《Dungeon's Soul》 Awakening I tried to open my eyes. There seemed to be a problem. I couldn''t! By the Gods, I was blind! I...I couldn''t see anything! I tried to listen out for any identifying noises but my ears didn''t seem to be working properly either. Deaf too! I tried to thrash around in panic but I couldn''t feel myself moving, which only made me panic more. I could only imagine that I had been hideously mutiliated at this point and started to moan piteously. Well, I tried, but it seemed that I couldn''t do that either. After an uncertain period of time, I began to calm down and dimly realise that, although I couldn''t move or see normally, I didn''t seem to be in any pain. This was vaguely reassuring but I still couldn''t make sense of what was happening to me and I was absolutely terrified. The lack of pain began to calm me down slightly, just enough to realise that I was beginning to become...aware...of my surroundings My awareness was not that of seeing, hearing or feeling the way I was used to but, rather, a peculiar ''sense'' of things around me. I had never felt anything like this before. I tentatively pushed out with this strange new sense to what I believed was my front and received an impression of ''old'' and ''hard''. It was a kind of stoic resistance that projected an implacable sense of time and resistance. It was what I imagined a mountain might feel like. There is no other way to explain what happened next other than my perception of the events. Instinctively, I, well, ''tasted'' it. Immediately, a flavour of light poured into me. It was an odd combination of food and drink. It felt grey and flinty but, oh so good. I gobbled it up, not realising how hungry I was until that moment. I couldn''t seem to stop myself. I pulled more and more into myself until it suddenly stopped, shut off like a tap. I paused for a moment then pushed out again and encountered more, which I straight away began to devour. When it too stopped, I simply pushed on till I got more. I moaned inside my mind, the pleasure of eating and filling myself with this strangely flavourful light was overwhelming and made me forget, for a moment, the strangeness of the whole experience. Suddenly, a different flavour inside the first made me stop. I tasted chalky, almost like what I imagined calcified bone might taste like. It didn''t fill me in the same way but instead, something else happened. Congratulations! You have begun to take the first steps into your new life as a Dungeon! You now have the pattern for Rock Vole stored and may recreate this creature for a percentage of mana as a Dungeon Creature. You currently have 52 mana. To create the Rock Vole, you must have at least 45 mana.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Would you like to create the Rock Vole as a Dungeon Creature now? Y/N I stared stupidly at the notification that seemed to hang in front of me. I could see it! I could read it! I didn''t understand it! Dungeon? Rock Vole? Mana? Hold on, mana like the magic power stuff? I began to get an idea of what had happened at this point. Not the specifics, not why, when or even how but I remembered being fascinated by dungeon lore when I was a younger...man? Was that what I was before I was apparently made into a Dungeon? No point worrying about it now, whatever had happened was done and I resolved to make the best of the situation I now found myself in. I tried to communicate with the notification. Although I couldn''t speak, I could form words mentally. "Hello? Thank you for the notice. I wonder if you could help me? I don''t understand what is going on and would love some help" Congratulations! You have begun to take the first steps into your new life as a Dungeon! You now have the pattern for Rock Vole stored and may recreate this creature for a percentage of mana as a Dungeon Creature. You currently have 53 mana. To create the Rock Vole, you must have at least 45 mana. Would you like to create the Rock Vole as a Dungeon Creature now? Y/N "Yes, thank you, I saw that. Could you help me please?" Notification complete. Awaiting response. Would you like to create the Rock Vole as a Dungeon Creature now? Y/N "Look, I appreciate that you want me to say yes or no but I really don''t know enough to make an informed choice. What is a Rock Vole? How can I get more mana to replace what I spend? What do I do as a Dungeon? Why can''t I see anything?" The notification cleared away and for a moment I was worried that I had passed my only chance at improving my situation. Scanning New Dungeon.... Unusual Soul component discovered... Attempting to compensate.... Please select Dungeon Companion... Fairy / Dryad / Kobold / Succubus / Naiad / Sylph I looked at the choices for whatever the dungeon companion was and was stumped. "Thank you but what are the differences?" Fairy - A Dungeon Fairy Light affinity. -------------------------------------- Succubus - Demon Dark affinity -------------------------------------- Dryad - An Earth Fairy Earth affinity -------------------------------------- Sylph - Air Nymph Air affinity -------------------------------------- Kobold - Dragon Kin Fire affinity -------------------------------------- Naiad - Water Nymph Water affinity -------------------------------------- Please select the choice that most suits your affinity now... I looked at the choices and was none the wiser as to which would be best for me. None of them particurly jumped out at me to be honest. "I''m really sorry and I really don''t mean to sound ungrateful but is there a choice for all of the..what do you call them? Affinities?" Pausing... Dungeon re-scan initiated to ascertain optimum Affinity... Recalculating Affinity selections available... Dungeon meets multiple Affinity requirements.... Dungeon may select up to maximum of four Dungeon Companions... Please state choices.... Note* Dungeon Companions may be inherently combative towards their immediate opposite Affinities... Great. So I could choose four companions to help me figure out what was going on, if they didn''t kill each other first. It looked like all the affinity things were dametrically opposed so although I could choose up to four in theory, it didn''t look like I could really; if I chose Air, I couldn''t choose Earth. If I chose Light, I couldn''t choose Dark and so on. I sighed in frustration, or at least approximated it to myself. It seemed that, at most, I could only really choose 3 Companions without them fighting right away. Wait, the notifictation said ''may'' not ''will''. Maybe that gave me a little wiggle room? Only one way to find out, I guessed. "OK, I''ve made my choices. Please could my companions be LIght, Dark, Earth and Water affinities?" Choices accepted... Please await arrival of Dungeon Companions before initiating any consumption of surroundings... "Ah, I think I might have already done that. Should I not have?" Warning! Consumption of surroundings will initiate process of Dungeon Expansion... Further information is required regarding new Dungeon.... Further information will be requested from Dungeon Companions on arrival... Great, already screwed up. I had a sneaking suspicion that I didn''t want the powers behind the strangely intelligent notification taking a closer look at me for the moment but that ship had sailed now. Chapter Two I mentally shrugged to myself. There was nothing I could about the situation so there was no sense in worrying myself unecessarily. I considered what the notification had told me and what it might mean. It appeared that I was a Dungeon. I couldn''t take it seriously when unconsiously capitalising the word. OK, I was a dungeon. I had a vague memory of dungeons being dangerous places for people. I didn''t feel particularly dangerous. In fact, I felt decidedly small, weak and powerless. Abyss below, I didn''t even know what I looked like, what my surroundings were...well...anything really. I resolved to change that as soon as possible. I already knew that I had a strange new sense from when I ate whatever it was I ate, it must be some equivalent for sight maybe? The problem was that it wasn''t very useful as it was short range and only really worked when I ate something. I paused for a moment, struck by a thought. I wondered what would happen if I tried to open my ''eyes'' now? Maybe whatever senses I had that passed for sight would automatically kick in? I strained. I tried to force my eyes open. I concentrated on where they should be and imagined them opening. Nothing. I gave a frustrated sigh to myself Maybe I was overthinking this whole thing. After all, one didn''t try to open their eyes, they just did it. I relaxed myself, took a metaphorical breath and looked around me. It worked! I could see! Kinda. It was a strange sort of vision, overlayed with an azure tint. It seemed that I was looking out through a rounded bowl, but I rejoiced at being able to make out my surroundings. I could make out a small glittering blue object lying on the ground in what appeared to be a deep hole, surrounded by towering granite walls. There was a small depression in the wall directly in front of the object. The object was emitting a soft blue glow. I realised with a jolt that the object had to be me and the depression had to have been caused by my ''eating'' earlier. OK. I wasn''t a complete idiot. I came to the conclusion that I must be a dungeon core. I also realised that I wasn''t a usual type as I seemed to have been someone else before becoming one. This was borne out by my memory of the notification basically telling me that I had an unusual soul component. Probably why I remembered some stuff and had been so freaked out earlier. I also thought that I was taking all this a lot more calmly than I probably should be doing and was proceeding on a much more logical and methodical basis. I wondered dispassionately if it was maybe because I was a cystalline entity and no longer flesh and blood. Possibly, but there was no way to be sure just then so I simply filed it away in a corner of my mind to think about it later. I considered what I knew about dungeons and their cores. There was precious little other than ''dangerous'' and one could become wealthy if one discovered one.Stolen story; please report. I took another look around me and decided that neither descriptor applied to me just at the moment. Regardless, one thing I was sure of and knew for definite was that I was starving. I considered the depression in front of me and reached out to eat more. Once again, that delightful light flowed into me. This time I could see the effect it was having on the wall. I gazed at it in fascination as I watched a small portion of it begin to sag slightly and then crumble into sand, expanding the slight depression by another small amount. I wondered if I could eat anything else around me. I focussed on the ground and pushed out. The taste that came flooding through me tasted almost ''gritty'' with dark brown undertones. It, too, was delicious and was a lovely accompaniment to the previous flavour. I moaned in satisfaction at the feeling of gorging on my surroundings and noticed that I could see more than before. I realised that this was because the glow I was emitting was increasing and I was getting brighter. "You''re a hungry little one, aren''t you?" An amused voice reached me through my gluttony. I answered without thinking, "It''s just, so good." "I''m sure. You need to be careful though little one, you don''t want to feed too much lest you crack" "Yeah, I''ll be careful." I muttered in a slightly muffled voice, "Wait! You can hear me? Where are you?" "If you could tear your attention from your meal for a moment and look up..." Oh. Reluctanctly, I stopped my non-stop feasting and focussed my attention above me. There was a slight humanoid figure fluttering above me on light, diaphanous wings. It appeared to be female, clad in a tight, figure hugging material that covered her chest and abdoment completely and a short, floating skirt that left her legs bare. She had almond shaped, vivid greed eyes, bright red hair and a mischievious grin on her pouty mouth. "Hello, little one. I''m Sindra, your new Companion, if you''ll have me?" "Great! Erm, hi Sindra! I''m..erm...well, I don''t have a name I don''t think. Gosh, you''re very pretty Sindra." She blushed lightly, a becoming rose colour that accentuated her eyes enormously. "Why, thank you little one, what a lovely compliment." She fluttered down to more closely examine the gem that was my body more closely, "You''re a very beautiful Core, I must admit. There doesn''t appear to be any blemishes or cracks that I can see, that''s very unusual." I was a bit embarrassed but pleased with the compliment. I thought that my crystal body was beautiful too but it was always nice to have someone agree. "Thank you Sindra. So, I guess you are a Light affinity Companion?" She looked startled for a moment before bursting into peals of silvery laughter. "Ah, no, little one. I''m a succubus, dear. My Affinity is Darkness." "Oh, right." I was surprised as she appeared so, well, wholesome and beautiful. "Sorry, I didn''t mean to sound shocked. You''re just so, well, beautiful." "Well," She drawled, "That''s kind of the point sweetness. It always makes me wonder what people are thinking when they think that succubi would be all dark and scary...wouldn''t really get very far it I was now, would I?" From my admittedly limited experience, I had to concede that she had a point. "Were you expecting a LIght Affinity Fairy then, dear?" "Oh, don''t you know? Apparently, I qualify for multiple Companions and I chose Dark, Light, Earth and Water Companions, but, I don''t really know what that means." She gazed at me thoughtfully through lowered eyeslids for a moment, clearly considering her response before answering. "Well, that''s...unusual. You appear to be a very special little Core, dear. So, we are expecting more arrivals soon then are we?" "Well, I don''t know when but I think so, yes. Could I ask you something first though?" She appeared a little distracted but absently answered that I could. "Could you not fight with the Light Affinity Companion when they arrive, please? The notification told me you might but I really would prefer it if you didn''t." Hey gaze sharpened. "The notification told you that, did it? Hmmm, there appears to be more mysteries associated with you than I first thought my dear." She seemed to make an abrupt decision. "Of course I won''t fight with them, little one. We are all here for you are we not?" I was so pleased, I almost missed the pinprick of red light in her pupils that had flared at her interest at the notification directly telling me something. "I honestly don''t really know what Companions are for. Could you help me?" She laughed softly, "Of course you don''t little one. Don''t worry, that''s one of our roles for you. We can give you information, help you make choices for your dungeon and make sure that you grow big and strong." That was exactly what I wanted to hear. Of course it was then that the Light Companion joined us. "You!" The voice was shrill and accusatory. "What are YOU doing here, fiend?" Sindra rolled her eyes at the voice before turning and facing the small figure hurtling towards her with a look of anger on her scrunched up face.