Chapter 1_The Realm Beneath: A Dungeon Story (Edited)

Chapter 1

Blackness, all encompassing…

Silence, forever accompanying…

Solitude, unrelenting…

Sadness, unpolluted…

Awareness, overwhelming…

The grey… comforting, safe, and longed for…

Pain? My companion…

It came in short sharp bursts, shattering my mind, leaving me wallowing in an inky blackness without end. The after-image scarring my mind with the expectation of more, a phantom pain from which there was no escape, no distraction, only the silence that listened to my pain with a deaf ear.

But with each shattering blow, my awareness increased. Gradually, the darkness retreated to the recesses of my mind, occurring only in the moments after my companion had taken hold again.

And then… with one final burst, it left entirely. My aching mind the only sign of the pain that had run rampant through me.

More time passed and even the scars and phantom pain faded, leaving me wallowing in the implacable solitude of my isolation. Pain, previously my constant companion had left my side, leaving to ply her tender mercies to someone else… somewhere else.

Sadness, raw sadness flooded in. A pain-free mind held room for something else; an unpolluted sadness that captured me in a pain of its own.

I missed the grey.

What grey?

Grey?

What?

Confusion. Endless confusion.

I stopped, paused. Holding my fractured mind together with my will. Fragments of myself seemed to float away, as a feather on the wind.

Memories emerged, bobbing up and down on the surface before dipping under again and leaving me as lost and confused as a stranded sailor on the wreckage of his ship, surrounded by debris that dipped and dived away from him, just out of reach, taunting and whispering, goading him.

I paused, stopping for a moment to catch myself. No.

I couldn’t slip. Death lingered close.

Death?

What?

NO!!!

I caught myself again, no distractions.

I paused, thinking without thinking and watching without watching and I saw something. Something that wasn’t the absolute blackness.

Colour.

Blue.

It filled me with a longing, nostalgic feeling that soothed me, like a lover’s caress.

I focused on it, and it bloomed: the world was awash in blue, patterns of light and dark that permeated my vision, swirling around, moving as eddies and ripples upon the water do. Infusing the patterns of the world so that the patterns glowed with a faint light. A light moving in an endless stream, past me and off into the distance.

To where? I couldn't even comprehend.

Off, and off it went, leaving me far behind, feeling cold, like soldiers marching off to war.

I blinked, and upon blinking, the world was washed in greens, not blue. This new green seemed to get more intense the farther above me it got.

Above?

Where did that thought come from?

I stopped again; I couldn’t be distracted.

Like layers, the green blossomed away and out of my vision, pulsing with colour, and then fading away to the background, before flaring in vivid colour seconds later. Like a heartbeat, it thump thumped along to its own rhythm, ignoring all that was not it. The green seemed calming, and I relaxed, blinking again.

This time, the world was washed in reds, and oranges. Unlike the green, this time they darkened and became more intense the further down it went. The reds filled me with a sense of warmth; the colours seeming rich and happy. They didn’t pulse like the green or march ever onwards like the blues. Rather, they seemed to waft up and suffuse the world.

Each and every time I blinked, the world changed colour, but still, the underlying patterns were evident. Blue, green, red, purple, brown, black, white, yellow and silver with countless shades in between, a near endless spectrum of colour that was overwhelming. Yet still the patterns of the world were clear to see.

Eventually, the colours began to merge together. Their bright spots remaining separate, still standing out in the tapestry of my vision. Down below the world was still more red, whilst up above was more green. Blue swirled and flowed through my vision and small specs of the other colours shone out, like stars in the night sky.

As the colours merged, the pattens became more and more clear. Almost as if I were seeing in two types. The world of the colours and the world of the patterns.

Focusing on the patterns, the colours faded away until they almost disappeared. I could distinguish my surroundings: a small space, earthen walls surrounding me barely twice as big as my body. I felt constrained, as if the space were far, far too small. I wanted to expand it, to improve it.

Odd I thought to myself.

Where was that feeling coming from?

I dismissed the thought for the moment, still focused on getting my bearings and went back to observing.

Stretching my vision, I could see signs of life above me. Small bugs and critters, crawling around and exploring the earth of the walls, carrying out their lives oblivious to me. It was comforting to find them, to find life around me, I felt less alone, with them, less isolated.

Happy.

I felt the pieces of my mind draw a bit closer, less fragmented. I was obviously doing something good and so I continued my observation, focusing on the mundane, on the lives of the insects and the warmth of the earth. Watching as they carried on with their lives, finding food and water and building their colony. They moved with a sense of purpose that I found remarkable. So far, I wasn’t driven to do anything. Well, anything, except expand my small hollow, but that could easily be set aside for the moment.

I don't know for how long I observed their lives but, after a while, a new generation was born, and all the time, information was filtering in.

Soon, I realised that the water that the bugs kept finding, corresponded to the bright blue glow I had first seen. I’d been focusing on the patterns so much that the colours had faded enough that I had forgotten them for a moment.

But now that I saw both, I could see the creatures more completely. They glowed with a faint red and green light as they went about their business. Rushing off to find the blue dots and the green ones too. Blue was obviously water but what was green?

It came to me in a moment.

Life. The green was life.

The discovery felt good, and I once again felt the pieces of my mind draw closer.

Back to the bugs…

I watched them for a few more generations, fascinated by their lives, the drive that they experienced, the rush. For myself, slowly watching and observing it seemed frantic, strange, completely alien to my own desires. For now, all I wanted was to watch them.

Three generations later I felt a disturbance, it came from above and I watched with interest. I couldn’t see it yet, but I could feel it, and I waited, anxious to see what it was.

It didn’t take long before a head poked out of the side of the earthen walls that surrounded me, antenna waving around and claws scrabbling at the dirt, dislodging clumps, and widening the hole, letting the rest of the larger insect slip into my hollow.

It wandered from side to side, exploring the new space it found itself in, and searching. For what? I didn’t know, but I awaited finding out eagerly. Nothing this exciting had happened since I had found the bugs, and I was beginning to grow bored of watching them.

The new, larger insect eventually wandered into the bugs. They avoided it and continued on their way. But, as the creature explored, it got closer and closer to the colony until it couldn’t be ignored. The bugs came out in force and an intense battle started.

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The bugs fought with numeric superiority and with a fierceness that bellied their smaller size whereas the new insect fought with a viciousness and skill that was far superior.

But numbers beat skill, and the bugs eliminated the threat. Many soldiers had been lost and I felt sad for the bugs.

Yet something strange happened, something that I was not expecting at all. From the bodies of the bugs and from the larger insect arose a wispy vapour that shined with a familiar grey light. Why it was familiar I didn’t know, but it was.

I wanted it, something called it to me, stronger than any desire I had thus far felt and I reached for it, not with my body, that it seemed was too rigid to move but with my mind, fractured and all.

With a rush the grey wisp entered me, filling up a hole I had no idea I had and making me ecstatic. Wow it felt good.

~~Congratulations! You, ______, New Dungeon have reached level 1. Having found the skill of mana absorption you can now feed yourself, survive and thrive. You need only to think Menu to open up a world of opportunity~~

I freaked out at the *ding* that sounded out, piercing the silence that had enveloped me from the beginning. It was loud and scary and wrong, very wrong.

My mind started to drift apart again with my worry, but I clamped down on it, steadying myself.

Idiot I thought to myself, annoyed that I had lost progress. My mind had been healing, the fragments getting closer together, but now they were far apart again. I sighed.

I stilled my thoughts, and then read through the text that now hovered in front of me.

Odd, very odd.

Menu!!!

Crystal

Dungeon

Store

Name:

???

Level:

Race:

Dungeon

Health:

1/10

Titles:

Mana:

1 of 2

Renown:

Undiscovered

Dungeon Points:

100

Rating:

Attunement:

When the menu popped up, I managed to stay calm, and reading through the table was interesting. Though what most of it meant was confusing and I didn’t understand. Though I had discovered two interesting things. One, was that I was a dungeon, though what that meant was beyond me and two was that I was damaged. One out of ten health seemed bad, potentially very bad.

I also suspected that the vapour I had absorbed from the remains, was something that the menu called mana and the table indicated I could have another one, that seemed enjoyable. I mentally clicked the close button on the page, and it disappeared from view.

Focusing on another of the small bugs bodies I absorbed another of the grey vapours.

~~Congratulations: you have absorbed two mana and reached your maximum capacity, should you wish it you may now level up which will allow you to hold more total mana as well as to select one prize for the first step on your journey. However you may also choose to save your mana and use it.~~

~~Would you like to level up? YES NO~~

I selected yes and felt a force rush through me before the emptiness filled me again, acting quickly I drew in the largest of the grey vapours that hung over the dead bodies of the insects, the one from the invader and felt the emptiness disappear.

Happy.

Crystal

Dungeon

Store

Name:

???

Level:

Race:

Dungeon

Health:

1/11

Titles:

Mana:

5 of 10

Renown:

Undiscovered

Dungeon Points:

110

Rating:

Attunement:

Interesting, I thought looking over the menu again. As I had expected, level had increased to one. Health had increased its maximum by one to 11, which wasn’t comforting, I would much rather have healed up. Mana had increased to five with a maximum of ten and I had gained ten dungeon points.

I now knew what the Crystal and Close tabs were, but Dungeon and Store were still a mystery and so I thought Dungeon to myself. The Menu flipped over a tab, and I was presented with a new screen.

Crystal

Dungeon

Store

Rooms:

Traps

Floors:

Items:

Bosses:

Perks:

Monsters:

Dungeon Points:

110

Unplaced Creatures^

Material types:

This page was mostly confusing, though it seemed my hollow counted as a room and I had one perk, the message earlier had mentioned that.

What was a perk?

What were bosses, monsters, creatures, and traps for that matter? I wondered. I had an inkling, but I wasn’t certain.

Odd, everything was odd.

I clicked over to Store to see what that was and was taken aback.

Crystal

Dungeon

Store

Monsters:

Bosses:

Items:

Materials:

Points to spend: 110

Slime:

Danger level:

0.1

Points: 10

Brittle Skeleton:

Danger level:

0.4

Points 35

Wounded Goblin:

Danger level

0.5

Points 50

Expand to see more…

Interesting, it seemed I could buy monsters and flicking through the other tabs it seemed I could also buy bosses, items, and materials, though since I didn’t know what to do yet, I thought it best not to experiment with such a finite resource as dungeon points. For now, I closed the store down.

~~Congratulations: You have reached the milestone: Level 1 and as such have been granted a perk. The following perks are available:

Heal

23 dungeon points

1000kg of soil/stone/wood/…

Item: The Dungeon Guide for Dummies.

Mana boost: 20%

1% off next store purchase

Free monster/trap within ultra-basic tier.

Choose wisely, your next perk is available at level 10~~

The heal option stuck out to me, and I chose it, knowing it was the right choice. I didn’t like being broken, it felt dangerous and holding myself together with my will was tiring, no, I was sure it as the right choice.

Heal I thought confidently.

The pleasure that rushed through me was extraordinary and I felt my mind draw close, the fragments slotting together neatly before sealing up. I relaxed my hold and when my mind didn’t fracture again, I knew it was true. I pulled up the menu again to check and sure enough it said full health.

Fantastic.

Feeling pleased with myself, I looked around, feeling more confident in moving my mind, exploring my ‘room’ as the menu called it.

It was with this exploration that I discovered something, my body to be precise, it was a weird feeling looking down on myself, but it was right somehow.

I was some sort of crystal, white and shiny. The colours of the world flowed through me, and I felt at peace watching it.

Remarkable.

I’m beautiful, majestic.

I don’t know how long I watched myself for, but I didn’t regret it for a moment.

Time well spent.

What to do now? I thought to myself. I didn’t feel hungry, my mana levels at a good level, nor did I feel the desire to fix myself, I was at full health after all. Hmm.

I had the desire to increase my space I still felt cramped, and my beautiful core needed something more, more than just a small hollow in the ground.

Vaguely, I remembered one of the options from the perk list, something about a dungeon guide. I tried to bring the perk list back up, but I couldn’t work it out, probably impossible. What has been has been, and I couldn’t go back anyway.

With nothing else to do, I began absorbing the rest of the vapours from the battle, though despite the number of dead bugs, the mana barely managed to get me to the ten required to level up.

~~Level up: 2~~

With no more mana from the bugs left to absorb I was stumped.

What to do? What to do?

Watching myself, I had noticed that the coloured mana seemed to pass right through me, whereas the grey swirled around and around inside, stuck.

What if I could make the coloured mana stick around, would it be mine to use, could I keep it, use it?

With that thought in mind I set about my task.

I had to interact with the mana somehow and since my body was a crystal, it couldn’t move, that left my mind. I could move my presence and I was sure I could manage this; it was just a matter of will.

At first, I tried throwing myself at the streams that passed. Unfortunately, they just bent around me, continuing on their path unhindered. Then I tried grabbing it with my mind, holding it in place, much like I had with the fragments of my mind. That too failed, it just leaked out through the gaps, like trying to hold water in your hand. Sure, it stilled for a moment, but a moment was not long enough, and the effort left me aching.

When I recovered, I thought about the issue for a while. Imagining ways that I could direct it. In the end, the bugs helped solve it. They built their colony, and I watched as the bugs had to move around the walls they put up. It was this very idea that allowed me to direct the mana. To reflect it until it bounced around restrained within me. I kept close watch on that first stream, making sure it didn’t slip from my grasp.

Eventually, it slowed, in fact the whole world slowed down, grey mist rising up and surrounding me until all I could see was myself and the mana stream, paused.

It felt exceedingly familiar and yet I still couldn’t remember from where, what about the misty grey was familiar I wondered.

~~Congratulations: you have learnt the basis of elemental absorption. Would you like to become water attuned?

YES NO~~

I thought about it for a while before selecting no, the water had made me feel cold, and I didn’t like that.

~~As you have selected NO, the absorbed water mana will be lost and the residual grey mana will be absorbed~~

The world sped back up and the grey faded away again, the blue stream now gradually fading away as it bounced around me.

Great! I thought to myself, nothing to it but to wait.

Crystal

Dungeon

Store

Name:

???

Level:

Race:

Dungeon

Health:

13/13

Titles:

Mana:

2 of 50

Renown:

Undiscovered

Dungeon Points:

130

Rating:

Attunement:

The menu didn’t say I had more or less mana, but I felt empty. As if the effort I had expended had used up more that I had gained.

In this manner I continued in my quest to level up and get another perk. It took a while, absorbing the ambient mana, but eventually I got there.

~~Level up: 3~~

~~Level up: 4~~

~~Level up: 5~~

~~Level up: 6~~

~~Level up: 7~~

~~Level up: 8~~

~~Level up: 9~~

~~Level up: 10~~

~~Congratulations: You have reached the milestone: Level 10 and as such have been granted a perk. The following perks are available:

Heal

230 dungeon points

5000kg of soil/stone/wood/…

Item: The Dungeon Guide for Dummies.

Mana boost: 20%

1% off next store purchase

Free monster/trap within basic tier.

Choose wisely, your next perk is available at level 20~~

This time I chose the Item: The Dungeon Guide for Dummies.

Settling down for an interesting read. Or at least trying to, I felt far more constrained, more cramped. I didn’t like it, but the lure of the book was too strong, and I focused.

Finally, some answers…

Chapter 1

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