Novels2Search

Chapter 1

A blindingly bright white light was the first thing I remember seeing when I woke up. My head ached like someone was pounding it with a giant hammer, and my whole body felt numb. No, that wasn't quite right. The truth was that I was unable to feel my body at all. It was as if my body just wasn't there. I started to panic. Was I paralyzed? What the hell happened? Where was I?

I could feel my heart starting to speed up to what must have been dangerous levels, and my breathing was getting worryingly close to hyperventilation. Then suddenly, the bright light dimmed to a more manageable level, and I could finally make out my surroundings.

I was sitting in some sort of what I assumed must have been a small waiting room. There were empty chairs along all of the white walls, and in one corner was a reception booth; also currently empty. A few fluorescent lights spread a cold white light that left very few shadows, and the place smelled heavily of antiseptics. Was I in a hospital? Why was I in the hospital? I felt fine. Actually, without me noticing, my headache had vanished, and I could feel my body again.

Looking down at myself, I could tell that I was dressed only in a hospital gown and fluffy slippers. I stretched my arms out in front of me and looked them over. They looked fine from what I could tell. Maybe I was a little pale, but sitting in an office all day instead of being out in the sun will do that to you.

That's right, I thought to myself. I work in an office. I am, in fact, the founder and CEO of 'Animal and Wildlife Welfare', or 'Aaww' for short. The pun still made me chuckle. I don't care what my sister says; I am hilarious.

That thought brought me back to reality in a heartbeat. My sister. If I were in the hospital, where was my sister? Did she know where I was? Was she sitting at home, phone in hand, and worrying because she couldn't get hold of me? My heartbeat started to speed up again, and I was about to get up and walk over to the reception booth when I heard a friendly, soft, female voice coming from somewhere behind me.

"Mr. Edwards? The director will see you now."

I sprang to my feet and spun around faster than I could remember ever moving before. I was so fast, in fact, that my left slipper couldn't keep up and was left to its own devices on the floor where my foot used to be. There was nobody there. All I could see in the direction from which the voice had originated was an open door that I could have sworn was not there before. Tentatively, I took a few steps towards it, and when nothing happened, I closed the distance and went through the door.

As soon as I took a step through the door frame, I instantly found myself sitting in a comfortable chair in front of a beautiful oak desk. On the opposite side sat a young woman, no older than thirty, with long black hair and a facial expression that radiated warmth and welcome. Her friendly smile immediately put me at ease, and I couldn't help but smile back at her. She was dressed in a bright white pantsuit and, as far as I could tell, wore no makeup or jewelry.

The rest of the room was, just like the waiting room, completely empty and white. I didn't get the chance to take a closer look around before the woman interrupted my train of thought.

"Welcome, Mr. Edwards." Her voice was just as soft and friendly as her smile. "I am sure you have many questions, and I will do my best to answer as many as I can."

My mind raced as I tried to come up with a somewhat intelligent question to ask, but all I managed to squeak out was "Where am I?"

"You are in my office." She smiled again; that same, warm smile. "My name is Anita, and I am the Director of the Assignments Department. I oversee the placements and assignments of individuals, and make sure everyone gets to where they are supposed to."

That did absolutely nothing to alleviate my confusion. I gave her my best 'huh?' look, and judging by her wide grin, I would say I managed to convey my state of non-understanding quite well.

"Before I explain further, what is the last thing you remember before the waiting room?"

I had to think about that for a while. I was fairly certain that I had gone to work that morning. Before that, I had woken up, made myself breakfast, showered and… Apparently, that was the point where everything went blurry. I had a clear memory of getting into the shower and turning it on, but after that, I couldn't conjure up any images at all.

"It seems I can't remember anything past getting into the shower this morning." A slight shiver ran up my spine as a feeling of dread slowly took hold of me. "What does that mean?"

"There is no easy way to say this, Mr. Edwards, so I am just going to say it." Anita's smile never wavered, but I could see a slight dimming of her eyes. "You died."

Her words failed to register for a long time. All I could do was sit there and stare blindly at her, trying to let what she had said sink in. She must have taken my silence as a queue for her to continue.

"Yes, sadly it is true. You slipped in the shower, hit your head, and when you fell, your body covered the drain and you drowned in the resulting puddle."

All I could do was blink at her in confusion. "I'm dead?"

"Sadly, yes." She nodded sadly. "But the good news are that, for one, you didn't make a mess for anyone to clean up; and two, since you died well before your time, it is per my prerogative to reassign you."

That got my attention and my eyes shot to her in amazement and hope. "You can send me back?"

"Sadly, no." Her smile faltered slightly for the first time, and I could see the pain in her eyes at having to deny my request. "Jonathan Edwards is dead. He has been so for over three months at this time. I am afraid that sending you back would result in several very unpleasant situations that everyone would rather avoid."

I nodded slowly as her words sank in. As much as it hurt to not be able to go back to my life, and to never be able to see my sister again, what Anita said did make sense. Having my, by now, rotting corpse suddenly come back to life would be absolutely fucking terrifying for everyone, me included.

"So what are you going to do?" My voice was low, almost a whisper.

"I'm glad you asked." Her brilliant smile returned and the light in her eyes turned back up to dazzling. "I have a spot open that I think would suit you. A dungeon core."

I blinked dumbly at her. "A what now?"

She chuckled gently. "A dungeon core. I'm afraid it would be against the rules for me to give you any information previous to your assignment, but I do need your consent to complete the assignment."

"And if I refuse?" I wasn't sure if I should accept or not, but hearing my alternatives could never hurt.

"I don't know what fate would ultimately await you." Anita's voice was sincere and at the same time held no indication of what she might think of the idea. "But I am guessing that you would go back to whatever state you were in before I called you to my waiting room."

I pondered that for a minute. I had no memories from after I fell in the shower, to when I arrived in the waiting room. Apparently it had been months, but it felt like no time had passed, and like an eternity had, at the same time. If that limbo was my alternative, I would rather take my chances with whatever assignment Anita had in mind.

"Okay, I accept." I said with a short, determined sigh.

"Wonderful!" Anita beamed, quite literally, as a golden glow seemed to radiate all around her. "I wish you the best of luck in your new endeavors."

With those words, she rose to her feet and extended her hands out towards me. I took them in mine and immediately the whole world turned a bright white.

*****

I, once again, came to consciousness with a blinding headache and a feeling of numbness in the rest of my body. Having been through this before, I closed my eyes and waited for the unpleasant sensations to go away. The pain in my head slowly subsided after a short while, and the numbness in my limbs settled into a less unpleasant tingling. When I opened my eyes again I was dumbstruck. I don't know what I had expected, but this was most certainly not it.

I was somewhere in a big field. Green, luscious grass stretched out in all directions, until reaching a forest to the north, and what seemed like mountains somewhere to the southwest. In all other directions, the grass field seemed to stretch on forever.

Uncertain of what to do, I took a tentative step forward. Okay, that seemed to work fine. Taking another step, then another, then a few more, I turned around to look at where I had walked from. Where I had stood, there was a small green, glowing orb on the ground.

"Huh, that's interesting." Some sort of built in instinct told me that the little green orb somehow was me. But that was ridiculous, right? Obviously that thing couldn't be me. I was me.

I took a few steps back towards the orb, crouched down and reached out a hand to touch it. In my mind I could feel myself reaching out, but no hand extended in front of me. Looking down to where my feet were, the same phenomenon occured. I apparently didn't have feet, or legs for that matter. Nor did I seem to possess the rest of what would constitute a body. I was apparently just a disembodied head, or more likely, a disembodied consciousness.

"That is creepy." I mumbled to myself as I slowly rose back to my non-existent feet. "What the hell am I supposed to do now?"

As if on command, a soft pinging sound rang in the back of my mind. I tried looking for it, and after some effort, I managed to locate the source. It was some sort of menu system. A system I apparently had somewhere in the very back of my brain, or whatever the current equivalent was. In any case, the menu item labeled 'construction' had a small red dot next to it, prompting me to poke it.

As soon as I did, I was greeted by another menu. This one seemed to contain my building options, which were not plentiful at the moment. In fact, it seemed I had two items to choose from, one called 'simple shack' and another called 'bedding'. Poking at the simple shack option, another menu window appeared.

"Simple shack. A basic shack of simple construction. Offers denizens protection from the elements. Made of simple wooden walls, a compacted dirt floor and thatched roof. Cost: 20 mana. Max number of bedding: 5."

Mana? What the hell was that all about? I quickly poked my way back through the menu system to see if I could learn any more about how things worked. Nothing immediately jumped out at me as being i formative in any way, and I grunted in frustration.

"What the hell is mana and how do I get it?" The question was aimed at no one in particular, so when a chat window appeared in front of me, to say I was surprised would have been the understatement of the year.

"Mana is a resource found everywhere in the world. Everything living, and dead, consists of mana in one form or another. It is the life force that flows through creatures, people and plants, as well as just flowing freely in the air. Mages can draw on the free flowing mana to cast spells. Other classes can call on it to augment their weapons, bodies or minds. For a dungeon, such as yourself, mana is used to expand, build and summon. You receive mana for any living, or undead, creature, or thing that dies within your domain."

Dies within my domain? I was going to have to kill things? Kill people? That was just not an option. I would have to figure out another way of obtaining mana, if that was what I needed in this world.

Just then another thought struck me. "Wait… So you can hear me? And understand me? What are you?"

A soft pinging rang in the back of my mind again. It gave me the feeling that it was amused. "My name is Menu, short for Mana Enhanced Navigation Utility. I am your assistant and guide when it comes to all things dungeon related."

The text flowed through the chat window at a pace that almost made me dizzy trying to keep up with it. But at least I had learned something; I had an assistant.

"So, Menu…" I started out cautiously. I was still very confused and slightly hesitant about this new system I found myself in. "How do I go about getting enough mana to get started? I don't really see anything on this plot of land."

"You actually already have some mana." The text came floating in front of me, no chat window in sight, as Menu was opening and closing different options and panels. "Let me just activate your HUD so you can keep an eye on such things. Eventually you will get a feel for how much mana and other resources you have, but for now a visual display will be available. If you feel so inclined, you may toggle the HUD on and off at your leisure."

Suddenly, a small green sphere appeared at the bottom right of my peripheral vision, the numbers 20/20 floated above it. So I had twenty mana. It would be enough to build a simple shack, but then I would be all tapped out. Then again, it wasn't like I had many other options.

"Menu, what happens if I run out of mana?"

"Being empty of mana has no particular effect on your core. You might feel a little sleepy and tired, but it will refill itself over a period of a few days."

Okay, that was something at least. Running out of mana would not kill me. Good to know. Now to tackle the second issue.

"Is killing the only way I may gain mana?" I felt my heart beating harder in my chest as I awaited the answer.

"No. There are multiple ways for a dungeon to gain and regain mana. Killing is one of the ways, and the easiest and most common. However, mana can also be gained from having delvers complete quests within your domain, or having delvers defeat your denizens. Being defeated does not really kill your denizens; they are simply dissolved into mana and will respawn after a time."

That was good. That meant I didn't actually have to kill anyone. But who were these delvers that would come and do quests and battle? There were so many questions, and for every answer I got, I had even more questions. I could probably just stand around here and ask Menu questions for eternity, but that was never the kind of person I was. I had always been more of a 'learn as you go' kind of guy.

I opened the build menu again and poked the entry for a simple shack. A prompt popped up, asking if I wanted the simple shack in question to be my core room. I wasn't sure what that meant, but I could make a pretty good guess.

As I poked the yes option, a swirl of green light came out of the green sphere, which I assumed was what was referred to as my core, and started covering an area of roughly three by three meters on the ground next to it. I looked on, completely fascinated, as the green light grew upwards until it reached a height of roughly three meters before it suddenly disappeared. Where once there was only green light, there was now a rather rickety looking shack. Once the lightshow had died down, my core slowly started to drift towards the open door of the building.

Inspecting the structure more closely, it proved to be just as ramshackle on the inside as it was on the outside. On the positive side though, it did have enough space for at least three beds. Along the wall opposite the door, a couple of floorboards had been removed and my core was slowly lowering itself into the resulting cavity, before the boards once again covered it up.

Having my core at least somewhat secured underneath the floor actually made me feel a little bit of relief. Though I'd had no indications of anyone trying to harm me, one could bever be too careful; especially when one didn't know anything about the world they were in.

*****

A feeling of slight pressure from the northwestern edge of my little plot of heaven, told me that someone, or something, was paying me a visit. Moving my attention in that direction I found that, firstly, I can move very quickly when I focus my attention on a place within my accessible area. Secondly, it seemed like a tiny little wolf cub had strayed within my boundaries. It couldn't have been more than a few weeks old at most, and by the looks of it, it was clearly the runt of whatever litter it had come from. It was malnourished and didn't look to have much strength left. My heart ached for the little fellow and I knelt down next to it, or as it turned out, him. Stretching my arm out towards the little guy I found, to my great disappointment, that my ethereal self could not give him the belly rubs he wanted. Though as I stood back up and looked at the tiny little fluff ball, a menu window appeared above it.

"Wolfling runt wants to join your dungeon as a denizen. Accept? Yes or no."

Well that was interesting. "Menu! What does it mean to make someone a denizen?"

Menu appeared and I could feel him inspecting the wolf. "A denizen is a monster, or creature, living within a dungeon, tasked with protecting the core against invaders. They require a spawner, as well as somewhere to rest. They will sort out themselves for the most part, though you can eventually upgrade them, if they fulfill certain criteria."

"Well, in that case…" I could not press the yes button fast enough.

A faint green glow surrounded the little pup, and I could all of a sudden sense it in my mind. There were no words, but I could sense a feeling of gratitude coming through loud and clear. Before I could even try to figure out what to do next, another prompt from the system stole my attention.

"You have more denizens than your dungeon can support. You need to build additional bedding."

"You have an unplaced spawner. Do you wish to place the spawner now? Yes or no."

Well that might be an issue. I made a quick check of my current mana levels, revealing the awe inspiring amount of two. Another quick check told me that making bedding for my new friend would cost me five mana. Okay, I could work with that, I hoped. The next issue then was the spawner. Looking at it in the menu, I found that it had no mana cost to place.

I found a small piece of land next to my shack and selected it as the designated area for my wolf spawner. A quick swirl of green and I was looking at a clear piece of grass, now with a large, hollowed out tree stump on it. Under the stump there seemed to be some kind of hollow where my new wolf could sleep. Focusing on the area, a small information window popped up.

"Wolf den spawner. Home to a wolf population of up to five individuals. The den acts as bedding for its inhabitants and provides shelter. No invaders can make their way into the designated den area."

No sooner had I read the information, than I felt a surge of energy from behind me. I turned and saw my little wolfling runt, no longer a runt. He was now about the size of a german shepard, and had the words "Alpha Wolf" floating over his head.

Another notification tugged at my attention. "Your wolfling runt has been upgraded to Alpha Wolf, thanks to being the first inhabitant of its den. Would you like to name your Alpha Wolf?"

I couldn't contain my excitement. "Oh my God, Buddy! You got a promotion!" I almost squealed.

The wolf beamed at me, and the nameplate floating above his head changed from "Alpha wolf" to "Buddy". I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Not quite what I had in mind, but I like it. How are you doing Buddy? Are you a good boy?"

Buddy's tail was doing its best propeller impression and he gave a short, happy bark before darting off towards the forest. I had no idea what caught his attention, but something must have. There was no sign of the sad little runt from mere minutes ago.

Another alert came in. "Invaders have been detected in the dungeon." Seconds later I felt a warm tingling sensation in the back of my head. I was confused until I saw Buddy making his way back towards his den. He was walking leisurely and appeared to be holding something in his mouth. That something turned out to be a gigantic rabbit.

"Is that the invader?" I could hardly believe my eyes. "Where in all that is unholy did that thing come from?"

"That is a Giant Rabbit. Giant Rabbits are the main invaders in this dungeon. Their purpose is to attempt to get at the core and destroy it. It is the main purpose of your denizens to stop them." Menu explained in his usual, no nonsense kind of way.

"But where do they come from?" I was still confused.

"They spawn in your dungeon area. I believe they started spawning when you placed the wolf den. They are not really intended to pose a real threat. They are, rather, a way for new dungeons to earn a stead, albeit slow, stream of mana."

"Oh, okay." I still wasn't sure I completely understood, but I didn't want Menu, my only company and source of conversation, to think I was a complete idiot. "I suppose that makes sense." It didn't, but then again, nothing in this world so far made any sense to me.

Buddy had reached the den by now, and dropped the giant rabbit corpse on the ground. It slowly dissolved into a fine mist of green. He looked at the spot where his lunch once had been, and gave a long, drawn out sigh. I think he got upset at having his food disappear.

"New animal available: 'Giant Rabbit' has been consumed and is available for spawning. You have gained the ability to spawn an item: 'Rabbit meat' in your wolf den once per day. Cost: 2 mana."

"Aha! Don't you worry, Buddy. Lunch has been served."

I quickly poked the icon to spawn food for my friend, and almost immediately I could smell meat from somewhere beneath the hollow stump. Buddy could smell it too, apparently. He turned on a dime and sprinted into his home, coming out a couple of seconds later, holding a big piece of meat in his mouth. I could swear he was grinning like a child on christmas.

So, now what? I had an empty shack, an almost empty wolf den and a completely empty stretch of land; land that was supposedly now infested with giant rabbits. I did a quick check of my mana situation, seeing that I was sitting at 23 out of 25. I must have gained extra capacity for something.

Not really knowing what else to do, I decided to check out my shack. Looking at it and entering the menu system, I realized I had a few new options in a new menu category; upgrades. This should be. interesting.

Three new options had materialized under the new category, together with two new options in the constructions tab. Under upgrades I found 'Upgrade shack foundation: 10 mana.' 'Upgrade shack construction: 10 mana' and 'Upgrade shack to level two: requires previous upgrades 'shack foundation' and 'shack construction': 25 mana.' Those were all certainly interesting, and would warrant further investigation, but I wanted to see my new build options first.

Under the building tab, my two new options for the shack were: 'build simple herb garden: 35 mana' and 'build basement: requires previous upgrade 'shack level 2': 45 mana.'

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Ouch, that was expensive. I suppose I would have to be satisfied with the two basic upgrades for now. But wait a minute. If I had upgrade options for my shack, surely I had some for Buddy's den too? Sure enough; a quick check around revealed that the den had four available upgrades, Buddy himself had two and I had gained two new build options for my dungeon. I decided to take a closer look at Buddy first.

Option number one was a general upgrade. It would increase Buddy's strength, stamina, agility and all that good stuff. In other words, it would make him faster, stronger and just overall better. It wouldn't be too expensive either as each level only cost 3 mana; at least at the moment. Option two was to evolve Buddy's form. He would go from being an 'alpha wolf', to being an 'alpha dire wolf', whatever that was. It sure was expensive though, as just one evolution would run me a cool 50 mana. Since that was more than I could have at the moment, I put that idea on the backburner. I would definitely be revisiting it in time though.

Next to check out was the den. Four wildly different upgrades were available, for equally different costs. First there was an upgrade to the spawner inside the den. 'Spawner upgrade: will allow your den to automatically spawn wolves until it reaches maximum capacity. One wolf will spawn every day until the maximum number of denizens is reached. If a denizen of this den dies, they will respawn automatically after a set amount of time. Current respawn time: three hours. Cost: 30 mana' There was also an option to manually spawn in another wolf for five mana.

That was definitely interesting, but I continued to read through my options. Number two upgraded the size of the den, increasing the maximum number of denizens it could house by five and cost fifteen mana. Not too bad. Option three was to upgrade the automatic spawn rate of the wolf spawner for ten mana, which would be of no use to me at this moment, and option four was to upgrade the respawn timer of dead wolves for the same cost. They were all definitely interesting options, especially the spawner one, but it cost more mana than I had available at the moment.

Continuing on my exploration I had a look at the dungeon grounds. My two new options seemed quite insignificant in the big scheme of things. I could plant either a single tree or a small patch of flowers for five mana each. It was cheap, but I also couldn't see what they would be good for.

I decided to put off any purchases for the immediate moment; deciding to have a little look around instead. Exploring just how big my current area was, felt like a prudent thing to do. It would hopefully help inform my future upgrade decisions. Dragging my attention away from the menu system, I noticed that Buddy was gone again. I assumed that he was off hunting another one of those monster rabbits. Nothing I needed to worry about, or so I hoped.

Instead, I turned my attention north, towards the forest. After what a quick eye measurement told me was roughly a hundred meters, I came across some sort of invisible barrier. Stepping too close to it made it turn opaque, making it impossible for me to see what lay beyond it. I had not quite reached the forest yet, but I guessed I only had another twenty or so meters between the barrier and the first line of trees. Logic would dictate that if I spawned, for lack of a better term, in the middle of my available area, then it should stretch out equally in all directions. That was relying on two things, however. Firstly, did I spawn in the middle? Secondly, and more importantly, did logic apply in this scenario? I had yet to see much of it since I got here. In fact, none of this was neither logical or made any fucking sense.

I spent a couple of hours just walking the grounds. It would appear that I did indeed spawn in the middle of my 'domain', as Menu called it, so there was that at least. A tiny little bit of sense in the chaos. However, it did very little to help with my indecision problem. What would be the most sensible route to take? The answer revealed itself mere minutes later.

Buddy was still nowhere to be found, but now I could see those abomination bunnies running around everywhere. A sharp pain stabbed at my brain, and I started to panic.

"Warning!" A notification window appeared in front of me. "Invaders have reached your core. Core health at 95 percent." Another sharp stab of pain. "Core health at 90 percent."

I quickly spun around and looked towards my shack. Sure enough, I could see the ass end of one of the rabbits disappearing through the open door, just before two more stabs of searing pain almost blinded me for a moment.

"Core health at 75 percent."

Before I could second guess myself, and before those pesky critters could take another bite out of me, I looked over to the wolf den and quickly poked the 'summon wolf' button twice. I was hoping manual summoning would be instantaneous, rather than at a day's delay like the automatic variety. Luckily, whatever god or gods looked over this place, they smiled down upon me. As soon as I pressed the button, a wolf came running out of the hollow stump, followed by a second one mere moments later. They made a beeline for the shack.

A few hours later, my domain was once again rabbit free. My wolves looked happy and content, lounging in the setting sun, munching happily on whatever part of rabbit meat they found the most appealing. As for myself, I had made a few upgrades. Thanks to the constant stream of mana that the, let's call it what it was, rabbit slaughter provided, I had managed to fully upgrade my little shack, plant two trees and a flower patch on the grounds, bought two more wolves and upgraded Buddy to level ten. The previously very rickety shack now stood on a solid stone foundation with a wooden floor, and much sturdier walls. Buddy had grown to about the size of a St. Bernard and the surrounding area didn't look as empty and drab anymore. All in all, I'd say it was a success.

Now accessing the build menu again I could see that I had, once again, increased the maximum amount of mana I could have. It was now at the astounding amount of 25 out of 35. I had gained a whole ten extra! The things I could now do! But before I went crazy and spent it all, I needed to make some sort of plan. Everything I had done so far had been reactionary. If I was going to be stuck here, if this was going to be my new life, I wanted to make something that I would be proud of.

******

I spent a few days trying to come up with a plan. During that time I managed to do some minor upgrades to my domain. I still couldn't bring myself to call it, or me, a dungeon. A dungeon is underground, dark, damp and filled with monsters, right? Anyway, I digress. I built and populated another wolf den. Strangely this one didn't let me upgrade any of the wolves to an alpha. Maybe that was a one and done type thing? Who knows? I guess I'll find out eventually.

On the grounds, I planted a few more trees and a couple of flower patches. I did it mostly because the space still felt empty and I wanted to pretty it up a little bit. The shack is now a level two building with a basement. Apparently though, the basement upgrade did come with a rat problem; hence the need for more wolves. It's endlessly funny watching the wolves rush down the stairs every time a rat spawns. Who needs television when you have live entertainment?

After a few days of contemplation, I thought I had the beginning of an idea, but I wanted to clarify a few things first. So I called on my old friend, Menu.

"Menu, do you have a minute?"

Almost immediately, Menu's square chat window appeared. "Of course, Master. How can I help?"

"Master? What the hell is up with that?" These formalities had to stop. It was getting real awkward, real quickly.

"Yes, that is the appropriate denomination for the Master of a dungeon, no?" Menu couldn't speak, only communicate in text form, but I could swear he seemed both annoyed and insulted.

"I don't care." I was not giving in on this matter. I would die on the inside if I had to deal with Menu as some sort of haughty, disembodied robot butler. "I don't like it. It has to stop."

Menu's window turned a slight shade of pink. "So what would you prefer? Should I call you…" He paused, as if thinking really hard. "Dude? Or Bro perhaps? What about Dawg?"

"While I do appreciate the sarcasm, what's wrong with just calling me by my name?"

Menu paused for a few seconds before sending through his next message. "And what exactly is your name?"

I was about to answer, but quickly snapped my incorporeal mouth shut. What the hell was my name? I mean, I must have had one, surely. So why couldn't I remember it? Did it have something to do with my transformation into a dungeon core? And if that was the case, why did I still remember other things about my previous life? I didn't remember everything, but I could clearly recall working with animals, I knew what a car was, and a TV. I still knew how to do math, shoot a gun, and I remembered what a gun was. This was all too strange, but I supposed I had no other choice than to run with it.

"Fine, you can call me Bro if you want."

No sooner had I uttered the words, than I felt a slight tingle somewhere. Looking around I identified it as coming from my core. I had a bad feeling as I focused on it, and sure enough, there was now a floating name plate above the swirling green ball. "Dungeon Core: Bro"

I gave a deep sigh. "That's my official name now, isn't it?"

I swear I could feel Menu giggle. "Yes, Bro. The system has recognized your wish and made it so."

I grumbled to myself, and Menu giggled some more. Then I got an idea. It was a beautiful idea, a stroke of genius even.

"System, please change the name of the mana enhanced navigational utility to Bob."

Menu, or Bob now, tried to protest, but it seemed that he could not command the system, only interpret it. Within a few seconds, the familiar chat window had the title of Bob. I was pleased. Bob was not pleased at all.

My success at petty revenge gave me another idea. "System, activate Bob system's text to speech function."

Bob was still spamming the chat window with less than friendly text, which I did find hilarious. In just a couple of moments, his wall of text vanished and I was greeted by a somewhat synthetic sounding male voice. The transition must have startled Bob as much as it did me. He grew dead quiet.

"Now that is definitely an improvement." I was very happy with my recent changes. "What do you think, Bob?"

There was a long drawn out silence before Bob finally decided to reply. "My name is Menu."

"Not anymore it's not." I struggled to keep from grinning like an asshole. "Besides, Bob is a better name anyway. It feels more like you're a person rather than just some computer generated A.I."

Our bickering continued for a few minutes before we came to an agreement. I wouldn't overdo it with calling him Bob, and he would do the same in return. It wasn't a perfect solution, but then again, stupid problems require stupid solutions.

Now that I had resolved the dumbest argument I had ever had, I needed to get back to my actual query. "So, I was wondering a few things."

Now that he could speak, Bob no longer used the chat window. I stead, he seemed to find great pleasure in just starting to talk right next to wherever my attention was focused. "What did you want to know?" I swear my heart would have stopped if I had one.

"Well, I was thinking about my construction options. If I wanted to, let's say, make a bed; would that be possible?"

There was no delay in the response. "Of course. As the essence of this dungeon, you have complete control over what gets made, gets destroyed or what lives in your domain. If you can think it, and you know how it works and functions, you can make it. The only requirement is that you have consumed and/or deconstructed the needed materials. The system and build menu system is only a guide to help you, not a limitation. So if you wanted to make, for example, a sword, at the moment you could only make a wooden or stone sword. If you managed to find something made of metal, you could use that."

That was interesting indeed. So as long as I managed to gather and consume materials, I could build anything I wanted.

"Thank you, that was very helpful. But now I have more questions. How do I go about gathering different materials? And, on a completely different topic, how do I get more different types of denizens to live here?"

Bob chuckled, which sounded strange with his synthetic voice. "On the first topic, it's actually quite simple. Since you have an alpha wolf in your dens, you can instruct him to send out expeditions. They will only be small and very simple missions at this stage, but you can get them to simply scout a little way beyond your borders, or to collect materials in the area surrounding your borders. But remember, as smart as Buddy is, the other wolves are dumb as dirt. Be specific or they will interpret the orders in ways you can't even imagine."

I thought about that for a second. It was true that the normal wolves didn't seem too bright. I would have to keep that in mind, for sure.

"Now, the second topic is a little bit trickier." Bob continued. "You can not create real life or sentience. Such people, or animals for that matter, can wander into your domain, either on purpose or by accident. If they choose to, they can either enter into a contract with you, become proper denizens, or decide that they want to just go about their life. Most will probably choose the latter, but that doesn't mean they will be useless to you. People can be a great source of mana in many ways."

That was definitely something to think about for the future. If I wanted people to come and stay here, I would have to make the place much homier. The same would apply to animals, though in different ways.

"Are there any other dungeons around here?" This question had just come to me.

"I am unaware of anything outside of the borders of your domain. I am part of the dungeon, a part of you, not a part of the system."

"So basically you're saying that I'm just sitting here and talking to myself like a crazy person?" The thought made me frown.

"That's pretty much it, yes." I could hear the grin in Bob's voice. "But don't worry too much about it. I am still smarter than the rest of you."

I was going to retort something, but before I could even open my non-existent mouth, I could feel Bob disappear. That…. thing, was going to drive me insane; or even more insane as the case may be. But for now, he was an invaluable source of both knowledge and companionship.

Thinking about what Bob had said, I decided to see if I could make my little shack a little bit more homely. The first thing I wanted to make was a table. It was an easy design, so not even I could fuck it up too badly. Now I just had to figure out how I made things, other than just poking them in the menus. It turned out that I only needed to think about a table, its construction and design, and a new option would appear in the build menu. Neat!

With my newfound powers, I set to work. Within a couple of hours I had transformed my boring old shack into a comfy and cozy home. I had a big table surrounded by six chairs, a bedframe, some wooden plates and utensils, as well as a big wooden coat rack just inside the door. It was all completely useless, of course, since I had no means by which to use any of it. My denizens did come and sniff at the weird new things in their domain, but when it became evident that they couldn't eat it, they quickly lost interest.

I floated my incorporeal self down to the bedframe and stretched out on top of it. Surprisingly, there was a slight increase in comfort. I would not have predicted that. With the increased comfort I could also sense an increase in mana regeneration, if ever so slightly. Maybe making a proper home would have its perks after all. On that note, I summoned Buddy to me with a thought.

"Hey, Buddy." I instinctively reached out to scratch between his ears. I think I was more disappointed than he was when it didn't work. "Would you mind sending a few of your brothers outside of our area to gather up some interesting things?"

He tilted his head slightly, the meaning clearly conveyed wordlessly. "What things?"

"I don't know." I scratched my own head mindlessly. "Things that they think look different from what we have here. Things they find interesting."

This time Buddy lowered his nose a bit, looking up at me through his 'eyebrows', the meaning once again perfectly clear. "But they're dumb."

I chuckled and nodded slightly. "Don't worry, Buddy. It's not like they can really fail at this mission."

Buddy rolled his eyes, and I could swear he shrugged, before exiting the shack to send his patrol out. He clearly didn't have high hopes for their competence, but I wasn't too worried. They couldn't possibly fail at just going out and picking up things… right?

As it turns out, if you're dumb enough you can fail at just about anything. One of the four wolves Buddy sent out returned with a stick. That's it, just a small piece of wood that had fallen out of a tree. It didn't even have leaves on it, or a seed, or whatever it was that grew on these trees. I sighed.

Wolf number two came back with the half eaten corpse of a giant rabbit. Once again, nothing either new or interesting. Apparently he found it delicious though, because as soon as he got back he laid down in the den and finished eating the rest of it. Thanks for nothing, Fido.

The remaining two were at least not complete morons. One of them came back carrying an old, worn out shoe. Not the most tantalizing of finds, but at least it was new, if not interesting. The last wolf was biting down on a small and injured, but alive, squirrel. I had no idea if it was injured when he found it, or if he made it that way, and I didn't really care.

The poor squirrel didn't dissolve when it hit the floor, probably because it wasn't dead. Instead it just lay there shivering and in pain. It hurt me deeply to see the little fellow suffering like that. There had to be something I could do.

"Bob!" I might have yelled a little louder than strictly necessary. "Can we do something to help it?"

"There are a few options available to you." Bob started listing them off. "You could, if it's willing, make it a denizen. Though I'm not sure what use we'd have of a squirrel. You could ask it to sign a contract with you. Contracted beasts and monsters have more freedoms than denizens, but still operate somewhat under your control, depending on what is written into the contract. You could let it become a resident. Residents have nothing to do with you, not really. At least not in the sense that they are bound to you or you to them in any way. They are merely beings that have your blessing to set up residence within your domain. The mutual agreement will allow you to help, or assist, the resident, and vice versa. It is common for residents of dungeons to become quite attached to their new home and defend it vigorously should the need arise. All three options do require that you provide the individual in question with a home, though the type of home varies. Denizens require you to build bedding, while residents and those under contract merely require a place to call their home. For a squirrel, I'd recommend a tree."

I didn't spend even a moment thinking about the matter. Turning back towards the injured critter I extended an offer of residency to it, and it accepted almost immediately. Now I just had to figure out how to help it. I was no veterinarian, and my knowledge about animals did sadly not extend to how to mend their injuries or nurse them back to health.

Before any of that though, I needed somewhere for the poor injured thing to be while recuperating. Sure, I had some trees, but this little guy didn't look to be in any shape to go climbing on his own. I started by plopping a small shack down a bit away from my core room and the wolves. It wasn't great, but it would do as a start. Next I made a long wooden table along one wall and a counter with drawers along another. I noticed that it was getting quite dark outside, and even more so inside the shack. I didn't have electricity, or even wax for candles, but I needed some form of illumination. An idea popped into my head and I went with it. I made a small wooden cage, inside of which I placed a small concentrated ball of mana. The result was quite spooky. It spread an almost sickly green glow throughout the small space, but at least I could see.

My next problem was moving my patient from where it lay on the grass, into my new clinic. Damn these incorporeal hands! I could get one of the wolves to move it, but I didn't want to traumatize the poor guy more than necessary.

"Bob!" I was not quite panicking, but definitely on the higher end of the stress scale. "Why don't I have hands?!"

"As a dungeon core, you may possess a physical manifestation of yourself only when you have grown to sufficient power. In the interim, may I suggest a golem?"

"I thought you said I couldn't create life or sentience?"

"That is correct." I could hear the exasperation in Bob's voice. "However, a golem possesses neither of those things. They are mere clumps of material given the ability to move and perform the tasks you assign to it. They have no mind, soul, life or consciousness."

I did a small internal happy dance. "Thanks, Bob! I really appreciate you!"

I didn't have many options for what to make a golem out of. Wood just didn't seem right, and dirt felt like it would make a mess everywhere it went. It really had to be stone. Now I just had to figure out how to make one.

Closing my eyes, I conjured up what I thought a golem would look like in my mind. I focused on utility over looks, so I gave it two pairs of arms, four legs for stability and a head with eyes on stalks so it would get a 360 degree view. The end result looked like something out of a really low budget horror movie, kind of like a stone centaur, but without any of the elegance. Beggars couldn't be choosers however, so I willed one into existence and infused it with mana.

Nothing happened for a few minutes, and I started to think I failed somewhere in my creation; other than the looks department that is. Then I remembered what Bob had said. Golems possess neither life or will, so maybe it would just sit there, inert, until I told it to do something.

"Go get the squirrel and bring it to the clinic." I looked directly at the golem as I spoke, still nothing happened. What the fuck? I tried a few more times, varying the command a bit every time, but to no avail. I even tried to mentally command it, focusing on it so hard I got a headache, but it still just stood there.

"You need to give it a name, Bro" Bob's robotic voice made me jump. "Since it has no awareness, it needs a designated name for it to know when you are addressing it."

I sighed heavily. This system had too many damned rules. But if the ugly thing needed a name, I would give it a name. I focused on it again and projected my will and thoughts at it.

"I hereby dub thee 'Stoner the first.' No, that was stupid, and way too long to say, or even think, every time I wanted it to do something. I needed something short and snappy. It took me a second or two, but when I thought of the perfect name I actually laughed out loud. Well, maybe not out loud, but whatever. "I hereby name you 'Fred"'. Even if he wasn't made out of flint, I still found it both appropriate and hilarious.

A name tag appeared over the golem's head, displaying its new name. "Fred, go and pick up the squirrel and bring it to the clinic." As the massive stone golem started lumbering off to perform its task, I couldn't help but notice that tact and grace weren't really words I would use to describe Fred. "And don't hurt it!" I don't know if I needed to add that part, but after seeing how the wolves did with unclear instructions, I didn't want to take chances.

Some moments later, the squirrel was laying on the table and Fred was standing next to it, just looking huge. Just laying on the hard wooden table like that didn't look very comfortable, but I hadn't consumed anything that was soft and fluffy yet. Not even the giant rabbits had anything to offer in that department. But I did acquire leather and rubber from that old shoe the wolves brought me.

I quickly made a leather blanket and had Fred carefully drape it over the patient. Then I made another one that I had Fred roll up and put under its head like a pillow. Leather was probably not the most comfortable material for blankets, but at least it looked a little comfier. Now I just had to figure out what squirrels ate. First though, I needed to get it some water. Where the hell would I find water? I made a large wooden bucket, told Fred to pick it up and then go find some water and bring it back here. I had absolutely no idea how he would do with more complex commands, or a longer string of them, but I figured at least this much should be safe.

While waiting for Mr. Flintstone to return, I tried wracking my brain for squirrel knowledge. I knew they liked nuts, but surely that wasn't their entire diet. It would stand to reason that most types of nuts would be a good food, but I didn't have any of those. I didn't know what type of trees I had in my domain, but they didn't look like oaks, so acorns were probably out. Something at the very back of my mind prodded me and told me that I had read somewhere that squirrels loved pine cones. My trees probably weren't pines either, but that didn't mean they couldn't have cones of their own; or something like it. I asked Buddy to run over to my trees and see if there were any nuts, cones or seeds around, and if there was, to bring them to the clinic.

It didn't take more than a few minutes before the huge wolf came in and dumped a whole pile of cones and seedlings on the table. I gave him some telepathic head scratches and his tail started doing its propeller impression again.

*****

A few day later, my new little friend was starting to look a lot better. He was finally able to get up and about a little bit, and it looked like his wound was closed. The wolves sniffed curiously at the strange tiny thing whenever he walked outside, but they didn't seem to bother him. In fact, he started hanging out a lot with the wolf that had carried him to me. They were the cutest odd couple ever.

Fred had also brought back his bucket filled with water. This gave me the option to make water things, which would be interesting to mess around with at some point. So far, the only thing I had used the water for, though, was to fill a small wooden bowl for my patient.

My faithful golem friend brought me back a few other things too. On his right side, just where his legs joined with the rest of his body, he had roughly half a dozen arrows. Though the implications were less than amazing, it did grant me some new things to devour.

"New material added: feather. Can be used as a stabilizer for arrows, or to stuff into fluffy pillows."

"Bob… Did you add that last bit, or is the system just getting to know me?"

Bob's synthetic chuckle came from right next to me. "No, that was all me." I could hear the smug grin in his voice. "I figured you would like it."

I nodded approvingly and planned to use said feathers for just that purpose when another notification appeared.

"New material added: flint. A form of rock that is easily shaped into sharp objects. Can be used to make crude tools. Due to its high durability, it is more resistant to erosion than normal rock and is therefore suitable for construction."

"New material added: string. "A thin amalgamation of plant fibers that can be used to tie things together. Can also be woven together to make fabric."

"New material added: fabric. A thin piece of cloth suitable for clothing and decoration. Can be created in multiple colors."

Wow, that was more than I had anticipated. Just the flint alone was great, but I also got both string and fabric. This great gift shall not be wasted! Or, well…. Maybe a little wasted…

No time was wasted in making both pillows and blankets for the clinic, stocking the drawers full. I also made a mattress for my own, bare bed frame. Laying down on it now was even more comfortable and relaxing. There was, however, not time to dawdle away at such frivolous things as napping. I had a dungeon to run after all.

Since my new squirrel friend was looking better and better by the day, I figured it was about time I actually gave him a proper home. He wouldn't need to stay at the clinic for much longer. In fact, he could probably be released already.

Not knowing what kind of tree he liked, or even what kind of trees existed in this world, I figured I would try to make one of my own. I asked Bob if such a thing was possible, and he hesitantly said that he thought so. That was good enough for me. Focusing my attention on the small gathering of trees I had already planted, I closed my eyes and concentrated. In my mind I pictured a gigantic tree, towering far above all others. I made it thick enough that at least two cars could pass each other if they drove through it, then I made a tunnel through it at ground level just for that purpose. About a third of the way up I made a large hollow chamber, for nut storage of course, and I did the same near the top. Many thick branches stuck out from the trunk, giving my little friend plenty of places to jump around. I also made sure that the tree had plenty of cones for him to munch on, as well as making some of the lower branches grow juicy red apples. Finishing the whole thing off, I added some small tunnels connecting to each other, to the storages, and to different branches, before I covered the entire tree in thick foliage.

Opening my eyes, I took in the visage of my creation. It was indeed the largest tree I had ever seen. I was sure it must have rivaled even the mightiest redwood. A high pitched, but happy, squeal snapped me out of my dreamy daze. The squirrel was sitting on the ground next to me, just staring at the tree, then up at me, then back at the tree again. How he could see me I didn't know. Maybe he just sensed my presence.

"Go for it, little dude." I couldn't help chuckling. "It's your new home, if you want it."

As I glanced down at him, I saw a new name plate hovering above his fluffy head. 'Little Dude' resident'. "I really need to learn to think before I talk." I mumbled to myself.

Dude ran off as fast as his little legs could carry him, which was faster than I expected. I only saw a slightly orange blur as he bolted across the grass and straight up the tree trunk. I couldn't help grinning and feeling really happy about my little friend. I hoped he would hang around and come visit me down here on the ground.

*****

Next I would have to deal with something that had been on my mind since Fred came back with the water. Not that I had made anything with the water yet, that was yet another thing I had to look into. But first I needed to figure out why Fred had gotten shot, and by whom. I was slightly hesitant to send out an expedition to specifically go looking for whatever had fired those arrows, but I couldn't think of any other way other than just waiting and seeing what happened. Yeah, that wasn't going to happen.

"Buddy!" I jumped a little when he barked right next to me. "How would you feel about a scouting mission?"

He tilted his head and looked at me questioningly. I outlined the details for him; only scout, no gathering, no hunting, no interactions, only looking and seeing what was out there. He nodded and ran off to delegate to his pack. Okay, so that was that business taken care of. Now to play around with the water.

It took me a good few hours, but I managed to make a cozy looking little pond on the western side of my domain. Manually terraforming the land was exhausting, both for my brain and my mana, and I had to take a break and rest numerous times. Hopefully my pond might attract some ducks or something, maybe even some fish. Though I didn't know how the fish would get there, but that could be a later problem. For now I was happy just looking at my pretty pond.

"New material added: reeds. A grass variant found in bodies of water. Its hollow stalks make great straws or breathing tubes."

That was unexpected. Maybe the properties of things could change depending on where and how they were used. That would be a very interesting experiment to do.

"New material added: mud. Wet dirt. Makes things gross."

"New material added: Sand. Fine grained and smooth. Good for beaches."

More stuff! I quickly made a nice beach along one portion of the lake, complete with a small wooden jetty and a little cabin to get changed in. I didn't know who was going to use all this stuff, but just making it made me happy, and that would have to be enough for now.

It was just past sunset when the wolves returned from their scout mission. Three of them came running back like all the demons of hell were after them, and one was laying across the biggest runner's back. I couldn't immediately see what was wrong, but as soon as they all entered my borders I could feel how weak its life force was. I sent a quick mental message to Buddy, but he was already out of the den and running to meet them. My attention shifted to the area where the wolves had entered, trying to see what they were fleeing from.

A few minutes later, the injured wolf having been tucked in on the table in the clinic, I saw four figures entering my domain.

"Delvers detected within the dungeon." A warning notice appeared, flashing bright red. I shifted my attention closer to try and see who it was, and I was not expecting what I saw. These were humans, or at least they looked like humans. I hadn't realized how much I had missed seeing and interacting with other humans until that very moment. In my excitement, I completely forgot about the whole 'I have no body anymore because I am now a dungeon core' thing and almost ran across the grass to meet them. Not until I came within a few meters of the visitors did I see that they all were carrying weapons. Two of them had normal looking bows and arrows, while the other two carried something that looked like an old time musket. The only difference I could see at first glance was a dim, red shine right where the firing mechanism should be. My blood ran cold as it dawned on me what must have happened. These assholes shot my wolf!

"Buddy!" I growled the words out between clenched teeth. "Get them. If they flee, let them flee. If they put up a fight, kill them."

I didn't see any movement for a long time, but I could feel Buddy and eight other wolves advancing slowly towards the intruders. They were staying low and trying to surround their prey, while the hunters were casually strolling along, following the tracks of the fleeing wolves. Buddy stopped a good twenty meters in front of the humans while two groups of four wolves each flanked them on both sides. Once all the wolves were in position, Buddy released a bone chilling howl that must have been heard for miles. The other wolves answered in kind and all nine of them came out of hiding as one.

The hunters tried to gauge which threat to focus on first, but when they laid eyes on Buddy, all the fight left them. As they scrambled to get away, they all ran into each other, dropped their weapons and fell on their asses. Buddy advanced slowly, staring daggers at the men and growling loud enough to make the ground tremble. I was terrified, and I wasn't the focus of Buddy's current ire.

Being a lot smarter than they looked, the humans quickly found their feet and booked it back the way they came. Buddy gave a short chase, but I think he just wanted to scare them a bit more. I couldn't blame him. Hell, I wanted to kill those asshats too.

"New material added: steel. A hardened metal alloy that is very tough and damage resistant. Suitable for building."

"New material added: small fire gem. A small gemstone imbued with the element of fire. When struck, it causes an explosion that slightly damages the gem. Has a limited number of uses before expiring."

"New material added: glass. Transparent, semi solid liquid made from melted sand. Very brittle and sensitive to collisions. Has limited uses as building material. More suitable for decorative items."

While interesting, I had no time to spend ating with my new toys. I had absolutely no illusions that this was the last we would see of these guys. Most likely they would take a day or two to gather themselves, tell the story to anyone who would listen, then come back with reinforcements. Buddy would be a great trophy for any hunter, but they would have to catch him first. We would have to set up some kind of defenses before they returned, but right now I had more pressing matters.

The injured wolf was still alive and breathing, if only barely. "Bob! What the fuck do I do?!" I was closer to panicking than I had been since I got dumped in this place.

"Don't worry, Bro." Bob's metallic voice was calm and collected. "This wolf is one of your residents. It is, in a sense, not a real wolf. It is made up out of your mana, so all you need to do is infuse it with some more."

Okay, that made sense… I guess… I put my incorporeal hands on the injured wolf, focused as hard as I could on sending my mana into it. Within seconds I could feel something happening. There was a tingling in my hands, almost as if a small current of electricity was passing through them, and I could hear the wolf's breathing getting steadier. Within a few minutes I could feel its breathing get steadier and the flow of its mana get stronger.

A long sigh of relief left me at that moment and I stepped out of the clinic. To say I was relieved would have been an understatement, but I couldn't let my mind linger on it for too long. While I had no authority or ability to act outside of my borders, I damn well did inside of them. In here, I was basically a god. Okay, maybe that was a little bit of hubris shining through, but it wasn't too far off the truth. I could sense everything that moved within my domain. I could feel every footstep, should I want to, and I knew exactly where everyone was at all times, as long as they stayed within my area of influence. I could, however, not directly interact with the physical world, other than to make things in it. As soon as that creation came to be, it was set free and I could no longer touch it. With my own denizens and residents, I could interact in other ways, through Bob and upgrades and such, but I was pretty sure I couldn't do anything against those hunters. I had to prepare myself, and my people, for a fight.

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