“Hey Derek, I want to talk to you.” Travis called out in the airport.

“Dude, I’ve got a flight back to Tokyo.” Derek replied, impatient. “I’ve got shit to do.”

Travis shook his head. “No, this takes priority.”

He lead Derek into the smoking lounge of the Airport and hustled him into a corner where they could talk quietly.

“What is it, Boss Man?” Derek complained.

Travis sighed, frustrated. “Look, This isn’t easy to say, all right? The other party members won’t shut up about kicking you from the party, all right?”

“Man, come on. I do my share. I’m not in the Dungeon, so I don’t get Dungeon pay, but I pull my weight.”

“Dude, I fucking know, but there’s gotta be some harmony in Core Hunters or we’re going to break up, and you know what’ll happen if that happens with the Oversight Committee.”

The Dungeon PMC Oversight Committee. It gave PMCs the right to operate anywhere in the world to hunt down small Dungeons.

For example, in Japan, it was illegal for citizens to own firearms, but because they were a PMC they were allowed to keep and carry whatever weapons they wanted, as long as they were only used in Dungeons. A PMC being disbanded meant that they’d have to leave the country, and then sit idle in a neutral area, hoping to get picked up by another PMC. They’d lose their agency, they’d lose their identity, and frankly, they’d lose their money, since they were only paid per Dungeon.

“So I’m out, then... is it?” Derek replied, disappointed and hurt. Derek and Travis had been friends for a long time, but it seemed like that friendship only went so far. It made sense; Travis was protecting his livelihood, his team’s livelihood, and their ability to operate in a nation that didn’t much like them.

Travis snorted. “Pfft. Fuck no? We just need to get you up to spec so you can run Dungeons. That’ll shut them up and increase your versatility.”

“I can’t enter Dungeons, man.”

“I have a plan.” Travis replied with a grin.

“Lord help and save us from Men With Plans. Let’s hear it.” Derek complained.

“You and I head to Nagoya and drive up to Mount Ena. Like, right now. There’s a couple of rumors that there’s a baby Dungeon in the making.”

“Annnd?” Derek replied. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a baby or not, I still can’t go.”

Travis sighed. “Look. I’ll go in and grab the core. You just stand inside the entrance and I’ll hand it off to you. Pour all your magic into the core, possess it, and boom! Problem solved. If we’re lucky, it’ll pry open your Gate enough so that you can resist Dungeon Pressure.”

“...’if we’re lucky’.” Derek repeated. “Look, let’s be realistic here; what do we do if it doesn’t?”

Travis’ face went grim. “Then we keep doing it, over and over, until you can. I’m not losing my fucking job over this.”

Derek shook his head. “You think the rest of the Core Hunters will be fine with me taking a share of the Dungeon pay?”

Travis shrugged. “It’ll get them to shut up. You’re useful, man. You do your job, and you’re good at it. With you inside the Dungeon, we can take bigger Dungeons.”

Derek sighed. “When do we leave?”

“Right fucking now.” He glanced at his phone. “Well, in about fifteen minutes. The other Core Hunters don’t know I’ve sent our gear ahead to Nagoya. It’s just you and me.”

“Fucking great.” Derek complained.

Travis grinned. “I know, right? Let’s go!”

*****

The trip was cramped and uncomfortable, the drive was quiet and uncomfortable.

“Awfully silent over there.” Travis observed.

“It’s easier to kick me to the curb, you know.”

Travis shook his head. “That’s a big ‘Fuck You’ to our friendship. I can’t do that. I won’t do that. Besides, what’ll likely happen is that I’ll have to stick someone else on Cleaner duty, they’ll do a shit job, so I’ll have to cut them loose, which means I’d have to do it again and again and again until there’s no Core Hunters. It’s slow death. I want you on the team. I want the ... flexibility... of adding you to the Dungeon Group in case someone is sick, gets injured, or, saints preserve us, taps out.” Travis shook his head. “Show them you can walk into a Dungeon any time you want, and your value to the team goes up. If you want to Dungeon, you can Dungeon. If you want to choose to Clean, you can Clean. Hell, you’re good at Cleaning.” He shrugged. “Just... prove to them you’re worth more than Cleaning. That’s it. They’ll shut up.”

Derek scratched his beard. “Long speech for a fat guy.”

Travis snorted and gave Derek the bird.

“I haven’t heard much about baby Dungeons.” Derek muttered. He used his smartphone to find anything on them, but to no avail.

Travis shrugged. “They don’t go very deep at all, there’s not a lot of room for monsters. The really small ones are like closet-sized. You probably don’t remember your first Dungeon, where they have you tap a Core, but the Cores for that are usually farmed from baby Dungeons.”

Derek sighed. “So I grab a Core, pour in my magic, little by little, drop by drop, while desperately trying to not die.”

“Well, unless you want to stop being a Dungeon-diver.” Travis replied.

“A mage without a PMC, working a normal job, constantly surveilled until the day I die.” Derek complained in dolorous tones.

“Don’t forget they won’t allow you to have relationships without their consent, your partner and any children will constantly be required to undergo checks of magical aptitude... unless you really like the idea of living on the Artificial Island and being used in breeding experiments.” Travis replied.

“They don’t really do that.” Derek replied.

Travis raised an eyebrow. “It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they did.”

Derek grumbled at this. “I’m gonna clean the weapons.”

“You always do.” Travis argued. “They should be fine.”

“I just don’t feel comfortable with a gun I haven’t disassembled and cleaned myself. The baggage handlers at the airport might’ve fucked something up. Some other PMC might’ve fucked them up. I dunno. It’s better to be safe.”

“Check mine too, then.” Travis retorted.

“Roger-roger.” Derek replied, squeezing through the seats to get into the back of the van.

A Dungeon Core was a glassy ball of condensed magic that constructed a Dungeon around it as it sank further and further into the ground. Magical Pressure was what actually carved the tunnels and chambers, warped animals, plants and people into monsters. To conquer a Dungeon, one simply had to destroy the Core, which wasn’t terribly hard to do.

However, in order to gain new abilities, expand your powers, and gain new strengths, you had to tap the Core, which meant you needed to grab hold of the Core, and pour your magic into it, until you overwrote the Core’s magic with your own, and this had to be done inside the Dungeon. Take the Core out of the Dungeon, and the Core would break. No reward for conquering the Dungeon or Tapping the Core.

The first Dungeon was just a hole in the ground at the Mount Ena Shrine. It wasn’t difficult at all to Tap, Derek simply had to reach into the ground, grope around for a moment to find the Core, which was roughly the size of a marble, and Tap it, trickling his mana into it a bit at a time. The tiny core crumbled away to dust in his hands, and nothing happened.

“Pfft. Probably a mana boost to your already impossible mana pool.” Travis joked. “We’ve got five miles to the peak, let’s find some more.”

One of the Cores gave Derek the Wind Element, and several gave him a temporary resistance, long enough for him to actually run into a somewhat larger ‘Baby Dungeon’ and sit there among the seething crystals and trickle his mana into a softball-sized core.

“You know, we’d probably have a lot more luck if we did this at Fuji.” Derek complained.

Nobody really knew the reason why Dungeons typically sprang up in the wilds, or why they seemed to prefer mountains, it was just a thing that they did.

“No way. Nope. Fuji’s covered in military and privately backed PMCs owned by the Emperor of Japan. They shoot on sight and do not ask questions. That’s a great way to get your shit pushed in.” Travis replied, mopping his broad face with a towel he’d soaked in water.

“So we tour other mountains in the hope that I get a larger Gate?”

“Just so. You feel any different?”

“Tired and sweaty.” Derek replied.

“Ugh. Might need to find a larger Dungeon, grab the Core without Tapping it, and bring it to the entrance...” Travis mused. “These piddly things aren’t doing a lot for you.”

“That might kill me with the Magical Pressure.” Derek reminded him.

“Yeah, but what other ideas you got?”

Derek looked down at his hands and breathed out a heavy sigh. “I could do this ‘baby dungeon’ hunting for a long fucking time, I think. Well, if I didn’t need food, a place to sleep, modern conveniences of living, toilet paper...” He trailed off.

Travis burst into laughter at that. “We actually can’t. Shit like this is usually managed by the Committee. They need Cores for their new recruits, after all. We’ve got this weekend, and then that’s about it.”

Derek pointed to a discolored wedge of rock on the slope of the mountain. “That might be another Dungeon.”

They scrambled over boulders, scaled up the cliffside, scraped knees, bumped elbows, and arrived at the spot.

“Mmm. Definitely bigger than a ‘baby’.” Travis agreed. “Give me my shotgun and revolver and I’ll go take a peek.”

Derek passed them over and settled himself down to wait.

The sun went down, and the moon came up; Derek made a small camp and used pull-tabs to heat up a cup of coffee. A pull-tab was something that mixed chemicals together to create a hot pack that could boil water.

Travis peeked his head out of the Dungeon. “Dude, this place is empty. It’s seven floors, and it’s a dual-core Dungeon.”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“I definitely would die if I went in there.” Derek replied.

“Probably. I’m going to grab a Core and bring it to you.” Travis replied.

“Eh, it took you hours. Grab a snack and coffee.” Derek offered.

“Fucking truth.” Travis replied. After a gulp of coffee, He elbowed Derek. “So dude. You’re getting Dungeon pay for this trip.”

Derek gave him a baffled look. “That’s bullshit.”

“You’re part of a PMC, you’ve been Tapping Cores and defeating Dungeons.”

“Jesus, don’t do that. What a horrible reputation: Derek the Baby Dungeon Killer.”

Travis burst into laughter at this, and after a moment Derek joined in.

Even though they were a PMC with full authorization to act towards their goal of conquering Dungeons, they didn’t set up a camp on the mountain. There was a designated campsite near Ena, but it was too far away, and they likely wouldn’t be there long.

After a bit of rest, Travis explained the interior to Derek.

“It’ll take me about four hours to get the first Core back here, now that I know the route. Start your timer when I go in, and peek in about fifteen minutes or so towards the deadline.”

“If my eyeballs explode, that means you’re heading my way.”

Travis barked a laugh. “Just stick your arm in up to the shoulder if you can.” He waited for Derek to set up a timer on his smartphone, nodded to Derek, and slipped into the Dungeon.

A dungeon with multiple floors was considered a hazard, and depending on the number of floors, it would require either a large PMC or active military engagement. Small PMCs like the Core Hunters wouldn’t even be allowed inside because of the risks. The same could be applied to Dungeons with multiple Cores.

However, the fact that the Dungeon was deserted and had no monsters would work in their favor. Mount Ena had a variety of plants and animals and plenty of foot traffic from all sorts of people, but the way it was positioned, apparently nothing had gotten inside or had been turned into monsters.

“It’d be nice if I could go into Dungeons, I suppose.” Derek muttered to himself. “Who doesn’t like a bigger paycheck, after all?” He sighed.

Really, deep down, he didn’t want to have anything to do with them. To conquer a Dungeon, you had to have magic. If you had magic, you went on a registry. When you were on the registry, you were followed, you were monitored, and the people you associated with were occasionally (but discreetly) checked for magical influences. Magic wasn’t completely understood, after all, and it was possible that it spread out from you like radiation.

He liked being inconspicuous, a face in the crowd, living a quiet, normal, everyday life- even though he hadn’t lived a normal everyday life since the age of twelve. The idea, the concept of anonymity appealed to him.

He checked the time and waved to the drone that he couldn’t see, the drone that was no doubt circling overhead somewhere.

The timer ran out; he stuck his arm into the Dungeon and waved it around like an idiot. Light and sound from one to the other didn’t pass; he couldn’t hear or see Travis, nor could Travis hear or see him. Phone and Radio signals didn’t work either. They were like extra-dimensional pockets.

A hand grabbed his wrist and he froze, but it rotated his arm so that it was palm down and placed on a smooth glass surface.

Something that smooth had to be huge. A beach ball? One of those yoga balls? His hand went numb and tingly; He focused his magic through his hand and into the Core.

How long would it take to Tap it? If it was fucking huge, like he thought it was, it could take hours. Days, maybe? Weeks? The largest thing he’d ever put his magic into was his knife when he was cutting off bits from the monsters he killed.

No... no. There was those testing modules that he’d had to fill when it was discovered he had the Arcana attribute. Arcana was so rare that nobody knew exactly what it could do. Fire burned, air was air, Light lit up things and it could heal things temporarily, but Arcana... didn’t behave like any of the other elements. It could behave, in a way, like all of the other elements, but in a completely different way.

He trickled and trickled and trickled his mana into the Core. If he was lucky, when it was done, he’d have a larger Gate, so that he could cast spells and enter Dungeons. If he was unlucky (as he usually was) then his ridiculous capacity would increase even more, he’d gain another element, or he’d receive a short time buff.

Most magicians wanted a larger mana pool or additional Elements. A buff was a buff, it didn’t last very long. All he needed was a gate increase.

His shoulder ached and burned from keeping his hand on the Core for so long. He was exhausted from constantly having to concentrate into pouring his mana into the Core.

He wanted to get a rifle, so that he could pick off monsters from a distance. He wanted... wanted... well, he wanted a lot of things.

He looked up at the starlit sky as he drained his magic into the Core. Constellations whirled in the sky from stars long dead. Where’d the Dungeons come from, anyway? The Cores. Where did they come from? Why were people fucking with them in the first place?

Suddenly there was a searing hot surge of magical power that backflowed into him as the Core crumbled under the weight of his hand.

He struggled with it as it burned his insides. He’d never had so much magical power flowing through him before. He wasn’t even certain where his mana pool was, but he was certain the backwash was another expansion of his limitless magic.

He fell backwards against the rock, his arm slipping out of the Dungeon.

“Another dud.” He gasped as the fiery power raced through his body and faded. “Fuck.”

He didn’t need more magic. He needed a bigger Gate.

He tried to struggle to a sitting position as Travis came out of the strange fold in the earth.

“What’s the verdict?” Travis asked.

“Backflow. Think it’s more magic.” He managed, clutching at his chest.

“Fuck.” Travis replied with a sigh.

“No shit, ‘fuck’.” Travis replied. “It’s burning me up from the inside out.”

“Keep it together, man. Breathe.”

Derek flopped and jittered as he tried to contain the new magic.

“Fucking-” He gasped through clenched teeth.

Slowly, eventually, the magic within him faded. He let out a breath and went limp against the rocks.

“Think I’ll lay here a while.” he decided, when he could speak. “Feel like that one damn near cooked me from the inside out.”

“That sounds like a good idea.” Travis agreed. “You rest for a minute.”

“More like a lifetime.” Derek shot back sarcastically.

“You know, when we did our magic training, it was a lot like that for me. The feeling like everything was on fire. All my veins and nerves and shit. Even my bones ached.” Travis offered.

“Yeah. Like that.” Derek agreed.

“So... feel like taking a trip into the Dungeon? Maybe that was your Gate opening up.” Travis offered.

“Fuck you.”

“No for real. How do you know that wasn’t your Gate opening up?”

“Fucking-” Derek gasped.

“Rest a bit, and then we go in together.” Travis decided.

“Fuck you.” Derek muttered, turning on his side and going to sleep.

He dreamed of endless seas of milky white opalescent flames, burning and wavering like smoke.

“Is this what I am now? A container of endless magic with a tiny-ass spigot?” He called out, but the flames didn’t answer. They burned, flickering, like a mirage of fire, a dream of shimmering platinum vapors.

He called and called in his dream, but nothing answered. He was alone.

He woke up a couple of hours later, stiff and cold.

“Feel like shit.” He muttered.

“Don’t look much better, either.” Travis replied. “Let’s go.”

He stepped into the Dungeon, this time it resembled a bricked tunnel with an arched ceiling. Pale flames flickered in torches.

The pressure was there, and it was more intense than he’d ever felt before. He could feel his own magic rushing out, trying to form a barrier against it. He could barely breathe.

“How bad is it?” Travis asked.

“Wanna feel what it’s like to get punched in the chest?” Derek asked sardonically.

“Can you walk?”

“Can you fuck your mother?” Derek gasped. “I’m trying to stand upright here, and you want me to fucking walk?”

“What about your magic? You should at least feel it flowing out of you.”

“It’s flowing, all right. Feels... weird.”

“Maybe we’re in luck.” Travis offered optimistically. “Sit down and I’ll go get the other Core.”

Derek planted his back against the stone wall and slid to the floor as he struggled to breathe. “We’ll see.”

Travis dashed down the hall and disappeared from sight.

“Fucking fuck.” Derek complained as sleep took him again.

He dreamed of the endless oceans of silvery flame again. It washed over him, it moved through him but left no mark or burn. Shadowy shapes seemed to move through it from time to time, but he couldn’t see them clearly. The flames seemed to whisper to him, carrying echoes of voices he thought he could remember.

He wandered the seas of flames, unhurt, unburned. The sky was endless black, everything was black in every direction except for the ground, which was awash in silvery flames that burned constantly.

It was obvious what he was dreaming. He was dreaming about his magic, the flames of arcana.

Maybe he could find his Gate in his dream and widen it? How would he do that? The flames were limitless, spreading out in every direction.

He was vaguely aware of Travis picking up his limp hand and placing it on the Core, but he didn’t care, he was wandering the sea of flames, trying to find his Gate.

He walked and walked, but there was nothing to give him a guide, an orientation. He wasn’t sure was even heading in a straight line. It was an endless sea of flames, an ocean of flame, a world burning with the fire of arcana, silvery-white, limitless in every direction. He drifted in that sea of flame, sometimes walking, sometimes running, maybe he was even flying at some point, he wasn’t sure. Endless fire, endless black, the endless susurration of flames that burned without fuel, without oxygen, without flame.

He woke up sometime later to see Travis peering down at him.

“Ahhh, get out of my face.” He complained, waving his arms. “The only face I wanna see like that is a beautiful woman’s.”

Travis laughed a little. “Well, you’re awake at least.”

“Morning?” Derek asked, looking around him.

“Yeah. had to drag you out of the dungeon.”

“Fucking really? I failed again?” Derek groaned. Travis shrugged.

“I made some calls to the Oversight Committee.” Travis replied. “Had to let them know what we were up to. We’ve gotta get back to Tokyo. The money’s in your account... or will be shortly.”

“Ugh. All my bones and joints are sore. What happened with the other Core?”

Travis laughed a little. “You tapped it in your sleep.”

Travis flexed his hands. “I don’t feel any different.”

“Well, that’s a shitter. Let’s get back to civilization.” Travis replied. “I don’t know about you, but I could use a proper bed and a shower.”

“Oh god, fuck yes.” Derek replied, and struggled to his feet. Dawn was peeking on the horizon; it wouldn’t take long to pack up their meager things and head down to the van.

He picked up his things, checked over his guns properly, and slipped them into their cases one by one.

“Let’s head out.”

They began the long trek down the slope of the mountain, avoiding scrub brush, patches of scree and gravel, made it to the van, and headed towards Nagoya, and the promised flight home.

“Hey, you remember your training?” Travis asked as they flew towards Tokyo.

“The drill sergeant, mostly.” Derek replied. “Reminded me of Full Metal Jacket.”

“No, no, the magical training.” Travis replied, lowering his voice. Mages weren’t well-accepted by the populace, so it was simply wiser to keep their voices down.

“A bit. Everyone was surprised that I could wield Arcana and disappointed when I could only let out a trickle.” Derek snorted. “The disappointment came later, because they-” He cut off. Why were they disappointed? There was something in their eyes, in their posture- he couldn’t remember. “I guess because I could only use it so little. It’s rare, you know.”

Travis nodded at that.

Travis had gone for the second Core and picked it up from the pedestal- for some reason all Cores were on pedestals- and came back to the entrance. Derek was breathing normally, sleeping, head on his chest.

Travis picked up one of Derek’s arms and put his hand on the Core. The Core lit up for a moment, the inside roaring with silvery flames, and then it collapsed in an instant.

It took any of Travis’ team members a minute or two to collapse a Core; Derek had done it instantly in his sleep.

Derek hasn’t been struggling with Magical Pressure, either. He’d been breathing normally, even with the Core right next to him.

When he’d called to report Derek’s successful completions, he’d been given explicit orders, too.

Name: Derek Richardson

Age: 25

Occupation: Cleaner

PMC: Core Hunters

STR: 6/10 (How did he get stronger?)

DEX: 8/10 (He’s got great reflexes and can target monsters very quickly.)

CON: 4/10 (His stamina, while still low, has improved.)

INT: 8/10 (College educated, with two separate degrees in two fields)

WIS: 4/10 (He’s perceptive and clever, but lazy and indifferent.)

CHA: 6/10 (He’s got the charisma to banter with his team leader and not get fired for it.)

Magic Element: Arcana

Magic Gate: ??

Magic Pool: ∞ (infinite)

Magic Resistance: ??