Endless Dungeon

by Richard J Thorn

  Speaking of home, did she have a family? A mother? A husband? Children? Not knowing was driving her crazy. Could she just yell to the simulation to stop and let her off?

  Did she want to get off?

  Perhaps this was a once in a lifetime chance and by leaving she'd be throwing it all away.

  Cass ground her teeth at the conflict.

  Not knowing was the hardest part.

  Trexxa snored herself awake and they decided to nip down to the bar and get something light to eat, then set off on some of the other quests.

  "Oh, by the way, do you know anything about this?" She pulled out the flyer for the pig. "It says that one Covfefe Von Pigget --" She looked up when she heard Fargus cough and nearly fall over. "What?"

  "That's...that's me long-lost brother!"

  "Your brother is a pig?"

  They all laughed at that, even Trexxa who was busy stuffing her face.

  From what Cass could gather over the next hour as they discussed the quest, Fargus's brother and his pet pig went missing a long time ago. He couldn't quite recall how long it had been, but from what Cass could gather, it was years. No one knew what happened to him.

  Just...one day he was there and the next he was gone. Simple as that. Never to be heard from again.

  "And now you show up with this." He puzzled over the paper and scrunched his brow.

  "What is it?"

  "Something I don't understand, though." He sniffed the cloth. "Why would he be looking for Pigget? Those two were as close as peanut butter and jelly. That doesn't make any sense," he said, shaking his scruffy head.

  Cass contemplated his words for several minutes. "So, do you know anything about this?"

  Fargus shook his head. "Not a thing." His face suddenly lit up. "Though I wouldn't mind coming along with ye, if you'd have me."

  Trexxa hissed and nodded.

  "That settles it, then. The raptor thinks that's a splendid idea." Cass laughed.

  "Perfect! Why don't you finish up those other quests you were telling me about, come back here and we'll go track down my brother." He wiped a tear from his eye. "I haven't seen old bastard Mizerak in forever."

  Cass tried to pay for their food and drink, but the old, craggy Dwarf waved them off. "You've paid enough." He explained.

  She was looking forward to testing out her new dagger. The scimitar from the Kobold pirate was a bit clunky for her. Too heavy and too unwieldy. The dagger, on the other hand, was light and felt perfectly balanced in her palm. She found herself playing with it all the time.

  One thing she wanted to test out before they left the tunnels was using her wand without touching it. Could she do it? Hell, could she use her magic without the wand at all? She was pretty sure she couldn't. But in this world, anyway, experimentation seemed to be the name of the game.

  "Okay, Trexxa. I'm going to blast you with healing energy. But I'm going to be away from my wand."

  Trexxa hissed and nodded.

  "I have no idea if this is possible or not, but I need to know."

  Cass sat down on the stone floor with her wand several inches in front of her. It was still within reach, but far enough away that she wasn't touching it. Trexxa stood several feet away, tapping her claw impatiently.

  "Okay, girl. Hold your horses..."

  Cass set the wand on the floor, pointed straight at her pet. Closing her eyes, she calmed her nerves and concentrated on her power. Instantly she felt the energy fill her. She allowed it to percolate in her body, building ever stronger.

  When she tried to focus the energy, however, she found it much more difficult - nearly impossible - without the wand in her hand. She felt lost and helpless without it. But still she thought she could command the wand to focus the energy.

  Reaching out with her mind, she connected to the wand. At first, there was resistance. The wand wished to be in her possession and she had an overwhelming desire to pick up the wand to complete the spell. But she resisted.

  Using every bit of energy she could muster, Cass tried to mentally bridge the gap between her and the wand. Slowly, the resistance faded and a sense of euphoria swept through her. A loud buzzing sound filled her mind, nearly knocking her out of her trance, but she held on and in her mind's eye she saw the tip of the wand begin to glow.

  Hiss!

  Cass bolted her eyes open and looked at her raptor in shock. All around her was healing energy and the wand tip was glowing brighter than she'd ever seen it.

  "I did it!" She cried out and danced around. "I did it, Trexxa!" She hugged the glowing raptor tightly to her chest. She needed a LOT more practice before it became something she could rely on - especially in a fight.

  Now she knew it could be done.

  "Keep your eyes peeled for those glowing mushrooms." She instructed her pet as they worked their way through the dungeon. They'd seen them literally all over the place, but now that they had a quest for them they were nowhere to be seen.

  A moment later, Trexxa raced over and peered down at one of them. Cass followed and carefully inspected it.

  "No," She said, shaking her red hair. "They need perfect specimens." She peered closer at the odd-looking mushroom. Cass wondered what kind of creature fed on it.

  It took them 10 minutes of searching around before they found even 1.

  *** 1/6 pristine, glowing mushrooms ***

  Cass checked her map and realized that they weren't far away from their starting location. It seemed like forever since they'd been there and she suddenly had an urge to check it out. Did she still want to continue building her base there? Did she need to?

  "Come on, let's go back home!" She led the hissing raptor back to their first home. When they arrived, pretty much everything was exactly as they had left it. Nothing was out of place, no weird Goblin footprints, nothing.

  She inspected her crude door and smiled to herself. She was just a baby when she made that, but it hadn't been too long ago. Less than a week, maybe? She shook her head. Time was funky down here. With no day/night cycle to regulate things, it was all just a guess.

  "What do you think, girl? Should we make this our private home? A get-away for when we're sick and tired of questing?

  Trexxa pondered the question for a few moments before nodding.

  "Yeah, I agree. We need to learn to make a bed first, though." Cass wondered if she could buy recipes. But how would she make them? She had a stray thought to check her recipe book. She hadn't scanned it in a while.

  To her surprise, there was a prototype workbench listed. According to the ingredients, it didn't seem like it would be hard to make. She also saw the quest to get her mini-pet. What was that all about?

  Kicking around some dirt and stone, Cass decided that before they set out on the wolf-killing quest, she'd at least put together the basic workbench. It only needed some lumber and stone. Easy enough.

  Half an hour later, she had everything she needed. The recipe of course needed magic to work. It took three tries before she was finally able to use her wand to assemble the bench. Her and Trexxa dug out a second, smaller room where they placed the bench. Cass created and threw a door between the main room and the crafting room. She had a feeling she'd be spending a lot of time in there. If she didn't get too busy with quests, that was.

  Wiping the sweat off her brow, she slid down the wall onto the floor. What she wouldn't give for a nice, comfortable bed right about now. That was going to be her next big thing. Maybe she'd head back to the city and, after turning in the quests, find a place to purchase recipes. Was that a thing she could buy?

  Despite it not being very comfortable, she found herself nodding off. Trexxa curled up in her lap and they quickly fell asleep. Again, the sleep was peaceful and dreamless. She didn't know if - or even when - Derek would show back up. She hadn't heard from him in a while and wondered what he'd found out.

  Cass awoke awhile later, her neck cricked and her back and ass sore. But it was nice waking up in her own place.

  She made a
fire and while Trexxa ran around looking for pristine glowing mushrooms, she cooked up their meat. It felt good not being beholden to anyone. She could do whatever she wanted or go wherever she desired without answering to anyone. There was an appeal to that.

  Once the last of the boar meat was cooked and devoured, they filled up their wineskins at the watering hole Trexxa had found and continued on their way. Trexxa had managed to find 2 more pristine mushrooms, bringing their total to 3.

  *** 2/6 pristine, glowing mushrooms ***

  *** 3/6 pristine, glowing mushrooms ***

  They were all over the place. She wasn't too worried about them.

  "You ready for some wolves?"

  Trexxa jumped up and down and clapped her hands excitedly.

  Checking their map, Cass followed the path the Goblins showed her out to the outside world. It was still weird to her. It was outside, but yet it was all underground. After being in the near-darkness, she had to let her eyes adjust to the artificial light of this inside-outside world.

  "According to the quest it just says we're looking for wolves. It doesn't specify what type or where they are. Keep a nose out for their scent, will ya?"

  Cass carefully picked her way down the side of the embankment, past the road and into the forest. As they moved further away from the tunnel, the grass grew thicker and greener and more and more trees appeared before them. Before she knew it, she was in the middle of an underground forest.

  A rabbit hopped lazily across their trail, completely unconcerned with their presence. The air was filled with birdsong - small and large. Some she thought she could identify, but others she'd never heard before.

  Squirrels scampered up trees and dropped pine-cones on their heads. The air smelled fresh and the strong scent of pine filled their nostrils. For several minutes, Cass just stood there in the copse of pine trees, closed her eyes and inhaled the fragrant beauty of the forest.

  She honestly had no idea there even was a forest here. It was such a departure from the dark, dank dungeon. Maybe once she'd learned a few more recipes, she'd build a base out here. That could be fun.

  Trexxa's tail suddenly straightened and her entire body stiffened.

  "You pick up a scent, girl?" Cass said as a white butterfly flitted lazily in front of her.

  Trexxa hissed quietly and pointed in front of her with her tiny arms. Cass peered in the direction she indicated, but couldn't see anything. Trexxa's powerful nose, however, was twitching excitedly.

  "How many?"

  She held up three claws, never taking her gaze off them.

  "Three?"

  She nodded.

  Cass pulled out her wand as adrenaline coursed through her. Taking a deep breath, she tried to tamp down her excitement. She'd never faced a wolf before. Would they be easier or harder than a spider or rat?

  When she was ready, Trexxa slowly crept forward. No matter how hard she looked, she couldn't see them. Then, off in the far distance, she spotted a movement. A slight one, but there was something there. Her heart tore through her chest and she cast her fire protection spell. Best get it out of the way early so her mana could regen.

  As they stalked closer to their prey, she could start to make out more and more of the wolf's outline. One was laying down in a patch of dirt and another circled around him, then curled up next to him.

  "Where's the third?" She whispered to Trexxa, who shrugged.

  Maybe he was off hunting or something.

  She didn't know if her spells had a range limit, but now would be the time to test that out.

  Cass carefully pulled her dagger out of its sheathe, then aimed her wand at the wolves. In quick succession, she dotted both of them up. The two large, gray timberwolves jumped up and looked around. One rolled on the ground, trying to put out the fire.

  She took that opportunity to lob a fireball at the closest one. Neither of them had spotted her yet, which gave her a massive advantage. If she squinted just right, she could make out that they each had 30 hp. The dot took away 4 from both and her fireball blasted one for 11, bringing it to 15 and the other to 26.

  Trexxa melded into the shadows, waiting for the right time to strike.

  Which came a moment later as the second the fireball struck, they turned and raced toward her. Cass sucked in air as their large, sinewy, canine bodies bounded at top speed in her direction.

  She tamped down the fear in her heart and readied her next spell. Between the dot and her second fireball, the half-dead wolf crumpled to the ground right in front of Trexxa, yowling in pain as it died.

  The second saw Trexxa too late and the raptor leaped upon the vicious beast, crashing it to the ground.

  It was down to 20 and Cass was running low on mana. With dagger in hand, she watched the two beasts rumble and roll on the forest floor, teeth snapping and fur flying. She thought she could even hear hissing.

  Just as she'd lunge in, they'd roll away from her and she'd have to pull back. There was no way around it, she was going to have to use magic if she wanted to help Trexxa.

  Waiting for her mana to tick up, she held her dagger outstretched in one hand and her wand in the other.

  Cass closed her eyes and threw the fireball at the fighting wolf, killing it instantly. Trexxa took a minute to regain her breath, healed herself up then set to work carving the pelts up for the quest.

  "Good work, Trexxa!" Cass rubbed the dino's head. "We make a damn fine team."

  Cass took a swig of her ale and waited for the raptor to finish carving the beasts up. "Grab the meat while you're there. No sense letting it go to waste."

  Trexxa hissed and nodded and within a half an hour was all finished with her work. There was no sign of the third wolf. Maybe it had wisely stayed away.

  They quickly cooked up a couple steaks and set back to their quest.

  *** 1/10 wolf pelts ***

  *** 2/10 wolf pelts ***

  At this rate, it was going to take them all afternoon. But it was a good excuse to take in the forest and explore the scenery.

  It felt good to be out in the crisp, clean air. The dungeon was nice, but this was so much better.

  They worked as a scary good team. Cass would pull them by dotting them up, then Trexxa would pounce on them once they were within range - if they made it - which they oftentimes didn't.

  They slayed black wolves, lone wolves, white wolves, even a whole pack of wolves. By the time they had all the hides they needed, they had enough wolf meat to last for days. Cass had never seen so much bounty in all her life.

  Most of the wolves dropped nothing - maybe a few copper here or there - but the large pack had a cache of weapons and other goodies that Cass and Trexxa plundered greedily.

  The items they found were:

  * A rusty, nearly broken broadsword

  * A pair of calf-skin gloves

  * 5 vials of light healing potion

  * 1 large mana potion

  * 1 small dagger

  * Recipe: Wooden Chair

  There were some other trinkets and bits and bobs, but nothing of any value. Just the same old crap the rats had. Which - come to think of it - might be where they got it.

  Cass had been nosing around her spellbook and was really starting to get the urge to begin crafting. She was sure that the wolf pelts would be really good for that, but no sense keeping them around when she wasn't ready for them.

  "What do you think, Trexxa? Good haul?" She asked her pet as they trundled back to the cave.

  Trexxa hissed and popped another steak in her mouth. They were both exhausted from all the killing they'd done.

  It wasn't until they got back to base did she realize that she'd leveled up.

  Skimming through her messages, she saw:

  *** Congratulations! You are now level 6! ***

  She rolled a 6 for health and a 5 for mana, bringing her stats up to 34 for health and 22 for mana. That bigger mana pool would've come in handy for the wolves. While the dagger saw some nice action, she often fou
nd herself waiting for her mana to replenish.

  Trexxa hissed her approval.

  "That's right! You're up to level 6, too." It was nice having her pet keep level with her. She couldn't imagine it any other way.

  "I guess it's the floor again." Cass sighed, wishing she had picked up a bed recipe instead of a chair. But she'd take whatever she could get.

  "Unless you'd rather sleep in the chair?"

  Trexxa chose the chair.

  Great, now she had to make it.

  Cass studied the recipe, gathered all the dirt she needed, turned it into wood and laid it out in the shape of a crude chair. It took a couple tries, but she was finally able to create the chair. She noticed it used up all but one point of her mana.

  Five minutes later, she had enough mana for the second chair.

  "There!" She indicated to her first craft.

  She watched in shock as Trexxa carefully moved the two chairs together next to the wall, climbed up on top, then promptly fell asleep.

  "Hiss!" She hissed at the silly raptor, then curled up on the ground and passed out.

  Cass dreamed about wolves. Snarling, vicious, savage, dirty wolves that stalked her in her dreams. Wherever she went, there they were. One, two, ten, twenty, dozens, hundreds, thousands.

  An endless amount of hazel eyes staring at her balefully, hungrily, tauntingly. She shivered and turned away from them, but they followed her. No matter where she went, no matter what she did, they followed her.

  She scrambled up on a hill, turned and saw more wolves than she could count, watching her. They were not aggressive. They made no move against her. They just watched.

  Cass awoke some hours later in the dark, trembling, but having no memory of the wolves.

  This day she had a lot she wanted to get accomplished. First, she wanted to finish gathering up the pristine mushrooms, then turn them in. The way her back was aching, she absolutely had to get herself a bed. One way or another, she didn't think she could spend another night on that cold, hard ground. Her body just couldn't take it.