Into the Great Divide

I went into the multicolored crevasse. There were guards lined up along it trying to stop anything from getting out. Other than it being a crack in the ground, it was just like the dungeon cave I had gone into before. Amy was to follow me in since I was harder to hurt, and I was to be our forward scout when I didn't have any monsters summoned.

When I entered, I found myself standing on a narrow path. I could see that it split pretty quickly. One way went straight and entered into a fairy like forest, it was brightly lit and gave off a lively feel. The other part looked as if it went sharply down. To me, it looked bright but judging from the video I took while I was in the cave, the blue veins that were traveling along the cavern walls and ceiling, were things only I was seeing. The blue wisps that floated lazily in the air lit up the pathway down. That was until I got close to them. Once I did, they would rush into my body as if I was a high-powered magnet and I felt a burst of energy as they entered. The energy they offered was exhilarating.

We had two ways that we could go. From what I heard, when gathering information, if we went down, the walls created a claustrophobic feeling and there were traps or falling objects everywhere. The other was a monster filled forest with lots of fighting and ambushes but not a lot of traps. The people in charge didn't want to talk with me so I had to rely on the town's gossips. I attributed their reluctance to talk to me for not having a prince nearby.

As I waited for Amy, I clipped on the video crystal and placed a veil on my head before releasing the masquerade spell on me. I then manifested my wings, once I changed back. I figured that anybody that saw me inside the dungeon would just report they saw a girl with wings. That should be enough to fool those on the outside. I wanted to summon a monster or two before Amy appeared in case demons surfaced, but she arrived before I could. Along with Amy's entrance, two messages also popped up, and I was glad that I could still receive notices of what the dungeon was doing.

*Intruders on level 1*

*Intruders on level 1*

I began to summon my monsters once Amy was settled. I placed her near the exit 'just in case' as the orange portals began to appear. I wanted 'Blinkers'. They were millipedes about the size of a leg and didn't have any heads. Instead, they had an anglerfish bulb that hung a little ahead of their bodies. I was summoning only four of them. I felt some pressure from summoning so many but I firmed up my resolve and the portals stabilized and grew in response. After five minutes they plopped out and a new message appeared.

*Monsters summoned, Link (Yes /No)*

Not knowing exactly what that meant I selected yes. * - 20DP * appeared and I felt the slight struggle, that controlling summonables caused, vanish. I checked my character sheet and saw that the hundred and eight Dungeon Points I had, had dropped to eighty-eight. There was also a new tab and when I selected it, I saw a list titled 'Dungeon Monsters Controlled' and 'Blinkers x 4' listed under it. I closed the window with a smile on my face. I wasn't sure exactly how long that was good for but , judging off the fact that I didn't feel them fighting against me and that the blue mist was also being absorbed by them, I could summon a lot more than I thought.

I had them take the lead. We had already talked about which path we would take before we even got here. Two of the millipedes crawled on the floor while the other two latched onto the walls and, under my orders, began to scout down the path. The click, click of their black chitin covered legs soon faded as they outpaced both Amy and me.

I walked with Amy down the path. She was keeping an eye out for things around us while I tried to use the "eyes" of the blinkers. They used sonar that allowed them to process the noises their claws made since they didn't have eyes. Because I wasn't used to seeing that way, it took me some time to process what I was seeing, and I needed Amy to make sure I wasn't in any avoidable danger.

The Blinkers came to a fork in the path, so I sent two down each path. When each path forked again a little while later, I called them back to the first fork in the path to wait for us. At least the maze aspect of the dungeon was correct. These multiple pathways would lead to different monster rooms, from what I heard, and only one of them would lead downward. Of course, nobody agreed on the path you should take so I simply planned on randomly picking. We went right at the first split, then left, then right, and ended up staring at a cavern entrance. Before we could go in, I saw two messages pop up.

*Create Landslide Trap for Ten DP (Yes/No)*

*Summon Giant Scorpions x 2 for twenty DP (Yes/No)*

As the 'Yes's flashed and the messages vanished, I saw movement inside the cave. Two scorpions rushed out as soon as I did, not giving me any time to prepare. I also noticed bursts of blue mist and the veins that ran along the walls as the rocks rearranged themselves.

I ordered the Blinkers to intercept the scorpions and pulled out my bow as I told Amy to be ready to retreat. The Blinkers appeared on the scorpions, trying to dig their claws into any weak spots they could find. When the scorpions tried to retaliate, they would vanish, only to appear in a different spot. The blinkers were hard to hit but lacked the strength to do any damage. If it weren't for the occasional arrow I shot, they would have been undamaged. If I hadn't been watching for it, I would have missed the tiny pebbles that started to fall off the towering walls. It started slowly but as the fight raged on, a rumble began to overtake the noise of battle. Rocks slammed down onto the path and the scorpions. Amy and I retreated as a section of the wall detached itself and the displaced air from its impact, hit us before the dust and small pebbles. The Blinkers crawled out of the deeper shadows that ran along the wall shortly after.

*Two Giant Scorpions killed 15DP awarded* flashed and then went away. That message wasn't for me. The dungeon killed its own monsters and got rewarded for it! The only bright side was that it only earned half of what it spent.

This path was now a dead end, so we had to go back to the intersection and take the other one. While we walked, I got a few messages of the dungeon earning some DP from intruders and a few more for groups or monsters that were moving through the dungeon. Our path turned sharply a few times and then entered into a cave that was dug out of the left-hand wall. There were stalactites all over the cavern's ceiling like stony spears just waiting to stab downward. The path continued, and I could see light on the other side of it, as if this cave was nothing but a tunnel through the wall. I didn't get any dungeon messages as we stepped into it, but if there were already traps or monsters inside, I wouldn't have been surprised.

I sent one of the blinkers in first and left the rest to protect Amy, as I moved to follow behind it.