by Dakota Krout
“Oh you boys just love dropping a shit-storm of politics on my head don’t you?” At their confused glances, he growled, “That land is already contested by the human Kingdoms of the Phoenix and the Lion, now the Elves are going to be making a claim. We need to get there first.” The Guild Master groaned softly, sitting back against his chair.
He created and sent out orders for craftsmen, hunters, and fighters to prepare to march to the mountain. He also sent a message to the Mages Guild, a high level of the Adventurer's Guild that only B rank cultivators or higher were allowed entry to. Asking for inscribers and enchanters for an emergency mission, he specifically asked for members who specialized in dimensional magic, as he had a feeling that a portal to this disgustingly remote location would be exceedingly beneficial.
A chill passing over him, he turned to the patiently waiting, slightly tipsy group, “What was the affinity of the dungeon?”
“Far as we could tell, it didn’t seem to have one, Frank.” The large man from the scouting party belched.
“Is that so? Hey! It is Guild Master Frank to you, bub.” A distant look passed through Frank's eyes, and he amended his message to the Mage Guild. No affinity and a Silverwood tree? That was a combination that promised fast advancement through the cultivation ranks. That could offer power and great influence to whomever established themselves in the area. Frank now intended to lead the first group of settlers, and to stake a claim. This sort of thing didn't come along every day after all.
~Eleven~
The bunny dying provided me with intimate knowledge of its pattern, and I expected the energy to slam into me as usual so I braced myself for impact. Instead the Chi spiral showed its usefulness for the first time ever! Where the energy had before stuffed my core full of the newly-gained Essence instantly, it now surrounded me and was held in a slowly swirling pattern in the outer spiral, awaiting cultivation.
“Yeah, that looks neat. I am glad you are holding that spiral so well, I kind of expected you to get lazy when you weren’t getting much Essence! Don’t be too surprised now, that is what is supposed to happen.” Dani was a master at making a compliment into an advertisement for a better work ethic.
Waiting till I had fully processed all of the Essence, which took an hour or so even with all my attention being bent to the task, I made two young rabbits. Instead of feeding them Essence till full grown like I could have done, I tried to conserve the energy I had remaining. They would grow quickly in the Essence-rich air of my dungeon anyway, and should be able to mate soon; especially since the pattern I had focused on while creating them gave extra strength to their fecundity.
“Well…” She snorted, a very unladylike sound, “Seeing as you have two male rabbits, it may be a long time.”
That shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
She released an explosion of air, a cross between a snort and a chuckle, remembering that I had only been aware of life for a few months. “More like never, Cal.”
“You need a female in order for them to... copulate, Cal.” She seemed frustrated, knowing I didn’t understand her laughter or odd embarrassment. She started floating toward the entrance, “I’ll go try and lure one down here.”
She laughed in a haughty tone, as if to highlight my ignorance. “I am a will-o-the wisp! I am the preeminent expert at luring all manner of creatures to their doom.”
She stopped in midair, hovering malevolently. “Who said I’m going right now? Maybe I want a nap!”
I hadn’t thought of that! We had been rather busy after all.
“Cal, I’m being intentionally difficult. Ugh. I’ll be back shortly. We need to work on your understanding of sarcasm.”
She did indeed return shortly, apparently there was a rabbit warren nearby, but until the stairs were put in place there was no way for them to reach me. The rabbit that followed Dani down in a hypnotized state was larger than the first bunny had been. Dani later explained that this was because it was an animal, usually females tended to be larger than the male, an interesting concept as only male creatures besides Dani had entered my dungeon to this point. In the time it took for a spike from a shroom to find the skull of the female rabbit, I had a slightly altered pattern of the rabbit ready to be used. I made a few young versions, and waited impatiently for them to reach adulthood.
~Dale~
Guild Master Frank looked at the staircase leading to the depths below. A gust of wind blew a spicy mixture of scents upward, and he could feel a hint of raw Essence.
“This is the place, huh?” Frank turned toward the owner of the land, Dale.
“Indeed, milord.” A nervous Dale spoke. Although now the richest man in his village, he knew the Guild Master could likely crush him with the weight of his wallet; using his strength or influence to kill every person Dale knew without facing any repercussions.
“Not much to look at are ya?” Frank glanced at the now uncomfortable Dale.
“E-excuse me?”
Frank shook his head and started again, “Look Dave-”
“Dale. Common mistake sir.” Dale paled with the realization he had interrupted this powerful figure.
Frank grunted at the correction. “Whatever. Listen, you are about to become more wealthy than most small towns. The standard Guild agreement is five percent of all profit from the dungeon will go to you, the finder and owner of the land.”
Dale coughed as he interrupted again, “Sir, I plan on giving a portion of that to the families of the men who found it with me and died trying to escape.” Luckily for him, the jerk he had murdered had no family. “Will that, uhm, be an issue?”
“Huh. Good on you lad, might actually be worth me remembering your name. Your money, I don’t care what you do with it.” Frank disinterestedly offered, though Dale brightened significantly at the words. “I have a different idea for our agreement. The standard is all well and good, but think on this. For the first five years, you get three percent. That should still be an income of several gold per week as it matures, a bit less before then.”
“During those years, the other two percent comes to me, and I will use it to outfit you with a team, basic equipment, food, lodging, and teachers who will help you fix that... mess... of a cultivation base you have.” Frank gestured at Dale when he said this, making him flush with embarrassment, though he didn’t understand the insult.
Frank gave a short explanation of cultivation to Dale when he saw the obvious confusion on his face. He informed Dale that everything passively absorbed Essence as long as it lived. Even plants that lived long enough could even become somewhat powerful as their cultivation slowly and naturally allowed them to become stronger. There was a certain disadvantage to this though, because even when people did not actively cultivate their Essence they still absorbed some from their strongest affinities through passive accumulation.
Since they had no Chi spiral, and therefore didn’t reduce the amount of corruption they obtained, their cultivation base became full of tainted Essence, which spread through their bodie
s, eventually killing them as ‘old age’ set in. Dale was obviously suited to the earthen element, showing surprisingly strong affinity by pulling in large amounts of the stuff pas, the issue being that he reeked of corruption to the trained senses of the Guild Master. With low Essence and high corruption in his cultivation base, Dale would never be able to move into the higher ranks of cultivation. Heck, if he kept pulling earthen corruption at this rate, Dale would die of a heart attack in ten years, tops.
“Thank you for explaining a bit about cultivation, sir, but as to giving up all of that profit… Why would I do that? How would that help me? That is a lot of money, sir.” The confused young man worried that Frank was trying to swindle him. Just because he was from a poor village didn’t mean he was stupid!
Frank nodded and calmly began listing his thoughts on the matter, “There are a lot of reasons someone would kill you. For now just the income you are going to receive will be enough for some. You will also soon gain political enemies, as you will receive a vote on any matters pertaining to the growth or destruction of this dungeon. If you stay at the fishy rank, they may kill you out of hand just to get you out of the way.” Dale had paled as he realized the accuracy of each implied threat, so Frank paused to let him think and absorb the information for a moment.
“If you accept my terms, I will also admit you into the Guild directly, which will give you good people to turn to for advice or help. You will have a perfect dungeon to train in without having to fear traitors in your party; with us beside you, you will have a unified front against people who try to take advantage of you.”
Dale didn’t know what to say, and his mouth opened and closed a few times.
“Of course,” Frank nonchalantly continued, “You will have to obey our laws, but they are very straightforward. Oh, and after the first five years you will return to five percent income, beyond what you personally make of course. This continues until your death, at which point any heirs you produce will split the income.”
Still no words were passing Dale’s lips.
Frank decided to roll out the heavy hitter, as casually as possible. “One more thing, if you reach the Mage rank of cultivation, B-rank that is, your natural lifespan tends to jump into the hundreds of years. Unless killed, you won’t die for a very long time. At the Saint rank, or S-rank, we have been unable to determine the natural lifespan. It is just too long for anyone but another Saint to measure.” Frank finished, letting the temptation flow.
Dale finally found his voice, “I… Wow! Of course I accept! Yes, and thank you sir!”
Frank grinned at Dale’s newfound exuberance. “Excellent! And no more calling me ‘sir’. I work for a living. It is ‘Frank’ when we are alone with our Guild, or ‘Guild Master’ around strangers. We will get you outfitted tomorrow, and start your training right away. Report to me at first light.”
~Cal~
It had been about two months since the group had last left my area, when Dani told me people were gathering above. I had made few improvements since then, mostly cosmetic, no new rooms. The Mobs, at least, were more interesting than they had been.
The rabbits’ population had exploded, the best part being that they were all under my control. Since I had created their parents, even these new creatures were ‘Dungeon Born’, meaning they were given life through my power as a dungeon. Their living in me generated plenty of Essence, which I constantly gathered a significant amount passively. Enough Essence, in fact, that my plants were near obsolete as an energy source, but still grown to feed the rabbits.
That reminds me, a minor yet entertaining war had occurred as the rabbits ate the plants and the shrooms tried to rescue them. Due to this civil war, I had imprinted on both subsets that they were not to fight each other, and the rabbits would need to eat from certain areas. They started getting along far better, albeit uneasily, when I forced the arrangement. The different groups moved to being on friendly terms when the mushrooms found that rabbit feces are excellent fertilizer.
I had, of course, evolved the rabbits. Their natural pattern put them in F-rank two, and I was able to increase the average Mob to F-rank five. I was still stuck in F-rank eight myself, but was hoping for a breakthrough soon. With so much varied life, the Essence in the rooms became denser, as the amount produced was more than I was able to consume and cultivate on a daily basis. Not only was this good for the creatures living in me, as it helped them grow, but Dani assured me that dungeoneers would be ecstatic as well.
Evolving the rabbits had greatly benefitted them, they now had far stronger muscles in their bodies, and a stronger skeletal frame to match. When their bones ossified to accommodate their new system, a smooth nub of bone had also grown on their skulls, I had originally assumed this was the start of a horn, but it never seemed to develop past a nub. The reason for this growth soon became apparent. No longer timid creatures, they competed for food and mates by sprinting at their adversary, jumping and head-butting them with their bone nub. When they jumped, their bodies grew rigid as they braced for impact, and their bone nubs cracked into their opponent. The first to fall unconscious lost the right to the mate or feeding ground they were after. I had named them “Bashers”, and I thought they were adorable.
I hadn’t been able to develop a new Boss, and I was now out of spare Essence to experiment without becoming dangerously low on power for a few weeks. Being that my current Boss was at the maximum ranking I could create, it was not that I could make a stronger one, though I was hoping that I could make a mobile one. Directing a few of the Bashers into the Boss room to help him during the fights, I settled in to wait for some easy prey. I was as prepared as I could be.
~Dale~
Dale slept poorly that night, as the excitement the next day would hold plagued his dreams. He awoke before dawn, and broke his fast with some leftover foodstuff. When the rest of the small tent city began to rouse, he went to the main Guild tent to await the Guild Master, still gnawing on some tough yet filling jerky.
“Oh, good you’re punctual. I was going to have my boys douse you with a bucket of water if you were still sleeping!” Frank laughed jovially.
“Ha…?” Dale chuckled, petering off as he saw the serious looks and slowly shaking heads from the working staff that were being directed at him warningly.
“Well, let’s get started. I have a tutor for you to help catch you up on the basics. Did you bring any money with you?” Frank looked at him questioningly. When Dale shook his head, silently cursing his stupidity, Frank continued, “No matter, we’ll put it on your credit. I know you will be good for it after all! Our agreement was only for standard equipment, but I’d prefer to give you armor that you will be able to use for a longer time. If we do that though, you will need to pay the difference, is that reasonable?” Frank waited for Dale to nod, almost imperceptible as his eyes wandered over all of the treasures displayed just in the tent they were standing in. “Great! I will cover the cost of repairs for you when you need them. You’ll pay us for the equipment over time then, but the tutor is on me, as per our agreement.”
They moved into a storeroom, and started looking at the available equipment. The prices attached to them made Dale choke a bit, but Frank efficiently moved along the rows pointing at armor for the staff on duty to bring them. A full set of plate armor was eventually gathered by the leader, before they moved into an armory to find a good weapon to use.
“Every swung a sword before?” At the expected negative, Frank grunted and moved on, “Axe?” No trees on the mountain, only around the base. “Bow?” Wouldn’t be able to use it in plate armor. “War mace it is. Maybe a Morningstar.” He mused, tossing a few ideas around. “I’d start you with a spear, but in a confined space like a dungeon that is more of a, shall we say, liability.”
Deciding on a Morningstar, Frank turned on Dale and demandingly grilled him, “You know how to use one of these?” It was essentially a stick with a spiked metal ball at the top.
Dale tried to inject some
humor, “Spikey ball goes into the enemy?”
“Correct! I think we found the armament for you.” Frank grinned and handed the weapon over.
They moved into a tent with the purchased equipment, and the staff helped him put on all of his new, shining armor. It was a matching set, so Dale thought he looked rather dashing. The layers kept coming on, first the padding, then the chainmail, and finally the plate armor. It was so heavy that Dale could barely move, if he hadn’t been fairly used to hard work, he wouldn’t have been able to stand. Finally, Frank came over with a shield, presenting it as a short term gift.
“This is an enchanted training buckler. It is the smallest shield type, but I really don’t think you should carry too much more weight.” Frank looked frankly at his already straining and sweating initiate. “It is called a ‘training’ type armor because it helps you to learn to block correctly.” He demonstrated by swinging his fist, and the shield pulled Dale’s arm into position to stop it. “You are going to want to learn how to use a shield correctly as fast as possible, it’ll save lives; especially yours.”
“Wow! Why is it short term? This is great!” Dale enthused, happy that this shield could block attacks for him.
“Allow me to demonstrate.” Tossing a rock to the side of Dale, Frank moved in and slapped him in the face as the shield swung to knock the rock away. “It tries to block the first threat, and it’ll take more muscle than you have to put it somewhere else.”
Dale felt his teeth to make sure none had loosened. “Well. Point taken.”
“I’m just glad we waited before putting on your helmet.” Frank mentioned, Dale groaned internally at the thought of more armor.