"Regardless of size or structure, every dungeon has its source of power, be it a mana crystal, a magical artifact, or even a living being. The size and danger level of a dungeon is in direct correlation with the power of the artifact. Without its power source, the dungeon would collapse."

Dungeon Depths, by Sagius Sergen

~~~

It was dark.

When the boy opened his eyes, he could see nothing but darkness.

He did not know who he was. He did no know how he had come to awaken in this dark place. A slight nagging feeling told him there was something profoundly wrong, but he did not know what it could be. Or rather, there were too many things it could be. The darkness around him? His lack of memories? The absolute stillness of the cavern? The strange chill that came with being underground, surrounded by stone?

For now, he used a familiar trick of the mind to lock that feeling away, neatly sealed as if it had never been there. Perhaps this was also why he was missing his memories? It seemed likely, but he did not know for sure. For now....

What he did know was that he wanted to get out of this cave.

Standing, he stumbled forward, hands waving in front of him, until he made contact with a wall. He hesitated, glancing to both sides despite the pointlessness of the action. After a moment, he took a deep breath and turned to his right, holding his hand against the wall as he made his way forward, stumbling every now and then and keeping his eyes wide open, searching the darkness ahead for any hint of light. He carried on in this manner for what felt like an eternity, occasionally falling over, and sometimes rushing forward at some imagined spot of brightness. His scraped limbs throbbed, and his feet were raw from walking on the unforgiving stone floor. His mouth began to dry and his stomach complained loudly of its emptiness. The rough clothing that covered his body did little to keep out the cold of the empty caverns. Eventually, his wide eyes began to close and he looked more downwards than ahead.

As time passed, he felt he could almost see the outline of the ground. He froze. Not just almost, he could actually see the floor! Slowly, hesitantly, he raised his head and looked forward. He could see light! The boy jumped and gave a whoop of joy, no longer caring about the abrasions on his arms and legs or the soreness of his feet. He sprinted forward, as if the light might disappear at any moment, racing towards the patch of sunshine with his heart racing.

After rushing out of the cave, he was instantly blinded by the sudden radiance of his surroundings. He shut his eyes tight and covered them with his hands, squatting down as if physically struck by the dazzling glow of the sky overhead. After a moment, he slowly removed his hands, hesitantly opening his eyes by a tiny slit, squinting at his surroundings as he adjusted to actually being able to see.

He was in a grassy clearing, surrounded by trees, with the sound of running water pervading the air. The earth was soft beneath his sore feet, and the layer of grass minimized his suffering. Turning, he caught a glimpse of the cave he had run out from before the ground rumbled and it collapsed. 

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He gulped, his throat bobbing as he stared wide-eyed at the spot he had rushed out of only moments before. After a moment, his stomach grumbled loudly once more, and he was reminded of his hunger and his thirst. Following the sound of running water, he left the clearing and walked through the trees. As he progressed, he halted when he heard a bellowing roar in the distance, staring in the direction the sound had come from. His stomach growled. After another moment of hesitation, he continued forward.

After several interruptions by various roars, screeches, and crashing noises, the boy no longer stopped upon hearing them. As he proceeded towards the sound of water, he pondered the matter of his memories. He was able to think clearly, and definitely remembered a language, or rather, various languages. He knew the definitions of various words, and he retained knowledge of facts such as fire being hot and even some basics of magic and hand to hand combat, but he had no clue how he had come to learn these things. After some thinking, he decided that his situation could be described as having retained most of his "knowledge," but having somehow lost the memory of the experiences from which this knowledge stemmed. 

He arrived at his destination, discovering that the sound had been a rather shallow, clear stream. Kneeling down, he cupped his hands and cautiously brought a mouthful of water to his face. Upon discovering that it tasted clean, all restraint disappeared and he dunked his head into the stream, coming up only for mouthfuls of air.

After drinking his fill, he stood began to walk along the stream, following his knowledge that where there was water there would likely be food. Soon, he came upon a relatively still section, almost a pond, which preceded a series of rapids where the stream joined with a river. Peering at the reflection, the boy found his appearance to be familiar and yet foreign. He was wearing a rough tunic that was essentially a sack with holes for his arms and head. His hair was almost shoulder length everywhere except for the front, where it was long enough so that in its dry, naturally tousled state it wouldn't get in his way, but since it was soaked it seemed determined to get in his eyes. He tilted his head.

After a moment, he picked a strand of long green grass that was growing by pond and used its stem to tie the longer part of his hair into a short ponytail. Examining his reflection once more, he nodded, satisfied. His appearance was rather androgynous as it was- he had rather fair skin and a defined jawline, with high cheekbones- and he felt that in general a man with long hair would wear it in a ponytail. In fact, from his knowledge the only people who did not tie their hair were noble ladies, and he most certainly did not want to deal with- he tilted his head. Strange. Why is there no sign of civilization? True, he had not travelled very far yet, but the land in this area was clearly rich and fertile, and yet he had seen some plants that never existed anywhere near human settlements. For example, celi grass would die the instant a human touched it; it would be fine to contact the fur of animals, but was unable to tolerate something about the oil in human's bare skin, which led to its value as a medical herb; demand for it was on the same level as a normal cabbage, but supply was so low that a single stalk would cost the average commoner's life savings. And yet, even from the spot where he stood now he could see multiple clumps of it, flourishing in this environment.

As he contemplated potential reasons for the lack of settlements in this place, a thumping sound was heard. Dismissing his thoughts, he turned in the direction of the noise, crouching down quietly. The thumping continued. Soon, a creature thrice his height, with furry, striped legs as thick as his torso, claws longer than his fingers, a pair of huge, towering horns that formed a U shape, and fangs the size of his forearms, dripping with the blood of a fresh kill, appeared on the riverbank, bending its head down for a drink.

The boy crouched even lower, tightly grasping a nearby rock.

His stomach growled, and he grinned. Food.