Amelia PoV:
Man that duel was AWESOME! Though for next time I’ll separate the pistol and rapier duels, I just wanted to see both in action! And because of that I’m so close to leveling up! Now to investigate this mystery creature…
Alright teleportation finished, the locker is there, standing upright, surrounded in a sea of darkness, which, why am I pointing it out? I’m in the midnight zone! But So far so good nothing out of the ordina -
-Wait is that a fish tail that’s slightly sticking out from behind the locker? Whoever this is, they’re clearly doing a terrible job at hiding, plus I can see a bit of light emanating behind the locker. Also taking a good look around me, maybe I should add an underwater section to this floor? Ideas for the future I guess.
“Uhh, I can see your fish tail.” I said, and immediately the tail began twitching massively, before the owner revealed itself.
Now the figure in question looks like your stereotypical mermaid, except her skin is a nice cream color with some shades of black, with her hair being a pale yet deep shade of red, and on her forehead is a bioluminescent rod similar to what an anglerfish has.
She had a very sheepish look, with her hands behind her back, “So uhh erm, hi mom. Hehehe.” She said, giving me a strained smile.
Oh geez this is getting very awkward real quick, uhh what to say to break this awkward ness. “Uhh, hey.” I said, extending my hand in her direction. “So um you must be Mayna, nice to meet you.”
Hesitating at first, the mermaid girl slowly reached her hand towards mine, until finally grabbing it fully and shaking it.
“So your name's Mayna right?.” I asked, completely unsure if that's her name or it's something else entirely.
Mayna silently and slowly nodded her head. “Ok well uhh now looking around, it's um pretty lonely here, out in this dark void that is the abyss.”
She nodded again, “So… I’m not entirely sure if I could summon more merma-”
“Merkin, Deep Sea specifically.” Mayna said, interrupting me.
“Right Merkin, so the best I can do for now is spend mana on some deep sea animals, cause um, following the trends I can only summon non-fantasy creatures.” I finished, as I watched her frown and drooped her head low.
Aw crap, I just made her more sad! Uhh what do I do? Ok I have an idea but I don’t know if it’ll work, we’ll just have to see.
“Ok, ok, how about this, I make some sort of tunnel and or platform where only creatures from other floors can teleport to and come talk to you, as well as creating deep sea marine life, so that way you’ll have people to socialize with. And when there’s nobody there you can socialize with the marine life instead!” I said, while smiling. It’s not the perfect solution. Ideally I’d summon another Deep Sea Merkin but that's not going to be possible.
“Really?” Mayna asked, staring at me with hopeful eyes.
“It's not perfect but it’s a compromise.” I stated, which begs to another question, how did she get here? “Erm onto another point, how did you get here?”
“Oh I was summoned alongside the locker to act as its guardians from ‘dead’ adventurers, and those it deems ‘unworthy’ or whatever that means.” Mayna explained, swimming in figure eights as she did so.
Uhh ok so, according to her explanation she’s here to guard Davy Jones’s Locker? I don’t understand… How can the ghosts of adventurers be able to grab what’s inside? And furthermore how can anyone be deemed ‘unworthy’ when you dive all the way down to this dark abyss and survive. I mean that's one worthy in my eyes, I mean what?
“Mom, I can see that look of confusion in your eyes, and I don’t get it either.” Mayna plainly stated, “But it is what it is I suppose.”
I scratched the back of my head, with nothing to say in response, “Alright well It's been nice talking to you, I’ll see about creating that tunnel/platform or something like that.”
Mayna smiled and waved as I er levitated myself? A good distance away from the locker.
Ok so let’s start, I’ve settled on making something like a glass dome, it looks better than a tunnel in my opinion.
I created a glass dome large enough to fit about twenty people, or maybe thirty if you really pack it in. After draining the water from inside, I realized it was pitch dark. Sure, I could easily give myself night vision, but I’m designing this from the perspective of someone without night vision, yeah that's it. So, for lighting, I placed several 18th-century lamp posts inside the dome. There’s light now, but you can only see out just a few feet from the dome. However, the dome itself is visible from a long distance away.
Inside, I added a few picnic tables complete with tablecloths and a set of bathrooms on the far western side of the dome. As a finishing touch, I included a small room extending outward on the southern side of the dome. It has a hatch that, when opened, will flood the room. This allows Mayna to enter and interact with the people inside the dome.
“Whoa!” Mayna exclaimed, pressing herself against the glass completely mesmerized by what's inside.
And now to really seal the deal I added a door in the middle where people can teleport in from, in which the door will open. Though only my creatures can use it. In total this cost me a whopping TWO HUNDRED AND NINETY MANA! Ay yai yai, the things I do for my creatures, oh look the door opened admitting Jeannette, Annabelle, and Marley in.
“Well have fun Mayna, no deep sea fauna and flora for now.” I said, as Mayna without skipping a beat, swam towards the hatch, opening it before quickly disappearing inside. Causing me to chuckle
Heh, I feel proud of myself! Now back to the surface, I teleported myself back to my core room, looking around it's pretty bland, I can't really do anything about it as I’d used up all my mana.
Well time to chat with Karland! Hmm let's see, I pulled up what is essentially my menu, pressing the communication tab, filtering to my friends list, and found her username immediately, huh she changed it to Kar_87, wait! You can change your username?! Since when! I didn’t know that! Damn, oh well I’m too lazy to change mine.
Amelia Yokakko: Hello, Karland :wave_emoji: how ya been?
Kar_87: Hello dear! I’ve been doing great! Finally taught Bangania a lesson, again sorry about that… but also I’ve met some new friends!
Oh so she dealt with him? That's neat, I guess. And wait, it now shows our usernames in the text boxes?! Since when did it do that? Oh whatever, as long as this dungeon social media thing doesn’t get bought out then I’m perfectly content with the way it is now.
Amelia Yokakko: Oh that’s cool I guess, say completely off topic, I somehow managed to summon a Deep Sea Merkin.
Kar_87: sent gif of a penguin scratching the pack of it's head with a giant question mark to it's right
Wait so they exist!?!?!
Wait what? You can send gifs! Ohohoho I’m sorry Karland for I will occasionally send memes to you… It must be done. Ok but on a serious note what does she mean by that?
Amelia Yokakko: ‘Wait so they exist!?!?!’-Replying to- Uhhhh yeah man, I have one in my dungeon rn
Kar_87: No way I don’t believe you, send me proof right now!!!!
sent picture of an armored knight wielding two greatswords running towards the foreground
Amelia Yokakko: Alright alright jeez I’ll send you a picture just wait a sec
I quickly teleport back to the dome and witness Mayna doing some tricks in front of a crowd of Guerrillas and Partisans, I mean townsfolk. As they observe her from behind the safety of that glass dome.
“Hey Mayna! Can you come here real quick?” I asked, getting Mayna’s attention.
Mayna swam over to me, “What's up mom?” She asked.
There has to be a camera option right? Oh wait there it is! I just have to press the plus button located on the far right side of the type box. “Ok great just stand, er float there as still as you can.”
“Huh? Oh okay!” Mayna said, giving me a wide smile.
A-and perfect, “Great you can go now!” I said, as Mayna giggled and swam back to the glass dome, man reviewing the picture, that bioluminescent rod on her forehead is doing the heavy lifting when it comes to lighting. Alright time to send it to Karland.
Amelia Yokkako: Sent picture of Deep Sea Merkin
There you happy?
Kar_87: !!!! No way!, I wouldn’t have believed this if this didn’t come from a dungeon! :skull_emoji:
Amelia Yokakko: :Sob_Emoji:
Kar_87: I’m going to tell my friends about this and we’re coming over!
Erm…? What's so special about Mayna? She’s just a regular mermaid who just so happens to live in the midnight zone… then again I doubt anyone has gone that deep on this ocean, much like on Earth.
Amelia Yokakko: Uhhh sure, you and your friends can come over, but I’ll be designing my fifth floor.
Kar_87: Ok have fun! :heart_Emoji: man I love these new features!
And I navigated away from the communications tab and onto the floors tab. Yes I want to create a new floor.
Please select a theme for floor 5:
Plains
Desert
Tundra
Star Fort
Countryside villages
Taiga
Mountain
Special Themes:
Battlefield
RTS
Whoa battlefield? RTS? They weren’t on there last time I checked, let’s see what they say!
By selecting the Special Theme ‘Battlefield’ the floor becomes a dedicated Napoleonic War battlefield. Any creatures are automatically summoned, and are unable to leave the floor, aside from the chosen commanders. Also you can bring in creatures from other floors here, and creatures of this floor are able to distinguish non-fifth floor creatures.
The number of creatures summoned is dependent on the rough estimate of the chosen battle.
Everything is customizable, from increasing the nations present, decreasing or increasing troop numbers, or simply setting a battle to follow exactly as it occurred historically, if you chose historical battlefields. These can all be changed if you wish, but it will cost Mana after the initial creation.
Keep in mind that creatures on opposing sides will fight one another with interval pauses in the fighting.
Ayyy I can watch a Napoleonic style battle in real time! Ok time to check RTS!
By selecting the Special Theme ‘RTS’ the floor becomes separated from the rest and is it's own special area, where adventurers/parties would pick a nation, build up, then attack each other.
The terrain and placement would be random. Before a match starts adventurers can vote on three different game modes, with more added at the Core’s discretion, the modes being; Free for All, Team Deathmatch, Capture Points. Additionally for Team Deathmatch and capture points adventurers are split evenly between two teams. Should there be a team imbalance then a correction will be made regardless if adventurers are part of a party or not.
In order for the floor to start, it must have at minimum two adventurers/parties.
Oh so it’s like I’ll be watching adventurers play RTS games like Dawn of War, Warcraft III, Company of Heroes, Age of Empires etc. Ok that would be cool to watch. But I’ve already settled on the Battlefield theme.
I just want to watch a battle! Ok I pick Battlefield Theme!
I am taken to an empty gray room, before I was given a prompt.
Select a location of your choosing, or alternatively design one.
Uhh okay this is a tough one, there were many battles during the Napoleonic Wars, that's just in Europe between the years of 1803-1815 alone, not counting the French Revolutionary Wars, in which Napoleon himself had taken part in a total of 60 battles! This also doesn’t count the War of 1812, or the Anglo-Turkish War, uhh okay. But if we're just restricting ourselves to battles that Napoleon himself took part in then I’ve got 60 to choose from. I mean hey If I’m not satisfied, I can just design my own from scratch.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Alright, I’ve chosen Napoleon’s last battle which is the Battle of Waterloo!
[Waterloo chosen]
In an instant the gray room around me expanded, and the scenery changed giving me an exact one to one copy of the location where the battle took place. I admit I’m kind of impressed actually! Look, I can see Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte!
Though I wonder if I can make a system where the location is chosen randomly. I imagine that fighting on Waterloo would get boring too quickly. Yeah something to think about for the future.
What's next?
[Choose the nations:
French Empire
Great Britain
Kingdom of Prussia
Russian Empire
Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Naples
Kingdom of Etruria
Kingdom of Sardinia
Papal States
Swiss Confederation
Austrian Empire
Kingdom of Holland
Kingdom of Spain
Kingdom of Portugal
Duchy of Warsaw
Ottoman Empire
Sweden
Denmark-Norway
United States of America
Qajar Iran (Persia)
Saxony
Bavaria
Nassau
Numerous other German states]
OH MY GOD THERE'S SO MANY NATIONS! And the system just gave up on listing the rest of the German states. Never could I have anticipated that this list would be so large, in fact the most I expected was just the major powers! Wait, Iran is on there!?!? Oh yeah, the Franco-Persian Alliance 1807 and 1809 and the Russo-Persian War 1804-1813. Furthermore some of these nations were only part of the French Revolutionary Wars.
Let's see, we’ve got a mix of French Client States and Independent nations there, Um, well obviously I’d place France and Britain in their historical positions, and also have Prussia arrive as reinforcements, like what happened historically. But I also don’t have to follow events as they occurred historically now do I? I mean this IS my dungeon afterall, so let's just say I spawn Qajar Iran and set them to attack both sides.
Ok I jest, but the possibilities are endless! Alright so in all seriousness, France, Britain, and Prussia are must haves. Actually I’ll add both Russia, and Austria which will also arrive as reinforcements for the Coalition Forces. Now for France, I’ll add Bavaria, the Kingdom of Italy, and the Duchy of Warsaw. Now it’ll be an even 4v4.
Oh this is going to be so chaotic. Alright finalize the nations!
Affirmative, Nations are as follows; side 1 named French Forces:
French Empire
Duchy of Warsaw
Bavaria
Kingdom of Italy
Versus side 2 named
Coalition Forces:
Great Britain
Kingdom of Prussia
Russian Empire
Austrian Empire
Finalized.
Sweet! What's next?
Choose Commanders for both sides, sidenote only a maximum of two can be chosen.
First for the French Forces, I’ll assign Napoleon and Davout to France, and for the Duchy of Warsaw I’ll assign Jan Henryk Dąbrowski, and Prince Jozef Poniatowski, for Bavaria I’ll assign Karl Philippe von Wrede, and lastly for the Kingdom of Italy I’ll only assign Eugene de Beauharnais.
As for the Coalition Forces, I’ll assign Arthur Wellesley to Britain, for the Prussians I’ll assign Gebhard Leberecht von Blucher and Carl von Clausewitz, for Russia I’ll assign Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly and Pyotr Bagration, lastly for Austria I’ll assign Archduke Charles and Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg.
EEEEEEEP!!! Ok don’t panic, calm down Amelia, breath in breath out, you’ll get to meet them soon, even if they’re female versions of themselves. Alright now that I’m calm.
*Brain.exe has stopped working*
AAAAAAHHHHHHH I GET TO MEET THEM IN PERSON! Especially Napoleon and Wellington himself… herself? Knowing the trends of this Dungeon they’ll all most likely receive the FGO treatment. Which I’m actually one hundred percent okay with! EEEEEEEE, I’m so excited!
I was then blasted with another box.
Set troop amount.
Eh just give all eight nations an equal amount of troops, I don’t care either way.
Before the floor is finalized, set the objectives for adventurers.
Oh… uhhh, not going to lie I completely forgot about the adventurers. Ok so the entrance to the floor is at the southern end of the floor, near the French reinforcements camp, and they basically have to reach my core room entrance on the northern end of the floor near the Coalition reinforcements camp. All without getting caught in the crossfire, I mean if people want to join in the carnage, then all power to them I suppose, it still doesn't change the fact that they still need to go north. I guess they can keep any battlefield loot.
All parameters set, fifth floor has been completed.
In an instant French and British Army camps spawned In the immediate vicinity exactly where both sides fought, I had to blink a couple of times, to be honest. Uhh I see British troops began to occupy Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte. Behind the British camps, just far enough away are more army camps flying Russian, Prussian and Austrian flags; it would take several hours of marching for any reinforcements to arrive. While behind the French camps, also at the same distance away are camps flying Polish flags from the Duchy of Warsaw, the Bavarian flag, and flags from the Kingdom of Italy.
The stage is set! Time to meet Napoleon, wait! How do I look? Does my hair look bad? Is my uniform dirty? Oh gosh why am I so self conscious all of a sudden? I need to go to my room and look!
I teleport myself inside my Core Room, and summon a mirror, ok hair? Looks fresh. Uniform? Still wearing that same uniform, no dirt, dust, wrinkles I don’t care about, bicorne is still in pristine condition, okay everything checks out.
But ahhh, I’m so nervous! I need some backup! But who? Oh I know, I’ll call Jeannette! I teleport myself onto the artillery camp of the third floor, fortunately nobody is startled by appearance, judging by the roar of the cannons, my guess is that there’s a party making an attempt to survive here!
“Hey where’s Jeannette?” I asked a passing cannoneer who was carrying a crate full of explosive shells.
“Oh, she’s over there.” The girl said, making an attempt at gesturing towards the left side of the camp.
“Thank you kindly! I’ll be off then bye!” I say As I rush over to Jeannette, who is currently standing at attention, yet is also reading a book.
It didn’t take long for her to notice me and began waving “Oh hello miss Empress what can I help you with?” She smiled.
“Come with me to the fifth floor!” I said, in an overly excited tone, if one were to look there's stars in my eyes.
Jeannette looked confused, “Uhh okay sure. I’ve got nothing better to do other than sit and wait for cannibals to arrive.” She replied, to which I grabbed hold of her hands and teleported ourselves to the French camp on the fifth floor, specifically right outside the closed off command tent, guarded by two tall girls easily at a height of 6'0" , both standing besides the tent flaps.
And wait a minute that bearskin adorning their heads, that gold plate at the front that has an eagle on it. There’s no mistaking it these two are Old Guard soldiers.
Time slowed to a crawl as I collapsed to my knees, staring up at the blue cloudy skies, raising my hands high into the air in anguish, tears began streaming down my face, before I finally fell to the floor.
What sick and twisted joke is this… why must I be taunted like this? Knowing that the regiment that I’ve been yearning for is in front of me yet is still outside of my grasp. What kind of cruel punishment is this… why am I still here? Just to suffer?
“Eh!” Jeannette said, if she said anything else, I didn’t hear it because by this point I was tuning everyone around me out.
———————————————————————————————————————————————
Jeannette PoV:
Uhh, What just happened? I mean, a couple of moments ago I was ready to fight some cannibals! And now I’m watching my Empress crying on the floor…
“Hey is she okay?” One of the Old Guard ladies said, as she crouched and began poking the empress.
Uhh um what do I even say here! Suddenly the tent flaps opened revealing a beautiful girl, standing at a height of around 5’6”, wearing the same uniform as the two Old Guard ladies, except she’s also wearing an unbuttoned gray redingote over her uniform. Though if she has any hair, I couldn’t see it from the bicorne she’s wearing.
She strolled out, hands behind her back, and immediately both Old Guard soldiers stood at attention giving her salutes.
“May I get an explanation as to the commotion?” She said, as she scanned before her gaze landed on the ground where the Empress is still crying, and wait is that a puddle forming?!
Then her gaze landed onto me, “You…”
“Eeep!” I flinched, as she addressed me.
She walked over to me, “I assume that girl crying on the ground is the one that brought me back to life. Is that correct?”
I slowly nodded, “That's right and um, you are?”
The girl nodded “I see, and oh pardon me I am Napoleon Bonaparte, you’ve heard of yes? I’d assume so if you're a ranker in my Young Guard unit in the Imperial Guard. Though I wished I’d never been brought back in the body of a woman, perhaps I should count my lucky stars that the divines deem fit to grant me a second life.” Napoleon said, “Though it seems I’ve been brought back to have another go against the British, and the treacherous Prussians! In the fields of Waterloo no less! I won't fail a second time!”
Uhh, what is she talking about? Waterloo? I’ve never heard of such a place, furthermore this is the first time I’ve heard of her, and since when did I serve her! Huh, who does she think she is? I only serve Empress Amelia!
Before I could say anything to respond to her, the Empress got up, took one good look at Napoleon, letting out a gasp, before collapsing back on the floor… again, aaaand she fell asleep.
“Get this girl to a medical tent, I don’t have time for this!” Napoleon yelled, “I apologize for short talk, but I must draw up battleplans for the upcoming battle.”
The girl entered the tent, and I crouched low and attempted to carry Empress Amelia. I lifted her up and began carrying her bridal style.
Walking around the camp, I see that everyone is very busy readying for whatever this upcoming battle is. I see some fellow Young Guard soldiers.
Though I didn’t pay them any attention. I could tell that they were not the same despite being in the same unit. At least they don’t have to deal with cannibals 24/7.
Eventually, I was found by a surgeon and led me to the medical tents, where I laid Empress Amelia on a cot. The surgeon had left, leaving us alone inside the medical tent. By now I had found a stool and I sat next to Amelia’s sleeping form. To help pass the time I continued to read the book I was reading earlier before the Empress had taken me to the fifth floor.
BOOM!
I was shaken off the stool as I heard explosions outside. No doubt the work cannons firing a volley…
The resulting explosions woke the Empress out “Aghhggah, Huh, wha, where am I?”
I got up, dusting my white trousers, “You passed out and I took you here inside the medical tents.”
“I see…” Amelia said, getting off the cot, “Wow, I met Napoleon, even though he's a female now, can’t do anything about that… say what caused those explosions?”
“Cannons ma’am.” Was my response.
As if to further illustrate my response, another cannon volley was heard.
“Hmm, I see. So the second battle of Waterloo has begun.” Amelia said, before she suddenly grabbed my left arm. “Come on, I know a good spot where we could watch!”
Huh!? Next thing I knew I found myself on some kind of elevated platform, which overlooked the entire field. To the right, is a sea of redcoats positioned on elevated terrain, which almost certainly overlooked the French camp.
Speaking of, I see a mass of infantry begin marching, towards the British lines, supported by cannons. The Empress on the other hand was looking all giddy, like a kid finding themselves in a toy store.
“Hey so, are we safe here?” I asked, getting the Empress’s attention, she kinda just smirked at me.
“Why of course we’re safe here!” Amelia boldly exclaimed, “I specifically made sure that we wouldn’t be caught in the crossfire… I hope.”
Uhh, why didn’t she sound so confident in the last part of that statement? Anyways I continued to, well I guess spectate the occurring battle as I see infantry charging into a walled farmhouse.
Followed by companies of dragoons charging across the field, going past the French lines, though they didn’t make it very far as the British were quick to form squares.
Yikes someone’s leg got torn off! And now she’s on the ground screaming in pain… I think I’d rather get swarmed by a horde of cannibals.
I let out an involuntary yelp, as I felt myself hit the floor.
“Jeannette are you alright?” Amelia asked, now laying on top of me. Wah? Her face is so close!
“Y-yes,” Was all I stammered out, I could feel my face heat up. I’m sorry I can’t help it ok!
Amelia stood up, continued to observe the battlefield, “I’m sorry, I saw a stray cannonball headed directly towards you.”
I was right we aren’t safe here at all! “Uh um, can we go down now?”
“Oh yeah sure.” Amelia said, snapping her fingers and suddenly I found myself feeling the soft grass beneath my boots. And I also came face to face with a British riflewoman from the 95th Rifles! And she’s pointing her musket at me!
Immediately I raised my hands, “Wait! Don’t shoot!”
After a couple of long excruciating seconds, she lowered her musket and continued moving, only for her to be cut down by an oncoming hussar… yeah fighting cannibals all day doesn’t seem so bad now that I think about it.
“Jeannette it’s okay you can go back to floor three. Just find the floor entrance. It should be directly south east from where we are” Amelia said, giving me a smile.
“What about you?” I asked.
“Oh I’ll be fine.” Amelia responded, while doing some hand gestures.
I nodded and began walking south.
———————————————————————————————————————————————
Amelia PoV:
I watched Jeannette walk south before she broke into a full sprint as a British hussar began chasing after her, thinking that she’s serving under Napoleon in the French army. Well I mean technically speaking she is a soldier in the French army…
Now time to continue watching the battle! Oh the French infantry is retreating and oh what's that is that the Prussian army and Bavarian army getting close? Ohoho this’ll be interesting.
Of course my fun time just got ruined by a system notification…
Alert, numerous hostile outsiders have entered, dungeon in Permadeath mode. All non-hostile outsiders have been safely evacuated.
Oh god damnit, and it seemed like the chaotic battlefield had paused, and reverted back to what it originally was. My question is how’d they get past the guards. Oh well it doesn’t matter now, cause they’ll have to get through this giant battlefield if these rapscallions somehow reach floor five! Time to unmanifest my avatar and go see for myself.