by Dante King
“I almost thought you might have come from my own world.”
I now figured Lilith had chosen me from Earth to get around whatever restrictions the Pantheon had imposed upon her. I still wasn’t sure exactly how the goddess had managed interdimensional travel, but that was a mystery to leave for another day.
“I was chosen by her to be a dungeon,” she said. “Lived a perfectly normal life as the daughter of a farmer, until the priestesses brought me to her. She gave me an option – to become her instrument, proclaim her beauty, and grow powerful in in her honor.”
“I take it you said yes?” I said, smiling.
“It’s hard to refuse a goddess,” Abigail told me, and I chuckled.
It sure was. “So how did you come to be here, then?”
“I…” Her voice caught, and her eyes darted down, back to the corpses spread out between us. “I was captured. I failed my goddess. A storm sorcerer named Karlyle stole me from my dungeon.”
“How is that possible?” I asked.
“A dark magic.”
“Infernal?”
“No,” Abigail said. “At least, I don’t think so. I thought Karlyle might have allied himself with sinister forces, but now that I’ve experienced Infernal magic, I know otherwise. Your powers are certainly dark, but this was different—something truly evil.”
“This Karlyle stole you, so how did Alaxon end up with your core?”
“He was among a raiding party that ransacked the storm sorcerer’s tower. I imagine Karlyle is out there looking for me, but I won’t have to worry about him now. Not while I’m under your protection.” Her eyes of pure blue found mine again, settling on my gaze.
Karlyle. God, the guy sounded like a fucking prick. I was probably biased, being a dungeon core and all, but the way Abigail’s voice trembled at his name made me hate the guy all the more. How could he steal someone this precious? What had he forced her to do?
“I thought I was going to be inside that filthy satchel until I went insane,” Abby said.
“Glad to be of service.” I chuckled. “Consider yourself officially free of satchel bags.”
She looked away again, and that same blush colored her cheeks. “I didn’t think that…” Her foot traced a line over my curving design on the obsidian floor. “I thought you’d consume me. You’re an Infernal core. Everything I’ve ever heard about your kind is that you’re twisted, sick, infectious monsters. Not… not heroes, coming to someone’s aid like that.”
“Abigail—”
“Abby,” she corrected me.
“Abby,” I said, liking the way the name slid off the tongue, “I’m certainly no hero. Lilith is my master, and she wants me to become the strongest dungeon in the Sinarius Realms, to fight and destroy Entropy. My running guess is she wants to use me as leverage to restore her own power among the gods.”
“And you agreed?”
I thought back to the decision, how I’d caught it with both hands. “Wanton slaughter isn’t the first of my priorities—it’s to destroy Entropy, simple as that. Scum like this Karlyle; those are my enemies, Abby. Not the other dungeons. Unless they interfere with my goals.”
She exhaled sharply. “They won’t trust you. I’m not even sure I can.”
I sidled closer, lifted a hand, and gently brushed a stray curl of hair from her right eye. She shivered at my touch and blushed fiercely at the sensation of my fingertip.
“I swear, with Lilith as my witness, you will come to no harm under my protection. Zagorath may not be the Temple of Ciryli, but if you honestly thought I’m a threat—that I’d turn on you, hurt you, imprison you—you would’ve demanded to leave already My dungeon is only in its genesis, but I will become the strongest dungeon the Infernal Realms have ever seen.”
“I’m not sure I can remain here forever. It would be a great offense against the storm goddess.”
I needed another angle, and a familiar motivation crossed my mind. “You were wronged by this sorcerer, Karlyle. Why not let me help you take revenge?”
“He is a powerful sorcerer, I’m not sure you could—”
I lifted a hand and she stopped speaking. Then I gestured to the dungeon’s walls. “Let me be the judge of what I can do, Abby. And if I can do this in a week, imagine what I could do in a month, or a year? Karlyle’s time for recompense might not be right now, but it will come. Then, when you’ve torn his heart from his chest, you could be standing here, right by my side. I will defeat Entropy. We could destroy them both together.”
She looked at me, stunned. “You honestly believe you can beat them?”
“Better,” I smirked. “I know I can.”
“You certainly have quite the spoils from the battle.”
“Yeah, I should really start collecting everything. I figure I’ll let you have a few items for yourself.”
Abby laughed for the first time, and my heart melted in my chest. “I appreciate the sentiment, but I’m unable to absorb them,” she said. “Not one contains Storm Essence; they are all tainted by Infernal Essence; they were crafted from the physical material contained within your realm, not my own. Adventurers can use any essence that corresponds with their tattoos while most dungeons can only absorb essences and materials from their own Realms.”
“You can’t absorb equipment that’s not originally from the Storm Realm?” I asked.
“No. I cannot. I’m afraid there are many things I cannot do. Without Garili, I fear I’m lost.”
“I won’t let anything happen to you,” I promised, cupping her cheek in my hand.
“I’m starting to believe you,” Abigail whispered, her voice so low that it seemed she barely uttered the words.
She’d said that most dungeons could only absorb their own essence types, and I wondered whether my Vampiric Expertise perk might help me bypass that restriction. I was eager to test it, but I doubted that having sex with Abby would happen any time soon. While her avatar was stunning, she didn’t seem like the type who would be eager to jump into bed with me. She was no Bertha, that much was certain. Sure, she was equally sexy, but she had a reticence that was like armor against my flirting. I’d already managed to slip through a few of the cracks and had even earned a laugh.
Even the best of armor could be broken down, and my avatar was practically a machine whose primary purpose was eating metaphorical armor like the suit Abby wore. But I wouldn’t enthrall her. She would have to choose to sleep with me. There would be no coercion, and I’d use nothing more than my very best flirting efforts.
“Then why don’t you watch while I absorb what the raiders left behind?” I asked Abby.
“I would like that.” The beautiful avatar offered a smile.
I reached back with my mind, found my core, and dissolved my avatar. I caught a single glimpse of Abby’s face as a conflicted expression of disappointment touched upon her fine features, but then she joined me, swirling back into her own glittering sapphire.
Instinctively, my consciousness scoured my floors for items I could feast upon. The huge amount of Soul and Infernal Essence was flooding my core, but I had plenty of space for more. I almost felt a little nervousness as Abby watched me expand my consciousness over the rest of my lair. She’d been a dungeon far longer than I had, but she didn’t seem quite as experienced, so I simply shrugged off the feeling.
Filled to the brim with essence, I needed to break down the spoils of war for blueprints and new crafting materials.
Chapter Twenty-Three
I turned my attention to the new variety of weapons abandoned on the floors of my dungeon. They were created with a new kind of forged steel. Their shapes and dimensions were also different from my cleaver, mace, and poleaxe designs.
Best of all was Ralph’s sword. I centered my consciousness over the weapon and felt it thrum with power.
Acquired Item!
The Dark Reaper
Rarity: Epic
Damage Type: Infernal
Seals: Swiftness +1
Swiftness ch
annels the essence inside a wielder and increases their speed.
Might
Might channels the essence inside a wielder and increases their strength.
I took my time consuming the sigils and noticed the way this more powerful Swiftness sigil varied from the one I’d consumed on Gavin’s weapon. The little runic characters were more detailed, crafted by an artisan with greater skill and more Infernal Essence at their disposal.
The Might sigil was a variation using the same technique as Swiftness, but instead of increasing speed, it increased strength by channeling the Infernal Essence inside a creature’s tattoo or body through a weapon and back into their body.
Zagorath Acquired Enchanted Sigils
Swiftness +1 (1,000 Infernal Essence)
Might (1,000 Infernal Essence)
A quick run over with my consciousness broke the rust away from the sword and left the blade shining like a mirror.
It was formed of a kind of obsidian and steel alloy, which seemed strange since I’d always assumed volcanic rock was too brittle and inflexible to make weapons. But this had been crafted magically, created from Physical Essence rather than forged and hammered into shape. Detailed metalworking ran down an inlet in the middle of the broad blade. Beneath a ruby set into the pommel was a cross guard with terminals bent slightly toward the blade.
The grip was wrapped in oiled black leather, and I happy broke it down and added it to my resource pool. Then I consumed the blade, hilt, handle, pommel, and all.
By the time I was finished, I had a working knowledge of the weapon’s composition, and understood why it had registered as possessing Epic rarity—it could be enchanted with two sigils. The other items I’d acquired were Common and Magic, and the latter could only be enchanted with one sigil while the former just couldn’t be enchanted at all.
Zagorath Consumed a Two-Handed Great Sword (Obsidian Alloy)
Physical Essence +1,250
Zagorath Acquired a Blueprint
Two-Handed Great Sword
Zagorath Acquired Crafting Materials
Obsidian Alloy
Clouded Ruby Gemstone
Black Leather
Goblin Oil
It felt like hours had passed; the process of consuming such a masterfully-crafted item took much longer than the simpler weapons. I dug into the scimitars and admired their uncomplicated yet effective craftsmanship.
Acquired Item!
Orc Scimitar (Orc Steel)
Rarity: Common
Damage Type: Infernal
Seals: None
While I really liked the two-handed great sword for its sheer size and power, it wasn’t as suited to the hands of my Tainted Elf as the scimitars. These weapons were only Common types, so I wouldn’t be able to enchant these exact items, but a fast blade like this would work well for Von Dominus. An improved Dark Reaper, as much as I’d like to wield the incredible weapon, would be too cumbersome for my elf. I much prefer dual daggers for their speed, given my avatar’s lithe body.
It took me a few moments to glide over the composition of a new metal and figure out how the molecules and atoms fitted together inside the weapons before I could properly break them down and absorb them. Once I did, I felt that flood of elation that always seemed to come with learning a new blueprint.
Zagorath Consumed Orc Scimitar (Orc Steel) (x18)
Physical Essence +900
Zagorath Acquired a Blueprint
Orc Scimitar
Zagorath Acquired Crafting Materials
Orc Steel
I could feel Abby’s consciousness watching my progress as she extended her senses carefully. It didn’t seem like she actually knew how to see beyond a few feet.
Her inexperience astounded me since she was obviously a far older dungeon core than me. It seemed a lifetime ago that I’d been sitting up high on the troll’s mantelpiece, struggling to see any further than a few feet. So, I decided to let her figure it out as an important learning curve. Weeks, months, years—who knew how long she’d been trapped inside her own core, hiding from the world and trying to pass herself off as a simple sapphire in the pocket of an old man or this Storm sorcerer? I hoped she’d soon break free from her relative confinement.
My consciousness rolled over the wide-bladed spears with short handles. I ripped the blades from their wooden fittings, eagerly consuming both substances at once. A smug and satisfied warmth spread through my core.
Acquired Item!
Orc Short Spear (Orc Steel)
Rarity: Common
Damage Type: Infernal
Seals: None
I was a little disappointed to discover the wood was the same type I’d eaten before, so I wouldn’t acquire a new crafting material from them. I couldn’t complain, though; this harvest was already shaping up to be quite the lucrative one. Once the weapons fell apart, their Physical Essence swirled deep into my gem.
Zagorath Consumed Orc Short Spear (Orc Steel) (x15)
Physical Essence +600
Zagorath Acquired a Blueprint
Orc Short Spear
The clothes of the raiders were mostly torn and unusable as blueprints, but I did find a few items that were salvageable. I dismantled leather jerkins, boots, cuffs, pants, and belts. They were all Common items made from a kind of tanned leather that was difficult to break down.
I drank the vibrant Physical Essence of their clothing while consuming their corpses. I didn’t earn any essence from the latter, but had to rid my dungeon of them anyway; I considered it was time well spent.
Zagorath Consumed Tanned Leather Jerkin (x5)
Physical Essence +150
Zagorath Consumed Tanned Leather Boots (x2)
Physical Essence +20
Zagorath Consumed Tanned Leather Cuffs (x2)
Physical Essence +10
Zagorath Consumed Tanned Leather Pants (x4)
Physical Essence +80
Zagorath Consumed Tanned Leather Belt (x2)
Physical Essence +10
Zagorath Acquired Blueprints
Leather Jerkin
Leather Boots
Leather Cuffs
Leather Pants
Leather Belt
Zagorath Acquired Crafting Materials
Tanned Leather
I found the pig-sticking dagger I’d used in combat and took special care while studying it.
Acquired Item!
Pig-Sticking Dagger (Orc Steel)
Rarity: Magic
Damage Type: Infernal
Seals: None
The weapon was a Magic type, meaning I could enchant it with a single sigil. It was also crafted with the second best blade I’d found in the Sinarius Realms so far, second only to the Reaper. It was narrow, razor-sharp, and double-edged. I’d already witnessed its effectiveness, so I scoured my dungeons for three other identical daggers and broke them down with glee.
Zagorath Consumed Pig-Sticking Dagger (Orc Steel) (x4)
Physical Essence +300
Zagorath Acquired a Blueprint
Pig-Sticking Dagger
Abby’s consciousness was alive, crackling with an electric energy, and I realized after a moment that she was trying to communicate. It took her a little while, but eventually, she managed to both watch me and speak at the same time.
“I had so few adventurers enter my depths, and those that did plundered my materials.” Her musical tone brushed against my jewel as she projected her thoughts. “I could never kill them. At one point, a man skilled in mining left behind a pickaxe, and it took me weeks to break that item down. I don’t understand how you can be so fast with so many weapons. Don’t you tire?”
“Not really. I can’t have the items lying around when more guests could enter my gates at any moment.”
“So, you’re waiting on someone?” she asked.
“Maybe. They might not show, but I need to be ready if they do.” I ventured further into my dungeon to seek the old man’s staff and its light-bearing sigil
.
“This would take me weeks, perhaps months,” Abby informed me, and I imagined her shaking her head. “I’ve never seen anything like you before.”
My awareness locked onto Alaxon’s staff, and I mentally yipped with glee. “I’m sure you haven’t,” I answered her. “Give me a minute.”
Acquired Item!
Lightstone Staff (Honeywood)
Rarity: Magic
Damage Type: Infernal
Seals: Illuminate
The old man’s staff was formed from honeywood but the crystal glowing on its top was peculiar. Runes marked the faces of the cheap glass, and I mined their function as I consumed each one.
Zagorath Acquired an Enchanted Sigil
Illuminate (100 Infernal Essence)
I chuckled at the pure illusionary magic of the priest’s weapon.
“What is it?” Abby asked me.
“The priest who stole you—did you know his staff could only shine a little? I thought maybe it could blast a few energy bolts, but it’s just a glorified torch!”
“Now you mention it, I never did sense him using it for anything except illuminating his path.”
“He was a charlatan through and through,” I said. “But at least his sigil will be useful.”
Zagorath was still far too dimly-lit, and the Illuminate enchantment would resolve some of the issues. I didn’t want my dungeon to be completely visible to adventurers but still wanted them to feel as if they had a fighting chance. One of the best ways to do that was to make sure they could at least see down here.