《The Crystal Dungeon》 Prologue Chapter 1: Death Beep....Beep.....Beep..... So I''m finally here huh. I was always certain I would die because of my crazy stunts, or maybe an experiment gone wrong, or even an attack on my lab, but never did I even consider cancer as my murderer. As the greatest, well maybe second greatest... okay fine "a great" scientist I could not even think such a simple thing could take me away from my family. Ah my family, my wife, Simone, still as gorgeous as the day I met her in college, my two kids Mark and Jason their both in, uh, high school now, I think? (Sigh) Even my mind, my personal bastion, invincible and unassailable is beginning to fade now. I reach up to gently stroke Simone''s hair and with all my remaining strength, I whisper," Now you have to live and be happy for the both us, Sim...," turning to my kids I continue with a sad little smile," heh we did a pretty good job raising these two didn''t we ?", Simone: (tearfully)" Yeah we did...." Her voice seems the just gets quieter and quieter. I try to open my mouth to say something, anything, but what come''s out is just another airy sigh. It''s all fading away now, as much as I strain I can''t quite hear her goodbye at all or even see her anymore. What was I thinking? I forgot hehe. I must be getting... old...hehe. I''m... just... so... tired... maybe... after... sleep... I... can... remember..... I feel a pounding and a huge jolt of energy on my chest. That means... something doesn''t it? Darn I''ve forgotten again... I''m so warm and fatigued that it just feels like an afterthought, like a mother''s comforting heartbeat, as I finally fall asleep... Beep... Beeeep.... Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My eyes jump open. I take a deep gasping breath, and sit up. Wait I can sit? My mind''s clear again too! What... Where am I? I''m sitting on a golden path high in the sky. Above me, millions of stars can be seen even though the sun is shining. Below the path, there is a thick layer of white, fluffy clouds completely covering the ground. It is... beautiful here. Everything seems right somehow. There are no imperfections, no grime, but there was also no life. As I pondered this apparent afterlife, a little ball of golden light appeared beside me. From it, a cheerful child''s voice exclaimed: The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ???: "Hiya! I''m Lumen 3,245,352,432,456 and I''ll be your personal guide on the path to Judgement!" "Judgement? What about my family? I never got to say goodbye!" I cry out. Lumen: " Don''t be scared! It happens all the time! You''ll forget them once you see paradise so it doesn''t really matter!" "What? Forget them? I can''t forget them! I won''t forget them! Ever!" I yell determinedly. I am beginning to wonder how helpful this Lumen being actually is. While she seems to want to help me, I can''t just forget my family like that! I begin to back away from her while I rack my brains for any way to get back to my family. Lumen: "Oh dearie me. You''re one of the ones that resist aren''t you?" She begins to transform into a humanoid figure. As she shifts, her voice becomes cold and stern, losing its childlike glee. "I thought we could do this the nice way, but I suppose I''ll have to force you to come. Sorry but its for your own Good!" As a body begins to form around her, the world itself darkens as if an illusion was broken. The clouds below begin roiling while the stars dim slowly. I knew everything was too perfect! Once her body is fully formed, I immediately realize that I don''t stand a chance against her. She is about three feet taller than me and is even wearing armor! She even has a sword that''s made out of light! No Fair! As she slowly advances on me, I try to think of an escape, but all that comes to mind is what my son Jonas would say: "Haha dad her sword is lit get it?" I chuckled and knew that I would much rather die than forget my family. So I did the only thing that was left to me, I waved at Lumen and jumped. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Allrriigghhtt!! ! I''m so excited to write more! Thanks to Johnbonken for giving me the idea to create this second part of the intro! Tomorrow, I''ll rework Part 2 of the prologue, maybe even add in a Bob POV (wink wink), and strive for two real chapters! Thanks for all the quick replies, as I feel they all helped the story grow even better! I''ll see you all tomorrow, An Infantile Treant Prologue Part 2: A Third Path A soul wakes upon an vast plain. As far as its eyes could see there was an endless expanse of empty earth. The ground was gray with many scorches and vast pits carved out of it. Massive skeletons, too huge to imagine, that were seemingly forged out of pure darkness and chaos dotted the landscape. Alongside them, suits of armor and weapons made of light so bright that it burned its eyes to view them even from such a great distance. The smell of blood and many specks of ash were carried by the wandering wind flowing past it as if it were an insignificant gnat in the scope of this wide, featureless world. The skies were covered by angry clouds, filled with flashes of lightning and great booms of thunder. A storm was coming. " Where am I?" the soul whispers aloud, awed by the terrifying view before it. "Somewhere no mortal should ever be." A booming voice says from behind the soul. The soul quickly scrambles around to face the new voice. Standing there is a tall, cloaked man. In his right hand he holds a mighty scythe, and in his left a scroll. While his face was cloaked in shadow, the soul had the distinct impression that the figure was scowling beneath its hood. "Wh.. Who are you?" the frightened soul asks timidly. "I am an aspect of Death, you can call me whatever you want. We have bigger problems than that right now." he replies while looking around distractedly. The soul decided to call him Bob. Bob the aspect of death that probably held full control over the soul''s future and wielded a seven foot tall scythe like a man wielded a stick. It decides that, on second thought, maybe a more ... respectful name would be appropriate. "You," Bob continues with an irritated tone," are quite the headache little guy. First, you certainly took your sweet time dying didn''t you? I get that you had some mushy mortal reason for it, but seriously? Was it necessary to hang around for years until you reached your deathbed? And now after I had to constantly check if you had died for the past two months, you decide to meander off of the path to judgement and casually stroll onto an upcoming battlefield!" The soul can''t really recall this. All it remembers is a sense of confusion followed by anger, fear, and finally determination. The soul didn''t think too much on this, as one word in Bob''s little rant had caught its notice. "Battlefield?" the soul inquires. "Yep. You have wandered onto the next site of battle between the demonic swarm and the armies of light. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Coincidentally, this is also literally the one place in the entirety of existence that I can not judge you, due to the massive amount of energy already found here!" Bob answers while still looking around almost... nervously. " Well, um can you set me back on this path, maybe? That seems like a good idea. We can both avoid the massive armies that are probably going to destroy this place!" the soul suggested. " I would kid, and that would easily remove this headache, but unfortunately I can''t do that. You see, the path to judgement requires very specific things to enter. One of those things being death. Something which, you can not do since you don''t exactly have a body. Plus you royally pissed of the guides to judgement with that stunt of yours... I got it!" Bob exclaims as he pulls up a blue screen. "I can reincarnate you! Then when you die again you can go down the path properly this time! And since you''ll be from a different body, the guides probably won''t even recognize you!" Bob seems to sigh and relax. "Looks like I won''t be getting fired after all!" he whispers to himself. The soul liked this idea. While it had faded memories of living a happy life, it did remember being a little unsatisfied with the amount of action and adventure it had experienced. This would be a second chance! Grand adventures and great fame awaited him! The soul suddenly realized that he had begun thinking of himself as male. He wondered why that had happened, but before he could ponder on it too deeply, he was interrupted by Bob''s exclamation. "Alright! We have a plan! Let''s see, where should we sen..." A booming rhythm could suddenly be heard. While it had been previously covered by the wind and the sound of Bob''s voice, the noise, which sounded eerily like marching footsteps, grew steadily louder. Along with it, came two massive clouds of dust from opposite directions near the horizon. "Shoot, Shoot, Shoot! Okay no time, no time... uhh lets have this one and ummm.... this race yeah that''ll work!" Bob furiously worked on a blue screen visible only to him. "Alright, little guy good luck out there!" Bob yelled hurriedly and covered the soul''s head with his huge palm. "Wait wha....?" And with a woosh, the soul, once again, fell asleep. [tr]
You Have Been Reborn As A Dungeon
Authors Corner: The begging for help begins now! Hey! Author here! I think I''ll make this a little discussion between you readers and I the mighty powerful author. ;D On a more serious note, these little segments, which I will write about once every 5-10 chapters or if something drastically important is about to occur in my life. Now, on to our business shall we? 1: My schedule and personal things: my schedule varies based on workload, however I do plan to release at least a chapter every two days, to, at most, two chapters in a day. I will be making the chapters much, much longer than this quick little prologue so have no fear in that regard. Donations wise, I have a very steady income and I am not currently asking for cash or donations. Instead this will be my hobby and a small gift to any readers out there. :D There are many other, less fortunate, authors who do need donations for their livelihoods and I would encourage any kind hearted people, that have the means to give of course, to instead donate to them or even perhaps charities or medical research. 2: Future plans for the book: I do have a basic idea on how I want the book to progress. While it is not entirely fleshed out yet, I will stick to this skeleton for now. Suggestions wise, I will gladly accept most small, interesting ideas such as cool new characters, evolutions, and so forth. I will not, however, accept or incorporate any major suggestions or polls on major events such as the Dungeon''s alignment, Wars, or Deaths of main characters. I feel like that would ruin the surprise and wonder of reading the book and even perhaps spoil the original Idea. While I''m generally a team player, in this case I''m wielding the pen( well keyboard, but you get the idea :D). Anyways, Don''t worry if its a bit slow right now! There will be TONS of action once the dungeon is on its feet a bit. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. 3: Comments and assistance: As you have all probably seen in the second chapter, my first attempt to successfully create a table has failed rather spectacularly. I tried doing exactly what the tutorial said, but I just ended up with the blank code. quite irritating if I must say so myself. Anyways, if there are any wizened, experienced members of the community willing to lend a hand to a noob like me, I would very gladly accept, as after all it will only make the story better! :D (I learned how to do it :D) Comments wise, I''ll be working hard to keep this story as acceptable reading even for younger people. I would ask for you to assist me in that regard by at least trying to filter the comments a bit. Other than that, I don''t particularly care what is written down there as long as it is within the limits of good sense. I''m not fragile enough to be insulted by trolls on the internet, but still. On a happier note, any review of my work will be greatly apprectiated positive, negative, or incomprehensible :D. I''d also appreciate ratings so that my little story can reach even more people. Thanks for reading, An Infantile Treant Chapter 1: Im a ... Dungeon? Darkness... Freedom... Peace... Rest... Caught. Trapped. Tight. Pain. Light.... The soul woke in a dark... room? "No its definitely a cave," the soul realizes after he notices the stalagmites rising from the floor and many gnarled roots bursting from the rocky ceiling. The cave is pitch black and appears to open up into a much larger space, but the air inside feels fresh from a light breeze that whispers its way through the depths of the cavern. The soul decides to stand up and explore, when he realizes that he can''t move or feel his body at all! He can look around but, strangely, it feels like a camera panning in a game rather than an actual movement. Then, he realizes he can turn his view completely to view his own body! What he sees confuses him greatly. "I''m a small clear crystal?" he wonders to himself. He had memories of walking, moving with his limbs and having a body. This was completely new to him. Then with a ding, a blue screen pops up in front of him.
Congratulations! You are now a newborn Dungeon. Please Choose a Starting Race, or open the Dungeon guide for more information.
"I''m a Dungeon? What does that even mean? Uhh... Open Dungeon Guide!"
Dungeon Guide
Basic Dungeon Information and Background
Locked until higher mana level is reached
Locked until higher mana level is reached
"Hmm SO many choices... Open Basic Dungeon Information and Background"
Dungeon''s are the children of the primordial goddess of Depths and riches Un (Oohn). Unlike most of the other magical races that inhabit the world of Carthia, when born, they are neither inherently good nor inherently evil. Instead their decisions form their alignment. The consciousness of a dungeon is held within its heart crystal. Dungeons exert their will upon the world through mana. They use this mana to shape the pure elemental energy in their environment. This can lead to various results depending on what types of energies are shifted and the Dungeon''s natural affinities. Natural dungeons grow very slowly by creating an ecosystem within the area controlled by their power and siphoning the natural mana of the living and dead organisms within it. More commonly though, are dungeons that enter a symbiotic relationship with humans. These dungeons spawn creatures and create a reward system to entice humans to enter them. this leads to many human deaths and rapid growth of the Dungeon that absorbs their bodies and equipment. There have also been unconfirmed rumors of a third dungeon type that bases its growth on crystals that refine energy. Nothing is truly known about these dungeons. Finally, a warning to any young dungeons: your heart crystal is very valuable to both humans and magical beasts. it is a very good focus for most spells and highly sought after. If you choose to devour humans, be certain that your forces and boss are strong enough to prevent humans from merely taking your crystal. If you choose to be a natural dungeon, remember to keep a cadre of trained powerful creatures separate from your ecosystem that can defend you. Good luck on your road to glory.
"Okay I think I understand this! I can either grow slowly through small ecosystems while staying hidden from humans, or I can risk my life and reveal myself to quickly grow to the point where it does not matter if I am attacked by humans or not. Hmm, the first way is clearly safer, however, if I am discovered I will probably be quickly destroyed for my heart. Also, I would probably run out of ways to grow stronger wouldn''t I?" the soul muses to himself. "The second way isn''t much better though," The new dungeon continues," It may be faster, but it''s so dangerous! But, then again, I may have to choose that path in order to be strong enough to defend myself." " Let me see what these starting races are and then I''ll decide... Open Starting Races!" The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Starter Races
Kobold: A burrowing reptilian race with average population growth, a diverse but defined powerful evolution chain,and an average individual power level. Starting Affinity: Neutral, Neutral.
Goblin: A chaotic race with very high population growth, a specific evolution chain of average strength, and a low individual power level. Starting Affinity: Chaos, Neutral
Plants and animals: a varied group races that have different characteristics which depend on each individual race. Starting Affinity: Order, Neutral
Imps: The lowest race on the Demonic tree of progression, Imps have a very high population growth that steadily decreases with evolution, an individualized, undefined, but very powerful evolution tree, and a low individual power level that grows enormously with evolution. Affinity: Chaotic, Evil
Crystal: A mysterious yet powerful race, only available to dungeons with an equal affinity for all elements. They have a very low population growth, but an unbound evolution chain and the highest individual power. Starting Affinity: Order Neutral
"So Kobold is the neutral, all around okay race. They''ll probably evolve to something like lizard men or maybe just drakes. I can''t imagine anything past dragons for this race to achieve which, to be fair would be incredible actually. i can''t quite bring myself to choose them though. A jack-of-all-trades is never better than a focused person after all. Hmm, Goblins? They have low strength but will become a horde later on... Then again, a horde of goblins, and probably orcs and ogres too, can''t just sit around inside a dungeon. It would be a nightmare to feed them all! I''d have to send them out to find food and I''m not sure if that''s possible. Also, even if it is, nearby kingdoms and animals would probably not take very kindly to that. Plants and animals... Their evolution cap is probably very low. Also they just seem a bit too mundane. If there''s nothing else, i guess I''ll choose them. Imps? Humans would probably lead a crusade against me, which would not end well at all. Alright then i suppose i''ll just have to... Wait what''s this? Crystal?" The new dungeon begins to get excited. " Unbound evolution? Highest individual power? This looks like a great choice! Maybe I''ll be able to make golems of any shape, or or or, refine mana and grow quickly! They also sound incredibly rare too! Having made up its mid The young Dungeon thinks," I choose the crystal race!"
Warning! the crystal race is rare for a reason. it is difficult to grow and all crystals are incredibly valuable to adventurers. Are You Sure You want to continue? Yes / No
"Yes," the dungeon says," while it may be difficult at the beginning, unlimited potential out ways all the other races by far."
You have chosen Crystal, the rarest Dungeon Race. For choosing this race, you start with 250 points of mana. Good Luck...
Alright! Heres the first Chapter for today! I''ll work hard to leave a second one in about 5-6 hours at least. Sorry bout that but i like to take my time with writing. Secondly, I finally got how those Blue Boxes work! YAY! Anyways, thanks again to all the people who commented on the past chapters, and I hope all of you readers enjoy this little chapter. feel free to comment on how I can improve or even rate if you wish. Many thanks, An Infantile Treant Apologies for the late release of the next chapter My computer decided it was a good idea to crash right before i uploaded the next chapter. Fortunately I had saved my work, but unfortunately it doesn''t seem to want to turn on. I''ll have a friend of mine come over to see what''s wrong with it. Im not much of a tech person myself. In the meantime, I will start chapter 3 on my tablet and post that along with chapter two. For those who are wondering it should be about 16-20 hours from the time of this post. (I do have to sleep and work after all.) If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Apologies to all, An Infantile treant. Chapter 2: Humble beginings The moment the Dungeon confirmed its race, it felt its core expand Rapidly to almost double its previous size. His consciousness expanded with it. Instead of merely feeling his heart, now he could sense about 20 square meters of space around him. He also realized he could now move his "eyes" around the area he controlled. With a mental whoop of excitement he quickly circled around his new territory, stopping only when a barrage of new windows popped up in front of him.
Congratulations! Since you have chosen the crystal race, your dungeon heart has been upgraded to a Lesser Crystalline Dungeon Core. It now purifies 50 energy into mana every 12 hours.
Congratulations! Because you are now a Lesser Crystalline Dungeon Core, you can create Lesser Crystal Cores. Crystal cores form the hear of all Crystalline beings and act as batteries for crystalline constructs. They cost 50 mana to create. To begin your race, you are provided with 5 lesser cores.
5 small crystals grow out of the ground near the Dungeon core. They look like small obelisks and are translucent. Once they''ve finished growing, the crystals begin to exert a minuscule influence upon the natural energy around them.
Congratulations! Because you are now a Lesser Crystalline Dungeon Core, you can create a Basic Crystal Forge! This basic construct is used to shape basic elemental materials and cores into defenses and other creations. It can also be used to enhance cores. A forge costs 200 mana to form.
Congratulations! Because you are now a Lesser Crystalline Dungeon Core, you can create a Basic Mana Purifier. This construct is little more than a cluster of lesser cores surrounding an enhanced core. The cores synchronize and begin to purify energy into mana for you to use. Each lesser core produces 1 mana every 12 hours, while the enhanced core produces 5 mana every 4 hours. Requires 1 enhanced lesser core and up to 10 lesser cores. You can only have 2 purifiers per level of your core.
The Dungeon feels slightly overwhelmed by all the new information he received. "Cores, a forge, and a mana purifier? Where are my starting minions?" Then, after rereading all the windows, he comes to a chilling conclusion," Oh, so that''s why crystal dungeons are so rare." After a moment of despair and self-pity, he realizes that wasting time isn''t helping fix his bleak near future. "Okay, I have 5 crystals and 250 mana. I need to create the forge in order to build defenses, which, since I don''t have any minions, are literally my only hope of survival at the moment." "Create a forge!" About 20 centimeters to the right of the dungeon core, a basic forge begins to take shape. It is made from a gray, opaque crystal. The main body of the forge is a cube with a deep bowl- like depression carved into it. In the center of the bowl, a small crystal core stands, its top in line with the top of the body. The body also had four small obelisks: one on each corner. These obelisks however, had joints and were curved inwards until their peaks pointed toward the tip of the core. "Hmm strange little thing isn''t it?" The dungeon thinks to itself. Then another set of windows pop up.
Congratulations! since you have created a basic forge, you can now create a lesser Defense array, enhance crystals, and create a lesser rock golem!
Lesser Defense array: A specialized mana purifier that, instead of creating mana, focuses nearby energy in order to damage enemies. Initially deals 5 damage per second, but if it fires for 10 seconds, the damage doubles. Deals 1 extra base damage per lesser energy core in the array. Requires 1 Enhanced lesser core. Can hold up to 10 lesser cores.
Enhancing cores: combining two cores of equal level to form an "enhanced" core of that level. If two enhanced cores are combined, they require a certain amount of mana, depending on the level, and form a standard core of the next level.
Lesser Rock Golem: The first and weakest crystalline unit, the lesser rock golem is found in almost all crystal dungeons. With a high affinity for Earth energy, these small beings can move through rock with ease and attack enemies from any direction. Also, with bodies made out of earth and stone, these minions are incredibly difficult to damage. Requires: 200 mana, 1 minor core, 1 enhanced lesser cores, and four lesser cores.
"Well, there''s the starter minion I suppose... Alright, enough pessimism lets see, I have enough mana to create one more core. That''ll bring me up to six cores. Then, I can enhance four of these core and create a purifier and If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. a defense array, for safety. I can put the other two cores into the purifier and keep adding cores to it as I make them until its full! Then with a stable mana income of about 150 mana a day, I can invest in either another purifier if I feel safe and my inner greedy pig overwhelms common sense, or I can invest into defenses and eventually a golem!" The Dungeon excitedly concludes. Now comes the work. First, the dungeon sorrowfully uses its remaining 50 mana points to create a lesser core. It then enhances the cores, a surprisingly hard process involving interweaving the two cores at a molecular level to form a larger, clearer pyramidal core. The first enhanced core was transformed into the mana purifier. The enhanced core grew into a two foot tall thin rod that split at two points. The middle and upper segments began slowly rotating in opposite directions and drawing in energy. When the two remaining lesser cores were added to purifier, they retained their obelisk like shapes and attached to the base, pointing in opposite directions at a slight angle. "Whoa that looks awesome!" the young dungeon exclaimed. " I wonder what the defense array looks like?" The defense array was very different. The enhanced core splits into two pieces. The larger base doubles in size and gains a curved depression at its peak. It loses its translucency and becomes gray and opaque. The smaller tip changes shape to become a hollow semicircle. A small, clearer crystal in the obelisk shape grows into the semicircle like the forge. Eight smaller crystals grow inward from the semicircles edge, pointing towards the center crystal. The second part then ''stands '' up in the depression of the base with the center crystal parallel to the ground. It begins to slowly rotate, seeking out any threats. "Great! Now I''m ready for action! No little rat is going to kill me!" The universe, apparently hearing this confident boast, decided to test that theory.
WARNING! Two Cave Rat Scouts have entered your dungeon! Due to their Chaotic alignment, they will seek to destroy your dungeon! Defend yourself!
"Oh shoot, shoot, shoot! I didn''t mean it! Sorry Universe! Please Don''t kill me!" the Dungeon thinks in a panic. "Okay I can do this. I need to calm down. They''re rats... evil footlong rats. Let me try and control my array." The Dungeon''s mind focuses on the array and a window pops up.
Turn this array into your Dungeon''s Boss? (Can be changed) Yes/No
"YES! PLEASE!"
Congratulations! your dungeon now has a Boss: Enhanced Lesser defense array. Has 75 health and deals 10 Base Dps. It also has the defense array doubling effect.
The array grows in size and clarity, finishing just as the rats enter the room. They have red beady eyes, raggedy black fur, and terrifyingly large incisors.
Cave Rat Scout: a small monster found in dark caves. Common. Hp: 100 Damage: 4-5
"HP 100? For a rat? My boss is really a glass cannon!" The rats pause for a moment to orientate themselves. The light in the dungeon room, however dim, is enough to hurt their eyes that have only seen darkness so far. That full moment is something they never get. "If those things get close my array is toast! DIE RATS!" The array opens fire at the first rat. Energy builds up in the eight side crystals, and a small beam of white energy is fired from each into the main crystal. the main crystal then focuses the power and blasts out a huge ray of power towards the first rat. The rat is stunned for a second when its seemingly helpless prey opens fire on it from a distance. However, it quickly pulls itself together and runs towards the painful little crystal with its partner. They take four seconds to scramble over to the array. In that time the lead rat''s health had already been whittled down to 50 HP. "Oh this is gonna be close!!" the dungeon worriedly exclaims. For five seconds the two rats and the array trade damage. Then, the first rat''s health hit zero and it died! The array was left with only 25 HP though. But now Its power activated and it dealt 20 damage per second to the other rat. 5 seconds later, the second rat was killed as well right before it could deal a fatal blow to the array. "Oh thank goodness that was way too close! Let''s see what I get for that close fight!" The Dungeon happily absorbs the rats. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME? ONLY 50 MANA?" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you all for your patience, here''s chapter two. It turns out my "computer crash" was just me accidentally stepping on the power button of the extensor. hehe.... really embarrassing... Any ways chapter three still needs a bit of work so expect it a bit later tonight. AN Infantile Treant Chapter 3: Growth and New Challenges Bob POV: "HAHAHA! This kid''s great!" Bob laughs out as he watches the dungeon''s first battle through a screen. ???: "I understand that you have take a personal interest in this dungeon, but please! Must you watch every bumbling step he takes? "Sorry Boss! It''s just that he cracks me up! When he''s not giving me a migraine that is... " Bob grumbles a bit but continues cheerfully," I just can''t stop laughing when he''s so proud of accomplishing something that actually is just .. tiny! I mean just look at this! Isn''t it the funniest thing you''ve ever seen?" Bob asks while showing the senior aspect the video of the dungeon''s glorious first battle. ???: "While I do concede it may be slightly humorous and ironic, I don''t see how it helps you rank up to senior aspect! Or even get you any credits!" the senior aspect chides Bob. Bob has an epiphany. " Credits.... What if we take bets on him!" Bob exclaims excitedly. ???: "Bets?" the senior aspect inquired. "Yeah! It''s this mortal thing I learned. A lot of people have died form them in the past couple of centuries so I decided to check them out. We can put credits in a pool on one of two outcomes: in this case his survival or death. We can get other aspects to pitch in too and make it a huge pot that goes to the winning side!" ???: Alright I suppose... so we are clearly betting on his death correct?" "What? No I think He''s gonna live! He''s got it in him!" Bob retorts. ???: "Well Let''s see shall we? I for one will enjoy the extra money when he dies... Goodbye Junior Aspect." "And I''ll laugh in your face when he lives .... dad." Bob mumbles under his breath to his father''s retreating figure. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Dungeon POV: "I mean sure the fight wasn''t that huge but still...." the dungeon grumbles. "Oh well. I guess should be glad I''m still alive and all that." This incident showed him just how weak he was. He realizes that he needs golems immediately. " The array has great damage, especially if I can get more of them, but they''re far too easy to break. I need something to tank up damage, and I think this guy can do just that. After that I can remodel my body. I could probably do some very interesting things with traps! Anyways, Let''s see.... all told a golem costs 700 mana. It sure better be op as hell..... If I consider the two cores I can take of the purifier, then I have 150 points worth of mana. If I make 134 mana a day... It should take me four and a half days to get a golem." The dungeon sighs and resigns himself to what is going to be a very tedious week. Firstly, he uses his 50 available mana to make another lesser crystal core. Once it''s completed, he uses it, along with a lesser core from the purifier, to create an enhanced core. "If any large group of rats comes by, I''ll just turn this into another array!" The Dungeon says gleefully. "Alright then.... I''ll just sleep until I have enough mana or something dangerous comes by...." As the Dungeon is falling into its first hibernation, a fleeting thought darts across his mind. "I wonder why they were called cave rat scouts...." But, he pays it no heed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 days later... In a wererat warren much deeper in the cave.... A brown wererat approaches a larger older black wererat. The gray rat is young and wearing light hide coverings and a belt with two poorly made dagggers. The elder rat is scarred, and patches of his fur are beginning to to gray. The younger rat speaks: " Scoutmaster! I have news!" "(sigh) you may approach senior scout Twinfang." "Thank you master GreatBlade." The younger rat bows his head to his superior and steps forward. "Well What is it? Get on with this news of yours!" The younger rat flinches," Sorry master! Apologies master! Two Days ago, a patrol of two cave rats was sent up the cave to scout for any new food sources. They haven''t returned yet." "They probably ran into a clump of breedwort and are still going at it. We have far bigger problems This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. right now, like defending our warren from that cursed goblin dungeon!" " Yes sir, but still... what if it''s.." " Alright, Alright. I f you''re SO worried about two cave rats, then you can lead a group up in a week. Right now I need you to lead squad Spiketail on next week''s raid of the Dwarven village on level 6. Scouts have reported that some of their guards have left and their food storage is ripe for the picking..." "YES Sir...." Twinfang gleefully replies while smiling a vicious grin... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 60 hours later.... The dungeon slowly wakes form its self-induced slumber. He was having a.... Dream? He isn''t sure of what that word means, but it just sounds.... right. It was of a group of humans. He was running towards them, a female and two males, but they always seemed to grow farther and farther away. "Ehh, never mind that! I can finally make my first golem! But, before he could finish creating a golem, a window pops up.
With 500 mana you can enhance your Dungeon core! Doing so will allow you to enhance all of your current constructs, create new defensive arrays, and build a core generator. It will also create 50 mana every 6 hours. Do so now?
"SO.... TEMPTING...." the dungeon is struggling mentally. He can be greedy but gain massive growth potential, or choose the safe path and slog on. Ultimately, he chooses the safe path. He reasons that," All the cores in the world won''t help me if I die tomorrow... No!" Then, with excitement replacing his greed''s disappointment he enhances the necessary cores to create his first golem. The minor core that is made in the enhancement forms a strange shape. It looks like a pyramidal lesser enhanced core, but with the tips of a second enhanced core exiting the centers of the faces of the first. Next the body of the golem forms. Stones rise out of the ground and shape themselves into what looks like a five foot tall suit of armor. Earth then rises to fill the armor. Finally the cores enter. The lesser cores each enter a limb, and form its central, almost bone like, structure. The enhanced core slots into its head, point-first, and flattens slightly, forming a single diamond-shaped eye. Finally, the minor core enters the golems chest. it spiders outwards forming veins of crystal connecting to all parts of the golem. The golem is roughly made and very lumpy, however, to the young dungeon it is the most astonishing thing it has ever seen, especially once he saw its stats.
Lesser Rock Golem. HP: 500 Armor: 50 Damage: 50 (25 per second) A weak early member of the crystal race. This golem can move through rock with ease to reform its body and attack unsuspecting enemies. Can evolve into a minor rock golem, a lesser crystal golem, or two other unknown paths. Costs 1500 mana to evolve and requires having a minor level dungeon core.
"It''s Awesome!!! Hahaha Universe do your worst! I have a real guardian now!" The universe, of course, doesn''t respond immediately. One would think that after his last challenge he would have known better, as his next great battle is slowly arriving... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello! Author here! Thanks for reading my little story so far. Next chapter, We''ll see the major conflict I ham-fistedly hinted at, and even a few new characters so that the dungeon isn''t left just talking to himself. :D It''ll be a bit of a huge twist on the normal structure for this genre, but then again, I''m pretty sure I left that behind a while back. I''ll see you then, An Infantile Treant. P.S.: I know nobody reads this part, but anyways, I''ve seen a few questions about my name in the comments section, and I''ll tell the story of its origins in the next author''s corner (which should come out around chapter 5) I''ll also do my best to answer any other fun questions, as long as they''re not too personal. :D Authors Corner: sad and happy news Hello its the author here. For the past week I''ve been dealing with the loss of one of my best friends and a close family member. I threw myself into work and just blanked for a while as well, but I''ve finally returned to my little tale. The schedule will be a bit wonky for the next month, I will be traveling, but fear not for there won''t be anymore "huge" pauses. Instead the story will continue in bursts of 4-5 chapters a day once a week. This is because I won''t exactly be certain of wifi and so forth. instead I will write the chaptters on word and then upload the completed ones to royal road whenever I have the chance to do so. This will begin arouind next week when I leave. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. as for the next chapter, it will probably arrive late tonight or tomorrow in the morning. Have no fear for this story shall not be dropped! :D Thank you for sticking with me, an Infantile Treant Chapter 4: Stonegrower Clan The dwarves are a mighty people. Stout and strong as the mountains themselves, their fighting prowess is legendary. However, they are also clever craftsmen and shrewd traders. Being honorable, well, at least as honorable as any merchant can claim to be, and far more open to trade than other magical races, the dwarves are close friends with the Human race. Some clans even choose to ally themselves with the Humans and fight with them in their eternal war against the dark elves, orcs, and demons. Held back only by their lack of children, and a certain penchant for drinking strong fermented beverages.... the Dwarves are truly one of the prominent races of the land. - Unknown Author. Original text somehow grown onto tree bark and then traced into encyclopedia Year 535 PW. Encylcopedia Gallasus The Stonegrower clan was not a typical Dwarven clan. A decade ago, they had left their home city of Carth, in the Northern mountains, and had traveled under the open sky for hundreds upon hundreds of miles to reach fabled Dragonclaw mountains, a place where no Dwarf had set foot before. That is where they planned to build a grand new Bastion for the Dwarven people. Unfortunately, It all went quickly awry. Starting with a troop of fifty thousand dwarves, they were certain that nothing could stop them. However, many of them grew weary of traveling and sleeping under the empty sky. All too soon, they started to desert. It started with the eldest ones. Many of these elders had never wished to leave the mountain in the first place, but had finally been persuaded by the hot-blooded youngsters. Once they turned back, floods of loners, families, and even soldiers left as well, missing the warm comforts of their ancestral home. When they finally reached the mountain, only half that number were left. Something so small would not stop them though! They discovered a massive natural cave complex and forged downward, through a warren of wererats, a horde of goblins, and many other great challenges that live on in their stories, until finally, they reached a large cavern on the tenth level of the caves. There they built their fortress: Deurm. It was named after the great king who had led them to their new home Deurm Stonegrower. Sadly, he had fallen in battle only two days before they found sanctuary. 150 years later, although Deurm, with only one hundred-fifty thousand dwarves, is still small when compared to the other Dwarven Capitals, it is considered unassailable by all who have seen it. These defenses came at a price however, and now the city has grown overcrowded. So, with brave hearts, small families left Deurm to start their own villages and expand the influence of their clan. "And that you little rascals, is the story of our people." a kindly old dwarf finished with a smile. "Now off to bed before you''re mothers bend me over their knees and spank me for keeping you up past your bedtimes!" he continued with a glint in his eye. He was sitting outside of his hut on a patch of cave moss that grew near a small burbling stream. Surrounding him was a small circle of Dwarven children. They had been quietly sitting there, wide-eyed as he told the story of their forefathers, but now as they were reminded of their impending doom.... er bedtime, they quickly began to be more agitated. Finally, there was a cluster of dwarven women all eager to retrieve their children and put them to sleep. "But Eldwah pwease!! One mowe stowy!" "I don'' wanna got to sleep!" "PWEASEW!!" they ended up begging in unison. The elder smiled indulgingly and was about to surrender to their demands when he suddenly noticed the warning gazes he was receiving from some of the mothers. As an Elder, he had already had some experience with female dwarves, especially mothers, but still made a bold, in his opinion, decision for the kids'' sake. "Alrighty then you little tykes! If you''re all very good little boys and girls I''ll tell you some more stories tomorrow alright? Good! Now remember, good little Dwarves always go to sleep after they wash up and eat all their cave mushrooms too!" As the sleepy children were all led away by their mothers, the elder finally relaxed and leaned back against the cave moss to look at the caverns ceiling. As the founder of this village, he had put in many years of effort to make life so stable for the next generations. Now that he saw their small happy faces If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.he smiled, certain that it was well worth the effort. Especially his granddaughter Torina. Although her parents had died when she was just an infant, she still remained a ray of sunshine in his sorrows. "Elder Tarum!", an urgent voice shouted, interrupting his reverie. "Yes?! What''s it? I''m over here Roson!" he groggily shouted when he noticed that the dwarf didn''t see him. "Elder," Roson said panting," the watchmen you posted spotted a wererat party coming up from the depths! There''s Five hundred of them." "What?! Five Hundred?! Blast this holiday! I knew we shoulda trained some villagers to fight!" Fivehundred wererats would normally not be a cause for concern to even the small contingent of 50 warriors. With the support of the 400 villagers, the were rats would be routed every time because, their rusty weapons and claws could not easily pass heavy dwarven mail. However, with the celebration of Deurm''s founding 30 of the guards had returned to their families in the city, certain that there was no force close enough to raid the village. Unfortunately, their sudden appearance probably made them a crack squad accustomed to raiding and butchery, and armed with better weapons. "Wake everyone," the elder says as he runs to his hut to strap on his armor," tell them to gather all the supplies they can and gather at the upward tunnel. Find the other guards. we''ll slow down those damned rats." "With all due respect elder, you can''t stay with us." the young guard resolutely said. "And why not? I may be old, but I''m not old enough to sit and watch as ma people die!" Tarum angrily retorted. "They need a leader Tarum. You''re the only one who knows the way to the surface! You also need to protect them. You know how many were lost the first time we came down here! We all have our duties elder. You must do yours just as I... I must do mine. Lead you''re people well. We''ll buy you as much time as we can." Roson turned towards the guardhouse and began raising the villagers. 15 minutes later... 350 dwarves stood near the upper entrance of their village. Mothers, Fathers, children, all stood together fearful and loaded with all that they could carry on their backs. Tarum left his granddaughter with another family, and ran to where the mayor was desperately organizing the refugees. "I count 350 where are the others?" He yelled as the column milled about. "They decided to stay with the guards." the mayor grimly replied. After a momentary glance across the village to commemorate the time and lives spent to build it, Tarum ran to the front of the column which had still not moved. "Come on people! We need to move! Roson and his men can''t buy us much time! Lets not let their sacrifice be in vain! Follow me!" he turned and began leading the dwarves away from what they had spent years building. Eventually, a window popped up.
Warning you are currently evacuating Tren village. If you complete this process, the village will become "Ruins" and the people will lose the "Villager" status and become "Refugees". Continue? Yes/No
With tears in his eyes, Tarum accepted and led his refugees upward, toward what they thought would be safety. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello Readers! Your favorite (makes puppy dog eyes) charming author is back! The story is getting a bit more complicated and I will be more constant in my updates for this next week. I also have an idea for a second story.... Hey nobody told you that got it? Only readers who actually read my little things down here get that juicy bit of info. I''ll be writing the first 5 chapters of that as a test run and uploading them together so that I can get some honest feedback. Basic story line: knight gifted with immortality by Gods for great deeds or something or other, is given a village in mountains which he grows to a huge city using charm, intelligence, a speck of magic, and a crap ton of gold. wars, raids, (and maybe even a dragon?) are thrown in as challenges. That''ll be done in my spare time and will be a far far second priority to this story. Anyways, as always Thanks for reading, An Infantile Treant Poll On Styel! So I''ve recently gotten comments suggesting a change in style. I won''t be able to return to the old chapters for a while at least, as my free time dedicated to this book is spent largely on making new content and math for the dungeon. (inner sigh math is hard). But I will use the results of this poll to determine how I will write the future chapters. Option A: blah blah blah boring nonsense goes here blah blah I don''t know why I''m actually writing this in as text blah blah ah finally one line is over now I just need to get to the end of the next line as well with this style ya di dah blah presto And then the next paragraph begins. So basically not every line is double spaced, but paragraphs are split You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Option B: blah blah blah boring stuff goes here blah blah still don''t know why I''m actually writing this in as text blah ah finally one line is over now I just need to get to the end of the next line as well with this style ya di dah blah presto And then the next paragraph begins. Basically its what I''ve been doing so far. With each line Double Spaced and an even larger space between paragraphs. Option C: I don''t care either way. simple as that Chapter 5: A Final Hope Armed with the polls results I have begun writing in the style that won, which was........ STYLE A. from now on only lines between paragraphs will be double spaced! Thank you to all voters! Now back to the Story.... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A week after the events of chapter four... "Elder!" a young Dwarf shouts ahead. "Yes? What is it?" Tarum wearily replies. He had been leading them for a while now. Not even he was certain how much time had passed. The only certainty he had left was that if he stopped, his people would die. Were-rats never give up a hunt. However, many dwarves grew weary. They were losing many on their slow, steady climb up to the surface. Already, they were down to three hundred dwarves. And that was only because of the Elder''s knowledge of the route. "Elder." he starts with some respect," we have traveled so far already. There''s been no sign of a rat for days at least. I... We think its time to turn around and go home." he finished quietly. "Boy, I''ve been fightin'' these rats since before your gradfatha, stone bless his soul, had a single ''air on ''is chin. And now ya''think ya''know ''em better than me?" the elder exploded back at him. Some of the dwarves at the head of the column chuckled tiredly, having noticed that the elder''s accent always grew more pronounced in times of less stress and when he was berating "youngsters". "Elder its not just me who thinks this way. 50 of us have decided to turn back already and more are joining us. Look, I understand that you have your... thoughts, but......" "Be a dwarf and call ''em what you think they are. Delusions ehh? Well if that''s what you think of yer elder than stay behind and die to the damned rats fer all I care. I''m taking as many as I can to safety at the surface!" Tarum concluded defiantly and turned back to trudge up the maze of tunnels. The young dwarf huffed and began to make his way back along the column telling all who would listen to stop following the "crazy old blighter" and turn back to the village. Eventually, 200 of the remaining dwarves did stop to rest and turn back at the next cavern. As Tarum passed by them he tried one last time to persuade them to keep going. "I know many of you are tired, homesick,and agry. But please! I''ve fought these rats! they''ll never give up! Its only two more days to the surface! I know this road! Please fer yer own sake not fer mine." he pleaded with them. "You made us climb all this way for nothing!" "We won''t leave or homes behind on your word you old coot!" "Come on there''s no need to listen to him can''t you see he''s delusional?" The resting dwarves all jeered back. many had never really respected the elder and the march had brought them to outright rebellion. Others simplyfelt too tired to go on with what they had been convined was a pointless struggle. Tarum, seeing this, sighed and said: " Then thank you for your sacrifice. Come on my good dwarves! We need to move!" And with one last look at the dwarves who were now beginning to feast and sleep in the ave, Tarum shook his head and led his people upwards to safety. that was the last time any Dwarf set eye on the 200 refugees. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 minutes away from the resting dwarves. Party of 400 wererats "Senior Scout Twinfang!" a scarred wererat yells out from the front of the column. "Report," the senior scout commands. "The dwarves split up," the scarred one says with an evil grin," there''s around 200 in a cavern up ahead. And, they have no sentries or anything! Half of them are even sleeping!" The wererats had been trailing the dwarves for the past week. They used their superior speed to catch up to them in just 4 days of travel. Now they were waiting to identify a good ambush spot as, while the 300 dwarves were only villagers, they could still put up quite a fight as the wererats had seen in the guard''s last stand. However, with this news, they''d found a perfect opportunity. "Take subsquads fang, tail, and claw through the side tunnel ahead and flank the dwarves. Once you''re in position, we slaughter them..." Twinfang commanded, barely able to wait for the upcoming massacre... And a massacre it was. The 200 dwarves woke to armed wererats pouring in to their cave. the villagers had at best knives and small clubs to defend themselves. In the end, all the dwarves were brutally butchered and eaten by the rats while only 70 wererats were killed in exchange. "Senior scout Twinfang, what about the other dwarves?" his second in command asked. "I''ll take 50 of your best weres and two week''s worth of supplies from these gluttonous villagers and hunt them down. You take the rest of your forces back down to the warren." the senior replied. "Two weeks senior? Isn''t that excessive?" the second asked confusedly. "There was also something I wanted to verify on the first level. 3 parties of scouts disappeared in the area recently and I wanted to eliminate the danger there. Its probably a group of rogue goblins or even a cave troll but 50 elites should be enough to deal with any reasonable problem." Twinfang replied. "Very well" the second replied and left to gather the 50 elites. leaving Twinfang alone to wonder what sort of beast he would be up against on such a high level. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 75 dwarves led by Elder Tarum. level 1 of cave system. "Elder we can not keep this pace. Even if we make it to the surface, the weres will follow us and we will be to tired to battle. We need to make a stand somewhere." the panting mayor whispers to the Elder. "I know Hrot. I know. I''ve been keeping my eyes open for a cave with a small opening up ahead." Tarum grimly replies. Having barely stayed ahead of the rats for the past day by using all the knowledge the elder had, the dwarves were now exhausted. They could barely run with children swaddled in their arms and half empty packs on their backs. And now, the weres were closing in. Their skitters could be heard from behind and even some scouts were even spotted in side tunnels. Suddenly, up ahead Tarum spotted a side tunnel from the main cavern they were in. It was... strange. The entrance was an arch of crystal that seemed to continue in veins down the tunnel. The crystal glowed with power This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.and as he stepped under the arch he recieved a warning.
Warning! You are now entering the Crystal Fortress dungeon. Affinity: Order, neutral. Relationship with dwarves: neutral (open to discussion) Relationship with wererats: enemy Relationship with goblins: enemy difficulty level: unknown
" A dungeon? what am I supposed to..." Tarum wondered "Elder!" a voice screamed from the mouth of the cavern. Flickering fires from torches could seen from the tunnels leading in to the main cavern. sounds of daggers and blades scratching acrross the stone walls could be heard as well. Knowing that he was out of time, the elder hopes that a dungeon with a neutral affinity will hear his plea and speaks: "Mighty dungeon, please shelter my people from the wererats. We need a home desperately and you are our final hope." He turns to his people and yells," Everyone quick! Into the dungeon! Women and children first!" Turning back to the dungeon, he begs with tears in his eyes, "please, please, please! I beg of you to keep them safe." Then miraculously, a window pops up.
The Crystal Fortress dungeon has heard your heartfelt plea. It will protect your people and offer them a safe home inside its walls, however, in order to enter the dungeon safely according to the laws of the land, they must bind themselves to the dungeon. Due to the Dungeon offering this deal, its affinity has changed to: Order, Good. Do you accept this condition?
"For my people, yes I must." he said as his nearby dwarves nodded their heads agreeing to the condition.
For binding themselves to a crystal dungeon, your people have become Crystal Guardians. This is a hybrid race/occupation that connects your people to the mana flow of the dungeon, increases their stats vastly based on each individual''s base stats, and allows them all to cast spells.
For having a new intelligent race of crystal beings, the Crystal Fortress Dungeon has now changed into the capital city of the new Crystalline Race. As a new race making its first steps upon the land, the crystalines have yet to choose a god or alignment. Their affinity is: Order, Good. (This is a worldwide announcement)
As 4 rock golems appear from the dungeon walls to lead the dwarves, who have yet to physically transform, safely into the dungeons depths and defend the entrance, Tarum is left shocked wondering: "What just happened.....?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Alliance (Human, Dwarven, Light Elven) Capital Diplomacy room. Kings of the three races are gathered "Do any of you know how this happened?" A tall dark haired human asks. "None of our archives or Forest Ancients know of a race of Order and good rising from a dungeon, Artain." a slim, blond light elf replies. "Our lore-tellers haven''t got a clue either." A brusque, red-bearded dwarf answers with a hint of irritation. "My people have already begun searching our lands for where this race could have come from." I would suggest you both do the same, the Elven King continues. " Aye we''re doing the same." "Yes we are as well. If any of us gain any hint no matter how slim of their whereabouts, we will share it. Agreed?" king Artain asks. "Agreed" the other kings reply. "Very well then let us adjourn" --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Demonic Citadel "Find this new race! Corrupt it, and join it with the hordes! If you fail me you will all wish you hadn''t been born!" the Demon Queen screams at 4 greater demons. Each would leave and begin scouting out the location of this new race. The war had been at a standstill, but a new race could easily tip the balance in either sides favor. The demon Queen knew she wanted it to be hers. "Bring the next one, he better last longer than all the others...." "Ye-yes your highness" a demon replies nervously while bringing in the next poor wretch.... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Realm of Death Aspects Break Room "HAHAHA!! See Pops I told you he''d do great things!" Bob yelled triumphantly. "That''s only because you bought that little assistant for him to help him." His father retorted "Yeah sure but you sent a cave troll into his dungeon! I think we''re both fair on unfair interventions! Now pay up!" Bob said with a satisfied smirk. And with a grumbling exchange of credits, they both turned back to watch the bumbling dungeon that could now actually be called a god.... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Major Plot Twist! Surprise!!!! :D Next chapter will be about what the dungeon was doing during the 2.5 week period from when we last saw it to now. Then I''ll be moving on to the young "god" building up his race as it evolves and has far more grandiose battles than just small parties of adventurers. Thank you for sticking with me... An Infantile Treant. An Unfortunate Reality (Authors discussion) First, let me start off with an apology. I am sorry for the delay in this. I''ve been running from this for a while, but only now have I stopped to face my mistake. I have excuses, plenty of them, but it would be bullshit for me to say that they were the only cause of me dropping the story. Even, with the family troubles and busy schedule, I could have made time for the book. I could have done more. Instead I lost steam. The crystal dungeon was my first story and it was born out of a rather foolish moment of excitement. I even typed out the first chapter on my phone, because i was so captivated by the thought of me being an author. I''ve always been two things, a reader and a dreamer. I''ve never faced something I had to knuckle down and really work for before. That was my mistake. After my initial surge of excitement, I lost touch with the story. Over the past year I''ve been practicing, working on my writing. I''ve been working to learn how to build a plot and develop characters in short stories, I''ve been practicing different elements and styles, writing out the first few chapters of a new idea every week or so. Most of all however, I''ve been working on my responsibility. Now, I think I''m ready to do this for real. I think I''m ready to be an author. I have three stories that I wish to tell. One of which you already know: The Crystal Dungeon. My style has changed since I started writing and, looking back on my work, even the scant progress I made with this idea needs a great deal of work. The second Is the one I will tackle immediately, from this day onward: Blaze. It is the story of a newborn fire elemental. as I publish this, I''m putting up the prologue for approval. If all goes well, I''ll have the first true chapter up in a day, shortly followed by the second sometime later this week. With July 4th on Tuesday, I can''t quite tell its exact E.T.A. but I will be publishing it.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it The third is a story I''m not yet ready to tell. It''s an idea that''s long since been a pipe dream of mine. I even made a fairly succesful run on a second account writing a fraction of my plans for it. I hope someday to be able to tackle it, someday when I have the time and will to do so. Until then; however, I will stick to the first two. Of the first two, I am looking to move forward with Blaze first, before turning to work on the Crystal Dungeon. I am sorry if that dissapoints anyone, but I haven''t quite done enough work preparing a world for that story. I have the great moments of action, but nothing to bridge them with. It will take time for that to continue and I will most likely release a new version so that it stands on its own merit. All that; however, depends on how well Blaze does. A note of warning: Blaze is far darker, and I hope more complex than the Crystal Dungeon but at its heart will be a fairly happy story. I''ll be trying quite a few of the new tricks I learned along the way this past year in it, and as such it will probably feel very different from what you''ve read of my work so far. I hope you''ll enjoy it, but if you can''t bring yourself to trust me anymore, I am left to just once again apologize. I''ll answer any questions you have to the best of my ability, but I will not discuss personal matters. I''ll just leave it at multiple tragedies occured within an unreasonably short period of time. They are in the past now, and I''d rather not open old wounds by going into them any further. In rest, Your enigmatic author has returned with an apologetic, yet nonetheless grandiose entrance! For what is life without flair? : D