Chapter 43: First Time
Monday, April 3rd, 8:00 AM
Dungeon Ciara
The air warmed, and snow retreated from areas where I hadn’t cleared it away. In the parking lot beside the Crow’s Nest, Mike assembled the adults for an announcement, while Sunny, Sandy, and Bella played fetch with the children on the beach.
An hour earlier, Siobhán escorted Peanut down to the Redwood Forest, where he bounded excitedly away after becoming acquainted with Kumo and his small pack.
[I hope you know what you’re doing, Soybean. If Peanut attacks the other humans, I’ll have to deal with him.]
“I know.” Siobhán sighed as she exited the Dungeon to gather with the other adults. “I just want to give Peanut a chance, you know? If I hadn’t come out to find him…” She frowned.
[Yeah. He wouldn’t have survived.] I admitted. I wasn’t about to tell her that I longed to kill Peanut so that I could create mountain lion minions.
I’m a Dungeon, and Peanut is mortal. I’ll have my big kitties… eventually.
My second-floor minions received orders to keep a watchful eye on Peanut.
To feed Siobhán’s new pet in the short term, I arranged for Nemesis crabs to carry a few dozen live salmon and Striped bass down to the main second-floor pond. Only half the fish survived their ordeal, but I hoped they’d be enough as my crabs returned to their usual work.
Soybean skunks and Forest coyotes gathered to reap the bounty of deceased fish, displaying the cohesiveness that I expected from my minions.
I paid attention when I realized Sven had appeared beside my core, and Mike was already giving his speech.
“… took us in, and now, the Dungeon is offering to train us in this new age of magic. The weapons carried by Todd and Jeffrey were forged by human hands, now…”
Mike grabbed a longsword from a table I’d made out of hardened stone. He held it aloft for everyone to see.
“This is a solidly forged weapon of high-grade spring steel, but with no mana infusion.” Mike brought the blade’s edge down against a basketball-sized chunk of basalt on the table.
A few chips of stone flew, and there were some sparks, but the dense rock remained intact.
Walking in front of the others, Mike displayed the blade. Its edge was badly damaged where it struck the stone, and the overall blade was bent slightly forward following the impact.
“Some of you look unhappy to watch as I damage a fine weapon, and I understand your concern. However…”
Taking an identical-looking sword from Todd, Mike cleanly bisected the same rock with a single swipe.
“As you can see, this is no ordinary sword.”
Mike walked in front of the others with the weapon across his hands so they could see the edge was hardly affected, and the surface was barely scratched.
There were murmurs of amazement and disbelief among the others.
Mike returned to the table and set the sword aside.
“Now, regarding weaponry, firearms are useful tools, and they have their place. But mana-infused weapons are the future. For example, watch that target over there, and cover your ears…” He pointed to the lighthouse, then produced a rifle and aimed at a one-meter square stone target I’d shaped for him across the harbor inlet.
A single shot was followed by the much softer sound of a bullet impacting stone, but the target appeared undamaged from that distance.
“7.62 NATO ammunition. That’s what most of the world uses for their infantry. Despite how unimpressive it seems from this distance, one round is more than enough to kill if it strikes a vital area. Now…”
Mike picked up his bow and a single tungsten-tipped arrow from the table.
With a single, smooth draw, he lined up on the target. He loosed the arrow with a sharp twang, and there was a strident rushing sound like a rocket streaking away, followed by a loud crack after the target shattered.
This time, murmurs of amazement accompanied a few dissatisfied comments.
“God damn.”
“That’s incredible.”
“We’ve seen too much violence already.”
“Ya gotta be kidding.”
“Holy dog shit.”
“Warmongers…”
“I need to get one of those.”
They all turned to face him, and Mike grinned as he set down his bow.
“Now, I know some of you may be averse to killing cute little bunnies, but…”
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“He handles others well—for a human,” Sven said thoughtfully.
[Mike had a position of leadership in our military. He’s reliable.]
“Oh? I suppose that explains it. Fancy him, do you?” Sven gave my core a wide grin.
[I never said anything about—]
“Your tone said everything, Dungeon. You are fond of Mike.” Sven interrupted me.
I sighed.
After consideration, I realized I hadn’t thought much about that since the first time I saw them, when Mike and Joe arrived as I was low on mana and crazy with hunger.
Mike is a handsome, refined man who isn’t afraid to kill when necessary. Joe’s among the most attractive men I’ve ever seen, but he’s younger than me, and he’s already got my Soybean chasing him down, so he’s off-limits. Mike, on the other hand… his confidence and decency are alluring.
But I’m a Dungeon.
[If I were still human, perhaps.] I admitted.
“Oh? My Earthy little Swamp-pit longs to receive Mike’s seed?”
That hurt.
[Damn it, Sven. I’m a Dungeon. I can’t mate with anyone. It’s cruel to stick a knife in that wound.]
Sven tapped a clawed finger against his cheek. “Perhaps you’ll discover a way, eventually. Dungeons can be… adaptable.”
[You’d better not be selling me false hope, Sven.]
Then I thought about it.
[How would that even work? Am I supposed to craft a love doll out of stone? Will humans grow so tough that they’ll enjoy mating with something like that? I mean, females, I suppose. It’s not a viable replacement for a real man, since stone can hardly kiss and hug back. But anatomically speaking, women could make it work since they can just stretch to accommodate something. But a man, delving into some rocky crevice… yikes.]
Sven failed to stifle a hearty snicker. “Forgive me, Dungeon. Your mind is too much.”
After he settled down, Sven said, “No. But you may discover a way after you’ve created enough floors inside this world. Whether he remains unattached long enough for you to find out—remains to be seen.”
[What do you mean?]
“See that woman who speaks with him while the others wait?”
[Allison Ames?]
I glanced back at the Crow’s Nest parking lot.
Mike held his chin and listened while Allison talked.
“…to protect my daughters.” Allison eyed the sword on the table.
“Then learn to kill the bunnies. They’ll respawn, after all.”
“Oh? How does that work?” Allison smiled up at Mike as she leaned closer.
I returned to look at Sven.
[What Mike chooses to do is none of my business. He’s his own person.]
“Ah, such a Magnanimous Mudball. Your worldly words make an old drake proud.” Sven beamed.
[Whatever. Can we stop talking about this?]
“Ah. Then you seek to regain a human form?”
[How would you like to become a gemstone that makes holes in the ground—to never again feel your mate’s scaly hide?] I could no longer keep my voice steady.
“Hm. It seems I have overstepped. I will refrain from speaking further on this matter.”
[I’d appreciate that.]
“I suppose it’s time I made my appearance.” Sven appeared and hovered above Mike, eliciting shouts of surprise among my human denizens.
He proceeded with his usual spiel, teaching them a little about our reality while I claimed more of the city around the walls I’d made to work out my frustrations.
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Snow and materials were spirited away, and I planted trees along the streets.
That’s what Santa Cruz needs. More greenery.
A botanical rampage ensued as I removed one set of ruins after another, along with snow, then grew myriad plants across the landscape. The materials in my inventory increased rapidly, though much was ash and charcoal from burned structures.
It’s impressive how many survived, considering all the damage.
I thought about the people I’d seen at the UCSC campus.
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On the farm at the south end of the main campus, several people were talking.
I listened in.
A young brunette at the farm glowered at a group of three. All looked like they might be students.
“So, what are we going to do about the city dump? We can’t just let that sit unattended. It’ll erode and wash an incredible amount of trash into the ocean,” she said.
“We don’t know that, Rachel,” said a young man with sandy blond hair as he waved her off.
Rachel stared him down. “Yes, I do know that. My dad was on the city council, and he was one of the people in charge of overseeing that place so it wouldn’t ruin the surrounding area or leak into the water table. Do you always have to be a pain in the ass?”
He smirked. “Nah. Your little ass couldn’t handle me. Besides, you’re with Mitch. Hard pass.”
The other two men snickered.
Rachel rolled her eyes. “Fuck off, Jim.”
Jim shrugged. “So? What the hell are we supposed to do about the dump, anyway? Only one of the generators still works on campus, and we’re almost out of fuel. Every car, truck, and piece of heavy equipment was either destroyed or doesn’t work. We’ve checked them all.”
“If we don’t do anything, it’s gonna be a disaster.” Rachel shook her head.
Jim threw his hands out. “So, what? We’re supposed to go down and dig through the dump with our hands? What happens if we get sick? We’re out of antibiotics. Besides, nobody’s had trouble here on campus since the farm came back to life. I say we stay where it’s safe.”
One of the other men with black hair said, “We need to arm ourselves before those crazies from Scotts Valley come knocking again. I’m not joining their shitty little death cult.”
“They won’t come back. We have guns from the three we captured and they know it.” Rachel sighed.
“You think they won’t? Three of them tried to make four hundred of us submit. Thirteen people died to keep that from happening.”
“Yeah, and nobody would have died if we’d just listened,” said Rachel.
The man black hair said, “You’re fuckin’ naïve, girl. If we laid down and let them have their way, they would’ve killed everyone who didn’t agree with that bullshit about some One World Order. They shot thirty-seven people when we moved to disarm them.”
“Piss off, Carl. Not everyone’s a violent Neanderthal,” Rachel spat.
Carl got in Rachel’s face and stared her down. “Tell that to the motherfuckers who killed Amy, Rosa, Mark, Donald, Juan, and all the others! Oh, wait. You can’t, because the ones who attacked us are dead, like they should be.”
Rachel scowled at Carl as she teared up, then stomped away, growling incoherently.
“Yeah, Rachel. That’s right. Walk away because you lost the argument, instead of facing the truth. Your bullshit opinion was destined to lose, because, despite everything we’ve been through, you still don’t know shit about how people live outside your rich-girl bubble,” Carl called after her.
Well, that’s just great. Now, I need to protect these students as well. But at least they aren’t traitors.
I sent minion tunnels below the roads from the campus into the west side of town, but I was careful not to remove the snow. Providing an easy path for the traitors to reach the university before I could protect the student survivors was a mistake I didn’t want to make.
Instead, I cleared a path from the university to the harbor gate, hoping they’d discover my Dungeon before the traitors attacked.
All main roads on the west side of town received tunnels with little exits here and there, so I could keep tabs on what was happening as long as I paid attention. The quick recovery of local biomes would be a happy side effect.
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Jeffrey and Todd moved cautiously through the eerily-lit cavern beside three other armed groups, while Joe walked casually behind them. The fake stars in the ceiling and the soft blue light they cast over the space were beautiful to Joe, but the others seemed to find them unsettling.
“These damn rabbits shouldn’t be so hard to fi—ah!” Terrance Jones started to talk, then cried out as he slashed his short sword upward and bisected a rabbit that leaped out of a bush toward his face. “Hah. Damn things are scary—jumping out at your face and shit.”
“Grab the carcass before the Dungeon absorbs it, Terrance. We need leather, and the meat should be tasty,” said Joe.
“Okay, man. Rabbit sounds good!” Terrance grinned as he gripped both halves of the rabbit, holding them up by one of its hind legs and both ears.
“It does. Nothing but fish and fruit for weeks… I want some meat.” Ashen Greene whispered as she eyed the carcass greedily. She pressed her lips and stroked Terrance’s bicep.
Terrance winked at her, and she blushed.
“Look! That one dropped something, too!” Maria Harris said excitedly as she bent to pick it up.
Maria screamed and clawed at her blouse, before she touched the object. The others pointed swords and spears in her direction.
“Back off,” Joe yelled, making them jump. Lars Harris stumbled forward, nearly stabbing Maria with his spear.
“Weapons down! A cricket won’t kill Maria, but a mishandled weapon might. Let her finish it off and I’ll heal her afterward.”
“I can’t just—” Lars began as he moved toward Maria.
“What’s the agreement, Lars?” Joe kept his NCO voice active.
Lars scowled at Joe. “She’s my wife. I’m not gonna stand around and—”
“What was the agreement?” Joe repeated his question.
“That we’d listen to you,” Lars grumbled.
“Back off, and let Maria handle her business. If any of you are in real danger, I will step in. Nobody else. Are we clear?”
“Sure,” Lars rolled his eyes.
“I can’t hear you.” Joe got in Lars’ face, intentionally looming over the shorter man.
“Yes, we’re clear,” Lars yelled.
“Good.” Joe turned to observe the action.
By then, Maria was busy stomping something to death on the ground.
“That’s enough, Maria.” Joe touched her shoulder. His hand glowed, and she relaxed a little.
“No pain?” Joe asked.
“Not anymore. Thanks. Damned things bite hard,” she replied testily. She was still frowning as Joe checked the tiny corpse.
“Ah, the cricket dropped something, too.” Joe held up a tiny golden orb that crackled with electricity, but it felt cool and inert to the touch.
He stared hard at it.
I’ll be damned. Definitely magic. Joe grinned.
“Excellent. Maria, you found a minor lightning essence. Take that to Mike when we’re done here and he’ll know what you can do with it. What did you get, Terrance?”
“Some orange bullshit.” Terrance held up a small orb that seemed to smolder like an ember.
“That essence is fire-based,” said Joe.
“Hell yeah!” Terrance pumped his fist.
“How come they got things and we didn’t? I’ve killed two rabbits and a cricket, and I got nothing.”
Joe shrugged. “Luck of the draw. Everyone will find something soon enough. For today, the most important thing is that you all pay attention and work as a team. You follow orders, and everyone comes home safely.”
“Whatever,” Lars grumbled.
“Jeffries, you are one stupid comment away from walking back on your own. This is an opportunity to learn, not a pissing contest. Either get with the program and fix that attitude, or you’re out.” Joe towered over Lars as he berated him.
“Fine! Fuck you and this shit.” Lars threw his spear down, stomped a short distance back the way they’d come, then stopped and yelled with his arms out. “Maria! Come the fuck on.”
“See you after we’re done, Pappykins,” Maria waved to Lars and shook her head with a frown.
Lars scowled at Joe, then stormed off.
Joe sighed and picked up the spear. “Suit yourself,” he said. Then added, “Ciara, will you let Lars out safely?”
[Of course.]
“Thanks. Will you inform Mike we’ve got one who’s AWOL and a bit unstable?”
[Consider it done.]
“I appreciate it.”
When Joe turned back Maria was crying.
“I’m sorry about my husband. We… lost our sons. They were closer with Lars, and he’s not handling it well.” Maria sniffled. “I hope you can all have patience with him. Lars is a good man. Promise.”
“We can work on that once he’s ready to listen,” said Joe.
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Floors: 2
Minions: 212/240
Residents: 12/12
Denizens: 59118
Traps: 6/10