gfjcs

My essence was 65%. The fight against the fourth-floor guardian gave me the most of today's 5% increase. The miners had just finished for the day and the sun had set, allowing me to focus on my projects into the night. My CP count dropped, but I finished it before it ran out.

The mana stones were made, but even after several nights of experiments, I failed to improve them. I still had other projects to work on, and the next was fast approaching. I needed to get ready.

Floor five.

This winter, I have been thinking about and experimenting with new ideas. The empty wings of the tower building had been a great place to work as the Adventures never entered them as they were empty. Here, I worked on a new generation of traps. During this time, I discovered something.

"Traps are hard to make!"

In the stories, a Dungeon chooses the trap option, and the system gives them the knowledge to make them.

"But not me! Oh no!"

This poor bastard had to work it all out himself. I first made the pitfall trap and then made several improvements that I planned to roll out. The problem I was having was creating other ones. The ability to access my memories better had helped with the theory, but putting them into action was difficult.

That was until tonight!

After several months of experiments and countless (well, I could count them but did not want to make myself depressed) failures, I had figured out how to create a pressure plate trigger. The hardest thing was finding a workaround to replace a spring, as I did not have any materials I could use in its place.

"Who's the Dungeon Core? Yes, that's right, I am!"

….What the hell was I doing?

I looked around and realised that there was no one but me here.

"Well, that could have been even more awkward."

It had taken most of the night, but the trigger was finished and tested. I knew I could adapt it and use it as the base for numerous traps. This had lifted my mood, but I still had an issue. What will the minion type on the floor?

I moved through my Dungeon thinking on this.

"Counting the guardians, Puck and Larry, I have fifteen designs. Should I reuse one, but which?"

I was working from the assumption that I would need to create a new minion from them.

"I could make the 1st floor boss the minion type on the floor and make an even bigger one as the guardian."

"I should make that floor more "traditional" and not reeve the threat level too much."

I had found out what Queen had wanted the bodies of the Slaver and his guards for. Their remains were in cocoons in the cave. What she was doing with them, I had blocked myself from remembering. There are things a Core should never think about!

"What to do? What to do?"

My progression to the fifth level was slow but happening faster with the influx of new idiots. Sorry, adventures. My skills were dead-ended for the moment as I had not used any of them for months. Mana-wise, I still had a spare bubble inside of my Core, but I had not encountered any new mana types.

"Status screen. Bhaldor. Open"

Name

Bhaldor

Essence

65%

Race

Dungeon Core

CP

62(450) 4.5 phr

Level

4

Corruption

0%

Floors

4

Health

100%

Skills:

Mana Manipulation: 2 - 70%

Core Refining – 5%

Mana Sight: 7 – 81%

Aura Manipulation: 8 - 5%

"Some improvements but nothing major. Close status screen."

My Mana was regenerating from today's floor resets and the mana stones next to my Core were ready to be used as a backup. Sure, the stones were not even close to what I had envisioned, but they were better than nothing.

"I might encounter something new when I dig down."

Discovering the caves was a surprise on the fourth, but they had provided some new interesting features for my Dungeon.

"That's a thought. I could add the blue moss to the other floors. What's my CP count?"

Looking at the number, I worked out that I could place some tonight and the rest tomorrow. Starting on the first, I began placing patches around. This used up my remaining CP quickly and I had to stop. It was at least two hours before the adventures would return.

This was the time I had come to hate and fear.

The time I had nothing to keep me focused—the time I had to let my mind wander—was when the darker parts of my mind came to the forefront—echoes of who I was and shadows of who I might become.

It never takes long before I start having unwelcome thoughts, typically about what I have become and what actions I have taken.

"Would I even recognise myself anymore?"

"Well, I am a Core gem now, so that's obvious."

"How much of me is still human and how much is now Core?"

"Does it matter?"

I talk to myself as I wander around the first floor, watching the moss grow. These and other questions always come to me during these times. The early days were the worst, but still, the inactivity brings them back.

"When did the killing stop bothering me anymore?"

"I think it started with the raiders who had the slave women."

Thinking about any of the slaves that had been brought to my Dungeon always sparked anger within me.

"Why do I hate slavers so much?"

"Is a product of being raised in Earth's Western society values?"

"No, I would have a greater issue with killing if that was the case."

"Unless this is the Core, I am now changing my thinking."

I am getting too philosophical during these times. Yet, I had noticed the changes in my thinking.

"Hunger is the thing I can still relate to from my past human life."

Hunger is always with me. I have come not to suppress it but to endure it. It is always there in the back of my mind, influencing my actions to different extents. There were times when I was aware of its influence and others when I only understood it later. The clearest to me now, in hindsight, was the ramping of each floor's threat level.

Songs echo through my mind sometimes during these periods—songs of sorrow, mystery and reflection. I do not understand why. That is another thing to add to that list.

"It's almost like the weirdest soundtrack in history."

I could hear the sound of the Animals – House of the Rising Sun playing as I went around.

"Is it what passes for my subconscious talking to me?"

The moss was growing well and the soft blue glow of the light it produced lit the rooms and corridors on the floor.

"That should stop some of the complaints…. Maybe."

## ## ## ## ##

Complaints.

They had become the only thing that Ranus Goldwind encountered these days.

The town's population had exploded and with it, so did the number of complaints. He knew the other Guild Leaders and even some of the churches were dealing with some or a lot of problems…. but it seemed it was never-ending for him.

"... with this said Lord Goldwind. I hope that you will be able to see it fit to have the construction of my warehouse at the piers given priority. This will allow me to unload my and other goods faster."

The present complainer was a very portly merchant in fine clothes who was trying to have him move work teams from longhouse construction to build a warehouse on some land he had just acquired.

Ranus kept his features passive but was screaming internally.

"Merchant Vad. The town understands your desire for a warehouse to help the town grow. Your request at this time cannot be granted." The man deflated a little at my words. "The need for housing is more important."

Before he could protest, a messenger came into the room.

"Lord Goldwind, Guild Leader Drum requests your presence in the Alchemy Guild building!"

Thank the Gods! Ranus yelled internally.

"Apologies, Merchant Vad, but it seems I am needed elsewhere." Ranus took the opportunity to escape from the merchant.

Leaving the Tavern of Shadows Rest, he considered the need for a proper building to conduct business. Looking around the town as he walked, it was a scene of chaos and construction. Vulus was at least happy that he had focused most of the work crews on building homes again.

More boats were arriving, bringing more people with them. The Adventures made up most of the first with a good number of merchants. Now, everyone else was arriving. This was both a blessing and a curse. More people meant more problems but also more people to help resolve them.

Some of the new arrivals had the foresight to bring their own work crews with them. He looked at the new churches, taverns, workshops and longhouses being built. Jontar had already informed him that the Shadows Rest would be part closing as he upgraded and expanded the building. He had bought the land plots on either side of the tavern and was already knocking down the rough constructions that were there.

It did not take him long to reach the Alchemy Guild. Scaffolding was going up, and it seemed to work to expand, which was also happening here. He walked in, was spotted by the staff through the crowd in the lobby area, and was escorted to Comus in his workshop.

Ranus opened the door and almost leapt in fright as the body of a giant spider confronted him.

"Who is…. Ranus, come in!" Comus's head appeared from over the body's bulk.

Very slowly, Ranus entered the room. The spider was facing him and he was unnerved by it even though he knew it was dead. He had been too busy to see it when the retrieval team brought it up. He had heard they were taking time off to recover from the fight and now he knew why.

The thing was massive.

Ranus had seen more enormous monsters before but nothing so… so …. Unnerving.

Elian was also in the room, leaning against a wall as Comus worked. She was the picture of casual indifference. Ranus remembered she had seen this thing alive and fighting, so he rallied his composure and acted like it was not making him want to run away screaming. She nodded to him in greeting.

Comus was in his apron again, covered in grey/yellow blood. The spider's underbelly was cut open, and its organs were removed. They were located in several glass jars.

"This is the boss of the fourth floor." Ranus said, hoping he was sounding confident.

"Yes, it is an impressive creature!" Comus's reply was far too enthusiastic. His arms were covered in the spider's blood up to his elbows.

"What can you tell us." Elian spoke up.

"So much.... This is not a Silk Spider. I thought it was because they produced silk like the others. It has been altered, as can be seen. Shadow mana is the principal means of change."

He stepped away from the corpse. He started cleaning his hands while still looking at the body.

"The corpse had so many things I needed to research: the shell, organs and even blood. This is going to take some time. I am even talking to my guild elders as I am finding strange things."

Elian shifted where she was standing when Comus mentioned the guild elders.

"I have some news from mine." Both men turned and looked at her. "High Magus Doltum will be here soon."

That left both men speechless for a few moments. So, she continued.

"Yes, that crazy old bastard will be gracing us with his presence. We need to get ready."

"When?" That was all Ranus could say as his head spun from that news. One of the last human platinum-level Adventurers was coming here!

"Any day. He was on the far side of the continent when word reached him of the Dungeons discovery. He finished what he was doing and began to make his way here."

"Is he as bad as the stories?" Ranus asked.

"I have never met him. Albrot, my superior, has warned me he is."

"When do we think he will arrive?" Ranus asked.

"Hard to say. The old empire's teleport network does not reach here. He can cast teleport himself… He will arrive whenever he will." Elian thought about how fast he could arrive.

Ranus had to add what she had told him to his list of problems.

"We will deal with him when he arrives." Ranus sighed. "Do you think that the fourth-floor boss will be another source of wealth?"

Since the revelation of the third-floor bosses' hides worth, they have been receiving more requests for it, and they are coming from further away.

"It is highly likely."

Elian swore up a storm that was very impressive and wholly expected. The third floor had claimed more lives in the last few days than the whole winter. Money-hungry people who were not ready to face the floor's dangers ignored the warnings and died for them. It was now so bad that an Adventurer Guild employee was stationed to monitor the Dungeon's activity. When it was resetting, its mana flow changed, and they knew the team was dead.

"How much of an advanced warning can you give us?" Ranus asked Comus.

"I can wait until the complete examination is finished. Then, I can review it... ten days at best."

"Thank you. Elian, are you and your staff ready?"

"No! But we will need to be. I will send for more staff and resources."

Elain had one advantage in this Ranus had given her. He had allowed the Adventures Guild to run access to the Dungeon. He could have taken control of this, but as a political move to garner support from the Guild, he had seeded control to them.

"Another day. Yet more new problems." The other two had to agree.

ADVERTISEMENT