The Tower in the Shadows

The Dungeon began resetting and I felt awful.

Other alert notifications had appeared, but I was not looking at them yet. On the surface, the doors and wall were reassembling. It looked like whatever the system said about the Dungeon being restored was where the attack started.

"Larry, take me back to my alcove."

He carried me past the corpses of my minions that were dissolving long with the corrupted mountain ogre. Puck was flying around the bodies.

"Well, I now know what attacked us."

Larry carried me to my alcove. I would hide it again as soon as I was secure. Along the way, I noticed the boar spears still on the floor.

"Got to take care of them."

They were absorbed and I knew another alert had been added to my list. It felt off as I did it. Everything felt off, like I was human again and had a nasty head cold or a concussion. Larry moved around the column and placed me into my hole. His hands/paws allowed him to put me quickly into the correct spot and backed away. With more concentration than was usually required, I sealed myself away. I would not add the rest of the stones that hid me as I would be moving to the next floor as soon as it was completed.

The doors and wall were replaced at the entrance and I locked them as visitors were not welcome right now—time to count the cost.

“Status screen. Bhaldor.”

Name

Bhaldor

Essence

20%

Race

Dungeon Core

CP

133(400) 3.5 phr

Level

4

Corruption

40%

Floors

4

Health

100%

"Well, that explains a lot."

I acquired an amount in my Corruption section for the first time. Essence was up to twenty percent, but corruption was double that.

"Oda said I would absorb it and process it to make it safe, but how long will it take?"

No answers were supplied.

I was not surprised.

It was easy to forget how being tired affects you mentally; well, now I am remembering because I felt exhausted. I wanted to sleep and fall into that sweet embrace of nothingness, but my present existence prevented that.

This was not going to be fun.

"Close status screen."

I mentally gathered my thoughts.

"Keep busy. Yes, that will be best. Start with the alerts."

Alert!

Your minion Puck has levelled up!

Do you wish to level up this minion: Yes or No?

"Bloody hell! Well done, Puck. Oh, er, yes."

I looked at Puck as he landed on the ground. His body glow increased for a few seconds and returned to normal. He launched into the air again and began flying around as if nothing had happened.

"Status screen. Puck."

Name

Puck

Level/Class

2 - Dungeon Mini-Boss

Race

Pixie Wisp

Essence

0%

Health

20/20

Mana

90/90

Stamina

20/20

Corruption

0%

STR

1

1 Damage base

DEX

5 (+1)

AGL

26 (+1)

+26% Dodge

END

2

VIT

2

PER

10

INT

9 (+1)

WIL

9 (+1)

LUCK

10

Skills:

Dodge: 2 - 10% Cost: 2 Stamina

Improved Lure: 1 – 0% Cost: 2 Stamina

Spells:

Dazzle – Cost: 5 Mana (Duration: 35 seconds)

Invisibility – Cost: 5 Mana (Duration: 1 minute 10 seconds) Target Self only.

Confusion – Cost 5 Mana (Duration: 35 seconds)

Perks/Restrictions:

Pixie Form

"Close status screen."

Well, he has improved, which is good for him and me. His magic had also increased in duration slightly.

"I wonder if he will develop new spells as he advances?"

Again, there was no answer.

I continued through the remaining alerts, all the housekeeping stuff and the boar spears. I glanced at them but was not in the mood to think about them.

The tower door and wall were under repair. They would be finished soon.

"Focus on the next floor. Check out the ogre later."

Sinking my awareness into the ground, I viewed the two caves/caverns(?). The first thing I did was link them beyond the stream. A corridor quickly formed between the two.

"What will these caves be? First room and guardian or the first two?"

The discovery of these two spaces had thrown my plans into disarray. This floor was going to be spiders. That was a given, as all my experimentation had focused on this direction. How would these two areas be part of this? I opened and looked over what materials and resources I had on hand to play with.

"To create shadows, I need light. I was going to create light crystals, but it will be more cost-effective to use large amounts of Blue Moss."

Musing on my options helps distract me from my present condition.

"The stalactites and mites can be repurposed in this. Let's try."

I created patches of Blue Moss around the first cave and added some water and fertiliser to those areas as well. The areas saw the moss quickly appear and grow- faster than the other plants, for some reason. The soft blue glow illuminated areas but was not very strong.

"Going to need more. Who would have thought I could develop such a green thumb?"

Adding larger patches to the ceiling and walls created my desired illumination level. Patches of some of the stalactites and mites were grown. The room now had lit areas to patches of darkness, giving an otherworldly feel. The moss was cheap to develop and self-sustaining.

"This will be better in the long run. Spider time."

The design for a simple brown spider was available to me and cost 1 CP. It was roughly as capable as my wasps. The toads were bigger and tougher. The plan was to mix in a hefty dose of Shadow mana and additional CP to get something more dangerous.

"Right, time to see if my experimentation was worth it. Six CP and four Shadow mana. Here we go."

Channelling the energy and assigning it to the design was easy. Holding it together and creating something new was the hard part. My present condition was no help, but I pushed through the tiredness and queasy feeling I had. The spot of the ground I was focused on began to form a small vortex of wind and dust. The motes of that weird grey-coloured light soon appeared and the outline of a spider began to appear.

"Keep focused!"

It was proving far more challenging than the others, but there was a sudden pop and the spider came into existence, and the pressure of its creation vanished from my mind.

"Open alert."

Congratulations!

You have created a new minion. A Shadow Spider

Design gained - Shadow Spider

"Close alert."

There was another, but I ignored it for now as it would be the death reward.

Before me was my new creation. A six-legged arachnid with a smooth, deep grey shell. It was more akin to a beetle shell, which was the first surprise. The brown spider it was created from had hair, but this one did not. It had two sets of eyes that were jet black, and the rest was clearly expected to be on a spider. It was large, its body about the size of a Labrador dog. Adding its legs in made it seem larger.

"So, what are you all about?"

## ## ## ## ##

"What happened? Why was Guild Leader Woodland not allowed to pursue the ogre?" Ranus demanded of the priests that were with him and the other Guild Leaders.

They had gathered in the room where he had recently met the Guild Leaders. The room was packed and tense. The temple leaders were on one side of the table, while the Guild leaders were crammed on the other. The small fireplace was lit, and the press of bodies had already raised the temperature to the point that people were stripping their outer winter clothes.

"Lord Goldwind, we understand your confusion and frustration on this matter." Cleric Asham spoke.

It was odd in itself that the other three were letting him take the lead, but as the subject was a Dungeon, it made sense to Ranus.

"We are all aware of the "oddities" around this Dungeon. We have received messages from our divine patrons instructing us on this matter and others that might arise." Asham continued talking and had the attention of the room. He was speaking, but everyone was aware of what he was not saying. "If any other of the mutated or twisted, as some call them monsters, appear, as long as they are not attacking this community, they are not to be prevented from reaching the Dungeon."

Silence descends on the room at this. There was no overall surprise, but he came out and said it was still a shock in many ways—another strange thing to add to the list around this Dungeon.

"What happens if this thing attacking the Dungeon destroys it? How more powerful will it become?" Elian was concerned and they all shared it.

"We do not know, but Astraus has always preached that we must stand on our own." Asham was firm in his Goddess's rules.

"You saw that thing. It was easily ranked as a high Silver or low Gold threat. We do not have that grade of adventurer in this community." She did not let up.

"We must trust in Astraus's wisdom and hope for the Dungeon's victory."

The room exploded into arguments as each sought to have their views heard. Only Ranus, Elian and Asham were silent. There was a sudden knocking at the door.

"Enter!" Ranus commanded loudly.

A new member of the Watch came in. The youth was flush from running when he spotted Ranus and began pushing through the crowded room to reach him.

"Lord Goldwind. A message from the Watch Captain!" He squeaked out, shaking from the terror of all the town's influential people looking at him.

"Report!" Ranus managed to keep his face straight. Even in this tense situation, the boy's actions were amusing.

"My Lord! The captain reports that the Dungeon front door and the damaged wall have begun to repair itself." This brought another bout of silence in the room.

"Thank you. That will be all if there is nothing else." The boy shook his head in the negative and fled the room.

"The Dungeon is victorious." Asham spoke after the door was closed.

"For now. But what about next time?" Elian asked, bringing the room to a third period of silence.

"It is past time we talk about this." Ranus spoke after the silence dragged on. He expected the room to explode into arguments but found the silence worse. The room occupants looked at him.

"I know we have had conversations in private. It was past time we talked as a group; now is the time. What is going on with this Dungeon?" Ranus posed the question that they were all thinking.

They all looked at each other and began talking. They all agreed it was time. They started sharing information and confirming some of their thoughts. But in the end, they had far more questions.

## ## ## ## ##

"So, your little experiment has survived its first challenge." The bitterness was still easy to hear.

Four Gods were gathered again in Oda's office. Oda called them as soon as the ogre began its attack. At his request, they instructed their churches to prevent the Adventurers from following and watched the Dungeon's defence.

They stood around his table, looking at the replica of the Dungeon Core. It had grown again and the specs of light on its surface were more pronounced. Above the table was a representation of the Dungeon Bhaldor had created. If he saw it, he would call it a holographic representation. It was complete down to the finest details. The minions were respawning, and Astraus was watching this.

"Astraus, I have apologised for my trespass, but you know why it had to be done." Oda's voice was soft but firm in his response. Astraus was still not entirely mollified by what he had done. The other two had grudgingly accepted the reasons for his actions – but had not forgotten them.

"The void-corrupted ogre was stronger than you predicted." Nictor said, looking up at Oda.

"It was. I knew there were corrupted creatures in the mountain range, but it was hard to gauge their strength. Its elimination helps us by reducing corruption in the area." Oda was truthful to the other three as he also looked up.

"The Dungeon is creating its fourth floor and has closed itself off until it is finished." Xandus was still looking at the replica.

"He was lucky. The Adventures outside injured that ogre enough for him to kill it." Astraus spoke again.

"That may be true. Sealing his Dungeon off is normal. He must also learn to deal with the corruption he has absorbed."

"How long will it take to render it safe?" Xandus still had not looked away from the replica.

"It is a lot. It will take around forty days to purge it all." Oda answered after a brief calculation.

"That is a long time. Is there any risk while this is happening?" Nictor asked.

"Only if the Core absorbs another large concentration of void essence. As long as no more is absorbed, the Core will be fine. Now, do you see the danger?"

"Yes. We were aware that something was wrong. Now we can name it; we can learn to fight it." Xandus was still fixated on the Core.

"What of the other Gods?" Astraus asked.

"The others know that something is going on, and our Churches' move to the new town has caused great interest. They have their clergy moving to the town. I have not been asked outright, but several have been making enquiries." Nictor looked at Oda. "We need to tell them something. Or one will do something foolish."

"I agree. My thoughts are that we are interested in this new Dungeon and are eager to see what it will become." Oda looked at him.

"They will never believe that." Astraus snapped.

"They don't need to believe it. Only stay out of the Dungeon."

"What of the other races?" Nictor asked.

"They are aware of the new Dungeon by now. None are nearby, but I expect to see some appearing in the town within the year." Astraus answered.

"They are still looking down and hampering Humanity." Xandus finally looked up.

"The whole world was affected negatively by the Folly. In humanity's weakened state, they have been taken advantage of in revenge." Nictor reminded the others.

"These things are outside of our control. We are Divine but are bound by the Rules of the Mantles. We are reflections of how mortals perceive us and the avatars of our Mantles. We cannot control these things, but we must keep striving to prevent another inter-species war," Oda intoned.

The Gods looked at each other, knowing that hard days were ahead until the corruption polluting their world was purged.