The Station Core: A Dungeon Core Epic (Station Cores Book 1)

by Jonathan Brooks

  It wasn’t just a ramshackle arrangement of sticks thrown together in the shape of a cabin; he could see that the boards had been planed by some sort of tool and were relatively uniform in appearance. His thoughts started shooting out in multiple directions at once.

  How did this get here?

  How long has this been here?

  Why was it abandoned?

  But the one thought that kept running through his head was: where there’s one building, it’s a good possibility that there’s more, somewhere.

  And with that thought came the inevitable conclusion he had trouble wrapping his mind around: there are people here.

  “Oh, shit!”

  ALANNA was startled, sitting upright on top of his shell too quickly and falling off into the water below when Milton shouted. She started to reprimand him again, but instead she smiled as if she had scored some type of victory.

  Part II – Natives

  Chapter 25 – The “Beast War”

  Brint sat at the back of the small classroom, trying to stay as inconspicuous as possible as he watched and listened to Whisp lecturing the small class of young village children. He had heard all of this before, of course, but he never tired of listening to his childhood friend speak. She was a natural teacher – everything else that she had access to just enhanced the intelligence that was already there.

  When they were growing up, they were neighbors for as long as he could remember and had been best-friends for almost that long. They were still best-friends, but when things had…changed…a couple of years ago, they had drifted further and further apart. That was why he was here today, spending his one free day this ten-day, listening to the same things he had learned long ago – just so that he could see her. This was just about the only time he could get away from his normal duties, since he was usually too tired by the end of the day that he couldn’t think of anything but eating a massive – if bland – dinner and falling asleep.

  Usually when he came to class to listen to Whisp speak, he tuned out what she was saying and just watched her enthusiasm and unfeigned excitement as she repeated the same things she must have taught multiple times by now. Today he listened in, but soon regretted it when he realized what they were talking about.

  “So, I know you all know what the Guardian Guild is, but who can tell me how it came to exist in the first place?” Brint saw her look out into the crowd of young faces, some with bored expressions on their faces but most just looked clueless after she asked the question. A girl of about 6 years hesitantly raised her hand from the back of the group sitting on the floor and quietly spoke, “Because of the monsters?”

  “Very good! The Guardian Guild was created after…actually, let me start at the beginning, since most of you probably aren’t caught up on your history yet.” Brint could hear a couple of stifled groans come from the audience, reacting to her mention of history. They must hate history as much as I do – but probably because they think it’s boring, instead of my…issues. Either she chose to ignore the groans or heard them and didn’t care because she started warming up to what Brint knew was one of her favorite subjects.

  “One hundred years ago, the first ‘monsters’ – as you called them – began to appear. In reality, however, they were at one time normal beasts that had undergone radical mutations. These mutations were wildly varied, leading to some frightening combinations of animalistic characteristics. Wolves suddenly had deadly poisonous venom, snakes could somehow learn to fly, and even the tame domesticated cats that we Proctans used to keep as pets gained razor-sharp claws and super-tough skin. The only characteristic that they had in common – although there were a few exceptions, such as the Picow, for instance – was a frightening aggressiveness which caused them to attack every Proctan they could see.

  “Within a year, waves of aggressive ‘monsters’ attacked and killed everyone that hadn’t fled in every homestead, village, town, and city in the country. Only the capital, Grestwinch, stood against the horde of creatures ravaging the countryside. Filled to the brim with refugees, the Royal Guard stood shoulder to shoulder with the City Militia, fruitlessly beating back the relentless attacks by ‘monsters’ more powerful than them.

  “We were mere days away from running out of both food and competent soldiers when the first manifestation of a power occurred. Whinfly – you may have heard of him – was originally a lowly young soldier, drafted from the teeming masses of refugees inside the capital for the final defense of the city. Standing on the battlements on top of the wall that provided safety for the last of Proctanity, his wall was being attacked by large flying snakes one night, dripping venom from oversized fangs, when his fellow guards began to fall one-by-one. As they came for him, dropping down from the sky, he braced himself against the wall, brandishing his standard-issue sword in their direction and – he for some reason took pride in mentioning this fact – soiled his pants,” she continued, to the giggles and outright laughter of her class.

  “When it looked like the end for him, he somehow tapped into a mystery – at the time – power, causing the torches set along the wall in regular intervals to create a sudden burst of fire, incinerating the attacking snakes within 20 feet of him. Collapsing along the battlement, shocked and now drained beyond belief, he survived the rest of the attack by the arrival of reinforcements moments later. When he had recovered later, he explained to the King and his commanders what had happened, to their expressed disbelief despite eyewitnesses.

  “However, now that he had tapped into this power, he could feel the energy in the elements around him: fire, wind, water, and earth. Just by ‘reaching’ out, he could manipulate the element using his mind, but it came with a price: there was only so much that he could do before he felt drained of power and sometimes it took days to recover. When he showed the king his abilities, he was immediately put in charge of teaching the other soldiers to do what he could do.

  “As you all probably know, everyone is born with a special ability and very rarely do they operate the same way as someone else. When Whinfly tried to teach others to manipulate the elements as he did, he failed over and over and over. It wasn’t until he was injured on the Eastern wall while beating back another surge of ‘monsters’ that someone else discovered their own ability.

  “Roselynn was a simple handmaid that was, at least until this creature invasion, an attendant in a noble’s manor in a city that had been long since overrun, the noble missing and presumed dead. Faced without a job to do, she had been bringing water and the dwindling foodstuffs to the soldiers along the wall, finding a way to contribute without having to battle herself. She was bringing lunch to the guards along the Eastern wall when they were attacked, and she saw Whinfly fall beneath a flying monkey-wolf ‘monster’ while his back was turned and was gravely injured.

  “Knowing who he was, and how he had given the men and women along the wall some hope that they could beat back the tide of attackers, she rushed to his side, ignoring the dangerous creatures still present along the wall. Some innate sense of her own power rushed to the surface as she laid her hands on his chest, and powerful healing energies rushed through her and into Whinfly, healing his wounds at an astonishing rate. When he woke up moments later, he found Roselynn at his side, a glow of energy fading around her hands as the power shut off. When he looked up from her hands, he was taken aback at the appearance of the woman lying on her side.

  “She looked wasted – but alive – as if she had been starved for months or years, leaving a skeletal appearance that left her with almost no fat on her already tiny body.”

  One of the boys interrupted her here with a question, “Is that why healers are fat?” The rest of the class laughed, but Whisp smiled and answered the kid, “Yes, that is why – the healing uses some of the energy of the healer, and for grievous wounds can use their flesh and fat to repair the injured areas. We call this type of healing Transference, where the healthy tissue of the healer is used to fix the damaged tissue of their patients.
But enough of that, let’s get back to the story.

  “With this appearance of another powerful ability, Whinfly was able to determine that the initial emergence of their abilities came from a powerful need. Instead of trying to teach the soldiers, and even many of the refugees – he didn’t think that the guards were the only ones that might have abilities, as evidenced by Roselynn – he had volunteers take turns along the wall where the fighting was the fiercest. Granted, the risk involved in putting untested and unexperienced men and women into the middle of battle caused a fair number of casualties, but their backs were against the wall and they had all volunteered, all knowing that if something wasn’t done soon they wouldn’t have time to try anything else. The need to protect themselves, and even others, brought out their abilities like nothing else could – it was as if knowing that they may have something inside them that could save themselves and their families gave them extra incentive to be adaptable to the unknown.

  “With new powers and abilities emerging among the populace at an astonishing rate, the soldiers and citizens working together beat back the creatures surrounding the capital. From there, the methodical push against the overwhelming force of ‘monsters’ began, eliminating them from the surrounding countryside and further territories. Within five years, there came a stalemate of sorts, when we couldn’t push back any further due to the expanding area that needed to be constantly guarded against further incursions. We didn’t have enough bodies to keep the momentum – we had lost a lot of good people before and even after we discovered our abilities.

  “The one good thing that came of it was the increase in fertility rates. Pregnancy rates went through the roof, viable eggs usually occurring in multiples emerged, and semen fertilized almost instantly,” she started, but paused when she saw the blank faces of the children. “Uh…lots more babies were born.” They giggled again, causing her to blush, and Brint hoped that they wouldn’t ask how babies were born. Whisp expertly moved the lecture along, not giving them any time to interrupt with questions.

  “And so ended what is now called the ‘Beast War’, where we survived by the great sacrifices and achievements of all Proctans. Never before had we come together as one people to work toward one singular goal, and that sense of comradeship has forged a new era of prosperity and hopefulness. Using our new abilities, we have…actually, let me get back to my original point of this history lesson – the Guardian Guild.

  “Now that we had beaten back the original onslaught of aggressive creatures, we needed to create some way to ensure that we wouldn’t be blindsided by another ‘Beast War’, as well as guarding our borders. The solution we came up with was suggested by Whinfly and Roselynn, who ended up being some of the founding members. The Guardian Guild was born, an association run by some of the most powerful Proctans, who would be an extension of the government. They were charged with defending the borders from the increasingly prevalent presence of deadly beasts, sending out expeditions to explore unclaimed territory looking for evidence of ‘monster’ build-up, and protecting all Proctans from random creature attacks from within the borders. Only later were they charged with expanding the borders, as the fertility boom still affects us to today, and we need more land to feed and house our growing population.”

  Brint knew what was coming next and he almost got up and left, but he didn’t want to call attention to himself and disturb the class. Therefore, he sat through the next part, unsuccessfully trying to block it out. He wanted to kick the little boy who asked the question he was dreading but refrained because he knew how excited he was when he first “officially” learned about the various abilities.

  He collapsed even further upon himself, hoping that none of the kids would remember that he was there.

  Chapter 26 – Abilities

  “How do I get an ability?” the excited little 4-year-old boy asked, practically jumping up and down in a seated position at the possibility of gaining some sort of power.

  “Unfortunately, you’ll going to have to wait for a while. There hasn’t been a case yet where the abilities have manifested before puberty, which means that for you it could take up to another 10 years or so. And that goes for the rest of you – you’ll have to wait until you’re at least 12-years-old or so, and then you’ll be tested in the local Guardian Guild to determine your ability. Ah, I can see that you’re all disappointed so maybe we can talk about what abilities you can get? Who can tell me one of the classes of abilities that exist?”

  Their disappointed attitudes were instantly changed when they were able to talk about the different classes of abilities. They all raised their hands, eagerly awaiting to be called upon to answer. Whisp pointed to a small girl in the front row, who instantly answered in a high squeaky voice, “Healers! I really wanna be a healer!”

  “Very good! Healer is one of the classes of abilities that you can obtain when you are older. They can heal small wounds, cure diseases, eliminate poison, and even bring someone back from the brink of death using their own body to fuel the healing. They can do this through a wide variety of methods: most use the act of touching and transferring their power to the patient, some can only use the power of the patient to fuel the healing, and even others can make concoctions using their power and body to create healing potions. These last are the most rare and sought-after because their healing potions can be used by anyone, regardless of where they are and what their ability is.

  “Now, I don’t want to destroy your dream of being a Healer, but you can’t decide what you want to be – you are born with only one ability and you have no say in what it is. Don’t worry though, whatever you end up with will be what you were meant to have – you’ll be excited either way. Ok, that was the Healer class, who can tell me another?”

  “Elemental Casters!”

  “Physical Augmenters!”

  “Nature Manipulators!”

  “Inventors!”

  As each class was shouted out, Whisp explained a little of each, starting with the Elemental Casters. Like the historical figure Whinfly, Elemental Casters could use their power to manipulate elemental energies. They needed to have access to the element close-by: if there was no fire nearby then they couldn’t draw on it to create a Flame Lance or Fireball, some of the more common uses of fire. In addition to their monster-slaying prowess, Elemental Casters were also useful in creating stone walls, digging wells, putting out fires, and irrigating fields.

  Physical Augmenters for the most part used the power within their bodies to augment their own characteristics, with a rare few who could only augment other people instead of themselves. For a limited time, or whenever they ran out of power, they could choose to make themselves stronger, tougher, or faster – with the rarest of them all being able to do all of that at the same time. They were primarily used by the Guardian Guild to be the “meat shields” of their parties, soaking up or mitigating damage from beast attacks with their heavy armor and strength.

  Nature Manipulators were able to manipulate the forces of nature, including – but not limited to – plants and simple insects. A rare few were able to communicate with animals but were kept away from any aggressive creatures because they inevitably went mad from the hateful thoughts the beasts projected. They were primarily used as farmers, growing food at prodigious rates and controlling the few still-docile beasts used for meat.

  Inventors were the teachers, engineers, and merchants of the world. The term Inventor was a bit of a misnomer, but the name stuck since the first ones with this ability had invented a plethora of time-saving objects in the years following the “Beast War”. Using their innate power, they could enhance their intelligence for a limited time, allowing them to greater perceive the natural world and infer new discoveries. Whisp was an “Inventor” in every sense of the word – she taught, was a great engineer, and was constantly inventing things when she wasn’t teaching in the school. She even had enough business sense to make quite a bit off the inventions she created, but chose to live modestl
y in the border village that she grew up in.

  “And that covers the main classes of abilities that you can obtain when you are older. Now, we’ll move on to how the different classes can increase the strength of their abilities through the repetitive use of—”

  “You forgot about the ‘useless’ abilities!” shouted a snarky-looking older boy near the back of the room. Brint hadn’t been paying attention until then, and when he heard that he looked over toward the speaker, only to find that the boy was staring right at him. He didn’t know who the kid was, but apparently the boy knew exactly who he was. When he looked back at Whisp, his heart dropped when he realized she was glancing at him, before turning her attention back to the rest of the class. I didn’t think she felt that way, she always told me I had a special ability – just one that I hadn’t found yet.

  Fortunately for Brint, none of the other kids had turned to look at him, instead concentrating on their teacher. She cleared her throat, obviously uncomfortable with discussing this with him in the room. “There are no ‘useless’ abilities, everyone has a unique ability that works for them. Some may not be as ‘useful’ as others, but that doesn’t mean that those who have them are less than any other. It might just take a particular set of circumstances to make them seem more viable.” She looked at the boy who had spoken before, specifically telling him, “In the future, don’t call them ‘useless’ – instead, call them ‘unique’ abilities because they don’t fall within the main classes of abilities and are, therefore, ‘unique’.”