The Tower in the Shadows

"Please, will someone die today!"

Today, the third group was working through the second floor. Another Tin group is being "mentored" by an Iron grade. In the last week, I noticed three small group changes coming through. First, more groups had mentors. Next, the number of Iron-grade groups increased. Last, they avoided my wine bottle surprise in the entry room on the ground.

"I think the bottle's done as a trap."

As usual, I talked to Larry as he relaxed in the rafters as the group moved through the second floor.

"It had a good run. I think I will leave it for old time's sake."

I slowly gained from the Iron grades using their skills, abilities and magic—far more than the Tin's limited powers. I was nearly at the next level threshold. A death or two would be enough to get me over.

"The spiders are almost ready for the new floor. I have been practising and am sure of the combination of mana and CP needed to stop them from exploding."

Larry's look told me he was not convinced. During my experimentation, he avoided the areas I was working in.

"I have been thinking about something special for the floor boss. The floor spiders will be shadow-infused, but the guardian, I am thinking illusion. You know, to throw them off."

Larry, as always, was silent. I was going to say more when I got a rush of essence. Looking at the group, one of them had been killed by the 2nd-floor guardian jumping on her and drowning her before the other members of the party could intervene and save her.

"Well, that is an almost embarrassing way to die."

The party was wailing and grieving over her death while the mentor was looking on. The mentors were there to advise and not to hold the hands of the groups they were with. They had finished the guardian off and were collecting the body and rewards. It looks like they had finished their run.

“Status screen. Bhaldor.”

Name

Bhaldor

Essence

92%

Race

Dungeon Core

CP

38(300) /2.9 phr

Level

3

Corruption

0%

Floors

3

Health

100%

"Almost there!"

I watched the group leave. That was disappointing, but I knew it was the most likely thing after the death. Not long after, the miners showed up with a two-adventurer escort.

"Hey, the miners are here for the copper."

Every day, these four guys typically show up with different escorts. They head down to the copper vein and quickly mine out the ore. They are the miners' equivalent to Iron grades. They use skills to speed up the process of ore extraction and I welcome the essence I gain from them.

They did not deviate as they descended and began cutting into the stone with their pickaxes. They worked like a well-oiled machine. The ore was cut free and placed into baskets they brought. Once they were satisfied, they came back up and left.

"Damn! No skills used this time."

I had come to identify skills as they were used as they affected the user or target. This typically was a coloured aura that was easy to see. The more intense the aura, the stronger the skill being used. The colour, I think, reflected the type of skill being used. When the third-floor guardian used his, I noticed that he glowed a red hue as it activated.

Adventures had shown blue, white, and even green colours as they activated skills. I was unsure if it was a personal or skill related to what colour appeared. It was something I was interested in but was not vital to know at the moment outside of the essence I gained when they were activated.

"I gain from them just visiting, but it is so little. If they use skills, it's more profitable for me."

Larry continued to ignore me, and I got used to it. I sensed the night coming and it was snowing now. Winter was here and I wondered how it would affect the groups coming in.

"I think they cut a path through the snow to whatever town now exists out there. I can just make it out."

The novelty of having Adventures coming to my Dungeon had worn off. Now, I saw most as just a resource to be monitored if required. There were exceptions with some groups, but most did not interest me.

"Well, this is getting boring again."

The next few days were just a repeating cycle of Adventuring groups and then the miners. My essence meter was creeping up. Slowly, so bloody slowly!

"Well, that's interesting."

A group was moving straight down to the third floor. I did not recognise them.

"It's a new group, then. They look well-armed with decent armour. It's not a Tin group and they don't have a mentor."

It looked to me that they were a group of four men, all combat classes. They had two long spears with them, which they were using to navigate around the staircase as they descended—calling them spears might be wrong, as they were more like pikes.

"Are those boar spears?"

Several groups discussed using them on the third to take out the boars faster. It seemed that this group were going to try. I watched as they slowly made their way down. The spears were slowing them down as they were very long and cumbersome.

There was a lot of swearing and cursing as they went down. I found the whole thing entertaining as they eventually got downstairs. I had figured something out as they went down but was waiting for them to realise it. The spears were too long to get into the room from the corridor!

"This was going to be good."

They made it to the floor and discovered the problem. I was not disappointed by the reaction as the group broke into one hell of an argument. They seemed to be a rather hot-headed bunch, as their tempers were flaring.

"This is why you do your scouting first!"

The argument was getting more intense and focused on one of the men who, it seemed, had come up with the idea. They were getting worked up to a much greater degree than I expected. A lot of threats and accusations were being thrown around.

"Some history here, I think."

Things suddenly got violent as one of the men struck at the other who was being blamed. The remaining two quickly back off, not helping either, but following as the fight moved. Blows were being exchanged as the combatants were not holding back.

"Bloody hell! That escalated fast!"

I watched as they fought. The attacker drove the defender down the corridor. The thuds and ringing sounds of weapon impacts echoed as they moved. They were so focused on each other that they never noticed they were now in the first room and my boar had something to add.

The squeal as it attacked surprised both men and they did not have time to react. The first through the doorway was the man attacked and he was having a bad day—first assaulted by a member of his party and now a boar.

The impact of the boar hitting him shattered his knee and ripped a large wound in his leg. There was an audible snap at the moment of impact. Screaming, he collapsed as the two non-combatants ran in to help.

"That might be a fatal injury. Well, it will be if he does not get medical aid soon."

As I watched the fight, I was not unaware of my growing disinterest in the suffering of those who entered my Dungeon. There was simply nothing I could do. The boar was rampaging, fighting the three still standing and trampling the falling man.

"Newly Iron grade, I think."

The single boar was showing itself to be almost too much for them to handle. They were hacking at it; the red health bar was dropping, but its hide was stopping a lot of the damage inflicted by their weapons from getting through. The boar was outnumbered, and it was those numbers that brought it down, but as it fell, I felt an Essence rush of the death of the man on the floor.

A gold alert suddenly flashed in the bottom right in my vision.

"Levelling time!"

The survivors collected the body and reward and they left. The boar spears were forgotten as they wanted out fast. As soon as they were out the door, I opened the alert and said…

"Yes."

My Dungeon sealed itself.

My vision twisted and I fell into my Core.

…………

Blackness.

## ## ## ## ##

"Errrwwmmm."

My return to consciousness could have been more pleasant. I should know this by now.

"Why can't it be this wonderful experience like in most of the stories? No! I get the worst hangover version of levelling."

It is not long before I am fully aware and ready for what comes next. First, I check on my "body." I have grown again and reckon I am 2.5 times larger than I was when I arrived. The glowing mana lights are a little brighter along my outer layer.

“Status screen. Bhaldor.”

Name

Bhaldor

Essence

0%

Race

Dungeon Core

CP

133(400) /3.5 phr

Level

4

Corruption

0%

Floors

4

Health

100%

Skills:

Mana Manipulation: 2 - 10%

Core Refining – 5%

Mana Sight: 6 – 51%

Aura Manipulation: 7 - 52%

Perks/Restrictions:

Godless

Affintyless (++ ERROR! ++)

Companionless

Limitless Monsters/Traps

Core Refinement max – 95%

Mana Stored

Illusion – 64.8(80) / 0.01 phr.

Shadow – 80(80) / 1.1 phr.

Light – 80(80)/0.1 phr.

"I'm Looking better than I started. I've got a new floor to make. How long has it taken me to get here?"

What had it been three years here already? It was getting harder to tell, as my mind had gotten used to my existence as a Core now. Time was not an issue; it once was when I was human. It was times like these that I reflected on what I had lost and gained.

These thoughts echoed in my mind as I checked the Dungeon. Each floor, room and minion was as I had left them.

What had I lost?

What had I gained?

Well, having a human body was the most obvious of what I had lost. There were good and bad things with that. Maintaining the body I had was annoying, but I really miss other things. Eating, drinking and jerking off, things like that. God, I miss jerking off…

"Back to the new floor."

It was night outside and with this floor, I had already decided to make it slowly over the next few days or weeks. I focused my attention on the stairwell on the third floor. When it was finished, I planned to create the fourth floor and link it to the rest of the Dungeon. Sinking into the floor, I began expanding my aura. The stone and earth were brought under my control. It was almost exclusively stone now. The first area claimed would be the stair room.

I knew the size and claimed the space quickly. The room was cut out of the rock and the pillar and stairs were formed. Later, I would create the hidden alcove for my Core and add the additional details, making the area look like it was still being built.

"So far, so good."

Next, I began expanding in all directions. Suddenly, the stone before me disappeared to the west. My aura flooded forward, filling a large space. My CP count dropped dramatically as this happened.

"Fuck! What was that!"

Stopping my expansion, I tried to figure out what had happened. Was this the reverse of my aura hitting the surface? I waited several minutes to see if anything happened.

"Nothing happening. Let's see what's going on."

I entered the space to find a large underground cavern spreading out north and east. There were stalagmites and stalactites scattered around. A stream was running through the cavern in a southwestern direction towards the river. What interested me was the mushrooms and moss growing in the area. Clustered close to the stream, I started to absorb them as soon as I confirmed there were no dangers.

I start with the most abundant thing: the moss. It was bioluminescent, producing a soft blueish light. In large clumps, it was bright enough to light small areas.

Alert!

Blue Moss (Common) has been gained for your Dungeon.

Blue Moss is a commonly found plant in underground areas worldwide. It lights areas for both friends and foes. Blue moss is also used in some alchemy creations as part of light potions.

1 CP creates a meter patch that does not expand naturally without access to a water source.

"Blue Moss? Who the hell names these things around here?"

Not counting the name, it had some exciting possibilities for my Dungeon. This could be used to light-select areas without using mana.

"That book on plants seems to allow me access to more information. I wonder if Herb Lore is a skill that I can gain?"

Once I asked the question, another alert appeared.

Alert!

Herb Lore - 1 (98% to completion).

"So now you answer!"

This caused me to rant about my favourite subject, a certain God and his system. About an hour later, I pulled myself back out of it, realising I needed to finish the floor.

"Focus! The mushrooms now."

Two types of mushrooms were present That were absorbed one after the other.

Alert!

Grey Skin Mushroom (Common) has been gained for your Dungeon.

The most commonly found mushroom type. Tough but edible.

1 CP creates a two-meter patch that does not expand naturally without access to a water source.

They were small and grew in patches. They were the typical example of mushrooms.

"Not sure what to do with these?"

The next was growing from the walls or stones. They were broad and flat with a red-coloured top.

Alert!

Redhead Mushroom (Common) has been gained for your Dungeon.

A slightly poisonous mushroom is best avoided.

1 CP creates a 2-3 mushroom patch that does not expand naturally without access to a water source.

"I have no idea what I can do with this."

I took my time and absorbed all of the remaining mushrooms and moss. The moss was replaced by running the length of the stream and lighting the area around it. I also removed all the spores to stop any wild growths from appearing. This took longer than I expected and dawn was soon upon me.

I unlocked the door and waited for the Adventures to reappear.

"I wonder how long I was out this time? Looks like about twenty days."

That seemed about the average time my levelling takes to complete. Snow was still sitting on the roof, so winter was still ongoing.

There was something I am forgetting. Then it hit me.

"The boar spears!"