Mar sensed it fully once they paid attention the Ant-Termite General and the snag he had hit in the road. The Dungeon, the small hill with a cavern mouth that looked like a beak. They had been distracted by being lost in observing the growing population of Subjects that they had spawned down in the caverns to notice it initially, but now when they looked at the Dungeon and one of the Subjects there touched the hill, they could see the notification again.
* Exaltation! You have found another being from your world with a similar Soul Guidance System: Dungeon Interface
* Note: "Apocalyptic Rank" is equal to 10 times their "Dungeon Level"
* Apocalyptic Rank 2 vs Dungeon Level 8= Dungeon Level 20 vs Dungeon Level 8
It had been like that time Mar had touched that Catkin Enby, but instead of a living individual, this traveler had become a...Dungeon? Maybe it was like those old video games that Mar could distinctly remember not playing but hearing about? At any rate the relevant factor here was what to do with it. Mar decided to dedicate effort to hear what was said in the quick flurry of conversation between the group of Subjects and their foremost War-Collective.
"A Dungeon is one of those unsolved mysteries of the world, General. Scholars disagree about what truly powers them and how their laws differ so much from the rest of the world, but what is known is that Dungeons are a great source of opportunity and danger."
Bor the Scribe along with Mariam took the lead in explaining what they knew to both the General and the assembled group. Mar could sense the shivers passing through them all as their unseen presence grew as they focused on paying attention. Antmite General spoke next as he decided to learn through conversation rather than trying to rifle through their memories. Mar sympathized with the little Collective, the larger one grew the more difficult it became to access specific bits of knowledge like this.
Technically speaking Mar and the General both knew all that these individuals knew, but it wasn't easy to actively carry that knowledge with them. So, having things verbally explained like this was similar in nature to how it was like...reading a book again after having not done so in a year. Yes, one did remember the plot but it still was a reminder and a pleasant little way to rediscover things half-remembered. It also absolved the Collective of having to expend the effort needed to specifically try to dig through the perspective of an individual.
"What are the dangers, is this place a military threat that must be destroyed?"
"General, no worldly force of magic or divinity has been discovered that can actually destroy or even harm a dungeon from the outside. It is said that it is possible to destroy a dungeon from within, but this wasn't my field of study so I wouldn't know how. Maybe Mariam would know?"
"Nope, my education both as a Lady and as an Adventurer didn't go into those areas. I know what forms a dungeon and what happens to those who delve, but that is it really."
"Oh, and what is that?"
Lysander piped up from where he had taken the position to best sketch the yawning mouth of the cavern, Mariam glanced over from where she had been looking at Bor and the Worker she had decided was the "General". Technically speaking she spoke through her Fragment as well as out loud to the Collective of all the Fragments in the army, but unlike Zilla she hadn't grown used to addressing someone without a body or that she couldn't see or hear. So, she used Units as mental stand-ins for the Collective when she spoke with it.
"Those who enter such places are changed as they adventure. Yes, what they do is not that unusual by itself: fighting, exploring, avoiding traps, and looking for loot. But the process changes the people involved, it gives them abilities and skills beyond the norm. Like I knew this one prominent Adventurer who had been a farmworker."
Mariam stopped for a second and glanced around before rubbing at her neck as the overbearing presence made her want to squirm. But she redoubled her efforts and continued her story.
"She found a new Dungeon just like this and along with some of her friends "farmed" it for months before it was discovered. These were just regular poor people without any real equipment, she fought with a regular farming Scythe. And somehow after doing that enough she could fight with that impractical farming implement better than trained Swordsmen. She developed strange abilities that one couldn't explain outside of magic, and I think one of her friends literally only fought with some discarded rope. The same happens to all who adventure in Dungeons for long enough, their skills are honed supernaturally quickly, they develop new powers related to them and their experiences in the Dungeon, and they grow more powerful through the loot they find which seems to be based around the "theme" of the Dungeon."
"How are they made?"
The General bruskly demanded before Mariam went more overboard in her explanations. Mar noticed a feeling of astonishment radiate from the other Subjects around the woman as she had spoken more in that rant than what she usually said in an entire day. It took a moment for the usually taciturn woman to shake off the chastisement that the Antmite General transferred through the bond and she continued.
"There are these things...called Dungeon Cores, they are sort of like the...seed or the blueprint? Of the Dungeon, by themselves, they don't really do anything. It is when they come into contact with a monster and a magical item that they are...errr...planted into the world. From there they rapidly grow an outward structure like this."
Mariam gestured at the hill with a broad sweep of her mutated arms, before she turned back to explain the assembly.
"It also digs into the earth and converts the tunnels it makes into chambers, corridors, and such. But they aren't really in the earth as far as I understand it. They are both there and not there, I think? My former party member could explain that part more, anyway, inside of it the Dungeon spawns monsters, traps, and other things based around the magic of the being and the item that came into contact with it..."
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Mar withdrew their attention from the conversation, they could learn more about these details later. They had a book to consult that they had been so fortunate in receiving recently. With a simple flick of their wrist, the book manifested in their divine realm and Mar once more resumed reading it on their throne.
"SGS: Soul Guidance Systems, what are they and how do they change YOUR reality?"
Alaric had not been wrong in that this book contained knowledge that Mar found most....interesting. Soul Guidance Systems were powerful, and their own Interface was a testament to that, but there was much that Mar had to learn about the subject. First, Mar had been surprised to discover that Soul Guidance Systems were not purely internal as they had originally believed. If the writings of the Archmage were correct, then they also had an insidious ability to make reality itself "play along" with the rules of the System.
One of the examples that were listed was an Adventurer who made others fight in a peculiar manner. Everyone who battled with or against him had to square off like it was a board game, taking turns to attack or do their actions and seemingly without noticing the peculiar nature of what had happened. Only after a long time of separation in a pocket dimension that Alaric had created could one of the people exposed to this system even notice that something strange had taken place in all of those battles.
"Now, is there a section about: Dungeon Interfaces?"
Mar asked themselves as they rapidly paged through the book trying to look for a relevant passage or section. In addition to having historical accounts and theoretical extrapolations and speculations about the nature of Soul Guidance Systems. There was a handy reference section in the book with a list of noted Soul Guidance Systems both unique and types. And sure enough, after rifling through the book Mar did find what they were looking for.
Contrary to what some might say, they did not exclaim in triumph upon finding the correct section. And said theoretical exclamation did not cause the nearby dead to scurry away like rats fleeing a sinking ship. Mar read through the relevant passages quickly enough to be able to rapidly fill in the blanks from the knowledge that the Swarm already possessed. Dungeons were in addition to being people, entire little worlds onto themselves. The nature of their Dungeon Interface was to serve as the guiding "physics" of that world so to speak. Every being that entered into it would be slowly imprinted on and defined according to the rules of the Dungeon.
In effect, it would give them the equivalent of "classes" from roleplaying games. And while the unwitting beings who went through the Dungeon wouldn't sense the "classes" they would sense the benefits that came along with them. The fact that those benefits persisted after leaving the Dungeon was the greatest advantage of all, but Mar was more interested in finding a way to infect and convert the Dungeon itself.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Yes, the Swarm would have to play according to the rules of the Dungeon, but that was fine and dandy for now. Because in time, Mar would make the Dungeon play by their rules. They reached out through the Swarm and did the equivalent of a loud bellow.
"General, leave 300 Units with the chosen group of Subjects. Continue your advance while they focus on the Dungeon."
The authority that they projected made the General quail for a moment before he assented and did as they had instructed. Mar on their end began to turn their attention to looking for more Subjects that could go to the Dungeon.
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Fred the Dungeon was busily gorging on the sensation of having feasted on hundreds of lives in the span of a day. Just as the creepy Clown had promised after he had come to visit him for the final time. Being a Dungeon was not nearly as fun as Fred had hoped it would be when the offer had been given to him.
It had happened after he was permanently put in the hospital once the cancer had truly gotten out of hand. Laying in the hospital bed and just waiting to die, that was what his final days were going to be. But one night while in bed he had a moment of lucidity and noticed a shadowy figure perching over him.
He had told him that while he couldn't save his body, he could save his mind and soul if he wanted it. To go to another world and become a Dungeon in his second life. Fred was actually excited by both the prospect of not dying and facing oblivion and the idea of becoming a Dungeon Core. In his time he had read so many Dungeon fantasy books that he knew all of the prominent tropes, given his genre knowledge he would be able to completely own the Dungeon gig.
The shadow had heard his assent and then jabbed some kind of suction device to his face and then Fred was resting in the darkness. Excitement kept his conciousness from drifting off fully into a kind of slumber, as he pondered and marveled at the great future that was going to be his. It didn't last after he finally woke up.
Welcome Dungeon Core! Your Dungeon Core has been bonded with a Core Artifact and a Guardian Beast which means that your transitory state is at an end. Prepare for the planting....
"Huh"
Fred tried to move and then felt his...crystal wiggle on the pedestal of stone that he was perched on. It was a bizarre experience because first he saw the brief system notification flare up, and then he had the perplexing sensation of both seeing out from his core gem and also look at the room from a topdown perspective.
The small natural cavern was dark, but his sight was perfect in spite of the lack of light and he saw smoke rising from a corner of the room. He paid it no mind, however, as he felt a surge of power flow through himself as he noticed the large chicken nervously fretting about in the cave and the red string wrapped around the center of his core which led up to a green balloon.
"What the-"
Processing.... Planting complete.
Arcs of energy blasted out of his Core and into the fretting chicken and through the rope and into the balloon. He felt his very essence leaking out through the gem and into the two targets and then from them and into the very cavern chamber itself. Fred screamed without words or sound as his power leaked out and claimed the chamber and then started to tunnel through the earth to reach the surface.
His presence spread through a small hill and he felt the primary tunnel explode out through the side of it and opening up a maw leading into the very earth itself. It took only moments and yet it felt to him like an eternity had passed before the next notification appeared.
Name Fred(Pending Change) Guardian Creature Rusteater Chicken Core Artifact Everlasting Helium Balloon Dungeon Theme Rural Fairgrounds Dungeon Level 1(0/1000 Exp)
Due to having both a Core Artifact ranked at "Stone-Grade Enchantment" and a Guardian Creature at the "Least-Rank" along with being planted in a magically barren location, your Exp gain will be minimal. 2 exp points per week will be your baseline gain for the forseeable future.
Fred then had to deal with the slow progression over the next few days as he felt the Dungeon sloooooowly absorb the ambient mana coming from the chicken and the balloon. It was so unfair! How was he supposed to level up his dungeon when he barely earned any experience points, and nobody came to adventure through it. And even if they did...his dungeon just sucked! In the time since he first woke up he had made one chamber between the core room and the entrance. It had been naturally shaped by his Dungeon Theme into an open square that looked like the middle of a fairground. With a glittering sky and all above.
His monsters? Well they were even worse than the lame fairground theme, his monsters were chickens. Just chickens with a slight enhancement to them that would make them glide longer in the air and have a slight armor piercing quality to their talons and beaks. They were not exactly a fighting force that would make Adventurers dread entering his dungeon. Something needed to change, but he didn't know how to make it happen. He didn't even have a Dungeon Assistant/Fairy like the characters in the books he had read, so he didn't even have anyone to talk about his woes.
That all changed when...they appeared. At first he thought they were going to be Adventurers and while they did easily pacify his combat chickens they didn't stop there. The three carnival freaks somehow found their way into his core chamber where they presented him a pact. Do exactly three favors for them, that they would come and ask individually each time. And in return they would make sure that his Dungeon was fed with all kinds of life to help it expand.
He knew that there was something shady going on, Fred had read enough Dungeon Core books to know what such deals would never be good in the long term. But since they had promised they would do nothing to his core and all of the favors would be things that he could reasonably do, he ended up accepting the deal.
First, he got to finally see some progress as farm animals and other various creatures were lured into his dungeon over days to help feed him. Where it would once take years for him to just pass the first level, it only took him days to pass it as more and more animals wandered in. Then came the Tarot Reader, her ask was simple. Two men would come to adventure in his dungeon, the favor was that he let them stay in it safely during the nights, and then allow them to adventure as normal during the days. She assured him that neither of the two would enter his innermost chamber nor try to interfere with his workings in any way.
This was reasonable enough so when the two came he let them stay and unleashed all of his monstrous chickens during the day to the point that it almost seemed like a war zone with all of the blood and dead chickens. Each of them were strange men, one was some kind of Ranger or some such who spent a lot of the time meditating by one of the trees in the chamber dedicated to axe throwing competitions. He seemed to talk to the trees while trying to meditate, and he cried at night a lot. The other man was obviously some kind of Mage. Who primarily fought the chickens by unleashing insecticide spells and other minor spells. He was more concerned with being flamboyant and flailing about than being a good companion to the Ranging man.
Second, then the Puppetteer came by and presented the second favor after ordering the two men to leave. The favor was that she wanted Fred to make his dungeon primarily trap based over the next two days, as she said.
"You must fill it to the gills with traps. It causes you to feast on lives beyond your wildest dreams."
Then she left and he did as she asked, and lastly came the Clown and presented the third and final favor. An hour after leaving the Dungeon, a small family would flee into the Dungeon. Fred would make a space for them to live and protect them and let them stay safely in the Dungeon...indefinitely. Which he of course accepted as the favors had some far not done anything but lead him towards having a brighter future as a Dungeon.
After the family arrived, then came the monsters and they died to his traps and the loyal defenders of his home. Finally, the promise had come true. He could feel his core practically salivate as the insects and monstrous being rushed into his Dungeon. Now, the fun would truly begin.