It took two months for the dungeon people to clean the soot from the worldlets they could access. Most of the work teams had taken the liberty of leaving the large vines placed in graceful arcs, loops, and in one instance, a spiral instead of the outward-radiating straight vines the dungeon normally grew.
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The last particle of void soot was caught deep in the cracked ground of the stony worldlet. With each wave of rushing water that swept across the worldlet, the soot particle swirled around in chaotic eddies before settling back down as most of the water drained away. The roots of the acid aligned vine ate down through the stone, but their progress was slow and not concentrated toward the soot particle.
A large spawn fruit fell from the vine and was swept into the crack. It became wedged near the top before splitting open and releasing four fish. The fish tumbled about in the eddies for few seconds before they got their bearings. One of the fish swam out the top of the crack and was swept away as the wave of water receded. The other three fish swam purposely back and forth as the water level in the crack dropped. As the crack narrowed, the fish crowded together. When the next wave of water arrived, the fish spread out again. One fish remained near the bottom and spotted the soot particle dancing around in the water. The fish snapped it up, hoping for something tasty. A black stain leaked out from the fish’s gills and covered it’s scales. The fish thrashed in pain as every scale erupted outward into an insectile leg. The body of the fish lengthened and its legs scrabbled at the rock like a hideous centipede. The fishes head melted away to reveal a bird-like beak that snapped at the water. The mutant fish shot up the side of the crack as its fins grew half-melted feathers. At the top of the crack, the mutant turned and raced toward the dungeon vine, beak dripping with ichor.
A few of the jellyfish released sprays of acid as they detected the disturbance below them. The mutant wove around the sprays of acid but lost half of its legs on one side. It let out a burbling scream but continued towards the vine. The mana radiating from the vine eroded the flesh of the mutant, slowing its progress and blinding its senses. A few more sprays of acid ate through the middle of the creature. The wave of water began to recede, pulling the feet out from under it. The creature gave another burbling scream as its two halves were washed away to the edge of the worldlet. The scream cut off abruptly and the creature was annihilated.
_ Void Contamination Purged. Experience Awarded. Quarantine Removal Requirements Not Met _
_ Core Level Increased to 8. Mana Storage Increased 5%. Mana Generation Increased 5%. Durability Increased 10% _
_ Select Dungeon Reward:
- New Material
- Unlock Spawn
- Unlock Treasure
- Entrance Feature (Disabled Due to Quarantine)
_
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
_ Random Selection: “New Material” Selected. Select From Available Materials: … _
_ Random Selection: “Silk” _
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Deep in the clay mud of the sauna worldlet, the dungeon vine roots slowly pried open a crack in the edge of the space. The roots forced their way deeper inside the crack, then swelled with immense force.
pop
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The underworld snake paused in its digging. A wave of vertigo swept over it, followed by a dull popping sound. The snake began to frantically back out of the fresh tunnel as it heard a new dungeon music, separate from the first. The two dungeon musics were similar and seemed to build on each other. The snake finally extracted its head from the digging and turned to race around the underworld tunnels. It wanted to find the source of the new music.
The snake soon found a new set of tunnels branching off the furthest tunnels the snake had explored. The new tunnels felt slick and sticky. Water dripped all around the snake. The snake hesitated for a moment, worried the tunnels would collapse or flood, but the new music was stronger now, it certainly came from somewhere in these new tunnels.
The underworld snake slid through the muddy tunnels until it found a small cavern with roots growing out of the roof. Water dripped constantly from the roots, allowing the snake to rinse off a layer of mud. A few tubers grew on the roots and the snake knew they might spawn prey. The snake was excited to explore these new tunnels and learn the differences of hunting in mud. The snake hissed in happy satisfaction as it listened to the new and old dungeon musics.
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_ Multiple Worldlet Anchor Points Detected (x2). Worldlet Stability Greatly Increased. Mana Generation Increased Approximately 9%. Congratulations. _
_ Select Dungeon Reward (x2):
- New Material
- Unlock Spawn
- Unlock Treasure
- Entrance Feature (Disabled Due to Quarantine)
_
_ Random Selection: “New Material” Selected. Select From Available Materials: … _
_ Random Selection: “Bone” _
_ Random Selection: “Unlock Spawn” Selected. Select From Available Spawn: … _
_ Random Selection: “Lesser Peafowl” _
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Violet woke from a nap as he sensed a jump in the mana output of the dungeon core. He peeked around the side of his room divider at the dungeon core. He pulled his head back and rubbed at his eyes, cursing. He summoned his dark glasses and jammed them on his face before peeking at the dungeon core again. Yes, the core was putting out more mana but its level hadn’t gone up. Violet raised his eyebrows as the mana output jumped again by a small amount. He didn’t want to be the first one to break the silence between him and the dungeon core, but his curiosity burned brightly. It had been months since the core had let the stream worldlet collapse and it had been operating at maximum since that time. Violet was pretty sure the void infection was gone, though most of that work had been done by the humans. Maybe the dungeon fairy could graciously offer an olive branch to the dungeon core in recognition of the responsibility and consistency it had shown.
Violet stepped out from the room divider and floated over to the dungeon core. He cleared his throat, feeling pretty awkward. “Um, hello. I noticed that your mana output went up. Just now.” Violet mentally kicked himself in irritation. You’re not an adolescent asking someone to a dance, dammit, you’re a dungeon fairy talking to your coworker. BE DIRECT. He cleared his throat again. “It doesn’t look like you gained a level, and it’s not the same kind of jump I saw when you added new worldlets. Would you care to tell me where this increase came from? As your assigned dungeon fairy, I think it’s important that I stay informed on your general state.” The dungeon core did not respond. Violet frowned. “You know, now that your brightness doesn’t fluctuate, it’s really hard to understand you. You’ll need to come up with a different way to communicate.”