While my ‘birth’ happened to be particularly exciting, the following few hours were anything but. At least the time I spent doing nothing gave me time to come to grips with my situation. I was now a dungeon core. Completely. This wasn’t some dream, and I wasn’t going to wake up. In fact, my greatest nightmare had come true, once I realized I might never fall asleep again either. Existence was exhausting enough, and now I couldn’t turn it off for even just a few hours a day? What a horrid thought!
I got over it quickly though. The fact that this still felt like a dream to me made it so much more bearable. The fact that this place had rules made things interesting. I was playing by dungeon rules now, not dream rules. That meant in order to survive and make things even more interesting for myself, I needed to figure out exactly what I could and could not do. I needed to become a dungeon in every sense. Test my limits.
First I needed a name. All good dungeons had names, right? I decided on Lucid, hopefully for obvious reasons. In my mind, I was still lucid dreaming, so logically, my character, my dungeon would be Lucid, right?
Second, rules for myself. What sort of dungeon did I want to be? And no, I wasn’t talking about theme, I was talking about personality. Since I was stuck here in person, it would do to have a personality as close to my own as possible, though I would flex a bit and allow my dream logic to dictate some decisions. For instance, real life me would love to just veg out and do nothing, but dream me would never allow such a thing. My dream personality would want things to be interesting! So there!
What about killing? Well clearly I had no qualms about killing animals, but how far would that logic extend? Would I be willing to kill humans? Were there even humans in this scenario!? Let’s just settle for ‘killing in self defense is ok’ for now and work my way up to some sort of morality once I have more information.
What else then? Well that was hard to know, since I lacked information. So then I suppose the next step would be learning new things! Information gathering in every form, and that meant experiments.
I located the smallest bat out of the ones I commanded. You. Fly outside my domain.
The bat abandoned the insect it was chasing and immediately headed for the edge of my vision. It vanished beyond the black veil, as if it was soaked in liquid darkness. I could tell exactly where it was in relation to me, and the fact that it was still alive, but nothing more than that.
My vision, and indeed my entire area of awareness was locked within this specific area. I didn’t need to actively be looking at any one thing to know where it was, that was just something I could intuit through my dungeon sense. I knew that the insect that this bat was chasing was a fly, but I couldn’t tell exactly how many flies were in my domain. I knew where each and every single living organism was within my area, and yet I didn’t intuitively know exactly how many there were.
Fly a lap around my area. I commanded my little scout.
It did so, completing a lap without problems. Without further orders, it returned to my domain, flying around. It didn’t chase insects like the other three bats.
So they default to just hanging around when they don’t have active orders. Alright then, how about I tell everyone ‘if you don’t have anything to do, kill enemy creatures within my domain. This order should remain in effect until I tell you otherwise.’
The scout bat resumed hunting. Even with the pitiful amounts of mana the hunting collected me, I still hadn’t regained all that was stolen from me when the snake had eaten me. The fact that I had ‘summoned’ a grain of sand didn’t help. What a waste of mana.
Go fly a lap outside again, as low to the ground as you can. I commanded the scout.
I wanted to see if my persistent command would work and it would resume hunting after it returned. The experiment would hopefully also help me map out my direct surroundings a little better.
The scout bat exited my domain once again, leaving my perception. I watched it as it flew along the ground, rising and falling with the terrain slightly. Then, just before it finished its lap, my scout died.
I watched the point where it died for a while. Obviously, since I couldn’t see beyond the black veil that encompassed my domain, I just saw nothing.
You. I selected another of my bats. Go collect the corpse.
The bat obeyed and flew in the direction where my scout had died. After it disappeared from my view, it flew in lazy circles above where I had lost the signal. My brows furrowed. Something was wrong.
Return.
The bat came back and immediately resumed hunting insects within my domain.
So good news and bad news then. Good news number one, persistent orders worked. Good news number two, I hadn’t had to specify what I meant by ‘the corpse’ nor where the corpse supposedly was. My minions knew my intent when I gave them orders. The bad news then was the fact that my bat didn’t find a corpse to collect.
The lack of information was killing me. I wanted to see more.
And just like that, my domain expanded. Only about a foot in every direction, but still, my vision expanded.
… I want to see more.
My vision expanded again. More than five feet in every direction this time.
I spotted the tail of a snake slither out of my domain in the direction of where my scout had died. One mystery solved. However, a new one had replaced it. The first time my vision expanded was when I expressed dissatisfaction with what I could see. The second time, just now, was an off-handed comment lamenting the fact that I couldn’t see more. This final third time was more deliberate. And there was a difference.
My avatar summoned legs in order for me to rest my hands on my knees. I stared intently in the direction of the snake. This time, I thought with intent.
Show me more.
My vision exploded. It reached high into the sky and outwards in every direction. Mana drained out of me, and the expansion halted once I ran out. I could see the roof now, about a dozen feet up, and more than triple that distance in a sphere around my core. I rested in a cave, one large enough where I couldn't see the walls from where I was. It was also peppered with random stalagmite and stalactite pairs. A number of them looked marked, or even broken. Whether the breaks were deliberate or not, I couldn’t tell, but I did notice that one break didn’t have any rubble around it. Something had taken the tip of a stalagmite.
Hundreds of creatures existed within this area, though unfortunately most of them were insects. I could also sense dozens of bats, a handful of snakes, and some mice or rats. I didn’t know the difference between them.
And now, with my mana fully depleted, I really found out exactly how pitiful killing insects really was. My mana basically stagnated, only rising by the barest margins. It would take weeks to get back to the point where I had killed just the one snake.
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You can stop killing insects if you want to. I told my bats. What was the point? If I wanted to do anything interesting, I needed mana, and killing bugs wasn’t the way to do it. I had to find some other way to go about it.
Interestingly enough though, my minions did not stop killing bugs. True, I told them that they didn’t have to if they didn’t want to, but that would imply that my bats were doing this because they wanted to. Why? Was it fun?
My avatar sat to watch them for a while. Out of boredom more than anything. Eventually, my attention wandered to my core. A few questions came to mind when I considered it. For one, there had been an initial rush of creatures to consume my core. Now though? Nothing. Why was that? What went wrong? Did my taste grow stale? Or maybe it was my smell. Certainly being washed in stomach acids probably didn’t help. That reminded me about the fact that I couldn’t smell anything, even now. I didn’t mind, you weren’t able to smell things in dreams anyways.
Another question arose when I considered my view. What I considered my domain was centered around my core, but it wasn’t like my core had to be where it was right now. I could absolutely move it if I wanted to. If I did, would my vision move with it?
I looked up to my remaining three bats. My avatar pointed to them each in turn.
Your name is Warrior 1. You’re Warrior 2. And you shall be Courier. Courier, come pick me up and take me that way. Warriors, please protect me and Courier.
My bats swooped, diving low. Courier, flying between the warriors, snatched me off the ground and took off, flying in the direction the snake had gone previously. I was gonna tame me a snake!
I laughed arrogantly. If you won’t come to my core, my core will come to you! I’m gonna MAKE you obey me!
Well, assuming I didn’t kill it by trying too hard.
My plan worked out perfectly, and my dome of vision followed the path my bats flew. My avatar returned to its genie state and floated behind the bats. Its smoky tail connected it to the core. Of course, the avatar was entirely for show and my own amusement. It served no functional purpose besides allowing me to be able to express myself.
Suddenly, my domain bulged inwards.
Stop. I commanded my bats.
They immediately halted their chase of the snake. Since their biology didn’t allow them to hover, they instead flew in lazy circles around the area.
My domain had brushed up against something. I didn’t know what it was, but my domain wasn’t able to enter it. I could also feel something just straight up wrong on the other side, but I couldn’t place it. The black veil intruded within my domain, denying me access to what I would normally be able to see. The veil protrusion was perfectly flat, like the corner of a building. A stalagmite stood halfway between my territory and whatever was on the other side. That was the only evidence I had to assume that I hadn’t touched some sort of physical wall.
Warrior 1, do a loop through there.
My bat obeyed, leaving Warrior 2 and Courier in order to investigate.
The instant it touched the veil, I felt anger. Not my anger, but the anger of another. It was as if the veil emanated feelings of fury and possessiveness, all directed towards poor Warrior 1.
What’d he do? I asked the veil a little sarcastically, though at least now I knew.
There was another dungeon core on the other side of that veil.
And it wanted to kill me.
I recalled Warrior 1 and beckoned arrogantly towards the veil.
Let’s see what you got then fucker! Come at me!
Apparently what it had was a swarm of rats, bats, and some stone creature the size of a bat that could also somehow fly. A baby gargoyle.
Nevermind! Time to go!
Arrogant though I may be, it stemmed from a time when I had full control over my dreams. As of now, I was about as useful as a marble.
Courier turned tail immediately. Even without prompting, Warrior 1 and 2 resumed their escorting duties. I surveyed the situation with the same calm that I used against the nightmares. Vaguely, I recognized my incompetence in not gathering a strong enough force to properly ensure my safety, but that was an action I would have to rectify later. For now, what I needed to do was command my troops to the best of my ability.
The baby gargoyle thing, while undoubtedly the strongest combatant, was also the slowest flier. I had no intention of grounding myself again, meaning all I realistically had to worry about was the enemy bats.
Ground them. I commanded my warriors, imagining my intent.
My warriors wheeled around, claws and mouths agape. They slammed into their respective targets, tearing at their wings. The enemy bats practically ignored them, fully intent on killing me and me alone.
The other dungeon can’t see. I realized. It doesn’t know what’s going on. All it knows is where its troops are and if they’re alive or not.
Of course, I was assuming it ran on the same rules I did, but I figured that was a safe assumption. If that was the case, that meant all these creatures were running on the same command, over and over. They had no decision making skills of their own. That meant outmaneuvering them should be easy.
That was, until Warrior 1 got injured and fell. The rats below quickly swarmed it, killing it instantly. Warrior 2 wasn’t in much better condition, and seemed to be quickly tiring, despite having only fought two mindless drones.
Right. I grimaced. My guys haven’t had a break ever since they found me. Of course they’d still be tired. Be strong Courier, take me somewhere safe. Warrior 2? It’s been an honor. Do me a favor and kill the enemy core.
Both my remaining minions obeyed. Courier chirped over and over. It altered course slightly, taking me somewhere unknown. Warrior 2 left us, disappearing into the veil behind us. Our enemies paid it no mind and mindlessly continued pursuit.
I watched them with grim fascination. I would have loved to experiment and see if I could overwrite the enemy dungeon’s claim to the creatures, but I didn’t want to risk it without a safety net. As it was, I risked my entire existence on a gamble.
One that paid off.
Warrior 2 must have encroached on the enemy's core. Its violent feelings returned, as well as a touch of panic. As one, the army following Courier and I turned tail and retreated.
I watched the darkness for a while. Hoping Warrior 2 would succeed in their mission.
Their life winked out minutes later, and along with it went the feelings of the enemy dungeon. I clicked my tongue, not surprised but still disappointed.
At least I was free.
Courier flew in a direction of their own choosing. Perhaps my vague instructions of ‘somewhere safe’ had meant something to this little bat.
They flew up, close to the ceiling. They wove through stalactites, eventually coming close to the first wall of the cave I’d seen so far. As soon as it noticed the wall, it made a hard turn, following it around a long curve. A new wall appeared at the other side of my domain, closing in slowly as Courier continued.
They approached a dead end. An eroded wall, wet with water cascading from above. Courier followed the water up for a bit before the passage got too narrow for them to fly any further. They gripped my core in one claw, using the other to hold themselves against the wall.
But they didn’t stop there. Slowly, ever so slowly, Courier climbed, squeezing themselves into a crack in the wall. A breeze from above ruffled their fur. I did not interfere.
They emerged into a large room, one which I could see every side with using my domain. It had a pair of exits on adjacent walls, and a small pool of water against another. The ground and roof were absent of rock formations, though there was a lot of loose debris scattered about the room, save for a pathway going between the two exits.
A splash of water caught Courier unawares. My attention snapped to the water, where a large fish eyed Courier. Courier flailed, surprised. I looked to it- to her, surprised as well. I could feel her surprise at the attack. I could feel her emanating joy, recognizing my attention.
The fish, a barracuda, leaped out of the water, biting her lower half. Courier died instantly.
Die. I commanded the fish from inside its mouth.
I watched with grim satisfaction as brain matter exploded out from the fish's eyes. Mana flooded into me from the kill, and we all fell back into the water. As we sank, water pushed up from between the gills of the fish, gently pushing me out of its mouth. As blood and gore soaked the waters, a swarm of guppies flooded in, picking off the pieces. One of them brushed up against me.
Obey. I whispered.