“…know, I know – I’ll probably be back soon, though. Tell Darxie not to take my spot – I’ve waited nearly two centuries for the chance to—”
Sandra was still uncomfortably full, so she watched lethargically as a circular rip in the air appeared halfway from her position and the chunk she had torn out from the wall. The voice had come through the circular portal and was soon followed by the speaker herself. A winged fairy-looking creature flew through and stopped her conversation short as she looked at Sandra. At least, she looked like what the descriptions of a fairy were (she had never actually seen one), but the proportions were all wrong – she was a giant.
With short purple hair, dark-brown skin, and a sleek green dress made from what appeared to be some sort of cloth that was designed to look like actual leaves, the “fairy” was nearly the exact thing she pictured when she had first learned about them as a child. Even the two pair of wings fluttering so quickly she could barely see them completed the picture, though the glowing purple eyes that matched her hair color were a surprise – and the fact that she was the same height as a human.
“—I’ll see you later,” the fairy changed what she was going to say after looking at Sandra and turned to speak into the rip in the air before it collapsed in on itself. She couldn’t see anything but a mirror-like shimmer from the portal, but apparently there was someone on the other side of it that she couldn’t see. “I’m sorry about the delay, but we weren’t expecting any Dungeon Cores to be born around here, particularly because we thought the quota for this year had already been met.”
Delay? Dungeon Cores? Quota? Nothing the giant fairy was saying was making sense to her, but it also could be because she was still recovering from her rock-filled meal.
“Hey! I’ll have you know that I’m perfectly sized for my age. None of this ‘giant fairy’ nonsense, you hear me? Otherwise, I’ll just leave you and let you figure all this out on your own,” the gi—fairy said with heat in her voice.
What the…? Can she hear me?
“Of course I can hear you! I’m your assigned Dungeon Fairy, and I’ll be here until you want to get rid of me,” the fairy reacted to Sandra’s thoughts as if she was speaking out loud. “Which shouldn’t be long, as every Core I’ve ever had the pleasure of assisting wanted to eat me within a day or two.”
Uh…what?
“Yeah, you wouldn’t think that creating Dungeon Cores from the insane and nearly incoherent souls pulled from their lonely existence in eternity’s abyss would be vengeful, homicidal, and – to put it frankly, crazy – would you? I keep telling the Powers That Be that they shouldn’t let those poor souls spend decades stewing in their own minds before contracting them to be a Dungeon Core, but do they listen to me? No, of course not – I’m just the one that has to deal with them trying to eat my precious self even though they can’t actually touch me.”
Sandra didn’t know what to say, as she was still processing everything that she had just heard. That was fine, though, as the Fairy continued to talk like she was just trying to get through a sales pitch and didn’t care if she sold anything or not. As she spoke, the life-sized flying creature drifted around Sandra and took in her surroundings.
“Anyway, my name is Winxa and I’m here to fulfill my requirements for the contract you agreed to when you were offered the position as a Dungeon Core. In short, I’m here to teach you everything you need to know about being a Core, how to absorb the nearby ambient mana, how to create your monsters, how to expand your dungeon, and even how to avoid calling too much attention to yourself – which could end up with the nearby sentient races trying to destroy you instead of limiting your expansion. Not that any of you ever listen…” Winxa muttered under her breath.
Shaking her head, the floating fairy continued. “First, I can see that you’ve already learned how to convert and absorb the material your small cave is made of. However, judging by the look of your Core, you’ve absorbed a bit too much,” Winxa said as she stared at Sandra. She then took on a lecturing tone. “When converting natural material, there is a limited amount that you can absorb before your Core reaches its maximum capacity. Try to avoid this by knowing your limits; if you fill yourself up to your full capacity, your Core will automatically convert this material to mana, leaving you without access to that material for use in expanding your Area of Influence. The key is to ride just on the edge of your capacity, that way you can change only a certain portion of it into usable mana or use it to build up your defenses.
“Try to keep the majority of your material around in one shape or another, because it’s a finite resource. Ambient mana, however, is practically limitless – but you’ll need to have your dungeon monsters accumulate it for you. While you can absorb the ambient mana around your Core, its reach only extends so far. Your dungeon monsters – which you’ll be able to create with your Mana – can range much farther and gather it much faster and more efficiently. Which, as I’m sure you remember from your previous life as a…what race were you again?”
Um…human? Finally, a question which she halfway understood.
“Ah, yes – humans. Quite a meddlesome bunch they are. Anyway, as a human, I’m hoping you remember – some souls are too far gone and don’t, unfortunately – that Heroes are employed to cull the monsters around a dungeon, thereby limiting their ‘territory’, which is what they called it,” she snorted derisively. “In reality, dungeons use their monsters to expand their Area of Influence to be able to gather more ambient mana, which slowly regenerates in any given place. With a wider-ranging Area of Influence, there is much more space to cover – and consequently more mana.
“When your monsters are destroyed, however, you lose the mana that you invested inside of them, which in turn will hinder your expansion of your Area of Influence. It’s a vicious battle between Heroes destroying a Dungeon’s monsters, and a Core’s creation of more to expand their Area of Influence. However, as long as you continue to play it safe and use most of your accumulated mana to strengthen and develop your Core, you’ll usually be left alone. Centuries down the road, if you handle things correctly, you’ll be powerful enough to do almost anything you please.”
Winxa turned directly toward Sandra and spoke more seriously than her previous lecturing tone. “Now, this next part I’m going to tell you about is where most – if not all – of the Dungeon Cores I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting get into trouble. Some of them try eating me right after, while others wait a day or two, but all of them inevitably try it; and as soon as that happens, I’m free of any more obligations and I can be on my way.”
The Dungeon Fairy cleared her throat before continuing. “A bit of history for you, first. Dungeon Cores were originally formed by the Creator to assist in regulating the sentient races upon the planet that he had designed. After many centuries of living peacefully in the numerous lands around the world, the seven major races weren’t satisfied with what they possessed and had vastly over-populated their homelands, as well. As a result, they went to war with each other, scattering atrocities across the world as each race strived to destroy the others in an effort to possess the most land and expand their civilization.
“The Creator didn’t want any of the races that had been made to be destroyed in the process, so the all-powerful being contracted the damned souls of murderers, rapists, and other unsavory characters to create Dungeon Cores. With the power at their disposal, they were designed to pull the focus of the races back towards protecting their own lands instead of expansion. And in the process, fighting against the Cores’ monsters would improve them as well, which is how Heroes and those like them became so powerful over time.
“As crazy as it sounds, it worked. However, there was a constant need to create even more Dungeon Cores because the races kept destroying them. Thus, the need for another, extremely long-lived and isolated race – the Dungeon Fairies – were created to stay with them and teach them what they needed to know to survive longer. Unfortunately, the same rea
son so many Cores were being destroyed led to very few Fairies sticking around for long.”
Sandra was fascinated at the story, even though she was still thoroughly confused about almost everything. What reason was that? she thought, when Winxa paused for a moment.
The Fairy continued without indicating that she had heard Sandra. “That reason was this: while the ambient Mana found around your Area of Influence is a consistent and reliable source of Mana, it’s definitely not the fastest way to grow stronger. Wild beasts, creatures, and even insects – when killed by your dungeon monsters – will provide a larger boost to your available Mana, which will then allow you to create additional and more powerful monsters. That alone would be reason enough to cause the Dungeon Cores to go on a rampage and slaughter everything in sight; however, with the knowledge that killing anyone from a sentient race will multiply that mana boost by nearly ten times, it usually leads Cores on a mission to find the closest village or town and expand their Area of Influence far enough to send their monsters inside to kill everyone nearby.
“As you can guess, Heroes don’t care for this outcome and will do everything they can to stop a Core that is threatening their friends and families. Thus, thousands upon thousands of Dungeon Cores have been destroyed over the last millennia – all because of the murderous, power-hungry, homicidal souls infused inside the Cores.” Winxa paused. “No offense.”
Although Sandra could tell the Dungeon Fairy didn’t actually mean that last part – because she obviously didn’t care for Dungeon Cores – it didn’t really bother her because she wasn’t sure she even belonged there.
“And now you know why I probably won’t be here long, because it’s inevitable that you’ll get ‘hungry’ and want to kill and absorb me – and no matter how many times I tell a Core that I literally cannot be harmed by them, they still try it anyway,” Winxa tiredly added. “But, while I’m still here and you’re still on my good side – do you have any questions before I continue?”
Sandra didn’t know where to start, as she had she felt like millions of questions were just waiting to come out. However, she thought there was one that was most pressing at the moment.
What contract are you talking about?
Winxa was so shocked at the question that her wings actually stopped fluttering and she fell to the ground with legs that had turned to jelly. She fell on her rear end and sat there looking at Sandra as if she had grown another head.
What? What did I say?
Chapter 5
“Wh-what do you mean? Every Dungeon Core – even if they are so insane that I can barely communicate with them – know about the contract; it’s literally written into the structure of their core! There’s no way you couldn’t know about it – it’s impossible,” Winxa stated, still sitting down and staring at Sandra.
I don’t know what to tell you, but I’ve never seen any contract regarding “Dungeon Cores” before. I’ve seen sales contracts that my father used to set up with suppliers, but I’ve never seen anything like what you’re describing.
“Your father was a merchant? That seems so…normal. Tell me, how did you die?”
Sandra dredged up the story from her memories, which was difficult given that it seemed like such a long time ago. However, after a few false starts, she was able to relay the story to the fairy; though, as she did, the anger that hadn’t fully manifested while she was in that featureless expanse of nothingness started to come to the forefront of her mind. By the end of her tale, she was so furious that she wanted to hunt down the bastard that had killed her and strew his entrails all over the land of Muriel.
Unconsciously, she lashed out with her senses and “ate” another portion of the cave wall near the Fairy. “Whoa! Watch where you’re doing that!” Winxa exclaimed, fluttering out of the way of Sandra’s “attack” on the wall.
Sorry. It’s just that thoughts of what that man did to me make me so angry!
“Hmm…Righteous Anger…that’s not something you see every day in a Dungeon Core. Or ever, for that matter. If you’re indeed telling the truth, you shouldn’t even be here. The Creator only makes contracts with those that deserve to be imprisoned in a Core – like murderers and rapists. Also, while female Dungeon Cores aren’t exactly unknown, they are few and far between.”
Winxa was floating again, which Sandra assumed was just in case the angry Core decided to eat some more of the wall. That thought lessened some of the rage she felt at remembering her death; she had no intention of harming the fairy, who had – despite her attitude towards Dungeon Cores in general – only been trying to help.
“So…either the Creator made a mistake – which I highly doubt – or you were brought here for a reason. Why you were set down in between the borders of four different races, I don’t know – but there has to be a reason.”
Which four races are you talking about? Sandra had only met a few elves and one dwarf in her previous life; they were a rarity because travel between the racial homelands was difficult. A series of massive dungeons blocked most travel access points around the borders of Muriel.
“Oh, I forgot – you probably weren’t informed of your location when you signed the contract. Or not signed, or whatever. Anyway, you’re right at the northeastern corner of Elvish-controlled land, the northwestern corner of Gnomish-controlled territory, the southeastern side of Orcish-controlled area, and the southwestern edge of the Dwarven homeland. This area has been all but abandoned, as from what I know, all of the different races have concentrated more on securing their borders against the dungeons as opposed to expansion. As a result, there are very few sentients around – which might be good for you, as there aren’t many that would attack you nearby.”
There aren’t any Humans nearby? I’m really worried about how my father took my death.
Winxa was silent for a few moments with a sad expression on her face. “I’m sorry…what was your name again?”
Sandra.
“I’m sorry, Sandra. Even if I could convince the Creator that a mistake was made and brought your body back to life – which is just about as likely as another Core other than you not trying to eat me – there is no changing the passage of time. What was the last date you remember?”
For some reason Sandra couldn’t remember the exact day, but she at least remembered the month and year – which she promptly told the Fairy.
“Wow. I’m actually surprised you aren’t insane; 252 years is a long time to be by yourself with only your thoughts to support you. You must have a strong mind to be able to even speak at all. Most of the souls that end up contracted only stay in limbo for a maximum of 100 years before they’re brought back, and even the majority of those have had their minds broken from the torturous expanse.”
Yeah, I’m special alright. And also about 250 years too late to try to stop her father from wasting away. She felt disappointment and sorrow at not being able to contact him and let him know that she was…alive? Although she wasn’t quite sure her current existence as a Dungeon core qualified as “life”, it was as close as she was going to get.
“Regardless of how you did it, the fact that you are able to speak intelligently for this long shows me that your mind somehow survived largely intact. Which also means that the Creator did put you here deliberately, but I still have no idea why,” Winxa sighed dramatically and put her chin in her hand as she stared at Sandra.
What?
“Oh, nothing. Anyways…I guess I better do my job and keep teaching you, otherwise we’ll never find out why you’re here.” Sandra thought it was nice to hear Winxa say “we”; she hadn’t really had any friends as she was growing up because they were on the road constantly. For almost as long as she could remember, her father had been the only one she could really count on to be there for her. While she appreciated his support wholeheartedly, in the end, he was more family than friend.
“Let’s see, the next thing I should probably teach you about is the process behind creating a dungeon monster so
that you can start accumulating ambient Mana. While you can slowly leach the ambient Mana around your Core, it only reaches a short way. In fact, I wouldn’t hesitate to say that it probably doesn’t even reach past your cave. And don’t even bother trying to do it now, because your initial Core creation used it all up. The only way you can get it now is from your monsters or through absorbing the small amounts in the nearby cave wall that you already converted. In fact, let’s do that now so that you’ll have enough to create your first monster.” She paused and looked expectantly at Sandra, as if waiting for her to do something.
Uh…how do I do that?
Winxa started giggling at her for some reason. Why are you laughing at me? Aren’t you supposed to be teaching me how to do this?
That sobered her up really quick. “Oh – you were serious? All you have to do is open up your Core Selection Menu and—” she stopped and tilted her head at Sandra, as if she was trying to figure her out. “—and you have no idea what I’m talking about do you? You really didn’t sign a contract, did you?”
No, I did not, and I’ve told you that already.
“I know, I know – but it’s still hard to believe. I’ve never done this, so bear with me; normally, once a soul signs a contract, they are automatically infused with the knowledge of how to operate their Core Selection Menu. It’s difficult to relay the kind of information and concepts that the Dungeon Fairies impart, as well as demonstrating practical applications – which is why we exist in the first place; the Core Selection Menu, on the other hand, is like…knowing how to breathe or blink your eyes, if that makes any sense. It should already be automatic, so I’m going to have to figure this out with you.”
The Crafter's Dungeon: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 1) Page 3