SARAH AVERY VASILIAS, REBORN LVL 5
AADHRIKA DUNGEON, CATACLYSM MOUNTAINS
Aadhrika and Cricket both turned to stare at her. Cricket’s wide mouth quirked, a cracked tusk poking from his lower lip. She couldn’t see Aadhrika’s face through the golden veil, of course, but the hobgoblin woman simply gestured gracefully with one hand, inviting Sarah to speak.
It took her a moment to gather her thoughts—mainly because she thought she’d just get shoved out the door or told to shut up or something—but Sarah rallied and straightened, looking at Aadhrika steadily.
“Okay,” she said, “thanks.” She cleared her throat, some of her nerves returning. “So… I’m with the orcwallah now. What does that even mean? Where are we? What is this place…who the hell even are you?” She ticked each question off on her fingers, doing her best to keep her anger in check.
She could practically feel the Oni-Blooded Form within her struggling to break free, fill her with supernatural strength, and…do what? She didn’t know, but it made her more than a little nervous. At least it wouldn’t trigger without her control anymore. She hoped.
Aadhrika waited for Sarah to continue, sensing that she wasn’t finished. “I have so many questions about this whole setup it’s making my head spin. I’ve been training in a computer simulation for years, learning all about what my powers do and how to use them, but it’s only been in the past couple of weeks—after meeting Kimi-Lim—that I’ve learned even a little bit about this…” Words failed her, so Sarah just gestured at everything around her. “All this. Stuff. The world, the politics. Magic. If I don’t get some answers soon, I think I might explode.”
Aadhrika considered for a moment, then shrugged. “If your biological necessity is such that you need to explode, please do so in the corner where the mess will be more contained.” She waited a beat, then said, “Ha. Ha. Ha. It was a joke.” She sighed when neither Cricket nor Sarah laughed, gesturing impatiently with her hand. “Ask. I don’t see what harm there could be in answering whatever questions you have. Be warned, I will not answer all questions, but you may ask me anything.”
“Okay! Okay,” Sarah said. She hadn’t expected to be allowed to ask anything. “First thing’s first: just tell me why I should throw in with you. I’m already committed to it. I sought you out, I took your Oaths. I just…I wanna know what I can do here. What I can offer.”
Sarah waited, not entirely sure Aadhrika would answer. The way things had been going, she half expected another shot of gongk, maybe a knock over the head, followed by a trip through some new kind of hellish dreamscape to some other impossible place.
Instead, Aadhrika made a sweeping gesture with her hand and two comfortable-looking chairs rose from the glowing pink pool and floated over to them, settling themselves in front of Sarah and Cricket. They were made of complicated twists of wicker—the work of a master—and Sarah was very careful when she sat on it at Aadhrika’s insistence.
Aadhrika didn’t sit on one of the chairs. She simply folded herself into a cross-legged sitting position a meter above the ground and then sat there, as steadily as if she were rooted to the spot. “There are two ways for me to answer your question, one of them involves teaching you quite a lot of what would seem to you to be ancient history. I have neither the time nor the inclination to do that,” Sarah gave an inwardly relieved sigh. She loved history but she wasn’t ready to sit through a lecture right now.
“So I’ll answer your question in the immediately practical sense,” Aadhrika continued. “Your value to us is…complicated. You have intrinsic value: for example, your Unlimited Inventory will allow us to move mass quantities of material to places where it’s needed most. That alone is worth quite a bit.” She leaned forward, and though Sarah couldn’t see her face, she could tell Aadhrika was smiling.
“As in all things,” Aadhrika said, “we have found that, when we work together, we become incomparably stronger than if we do not. The Oaths mirror that balance: you took the Oaths and bound yourself to us, in return, I am also bound, Dungeon to Reborn.”
Sarah blinked, trying to work through the vague part of the answer. She thought, She sounds like she expects me to know things about Dungeons and bindings and magic. Still… This is what I wanted, right? I wanted to tie myself to these people and do something that felt right. She’d been in the Tutorial Realm for eight years. Was she being hasty now? Even if I’m not being careful enough, I don’t care. On Earth, for most of my life, I was passive. I couldn’t do anything. Now I can. She looked back up at Aadhrika, asking the question that she’d been dying to know this whole time.
“So…you’re a Dungeon? What does that even mean? You’re a prison?” Sarah asked. “I’m not exactly experienced with capital ‘D’, Dungeons. Well. I mean, sort of I guess I am? I was arrested once for a Drunk and Disorderly and put in jail for a couple of hours until my boyfriend at the time came and posted bail but so far, this is pretty far from that experience.” She paused, reflecting for a moment. “Except when that ogre farted in the elevator up here. That was pretty spot-on.”
Cricket snorted with an unexpected laugh and then waved them both off when they turned to stare at him. “Don’ mind me,” he said, still chuckling, “I’m jus’ thinkin’ my own thoughts over here. Though, I ‘spect I can answer yer question ‘bout Dungeons a lot more sensibly n’ Aadhrika, no offense.”
Aadhrika waved off Cricket’s implied insult and Sarah had the distinct impression she was slightly amused. Maybe it was the way the tree shook its boughs slightly, even though there was no wind in the underground garden. “See, I can answer ya from a Reborn’s perspective, which’ll be a lot more useful to ya than a Dungeon’s perspective. Fair?” He looked from Aadhrika to Sarah.
Aadhrika made an elegant gesture of invitation and Sarah turned her attention to Cricket. He pulled a battered-looking gunmetal-grey tablet from a big pocket and made several deft gestures over it. A tiny purple light on the tablet blinked on and a tiny image of a mountain range appeared. The image quickly grew in size and as it grew, Sarah discovered it was in full 3-D.
Not only was the map rendered in three dimensions, but it was detailed so finely as to show individual rocks and boulders. And it was animated. As Sarah watched, she saw clouds moving slowly over the entire mountain range, their shadows painted on the peaks and valleys, with some of the taller mountains poking up above the clouds.
“This lovely slice o’ paradise is the San Tristobel Mountains—what the Imps call the Cataclysm Mountains. ‘Swhat I call ‘em to,” this was with a defiant glare over at Aadhrika as if this were a common argument, “cuz th’ name fits. Anyway. This whole mountain range was rendered purdy much inhospitable by the Imps at the height o’ the war. A war which started some two and a half centuries ago and is still ragin’ on, though the Imps think they have us beat with their Occupied Cities n’ House patrols.”
Aadhrika interrupted, “Cricket, can you please get to the point?”
Sarah agreed. The old orc sure does have a weird way of being the reasonable one, she thought. He’s like a redneck professor of bullshitology.
Cricket scowled at Aadhrika but cleared his throat and nodded. “Right. I was gettin’ to it, but we jus’ needed us some tasty context.” Cricket made another gesture and the mountains faded into transparency but didn’t disappear entirely.
The view on the image went deeper, below the surface of the dusty stone of the mountain range revealing a complex network of tunnels, enormous underground chambers, entire underground cities, rivers, lakes, and ecosystems stretching the entire length and breadth of the Cataclysm Mountains. The tunnels stretched for thousands and thousands of kilometers, linking cave systems and other resources to one another.
“That’s Aadhrika, the Dungeon of the Cataclysm Mountains,” Cricket said, his voice softly reverent. “She’s the biggest damn Dungeon on the entire planet, her core so powerful she can generate Amethyst Gates for Ascension n’ Legendary ethershards up to Epic quality, makin’ her th’ only way the orcwallah could advance to the highest Ranks. Once yer in her Influence, she is in complete control. The bug-eyed monsters what spawn into th’ rooms, the cunnin’ traps hidden all over th’ damn place, everythin’ is under Aadhrika’s control. An’ she puts it all in place to help us advance.”
Sarah leaned forward, staring at the map in fascination. Just like the map of the Cataclysm Mountains, this map was a vividly detailed, fully animated, 3-D map, but this one depicted a truly vast system of caves. There were chambers of all sizes connected by a system of tunnels, underground roads, and vast networks of rivers all running the entire length and breadth of the Cataclysm Mountains. She couldn’t even begin to count all the chambers. The entire mountain range had been hollowed out and turned into one vast Dungeon.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“So you…run through the Dungeon, fight monsters, and get stronger,” Sarah summarized. “And all that is so you can go kick the Imperials’ ass out of this place. But wouldn’t the Empire be doing the same thing with their Dungeons? What, are their Dungeons unhelpful? Not as big?”
“The Dungeons in the Empire are slaves,” Aadhrika said vehemently, voice tight with rage. “The fools don’t even know that Dungeons are sapient. They use binding spells and control grafts to rig a crude kind of mastery of the Dungeons in their influence. They use their Dungeon slaves as mere factories and training facilities.”
Instead, she said, “Okay, question answered I guess! Um, so…what do you actually do here?” She gestured at the labyrinthine maze of tunnels and chambers still being projected by Cricket’s device. “I mean, this is a lot. You’re telling me you use all these rooms or chambers and all the rest to act as a personal trainer for your buddies?”
“Her ‘buddies’,” Cricket cut in, laughing. “Ya got a way with words, don’t ya? It’s a lot more’n that, but yeah, that’s the gist. It ain’t exactly a secret that people use Dungeons to advance, but Aadhrika’s special. She lets us pick Unique Classes; gives us the edge we need to fight the Imps n’ survive in the Cataclysm Mountains.”
Sarah thought about that for a bit and then shook her head. “Okay, that all makes sense I guess. But the Empire has to know about you, right?” She looked dubiously over at Aadhrika. “I mean, you’re enormous. They never found you at all?”
“The Empire knows that there are Dungeons in the Cataclysm Mountains, but it does not know that they are connected. To them, it appears as if all the Dungeons in these mountains are dead.” She laughed. “The few active Dungeon entrances they manage to find are mysteriously full of over-ranked monsters and terrifyingly destructive spells. They stopped checking after their third Jade-Rank group was disintegrated in the first room.”
Woah, that’s a harsh turn towards the sociopath, Sarah thought. Major red flag territory. Still…It’s not like she’s human. Or even humanoid. Can I even apply the same morality to Aadhrika? She didn’t have any answers to that. You’ve let the silence stretch too long, don’t let their answers dry up!
Cricket stirred as if to get up and Sarah asked the first question that came to her, “Uh, you said you chose Unique Classes earlier. What even is a Unique Class?”
Aadhrika replied, “Unique Classes are Classes that are some of the most potentially powerful Classes available. These Classes have grafts and abilities which are especially complimentary and will be suited to the individual.”
“Not t’ mention that ya can star all five Attributes with a Unique Class,” Cricket interjected. “It don’t mean much to ya at the Reborn stage since all yer Attributes can be starred, but once ya hit Stone Rank and get yer Class things change.”
“Let me guess,” Sarah said, “you’ve got some kind of ranking system where Unique is the one where it’s the most powerful but it’s also the most restrictive somehow. Is that about right?”
Aadhrika nodded and at the same time, the branches of the trees gently swayed. “You are familiar with the Doctrine of Balance? Good.” Sarah wasn’t familiar with it, but she wasn’t about to derail the conversation with another question when she was finally getting the answers she wanted.
Aadhrika continued, “Unique Classes are indeed limited by most standards. Their grafts require difficult Quest completions to upgrade with much rarer shard requirements. For most Reborn who choose Unique Classes, these limitations mean that they will be stopped on their path to Ascension at some point, usually around Ivory or Sapphire rank.”
“It’s cuz they don’t have a mountain-range-spanning Dungeon as an ally,” Cricket stage whispered, leaning in conspiratorially. He waved at the expansive map of Aadhrika, “Aahdrika here is why there’s still an orcwallah at all, ‘n she’s why we have a fightin’ chance against the Imps.”
Sarah thought about it for a moment and then asked, “Is it because Aadhrika can, like, create the kinds of monsters and treasures that you need for your Quests and upgrades? Cuz she’s a friendly Dungeon?”
Aadhrika nodded, “The relationship between the orcwallah and me goes far beyond ‘friends’, but in essence, you are correct. Reborn who select Unique Classes without a Class Guide and a Dungeon that they know will provide them with the resources they’ll need to progress will inevitably fall behind.”
“The Imps only let some o’ the Reborn in their Great Houses take Unique Classes,” Cricket said. “They think it’s a waste o’ resources otherwise.” He shrugged, grinning toothily. “I mean, they ain’t wrong. Fer them, takin’ Common or Rare Classes only makes sense. They think it makes ‘em strong, but we know better. It really makes ‘em weak.”
Sarah wasn’t too sure about that. Especially given that it was the Empire that turned the entire mountain range into the Cataclysm Mountains in their war with the now-defunct Kildari Federation. If they were so weak, wouldn’t the shoe be on the other foot? Sarah decided it’d be best not to share any of her conclusions so she kept her mouth shut.
Aadhrika said, “Each Reborn in the orcwallah has an extensive training plan, designed by our Class Trainers and myself. We train each Reborn in the most high-pressure crucible available in the world.”
She couldn’t keep her doubts silent anymore. After all, these were the people she’d just thrown in with. Maybe no one had ever pointed out the fatal flaw in their approach.
“You’ve been doing this for two hundred and fifty-some-odd years?” She asked incredulously. “I dunno, guys, but I think maybe that plan isn’t working so well. If it’s been two and a half centuries of doing the same stuff and expecting different results…well not to be offensive or anything, but that’s a definition of insanity. Maybe picking Common or whatever Classes wouldn’t be such a bad idea?” Looking at Cricket’s face, she regretted saying anything.
His expression had darkened and his eyes sparked with anger. “I’m gonna forget ya said somethin’ as utun-shit-stupid as that,” he growled, “an’ we’ll jus’ move on with whatever yer other questions was gonna be.”
Sarah bristled, “It’s not a stupid question, it’s a fuckin’ obvious one!” She looked between Aadhrika and Cricket, one fuming, the other as inscrutable behind her veil as ever. “I mean come on, I can’t believe no one’s even made the suggestion right? And what would be so bad about doing things differently, especially when it might be the thing that gives you the edge you need to win your war?”
Aadhrika made a placating gesture to Cricket when he began to angrily reply. “She does not know our history and cannot know what she asks.” To Sarah, she said, “For the Eternal Empire, Rebirth is a tool. It’s a means to an end. They create Reborn to subjugate and conquer. They bend all their ingenuity towards weaponizing the last gift the Witheld gave to us in a cruel mockery of their Last Command. In this way, they corrupt and pervert themselves so that they become like Ophid, the great wyrm that eats its own tail.”
Cricket rubbed at his temples, a pained expression on his face. “I’m gonna try an’ tell ya this without cussin’ ya out, cuz ya ign’ant. It ain’t yer fault that yer ign’ant, but y’are.” He cleared his throat and leaned back, taking a big, deep breath. “Here in the Mountains, life’s hard. There’s tensa storms, mutated monsters, no food, n’ no safe place t’ rest yer head save fer the Border Towns which’re run by the Imps. We got a few Cells in the Mountains, which’re mobile towns, but they ain’t big n’ it ain’t no guarantee of safety. That means we’re short o’ purdy much ev’rything. ‘Specially Reborn.
“If yer lucky enough to be Reborn in the orcwallah, ya take on the responsibility what comes with that power. But ya get to choose. An’ Unique Classes are always th’ best choice fer the person choosin’. It don’t always mean ya get a useful combat Class. Sometimes ya get Utility, Support, Tank…Hell, Creepy’s a Hybrid Class: mix o’ Warlock an’ Technomancer fer a weird Class called Cyberachnomancer. But we also got Weird Logitsticans, Hyperfarmers, Mold Geneticists, an’ a damn Runic Array Technician, whatever that is!” He chuckled. “Th’ point is, all those orcwallah Reborn chose what they thought was best an’ followed what they knew’d be best fer them n’ theirs. An’ Aadhrika makes it possible fer them t’reach the tippy top o’ their ability. The orcwallah and Aadhrika’s a tradition that goes back to before there even was an orcwallah.”
“Uh, look I’m sorry,” she said, blushing. “I didn’t mean to piss anyone off. I thought I was being helpful, but I spoke too quickly. I’m not an expert, so I shouldn’t have said anything.”
Cricket snorted in indignation, but he sighed and seemed to shake it off. “Well then, I reckon we better consider it forgotten. It’s easy t’ miss that yer human, but ya ain’t an Imp. Ya don’t know what they do, don’t know the history of…anything.” He shook his head in disgust and spat on the floor. “Fucken Imps.”
“And that is the closest you’ll ever get to an apology from Cricket,” Aadhrika cut in smoothly. “So I’d take it while you can. Now, did you have any other questions, or are you ready to rejoin your new toh-yeh?”
Sarah shook her head. There was a lot more she wanted to ask, but the tension had ratcheted up incredibly and she was done with long-winded explanations. “Nah, I’m good. I’ll bother Cricket if I need him to explain anything else.”
Cricket snorted and spat again, then took a deep breath and sighed. He waved his hand over his Systablo and put it back before cracking his knuckles with a sound like pool balls smacking each other. He sighed and said, “Well that’s that then. I guess we gotta git ya ready fer the raid. That means ya gotta git yer Stone Rank first. We cain’t bring just an itty-bitty Reborn into this attack—” he shot Aadhrika a glare, “I ain’t just throwin’ yer life away, not now that you’ve sworn the Oaths.”
“Very well,” Aadhrika replied. “I will make you a portal back to your RV, Cricket. Sarah,” she turned to Sarah, “see to it that you live. I am eager to explore what a deeper relationship with a sympathetic human will bring.”
She stood up, allowing her chair to sink back into the ground. Sarah stood up as well, her chair sinking back into the ground as well. The tree branches overhead flexed downward and, suddenly, with a twist of reality and a pop of in-rushing air, there was a…hole in the air. It didn’t swirl or glow or have any sparkly bits. It was just a hole in the air about two meters tall and a meter wide. She could see the inside of Cricket’s RV on the other side.
Cricket bobbed a quick, respectful bow to Aadhrika before gathering Sarah and leading her through the hole hanging in the air. Before she walked through the portal though, she turned and waved to the huge garden chamber with its strange blue tree in the center.
Aadhrika’s image had already disappeared and all that was left was the blue tree with its magenta Oathworm-infested glowing flowers. She shuddered, not quite able to connect Aadhrika, the hobgoblin woman with the weird alien tree.
Then she stepped through the portal and back into Cricket’s RV with Cricket just a moment behind her. The portal disappeared with another pop of displaced air and they were alone in the messy, smoke-stained vehicle once more.