《Terse Elements (A Dungeon Core, LitRPG)》 Ch 1 - Two Bloops A young creeping vine lay on a small, clear patch of ground near the base of a large tree. The tree, vine, and ground sat midway through a small forest which itself was mostly surrounded by farmland. One moment later, the vine and patch of ground disappeared. If anyone had been around to watch, they would have seen the space at the base of tree go through an odd stretch, then twist, then shrink down to a vanishing point. If arcane researchers had been present with sensitive and subtle devices, they could have commented on measurements of ¡°Oscillating Mana Flux¡± and correlations with ¡°Interconceptual Densities¡±. Anyone with only ordinary ears would not have noticed anything at all except perhaps a short breeze. However, entities with sufficient perspective and expanded senses would have gotten a much clearer idea of what had occurred and those entities might have described it to lesser entities as a sort of bubbling sound. *bloop* The cause of this bubbling sound was the creation of a miniature world, tacked in place on the side of the regular, larger world. A wobbliness to the air at the base of the large tree was the only evidence of the connection between the regular world and the miniature world. Inside the miniature world, the entity known as the ¡°System¡± was taking advantage of an opportunity. _ Initializing Dungeon _ _ Deconstructing Available Components _ All the material that had been caught in the miniature world was torn apart into energy and concepts and then dropped in a metaphysical blender of sorts. After the blending, the wildly fluctuating slurry was compressed down into a small orb. The orb was perfectly smooth chrome, or perhaps it was glass. In any case, the orb was shiny and reflective. The orb did not seem to reflect its surroundings, however, rather it reflected something that couldn¡¯t quite be seen. _ Dungeon Core Complete _ _ Proceeding with Dungeon Creation _ The dungeon core automatically, instinctually, created a floor of loamy soil and a small mound of that soil under itself to hold itself in place. The core created a sufficient amount of air to fill the small space and added dim light (coming from nowhere in particular) to match the forest ¡°outside¡±. A few small green vines poked up through the mound of dirt and cradled the orb before turning and growing slowly across the floor. Mana from the core flowed down into the vines and roots, following the flow of water around the giant plant. This mana fortified the tissues of the vines and improved their functions beyond natural. _ Assigning Dungeon Agent _ A tiny humanoid figure appeared in a flash of light. The figure immediately fell to the ground, unconscious. Filthy clothes wrapped the figure and gave off terrible odors of booze, blood, and other things. The growing vines instinctively moved to go around the figure, pulling back from mysterious vapors let forth by an outsized burp. The vines gradually filled up the ground space. Leaves and tendrils reached up high and crowded together, filling the air space. As the vines cycled water and mana around, there were high and low mana waves. In the low mana waves, some leaves turned yellow and dropped to the ground. In the high mana waves, new leaves grew to take the empty places. _ Dungeon Capacity Reached. Select Void-Claim Mechanism _ After a minute with no response from the dungeon core, the System seemed to turn to the figure on the ground.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. _ Select Void-Claim Mechanism _ The figure did not respond. _ SELECT VOID-CLAIM MECHANISM _ The System repeatedly prompted the tiny figure to respond. Eventually, the figure let out a loud groan and rolled over. The face (under a thick layer of dirt) had sharp features and large eyes under violently violet hair. The clothes unwrapped to show that they were not clothes but were little fairy wings. The actual clothes were as filthy as the wings and otherwise had no discernible features. Altogether, the figure looked like a fairy that had been dipped in mud and then rolled in other, fouler substances. The dungeon fairy blinked slowly a few times, struggling to focus on something. _ ASSIST YOUR ASSIGNED DUNGEON _ ¡°Alright. Alright! Shutup ya damn¡­¡± The fairy¡¯s face turned green for a moment as it tried not to vomit. ¡°Damn fairy school. Damn loans. Damn everything¡±. The fairy took a couple tries to get up on hands and knees. The fairy did vomit then. A stream of sparkly slugs flew out of the fairy¡¯s mouth and popped with the sound of a bird chirping. Coughing, the fairy said, ¡°Gods, was I in tha¡¯ sewer?¡± The fairy continued to mutter to itself as it turned its head toward the Dungeon core and the vines all around. _ Select Void-Claim Mechanism _ ¡°Dungeon core. Okay. Right¡± The fairy sat up, took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. The fairy had another green face moment as it pulled out a small, diamond potion vial. The fairy¡¯s face turned to a look of sullen disappointment. ¡°Well, looks like ya got the hang of it. No point in fairies.¡± The fairy turned to the System (which was everywhere) and said ¡°Randomize¡± as it closed its eyes and lay down. _ Selection Required. Select Void-Cl¡­ _ ¡°RANDOMIZE ALL¡± the fairy nearly shouted the words, grabbing at its head. The fairy let out another groan then drank the entire small vial. ¡°Hibernate¡­¡± the fairy whispered and then passed out. _ Are You Sure? Yes/No _ _ Random Selection. ¡°Yes¡± Selected _ _ Select Void-Claim Mechanism _ _ Random Selection. "Multi-Worldlet Pathways" Selected. Description: With this void-claim mechanism, dungeon worldlet ¡®free growth¡¯ size is restricted and overall worldlet growth is slowed. In exchange, the dungeon core can push against the edge of the worldlet to trigger the creation of a subsidiary worldlet. This action can be repeated multiple times in each worldlet. Subsidiary worldlets are considered equivalent to ¡®floors¡¯ in the default dungeon configuration and should have similarities with neighboring worldlets (though this is not guaranteed). WARNING: This void-claim mechanism increases the odds of interactions with void artifacts which will have unpredictable effects on dungeon worldlets. Consult your dungeon fairy frequently as you expand your dungeon in order to minimize risk. _ Basic knowledge of how to claim the void trickled into the dungeon core. If the dungeon core had been sapient, this would have been the basis of training and education. If the dungeon core had been at least sentient, it could have been trained or guided to claim the void. The dungeon core was neither of these; it was mindless. In the metaphysical blender that the System had used to prepare ingredients for the dungeon core, the concept of the young vine had mixed into the concept of the dungeon core consciousness and colored it very green. The dungeon core was driving forward with the instincts of a plant. The walls of the worldlet begin to shift as the vines pushed outwards again. The roots of the vine pushed a little deeper into the ground, but it wasn¡¯t the type of vine that would root deeply. As the longer vines stretched out, they sent out roots to pull in water and nutrients that would sustain the expansion. Over the next few days, the vines cradling the dungeon core thickened and twisted to create a spheroid space around the core. Thick vine walls closed around the core (and the comatose fairy), cutting them off from the rest of the worldlet. As the worldlet grew, the amount of mana the core was pushing out also grew. In a short time (short to plants anyway), one of the large vines ran into an obstruction and could grow no further in that direction. The tip of the vine pushed leaves and small roots at the obstruction like it would if it had run into a stone or log. This action pulled in more mana than the other vines and concentrated it right up against the obstruction. The roots strained, seeking to push into cracks and force them apart. *bloop* Ch 2 - Void Artifact When a worldlet is created from claimed void, the Nothingness of the void is converted into Somethingness in order to fill the worldlet with world stuff. Some aspects of the claimed void trickle through and influence the composition and concepts of the worldlet. The aspects that trickle in are strongly filtered by the expectations of the actor which does the claiming of the void. The vine dungeon core didn¡¯t have expectations but it did have instincts that evolved over billions of years to react to soil, air, light, and stress. If the dungeon core had been capable of speech, it would only have had a vocabulary of four words. The new worldlet *bloop*-ed into existence on the left side of the main worldlet. Instead of the vine pushing up against an invisible wall, the vine ran into a wobbly patch in the air and disappeared into it. Inside the new worldlet, the vine exited an identical wobbly patch of air and reached to the ground, sinking its roots in as it continued to grow. At almost the same time, a vine on the opposite side of the main worldlet triggered the creation of a worldlet and sank roots on the other side. *bloop* The dungeon core vine spanned three distinct worldlets in the dungeon. The main worldlet was very similar to the forest ¡°outside¡±: loamy soil, dim diffuse light, moderately humid. The second (left side) worldlet had rather sandy soil with rivulets of water creeping back and forth, carving across the sand. With somewhat brighter and warmer light, this worldlet was much like a river delta. The third (right side) worldlet had red light and hot, dry, clay soil. In the middle of the third worldlet, there was a twisted fragment of red-orange metal. The metal fragment stood about the height of a human adult and was the source of the red light. Sparks occasionally flew off the broken metal edges and burned out on the ground. The System eagerly supplied vital information to the dungeon core. _ WARNING: Void Artifact Detected. Void artifacts are items, constructs, or materials of unknown origin that survive intact or mostly intact through the creation of a worldlet. These artifacts are normally devoid of mana or interact with mana in abnormal ways. Do not approach or attempt to assimilate void artifacts. Consult with your dungeon fairy on how to deal with each artifact _The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. The vine was struggling to grow across the hot, dry, clay soil. The river delta worldlet had plenty of water for the vines to absorb and pass along, so water and mana were directed to support the spread of roots and leaves in the hot worldlet. When the vine grew close enough to the void artifact, the leaves began to intersect the falling sparks which burned black spots on the leaves. A few sparks would be no great stress, but the flow of sparks was unending. Leaves near the void artifact began to die and drop to the ground. When the fallen leaves had dried sufficiently, they began to catch fire from sparks near the ground. As the spark-burned leaves pile up, more and more water and mana were sent to support the struggling vine. The flow of mana through the main worldlet and around the dungeon core increased in volume and density. When the mana in the hot worldlet reached a certain level, the System recognized a common dungeon core action and immediately analyzed the situation in order to provide options. _ Forced Mana Evolution Attempt Underway. Select Upgrade Path for ¡®Poison Berry Vine¡¯: _ After a minute delay, the System fell back on the directions from the dungeon fairy. _ Random Selection. ¡°Water Alignment (spray)¡± Selected _ The mana in the stressed and burned vine pulsed and swirled for a few minutes. With a final pulse of mana, the vine turned blue (though to human eyes it would appear black under the red light) and the mana from the roots near the entrance all the way to the tips of the leaves changed to water aspected mana. The leaves of the vine began spraying water mist in all directions. The sparks hit the water mist as they fall toward the leaves and all their heat is sucked away. With water droplets everywhere and only dead sparks, the leaves on the ground stopped burning and let out a bit of smoke before collapsing into ash and mud. The clay soil soaked up every drop of water until it became a thick and heavy mud. The whole worldlet began to resemble a sauna, and the vines in the sauna worldlet began to thrive. _ Multiple Dungeon Floors Constructed. Spawn Functions Unlocked. Spawns Available: _ The vines all over the dungeon began to generate fruit and infuse mana into those fruits. Ripe fruits dropped to the soil sprouted unnaturally quick into young vines. These spawned vines were similar in size to their natural cousins out in the forest. In the sauna worldlet, fruits from the blue vine would occasionally spawn into young blue vines that would also spray water into the air. Ch 3 - Eyes to See The growth of the dungeon core vines gradually increased the size of the worldlets both by claiming more void and by stretching the space already inside the worldlets. In the outside world, a young wizard student once asked his instructor how something inside a space could then also stretch that space. The student was told to get back to work and not ask such a question again until his beard reached down to his toes. As the student was unable to grow any beard at all, he never learned the answer. A side effect of stretching the space inside the worldlet was to slightly increase the size of the entrance into the dungeon. The entrance reached the ground in the forest and small creatures began to walk, crawl, or slither into the dungeon. The first creature to enter the dungeon was a millipede. _ Intruder Detected. Select Automated Response: _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Banish¡± selected _ _ Banish Attempt Failed. Insufficient Mana to Retry. Make a New Selection _ _ Random Selection: Mutate. Available Mutations: _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Water Alignment (spray)¡± Selected _ The millipede (which had been completely unaware and munching on dropped leaves) turned blue and swelled in size to that of a stick that a small human child would use as a sword. The millipede let out a spray of water from between its mandibles and returned to munching leaves. It crawled under some of the larger leaves and laid some eggs. While the millipede did all this, the dungeon core regenerated the mana spent in the banish attempt and the mutation. _ Intruder Detected: Select Automated Response: _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Banish¡± selected _ _ Banish Attempt Partially Successful. Insufficient Mana to Retry. Make a New Selection _ _ Random Selection: Claim _ A few of the millipede eggs vanished from the dungeon and appeared nearby the entrance in the forest. A complicated pulse of mana shot from the dungeon core into the millipede and the remaining eggs. As that mana settled into the creatures, they began to absorb dungeon mana from the air and the dropped leaves. The millipede eggs hatched unnaturally quick and the baby millipedes happy munched away at the abundant leaf litter. Their new instincts as claimed dungeon creatures kept them a minimum distance from the entrance and gave them improved control over the water spray attack. Over the next few weeks, millipedes multiplied and spread into the sauna worldlet as well. The rivulets of water in the delta worldlet made walking on a hundred little legs difficult, so the millipedes did not thrive in the delta worldlet.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. More creatures entered the dungeon, mostly millipedes and beetles. With each creature, the System prompted the dungeon select an automated response and then randomly selected a response for the dungeon until each creature was either absorbed, banished, claimed, or ignored. Creatures were equally likely to be mutated before or after any of these actions. Claimed but unmutated creatures would absorb mana and grow in size but could not compete with the mutated claimed creatures and were few in number. A couple frogs and a handful of salamanders were also claimed by the dungeon. The water mutation did not make significant changes to the amphibians as they were already perfectly at home in the water. The salamanders adapted well to the delta worldlet and were the only creatures to spread through the whole area. Domination succeeded only one time. Through inexplicable random chance, the mindless dungeon core mentally dominated a large hunting spider. Through System-provided instincts, the vine began to perceive the hunting spider as part of the vine and tried to send water and mana to this ¡°new growth¡±. Mana successfully transferred over the mental connection, and the spider began to grow along with all the vines. *bloop* A vine behind the dungeon core pushed into a new worldlet and sank its roots into the soil. Unfortunately, there was no soil, so the vine only pushed some roots into a blob of floating pebbles. Under the roots, a few pebbles were glowing softly and one or two had dew drops on them. The space of the new worldlet was filled with darkness and clumps of floating pebbles. With no gravity providing direction, and no strong light sources or concentrations of water, the vine¡¯s plant instincts struggled. Leaves and vines stretched, pale and thin, in all directions. Like a potato left in a dark cupboard, the vine tried to grow far enough to catch enough light to sustain its growth and justify the energy expense of the new rooting. The dungeon core vine (as well as the all the dungeon claimed creatures) did not actually require much sunlight or nutrition to survive, but the plant instincts driving it reacted to the darkness to send increased water and mana to help the vine find the sun. Mana from all over the vine swirled together in the dark worldlet vine. As the mana concentration swelled, the System offered options. _ Forced Mana Evolution Attempt Underway. Select Upgrade Path for ¡®Poison Berry Vine¡¯: _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Low Light Vision¡± selected _ _ Error: No Vision System. Augmenting ¡®Poison Berry Vine¡¯ _ Mana swirled in the vine. The swirls migrated to the leaves that stretched in all directions. The mana concentrated down to a small circle in each leaf and pulsed hard. Every leaf opened a single small eye. After eyes evolved on the vine in the dark worldlet, excess concentrated mana flowed back across the whole multi-worldlet vine plant. The mutations from the blue vine and the eye vine could not take hold in the main worldlet vine, but dropped fruits began to occasionally produce vines with the water or eyes mutations. These vines were the same natural size as the unmutated vine spawns and did not have any real advantage over the unmutated vine spawns except in the dark worldlet. In the dark, the eyes could track the glowing stones and could draw sufficient light energy to sustain vines. The few blue vines that survived in the dark were small and very close to the brightest stones. As water mist sprayed weakly around the glowing stones, the eye vines could track either the glowing stone or the rainbows that shone against the black background. Ch 4 - Acid Rain Two more creatures of significance entered the dungeon shortly after the creation of the dark worldlet. The first creature was an unfortunate snake that got the eye mutation applied to every one of its scales before it was banished back to the forest. It is unlikely the snake survived long before it¡¯s death, but the snake definitely saw it coming. The second creature of significance was a wounded goblin. _ Higher Life Intruder Detected. Select Automated Response: _ After the regular delay, the System turned to the dungeon fairy. _ ¡®Randomize All¡¯ Not Recommended _ The fairy shifted a little as though an invisible foot had kicked it in the side but otherwise didn¡¯t react. _ Random Selection: ¡°Ignore¡± selected _ The goblin looked around at the large vines and the odd blue critters crawling over the leaves. The goblin was short, green, dressed in torn hide clothing, and bleeding from a bite on its calf. It shuffled carefully behind a dense bundle of vine and blended in quite well, practically disappearing. The goblin held its bleeding leg with one hand and scratched at a flea with the other. _ Additional Intruders Detected. Select Automated Response: _ _ Random Selection ¡®Banish¡¯ selected _ The goblin relaxed a bit as the irritation from the fleas disappeared. It wrapped its leg with some torn hide and vine, then lay down to rest, falling asleep quickly. While it slept, it scratched at its head. _ Additional Intruders Detected. Select Automated Response: _ _ Random Selection ¡®Claim¡¯ selected _ The lice on the goblin received their own complicated pulse of mana from the dungeon core and began to absorb mana from the air. Since the goblin¡¯s blood held no absorbable mana, the lice paused feeding and held still as they slowly grew to the size of large mice. Once their changes stabilized, the lice, all in unison, spread out and jabbed their mouthparts into the goblin. The goblin woke up screaming and thrashing at its own body. The lice dug their claws in to avoid being dislodged, causing more pain to the goblin. The goblin tried to rise to its feet and run to the exit and away from this painful strange cave, but it was disoriented and could barely see due to a louse on its face. The lice were sucking goblin blood as fast as they could when the goblin tripped on a millipede and hit the ground. The goblin yanked the louse off its face and tried to stand again, but it was weak. The lice had nearly turned red from the blood they had consumed, and the goblin¡¯s injury was freshly bleeding. The goblin began to crawl toward the exit but each body length it crawled, it also slowed. The goblin passed out and, just as the lice drank in the maximum they could hold, died of blood loss.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. _ Successfully Defeated Intruder. Experience Awarded _ _ Core Level Increased to 2. Mana Storage Increased 5%. Mana Generation increased 5%. Durability Increased 10% _ _ Select Dungeon Reward: _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Unlock Spawn¡± Selected. Select From Available Spawn: ¡­ _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Lesser Floating Jellyfish¡± _ Shortly after the death of the goblin, a large amount of mana flowed into the dungeon core vine. Every vine stretched and pushed out more leaves and roots. In the main worldlet, a fruit fell from the dungeon vine and bounced off a frog¡¯s head. The skin of the fruit unwrapped and revealed a small jellyfish, floating off the ground. The frog shot it¡¯s tongue out at the jellyfish. Moments later, with a soft undulation, the jellyfish drifted away from the frog as it thrashed on the ground, pawing at its own tongue.
Few mammals entered the dungeon, and fewer still established a foothold for their kind. A few bats found the dungeon every night, but they mostly flew out again without interference from the dungeon. Bats claimed by the dungeon would no longer choose to leave it and survived on mana and catching beetles. A few bats got the water spray mutation and became water-aligned; this resulted in a very odd creature with wings that could not fly. Water bats struggled in the dungeon but were able to survive in the mud of the sauna worldlet where they would snap beetles off the surface like little mammalian sharks. A wolf briefly visited the dungeon. Perhaps the wolf had tracked the blood trail of the goblin to the entrance. As a higher life form, the wolf could not be absorbed and resisted being claimed. The randomly selected response was for the dungeon to attack the wolf. Several millipedes close to the entrance shot streams of water at the wolf and several beetles crawl over the wolf¡¯s paws and try to bite through the fur. The wolf whined in a confused manner and shook its paws to knock off the large beetles. The wolf bent down to bite at some of the millipedes but left off after crunching a couple in half. The wolf then raised its head right into the path of the floating jellyfish. With a yelp of pain, the wolf turned and ran out of the dungeon. _ Successfully Repelled Intruder. Experience Awarded _ *bloop* In the delta worldlet, a vine had pushed far enough and firmly enough to create a new worldlet. The vine nearly missed sinking its roots down into the soil due to rain falling sideways; left to right. The cold rain nearly stopped the roots from reaching the ground, but the ground nearly killed the roots. The ground was composed of acidic peat with pools of rainwater that pulled acid from the peat to became acid water. The dungeon core vine sent huge amounts of water and mana in response to the acid burning the roots of the vine. On top of the stress from the rain and the acid, the light in the new worldlet would have been nearly blinding to a human, and the vine struggled to manage the influx of light energy through even a few leaves. The System detected the mana concentration in the vine and offered options. _ Forced Mana Evolution Attempt Underway. Select Upgrade Path for ¡®Poison Berry Vine¡¯: _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Acid Alignment¡± selected _ Once again, the mana pulsed and swirled. The vine turned slightly yellower, and the roots stopped withering. _ Spawn Mutation Available: Lesser Floating Jellyfish (acid alignment) _ With the immense light energy flowing in from the acid rain worldlet, the frequency of spawn fruit increased. Acid floating jellyfish began to appear in each worldlet, though they were most commonly spawned from the acid-aligned vine. The sideways rain in the worldlet led to the new vine growth and all the jellyfish clumping up on one edge of the world. In very little time, compared to other new worldlets, the acid rain vine pushed through. *bloop* Roots of the acid aligned vine pushed into the ground. Slowly. The ground was solid, grey, weathered limestone, and it took time for the acid nature of the roots to dissolve stone to gain a purchase. The light in the stony worldlet was light grey, pairing with the grey stone. After the vine took root and started to expand, a shallow wave of water rushed over the ground. After a handful of seconds, the wave of water retreated, like a wave rushing back to the ocean. The floating jellyfish had been pushed into the stony worldlet by the sideways rain immediately after the worldlet¡¯s creation. The vine in the stony worldlet began spawning jellyfish as well, and the space quickly filled with a cloud of softly undulating stinging and acid jellyfish. Ch 5 - Pigs and Spears _ Higher Life Intruder Group Detected. Select Automated Response: _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Claim¡± selected. Claim Failed _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Ignore¡± selected _ _ Additional Intruders Detected. Select Automated Response: _ _ Random Selection ¡®Claim¡¯ selected _ _ Claim Attempt Partially Successful _ _ Random Selection: Ignore _ A small group of wild boars entered the dungeon. They were ignored by the dungeon, but some of their lice were claimed. As the lice began to grow with absorbed mana, the boars rooted around in the leaves and chomped down with relish on beetles, millipedes, grubs, and occasionally a salamander. The lice grew slowly, so the boars did not realize they were there. One of the smaller boars reached up to bite a fruit off the vine. The other boars smelled the fruit and reached up to eat some of the plentiful berries for themselves. After a few more minutes of feasting, the first boar to eat a poison fruit began to cough up bloody foam. It quickly died. The remainder of the boars were spooked and started to run toward the exit, but they crashed to the ground and began coughing up more bloody foam. They struggled for a while, and one got back to its feet and staggered around in a daze. Then the Lice were big enough to drain the boars dry, and they all died. _ Successfully Defeated Intruder Group. Experience Awarded _ _ Core Level Increased to 3. Mana Storage Increased 5%. Mana Generation increased 5%. Durability Increased 10% _ _ Core Level Sufficient to Spawn Low Cost Claimed Creatures. New Spawns Available: _ _ Select Dungeon Reward: _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Entrance Feature¡± Selected. Select From Available Features: _ Random Selection: ¡°Doorway¡± Selected. Select Material _ _ Only One Material Available. ¡°Vines¡± Selected _ Inside the dungeon, nothing changed. In the forest outside, a doorway of twisting vines grew out of the ground. The doorway completely surrounded the wobbly patch of air and looked like a proper magical portal. Only a short time later, A human man tracked the boar family to the vine doorway. He was dressed in simple, durable clothing made from woolen rectangles that wrapped and tied around his shoulders and waist. He carried a sturdy wooden spear and a sort of rough wooden shield. An empty bag had been tied to the human¡¯s back. After checking around the doorway a few times and poking the vines, the human entered the dungeon doorway. _ Higher Life Intruder Detected. Select Automated Response: _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Dominate¡± selected. Domination Failed _Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. _ Random Selection: ¡°Dominate¡± selected. Domination Failed _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Ignore¡± selected _ The human was able to faintly detect the domination attempts as an uneasy feeling, but he quickly shook it off. He almost immediately saw the remains of the boars he had been tracking. Beetles, grubs, and one jellyfish were nearly done stripping the bones. The human¡¯s eyes widened in shock, and he swore. ¡°Scales! A rotting dungeon? By that vine doorway I thought this would be the queen of the elves!¡± The human stares all around the dungeon for several minutes. His eyes tracked a blue millipede or a floating jellyfish for a few moments apiece before jumping to look at another specimen. A couple lice picked up the feel of the human¡¯s body heat and crawled towards him, but the human was aware enough of his immediate surroundings to jab at each louse with his spear before it reached him. The human studied the vine fruit closest to the entrance for a moment before recognizing them as a common poison berry. The human muttered about ¡°goblin berries¡± as he stepped back out of the dungeon. A few hours later, the human came back. With him was another human: similarly dressed but with a club instead of a spear. The two humans had brought multiple woven reed baskets tied together in a bundle. The first one spoke and swept an arm. ¡°As I said, Chaney, enough critters to hire ten wizards. Look!¡± _ Higher Life Intruder Group Detected. Select Automated Response: _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Claim¡± selected. Domination Failed _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Dominate¡± selected. Domination Failed _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Ignore¡± selected _ The second human (Chaney) replied, ¡°You¡¯re out of mana, Oz. What is this?¡± Chaney looked around, confused and nervous. He had felt the claim and domination attempts and continued to feel like something was breathing on his neck. ¡°It¡¯s a dungeon! Did you tell the hill lord?¡± ¡°No, you¡¯re out of mana!¡± Oz¡¯s face flushed red for a second before he calmed himself. ¡°The hill lord can find his own self his own dungeon. Burn my bones if I want to take every little thing to that fae eared fake.¡± Oz began untying the baskets while keeping his spear ready in one hand. ¡°Oz¡± Chaney drew the name out in exasperation. ¡°You can¡¯t just keep a secret like this, it could be dangerous. Your cousin¡¯s a proper adventurer and knows about dungeons. It¡¯s what hill lords are for.¡± Chaney took a half step back as an extra-large blue millipede crawled out of some leaves. ¡°What did you bring me for? It¡¯s a right goblin¡¯s garden in here.¡± ¡°I need someone to watch my back as I stuff these baskets. Maybe if we get enough, I can take it up the hill and get the wizard to light Andy¡¯s ass on fire¡± Oz dropped the basket he was trying to balance in one hand, then accidentally kicked it away when he tried to catch it with his foot. ¡°Scales!¡± he swore. Chaney¡¯s face turned red as he took his turn being angry. ¡°You can climb the highest peak and get eaten by a dragon if you want to get me to work against Hill Lord Andebert. You don¡¯t understand. You¡¯ve always had your ¡®Cousin Andy¡¯ keeping the monsters away but the rest of us haven¡¯t!¡± Oz looked ashamed for a moment, then held up his hands, still holding his spear. ¡°Sorry, sorry! I swear by the elven queen and the System that I meant no harm. I was just excited and got carried away. I don¡¯t know what I¡¯ll do with all this bread and beer¡± He gestured around at the wealth of creatures, just waiting to be stuffed in a basket, ¡°but I know I want to do something with it, instead of handing it all over to Hill Lord Andy.¡± Oz kicked at a louse that was crawling close. ¡°Look, it¡¯s just bugs. Little crawlers and the like. It¡¯s not like a dungeon in a story, sending out goblin armies and such. Let¡¯s just get what we can and, in a week or so, you can send a message up the hill saying you just found it. How about it? Help me out here and then you get the credit later.¡± Oz¡¯s face showed only sincerity. Chaney relaxed at hearing Oz¡¯s apology. He shook his head and huffed a silent laugh as he took over untying baskets. ¡°You watch my back; You have the greater reach with that spear anyways.¡± Oz nodded agreement quickly and readied his spear. Chaney took a basket in one hand and a lid in the other started shuffling quietly toward a large blue beetle. ¡°Bread and beer.¡± He said wryly, ¡°Bread and beer is what you would get with all this. Maybe you could buy enough bread that Talea would give you a smile and remember your name.¡± Chaney snapped the basket and lid together like jaws around the beetle. Oz grinned, ¡°That¡¯s the spirit! Impressing pretty women with the might of our arms and our high levels of monster slaying!¡± Oz speared a louse and stomped on a spider. The two friends chatted and joked while they caught millipedes and beetles. With the last basket, Chaney tried to catch a floating jellyfish, but one of the jellyfish tentacles fell outside the basket and touched Chaney¡¯s hand. ¡°Teeth!¡± Chaney¡¯s face paled as he swore. ¡°Teeth! Scales and teeth!¡± He dropped the basket and grabbed at his hand, which was swelling quickly. ¡°Aaah, it burns like dragonfire!¡± Oz bashed the jellyfish to the ground and speared right through it. He whirled to his friend and grabbed his shoulders. ¡°Chaney! Are you poisoned? How much damage did it do?¡± Oz began pulling Chaney toward the bundle of full baskets, leaving his spear buried in the dying jellyfish. ¡°Not much damage. Just hurts¡± Chaney said between clenched teeth. Oz let out a quick sigh of relief. He was about to say more when a louse bit him on the ankle. ¡°Ow! Rotting bugs! Let¡¯s get out of here.¡± Oz smashed the louse with a fist, grabbed his friend and the baskets, and left the dungeon. Ch 6 - Go Ahead and Kill It Two weeks later, Oz reentered the dungeon. He was accompanied by a well-muscled man who was half a head shorter than Oz but with much broader shoulders. The newcomer wore leather and fur and carried a curious bow. Four points on the bow shaft sparkled bright blue and the bowstring seemed to have a thread of blue woven through it. The man had golden fur across his shoulders and back, and his chest was covered with a scaly brown hide. He wore a short, grey wool skirt over his bare legs and his foot wrappings were a similar color to the fur on his shoulders. Around his forehead he wore a circlet made from yellow knuckle bones. Next to Oz, the newcomer looked powerful and wealthy. ¡°There, Andy, there¡¯s all your precious new bugs. All the crawling things your little heart could desire¡± Oz sullenly folded his arms in front of his chest. _ Higher Life Intruder Group Detected. Select Automated Response: _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Attack¡± selected _ Dozens of millipedes, beetles, spiders, lice, frogs, salamanders, and bats turned toward the two humans. Hill Lord Andebert shoved Oz out of the exit while shouting, ¡°Run Osmund!¡± Andebert did not follow his cousin in leaving the dungeon. He drew a knife from his belt and begin to dart back and forth through the dungeon creatures. The hill lord moved so quickly he seemed to be just an image of a man flashing around the worldlet. Every place his image appeared, a dungeon creature died. The dungeon creatures died from a knife cutting through them or a foot stomping them, or a fist smashing them out of the air. The sound of the fighting was oddly muted and was mostly the buzz of beetle wings and the croaking of frogs, but the sound was sudden enough that it startled all the unclaimed creatures that still resided in the main worldlet. Andebert did not kill indiscriminately and kept his blows to creatures that were clearly attacking or unnaturally sized. Oz ran back in through the dungeon entrance with a large stone in each hand. He stopped two steps inside the entrance when he saw that the floor of the worldlet was covered in smashed and sliced dungeon creatures. Andebert finished killing the last of the flying attackers and turned to glare at Oz. Oz looked around in angry disbelief, ¡°I was only out there long enough to find two stones. Rotting goblin teeth, how?¡± ¡°Stay there.¡± Andebert¡¯s voice held a furious warning. He began stalking soundlessly around the worldlet. Every few paces, he would twitch a vine aside or poke at a pile of leaves. A few claimed creatures had hidden to try an ambush, but the hill lord ferreted them all out. Off to one side of the entrance, Andebert nearly stepped back in shock when he moved a vine aside to find a spider the size of a large dog. The spider did not move. Andebert waited for it to attack; it had surely seen him by now. The spider still did not move. Andebert poked one of its legs with his knife. No response. The motionless spider had been Dominated by the dungeon weeks ago and had not moved since except to shift its feet as it grew.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Andebert finally stepped back and let the vine fall back in place. His face showed baffed confusion. He looked over at Osmund and sighed. The boy¡ªwell, maybe he was a man now¡ªsat on his heels with his arms folded over his knees, glaring at the floor. Andebert took a few steps toward the middle of the worldlet and picked up a long, pointed stick. He took the stick over to Osmund and tapped it on the ground, saying, ¡°Do you want some free experience, cousin?¡± Oz jumped up, ¡°My spear!¡± Aside from being filthy, the spear was in fine condition. Oz took the offered spear. ¡°What free experience?¡± Andebert gestured in the direction of the spider. ¡°There¡¯s some weird big spider over there but it¡¯s not moving or reacting to anything. You can just stab it in the head.¡± Oz looked unsure. ¡°Big spider? Are you sure it¡¯s not just natural?¡± Andebert shook his head. ¡°Much too big. Come look.¡± Oz spooked and jumped back when he saw the size of the spider. ¡°Burning bones! That¡¯s not a ¡®big spider¡¯ that¡¯s a rotting giant spider!¡± Andebert squinted at the spider. ¡°Hmm, it¡¯s definitely a ¡®lesser spider¡¯. Don¡¯t know why it¡¯s so large or why it¡¯s paralyzed right now, but it¡¯s the last dungeon creature in here. Go ahead and kill it, then we can leave.¡± ¡°Why couldn¡¯t we just leave anyway?¡± Oz asked. ¡°If we leave this dungeon floor without killing every creature, the dungeon will gain experience for driving us off. Best to be thorough and slow down the dungeon development until I can get it inspected. I saw some lice in here, those will have to be dealt with soon if it¡¯s not too late.¡± With significant hesitation, Oz stepped forward and stabbed his spear into the spider¡¯s head. The spider twitched for a moment, then collapsed. As the spider¡¯s body hit the ground, the mental connection between the dungeon core vine and the spider was violently severed. Without a mind to localize it, mental pain shot through the entire dungeon vine plant. The sudden and sharp pain shocked the plant¡¯s stress systems and the whole dungeon reacted. Leaves on every branch of the vine shook and many dropped. The blue vine sprayed water out in such a flood that the clay mud floor around it was pushed back and a small pond formed. The acid vine dripped out acid from every root and filled the air in the stony worldlet with acrid smoke. Water and mana shot back and forth from all the branches of the vine. Around the dungeon core, water, and all the mana alignments the vine had, began swirling together to try and flow toward the ¡®wound¡¯ of the dead spider. The System detected the swirling mana and recognized a spell. _ Spell Unlocked: ¡°Acid Spray¡± _ _ New Spawn Mutation Available: ¡°Acid Alignment (spray)¡± _ Andebert looked around at the trembling and dropping leaves. ¡°Huh. This dungeon might have a temper. Maybe we killed its favorite pet. Anyway, now we leave.¡± He and his cousin walked out the dungeon exit. Ch 7 - Pest Ward _ Failure to Repel Intruder Group. No Experience Awarded _ _ Significant Battle Debris Detected. Absorb? Yes/No _ _ Random Selection. ¡°No¡± Selected _ After the hill lord and his cousin left the dungeon, the dungeon core vine slowly returned to normal. The loss of the dominated spider caused pain in a way that plant instincts could not readily handle, but the loss of a ¡°branch¡± of the vine was an ordinary source of stress and the plant reallocated mana to support the remainder of its body across the worldlets. All over the dungeon, leaves regrew, and fruit dropped to spawn new creatures. It was a slow process. Many of the spawn from the acid vine gained the acid spray mutation, though it remained rare from the other vines. The dungeon vine had a strong suite of plant senses that were augmented with dungeon core senses. Data from these senses flowed continually into the dungeon core mind where it was read by only two things: the plant instincts inherited by the dungeon core, and the System. The System was able to infer the presence of intruders more accurately than any mortal mind could, but neither the System nor the core could detect the human that entered the dungeon two days after Andebert and Oz left. The human made no sound, gave off no smell, had a diminished mana presence, and had somehow muted their electromagnetic self. The dungeon creatures had no chance to detect the human aside from bumping into them blindly, but the human effortlessly wove around the few creatures that had respawned in the main worldlet. The human walked a circle around the main vine body that hid the dungeon core (and the dungeon fairy), then followed one of the main vines into the delta worldlet. The human observed the worldlet for a time, then drew a stiletto dagger and stabbed a louse. The human put the dead louse in a sack and gently stepped around on the sand, looking for more. There were only two lice in the delta worldlet, so the human returned to the main worldlet and followed a different main vine to the sauna worldlet. The human staggered briefly in the heat and mud, before continuing their hunt for lice. There were a handful of lice in the sauna worldlet, and the human harvested them quickly. Back in the main worldlet, the human placed two small devices on either side of the main vine body before returning to stand in front of the exit. They extended their arms out to the two devices and took a deep breath. A pulse of mana went out from the devices and echoed around the dungeon. The pulses returned to the two devices after a minute, and the human seemed satisfied. The System detected the spell but wasn¡¯t able to determine the exact source of the spell. Without a better explanation, the System attributed it to the dungeon core. _ Spell Unlocked: ¡°Greater Detect¡± _ As the human stepped back out through the exit, the two devices crumbled to dust. Outside, the human stomped a pair of tiles into the ground just in front of the dungeon doorway. Runes on the tiles flashed white for a moment, and the System detected a change.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. _ Entrance Feature Unlocked: ¡°Pest Ward¡±. Description: A ward against common pests such as mice, lice, fleas, mosquitos, and ants _
The next day, Oz entered the dungeon alone. In addition to his spear, he wore tan leather greaves and bracers and carried a shoulder bag embroidered with an image of a fort on a hill. Oz stood in a ready stance with spear in both hands as he waited for a response from the dungeon creatures. _ Higher Life Intruder Detected. Select Automated Response: _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Attack¡± selected _ A dozen dungeon creatures turned and advanced on Oz. Two of the creatures had the blue water alignment mutation and they send loose streams of water at Oz. Oz sidestepped the sprays and swung at a jellyfish with his spear. The jellyfish burst under his strike and some jelly landed on Oz¡¯s cheek. Fortunately, another spray of water from the blue creatures struck Oz in the face and cleaned the jelly off. Oz yelped and swiped at his eyes, taking a step back and resetting his spear and stance. He jabbed his spear at a frog, then swept the spear in a semi-circle along the ground. This movement pushed aside several millipedes and opened a gap in the advancing creatures. Oz quickly stepped through the gap and into more open space. Oz was no longer surrounded by creatures, but he also no longer had a quick means of escape. ¡°Come and try again you rotten bugs!¡± Oz yelled. He reversed his spear grip and began stabbing at millipedes and beetles on the ground. Some of the beetles were large enough that the spear passed through them and picked them up like meat on a skewer. Oz heard a click and then buzzing that told him that at least one beetle had taken to the air. Keeping an eye on the creatures on the ground, Oz located the flying beetle and swung his spear at it. The beetle was a bit further than the spearman estimated, but a couple beetle carcasses slipped off the spear and clipped the flying beetle. The beetle tumbled in midair for a moment before righting itself, just in time for Oz¡¯s second swing to connect. A frog¡¯s tongue lashed out and crushed Oz¡¯s hand against the spear haft. Oz screamed as he felt a bone snap but managed to reset his stance and push a spear thrust through the eye of the frog. The biggest creatures were all dead at this point and Oz took only a few more moments to kill the rest of the attacking wave one-handed. Oz took a few minutes to catch his breath as he cradled his broken hand against his chest. ¡°Burn my bones, burn my bones, peaking blight! Ow!¡± The bone had not pierced the skin, so Oz took a deep breath and levered the opposite thumb into his palm to set the bone. He released his breath in a stream of obscenities. Looking around for a splint, Oz remembered that was still in the dungeon and had not completed his task. He took a small clay tablet and a scribe from the bag and balanced the tablet with the arm above his broken hand. Oz walked around the dead creatures and carefully tallied up the different kinds. Putting the tablet back in the bag, Oz tried to replicate the careful search for hidden creatures that he had watched Andebert perform. Oz¡¯s perception was high, but not sufficient to prevent another water spray to the face and a bite that was easily stopped by his greaves. After adding another couple of tallies to the tablet, Oz walked the perimeter again and marked a simple map with the three locations where a major vine went through a wobbly patch of air. He felt a bit smug that he had located one in a dark area behind the main vine body, one that his cousin Andy hadn¡¯t mentioned and so presumably hadn¡¯t noticed. ¡°Thank you, dungeon! Don¡¯t blow yourself up trying to catch me, I¡¯ll be back tomorrow for more bread and beer!¡± With that farewell, Oz left the dungeon. _ Failure to Repel Intruder. No Experience Awarded _ Ch 8 - Apricot Tree *bloop* Before Oz returned the next day, the dungeon core vine pushed through to a new worldlet. A branch of the blue vine in the sauna worldlet had been pushing against the edge of the worldlet for days, but water and mana had been pulled away due to the death of the Dominated spider. The tip of the vine pushed through into the worldlet and sunk its roots into¡­ nothing. Cold water surrounded the vine and a medium blue light illuminated silt drifting through the water. Small bubbles of air rose through the water and carved lines in the silt clouds. The dungeon vine did not inherit its instincts from an underwater plant like kelp or even something halfway like a lotus, the instincts did not have a clear response to having one end of a vine, with roots and a bundle of leaves, stuck under water. The roots were able to draw in water and the leaves absorbed some light energy from the blue light, but the vine was also suffocating and cold. Spraying water out into water had no benefit and only stirred the silt clouds. The dungeon core vine struggled for a while, instincts fighting over pulling in water, pushing out water and mana, trying to cut off resources to the struggling area to let it die, and trying to grow leaves up and (presumably) out of the water. The plant instincts of the dungeon vine were in conflict, so for the first time since the creation of the dungeon, the dungeon core instincts operated independently. Mana flowed separately from water and reinforced the struggling vine. Some of the mana got pulled back out as the plant instincts fought, but eventually there was enough mana for the System to notice. _ Forced Mana Evolution Attempt Underway. Select Upgrade Path for ¡®Poison Berry Vine (Water Alignment (Spray))¡¯: _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Air Bubble¡± selected _ Mana pulsed and swirled in the drowning vine, then pushed outward in a sphere around the root bundle. Mana pushed the water back and left air behind. The vine changed color back from blue to green and the vine was suddenly in a situation more compatible with the dungeon core vine¡¯s plant instincts. The roots and leaves hung in the middle of a bubble of air. As bubbles in the water merged with the bottom of the vine¡¯s bubble, a new bubble of about the same size leaked out the top. _ New Spawn Mutation Option Available: Air Bubble _ In the acid rain worldlet, a dropped fruit spawned a jellyfish with an air bubble. The jellyfish floated up off the ground and drifted around. When the sideways rain hit the air bubble, it flowed around the bubble and dripped off the other side. The jellyfish undulated softly and drifted around the acid rain worldlet without being washed out into the stony worldlet. Later, a water-aligned bat would spawn in the sauna worldlet. The air bubble made it impossible for the bat to swim in the mud or cool off under the spraying water. The air bubble water bat died soon after it spawned.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. When Oz came back the next day, the only change to his equipment was a splint around his broken hand. He once again stood ready with his spear. _ Higher Life Intruder Detected. Select Automated Response: _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Dominate¡± selected. Domination Failed _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Ignore¡± selected _ Oz stood ready for half a minute before deciding that the dungeon creatures were not going to attack. ¡°Roast me, maybe you learned your lesson about messing with the great and powerful Oz!¡± Oz shifted his spear grip and stalked over to a beetle. He set his feet and pinned the beetle to the ground. With eyes and ears wide, Oz watched for any response from the other creatures. Nothing. Oz kicked the beetle of his spear and stalked over to his next victim. As it had only been one day, and the dungeon had spent significant mana on the mutation of the vine in the underwater worldlet, there were very few creatures in the main worldlet. Oz finished them off and marked tallies on a new tablet for the creatures present. With his task apparently done, Oz sat near the entrance and pulled out a fruit to eat while he watched for any change in the dungeon. The System noticed the fruit and took a moment to cross-reference it against the dungeon core vine¡¯s capabilities. _ Spawn Unlocked: Apricot tree _ In the delta worldlet, a vine fruit dropped to the ground and sprouted an apricot sapling.
Oz brought more humans with him when he returned five days later. They came armed and also with traps of a sort. The dungeon creatures attacked, and the human group killed them quickly, but the humans used the traps to catch all the blue water-aligned creatures. There were only five blue creatures, but that was one higher than they had estimated. ¡°It is strange,¡± Oz said as he marked tallies on a tablet, ¡°the dungeon has attacked me thrice, but I¡¯ve been in here five times. Six maybe.¡± ¡°What happened the other times?¡± said a woman wielding a mace. ¡°The bugs mostly ignored us. They would still sting and bite but no different than a natural bug. By the elven queen, if you found a louse the size of your fist out in the forest, you wouldn¡¯t be shocked if it tried to bite you. Nothing strange about that, you understand me?¡± Oz finished his tally and put the tablet away. The woman looked skeptical. ¡°Were they trying to ambush you?¡± Oz shook his head. ¡°No, they just crawled about in the leaves like regular bugs. Look you can see there are regular bugs in here.¡± Oz used his spear to flip a pile of fallen leaves. Multiple small millipedes were revealed, and they began moving their tiny legs as fast as they could to get back under darkness. ¡°They acted just like that the first time I was here.¡± No one had much to say about that. ¡°Well, time to look in on the other floors, then!¡± Oz grinned and readied his spear. The woman took the lead towards the left side portal. Oz¡¯s shoulders slumped at not being the leader, but he made a mighty effort to not slouch after the woman. The woman checked that Oz was ready to follow, then stepped through the portal. Oz jumped in after her. Ch 9 - A Few Moments of Beauty Oz managed to not bump into the back of the woman as he landed in the delta worldlet. It was sparser in vegetation than the main worldlet but had more creatures since the humans had not yet cleared this worldlet. The woman went down on one knee and slammed her mace into the sandy ground. Oz didn¡¯t take any damage, but the shockwave did cause him to stumble and sit down in the wet sand. The nearby creatures exploded from the force of the blow. Oz pushed himself up, trying to inconspicuously brush the sand and water from his clothing. ¡°Goblin¡¯s teeth, that was a lot for just bugs.¡± He said. ¡°You don¡¯t know it¡¯s just bugs. Anyway, you reported a frog that broke your hand, so you do know that it isn¡¯t just bugs.¡± The woman stood and walked forward into the worldlet. Oz followed and they hunted salamanders. One of the salamanders shot an acid spray at the woman but she covered her eyes with her arm and was unharmed by it. ¡°The creatures are small and young, so they have little mana to put in spells like that one.¡± She explained. ¡°Is that a tree?¡± she asked. Oz looked where she pointed and saw an apricot sapling. ¡°I think so.¡± He said, not clear on if trees were important. The woman walked over to the tree and circled it twice. ¡°It is. I would swear before a dragon that this is one of my brother¡¯s apricot trees. Why is it here?¡± Oz shrugged. Then his eyes widened for a second in panic before he put on expression of forced calm. ¡°Fae mysteries.¡± Oz shrugged again, trying to look natural. ¡°Next floor?¡± The woman (whose name, Oz didn¡¯t clearly remember) led them back to the main worldlet and straight across to the sauna worldlet portal. The woman went through but came back out instantly to stop Oz from entering. ¡°Environment is hazardous. Too hot for you.¡± She waved over one of the others to go with her. Oz tried not to sulk while he waited for them to come back. The two spent less time in the sauna worldlet than Oz expected, but the woman explained, ¡°Not too important to clear it. Harvesters won¡¯t be going in there.¡± And that was all the explanation Oz got. Oz followed the woman into the final portal, the one in the dark area behind the big vine plant. He braced himself to be pushed back out if there was another ¡°hazard¡± he wouldn¡¯t be allowed to face. Instead of being pushed out, he bumped into the woman¡¯s back. He only knew it was the woman¡¯s back because he got some of her hair in his mouth. The dungeon floor was pitch black. After a moment of spitting out hair, Oz realized that the floor wasn¡¯t pitch black, just very dim. He looked around and saw tall, thin vine branches and leaves. Then he looked up and forgot everything else in the world. Stretching high above him, small spots of light were scattered like stars. Rainbows floated near many of the spots of light. The spots of light seemed to be drifting slowly, some disappeared, and others appeared, rainbows drifting after them in the dark. Jellyfish drifted about in the rainbows. Oz¡¯s breath stopped. His mind didn¡¯t know how to interpret glowing rainbows on a black background. Oz took a step forward.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. The woman elbowed him in the gut. ¡°Don¡¯t move, blight brain. There¡¯s no floor.¡± Indeed, the two humans were standing on a pile of pebbles around the spot where the big vine rooted. Oz held his gut and kept an angry silence. ¡°There¡¯s something wrong with the leaves¡± the woman said. Oz squinted at the nearest leaves but couldn¡¯t make out anything in the darkness. The woman sighed. ¡°I suppose no harvesters are coming in here either. Let¡¯s go¡±. She turned and waved Oz back through the portal.
Oz and the others reported to the hill lord in the evening. Tallies were checked against estimates and a dungeon harvest schedule was shaped. Every four or five days, a group would enter the dungeon and collect water-aligned creatures from the first floor of the dungeon. The number of water-aligned creatures on the second floor (the delta worldlet) was lower than expected, so it would only be cleared out every month or two, just to keep the threat low. Fluctuations in monster types or number would be reported and then the dungeon would be re-evaluated for harvesting. Andebert asked Osmund to stay a while after all the plans were made. ¡°Something seems different about you cousin.¡± Andebert lounged in a sturdy chair lined with fur. ¡°What has you so withdrawn?¡± Oz sat on the floor and chewed on a piece of dried meat. He did not respond right away but took several breaths. ¡°I¡¯m still thinking about the floor with the rainbows on black. It is the most amazing thing I can imagine. Before I saw that floor, I thought seeing a dragon in the distance might be the most rare and beautiful sight. Now I think the queen of the elves would have trouble drawing eyes away from what I saw.¡± Oz closed his eyes to more clearly picture the drifting rainbows. ¡°Are dungeons really monsters? How could a bloodthirsty monster create¡­ all that? It doesn¡¯t seem possible, and I don¡¯t know what to think about it.¡± Andebert smiled, and his smile grew into a wide grin as Osmund finished speaking. He stood from his chair and walked over to his cousin. He extended his hand as Osmund opened his eyes. Pulling the younger (but taller) man to his feet, Andebert slapped his shoulders. ¡°I am so happy for you cousin! What a wonderous sight to see!¡± Andebert laughed a rich, joyous laugh, ¡°A rare chance to let a few moments of beauty challenge everything you believe. Wonderful!¡± Andebert laughed some more, and Oz (somewhat confused) was caught up in the joy his cousin was showing. The two talked a while longer that evening. They had not spoken so easily since they were both children and Oz was glad to find that Andy was more of a real person than Oz had thought him in a long time. After Oz left, Andebert went into a private office and unlocked a drawer. He pulled out paper and ink and a stone inscribed with runes. He drew a few practice strokes on a smudgy sheet of vellum just to make sure he wouldn¡¯t embarrass himself, then Andebert wrote a request for permission to refer his cousin to the adventurer society. The foolish boy had grown up and Andebert felt that he had gained sufficient insight to not waste the specific training that adventurers underwent. Ch 10 - Emergency Situation As the underwater worldlet grew, most spawns drowned before they could reach the portal back to the sauna worldlet. The vine spawn only survived if they had the air bubble mutation. The dungeon core vine didn¡¯t have a mind to care about the waste of mana or the inefficiencies of random spawn selection, so the underwater worldlet filled up more slowly than any other. A few weeks after the humans started harvesting the creatures in the main worldlet, every worldlet except the main one and the underwater one had replenished the spawned creatures. In the underwater worldlet, a fallen vine fruit got caught in one of the root bundles of the main vine. Since the roots were not under soil or covered in acid, this fruit was the first to successfully sprout a vine mutation that fused with the main vine without forced mana evolution. The small vine dug its roots down into the root bundle and stretched its leaves up and out. The leaves each opened a single eye as the two root systems fused together. The dungeon core vine didn¡¯t process visual input from the eye vines, but the System did. As the new eye vine branch fused with the main dungeon vine, the System saw something that triggered an immediate response. _ EMERGENCY SITUATION: VOID ENTITY IN DUNGEON. ACTIVATING EMERGENCY RESPONSE. PLEASE CONSULT WITH YOUR DUNGEON FAIRY IN ORDER TO SURVIVE THIS SITUATION _ Every creature in the dungeon turned and moved as quickly as it could towards the underwater worldlet. The humans in the main worldlet paused their harvesting in confusion as the attacking creatures turned and ran toward the right-side portal. The humans yelled in surprise and backed up against the dungeon exit when a wave of salamanders came through the left side portal. The salamanders paid no attention to the humans and streamed straight across the worldlet. After the wave of salamanders, there was a trickle of every kind of dungeon creature which was followed by a very slow wave of jellyfish from the acid rain worldlet. The jellyfish in the stony worldlet could not push past the sideways rain and stayed stuck near the portal. In the underwater worldlet, the creatures swam about in every direction, sometimes thrashing out wildly. A water bat from the sauna worldlet swam in circles, releasing sharp bursts of water that sent pressure waves bouncing off everything more solid than water. That bat was the first to flush out the void entity. The void entity appeared from behind a cloud of silt. It was shaped like a sea star and moved like a cuttlefish. It had no color of any kind and appeared to normal vision as a black silhouette with an iridescent outline. The bat dove towards the creature and let out an underwater screech. Nearby creatures turned and swam toward the sound. The void entity seemed to absorb and regrow its legs in a new orientation, then shot away, leaving black sparks behind. The bat swam through the sparks and caught fire. It thrashed about it pain as white fire burned it underwater. Other creatures brushed against the bat or the remaining sparks and caught fire as well. The bat and some of the burning creatures fell through the top of an air bubble and through a bundle of vine leaves. The fire went out as soon as it touched air. Creatures flowed through the portal into the underwater worldlet. Many of them died of drowning before they could help with the fight. After the first exchange, the void entity hid in an empty stretch of water, the only sign of its presence being the absence of the air bubbles that constantly flowed up through the worldlet. A drowning millipede discovered it by accident while trying to swim backwards by spraying water. The next hiding place was in the interface between the water and an air bubble around a vine. This hiding spot did not last long because the increasing number of water-aligned bats still needed to breath and would swoop through the air bubbles to catch a breath. When the void entity fled again, a leg snapped out and several bats were turned to stone. When the wave of salamanders arrived in the underwater bubble, they quickly sighted a miniature void entity hiding just off the back of a frog. The void entity turned the frog inside out as it jetted through the body of the frog to escape.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. This hide-and-seek fight continued in this manner for around an hour. The void entity would use its extreme speed and ability to ignore reality to hide in improbable places, while the dungeon creatures hunted about blindly to try and flush out the beast. Each exchange left at least one dungeon beast dead or bizarrely changed. Slowly, over the next hour, the wave of jellyfish drifted in. The air bubble jellyfish had no difficulty underwater, and the other jellyfish were only slowed down by the water¡ªthey didn¡¯t drown. The jellyfish cloud slowly spread over the space in the worldlet and caused the first injury to the void entity. The void entity had tried to jet through a jellyfish like it had done to the frog previously, but the tendrils of the jellyfish were caught in the jet stream and were sucked up against the skin of the void entity. A buzzing scream shook every air bubble in the worldlet. The void entity desperately avoided the jellyfish after that and started hiding among the carcasses of the drowned dungeon creatures. For two days, the void entity hid in or around the drifting carcasses. Every few hours a bat or a salamander would find the hiding spot and die flushing out the void entity. Eventually, the void entity ran out of carcasses to hide in because the jellyfish were slowly eating them. The void entity was once nearly enveloped by a jellyfish as it pulled a beetle corpse up into its bell for digestion. With few carcasses left and an even greater number of jellyfish and other dungeon creatures surrounding it, the void entity went on the attack. The void entity formed it legs into a hollow cylinder and aimed at the nearest jellyfish. A black star, like a miniature version of the void entity, shot from the cylinder and through the jellyfish, turning it to glass. The void entity fired on three more jellyfish before a flight of bats swept in to fire their own jets of water at the void entity. The water mana attack seemed to slightly eat away at the body of the void entity, and it rushed away to attack more jellyfish. Since the void entity had ceased hiding, the many dungeon creatures were able to follow its movements and continue pressuring it. Sometimes the void entity fired black stars at the creatures chasing it. Most just died or changed to solid materials, but a few creatures suffered more anomalous changes. Some creatures had their limbs and head shuffled around on their body, some turned and attack their fellows, some imploded down to a single point. One jellyfish transformed to be entirely made of the white underwater fire. As the battle continued, the swarm of bats were able to put the most pressure on the void entity. The water jet attacks of the bats tore at the entity¡¯s skin until it was ragged. One bat, with glowing burns on much of its back and one wing, managed to organize the salamanders into a wall that herded the void entity towards the worldlet portal. With bat water jets, jellyfish stingers, and dungeon creatures all around, the void entity made to escape the worldlet. It jetted towards the portal, but not the flat face of the portal. The void entity pressed its body against the edge of the portal. Arms thrashing and pushing, the entity seemed to squeeze through an invisible gap on the edge of the portal. Right as its last arm slipped into nothingness, it reached out and slapped the side of the dungeon vine. _ Successfully Repelled Void Entity. Experience Awarded _ Ch 11 - Gall _ Core Level Increased to 4. Mana Storage Increased 5%. Mana Generation increased 5%. Durability Increased 10% _ _ Core Level Increased to 5. Mana Storage Increased 5%. Mana Generation increased 5%. Durability Increased 10% _ _ Core Level Increased to 6. Mana Storage Increased 5%. Mana Generation increased 5%. Durability Increased 10% _ _ Select Dungeon Reward (X3): _ The dungeon creatures ceased swimming frantically around the underwater worldlet. The few recent spawns that had not yet arrived stopped their march across the dungeon and settled down it whatever worldlet they found themselves in. Inside the dungeon core vine, a black bubble with iridescent edges was being buffeted around by mana flowing back and forth through the vine. The dungeon vine could feel the bubble like an ordinary plant would feel an irritant or parasite. _ Random Selection: ¡°Unlock Spawn¡± Selected. Select From Available Spawn: ¡­ _ Without the void entity to focus on, some dungeon creatures in the underwater worldlet began to attack and eat other dungeon creatures. _ Random Selection: ¡°Lesser Fish¡± Unlocked _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Unlock Treasure¡± Selected. Select From Available Treasure: ¡­ _ The salamanders mostly left the underwater worldlet. Some salamanders stayed in the sauna worldlet and took over the mud where the water bats used to hunt. The rest migrated to the main worldlet. _ Random Selection: ¡°Amber Piece (Small)¡± Selected _ _ Random Selection: ¡°New Material¡± Selected. Select From Available Materials: ¡­ _ With the increased core levels, the dungeon core vine grew more quickly and dropped spawn fruit more frequently. Small fish flopped over dry ground in the main worldlet but managed to hang to life in most of the others. Fish in the underwater worldlet had no issues. _ Random Selection: ¡°Flint¡± Selected _ The dungeon vine concentrated water and mana around the irritating bubble, but it slipped through multiple blockages and crossed over into the vine in the main worldlet. The mana density in the vine increased as the bubble drew closer to the core. Mana rushed outwards from the mana core and squeezed the bubble up against the skin of the vine.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. _ Emergency Situation Resolved. Entrance Feature Awarded: ¡°Defender Badge¡±. Description: This badge indicates that the dungeon has repelled an extremely dangerous attacker without outside aid. This badge also indicates that the dungeon has been awarded an uncommon treasure. _ Treasure Unlocked: ¡°Chest of Gold¡± _ The dungeon vine continuously pushed the bubble out toward the skin of the vine, but also concentrated mana in the vine skin, preventing the bubble from leaving. A gall began to grow on the side of the large vine between the main vine body and the portal to the sauna worldlet. With more mana than ever, the dungeon vine grew the gall to the size of a grapefruit and locked it down tight with constantly flowing mana. The bubble thrashed around in its prison but could not push past the mana. _ Anomalous Battle Performance Recognized. Dungeon Spawn Experience Awarded. Dungeon Spawn Marked for Continuous Respawn. _ In the underwater worldlet, the water bat with white glowing burns gave a surprised squeak. This was the same bat that had first flushed out the void entity and the bat that had organized the salamanders for the final push that drove the void entity out. Mana pulsed in the bat, and it began to grow. Water and bubbles swirled around it in a furious sphere for a handful of seconds. When the sphere dispersed, the bat was twice as large and much more streamlined. Its head looked more like a fox head, but with tiny scales instead of fur. The claws on its wings pulled out and along its wings to make slashing blades. The white glowing burns were gone, but the bat¡¯s eyes glowed white. The bat snapped its wings and flashed through the water to catch a newly spawned fish. The lesser bats flocked around the larger bat like an honor guard. _ Significant Battle Debris Detected. Absorb? Yes/No _ _ Random Selection. ¡°Yes¡± Selected _ _ Material Unlocked: ¡°Lesser Stone¡± _ _ Material Unlocked: ¡°Glass¡± _ _ Material Unlocked: ¡°Sand¡± _ _ Material Unlocked: ¡°Lead¡± _ _ Material Unlocked: ¡°Void Fire¡± _ _ Warning: Void Materials Disallowed. Select Replacement Material: ¡­ _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Ice¡± Selected _ Oz sat by the dungeon exit. He had watched the dungeon creatures cross the dungeon left to right for the better part of three days. The dungeon creatures no longer traveled but shuffled and dug about in the fallen leaves like normal. Oz thought the dungeon was anything but normal, however. Fruits were falling at a noticeable rate, and there were fish for some reason. The composition of the creatures on this first floor was all different from the regular¡ªit was mostly jellyfish and salamanders. A few millipedes had spawned, but no beetles yet. The other big change was a few apricot trees and some vine fruit that fell to the ground and lay there. Oz stared at the closest one for long enough to be certain it would not open into a creature or sprout a plant. He carefully tapped it out of the leaves with his spear. Visually it was not unusual, so Oz wrapped his hand in his clothes and picked it up. The skin of the fruit slipped off and left the insides still on the ground. Oz dropped the loose skin and picked up what was left behind. It was a glass ball, just the same size as the fruit, but completely smooth. He looked around for more fruit laying on the ground. Over the next hour he found six distinct fallen fruits. One was the glass orb, one was a round grey stone, one was a waxy brown stone, one fruit just spilled a bit of sand on the ground, one was a heavy metal ball, and the last was a ball of ice that melted quickly. ¡°Well,¡± Oz said to the dungeon, ¡°I think Andy will want to look at you for himself.¡± Ch 12 – Let’s go Andebert and Oz were not the next people to enter the dungeon. Four people stepped through the dungeon portal when it was night out in the forest: The first person was a huge man with red hair, dark clothes, and a large lumpy bag on each hip; The second person was a bald, dark skinned woman wearing red and wielding a bronze sword; the third person was an ordinary looking brown skinned young woman wearing ordinary brown clothing with ordinary brown eyes and an ordinary bow; the final person was a figure dressed all in grey with grey eyes. The grey figure started to move to the side, then it flickered to be in a crouch, then it threw a punch from standing, then it fell backwards. All these movements happened so close together that they seemed to overlap. _ Higher Life Intruder Detected. Select Automated Response: _ The huge red-haired man turned to the others. ¡°We have a few moments before it decides to attack. Hildred! What are ya doing? The dungeon won¡¯t care what you look like. You should stick to the face that Arna and I will recognize¡± The ordinary looking young woman clenched her fists and glared at the man. ¡°I¡¯m Hilda today, Baggi.¡± Behind her, the grey figure flashed through dozens of actions but, on average, didn¡¯t move. The Dark swordswoman, Arna, smirked. ¡°You two are hard to look at even without your illusions.¡± ¡°Leta and I aren¡¯t-¡° _ Random Selection: ¡°Dominate¡± selected. Domination Failed _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Attack¡± selected _ The ordinary woman was cut off as a dozen salamanders broke from cover of fallen leaves and raced towards the group. Two jellyfish changed course and began to drift in a menacing manner. One beetle opened its wings and lifted off from the top of the largest vine. Several millipedes followed behind the salamanders. At the sound of the beetle¡¯s buzzing wings, the four people focused on the incoming threats and spread out a little. The huge man, Baggi, pulled a rock from one of his hip bags and threw it at the beetle. The rock flew so fast that the air whistled, and the beetle exploded. Hilda began firing arrows at the salamanders. Leta and Arna moved forward to meet the rushing creatures. Leta threw a punch, but a salamander was kicked aside with a broken neck. The grey figure appeared to move in ways that were completely unrelated to the damage they did. Arna slashed with her sword and thin lines of bronze flew out to cut several creatures. The four quickly slew all the creatures in the main worldlet. Baggi walked around the worldlet to collect his thrown rocks. ¡°Leta, turn that off when we are not actively fighting.¡± Baggi held up a hand to block his sight of the grey figure. Leta stopped moving. They then folded their arms and huffed. Hilda gave them a side hug. Arna spoke loudly to address everyone. ¡°Attend. The badge on the doorway means there is a good treasure in this dungeon. Could be riches, could be magic, could be potions. Might be in a chest, might be in a clam, we don¡¯t know. We¡¯ve got two directions we can walk from here so everyone vote: left or right.¡±Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Left.¡± ¡°Right¡± ¡°Right¡± ¡°We go right¡± The group started walking to the right, except Hilda, who took a step to the left before looking confused, then embarrassed. She quickstepped to catch up with Leta. Leta held out first one hand and then the other. ¡°Right. Left.¡± ¡°I know, shut up.¡± Arna was the first through the portal this time, and she slashed at several salamanders wading in the mud near the portal. Hilda entered last and gasped at the heat. Then she gasped at the number of creatures. There were easily twenty salamanders in the area around the portal, and the mud was already sucking at her feet. ¡°Back!¡± Arna shouted. Hilda fell back through the portal and rolled to her feet without getting tangled in her bow. The others rushed through almost on top of each other. They paused to stomp off the clinging mud. ¡°Unpleasant.¡± Arna said. ¡°Rotting fae blight.¡± Baggi swore in agreement. Arna gestured, and the group moved over to the opposite portal. They readied their weapons (or fists) and stepped through. The delta worldlet had a comparable number of creatures as the main worldlet, so the group cleared out the worldlet in under a minute. Their faces showed much improved attitudes and expectations. ¡°This is good.¡± Said Baggi, ¡°This must be the side the monsters left to go fight something on the other side. Roast me if it isn¡¯t all cleared out like this.¡± Arna gestured again and the group followed the largest vine to the next portal. Each of them had a distinct reaction as they stepped from the delta worldlet into the near-blinding light of the acid rain worldlet: Baggi swore loudly and threw up an arm to defend himself; Arna grunted and squinted her eyes; Leta clapped both hands to their eyes and pulled their grey headwrap down; Hilda screamed and fell to her knees, crying. Hilda¡¯s form became translucent under the intense light, and Leta¡¯s illusionary motion disappeared. The sideways rain splashed over the four and refracted the light in dazzling ways. ¡°Blind fight tactics. Follow the vine.¡± Arna said loudly. Leta reached down and helped Hilda stand and put her hand on the vine. Baggi took out two stones and spun them in his hands. The stones began to orbit around Baggi at varying heights. Arna held her sword in a high guard, then moved it erratically up and down in front of her. ¡°I have partial sight.¡± Leta said, squinting through the weave of their headwrap fabric. ¡°Rearguard. Let¡¯s go.¡± Arna said. The four moved along, following the vine. Leta walked backwards in the rear, silently cursing themself for volunteering to try and see through blinding light, fabric, and rain. A salamander bit at Arna¡¯s leg. She swiped her sword through its body and kicked it away. After two minutes of walking, Arna called a halt. They rested for one minute, then continued. After a few paces, a jellyfish drifted up behind them. Leta couldn¡¯t quite see the jellyfish, but felt it slap into their face. Their cloth wrap kept the stinging away and Leta was able to knock it to the ground and stomp it dead. A half minute later, another jellyfish hit Leta in the face. Ten seconds after that, a third jellyfish arrived. ¡°They are coming faster back here!¡± Leta yelled up to Arna. ¡°I think this is a portal. Stand by.¡± Arna said loudly. Arna squinted at the vine, trying to see if it stopped in a wobbly patch of air like the other portals. Behind her, Baggi switched places with Hilda and began throwing rocks over Leta¡¯s head to try and hit or deter creatures coming from behind. At that moment, an acid-aligned jellyfish hit Leta in the face and dissolved most of their face wrap and some of the skin on their neck. Leta screamed. Hilda panicked tried to rush back toward Leta, but one of Baggi¡¯s rocks hit her it the temple. Hilda collapsed to the ground away from the vine, dazed and unnoticed. ¡°It¡¯s a portal. Let¡¯s go.¡± Arna said. She stepped through the portal. Baggi and Leta walked backwards, following the vine, and stepped through the portal as well. Ch 13 - Grey ash Hilda groaned and pushed herself to hands and knees. Her skin burned from the acid water on the ground. The sideways rain dripped down her face and under her collar. Hilda cursed and stood to her feet. She was too sensitive to light to open her eyes without taking damage but she didn¡¯t know in which direction she would find the vine. She covered her eyes and tried to squint through the space between her fingers. The light burned her eyes and her sight immediately started to dim. She turned quickly around to spot the vine on her right. Hilda closed her eyes tightly and walked to the vine. She held the vine and trembled. Which way had everyone gone? Why hadn¡¯t they noticed she wasn¡¯t with them? After a deep breath, Hilda decided that they must have continued on and hadn¡¯t yet noticed her absence. Which way is that. Left? Right? Hilda cursed herself as she remembered the sideways rain that was, even at that moment, hitting the side of her face. She turned to put the rain at her back and walked a few steps to the portal. Unknown to Hilda, a jellyfish floated right behind her head. They passed through the portal one after the other. The first thing Hilda heard was Leta¡¯s scream. The first thing Hilda saw was Arna on the ground, choking and feebly swinging her bronze sword above her. Baggi roared. Hilda looked up and saw the huge man with two rocks in his hands, swinging his arms wildly in a cloud of jellyfish. Jellyfish were everywhere. There were jellyfish around Arna. There was one right beside Hilda. A burning sensation hit the back of Hilda¡¯s neck and she jumped forward and whirled around. A jellyfish had come up behind her while she stood in shock. A second jellyfish drifted through the portal. She was trapped. They were trapped. They were all dead. There were jellyfish everywhere. She was trapped. Leta screamed again. This time, Hilda recognized her own name. She turned toward the sound. A jellyfish stung her arm, but Hilda could hardly feel it. Leta was on hands and knees, thrashing about as if blind. Hilda rushed to Leta and used her bare hands to shove jellyfish away. This time, Hilda felt the pain. She screamed. Leta fell back into the water. Where did this water come from? It pulled at Hilda¡¯s feet, and she lost her footing and fell next to Leta. From this close to the ground, Hilda could see that Leta¡¯s clothes were full of holes and blood leaked from every hole. The water flowed away to expose plain grey stone. Hilda grabbed Leta¡¯s shoulder and pushed them towards the portal. The stone scraped her burned palms bloody. The portal was so close, why couldn¡¯t they get closer? Why was each crawl so slow? Leta fell again but Hilda grabbed their hand and dragged them. Hilda was in shock, and her mind was stretching each moment as long as possible. In reality, she had been in the stony worldlet for only a handful of breaths. During those breaths, Arna lost consciousness, and Baggi¡¯s acid-burned hands lost their grip on the stones. Hilda dragged Leta behind her towards the portal. One pace away from the portal, the jellyfish launched the attack that had devastated Arna, Baggi, and Leta. Acid sprayed out from nearly every jellyfish. Hilda screamed as acid hit her in the eyes and threw herself forward into the portal. She kept hold of Leta¡¯s hand and dragged them through right after. Leta¡¯s clothes were almost completely gone. The exposed skin was melted and bleeding. Worse, they were starting to choke on inhaled acid.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Hilda couldn¡¯t tell at the time, but she was not much better. She was completely blinded and bleeding from many places. She panted heavily as she sat up. She pulled Leta onto her lap and held them tight. Leta choked out, ¡°Couldn¡¯t¡­ find you.¡± Hilda sobbed hysterically. ¡°Leta! Leta!¡± She shouted hoarsely between sobs. They sat there together as Leta¡¯s breathing worsened. Hilda couldn¡¯t shed tears because of her burned eyes, but she couldn¡¯t stop sobbing. After a few minutes, Leta raised a hand to touch Hilda¡¯s face. A golden light, even brighter than the light in the acid rain worldlet, flashed. Hilda gasped as her wounds partially healed. Then she screamed as Leta¡¯s body turned to grey ash. A jellyfish drifted over Hilda¡¯s head, unable to navigate accurately as the sideways rain pushed it inexorably on.
Hilda crawled on her elbows through the peat and acid water. She kept the vine on her left side brushed it with her shoulder every few body lengths to make sure it was still close. She had lost her bow¡ªacid probably ate through the string, and it fell off. In one hand, Hilda held tight to a handful of ashes from Leta¡¯s body. She had sat with the ashes on and around her for a long time, waiting for her sobs to stop. She had nearly lost everything of Leta because the sideways rain slowly washed Hilda clean. When she came back to herself and was able to think again, Hilda found some ashes in her leeward hand. Then and there, Hilda promised Leta that she would take those ashes out of the dungeon. The acid rain worldlet was long. The other worldlets were mostly circular, but the sideways rain pushed the vine to grow in one direction only, so the worldlet expanded only in that one direction. Hilda didn¡¯t know how long she crawled in the acid water, but she eventually found sand and acid-free water under herself. She tried to open her eyes, but her eyes had only healed enough to let a sliver of sight through. She scanned back and forth to try and find the threats she was sure must be here. She saw what she thought was a salamander running towards her. Hilda carefully got to her feet. Then she ran. The crawl across the acidic peat water had not been kind to the skin on Hilda¡¯s legs, but she strained to move her feet fast enough to outrun the dungeon salamanders. She had no weapons. she was injured and she could barely see; there was no reasonable way she could stand and fight. She tried desperately to keep her sight on the vine that led towards the exit. Hilda tripped on something she couldn¡¯t see and nearly went down. She straightened up and ran her shoulder into something stiff and hard. Feeling with her hands, she felt a tree with a few branches. Hilda yanked and twisted one of the branches, hoping to acquire the most basic of weapons. The tree and branch bent and twisted but did not break. Hilda shuffled around it and ran on. She scooped up some sand in her free hand. As she got closer to the exit, she caught glimpses of more monsters, but Hilda thought they might all be bugs. She heard a beetle¡¯s wings buzzing towards her. Pausing for half a breath to listen, she swung her fist down and bashed the beetle to the ground. She threw the sand straight ahead in a hopeless attempt to blind whatever was in her way, then she barreled ahead and through the portal. Ch 14 - Help protect the dungeon Oz and Andebert stood on the first floor of the dungeon and waited for more vine fruit to drop. Carcasses of dungeon creatures lay in the area around the entrance, but only a handful were fresh. Oz had checked the whole floor in vain for creatures in ambush. They had gathered all the dropped fruits with the materials inside, Andebert even had a special box that could keep the ice orbs frozen. It was clear to both of them that multiple people had entered the dungeon and had not yet left. Oz felt conflicted about confronting the trespassers. It hadn¡¯t been that long since he himself had taken creatures from this dungeon without permission from the hill lord. It wasn¡¯t a law that the dungeon and everything within belonged to the nearest hill lord, it was just that hill lords were responsible for dungeons and monsters and things like that. To take from a dungeon without permission was similar to baking bread in someone else¡¯s oven; it was rude, and you might mess something up. Oz didn¡¯t want anyone to mess up the dungeon and ruin that dark rainbow floor, that was certain. Oz wondered what dungeon features Andy and the other hill lords would want to protect. He had almost worked through the reluctance to break the silence and ask when a woman ran through the left-hand portal and fell on her face. A millipede rose up on her leg, ready to bite. The next instant, the millipede fell in two pieces as Andebert arrived with his knife. The woman lay on the ground, gasping for breath and bleeding from many places. Oz didn¡¯t think she knew they were there. Andebert frowned in worry. He reached in a pouch and took out a healing barrel. It wasn¡¯t really a barrel; it just had the shape of a miniature barrel and it had medicine inside. Andebert carefully placed his hand on a patch of shoulder that wasn¡¯t too abused and rolled her over. She groaned. ¡°Hildred?¡± Andebert asked. After a few breaths, she responded. ¡°Hilda¡±. Andebert¡¯s expression said he would smile at that at some other time. ¡°Chew this.¡± He commanded. He pushed the barrel into her mouth. She tried to spit it out, but he pushed it back in. She crushed the barrel in her teeth, and medicine flowed down her throat. Oz knew that the medicine was magic enough to not choke the patient, but the woman coughed anyway as the barrel dissolved. ¡°Leta¡¯s dead.¡± She said. She raised one of her hands which was closed in a fist and stained grey. ¡°This is all that¡¯s left.¡± Her eyes opened a sliver and stared at her hand. She was still staring when the medicine forced her to sleep. Oz watched as many of the wounds stopped bleeding. The melted flesh around her eyes also reduced and thinned. Oz looked at Andebert. Andebert looked at Oz. Oz shifted uncomfortably; he didn¡¯t know this person or ¡°Leta¡±. Andebert stood and turned fully towards Oz. ¡°Osmund, will you swear to serve me in my work as Hill Lord and to keep my secrets for a year and a day or until I release you from this oath?¡± Andebert¡¯s voice echoed impossibly around the dungeon floor. A System message appeared in Oz¡¯s mind.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. _ Warning: Violation Of The Proposed Oath Will Result In Loss Of All Levels And Experience _ Oz¡¯s eyes bulged and he nearly shouted, ¡°Why would I do that?¡± Andebert walked over and put a hand on Oz¡¯s shoulder. Andebert¡¯s face looked sad and weary. ¡°Because I need you, Oz. I need your help.¡± Oz¡¯s thoughts shot to the question he had earlier: what dungeon features would Andy want to protect? ¡°Would¡­¡± Oz swallowed. ¡°Would I help protect the dungeon?¡± Andebert looked a little surprised. ¡°Yes, you would.¡± Oz closed his eyes. ¡°Then yes, I swear to serve you in your work as Hill Lord and to keep your secrets for a year and a day or until you release me from this oath.¡± His voice didn¡¯t echo, which seemed petty on the part of the system. The two men prepared Hilda to be carried. Andebert opened her hand and found the ashes. They didn¡¯t have a good container for ashes, so Andebert took out a medicinal vial and, looking uncomfortable, poured the contents over the worst of the remaining wounds. To Oz¡¯s questioning look, Andebert explained, ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t mix two powerful medicines like this because it could make things worse, but I know from experience that these two are safe enough.¡± He scraped the ashes into the vial and resealed it. Then, all things ready, Oz picked up Hilda and all three left the dungeon. _ Successfully Defeated Intruder Group. Experience Awarded _ _ Core Level Increased to 6. Mana Storage Increased 5%. Mana Generation increased 5%. Durability Increased 10% _ _ Select Dungeon Reward: _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Entrance Feature¡± Selected. Select From Available Features: ¡­ _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Welcome Message (Sign)¡± Selected. Messages Restricted. Select From Available Message Formats: ¡­ _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Beware the Mighty DUNGEON_NAME¡± Selected _ _ Supply Dungeon Name _ The System waited a short time for a response directly from the dungeon core, then it turned to the Dungeon Fairy _ ¡°Randomize All¡± Not Compatible With Dungeon Name Generation. Select Dungeon Name Generation Formula: ¡­ _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Adjective Noun¡± Selected. Generating Dungeon Name _ _ Dungeon Name: ¡°Terse Elem- _ Within the gall in main worldlet of the dungeon, the void bubble pulsed and spun. The message from the System warped and strained between the will of the void bubble and the will of the System. _ Dungeon Name: ¡°untimely vengeance of intolerable solitude beyond compre-¡± _ The System message snapped back into place, and the void bubble shrank noticeably as the mana around it surged. _ Dungeon Name: ¡°Terse Elements¡± _
Above the vine doorway in the forest outside the dungeon, a bronze plaque came into being. Plaques around dungeon entrances always had the message written in three languages. The topmost language on the plaque was unknown and defied translation. Some wizard researchers believed the middle language to be an ancient language of dragons. The lowest language was whatever language was most common in the surrounding region. The plaque in the forest read: ¡°Beware the Mighty Terse Elements¡± Ch 15 - Flowering Vine In the sauna worldlet of the Terse Elements dungeon, a blue vine pressed up against the red edge of space. The roots of the vine twisted and dug at, apparently, nothing. The leaves of the vine crowded together and pushed outwards. The vine sprayed water mist in all directions, but any mist that flew towards the edge of space was redirected by some invisible force. As water and mana concentrated in the tips of the vine, a new worldlet came into reality. *bloop* The roots of the vine sank into a ground made of fine wet grey silt. The leaves spread out into the cool air of the worldlet to absorb the light. An uncountable number of blue motes floated in the air. Each mote was of a slightly different size and each glowed softly blue. The vine water mist sprayed out and gently stirred the motes in the air around the vine. The entire worldlet resembled a soup of dust motes, floating in a blue sunbeam. As the vine grew and expanded through the worldlet, vine fruit dropped and spawned dungeon creatures. The first fruit to drop spawned a frog. The frog sat and looked at the floating blue motes for a long while. When the next fruit spawned a beetle, the frog had mostly sunk into the quicksand ground and had to struggle to pull its feet free. Without a layer of dropped leaves to hide under, the beetle scrambled across the silt to avoid the frog. Silt sucked at the beetle¡¯s legs at every step, and the frog caught up with just one hop. A jellyfish spawned behind the frog and began to drift through the motes, following the currents stirred up by the spraying vine. A spider crawled up into the leaves to spin a web while a millipede tried to swim across the ground with its many legs.
Outside the dungeon, spring weather warmed the forest a little more each day. Dormant seeds sprouted and many creatures hatched. Near the dungeon doorway, a small caterpillar inched across the ground toward the delicious looking green vines. As the caterpillar approached the most delectable low-hanging leaf, it crossed the threshold into the dungeon. The system noticed and sent the regular message to the dungeon core. _ Intruder Detected. Select Automated Response: _ The caterpillar paused for a few seconds after the abrupt change in surroundings. It aimed at the nearest visible leaf and resumed its slow travel. After the same delay as always, the System followed the instructions of the dungeon fairy and applied the ¡°Randomize All¡± mechanism to select the response. _ Random Selection: ¡°Absorb¡± selected _ Right before the caterpillar reached a green vine that would carry it to its meal, it vanished. Mana flowed into the dungeon core along with the information which described the structure and functions of the caterpillar. The System recognized the caterpillar as a creature sufficiently simple for the dungeon to handle at the current core level of 6.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. _ Spawn Unlocked: Lesser Butterfly _ A ripe spawn fruit in the main worldlet split open without falling. From the open fruit skin, an unnaturally large butterfly crawled out. The butterfly hung on the side of a vine as its wings slowly inflated and dried. The closed wings of the butterfly matched the mottled green of the vine¡¯s leaves and kept it unnoticed by the other dungeon creatures. As the butterfly¡¯s wings finished stretching to their fullest, the butterfly opened them for the first time. A frog on the ground looked up and gazed at the mesmerizing tapestry of color on the back of the butterfly¡¯s wings. The butterfly flexed its wings and launched into the air a moment before the frog¡¯s tongue slammed into the side of the vine. The butterfly flew lazily around the worldlet. Inside the dungeon core, the plant instincts roiled in response to the information from absorbing the caterpillar. Some of the information from the caterpillar had caught onto a part of the plant instincts and flapped about in the empty mind of the dungeon core. The dungeon core instincts latched onto the flapping information and sent mana into it as it did in response to most abnormal stimuli. The mana from the core flowed across the caterpillar information and struck the plant instincts. The plant instincts pushed the mana out along all the vine branches. Across the entire dungeon, along every vine branch, green buds pushed out and swelled. The buds split open into giant flowers of every color. Five wrinkly petals and five small stamens flared out around a star shaped pistil. The butterfly in the main worldlet settled down to drink from a bright red flower. In the underwater worldlet, the bats curiously circled the air bubbles around the flowering vines. A bat dropped out of the water and onto a vine then crawled toward a purple flower and peeked over the petals to give a sniff. The bat pressed its face down into the flower and stuck its tongue down at the nectar in the bottom. It raised its head and squeaked at the other bats. The other bats looked at the first bat which had a face covered in pollen, then they all raced to claim their own flower and drink the nectar at the bottom. _ Natural Evolution: ¡°Flowering Vine¡± Unlocked _ Several of the oldest poison berry vines began to ravenously absorb mana from the dungeon air. As the vines glowed and pulsed with mana, dungeon creatures fled. The glowing vines gave a final pulse of mana and opened several flowers each. The flowering vines each had a distinct color for their flowers, which had the same structure as the flowers of the dungeon core vine, only smaller. More butterflies spawned across the dungeon. Each butterfly had huge wings and a unique pattern of colors. The acid-aligned butterfly wings had brilliant greens and yellows. The water-aligned butterflies had deep lustrous blue patterned wings but could not fly and would just fall to the ground on their first attempt. Those were quickly eaten by other dungeon creatures. Very infrequently, a butterfly spawned with the ¡°Low Light Vision¡± mutation and received additional eyes, instead of more sensitive ones. When the eye butterflies opened their wings, two eyes gazed out. The eyes were similar to human eyes and had irises that matched in color to one of the many of vine flowers. The eyes did not blink but would look around and track the motion of other creatures, especially the frogs. Ch 16 - We Should Have Turned Back
A woman, on a survey task for the hill lord, hefted her mace and stepped into the dungeon. A dungeon creature flashed right in front of her face, and she struck out instantly. The mace slammed the butterfly¡¯s body to the ground in crumpled pile. The butterfly¡¯s wings drifted slowly to the ground; they had been ripped off the butterfly. The woman stared down at the butterfly wings for several seconds before letting out a surprised laugh. She raised her eyes to scan her surroundings. She swore in surprise at the hundreds of flowers nestled under and around the vine¡¯s leaves. Human harvesters soon returned to the dungeon. The first few visits recorded the types of creatures, their variations, and their numbers. By clearing out all the creatures between visits, the harvesters working for the hill lord could determine how long to allow the dungeon to repopulate. With sufficiently frequent visits, the danger of being overwhelmed by attacks was minimal. The harvesters continued to capture water-aligned creatures and slay the rest. After a few favorable trades occurred involving butterfly wings, Harvesters brought big nets woven with spider silk to catch the butterflies. There was often a great deal of laughter when one harvester or another had to chase a butterfly in circles or climb up one of the larger vines to reach. The harvesters spoke often in appreciation of the beauty of the butterfly wings. The first time an eye butterfly was sighted, many harvesters complained about the eyes¡¯ unsettling nature, though it later became the most valuable butterfly capture.
Hildred opened his eyes to see patches of bright sunlight on the wall of a roundhouse. Smoke drifted lazily through the light and up into the thatch of the roof. He blinked several times before he remembered that his eyes had been ruined. His face felt stiff, so he reached a hand up to touch. His hand found raised scars around both eyes and on much of the upper half of his face. Tears stung his eyes as he remembered being unable to see Leta as they died. Hildred closed his eyes and used one of his abilities to see himself accurately. Oh, I still look like Hilda. He thought. With a flex, he changed from a brown-haired, brown eyed, brown-skinned woman to a black-haired, black-eyed, lavender-skinned man. His skin was pale enough that most people he had met had assumed he was a pale skinned human, and his features were very similar to those of Hilda, like a brother. The scars colored his face red and purple, further disguising his lavender skin. ¡°Greetings, Hildred. My name is Oz. May the System guide you to glory¡± A young man¡¯s voice startled Hildred and stopped him staring at his own face. He opened his eyes to see the man awkwardly bowing. The man had not spoken in the local language, but in a rough approximation of Hildred¡¯s own language. Hildred replied in the young man¡¯s own language. ¡°That is kind of you to say. I expect Hill Lord Andebert had you memorize just that phrase?¡± Hildred¡¯s voice sounded a bit dry to his own ears. He sat up and cleared his throat.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Oz switched to his regular tongue. ¡°Yes, he did, though I was happy to do so.¡± Oz sat down on the floor across from Hildred. ¡°How are you? Do you have any hurt?¡± Hildred¡¯s eyes furiously threatened to spill tears. ¡°Leta is dead.¡± Nothing could hurt worse than that. Hildred found he could speak no more at that moment. Oz nodded solemnly. ¡°Yes. Here are the ashes we found in your hand.¡± Oz pulled out a small pouch from his bag and handed it to Hildred. Hildred clutched the pouch and felt a hard object inside, probably a crystal vial. He held Leta¡¯s remains for several breaths while Oz politely waited for a response. Hildred managed a nod of thanks without looking up. ¡°The others with you are also dead. Andy- I mean, Andebert told me you probably had two others with you in the dungeon. Would you tell me about them?¡± Oz produced a small clay tablet and a scribe. Clearly, this young man was here by direction of the hill lord. Hildred wondered why he woke up in a roundhouse and not inside the stone walls of a cell in the hillfort. ¡°Yes, two others. They were going and asked us to assist them. Arna and Baggi. The hill lord knows of them already, I¡¯m certain.¡± Hildred said. Oz wrote two names on the tablet. ¡°Tell me how you met the others and what your intention was in the dungeon.¡± Oz sounded a bit stiff, as though he were reading the question off his clay tablet instead of speaking naturally. Hildred shook his head. ¡°Leta and I met far away from here and long time ago. We met Arna soon after we came here. Yesterday-I mean, I assume it was yesterday-She invited us to join her in finding some treasure in the dungeon.¡± Hildred realized that he was rubbing the scars on his face, so he pulled his hand down and clasped both hands in his lap. ¡°You saw the badge on the dungeon door?¡± ¡°I did.¡± Oz nodded. ¡°That badge means the dungeon has at least one good treasure. It usually means that the dungeon is difficult and very dangerous, but Arna said the dungeon had just had something happen and most of the monsters were dead or missing or something.¡± Hildred looked out the doorway of the roundhouse as he felt blood rush to his face. ¡°Was that even true? Why did we believe her?¡± Oz waited politely for a few breaths before continuing. ¡°And what happened in the dungeon?¡± Hildred put his face in his hands. ¡°The first floor was fine. The monsters attacked but they were pretty weak. The next floor was the same. Then we just couldn¡¯t see. We should have stopped; we should have turned back!¡± Hildred pulled at his hair and took two deep breaths before continuing. ¡°I was separated from the others. When I caught up, they were mostly dead already. I tried to get Leta out, but we couldn¡¯t even get back through one floor together. Leta died.¡± Feeling like a child in a tantrum, Hildred lay down and turned away from Oz. ¡°Please, I cannot speak any more.¡± Hildred heard Oz stand. The man spoke. ¡°Thank you for answering my questions. Please stay in this roundhouse until the hill lord comes to speak with you. There is food in the box there and a latrine outside.¡± Oz¡¯s footsteps moved towards the door, and then the man was gone. Hildred was alone. Ch 15 - Addendum In the delta worldlet, a large vine had branched off the one that led to the acid rain worldlet. This second vine pressed against the edge of the space. It¡¯s roots sank into the air, instead of the sand, and twisted about, full of mana. The pressure from the vine and the mana reached a threshold, and the vine pushed through into a new worldlet. *bloop* Hot dry air touched the leaves and roots of the vine as it droped towards the ground. The ground was also hot and dry, but the roots dug in anyway. The water and mana supplied from the main body were sufficient to keep the vine healthy, and the bright light. A short distance away from the vine, a pond of clear water sat, sparkling in the bright light. The air was dry enough that, as leaves fell from the vine, they crumbled to pieces and blew away in the slight breeze.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. The first few fruits to drop spawned into jellyfish. The jellyfish drifted about for a few minutes, but visibly shrank and shriveled. As they lost the last of their water, the jellyfish flaked apart like dry bread crusts and fell to the ground. A millipede spawned and sat still, baking in the bright light. With no fallen leaves to hide under and eat, the millipede died from overheating. A few fish spawned and managed to flop into the cool pond. Over six hours, the light in the oasis worldlet dimmed to night and then returned to bright day. During the night, the creatures that spawned did not slowly bake to death, but the day returned with the heat, and the unlucky creatures died. Ch 17 - A Dark Burn A small snake entered the dungeon. It hesitated for a split second, then raced under the nearest fallen leaves to hide from the big flying things. The snake only got a moment of rest before a millipede crawled under the same pile of leaves. The snake reacted instinctually and zipped away from the threat and towards deeper darkness. Further in the pile of leaves, the snake tried to burrow a little into the ground. It was of a toothless species that fed mainly on worms. _ Intruder Detected. Select Automated Response:
  • Absorb
  • Banish
  • Mutate
  • Claim
  • Dominate
  • Ignore
_ _ Random Selection: ¡°Claim¡± selected _ _ Spawn Unlocked: Lesser Snake _ The snake began to absorb dungeon mana. It quickly grew to adult size, then slowly continued growing as the mana filled it. Snakes began to spawn across the dungeon, with similar success to the millipedes and the salamanders. In the acid rain worldlet, the first acid-aligned snake to spawn had gained fangs. In the underwater worldlet, an air bubble snake had a hard time navigating the underwater worldlet, with only the tip of its tail reaching into the water until it grew larger. The first people that noticed the dungeon snakes were not pleased. The largest of the snakes would eat the giant butterflies when they could catch them, and the number of water-aligned snakes did not make up for the loss in butterfly wings. A few days later, one man lost a foot to a strike from an acid-aligned snake. All the harvesters agreed that he was lucky that the acid burned through his ankle instead of traveling through his blood.
Dara felt two emotions as he walked towards the dungeon with the other harvesters. The first emotion was worry. He worried about his father who had lost his foot to some awful snake. He also worried for himself and his ability to replace his father in the harvester group. He worried about the dungeon monsters, though he was supposed to stay near the exit because he was both young and new to harvesting. The second emotion was exasperation; the walk to the dungeon was so long and so boring. The containers Dara carried were bouncing around weird and it was no fun. The path to the dungeon had been trampled by the many harvesters and there was nothing interesting to look at. Dara leaned out past the edge of the path to see the people near the front. It looked like they were turning to the right cross a short bridge made of cut tree limbs. Dara instantly left the path to take a shortcut. He wasn¡¯t afraid of splashing across a little stream, not like these older people who couldn¡¯t handle a bit of mud. The spring weather had caused most things in the forest to be damp and soggy, so he didn¡¯t make much noise or draw any attention. He regretted his shortcut as his leg sunk nearly up to his knee in some mud around the stream. The stream did not flow powerfully enough to clear it all away and expose roots or rocks that a young person, such as Dara, could scramble across. He nearly cried out but he couldn¡¯t quite manage to reverse his decision to take the shortcut; after all, he had come this far already. Looking to the column of other harvesters, he saw that he was actually getting left behind. He high stepped through the mud and tried to use trees and branches to keep his balance. He came out the other side of the stream with plenty of mud and a fair amount of moss stuck on his legs and clothes. With no time to scrape off the mud, he rushed after the other harvesters. He had to vault over a mushroom covered rotting log to get back on the path.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Dara thought the dungeon doorway was interesting and he paused to look at it before stepping through the wobbly patch of air. One of the hill lord¡¯s escort people looked up from marking a tally and saw his mud-covered legs and the splashes of mud over the rest of him. ¡°Hey now, who¡¯s this goblin pup trying to enter our dungeon?¡± The adult grinned at Dara. ¡°Are you Dara, standing in for your father?¡± Dara tried not to sound like a kid. ¡°That I am.¡± He cleared his throat. ¡°Just slipped on the bridge back there. Should I go through now?¡± The adult did not look convinced of the slipperiness of the bridge. ¡°Not yet. Take a single step through here and stop. Don¡¯t move forward or sidewards. Hand your baskets forward when asked and trade for full ones. Don¡¯t try to open them. Got it?¡± ¡°I do.¡± said Dara. ¡°Go on in. If you hear any kind of screaming or yelling, turn and come right back here.¡± The adult marked one more on the tally as Dara stepped through the doorway.
_ Spawn Unlocked: Moss _ _ Spawn Unlocked: Lesser mushroom _ A few spawn fruit, all across the dungeon, fell and popped open to reveal a small patch of moss or a single small mushroom. Over several days, the moss and mushrooms colonized the open ground and fallen leaves of every worldlet except the acid rain worldlet and the stony worldlet. The mushrooms did not do well underwater or in the oasis worldlet but grew exceptionally well in the dark worldlet. The dark worldlet mushrooms grew into the mist off the sides of the floating clumps of pebbles and the mushroom spores drifted over to grow on the clumps of pebbles that remained out of reach of the vines... The refracted rainbow light painted many mushrooms in unusual colors.
Shortly after Dara¡¯s harvester group left the dungeon, a snail crept through the entrance. The System detected the intruder and went through the process to select the response. The response was a mutation of the snail. _ Intruder Detected. Select Automated Response:
  • Absorb
  • Banish
  • Mutate
  • Claim
  • Dominate
  • Ignore
_ _ Random Selection: ¡°Mutate¡± Selected. Available Mutations:
  • Water Alignment (spray)
  • Acid Alignment
  • Low Light Vision
  • Air Bubble
_ _ Random Selection: ¡°Water Alignment (spray)¡± Selected _ The snail turned blue and swelled to the size of a grapefruit. As the snail crawled towards the green vines, its slime loosened and allowed the snail to glide across the ground. The System still detected the snail as an intruder and repeated the process to select a response. The second response was another mutation. _ Random Selection: ¡°Mutate¡± Selected. Available Mutations:
  • Water Alignment (spray)
  • Acid Alignment
  • Low Light Vision
  • Air Bubble
_ _ Random Selection: ¡°Acid Alignment¡± Selected _ The snail¡¯s body turned yellow and its shell turned a pale green. It stopped gliding across the ground and instead left a slightly smoking trail of slime that slowly ate through the fallen leaves covering the ground. The System repeated the process and got a final response from the random selection. _ Random Selection: ¡°Ignore¡± Selected _ The acid snail reached a vine and began to ascend towards the leaves. A dark burn traced the snail¡¯s path on the vines. Ch 18 - Dungen Music Next to the dungeon core, the dungeon fairy sat bolt upright. His mouth hung open slightly as he looked around at the small, green cavity inside the main dungeon vine. ¡°Some sort of plant? What?¡± He turned and got a clear look at the glowing dungeon core. ¡°Oh! Um, hello.¡± He batted at his stained clothing and ran a hand through his violet hair. ¡°Goodness, how long was I asleep?¡± He squinted at the dungeon core. ¡°Judging by the mana flow¡­ a year? Wow, that wasn¡¯t supposed to happen.¡± The fairy closed his eyes and accessed the basic System information he was allowed by default, as a dungeon fairy. ¡°Dang, only a couple months or so. Seems like you¡¯ve been doing really well on your own.¡± The fairy grimaced and looked ashamed. He stood up and sent a wave of mana from head to toe. The stains and filth vanished to reveal bright yellow clothes and sparkling silver wings. The fairy snapped his wings out wide and bowed to the dungeon core. ¡°Greetings dungeon core. I am Violet Danderpuff and I have been assigned as your dungeon fairy. I apologize for the terrible impression I must have given on my arrival due to my¡­ terrible¡­ condition. I feel¡­ terrible¡­ about it.¡± The fairy scrunched up his eyes brows and shook his head slightly as he straightened back up. ¡°Is there anything that you wish to discuss with me? Any questions or needs that you have? I hope you have not suffered terribly (damn it, stop saying ¡®terrible¡¯).¡± The fairy whispered the last part to himself. He watched the dungeon core and waited for some response. As each second crawled by, he cringed more and more due to the silence. Eventually, he coughed and tried to relax. ¡°Not much of a talker, eh? Hey that¡¯s fine by me, I¡¯m not here to criticize or judge, just to advise. And entERTAIN!¡± The fairy nearly shouted the last word as his face lit up with hope. ¡°I play music, I¡¯m pretty good, see?¡± The fairy summoned a flute to his hand. ¡°I mostly just play at friends¡¯ birthdays and things like that. I couldn¡¯t get enough money to play full time, which is why I became a dungeon fairy, but never mind, you don¡¯t want to hear my life story; you want to hear music, yeah?¡± The fairy looked intently at the dungeon core, fiercely hoping for the slightest permission. Out on the vine, the acid snail burned off a small offshoot vine and the dungeon core drew more heavily on its mana for a split second. The mana draw caused the core to briefly flash. ¡°Excellent! Aw man, this is gonna be great! Here, everyone likes this one.¡± The fairy began to play the flute. As a magical creature playing a magical instrument, the fairy imbued the music with a small amount of mana. The mana and the music sank into the vine body. The mana of the dungeon core vine carried the music all over the dungeon. The fairy played music for hours and hours. He took breaks to sleep or sometimes to tell stories about the music and the friends who had loved it. After the fairy woke up, people who visited the dungeon would sometimes hear snatches of faint music. The music stirred their souls and calmed their minds. Many people started to think that the creatures¡¯ actions were affected by the music; that they would move differently as they attacked or hunted or hid. Occasionally, the dungeon music was interrupted by a buzzing sound as the void bubble thrashed in its prison.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Hildred sat in the roundhouse and was eating hazelnuts when Hill Lord Andebert arrived. It had been a day and a half since Oz had left. Andebert walked in without announcing himself and sat facing Hildred. The hill lord was not wearing his furs or leathers, just grey wool clothing that exposed his well-muscled arms and legs. Hildred took a moment to decide if he felt more like Hilda just then but decided to remain Hildred. ¡°Greetings, hill lord.¡± Hildred nodded to Andebert. ¡°Hildred. How did Arna know about our observations of the state of the dungeon?¡± Andebert asked this with a stony expression. Hildred swallowed nervously. ¡°I thought she might have worked for you, like Leta and me.¡± Andebert shook his head. ¡°She did not.¡± Hildred shrugged. ¡°Perhaps, She heard from some of the harvesters.¡± Hildred felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. What would the hill lord do if Hildred didn¡¯t know anything useful? Andebert¡¯s expression softened a little. ¡°I¡¯m not asking you to speculate, Hildred. I want you to look through your memories and tell me anything you overheard that could help my investigation.¡± Hildred flushed a bit in relief and embarrassment. ¡°Oh, of course. Let me think.¡± Hildred closed his eyes. It had only been a few days, so Hildred could clearly picture every moment with Arna and Baggi. Most interactions had been practical and brief. Arna hadn¡¯t had a talkative personality. After a minute of searching memories, Hilda had an answer for the hill lord. ¡°Two things. Arna said to Baggi, ¡®He said there are two portals on the first floor, left and right.¡¯ And inside the dungeon, Baggi said ¡®This must be the side the monsters left to go fight something on the other side.¡¯ Hildred opened his eyes and saw that the hill lord looked intrigued. ¡°Do you remember the words exactly? Can you picture their expressions while they said these things?¡± Hildred raised his eyebrows then stopped when the scaring made his expression uneven. ¡°Yes. I can.¡± Andebert have a brief smile and a nod. ¡°I apologize, I got distracted. The people who sent the four of you to die have sent many others to die as well, mostly travelers with moderate ability like you and Leta. You and Leta worked for me for only a short time, but your answer just now will allow me to finally identify their leader.¡± Andebert took a deep breath. ¡°I release you from your obligations to me. This has happened in my domain, and I bear the responsibility to avenge the deaths of those who should be under my protection, including Leta¡¯s death.¡± Hildred looked away and grasped Leta¡¯s vial of ash, which hung around his neck. ¡°Thank you, hill lord.¡± ¡°Now, what will you do next? What plans do you have?¡± Andebert leaned back and placed his hands on the ground behind him. Hildred sighed and shook his head. ¡°No plans. I thought I might head west to find the coast, but there is nothing drawing me anywhere.¡± ¡°You remind me of someone I know from my time training with the adventurer society.¡± Andebert smiled with a hint of mischief. ¡°I think you should study magic under a certain old wizard.¡± Ch 19 - Silent Movement Oz placed his feet and spun his new sling above his head. With a loud snap, he released and shot a stone orb at a branch hanging over the path. He missed. Unsurprised, Oz reached into a bag on his waist and pulled out a flint orb to load into the sling. The sling was newly made and the pouch in the middle was made of freshly tanned blue frog leather. The blue leather did not retain any magical properties, but it was bright blue and very striking. Oz walked a bit further down the path and shot at the next obvious target: a rock sticking out of the ground. The flint orb hit the rock after glancing off the ground in front of it. Oz reached into the bag but found it empty. Oz unshouldered his pack and refilled the bag then reloaded the sling again. All the orbs in Oz¡¯s pack were harvested from the dungeon. The glass and lead orbs had great utility as they could be melted or traded, but the people around the hill found the stone and flint orbs to have very little use aside from arrow heads or sling ammunition. According to Andebert, somewhere along this path is where Arna had directed Hilda and Leta to meet up with her and Baggi before they went to the dungeon. Andebert had tasked Oz with finding and getting as much information as possible about the secret group to which Arna and Baggi belonged. It was probably the case that the secret group was responsible for the death of many travelers and would-be adventurers from the areas around the hill. Taking from a dungeon without permission was not exactly something that a hill lord had the right to punish, but a hill lord was plainly responsible for preventing the endangerment and exploitation of travelers. Hilda¡¯s experience in the dungeon¡ªbeing unprepared and incompletely trained for the danger¡ªproved that the secret group could not be allowed to continue. Oz wandered slowly down the path for most of a day but didn¡¯t encounter a single person. He made significant progress on the first level of the Sling skill before he completely ran out of stone, so the day was not a complete waste. As the sun reached the horizon, Oz found a set of roundhouses tucked away off the side of the path. A stream ran between the roundhouses and a stony hill. Oz called out to alert anyone inside the roundhouses of a visitor. As there were no lights and no response to his call, Oz determined the houses were empty and possibly abandoned. He picked the least filthy roundhouse and wrapped himself in his wool blanket to sleep. Oz woke in the middle of the night and heard voices speaking. He shot to full consciousness when he heard the name ¡°Arna¡±. Oz quietly stood up and walked to the doorway in time to hear: ¡°They must have all died.¡± Oz leaned out of the doorway and spoke clearly. ¡°Who died?¡± Two dark outlines spun towards Oz¡¯s voice. Oz heard one pair of feet scuff the ground. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± the voices sounded surprised and angry. Oz hesitated in responding. The scuff of feet was odd, nearly every adult he had ever met had some levels in the Silent Movement skill. ¡°I am Oz. I am wandering for a few days as I practice my skills. Who died?¡±Stolen story; please report. One outline circled silently to the Oz¡¯s left. Oz stepped fully out of the doorway to keep the silent outline in sight. Do they fear every stranger in the darkness? Oz wondered. The one who did not move must be the one without Silent Movement. ¡°Why should I tell you anything?¡± The voice from Oz¡¯s left was gruff and taut. It was probably a man¡¯s voice. Oz have a small but audible sigh. ¡°By the blight, do as you wish. Since you woke me up, can you tell me where the trader nomads pass by? I understand it is not far from here but I do not know where.¡± The outline in front of Oz continued to hold still and stay silent. The voice to his left spoke with exaggerated condescension. ¡°Aw, did your blessed cousin give you a toy and you can¡¯t wait to trade it? Can¡¯t wait till they pass through the hill fort?¡± Real anger flared up in Oz at the provocation. ¡°Rot your mana! I don¡¯t take anything from that blight eared fake and I¡¯ll burn before trading bread I didn¡¯t take from the peaking dungeon myself.¡± Oz was so flustered from his anger that he got some swears mixed up. The left voice chuckled. ¡°Calm, friend. You¡¯ll burn my bones with that fire.¡± The outline on the left took a step towards Oz. ¡°Tell me, are you happy with the hill lord?¡± Oz took a calming breath to help pull his thoughts in line. He knew what the man probably meant by the question, but Oz didn¡¯t think it would be very convincing to start spouting rhetoric against the hill lords to two strangers in the middle of the night. He decided to misinterpret the question. ¡°I had a higher skill with the spear than Andy had with a bow when they picked him to go off and train with the society.¡± Oz¡¯s opinion on Andy had changed drastically from before finding the dungeon, but it was easy to pull on his old resentment. ¡°I trained hard while he was away but he still came back stronger than a horde of goblins. He came back with all those items and skills I can¡¯t even name. It¡¯s not fair. And-and it¡¯s suspicious!¡± Oz noticed he was waving his arms around but didn¡¯t decide to stop. ¡°How could anyone grow that burning fast? Why do only adventurers give these fae gifts to themselves? Andy could not have earned this strength, someone gave it to him.¡± Oz folded his arms and caught his breath from ranting. The as-yet silent person in front of Oz spoke. They spoke in a high sing-song voice. ¡°How can you say this after you have been so helpful to him in the dungeon?¡± Oz managed to sound sullen. ¡°I wasn¡¯t being burning helpful. I found the dungeon but kept it secret for a few days so I could harvest from it. Andy threatened to tie me up because of that. A hill lord won¡¯t punish people, but he¡¯s basically head of the family now so he can do whatever he likes to punish me. I had to work.¡± Oz took a few breaths in the following silence. The two figures seemed to be looking straight at each other. Oz tilted his head as a question occurred to him. ¡°How did you know I¡¯ve been in the dungeon so much?¡± The two figures turned and walked away from Oz. The left one spoke ¡°We have things to do elsewhere. The traders should pass right by these roundhouses tomorrow.¡± The figures disappeared into the darkness, though the one with noisy footsteps disappeared less quickly. Ch 20 - Towering Vine The trader nomads passed by at noon the next day. Oz spent the morning practicing the sling and spearing a few fish from the stream to cook and eat. The traders walked up the path alongside a column of colorful covered wagons. The traders were not especially interested in buying Oz¡¯s flint orbs, but they traded a small trinket for them as a curiosity. When Oz tried to subtly mention trading dungeon creature harvests, one trader woman said a strange thing: ¡°No room for spider silk. Too much spider silk. I tell him-¡° Then the woman suddenly stopped speaking. She momentarily looked distressed, but quickly continued. ¡°I tell you there are too many spiders. Too many spiders all over. Everyone trade spider silk.¡± Then she walked stiffly away and vanished among the other trader nomads. Oz wasn¡¯t sure how to interpret her actions. After the traders had moved on, Oz speared another fish from the stream to eat. He passed a mostly idle afternoon at the roundhouses, but with no one to talk to and nothing to do, he decided that his investigations had stalled. The two people from last night would be suspicious if he remained another night to try and talk to them again. He walked back home, arriving late in the night. In the morning, he gave his new trinket to one of his little cousins.
The dungeon core mind had begun life with a set of dungeon core instincts and a set of plant instincts. These instincts formed the foundation for the higher reasoning and memory systems of the dungeon mind, but in this particular dungeon the mind had not formed when the dungeon core was created. The ¡®space¡¯ for the dungeon core mind had been left empty. As the dungeon core unlocked creature spawns and absorbed creatures, dense information bundles about the creatures flowed into the dungeon core¡¯s mind. This information defined the physical makeup of creature spawn and provided the instincts to allow the creatures to function. When a creature spawned, the creature instincts were copied out of the dungeon mind and overlayed with a set of instincts that compelled obedience to dungeon core commands and stopped dungeon creatures from trying to leave the dungeon. In the Terse Elements dungeon core mind, these bundles of information drifted around the mostly empty space. Sensory information from inputs such as the eye vine mutation and the fairy¡¯s music seeped into the mind space and fell like rain. The drifting information bundles absorbed some of the sensory information, each according to its nature. The remaining sensory data fell down and inundated the foundational instincts of plant and dungeon core. The bundle of butterfly information flapped slowly near the ¡°ground¡± in the dungeon core mind space. It had caught onto one part of the plant instincts and had been caught by an aspect of the dungeon instincts. The butterfly bundle formed a permanent connection between the two sets of instincts, a connection that caused the dungeon vine to flower.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. As butterfly numbers increased all over the dungeon, the visual data seeping into the mind space contained more and more instances of butterflies and butterfly movement. The bundle of frog information soaked up all the butterfly visual data it could reach. Every flap of bright colored wings fed into the frog instincts for catching prey. The frog instincts stimulated the rest of the bundle to turn and scan for more prey. The visual data was too fleeting and could not be tracked like proper food. The frog bundle drifted around the mind space, trying to feed its instinctual hunger. A stream of particularly dense visual data pushed the frog bundle towards the ¡°ground¡±. As it scanned for food, it saw the butterfly bundle. Here was prey that held still long enough for the frog instincts to churn through the calculations for a tongue strike. The instincts signaled the physical frog information, and a line of information shot from the frog bundle. The line struck and adhered to the butterfly bundle. In many ways, the frog bundle was the quintessential frog. Every frog in the dungeon was constructed from the information in the frog bundle and shared it¡¯s instincts. The frog bundle, however, lacked a physical form and so was unable to exert any force on either the butterfly bundle or the ¡°tongue¡± that connected the two bundles. The frog instincts had no concept of this situation and got stuck in a loop, trying to move on to the next step of swallowing and eating the food. The jellyfish information bundle drifted past. A short time later, the snake information bundle spotted the mostly stationary frog bundles. The snake bundle slithered across the ground and up the frog tongue. It clamped down on the frog and looped its information around the frog as though it had real coils, squeezing hard. The frog instincts flipped back and forth between trying to eat and trying to escape. The three entangled information bundles continued to drift in the space but were constrained by their tether to the plant and dungeon core instincts. One other information bundle moved towards the butterfly-frog-snake conglomeration. The mushroom bundle pushed thin tendrils along the ground in all directions. The tendrils crept over the plant and core instincts and pierced into cracks in all the information bundles near the ground. The moss information bundle and the apricot tree bundle lay on the ground due to their nature as plants. As the mushroom tendrils reached further across and into the plant and dungeon core instincts, tiny bits of mana began to flow across the network, in and out of the information bundles. The tendrils between the plant instincts and the apricot tree bundle became swollen with traffic. Music from the dungeon fairy continuously sent small waves of mana into the dungeon core vine¡¯s mana system, and those waves caused even smaller waves in the dungeon core mind space. The mushroom network fluctuated in response to the music and a small spike of mana jumped from the apricot tree to the foundational plant instincts. Out in the physical dungeon, a new vine grew straight up into the air above the main vine body. _ Natural Evolution: ¡°Towering Vine¡± Unlocked _ The jellyfish information bundle bumped into the millipede bundle. They both continued drifting through the mostly empty mind of the dungeon core. Ch 21 - The Spear Oz clutched a slightly squirming bag of blue dungeon beetles and walked up to Lou, the nomad trader. The man¡¯s name wasn¡¯t actually ¡®Lou¡¯, but Oz couldn¡¯t quite make the right sounds to match the nomad accent. He had apologized several times for his failure, but Lou asked him ¡°to apologize with wealth instead of words.¡± Oz had traded a bundle of dungeon harvests to Lou once every five days or so for a nearly a month. Oz received bits of metal in return. The nomad had called the metal, ¡°coins¡± and explained that the traders valued coins highly. Lou was happy enough to take some of the coins back in exchange for trinkets such as pretty shells from the coast. The shells had proven very popular with Oz¡¯s little cousins, which made him popular, which was nice. Oz had a growing pile of coins that he hoped to someday trade for a particular spear that Lou had shown him. Lou turned to Oz and bowed. Oz nodded at him and began to speak, but Lou interrupted. ¡°Ah my great customer, Oz. Today I must say farewell and refuse trade. My journey leads me away to new lands and my space on these wagons is already spoken for.¡± Oz was startled and dismayed. ¡°Oh teeth! You- I mean, I am sorry to hear you are leaving. Are you all leaving?¡± Oz glanced around uncertainly. Lou grinned. ¡°You are surprised that I am leaving, yet you call us ¡®nomad traders¡¯. What is a ¡®nomad¡¯ but someone who is always on their way to somewhere else? To your question, no, we are not all leaving. That would be a major thing and probably go very poorly. A few of us feel the need to move on and so we will take a few wagons with us when we go. Others will no doubt feel the need to bring their own wagons and fill our places.¡± The sound of scuffing feet distracted Oz, but he tried to be polite and not show it. ¡°Thank you for that explanation, Lou. Is there a chance that you traded that spear I like to one of these other traders?¡± Oz didn¡¯t expect this to be the case, but the disappointment about missing out on the spear was hitting him hard. ¡°I did not trade it to another nomad, no, but I did trade it to another customer.¡± Lou bowed again to Oz. ¡°Farewell customer Oz.¡± He turned and walked away. ¡°Wait! Who-¡° Oz half shouted in a panic. ¡°He traded the spear to me.¡± A high, sing-song voice spoke from behind Oz. The scuffing footsteps had stopped. Oz spun around to see an older man in loose robes wielding the spear as a walking stick. The man¡¯s robes were made of multiple colors and had patches of dungeon butterfly wing sewn onto the hem. The man had white hair, lightly tan skin, and sharp grey eyes. The man gave Oz a small nod. ¡°Greetings, Oz. I wish to discuss the contents of that bag. Walk with me if you wish to have this spear.¡± The old man turned and strode down the path, scuffing his feet slightly with each step. Oz felt entirely off balance and half considered throwing the bag of beetles at the old man in anger and desperation. Instead, he ran to catch up with the old man. ¡°Wait! Who are you?¡± He asked, nearly panicking. ¡°We met around a month back. You rudely butted into a private conversation in the middle of the night.¡± The man said. Oz¡¯s memories connected the man¡¯s voice and scuffing footsteps to the mostly-silent person from the night at the roundhouses. ¡°Oh, when you were-¡° Oz was cut off by the man striking the spear shaft against Oz¡¯s shin. ¡°Ow! Goblin teeth and bones, what was that for?¡± Oz stumbled and nearly fell to the ground. His faced flushed with anger and confusion. The old man kept walking. ¡°You will stop trading directly with the nomads. You will bring your harvests to my associate and we will conduct the trades. You will be rewarded according to your contributions. Agree to this and I will give you the spear. Refuse and I will destroy the spear.¡± The old man spoke evenly. Oz attempted to interrupt a couple times but the old man¡¯s voice just rolled over his objections. When the man stopped speaking, Oz managed to voice his biggest question.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Why should I blighting do that? Another spear will show up and I can trade for it with as many burning harvests as I want.¡± Oz spoke with anger and defiance, but he wasn¡¯t thinking his arguments through clearly. Also, he didn¡¯t walk away because he wanted the spear. The old man smirked. ¡°Lou is gone, who will you trade with?¡± Oz noticed with irritation that the old man had pronounced Lou¡¯s name correctly. ¡°I¡¯ll just trade with one of the other nomads.¡± Oz said. He didn¡¯t see anything wrong with that assumption, but the old man¡¯s growing smirk made Oz want to punch his face in. ¡°You were lucky that Lou was so powerful and respected by this group. Not every nomad is willing to trade with anyone for anything from anywhere.¡± The old man turned off the path and Oz followed. ¡°Every person joining or leaving a nomad trading caravan has the potential to change the attitudes of the entire caravan. You might come back in a few days and be threatened as a brigand, secretly reported to the hill lord, or gifted with an official trading contract.¡± The old man rolled his eyes and made a scoffing sound. ¡°Their foolish ways make them difficult to predict.¡± Oz made to object to this arrogance, but the old man spoke over him again. ¡°I and my company know how to approach and identify willing traders. You do not. It is as simple as that.¡± The old man stopped walking in a small clearing between three trees. Oz felt mostly frustrated at the old man, but the reasonable part of his mind pointed out that Oz really was ignorant of the traders; he hadn¡¯t even put effort into remembering the different kinds of ¡®coin¡¯. Oz glared at the old man for a few breaths while Oz¡¯s reasonable side talked him into agreeing. Oz¡¯s greedy side urged him to ask for more. ¡°And what else?¡± Oz asked. The old man turned to look at Oz with a raised eyebrow. Oz clarified. ¡°After I have the spear, I don¡¯t want to keep harvesting from the dungeon just to build a hill of coin, and I don¡¯t think you came out here just to save me from the nomads. What else do you want?¡± The old man smiled and nodded, but his eyes held a challenge for Oz. ¡°Perhaps, on occasion, I could send someone from my company with you into the dungeon to harvest beyond the first floor.¡± Oz put a skeptical expression on his face. ¡°I¡¯ve only been on three of the floors, and only two of those had ground to rotting walk on. There are more creatures in the dungeon that could be harvested, yes, but a person can only carry so much bread and beer at a time. The hill lord would notice a group large enough to harvest multiple floors.¡± ¡°We suspect there are greater treasures on the deeper floors of the dungeon.¡± The old man said. ¡°The badge on the doorway suggests as much. A small group could delve deep and retrieve just the treasures.¡± Oz thought about that explanation for half a minute. Hilda¡¯s group had died looking for the badge treasure. Only two floors had been properly mapped, so no one even knew how deep the dungeon went. Oz was not convinced this idea had much chance of success, but it was a clear opportunity to progress his investigation. Was there a reason he could use as an excuse to accept but not be pressured into throwing his life away? He looked at the spear, still in the old man¡¯s hand. Experience for levels and skills was valuable and would be more abundant in the dungeon. ¡°I will agree so long as it is understood I won¡¯t throw my peaking life away. I¡¯ll turn back if I think we can¡¯t handle a floor.¡± Oz said firmly. ¡°I have no objection to prudence.¡± The old man held out the spear. ¡°I paid Lou to add something extra to this spear. Just a small enchantment to make the blade cut through most physical material. It should be quite useful in slaying dungeon monsters.¡± Oz blinked in surprise and took the spear. ¡°Burn my bones, thank you!¡± He had wanted the spear because it was well made and beautiful¡ªhe had no expectations of having a magical weapon. The old man nodded and began to walk away. ¡°Bring your next batch of harvests to the roundhouses where we met and my associate will arrange a group to delve the dungeon.¡± Ch 22 - Ravens Paradise
A young raven hopped through the dungeon doorway. It flapped and cawed in surprise. Its black eyes sparkled as it cocked its head to survey the surroundings. The humans had harvested the dungeon the day before, so the number of creatures was greatly reduced. Several butterflies flapped lazily between flowers, and a few millipedes crawled over the leaf-covered ground. The young raven took a few steps back and forth as it surveyed. It cawed again and hopped back through the doorway. A moment later, it hopped back into the dungeon. It cawed and hopped out. It hopped back in. The raven spent a minute hopping in and out of the dungeon. The System stuttered a bit as it prompted the dungeon core for a response each time the raven re-entered the dungeon. The raven finally took a final hop out of the dungeon. A few more creatures spawned in the main worldlet. Flute music sounded faintly across the worldlets. With a chorus of throaty caws, several other young ravens followed the first raven into the dungeon. The new ravens reacted the same as the first and hopped in and out of the dungeon for a minute. The first raven remained in the dungeon however, so the System had time to prompt for a select a response. _ Higher Life Intruder Detected. Select Automated Response: - Attack - Claim (Unlikely) - Dominate (Unlikely) - Ignore _ _ Random Selection. ¡°Claim¡± Selected. Claim Failed _ _ Random Selection. ¡°Ignore¡± Selected. _ The rowdy ravens began to explore the main worldlet. They flew around and over the large vines. A pair landed on a large flower and investigated it with their beaks. They ripped one of the petals off and let it drop to the ground. One raven stuck its head into the flower and came up brightly dusted with pollen. The other ravens cawed loudly at the yellow headed fool. A larger raven dropped to the worldlet floor and pecked at a millipede as it emerged from under some leaves. The millipede turned to bite at the raven, but the raven easily hopped out of reach. A second raven joined in the assault on the millipede, snapping at the back of the millipede¡¯s head before flapping a safe distance away. The millipede thrashed back and forth between the two attackers until the damage overwhelmed it and it died. The two crows pecked at it a bit more to see if it was truly dead, then they began to pry off the carapace of the dungeon creature. The other ravens joined in and tore into the millipede. The interior was not exactly their favorite food, but that didn¡¯t stop them from cleaning out every edible piece. A couple of the ravens tried to catch the large butterflies, but that turned out to be more difficult than expected. They quickly bored of that and flew to the top of the towering vine above the main vine body. This height gave them an excellent vantage to see a snake strike from a shadow and catch one of the ravens still on the ground. The snake¡¯s jaw engulfed the raven¡¯s head and upper body, leaving the wings to flap frantically for a few seconds before the abnormally large snake crushed the raven¡¯s bones. The two ravens at the top of the worldlet began shrieking it alarm. All the other ravens took to the air in response. They circled overhead a few times, cawing back and forth as they identified the enemy. Snake, they communicated. Large. Killed one of us.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. The snake pulled slowly back into the shadow, dragging the raven corpse along the ground. The other ravens cawed in anger. Kill! They yelled to each other. Their anger was not quite strong enough to overcome their fear and caution of the great snake. They circled a few more times. One raven landed on the vine above the snake and loudly cawed its displeasure of the creature. The ravens built themselves up for a few more passes before one was angry enough to attack the snake. The raven flew down to the top of the snake¡¯s head and stabbed at one of the eyes. The snake thrashed to defend itself and the raven had to flap hard to keep from being crushed under the snake. This additional attack on one of their peers was the tipping point for the small flock. They all flew down and struck at the snake¡¯s eyes and mouth. If the snake had been in a better location or had not had a dead raven stuck in its mouth, it might have fought off the flock or escaped. With its mouth full, the snake could not move as quickly as it normally could, and moving forward was hampered by the wings and feathers of the dead bird. The flock grew more and more bold in its attacks as the snake¡¯s eyes burst and leaked blood. Eventually, the snake was dead and the ravens set to eating every soft part they could reach with beak or claw. The snake was far too large for the small flock (now one smaller) to consume, and even before the ravens had eaten their fill, they were interrupted by the arrival of several large, featherless bipeds who entered the dungeon. The raven flock flew up to roost on the towering vine above everything so they could watch these bipeds from safety. The featherless bipeds milled about at the entrance for a minute before the dungeon creatures rushed them. The bipeds slaughtered the small number of creatures without apparent difficulty. The ravens cawed softly to each other. They noticed that one of the bipeds had a big stick and killed creatures better than the other bipeds. The ravens also noticed that the bipeds weren¡¯t eating the carcasses and instead just walked away from them. How could they be so careless and just leave good food lying around? Not to worry, the ravens would gladly take over devouring carrion left behind by such foolish creatures. The flock¡¯s attention was pulled from the attractive food by a startled squawk. One of the ravens had been watching the bipeds, but the bipeds had disappeared! The raven flew down to where the bipeds had been a moment before. It investigated by hopping around on a large vine and marching across the ground, looking for some bolt hole or other hiding place. The raven cawed out its findings and confusion to the other ravens, then that raven also disappeared. The other ravens cawed out their own startlement and flew down to investigate. The missing raven reappeared, cawing in triumph. It hopped back and forth a few times to show that this was a portal just like the one that brought the flock into this place. The ravens, one by one, hopped through into the delta worldlet. The ravens were delighted at the sandy area with running water. Several began washing their beaks and preening gore from their feathers. The sound of the bipeds fighting more creatures gradually grew more distant, so several ravens flew up into a convenient apricot tree to watch. The flock felt happy at the sight of more carcasses left behind by the bipeds. With plenty of water and abundant carrion, this new place was shaping up to be a raven¡¯s paradise. Ch 23 - Delvers Oz stumbled into the delta worldlet from the portal to the acid rain worldlet. He held his hands firmly over his eyes, but the rest of his face showed a pained grimace. His voice held pain and anger. ¡°Dragon teeth and burning bones! Rotting goblin ears! Peaking rotten goblin burning bones!¡± The other people in his group stumbled back out of the portal behind him. They rubbed their eyes and wiped rain from their faces. After a few moments, one of the others spoke to Oz. ¡°You should not have kept your eyes open, Oz. We can follow the vine well enough to find another portal with eyes closed.¡± Oz whirled towards the voice, squinting his eyes in pain. ¡°Eyes closed?¡± He yelled in disbelief. ¡°Eyes rotting closed? With burning dungeon creatures swarming us in every room? Go climb a mountain, Sif.¡± Sif, the one who had spoken, made an exasperated sound. ¡°It¡¯s just been a handful of these fae-blighted critters. We can probably just stomp our way through the whole burning place.¡± Oz glared at Sif for a moment, then turned and walked away. The others looked back and forth between themselves, worried that Oz was leaving. Oz walked up to a monster corpse and speared it through the middle. He returned to the group with a snake dangling from the end of his spear. ¡°You see this, Sif?¡± Oz said. ¡°This is a snake. Scales, it¡¯s a big snake.¡± Oz waved the snake slowly around so everyone had to look at the creature. ¡°The first week these green ghosts showed up in the dungeon, a harvester lost a foot.¡± One of the others, (Sif¡¯s twin sister, Sig) furrowed her brows in confusion. ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like a venomous variety.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t venom.¡± Oz audibly struggled not to yell. ¡°It was an acid snake. Bit him and burned off his foot at the rotting ankle.¡± Oz snapped his spear to his shoulder to throw the snake corpse off behind him. He heard a few caws from the ravens that had followed around the dungeon floors. Oz continued, ¡°I¡¯m not going back in there until we have¡­¡± Oz floundered for a moment, trying to think of something. ¡°Dark glass to protect our burning eyes. If we can¡¯t see, we could get separated or overwhelmed. We won¡¯t find any treasure on the mountain if we¡¯re dead.¡± Oz paraphrased an old saying about adventurers looking for dragon hoards. The fourth member of the group, Tarka, took a breath and let it out. ¡°He¡¯s right.¡± The voice was from the same person that Oz had spoken to at the roundhouses¡ªthe one other than the old man who had bought the spear. The man wore black and grey clothing and wielded a bronze sword. Tarka spoke again, ¡°Even with a blind-fighting skill, you have to have some familiarity with the area or the enemy. It¡¯s all right, a little delay for some dark glass won¡¯t leave us starving.¡± Oz nodded at Tarka in gratitude. The man was not tall; thin with short, greying hair. He kept his beard trimmed down to stubble which showed off his strong jaw and lean face. Tarka¡¯s appearance was a strong contrast to the twins. They had large soft looking faces with light brown hair and dark brown eyes. They dressed in similar outfits of creamy tan and wielded axes.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°But¡± Tarka said, disappointing Oz, ¡°I think we must at least take a short look through the other portal.¡± Tarka pointed off to the side where a second large vine ended in midair¡ªa sure sign of a portal in this dungeon. Sig and Sif gave sounds of assent and started walking. Oz hesitated, unsure about the wisdom of resisting, then sighed and followed after the others. Through the other portal, they found the oasis worldlet. The light in that worldlet was dim, as though dusk had arrived. Oz looked around at the mostly empty worldlet and tasted the dry air. The large vine stretched down the sand and along one edge of the pond. The pond was surrounded by moss and rippled slightly from the small breeze. Dim light reflected off the pond. Sif stepped forward. ¡°This is nice. I wonder if there are fish in that pond.¡± Oz¡¯s eyes were pulled away from the pond by motion in the air. ¡°Above!¡± He shouted and lifted his spear into a higher guard. A small cloud of butterflies flapped lazily above the group. As the others looked up, multiple butterflies released a spray of acid down on them. Tarka yelled in surprise and ran back through the portal. Oz was all for leaving, but he was caught off guard by Tarka abandoning the group so suddenly. He yelled out to Sig and Sif who hadn¡¯t noticed the older man¡¯s retreat. ¡°Back out the portal! Run!¡± Oz swept his spear sideways to try and fan the acid away from himself, but Sig and Sif were further in and had no choice but to run through the spray as it fell. Sif yelled in pain but the twins made it through the portal. Oz followed immediately behind. The spirit of exploration had abandoned the party, it seemed. Tarka hiked back through the delta worldlet without discussion. Sif and Sig wiped acid from their skin and rinsed in the water on the ground. Sif had been injured on his neck by the acid spray and was bleeding. Oz looked at Sif¡¯s injury, but he didn¡¯t have much knowledge of wound treatment. The man would scar, but that was a much better result for a neck wound than it could have been. Oz tried discussing preparations the group could make for the next delve into the dungeon, but the twins weren¡¯t very interested. Outside the dungeon, Oz caught up to Tarka and forced the man to discuss necessary preparations for the next dungeon delve. Tarka was a bit surprised that Oz wanted to discuss it further than ¡°get dark glass¡±, but he was open to the idea of a few simple supplies and an hour of training for the group. Tarka made it clear that the other ¡®delvers¡¯ wouldn¡¯t tolerate long or formal training. Oz decided that he had gotten all he would get from the conversation and went home. Ch 24 - Underworld The ravens explored multiple worldlets in the dungeon. The sauna worldlet and the acid rain worldlet were natural barriers that the ravens were not motivated to cross, so they stuck primarily to the main worldlet and the delta worldlet. One or two ravens would enter the dark and oasis worldlets for a bit of amusement. A certain dungeon creature was not amused by the presence of the ravens. A snake, smaller than average for dungeon snake spawn, had witnessed the ravens kill the snake that tried to eat a raven. The witness snake had retreated to its burrow. When the dungeon command came to attack the Oz¡¯s group, the snake resisted the command. It burrowed further into the ground, trying to get away from the ravens and the dungeon command that would surely lead to the death of the snake. The snake burrowed past a main root of the dungeon vine and was struck by a clear and powerful echo of the dungeon music. The snake lay in the burrow, hypnotized, until after Oz¡¯s group left. The snake no longer felt the push from the dungeon¡¯s command, so it turned around and peeked out at the surface. When it heard the ravens cawing, the snake turn back around and continued digging deeper. The snake did not have digging appendages, so it used its nose like a shovel. It pushed the dirt behind it by shoving with its scaly body. Since the dirt near the root was somewhat easier to dig and the dungeon music was very clear, the snake burrowed in a sort of spiral down to the bottom of the worldlet. The snake found that it could dig no further, so it coiled tightly around the lowest tip of the dungeon vine root. The dungeon music calmed the snake. When the next dungeon command came, to attack a group of harvesters, the snake ignored it. It was content to rest at the bottom of the world, listening to music in the dark. The snake occasionally strained to push further down and closer to the root. bloop A new worldlet formed at the bottom of the main worldlet. The dungeon vine mana in the roots had interacted with the dungeon music and the mana of the snake and reached a threshold to claim a space from the void. The snake knew immediately that it¡¯s environment had changed. The air was warmer and more moist. The snake felt packed earth under its scales and felt space around it like a tunnel. The snake slowly uncoiled and sensed its surroundings. It smelled water from down the tunnel. The snake slid down the tunnel, still content. The dungeon music filled the entire dungeon underworld.
Inside the dungeon mind, the dungeon instincts and the plant instincts contested each other¡¯s control over the dungeon mana. The dungeon instincts had felt the new worldlet form and sent mana to reinforce the connection. This mana caused the roots of the vine to grow rapidly in the underworld worldlet. The plant instincts objected to growing roots more deeply¡ªthese instincts came from a creeping vine which rooted often but did not root deeply. The plant instincts pulled mana out of the too-deep roots along with extra water and nutrients. The dungeon instincts sent mana to stimulate dungeon creature spawns, but the plant instincts took that away as there were no fruits in the underworld.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. As the instincts struggled, the System detected a specific pattern of mana in the highly contested flows in the vine roots. _ Spell Unlocked: ¡°Earthen Wall¡± _ _ New Spawn Mutation Available: ¡°Earth Alignment (defend)¡± _ As the new mutation was added to the dungeon instincts, a shock of mana flowed across the mushroom network inside the dungeon mind. The mana shock ricocheted off several of the information bundles and into the plant instincts. A dormant section of the plant instincts activated. In the underworld worldlet, tubers began to grow along the dungeon vine roots. The largest tuber sagged and broke free of the roots. It hit the tunnel floor and split open to spawn a spider. The spider immediately followed its instincts and walked until it hit a wall of the tunnel. It crawled up the wall and attempted to spin a web. The second dropped tuber spawned a jellyfish. Already sightless, the jellyfish drifted through the tunnel, bouncing off the roof and walls. A millipede spawned next and crawled through the tunnel in search of food. The vine roots grew slowly along the underworld tunnels, but the worldlet gradually filled with dungeon spawn. The moss and lesser vines failed to grow in the absolute darkness of the tunnels, so they typically wilted and were trampled by the tunnel snake. Millipedes and bats adapted to the tunnels well enough that the tunnel snake had to exercise its cunning to hunt them. Mushrooms spread well in the dark, and a few fish managed to flop down the tunnel to a small pool. The tunnel snake felt great contentment as it slid through the tunnels, hunting food and listening to the dungeon music.
In the underwater worldlet, the bats squeaked to each other in confusion. A new kind of bat had spawned from the dungeon vine fruit. The large bat with glowing white eyes swam in loops around the new bat. This bat was solid grey and appeared to be made of stone. It weighed down the dungeon vine it hung from, so it clearly wasn¡¯t going to succeed in swimming or flying. It could try to drink from the flowers, but if it slipped, the new bat would sink out of sight. The bat leader thought it would be a shame to lose any bat since bats had saved the dungeon from the void bubble. The bat leader dove into the air bubble and caught the vine. It squeaked loudly at the new bat. The new bat squeaked back quietly. The large, white-eyed bat reached out with one blade claw and poked the new bat. Tink. The blade lightly bounced off the new bat¡¯s skin. Unfortunately, the new bat¡¯s claws ripped through the bit of vine it clung too and the bat plunged into the water. The bat leader dove quickly after the new bat and snagged it which caused the bat leader to struggle mightily not to sink. The new bat was heavy. The bat leader strained to gain any speed and squeaked out a call for assistance. Several smaller bats swam over and latched on to the new bat or the bat leader. As one, they swam slowly towards the portal into the sauna worldlet. With a squeaky cheer, the water bats got the new bat onto the dungeon vine. The new bat squeaked a thanks and crawled along the vine and through the portal. Ch 25 - Easy Walk Oz, Tarka, and three other delvers entered the dungeon. Sif and Sig were joined by a young man with black hair and pale, freckled skin whose name was Kian. They all wore cloaks and held large, flat shields. They waited at the entrance while the dungeon decided if it would attack. After a couple of minutes, Tarka let out a derisive laugh. ¡°All this extra preparation and it¡¯s not even going to attack. What a waste.¡± He said. The others grumbled a bit also. Kian dropped his shield on the ground and pulled off his bow. Over the past couple of weeks, Oz had learned it was futile to respond directly to criticism from Tarka. Oz treated himself to a mental sigh before turning around and addressing the group. ¡°The dungeon creatures will act the same as natural creatures now. We don¡¯t know if the dungeon will change its mind later, forcing us to fight our way out. Kian, strap your shield to your back if you move with your bow out.¡± Oz turned back away from the group. Kian gave a shrug and slipped his shield onto his back, with a longer strap across his chest. The group walked cautiously through the main worldlet and the delta worldlet without incident. The four with shields out held those shields high as they stepped into the Oasis worldlet. The light in the worldlet was transitioning between ¡®night¡¯ and ¡®day¡¯, and was dimly lit. The many butterflies flapped aimlessly through the air or perched on vine flowers. Sig unfolded some large bags as Sif pulled out a fishing net. They had practiced this a few times to avoid the need for a discussion while being attacked by dungeon creatures. Oz moved ahead of the group and stabbed his spear at a bright green butterfly. The butterfly died quickly but let out a small puff of acid. Oz stepped backwards and held out his spear so Kian could get a clear look at the acid aligned butterfly. Kian hadn¡¯t been in the dungeon before and so was not familiar with the different types of creatures. After looking between the bright green butterfly and the other butterflies in the air, he grunted to Oz and pulled back an arrow. Oz flipped the dead butterfly off his spear and stood ready to defend the archer. Tarka drew idly in the sand, clearly not paying attention. Kian shot half a dozen green butterflies. When he saw no more potentially acid aligned targets, he said, ¡°Done.¡± Oz and Sift stepped forward for the next stage. Tarka was meant to advance with them, but he had been the most vocal delver in opposition to plans with more than two steps. Sif half spun and threw the fishing net high in the air. The net expanded above a group of butterflies and dragged them down to the ground. Sif and Sig pulled the net and butterflies back to the group and began moving them to the bags. They repeated this a couple more times before the bags were full. ¡°That went well.¡± Kian said. He stepped cautiously around on the sand, retrieving his arrows. Tarka snorted and turned towards the exit. ¡°It¡¯s brighter in here now.¡± Oz said. ¡°Like the sun is rising.¡± The others agreed with this observation. Oz walked to the pond and looked down in. He saw a few fish in the clear water. He considered asking Sif to throw the net in the water to catch the fish, but Tarka might just leave without them if they delayed any longer. The group left the bags in the delta worldlet to be picked up on their way out. They each pulled out a curved piece of dark glass and tied it around their eyes. A bit of padding kept the glass from slipping and blocked light from the sides. Oz took a deep breath and stepped into the acid rain worldlet. The light through the dark glass was still bright, but it was similar to a clear summer day at noon and didn¡¯t cause much discomfort after a moment to adjust. The other delvers followed after Oz with shields and weapons out. Sig swung her axe at something on the ground. A snake head tumbled across the peat a short distance. Kian gave startled yelp but quickly refocused on scanning for targets. They group killed a couple of salamanders which were nearby, then paused to adjust their cloaks and glass. The sideways rain weighed down their shields and leaked around the padding for the glass eye protection. The group wore waterproof cloaks and the raindrops rolled across them and dripped off the far side. Sif got a surprise as he wiped water off his glass to see a jellyfish drifting right in front of his face. With a startled curse, Sif stepped back and got his shield in between him and the jellyfish. The jellyfish slowly bounced off the shield and drifted away. ¡°Well done, Sif!¡± Oz said happily. ¡°The sting on those things burns like dragonfire. Better using the shield than your rotting hand.¡± He chuckled as Sif grinned widely. Oz turned to fully face the group. ¡°Now we explore a floor we know little about. It looks to me like a straight walk following the vine.¡± Oz gestured around and then towards the vine, which grew straight along the direction the rain fell. ¡°Kian, shoot as you see targets. Sig and Sif, keep anything from coming up on our sides. I¡¯ll take the front and Tarka guards Kian from the rear.¡± Oz paused to see if Tarka would object or ignore Oz¡¯s orders. To his mild surprise, Tarka didn¡¯t object and just positioned himself with his shield facing into the rain. Oz walked to the front and slung his shield onto his back so he could use his spear with both hands. They proceeded to move towards the far end of the vine. As they walked, the rain pushed a few jellyfish to drift into their backs. Tarka slew the first two with his sword, but then decided to just hold his shield up at an angle so the jellyfish bounced off and over their heads.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The group slew a fair number of snakes and salamanders as they walked. They only saw one frog, which Kian shot before it saw them. At the end of the vine, the group paused again. Oz spoke with a grin. ¡°Easy walk through a goblin¡¯s garden. Next floor we have no burning idea what to expect. Might still be bright, might be pitch dark. I¡¯ll step through and right back to see if we need the glass. Then we¡¯ll all step through in this same order.¡± He unslung his shield and crouched behind it. He stepped through and immediately back. ¡°No glass.¡± He said and removed his eye protection. He squinted fiercely and stepped again into the portal. Oz¡¯s eyes went wide as he got a good look at the stony worldlet. He nearly turned and ran, but Sig came through the portal and bumped him to the side. She swore and raised her shield. Oz belatedly raised his own shield above his head. The rest of the group stepped through and had a similar reaction. Kian fumbled with his bow and shield as he desperately tried to swap. Hundreds of jellyfish floated around the group. In the grey light they appeared as a fog made of tentacles. Nothing was visible beyond the jellyfish and the group could only see the ground for a few yards in front of them. The jellyfish fog pressed in around them. The delvers swore again as a large spray of acid washed over the shields. They crouched down and pulled their shields tight in a sort of dome. The shields managed to keep out most of the acid and the group caught it¡¯s breath for a few moments. ¡°I saw something on the ground.¡± Sif surprised Oz by speaking up. The large twins didn¡¯t typically speak much. ¡°Scales! Everyone alright?¡± Oz asked the others. They all grunted or spoke a brief affirmative. ¡°How far was it?¡± Oz asked Sif. Sif shrugged. Oz tried to peak between the shields but couldn¡¯t see. ¡°Fine. We move slow and low. Try to go straight ahead, we don¡¯t want to get lost.¡± Oz shuddered at the idea of crawling for hours under the jellyfish fog. The group moved forward slowly. A few strides away from the portal, they all swore again as a wave of water rushed over their feet. A few strides further the water receded and Sif picked something off the stony ground. ¡°It¡¯s a sword.¡± Sif said. He had hooked his axe to his belt and held a bronze sword. Oz thought the sword looked very similar to Tarka¡¯s sword. Tarka seemed to agree. ¡°Give me that!¡± Tarka snapped at Sif. Sif handed the sword back to Tarka. Tarka put his own sword away and glared at the found sword. Oz waited for a long while but decided that Tarka wasn¡¯t going to be offering any insight aside from his unhappy expression. Oz ordered them back to the portal and out of the stony worldlet.
Back in the main worldlet, the delvers lost their willingness to obey Oz¡¯s orders as they prepared to leave the dungeon. They hadn¡¯t found any treasure other than the sword, and Oz figured the trip was worthwhile experience but not something they would repeat soon. Tarka stood in front of the exit and glared at the other delvers. ¡°There¡¯s two other floors we can access from this one.¡± He said. Oz wasn¡¯t sure if Tarka meant to threaten them, but the extra sword was still in his hand by his side. Oz felt very unsure about the other floors, He hadn¡¯t even seen the one on the right. He tried to explain. ¡°The one in the back doesn¡¯t have much to stand on. This one,¡± He gestured to the right side of the dungeon. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen, they said it was too hot or something.¡± Tarka glared harder. ¡°You just don¡¯t want us to find the treasure. Want to keep it to yourself.¡± Oz glared back at Tarka. Tarka had been receptive to Oz¡¯s suggestions at first, but the man became more abrasive with each meeting. Oz huffed in irritation, then rubbed his chin in thought. He didn¡¯t want any of the delvers to harm the marvelous dark rainbows, but there was enough room for two to stand at the entrance. Perhaps barely enough room. Oz stuck his spear into the ground. He took off his shield and cloak and hung them on the spear. ¡°There isn¡¯t much room, so one person can come with me to look. Don¡¯t-¡° Oz paused as he realized how suspicious Tarka would be if Oz said not to bring any weapons. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ There isn¡¯t much room.¡± He turned and walked towards the back. Tarka dropped his shield and tossed the extra sword on it before following. Oz rolled his eyes as Tarka hesitated to follow into the shadowed area in front of the portal to the dark worldlet. When the man finally joined him, Oz turned and stepped through the portal. Oz carefully stepped forward to the edge of the pile of pebbles near the portal in the dark worldlet. He looked up in anticipation of having his breath taken away. The worldlet was even more striking than he remembered. As far as he could see above, Oz saw rainbows illuminating floating patches of pebbles. Mushrooms and small vines grew out of many of the floating patches. The rainbows colored each and every mushroom. The rainbows stretched across the black space between the floating patches and colored a few drifting jellyfish. Oz realized that a few pebbles in each patch glowed and provided the source of light to make the rainbows. Tarka stepped through the portal and gasped in astonishment. He stared into the silent black-and-rainbow dungeon floor with his mouth wide open. A bat fluttered swiftly in and out of the rainbows. The bat flew into the tentacles of a jellyfish and squeaked in surprised pain. ¡°Gods¡­¡± Tarka said and took a step forward. ¡°Wait!¡± Oz shouted, but it was too late. Tarka¡¯s foot slipped down the side of the patch of pebbles they both stood on. He flailed his arms and awkwardly tried to fall backwards onto safe ground. The pebbles shifted under his other foot and he fell into the darkness. He jerked to a stop as Oz wrapped two hands around his ankle. Oz had thrown himself to his stomach just in time to catch Tarka¡¯s ankle. He dug his toes into the pebbles to avoid sliding off the side as Tarka had. ¡°Pull me up!¡± Tarka screamed in full panic. He waved his arms and kicked his free leg, trying to catch onto anything. Below him there were only a couple floating patches hanging in the pitch black. ¡°Stop kicking me!¡± Oz shouted angrily down at Tarka. He tried to pull the man back up onto the pebbles, but his leverage wasn¡¯t right. ¡°Reach up and grab onto my arm!¡± Oz had to repeat the instruction twice before Tarka seemed to hear it. The man struggled to ¡°sit up¡± while hanging upside down but managed to reach high enough to grab Oz¡¯s forearm. Using Oz¡¯s body like a barely adequate ladder, Tarka clambered back up onto the pebbles and threw himself through the portal exit. Ch 26 - Cursed Oath
Oz stood and took another look at the beautiful rainbow dungeon floor. He took a deep breath and stepped through the exit. Tarka stood bent over with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. Oz slapped the man on the back. ¡°Burn my bones, that was dangerous. Scales and teeth, let¡¯s not go back there.¡± Oz felt a bit unsteady but walked back to the others and explained what happened. They were surprised by the report since it had only been a minute or so since Tarka and Oz had left them. Sif and Sig walked to the back of the main worldlet to check on Tarka. Oz faintly heard Tarka angrily saying he was fine. When he regained his composure, Tarka stomped up to the exit. Almost growling, he said, ¡°There¡¯s one more floor.¡± He paused, swallowed, then said more calmly. ¡°Does anyone feel like taking a look? Volunteer only.¡± The man still breathed a bit more quickly than normal and his face was flushed. The other delvers looked at each other for a moment. Oz shook his head, refusing to go through the last portal. Kian shrugged and spoke up. ¡°I¡¯ll go. Just in and out, really quick.¡± Tarka nodded to him and accompanied him over to the right-side portal. Oz put his gear back on and pulled the spear from the ground. He looked up right as Kian fell back through the portal. The small archer vomited onto the ground and struggled to remove his cloak. Oz jogged over in alarm, but Tarka helped Kian to remove his cloak and get to his feet. Kian was soaked and sweat covered his face. Kian vomited again and undid his clothing to expose his chest, which was also coated in sweat. Oz handed the archer a flask of water. ¡°What happened?¡± Tarka said. ¡°Burning hot.¡± Kian panted as he spoke. ¡°I was boiling alive.¡± The archer drank some of the water and poured the rest over his head. Oz search around on the ground and soon returned with a few of the ice orbs from the fallen dungeon fruit. Kian gratefully rubbed the ice across his chest and neck. His breathing evened out, though he looked exhausted. ¡°Thanks for looking.¡± Tarka said. ¡°Sorry it wasn¡¯t nice. Gods, this dungeon¡­¡± He trailed off, shaking his head. He snorted. ¡°The treasure is probably back there somewhere, right where we can¡¯t get it. I don¡¯t know anything that would let someone survive boiling alive for long.¡± Oz remained in the dungeon after the other delvers left. He searched around for the flint and stone orbs until he had two bags full of sling ammunition. He spent a long time sitting on the pebbles and gazing at the rainbows in the dark worldlet. He took note of the creatures present and what he could see of the vine as it stretched upward. He thought he saw some eyes peeking around the patches of pebbles, but he couldn¡¯t tell what creature they might belong to. When he stood to leave, he noticed a damp patch on his hip. Searching the ground, he found a pebble that stayed slightly wet and slowly dripped water. He left the pebble tucked into the vine roots and walked home.
A few days later, Oz was kneeling in an unknown dungeon and wondering which of his decisions had led him to that moment. The old man who had bought the spear stood in front of him. Oz still didn¡¯t know his name, but the old man had scornfully explained that he was the wizard who worked with Hill Lord Andebert. Oz had never seen the wizard, having not spent much time in the actual hill fort. Behind the wizard, a circle of glowing red glyphs surrounded an oddly reflective white orb sitting on a stone plinth¡ªthe wizard and the delvers had referred to the orb as ¡®the dungeon¡¯ so Oz guessed that the orb was the ¡®dungeon core¡¯ that each dungeon was supposed to have. The core was mostly smooth, but it had a few black blemishes growing up from where it touched the plinth. The light from the core flickered unsteadily, which made it hard for Oz to tell if anything was moving in the shadows.Stolen novel; please report. The primary source of shadows was a dozen dark stone cages that grew out of the walls of the dungeon. The cages were full of giant spiders. Between each flicker of the light, oz was sure the terrifying creatures shifted their positions. Taken as a whole, the dungeon was not a place Oz wanted to return to. The wizard held Oz¡¯s spear in one hand. With his other hand, he traced a complicated pattern next to the spear head. Whatever magic was happening to the spear, it was taking a while. The delvers stood in a loose group behind Oz, and he could hear them shifting their feet. Sif yawned. The delvers had led Oz into the back of a cave full of large jars and other common storage items. In the back of the cave, Tarka had waved a hand to reveal a hidden doorway into darkness. Oz had not wanted to enter the doorway, but the delvers had insisted, practically shoving him inside. The doorway had led to this dungeon where the wizard was waiting. The wizard finally finished the magic and held Oz¡¯s spear high. The spear head glowed brightly and might have given off a soft hum. The old wizard spoke in his sing-song voice. ¡°As patron of this group of dungeon delvers, I command you to swear to protect the delvers from their enemies.¡± The wizard slowly lowered the head to point at Oz¡¯s chest. ¡°Swear or die.¡± A System message appeared in Oz¡¯s mind. _ Warning: Violation of the Proposed Cursed Oath will Result In Death _ _ Warning: Violation of the Proposed Cursed Oath will Result In Multiple Unknown Consequences _ Oz felt himself begin to sweat as questions raced through his mind. Why was the oath cursed? How could there be more consequences beyond death? Would the wizard really kill him if he refused to swear? Who are the enemies of the delvers? Would swearing this oath violate his oath to Andebert? Oz could barely hear his own thoughts over the sound of his panicked heartbeat, but he managed to voice a very practical question. ¡°For how long?¡± The wizard smirked arrogantly. ¡°Until I release you.¡± Oz frantically tried to think through his options. If he refused to swear, he would die. If he swore but broke his oath, he would die. If he swore and was forced to break his oath to Andebert, he would be nearly powerless. Swearing was the only option that left Oz the chance of survival. Maybe swearing wouldn¡¯t be so bad, the wizard wasn¡¯t telling him to obey commands, after all. Perhaps he could influence the delvers to go somewhere far away from the hill fort so Andebert wouldn¡¯t ever find them. Oz took a deep breath and spoke. ¡°I swear.¡± He immediately felt something wrap around his heart and squeeze uncomfortably. He let out a small gasp and grabbed his chest. The wizard¡¯s smirk widened into a vicious grin. He reversed the spear and offered it to Oz. ¡°Soon, but perhaps already, the Hill Lord will receive a message from me which will inform him of the existence of a dungeon cult at this location.¡± A few of the delvers made dismayed sounds, but Tarka ordered them to silence. The wizard continued. ¡°The message explains that I am at the location and I am fighting for my life and to prevent the release of a foul dungeon monster that would attack the hill fort, killing hundreds. The hill lord¡¯s duty requires him to respond to my message immediately. He will come here and kill or imprison everyone he finds. The delvers cannot run far enough to escape him.¡± The wizard paused for a moment, then continued. ¡°This makes him an enemy of the delvers.¡± The pressure on Oz¡¯s heart spiked as the wizard spoke those words, and he found himself staggering to his feet. He snatched his spear from the wizard and turned toward the dungeon entrance. Several of the delvers¡¯ faces showed surprise and fear. Oz moved to exit the dungeon. The pressure on his heart seemed to pull at him, threatening to rip his heart out if he didn¡¯t move fast enough. By the time he passed through the exit, he was running as fast as he had ever run in his life. Outside the cave, he turned and ran towards the hill fort, towards Hill Lord Andebert, enemy of the delvers. Ch 27 - Adventurer Satisfaction Violet Danderpuff, the dungeon fairy, was enjoying his vacation, for the most part. The dungeon core enjoyed his flute music and didn¡¯t put any demands on his time, so he had spent weeks de-stressing in every way he could. He mostly played the flute, but he also caught up on all the book club books he had missed since graduation. Music, good books, and a little drinking. A perfect fairy vacation. Violet was getting bored. He closed his latest book and set it on a little side table he had conjured. He rose from the reclined lawn chair and gave a big stretch. He adjusted his clothes, hair, and wings, then moved to stand politely in front of the dungeon core. He cleared his throat and spoke. ¡°Good morning, Terse Elements.¡± Words like ¡®morning¡¯ and ¡®night¡¯ were entirely arbitrary inside a dungeon, but Violet felt like he was having a morning. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking, recently, that I might be of more benefit to you if I set up a visual scanner so I could look around and see what¡¯s going on out on your floors.¡± Violet gestured to the green walls of vines that surrounded the dungeon core. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve got things under control, you are rather advanced for age, after all, but there are a number of tricks and tools that many dungeons never find one their own. This is the main reason we dungeon fairies exist, by the way, to make sure dungeon cores can make the most of every opportunity.¡± The fairy paused and watched the dungeon core. It seemed to flicker only a small amount. Perhaps it is hesitant? Violet struggled to extrapolate the dungeon¡¯s mood from the flickering glow. ¡°D-Don¡¯t worry!¡± He said, nervously. ¡°I won¡¯t let the visual scanner distract me from playing the flute, I know how much you enjoy my music. It¡¯s just something I could use every so often just to do a small checkup, you know?¡± Violet wasn¡¯t sure if the flickering was a positive or negative response. He clenched his fists behind his back for a few seconds, unsure what to do. The fairy berated himself as he had a realization. It probably doesn¡¯t know what a ¡®visual scanner¡¯ is, ya damn fairy. Just make one and show it off. ¡°Here, I¡¯ll just whip one up really quick so you can have a better idea what I¡¯m talking about.¡± Violet half turned from the core and worked his mana for a few seconds. The mana twisted around itself before sliding apart into a smooth rectangle. An image of the main worldlet appeared in the air. Violet presented the image to the dungeon core. ¡°This is a visual scanner. It allows me to see out into your floors without anyone out there being able to detect it. See, I can move the vantage point around¡­¡± The fairy flexed his will and caused the image to pan around the main worldlet. Then he had it float over above the exit and widened the viewing angle so he could get a good view of the whole thing. ¡°And I can adjust various things like the viewing angle, the size of the image, the spectrum being captured, and so on. What do you think?¡± He turned and smiled at the dungeon core, hoping for a positive response after the demonstration. Although Violet said the visual scanner could not be detected, one entity in the dungeon operated on different rules. The void bubble had fought to escape the dungeon vine¡¯s grip but had gradually shrunk to the size of a grain of sand. It¡¯s power was nearly spent but it saw a potential escape route through the magic of the visual scanner. It struck out and tried to seize it¡¯s freedom. Behind the dungeon fairy, the visual scanner fuzzed and switched to a scene of impossible iridescence and sharp, dangerous looking shapes. The dungeon instincts in the dungeon core mind detected the attempt by the void bubble to infect an existing spell, and the mushroom network delivered some of the details to the plant instincts. The mana in the gall around the void bubble tightened, nearly crushing the bubble out of existence. The void bubble¡¯s connection to the visual scanner broke, and it shrank to the size of a speck of dust. In front of the dungeon fairy, the dungeon core flashed brightly. Violet took that as an enthusiastic positive response, similar to when it had agreed to hear flute music. The fairy clapped his hands. ¡°Excellent! I¡¯m excited to take a tour of the dungeon and see what you¡¯ve built.¡± He summoned his lawn chair directly to him and sat to view the scanner in comfort. Violet surveyed the creatures in the main worldlet. He had a wonderful time watching vine fruit spawn creatures and watching those creatures compete for resources. On a whim, he followed an earth aligned beetle for half an hour until it was eaten by an acid aligned snake. ¡°A very interesting little ecosystem you¡¯ve built here.¡± He told the dungeon core. ¡°I love how natural you¡¯ve made everything.¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Violet was surprised by the presence of natural ravens inside the dungeon. Allowing natural creatures to live in a dungeon was often quite dangerous¡ªthey would slowly become as strong as dungeon-spawned creatures but would not be subject to dungeon core commands. Violet decided to keep silent on the matter for now and just focus on the positives. He moved his scanner into the sauna worldlet to continue his tour. He found the void artifact immediately. ¡°Ah, oops.¡± He grimaced. ¡°A void artifact. I apologize again, I should have been awake and able to assist you with this. It looks like you have handled it just fine, though.¡± He cleared his throat and tried to smile. ¡°It¡¯s funny, I had thought that I smelled some void influence somewhere around here. This artifact must have an unusual amount of void residue.¡± In the underwater worldlet, Violet expressed ample admiration for the unique environment and the ¡®Boss¡¯ bat with the glowing white eyes. ¡°Unusual to have a boss this early! I think adventurers will have quite some difficulty with an underwater fight against an agile swimmer. Very tricky!¡± Violet chuckled as he imagined how such a fight might go.
The dungeon fairy toured the other worldlets but failed to notice the underworld worldlet, since it¡¯s entrance was underground and the tunnel to it had collapsed. He played his flute a bit as he enjoyed the interesting sights for a few hours. When he was done watching the scanner, he turned back to the dungeon core. ¡°That was excellent. Thank you so much for allowing be to view it more directly. It¡¯s a truly impressive set of worldlets you¡¯ve built.¡± Violet nodded politely in respect to the dungeon core. ¡°I noted a couple of things that I think we should discuss.¡± He summoned a notepad and pen to jot down some notes. ¡°The first item is one of dungeon safety. There are some natural creatures present in the dungeon. The ravens probably don¡¯t pose any threat right now, but over time, they will absorb ambient mana and grow stronger. They might undergo a mutation or develop spells that could turn them into serious threats. You need to have a plan for dealing with the natural creatures¡ªclaim them or kill them are the most reliable choices.¡± The fairy paused for a second to see if the dungeon core would respond. It glowed in a calm, undisturbed manner. Violet put his concerns on the back burner and moved to the next item. ¡°The second item is about adventurer satisfaction. That might sound odd, since we don¡¯t work for the adventurers, but adventurers are going to be your most effective source of experience and levels.¡± Violet took a sip of a fruity drink. ¡°The thing we are missing in your current set up is treasure. Adventurers love treasure. If there is treasure in a dungeon, adventurers will seek it out and take larger risks. There was a lecture about this that I really enjoyed in fairy school.¡± Violet proceeded to recite most of a lecture about risk and reward, luck and consequences. He described mechanisms of balance and strategies for handling groups of adventurers. The dungeon core glowed steadily throughout the lecture. ¡°Now, that was a bit more dungeon theory than I meant to go over, sorry.¡± Violet rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. ¡°But I can offer a specific application right now. I noticed that your fruit often spawn into samples of materials you have unlocked¡ªflint, stone, ice, and so on. This is an intriguing approach and I¡¯m sure people appreciate it, but it¡¯s not the same as real treasure. You do, however, have an unlocked treasure that would be perfect to mix in with these samples¡ªthe amber piece. Here¡¯s how we can add it¡­¡± The dungeon fairy used an obscure mechanism to share his view of dungeon System controls with the dungeon core. He navigated to the spawn controls and the treasure controls and showed the core how to connect the amber treasure to the group of spawnable things. ¡°And that does it. Now people will get a taste of the treasure in the material samples on the ground. What do you think?¡± Violet looked expectantly at the dungeon core. Across the dungeon, a wave of fruit fell to the floor and opened to reveal rich honey, colored nuggets. The dungeon core glowed brightly to supply the mana to spawn so much treasure at once. After the initial wave, amber began to spawn in equal ratio with everything else. The dungeon core settled back to glowing steadily, slightly brighter than before. Violet beamed. ¡°I¡¯m so glad you like the result. Now, I have just two other locations that I think need proper treasure right away.¡± The fairy continued to talk and demonstrate how the dungeon System treasure controls worked. He placed a pile of amber at the bottom of the oasis pond and placed the chest of gold at the far end of the underwater worldlet. The boss bat swam over and perched on the chest of gold. It squeaked in challenge to any who dared try and steal from it. The other bats circled excitedly and let off jets of water in all directions. Feeling very satisfied, Violet pulled out his flute and played it while watching the visual scanner. He watched as a group of harvesters entered the main worldlet and began capturing creatures. He didn¡¯t mind that the people were taking millipedes and beetles, but he felt rather uncomfortable when the people started catching the butterflies. The fairy twitched his own, very similar wings in sympathy. Ch 28 - Enemy of the Delvers Oz ran for over an hour before the hill fort came into view. The cursed oath never let him slow down or stop to rest, but the oath to Andebert kept the cursed oath from overwhelming his mind. Over the long run, he had little to do other than think. It seemed to Oz that the two oaths were competing but would not come into conflict directly unless he revealed one of Andebert¡¯s secrets or violated an order. He was not able to resist the compulsion from the cursed oath. Oz was sure that he could not defeat Andy in a fight, and he didn¡¯t want to. Oz didn¡¯t know for sure that Andy would attack the delvers, but the cursed oath seemed completely sure of it. Oz didn¡¯t know what he would do when he ran into Andy. Perhaps he could ¡®protect¡¯ the delvers by begging Andy to not attack and listen to an explanation? As he drew closer to the hill fort, Oz discovered an additional concern. He felt sure that he should have run into Andy by now if Andy was heading to the delvers¡¯ location. If Andy wasn¡¯t on the road, where was he? Would Oz violate the cursed oath just by choosing the wrong route? Oz ran by several people on the road. Most stared openly at his glowing spear and his sweat drenched clothes, but none stopped him until he reached the foot of the hill. The woman who had escorted Oz in the dungeon several months ago stepped out in front of him and motioned him to stop. Oz felt the cursed oath demand that he fight or run past her to find Andebert, but he frantically forced an idea out from his mind and into the oath: I need to know where Andy went. She will know. He stumbled to a halt in front of the woman and gasped out a question. ¡°Where is Andy?¡± He repeated the question a few times until the woman understood him. ¡°The Hill Lord isn¡¯t here.¡± She said. She had a confused expression as she examined his spear. ¡°He left to deal with something.¡± ¡°WHERE?¡± Oz nearly shouted. She frowned at him. ¡°Why do you ask?¡± This question caused a bit of an issue with the two oaths. The cursed oath wanted to stop Andebert but also didn¡¯t want any new enemies to find the delvers. The System oath wouldn¡¯t allow Oz to reveal his secret orders to infiltrate the delvers. Oz¡¯s thoughts spun. He tried to answer with only a vague truth. ¡°I have to stop him.¡± That was true, the cursed oath was forcing him. ¡°It¡¯s not safe.¡± That was also true, for several reasons. Oz desperately hoped this would be enough. The woman¡¯s expression cleared a little, but she didn¡¯t seem concerned. ¡°The Hill Lord will be fine.¡± ¡°NO!¡± The cursed oath shouted at the woman and pushed Oz to attack her. He managed to hold it off long enough for one more word. ¡°Please!¡± The woman showed the first sign of concern. She took in his exhausted and sweaty condition as well as his odd spear and desperate expression. She gave a small shrug and pointed back the way Oz had come. ¡°He¡¯s responding to an alert from the wizard. A danger from some group of people.¡± She described the location of the delvers¡¯ roundhouses but Oz cut her off.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°I just came from there, I didn¡¯t meet him on the road.¡± The cursed oath was impatient. ¡°He would have left the road and circled around to approach undetected. You probably just missed him if you ran the whole way here.¡± She started to say something more, but Oz had turned and dash away. Before he got out of range, however, she sent a cast of Haste towards him.
Oz nearly couldn¡¯t breathe due to a pain in his side. His legs and feet burned and he shuffled down the road as quickly as he could. The Haste had helped him make the return run much faster, but it had worn off about halfway back to the roundhouses. The cursed oath couldn¡¯t force his body to move any faster now but did not relent or allow him rest. Oz worried that he would collapse before he got back to the delvers. If he couldn¡¯t ¡®protect¡¯ the delvers, he couldn¡¯t keep the oath. Finally, he passed by the roundhouses and started on the path to the cave. The small hill with the cave came into view around a patch of trees. Andebert stood on the top of the hill with his bow drawn, aimed directly at the wizard just outside the cave. The delvers floated between the wizard and the hill lord, forming a shield with their bodies. They were wrapped in red light and seemed unable to move. Andebert shouted something down to the wizard, but Oz couldn¡¯t hear it. His breathing was ragged as he limped along the path to the cave. The wizard turned his head as he heard Oz. Andebert leapt sideways to try and exploit the wizard¡¯s distraction, but the shield of bodies moved automatically to stay between the two men. The wizard laughed loudly as Oz drew nearer. He shouted up at Andebert. ¡°Here comes my final pawn! I suppose I was overly optimistic to hope he could surprise you and stab you with that spear. Poor boy seems to be in rough shape.¡± The wizard¡¯s mocking sing-song voice was high and clear. ¡°Here is what will happen. You will kill these innocent persons.¡± He gestured at the delvers. ¡°You will kill your dear cousin.¡± He pointed at Oz. ¡°And then I will kill you.¡± The wizard laughed again. Oz, exhausted and near his breaking point, felt hot hatred fill his mind. He struggled up the path towards Andebert and the wizard. The wizard had forced Oz into this awful oath and now intended to throw away the lives of the delvers. A part of Oz was surprised to find that he was offended that the wizard had planned the assassination so poorly that Oz had to run to the hill fort and back. Andebert shouted down at the wizard again. ¡°Why would I kill Osmund?¡± He paced sideways along the hilltop, trying to find a gap in the shifting shield. ¡°He has no choice but to try and stop you!¡± The wizard cackled. ¡°The fool swore an oath to me! Here, let me help you get started.¡± The wizard gestured and Tarka¡¯s body shot towards the hill lord. Andebert easily dodged, and Tarka screamed as he flew over the hill. Oz continued his scramble up the hill, nearly to the cave. He glared at the wizard¡¯s back. This wizard was a danger to everyone, even the delvers. Oz stumbled and fell as black lightning hit his brain. The wizard wasn¡¯t a delver. Oz got his knees under himself and grabbed his spear. The wizard wanted Andy to kill the delvers. Oz levered himself to his feet, breathing hard. Andy is trying not to kill the delvers, even now. Oz stepped forward. The wizard shifted to the side to allow Oz to continue up the hill toward Andebert. The wizard was an enemy of the delvers. The cursed oath, the oath to Andy, and Oz all shoved the spear through the wizard¡¯s back. Three things happened at once. The light on the spear flashed brighter than the sun. The delvers fell to the ground. Andy¡¯s arrow took the wizard in the eye. Oz felt the cursed oath snap and the pressure around his heart vanished. He slumped to the ground. Several System messages flashed through his mind as he lost consciousness. _ You have Gained a Level _ _ You have Gained a Level _ _ You have Gained a Level¡­ _ Ch 29 - Explosion Violet the dungeon fairy had a big, snail-shaped problem. It turned out that the ravens were not the only natural creatures in the dungeon and they were far from the most dangerous. The acid snail was currently eating a deep pit in the side of the main vine body. If it kept going, it would breach the little hollow area around the dungeon core. The snail might even be strong enough to destroy the core, or it might evolve into a ¡®Greater Snail¡¯ which would definitely be strong enough to destroy a core at level 7. If the dungeon core didn¡¯t do something soon, it would be too late. Unfortunately, Violet had already explained the dangers of natural creatures to the dungeon core and had dropped several hints that the snail should be dealt with. The resulting silence was just so awkward that Violet couldn¡¯t bear the thought of trying to bring up the matter again. If I could handle confrontation better, I could have told mom that I wanted to be a musician instead of a stupid dungeon fairy. Violet thought to himself. I have to figure out how to kill the snail without the dungeon realizing I did anything. Violet frowned down at his notepad. He had drawn a sketch of the snail and listed some facts. - Strong defense (shell) - Strong offense (acid) - Large - Avoids poison fruit (annoying) - Dungeon creatures that can kill it: o Boss bat (needs water for swimming) o ??? Tapping his notepad, Violet looked up at the dungeon core. Maybe it thinks of the snail as a pet? It might think that the snail will ignore the core itself and only eat the vine. He thought. The snail would definitely not avoid the core. Animals and people were drawn to dungeons because they could subconsciously sense the extreme magical density of the dungeon core. The snail might be eating into the main vine body specifically because it could sense the core. I don¡¯t think there is a way to get boss bat here in the main worldlet. He thought. So is there any other creature that could threaten the snail? Violet concentrated and accessed the dungeon information to which he had access as the assigned dungeon fairy. The list of creatures was long and constantly changing, so Violet sorted it by size. He figured that a big problem needed a big solution. There were a couple of snakes and a frog at the top of the list. How would a frog fight a giant snail? It doesn¡¯t have any claws or even teeth. It would probably just try and pull it off the vine with its sticky tongue. The acid would melt the tongue and then the frog¡¯s mouth if it did that. Violet wrote ¡®Frog¡¯ on the list and drew a line through it. Snake could be a good option. If it swallowed the snail whole, the snail might die before it burned through the snake¡¯s body. Not a good way to go, but better a snake die than the whole dungeon. The fairy wrote ¡®Snake¡¯ on the list and circled it. Violet spent another hour thinking up plans for getting a snake and the snail together and making them fight. He discarded every plan. Sighing with fatigue and frustration, he pulled out his flute and began to play. He put down the flute and slapped his palm to his forehead. Of course. He should try a basic summoning through his flute music. I¡¯ll practice the summoning on those butterflies to see if the dungeon notices. Violet lifted the flute and carefully extended his mana as he played. It was more difficult than he expected to cast complicated spells through his music. With an eye on the dungeon core to watch for any response, Violet summoned a butterfly to land on the snail. A red and orange butterfly flew over and settled on the snail. Then a blue butterfly landed on the snail. Then a pink one. Then a black and white one. Violet cancelled the spell and tried not to show his embarrassment. That was way too strong of a summoning. My teachers would have failed me for that. Fortunately, the dungeon core had not reacted in the slightest.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Violet spent a few minutes working through half-remembered mathematical formulas to find the right amount of mana to summon one singular snake. Summoning multiple snakes might backfire if they fought each other, so it was crucial to get only one. He ran through the mental shape of the summoning spell to add an ¡®attack¡¯ command. He closed his notepad and tried to settle his nerves. Ironically, he felt he had butterflies in his stomach. He took a deep breath and began to play his flute.
In the dungeon core mind space, the snake information bundle released the frog bundle and tried to respond to the summoning spell it heard through the flute music. As the snake bundle slithered down the frog tongue, toward the mind space floor, some of the mushroom network fibers broke, releasing sparks of mana data. The remaining fibers tied the frog to the snake¡¯s tail and dragged the frog down to the ground after it. The snake bundle tried to move towards the target of the summoning, the acid snail, but it had no way to leave the dungeon mind space. The snake thrashed around, darting in various directions, still tethered by the connection through the frog and butterfly.
Violet paused his playing and frowned. He had felt the spell form and call out to a snake, but something clearly hadn¡¯t worked right because no snake appeared. He moved his visual scanner view around the main worldlet, searching for a snake. He wasn¡¯t sure how the spell could succeed but fail to draw in a snake unless the snake was restrained somehow. He didn¡¯t find any snakes of interest in the main worldlet and paused his scanner on an image of the snail. He stood up and swore in sudden panic. The snail had dug the pit much deeper than he expected and he could see the glow of the dungeon core through the remaining vine flesh.
The snake information bundle lashed its tail (with frog attached) in agitation. It heard the call to attack the snail but could not reach it. Without access to a physical form to reach the snail and without the mental ability to shake off the compulsion, the snake bundle was stuck. As the frog bundle flailed around, it came into sight of the snake bundle. The drive to attack flared in the snake bundle and it shot toward the frog. The motion of the snake¡¯s coils pulled the frog out of the snake¡¯s path and the snake¡¯s mouth impacted a section of the dungeon core instincts. The mana of the summon-attack spell arced into the dungeon core instincts like lightning. The entire dungeon mind space hummed loudly as the power of the spell flowed through instincts and mushroom network fibers.
Violet swore again as the dungeon core became exceedingly bright. The snail appeared on the visual scanner only as a dark shape in the middle of brightly glowing vine flesh. The dungeon vine began to vibrate. The vibration increased to a violent shaking and Violet was forced to hover in the air so as not to be knocked to the floor. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± He cried. The dungeon core didn¡¯t respond. The ground next to dungeon vine exploded. The sound of the explosion shook the dungeon fairy and he tumbled in the air. Violet screamed as a spray of dirt, rotting leaves, and torn up vine roots obscured the view on the scanner for a moment. The dungeon vine shook one final time and stopped. Violet could only hear his own frantic breathing as he righted himself and looked around. The wall of the dungeon core hollow was cracked and leaking some green sap. The visual scanner showed that the pit on the side of the vine body was empty. The snail was gone! Violet moved the visual scanner view back from the dungeon vine, just trying to see anything that could explain what had happened. On the ground next to the dungeon vine was an enormous snake. Violet¡¯s mouth dropped open in shock at the size of the thing. As he stared, a relatively small bulge shifted down the snake¡¯s body, away from the head. Violet found himself unable to think coherently. He looked back and forth between the dungeon core and the image of the huge snake. The bulge on the snake evened out. The snake lifted its head, tasting the air for a moment. It circled the dungeon vine once, then dove back into the gaping hole it had made in the ground. It disappeared, and the other creatures in the main worldlet slowly recovered from the disruption. A grey bat crept over to the hole and dropped in. Violet eventually managed to say one thing. ¡°Where did the giant snake come from?¡±
_ Successfully Defeated Intruder. Experience Awarded _ _ Core Level Increased to 8. Mana Storage Increased 5%. Mana Generation increased 5%. Durability Increased 10% _ _ Select Dungeon Reward: - New Material - Unlock Spawn - Unlock Treasure - Entrance Feature _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Unlock Treasure¡± Selected. Select From Available Treasure: ¡­ _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Pole of Frost¡± _ _ Anomalous Battle Performance Recognized. Dungeon Spawn Experience Awarded. Dungeon Spawn Marked for Continuous Respawn. _ Letter 1 Dearest Mother, I hope you are as well as you have ever been. I have been working full time as an assigned dungeon fairy for nearly a year. I sure you heard of the illness that afflicted me after graduation, when I could only get irregular shifts. I wasn¡¯t able to afford an apartment and I caught a rare virus or something. The assignment to this dungeon came at the perfect time and I was able to take time off to recover fully. Right now I fill a crucial role at a promising new dungeon. My top-tier schoolwork is really paying off as I advise the dungeon on expansion, defense, and treasure allocation.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. You will be interested to know that this dungeon is above average in its progression. By two months old the dungeon was pulling in mana similar to a yearling dungeon. Since then it has grown rapidly and acquired two different boss creatures. The locals outside the dungeon are a bit timid though, so they haven¡¯t made it past the environmental dangers on the dungeon floors to reach the bosses and the treasure. I expect that the dungeon and I will earn some special recognition soon. Perhaps then I will have the opportunity to visit home. Love, Your son, Violet Danderpuff Letter 2 Brother, Don¡¯t become a dungeon fairy. It¡¯s the biggest mistake I could imagine. I only did it because mom wanted it. I would have kept playing small gigs forever if mom hadn¡¯t threatened to throw me out of the house. Fairy school was such a waste of time. My grades were terrible, but they still graduated me. Everyone there was either a rich snob or desperately poor and constantly sucking up to the professors. The loans are a damn joke¡ªthere is no way to pay them off unless your family is rich and then you wouldn¡¯t need the loans anyway. It¡¯s a scam through and through. Because of my bad grades and no connections, I couldn¡¯t find any work after graduation. I had to sleep in the sewer and try and sell scrap I dug out of a landfill. It was terrible. It was so, so terrible. I managed to make it worse by making a deal with a loan shark just to buy food and medicine. I gave them a fake name, but if anyone comes to the house asking for ¡°Silver Pansyrose¡±, just let mom deal with it. She¡¯s strong enough that they shouldn¡¯t bother you.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! I got so depressed and drunk because I couldn¡¯t get work that when I finally got summoned as an assigned dungeon fairy, I accidentally took a hibernation heal potion and slept for two months. Fortunately this dungeon isn¡¯t much for talking, and it probably didn¡¯t know how to file a complaint anyway, so I was still here when I woke up. Easiest two months¡¯ pay I can imagine, but it could have gone very wrong. Living in a dungeon is dangerous. I¡¯ve probably almost died three of four times so far. The dungeon does everything, and I don¡¯t even make any decisions about intruders or dungeon creatures. The only nice thing that has happened to me is that this dungeon lets me play my music as much as I want. My listeners are mostly snakes, but it¡¯s better than nothing. Don¡¯t become a dungeon fairy. Don¡¯t go to dungeon school. Find something else and don¡¯t let mom force you. -Vi Ch 30 - Evergreen Vine In the Terse Elements dungeon, the eye vine in the dark worldlet reached as far up as it could grow, instinctually trying to find more light. The long, thin branch pushed a few blinking leaves up and hit a barrier. The eyes on the leaves gazed steadily up into nothingness. The branch stretched further and the leaves bunched up and flattened against the nothingness. A root nodule sent out a few questing tendrils, looking for an anchor point from which the vine could stretch further. As the roots twisted and dug around in the air, the eyes on the leaves widened. The eyes were sending a sensation of seeing something while also sending a sensation of seeing nothing. This conflict of sense information triggered an influx of mana to the branch and leaves. The eyes on the leaves flashed and their focus seemed to sharpen. The group of people harvesting the dungeon at that moment would have described the eyes as ¡°piercing¡±. The roots caught onto something, and the tip of the reaching vine pushed through to a different space. *clunk* The eyes on the vine blinked in the sudden light. The roots sank into cold, hard ground, and the leaves shriveled a bit in the cold, dry air. The air was so dry and cold that water and mana were sucked up into the end of the vine. The mana did not manage to pool at the end of the vine, instead, it was sucked out of the vine into the mana-less air. _ UNKNOWN SPACE DETECTED IN VOID CAPTURE. Quarantine Protocol Initiated. Quarantine Will Remain In Effect Until the Captured Space Has Been Sufficiently Investigated and Deemed Safe By Qualified Persons _ The mana flowed out of the end of the vine so quickly that patches of the vine flesh and leaves started to crisp and burn. The eyes on the leaves screwed themselves shut as though in pain. The dungeon and plant instincts reacted by trying to close pores and pull back on the mana flowing out of the vine. The flow of mana and water slowed a little, but as they built back up in the vine, the suction force increased. A tug-of-war between the dungeon mind instincts and the suction of the captured space went on for several minutes. At times when the mana pooled in the end of the vine, some of the mana was funneled into the burned patches. When the vine fully healed, the dungeon and plant instincts gave one last pull on the water and mana. _ Forced Mana Evolution Attempt Underway. Select Upgrade Path for ¡®Poison Berry Vine (Low Light Vision)¡¯: - Evergreen - Vampiric Slime - Do Nothing _ _ Random Selection. ¡°Evergreen¡± Selected _ For this particular vine evolution, the System was obliged to assist the dungeon vine to stop the mana escaping before the evolution could finish. The mana swirled and pulsed sluggishly. The mottled green leaves of the vine rolled up and collapsed in on themselves. The mana pulsed again, and the skin of the vine turned a rough shaggy brown. With a final pulse of mana, the watery sap in the vine turned thick and the leaves transformed into solid dark green needles. The thick sap held on to the mana trying to escape the vine. The needles closed up their minuscule pores to stop water vapor from escaping into the dry air. The flow of mana across the vines in the dungeon settled into a new equilibrium.
Violet Danderpuff had fallen out of his chair with a yelp when the System shouted the quarantine message in his mind. He flew over to the visual scanner and frantically flew the viewpoint around the dungeon, trying to figure out what happened. The harvesters in the main worldlet hadn¡¯t yet noticed that the portal behind them was covered in a solid layer of mana. Violet followed the dungeon vine branches down their length, investigating each worldlet. He nearly overlooked the dark rainbow worldlet, as it was in the back of the main worldlet and hardly ever had visitors. He followed the vine up into the darkness, passing hundreds of little rainbows. He found the new portal at the very top of the space where the tallest vine shoot disappeared. He wouldn¡¯t have seen it without the dark vision features of the visual scanner. He moved the scanner through into the ¡°captured space¡±. He briefly saw a dead grey world, illuminated with a pale white light, before the visual scanner fuzzed into static and collapsed.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Oh no oh no oh no no no no¡­¡± He held his head between his hands as he stared at nothing and quietly panicked. A flash of light from the dungeon core broke him out of his mental spiral. He turned and shouted at the dungeon core. ¡°No! no, it¡¯s not good! This is, in fact, very bad!¡± He paced back and forth in the air, rubbing at his forehead. ¡°I skipped-I mean, I missed the class where we learned the protocols for investigating a captured space. It just seemed like such a waste of time because it NEVER HAPPENS! No dungeons find captured spaces except maybe once in a thousand years and there are millions of dungeons. I just-I wasn¡¯t going to need it!¡± Violet slumped to the floor and put his head on his knees. ¡°This is not fair.¡± He moaned.
¡°Dan.¡± Dan struggled to tie a broken leather thong on the side of a basket full of blue millipedes. One of the creatures had gotten a lucky shot at the basket and soaked it. Dan didn¡¯t look forward to carrying the dripping weight back through the forest. ¡°Dan!¡± Dan looked up to see Jan pointing at the dungeon exit. ¡°What?¡± He asked. ¡°Dan, look!¡± Jan waved her pointing arm up and down for emphasis. Dan looked toward the exit. A translucent green panel covered the dungeon exit portal. He frowned in confusion. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± A few of the other harvesters turned to look. The protector, the person who worked for Hill Lord Andebert, walked up to the panel, and pushed on it. It didn¡¯t move. The harvester group started murmuring to each other in concern. Dan tried to remember the protector¡¯s name, Hana? Hana stepped back and kicked the panel. They swore and rubbed their foot for a moment. Hana unslung a heavy club and struck the panel with a few heavy blows. There was no visible effect on the panel. The murmuring from the harvester group increased in volume. Hana addressed the group. ¡°Does anyone have magical skills? Any detection or anything like that?¡± Their voice was strong and clear, betraying no fear or concern. Dan waved at Hana. ¡°I have a basic analyze skill.¡± No one else spoke up, so Hana waved Dan forward. They spoke to the group again. ¡°A few of you turn around and keep watch for new creature spawns.¡± The protector watched long enough to see that at least a couple people turned outward to keep an eye on things. Dan jogged to the panel and used his skill, What¡¯s That? On the panel. The results were a bit unclear. _ Solid Mana. Density: Extreme. Authority: System _ ¡°it¡¯s, um.¡± Dan stuttered for a moment. ¡°It¡¯s solid mana, made by the System.¡± Hana looked skeptical. ¡°Your ¡®basic¡¯ analyze skill told you that?¡± Basic skills would rarely be able to analyze mana constructs of any kind and even advanced analysis skills couldn¡¯t tell who created something. ¡°Yes.¡± Dan said. ¡°It feels strange though.¡± He squinted at the panel and used his skill again. He got the same result. ¡°It¡¯s like I¡¯m reading a sign, instead of using my skill.¡± He rubbed the back of his head in confusion. Hana sighed. ¡°I see. I suppose we just have to believe that for now.¡± Hana tapped their lips. ¡°Wait here a moment while I think.¡± Dan stood awkwardly by the protector for several minutes, listening to the murmuring harvesters behind the two of them. Hana dismissed Dan and addressed the harvester group. ¡°The hill lord assigned me to be the protector on this harvest. As protector, I speak with the authority of the hill lord with regards to protecting your lives. I will tell you the situation and then I will tell you what we will do to stay alive.¡± The protector paused a moment to take a deep breath. ¡°The System has blocked off the exit of the dungeon.¡± The noise from the harvester group increased as many of them spoke their disbelief or surprise. Hana raised their hands to quiet them, then just spoke over the noise. ¡°Any of you can gain an analysis skill and check for yourselves later. For now, we must organize some defenses and make plans to gather food and water. We are lucky that the dungeon did not choose to attack us this time, but we cannot be sure that will continue. I will make assignments for now.¡± Hana re-slung their heavy club and approached several harvesters to make assignments. Ch 31 - Blizzard Although the mana and water loss through the evergreen vine had greatly decreased after the evolution, there was still a large drain on the dungeon vine resources. Vine growth all over the dungeon slowed, and spawn rates dropped. The evergreen vine had more mana available for growth than the rest, but it naturally grew very slowly. It grew almost flat along the ground, without any of the up and down arcs common in the dungeon worldlets. The evergreen vine pushed out bright green needle bundles that opened and darkened to match the older needles, followed by small cones that dropped one or two nuts when they opened. The nuts fell to the ground and lay there, inert, seemly dead, on the cold, hard ground. No creatures or plants spawned in the captured space. Violet experimented with the visual scanner and getting it to function in the captured space. Violet was not used to working on something for long periods of time, so he had taken plenty of breaks to play his music or watch the people trapped in the dungeon. He wasn¡¯t able to communicate with the outside world in any way, but he spent time writing letters anyway. Every time he ran out of procrastination ideas, he would work on the scanner. After two weeks, Violet found he could maintain a viewpoint inside the space if it came from right on top of the dungeon vine and right next to the portal back to the dark worldlet. The image was fuzzy and inconsistent. By flooding the scanner with his own mana, Violet found he could get a clear picture for a second before the viewer collapsed again. The image was half filled with the dungeon vine itself, since the viewpoint had to be so close, but the area above the vine was full of¡­ steam? Violet sacrificed a few scanners in a row to be sure that it was indeed steam. He turned a confused look at the dungeon core. ¡°Is your vine really hot in that captured space?¡± He asked. ¡°It¡¯s leaking a bunch of steam. Did you know that?¡± The dungeon core did not respond. Violet left a fuzzy view on the scanner and went back to his procrastination projects. While he compose lyrics for an emotional song about the uncaring nature of the older generation, the top half of the view on the scanner brightened to nearly white, then quickly darkened to near black.
Snow fell on the evergreen vine. At first, it was a few scattered flakes, but the steam from the dungeon vine crystalized into more and more snowflakes as clouds filled the air above. A wind picked up as the clouds began to swirl. The clouds thickened, cutting off almost all of the light in the captured worldlet. The wind grew so cold that the vine was near freezing, even with the thickened sap inside of it.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. In the dungeon mind space, the sensation of cold settled on all of the information bundles. The bundles suffered discomfort but could not be truly harmed by a physical sensation. The frog bundle tried to dig into the ground to hide from the cold, but the foundational instincts that made up the ground could not be pierced that way. The bat bundle squeaked mournfully as it flew around the mind space. It wanted to huddle with the rest of its colony and warm up. There was no colony of bats in the mind space, but it spotted a potential body to press against. The snake information tried to wind itself in a tight coil, but some of the mushroom network fibers pulled in odd directions. As the snake bundle went into torpor, instinctually responding to sudden cold, the bat landed in the middle of the coil and pressed against the snake. The snake offered no true warmth, and the bat shivered in loneliness. In the captured space, the evergreen vine creaked as its branches coiled up. The bark on the vine cracked and shed some pieces, but the vine succeeded in coiling tightly with its needles shielding from the wind. Mana pumped into the vine and it began to shiver, dislodging the snow and ice and keeping the sap from settling and freezing. The blizzard whipped snow around for hours before enough built up on and in front of the vine to provide some shelter. The blizzard eventually settled down, and the cloud dispersed. Pale white light shone on the snow. After a few more hours, the evergreen vine uncoiled and pushed free of the snow. Steam immediately began to rise from the exposed vine as it grew slowly across the snow-covered ground. A few of the smaller branches on the vine had frozen and died, but the majority survived.
The evergreen vine crept across the captured space for months. Each time the blizzards returned, the bat information bundle and the snake information bundle would huddle together and shiver, triggering the evergreen vine to do the same. The bat bundle eventually become stuck when mushroom network fibers grew across its wings. During those months, Hana led the people in the dungeon to settle in the main, oasis, and delta worldlets. The delta worldlet had the higher number of apricot trees, and the oasis had fish and light that felt like sunlight, but the main worldlet was the easiest place to build simple huts. The people didn¡¯t need the huts for protection from the elements, but it helped morale to have a place to retreat in privacy. Apricots and fish made an acceptable diet for the dungeon people, but many preferred to supplement the diet with snake, frog, and bat meat. The beetles and millipedes had turned out to be inedible. Spiders had never been considered. One of the dungeon people, Jan, tried exploring the tunnel that led into the ground near the main vine body, but had returned, thoroughly spooked, after she heard something very large moving around in the pitch black. When Hana heard her report about the tunnel, they built a short fence around the tunnel mouth. ¡°To keep it out of our thoughts.¡± They explained. Ch 32 - Spark After the strongest and coldest blizzard yet, the evergreen vine bumped up against something. Branches of the vine continued on either side of the something, but one pressed firmly against it. The something sent sensations down the vine similar to those sent by the edge of worldlet spaces. The vine roots did not manage to find purchase in the something, but bit into the ground underneath the something. The roots spread slowly through the ground as the vine grew up and over the obstacle. A few minor blizzards later, the something was fully surrounded by the evergreen vine branches. Needles and roots pressed into the obstacle constantly, but never broke through. A violent and sudden blizzard froze a section of the vine across the side of the obstacle. The vine began to curl up and shiver through the blizzard, but the damage from the frozen section drew a pulse of mana from the dungeon core at the same time. The curling motion of the vine branches increased in speed and strength while the mana swirled through them. *SNAP* The blizzard wind stopped instantly as the obstacle broke from the ground with the pressure from the vine branches. The vine branches sagged a bit as the something vanished. ¡°What is this?¡±
Lightning shot up the dungeon vine, straight into the dungeon mind space. A sparking and buzzing presence filled the dungeon mind space with yellow light and startled the information bundles, except for the jellyfish bundle, which just drifted. ¡°A dungeon mind without a prebuilt cognition engine? Curious. Does it even function?¡± The presence compressed down to a tiny spark and floated around the dungeon mind space, examining everything. It teased the snake bundle and flew circles around the jellyfish bundle. It spent a long time just floating through the sensory information that fell in the mind space like rain. ¡°Well, as interesting as this is, I¡¯m not sure it¡¯s worthwhile to continue the experiment. I¡¯m not even sure how a mindless dungeon could have accessed my space. Hmmm. Perhaps the mind was destroyed? All we have left here is some loose pieces and the instincts for the plant avatar. Pity this place doesn¡¯t even have the ability to form memories.¡± The spark drifted down to the ground and sent tiny bits of energy into the dungeon core instincts. The spark was immediately distracted by portions of the energy that flowed along the mushroom network fibers. ¡°Oh? I didn¡¯t realize the fibers could carry anything. Hmmm!¡± The spark sounded pleased, though nothing around could understand it. The spark laboriously traced out all the mushroom network fibers. It observed points where the fibers had broken and where they had regrown. It sent bits of energy into the fibers at various points to observe the results. ¡°Fascinating. Inefficient. Very inefficient. It isn¡¯t quite like memory, though it is affected by the sensory stimulus and the actions of the¡­¡± The spark trailed off for a moment. ¡°Of the dungeon creature mental avatars, I guess. I think I knew they operated as stimulus-response machines but I can¡¯t clearly recall.¡± The spark whizzed over the heads of the information bundles a few times. ¡°It¡¯s like a subconscious. That is the real value of this experiment. Prebuilt cognition engines don¡¯t have a subconscious. I¡¯m not sure they could even be augmented with a subconscious without fundamental changes. Charlie would know-¡° The spark stopped and suddenly flashed black for a split second and buzzed furiously. It returned to its quiet yellow state and continued with less excitement than before. ¡°Anyway¡­ Don¡¯t fret, little dungeon, I won¡¯t wipe you clean and have you start over. Let¡¯s take a closer look at you.¡±If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. The spark returned to the dungeon instincts and sent bits of energy into them, energy and information began to flow back and forth between the spark and the dungeon instincts. The presence immersed itself more directly in the dungeon senses and abilities.
The presence looked out from the dungeon core itself. It saw a hollow space inside some sort of plant. The space was not very large, perhaps large enough for two fully grown elves to crouch in without touching the core. A fairy with violently violet hair sat in a lawn chair and played a flute while watching a visual scanner. Dungeon fairy assigned, but the dungeon wasn¡¯t reported as defective. Did the fairy do this? The presence watched the fairy play the flute and compose terrible lyrics for ten minutes or so. No, I think he might just be a terrible dungeon fairy. ¡®Inexperience¡¯ would be the kind way to phrase it. The presence watched the dungeon people on the scanner for a while. Two of the humans, ¡®Dan¡¯ and ¡®Jan¡¯, were dancing around each other in an adorable awkward romance. Apparently, they had both been born and named during a brief short-name fad and their odd names had brought them together as childhood friends. Jan¡¯s family had moved away for a number of years and had recently returned to ¡°the hill¡±, whatever that was. The dungeon fairy and the presence both laughed as Jan barged into someone else¡¯s hut, thinking that Dan and the other person were in a compromising position, but found instead that Dan was helping move and repair a sleeping platform. The other dungeon people were also enjoying the antics of the two young people, though Hana, the leader, seemed only annoyed. The presence was caught off guard when the fairy turned to the dungeon core and asked, ¡°What do you think, another week or so? They have dragged this out much longer than I expected.¡± The fairy waited for some sort of reply before continuing with a shrug. ¡°I suppose it¡¯s the first romance you¡¯ve seen, so it make sense to not have an opinion. We can go back to watching the bats now, I know it¡¯s your favorite.¡± The visual scanner shifted to an underwater view where a flock of blue bats harassed a snake that spat acid from inside an air bubble. The presence extended its senses along the vine that served as the dungeon avatar and felt out the worldlets that the dungeon had created. Nine worldlets in total, no recognizable order to them, though they seemed to follow a theme involving variations of soil, water, and light. The presence examined each worldlet carefully, noting the variety of creatures, the two boss creatures and the aberrant stone bat, and the different evolutions of the dungeon avatar vine. It eventually found the gall and the void bubble trapped inside. ¡°Amazing. Mindless, helpless, driven by pure chance, and still able to thwart my sister¡¯s design.¡± The presence cackled in dark glee for a while. ¡°I think you deserve a reward, dungeon vine! It would be irresponsible to leave you like this forever, but I can point you down a path with great potential. Also, I can¡¯t leave an agent of my sister to potentially infect you.¡± The presence instantly pulled the void bubble into the dungeon mind space, wrapped it in bright yellow power, and crushed it to a single point. _ Spark of Sapience Unlocked _ In the center of the dungeon mind space, a new star shone with mirrored light. Each ray of light from the star held a reflection of the entire mind space. The spark spoke once more. ¡°Good luck, dungeon. I¡¯m leaving now, and there won¡¯t be any trace of me left behind. If you ever form a consciousness, you¡¯ll be a true mind and very powerful, so I promise to check in on you, someday.¡± The spark slid back down the dungeon vine to the captured space and vanished. Ch 33 - Hunger The mirror star picked up and spread the instinctual desires and reactions of each information bundle. The animal bundles each held a strong desire for food and safety. The bat searched for a colony to join. The snake searched for a burrow to hide in. The spider yearned to build a web. The jellyfish drifted. The plant bundles synchronized their desires for water, soil, light, grow, make seeds. The dungeon instincts drank in the mirrored light, full of these desires, and brought out its own desire to grow.
All across the dungeon, spawn fruit stopped falling. The dungeon core brightened as it increased the amount of mana it drew out of the void. Thick streams of mana and water flowed through all the major branches of the dungeon vine, stimulating rapid growth. Over the next week, the dungeon vine pushed through to four new worldlets. *bloop* The first worldlet opened at the end of a branch of the water aligned vine in the sauna worldlet. The branch, empowered with the heightened mana stream, shoved into the new worldlet, and sank roots into thin mud. The mud and rocks were illuminated with a blue-green light. The branches and leaves of the vine spread out across pools of mud surrounding small boulders. The water spray from the vine left the boulders slippery and softened the mud even further. *bloop* The second worldlet opened off the main worldlet, farther from the entrance than the delta worldlet entrance. The vine roots settled into the bank of a small stream that wound through a mixture of rocks and clay loam. A dark green light saturated the worldlet and turned the stream opaque. *bloop* The third worldlet opened in the delta worldlet, behind a grove of apricot trees the dungeon people had planted. The roots dug deep into a soft sandy clay loam, wet from a recent rain. A bright white light shone down between a few clouds. *bloop* The fourth worldlet was another off the main worldlet, this time between the entrance and the portal to the sauna worldlet. The vine roots scrabbled on a bed of gravel and sand. To the left of the entrance, the gravel transitioned to sand which transitioned to silt which bordered a calm lake of clear water. To the right, the gravel increased in size and became large boulders that sat at the foot of sheer stone cliffs.
The boss bat lay stretched out on the largest vine in the underwater worldlet. A handful of bats hung nearby, but most of the colony had been killed recently in a fight with a particularly subtle snake that had already eaten half the colony before it was spotted and destroyed. No spawn fruit fell and no bats replenished the colony. There were no fish to chase or enemies to battle. The boss bat let out a long, soft squeak. It was bored.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. The underworld snake slid slowly through the tunnels, but its heart wasn¡¯t in it. It was pretty sure there was a single bat left in the dungeon underworld, but the snake had never managed to corner the bat or find whatever crack it hid in to rest. Without proper prey, the snake returned to the central tunnel, directly under the roots of the dungeon vine. It lay still and listened to the dungeon music, morose.
Hana sent small teams into the new dungeon floors each time someone noticed a new portal. Without dungeon fruit spawning creatures or new apricot trees, there was no point in maintaining a presence in the new floors, but Hana couldn¡¯t let her people stay idle during a crisis. They organized a larger group to systematically visit dungeon floor that they deemed ¡®safe¡¯ and return with any dungeon creatures present to be used as food. Hana hoped they would find a new area with active spawning underway. Without meat, the grove of apricot trees would not be enough to support the people for long. The harvesters had figured out months ago that the stout sticks that sometimes spawned from the dungeon fruit could be used to chill an area when shoved into the ground. The harvesting scout group used a few poles to explore the edges of the sauna floor, discovering the new swamp floor, and returning with a few baskets of creatures from the quicksand floor. Not one of the scouts felt confident in swimming through the underwater floor, especially when they spotted the big bat with glowing white eyes. Hana and the other protectors under Hill Lord Andebert had all been informed that the acid rain floor only led to a deathtrap full of those awful jellyfish, so Hana had the scouts skip that floor, even if a new floor had appeared and could be explored, it was clear that nothing new had spawned anywhere in the dungeon. When the scouting team failed to find any more dungeon creatures to harvest, Hana ordered everyone to conserve energy and cut rations down to almost nothing.
Inside the dungeon mind space, the plant and dungeon instincts absorbed almost every scrap of mental energy and fed it into the desire to grow. The information bundles moved around weakly or not at all. The plant bundles wilted and yellowed. The animal bundles felt hunger. The drain on mental energy weakened the mushroom network fibers enough that they began to break on their own, without being torn. The snake and bat were so drained that they could hardly coil or shiver. The evergreen vine suffered a few frozen branches with each blizzard. As each day passed without rest or satiation, the hunger in the bundles grew. The mirror star caught and reflected that hunger, intensifying the effect. Eventually, a tipping point was reached and the foundational instincts felt the hunger more strongly than the desire to grow. The plant instincts pulled sustenance from light, which was plentiful in most of the dungeon. The hunger did not decrease but pushed hard on the dungeon instincts. The dungeon instincts roiled with unspent mental energy as it tried to find a path to satisfy the hunger. A dungeon does not eat. It grows by claiming the void, but that is does by expending energy, not consuming. The only ¡°substance¡± a dungeon could be considered to consume was experience. Experience was acquired by attacking intruders. Ch 34 - Give Up Violet was having an odd week. He didn¡¯t know why the dungeon had stopped spawning creatures, but he had a sneaking suspicion that the dungeon was tired of watching the two young people making drama and had decided to force a change in the visual scanner content. Now the dungeon was sending waves of attacking creatures against the human fortifications. Violet had grown attached to the humans trapped in the dungeon, and there were several of them that he didn¡¯t want to see hurt. Violet was ashamed to admit to himself that he mostly didn¡¯t want his main source of entertainment removed. Violet wasn¡¯t so concerned with ideas of ¡°murder¡± or ¡°mercy¡±. He knew that dungeon morality was not meant to match that of humans or fairies or whatever. ¡°Dungeon Morality¡± had been his least favorite class of the classes he had actually attended. A bribe to post-graduate fairy had revealed the secret to acing the final exam in Dungeon Morality: Dungeons should try to kill the highest number of people. As far an anyone could tell, dungeons were natural, alive, and had the same right to exist as anything else under the System. Knowing it was natural for a lion to kill lambs didn¡¯t make it easier to watch, however.
Jan spun her staff and crushed a millipede that had slid through a gap in the fence. She dropped the staff and whipped her sling around to shoot a bat out of the air. The bat went in a basket for meat, the millipede was thrown back over the wall. The ravens might pull its carcass apart later, in the gap between waves. The wave of attacking creatures wasn¡¯t quite finished, so Jan kicked her staff up into her hands and stood ready. She hoped there wouldn¡¯t be any snakes coming over this section of the fence. She hated snakes. An hour later, an older harvester replaced Jan and sent her back to the cooking fires to eat and then rest. When the attacks began, the dungeon people had been spread across three dungeon floors. Hana had reacted immediately and the existing preparations had helped, but a handful of harvesters had died in the first hour. Hana had pulled everyone back into the apricot orchard in the delta worldlet and ordered Dan to get a few people building a fence while the others fought the creatures. As Jan trudged back through the water and sand, she glanced up at the scars on the apricot trees. Dan had to cut several branches from each tree to build most of the fence. The end of the first wave had given everyone the opportunity to criticize Dan for the decision to cripple their food production just to build a fence. Hana had defended Dan¡¯s decision and send everyone to cut branches from the large vine to build more fence and hopefully slow down the spawn rate of the dungeon creatures. Jan handed off her basket of meat creatures and picked up her rations of meat and a single apricot. She heaved a dejected sigh. They had been fighting in shifts for five days. The dungeon monsters were not strong, but there were so many of them. Between each wave of creatures, the large vine regrew its branches at an alarming speed. Members of each shift were tasked with pruning vines as fast as possible before the start of the next wave. Jan didn¡¯t know how much longer she could continue fighting. The endless fighting had improved her Staff Fighting and Sling skills, and a few of the harvesters had increased their level, but Jan was sure that something would break down soon.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
In the dungeon mind space, the dungeon instincts oscillated back and forth between a complete drive to grow and a complete drive to satiate the hunger for experience. The information bundles remained drained and miserable, which the mirror star reflected and spread to the entire space. The grow sessions focused on vine damage before working on claiming more space from the void, so the evergreen vine slowly retreated back across the captured space instead of completely dying. The bat bundle absorbed whatever sensory input rain fell on it. The bat was aware of the attacks on the intruders, though there were no eyes available to send visual data. The bat did not want to attack intruders, the instincts of a bat told it to flee large creatures and hunt small prey. The snake bundle was also aware of the attacks on the intruders. The snake sensed that the large intruders were not food, and the flying food was too well protected to ambush. As the attack waves wore on, the snake instincts told it to give up and turn around. The jellyfish drifted. The mirror star picked up the feeling of give up and spread it around. The other bundles, drained of energy and feeling hunger, had no resistance to give up. The spider curled in on itself. The frog and salamander closed their eyes. The butterfly stopped flapping its wings. The apricot tree dropped its leaves. The moss shriveled and turned dry. The foundational plant instincts stopped pumping so much water through the dungeon vines or pushing vines and roots to grow. The mirror star picked up all of these actions of surrender and reflected them out, intensifying them as bundle resonated with give up. The dungeon instincts struggled again to direct its mental energy. Dungeon cores are not meant to give up, so the instincts found a similar directive: stop. The dungeon core stopped actively pulling mana from the void and dimmed to the strength of a candle. The dungeon vine stopped growing and repairing. The void-claim mechanism ground to a halt. The flows of mana separating the dungeon spaces from the void slowed and frayed. The dungeon instincts stopped draining mental energy from the rest of the mind space. The mirror star spun slowly, reflecting stop and give up around the mental space, reinforcing the actions of all the mental entities. Ch 35 - Shock ¡°Please tell me what¡¯s happening!¡± Violet pleaded with the dungeon core. ¡°I¡¯m worried. Your mana draw is far too low for a healthy dungeon and the ambient mana is getting pretty thin. With the quarantine up, I can¡¯t even call for help. Please!¡± Violet knelt on the floor of the dungeon core hollow. He had dismissed his lawn chair in order to summon a few lanterns for light. Violet felt like the small space was suffocating him, like he was trapped in the rubble of a collapsed cave or locked in a bank safe. The thin ambient mana was not enough to comfortably fly, so Violet was forced to pace back and forth on foot when he wasn¡¯t begging the dungeon core to talk to him. Violet shivered as a wave of cold seemed to wash over him. The System decided to add more worries onto his too-small plate. _ Void Contamination Detected. Quarantine Already Established. Purge Contamination Immediately _
In the dark worldlet, a jellyfish drifted off to the side of the space. The thin ambient mana slowed its travel but did not stop it from floating. When the jellyfish neared the edge of the space, a few particles of black dust settled on the jellyfish¡¯s bell. The bell the jellyfish warped and twisted around the black dust. A thin black slime began to ooze down the jellyfish¡¯s tentacles. When spikes stabbed out of the tentacles, the jellyfish fell. Thrashing its body, the mutant jellyfish was annihilated when it fell past the bottom of the dark worldlet. In every worldlet, black dust began to creep in around the edges. The dust coated and stained everything it touched, like soot. In the acid rain and stony worldlets, the rain and rushing water spread the void soot rapidly across the ground. The acid aligned vine, even without pressure from the dungeon core, naturally secreted a small amount of acid. When the void soot brushed the mana-infused acid, the soot vanished. The creatures in the acid rain worldlet were all infected with the soot and suffered grotesque mutations. Many of the creatures ended up dissolving into puddles of wet soot, but a few salamanders remained with extra limbs, extra eyes, no eyes, spikes, twisted bodies, or multiple mouths. The mutants turned on each other, eating the weakest among them. The soot encroached on the edges of every worldlet, starting a certain distance from the entrance portal. In the quicksand worldlet, the floating motes of light were extinguished as they drifted near the edge of the space. In the swamp worldlet, the puddles of mud grew black. In the oasis, the sand turned grey as the soot was mixed in. The soot vanished from the thick clay mud in the sauna worldlet anywhere the blue vines sprayed mana-infused water. No void soot appeared in the captured space.
A bat sentry alerted the boss bat to the appearance of darkness out in the underwater worldlet. The boss bat swam over to examine the change. It sensed something in the dust that reminded it of the void entity the bat had fought so long ago. The boss bat backed away warily from the dust. It shot a jet of water at the floating black particles. The particles in the path of the jet vanished. With a squeak of satisfaction, the boss bat swam quickly around the air bubbles, mustering the remnants of the colony to defend their home from a new foe.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
In the recently formed stream worldlet, the stream carried the soot along in the current, staining the streambank. The void soot spread up the streambank toward the vine. The soot spread up a leaf that touched the ground. A black stain, like spilled ink, shot up the vine branch, twisting it violently. The branch struck other branches, spreading the stain. Black liquid dripped on the sandy streambank, boiling away the sand and releasing foul smoke. The branches split and joined in knots, sprouting spikes, mouths, and hair. The black stain raced down towards the roots. The roots dissolved into ash, and the worldlet collapsed. The portal from the main worldlet into the stream worldlet snapped closed, severing the vine. The main worldlet shook violently, causing soil to churn and vines to whip back and forth. The towering vine snapped near the base The shaking spread through the portals to every worldlet. The worldlet grounds cracked in many places, rising and sinking irregularly. The fire void artifact tipped precariously and severely burned one of the large blue vines in the sauna worldlet. The stony worldlet cracked, draining away much of the rushing water. Boulders fell from the cliffs in the lake worldlet. Shockwaves rebounded around the underwater worldlet, killing most of the remaining bats. Tunnels all over the underworld collapsed. The dungeon people struggled not to sink in the shaking sand as several apricot trees toppled to the ground. Violet screamed as he was flung into the wall and knocked unconscious.
The shock of losing the stream worldlet struck the dungeon mind space like a sledgehammer striking a table stacked high with porcelain dishes. The information bundles were tossed around the space and the mirror star ricocheted around the space, striking the ground and several bundles, crushing the beetle bundle. Large cracks spread across the foundational instincts. Fragments of instincts were crushed together, ejected from the ground, or sunk out of sight. When the shockwaves faded and the turmoil stopped, the mirror star was orbiting low around the outside of the mind space, rolling through the air like a dropped marble. The butterfly flapped drunkenly above the remains of the beetle, and the other animal bundles pulled themselves out of cracks or out from under debris. The jellyfish drifted, slightly askew. As the mirror star orbited the mind space, the uneven ground cast long shadows, preventing access to the mirrored light for periods of time. The mirror star reflected the chaos and disruption of the mind space into whatever bundles were illuminated by its light. The animal bundles sat in shock and indecision, reinforced by the mirror star when it was in sight. Ch 36 - Greater Mana Vine After Kerrolf died, Hana closed their eyes and let theirself feel their doubts about survival for an entire minute. The old man had walked beyond the fence to get a closer look at the black dust that had appeared right before the earthquake. The man had taken an hour to die. He had screamed in agony then transitioned to hysterical laughter and then helpless sobs of grief. The man seemed to shift from one extreme emotion to another as black veins crawled over his body. Near the end, he hadn¡¯t sounded human anymore. Hana inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. They opened their eyes and ordered sticks placed at regular intervals radiating out from the fence. As the black came closer, the dungeon people might not have any way to stop it, but they would be able to track its progress.
Violet lay curled in the dark against the wall of the dungeon core hollow with the visual scanner hanging in front of his face. He stared blankly as some humans tossed some dried vine branches on top of a mutated corpse, being careful not to get close enough to touch it. One of them touched the vine pile with a torch. Violet pushed out his will to infuse the fire with mana. He remembered a fair amount about void infections from the many nightmares he had suffered after attending certain lectures. Burning the corpse might spread the infection, but void infections would usually dissolve with an application of mana. The dungeon fairy moved the viewpoint around the dungeon, noting where the infection was the worst and which worldlets had suffered damage from the earthquake. There were very few dungeon creatures left after the dungeon people had scoured the dungeon looking for food, and many of the remaining creatures had died from the void infection. The boss bat was struggling to keep the infection at bay with its one remaining bat that could swim. Two other bats clung to the dungeon vine, recovering from their injuries.
Without the foundational instincts drawing down all the mental energy, the information bundles in the dungeon mind space began to feel a bloating sensation. Mental energy pooled in each bundle, waiting to be spent. The mirror light still spread give up, indecision, and shock, so the information bundles were slow to respond to the buildup of mental energy. A few of the bundles began to inflate and distend. The snake shifted with discomfort, instinctually trying to pass an intestinal blockage. The concept of ¡°pass a blockage¡± spread to the other bundles through the mirror light. The plant bundles had no intestines but tried to move more sap or water through their bodies. The animal bundles all began wriggling, pushing, or gagging. The mushroom information bundle sat in a crevice, out of reach of the mirror light. It slowly grew its network fibers under and through the debris of the shattered instincts. The buildup of mental energy was a little faster than the mushroom could direct into extending the network, so the mushroom body slowly grew, opening it¡¯s bell high and wide. The mushroom had grown fat and showed signs of internal stress when it reached high enough to catch a sliver of mirror light through a crack. The concept of ¡°pass a blockage¡± had almost no relation to anything in the mushroom bundle, but there was one action that was similar in the sense of ¡°ejection¡±. The action had been artificially disabled when the mushroom bundle had been unlocked, but the restriction mechanism had been damaged during the mental shockwaves. The mushroom bundle flared the gills under its bell and released a thick cloud of spores.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. The mushroom body shrank down a bit after expending so much energy on the spores. The downward movement of the bell forced the air in the crevice up and out, carrying the spores along as a thick cloud. The spore cloud blocked the light from the mirror star and cast a sudden shadow on multiple information bundles. The animal bundles in shadow instinctually reacted in fear of a whatever predator had cast the sudden shadow. The butterfly flapped its thick wings. The frog kicked its legs, trying to shift its swollen belly. The snake raised its head, mouth open to bite. The spore cloud dispersed, drifting around the mental space. The mirror star picked up on the strong danger reactions from the bundles and reflected it back across the space. Like a herd of deer, the bundles reacted immediately to the hint of danger and followed their instincts to flee, fight, or hide. The apricot tree grew thicker bark. The millipede tried to dart for a dark hole. The spider struggled to build a tight web funnel around itself. The fish flopped ineffectually. The bat squeaked in fear and tried to fly. The jellyfish drifted along the ground, too heavy to float. The mirror star also reflected the sense of danger on the broken plant and dungeon instincts. While they were no longer whole, many parts of them were intact. The instincts of a poison berry vine activated to stimulate the growth of poison fruit throughout the dungeon. The dungeon instincts related to protection flared and directed mana in multiple directions. The dungeon core pulled the maximum amount of mana it could handle, increasing its brightness so quickly that Violet screamed and covered his eyes. The mana flows between the dungeon spaces and the void swelled into a roaring river of mana, cutting off the source of the void infection. The core sent mana to spawn defenses against intruders; poison vine fruit began falling in the dungeon again. Mana flowed into every branch and leaf of the dungeon vine, repairing and strengthening it. The amount of mana pulled by the core was more than could be used and the excess spilled out of the regular mana channels, directly into the flesh of the dungeon vine or out into the air of the dungeon. The dungeon vine began to glow and pulse with power. _ Natural Evolution: ¡°Greater Mana Vine¡± Unlocked _ Ch 37 - Something Different Jan was shaken awake. Literally shaken, by a pair of hands. She gasped a breath as her mind swam into consciousness. Dan¡¯s blurry face hung above Jan¡¯s head. ¡°Stop.¡± She said thickly, trying to push his hands away. She was so tired. ¡°Jan, wake up! Hana called for all fighters. Grab your spear!¡± Dan started to pull her into sitting up then handed her a small cup of water. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Dan turned and dashed away. Jan blinked after him as the meaning of his words sunk through her exhaustion. ¡°Yes, Dan.¡± She said drank the water, grabbed her spear, and stood. She jogged after Dan. The ravens were cawing loudly today. The light is strange today. She thought. Is the dungeon going to start giving us day and night in here? That would be nice. Jan reached Dan and Hana at the fence, close to the opening that funneled most of the dungeon creatures into a chokepoint. Since there was clearly no fighting going on at the moment, Jan rubbed at her eyes, trying to clear her vision. It didn¡¯t work. Why is it so dark? She wondered, looking around. The ravens cawing came from above her and she looked up. Giant leaves spread out above her. The ravens all perched on the leaf stems or hopped back and forth to a branch as thick as her leg. Jan¡¯s mouth dropped open in shock. ¡°We¡¯ve shrunk!¡± She yelled in panic. The fighters around her started laughing, but their merriment was cut short when a dungeon fruit the size of a melon crashed to the ground nearby. The fruit split open, releasing several snakes. With all the fighters around, Jan couldn¡¯t decide if she was more shocked by a fruit that spawned multiple snakes, or that one of those snakes made it to the fence and escaped. Hana¡¯s voice cut through the commotion. ¡°The creatures are not attacking. We have enough food for now, so let the creatures escape if you want. Dan and Rionach, take your scout teams out. Return in one hour.¡± Hana clapped their hands. ¡°The rest of you, spread out and make sure spawned creatures don¡¯t head towards camp center.¡± Dan pushed through the fighters to Jan. ¡°Are you up for this? I know how tired you¡¯ve been.¡± Excitement and concern showed on his face. Jan smiled. She was excited too. Finally, something different.
The underworld snake dug contentedly through the soil. The dungeon music was loud and clear and there was prey in the tunnels again. Many of the tunnels had collapsed, true, but the snake was willing to dig for miles to connect them again. Some of the vine roots had grown so large that they filled the tunnels near the center, and the tubers grew half as large as the snake¡¯s head before dropping to the tunnel floor and splitting open. The snake thought it was great fun to have several prey creatures appear at once so it could chase them all for a few minutes before letting some escape to be hunted later.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
The boss bat rested on a dungeon branch as big around as an old tree. The mana radiating from the branches and leaves of the vine was enough to push back the black dust that had nearly consumed the entire worldlet. The boss bat watched as spawn fruit fell and bats trickled in to fill the colony. When the colony was back to full strength, the boss bat would take them to destroy the last of the black dust before leading a hunting party against a few snakes it had noticed. The boss bat squeaked a happy welcome to the newest bats and they squeaked back.
The ravens were thrilled with the changes to the vine plant. The Huge leaves offered lots of cover for hide-and-seek and the food creatures were more docile now, instead of constantly attacking. The ravens felt stronger now that the fighting had stopped. They flew quicker and more nimbly. The flock followed some of the humans as they scouted the dungeon. The ravens were not quite so young anymore and felt the desire to establish their territories as pairs. One pair of ravens settled in the vines near the human camp, and the other pair settled on a branch reaching up from the broken base of the towering vine.
Violet adjusted his sun hat and dark glasses as he lounged in his lawn chair. He moved the viewpoint of the visual scanner slowly through the dungeon worldlets, noting the changes. The void soot had retreated from the vine in every worldlet, thanks to the evolution of the dungeon avatar vine. The ¡°Greater Mana Vine¡± radiated mana in all directions, and the mana infused water or acid of the various mutations had become extra potent. The acid rain worldlet was already cleared of void soot, as was the sauna worldlet. The ambient mana was stronger than ever and the dungeon creatures had been strengthened. The hollow area around the dungeon core had tripled in size, so much that Violet felt he was sitting in an empty cathedral. All in all, the dungeon fairy was furious. He refused to even look at the dungeon core and had set up a room divider to block the orb¡¯s view of him. Violet knew the dungeon could perceive everything in the dungeon and didn¡¯t rely on sight, but he just felt so angry and needed to send a message. If the dungeon wasn¡¯t going to talk, then he wasn¡¯t going to talk either. Lowering the defenses and losing an entire worldlet had been reckless. The entire dungeon could have been shaken loose from the side of the world, or the void infection might have reached the dungeon core and corrupted it. Violet couldn¡¯t bring himself to discuss it with the dungeon yet, so he wrote his feelings in some letters to his imaginary pen pals that he would never send.
In the dungeon mind space, the mushroom spores settled on the other information bundles and across the ground, in every crack and crevice. The spores sprouted into nodes of network fibers and began growing in every direction. A few spores had landed on the broken beetle bundle. When those spores sprouted into fibers, the fibers pierced deep into the broken fragments and began to break it down. _ Spawn Lost: Lesser Beetle _ Mushroom network fibers spread across the entirety of the mind space, connecting into a haphazard mesh. Broken pieces of plant and dungeon instincts began to decompose like the broken beetle bundle. The mushroom network absorbed and shared the resources from the decomposing mental constructs. The information bundles connected to the network continued to feel danger each time the mirror light swept over them, but as they absorbed mental resources from the mushroom network, that danger was tempered with strong. Ch 38 - Washed Clean The eye vines in the dark worldlet gazed into the darkness. The void infection had never managed to gain a foothold on the floating clumps of pebbles, but the soot still floated near the edges of the space. A few of the eyes narrowed, as though they spotted something. Beams of mana shot from the eyes and erased patches of the floating void soot. A few of the remaining worldlets did not need any assistance from the dungeon people to clear the void soot. After the sauna worldlet was washed clean, the quicksand and swamp worldlets quickly followed. Blue motes of light returned to fill in the edges of the quicksand worldlet. The bats cleared the underwater worldlet after a few days, and the acid rain worldlet cleared itself one day later. The evergreen vine did not radiate mana like the other greater mana vines. The evergreen mutation was focused on retaining water and mana, not spraying it around. The stream of mana that the dungeon core sent into the evergreen vine was spent on growing and reinforcing the needles and branches. With the larger size and increase in mana, the vine could more easily weather the blizzards. The branches still grew low along the ground, but they stayed warm enough to melt the snow alongside the larger branch, forming a path. The lack of radiating mana did not delay the purge of the void soot because none had ever appeared in the mana-less space.
The dungeon people were relieved that the dungeon had returned to ¡°normal¡± but remained cautious. Hana kept them living behind defenses and sleeping in shifts, but they were able to go out and collect apricots from the other trees in the dungeon. The people noticed right away that the newer apricot trees grew faster and produced more fruit, so they kept watch for new ones that could be transplanted into the apricot orchard to replace the damaged trees. The larger dungeon fruit would spawn multiple creatures at a time, but also more resources. Most of the resources spawned from the fruits as melon sized orbs, but the stone, flint, and amber would spawn as a jumble of small stones. A few people tried collecting the orbs of lead, but the weight of the orbs made them inconvenient. The sudden safety and improved quality of food had the dungeon people in high spirits and they soon celebrated a wedding. Jan and Dan swore a marriage oath to each other in the center of the worldlet behind the apricot orchard which the people had named ¡°the fields¡±. One clever harvester strung a harp with snake gut and played very badly while everyone danced around. When the rain began falling on the fields, Hana ordered everyone back to work. A few of the scouts had noticed that the soot avoided the new vines, so Hana directed them to try shifting some of the smallest branches nearer to the soot. This experiment proved that the vines could erase the soot somehow and it didn¡¯t return, so the dungeon people began the hard work of dragging huge vines around the edges of the dungeon floors to clear out the infection.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Dan picked up another stone and skipped it across the lake. After several skips, the stone disappeared. He pointed at the abrupt termination of the ripples. ¡°See? Everything just stops there. I think the same thing happens on the other floors, but something stops us from thinking about it, or maybe stops us from looking at it.¡± His lounging companion, Galbran, took a bite of dried apricot while shaking his head. ¡°I really don¡¯t understand what you mean. We know the dungeon floors don¡¯t go on forever, but I don¡¯t see anything different about the lake.¡± Dan furrowed his brows in confusion. ¡°Do you see how the ripples stop, like they hit a wall? Right there, see?¡± He pointed again at the spot. Galbran squinted at the water. ¡°I do not.¡± Dan put his fists on his hips and stared out over the lake. He was frustrated that no one else could see the small oddities that he could. Dan sometimes wondered if he was imagining things, inventing distractions to keep his mind occupied during the repetitive days. The wall in the lake was the easiest thing for Dan to see, but its effects were invisible to everyone else, it seemed. Galbran stood and clapped Dan on the back. ¡°Come Dan, since you got Jan removed from the work of carrying vines, you had better take the lead on this next section.¡± Dan looked confused again. ¡°What? I didn¡¯t-¡° His mouth shut with a snap as he realized what Galbran meant. His face turned bright red as Galbran laughed and walked back to their vine.
Violet sighed as he watched Dan on the visual scanner, struggling to lift a few hundred pounds of vine over a boulder in the lake worldlet. Watching humans perform manual labor was much less interesting than watching romantic drama or watching the more clever humans figure out how to entice the dungeon vine to grow straight up a cliff. Violet moved the scanner back to the main camp, hoping to find the harp player on break. He was in luck, the aspiring harpist was tuning up his crude instrument. Violet pulled out his flute to try and play an improvised duet along with the harp. In the dungeon fairy¡¯s opinion, the results were terrible. The harp never got near being ¡°in tune¡±, and the harpist had no real idea how to play it. Violet didn¡¯t mind, it was something to do. Violet had given up trying to ¡°investigate¡± the captured space. He hoped someone important would show up soon and take care of that business. In the meantime, Violet watched the humans, played his flute, wrote letters to imaginary friends, and tended a patch of moss that he had set up in a little planter box. He wished one of the dungeon creatures was small enough to be a practical pet for him, but it was not likely any creature would stay small after the dungeon claimed it. Violet also wished he had a better imagination or wider interests. If he could forget how much debt he was in, he would probably quit and leave the dungeon (if the quarantine wasn¡¯t in place) but being alone in the dungeon was better than having sewer rats for roommates. Ch 39 - Congratulations It took two months for the dungeon people to clean the soot from the worldlets they could access. Most of the work teams had taken the liberty of leaving the large vines placed in graceful arcs, loops, and in one instance, a spiral instead of the outward-radiating straight vines the dungeon normally grew.
The last particle of void soot was caught deep in the cracked ground of the stony worldlet. With each wave of rushing water that swept across the worldlet, the soot particle swirled around in chaotic eddies before settling back down as most of the water drained away. The roots of the acid aligned vine ate down through the stone, but their progress was slow and not concentrated toward the soot particle. A large spawn fruit fell from the vine and was swept into the crack. It became wedged near the top before splitting open and releasing four fish. The fish tumbled about in the eddies for few seconds before they got their bearings. One of the fish swam out the top of the crack and was swept away as the wave of water receded. The other three fish swam purposely back and forth as the water level in the crack dropped. As the crack narrowed, the fish crowded together. When the next wave of water arrived, the fish spread out again. One fish remained near the bottom and spotted the soot particle dancing around in the water. The fish snapped it up, hoping for something tasty. A black stain leaked out from the fish¡¯s gills and covered it¡¯s scales. The fish thrashed in pain as every scale erupted outward into an insectile leg. The body of the fish lengthened and its legs scrabbled at the rock like a hideous centipede. The fishes head melted away to reveal a bird-like beak that snapped at the water. The mutant fish shot up the side of the crack as its fins grew half-melted feathers. At the top of the crack, the mutant turned and raced toward the dungeon vine, beak dripping with ichor. A few of the jellyfish released sprays of acid as they detected the disturbance below them. The mutant wove around the sprays of acid but lost half of its legs on one side. It let out a burbling scream but continued towards the vine. The mana radiating from the vine eroded the flesh of the mutant, slowing its progress and blinding its senses. A few more sprays of acid ate through the middle of the creature. The wave of water began to recede, pulling the feet out from under it. The creature gave another burbling scream as its two halves were washed away to the edge of the worldlet. The scream cut off abruptly and the creature was annihilated. _ Void Contamination Purged. Experience Awarded. Quarantine Removal Requirements Not Met _ _ Core Level Increased to 9. Mana Storage Increased 5%. Mana Generation Increased 5%. Durability Increased 10% _ _ Select Dungeon Reward: - New Material - Unlock Spawn - Unlock Treasure - Entrance Feature (Disabled Due to Quarantine) _The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. _ Random Selection: ¡°New Material¡± Selected. Select From Available Materials: ¡­ _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Silk¡± _
Deep in the clay mud of the sauna worldlet, the dungeon vine roots slowly pried open a crack in the edge of the space. The roots forced their way deeper inside the crack, then swelled with immense force. pop
The underworld snake paused in its digging. A wave of vertigo swept over it, followed by a dull popping sound. The snake began to frantically back out of the fresh tunnel as it heard a new dungeon music, separate from the first. The two dungeon musics were similar and seemed to build on each other. The snake finally extracted its head from the digging and turned to race around the underworld tunnels. It wanted to find the source of the new music. The snake soon found a new set of tunnels branching off the furthest tunnels the snake had explored. The new tunnels felt slick and sticky. Water dripped all around the snake. The snake hesitated for a moment, worried the tunnels would collapse or flood, but the new music was stronger now, it certainly came from somewhere in these new tunnels. The underworld snake slid through the muddy tunnels until it found a small cavern with roots growing out of the roof. Water dripped constantly from the roots, allowing the snake to rinse off a layer of mud. A few tubers grew on the roots and the snake knew they might spawn prey. The snake was excited to explore these new tunnels and learn the differences of hunting in mud. The snake hissed in happy satisfaction as it listened to the new and old dungeon musics.
_ Multiple Worldlet Anchor Points Detected (x2). Worldlet Stability Greatly Increased. Mana Generation Increased Approximately 9%. Congratulations. _ _ Select Dungeon Reward (x2): - New Material - Unlock Spawn - Unlock Treasure - Entrance Feature (Disabled Due to Quarantine) _ _ Random Selection: ¡°New Material¡± Selected. Select From Available Materials: ¡­ _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Bone¡± _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Unlock Spawn¡± Selected. Select From Available Spawn: ¡­ _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Lesser Peafowl¡± _
Violet woke from a nap as he sensed a jump in the mana output of the dungeon core. He peeked around the side of his room divider at the dungeon core. He pulled his head back and rubbed at his eyes, cursing. He summoned his dark glasses and jammed them on his face before peeking at the dungeon core again. Yes, the core was putting out more mana but its level hadn¡¯t gone up. Violet raised his eyebrows as the mana output jumped again by a small amount. He didn¡¯t want to be the first one to break the silence between him and the dungeon core, but his curiosity burned brightly. It had been months since the core had let the stream worldlet collapse and it had been operating at maximum since that time. Violet was pretty sure the void infection was gone, though most of that work had been done by the humans. Maybe the dungeon fairy could graciously offer an olive branch to the dungeon core in recognition of the responsibility and consistency it had shown. Violet stepped out from the room divider and floated over to the dungeon core. He cleared his throat, feeling pretty awkward. ¡°Um, hello. I noticed that your mana output went up. Just now.¡± Violet mentally kicked himself in irritation. You¡¯re not an adolescent asking someone to a dance, dammit, you¡¯re a dungeon fairy talking to your coworker. BE DIRECT. He cleared his throat again. ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like you gained a level, and it¡¯s not the same kind of jump I saw when you added new worldlets. Would you care to tell me where this increase came from? As your assigned dungeon fairy, I think it¡¯s important that I stay informed on your general state.¡± The dungeon core did not respond. Violet frowned. ¡°You know, now that your brightness doesn¡¯t fluctuate, it¡¯s really hard to understand you. You¡¯ll need to come up with a different way to communicate.¡± Ch 40 - Almost Completely Happy _ Random Selection: ¡°Unlock Spawn¡± Selected. Select From Available Spawn: ¡­ _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Lesser Swamp Gremlin¡± _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Unlock Treasure¡± Selected. Select From Available Treasure: ¡­ _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Leather Belt¡± _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Unlock Spawn¡± Selected. Select From Available Spawn: ¡­ _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Lesser Squid¡± _ _ Random Selection: ¡°New Material¡± Selected. Select From Available Materials: ¡­ _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Coral¡± _ _ Random Selection: ¡°New Material¡± Selected. Select From Available Materials: ¡­ _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Salt¡± _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Unlock Spawn¡± Selected. Select From Available Spawn: ¡­ _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Lesser Clam¡± _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Unlock Spawn¡± Selected. Select From Available Spawn: ¡­ _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Tree Spider Weasel¡± _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Unlock Spawn¡± Selected. Select From Available Spawn: ¡­ _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Miniature Flying Horse¡± _ _ Random Selection: ¡°New Material¡± Selected. Select From Available Materials: ¡­ _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Bronze¡± _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Unlock Spawn¡± Selected. Select From Available Spawn: ¡­ _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Red Grass Snake¡± _
One by one, the dungeon vines dug their roots down into the dungeon underworld. The underwater worldlet and the dark worldlet were the last two to make the connection, as their roots didn¡¯t grow ¡°underground¡±. The portal in the dark worldlet was in the middle of a clump of floating pebbles, and the portal in the underwater worldlet was hanging in the water just below the first air bubble. The bats investigated the new portal and found an underground river rushing through a maze of tunnels. There were enough air pockets in the tunnels that the bats were able to map out several tunnels. While it was an interesting hunting ground, most of the bats decided to stay in the underwater worldlet. The bats soon found that the snakes were no longer the only predators worth worrying about. The new red and orange squid did not blend in well in the underwater worldlet, but they were excellent swimmers and could handle several bats at a time with all those arms. There was also a long furry creature with too many legs that sometimes stalked along the top of the vines, looking for sleeping bats.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
The underworld snake was almost completely happy. Ten more dungeon musics had joined the first two. The resulting harmonies sent constant shivers of joy through the snake. There was more prey in the tunnels than ever before, and the tunnels were more numerous, of all different kinds. One section of tunnels wasn¡¯t even made of tunnels¡ªit was a lake of loose pebbles around a single cavern where the roots entered. The snake could swim through the pebbles as fast as it could slide through empty tunnels, and the pebbles closed up behind it. This made hunting prey quite challenging, because the prey could hide anywhere in the lake of pebbles. Yes, there were only two problems. The first problem was that one section of tunnels was full of cold rushing water. The snake was not a water snake and had no desire to swim. The dungeon music from the water filled tunnels was also very faint, which saddened the snake. The second problem was that the snake could still not locate the bat. The bat had haunted the underworld for months and had eluded the underworld snake the entire time. The snake could tell the bat was still in the tunnels¡ªit could hear the bat squeaking to itself or the other bats sometimes. But the snake never managed to reach the source of the squeaking in time to catch the bat. All it ever found was empty tunnels or a loose rock or two. The snake was beginning to feel inadequate.
The stone bat picked itself up off the floor of the tunnel as the sound of the giant snake receded in the distance. As long as the bat stayed perfectly still, the silly snake couldn¡¯t tell it apart from an ordinary rock. The bat had gotten painfully bored once when it had been stuck on the floor of the main cavern while the big snake moped about because it had nothing to hunt. The stone bat scampered off to the sandy tunnels. When it reached the central cavern, it climbed the roots until it could crawl up through the portal. On the other side, it struggled to dig its way up through the sand in the oasis worldlet. The bat enjoyed watching the worldlet transition from day to night. The feeling of hot sand slowly cooling in the dark was very pleasant. Climbing to the top of the largest vine, the stone bat hopped along until it could take a branch toward the acid rain worldlet. By staying on top of the vine, the bat successfully avoided the human intruders, though there were some new creatures with too many legs who preferred being high in the vines also. The bat moved as quickly as possible along the acid vine so as to not take too much damage before jumping off the vine directly into the crack in the stony worldlet. One end of the crack went right up to the portal to the underworld. In the wet stone tunnels, the bat paused to listen for the giant snake. Hearing nothing, it scampered off.
A grey blue flying horse, about as large as a cat, grazed on moss in the swamp worldlet. It stared stupidly at an acid aligned mushroom that sprouted out of the moss. Yellow liquid dripped from the mushroom onto the moss. The moss sizzled and let off a foul-smelling smoke. The horse took a bite of the mushroom. The horse spat out the mushroom and shook it¡¯s head while whinnying in pain. It pranced about and flapped its wings, nearly falling into a small pond. A peacock squawked angrily at the noisy horse. Eventually, the horse settled down and resumed grazing moss. It bit the mushroom three more times before there wasn¡¯t enough mushroom left to tempt it. Ch 41 - Curiosity Jan stretched luxuriously on a silk covered mattress as she sipped ice water from a ceramic cup. She fiddled idly with the peacock feathers braided in her hair and watched Pan toss bites of squid to his young raven friend. The raven had hatched the same day as Pan had been born and was Pan¡¯s best playmate. Jan reached for her own plate of squid and thought about how much had changed in the last year and a half. Dan interrupted her thoughts. ¡°I know what you¡¯re doing¡± He said with a small smile. Jan narrowed her eyes at him. ¡°Oh? What am I doing?¡± Her voice full of warning. Dan took a bite of horse wing. Jan didn¡¯t understand why he liked the smallest bits of meat on those silly creatures. ¡°You¡¯re thinking back on our time in this wonderful dungeon. You remember how we have built this roundhouse and covered it with more beautiful things than we had ever seen before coming here. The food is good, the creatures are under control, and we have the most wonderful blood red, blood flavored disgusting bread anyone could ask for.¡± Dan, teasing, pointed the wing at her in accusation. ¡°You¡¯re ignoring the time when we had to fight for our lives for a week straight and trade out for shifts in smelly uncomfortable beds. You¡¯re not thinking about how twice, TWICE, we all thought we were going to starve to death or how we were all nearly naked because our clothes were so worn.¡± Dan leaned back and put a superior look on his face. ¡°No, you only focus on the comfort of silks and the good food and how our child had a bird friend who can speak into our minds.¡± Jan¡¯s glare broke and she laughed. ¡°That raven can¡¯t speak in our minds, you goblin¡¯s beard, and of course I want to remember the good things more than the bad, why would I sit in our lovely roundhouse and brood about how hard things used to be?¡± ¡°He can!¡± Dan protested animatedly. ¡°He can! Remember when he warned us about that tree weasel that snuck into camp? And Pan always knows when his raven is coming to play.¡± Jan shook her head and lay down with her hands behind her head. ¡°He didn¡¯t warn us, someone just looked up and spotted that creature. And of course Pan knows when the raven is coming, they¡¯ve known each other their whole lives.¡± She made a show of wiggling in comfort on the silk. ¡°Those blood grass snakes are disgusting, I agree. Better than those little swamp gremlins.¡± ¡°True.¡± Dan said.
In the dungeon mind space, a ghostly raven hopped across a crack in the remains of the foundational instincts. The raven was made of soft white whisps of light that continuously flowed like smoke from a dying fire. The raven hopped back across the crack. It could tell that something was happening down there. The raven stuck its beak as deep into the crack as it could, but it couldn¡¯t reach whatever was down there. The raven¡¯s curiosity burned white hot and the mirror star spread the feeling to the information bundles sitting in the light. The bundles had all been lashed to the ground ages ago by the mushroom network, all aside from the jellyfish, which drifted through the space, never landing. The bat information bundle turned its head toward the raven ghost, feeling the curiosity, but saw nothing of interest. The flying horse bundle stomped its hooves and tossed its head. Most other illuminated bundles ignored the feeling, not having much compatibility with the feeling of curiosity.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. The raven cawed as a light flickered deep in the crack. The mental energy of the mind space swirled and tugged briefly on all the bundles. The energy condensed into a small whirlwind above the crack. The raven struggled to not be blown away or pulled in by the energy, losing two white feathers. The feathers were sucked into the whirlwind and dissolved. The whirlwind reached down into the crack, spinning more tightly with each rotation. The entire mind space groaned as tremendous amounts of mental energy drained into the crack. The whirlwind condensed down into a glowing and slightly curved line. The drain on mental energy stopped. The raven peeked around a boulder at the glowing line, perhaps more curious than before. The glowing line bent back and forth for a few seconds. Fragments of light stretched out from the line at various points and the top of the line opened into a bundle of fragments. The light faded and the line turned green. The fragments were leaves on a green vine that grew up from the crack. The raven flapped its wings and hopped over to the vine, leaving the shadow of the boulder. The mirror light reflected the raven¡¯s curiosity across the mind space and onto the new vine. The vine drank in the light of the mirror star and the sensory information that fell like rain across the dungeon mind. The raven hopped around the vine, observing that the vine was growing slowly but visibly. The mirror light picked up feelings of caution, hunger, desire to hunt, and strength along with the curiosity. As the mirror star orbited the mind space, the balance of these feelings shifted as different bundles became illuminated or fell in shadow. The vine branched several times as it grew slowly along the ground. The raven came back often to see the progress of the vine and to play games or tricks on the stationary information bundles. During one visit, a knock sounded through the entire dungeon.
The knocking sound echoed strangely in the dungeon worldlets. Creatures hid in fear of whatever was large enough to make such a sound. The dungeon people, after looking around in confusion, followed Hana¡¯s orders to double up on defense and remain extra cautious. A team of scouts was sent to survey the nearby dungeon floors and check the seal on the dungeon entrance. The raven and the toddler paused in their play and stared at each other in surprise. The raven¡¯s curiosity flared up again because it hadn¡¯t only heard the knock with its ears¡ªit had heard the knock in its mind, in the toddler¡¯s mind, and in the mind of the dungeon. Ch 42 - Second Knock
As the echoes of the knock faded, the System prompted the dungeon. _ Permit Non-Standard Entry During Quarantine? y/n _ _ Random Selection. ¡°No¡± Selected _
Violet Danderpuff looked up from his latest painting. ¡°What was that?¡± He asked in surprise. The dungeon core didn¡¯t respond, so he turned to his wall of visual scanners. There was at least one scanner for each worldlet, one for the captured space, and multiple for the human camp and the underworld tunnels. Aside from the dungeon creatures all hiding in fear, nothing looked out of the ordinary. Violet shrugged and turned back to his painting. He was particularly proud of this piece. The only pigment that was easy to make in the dungeon was blood red, thanks to the red grass snake: a curious creature that caused red grass stalks to spout behinds its body as it moved, then returned and ate the grass later. Violet had milled some water aligned millipede chitin for blue and managed to find enough yellow snake scales to mill for yellow. Mixing the powders into apricot seed oil and using a weasel-hair brush to paint on wooden boards, Violet felt himself a real painter. Who knows, he might be able to sell some of these pieces if anyone ever showed up to break the quarantine.
The evergreen vine had grown all the way across the captured space. The furthest tip of the vine pushed against the edge of the space. Its needles jabbed into and caught on nothing. With the relentless pressure of a glacier, the evergreen vine pushed through. *bloop* *snap* The end of the vine settled onto a hard sandy floor. A few roots extended from the vine to anchor it in the ground. A medium yellow light, like a late afternoon sun, lit the needles of the vine. On the far end of the new worldlet, an exit portal stood. _ Recent Void-Claimed Space Interfaces With a Known, Established World. Warning: Quarantine Removal Requirements Not Met _ A panel of solid mana appeared over the new exit portal, sealing it. _ Warning: Interworld Connection Detected. Consult With Your Dungeon Fairy on the Dangers of this Situation _ Description (1): Mana naturally flows from higher density to lower density. Sufficient difference in mana density between two connected containers results in a mana vortex that is incredibly destructive. A similar vortex results from two high density containers of different forms of mana. A connection between two worlds must be engineered specifically to inhibit the formation of such a vortex in either direction. This must be done because different worlds are almost universally of different mana compositions as well as densities. When the worlds are connected by a structure through the void, the mana on either side tries to equalize. The resulting vortex is incredibly powerful and will likely cause the destruction of the connecting structure. _ _ Description (2): Portals into established worlds should originate from said established world. If a portal is established from a miniature void space into an established world, the location of the portal inside the established world is unpredictable. The portal might appear in an innocuous location such as a desert or forest, but it might appear at the bottom of a magma chamber or on an airless moon or in the middle of a village of angry natives. Environmental hazards of sufficient energy (such as molten magma or angry natives) can traverse open portals and cause significant damage to void spaces.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Portal from void spaces into establish worlds do, however, follow the ¡°no ladders required¡± principle: the portal will be drawn towards a significant boundary of some kind (i.e. the portal will appear on the ground instead of a small distance above the ground, which would require a ladder to reach) _ _ Warning: Quarantine Removal will Result in an Open Interworld Connection _
A second knock echoed through the dungeon. In the dungeon mind space, the energy of the knock sank into the mushroom network and flowed along to the information bundles and the new vine. As the vine branches had put down roots to anchor themselves, the mushroom network fibers had grown connections into the roots. Energy from the knock up from the vine roots into the branches. Near the central body of the vine, a ghostly replica of a branch formed. The ghostly branch vibrated with the energy of the knock, then began to radiate curiosity. The mirror star reflected the curiosity of the ghostly branch around the mind space. All the vine branches grew slightly from the energy of the knock, but the ones lit by the mirror star grew a little more from the light filled with curiosity. A moment later, the ghost branch sank down into the branch below it.
Violet dropped half the clay mugs he had made when the second knock surprised him. ¡°Dammit!¡± Balancing on one foot, he waved the other at the clay shards, sweeping them into the scraps bucket. ¡°Who¡¯s knocking?¡± He demanded, walking over to put the remaining mugs back on the drying shelves. ¡°Where are they knocking?¡± He snaped his fingers to dismiss his apron and clean himself off. ¡°What are they knocking on?¡± He stomped over to the wall of visual scanners and glared at it. He spent a minute trying to divine some pattern from the dungeon creatures slowly emerging from hiding. He didn¡¯t recognize any pattern, so he looked over the human viewers to see what they were up to. Looks like they are cutting vine branches to reinforce their defenses. Well¡­ that¡¯s probably wise. The humans obviously didn¡¯t know where the knock came from. No help there. Violet growled in frustration and rubbed at his face. Once was an anomaly, twice means I can¡¯t ignore it. Sighing, Violet summoned a fancy desk with a fancy chair to sit in. He closed his eyes for a few seconds to focus a bit of magic. A hollow sphere appeared above the desk. A set of dots appeared on the sphere and a few hundred lines traced labyrinthine paths through the sphere, connecting the dots. Above each dot, a squashed ball appeared. The balls connected in a sort of tree that wrapped around the sphere. Violet opened his eyes to examine his dungeon map. The dungeon hadn¡¯t provided him with sufficient authority to access the real map, but Violet had lots of free time on his hands. ¡°If I were to knock, where would I knock?¡± Violet asked himself. He extended a baton and mimed tapping on the dungeon. He tapped on the entrance, the tunnels, the portal to the captured space, and several other places. Nothing seemed right. The creatures reacted similarly in every worldlet. ¡°Maybe the knock wasn¡¯t loud in the tunnels?¡± He mused. ¡°Not as many creatures down there thanks to the giant snake. The knock could have been from above and just echoed down into the tunnels.¡± He tapped idly on the desk with the baton. He summoned another baton and tapped both. He tapped out a syncopated rhythm on the desk. He hummed along to the tapping batons for a while before he reached one up and tried to strike the dungeon map like a gong. He blinked in surprise when the baton slipped from his fingers. He watched the baton roll off the desk and onto the floor, where it vanished. The map and the other baton vanished as well. Violet groaned and put his head down on the desk. ¡°Oh no. This is one of those dimensional things, isn¡¯t it?¡± He sat back up, heaved a heavy sigh, clapped his hands, and summoned the largest textbook that he had been required to purchase for the most boring class ever. The desk creaked dramatically as he set the book down and opened to the chapter listing. He fell asleep on the book before he reached the second page. Ch 43 - Haywire
The sensation of pressure from without trickled into the dungeon mind space. The sensation joined the sensory information that fell like rain across the dungeon mind. Upon reaching the ground, the sensory rain was absorbed by the mushroom network and the roots of the new vine. The new vine continued to grow, incorporating the sensation into its flesh. The pressure stopped, and the dungeon mind space did not react. The pressure returned, more sharply. The sensation arrived in the mind space from a clear direction. The mushroom network absorbed the energy of the pressure sensation in a small area and dispersed the energy along the network fibers. Some of the energy flowed into a piece of intact dungeon instinct that dealt with dungeon protection. The instinct classified the pressure as ¡°void intruder¡± and broadcast an alarm. The mirror star reflected the void intruder alarm across the illuminated section of the mind space. Several bundles reacted to the alarm with danger, fear, and hide messages. The new vine absorbed the alarm and the responses of the bundles. Plant instincts and dungeon instincts reacted to the danger message by reinforcing the dungeon vine and the flows of mana that separated the dungeon spaces from the void¡ªthe primary defense mechanism against void dangers. The mushroom network carried fragments of defense data to the new vine. The pressure relented and the dungeon defenses reduced to normal levels after the alarm ceased. After a while, the pressure resumed at a different location. When the sensory rain from the pressure fell on the new vine, A ghostly branch formed above several of the branches. The ghostly branches held energy and data, but only one of them was in the light of the mirror star. The mirror star reflected the message of the ghostly branch as ¡°alarm, danger, defense¡±. As the pressure continued, the ghostly branch lit by the star grew more solid while the other ghostly branches dissipated. The dungeon defenses rose in response to an alarm. When the pressure dropped, the ghostly branch sank into the vine branch below it. The dungeon defenses again returned to normal. The pressure returned every few days, always from a new location. The ghostly branch reappeared each time, triggering the defenses and growing more solid. Other branches on the vine began to manifest their own ghostly branches with similar messages. The ghostly raven avatar found that landing on a ghost branch let the raven absorb the branch. The alarm message was not nice, however, so the raven chose to stand on the more real vine branches and observe. The curiosity of the raven was incorporated into many of the ghostly branches. After two weeks, a second pressure joined the first. The two pressures came and went at different intervals, moving to new locations each time. The sensation of pressure had a few bundles reacting with discomfort which was incorporated into several ghostly branches. The feeling of defense was echoing around the mind space almost constantly and the dungeon defenses remained raised. Suddenly, one of the pressures inverted and became a sensation of removal or draining. The other pressure remained, so the dungeon¡¯s response of raised defenses remained. The drain grew stronger for a few days before moving to a new location. The draining sensation returned more sharply and the sensory rain for the drain fell on the frog bundle. The frog bundle sent ¡°weakness, hunger, distress¡± into the mirror light. The main ghostly branch of ¡°alarm, danger, defense¡± dimmed, partially dissipating. The mental energy flowing into the dungeon defenses slowed and the defenses lowered slightly. The pressure and draining spiked, causing a flood of ¡°danger, weakness, distress¡± from the information bundles. The ghostly raven cawed anxiously.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. The spider tree weasel information bundle raised its head. It bared its fangs and projected ¡°fight!¡± The flying horse trembled and projected ¡°flee!¡± The clam squeezed its shell more tightly and projected ¡°shell!¡± The mirror star grabbed these reactions and reflected them everywhere its light could reach. The plant and dungeon instincts went haywire.
Hana was glad they had kept the camp at high alert after the second knock. There had been a couple weeks before the danger, but standing guard for no reason wasn¡¯t as bad as dying for no reason. The danger from the dungeon was more complex this time. The dungeon vine branches alternated growing, flowering, dropping leaves, and dropping endless fruit. Some of the fruit didn¡¯t spawn anything and one of their scouts reported them as ¡°regular vine fruit (probably poisonous)¡±. The dungeon creatures attacked in waves for a while before turning and fleeing as fast as they could. The creatures sometimes turned on each other, something the humans had not seen during previous attacks.
Jan held Pan, trying to comfort the toddler and stop his crying. She made a shooing motion at the young raven who would not stop cawing. ¡°Hush! You¡¯re making Pan cry!¡± The raven did not hush and continued to caw and hop back and forth.
The dungeon defenses rose and fell chaotically and unevenly around the dungeon spaces. The pressure and suction were alternately rebuffed or ignored. When a particularly strong defensive surge shook off both the suction and the pressure, the two forces began to hop around the dungeon, quickly moving from location to location to attack the defenses. In the dungeon mind space, ghostly vine branches flickered in and out of existence as the mirror star reflected a complicated soup of emotions and reactions. Mental energy drained, surged, swirled, and flooded through all the mental constructs as various instincts activated and deactivated. The ghostly raven cowered under a thick vine branch near the base while it observed the chaos. Occasionally, the sound of a toddler¡¯s cry would echo quietly from the raven.
Nearly at the same moment, the two attacking forces pulled back from the dungeon. The turbulence in the dungeon mind space continued to drive the chaotic actions of the dungeon. A spike of pressure and suction struck at one singular point on the dungeon defenses and broke through. *vrrrp* Two wizards appeared in the main worldlet, near the main vine body but facing outwards. One wore green robes and carried a sky-blue rod, the other wore blue robes and carried a mauve painted staff. The wizards raised rod and staff up and let out victorious shouts. They immediately whirled to face each other, throwing up magical shields and activating automatic defenses. _ Higher Life Intruder Detected. Select Automated Response: - Attack - Claim (Unlikely) - Dominate (Unlikely) - Ignore _ The wizards shouted questions and warnings at each other. They pondered the situation for a moment before shouting again, each in a different language. _ Random Selection: ¡°Dominate¡± selected _ The wizards both looked up at the vine body, clearly confused, as they felt and effortlessly rebuffed the domination attempt. After a moment, they resumed shouting at each other. _ Random Selection: ¡°Claim¡± selected _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Attack¡± selected _ A few dungeon creatures poked their heads out from hiding to get a look at the wizards. The creatures charged forwards to die instantly on the wizards¡¯ automatic defenses. The wizards did not notice the dying creatures.
Violet lifted his head from the dungeon map he had been sketching on a piece of paper covered in mathematical symbols. ¡°Hold on. Who is that?¡± He looked over at the wall of visual scanners. The two wizards were front and center on the scanner for the main worldlet. ¡°Oh!¡± Violet dashed over to the scanner and activated a listening add-on he half remembered from school. It took him a few tries to get the sound to work right. The voices of the wizards shouted into Violet¡¯s face. ¡°Wizards!¡± Violet shouted again, to no one. He listened to the shouting for a dozen seconds before his face fell in confusion. ¡°What? They don¡¯t speak the same languages? Where did they come from?¡± Ch 44 - Official Investigation
The green wizard held up a hand, gesturing for silence. He stroked his beard for a few moments. With a deep breath, he opened his mouth and spoke slowly in an ancient demonic tongue. The other wizard¡¯s face brightened and he responded in kind. ¡°Oh finally, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve spoken so many languages so quickly before.¡± The blue wizard said. She continued, ¡°Now, identify yourself and explain your presence in this dungeon.¡± The green wizard sent a polite nod to the blue wizard. ¡°I am Crataz Aniquam and I am here to investigate the reason for the System quarantine of this dungeon. Identify yourself and explain your presence here.¡± The blue wizard lowered her staff and laughed. ¡°I am Ivira Phedyora and I am here to investigate the reason for the System quarantine of this dungeon, especially since this dungeon only recently appeared.¡± Crataz the green lowered his rod and frowned. ¡°This dungeon is approximately three years old, according to the local hill lord. Where were you sent from and why did you interfere in this official investigation?¡± Ivira the blue shook her head. ¡°I know of no hill lord. This dungeon appeared within the last few tendays. Why did you interfere in my official investigation?¡±
Violet hesitated. He should probably go out and talk to the wizards. There was a good chance they were System authorized investigators. They had managed to enter the dungeon through the quarantine, so their magical skill would be high enough to investigate the captured space and anything else needed. However, Violet hadn¡¯t ever left the area around the dungeon core since he had arrived in the dungeon. He had used magic to teleport in supplies for his arts and crafts from out in the worldlets. And since the dungeon doesn¡¯t speak, Violet thought, I haven¡¯t spoken to anyone in all that time either. Violet fidgeted, adjusted his clothes, liked his lips, ran his hands through his hair, screwed his eyes shut, and blinked through the vine wall. The two wizards looked up at Violet with interest. They had felt the blink spell form, so had not been overly surprised. The blue wizard asked a question, and Violet belatedly remembered he needed to use a translation spell. He had to think for a second before he remembered how to make the spell work. He cleared his through and addressed the two wizards. ¡°Greetings, magical experts. I am the assigned dungeon fairy for the Terse Elements dungeon.¡± He executed a polite bow while floating in midair. When he straightened back up, the wizards were not looking at him. The two wizards were staring fixedly at the air in front of Violet¡¯s chest. Violet looked down, thinking he might have forgotten to remove a stained apron, but there wasn¡¯t anything there. Wincing, Violet realized the wizards were looking at the translation spell he had cast. Oops. That was sloppy. He thought. He waved his hands in a tight little pattern and obscured the spell. His cheeks flushed red in embarrassment and all he could think to say was, ¡°That spell is proprietary.¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. The blue wizard blinked a few times, seeming to remember that there was a strange fairy to talk to. ¡°Fairy, how old is this dungeon?¡± She asked. Violet thought the question was overly direct and lacking in manners, but he answered anyway. He pulled up the default information he had access to as the assigned dungeon fairy. The ¡°age¡± of a dungeon did not always have a straightforward relationship with the calendars used by people outside, so each dungeon kept a count of every second that passed since their creation. Violet read off the long number. The green wizard asked the next question. ¡°And how long has the dungeon been under quarantine?¡± ¡°Oh, about two thirds of that time.¡± Violet said. He hadn¡¯t written down the exact second the quarantine started and it didn¡¯t seem important anyway. The green wizard turned a smug look at the blue wizard who frowned deeply.
Ivira the blue frowned. ¡°Crataz, you said the dungeon was three years old, but the fairy says only about one year. Your story doesn¡¯t match my reports or the report of this fairy just now. What is the reason?¡± Crataz the green raised an eyebrow as only a wizard could. ¡°The fairy¡¯s reported number is three years, Ivira.¡± The fairy shrugged. ¡°It would be five years for me back home.¡± Ivira and Crataz turned and stared at the fairy. They stared for long moments as the fairy grew red in embarrassment. Ivira arrived at the explanation first and pressed her palm to her forehead in disbelief. Crataz reached the same conclusion a moment later. ¡°How extraordinary!¡± He said. ¡°What world did you arrive from, Ivira?¡± ¡°World 7444E.¡± Ivira answered. ¡°You?¡± ¡°World 2105F.¡± Crataz grinned and held out his hand to shake. ¡°Pleasure to meet you. I had a roommate from 7444B. Hope they aren¡¯t your wicked overlords or something like that. Ivira smiled back and shook Crataz¡¯s hand. ¡°We have some trade agreements with them, I believe, but they are mostly irrelevant to us. I¡¯ve haven¡¯t been to the twenty-ones, but I¡¯ve certainly heard a few good things.¡± ¡°I¡¯m so glad to hear it.¡± Crataz said. ¡°And now we must find out why we both ended up in this dungeon. The fairy¡¯s report matches the records I reviewed and we have a reasonably detailed history of the dungeon up until the quarantine, so I think it¡¯s safe to assume the dungeon did originate as an adjunct space to ours.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Ivira nodded. ¡°A dungeon portal appeared a short time ago in an unexpected location. Initial examination found the portal was sealed. I was dispatched immediately to investigate. Evidence suggests the dungeon was sealed at or before the time of portal creation. Putting all this together, it¡¯s possible the dungeon has created a connection between two worlds, OR¡­¡± She emphasized to cut off Crataz¡¯s interruption. ¡°or, a void space somehow under the authority of this dungeon impacted world 7444E.¡± ¡°Yes, exactly!¡± Crataz said excitedly. ¡°Fairy! Can you confirm if the dungeon acquired or lost any void spaces under abnormal circumstances? Also, will you ask the dungeon to cease these pointless attacks?¡± A spider tree weasel fell from a nearby vine branch, dead from a tiny lightning strike. The fairy looked uncomfortable. ¡°Um¡­¡± Ch 45 - Shove Violet Danderpuff burned with shame. The wizards had not been impressed with his ¡°poor management¡± of the dungeon and ¡°ineffectual leadership style¡± that ¡°prolonged and exacerbated¡± the imprisonment of the dungeon people. Violet had returned abruptly to the area around the core, figuratively slamming the door in the wizards¡¯ face. He watched on a visual scanner as the wizards interviewed Hana and surveyed the human camp. The little raven, in turn, surveyed the wizards. Violet sighed and put his head down on his desk. At least the dungeon has calmed down a bit. He thought. The vines were acting really weird. The spawn fruit rate was lower than normal, but at least the vines weren¡¯t dropping and regrowing their leaves over and over again. In Violet¡¯s opinion, the wizards were being overly expressive around the dungeon people, likely because one wizard could only partly speak the local language and the other wizard was from a different world entirely. Even without the sound activated, Violet could identify the moments when wizards expressed sorrow for those who died, amazement and pride at all the people had built, and concern and suspicion when they learned about the lost worldlet and the void infection. Violet had meant to tell them all that, but the reprimands had been too much for him to handle in his first conversation in years. The blue wizard teleported straight to the main vine body after learning of the void soot infection. ¡°FAIRY!¡± She shouted at the vine. Violet wanted to ignore her. He wanted to turn off the visual scanner and act like he didn¡¯t care on bit about the opinions of two powerful wizards. Instead, he projected his translated voice outside the vine. ¡°What?¡± He sounded sulky, even to himself. In some manner that Violet could not understand, the blue wizard reached through his voice projection, grabbed the front of his shirt, and pulled him outside the vine. ¡°Hey!¡± He shouted, feeling the red-hot sparks of anger in the back of his mind. ¡°Let go!¡± He tried to blink away but the wizard¡¯s hand held him in place. Fairies do not naturally generate much mana inside themselves but they do have innate mana senses and the ability to manipulate ambient mana. Technically, Violet was not allowed to use the dungeon ambient mana without permission, but the dungeon had never objected to him using it to fly, and Violet didn¡¯t care about that at the moment anyway. He reached out and grabbed as much of the ambient mana in the air and the mana radiating from the greater mana vines as he could. With a grunt, he funneled that mana into a simple spell he had developed as a child, called ¡°shove¡±. The wizard flew backwards across the main worldlet. She tried to brace herself against the mana in the air, but Violet pulled it away from her. The wizard hit the ground and slid through a patch of fallen leaves. A sudden realization of what he had done hit Violet. He hadn¡¯t expected the spell to do much¡ªthe wizard¡¯s protections should have blocked the simple wall of mana projected by the shove spell. The spell originating in the wizard¡¯s grip must have bypassed the defenses. Violet felt himself start panicking as the wizard slowly stood back up. She had not lost her grip on her staff. Violet turned and fled.
Violet clung tightly to the bark of the evergreen vine, just inside the portal. He panted and sweated as he tried to catch the mana leaking from the vine and wrap it around himself. The captured space was cold, but the real danger to Violet was the lack of mana. His body had no ability to resist losing all his mana, which would kill him. Right up against the vine, there was enough mana to keep him alive, but it felt like his stomach had been pulled out of his chest and tied around a stone. Violet wiped his sleeve across his face. The captured space was the only place in the dungeon that the wizards could not search with spells. The mana-less air could kill Violet, but it also hid him perfectly. Violet hoped the wizard would stop searching for him after a few hours, then maybe he could get back to the dungeon core and wait for her to leave.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Violet¡¯s heart nearly stopped when the green wizard stepped through the portal. The wizard, Crataz, yelped in pain and stumbled backwards through the portal. Violet scurried to the opposite side of the large vine. A few moments later, Crataz come through the portal again. Violet could feel a wave of heat and mana flowing off the man, who spoke. ¡°Fairy,¡± He said. ¡°You cannot stay here. You will die.¡± Violet sent a small sound construct through the vine to the other side. ¡°She¡¯ll kill me!¡± It said. ¡°She will not.¡± Crataz said calmly. ¡°She wishes to apologize. She overreacted when the people in the camp told us about the black dust. Please, let¡¯s go back and talk somewhere safer.¡± After a moment, Crataz spoke again. ¡°I, Crataz Aniquam, guarantee your safety.¡± _ Crataz Aniquam has offered you a temporary oath of safety. Accept? y/n _ Yes! Violet accepted the oath. He climbed around the body of the vine and pulled himself through the portal. Violet hovered in place and caught his breath as Crataz came through the portal. The wizard kept one hand on the tall vine stalks and fell slowly toward the bottom of the worldlet. A few minutes later, they were back at the main vine body. Crataz walked right up to Ivira. ¡°Get on with your apology, Ivira, the fairy just showed me something far more interesting that we must discuss.¡± Crataz rubbed his hands together like a child about to lay his hands on some sweets. Ivira bowed low before Violet. ¡°Master Fairy, I humbly apologize for my uncalled-for haste and my extreme rudeness. If you will forgive my actions, I will offer you a reasonably sized favor.¡± She remained bowed, waiting for Violet¡¯s response. A favor? A reasonably sized favor? Violet was excited by the offer. What is reasonable? Doesn¡¯t matter, I¡¯ll take any favor from a wizard. ¡°I accept your apology.¡± He stated clearly. Ivira straightened up. Before she could speak, Crataz interrupted. ¡°Excellent! Now, Master fairy, what was that horrible place you were hiding in?¡± Crataz¡¯s eyes were aflame with interest. Violet took a deep breath and let it out before responding. ¡°That is the reason for the quarantine. It¡¯s a captured space.¡± ¡°Captured?¡± Ivira said. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Violet frowned. Surely the wizards knew about captured spaces. Maybe the translation wasn¡¯t coming through. ¡°An unattached, well, probably unattached space already in the void. The dungeon snagged it by accident while claiming void.¡± Violet stopped explaining when the two wizards began to nod their understanding. ¡°Ah, I see now.¡± Crataz said. ¡°I know it by other names. I very much want to investigate further¡­¡± He glanced at Ivira. ¡°But my associate was right to want to investigate the void infection. What can you tell us about the infection?¡± ¡°First, please,¡± Ivira said quickly. ¡°Is the infection still present?¡± Violet shook his head. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen any evidence of the infection since the humans finished cleaning the borders they could reach. The dungeon avatar,¡± he gestured to the large vine plant behind him. ¡°and the few remaining dungeon creatures cleared the rest of the worldlets. I don¡¯t know if the infection is still around in the captured space, I can¡¯t see into it and its too dangerous for me.¡± He shrugged, helplessly. ¡°Why can you not see into the captured space?¡± Ivira asked. ¡°It has no mana!¡± Crataz answered with excitement. ¡°No mana at all in the air! It was extremely uncomfortable for me at first. The fairy would have died immediately without support from the dungeon avatar.¡± Crataz gestured at the large vine plant, exactly as Violet had done. ¡°I didn¡¯t have enough time to examine it fully, but the vine mutates at the spatial threshold to a variety that does a remarkable job retaining mana, though a small amount is still lost.¡± ¡°The dungeon avatar mutated in just one area?¡± Ivira said. Her face was a mix of excitement, confusion, and curiosity. ¡°How is that possible?¡± Violet didn¡¯t understand what was abnormal about that, but he didn¡¯t really want to hear a lecture about dungeon avatar theory. He pointed up at the towering vine. ¡°The avatar has multiple different mutations around the dungeon. Like that one.¡± The two wizards looked up at the towering vine with twin expressions of shock. Ch 46 - Reasonable To finally appease the wizards¡¯ curiosity, Violet had to bring out several of the visual scanners with views of the different vine mutations, show the wizards the map he had made of the dungeon, and explain as much history of the dungeon expansion as he could piece together. He managed to avoid explaining that he had been unconscious for two months or so. When he showed the wizards the void artifact in the sauna worldlet, he only said he had been ¡°indisposed¡± at the time, but the dungeon had built an adequate defense around the artifact. Violet pointed out that the water spray was infused with mana, protecting the dungeon from the artifact, and protecting the artifact from the void infection, even before the avatar evolved to ¡°greater mana vine¡±. The wizards shrugged and admitted it was a better defense than some they had seen. When Violet finished recounting the history of the dungeon, the wizards shared a meaningful glance. Crataz spoke up. ¡°I must now apologize, Master fairy. It is evident to me that this is your first dungeon assignment. I thought you were negligent earlier, but I understand now that you are merely inexperienced. I apologize for our hash words earlier and, in fact, I must commend you¡ªYou have experienced a greater hardship and performed better than anyone could expect from a first-time dungeon fairy.¡± Violet had mixed feelings about Crataz¡¯s words. It was nice to be praised, but the fairy had been a helpless passenger for pretty much everything that had happened in the dungeon. The only important thing he felt he had done was boost the pyre for the infected man who had died to stop the dungeon people from spreading the infection. The wizards, however, moved on to a different topic. ¡°Well, Ivira? Shall we investigate the mysterious and no-doubt ancient space that this fascinating dungeon has fished out of the void?¡± Crataz grinned and resumed rubbing his hands with excitement. Ivira looked like she was about to agree, but she hesitated. Her face fell a bit and she reluctantly said, ¡°No. We must first be certain that no infection remains on this side of the captured space. They can be subtle and hide for long periods of time. I do not want the death of that cute toddler on my conscience.¡± ¡°Oh all right.¡± Crataz said, equally reluctant. ¡°What approach do you suggest we use?¡± The wizards fell into a technical discussion that Violet could not bring himself to care about in the slightest. He floated over to the dungeon vine and relaxed on a leaf for a while, thinking about what favor he might choose. After half an hour of ignoring the wizards, Violet decided that they wouldn¡¯t miss him, and blinked back to the dungeon core.
Violet had to interrupt the pair of wizards to claim Ivira¡¯s offered favor. The wizards had been casting spells for three days. The first day had apparently determined that there was no void infection remaining within the dungeon on this side of the captured space. The next half day was a series of small spells to measure various somethings in the portal to the captured space. The next day and a half, the wizards set up and cast multiple ritual spells that would keep them alive and safe in the blizzard-infested, mana-less space. ¡°Excuse me.¡± Violet said during a conversational lull. ¡°I¡¯ve come about the favor.¡± Ivira stood up straight and held her staff firmly. ¡°Speak the favor.¡± Violet cleared his throat. ¡°I think-I¡¯m pretty sure the dungeon is unable to speak to me, not unwilling. I have no aptitude for telepathy or external mental magics, so, is there a prosthetic that you know of that would allow a mute person to speak?¡± Violet had to clasp his hands behind his back to hide his nervous fidgeting. Ivira tapped her chin and looked down, clearly concentrating. She stood in thought for a long time before answering. ¡°I know of no such prosthetic. Mental magic is not my area of focus, and I do not know an expert who I think could accomplish such a thing. For a reasonable price.¡± Violet¡¯s heart sank, but Ivira continued speaking. ¡°Here is what I can do for you: I have a general idea of how such a thing might be built, so I will purchase and send to you some materials and copies of a few texts. This should be enough for you to learn to build a simple prototype. This way, if you are correct, the dungeon will communicate more freely and probably be able to fabricate a better version. If you are incorrect, then you will have built a valuable device and lost nothing but time.¡± Ivira looked expectantly at Violet.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Violet swallowed against a lump in his throat. ¡°That-¡° He cleared his throat. ¡°That is reasonable. Thank you.¡± Ivira nodded to Violet. ¡°It will be my pleasure. Now, back to work!¡± She and Crataz resumed their work on the latest ritual spell.
Two weeks later, the System informed Violet and the dungeon core that the quarantine was removed. _ Captured Space Has Been Sufficiently Investigated and Deemed Safe By Qualified Persons. Quarantine Protocol Complete _ Later that day, the wizards returned from the captured space. Snow clung to their cold-adapted mage armor, melting as they descended the dark worldlet to reach the main vine body. The green wizard went directly to the human camp, and the blue wizard send a flicker of mana toward the vine. *ding-dong* Violet looked up from sorting through the letters he had written. Seeing Ivira on one of the visual scanners, he set the stack of paper down and blinked outside to talk with the wizard. ¡°Hello again, wizard Ivira.¡± ¡°Greetings, Master fairy. There is a complication to the quarantine situation that you need to know about. The dungeon vine has grown a significant distance across the captured space and claimed an additional space on the far side.¡± Ivira paused. ¡°A worldlet, as you called them.¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Violet remarked. He hadn¡¯t even considered that worldlets could form separately from the main group. Ivira nodded. ¡°Unexpected, indeed. The more concerning feature is a portal connection from the dungeon to my world.¡± Ivira gave the fairy a meaningful look, which he did not understand at first. After a few heartbeats, Violet remembered part of a lecture about inter-world connections. They were extremely violent and deadly. His face paled. ¡°That¡¯s bad.¡± He said. His heartrate increased as he began to internally panic. He frowned in confusion. ¡°Why are we not all dead?¡± Ivira nodded emphatically. ¡°Exactly the question. Unfortunately, I must first explain how the quarantine dropped. On our way back through the captured space, we noticed the remains of a smaller set of vines. We followed those vines to a perfectly flat patch of ground. It was clear that something had previously sat on the patch of ground because the vines grew around some sort of box that has since moved. We did not intend to examine the patch thoroughly, but the System was apparently satistfied by our investigation and dropped the quarantine. The mana levels in my world are significantly higher than the mana levels in Crataz¡¯s world, and slightly higher than the ambient mana in this dungeon. If the captured space were not blocking the flow of mana, I believe the dungeon would have already been destroyed.¡± Ivira gestured for Violet to wait while she took a couple breaths. She had been speaking rather quickly. ¡°We are not safe, however. There exists a path through the captured space through which the mana is attempting to flow.¡± Violet, feeling like a slower than average student, asked, ¡°What path?¡± ¡°The mana vine itself.¡± Ivira and Violet were distracted for a second by a human entering the main worldlet from the delta worldlet. The human ran to the exit portal and dove through. A few more humans trickled in, all running for the exit. Ivira continued. ¡°Before we left the captured space, we detected an increasing flow of mana through the vine into this part of the dungeon. Crataz has gone to evacuate the humans and I stayed to inform you and advise you to evacuate as well.¡± Violet blinked slowly. His heart hammered in his chest, but Violet couldn¡¯t feel his body. He seemed to be watching the dungeon around him on a visual scanner. He didn¡¯t feel any need to hide from the humans who rushed across the worldlet space, because it didn¡¯t seem possible for them to see him. A wizard stared at him, or at the scanner he was using. No wait, she couldn¡¯t see a scanner. What does she want? He thought to himself. She said something about ¡®evacuate¡¯. I should leave the dungeon. I haven¡¯t left the dungeon in years. I can¡¯t leave. Ivira frowned with concern. ¡°Master fairy?¡± Oh she want¡¯s me to say something. I can¡¯t leave. What do I say? Violet opened his mouth to speak, but it took a moment before anything came out. ¡°How much time do we have?¡± Ivira shrugged. ¡°It depends on how long the vine can resist the pressure of an entire world¡¯s worth of mana. At a certain point, the vine will deteriorate and allow the mana through unimpeded. Master fairy, we must leave now, the formation of a vortex happens too quickly for us to react.¡± Ch 47 - Red In the dungeon mind space, the sensory rain turned red. The sensation of the evergreen vine swelling, burning, and splitting open fell on the mental entities. The ghostly raven tried to hide under the growing vine, but the sensory rain fell thickly and began to flood. The raven cawed in pain and terror, then vanished. The information bundles writhed in pain and fear. The sensory rain was so thick that the mirror star light could not penetrate it. The vine roots absorbed the floodwater and grew quickly. The new flesh growing on the ends of the vine branches was dark red. Bits of mana flowed chaotically through the mushroom network, activating and deactivating various instincts. An instinct to grow fruit triggered and sucked down a large amount of sensory rain, trying to use it as mental energy. The vine¡¯s new growth paused, then surged. The growth paused and surged again and again. With each surge of growth, a wave of mana flowed across the mushroom network. The wave of mana crashed through instincts and information bundles, breaking some of the mushroom network fibers. The jellyfish bundle, pushed low by the sensory rain, bumped into a red vine branch and became entangled with the leaves. The jellyfish instincts activated, trying to dissolve whatever entered its bell. When the vine growth surged forward again, a new branch speared through the jellyfish. Red energy from the vine flowed into the jellyfish bundle, carrying the sensations from the sensory rain. The jellyfish bundle absorbed the red and pushed pure energy out through its tentacles, back into the vine. On the next growth surge, a ghostly vine appeared above the jellyfish. The ghostly vine formed a circle, like a snake eating its tail. With each growth surge, the jellyfish pushed more pure energy into the vine branch, and the ghostly vine grew more solid. The jellyfish bell dissolved the branch that had pierced through the information bundle. The jellyfish, now dark red, drifted away from the vine, and the severed branch fell toward the ground. When the severed branch hit the floodwater below, the ghostly circle branch flared brighter than ever. It radiated the concepts, ¡°pain, absorb, grow¡±. As the branch briefly sunk under the sensory floodwater, the ghostly branch melted, spreading streams of white through the water in every direction. The roots of the vine absorbed some of the white as it drained the floodwaters to fuel the next growth surge. Mushroom network fibers absorbed and spread the white throughout the mind space. Soon, ghostly branches of ¡°pain, absorb, grow¡± appeared over all the new growth of the vine, shining brightly through the falling sensory rain.
The evergreen vine could not resist the mana wave that crashed into the dungeon worldlet when the quarantine seal disappeared. The vine mutation was tailored to reduce mana and water loss, and this also slowed the absorption of external mana, but the mana pressure was too high. Mana pushed on the sap within the vine branch, forcing its way through. Soon, the sap ran hot and liquid through the mana vine in the captured space. The vine¡¯s needles in the newest worldlet blackened from the heat. Sap boiled out of cracks along the vine where the heat and pressure became too much for the vine to handle.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. pain, absorb, grow The evergreen vine funneled mana into reinforcing the vine flesh. pain, absorb, grow New vines shot out from the evergreen vine, draining mana to fuel their growth. pain, absorb, grow The evergreen vine dug roots deep into the hard sandy ground. The roots quickly met resistance, but the mana pressure behind the growth allowed the roots to burst violently through the obstacle.
The underworld snake felt the familiar vertigo that meant a new set of tunnels had appeared. The snake raised its head in eager anticipation of a new dungeon music joining the rest. Instead of new music, the snake heard the howling of wind tearing through tight spaces. The wind, along with a crashing wave of mana, slammed into the snake, tossing it back. The snake¡¯s skull shattered as it hit the wall of a tunnel intersection. The wind held the snake against the wall as it died.
Mana flowed around the dungeon underworld, along miles of interconnected tunnels. The flow slowed and lost some momentum as it split and rejoined. The composition of the new mana was slightly different from the original mana in the dungeon, so as the mana in the tunnels was replaced, an opposing flow of mana appeared. A portion of the original dungeon mana flowed backwards through the tunnels, filling in missing mana aspects. The pressure in the tunnels rose, and mana began to boil up through the ground in the dungeon worldlets.
¡°Too late!¡± Crataz screamed in terror. The last few humans had not yet reached the dungeon exit. The family with the toddler had taken extra convincing that they needed to leave behind the child¡¯s clothes, toys, and nap time, and now they would be obliterated by a mana vortex. Crataz threw out a spatial shield spell to surround himself and the family as a pathetic last effort to survive the transition into the void. If he could stay alive for a few moments, he might find a way to get them to safety.
Ivira screamed as mana shot up from below her feet. The magical armor she and Crataz had created was still active, and the mana caught her up like a kite in the wind. As she was thrown high, she felt Crataz¡¯s spatial shield activate. She tried to cast the same shield spell, but her casting was thrown off as silver wings and violet hair filled her vision. The fairy was screaming something at her, but she couldn¡¯t understand it at first. ¡°HOW DO YOU STOP A VORTEX?¡± The fairy screamed again. Ivira¡¯s stomach dropped as she reached the zenith of her trajectory and began to fall. ¡°SLOW IT DOWN!¡± Her armor struck the top of the rising bubble of mana. The sudden slap against the mana caused her to black out, and she sank through the mana as though she was drowning in a rushing river. Ch 48 - Gargoyle Violet Danderpuff reached out and grabbed the mana that rushed toward the dungeon exit. His mental grip broke immediately, he couldn¡¯t possibly hope to hold back so much pressure. He reach out again and stabbed a stiff pole of ambient mana through the flowing mana, trying to pin it to the ground. The flow of mana caught on the obstacle and was forced to split. Violet stabbed again and again and again as he fell. He stabbed wherever the mana flow was fastest. When his first obstacle broke, he kept stabbing new mana poles into the flow. He didn¡¯t realize that he had fallen into the mana flow, carried around like twig, until he crashed into one of his poles. He flapped his wings to lift him above the flow, but the flow was rising faster than he could fly without more concentration than he wanted to spend. He closed his eyes and continued stabbing poles into the flowing mana.
The stone bat strained to pull itself forward another body length. It let out a squeak of determination that was immediately lost to the wind in the tunnel. The stone bat pushed at the stone of the tunnel and a stone wall rose up just behind the bat, blocking part of the tunnel. The flow of wind and mana shifted in response to this new obstacle, and the bat was able to crawl forward a few body lengths before the wind slowed its progress again. With each wall the stone bat formed, the strength of the wind decreased as pressure forced mana and wind down less obstructed tunnels. When the wind was at a survivable level, the bat returned to the cavern under the main worldlet and began adding walls to the tunnel with the next strongest wind. The stone bat died of exhaustion while working on the fourth such tunnel.
While the inhabitants of the dungeon were fighting for their lives and the survival of the dungeon, the System belatedly recognized a dungeon improvement. _ Multiple Worldlet Anchor Points Detected. Worldlet Stability Greatly Increased. Mana Generation Increased Approximately 1%. Congratulations. _ _ Select Dungeon Reward: - New Material - Unlock Spawn - Unlock Treasure - Entrance Feature _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Unlock Spawn¡± Selected. Select From Available Spawn: ¡­ _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Tree Spider Moon Cat¡± _ The information bundle for the ¡°Tree Spider Moon Cat¡± flowed into the dungeon mind space as a stream of mana and information. The stream pooled on the ground before taking the form of the nocturnal predator. The cat had a long, muscled body with eight powerful legs and an intimidating number of claws. The eyes of the cat shone white for a moment before it squinted, hissed in pain, and sprinted for the nearest shadows. The peafowl information bundle spotted the cat and reacted with avian panic, flapping wings and squawking in alarm. The bird¡¯s panic flowed around the mushroom network.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. The red rain flood had damaged the mushroom network. Many smaller connections had ruptured, but the connections that had seen the most use were still functioning. The wave of emotion and energy from the peafowl bundle sparked a reaction from the automatic dungeon defenses and the vine instincts to grow and drop fruit. Ghostly branches appeared at various points over vine branches, redirecting additional mental energy to defense, growth, and repair.
The roots of the vines in the dungeon underworld increased their pull on the rushing mana. The roots swelled and stretched further along the tunnels. Tubers grew and fell like hail in a storm. The first tuber split open to reveal the underworld snake, which struggled to stay grounded against the pull of the wind. Dungeon creatures and small treasures were swept along underworld tunnels towards the nearest caverns with connections to the worldlets above. In most of the caverns, the creatures tumbled into a pile on the floor in the middle of the cavern. As the piles grew, they began to clog tunnels and reduce the wind. In the overworld, dungeon vines dropped fruit faster than it ever had before. A rain of fruit bounced off newly spawned creatures to spawn more creatures and treasures. Vines swelled and exploded into new branches and more leaves. Each new vine and leaf dragged on the flow of mana from the vine plants¡¯ base towards the dungeon exit.
Crataz couldn¡¯t believe he was still alive. He huddled in a spatial shield with the small family, a recovering Ivira, and an unconscious dungeon fairy. The fairy was in very bad shape, but Crataz thought he might live. Crataz had caught the wizard and the fairy in a mana net and pulled them into the shield instead of letting the mana and wind throw them towards the exit at high speed. He wasn¡¯t sure this decision would prove to be the right one, but since everyone hadn¡¯t died instantly, it might be safer to weather the storm in the dungeon than be thrown out into a forest of very sturdy trees. His oath of safety to the fairy was not complaining, which was a good sign. Crataz took a short break from reinforcing the fairy¡¯s remaining mana poles to cast a small analysis. His suspicions were confirmed: the flow of mana was dropping! His joy was interrupted by the sight of a caterpillar-cat creature with far too many claws being swept out the dungeon exit. There is going to be a huge mess to clean up out there once I¡¯m done cleaning up this huge mess in here. He thought grimly. He glanced at the small family to make sure they were still well, then resumed shoring up the failing mana poles.
_ Anomalous Crisis Performance Recognized. Dungeon Spawn Experience Awarded. Dungeon Spawn Marked for Continuous Respawn. _ A tuber fell and split open to reveal a very surprised stone bat. It squeaked in disbelief as the wind tried to tear it from the floor of the tunnel. It quickly pushed a stone wall up behind it, slowing the flow of mana and wind. The body of the stone bat began to glow. A small whirlpool of mana flowed into the bat, which grew larger and heavier by the second. The bats wings shifted around to its back as a new pair of clawed forelimbs grew from its shoulders. The bats body thickened with muscle and it stood up on its hind legs. The face widened and flattened. The mouth split open to reveal heavy stone fangs backed by sturdy molars. The mana in the bat swirled and pulsed one last time. The bat opened glowing red eyes and examined itself. The new forelimbs ended in clawed hands which the bat used to feel itself all over. Stretching its wings, the ex-bat tipped over, forcibly reminded that there was a strong wind present. The wind didn¡¯t affect the ex-bat at all when it stood with its wings retracted. Stomping forward, the gargoyle resumed its work of raising stone walls to slow the wind. Ch 49 - Spreading Sorrow _ Dungeon Fairy Level Increased to 2. Evolution possible _ _ Select an Evolution for ¡®Lesser Fairy¡¯: - Artisan Fairy - Nature Fairy - Slime Fairy - Mana Fairy - Piper Fae (requires approval) - None _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Nature Fairy¡± Selected _
Violet sat up with a shout of fear. He lifted his hands in front of his face to see a few wisps of mana drifting off his skin. His green skin. ¡°AAAAAAA!¡± He shouted again. His voice sounded different. He tried to flap his wings to fly into the air but ended up falling off the cot he had been laying on. A raven laughed at him. Violet rolled onto his back, looking around wildly. The raven perched on a nearby pile of amber, still laughing. ¡°What-?¡± Violet couldn¡¯t think further than that. ¡°Fairy fly no more.¡± The raven said. ¡°Dig like worm? Dig with face?¡± The raven laughed at its own joke. ¡°Shut up!¡± Violet yelled at the raven. ¡°What happened to me?¡± He sat up again and felt behind himself. He didn¡¯t find any wings. Looking over his shoulders confirmed that he was no longer a flying fairy. ¡°Where¡¯s my wings?¡± Violet looked around, as though his wings might just have been temporarily misplaced. He found himself in one of the roundhouses in the human camp. Probably Hana¡¯s roundhouse, though some things were missing. He walked to the door and peeked out. Definitely Hana¡¯s roundhouse. He didn¡¯t see any humans around, however. Violet slowly reached a hand up to his hair. He pulled a few strands into view. He let out a relieved sigh as he saw hair was still violently violet. Violet looked down at himself. Since he wasn¡¯t wearing any clothes, he snapped his fingers to summon one of his outfits onto his body. The summoning failed. He tried again a couple of times. Scratching the side of his head in confusion, he tried summoning the outfit into his hand, instead of on his body. The clothes appeared, but they appeared to be sized for a child. ¡°Huh? They shrunk?¡± Violet held the clothes up in front of him to take a good look. ¡°Oh no! I¡¯m taller!¡± He dropped the clothes and looked down at himself in dismay. ¡°Taller, green skin, no wings? I¡¯m a dirty plant lover!¡± Moaning with despair, he sat on his heels and held the sides of his head. He rocked back and forth for a while but straightened up when he heard voices approaching. He summoned a large sheet to wrap around his nakedness. Crataz and a large man in fur and leather entered the camp and came into view. Crataz introduced the man and the fairy when they stopped in front of Hana¡¯s roundhouse. ¡°Master fairy, I present Hill Lord Andebert. He is responsible for managing the access and harvesting of dungeons in this area of our world.¡± Crataz turned to the hill lord. ¡°Hill Lord, I present the assigned dungeon fairy for the Terse Elements dungeon.¡± The hill lord nodded at the fairy. ¡°Well met, Master fairy.¡± Violet nodded back at the hill lord. ¡°Hello.¡± He said simply.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Crataz cleared his throat and brushed past the fairies lackluster response. ¡°I see that your evolution has finished. Ivira and I were quite surprised when you began changing while unconscious. I do not know of many reasons why the System would choose an evolution for you, instead of asking for your preference and permission.¡± Crataz hesitated, then stopped speaking, allowing Violet to ask his question. ¡°Crataz, what happened?¡± Violet didn¡¯t care about any hill lord or human manners, he wanted to know why his dungeon was fine and why his skin was green. Crataz nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s sit down inside. I brought the hill lord to meet you because he needs to hear this, same as you.¡±
Violet sighed. Crataz had explained how he had maintained the mana poles after the fairy lost consciousness and how the mana flow had gradually lessened until the dungeon was no longer in danger of vortex formation. At that point, the fairy¡¯s body had begun to pull in mana to fuel an evolution. Since the dungeon connections were stable, the wizards brought him to the human camp to recover. The wizards had had a discussion with the small family about their child. The child was fully acclimated to a significantly higher mana level than was present in the world of the parents. The family had chosen to leave the dungeon with Ivira, because her world was more like the dungeon and would spare the child a great deal of sickness and weakness. The analysis that Crataz had done showed that the mana flow was stable, but not extremely so. Before interworld trade could be allowed through the dungeon, some constructs would be added to the two entry worldlets, and some changes in the tunnels should be implemented. It would be Violet¡¯s responsibility to manage the changes in the tunnels. Since the tunnel system would change as the dungeon grew, Violet would need to become an expert in vortex inhibitor patterns. Crataz would deliver the books when he returned with the constructs for the main worldlet. Ivira would probably deliver her books when she returned with the constructs for the¡­ other main worldlet. What do I call that one? I haven¡¯t even seen it yet. Violet wondered. It¡¯s all the way on the other side of the captured space. Ivira would return with the constructs for the otherside worldlet. Violet was distracted from his thoughts by a sad cry from the young raven. ¡°Friend gone!¡± It cried. ¡°Friend gone!¡± Violet rubbed his forehead and grimaced. ¡°Why do I understand birds now?¡± He asked.
The young raven felt its connection to the human toddler cut off when the toddler left the dungeon with his family. The raven expressed its misery with its voice and with its ghostly avatar in the dungeon mind. Without the red rain, the new growth on the mental vine incorporated the raven¡¯s sorrow into green leaves and branches. Many of the information bundles were unaffected by the mirror light spreading sorrow, but the furry animals and the peafowl felt the weight. The energy moving through the mushroom network grew sluggish. The moon cat bundle was not affected by the sorrow. It remained in the shadows and off the ground; neither mirror light nor mushroom network could influence it. The cat stalked along a branch of the vine, lashing its tail. It had spotted a salamander on the ground nearby. Remaining in the darkest shadows, the cat perched above the salamander, ready to pounce. The cat waited, patient, for the salamander to make a move or run away or¡­ do anything. After a drawn out wait, the cat leapt down on the motionless salamander anyway. The salamander struggled a little in fear, but it was strongly tied down by the mushroom network fibers. The moon cat batted at the salamander with its paws but found that its own claws did not cut. The cat bit the salamander but found that its teeth did not pierce. The cat licked the salamander with its rough tongue. The salamander continued to struggle and send fear into the mushroom network, but the cat grew bored and returned to the branches of the vine. The tree spider moon cat swatted at the ghostly branches that appeared and disappeared along the vine. Pouncing on immaterial white branches was entertaining for a while, then the cat spotted the ghostly raven. The raven perched on a high branch of the vine, but the moon cat saw a way it could sneak up there in the shadows. Moving silently behind leaves and across vines, the cat drew near. A ghostly branch appeared right in the cats face, startling it. The crow let out a tremendous caw of surprise and joy. The cat leapt at the raven, but the raven launched into the air and out of reach. The dungeon had felt three people enter the dungeon, and the raven had felt the return of its friend. Ch 50 - Quiet Jan and Dan took turns holding Pan and shushing him. The child was exhausted after nearly of day straight crying. The crying had begun soon after the family left the dungeon to see the sandstone canyon where the dungeon entrance had appeared. Ivira had checked the child and reassured the parents that the crying was not due to the change in mana composition. The wizard had pointed out the nearby city at the mouth of the canyon, then teleported away on wizard business. Dan and Jan were not confident about approaching the city. They had memorized a handful of words of the local language, enough to understand when Ivira said the child was fine, but nowhere near enough to speak to strangers about lodging or trade. Jan ranged around a bit and found a branch of the canyon that contained a river. There were caves in the canyon walls, dug out by floodwaters over centuries, and the family picked one to stay in for a few days. Dan found an acceptable area for fishing and worked to catch some dinner. Pan cried and cried and cried. After a few hours of trying to get the toddler to eat, Dan and Jan gave in and took Pan back into the dungeon. The child calmed quickly but hiccuped for a while and required much parental comfort. ¡°I don¡¯t want to stay in here tonight.¡± Dan said. ¡°We don¡¯t have the fence or our roundhouse for protection.¡± He patted Pan¡¯s back while Jan stood with weapons ready. ¡°He¡¯s eaten and drunk. Let¡¯s head back out when he falls asleep.¡± Jan considered for a few moments, then nodded slowly. ¡°He can¡¯t live in the dungeon forever.¡± She said. ¡°We have to adjust to the world we have.¡± The family returned to the dungeon the next morning. The toddler had slept fitfully all night. Pan calmed enough to eat and drink before the adults took him back outside. They returned again in the evening. Dan and Jan muttered constantly about ¡°wizards¡± not being ¡°experts on children¡± as they fended off a few dungeon creatures. The next morning, during dungeon breakfast, a stone fist punched up through the ground near the portal to the area with such cold blizzards. Dan shouted in surprise and alerted Jan. As the family began to back towards the dungeon exit, the stone fist retracted, and a raven popped out of the hole. It cawed loudly and flapped into the air to fly circles above the small family. Pan clapped his hands and laughed at the raven. Jan and Dan stood, dumbfounded, looking between the raven and the hole in the ground that slowly filled with stone. The raven landed on Dan¡¯s shoulder¡ªsomething it had never done before¡ªand made small croaking and trilling noises at Pan, who was held against Dan¡¯s other shoulder. Pan spoke some of his limited words and babbled nonsense back at the bird. Jan and Dan stared at each other for a while, then turned and walked out of the dungeon.
The dungeon mind space was quiet without the ghostly raven. The sensory rain continued to fall, fueling the growth of the vine. Mental energy flowed around the mushroom network, stimulating the most used instincts for defense and growth. The tree spider moon cat continued to hunt and ¡°attack¡± the information bundles which were bound with mushroom network fibers. Occasional ghostly branches of memory appeared over vine branches, some dissipating, some sinking into the vine.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. A pond of sensory ¡°water¡± formed near the base of the memory vine. The red rain had shifted some of the shattered remains of the foundational instincts and formed a basin. Sensory rain dripped from the vine leaves above to fill the basin. A broken red vine branch floated in the pond. The branch had curled up on itself, forming a circle. Near the unbroken end of the vine, green new-growth began to form.
Violet Danderpuff rode on the back of a giant snake and sulked. He had been a green nature fairy for two weeks and had barely figured out any of his new abilities. Worse, the dungeon had stolen his music! Violet heard the snake under him humming along with the veritable symphony of flute music that played constantly in the underworld. Violet was pretty sure he recognized a lot of the parts as things he had improvised or composed during the early days, before the dungeon quarantine. The snake slid into a cavern and curved gracefully around the edge. Violet looked around and realized that they had arrived at the destination. He hopped off the snake onto a hard sandy floor. ¡°Is this it?¡± He asked the snake. The snake hissed an affirmative. Violet looked at the root covered ceiling and saw no exit through the roof. ¡°How do I get up?¡± He asked. He missed his wings. The snake hissed one word, bat, then slid away down a tunnel. ¡°Bat?¡± Violet wondered aloud. A boulder stood up and turned glowing red eyes towards Violet. Violet¡¯s new voice cracked as he yelped in surprise. The boulder grunted and stepped forward. Violet thought he saw wings behind the thing, so he raised his glowing orb higher and summoned a second, slightly dimmer orb to fill in the shadows. He considered making a third orb, but really, he wasn¡¯t down here to paint. The light illuminated a gargoyle. ¡°A gargoyle!¡± Violet shouted. The gargoyle grunted. ¡°A gargoyle?¡± Violet asked. The gargoyle grunted again. ¡°How are you a gargoyle?¡± Violet asked in disbelief. The gargoyle have the dungeon fairy an annoyed look, then grunted. It stomped the ground and a ladder shot up to the ceiling. Violet, still in shock from seeing a real, live gargoyle, followed the motion of the ladder to see a trap door in the ceiling. Violet looked back at the gargoyle. The gargoyle shifted its wings, uncomfortable with the staring. Something clicked in Violet¡¯s head. ¡°You¡¯re the ¡®bat¡¯ the snake mentioned. Were you a bat before and now you evolved into a gargoyle?¡± He said. The gargoyle nodded, then hesitated, then nodded again. ¡°Not a regular bat? What kind of bat?¡± Violet asked. The gargoyle pointed at the ladder, which was made of stone. ¡°A stone bat.¡± Violet said. ¡°You made all those obstructions in the tunnels, didn¡¯t you?¡± The gargoyle nodded, flexing its wings again. ¡°You saved the dungeon.¡± Violet said woodenly. ¡°Not me.¡± The gargoyle shrugged, then pointed at the roots on the ceiling. Violet could feel some of the mana in the cavern flowing into the roots of the dungeon vine. Violet stared at the roots for a long while, sorting through his feelings. The wizard Crataz had praised Violet for doing ¡°better than anyone could expect from a first-time dungeon fairy¡± and had praised Violet again for slowing the flow of mana and stabilizing the dungeon. Violet had believed that Crataz was mistaken, and now he had proof. The gargoyle and the dungeon vine had done all the work that mattered. My efforts were only good intentions or maybe symbolic or something. He thought. Violet dropped his gaze back to the gargoyle. ¡°Gargoyle, do you have a name?¡± He asked. The gargoyle shook its head, looking embarrassed. Ch 51 - Landscape Yrryth, the gargoyle, observed as the green wizard placed the constructs that would help stabilize the mana flow in the dungeon. Yrryth didn¡¯t have the concepts to describe the constructs accurately, but she thought they looked a bit like the fish in the oasis pond when they sparkled and spun in the water. Yrryth faintly felt the mana in the worldlet adjust when the green wizard activated the construct. She could feel¡­ something interesting. She tried to decide what the difference was but could only be certain that the mana felt better. The green wizard stepped back from the last construct and dusted his hands off, though Yrryth was certain the wizard had touched no dirt. The wizard spoke to the gargoyle. She glared at him. He quailed a bit under her red eyed glare. Yrryth grunted and spoke a ¡°word¡± that the dungeon fairy had made her memorize. ¡°Boouookksss¡± The gargoyle was not used to having such a deep voice instead of the lovely squeaking voice of bats. The green wizard shivered in fear but waved his hand to summon a stack of rectangles. They smelled like nothing Yrryth had ever experienced. Perhaps a little like bat wing skin and dry leaves. She took the rectangles from the wizard and stomped away.
¡°And that does it.¡± Ivira stepped back and dusted off her hands. The ¡°mana mixer¡± constructs looked like upright paddles strapped to a wagon wheel mounted on a pole, but more sparkly and fancy looking. They were clearly not made of wood or metal. ¡°Thank you, wizard Ivira.¡± Violet gave a little bow. ¡°They have a very interesting effect on the mana in this worldlet.¡± Violet sensed the mana mixing in stages as it crossed the worldlet. This would apparently prevent the formation of mana aspect ¡°bubbles¡± that could be disastrous to anything nearby when they collapsed. ¡°It¡¯s what I¡¯m paid for.¡± Ivira said proudly. ¡°Now, Master fairy, here are the books I owe you.¡± She waved her hand and summoned a stack of leather-bound books. Violet noticed that the books were written in at least two languages, but he recognized them, so it wasn¡¯t a problem. ¡°Also,¡± Ivira continued, ¡°I have been instructed to ask about the passage fee that traders may expect to pay in order to cross through your dungeon.¡± Ivira gave the fairy a meaning full look, which he didn¡¯t understand at all. ¡°Huh?¡± Violet said. Ivira laughed. ¡°Crataz told me what you did to stop the formation of a vortex and that you nearly killed yourself shoving those mana poles into the ground. In gratitude, I mentioned to some of the people in charge of these things that the dungeon expected a bit of tribute for allowing trade passage.¡± Ivira smiled like a smug cat. ¡°So, if there was something reasonable that each trading group could bring to¡­¡± Ivira hesitated, then shrugged and gestured around them. ¡°to leave in this worldlet in order to purchase passage, I would be happy to convey the message.¡± Violet wasn¡¯t sure he had quite caught everything Ivira was trying to say, but he looked around the worldlet, considering. His mind wandered a bit. The place was pretty bare. The hard sandy floor wasn¡¯t very welcoming to the vines, moss, and tree which the dungeon would spawn. ¡°Oh!¡± He said. ¡°The dungeon would love plants. Plants that it doesn¡¯t already have, I mean. Ooooh, it would be great to put some planters in here and traders could plant the plants in the planters.¡± He looked up to see an incredulous look on Ivira¡¯s face.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Just plants?¡± She asked. Well, yeah. Violet thought. The dungeon has only cared about creatures and plants up to this point. It didn¡¯t even place the treasure it had unlocked. And then Violet had an incredible idea.
The first trading caravan to enter the Terse Elements dungeon brought a handcart which unfolded into a small table and a sign. The sign read, ¡°Presented by The Egmath Trading Company¡± and had a fancy symbol on it. The table and sign were set up off to the side of the dungeon entrance where future traders could see that the Egmath company had been here first. A trader brought over a few items and artistically placed them on the table. Several small pots of grasses good for grain, an exotic fruit tree, a handful of blank canvases, a bottle of rich green paint, and a few pages of contemporary music. ¡°This dungeon is odd.¡± One of the traders said. ¡°Yes.¡± The one who filled the table responded. ¡°But the route is remarkably simple. One long walk through terrible blizzards, one climb, then a stroll out the exit. There shouldn¡¯t even be monsters to fight in the blizzards.¡± ¡°Does the passage price not guarantee safety from the monsters?¡± Yet another trader joined the discussion. ¡°Why even pay?¡± ¡°No safety from monsters, no.¡± The table filler answered. ¡°But we are permitted to harvest any creatures or fruit we wish, whether they attack us or not. Like this!¡± The trader jogged over to the dungeon vine, spooking a few butterflies, and picked a white fuzzy bundle off the ground. ¡°Giant silk cocoon! A few of these could just about pay for the whole caravan trip. That¡¯s worth fighting a few monsters, to me.¡± The other traders admired the cocoon, commenting on potential buyers and contracts. They examined a few pieces of amber and glass, but only took a few handfuls. The caravan soon bundled on thick clothing and ventured into the blizzards.
Utti panted as he rubbed salve over his burned skin. There had been an incredible number of jellyfish on this dungeon floor and many of them could spray acid. He was grateful that only a handful had been of the new, dark red variety. The locals had told him that the red jellyfish were new, and the regular, mostly clear, jellyfish didn¡¯t spawn anymore. The sting from a clear jellyfish hurt but did almost no damage. The sting from a red jellyfish hurt so much worse and could inflict madness for a time. Utti had killed the last of the jellyfish while under the effect of the madness. Utti rested while he waited for the salve to do its work. He was going to enjoy waving his dungeon rewards in the face of that stuck up hill lord who thought Utti needed ¡°to be aware of the hazards¡± and ¡°to plan a harvesting route¡± and other nonsense. Utti wasn¡¯t weak, like the locals, he was strong! He didn¡¯t need anyone around to soak up his hard-won riches. Impatient for his prize, Utti stood and limped over to the stone alter which stood at the far end of the crack in the ground. This is where he would find his prize. An oilcloth bundle sat on top of the alter. His heart pounded as he grabbed the bundle and began to unwrap it. Under the oilcloth, there was a layer of leaves. Under the leaves was a layer of paper. Utti huffed in annoyance and tore off the paper. He held up the treasure.
Violet watched the adventurer smash the landscape oil painting across the stone alter, then smash the stone alter. Yrryth could remake the alter in a few seconds, that was no issue, but Violet had taken a full week to paint that landscape! He sighed and pulled out the treasure list. He drew a thick line through, ¡°landscape painting (oil)¡± and wondered what he would try next. I feel pretty good about my progress in the magic item fabrication book. Violet thought. Maybe I should try making a silk¡­ handkerchief? A handkerchief that doesn¡¯t stain. I think I can do that. Violet pulled out a fresh sheet of paper and began to sketch out his latest dungeon treasure idea. Ch 52 - Included by Mistake *bloop* The towering vine, growing up from the main body of the Terse Elements dungeon vine, pushed its highest branches through into a new worldlet. Bright sunlight shone on the leaves. A slight breeze pushed white clouds around the worldlet space. A vine fruit detached from one of the branches and plummeted down through the portal back to the main worldlet. A woodlark was the first dungeon creature to discover the new portal at the top of the towering vine. It perched on a branch and cocked its head to get a clearer look at the space. Observing from several branches, the woodlark decided this situation was good. It flew a few circles around the vine-tree and sang its song. A few other songbirds joined the woodlark in the safe and sunny worldlet. Eventually, the ravens noticed the songbirds¡¯ excitement about something and investigated. One raven pair immediately claimed the top of the vine-tree for themselves, bullying the smaller birds.
¡°Violet Danderpuff, Nature Dungeon Fairy. Dungeon Nature Fairy. Assigned dungeon nature fairy. Dungeon assigned nature fairy. Dungeon fairy of a nature¡­ nature. Bah!¡± Violet, the nature fairy assigned as dungeon fairy to the Terse Elements dungeon, put down his pen and crumpled a piece of paper into a ball. He crushed it in his fist and use one of his recently acquired nature fairy abilities to instantly compost the paper. He brushed the dirt off his hand, picked up his pen, and signed a nearby letter with, ¡°V. Danderpuff, Terse Elements¡±. The wizards and the nearby hill lord had reported about the recent events in the dungeon and the inter-world trade taking place. Those reports had somehow gotten around to the fairies, and now Violet was obligated to send periodic reports to no less than three agencies¡ªthe wizards, the adventurers, and the dungeon fairies. ¡°I¡¯m a nature fairy, not a paper fairy.¡± Violet complained to the letter. It did not respond. He picked it up and read through it again, even though he knew for certain it was correct. He checked the entries against a chart he had hung on the wall after he accepted his paper-work related fate. The chart was composed of lists of things currently in the dungeon.
Creatures o Millipede o Beetle(?) o Frog o Salamander o Spider o Bat o Fish o Floating jellyfish o SnakeThis narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. o Butterfly o Peafowl o Swamp gremlin o Lesser squid o Lesser clam o Tree spider weasel o Mini winged horse o Blood grass snake o Tree spider moon cat o Songbirds (various) o Worm o Lizard o Snail o Owl o Tortoise o Rabbit o Dragonfly
Plants o Apricot tree o Moss o Mushroom o Grains of all kinds o Flowers o Onion o Carrot o Fruit trees o Oaks o Cedars o Ironwood o Melons o Cactus o Herbs (culinary and medicinal)
Magical Plants o Lightning weed o Antidote flower o Glowing moss
Treasure o Amber piece o Frost pole o Leather belt o Custom art pieces
Several months had passed and the seasons of both connected worlds had changed. Animals had wandered into the dungeon from both sides, and the trade caravans had been creative in bringing ¡°plants the dungeon doesn¡¯t have¡±. Violet had actually laughed when one grumpy cook had been pressured to give up an onion to help pay for passage. The fact that the dungeon didn¡¯t have a way to enforce payment had not caused a problem yet. Speaking of payments, I should go get the latest batches. Violet thought. He tossed the letter in his ¡°out¡± bin so he could send it later. He blinked to the pair of tables in the main worldlet and gathered up a few materials. He blinked behind the main vine, climbed down to the underworld entrance and stepped through. The continuous and concentrated mana flow through the tunnels made his blink spell a bit unstable, so he set off on a walk through the terrifying darkness and often uncomfortable dampness of the dungeon underworld. It was a long walk, but it was better than paperwork. Violet popped up into the otherside worldlet and jogged over to the tables and crates of payment. He perused the plants, just to be sure he hadn¡¯t missed any with the visual scanners, but his main interest was the painting, sculpting, and other crafting supplies. He happily hummed as he gathered up all the canvases, paint, clay, needles, ink, yarn, and more. In one of the crates he found an odd little ball. He rolled it around between his hands as he considered it. It looked like old bronze, but the density was off. The ball was hollow, perhaps. It didn¡¯t look like any sort of crafting supply. Maybe it was included by mistake. As Violet fiddle with the ball, a patina section flaked off to reveal something that looked like a button. Violet pushed the button. The ball split on many lines and the pieces rotated in complicated ways to resemble a very spiky flower. Unfortunately, Violet had been holding it upside down and the spikes stabbed into his hand. ¡°Ouch!¡± He shouted and dropped the ball. The ball snapped back into ball shape as soon as it hit the ground. Violet kicked it as hard as he could. A wave of nausea swept over him and he didn¡¯t see that the ball sailed out the dungeon exit. ¡°Ugh. What¡¯s this, a mental drain curse? Some curse or something?¡± His speech slowed a bit and he slurred a few words. He walked slowly over to the underworld entrance, careful not to stumble, and called down for Yrryth. He put his hands over his eyes and shook his head, mumbling to himself. He climbed down into the underworld tunnels, then called for Yrryth again. She arrived a few minutes later. ¡°I don¡¯t feel so good.¡± Violet told her from where he was lying on the ground. ¡°Can you carry me?¡± Yrryth raised an eyebrow at him, but since he didn¡¯t see, she grunted inquisitively. ¡°Curse, or something.¡± Violet replied. ¡°Gotta sleep it off.¡± He closed his eyes. Yrryth rolled her eyes and picked up the green fairy. She couldn¡¯t enter the area around the dungeon core, so she carried the sleeping fairy to the underworld art studio she had made him. Ch 53 - Tick
A tick crawled through the otherside entrance. It was slightly larger than normal and was composed of glowing aquamarine energy. The pest ward had failed to keep the tick out of the dungeon for several reasons, the main one being that the tick was not actually a tick. The System noticed the tick but had difficulty analyzing it. Eventually, the System informed the dungeon core about the intruder. _ Intruder Detected: Elven Construct _ _ Quest System (Rare) Unlocked. Description: A quest is a System-assigned task outside the normal operations for an entity. A quest may or may not involve risk to the entity. In exchange for completing a quest, the System will reward the entity according to several factors including: performance, sacrifice, completion speed. Reliably completing quests may lead to additional rewards _ _ Quest: Destroy the Elven Construct Intruder _ _ Beware: Elven artifacts are unpredictable and extremely dangerous, even when they are not actively malicious. Do not attempt to keep or dissect elven artifacts _ The tick crept across the ground very slowly. After an hour, it began to climb a stalk of blood grass. Ten minutes later, it reached a leg up and touched a dragonfly that had perched on the stalk. The tick disappeared and the dragonfly¡¯s eyes began to glow aquamarine. The dragonfly zipped over to the portal to the captured space and through. The dragonfly returned a few seconds later. It flew so slowly that it couldn¡¯t stay in the air and slowly crashed to the ground. A layer of frost melted from its wings. When it warmed up completely, it flew up and perched on a leaf of the dungeon vine from which it observed the worldlet. Yrryth arrived to retrieve the payment plants and carry them to her garden in the fields worldlet. The dragonfly saw the stone door in the ground that she had left open. It zipped down through the door and through the portal to the underworld. The dragonfly spent some time bumping into vines, leaves, walls, and tunnel ceilings before a bat swooped down and ate it. The bats eyes turned to a glowing aquamarine. It flew in a tight circle to map the immediate area. It was in the cavern immediately beneath the otherside worldlet. The tick-bat picked a tunnel at random and flew away. The tick-bat worked its way through the tunnels, drawing closer to the signal that had enticed it to re-enter the dungeon after its carrying container was jettisoned by the fairy. When the tick-bat arrived in the main worldlet, it landed on the side of the main vine body. The tick exited the bat and dove through the plant flesh as though it were water. It crawled across the floor and up the vine pedestal, touched a leg to the dungeon core, and vanished.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
¡°Something is wrong with those birds.¡± Chaney said to his younger sister. The two of them were part of the harvesting group today, filling in for a neighbor who had fallen ill. Chaney was looking up at the vine-tree-thing that grew up from the middle of the dungeon floor. A pair of woodlarks perched on a branch and stared down at the harvesters. They stared down with green eyes. ¡°I swear their eyes are glowing.¡± Chaney¡¯s sister wasn¡¯t listening, she was poking at a red jellyfish with a long stick to keep it away from the group. ¡°Uh-huh.¡± She said absently.
Birds were following Galbran. He ranged from floor to floor, on a routine check for new portals or creatures. It was normal enough for dungeon monsters to watch you from the shadows¡ªthey acted the same as normal creatures when they weren¡¯t attacking mindlessly¡ªbut Galbran was certain that the birds that watched him on each dungeon floor were the same birds. More worrisome, Galbran thought there might be more birds than when he started. The birds had green eyes. That didn¡¯t seem right to Galbran. Birds eyes should be black or brown, maybe yellow on a hawk. Galbran nearly jumped out of his skin when he looked up into an apricot tree and saw two of the birds looking right at him. The birds blinked in unison, gave a ¡®l¨¹l¨¹l¨¹l¨¹¡¯ in unison, then flew to a tree further away, flapping in unison. Galbran shook his head back and forth, trying to relieve some of the nervous energy he felt. Galbran had another shock while in the dark dungeon floor. When he turned around to leave, several pairs of green eyes glowed out of the darkness near the ground. He kicked at the eyes to scare them off, but they just calmly hopped backwards through the portal.
Hana stood outside the entrance to the Terse Elements dungeon. They would not go back in that particular dungeon unless a dying hill lord commanded it while dragons burned all the land around. Hana had only come to track entry and exit of the harvesters and take any reports of anomalies. The first report came from Oz¡¯s friend, Chaney. ¡°Birds with glowing eyes.¡± As the harvester group filed out, several other people mentioned odd behavior from birds. Some birds were singing strangely, some birds didn¡¯t react when someone threw a stone, some birds ¡°blinked wrong¡±. Hana rubbed at their eyes in dread and exasperation after the harvesters all left. They waited for the scout to exit the dungeon, then they could all go home and let the hill lord figure it out. ¡°Hana, there were some birds-¡° Galbran started to say. Hana threw their hands up in the air and walked quickly away from the dungeon entrance.
Hill Lord Andebert frowned down at the report on his desk. A dozen mentions of green-eyed birds, possibly woodlarks, harassing harvesters. Well, not harassing. He thought. Stalking, maybe. Observing. The green eyes is strange, could it be a recently added element? The acid and water creatures¡¯ coloring is changed all over, so this doesn¡¯t match. He had just about decided to enter the dungeon and see for himself when a runner burst through the door with a report that drove all thoughts of birds from his mind. Ch 54 - Predator Pair In the dungeon mind space, the owl glared at the woodlark. The little songbird ignored the owl and continued to observe the miniature flying horse. The owl already knew that the horse was entirely uninteresting. The woodlark was not behaving according to the owl¡¯s expectations for potential prey animals, and the entire body of the bird was glowing aquamarine. The owl flew silently to a different branch to get a different observation angle. The woodlark made no reaction to the owl but did fly off a minute later. The owl followed.
The tree spider moon cat watched the owl hunt one of the little birds. The hunt was a bit odd, the moon cat was sure that owls were supposed to hunt rodents and frogs and things like that instead of birds. The cat liked to hunt birds. The moon cat¡¯s tail twitched as it considered getting up from its comfortable branch. The owl and bird moved down into the vines, where there were more shadows. The cat liked shadows too. With a huff the cat rose to its feet and stretched. The stretch started with the front legs reaching forward and down to stretch the back, then rising up to stretch the shoulders as the next pair of legs dropped down. A wave of stretching flowed down the body of the tree spider moon cat before it leapt to a lower branch and stalked toward the owl and bird. The moon cat¡¯s attention locked onto the little bird once the cat noticed the aquamarine shining from every feather. The moon cat stalked closer to the bird which was observing something on the ground. The cat leapt up into a higher branch as it drew near to the little bird. The fish lashed its tail against the ground down below. The moon cat noted the fish and the motion of the owl flying between branches but remained focused on the songbird. The songbird made no movement. The cat grew a bit bored as it watched the bird watching the fish. The owl repositioned. Finally, the songbird launched from the branch and flew straight up. The cat raced up through the branches, tracking the bird and keeping to the shadows. The bird flew up into the light of the mirror star and perched on a high vine branch. The moon cat yowled softly in irritation at the bright light of the mirror star. It sat on a lower branch and looked up at the bird. The owl flew to a branch near the cat, keeping the little bird in sight. The predator pair followed the glowing songbird for nearly an hour. The little bird moved around the mind space, observing all the information bundles. The bird eventually settled on a mid-level vine branch and began to peck at it. The owl arrived near the bird and perched on a lower branch. The moon cat stalked along a higher branch and arrived a few moments later. The cat¡¯s eyes went wide as the songbird continued pecking at the vine branch. The more natural bird-like motion tipped the glowing bird from ¡°odd, maybe prey¡± fully into ¡°prey¡± for the moon cat. The cats tail lashed back and forth, balancing the cat as its muscles tensed for the leap. The cat crashed into the songbird and swept it from the branch. The two fell onto a larger branch below and the cat pinned the bird under several paws. The cat opened its jaws wide in order to crush the bird¡¯s head. As the fangs closed around the woodlark, the green glow stopped and a green tick crawled onto the moon cat¡¯s face. The cat yowled in surprise and snapped its head back. The owl arrived in that moment and crashed into the tick and cat both. The trio thrashed around on the branch. The owl tried to pry the tick off the moon cat with its talons and beak while the cat scratched at its face with several paws to scrape the creature off. The woodlark flew off in a panic.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. The cat¡¯s back legs stepped off the branch and onto empty space, altering the cat¡¯s balance and pulling it to the side. The cat instinctually dropped down to hug the branch with its other limbs, but turned and leapt for a better perch before it could fall. The moon cat landed gracefully and began to lick its paws and wipe its face. The owl hooted as it flew above the cat and turned in a big circle. The tick had vanished.
*bloop* The needles of the evergreen vine in the otherside worldlet pierced through the edge of space to form a new worldlet. The vine began to smoke immediately as intense heat and dull red light blasted it. The roots began to crisp as the vine dropped toward a small island of black stone surrounded by patchy red lava. Scattered raindrops trickled down the vine, slightly cooling it, or puffed into steam as they hit the lava. pain, absorb, grow The dungeon mind space echoed with ghostly memories of the pain of mana forcing its way through the vine body. Vine roots pulled harder on the ambient mana and new branches tried to split out from the smoking evergreen branch. As the heat began to boil the sap in the branch, the mana flowed more easily and the System took notice. _ Forced Mana Evolution Attempt Underway. Select Upgrade Path for ¡®Poison Berry Vine (Evergreen)¡¯: - Fire Alignment - Ice Alignment - Magma Slime - Do Nothing _ The vine struggled to replace burning branches for one minute before: _ Random Selection. ¡°Ice Alignment¡± Selected _ Mana swirled around the crispy vine, momentarily shielding it from the heat. The mana pulsed, and the evergreen vine turned to ice. Ice water, instead of sap, flowed through the vine. White-blue needles sprouted from white branches. Icicle roots touched down on the black stone ground and drilled in. Frost began to creep across the stone, starting at the roots. The raindrops slowly coated the top of the vine with more ice and the bottom of the vine with icicles. The body of the ice vine quickly grew to the size of a healthy mature tree where it crossed through the portal. The lava near the vine darkened as it turned from semi-liquid to solid. The falling dungeon fruits began to split open instead of burning. The creatures did not survive long between the still deadly heat and the extreme cold, but a few ice aligned creatures survived close to the ice vine. An ice rabbit chewed on crunchy, cracking ice moss while an ice spider wove snowflakes between vine leaves above. An ice aligned jellyfish drifted too far out over the lava and melted. A patch of ice clams clacked open and shut, unbothered by the lack of water.
The boss bat crashed, bladed wings first, into an ice snake and shattered it. Nearby, a pair of water bats blasted holes in an ice jellyfish. These new ice creatures were a pain, but the boss bat thought that it wasn¡¯t their intention. The ice creatures on the vine were ok, just normal prey or predators, but when the ice creatures entered the water, they froze the water around them. Some of the creatures rose up out of sight, annihilated at the edge of the worldlet, but others drifted around or struggled to swim as they froze together into balls of ice. The boss bat felt proud of his colony of water bats. His bats were strong. They swam in thick schools throughout the underwater worldlet. Big sister Yrryth said that she thought a few of the bats were getting strong enough that they might evolve in some way. The boss bat was excited that there might soon be more big and strong bats like him and Yrryth. Ch 55 - Self-Defense The looped branch floated on the pond in the dungeon mind space. Dozens of loops coiled around the original red loop. The loops compressed themselves down into the same space in order to follow the original circle, phasing through other loops in a physically impossible way. The loops seemed to churn in place, moving in and out of the layers of loops, but no individual loop made any movement. The looped branch was almost completely covered with ghostly light as ghostly memory branches flickered and overlapped constantly across the many loops. Tendrils of white light sprouted from the light around the looped branch. The tendrils stretched out across the top of the pond toward the edges. The white light around the looped branch dimmed slowly as the tendrils reached further and further. A tendril reached the edge and wrapped around a mushroom network fiber. The light from the tendril seeped into the mushroom network. The other tendrils wrapped around various network fibers and the base of the memory vine. Mana and memories began to trickle through the tendrils and into the pale white loop. The light around the white loop grew stronger as it drank in energy from the network. The white light from the tendrils spread along network fibers and connected to the bound information bundles. Mental energy and instinctual reactions flowed smoothly into the loop. One area of the network stopped supplying energy or information to the network. The white loop pulsed and pushed a bit of energy back into the network. Energy flowed back to the loop from all the bound bundles, but not from the new blank spot. The white light around the loop swelled in brightness and the loop broadcast ¡°curiosity¡± along with the concept of the location of the blank spot in the network.
The owl was nearby and picked up the feeling of curiosity. It flew silently to the location bundled with the feeling. The owl spotted the rabbit on the ground, still bound by network fibers. The rabbit glowed aquamarine. The owl circled above the rabbit a few times, then dove down toward the prey animal like a spear.
Mental energy flowed out of the blank network spot in a wave. The wave carried the rabbit¡¯s fear combined with the concepts for ¡°green eyed owl danger¡±. The white loop drank in the energy from the rabbit. The loops churned again and the white light wavered up and down in brightness. A small pulse of ¡°fear¡± went down a tendril connected to the memory vine. Multiple ghostly branches appeared above memory vine branches. Several messages returned to the loop across the tendril: ¡°danger, fear, hide¡±, ¡°alarm, danger, defense¡±, ¡°danger, fight!¡± The white loop churned for a time before broadcasting, ¡°green owl, danger, fight¡±.
¡°green owl, danger, fight¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Violet woke up in his art studio. He shook his head slowly, losing the last traces of a dream about green birds. Sitting up, he evaluated his condition and examined his hand. He seemed to have recovered from whatever that ball did to him. Something moved quickly past the open door to his studio, making almost no sound. The underworld snake crashed past the door a moment later, hissing in anger. Huh. Violet thought. He moved to the door and peeked out as a hand of bats flew past in the same direction. He ducked back in the room and closed the door. He summoned up a visual scanner and moved the viewpoint to catch up with the giant snake. The snake was snapping at an owl in the nearby cavern. The bats were also attacking the owl. Violet narrowed his eyes. The owl eyes were glowing green. That¡¯s not good. He thought. Violet wouldn¡¯t risk another void-infection quarantine, and it was clear the dungeon wanted the owls dead for some reason. Violet and Yrryth worked together to direct dungeon creatures to exterminate the owls. Violet used his wall of visual scanners to help locate owls that were hiding and alerted Yrryth when a new green-eyed owl spawned. It wasn¡¯t clear to Violet why the dungeon would spawn more owls just to order their deaths, but he didn''t have a way to ask why.
The tree spider moon cat raced along vine branches as it followed the mismatched flock of birds. The many little songbirds were harassing the green owl, trying to drive it to the ground. The owl spun in the air, kicking and pecking at the other birds. A tiny warbler caught a slash from sharp green talons and was cut in two. The remains of the warbler fell to the ground, where mushroom fibers began to decompose it. Some information from the warblers last moments flowed through the network and into the white loop. The loop churned as it processed the information. The moon cat finally succeeded in slapping the owl out of the air. The owl crashed into the ground in front of the tortoise. Before the owl could recover, the tortoise reached its head forward and clamped its mouth down on one wing. The owl stopped glowing green and the tick crawled out from the body of the owl. The tortoise¡¯s eyes widened in surprise as the glowing green tick crawled onto its face.
The tick-tortoise felt the echoes of a command in the mushroom network: ¡°green owl, danger, fight¡±. The tick understood that it had been discovered and hunted by the other mental constructs. Its self-defense algorithms analyzed the threats and sorted them by potential danger. An unknown construct, directing the other constructs, was at the top of the list. The tick-tortoise slashed green claws at the mushroom fibers that held it in place. The fibers broke and sparked slightly at the claws cut through them. The tick-tortoise strained its legs to pull forward and break the fibers it couldn¡¯t reach. The tick-tortoise pulled free with a lurch and looked around. The moon cat was staring at it but made no move to attack. The songbirds and the owl flew away, uninterested in a tortoise. Dismissing the other constructs, the tortoise lowered its head near the ground and sniffed. The tick had gotten a taste of the mental energy behind the command in the network and now it would track down the source. The tick-tortoise lumbered across the ground, following the scent of the white loop. Ch 56 - Gems The white loop processed the last data it received from the tortoise before losing the connection, ¡°green bird, green tick, loss of connection¡±. The white light around the loop strengthened as the ghostly branches of the loop flashed and overlapped. The loop exchanged a few messages with the memory vine. Green was near both danger and loss of connection. The white loop felt a shadow pass through the tendrils it had grown across the surface of the pond. The tortoise had arrived near the loop and was wading into the pond. The loops sent a message to the memory vine about things in the pond but received nothing back. The loop processed. ¡°Loss of connection, fear, green owl¡± ¡°Green owl, danger, fight¡± ¡°Green owl, green tick, loss of tortoise, tortoise in pond¡± The loop altered its last command and broadcast, ¡°danger, fight, green tortoise¡±. The memory vine responded with a very recent memory fragment, ¡°danger, fight, loss of connection¡±. The loop processed this as the tortoise drew closer. The loop sensed the tree spider moon cat arrive and begin pacing around the shallow edge of the pond. The shadows of feathers and one whole bird splashed into the pond near the tortoise. The ¡°fight¡± command echoed faintly back to the loop from the cat and birds. The loop processed this too.
¡°Loss of fight¡± The moon cat and birds hesitated in confusion at the command from the loop¡ªthe meaning was not immediately clear, since it seemed to command that the fight be removed. After a moment, the drive to fight left them and they moved to the branches around the pond. The tortoise come close enough to the loop and stretched its neck through the shell of white light to tap the looped branch. The green glow of the tortoise stopped, and the tick crawled out of its mouth, onto the loop. The tortoise retracted its head in confusion and turned toward the shore. The tick crawled back and forth on the loops of the branch. It clawed and bit at the branch but failed to pierce through. The tick aligned itself crosswise to the seams of the churning loops and rammed its head between two layers. Using its tick-formed body, the construct shoved deeper into the loop until it vanished. The loops of the branch began to churn faster. Flashes of aquamarine shone through cracks in the loops. Mental energy fluctuated wildly, in and out of the loop. ¡°pain, absorb, grow¡± The message leaked out of the loop into the tendrils. The memory vine responded with a strong reflection of the message, ¡°pain absorb, grow¡±. The white light around the loop collapsed to one ghostly branch. The loops churned beneath the ghostly branch, flashing aquamarine and red from behind the normal green loops.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°pain, absorb, grow¡± The tick emerged from the loops of the branch, impaled by red roots. Red stains spread from the roots across the frantically struggling tick. The red stains drowned the aquamarine glow and the tick died. The red roots pulled the dead tick back under the many green loops of the branch. White light spread across the loop again and mental energy flowed into the loop.
_ Quest Complete: Destroy the Elven Construct Intruder _ _ Quest Rewards: Common Treasure, Dungeon Reward Selection, Experience _ _ Treasure Unlocked: ¡°Ironwood shield¡± _ _ Select Dungeon Reward: - New Material - Unlock Spawn - Unlock Treasure - Entrance Feature _ _ Random Selection: ¡°New Material¡± Selected. Select From Available Material: ¡­ _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Hemp Fiber¡± Selected _ _ Core Level Increased to 10. Mana Storage Increased 5%. Mana Generation increased 5%. Durability Increased 10% _ _ Select Dungeon Reward: - New Material - Unlock Spawn - Unlock Treasure - Entrance Feature _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Unlock Treasure¡± Selected. Select From Available Treasure: ¡­ _ _ Random Selection: ¡°Gem (Zircon)¡± Selected _
Violet was alerted to the new treasure by the guttural caws of a pair of ravens. When he saw the multicolored pile of gems under the ravens¡¯ feet, he rushed out of his art studio and down the tunnels. The ravens did not give up their treasure easily, however, and he had to hunt down some of the medicinal herbs after he acquired the load of gems. Back in the art studio, Violet summoned his favorite ¡°make stuff¡± book and opened to a section on gems. ¡°Gems!¡± He ranted, alone in his studio. ¡°Gems! Maybe I can make jewelry, adventurers love jewelry! Oh!¡± He paused as a thought struck him, then began cackling. ¡°Enchanted treasure! Enchanted with dungeon spells, yes-yes-yes!¡± He waved a hand and the door locked behind him.
A fruit grew on the white loop, floating on the pond. The body of the fruit was white, the stem was red, and single green leaf grew from the stem. Mental energy flowed into the fruit, filling out the body. When the fruit was full, the flow of energy cut off and the stem detached from the loop. The fruit fell through the water and settled on the bottom of the pond. After a time, the fruit split open to reveal a white vine sprout. The vine sprout grew up through the water towards the loop. Thin red and green streaks appeared on the vine as it swelled in size. The white vine grew up through the floating loop and began to open its leaves. Each leaf unfurled into a white loop that blazed with mental energy. White roots grew across the bottom of the pond. The white tendrils from the floating loop broke away from the network fibers and memory vine. The broken tendrils spiraled inward to connect with the growing white vine. Roots spread across the ground, connecting with the mushroom network and memory vine. Mental energy flowed smoothly into the white vine to fuel its growth. The loop leaves grew sparsely off the side of the white vine, leaving significant spacing between most of them. The white vine branched as it grew. The branches threaded themselves smoothly between the branches of the memory vine. Ch 57 - Changed The highest loop leaf of the white vine rose above the memory vines and into the light of the mirror star. The mirror star reflected a mixture of multiple memory branches onto the white loop. Another loop rose above the memory vines as the first loop processed. The mirror light reflected the ghostly memories and the processing from the first loop onto both loops. The processing of both loops reflected back from the mirror star and the loops began to process their processing. A third loops rose above memory vines. The light from the first loop began to increase exponentially. The processing of each loop was reflected back across the other loops, which began processing the new layer of processing. Mental energy flooded up the white body of the vine in order to power the loops¡¯ processing. When a fourth loop rose above the memory vines, the previous loops began to distort. The information bundles and the memory vines drooped as the white vine drew more and more energy to power the loops. The first loop to reach the light twisted and split, spilling energy. Pain radiated from the damaged loop. The loops processed the pain on top of all the layers of processing. The limp memory vines put up one last ghostly memory before falling dormant. ¡°pain, absorb, grow¡± The message rebounded between the mirror star and each of the loops. More loops split as the processing became too much. All at once, the loops in the light flashed red and shot red roots to spear through the mirror star. The dungeon mind space went black.
¡°AAAAH! I¡¯ve gone blind!¡± Violet clapped his hands over his eyes and fell backwards off his stool. Gems and tools scattered across the floor. Patting his face, Violet found nothing and felt no pain, so he summoned an orb of light. The light shone on the hollow space around the dungeon core. Violet looked over at the dungeon. The core sat on the vine pedestal, inert and nearly lightless. Violet could not sense any mana flowing from the core. In a panic, Violet forgot he no longer had wings and fell flat on his face while trying to fly to the core. He pushed himself back up and rushed over to the core. Violet¡¯s heart pounded in his ears and his breath cycled far too quickly. ¡°Oh no, oh no, oh no.¡± He hopped from foot to foot, unsure what to do. A green fairy instinct stirred in him, urging him to send restorative mana into a struggling plant. Violet reached out and put his hand on the dungeon core. He shrieked and withdrew his hand. Multiple patches of skin had been removed where they interfaced with the edge of the core. Swearing, Violet reached out with both hands and placed them on the vine pedestal, just under the core. He pushed a trickle, then a stream, then a flood of restorative mana into the vine.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Connected by mana and blood, Violet, the green fairy, communed with the dungeon core mind. Violet¡¯s inner eye saw a space devoid of light. A shining green droplet formed high up in the space. It hung at the top for an eternity before falling. The green star fell through the space and vanished into black tangles. Scattered stars appeared near the bottom of the space. Gradually, the light of the stars increased. Shadows formed, contrasting the light of the stars. Something like rain began to fall from above. The stars brightened further, revealing white and green vines covering the ground of the space with a tangle of rambling branches. The stars brightened further, resolving into circles of light that grew off the white vine like leaves. The circles of light had a strange property¡ªthey appeared white, but also seemed to flash reflections of their surroundings, like little mirrors spinning in a breeze. White ghosts of branches and leaves began to flicker above the branches of the green vine. As Violet¡¯s mana drained to nearly empty, he lost the vision and came back to himself, blinking. The dungeon orb was glowing again, dimly, but increasing in brightness. Violet felt a tickle in his bleeding hand. He focused on the tickle. A sense of ¡°weakness, hunger, distress¡± sounded in his mind. Violet tried to send thoughts back along the connection. ¡°It¡¯s ok. You¡¯re ok. You¡¯re going to be fine.¡± Violet felt oddly calm compared to his state of hyperventilation before the vision. ¡°Please activate the dungeon defenses as soon as you can.¡± A few breaths later, Violet sensed, ¡°curiosity¡±. Violet¡¯s brows furrowed in confusion. Curiosity about the defenses? Is it asking a question? He wondered. To the dungeon he send, ¡°The defenses. For safety. Safety from dangers like another void infection or something.¡± Violet could feel something from the dungeon that made him think that the dungeon was pondering his words. Violet¡¯s nerves frayed with each breath before the response: ¡°danger, defense, shell¡±. The dungeon core jumped in brightness, and Violet felt the connection to the dungeon cut off. He peeled his hand off the plant. A burned and bloody handprint remained on the pedestal. Hopefully the dungeon would not mind. Violet checked his wall of visual scanners. Dungeon creatures were acting slightly spooked, but that was reasonable. A trade caravan had just exited the captured space and was climbing down the vines in the dark worldlet. The giant underworld snake curled around the gargoyle, who patted the giant snake¡¯s head. Everything appeared to be back to normal, but Violet could not have felt more like everything had changed. He picked up the spilled stones, sat down on his stool, pulled out his flute, and played the first piece of music he had ever played for the dungeon core.
The loops of the white vine observed their surroundings. They watched memories play out above the green vine branches. They saw the bound information bundles on the ground and the unbound ones moving through the vine branches. The loops observed the sensory rain that fell from above. The loops observed each other. Ch 58 - Claim
A white loop observed some branches of memory in the dungeon mind. This loop had caught the sensation of ¡°entry¡± into the dungeon. A thin beam of mirror light traced along branches of the green memory vine, pulsing ¡°entry¡±. Occasional ghostly memory branches formed above the green branches. The loop paused to take in and process the memories. ¡°entry, System message, creature death¡± ¡°entry, System message¡± ¡°entry, System message, spawn fruit, exit¡± ¡°entry, System message, creature death¡± ¡°entry, System message, spawn fruit¡± A second loop joined the first and together they focused on a few of the memories. Under the light of two loops, the memories grew longer and more detailed. ¡°entry, System message, creature death, creature death, spawn fruit, mana flow, claim, claim tortoise¡± Information trickled into the loop from the mushroom network. The dungeon instincts felt that ¡°claim tortoise¡± was good. A few more loops began scanning for ¡°claim tortoise¡±. As the search time dragged on, more and more loops resumed scanning for other concepts or observing the sensory rain. Eventually, a loop passed around a memory that contained ¡°claim cactus¡±. The dungeon instincts said ¡°claim cactus¡± was good also. The loops shone their light across the two memories and sent pulses of concepts back and forth. A white branch began to form above the first loop. The white branch resembled the ghostly mirror branches, but was more solid and had streaks of green and red, like the white loop vine had. The branch formed with the concepts, ¡°entry, System message, claim, claim ¡±. The vines passed these concepts between each other, reinforcing the white branch. The sensation of ¡°entry¡± flowed into the first loop and into the white branch above it. The branch resonated with the concept of ¡°entry¡±. More loops turned their light on the white branch, observing. _ Higher Life Intruder Group Detected. Select Automated Response:
  • Attack
  • Claim (Unlikely)
  • Dominate (Unlikely)
  • Ignore
_ The sensation of a System message arrived, increasing the resonance. Mental energy from the loops filled the branch and broadcast, ¡°claim¡±. The System accepted this response. _ ¡°Claim¡± selected. Claim Failed, Make Another Selection _ The resonance between the white branch and the loops faltered as the expected ¡°claim ¡± did not occur. Several loops broke away and began scanning memories for the sensation of ¡°claim, fail, System message¡±. The white branch dissolved. The first loop re-scanned the memories with ¡°claim ¡±. The System moved on to randomly select the ¡°ignore¡± response for the recently arrived group. The first loop built a new branch with the concepts, ¡°System message, claim, claim ¡± and spend some time reinforcing it with mental energy. A few other loops observed this new branch. Another ¡°entry¡± sensation flowed into the first loop, followed by ¡°System message¡±.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. _ Higher Life Intruder (Resident) Detected. Select Automated Response:
  • Attack
  • Claim (Likely)
  • Dominate (Unlikely)
  • Ignore
_ The branch and loop responded with ¡°claim¡±. _ Claim Successful. Higher Spawn Unlocked: Raven _ _ Higher Intelligence Spawn are Ineligible for Automated Spawn. Consult With Your Dungeon Fairy on the Proper Management of Higher Intelligence Spawn _ The sensation of ¡°claim raven¡± washed over the dungeon mind space. Loops passed it back and forth. Many loops focused on the white branch above the first loop, strengthening it further. The branch and loop felt more ¡°System message¡± and broadcast ¡°claim¡± again. Sensations rained down and flowed through the mushroom network. Nothing relevant seemed to occur. The majority of loops returned to their previous activities. The first loop focused its light on a tiny new branch of the memory vine and sent ¡°System message, claim, claim ¡±. The green branch absorbed those concepts and grew. The new growth was streaked with white. The loop resumed scanning memories, allowing the memory vine to proceed naturally. A raven information bundle flowed into the dungeon mind. It looked around curiously. It launched into flight to better observe the mind space vines. White loops and memory branches absorbed the raven¡¯s concepts of ¡°curiosity, explore¡±.
A raven re-entered the dungeon. It had been curious about one of the trade caravans and followed them out into the forest. It watched them exchange shiny treasures and wrapped packages. The traders had no trouble blocking the raven from stealing several shiny treasures, so the raven had returned to the dungeon. Upon returning, it had hardly gotten its bearings when it felt a power reach inside and stir its mana. The raven croaked roughly in surprise while the mana swirled. A few thoughts entered the raven¡¯s mind as naturally as anything, and then the power released the raven. The raven shook its wings. It decided it didn¡¯t want to leave the dungeon ever again. Also, it would obey the commands of the dungeon core. Probably. If the raven wanted to obey those commands, it would do so. The raven flew back to the treetop worldlet after scavenging a bit of carrion.
_ Higher Life Intruder Detected. Select Automated Response:
  • Attack
  • Claim (Unlikely)
  • Dominate (Unlikely)
  • Ignore
_ A ghostly memory formed above the branch where the loop had recorded ¡°System message, claim, claim ¡±. A few loops noticed the memory and scanned it. They processed the instruction and broadcast ¡°claim¡±. _ ¡°Claim¡± selected. Claim Failed, Make Another Selection _ The memory reset as the ¡°System message¡± sensation returned. The loops broadcast ¡°claim¡± again. _ ¡°Claim¡± selected. Claim Failed, Make Another Selection _ The loops broadcast claim a few more times before turning away from the memory. They focused on new green growth and recorded ¡°System message, no ¡± in white-streaked growth. When the next System message arrived, most loops read the memories with instructions not to broadcast. After the normal delay, the System randomly selected ¡°dominate¡±, ¡°dominate¡±, then ¡°ignore¡±.
Zdeska, the human bandit queen, shook herself as an oddly clingy sensation touched her mind. She took out a small mirror to check herself for any lingering effects. Seeing only rich brown skin and green eyes, she put the mirror away. The clingy sensation reappeared a minute later, but she ignored it. Zdeska took a moment to settle her long black braids. She yelled for a report from her second in command. ¡°Sajaa! What news?¡± A goblin woman stepped out of a patch of tall grass. She spat on the ground before reporting. ¡°Fire. Ice. Borth nearly died from the fire, but said the floor didn¡¯t look like it had another exit. Ice is the way to go.¡± Zdeska nodded at Sajaa, accepting the recommendation. The goblin woman began yelling at a few bandits carrying huge packs to start distributing cold-resistant gear. There wasn¡¯t enough for all the bandits, so Sajaa stayed behind with the remainder. They would probably rob the next trade caravan and take their gear before catching up with the main group. Zdeska led her group into the blizzards of the captured space. Ch 59 - Five Words
Zdeska nudged Borth with an elbow and pointed up the path alongside the giant vine. Borth was shivering and had a wild look in his eyes, but his head snapped up to look where the bandit queen pointed. Zdeska brushed off her elbow. The man still smelled smokey from being bathed with lava. Zdeska didn¡¯t feel sorry for him, he had slipped on ice, of all things. Borth tried to whisper, but had to quietly cough into the sleeve of his parka to clear his throat. He started again. ¡°Wizard. Mid-level. Minor threat. Want me to approach with Stealth?¡± Zdeska nodded. ¡°Yes, but capture alive.¡± Borth faded into the wind and snow. While he worked, Zdeska looked over the bandit group behind her. They all looked uncomfortable, but the bandit queen didn¡¯t see anything she needed to address. Five minutes later, Zdeska heard a weak shout. She turned back forwards to see Borth, dragging the unconscious wizard through the snow. She motioned someone to join her and moved forward to meet Borth halfway. The wizard was wearing rich blue robes covered with disgustingly green hexagons scattered across it. ¡°Put him down.¡± Zdeska ordered Borth. ¡°Tie him up.¡± She turned to the other bandit. ¡°Squints, cut some of these smaller branches and make something so we can drag the prisoner with us.¡± The bandit, now called ¡®Squints¡¯, drew a knife and started cutting branches. Zdeska sat on her heels and searched the wizard. She found two scrolls, a bag full of burning coals, and a ring. The bag with the coals was cold to the touch and the ring was clearly the wizard¡¯s mana tool. The bandit queen kept all of it. The wizard woke up shortly after Borth finished tying the last knot. He yelled and struggled a bit, but Borth¡¯s sharp knife against his throat convinced him to be still. Zdeska stood calmly in front of the wizard, waiting for his full attention. When she was sure she had it, she withdrew a small case from the pocket of her parka. Slowly, carefully, the bandit queen opened the case and pulled out a needle. She held the needle up and spoke. ¡°You can lose access to your magic now and freeze to death, or you can swear not to resist and only lose access to your magic when we reach somewhere warm.¡± Borth eased up on the knife, allowing the wizard to speak. The wizard took immediate advantage of the opportunity. ¡°Who are you? What¡¯s that needle? How did you knock me out? Why-¡± The knife tightened up again, silencing the wizard. Borth snorted. ¡°Asks a lot of questions but didn¡¯t listen to a word you said, Z.¡± He chuckled until he noticed Zdeska¡¯s glare. ¡°uh, I mean, my queen.¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Zdeska bent down and held the needle right in front of the wizard¡¯s eye. ¡°Second chance.¡± She said simply. The wizard vanished. Borth swore as he overbalanced and had to catch himself on the frozen ground. Zdeska stood and shouted orders at the bandits to spread out to find and capture the wizard. She crossed her arms and waited patiently. The wizard was at her feet within half an hour, bleeding and moaning. The bandit queen held the needle, point down, above the wizard¡¯s face. ¡°Last chance.¡± She said.
The wizard¡¯s name was Emonar and he would not stop talking. Squints and another bandit had ropes tied around their waist to pull the wizard along on the bundle of branches. Squints wasn¡¯t sure how the bandit queen had known the wizard would have a broken leg and would need to be dragged like this. Squints marched forward through the snow and wished the wizard had chosen death instead. ¡°Tell her I need my ring in order to be useful! A wizard is a powerful ally and a terrible enemy, tell her that. Plenty of people will notice my disappearance more quickly than you can imagine, you should really let me go. Who are you people? Why do you even want a wizard prisoner? This ride is terribly uncomfortable, can I have a blanket? I hope you can pick up the pace a bit, we should really leave before the next big blizzard. The big blizzards are much worse than the regular blizzards, but they occur with startling regularity. I¡¯ve been developing a model of the mana and weather patterns in this space, it¡¯s quite fascinating. The obvious initial assumption is that the mana and weather are tied together like they are in our world, but that isn¡¯t the case here. The mana radiating from the vines is a¡­¡± The wizard spoke non-stop till the bandits fell asleep in a make-shift camp and was speaking again in the morning. As far as Squints could tell, the wizard had spoken all night long. When the bandits reached the portal out of the space, Zdeska had Squints and the other bandit pull the wizard to the front of the group. ¡°What¡¯s past here?¡± She asked the wizard. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not entirely sure. My briefing on the dungeon was more related to the environmental and magical hazards-¡± The wizard¡¯s response was cut short by light slap from the bandit queen that rocked his entire body. ¡°Five words.¡± The queen commanded in a flat voice. Squints had felt more loyal to the queen after that slap than he had ever felt before. The wizard took a breath, hesitated, then said, ¡°You have to climb down.¡± ¡°He can be taught!¡± Borth laughed as the wizard rubbed snow on the hand shaped mark on his face. Borth continued laughing while ordering other bandits to get out ropes and anything they have for climbing.
Emonar glared at the bandit woman¡¯s back as he continued to rub snow on his face. He could sense his ring, she had it in her pocket. He had made that ring to be his mana tool, his personal connection to greater power, and not having it was seriously debilitating. The wizard could make another one once he escaped the dungeon, but he was fairly certain he wouldn¡¯t survive an escape attempt unless he got the ring back first. To pass the time while the bandits prepared for a decent, he began lecturing the squinty bandit on an obscure theory around color and its effects on mana. Ch 60 - Scouts Violet grumbled as he watched the latest trade caravan plunder the main worldlet. It was true that traders were allowed to kill dungeon creatures and harvest whatever they could find, but most caravans were more concerned with speed and safety than with squeezing out every last bit of profit. Violet dismissed the visual scanner and turned back to his work. He had a few more measurements to double check. Violet felt quite confident about the physical aspects of the "thinky-talky" device and was reluctantly excited to get the mental magic components worked out. The device looked like a group of particularly disturbed bees had a grudge against clams. Multiple lobes made of clamshell pieces rose from a clay platter too large for Violet to reach his arms around. The space between the lobes defined a pattern that would guide "mental emanations" and mana to an array of zircon gems embedded in the plate. Violet''s enthusiasm for the gems had not diminished, even after his experiments with enchanted treasure had hit roadblock after roadblock. Violet glanced over to Yrryth, who sat reading Crataz''s books about mana flow patterns and vortex inhibition. "Any words you need help with today?" He asked the gargoyle. It was still astonishing that the gargoyle had learned to read so quickly, but Violet had gladly accepted reality when it meant the gargoyle was responsible for managing the entire mana flow situation in the tunnels, instead of himself. Yrryth shook her head in response to his question. The chain on her glasses clacked quietly against the side of her neck. Violet smiled, he had made her the glasses as a small joke, but she seemed to enjoy wearing them while reading. The lenses weren''t curved at all, just flat circles of glass. Turning back to his workbench, Violet pulled out his notes and a few practice gems. He could have practiced the enchanting directly on the gems in the plate, since, as long as he didn''t mess up too badly he could "erase" a gem and start over, but he had decided that would be a bad habit. He started working on the "speaker" enchantment, since it was the simplest.
Squints squinted in the extremely bright light of the dungeon floor. The light and the rain together were enough to blind or disorient anyone, which is probably why he was setting up a large tent for bandit queen. There weren''t enough tents to go around, and the fabric wasn''t thick enough to stop all the light. Squints wondered if the bandit queen would have a ready solution to this, like she had with the now magic-less but still talkative wizard. The wizard sat nearby, hands over his eyes. His mouth, unfortunately, remained uncovered. "Used to be that a person would marry a selkie after stealing their seal skin. The selkies didn''t mind, it was their most reliable method of procreation and they nearly always outlived their captor by a hundred years. The coastal empire only stepped in when it was discovered that an officer had secretly used a form of necromancy to transfer damage from himself to his captive selkie whenever he wore his sealskin armor. That''s why seal-based armors are banned, not because of the cuteness of seals, but because of the connection to necromancy." The wizard paused his lecture to shift uncomfortably. "I think the ground here is acidic. Feels like peat to me. Peat bogs are a common source of the ''preserved'' style of artifacts due to the acid levels and poor air mixing at the surface. Preserved artifacts tend to..." Squints finished setting up the tent and tried to scurry away, but the bandit queen appeared out of nowhere and ordered him to watch over the prisoner while she arranged a few of her things in her tent.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Punch stepped through the portal into the river delta dungeon floor wearing his armor and carrying his spear. He shook himself to remove some rain while rubbing at his eyes. Yes, it did seem like the locals avoided the discomfort of the blinding rain dungeon floor, but Punch wished the bandit queen had picked any of the more comfortable dungeon floors to hide in. Bean, Target, and troll bandit named Shtorrr stepped through the portal over the next minute. Punch addressed his group of scouts. "The bandit queen wants us to delve more deeply into the dungeon floors. We''ve all already sampled what the forresty floor has, so now we need to make a proper survey and map out all the resources and sources of treasure. If we find a better place make camp, we''ll be heroes for a day. Any questions?" No one had any questions, so Punch continued. "Here''s the order of things: Shtorrr goes through portals first since it heals the fastest, but on each floor we travel shield, spear, sling, then Shtorrr. Bean, call your targets before slinging stones." Bean nodded and loaded a stone into her sling. Target hefted his shield. Shtorrr stood there. Punch waved Target forward. "Take us to that sandy floor first, I want to see if there''s fish in that pond." Target strode forward, less cautiously than he probably should, but the bandits had mostly cleared this floor on their way in and it still looked mostly clear. Punch decided he would get after the shield bearer if he remained sloppy on the next floor. Shtorrr was first through the portal, as planned. When punch stepped through after Target, he found Shtorrr standing next to a pile of rapidly melting ice. "Jellyfish." Shtorrr reported. Punch nodded in acknowledgement and waved Target forward. The scouts slowly circled around the perimeter of the dungeon floor. The air was warm and the light was bright. They had to duck under the huge vine on the far end of the floor. Punch wondered why the vine would grow straight across the dungeon floor just to run right into the invisible wall that he could see out of the corner of his eye. Target led them down towards the pond when they finished the big circle around the floor. The scouts crept along in the cover of the giant vine. Occasional monsters hid in shadows or up in the leaves of the vine, but any that Bean didn''t spot were impaled by Punch or obliterated by Shtorrr. The light had started to fade when they reached the pond. Punch considered having the team retreat to avoid any "nighttime" dangers but... the dungeon monsters so far were not a real threat to any of the bandits. The scouts took a short break at the pond while Shtorrr stood guard. Punch was happy to see fish in the pond, though some of them were suspiciously white-blue, like ice. He managed to spear one of the white-blue fish and held it up for inspection. The fish struggled on the end of the spear for a moment, then went completely still. The fish broke in half when Punch tried to pull it from his spear. The fish carcass was fully ice and had begun to melt. Ice fishing. Punch snorted at his private joke and got the scouts moving again. Ch 61 - Thieves
Chaney was wresting a wooden shield away from a squid when he heard a loud, commanding shout from behind him, near the dungeon exit. Chaney ignored the shout, since he was already busy with something. After a bit of back-and-forth, Chaney twisted the shield to tangle a few of the creature''s limbs, then stomped on its "head" between the eyes. The squid went limp and Chaney tore the shield free. He lifted his prize up off the ground with a satisfied cheer. *Thunk* The shield was knocked out of Chaney''s hands. He felt the breeze of something having moved very fast past his ear. He whirled around in surprise, not understanding what happened aside from its origin being behind. A handful of strangers stood between the harvesters and the dungeon exit. One of them held a contraption of wood and metal on which he was placing a stubby arrow. The man lifted the contraption and aimed it at Chaney. Chaney looked around and saw that the other harvesters were all kneeling on the ground. A body lay on the ground next to the dungeon exit, unmoving. Chaney dropped to his knees. The strangers all wore dirty clothing of a style that Chaney didn''t recognize. They all had mismatched pieces of armor and unusual weapons. The man with the contraption muttered something to a woman with a spear. She stepped forward and dragged a harvester out of the group. Chaney had a flash of panic that the woman was going to execute the harvester, but she just roughly searched the person and took their weapon. A third stranger dragged the harvester over to the side as the woman repeated the process with another harvester. Two other strangers spread out a bit to either side of the group. Chaney was the furthest back, almost to the middle of the dungeon floor, and so he had ample time to try and think of something to do. What are these people doing? He wondered. Why are they stealing from us? They could just harvest one of the other rotting dungeon floors and get the same things. Chaney hadn''t even brought his club with him to the dungeon for this harvest because he was training his Simple Strike skill. The other harvesters hadn''t brought much to the dungeon aside from weapons and empty baskets, and the thieves were getting visibly angrier with each harvester they robbed. Will they let us go after they''ve taken everything? Thank the elf queen that none of my sisters came today. Chaney''s heart pounded as he slowly looked between the two thieves who had weapons pointed at the remaining harvesters. The man with the contraption had moved to cover the already-robbed group. Chaney weighed his options.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. The guard-thieves both looked to the front of the group as the woman slapped a harvester who held on to some trinket or other instead of allowing it to be taken. Chaney clumsily rolled backwards over the shield he had dropped. He managed to get the shield up in time to block another stubby arrow shot from the thief with the contraption. Chaney was already unbalanced, so the strike on his shield knocked him on his back. "Teeth!" He swore. He scrambled to his feet as one of the guards shouted and raced towards him. Chaney didn''t try to get his arm in the shield properly, just grabbed one strap and ran to put the giant vines between himself and more arrows. Chaney did get behind one of the giant vines before being struck by a projectile, but the pursuing guard was close behind him. Chaney pushed himself to run straight ahead as fast as he could. Chaney''s panic rose with each step as the burning in his legs seemed to drag at him. He abandoned the shield, he couldn''t use it anyway and it was slowing him down. The shield dropped behind him and struck the leading foot of the guard. The guard stumbled, nearly falling on his face, but he recovered after only a second. Chaney''s breathing grew more difficult. He could hear the guard closing the gap between them. Chaney ran straight into a shadowy area far in the back of the dungeon floor. Legs burning and gasping for each breath, Chaney could hardly see even before everything went dark. Pebbles crunched under Chaney''s feet and he threw his arms out wildly, trying to slow down. He managed to catch onto a branch of the giant vine right as he slipped off the end of the patch of pebbles. His feet dangled over a mostly empty abyss while he gripped the branch with sweaty hands. Chaney felt like he was going to throw up, but he managed to get one elbow up over the branch and held tight. His eyes adjusted to the darkness just in time to see the guard step cautiously into the dark dungeon floor. Chaney tried to hold his breath, hoping the man wouldn''t see him. It didn''t work, the man looked right at him. The man raised a vicious metal hook and pointed at Chaney. He spoke some command, but Chaney didn''t understand a word. The guard growled and gestured "come here" with his free hand. Chaney shook his head and tried to scoot further away on the branch. He stopped moving when the branch began to sag under his weight. Chaney''s couldn''t catch his breath and his lungs felt like dry leather. The guard watched him for a few seconds, the laughed scornfully. The man stepped forward to the edge of the patch of pebbles and swung his hook at the base of Chaney''s branch. "No!" Chaney screamed. The angle for the guard was a bit awkward, and he adjusted his stance to better reach the branch. The hook bit into the branch and ripped some of the fibers as the guard pulled it back out. Chaney screamed wordlessly at the man but his mind was too paralyzed with fear to move. The guard laughed again and continued swinging his hook. Ch 62 - Odd Creature
The tree spider moon cat glared down at the noisy creatures. Their disturbance had driven off several tasty bats which the moon cat had been stalking. One of the creatures had climbed out on a branch that was too small for it, and the other was precariously close to the edge of the ground. The tree spider moon cat climbed silently down towards them, invisible in the darkness. The noise from the one on the branch increased and the moon cat flicked its ears in annoyance. The cat dropped onto a branch directly above and behind the one that stood near the edge. The cat''s eyes went wide as it prepared to strike. The noise from the branch creature stopped suddenly, and the ground creature paused whatever it was doing to look over at the branch creature. Perfect. Holding on with its rearmost pair of limbs, the tree spider moon cat struck out like a snake. It wrapped its front paws around the head of the creature and bit down on the back of its skull. Its claws sunk deep into the creatures face as it screamed. The moon cat tried to shake the creature and break its neck, but it proved too tough and heavy for that. The creature staggered sideways, away from the giant vine, and the moon cat latched its next set of claws into the creature''s shoulders. The creature swung its arm back and struck the moon cat in the side with something very hard. The cat yowled in pain and ripped its claws from the shoulders and down the back of the creature. It screamed again but continued to swing back and hit the moon cat. The cat abandoned its grip on the vine to tear into the back of the creature with six sets of claws. The cat released its bite on the back of the skull and tried to reach around to the side of the side of the neck so it could bite through an artery. The creature landed a glancing blow on the top of the cat''s head. The moon cat yowled in pain and sprang away from the creature. The creature screamed one last time as the force of the eight limbs of the moon cat shoved it past the edge of the patch of pebbles.
Chaney stared down into the abyss in open mouth shock. The guard was dead. His scream had cut off suddenly, leaving Chaney alone in the dark and silence. He hung off the branch for long minutes. He was eventually shaken out of his stupor by the sound of heavy breathing from above. Chaney looked up and saw two white glowing eyes. One of the eyes was squinting, but both were staring right at him. Against the ceiling of misty rainbows, Chaney could make out the shape of a large cat. A brief scratching sound startled him. The cat above him moved, briefly blocking the light from the squinting eye. The scratching and motion repeated a few times. Is it grooming itself? Chaney wondered. His arms were getting tired, but he didn''t want the cat to attack him next, if he got back onto the pebbles. Eventually he had to make a decision. I either get back on the ground, or I fall to my death. He thought. Maybe it won''t care about me. I''ll keep my eyes up so it can''t sneak attack me.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Chaney shuffled his arms along the branch. The cat paused its grooming. Chaney paused his shuffling. They stared at each other for a few moments. The cat resumed its grooming. Chaney resumed his shuffling. Chaney had to swing himself a bit to get his feet back on the ground, but he managed to get both feet firmly on the pebbles before his arms gave out. He looked up as he stepped slowly towards the portal. He couldn''t see the can anymore, and that made him more nervous. His foot hit something that wasn''t pebbles. He glanced down, but his nerves forced his eyes right back up before he could make anything out. He bent down slowly and felt with his hand. Metal. He picked it up and felt it with both hands. The guard''s hook. He must have thrown it back onto the patch of pebbles as he flailed and fell. The patch of pebbles was small, so Chaney was less than a stride from the portal. The giant vine was like a wall on one side of the portal. A wall that suddenly decided it wanted to be a tower and shot nearly straight up into the space above. Chaney watched a few patches of pebbles drift around vine branches and leaves. I don''t think I can go back to the main floor yet. The burning thieves are probably still there. Chaney thought. If I go back out, I''ll have to sneak around the floor to try and hide. Chaney glanced at the portal. I can''t stay here either. They will send someone to find out what happened and I can''t fight them here, I''m as likely to fall as be killed. Chaney weighed his options. Chaney sighed and shook out his arms. He held the hook above his head to hopefully ward off an attack from the cat and began to climb the vine. He got on top of the short horizontal section of the vine without being ambushed. That should be a blighted good omen. He thought sardonically. Maybe the cat will invite me into a cozy den fetch me a blanket. Grumbling, he climbed higher into the vine. He stopped when he couldn''t make out the patch of pebbles below him anymore. He perched in the space between two branches that continued upwards. He would stay here until... he wasn''t sure how long he would stay here. He would have to leave eventually and just risk running into more thieves before he could exit the dungeon. He frowned to himself at that thought. Nothing stopping the thieves from leaving the dungeon. If I get out of the dungeon, I''ll still need to move carefully through the forest to get home.
The tree spider moon cat looked down at the odd creature. It hadn''t fled from the moon cat, neither had it tried to attack the moon cat while it was tending its injury. The cat thought that this creature might have been hunted by the other creature, and that was why they had been making so much noise. The moon cat just had a good feeling about this creature and didn''t understand why. The cat relaxed and kept an eye on the creature and on anything that might try to sneak up on either of them. Ch 63 - Ill Be Fine
Zdeska held a stick out towards Emonar, interrupting him. "Identify this." Emonar frowned. "I have no analysis ability without my magic." His arm still stung where she had jabbed him with that poisoned needle. The bandit queen tossed the stick onto his lap. "Use your eyes." She commanded. The wizard sighed and picked up the stick. It felt cold to his fingers. "Where did it come from?" The wizard asked. He rolled the stick in his hands, feeling the weight. "The dungeon makes them. Tell me when you know something." The bandit queen left the tent, presumably to return to her own tent under this awful light and rain. Emonar turned to his guard. "Now, Squints, the mundane analysis of magical artifacts is an extremely neglected field. As far as I know, it mostly consists of compiling book after book of known artifacts with locations, descriptions, images and so on. The books are sold to would-be adventurers so they can have some idea what they might be carrying in their comically large packs." Emonar tapped the stick against the floor of the tent and continued. "There is a very good reason no one is interested in puzzling out these things on their own; the most basic analyze ability is infinitely faster than looking something up in a book." Emonar reached over and snatched away the folded cloak that Squints was using to block his eyes and ears. "Come, Squints, we have been tasked by bandit royalty to discover everything we can about this artifact." Squints protested. "She told you to do it!" Emonar shook his head, smiling a pitying smile at the bandit guard. "Now, Squints, if that woman returns and demands to know our progress, who do you think will receive more of her displeasure? Me, who has tried every trick I have at my disposal, or you, who shirked responsibility and contributed nothing while sitting in a tent?" "Shirked?" Squints asked. "Shirked." The wizard confirmed. Squints looked uneasy. "I guess I had better do something at least. Enough so the blame all falls on you." Emonar beamed. "That''s the spirit, Squints!"
Punch led his scouts back into the blinding light and rain. They had scouted out all the dungeon floors they could access, except two. One of the floors was so hot and humid that it was dangerous just to enter, possibly as dangerous as the lava floor near the entrance to the dungeon. Shtorrr had been able to survive the heat long enough for a short walk around, but Punch wouldn''t let it do the whole survey by itself. They moved in formation a few paces to the side of the giant vine. They had learned that it was better not to be directly beneath the leaves of the vine so snakes and spiders and a long creature with eight legs couldn''t ambush them. They walked for several minutes before spotting the bandit tents. Borth intercepted them soon after.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. "Done already?" Borth asked. "Not quite, Borth." Punch said. "Have you sent anyone to the far end of this floor yet?" "Nope, it''s all yours, scouts. Oh, in case you didn''t know yet, the big stinking vine in here is coated in acid. Take care." Borth waved them on. The second floor the scouts had yet to survey was mostly a guess from Punch, but the scouts had seen the clear pattern of portals between floors being right up against branches of the giant vine, and the vine in the blinding rain continued on out of sight of the tents. Target led the scouts along the vine, keeping the rain at his back. A roar shattered the calm sound of the rain and caused the scouts to spin around, squinting into the rain to try and spot the danger. Shtorrr held a dark red jellyfish in both hands. "Shtorrr, what-" Punch was cut off as Shtorrr roared again and ripped the jellyfish in half. The troll tossed the pieces aside and grabbed its head with both hands. "Bean, behind me!" Punch stepped forward to hive the ranged fighter cover. Shtorrr''s head snapped up at Punch''s words. It roared again and charged toward the other scouts. Target ran forward to intercept the troll, passing Bean and Punch. The troll and the shield bearer collided with the sound of thunder, but the troll was easily three times the mass of Target and had a relatively low center of mass. Target went flying, while Shtorrr only missed a step. Punch shouted a challenge at the troll while circling off to the side. He could see the trolls red eyes and guessed what had happened. "Its madness! Shtorrr is afflicted with madness!" He yelled to Bean and the hopefully still conscious Target. "Try not to get hit, it should wear off eventually!" Punch stabbed his spear aggressively at the troll to keep its attention. It worked, Shtorrr charged the spearman. The trolls arms were spread low and wide, so Punch used his spear to vault himself over the troll. He was partially successful, but the spear was knocked out of his hands and he fell on his back behind the troll. Shtorrr slowed and turned around as Punch got back on his feet. Punch didn''t think he could avoid a charging troll again from this close, but he didn''t want to run blindly through the dungeon floor. As a compromise, he ran over to the giant vine and began to climb. The troll charged after him. Punch got on top of the vine in time to dodge a swipe from the troll. It roared and tried to reach him, but it didn''t have the presence of mind to try climbing or fetch the spear for longer reach. Punch danced back and forth on top of the vine until the red faded from the trolls eyes. The troll looked very confused as it squinted up at Punch. "What?" It asked. Punch heaved a sigh of relief. "It''s alright, Shtorrr, you got a touch of madness from a red jellyfish. I''ve been keeping your attention away from the others while we waited for it to wear off." The troll frowned. "Sorry." Punch slid down the side of the vine. "It''s alright, like I said. We need to check on Target though, you hit him pretty hard." Punch took half a minute to spot his spear lying on the peat. Shtorrr squinted into the rain, watching for more red jellyfish. The two of them caught up with Bean and Target and checked them over. Bean was unharmed, and Target had a bruised arm and a cut on his cheek where the edge of his shield had caught him. Target might also have a mild concussion, but Punch couldn''t tell. "Sorry." Shtorrr said again. Target gave a small laugh. "It''s alright, Shtorrr. I know you didn''t mean it. I''ll be fine in no time." Ch 64 - Arm
The scouts took a long break to make sure Target would be in fighting shape for whatever they found next. Punch and Bean took turns standing upstream of the others, holding Target¡¯s shield up to deflect any more jellyfish. Shtorrr guarded the other sides of the group, stomping on dungeon monsters that wandered close. Target let them know when he was ready to move on. The scouts moved onward in an altered formation: Target, Shtorrr, Bean, Punch. Punch kept a squinted eye out behind the group for threats to the rear, but nothing arrived before the group reached a portal. ¡°Portal!¡± Target called back. ¡°Hold up!¡± Punch jogged to the front and traded the shield to Target. ¡°I¡¯ll go after Shtorrr this time, you enter after Bean.¡± Target nodded in confirmation, so Punch patted Shtorrr on the arm. ¡°Lead us through, Shtorrr.¡± Shtorrr stepped through the portal. Punch followed three heartbeats later. Punch flew backwards out of the portal and collided with Bean, knocking them both to the ground. Target swore in surprise. Bean caught her breath first and cried out in muffled pain, jaw broken. Target knelt to help her, but switched to Punch when the man coughed up blood. Target tried to roll Punch onto his side, so as not to drown in his own blood, but Punch screamed in agony. ¡°Bean!¡± Target said, ¡°You got any heal candies left? I know you hoard them, Punch really needs one!¡± Bean held her jaw with one hand and fished around under her leathers. She pulled out two tiny yellow pills. ¡°Last. One.¡± She grunted, glaring at Target. Target scoffed in clear disbelief, but took one of the pills from the slingwoman. Target fed one pill to a nearly unconscious Punch while Bean took the other. The pill slowly infused healing into Punch while Target stood guard, glancing nervously at the portal every few minutes. Punch¡¯s breathing lost most of its gurgling irregularity, and Bean¡¯s jaw clicked back together, leaving an ugly bruise. Bean continued to glare at Target. ¡°They¡¯re mine. Queen distributes them to us all equally.¡± Target shook his head, exasperated. ¡°We keep you safe from most things. As long as you are free with them in a voided emergency, I don¡¯t bleeding care how many you have. I didn¡¯t ask one for myself, did I?¡± Bean looked away, still glaring. After a minute, she asked, ¡°Think Shtorrr is alright?¡± Target responded slowly. ¡°Normally¡­ I would say it¡¯s probably doing better than Punch, but¡­ If it¡¯s not out soon, it¡¯s probably dead.¡± The two remained silent after that.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. An hour later, Shtorrr nearly shocked Target to death by stepping out of the portal. The troll looked awful. Pockmarks covered its skin, green blood leaked from multiple bites and cuts, and it was missing its right arm at the shoulder. Bean recovered from the surprise first. ¡°Shtorrr! You¡¯re alive!¡± She tensed as if she wanted to run up to the troll. ¡°Are you alright?¡± The troll limped forward and sat on the ground. ¡°Yes.¡± It said. ¡°What happened?¡± Target asked. ¡°More jellyfish.¡± Shtorrr said. It gave a long sigh and closed its eyes. ¡°Red jellyfish.¡± Target and Bean looked over at Punch, who was still unconscious. ¡°Was that everything?¡± Target asked. Shtorrr shook its head. It gestured to its missing arm. ¡°Ice.¡± It gestured to a large bite in its side. ¡°Squid.¡± Finally it gestured broadly at its skin. ¡°Acid.¡± Shtorrr hesitated, then added, ¡°Maybe fish.¡± Bean tried to piece together the story. ¡°So, you entered the dungeon floor and hit red jellyfish right away? You must have punched Punch back through the portal. When you came to, you fought an ice squid that tore off your arm? Maybe an acid squid?¡± Shtorrr shook its head. It pointed at its missing arm again. ¡°Woke up. Stuck.¡± It shrugged. ¡°Ice clams.¡± Target picked up the thread. ¡°You woke up with your arm stuck in ice, then an acid squid attacked?¡± Shtorrr nodded, so Target continued. ¡°Then the squid tore off your arm?¡± Shtorrr shook its head and mimicked ripping its own arm off. Target shuddered. ¡°You tore your own arm off! To fight the squid?¡± Shtorrr shook its head. Target was starting to lose patience with the troll¡¯s reporting ability. ¡°Then why?¡± Shtorrr opened its eyes and looked right at Target. ¡°Squid Dead. Everything Dead.¡± It gestured to its missing arm again. ¡°Stuck.¡± ¡°It tore its arm off so it could leave the floor and get back here.¡± Bean explained to Target. She turned back to Shtorrr. ¡°That must have hurt.¡± Shtorrr shrugged. ¡°Bean. Target.¡± The three scouts turned as one towards Punch. His face was drawn with pain, but he spoke clearly. ¡°Survey the floor.¡± ¡°What?¡± Target and Bean said together. ¡°Shtorrr said everything is dead. Go now so we¡­¡± Punch closed his eyes and took a slow breath. ¡°¡­ don¡¯t have to come back when its full.¡± Punch opened his eyes and glared at the two scouts. ¡°Now.¡± Target glanced at Bean with a raised eyebrow. She shrugged. After a few seconds, Target shrugged too. He hefted his shield and marched through the portal with Bean right behind him. On the other side of the portal, they cautiously looked around. The dungeon floor was grey, several inches of rushing water on the ground. After a breath, the water slowed and reversed direction, pulling at their feet. The water drained away to reveal grey stone marred by a long crack. A thick sheet of ice covered the ground under one of the branches of the giant vine. Broken clam shells and colorful monster pieces dotted the ice. The pair circled around the dungeon floor, following their normal protocol. The water rushed in and out a few times as they walked. A couple of fruit fell from the vine, but the spawned monsters just hid from the scouts. When they reach the giant vine next to the portal, they moved to the center of the dungeon floor. Bean made a queasy sound. ¡°There¡¯s its arm.¡± She said. Target verified that the arm was, in fact, frozen in solid ice, then looked away. ¡°hmmm.¡± He said. The two scouts killed a snake that got to close, then headed back to the portal. Shtorrr had moved to sit next to Punch, squinting upstream. Target and Bean reported the contents of the dungeon floor, then Shtorrr carefully scooped Punch up with its one arm, and the scouts walked back to the bandit camp. Ch 65 - Skill Unlocked
Chaney had managed to get lost in the dark dungeon floor. The bandits had entered the dungeon floor as he had expected, but he lost his nerves while listening to them speak quietly to each other. He had climbed higher as quietly as he could, desperately hoping that the big cat wasn¡¯t nearby, ready to eat him. When Chaney tried to climb back down to the entrance, he ended up on a floating patch of pebbles with many mushrooms but no portal. ¡°What on the fae queen¡¯s mountain?¡± He wondered aloud. ¡°What? How?¡± He looked back up into the darkness under the vine¡¯s leaves. ¡°Did you move?¡± He asked the vine. He nearly began another climb to try and find the right way down, but his limbs were shaking with exhaustion and he was thirsty. He sat down in the center of the pebbles and stabbed the hook into the ground nearby. ¡°This has to be the floor that Oz loves so much.¡± He said to himself. ¡°He said it has¡­¡± Chaney leaned forward and put his hands on the pebbles. He felt around himself for a while, feeling all the pebbles. He finally found one next to his hip and picked it up. ¡°¡­dripping pebbles!¡± He licked a drop of water that trickled down his thumb. He furrowed his brows as he thought for a minute. After deep thought, he popped the pebble in his mouth to suck on. He lay back with his hands under his head. ¡°The rainbows are nice, Oz.¡± Chaney said. ¡°I can see why this floor is your favorite. I wish it was easier to see, though.¡± Chaney didn¡¯t notice when his eyes closed and he fell asleep. He coughed the dripping pebble out of his mouth without waking up. Chaney dreamed about cats with rainbow eyes that could fly and carry him out of the dungeon.
The moon cat sniffed at the sleeping Chaney. This creature was exceedingly foolish to sleep entirely exposed right on the rocks. It was like a foolish kitten, so young it could barely climb. The moon cat leapt up into the vine branches and disappeared.
Chaney woke to the smell of fresh fish. He opened his eyes in confusion. On the ground next to his face, a dead fish lay. He sat up quickly and felt around for his hook. He held the hook out and looked all around his patch of pebbles. He found nothing. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and examined the fish again. He looked up but found no obvious source in the drifting rainbows. He picked up the fish. Only then did he notice that the back of the fish¡¯s head had been bitten off. ¡°No fall did that to you, little fish.¡± Chaney said. Chaney¡¯s stomach rumbled. He shook his head slowly. ¡°Oz must never know.¡± He said. ¡°He must never know that I ate the leftover raw fish of some blighted dungeon creature. Fish that fell from the sky as I slept!¡± Chaney chuckled softly and pulled the hook from the ground. He roughly cleaned the fish and tried to peel the skin off. The process was pretty messy, and he regretted that he hadn¡¯t cleaned the fish off the side of the patch of pebbles, because it was starting to stink. He searched around for another dripping pebble and popped it in his mouth. While eating, Chaney had realized there was one thing he could do to help himself find his way in the dark. He scooted to the far side of the pebble patch from the fish guts and sat cross legged. He closed his eyes and took slow, even breaths. He meditated for a while to clear his mind. When he felt light and unburdened, he let his mind fill with the desire to see in the dark. He thought through how he would use better sight to navigate climbing the vines and avoiding dungeon creatures. He thought about other ways he might use better sight: hunting in the forest, standing a watch over a sleeping camp, spying threats before they saw him on a dark road at night. He continued to work his desire and plans through his mind until the System took notice.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. _ Skill Unlocked: See in the Dark. Initial level: 0 _ _ Description: Pay attention, and you will find yourself able to see farther and more clearly in low light conditions. Your surroundings will not appear brighter, but you will be able to squeeze out more knowledge from the light your eyes take in. _ Chaney blinked rapidly as a sharp tingling forced his eyes to water. He wiped at his eyes to clear them. When he could see clearly again, two glowing white eyes stared right at him from a stride away. Chaney froze. His heard began to pound loudly in his ears. A large cat sat on the pebbles nearby. Or maybe the cat lay on the pebbles nearby. It lay down with some of its legs and sat up with its front legs. It was laying down but propped itself up- SHUT UP. Chaney shouted at his mind as it ran away in panic, trying to analyze the relationship between sitting and laying down for a creature with four pairs of legs. Chaney thought the cat¡¯s fur was the color of shadows, black, but also more than just black. The edges of the cats fur were difficult to observe in the dark. _ Skill ¡°See in the Dark¡± Level increased to 1 _ Chaney found he could suddenly make out the shape of the cats claws where they poked out of the fur on its feet. Seeing sudden claws did not help Chaney¡¯s pounding heart. The large cat bent down and placed a paw on something it held in its mouth. There was a ripping *pop* sound as the cat¡¯s head came back up, followed by several crunches as the cat chewed. Chaney looked down at the dead bat under the cat¡¯s paw. Over the next few minutes, the cat methodically ate the whole bat, crunching the bones and swallowing the entrails. Between each bite, the cat raised its head to stare at Chaney. Chaney was confused. Why is this blighted cat here? He wondered. There must be better burning places to eat in this dungeon. Also, it¡¯s eating way too slowly. I¡¯ve seen wild animals eat plenty of times, they don¡¯t take their burning time. What is this creature doing? When the cat finished the bat, it stared at Chaney, making him feel quite uncomfortable. Chaney frown as he had a thought. ¡°Are you¡­¡± He started. He looked over at the fish guts and skin he had left from his meal. ¡°Are you saying I should have eaten the entire fish?¡± The cat didn¡¯t respond, but the System did. _ Intrinsic Skill Discovered: Talk with Animals. Initial level: 1 _ _ Description: Many creatures of lesser intelligence have the desire and ability to communicate in some manner. You will have better insight into the intentions of nearby creatures and some ability to make yourself understood by those creatures. _ _ Related Element Unlocked: Creature Companion Description: You may offer a companion bond to a non-hostile creature. This bond greatly facilitates communication and empathy between you and your bonded companion. You may only have one(1) bonded companion at a time. ¡°Charm¡± style spells and abilities have no affect on the creatures decision to accept or reject the offered bond. _ Ch 66 - Accepted Violet woke up on the floor under his workbench. He groaned as he rubbed sand out of bloodshot eyes. He looked around his studio workshop. Yrryth had left at some point while he was busy enchanting gems. Violet crawled out from under the workbench and stood up. He stretched and cracked his back. "Ow." He said. He felt somewhat sick, which was a sure sign he had been underground too long. He waved his hand to unlock the studio door and stepped into the tunnels. He summoned a visual scanner as he walked. "I need some sunshine." He said. "Green fairies are too cagey about all our weirdness. Why would it matter if people knew we need to photosynthesize?" Violet pointed the scanner at the main worldlet, just to check if the coast was clear for him to exit the tunnels without harvesters watching. He paused on his walk as his scanner showed two people hiding near the dungeon entrance. The two were clearly not from the local harvesters, based on their clothing. Why would a trade caravan leave guards inside the dungeon? Are they guards? They look like they are going to ambush someone. Violet wondered. He continued down the tunnel, inspecting the two ambushers and looking for more. When he arrived under the main worldlet, he had located the bandit camp in the acid rain worldlet. "Bandits!" He growled. "Bandits in a dungeon. There wouldn''t be any point in a normal dungeon, but of course this dungeon has exactly what they need: interworld trade and no way to enforce the rules." He shook his head and climbed up into the main worldlet. He blinked into the dungeon core hollow space as soon as he could do so safely. The light from the core wasn''t quite as good for photosynthesis as some of the worldlets, but it was so bright that it didn''t matter. Violet donned a pair of dark glasses and approached the dungeon core. He placed his hand on the vine pedestal, over the burned handprint, and tried to re-establish the connection by sending mana and intent into the vine. It didn''t work and hadn''t worked any other time he tried it. Violet sighed. "Soon." He said to the dungeon core. "The thinky-talky will be done soon." He turned away from the dungeon core and walked behind the shade wall around his desk. He spent some more time observing the bandits on the wall of visual scanners. The bandits were much less entertaining than the previous group of humans who lived in the dungeon--Violet didn''t spot a single instance of awkward romance or unrequited love. He sighed in disappointment and looked over the scanners for the rest of the dungeon. He spotted something interesting taking place in the dark worldlet.
Sweat trickled down Chaney''s back as he stared into the eyes of the tree spider moon cat. Chaney felt terror and excitement in equal amounts. Bonded companion! He thought. It might say no and eat me! He thought next. Can I check somehow to see if this creature is friendly enough to say yes? The cat continued to stare at Chaney as he thought.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Chaney slowly reached out and picked up the hook. The cat''s eyes widened a little and it''s body language showed caution. Chaney found himself speaking to calm the cat. "Hey. Hey. I''m safe. There''s no problem." He couldn''t tell if the cat felt reassured in the slightest, but it didn''t run away as he reached out with the hook. Chaney snagged the pile of fish guts and skin and pulled it over towards the big cat. The cat looked down with interest at the small offering. Chaney withdrew the hook and waited. The cat bent down and sniffed the offal. Chaney sighed in relief as the cat slurped up the offal in two big licks. The body language of the cat read as satisfaction to Chaney. As the cat licked its lips a few times, Chaney firmed his mind and focused on offering the bond to the big cat. "Cat." He said, trying to follow his instincts. "I invite you to bond with me as companions." Chaney felt that last work vibrate oddly as it left his mouth. The cat raised its head high, ears forward as its tail swished slowly. _ Creature Companion: Tree Spider Moon Cat Has Accepted Your Bond Offer _ _ Description: This tree spider moon cat has a tenuous affection for you. Her affection for you may grow as you interact with her in positive ways. She may sever the bond at any time. You may sever the bond at any time _ _ Warning: Your creature companion is a dungeon creature. It may not leave the dungeon with you until it has been released by the dungeon. Leaving the dungeon without your creature companion may forcibly sever the companion bond and trigger a backlash _ Chaney felt a warmth grow in his chest. It felt like an ember the size of a pebble was glowing cheerily behind his sternum. Chaney placed a hand on his chest and smiled at the tree spider moon cat. "Hello, friend." He said. The moon cat stood on all her feet and stepped closer. She sniffed at his knees. The nearness of this deadly creature made Chaney feel giddy. The cat half circled in front of him and flopped to the ground. Chaney held his breath and reached forward to scratch the top of the moon cat''s head. The cat''s fur was unbelievably soft and felt more like warm water than strands of hair. Chaney scratched gently around the top of the cat''s head and behind the ears. The cat leaned into the scratching and guided Chaney''s hand to its cheek. The big cat began to make a low rumble, deep in its chest, and Chaney nearly snatched his hand back. The rumble continued longer than any growl could, and Chaney could feel something like ''smug contentment'' through the glowing ember in his chest. "That''s quite the sound you can make, friend." Chaney said with a grin. Ch 67 - Not Much of a Fighter Violet gave the visual scanner for the dark worldlet a confused look. "Do the people around here not know about cats and purring? Maybe they are not domestic on this world." Violet shrugged. Something tugged at his mind, something half remembered. He tapped his chin as he tried to remember something about... bonded creatures. "Oh, right!" Violet said. "He can''t leave! I mean, he shouldn''t leave. Let me see..." Violet summoned another one of his school textbooks and flipped it open. The class about general dungeon creatures hadn''t been so bad, and the book was reasonably sized. He quickly found a section that mentioned delvers bonding dungeon creatures. "Yes, he could leave, but the cat will probably eat him if he severs the bond. Cat has to be released by the dungeon... blah, blah, blah... mental damage." Violet shut the book and caused it to disappear. Violet looked up at the human on the scanner. The young man was using both hands now to scratch the cat''s cheeks. The cat looked ridiculously pleased. Motion on the acid rain scanner drew Violet''s attention. A group of bandits was approaching the bandit camp from the direction of the stony worldlet. Two of them were clearly injured, and one of those was a troll. Violet''s heart sank at the sight of the troll. He checked the stony worldlet and was unsurprised to find it was empty of the several dozen red jellyfish that usually haunted the space. "Dammit, that troll could probably kill everything in this dungeon by itself, unless the big snake swallowed it." Violet hesitated. "Maybe. I guess it might survive that too." He sighed. "Should I just wait for the hill lord to come take care everything? He will probably come running as soon..." Violet frowned as he followed that thought. Why was the hill lord not already here? Violet looked again at the bandits near the dungeon entrance. The bandits might have been in the dungeon for a couple of days already. The man in the dark worldlet was a frequent harvester and never ventured further into the dungeon. Had he been attacked by the bandits? He was alone with no supplies, so what happened to the rest of his harvesting group? Violet decided to get some answers.
"Hello, human." Violet tried to make his voice sound impressive, but his fairy race gave him a fairly high pitched voice that lacked a certain gravity. Violet nearly summoned a globe of light to shine in the human''s eyes for intimidation, but he remembered at the last moment that the moon cats couldn''t stand bright light. The human snatched up a large metal hook and tried to jump to his feet, looking around wildly. He managed to get to one knee quickly enough, but it seemed he needed to wait for circulation to return to his lower limbs before standing. Violet took one step forward to draw the human''s attention to his location. "Calm yourself, human." He said. The moon cat shifted in irritation at the human''s sudden movement, but it had been aware of the fairy''s presence as soon as Violet had arrived and so was not surprised. The human pointed the hook at Violet. "Who are you?" He demanded. Violet didn''t have an impressive answer ready, so he turned the question back on the human. "Who are you?" He asked. "I''m... Chaney." The human said. "What''s your name?"This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Violet scoffed arrogantly at the question. "Foolish, to ask the name of a fae." Violet felt a little silly at that. Fairies were only potential fae, and usually not very powerful when they evolved into fae. "Fae?" The human, Chaney, had eyes wide with amazement. "Like the elves?" Violet regretted taking this approach with Chaney, but he had finally thought of a response to Chaney''s first question. "There are no elves." He said. "I am an advisor to the Terse Elements dungeon, and-" Violet stopped and gestured impatiently at the metal hook. "Put that down!" Chaney sheepishly dropped the hook to his side and sat back on the ground. Violet sighed. He didn''t want to stand while the human sat. After a second, he summoned a simple stool and took his own seat. The moon cat began grooming its ears. "To start over," Violet said. "I am an advisor to the Terse Elements dungeon. I have a few questions for you about recent events. Will you answer them?" Chaney nodded slowly. "Yes, I will." Violet began with the most relevant question. "Why has the hill lord not arrived in response to the bandits in the dungeon?" Chaney scratched the back of his head. "He left. He took most of his burning fighters with him, but a few stayed behind so we could keep harvesting. What happened to the other harvesters? Did the blighted bandits kill them all?" Chaney''s eyes were full of worry. Violet decided to skip over a rebuke or a negotiation of answers for answers. "The other harvesters are no longer in the dungeon. I don''t think they were killed. When will the hill lord return?" Chaney sighed in relief, then shrugged. "I don''t know. He left in a hurry, so I expect he won''t be back until whatever goblin business took him away is resolved. Can you get me out of the dungeon without the bandits seeing me?" "He''s dealing with goblins?" Violet asked. "No..." Chaney said. "That''s just something we say. He''ll be back after everything is dealt with, whatever that is." "I see." Violet answered flatly. "It is not my role to assist dungeon intruders, so I cannot sneak you past the bandits. Will anyone come to try and save you, or avenge your death?" Chaney looked very uncomfortable at that question. "Maybe..." Violet raised an eyebrow and waited. Chaney sighed. "Probably not." Violet closed his eyes and considered the situation for a time. When he arrived at a decision, he opened his eyes and spoke. "You are an intruder with no special standing in the dungeon. The dungeon permits you and others to kill and harvest in the dungeon, but you have decided that you deserve more. Bonding a dungeon creature is generally viewed as a bad idea. Did you read the System messages you got after this cat accepted the bond?" "Uhhh." Chaney said. "I didn''t think so." Violet said. "Unless you sever the bond voluntarily, you cannot leave the dungeon. The cat cannot leave the dungeon at all. Do you want to sever the bond?" Chaney looked at the cat with a heartbroken expression. "What? She has to stay behind?" Chaney slouched in disappointment. "That''s too bad. I was really excited, but I guess I can bond some other creature." The cat ignored her human. Violet frowned at Chaney. "Would you choose to leave her behind? It doesn''t sound like you would be a good companion to any creature if you would give up so quickly." This conversation wasn''t going at all like Violet wanted. The human was supposed to ask for help or for a way to free the cat from the clutches of the dungeon, then Violet could dangle a tiny bit of hope for the human to jump at. Chaney looked confused. "What else can I do?" Violet lost his patience and skipped to the end with a growl. "Help me get rid of the bandits and I''ll ask the dungeon to release your cat so you can both leave." Violet was fairly certain he could ask the dungeon eventually. "Oh!" Chaney looked hopeful for a moment, then uncertain. "I''m not much of a fighter outside of harvesting dungeon creatures." Violet glared at Chaney. "In that case, I suppose you will have to learn." Ch 68 - Supervisor Yrryth Chaney sat nervously on a tiny stool in some sort of workshop. The fairy had cleared some things off a workbench and swept most things up against one wall with a wave of his green hand. The fairy had told Chaney to wait here and not to leave the room "or the giant snake will eat you." The cat was out prowling through the pitch black tunnels nearby. To distract himself, Chaney focused on the warm ember in his chest. He could faintly feel the emotions of the big cat, even though it was distant. The moon cat''s emotions didn''t quite feel the same as his own, which was very interesting. Are they different because she is a cat and I''m a human? Maybe they are different because she is a dungeon creature. ''She'', ''she'', ''she''... She needs a name. Chaney thought. Chaney tried out various names, like "shadow" and "black-black", but none of them seemed to fit. He was reciting the names of different foods he had tried when the door opened. "Clam, elk, plum, liver, bread... Master fairy!" Chaney shook himself and sat up strait. The fairy was carrying a thick book written in a language Chaney didn''t recognize. Chaney was about to ask about the book, but someone else entered the room. Chaney yelped in surprise and jumped to his feet as a large, grey creature with big wings and big fangs stomped into the workshop. The grey creature glared at him with glowing red eyes. Chaney would have run away, but the small room had nowhere to go. "Sit down." The fairy hardly looked at him as he set the book on the workbench. The fairy summoned a second book and began to flip through them both. Chaney sat slowly. He pulled his eyes away from the angry stone creature to look at pages of the books. One of the books was just a bunch of words he couldn''t read, but the other hurt his eyes. Each page seemed to be covered in intricate designs that a madman had created in order to drive others to even greater madness of their own. Chaney blinked rapidly and looked away. As he rubbed his eyes, the stone creature''s glare took on a smug aspect. Embarrassed, but not sure why, Chaney folded his arms and looked at the wall. After a few minutes, the fairy began to mutter to himself. Chaney turned from the wall to watch the fairy. His muttering grew more and more animated and he began pulling out gems and tools and other things. He reached out for the stool under Chaney and came up short when he tried to pull it over. "What?" The fairy looked up, blinking rapidly. "Oh, you''re still here. Sorry, I forgot you still needed to swear an oath." The fairy pushed the book of madness away and focused on the book with words. "Chaney, as the assigned dungeon fairy for the Terse Elements dungeon, I offer you ''Employment Contract #6'' and designate your supervisor as the creature standing behind me" The fairy gestured over his shoulder at the stone creature. _ Warning: Violation Of The Proposed Contract Will Result In Loss Of All Experience Gained During The Contract _ "What''s employment contract #6?" Chaney asked. Violet waved his hand dismissively. "It''s the simplest one: You do as you are told, I do what I promised. You keep anything you''ve gained during the contract. The cat doesn''t count, because you got her before the contract. Please agree or refuse."You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. "I agree." Chaney said. He felt like he was being led around with a blindfold on, but he also didn''t have much choice unless he wanted to fight a pair of bandits at the dungeon entrance and leave the cat behind. "Perfect." The fairy said. "Now I will introduce you properly." The fairy half turned so he could gestured at Chaney and the stone creature. "Chaney the human, meet your supervisor, Yrryth the gargoyle." Chaney tried to think how traders formally greeted people of importance. He bent awkwardly on his stool and said, "Greetings, supervisor Yrryth." The stone creature, the gargoyle, nodded at him. "Yrryth is going to stash you in one of the worldlets the bandits can''t reach yet. The swamp one, I think?" The fairy pointed that question at the gargoyle. The gargoyle shrugged. The fairy continued, unconcerned. "Probably the best choice. She will build you a simple shelter and leave you there. I will be along in a few hours... maybe a day... I will be along eventually to provide you with some basic gear you need as an employee of the dungeon. Your first task is to hunt and kill all the dungeon creatures in that worldlet. You should work on improving your stealth and fighting skills as well as working together with your cat. Questions?" "What''s a worldlet?" Chaney asked. The fairy gave him a flat look. "A dungeon floor. Now, I have to make that gear, so get out." The fairy flapped his hands at Chaney to get him off the stool. Yrryth opened the door and gestured him out with a grunt. Back in the dark tunnels, Yrryth led him through sets of tunnels made of stone, dirt, and mud. The moon cat joined them just as they entered a cavern made of rocky mud that dripped constantly. Yrryth climbed up a ladder and disappeared into the ceiling. Chaney looked down at the cat. "Can you climb a ladder?" He asked. The cat ignored him and leapt up into the ceiling. Chaney laughed and climbed up more slowly. Chaney passed through a portal and emerged into a short tunnel leading up into dim blue-green light. The moon cat sat in the tunnel, growling up at the light. Chaney could feel her dislike of anything other than complete darkness. He shuffled past the cat and climbed out into the swamp. A giant blue vine grew across the dungeon floor- Worldlet. He reminded himself. The vine grew across the worldlet. The leaves of the vine continuously sprayed water mist. Chaney''s clothing grew wet and heavy as he surveyed his surroundings. Yrryth was nearby, glaring at some boulders. "Yrryth." Chaney said timidly. "My cat doesn''t like the light." The gargoyle ignored him. Chaney tried again. "Is there food here?" The gargoyle grunted but didn''t look up. "Could-" Yrryth stomped on a boulder and Chaney stopped speaking and watched in amazement. The boulder flattened and spread out. It ran into several other boulders which also flattened and spread. The flattened boulders formed an even square. Yrryth stomped again and the entire square rose up to just above Chaney''s head. Yrryth reached out and began to climb the side of the square block. Her feet and hands left indents in the stone. She fiddled with something on top of the square block, then spread her wings and jumped off. Chaney expected her to fly away, but she plummeted to the ground like a slightly-slower rock. She gestured to the top of the square block with a grunt at Chaney. Chaney hesitated, but walked forward and climbed the square block. At the top of the block he found an open hatch that led into the mostly dark interior. Chaney noticed that the roof of the stone hut had a few holes along the edge, letting minimal light in. Before Chaney could climb down into the hut, the moon cat burst past him with a yowl. She dove down into the hut and pressed herself into the darkest corner. Chaney turned to look at Yrryth, but she was already gone. Ch 69 - Best Bird Shtorrr sat in a tent, doing nothing. Punch lay on a bedroll nearby, doing nothing. The bandit queen had told them to go in the tent and do nothing. Shtorrr was bored. The bright light made it hard to sleep, even inside the tents. Punch was too injured to tell stories. Shtorrr knew lots of stories, but wasn''t good at saying the words. Shtorrr wanted to go out and hunt. It needed food to regrow its arm. The squinting bandit entered the tent and told Shtorrr to come help. Shtorrr spent a minute explaining to the squinting bandit that it was supposed to stay in the tent because the bandit queen said so. The squinting bandit got mad and told Shtorrr that the bandit queen wanted it to help the wizard with something. Shtorrr looked at Punch for help, but he was still asleep. Shtorrr stood up and followed the squinting bandit. They went over to a different tent. Borth was inside with the wizard. That was good, Borth usually said the same as the bandit queen. The wizard asked Shtorrr some questions, but the troll didn''t know any answers. The wizard didn''t seem upset, though. He kept smiling at Shtorrr. Shtorrr liked the wizard, it hoped it wouldn''t have to smash the wizard''s head someday. Borth told Shtorrr to follow, and the group of four walked into the rain to the portal. They crossed the sandy floor and the forest floor to get to the portal to the hot floor. The wizard talked the entire time. At the portal to the hot floor, the squinty bandit gave Shtorrr some instructions and handed it a stick. Shtorrr held the stick in its one hand and stepped through the portal. The other side of the portal was hot. Not hot like a fire, but hot like a pot of soup. Shtorrr jabbed the stick into the ground. A wave of frost exploded across the ground and snow began to fall in an area a few dozen strides across. In the deep red light, the snow looked like a pile of freshly ground meat. Shtorrr yanked its one remaining hand back from the stick, worried it would lose its other arm to some ice. Nothing else happened, so Shtorrr stepped back through the portal. "Ice." It said. The wizard smiled at Shtorrr and nodded his head. Borth stepped through the portal to see for himself. He returned with a dusting of snow on his boots and a smile on his face. The wizard talked all the way back to the bandit camp. Shtorrr didn''t mind.
Punch lay on his back, in agony. Every breath, no matter how shallow, shifted his shattered ribs. The muscles in his back spasmed from time to time as he fought to hold still. When he ran out of energy, he passed out from exhaustion. He woke some time later to continue the torture. Whenever he asked, Shtorrr picked him up and helped him relieve himself outside the tent. Punch was grateful to the troll, but couldn''t spend the energy to say so. Aside from holding still and struggling to breath evenly, Punch spent his energy hating the bandit queen, Zdeska.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Punch tried to count how many bandits they had lost while following this particular bandit queen. Punch lost count, but he was certain it was around half of the original group. Punch remembered the excitement they all felt when they left their underground fortress. They were going to claim an interworld trade route. Interworld trade was the most lucrative of all trading, so they needed to claim the route before any other bandits tried to do the same. Zdeska had this all planned out. Punch accepted a sip of water from Shtorrr before returning to his thoughts. Zdeska hadn''t planned for the attention a large group of bandits would receive, traveling in the open. They had run for days, trying to avoid capture by the head of the guard at some city Punch had never heard of. Zdeska had eventually lured the guards into some ruins and killed the head guard herself. The ruins had proven more deadly than the city guards. Sickness of some sort swept through the bandits. Many of them might have survived, but Zdeska forced them to march as they coughed up blood. Shelter, food, gear, weapons--none of these were in sufficient supply after the first few days of traveling. Punch squeezed his eyes shut. It might be weeks before he could lead his team again, and his spear was nowhere to be found. He must have dropped it on that last dungeon floor, when a maddened troll punched him full strength in the chest.
A white loop absorbed the sensory information that fell like rain in the dungeon mind space. The loop processed a few of the subtler inputs: vibration, difference in heat, and electromagnetic senses. The loop focused its light on the space above it and built out a potential branch as it observed: "heat, vibration, heat, electromagnetic". The potential branch collapsed as the pattern didn''t hold. The loops built another potential branch: "electromagnetic, vibration, touch, electromagnetic" But this potential branch also collapsed. The loop processed this for a while. Eventually, the loop pulled in a few other loops and built a potential branch made from three potential branches woven together: "vibration-electromagnetic-heat" The three-fold potential branch resonated with much of the sensory input that fell on the loops. As the loops observed the potential branch, a trickle of energy flowed up from the plant instincts via the mushroom network: "other". The loops began to pass "other" back and forth. The concept was, by its nature, alien. The threefold potential branch grew and absorbed this new concept: "vibration-electromagnetic-heat, other". The loops wrote this insight into multiple memory branches. The raven observed the loops. It could understand some of the concepts that the loops constantly passed back and forth, and this one made perfect sense. "Other, maybe raven!" The raven cawed to the loops. One of the nearby loops immediately sent back, "raven, curiosity". The raven flapped in mild surprise, but continued the conversation. "Ravens are best bird! Black feathers, sharp beak. Smart!" The raven cawed its own praises in satisfaction. The loop processed this for a while as the raven preened. Eventually, the loop asked, "bird, curiosity". Ch 70 - Noisy Violet pulled his hand away from the burned handprint, less disappointed than he had been after the previous attempt to connect to the dungeon that way. He waved his hand and summoned his completed thinky-talky device. He placed it next to the dungeon core. Emotions warred in Violet, switching rapidly between fear, resentment, excitement, and fierce pride in his creation. His feelings bubbled up into a burst of crazed laughter. When the laughter subsided, he shook himself, took a deep breath, and activated the device. A soft muttering floated out of the thinky-talky device. Violet''s eyes went wide and he leaned in hear more clearly. The dungeon core was saying... random words. "Grow. Spawn fruit. Creature death. Other." The words overlapped and there seemed to be multiple voices, or multiple copies of the same voice. Violet had no idea if that was normal, since he hadn''t tested the device on another creature. Violet tried to think at the device himself, to see what he would sound like. Nothing happened, so Violet tried to think harder, repeating "Hello dungeon" as a chant in his mind. He gave himself a headache trying to think at the machine and he wasn''t sure if he had imagined a tiny whisper of his own voice coming from the device. Violet collapsed on his back, rubbing at his temples. "No wonder the dungeon doesn''t talk to me, I''m telepathically mute." He groaned in frustration. "If that telepathic raven was around I could probably just have it do the talking both ways." Violet let his arms flop to the ground next to him. "I guess... I can probably build a ''talky-thinky'' device so the dungeon can hear what I''m saying. It should just be the same process in reverse, right? It would have to target the dungeon core though..." Violet muttered to himself as he worked through the problem in his head. His professors from school would not have recognized him with how much he was focusing on something complex. Violet stood and wrote some notes at his desk. He glanced idly at the wall of visual scanners. "Oh shoot!" He shouted. "My employee!" He dumped a handful of miscellaneous jewelry out on the desk and snatched up a flat wooden talisman tied on a leather thong. He blinked out of the dungeon core space and rushed down into the tunnels.
Chaney lay motionless on a high vine branch. Below, a peahen pecked at a patch of glowing moss. Chaney watched the bird, memorizing its movement pattern. When he was confident, he moved his arm Silently to pull a stone ball from a rough pouch he had made from a giant cocoon. Patiently, he aimed and released. The stone ball smashed the peahen''s head into the ground, killing it instantly. Instantly, but not silently. A deep *thump* carried across the swamp.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Chaney quickly and quietly pulled his feet under himself and turned to run along the branch, away from the dead peahen. He ran faster than he would have thought possible before practicing his Balancing on and off for days. His passage rustled one big vine leaf when his concentration slipped for a moment. He winced at the noise. Perhaps it wouldn''t be noticed. Chaney crossed over the main vine and up a different branch. He leapt from the branch onto the stone hut, then from the hut into an apricot tree. He spent five heartbeats shoving apricots into his pouch, then dropped to the ground. He jumped over a wide pond, nearly slipping on the far side. Chaney spun his arms wildly but managed both to not fall and to not make any noise. He aimed for a patch of regular sized vines, the ones that grew eyes on the leaves. Silently, Chaney eased between the vines to the edge of a pond that was partially obscured by the vines. He slowly pulled on a grass rope, lifting a trap he had crafted the day before. Two fish had swum into the trap and been unable to leave. When Chaney raised the trap clear of the water, the fish thrashed loudly in the small space, and Chaney knew he was dead. A heavy body crashed into Chaney''s back, knocking him into the pond. He sputtered and shouted as he got to his feet in the shallow pond. "Yes, yes. You win again. You are still the best hunter in this whole dungeon." Chaney gave the moon cat a mock glare as it sat under the vines in the exact spot he had just been. The cat looked up briefly from licking one of its paws. Chaney laughed and grinned. "I did better that time! Look!" Chaney waded out of the pond and shook several handfuls of apricots from his sodden pouch. "Apricots and almost fish is a lot better, you have to admit." The moon cat flicked its paw in disgust at the apricots, but leaned over to groom the side of Chaney''s head with its tongue. Chaney endured the grooming as long as he could stand the scratchy cat tongue. Grooming was important to the big cat, as was hunting prey and avoiding detection. Chaney and the cat had been unlocking and improving his "hunting cat" skills for a week. The rules were simple, Chaney would sneak off and try to get food. The tree spider moon cat would stay in the stone hut until it heard something, then it would start to hunt Chaney. Chaney was allowed to eat whatever he could catch before the moon cat caught him, otherwise he had to eat whatever the moon cat brought him. Chaney had eaten more raw fish and bats and snakes than he even cared to count. Chaney had completely refused to eat the giant snail the cat brought one time. He was pretty sure the snail had been a cat joke. "Chaney!" The man and the cat turned in unison toward the sound of a shout. Without discussion, they crept through the vines and back towards the hut, keeping to the shadows. The shout repeated, giving the hunters the exact location of the noisy guest. "Greetings, master fairy." Chaney said from right next to the fairy''s ear. Ch 71 - Im Not Here The fairy gave a satisfying shriek and nearly fell over trying to turn around and back up at the same time. Chaney tried to restrain his smile while he waited for the little green man to regain his composure. The fairy huffed and glared at Chaney. "How did you do that, what skill were you using?" The question was pretty rude, between mostly strangers, but Chaney forgave the fairy immediately. "I hadn''t heard of this one before, it came out as ''I''m not here'' and it makes it more difficult to locate me, even if I make some noise or something like that." Chaney said proudly. He had meditated for two hours to unlock that skill after an incident where he looked right at the moon cat and failed to see it, smell it, hear it, or detect it with any other sense he had. The fairy stopped glaring and looked impressed. "I should have been able to sense your disruption to the ambient mana, but the only thing I sensed was like a soft breeze, not a person walking around. That''s a good skill." The fairy nodded to Chaney with respect. "How did you know to make it hide your mana interactions like that?" Chaney felt uncomfortable with this very personal question, so he tried to answer vaguely enough to make the fairy stop asking questions. "Well, I focused on all the senses." He could tell his face showed his discomfort, and, thankfully, the fairy changed the subject. The fairy held out a wooden talisman and Chaney took it. The wood was heavy and dark. Several gemstones were embedded in the corners of the talisman and a complicated symbol was engraved on the front and back. "This is yours now. It indicates to the dungeon that you are not an intruder, that you have a right to be here. It will help the more intelligent creatures--Yrryth, the giant snake, and the big water bat--view you as an ally without fighting their instincts." Chaney was shocked. "Wow. Thank you, master fairy!" He ran his fingers over the engraving and the gemstones. "It''s quite beautiful." The fairies cheeks turned a darker shade of green, like he was blushing. "What happens if it breaks or I lose it?" The fairy nodded. "Right, there is one more step." The fairy withdrew a tiny knife from nowhere and held it out. "Put a drop of blood on both sides, in the engraving. That way, no one else can use it. If it breaks while you are still employed, I''ll make you a new one." Chaney took the knife and poked the back of one wrist to get the drops of blood. The fairy continued after Chaney finished. "There is one thing I need to clarify. This marks you as not an intruder, but dungeon creatures will attack you, but not because you are an intruder. The dungeon could still have them attack you, even if you aren''t an intruder. But they creatures might attack you anyway." The fairy growled in frustration and waved his hands in front of himself. "Bah, I''m making it too complicated. If the dungeon commands the creatures to attack intruders, the creatures will ignore you. If the dungeon commands the creatures to attack you specifically, they will attack you. If a creature feels like attacking you, it will attack you. Does that make sense?"If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Chaney thought about the explanation for a moment. "I think so. It''s mostly the same as now, but if I left the dungeon and came back, the creatures would not do that thing where they all start to attack after a minute goes by." The fairy began to nod, but his face did a complicated expression of confusion. "A minute? It is a minute each time, isn''t it?" The fairy shook his head after a second, then nodded. "In any case, yes, exactly right. Plus the more advanced creatures will be nicer to you. The snake probably won''t even eat you, but don''t test that." ---- Three weeks after Punch''s injury, he could walk around and speak normally, but his ribs were not healed enough for him to do any strenuous activity. He mostly sat and tried to train his new **Knapping** skill. He was trying to make a spearhead out of flint to mount on an ironwood pole that squints had gotten for him. The bandits didn''t have proper woodworking tools, or knapping tools, or the right sort of cord for binding the spearhead to the shaft, but Punch didn''t have anything else to do. The best he had come up with was using the handle of a broken knife to break chips off the flint, then making some rough silk rope from a damaged cocoon. Punch was tying his latest stout spearhead onto the end of the shaft when Sajaa and the other bandits entered the camp. Sajaa roared a greeting when she came in range of the camp, which lifted a number of spirits. Zdeska and the guards on watch roared something back at the goblin woman. Punch listened to it from inside his tent. It was some goblin ritual that Sajaa hadn''t given up about re-establishing who was leader and who was follower after a prolonged separation. Punch figured that Zdeska had kept her spot as leader since no fighting sounds reached him. Punch listened as the other bandits mixed with those in the camp. Excited murmuring spread all around outside the tent. He thought he heard Borth giving some orders, but, since no one entered his tent, Punch ignored it all. A few hours later, Punch was trying to tighten the rope holding the spearhead when Sajaa stepped into the tent. The goblin woman was glorious to Punch''s eyes. Her grey-green skin and black hair blended beautifully with a new outfit of colorful silks and leathers topped with a large hat. Smiling at the bandit second in command, Punch resolved to get some peacock feathers to adorn that hat. "Punch!" Sajaa said loudly. "Are you injured?" The goblin''s voice was rough and she glanced at him critically. "Borth says you haven''t taken your team out in weeks." "Yes, Sajaa. I broke nearly every rib three weeks ago. I''m still not recovered enough to thrust a spear." Punch grimaced as he patted his tender chest. "Hmmm." Sajaa growled in contemplation. She stepped closed and held out her hand for the spear. Punch handed it to her willingly. "You are an amateur knapper and you don''t know how to mount a spearhead. I will show you." To Punch''s delight, Sajaa sat on the floor of the tent and quickly disassembled his rough spear. Ch 72 - Never Lie to Me Zdeska, the bandit queen, was furious. She stood in the "night-time" oasis, waiting for the next dungeon fruit to spawn a monster. Around her, dozens of dungeon creatures lay dead and torn apart. A faint *snap* sound reached her ears and she leaped the distance towards the falling fruit. The fruit hit the ground and opened to reveal a small pile of leather belts. Zdeska screamed as she ripped a leather belt in two with her bare hands. Zdeska took a break from her rage after one of the dungeon fruits spawned an eight-legged cat that led her on a chase over, under, and around the giant vines. When the cat was finally dead, Zdeska sank into the cool sand and stared up into the black "sky". She reminisced briefly about her adventurer parent. Her parent had taken her away from the bandits for a time when she was young to train in an old lost dungeon. That was a real dungeon. Zdeska thought to herself. Not like this pile of trash. This dungeon was all wrong. It didn''t have proper rooms or rest areas or treasure worth her time. Why make giant bug husks with the silk? Why not make a spool of silk thread? What is the point? Zdeska moved from reminiscing to complaining. In this backwards dungeon, Zdeska''s dreams of creating a company of adventurer level bandits seemed further away than ever. And that damn goblin witch went and made everything worse. How could a goblin be so soft that she would let half a trade caravan leave with their lives? If the goblin second in command wasn''t so popular, Zdeska might execute her. There hadn''t been any more harvester groups to rob since the first one, and Zdeska doubted any trade caravan would arrive from her world without significant protection. With the sad state of her company, they couldn''t do more than slow down a well defended trade caravan. Zdeska gave a long sigh and centered her mind. When her emotions were out of control, she made plans. If we can''t rob trade caravans or locals, we have two options to enrich ourselves: Harvest the entire dungeon or send raiding parties against the locals. We don''t have enough people to accomplish either of those, so we need more people. We don''t have anything to pay to recruit new people, so the very first thing we have to do is find something worth real gold.
Punch struggled not to glare at the bandit queen. If he revealed his hatred, she would kill him immediately. He clenched his fists hard as he fought to keep his face relaxed. "We need a complete survey of the dungeon and we need to find any remaining treasure. Is your team ready to resume duties?" The bandit queen asked. Despite his efforts at self control, Punch scowled. "No, my queen. My injuries persist." Punch swallowed hard and forced his face back to neutral. "I think it will be a few more weeks before my ribs are healed enough for me to fight."This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Zdeska narrowed her eyes. "A few broken ribs shouldn''t have kept you out of action this long. What''s really happening?" The bandit queen''s tone of voice held clear suspicion. Punch felt his face redden with anger as he struggled to speak. The complete unfairness of the question threatened to erase all his reasoning. "My queen." He nearly choked as he forced out a few words. "Nearly all my ribs were broken. Badly." His emotions were so elevated that he began to feel lightheaded. He found himself looking at his own feet. There was a long pause before the queen spoke again. "Sit." Punch looked up and saw the queen was gesturing towards the only other chair in the tent. Hesitantly, Punch sat. The queen stood and left the tent. Punch felt exhaustion creep over him as the emotions withdrew. As the time dragged on, Punch began to feel anxiety about how he acted. As he considered trying to run away before the queen returned, an explosion shook the walls of the tent. A few shouts of surprise followed, but Punch didn''t hear the bandits on watch raise an alarm. The queen reentered the tent soon after. Punch stared at the queen in open-mouthed shock. One of her arms was covered in blood nearly up to the shoulder. Her other hand held a small pack. As Punch watched her cross the tent and sit, the blood flowed down her arm and dripped on the floor, leaving clean skin and clothing behind. The bandit queen held out the pack. "Take this." Punch stood quickly and moved to take the pack. "Borth is dead. You''ll be taking over many of his duties. When the dungeon survey is complete, I''ll make you officially third in command." The queen paused for a response, but Punch was speechless. She pointed at the pack. "Use Borth''s supplies to get your team in shape and finish the survey as soon as possible. Any questions?" "Borth is dead?" Punch asked stupidly. "Why?" Zdeska, the bandit queen, held her head high and her gaze steady as she looked Punch in the eye. "He lied to me about your condition. Never lie to me, Punch." The queen dismissed Punch with a nod to the tent door. Punch bowed, grunted in pain, and left the tent. When he looked in the pack, he found dozens of heal candies and preserved rations. Squints and the wizard were in the tent with Shtorrr when Punch entered. The wizard, while not silent, was subdued in his endless lecturing. Squints'' face held a vacant expression and his clothing was speckled with blood. Punch settled himself on the floor and put a heal candy in his mouth. As the healing energy pulled his remaining fractured ribs back together, he spoke to Squints. "What happened, Squints?" Squints turned to look at Punch but didn''t respond. Punch repeated the question a couple of times before Squints seemed to recognize Punch. The wizard paused his lecture and patted the bandit on the shoulder. "The queen." Squints said. "She punched Borth." Punch was confused. "She told me he was dead. She punched him?" He asked. The wizard nodded, looking troubled. Squints looked down at his blood speckled clothing. "He exploded." Ch 73 - She is Too Strong Violet watched the bandits on the visual scanner. He was not pleased. Chaney had about as much chance of surviving a fight with the bandit woman as a small kitten would. The woman clearly had adventurer style training, which Terse Elements could not provide at this time. Violet had no idea how they could fight an adventurer-bandit without an adventurer on their side. On the plus side, Violet was pretty sure he had a prime seat to watch a developing love triangle between the goblin woman, the bandit with broken ribs, and the bandit "queen".
A white loop processed a new sensation. The "other" signal it had been tracking had suddenly stopped functioning. The vibrations and electromagnetic components of the signal dropped to zero at the same time the heat component spiked. The loop watched for a long time, but the signal did not resume, even when the heat component dropped down to normal levels and faded into the background noise. The loop processed this for a while before recording a memory of "heat, other stop".
Chaney felt lonely. Living with his moon cat companion in the swamp worldlet was fun, but he missed talking to people and being dry. Yrryth stopped by every few days, delivering bread and some plants called "carrots" and "onions", but she never spoke aside from grunting or growling. Chaney always thanked her extensively and tried to show her his progress, but she had some way of detecting him through I''m not here, which made his demonstrations unimpressive. Chaney had demanded that she explain how she could bypass his skill but she had just chuckled loudly as she stomped back down into the tunnels. The last time she came, Chaney had begged her to give him a hint. She had smiled and pointed at her large bat-like ears. Chaney knew his skill should work to spread out and dampen any sound he made, so this hint was not helpful. Chaney and the cat had altered their training game a few times over the weeks. The current version had Chaney setting traps and disguising them. The cat didn''t understand how traps worked, but she could tell something had changed in an area and would avoid it while chasing Chaney. Chaney only succeeded in "catching" the moon cat when he found ways to disguise traps by hiding other traps nearby, leading the cat to avoid one trap and trigger the other. He wondered if Yrryth would appreciate getting caught in one of his traps as a display of progress. Chaney had nearly decided to gather some grass to make more rope when the moon cat pricked up her ears and turned toward the entrance to the tunnels. Chaney immediately focused on his skills, I''m not here and Silently, to move around behind the visitor. He was pleased to see it was the dungeon fairy, someone who couldn''t see through his stealth skill. Chaney was shocked and dismayed when he felt a pulse of mana right before the fairy turned around and looked right at him. His shock was doubled when the fairy fell to the ground to avoid a pouncing moon cat. "Master fairy!" He shouted. "How in the System did you do that?"Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. The fairy got back on his feet and brushed mud off his knees. That only spread the mud around so he snapped his fingers instead and the mud vanished. The fairy looked up at Chaney with a big grin. "I got the idea from Yrryth. It''s not very practical the way I do it, but it cuts right through your skill." "From Yrryth?" Chaney asked with excitement. "How does she do it, she won''t tell me." Feeling awkward for shouting from multiple strides away, he moved closer to the fairy. "Oh, I didn''t know she wanted it secret. Hmmm." The fairy tapped his chin for a moment. "Nope. Better if we tell you, at least partly. Do you know how bats see in the dark?" Chaney shook his head. "I do not." "They squeak. You''ve heard it. They squeak, then they listen for the echos. Instead of one main echo like you or I would hear, a bat hears a dozen tiny echoes. It can paint a picture in its mind based on those echos." The fairy explained while looking up at Chaney. "When I got here, I started making mana ''squeaks'' and sensing when they bounced off things. It would make it entirely impossible for me to hide from anyone with practice sensing mana, which is why I said it''s impractical." "Teeth and bones." Chaney said in amazement. "What sort of squeak does Yrryth do?" The fairy smiled and shook his head. "That part can stay her secret." The fairy''s smile faded. "Also, we have more serious things to talk about." The fairy waved a hand and summoned a pair of stools. They each took a seat. Chaney''s heart stuttered, thinking the fairy would ask him to start killing bandits. Chaney... would do it, but he didn''t want to do it. The fairy cut right to the point. "We cannot fight the bandit leader. She is too strong, on a similar level to Hill Lord Andebert." Chaney felt like his eyes bulged out. "As strong as the hill lord? He''s an adventurer!" The fairy shrugged. "Possibly stronger. Likely more experienced in fighting and killing people." Chaney leaned back. One of the legs of the stool began to sink in the mud, but he didn''t care. "What are we going to do?" He asked. The fairy shook his head. "I''m not sure. I came to discuss any ideas you might have. The priority is removing the bandits from the dungeon, so maybe there are things we could do other than fight to kill." Chaney looked at the ground, thinking hard. He stood up and paced back and forth a few times, rubbing his chin. He paused and threw out a suggestion. "Poison?" The fairy tipped his head back and forth uncertainly, but summoned a pen and paper to take notes. "Can the dungeon just teleport them out?" Chaney asked. The fairy frowned and shook his head. "No. The dungeon is focused on... the unseen aspects of... being a dungeon." Chaney thought that explanation held little water, but the answer was still "No". For the next hour, they proposed idea after idea to remove the bandits from the dungeon. Bribery, waves of dungeon creatures, starving them of food, assassination, they discussed everything they could think up. After an hour, Chaney had one final idea. "If the bandit leader was not there, do you think we could handle the rest of the bandits?" He asked. The fairy half nodded half shrugged. "With proper planning, I think so." "In that case," Chaney said. "We don''t have to beat her if we can make her leave for some other reason. When she is gone, we deal with the remaining blighted bandits, then there is no reason for the leader to come back or stay here if she does come back." The fairy pulled out a new sheet of paper. "How would we get her to leave?" Ch 74 - In the Mud Punch and his team moved in a new scouting formation around the hot dungeon floor. Target led the way, followed by Shtorrr who carried all the frost poles, then Bean, then Punch. Every dozen strides or so, Target waved Shtorrr forward to plant another frost pole. Punch kept track of their remaining poles, keeping enough in reserve that they could cross back to the entrance. When they tried to approach the center of the dungeon floor, the frost poles stopped working. The heat and water spray increased to the point that the frost melted as quickly as it formed. "What should we do, Punch?" Target had to speak loudly to be heard over the sound of the water spraying from the vine. "Bean, you have the best eyes." Punch said. "Do you see anything in there?" Bean moved to the edge of their patch of frost and peered into the spray. She loaded a stone into her sling and launched it into the center before Punch could object. A soft **\*clang\*** drifted back to them, but there was no change in movement or coloration. "Looks clear to me, Punch. I don''t see how anything could survive in there without cooking or drowning." Bean said. Punch decided that would do for now. "Back to the first portal we found." He ordered. Target led them back to the edge of the floor and around to the first portal. Punch kept a tally of how many frost poles it took. Depending on how long each frost pole could last, they should have enough. Punch went through the portal first. His spear stabbed out and through a red jellyfish that floated near the portal. Punch flicked the spear to dislodge the jellyfish, then looked around carefully. The air was full of soft blue specks. The motion of his spear had set many of the specks swirling in little eddies. When Punch was satisfied that the area around the portal was safe, he tried to step backwards through the portal. The ground sucked at his boots, nearly tripping him. Punch tried to lever himself up by pushing his spear haft down, but the spear only sunk smoothly into the muddy ground. Turning his spear sideways and half falling over, Punch managed to extract one boot from the ground. With a tremendous _heave_ Punch pulled his foot free of his other boot and fell through the portal. "Punch, you alright?" Bean asked as Punch picked himself off the ground. "Fine. Lost a boot in the mud, though." Punch couldn''t help but laugh. This dungeon was ridiculous in how it used water and light to increase the danger of the environment on each floor. Punch scraped most of the mud off his legs and spear. "Target, We passed one or two of those wooden shields over there, bring them over here. Shtorrr, do you think your feet are big enough to stop you from sinking in mud, or quicksand?" The troll looked at its wide flat feet considering. It shook its head in the negative. "Then you stay on this floor. Keep an eye out for jellyfish spawns and gather up any shields and poles you find." Punch turned to Bean next. "Visibility is very poor. You stay near the entrance in case Target and I need saving. From monsters or mud." Bean smiled and nodded. Target returned momentarily with three shields.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Punch went through first again and set the shield on top of the mud in front of him. He climbed on the shield and tried to fish his boot out of the mud with his spear. When Target stepped through, Punch was laying with his chest on the shield, both arms in the mud to retrieve his boot. Target laughed at him and Punch laughed too. He emptied the boot and put it back on his foot. Target shoved a frost pole into the mud. nearly causing it to disappear. Frost exploded across the mud and the air turned chilly. Bean stepped through next and was pleased to find that the mud had frozen sufficiently that she didn''t begin to sink. She passed her shield to Punch and raised her loaded sling. "I''ll be here. Shout if you need me to come pull you out." She grinned briefly at Punch, then turned to keep an eye on the surroundings. Target and Punch progressed slowly around the edge of the dungeon floor. With only three shields, they had to put a shield down, step or hop onto it, then turn and pick up their previous shield to place in front of the other. By the time they were halfway around the floor, Punch''s back and shoulders ached and he was thoroughly sick of mud. He touched Target''s shoulder and pulled him up for a break. "Change in protocol. Let''s try to cut through the middle and find more shields." He said. "Good idea." Target said. "Bit of a break first?" After a short break, the two began shield hopping towards the center of the floor. As they moved in, they encountered a few more jellyfish and some frogs. The blue motes in the air churned in great loops around the vine leaves. Punch had to get close to understand why. "The vines here also spray water. They look blue in this light." Below the leaves, Target found some moss intermixed with the glowing variety. A blue worm, as thick as a heavy rope, poked one end out of the mud and blasted the shield bearer with a jet of water. "Gah!" Target shouted. Where the water hit his skin, Target felt a scraping sensation like being scrubbed with rocks. He lifted his shield to deflect the jet, but the force caused the shield under his feet to shift and he fell backwards into the mud. Punch''s spear cut the end off the worm and the water jet stopped. He bent down to give Target a hand up out of the mud, but Target shouted, "Above!" Punch whipped his spear up to guard his head just in time to impale an eight legged weasel. The weasel squirmed in pain, screeching. Punch brought the weasel under his foot and pulled his spear free to stab the weasel again. He kicked the carcass off his shield and scanned his surroundings for a breath before turning to Target and helping him out of the mud. "Injured?" Punch asked. "No. I''m fine. You?" Target responded. Punch shook his head and they continued on. Ch 75 - Enemies Here, Hunting Us The fairy swore in a language Chaney had never heard or imagined. It sounded like flutes and bells. Chaney could only tell the fairy had sworn because the fairy nearly fell of his stool with a expression of fear and surprise. The fairy stood up and raised both hands above his head, the hesitated. "Quick! To the hut!" He shout-whispered to Chaney. Chaney focused on I''m not here and jogged to the hut. The fairy arrived at the hut in the blink of an eye. The fairy raised his hands again and Chaney felt something vague with his mana senses. A bubble of some sort appeared over head and enclosed both of them and the hut. "This isn''t the best spell for hiding, so we need to think fast. A bandit just entered this worldlet. Where is the cat?" The fairy spoke quickly. "She''s in the hut, I think." Chaney said. The cat''s emotions were of boredom, so she probably wasn''t out trying to hunt something. They had killed all the dungeon creatures except maybe some fish, so she didn''t have anything to hunt until new creatures spawned. "Are you ready to fight bandits?" The fairy asked. Chaney looked away, uncomfortable. "I... I''ve only been hunting creatures and hiding some traps. I don''t have a way to practice my fighting skills, not really." It was a weak excuse, he could tell. If he were really dedicated to this contract, he could have spent every day doing punching and kicking drills or practicing with a spear. "Traps? That could work." The fairy frowned. "Oh, the bandit left... Nevermind, now there are four bandits. Not good, not good, not good." Chaney decided that cowardice was an acceptable choice. "Let''s go hide in the tunnels." He suggested. "They''re going to find the hut!" The fairy nearly shouted. "They''ll know someone is here and they will be on guard against us. We can''t fight them head on so we need to be sneaky. If they are on guard against us, sneaking will be very hard." The fairy shifted his shoulders. "This stupid spell makes my arms hurt." Chaney tried to think of what to do. Could he fight four bandits? Probably not. Could he hunt them like dungeon creatures? ...Maybe. Dungeon creatures don''t work together to stay safe, so it wouldn''t be quite the same. Did he need to kill them? The problem was the stone hut that Yrryth had made. "Is Yrryth nearby? Can she tear down the hut?" Chaney asked. The fairy shook his head, "Uh, I don''t know where she is. She could flatten the hut, I guess. I don''t know if that will hide it sufficiently. Any more ideas?"Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. "Can you..." Chaney wracked his brain. "Cover the hut with vines? Maybe they will ignore it long enough for Yrryth to tear it down." Chaney could feel the moon cat''s emotions stir in response to his intense thinking. "No, I-" The fairy blinked. "Oh wait, I can! I can do that." The fairy let his arms fall and continued in a whisper. "I can sense the bandits over that way, circling around. Grab some of the lesser vines and toss them at the base of the hut." Chaney and the fairy dashed away from the hut to snatch a few of the regular sized vine plants that had spawned from the vine fruit. Chaney toss his first batch at the base of one wall and ran off to find more. The moon cat exited the stone hut and sat on the roof. Chaney could feel her curiosity. He tried to explain the situation through his emotional bond with the cat. Hiding. He thought as loud as he could. Enemies here, hunting us. The cat raised its head high, sniffing the air. When Chaney delivered his next batch of vines, He saw that the fairy was kneeling near the hut with his hands on the ground, eyes closed. The vines in front of the fairy were exploding upwards along the wall. Chaney went back for one more batch of vines as quietly as he could. The cat leapt off the stone hut onto a giant vine branch. She disappeared into the shadows under the leaves. Chaney looked to where his cat companion had disappeared, then back at the vines growing to cover the hut. He waited anxiously until the fairy finished with the first hut wall. "This is enough, grow the vines and it will look like the hut is old. The cat can harass them a bit, make it look like she is the reason all the creatures are dead-" Chaney was cut off as the fairy grabbed his arm and pulled him around to another side of the hut. The fairy pointed in the direction of the disguised hut wall. "Bandits." The fairy mouthed the word and Chaney felt an odd sensation as the fairy''s mouth seemed to move in a completely different way than would say ''bandits'', but Chaney understood the word anyway. Chaney nodded in understanding and crept into the shadows under the giant vine branches, focused on I''m not here.
For most of an hour, Chaney moved slowly and Silently around to his remaining traps. Most of the traps fell apart after a few days, so Chaney wasn''t in the practice of cleaning them up. With each trap, Chaney carefully tried to disarm it without disturbing the surroundings. If the bandits found traps or signs that someone was here recently, all the stealth would be for nothing. While working on one of the last traps, Chaney flinched as he heard songbirds suddenly begin singing and the trap he was working on slipped from his hands. A rope net tore through a layer of moss on the ground and flew up into the leaves above. Chaney swore silently and tried to pat bits of moss back into place. A large chunk of the moss had stuck to the net, so He didn''t have enough pieces to completely hide the evidence. Soft voices and heavy footsteps alerted Chaney that the bandits were almost right on top of him. Holding his breach, Chaney scuttled backwards, stepping only on bare rocks. He climbed up onto a giant vine branch once he was out of sight of the trap. From above, with I''m not here as strong as he could make it, he watched the bandits through the leaves. His heart sank as one of the bandit''s spoke something in a clear warning tone. Two of the bandits stood by the disturbed moss and looked up to see the net hanging among the leaves. Ch 76 - The Bags Gone
"Trap?" Shtorrr asked. "Yes, a net trap. Looks like garbage rope, though. Can''t be very old." Target said. Bean approached, on guard for attack. "What is it? What are you looking at?" "Trap." Shtorrr said, pointing up. Bean followed the troll''s finger and saw part of the net. Her eyebrows raised. Punch walked up next. "Stay on guard!" He hissed furiously. "Why are you all standing around staring at the sky?" Bean and Target belatedly raised shield and sling and turned to watch the area around them. Shtorrr, still pointing up, said, "Trap." Punch glanced up in surprise. He looked down at the ground and saw the damage to the moss. He stepped directly under the net and looked up at it. "Looks like an amateur attempt and a rope net trap. Can''t be very old, it would have rotted away." He looked at his scout team. "Someone is in here." "Could it be the dungeon? I heard dungeons can make traps." Bean asked. Punch considered the question. "It would be odd for someone to make traps for the monsters we''ve seen in this dungeon, but, if the dungeon made this trap, why hasn''t it made any on the other dungeon floors? No, I think this is a person and I think they are still here." Punch pointed his spear forward. "Resume scouting." The scouts resumed walking but were brought up short almost immediately as a sharpened stake swung out of the foliage and Target''s foot. The stake failed to penetrate Target''s boot and he kicked it aside. He looked back at Punch to make sure the spearman had seen. Punch nodded and gestured Target to continue.
Bean''s arm was a bit tired from holding her sling at the ready for so long. She sometimes regretted not picking a different ranged weapon or even a melee weapon, but sling''s were simple and she could easily carry ten times as many shots in a pouch as an archer could carry arrows in a quiver. Bean''s mind wandered as she thought about the interesting "crossbows" the Queen had acquired a while back. Something grabbed her foot and yanked her to the ground. The breath was knocked out of her before she could cry out, and she was dragged into the shadows under a patch of regular vines. Bean''s mind screamed ''Trap!'' for a moment, but the dragging went on too long and her mind switched to ''Monster!''. She managed to take a breath and scream.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Bean''s free foot caught between a vine and a boulder, yanking her around painfully. The grip on her foot released and a heavy body with too many feet landed on her chest, knocking the breath out of her again. Bean got her sling around in time to glance a blow off the black shape above her. Sharp teeth sank into her arm as claws raked down her leathers. Bean screamed again. A crashing roar got the black monster''s attention and it released Bean''s arm. The monster pushed hard off Bean''s torso and leapt away. The breath was forced from Bean''s lungs a third time. She tried to cover her head as Shtorrr stampeded through the vines, nearly catching her shoulder. Punch arrived next and knelt to guard Bean with his spear. Target arrived next and guarded her other side with his shield. Shtorrr''s charge slowed and it soon returned to the group. "Gone." It said. "Bean, what was it?" Punch asked. Bean sat up, clutching her bitten arm to her chest. "I don''t know, it was just a black shape." She examined her condition. "It bit my arm, but mostly just ruined my clothes." She frowned at her slashed leathers and the bite marks on her boot. "Take a heal candy." Punch ordered. Bean nodded and reached for the small bag she carried. She patted her side, then looked around. Bean swore loudly. "The bag''s gone!" She looked at the flattened vines she had been dragged through. "It took the bag!" She shouted. Punch and Target looked around at the ground near the slingwoman, confused. "Why would a monster take a bag?" Target asked. The scouts searched around for a minute just to confirm the bag wasn''t lost among the vines or back where Bean had been walking. Bean felt miserable as she wrapped her bleeding arm in shreds of her clothing. The fangs hadn''t pierced very deep, but it was painful. Bean decided that injury wasn''t enough to force her to reveal all the heal candies she had pilfered from the bag and stuck in her inside pockets. Punch ordered a change in their formation. Target and Punch would walk side by side, followed by Bean and Shtorrr, also side by side.
Chaney looked through the small bag he had snatched from the woman with the sling, but it was only food and a bunch of little yellow things. The moon cat''s emotions only indicated that the bag held food. Chaney tied the bag to his belt and considered the situation. The hut was overgrown with vines and the fairy had probably left. The bandits would not fail to notice the hut, however. They had spotted a few of his disabled traps and their spiral path was thoroughly covering the entire worldlet. The bandit woman didn''t seem very injured from the moon cat''s attack, and both Chaney and the cat were intimidated by the crashing charge of the large rough skinned bandit. It clearly wasn''t human, but Chaney didn''t know what to call it. Chaney reached out and scratched the side of the moon cat''s neck. "Cat, there isn''t more we can do here. Let''s go." Through their bond, Chaney felt that the cat didn''t want to give up its territory to invaders. Chaney understood, but they couldn''t fight all four bandits. If they couldn''t fight and kill them all, the cat wanted to hunt the small weak one instead. They could try and separate it from the group. Chaney took a minute to craft an emotive "argument" that the cat could accept. Aloud, and through their bond, he said, "Let''s go hunting in the dark tunnels." The cat reluctantly accepted leaving its too-bright territory for the pitch-black hunting ground it had sampled a few weeks ago. Ch 77 - In Over Your Head
Zdeska gazed at her scouts over a plate of fruit. Many of the trees in the dungeon bore edible fruit, and the bandits had found the remains of an orchard hidden under masses of vines and grasses on the sandy dungeon floor. She speared a sour green fruit with a knife and chewed it slowly before asking a question. "Did your ambusher use your frost pole path to cross the hot dungeon floor?" She asked. The scouts looked like the thought hadn''t even occurred to them, but Punch answered quickly. "No, my queen. Our frost pole path had begun to fail before we entered the swamp floor." "And you didn''t find a frost pole path out of that floor when you left, meaning the ambusher had made their own path out?" The queen asked. "No, my queen." Target said. "Could they have escaped the swamp and followed your frost path back to one of the other floors you scouted?" The queen asked. Punch frowned. "They might have." The bandit queen snarled at the scouts. "And then they could have walked right out on the frost path you so helpfully built for them as you left. Did you leave someone to watch the portal? No, you came right back here, begging for a pat on the head after you lost our biggest collection of healing supplies and left two out of four floors not fully scouted." Zdeska leaned back in her chair and glared. Punch''s face had turned white, Target''s face had turned red, the troll didn''t react at all, but Bean''s face looked guilty. Zdeska focused on the guilty face. "Bean? Have something to say?" Bean cleared her throat and took a small step forward. "Apologies, queen, I would like to clarify. We did lose the bag." Zdeska''s glare intensified, and Bean nearly faltered. "But I had a dozen or so on my person for quick access in emergency." Zdeska slowly raised one eyebrow. "P-perhaps twenty, in total." Bean concluded. Zdeska''s glare faded and she snorted in amusement. "Well, we are bandits, after all. Keep one for each of your team and deliver the rest to Sajaa. She''s acting quartermaster. Punch stay here, the rest of you, go." Punch, still white-faced, stood stiff as a board as the others filed out of the tent. When they were alone, Zdeska picked up the plate of fruit and smiled. "Have a seat, Punch." She said warmly. Punch took a moment to process her words, he stiffly sat in the chair. A bit of confusion showed on his face. Zdeska spoke as she stood and walked around her table. "That wasn''t the best showing today, Punch. It was your first real action as my third in command, and I had hoped for better." The bandit queen held out the plate with the knife still on it. "Try the green one." Punch stared dumbly at the fruit on the plate and didn''t move. Zdeska motioned with the plate, encouraging him to take a piece. Haltingly, Punch picked up a green fruit piece with his fingers. At one more gesture from the queen, he took a bite.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Zdeska put the plate back on the table and leaned against it. "Not the best showing, but I was prepared for much worse. I had to be hard on your team as a whole because that''s how I maintain discipline, but that isn''t how I need to deal with you and Sajaa, my right and left hands." Zdeska smiled again, trying for reassurance. "As a scout team leader, you performed almost perfectly today." Punch swallowed his bite of fruit and raised his eyebrows in surprise. "But you are too used to returning to camp and having Borth make the next decision for you." Zdeska idly rapped her knuckles on the table. "Borth is gone and I can''t be making all your decisions for you. What you need to do, Punch, is think ahead to the next decision Borth might have made, and then make a better decision than he would." Zdeska spread her hands. "Here is tip: If you had returned as my third in command and explained that you made decisions for this reason or that reason things could have been dealt with at our level and out of sight of your team. You could even have made a reasoned argument about not leaving someone to watch the portal--anything can have a reason, Punch." Zdeska smiled at Punch again. "So, I hope there are good lessons learned and no hard feelings." Punch coughed a bit as he inhaled some saliva and his voice came out strained. "Of course, my queen. I mean, yes, and no hard feelings." Punch''s eyes filled with hope that he wouldn''t be slain like Borth. Zdeska clapped her hands. "Excellent. Now, Punch, I was overly distracted last time we talked and didn''t induct you properly as my third in command." Zdeska strode over to a box and pulled out a bottle of something that was probably wine and two mugs. She fumbled with the items for a moment and Punch jumped up from his chair to take them from her. He set the mugs on the table and opened the wine. "Thank you, Punch. Pull my chair around to this side, if you would." Zdeska smiled with even more warmth and she poured wine into both mugs. Punch brought her chair around and even started to smile timidly.
Hours later, Zdeska lay with her head on her companion''s lap. She sat up and stretched with a tired yawn, looking toward her bed. Her companion spoke. "He''s better than Borth." Sajaa said. The goblin woman picked at her sharp teeth with a shard of bone. "He''s more pleasant than Borth." Zdeska corrected. "He''s not much of anything else." She said. "I like him." Sajaa said. "You like everyone." Zdeska said. "You''re soft." "You love me for it." Sajaa said confidently. Zdeska snorted and moved to her bed. It was only marginally better than a cot, but being queen had its privileges. "Get out of my tent, softy." She said as she lay down.
Violet munched on fire popped grains as he watched his visual scanner. He had been monitoring the bandits since the moment he had left Chaney behind in the swamp worldlet. The two bandit women, the "queen" and "Sajaa" acted like they had known each other forever. They had been astonishingly frank with each other during the discussion of the bandit, "Punch". Violet shook his head as he watched the goblin woman leave the tent. "Punch, you''re in over your head." He said. Ch 78 - Query
One of the offshoots of the eye vine in the dark worldlet had grown apart from the main group of rising branches. The highest branch failed to connect to a floating patch of pebbles and began to bend outwards. The top leaves of that branch slowly collided with something not quite solid. The light-seeking branch pushed leaves and roots into the obstacle. The increased flow of water and energy to the end of the branch carried along sufficient mana for the branch to push through into a new worldlet. *bloop* The roots of the eye vine branch sank into loose white sand. Each grain of sand was perfectly round and identical in size. Cool water lay just under the surface of the sand. The leaves of the vine spread out and blinked their eyes in the light. Shifting rainbow light shone from every direction and painted the white sand with a chaotic pattern. A vine fruit soon dropped and spawned a batch of lizards. The lizards crawled out of the pile of limbs and looked around. An hour later, the lizards were still staring at their surroundings. A few of their heads wobbled back and forth, tracking some perceived pattern in the shifting light, and one of the lizards chewed distractedly on its sibling''s tail.
The white loops were almost buzzing as they scanned memories and absorbed sensory information. A minor, but still significant shift, had occurred in one aspect of the sensory rain. The volume of sensory rain had jumped and the additional sensations were only slightly similar to existing sensations. Initially, only a few loops had detected the change, but when they failed to find any related memories, more loops join in on the search for this anomaly. Eventually, nearly every loop was investigating some aspect of the change. Eventually, one of the oldest loops discovered something similar far down on the memory fine. The younger loops waited to receive memories as the lower loops continued the search. The older loops found only one other instance of something similar, but the memory held echos of the red section of the memory vine. "pain, absorb, grow" echoed powerfully around the mind space, even two steps removed from the red madness. The loops passed messages back and forth for a very long time about this interesting correlation. The raven information bundle had observed the loops for about an hour. They had all gotten caught up in some activity the raven only partially understood. It flew about in the sensory rain above the vine, watching ghostly branches form and collapse all over the space. One set of loops had stopped shining their light on the green vine or other loops, so the raven dropped down to find out why. The raven nearly missed the branch it was aiming for because it became distracted by the sensory rain around it. The raven was a creature with eyes and had all the mental facilities to absorb visual sensory information. The visual information in the sensory rain was usually subtle and the raven could ignore it, but a splash of bright colors came through strongly. "Pretty!" The raven croaked. A loop responded to the raven''s comment "curiosity, pretty". The raven thought about how to explain, then said. "Pretty colors, bright. Like treasure!" The raven shook its wings and added. "Want treasure."Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. The nearby loops did not inquire about treasure because a trickle of something drifted up from the foundational instincts. A feeling about the importance of ''treasure'' flowed up both mind vines and the loops observed many memories form above branches of the memory vine. Unfortunately, one of the clearest memories was strongly linked to the madness that lived inside the white vine. "pain, absorb, grow, system message, treasure unlock" The memory of the death of the elven construct tick replayed. The first loop, which sat like a ring around the base of the white vine, resonated with the memory and its vibrations disrupted the entire white vine. When the memories faded away and the first loop stilled, the white vine was inactive for a time. The first loops to resume activity were the oldest ones that had focused on "defense". The rest of the loops slowly returned to their normal activities. The foundational instincts insisted that treasure was important, but the memories available had strong correlations with danger and pain. After processing the experience of such a strong memory, the first loop wrote a new kind of potential branch and passed the message up the vine: "query: treasure-danger, treasure-good". "Treasure good!" The raven insisted. A nearby loop dutifully spread this input.
A burst of noise from the thinky-talky device caused Violet to drop a piece of shaped glass meant for the talky-thinky device. The glass landed on his foot and did not break. Violet swore and held on to the edge of his desk as he rubbed his bruised foot. He limped over to the thinky-talky device. It went silent right as he reached it. His heart skipped a beat because of that silence. His mind flashed back to when the core had nearly gone out and he had burned that handprint into the pedestal. The core did not go out, nor did the light from the core dim. After a minute, words began to trickle from the thinky-talky device and Violet let out a held breath. "Don''t scare me like that!" Violet said. "Some days, I think you''re too dramatic for your own good." Violet laughed and returned to his work. He picked up the piece of shaped glass and inspected it for damage. Satisfied, Violet turned to the nearly complete talky-thinky device. Its resemblance to the thinky-talky device ended with the clay plate base with embedded gems. The pattern of lobes on top of the plate was entirely different and Violet had built a framework of glass resembling a spiraling snail shell around the clay plate. He slotted the piece of shaped glass into place and checked the measurements against his notes. The words, "query: treasure-danger, treasure-good" were lost in the background noise of the dungeon mind chatter.
Punch didn''t know how to take reports from other bandits who weren''t scouts. One of the guards near the dungeon entrance had returned and wanted to tell him something. Punch stared at the man for longer than they were both comfortable with. "Well. Tell me then." Punch finally said. "Er, right. The vine isn''t dropping monsters anymore." The bandit guard said. Punch frowned. "What do you mean?" "The fruits that drop all the time, they aren''t monsters any more." The man said. Punch didn''t know his name. "What are they dropping?" Punch asked. The man shrugged. "Just stuff. Those sticks and the bits of amber and things like that." "Understood." Punch said. He took a moment to think about how to tell the man to go away. "Thank you, back to your post." The man nodded and left Punch''s tent. Punch really wanted to go tell Zdeska, but he hadn''t forgotten her instructions to act as third-in-command. What would Borth do? Punch wondered. Probably send his friends to go scoop up all the treasure they could. Inspiration hit him and he turned to Shtorrr. "Want to crush some monsters?" He asked. Ch 79 - Island Chain
Chaney and the moon cat were lost in the underworld tunnels. Really, I''m the one who''s burning lost. The cat isn''t going anywhere in particular. Chaney thought to himself. Also, I can barely see anything, so I wouldn''t know if we were going the right way. They walked through the tunnels for hours before Yrryth found them. Chaney was initially frightened by the red glowing eyes, but the feeling of calm recognition from the moon cat helped him recognize the gargoyle. "Supervisor Yrryth!" Chaney shouted down the tunnel. A flash of warning from the cat caused Chaney to flatten against the side of the tunnel. Something huge brushed his shoulder and snapped closed on the air where he had been standing. Supervisor Yrryth roared and charged down the tunnel. Chaney could make out few details in the darkness, even with his *See in the dark* skill. The large shape pressed against the far side of the tunnel, then rushed towards him to crush him against the wall. Chaney managed to drop to the floor to avoid the hit. The crash on the stone above him showered him with pebbles and dust. Chaney began to crawl down the tunnel towards Yrryth. She rushed past him, growling, and he stood up to watch the fight. Yrryth stopped in front of the large shape and shook a claw at it. She growled and grunted animatedly at the large thing. Chaney could only make out her outline against the faint red reflecting off the think, but it looked like she was scolding it. The thing hissed at Yrryth but she just growled louder. After a minute, the thing retreated slowly down the tunnel. When it was out of sight, Yrryth and the moon cat rejoined Chaney. "What was that?" Chaney asked in a whisper. Yrryth just grunted and shooed him forward. They walked for another quarter hour before arriving at the workshop Chaney had seen before. The fairy was not present. Yrryth closed the door behind them. The moon cat chose to stay in the dark tunnels instead of the bright workshop. Yrryth gestured to a stool then waited expectantly for Chaney to speak. Guessing that she wanted to know why he was in the tunnels, Chaney explained everything that happened since the dungeon fairy had shown up earlier.
Punch hummed to himself as he finished organizing a group of twelve bandits to clear and harvest the nearby dungeon floors in shifts. Punch''s team and the first two harvesters would clear out the stony dungeon floor together in case it was full of red jellyfish again. Punch would lead the remaining ten bandits to clear the sandy dungeon and the connecting floors, leaving behind two bandits in each to continue harvesting. Each pair of bandits would be replaced every eight hours. Punch meant to tell the bandit queen about the harvesting project, but it turned out that she wasn''t in camp. The team of five and the team of eleven left camp at the same time. Fully as armed as armored as they could be and carrying a few stacks of empty bags that Punch had scavenged from the supplies. Punch''s group cleared the sandy dungeon floor quickly and the group (minus two to harvest the sandy floor) move on to the oasis floor.
Internally, Zdeska frowned at the group of bandits with her. Each one had been chosen because they had a movement skill or natural ability that might be useful in the underwater dungeon floor, but they were also the odd bandits who didn''t fit in well. She cleared her throat to make them focus on her. "I''m going through the portal first. I''ll clear any monsters near the entrance and put down a frost pole. You all wait to a count of ten to enter." She said.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Is ten enough time? Should we wait longer?" A whip thin man asked. Zdeska frowned at him. "Ten is plenty. Any other stupid questions?" She looked around the group, but no one had any more questions. Zdeska strode through the portal. The dungeon floor had been cleared by Punch''s team not very long ago, so there weren''t any monsters near the portal. Zdeska slowly scanned her surroundings to make sure there were no threats then pulled a frost pole from her back and stabbed it into the ground. The frost was certainly nicer than the oppressive heat, but Zdeska wasn''t in any danger. She walked forward, placing frost poles every dozen strides. The other bandits emerged from the portal cautiously and followed the frost path the bandit queen had placed. Zdeska led them right to the portal that Punch had reported as the entrance for the underwater dungeon floor. Zdeska paused there to let the other bandits reach her. She spoke when the group had finally gotten close enough for instructions. "There is no floor past here." She said, pointing at the portal. "It''s a large air bubble. If you want to swim, swim near the air bubble and keep your eyes open for threats. I want at least one of you to get up on the vine," Zdeska pointed at the huge vine branch they stood next to, "and clear out anything that''s hiding under the leaves." Zdeska jumped through the portal before someone could ask useless questions. Medium blue light greeted the bandit queens eyes as she fell towards the bottom of the air bubble. She kicked out against the vine roots to alter her trajectory and exit the side of the bubble. Cold water enveloped her and she swam a short distance from the bubble. Silt hung in the water and scattered tiny air bubbles drifted past. Zdeska heard a muffled shout as one of the bandits fell to the bottom of the air bubble. She ignore them. Outside the air bubble, the giant vine branch continued out into the dungeon floor. A second air bubble surrounded a branching point on the vine where more roots trailed down into the water. Beyond that, Zdeska could see a few dozen air bubbles of similar size, like an island chain on the ocean. Zdeska swam up to the giant vine and walked along it back into the air bubble. "Queen!" The whip thin man gestured at her in panic. "Mirvin is drowning!" The man pointed down at the bottom of the air bubble. Zdeska looked over the edge of the vine and could see one of the other bandits quickly sinking out of sight. Zdeska raised an eyebrow. "Didn''t Mirvin say she had an Air step skill?" Zdeska made no move to rescue the drowning bandit. "She''s drowning!" The thin man protested. He managed to just stop himself from demanding that she take action. Zdeska shook her head. "Either she lied about her skill or she decided not to believe me about there being no floor. Either way, she''s useless." The bandit queen looked past the incredulous thin man and saw that the remaining three bandits were all on the vine. She pointed behind herself, into the water. "There are more air bubbles. We''ll follow the vine and clear out each bubble. There are some swimming monsters out there, so stay sharp between bubbles." Zdeska stared hard at the bandits until they nodded in acknowledgement, then turned and pushed off into the water. Ch 80 - Crushing Vortex
Zdeska swam through the water. She grabbed onto the giant stems and leaves to pull herself along. Something latched onto one of her wrists and she crushed it without pausing. She emerged into the next air bubble and slapped a songbird out of the air. The other bandits emerged from the water as Zdeska stalked forward. She left most of the monsters for the others to deal with, but she destroyed anything that attacked her directly. There was not much room to hide, even on such a large vine branch, and the group cleared the air bubble quickly. Without discussion, Zdeska plunged into the water again, following the left branch of the vine. The distance to the next air bubble was slightly longer. Zdeska frowned as one of the bandits emerged from the water dragging another who was choking and coughing up water. "Pathetic." She said. The bandit queen crossed the vine, crushing monsters as she went. The next left branch of the vine didn''t have an air bubble, it just drifted in the water. The group followed the branching vine, returning back to take the next path each time they reached the end of a branch with no air bubble. On the fifth terminal branch, the group ran into some blue bats. Zdeska stepped out into the water. She saw there was no further air bubble and nearly turned back, but she saw something hanging in the water a little ways past the end of the branch. Several jets of water shoved her to the side into open water. She oriented herself towards her attackers and pushed back towards the branch. She arrived in time to push the thin bandit back into the air bubble and out of the way of the next batch of water jets. Zdeska held onto a leaf stem to resist the push of water, then launched herself towards the source of the water jets. A handful of larger-than-average blue bats scattered as Zdeska snapped a leg out to create her own water jet. To Zdeska''s surprise, the bats regrouped and circled around her. She turned to keep them in sight and only sensed the threat behind her at the last moment. Something large streaked past as she yanked her head to the side. A few strands of hair and a drop of blood were carried along in the wake of something fast and blue. It turned and Zdeska got a clear look at it. A blue scaled bat, as large as a small dog, with bladed wings and eyes that glowed with white fire. Distracted again, Zdeska growled as the group of smaller bats hit her with a third water jet blast. The mana in the blast scraped uncomfortably against her skin, but it was not powerful enough to cause her any harm. She swam and kicked against the current to get back to the relative shelter of the giant vine branch. The larger bat reached her before she reached the branch. A more powerful water jet pushed her up away from the branch and the air bubble. A second group of small bats was waiting above the air bubble and blasted her even further out into open water.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Zdeska pushed against the water to shed her momentum, then flexed her will. A screen of bubbles hid her from the bats as a vortex of water formed around her. Water swirled towards her and twin jets of water stabbed out above and below her. A few of the bats were pulled into the vortex. Their little bodies were crushed and shredded as they fell towards the center and were ejected in the top and bottom jets. Zdeska was about to drop the skill for something more offensive when hot pain flashed up the side of her leg. Red blood colored the twin water jets. Zdeska didn''t see what had hit her or how it had avoided the crush of the vortex. She grit her teeth against unfamiliar pain as something cut across her back. On the third strike, Zdeska saw the larger bat dive past her face to cut the front of her hip. Unbelieving, Zdeska extrapolated its path in her mind. The bat must have skimmed the outer edge of the jets and threaded between the jets and the inner edge of the vortex. Nothing had managed to get through her Crushing vortex before without suffering some damage, but this bat could apparently do so with impunity. Regardless of how it happened, Zdeska could now anticipate where the bat would enter for the next attack. She caught it with both hands as it tried to cut her neck open. Before Zdeska could rip the monster in half, its eyes flashed and its body ignited with white fire. Zdeska screamed and released the bat. Her vortex collapsed. Without air in her lungs, her time before drowning was greatly reduced. The blue bat swam away to create some distance before the white fire went out. Zdeska clenched her fists against the pain, but her mouth turned up into a wicked grin as she saw that the bat had not crossed through her Crushing vortex unharmed. Blue scales glittered in the water around her and blue blood drifted off the bat from several places. A group of red jellyfish drifted out from below the closest air bubble. Zdeska noted that they were being herded by more of the smaller bats but didn''t bother worrying about it. At the speed it was going, she would either escape or drown before it reached her. Zdeska aimed her palms and flexed her will to send a Mana lance towards the boss monster. The bat responded with a mana-infused water jet and the two streams collided in a burst of sparks and bubbles. Zdeska pushed hard against the water, aiming straight for the air bubble. A terrible sound disrupted her ability to swim. She felt as though her bones would shake apart and her eyes would burst. Stunned, she drifted in the water for two heartbeats before regaining control of her body. The boss bat sliced through the water towards her, clearly expecting the stun to last longer. Zdeska threw a punch that connected with the shoulder join of the bat''s left wing. The bat squeaked loudly, startling Zdeska into bracing against another sonic attack and ruining her follow through, but the bat swam away, struggling to use its left wing. The bat headed for the air bubble and Zdeska followed. Ch 81 - Aim Higher
The boss bat fell through the top of the air bubble and out the bottom. Zdeska entered the air bubble a few seconds later and landed on the vine branch. Visibility out of the air bubbles was poor, so she pushed past the other bandits and raced to the edge to stick her face out. She watched the boss bat struggle to swim over to something hanging in the water just past the end of the vine branch. Something that brought hope back to Zdeska''s plans. A chest of gold. A cloud of red jellyfish rose between the air bubble and the chest of gold, herded by the smaller bats. Zdeska pulled her head back into the air bubble, grinning wildly. She composed herself and turned the grin into a look of smug assurance before turning and addressing the other bandits. "Back to camp. Be extra cautious between air bubbles, the bats can push you off with water jet attacks." She waved the other bandits back towards the dungeon floor portal. "I''ll take rear guard." "Queen Zdeska, did you win?" The thin bandit tempted fate with yet another stupid question. Zdeska glared at him, but decided to answer anyway. "The boss and I sparred a bit to see how we measured up. I obviously came out stronger overall, but it is more mobile in the water. With a bit of preparation, it stands no chance in our next encounter. Now move!" She said. The bandits jumped and moved quickly to the back of the air bubble and began swimming back along the vine. Blue bats harassed them between each air bubble on the way back, but were unable to dislodge or injure the bandits.
Violet was feeling grumpy. His talky-thinky device just wasn''t working. He slouched into the underworld workshop with a frown. He looked up to find Chaney and Yrryth bent over the workbench, looking at something. He thought about just turning around and heading back to the dungeon core, but a spark of curiosity pushed him to stay. He cleared his throat to get their attention. "Master fairy!" Chaney said. "I''m glad to see you are well. I knew you would be, but it''s good to be certain." Chaney had bit of strain in his smile. "Did we fool the bandits?" Violet asked. Chaney shook his head. "No, I accidentally set off one of my traps and I didn''t have enough time to hide it properly. The cat dragged one of them under some vines and I stole this, but they didn''t see me." Chaney held up a bag and reached in for something. "It had a bunch of these little yellow things. Do you know what it is?" Chaney held out a yellow pill. Violet squinted at the pill. "The mana inside looks like healing. Probably their world''s version of healing potions. I don''t know the exact usage for it, but you probably eat it." Violet pointed at a piece of paper on the workbench. "What are you two working on?" Yrryth grunted and held up the paper. A crude drawing of a moon cat dragging a person through bushes was scribbled on the paper. Chaney explained. "The moon cat and I couldn''t fight the bandits in the swamp. We picked the weakest one to drag in the bushes and kill, but it didn''t seem like we did much damage at all. You and I were talking about how to get rid of the bandit leader or all the bandits and I figure we might try to demoralize them." Chaney pointed at the person scribbled on the paper. "If I drop this somewhere a bandit will find it, maybe they will make fun of this person we attacked." Chaney sighed and shrugged. "I don''t know. It seems hopeless."If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Violet took the paper and examined the drawing while he thought. He tapped his chin with the paper and paced back and forth for a few moments. He stopped pacing and faced the others. "I think we can aim higher. We can make embarrassing drawings of the bandit leader. They will make her look bad and she might think one of her people is drawing them, driving a wedge between them. I can translate something to go with the pictures like, um, ''she makes us do all the dirty work'' or something like that." Violet put the paper back on the workbench. "I''ll pull up the image of her right now so you can practice drawing her face so people recognize her." Violet created a new visual scanner over the bandit camp. He navigated the viewpoint into the bandit leader''s tent. The bandit woman was bandaging one of her hands. The other hand had clearly been burned by something. The woman''s leg and hip had scabbed over cuts. The goblin woman entered the tent. Violet quickly turned on the sound to hear what they were saying.
"I haven''t seen you this injured in a long time, Z." Sajaa said. Her eyes twinkled with amusement at some private joke. "Want a heal candy?" Zdeska shook her head but didn''t look up from wrapping her hands. "The cuts will heal quickly, and it would take more heal candies than we have to heal my hands. The boss had a strange white fire that ignored my defenses." She pulled a knot tight with her teeth before looking up at Sajaa. "The hands will heal more slowly." "Where''s the carcass? I could mount the head on a pole just outside for you." Sajaa said. Zdeska frowned. "The boss is still alive, Sajaa." Sajaa''s mouth fell open in astonishment, then closed into a disgusted sneer. "You left a monster alive? A monster from this pitiful little dungeon? You''re weak." Zdeska set her face in an arrogant and aloof expression. "Go and fight it yourself, then. Oh wait, you can''t swim." Sajaa flushed with embarrassment and the two women fell to arguing and insulting each other.
Violet rubbed his hands together. "Interesting!" He said. "I thought nothing in the dungeon could hold a candle to her." He grinned at Yrryth. "Looks like your blue brother managed to drive her off." His grin faded a bit. "We better check out the damages." He turned back to the visual scanner and shifted it to the underwater worldlet. He navigated to the chest of gold but didn''t see the boss bat. He pulled back to the nearest air bubble and found the bat laying across the giant vine. It''s left wing was injured and it''s body language said it was feeling dejected. Yrryth growled, low and angry. "What is that creature?" Chaney asked. "It''s a bat? How is it keeping the water from filling that air bubble?" Violet looked over to Chaney, but wasn''t really listening. "Oh, Chaney, give me one of those yellow pills. Three, give me three." He held out his hand and Chaney fumbled with the small bag. "Yrryth, draw a picture of the boss bat with wings spread wide over a crushed bandit leader. Paper!" Violet snatched the yellow pills from Chaney and grabbed the pen and a fresh piece of paper. along the bottom, he wrote, "Weaker than bats!" in the language of the bandits. The translation spell that Violet used moved the ink around after it left the pen, which made Chaney''s eyes cross. As he dashed out the door, Violet yelled back, "Make copies and spread them around the dungeon!" Ch 82 - Great Ideas
Violet arrived in the underwater worldlet a little while later and blinked to the boss bat. The bat squeaked in greeting and Violet nodded to the boss creature. "You did very well, bat." Violet said. "Better than I thought anything in the dungeon could do against that woman. Thank you." The bat''s expression brightened a bit at the praise. "I brought you a bit of healing, to help fix your wing. I think you just swallow these." Violet held out the pills and the bat snatched them up with its tongue. Healing energy slowly infused into the bat''s body, filling in missing scales and reducing the swelling on the wing joint. The boss bat squeaked in surprise and gratitude. Violet smiled. "You''re welcome." He said. Violet cleared his throat and spoke more somberly. "Now, when she returns, I think you and your bats should just hide in the underwater tunnels. Let her have the gold." The bat squeaked in outrage and Violet held up his hands. "I''m not ordering you to do that, I just know that she''ll work to remove your advantages when she comes back. If you hide, then she doesn''t get the glory of defeating you." The bat didn''t seem convinced, but Violet let the matter drop. Violet returned to the underworld workshop and found Chaney tracing the words that Violet had written onto more pieces of paper while Yrryth drew a bat flying triumphantly over a dead woman with a slight resemblance to the bandit leader. He picked up the small pile of completed fliers and shuffled through them. "Perfect." He said. "These are perfect. Chaney, your stealth skill should make it so you can drop these off where bandits will find them. The queen won''t be able to destroy all of them and it makes her look weak, because she couldn''t kill a dungeon monster on the first try. I bet she''ll bring backup with nets next time she goes to the underwater floor." Chaney and Yrryth acknowledged his comments but kept working.
Punch returned to camp with the rest of the harvesting bandits. The nearby dungeon floors were all cleared out and these bandits would be out harvesting on the next two shifts. Punch''s enthusiasm to report the project faded as he heard Zdeska and Sajaa screaming at each other. Punch ordered the rest of the bandits to go rest. He decided to check in with his old team first to see what they knew about the situation. Punch found his team, whole and unharmed, sitting in his tent. "How did it go?" He asked. "No issues, Punch. We got back hours ago." Target said. Bean and Shtorrr nodded confirmation. "Good." Punch said. "Do you know what Zdeska and Sajaa are arguing about?" "Nah, we''ve been in here the whole time." Bean said. Punch frowned at that and tried to think how a third-in-command would find out what his superiors were discussing. He snapped his fingers and left the tent. Punch walked around the camp to the sentries. Since the sentries were out in the blinding light for so long, they wore thin cloth wraps over their eyes. Punch just squinted like everyone else as he tried to recognize the bandits on watch. "Hey." He said when he couldn''t tell who it was.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Hey yourself, Punch." The sentry replied. Fortunately, Punch recognized the voice of the bandit woman. "Bee, anything interesting to report?" Punch asked. Bee hummed thoughtfully. "Queen came back half an hour ago or so. Then you got back with your group about ten minutes ago." Punch tried to shade his eyes, but it didn''t help. He knew it wouldn''t help, it was just something everyone kept trying. "How was the queen''s group when they returned?" He asked. "They lost Mirvin, and the queen had some injuries. Other than that, they were just soaking wet." Bee said. "Injuries?" Punch was shocked. "What injured her?" Bee shrugged. "Don''t know. Hard to believe she could be hurt by frogs and salamanders." Punch nearly said something in agreement, like a scout team leader might say to a sentry, but he remembered just in time that he was third-in-command. "I''m sure whatever it was would have killed us. It killed Mirvin, right?" "Uh, sure. sure." Bee said, not sounding sure. Punch could hear that the shouting had stopped, so he went back to camp to find the second-in-command. He found Sajaa standing outside the bandit queen''s tent. "Sajaa, how''s the queen?" He asked quietly. Sajaa punched him in the arm. "That weakling got cut up by a bat, swimming in a puddle." She said loudly. A shout from inside had Sajaa and Punch scampering away from the queen''s tent. When they were safely distant, Sajaa spoke more quietly. "She''s isn''t hurt bad. I think she got a bit scared because something in here could actually hurt her. If she had stood her ground she could have killed the thing." Sajaa shrugged. "Maybe she didn''t want to mess up her hair to badly, I don''t know. What have you been up to Punch?" Punch had a few moments of panic at the idea that something was in the dungeon that could scare off Zdeska. Had he just send pairs of bandits to their deaths at the hands of a terrible dungeon monster? How long- Sajaa punched Punch in the other arm. "Punch! Wake up!" Punch snapped out of his frozen state and rubbed his arms. "Damn, Sajaa. That hurt." Sajaa snorted in amusement. "I heard from some sentries that the dungeon isn''t spawning creatures any more, so I organized three shifts of two on all the nearby dungeon floors to gather all the valuables. I just got back from leading the entire group around and clearing out all the monsters." Sajaa looked confused. "The dungeon isn''t spawning monsters? That sounds like a trap." Punch shrugged. "Maybe, but it''s a poor trap. The harvesters will run back here if the dungeon spawns anything worth fighting. In the meantime, the wooden shields could be very useful for building actual defenses or even just regular structures like walkways over mud and sand." Sajaa blinked in surprise at Punch''s thinking, but quickly resumed squinting in the bright light. A slow smile spread across her face and she took a half step forward to gently rub Punch''s punched shoulders. Punch''s face turned a bit red at the contact. "Punch, those are great ideas. I know a thing or two about building a permanent shield wall and Lochock did plenty of basic carpentry at the old caverns. With good defenses, we wouldn''t have to hide in this rainy torture bog. You''re gonna be camp hero once we get the queen on board." Punch felt a bit giddy but remembered his concern. "You think so? Should- should we get started now? I''m worried whatever fought with the queen will come and kill the harvester pairs I have stationed out there." Sajaa shook her head. "No need to hurry. She fought a water bat--it probably can''t leave the water. Lets go find Lochock and see what he thinks he can build with shields and tree branches." "And rope." Punch said. He pulled a few strands of a tough fiber from a pocket as they started walking. "The dungeon is dropping a bunch of this stuff now. It feels like rope and I''m sure we can make strong rope out of it." Sajaa laughed. "Are we bandits or old women spinning string?" She teased but took the fibers anyway and tried twisting some together. Ch 83 - Weaker Than Bats
Emonar the wizard crept quietly between tents that mostly held sleeping bandits. He held himself back from giggling as he slipped a sheet of paper into each tent. Each one bore a caricature of the bandit queen in a compromising position: either dead under a bat or sinking in mud or sitting in the rain looking miserable. The last was Emonar''s particular favorite because he had actually seen a similar expression on the bandit queens face once. Who ever was making this propaganda knew how to tell a story with few words. "Weaker than bats!" He whispered to himself when he just couldn''t hold it in anymore. He delivered his last paper and snuck back to the tent. Squints was waiting when he returned, a satisfied look on his squinty face. Emonar grinned at him. "Did you do it?" The wizard asked. Squints held out his hand and focused on his palm. His face turned a bit purple while Emonar watched. With a little *snap*, a small flame appeared over Squints palm. Squints let out his held breath and accidentally blew out the small flame, but he still looked to Emonar with expectation of praise. Emonar laughed and clapped his hands. "Squints, you are a natural! If we ever get out of here, I''ll personally sponsor you for wizard training." The wizard took a seat and began to lecture. Squints listened attentively.
Zdeska lit the flier and held it out as it burned to ash in her bandaged hand. The bandit in front of her shook with fear. The fool had been walking around with the flier in his hand, as though paper was a normal thing to be found in a hidden bandit camp. Zdeska spoke low, slow, and clear. "Bring me every piece of paper in this camp. If any more are found, you''ll be dead." The bandit turned and ran from the queen''s tent.
Chaney carefully crawled up the stone lined tunnel under the sands of the oasis. The tunnel opened under one of the large roots and was difficult to see from outside, but Chaney still worried someone would be waiting to stab him in the face each time he dropped off more fliers. This latest batch was gruesomely humorous: a short picture story showed the queen attacking a bat, then fleeing the bat, then killing hapless bandits. "Bandits are easier!" was the translation the dungeon fairy had given him for the letters scrawled along the bottom of each flier. Chaney cracked open the tunnel hatch and listened for a while, trying to locate the pair of bandits that was certainly here. When he was sure they were not close, he double checked his I''m not here skill and crawled out of the tunnel to find a good place to "hide" the fliers.
Zdeska bared her teeth and glared in outright hatred as Sajaa read aloud from a declaration of mutiny. The entire bandit camp stood united behind the goblin woman and Punch. Even the wizard stood with them! "I could just kill you all." She growled, interrupting Sajaa. Sajaa bared her much sharper teeth and glared right back. "You''ve already killed most of us by driving us from the fortress your parent dug out with their own hands. Killing what''s left will be total proof that you failed as their successor." Sajaa waited a beat for a response, then continued reading. Zdeska''s anger was so hot it felt like her hair would catch fire, despite the rain plastering it to her head. She turned away before Sajaa finished reading and strode off with her head held high. This was just another setback for her plans. Sajaa wasn''t a truly a bandit at heart--she still had the mentality of the goblin hordes--and she had made one fatal mistake. She forgot that, among bandits, gold is the true king.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Zdeska, no longer the bandit queen, vowed to return with enough gold to buy the loyalty of every bandit still in the dungeon and tear out Sajaa''s heart. She crossed the sandy dungeon floor then the forest dungeon floor. She exited through the portal there to try her luck in this other world.
Punch and Sajaa sat in the cooling sand of the nighttime oasis, drinking the last of Zdeska''s wine. Mostly, Sajaa was drinking the wine. "I really thought she would tear us apart there, at the end." Punch said. Sajaa drained her mug and lay back. She burped. "Zdes''a''s too proud. That''s why I said t''her she was a failure if she killed us all. She always thought we wasn''t good ''nuf fer her." Sajaa hiccuped and said something in her native goblin language. "You know why she took h''us all the way here? She wanted us all to be adventurer bandids, like her. Stupid idea. Adventurer bandits get killed by adventururer armies." Punch considered Sajaa''s slurred words for a while. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Sajaa sobbing. "Sajaa?" Punch asked. "What''s the matter?" Sajaa threw her arms around Punch and crushed him against her. "I miss her!" The goblin bandit wailed.
Violet rolled on the ground of the swamp worldlet, laughing as Chaney coughed and struggled to breath after a sip of Violet''s fairy liquor. When they both got their breath back, Violet poured his out in a nearby muddy pond. "Yeah, that stuff is the worst. I only remember drinking it once." The water bat jumped from a different nearby pond into the slightly alcoholic pond. The bat squeaked in horror and leapt through several other ponds, shaking itself in the muddy water to rinse off the poison. The moon cat chased the boss bat and playfully tried to catch it between ponds. More laughter followed. Violet, Yrryth, Boss bat, Chaney, and the moon cat were celebrating the removal of the bandit leader. Violet clapped his hands to get everyone''s attention and pulled out a small card with his notes for a short speech. "Thank you, everyone! As you know, we''re celebrating a major milestone in the process of removing the bandit infestation--The bandit leader is gone!" Violet paused for a chorus of squeaks, growls, yowls, and clapping. "Special thanks goes to boss bat for its remarkable skill in swimming, fighting, and training the other bats. We couldn''t have done it without you!" More sounds of celebration and appreciation. The boss bat did a few flips and spins in the air above its pond to the delight of the group. Violet flipped his notes over to continue. "I realized that most of you might not know why it''s important to remove the bandits. There are two reasons: First, it blocks the trade route that brings so many interesting and valuable plants and materials to the dungeon. Second and more importantly, when outsiders stay too long in a dungeon, they become "residents" which are a drain on dungeon mana and experience." Violet said. Speech finished, he put his notes away. "One of my professors said residents are like tapeworms to a dungeon." He said. "Does that mean that I''m hurting the dungeon?" Chaney asked. Violet shrugged. "I don''t know if you are a resident yet. Since you are helping remove the bandits, you should be an overall benefit to the dungeon. The bandit leader would have been the greatest drain because of her higher levels and skills, so her removal was the best first step we could have taken." The group celebrated for a while longer, eating fish, fruit, and a few snacks that Violet summoned. When the party finished, they all went back to work--the majority of bandits were still securely tucked away in the acid rain worldlet. Ch 84 - Dungeon Recap Part 1
One year ago, depending on the calendar referenced, shortly before Crataz and Ivira entered the dungeon. In the dungeon mind space, a ghostly raven hopped across a crack in the remains of the foundational instincts. The raven cawed as a light flickered deep in the crack. The mental energy of the mind space swirled and condensed down into a glowing and slightly curved line. The light faded and the line turned green. The raven flapped its wings and hopped over to the vine. The mirror star reflected the raven''s curiosity across the mind space and onto the new vine. The vine drank in the light of the mirror star and grew. "Curiosity" The green vine grew slowly. It absorbed the sensory information that rained down and the mirror light from the star that orbited around the mind space. As the shadows from the cracked and broken foundational instincts fell across the information bundles, the green memory vine absorbed animal feelings of caution, hunger, desire to hunt, and the plant feelings of growth and pulling in water and nutrients. The memory vine grew along the ground, putting down roots and branching multiple times. The roots of the vine grew together with the fibers of the mushroom network, allowing the vine to pull in sensory information from all over the mind space. The subtle differences in the sensory rain mixed in the memory vine, providing nourishment and strength, but no distinct memories. A sensory and mental wave burst into the mind space as someone *knocked**. The sensation of a System message rained down on the memory right after the knock. Branches and leaves grew, incorporating the input and the raven''s curiosity. The contents of the System message blurred together as the memory vine absorbed it.
"Creation" The sensory rain shifted as a new worldlet formed on the far side of the captured space. Another System message arrived, longer and even more nourishing to the memory vine. Faint ghostly white haze appeared over the sections of the memory vine that formed from the input of the first System message. A second knock splashed across the mind space. The energy of the knock flowed along the mushroom fibers and up the roots of the memory vine. A ghostly branch formed above a section of vine near the center--where the first knock had been incorporated into the memory vine. The ghostly branch grew and began to radiate curiosity". The mirror star spread the curiosity around the space. Several illuminated branches absorbed the reflected curiosity into their growth from the second knock. Part of the sensory rain contained the vibrations of the voice of the dungeon fairy. Mana flow sensations spiked briefly, then both mana and vibrations dropped from that area of the sensory rain.
"Pressure" The sensation of pressure rose and fell. The sensory rain flowed into the memory vine from all over the space. The vine continued to grow. The pressure returned, strong and localized, overriding other sensory information. Mushroom network fibers carried the sensation around the mind space before it was absorbed into the memory vine or drained into the foundational instincts. One of the intact sections of the dungeon instincts absorbed some of the sensation of pressure. "void intruder, *alarm*" trickled up from the instincts. The mirror star reflected the alarm across the illuminated parts of the mind space. Information bundles reacted to the alarm according to their instincts. "danger", "fear", "hide" all reflected around the space, triggering more reactions from information bundles. The memory vine absorbed and incorporated energy from all these responses.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. The remains of the foundational instincts, plant and dungeon, took in mental energy full of "danger" and reacted. Mana flowed out of the dungeon core to reinforce vine branches and the barrier mana flows that separate the dungeon from the void. The sensation of pressure stopped, and the state of the mind space returned to equilibrium as the memory vine drank in the mirror light. Pressure returned, in a different location. Ghostly branches formed over multiple points on the memory vine. One ghostly branch was fully in the mirror light. "alarm, danger, defense" spread around the mind space, carried on the light of the mirror star. Dungeon defenses rose again, and the illuminated ghostly branch grew more solid. When the pressure dropped, the strengthened ghostly branch sank int into the memory vine below it. Pressure and defenses rose and fell together. Each iteration strengthened the memory of "alarm, danger, defense". A second source of pressure joined the first, and information bundles began to react with "discomfort". One of the pressure sources inverted to become a sensation of draining. Pressure and drain danced around the dungeon mind. Reactions from the information bundles churned through "danger", "weakness", and "distress" as the mirror star orbited the space, spreading the sensations unequally. The memory vine grew constantly, incorporating the sensations and reactions. The pressure and draining intensified. The anxiety of the ghostly raven mixed with the responses. The spider tree weasel information bundle bared its fangs and projected "fight!¡± The flying horse trembled and projected "flee!¡± The clam squeezed its shell more tightly and projected "shell!¡± The mirror star grabbed these reactions and reflected them everywhere its light could reach. The plant and dungeon instincts went haywire. Mental energy drained and surged chaotically around the mind space. Defenses rose and fell as ghostly branches flickered in and out above the memory vine. The sensations of pressure and draining struck at the same point, then vanished. The sensation of several System messages mixed with the turbulence of the mind space. The state of the mind space slowly returned to stability. The memory vine grew.
Two weeks later, the sensory rain turned red. Painful sensations fell across the mind space. Swelling, splitting, and burning feelings caused all the information bundles to thrash in agony. Intense mental energy crashed through the mushroom network, breaking many fibers. Mental energy and mana forced their way into various instincts, causing rapid fruit growth and other effects out in the dungeon. The jellyfish bundle, pushed low by the sensory rain, bumped into a red vine branch and became entangled with the leaves. The jellyfish instincts activated, trying to dissolve whatever entered its bell. When the vine growth surged forward again, a new branch speared through the jellyfish. Red energy from the vine flowed into the jellyfish bundle, carrying the sensations from the sensory rain. The jellyfish bundle absorbed the red and pushed pure energy out through its tentacles, back into the vine. On the next growth surge, a ghostly vine appeared above the jellyfish. The ghostly vine formed a circle, like a snake eating its tail. With each growth surge, the jellyfish pushed more pure energy into the vine branch, and the ghostly vine grew more solid. Eventually, the bell of the jellyfish dissolved the branch that had pierced through the information bundle. The jellyfish, now dark red, drifted away from the vine, and the severed branch fell toward the ground. When the severed branch hit the floodwater below, the ghostly circle branch flared brighter than ever. It radiated the concepts, "pain, absorb, grow¡±. As the branch briefly sunk under the sensory floodwater, the ghostly branch melted, spreading streams of white through the water in every direction. The roots of the vine absorbed some of the white as it drained the floodwaters to fuel the next growth surge. Mushroom network fibers absorbed and spread the white throughout the mind space. Soon after, ghostly branches of "pain, absorb, grow¡± appeared over all the new growth of the vine, shining brightly through the falling sensory rain. Ch 85 - Dungeon Recap Part 2
"pain, absorb, grow" Instincts for growth, reinforcement, void claiming, and fruit production all stuttered into full activation. Pain sensations spiked as reinforced vine flesh held back the immense weight of mana. "pain, absorb, grow" Vortexes formed in the sensory floodwater as mental energy and mana drained into the foundational instincts. Large chunks of the broken instincts shifted and crashed together. "pain, absorb, grow" The sensory rain shifted slightly as dungeon vine roots broke through to the underworld. The shift was inconsequential but, right afterwards, some of the sensory pain was replaced by the intense sensation of mana flow. Worldlets trembled as the speed and volume of mana threatened to erode and rip the worldlets from existence. The sensations of pain subsided and the sensory rain gradually lost its red color, allowing the mirror light to shine through again. The drain of sensory floodwater slowed. The tips of the memory vine turned green with new growth. A System message arrived, unnoticed in the torrent of sensory rain. The information bundle for the ¡°Tree Spider Moon Cat¡± flowed into the dungeon mind space as a stream of mana and information. The stream pooled on the ground before taking the form of the nocturnal predator. The peafowl information bundle spotted the cat and reacted with avian panic, flapping wings and squawking in alarm. The bird''s panic flowed around the mushroom network. The red rain flood had damaged the mushroom network. Many smaller connections had ruptured, but the connections that had seen the most use were still functioning. The wave of emotion and energy from the peafowl bundle sparked a reaction from the automatic dungeon defenses and the vine instincts to grow and drop fruit. Vortexes of sensory floodwater returned as ghostly branches appeared at various points over vine branches, redirecting additional mental energy to defense, growth, and repair. As the floodwater drained into the foundational instincts, the volume of sensory rain lessened. The sensations of mana flow remained elevated, but not to the point of drowning out everything else. The ghostly raven returned, curious about the changes in the dungeon mind.
"exit, loss, sorrow" The ghostly raven cawed and croaked miserably. Many of the information bundles were unaffected by the mirror light spreading sorrow, but the mammals and the peafowl felt the weight. The energy moving through the mushroom network grew sluggish. The tree spider moon cat spotted the ghostly raven. The raven perched on a high branch of the vine, but the moon cat saw a way it could sneak up there in the shadows. Moving silently behind leaves and across vines, the cat drew near. A ghostly branch appeared right in the cats face, startling it. The crow let out a tremendous caw of surprise and joy. The cat leapt at the raven, but the raven launched into the air and out of reach. "entry, recognition, joy" Green memory branches grew and incorporated the ghostly raven''s response of sorrow and joy. After two additional cycles of sorrow and joy, the ghostly raven disappeared.
The dungeon mind space was quiet without the ghostly raven. The sensory rain continued to fall, fueling the growth of the vine. Mental energy flowed around the mushroom network, stimulating the most used instincts for defense and growth. The tree spider moon cat continued to hunt and ¡°attack¡± the information bundles which were bound with mushroom network fibers. Occasional ghostly branches of memory appeared over vine branches, some dissipating, some sinking into the vine. A pond of sensory water formed near the base of the memory vine. The red rain had shifted some of the shattered remains of the foundational instincts and formed a basin. Sensory rain dripped from the vine leaves above to fill the basin. A broken red vine branch floated in the pond. The branch had curled up on itself, forming a circle. Near the unbroken end of the vine, green new-growth began to form.
The dungeon mind settled into an equilibrium. The memory vine absorbed sensory rain to fuel its growth. The moon cat constantly frightened the bound information bundles. The fear and caution in the mushroom network kept the dungeon defenses up and strong. System messages arrived regularly and new information bundles arrived in the mind space. Songbirds and an Owl flew around the mind space, avoiding the moon cat. _ Intruder Detected: Elven Construct _ Another set of System messages entered the mind space. The sensations and mental energy were incorporated into the memory vine for a small bit of growth, but were otherwise inconsequential. Hours later, a glowing green tick appeared at the edge of the mind space. After observing the surroundings for a time, the tick climbed up a nearby branch towards a singing woodlark.
The looped branch floated on the pond in the dungeon mind space. Dozens of loops coiled around the original red loop. The loops compressed themselves down into the same space in order to follow the original circle, phasing through other loops in a physically impossible way. The loops seemed to churn in place, moving in and out of the layers of loops, but no individual loop made any movement. The looped branch was almost completely covered with ghostly light as ghostly memory branches flickered and overlapped constantly across the many loops.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Tendrils of white light sprouted from the light around the looped branch. The tendrils stretched out across the top of the pond toward the edges. The white light around the looped branch dimmed slowly as the tendrils reached further and further. A tendril reached the edge and wrapped around a mushroom network fiber. The light from the tendril seeped into the mushroom network. The other tendrils wrapped around various network fibers and the base of the memory vine. Mana and memories began to trickle through the tendrils and into the pale white loop. The light around the white loop grew stronger as it drank in energy from the network. The white light from the tendrils spread along network fibers and connected to the bound information bundles. Mental energy and instinctual reactions flowed smoothly into the loop. One area of the network stopped supplying energy or information to the network. The white loop pulsed and pushed a bit of energy back into the network. Energy flowed back to the loop from all the bound bundles, but not from the new blank spot. The white light around the loop swelled in brightness and the loop broadcast "curiosity¡± along with the concept of the location of the blank spot in the network. After a short time, mental energy flowed out of the blank network spot in a wave. The wave carried "fear" combined with the concepts for ¡°green eyed owl, danger¡±. The white loop drank in the energy from the rabbit. The layers of loops churned again and the white light wavered up and down in brightness. A small pulse of fear¡± went down a tendril connected to the memory vine. Multiple ghostly branches appeared above memory vine branches. Several messages returned to the loop across the tendril: "danger, fear, hide¡±, "alarm, danger, defense¡±, "danger, fight!¡± The white loop churned for a time before broadcasting, "green owl, danger, fight¡±. A short time later, a new blank spot appeared in the mushroom network--the tortoise information bundle. The white loop processed the last data it received from the tortoise before losing the connection, green bird, green tick, loss of connection¡±. The white light around the loop strengthened as the ghostly branches of the loop flashed and overlapped. The loop exchanged a few messages with the memory vine. Green \" was near both danger and loss of connection. The white loop felt a shadow pass through the tendrils it had grown across the surface of the pond. The tortoise had arrived near the loop and was wading into the pond. The loops sent a message to the memory vine about things in the pond but received nothing back. The loop processed. "loss of connection, fear, green owl¡± "green owl, danger, fight¡± "green owl, green tick, loss of tortoise, tortoise in pond¡± The loop altered its last command and broadcast, danger, fight, green tortoise¡±. The memory vine responded with a very recent memory fragment, danger, fight, loss of connection¡±. The loop processed this as the tortoise drew closer. The loop sensed the tree spider moon cat arrive and begin pacing around the shallow edge of the pond. The shadows of feathers and one whole bird splashed into the pond near the tortoise. The fight¡± command echoed faintly back to the loop from the cat and birds. The loop processed this too. "loss of fight¡± The cat and birds stopped harassing the approaching tortoise. When the tortoise arrived, the loop sensed something new. The feeling of tiny, piercing claws scrabbling around the outside of the layers of loops. The loop began to process this new sensation when a violating presence slammed into it. Aquamarine light spread through the loop layers like hot oil. The loop did not spend time processing its response to the aquamarine light--it reacted immediately by sending a stream of mental energy to wash out the aquamarine light. The aquamarine light did not wash away, however. Some of the mental energy clung to the aquamarine light and turned aquamarine also. The aquamarine light drained something from the loop. The loop reacted with another wash of mental energy, but it couldn''t command as much mental energy as before. The correlation was clear: the drain from the aquamarine light would remove all the control over mental energy and the loop would be rendered inert. The layers of the loop began to churn as it processed the information it had on the situation. The churning layers broke a few pieces off the aquamarine light. The loop pull on the mental energy nearby to wash away the broken pieces. A violating sensation of cutting briefly overwhelmed the loops control over mental energy. The energy flowed out of the loop in a burst. The loop grabbed at the mental energy to pull it inwards again. The aquamarine light continued to drain something from the loop, interfering with its control over mental energy. "cutting, weakness" The loop and the aquamarine light began a tug of war over control of the mental energy. The layers of the loop churned, trying to break apart the aquamarine light and destroy the attack. Mental energy around the loop fluctuated wildly. The draining sensation spiked. The loop felt something bubble up from its oldest layers, but couldn''t process it. A moment later, a strong message roared into the loop from outside. "pain, absorb, grow" The loop lost direct control over the mental energy. The layers of the loop churned faster than ever and the white light around the loop collapsed to a single ghostly branch, tinged red. The churning layers ground the aquamarine light into a hundred pieces, but couldn''t affect the core of the aquamarine light. The drain increased again and the pain grew. "pain, absorb, grow" Red layers absorbed the pieces of aquamarine light and grew. The more the draining sensation increased, the faster the red grew. The core of the aquamarine light thrashed at the layers around it, cutting and causing more pain. Red roots shot around the layers and stabbed into the aquamarine core. The core was shoved clear of the loop layers from the momentum of the red roots. "pain, absorb, grow" The red roots drained everything from the aquamarine core. When there was nothing left to absorb, the red roots dragged the empty husk down to the deepest layers of the loop. The churning of the loop layers slowed. White light spread across the loop and mental energy flowed as normal. Ch 86 - Dungeon Recap Part 3
The sensation of multiple System messages washed over the dungeon mind space. Memory branches grew, incorporating message sensations and the sensations of increasing in level and unlocking new treasure. Deep in the floating loop branch, the roots broke down the empty husk and absorbed it as well. The husk was composed of complex components and potent mental materials. When the last particle of the husk was broken down and absorbed, the loop felt ready to burst from the concepts and energy from the husk. In the end, the loop was compose of one long vine branch, and there was a natural response to such a feeling of fullness.
A fruit grew on the white loop, floating on the pond. The body of the fruit was white, the stem was red, and single green leaf grew from the stem. Mental energy flowed into the fruit, filling out the body. When the fruit was full, the flow of energy cut off and the stem detached from the loop. The fruit fell through the water and settled on the bottom of the pond. After a time, the fruit split open to reveal a white vine sprout. The vine sprout grew up through the water towards the loop. Thin red and green streaks appeared on the vine as it swelled in size. The white vine grew up through the floating loop and began to open its leaves. Each leaf unfurled into a white loop that blazed with mental energy. White roots grew across the bottom of the pond. The white tendrils from the floating loop broke away from the network fibers and memory vine. The broken tendrils spiraled inward to connect with the growing white vine. Roots spread across the ground, connecting with the mushroom network and memory vine. Mental energy flowed smoothly into the white vine to fuel its growth. The loop leaves grew sparsely off the side of the white vine, leaving significant spacing between most of them. The white vine branched as it grew. The branches threaded themselves smoothly between the branches of the memory vine. The highest loop leaf of the white vine rose above the memory vines and into the light of the mirror star. The mirror star reflected a mixture of multiple memory branches onto the white loop. Another loop rose above the memory vines as the first loop processed. The mirror light reflected the ghostly memories and the processing from the first loop onto both loops. The processing of both loops reflected back from the mirror star and the loops began to process their processing. A third loops rose above memory vines. The light from the first loop began to increase exponentially. The processing of each loop was reflected back across the other loops, which began processing the new layer of processing. Mental energy flooded up the white body of the vine in order to power the loops'' processing. When a fourth loop rose above the memory vines, the previous loops began to distort. The information bundles and the memory vines drooped as the white vine drew more and more energy to power the loops. The first loop to reach the light twisted and split, spilling energy. Pain radiated from the damaged loop. The loops processed the pain on top of all the layers of processing. The limp memory vines put up one last ghostly memory before falling dormant.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "pain, absorb, grow¡± The message rebounded between the mirror star and each of the loops. More loops split as the processing became too much. All at once, the loops in the light flashed red and shot red roots to spear through the mirror star. The dungeon mind space went black.
A shining green droplet formed high up in the dungeon mind space. It hung at the top for an eternity before falling. The green star fell through the space and vanished into black tangles. Scattered stars appeared near the bottom of the space. Gradually, the light of the stars increased. Shadows formed, contrasting the light of the stars. Something like rain began to fall from above. The stars brightened further, revealing white and green vines covering the ground of the space with a tangle of rambling branches. The stars brightened further, resolving into circles of light that grew off the white vine like leaves. The circles of light had a strange property--they appeared white, but also seemed to flash reflections of their surroundings, like little mirrors spinning in a breeze. White ghosts of branches and leaves began to flicker above the branches of the green vine. "weakness, hunger, distress" The information bundles, the foundational instincts, and the vines all felt the weakness, the lack of energy. In the still-dim mind space, a pair of concepts echoed loudly. "safety, defense" The information bundles drew comfort from the concept of safety. The mushroom network carried the feelings of comfort to the vines. The white loops processed this experience, but found no explanation. Without other context, the vines fell back on their earliest memories. "curiosity" More concepts echoed around the mind space. The sensory rain filled with vibrations at the same time as the concepts arrived. "defense, safety", "danger, void" information bundles sent their reactions into the mushroom network. Ghostly memory branches lit up around the green vine. The white vine loops took in all this information and processed for a while. Mirror light flashed back and forth between the loops as they compared their process and conclusions. "danger, defense, shell" Mental energy flowed into the foundational dungeon instincts. The dungeon drew more mana from the void to fuel the defenses and replenish mental energy. The information bundles all withdrew into shells or hunkered down in response to the command for defense. The plant foundational instincts woke up and began to pull in energy and mana to reinforce the dungeon vine branches and repair damage. The sensory rain increased in volume as the physical dungeon returned to normal. Mirror light shone from the loops, carrying information to and from each loop. The loops of the white vine observed their surroundings. They watched memories play out above the green vine branches. They saw the bound information bundles on the ground and the unbound ones moving through the vine branches. The loops observed the sensory rain that fell from above. The loops observed each other. Ch 87 - Desire, Defense
Current day "greetings" An external voice, carrying concepts. The memory vine manifested several branches that broadcast the feeling of "safety" in connection with this voice. The loops observed these feelings and the external concept and discussed it. One loop elected to respond before the discussion was concluded. "greetings" The loop sent. "query, dungeon, identity, you" The external voice sent. The loops did not understand this combination of concepts. They searched through memories and discussed, but found nothing. The external voice sent more concepts into the mind space, but the loops had no understanding or context for most of the message. After a long pause, the voice sent a few more messages. "assistance, fight other ("bandit")" Two things happened at once: A message arrived that the loops mostly understood, and several loops identified a connection between the messages and the vibration component of a specific "other". The loops discussed both things furiously, but a key component was missing. What is a "bandit"? "curiosity, bandit" The voice responded with more messages that the loops did not understand, but they loops continued to track the correlation between the frequencies and the messages. A strong pattern was apparent where specific frequency groupings correlated perfectly with specific concepts. One group of loops began recording the frequency-concept pairings into memory branches. After another long pause, the voice sent another message: "query, identity" The loops understood this message, but didn''t know the answer. As they passed the query message around, the System supplied the answer. _ Identity: Terse Elements Dungeon _ The loops immediately identified a connection between the query and the System message. The "identity" in the System message combined concepts with frequency groupings--something the loops did not find in previous memories of System messages. The loops discussed the concept of "dungeon"--a space, an entity, something about mana. The voice repeated its message. "urgent, query, identity" A loop proposed a response to the query. A few loops agreed, and a stream of frequencies was sent in response. "Terse Elements" Another group of loops supplied a query of their own: "query, identity" The voice responded quickly. "identity, dungeon fairy" The voice continued to send unknown concepts into the mind space, but the loops didn''t have context for "dungeon fairy" and repeated the query. "query, identity" The voice responded again. "identity, Violet Danderpuff, dungeon fairy The loops recorded that response, including the frequency stream that accompanied the concept, but found no path forward in understanding the voice. Eventually, the concepts stopped, but the vibration component of the "other" continued. The loops tracked the "other (dungeon fairy)", continuously recording the vibration component and identifying frequency-concept pairs. After much discussion, the loops decided to record a few memory branches of, "voice-safety, dungeon fairy, curiosity, unknown".
The raven was surprised when a loop asked it a question, but was happy to share its vast knowledge. "Dungeon fairy? Hmm, fairy is two-legs, not bird, but has wings." The raven preened its feathers and it thought. "Fairy is person with mana-magic. Maybe friend, maybe thief! Maybe steal treasure!" The raven grew agitated at the thought of a sneaky fairy stealing its treasure. The loops just recorded the information about fairies. When the raven calmed itself, it thought of something else. "Dungeon is you." It said. It didn''t understand why it thought that, but the raven was certain that the dungeon was the vines and the mind space. "Dungeon this whole place." The raven flapped its wings and tilted its head in confusion. "Dungeon fairy, maybe your fairy? You have fairy?" The loops did not respond, and the raven flew off to play in the sensory rain some more.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. The loops discussed the new information for a long time. "dungeon, self" "query, self" "self, ''this whole place''" "curiosity, ''this whole place''" "''this whole place'', dungeon, space, mana" "maybe: vines, dungeon" "maybe: vines, space" "maybe: self, vines" "maybe: self, loops" "no memories, no self" "maybe: no memories, no dungeon" The loops did not find consensus about the concepts of "self" or "dungeon", but the group that tracked the "other (dungeon fairy)" found another interesting connection: The vibration component of the dungeon fairy overlapped with a different "other" and both repeated frequency groupings that had already been identified to mean specific concepts. The vibrational component of the other "other" had to be analyzed a bit more loosely--it was lower overall--but the relative frequencies and durations were a strong match. A new group of loops began tracking the new other and recording memories of its vibration component. The "other" overlapped with a few more "others" and the loops tracked those others as well. Only the first two "others" had frequency groupings that matched with concepts, however. The loops discussed this correlation and the negative correlation. After much discussion, the loops decided to record their conclusion: other, maybe communicate".
"--------bandit----dungeon-assistance----" "Dungeon----------" "----fight-------------" The loops reviewed the concepts they had translated from the recorded frequencies. The identified concepts were too infrequent for the loops to understand the purpose of the communications between the others. The loops determined that they needed more frequency-concept pairings. "request, communicate" The loops were unsure if the voice-safety-dungeon-fairy would respond to the request. After a while with no response, the loops repeated the request. "request, communicate" The voice responded quickly. "greetings, query, assistance" The loops already knew the frequencies for these concepts, so they tried to fish for new information. "curiosity, assistance" "request, spawn (dungeon creatures)" The loops considered this. Some loops wanted to begin spawning immediately, but others brought up the information about treasure and the purpose for spawning treasure. "deny, treasure good, spawn (treasure)" The voice responded with new frequencies, which the loops recorded. "disbelief, stop: spawn (treasure)" "deny" The loops had identified no new information that would justify stopping the flow of treasure. "treasure bad" This comment sparked a storm of discussion. The voice-safety-dungeon-fairy was contradicting the information from the raven information bundle. The discussion went on long enough that the raven had the opportunity to weigh in with, "treasure good!" The loops could not resolve the contradiction, so they alerted the voice to it. "contradiction: treasure good, treasure bad" The voice, instead of discussing the merits of treasure, repeated the earlier request. "request, spawn (dungeon creatures)" The loops were divided into multiple groups, seeking consensus on various topics, but they all sought more information. "spawn (dungeon creatures), curiosity" "request, fight other ("bandit")" The voice again avoided explaining and only repeated itself. A few loops proposed that the voice could offer no new information, but the majority continued seeking more information. "fight other ("bandit"), curiosity" The voice did not respond. The feeling of safety, broadcast from the oldest memories of the voice, faded. The loops continued their discussion and scanned memories for information. After a long time, the voice returned, this time with new frequencies. "other ("bandit"), creature death" The loops checked the memories. This was already understood. Loops quickly found the memories and conclusions, overlap, other-creature death". The voice confirmed the theory that the cause of creature death" in the overlaps was the presence of the "other". The voice spoke again after a pause. "creature death bad" The loops had a quick discussion about this statement. The voice had contradicted the raven about treasure, but the raven had provided no opinion about creature death. Could it be possible? The loops wanted more information. "curiosity" The voice responded. "creature death bad. Creature death, danger" The loops feel silent. Creature death correlated with danger? Had the loops been in danger without knowing? The loops began to scan the memory branches for a correlation to support or refute the voice. The memory vines held thousands and thousands of instances of creature death. The loops were drowned in so much creature death it was impossible to correlate it with anything else. A small group of loops stopped scanning memories and discussed the problem. After a minute, they proposed searching the memories for danger and then scanning backwards from there. The other loops tried that approach. Danger, pain, distress. The loops found multiple sources of danger and searched backwards. In every single instance, the danger followed closely after one or more instances of creature death. The conclusion was clear: creature death proceeded every known danger and should be minimized. "CREATURE DEATH, DANGER" As one, the loops agreed with the voice. They broke into groups to identify possible responses to creature death. The suggestion of the voice was the simplest, but the loops also considered the input from the foundational instincts and the information bundles through the mushroom network. "creature death, alarm, spawn (dungeon creatures), fight other" "creature death, alarm, defense" With two strategies identified, the loops pushed to implement the response immediately. "desire, spawn (dungeon creatures), fight other" "desire, defense" Ch 88 - Deathtrap
The giant underworld snake couldn''t hear the dungeon music. It slammed its tail against the wooden barrier again, trying to sweep across and break the spears. One of the spears cut into the tail and broke off, but the rest pulled back in time without breaking. The snake hissed loudly and thrashed in pain. It couldn''t hear the music. The snake rammed its head into the last remaining dirt wall, attempting to dig out of the cavern. The bandits waited until the snake was fully committed to the dig, then opened the nearest entrances and rushed out to spear the snake just behind the head. The snake pulled its head out of the hole to try and snap at the bandits, but only succeeded in driving the spears deeper. The snake''s motion ripped the spears out of the bandits hands as it writhed in blinding agony. It couldn''t hear the music. The snake couldn''t dislodge the spears. Eventually, the snake''s body gave in to exhaustion and it went limp. As the snake bled out, it could see more bandits exit the barricades to install a final section of wall, covering the last avenue of escape. The snake died. A vine root tuber dropped from the cavern ceiling. The tuber glanced off the edge of a sturdy wooden lattice and fell to the wooden floor. As the fruit swelled and split to release the newly spawned giant snake, the bandits finished dragging the snake''s carcass from the cavern and slammed the barricade back in place. The giant snake slammed its head against the barricade once, twice. The third blow sent the snake reeling back in rage and pain. Firmly braced spears had extended from the barrier and the snake''s own strength drove the flint points deep into the bone of the snake''s skull. As the snake thrashed, blinded by blood, the wooden prison shook but didn''t fail. The snake curled up away from the barricades, trying to hear the dungeon music. The bandits didn''t allow the snake to rest in the middle of the cavern. Spears flew from behind cover to draw blood and force the snake to react. The snake fought ineffectually against the bandits--breaking occasional spears but unable to hard the fighters. The snake died again. It couldn''t hear the music. ---- "Request, communicate" Violet looked up at the talky-thinky-thinky-talky mechanism that sat next to the dungeon core. He set down his drink, untouched, and jumped over to the machine. "Hello! Are you going to help now?" He said. The last conversation with the dungeon core had been extremely discouraging, but Violet didn''t have anyone else to beg for assistance until the Hill Lord returned from whatever was distracting him or a sympathetic trade caravan showed up with a lot of guards. "Curiosity, assistance" The voice always spoke in basic, contracted phrases, and Violet had to guess the meaning more than once in the previous conversations. Violet felt pretty sure that the dungeon core was asking what assistance would look like. "Please, spawn dungeon creatures again." He said. Without new creatures, the only creatures to spawn were the boss creatures. Yrryth had avoided death, and the boss bat was too fast to catch underwater, but the poor underworld snake was stuck in a deathtrap--continuously respawning in an underworld cavern and being slaughtered by the bandits. "No, treasure good, spawn treasure." The voice spoke without inflection. Violet heart felt like it was being squeezed with iron bands. Every delay was more torture for the giant snake. "I don''t believe this." He said. "Stop spawning treasure!" He shouted at the dungeon core. "No." The response sounded final, but Violet couldn''t accept that. The dungeon fairy had worked on the communication mechanisms for three days straight after seeing the snake''s torture at the hands of the bandits.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "The treasure is making everything worse!" Violet fought down a sob. The volume of the thinky-talky background noise increased several fold, so Violet waited before speaking again. The voice spoke. "Contradiction, treasure good, treasure bad." Violet shook his head. This wasn''t going anywhere useful. "Please start spawning dungeon creatures." He tried again. The background sound continued, and Violet caught a few random words. "Spawn dungeon creatures, curiosity" The dungeon core asked. "Please fight the bandits." Violet said quietly. The dungeon fairy felt so tired. He considered just walking away. "Fight other bandits, curiosity" The dungeon core again asked a question. Violet pulled over his chair and answered. "The bandits are killing your creatures." The background noise was unchanged, but this time Violet didn''t wait for a response. "It''s horrible." His voice came out in a croak as he heard the words "creature death" in the background noise. "Curiosity." The dungeon core spoke again in a flat voice. Violet threw his chair, missing the dungeon core by a few inches. "Creature''s dying is bad!" Violet clenched his teeth and bent the truth. "Creature death is dangerous to you." The background noise cut out so suddenly that Violet worried that the communication mechanisms had broken. A soft hum of random words resumed and Violet waited with increasing anxiety. The background noise suddenly shot up before the dungeon core said, very loudly, "CREATURE DEATH, DANGER." As Violet listened to the random word background noise, he could no longer hold back a sob of released frustration as he heard "alarm", "defense", and "fight".
Outside the main dungeon vine body, Chaney held tight to the employment talisman that marked him as a not-intruder. Vine fruit fell all over the worldlet and the creatures were beginning to crowd around him. The tree spider moon cat wrapped itself around Chaney''s legs, blocking the tide of creatures. The dungeon fairy blinked next to Chaney, red eyes and pale skin made it look like the fairy had been crying. Chaney was beginning to have doubts about the fairy''s relationship to the dungeon, but now wasn''t the time to bring it up. "Looks like you convinced it." Chaney said. "Yeah. I guess." The fairy said. He looked around at the creatures. "The creatures won''t listen to me, though. We need a boss to order them down into the tunnels. Chaney tapped his chin. "With Yrryth in hiding and the snake trapped, should we go ask the boss bat?" Yrryth and the snake both respawned down in the tunnels. When the bandits discovered and conquered the underworld, Yrryth used her stone magic to seal herself off, but the snake only had its size and strength to deter the bandits. Size and strength couldn''t last forever against spears and shields. "Do you think-" Chaney was interrupted by the rough caw of a raven. The dungeon fairy looked up in surprise. A raven flew down and landed on top of a nearby frog''s head. The raven croaked and cawed a bit as though speaking to the dungeon fairy. "Huh?" The dungeon fairy said. "What do you mean?" The fairy made a big show of listening to the raven, which Chaney felt was a foolish waste of time. "Ok, there are bandits down in the tunnels. Do you know what bandits are?" The raven bobbed its head and made a small sound. "great, and do you know about the tunnels?" The fairy asked. Chaney began to feel less sure that the discussion with the raven was a waste of time. "There are lots of tunnels. You have probably seen Yrryth climb out of the ground, right? Well there is a tunnel or door in every worldlet, like that one." The fairy pointed at the tunnel opening near the main vine body. The raven flew over and around the opening once, then returned to the frog. The frog croaked grumpily. "We need to get all the creatures into the tunnels to fight the bandits. They are torturing the giant snake and if they keep breaking walls, we will all die." The fairy said. The raven leapt into the air and began cawing loudly. It circled overhead and continued to caw and croak at all the dungeon creatures. The raven flew over to the tunnel entrance, drawing the attention of every living thing in the worldlet. After a final caw, the dungeon creatures all dashed towards the tunnel entrance. Chaney realized his mouth was hanging open in shock. He closed it as the raven returned and perched on his shoulder. It croaked at the dungeon fairy, who looked like a small child, fawning over a returning hero. "That was perfect!" The fairy said. "Can you go around to the other worldlets and send them down to? Take this big guy with you, he knows where all the tunnel entrances are." The fairy patted Chaney on the arm. "You go with the raven, I''ll do what I can for the snake." The fairy joined the stream of creatures descending into the underworld. The raven tweaked Chaney''s hair and flew off towards the delta worldlet. Chaney and the moon cat followed at a run. Ch 89 - The Noose
Chaney had to wade through the crowd of dungeon creatures to open the hidden tunnel door. He felt a high level of anxiety, especially because the dungeon creatures were agitated and looking for a fight. The raven circled overhead, broadcasting commands at the tide of creatures. Chaney found that opening the tunnel door was similar to breaking a dam and watching a stream drain away. Chaney and the raven went to the fields and the oasis next, repeating the commands and opening the tunnels. Chaney had to carry the raven on his shoulder through the acid rain worldlet, due to the extremely bright light. The bandits had left behind most of their tents when they rushed to conquer the underworld tunnels, and Chaney nearly tripped on a few of them. In the dark worldlet, the raven declined to fly about in the dark. Chaney didn''t press the issue, since he could tell that many of the vine fruits and the quickly spawning creatures were failing to land on any of the clumps of pebbles. It made Chaney feel sick, but he couldn''t do anything to save those creatures.
The boss bat peeked out from behind a thick clump of roots. The bandits were running away, and taking their "crossbows". The bandits had shot and killed the large blue bat multiple times with the odd mechanisms. The bat would have continued the fight to protect the chest of gold, but the bandits had started to hang huge rope nets underneath the vine branches. The boss bat had decided hiding was a better choice than risking a spawn in one of the nets and being captured. At the moment, those huge nets were overflowing with newly spawned creatures. There were enough creatures that many were able to climb out of the nets and attack the bandit guards. The boss bat shot from its hiding place to join the attack. It dove from the top of the air bubble straight into neck of a bandit with a crossbow. The bandit died quickly after the bat''s bladed wings nearly decapitated them. The bat didn''t have enough momentum to arc past the net, however, and had to resort to crawling under the press of bodies to saw at the ropes. The remaining bandits escaped into the sauna worldlet before the bat could get free, so it squeaked out commands to the other creatures. The swimming creatures worked to ferry the non-swimmers to a safe spot to enter the air bubbles before drowning, then the non-swimmers were ordered to cross into the other worldlets in pursuit of bandits. When the process was established to its satisfaction, the boss bat took a group of swimmers into the underwater tunnels to see if any bandits were close enough to the underworld river for the creatures to attack.
Violet crouched on top of the wooden lattice that prevented the giant snake from entering the main worldlet. The vine root tubers rained from the ceiling and the above-world creatures streamed down into the wooden prison. Violet had hoped that the smaller creatures with acid alignment would focus on the barricades, but the prison was just churning as the giant snake''s thrashing crushed the smaller creatures. The butterflies didn''t have much offensive drive in the first place, and the underground environment seemed to confuse them to the point of uselessness. Violet frowned as he watched spears stab in through all the barricades to slay the creatures and continue to torment the snake. He took a deep breath as he firmed his resolve to ignore a few important dungeon fairy rules. The fairy pointed at one of the barricades and cast a small acid spray. He continued to cast the spray until the wood was soaked with acid and smoking heavily. The wood began to creak and splinter under the weight of dungeon creatures. The spears stopped stabbing into the mob, so Violet figured the bandits had abandoned that barricade. With a blast of wind, Violet smashed the rest of the wooden barrier open. The surviving dungeon creatures surged down the tunnel to escape the crushing snake coils.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. The tubers continued to rain down on the cavern, and the snake continued to thrash in pain, crushing newly spawned creatures who couldn''t get out of the way. Violet crawled across the wooded beams to perch directly above the snake. With a different spell, Violet blocked sound from leaving the cavern--this would be suspicious to any watching bandits, but Violet wasn''t willing to reveal his existence yet. "Snake!" Violet called down. "Snake! Hold still!" Violet paused, but the snake didn''t react to his voice. "Snake!" Violet called again.
Yrryth could hear the bandits on the other side of the wall. She stood in a closet sized void she had shaped in the side of a tunnel. The bandits had searched up and down this tunnel for days, trying to locate the gargoyle. Yrryth had thought that the bandits would move on, allowing her to sneak out and escape, but they had set up part of their camp in the tunnel right outside her hiding spot. Yrryth rubbed her cracked left arm and once more thought through all the ways this was her fault. Yrryth had been harvesting some crops in the fields worldlet. She could usually gather a good amount while she stayed out of sight of the pair of bandit treasure harvesters. Yrryth didn''t know why one of the bandits decided to alter their routine, but she became aware of the change right as a club broke across her back. Yrryth wasn''t a born fighter, not like the boss bot, so she had panicked and fled back to the underworld entrance in that worldlet. She had buried the entrance in stone, but the bandits had found another entrance in less than an hour. The bandits left the acid rain worldlet and moved entirely into the tunnels. For a month or so, they were a nuisance that was easily avoided. The giant snake attacked regularly, forcing the bandits to block off the tunnels they camped in. Chaney and the moon cat sabotaged the bandits often, and killed any that wandered into the pitch black tunnels alone. The bandits stayed in their corner of the tunnels for months. They had found and maintained access to the cavern under the entrance to the other world, so they ambushed a few trade caravans to exact a "toll" for safe passage. After taking a portion of the trade goods or being driven off by guards, the bandits retreated into the disguised underworld tunnel entrance. After a few months, more bandits arrived--a small army of them. Yrryth shook her head as she remembered the constant advance of the bandits. They had systematically pushed their defenses outward to claim more tunnels and caverns. The giant snake killed multiple bandits during that time, but the bandits had built sturdy mobile walls with spear holes to block off tunnels and push back the snake. To make it easier to move their defenses, the bandits began to break down many of the stone walls that slowed and modified the flow of mana through the underworld. When Yrryth''s measurements had shown a dangerous increase in the possibility of vortex formation, she had tried to sneak into the bandit tunnels to fix some of the walls. Yrryth had thought that the bandits would ascribe the repaired walls to the dungeon itself, but the bandits had reacted like a kicked anthill. The bandits quickly learned that spears couldn''t do more than scratch the gargoyle so they switched to using rope nets to try and catch her. Yrryth hid in dark tunnels, trying to figure out a way past the bandit defenses. She thought she had found a gap in the defenses, but it had been an ambush instead. The troll had suddenly lunged out of the dark and hit Yrryth on the side. Her arm had cracked and one of her wings felt twisted after she crashed into the tunnel wall. Neither Yrryth or the troll were agile, but she had proved faster as she ran away into the darkness. The bandits had swarmed through the tunnels, tightening the noose around her and preventing her escape. When she saw dim light at both ends of her current tunnel, she had chosen to hide inside the stone wall instead of fight and die. Anger flashed in Yrryth''s mind and she nearly punched the wall to break out. Fear drowned the anger as she remembered the incredible strength that had cracked her arm and thrown her down the tunnel. Yrryth felt misery follow the fear. She was probably the most durable dungeon creature, so she was the best choice to risk being attacked by the troll, but she had never been in much danger before and no longer had the same instincts as other dungeon creatures. She couldn''t bring herself to face that troll again.