Chareese passed through the short tunnel and found a very similar room, though this time it was filled with smaller plague-ridden rats, small brown-and-green goblins, and two large boars. They fell just as quickly as the ones from the first room and pretty soon the room was clear. She saw the tunnel leading on near the right-hand corner of the room and felt a rush of excitement that she hadn’t felt in a long, long time; it was very rare that a new dungeon was found and being the ones to delve through it for the first time was sometimes scary and sometimes deadly, but it was always exhilarating. “I just wish these monsters were a bit harder,” she grumbled out loud.
Before she could advance, though, three barricades filled with sharp icicles appeared in front of her and two large sheets of fire appeared behind her. A large crystal-coated scorpion appeared in one corner, while a trio of large Stone Golems (at least three times larger than the ones in the previous room) appeared in another corner. The bonded pet wolf she had just seen earlier walked out of the tunnel leading to the other room and...transformed…into a giant dire wolf that walked into the third corner of the room and sat down on its hind legs and stared at her.
“While I could’ve made them stronger, presenting a challenge to someone like you or those you work with is a bit beyond me right now,” said a voice she instantly recognized that came from the tunnel the wolf had walked out of. The young man walked calmly out with his hands out in a placating gesture, followed by the big man – Regnark – and the woman. Well, she assumed it was the woman, because it appeared as though she was now covered in dirt that conformed to her body, and she moved around as if it was perfectly natural.
Nothing Chareese saw made her worried for her safety, though it would be a difficult fight if she were assaulted on all sides. That, and there was the unknown component of the three people who were looking at her with confidence in their stances. What if they’re more powerful than I can handle? She vaguely regretted not waiting for reinforcements, but maybe she could buy some time until they arrived.
“What is going on here? Where did this dungeon come from?” If she could keep them talking and get answers at the same time, she was willing to talk with these criminals.
“That is a rather long explanation, but I’ll try to be brief before we run out of time. Your reinforcements are already rushing down here as we speak, and we don’t have long before they arrive,” the young man, Fredwynkle—something said, looking absently into the distance as if he really could see them coming. “The short version, then; first, this is my dungeon that I created, and I didn’t intend for it to be a challenge. It was more of an…what did you call it, Eisa? Oh, yes, an interview of sorts. To show some of my abilities off to you.”
His dungeon? What does that—?
“Before you ask, yes…I am a Dungeon Core. Well, half-Dungeon Core, at least – the other half of me is as human as you are. I’m not to go into my history right now, because as I said, we don’t have a lot of time.”
She had almost instinctually used her Aural Truth ability as soon as they had started talking, and as crazy as it sounded, the young man was telling the truth. Or what he believed to be the truth; her ability could only detect knowingly spoken falsehoods. For the moment, however, she didn’t doubt that he was telling at least a portion of the truth – the dungeon around her was proof enough of that. “What is the purpose of all of this, then?”
“Very good, we can get to the heart of the matter. Essentially, although I’m part Dungeon Core, I have no real love of the Cores that I have met and exist out there. The Supreme Council – think of it like your Allroads Council, but for all Dungeon Cores – ordered my parents murdered, and I wanted to put a stop to them. It was only after learning more about the world that my quest for revenge has changed; I discovered that my selfish desire to see the Supreme Council destroyed wouldn’t accomplish much even if I managed to accomplish the deed.
“Do you want to know why? It’s because – as much as I hate them for doing what they did to my parents and would still like to see them pay – I generally feel that what they did was just a symptom of a larger problem. Dungeon Cores are taking over the world and, if they aren’t stopped soon, there won’t be anything to stop them from destroying themselves and everything on the planet.”
Chareese didn’t know what he was talking about; they had coexisted with the dungeons for thousands of years and she didn’t see any sign of what he was talking about.
“I can see by your face that you don’t believe me,” the young man said. “That’s fine. But let me ask you a couple of questions. I’m sure that in your – I’m guessing at least three centuries to have achieved an S-5th-Rating Inquisitor – you’ve seen the changes I’m talking about over the years. Tell me, in all that time, are there as many Adventurers as there used to be? What about smaller towns and villages across the countryside? Have you seen any changes there?”
The shock of Fredwynkle—whatever knowing her exact Rating and Class was muted as she thought about the changes that both the land and the Syndicate had undergone over the years. She had definitely seen a change in the number of Adventurers applying to join the Syndicate; they had gone down dramatically since she had joined, and the quantity of S-Rated members had been reduced by half since she had taken her current position in Allroads. It was one of the main reasons she had taken the less-dangerous job; the S-Rated dungeons all seemed to be getting deadlier and harder to finish safely, and many were perishing as a result.
As for the landscape, that hit home – literally. Just over a century ago, the village she grew up in far to the west was destroyed and basically wiped off the map; she never found out the cause – mainly because she only heard about it years later – but everyone assumed it was some sort of bandit attack gone wrong. She hunted for them but never found them, though she did find that a dungeon had sprung up very close by, practically inside the village boundary.
“I can…vaguely…see what you’re talking about, but what does that have to do with you? And what do you think we’re supposed to do about it?” She kept talking in the hopes that her reinforcements would arrive, then they would be able to recapture and question these people for as long as it took to get answers.
“Look, it’s hard to see it from your perspective because humans only live so long. But if you see the long-term, you’ll realize that it’s only a matter of time before the Cores fight over the dwindling resources – humans, as much as it pains me to say – to the point where everyone is at risk. They’ll continue to expand into human lands, taking over more and more territory to fuel their war, while at the same time treating your – our – people like slaves or livestock. This has to end for both of our kinds to survive, or else no one will.”
She was about to answer when she heard the sound of running boots behind her. She smiled at the young man and the others. “As much as I’ve enjoyed this fantastical conversation, I think it’s about time to give yourselves up—”
“Ma’am, we have a problem!” she heard shouting from behind her.
“You’re absolutely correct that we have a problem. Now, if you can all help me—” she started to say without turning around.
“No, not this – I’m talking about up above…uh…by the way, where did this dungeon come from?”
Chareese’s mind came to a screeching halt. What? “What are you talking about?”
“The city is being attacked by dungeon monsters from all sides! We need everyone’s help at the walls!”
That was the absolute last thing she ever thought she would hear in her life. She looked at the three strange people standing there and trying – and failing – to look innocent. “What do you know about this?”
“Let’s just say that they might be a little mad that I established a territory in the middle of the Convergence. Apparently, it’s a bit of a no-no in their world,” the young man said with a sheepish expression on his face. But then it turned deadly serious so fast that she suspected that it was all an act. “So,
what are you going to do about it? Are you going to just let them walk right in here and take me, likely destroying half the city in the process? Are you going to let them invade here and then depart, leaving you to wonder when’s the next time they will invade because someone destroyed one of their Cores?”
“You…destroyed one of their Cores?” she asked incredulously. She had heard about one being taken about a century ago, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent people; she couldn’t imagine the death toll from destroying one of them.
“It was totally an accident…as were the other two, but that’s besides the point. It’s getting to the point all around the world where humans need to strike back, to establish themselves as more than just ‘livestock’ – did you know that’s what they think of humans?” the young man asked with sincerity. “And I think I – no, we—” he continued, pointing at the others around him, including the giant Dire Wolf in the corner— “can help with that. Now, what are you going to do?”
As much as she wanted to recapture and bring these people in, she knew where her duty lay – with the city of Allroads. “We’re not done here. I have to go save my people apparently from a war you started, and then I’ll be back to have a more serious conversation,” she told him with mounting anger. “And no more theatrics, please.” As soon as she said that, the Dire Wolf moved to the fire walls behind her and touched them with its nose, making them instantly disappear, and then did the same for the sharp icicle barricades in the front.
“I’ll be here. Let me know if you need any help.”
She snorted, which wasn’t very dignified, but she didn’t care. “You’ve been enough help, thank you,” she said, before she joined the two squads who had come to reinforce her. What a day this is turning out to be; I just wish I had gotten more sleep last night.
* * *
Fred collapsed to the floor in relief as the Inquisitor left with her people, and he watched them rush up the tunnel back to the surface. That was one of the hardest things he had done in his life, and he still wasn’t sure if it had been the right decision. However, it was the only thing he could think of that seemed like it would work. It was the instinctual knowledge that the Dungeon Cores nearby would react to his presence here quickly that cemented his choice, however.
If he had just established his territory, without ever having done anything else, they probably wouldn’t have done anything right away without assessing the situation; after having destroyed three Cores, though – however inadvertently – he knew they would react with anger and without much thought to the consequences. In fact, he was counting on it to be the spark that ignited the fighting spirit of the people of Allroads.
Whether or not that would be a good decision in the long run had yet to be seen.
He hadn’t intended to share all that information with the woman, but something told him he should try to be as honest and open as possible. That was the only way he was going to have any type of working relationship with her; if he had lied to her or left too much out, there was a good chance she would come back down after the defense of the city was taken care of and kill him and the others.
He looked down the tunnel leading to the room that he had hastily dug out when he arrived at his dungeon and saw the scared faces of his Guild members and Gatecross townspeople. It wouldn’t just be Eisa, Regnark, Deecy, and me that will suffer, but they’ll also be killed for participating.
“Did you really mean what you said?” Eisa asked softly. “You want to…fight back against the Dungeon Cores?”
Although he didn’t exactly know how he was going to go about that, he knew that it was the right decision – for everyone involved. As much as it would cause the deaths of thousands – possibly millions – on either side of the conflict, he thought it was the only way to save the rest.
“Yes, Eisa. It’s time the ‘livestock’ fought back.”
End of Book 3
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading Dungeon World 3!
We finally reached a turning point in Fred’s journey – a place where he had to choose what he wanted to realistically do about his parents’ murder. Go right to the top and attempt to destroy the Supreme Council, provided he could even find them? Or embrace his other half, helping the humans with their status as livestock – and in turn “save the world”? While it seems as though he has made his decision, only time will tell if it works out the way he wants it to.
Not only that, but Fred finally found a place where he can put down some permanent roots. His previous dungeon in Gatecross was only minimally adequate for defense – and it required the help of the humans there to help defend it. On top of that, it was right in the middle of enemy territory; now that he’s in a spot where he has many more “allies” available, he can finally build the dungeon he is going to need to defend himself and his friends from the Cores’ wrath.
In the 4th book, Fred will have to negotiate a way to exist while helping Allroads weather the attacks from the enraged Dungeon Cores nearby. And what of the other elements he has yet to encounter or obtain? What does an Air or Light dungeon look like? Where is the reaction from the Supreme Council to Fred’s existence? All this will be answered in the next book, as well as a lot more dungeon construction and defense!
Again, thank you for reading and I implore you to consider leaving a review – I love 4 and 5-star ones! Reviews make it more likely that others will pick up a good book and read it!
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Books by Jonathan Brooks
Glendaria Awakens Trilogy
Dungeon Player (Audiobook available)
Dungeon Crisis
Dungeon Guild
Glendaria Awakens Trilogy Compilation w/bonus material
Uniworld Online Trilogy
The Song Maiden (Audiobook available)
The Song Mistress
The Song Matron
Uniworld Online Trilogy Compilation
Station Cores Series
The Station Core (Audiobook available)
The Quizard Mountains (Audiobook available soon)
The Guardian Guild
The Kingdom Rises
The Other Core
Spirit Cores Series
Core of Fear
Dungeon World Series
Dungeon World (Audiobook available)
Dungeon World 2 (Audiobook available)
Dungeon World 3
Dungeon Crafting
The Crafter’s Dungeon
The Crafter’s Dungeon Book 2 – Title Pending (September)
World 3: A Dungeon Core Experience
Dungeon World 3: A Dungeon Core Experience Page 35