Dungeon's Will

How did I know I was being absorbed by a dungeon?

It was because dealing with dungeons was the adventurers' main job. Dive into dungeons, explore the unknown, kill monsters, draw maps, collect valuables, and make fortunes. Something along that line. As one aspired to become an adventurer, I had read a number of books about them and had talked with adventurers that sometimes came to town.

Except living beings, any item unattended within a dungeon would be turned into light particles and absorbed by the dungeon. This included supplies, equipment, and corpses. That was why it was common sense to enter a dungeon in a party, thus in case something happened to you, your teammates could at least bring your remains out. That, unless your entire party was wiped out.

Dungeons, also called dens of monsters and demons, were considered a pest of the world. The worst kind of pest. When a dungeon was left unchecked or went undetected for a long period of time, allowing the said dungeon to grow strong enough, there were plenty of cases in history where villages, towns, and even big cities were destroyed by monster waves coming from dungeons.

Among those infamous dungeons recorded, there were three particular outstanding ones. They were collectively called The Worst Three and each was labeled with the highest threat level of AAA, the great disaster of continental scale and beyond.

The first of The Worst Three was The Black Fog Dungeon, which was said to span one-third of the continent's mainland over a millennia ago. Wherever its black fog went, the land became corrupted and inhabitable. The story of Black Fog's extermination was tightly related to the rise of Holy Muqadas Empire, where the country I was residing in, Akhdar Kingdom, was part of. There were many epic poems and songs depicting the exploits of Saintess Muqadassy and the five heroes - the conquerors of Black Fog who later became the empire's first empress and kings of its vassal kingdoms. Too many, actually, and each version could differ greatly from the other.

The second of The Worst Three was The Elf-Eater Dungeon in the Great Forest, located at the northern part of the continent. It was said the entire elven race, known as one of the strongest races in which every member was a talented magic user, had almost gone extinct because of it. Unlike with Black Fog, the circulated story of how Elf-Eater was conquered was limited and did not go in details; only that in the the later phase of the war between the elves and the dungeon, when the race were pushed back to their last city, they gathered their strongest warriors and sneaked the elite team straight into the dungeon, that the team barely succeeded with everyone but one perished in the bloody conquest. Subsequently, because some greedy humans tried to take advantage of their moment of weakness, the elves cut their relationship with the rest of the world and sealed the entire Great Forest with a powerful barrier spell.

The last of the three was The Mount Naar Dungeon, which remained unconquered ever since it was discovered, around the same time the Elf-Eater's deeds of kidnapping the elves first came to light centuries ago. The dungeon was covering an entire volcanic island that was located east to Akhdar Kingdom, in the Naar Strait that separated the continent's mainland and the territory of the recently rising Malvice Nation. It had many other names, such as The Unconquerable Dungeon, Dungeon of Ten Thousand Floors, The Everburning Dungeon, etcetera. Compared to the first two of The Worst Three, the damage it had caused to its surroundings were negligible so far, but no one doubt how devastating it would be if its monsters were ever wracking havoc outside. It served as the favorite gathering spot for high-level adventurers for the time being.

That said, I had not heard anything about a dungeon in this region.

According to the common law, as soon as a new dungeon was discovered, the discoverer had to report it to an adventurer guild or the Adventurer Admin Office nearby, which they had to follow up within the next forty-eight hours. Once the report was confirmed, their first priority would be to notify every settlement around the discovered dungeon and to send a party to assess the said dungeon's threat level. Only after the threat level was determined then the dungeon became available for other adventurers.

Therefore, for me to have not heard about a dungeon close to our town meant this dungeon had most likely not been discovered yet. If I was the first to submit the report, I could get a nice sum of reward.

(Yeah right, in my dream.)

My wishful thinking aside, there was nothing I could do while I was being turned into light particles. Uncertainty to what might happen after I was fully absorbed filled my mind, the questions like whether I would die for real this time kept echoing in my head.

There was a blank moment before I knew. I think it was no more than a few seconds, but I might be wrong. After the blank, I found myself no longer confined in my coffin.

(Huh? Not only can I look around again, I can also move?

(Hmm, where's this place, by the way?

(Ugh, what- who're you? Why're you attacking me?

(This… Soul Pressure? No, it's similar but it's not Soul Pressure.

(Heh, interesting. But you know, I'm used to my father's Soul Pressure, it's at least ten times stronger than this. And you're not the only one who can push, you know. Here, try this!)

In the weird space I was waking up, there was another presence. Like me, the presence did not have a physical body, and it was somehow hostile. It attacked the moment it detected me. Fortunately, I was more than capable of handling a mental attack of that caliber and retaliated accordingly with Soul Pressure, causing the presence to twitch and its size quickly dwindling.

(Eh? Wait! STOP! Uh, too late, it's… dissipated. Did I kill it?

(… Oh well, it attacked me first, so it's a justified self-defense.

(!!

(Wha- what's this sudden surge of power?! My mana… is increasing… no, it's overflowing…

(UGH! AAAARGH… My… My head… AAARRGGgghhhhhhhhhh…

***

(…

(Ugh…

(Did I just pass out? Again?

(Sheesh, can't believe how often I've been losing my consciousness recently. But, the pain was insane, like someone tried to cram so many things at once into my head, ouch.

(Oh...

(What's this? Why do I remember something I shouldn't?

(Is this… memories of that presence from before?

(Hmm…)

The new memories began when 'I' became aware of 'my' surroundings. 'I' -ate- insects' carcasses and dry leaves around 'me', slowly expanded 'my' body by merging with a nearby cave until the whole cave was part of 'my' body. After that, even though 'my' body kept growing, it went much slower than before. Months, possibly years, passed as 'I' kept doing what 'I' did without paying attention to time.

'My' intelligence also grew along the process. 'I' noticed that the substance 'I' gained from -eating- carcasses and other leftovers, which was essential for my growth, could also be gained through having creatures living within 'my' cave. This newly discovered method gave me a continuous but very little substance compared to the one-time boost of the previous method. Thus, 'I' started to learn how to lure more creatures inside 'my' cave. 'I' realized the bigger and stronger the creature, the more substance 'I' could gain. Moreover, 'I' found that the first gaining-substance-method was still applicable, 'I' just had to know how to kill the lured creatures before 'I' could -eat- it.

(Huff, that's a hard lesson learned for sure. What a close call. To think that fox 'I' lured would try to eat 'my' core instead. Luckily, 'I' managed to control a pack of bats and kill it first.)

The rest of the memories were mostly mundane. Until the day my father, whom this other me perceived as a very dangerous creature, appeared and brought my corpse in. 'I' was so happy when he left, even happier when 'I' had my -meal-, which was my own corpse. Never in 'my' live 'I' gained so much substance all at once. 'My' happiness went away faster than it came, however, when 'I' found the substance poisonous - it contained my complete soul, and 'I' failed to tame me.

(… This is so weird.

(I bet no one else ever experienced what I just experienced. One event from two opposite point of views!

(Hmm, then again, I've been through so many extraordinary things until now. From crossing to another world, being reincarnated, staying alive inside a dead body, and now… inheriting memories of this being, whatever it is.

(Well, I guess the question is… What do I do now? What can I do?

(Okay, let's sort what I know of first.

(This being has a body in the form of a cave, a core, and an ability to control animals living inside its cave body… Huh? Why does it sound familiar?

(Heck, isn't this, like, a dungeon?

(Oh, that's right. I was inside a dungeon and was absorbed by it, how did I forget?

(… I see. Then I suppose the presence from before was… the dungeon's will?)

My eyes widened, figuratively, with that realization. A popular theory saying that a dungeon had a will of its own was first proposed by Bilbo, a dungeon scholar and a Gold-rank adventurer, in his book Mastermind of Monster Invasions. Most adventurers had accepted this theory as the truth since it was in line with their own experiences, the Adventurer Admin Office even promoted his book as one of the compulsory reading material for adventurers who wanted to pass a certain rank.

According to Bilbo, the dungeon's will, also known as the dungeon's consciousness, influenced animals within its territory - making them more aggressive, turning them into monsters, and sometimes having them cooperate in spite of their predator-prey relationship in nature. In general, the higher a dungeon's threat level the more cunning its will would be. The traps it devised and strategy it implemented would be more varied and more dangerous proportionally.

(Hey, since I inherited the will's memories, does it mean…)

Ba-Dump!

I could feel my heart beating faster, even though I should no longer have a heart, when an idea popped in my mind. Using the knowledge that came with the new memories, I expanded my senses.

(Just like I thought, I can feel the entire cave - every room, every corner, various animals, everything. I can even tell the number of stalactites!

(Hmm, the cave has four big rooms and paths connecting these rooms - let's call them corridors. There's only one pathway from the entrance to the last room. And in the last room… there! I knew it'd be there!)

Half-planted in the wall of the last room was a stone with a very high concentration of mana. The dungeon core, the ultimate reward for a dungeon raid, and the place where my soul, consciousness, will, spirit, whatever you want to call it, resided at the moment. It glowed in the dark, rhythmically like a heartbeat, hence its other name the dungeon heart.

As the name suggested, dungeon core was the most important part of a dungeon. Without it, a dungeon could not live on. It would die, turning into an ordinary cave and some of its structure would collapse without the continuous support of mana from the dungeon core. If there were surviving animals and monsters, they would be less dangerous without the dungeon's will controlling them.

On the other hand, adventurers who took the core would gain fame and wealth. The title Conqueror of Dungeon alone was prestigious and came with a lot of benefits, but the greatest benefit was the core itself. Even a small dungeon core would be worth a huge fortune. After all, it was a high quality material for magic tools, equipment, potions, and could also be used as a catalyst for some advanced and complicated spells.

(I thought a dungeon core have a dark red color, why does this one have multiple colors instead?

(Oh, come to think of it, it kind of resembles that cursed Soul Gem, doesn't it? Has it changed because I've taken over the core?

(Sigh…

(I guess I've to accept it already. I've inherited this dungeon and become the new dungeon's will.)

(…

(DAMN IT!

(How am I supposed to live as a dungeon!? What'd I do if adventurers come over!?

(It's not like I can just kill them! They're people, not animals! They're heroes who risk their lives so ordinary people can live without having to worry about monsters!

(It's not like I can give my life either. I don't want to die, not when there's a hope to live on…

(Ugh, what a headache.

(… Now, now, calm down, me. It's not like they'd come right away. I mean, how many years has this dungeon been here without people finding out it exists? Only father knows, and I doubt he even remembers the way.

(What I need to do is prepare. That's right, let's make preparation first. Who knows, maybe I can figure a way to solve this problem later. Like, talking to the adventurers, perhaps?

(Yeah, fat chance. If I were an adventurer and a dungeon suddenly offers me a peace talk, I'd suspect it's a trap. Maybe I'd even report back to my guild that a cunning dungeon, meaning a dungeon with a high threat level, has appeared. The next time the adventurers show up after that would no longer be a small raid but a full-scale conquest! Bah!

(That aside, how can I prepare myself? I heard a high level dungeon was like a maze, not a straight path like mine. How can I change the layout? My predecessor never tried something like that. Hmm...

(Shit! Speak of the devil, how come there are already adventurers in front of my entrance?)