《Bone Dungeon: Book 1 in the Elemental Dungeon Series》 Chapter 1 Chapter 1 ¡°For your sins against the church¡ª¡± Sins? In what perverse world did rushing to help someone screaming in distress count as a sin? Sheesh. ¡°¡ªwe hereby assign your punishment. Death!¡± Death? That seemed a bit...drastic. Then again, Ryan had attacked a high inquisitor. But the man had ordered those innocent people to be beaten! There was no way the church would condone this type of action by its followers. Oh, wait ¨C this was the church. ¡°Will you repent in your last moments, heathen?¡± The man at Ryan¡¯s side, clad in all white, was practically oozing distaste for him, though he had done nothing wrong. Ryan opened his mouth to speak, to protest, but his cries were muffled behind the gag they had placed on him. Well, that¡¯s just not fair. ¡°Even now, you refuse to repent. And so, as the hand of the Goddess of Justice, I set forth your sentence, and act upon it.¡± The priest¡¯s hand moved, and the blade of the guillotine came crashing down. Damn. Ryan¡¯s head left his body, and he watched in awe as the whole world turned upside down. Part of him had been hoping to at least ruin the high priest¡¯s robe with his blood, but no such luck. Of all the branches of the church to arrive in his small town, why did it have to be the Zealots of the Light? The only sin Ryan had committed was trying to be a good man, certainly a better one than the corrupt followers of the Goddess. His eyes focused on the bright golden sun above for a moment, before his mind drifted off and his world went black. ¡°I am sorry, child, for the unjust end to your life,¡± a woman¡¯s voice whispered in his mind. Ryan opened his eyes, startled by the emptiness around him. Was he dead? He was pretty sure you died when your head was cut off. ¡°The least I can do, to atone for the sins of my followers, is grant you another life.¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Ryan glanced around, but there was no one. His body, completely intact, was simply floating in nothingness. ¡°Stay pure to your heart, young man, and I hope you continue to walk the path of righteousness.¡± The world started to turn dark. Whatever was going on, Ryan was confused. As a heaviness filled his mind, all he could think of was how unlucky this whole ordeal had been. He wondered if he was hallucinating. But deep in his heart, he knew he really was dead. *** ¡°Wake up!¡± A voice, loud and shrill, pulled him from darkness. How long had he been asleep? ¡°Heellloooo,¡± the voice continued, louder this time. Ryan opened his eyes as visions ¨C memories ¨C flashed through his mind and disappeared. Who am I? An image of a man in white, a movement, a giant blade. Ugh, the church. Wait, what¡¯s a church? ¡°Anyone in there?¡± The speaker, a small, floating thing, stared at him. She ¨C Ryan was pretty sure it was a she ¨C appeared to be a young woman, judging from her simple white dress and long golden hair. However, she definitely wasn¡¯t human. Feathery wings sprouted from her back, and she glowed with a faint golden light. Ryan tried to respond but realized he couldn¡¯t. With a quick glance, he realized a lot of things. First, he had no mouth. Second, he was certain he didn¡¯t have any eyes, yet he could somehow see in 360 degrees around him. Third, his body was a glowing white sphere. Had he always been a glowing white sphere? The more he inspected himself, he realized he was made of some sort of glowing stone. ¡°Oh, you are awake.¡± The tiny woman flapped her wings in excitement. The motion sent her flying into the ceiling above Ryan. If he had a mouth, he would have laughed. He took in his surroundings: a small, confined space, with stone and dirt all around. Was he underground? Had he always lived down there? The woman in front of him lowered herself to his eye level ¨C so to speak ¨C and smiled. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Ryan? The name came to the surface of his mind, and he clung to it. That¡¯s right, he was definitely a Ryan! But he still had no way to speak. The woman stared at him in silence. After a long while, she shook her head, laughing. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. I have to complete our bond first.¡± Her body started to glow brighter, and she leaned forward, wrapping her arms around him. Their two lights blended, and she gently kissed the top of his stone. In that instant, Ryan felt a flash of energy rush through him, the light emanating from him filling the room. At the same time, he felt a strange stream of thoughts ¡ª a consciousness ¡ª in his mind. Reaching out internally, he saw the woman shudder as he engaged it. ¡°Hello?¡± he thought to her. She beamed. ¡°Hello!¡± Her voice was filled with excitement. ¡°Who are you?¡± Ryan was thoroughly confused about what exactly was going on. One moment he was in darkness, and now this. ¡°Oh, of course you don¡¯t know. Sorry, I¡¯m just as new to all of this as you are.¡± She fluttered around him, suddenly nervous. ¡°My name is Erin.¡± ¡°Ryan.¡± He projected his name through their bond. They sat there for a moment, Erin¡¯s face growing steadily redder. The continued silence started to feel awkward, and it didn¡¯t seem like Erin was going to be the one to break it. ¡°So, Erin, what exactly are you? And more importantly, what am I?¡± For some reason, he had no idea. Strange. ¡°Well, I am a celestial fairy.¡± She spread her wings wide, beaming with pride. ¡°And you, Ryan, are a dungeon.¡± Chapter 2 Chapter 2 A dungeon? What does that mean? For a fleeting moment, Ryan¡¯s mind screamed that this was wrong, but then the thought vanished. ¡°Technically, you are a dungeon core.¡± Erin pulled his attention back to her. ¡°You are a soul, trapped inside of a magical gem.¡± My soul is trapped? ¡°What was I before?¡± Erin waved her hand across his ¡®face¡¯. ¡°Not important.¡± He thought it was important. ¡°What is important,¡± she said, ¡°is that we get to work.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you think we¡¯re moving a bit fast?¡± Ryan¡¯s mind was spinning, and Erin wasn¡¯t doing a good job at explaining anything. ¡°Fast? Fast?!¡± she wailed. ¡°Do you have any idea how long I¡¯ve been stuck in this cramped diryt hole??¡± He didn¡¯t. In fact, he really didn¡¯t have any sense of time in their hole. ¡°Uhm, considering I just ¡®woke¡¯ up, and have no recollection of anything before then, I¡¯m going to say no.¡± The fairy crossed her arms and wings across her chest, annoyed. ¡°No need to be sarcastic,¡± she sighed. ¡°For your information, the Goddess of Justice sent me down here over a month ago.¡± ¡°Goddess of Justice?¡± ¡°Yes, the deity that rules over righteousness and justice in the world. The best goddess there is!¡± The memory of a voice tickled across Ryan¡¯s mind before it too was eaten by the darkness. He was getting tired of these memories being stolen away. ¡°She sent me down here,¡± Erin continued, ¡°telling me a new dungeon was about to be born.¡± ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yes. Though I didn¡¯t realize you would be asleep for a month.¡± ¡°Well, you could have tried to wake me up.¡± ¡°What do you think I¡¯ve been doing? Ugh, try to keep up.¡± Well, now she was just being mean.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Erin, I really am.¡± He sent a small feeling of comfort through their bond, which reminded him: ¡°Say, what is this ¡®bond¡¯ between us? What did you do?¡± She flew off the ground, humming softly. It was apparent she had a lot of unspent energy. ¡°Dungeon cores require a fairy to link with them in order to grow. The dungeon core serves as the heart of the dungeon and is responsible for creating everything within it. As a fairy, my task is to guide you, to ensure you grow at an appropriate pace, and live a long and prosperous life.¡± ¡°Seems tedious. What do you get out of it?¡± Ryan couldn¡¯t believe she would willingly just help him for no reason. The world didn¡¯t work that way. Strange. Where is this bias coming from? ¡°Through our bond, I can share in your power. The stronger you get, the more powerful I become as well. Once I¡¯ve bonded to you, I can no longer draw mana from the world on my own, so I need you to help me survive.¡± ¡°What¡¯s mana?¡± Erin huffed again at his question. They really weren¡¯t getting very far. ¡°Do I have to explain every little thing to you right this instant?¡± ¡°Well, isn¡¯t that your job?¡± She opened her mouth, but stopped, thinking for a second. ¡°I mean, you¡¯re not wrong.¡± She flew over and sat back atop his head. He could tell now he was indeed in some sort of gem, with his inner light making it appear to glow white. ¡°How about we work out your powers as I explain some things?¡± ¡°Sounds good.¡± If Erin needed Ryan to provide this ¡®mana¡¯ to survive, he should probably get some. He couldn¡¯t help but shudder at the thought of being alone in this hole. Oh, poor Erin. ¡°Mana is the very energy that runs the world. Everything contains some form of mana. You could say it is the lifeblood of existence.¡± Makes perfect sense¡­ not. ¡°Ambient mana exists lightly in the air,¡± explained Erin, ¡°and you will use mana in every aspect of your life as a dungeon core.¡± ¡°All right, so magical energy, floating around, that I can use. Easy enough.¡± Erin sent an annoyed jolt through their bond at the interruption, then continued. ¡°As a dungeon core, you can use your mana to spread your influence into anything you touch. By doing this, a dungeon core is able to slowly build and carve out a desirable shape, or body, for the dungeon. As you grow stronger, the amount of mana you can use, along with how quickly it returns, will increase.¡± She flew over to the wall, just outside the range of his white light. ¡°I want you to focus on the energy within you and spread it forward to this wall.¡± Ryan closed his ¡®eyes¡¯, focusing within. She was right, he could feel a strange power that seemed to stir within. Gently, he reached out to it, and it eagerly jumped towards him, like a pet happy its owner had returned. It filled him with an almost intoxicating warmth. ¡°Good, now extend that energy towards¡ª¡± Ryan was only half listening to her as he focused on the spot she had indicated. He urged the energy towards her, letting it go, and it leapt from him. Erin¡¯s scream a second later brought him back to his senses. ¡°Ryan!¡± The wall Erin had been hovering beside was now a crater, the rubble and surrounding rock glowing slihgtly. ¡°Did I do it?¡± He could ¡®feel¡¯ that area now and could see everything around it as if he was in it. ¡°Well¡­ you did. But you can¡¯t just unleash random bursts of mana!¡± Oops. ¡°You have to gently reach out with it, otherwise you risk blowing everything up around you, including me.¡± Her left wing did seem to be smoking just a bit, and perhaps missing a feather or two. ¡°Right. Whoops. Well, now that we have that out of the way, what¡¯s next?¡± He found this whole mana use thing very exciting, yet oddly draining. ¡°Well, now we slowly spread your influence. It¡¯s going to take a lot of mana to get to the first level of true dungeonhood.¡± Chapter 3 Chapter 3 It took Ryan a whole day to spread his influence into a three-foot sphere around himself. Erin mentioned the measurement to him, noting his core was equal to the size of a human fist. He had no reference for that, so he ignored it. ¡°So, what do we do from here?¡± He floated in the chamber, the latent mana in his body keeping him suspended, while Erin flew around, enjoying the new space. The entire room glowed with a pure white energy, and Ryan could feel more mana slowly filling him. Erin had explained to him that currently his mana capacity was low, meaning he would have to take multiple breaks as he worked. As such, it took him the whole day to create his small space. At least the larger he got, the more mana he would be able to absorb, and the larger the area he would be able to work on before needing to take a break to recharge. ¡°Well, this is a good start.¡± Erin landed atop him ¨C a favorite spot of hers, it seemed. ¡°But we¡¯re going to need to get a lot bigger.¡± ¡°You mean I¡¯m going to.¡± She really hadn¡¯t done anything, other than complain about how slow Ryan was. He may have ¡®accidentally¡¯ blasted through a piece of rock near her when she had started to annoy him. That stopped her complaining. ¡°Don¡¯t be like that, Ryan, I¡¯m helping too.¡± She sent a hurt feeling through the bond. ¡°Nagging isn¡¯t helping.¡± He sent her a chuckle as he felt her anger rise. ¡°But I think I am ready for the next step towards dungeonhood.¡± He was more comfortable with his mana and had definitely become faster at shaping the earth around him. He¡¯d also noted that as he expanded, he seemed to absorb the broken dirt and rock, instantly gaining an understanding of the material. He needed to ask Erin about that. ¡°Are you listening?¡± Oops. He had zoned her out. What had she been saying? Quick, divert. ¡°You have such pretty wings.¡± He watched her face as she blushed and stuttered, her face turning red for a moment. ¡°Tha¨C thank you.¡± Erin flapped them a couple of times, watching as the fine white feathers ruffled, then cleared her throat. ¡°As I was saying, this is only the first step in your path towards being a proper dungeon.¡± She waved her hand, and six strange symbols appeared in front of Ryan, each glowing a different color. ¡°These are the different affinities you can have as a dungeon.¡± ¡®Affinity.¡¯ That was a new word. ¡°Across the land, there are usually seven different types of dungeons. Each dungeon specializes in a specific type of energy, or specialized mana.¡± There were different types of mana? Was that why Erin had originally glowed gold when she met him? Was that her type of mana? Also, she said there were seven, but Ryan only saw six symbols. ¡°Which means?¡± ¡°The mana specialization of a dungeon determines what type of mobs it will be able to create.¡± ¡°Mobs?¡± ¡°Eh, adventurer slang for the types of creatures a dungeon has.¡± ¡°Why do I need these mobs?¡± She really hadn¡¯t explained much of being a dungeon to him. All he knew was to use his mana to grow his influence, so he could gain more mana. ¡°You are so clueless.¡± She sighed in exasperation. ¡°Only because my ¡®helper¡¯ doesn¡¯t tell me these things. I can¡¯t just absorb all your thoughts¡ª¡± Erin¡¯s face grew startled, and Ryan paused. ¡°Can I?¡± ¡°No! No, that¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s not a good thing. Sorry, I¡¯ll do better.¡± She seemed panicked; he could feel terror streaming through their bond. Guess I shouldn¡¯t mention absorbing her again. ¡°Anyway, as I stated earlier, a dungeon¡¯s goal is to grow stronger. One measure of strength is the amount of mana a dungeon can control, which is why growing your influence is important. The larger you are as a dungeon, the more usable mana you have, and the quicker it refreshes. Mana exists naturally in the world, and as a dungeon, you draw it in constantly from any area that you have influence over.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. That made sense and explained why he was now pulling in much more mana than when he had barely had any influence on his surroundings. ¡°The main way for a dungeon to become stronger, though, is by defeating adventurers and gaining experience.¡± ¡°So, I use my mobs to beat them, and they just hand over this ¡®experience¡¯ when they lose? What exactly is an adventurer?¡± Erin¡¯s face grew grim for a moment. ¡°Well, they don¡¯t just ¡®hand¡¯ anything over. When an adventurer dies in your dungeon, you absorb them, and you gain experience based on how strong they were. Experience is the other way in which a dungeon grows in strength. You know what, Ryan? We will cover experience a little later.¡± Death. Ryan remembered a giant blade, a quick slice. He didn¡¯t want to kill anyone. ¡°All right. But Erin, is there a way to grow without killing? I don¡¯t like that idea.¡± Erin¡¯s face brightened, though her eyes were still sad. She wrapped him in a hug. ¡°I know. As a celestial being, I am generally against it as well. You can slowly gain experience by spreading out your influence and absorbing new materials around you, but it takes a much longer time to gain experience that way, and the Goddess told me she wants you to grow fast. Besides, adventurers know the risk, and take it willingly.¡± He couldn¡¯t fathom why people would willingly go towards death. Maybe Erin would explain it later. ¡°But we are a bit off topic,¡± she was saying. ¡°So, long explanation short, as a dungeon, you will make mobs, which will fight adventurers who come into your dungeon. Killing adventurers equals more experience for you, which makes us stronger.¡± ¡°Simple enough. So, I have to choose one of these affinities in order to begin making mobs?¡± He felt Erin¡¯s pride at his question through their bond. I got something right. Go me. ¡°Yes. Each affinity affects the basic types of mobs you can begin creating. By knowing what type of mobs you will make, you will be able to begin forming the first level of your dungeon. Then we can start trying to attract adventurers.¡± Adventurers equaled power. Ryan was all for the path to power, especially as it seemed to make Erin happy. The killing part was still unfortunate, though. ¡°So, what are my options?¡± he asked. She pointed to the red symbol first, which was shaped like a flame. ¡°Fire affinity starts with small lizard-like mobs, eventually allowing you to create lesser dragons.¡± An image of a giant, fire breathing lizard filled his mind from their bond. ¡°Those seem cool.¡± Erin nodded before pointing towards the next symbol: a blue teardrop. ¡°Water isn¡¯t really an option for us, as we aren¡¯t near the water, and adventurers usually complain about exploring those anyway.¡± All right. So far, it¡¯s looking like fire. ¡°No water, okay. Next.¡± ¡°Wind,¡± she pointed at a nearly invisible silvery symbol that appeared to be a few squiggly horizontal lines, ¡°gives way to various air-based wisps and elementals, as well as winged beasts. Usually, a wind dungeon is high up in the mountains, which we are not.¡± So, still dragons. ¡°Not an option. Okay.¡± ¡°Earth affinity dungeons begin with low-level animals, but quickly expand to great beasts.¡± Images of massive clawed and furred creatures filled Ryan¡¯s mind as Erin pointed towards the next symbol. ¡°Earth dungeons typically also have golems within.¡± A humanoid pile of moving rocks seemed intimidating at first, but he felt it would get old fast. Ryan was definitely still liking that dragon option. ¡°Boring.¡± ¡°Celestial, or light magic as some call it¡ª¡± She pointed towards the golden symbol, a perfect golden sun, ¡°¡ªbegins with gentler, magical creatures, which eventually evolve into divine.¡± She sent an image of a beautiful unicorn, as well as a large, glowing version of herself: an ¡®angel,¡¯ she called it. ¡°However, celestial dungeons usually grow rather slowly. Like I said, celestial creatures are averse to killing.¡± Well, that won¡¯t help me get stronger, so that¡¯s out. ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem like a good path to power. No offense.¡± ¡°None taken.¡± ¡°And the next one?¡± ¡°The last one is darkness. It is the power to raise the undead. Dungeons aligned with darkness raise skeletons and zombies, and can bring forth anything that has died in their dungeon as their own monster. In that sense, a dark dungeon could have creatures from the other affinities as well, but in the undead form.¡± That seemed intriguing, but Erin didn¡¯t seem keen. ¡°Hmm. Going to have to say dragons are the coolest.¡± Ryan glanced at the six symbols and recalled Erin¡¯s earlier comment. Shouldn¡¯t there be a seventh? Maybe she had misspoken. Erin let out a sigh, as if she had been holding her breath. ¡°Thank the Goddess. The church hates dark dungeons.¡± The church, you say? Ryan saw a brief vision of a man in white, and a feeling of disdain filled him. Ryan was pretty sure he didn¡¯t like the church. ¡°So,¡± Erin was saying, ¡°just stretch out your mana to the symbol for fire, and that will bind your dungeon to that affinity. After that, we can really get started.¡± Erin pointed towards the fire symbol. Ryan grinned to himself, moving his mana ever so slowly out towards the fire symbol. I really don¡¯t like the church. The thought pushed into his head. And if the church doesn¡¯t like the darkness¡­ Something within him snapped, and suddenly his mana shot towards the dark symbol: an impossibly black human skull. The moment his mana touched it, the darkness wrapped around Ryan¡¯s light and rushed into him. It left a black imprint on his stone, the same shape as the skull symbol. ¡°Ryan, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?¡± Chapter 4 Chapter 4 ¡°Erin. Erin. ERIN!¡± His cries were ignored. The fairy¡¯s emotions were a mixture of rage and sorrow. What have I done? ¡°Look, Erin, I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°You¡¯re vile. How could you? Only evil souls choose darkness or chaos.¡± Chaos? So there are seven. Ryan made a mental note to ask Erin about that one later on, when she wasn¡¯t extremely mad at him. ¡°Look, Erin. I¡¯m not evil, I promise.¡± He tried to convey his sincerity through the bond. ¡°Something came over me. I couldn¡¯t control myself. Pull the other elements back up, and I¡¯ll switch back to fire. Having fire-breathing lizards seems so cool.¡± Tears fell from her eyes as she shook her head. ¡°It can¡¯t be undone.¡± What? ¡°But¡ª¡± ¡°Once you pick your affinity, there is no going back. You¡¯re stuck with a dark affinity.¡± She said it with disgust. Was darkness really that bad? ¡°Oh.¡± Why had he acted so impulsively? What strange force had come over him to make him chose the dark energy? What had the church ever done to him? ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Erin was fighting hard to get her emotions back in order. ¡°I¡¯ve let the Goddess down.¡± She broke down again. Poor girl. ¡°Erin, you haven¡¯t let anyone down. You¡¯ve been a great help. It¡¯s not your fault you got stuck with a stupid dungeon core.¡± She looked up, a small smile starting to form. ¡°The dumbest.¡± ¡°Yup, that¡¯s me, dumbest dungeon there ever was.¡± She laughed; it was light and musical. Ryan could feel himself smiling. ¡°Now, then, how about you help this dumb dungeon try to work past his mistake?¡± She flew back onto him, wiping her eyes as she landed. ¡°Well, thanks to you, we are stuck with darkness.¡± ¡°Nothing we can do?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°Well, then, I guess it¡¯s time for the next step in becoming a dungeon. You mentioned something about mobs?¡± She sighed but pulled out two crystalline triangles. They grew until they were each just a tad smaller than Ryan and floated in front of him. They appeared to be inversions of each other. ¡°Your affinity helps us decide what type of mobs you are able to create. Those,¡± she pointed towards the triangles, ¡°show us your current level, as well as the amount of experience you have towards the next level.¡± She flew to the first triangle. ¡°This is the level gauge.¡± She pointed at the triangle¡¯s wide base. ¡°The bottom is the Bronze tier and consists of eleven levels. Next is Silver, with nine levels. Then it¡¯s Gold with seven, Platinum with five, Diamond with three, and at the top, is God tier.¡± ¡°Hey, awesome. I¡¯m made of diamond. Am I a one, two, or three?¡± ¡°You¡¯re made out of idiot.¡± She laughed again. ¡°All dungeon cores are made of diamond. Besides, what your stone is made of doesn¡¯t determine your level, silly.¡± She pointed to the bottom left-hand corner of the triangle, where a single, much smaller triangle, glowed black. ¡°This is your level. You are currently a Bronze Eleven darkness dungeon.¡± Oh, so he was at the very bottom. Ouch.Stolen story; please report. ¡°And this shows you are about halfway towards the experience requirement for your next level.¡± She pointed at the other main triangle ¨C the inverted one ¨C which had the narrow bottom portion partially filled with a black glow. ¡°This triangle is split into six levels.¡± Ryan could see six different lines cutting across it, each creating a larger section. ¡°For Bronze, you need to fill the bottom portion to level one. For Silver, you¡¯ll have to fill the second. To reach Gold, it¡¯s¡ª¡± ¡°¡ªthe third level, Platinum the fourth, and so on?¡± Looking at that, it meant each level would grow increasingly more difficult to progress past. Ugh. Being a dungeon is going to be hard. ¡°You caught on to that quickly.¡± Erin waved her hand, and the two triangles sank to the ground. ¡°If you absorb these, you will be able to call them forth whenever you choose, to check your stats.¡± She didn¡¯t have to tell Ryan twice. He instantly absorbed them both. Unlike the previous objects he had absorbed, though, these weren¡¯t broken down, and a rush of knowledge didn¡¯t fill him regarding them. Darn, they seem interesting. He wondered how they worked. ¡°Now, call your level triangle back out,¡± suggested Erin. He looked at her, wondering how he would do that. ¡°How?¡± ¡°Just¡­ think of it?¡± Erin didn¡¯t seem to know either. Awesome. ¡°Fine.¡± He imagined the triangle he had just absorbed, and on cue, it appeared shimmering before him. ¡°I did it!¡± ¡°At least you can do some things right.¡± She seemed to still be a tad upset about the darkness thing. Oops. ¡°So, the mobs you can summon depend on multiple factors. First, your affinity. Second, your level.¡± ¡°And mobs get stronger as I do?¡± He was liking this whole ¡®interrupt Erin with thoughts of his own¡¯ game. She had seemed happy with his guesses earlier. ¡°Not quite.¡± Drat, he was wrong. ¡°Mobs are assigned a point value. Based on your level, you have a certain amount of points available with which to create mobs.¡± Ugh. Does this mean I have to do math? ¡°At Bronze Eleven, you are allotted fifty points.¡± She pointed to the bottom leftmost triangle, and a white ¡®50¡¯ appeared over the darkness. That¡¯s helpful. ¡°As you increase in levels, you will be allotted more points.¡± This all seemed simple enough. ¡°So, I can create fifty points¡¯ worth of mobs right now?¡± Erin shook her head. ¡°They would have nowhere to go.¡± Ah, right. They were still in a single sphere-shaped room. ¡°So, we have to expand first?¡± Ugh. Expanding took forever. Ryan wanted to see what else he could do. ¡°Correct. Before you summon any mobs, you need to create the first level of your dungeon.¡± ¡°Just one level?¡± He tried not to sound disappointed. He wanted to be big. ¡°Yes. Your allotted points apply across all your floors, so I don¡¯t think expanding out to more than one floor would be wise at this time.¡± Oh, valid point. He wasn¡¯t sure how much different mobs cost yet, but he had a feeling fifty points wouldn¡¯t go very far. ¡°Try to make three rooms for now. A boss room right before this area, and then two other rooms. That seems to be the basic setup for most low-level dungeons.¡± Erin flew atop him again, patting his head. He sent a pained groan through their bond. ¡°The sooner you get this done, the sooner you get to summon your first mobs,¡± she told him, sending a wave of distaste through their bond. Yup, she hadn¡¯t forgiven him at all. He silently set to work spreading his influence out. Perhaps if he worked hard enough, Erin wouldn¡¯t hold onto her obvious grudge. Besides, darkness couldn¡¯t be that bad. *** ??? The deep reverberation of bells woke him from his slumber. His eyes opened slowly, and as he sat up, he scanned the room. The skeletons that surrounded him as he slept stood silent and unmoving. He paid them no heed as he stood, calling on the surrounding gloom to cover him. He emerged from the room riding a wave of darkness, heading to the heart of his castle The walls he passed were adorned with ancient paintings, relics from times long forgotten. He recalled ¡®acquiring¡¯ the castle from his master and smirked to himself as he remembered that sniveling fool. He hadn¡¯t even been worth bringing back as a minion. He passed patrolling zombies and skeletons on his way ¨C his loyal servants, all humans too weak to stand before him in life. At least they were useful in death. He grinned again as his eyes passed over his pets. Every undead face reminded him of a battle, of death. He did so enjoy killing. Perhaps that was why he had so readily accepted his calling and embraced his dark powers. His thoughts paused as he reached his goal: a massive underground chamber, with a single pedestal resting in the center of the room. Atop the pedestal sat a crystal, the only one of its kind in existence. It was able to determine when a dungeon of darkness affinity had awakened. And clearly, it had detected something, for the crystal was glowing with a dark light. Beside it, an acolyte, the only other living being in his castle, was clanging the bells. As he entered, the acolyte faltered, and stepped away from the bells, bowing in his direction. ¡°Contact your master,¡± he growled to the acolyte. ¡°There is a new darkness dungeon.¡± Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Ryan began by focusing his mana outward, spreading himself through the dirt and stone. He instantly absorbed anything and everything he touched, clearing out a space. Erin had given him a brief description of how the boss room and other two rooms should look, and he wanted to make her proud. While he worked, Erin curled up on top of him, and was soon asleep. Apparently, she thought the basic labor behind dungeon building was uninteresting. Ah, well. That just meant he would be able to surprise her when she woke up. He set to work, pushing out and creating a space large enough to be called his boss room. He still wasn¡¯t sure what a boss was, but Erin would likely tell him when he finished. As such, he pushed his influence out until he had created a vast ¡ª well, vast compared to his small three-foot area ¡ª room. It had to be close to four ¨C no, five ¨C times the size of his own chamber, with square walls and a domed top. He liked the aesthetics of that curved ceiling, though the room itself was otherwise rather nondescript. He would have to ask Erin about ways to touch it up. If people were going to be in the room, he wanted to give them something worth looking at. Focus! He shook his head and created an arching doorway leading out of the room. As he worked, Ryan casually called forth his experience triangle, watching the bottom portion hungrily. The plus side of this expansion was he might just be able to get another level out of it! Erin had told him a dungeon would gain a small amount of experience as it spread its influence to new areas and created larger rooms. He created a winding pathway out of his boss room, slowly angling it up. Ryan wasn¡¯t sure how far underground they were, but he figured he had enough space to add a little depth and elevation to his first floor. As he carved away, he also noticed strange variations in what he was absorbing. By the time he had carved out his second room ¨C this one a large, cavern-like expanse ¨C he had found a few neat things. First, several different metals had made themselves ¡®known¡¯ to him via his absorption of them. He found iron and copper, though Erin hadn¡¯t woken from her sleep for him to ask her about them. He had also found a small strain of gold, but again, he wasn¡¯t certain if that was valuable. The only reason the metals stood out was because they were different from the normal rocks and dirt he had been eating away. The other things he had stumbled upon were the skeletal remains of a variety of creatures. Ryan wasn¡¯t sure if it was his affinity for dark mana, but as he absorbed the remains, he instantly gained an understanding not only of bone, but also of the creatures the bones had belonged to. Frustratingly, though, some of the skeletons were incomplete. As he pushed forward with the excavation and his final room, he found himself hoping for more bones to complete his collection. ¡°Finished that boss room yet?¡± Erin stretched as she rose from her nap. How long had she been asleep? He really had no idea of time down here.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. It was taking a while, mainly because he needed to take breaks from his work to give his mana time to refill. On the plus side, as he grew larger, his mana began refilling faster, increasing the rate at which he could work. A busy dungeon was a happy dungeon, it seemed. Once he reached his final room, he had been able to make changes without feeling much of a drain, but the boss room had taken him at least a day, if not two, to create. If he had to guess, he figured he may have been dungeon building for a week now? And Erin had slept the entire time. Lazy fairy. ¡°You could say that.¡± He was only half paying attention to her, having found a human skeleton as he was finishing up his final room. Spiffy. That made four different skeletons in his collection. In the silence, while Erin took a nap, he may have become a bit obsessed with completing his sets, to the point of creating a few offshoot tunnels here and there as he searched near the remains he did find. ¡°Well, let me take a look.¡± Erin stretched her feathery wings and took flight, heading through the small opening he had made between his room and the boss room, per her instructions. Erin told him he couldn¡¯t completely cut it off from the dungeon, but that his room should be hard to find. As such, he made a tunnel from his chamber that snaked up and a down a few times, before connecting through a small hole at the top corner of his boss room. He felt it was sneaky. ¡°Ugh, you couldn¡¯t have made that easier on me?¡± Her voice was filled with irritation as it came through their bond. Well, you can¡¯t please everyone. Ryan finished his final touches on the first room: a sprawling expanse like the second, seeming almost natural, not dungeon made. He wanted to talk with Erin about a few things before adding to it. ¡°I like this ceiling. This room feels eerie,¡± said Erin. Dark stone illuminated only by a faint white glow ¨C it was eerie. Especially since the room was too large for the light to chase away the darkness. But hey, Ryan didn¡¯t have any way to add extra light. The only reason there was a slight glow was because it permeated everything Ryan had influenced. Erin had told him the glow represented objects that had been worked on by a dungeon¡¯s mana. ¡°Well, eerie can be good, right? We are a darkness dungeon.¡± He sent his humor through the bond. Maybe she had forgiven him. ¡°Oh, how could I ever forget?¡± She huffed as she flew on to the next room. Erin zipped around the large space, inspecting the walls, muttering to herself here and there. ¡°Ryan?¡± She was inspecting one of his offshoot tunnels. Oops. ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°Um, I was looking for something.¡± He could tell this was about to go south. ¡°Oh, like metals?¡± ¡°Yes, totally those.¡± Phew, that was close. She poked around in the offshoot tunnel, looking at the soil, checking the portions he had absorbed away. He watched her through the walls and realized something just as she noticed it. He had absorbed the skull he had found there but forgotten to absorb the rock around it. The effect: a piece of stone with the perfect imprint of a human skull. Crap. ¡°What have you been doing?¡± she screeched. Yup, she was mad. So very, very mad. ¡°Come on. Throw me a bone!¡± Ha. Probably a poor time for that joke. ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything with it, I just absorbed it. I needed it for my collection.¡± ¡°YOUR WHAT?¡± Oh, note to self: anything dark-related is a touchy subject. ¡°My bone collection.¡± He was quickly filling in all the other offshoot tunnels he had made. She didn¡¯t need to know about those. It was easy enough; he found he could create anything he had absorbed with a simple thought and a minuscule mana drain. ¡°I¡¯m going to act like I didn¡¯t hear that for now, and finish inspecting the dungeon.¡± Her tone, and her feelings, told him this was not over. Chapter 6 Chapter 6 ¡°So, what did you think?¡± Erin had finished looking over Ryan¡¯s hard work, and was now sitting atop him, albeit silently. She hadn¡¯t spoken to him since his mention of his bone collection. ¡°It¡¯s a good start.¡± Oh, that¡¯s promising. ¡°But it is pretty basic.¡± Ouch. ¡°Well, you didn¡¯t really give me much to go on,¡± he grumbled. Great plan, shift the blame back to the angry one. I really need to think about things before I say them. Erin growled and hit him. Obviously, being a diamond, he didn¡¯t feel it, but he got the message. She was mad. Really mad. ¡°Sorry, I tend to speak without thinking sometimes.¡± He sent his remorse through the bond. ¡°You ¡®tend,¡¯¡± she stressed the word, ¡°to do a lot without thinking.¡± Fair point. His mind was currently sneaking around the walls, seeing if he had missed any bones. Ryan found he could send his consciousness to multiple places at once, allowing him to multitask. Oh look, another bone. ¡°Ryan.¡± Oh no. ¡°Ryan, you¡¯re searching for more bones, aren¡¯t you?¡± His emotions must have traveled through the bond while he was speaking with her. She¡¯d felt his sudden excitement and figured him out. ¡°Um, will you be mad if I say yes?¡± he asked. Ryan still hadn¡¯t quite gotten used to being bonded with her. She seemed able to make guesses about what he was thinking based on what emotions she could sense him experiencing. It was rather unnerving. Her anger came across the bond, and he prepared himself for another fit from her. However, the emotions slowly faded to sorrow. ¡°What am I supposed to do with you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, Erin.¡± He sent waves of his own sorrow through the bond. Ryan hated to hurt people, and he really had started to care for the fairy. ¡°I¡¯m just trying to become a dungeon you can be proud of.¡± ¡°I know, I know. I¡¯m just a little biased. You chose practically the worst dungeon type you could. The only one worse would have been chaos.¡± ¡°You know, I don¡¯t remember that being an option.¡± He really was curious about this chaos affinity now. ¡°Did you hide it from me?¡± Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Erin quickly shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s not it. I would never purposefully hide anything from you.¡± Ryan wasn¡¯t sure if that was true, but he was listening. ¡°Chaos is the direct opposite of celestial. Because you are paired with me, and I am a celestial fairy, chaos wasn¡¯t an option. In the same way, a dungeon with a chaos fairy cannot choose celestial. ¡± ¡°If it makes you feel better, I wouldn¡¯t have chosen chaos.¡± Ryan didn¡¯t know what Chaos was, since Erin hadn¡¯t explained much on it, but something in his core told him he would have stayed away from it. He wasn¡¯t evil. ¡°You know what, how about we get to building some mobs?¡± Erin¡¯s mention of mobs drew his full attention. She certainly knew how his mind worked. ¡°Awesome. What do I have to do?¡± ¡°As I mentioned before, darkness dungeons utilize skeletons and zombies as their basic monster types.¡± He remembered that, hence his bone collection. ¡°All right, so how do I make them?¡± His mind was already swarming with ideas. ¡°Normally, darkness dungeons begin with making mobs from bones they have found through expansion.¡± Ryan beamed. ¡°Well, I have found a lot of bones so far.¡± ¡°Then try to reanimate one of those sets.¡± Reanimate? ¡°How?¡± ¡°Well, send your mana into the set of bones you¡¯ve found, and it should naturally begin to bring the creature back to life.¡± She seemed to hate giving him these instructions. ¡°Can¡¯t do that.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± Now who¡¯s the slow one? ¡°Because I absorbed every set I found.¡± How else would he have a bone collection? ¡°Oh.¡± She paused. Ryan was curious what she was thinking about; her emotions were all over the place. ¡°Hey, Ryan, I think I just solved our problem.¡± ¡°What problem, and does it get us to this whole ¡®making mobs¡¯ thing? I really want to make some.¡± He had been waiting a long time for this. ¡°I think I found out how I can accept you as a darkness dungeon.¡± Oh, that was definitely more important than mob summoning. ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± ¡°So, part of the reason why darkness dungeons are destroyed by the church is because of how dangerous and evil they are.¡± ¡°Well, I can guess raising things from the dead is usually frowned upon.¡± Erin nodded in agreement, continuing, ¡°That¡¯s part of it, Ryan. The other issue is how strong they can become in a short amount of time.¡± ¡°How?¡± Isn¡¯t getting strong fast a good thing? ¡°Remember I mentioned you are limited to how many mobs you can have based on your level?¡± ¡°Yup! At Bronze Eleven I have fifty points. But I¡¯m sooooo close to leveling.¡± ¡°Right, well, when a dungeon reanimates a skeleton or a fresh corpse that it has found and didn¡¯t create, they don¡¯t count against that value.¡± Oh, that¡¯s interesting. ¡°And those mobs can leave the dungeon.¡± She let that hang in the air, like it was a big deal. Ryan had no idea why, and his confusion must have gone through their bond. ¡°Normally, dungeon mobs can¡¯t leave the dungeon,¡± Erin explained. Well, then. ¡°So, having mobs that don¡¯t cost anything and can leave the dungeon to roam the land presents a danger?¡± he said. ¡°That makes sense.¡± Ryan guessed masses of undead meandering about killing innocent people would cause quite a stir. Hell, he could almost sympathize with the church for fearing dungeons like that. Almost. ¡°But I¡¯m not going to do that.¡± He felt Erin¡¯s mood rise, though she looked at him with a confused face. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to raise people from the dead, and I don¡¯t want to be destroyed before we get strong.¡± Ryan wasn¡¯t evil, and the thought of bringing people back from the dead left a bad taste in his mouth. ¡°I knew you weren¡¯t evil. This is why I think my solution will work for us.¡± Erin was glowing a little brighter, and her mood was infectious. ¡°You still haven¡¯t told me this solution,¡± he reminded her. He was glad they could get this to work, glad she seemed in a good mood, but he was still confused what her solution was. ¡°Well, as long as you promise to never raise the dead or create mobs from fallen adventurers¡ª¡± ¡°I promise.¡± ¡°¡ªwe can make our mobs completely from scratch using our own dungeon bones.¡± She waved her hands in the air at the last part, a smile across her face. If Ryan had to guess, she had just come up with that name. ¡°Works for me. So, can we get to mob summoning now?¡± Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Erin¡¯s mood changed completely the moment she realized Ryan wasn¡¯t planning on using the bodies he had found as his mobs. In fact, now she seemed almost as excited about mob summoning as he was. ¡°So, first I¡¯m going to explain the basic mobs you can make as a Bronze-level dungeon.¡± She had his full attention. ¡°There are two main mob types: skeleton and zombie.¡± As she spoke, she flashed images of both to him. ¡°But, as a Bronze dungeon, there are four types you can summon, as each main type has two sub-types: beast and human.¡± Now we¡¯re getting somewhere. ¡°Beasts are broken down based upon their sizes. As you get stronger, you will be able to create larger beast-type skeletons and zombies.¡± Ryan shuffled through his knowledge on what types of beasts he had absorbed. He had found complete skeletons for rats and squirrels, an incomplete deer, and an incomplete wolf. He had also found a single human skeleton, but it was missing an arm for some reason. ¡°At Bronze level, your human-based skeletons and zombies are limited to basic versions, but when you level up, you will be able to make them tougher, and even give them armor and weapons to use.¡± ¡°So, can I make fifty human skeletons?¡± Each mob counts as a point, right? ¡°No, different mobs have different point values.¡± Ugh, so much to learn. Erin held up her fingers, and started ticking away at them, as if trying to remember the information herself. ¡°Small beast skeletons are worth one point, small beast zombies are worth five points.¡± Oh, that¡¯s easy enough to remember. ¡°Normal human skeletons are five as well, and human zombies are ten.¡± ¡°Are their values based on their strength?¡± ¡°More or less. A single human skeleton is stronger than a small beast skeleton, but five small beasts might be able to take on a human skeleton. Variety in dungeons is key. It will take you a while to figure out the combinations that will enhance your dungeon. Most high-ranking dungeons even modify each and every floor to hold different mob types and adapt them to highlight the strengths of those mobs.¡± ¡°Why do zombie beasts cost five times as much as skeletal beasts, while human zombies cost only twice as much as human skeletons?¡± Erin stared at him for a moment, mouth agape. After a second, she shook her head. ¡°These are just the starting costs. At Silver, your medium skeletal beasts and zombie beasts only differ by five mob points, or twice as much.¡± ¡°Then why such a large difference now?¡± He really wanted to know. ¡°No one really knows why mobs cost what they do, Ryan. However¡ª¡± She paused, her face growing dark. ¡°There is a belief that the God of Death wanted to tempt dungeons into summoning more human mobs than beast mobs early on.¡± Ryan shivered at this. Just what type of being was the God of Death? ¡°Well, that was dark.¡± Ha. ¡°So, what do you recommend we make?¡± he asked Erin. He was at a total loss, not to mention nervous about taking the first step to becoming a powerful dungeon.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°What do your collections look like?¡± ¡°Well, I have full sets of rat and squirrel bones. My deer and wolf sets are almost complete as well, and my human is missing all the bones of his right arm.¡± He wondered if something had dragged away that arm after the human died. ¡°Hmm. The wolf and deer are both medium beasts, so you won¡¯t be able to use those yet.¡± Darn. ¡°Rats and squirrels could be interesting, and a human missing an arm.¡± Erin fell silent, thinking. ¡°This dungeon building is hard,¡± Ryan whispered, trying to imagine the best possible combination. Fifty points suddenly didn¡¯t seem like much for his three rooms. ¡°So, I think we should use a human skeleton for your boss,¡± Erin finally said. ¡°And if we mix up skeletal squirrels and zombie rats for the other rooms, we can at least give adventurers a bit of a scare, and maybe kill one or two to help you get a little stronger.¡± Ryan started doing some basic math. A human skeleton for his boss would cost him five points, leaving him with forty-five points spread across two rooms. Should he try to even them out? Or should he make the mobs harder as adventurers came deeper? ¡°Just a single skeleton in my boss room? Isn¡¯t a five-point mob pretty low for a boss? The other rooms are going to have forty-five points divided between the two. Seems a bit off.¡± Shouldn¡¯t his boss room be his strongest? ¡°Oh, bosses are different. They cost five times the basic cost of the mob you use. Your single skeleton is going to cost you twenty-five points and will be unique.¡± ¡°What?¡± That would leave him with twenty-five points for the other two rooms. That hardly seemed adequate. Erin ignored his outcry and continued. ¡°So, Ryan, how about you put five skeletal squirrels in the first room? And two zombie rats with ten points of skeletal squirrels and rats mixed in for the second room?¡± The numbers added up, though Ryan still couldn¡¯t get past the massive cost of his boss skeleton. Why was it so high? Oh, well. First things first: skeletal squirrels. ¡°Well?¡± Erin broke the silence that had filled the room. ¡°How do I make a mob?¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Erin started laughing, and while Ryan loved the sound of her laugh, this time he was annoyed. She was laughing at him, and it hurt. ¡°I¡¯m serious.¡± ¡°I¨C¡± More laughter. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I forgot to tell you.¡± She had tears falling down her face. ¡°As a dungeon, not only do you learn everything about the things you absorb, but you can then create them at will.¡± He would have smacked his own face if he had one. He had been creating dirt to fill holes and manipulate his dungeon, but he hadn¡¯t realized he could do it with other things, too. He turned his focus back to Erin as she continued. ¡°Think of your squirrel skeleton, and push mana into the image, willing the bones into existence.¡± He started to concentrate. ¡°In the first room!¡± Whoops. He had been about to try and summon the skeletal squirrel in the room with them. Ryan focused his attention, looking over the skeletal remains he had absorbed, and pushed his mana into imagining a skeletal squirrel in his first room. He felt the dark mana respond, and suddenly a pile of bones appeared out of the ground in his first room. Ryan repeated the process four more times. ¡°Now what?¡± The bones weren¡¯t moving; they were just piled up. ¡°Now, push your mana into them, imagine them as alive. Your darkness affinity will do the rest.¡± ¡°Easy enough.¡± He did as she said, and suddenly, a dark mist swirled around the bones. Then, the bones began to clatter, and suddenly Ryan had five very animated skeletal squirrels scampering around. Neat. ¡°Those little guys will follow orders you give them and will instinctually attack anything that enters the dungeon.¡± They clattered around, the sound of bones on stones echoing throughout the room. It was a rather creepy sound. ¡°Next, your zombie rats.¡± Right, he wasn¡¯t done. ¡°By absorbing the rat¡¯s bones, you understand the creature as a whole, correct?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± He knew everything about rats. ¡°Good, so imagine a decayed rat, and summon that body.¡± ¡°How decayed? Does it matter?¡± He was curious whether the amount of decay would affect its strength. ¡°Your dark energy won¡¯t let you make a living creature, and part of a zombie¡¯s strength is its potential to spread diseases. So perhaps give it enough decay that the flesh has begun to rot, but not enough that it¡¯s falling apart.¡± Oh yeah, really clear instructions. Thanks, Erin. Ryan focused on the task, imagining it as Erin said. In his mind, he could see the rat, fur falling off, flesh exposed and beginning to decay. He knew that would enable it to carry disease and make it dangerous to whoever it attacked. As before, he pushed his mana into the image, and when the rat¡¯s body appeared, Ryan sent his dark mana into it. With a squeak, his zombie came to life, its decayed eyes glancing around the darkness cautiously as it seemed to sniff the air. Ryan quickly created the second rat and then spread a mix of five squirrel and five rat skeletons to the room. He was left with twenty-five points, just like they had planned. Next up: his boss mob. Chapter 8 Chapter 8 ¡°So, the first thing you need to do is summon your human skeleton.¡± Before Erin finished speaking, Ryan already had his skeleton formed and walking around. It was getting much easier to call forth his mobs now that he had some practice. They both watched the monster amble about, and Ryan couldn¡¯t help but feel annoyed that it was missing an arm. Where were those blasted bones? ¡°All right. Now you have your skeleton, you can begin to make him your boss mob.¡± Oh, more instructions. Time to listen. ¡°What do I do?¡± ¡°Well, if you¡¯ll look, you have twenty points left on your triangle.¡± Ryan quickly called forth his level triangle, confirming the number was down to twenty. ¡°Yup, at least we can both do math.¡± Erin ignored his comment and continued. ¡°Now, focus on the mob and push your mana into him, willing his point value to increase.¡± He did so slowly, and dark tendrils crept up the skeleton, the monster looking down blankly at them. For a long moment, nothing else happened. ¡°Need a hand?¡± Erin started giggling. Is now really the time for puns? Ryan pushed his attention back towards his mob, watching his triangle at the same time. The dark tendrils began to snake across the entire skeleton, and suddenly Ryan¡¯s triangle dropped to nineteen. Then eighteen, more darkness; seventeen, it started to swirl through the air. Sixteen, it was filling the gaps around the bones. This is taking too long. Ryan slammed all his mana into the mob. The tendrils turned into a wave, and suddenly the skeleton was covered in a dark blob that completely hid its appearance. At the same time, Ryan saw the remaining numbers of his point total tick rapidly down until they hit zero. ¡°Is it finished?¡± His mana stopped flowing, but the cocoon of dark energy remained. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Let me go check.¡± Erin flew from the room, and Ryan watched the fairy go. Hopefully she would be okay. A moment later, she appeared in the boss room, her golden light a stark contrast to the black mana that permeated from where his skeleton had stood. Cautiously, she flew up to it, inspecting it. ¡°Well, to be honest, Ryan, I don¡¯t know what to do from here.¡± She continued inspecting it. ¡°You¡¯re my first dungeon. I¡¯ve only been instructed as to what you should do, not what happens afterwar¨C¡± She screamed and flew towards the ceiling as the dark energy started to crack. ¡°Oh, something¡¯s happening.¡± Ryan ignored her panic, excitement filling him. His boss mob was hatching.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. The dark energy continued to crack, and Ryan was able to make out a slight white glow coming from inside. All of his skeletons ¨C everything he touched with his influence, in fact ¨C held that slight glow. More and more cracks splintered across the cocoon, until finally, it shattered. ¡°What is that?¡± Erin¡¯s voice was filled with a strange mixture of excitement and disgust as she stared at Ryan¡¯s creation. The skeleton had grown close to eight feet in height. His bones had thickened, and dark tendrils wrapped lazily around his body. The bones along his left arm had also developed sharp, blade-like edges, which Ryan imagined would make decent weapons. What was really unique, though, was the skeleton¡¯s right arm. Where before there had been an annoying lack of bones, now there floated a random assortment of them, pulled from throughout the skeleton¡¯s body and suspended by dark mana. It looked disturbing to say the least, but Ryan wasn¡¯t quite sure what they were for. ¡°Well, if I had to guess, I would say that¡¯s our boss mob.¡± Ryan could barely hold in his excitement. His mind was racing as he wondered how his other mobs would react to the boss mob¡¯s transformation. ¡°You don¡¯t say.¡± Erin¡¯s voice was filled with sarcasm as she flew above the skeleton, watching it warily. ¡°So, what now?¡± Ryan had definitely noticed his attention span decreasing since his awakening as a dungeon. He wanted to constantly be doing something, and now that his task of creating a dungeon filled with mobs was complete, he was already looking for something new and exciting to do. ¡°Well, now you¡¯ve completed the basics of your dungeon, I would say it¡¯s time we created an entrance for adventurers.¡± Oh, yup, that sounds like the next new and exciting thing to do. ¡°Okay, one entrance, coming right up.¡± He turned his focus to his first room and, before Erin could protest, extended the full might of his influence towards the end of the room. The walls glowed a bright white as he focused on what he was doing. In his mind, he saw a straight tunnel leading from the room at a slight incline until it reached the surface. His mana responded, and a beam of energy and influence ripped through dirt and rock. His dungeon shook from the violence of the blast, but Ryan didn¡¯t care. He felt his influence hit the surface, blasting rock, soil, grass and trees aside as his dungeon created its opening. ¡°Ryan.¡± Judging from her tone, Ryan guessed he had ignored her as he worked on his opening. ¡°Ye-es?¡± He was only half listening as he devoured everything that touched his influence. He learned what oak trees were, and grass, and a strange set of various other plants he would investigate later. What he was really focused on was the fact that his influence wouldn¡¯t spread past his new opening. Even still, he found if he focused on his entrance, he could ¡®see¡¯ everything around him. Vast trees loomed, casting shadows even as sunlight filtered through their leaves. The force of his excavation had blasted a clearing of about ten feet around the entrance, though it was clean of debris thanks to Ryan¡¯s quick absorption. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to do that slowly. Now you¡¯ve gone and just created a giant hole in the ground, haven¡¯t you?¡± Erin was in lecture mode. ¡°Well, not quite.¡± Something had caught his attention. ¡°Say, Erin¡­¡± There was movement outside of his dungeon. Figures ¨C humans ¨C standing and dusting themselves off. ¡°What?¡± The fairy was annoyed at him, which he was used to by now. But her emotions suddenly leveled out as she registered his tone. ¡°What is it, Ryan?¡± She was worried because he was worried. ¡°I think we¡¯re about to get our first adventurers.¡± The group of four had regrouped and were eyeing his opening. If he had to guess, he had blasted them away. There was violent motioning, an argument of sorts, and then the largest man in the group, clad in a mass of armor, started walking towards his entrance. As the man drew closer, he pulled out a large silver sword, and motioned for the others to follow. ¡°Already?¡± Erin was resting on top of Ryan, looking down into his diamond core, which allowed her to see everything he could. ¡°Oh, they don¡¯t look happy.¡± She looked down at him accusingly. ¡°What did you do?¡± ¡°I, uh, I think I blew them up.¡±