Dungeon Born

by Dakota Krout

  “You died!” Hans replied cheekily. The others glared at him, making Hans mutter, “What? He got better.”

  “Before that, please.” Dale released a strange chuckle/sigh at his incorrigible friend.

  Tom took over, “When I fell and you charged the Cat in a suicide run, I was losing blood faster than I could regain my will to fight. I tried so hard to join you, but could not muster the strength to continue.” His face was downcast and ashamed, “Seemingly, my prayer to die in battle was rejected this day, and I was flooded with the berserker energy of my forefathers. This energy healed my wounds and allowed me the chance to finish our foe. I beg of you, forgive my weakness.” He bowed towards Dale’s prone form.

  Rose pushed Tom aside, shaking her head. “Not what happened? Not even close. When you charged the Cat and held its attention, those golden rabbits snuck out of hidden tunnels and infused us with healing energy. There were dozens, Dale. All of our wounds righted themselves nearly instantly before they ran off, but I think we will carry these scars forever.” She nodded at the slashes across Tom’s chest and Adam’s legs which by rights should never have had the chance to heal.

  “Wow.” Dale's head flopped back, and he looked enviously at the huge slashes of scar tissue on Tom’s chest. “The ladies are going to love those scars.”

  Hans laughed deeply and evilly, “Finally! My teachings are starting to take root! No worries Dale, you have some very impressive scars yourself.” Dale glanced down at the raised circle of scar tissue directly over his heart.

  “Well that can’t look good on the inside...” Dale muttered anxiously.

  Hans shook his head, still somehow amused. “I don’t think it will be an issue, m’boy! I do think you need a long bath. Maybe... two. Or three.” He sniffed and shuddered.

  “Yeah, what is this stuff? It seems to be coming from me and I can’t seem to stop… smelling it.” Dale's attention was now back on the clinging fluid, bringing the horrid smell to the forefront of his senses. “Seriously, normally you acclimate to horrible stenches, yeah?”

  “Unless I am mistaken, it seems that all of your meridians were opened simultaneously. If you were awake for that process, it likely would have shattered your mind with the pain. Obviously, this must have taken a huge amount of Essence. While you had some in you, it wasn’t nearly enough to account for everything that happened.” Hans informed him. “It seems the Silverwood tree is what supplied the Essence and - I think - it revived you as well.”

  Dale shook his head at the unexpected sound. A strange, flat, tonal voice had sounded in his head.

  “What?” Dale was looking around.

  The Silverwood tree-” Hans started, concern showing on his face.

  “No, I heard that. What was that other voice?” Dale interrupted him with a wave of his hand.

  The voice rang in Dale's head again.

  Hans was looking at him, very concerned now, “Another voice? No one else talked, Dale. Let’s get you a nap, huh buddy?”

  Dale whipped his head around, trying to find the person speaking. A sudden clatter of metal sounded in the room as loot dropped around them, closer than to his body Dale had ever seen appear. Normally loot seemed to fall in an area well away from people.

  “Holy crap! Look at these!” Rose shouted, peering at the pendant she had just picked up off the ground. “This is a Runed item! Anyone recognize it?” They all looked at the pendant but did not recognize its Inscription. There was one for each of them but they were loath to use them without it being inspected.

  Dale was sure there was an invisible person standing behind him, and whipped his demolished weapon around. He glanced at the remains of his Morningstar, it had been mostly destroyed by the acid and shattered by the Beast they had fought.

  Dale was starting to panic. A *thunk* at his feet made him jump and yelp. A shining, pristine Morningstar lay underneath him. There were a few differences from the original. For one, the head of the weapon seemed to be crystal, with electrum filled Runes forming a powerful Runescript on it. Electrum was a mix of Gold and Silver - both soft metals - so Dale was unsure of its usefulness in combat. Next, the hilt was also covered in Runescript, but this time in a way he somewhat recognized. The Rune was the same he had on his - it would send the head of the weapon out a few feet from the shaft, giving him range in combat.

  The most noticeable difference though, was the ridiculous size of the thing. Where his hand would go was normal sized, and long enough that he could use both hands to swing it if he gave up his shield. From that point upward the shaft was three times larger than he was used to, looking like a large sapling or small tree. The crystal head of the weapon was twice the width of his head, if you included the spikes. Dale picked the weapon up. More accurately, he tried to. Still weak from freaking dying, he could barely shift the weapon. He looked at the hilt and saw the same Rune there as Tom had, which would make the weapon feather light.

  Dale reached for his Essence; which was instantly available to him. The ease with which it moved at his command was startling in itself, maybe it had to do with all of his meridians being opened? With a small burst of Essence, he activated the Rune, unknowingly also binding the Morningstar to himself. Now easily lifting the massive weapon of war, he gave it a few practice swings. He remembered that he should test the range of the activation that moved the head away, so he pointed it away from his friends. He aimed at the wall roughly ten feet away, and activated the Rune.

  The shards of stone flying through the air and the thundering of rock being shattered made the entire group dive for cover. Shock covered Dale's face as blood from a new cut across his cheek dripped down into his mouth. He deactivated the Rune and the head of the weapon returned to him, affixing itself onto his hilt.

  “I feel rather tired of unknown weapons killing my friends in here.” Tom calmly stated, brushing rock dust off of his arms. “Very interesting though.”

  “I think we should do our cultivating and leave.” Rose directed in a deceivingly calm manner. Locks of her hair had been sheared off by the razor sharp stone and it was obvious she was working hard not to attack Dale. Face pale, Dale nodded and they all sat in a meditative pose in the center of the massive Runescript on the floor, near where Essence was appearing in liquid form. They each agreed not to drink it after hearing Adam's account of its use. Though it would fill them with Essence, Adam warned that it would make their Chi spiral unstable: possibly burning them, making their centers explode, or damage their meridians beyond repair. The only reason Adam had survived its use was that he had been almost entirely out of Essence, even then he had had to use most of it as fast as possible.

  The highly purified Essence in the air still allowed them to cultivate for far longer and with greater gains than they ever had been able to before, stretching the bounds of what they could hold at any given time. Dale had another shock as he began. As he opened himself to the heavens and the earth, Essence flooded into him in a titanic wave of energy. He gasped, and tried to understand what was happening.

  In a flash he realized what was different. He had only ever pulled in Essence along the most open channel, his earthen affinity. After waking up, all of his affinity channels were open. He was pulling Essence in from every possible source simultaneously. The wave of energy blasted along his spirals, refining deeper and stronger Chi threads.

  The fractal pattern in his center which had become even rougher and more splintered after dying smoothed itself, repairing every flaw along the millions of spirals. When this process finished, his cultivation speed becam
e even faster. In a short time, he had broken into D-rank one, shattering his previous boundary to advancement at a speed that should have been impossible. By the time they were finished cultivating for the day, he was halfway into D-rank two. Dale decided to keep the information to himself as they began their ascent into the world above.

  ~Cal~

  “What a day!” Dani sagged, the tension in her voice finally receding.

  I bragged while shining in pleasure as she happily chattered at me. I coughed as she looked at me in horror, I directed her attention to the liquid Essence,

  “Maybe… Maybe we wait a few days? Before trying new things again?” Dani pleaded. “Let’s just relax some? Maybe a month or two?”

 

  “Oh lord. What did you do now, Cal?”

  I thought hard on my answer,

  Dani looked extremely nervous, “Yes...?”

 

  “Spit it out Cal.”

 

  “... Damn it, Cal…”

  End of book one! Don’t forget to read the epilogue after the glossary!

  ~Glossary~

  Adam – A mid D-Ranked Cleric who joined Dale’s group.

  Adventurers Guild – A group from every non-hostile race that actively seeks treasure and Cultivates to become stronger. They act as a Mercenary group for Kingdoms that come under attack from monsters and other non-kingdom forces.

  Affinity – A person’s affinity denotes what element they need to Cultivate Essence from. If they have multiple affinities, they need to cultivate all of those elements at the same time.

  Affinity Channel – The pathway along the Meridians that Essence flows through. Having multiple major affinities will open more pathways, allowing more Essence to flow in at one time.

  Amber – The Mage in charge of the portal-making group near the dungeon. She is in the upper A-Rankings, allowing her to tap vast amounts of Mana.

  Assassin – A stealthy killer who tries to make kills without being detected by their victim.

  Aura – The flows of Essence generated by living creatures, which surrounds them and holds their pattern.

  Bane – An F-Ranked Boss Mob that is a giant mushroom. He can fire thorns and pull victims toward him with vines made of moss.

  Basher – An evolved rabbit that attacks by head-butting enemies. They have a small horn on their head that the use to “bash” their enemies.

  Beast Core – A small gem that contains the Essence of Beasts.

  Brianna – A Dark Elf princess that intends to build a city around the dungeon.

  Cal – The heart of the Dungeon, Cal was a human murdered by Necromancers. After being forced into a soul gem, his identity was stripped as time passed. Now accompanied by Dani, he works to become stronger without attracting too much attention to himself.

  Celestial – The Essence of Heaven, the embodiment of life and considered the ultimate good.

  Center – The very center of a person’s soul. This is the area Essence accumulates before it binds to the Life force.

  Chandra – Owner of an extremely well appointed restaurant, this A-ranked Mage is the grandmother of Rose. She also spent a decade training the current Guild Master, Frank.

  Chi spiral – A persons Chi spiral is a vast amount of intricately knotted Essence. The more complex and complete the pattern woven into it, the more Essence it can hold and the finer the Essence would be refined.

  Cleric – A Cultivator of celestial Essence, a cleric tends to be support for a group, rarely fighting directly. Their main purpose in the lower rankings is to heal and comfort others.

  Corruption – Corruption is the remnant of the matter pure Essence was formed into. It taints Essence, but allows beings to absorb it through open affinity channels.

  Craig – A powerful C-Ranked monk, Craig has dedicated his life to finding the secrets of Essence and passing on knowledge.

  Cultivate – Cultivating is the process of refining Essence by removing corruption, then cycling the purified Essence into the center of the soul.

  Cultivator – A cultivator is one whom cultivates. See above. Seriously, it is the entry right before this one. I’m being all alphabetical here.

  Dale – Owner of the mountain the dungeon was found on, Dale is now a cultivator who attempts to not die on a regular basis.

  Dani – A pink dungeon wisp - Is that important? – Dani is the soul bound companion of Dale, and acts as his moral compass and helper.

  Dire – A prefix to a title that means “Way stronger than a normal version of this monster”. Roughly. Kind of paraphrasing.

  Distortion Cat – An upper C-Ranked monster that can bend light and create artificial darkness. In its home territory, it is attacked and bound by tentacle like parasites that form a symbiotic relationship with it.

  Dungeon Born – Being Dungeon born means that the Dungeon did not create the creature, but gave it life. This gives the creature the ability to function autonomously, without fear that the dungeon will be able to take direct control of its mind. The dungeon can “ride along” in a Dungeon born creatures mind from any distance and may be able to influence the creature if it remains of a lower cultivation rank than the Dungeon.

  Dwarves – Stocky humanoids that did not appear in this book.

  Elves – A race of willowy humanoids with pointy ears. Unlike the stubborn Dwarves, the Elves deigned to allow themselves into this book.

  Enchantment – A temporary pattern made of Essence that creates an effect on the universe. Try not to get the pattern wrong, as it could have… unintended consequences.

  Essence – Essence is the fundamental energy of the universe, the pure power of heavens and earth that is used by the basic elements to become all forms of matter.

  Father Richard – An A-ranked Cleric that has made his living hunting demons and heretics. Tends to play fast and loose with rules and money.

  Fighter – A generic archetype of a being who uses melee weapons to fight.

  Frank – Guild Leader of the Adventurers Guild.

  Glitterflit – A Basher upgraded with celestial Essence, it has the ability to mend almost any non-fatal wound.

  Hans – A cheeky assassin that has been with Dale since he began cultivating. He was a thief in his youth, but changed lifestyles after his street guild was wiped out. He is deadly with a knife, and is Dale’s best friend.

  Incantation – Essentially a spell, an incantation is created from words and gestures. It releases all of the power of an enchantment in a single burst.

  Infernal – The Essence of death and demonic beings, considered to be always evil.

  Inscription - A permanent pattern made of Essence that creates an effect on the universe. Try not to get the pattern wrong, as it could have… unintended consequences. This is another name for an incomplete or unknown Rune.

  James – An uppity Portal Mage who may have learned the error of his ways. We shall see.

  Josh – A massive shield wielding human, Josh is very strong and sturdy. He is always there to protect his friends as best he is able.

  Mages Guild – A secret
ive subsect of the Adventurers Guild only Mage level cultivators are allowed to join.

  Mana – A higher stage of Essence only able to be cultivated by those who have broken into at least the B-rankings and found the true name of something in the universe.

  Meridians – Meridians are energy channels that transport life energy (Chi/Essence) throughout the body.

  Mob – A shortened version of “dungeon monster”.

  Necromancer – An infernal Essence cultivator who can raise and control the dead and demons.

  Oppressor - A Basher upgraded with Wind Essence, it has the ability to compress air and send it forward in an arc that slices unprotected flesh like a blade.

  Pattern – A pattern is the intricate design that makes everything in the universe. An inanimate object has a far less complex pattern that a living being.

  Raile – A massive, granite covered Boss Basher that attacks by ramming and attempting to squish its opponents.

  Ranger – Typically an adventurer archetype that is able to attack from long range, usually with a bow.

  Ranking System – The ranking system is a way to classify how powerful a creature has become through fighting and cultivation.

  G rank – At the lowest ranking is mostly non-organic matter, such as rocks and ash. Mid-G contains small plants such as moss and mushrooms, while the upper ranks form most of the other flora in the world.