“Arizo Welcome back!!” I cheered, feeling the strange magic door she used open.
She looked at me with fondness and joy. “You missed me?” She sounded disbelieving.
“Very much. Not having you here was like… Well like missing a limb.” I laughed at the saying. “You know what I mean right?”
“I do.” Arizo giggled, nodding. “I have only been gone for 2 days. Has anything happened?”
“So many things. I have more questions and news and ….. I missed you.” I declared, not at all embarrassed.
She gave a soft smile. “I found myself missing you too. The few times my last core let me leave it was a relief. But with you I kept wondering what you were doing and thinking about what you might say in conversations.” She flew over and placed a hand on my core. “I am glad to be home.”
Her simple words made me glow brighter. Though being reminded she’d had another core before me still made me jealous. That he didn’t treat MY fairy right fueled my possessiveness.
“Tell me how your trip went.” I asked, voice clouded with so many emotions.
“Piopia, the dungeon fairy elder, was worried when I first arrived. She feared that you opened somewhere and had been killed before making a foothold or that you had hurt me. Her and the others were joyful to hear that I have a kind and curious core. Most of my friends laughed at your taps and ideas to mess with adventures.”
We shared a giggle.
“Piopia and I had a long chat as well. She is our leader because she is the oldest living dungeon fairy so knows much of our history.” Arizo spoke in a more serious tone. “While she doesn’t know exactly what happened to cause the gods to cripple dungeons. One or several dungeons did something long ago and that is why there are so many restrictions on them now. The weakening and blocks on past memories then led to new dungeons dieing quickly. So Fate asked a village of wild fairies to become dungeon fairies. My ancestors were taken to another realm and given the knowledge and abilities needed to help dungeons grow without restarting whatever chaos happened before.”
“So that’s where your people came from and why my memories are blocked. I wonder if there are any ancient dungeons still alive from before that time?”
“I have no idea. I doubt even Piopia and Hue would know. Hue is her dungeon partner. He’s an aquatic dungeon that lives in the Mongo Swamps. Almost on the other side of Wisry from here.”
“Wisry is this planet right?”
“Yes Wisry is the planet. The Eastern Costals is our region, Horamear the country and The Lost Forest is our home.” She explained
Jumping to a new subject, “I spoke with some others that have nature dungeons. When I mentioned the plants you have access to they suggested hiding the key to the next room under one of the mandrakes. They would have to gently remove the screaming plant to get the key.”
“Great idea. With the dungeon magic I can have it change location each time and if they hurt any mandrake the others will come above ground and scream.” I quickly turned to the garden and added that puzzle. Changing the exit door to a pinkish pear wood I put a drawing of a mandrake snuggling a key on it in cherry.
“Last puzzle for this floor set.” Giving her a mischievous smile. “Why don’t you head out the door and see a surprise?”
She looked at me in curiosity, but then did as I asked. I added floating mana lights around the pillar to make it really shine.
“It’s beautiful.” Arizo praised. Touching the smooth surface she floated down the steps and looked around the domed room at the bottom. The 4 halls here were identical cylinders.
“Why don’t these doors open?”
“There’s nothing behind them yet. I stopped there when I felt your gate open.”
“Ah. So you unlocked wood.”
“Come back up and let me tell you about what has happened.”
Arizo informed me I could spend up to my level in dungeon points in my core room when I told her about making mimics. So I made one of the mimics, she agreed they are super cute. Anything made in the core couldn’t leave the room unless there were free dungeon points on that floor.
I made a black racer to show her, while telling her about its attack. She was shocked by the story of the dryad. Though as it took 5dp I couldn’t make one in my core room.
“Can you show me what she looked like? By sharing the memory with me.” It took several tries for me to share the memory of the tainted dryad. “You are correct, she was wrong. She was probably older and living so close to the corrupted mana in this area must have driven her mad. Normally a dryad will not attack unless you damage their territory.”
“I agree. The one life that had met a dryad thinks of them as helpful and peaceful. So what happened to the kobolds she killed outside?”
“They fade like they do in here and leave their drop. Only you don’t get any of their mana back.”
Changing to a less sad subject. “I had the leader climb our incline, which is a small hill. Then she climbed a tree and I got a better look of the surroundings.” I showed her a 360 view from the top of the tree. “We are miles from Peleter and the river. I assume that one is the Stampeding River?”
Arizo flushed. “Sorry about that. Yes, that is the river to our due West. Egles must be too far away for us to see. That miasma is a bit troubling. Who knows what other tainted or corrupted beasts are in there.”
“Speaking of I was attacked by 2 kinds.” I began telling her of the chimera and 11 homunculus. She was enraptured by the story as I showed her the fight and told her my thoughts.
“Those kobolds were definitely the right choice.” Was her first reply. I swelled with pride. They were becoming my favorite creatures. “I don’t think I’ll leave your side again until the Adventurer’s Guild gets here.”
“Adventurer's Guild?”
From the teacher's look on her face I could tell she was going to give a lecture. “There are 4 recognized Adventurer’s Guilds on Wisry. Each calls themselves the Adventurer’s Guild. Those that know of them all, or more than one call them by their environment. The Marine Adventurer’s Guild is the largest. It is underwater and deals mostly with people that can’t breathe air. They manage dungeons whose mouth is more than half submerged.”
“The Deep Adventurer’s Guild handles people and dungeons found deep underground. Usually miles below the surface. Getting to the deep lands is difficult for most surface dwelling races. There have been some very old dungeons that dig deep enough to reach it though. As few dungeons are born in the deep they are treasured and fiercely protected. That far into the world the mana is heavy and harder to filter. It may harm a young core that isn’t built for the pressure.”
I nodded. Reaching both the ocean and the deep sounded like fun, but I knew I was nowhere near ready for that.
“Next is even harder for surface people to reach, Skyland. The Skyland Adventurer’s guild is high above us where there are mana clouds strong enough to build homes and cities on. The opposite of the deep, mana there is thinner but no less abundant. I don’t know of any dungeons that were born in Skyland but some have learned how to fly and rise to the sky. As these are old and powerful beings. Only equally powerful species challenge them.”
“Lastly and second largest, Land Adventurer’s Guild, or Surface Guild. Since we are on land most of those that come here will mean this guild. That is the one that will be sending representatives to evaluate and protect us.”
“Why would they protect us?”
“They’re insane.” She replied flatly. I couldn’t help but laugh.
With a sigh she gave a more detailed answer. “Greed and Life’s Disciples are our greatest threats.”
“LIFE!?” I exclaimed. “Why would they try to hurt us?”
“They aren’t. Life’s Disciples claim to follow Life and pray to them. But they kill anything they deem ‘unnatural’ or ‘against Life’s will’. However Life has never blessed them and wants nothing to do with the group. The group claims that dungeons were made to end all life and must be destroyed.”
“So religious nuts with no divine backing.”
“Unfortunately they do have backing. Deities of chaos and death often help them. They do want to end lives. Extraplanar demons also like to make deals with them to destabilize and destroy this world.”
“Lovely. So how is greed a problem? Aren’t adventurers coming here to get rich?”
“Not real adventurers. You will see people that come here for treasure, but true adventures are here for the XP and thrill. Like I said insane.”
“The Adventurer’s Guilds stop countries from farming dungeons. That’s where they only let dungeons have luxury items to make and creatures that are valuable and usually easy to kill. They then farm the resources the dungeon makes. This can lead to the dungeon going mad, killing itself or running away.”
I was shocked and disgusted at the thought of anyone trying to enslave me. “How can I run away?”
Arizo smiled. “By having an escape tunnel.” She replied cheekily. “Now that you have an entrance you can never completely block yourself off. You can dig a small tunnel to the surface that counts as an opening and collapse everything else. You will lose the part of your mana tied to your size but it will give you the freedom to try again. A dungeon abandoning a city not only stops them from getting all those items, but when the world finds out they will be black listed by many places, loose trade deals and access to hiring anyone in the adventurer's guilds.”
“But some will still try it.”
“Unfortunately. In our case the Adventurer’s Guild always sends A-S ranked people to evaluate. They will scare off or kill the creatures in the miasma that are a threat to us right now. A wild beast can shatter a core just as easily as one of the crazed disciples.”
Not wanting to contemplate dying, “Speaking of Life and crazed beings.” I showed her the conversation with Life.
Arizo sank into her chair, wide eyed and pale. “Life spoke to you.”
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“PULL UP QUESTS!” She demanded. Flying out of her seat and rushing toward me until her nose touched my crystal.
Wondering what she meant I did so.
Life's Offer
Surrender any blueprints for constructs made using living beings.
Blueprints of Life's choosing
“Life gave you an ongoing quest. For each new beast like those you kill and unlock a blueprint you can trade for another with Life.”
I sent her a wave of happiness. “If they feel like the last 2, then I will be glad to get rid of them. One of my lives was terrified of the chimera and another was horrified by the homunculus. Knowing some of how they were made I understand both feelings.”
“Yes, as a dungeon you are built to make new creatures and items. Others have to torture and experiment on creatures to achieve a lesser version. Please tell me nothing worse happened?”
“No, that was the worst that happened. But I was attacked by a dozen pseudo dragons and some creatures I can’t name ran 3 rabbits in here and I can now make both.” As they cost 2dp I made one of each to show her.
She giggled and ran her finger through the rabbit’s fur as the little dragon tried to curl around my core. “I agree with those that think homunculus were made to mimic pseudo dragons. While that little beast can’t speak it talks telepathically to whoever it’s bonded with. They make excellent familiars, are resistant to magic and live for about 150 years. However they will only bond with good or neutral beings.”
“And evil people wanted them and so they made one. When I unlocked the rabbit, a memory from a past life came forward.” I shared it with her as well. “It was more vivid than the memories and ideas that swirl to the surface.”
“A Core Memory. Something that defined one of your lives. Most sentient beings have them. They are tied to the soul and are not lost when reborn. Just suppressed. Some call it deja vu. When you do something for the first time and feel that you’ve known how your whole life.”
I wondered what other core memories were lurking in my mind. And if unlocking them would teach me more about the people I had been. And if that would change the person I am now.
“At the same time I also achieved Finders Keepers.” I added, not wanting to get lost in those thoughts.
“100 blueprints already! I am so proud!” Honest happiness and joy came from her.
Basking in the joy for a while I had another question. “Why do my creatures have different XP requirements to level up?”
“Dungeon fairies have been debating that as long as anyone can recall. The leading theory is that they have a harder time collecting experience, so they need less to improve. The needed Xp and their max level are always the same. Creatures that only need 10xp to level up have a max level of 2.”
“What’s a max level? I didn’t see that on any of my creatures' status pages. What happens when they reach their max?” I was worried about my creatures.
“I don’t know why it doesn’t show up. Max level is the highest strength a creature can reach. But don’t panic.” She cautioned with a smile. “Once they reach their max level and fill up their xp again they can evolve.”
“So how can I get something like a salamander to gain levels and evolve?”
Arizo opened her mouth to reply but then snapped it shut. Looking down she seemed to be considering what to say. “If I tell you, you have to promise not to use that information until you reach level 10.”
I could tell this meant a lot to her. “Arizo I give you my word. I won’t go experimenting with this knowledge. And even after level 10 I will discuss it with you first. I don’t know what you are planning to tell me but I trust you.”
Her shoulders lowered in relief and a soft smile came onto her face. “Thank you. I trust you as well my friend.” Taking a fortifying breath she explained. “The creatures you make are a part of you and still connected. You can give them some of your xp through that connection. You will then need to earn more to level up.”
“So in theory I could use my xp over and over to make a creature that was higher than my level.”
“Yes you can. And if we were in imminent danger I would recommend it. But right now it would just stunt your growth.”
“I agree. That should only be used in emergencies. Or maybe if a high level creature just needs a couple points to evolve. I can’t see dumping the 700xp I need to reach level 5 into a salamander or a chicken.”
“Level 6 will need 900 then 1,100, 1,300, 1,500 and then 2,000 to reach level 10. That’s 6,800 xp plus what you still need to reach level 5. After level 10 the gap widens to 500 per level, at 20 it changes to 1000 and just keeps getting harder and harder to level up.”
“Is that the same for my creatures?”
“No. For other sentients out in the world they are the same as you. For creatures the amount added is fixed for each evolution. How much does this rabbit need to reach level 2?”
“50xp.”
“Then it’s max level is 10. Until level 10 it will need 100xp more each level. Then once it evolves it will need 200xp each level. It will evolve again at level 20 and need 500 each level until it reaches the cap at level 50. Which should be more than enough to cover every creature you have.”
“Does getting to level 2 always take less xp?”
“Yes, it’s assumed that’s to help young creatures grow.”
“I think I understand. Rabbits will evolve at level 10 but kobolds are at the next threshold so they won’t evolve till level 20. But Arizo this floor will be far too deadly with 6 level 20 kobolds in the first room.”
“It will. When this group becomes too strong you will need to move them to a lower floor and make more level 1 kobolds.”
“Alright I’ll keep that in mind as I make more levels. Can I reabsorb them and make the same ones later?” I assumed I could due to remaking the spearmen and them already having more xp than the other kobolds.
“Yes you can. How dungeons keep up with each creature when there can be 100’s I don't know but I’ve never heard of a dungeon having that issue. Once some of your creatures level up, when you make new ones there will be an option to make them level one or a higher level.”
“Thank you for answering all my questions. You are such a big help. Worrying and wondering about things sucked the fun out of expanding.”
She beamed, blushing as she took a seat again. “Are you going to work on your second floor?”
“Yeah. I want to get a bit more done before it’s time for the kobolds to leave again. I want to watch and see how much easier it is for them to use their new weapons.”
“I’m going to wander about this floor and enjoy the final look.”
I started with the hall that went toward my entrance and began carving out the hall to the left.
I had made one room and started on another hall when I hit another small underground cave.. There were no new creatures or items that I unlocked from this one.
Deciding to make it part of this floor I made sure the stream was shallow enough in places to cross, made rough stone patches leading to my hall I had been building and put a door in the hall that would open to this area. It wasn’t far from the adjacent T hall so I made another Hall and door there for 2 access points to this little cave area.
Moving on I started work on my halls again. Up, down, turn and twist. I made the halls long and connected them back to the side opposite where I had started. Then connected to the next T junction. More twisting and turning.
I felt Arizo return to the core room but kept digging and building.
As sunlight hit just inside my entrance I stopped to watch the kobolds leave. I could feel that I had pushed my reserves a bit too far. But the design just seemed to scream for me to complete it.
Arizo and I watched the world through the leader's eyes as she left the dungeon.
“She needs a name.” I stated.
Arizo hummed but didn’t offer a suggestion.
“Una” when I said the name I could feel the power in it.
The leader stopped. She looked back to the entrance then gave the salute dropping to one knee. “You honor me Creator.”
“My first creature should have the first name.” I told her with a smile. “Please rise Una.”
A shiver went through her but she did as I asked. I could feel awe and joy from her. The other kobolds were looking at her with joy and respect. I was happy to see no jealousy in their eyes.
“Continue your duties.” I told her once she was back on her feet and had regained composure.
Another salute and she was leading the others into the woods.
The axe and shovel both looked to be more useful and the saw cut much faster than the old one. Happy to see my improved tools worked, I left them to it and returned to digging.
Metaphorically stepping back I looked over the new level. “Arizo,” I called to get her attention. She was still watching the kobolds. “I’ve connected all 4 halls to one another but it doesn’t feel right.”
She turned to me and looked over what I was seeing. “It looks like a fine set of twisting halls and a respectable second floor.”
“I know.” I whined. “But I feel like it’s missing something. And not just the boss room and creatures.”
“How about adding a twisty hall here?” She motioned to the area drawing a wild squigle.
I thought about it. Making the hall was easy enough. “That’s a bit better. Maybe adding a room for adventurers to rest in here, and another hall here….” I trailed off and started work again.
About an hour later I was very unhappy to have to stop due to low mana.
I pouted, too annoyed to meditate and turned my attention to the mimics to raise my mood. I felt itchy. Like I was still too small for my dungeon. I needed to keep growing but I didn’t have the mana to do so.
Una brought back another distraction. All four kobolds were working together to drag a large tree trunk into the dungeon. I could tell it had been dead for a long time. Once they dropped it in the entry hall they headed to their room. I placed some chicken and rabbit meat for them to cook and eat as a reward.
My eyes were glued to the tree as it started to dissolve. I almost cheered as the blue prints came up.
Blueprint Unlocked: Box Turtle
Blueprint Unlocked: Turtle Meat
Blueprint Unlocked: Rat Snake
Blueprint Unlocked: Brown Recluse
Blueprint Unlocked: Tarantula
Blueprint Unlocked: Millipede
Blueprint Unlocked: Centipede
Blueprint Unlocked: Algae
Blueprint Unlocked: Snail
Blueprint Unlocked: False Truffles
Blueprint Unlocked: Vole
Blueprint Unlocked: Door Spider
Blueprint Unlocked: Blue Flax
Blueprint Unlocked: Foxglove
Blueprint Unlocked: Tamarisk Moss
Blueprint Unlocked: Horn Moss
Blueprint Unlocked: Beard Lichen
Blueprint Unlocked: Beefsteak
Blueprint Unlocked: Chanterelle
Blueprint Unlocked: Bird’s Nest Fungus
Blueprint Unlocked: Giant Puffball
Blueprint Unlocked: Fly Agaric
Blueprint Unlocked: Weasel
Blueprint Unlocked: Chipmunk
Blueprint Unlocked: Destroying Angel
Blueprint Unlocked: Oyster Mushroom
Blueprint Unlocked: Hen-of-Woods
Algae: A simple, nonflowering, and typically aquatic plant. Mostly seen as slime on rocks or rotting plants.
Beard Lichen: Hangs from a central stalk and can get up to several feet long. Used to make healing salves and as a fever reducer.
Beefsteak: Looks and feels like raw meat. This shelf mushroom can be eaten either raw or cooked. It has a meat-like texture and a sour flavor.
Bird’s Nest Fungus: appearance of a cup-shaped nest with little spheres inside that resemble eggs. These small mushrooms are found in almost any moist location with decaying matter.
Blue Flax: 1-2 ft tall plant with small blue flowers. It can be used to cure boils or as an eye wash. The seeds are also edible.
Chanterelle: Meaty, funnel shaped mushroom. They are fast growing with a meaty flavor and fruity smell.
Destroying Angel: One of the most deadly non-magical fungi. It can cause delirium and convulsions if eaten. Eating less than half a mushroom can cause death. These pretty white bells should be left alone.
False Truffles: While rodents love them and they look like edible truffles these are highly toxic. These mushrooms have claimed the life of many amature truffle hunters.
Fly Agaric: Bright red cap with small white spots. This mushroom is considered poisonous by some and edible by others. In small doses these caps cause euphoria and hallucinations. Take too many and the symptoms become sweeting tetanus and vomiting.
Foxglove: Tall spikes of pink and purple flowers. Can be used in health tonics but only by experts. It contains small spiky crystals and toxics that can cause anything from mid itching to chest pain and rapid pulse.
Giant Puffball: They look like a large white ball that can be up to 30 inches around. If harvested at the correct age they are edible though they have little flavor. Puffball spores can be used to stop bleeding.
Hen-of-Woods: Large circular cluster of spoon-shaped caps. Grows on the ground at the base of oak trees. Edible mushrooms that are chewy with a spicy flavor. Can be used to enhance healing potions.
Oyster Mushroom: Grows in white shelf-like clusters on dead or dying harwoods. When cooking they smell of almond or anise.
Springy Turf Moss: The red stems of this plant can grow to 6 inches but the leaves are only 1/10 of an inch long. It can live in almost any kind of habitat.
Tamarisk Moss: Has lacey, green-yellow foliage and resembles a fern. Thrives in damp areas and forms a thick ground cover.
Turtle Meat: Flesh of a turtle. Flavor had been called muddy with a chewy texture. Beggars can’t be choosy.
Feast
Unlock 25 blueprints at once
10 percentage points
Upgrade a random blueprint
The sound of a roulette wheel was heard in my head again.
Cave Bat upgraded to Flying Fox
Blueprint Unlocked: Flying Fox
Blueprint Unlocked: Flying Fox Teeth
Flying Fox Teeth: can be used in crafting and enchanting but is used as currency in some places.
I took several long minutes to absorb all that information.
“Are there any other achievements that will upgrade a blueprint?”
“A few but they are rare. Though there are other ways to upgrade blueprints. I never thought you would get so many things from one tree.” Arizo replied in amazement.
“Well fallen trees are a world of their own. So it makes sense. If it was farther along they might have found bigger animals. While I have more spiders and another snake, none of them are dangerous. I think the 2nd floor is going to be filled with not so dangerous creepy crawlies.”
My fairy shrugged. “That’s not a bad thing. Many people are scared of snakes and spiders even though they are much smaller than them. With your interconnected halls that change levels people will easily get turned around. Having a jump scare that makes them make a panicked decision could lose them hours of searching.”
I nodded but I also wanted a massive serpent that barely cleared the tunnels roaming around waiting to swallow people whole.
Having such a beast would likely make me a murder pit so it’s probably better I haven’t found one. I also wasn’t sure how to feel about the life that had memories of seeing a giant snake chasing a small person only armed with a stick.
Putting giant snakes and spiders with fangs longer than my core out of my mind I went back to making a few more tunnels and dead ends for the second floor. I wanted it just right before I placed all my creatures.
An evil laugh left me as I was looking at my new acquisitions. Out of my 4 spider species only the tarantula cost DP so I could choke the floor with the other 3 if I wanted. My snakes and tarantula only cost 2 dp each meaning I could summon 50 of them total.
Arizo gave me an odd look, as I started back to work.
Before I could make spider hell one of the spearmen called my attention to the entrance.
“Creator, there is a group gathered just outside your entrance.” He said. “Should we attack while they are distracted?”
I looked through his eyes at the group. They were various species, but I could tell they were intelligent. “Let’s wait and listen to what they plan on doing first.” I told him. “If they are here to explore or challenge the dungeon we let them. IF they are a threat… they won’t make it far.”
“Yes Creator.” He replied, giving a salute.
Hearing about what some would do to a dungeon made me a bit leary of these first people. I was fine with an honest challenge but anyone trying to do me serious harm wouldn’t make it back out of my archway.