The Divine Dungeon Complete Series (The Divine Dungeon #1-5)

by Dakota Krout

The next person to enter was a High Elf who seemed to glide across the floor and sit with exceeding grace. I looked on in surprise and then started laughing. I was able to see under the robes he was wearing, and his steps had been so quick that it looked like he was bouncing in place like a hopped-up Basher. Was that what they did so they could look pretty when walking? Ha!

Of course, they looked like they had been dipped in metal, specifically Mithril. That meant that they didn’t look particularly human and, in fact, could nearly be considered on the same level as my Golems in terms of features. This armor was different than Dale’s and would always cover them when they were in the presence of other people. Only when they were alone—or with just each other—would their armor melt away, actually into their skin. Hope they continued to like each other long-term.

“There is an easier way, everyone! Instead of the need for a huge, unprotected portal, why not simply use the direct method of putting your mind into a Core and giving it to the Great Spirit below us? Why do you need your old bodies?” “Because otherwise we still die! What’s wrong with you? Of course, we want to go there in our bodies!”

What path would you like to challenge? One of the base elements, infernal, or celestial?” “It shouldn’t matter. Fire?” Dale finally looked directly at Minya, who had her eyes closed and seemed to be counting. “Actually, I don’t know your Mana type. What’s your specialization? Tier?” “Effervescence. Two.” Dale waited for more, but it seemed nothing was forthcoming. “I have questions…” “You and everyone else that ever hears that.” Minya waved him off like an extra-annoying insect. “It’s tier two, wind and water. It’s a valid Mana type.” Dale could hear the invitation to say something. He ignored the dare in her voice, waving at the path of fire. “Let’s go on that one.

<Dani, I’m always amazed by how much more there is for me to learn. There is an ocean of amazing things, and all I have is a bucket to hold a little in.> I was happy. Really, I was. The thought that there was nowhere else to go, that I had reached the epitome without realizing it, had been haunting me. Now… now, I at least realized how little I actually knew and how little of what I knew that I understood. <Can you imagine it? We are going to be together for eternity—learning, growing, and eating!> “How do you go straight from deep philosophical and existential thinking to talking about food?” Dani laughed at me as I sent an image of a sheep back at her. “Feeling sheepish? Is that what that is?” <Hey, you’re getting better at understanding what I mean!> “I just understand that I was overthinking what you were sending in the past,” Dani retorted archly. “Taking it at face value, also known as simply as possible, usually gives me the correct answer.” <Ouch.> I winced, by which I mean the Cat I was controlling started making strange faces. <Anyway… um… what was I saying? Right! All of this new information has been sorted, and I have a good handle on how things are interacting. What I’m doing now is looking for patterns, repeated schematics or variables that are interchangeable on a micro or macro level. If I can find what I’m looking for, I’ll be able to parse any data or use modular, formulaic options for the creation of new Runes.> I paused, waiting for a response. There wa...

“The question now becomes—what are you going to use all of your new Wards and… formulaic options for?” <Well, Dani…> I paused for dramatic effect. <I’m not entirely sure.> “Ugh! All that talk was just hot air, wasn’t it?” Dani groaned and nearly fell to the ground. <No, I’m sure an option will present itself to me. I might not have time to go around and make a whole bunch of new floors and the like, but this will all be information useful within my Soul Space, right? When other people are using it and finding uses for these, I will as well. All of that knowledge will be mine to use as I see fit.> I trailed off, starry-eyed. Might need to fix this poor Cat when I left. Starlight pouring out of eye-holes tended to leave them… crispy.

“There will always be time to punish them when there is no escape, Cal.” Dani’s words conjured dark images in my mind, and the Cat I was inhabiting started shivering violently. “Hundreds of years of punishment will be a better deterrent than a few simple deaths now.” I underlined a point on my mental checklist once more. This made eighteen lines under this particular point—Don’t cross Dani.

“C’mon, Minya, let's get to the clerics.” “Just let me bleed to death, Dale. Cal will bring me back, right?” Minya whined her words, and Dale laughed despite himself. “That’s dark, Minya.” “Nah, just like necromancers, Cal is simply a really late healer.”

The only known way to climb higher is a ‘Path Advancement’. This is not only the acquisition of a large amount of information, but the new path must be a Law that contains the Law to which you have been bonded—a set of power that contains its lesser self.” The Master grinned as he saw the plethora of confused faces. “If you think that is hard to understand, you need to begin taking your studies in this Academy more seriously. Having a strong body is important, but a strong mind will always bring you further.”

There can only be a single S-ranker of any given Law. At this point, you have bonded to your Law to such a degree that you become the embodiment, the Incarnation of that Law.” “You may wonder why then is the S-rank called the ‘Spiritual’ rank? Why not the ‘Incarnation’ rank?” The Master let people nod along before moving on. “Do you remember me speaking of Soul Space? To step into the S-ranks, you must invert your power. What is outside becomes the inner world, what is outside becomes made of what had previously been solidified. When you look directly at me, you are not seeing flesh or Mana made flesh. You are seeing my soul, formed into a facsimile of my actual body. Upon obtaining the S-ranks, the body goes away. Your mental self shapes your being, fueled by the power you now have. It's similar to the Mage-rank body replacement, just with another—higher—energy. Good luck using this information to attain the rank I have.” With that final phrase, The Master vanished the same way he had arrived. For a long beat, no one made a sound. Then a Mage broke the silence and sent the crowd into a frenzy with a simple phrase, “What the abyss?”

Dale, who didn’t even notice as someone tried to stab him in the kidneys. The dagger—with the word ‘hubris’ printed along its blade—broke on his armor, and he did pause momentarily as the sound of the metal bouncing off the ground reached his ears. Ugh, Dale. That’s such a Dale thing to do. To not even notice an assassination attempt.

Dale looked up at the creature, deciding to just go ahead and bring it into the dungeon. “Follow me… um. I’m sorry, what is your name and, ah, race?” “Am Ogre!” A fist bounced off her metal clad-chest. “Enemies weep, run in terror! Ogre have no mercy!” “Your name? Are there more of your people?” Dale prodded as they walked slowly and carefully through the crowd. “Just me! Am Boss!” she stated proudly, then hesitated. “Never earn name. You want give me name?” “Um. Sure.” Dale tried to play for time as he thought. “You are the only one of–” “Oni!” the Ogre bellowed happily. “Me the Oni! Thank you for name, Born of the Dungeon!” Dale sputtered as he heard what was happening, but luckily, people were laughing at him too hard to really think about what the Ogre was saying.

<Listen, I need to know why you’re here before I let you come all the way down here.> “There be no let. Me free Mob. Oni is a free Ogre! Oni does what wants!” the Ogre bellowed excitedly. “Oni was given a sock!” <I’m… I’m not sure what that means?> I turned to Dani. <Does that mean something to you?> “Nope?” Dani was just as confused as I was. Good, at least that was cleared up.

Oni concentrated, and her armor began to vanish, retracting from her limbs and body and being sucked into a small backpack she had been wearing under the armor.

“Wait a second, Cal! Mu? Mu, is that you in there?” Her voice was strange. Was she happy or angry? Then a voice I had never heard before reached my mind. <Hey there, lil sis! Yup, it’s me! I hear you are putting together a rescue mission? Was that for me, or is something else going on?> “Cal. Eat them,” Dani ordered me. Ah. Mad. Mad is what her voice had been. Got it noted for future cross-checks against strange delays in responses. Filing information under ‘aspects of terror, avoid at all cost’.

<Cal, right? Cal? Listen, buddy. This bag I’m in is my entire dungeon. I have only one Mob, and it isn’t even… Oni? My actual Mob is a living metal construct that can act as armor!> Mu was close to being ended, but that was still fun info. <Dani is mad because I shattered a Core she was supposed to bond with before we met you. I didn’t think it was good enough for her, so I took it out on the sly. That’s why she’s mad at me! Help me out here! You should be my best friend right now!>

he’d better stay away from Grace. I don’t even care if they’d be compatible!” Dani flew off in a huff, but her words made me twitch. Excuse me? Abyss right he’d better stay away from Grace! I’d go full murder-Mage on him! <Mu, are you here looking for a Wisp?> I voiced my question as calmly as possible. <Do you have other Wisps here?> Mu seemed hopeful, but then his tone changed. <No… I’ve never found a compatible color. I’m really average, but I’ve kinda given up on it, hence—backpack dungeon.>

a blaze of shifting light that filled the sky. It looked beautiful, but they could tell that there was a huge amount of Essence and Mana in those lines. “What in the abyss is that?” “The lights of the North.” A barbarian had come close enough to overhear their conversation, and he was staring at the sky with eyes full of wonder. “I thought that they were only a myth!” “Can you… What is the myth?” Dale tossed politeness to the side and went right for the information he needed. “The lights of the north.” The barbarian looked at them knowingly, but upon seeing their confused faces, he rolled his eyes and explained, “They light the way to the greatest treasure upon this earth, but only one man has ever followed their siren call and returned. It is said that whoever follows the path without the willpower to sacrifice their dreams can never return, but that there is no need to return. Immortality, the path above the S-ranks. That is what lies at the end of those lights.” “And we are flying straight at something straight out of mythology,” Minya pointed out, swallowing deeply. Even myths and legends usually had a kernel of truth in them, and most likely, the truth here… was that no one returned after following the lights.

Poor little backpack dungeon. On a tangent now, I found that I felt bad that Mu was a millionth my own size. Maybe I could donate some land to him in my Soul Space. <Sorry, Mu! If it helps, Oni is having a great time out here.> I was watching Oni’s body decompose rapidly, but I was pretty sure I could make a convincing new copy before Mu was let out of his chest. <Oh, good! I hadn’t heard her speaking in a little while. I was getting worried.> Mu’s words made me grimace. It wasn’t my fault that the Ogre insisted on testing her mettle against Manny. I actually tried to stop her out of respect to Mu, but I wasn’t going to lie and say that I tried hard. I now had an Ogre pattern! That was pretty neat. It was a Kantor original, even! “I feel like you are being silly over there,” Dani whispered to me, to which I could only agree. <Yeah… I’m feeling a little like a collector of shiny pebbles.

“Cal…” She stirred the air in agitation. “It isn’t my information to give. It’s just… you know what? To the abyss with it, why shouldn’t I tell you? Look, different colored Wisps have different abilities, which is why you need to bond with a certain color. It creates a balance.” <Care to offer an example?> I was feeling twitchy about this for some reason. “I might as well.” Dani came over and landed on the Silverwood tree. “You’re a blue Core, and so you needed a Wisp that could more freely balance your mind. You were supposed to be a water Essence Core, prone to flights of fancy and extremely changeable. Luckily, that still held true.” <Hey!> “If I’m wrong, tell me I’m wrong.” Dani smirked at me, pausing briefly to give me a chance to speak up. “Thought so. Now, we aren’t ever supposed to talk about this because it builds resentment, distrust, and animosity when it’s known that someone is coming in to… guide you.” <Control you,> I responded flatly. “Balance you,” Dani firmly stated. “Mu over there needs a Wisp that can help control Essence so that he could build a dungeon. Otherwise, he can only inhabit preset, prebuilt areas. Or backpacks, apparently.” <Like a Wisp that can move through stone and shape it?> I lost some color. Mu was going to ‘play’ in ‘his’ treasure chest anytime Grace was anywhere near this area. “Exactly.” Dani quieted and sighed. “Someone that can get you to be doing your best together. A partner in all things.

they are called the ‘aurora borealis’. I don’t have much information, but they are not a natural phenomenon. That’s… really all I know about it.” <Then I guess we get to learn about this the fun way!> I tilted the gyroscope forward, and the Skyland sped up once more. <Let’s go learn what’s at the top of the world!> “Yeah!” Dani responded enthusiastically.

<Right, well, it seems that we are flying into a swarm of creatures that are hungry. Mana or Essence starved, actually. So, they are likely going to be landing and attacking the delicious sources of power on the surface, starting… now.> In the distance, Dale heard a scream of pain and terror, echoed quickly by many more.

He swung his arm through the air, and a hair-thin line of sword Mana extended away from him and… bounced off the smallest feathers of the creature. “Yikes.” “You’ve been overusing that ability.” Gomei appeared next to Dale, staring at their feathered foe. “If you use something too much, you become predictable to your enemies. Remember, Dale, you do have enemies. You can handle this opponent. I’m off to find more worthy prey. Consider this battle your training for the evening.” “Gomei?” Dale looked over, but the Elf was already gone. At least Dale wouldn’t be punished for missing a training session. He was secretly relieved; uncontrolled monsters that didn’t have an issue with him personally were a comparative relief.

“Somehow, this is Cal’s fault.”

For the first time, I can really say that us being out and about in a dangerous area is your fault! Ha!> I crowed my laughter to the skies, though only a few people could actually hear it. “Yes, well, if we are being actually fair,” Dani snapped back wryly, “then we would look at those creatures and see that they are only out and about because you displaced them.” <You know, because we all need to be on the same side, I think we shouldn’t point fingers here,> I quickly backtracked my statements. <Let’s just focus on what we need to do next. Fix it forward and all that.>

<Alright, here is the plan, everyone! Charge forward and hope for the best,

I warn you, slaying an innocent will be the last action you are allowed to take. This place is under my protection.” Aww. What a big ol’ softie. How did he ever get such a terrible reputation? Oh right, the giant, bone-clad demons. Beyond that though? Well, the murders. Alright, yeah, I keep forgetting about those pesky laws that people bind themselves with.

Oh, there was that one little project I had going with the Northman that had been murdering people. I looked in at him and watched for a minute as he fought against the Inscribed bars that were holding him in place. Good, the flesh grafts were taking hold. I had been worried when the blood I had been creating in his veins started to clot all over the place, but with some modifications to his liver and kidneys, the clots had soon stopped appearing. I felt a little bad about all the pain he was experiencing but wasn’t too worried. If his mind broke, I had a backup copy that I could put in place. I needed to see the limits of what I could do to a living person, and I needed him to be alive and aware as the process continued so that he could let me know in real time where things were going wrong. Case in point… “Ohh… my jaw…” the words were slurred and barely recognizable, but that was an easy fix! The bone broke in a few places and lengthened. Then I generated new mandible tissue to fix everything up. Good, good. Everything was going correctly. The design for living flesh modification had been one of the many things I had been traded by the infernal dungeon. This was also the method the Northmen had been using to have Runes put into their flesh. They were not tattoos as I had originally thought; they were actually growths inside of them!

A section of my influence was destroyed instantly and easily, collapsing inward and blowing a few tons of stone off the side of my mountain. I never knew that I could feel nauseous before, but, yu~u~p! I felt really bad suddenly because I knew what this was. I had even done this a few times before, and I could tell that this wasn’t an attack. There was a dungeon out there, knocking on my influence to get my attention.

“To be perfectly honest, Dale… we had been in a relationship since the second week of knowing each other. I insisted that we didn’t tell anyone since I was worried that you would treat us differently if we were a known couple. Hans agreed to keep it from everyone but told me that the best way to hide it was by him acting like he was into me at all times. So, I was overly mean to him in public, and he stayed the same.” “And you had no faith that it would work.” Hans laughed at her, getting an elbow to the ribs for his ribbing. “Well, it worked on me.” Dale showed his palms and shook his head. “You are the epitome of relationship awareness,” Rose dryly informed him.

Now that his senses were so much better, it was obvious that they were together. A slight lip-dye that hadn’t come off of Hans that matched Rose’s lip coloration, a scent from their clothes showing they had been washed together, and a slight spray of blood on Rose’s clothing that only came from close range stabbing—and she was an archer. “Well, I guess it makes sense. It just really seemed to come out of nowhere for me.”

“He killed me with hammer!” Oni proudly declared. “Was most instant and painless death I’ve ever had! I knew it was love, right then!” “It seems that she really likes my weapon,” Tom bitterly admitted.

“It’s fine, man.” Dale clapped the barbarian on the side, sending him reeling. “Let’s go take a look.” “That’s seven hits I owe you now, Dale!” Tom called as he regained his balance.

“It would be so beautiful if I wasn’t so sure everything I'm seeing is ready to jump out and kill us. Or fall on us. You know. Like the moon.” “Isn’t danger part of the beauty?” Rose queried with a half-smile. “Only on you.” Hans kissed her on the cheek. “Everything else can go ahead and be dangerous at a nice, safe distance.” “If that were anyone else speaking, I would throw them off the edge,” Tom grumbled good-naturedly. “Sickeningly sweet is still sickening.”

Then I felt something, a kind of… hole in the connection that I was feeling. I was ecstatic because I knew exactly what this was! The dungeon was requesting information from me, and I was almost certain that it wanted the language I was using. Done and done. I sent over the information happily and waited a few moments as the dungeon digested the information and translated its own thoughts for me. <This… language is… inaccurate. It leaves… much to interpretation and context. An unparagoned sesquipedalian as myself prefers the accoutrements of language acumen which facilitates non-anomalistic vernacular.> Well, that had escalated quickly. Going from not speaking the language to becoming beyond an expert showed an intelligence on par with my own.

Why are you here, young dungeon? I do like visitors, so much so that they typically never leave, but I feel that in this case, you are here for a reason… not selfish. Very rare and worth hearing out before I obliterate everything that you are.>

<I see that I have a lot to learn from you,> I wearily gave tacit approval. <What should I call you? Teacher? Master? Is sensei a thing?> <Just call me by my name, Cal.> The dungeon was laughing now, a deep and terrible sound that honestly terrified me even as it caused the entire continent below us to shift. <I am Dungeon Eternium.>

You have a choice. Kill everyone that could possibly be saved by going through there, or let me rule them all. Choose.” “You are a twisted man, Barry.” The Master held out an object which was carefully taken by Barry. “Huh.” Barry squinted at the key, then at The Master. “I honestly expected you to say some cheesy line like ‘death is better than servitude’ or some malarky.” The Master shook his head slowly. “As long as there is life, there is hope.” “There it is!” Barry shouted with false joviality, grabbing The Master and throwing him through the wall.

“What actually happened to you out there?” Dale demanded, feeling like the man in front of him was getting weaker by the second. “I lost,” came the bitter reply. “I meant when Xenocide grabbed you and acted like you were a sacrifice,” Dale explained more fully. “Oh.” The Master sighed and sat down. “Nothing that would normally be an issue if I had time to fix it. Xenocide grabbed my Center and damaged it. With everyone else, he fed it to his blood Runes, but mine was simply dispersed. Damage to an S-ranker is damage done to the soul. This typically means very little, as the soul is incredibly resilient, but what he did was damage the actual image of me that was imprinted on my soul. Until I am able to heal that, the image my soul has of me is a weakening and hurt person.”

Dale started moving as fast as his body could handle, the Moon Elf forms blending into each other, one after another. The Golem was keeping pace with him, and he realized that she was using a similar style, but this style was more heavily focused on defense and probing attacks meant to keep her in working order while taking down multiple targets. Dale’s style was meant for single-target assassination. It featured heavy blows and strikes to vital areas while keeping him moving at all times. In fact, it almost seemed like these two styles had been created in conjunction as diametric opposites of each other. If Dale had to guess, he would say that this was a High Elf fighting style, and for it to be so perfectly matched against him meant that it was likely a Royal technique. Had there ever been a High Elf Royal in here

“Let me show you the housing available on the next floor. There are beds that are so soft that you think you’re on a cloud!” “Why would I need a bed? We don’t sleep.” Dale questioned as he was pulled along. Her mischievous smile wasn't helping his concern.

I thought it was strange that an SSS-ranked dungeon Core was threatened by a rock falling on him, but it made more sense from the perspective of planets colliding.

it had defenses in place, but who prepared for the moon to fall on them? That would be madness! Oh, right, wait. That was the issue here in the first place.

Aiden Silverfang, progenitor of the Wolfman race.>

Barry had stepped away to go to a meeting, and hundreds of Dark Elves chose that moment to erupt out of their embassy and through the portal, carrying everything they could possibly get their hands on. Not only the things that they were bringing to offer, but they also made sure to rob the treasury that Barry was collecting tribute in. There was a roar that crossed the entire mountain, and the last Elf lost a leg as he dove through the portal. Barry tried to go after him but passed through the portal and into the wall of the building. Dale dropped to his knees and wheezed from the pain of the man brushing his soul, but it seemed that the S-ranker couldn’t enter the portal even if he tried. The Dark Elves were safe from him—for now. A few of the Mages were set as guards to the treasury, and the constant flow continued.

My soul felt swollen. I was aching and in pain, and Barry hadn’t helped matters by touching the portal. The wound in my soul felt feverish and infected now, and I was thinking about closing it whether or not people were ready to see it happen. But… there was a benefit that I was seeing right away. People had been fighting almost since the second person made it through the portal. When the Mages got going, throwing power every which way, I started seeing benefits from it that I hadn’t even been able to achieve in the deepest layers of my dungeon. Every bit of the used Mana was absorbed into the surroundings or air, just like in the world, but in here that, meant that it was absorbed by me.

Then I felt a new connection and wrenched my mind out of my Soul Space and into the real world. There was a single flower blooming on the Silverwood tree that loomed above me. I had left open a small channel of Mana flowing into its roots, and it had seemingly accepted the connection! A root started wiggling around and eventually started extending to me along the open-air path of Mana I had created. It touched the surface of my Core and passed through it! I followed the ethereal root as it wound down and into my soul, and I directed it to the seventh continent that I had sketched out. I had devoted a significant amount of my resources to creating a small oasis, the only portion of this continent that had a physical presence. The ghostly root touched down into the perfect soil, and a pulse of life raced down and into the dirt. A small seed formed and sprouted roots that reached almost to the edge of the oasis I had formed.

Then I felt the tree speaking to me. Not… words but desires and instructions. The Soul Silverwood Tree began pulling in Mana, Mana, and more Mana. Then it grew. When it reached the same size as the tree in the world above, small buds began to grow. I could peek through the petals and saw small clusters of gems clutched within. <I see that you have succeeded,> Eternium’s voice flipped my entire mountain twice before I could get back into control, and I had to count to keep my fury at the—unintentional—assault. <How ripe are the Cores the tree has grown?>

<What… Is this how natural Cores are made?> I was intrigued, horrified, and excited to have this information. <Not normally, no,> Eternium dashed my hopes. <The World Tree can be used to form nearly any sentient creature and is entirely influenced by the one it connects with. Right now, you can allow any Core-based being into your tree, which will blossom and release them when enough power has been gathered to sustain them. I’m sure you saw how these trees in the wild drop orb-like seeds that contain other trees, yes? This is the same process. Now, instead of letting the tree grow a mind within that new Core, I will simply begin the process with my own mind.> <And other Cores?> I questioned quickly. <How will I save them?> <If they have a Silverwood connection, they can request aid from you and be transported via the roots of their tree into this one. Eventually, their hibernation will end and they will be reborn.> Eternium paused and seemed to consider something. <The tree will also produce Wisps, but their coloration will be based off of the Mana fed to them. Have your Wisp manage that. Now that a connection has formed, she will instinctively understand the process.>

this way you will be in the physi-Cal world!>