The Fellow Citizen
Scouts and anonymous sources have reported the Dungeon of old to be unsealed. There are rumors that a full-scale Dungeon Raid has been called into motion. Information is being concealed that is to be sure. The Fellow Citizen values truth and honesty, it is with some certainty that we add that the Dungeon of Old has long mutated to allow excursion. Evidence has already been found of Snow Giant's emerging. Though there was no sight of said Monster evidence has shown otherwise.
The Gate of Old has been compromised.
New additions to the once pristine Dungeon of Legend. Cracks, and bite marks followed by discoloration. Yes, you've read right. My fellow citizens, something of a ravenous nature has taken a bite out of the gate itself. The very gates and a few of our safeguards were designed after. Investigators say the beast must've had a retractable jaw to bite from such a wide angle. Imagine a mouth large enough to swallow thirty Dwarfman whole.
Quite the mystery we have on our hands. Now let's get down to business! We report to you today despite the Untitled’s statement “The Dungeon of old won’t pose a threat to the kingdom's wellbeing unless its challengers fail to vanquish the dungeon’s boss an insurmountable number of times.” We report to you regarding the food shortages, and the fear of higher powers encroaching upon the Citizens' domain, we report to inform you about various threats currently plaguing our sleeping kingdom.
To those who will soon say that the latest issue is meant to propagate fear and unrest. We are well aware and mindful of whose side this article stands on. It's time you wake up and draw the line for yourself, the future is grim, bodies will stack, and the kingdom’s demise will come.
My Fellow Citizens let's talk about the Dungeon of Old in today's issue of the Wind Beneath the Flame.
What is a dungeon you ask? Most dungeons are constructed by a core. A dungeon's core is usually formed on mana-rich land by mere chance. This makes dungeons undoubtedly a product of magic and arcane, with the fatal quirk of spawning monsters that grow and evolve to suit the dungeons' needs.
"How can a dungeon have needs?" you ask. After a Dungeon’s core is formed it spreads mana veins to soak up ambient mana like the roots of a tree only exceedingly worse. Mana collected by the Dungeon's veins are used to construct a safety area to hide the dungeon's core, the core acting as an artificial heart and brain creates constructs on pure elaboration holding the entire dungeon together. While monsters spawned from said dungeon act as its greatest defense against those who choose to enter.
How can a dungeon spawn a monster? A dungeon is assumed to gain experience and mana with time patience, and a bit of death. Not only can it spawn monsters it can enslave them. Without any interference from an outside force a Dungeon like any other monster can become a problem to the people living in its vicinity. The Dungeon baits fellow man into its depths using riches and rewards, with the intent to kill challengers. Challengers intrude when entering a Dungeons gate.
Is a dungeon considered a monster? Similar to the naturally spawned beasts of Candralt, Dungeons show aversion to its challengers but unlike the average monster. Dungeons act with a certain intelligence by placing hoards, traps, and who knows what else to kill those intruding. "A trap worth the treasure" are the words of your average Challenger.
What is a challenger? Why my fellow citizens, even you can be a challenger if you were ever up for the task!
Why do dungeons exist? Why do Dungeons spawn both monsters and treasure? My fellow Citizens, why does anything exist, to begin with? “We as Dwarfman, exist to push past the boundaries the Gods have set using our minds, hands, and technological advancements as key to bridge the gap.” This is the primary directive taught by the Kingdom's most popular religion. A directive that we citizens know to be contradictory.
How can the church of Geovine push us to believe in the gods of Geovite when these are the same gods we were taught to overcome? The same Gods of Geovite that have abandoned us in opposition telling us dwarves to believe in ourselves.
Veering back on course were the Dungeons created by the Gods? As a trial to overcome our limits. The Dwarves of old believed so. They figured why else would a Dungeon spawn inside Fallohar City, a place that had become home to those born of others, also seeking shelter during the dark times.
What had caused the Dungeon of Fallohum to be sealed off? Why is the Dungeon being unsealed as of now? What unknown entity had decided to punish the sleeping Kingdom? Why did the unknown entity decide to punish the sleeping kingdom and the cities within?
These are the questions of uncertainty that I want you to ask yourselves in the coming days. What we the Citizens are sure of is that an untamed dungeon like any monster needs to be either suppressed or put down before consequences become most dire. The harsh truth of the matter is that our sleeping Kingdom is at risk of experiencing a dungeon Break.
Recovering information about that falling under the category of "Old" under the rule of Mindel the Second has been quite the challenge but my fellow Citizens we’ve got you covered.
Here are the following facts we’ve dug up involving the Dungeon located in Fallohar City. The Dungeon was once named “The Dungeon of Snow Mountains Depth” and is undoubtedly Old. A Dungeon documented to undergo mutation most frequently due to its over-exposure to MT Fallohums ambient Mana. Carrying on, the dungeon mutations weren’t the leading cause as to why the Depth was sealed off. Neither was it the rumor that the Dungeon of Snow Mountains depth was already set to break open before even being sealed off.
We are sorry to leave the people on such a cliffhanger. This is all the information we were able to uncover a couple of hours after the attack on our lives and the Dungeons unsealing shortly after, we wish all of our fellow Citizens good luck and safe travels across the Kingdom.
As of now, Fallohar City has been cut off from the inner Kingdom following the protocol of Old.
Rumor also has it that those willing are allowed to venture back into the city in hopes of challenging the Dungeon. The kingdoms even put out a bounty on monster corpses. Be warned, fellow Citizens!
In buying the latest issue of the Wind Beneath the Flame. All proceeds will go towards helping shelter thousands of Fallohar's citizens relocate. Why yes, my fellow citizens if you do not know about the current state of our Brother City maybe it's time you wake up and find out for yourself.
----------------------------------------
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Chapter 56: Outside on the Inside (The Depth I)
“*BING!* Primary Class:
“What’s going on? Ouch, why does my head feel like I’ve been hit with a rock." My vision was blurry, but it was all coming back to me.
"The campsite?” I murmured to my sisters over our familial bond still unaware of what was going on after I had fainted.
*Ping!* [Sister Sense] has leveled up! Lvl. 133 to Lvl. 134!
*Ping!* [Sister Sense] has leveled up! Lvl. 134 to Lvl. 135!
“Please sister, take some of it!” The soft but wise voice of a sister. A voice most familiar to me was shouting.
“Aleer, you know not to shout over the connection!” I opened my eyes glaring directly at her, knowing exactly where she was now that I'd regained some consciousness, I wasn't prepared to see what was right in front of my eyes.
“*BING!* Primary Class:
“Aleer stop it!!!” Wrapped in the magical vines she’d most likely conjured. I couldn't even stare blankly at her charred face.
Feeling the burning intensity, Aleer was enduring on sight I moved into action. Opening my inner gate allowing more mana to enter my [Mana Realm] I ignored the burning mana that poured into my veins.
*Ping!* [Sister Sense] has leveled up! Lvl. 133 to Lvl. 134!
I'd been left with no choice but to siphon mana from my four sisters all bound by tree vine. It was clear to see that Aleer had been burning her life force to keep us alive.
She was severely burned, all of her blood vessels looked singed scarring her skin. I was at a loss 'How was she keeping us alive?' looking to Aleers left. The former was nothing compared to Ode, and only the Gods knew why she was still alive.
*Ping!* [Sister Sense] has leveled up! Lvl 134 to Lvl 135!
*Ping!* [Sister Sense] has leveled up! Lvl 136 to Lvl 137!
*Ping!* [Code Depedency] has leveled up! Lvl 146!
It was my job to keep my sisters alive wherever we were.
“Dungeon.” Aleer had transmitted before fainting once again, the burden of keeping my sisters safe until wake was upon me.
‘I’m not being punished’ is a silly thought selfish to a degree.
I had never been more grateful to be familiar with the rising burning sensation. Were we going to die? Was the question on my mind but [Fear resistance] was a lifesaver when you needed it most.
The only two who were near death were Aleer and Ode. Mostly, Ode but she’d be fine. The Goddess wouldn’t abandon her chosen in a time of need. Would she?
'No, she wouldn't. Goddess forgives me. I need to concentrate on circulating the mana between all of our bodies equally instead of just mine. I'm sure Ode and Aleer tried to completely take on the burden.' They were just that selfless, just like our mother.
Needing to work was still getting the best of me, there was no way I was worried about Gatarn. It had to be the mark...Gatarn was the last person I needed to worry about.
*****
Times forgotten, of beef and blood. Someone somewhere was burning the finest Boek. "It's been too long...Tough around the edges with skin rougher than stone. Savory and pungent the meat of the Boek, bound to put hair on a chest."
She must be cooking the lower-tier monsters again for my sake. I can’t wait to start the morning. The beast may not be rich in mana like Boezeks but under that rough skin and tough hide resides a sweet meat with an acidic aftertaste.
“Geartran get up, feast!” Ahmha knows that I can’t open my eyes. How much I hate being woken from rest.
“Get up, Gray Rat! You heard the woman!” The foul language of the humans replaced the mother's Tongue.
“A couple more moments Unhan.” I tossed and turned; a little more rest is all I need. I thought I had been sleeping. My mind was telling me the same. As to why I'd heard the voices of those long lost to the past. How would I know?
When Unhan told me to wake up. It was time to wake up.
“Geatran, wake up!” I heard his call, and I woke.
I yelled in anger causing a crater to form in the snow. An excruciating burning sensation shot through my spine before some of it was soaked up by [Mascle Bound] and lessened by 2nd tier Pain resistance [Pain Bearer]. There was no ignoring the surging mana in my veins. I hadn't been rendered immobile by the Mountain in a very very very long time. I didn't think it possible for the Mountain to strike back.
To say that I was burning was an understatement, I would soon grow blue burning boils and start disintegrating to release the energy back into the Mountain the mana had come from. I’d absorbed so much more than I could handle. I was at my limit, directing anymore into the Realm would risk shattering some of my affinities, and that would pose another problem in itself but until then I need to regain control.
'Control, control.. look at you, a meek, Gray, Rat."
'What am I still doing here!'
“Such negligence, how can I possibly stoop so low!” This is a mockery! Geatran get up! Get up now! This vessel is mine! Get up! Get up! Get up!"
I revert to the mentality of a Barbarian, the conqueror of old. Letting killing intent run rampant, a killing intent that was meant to scare away all that drew near and kill those weak enough to the point of not even considering the thought.
Face down in the snow. I’d been paralyzed from the neck down.
“Get up! Get up! Get up!”
I would have gone on shouting until my last breath. I somehow manage. I manage to turn my neck with a bone-cracking jerk, so close to losing whatever residual sanity I had left. And in my small feat, there is no sense of triumph.
[YOU HAVE ENTERED THE DUNGEON OF SNOW MOUNTAIN’S DEPTH!!!]
'No, this can’t be happening. "Calm yourself Geatran", how did I get here?'
'I only knocked down one seal! Where was the option to enter!? The information dump!? The level requirements!? What the hell did I get myself into!?' I was boiling over in anger, mentally and physically a muscle-bound wreck, cooking alive.
Geatran the conqueror couldn’t move an inch and only time would decide his fate. The Barbarian would withstand the frigid environment he had been thrust into, but the deadly creatures that lurked inside the snowy planes could pose a bigger threat.
There was nothing more terrifying to the living than uncertainty, this stood true even though Geatran would never count himself amongst the many.
"Take physical form! Shit! Why can’t I move my damn body!!!!! It has to be the Mana!! Who would even have enough mana to disable me?” Maybe he was overcompensating, gritting his white teeth in frustration and displeasure. He'd taken on the face of Gatarn for so long that he couldn't stop himself from slipping back into character under the circumstances.
Geatran the Conqueror couldn't fathom being helpless, he wouldn't dare even pray to his grand Goddess for much-needed hope. Maybe If Geatarn was more adept at controlling mana he could've created a barrier or redirected its flow. Geatran the conqueror, a barbarian of mostly brawn and charisma, had always hated learning magic.
The gray-skinned four-armed man of loathing didn’t give up hope, for he didn’t need it. A man of such pride and ego wouldn't give up so easily. It took him a while to come to terms with the situation, which was out of his hands. The conqueror of Old in all his effort struggled, and struggled, and struggled, and struggled- but he could only turn the snow falling on his head into steam, a natural reaction occurring all over his body from the searing mana burning through his veins heating his skin to an overheated degree. Soon his pain nullification skills would fail him, and Gatarn thee Admissible would be doomed to suffer a crisp and unsavory death.