Dungeon World: A Dungeon Core Experience

by Jonathan Brooks

  Body: 4 (0/80)

  Brawn: 3 (0/40)

  Mind: 4 (0/80)

  Vitality: 20/20

  Stamina: 9/15

  Power: 20/20

  Base Physical Attack: 3

  Base Physical Defense: 4

  Power Regen Rate: 0.1/min

  (Additional stats and abilities available once class is chosen)

  (Rating bonuses visible once class is chosen)

  Adapted Abilities

  Animate Dead 0 – 0/100

  Repair Animation 0 – 0/100

  Vitality Transfer 0 – 0/100

  Vitality Explosion 0 – 0/100

  Shield of Darkness 0 – 0/100

  Lifedrain 0 – 0/100

  Repair Object 0 – 0/100

  It appeared as though some of his mana had been spent keeping him alive long enough so that Eisa could heal him, with even more being used to repair their clothes. He still had quite a bit, however – and more than enough Unconverted Mana to last a while too.

  He had received a total of 95 Essence from the room; a quick glance at one of the spiders’ mana signatures broke it down for him.

  Vine Spider (Level 1)

  Vitality: 0

  Attack: 3, Acidic Poison

  Defense: 4

  Respawn: 4 Nature Mana

  Loot: 2 copper

  Essence: 3 units

  They had both gained 45 Essence from the Vine spiders, so that must’ve meant that the discharge from the strangling vine trap had given them 50. I wonder why that is worth more? He didn’t have an answer to that, nor could he ask Eisa, as she was already almost out of sight.

  Before she left his vision completely, he again quick-checked her status.

  Eisa Howells

  Vitality: 50/80

  Stamina: 40/80

  Power: 312/2200

  She had spent quite a bit of her power, but Fred hoped she’d still have enough to finish the dungeon. He could tell that he was getting very close to the dungeon core inside the dungeon; an itching at the back of his mind hinted that if he got closer, he might be able to “hear” it use its mana communication.

  He left his available Essence alone – for now – so that he could save it for when he got a class, which was becoming more important by the minute. He had reached the next Rating – G-2nd – but whatever benefits that was supposed to give him was delayed because he didn’t have a class. He suspected that the class traits that he had seen on Eisa’s status were increased or added to as she “rated-up”, so he didn’t want to miss out on whatever he might receive.

  He also saw that he had adapted another couple of Eisa’s spells – Shield of Darkness and Lifedrain. He knew that she had used a few other spells while he was unconscious, but as he hadn’t “seen” them used, he couldn’t copy what she had done.

  What was the most interesting addition to his adapted abilities, however, was the Repair Object one; apparently, his use of his Mana to repair their clothes was something that could be adapted and used with his Power in the future. I wonder if I can Create Objects as well? He’d have to experiment later.

  With everything looking as good as it was going to get, he followed Eisa, hoping that her bear wouldn’t run into another trap right away like the last room. Fortunately, they had both stopped right at the entrance to what Fred now knew was the final room; when he looked at the far corner, he could pinpoint the dungeon core right behind the rock wall. He couldn’t see the entrance to its Core room, but he was sure it was cleverly hidden somewhere.

  The majority of the room was relatively plain compared to the rest of the dungeon, though it was clearly lit unlike the spider room; only one large dark-green, deep-red, and light-brown plant nearly 10 feet tall and 6 feet wide was sitting in the middle of the room. When Fred looked at it with his Mana Sight, it fairly blazed with green Nature mana running all through the entire thing.

  Bludgeoning Fly Trap (Level 2)

  Vitality: 250

  Attack: 5 – Bludgeoning Arms, 7 – Thorn-filled Mouth Trap

  Defense: 6

  “Well, I have some good news and some bad news – which one would you like to hear first?” Fred asked as he came up behind the Necro-healer.

  Eisa turned around to look at him with her eyebrows raised. “Why does it seem like I’m the new recruit sometimes? You seem to have all sorts of information about this place that you shouldn’t.” Fred just shrugged, not wanting to explain anything. “Fine…give me the good news first.”

  “This is the last room in the dungeon.”

  “Ok, that’s about what I expected; these easier dungeons aren’t usually more than four or five rooms deep,” Eisa remarked knowingly. “What’s the bad news?”

  “That big plant there is all one…monster, I think is what you’ve called them. And it’s pretty powerful – even you might get seriously hurt from it.”

  Chapter 26

  Eisa listened to his description, surprised at the presence of what she figured was an actual dungeon boss.

  “Sounds like the boss of the dungeon, which is unusual in lower-rated G dungeons. They usually start around G-5th-Rated dungeons, but it isn’t unheard of for one to be in a lower one. This might be a bit more difficult than I had originally suspected; we can turn around and leave if we want to – there’s no penalty for not completing the job, which is why I chose this one in the first place,” Eisa informed Fred.

  I could probably do it by myself, but I don’t want Fred to get killed; this is a little much for a new Adventurer that doesn’t even have a class yet. Not that he acted like a new recruit; on the contrary, he seemed to have some sort of innate knowledge of the dungeon – even though he had said he’d never been there before. It was also obvious that many of the aspects of being a dungeon delver was new to him, even though almost everyone in their kingdom grew up hearing tales about the greatest Adventurers in the past – and present. He was quite the mystery…and she still wasn’t sure what to think about that.

  “We’re already here, so why don’t we try to finish this?”

  Because you might die, you greedy moron. She didn’t say that, of course, but she really wanted to. She’d already lost one group to greed and she didn’t want to lose another…

  “Well, how about I send my bear in and see what we’re up against? If it’s too much, we can bail, and we’ll be none the worse for it. I won’t be able to maintain its animation for too much longer anyway, so there wouldn’t be any harm.”

  Fred thought about it for a moment, before giving the go ahead. When did I suddenly consider him to be the leader? She was the most experienced and higher-rated, but she had been constantly deferring to him in the last couple of rooms. No matter; as long as we get through this, we can define our roles better later. She didn’t necessarily like being in charge, but she would do it if the need arose.

  She sent her animated bear ahead, staying far enough back in the tunnel that whatever happened wouldn’t be able to touch her. As soon as its paw touched the floor of the room, the plant monster in the middle of the room came alive.

  Four long tentacle-vines emerged from the center stalk, long enough that they could reach every corner of the room. In the center of the stalk, a large…mouth?...opened wide, the blood-red-colored tongue inside surrounded by massive “teeth” that were made out of wickedly sharp thorns. She did not want to get “eaten” by that.

  On the end of each vine (though arm would be the better description) a large, bulbous shape was waving around, the green tentacle extended over it like a snake that was in the process of trying to swallow a mouse. It was ridged and almost shaped like a walnut; one look at it and she knew she didn’t want to be hit by it.

  Her bear had no choice, however, because as soon as it was fully inside the room, four snaking arms smashed down right on top of its back. Her passive Enhance Animations ability essentially had the same effect as increasing her own Body and Brawn stats; despite increased strength and more-durable skin and bones, Eisa could
tell that her bear was starting to get injured for the first time. It wasn’t much yet, but the initial impact probably caused some hair-line fractures in its skeletal system.

  She immediately recalled her bear into the passageway before the slowly ascending arms could smash down again. “I think we should turn back – there’s no shame in beating a strategic retreat,” she said, after quickly looking over her animation.

  But Fred was staring at the plant, who was basically frozen in place, waiting for them to enter the room again. “Before we do that, a quick question for you. If we were a ‘regular’ Adventurer team of say…three or four members around my Rating or higher, what would be the safest and most effective way we that they would be able to defeat this def—monster?”

  She thought about it for a moment, curious as to what he meant by his question. Is he planning on finding some other members to come back and help to defeat this thing? There are many other dungeons around here that we can visit, earning just as much coin and Essence, so there would be no point. Despite the futility of it, she answered what she thought would be the best-case scenario.

  “Hypothetically, at least in this instance, the ideal team would consist of at least four members: a tank – who would be able to keep the attention and withstand the blows of those bludgeoning arms, a caster of some sort – preferably one that could sling fire spells at this thing, a ranged damage-dealer – that could attack from afar and avoid being smashed to a pulp, and a healer to maintain the Vitality of the tank and anyone else that might inadvertently get hurt.

  “As it is, my bear could theoretically act as a tank and I could do my best to repair it, but my normal healing spells won’t work on it. And I’d have to get close to my animation to start the repair, which I’d rather not do too much as it would put me in harm’s way. I might not die straight away from getting hit from one of those arms, but it might break some bones. You’d probably survive a hit or two as well, but I couldn’t guarantee much past that.

  “I have some long-range spells like Lifedrain, Shadow Strike, and even Inflict Pain, but I doubt I have enough Power to take it out. Plus, I would have to be a little closer – probably at least a couple of feet into the room before I could reach the plant. Everything I did would cause it to want to attack me because the bear isn’t suited to keeping its attention. I can try though, if you’d like.” Eisa was exaggerating a little bit about her lack of remaining Power, but she wasn’t too far off the mark. She thought she might be able to kill it if she was lucky, but at the moment the likelihood of it would probably be around 50/50.

  “Hmmm…ok, how about this. If I had a ranged weapon, like a bow and some arrows, do you think that would be enough extra damage to finish it off?”

  Since he obviously didn’t have one, she didn’t think it harmed anything to answer truthfully, “Yes, I think if you were able to do even a little more damage from afar, I could make up the difference.”

  “Ok, then I think that now I have a plan…”

  * * *

  Fred rolled out of the way of another vine-arm that slammed down so close that he could feel the wind from its passage; the ground shook a little at the impact, reinforcing the need to be careful. He wasn’t very fast, but he found that – once committed – the arms didn’t adjust their downward course even if he shifted out of the way. There was a very small window that allowed him to avoid being hit if he was watching for it.

  He Created another arrow and fitted it to the bow he had Created earlier and aimed at the “mouth” of the plant before him. Watching out for another arm attack, he fired at the plant and…hit the side of it, piercing just deep enough to cause some green sap to bubble out of the wound. He forgot to mention to Eisa that he wasn’t that accurate with the weapon he had made appear out of thin air. In fact, the only thing he said was, “Remember – you didn’t see anything.” Time would tell if she kept that promise, but he figured that he had already showed her some of his abilities by fixing her dress, so what was the harm in showing a little more?

  Each arrow cost another Mana to Create; although he was still sitting at over 50 total usable Mana, it wouldn’t last long if he couldn’t hit what he wanted. He was hoping that he’d somehow be able to tap into his inner Fire core and light the arrows on fire after he released them – but that was a big fat no. It didn’t seem to be something he could do at the moment, but that could always change in the future once he learned a bit more about his new abilities and Power. Of course, he had to live long enough to get there.

  “I thought you said you could shoot!” Eisa called out after he missed his mark – again.

  She was running around as well, flinging dark bolts of Power at the mouth of the plant, dodging the single arm that was trying to flatten her. Two other arms were keeping up a constant barrage on the bear, who was trying to close to mauling distance on the main stalk. The arms were too fast to attack easily; even the one time that the bear had managed to swipe at one of the bulbous “fists”, it only managed to score some deep grooves that didn’t seem to do much to stop it.

  “I said I could shoot – I didn’t say anything about actually hitting something!” he called back as he aimed and fired again, putting the lie to his words as he finally hit the thorn-filled mouth. A small screech emerged from the plant, showing for the first time that he had actually really hurt it.

  “Nice! Do that again!”

  He barely dodged the arm again as he reveled in his accomplishment. Creating another arrow, he took careful aim as he tried to copy the feel of what he had just done. The *thwap* of the bowstring rebounded in his ears and he knew it was going to fly true. Unfortunately, his success from before had unintended consequences; unseen until the last moment, one of the arms that had been battering the bear broke off and attacked him when he was still concentrating.

  Fred saw it in his peripheral vision but couldn’t move himself fast enough to avoid it entirely. Instead of getting pile-driven into the ground, he was able to shift his upper body out of the way; his lower half, not so much. The “fist” came down on his right leg, snapping every bone inside of it and essentially turning the entire thing into jelly.

  His horrendous scream of pain caught Eisa’s attention and she shouted, “Hold on, I’ll be there in a—”

  Fred shook off the pain long enough to shout back (which was an enormous feat of will all by itself), “NO! Finish it off! Trust me, I’ll be fine!” He collapsed back on the ground, the pain too much for him to try to sit up. Realizing that he had somehow still kept ahold of his bow, he fought through the haze of agony radiating up his leg and Created another arrow. He pulled back the string and let it loose…and watched it skip along the ground before burying itself along the base of the plant creature.

  Oh well, I tried. If Eisa finishes it off, I’ll be fine. Any shock that his body had been experiencing from his demolished leg wore off and a new wave hit him, threatening his fragile hold on consciousness. Fortunately, the pain stopped when another arm smashed down on his chest, knocking the air and everything else right out of him.

  Chapter 27

  Eisa hesitated just long enough at Fred’s shout that her last few Shadow Strikes – which included the one that finally killed the giant plant monster – came only a moment after he was hit again, this time in his chest. She cried out in surprise and anger; her new strange companion looked like he had had his entire upper torso caved in and blood was pooling underneath him.

  She had been conserving her Power during the battle both to maintain her animated bear and for emergencies – just in case one of them had been seriously hurt. With Fred’s instruction, however, she ended up using the last of her Power to finish off the boss, which was currently collapsing in on itself and melting into the ground. She ignored it, however, as she ran over to Fred, her bear collapsing into dust behind her. She didn’t have anything left to keep it going, and it wasn’t needed anymore anyway.

  His discarded bow – which she had seen him conjure out of nothing
– had been cracked in half at the last hit, and Eisa kicked it out of the way before she knelt down at his side. He looked worse than she thought up close, and she couldn’t imagine anyone living through the utter devastation his body now displayed. In a couple of minutes, she’d have enough to try to heal him, but she didn’t think it would matter.

  However, as Eisa sat there staring at him, she saw something miraculous happen: his flesh started to knit back together! It was subtle at first, and she thought she was only seeing something she wanted to see, but a few minutes of intently watching was enough to prove her initial assessment correct. Somehow, unbelievingly, he was self-regenerating! She had heard about a few healers being able to cast a spell on someone that would act similarly, though it usually required that person to still be alive. She would’ve sworn that Fred was dead (and from the looks of it, still technically was), but his body was healing, nonetheless.

  She only had to wait another two or three minutes before she had enough Power to use her Vitality Transfer, which she immediately used on him when she got the chance. Despite the “regeneration” evidence to the contrary, she still thought he was dead, and it wouldn’t work; the spell wouldn’t activate if she targeted an undead or a corpse. To her astonishment, the spell took…and his torso started to reshape itself into a semblance of normalcy. Moments later, she saw his lungs feebly inflating, as well as felt a pulse when she pressed her fingers against his neck.

  This is insane!

  Over the next 10 minutes, Eisa waited for her Power to regenerate and used Vitality Transfer, healing the body next to her. After the last cast of her spell, his body was in as perfect health as could be; moments later, he opened his eyes and smiled at her.

  “I’m guessing you killed it?”