The Dungeon was quiet and still when they arrived late that evening. It looked as though all the cabins were empty, and they had the run of the place.
“Straight in, or should we rest first?” Jake asked, gesturing to the benches that were dimly illuminated by the dusk light.
“Straight in, I’m a bit stressed and killing monsters will help,” Aspen said, glancing around with a frown. “I know that coming to the Dungeons at night will be best, but I don’t particularly like it.”
Jake silently agreed as they used the last of the light to make their way to the Dungeon. In theory, their plan was ideal for their situation, but the practical side of getting around at night was difficult.
They could use torches, but that was hardly stealthy, and they were more likely to draw attention than if they simply arrived late in the day.
They’d work it out eventually, this was only the first test of the idea, after all.
The interior of the Dungeon was lit by flickering torches, so they were able to find their way to the stairs easily enough, and in no time at all, they were in the Dungeon.
Jake hissed at the bright sunlight of the Dungeon, blinking rapidly as he peered around at their surrounding. They were in what looked to be a valley of some kind, with tall rock walls on either side and rocky spires dotted throughout.
The width of the path ahead was easily two or three times as much as any other Dungeon Jake had been in, and the rocky spires stretched a good twenty feet above them.
“Huh, not quite what I was expecting,” Jake said, eyeing the rocky spires dubiously. He was reminded of the columns they’d seen in the other flying-themed Dungeon and how the monsters had used them as cover.
“Yeah, I forgot how big it is,” Aspen said, limbering up and bouncing on his toes. “Might want to swap to your wand, though.”
“Yeah, good point,” Jake said, sheathing his sword and drawing his wand. He’d lost the first one at the safehouse, but thankfully, he had a spare he could use. Hopefully, between him, Alan and Gargan, they’d be able to shoot down any attackers with ease.
That hope proved shortlived, and Jake swiftly found out exactly why this Dungeon was unpopular as they slowly made their way through each floor.
The monsters attacked with little warning and often came diving in with the sun behind them. If that wasn’t the case, then they would be using the rocky spires as cover to get in close.
Nepthys used her shield Ability to block any that got too close, but the whole thing was far more stressful than a tier one Dungeon should be.
Despite that, they finished in good time, and all seemed a bit more relaxed for the workout.
Unfortunately, the Boons offered weren’t any that Jake had interest in, so he took the increase to his Manifestation, bringing that Boon to rank five.
Reviewing his System before regrouping with the others, Jake paused as he noticed something different.
Name - Jake Khesh
Patron Deity - The Great Dungeon
Class - Dungeon Noble - Knight
Tier - II
Rank - VI
Dungeon Network - 12
Plexus Strength - Slight
Plexus Manifestations - 6/6
Plexus Points - 2
For as long as Jake had had his Class, his Plexus Strength had been ‘Minor’ but it looked like it had improved at some point. What exactly that did, though, Jake didn’t know.
The wording of the individual Boons was still the same, but that didn’t really mean anything. The only way to know would be to try something and find out.
With the situation being what it was, Jake hadn’t used any of his Manifestations in the Dungeon, preferring to keep them on hand in case things went wrong later.
Thinking back, he was pretty sure he hadn’t used them in the last Dungeon either, for the same reason. With six charges, though, he was willing to risk one to find out if anything had changed.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Hurrying out of the Dungeon core, Jake emerged into the foyer alongside his friends and gave them all an excited grin. “Ready to go in again?”
“That’s an abrupt change,” Aspen said, cocking his head to one side. “I thought from all those sighs that you didn’t like this Dungeon?”
Jake froze as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle at the sudden sensation of being watched. It was faint, but there was something to it that reminded him of when the Great Dungeon gave him a portion of its attention.
Jake had seen enough evidence by this point to be certain that Dungeons were far more than they seemed, and badmouthing one where it could hear them seemed like a bad idea.
“No, not at all,” Jake said, picking his words carefully. “I was just frustrated with my own inability to see the monsters when they used the sun so effectively against us.”
“Right, okay,” Aspen said, giving Jake a look that made it clear he didn’t believe him. “You want to go back in, though?”
“Yeah, let’s divide up our spoils, first, though,” Jake said, pulling his pack off to show what he’d got.
“I’ll take the Wyrdwood and Jask feathers for equivalent Wyrdgeld,” Alan said, eyeing the branch that Jake had and the feathers Aspen had collected. “I’ll get it crafted into arrows at some point.”
“Works for me,” Jake said, passing the branch over for a small pile of Wyrdgeld, Aspen doing the same for the feathers.
A few other small trades were done, the familiar trading feeling almost comforting to Jake.
Stepping away as Gargan and Alan discussed different infusions and patterns, Jake remembered how Ari had spoken to the Dungeon, back when they first started.
He was also quite sure that they’d talked about Dungeons before while still inside them, and he hadn’t had such a strong reaction.
Perhaps the lack of people here meant that the Dungeon was lonely?
Jake laughed at the idea as soon as it crossed his mind. It was one thing to give Dungeons credit for the level of intelligence involved, but it was another entirely to assign human emotions to them.
“Ready when you are, Jake,” Alan called over, bringing Jake back from his thoughts as they moved back to the stairs into the Dungeon.
They hadn’t had much of a rest, but two delves of a tier one Dungeon felt well within their capabilities.
-**-
“Okay, this is just weird,” Aspen said as his thrown spear pinned a flying serpent to a rocky pillar, finishing the delve. “I’ve never seen this happen before. I’ve never even heard of it happening.”
Jake managed a wan smile as the others chimed in their agreement.
“I mean, the first floor I thought it was just coincidence,” Aspen continued as he walked over to retrieve his weapon. “But all five floors, and not a single attack from overhead using the sun. That was what this Dungeon was infamous for, and it just stopped?”
“Perhaps it’s just a coincidence,” Jake said hopefully. “Or you’ve just never encountered it.”
“As much as I hate to support Aspen, he’s right,” Gargan said, rolling his eyes at Aspen’s victorious grin. “Minor changes over time is one thing, but our last delve had dozens of such attacks, and this time not a single one.”
Jake shrugged and focused on harvesting all the remaining Wyrdgeld, not wanting to engage further. He knew what had happened, knew it with a certainty that surprised him.
The Dungeon had listened to him. It was a crazy thing to say, but it had listened to him and changed to remove what he didn’t like.
Jake wasn’t quite sure what he was going to do with that information, but at least he knew for certain just how intelligent Dungeons were.
Though, that also raised even more questions about the Dungeon where he’d got Moby. The Dungeon had highlighted Moby’s Boon, something he’d not encountered since then.
Looking at his Dungeon interactions in a new light, Jake realised that that whole encounter made even less sense than before.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Jake followed the others back out of the Dungeon and into the foyer, momentarily lost in his thoughts.
“So, what do we do now?” Nepthys asked as they lingered in the foyer. “I’d be willing to delve again, but I’d like to rest for a bit. Sitting outside in the dark isn’t that appealing, though.”
Jake made a noncommittal noise and drifted away from the group as they discussed what to do for the rest of the night. Nepthys had a point, they did need somewhere to rest between delves, and Jake had a crazy idea for what to do.
“Dungeon?” Jake asked softly, pitching his voice so that the others wouldn’t hear. Immediately, he felt the weight of attention that he’d come to associate with the Dungeon and smiled at the nearby wall. “Thank you for making those changes, I hope that helps bring in more delvers for you over time.”
The attention of the Dungeon had gained a touch of clarity now that Jake had bound it, and as he focused on the slender connection between them, he thought he picked up a wisp of satisfaction.
Suppressing his excitement over being able to actually communicate with the Dungeon, Jake cleared his throat and asked the important question while focusing on their connection. “Dungeon, is there somewhere we can rest inside?”
Curiosity, uncertainty.
“We want to rest in here because it’s dark outside, and we don’t want to be spotted by anyone.”
Curiosity.
Jake took that to be a question of why they were hiding, if he had to explain darkness then they had a real problem. “We’re being hunted by a group called the Fatesworne, who are working with Corrupters.”
Anger. Disgust.
“Exactly, we’ve killed a few already, and avenged some Dungeons they killed, but we need to be stronger to deal with the rest. Can you help?”
No emotions passed over their connection, but after a few moments a nearby section of wall opened up, revealing one of the revival rooms.
“Thank you, Dungeon,” Jake said, turning to the others and motioning to the open room. “The Dungeon has said we can stay here, so let’s take some time to rest.”