Dungeon Crawl

by Drew Jager

  Bel was eyeing his new Crawl podium with wonder-filled eyes, "Excellent! Now while we wait for your Mana to come back, let's think about how you want the layout of your Dungeon to be. All Dungeons need to have their Crawl connected in some way or another to the rest of their Dungeon. It's a common tradition that you leave the Crawl Room as the final room, even after the Boss Room." Bel lectured.

  This made Will extremely nervous, "What if somebody tries to take my Crawl though?! I can't just leave it defenseless can I?" Will was scrambling through his thoughts, trying to find a way out of this new fear of being taken from his Dungeon." Bel put a steady hand on his Crawl to calm him down.

  "Don't you worry, have you taken a good look at yourself? You're a nearly indestructible Gem, nothing but the Great Beasts and a few exceptions could ever hope to hurt you, and most Dungeons enjoy letting the ones that complete their trials into their Crawl Room as a way of congratulations. Besides, it's not like they can take you from the Dungeon, they would have to brave the entire Dungeon attacking them all at once, it's the Crawl's last defense mechanism should an Adventurer be dumb enough to try to steal a Crawl."

  "Not to mention, when we open ourselves to the world the Sapients will almost definitely build a city around our Dungeon. So if we are hurt or taken they would be in just as much trouble as us, it's nothing to be worried about." Will stopped listening after he heard 'build a city'.

  Will was backpedaling hard, "I'm sorry, did you say, "Build a city."?" He asked hesitantly. Bel nodded.

  Oh no, that can't be good. I picked this Forest in part so I wouldn't have to worry about people! Before his thoughts could spiral down even further, Bel chimed in like his golden savior, "Almost all Sapient cities are built on Dungeons, but the larger cities are built on some of the oldest, so we don't need to worry about an army of the Sapients coming here. We should expect to see a few houses, maybe an Inn, and a visit from the Adventuring Guild come up though. That's just to be expected though." Bel shrugged noncommittally.

  So many new things, the Crawl was starting to feel slightly overwhelmed. It may as well start with what it was worried about the most though, "Adventuring Guild...?"

  Bel sighed, "Yes, a coalition created by all of the Sapient Races, it is a group that has the vast majority of Bermin's 'Heroes'. Not to mention Adventurers seeking Fame, Glory, Wealth, or any other base desire. Dungeons have a love/hate relationship with the Adventuring Guild."

  Heroes.

  "What is a Hero?" Will tried to contain the anger seeping into his voice. Though he wasn't sure why he felt it in the first place.

  The little Dungeon Herald let out another sigh and settled down on top of his Crawl, it put him in a better mood almost immediately. "Heroes are, for lack of better phrasing, the reason Dungeons are the way they are." She was taking on a very disconcerting look, and it was starting to dampen his new good mood.

  "Before the Sapient Races petitioned Bermin to become recognized as intelligent life forms, Dungeons existed in a much smaller capacity than they do now. Dungeons were as part of nature as the trees were. They took in the Mana of Bermin and refined and processed it until it was released back into the world. It was a pure cycle that would have continued till the end of days if not for the 'Two-legs'." Bel spat out that last part.

  "When the first Two-legs crawled their way from the mud and began advancing in power and technology, they realized that if they hoarded the Mana in their bodies, they could accomplish feats of wonder. They did wonderful, terrible things with it. They could move Heaven and Earth with a wave of their hands, and for a time they dominated Bermin. These were the beings that came before the Heroes."

  "By hoarding the Mana within their bodies they were permanently taking from the resources available to nature, and as such, imbalances and imperfections spread across the land that would have consumed the world if a compromise wasn't found."

  "It was then that Mr.Blue came into being, although nobody knows his real name. What we do know is that he irrevocably changed the way Mana was used throughout Bermin. Instead of being able to keep Mana within themselves permanently, it would fade over time if the Two-legs tried to hoard it within themselves." Will was blinking his light slowly at this, he was starting to see the bigger picture.

  "So because the Mana couldn't be kept in their bodies anymore, they had to go out and search for more right?" He ventured a guess.

  "Exactly," she sighed at what the conversation had turned to. "In searching for more they found the Dungeons. While they couldn't harm the Dungeon Cores, they could still siphon off their Mana, effectively rendering it useless." Will shuddered at the thought of this.

  "Mr.Blue saw this, and in his kindness granted Dungeons three gifts. One gift was the ability to protect itself, through the use of Mana and Resources to produce the most fearsome Monsters Bermin has ever seen. The second was a Herald to help shepherd them from the dangers of the world who wanted only to use them." At this Bel smiled faintly and lightly patted the top of his Crawl.

  "What was the third gift though? That's only two?" Will asked.

  Bel's expression darkened considerably, "The Sapients that try to steal Mana from a Crawl are poisoned, Mr.Blue made it so that the Mana residing within the Crawl itself was no longer the pure form that normally comes off, but the raw and unrefined Mana that Dungeons were originally made to consume."

  "A compromise was made, the compromise being that the Mana the Two-legs so desperately want can be achieved by staying within close proximity to a Dungeon. Say in a Town or City located above its entrance, and in return, the Sapients would venture into the Dungeon to test themselves against the Crawl. Should they die within the Dungeon their mana becomes yours..." Bel's words trailed off at this as if relaying some heavy secret to the infant Crawl.

  Considering what the situation was, and could be. This doesn't seem too bad, as long as we aren't destroyed anyways. Wait...

  "Bel?"

  "Hm? Yeah, Sweety?" Will turned a bright shade of green at the unexpected nickname.

  "Didn't you say that I was almost impossible to destroy?"

  "I did, why?"

  "Well, when we were picking locations I noticed that Mr.Blue said that some of the races would destroy me on sight if they found my Dungeon. How could they do that if I am a nearly indestructible gem?"

  "Heroes"

  Oh fuck.

  "I don't want you worrying about that though, almost every Hero today is too full of themselves to care about a new Dungeon Crawl. Although I guess it's important you know. Heroes are the only beings, aside from the Great Beasts, that are capable of destroying a Dungeon Crawl. Just as Mr.Blue altered the Dungeons so too did he alter the Sapients." Bel inhaled for yet another history lesson.

  "He granted each member of the Sapients a chance to become more than what they were born as. Many tried, and many failed, but a few did succeed and gained power beyond what a normal Sapient could ever hope to possess. That being said, not every Hero is strong enough to destroy a Crawl. Some Heroes though, are closer to Monsters than Sapients at this point." Bel's face took on a grave expression at that last statement. These Heroes must be some scary people.

  "At the moment, there are exactly 603 Heroes." Oddly specific.

  "And now, as of this very moment, there are exactly 603 Dungeons." Oh no.

  "Every Sapient race has some amount of Heroes in their ranks, some more than others. The Elves have 103 if I recall correctly, and the Gnomes somewhere around 65." Both of the Races surrounding us have so many, we are so doomed.

  Bel could probably see the dejected aura coming off of the Crawl, so she hastily added, "Don't worry about it Will! Most of these Heroes are way too busy helping wrangle Cats out of trees to worry about a new Dungeon Crawl. We should expect a visit from a few Heroes sometime after we open our Dungeon up to the world though."

  "How do they become Heroes? Can we stop them from creating more?" Will didn't like the idea of a bunch of arrogant jerks coming to his dungeon and
taking his Mana, even if he was just giving it out for free.

  Bel's face perked up at this line of questioning and started, "They become Heroes by completing their 'Life-long Quest'. Nobody but them knows what the Quest is, and even then they only have a vague idea of what they need to do. Each Quest is different for each person, although some of them share similarities. It's extremely difficult to even unlock a 'Life-long Quest' as they have to experience something extraordinary to qualify for it. Then having to actually COMPLETE the thing is a whole other issue. That's why there are so few Heroes, it's ridiculously hard for them to become one."

  "What is a Life-long Quest?" Will inquired.

  "A culmination of a Sapient's life up until that point, they either slay the greatest foe they've ever known or overcome the greatest obstacle they have ever faced. I think you get it, they do something Heroic. A lot of Heroes actually complete their quests in Dungeons."

  "Now we can't stop them exactly, but we can lure them into our Dungeon. If we lure them into our Dungeon and defeat them, a portion of their power becomes your own. " Will felt a primal response at the idea of consuming and defeating a Hero. I want them, I want all of them.

  "Calm down there Will, we aren't even close to being ready to tackle a Hero yet. For now, let's just see if your Mana is back up to full. We've chatted the night away." Bel giggled at all the fun she was having, she had waited so long to have a Crawl to teach and now she finally had one.

  Name - Willem Chosen Monster - Beasts Mana - 10/10

  Species - Dungeon Crawl (Lv.1) Chosen Location - Ilvan Forest Mana Regen - 10/d

  Number of Floors - 1 Number of Monsters - 0 Resources - 32

  Chapter 4 - Rugs and Traps

  "10/10, just like you, Bel."

  "Don't hurt yourself reaching for those compliments, Will." Bel stuck her new tongue out at me. Must be nice to have a tongue, or maybe it's really gross.

  "Now that you've got enough Mana, let's go ahead and build your first Room!" She was getting hyped up again. Will was busy thinking about something else though.

  "Bel I thought we already have a Room? The very first spot we claimed is called the Crawl Room isn't it?" Will asked pointedly.

  Bel scrunched up her nose at this blatant technicality.

  "Well, Willem," Uh Oh. "If you must know, Crawl Rooms count as Special Rooms and therefore don't go towards your Room count." Bel finished her declaration with multiple hand waves to show the discussion was over.

  This was the first time Will had heard of these Special Rooms, but he was already called by his full name and his recently gained memories were screaming at him to cut his losses.

  "Then let's go ahead and make the new Room, okay Sweetheart?" Will figured it wouldn't hurt to lay it on a little thick for the time being.

  Bel, having none of it, "Yes, it would be best if you made it at the end of the tunnel you made a little while ago."

  Focusing his attention towards the end of the 10ft long Tunnel, he envisioned carving out a large domed Room. He didn't know why the Room dimensions were so exact but he would take what he could get.

  Mentally focusing on his Mana, he began hollowing out a large 12ftx12ft space at the back end of the Tunnel he created. With his Crawl room on one end and his newly created Room on the other, if any Sentients had an aeriel view of his Dungeon they would say it looked like an off balance dumbbell.

  A forgotten benefit to all this excavating was that his resource count shot up even higher! Now instead of 32 resources he had 84 that he could work with. He still didn't know how much 84 would get him but he knew there were some decorative rugs in his future. Something about rugs really intrigued him...why cover the floor with more floor? He had to know.

  Bel was off to the side of his Crawl, looking a little glassy eyed until her head snapped forward and she started spinning in circles faster than she normally did when excited.

  "Will! Will! Guess what we just absorbed from that Room!" She was becoming frantic and it was starting to infect him.

  "Tell me! Tell me! Is it a rug?" He asked hopefully.

  That seemed to throw her off her rhythm, "I- What? No, why would there be- look, you absorbed some Wood! Not just any wood either, it was a Rare Tie- "

  "How the hell is that better than a rug Bel?!" Will was irate, he had gotten his hopes up over something that supposedly surrounds their Dungeon.

  Bel smacked the top of his Crawl, hard, "Well how do you suppose we go about getting Wood, or any other material for Dungeon building for that matter. What we just got was a lucky break, and you better appreciate it!" This mollified him a little, but he still would have preferred a nice throw pillow over a few wooden planks.

  "Well alright, what can I do with the wood now that we have it?" He begrudgingly asked.

  Bel, with a grin far too large to be called cute, "Traps! Not to mention the wood we absorbed came from a Silverbark Tree! Like I was trying to tell you earlier it is a Rar-"

  The mention of Traps interested Will, but the real interesting piece was the Trees species. "Why is it called Silverbark?" He interrupted her again, he wasn't trying to, but he really wanted to know. He tried, and failed, to ask calmly.

  Bel, even more smug than Will thought possible, "Oh so now he's interested, well maybe if you beg I'll tell you all about my wood, and how great it really is..." Will felt distinctly uncomfortable at those words but was unsure why, so he settled on spite.

  He knew he could recreate anything he absorbed, so he set out to create the Silverbark from his resource pool.

  Bel, noticing him concentrate on something other than her teasing, watched as his Crawl flashed a bright shade of green before wooden beams the color of a rich dark brown with specks of silver running through appeared across the roof of his new Room. Four beams in total now ran perpendicular to each other across the roof.

  "Neat..." the Crawl said sheepishly, hoping he didn't accidentally ruin his Dungeon trying to spite his Herald.

  Bel, now thoroughly deflated, just sighed and asked the important question. "How much?"

  Huh?

  "How many resources did that take to do?"

  Will, now more confident than ever, opened his Resources window ready to gloat about how cost efficient he was.

  I mean let's be honest, how much could wood cost? Im just going to look at this menu and see it only took maybe 8 Resou-

  45

  He had 45 Resources remaining. He used 39 Resources on a few wooden beams.

  "I think we can both admit we got a little heated." He hedged.

  SMACK!

  "Unfair! You have hands and I don't!" Will grumbled.

  "Thats what you get for wasting so much on a Rare Tier Item!" Huh?

  "Mind telling me what a 'Rare Tier Item' is?

  "Only if you don't interrupt me anymore!" She stared hard at his Crawl and waited. When no reply save a slow blink of his light came, she continued.

  "Another change Mr.Blue brought with him was the idea of Tiers for the items of the world."

  "There are 5 different Tiers. In order of ranking from bottom to top they are; Common, Uncommon, Rare, Unique and Legendary." Bel listed off each with a tick of her fingers. It was an odd sensation, but Will could swear he felt the power imbued into each Tier name.

  "For Dungeons specifically, the higher Tier an item is, the greater the Resource cost to recreate it in your own Dungeon. I'm guessing the only reason you are not bankrupt right now is because of your Nature Affinity and the bonus that provides to all nature items in your Dungeon. You should consider yourself lucky, you know!" Will, now thoroughly cowed, just blinked in acknowledgment.

  "Will you tell me what Silverbark is now that its become a staple of our dungeon?" He stressed the emphasis on the 'our' part and it seemed to help a little.

  Bel's face softened before she finally replied. "Sure Sweety, I've been waiting for a chance to flex these new Herald powers anyways." Why am I getting such an awful feeling..?

  Chime


  Silverbark Wood

  Comes from the Rare Tier Silverbark Tree.

  Difficult to find and even harder to cut down. A dense wood packed with minute traces of raw Silver Ore. Can be found deep in the Ilvan Forest or surrounding the Andel Mountains. It is difficult to shape, but the craftsmen that can may make some of the finest items utilizing this wood.

  My nemesis strikes again.

  "Well now I see why it was so expensive, but I would have paid that price anyway, look how nice the wood looks in the room!" Will and Bel both knew he was pushing it, but neither said a word so they moved on.