Dungeon Crawl

by Drew Jager

"Fuck!" Will screamed out.

  Bel looked shocked at him, confused and now worried. "What?! What is it?"

  How long are they going to make me wait! This is getting ridiculous.

  "Sorry, Sweetheart. I just didn't see an option I was hoping for." He said sadly.

  "Is this about the damn Deer again?" She asked with a glare.

  "...Yes."

  "Deer aren't classified as Lesser Beasts, and they would make a poor Boss choice. That is why you haven't seen any yet."

  Will vehemently disagreed about her assessment of a Deer's capabilities, but that would be something he handled when it came.

  "I guess that makes sense. I just really wanted to know what they looked like." He mumbled to himself.

  Her eyes softened for a moment and gently patted the top of his Crawl, "I know, obviously they were just too powerful to be limited to your first floor."

  Will, nearing tears, "Y-yeah, that's probably it."

  Bel, now rolling her eyes, "Okay tough guy, how about you pick your new Boss? When you do, the Boss room is going to change automatically. So that will be a nice change of pace. The room changes based on what Boss you pick so pick something you think the Dungeon needs."

  "The descriptions of the Boss Monsters seem a little short though, why is that Bel?" He asked.

  "Well, when we were choosing your Dungeon Monsters they weren't very complicated. When it comes to Bosses though, they all have multiple traits and almost always look unique. It would take hours to explain the capabilities of each one in detail, so Mr.Blue decided it would be easiest if there was just a brief description." She seemed happy with the reasoning, but to Will, it just seemed like the creator was being lazy.

  He wouldn't say that out loud though, Mr.Blue might be listening.

  The choices available to him were; a large bear, a large snake, or a large cat.

  He felt spoiled. Two of the choices weren't even available in lesser form when he was picking Dungeon Monsters, and those two both came with a free affinity.

  "Bel, why can't I choose what affinity the Bear or Lynx is imbued with?" He thought that just seemed needlessly petty. He couldn't even choose what magic his Monsters could use?!

  "It's because you're a Dungeon, and they are Monsters. Monsters and Two-legs are similar in this regard, their affinity is assigned randomly at birth. Because you are a Nature Dungeon though, the only option for your Monsters is going to be Earth, Water or Air." She was lecturing again. He thought he was finally away from all of that.

  It upset him that his Monsters were being compared to the Sentient races, even in a small way like with affinities. It couldn't be helped though, and it eliminated hours of indecision as he tried to decide what his Boss would have.

  "Bel, what would you rather have as the first floor Boss? The Bear or the Lynx?" He was feeling cowed at the large decision he had before him, and he wanted the only person he trusted to give him her opinion.

  At his question she brightened up and glowed a bright shade of gold, "I think the Bear is going to be the cutest. It's going to have a cute little button nose and I bet its fur will be super soft!"

  Will couldn't physically move, but he felt his Crawl wobble to the side of his podium at the absurdity of her answer. He wasn't angry, but frustrated might be a good word. "Bel, I want you to answer seriously! This is a really big decision and I want to know which one you think will be the strongest."

  She just looked at him and scrunched up her face. "Will quit being so hard-headed." She giggled at her joke for an unnecessarily long time. "All of your Boss Monsters were each worth 25 MP, so naturally they are all going to be as strong as each other. It comes down to personal preference, and what you think will fit best in your Dungeon."

  She took a deep breath and continued, "Just because I didn't give a reason does not mean I don't think the Imbued Bear will be your best choice."

  "So...the Bear?" He asked.

  "Yep." She flew over to his Crawl and laid atop it, kicking her feet playfully in the air.

  He wasn't going to admit it to her, but the Bear was what he was leaning towards, to begin with. Most of the Monsters in his Dungeon at the moment were focused on sneak attacks and not direct confrontation. It would be a good change of pace to have a veritable pile of muscle and teeth as the final Boss of his first floor. If the Adventurers were constantly looking over their shoulders for a surprise ambush then all the better.

  "Alright! Imbued Bear it is." He announced to nobody in particular.

  "Perfect! Just focus on your Boss room and choose the Bear, then watch the magic happen." She was giggling with excitement, and it was infectious.

  Will focused his attention on the space between his Crawl room and the Alcove tunnel. He watched in fascination as the large area between began to be hollowed out without him having to do any of the work.

  The room that was being carved out was turning into a miniature biome before his eyes. He watched as it stretched to be over 50ft long, connecting to the Alcove tunnel and the tunnel to his Crawl room perfectly. Then it stretched even further in the other directions, extending up to 75ft away. The ceiling was raised to the height of 30ft. The corners of the room, Will was interested to see, were sloping up and away, creating a seamless connection between the walls and ceiling.

  The end result was a large rectangular room with curved corners. At the moment the room was just a mess of empty and blank stone, but even before he could finish appreciating the shape of the room it began to warp again.

  This time, he watched as rolling hills appeared across the ground, made of packed dirt and large stones spaced out at random intervals. These hills began to sprout small grass stalks all across the top, and soon he had a beautiful field of bright green and yellow grass covering his new Boss room with large stones poking over the top. Not long after he watched as his signature Mana-Lights began to dot the ceiling. Once the light was in place it seemed to shine brighter than normal and created artificial sunlight all across the Boss room. The lights he had in his other rooms had a similar effect, but not nearly as stunning as it was in this room.

  He didn't understand how a large field of grass constituted a Boss room, but then more changes warped across the room. I should really just be quiet and watch to the end.

  Trees of all shapes and sizes began to sprout at an unnatural rate along the edges of the room. Large Oak trees thick around as the Silverbark appeared, accompanied by smaller and more numerous bushes around the bases of each tree. Not just Oak Trees appeared however, there were also a few Spruce and a couple that Bel said looked like Walnut Trees.

  Will was ecstatic, he finally had more plants to work with! Not to mention with this addition he now looked like a respectable Nature Dungeon. The Trees all ringed the outside of the grass fields, leaving an empty grove in the middle. The final touch seemed to be a larger hill appearing in the center of the grove. In the center of the Hill, facing away from the entrance to the room by the Alcove tunnel, a large cave mouth appeared.

  A cave in a cave.

  The cave stretched halfway up the hill but then continued from the ground. The result was a cave mouth that was 20ft wide, reaching up from the ground and into the unnaturally large hill. The hole in the ground seemed to yawn and stretch deep into the earth.

  He wasn't sure what the point of what amounted to a giant hole in the ground accomplished until he heard an earth shaking roar.

  Every single Monster in the Dungeon heard the pronouncement and responded in kind. The Troop began hooting and hollering in excitement. The howlers let out their own earsplitting cry, and the Spinebacks who were resting underneath them curled into a ball. The Dungeon Serpents responded by slithering into the Alcove Room to take a look at the new arrival.

  Will was beginning to feel nervous that his new Boss would never come out of its hole until he saw a massive snout poke out from the cave.

  Bel nearly fainted on the spot at the sight of its not-so-little nose.

  What came a
fter the nose was the mouth though, and the mouth was what made Will almost faint. It seemed the Bear had a slight dental issue, as multiple fangs poked out from the top and bottom of its snout. The fangs were well over 6" long and put even the female Monkey's claws to shame.

  After the mouth, came the rest of its head. For the first time Will got a good look at the face of his new Boss, and he was impressed. The fur on its head seemed unnaturally tough and was a deep golden-brown similar to the Monkeys of the Troop.

  The irises of its eyes were the color of Belles aura. A gorgeous gold that pierced the dark and shone with unnatural intelligence and strength. It had a powerfully built head that was as wide as some of the trees in the room. The Bear's ears were moving in a constant swivel motion to assess its surroundings, as well as look for potential prey.

  As the rest of the Boss came out of hiding, Will knew he had made the correct choice. Standing in front of the cave was a Beast that towered at 9ft in height, and at least 6ft across. Bel had told him most Bear's have a layer of fat on their body at all times, but this one seemed like nothing but muscle. He was mesmerized as he watched the different muscles under its skin ripple and contort as it moved.

  The fur on its body was the same as on the head, except he noticed that the longer hairs on its back were closer to spines than hair. The hide looked tough and near impossible to pierce with anything but the sharpest tool.

  Once the new Boss began walking around, he noticed the claws marking the soft earth every time it stepped. They weren't as long as he had expected but were thick enough to gouge enormous furrows in the dirt as large as a man's closed fist.

  The new Boss had one more surprise in store for Will, though. As soon as he watched the beast's claws dig into the ground, the furrows and tracks instantly sealed and repaired themselves.

  "Bel!? Why is my dirt fixing itself? Can I do that with the other rooms?!" He was amazed at the idea of a feature he had never seen until just now.

  "No silly, that must be its affinity." She giggled at his enthusiasm.

  "If I had to guess, the Boss got an Earth affinity. That means it has slight control over the ground and is granted additional defense. It also means increased resistance to Earth attacks." Will nearly did faint this time.

  It was everything he could have ever asked for in a Boss.

  "So...if it wanted to, it could just hide in the Forest as Adventurers poked around its cave. Then sneak up on them without anybody even noticing it, because there were no tracks?!" His voice was getting feverish at all the different tactics he could see his new boss taking.

  She just smiled and flew out of the Crawl room to go welcome their new guardian.

  Will was elated, but he knew he needed to add one finishing touch to the new Boss room. He went to the entrance Adventurers would use when they entered from the Dungeon, and placed a large Silverbark door across the 6ft tall and 6ft wide opening.

  The door was a rich brown and had silver specks all across the wood, as an homage to his new Boss he did his best to carve a set of eyes into the center of the door. He placed a few of the small gems he had absorbed earlier into the sockets, and soon a pair of golden eyes were staring down at any who would try to open the door. For handles, he decided to go a little overboard and purchased pure silver. He also used silver as the outline for the door. He wanted Adventurers to know they were about to face the Boss.

  With the door done, he went to where the entrance to his Crawl room was, since it branched off directly from the Boss room, he added another Silverbark door between it. It was not nearly as intricate as the other but would keep any Two-legs from escaping the room before his Boss got a chance to attack.

  Boss. His Boss needed a name. He focused his attention back to the Bear and was surprised to see the majority of his Dungeon Monsters surrounding it, all offering a welcome to their new friend.

  The Bear was, according to Bel, a male. How she had time to check that was strange to him until he realized he had spent over an hour decorating a single door.

  He focused on the Bear, and with an unnecessary amount of grandiose said, "Welcome to our Dungeon, soon we are going to be attacked by Sentients who want to take what we have. That's why you're here, you will be our final line of defense. Our strongest. Protect us with your life, and we will protect you." At this, the Bear roared in agreement and got up on its hind legs. The previously 9ft tall bear was now towering closer to 16ft and slammed down into the ground. This sent a wave of earth rolling across the field of grass. All the Monsters cheered at the display of power and bowed to the new Boss.

  "As our last defender, you will be known as Grizzly!" A little uninspired, but the name just fit the Beast too well.

  Grizzly roared once more and bowed its massive head towards the Crawl room.

  After a few more hours of Monster acquainting and general partying, the Boss excused itself back to the cave it called home for some shut-eye. The Boss room was in perpetual artificial sunlight, but the Cave was as dark as...a cave.

  All of the other Dungeon Monsters returned to their previous rooms.

  Bel came back to the Crawl room and settled atop her Silverbark bed, "Grizzly is just such a cutie, did you know he can make walls of dirt and stone with just a press of his paw? Did you see his paws?! They were so soft and fluffy I couldn't believe it."

  She was having the time of her life, and Will was grateful he had chosen such a good Boss. He was mostly happy that what he had gotten was a strong Monster though. He knew Adventurers would have a really tough time fighting something like Grizzly when, before, all they had to contend with were snakes and monkeys.

  Will felt ready. He knew he could never fully prepare for what the Sentients would bring, but he now knew his Dungeon could handle the F rank Adventurers.

  I'm ready! Bring it on Two-legs!

  Chapter 8 - Disgusting Two-legs

  * * *

  A mile away from the Nature Dungeon, Brian searches for the entrance.

  He was getting closer, he could feel it. The Mana in the air felt richer and the local flora had grown many times larger than what would be normal for the Ilvan Forest. He needed to find the entrance before any organizations or Nations tried to lay claim to the Dungeon. While the Adventuring Guild had first rights to all Dungeons, that wouldn't stop the greedy rulers of many of the other races.

  It seems his fears were well founded, he felt he was just about to come upon the entrance when an Elf landed in his path. He knew he was being followed for quite some time now, but he wasn't sure by who.

  "Greetings, friend. Are you searching for the new Dungeon by chance?" The elf asks him.

  "I am."

  "I see, I am going to have to ask you to turn around and head home. The Dungeon is under the jurisdiction of the Elves now, so rest assured we will take care of it." Brian's lips went into a firm line.

  Before he could reply, however, another voice rang out. "Funny, I didn't think you tree-huggers had any use for a Dungeon, what with how much time it takes you just to braid your hair in the morning." A Gnome yells out from behind Brian. This one he had never even heard coming. That Gnome was a lot more dangerous than he was letting on.

  Brian eyed both of the visitors warily, then before the Elf could say anything derogatory to the new visitor, "Master Gnome and Master Elf, as I am sure you are both aware, any new Dungeon immediately falls under the protection and jurisdiction of the Adventuring Guild. This is a well-known law, and one both rulers of your people signed upon."

  At the mention of the law. the Elf flinched. He must not have known he was speaking to an Adventuring Guild representative. "I...see." He forced out. "Then you will be happy to know none have entered the Dungeon. Since we have been turning away unwanted visitors...for the Adventuring Guild."

  Brian smiled, a genuine one this time. "Excellent, and you Master Gnome? What is your business here?"

  At this, the Gnome looked a little more respectful. "I admit it, I also came to see the Dungeon. I assume a
s a representative of the Adventuring Guild, and by your rather identifying features, you are Brian Aldritch correct?"

  He was shocked, few knew his true last name. "I am."

  "Then I ask to be a part of the Dungeon town you will build here. My name is Altrix, and I am an expert ranked Adventurer. I no longer dive into Dungeons, but I am an exceptional Herbalist if I say so myself." The elf scoffed at this, clearly not impressed.

  "I know your name Altrix, your reputation precedes you." The Gnome simply inclined his head.

  "As the law states, all the races are welcome to the town and the benefits a new Dungeon affords. So long as you follow our rules and laws, a Gnome of your experience will be a welcome addition indeed. This applies to you as well, Master Elf." The elf seemed surprised Brian hadn't forgotten about him.