would have no trouble advancing through quickly. Eliminating everything. Thinking of all these ideas set me off into what I was in fact supposed to be doing, which was building floor nine. When looking over the ice run, I had noticed - whilst I was totally not pushing helpless animals down the tracks - that when highly polished, the ice had a slightly reflective surface. What I was hoping for, was a surface that was reflective enough that it would confuse the adventurers and mobs. Obviously, it wouldn¡¯t be mirror like, there was just no way to achieve that wit ice. But hopefully it would confuse them enough that the creatures could finish them off. First, I had to do some testing.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I summoned a block of ice. It stood in front of me, a towering pillar of frozen water. Slowly melting; droplets rolling down its side as I set to work. The block had an uneven texture to its surface courtesy of the falling water droplets that had refrozen. They would have to be removed. Shaving the ice down with a blade of mana took a few attempts. Getting a flat uniform surface was rather difficult. Despite being basically a god within my own domain, it didn¡¯t prevent classic parallax error. Something that all craftsmen had to deal with. Just winging it produced shoddy results and I had to retry to get it right. Next, I had to polish it. It was a long and arduous process, though, if I could achieve the desired effect it would be a great level. Result one was a failure. The ice just had too much colour to it. Any reflected image was far too hazy and blurred to be effective. Using my magic, I delved into the ice to find out what caused its colour. It took a moment, but I detected traces of gas. The water had dissolved gases within it and when frozen they become trapped within the ice, leading to a white colouration. Now, how to go about fixing this? If I boiled the water, it would force the gases to be released and the water could then be frozen to leave a colourless transparent block. Hopefully, this would work. This in fact worked. I smiled to myself at it. Once again, I cut, smoothed and polished the surface to try and get the effect I was looking for. Now that I had eliminated the gas problem I tested it. It wasn¡¯t quite right. I could still see through the effect at certain angles. I needed more reflection. Common household mirrors used a reflective metal backplate to reflect the light. if I copied this design with compacted white ice, perhaps it would reflect better? It did. Once I was happy enough with the effect, it was time to start building. From the exit of the eighth level, a set of stairs descended as usual before opening out into a set of caves. This time however, there was no large open cavern, but rather a termite mound style cave network. Corridors of roughly carved out stone coated in ice, spiderwebbed out in various directions, opening up into rooms and then closing back down to corridors again. This system of tunnels spanned a good 500m by 500m of ground. Though not very maze like, it still had enough dead ends and tricky bits to be annoying. In each of the rooms, I placed slabs of this reflective ice. Images of the mobs and the adventurers would appear and change the perceived space of the room. It was supposed to be confusing and with a decent reflection I hoped it would work. To test my concept, I released both predators and prey into the caves to see what would happen. They slid around on the icy floors a little, quite literally like a frightened horse on a frozen lake. Their newfound legs, unstable and uncontrolled as they floundered around. Test one failed as I had forgotten to block off the access to the previous room and the animals had run upwards to try get somewhere warmer. Though it was still icy, the water level was warmer, and the nature levels natural warmth bled down through the layers. As it went deeper, the ice became colder and colder. I suspected that the adventurers would begin to seize up as the cold started biting in to the bones and a cold weariness set in. Test two was more successful and the animals stayed in the level. Admittedly it was just that I had corrected my oversight. But, improvement, no matter where it came from was still improvements. Unfortunately, that was the only way in which it was more successful. I had placed the animals so far apart that they never got near each other. I got bored fast. Test three could also be classed as a failure. I had chosen wolves as the predators and sheep as the prey. Both animals gathered in a pack or herd respectively and so when they saw themselves in the mirrors, they just accepted it as there were more of them. The wolves were more cautious since they couldn¡¯t smell these phantom wolves, but they weren¡¯t intelligent to realise why. Tests four, five and six failed similarly, the predators just didn¡¯t get it. I had tried out mammoths, lions, and something called a synth cat. None worked out very well for me, though the synth cat was interesting. I was hoping that I wouldn¡¯t have to increase their intelligence, but I expected it would be the case. The next ten tests failed just the same and I concluded that I would have to boost intelligence for the mirrors to work. As a last-ditch effort, I tried a gorilla, it worked¡­ Ish. The gorilla reacted to the mirror as I wanted, however it immediately decided to smash it. Confronting the fake gorilla in a battle to the death. Shortly after prevailing, the gorilla died. The cold had got to it. Gorillas were creatures of the forests, and warm ones at that. Not the frozen tundra. No matter how much I adapted them, I doubted they would ever work in the level. But I had a starting point and that was what was important. It would work, the creatures just needed adapting. The testing had shown me a few improvements to make and I was happy. First, the ice needed to be sharp and cause injuries if broken. I expected that the ice mirrors would be destroyed quite often in battle. Secondly, they just needed a bit of repositioning. The problem with icy environments is that they are extremely harsh and inhospitable to almost all developed forms of life, excluding the yetis. There just wasn¡¯t much that lived in the frozen regions. The synth cat was my answer to this conundrum. When mana infuses the metal ores, the creatures that feast upon mana end up consuming the mana rich materials. As a result, they begin to take on the characteristics of said material. Hence the synth cat, synthetic from the metal affinity that it has and cat since, well it¡¯s a cat. The synth cat had a resistance to cold since it was no longer an organic being. Having consumed enough of the mana rich metal, the cat had transformed. A metallic gleam to its fur and metal spines and teeth that could crunch through all but the most stalwart of armours were the signs. Its tail could whip around like an Ankylosaur and spear through an adventurer. The level had several smaller species of this cat, whilst towards the end they grew stronger. The only task left was to put in the secret room. A simple small tunnel behind an outcropping at one of the dead ends led into a small room with some treasure, done. It was one of the easiest ones but there wasn¡¯t much to be done in such a simple format. A simple mirror ice wall made the concealment better and I hoped it would be enough to challenge the adventurers. With any luck it wouldn¡¯t be too easy. Finishing off floor ten - the boss level for the ice realm -took me another day. Its cave was simple, with few stalactites and decorative feature to get in the way. It took very little time at all. The boss drained most of my mana though. It was a large behemoth that I couldn¡¯t wait for the adventurers to have to face. I had originally planned my dungeon to have rest levels at floor five, fifteen, thirty, fifty, seventy-five, one-hundred and so on. But I was now reconsidering whether or not to do so. Every five levels was also a good option for the safe haven and I would then be able to have very tricky floors if they only had to make it through five at a time. I decided to go for it and create another safe haven. I could always change later. The main reason that I wanted to do such a thing was because I wanted to throw adventurers from frigid icy conditions into blisteringly hot deserts. The body would have to work hard with such rapid temperature changes and it just made life much much harder for them. Evil, I know, but delightfully evil. Sat on a frozen lake, in the middle of a frosted cavern was a delicate, imposing castle of ice. A gate of frosted spears sat between two sharp towers, rising up into the sky like skyscrapers. Within its walls was the central courtyard. From the covered corridors around the edge, the centre had a social area and a fire pit, I wasn¡¯t that hateful. Snow was used for a lot of the bedding. Cold metal chests that would freeze closed and toilets were the few amenities in the rooms. Couldn¡¯t give them too much. It would do.
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Name ??? Race Dungeon
Titles Renown Just Discovered
Skills ^ 14
Rating 4D Level 45
Health 3,451/3,451 Mana 2,461/22,960 (22,960 mana for Lvl up
Knowledge 22,034 Dungeon Points 107
Status OK Attunement E4, N3, I3
Rooms 523 Floors 10+(2)
Bosses 2+(1) Monsters 2035
Creatures 46,132 Creature types ^ 1428
Unique Items 1 Item Types ^ 282
Chapter 10 Chapter 10 ========== [Sigurd] I stepped off the transport pad and out into the capital with a sigh of relief; transporting always made me a little nervous. A short walk took me to the main street. A wide expansive road, it led from the palace to the gates down below, gates that were wide open, welcoming everyone to the city. Though, most of the arrivals entered through the transport pads instead. The gates had a slight green tinge to them as the wrought iron was coated with a thin layer of copper. The copper had in turn formed a green patina that gave rise to the gate¡¯s colour, a colour I was quite fond of. The main street was made from big blocks of stone, a granite if I wasn¡¯t mistaken, and I was sure that I wasn¡¯t. It was divided into three sections by dainty, pink trees in full blossom. They sat in perfect, neat rows and provided a nice touch of colour to the otherwise bland city. The city was a sprawling expanse of stone, from the grey blocks of the street to the grey bricks of the walls and the grey tiles for the rooves, the trees lightened up the place and the freshness that pervaded made the capital a much nicer place to live. Well¡­ compared to the other cities. There was nothing that compared to the blissful peace and tranquillity of the vibrant countryside. The trees bordered the roadway that let the horses and carriages of the rich roll through the city unimpeded. They could dash forth with very few interruptions, getting on with the countless tasks that undoubtedly cluttered their very important lives. The rest of us, well, we¡¯d be happy with the pavements and our own two feet. Beside the pavements were the shops that bordered the main street. High-end of course, there just couldn¡¯t be a blacksmith hammering out some metal implement or a vender calling out his wares where visitors might go. Unseemly. And we couldn¡¯t have that, could we? No! The place for all those riff-raff was the backstreets and neighbourhoods, away from those important visitors. They would only experience the hospitality of the nobility, no need to see anything else. Like a cat protecting its belly, the king forced the seedy paupers and labourers away from the main street, presenting a glamour to the dignitaries and merchants that visited on occasion. Out of sight, out of mind after all. If they couldn¡¯t see it, why would they believe it was there? That was the thought process. I made my way up through the three tiers of city, first was the poorer sections of the main street. So not the absolute slums but the poorer inns and shops, then the merchants closer towards the gates and palace and finally the noble ring. Within this ring, though partially segregated were the guilds. A secondary city wall had been erected here, and it was against the wall that the adventurer¡¯s guild stood. It took only a few minutes before I found my way to the stone gates that sealed it off from the city. The guild was a powerful organisation, and as such they were afforded such a liberty despite the officials of the cities not wanting them to, it grated that they had to give up such a thing, but they did. It was just one of the many many things for the nobles to be upset over. The nobles weren¡¯t allowed walls to insulate them from the city, barring the inner-city walls, but they were staffed by the king and not liable to bow to the nobles. A policy from the great rebellion when the factions of nobles had trained private armies within the walls of the estates. The conflict had ruined the previous capital, Rothenon was just a hunk of rubble now, having been obliterated by the war mages of the time and the vicious conflict that raged for a year and a half. Guerrilla warfare in a city filled with innocents for over a year, those that hadn¡¯t fled had been well entrenched or petrified by fear. No-one had wanted it to occur once again and so policy was implemented making sure the nobles couldn¡¯t have walls and occupational forces within the walls of the cities, in their own baronies and land they could train it up, but no internal force was allowed in the capital anymore. Whilst I was sure all of the nobles understood the reasoning, and if they were ever crowned king I was sure they¡¯d keep such a policy, they took it as a way to decrease the power of the nobility and even if the threat of war loomed they wouldn¡¯t ever be able to admit such a thing. So, the fact that the adventurer¡¯s guild had their own walls grated them endlessly and it had created a rather large divide between the two. A divide that hadn¡¯t calmed any in the years since I¡¯d left. I walked over to the stone gate and waited but a moment for them to open for me. With a smooth swish, the barriers lifted up and I was allowed entry. I found myself in an illustrious but not an ¡®in your face¡¯ foyer. Forwards and off to my right slightly was a reception, staffed by two slim pretty ladies, it caught my attention, as was its purpose. One was a brunette and the other a blond. They had both dressed in the uniforms; conservatively and professionally. I approached the desk in a few long strides puffing myself up sub-consciously, preening like a bird. With one glance at the floor to wall mirror in the lounge I quickly corrected my posture. I looked like a fool, worse a noble brat. I slumped back down in my usual posture. Opening my mouth to start speaking I was cut off. ¡°Plate¡± the brunette said in an authoritative voice; demanding. My mouth opened and closed a few times at the surprising bluntness, perhaps she had observed my preening and had decided she didn¡¯t want to waste tie and humour me. I reached into my shirt and pulled out my aluminium plate. It was a small aluminium rectangle with my guild information on and my mana signature. She scanned it in and looked up expectantly. ¡°Well?¡± she replied as if she was in a rush despite an obvious lack of activity. ¡°Right, um. Where is everyone?¡± I asked, curiously. She looked me up and down, snorted lightly under her breath before answering. I wondered absently what she thought of me? Not out of any self-conscious thoughts but just how had I come across? ¡°Today is the exhibition day for the newbies. Most adventurers go along to watch them take the model dungeon and see who, if any will be making it up the ranks. It¡¯s generally recognised as an off day for everyone. Though the staff still have to come in¡± she replied helpfully but ending in a bitter note. I guess she¡¯s upset at not being able to take the day off herself. Perhaps that was why she was so blunt today. Why on earth did I think it was something to do with me? ¡°So why are you here?¡± she asked before I could speak again. ¡°Oh, right yes.¡± I said with a little laugh ¡°Um... I¡¯ve found a dungeon, well not I per se, but the town. They asked me to have a look since I was an adventurer and all. You know how it goes¡± I said rubbing the back of my neck in nervous waiting. She didn¡¯t reply at first. ¡°New as well.¡± I added. At that she perked up a little. ¡°You sure it¡¯s not just a cave?¡± she asked dismissively, but before I could reply she carried on talking. ¡°Though you are an aluminium plate, so you should know the difference, but we do get a lot of fake reports. They think they just have to say they¡¯ve found one and we¡¯ll hand over lots of cash, idiots. You¡¯re not one of those, are you?¡± She enquired of me. I stared straight ahead, giving no credence to it. I was not impressed that she had alluded to me trying to scam them. She turned to her friend to relay the news. The blond came over, eyed me briefly before whispering in her friend¡¯s ear, though I tried to listen in, they were skilled enough that I didn¡¯t pick anything up. I felt a little awkward as they discussed this, but I stayed still and waited. ¡°Alright¡± she reluctantly started. I didn¡¯t think she entirely believed me. ¡°I¡¯m going to pass you off to our guild leader. You know, being a high levelled plate and all, you should be trustworthy, or at least know you shouldn¡¯t cause any trouble. If you could just wait over there for a sec¡± she said directing me across to a waiting area. Soft seats and a cup of Aeldra later and I was very content. Let me tell you transport pads really take it out of a man. I yawned briefly and then I heard my name. The woman at the desk waved me over and pointed me through a previously closed door as I came across.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Inside was an ornate dark wood desk polished to a shine and behind it sat an old man with a greying beard and glasses, he was looking at a reem of paper and he ignored me when I entered. I closed the door and sat down. After a few minutes of silence, he spoke. ¡°So, you think you¡¯ve discovered a dungeon?¡± he asked without looking up. *** ¡°Yes, I think I agree with you that this is a dungeon. And in the Avaltjarn mountains of all places. If it¡¯s powerful this could lead to some very interesting politics indeed.¡± The old man said. ¡°And you say you only delved the first two levels before concluding you had better come back with a party.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s not so much that I would be overwhelmed by the monsters it¡¯s that the layout basically demands a party or at least a preternatural sense of your surroundings. Attacks can come from anywhere and there is very little warning. Though the first floor was truly very easy. Without a guild or teammates to retrieve me and watch my back it was as far as I wanted to go without help, I had already confirmed that it was a dungeon.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s certainly fair enough. We¡¯ll pay you the initial sum and when we confirm it¡¯s a real dungeon we¡¯ll give the rest. Sound fair?¡± I nodded. ¡°Would you be willing to take a group of surveyors with you? It¡¯ll speed this up tremendously if they know where they¡¯re going, from what you said its quite a trek to the entrance.¡± ¡°Yeah, no problem, I can¡¯t see that being a problem. I¡¯ll meet them back here in a couple of hours if that¡¯s enough time for them to get ready, I assume they¡¯re at the newbie thing.¡± He confirmed it was fine and then I left the guild with money burning a hole in my pocket, it was the towns though and I couldn¡¯t just spend it. First stop was the bank then the information guild. They could send messages anywhere and I would be trying to get my old group back together again, I¡¯d no clue if they would be up for it but I suspected they might, at least some of them. A couple like me had retired from boredom though from what I knew only one had a family now. He, I assumed would not be coming back, but the other two might be persuaded. The last two had been much younger at our split and had joined up with other parties. If I could persuade them to come back, we could have a real crack at this dungeon, but I thought they might have found a good place by now. The bank took a good chunk of my time and splitting it between all the villagers¡¯ accounts was a nightmare. At least sending the letters went well enough. *** They were waiting for me when I got back to the guild. A group of highly experienced delvers that had dedicated their lives to dungeon diving and getting stronger. Five in all they had three men and two women in the group. Both the women were mages; a dedicated healer and a fire mage. The healer had golden blond hair and a pair of bright blue eyes. Her high cheekbones hinted at an elven background, perhaps a quarter, you could never tell. She was slim and of medium height. Dressed in the thick white clothes with gold, red and blue trims that were stereotypical healer robes. A finely crafted wooden staff with a pearlescent, translucent gem on top and a sliver circlet that framed the head were accessories, and ones that accentuated her looks and were most likely very useful as well. You wouldn¡¯t get far if you were concerned about looks too much. Well, you¡¯d get dead, but that was about it. The fire mage on the other hand was just as you would envision. Slim and tall and dressed in flame coloured robes. A flame walnut staff with a bright red ruby sitting on top was just right. The ruby seemed to hum with energy, like a heartbeat, it pulsed with power to a regular rhythm. She had red hair and green eyes and was very pretty. A sword was buckled at her waist and she, like all the others, carried a pack on her back. The largest man I had ever seen was next in line. he looked almost like a dwarf in stature, the stocky block like body. Just a really, really large dwarf. He had a great big grin on his face that his thick moustache tried and failed to hide. Jovial, I thought. Like me, he carried an axe. Unlike me, it was a great two-handed battle axe. In addition, he had a strong metal pike and a large scutum shield. It would cover his ankles to his shoulders and his sides slightly. Dressed in full plate he had begun to take it off and put it away. I imagined he was at the newbie exhibition showing them the weight of plate. A tall and slim man with a glaive stood beside him. Rigid and commanding. He was, I assumed the leader of this merry band. At his waist he had a sword, a falchion by the look of it and a bow strung across his pack. He was a warrior in all sense of the word. A set of Gauntlets and vambraces protected his lower arms and the rest was a boiled leather set. With a few bits of metal in key places. Last was the rogue. No group was complete without one. Light leather and a black cloak and hood for mobility. He had on a belt of knives and two butterfly swords, one on each leg. Ruffled dark hair and a short frame he was as you would expect. Introductions went quickly, and I soon found out their names. The healer was Jenna, the fire mage; Lorelei, the rogue was Kael and the tank Jackson. Which left only the presumed leader; Sebastien or Seb for short. They had never heard of Littlebrook which surprised me not, but they knew of the Avalt, well obviously. Since the Avaltjarn was at the centre where all the regions joined, everyone knew of it. Since the Avalt had no regional mana type they didn¡¯t really know what to expect, except that it would most likely not be simple. Without regional mana it couldn¡¯t be classified as say, a fire dungeon and have mostly fire type creatures and levels. It could be anything. It took a while to fill them in on the two levels I had seen, but they agreed it was highly unusual, perhaps a nature affiliation. After they finished packing up, they checked in with the guild master, collected some scanning equipment from the artificer¡¯s office - apparently, it would help to determine how strong the dungeon was, but I wouldn¡¯t know ¨C and we were ready to go, back through the portals and off on an adventure of epic proportions. ========== [Jenna] The man named Sigurd was an oddity and it made Jenna curious. He looked young, but then so did a lot of adventurers. He acted young and enthusiastic at times, whilst at others it seemed as if he was weary of life and just waiting it out. Jenna felt a passion for adventuring from him and an excitement he had seemingly tried to bury, perhaps this dungeon had rekindled his desire. As an aluminium plate he was experienced, yet he was retired, supposedly. He was a mess of contradictions. Though she supposed that everyone was, the genuine ones at least, those that weren¡¯t such a mass of contradictions wore a face in public, fake people, just like the nobles. He had gone and dived this new one on his own to confirm if it was in fact a dungeon, a brave choice, especially as a solo. New dungeons were notoriously deadly and temperamental. It was the most dangerous thing a group did and Seb¡¯s specialised in it. But the sense of discovery was magical, something she could so rarely experience. It was worth the danger and Jenna had never thought about leaving. Not once in the three years she had been part of it. Whenever Sigurd talked about anything even remotely related to the dungeon he would fill with passion and life, whilst other topics left him gloomy and jaded. He was odd, and she didn¡¯t understand him. He wasn¡¯t a deluded fool like most of the adventurers she spoke with, and that had already put him in her good books. He had spoken with experience and wisdom when he had told them about the dungeon. Without looking herself, she couldn¡¯t tell if he had been right to retreat at the third level or not, but it was probably the correct call if he felt uneasy over going further. Swamps were very rare dungeon biomes, and one of the most dangerous compared to the theoretical difficulty of the puzzles and mobs. Caution over ambition was something it took the rookies a long time to learn, and a lot never did. After all, how could you use your money or fame when you died pushing onwards. Her wandering mind stopped as her stomach lurched. She had had to hold in the feeling, tensing and breathing through it slowly, else she would be sick. Jenna hated the pads! Oh, how I hate them! She thought to herself. Jenna was so envious of the others, those who could handle them so easily. It just didn¡¯t agree with her. Bending over and breathing slowly she had just about recovered before glancing around. They were at the interchange. Jenna sighed, she would have to go through this again. *** In fact, she had had to go through it twice more. Horrible. They had transferred from the interchange to Barkamstead and from Barkamstead to Oar¡¯s rest. From Oar¡¯s rest it was a two-day trip. They didn¡¯t have any horses nor any desire to buy them. Sigurd had his own horse and they strapped it up with supplies, but the long walk to his home was still painfully slow. The dusty road soon faded into a small dirt track that often just disappeared into the fields and grasses that they walked over. Jackson looked just as uncomfortable as before, he was still carrying twice as much weight in his pack as the rest of us, a fair share in her opinion. More muscles, more weight, simple. Kael often disappeared for a while and though he always found his way back, it was when they least expected it. Well, when Jenna least expected it. It was his favourite pastime to try and make them ¨C Jenna specifically - jump. Damn sneaky man. Lorelei and Seb were just fine, as usual. Argh! About halfway through day two, Jenna could just about see a settlement on the horizon, Kael had spotted it long before the rest could see it and so they knew to look out for it. When she asked, Sigurd confirmed that it was in fact Littlebrook and her spirits rose. Nearly there, stupid dungeon making her walk to it! It took another four hours until she could see Littlebrook in detail though. A cluster of twenty or so houses and a couple on the outskirts. A small stone wall surrounded the main section and the fields were off to one side. A little stream wound its way towards the town and they followed its course quite tightly. The sound of a ringing hammer and the smell of smoke ran across her senses and, in what seemed like minutes, they were entering the town and heading off towards one of the houses closest to the mountain. People looked with interest and they stopped several times as people came up to talk to the guide. Sigurd, it seemed, was well respected, but not a leader of the village. Just a friendly, helpful face. Jenna entered his house and could finally sit down. It didn¡¯t take too long for them to fall asleep, draped all around his house. Lore and Jenna took his spare bed. Kael had disappeared at some point and Jackson and Seb camped out in his living room. At last she could close her eyes and in no time at all, fell asleep. Chapter 11 Chapter 11 ========== [Dungeon] Whilst I was waiting for someone to turn up, I decided to start work on the eleventh floor. A desert. Hot, dry, empty and deadly. The desert was going to be another large room, full of baking hot sand, dead air and mirages. The first task, as always, was to cut out a room. Then it was to create a masterpiece. I just had to think of what it should be. I was a dungeon and as such my greatest joy was to create. I was never happier than when I was building and so it was what I did best. But, creation alone was incomplete. What I really wanted was for others to experience what I could create. To see it, to feel it and to live it. Once the room was cut out I took a short break before texturing the edges. However, where the walls met the ceiling a fairly unnatural look appeared, too angular. I tried to hide the edges by raising up a huge sand dune where they met. But, this ended up looking far, far worse. Like a large bowl full of sand. Scrapping that idea, I decided something would come to me and I moved on. Filling the room with a thick layer of sand maybe 4ft thick took a while. It spread out like a sheet of gold. Uniform and illustrious as far as the eye could see. In contrast, I added in areas of black sand that were magically heated. Almost to melting. These traps would seriously burn adventurers who stepped on them. You could feel the heat the sand radiated. It would be pretty foolish to cross it. Whilst staring out at the sand, I realised that a simple sandstone wall would work quite well in place of the jagged stone that felt off. Whilst I knew what sandstone looked like, felt like and was I also didn¡¯t have access to it. I had to create it. But how would I do it? Sandstone was basically just a block of sand. So, compression? Or at least I thought so. It turned out that I wasn¡¯t right. It¡¯s much harder to compress sand than you¡¯d think. It kept spilling out of the side or crumbling when I removed the pressure. Nothing I could think of worked, and after a little more experimenting I just gave up and bought it with dungeon points. I still hadn¡¯t worked out what they were. Dungeon points sounded like a way to improve my dungeon ¨C and they certainly acted that way, but what were they actually? It seemed that in exchange for these points, the purchased knowledge just flowed into my mind. But how could that be? What kind of magic could do such a thing? Magic had six realms: Creation, Destruction, Evocation, Crafting, Divine and Dungeon. The latter two were similar to the creation realm but they acted in different ways. The mortals didn¡¯t recognise these as part of the magic realms. Only because they didn¡¯t realise they were so different and because they had no access to them. Creation was about creating ¨C obviously. But more specifically it was about forming structures with mana. Destruction was about destroying or taking apart magics. Evocation was the traditional role of lower class mages. Throwing fire, raising earth, making rain, etc¡­ It involved evoking the elements and spirits and taking control. It was the most likely mage class to challenge my dungeon. Crafting was about crafting items. Imbuing, enchanting, alchemy, runecraft, etc¡­ making anything that used magic in any step was part of the crafting realm. There were combinations of all the realms and an archmage would have a decent grounding in all but Divine and Dungeon realms, though he may well have started using Dungeon magic in his workroom. Of course, these were just the realms of magic, there were sub realms, and then specialisation, and then individual talents and spells. An example of which might be an Evoker primary mage, aligned with fire, that specialised in ranged fire spells with explosive fireball being an individual spell. Of course, said person would undoubtedly have some schooling in the other realms and magics. But, that would be how you would classify them. The guilds had more specific measures and classifications, but I hadn¡¯t a clue what they were, and frankly, I didn¡¯t much care. So, what were dungeon points? They must have divine magic as a part but somehow it didn¡¯t feel right. I was missing something, and I didn¡¯t like it. But, I couldn¡¯t buy the knowledge, and I couldn¡¯t research it. Dungeon points would remain a mystery for now. Just points that I could spend to improve the dungeon that I got from levelling and actions. After buying sandstone from the store, I soon realised what I was doing wrong. Compressing the sand was along the right lines, but I had needed some form of support matrix or cement. Calcium carbonate would work and soon I had access to all the sandstone I would need. Filling out the walls took a while and whilst I was at it I cut out the ceiling a little more and placed an artificial sun at the top. The artificial sun was a replacement for the light magic that had been used on all the floors so far. The arti-sun was a burning ball of fire magic that resided at the top of the room, where the ceiling reached its highest point, 100m overhead. Unlike in the other rooms that were lit up with directional light magic on a single plane, the arti-sun was close enough that the light was different. On the previous levels I had used light magic to mimic the effect the sun has from so far away by streaming light from one direction only. This time the sun would send light in all directions, meaning that the shadows cast by objects would differ vastly depending on small shifts in location. Take twenty steps to your right and the shadow would be pointing in a different direction. Perhaps it would be confusing, perhaps not. I didn¡¯t really care. The main reason for the arti-sun was to boost the temperatures in a way that would feel natural. Once the temperature of the room reached a stable sixty Celsius (140oF, 333K). To keep the room useable, I had to put in cooled oases as people would begin to die in this range. Without water the cells begin to die at about forty Celsius (104oF, 313K). The oases had a temperature of about thirty-five Celsius (95oF, 308K), survivable though not too pleasant. At the oases the adventurers would have to contend with the giant lizards and salamanders that roamed around, basking in the suns warmth of the survivable areas. They would have to fight for a drink from a pool of cool water before dashing through the killing heat to find the next one. One wrong move would result in death and I doubted the mages would fare much better. For a fire mage or ice mage it might be okay. But, the deserts had creatures far more dangerous than the ones at the oases. For those ¡®brave¡¯ enough to avoid all confrontation, reinforced desert moles that had bony plating on their torsos and razor-sharp claws for digging and killing and the occasional lesser manticore would be their opponent. They could be seen flying around the map or burrowing away and so it wasn¡¯t without any warning. Just a warning that was hard to spot. If they encountered a lesser manticore, they would have to run to the oasis and prepare for a serious battle. Without a concerted effort from everyone it would spell certain death. The roar of the manticore would frighten all the other critters away, so at least they would only have to deal with it. Just a little manticore action. Not to difficult right? Ha. In addition, if anyone drew the ire of the Manticore it would destroy the oasis for a 24-hour period. I had the oases far enough apart that it had to be people¡¯s goal to get to them but not far enough away to be at serious risk of death if they made best pace. Off the beaten paths were extremely good prizes. Like full plate armour, potions of excellent quality, mana crystals, magic contraptions and more. Since this was by far the hardest level to explore, the loot was correspondingly of a much higher quality. Throughout the room I threw in sand traps. If disturbed the sand would fall in on itself dragging with it the unfortunate person to their death. Traps were slowly being worked in, having given them a pass for the first five levels. Now though, they would be present in most open plan levels. Finally, I realised that the adventurers had to know the route to get through the desert so at each oasis I carved in a riddle that had compass directions as their answers. On a whim I placed a completed map of the desert in the ice ball on the orca¡¯s floor. Every day at midnight I would redistribute the oases, so that it was never the same route. The map would then be useless as there would be new ways of getting to the chests and a new map. They would never be able to just walk through the dungeon. Next task was to implement the ecosystem. A lot of the animals had to be modified to survive in this area. After all, deserts are generally devoid of life, barring small critters and cold-blooded reptiles. Since this was hotter than most of the deserts, all the bugs needed to be given a basic fire affinity to survive. Additionally, I had to change out their enzymes, so they did not denature and kill the animals. With the bugs done I moved onto the small lizards and predators. The lizards were easy as they were cold blooded and a lot of them were already native to the desert environments, so I just copied their adaptions over to their new brethren. The predators were just slightly larger varieties of the lizards already here. With very few creatures adapted to desert life, it wasn¡¯t a varied ecosystem, but it worked. Seeding the sands with small shrubs and grasses and more lush varieties at the oases let the primary consumers live and the food chain was up and running. The desert was a death trap alright. The secret for this floor was a fairly obvious one. Well there were two obvious options. In an oasis or down a sand trap. It was fairly obvious the sand trap would be the one I used. The adventurers would be spending lots of time at the oases and so if I had the secret there it would be rather easy to find. Using a bit of mana manipulation -creation realm - I created a small magic shell that kept the sand out and when an adventurer fell on it they would be let through into a climate-controlled room with the chests in. It would start out at a pleasant fifteen Celsius and slowly increase to the sixty up above. I couldn¡¯t have them sheltering in here. A small basin of water was kept ice cold as an additional reward. With that done, the room was basically complete. Another quick job that only took around thirty-six hours. Once I completed the four elemental sections things would start to get much harder and much larger. I would start introducing basic puzzles and more sophisticated traps and designs. At the moment it was essentially just survive the environment and the occasional monsters. Soon it would be a fight to get through any level. First though I had to finish off the fire and wind levels.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. In my heart chamber I inscribed the walls with my current plan: Section 1 was nature or earth. Section 2 was ice or water Section 3 was fire Section 4 would be wind. Section 5 would be a combination Section 6 would be different. That was my planned-out dungeon for now I had ideas for hundreds of levels, so I¡¯d just continue to get bigger and bigger. I had no shortage of space after all, the whole mountain was mine. Mine to use and create. A realm beneath. ========== [???] The man peered through the quartz windows cautiously. He had waited for about three hours, listening for the tell-tale signs of sleep. The rise and fall of the subject¡¯s chest. The harsh rattle of a deep sleeper¡¯s breathing and the occasional snorting snore. With a pained expression he uncoiled and dropped down silently from the top of the wardrobe. Landing in a crouch, his cloak settled onto the floor behind him with a soft slap. He froze. Silence. Phew, too close he thought. Once he was sure that the sleeper was not about to awake, he gently and gingerly stretched out the muscles that had cramped up in his hiding. He whimpered slightly as the knots worked themselves free and blood flowed back through his limbs. Still no disturbance to the regular, metronomic breathing of the sleeper. With small steps, placing his toes first and heel last, he sneaked along the corridor with silence as his companion. Pulling a sliding door open until there was just enough to slip through, he was gone. He shut it with a soft snick, forced into action by the maids that would wake for morning duties in but an hour. He crept over to the desk. With a quick glance, he studied the document enough to determine it was in fact the one he wanted. Taking out a scroll he laid it on top and took out a stick of chalk and started rubbing a copy out onto the parchment. The tools were magic, and though he didn¡¯t understand how they worker, they did work. And that was good enough for him. It took him a few nervous minutes and then a few more to check it was accurate before he was happy. At the opposite end of the corridor was a window. He opened it up, climbed out, and shut it with a slight bang. Pausing briefly, he breathed a deep sigh and left as quickly as possible in a scampering motion. Taking a few powerful heavy steps, he leapt and scrambled up the wall. Pausing briefly before rolling off and landing gracefully on the other side of the garden wall. Job done. With a quick check of the document, he set off, grabbing his pack from a nearby bush as he strode off into the night. *** In the dead of night, the trees of the forest looked alien and quite spooky. But the man wasn¡¯t afraid, he was never afraid. Not of anything mortal men can comprehend. And a forest at night was certainly comprehensible. When you had looked evil in the face, what more was there to be scared of. Only fools were scared of the unknown and the man wasn¡¯t a fool. It was when the unknown became known that you had any right to be scared. And even then, rarely. It took him the best part of the night to get far enough into the forest to where he could summon his master. With the village now out of sight and out of mind, he placed down some pebbles. Throwing down a scroll in the centre he waited. The scroll was written on a yellowish paper, rolled up and tied with a black ribbon. Once the scroll had burnt to a crisp, a series of wards and a pale blue barrier rose from the ground in a perfect circle until it created a uniform half dome around him. It had two purposes the dome helped collect and project the particles his master sent off into the night to allow them to communicate and it blocked outgoing noise and mana pulses from within, or so he believed. That was what the master had said and he had no reason to believe master would lie. He unsheathed a dagger and sliced his hand from side to side three times and pressed his bloodied hand to a rock. Soon a ghostly, pale-green head formed over the rock. It pivoted around and stared into the night for a few moments. After a brief but agonising moment of silence it spoke in a battered rasp that made the hardened man cringe. ¡°Where is it?¡± ¡°Here my lord¡± the man replied, trying to hide the shudder in his voice. The Projection laughed a horrible mocking laugh. ¡°Are you afraid of me? The little one fears me! You know I¡¯d never hurt you. But, corrections must be made when you¡¯re at fault! They¡¯re always at fault. Blame, blame, blame, blame, blame¡­¡± the projection rattled off. The man thought he might be insane. But he had helped him gain the power to resist and had promised so much more. He would endure. Oh yes, would he endure he thought, visualising the power that would soon be his. ¡°They think I¡¯m crazy, imagine that, me, crazy. Jealous, just jealous. GIVE IT TO ME!!!¡± the floating head said in that horrible, rasping, petrifying tone as it seemed to remember what it wanted. With a gulp of nerves, the man presented his copy to the man. Holding it up to his eyes. ¡°Sub satisfactory¡± the projection said sharply. ¡°Where is the original?¡± ¡°He still has it my lord, I didn¡¯t want to give my presence away, is it not good enough?¡± ¡°Good enough? Yes, we will see. Go, find this place and explore. Bring me back proof that this is not a wild story. If you do well, perhaps I might grant you what you seek.¡± it told him. He began to roll the map back up and pack his bag again when the projection screamed at him to get the hell out of here. With no hesitation he took its advice and left in a rush. Master could be so mean. It took a while to follow the map. Up and down the land, until he found the cave, an entrance as black as night and an ominous pressure that rose the hairs on his arm. He took his pack off drew his dagger and leapt into the darkness. Master would see, oh he would see. The man was NOT useless. ========== [Dungeon] A strong zap ran through my mind. I felt a crash and a gasp of pain to accompany the zap. Then the heartbeat pounded again. I smiled, he was here. Yes! I was so happy. Moving my consciousness towards the surface, I saw, at the bottom of my stairs a man. He had fallen face first down the stairs. I laughed out loud ¨C ish, it wasn¡¯t really out loud. I can¡¯t believe he fell for it. He wore a black cloak with black leather armour and a short sword and dagger. Furthermore, he was the wrong height. In my jubilance I had failed to realise that this was not in fact the man who had come before. But rather a new challenger. Around his neck he wore seven, small plates of material: Stone, Copper, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Iron and Steel. Taking a closer look, I realised they had engravings on, odd the other man, hadn¡¯t had these plates on him. Perhaps they meant something. One read: Name: Elisabeth Jarnis Class: Mage ¨C Evocation (Mj (W)), Creation (v.Mn) Rank: Silver Group: Adventurer Group 53642 Looking at the man I had my doubts that he was Elisabeth Jarnis. You know, being that he was a man and all. They had to have a purpose, and the inscription had given me a clue it was to do with adventuring. The dungeon store had such information for five points and I bought it. As it turned out, it was a grading system. Unlike dungeons that were graded from 1E to 10A weak to strong the adventurers were graded based on a material plate denoting their worth and the type of classes available. All seven plates on the man were in ascending order for the adventurer ratings, Stone being lowest and Steel just under halfway up the ladder. After Steel came Aluminium, Platinum, Iridium, Adamantite, Orichalcum, Mythril and Scarletite. Since he had plates up to steel and all with different names on, I had a feeling he wasn¡¯t such an upstanding character. But how strong was he, obviously more than Steel, whatever that was. But how did that compare. I guess I¡¯d have to find out. With a groan, the man got up and looked around him. It took him a few moments, but in short order he realised where he was and came to be alert very quickly indeed. He was scanning his surroundings and soon he was comfortable again. *** I was getting annoyed with the man, he had stolen all of the treasures from the trees and had quickly passed through the second level as well. During his exploration he had killed the water elemental and I was getting very annoyed. He was obviously much stronger than a steel and he was a stealth class to boot. He just started walking through the levels. In short order he had passed through both swamp and rainforest, killing everything he could find, including all of the animals, and not just the monsters. At least he¡¯ll be gotten by the boss, you need a tank for it. I chuckled in joy as he walked into the chamber. That chuckling joy lasted only a little while. He just drew it to him, kiting it around before ducking away and walking down the stairs., ignoring the monster up above. I¡¯ll have to fix that. Though I was confident he wouldn¡¯t make it all the way to me, I was not going to take any chances. The manticores could take him down, but I wasn¡¯t going to waste the opportunity to test my dragon. The first ice level was going to be his downfall and I couldn¡¯t wait. Whilst he was taking the stairs I used a burst of magic to change the activation sequence. All I had to do was activate the dragon, at my discretion. He entered the first ice level with apprehension. I think he could tell that it was going to be something different. The safe zone had the black fog again and it seemed to alert him to the fact. He had spent a good deal of time in the safe zone, using it as intended. It all seemed to work out well, I was pleased. He stepped out into the level with care, despite the fact the ice was textured to provide grip. Looking around he edged out along the wall, observing the level. It took him a few minutes to gain confidence but when he did, the floor was no longer a problem. Though he slipped slightly when the yetis exploded up, surprising him. Defeating the yeti took him a while as he only had a dagger, but he didn¡¯t end up taking too many hits. Eventually he made his way over to the centrepiece. Roaming around like a cat stalking its prey. He stood, staring at the dragon for a moment. I nearly caved and released the dragon early, but I wanted to see if he would notice it being alive first. Hopefully not. Two ice doors slammed the exits closed when he reached the right point. It had traped him in the ice world, with the dragon. Death was assured. A dark red pulse lit the room. It emerged from the heart. The ice blue had transformed into a rich ruby red as the beast came to life. I looked through the dragon¡¯s eyes and observed the man. He had frozen in shock, obviously not expecting the sculpture to come alive. With a snort, the dragon roared and stepped down, off the podium. Focusing on the man it began to run, smashing through the ice and yeti¡¯s that had awoken sending their blood cascading over its scales and spraying the walls. With the quickly freezing lifeblood. It was over predictably quickly. The man tried to run, dodging the dragon and the shards of ice it had sent his way as it crashed towards him. Which was faster, man or dragon? Dragon. It wasn¡¯t exactly a surprise! The dragon slashed out. Ripping through the man¡¯s leg and chest with its icy claws, shredding the flesh into bloody ribbons. He screamed until his voice cut out, hoarse and bubbly as his lungs filled with fluid. The dragon stood over the man and roared out its victory as he lay bleeding out on the floor. The talons of its feet, slowly sinking into him. The flesh split like an over-ripe tomato and small beads of blood welled up along the rips before slowly rolling down the sides of his calf. Gradually the pulsing rivers of blood that oozed out of his wounds slowed down until his heart no longer beat. Its rhythm tired and dead. The dragon bent over, taking a large bite of the man. Savage and brutal, its only mercy the fact that he had died just beforehand. As the dragon ate its fill the ¡®ding¡¯ of notifications tore my gaze from its mind and brought me back to the world. ~~ Congratulations: You have killed your first sentient being. Awarded: 5000 dungeon points and 250% mana from the kill. ~~ ~~ Congratulations: you have killed your first human. Awarded: 2000 dungeon points and 150% mana from the kill. ~~ With the mana from the man and the bonus for my first kill, I had a few levels available for the first time in a long, long while. I immediately confirmed the level. Not that I had any choice as I had more mana than capacity and, so I could either turn my focus to levelling up or just letting it fade away. An enormous loss I was sure. I sighed now I had to fix everything¡­ ~~Level Up: 46~~ ~~Level Up: 47~~ ~~Level Up: 48~~ ~~Level Up: 49~~ ~~Level Up: 50~~
Menu
Name ??? Race Dungeon
Titles Renown Just Discovered
Skills ^ 15
Rating 4A Level 50
Health 3,500/3,500 Mana 86,000/100k (100k mana for Lvl up
Knowledge 21,00 Dungeon Points 12,296
Status OK Attunement E4, N3, I3, F1
Rooms 529 Floors 11+(2)
Bosses 2+(1) Monsters 2075
Creatures 91,123 Creature types ^ 1449
Unique Items 8 Item Types ^ 345
Chapter 12 Chapter 12 ========== [Sigurd] A harsh roar ripped through the night, jerking me from my sleep. With a start, I sat up, my heart pounding with a rapid series of palpitations that shook my chest and sent sharp jolts of pain lashing through me. Slowly my breathing normalised and my heartrate began to drop as nothing further split the night. Quiet reigned supreme and I let myself fall back onto the bed with a slight bounce as my head smacked into the pillow with a soft thump. Taking a few deep breaths, I pulled the covers back up to my shoulders as it had fallen down when I had sat up. Snuggling down into the warmth of the comforting bed, I closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep. Alas, it wasn¡¯t long before I was woken. Quite rudely I must add. These people were ever so crude. As it turned out, it was Jackson that had roused me from my slumber. He had chucked a shield onto my stomach and winded me quite thoroughly. He laughed with a deep hearty chuckle that couldn¡¯t help but raise my spirits. With a yawn, a stretch and a glower, I stared him out of my room and forced myself to get up. Sitting around the table with them, it took us a while to get sorted and have breakfast. First, we had to find everyone, and rouse them. Jackson had woken first, something I wouldn¡¯t have bet any money on if you¡¯d have asked me the night before, Kael certainly, but Jackson? No. I wouldn¡¯t have called that. He had roused me, having got tired of waiting and not wanting to wander around a stranger¡¯s house in the early morning. I set some water to boil and we tracked down the others, waking them up in a far gentler manner. Damn shield. Why couldn¡¯t he have woken me with a nudge. When the others were up and not liable to go back to sleep I returned to the kitchen and chopped up some of the Ael bark, letting it steep for two minutes before fishing out the fibres and disposing of them. The pan went back on the now cooling stove to remain warm and I sat down to wait. As Jackson and I sat, waiting for the rest to turn up, he questioned me some more. I couldn¡¯t say much else about the dungeon though. Never one for poncey words and flowery language, I couldn¡¯t think how else to describe the dungeon than ¡®a realm beneath the ground¡¯. Huge caverns of life sat below the ground, buried deep within the mountain as if they had always been there. Separate from the world. Its own little thing. He would have to see for himself. It was important to get a good meal in before delving, it would fill you up and grant enough energy for a tough day¡¯s work. They said that you shouldn¡¯t exercise after a meal, though I hadn¡¯t ever believed it myself ¨C hogwash if you ask me - there was still enough of a trek to settle it down. As long as we weren¡¯t bloated and slow I thought we¡¯d be fine. As we sat, chatting and preparing, I got to know them a little better. Jenna, the healer was a bit more studious, enjoying a good book when the adrenalin wasn¡¯t pumping. Whereas Lorelei was a party animal. I guess that goes with the fiery nature then. Kael was a bit of a prankster, constantly teasing the others and pulling little stunts that would simultaneously infuriate and amuse them. Jackson the tank was a very creative person. He would carve little pieces of art out of wood and give them to his nieces when he visited. His family lived quite far to the north towards the border in the northern mountains. They were small and numerous whereas the Avaltjarn was one singular rising peak that towered over the landscape. At precisely the centre, the Avalt split the land into the sections of a wheel. Each section housing different biomes, species and civilisations. Tales told of other lands beyond the wall, but there had been no substantiated reports of anyone crossing the blight for thousands upon thousands of years. The wheel had been formed by the conclave of Magi to protect the civilised races from the devils. The primordial ones at least. As well as being powerful beyond measure they had been driven insane by the horrific conditions of their lands. The histories told of the invasions of ages gone and the endless war that had raged until all anyone knew was war. It spoke of the gathering and retreat. It spoke of the losses and lives. Eventually we had succumbed to the unstoppable wave of devils and retreated into the crater, magical walls of sealing and the strongest protections had been created to seal out the danger. But that was millennia ago and many didn¡¯t believe of the dangers. Many argued that we had been sealed away from the world for our sins. Many argued there was nothing past the walls but endless void, and others still argued that it was a test of the gods, that salvation was but a wall away. A utopia that we could live forever within. I thought that perhaps the histories had it right. It was hard to believe that the crater was it. That we knew the world to completion. I was almost certain that there wasn¡¯t a utopia waiting for us. Why on earth would there be? No. That was the easy answer, an answer for those too cowardly to face the truth. There was no benevolent god just waiting for us, just a being of both good and evil, letting us play our games, wage our wars and pulling the strings all the while. The puppeteer to our marionette. Maybe I was right, maybe I wasn¡¯t. But I believed the histories. Perhaps someday we would once again venture outside and explore the surface of the lands beyond. Who knows what treasures lurk out there? War machines for sure. The remnants of our civilisations, having fought decade after decade. Generations of generations had been groomed and bred for war resulting in a combined army more terrifying than anything ever before or after, but it was not enough. Snapping out of my thoughts I took a big bite of the crispbread and went back to pondering my companions. Sebastien was still a mystery. He was very withdrawn, and I had yet to see an emotional response. He was very serious and controlled. He reminded me of an aristocrat, though not a slimy prick, odd. He seemed afraid to open up. If he was in fact from the high life it made sense; you would just be taken advantage of by exposing your feelings. Cold. That¡¯s what the nobles were. We hadn¡¯t really interacted much. And that sense of cold and calculating might just stem from worry. Perhaps he worried I¡¯d be a liability in the dungeon and could cause his team injury or worse, death. It was a valid concern. I was untested and new. There was always a shakedown period to find out how someone fitted in a group. But when that uncertainty could mean death, teams usually took it easy. But we couldn¡¯t do that. We had to map the dungeon out in its entirety. We were ready. Our armour was together and in perfect condition. Our weapons were sharp and oiled. Our bags full and minds focused. I pulled my door closed with a slam, jammed the key in and rattled it around before it finally turned pulling the latch across, locked. It was still early morning and the night¡¯s chill had yet to dissipate. Dew clung to the branches of trees, the blades of grass and the corners of buildings. Looking across the fields, they sparkled with an ethereal lustre that made it seem more magical. It was a dead silence that none of us seemed eager to break. Even the birds didn¡¯t want to disturb the serenity. There was no wind at all. It felt momentous, like the world was waiting for that first, single, step. We left the village and headed up the path, quietly. Aware of the neighbours, and, being the considerate people we were, we respected the morning serenity. Soon the soft gravel ended, and a more jagged dirt path began. Clumps of soil gave away and sharp rocks jutted out seemingly at random. It was a difficult trip and soon we left the trail altogether. The landscape started to change; the trees from a type of maple to a denser fir. Big thick branches formed from the huge trunks and loomed overhead, the small pine cones, bullets. The ground was a dark brown from the decaying needles of the previous fall. Beetles and various other decomposers had reduced the fallen branches and twigs into a soft loamy ground good for growth, ready to start the cycle all over again. I pushed through the foliage batting away ferns and plants with big broad leaves with my hands, clearing a path. Though I knew the way, it seemed somehow unfair that I had to clear the path. As the ground began to grow steeper, golden light filtered through the trees and leaves illuminating the previously dark forest. The textures of the shadows changed from a murky shrouding black to a soft silky black that hinted at what lay hidden. The shadows elongating and distorting with the rising sun. As we trekked onwards and upwards, the gnarled, knotted and winding roots of fallen trees emerged into the warmth of the light whilst the branches reached down as if trying to touch us as we passed underneath. The gentle lapping sounds of a small stream was first to break the resounding silence and soon after, the birds chirped their merry tune as the world began to wake, unfurling to meet us.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. We hopped over the stream at its narrowest point, leaping onto the soft mossy embankment on the other side and leaving deep boot prints. As I jumped, I looked down into its crystal-clear shallows. Light coloured pebbles and sand shone through the water as it flowed endlessly and ceaselessly, polishing the surfaces smooth. Small fry could be seen darting around. Further down, where the stream opened up; joined by the other small tributaries that flowed from the mountain to form the larger brook that flowed passed the town, larger predators preyed upon these small helpless animals to feed themselves and their young. We were about halfway, and the sun had risen properly and was steadily climbing higher in the sky. It would reach be nearing its pinnacle when we made it, ready to begin its long sorrowful descent. The ground once again grew steeper and my legs began to seriously burn with the exertion of the climb. Surprisingly it was not the girls that complained first but Jackson. Mages usually didn¡¯t have the time to exercise fully as they had to spend long hours in study and meditation to improve their power. It was rare for them to be athletic and so it surprised me that they hadn¡¯t called for a stop first. Though judging by their faces they weren¡¯t far off. It wasn¡¯t too much longer into the walk when the dungeon appeared. It was a cave opening facing our east, so we could barely see it. Thus, my companions had not spotted the pitch-black darkness of its opening yet. Most caves would look very similar. It took another twenty minutes to pick our way to its entrance as the landscape was very hard to navigate. Probably something to do with the explosion that had announced it to the world. They walked with a spring in their step and an enthusiasm that I had not come to expect from them once I had told them we were nearly there. No matter how hard we had it or how much we had lost, there was nothing like stepping into a dungeon for the first time and braving its depths to return with glory or not to return at all. It seemed that no matter your skill level the feeling of giddiness never went away. ========== [Jenna] The morning was beautiful. A serenity pervaded the place that was impossible in the cities she had lived in. It settled over her and incited a feeling of contentment, happiness even. Jenna saw why someone like Sigurd would be happy to retire to here. It was so peaceful, calming. The glistening dew illuminated by the encroaching rays of dawn lit up and small rainbows scattered on the floor occasionally. They left in quick fashion and headed up into the mountains. The path through the forest on the lower sides of the mountain soon dwindled away into nothingness and they began properly trekking. Hopped over a small stream they pressed on into the now golden, warm forest. The birds woke up and began chirping at the break of a new day. The ground tilted further up, soon they would be rock climbing rather than hiking. Sigurd pressed on to her amazement and Jenna was just thinking about asking to stop when Jackson asked first. Yes! It wasn¡¯t me. She couldn¡¯t help but be pleased, although from the look of everyone else they were also struggling. Sigurd looked a little tired, but he wasn¡¯t panting like the rest of them. The altitude must be playing a factor she thought. Far too soon the break was over, and they pressed on. The girls and Jackson, barely having recovered. Worries that she would be slowing down were unfounded as soon Jenna felt rejuvenated. She suspected they were getting closer to the dungeon as the elevated mana levels were having an effect. It didn¡¯t take long for them to see the entrance to the cave. Only for a brief glimpse though, as Sigurd led them of around the side and it disappeared from view. The going got much tougher after that as vertical walls and blocks of rock halted the progress. Sigurd had said that there was an explosion when the dungeon was revealed, and this must have been the result. Despite the ambient mana Jenna was sweating by the time they reached the entrance. The rest looked just as haggard, Sigurd included. The entrance was about 3m in height and 3m in width with the rough shape of an arch framing the black mist. The rocks were jagged and had seemingly no regularity to it. It looked like some god had taken a giant pair of pliers to it and broken chunks of it off. There were jagged ridges with perfectly smooth sides and odd angles. It also had the effect of looking slightly like a giant upper jaw ready to take a bite out of you. The sinister darkness within the maw of the cliff didn¡¯t help settle the uneasy stomach that she felt. An oddity since Jenna was usually unflappable, indubitably so. Get a grip Jenna she told herself, the worst thing she could do would be to freak out. That would do no one any good. Forcing herself to take a few deep breaths and calm down was a good idea and it didn¡¯t take too long to regain composure. I¡¯m a professional after all. ========== [Lorelei] The quite of the early morning was peaceful and frankly lovely, though Lore would die before admitting it. She was the party animal after all and it wouldn¡¯t do any good for this to get out. The trek up the mountain was tiring and tough. They only stopped for one break and she found herself watching Sigurd with interest. The trek was tough, and the aging man was a much better guide than Lore had originally thought. At first, she had thought him a lucky bumbling fool, tiresome to bring along and ignorant. But so far everything he had done was professional and showed a degree of forethought that was rare in adventurers. Not one known for calm decision making and forethought, Lore embodied the element of fire and her rash judgement was one of the flaws she readily admitted to. It was one of the reasons she couldn¡¯t be a leader. The ice cold demeaner of Seb was needed, patience and planning rather than passion and presumptions. Only time would tell, but she expected she would be wrong in her initial judgement of Sigurd. Though he comported himself without the inner confidence and big personality of most adventurers, nor the arrogance and entitlement of the aristocracy, he was not a stupid fool who had stumbled upon the dungeon. As they walked, Lore watched him. Sure, footed and confident in his motions he had no missteps or stumbles. He scanned the paths in wide sweeping motions and constantly checked on the following members. He was a good guide. It wasn¡¯t long before she noticed the increased mana was rejuvenating her. They were getting closer. When they settled down to prep in front of the entrance, Lore observed it carefully. She may be rash and impulsive, but she wasn¡¯t stupid. She would listen to Seb and Sigurd, take her time and observe as best she could. The entrance was ominous and foreboding, with the impenetrable darkness that loomed ahead and the jagged cliff that looked like teeth. ========== [Kael] After the roar that ripped the night apart, Kael hadn¡¯t managed to get to sleep again. It was not quite the dead of night but nor was it the early morning. So, he had to lie restless, pondering the dungeon for a few more hours. From what Sigurd had told them the dungeon had large caverns. This was unusual, very in fact as he had only heard of the deadliest of dungeons having caverns of the size he had described, and it would be certainly much later in their floors. He had said that the very first level was a cavern, almost harmless but it did indicate something unusual was going on. He had described it as woodland which could indicate that it was a nature affinity dungeon. But then again only the first three floors had been explored. Kael rolled over and tried some rest if not sleep. To Kael it seemed only moments from when he closed his eyes to when he was woken, rudely, by a shove that knocked him from the bench. ¡°Children¡± He muttered under his breath in a disproving tone, glaring at Jackson. It was a rare moment when the lumbering brute got the drop on him and he had taken his chance well. I¡¯ll get you back my friend. Just you wait. A lovely, fresh morning provided the perfect opportunity for some mischief. As they walked Kael started to lag behind. He winked at Sigurd letting him know not to draw attention to it. Kael had thought the man might be stuffy and uptight, but he seemed to play along. Good man. Time to disappear. However, before he could go, Seb shook his head slightly. With a sigh Kael hurried to catch up. Seb had a point. They were stepping into an unknown environment, one that was out of the ordinary. It would do no good to be working on frayed nerves. Jackson would get it, just, a little bit later. Sigurd was like a machine, endlessly plodding on up the ever-steepening hill with nary a fluctuation in pace or monotony. A long time later they had nearly made it. Kael had glimpsed the entrance, but they were now circling around the terrain to get to it from the other side since the closest one had been impassable. Kael moved with a fleetness and nimbleness that made it seem easy, but the others, the clumsy ones especially, struggled immensely. With wasted energy they tired all the sooner. Kael enjoyed the sense of superiority it gave him and had long voiced his opinion that it should be formal training among the adventurers to observe such practices. Annoyingly, Sigurd had no trouble. He thought it might have come with the dwarvern ancestry Sigurd surely had. His feet seemed glued to the ground, never slipping or sliding. He carried a battle axe, he marched ever onwards. Short and stocky build. Definitely some dwarf in there somewhere he assumed. They eventually made it and settled in at the entrance to prepare. ========== [Jackson] Stupid damn mountain! For the thousandth time on our trek, Jackson slipped and stumbled on the ascent. Not only did it seem to be a 45-degree angle, but it was slippery and covered in a fine layer of loose gravel that gave way under almost no pressure. He was irritated. For goodness sake I¡¯m carrying thrice the weight of Kael. He told himself when a pointed comment came flying his way. He knew they didn¡¯t mean it, but it got irritating after a while. Anyone could be as nimble if they didn¡¯t have to lug this weight around and up a damned mountain. The dungeon cast an imposing opening. Jagged and pitch black it would swallow you whole when you entered to explore its depths. It unnerved him, but he would venture onwards despite his apprehension. That¡¯s just what you did. They stopped outside, and he let his pack fall off with a loud thump and clatter. Whew glad that¡¯s off my back. He took a seat on a smooth rocky outcropping and took a long swig of water as he let his heart rate fall from the strenuous exertion of climbing a mountain. After a short break Jackson unpacked the armour and began strapping the plate to his body. It took a good twenty minutes and some help from the others until it was fitted just right. There was nothing quite like the feel of fitted plate surrounding you. Invincible. He liked that. ========== [Sebastien] The journey up to the dungeon was a tough one and Seb was glad the others had asked for a break before he had had to call one. They wouldn¡¯t have believed it was for the good of the group, no the ribbing would be intolerable. Once they were ready at the entrance he called a huddle to discuss our game plan. ¡°All right guys, gather round, gather round.¡± He said, waiting for them to get closer. ¡°Ok, so, another new dungeon and another new challenge. New dangers and traps as well as new treasure and wonders to behold. Keep your head on straight and stay tight. Same formation as normal. Jackson up front and you girls behind him. Kael take our left and I¡¯ll take right until we reach the limit of what we already know. That by the way is the end of the second floor. Sigurd you¡¯ll lead us through the first two floors and slot into Kael¡¯s position once we reach the swamp.¡± Seb dictated, stepping into the role of leader. They nodded, agreeing. Everyone knew plans changed constantly and the mark of a good team was how little had to be said to fluidly change. Good they were focused. ¡°Kael, once we reach the swamp, you will take the lead and we¡¯ll follow. At the first sign of danger drop to the rear or an elevated position and snipe. Jackson, well tough the hits and hack it whilst the girls support with magic. If it¡¯s a lone monster I¡¯ll flank and attack from the rear. If it¡¯s a group, Jackson drop your spear and I¡¯ll pick it up and fight around you as usual. Guys it¡¯s the same as always and of course subject to change. Keep it tight and let¡¯s go.¡± They took the first step into the unknown, following Sigurd as the black mist embraced them. A large clatter and crash sounded and carried on for a second. They all paused. Well not all¡­ ¡°I¡¯m fine, fine!¡± called an embarrassed Sigurd. ¡°Just some stairs¡± he called out after a brief pause. Seb doubted it was the way he wanted their first delve to go. Though it was pretty funny. Apparently, the dungeon had taken note of how and changed since he first entered. Chapter 13 Chapter 13 ========== [Dungeon] I became aware of the adventurers when they stopped to get ready outside. They had walked up the mountain before circling around to come at me from the opposite side. I couldn¡¯t see why, but from what they chatted about, I gathered that the path was blocked. A shame, but I couldn¡¯t do anything about that. As I observed them further, I found out some things. Firstly, the man from before had led them back to me. I knew he wouldn¡¯t disappoint. He was named Sigurd, and the others that had followed him were called Jenna, Lorelei, Kael, Jackson and Sebastien. It seemed that Sigurd was an outsider to the group, and since he had explored the dungeon a little, he would be leading the group through the dungeon. I laughed hysterically when my initial changes had been an immediate success. Sigurd tripped and fell down all the stairs in a confused cacophony of flailing limbs and grunts of pain. ¡°I¡¯m fine, fine!¡± he called out to the others, unworried, though blind and in potential danger. I saw smirks forming on most of their faces. ¡°Stairs¡± he called out a moment later. ¡°Watch out for the stairs¡± he added, cursing under his breath as he clambered to his feet. When the others got to the bottom he tried to explain himself, but he just ended up red and embarrassed. Shaking his head, Kael clapped him on the back. ¡°Whatever you tell yourself son. Whatever you tell yourself¡± Kael said, trailing off. ¡°Son!¡± Sigurd exclaimed indignantly. ¡°I¡¯m older than you!¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter though. I¡¯m not the one who fell down the stairs.¡± Sigurd sighed, shutting up wisely. Now that they were inside the dungeon, I could observe them properly. Outside of my mountain things were blurry and unfocused, but here? My vision was crisp and sharp. With nary a thought I could see them properly. At the bottom of the stairs, they regrouped in a quick and organised manner. It spoke volumes of their professionalism and skill and even though there was no reasonable threat on the level, they hadn¡¯t been sloppy as they couldn¡¯t confirm that. Especially as something had changed; the stairs. What else could change? I imagined they were asking themselves. They sorted themselves out and Sigurd stood up; brushing himself down with a slight look of embarrassment. He tried to put it behind him though, and took off, showing them the interesting sights. A series of ¡°wow¡¯s¡± resounded as they observed the caverns. From the luscious grasses, filled with deep greens and the trees with their drooping branches to the abundance of small animals and life that filled the space with its unique atmosphere. They were stunned. It was jaw dropping if I do say so myself. I was glad they felt the awe that I was inspiring. It was a shame that all too soon they got over the wonder and trance like state I had put them in. With the death of the mysterious man, I had realised what a boon it was to kill. I had received enough mana to level up several times and almost fill my reserves. And although it was true that it had been boosted by the multipliers, I would still have got a decent chunk from the kill itself. And though I wouldn¡¯t mind claiming the life of one of them, I was still happy just observing them. It would be funny to see them stumble through the levels in such a trance. Since they were inside, I wouldn¡¯t be able to build. Whenever I moved away from them that godawful incessant pounding returned halting any progress. Though I hated it beyond belief, I did understand the reason for it. If I could build whilst they were exploring the dungeon, then it was a bit unfair. I could just imagine how pissed off I would be if as I was wandering along, the path just changed on me. As they progressed, they challenged anything and everything. From the trees to the rabbits and insects. They collected everything as well. All the various types of plant. All the dirt, rock and dust. All the carapaces from the insects and skins from the creatures. Absolutely everything was collected, stored and packed away as they marched onwards.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. As a result of their method, they took absolutely ages to get anywhere and by the time they made it to the second level, several hours had passed. Just like before, Sigurd was wary off the root stairs and I supposed he had an especially good reason to be. If I had already changed the entry before, there was a good chance I was going to change this one. I wasn¡¯t. But, he couldn¡¯t know that. The others were just as wary, but, braver. Kael - the rogue - went first, jumping along with fleet footed agility. Once he had made it, the others reluctantly stepped down making their way to floor two. Emerging on the tree tops seemed to surprise them. I was almost certain Sigurd must have told them this would be the case, but nonetheless they seemed to find it surprising. Perhaps it was the fall that awaited them if somehow it collapsed that was the reason. At the branches to the sky paths they paused. ¡°Which way?¡± The soft voice of the healer asked. ¡°I haven¡¯t gone that way, I prefer the comfort of the ground.¡± Sigurd responded, chipping in. ¡°Well, we have to catalogue the dungeon, so I imagine that we have to do both. Sigurd¡¯s right though, the ground is far more appealing.¡± Seb said taking hold of the conversation. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can fight on that¡± Jackson mumbled, eyeing up the path before looking back at his shield. ¡°Come on bud, what¡¯s the worst that could happen. So what if you fall and break your back. At least you¡¯ve got some stories. That¡¯s the most important thing, right? Nothing to worry about.¡± ¡°Shut up Kael!¡± the nervous tank retorted, stress evident in his tone. The rogue just laughed harder at that. Sebastian seemed to let it go for a bit but hissed out ¡°Zip it¡± at him after the laughing persisted. ¡°Right, so Jackson can¡¯t really fight up there. The armour, shield, and weapons will really hinder him and since it seems to be single file there¡¯s no real point in taking him along.¡± Jackson nodded to that, signalling that he was fine with the plan and for Seb to continue, but Sigurd jumped in first. ¡°I¡¯ll keep him company then, I¡¯ve not explored it and the ground is where I belong. I won¡¯t be much help anyway. Probably fall off and have you rescue me.¡± he said snorting at himself with a self-deprecating laugh. It took them but a few moments to decide that Lore should stay as well. Since it was single file and fire wasn¡¯t the best choice in the tree tops she wouldn¡¯t be much help. Kael would lead with Seb and Jenny wobbling along after him. It took them the best part of an hour to explore the treetops. And a poor job they did of it too. Kael was the only one happy up in the sky path and as such they only went as far as to challenge some of the mobs and ascertain what it was like. Despite the rogue¡¯s pleas to continue, Seb made them turn back as soon as he could. They hadn¡¯t even managed to find any of the treasure chests. ¡°Find anything¡± Lorelei queried once they returned. ¡°Not much, no treasure at least¡± ¡°It was further on I tell you. We should have stayed the path for a while longer. I¡¯m sure we¡¯d have found some treasure.¡± Kael interrupted. ¡°Maybe so. But, maybe the mobs are the prize here though. We¡¯ll have to take the snakeskin to an alchemist to find out. But, I¡¯d rather we came back and didn¡¯t risk it. We¡¯re paid enough as it is, let¡¯s not fuck it up aye.¡± ¡°Aye¡± he responded slightly subdued. They continued down the tree, taking the stairs two at a time, well, some of them did, Sigurd being little didn¡¯t have the choice, but the tall Jackson and Sebastien settled into it naturally. At the bottom of the tree they looked around briefly before setting off. It took them a while but eventually they managed to catalogue the whole level, though the secret evaded their penetrating gazes, much the same as the eagle nest on floor one had. No deaths for the water elementals today. The camps were of great interest to them and they sketched out a small drawing of it. Though none of them were artsy enough to do a decent job of it. I would have done much better. Eventually they made it along the stream to the opening that lead down to the swamp. As they peered over the waterfall, I once again listened in to their conversation. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem safe, there must be another way down.¡± Jenna told the others, worried. ¡°Look, it¡¯s a soft landing and we¡¯re adventurers. A little fall won¡¯t hurt us, we¡¯ll just get a little wet. Look down there. We won¡¯t stay dry even if there was another way through, it¡¯s a swamp after all.¡± Sigurd replied, rebutting her gently. ¡°Fine, but if this ruins my robe you¡¯ll owe me, little man¡± she said with a slight smile. ¡°I think you mean that the dungeon owes you. If you truly believe that you would still have had fine robes by the end of the swamp, I will gladly pay for replacements fair lady¡± he responded with a smile yet shifting the obligation to pay. ¡°On three! One, two, three!¡± they shouted together before jumping. They had all grasped each other¡¯s hands and so when Jenna tried to abort at the last minute she was dragged over the edge with a high-pitched yelp. I laughed at that. A few seconds of free fall and a loud thump and splash later, they landed in a heap on the soft marsh. Somehow during the fall Jenna had managed to twist and position herself so that she landed on Sigurd. I laughed again. I truly liked this lot, despite the seriousness and talent they were fun. I wouldn¡¯t be upset if they died here, but I would miss the joviality they brought with them. With a sigh she stood and maliciously pressed the little man¡¯s head into the muck as she climbed to here feet. A form of petty revenge I¡¯m sure. ¡°Torture, torture!¡± he exclaimed laughing. ¡°Kael, Kael. Help me!¡± As she clambered off of him he raised his head and sucked in a gasp of air. He glared in fake anger before climbing to his feet and running a hand through his wet hair and wiping his smiling face. Over to Sigurd¡¯s left was a clear pool that he wandered over to and washed off his armour and head quickly. With another glare at Jenna he re-joined the group on the left to guard that flank. ¡°I¡¯m gonna get you back little lady.¡± He whispered in her ear as he got into position. She just smiled innocently back. Chapter 14 Chapter 14 ========== [Sigurd] The first thing I noticed was the racket. Its ambience was several more times as intense in the swamp than it had been in the eerie woods where silence was prevalent. Here noise was ubiquitous; a symphony. Insects buzzed and flitted around me, filling my vision at all times. The midges swarmed us, the tiny hate filled specs clouding up and biting at us. Swatting at them had no effect to our endless irritation. Lorelei had tried to burn them to cinders but it was an endless task that would just drain her mana. The blighted creatures had no end to their numbers, so we just dealt with it. Swamps sucked! On a patch of hard, dry ground, we stripped and had Lorelei dry our clothes for us. Slipping back into a nice dry shirt was heavenly and I savoured it. We took stock of our situation. 25m from the waterfall, we had waded through the thigh high waters to stumble upon this solid refuge. Like a sandbar in the ocean, it seemed to extend away, blocking off the rest of the floor from the entrance area, protecting us and giving us a chance to prepare. Water lapped over the raised ground, but it effectively separated the two areas. As I slipped on my gloves, Kael returned from a scouting mission and we gathered around to listen to what he was saying. ¡°Ok so, the cave end is too far away to see from here. As you suspected the embankment arcs around the waterfall and provides a barrier to the wildlife out there, I¡¯m certain it is intentional, and we should be careful out there. If the dungeon is giving us a chance to prepare, then this is most likely much more dangerous than before.¡± He said, gesturing off into the depths of the swamp. A splash could be heard off in the distance. It¡¯s subdued sound echoing around. ¡°Underneath us there are channels that let the water and small life flow between the main swamp and the waterfall. They are gated though, presumably against the predators that infest the waterways. There are definitely some vicious scavengers and hunters that won¡¯t be afraid of taking a bite.¡± He motioned for us to follow him. About 20m around the embankment, he stopped and pointed to something in the murky water. ¡°Where?¡± I asked, confused. As far as I could tell the man was pointing to the swamp in general ¡°You see the mangrove?¡± he said, I nodded my affirmation. ¡°Ok come back five metres and off to the left by one. There¡¯s a clump of algae, see it?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Ok, do you see how under it is a white shimmer, yes? There, that¡¯s it, it looks like a skeletonised creature and judging by the mass it was a large creature.¡± ¡°Ah, yes. I see.¡± I responded not seeing at all. He seemed to notice that. He sighed. ¡°Look, give me your rope.¡± When I did, he took a broadhead bolt, tied the rope to it and fired at the water. With a soft splosh and dulled thud, it impacted the clump, kicking up a small spray of water. Carefully, he pulled back the thing stuck to the end. As it got nearer to shore, the water began to roil. Faster and faster it went, bubbling away with the occasional flash of pink or green. Dragging what I could now see was a carcass to the shore, we gathered around it with morbid intrigue, who knew such a graphic gore could be so fascinating? It appeared to be a large water fowl of some sort. About the same size as the flightless dodo. Scraps of flesh like pretty pink ribbons - perhaps ones you might find on a child¡¯s gift ¨C clung to the emaciated bones with thin silvery tendrils. Like little strings, they pulled taut as the lumps of meat were slowly lifted from the water and gravity took its hold. The carcass, now haemorrhaging blood and flesh started to tear and disintegrate as he flipped it over, exposing the damage. It was empty, not in a sterile butchery way though. The carcass had been eaten, picked clean and devoured leaving barely a scrap clinging to it. Even the bones held little pick like marks. Kael dragged the bird further ashore and shook off the carcass, letting it split down the middle to get to his bolt. It fell to the floor with a gentle squelch, looking like a marionette under construction. Impaled on the broadhead of the bolt, right through the belly, was a short, stocky fish. About the size of large mango, but significantly flatter it flapped around in desperation, the gut shot was a mortal wound though and there was no hope. It had a reddish, pink belly and a permanent frown looking face etched into the bull like head that sat at the fore. Its mouth opened and closed with a gulping as it breathed in the air in its struggle. ¡°I guess this is what strips the dead to the bone then.¡± Jackson said with an uneasy laugh. ¡°Let¡¯s get a look at his weaponry then.¡± Kael asserted. Gripping the fish firmly with one hand, he took a finger and peeled back its lips exposing the teeth that had caused such destruction. A series of interlocking teeth that, like scissors, fit together perfectly filled its maw. ¡°Get me a stick.¡± I looked around absently, nothing within sight though. Somehow, he managed to source one, though I hadn¡¯t seen how. Prising open its jaws he slid the stick in and waited. The fish clamped down, slicing through the stick as if it wasn¡¯t there. Whew! Glad I wasn¡¯t holding it! With a high pitch yawl, Kael jumped back. Dropping the fish back into the sea as he went. It was promptly devoured by others of its kind. My eyes returned to Kael, he was missing the tip of his forefinger. The fish had somehow got him, but I wasn¡¯t sure how. Regaining his composure, he spoke. ¡°You know it doesn¡¯t actually hurt. I think the real danger lies in not noticing you¡¯re being eaten.¡± He said staring at the missing tip of his finger.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°You know you deserve this you fool.¡± Jenna said, fondness clouding her stern tone. ¡°Come here¡± she beckoned. She examined the wound and shook her head wistfully. ¡°I think the teeth are so sharp that they just sheared straight through and that¡¯s why you felt no pain. Since we don¡¯t have the tip, I can¡¯t fix this. You¡¯ll have to wait for a flesh mage to fix this. I¡¯ll stop the bleeding though.¡± She muttered to herself before letting the magic flow. ¡°At least it was the forefinger, you should still have full mobility.¡± ¡°How so?¡± I asked. ¡°I would have thought it was the most important one¡± ¡°A common mistake, but wrong nonetheless. It¡¯s the pinkie finger that is most important, it is essential for the precision grip and without it I think you¡¯d find life getting much harder. If you think about it, you can write without the first finger, it¡¯s not so hard to compensate.¡± She began, waiting for us to listen before she continued. ¡°The index and middle finger and the thumb all contribute to pinching motions and so if you lose one it can be replaced by the other fairly easily. Whereas if you lose the pinkie finger, your hand strength is cut in half. Try making a fist without clenching the little one. You can feel the difference when you activate it. The fist is powerful now, and you can grip properly. Without it you would really struggle¡± ¡°How do you know all this?¡± I asked, flexing my hand as she had indicated. It was remarkable how important it seemed to be. ¡°Oh, I worked with the Scilliat doctors in Scellia for a stint after finishing my prana with the goddess. They are amazing with or without magic and the small injuries such as fracturing or breaking the little finger are a common occurrence. I saw hundreds of them and the therapy to fix them is fascinating. Of course, it isn¡¯t necessary with magic to help them along, but it was interesting nonetheless.¡± Kael ran a series of tests to confirm if he could still use his daggers as Jenna had said. He could, and quite impressively too. ¡°Uhh, where was I? Oh right, the swamp. Well, I guess we found the fish responsible for the clean-up, but I think that may be the least of our problems. Judging from the sounds we¡¯ve been hearing and the glimpses I got. I¡¯d take a gamble that there are bigger predators in these waters, far bigger.¡± As if to illustrate the point, a giant splash sounded behind us. I whirled and saw a flash of gold slip below the surface and the water darken - as though a cloud had risen to the surface ¨C obscuring whatever it was ¡°Well that¡¯s ominous¡± Lorelei snorted, amused. ========== [Dungeon] As it turned out, they were correct about the piranhas being the least of their problems. They set off from the firmer ground at an easy pace not long after Kael had had his finger fixed. Comfortable, yet wary, they walked through the pools, trees and grasses. The swamp had that unnerving quality to it. The noise, the humidity, the general ambiance was enough to unsettle the stomach and they seemed to be feeling it. Veteran adventurers they may be, but it seemed to me that they were just as prone to emotions and weakness as the rest of the race. The guide I had got at the beginning had explained the sentients strengths and weaknesses well, and the emotional variance of their nature was one of humanities biggest flaws. It led to the impetuousness their race was so known for. These members still seemed susceptible to it. A shame. As they traversed the swamp, they stumbled in hollows, tripped over branches, got bitten by the piranhas and bugs and had the calamitous luck to run into a goliath tiger fish as they were crossing one of the deeper pools. They had stumbled through the last marshy area, tiredness creeping in as the swamp fought to slow them down. The mud, grasses and water clinging to them and dragging them down with each step. Not literally of course, that would have taken a far larger investment of mana. Not something I could spend so frivolously. They paused before the pool. Caution, a wise trait. Though they may be ruled by emotion, they were at least in control. At some unspoken signal, Jackson entered the water. Being the tank, he led these situations, going headfirst into the unknown. As the water rose to chest level Jackson panicked. I had no idea why the rising water level had incited such panic, but it wasn¡¯t good for him. Seconds after his flailing, the fish struck. A darting bite, wrapping its maw around his side. The five-foot-long fish, weighing nearly sixty-five kilos struggled to fit the inch-long teeth around his waist, but it managed. As easily as a carpenter hits nails into wood, the teeth sunk through the armour and pierced his flesh, crushing down with bone grinding strength. Jackson yelled out profanities, screaming in pain as the goliath thrashed, trying to rip out the chunk of flesh it had claimed. In but a few moments more, it had given up and abandoned its prey, backing off into the deeper, murky hidey holes of the swamp. It would wait until the meal lost its strength before coming after it again. Sebastien, Kael and Sigurd charged forwards, determined to save their tank from the attack. Though it was over long before they got there. They dragged him forwards though, ignoring the whimpers and swearing. Getting him out of the danger, to the higher ground on which the mages were standing was most important. With Jackson being clad in plate armour, the fish couldn¡¯t rip out a chunk of his side, but it had punctured the plate in several spots, cutting him badly and perforating the flesh. Getting the plate off took them a few minutes, but it was necessary to help him. They wouldn¡¯t be able to see the damage under the plate. The vicious fish¡¯s dagger like teeth had sliced him open good before it had disappeared into the murky depths, leaving them questioning its existence. Were it not for the badly wounded Jackson and the commotion in the water, they could have just dismissed it as fiction. But alas they could not. It took a high-level healing potion and a spell from Jenna to get him properly healed. A serious injury but nothing that was really life threatening. They peered into the water, suspicious and cautious. I doubted they would brave this pool again. I know I wouldn¡¯t be eager to test it and I doubted they had the nerve. Sure enough, they skirted the pool and took the long way around. An unnecessary excursion as it was doubtful the fish would attack them again. Goliath tiger fish generally preferred fast moving waters in which to ambush prey. With the power they possessed, they would wait in the calmer pockets of the turbulence for wounded prey to tire from the forces that bashed them around before they struck. The ambush tendency they had was perfect for the dungeon and getting them to accept the slow-moving nature hadn¡¯t taken much work. So, since they knew and would guard against it, stopping the flailing which had triggered the fish, I doubted it would strike again. It had got in and out, striking hard and leaving in perfect health. I was pleased at this. A very good monster for the dungeon and if it had struck at someone not wearing plate it might have been a different story. Once Jackson was up and calmed down they pressed on and soon they had found the end of the level. Unlike before they had not spent much time cataloguing the ingredients that could be found, I think they felt rather uncomfortable with the level and wanted to move on. They collected some prizes for killing the caiman, but generally they left it at that. The caiman were basking on the dryer ground and though they were often ambush predators, the glint from their eyes had a far greater effect than I had originally intended. Once startled by the adventurers they had descended into the water ways and moved towards them. It seemed that they were easy to spot with the glinting eyes and as such it wasn¡¯t too long before they had been killed. On balance I thought it was ok to leave them like that. They were still dangerous predators and without an axe man dealing major damage, I thought it would be much more difficult to deal with them. They soon exited the swamp, descended the stairs with a glee that seemed to exude out of them. We¡¯d see how much longer that lasted. Chapter 15 Chapter 15 ========== [Sigurd] We entered the rain forest, tired and frightened. Well, not afraid per se, but on edge at the very least. Vigilant, guarded and suspicious. What was hiding in those trees? I didn¡¯t like the look of them. Immediately upon exiting the swamp level, the feelings that the stairs had exuded had put me on edge. They had a rich, tropical wooden fa?ade joining into a glossy plank on top. The wood had a depth of colour that intimidated me. I didn¡¯t know why. The finely crafted stairs told me that the floor that followed would be constructed to this and more. Logically, I should be fine. We should be fine. I was in the company of experienced adventurers that delved new dungeons frequently. Nothing had really troubled us as of yet and why would this be any different? It wouldn¡¯t. it couldn¡¯t. Yet I couldn¡¯t dislodge the thought that we were stepping from the frying pan and into the fire. Extremely dense jungle abutted the exit and we had had to climb over the buttress roots of the trees for a good 20m before we reached the clearing. I was beginning to feel that that it was a standard feature that this dungeon had instituted. A staging area for us to set up in. Hopefully it would continue to do so, it was very useful. I suspected that in later levels, it would not be the case. Mayhap the dungeon would realise there was no benefit to giving us time to prepare and they would be removed. Looking out over the rainforest from our clearing was daunting. From the soft green grass and the firm clear ground of the clearing in which we stood, to the matted, tangled, nest of branches that wove in and out of each other like a tapestry. A spider¡¯s web waiting for the fly. We were the fly. Looming, like a monolithic machine of some unknown purpose, it waited. Waited for us. Like the ever-present void or the grey mists of time it stood, motionless and apathetic, looking on with quiet detachment. Stepping into the forest was a nerve-wracking endeavour, but like swimming in cold water, it was best to jump in quickly. Though it was the best choice, it wasn¡¯t easy. Even the fearless Kael, the unshakeable Seb and the rock of the team; Jackson, seemed to be feeling it. What became apparent quite quickly how tough the journey was. The army of trees, vines, shrubs and mud forced us to slow to a crawl, battling for each meter of progress. All the foliage would have to be hacked through with our axes. Not the purpose of a battle axe but it served to clear our path well enough. Though, it would need a professional touch up when we were done as chopping through the woody environment would dull the edge beyond my sharpening skills, and beyond the skills of Tarran, the Littlebrook blacksmith, it was just a hobby and weaponsmithing was significantly harder than making horseshoes. I satisfied my annoyed side by telling him that I could get it repaired or replaced in the capital once I went back. Hopefully they would have a good stock of weapons to choose from, my current battle-axe needed retiring. I had had her since my adventuring days, and those were a few years ago now. If I was to get back into the game, then a replacement was sorely needed. Once the treeline was gone, the world seemed to come alive. Like the swamp the ambiance was one of life. It buzzed and chirped and croaked and growled so much so that I thought that perhaps it was the very vegetation we chopped through that was alive. It wasn¡¯t. I checked. Several times. But it felt like it nonetheless. It kept me on guard, the constant vigilance wearing at my mind as nothing sprang out at us. I took a few calming breaths and focused my mind. The floor was tough in terms of both the physical movement of chopping our way through and the mental strain of the rainforest environment. You knew there was going to be an attack, you knew it was going to come as a surprise, you knew to be on edge, yet the absence of such attacks played havoc with me and the others alike. The buzzing insects and constant barrage of sounds took all of your attention as you snapped around to track it focusing on this and that, your mind in a nervous flurry. But it was nothing. Nothing ever seemed to come out of the trees along our path, nor the shadows that clung like clothing to their wooden skin. They didn¡¯t erupt from the ground or fall from the sky. They didn¡¯t stand waiting for us in clearings or hidden in ambushes, they just weren¡¯t there. But, of course they were. There was something waiting for us, of that I was sure. It was inconceivable that the floor was empty. Unless it wasn¡¯t finished yet. Yes, perhaps that was it. As if mirroring my own thoughts, the others spoke up. ¡°Do you think this is the last level? You know, since we¡¯ve encountered no monsters then perhaps it¡¯s not finished.¡± Jenna queried, hope filling her voice. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t count on us being so lucky Jenna. I have a feeling there¡¯s more to this dungeon than we¡¯ve seen. Keep your guard up, just cause we¡¯ve seen nothing yet doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s not coming.¡±The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I know, I know. You don¡¯t have to say it Seb.¡± ¡°I do. Got to make it fresh. Keeping you lot alive is a damn difficult task, especially Kael. Crazy bastard.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± he protested. ¡°What?¡± they all responded in perfect synchronisation. I snorted in semi laughter at their antics. ¡°Nothing.¡± He replied. Then in a more subdued tone ¡°not that crazy¡± he protested muttering under his breath to himself. I was sure I was the only one to hear, being the closest to him. Since they didn¡¯t respond I felt I was correct about that assumption. I looked at the others a final time before concentrating on the forest once again. We had made it a long way now, and the tension that had once been suffusing the very air we breathed was thick enough to cut. The awkward silence of my companions and the sounds of the forest had slowly built up into crescendo, a looming storm cloud on the horizon. A trembling bubble buffeted by the wind. It would have to break. The restrained forces that battled for freedom would win; the bubble pop and the storm rage. The crash of the cymbal echoing out the coming conflict would ring out. And it did. As if we were within that very cymbal, the world shook as the storm took hold. Winds whipped around, flicking the branches and leaves around with deadly speeds. A whirlwind of plant matter, raining down cuts and bruises as it circled our little group now missing one member. On unsteady feet I clenched my axe as the floor seemed to tip and sway, trying with all its heart to dislodge me. With shaking steps, I moved over to Jackson and tried to support him. The large man with his towering shield was the last defence for the mages. His lumbering size and armoured hide kept them from danger. If he fell it would be disaster. I may have only been slightly dwarven, but as sure as the blood in my body runs red, the dwarves are built for the earth and I would stand strong. I looked over at the others as I endured. Both the mages were curled up on the floor behind us. Safe and sound. Thank god. Sebastien was ok. Trapped on the outside of the storm somehow, he was busy battling something. They were diminutive humanoids though they fought fiercely enough. Like some distant cousin of the kobolds or goblins perhaps. Though they fell to his sword at a decent rate he was slowly being picked off from afar with arrows and bolts. Already they were punching holes in his armour and nicking his extremities. With a sickening squelching sound, a bolt lodged itself in his bicep, tearing out the muscle. I watched stoically as the storm resurged and obscured my vision and I had to focus on supporting Jackson. If it didn¡¯t end soon perhaps it would be the end of us. The storm resurged again, batting at us as a cat toys with a mouse, enticing it to run away just to cruelly catch it moments later. But it fizzled out and the world grew still. It seemed like hours, yet it could only have been seconds and the plight of Sebastien seemed a million miles away. A tiny speck at the edge of my vision. A growing brightness. It stemmed from my waist, blooming and blossoming until the light touched all that I could see and flowered, suffusing me with energy. I looked down as I pushed Jackson away to stand. A small, pale white hand clutched my waist. I smiled at its owner before wading into battle, letting the tide of fury power my swings as I chopped my way to Sebastien. The kobold looking things were about chest high for me, though that would have been waist high for Jackson and had scaled limbs from what I could see sticking out of the furred clothes that had been roughly hacked out of the animals of the forest. It covered them modestly, offering little protection though and my axe sunk into them with ease, smashing chests and chipping bones. Absently I noticed the arrows clink of my armour or thud into me, but I paid them little notice. It hadn¡¯t hit anything vital and I could be patched up later. So, I continued. The blood of my enemies sprayed out in arterial spurts, bathing me in a life-filling warmth as I hacked away at the creatures. Sparing them no more thought than that of a bug as I ended their lives, extinguishing the hopes and dreams that they had surely had. What had the one whose head I split like an apple had for breakfast? What had he dreamt last night as he laid his head down? The woman he was looking for? The mother that had cared for him? The father that had groomed him into the warrior that had faced me today, only to be cut down in short order? One body among many. Perhaps that was it? Or maybe he had dreamt of the dark clothed giant that would mercilessly wade through the night, bodies falling in the darkness. The only sign, the leaking blood that salted the meadows and fields, killing a people and massacring those he had loved? Perhaps that was it? What about the one who had had his arms chopped off and his throat slashed? What had he thought and felt and lived? How had he thought and felt and lived? What had he hoped for? What had he lived for? I wouldn¡¯t know. I would never know, and if I was being honest, I didn¡¯t care to know. No, I didn¡¯t feel for them. I didn¡¯t think about them or agonise over them as I lay down to rest. They were there and then they were gone, as transient as a stray thought or a leaf in the wind. There one moment gone the next, ashes. And ashes didn¡¯t matter. They blew away with the wind, the fading echo all that was left, until even the ones that had heard it were ashes. That was life, and I enjoyed it immensely. Once Seb was safe, I felt the smile creep over my jaw as I fought. The rush, the adrenalin. The superiority of facing death and emerging triumphant. Oh, man. I had missed this so much. There was a reason no-one retired from delving, I had been kidding myself if I thought it was over. ¡°Come over here little beastie and let¡¯s see who¡¯s better!¡± I taunted, revelling in the whole experience. It growled, furious at me, baring its teeth and rushing. Laughing, I pivoted on my back foot, turning around and slashing brutally at his back, crushing the spine and severing it, killing the beast on its feet. With light filled eyes I watched it stumble and fall. It was over. Whew. What a rush. I loved it. I absolutely loved it. ¡°Thank you Dungeon. Thank you.¡± I said smiling as I walked back over to the group, dripping red and grinning like a madman. ¡°I missed this.¡± ¡°Yep, looks like it¡± lore said, eyebrow raised at the frenzy I¡¯d displayed. ¡°How¡¯s Seb?¡± ¡°Good, good. It wasn¡¯t much damage though the bicep will need serious work once we¡¯re out. If you hadn¡¯t rushed in, then it would have been a lot worse.¡± Jenna said, glancing down at Seb fondly. ¡°Come here, you¡¯ve got a few scratches I can sort out.¡± ¡°Nah, I¡¯m fine¡± I replied confidently. Though I winced internally as I rolled my shoulder. Jenna sighed. I was in for it now. ¡°I was being polite. You¡¯ve got a damn arrow in your shoulder, you silly man. Now get the hell over here and let me heal it before I shoot you myself.¡± She demanded. ¡°Fine, fine. I¡¯ll come fair lady, don¡¯t shoot.¡± ¡°Arrrgh¡± she threw her hands up in mock annoyance. ¡°You like me really¡± I replied, pretending not to notice her slight blush as I sat down for her to heal me. ¡°Infuriating man¡± I heard her whisper gently. I smiled. Chapter 16 Chapter 16 ========== [Dungeon] After the harrowing experience in the swamp level, they took the dungeon a little more seriously. Floor one was frankly way too easy for a group of their stature and the second floor too. They had become unknowingly complacent, and even though they fought against that superiority, carelessness crept into their movements. When they reached the pool of water in which Jackson had taken the hit from the fish, they hadn¡¯t stopped to evaluate the probability of this being a trap or even considered it. They had stopped briefly, observing the sense of taking it seriously, but they didn¡¯t really do it. They hadn¡¯t thought it would be anything different from the rest of the level; just another pool of water to cross. So, with a little recklessness they pushed through and got hit. The experience served them well and I was glad of it. As they walked and talked I got the feeling that killing them would be bad. That wasn¡¯t to say that if they got themselves killed I wouldn¡¯t be happy about it, but I wasn¡¯t going to go all out at them. They seemed important. As well as the fact that they seemed to be pioneers they had praised my ingenuity and design and it made me feel good. I preened at their compliments. If there was any sure way to get in my good books it was to compliment me. I liked this group. As they cleared the swamp and descended the stairs I could feel their apprehension, thick and sticky like mud, it clung to them. They were nervous and as they experienced the cacophonous assault of the rainforest their trepidation only increased. Their shoulders locked up and they moved with far less fluidity and grace than earlier ¨C Kael being the exception to this. His instincts seemed to serve him well. They checked their rear almost constantly and switched their focus from sound to sound, wary of an attack. They still had a way to go before they ran into one of the groups though. The rainforest had nature affinity Torrads. Like Kobolds they were an animalia humanoid, but instead of the trapping and building that Kobolds were so known for, they had a stealth in the forests that the clumsy Kobolds couldn¡¯t match. The group that they were closing in on had twenty-two warriors, five rangers and three druids. The druids would group together and perform a Storm Calling magic. Storm Calling was a tier three magic spell which involved the Creation and Evocation realms of magic. The druids would group up and combine their magic within an enhancement sigil ¨C a construct of mana that could be created first or an object imbued with the necessary factors ¨C and begin to evoke the elements. Wind, fire and water were needed to help create the wall of dense air that would buffet and trap the adventurers whilst the warriors and rangers picked off the weaker ones that weren¡¯t contained. It was a very difficult magic to combat and I was interested in seeing how they dealt with it. Torrads had a natural affinity for the forest and their druids excelled in camouflaging the ambush. But as they were a fairly basic mob, I had had to use three druids to achieve the tier three spell. It would hopefully be worth it though and I thought they would at least be a good test for the group. Kael was a slippery one and his vigilance might be a problem. I wondered if he would discover the ambush before it could be launched. He did not. I wasn¡¯t sure if I was pleased or disappointed in him. I decided on pleased and settled down to watch. They had just reached a slightly sparser section of the forest when the trap was sprung. Kael was leading with Sebastien not far behind and so the storm didn¡¯t encapsulate them. Instead, it got the other four. Jackson, Sigurd, Jenna and Lorelei. The powerful winds buffeted them and only with the assistance of Sigurd did the mountain of a man manage to stay standing, shielding the mages from the flying debris. Kael promptly vanished, using his skills as a rogue to hide from the Torrads, whilst Sebastien drew all of the warriors to him. They held distance initially using their bows. Whilst they weren¡¯t rangers, they knew the bow was a far safer method of chipping down at a lone enemy and so they fired, maintaining a distance with great effect. Even with the Zweih?nder Sebastien couldn¡¯t close enough to deal damage. Things were not looking great. They would most likely hold out though. The druids wouldn¡¯t be able to keep the spell going for much longer and the mages were both protected from it anyhow. The tide turned as Kael eliminated the druids, surprising me and them with his skill. Damn it, they were expensive. I sulked. Stupid Rogue. With the storm down, it didn¡¯t take long for the Torrads to lose. With Kael slowly eliminating the stragglers and archers and Sigurd¡¯s brutal dispatching on the frontlines. The Torrads had been forced to close in, resorting to melee as the fire of Lorelei cut off any retreat routes. They had to take their chances battling Sigurd, a task they were not up to. Jackson shielded Jenna as she patched up Sebastien and it wasn¡¯t long until the Torrads were all dead. Sliced and diced, stabbed or burnt, they lay strewn around the place, blood seeping down and returning some of the precious mana to me. A shame. But it was valuable experience nonetheless. After beating the Torrads and healing up, the party progressed smoothly once again, running through the rest of the level and picking off smaller groups of Torrads with ease, those without druids to conceal their presence were especially vulnerable. They found the stairs, having not been turned around in the forest, something I was impressed by. It was hard to keep a straight track when you had to move around all the trees and undergrowth that subtly tried to get you lost. The stairs took them down a few metres before depositing them in a large chamber. Unlike the previous chambers this one was relatively small, perhaps fifty metres across and sixty tall. It was circular and had a sandy dirt floor as the ground. They had reached the boss floor and I was looking forward to seeing how my boss did in its first battle. With any luck it would give a good showing, like the Torrads had. I looked forward to the coming conflict. What would their strategy be? I wondered. How would they tackle it? They paused outside the level to observe it. I couldn¡¯t wait! Get on with it! I was excited. ========== [Sigurd] Soon we reached the end of the rainforest and it was a huge relief. It had worn our nerves down and ripped our composure to shreds; the peace of the stairwell was a welcome opportunity to rest. Floor five was a much smaller, simpler one than the previous floors and as we looked over the level from the doorway, the opposite stairwell was clearly visible.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The floor was very sparse, and the empty ground seemed somehow ominous. It was most likely trapped somehow. I seriously doubted the floor would be this simple. Sebastien seemed to agree with me and we advanced out with measured steps, Kael leading the way as he would be most likely to spot and avoid any traps. As we stepped fully into the room, the floor seemed to quiver in anticipation. The room was circular and about 50m in diameter. Large trees grew around the circumference and their reaching branches clasped like hands where they met in the middle. The entwined and interlocking branches hid the wall and I wondered if that was where the enemies were. It seemed like an odd way of hiding the fight, but the enemies had hidden well from us last time and it had worked. I was perplexed by the room, it just didn¡¯t fit the ethos of the dungeon. Perhaps it was a boss floor? I didn¡¯t know. We hadn¡¯t had a boss fight yet and that was unusual. Most of the dungeons that I¡¯d delved had had boss fights at the end of each floor. But then again, nothing about this place was normal. I¡¯d thought that since it hadn¡¯t had a boss fight at the end of floor one or two then perhaps it wasn¡¯t going to have one at all. But if it were, then this would be it. ¡°I think this might be a boss fight¡± I said giving voice to my suspicions. ¡°Yeah, I think you¡¯re right.¡± Seb replied. ¡°The floor is too small and there are no traps or anything of interest.¡± ¡°But how do we trigger its attack? And what is it?¡± Jackson questioned. ¡°It¡¯s probably some giant bug, where else would the dungeon hide a boss, it¡¯s probably under our feet right now. Lurking, waiting for us to fall prey to its clutches.¡± I looked down warily, what a way to induce panic. ¡°Thanks for that image Kael, its already tense enough without you inciting panic. I didn¡¯t want to have to consider that¡± Jenna retorted, glaring at him. She couldn¡¯t manage the look and a smile forced its way-out moments later. He cackled evilly. ¡°I guess we just continue then, if there¡¯s a boss it¡¯s most likely not just gonna let us walk straight past. Right?¡± Said Lorelei ¡°Probably not¡± I replied, looking back at Lore. ¡°Let¡¯s continue then.¡± ¡°Jenna, Lore, go to the centre. We may get ambushed and I¡¯d rather you weren¡¯t at the back, Jackson out front and Sigurd can you take our rear.¡± Seb commanded, snapping into leader mode once again. ¡°No problem¡± we echoed back. In the new formation, we advanced, crossing the centre with no problem. As we neared the exit stairs, I began looking over my shoulder more frequently. With the short space in front of us, attacks were most likely going to come from behind us. ¡°Is it... Do you think it¡¯s not finished?¡± Lore questioned, confusion over the floor evident on her face. ¡°Maybe. It¡¯s odd nothing has stopped us yet.¡± A few more steps towards the exit and the trap sprung. I wasn¡¯t that surprised to be honest. The floor rumbled, and the doorway slid closed, the rock flowing to cover the staircase like water. In a flash we were locked from progressing. That was new. I spun quickly. We weren¡¯t locked in, that was good. The entrance stairs were still accessible. Whew. With a cacophonous crash, something jumped down from the canopy, sending up clouds of dust and gravel from the floor and obscuring the monster. The dust settled slowly, revealing the monster that hid behind it like a performer dropping the curtain. Where once was nothing, now was something. And what a something it was. It roared with a low, throaty growl, baring its huge dagger like teeth and wide-open jaw, fit to swallow a man. I cringed at the assault on my ears, thoroughly intimidated. Five metres tall with arms and legs a half meter around, this brute was an imposing figure. It stood like a gorilla, hunched over, the thick bone protrusions from its knuckles digging into the ground, as if furrowing it. As the monstrous head lowered from the roar, I stared in awe at the two large, wicked looking wooden spikes protruding from its head just above the ears. They seemed to be mimicking horns and I certainly didn¡¯t wish to tangle with them. Like a drake, there were a series of sharp plate like spines tracking along its back. Green in colour, they blended in with the long fur that coated its body. Like bushes growing out of its back they disguised its shape and hid the danger. It slammed its brutish club like hands into the floor with ferine, destructive glee, showering us with dirt before charging at us. It was quick, far too quick for its size. Its whole presence belied a slow, powerful creature, not a quick, agile one. We only just managed to scramble out of the way before it crashed through our group. Its arms churning like a whirlwind as it passed us by. It skidded to a halt before the wall, receiving a lashing from Lore on its back as it came to a stop. Under the stream of fire, the hairs crisped up, blackening and falling off, releasing a sulphurous smell as they did so. The evocation ended shortly before the skin was hit, unfortunately. But the exposed area would be a weak point we could exploit, the matted fur would most likely block any arrows and blunt any strikes. Seeing how tough the beast was, Kael, Jenna and Lorelei retreated to the fourth-floor stairs and fired spells and arrows from the safety of the narrow corridor. The opening was too small for the monster to reach them and they could deal out damage when it peaked into the cone of vision they had. Jackson, Sebastien and I spread out around the room drawing its attention to three points and hopefully splitting its focus. As luck would have it, the creature lunged for me, reaching out with its stocky arms. I ducked the blow, rotated around its legs as it tumbled forward and sunk my axe into its calf. It didn¡¯t get very far before stopping. It growled at me and the axe was nearly ripped out of my hands as it spun. I ducked and jumped clear, getting caught - just barely ¨C by it. The blow spun me and knocked the axe from my hands. It tumbled to the floor, clinking as the metal scraped over the gravel as it slid away. It tried to stomp on me, but I rolled away from the blow, putting myself further from my axe. The creature in between. It lunged again, and I circled away leading it towards Jackson. ¡°Jenna, heals if you can. Lore can you target its legs. Burn away the fur if you can.¡± I shouted in a clear moment as I brought the beast to bare. It swung a punch, but Jackson managed to deflect it into the wall with his shield before dropping to his knees at the impact. With a bone shaking crash, the monsters fist impacted. The wall cracked slightly, and chunks fell away as the monster pulled back its hand. The bony protrusions had been crushed by the force and the impact had torn up the fist as they leveraged away from the hand, ripping through the muscles and tendons. It roared in pain at the damage, before taking a well-placed fireball to the mouth from Lore. I took its distraction as a chance to get my axe. It took us another five minutes of hacking, slashing and burning the beast before its fury took hold and any restraint or planning went out of the window. It charged, swinging its fists like wrecking balls, breaking through the rocks and mud as we danced away from it, taking the opportunity to hack at its legs. If we managed to take out a leg, then we took out its mobility. After that it would be a sitting duck that we could take down with relative ease. I¡¯d slowly been working at its right calf and several chunks of flesh had been hacked away. With its thick muscles though, it took a lot of work to get through them. Working in tandem with Jackson was key to this fight, as he could, if not block, redirect a blow to give me the opportunity to strike. Once it locked on me, Sebastien would strike at the leg, ripping through the muscle on its calf with the huge sword. After one particularly savage blow, the monster stepped back onto the weak leg only for it to buckle under its weight. It slipped and collapsed falling to the floor and roaring its protest. The fight was over now. We closed in on it and ended the fight with a sword thrust to the eye. It flailed around briefly as it died, nearly striking us, but eventually it lay still. The charred, smoking corpse, bleeding over the floor in waves as its heart finally ceased pumping. I sighed in relief. It was a tough monster and though it hadn¡¯t been a particularly hard fight it was still nerve wracking. With the mages backing us up, it was fairly easy as Lore could deal damage and Jena could heal us as we took it down. It didn¡¯t take us long to collect the loot, dissect it and advance. There wasn¡¯t much of interest here and the loot the beast carried was very lacking. Certainly not balanced with how tough the boss had been. We complained about it a bit but moved on regardless. There was nothing we could do anyway. We moved to the staircase ¨C now re-revealed after defeating the boss - and stepped out onto the stairs. A flash of golden light took me by surprise as we walked, and I stumbled in shock. The others were likewise taken aback at the show. ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°No idea, be careful though.¡± I agreed with the sentiment. We descended the stairs and walked along a small corridor before exiting into a nice room, it was larger than the boss room by a lot, but it was open and calming. I liked this room. It took us a while, but we eventually realised that it was supposed to be a saferoom. Often new dungeons didn¡¯t include saferooms until they got much larger. It seemed this one was breaking the trend yet again. I was thankful for it as we had been delving for a long time now and a rest was in order. We decided to explore it tomorrow though, but for now sleep prevailed and we would rest. Behind where the corridor had exited there appeared to be buildings. A short investigation revealed them to be rooms and we decided to try our luck in them. I trudged up the stairs of the building, my axe dragging behind me as I could now let myself relax, the axe was heavy, and I was weary. It had come on suddenly, but the tiredness was bone deep and it slowed my movements, it had caught up to me now. The rooms themselves were fairly sparse, but what was I expecting? A royal suite? No, of course not. It was better than many of the inns I had stayed in, so that was a plus. I shoved my gear in the chest, unrolled my sleeping mat and climbed onto the mattress with it. Sleep wasn¡¯t long in coming. Chapter 17 Chapter 17 ========== [Dungeon] They looked weary and worn down despite only completing the first section of the dungeon. They were probably quite thankful when they stumbled from the corridor into the rest area I had provided. They looked around for a while, before tumbling into bed, putting off the exploration for the morrow. It had been around ten hours of dungeon diving after all, and my dungeon - if not terribly difficult so far - was huge. They had each taken an adjoining room in the wooden building just off the entrance, and after a cursory examination and a bit of apprehensive worrying, they dumped their stuff in the chests. They crawled onto the hard beds, unrolled a sleeping mat and laid down, ready to fall asleep. It didn¡¯t take them very long. I wasn¡¯t sure I¡¯d have been so happy to fall asleep in a dungeon that probably wants to kill me were I in their place, but each to their own. Within a few minutes, the only sounds that echoed around the chamber, were that of nature and the gentle snoring of my new inhabitants. Peaceful. Too peaceful in fact. Something was different! What was it? There was no-one else in the dungeon. I¡¯d know about it because of the pounding that drove me insane, wouldn¡¯t I? No, there was no-one else here. So, what was it? I wondered for embarrassingly long. Of course! I was such an idiot. I¡¯d thought of it earlier. The pounding that had stopped me thinking properly. It was gone. I must have grown used to it over the past several hours. As absorbed as I¡¯d been in the adventurer¡¯s journey, it was no wonder I hadn¡¯t noticed when the beating had faded into the background only to disappear at some point. I assumed it was when they went to sleep. It would make sense if that was it. Did that mean I could build again? I wondered, hope bouncing around my heart. I moved away from the adventurers and moulded the ground in seconds. No horrific pounding. Yes! I could build again. Yay! I celebrated jubilantly. Whilst they slept, tranquilly in uninterrupted peace, recuperating for the next day¡¯s delve, it was time for me to build floor twelve. The second floor of the fire-based levels. The first one being the desert I had built a little while ago. The dungeon was coming along nicely, and I had already built a good portion, but it wasn¡¯t enough. I had so many plans to implement, and I was glad that the mountain could support such a huge cavern system. The fire levels were tricky to design, after all there¡¯s far less variations I could have for fire than anything else. For the forest I had all the different trees and climates, for the water I had islands, icebergs, streams, lakes, rivers and more. For fire though? A desert was a desert and nothing more, no amount of time and effort, of scrupulous, detailed design would change that. So I couldn¡¯t go with another desert straight away. What to do? I thought to myself. I once again started by carving out a large chamber. That wasn¡¯t new, it was an unenviable fact of my existence and I was beginning to loath it.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Across the floor I spread a deep layer of sand, the white pearl grains of the marble and quartz to the ash like slate were first. From the yellow glistening sands fit for utopian paradise to the bland grey dirt, baked dry under the relentless heat, it was homogenous in its form. It was a hostile place, and I had struggled for hours to coax life into this barren decrepit corpse, but it was too similar to the previous floor. I had an idea for the third fourth and fifth levels already. But the second one had to be different. A shame as I had grown fond of the dustbowl. I¡¯d created, oh well, I thought tearing it down. It took me a while, but eventually I concluded that I was stumped. it was an issue I would have to backburner for now. Since I was having trouble focusing on the issue with the other ideas rattling around and taking up all of my concentration. It was time to move on to another floor. I sighed. It meant I would have to start carving out another chamber though. A task I¡¯d gotten so good at, I no longer really had to concentrate to do it properly. I could section off a part of my mind to deal with that. The more I thought of the stray thoughts that were such a distraction, the more comprehensive the image of what I wanted to create became. I¡¯d gotten most of the way through carving out the thirteenth floor when it came to me. It would be great, yes! oh so great. But, first I had some modifications to make. I swapped the fire levels around and set to work. The desert that used to be floor eleven and the cavern that I was working on became floor eleven. The premise of my new eleventh floor was a desert gorge. They would exit from the ice hotel and descend down to the bluffs at the top of the gorge. It was a long staircase as there needed to be a larger separation between the layers to maintain the temperatures and prevent the congruence that would occur naturally. Ideally, I would have liked to have a vacuum barrier to prevent the heat transfer. However, I thought it prudent to avoid such a weak point when the whole mountain was resting on it. I would just have to spend the extra mana. From the sandy bluffs of the orange, rocky outcrop, the adventurers would descend along a tricky path, having to abseil down significant distances or risk a dangerous jump onto unsuitable ground. Thin ledges over perilous drops and slippery slopes ending in sheer drops were just the features of the terrain. I still had the animals and traps to make. As it turned out, desert animals were almost entirely insects and small reptiles. And whilst they were cool looking and well adapted to the conditions I was making they were also, not exactly the most terror inducing beasts to challenge the adventurers. Still, I scattered them around the gorge, creating burrows, nests and perfect habitats for them. Most of the insects required plant material to make their homes and so I introduced weather beaten shrubs here and there. Brown and stunted they stuck out of the cliffside, forlorn and abandoned. In solitary pools, half hidden in the cliffside, where the animals made a refuge a small acacia grew, providing enough shade for the water to linger until the night settled in and more water condensed out of the air. It took me a while, but I managed to get a decent day and night cycle at ten hours apart. The moving sun in the sky cast the shadows in distorted lengths that changed the whole dynamic, sometimes concealing the way and at others revealing all the minute details that went into making a level. The last plant I introduced was a cactus, the adventurers would need a source of water as the intense heat would strip them of it in minutes. If they didn¡¯t know about the cactus or were too slow a horrible death awaited them. With the mundane already instituted, it was time to move onto the magical marvels and man-made monsters that littered the store. They would cost me, but it would certainly be worth it if I could complete the levels. When I was done with the store I had bought myself a species of giant salamander that grew by eating fire mana and a rock/lava monster called a Stone Scoria. The giant salamander hid in the cracks within the cliffside and would jump out at anything that passed. They were far easier to face than the Scoria. There were two types of Scoria that I had purchased. The Stone Scoria and the Lava Scoria. They were a golem type monster with a fire core. The Stone Scoria was far less dangerous as its fire core was much cooler and thus the rock was a far more viscous rock. It was slow and lumbering and though the wicked sharp spines of obsidian and pumice could inflict huge damage, they weren¡¯t the threat the Lava Scoria were. The Lava Scoria burnt much hotter and as a result they could move far more quickly and were far more dangerous as a result. Scoria as a species consumed their prey by enveloping the remains with their rocky bodies and absorbing the gasses that evolved during the pyrolysis they induced. They used the mana and gasses to fuel their fire core which sustained them. Since they were made of rock they were resistant to pain, mind, curse, hex and most meta magics as well as slashing or piercing damage. The only way to end them was to crack the fire core by blunt damage and then get the hell away as they would most likely explode sending shards of semi-molten rock flying outwards. I looked forwards to the adventurers encountering them. Like the salamander they could ambush the adventurers, this time by blending into the background as rocks. The secret room was just hidden in the cliff along a treacherous disguised route and had a few Scoria guarding it. It wasn¡¯t hard to put it in in this case. I looked back proudly at the level, yes it would do. It was a good first level and coming straight out of the ice hotel it would certainly be a shock to them. Chapter 18 Chapter 18 ========== [Sigurd] I awoke with sleep still fresh in my eyes. My back sore and my arms leaden. A rough night for sure. I took a few deep breaths of the crisp air. Surprisingly fresh for air in the deep dark of the dungeon. Usually it had the stale dry quality that you¡¯d imagine for a place so far underground. Like a crypt perhaps. I wouldn¡¯t know as I didn¡¯t tend to spend my free time skulking around crypts. Kael though? He might know. He seemed like just the sort to frequent crypts and other uncivilised places. Not like me, the noble dwarf. I smiled at the image. Strapping on the last of my equipment I slid out of the doorway into the corridor. It was a rough-hewn wooden floor, like big tree trunks had been split down the middle and shaped with a rough hand before being fit into place. Not the work of a master craftsman like you would find in the capital. But it was a pleasant surprise and it suited the environment very nicely. As I shuffled down the corridor and descended the stairs my body creaked and protested. The hard work yesterday had worn me out. Though decades at this adventurer lark had told me that as soon as the rush of battle fell over me, I would forget all about the aches and hurts that I was experiencing. In fact, as soon as I stepped out of the little log cabin that I had spent the night in, the pains of the previous days battle faded away like water on a scorching day. The scene that presented me was so unlike a dungeon that I had trouble believing I was even underground at all. Rather, it felt like I was in one of the sacred groves of the dryads of Bel¡¯na¡¯noir or perhaps a nature mages secret hideaway. I was still contemplating that everything so far was a dream or that I was slowly going insane. A heavy clap on the back shattered that thought though as the big man stepped up to me. ¡°A sight eh¡± he asked in a deep voice, echoing from underneath his silver helm. I had no idea how on earth he¡¯d snuck up on me. He was bedamned twice my height and wider still than a healthy dwarf. Unnatural I tell you. Unnatural. ¡°Yes, I find it hard to believe we¡¯re underground at all¡± I replied, telling him what was on my mind. ¡°It¡¯s the wind that gets you¡± he responded. ¡°you never expect it when you¡¯re hidden away like this.¡± ¡°Yes, how astute¡± I said in surprise. I hadn¡¯t taken Jackson for the type of man who would have spotted that. But then I wouldn¡¯t have taken him for the kind who could sneak up on me either. It seemed I still had plenty to learn about my new companions. The rest of them joined us a few moments later and without a word we all set off to the next level. We didn¡¯t need to speak to know what to do and we naturally arranged ourselves as we had before. The soft squishy mages protected in the centre with the big man up front. Ready to take the hits. The steps, as always with this dungeon went on for far too far and as the anticipation climbed, we all naturally sped up as the end slowly grew upon us. A dark doorway loomed at the end of the staircases. And as we descended a bluish white light seemed to emanate from it. I felt a series of shivers creep up my spine as we drew nearer. I glanced at the others as the chill intensified. The world seemed to go silent as the ambiance loomed overhead. A metaphorical cloud that seemed ready to burst, like a thunderstorm waiting for that first piercing strike of lightening and without a word spoken or sound made it seemed to pop as a fierce wind blew from the doorway, carrying with it a biting cold and shining pinpricks of light that floated on the wind like little razor blades. Following the gale that slammed into the walls of the staircase sounded a roar that echoed around and around and set my teeth on edge. Chattering and making clack clack sounds as I shivered stiffly. ¡°Shit I¡¯m cold¡± said Kael as nonchalantly as anyone could. And I burst out laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of it. ¡°Same¡± I said with relief as the foreboding gloom that had settled over my mind disappeared with the very wind that had brought it on. ¡°Bah, your both just pansies¡± said Lore with mock distain as we shivered. Glancing over I saw her wrapped in a soft red glow as her fire magic kept her warm. A ball of fire floating above her hand. She turned to look at the fire ¡°Don¡¯t you think my darling, they just don¡¯t have the fortitude to deal with it, not like us we¡¯re superior to these foolish men. Aren¡¯t we? Yes, stupid I know. Its only a bit of a cold room. Ridiculous? Yes just what I was thinking. I suppose we could help them out a little my friend. No? Sorry guys but fire.. uh¡­ fire..ey says we cant help you¡± she said carrying on a perfectly innocent conversation with her little fireball. We all glowered at her, but she pretended not to notice. By now we had reached the doorway and with a silent look we all knew what we had to do. ¡°Lore¡­¡± kael wined putting as much childish pain in his voice as he could manage. ¡°Yes¡± she asked turning to him. ¡°Nothing, I was just trying to distract you¡± he said smiling like a little scamp. ¡°Wha¡­¡± she started but too late as we grabbed her and chucked her headfirst into a snow drift just by the door. As she popped her head out of the snow little bits sat, perched on her ears and nose and no-one could hold back the laughter any longer. We were in a dangerous place, but it was too funny, and we collapsed around in fits of giggles. Hearing the man mountain Jackson laugh in high pitched squeaks only made it funnier as she fumed at getting tricked.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°I¡¯ll get you lot back for this¡­¡± Lore swore at us with a barely hidden smile. ========== [Lorelei] Getting chucked headfirst into the snow may have been what I deserved, but it wasn¡¯t any less unpleasant. And though I tried to hold onto any semblance of anger, Jacksons squeals of laughter were so out of character that I found it impossible and started laughing too. ¡°I¡¯ll get you lot back for this¡­¡± I said in a huff, trying to be intimidating. Since they started laughing again, I think I failed. Standing up, I spotted another snow pile and a devious thought crossed my mind. Snowball fight here we come, with a little help of my trusty fireball and I would get them soaking wet. Hahahahaha, I cackled internally, letting my inner evil witch out. Oh, they would get it, and get it bad. I advanced on the unsuspecting snow pile with thoughts of revenge on my mind, sneaky sneaky. One step, two step and on my third step a loud roar split the sound of girlish laughter as the snow drift seemed to come alive. Glancing down I saw that the snow I had stepped on was not deforming under my weight. Not snow after all. I stumbled back in shock as a huge shaggy monster stood up its icy blue eyes glowing with rage. As I retreated it took a step forwards and roared again its vicious horns glinting in the pale light as they framed a jaw that bristled with sharp black teeth. Thin wispy claws slid out of the tough black skin on its hands. Though delicate looking I was sure they could tear and rend as good as my sword. Sliding back on the ice I unleashed a fireball at the monster with a shout. ¡°Yeti!!!¡± shouted Sebastien. ¡°Ready yourself¡± My fireball did disappointingly against the yeti¡¯s tough matted fur and snow-covered form, melting off the ice and snow and burning through a small section of its fur. The nauseating smell of burning hair filled the room for a short burst. As the others got over their laughter and settled into the fight I slid back behind the protective wall of Jackson and Sigurd. They rushed forward in perfect synchronisation, Jackson slamming his shield into the battering arm of the yeti and Sigurd slashing into the chest of the creature as he ducked under the deflected arm. Roaring, the yeti slammed its other arm down trying to squish Sigurd. But the little dwarf managed to deflect the blow and Jackson slammed the sharp edge of his shield down on the arm hard before bringing it up into the creature¡¯s jaw with a slamming crunch as he knocked out a couple of teeth. It stumbled back at the blow and the two warriors split to either side for a few moments allowing Kael and I to send bolts of steel and fire plunging into its chest. As t stumbled back under the barrage of attacks, Sigurd chopped into its knees with his axe and Jackson knocked it over its wounded legs. Crippled and defeated Jackson finished it off, be heading the monster with as single powerful blow of his axe. Hmm, I thought appreciatively. They were a good team, in fact all of us there performed in perfect harmony. Glancing over at Seb I saw him nodding appreciatively as well. Sigurd was fitting in well, and if he wanted to pick up this adventuring again then I¡¯m sure we could find a fit for him, just tackling that yeti showed how he worked so well with us and personality wise he was golden. He made us all smile and there was none of that na?ve foolishness of newbie adventurers. ¡°Ooohhh, there¡¯s a chest here¡± Kael said as he scampered over to where the yeti had laid sleeping. ¡°A few coins and an ice mana crystal, not bad¡± that was quite a good haul for a simple fight. Though we hadn¡¯t taken any damage from the yeti to know just how dangerous it might be. ¡°That¡¯s pretty good there¡± muttered Sebastien as he jotted it down in his ever expanding noted. The battle rush of a good fight had warmed our spirits, but our bodies were still freezing cold, even if we hadn¡¯t noticed yet. It was time to warm everyone up, but first, just a little revenge. Being careful to avoid any more snow drifts that went I scraped up some snow and threw it at Kael as he stood up, it caught him right in the face, causing him to cough and splutter. ¡°Lore!!¡± he called in shock, ¡°Its gone in my mouth, ewwww¡­¡± I burst out laughing as he started to spit it out. ¡°Serves you right¡± I responded with a chuckle. Deciding to forgive him I set about warming everyone up with the fire aura spell, it drained my mana pretty quickly, but it was better than everyone freezing in the frigid cold. ¡°It¡¯s taking all my natural recovery to keep up the spells guys so I¡¯m going to be limited on how much I can contribute. ¡°That¡¯s ok Lorelei, we¡¯re just glad not to be freezing our asses off.¡± Sebastien said. ¡°Alright look sharp lads, the yeti was hidden and who knows what else this level has to offer, standard formation.¡± We took our places quickly and took a look around. It was a beautiful landscape with, twisting shards of ice jutting abruptly from the floor and a soft blanket of snow falling over everything. But ice was harsh and deadly and only the hardiest of creatures called it home so we would have to be careful. Anything that could live here was sure to pose a threat. As we took careful steps through the ice land we encountered many more yetis but with the teamwork we had, they went down just as easily as the first one, netting us a few more coins and mana crystals, well worth the fights they put us through. Many many times as we marched along, I thought that I saw something zip in and out of view between the cracked battered ice boulders and stalagmites. But I never managed a solid look at it. Whatever it was it didn¡¯t seem to be very hostile as it left us well enough alone. Flitting around in the higher vestiges of the ice chamber were little pinpricks of light, that swam and danced in the air like a spirit. They flited to and fro with ease and when they drew closer, I could see the outline of a butterfly. They looked like they might be worth a lot, but Sebastien said we didn¡¯t have the time to be wasting, chasing everything in the dungeon. A shame I thought as they were ever so pretty. ¡°Wow¡± we all seemed to say as the central piece of the room fully came into view. An exquisite dragon with an immaculate precision to its sculpture stood proudly under an arching beam of ice. Its very presence seemed to exude an undeniable chill that sank into my bones despite the fire aura trying to warm us up. We stood stock still as we stared at the outstanding dragon. Predictably Kael was the first to get over the shock of finding it and braved taking a few steps closer. We followed moments later, despite the chill. The dragon seemed to have a heart, some sort of gem that sat in its breast radiating out a faint warmth that gave the dragon its ethereal presence. It sung out to me, tendrils of magic curling around my core, restricting. I felt my breath hitch as I struggled with it. With a gasp I turned away and took a few steps feeling the magic retreat from me, whatever that was it wasn¡¯t something we should mess with. ¡°No one should touch that, its powerful. I¡­ I can¡¯t explain it, but it calls out to me. I think it¡¯s some sort of artefact.¡± With my warning heard we set off again, getting through the level in short order. I was relieved to see the stairs come into view. Normally a sad sight as I didn¡¯t look forward to descending the stairs. Fortunately, there were only a few stairs going down before we reached the next level. ¡°What in the hells is this then?¡± Jackson said. I found couldn¡¯t disagree with him. ¡°I¡¯m confused¡± said Jenna mirroring the thoughts of the rest of us. Chapter 19 Chapter 19 ========== [Dungeon] Watching the adventurers wake up and set off to explore the first of the ice level was a lot of fun and they pulled off the fight with the yeti with a coordination and skill that was extremely impressive to behold. From the teamwork of Sigurd and Jackson to the timing of the others for their ranged attacks, the yeti stood no chance. Nor it seemed did any of the others. The group didn¡¯t encounter any of the ice phantasms, curtesy of the fire aura that the fire mage provided. Surprisingly, the spell released a constant stream of mana that was easy to absorb, a very nice surprise. It was probably a good thing truth be told. I doubted this group would make a mistake and the less information the next group that entered had the more likely I would be able to get a couple of them. The huge bonus that the mystery man had provided had gone a long way to my current strength and I was looking forwards to getting the next influx. But it most likely wouldn¡¯t be this lot, nor was I desperately hoping for it, they were a likeable bunch and their impressions of me would be crucial for getting more adventurers coming here. I was glad to note how appreciative they were of my dragon though it didn¡¯t arouse their suspicions overly much, just a natural wary-ness of the mana heart. I had thought for a minute they would try and get to it, but it was as I suspected, they had far too much sense for that. They moved off quickly and the rest of the floor troubled them little. Despite that I was happy with the yeti¡¯s and the rest of the floor. As they descended the stairs, I focused all my attention on them, I was excited for the first trial of the ice run level. Well, the first trial with not helpless animals being pushed down. ¡°What in the hells is this then?¡± the big man asked in confusion. ¡°I¡¯m confused¡± said the healer, Jenna. It was as expected, now I just had to wait to see what they would do. ========== [Jenna] Staring down the icy slope I couldn¡¯t decide what to make of it, it didn¡¯t seem like it could be here -in a dungeon. But here I was, and here it was, in front of me. Confusion was my main emotion. Why? Just, why? What? I just couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of it; it had put me off guard and that wasn¡¯t good. ¡°Seb?¡± I asked, hoping he had more of a clue than I did. Unfortunately, it seemed they were all just as dumbfounded by it as me. In front of me was a long slope, perhaps a good couple hundred metres long, it was covered in slippery ice and it had several long channels that twisted and wove down the slope before entering tunnels or slamming you into walls of spikes. The ice gleamed with a slick white light and a faint mist rose off the super cold floor, flowing over the ridges and valleys like liquid smoke, hiding the dangers and obscuring my vision. It was an intimidating floor and I was worried. There was very little good teamwork could do here and as support I didn¡¯t have the most versatile skill set to get me through this. But we¡¯d figure it out. Seb was a genius and if there was anyone that could ensure we¡¯d all be safe it would be him. At the other end of the room, above the course was a small room carved into the far wall, from the entrance we could see several large chests that shimmered with gold, practically taunting us that there was a wealth of treasure there. But, for the life of me I couldn¡¯t see how you could get there, short of flying. And there was no-way we were flying anytime soon.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. So distracted by the looming treasure were we that all but one of us forgot to check our surroundings. Over to the left on the starting platform was a large wooden chest. It had iron wrought caps on the corners for strength and a brass handle inset into the lid. A relatively plain lid, except for the carved patterns adorning the surface. There was very little that stood out about the chest, except for its straightforward position and seeing lack of challenge to get to it. Plodding over to the chest, shield raised in defence of whatever might pop out to surprise him, Jackson paused before opening it. ¡°Guys¡­¡± he called to get our attention ¡°A small hand-held pick for hacking ice.¡± He read off ¡°It has a useful fire enchant that helps it dig into supernaturally cooled ice. One feels it could be useful in the future, take one. How odd, it¡¯s like the dungeon is speaking to us.¡± We crept over, careful not to slip or knock each other down the slope, that wouldn¡¯t be good. I glanced back down at the sharp ice spikes, gulping with nerves. No, that wouldn¡¯t be good at all. ¡°I think that this is the most unusual dungeon that I¡¯ve ever been to. Its just weird.¡± Sebastien muttered as he read the words to himself. ¡°You¡¯re right on, about that, I¡¯ve never seen anything like it¡± Sigurd responded, flashing me a smile. I smiled awkwardly back. They were both right, whatever this was, it wasn¡¯t a regular old dungeon, something was different, and it made me nervous. ¡°So¡­I guess we use these to slow us down and control our direction?¡± ¡°Um¡­¡± Seb said before pausing to slam the pick into the ice wall, it sunk in with ease, kicking out a small plume of powdered ice and water. He gave it a sharp tug and watched it cut through the ice slowly. ¡°Yep, that ought to do it. But we should be careful, I don¡¯t like the look of that mist. It could be obscuring some danger. Unseen until it kills you. And those ice spikes look deadly, I¡¯m not sure Jenna could heal you guys if you crash into them¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think I could heal you lot from that¡± I replied looking back at the spikes again. ¡°Bah, you¡¯re a lot of worrywarts. Nothing is gonna go wrong, it¡¯ll be easy¡± Kael replied breathing some brevity to the mood. ¡°Yeah, easy¡± Jackson replied full of sarcasm, not at all convinced. ¡°We¡¯re not all lacking common sense like you seem to be Kael¡± Lore replied harshly, though I could tell it was meant in jest. ¡°You¡¯re just jealous of my magnificence¡± he retorted picking up one of the picks and flipping it in his hand. ¡°Not all of us can be as roguishly handsome, quick witted and skilled as I.¡± ¡°Pfffff, we all laughed at him. ¡°Fine, fine, if you guys can¡¯t handle it, I¡¯ll just leave.¡± Fake dismay roughing his voice. ¡°Bye-bye amigos¡± he said before taking a step and rolling back down the slope. ¡°Kael!!!¡± We all shouted out in alarm as he waved at us as he descended down the slope with an agility that rivalled a cat. ¡°Woohoo, I¡¯m alive¡± we heard a few moments later as sharp sprays of ice chips flew into the air as he banked hard changing course and entering one of the tunnels. ¡°For fucks sake, does that man-child think about anything for longer than a single second.¡± Lore complained. ¡°Nope, I think a second¡¯s being generous though¡± Jackson commented with a chuckle. A few moments of appreciative silence followed before a squeal split the air. ¡°oohhh, yes!!!¡± and ¡°Goddamn I love this dungeon¡± I sighed, ¡°Well I guess we¡¯d better follow then.¡± We all sighed again, this was classic Kael, and as aggravating, silly and rash as he was, we all loved him for it. Loved and hated. Of course we hated him a bit. Who wouldn¡¯t? We all turned to look at the slope, how would we get down this? I wondered, gripping my pick with white knuckled hands. ¡°Right, so¡­ since we haven¡¯t heard a scream of pain yet I¡¯m gonna assume the Kaels path is at least doable. He might have changed direction several times though so let¡¯s keep our eyes out for that. ¡°KAEL! WHAT WAS IT LIKE, DID YOU HAVE TO CHANGE PATH AT ALL?¡± he yelled out. Kaels faint reply echoed up. ¡°IT WAS OK, BUT THERES A PLATFORM WHERE YOU HAVE TO DODGE SOME WALLS AND SPIKES AND I CHANGED OVER TO THE LEFT THREE GROOVES AS I LEFT IT. I RECOMMEND STOPPING ON THE PLATFORM AND THEN PLANNING A DIFFERENT ROUTE FROM THERE¡± ¡°OK, THANKS YOU CRAZY FOOL¡± Seb shouted back. ¡°Welp, you heard him. Guess that¡¯s our plan. ¡°Jackson, Jenna is gonna follow you down, I¡¯m sure you can bash all the ice out of the way with that massive tower shield of yours and if you can stop on the platform then we¡¯ll follow down one at a time to join you.¡± ¡°Sure, thing, Jen, the scutum¡¯s a beast, ice don¡¯t stand no chance, you ready?¡± ¡°I guess so¡± I said with confidence I didn¡¯t know I had. ¡°3¡± ¡°2¡± ¡°1¡± ¡°Off we go¡­¡± I shouted as Jackson and I ran forwards, me clinging to the edges of his armour as we slid forwards on our knees, his shield braced before us. Closing my eyes seemed like a good decision and it was only a few big jolts and swinging turns, followed by the crash of ice, and the spray of water that soaked me through before we stopped moving on the platform. Step one done. ¡°Ok, send the next one down¡± I called back up as I squealed in delight. We¡¯d made it! I jumped to my feet to dance a jig; however, unfortunately for me, I had forgotten one important fact. Ice is slippery, oh and that I can¡¯t dance, that was important too. My tangled limbs ended up back right where I was, flat n the ice. Just with an extra heaping of embarrassment on top. Good job Jenna I thought to myself. Way to encourage them that I can handle myself. At least it was only Jackson that had seen my clumsy fail. And the big man was the least intimidating. Odd given his monstrous size and strength, but he was just like the bigger brother I wished I¡¯d had. With whatever dignity I could scrape together I clambered to my feet just in time to hear they ominous sound of Sigurd sliding down. ¡°Look out!!¡± he called, but it was too late. I had just enough time to see my impending doom come sliding towards me. ¡°eeep¡± I squealed. Oh no. Chapter 20 Chapter 20 ========== [Sigurd] ¡°Look out¡± I called hoping for some miracle to intervene in the coming calamity. Perhaps Jenna would leap away. Alas it didn¡¯t happen, and I came thundering down the slope digging my pick into the ground as hard as I could. Sending ice chips flying as I slid, screeching ever closer. I swept her feet out from under her as I continued my uncontrolled slide and tried my best to catch her before she slammed down onto the ice. Whilst she didn¡¯t land on the ice, she did land on me and as we came to a stop, I felt myself blushing. She looked away in a hurry, twisting us so that we both splayed out on the ice as we continued to slide. About halfway across the platform we came to a stop. It was a relief that we hadn¡¯t slid off the other end, or into the spikes that I could see from the corner of my eye. I breathed a sigh, relaxing for a second before I climbed to my feet. Walking over to Jenna, I offered a hand to her. ¡°Sorry about that my lass, this ol¡¯ man ain¡¯t as good at slides as he used to be.¡± I said with a chuckle as I lifted her to her feet. She coloured up nice and red at that and accepted with a demure smile. ¡°Thanks Sigurd¡± she mumbled, awkwardly. ¡°Ah its no trouble, might be my fault after all.¡± I laughed. We walked over to Jackson as Sebastien set off. He managed to skate down with significant skill, not quite as controlled as Kael but unlike Jackson, Jenna or I, he did manage to stay on his feet. Impressive. ¡°Nice one¡± I congratulated him on his dextrous performance. He smiled back at me. ¡°Thank¡­Look out!¡± he blurted as surprise and fear spread over his features. As if in slow motion, I spun around, ducking as I went. Across my vision blurred a shadow framed in white, tearing the air as it went and leaving a trailing path of frosty air that swept past me raising the hairs on my neck and sent shivers down my spine. Ice blue globes of terror stood out in the whiteness of the surroundings, their angry glare, sliding into me like a knife in the ribs.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Like a thunderclap the sound of crunching metal reverberated around the room. A solitary clap that pierced the silence that had enveloped me. The world sped back up again and Jackson flew back away from us, his armour dented in the front as the yeti¡¯s blow landed true. Regaining my composure, I scrambled forward raising my axe up high as I shoulder barged Jenna out of the way. The Yeti¡¯s arm swung back in for another blow, though higher than my short stature. Being a little smaller had one advantage when facing such big enemies, reaching me wasn¡¯t always natural. Though the downside to that was that if they did hit, it was normally at head height. My axe was ripped from my hands as the yeti¡¯s tough fur sliced open and bound around the blade on its return swing. The force of it spun me around, sending me to my knees on the slippery ice as the scorching blood from the monsters new wound sprayed me with the thick lifeblood that fed its brutish limbs. At least it hadn¡¯t hit Jenna. With a shout, Sebastien launched himself at the yeti, sword glowing blue as the magic activated for a savage blow that speared into the back of the creature. Another spurt of blood burst out of the creature as Sebastien landed his huge hit. The yeti roared in unbridled pain and thrashed around, sending Sebastien sliding back as he was kicked off. A searing heat passed my back and burst into my vision as the howling fire from Lorelei ate away at the tough matted fur of the monster, exposing its black flesh. It stumbled back but didn¡¯t fall over and I took my chance to close in on it. Pulling the daggers from my belt and slashing at its unprotected front. The few moments of unbalanced chaos that stopped it responding passed in short order, and its sharp claws came flying back around. I felt my back flay open as the skin, muscle and tissues ripped and shredded apart. Pain lanced into me, but I ignored it, focusing on what was in front of me. I was the only front-line fighter available and I had to tank it. Thankfully, Jenna had gotten off a greater healing and I felt my body knit back together. Blood gushing flesh, raw and exposed became woven fibres of muscles sheathed in a thick layer of skin, protecting the weapon that I was in that moment, my daggers flashing as I opened up the beast with fury driving my every action. I screamed, releasing all the pain and anger and further strengthening my blows as I cut deeper and deeper. Gore splurged over my forearms and burnt into me, but nothing would stop me now and the beast collapsed with another roar, flailing weakly as it bled out, the strength flooding out of it with the fresh wounds I inflicted upon it. Another blow split my skin open, letting rivulets of my blood seep out, to drip onto the flooded ice below but I hardly noticed it, so intent on ending the creature. Shortly I achieved my goal and it let out its final chocking cough as the great lungs stopped expanding and the final beat of its great heart pumped out one more gout of blood. I fell back, crying out in pain as I landed hard on the ice, my wound flaring in such intense pain that I felt the curtains closing on my mind. I took a few shallow breaths as the pain grasped my heart in its icy withered fingers. I let my head fall to its side and saw Jackson, crumpled on the floor, ice spikes from the wall piercing his great steel armour and blood welling up from entry points. ¡®Ah, shit¡¯ I thought as the cold grasp on my heart intensified. Blackness followed soon after. Chapter 21 Chapter 21 ========= [John] ¡°No, Marcus!¡± I called, as he walked off ¡°For god¡¯s sake¡­¡± I whispered to myself as I jogged after him. ¡°John, its fine if you¡¯re too scared to take this chance, you¡¯ve always been a wimp. Too scared of mummy and daddy. Never mind, this is our one chance to get into the life, to get out of this backwater town that¡¯s been holding me back all my life. I¡¯m meant for better than this¡± Fuck off I thought to myself. He¡¯s a mega prick but he was from the village. And everyone here was family, it was too small not to be. So being one of the few other boys my age meant we were automatically friends. And friends had each other¡¯s backs. ¡°Marcus!¡± I shouted after him as he continued to walk away. ¡°This is madness, its an unknown dungeon for Christ sake, it could be way out of our abilities. I know you¡¯ve had a bit of training from the guardsmen but we¡¯re not warriors, we¡¯re farmers. You know how obsessed I am with being an adventurer but get some sense into that skull of yours. We could die, and then where will you be. I know the priestesses of Deva say there¡¯s life beyond our eternal slumber but come on¡­ are you willing to chance it?¡± ¡°Oh, grow up John, what¡¯s life without a bit of risk, besides that old codger Sigurd got in and out alive, and with the other boys we¡¯ll be perfectly safe. Mik is over at the blacksmith getting some scrap iron for the spears and Indry is gonna nick us a shield from the guardsmen¡¯s backup supply. We¡¯ll be fine, there¡¯s riches waiting for us and I for one am not leaving without my fair share. Especially as once the guild comes, you know we¡¯re gonna have to go through the training. A little experience and moneys gonna go a long way to getting us back in there. Now you coming or you gonna piss about, wetting your bed and dithering like a little girl? Or you gonna seize the day like a man. Even if you ain¡¯t got the muscle for one.¡± He said laughing as he strolled off. Oh, for fucks sake I thought to myself, hurrying to catch up again. ¡°I think this is the most stupid foolhardy thing you¡¯ve ever done Marcus, but I¡¯ll be damned if I leave you to die in this stupid dungeon. I¡¯m coming¡± ¡°Ah, good, now let¡¯s meet up with the guys.¡± ¡°What now?¡± ¡°Yeah, we can head up there for this evening, eat outside and be back in bed before sun-up.¡± ¡°Well, let me tell my parents ill be out late with you and not to wait up. I¡¯ll meet you guys by the exit of town.¡± ¡°Ok, don¡¯t chicken out my feathered friend he said laughing as he wandered off. ¡°Dickhead¡± I muttered under my breath as I set about my business. ***1 hr later*** I approached the gate with nervous apprehension, yet stifled excitement. As much as I knew that this was a stupid stupid idea, the fact that I was just a short few hours from stepping inside a dungeon filled me with excitement, my heart pounding in my chest. I approached the others, raising my hand in greeting. ¡°Right, everyone here then?¡± Marcus asked rhetorically. ¡°Good, let¡¯s go.¡± He continued waving his hand forward as a general commands his troops. We set off, myself trailing the rest as we walked into the woods that ran around the edges of the fields belonging to farmer Smythe. The wooded outcropping marked the edges of Littlebrook and the boys and I had spent many a summer making dens and treehouses in the clustered groves of trees that grew out here. Not spread apart like the forests of old but clusters here and there of densely packed trees gave the woods an open feeling despite the oppressive canopy that loomed above us. Yet in the still midday hour our band of would be adventurers forged through the woods, past the little picket fence where the Jenkins girls had decided to build a playhouse. Shortly lived that had been I thought to myself remembering their expressions as they tripped over the debris of the forest floor and muddied up their dresses. They weren¡¯t too keen after that, I reminisced laughing to myself.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. As we wandered past a particularly familiar grove, I spotted the remnants of the den that Daniel and I had built during the Littlebrook challenger games. A few years ago now, the boys had all decided to compete in a marvellous set of games we had dreamt up and the den was the remains of those long forgotten days when we could play around and cause untold havoc. Alas, things changed, and we grew up, responsibilities took hold and Daniel had had to move away with his pa after the merchant family his father had worked as a guard for moved their headquarters to the other side of the world. Better trades apparently but I wouldn¡¯t know about such things. It was beyond me and I didn¡¯t particularly care to learn about it. Merchanting was not for me. I sighed as I remembered the familiar sights of my youth. ¡°Catch up John, you¡¯re falling behind, didn¡¯t think you were this weak¡± one of the younger lads Marcus had recruited shouted at me. One of the twins though I never could tell which. I hurried along, not wanting to give them any more ammunition to mock me with. Truth be told I had felt the boys all pulling away from me a bit, or perhaps we were growing apart as our lives took hold, I was more interested in helping pa on the fields and looking after ma than hanging out with them and I liked listening and talking with Sigurd when I had free time. Perhaps when the adventurers arrived in droves for this new dungeon, we would all be pulled in more and more directions until we lost touch with each other. Sad, but I found myself looking forward to it. Slowly the hours passed as I continued to think deeply, and the plodding of my feet carried me onwards, though I didn¡¯t tarry any longer for fear of giving the boys another in. And as the terrain took a decidedly more uphill nature we slowed naturally. The sight of my first dungeon should have filled me with awe and excitement yet neither was there. Fear of the unknown and hope for the riches that lay inside were not there either. Instead it was the feeling of helplessness that gripped my heart. Not in a bad way but rather in that my path was set. The hands of fate had passed the hour, the arm had thrown the stone and there was nothing I could do to reverse it. Time could not wind back the clock and the stone would never return to the hand that was yet to toss. So too, would it be that I would never step back out of this dungeon as I was. For better or worse I knew not and strangely the knowledge that everything was about to change was decidedly unimpressive and underwhelming. Just as there and as unnoteworthy as the next heartbeat. And perhaps just as important as said heartbeat but just as unnoticed as well. Either way my path lay before me and I would willingly take the steps that led to my future, whatever that may be. But first? Food. Braving the unknown took a hearty constitution and food was the first step. We set our packs down in front of the entrance and pulled out some food. I had brought some of ma¡¯s delicious cheese sandwiches. The cheese, a product from the beastkin territory to who we lived quite close, the sauce made from the dried crushed root of the racka plant that grew in the heartlands that surrounded the capital, the bread fresh from her ovens. Delightful, and certainly filling enough to take on the world, or at least the world under the ground that sat before us. Deep in my musings I looked around observed my surroundings, taking everything in. The dungeon entrance sat peacefully off to my right, the path that wound up the steep cliffs and bluffs that took us here fell away to my left and the jagged outcroppings of rock straight in front of me. Off to the side of those rocky formations I saw a small pile of items, studying them closer I determined they were the things the adventurers that Sigurd had brought back had left behind, not too useful in a delve I guess. I refrained from telling the others what I had seen as I wouldn¡¯t put it past them to have a gander at the pile. This plan was silly enough without pissing off the strongest most useful people for miles around. Shortly we all finished eating and packed everything up. Staring down at the entrance made it all seem real and I noticed I wasn¡¯t the only one with misgivings, this might not go well. ¡°Here we are lads.¡± Marcus started. This sounded like the beginnings of a speech and as he started to drone on I began to switch off. ¡°We¡¯re here, ready to take the world by storm, we are owed what is inside we are¡­ ours to take¡­ fight¡­t¡­l¡­z¡­g¡­a¡­¡± I zoned out pretty quickly, it was an easy skill to master when Marcus was your best friend. About five minutes later I saw the tell-tale signs he was finishing up and snapped out of the trance I was in. This was it. I was about to live the dream, entering my first dungeon. I should have been excited but I wasn¡¯t. I was scared terrified even. The apathy from earlier had disappeared, replaced by the fear of the dungeon, its imposing black gate of mist and rough shod arch that marked the entrance and the portal through which my life would change. ¡°Here we go boys, its time!¡± Marcus bellowed as we walked forwards. ¡°Oh god¡± I muttered as I took my first steps into the swirling black of the entrance. Chapter 22 Chapter 22 ========== [Jenna] (Floor 7) My mana was used up and I was exhausted, I felt like a shrivelled-up prune, like when you wash up the dishes and your hands go all wrinkly and gross but on the inside. Foremost of my desires was the one telling me to curl up beside a roaring fire in a soft bed piled high with soft linen and bouncy pillows and fluffy duvets that I could burrow under and hide. Mother always compared me to a ferret, and I couldn¡¯t help but agree, burrowing under was fun and the soft sheets made for terrific fun. But I wouldn¡¯t be burrowing now but sleeping, that was all I could think about as the burn of another mana potion ripped down y throat and set my belly on fire as the raw mana surged through my veins carrying with it the suffusing energy that brought tears to my eyes. I wiped at them, couldn¡¯t let that happen, frozen tears hurt like a bitch as I had found out to my detriment but moments ago. That lovely warmth that heated my belly got channelled out of my core and down my shrivelled washer women hands burning like molten metal as I pressed my fingers to the blood-soaked armour of my companions. As the last of the healing spells took hold I screamed and collapsed as the agony released me. God-damn it hurt, and I cried in relief as a few moments passed and I could catch my breath. Darkness loomed on the horizon of my vision and I trusted my teammates enough to let it take me in its comforting embrace and then I knew nothing as unconscious claimed me. ========== [John] (Floor 1) I felt my foot give out before I saw anything, my head still in the black mist saw nothing as the floor that was suddenly there vanished replaced by an icy slope that dragged me down. Whilst my conscious mind was screaming ¡®you¡¯ve been had, some horrible monster has got you and its gonna drag you down, tear your face off and devour your still warm remains while dancing a merry jig at your foolish demise¡¯, my subconscious mind was far more in control and knew that I had just slipped down the stairs. It being sensible and not at all like my idiot self that was panicking over dancing wolves dropped the spear and put my hands out to catch myself before my rump landed on the hard stone and bruised me. Thank you subconscious thank you. I still slid down the stairs making small grunts as each stair knocked me around, but at least I was still kind of in control of myself, unlike the others who had slightly less competent subconscious minds. The twins, Indra and Ardoi both toppled to the ground in a comical fashion each managing to cushion the others blow as they found themselves in a rather hilarious position. I smirked in laughter as I looked over them. ¡°Gosh, I didn¡¯t know you swung that way bros, you know I wouldn¡¯t have minded, none of us would. You should have told us you were into that. I mean its not normal and with your twin is a bit messed up, but what are friends for.¡± I laughed out loud at that as Marcus stood up from the grass below, I hadn¡¯t seen what had become of him but it was a darn sight better that the twins who pushed off each other with reckless abandon accidentally kneeing each other in their private places as they rushed to get out of it. Needless to say, we laughed even more at that. ========== [Lorelei] (Floor 7) I sighed in frustration, I now had three unconscious bodies to look after, Jackson and Sigurd and now Jenna. And I had no help either. Kael being Kael was useless and had wandered off to explore and Sebastien had gone down the paths to the bottom to join him. Scouting the next floor they were, I called it messing around and irresponsible, but Seb was the leader and we had all agreed with it. So, here I was, stuck in the cold with three dead weights who I had to keep dry and warm and unstuck from the ice. Great, this was so what I had in mind when we started. I cast another fire aura on the three to keep them warm and sighed as I thought back while waiting for them to wake up. As I came upon the scene on the icy platform, fire melted ice leading my way, I saw the yeti first. Piercing eyes and snarling anger coated in a shaggy white coat. It roared in fury as blood sprayed from its wrist. Jackson had been batted to one side and I could see the blood leaking out of his armour from where the ice spikes had cut into him. I refocused on the fight as Sigurd slid away, his axe falling from his hand as the yeti knocked it away. Sebastien launched himself at the yeti and I cancelled my cast in order to protect him. A few moments later I had my chance, as Seb disengaged I cast my fireball aiming it over Sigurd and watched as the fur shrivelled and burned up revealing the tough skin behind it. As the yeti stumbled back Sigurd took the opportunity to get closer and a few bloody moments later it was over. I winced as I saw the back of the little man. Raw and bloody like the slaves in the bazaar in Mors Carsis I had seen as a little girl. The Morsin empire to the south was ruled by the slavers imperium that provided cheap labour and bloody death to the lords of the cities. I shivered at the memories and calmed my mind to forget falling into a meditative trance. ========== [John] (Floor 1) As we reorganised ourselves at the bottom of stairs, I looked around the floor for the first time. It was a grassy floor that took me by surprise. Nothing I had ever read or talked to Sigurd about resembled this. Most dungeons were short narrow corridors and sloping dirt tunnels that lead to confined rooms packed with monsters. The fights would be tough, but you knew where they would come from. But an open floor, I was worried. ¡°Um, this is weird, I¡¯ve never heard of a dungeon having open floors so early on. Sure, there are rumours of ancient dungeons having big caverns later on but its just rumours, and soooo far away from what we can handle. Marcus, you sure we should continue?¡± I asked hesitantly. ¡°Oh, stop being a pussy John, we¡¯ll be fine. We¡¯ve got weapons that can kill and a big group of us. You shouldn¡¯t be so worried. Right let¡¯s go boys, there¡¯s treasure waiting for us.¡± They cheered and we set off in search of fortune. The thick grasses of the cavern provided more resistance than I would have thought. Unlike the fields of wheat that the farmers grew in Littlebrook and that my friends and I used to play in, the grasses here were all matted and interwoven providing far more of an obstruction than the neatly ordered rows of crop that went in our bellies. Sharp thorns dug through my clothing and stabbed into my skin. Pushing through the grass caused the thorns to cut me slightly and I could feel the blood droplets rolling down my legs, slowly soaking the cloth trousers and causing them to stick to my legs. It wasn¡¯t anything dangerous though, so I ignored it. When we reached about a third of the way into the room, it opened up further revealing more of the droopy trees that glistened under the soft light. Over to the left of the group, the ground sloped down slightly, and the walls curved around making it seem like the tree that grew there was a centrepiece of this small subsection. As the grasses got closer to the tree they declined in length, just enough to reveal a wooden chest sitting under the tree, peacefully. Innocent and unassuming. ¡°Ooohhhh, loot!!!!¡± Mik yelled, rushing through the grasses in his haste to get to the chest.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Mik!!!!¡± we yelled after him, worried. ========== [Sebastien] (Floor 7) With Jackson and Sigurd all healed up and Jenna joining them in slumber, I decided to go and join Kael. He needed to learn not to rush off again, perhaps that fact that two of his teammates were currently unconscious would mean it would finally sink in for him. ¡°Hey lore.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going down to have a word with Kael and scout out the next floor, can you look after these three, you know keep them warm and alive.¡± ¡°ugh, really?¡± ¡°Lore¡­¡± I said putting as much disapproval in my tone as possible. ¡°Ah, fine, fine. Off you go.¡± She responded. ¡°Thanks Lorelei¡± ¡°Lore¡± she corrected me. I laughed and slid down the path to join Kael. The ice was rougher here and as I slid I saw a wicked looking spike trap further over, this was a tricky floor, and I had never seen anything like it. The others had said it but it was true, this truly was an odd dungeon, though potentially a very profitable one. Not just from the treasures found inside. But with how unique it was there would be adventurers aplenty ready to try it out once the guild got the information and it became public knowledge. This one might set me up for life. I smiled at the thought, retirement was not on the cards for anytime soon, I lived for this. Now we just had to find the bottom floor - it shouldn¡¯t be much further - and then get out again. ¡°Kael!¡± I yelled ¡°Yo, Seb. Check this out¡± Kael called back to me. He was standing at an archway at the centre of the room that led into what appeared to be the next floor. You certainly couldn¡¯t call it the next stage for it was the biggest room we had seen by far. A fricking ocean, this dungeon had a fricking ocean. ¡°What the fuck!¡± I exclaimed, all thoughts of having a word with Kael wiped out by the sight of the next floor. ¡°I know it¡¯s just ridiculous, what is up with this dungeon ay?¡± he questioned. That was the question, what on earth was up with this place. ========== [John] (Floor 1) Mik continued on, galloping towards the chest, heedless of our warnings. Yet nothing untoward happened and he reached the chest without trouble. Seeing him, safe the rest of us charged over to see what he had found. Hearing him exclaim in glee as we grew closer. Inside the chest was a fine leather bracer, inscribed with runic patterns, and though it didn¡¯t have any enchantments it was as fine a piece as any to be found in Little brook, scattered around the chest were a few copper coins and once divvied up everyone got two coins, Mik got three for finding the chest and Marcus claimed the bracer for himself since it was his idea to enter the dungeon. I didn¡¯t care enough to protest and was happy with my two copper. A few more and I would have earned enough for a week¡¯s work and if we sold the bracer, I¡¯m sure we¡¯d all get a few more. Though somehow, I doubted that Marcus would be selling it, or if he did, that we would receive any of the coins from the sale. Moving on, we pressed through the grasses again, getting cut a few more times as we searched for more treasure. It took only a few minutes of wading through the grasses before we spotted the next chest and this time, they all ran ahead trying to get there first. I didn¡¯t, everything Sigurd had ever told me about dungeons told me it was a stupid idea. And I was proved correct shortly as Indra fell over with a loud scream. I rushed through the grasses trying to reach him as the others continued onwards oblivious in their pursuit of treasure. The extent of Indra¡¯s injuries became apparent as I neared him, and once again it was laugh out loud funny. I was just glad no-one was seriously hurt. Indra had stood on a hedgehog, the spines, stuck through his boot and into his foot, he was injured, and walking home wouldn¡¯t be easy, but he was fine. When we re-grouped, I received four more coppers bringing my total to six and I noticed another piece of leather armour on Marcus, a glove this time. I frowned upon seeing it but said nothing about it. ¡°Indra stood on a hedgehog, so I suggest we head back, we¡¯ve made some money so let¡¯s head home before anyone else gets hurt.¡± I said. They laughed at that, Lets just dump him at the entrance and continue onwards, there¡¯s plenty more treasure here and we¡¯ve yet to even get in a fight. You¡¯re cool with that right Indra?¡± his brother asked. ¡°Course, bring me back some coins bro, we ain¡¯t stopping yet.¡± I sighed, raising my hand in acquiescence. ========== [Sebastien] (Floor 7) The ocean before me was intimidating and as we watched the floor for a while, I noticed a few of the dangers in the floor. Just like the previous times there were monsters disguised as snow drifts on the icebergs that tracked across the water. This time though, there were no yeti¡¯s but some four-legged animal, I couldn¡¯t see exactly what from here as the floor stretched away from me. It must have been over a kilometre long and towards the other end of the room I could see something leap from the waters to come crashing down upon the ice blocks, sending a wave that rocked the platforms violently. As the wave travelled towards us it slowly calmed down until just the faintest ripple lapped against ice arch that Kael and I leant against. ¡°Did you see that Kael?¡± ¡°Yeah, worrying isn¡¯t it, who knows what lurks below these waters¡± he said peering over the edge and staring down into the blue depths. There was no bottom in sight. ¡°I¡¯m glad we¡¯ve had a look at this first, if that took us by surprise we would not have fared well¡± I said. ¡°Too true¡± he commented turning away to watch. ¡°Keep looking Kael, I¡¯m going to update my notes whilst we have time.¡± I said wandering off and opening up my notepad. The previous floors had some interesting mechanics and I wanted to write them down while they were still fresh in my mind. Especially because of the uniqueness of the current floor. It had taken us by surprise, and we had let our guard down, and now Jackson and Sigurd had been seriously injured. I felt responsible even though logically I knew that I wasn¡¯t. I sighed, rubbing my face in my hands. ¡°Seb!!!¡± Lorelei called to me. ¡°They¡¯re waking up¡± ¡°Alright, thanks Lore, I¡¯m coming up again.¡± I responded. ¡°Kael, keep watch¡± ¡°Sure¡± he replied. ¡°Thanks¡± I walked over to the stairs that were inset in the wall and climbed back to the top so that I could re-join Lorelei on the platform halfway. ========== [John] (Floor 1) Once we helped Indra out of the dungeon and set him up on the rocky seats just outside, we all headed back inside, excitement tense in the air, though we were being especially careful on the stairs this time around. It took us a few minutes before we spotted the next chest and whilst everyone was more cautious on their feet, making sure not to stand on any of the hedgehogs, we didn¡¯t keep aware of anything else. With an ear-splitting cry, a black blur swooped down from on high, diving at us with a speed I could barely follow. I ducked. And just in time too as the blur missed my head by inches and barrelled onwards towards Mik. He turned but it was too late, and the bird slashed at him as it passed, raking its talons through his head and cutting a chunk of hair out too. Mik stumbled backwards and fell, blood pouring from his skull as he went down. With a dull thunk he collapsed to the floor, moaning in pain. We approached slowly, fearful of what we would find. ¡°Oh god, oh god, what to we do, oh shit, shit shit shit. This is fucked Marcus, why the hell did you bring us here.¡± Ardoi panicked, Mik was not in a good way. Not only had the bird given him a haircut, but it had torn a chunk out of his skull, the bone impeding its talons to little effect as his brain was poking out like the straw from an overstuffed scarecrow, bloody and raw. I felt queasy and had to look away to keep from throwing up. Worse than the sight though was the smell, fresh brain smelled like hell and I could only imagine what it would be like after a few hours. Just thinking of it made me gag.I was very lucky that I had ducked. Very lucky indeed. Marcus, took one look and threw up, but to his credit he got it under control fairly quickly. ¡°Um, shit, right. John¡­ Uh¡­ John, grab his legs, Ardoi and I will each take a side of his body and we¡¯ll move him under that tree over there, once he¡¯s propped up we can see if there¡¯s anything we can do for him¡± he ordered, keeping the panic at bay. It helped, having something to do helped tremendously so we set about it. Carrying his as smoothly as we could given the tough grass that blocked our way. It was a struggle to lift him, let alone move him, I might be strong in the fields, but carrying a fully grown man through the grass was another matter and I felt the sweat begin to roll down my neck as my forearms cramped and my back started to protest the treatment. Lifting Mik was not like lifting a wooden beam, he bent in the middle meaning we had to lift him higher so that he wasn¡¯t being dragged all over the place and my body burnt with the strain of it. ¡°Nearly there, nearly there, nearly there¡± I panted under my breath to myself, forcing my body to do a bit more. Then I stumbled, my foot sliding in a muddy path on the edge of the grass that bordered the tree. Dropping Mik¡¯s legs I extended my hands to catch myself and I swore in embarrassment. ¡°John you oaf¡± Marcus cursed at me as he stood up, still carrying Mik. ¡°Sorry¡± I gasped as I knelt down to grab his ankles again. A soft whistle, like an elderly grandmother sighing, carried by the breeze graced my ears and then the splash of something warm all over my back made me stop, stock still. I glanced up in time to see Marcus¡¯s head roll off his shoulders and disappear into the grass with a rustle and a splat. His body tumbled to its knees and then not its side with a muffled thump, like a sack of potatoes. I screamed in sheer terror and the tree groaned as if in amusement as the blood soaked branches that had just decapitated my friend slid forwards again around the body of Ardoi -stood petrified in fright ¨C before yanking him back into the trunk with enough force that I heard the crack of his spine. ¡°Oh god, No!¡± I cried as I scrambled back, running for the exit with terror etched into my face. ¡°No¡± tears ran down my cheeks and my breath hitched as I sobbed. I left Mik and ran for it, slowing only once I got to the stairs. I turned back to the room, knowing it had been foolish. I felt guilty. Why did I go along with this bullshit, why did Marcus rile me up enough? I knew it was stupid, I knew I should have told the others, but I went along with it. ¡°fuck¡± ¡°SHIT!!!!¡± I screamed at the room, crying my eyes out at the death of three of my friends. This wasn¡¯t supposed to happen. ¡°Why am I such a fucking coward, stupid pathetic coward¡± I berated myself as I slumped to a crouch on the stairs and cried my eyes out. Chapter 23 Chapter 23 ========== [Dungeon] When the group of adventurers entered the ice level, I felt immense anticipation, how would they react to the slides, would they die. I¡¯d only ever killed one other adventurer, the mysterious man from a while back. I was looking forward to my next one though as the rush I had felt was astonishing. Intoxicating. I wasted the next few moments thinking back to that moment and I missed some of their conversation. I phased back in as I watched Kael turn around and slide down the slope, seemingly without thought. As he glided forwards standing on his two feet like it was solid ground navigating the turns and twists with supernatural ease, I was annoyed. When he stopped at the platform and then hopped over two channels and glided down the next set of tubes, I was furious. How the fuck did the man miss all of the traps. Of all the goddamn lucky son¡­ I ranted to myself. In the end though, my ranting was cut off as I felt another sharp pounding cut through my mind. Oooohhh I thought, someone new has come to visit. Racing up through the floors my mental presence caught them as they fell down the stairs, in a clattering jumble of limbs until they landed on top of each other. I cackled to myself. Yes, the stairs were the best. Hahahahaha. Once they sorted themselves out, they looked around in wonder at my first floor. I felt extremely proud and I couldn¡¯t wait to turn their wonder into horror, I licked my metaphysical lips at the thought. As they pushed through the thick grasses, I could see them wincing a lot. They were a group of five young boys, and clearly very inexperienced in a dungeon as they had no awareness at all as they pushed forwards. Except for perhaps one, who stayed at the back. He was a tall lad, taller than the others by at least half a head, though skinny as a bean pole. He had dark brown hair and a freckled pattern around his eyes that made him seem slightly like a racoon. He seemed more timid than the others, like a mouse who knows the cheese is good, but that there might be some sort of trap. The others had none of his worries though as they laughed jolly as can be and pushed through. When they reached the end of the first set of walls, they paused a moment before one of them shouted ¡°loot¡± and ran off. A shorter fellow, apparently called Mik, or at least I assumed so, the others shouted that after him as he ran off. As he ran towards said loot, I looked over the tree, hoping it was the killer sort. Continuing my run of bad luck, it wasn¡¯t, and it wasn¡¯t long before the group had taken their first ¡®loot¡¯ splitting it evenly¡­ish. Their de facto leader nicking the leather bracer that I had put inside. Though the others didn¡¯t seem so happy about it, they said nothing, and the group went on their way. I looked over the leader of the group, tall, not as tall as the mousy one, but tall enough and well built, he was strong and his personality matched, making the others follow with ease. He had smoky blond hair that was cut short, with a few misbegotten strands, sticking out at random. A nice leather bracer now adorned his spear arm, protecting him. As they forged on, in pursuit of more of my loot I sank back through the floors to check on the other group. ¡°Argghhhhhhhhhh!!!!¡± a scream of pain, resounded, echoing out through the floors. It was a scream of anger and pain, melded into a furious battle chant. Sigurd was busy hacking into a flailing yeti with two daggers whilst Jenna was focusing on healing his split open back, Jackson was unconscious on the floor, next to a big ice spike wall with a large dent in his chest piece and blood leaking out from the joints in the plate armour. Kael was trying to climb up the icy ramp to get back to the floor, but it was hopeless as he kept sliding back down again. Preternatural agility he may have but he was stuck with the same non-grippy shoes as the rest of them. I laughed as he once more slid back down, throwing the little pickaxe away in anger. With a plop it slid through the archway and into the ocean of the next floor. With a final roar, the yeti ceased its breathing, the dark blood spitting out of its mouth as its choking last breath rattled out. A good fight. A very good fight. Checking on the other group, I realised they had found another chest and that one of their number had disappeared. It confused me because I hadn¡¯t noticed him die, until I realised that he had been injured somehow and taken to rest outside of the entrance. The others pushed on, seemingly unwary. I concluded that he had hurt himself in a silly way and that they didn¡¯t know about the trees. So, I sat back to wait for a while. It was a surprise to me that what got them first wasn¡¯t stumbling into the killer trees in search of loot, but it was the eagle. Swooping down, graceful and silent he lunged, talons outstretched. Just skimming past the tall one, it clawed at the one they called Mik, taking a chunk of its head with it as the eagle swooped by. I laughed as they freaked out. The blood raining on the floor energising me. As the man lay dying, I could feel the slightest trickle of life energy feeding me. The others panicked and I laughed to myself even more. They picked him up, by his feet and arms, and waddled like penguins over to the nearest tree. The grass and brambles pulled and tore at the dying mans clothes and flesh and made their work in moving him all the harder. As they reached the boundary of the tree the tall one - john - slipped, his feet sliding forward as he tipped over backwards. It was perhaps good fortune as he fell out of the attacking radius of the tree, which quick as a whip took off the leader¡¯s head, slashing through his neck with ease. I laughed in joy as it fell to the floor with a wet slapping sound before rolling away a few feet. Perhaps it was a bit too sharp¡­ I thought for a few moments while it killed the other one. Nah, it¡¯s just about right I decided. As the death of the three individuals arrived, I felt the bliss creep through my body, bathing me in the energies. I smiled, relaxing as the mana suffused me, I loved killing, it felt so good. John ran from the floor, tears streaming down his face as he wept on the entrance steps. ¡°Five entered, two get to leave. Three stuck down in the realm beneath, their essence sucked up with a joyous smile, killing feels good, I do it with a smile¡± I sang to myself. After relaxing for a bit, I thought to check on the other group and discovered that they were all up again and healed up, although Jackson¡¯s chest plate had had to be removed because of the dent. When the yeti had hit him it had dented the metal into the mans ribs so that it could no longer be worn after he was healed.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. They carried it with them, even though it slowed them down. And I wondered how they were going to tackle the next room whilst lugging it around. Gathered at the archway leading to the next floor, they waited for some unknown signal. ¡°alright, go!¡± ========== [Sigurd] (floor7/8) Sebastian watched the waters, waiting for the slightest ripple in the dead calm waters. So smooth and clear that the mirror like surface reflected me in perfect clarity. There was something about ultra-calm waters that seemed cold, the reflections of the icy ceiling didn¡¯t help too much, and it gave the water a whitish glow instead of a warm blue, adding to the frozen feel. Lorelei¡¯s fire aura was a godsend, but it still barely prevented the chill from sinking bone deep. I shivered, feeling the cold flow down my nape as the collar of my cuirass lifted, letting the frigid air pour in. Sebastien straightened up ¡°alright, go!¡± he commanded, jumping onto the first icy block. To my great relief it didn¡¯t move, no rocking or shifting in the slightest. Kael jumped over with ease and Lorelei and Jenna held each other as they stepped over, Lorelei catching Jenna as her feet slid on the icy surface. Jackson and I following, the big man taking just one step whilst I managed with a short hop. As before there was no movement and we shuffled over to the edge before moving on to the next platform. It was a few platforms later when the first issue presented itself in the form of a bird. We had just jumped our first gap, when from the heavens the bird swooped at us, luckily it went at Kael and the man managed to twist out of the way with ease, letting the bird continue till it crashed into the ice, cracking a large section. ¡°Blimey, that¡¯s a shocker¡± he said, pulling the bird from the floor. It squawked I shock until he tipped it upside down, at which point it quieted down. ¡°How¡¯d you know that would work?¡± I asked. ¡°oh, dad was a chicken farmer, it¡¯s a well-known trick to keeping them calm and quiet. Though you have to be careful, if they¡¯ve just eaten, the food dribbles back out if you keep them upside down a while, smells and looks fowl, heh.¡± He said raising his eyebrows. I snorted at the pun. ¡°The more you know¡± I commented. Sebastien took a closer look at the bird, pointing out a few of its features. ¡°You see the bill?¡± we nodded ¡°It¡¯s short and stubby, backed up into its face, and the bony head supports it, allowing it to crash into us with ease. Its ingenious really. See the wings? How swept back they are? When it crashes, they can be held next to the body and kept out of harm¡¯s way.¡± ¡°Well, lets keep an eye on the sky, I think if you got knocked off the ice by one, it¡¯d be a job to try and save you. And we¡¯re out of healing potions too.¡± Sebastien said before leading us off to the next platform. It was two more platforms before we encountered our first fight, we stopped one jump away from it and Kael pointed it out for us. ¡°You see the snow pile, its another monster, we¡¯ve got a bigger platform and the dungeon has liked to hide its monsters as snow drifts, probably another yeti hidden in plain sight.¡± ¡°You sure?¡± Jenna asked not convinced. ¡°yeah, saw it move not a minute ago. It¡¯s a damn good disguise and if we hadn¡¯t encountered any so far, I would have discounted it. Looking for threats from the sky or the sea would keep us distracted enough that maybe you¡¯d miss it.¡± ¡°This dungeon¡¯s a tricky one, god help anyone not experienced coming in before our report makes it to the guild.¡± Sebastien commented before continuing. ¡°Right, Jackson and Sigurd same plan as that first yeti. Jackson, take the first blow, Sigurd you take the legs down. Ill sneak behind it and deal damage, just make sure to keep its attention. Kael, Lorelei long range, when Jackson and Kael split apart funnel the damage between them. Jenna, heal Jackson unless one of us is in trouble, he¡¯s got no protection for his front right now so he¡¯s more vulnerable.¡± We all nodded. ¡°Right, plan set, let¡¯s hope it doesn¡¯t go to hell. Jackson¡­ Lead the way.¡± We hopped over the gap and got ready to fight. Adrenalin rushed through my veins and the beast stood up with a roar. ========== [Dungeon] They arrayed themselves around the polar bear, obviously aware of the beast. Their experiences on the previous levels teaching them well. Stepping forward Jackson slammed his shield into the bear as it stood roaring. Before moving right slightly. As the creature followed him, Sigurd darted forward spinning to the left and driving his axe through the right foreleg of the bear. As it tripped the bear lashed out catching the edge of the shield and sending Jackson sliding back and spinning. Lorelei and Kael took the opportunity to blast the bear with fire and arrows that roasted off the fur and stuck in the flesh like the quills on a porcupine. The stream of fire ended and revealed a slightly singed Sebastien and a very singed bear. Regaining his footing, Jackson flew back in, bashing the bear in the head with the edge of his shield and knocking it to its side, the foreleg not strong enough to stop it rolling. The collision with the beast forced Jackson off his feet as he fell on top of the it. Roaring with ear deafening loudness the bear rolled more on its back and clawed him up with its hind legs, snapping at him with its jaws as well. Unfortunately for me, but I suppose fortunately for them, Jackson was just out of reach of the grasping mouth, though he did get slashed a few times with the claws on its hind legs. Sebastien emerged from behind the fight and drove his sword through the bears skull ending its fight with a single blow. I sighed, another good fight. When this team were on it, they were extremely good, far too good for the current monsters. I would have to build the remaining fire levels soon, because I was doubting that the ice would stop them. Standing up, Jackson got a quick heal from Jenna and collected his shield that had been knocked away in his tussle. ¡°Good fight everyone.¡± Sebastien commented. ¡°Now, who wants to cut it open?¡± to which no-one replied. ¡°O¡­Kay. Who wants to cut it open knowing they get first choice of any prize found?¡± He asked, providing more incentive. ¡°Go on then.¡± Sigurd responded, patting the dead bear. ¡°You¡¯d better have a nice surprise for me beastie¡± ========== [Sigurd] (floor 8) Elbow deep in animal guts was a familiar place for me, I wish it weren¡¯t. But, alas, it was. First you had to slice down the belly, opening it up from the dip at the front of the neck ¨C just between the clavicle bones ¨C to between the creatures¡¯ legs. Next you reached in with a short sharp blade and severed the throat and then pulled it all out, cutting what remained connected at the other end once it was all out. A quick look through it yielded no treasures so I kicked it off the platform and into the sea, wondering what would be eating that later. Up inside the animal, towards the head, where the heart was, usually just nestled behind was a mana core. Most creatures started forming them once their growth was done and they often were encased in layers of tendons and veins that allowed the mana that was absorbed to keep feeding the animal and allowing it to grow. This time was no exception and I dug around for a few minutes before locating it. Taking out my boning knife, I cleaned my arms in the icy waters and the cut up the legs before circling them at the feet. This would allow me to peel the pelt from the carcass and a super soft white pelt that I¡¯d never seen before would probably net me a very tidy profit. Things were looking up. ¡°Jesus, Sigurd, didn¡¯t know you knew how to butcher¡± Lorelei asked, open mouth at my skills. I felt pride. ¡°Yep, pa taught me ages ago, comes in useful when you encounter something like this. Though ill have to cut the section you ruined away, should still net me a decent profit though.¡± ¡°Hey, Sig?¡± Kael asked. ¡°You fancy cutting off a few steaks for us, I¡¯m up for some mystery bear meat tonight, Lore can cook it for us and I don¡¯t want any jerky and flatbread now.¡± ¡°Sure¡± I laughed, ¡°one sec.¡± Once I was done with the pelt and the meat for Kael, we kicked the carcass off the platform and lo and behold underneath was a treasure chest. ¡°Good lord, it keeps getting better!¡± I exclaimed, kneeling down to open it. Inside was a large purse of coins, mostly silver, as well as a steel bracer and pouldrons. There were a fe shiny gems and a couple ice mana crystals too. Pulling them out I showed the others. ¡°Look at this haul, you think these¡¯ll fit Jackson?¡± I asked. ¡°Hmm, maybe, give me a sec and I¡¯ll try them, it¡¯ll be good to have at least shoulder armour again.¡± ¡°Wow, that¡¯s a lot¡± Jenna remarked happily. Once we¡¯d split the loot, the pelt and mana core went to me as well as an equal share for the chest, and Jackson had fitted the Pouldrons we got ready to advance again. I was about to step onto the next platform when I heard a twang and a squawk, followed shortly after by a splosh. I glanced at Kael. ¡°Diving bird just came at us¡± he said in answer to my question. ¡°Nice shot¡± I replied before continuing on. Chapter 24 Chapter 24 ========== [Dungeon] As the bird plopped into the ocean, a small spray leapt up from the sea, smattering onto the edge of the platform and just missing the group. Nice shot indeed. As Kael took the lead again, he hopped over the platforms with ease, waiting each time as the others followed with far less grace. It was comical to watch. The next fight went much the same, with a little more speed and a little less damage, just a few more cuts and scraped to be healed. Another polar bear dead, though this time they didn¡¯t stop to loot it. Sebastien just jotted something down in his notebook and off they went again. It took them another few minutes until they reached the first platform where the path split, though first they had to fight another polar bear, though this time the bear was standing proud as they jumped onto the platform. With a rumbling roar that echoed around the room, the bear charged forward, actively attacking them instead of defensively protecting the chests that hid beneath their lumbering bodies. Unlike the previous fights though, this was required, and there was no rewarding chest buried in the ice. Just the ability to continue with the level. The bear charged forward, aiming for the fire mage, but Jackson managed to elbow her out of the way in time and the bear rammed into the shield instead, its teeth denting the metal and cutting large furrows like rows on a field as its teeth snapped shut. It growled in frustration and sent a paw flying at him, claws extended but the giant man was ready and switched his feet round, catching the paw on the shield as well. With his feet planted right he only slid back a few meters, but it was still very close to the edge. I didn¡¯t know whether or not I wanted to kill them. On one hand, hell yes, I did, killing them would be pleasure beyond words and the influx of energy from people so strong would fuel my growth for weeks. No energy absorbing and time wasting. But, on the other hand if they escaped then they would bring back far more adventurers and traffic to my dungeon. And more people meant more death, much much more death. And death was good for me. I thought smiling. A fireball flared into existence, bathing the bear in flames, that put off billowing black clouds of smoke as the fur crisped up and withered away in the intense heat. Aware of the danger of such reduced visibility, Jenna cast a wind spell in order to clear the air. Just in time too as the now balding bear charged forward, aiming for the leader, Sebastien. Taken by surprise he dove left trying to get out of the way but was sent spinning as the bear clipped his legs, opening up fresh wounds that bled so profusely that a smooth trail was left over the ice. Aware enough of his momentum carrying him to a wet cold grave, Sebastien cut into the ice with his sword, stopping him from sliding off, although his legs did dangle down into the water. A startled yelp sounded as the cold bit into his legs, though perhaps it numbed the nerves to the pain of the wounds for he didn¡¯t seem to show any pain as he hauled himself back on to the ice. Now hairless, the bear received a couple of arrows deep into its back and a compressed fireball that burnt a track across its shoulders. The steaming trench cauterised by the intense heat yet oozing still. With a shout, Sigurd swung his axe, cutting into the bears neck about halfway and driving it to the ice. With a stop from the big man on the back of the axe, the blade sunk through the bone like a guillotine, separating head from body. Another bear down and the path forward open. They were certainly doing well, though without Jenna they would surely be in a sorry state. It took them a few moments to get set up again and much to Sigurd and Jacksons amusement, Sebastien had to ask Lorelei to dry his trousers, meaning that he stood half naked on the ice for a while. When they were done, they crowded around the farther end of the platform and debated which way they would go. As I had designed it, there was one side that had smaller platforms that looked harder, but the other side were more wobbly. Up to this point all the icebergs had large flat surfaces and they didn¡¯t wobble when you walked on them. From here onwards though, you either had smaller platforms meaning the danger of getting nocked off increased or larger, wobbly ones that could be even more perilous if you weren¡¯t too steady on your feet. I wondered which way they would choose. If they went down the wobbly route, then they might encounter the secret room , though I doubted that the opening would be timed right for their passage, but watching them climb over the icy mound should be fun, who knew maybe they would slide into the deadly water.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. As it turns out they did choose the wobbly platforms, jumping over without caution. When the platform shifted dramatically at Jacksons weight they stopped, looking scared and quickly backtracked, unwilling to chance fighting on such unstable ground. It was the smaller platforms for them, and they jumped over much more carefully this time, though they looked relieved when the ice didn¡¯t move beneath their feet. Diving birds harried their progress making contact only once as Kael kept shooting them down with unerring accuracy. One only got through because two came at once and it slammed into Jacksons shield with a sad sounding clunk, before he kicked it off the ice with a small shuffle It slid over, barely reaching the end before toppling over. All in all, it was pathetic, but I would wait until a few more adventurers had experienced it before changing anything. This lot were not new at this and I wanted to see how the regular ones fared. The next few fights were also a bit more touch and go with the edges, but they won with only a light scratch here and there, barely and blood. The next path split was entirely arbitrary and only affected what the chests contained. Left went in favour of new equipment, and right in favour of money. They went right and by the time they reached the last few platforms they had accrued a significant sum of money. I was slightly peeved that they wouldn¡¯t get to experience the orcas this time, but it was hardly to be expected, Sebastien had noted something seemed off and had timed the run to perfection meaning that the orcas missed them entirely. Though, any facet they missed would surely be a nasty surprise later on and I was looking forward to it. The last fight went smoother than any before and they dispatched the bear without a single hiccup, not bothering to loot it but just pushing it whole into the icy depths in order to take the money hiding below. As the last jump was cleared without issue, I could almost feel them exhale in relief as firm ground greeted them once more. Slippery still, it was ice world after all, but it was solid with no gaps leading to death and decay. The archway was plain and as I watched them descend the stairs, I felt it could do with some touching up, perhaps a nice carved pattern or image to liven it up a bit. That was the thing about ice and snow, it was white, and whiteness was brilliant at covering up details and eventually it all became a bit bland, samey. I realised it had been quite a while since I had looked at the dungeon information and although not much had changed for me, lots of things had happened. All the adventurers coming in and nosing around had kept me plenty busy. Thinking menu and up it came.
Menu
Name ??? Race Dungeon
Titles _______ Renown Just Discovered +
Skills ^ 30
Rating 4A Level 50
Health 3451 Mana 100k/100k (100k for lvl up)
Knowledge 26,000 Dungeon points 18,612
Status ok Attunement E4, N3, I4, F1
Rooms 529 Floors 12+(2)
Bosses 2+(1) Monsters 2000
Creatures 99,132 Creature Types ^ 1478
Unique Items 9 Item Types ^ 355
There were a few changes, first was the plus mark after just discovered, presumably meaning that although the world didn¡¯t know I existed yet, more people had found me. My ice attunement had gone up one grade and I had a few more items, checking quickly they were as I suspected the makeshift spears and clothes from the young boys that had thought to steal my treasure. Burning the clothes and spears set that right, I didn¡¯t need their tat clogging me up. Most importantly though I had reached one hundred thousand mana and I could level up. Although I wasn¡¯t sure if I wanted to just yet. If I levelled up, I would have no mana to work with and with Sigurd and his adventurer pals delving ever closer to my core I wanted something to keep in reserve. Besides, I still wanted to build my fire floors once they went to sleep and I would burn through a huge chunk of the mana doing that. After pondering it for a good while, eventually I decided not to level up. As the part continued down the stairs, I idly noticed that I had lost a lot of monsters as they rampaged through my dungeon and the natural ecosystem wasn¡¯t actively replacing them. Since no one else had gotten anywhere though I was going to leave it to repopulate for now, but it was something to be wary of once things got crowded. Apart from that I had a few more points to spend in the store for special items and more knowledge, though what that really meant I hadn¡¯t yet worked out. As they reached the next floor, I settled in to observe them, eager to see what they thought of my mirrors. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

========== [Sigurd] The stairs were just as icy as before, but it seemed we had grown more familiar with the terrain as it took barely five minutes to reach the entrance to the next level. This time, what greeted me upon descending the last step didn¡¯t fill me with shock, awe and apprehension. No, this time, what greeted me gave me a relaxing familiar hug as a narrow tunnel stretched away from me. I sighed in relief. There was a sense of closeness and safety that being in a tunnel gave off. With a huge cavern, an attack could come from anywhere and you had to stay alert in all directions, you couldn¡¯t just focus on what was coming up. Less to focus on, less to be distracted by, more safety, especially for the support like Jenna. Behind the shield of Jackson, she was safe, and monsters would have to get through the front-line fighters to reach her. With a cavern that was not the case. There were also only choices on where to go when you reached a fork in the path, but with a cavern you could go anywhere, see anything, do more and see more. Frankly, it was overwhelming, most everything about this dungeon was overwhelming. So, the sight of a narrow tunnel that restricted all of these things was a breath of fresh air. However, the fact that this was the dungeons first level like this raised the question of why? What was different now? What was the trick with this floor? I wondered to myself. It seemed the others were also wondering this. Because Sebastien soon talked to us. ¡°Everyone, stop a sec¡­¡± He commanded. ¡°It¡¯s a tunnel now¡± ¡°Yep, like normal¡± Kael muttered back ¡°So, something is probably up with it? Some trap or quirk that¡¯s gonna be really dangerous. So, we need to be especially aware until we uncover it. Ok?¡± he said nodding to himself as if puzzling it out then and there. I nodded and the others replied similarly. He smiled. ¡°Things are getting harder now and if the dungeon continues for a while then we¡¯re gonna turn back. We really aren¡¯t prepared for a hardcore delve so I¡¯m not gonna push the boat out too far the first time. Frankly, I get the feeling that we¡¯re not gonna complete it this time anyway. Which is good, as a group we¡¯ve been searching for another dungeon to project and this one is unique enough and out of the way enough that it won¡¯t be too crowded for a while.¡± He continued. ¡°Sounds good¡± Jackson replied in his gruff voice. ¡°Yep¡± lore chimed in. Jenna just nodded in her typical quiet manner, and I kept silent as well, not knowing if I was included in the proposal for further delving. I felt like it was going well enough that I might be invited, but I sure as hell wasn¡¯t going to invite myself. That was not for me. Taking our first steps felt like bursting a balloon, our conversation at the entrance having increased the pressure enough that I was nervous. But, as soon as we walked forwards, I felt that excited adrenaline rush that always accompanied exploring a dungeon surge through me. I relaxed and embraced it, knowing that an enhanced state of perception would soon fall over me, like a soft blanket. Sure enough it did, and the group fell into formation and marched onwards. The icy floor slowed our progress, but thankfully, as with the other floors, the ice was roughed up enough, or coated with snow deep enough, to ensue sufficient grip to walk on, though the ever-present threat of slipping was there. The ceiling was of a rough rocky nature and it blended seamlessly with the white reaching tendrils of snow that climbed up the walls in irregular patterns, as if some spell had frozen the floor in an icy bath. The first chamber we entered was empty and it presented the option of three different paths, one that climbed off to the right, another that sloped downwards to the left and then curved back to the right a short while later, the rest of the path being obscured by the tight turn. The last path went straight forwards, with no elevation change, before gently curving left so as to prevent us seeing beyond the tunnel. Sebastien decided that we were going left, and we tentatively descended, hesitant with the slope. I thought it could be a trap that would slide us to our doom, but it wasn¡¯t, and we soon reached the turn that would bring us out of view from that initial chamber. Upon rounding the corner, we faced a short stretch of tunnel before another chamber, though this time the chamber wasn¡¯t empty. Yellow glaring eyes stared us down, oozing hatred and anger. Stark vertical slashes cut through the yellow, looking like portals to another world. They were big eyes, and the dark coat of whatever they belonged to showed harsh and patchy against the empty white background. From so far away I couldn¡¯t distinguish its form, though I was taken aback at just the eyes. A raw malevolence exuded from them that shocked me and I was nervous. I hadn¡¯t ever been so nervous in this dungeon as I was now, and I couldn¡¯t put my finger on it. Sebastien stopped us as we got closer in, within twenty-five metres of the cat, I could see it was a cat now. It had black fur, dark as night, interspersed with sharp white metallic spines, like those of a porcupine. A cat porcupine cross over, I thought to myself almost snorting aloud. It stalked backwards and forwards, never taking its eyes off us as it glared its menacing glare. ¡°Right, its gonna be fast as most cats are and those spines look wicked sharp so make sure to avoid them. Jenna stay just inside the doorway on the left, Lorelei on the right and reign support. Jackson, I want you to charge forward and engage it, the rest of us will follow. You need to be the biggest threat so as to force it to engage you first. Because it¡¯s so fast, it¡¯s important that you draw agro otherwise it could get at one of the girls.¡± ¡°Sure, thing Seb¡± Jackson responded, and we all agreed. ¡°Right, good. Sigurd, I want you to circle to the left to stop it rounding on us to get to the girls and I¡¯ll take right. Kael, you follow Jackson through so that you¡¯re in the middle, but make sure to stay left a bit so that Lore can reign down fire on it.¡± ¡°Got it¡± ¡°Ok¡± the big man said once it was clear Sebastien was done, ¡°On my mark.¡± ¡°3¡± ¡°2¡± ¡°1¡± ¡°Go¡± Jackson roared and charged forwards. What followed his tremendous bellow, was a lesson in trickery and blood. A reminder that plans can be defeated and that all the prep in the world can mean nothing if you¡¯ve judged things wrong from the beginning. And we had surely done that. Everything went wrong in the barest of seconds as soon as we crossed the threshold of the room. Jackson ran forwards sliding on the ice as he brought his shield up, ready to bash the cat. His yelling obscured what I remembered hearing only now ¨C after the fact ¨C of a hissing coming from over my left shoulder. Nonetheless, at the time, I missed it. Jackson, sliding forwards, yelped in surprise as the cat vanished, moving so quickly as to have teleported, and he continued forwards slamming into a block of ice and releasing a barrage of icy flechettes that cut him up. He grunted at the impact and at the pain that must be prevalent. It was extremely lucky that Jenna had gotten off her first healing, otherwise, I¡¯m sure we would have lost him due to the events that followed I thought to myself, trying to recall what had happened.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. I remember whirling around in surprise, searching for the cat that had seemingly vanished. Of course, now I realised that it hadn¡¯t been in front of us at all and that it was nought but an image of the cat. From the beginning, it had been to the side of the room and like all natural predators, it hadn¡¯t gone for the strongest, but rather the weakest. And in its¡¯ eyes, it was the small unarmed girl that was weakest. And, as our unfortune had it, we had placed her closest to it. As I turned around, I saw it leap, claws extended and jaws open wide, a shriek pouring out. It clattered into Jenna, knocking her back and opening a gash in her chest. The mages robes were not armour, but they held at least a small measure of protection against cutting attacks, and the tough fabric had held up to much of the damage. Kael shot the cat with an arrow that sank in deep, though it only slowed the next attack that gripped her shoulder, the cat¡¯s claws dragging her neck forwards towards the waiting jaws. Waiting to bite down and crush her life out. As it darted forwards, a fireball greeted it, splashing over its sensitive snout and causing the cat to jump away, raking down Jenna¡¯s bare front as it did so. We killed it shortly after that, but the damage had been done. Her robe was torn to shreds, held together by the blood and goo that poured forth from her wounds. Long dark slashes that ran from her left shoulder, across her chest and down to her waist, another set along her left arm that reminded me of the ribbons that I remember seeing as a kid in the capital celebrations. I winced. ¡°Jenna!¡± I heard myself scream, as worry swept away the adrenalin that had fuelled me. Weary tiredness set in and I felt like slumping down. My feet hurt from the walking, my hands hurt from gripping my weapon and my shoulders protested in agony from the armour and the fighting. My hips hurt from the weird walk I had been doing to balance on the icy floor and my mind was numb from worry. I was just hurt physically and emotionally. ¡°Shit¡± Sebastien swore, angrily. At himself I assumed. ¡°Guys, does anyone have any healing left at all¡± Lore said softly. But we heard her, and it set us into a frantic motion, as we rifled through our belts and backpacks in search of something. Anything that would help. ¡°I¡¯ve got a bandage¡± I called out ¡°Another bandage¡± ¡°Gauze¡± ¡°Basic medicinal herbs¡± ¡°Regen tablet - scratch level¡± ¡°Numbing cream and sedatives¡± The others all called out, though who said what I couldn¡¯t say. ¡°Shit¡± Sebastien said again. I thought fast, what could I do? There must be something. ¡°I¡¯ve got a max strength healing potion at home.¡± I said. They missed it in all the panic, so I repeated louder. ¡°I¡¯VE GOT A MAX STRENGTH HEALING POTION AT HOME¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Sebastien exclaimed. ¡°Kael cut away the fabric, Lore, lift her head and give her the sedatives and some water. Jackson?¡± ¡°Yeah¡± ¡°Get those herbs and grind them up in some water, make a paste¡± ¡°Got it¡± ¡°Sigurd, lets bandage her, then we¡¯re going to run back to yours and get that healing potion, it¡¯s a long run but I think we can manage it.¡± We all set to work, worry for Jenna speeding our actions. ***20 minutes later*** ¡°STOP!!!!¡± Sebastien called out. ¡°What? Why?¡± Kael questioned angry at the delay. Jenna was like his little sister and he was furious that he had let her get hurt. ¡°Let¡¯s make a stretcher, its gonna be easier to carry her and hopefully it will speed us up a lot. I¡¯ve got rope in my bag so get some wood¡± We had made it back through the ice levels with difficulty and had nearly slipped and fallen in when crossing the ocean. Luckily, the ice run had a nice set of stairs that dropped us off at the top yet were hidden somehow, we didn¡¯t have time to decipher. I praised the gods for that small mercy and wondered how we would have managed it without them. We rushed onwards. Making it through the safe floor and into the boss arena where Sebastien called for us to stop. Thankfully, the monsters hadn¡¯t bothered us on our way back. Stretcher? I thought to myself. Good idea, wood, we wanted straight pieces of wood. Branches. We rushed off and soon had a small pile of wood that we quickly lashed together with Sebastien¡¯s rope, it was thick braided rope, designed for descending cliffs and so it was not ideal for lashing together a stretcher, but we made it work. We all dumped our spare clothes on the wooden frame to make it far more comfortable and then we tied Jenna to our makeshift stretcher, she wouldn¡¯t fall off. Jackson and Sebastien picked her up and we ran on, the short floor of the boss arena took only a minute to cross before we were going up the stairs again; just wide enough for them to go sideways with her. It was slow, agonisingly slow, but with the healing herbs and the regen tablet I had hope. Jenna wasn¡¯t getting worse and if we could make it back in time then we could heal her. Exiting the stairs, we faced the jungle level again and the densely packed trees made fast travel untenable. Picking our way around the thick groves took a while and Lorelei and I focused on clearing a path. Burning and chopping our way through with reckless abandon. Halfway through the jungle we slowed down again as Lorelei ran out of mana. Burning a path through the dungeon had really helped our progress and it took us another fifteen minutes to clear the rest of the jungle floor. Forty long minutes for the swamp, the chest high waters and dangerous fish lurking underneath making it treacherous beyond belief. Though we had found a path that kept us much drier this time around, and the few pools we did have to cross got boiled by Lorelei as we backtracked. More familiar with the way back from this point on, I led us. Not taking any time to wonder at the stairs that grew up into the base of one of the trees in the woodland on floor two. Rushing through, we didn¡¯t see any wolves or cats and as we climbed that first tree to the first floor, the snakes and birds didn¡¯t bother us either. The last obstacle was the thick grasses of the first floor, and we pushed through them in short order, rushing up the steps and into the wider world. Despite the circumstances of our retreat, it felt good to emerge into fresh air and sunlight. Being underground for two days, two days of constant battle wore you down and as pleasant as the dungeon had been, there was a refreshing sense of relief that washed over me as the evening sun settled in the trees, cocooned in the branches like a precious egg in a birds nest. I smiled for a second before the gravity of the situation lifted all the brevity of relief from me. At a dead run, we leapt down the mountain, our strides confident and surreal as we dodged boulders, gravel and tree roots that would trip us under any other occasion. Yet guided by some sense of sure footedness we made hasty progress, as if the goddess herself was guiding us to Jenna¡¯s salvation. Shortly the harsh boulders and sharp stony ground morphed into the sparse barren treeline of the approaching forest. And it wasn¡¯t long before the signs of civilisation approached. Glancing back, Jenna looked rough. Where before the limited healing we had had staved off the wounds, these had long ago run out of effect and she had gone grey in colour, blood still leaking out of her wounds. The clothes that lined her stretcher were no longer fresh, but rather dark red and sopping with the blood that leaked out. It was a lot of blood and secretly I wondered if we were going to make it. Thankfully, she was still unconscious. First, we passed the hunters huts, little shelters and treehouses that camouflaged a person until the opportune moment to strike at the game that wandered the forest. Then the footprints of those out gathering food, long dried as summer began to set in, and the evidence of the rainy season evaporated. The smell of smoke and fire floated around as we got closer to the edges of the forest, and then the ringing of the blacksmiths hammer would greet us, I was sure. At this time of day, he would usually be working still, finishing up a batch of nails to send off to the guilds in the cities. There was no ringing of metal on metal as we got to the walls, but I put it behind me as we rushed home. Fumbling with the key, I unlocked the door and we rushed inside, slamming it closed. ¡°Quick, on the table,¡± Seb told Jackson as the two of them manoeuvred her around the furniture. Meanwhile I rushed to the attic, up the rickety old ladder that the carpenters apprentice had made for me free of charge and across the boards haphazardly laid down on the cross beams. In an old leather covered chest, I had my reserve supply of gear from adventuring, including my old axe, though it had seen better days, and a few healing salves and potions. As well as replacement leather armour pieces and a whetstone. I grabbed one of the potions, looking at the dusty label that had been sun bleached long ago and squinted. Yes This was the one. I turned, not bothering to close the chest and hurried to the table in the kitchen. Jenna was lying there, still, and the others crowded around her. ¡°Move it, move it, make some space¡­¡± I growled out. Lifting her head up gently, I unstopped the bottle and forced a few mouthfuls of the potion down her throat. Pouring a bit into all the wounds and then over the new bandages that Sebastien had out. While he re-wrapped her wounds, I gave her the rest of the potion. It was slow getting her to drink the potion while still out of it. Colour returned to her slowly and the sickly grey pallor of death that loomed over her receded, slowly at first as if keen to stay but it wasn¡¯t her time yet. We¡¯d made sure of it. I sighed in relief. Feeling the weight lift from my shoulders. She would make it; she would make it. I chanted to myself, easing my worries with every repetition. Collectively we all relaxed as her chest started to rise and fall in an easier motion and the colour seeped back into her face. ¡°Good grief, that was close¡± Sebastien said, still panting from the run back, relief evident in his features. ¡°Too close¡± ¡°Way too close¡± We lapsed into silence, watching her breathe. The souds of our heavy breathing filling the silence. Once I¡¯d caught my breath I smiled, getting up and making us all a cup of aeldra, we had earned it, that was for sure. I handed a mug to all of the others when a sharp knock at the door startled me, making me jump and spilling some of my drink on the floor. Hard and fast the knocking came. Shit, what now, I thought as I got to my feet. Chapter 26 Chapter 26 ========== [???] ¡°He hasn¡¯t returned master¡± ¡°No, another failure, they¡¯re all failures!¡± the master rasped back, his projection ghostly and pale, though that was nothing new, he was always pale, like death was but a step away. Yet despite that the master clung to life with a tenacity that shocked and awed all that met him, if they lived that was. Otherwise it was pain and darkness for them. ¡°Will you fail me too Friar?¡± The master asked, suddenly snapping his vision to the sweaty onlooker. ¡°No master¡­. never¡± the man replied with a nervous tremble in his voice. ¡°Good¡­ but we shall have to see¡± you are very replaceable my friend¡± the master replied, though the word ¡®friend¡¯ came out with the utmost distaste, as if what the master really meant was ¡®vermin¡¯, vermin he tolerated because of occasional use. The friar swallowed nervously but said nothing. ¡°Friar, make sure to check the churches to see if failure 71 has turned up for healing, if he has, terminate the problem and bring his possessions to me. As we know failure is not tolerated. Start with Barkamstead and the villages nearby.¡± ¡°As you bid my master¡± the friar replied as he backed away, taking his leave. Subservients were always to leave the masters presence once a task had been handed out, failure to do so was tolerated only once. Yet turning your back was also a failure and this was not tolerated at all. The master had exacting standards, but it was worth it. ¡°Herald, I have a task for you too¡­¡± heard the friar as he walked away from the projection thinking about his task. Checking with the churches would take him a while, hopefully the master knew that, disappointing him would have unpleasant consequences, ones he was hoping to avoid. In only a few seasons under the master he had progressed to be one of the most influential friars amongst the towns and villages of the empire. The friar thought about his origins as an almoner with distaste, he was certainly meant for more. He knew it. If it wasn¡¯t for that stupid whore, he thought to himself. Memories of his mother crowding his mind. Sitting down at his desk in the reaches of the church in Sant-Mornia to write his missives. Luckily, the crypt keeper had been about his business in Mornia proper this evening and it had meant the crypt had been free. A risk, but the friar didn¡¯t want to have to leave the church this evening, it was cold out and the master wouldn¡¯t know. Crypt keeper Devor was always pleased when Friar stopped by, it freed him to do his business and it left the friar in sole command of the Sant-Mornia church grounds for an evening or two. An arrangement that profited both Devor, who was more than pleased to be freed to pursue his business -something about young girls, not that the friar cared ¨C and his master. And when the master was happy, then the friar was happy. Friar stopped thinking about Devor and his penchant for unsavoury activities and set about his task. Who was the curate of Barkamstead? It came to him a few moments later, Lucilla. Friar sighed, how to ask? Stolen story; please report. Curate Lucilla I am writing to you to ask for information, Sacristan Peters has misplaced an item and has tasked me with recovering it. His misplaced item is of particular importance to the church. I don¡¯t think I need say more, I am certain you are adept enough to determine what it was he has ¡®lost¡¯ His carelessness has consequences that I¡¯m sure could come back to bite him, and as we surely know his presence as Sacristan has many advantages. Need I say more? Regardless, I am in pursuit of a man. He is of average height, yet of unusual physical characteristics with a tear shaped scar under his left eye. Have you any word? It is needless to say that the Sacristan would be favourable to you, were you to help him in this difficult time. Yours Friar Rast With his missives written, and ready to be sent, the friar cleaned up his writing desk sealed the envelope with a dollop of wax and his sealing mark and went to bed. *** Back with the master, the herald listened intently as the master spoke. Though he knew not the extent of the masters plans it was clear they had a level of detail he had not anticipated. For all that the old men seemed out of it, he had the power and cunning of a snake. Perhaps his insanity was all an act, perhaps he truly was insane, but with moments of perfect clarity that made him ever so dangerous. The herald wasn¡¯t sure, but he could easily do that which the master had asked. He had listened intently as the master had talked with the friar, that fat useless oaf. He didn¡¯t know what the master saw in him. Fat and useless, stuck up pig. Herald would love nothing more than to stab him with his pigsticker. To watch as his life drained away. That was Heralds utmost desire as the friar backed out of the room. Heraldry was a twofold job, firstly he had the task of announcing news and proclamations throughout the town and secondly, he had the job of authenticating the insignias of the nobility and the rich alike. Fat and useless merchants, and lazy good for nothing noble scum. Herald thought. The master had it right though. They could use the power and influence these mincing fops and jaded halfwits had accumulated without even speaking to the pampered parasites. ¡°Now Herald¡± the master spoke, with a voice that demanded you listen, not in the commanding tone of a general or the eloquent soliloquies of a bard but in the grating rasp of a dying man. ¡°Our friends in the nobility have begun to get ideas, ideas of eradicating the bandits in the heartlands that have proven most effective at disrupting the guardsmen¡¯s patrols. We must rectify this; the bandits have kept the kingdom focused and wary of the passes, and they haven¡¯t noticed us creeping up on them. A great boon to me. We must keep them focused, but without the desire to eradicate the bandits. A nobility decided und undivided is of no use. We must encourage the petty squabbles that they love so much to resume.¡± ¡°How shall I serve master?¡± Herald asked listening intently. ¡°I will write a letter, and you will seal it with the Garthian seal. Seal it poorly though as it will be ¡®accidentally¡¯ intercepted by the lady Eloith, who will be most affronted at the contents of the letter.¡± ¡°That should set them fighting again, and when the Garthian alliance and lady Eloith squabble the whole nobility gets involved. Most clever master. I shall see it done. When should I expect the letter?¡± ¡°In three days, Herald. Three days.¡± ¡°And how shall it be sent master?¡± Herald asked. ¡°A man shall be along to pick it up before the week is out.¡± ¡°Of course, master, I shall see it done¡± herald replied, bowing before backing away. ¡°Oh, and Herald, do not fail me. I would be most displeased if the seal does not come undone and the letter is passed on without interception. Most displeased. ¡°Yes master, it will be done.¡± Herald replied again, fear beading up as sweats as he left the projection. With a crackling snap the dome that held the projection closed and the master disappeared leaving Herald alone in the woods. With a sigh he headed back to the city, careful to avoid the guardsmen. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

========== [Dungeon] The mirror level worked far better than I had dared to imagine, and even an experienced group had completely fallen for it. I had watched, tense, as they worked up their plan of attack. They had seemed oblivious to the fact that it was an angled mirror showing the cat to them, and when they charged forwards it had gone badly. From bad to worse really as their healer got savaged by the cat. I laughed to myself as they panicked, and I could feel the connection to the healer begin to form, her mana leaching away to me as she started to die. When they fed her whatever medicinal herbs they had, I felt the mana flow diminish as she improved slightly. They ran through the levels making good progress, and when they stopped to make a stretcher, I was impressed with their ingenuity. Perhaps they would actually make it to help. Exiting the dungeon at a full sprint I was taken aback at the solitude that came with them leaving. Whereas before, the thumping beat of their presence had distracted me from working, especially close to them. Now, I felt the loss. It was quiet, peaceful and although in its own way it was nice, it was also lonely and empty. The moving animals and monsters providing little in the way of companionship in comparison to the group. Like a candle to a bonfire. I was sure they would be back soon though, and they would be bringing others with them, hundreds of people, and hundreds of deaths. I couldn¡¯t wait, the companionship and challenge of engaging adventurers was satisfying, but killing them, snuffing out their lives was true pleasure. Oh, it would be great. I would lead the foolish and proud to their demise, savouring the sweet release of their deaths. For now, the solitude would be the perfect motivation to improve myself. No distractions, no limitations just free to build and improve over the next week and then I would be ready for the influx. Sigurd and his group had got decently far through, with only the ice level boss and the first level of the fire floors in hand, that wouldn¡¯t do, the desert of floor twelve was mostly complete, but I had to finish it off, nd then I had the rest of the fire levels to build. But first, I had lots of corrections to make. The first level I had thought was a bit too easy but seeing how it had claimed the lives of three, it seemed to be ok for now, the eagle and tree having done the job extremely well. For now, I broke down the bodies and used the rotting flesh as mulch for the plants, feeding them. When Sigurd and his friends had ran back through the level, the bodies were in plain view, resting against a tree, blood pooling on the ground, staining the earth. They didn¡¯t spot them, which I was slightly surprised at. Well only that Kael didn¡¯t spot them, the rest weren¡¯t as observant as him. But perhaps events had them more distracted¡­ I thought to myself, amused. I left the blood-stained earth alone for now though, a memento to the first adventurers killed on the floor. I considered making the grass more interwoven and harder to push through, but I reconsidered. It was already quite difficult, and it wasn¡¯t even supposed to be a difficult level, just a teaser of what was to come, heck there were no active mobs, except the eagle. Just the sharp hedgehogs and trees. Floor two, similarly had no changes, there really wasn¡¯t anything I wanted to do with it, especially as it hadn¡¯t really gotten tested that much. John and his party hadn¡¯t made it down there, and Sigurd and his were far too experienced to be challenged by it. The swamp though was in need of a few tweaks. Mostly just related to do with the paths, making them a bit harder to see. On the way back, when carrying Jenna, the group had managed to avoid most of the level, and I didn¡¯t want that route to be easy to see. With 100k mana to spend I was glad I didn¡¯t need too much to reorganise everything. The jungle was a good level and I was happy leaving it alone and so too with the boss. It had challenged them, and I was certain it was a good fit. The ice levels made me think though, there were a number of corrections I wanted to make. Firstly, the ice phantasms. Whilst it might be useful for them to be an unknown quantity once the new adventurers arrived, it wouldn¡¯t do to have them afraid of a little fire aura. That certainly wouldn¡¯t do. I dove headfirst into trying to fix the issue, but I couldn¡¯t find a fix for it. It seemed like they had only a few instincts. Food, fight and flee, and since they were made of ice it seemed they were deathly afraid of fire. Having such simple brains meant there wasn¡¯t much I could do to override this. Eventually I decided to raise the temperature of the room a touch, hopefully it would encourage the adventurers not to use a fire aura and then the ice phantasms would be back in the game. Continuing in the theme I made the ice run a tiny bit warmer and the ocean stayed the same. The mirrors got colder and the boss even more so. As adventurers descended the cold would become more and more of a problem and I was sure this would cause issues. The ice run had its paths completely refreshed although I left the path that led to the secret treasure alone, though I guess it wasn¡¯t secret since it could be seen from the start, but how to get there was secret. The ocean felt like it was a good level, and I couldn¡¯t wait to see the orcas come crashing down on some poor fool¡¯s head. This would stay the same. The ice mirrors had worked better than expected and the boss had yet to see action, so I left them well alone. Things were looking good and I had 94k mana to work with, more than enough for a couple of floors. It was time to get going. The desert I had created for floor twelve was great, and I was extremely pleased with it. From the ice hotel, the adventurers would have to venture out into the baking heat of the desert gorge, descending down the cliffs while contending with the monsters, the giant salamander, and the scoria. I was disappointed that Sigurd hadn¡¯t reached the gorge because it was another step up in difficulty and I had wanted to see how they dealt with a scoria. Being completely resistant to fire and arrows, it meant that Lorelei and Kael couldn¡¯t help fight the scoria. Sebastien similarly wouldn¡¯t have been much use and so it would have been down to Jackson and Sigurd to try to crack their rocky bodies open. I wondered if they would have succeeded? Imagining the scoria exploding upon death and the shrapnel flying out and taking them by surprise. Would they have known? Could they anticipate it? I couldn¡¯t wait to find out. At the bottom of the gorge a small solitary stream trundled along, twisting, and meandering about as if it hadn¡¯t a care, carving patterns in the rocks. On a whim, I added a few fish to the bottom, it would be a safe place to relax before taking on the desert and they would certainly need the time to prepare for it. Having battled exploding rock golems I the scoria and the lightning fast salamanders that hid in the cracked walls along the treacherous cliff side path, the adventurers deserved a peaceful riverside stop to prepare for the desert, fore the desert was dangerous beyond anything I had implemented thus far. With burning temperatures that would kill in minutes and solitary oases that provided a brief refuge and a forced fight, it would be a very tough challenge. And that was without the giant desert mole that burrowed around and the manticores that patrolled the skies. Though floors eleven and twelve were complete there were a few more things I needed to change. Firstly, was a way down to the desert, at the moment it was just a hole in the floor that dropped down a few hundred feet; certain death. If adventurers couldn¡¯t progress, then they wouldn¡¯t bother trying to complete the challenges. No adventurers meant no deaths and no mana and perhaps more importantly no interesting events and companionship. Companionship I now realised, was very important to my wellbeing. So, I changed the deadly drop to a set of stairs; not deadly. I had finally finished off the eleventh floor. The little stream flowed alongside the stairs and ran into an oasis that was at the bottom of the stairs, giving one more safe zone before they braved the desert and I liked giving a sense of continuation between the floors. The stream running down the stairs and feeding the oasis was that. The desert was complete now, though with no end goal in sight I didn¡¯t know exactly where the oases should be, strategic placement would let me manipulate the paths through the dungeon and that was an invaluable tool. So where was the end goal then? I had been thinking of what to do for the fire levels for quite some time now, and I had come to the conclusion that, like ice, there wasn¡¯t that much to the natural environments that would lend itself to being a dungeon floor. I also wanted to change up the flow that they would have gotten used to. Just like the mirror floor, when faced with the unexpected, adventurers could misread the situation or be taken by surprise. So, anything that could throw them off their stride was good, and it made the dungeon far more interesting. Unlike every other floor, there would be no end of the level, no stairs or archway leading to a clearly marked floor. Instead, in the middle of the desert, hidden by the heat mirages and the endless flowing sand, I would have a temple, like some forgotten civilisation had lived and perished millennia ago, a relic of the past that preserved the passions of some mysterious sculptor, but unfortunately it was a temple taken over by monsters. In a slight dip, hidden from view, the granite steps of the temple reached upwards. Plain and unobtrusive, perhaps even boring, and banal, except for the fact that it pierced the desert. Isolated by the lone and level sands that stretched far away from it. Somehow, that made it seem grand and imposing. I started by cutting out great blocks of granite, building up a large ziggurat one layer at a time, it took me a long time, but in the end, I had a structure with enough space for wat I wanted. I was rather pleased with myself and I took a few moments to look over it with pride before imagining what it would become. At the top of the pyramid, a gleaming, white, cut stone arch bent. Shining like a guiding star in the dead of night. Drawing you closer. Upon reaching the top, you would see a set of stairs that wrapped around the interior of the temple. Dark and gloomy, it was an ominous looking opening, and with what I had planned it would look far worse. Staring down from the top would be like looking into an abyss and if you stared long enough, then something would stare back at you, a monster, my boss for the fire levels. Like an erupting volcano, gouts of magma would spray up from the boss level, splashing the paths and rooms with a fine spray of the molten rock. You could look down upon it, but to get there you would have to navigate the temple.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. It would consist of two layers, the main temple building, with a maze of tunnels leading to rooms filled with treasure and danger. Spiralling around that central void that led below, and the subterranean chamber that would lead through to the boss fight. The maze of tunnels also had many concealed passages, barely big enough to fit through and they led to treasure troves. Unlike with the previous floors, I didn¡¯t use chests this time but rather piles of gold and treasures, like some ancient king had hoarded his riches. The more concealed passages would have tougher monsters and more prizes, and it would be up to the adventurers how much they chose to plunder. If they chose to progress downwards, they would loop around the volcanic eruptions of the boss floor, avoiding the spurts of magma until they reached the sandy floor. A small tunnel led to a subterranean network of chambers that contained a variety of traps, from closing doors, to spike pits and crushing hallways. If the adventurers managed to complete this challenge, they could engage in either a variety of logic puzzles to progress, or a fight, both of which were presented by one sort of monster. A sphinx. I had seen the entry in the dungeon catalogue a while back, but it had been tremendously expensive and though it had caught my attention I had dismissed the idea back then. However, I had recently passed the requirements in points and so I looked back over it now. ~~ Sphinx (Major) ¨C fire/knowledge ¨C 25,000-100,000 points These majestic beasts are masters of their domain. Though they lack fire magic, they are most at home in a warm environment. Long thought to be the guardians of some sacred portal they challenge would be adventurers to a test of intellect. Wo betide those who fail for they must face the wrath of the sphinx. Fighting them is not easy, as they possess the intelligence of a wise woman and the strength of a lion. Sphinxes are sentient gatekeepers that make fitting bosses and mini-bosses, they long for the dry heat of the desert and possess a ruthless streak that can be dangerous, to adventurers and dungeons alike. The sphinx comes in three classes, though all of which are major monsters. Lesser sphinx ¨C 25,000 points Sphinx ¨C 50,000 points Greater sphinx ¨C 100,000 points ~~ Looking over the information again, I made my mind up. Yes, I would have a sphinx for the subterranean chamber. But first, to finish the fire levels. Polishing up the temple took me the best part of a day, I added unlit torches to the walls, allowing adventurers to light them in order to see. I created rooms, like a grand dining hall full of golden cutlery and plates and the armoury which held lots weapons that would likely be a huge improvement for whoever found them. Of course, only the weapon suitable for whoever found the room would be there, I wasn¡¯t going to chock it full of excellent loot. But enough to reward those brave enough to scuttle round the tight tunnels in search of reward. Once I finished that, the only task left was to populate the temple. The temple proper had the scoria from the gorge, though this time the stone one was an iron one, it was smaller but much tougher that the stone one. The fire one I chose to evolve into a fire-darkness scoria that hid in the shadows, pulsing slightly with a faint red aura, it would be a far greater ambush predator than previously. Both versions were deadlier than the ones in the gorge. In the store I stumbled upon a lizard called a Komodo Dragon and although they weren¡¯t related to actual dragons, they were fearsome enough. I had long realised that a lot of simple creatures could be bought for few points and then improved with a bit of magic. This was true here and the Komodo became faster and stealthier with tougher skin and flaming claws. As with the original creature, the bite was infectious and poisonous, although I had increased it by a huge margin. Various insects and small mammals infested the temple creating an ecosystem that would support these top predators and the echoing sounds of the animals¡¯ movements were eerie within the cramped temple. The underground chamber was going to have the sphinx and so I moved onto the boss room. One idea was a giant scoria, fifteen feet high and covered in feet of tough stone. However, I felt it had been a common monster and something different was required. The main monster of the desert was a manticore, and an even stronger one was another possible option. But after a sphinx it didn¡¯t feel right, it was too similar, and a sphinx was far more special than a manticore. What to do? I considered for a long time, but nothing came to me. The salamander wasn¡¯t right, it just didn¡¯t fit and so too did the Komodo dragons not fit, they were cool, but they weren¡¯t boss material. No, I wanted something new, something unique. Thus far, everything I had thrown at the adventurers was physical in nature, strong monsters, fast monsters, quiet monsters, and combinations of that. But nothing that threw magic, I wanted to change that for the fire boss. Sighing I opened up the store, refined my search for monsters and creatures. And then refined further for fire and even further for under 5000 dungeon points. I had 300 options, time to look through them. ~~Living flame (minor) ¨C fire ¨C 10-500 dungeon points These living fireplaces are static monsters that can attack within a small radius, though not powerful they light up the room and can kill perhaps a wandering animal. Good for decoration. They come in three tiers and only the top tier may stand a chance at killing a human. Living candle flame ¨C 10 points Living camp fire ¨C 50 points Living flame - 100 points Living flare ¨C 500 points ~~ Nope, that wouldn¡¯t do, not boss monster material at all. With 300 options, I had a lot to look at, so I closed the descriptions and just looked at the names. ~~Spark cloud- fire ¨C 120 dungeon points~~ ~~ Will ¡®o¡¯ wisp ¨C fire ¨C 150 dungeon points ~~ ~~Fire cloud ¨C fire ¨C 200 dungeon points~~ ~~Salamander ¨C fire ¨C 220 dungeon points~~ ~~Flame Riddled Wheel ¨C fire ¨C 250 dungeon points This possessed wooden wheel burns in ever present flames and rolls around at high speeds trying to burn and crush all life it finds, very hostile. ~~ A flame riddled wheel, that was too odd not to have a look at, reading it I almost wished to buy it for the comedy, but I decided to find my boss monster before doing such. ~~Fire Fox ¨C fire ¨C 300 dungeon points~~ ~~Flaming suit ¨C fire ¨C 390 dungeon points~~ I wasn¡¯t having any luck, at these few points they were all just a bit too weak, so I skipped forwards a few pages and had a look there. ~~Fire tiger ¨C fire ¨C 2980 dungeon points~~ ~~Fire lion ¨C fire ¨C 3000 dungeon points~~ ~Flame kilted rhino ¨C fire ¨C 3570 dungeon points~~ I kept looking, scrolling through entry after entry, not finding what I was looking for. At last I stumbled across the final entry and it too wasn¡¯t what I was looking for. ~~Cursed phoenix chick ¨C fire ¨C 5000 dungeon points This cursed phoenix chick has been attacked with vile magic that prevents it from maturing, alas it is cursed to be reborn every day. It has little use beyond alchemy and no chance of ever being cured. It is said that the chick¡¯s mother flies high in the skies and cries eternally for the fate of its young one. ~~ I sighed, nothing, nothing that I wanted at least. Though the flame riddled wheels looked cool. Perhaps I would get a few, something to distract the challengers from the boss. Removing the restrictions on price I settled down to look at a much longer list. Though it must have been only a couple more pages before I found what I was looking for. ~~Balefire wisp cluster (Major) ¨C fire- 5980 dungeon points This monster lives in volcanic magma pools, bathing in the heat as a duck to water and absorbing the poisonous gasses. It is spiritual in nature and attacks by splitting itself into clusters of balefire that float around at tremendous speeds, burning paths through all but the toughest materials and poisoning by way of its tainted flames. When submerged in magma it can heal quickly and it is recommended never to engage with one on its home turf. Balefire wisp clusters are very weak to water and ice but have no other weaknesses. ~~ That sounded perfect, but if I bought the sphinx then I wouldn¡¯t be able to afford it, especially with the wheels, because I just wanted them too. Yep, I had decided I wanted this or my levels, price be damned, I¡¯d just have to wait a bit. With that decided, I looked at my menu.
Menu
Name: ??? Race: Dungeon
Titles: _______ Renown: Just discovered
Rating: 5C Level: 50
Health: 3451/3451 Mana: 16k/100k (100k for lvl up)
Knowledge: 35,000 Dungeon points: 29,296
Status: fine Attunement: E4 N3, I4, F3
Rooms: 612 Floors: 14+(2)
Bosses: 2+(1) Monsters: 3105
Creatures: 160k Creature types: ^2412
Unique items: 9 Item Types: ^1480
29,296 dungeon points, I needed only a couple thousand more to get both the balefire wisp cluster, the sphinx, and the wheels. Looking over the rest of the information, I could see my growth was looking good. I had finally reached a five in my rating. With 16,000 mana left I decided I would need to wait to be able to complete the volcano for the boss floor, and so I thought it prudent to buy the sphinx first, it was almost a boss on its own anyway, and then I would have finished off the temple and nearly the fire levels as well. Fourteen complete levels was good progress, and it wouldn¡¯t be long until I was done with the elemental section of the dungeon. Only air to go. Navigating to the store, I looked up sphinx, cringed at the cost and selected buy. Looking over my purchase, I saw the large eagle wings that carried her, the fierce body of a lioness and the snapping snake tail. She had light blond hair that seamlessly turned into the mane of the lion¡¯s fur. The mane then slowly blended into the smooth sleek flanks of the lioness and then into the golden feathers of the wings. Without looking closely, you wouldn¡¯t be able tell where the feathers began, and the fur ended. It was beautiful, she was beautiful, and her golden irises gleamed with an uncanny intelligence. I moved my presence closer to get a better look, she turned her head, following me. I stopped in surprise. Could she see me? I wondered. She wasn¡¯t at my core which was just below the cavern for the boss floor. So, could she see me? I moved again and she followed. ¡°Hello master, I hope you have a nice environment for me, I would be most displeased if not. Oh, and I have a riddle for you¡­ can you solve it? You have to solve it¡­¡± She spoke in a hushed tone that somehow pierced my soul and made me listen. I was shocked, she could see me, and she could talk. She could talk. Wait, didn¡¯t the store say something about that. ~~ Sphinx (Major) ¨C fire/knowledge ¨C 25,000-100,000 points These majestic beasts are masters of their domain. Though they lack fire magic, they are most at home in a warm environment. Long thought to be the guardians of some sacred portal they challenge would be adventurers to a test of intellect. Woe betide those who fail for they must face the wrath of the sphinx. Fighting them is not easy, as they possess the intelligence of a wise woman and the strength of a lion. Sphinxes are sentient gatekeepers that make fitting bosses and mini-bosses, they long for the dry heat of the desert and possess a ruthless streak that can be dangerous, to adventurers and dungeons alike. The sphinx comes in three classes, though all of which are major monsters. Lesser sphinx ¨C 25,000 points Sphinx ¨C 50,000 points Greater sphinx ¨C 100,000 points ~~ Yes, right there, sentient. I had missed that. How had I missed it? Uh oh¡­ Chapter 28 Chapter 28 ========== [Dungeon] ¡°Which creature that lives without gazing upon the grace of the stars, walks upon four legs in the morning when the dawn rays do pierce the sky yet remain unseen. Upon two legs in the afternoon when the baking sun warms its sunken home and upon three legs in the evening when the endless night folds in?¡± the sphinx continued, her velvet sultry tones distracting. I pondered for a moment, four legs¡­ two legs¡­ three legs. Some form of metamorphosis then. Tadpoles had no legs, then two legs as they began to morph then four legs once they were a frog. So, not them. As I thought about the riddle, I looked back over the sphinx, she had settled down to watch me as I puzzled it out., intent it seemed to wait for however long I needed it. After thinking for a while, I had nothing, there was no animals that I could think of that morphed in such a way. Four legs¡­ Plenty of animals walked on four legs, wolves, cats, horses that those silly humans loved so much. Yep, plenty of animals walked on four legs. Two legs¡­ Again, plenty of animals walked on two legs, birds, all of them, humans, dwarves, elves even the beast-men walked on two legs often. But three legs¡­ No, there wasn¡¯t much that walked on that, in fact the only thing I could think of was the sentry golems that I had seen in the store. No insects or bugs that had wandered in and nothing I had seen thus far walked on three legs. Tripedalism didn¡¯t seem very efficient a design, it would always be unbalanced for directional movement. So, perhaps I was taking it too literally. Four legs¡­ two legs¡­ three legs¡­ No stars¡­ sunken home¡­ endless night¡­ Perhaps it lives underground, then it would never see stars, it lives in a sunken home and the endless night would be¡­ death. Sweet death would be the endless night. so the riddle is talking about life in general. It took a few moments before I thought of it. Crawling¡­ crawling on four legs, standing on two legs and with a cane for three legs. Tricky sphinx ¡°A dwarf, who is born a baby underground, never seeing the morning rays and crawling on four legs, who grows up in the sunken homes beneath the mountains and live on two legs and then who¡¯s weak aging bodies use canes to stabilise themselves. A dwarf lady sphinx.¡± ¡°Well done master, an easy riddle solved adeptly. Perhaps you hold some hope after all. We shall see¡­ what do you require?¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Thank you, sphinx,¡± I replied cautiously. The warning note from the store about them being dangerous to dungeons still present in my mind. She could see me and though I didn¡¯t feel threatened I was certain she could cause all manner of chaos. Especially when I was unable to act directly because of the adventurers. Oh yes, I could see how she could cause trouble, best be polite and perhaps she could be good company. She was certainly intelligent enough. ¡°I am building a glorious dungeon, the likes of which I am sure will have never graced this world before. Sweeping caverns and floors of impossibly intricate design that will bring adventurers from across the world to challenge me. And many many deaths to quench our appetites. And you, my beautiful sphinx will be able to challenge them to a test of wit, a test I¡¯m sure they will fail time and time again for there is nought as sharp of wit as you. And when those bumbling buffoons fail, then you can have the pleasure of sharpening your claws in them, gutting them¡­ feasting upon them¡­¡± I told her, the vision for this place grand in my eyes, a vision so real I could almost walk around it. Her high-pitched laughter broke my thoughts like the tinkling of broken glass, and I came back to reality. To my small dungeon, I may have made progress, but I was sure I had a long way to go. ¡°A nice vision master, but can you pull it off? Can you do that which you say? After all, if wishes were fishes, we¡¯d all eat for a thousand years master, will I be hungry?¡± the sphinx replied, seemingly questioning me. ¡°Lady sphinx, you shall be happy and fed on the bodies of the adventurers too weak to fight you and too stupid to solve your riddles, of that you have my guarantee. Come, let me show you the dungeon, I would have you see the worlds I have created.¡± I replied, nervously, yet trying desperately to keep it out of my voice. The sphinx dipped her head in acquiescence, and I guided her up through the dungeon. It wasn¡¯t hard for her to navigate it, flying making the process a lot easier. Nor did anything wish to challenge her. I was glad, though I could control everything in the dungeon, it took an active will and I was sure I would need it for dealing with her. Something told me this was only the first step in her tests. I was sure she wasn¡¯t done yet. Master only in name I thought to myself. I showed her the gently waving grasses of the forests and woodlands that were my early levels, of the insects and bugs, of the voles and mice and of the wolves and cats and eagles. I showed her the trees that were as tall as the tallest of trees that the surface dwellers had seen and the bountiful treasure that was but waiting to be found. I showed her the harsh winter that loomed over the ice levels, the yeti¡¯s wrapped in their warm coats, disguised as one of the many snow drifts, the ice phantasms, and the orcas. I showed her the ice run and the mirrors and the synth cat that had driven the adventurers from my core. And then I showed her the fire and heat, the dry desert and grand temple, the gorge and the would-be volcano for my boss level. And when I finished showing her all that I had done I asked her to be a part of my world, a part of the dungeon. ¡°What do you think sphinx?¡± ¡°It is¡­ ok¡­ a good start but not the masterpiece that you said would draw people from far away lands. Not even a guild at your doors. No, you have a lot of work to do¡­ master¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, I do, lots to be done, truly there¡¯s so much to do and so little mana and time in which to do it. But what say you sphinx, will you join me?¡± I asked, hoping she would agree, I wasn¡¯t sure what would happen if she didn¡¯t. ¡°Very well master, I shall join you¡­ for now, we will see if you have what it takes eh¡­¡± she replied, slowly thinking over her words. ¡°I¡¯m glad sphinx, but I can¡¯t keep calling you that¡­ if you are joining me, I must think of a name for you¡­¡± She growled, turning to glare at me¡­ ¡°You think you have the right to name me?¡± she spat out. ¡°Of course not, my lady, just to suggest a name to you¡± I replied cursing my stupidity. ¡°You¡¯re all right dungeon, if you can solve my riddle, I shall let you suggest a name for me to consider, remember I am a cat, a queen amongst the lowly creatures, the name you suggest must be fitting, or else I shall be most upset.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± I replied nervously. ¡°Two bodies have I Yet joined into one The more still I stand the faster I¡¯m gone what am I?¡± Chapter 29

Chapter 29

========== [Sigurd] Opening the door revealed a tear streaked woman, and a stoic, pale faced man. Grief etching his features. My heart sank. Something terrible had happened, I just knew it. I felt a shadow loom over me, its dark tendrils creeping over my heart. I blinked and banished it to the recesses of my mind. ¡°Oh, Sigurd!¡± she sobbed, sniffling, and spluttering as the tears fell. ¡°What¡¯s happened Darlene¡± I asked quietly. ¡°Wesley?¡± ¡°Its our son, Sigurd, he¡¯s gone.¡± He responded, as his wife cried into his chest. Wesley wrapped an arm around her and rubbed her shoulder. Trying his best to comfort her. The shadow crept back a fraction. Oh no. ¡°What do you mean gone?¡± I asked, fearful of the response to come. ¡°So, you haven¡¯t seen him?¡± He asked, hope falling from his face like the rain from the sky. Robbing from his face what little colour he had left. ¡°No, we just got back from the dungeon. What do you mean gone?¡± I replied, hesitantly ¡°Oh,¡± he replied, his voice trembling slightly. ¡°we were hoping you had seen him on your way back. Mik¡¯s just disappeared! He stayed up late last night with the boys, but this morning he wasn¡¯t in his room. He knows he has to be back. He¡¯s gone Sigurd!¡± The shadow crept back a bit further, clawing its way out of my mind. ¡°Well it¡¯s possible I missed him; we were sprinting back to get Jenna healed. We were lucky I had a potion here really. I could have missed him on the way back.¡± Darlene started sobbing even harder. And Wesley hugged her tight. My heart sank. ¡°Kael!¡± I called out, as quietly as I thought he would hear. Kael had far keener eyes than me, he might have spotted something. ¡°Yeah¡± ¡°Can you come here please!¡± ¡°Sure, one sec¡­¡± ¡°Kael¡¯s far more observant than me¡± I said in explanation. Kael turned up a few seconds, his customary smile falling off his face as he saw them. ¡°What¡¯s up Sigurd?¡± he asked under his breath as he ghosted up on silent feet. ¡°Darlene and Wesley can¡¯t find their son, Mik, we wondered if you saw him or anything on the way back. I didn¡¯t notice anything, but you¡¯ve far better eyesight than me.¡± He thought for a second. ¡°I don¡¯t think so, I wasn¡¯t really focused on anything other than dodging the roots and trees. We were in quite a rush after all. Let me think for a few moments¡­¡± he replied, closing his eyes. The tense few seconds passed slowly as he thought. With each passing moment I felt the shadow looming higher over me, towering now. ¡°Nope, sorry.¡± He replied, sombre. ¡°I didn¡¯t see anything different on our way back, but I¡¯m not familiar with the area so it¡¯s likely I missed it if there was something odd.¡± ¡°Was there anything odd about his behaviour last night¡­¡± I asked thinking. Trying not to let all hope go. ¡°I don¡¯t think so¡± Darlene replied, her shoulders rising and falling in grief.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°He seemed¡­ normal. Maybe a bit nervous and uncomfortable at dinner. I thought he was just excited to hang out with his friends, as usual. But¡­ perhaps it was something else.¡± Wesley added, his face sullen. ¡°Who was he going to hang out with?¡± I asked, thinking hard. ¡°John, but his mother says John¡¯s fast asleep. I don¡¯t wasn¡¯t to disturb anyone else.¡± Darlene replied. ¡°Darlene, you know everyone would gladly help, come on, lets go ask around.¡± I responded ¡°Kael, let the others know if you would¡± He nodded ¡°see if they saw anything as well.¡± I muttered, slipping into my boots and stepping outside. ¡°Sure, I got you¡± he said, closing the door gently as we walked away. ***30 minutes later *** We had searched the town and knocked on all the doors below the stream that gave Littlebrook its name. No-one was missing and no-one had seen anything. It was starting to look as if he had just disappeared. Well, until we came upon the twins¡¯ house. Rounding the side of the building, we walked into the pale spot of light cast from the waning moon, and saw a huddled figure curled up on the doorstep. I recognised him at once. Indry. He was more slender than his brother and the short hair made him very distinguishable in the small town. I felt the hairs on my neck rise. Gloomy thoughts lurked in my mind. ¡°Indry!¡± I hissed. No response save for that of a small breathy moan. I walked closer. I crouched down in front of him, ¡°What¡¯s wrong buddy?¡± He looked up, fear in his eyes. I knew the look; something had just gotten very real for him, very quickly. Like a wounded animal confronted with the hunter. I reached out and patted his knee, turning around and sitting beside him, trying my best to comfort the traumatised child. He leant into me and I rubbed his back. ¡°It¡¯s my¡­ fault¡­ Sig its all my fault¡­¡± he wept, getting the words out between sobbing hiccups. Tears and snot mingling and falling with wet plops to the gravel below. Oh god¡­ I thought to myself, guiltily. Something dreadful had happened and all I wanted was to go to bed. I sighed, thinking. ¡°It¡¯s ok Indry, I¡¯m sure it¡¯s nothing¡± What he said next sent shivers down my back, I was glad that Darlene and Wesley were a few metres back as they didn¡¯t hear the chilling words. ¡°He¡¯s dead because of me, Sigurd, dead¡­¡± Shit! I thought to myself. What the fuck has happened since I¡¯ve been gone. The shadow was now gripping my heart. I realised it was a foreshadow that had been creeping over me. It felt like this day was cursed. ¡°They¡¯re all dead!¡± he wailed. Fuck! Why did he have to say it so loud. ¡°Dead!¡± Darlene choked out. ¡°What does he mean? Sigurd?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know Darlene!¡± I replied loudly. ¡°Give me a moment with him.¡± ¡°Sorry¡± I added a moment later realising how I sounded. What was I supposed to do now, what was the right step? Jenna would know, I thought to myself. She was the compassionate sort. I wasn¡¯t, I don¡¯t think anyone would have called me compassionate. How did I end up here? I sighed sadly. ¡°Wesley, go wake everyone up. Something¡¯s terrible has happened. Get everyone and take Darlene with you.¡± I commanded in a no-nonsense tone. ¡°No!!! I want to know what he meant. Indry???¡± Darlene shrieked. ¡°Wesley!!!¡± I shouted, he looked at me. ¡°Go¡± Footsteps sounded out from behind me. Shit! What a fucking night. Thankfully, Wesley listened, and he guided his wife away shortly before whoever was coming down the stairs opened the door. I gave Indry a quick hug before standing. The door opened, revealing a big man, nearly twice as tall as myself. Jason, the twins father stepped out. I knew of course that he wasn¡¯t that tall, nor that big. Especially as compared to Jackson, but with the situation I was currently dealing with, he seemed to tower over me. Perhaps the shadow was looming with him. Shit. What the fuck am I supposed to say now. ¡°Indry? What the fuck are you doing on the floor? Get up! ¡­ Sigurd.¡± He said, his gruff voice harsher than I was sure he meant. Jason was a hard man, years in the army had made him that way and retiring to Littlebrook hadn¡¯t softened him up any, but he was a good man. ¡°Jason¡± I replied, nodding my head. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m trying to find out. Darlene and Wesley knocked on my door in tears. Mik¡¯s disappeared. We¡¯ve been going around the doors asking if anyone¡¯s seen him.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ve not, I¡¯ve been asleep. If that¡¯s all? ¡­ Indry, get up.¡± He interrupted. ¡°That¡¯s not all, I¡¯m afraid, I discovered Indry here sitting on your doorstep in tears. I managed to coax a little out of him. But, well. Something bad has happened. I¡¯ve my suspicions, but I hope I¡¯m wrong. Oh god I hope I¡¯m wrong Jason. Wesley¡¯s gone to wake the town; I fear none of us will be sleeping anytime soon.¡± He sighed, tipping his head back and staring into the night sky, I assumed in frustration. ¡°What¡¯s wrong honey?¡± Jane, his wife called down. ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet, go wake Ardoi love.¡± I closed my eyes, hoping I was wrong. I wasn¡¯t and I cringed as Jane called out, distraught. ¡°He¡¯s not there.¡± She began to descend the stairs. ¡°Fuck!¡± I swore to myself. ¡°Indry¡­¡± Jason asked, concern broaching his normally stony face. ¡°I¡¯m sorry dad¡­¡± he said between moans, tears now streaming down his face. Raining upon the floor. ¡°Indry, where¡¯s Ardoi?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Dead¡± Chapter 30 Chapter 30 ========== [Sigurd] The blood drained from Jason¡¯s face in an instant, soon matching the sickly pallor of his son on the doorstep below. He fell against the door frame, the strong walls of his house the only thing keeping him up. ¡°Oh god¡­¡± he whispered to himself. ¡°No, no no no no no. Ardoi! My boy!¡± Tears fell freely now, and Jason made no effort to hide it. I crouched down and looked Indry in the eyes. ¡°Dungeon?¡± I whispered, knowing the answer before I asked it. He nodded. Goddamn! I thought to myself. Despite all my warnings to the boys, despite it all, they just had to go and look. Delving required training, dedication, and luck, and still you would get surprised, caught off guard. Heck I¡¯d just gone for a delve with the best team I¡¯d ever encountered, and we¡¯d nearly lost one. Why? Why did they have to go? I sighed. I knew the answer. Gold, silver, and riches. For all the good it does for the dead! I thought bitterly. Jane came to the door and I closed my eyes. Knowing the next minutes were going to suck. ========== [Friar] The friar clenched his sweaty hands, nervous as always. Devor was off pursuing the young girls of the town, and that meant an opportunity to contact master. He had found nothing, Curate Lucilla had proven useless, and so too had all the others. And though he hadn¡¯t failed his task - which was to search for information ¨C he felt like he had, and that was not a good feeling when contacting the master. No, no, no, no, no, it was not a good feeling at all. As he cast the scroll, he dug his nails into his palm. With a crackling surge the scroll combusted, and the pale white face of the master appeared. ¡°Friar¡­ how nice to see you¡± the master crooned, his raspy voice unnerving the friar. ¡°I hope you have good news?¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid not master, it appears he failed, Curates Lucilla, Averly, Brickhaus, Martes and Rhanel had no-one turning up for healing. It seems safe to conclude that he has perished.¡± ¡°So it would appear¡± he commented. ¡°Acceptable work friar, keep looking into it in case he appears, but I think I¡¯ll have to send another to complete the job.¡± ¡°Of course, master, is there anything else I should be doing?¡± the friar asked. ¡°No, for now, just keep looking into it.¡± Friar cancelled the spell, smiling, for once the master had not ended with a death threat. Perhaps he was warming to him. Friar snorted at the ridiculousness of the thought. No, that would never happen. Master had ice flowing through his veins. ========== [Sigurd] *** 9 Hours later ***The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The town meeting had just finished, and though there were lots of tears from the three families who had lost loved ones, the story had come out. The boys had tracked up to the mountain in the evening and entered the dungeon around the time we were starting the last floor. Apparently that day was cursed after all. For they didn¡¯t make it far, the trees having taken two of them and an eagle the third. It was news to me, having not seen the eagle in the four times I had been in the first floor and I was surprised there was such a supposedly dangerous creature up there. Though when it came to dungeons there was no rule book. Each and everyone one was different and there were plenty that were nigh on impossible to delve, the first floor being too dangerous for anyone. And though I thought the first floor relatively tame, it had taken three lives. And what was once a coming boon to the town would now be marred in the minds of the villagers. I sighed, sitting down in the pews of the church. It was where we had all our town meetings. Littlebrook being far to small for a town building, and so we clustered amongst the pews and talked for happy and for sad. More sad this time though. Of course I felt bad for the families, but it was John who had my sympathy. I knew his pain after all, having lost plenty of team members and friends in dungeons throughout my life. It was part of delving, the loss, and you grew to accept it and cherish the time you had with people. From what he had told me, John hadn¡¯t wanted to go. Had known it was a bad idea, but he felt he couldn¡¯t let them go alone. He knew the most about dungeons, he¡¯d been at my door for the longest time, asking questions, stories, anything he could coax out of me. So, to not give his knowledge to his friends was unthinkable, no matter how stupid an idea he thought it was. I could understand it, had experienced similar things and I knew how it hurt. I¡¯d known since the first time he told me about the dungeon that he would be going inside it, I¡¯d just hoped it would be after the guild was brought in and he had had some proper training. For all his badgering, I hadn¡¯t trained him. He had wanted me to, had begged for it, but I¡¯d always told him no. Hoping to prevent him from running off and doing something stupid. How well had that turned out? I thought sarcastically to myself. I sighed before lapsing into silence to say my prayers to the goddess. Standing, I stretched my back out and turned to walk home, the morning light showing me my way. As I shuffled along, I felt numb, and soon I reached the door, pushing it open and locking it with the ease of someone who had done it countless times. I walked my familiar path to my bed, slipped in and fell asleep, the weight of the nights¡¯ events pushing my head firmly into the pillow. The next day, I awoke late, as one might expect for someone who had been up so late the night before. Getting into bed a scant few hours before noon meant waking up in time for a late lunch. A very late lunch, almost dinner in fact. Jenna and the others were awake, helping themselves to some food from the pantry. Jenna must have woken sometime around noon. ¡°Hey, good to see you¡¯re awake, Jenna. I see the rest of you found my food ok. That¡¯s good, I was worried.¡± I commented sarcastically. ¡°What¡¯s mine is yours and vice versa mi amigo, I¡¯m just glad its all yours and not mine¡± Kael replied laughing as he took a big bite of food. ¡°You¡¯re such an asshole Kael¡± I said laughing too. ¡°You¡¯re just catching on now? My god you¡¯re slow¡± Lore muttered with a snort. ¡°Fuck off¡± I replied with mock indignancy. ¡°So, what¡¯s up?¡± Sebastien asked, sincerely. ¡°A group of the boys went up last night, entered the dungeon.¡± ¡°Oh dear¡± ¡°Yep, went as well as you¡¯d expect. Three dead.¡± ¡°Three? Shit!¡± Kael commented. His compassion evident. ¡°Fancy going up again to help search for their bodies before we head back?¡± I asked. ¡°Sure, least I could do for raiding your food my man¡± ¡°Thanks Kael¡± I replied with a laugh. ¡°The villagers would like to give them a proper burial. Would make them much more kindly to you if you wanted to make this dungeon, you¡¯re main¡± ¡°I guess, we¡¯re going, since Kael volunteered us and all.¡± Sebastien replied with a straight face. Unfortunately, he cracked a smile half-way through letting us know he was cool with it. ¡°Nice, I guess we¡¯ll go after I eat some of my food, you didn¡¯t prep me any by any chance?¡± I asked. ¡°Nope, what do you take me for, your servant¡± Kael responded laughing. I just shook my head and walked into my stripped pantry, sighing as I went. Chapter 31 Chapter 31 ========== [Dungeon] The riddle had occupied my thoughts for a while, luckily the sphinx hadn¡¯t placed a time limit on it and so I had stalled for a quite a while as I looked through the shop. It had become apparent to me that the two bodies line of the riddle was not in reference to something alive, no it was something else, something more abstract than that. So, I was looking through the items in the store when I found it. Two bodies have I yet joined into one, check. The more still I stand the faster I¡¯m gone, check. ¡°I¡¯ve got it¡± I spoke, drawing her attention. ¡°Oh, master you have an answer. I hope it¡¯s correct¡± she said grinning. I felt unnerved. ¡°I believe I do, sphinx, it is an hourglass. Two lobes of glass make up its bodies and the more still it is the faster the sand runs and the more quickly it is gone.¡± ¡°Correct, a surprise really. I hadn¡¯t thought you would have the knowledge of such an item, nor the patience to search for it. You are an unusual one master.¡± She spoke softly yet respectfully, and I relaxed. ¡°I think I shall enjoy being with you master, but you had better give me lots of silly adventurers to kill, I like tearing them apart mentally and physically. The sweetest anguish comes from the proud and foolish.¡± Yes, she would fit in well. I thought to myself. ¡°I¡¯ll think of a name for you later, for now I¡¯m going to work on the volcano for my boss level, do you want to help me?¡± I asked thinking I was being kind. She glared at me. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Are you telling me that I am not the boss of your dungeon? That you are putting some lesser creature ahead of me?¡± Uh oh, my mind froze up and I just stared at her for a moment, trying to think. Why was I scared of her? I was a dungeon, and this was my domain I had nothing to be scared of. I was a god here what could she do to me? Instead of telling her that though, I cowed, for some unknown reason. ¡°No¡­ you are far more than that¡­¡± I said thinking desperately of what to do Could I rework the routes through the pyramid to let adventurers bypass her? Making her an optional boss. No, I don¡¯t think she¡¯d be happy. I couldn¡¯t just tell her she would be the boss, my idea of a Balefire Wisp Cluster for the boss was just too good and I was sure the sphinx didn¡¯t want to live in a volcano. There was no way I was not having a volcano. A flash of inspiration later and I knew what to do, in fact it was far far better than my original plan and I couldn¡¯t wait. ¡°What I had planned was for there to be portions of the dungeon that are just for you. You can travel between them freely and test adventurers whenever you wish. If I put you at the lowest floor, as is befitting of your deadly prowess then I¡¯m afraid you wouldn¡¯t get to see lots of people. So, I thought it would be cool if you were a sort of wandering boss that could challenge people.¡± I explained frantically, watching her face for a clue as to her thoughts. She smiled and my heart eased. Phew. Despite the near calamitous mistake, I was pleased, this was a far better plan than I had originally had and I couldn¡¯t wait to make it work. ¡°I like this plan of yours master, I¡¯m glad I am not being usurped by some lesser creature, I would have had to destroy it. And I am also glad that you recognise my majestic prowess. It is good of you to do so. Now about this volcano of yours, I had better not be forced to suffer the presence of one of those sulphurous lava bugs, I despise them. They smell foul, and they look worse. No my dungeon cant have such vile creatures in it as them.¡± I coughed ¡°your dungeon?¡± ¡°I mean your dungeon master, a slip of the tongue, I¡¯m sure you understand.¡± Hmmm, she bears watching closely I thought. ¡°Though I suppose you haven¡¯t a tongue to slip do you master. It must be so inconvenient to be a fragile gemstone.¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Oh, you are dangerous my sphinx, dangerous indeed, I think we can work well together¡± I said laughing. ¡°And you as well master, now let¡¯s get this volcano built aye.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s¡± I responded, moving my presence down a floor. The sphinx perched on the edge of her room, front paws hanging over the lip as she looked down through the hole, to the cavern that I had carved out. With a little push she slid over the edge, plummeting down like a stone, before catching herself with her giant feathered wings and gliding gently to the floor, landing next to me. ¡°What is your vision then master?¡± she asked. I thought for a few moments getting the image of what I wanted straight and then replied. ¡°I¡¯m imagining a towering peak, over there¡± I said pointing to the farthest corner of the room from us. ¡°That will be the volcano, it will house the boss, which will be a Balefire Wisp Cluster. The wisp shall live in the lava pool at the top and once the boss is killed, the lava will drain away, leaving a set of stairs down through the volcano that will take the adventurers to the wind levels. Streaming down from the peak, rivers of lava will flow, branching out like threads on a spiders¡¯ web around islands of basalt. The dark rock providing nice contrast to the red-hot fluid. The adventurers will have to jump across the basalt islands before making it to the volcano, once they get up its slopes the Wisp will attack and they¡¯ll need to fight on the slopes, making sure to keep their footing and not to tumble down, into the waiting lava.¡± ¡°Sounds good master¡­ Have you thought about coating the volcano in ash? Lots of natural volcanoes are made up with layers of ash and rock which is why when they erupt huge ash clouds cover the lands. You could even bury treasures in it, a secret prise to discover. Oh, and make the edges of the basalt crumbly, as if the flowing lava has eroded the edges. More perilous that way.¡± She said, instantly recognising where I could improve. ¡°Oh, good idea, I¡¯ll get to work, thanks sphinx¡± ¡°Of course, happy to help master¡± Building the volcano took the better part of a day but while chatting with the sphinx the time flew and soon, I had my peak and I had my lava pool in the top. Cutting gouges in the slope and the surrounding land was easy, but making it look natural was hard. Still, by now I was adept at the process, and I thought the sphinx might have been a little impressed. She stayed quiet for much of the task, and it gave me a chance to think of names. She was female and so the names of the adventurers Lorelei and Jenna came to mind, but that was silly it wouldn¡¯t do. More human names cropped up like lily and Jessica but that was out too. A normal name wouldn¡¯t do for a creature of such austere grandeur. No, it had to be illustrious. Something that was not coming too mind just yet. By the time I had finished cutting the gouges and channels in the basalt I had a list of a few potential names, including: Dahlia, like the flower, Khala and Ekkorua. None of these felt like the one though. I sighed, it would come to me in time, for now it was time to keep working. The rest of the day was spent making little changes to the floor and just generally perfecting it. The sphinx was very helpful, and I liked having her around. She made the process better and her company lightened the mood. It wasn¡¯t the same as having adventurers wandering around, but it was a damn sight better than the lonely absence. ¡°Hey sphinx¡­¡± I called to her. She lifted her head from her paws and blinked at me. ¡°What do you think about having some flame riddled wheels rolling around the basalt islands. They aren¡¯t a major threat, but I just find them a unique monster.¡± ¡°If you like them, get them, but I wouldn¡¯t expect much, they aren¡¯t very agile and most of the people who make it down here are going to be aware enough to avoid them with ease. It¡¯s probably a waste of points.¡± Hmmm perhaps she was right, but I just loved the idea. In the end my rational mind won out though and I held off¡­ for now. Buying the sphinx had cost me most of my points and the boss would take the rest. A little more than what I had yet but I was sure I would pick up some more points soon. They trickled in over time, and for doing random things but by far the most efficient source was killing adventurers. Respawning the nature boss had taken a few thousand points and I wanted to always keep a stockpile just in case of emergency. Wasting them on flame riddled wheels just wasn¡¯t sensible. But eventually I would include them, I just loved the image in my mind too much. I sighed, laughing slightly at the idea. Oh well, something for later. The last thing I had to do for the fire levels was the secret rooms. The gorge had a hidden section in a dead end that I had put in a while ago and the desert had a room that could be accessed by falling down one of the sand pits. But the temple had nothing yet, it would be easy to create a secret passageway and so that is what did, but I wanted it to be slightly better than that. In the end, the sphinx came up with a great idea. Pyramids were originally constructed as the elaborate crypts of the Ryarzi Dwarves who lived above ground. The sphinx suggested that the coffin open up to reveal a secret room and that I found was just fantastic. She too thought she was being clever and told me so repeatedly. ¡°Master, how on earth did you get by without me?¡± ¡°Perfectly well, perfectly well¡± I muttered. ¡°But much better now that I¡¯m giving you such good suggestions, right? I think I should be rewarded, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure¡± I replied, cynically. ¡°Thank you master, you¡¯re so kind.¡± She said, taking me literally. I snorted. ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve no adventurers coming down right now, right?¡± ¡°Yes¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m bored, can I go hunt some of the manticores for fun, they aren¡¯t too difficult, but it should pass the time.¡± ¡°Of course, but careful sphinx, I don¡¯t want to have to rebuy them, leave enough for them to breed back or I¡¯ll call you Memphis.¡± ¡°Bah, I¡¯ll be careful. I¡¯m a geniu¡­¡± ~~Congratulations: For naming your first monster you have been awarded 3000 dungeon points, make good use of them. ~~ Uh oh, this was not good, I looked over her, seeing a small tag floating over her head. Memphis the sphinx it read. ¡°What have you done!¡± she screeched, outrage showing on her face. ¡°Well, um¡­¡± Chapter 32 Chapter 32 ========== [Sigurd] We made it up to the entrance of the dungeon at a leisurely pace, getting there in the early afternoon. I wasn¡¯t expecting the dungeon to have kept the bodies lying around, most didn¡¯t, but sometimes they did and that was what we were here for. To see if we could recover them. I also wanted to check for the eagle, having not seen it yet. I doubted the claims of how dangerous it was, but I didn¡¯t think they had made it up. Odd, I would have thought it would have attacked me before now. Since we were only going to the first floor, we hadn¡¯t brought anything with us beyond armour and weapons and so we didn¡¯t prepare or anything, we just walked straight in, mindful of the steps. It was such a dick move to put the steps in the dark mist of the entrance. As the world broke over us, I was just as awed by at as I was the first time. I doubted I would ever get used to seeing the huge cavern. To the life that lived I the dungeon. It was just bizarre. Still, I put it out of my mind, and we split up, taking a section of the floor each. It took a half hour of searching the various trees - John and Indry being too shaken up to remember where in the floor it had occurred ¨C before we found it. Not that ¡®it¡¯ was much. ¡°Over here!¡± Jackson called. We rushed over, pushing through the grasses. When I got to him, I saw it, a bright red path of earth. Not a dusty red like that of soil, but a deep red. The red of blood-soaked ground. The bodies were nowhere to be seen. We gave the area a more thorough search but there was nothing. No sign that they had been here, save for the red patch of course. I sighed. ¡°Guess we can head back then, they¡¯re gone.¡± ¡°Yep¡± ¡°Mmmhmm¡± We trudged out of the entrance, up the stairs and stood outside of the dungeon for a while. ¡°Oh, shit, we forgot about the eagle, we should see if we can find it¡± ¡°oh yeah, hopefully there¡¯s some cool loot too.¡± I laughed at that. Typical Kael. We had been searching for half an hour when we found it, courtesy of Jenna¡¯s sense life spell. The spell had only a short range, so we had to be virtually underneath it to sense it, but we did. A small alcove cut into the roof. From the exit of the floor you could just see the edges of its nest and the side of one wing. It was no wonder I hadn¡¯t noticed it. Very well disguised indeed. Kael took to the challenge of climbing one of the living trees while we gave it a harsh pruning, lopping off all of the moving branches. He reached the top easily, not being a particularly difficult climb and looked out towards the nest. Luckily, or perhaps intentionally, one of the thicker branches extended towards the nest. An easy path for the rogue. Kael walked along the branch with as much ease as I walked along a road and paused, just an arm span away from the nest. Much as any animal would, the eagle didn¡¯t like someone being so close to its nest, and so it attacked leading with its talons and flapping its wings around. As it swooped down at him, Kael snapped out a dagger and cut it down. Sending a scattering of feathers gliding gently to the floor. He caught the eagle, looked at it for a moment. ¡°Catch¡± he said, throwing it down. A few moments later, he scampered down, clutching a few jewels and coins in his hands. ¡°Look at this, a veritable bounty for floor one, it¡¯s a sweet find.¡± He said, showing us. The find was small as compared to the lower floors, but still a huge haul for a beginning adventurer. The eagle turned out to be just a normal eagle, but with sharper talons and that was it, not the huge challenge the boys had implied, as I had suspected. It was just bad luck and no training that had led to their deaths. Sad, but it was expected for newbies, the guild would clamp down on it when they got here, and having seen more of the dungeon, I suspected that they would be here in force.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! We turned to exit the dungeon again and to carry the unfortunate news back to town, marching up the steps and walking through the black mist that shrouded the entrance in mystery. Walking down the mountain, we passed the rocky section that was just below the entrance when Kael stopped suddenly. I stumbled into him and was about to shout at him when he slapped a hand over my mouth, putting a finger over his mouth and shushing me. He cocked his ear, trying to hear better. ¡°People, below us.¡± He whispered. We stepped back, trying to stay quiet. As they drew closer to us, I listened in, closing my eyes to focus. ¡°It¡¯s got to be around here somewhere. We¡¯re at the edge of the tree line and the rocky cliff side is just there¡± a male voice said. ¡°Well keep bloody looking, the master will be most displeased if we fail him. Just find the dungeon!¡± another replied. A few moments later they spoke up again, much louder this time. ¡°There it is, just round the corner¡± ¡°Good, lets get inside, grab that core and get it back to master before he decides to punish us.¡± ¡°Why do you think he wants the core?¡± ¡°Why do you think I know you fucking egit, it¡¯s probably a source of power or something. Who cares? If he wants it, he can have it. You go ask him if you care so much. Idiot.¡± ¡°No need to be so tetchy, we¡¯re here now. It¡¯s a new dungeon it¡¯ll be easy to grab it and go.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s not good¡± I whispered to the others. ¡°No, not good at all. We can¡¯t let them get the core.¡± Sebastien replied. ¡°There¡¯s no telling what they plan with it, but I doubt its anything good. Kael, head back up we¡¯ll confront them, I want you to kill whoever looks most dangerous.¡± ¡°Ok¡± he said, sliding backwards and fading from view in short order. We nervously stood in wait hearing the group draw closer. When we heard their boots marching on the rocky ground we stepped out from the edge of the cliff until we spanned across the path. The motley crew of would be dungeon killers rounded the corner and stopped short, taken aback by the adventurers that blocked their way. They were dressed like brigands, poor quality leather armour, sloppily stitched together studded with metal rivets. Cheap to produce in quantity and good enough for outfitting your minions. Only the leader had better, though not of the quality that they themselves possessed. The bandits carried a variety of weapons from clubs and cudgels to swords and axes, none well maintained. Though how well you could maintain a club was up for debate, it being a bat with nails driven through it. ¡°Who are you lot?¡± The leader asked in a gruff voice, hostility and anger his foremost emotion. ¡°The guild sent us to examine the dungeon, we have done so and are going to report back. I¡¯m afraid you have wasted a trip, its closed for now, closed until the guild get here.¡± Sebastien replied diplomatically. ¡°Its closed is it lads?¡± he laughed. ¡°Well, we¡¯d best go home then.¡± They laughed with him. ¡°No, that¡¯s not going to happen.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry sir, but the guild hasn¡¯t vetted the dungeon yet. As you well know, the laws place unregistered dungeons under the control of the guild, until a team of registered adventurers can examine the dungeon. A cursory examination has just been conducted, but the guild has yet to release the dungeon for public use. As a guild member I cannot allow you to enter the dungeon before the full examination has been carried out.¡± ¡°Oh, a sir, am I?¡± they laughed again. ¡°Listen you poncey spoon-fed prat, I don¡¯t care what the guild says, they aren¡¯t here, I am going into that dungeon and no mincing fop and his merry band of sycophants is going to stop me. Move!¡± Anger clouded his words and though Sebastien stayed calm the rest of us shifted about, prepping our weapons. ¡°As I said, you cannot enter the dungeon, not only is it not open for public use, but dungeon killers are criminals that should be apprehended at all costs. Leave or face us and die!¡± Sebastien retorted finally letting emotion colour his words. ¡°So be it, men kill them.¡± As the words left the leaders mouth, an arrow whistled past us, slamming into his jaw, and sending him stumbling back over the edge. Needless to say, he didn¡¯t rise again. Dead. We charged forwards, weapons swinging and blood flying. Being shorter, I stayed on the outside, aiming for the one armed with a cross bow. He looked nervous and so I wasn¡¯t too worried about the projectile. I swung my axe, cutting through his arms and making kindling of his cross bow before swiping back and removing his head. Sensing an attack from my left I rolled over the headless man, catching only a shallow cut on my rump from the sword swinging thug who had attacked me. Getting to my feet I spun, just in time to see the head of a bolt slam out of his neck. He pitched forwards with a rasping cough. A saluted Kael before charging into the battle again, cutting down a man fighting Jackson from behind before Jackson and I each took an arm from the last one. With one swing of his axe, Jackson cut the armless fellow in half, breathing heavily as the mans¡¯ torso slid off his legs with a wet slap to land upon the floor, blood leaking out and seeping into the ground. Catching my breath, I looked around. Fifteen dead bodies laid upon the ground, all of them bandits. My cut had been healed by Jenna and no one was injured. ¡°Nice work. Makes this day feel a little better. Dungeon Killers are scum¡± Lorelei commented, spitting on one of them. I laughed. ¡°Should we clean up the bodies?¡± I asked, ¡°feels rude to leave them on the path.¡± ¡°Uh, just chuck ¡®em in the dungeon I guess.¡± Jackson replied. We laughed again, and did just so, chucking them in the dungeon to be absorbed and turned into mana. A fitting end to some dungeon killers, feeding a dungeon. We walked back to town with smiles on our faces and slept peacefully that night. In the morning, the group headed back, bringing news to the guild, and I stayed in town to pass on the news and prepare everyone for the huge influx of adventurers and the changes to the town that would be happening shortly. Very soon, Littlebrook would be unrecognisable, and I was looking forward to it, I was young still and I had rekindled my passion for delving. Hopefully, Sebastien and his group would be back, and we could delve together. If not, I guess I would set up a new group. God, I¡¯d missed it. The adrenaline, the rush of discovering loot and the feeling of battle, and this was the perfect dungeon for me. Bring it on. Chapter 33 Chapter 33 ========== [The Master] ¡°Fucking useless, why am I surrounded by incompetent oafs.¡± The master shouted, startling the other members of the meeting. They said nothing however, subservient should not interrupt the master, speak when spoken too and never interject your opinion. That was the rule for surviving the master and those who didn¡¯t learn it didn¡¯t last long. ¡°Friar, I want you to make sure you¡¯re heading to Littlebrook when the church sends their delegates. Herald, work with friar to forge the necessary seals to make it happen. Friar, contact me once you¡¯re there, I¡¯ll have work for you.¡± ¡°Yes master.¡± The friar replied taking his leave. ¡°Herald?¡± ¡°Yes master¡± Herald relplied. ¡°Good work, with Lady Eloith, the beginning of war looms on the horizon. But we have more work to do. The Garthian alliance is a collection of weak minded fools and a letter in the right place can help it tumble down. I need you to make a seal for the House Baralise to stamp upon the letter. The arrangement will be the same as last time. Do a good job and I shall reward you.¡± ¡°Yes master. It shall be done. I will not disappoint you master.¡± Herald replied backing out of the meeting and collapsing his spell. The master allowed the frown to fall from his face and a smile bubbled forth. Things were going to plan. Yes, those idiot mercenaries had failed. But they were bandits for a reason and competence and intelligence were not the reasons. Still they had their uses, limited as they may be.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Something was up with this dungeon; a simple dungeon should not have been able to stop his forces. Especially one so new. He needed more information. ¡°Contact the squire, I need him.¡± ¡°Yes master.¡± His assistant replied, cowering in fear. What a snivelling coward the master thought to himself. He was going to kill the man soon; he couldn¡¯t stand his stink. Cowardice and morals stank to high heaven and the master couldn¡¯t tolerate it. *** 1 day later *** ¡°Master¡± the squire spoke, bowing low to the ground. ¡°Squire, I have a task for you.¡± ¡°yes master?¡± The squire responded eagerly. The man was a sycophant to the highest degree, it was what made him so useful to the master, he had been the squire for ears now and though the master found it disgusting, it was useful. ¡°A new dungeon has been discovered, in the Avaltjarn. I think it is time the prince went delving. When the guild starts up there, I want the prince to visit and you must find out everything you can about the dungeon. Can you do that squire?¡± ¡°Of course, master, only yesterday the prince was complaining about being bored. It shall be easy to suggest such a course to him, he has always fancied himself an adventurer. The chance to challenge a new dungeon shall be most enticing.¡± ¡°Squire?¡± The master asked, keeping his tone light. ¡°Yes master?¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Do your job and shut up! I do not care about the prince. Just do the job and don¡¯t fail me! You know the consequences of failure all too well, are you eager to relearn the lesson.¡± ¡°No master.¡± The squire replied, fear making his words stick and he stuttered in response. ¡°Good, you may go.¡± ¡°Yes master¡± Squire left and master smiled again. Yes, he could see it now. His plans were well on the way. Epilogue Epilogue ========== [Sebastien] Walking into the guild building was a familiar sight and Sebastien felt that nostalgic feeling rise up within him. He sighed in pleasure and strode forwards with long strides to the desk. ¡°Sebastien Baralise to see the guild master.¡± He said to the lady at the desk. ¡°One moment sir.¡± She replied, getting up and walking to the back. She returned shortly. ¡°He¡¯ll see you now.¡± ¡°Thank you Jess¡± Sebastien said, reading her name off of her name tag. She blushed, but Sebastien had already walked past and was pushing the door open. ¡°Sebastien!¡± the old man behind the office desk said loudly and cheerfully, getting up to hug him. ¡°Another boring death dungeon I expect, Sigurd wrong, was he?¡± the guild master asked. ¡°No, quite the opposite I¡¯m afraid. I have to agree with him and say this might be the most unusual dungeon I have ever been inside. Even more unusual considering it was so new.¡± ¡°Odd, what do you mean?¡± the guild master replied. ¡°Well, the huge caverns for starters, then there¡¯s the fact that it¡¯s filled with life, most dungeons are barren and bare except for the monsters and traps, but this one is not. It has bugs and insects and birds and mammals. Its strange, like a full ecosystem.¡± ¡°A realm beneath if you will¡± Jenna replied butting in. ¡°Yes, that describes it well, like a whole new world hidden just beneath your feet. A realm within the mountain. Bizarre.¡± I continued. ¡°Add that to the fact that we couldn¡¯t get to the bottom on the first run, had to pull back. No idea if there¡¯s one more floor, five more or a hundred more.¡± ¡°Wait, you couldn¡¯t get to the bottom?¡± the guild master asked, disbelieving. ¡°No, we ran through our healing potions too quickly and then a trick caught us by surprise and Jenna took a big hit. Without any potions we had to pull back. It was touch and go to be honest. If Sigurd hadn¡¯t had a high tier healing potion back at his home we probably would have lost her.¡± ¡°Shit, really?¡± he asked. Sebastien nodded. ¡°And what did you think of Sigurd?¡± ¡°Solid guy, reliable, sensible and a damn good delver. I think we¡¯re going to go back to the dungeon with the guild and ask him to delve with us, at least until we reach the bottom.¡± Sebastien and the guild master kept talking for a good while, the others pitching in their observations when required and soon night fell. ========== [Dungeon] I had just finished placating Memphis, which involved lots of rewards and compromises as well as accepting that I would be pranked and toyed with forever, and putting in the Balefire Wisp cluster to the fire boss floor when I was interrupted by a notification. ~~Congratulations, you have been named as The Realm Beneath by the adventurers that have challenged your depth. No longer an unknown dungeon you have a name. Keep improving and soon adventurers from all the lands will hear of you~~
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Name: The Realm Beneath Race: Dungeon
Titles: Bizarre Renown: Discovered
Rating: 5A Level: 50
Health: 3451/3451 Mana: 2000,100k (100k for lvl up)
Knowledge: 49,000 Dungeon points: 6270
Status: Fine Attunement: E4,N4,I4,F4
Rooms: 615 Floors: 15+(2)
Bosses: 3+(1) Monsters: 3006
Creatures: 152,133 Creature types:^ 24,123
Unique Items: 10 Item Types:^ 1481
Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! A name, and a title, and an increase of rating. Things were looking good for me, though Memphis would undoubtedly be displeased that I had gotten a good name. The title Bizarre was slightly hurtful but I just took it to mean I was significantly better than anyone had seen before. Yes, that must be it, I thought to myself. ========== [Sigurd] It had been three months with no word, when I heard the unmistakable rumble of a moving army. Though not an invading one, but just the moving goliath that was the guild with their carts and horses and supplies. They had brought enough building material for five full buildings, including a guild house, a training yard, an inn, a storage building and a guard house. When a new dungeon was found they went to all ends to make sure it was set up right and I was damn glad to see them. It had gotten boring around here, and there was only so much work you could do on your garden. I had thought about going up to the dungeon again, but I had decided to wait, there was no need and I had no supplies left. It wouldn¡¯t be long before there was an apothecary and church set up as well as a brewer¡¯s guild and a tavern. Then I could really get to work. It hadn¡¯t been all waiting though. I had been training hard, getting back in shape and John had convinced me to let him join, he was determined to avenge his friends, and though he knew, and I had told him, the dungeon wasn¡¯t responsible, it hadn¡¯t made any difference. He was nowhere near strong enough to get to the bottom floors though, so I felt there was no risk of him going down the dungeon killer route. It took years of delving for the mana and experience to harden your mind and strengthen your body to get there. It was why adventurers were feared and respected. When you could outlift the strongest normal man with one arm you tended to garner a certain level of respect. No, John was no danger to the dungeon, and the training had already started to mellow him out a bit. I waved as Jenna and the others stepped off the back of the cart and wandered over to say hello. ¡°Sigurd¡± she yelled, running over to hug me. ¡°Hello Jenna. Hi everyone¡± I replied happily. ¡°The guild made it then.¡± ¡°Yep, turns out you weren¡¯t lying, your, village is going to be pretty rich with the money for the find coming in.¡± I laughed. ¡°I¡¯m sure the villagers will appreciate it, I¡¯m more concerned with when we¡¯re next going in, I want to beat those ice floors.¡± ¡°How about next Tuesday, once the guild has started to establish, and we can organise some of the supplies. I¡¯ll need to map out the first few floors in detail for the guild too.¡± Sebastien replied. ¡°Sounds good, now how¡¯s a bed and a meal sound, better than the cots everyone else will be sleeping on?¡± I asked. ¡°Thank god, you¡¯re a star Sigurd¡± Lorelei replied, moaning at the thought of a nice bed. I laughed happily as we all wandered back to my house. ¡°Friar¡± I said, nodding to the man dressed in the stereotypical robes of the church. He nodded back at me. Character list for book 1 The Realm Beneath 1 ¨C Character List The Main Characters: Dungeon: The main character Sigurd Vasagen: The second main character, half dwarf. Lives in Littlebrook as a retired adventurer. The Party Sent to Check out the Dungeon Sebastien Baralise: Leader, Damage Dealer. Jackson: TankUnlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Jenna: Healer Lorelei: Fire mage Kael: Rogue The Littlebrook Party John: Loves dungeons, friend of Sigurd Marcus: Leader, bully (dead) Ardoi: Twin, sensible Indra: Twin, daring (dead) Mik: Excitable (dead) Others: Mystery man: ??? (dead) The Master: ??? The Friar: ??? (Friar Rast) The Herald: ??? The Squire: ??? Memphis: The Sphinx Background Mentions: Littlebrook townsfolk: Wesley & Darlene Jason & Jane Rayver (hunter) Smythe (farmer) In Friars speach to the master: Crypt Keeper Devor Curate Lucilla Curate Averly Curate Brickhaus Curate Martel Curate Rhanes Sacristan Peters Lady Eloith BOOK 2 - Prologue and important note. Prologue ========== [Lady Eloith] ¡°We¡¯ve seen troops moving on the eastern boarder m¡¯ lady.¡± ¡°Garthian?¡± she asked back, eyes narrowing at the information that her head guard had relayed. If the Garthians had managed to muster up troops to the border so soon, it was concerning. Of course, Eloith wasn¡¯t too worried yet, she had plenty of strategic depth to her lands, and the Garthians could burn it to ashes if they wanted to. There wasn¡¯t much of importance, only a few farms and villages, populated by peasants. Nothing that she wasn¡¯t happy to let go, it was an unproductive area. She¡¯d win it back later, and new families of filthy peasants would call the land their own in time. ¡°We¡¯re not sure m¡¯ lady. But it appears likely. Especially considering the contents of that letter.¡± The guard replied. ¡°Yes, I imagine you¡¯re right.¡± She mused, ¡°the Garthian nobles have always had a penchant for plotting. Getting above their station, as all Garthians do¡­¡± Her head guard frowned: distaste evident. It was only then, that Eloith remembered his family hailed from ancient Garth. Oh well, she thought, dismissing it. If the low born wanted to get any ideas, she was sure she would be able to find a replacement. Though getting such a handsome one might be problematic. Regardless, an issue for another time. ¡°How¡¯s the muster going?¡± She asked, moving on, her guard¡¯s expression flattened again. ¡°Not as we expected m¡¯ lady. The peasants have refused on many occasion and have banded together to prevent my men from doing their job.¡± ¡°Well, I expect some more force will do the trick. Bat them around a bit and they¡¯ll fall in line. The spineless cowards always do.¡± ¡°As you wish, m¡¯ lady¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°I can see the distaste on your face guardsmen Morris, be sure to succeed for me. Too much distraction with the coming war and medicinal supplies could be interrupted.¡± She retorted, carefully measuring her words. He glared at her and she smiled, pleased to have hit the way she wanted to. ¡°Of course, m¡¯ lady¡± ¡°You may leave, send guild master Tarrin in as you go.¡± Morris bowed low and backed out of the room. Eloith heard a brief comment to the man waiting outside and then heavy steps as the armour man marched down the corridor and off to do his duty. Guild master Tarrin walked up with soft steps, despite his considerable size. For the head of the blacksmiths guild he certainly wasn¡¯t what you would expect. Sure, he was huge, but not in the bulky muscular way of the other blacksmiths. No Master Tarrin was fat and short, with a persistent bead of sweat rolling down his face. As he approached, he drew out a soft silk rag and wiped his forehead. Eloith almost snorted in laughter at the fact, but managed to retain her composure, despite the humorous thoughts that circled her mind. ¡°Master Tarrin, greetings.¡± She spoke softly, betraying nothing of her actual thoughts of the man. ¡°M¡¯ Lady. Everything goes well, the mines have surged in produce, with the influx of workers. Those indentured peasants were a fantastic idea m¡¯ lady.¡± He replied pausing as if to expect praise. Eloith said nothing, and motioned for him to continue ¡°The increase in raw iron has meant my blacksmiths have continued to carry out your work. Excess even, and I have managed to produce nearly three quarters of the pikes that you require. In fact, it is the wooden hafts that are slowing down production.¡± Eloith doubted that Tarrin had ever held a hammer, let alone stood next to a forge. Eloith remembered standing near one with her father, nearly sixty years ago, when she was but a wee child. A different life. Still, to this day she remembered the heat of the forges and master Tarrin did not look like a man who could withstand their heat for more than a second. But he did good work, and no matter Eloith¡¯s personal feelings on the man, loyalty and success were all that mattered to running her lands. ¡°Well done master Tarrin, you have exceeded my expectations, at least one of my staff has a good head on his shoulders and the ability to actually do the work. You¡¯ll be rewarded.¡± ¡°Thank you, m¡¯ lady. I am pleased to hear it¡­¡± he replied sycophantly, smiling sweetly. Eloith felt sick. ¡°You may leave¡­¡± she continued, eager to get him out of her presence. Once master Tarrin turned his back, she let her smile fade away, glaring at the fat oaf as he walked out through the double doors. War was coming to her lands and she needed to prepare¡­ BOOK 2 - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

========== [John] John slashed at the wooden dummy, anger powering his muscles, despite the exhaustion. His wooden sword banged weakly against it, making a sharp, rapping noise as the wood bounced away. ¡°Pathetic!¡± the instructor yelled at him as he sank to his knees, letting the sword drop from his bruised hands. John grimaced, his hands were in agony, and he could see the mottled purple beginning to spread once again. It was Wednesday, and he would have to endure through to Saturday before his next healing potion was assigned. Until then, each and every slash would be pain. He endured though, the faces of his friends flashing through his vision. He picked up the sword, willing his hands to close around the roughhewn handle and reset. ¡°Begin the sequence again John¡­¡± the man yelled. John took two big breaths and advanced. The dummy shot a ball of mud towards him that he deflected with his buckler; a small shield that was mounted on his forearm. John had it on his left, and as he deflected the projectile, he let the motion carry through his body, using it to help bring his sword in for a descending slash. The dummy flashed red, indicating he had scored a hit, and he ducked under the arm that swung at him, tucking his sword in close and spinning around. As he faced the dummy again, he let the sword fly out and scored another flash of red. He jumped backwards, forcing his tired body out of the way of the dummy¡¯s spear, and nearly tripped on the loose sand. John managed to regain his feet, and he circled around the dummy to the left, positioning the sun to his back. The dummy wasn¡¯t blinded by the sun as a human would have, but it kept it out of his eyes, letting him keep awareness. Sweat trickled down his forehead, collecting into pools above his brows. The baking hot sun didn¡¯t help with his sweating, and as he engaged again, the sweat broke free, as water from a dam and ran into his eyes. Partially blinded, John didn¡¯t see the sweep coming, and the spear shaft took him in his ankles, knocking him down. Fear took hold and as the spear spun around, until its sharp point was pointed directly at him, John froze. He knew he should roll, back, out of reach, but his body betrayed him, and he couldn¡¯t seem to move. John blinked, and the spear descended¡­ *** 2 hours later ***The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Get up, you lazy bones¡± the instructor yelled in his ear. ¡°Wha¡­¡± he mumbled back, confused at the assault that had just occurred on his newly conscious mind. ¡°No time to waste, you¡¯ve already had a two-hour nap, off to your next lesson my boy, I¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡± Regaining his wits at last, John felt it was slightly unfair to call it a ¡®two-hour nap,¡¯ he¡¯d been knocked unconscious! He didn¡¯t say so however, instead responding: ¡°of course sir.¡± ¡°Good, its herbalism, correct?¡± ¡°Yes sir¡± John replied. ¡°Good, you¡¯ll find your clothes on the dresser, there¡± the instructor replied, pointing to the small square piece of furniture beside the bed on Johns¡¯ right. ¡°Thank you, sir¡± John replied, watching the man get up and leave. It was only after he had left, that John realised the implications of what his instructor had just said. With a gasp of horror, he covered himself up, realising that he had just been chatting with his instructor, totally and completely naked. John blushed bright red in embarrassment, and quickly changed. Scurrying from the tent and trying to avoid everyone. No-one, no-one needed to know about that!!! Herbalism took place out in the gardens behind the newly constructed guild building, and it was led by a stoic woman named Angela. She had been an adventurer for many years, and now, in her mid-fifties, she taught would be newbies and refresher classes for the adventurers¡¯ guild. John sighed as he sat down, wincing in pain at the action of crossing his legs. He would normally be absolutely fine with the action, but the constant fighting had taken its toll, and when Saturday came and he received his health potion, he was normally so banged up that all the little aches and pains didn¡¯t get fixed. John didn¡¯t like herbalism. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t find it interesting, he did. It was more the frustration of not being very good at it. Making potions required a deft hand and a good application of knowledge. Things John struggled with. Perhaps having bruised hands every time was hindering his results, perhaps not. But it was certainly detrimental to his mood, and the recent embarrassment of talking to his combat instructor naked hadn¡¯t helped either. This lesson had taken his patience and put it through the wringer, and he was glad when it came to a close. John had nearly exploded in anger several times, and he knew that it wouldn¡¯t be good for him if that happened. Not only did Angela not deserve his anger, he would be in trouble with the guild. John wouldn¡¯t let that happen; he couldn¡¯t let that happen. Their deaths had to mean something, and John wasn¡¯t going to let them be in vain. Delving the dungeon was something he had wanted for a long long time, and he was determined to help their families, to look after them, he felt a responsibility towards it. Sigurd had told him several times that it wasn¡¯t his fault, and intellectually he believed him. But his emotions didn¡¯t follow suit. Still, the half-dwarf was wise beyond his years, and john took a page from his book, sitting down on his bed and attempting to clear his mind. Going to bed angry meant waking up angry, and that was not a good way of making the most of his training. He had paid for one year and that was nearly up. Relaxing, he focused on his breathing¡­in¡­out¡­in¡­out¡­ In¡­ Out¡­ ¡­ In¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Out¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ In¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Out¡­ Slowly, the anger, frustration, and everything distracting faded away, until all that was left was John and the moment. Far more even tempered, his patience restored, John opened his eyes, feeling the world wash back in. Smiling, he stood up, walked downstairs, greeted his mum, and had a lovely, pleasant evening meal, before retiring to an early sleep, ready to do it all again on the morrow¡­ BOOK 2 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

========== [Sigurd] John had made good progress. Where before was a chubby, lazy teen with a voracious interest in dungeons, now stood a man. Stronger, meaner, and far less na?ve. The training had done him good, and he had changed so much, yet he hadn¡¯t lost that kindness, the heart that he had always shown. I was glad of that; kindness was his best feature and it would have been sad if he had lost it. ¡°Begin the sequence again John¡­¡± the instructor yelled out. Instructor Prantalio was a man you didn¡¯t want to trifle with, and though he didn¡¯t delve dungeons any longer, he was well respected within the community. You couldn¡¯t ask for a better teacher, and John was incredibly lucky. Though he didn¡¯t know it yet, he had made leaps and bounds and as I watched him regain his footing, I saw the determination in his eyes. He could fight! John danced around the training dummy, with skill. Slashing out with the sword and ducking under the blow that it launched in return. I was impressed, perhaps I could take him out for a delve soon. Perhaps not, I thought reconsidering as I watched him get caught. Not quite yet. The boy could fight, but he needed more awareness. In a normal dungeon, sure, he¡¯d be ready. But The Realm Beneath was different, and the huge caverns and imposing terrain meant it was easy to be taken by surprise. It had happened to me and I was far more experienced. John was taken to the medic tent and I wandered off. The new inn was still being built, but it had come along enough to serve beer, and that was what most adventurers cared about. Sleeping in a nice bed was good, but they were used to sleeping rough, the good ones anyway. You had to, to make it far down dungeons, but beer was something you could only get on the surface. It was also where I knew some of my colleagues would be, and so I took the short walk over to them, finding Kael and Jackson sitting at the bar with a tankard in hand. Though it did look comically small in the huge hands of Jackson. I grinned when I spotted it but managed to not laugh out loud as I headed over to sit down. ¡°What you grinning for Sig?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± I replied, nodding at Jackson¡¯s hand when the big man looked away. Kael split into a grin when he noticed it too. ¡°Figured I might find you two here.¡± I continued, slipping onto the wooden chair, and signalling for the waitress. ¡°And why are you trying to find such austere personages as ourselves?¡± he questioned trying to hold a serious face. ¡°Just wanted to catch up on the gossip, been gone for a week and a bit you know. Things move fast around here, you know. What¡¯s been going on?¡± It was true, things did truly move fast once the guild got started. When I had left to visit ma, the inn was just a floor and now it had walls and the beginnings of a roof, some too with many of the buildings. ¡°Good, good. We still hold the deep point which is nice.¡± I smiled at that. ¡°But several teams have gotten close, getting to the ocean floor before turning back. Turns out there were a number of features that we missed first time around, I mean with such huge floors and all, its not any wonder we missed a bit.¡± ¡°True, too much to explore and too little supplies to do it with. Speaking of which, we going down again soon?¡± I asked hopeful... ¡°Hell yeah, man. Seb¡¯s had us waiting on you, too much of a gentleman that one. Jackson said you wouldn¡¯t mind if we explored without you, but Seb and I held him back, how could we explore without our little man I said¡± ¡°Fuck off Kael¡± Jackson said with a huffing laugh. ¡°Sig, don¡¯t believe a word out of the twits mouth¡­ I never said that, he¡¯s a liar, a liar I tell you¡± he commented pointing his finger at Kael and shaking it to emphasise the point.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. I chuckled, ¡°Hmm¡­ who to believe, who to believe. The stoic man mountain that seems honourable, or the cheeky prankster rogue that I¡¯ve caught lying hundreds of times before¡­¡± ¡°Wha¡­ I¡­ Sigurd, how dare you impugn my honour, my reputation.¡± He wailed as if it was the end of the world. ¡°What will the ladies think? You must have me confused with someone else. I have never lied in my life.¡± We were all laughing now, and I had trouble stopping it in time to order my drink from the waitress. A beer, obviously. ¡°So, you haven¡¯t been down again then?¡± ¡°Nah, course we¡¯re waiting for you. You¡¯re one of us now and the teamwork with Jackson, it was a thing to watch. Besides, Seb and the guild master have had us writing down everything we could think of from the trip, haven¡¯t had time even if we wanted to.¡± ¡°Thanks¡± ¡°Oh, and what did we miss then, you said we missed some features of the dungeon?¡± ¡°Yeah, some traps mostly, and hidden chests and rooms like the one in the swamp.¡± Kael replied. ¡°Inside one of the trees, giant ass snake guarding it.¡± Jackson said, continuing. ¡°Oh, dangerous?¡± I asked. ¡°Yep, more so than the others on that floor. Took down one of the adventurers from the team that found it, the rest managed to take it out, but it got one of them.¡± ¡°Prize?¡± ¡°Plenty of gold, and some rare herbs and mana crystals, but it was the Black Dorchid that was the real prize.¡± ¡°Really? Wow.¡± Dorchids were incredibly rare flowers, that grew in dungeons and looked like orchids, hence the name. Silly I know, but it stuck. They absorbed mana and when transplanted they started emitting the mana into the environment. They were incredibly valuable for making safe training environments and the nobles almost always snapped one up for hundreds of gold. ¡°lucky group, well despite the death, that¡¯s a fantastic prize. Pity it was black, though. They¡¯re not worth anywhere near as much as some of the others.¡± ¡°Still a huge prize though.¡± Jackson commented. ¡°True, anyone checked for the room again, see if we can farm them.¡± ¡°Course they have, gone, it seems the dungeon is intelligent enough not to just hand out free rewards like that.¡± ¡°Tsk¡­ shame.¡± ¡°We also missed spike traps in the ice slide floor and huge creatures that slap down on the floating ice in the ocean floor.¡± ¡°Sounds bad.¡± ¡°Deadly.¡± ¡°So, we got lucky?¡± ¡°Nah, Seb spotted the ripples from one of the impacts and made sure to guide us around it. Didn¡¯t know quite how good a decision he¡¯d made until the stories started coming up though.¡± ¡°Phew, glad he¡¯s team lead. I would not like to try this dungeon on without him. It¡¯s too strange.¡± ¡°Amen to that¡­¡± They replied, clinking glasses with me as we downed the beers. ¡°Any word on ranking?¡± ¡°Nope, still being decided, and since we didn¡¯t reach the bottom yet and its only just being explored, I¡¯d say it¡¯ll take a while yet before there¡¯s anything official. But it¡¯s got the kill count for a fairly high grade so far, depends what we find in it lower down.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the number?¡± I asked ¡°fourteen, if we¡¯re counting your boys.¡± ¡°Jeez, that¡¯s a lot for so little time. What¡¯s been happening?¡± ¡°Just little accidents and more discoveries. There¡¯s so little information out there, and with all the newbie teams going in unprepared, they¡¯re getting surprised time and time again. The deaths keep adding up. It¡¯s been open what. A month and a bit?¡± ¡°Bout that, yeah¡± ¡°That¡¯s gonna be in the hundreds a year, and its not even particularly active here yet.¡± ¡°I expect it¡¯ll tailor off as people get more used to it, and when we can produce a guide it¡¯ll decrease even more. Its usual with powerful new dungeons. Trust us, we¡¯ve done this a few times. I¡¯ll grant you its higher than usual, but it¡¯s not unprecedented.¡± Jackson replied, speaking more than I¡¯d ever heard him say before. ¡°Well, we¡¯d better fix that knowledge gap then, when are we delving again, I missed it already.¡± ¡°How on earth did you ever retire Sigurd. You¡¯re like an addict.¡± Kael said laughing. ¡°A story for another time¡­¡± I said, more sombrely. His comment had brought up some memories I¡¯d long thought buried. ¡°Ah, sorry man, didn¡¯t mean to bring up some stuff.¡± ¡°It¡¯s cool Kael, don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯m happy, doing what I love, and I¡¯m sure that wherever they are now they¡¯re thinking the same thing.¡± A moment of silence elapsed as we sipped our drinks. They didn¡¯t need to ask who? And I didn¡¯t need to say, everyone knew the costs of this life and I¡¯m sure they had memories of similar severity to my own. ¡°What are the others up to then?¡± I asked, moving on. ¡°Jenna¡¯s earning some quick cash, working in the healers¡¯ tent, they¡¯ve been needing help with the influx of injured adventurers. Sebastien¡¯s been helping the guild master organise everything, its up to him to tell you, but he¡¯s a bit of a big shot, and Lore¡¯s been working with the apothecaries, helping boil up some potions. We¡¯re getting all the surplus. Jackson and I have been slumming it down here, helping with the training and just manual labour.¡± I was surprised at how much volunteer work they¡¯d been doing around the camp. But when I asked Jackson gave me a surprisingly obvious answer. ¡°It¡¯s really about the community here. The staff that work the services know who helped them, and though its not essential, being on good terms with all of them lets you get the information faster. Getting news that second before you go for a delve can save your life and since they¡¯re all veterans in their own right, the whole atmosphere is just better. Besides, we needed the booze up and running right.¡± I laughed at that. ¡°Sure do.¡± We finished off the drinks, and then left the inn, mellowness flowing through our veins. Soon I would be back in the dungeon. BOOK 2 - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

========== [Friar] Littlebrook was a small village, though calling it a village might have been generous. Friar thought that a village had to have some sort community buildings like a pub, an inn or maybe a church. But no. Littlebrook didn¡¯t have either. To his horror, Friar realised that he would have to hep set up the church. Not what he was expecting. Damn it, master! He thought to himself as he wiped the sweat from his brow, breathing heavily. ¡°What?¡± He questioned, unable to hear what the man had said. The blood rushing through his ears, preventing him hearing clearly. ¡°I said, I need the sack over there.¡± The man repeated, pointing to the other side of the yard. ¡°Not here.¡± ¡°Yes, sir¡± Friar replied, holding his tongue. He wanted to scream and shout at the man, tell him he should be doing it, the filthy scum. But that wouldn¡¯t go down well, and then the master would be unhappy. No matter what Friar wanted, keeping the master happy was always his first priority. He bent down, wincing as his fingers scraped on the rough gravel, drawing blood, as he looped them underneath the sack. With a short sharp grunt, he jerked the bag up into his arms, and made for the short waddle over to the other side. About half-way he felt his vision narrowing, black clouds filtering in. He stumbled; eyes only focused on the pile of similar sacks just a few metres away. Friar felt pain growing in his chest, he couldn¡¯t breathe! He tried harder, short sharp breaths; but it didn¡¯t seem to help. He just couldn¡¯t get enough air. The pain was building and as he stumbled again, he let go, dropping the sack and watching it split open, spilling the contents all over the gravel. As if in slow motion, he watched the sweat droplets fly, kicking up small spurts of dust as they landed on the ground. His vision narrowed further, until all was obscured by the black cloud of unconsciousness. ¡°What a fat pig, useless. You¡¯d a thought they¡¯d have sent someone capable of the labour at least?¡± someone said. In his daze, what the man said hadn¡¯t quite sunk in. ¡°Hahahaha¡± the other responded. ¡°imagine if he knew we had a cart to help pull this shit¡± ¡°What, we do?¡± the first man questioned before bursting into laughter. As Friar lay there, regaining his senses what the men had been saying sunk in, and he felt anger stir his heart. Oh, you¡¯ll get yours! He thought, malice colouring the words. Revenge would be sweet, someday soon I¡¯ll end that life of yours. When the two men, wandered off, Friar got up. Slinking away to plot their downfall.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. He¡¯d been set up with a temporary tent, whilst the church got built, and it was there that he conducted his business. The first order of business was replying to all the correspondences. He¡¯d had to pull lots of strings to get sent here. Friars were traditionally roving priests that went around towns, trying to educate the masses to the word of the gods. They weren¡¯t tied to a place. So, he had to satisfy the benefactors to his move, updating the senior members of the clergy to the progress he was making. Although the dungeon was still supposed to be secret, word always spread throughout the main organisations, and the church was no exception. Once he was done writing the letters, he dropped a globule of wax on the back, pressing down with his signet ring to imprint his name. The stinging pain on his bloodied fingers brought tears to his eyes. Hot wax in a cut was not pleasant. Still, pain was only temporary, and he persisted. Once all the letters were sealed, and the wax dry. Friar gathered them up in a bundle, tying them together with a small strand of string. Gathering his money, the letters, and his coat he wandered out of the tent, and down through the dungeon camp. It had no official name as yet, but the mountain side of the stream that ran through the village was where the guilds were all building. Making it down to the stream, he crossed over one of the short wooden bridges and entered the village proper. The only service building the village seemed to have was a post office. Situated close to the path, at the edge of the village it was a little out of the way, and with the hot sun burning down from above and the distance, the Friar began to sweat again. Friar was fat, a sedentary life as an almoner had seen him start to put on the weight. When the master contacted him, it had only gotten worse, all the stress of dealing with him had seen Friar eat to relax, and life as a Friar had only gotten worse. Master payed him well and getting transported by coach all around the lands had given Friar a figure that was not conducive to exercise. Still, friar didn¡¯t complain, and it was that attitude that made him very likeable. That was, as long as he didn¡¯t spew the vitriol and true thoughts out of his mouth. But Friar didn¡¯t do that, and so he waved and smiled and exchanged pleasantries with the villagers who greeted him, as he made his way to the post office. It was a small building, wooden, and frail looking. Friar doubted if it would stand up to a strong breeze. Behind the counter, a young girl sat, her head barely visible. She glared down, though Friar couldn¡¯t see at what. Shuffling closer, he noticed tat the girl was practicing embroidery, though the stitching wasn¡¯t going too well. ¡°Hello.¡± He called out, putting on the fake friendly cheer that never failed to win him a smile. ¡°Ah, hello¡± the young girl replied, jerking back in surprise. She must be wondering how such a tub of lard could sneak up on her. Friar schooled his thoughts, saying kindly. ¡°Are you having some trouble there.¡± ¡°Yeah, mother wants the pattern done by dinner, but I can¡¯t do it. She asks and asks and gets annoyed at me, but she doesn¡¯t tell me how to do it!¡± ¡°Well, that doesn¡¯t seem fair to me.¡± ¡°I know.¡± She said, smiling back at him. ¡°I¡¯m glad you agree. I¡¯m a kid, so I must be wrong, mothers always right after all.¡± ¡°Well, usually, but between you and me, kids are far far smarter. What wrong with it, I¡¯ve done a bit of embroidery before, maybe I can help?¡± ¡°Well, ok then. Come on round.¡± Smiling, Friar did as she bade, shuffling around the edge of the counter. Half an hour later, he¡¯d taught her how to do it and knew he¡¯d made a friend in the young girl, someone that was sure to feed him the bits of knowledge he might require. ¡°Oh, before I forget, I¡¯ve got to mail out these letters.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± She replied holding out a hand. She took the bundle over to the scales, working out their weight and size, before looking over at the chart. ¡°That¡¯ll be, three copper please.¡± ¡°Here you go.¡± Friar replied, turning to go. ¡°Thank you, friar.¡± She called after him. ¡°No problem my child.¡± He dipped his head and started the long trek back to his tent. BOOK 2 - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

========== [Dungeon] Since Sigurd and his party had left, I had been bored. I had grown used to the company and excitement of watching him challenge my floors. It was fun. The solitude and loneliness of the dungeon was broken only by Memphis, my sphinx. She had yet to forgive me for accidentally naming her such. They were proud creatures, and she felt a male name was demeaning. I thought that it didn¡¯t matter, and the name was what you made of it. Of course, I didn¡¯t dare tell her that. No, I was in enough trouble as it was. In the weeks that followed their departure, I had reworked a multitude of small details, polishing, and improving every single aspect of the dungeon. When that was done, and I was as happy as I could be with it, I moved onwards. Nature, ice and fire floors were done, it was time to move onto the final set of introduction floors, this time all related to wind. I had had several ideas for wind floors, many of which were designed to test the agility and balance of any adventurers. Small sky paths with billowing gusts of wind to knock them off. But there was something tepid and boring about such. I already had sky paths in floor two, and the icy platforms in the ocean floor and the ice run all tested the same thing. No, I wanted something different. Something far better than that. Still, there was some merit in the idea. Perhaps with enough reinventing, it would be good enough for one of the floors. I sighed, ¡°Memphis!¡± I called, realising that the genius sphinx was my clear solution to this conundrum. ¡°Yes, Benny¡­¡± She called back up to me, I could feel her flying closer. I ground my metaphorical teeth in frustration. Memphis had been playing these games with me for a while now, and I did not appreciate her playing around with my name. I was a beautiful dungeon, dangerous, ingenious, and far more grand than a name like ¡®Benny¡¯ indicated. It was disgusting. My name was The Realm Beneath. It was a perfect name, for that was what I did, I constructed beautiful realms, worlds out of the imagination of the silly humans who came to raid me. Entire ecosystems under my command. Mine, not ¡®Benny¡¯ Argghghh it was infuriating. Even more annoying though, was the smug sense of satisfaction on Memphis¡¯s face, as I glared at her. ¡°It¡¯s, The Realm Beneath, Memphis. You know that, get it right.¡± I said, fury barely restrained. Memphis laughed at me, ¡°Silly dungeon, its Realmie now, if you got to play around with my name, then I get to do the same with you.¡± She said, maliciously. I growled in frustration, managing to hold myself in check when I saw her smile grow wider still. Oh, I would get her back for this¡­ ¡°So, what do you need master Bean?¡± She¡­ no¡­ control yourself¡­Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I¡¯m working on the wind-based floors¡± ¡°Mhmm¡± ¡°I had originally planned for thin paths crossing a large gap in the floor, with plenty of gusts of wind and obstacles to help encourage them to fall off. You know? ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Well, it feels a bit uninspired, like after the fire it should be more grand, more¡­ well, just more¡­ you know?¡± ¡°Well of course, you¡¯re never going to be able to match my majesty with a little bit of air, its invisible and subtle, not a parading catalogue of danger. Think subtly, I have a few riddles for you, perhaps some that may help you.¡± ¡°Memphis, just tell me, just tell me the answer!¡± ¡°Hmm, no, solve my riddle Ben. You have to solve my riddle.¡± She replied cackling to herself. ¡°Go on then.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll start simple with: I am small, I am big, I am tall, I am short. I am everywhere and nowhere. Yet no matter how you search for me, the closer you get, the less you see. What am I?¡± My mind starts to spin, running through all of the possibilities, nothing pops out to me immediately. ¡°Your next one, a bit harder perhaps, and a bit more useful for a dangerous level. Consider it wisely master: Thick as fog, but light as air, you¡¯ll never see me coming. I cloud your senses and grip your life; my ways are truly cunning. My brother and sister are solid and wet, but I am the one you should not forget. Without any effort, I can make folk die. Tell me, please, what am I?¡± ¡°Ok, they seem difficult, I¡¯m coming up blank so far. Do you have any more for me, Memphis?¡± ¡°One more master, perhaps the one you shall make most use of: I follow my path, my eye never wavers, blind to the world, forgive my behaviour. People all fear me, they say death and destruction follow? But they would see peace if they were I to swallow. I am angry in life, I am calm when I die, Nothing is left save all of my vapours. What am I?¡± With her riddles, and thus her advice delivered, Memphis leaves me alone, to deliberate on the answer. I could make her tell me, but it wouldn¡¯t be a good idea, we have an understanding, and playing the game is a good way of building up our relationship, besides, solving the riddles is fun and I have a lot of time. Like way way way too much time. Over the next few hours, I focus on the first riddle. How can something be big and small, tall, and short and everywhere and nowhere? It has to be abstract, nothing living with a defined shape could possibly fit those parameters. It also is somehow related to the wind, or perhaps something that would fit well on a wind related floor. I didn¡¯t know, and the other two made no more sense either. It was something I would need to think about for a while. Two hours later, I was still puzzling over the riddles when I felt it. Just like before, the heartbeat sounded out, breaking my concentration. And just at the time when I felt I was nearing the answer, it was on the edge of my mind. Oh well, I thought, racing my mind up through the floors to reach the entrance. I was half expecting Sigurd and company to be coming down the stairs, but no, it was some new people. I felt gleeful. It had to mean that I had been discovered properly. Finally! I could at last begin working. With a new source of plentiful mana coming in regularly, my growth would explode. The people that had entered my dungeon seemed less prepared than Sigurd and his group. Their armour was of lesser quality, tears, and damage evident. The metal pieces had dents and scratches and there was far more leather than metal. Their swords too were more rough, cheaper. They didn¡¯t have belts of vials and potions for easy access, but rather shoulder bags that they carried with them. I assumed they would drop them before each fight. I was pleased that they seemed less prepared, it meant I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about them, they didn¡¯t seem to have a good chance of reaching the fire floors, and although I hadn¡¯t yet had a chance to test out the floors, my safety was certainly more important than that. The group had four members, all men. Three of them had swords and leather armour with steel plates, and the last one was a mage, of what sort though, I didn¡¯t know, they seemed confidant and I couldn¡¯t wait to challenge them. Book 2 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

========== [Dungeon] The first floor held nothing new since the last time I had watched Sigurd challenge the floor. But it was new to this group, and apart from the group of teenagers that had had a fairly poor showing, they were the only other group to enter. As such, I was very interested in how they would fare. A different style of group with mostly straight forward fighters. It seemed that the first floor held no real issue for them; they seemed aware and alert, not stopping in awe at the majesty they were greeted by. I didn¡¯t know whether to feel offended that they weren¡¯t taken aback at my grandeur, or happy that I had a good challenge again. Perhaps a bit of both¡­ They advanced through the first floor in short order, stopping only to collect the chests and cut through the trees. While they walked and talked through the easier sections, I considered the riddles; The first one was clearly something abstract or natural. I thought it unlikely to be an object as they couldn¡¯t be both big and small, or short and tall for that matter. ¡°So, first delve guys, we¡¯d better show them losers at the guild we¡¯re the best, I want to get down through the first five floors at least¡± one of the adventurers said, pulling my attention. He was leading, a few steps ahead of the others, sword held loosely, its tip pointing towards the floor, slightly away from him. ¡°Don¡¯t doubt it.¡± Another replied, confidently. ¡°We¡¯ve got it, no problem, one down already and it was piss easy.¡± A third said with a soft chuckle. Just you wait! I thought to myself, envisioning their downfall at the hands of my wolves, waiting down below. ¡°¡­¡± I faded out again as they went back to rambling nonsense. They were taking the stairs slowly and cautiously, good practice as I had thought about trapping the stairs at some point. I hadn¡¯t yet, but it was something I was considering. Everywhere and nowhere, the closer you get the less you see. I thought to myself mulling over the words. So, perhaps it was something that could blind you? Darkness perhaps? Hmmm, that was a strong possibility, it did fit the riddle, but it didn¡¯t feel right. Darkness could indeed be large and small; shadows and night. But it just wasn¡¯t right, I knew it. The riddles were designed to help me design my floors; Memphis wouldn¡¯t have suggested darkness for the wind theme. As I was puzzling over the riddles, something occurred to me. Something one of the adventurers had said. Guild! The guild was here! That was fantastic, it looked like things would be picking up soon. More adventurers to challenge, more mana to be harvested, more excitement and more building! Yes! The adventurers had made it down to the second floor, choosing to descend to the floor and ignore the paths in the trees. A wise decision probably. It was a deadly fall to the forest floor if you slipped and just one mistake would be costly. Whereas on the floor, you could get away with some. ¡°Wow¡± they exclaimed as the foliage parted, and they saw my work. A serene forest floor, golden green light filtering down from above, casting a speckled pattern upon the floor where the leaves cast shadows. A gentle breeze ruffled their hair and carried with it the hint of danger. I imagined they felt a slight shudder trace its way down their spines. I span my vision around them, looking at each and every one, absorbing everything. Would they sail through just as easily as before, slaughtering my wolves? Would they get caught off guard, ready to join the skeletons I had already claimed? Or would they fight a desperate battle only to emerge victorious? At what cost? The anticipation was killing me. Get on with it! ¡°This dungeon is ridiculous!¡± one of them exclaimed. I preened. ¡°I mean, look at it. I¡­ I¡­ What the fuck!¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing like I expected. They told us it was different, but good god. The first floor was something else, but this!!!¡± ¡°Focus guys, this is how we get ambushed, we are not going to be the first party that loses someone or has to go back early because we got awestruck. How embarrassing that would be.¡± The leader said, firmly. They all readied themselves. Looking around with bland gazes, searching for any sign of danger.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. There wasn¡¯t any, the wolves were still moseying around at the other end of the floor, and the cats were lazing around in the trees having a nap. Sometimes I wondered how effective the would be. All they seemed to do was sleep. Stupid buggers. I didn¡¯t voice any of this though, I was sure Memphis would take afront to that. ¡®Cats were regal after all¡¯ sod that! I considered the second riddle while waiting for the wolves to approach. It came to me in a moment: Toxic gas. It was invisible, deadly and gas had two siblings: solid and liquid. It was a surprisingly easy riddle and certainly a good hint for my floor design. It could be carried on the air, and if implemented correctly I could make a very deadly level without a huge lot of work or mana. Perhaps even my first major trap levels I had no clue for the third riddle, nothing I could think of even slightly fit the clues. I sighed; my mind felt like it was clouding over. I stopped when I saw that first nose twitch. The wolves had their scent, it was only a matter of time before a fight. The group was working their way through the trees, searching for any sign of treasure when the wolves began to move. Slowly, sneakily, they crept forwards. Their sleek grey coats sliding over the floor in silence. Disturbing only the littlest of leaves and twigs. As they circled around the group, I felt the tension build, like a trap waiting to spring the circle closed, confining the adventurers who were none the wiser. This was why I loved my caverns. Small tunnels would prevent this kind of fight, and if everything I had heard was true, many of the adventurers coming to challenge me would be totally unprepared for this kind of fight. On some unseen signal, the wolves stood, advancing from the trees, prowling. A menacing snarl painted across their faces. ¡°Oh, shit! Wolves!¡± one of them called out. ¡°Three o¡¯clock¡± They all span, turning to face the same direction. Eyes wide as they took in the threat. My wolves were big. Months of living in such a mana rich environment with plenty of prey had seen them grow in size until they easily stood waist height with the humans. ¡°Weapons ready!¡± the leader called. ¡°Hya¡± they all responded, swords held steady. The mage slid in behind the warriors lighting up a fire ball in both hands. They made for a strong sight, facing off against the wolves. However, they had made one critical mistake. The wolves dashed forwards, those at the back leading first, the men raised their swords prepped for a slash but unaware of the wolves charging towards their exposed backs. The wolves snarled and howled as they jumped, landing on the men from behind and slamming them forwards, into the ground. Claws scratched frantically, sliding off the metal armour with a horrible screeching sound, drawing blood in the few places they met skin, lacerating deeply. The wolves from the front pounced also, jaws clamping down on limbs and torso alike, trying desperately to rip and tear chunks of human flesh away. The mage took it worst, his thick heavy cloak doing far less than the armour at stopping the ferocious attack. ¡°Vi Dis¡± he screamed, blowing through a huge chunk of his mana. I felt a bit of the waste mana filter through to me. A light blue dome exploded out of him, the rippling border picking up the wolves and throwing them back, away from the party. They scrambled to their feet, all downing health potions and chucking the bottles away. They tuned to the mage nodding their heads quickly before focusing again. ¡°Back to back!¡± the leader called out. The men arranged themselves differently, the mage in the centre with each warrior covering a side. ¡°Retreat to the walls of the cavern, we¡¯re gonna have to fight our way there. George, you lead forward.¡± ¡°Hya!¡± they screamed out, slashing hard at the wolves. They took more hits in quick succession as the six wolves charged, but with each hit blocked by their armour they got in a heavy slash that drew blood, cutting deeply into my wolves. It wasn¡¯t long, until the first wolf died, a slice in its throat, bone deep. It bled out in a minute. Another wolf got impaled on a sword, its broad tip punching out the back of the wolf like a nail through a plank of wood. The sword got stuck in the heavy creature, pulling the man to the floor and causing all the others to stumble slightly. This was it, chance two! The mage countered though, throwing out a wall of flame that forced the wolves back again, lest they get singed. The party made it to the wall, and fanned out again, looking on hard at the four wolves that stalked towards them. The wolves rotated right, trying to get at the most injured man, but they followed suit, keeping them at their front. A standoff, the wolves looking for a gap, a stumble, something to give them the edge, whilst the men just watched, gaining time for the mage to build an attack. Already I saw a glowing ball of fire, building in size and then compressing and changing hue. Attack I mind whispered to the wolves, unwilling to stay out completely and let the mage do his thing. With reckless abandon, the wolves charged. Bounding over the ground with an indomitable spirit. They launched forwards, teeth bared, claws extended, a budding growl resounding in their throats. Swords swung, the shiny blades carving bloody paths through the grey fur, spraying droplets of blood around, coating the walls and themselves in a splotchy mess of crimson. The fire burned brighter with every passing second, and as the men continued to hold back the wolves, I knew it was over. ¡°Down¡± The mage called, waiting for his friends to drop to the floor before unleashing a cone of fire that ripped forwards, blistering the floor, and drying out and igniting the nearest trees. It swept forwards, engulfing the wolves in an orange, white blanket, leaving only charred bodies and the sulfurous stench of burnt fur clinging to everything as it faded away. A good fight, they did well to overcome their initial surprise, but without the mage they might well have perished. ¡°Nice job Brent¡± ¡°Thanks, that was awful close though, we need to be more aware. Its so different from the little tunnels, we need to keep that in mind, I don¡¯t particularly want to be ambushed again.¡± ¡°True, yep, Brent is right there. We need to be more aware and more careful, we got complacent and it won¡¯t happen again.¡± ¡°Yeah¡± ¡°Now, do we want to continue on knowing it is only gonna get harder, or do we want to stop for today? I know we said we¡¯d get to floor five, but we¡¯ve used two healing potions now and we don¡¯t have too many more.¡± ¡°I vote we go back, and do some training, I know I¡¯ll slip back into thinking like I always do during a dungeon, and Brent is right, we can¡¯t afford to get ambushed again.¡± ¡°Everyone agree then?¡± ¡°Yep¡± ¡°Yeah¡± ¡°mmmhmm¡± ¡°Ok, lets leave then, we¡¯ll have a quick look around for treasure though.¡± Book 2 - Chapter 6 Chapter 6 ========== [Dungeon] After the group left, I thought about their attempt. It was clear that they had never fought in such open space before. Evidently other dungeons were far more enclosed, more tunnel like. It had taken them by surprise and had forced them to leave earlier than they had planned. Once they got their heads on straight though, I could tell they were skilled. Not as much as Sigurd and his party were, but certainly enough to challenge the deeper floors and uncover more of my work. Their teamwork was good and the way the mage burnt out the wolves was impressive to watch. I looked forward to their future attempts, but I certainly wasn¡¯t going to hesitate to go for the kill. They retreated through the floor with haste and plenty of awareness. Getting ambushed once had taught them a lesson I expected them not to forget. I watched their progress with a distracted mind, tracking them until they left my mountain. Good, it was time to get to work! Hollowing out a chamber in the mountain was a task I was uniquely familiar with, and though I had progressed in speed from those early floors, it was still a mind-numbing task that drained my mana and willpower. I set to it though, knowing that the faster I got on with it, the sooner I could begin the fun bit, designing my floor. Wind was a tricky one, it was fundamentally more immaterial than the other elements. Both earth and water had physical forms that could be played with very easily. Earth became my nature floors and the water easily became ice. Fire too was easier, fire was hot, that was its defining characteristic and so modelling my floors around that was an easy way to make a challenge. Wind on the other hand was invisible and although it could be vastly destructive, it was normally peaceful. Apart from its formless nature, it had no physical form or defining characteristic, at least nothing that a floor could be designed around. Traps were an obvious route that I could go; wind blades, pushing gusts, poisonous gas and many many more options floated through my mind. It was just a question of which one I wanted to go with. I sighed, time to spend some time thinking about it. By the time I had finished carving out my chamber; a simple thirty-meter square room, I had decided. The first of my wind floors didn¡¯t have to be sophisticated or special in any way, a simple narrow winding path that cut across the room above a deadly fall was more than sufficient. It was my sixteenth floor after all and so it had to be hard. Huge gusts of wind would blow periodically, knocking anything that was on the path, off it. That was unless you made it to the few protected patches, patches that would house my monsters. What they were though, I wasn¡¯t sure yet. I was finishing off the path through the room when the next group arrived. Just a little bit more work to finish off the path and then I¡¯d go look at the new group. Though the room was only thirty metres across, the path was a good seventy metres long. I suppose you could jump from one section to another, I thought to myself, pondering options to cheat, nah it wasn¡¯t a course I would recommend, it seemed perilous to the extreme. High risk, very little reward. That was unless of course you jumped to the secret area. Just as with all my floors I would have a secret area full of treasure, this one would be no different, but that was for later, now I was all about finishing off the path.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Perhaps a little sloping section along the wall to finish, smooth rock, slippery feet and a wall in their faces as they slowly edged along, Yes, I liked that. The wind would help push them into the wall, but if they were uncertain on their feet then oops, they would fall. This was all about balance and skill. Yes, I was happy with what I had done. It held promise, I only had to fill it with monsters and loot and add the wind enchants and it would be complete. Oh, and lighting of course, I could see in the dark, but they could not. Low light though, like a moonlit forest, dim and dark, but with a few pale moonbeams shining down. I could envision it now. I was almost tempted to keep working and ignore the adventurers. But I knew when the boredom set in later, I would regret not having watched them and left the work until later. Besides, it gave me a chance to top up my mana again, and that was always pleasant. Like a filling meal. It made me feel warm and stretched. I sighed, reluctantly looking away from my work, and guiding my vision up, through the floors to look at the newbies. And newbies they were indeed. Sloppily patched together leather armour, dinged up helms and swords that seemed more like steel flat-bar than actual weapons. Not to mention the absolute lack of an equipment belt. How on earth did they hope to survive without any potions. All the other groups had needed them after all. The only redeeming part was the sleek wooden bows they carried with them. They held them with practiced grip, arrows carried in the offhand. It was at odds with the slapdash nature that the rest of them belied. When I caught up with them, they had made it through the first floor without a problem, so they were at least more skilled than the group of teens I had taken down earlier. The second floor was another story though, it had far more danger than the first and I considered it to be the actual start of my dungeon. So far they had managed to make it a decent way through the floor, avoiding everything that was a danger, but I knew it wouldn¡¯t last too long. There was no way I would let them get to the third floor uncontested. I would kill them, I knew it, it was only a matter of time until they knew it too. With a few mental prods and pokes I started the wolves gathering. One pack would do I was sure. Unlike the previous group, they weren¡¯t taken unaware by the wolves sneaking up on them. Instead, they turned as one, firing off a couple arrows each. Arrows that slammed into the wolves, taking each one down with an arrow in the chest and another in the head. A second barrage finished off the wolves that remained and I was taken back at the sheer efficiency of the group. What the hell!! I thought to myself, confused. With nary a pause the men stepped forwards, skinning the wolves with aplomb. They tucked the pelts into their backpacks and moved on, making their way to the stream, and quickly washing off the blood and gore. The longer I observed them, the more obvious it was that they were familiar with the woodland, they moved with grace and composure, silent as ghosts as they slipped across the floor. Hunters! That was what they were, no wonder the wolves hadn¡¯t surprised them. Unlike the rest of the adventurers who concentrated on what was ahead of them and not what was around them, the hunters were used to this kind of environment. I wondered how they would fair in the swamp and rainforest, it was subtly different, and they probably hadn¡¯t had that much experience with those kinds of environments. And if they passed them easily, then I was sure the ice or fire would be so utterly different from what they were used to that they would be taken down. That was if they weren¡¯t sensible enough to turn back. It sucked, that I couldn¡¯t make them keep going, that any group that was sensible and turned back before things got dangerous would always walk out of my dungeon ahead. Costing me mana by killing my creatures. Gah I hated it, I would kill soon, I promised myself. Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill I chanted as they completed the second floor and dropped down the waterfall into the swamp. They looked disgusted as the water flooded into their shoes. They swam forwards out of the clear pool clambering up onto the firm ground that surrounded the pool. From here onwards it was a murky battleground they would have to fight through. I found myself smiling as they took their first steps, anticipation building. What would be their downfall, hmm? BOOK 2 - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

=========== [Friar] At last, the church was finally complete, and the friar was ecstatic, not only could he now live in the luxurious rooms that he had helped build, away from the stinking rabble that infested the campgrounds. But he wouldn¡¯t have to spend every waking hour pretending that their sheer presence didn¡¯t make him feel sick. He could get back to his important work, the master could only wait so long after all. With his church built it was time to help the master begin working on the apotheosis. Oh, it would be glorious, so glorious, a world redeemed, and he would be there, standing beside the master to see it all happen. The church was grand, so very grand. If the Friar had any genuine feelings for the church and for god, he would have felt in awe at the holy space. Friar, however, did not. He believed in the master and the power of might. So, when he gazed at the architecturally genius design with all the arches and spires, he felt a sense of self-satisfaction at the power his position would yield. Power over others was the Friars only genuine desire, power that all had to obey, power that dominated. He laughed at the thoughts swirling around his head. This was the first step to accomplishing that. First however, there was a few tasks that required his attention. Namely, those two builders that had crossed him, arranging a little accident for the two of them would be priority number one. But how to do it, how to do it and make sure no one even considered it could have been him. Hiring an adventurer to slash them down was obviously out of the picture. Much like a whore, the stupid fuckers couldn¡¯t keep their mouths closed. Friar climbed the stairs to his room above the church, pondering the issue, working on the church had slimmed his gargantuan belly down a bit, and he climbed the stairs easier than he had ever done so. Sitting down at his writing desk he began to plot and plan, to scheme the builder¡¯s deaths.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Oh, it would be sweet, a torturous death for the scum who had mocked him, who had the gall to laugh at him. Anger surged in his veins as he thought back, lying on the floor semi-conscious hearing them laugh at him. He clenched his fists in anger, breathing slowly as he set the quill down. Anger without direction didn¡¯t solve anything, but Friar was good at directing it. Harnessing it, channelling it to make his enemies pay. Friar thought on the matter for quite some time, carrying out the seemingly endless number of little tasks that were required of him by the church. Cleaning and tidying, sweeping up the mess, reorganising all of the little items and dealing with the ever-increasing pile of letters from the townsfolk and adventurers alike. The church had lots of power with the populace, their word was easily able to sway the landowners and nobles and they could make life very very miserable for them. Friar knew this and took advantage of it every chance he could, stealing free meals and items from the people who could hardly afford to spare any, all in the name of the church. He laughed out loud remembering many such times. Life was good. Adventurers also relied on the church for a lot, the collective power of gods worship soaked into the very brickwork and presence of the church, making it a very holy place indeed. Adventurers came by to remove curses, poisons health drains, tags and many more different inflictions that dungeons gave out regularly. Friar was still waiting for them to find out which he would have to treat, but as yet the dungeon had seemingly avoided using such traps and monsters. A blessing for the adventurers, but a pain in the ass for him. The more hazardous the dungeon the more business the church would gain in healing the adventurers and the more powerful it became in the region. The master required the church to be the ultimate authority here; Friar didn¡¯t know why, but master always had his reasons. Friar hoped to know soon, but he would be patient, pushing the master was an incredibly bad idea, and he was smart enough to realise that. For now, he would tend to the dungeon, slowly integrating into the community, doing as master had bade. Oh, and taking his revenge on those builders of course. He had his plan now, the ultimate way of disposing of a body was a dungeon, it stripped the mana away erasing all signature from a corpse and then they often used the bodies, zombies and skeletons were common enough sight and no one would realise who they were. Though this dungeon had also seemed to steer away from undeath and the infernal. But Friar was sure their stinking corpses would be of use, a gift from Friar and Master to the dungeon. He laughed again, breaking into a cackle that any who heard would be hard pressed not to be unnerved by. Evil thoughts circled Friar and he revelled in it. They would pay, they would all pay. And it would be beautiful. Future of the the book Hello everyone It has been a while, and many many things have changed in my life, from buying a home to proposing to my partner, and fixing up said home. Throughout this time, I have had the motivation and time to complete book one of this story, and now that I am happy with it, I would like to put it out to you guys to re-read and then to continue writing this story until it finishes. The book itself has been reworked and edited thoroughly, i have expanded the first book with another 30% of content as well as new plotlines having been added with new characters that should add more depth and conflict? to the story. I am a lot more happy with the book in its current form and look forward to writing more of it. So in wanting to release the book again, I face a few choices:You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. 1) As the book is complete, I could remove this story here, place it on kindle unlimited and work on book two in my own time whilst potentially earning money through KDP. But I would get far less interaction with the readers and that has always been an excellent facet of RoyalRoad. I could also post it here on RR, replacing the chapters with the new ones or launching the reworked book as a separate story and then launch a Patreon for those who would like to support me. - but I am aware that since I have been a bit unreliable with this book, people who have the means and who do like to support authors may feel more comfortable supporting many of the other wonderful authors on this website. Please let me know your thoughts on what I should do, and any other advice you guys may have. For those who still have this book saved or favourited, thank you for persevering and for those that find it soon, or spot this chapter go live and check it out let me know what you wanted to see. (As an avid reader I have always maintained a presence on this website and for those people who left comments after this book went on hiatus i have endeavoured to respond to you all. I will never change this. Future of Book Part 2 & front cover vote Hi all it seems clear that people would like the edited book under a new story, with the general consensus being an eventual move to KDP. I will be launching a Patreon as well, as that seemed like good advice. Thank you all very much, i am planning to launch the new book soon, but first i need a better front cover. Using AI assistance I have generated some front cover images, that I can use. I would ideally like to use a real artist to design the front cover but since i have zero artistic skills i have resorted to AI for the moment. Please look over the following options and select the 2 you like best. Once I have consensus on the best style option i have some alternate images in the same styles to share as well, though i think i have selected the best options so far. Option 1: Option 2: If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Option 3: Option 4: Option 5: Option 6: Option 7: Option 8: Option 9: Option 10: Option 11: Option 12: Option 13: Future of Book 3 and final front cover selection Hi All It seems clear after the votes on last chapter that the style of Options 3 and 12 was the most popular, they are both very similar, as such i have selected all similar images that i managed to generate. Using the image of option 3 on the previous chapter I generated this front cover. (Option J below) This is the style for the new front covers, using the frame of the old covers and replacing the central section with this new image.. So here are the new options. Option A: If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Option B: Option C: Option D: Option E: Option F: Option G: Option H: Option I: Option J: So please look through and decide which ones you think will be the best in the format shown above. Thank you all.