It awoke to a steady clanking beat that resonated within Its mind. The memories rushed back, filling up the gaps in the dazed consciousness and bringing the entity’s attention back to the real world. Absentmindedly, It ran maintenance on the underground complex, checking up on the inner workings of the undead colossus. When everything turned up working just as well as it was before, It brought Its gaze to the Core in order to investigate the distracting noise.
Surprisingly, a pocket of free space formed around the Core and stretched all the way to the surface, ending up as a tiny opening at the base of the speared column. More than that, for some reason, It didn’t feel any aversion to the weakened defenses of the Core. Perhaps the fact it was buried underground and covered in an army’s worth of corpses and metal somewhat put Its instincts at ease?
Mentally pushing the issue at the back of Its mind, the entity focused on something much more intriguing. Hovering right beside the glowing Core was something that wasn’t present before, and yet it felt as if it definitely belonged here.
A small, at least compared to the fused bodies around it, being was connected to the walls of the “room” by thin segmented tendrils that extended from its back, huge compound eyes staring intently at the gemstone in front of it. Its insectoid body looked like someone dumped a bucket of acid on scrap metal and left to rot in the daylight for several weeks. Despite the color, it had a sleek body shape, somewhat reminiscent of a fly or a praying mantis. Eight gaunt limbs extended from its main body, the upper four consisting of two curved blades and two grasping claws, and the lower four being taloned legs bent backward.
The newest arrival didn’t evoke any hostile responses from the entity, so It decided to simply observe for the time being. The silent staring contest between a sapient stone and a metallic-looking bug-thing continued for a while, but eventually the It got tired of doing nothing and willed the Core to be absorbed deeper into the mass of flesh and metal.
As It started to shift Its attention to the surface in search of things to spend Its time on, the newcomer moved. And with it, the walls. The entity stared at once more bared Core in bedazzled confusion. Just to be sure, It yanked the Core again, only to witness the same outcome come into fruition.
Time after time It tried to force the walls to stay still, and each time It failed miserably. The little bug-thing inevitably followed after the Core, its tendrils ripping their hooked ends out of the flesh and using them to move in the appearing corridors. Pausing, the entity decided to try a new approach to the issue at hand. Instead of commanding the undead, It sent an order directly at the pest, hoping it would leave already.
The outcome, however, differed greatly from what It expected. With a sudden buzz, the thing twitched and a soft green glow emanated from between its segments for a few seconds. When the light show was over, it skittered over to the Core, circling it a couple times, and took its final position right above the gemstone.
“Dungeon Terminal #001, reporting for duty,” a monotone voice echoed inside the entity’s mind, “Initiating [Greeting Protocol], please stand by.”
Curious, It patiently waited for the situation to develop. Whatever this thing was, it provided plenty of entertainment to keep It busy. Eventually, the visitor twitched again before its body language changed completely. Rapid jerking movements were replaced with the smooth grace of a predator, its tendrils now bending and twisting fluidly without pauses.
“Welcome to the world of Guralia, Young Dungeon,” the same voice resumed speaking, “I am your Dungeon Companion, more commonly known as a Dungeon Fairy. My purpose is to get you accustomed to the world you have found yourself in, as well as inform you of the set rules. You may now ask your questions. End [Greeting Protocol].”
A world? Dungeon Fairy? Rules? The entity was beyond confused. But still, knowledge was knowledge, and it appeared that communicating with this thing was currently the easiest way to get it. Besides, the thought of spending all of Its time on gathering corpses seemed rather bland and, to be honest, boring, so maybe this ‘companion’ could give some suggestions on what to do? Eager, It pushed Its thoughts into the metallic fairy, causing it to freeze once more. Fortunately, it didn’t break, since it restarted its motions shortly after.
“Analyzing response… Analysis Complete: Dungeon incapable of proper communication. Solution: Direct Data Download.”
The creature leaned into the Core and hugged it with all eight limbs. Immediately after, It sensed a ‘package,’ for a lack of better word, brush against Its mind. Curious, It absorbed the offered information, Its memories swiftly filling with countless languages, letters, and pronunciations. Practically salivating at the free knowledge, It quickly cataloged the data and focused on the fairy with something akin to adoration. The little thing was already proving itself extremely useful.
“Scheduled Response: You may now ask your questions.”
“heLlO? CAn YoU hEAR ME?”The entity did Its best to put the acquired information to good use right away.
“Affirmative.”
Huh. This method of communication was rather convenient, It had to admit. It also didn’t hesitate to ask the next question.
“WhaT aRE You?”
“Your Dungeon Companion, more commonly known as a Dungeon Fairy. Because Dungeons are naturally rejected by Grualia, a piece of their consciousness is forcefully separated and imbued with the World’s Will in order to properly integrate the new Dungeon. My purpose is to get you accustomed to the world you have found yourself in, as well as inform you of the set rules.”
Fair enough.
“What aM i?”
“A Dungeon Core, more commonly referred to as a Dungeon. An extraterrestrial entity that has invaded Guralia for an unknown reason.”
So It was a Dungeon? Interesting. What was truly disappointing was that the fairy too had no idea why It was here. Slightly disappointed, but not deterred, It continued prodding the creature for more answers.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Where am I?”
“Grualia.”
That was it?
“Where am I?”
“Grualia.”
Annoying. It could finally put Its emotions into proper definitions, and the one It felt right now was definitely annoyance. Regardless, this strain of conversation was clearly a dead end. It took some time going over the answers It has already received before coming up with a new question.
“What are the rules?”
”Dungeon Rules are a set of laws that all Dungeons must follow. Rule One: Do not spread your influence above the surface. Rule Two: Do not inflict True Death onto Heroes. Rule Three: Those chosen by Gods must be allowed passage to their God’s realm after their death. Rule Four: The Dungeon Core must be accessible from the surface. Violating any of the Dungeon Rules results in termination through Hero Quests.”
Its thoughts stilled. It wasn’t allowed above ground? Reacting within a moment’s notice, the structure towering above the corpse-littered fields was swiftly pulled into the earth, leaving a flat mass of compressed dead bodies with a hole in the middle of the improvised ‘pool.’ Seconds ticked by as It awaited the mysterious Hero Quests to come and terminate It, but when no such thing happened, It returned to the interrupted conversation brimming with suspicion.
“No Hero Quests came. Did you lie?”
The entity closely observed as the fairy froze for a split second, then continued shifting in place as if nothing had happened. It also seemed to not notice the swarm of decaying hands detaching themselves from the walls behind it and reaching towards the creature’s back without making a single sound.
“Negative. Only Rule Four is actively enforced by the World’s Will. The integrity of Rules One through Three is upheld by the Gods and sapient races. Lack of Hero Quests indicates that the trespassing was not observed.”
It cautiously mulled over the bit of important data, as the undead just as quietly returned back to their places. If only Rule Four was actively enforced, then It still could operate above the surface, as well as those other two things It had currently no interest in. But the inability rise from underground would cut Its possible things to do in half, which would’ve been disastrous. Fortunately, It just had to be extra careful not to get caught. Or deal with those Hero Quests, whatever those were, in one way or another.
The other real problem was Rule Four, which It had to ability to resist. Despite spending quite some time trying to take the control back over the walls of Its hideout, there always remained an opening. Hopefully, the Core was safe with defenses already in place. If not, It could always come up with more.
“What is the Core?”It hoped that the companion was aware that the Core was the same gemstone that the creature was currently sitting on. Luckily, Its worries were for naught.
“The Core is the Nexus of a Dungeon’s consciousness. Should the Core perish, the Dungeon will cease to exist.”
Cease… to exist? The concept was confusing to It. How could ‘not exist’? It was here, It was thinking. How could It stop? If It were to cease existing, It would to ‘not think.’ But It was always thinking. Did that mean It will never ‘cease to exist’?
“What is ‘cease to exist’?”
“Cessation of existence means oblivion. Immediate cancelation of all thought processes and following shut down of the physical body. Death.”
It shuddered. Death sounded uncomfortable. Something about the word itself was off-putting. Whatever it was, It knew that It did not want to die. Or to stop thinking. Thinking was something It enjoyed, and if this ‘death’ would prevent It from doing so then it was only natural It resisted, right? Fortunately, the entity was now aware that Its existence was linked to the Core, a fact that justified Its former obsession with protecting It. However, Rule Four had just become Its greatest enemy. It was quite simple to determine that this World’s Will was hostile to Dungeons like itself. Rule Four was the only one directly enforced, as well as the only one that guaranteed the possibility of It dying.
Even if It buried Its Core as deeply as It could, there would always be a passage remaining. A passage for something to reach Its Core and destroy. Something on the surface was actively seeking to bring death to It, presumably those ‘Gods’ and ‘sapient races’. If so, they would find It… displeased.
“What are Gods and sapient races?”
“Sapient races are species of beings that possess higher thought and populate Guralia alongside non-sapient races such as animals. Gods are spiritual entities composed of magic and faith that rely on sapient races for sustenance, providing various support in return.”
That barely answered anything. But fine, It has already learned that asking the same question leads to the same answer. It just had to find out for itself. Done questioning the fairy, for now, It dismissed the small creature and considered what to do next.
If It disregarded the Rules and continued to spread above the surface, It would eventually be noticed. Perhaps It could deal with the Hero Quests and protect Its Core. Perhaps not. It came to the conclusion that It desperately needed more answers, answers that could only be acquired through direct research. Which in turn met getting those Hero Quests in the first place. A recursive loop.
“What are Hero Quests?”It couldn’t believe It forgot to ask such a simple thing. Even if this fairy wasn’t as useful as It hoped, it could still provide immense assistance.
“Hero Quests are Quests given to Heroes. An epic version of Quests given to Adventurers.”
“And what are these Adventurer Quests? Who are Adventurers?”
“Adventurer Quests are Quests given to Adventurers. Adventurers are members of sapient races who take Quests. Greatest Adventurers become Heroes.”
…Fascinating.
In any case, Heroes and Adventurers seemed to be similar to each other, so perhaps It could conduct Its research on Adventurers first and only then move to Heroes? Yes, that sounded like a splendid idea. So, It needed Adventurers to come to It. Supposedly by taking a Quest. The only question remaining was how to lure said Adventurers? It needed more information, way more information than It had right now.
It needed to conduct reconnaissance.
“Can you go to the surface?”
“Negative”
Only one way left then, no matter how risky. With a minor burst of will, several corpses rose up from the mass of flesh and started moving away from the Core. They moved slowly, due to the changed bone structure that resembled a cytoskeleton, which better maintained the integrity of the bodies, but drastically reduced their flexibility. Bits of blades and pieces of armor were left inside the bodies just in case. It wasn’t sure in what case exactly, but It wanted to be prepared.
Its field of perception expanded as the scouts distanced themselves from the Core, just as It hoped. Unfortunately, the only new things in sight were more corpses and metal. Unable to resist the temptation, It ordered more bodies to rise with the sole purpose of collecting their kin and adding them to the Dungeon.
Meanwhile, the entity began with restructure Its newly identified Dungeon with fanatical fervor. Rock was shattered and stone was ground to dust, as the undead abomination dug into the soil. Tunnels were being collapsed and created, numerous dead ends formed for no other reason than to confused whoever dared to seeks Its destruction. Beneath an inconspicuous hole in the ground, if one ignored the primordial soup of rotting flesh and rust around it, an entire labyrinth was being created.
Only one entrance which also served as an exit. Only one Core that lied at the very back of the sprawling complex. Only one way to get from that entrance to said Core. All enclosed by walls made of cracked skulls, broken bones, decomposing flesh, and cold sharp metal, all ready to pounce at anything with enough audacity to tread these halls.
If this Dungeon had to have a passage to the Core, then so be it. But that passage was going to spell doom for anyone and anything that dared to wish Its Core destruction. If they wanted to bring death to It, it was only fair for It to bring death to them, right?