Chapter 2

He didn’t know how long he had floated endlessly in that void. He tried counting to keep track of time but he gave up somewhere around a hundred million and something. By that point he was so sick of numbers that he simply couldn’t stand counting anymore. After the counting he decided to think of making magic items like tools, weapons, armor, and other various enchanted items. Once he got bored of just thinking about them and not actually making them, he then stated to think about golems of various shapes and materials, then he thought about automatons. He even came up with a design that was shaped like a crab. That way it could assist with getting equipment or repairing things. Before growing too excited, he remembered that he couldn’t actually make anything now. But he needed to keep his mind busy, needed something or anything to focus on.

Floating aimlessly in the void, he could feel his mind slipping as if he could feel madness creeping in from sheer boredom. Being locked away with his own thoughts was like hell.

He believed his name… his name was…

FUCK! Did I forget my name again? He cursed himself internally. He just got it back! Or at least he thought it was recently. Ok, we got this. Let’s just start at the beginning. Last things I remember I was… in and alley. I was hurt and I was angry at a lot of things. Life was hard, I’m not completely sure why. The next thing was… come on you know this! You woke up in…. a workshop! YES! Yes, that’s right! It was a workshop and there was an older man! Okay. We’re getting somewhere. The old man was good to me and… why… why do I feel happy and depressed thinking about the old man? He thought to himself, as feeling melancholy at the thought of the old man. He tried to remember the old man’s name. Maybe he could talk to the old man once he got out. Yet as he struggled to think of the old man’s name… nothing came to his mind.

His failed attempt to remember the old man’s name made him want to weep at the profound loss he felt at this.

But he couldn’t linger on those thoughts.

You can focus on that later. One problem at a time. We need to remember our name. He said as he tried to focus and steady his nerves. Alright. The old man taught me a lot of things. Do I remember those things? Okay yes, I do. Holy fuck I do! Wow that is a lot of stuff he taught me! Was I a scholar or something? No wonder I feel so sad for not knowing his name! Wait. Stop… focus. The old man taught me and… took me in… He treated me like I was his kid… I… I… studied very hard and became an Artificer. I made my own shop and I man, WOW! I made some cool stuff! Yeah, that’s right! I was an artificer and I was a really good one! The old man and I worked on stuff together! We made magic items! Yeah! We made life better for people! I worked with elves! I worked with dwarves!

Elation was coming to his mind as the memories were coming in clearer now. Still no name yet but that was alright it would come to him. He wanted to dive deeper and get more answers since from what he could tell, he was freaking awesome before he ended up in the void.

We got what I did. Damn I want to do that again! No wonder I’ve been feeling need to do something! Okay so I was a crafter and used a bit of magic to make magic items. I was invited by the old man to make something very special called a dungeon core. Wait… dungeon core… HOLY FUCK ON A STICK! We worked on making a dungeon core! Those things were insanely powerful and they made loot! Gods damn we are fucking awesome! No, no no. Focus. Right, so we made it and we found it needed a lot of magic to turn on. We were going to power it and then…

He paused as he remembered now with sharp bitter clarity. Profound hatred filled every part of his being.

That’s right… the nearby elves and dwarves betrayed us. They killed everyone, tortured me, they wanted the dungeon core. The old man gave it to me and I shoved it down my throat so those bastards couldn’t find it. Then I killed them. I killed ALL of them with necromancy and nothing lived. I made sure of it. They never called me my name though. They only called me human while in their captivity.

He sighed as he didn’t remember his name… maybe he could use a place holder? Yeah, that would work. At least until he remembered his actual name.

Human… yeah. That was definitely what I was. Was… now that was a strange thought. You know, let’s go with Hu. That was a good place holder. Yeah, sounds good.

Just as Hu was setting to try and think of something else to keep his mind busy. Hu felt something change.

Huh… the fuck was that? Hu pondered. Hells, when was the last time I felt anything. Was it pain? No… no pain was much more unpleasant than that.

He could feel his consciousness spreading now, reaching and spreading until he felt he now had arms and legs. Then he felt he had a head. Yet it didn’t feel like it was taking shape. More like it was filling a space or filling a mold of some kind. As he felt his limbs, Hu realized that he could feel. It was muted but he could feel the stone beneath him. That was when he could see.

The world exploded into his vision, finding that he was laying on the stone ground only everything was covered with a layer of moss or ivy. Hu realized that his body was actually buried under the moss. With a flex of his arm, he felt it burst free and then saw the last thing he expected.

Above him was a skeletal hand and arm. He stared at it, struggling to understand what he was seeing before he tried to flix his fingers.

Yeah, that can’t be-Nope! That is me.

He flexed and turned his hands and turned his wrist. Hu was looking at the limb and he honestly couldn’t tell if he was more fascinated or freaked out.

It took him a couple hours to get up and look over his skeletal body. The fact that he could stand, walk, and do some dexterous movement with his limbs despite not having any muscles was both unsettling and fascinating. But Hu chose not to think too much of it since he was honestly unsure of just how he was doing it. Once he was able to move and walk smoothly enough, he walked to outside of the cell that filled him with a powerful sense of disgust.

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As he walked and moved through the halls, he looked at half broken down skeletons. Some were lengthy while others stout and dense. It didn’t take much thought to recognize what species those skeletons belonged to.

Had Hu had any lips, he would have smirked at the bodies but the spirits were gone so it didn’t matter anyway.

Once he walked up the last flight of mossy steps, Hu came up to the town’s old prison. Much of the furniture had been rotted and damaged by age and water exposure. There were a few piles of bones that looked like they have been chewed on by some kind of creature. Hu looked them over more for curiosity to what might have chewed the bones but he knew more of craftsmanship than he did animal signs. Hu ignored it once he couldn’t figure it out and moved to leave the jail when he saw a mirror in the corner of this eye.

Do I even have eyes? Huh… let’s find out.

Hu walked over to the mirror to see what has become of him and see what the damage was.

With a few steps Hu found that he now stood in front of the old and dirty mirror but luckily it was still clear enough for him to get a good look at himself. What he saw was both surprising and yet not. What he saw was that he was a full body skeleton. He confirmed that he didn’t have eyes which in itself as confusing as that was. It also raised a few questions to how he was able to see. Putting those thoughts aside, he saw a standard human skeleton that didn’t seem all the special. The biggest difference that separated him from the others that laid in broken heaps was he was moving and what he saw floating in his ribcage.

Within his ribcage was a floating opal stone that floated lazily in his center that emitted a soft iridescent light. It was perfectly smooth and spherical with a surface that looked like it had been religiously polished. It took him a moment to remember that it was the dungeon core he had forcibly choked down. What surprised Hu was that he was just calm about this. He was a skeleton with a glowing rock floating in its chest after all. Yet, for reasons he just didn’t understand he was just… accepting of it.

He admired himself in the mirror for a few minutes longer. Trying to test the limits of what he could see and how far his limbs would bend, twist or turn. That was when he had noticed a little flashing symbol in the corner of his vision.

How did I miss that?

Taking a minute to focus on the symbol that looked like the dungeon core and just like that, a widow like a sheet of glass with text on it filled his vision.

Congratulations!

You have successfully bonded with and awakened the Dungeon Core!

Time spent to bond with the core (916) years.

Master of the Dungeon: Jack Smithson

Dungeon type: Mechanized, Necromancy.

Dungeon and Dungeon Master Level: 1

Nine hundred and sixteen years!? Fuck my boney ass! No wonder I had a hard time remembering stuff! How the hells am I not insane!? He shouted internally. Huh… so my name is Jack Smithson. I was way off calling myself Hu.

Before he could ponder further, another sheet of text appeared in his vision after he closed the first one.

Attention! New Quest Available!

Build Thy Dungeon!

To begin making a dungeon, please select a location to plant the true body of the Dungeon core.

Would you like to see your dungeon core menu?

Yes/No

Seeing no reason not to. Jack focused on yes as he, for some reason, felt that was what he needed to do to do it.

After selecting yes, more panes of glass with text opened up with multiple segments. It was rather convenient and useful to have the information organized like this. Jack was a tad bit curious as to how he was able to see and intuitively use what he saw. Then again, he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Dungeon Core Sheet

Dungeon Master: Jack Smithson

Race: Lich (Formally Human)

Dungeon Mobs Available:

Zombie Rats

Skeleton Rats

Tin Crabs

Dungeon Abilities:

Mob Summoning

Mob Absorption

Reanimate Dead

Dungeon Shaping

Dungeon Repair

Item Absorption

Item Creation

Current Loot Drop Options:

Coin:

Tin Coins

Copper Coins

Silver Coins

Items:

Purified Bone pieces

Refined materials (Metal)

Special Ability:

Avatar of The Master – Note. This is a legendary ability. Dungeons with this ability can make a physical manifestation of its consciousness, also known as the Dungeon Master. The form of this avatar is a Lich who is able to enter and leave the dungeon’s territory at will while also able to change their form as the dungeon grows.

The avatar will have the same abilities as its non-mob counterparts.

Rooms/Chambers:

None available.

Jack nodded as he read the menu. Moving to a mostly intact desk to take a seat as he held his boney chin.

Okay, So I’m a dungeon core now or at least the consciousness of the dungeon core. We know my name is Jack and I have some powers. So far so good. Jack thought to himself as he looked over the sheet a second time. The body is a lich… guess that means I’m an undead. Kind of cool I guess, at least I don’t have any fleshy bits hanging off me.

He looked more at the sheet and moved on to the next section since this one was more focused on him specifically.

Dungeon Avatar Sheet

Race: Lich

Stats:

Strength: 8 Agility: 12

Durability: 14 Intelligence: 27

Wit: 26

Race Abilities:

Spell Casting

Life Siphoning

Curses Casting

Necromancy Affinity

Quick Study

Spell Resistance

Spells Available:

Assembly

Stone Needles

Electric Bolts

Detect Resources

Refinement

Reanimate

Minor Detonate

Sickening Fog

OH SWEET! I can cast SPELLS now! Jack cheered internally as he hopped off the ruined desk and did a happy dance. Yeah! That’s right! I can cast spells and enchant now. Uh huh! Oh yeah! That’s right! Who’s the best? I’m the best!

Jack continued his happy dance, but eventually paused in his celebration to look down at himself. Getting a good look at his ribs, pelvis, and leg bones. If Jack still had skin his face would have been a deep crimson.

I mean… there’s nothing for anyone to really look at. Or anyone around… I think. Jack then looked around to see if there was anything he could use to make some makeshift clothing. Ooooookay, first on the to-do list. Find or make pants.