Keith flinched; his arms snapped back to stop his hands from burning any longer than they had to. But he hesitated, looking up and down the seal on the rock. He placed his hands back onto the center of the seal. His hands didn’t sizzle as they touched the golden glow anymore.

The center of the sigil began to waver. Its patterns that seemed so unbreakable and impassable just moments ago were dissipating, the riddle was solved. Keith lowered his arms and stepped away from the trembling magic. Every strand withered, retreating from the walls and crevasses around the boulder they had wrapped around.

The center sigil collapsed, falling into itself in a cascade of sparks that dimmed as the center shrank, dissolving into nothing.

Now, only the boulder remained. Keith stared at it for a few moments in silence.

“Woah, that worked? Nice one Caster!” Elenore congratulated Caster.

She jumped up and put her cleaning rag into her rucksack. She walked forward, joining Keith as he still stood in front of the boulder.

“So, how are we gonna move it?” Elenore motioned her hand in a wide arc. The rock itself was massive, there was no way they’d be able to move it by sheer strength.

Without a word, Keith strode forward, lifting his hand. He gripped something on the boulder’s face. His fingers were underhanded and disappeared as he dug in. He pulled the rock toward him, and immediately a rectangle outlined formed.

The shape swung forward with ease, and Keith released his grasp on the camouflaged handle. The hidden door was held open by its weight, revealing the room it guarded.

“Where’s the fog?” asked Elenore.

Keith hesitated, looking around all sides of the doorframe. There was nothing strange or out of place, just a normal stone door without a puff of cloudy fog in sight.

“The Archmage released the Dungeon Core simulation. This hasn’t happened before, ever. Something is wrong.” Keith’s tone was hushed.

Keith peeked his head inside the doorframe, looking into the room beyond. Caster couldn’t see beyond Keith’s robes, since his head was only at knee height.

“If we die in here, we die for real.” Keith stepped through the doorway to the other side. Elenore didn’t hesitate to follow him.

“You said this is a beginner Dungeon right? How dangerous could it be?” Elenore asked.

“I ran through this Dungeon dozens of times during my childhood training. I know every puzzle, trap, and enemy that the Dungeon Core can manifest. You two just stay in the main room and let me figure out what’s going on,” said Keith.

Caster hopped over the small ledge that separated the outside world from the caverns within. As his soft leather boots met the cold floor of the Dungeon, the door behind him slammed shut. Caster jumped, looking at the wall behind him. It had no cracks to prove that there was ever a door there, to begin with.

“Hope you’re right. Ain’t no way out now but through.” Elenore shrugged.

“There should only be three rooms. One for combat, one as a puzzle, one that leads to the Dungeon Core. At least there was never more than that when I trained here.” Keith walked forward.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Caster still stood at the back of the Dungeon’s entrance room. He looked up in marvel at his new environment. It was cold, colder than any other part of New R’lyeh. The lights of the moonrock seemed to glow from every pebble section of the room around them. There were torches set in even intervals along the walls that glowed with a slow flicker as if the flames were slowed by time. Together, the lights were so subtle that it looked more like everything in the environment had a teal glow.

Fogrun Dungeon – Floor 1/1: Summon Room

As Caster’s eyes adjusted to his surroundings, he realized just how different the Dungeon was compared to the caves. Besides the color pallete swap, this area was far more ancient – even older than the deep caves of New R’lyeh itself. The ceiling was impossible to see, it was hidden by a strange pitch-black abyss. Many small piles of dust and pebbles had fallen from it, their bits littering the floor like shards of unseen stalactites.

One huge carpet was lain out over the floor, but it only covered half the room. It was more of an overzealous welcome mat that a floor rug. Its tears were minimal, but it was so caked in dirt, sweat, and debris that it was obvious that the decoration was at least several centuries past its best days.

Standing right past the mat was a stone table that had several crude weapons laid on it, though Caster was too short to get a good look, he could tell by the few sections of the blades and hilts he could see were crooked and shoddy. Probably leftovers from Dungeon goers that had come before them.

Just a little further past the table was the far wall of the square room. Several different benches and craftsmen furniture stood along with it. Caster could barely tell what there were for, but both Keith and Elenore quickly passed over them, hands swiping as if checking their countertops for anything useful.

What’s a Dungeon anyway? And what’s a Dungeon Core? What did they mean by ‘die for real’? Were they planning on fake-dying? I should probably wait till later to ask them since it’s so serious.

The last fixture in the room sat in the corner and was far larger than the rest. It was a smith’s furnace. Its slow red glow ebbed just as the torches did. A set of anvils sat at the foot of its bed, the millions of tiny scratches and marks tainted its ebony surface.

Were those weapons made here? Caster looked back to the weapons on the table.

“Caster,” Elenore broke his concentration. “Come here.” She waved him forward. Caster waddled his little legs as fast as he could to reach her. She and Keith were standing next to a wooden door on the left-facing side of the room, next to the furnace.

“Something wrong?” He asked.

“No. Well, yeah. We need to open this door, but we can’t until we dispel this barrier.”

“Okay, what’s the riddle?”

“There’s no riddle. This door is a skill check. It’s used to gauge how strong we are and keep us on our feet. This door specifically is a magic check. We’d need to use magic power to open it.”

“Oh, you guys don’t use magic right? I’m the only one that can do it?” A spark of happiness appeared in Caster’s eyes.

“No. This is a level 1 door. Both Elenore and I could force this thing open with sheer strength because we’re far above its power,” Keith scoffed.

“Oh,”

“But it’d be good practice for you!” Elenore added.

Caster sighed, and his shoulders slumped. Still, he moseyed up to the door and both of his companions stepped aside. Looking up at the structure that towered over him, Caster looked closer at the odd colors coming from the door.

There were mystic lines of sky-blue auras that formed a series of patterns. Like a coded language that warded off any would-be intruders.

“What do I do?”

“Just raise your hands and try channeling your magic power into it, it's easy!” Elenore encouraged.

Caster shrugged and did as she advised. With his mitts open and pointed at the door, Caster felt a strange force from within the runes call out to him.

No, it wasn’t calling Caster, it was calling his magic power.

Caster let the runes have it.

A huge burst of light flashed before Caster’s eyes, then a surge of magical energy erupted in his face, throwing him backward through the air.

Skill Check failed: -40% HP.