Alan's eyes finally adjusted to the sudden brightness, allowing his first glimpse into what Reggie had called the Dungeon Safe Room. His other senses had already given him an idea of what to expect, but nonetheless, he couldn't refrain from gasping at the tranquil scenery laid out before him.
His fears of an attack were wholly unwarranted.
Although it might lack the nostalgic beauty of the Guadalupe River Dungeon, in comparison to the bleakness of the Sandstone Palace Dungeon, it would be fair to say that he had stepped through the portal and wound up in paradise. Paradise that seemed to be contained within a giant dome. It was almost like a snow-less snow globe, one of absolutely enormous proportions.
For perhaps a half of a mile in all directions, and fifty feet tall at the peak, everything was enclosed within a barrier of what looked to be a single pane of slightly tinted glass.
He found the source of all the light was a bright yellow orb located far overhead. Not counting the one above him, he thought he could count two, or perhaps even three, additional barriers. They were stacked one atop the other, with his own enclosed environment contained in the center like a nesting doll of colossal proportions. The overlapping barriers separated him from where the false sun was nestled in the depths of a cloudless blue sky. Unfortunately, their muted colors, and the way the light seemed to be collecting within each dome made it difficult to get an accurate count.
And the squishy patch of moss he was so casually treading underfoot was placed directly in the center of it all. He gently leaned back against Su'ong's cocoon, and greedily devoured the sight of nature. Of life. No sand, no narrow passageways. It was wide open, and though he could smell them, there wasn't a beast in sight.
Contrary to his expectations, instead of being the Safe Room's primary source of ground cover, the spongy moss he stood on was just a lonely, isolated patch. It was nearly-hidden amidst a massive expanse of pale-green grass that came to Alan's knees.
Clusters of stunted trees were scattered at random around the landscape. Alan's stomach grumbled furiously the instant he noticed that a few of them were overburdened with oblong, yellow fruits.
The sight of mottled grey-and-white barked tree trunks went a long way toward putting Alan's mind at ease. The last trees he'd seen were in Gaea's Realm. And those crystalline monstrosities weren't anything like the trees he'd grown up climbing. And sometimes falling out of.
It was almost like he was back home.
The sight of potential food was nice, but the main visual attraction, as far as he was concerned, was the lake. Well, that might've been a bit of an overstatement on his part. Realistically it was more of a large pond, but calling it a lake just seemed more appropriate. After all, he could barely make out a rocky island hidden halfway across the water, under a heavy blanket of swirling mist.
Perched on the rightmost corner of the island, there was a stone tower with a thatched roof standing in isolation. It was there he caught his first glimpse of wildlife. Several large birds were perched on top of the tower, but they were barely more than silhouettes. It was difficult to determine their appearance from such a distance.
Several rows of runic engravings spiraled around the tower from just below the roof, all the way to the bottom. And if Alan wasn't mistaken, they were absorbing the ambient light. Damned if he knew what it was doing that for, but the sprawling script work gave off a faint silver glow. One immediately noticeable side effect was that it seemed to keep the fog at bay. Or perhaps it was actually gathering it all up into one location. But from where he stood, The way the currents of mist spun around that lonely tower, without actually seeming to touch it, made the building look like it was in the eye of one of the hurricanes from Uncle Alex's stories.
After vowing to explore the island with Su'ong if she ever decided to wake up, he eyed the yellow fruits swaying on the branches of a solitary tree near the shore. He shrugged his shoulders and rolled Su'ong's cocoon down into a shallow depression close to the waters edge. He'd already rolled her this far, so he figured a little further wouldn't hurt. The important thing was that she would be close enough to his targeted meal-tree that he could return at a moment's notice should the need arise. Yet it was also far enough away that the waves gently lapping the grassy shore would be unable to reach her.
Not that he was actually worried that the water would do her any physical harm. She had a natural affinity for the Water Element after all. But he wasn't comfortable bringing her any closer to the water's edge. He couldn't seem to shake a mental image of the cocoon containing his Soul-bound partner getting swept up by a rogue wave and being pulled down into the depths. He had to admit it was a highly unlikely scenario, but right now she was utterly defenseless. And at the same time, he was extremely hungry.
Standing at the edge of the lake, he realized that not only was the water crystal clear, but the pebble-strewn bottom was sparsely vegetated. With little to no cover to hide away in, a dense population of marine life was on full display. No matter where he looked, there were schools of long, skinny silver fish. The largest were a little over a foot long. The only other denizen he spotted in his casual search was also a fish. A bulbous brown one that looked like an upside down leather boot with a bulging eye on either side of the toe. He tried to [Examine] them, except aside from a sharp pinch behind his eyes, nothing happened. He wasn't sure whether it was the distance, or the water that was obstructing his view.
Skills or no Skills, I'm going to milk this Gods damned Safe Room for everything its got to offer, Alan thought with a smirk. He considered wading in, and trying his hand at snatching up a fish, and [Examine]ing it from up close. Normally he wouldn't have been fond of his odds at succeeding, but there were so many of them. Honestly, he felt there was a real possibility that swimming was unnecessary. A fish would probably do the work for him and swim right into his waiting hand. Before he made up his mind one way or the other, he was sidetracked by an unappreciated notification.
*WARNING!* The Sandstone Palace Dungeon Safe Zone has been activated!
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*Caution!* As a Dungeon Quest Participant, (2) special protections have been granted.
• HP of Dungeon Quest Participants will not drop below 50% within the confines of the Lakeside Safe Zone
• Beasts will not initiate conflict with Dungeon Quest Participants within the confines of the Lakeside Safe Zone, but will defend themselves if threatened.
Note: Loot will not be generated within the confines of the Lakeside Safe Zone. The first barrier marks the end of all Safe Zone special protections. Proceed with caution!
It might as well have been summoned up by his greedy thoughts. Go figure the System had given him a time limit at the very moment he considered pillaging everything that wasn't glued down. But the notice brought up a few more questions. If the Safe Zone ended beyond the first barrier, just what could he find out there?
Reggie said the Earth Wyrm was the strongest monster in the Dungeon. And it was dead, so at least there was that. But Alan knew he would need to do as the notice warned, and proceed with caution. Not only was he in an unfamiliar, Level 1 body, but there was still a very real chance of encountering something beyond his means, or understanding.
He pulled up his Mini-map, and studied the layout of the Safe Zone and its surroundings. They were nothing more than a grouping of three concentric circles.
Just as he'd thought, he was in the center-most of a group of overlapping barriers. The area he was in had been listed as the Lakeside Safe Zone. It was listed as having a Level 1-4 beast population , and it was by far the smallest of the zones. The second area, also the second smallest, was listed as the Plains Zone. According to the Mini-map, the beasts in the Plains would be leveled between 5-9. Bordering the Plains was the final enclosed environment, an area called the Barren Zone.
The Barren Zone was not just the final area. That was where he would have to go to locate the highest leveled enemies. At Level 10+, Alan suddenly felt a lot more confident. He could start off by killing fish, and see if they would give him any Experience. If they did, hopefully he would be able to gain a Level or two while remaining within the safety of the Safe Zone. From there, he would work his way through the Plains Zone. After gathering another few levels, he could try his Luck in the Barren Zone.
The First Floor had already gotten Alan accustomed to fighting Level 10 Dungeon Born Monsters. With all of his recent experience, coupled with his high base Stats, there was no foreseeable reason why he shouldn't be able to at least mostly explore this place within the three day time limit.
Alan soon stood beneath the closest fruit bearing tree. Looking at it up close, he wasn't so sure it was even a tree at all. The bark was all wrong. It was weirdly sectioned off, and layered like an onion. Each overlapping layer ended in a velvety leaf, big enough to be used as a blanket. Upon closer study, it actually looked like the malformed trunk was nothing more than a tangle of the long, woody stems connected to the humongous leaves.
He soon came to realize that there weren't even any true branches. The long and skinny fruits were dangling from a mass of spindly sticks that poked out of the center of the trunk, like the quills of a porcupine. Alan plucked a low hanging fruit and gave it a good squeeze. Unlike the apples back home, the damned thing was stupidly fragile. At the same time that the soft fruit flattened in the middle, both ends ruptured. Clumps of an unappealing, sticky white paste oozed out.
Alan gave it a casual sniff, and activated [Examine]. After an unexpected delay, he received another sharp spike of pain in his eyes. It took several more seconds for a description of the gooey mess in his hand to appear.
Golden Plantain- An edible fruit commonly found throughout the multiverse. Due to their high energy and nutrient contents, they are a prized source of food for sapient races, as well as various types of beasts.
Regardless of not knowing why his Skill had left him with a headache, Alan rejoiced. After all, he still had almost seventy-two hours left to try and figure out what went wrong. In the meantime, he had plenty of ripe fruit to snack on. There were easily a hundred Golden Plantains on the one tree alone.
Alan wasn't at all worried about wasting a single fruit. He shrugged his shoulders and tossed the squashed plantain out into the water. He was about to pick another, when a glint of light caught his eye. The surface of the lake had begun churning around the discarded fruit. All at once, a frenzied mass of shiny silver bodies poured in from all directions and used their tiny, suction-cup-looking mouths to inhale the free meal.
Within seconds there was no trace of fruit in the water. The lake was once again calm. Alan carefully plucked another plantain. After turning it over, he grabbed the stem and pulled it down. Like magic, a third of the skin peeled away, revealing the firm, and yet soft, innards. He carefully peeled off the remaining strips of skin, and crammed the entire thing in his mouth.
It was good. Really damned good! It had a strange texture, but it was sweet, and creamy. Best of all, it had an immediate effect on the Celestial Energy within his Core. The placid energy began to churn. Sluggishly at first, but by the time he crammed the second plantain into his gullet, it was gaining momentum. The interior of his Core soon looked similar to a whirlpool.
In the depths of Alan's Cultivator Core, a powerful current started to form.
Something about the motion in his Core just instinctively felt right. So he tried giving it a mental push to see if he could assist in speeding it up. He was acting on guesswork and instinct, but his efforts had a nearly immediate effect. The whirlpool came up against a solid wall in his Core that he guessed was its current outer limits. Around and around it spun. With each revolution, an almost imperceptible layer of the obstruction was peeled away and used to fuel the growing storm.
Alan reached out blindly and grabbed another Golden Plantain. Not wanting to break his concentration any more than necessary, he ate the entire thing in three bites. Peel and all. As he chewed through the last unsavory mouthful of rubbery peel and swallowed, another burst of energy was released.
The vortex of Celestial Energy in his Core spun faster and faster. It gathered speed and pressure until the liquid-like energy turned into a gaseous cloud that sought to expand. But there was nowhere for it to go.
Alan applied more pressure, hoping to regain a bit of control. That was when things quickly went from new and exciting, to downright painful. The funnel cloud of Celestial Energy reversed course, and like he'd dropped a match into a canister of fuel, the whole thing ignited in a blaze of golden light.
Clenching his stomach, Alan groaned as the mottled scales on his abdomen lit up with a glaring inner radiance. Beams of Celestial Energy pierced through a pair of intangible apertures located at the top, as well as the base of his Core. Upon gaining freedom, each one split into smaller threads and shot off in opposite directions. He felt a sharp stab of agony as the beam leaving the top of his Core ripped through the Celestial Tributaries leading into the Celestial Deltas located in both of his shoulders. Simultaneously, the beam of energy shooting out of the base of his Core rushed into his hips.
It was there that Alan's Celestial Energy met resistance for the first time. Like a river suddenly encountering a dam, it was unable to enter his Deltas. All at once, it came to a sudden halt, and started pooling up in his Tributaries. He was sure his limbs were about to be blown off. Panic started to build. Did he mess this up? Was it a mistake to follow his instincts? When these, and more doubts began to worm their way into his mind, Alan knew he had to do something.
It hurt like hell, but instead of trying to take a break, and risking the devastating explosion that he was certain would be the outcome if he didn't get things under control, he doubled down on the pressure. Only instead of trying to split his focus in four directions, he focused solely on his left shoulder.
Similar to what he did in his Core, he gave the buildup of energy a mental nudge, and slowly got it to start spinning.