The Quizard Mountains: A Dungeon Core Epic (Station Cores Book 2)

by Jonathan Brooks

  With barely a thought about the consequences, she did something she was told as a lowly novice Elemental Caster never to do. Of course, she was much stronger now and had affinities in every element, in addition to two more that only she had – hopefully that will make a difference.

  She pulled on the Fire from the still-smoldering fur of the Bearilla that was slowly getting up from its collision with the wall, she pulled on the Water from the moisture saturating the air, she pulled on the Earth beneath her feet, she pulled on the air she was breathing, she pulled on the Light coming from the mysterious source in the ceiling, and she pulled on the Dark permeating the exit tunnel behind her where Brint was standing, a look of concentration on his face.

  Rosewyn fed all those elements into a tiny space ten feet in front of her. A small orb formed, pulsing with energy as conflicting elements came together in a maelstrom of swirling energy. As they touched and intermingled, she had to use all her remaining power pool to keep them from fighting against each other. Water was fighting Fire, Earth was fighting Air, and Light was fighting against the Dark as she tried to combine them together. She drank another one of her Power Potions and felt her energy refilled, but the strain of keeping everything together was draining her pool at a steady pace.

  In a distant corner of her mind, she noticed as another, smaller beast passed by her and immediately flung itself towards the object of her rage and hatred. It was quickly swatted out of the way like someone would squish a bug, but it was followed up by two more that passed along her other side. Soon, a veritable flood of beasts streamed by that a part of her recognized as the same beasts her and Moxwell had killed during their journey through the “dungeon”.

  She also ignored the shouts from someone behind her as they pleaded for her to run while it was distracted. She couldn’t afford to stop now because this would be her only chance to get her revenge. And she didn’t want to run – she was right where she needed to be.

  Finally, she could feel as her strongest element finally did what she wanted. The Air inside the whirling mass of elements had finally combined with the Earth element, fusing together until they rotated like a cyclone in the middle of the flashing orb. When that happened, however, the power draw on her pool increased two-fold. Sooner than she had expected, she had to use her next-to-last Potion to hold everything together.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that the Bearilla was now fighting – more like destroying – the influx of smaller beasts, smashing two or three of them at a time against the floor, swiping away numerous others who were smashed and flattened against the walls, and even snatching a few rope-bridge birds out of the air and shoving them in its mouth. She ignored all that as she continued to concentrate on what she was doing.

  She was halfway through her current power pool when she felt the elements of Fire and Water fuse together, quickly followed by their joining with Air/Earth. The cyclone turned into a rapidly-rotating brown ball streaked with a kaleidoscope of colors, and the entire orb of power grew to three times its original size.

  Her reserves were draining rapidly now, as what she was doing was using four times the amount it had been when she started. Within seconds, she was forced to use her last Power Potion, and she barely felt the elation that normally came with the infusion of power as her pool started draining faster and faster.

  The last two elements were the hardest to fuse together. She didn’t know them, didn’t understand them as well as the others, so the process was hindered by her ignorance. So, Rosewyn did the only thing she could think of to understand them better: she siphoned off a little Light and Dark and pushed them into her body.

  She felt like she was being torn apart and then put back together. Her body was a battlefield as the two elements warred against each other, fighting for domination. She was barely able to keep her concentration on what she was doing as the pain from the battles inside her soul threatened to break her mind.

  An eternity later – but in reality, only a few seconds had passed – she began to understand how the basic structure of the newer elements worked. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced before – but Light and the absence of Light, Dark, were now so familiar that she embraced them like long-lost cousins. She absorbed them into her being, quieting the war between them like calming two raging toddlers.

  Using her new knowledge of the elements, she was able to easily fuse them together, followed by the fusion of every element. Instead of the rotating brown ball mixed with a multitude of colors, the orb grew larger and strobed between white and black, pulsing in rhythm with her heartbeat.

  Now that she had done it, done something she hadn’t even known was possible, she could feel the sheer power in her creation. She didn’t know precisely what it was, or what it could do, but she knew instinctively that it would be more than enough to destroy the killer of the one she loved.

  She looked at her target, to see that he was just finishing off the last of the beasts that had been occupying its attention. The Bearilla was covered in scratches, bleeding from countless wounds all over its body, but…it was still standing.

  With all her fury, her hatred, her rage, and yes, her love for her now-dead husband, she shot the pulsing orb forward, energy crackling around its edges as the last of her power depleted from her pool. She fell on her side, staring ahead as her creation hit and enveloped the Bearilla, sucking the great beast inside its vortex. Thunderous roars of pain were swallowed by the void created by her fusion of the elements; the rest of the monkey-bear was swallowed along with it.

  She could see its bones snapping as it was compressed inside the orb, shrinking down until it was just a mass of blood, bones, and unrecognizable meat. The entire conglomeration grew smaller and smaller as the orb shrunk, compacting everything inside it as it collapsed. From its previous magnitude of nearly thirty feet across, the orb rapidly reduced in size until it was only about the size of her fist. And then even that shrunk down until she couldn’t see it.

  She thought it was over when the miniscule orb exploded in a wave of multi-colored light and power. She could feel the wave hit her with a massive *thump* to her chest before the room dimmed again, the wave of energy gone just like any trace of the Bearilla.

  Unfortunately, her mentors were right. They told her never to directly mix the elements together for many reasons, but only one of them mattered now. No one was really sure why there was a backlash when you combined the elements together, but it happened every time someone tried it. If they only used a little bit of power, they were usually ok the next day after being knocked unconscious and woke up with a splitting headache. Which would be fine, but in this instance, she used a bit more than a little.

  The wave of power from the backlash stopped her heart and shut down her other organs, with her brain shutting down soon thereafter. The last thought she had was for her husband.

  I’ll be with you soon, my love. Oh, yeah, I killed that motherfucker by the way.

  Chapter 42 – Decisions

  Milton watched as everything happened in room 7 while he was safe in his Core Room with ALANNA and Whisp. When Brint told him about the Bearilla – along with the memories from the Qwizard he was riding – he didn’t fully appreciate the size and strength of the frightening creature until it entered his dungeon.[34] And it treated all their hard work like the entire thing was an obstacle course for children.

  Of course, it wasn’t designed for 20+ foot gigantic gorilla-bear hybrids, so he didn’t beat himself up too bad. As far as defending against other Proctans, he thought it performed quite well. That the two Proctans sent after him were the two most powerful on the continent (and quite possibly, the world) was just an unlucky circumstance. Against anyone else, Milton felt quite comfortable in thinking that it would’ve been more than effective – it would be deadly.

  But now everything was dead – every single Combat Unit included. He had some squirrel scouts ranging around his territory, as well as two squads of Scaly Pygmy Wol
ves; as far as everything in the dungeon went, however, he was tapped out. As soon as Rosewyn and Moxwell started slaughtering everything in sight, he had immediately started to create his defensive Units’ replacements. He really wanted to create something larger and deadlier, but his one Bioconversion Laboratory was already in the process of making reinforcements for Brint. Getting another one or two of the facilities was now the highest on his priority list.

  He had sent everything he had been accumulating near his Core Room to the battle, hoping that they would get there in time to help. He even had his drones dig tunnels through the surrounding dirt so that they could get there without having to traverse the rest of the rooms, which would have been difficult to say the least. And they did help – albeit not in the way he had been expecting.

  Brint took control of half of them, while Milton remained in command of the rest. He could’ve done it all himself, but there were so many to keep track of it was easier if he had to break off and take charge of anything else that came up. He had a back-up plan in place if everything went sideways – as it looked like what was happening – which involved sealing off access to his Core Room and digging another way out with his drones to provide a place to vent his leakage. He hadn’t done it yet because even a couple of minutes of concentrated radiation was enough to overwhelm and kill his friends. Realistically, he knew he could bring them “back”, but he didn’t want them to die in the first place.

  It was only when the pulsing orb swallowed the Bearilla and the resulting explosion blew Brint off his feet that he was able to “sigh” in relief.

  Congratulations! You have defeated Proctan Male, Designation: Physical Augmenter, Name: Moxwell! You gain 40,000 experience!

  Congratulations! You have defeated 1 Bearilla! You gain 80,000 experience!

  Congratulations! You have defeated Proctan Female, Designation: Elemental Caster, Name: Rosewyn! You gain 60,000 experience!

  Congratulations! You have increased your Combat Level!

  Current Combat Level: 16

  Experience: 607960/915000

  By raising your Combat Level, you can choose to prioritize the development of certain statistics. In addition, your Combat Units will receive a 2% (per Combat Level) increase in their own attack and defensive abilities.

  Current Points to Allocate: 16

  Current Combat Unit A/D Increase: 32%

  Wait, what? Rosewyn died too? And why did I get credit for killing them when they all performed the killing blows? A quick check of the Caster proved that, indeed, she wasn’t moving or breathing. How did that happen?

  After he asked about the experience, ALANNA informed him, still in her excited, giddy, and peppy personality, that if any non-Combat Unit died in his “dungeon” – she actually used air quotes – then he would get experience for it, whether he did the deed or not. He wasn’t sure if that was fair, but he wasn’t going to argue – he could use the level-ups.

  He also received increases in most of his combat-oriented skills, including Formation Fighting, Cooperation, Combat Communication, Kamikaze, and even Survivor. However, he ignored all this as he concentrated on making sure Brint was alright. And, without anything better to do while they straightened everything out, he sent his drones to repair and reset the rooms that had been either destroyed or damaged in some way. They also gathered up all the Bio Mass from his fallen defenders, which was added to his stockpile; he wanted to wait before he used the material to start restocking the rooms with Combat Units again. His Bio Lab was just finishing up the Qwizard it was making, but he hesitated on making anything else until he knew what was needed.

  Milton left the bodies of Rosewyn and Moxwell alone until he had a chance to mull over what he wanted to do with them. I could always bring them back, but would that be the best idea?

  He was a little disappointed that there was not enough of the Bearilla leftover to make his own; having access to the gigantic beast would’ve been beneficial, not to mention the vast quantity of Bio Units it would’ve provided. At least it’s no longer a threat. Speaking of that, however, now that they were out of danger – at least for the moment – he needed more information.

  And he knew just where to get it.

  When Brint recovered from the explosion, he asked for him to come to the Core Room; the small tunnels that Milton was forced to dig around the room to deliver the extra help during the battle came in handy as the banged-up and exhausted Proctan was able to bypass all the trapped rooms along the way.

  Whisp gave him a huge hug when he arrived, jumping into his arms and knocking him down. They couldn’t visit earlier when he got back to the dungeon after running for his life; he was more concerned on setting up some sort of defense. Now, however, the danger had passed, and they had a reason to celebrate.

  “I missed you! You could’ve died out there! I’m so glad you made it back safe, but if you ever risk your life charging into battle like that again, I’ll…I’ll…I don’t know, but you won’t like it,” she glared at him, mock-angrily but with a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, “I’m glad you’re back, though – I barely survived without my daily dose of Brint.”

  “Don’t worry, I’d rather not risk my life like tha—,” he began, before she leant down and planted an inexperienced kiss on his mouth. Milton could see Brint freeze under her lip-assault, body rigid like he had seen an apex predator and didn’t want to move to attract its attention. Whisp pulled away after a few seconds and she smiled at the shock on his face. When it appeared as if his brain started working again, Brint had a goofy-looking grin on his face. They gazed longingly at each other for almost a minute before Milton interrupted their staring contest.

  “Ok, enough of that. You can continue your celebration later—”

  “Actually, I don’t mind if they continue. Go ahead, I would love to see your ‘celebration’!” ALANNA interrupted him with a creepy leering smile on her face, her cheery attitude still in play.

  She’s been using this one for a while now – I wonder if she’s picked it as her new personality? He wasn’t sure how he felt about that: on the one hand, it was an improvement over her previous foul-mouthed negative personality; on the other, she didn’t seem to take things as seriously with this one. I guess I’ve got to take the bad with the good, no matter what she acts like.

  But the two Proctans seemed to just then realize they had an audience, and quickly broke away – Whisp finally got off his lap and Brint scrambled hastily to his feet, both with deep blushes on their cheeks. Even though his clothes were torn and bloody (though none of it his) from all the battles he had been leading, he attempted to straighten them and cover up his excitement.

  “Anyway, we need to discuss what the next steps are. But first, I need to know what you saw down there Brint.”

  A far-away look came upon his face as he visibly struggled with his memories. After a moment, he sighed and said, “I can’t put it into words…I don’t even want to remember what I saw, but it’s etched in my brain like a festering wound. However, you’re right – you need to know. Here, let me try something I’ve been thinking about.”

  Suddenly, Milton’s “mind” was flooded with images, like how he was able to watch the recording of one of his Combat Units. It surprised him at first, since Brint didn’t have a Neurological Control Unit; in the end, he chalked it down to just another aspect of the Proctan’s special ability.

  Unlike when he accessed different views from his Units, however, he couldn’t control what he was seeing. He felt like he could shut it off, so it wasn’t as invasive as he first thought; it was more like he was at a theater watching a movie. He couldn’t fast-forward or rewind it, but he could leave any time he wanted to.

  And what he saw through the vision of the Quassassin who stealthily approached the massive cavern would’ve chilled him to the bone – if he had any. Instead, he felt the palpable fear of both Brint and the invisible cat as they gazed upon the scene right out of a monster/disaster movie he used to
love to watch as a kid. He doubted it was Godzilla holing up in the giant caves, but he wouldn’t put it out of the range of possibility.

  When the “movie” was finished, Milton and Brint were silent as they both contemplated what the presence of all those beasts could mean. Even ALANNA looked shocked at what they had seen, after having snuck into the theater of his mind and saw the same thing.

  “I think you’re right, Brint,” after “hearing” the Proctan’s thoughts during the movie, “they look like they’re getting ready for something.”

  “What, what did you see?” Whisp asked, after seeing the looks on ALANNA’s and Brint’s faces. Fortunately, Milton didn’t have to respond as his faithful-yet-personality-confused AI guide took over the explanation. She seemed to do better calming down Proctans – as evidenced by how she convinced the two invading ones to help instead of fighting against the dungeon anymore. He felt vindicated in his split-second decision to have her speak to them; despite her tendency to spill secrets, her peppy attitude was just what was needed in that situation to put them more at ease.

  Milton turned his attention on his long-time guide and friend, as she finished catching Whisp up on the situation. She felt his attention on her and looked at the nearest sensor orb.

  “You know what this means, don’t you? If they attack the people of this world, they’d be wiped out this time – there’s no way they could defend against even a handful of Bearillas, let alone the amount we saw,” he told her directly, “I don’t know if their existence under the mountain is my fault; however, I feel like I need to take responsibility either way. I’m not sure what I can do to save them, but I need to try.”

  “No, what you need to do is concentrate on getting off this planet before they attack,” she told him without much conviction in her voice, “we need to discover what happened to The Collective and do what we can to help them if they are still alive.”