Kantan wasn’t sure exactly how long he had been asleep between the second and third Erthis’ arrivals, but it must have been a significant enough amount of time that he found himself ravenous. He clutched at his stomach with his good hand as it rumbled angrily. “If I don’t find some food my stomach is going to bring the whole dungeon down on me with its griping.” For a moment he contemplated his freshest kill, the third Erthi he had slain around an hour or so ago. There was meat there, though it didn’t look appetizing in the slightest, especially considering he had no way to cook it. Again his stomach rioted against him, demanding sustenance.
If he had entered the dungeon properly as part of his trial, he would have had food prepared along with fire starting supplies. Since he hadn’t been given that choice or those resources he would need to figure out another way to feed himself. Kantan quickly rose to his feet, the elevation change making him momentarily dizzy. When his mind cleared the dizzying spell, he noticed something unsettling. A dark mist had began to form around where he had been leaning against the wall. He followed the source of the darkness to the three bodies of demons lying a few feet away.
When he had stood to leave he had disturbed it significantly, but he could see it begin to slowly float through the air towards him. Kantan backed away cautiously, a bad feeling settling in his gut. “What did you do Kantan, you’ve got demonic Chi chasing you now.” The thought of eating the Erthi suddenly seemed much less enticing despite his hunger. “Maybe if I ignore it, nothing bad will happen.” With that he turned and slowly began to pace into the hallway leading out of his dome.
The walls outside of his dome were the same continuous stone of the previous room, making him wonder how it had been built. He wasn’t sure exactly how dungeon’s functioned, in fact he had very little information about their inner workings in the first place. His clan seemed content to have us come in and slay the demons dwelling within and return with any intriguing tools or artifacts they could find. Remembering that there were supposed to be powerful items in here gave him a moment of hope as he turned his first corner. If he could get a hold of a piece of armor or maybe even a healing salve to fix his wounds then he would have a higher chance of survival.
As he turned the corner though he came face to face with a seemingly impossibly long hallway. He strained his eyes and still couldn’t see the other side, eventually becoming too dark to make anything out. Kantan had heard that each Trial was different, that the dungeon was consistently remaking itself. It was also the reason that all of the student’s could take the Trial at the same time. Each person would end up in a different part of the dungeon that was unique. “Well if all I have to do to pass my trial is walk down a conspicuous hallway, it seems like I got an easier trial than most.”
Kantan began walking down the seemingly endless hallway, slowly watching the walls and floor for anything suspicious. Traps were a common method of death employed by the dungeon, though it was almost unheard of for a trap to kill a person outright. Most caused injuries that would wear a fighter out over time, a few cuts here, some singing there. He made sure to watch for raised bits of stone or trip wires, but after a half hour of walking he started to wonder what the point of a tunnel this long was supposed to be. The stone never changed, there was never any points of interest or reference. Just continued hallway, without torches or light sources to track his progress.
A bout of nausea forced its way into his conscious thoughts as his hunger worsened. He leaned against the wall for a few moments, trying to calm his nerves. “Just keep walking, there will be food at some point.” Kantan turned around, trying to see if he could still see where he had started, and stopped dead in his tracks. He was no more than twenty feet from the bend in the hall. Dread formed a pit in his stomach as he quickly walked toward the bend, disbelief in his mind. “You have to be kidding me.”
There just fifteen feet in front of him was the dome he had spent the last day in trying to survive. He looked between the domed room and the hallway, frustration and anger boiling inside him. “Thirty minutes wasted making no progress, and I didn’t even see how it happened.” Kantan slammed his good hand against the stone before taking a deep breath and centering himself. Losing control now would only leave him in a worse spot than he already was. “Lets just take a moment to rest, then were off to find food.”
As he got into the Astaire cultivation position he began to breath in the cultivation pattern, imagining his Chi cycling throughout his body. Immediately the flames in his Chi channels screamed against him, making him yelp in pain. “Guess I can finally feel something, though its not what I would have hoped.”He settled for just breathing deep breaths and giving his body some time to recuperate. Once he felt more stable, he returned to his feet and began to walk down the hallway away from the dome for the second time.
This time he walked in side step, using his periphery to keep an eye on both directions. After a few minutes of this, a swift motion caught his attention in the direction he was heading. He turned in that direction, falling into a fighting stance and searched the hallway for threats. When he didn’t find any, he turned to look behind him, and let out an angered breath. When he had looked away, he had been moved back to the beginning of the hallway. “This is really starting to get old, you hear me dungeon?” He shook is fist mockingly, but the play at humor didn’t fill his stomach.
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It took Kantan roughly 15 minutes of walking backwards and watching the end of the hallway to ensure it didn’t change on him suddenly. When he finally backed into the wall on the other side it caught him off guard, making him jump and turn at the touch. A smooth wall was behind him with a singular section of it at the bottom carved out. When he checked the hallway behind him to see if it was still there his heart began to race. The hallway was no longer there, replaced by a stone room encompassing him with no other way out.
Trying to stay calm, Kantan inspected the walls without openings for any false sections or illusions. After finding nothing but solid stone he turned back to the thigh high hole in the wall and sighed through his nose. The hole sat at floor height and was completely rectangular with a thick black fog that covered the entrance. Kantan touched the fog to test it and a numbing sensation began to crawl through his finger, confirming his thoughts. It was more demonic Chi, though he didn’t understand its purpose.
The hole would easily accommodate him if he crawled, but he would be unable to fight. He removed his finger, the realization of having an appendage in a hole he couldn’t see into unsettling him. A headache was beginning to form from the hunger and dehydration, making it hard to think of a solution. He was just about to sit down when a new wail began to screech out of the hole just before him.
A dark shadow flew out of the hole faster than he could react, his wounded arm suddenly going limp at the shoulder. He twisted to try and follow the creature, but it seemed to blend in with the darker room. Kantan turned his head to the side, trying to use his peripheral vision to get a better sense for the movement. His grandfather had taught him how to fight in various environments, including darkness. As long as there was some light, it would be easier for general movement to watch from the corner of your eye.
He noticed the shadow shift just in time, rolling to the side as it flew through the air where he had been. Now that he knew what to look for he strained to track it as it shifted irregularly around the room. The demon was translucent, its body lacking any real structure. Black aura shifted around it, blending it in with its surroundings as it moved. Long thin needles of darkness floated around the demon threateningly, the last puzzle piece of the creature sliding into place.
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This was an Erthi Prowler, the second form for an Erthi who absorbed significant amounts of darkness Chi. They were hard to spot without the Chi sight that reaching the base rank provided, and they were deadly assassins with their needles. Each needle would inject itself into the victim once tagged, and the demonic Chi would flood the victim’s system. It would disrupt a person’s cultivation, weakening them until they couldn’t resist.
Kantan’s heart began to race as he remembered more about the demon, the most important thing being that they were supposed to be on the second floor of the dungeon. He rolled again as the creature dove forward in an attempt to stick him with another needle, just barely dodging the demon’s strike. It screeched in opposition, the sound seemed far away and close at the same time. If he couldn’t already see where it was, it would have been disorienting to pinpoint its location.
The prowler was too close to him at the top of his roll, forcing him to jump to the side to avoid yet another strike. His numb arm impeded his movement so close to the ground, its weight throwing him off. Kantan suddenly lost all feeling in his right leg, lurching to that side and falling to the ground. The prowler screeched in triumph and quickly jabbed the rest of his limbs in rapid succession. Fear began to overtake him as the demon floated above him, swooping down and piercing his torso in four different points.
Numbness flooded his system, the fire in his channels being washed away by the demonic Chi. He couldn’t stop the scream from escaping his throat, the inevitable creeping up his body with the spreading of the tainted Chi. Desperately he tried to move, pushing with his mind and commanding his body to move. When all he could manage was a slight shake of his head, anger began to form like magma in a volcano.
That man did this to me. His petty jealousy put me here. Fire began to burn in his chest once again, though this one did not cause him pain. He deserves to die. He abuses his powers, attacks unawoken. He deserves to die. His anger focused him, but he could not refute the power of the demonic Chi. The numbness began to enter his mind, his thoughts becoming misshapen.
The prowler leaned in, smelling the prey before him on the verge of death. Its eyes were a glassy black color with a light grey pupil. Right as the darkness overtook him, the demon’s eyes shone iridescent white. The Chi coursed through his consciousness, numbing him to everything, and putting him into a deep forced slumber.
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A rough electrical sensation surged through Kantan, starting at his mid chest and then exploding throughout the rest of his body. He awoke screaming, his eyes flashing open to find demonic creatures of nightmare with blazing white eyes above him. They held weird blades to his chest, which was exposed to the elements. One of the demons was holding a pulsing sphere with a polished exterior, a dark nimbus circling around inside of it.
The sphere was pushing energy into his exposed chest, each pulse sending more electricity through his system. While the electricity hurt, there was also a dullness to it, like it was hurting him and soothing him at the same time. The pain was becoming unbearable and one of the demon’s swiped a hand in his direction. Black energy shot from its fingers and connected with his head. Darkness overtook his mind instantly, the pain fading along with his awareness.
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A soft prodding pushed at his mind, and Kantan found himself waking up for the second time. Awareness came to him instantly and he sat up quickly, completely alert. Energy was surging through his body, and he felt better than he ever had. “What the hell?” He examined his hands as he sat up, feeling strength within him. Dark black veins and ashen gray skin greeted him, his nails elongated and sharp. A small yelp escaped his lips, and his heart began to beat rapidly.
“Easy now, we don’t know how much of a toll the transition took on you.” A female voice resounded in his head, and an odd calming sensation washed over him. His anxiety ebbed immediately as something pressed on his mind.
“Who’s there?” A quickly turned his head to each side, only finding stone walls and no exit. He was completely alone in the room.
“I’m here, how else would I be talking to you.” Again the feminine voice pervaded his thoughts.
“I must be going crazy, hearing voices. The hunger is definitely getting to me.” As he said it though, he realized that he wasn’t hungry. Well, not in the traditional sense. Kantan could recognize that he craved food, but he could also feel something else sustaining him.
“I hope you’re not crazy, or that means I am going to be in for a long lifetime.” Kantan jumped again at the voice in his head. “Would it help if I explained what happened?” The voice sounded soothing, and he found himself nodding along with it.
“I am this dungeon’s core, the mystical rock that controls this dungeon and all of its denizens.” The core spoke animatedly, a bit of pride tinging her voice. “I manage all of the different floors and create each of the creatures that live on each one.”
“Wait wait, I didn’t think dungeon cores were sentient. Even if you are, how come I can hear you in my head?” This was all new information to him, especially the fact that the core was alive.
“Well if you’d let me finish, I can go about explaining all of that. Dungeon cores are all sentient, though most go their whole lives without interacting directly with you mortals.” The core had a bubbly tone, as if telling him this information was the most fascinating thing in the world. “As for why you can hear me, that is because I implanted myself in place of your broken core!”
Kantan was stunned, his mind failing to comprehend what the core had said. “You replaced my core? How is that even possible?” His mind reeled, not only had his body changed, but now his core had been replaced. It wasn’t just any replacement though, but a demonic dungeon core. “What am I even supposed to say to that?” he questioned, his anxiety beginning to push through even the core’s influence.
“Well you can start with a ‘Thanks’, from there we can figure out the rest.” The core’s voice was bubbly and in good spirit, contrasting his growing unease. He felt a renewed pressure against his psyche and a flare of anger burst from him.
“Stop manipulating me!” He grabbed his head, trying to will her influence over him away. His hands found small horns less than a finger’s length long sprouting from his temple. They were thin, but compared to his whole life without them they felt massive. The anger grew, his power responding to him and forming a barrier around him. The core pulsed and another calming wave tried to swallow his anger, but it would not be quenched.
“You need to calm down, you are still healing from the transition.” her voice was calm, but strained with effort. His anger continued to grow, like every chemical in his body was designed for the rage he felt. A part of him recognized the anger as foreign, but it was dwarfed by the irrational rampaging emotion. Power surged through his dark veins, creating a dark glow that seemed both familiar and unnatural.
Pain began to sprout in his chest as he drew on his new power, but his anger pushed the hurt aside. Demanding that he draw more and more, each ounce of it making him feel more alive, more in control. “If you don’t calm down, you’ll kill us both.” Her voice was weaker, pained almost. At the same time the core spoke the pressure on his mind eased back, becoming a small weight in the back of his head. A memory sprang to the forefront of his mind, forcing itself past the anger.
Lyra stood opposite him in her traditional clan clothes, the type of clothing worn for special occasions both good and bad. She had her hands on her hips and a stubborn look on her face. “Being all angry like that isn’t going to make it any easier Kantan. If you keep picking fights with people, you are going to lose one day. What am I supposed to do if my best friend gets killed in a fight that could have been avoided? Getting yourself killed isn’t going to reunite you with your parents, its only going to leave the rest of us broken.”
The memory was calming, the violent torrent that was his new power began to slow as it circled him. His rapid breath shifted from shallow to deep as he forced himself to calm down. Kantan fell back to his breathing techniques, moving his imaginary chi in a cycle through his body. It surprised him when the power he felt began to move in the practiced direction, the darkened mist around his body being slowly pulled into him.
Kantan maintained his breathing pattern, positioning himself into his clan’s cultivating technique completely. After a few minutes of it he felt shaky, but the pain in his chest had reduced almost completely. The anger was still there, but it was a passenger now instead of the driver of his mind. With one last deep breath, he sighed his frustrations out and resigned himself to his situation. “I.. I’m sorry, I lost control.”