“Tha– thank you.” Erin flapped them a couple of times, watching as the fine white feathers ruffled, then cleared her throat. “As I was saying, this is only the first step in your path towards being a proper dungeon.”
She waved her hand, and six strange symbols appeared in front of Ryan, each glowing a different color.
“These are the different affinities you can have as a dungeon.” ‘Affinity.’ That was a new word. “Across the land, there are usually seven different types of dungeons. Each dungeon specializes in a specific type of energy, or specialized mana.”
There were different types of mana? Was that why Erin had originally glowed gold when she met him? Was that her type of mana? Also, she said there were seven, but Ryan only saw six symbols.
“Which means?”
“The mana specialization of a dungeon determines what type of mobs it will be able to create.”
“Mobs?”
“Eh, adventurer slang for the types of creatures a dungeon has.”
“Why do I need these mobs?” She really hadn’t explained much of being a dungeon to him. All he knew was to use his mana to grow his influence, so he could gain more mana.
“You are so clueless.” She sighed in exasperation.
“Only because my ‘helper’ doesn’t tell me these things. I can’t just absorb all your thoughts—” Erin’s face grew startled, and Ryan paused. “Can I?”
“No! No, that’s… that’s not a good thing. Sorry, I’ll do better.” She seemed panicked; he could feel terror streaming through their bond. Guess I shouldn’t mention absorbing her again.
“Anyway, as I stated earlier, a dungeon’s goal is to grow stronger. One measure of strength is the amount of mana a dungeon can control, which is why growing your influence is important. The larger you are as a dungeon, the more usable mana you have, and the quicker it refreshes. Mana exists naturally in the world, and as a dungeon, you draw it in constantly from any area that you have influence over.”
That made sense and explained why he was now pulling in much more mana than when he had barely had any influence on his surroundings.
“The main way for a dungeon to become stronger, though, is by defeating adventurers and gaining experience.”
“So, I use my mobs to beat them, and they just hand over this ‘experience’ when they lose? What exactly is an adventurer?” Erin’s face grew grim for a moment.
“Well, they don’t just ‘hand’ anything over. When an adventurer dies in your dungeon, you absorb them, and you gain experience based on how strong they were. Experience is the other way in which a dungeon grows in strength. You know what, Ryan? We will cover experience a little later.”
Death. Ryan remembered a giant blade, a quick slice. He didn’t want to kill anyone.
“All right. But Erin, is there a way to grow without killing? I don’t like that idea.” Erin’s face brightened, though her eyes were still sad. She wrapped him in a hug.
“I know. As a celestial being, I am generally against it as well. You can slowly gain experience by spreading out your influence and absorbing new materials around you, but it takes a much longer time to gain experience that way, and the Goddess told me she wants you to grow fast. Besides, adventurers know the risk, and take it willingly.”
He couldn’t fathom why people would willingly go towards death. Maybe Erin would explain it later.
“But we are a bit off topic,” she was saying. “So, long explanation short, as a dungeon, you will make mobs, which will fight adventurers who come into your dungeon. Killing adventurers equals more experience for you, which makes us stronger.”
“Simple enough. So, I have to choose one of these affinities in order to begin making mobs?” He felt Erin’s pride at his question through their bond. I got something right. Go me.
“Yes. Each affinity affects the basic types of mobs you can begin creating. By knowing what type of mobs you will make, you will be able to begin forming the first level of your dungeon. Then we can start trying to attract adventurers.”
Adventurers equaled power. Ryan was all for the path to power, especially as it seemed to make Erin happy. The killing part was still unfortunate, though.
“So, what are my options?” he asked.
She pointed to the red symbol first, which was shaped like a flame. “Fire affinity starts with small lizard-like mobs, eventually allowing you to create lesser dragons.”
An image of a giant, fire breathing lizard filled his mind from their bond.
“Those seem cool.”
Erin nodded before pointing towards the next symbol: a blue teardrop. “Water isn’t really an option for us, as we aren’t near the water, and adventurers usually complain about exploring those anyway.”
All right. So far, it’s looking like fire.
“No water, okay. Next.”
“Wind,” she pointed at a nearly invisible silvery symbol that appeared to be a few squiggly horizontal lines, “gives way to various air-based wisps and elementals, as well as winged beasts. Usually, a wind dungeon is high up in the mountains, which we are not.”
So, still dragons.
“Not an option. Okay.”
“Earth affinity dungeons begin with low-level animals, but quickly expand to great beasts.” Images of massive clawed and furred creatures filled Ryan’s mind as Erin pointed towards the next symbol. “Earth dungeons typically also have golems within.”
A humanoid pile of moving rocks seemed intimidating at first, but he felt it would get old fast. Ryan was definitely still liking that dragon option.
“Boring.”
“Celestial, or light magic as some call it—” She pointed towards the golden symbol, a perfect golden sun, “—begins with gentler, magical creatures, which eventually evolve into divine.” She sent an image of a beautiful unicorn, as well as a large, glowing version of herself: an ‘angel,’ she called it. “However, celestial dungeons usually grow rather slowly. Like I said, celestial creatures are averse to killing.”
Well, that won’t help me get stronger, so that’s out. “Doesn’t seem like a good path to power. No offense.”
“None taken.”
“And the next one?”
“The last one is darkness. It is the power to raise the undead. Dungeons aligned with darkness raise skeletons and zombies, and can bring forth anything that has died in their dungeon as their own monster. In that sense, a dark dungeon could have creatures from the other affinities as well, but in the undead form.”
That seemed intriguing, but Erin didn’t seem keen.
“Hmm. Going to have to say dragons are the coolest.” Ryan glanced at the six symbols and recalled Erin’s earlier comment. Shouldn’t there be a seventh? Maybe she had misspoken.
Erin let out a sigh, as if she had been holding her breath. “Thank the Goddess. The church hates dark dungeons.”
The church, you say? Ryan saw a brief vision of a man in white, and a feeling of disdain filled him. Ryan was pretty sure he didn’t like the church.
“So,” Erin was saying, “just stretch out your mana to the symbol for fire, and that will bind your dungeon to that affinity. After that, we can really get started.” Erin pointed towards the fire symbol.
Ryan grinned to himself, moving his mana ever so slowly out towards the fire symbol. I really don’t like the church. The thought pushed into his head. And if the church doesn’t like the darkness…
Something within him snapped, and suddenly his mana shot towards the dark symbol: an impossibly black human skull. The moment his mana touched it, the darkness wrapped around Ryan’s light and rushed into him. It left a black imprint on his stone, the same shape as the skull symbol.
“Ryan, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?”
Chapter Four
“Erin. Erin. ERIN!”
His cries were ignored. The fairy’s emotions were a mixture of rage and sorrow. What have I done?
“Look, Erin, I’m sorry.”
“You’re vile. How could you?
Only evil souls choose darkness or chaos.”
Chaos? So there are seven. Ryan made a mental note to ask Erin about that one later on, when she wasn’t extremely mad at him.
“Look, Erin. I’m not evil, I promise.” He tried to convey his sincerity through the bond. “Something came over me. I couldn’t control myself. Pull the other elements back up, and I’ll switch back to fire. Having fire-breathing lizards seems so cool.”
Tears fell from her eyes as she shook her head. “It can’t be undone.”
What? “But—”
“Once you pick your affinity, there is no going back. You’re stuck with a dark affinity.” She said it with disgust. Was darkness really that bad?
“Oh.” Why had he acted so impulsively? What strange force had come over him to make him chose the dark energy? What had the church ever done to him?
“It doesn’t matter.” Erin was fighting hard to get her emotions back in order. “I’ve let the Goddess down.”
She broke down again.
Poor girl.
“Erin, you haven’t let anyone down. You’ve been a great help. It’s not your fault you got stuck with a stupid dungeon core.”
She looked up, a small smile starting to form. “The dumbest.”
“Yup, that’s me, dumbest dungeon there ever was.”
She laughed; it was light and musical. Ryan could feel himself smiling.
“Now, then, how about you help this dumb dungeon try to work past his mistake?”
She flew back onto him, wiping her eyes as she landed. “Well, thanks to you, we are stuck with darkness.”
“Nothing we can do?”
“Nope.”
“Well, then, I guess it’s time for the next step in becoming a dungeon. You mentioned something about mobs?”
She sighed but pulled out two crystalline triangles. They grew until they were each just a tad smaller than Ryan and floated in front of him. They appeared to be inversions of each other.
“Your affinity helps us decide what type of mobs you are able to create. Those,” she pointed towards the triangles, “show us your current level, as well as the amount of experience you have towards the next level.”
She flew to the first triangle. “This is the level gauge.” She pointed at the triangle’s wide base. “The bottom is the Bronze tier and consists of eleven levels. Next is Silver, with nine levels. Then it’s Gold with seven, Platinum with five, Diamond with three, and at the top, is God tier.”
“Hey, awesome. I’m made of diamond. Am I a one, two, or three?”
“You’re made out of idiot.” She laughed again. “All dungeon cores are made of diamond. Besides, what your stone is made of doesn’t determine your level, silly.” She pointed to the bottom left-hand corner of the triangle, where a single, much smaller triangle, glowed black. “This is your level. You are currently a Bronze Eleven darkness dungeon.” Oh, so he was at the very bottom. Ouch.
“And this shows you are about halfway towards the experience requirement for your next level.” She pointed at the other main triangle – the inverted one – which had the narrow bottom portion partially filled with a black glow. “This triangle is split into six levels.” Ryan could see six different lines cutting across it, each creating a larger section. “For Bronze, you need to fill the bottom portion to level one. For Silver, you’ll have to fill the second. To reach Gold, it’s—”
“—the third level, Platinum the fourth, and so on?” Looking at that, it meant each level would grow increasingly more difficult to progress past. Ugh. Being a dungeon is going to be hard.
“You caught on to that quickly.” Erin waved her hand, and the two triangles sank to the ground. “If you absorb these, you will be able to call them forth whenever you choose, to check your stats.” She didn’t have to tell Ryan twice. He instantly absorbed them both. Unlike the previous objects he had absorbed, though, these weren’t broken down, and a rush of knowledge didn’t fill him regarding them. Darn, they seem interesting. He wondered how they worked.
“Now, call your level triangle back out,” suggested Erin.
He looked at her, wondering how he would do that. “How?”
“Just… think of it?” Erin didn’t seem to know either. Awesome.
“Fine.” He imagined the triangle he had just absorbed, and on cue, it appeared shimmering before him. “I did it!”
“At least you can do some things right.” She seemed to still be a tad upset about the darkness thing.
Oops.
“So, the mobs you can summon depend on multiple factors. First, your affinity. Second, your level.”
“And mobs get stronger as I do?” He was liking this whole ‘interrupt Erin with thoughts of his own’ game. She had seemed happy with his guesses earlier.
“Not quite.” Drat, he was wrong. “Mobs are assigned a point value. Based on your level, you have a certain amount of points available with which to create mobs.”
Ugh. Does this mean I have to do math?
“At Bronze Eleven, you are allotted fifty points.” She pointed to the bottom leftmost triangle, and a white ‘50’ appeared over the darkness. That’s helpful. “As you increase in levels, you will be allotted more points.”
This all seemed simple enough.
“So, I can create fifty points’ worth of mobs right now?”
Erin shook her head. “They would have nowhere to go.”
Ah, right. They were still in a single sphere-shaped room.
“So, we have to expand first?” Ugh. Expanding took forever. Ryan wanted to see what else he could do.
“Correct. Before you summon any mobs, you need to create the first level of your dungeon.”
“Just one level?” He tried not to sound disappointed. He wanted to be big.
“Yes. Your allotted points apply across all your floors, so I don’t think expanding out to more than one floor would be wise at this time.” Oh, valid point. He wasn’t sure how much different mobs cost yet, but he had a feeling fifty points wouldn’t go very far.
“Try to make three rooms for now. A boss room right before this area, and then two other rooms. That seems to be the basic setup for most low-level dungeons.” Erin flew atop him again, patting his head. He sent a pained groan through their bond.
“The sooner you get this done, the sooner you get to summon your first mobs,” she told him, sending a wave of distaste through their bond. Yup, she hadn’t forgiven him at all.
He silently set to work spreading his influence out. Perhaps if he worked hard enough, Erin wouldn’t hold onto her obvious grudge. Besides, darkness couldn’t be that bad.
???
The deep reverberation of bells woke him from his slumber. His eyes opened slowly, and as he sat up, he scanned the room. The skeletons that surrounded him as he slept stood silent and unmoving.
He paid them no heed as he stood, calling on the surrounding gloom to cover him. He emerged from the room riding a wave of darkness, heading to the heart of his castle
The walls he passed were adorned with ancient paintings, relics from times long forgotten. He recalled ‘acquiring’ the castle from his master and smirked to himself as he remembered that sniveling fool. He hadn’t even been worth bringing back as a minion.
He passed patrolling zombies and skeletons on his way – his loyal servants, all humans too weak to stand before him in life. At least they were useful in death. He grinned again as his eyes passed over his pets. Every undead face reminded him of a battle, of death. He did so enjoy killing. Perhaps that was why he had so readily accepted his calling and embraced his dark powers.
His thoughts paused as he reached his goal: a massive underground chamber, with a single pedestal resting in the center of the room. Atop the pedestal sat a crystal, the only one of its kind in existence.
It was able to determine when a dungeon of darkness affinity had awakened. And clearly, it had detected something, for the crystal was glowing with a dark light. Beside it, an acolyte, the only other
living being in his castle, was clanging the bells. As he entered, the acolyte faltered, and stepped away from the bells, bowing in his direction.
“Contact your master,” he growled to the acolyte. “There is a new darkness dungeon.”
Chapter Five
Ryan began by focusing his mana outward, spreading himself through the dirt and stone. He instantly absorbed anything and everything he touched, clearing out a space. Erin had given him a brief description of how the boss room and other two rooms should look, and he wanted to make her proud.
While he worked, Erin curled up on top of him, and was soon asleep. Apparently, she thought the basic labor behind dungeon building was uninteresting. Ah, well. That just meant he would be able to surprise her when she woke up.
He set to work, pushing out and creating a space large enough to be called his boss room. He still wasn’t sure what a boss was, but Erin would likely tell him when he finished. As such, he pushed his influence out until he had created a vast — well, vast compared to his small three-foot area — room. It had to be close to four – no, five – times the size of his own chamber, with square walls and a domed top. He liked the aesthetics of that curved ceiling, though the room itself was otherwise rather nondescript. He would have to ask Erin about ways to touch it up. If people were going to be in the room, he wanted to give them something worth looking at.
Focus!
He shook his head and created an arching doorway leading out of the room. As he worked, Ryan casually called forth his experience triangle, watching the bottom portion hungrily. The plus side of this expansion was he might just be able to get another level out of it! Erin had told him a dungeon would gain a small amount of experience as it spread its influence to new areas and created larger rooms.
He created a winding pathway out of his boss room, slowly angling it up. Ryan wasn’t sure how far underground they were, but he figured he had enough space to add a little depth and elevation to his first floor. As he carved away, he also noticed strange variations in what he was absorbing. By the time he had carved out his second room – this one a large, cavern-like expanse – he had found a few neat things.
Bone Dungeon (Elemental Dungeon #1) - A Dungeon Core LitRPG Page 2