Dungeon Madness (The Divine Dungeon, #2)

by Dakota Krout

Dale glowered at him. “Hans! You should be resting! Also, don’t you think that you should be a bit nicer to me? I died last week!” “What? Nah, that isn’t something to get worked up about. Happens to all of us. You are fine now, right?” Hans stopped laughing once he saw the serious look on Dale’s face. “Dale,” Hans sounded deadly serious now, almost angry, “you can’t let this affect you so much. Yeah, that sucked, but are you going to give up on cultivating? Are you going to stop fighting in the dungeon? Should I? I owe over six hundred gold to a flesh Mage for all the re-sculpting of my body. Should I just tell him ‘too bad, I’m done fighting because it is dangerous’?”

“Oh really? Then why have you been all weepy and pouty this whole week and so far this morning? Yeah, I heard how you were acting, and I’ve been watching you for almost a whole day to see if the information was accurate! I was embarrassed for you! You are acting like a spoiled little brat that has a bunch of people to run his life for him. Did you even realize that the entire council was there last night? Why do you think that was? You think just maybe they might be getting together to see if you are mentally fit to continue owning this land? You think they might be plotting to petition the king for a writ that will allow them to take the land from you if that is the case?”

Adam nodded slowly. “You want me to train with Father Richard? Is this Richard Demonbane? The man trained by Cardinal Kere Nolsen the Slayer of Shades?” His voice was frantic and rose in pitch to an uncomfortable level as he spoke.

nodded. “I have some gear that was left for you by the Sword Polishers.”

“Surely in this very large church, you could find a room the council could occasionally use?” Father Richard looked confused for a moment, then began to sweat as he realized what Dale meant. When he had built the building, he had only been given one lot of land to build on, but the final construction took up three full lots. The price for using the land had yet to be… negotiated. “Oh, yes! Of course, anything you need, Dale! Let me say how good it is to see you taking an interest in the work going on in the area!

“What?! Why?!Is the sun even out? Why are you bothering us this early? If there is still someone out there when I get there, I am going to turn you into a newt…” The tent flap was thrown open, but the angry face of the inhabitant quickly settled into a neutral expression. “Oh. Good morning, Dale. What?” “Good morning, James. Is Amber available?” Dale replied, making James pull in a breath with a hiss as he looked around. “Dale, it is very important to follow protocol when talking about people in public,” James noted severely. “You need to call her ‘High Magous Amber’. Also, no. She is not some floozy available to you whenever you feel like having a chat.”

“Please! This cost me thousands of gold! I’ll be ruined! Please, just take my money!”

“Stop right there, criminal scum!” Dale called harshly. He immediately felt like a moron for his word choice, but what were you supposed to say in these situations?

“Y-you. You’re him. I’m s-sorry, I’ll go!” The man scrambled to his feet and ran, leaving Dale wondering what the ex-thief meant by that last comment.

Dale’s question got him a strange look, and Tyler told him something he hadn’t considered. “No one does security here. Since this is essentially a campsite right now, no one has bothered to put that kind of infrastructure in place. Also, no one can get the materials for constructing permanent buildings since there are no trees here, so instant justice is the norm; we have no prison of any type. Well, there are trees at the bottom of the mountain that we could use… but hauling those would take way too much effort for most people to bother. Since the portal is open, most people that can afford it are going home at night. Hence, this stays a campsite.” Tyler was babbling a bit, but to be fair, he had had a very trying morning.

Dale grinned. “Great! I am having a council meeting this evening to discuss the problems in the area. I would like you to take a position on the council. You would be there to represent the miners and low cultivation-ranked people in the area. Would you accept such a position on the council, as a favor to me?”

Craig nodded sagely. “To cultivate with multiple affinities, you need to draw Essence from a source containing both of them at the same time, else you will only draw in corruption. If she had tried to cultivate before, she would have shortened her lifespan a good deal. Let me amend that a bit—I say ‘same source’ which could mean getting fire and earth from molten metal or lava, but a high enough concentration of both in an area would allow for cultivation.” “I see. So, if someone somehow opens an affinity channel, they would need to cultivate both types at the same time. Therefore, if it were earth and fire, they’d need to be around burning earth such as lava or melted metal? There isn’t a way around it?” Dale was drawing on his recollection of a half-forgotten conversation that took place months ago. “Correct, but opening a second channel is unwise as it can ruin people. Increase your rank too fast, and it can lead to health issues or an unstable Center. Also, increasing your rank can hurt you if you do it too fast. If you keep smashing through your limits without giving your body a chance to acclimate to the new power, your flesh may not be strong enough to contain it,” Craig informed him ominously, making Dale remember his rapid—forced—advancement to the D-ranks.

Well,” Craig thought a moment, “ascending into the B-ranks is not as easy as breaking into the D or C-ranks. Just absorbing Essence is not enough; you need to make a connection to a fundamental law of the universe. That is, you need to learn the true name of a concept to channel your Essence through and bind your aura and cultivation base to it. This binding has to be compatible with the Essences that you use so that you can exchange your varied Essences for Mana.”

“Nothing in our world worth having is gained without pain and effort. This process, in particular, is quite punishing, which is why there are so few Mages ascending each year. The connection allows Mana to flow through you, replacing all bonds of Essence with bonds of Mana. The Mage ascendant is literally ripped apart at the smallest level and rebuilt with Mana. I’m told there is nothing more painful known.”

Dale asked all non-council members to leave before resuming the conversation. “I have been failing myself and my people by foisting the responsibility of running the city on to other people. Today, I was reminded that allowing others to run my life could only lead me to ruin. Not that I think my counselors don’t have my best intentions in mind, of course,” he qualified his statement as a few frowns appeared on the faces around him. “I simply think that it is time to start making this into a safe, secure settlement.”

“I will not be ceding my rights to any of you! Or to anyone else! This is my land, and I’ll fight to the god-blasted death to keep it!”

“To answer your questions in order, I am Princess Brianna of the Huine nation, the ambassador charged with securing good relations with the person in control of the land a Silverwood tree is growing upon. Also, a full member of the council.” Shocked faces looked at Dale, who nodded. “As for the second question,” her eyes flashed, and Frank found himself blind while a blade tickled his neck; Brianna breathed softly into his ear, “because you can’t.”

There are two kinds of Essence around you: ‘loose’ Essence and ‘bound’ Essence.

So ‘bound’ is what you can pull directly from the element that contains the Essence you are after. It requires a lot of cultivation to become refined enough to move into a being’s Center.

type—‘loose’ Essence—is released from its ‘bound’ state by interacting with another type of element. For instance, steam Essence is not really its own type; it is intermingled air, water, and fire Essence that are all tightly woven together.” She paused for a moment to let me think about her words. “Since the water here is flowing so fast, it is interacting with the rock around it and releasing lots of mud Essence. That loose Essence is what is being collected and purified by your Runes!”

<The Bashers are only… less than decent… fighters. They came from prey animals, so I basically need to force them to fight. Predatory animals are ideal; they have natural weapons and the instincts to go with them. The Cats are even better! They are Beasts! They are intelligent! I can set them up with a Beast Core! Even if they die, they will be able to have memories transferred to new Cores, and I can push their spirals into a new Core instead of absorbing them, allowing them to return to full strength as soon as I respawn them.>

“Cal, this has to be the third-floor Boss. We’ll evolve the others first—let me play with the kitty!” she begged. “I name you Snowball, and all who face you shall feel your wrath!” she told the kitten seriously.

The Cat stopped growing when it reached D-rank two. It was sixty-five pounds and four and a half feet long from nose to its haunches, ignoring the tail. Waiting for a disaster, I watched as it stood and stretched, testing out its body. It suddenly shimmered, becoming almost insubstantial and leaping into the air. It floated along, slowly descending to the ground thirty-six feet away. That was a leap from a standstill! If it were running, how far could it go? I decided to call it a Cloud Cat after its mixed Essences.

tried fire and earth. I wanted a Magma Cat! I would have called it a Lava Cat, but we were underground. Therefore, magma! I directed the combination of Essence into it, but soon after, the Cat started hissing and burst into flame. Within moments, it was ash. I was glad Dani was otherwise occupied since that was originally the combination I had wanted to try on Snowball… I digress. Maybe I just needed to alter what I added a bit? I directed fire and earth Essence into my next attempt but with earth Essence outweighing fire by a factor of two to one. The Cat’s body seemed to accept this combination, and it began growing. At its full size, it was two hundred and ninety pounds, five feet long from nose to haunch. I looked closely at it, not seeing what advancements might have been made until it decided to stretch. Its claws appeared to be solid steel, and they gouged huge chunks of stone out of the ground with casual ease. It yawned, showing that its teeth had also gained this enhancement. It spotted a rabbit bounding across the ground and got ready to pounce. It launched itself like its spine was a coiled spring, shooting across the distance in a blink of the eye. That concept struck me, and so I named it a Coiled Cat.

water and earth with water just a tiny bit more prevalent than earth. The one before, I had used… just way too much water. I glanced at the puddle of ooze and fur off to the side and shuddered. This new successful model grew to full size but then started losing all its fur. It glared into the darkness around it. Totally hairless, the Cat certainly looked harrowing. I sent a rabbit its way, and the Cat hissed and swiped at it. Six inches before touching its victim, the rabbit’s fur and skin split as if the claws were deeply embedded, eviscerating the small animal with contemptuous ease. <Celestial feces!> I exclaimed, half in disgust and half in anticipation of using this against heavily armored foes. It cuddled up to the other Cats, and I was very happy to see that it had a sweet disposition despite its disturbing appearance. It started feeding the kittens with the shredded meat, and I decided on its name. <You, my not-so-pretty kitty, are a Flesh Cat.>

“Look, Cal! Snowball is dancing!”

<Oh my goodness, Dani!> I laughed and laughed. <You can just keep him if you want. I don’t need to upgrade him. I could keep him a kitten… basically forever.> Dani smiled but refused, “No, he needs to be a big strong Boss Mob.” Then she sank toward the kitten and continued, “Yes, you do! Who’s gonna be a big kitty? You are!”

as large as its progenitor and twice as fluffy. Its size was deceptive; it weighed only two hundred and ten pounds, though it was eight feet long. The tail brought his total length up to fourteen feet. It started exploring the room, luminous white fur bouncing as it explored its new body. Dani watched it to see if it would display any unique abilities, but it seemed content to frolic around the room. After a few minutes of watching it in admiration, Dani asked, “What type of Essence does it have?” <I think it is ‘steam’ type,> I answered uneasily. Try to calm down, Cal; it survived, Dani won’t shatter me.

Snowball stepped fully into the steam, and within seconds, only his three eyes were still visible. Even then, I could only see them because I knew where to look. He went over to the vent and stood directly in the hottest part of the steam. After a moment of staring at it, he started licking it like a salt block. I made a few rabbits in the room, and Snowball eyed them hungrily. Running across the room, Snowball had no need to attempt to remain stealthy. His charge made no noise or disturbance as long as the Cat stayed in the steam. He pounced on a rabbit, and where his claws penetrated… the flesh cooked. Snowball hissed at the dying rabbit, releasing a narrow stream of superheated vapor. The rabbit cooked, dying instantly as its flesh boiled and popped.

Tom stripped so fast that the others didn’t even have a chance to think about looking away before they saw dangling bits. Barbarians clearly did not have the same social norms of decency, and he had no issue being nude, even in combat.

She looked up, bored. “Guild or standard?” Dale looked at her as a troubling idea crossed his mind. He hoped he was wrong about what she was about to say. “What is the difference?” She released a long-suffering sigh. “Oh my gawwd… Non-Guild need to pay a fifteen percent tax to the landowner so he can throw a party or something. Guild rate is the standard flat twenty-five percent.”

“A dork named Evan?” Hans failed to hide his mirth at the subtle taunt. “A Half-Dwarf, Half-Orc… with a human name.”

In the second room,

Remember that handsome book writer who tagged along with a group for ‘inspiration’—what was his name? Dakota? When his team was distracted, I kept making slow, chubby Bashers attack him. He started swearing and sweating at the same time! He squealed every time a Basher came close! I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard before.>

“Look! They are kind of hiding that chest, and it is glowing! Can we go open it? Pretty please?” He batted his eyelashes at Dale as if he were trying to be seductive. “I’m greedy and owe a flesh Mage a lot of money.”

“Exactly. Too dense. Stay here.” He walked forward a few feet and vanished to their enhanced vision. “Where did I go?” “Didst thou… find a tunnel, perhaps?” Tom called uncertainly into the darkness.

Dale tried to do as instructed and felt a sudden spike in pain as his bones were forced back together and began fusing into their proper place. Some teeth were regrown, and the others were twisted as Cal took the opportunity to straighten them all, giving Dale a perfect smile. The small, accumulated scars and acne pocks vanished as well. In minutes, Dale was able to stand on his own again.

Fine, ruin the surprise. Humans have no use for corruption, right? What if it drew their corruption out of them and fed it to the weapon? It would make it harder to break, and if my door was any indication, no one could move or replicate

Dale came out of the momentary trance he had fallen into and did what anyone else would have. He tried to use the technique, looping out his Essence and allowing the earth itself to propel him along. Instead, his Essence rebounded against his aura, lashing back into his body and making his muscles spasm before—vindictively?—pushing the muscle aside and flowing into his meridians. Dale fell flat on his face while emitting a rather rude stream of expletives.