Chapter 2 -Escape the Darkness & Extorting A Dungeon Core

The first thing John was aware of was not the world around him but it was how loose and flimsy his body was. John had no hard body. He could feel the world passing through his essence. He attempted to look around to see. But the first sensation he felt was air movement. Within moments he was able to see cave walls like one would with sonar. Just a vague outline of what is there. He could sense a distant light hue, so he started to move in that direction. His sight was an all-around sight but using it caused some disorientation. If he had a back he could have seen it.

With a few thoughts, John’s movements were short jumps. Just like before from point A to point B. John exited the cave and could make out the night time sky. This was the low part of a mountain range and above thick woodlands. The light was white and blue coming from 2 celestial orbs over head. One was white like he could remember from the moon, but the other was like a bright turquoise pearl. Both had faint darkened lines on them like distant topography. Just then John was distracted by a nearby “panic feeling”. He felt like someone was calling for help desperately, but it wasn’t like he could make out a specific voice. He spent a moment trying to “locate” the call and tried to move that way. John was doing jumps trying to get closer to the voice, and could make out the call as extremely urgent or frantic. It was becoming clearer the closer he got.

In the lowest spot between the cliff side he just left, and the distant hills, he noticed a town nestled in the valley. Like a strange mid-evil town but with some oddities. The town had fields and a number of towers aligned with the walls. There are various lights of different colors about the town. John got a strange feeling emanating from a lone tower separate from the keep but still near the middle of the town. He can guess the buildings are for residence or workshops but he couldn’t tell from that altitude. Faintly he could make out some activities in the town. But out of concern he had to push it off until he could deal with the faint frantic “voice”.

John continued jump after jump for what must have been miles. It seemed the closer John got the more he could make it out. The “voice or call” was something calling for help, but it would let out bursts of anger. At long last he made it to a worked cave with a fancy pair of broken double doors. Strange enough John could also feel a tremor in the air like the whole part of this hillside is unstable. He could also make out an actual crying, and pleading sound coming from the hill. After he gathered a fair bit of resolve he decided it was time to enter the cave.

He also engrained this spot outside the cave as a destination B, just in case he needed a place to escape to. Just as John passed into the cave a group of people came charging out with bags in hand. Yet one adventurer glanced back almost as if that they noticed where John was while passing by each other.

“Nooooooooo, please someone…. Help meeeeee….” The voice was crying and weepy.

“Make it stop…… don’t let me break………..” The voice continued.

As John made it past a bunch of rooms it looked like the place was filled with slaughtered creatures, monsters like giant centipedes with the head smashed. And after a while he found a stairwell.

“YOU!! “ the voice exclaimed. “ I can feel you! Who are you!..”

John paused because he could feel the voice. Or maybe it should be said he could feel the being that became aware of him.

“Who are you? And what help is it that you want?” John responded.

“I’m the Dungeon Lord, and they broke my core, or my heart… what ever you want to call it.” The voice shouted back.

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After a moment John felt a strong pull that yanked him down the steps and past several floors directly into the bottom room before he could separate himself from the grasp. The entity pushed, shoved and flailed against him while he held himself apart. With a fair effort of will John held himself inside like a protective bubble while he could feel this voice all about him. It felt like every portion of the dungeon was possessed by the voice.

“Here… RIGHT HERE!!! HELP ME!!!” the voice demanded, and then it started to sob as John remains halted in place.

“ I command it!!!! …..” The voice demanded and tried to apply more pressure on John.

“Come on you lowly spirit, do something and I can reward you!” The voice pleaded just before it began to weep again.

Before John is an orb that is spraying a heavy purple mist, and the mist has nearly filled the room. The reddish orb in the middle of the room is missing a quarter, and has gone from the size of a watermelon to the size of a cantaloupe. The purple mist seems to be pouring from the orb’s broken spot, but the orb seems to continue to crack and the broken chunk is shattered to tiny pieces on the floor beneath the orb. The stone walls also seem to be cracking and coming apart just as the orb is.

After a short time the situation starts to sink in. The fact that a dungeon has a core, and right now the core is falling apart directly in front of John. And would it die if it falls apart? But does a dungeon hunt people or at least make it a death trap used against people?

The persistent voice rouses John from his thoughts and demands a response.

“well come on, can’t you do something?”

“Honestly I don’t know… and I don’t know if I should.” John replied.

“WHAT?!?!” the Dungeon Lord responds at Johns’ blatant audacity. “What do you mean you don’t know if you should? Share your energy at least. I can feel it, you have plenty to spare! You should be HONORED to help me!... aren’t you?”

In a moment John made a snap decision…

“Here’s my deal, if you want help then make me your master and obey my directions. I don’t want my help costing people their lives. I don’t…… “

The Dungeon lord interrupts “WHAT!!!! OBAY YOU!!!” the Dungeon lord sputters. “ME obey a spirit? Are you kidding me? “

John felt the immense pressure pushing him toward the orb. So he push’s back out with his will to remain firmly in place. The dungeon lord with all its pride and indignation gathered its resolve for one last push to get John closer and force his hand to fix the cracks or take his energy. However as the two forces collide the already bad cracks spider web out in all directions. Immediately the dungeon lord gasped and stopped the pressure it was putting on John.

Large parts of the cave overhead were heard thudding to the floor as the Red Orb crumbled in size bit by bit.

“Well, that’s my deal… we can talk more later about what I expect, if I can actually help you or not. But if you won’t agree, then I won’t help.” John insists to this dungeon. It’s strange to feel the presence both all around and centering from the orb. But he waited patiently working out an idea in his head. Much like his past life he didn’t want to be the source of the gross misery of the world. If he couldn’t keep the dungeon from killing people on a whim then there is no point in helping it. Should he use a net like a spider web to wrap the orb, and somehow seal the orb in a cocoon…. Or should he do something like use a resin to seal the cracks... And…

“ye…” the voice mutters.

“what?” John says.

“yes” the voice barely mutters.

“do you accept my deal or not?” John firmly pushes back toward the Dungeon Lord.

“Yes, I accept your deal… “ the voice says, then mutters “…. mas.ter…”

“Now please!!! Please help me… I don’t want to die…” the Dungeon pleads.

John pushes forward and try to press in around the orb, he imagine webbing around it, like roots or little veins. With greater and greater effort he focused that idea and packed it in around the orb. Little by little a white mist starts to solidify in around the orb. It is his energy made manifest. Just then John felt the pressure around himself push harshly from around the orb. Like a temper tantrum or someone pushing away someone cleaning a wound.

Violently John lashes out for just an instant. “Stop it!! If you want my help quit distracting me, and don’t do that again!”

John then notices that he disturbed the thick purple mist in the room and got a strange sensation of cotton candy. He couldn’t decide if it was taste or feeling. But just then John wonders if he could use the purple mist to help. So John attempted to engulf or eat the room with the orb. Instead of John getting pressured by the dungeon, maybe he should put pressure on the core. Then use the pressure to keep the remains of the orb together. In just a few moments he changed thoughts and try to repair the core in this way.