“Sounds like a gala,” Nyx replies.

Huh.

She levels a flat stare at me for a moment before continuing. “Of course you’re indifferent, but I guess I’ll say it anyway. My sister used to complain about those. The whole pantheon invited to some venue somewhere, and whoever hosted it arranged everything from food to entertainment – not that gods need to eat or whatever. Well, other than you. Anyway, apparently they had those in Astraea’s time too. Did you also feel what she felt?”

I nod.

…

“Well?”

“Oh,” I say. “Uh. Annoyed. Super annoyed. Not really much more than I get with things now? I think it was just her natural state. But she was especially annoyed at all the people who kept talking to her about things she didn’t care about, which… I can understand.”

“Then why did she even go?”

I shrug. “No idea. Maybe she had to? I don’t know how the pantheons work. I haven’t been invited to anything and it’s probably for the best.”

“It’s jus’ a matter a’ time, yaknow?”

I whirl around at the new voice while Nyx dematerializes.

“How the hells did you get here!?” I snap at Dolos while he stands in front of some kind of portal rapidly closing on the wall behind him.

“Well! Yaknow how ma whole thing is betrayal?”

“Uh huh, yes, go on,” I say while impatiently waving a hand in a circle.

His grin is getting bigger. “And how you didn’t expect me to be here?”

I level a glare at him as he continues.

“I betrayed yer expectations, yeah?”

That one leaves me blinking in confusion while Nyx snorts on the edge of laughter.

“Anyway, whatcha plannin’ ta do down here? I got some ideas if ya don’t.”

Smugly grinning back I answer. “I’m going to set up my own personal boss room, with me as the boss! And-“

“Woah wait. Nobody’s gonna be able ta beatcha, yeah?” the annoying god interrupts.

“Correct! But I’m just going to test them. If they meet my standards, I might just let them live, or reward them appropriately!”

He furrows his brow, a strange look on his ever-smiling face. “Sure yer not jus’ gonna kill ‘em all?”

I shrug. “Maybe. No, not really sure. We’ll see.”

Nyx sighs before materializing to my side. “Nemesis has an advisor like me for a reason. They would’ve been destroyed a long time ago otherwise.”

“And they listen ta ya?”

I shrug again.

“You’re still an asshole,” my former Assistant says while rubbing the bridge of her nose.

“Sure. Anyway, {shape stone create throne}. Haha, if that was in common it would have rhymed!”

As soon as I finish the incantation, the floor along the far wall rises a few feet and an opulent stone chair worthy of my use forms in its center. I take to the air and drift to it, taking my seat. Yes, this will do. This will do nicely!

After a handful more uses of Spellspeech, I’ve got it nicely decorated with running patterns on the walls and a faux red carpet of stone leading to my impromptu audience chamber as well.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

“You do realize this will all get torn up by challengers, right?” Nyx snarks.

“No it won’t. {permanence}.” The room glows a strange gray light for a brief moment and then returns to darkness.

And that is when it occurs to me that Dolos has been watching me act in silence.

“What?”

He just shakes his head for a moment.

“Really. What?”

With a grin he finally answers, “Yer gonna make some waves, kiddo. Lotta folks, they’re gonna underestimate ya.”

I grin back. “Good. I’m sure their mana will taste especially good.”

***

“Are you sure you can’t just plan monsters for me? This is really boring, and I definitely won’t remember any of it.”

I’ve been reading dungeon catalogs, or as Abaris calls them, ‘monster encyclopedias’. Most of these don’t even have pictures!

(You’re a literal child,) Nyx mocks.

Of course I am! I’m not even a year old, give me a break!

While Nyx sighs, the obounis answers my question. “I would prefer to simply plan the dungeon alongside you and the others, if you had not assigned me such a complicated task! I have no time as it is!”

“Thank you, by the way.”

He stares confusedly at me for a moment, so I elaborate. “You still speak to me as though we were at the academy, without a trace of fear. I appreciate that.”

“Ah, I see!” he replies, clearly not having expected any of that.

I put a hand on his shoulder and feel him struggle to resist flinching. “You’re forgetting the most basic part of leadership, though.”

(Sitting on your ass while everyone else does the work for you?)

“Yes, actually!” I say out loud, before it registers that Abaris can’t hear her while the mage looks on even more confusedly than before. “Sorry, I was answering Nyx. She said to delegate, and that is exactly what I’m getting at! Just have your subordinates cover for you.”

***

This was a good idea.

(What, making this his problem and taking the credit?)

Quiet, you.

Anyway.

Now the dungeon is populated by roaming swarms of shadow wolves, nightshades, geists, mimic chests, mimic walls, mimic… well, you get the idea. The monsters broadly have undead or other creature-of-the-night characteristics, appropriate for my personal testing ground.

Nyx can’t even completely dismiss my role! After all, while Abaris did the planning, I did all the actual monster creation – which I can apparently do with Spellspeech! I can even link their mana requirements to the dungeon itself! Which, of course I did. Why would I spend mana on this?

And of course, I also spawned a fair number of my kin. Abaris explained that wraiths are typically despised in situations like this entirely for their role as ‘debuffers’. That apparently means that while they don’t do actual damage in battle, they drain the mana of their victims which increases the likelihood that they’ll run out and be vulnerable to other monsters. They’re especially insidious when they swarm, amplifying the speed with which they drain their victim’s mana. On top of everything, they’re resistant to physical damage, so what’s not to like?

“Nemesis?”

I turn toward the grinning mage. “Yes?”

“I believe I have found something you will want to see.”

He casts a spell – something about finding hidden doors – and taps a spot on the wall behind my throne.

And it lights up with a runic formation.

(It wants authorization, apparently. Looks like a control panel of some kind.)

“How convenient!” I say as I walk forward and slap a palm on it.

…

“Is it supposed to do something?”

Nyx’s exasperated sigh echoes from the vaulted ceiling as she materializes and swats my hand aside. Then she traces a finger across a handful of runes, and the whole wall in front of us sinks inward before folding forward, forming an entryway to a hallway further lined with glowing runes.

I start forward before pausing to turn toward the elated obounis. “How did you know this was here?”

“All dungeons have a core room of some kind,” he matter-of-factly replies.

“I see.”

After a minute of walking, I find myself in what I assume is the core room.

At least, it probably used to be. Presently, it’s just an empty space with a similarly empty pedestal in the middle of a dry pond.

“Yep, dead core,” Nyx says. “We knew it was a possibility. Whether ‘your kin’ ate it or it just ran out of mana, it’s gone now.”

I consider just making a new one… which is apparently something I know how to do? But… I’m pretty sure I can just…

“{revive core}.”

Nothing happens for a moment.

Abaris takes a step forward, watching closely. “Are you sure it is that simple? Cores are typically constructs, but-“

The formation of tiny golden sparks gathering from the edges of the room interrupt his commentary. They gradually drift toward the pedestal before combining, flaring into a brilliant light display casting moving and twisting shadows across the walls.

And then they dissipate leaving a single brass sphere sitting on the platform. Lines of runes wash across its surface.

“Alright, that’s a good first step. Now you should be able to summon the avatar,” my former Assistant says.

“They have avatars? I thought gods had those.”

She grits her teeth for a moment. “Right. I still forget how ignorant you are. Yes, lots of things have avatars. All it means is some kind of external representation, usually physical but not always.”

“Hmm, I see.”

I don’t get another word out before I feel something tap me on the shoulder.

“Gods damn it Dolos, what do you – you’re not Dolos.”

And it really isn’t. It’s some kind of plant… person… thing.

“Greetings, my master. You have finally returned?” it says in a hollow echo that a human voicebox definitely couldn’t mimic.

[Alraune – Dungeon Core]

I see.