Jasper placed the finishing touches on what he’d started to call his “Jacko-Tank-urn.” The dark-haired man had now been in the dungeon for a total of two weeks working, experimenting, and training for what he knew was going to be his hardest battle so far. Jasper stepped back to examine his work rubbing his now inches-long beard thoughtfully as he did. He always liked to keep his hair and facial hair short back when he was working in the crystal fields all the time. Having a beard didn’t affect the seal of his gasmask as long as he kept it trimmed, but he never cared for how itchy it was when it was growing so he kept it shaved.
Now though he let his hair and beard grow long and unruly. It wasn’t as if he had a mirror to use to shave anyway, and as much as he liked Effen, he wasn’t exactly trustful of his control over her enough to let her shave him. Jasper shook his head out of his grooming thoughts and continued to make sure that each rune he’d carved over the last few days didn’t have anything wrong with them. There was a small amount of discoloration and shrinkage at the top of the giant pumpkin from where Jasper had needed to cut off the top to empty the guts. He knew that he needed to work quickly if he didn’t want the plant to rot before he could complete his design.
Satisfied with his work he entered the white space where he would imbue this project with power. Once more he confirmed all of the runes and the gyroscope of protective circles, he’d drawn to keep certain runes from affecting each other negatively. The scope of this project was wildly larger than anything he’d done before including runes, so it took multiple runs of Imbue Rune before the entire thing glowed with power. His magic would run out after a while of working so he’d have to wait for it to refill before he continued. Eventually the “Jacko-Tank-Urn,” was completed though.
NOTICE: You have crafted a giant runic pumpkin bunker buster! +6000 XP, +5 Creativity, +5 Magic, +7 Control, +3 Dexterity. Would you like to name a giant runic pumpkin bunker buster? Y/N.
Level up! +2 All Stats!
Smiling wickedly Jasper leapt toward the mouth of his new creation and settled inside the hollowed space. Several dried seeds were stacked in piles toward the back of his new creation. Aside from the runes that he’d carved into the flesh of the butternut squash, he’d also sawed out a few windows for him to see out of as his project did its work. Jasper didn’t have any runes that would preserve the squash once he got out of the dungeon, but he still thought that it deserved a name anyway, quickly giving it the name that he’d been using up until this point.
Effen, Flot, and Shelld all sat next to him quietly on the ground not moving. It was the first time for Effen and Shelld but Flot had gotten used to the sensation of not being used as much after the last week of work. Flot had the right idea and didn’t pout anymore like the other two.
“I know you’re upset guys, but I can’t split my attention between all of you! Look at this big girl. She’s gonna need all the help I can give her so you’re just going to have to suck it up for now, ok?” He said speaking to his tool friends. Focusing he threw himself into his control of the large pumpkin before activating the runes of shrinking. He had to control them just enough that Jacko-Tank-Urn wouldn’t crush him and his friends inside of her but become small enough that the floating runes would be able to lift off the ground. Jasper felt a sense of weightlessness fill his stomach as his new friend shrank and began hovering. By the time it was done shrinking, it was the size of a medium size tank.
It didn’t give Jasper as much room to move around, but it would be enough for his needs. Jasper reached up and closed the lid of the pumpkin tank pulling up the vines along with it. Through a combination of floating, direction, speed, sharpening, hardening and so many control runes, the vines would make for an excellent close-range defense. They weren’t the only weapons that Jasper had installed in his new vehicle though. Controlling the direction in which he flew was a little difficult at first, but because he had carved several hundred runes of control into the pumpkin it became less and less difficult as he practiced.
Jasper let out a whoop of joy as he flew close to a swarm of bees using the vines on top to shred them to pieces in a matter of minutes. He spent a couple of hours in that way just continuing to shred every bee monster that he came across. He even found other types of monsters including praying mantis types, and a beetle that could take his vine whips on the shell without taking any damage. When he found that monster, he activated the electrical runes that he’d coupled with direction, magic, speed, and control runes making powerful lightning bolts zap them until he had fried beetle.
Not wanting to waste the meat he landed his squash mobile; another name he’d thought of calling it. Hopping out he rushed over to the beetle carcass and using Effen he split open its stomach revealing cooked white meat that he gobbled down greedily. It wasn’t the best-tasting meat he’d ever had, but compared to the other stuff he’d eaten in recent months it was like a five-course meal at one of the fancy restaurants he’d never been able to afford eating at back when he lived in the city. Jasper finished eating as much of the beetle as he could, before climbing back into his vehicle.
He wanted to take the shell of the creature with him as a crafting material, but he didn’t have enough space in the pumpkin, so he decided he’d have to come back for it later. Another few hours passed, and Jasper had run out of enemies in the giant cavern. If there were any monsters left, they were hiding from his mighty Jacko-Tank-Urn. The scraggly-looking man cackled with excitement from time to time and when nothing else came out he popped open the top of his vehicle to celebrate.
“Take that ya dumb dungeon! You thought you could break me, but you can’t! Ohhhh no no no no! I’m Jasper Cartwright! Hear me roar!” He went on like that for a while before deciding that it was time to move on. This was only the first room of the dungeon after all, and he still needed to clear the whole thing if he wanted to escape and get back to his nice cabin in the woods. Jasper searched around the entire cavern until he found the only opening in the walls that he could find.
Every time he got close to the walls the vines that clung to them would reach out and try to grab Jasper’s pumpkin causing him to have to backtrack as quickly as possible. Luckily when he entered the archway of the cave entrance the vines shot away from him as if they were repulsed by the opening.
“Dungeon trickery,” Jasper mumbled to his tool friends while rolling his eyes. There wasn’t any light in the tunnel that he had found himself in, but the glowing of the several hundred runes on the Jacko-Tank-Urn made it easy enough for him to see his surroundings. The cave walls were incredibly smooth, lacking any of the roughness that he would have expected from an area that was connected to the cavern he’d just exited, and there was a small stream at the bottom of the tunnel. The stream was flanked by two stone pathways on either side of it which again seemed smoother than expected.
Only one difference caught Jasper’s attention and that was that every couple of feet or so there was a line through the stone. Deciding to get a closer look, Jasper landed his pumpkin and made his egress so that he could examine it properly. To his surprise, he recognized the pattern of the stone walkway. It wasn’t stone at all but instead made of concrete. There weren’t many concrete buildings or walkways in the cities; most architecture was comprised of cobblestone or crystalline materials. He had seen it before though and wondered why there would be human architecture in a dungeon.
All of the dungeons he’d heard about over his lifetime had natural settings, like caves, oceans, or jungles. The first room of the dungeon had made sense to him, essentially being a jungle full of food and bugs. There were occasionally temple dungeons, but Jasper had always assumed that those were made by the gods for the express use of being a place for challenging the hunters of the world and gaining worshippers. This didn’t seem like either of those kinds of places instead being more industrial. Jasper walked closer to the walls and examined them as well, finding the same smoothed-out concrete.
He growled at his lack of understanding, deciding that it would be better to just climb back into his pumpkin and get back to clearing this dungeon. While he did have questions about this place and wanted to learn the answers it was too dangerous for him to just be standing around inside a dark tunnel while he tried to puzzle it out. That’s exactly what he did beginning his flight again. Farther down the tunnel he finally found what he had been searching for this entire time, a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel showing him the way out. He sped up wanting to finally get out of the darkness and when he did, he was met with yet another cavern.
This one was different than the one before it instead sporting a giant waterfall and pool of water underneath it. He now knew where the stream of water in the tunnel had been coming from as the spill-off from the pool traveled down a trench that led into the tunnel. On each side of the waterfall was a giant white statue of a man. They both had the same face, but one of them held a book and a pen it stared down as if it was studying the words on the page. The other one held a chisel and hammer aimed as if to strike the chisel with the hammer.
Each man sported a beard intricately braided with beads and thread running down to the end of it. The beard reached down to the statue’s waist although the man with the chisel had thrown it over his shoulder as if to keep it out of the way of whatever he was working on. Both men shared the same kind smile, but their eyes spoke of an age-old sadness that Jasper couldn’t help from identifying with. The most shocking part of either of the statues though was a toolbelt that he recognized. The same bandelier and belt with pouches protruding from either side of the man’s hips.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
While the statues had many more pouches and tools than he did he couldn’t mistake them for anything else except his very own toolbelt. Even the saw that hung off of the waist of the chiseling statue was the same as his.
“What the heck is going on here?” He asked, but before he could figure out the answer the pool of water started bubbling and rippling. Jasper flew quickly back into the tunnel hiding in the shadows so that whatever came out of the water wouldn’t see him. Carefully he peered out of his makeshift windows so that he could watch the water. Slowly the water in the pool started to be displaced as yet another familiar sight breeched the surface. Jasper couldn’t believe his eyes as a blue dome of energy emerged from the water underneath which carried a platform that he had used many times during his life when he descended to the surface of the planet for his mining job.
It was a sight that he’d thought he might never get to see again, yet there it was. More than that though and the only reason that Jasper didn’t immediately jump out and go study was that the platform was occupied. Not with monsters like he would have expected, instead there were people. A party of ten people stood atop the platform that had carried them to the surface of the water. They were dressed in metal and leather armor, as well as some in robes, and they sported weapons that ranged from your standard sword and shield to clearly magical staffs. The group talked and laughed with each other as they stepped off the platform and began walking in his direction.
How were there people in a dungeon? Where did they come from? Are they dangerous? Will they kill me? These are the questions that ran through the runic crafter’s head as they got closer with each passing second. “I should run.” He thought. But where would he run to? The dungeon hadn’t been cleared to his knowledge, so how would he escape? The people were almost upon him now, just another few steps and he would be seen. Jasper decided then that if he couldn’t run then he would fight. He had no reason to trust these people. After all the last people that he’d seen were from the city, if these people were from the city as well and they knew about restricted classes then he would be facing death again. He lifted his pumpkin into the air once more activating the electricity runes and making it spark and pop. As soon as he had done that the members of the other party stopped and stared at Jasper's creation in shock.
“What do you think it is? New monster type?” A woman with a cocky grin on her face and two daggers at her hips asked another member of her team. She may have been speaking, but the experience these people must have had was on another level because as she did, they each shifted into a battle formation drawing their weapons. Jasper’s fear grew even more, as some parts of him questioned why he was so afraid. Lightning blasted from the runic pumpkin and Jasper cackled madly. When he saw these people, memories kept coming back to him, throwing him into even more distress.
Waking up being abandoned on the surface with the only home he’d ever known already being gone when he awakened from a drug-induced sleep. The first time he’d fought a monster after mistakenly hitting himself in the behind with a grenade. Becoming so sick that he would dry heave after leaving anything that he’d had in his stomach on the ground. Dealing with poisoned air, plants, and water. Being stalked by that freaking cat monster for months and growing so lonely that he’d begun talking to inanimate objects. Thirst, hunger, and fear all stemmed from the betrayal of his fellow man, and even though these people weren’t the ones who tackled him to the ground shot him up with something, and left him to die some visceral part of him saw each of them with the magisters regretful pitying face.
Jasper screamed as he continued to shoot lightning at the party of warriors, but to his surprise and dismay, nothing seemed to be happening to them. On the contrary, in between his flickers of insanity, the faces of the people looked like they were just bored. A thin man wielding a spear stepped out from the middle of the pack flexing his spear-wielding arm back and threw his weapon toward Jaspers Jacko-Tank-Urn. The crafter was confident that he’d added enough hardening runes to his floating bunker that there was no way the spear would penetrate it.
The next moment would prove him wrong though as the spear hit the size of the pumpkin shattering his floating vehicle into pieces and showering vegetable chunks and dried seeds onto the floor of the tunnel. Jasper twisted his body in the air relying on the improvements that the stat had made to him. As soon as his connection to the vehicle was shattered, he grabbed control of Effen and Shelld. Bringing them to their usual spaces near him he charged at the group of warriors striking out with Effen and defending himself with the seed shield.
“It’s a human! Don’t kill him unless necessary!” Someone shouted those words, but Jasper was too far gone into his fear and fury to hear them. Instead screaming and slashing out with wild abandon. In the next moment, he felt a pressure around his neck as a small woman with long black hair wrapped her arms around his neck in a chokehold. Jasper attempted to send his weapons to her to get her to release him, but another man with a shield covered her. It was too difficult to hold on after a few seconds and the light around the edges of Jaspers's vision began to darken.
“Where the heck did this guy come from?” Someone asked as Jasper once more slipped into unconsciousness at the hands of yet another group of humans. He didn’t dream this time instead allowing the inky blackness to hold him in its embrace. When he woke up, he realized that he couldn’t move his arms or legs, he began to panic again when he heard whispering from close by.
“He’s in surprisingly good shape for the level that he’s at.”
“Yeah, but do you think he came from the outside? Isn’t it kind of bunked out there?”
“Well, I’ve never seen him before, and what about his class? It’s possible that he’s been outcast if the history is right.”
“Hey, I think he’s waking up!” Jasper had tried staying as still as possible so that he could continue listening to their conversation, but one of their members with a perception stat of some kind had noticed the flickering of his eyelids. Jasper blinked his eyes open and stared at the face of the dark-haired woman who had choked him out earlier. She had her hands up in the universal symbol of peace with both palms open and extended slightly away from her.
“Hey, it’s ok, we’re not going to hurt you, Jasper.” She said in a calming tone. Something must have shifted on Jasper’s face because she immediately followed up with- “One of our members has a skill that allows them to look at other people’s statuses.” She spoke again gesturing over to a person with light brown chestnut hair and a nose piercing. The person gave Jasper a quick nod of their chin before turning away and continuing their hushed conversation with one of the other guys at the party.
“Sorry about your pumpkin device my dude!” The spear wielder shouted to Jasper who flinched in surprise at how loud the man was. Another woman smacked him on the shoulder and told him “Not to scare the poor boy.” Which annoyed Jasper who felt like he was plenty grown enough to be considered a man. “I even have a beard!” he thought to himself slightly aggravated. The dark-haired woman turned back to Jasper and continued trying to calm him down.
“My name is Sabina it’s nice to meet you. Can you tell us why you’re all alone in a dungeon?” Jasper clamped his mouth shut still not trusting the people that he’d just met completely.
“Come on Sabina let's just toss the runt back through the boss gate and be done with it. He’ll go back to being a wild crazy man who attacks other people without warning, and we can get back to clearing out some of the pests in the food chamber. Everyone wins.” Sabina shot the man who had spoken a dirty look before turning back to Jasper smiling. It took Jasper a moment to realize that she was still waiting for an answer to her question. He wasn’t sure if he should trust these people, but they had chosen to capture him instead of killing him outright. Judging by how fast they took down his pumpkin and subdued him they could have killed him easily. Instead, they’d just knocked him out and bound his limbs with some kind of weird white rope that he couldn’t seem to break out of.
He wanted to tell her that he wasn’t alone. He had Effen, Flot, and Shelld after all and they were all great friends! But he remembered that most humans would probably think he was crazy for talking to inanimate objects. Then again wasn’t he crazy? He’d gotten lonely out in the wilderness, and it wasn’t like his tool friends had ever talked back to him. On occasion, he’d considered that they might have moved in a certain way to agree or disagree with the statement he’d made, but the more that he thought about it surrounded by all of these real-life speaking people he realized he’d just made all of that up in his head.
“Maybe I have gone crazy.” He muttered to himself causing Sabina to prick up her ears to listen more closely.
“What was that? I couldn’t hear you.” She asked as courteously as she could. Jasper blushed with embarrassment realizing that he couldn’t just speak out loud in front of regular people like he’d been doing for the past several months.
“I’m a crafter. I was just out collecting materials. Came across you, guys.” Jasper half lied not wanting to give up all of his secrets. The look on Sabina’s face said that she didn’t completely believe him, but she let it go.
“If I let you go, will you try to attack us or run away?” Jasper looked back down the tunnel and the same thought from earlier came to mind. Where exactly would he run to? They were all in a dungeon after all. He supposed that he could activate the platform that they’d used to come up here recognizing runic work. It wouldn’t do him much good though unless that led to the boss’s room, and now that his Jacko-Tank-Urn had been destroyed he didn’t have much chance against a D-rank boss. Jasper peered into Sabina's eyes looking for some hint that he wouldn’t regret his decision. Shakily he nodded his head and Sabina deftly untied the ropes that were binding him quickly placing them in a satchel at her side.
Jasper sat up rubbing the soreness out of his wrists and looking around at the people who had started setting out plates of finger food on platters that they just pulled out of their satchels. The plates were larger than the small bags that they were carrying around though which made Jasper wonder if they weren’t something similar to his water skin. Patting his chest, he realized that his waterskin wasn’t there. None of his equipment was, but when he reached out with his mind, he was able to home in on the control runes on his items that still held his signature.
“So, you’re a crafter huh? I don’t think that really explains why you’re in this dungeon all alone. Or why you attacked us when you saw us? Why don’t you try that again, and just a reminder we have already seen your status.” Sabina said all of this without dropping the smile that she’d held during our entire conversation so far. Jasper had forgotten that they’d read his status and already knew that he was a runic crafter. Did they know about restricted classes though? They didn’t seem to care all that much so maybe they didn’t know.
“Which city are you from?” He asked deflecting instead of answering her question. She sighed finally catching the hint that Jasper wasn’t going to give her any more information for now.
“We’re from the Undercity or as we used to be called City Eleven.” Jasper gaped at the woman’s words. He’d only found out about the other cities as he was about to be cast out, but they were supposed to be destroyed! The whole point of Jasper getting the boot, to begin with, was because a runic crafter forever ago had a hand in destroying one of the cities that he hadn’t been taught about in school. He hadn’t had a chance to really think about the other cities since he had been so caught up in surviving for the last few months, but to his shock, they were real. Jasper couldn’t help but ask to satisfy his natural curiosity.
“I thought your city was destroyed generations ago?” Aware of his skepticism Sabina motioned for him to grab some food before they talked. Jasper stared at the plates of food and his mouth watered. He recognized real meat, cheese, and bread. There were even some plates of pastries. Tentatively Jasper reached out and grabbed one of the small sandwiches off of a tray and devoured it in a single bite. From there on out he attacked the food with fervor never wanting the delicious food to stop coming. As he ate, he felt hot tears run down his face, but he couldn’t be bothered to wipe them away. The real food made him feel something that he hadn’t felt since that night that he’d received his class while he was spending time with his friends.
He felt happy.