Dungeon Crawl

by Drew Jager

  She pushed open the door between the Crawl room and the tunnel leading to Grizzly's room, then led him through.

  Once inside the Boss room, he watched as Sol began to pick up pace to explore the new surroundings. Being cooped up in a small room must have made him want to stretch his legs... roots?

  Sol looked up towards the ceiling, where the artificial sunlight was coming from, and a small smile appeared on his face. Soon he was sprinting through the grass, just barely coming over the top of the green-yellow stalks, and reached the top of one of the hills. Once there, Will saw him push the roots of his leg down into the soft dirt.

  He still had no idea what that did for Sol, but it seemed to make him happier so he wouldn't be the one to stop him.

  Sol was so engrossed in taking in the sunlight, and enjoying the view, that he didn't even notice the large bear coming up on him from behind.

  Grizzly was standing with his head right above the small Treant, and took a hesitant sniff towards the new guest. The wind from Grizzly breathing was strong enough to ruffle the mane of leafy hair on Sol and caused him to turn around. Both Monsters stared at each other for what felt like minutes, when in reality it was only a few seconds.

  Sol lowered his head towards the bear, and Grizzly seemed to visibly relax. Then in a cloud of dirt and dust Grizzly lay down on his stomach, face next to the Treant. Bel had rushed over by then, and landed on top of Grizzly's back.

  "Sol is going to be with us from now on, Griz. I know he isn't like the other Monsters, but he was born in here just like you were. Please take care of him, until he can take care of us, like you do." She said all this with her face buried deep into the fur on his neck, muffling her voice.

  Will had his doubts that his Boss was capable of understanding what she was saying, but the bear decided to answer by licking Sol along the back. His tongue was so large that he physically uprooted the poor Treant when he gave him his affection. Sol hastily shoved the dislodged piece of Silk back into his hair, but then gave the Boss a smile.

  Just then a pile of every single Monster in the Dungeon came out of the Boss door. They had all stacked up on one another to push the heavy thing open. Now they all lay in a big heap, trying to catch their breaths. Grizzly let out a yawn, which sounded more like what Will imagined a regular bears growl to be, and all the Monsters stood up straighter.

  Soon there was a procession of different species waiting their turn to meet the new arrival. The Howlers came first. Apparently they had decided their help wasn't need to push the door open and were waiting to fly in once it had opened.

  They each landed on him, one on his head and the other on his outstretched hand. The one on his head had a flower in its beak, and it placed the small Poppy in the leaves of his hair. The other had a seed, and poked at his hand until he opened it up for the bird to place it inside his palm. Then they flew off, and the Serpents approached.

  All four of the Dungeon Serpents took the trek over to meet him, and Will was interested to notice one of them looked distinctly greener than the others.

  "Bel, what's up with that one Monster? Why does it look different from the other three?" He asked.

  "Oh! Will this is wonderful! That's the Monster from the Ore room, he must be close to an evolution. Having to constantly try new tactics to sneak up on foes a lot stronger than himself must have forced some changes in him. We should keep a close eye on that one, I bet it won't be much longer until we get a chance to evolve them." She was ecstatic, and Will was practically frothing to see what it would evolve into.

  All four of the Serpents reached the two resting on the grassy hill, and nodded once towards Grizzly before they circled around Sol. They didn't seem to have any presents prepared like the Howlers did, but Sol smiled at them anyways.

  Next came the sister Spinebacks, both squeaked at him before taking their place next to the other Monsters. Finally, the Troop approached the new member of the Dungeon.

  Will was interested to note the female Monkey leading the other three males.

  I wonder if she's close to an evolution too?

  The female Monkey bowed towards Grizzly, then focused her dark brown eyes onto Sol. He actually looked more nervous in the face of the Monkey than he was in front of Grizzly. She was twice his height, but minuscule compared to the bear resting right next to them.

  After a moment, her eyes seemed to soften. She reached one clawed finger towards the Treant and pressed against the side of his cheek. Then, she turned and hooted at the other three Monkeys. All three responded in kind, and gave Sol a small bow. It wasn't as deep as the one they gave Grizzly, but Sol smiled all the same.

  Once introductions were over, Will turned his focus away from them and spoke directly to Bel. "Let's give them time to get used to each other Sweetheart. I think it's time we make a few qualities of life changes to the Dungeon."

  She seemed loathe to tear her attention from the gathering, but flew back to the Crawl room anyways. "You're right. Just remember to keep it minimal for the time being. Dungeons are expected to change and evolve, but if you suddenly have an extra three rooms you may be deemed unstable. Keep it small for now, okay Sweety?"

  "You said we got water from one of the Adventurers, didn't you? I think this Nature Dungeon could use some more nature." He thought it was a good joke, but Bel just groaned at him.

  He took that as a yes, and got to work. First thing he did was check the resources available to him.

  Name - Willem Chosen Monster - Beasts Mana - 40/40

  Species - Dungeon Crawl (Lv.4) Chosen Location - Ilvan Forest Mana Regen - 20/d

  Number of Floors - 1 Number of Monsters - 13 (1/1 Bound) Resources - 152

  Over the course of the next few hours he spent over half of his mana carving out small channels for water in his Dungeon. First up was the Ore room. It was clear to him the Serpent was close to evolving, so he wanted to give him a push in the right direction. He added small pockets of water all across the floor, creating small pools a foot deep all over the ground. He knew if the Serpent coiled itself up, it could easily hide under the water and strike unsuspecting Adventurers. Will was extremely proud of this idea, but Bel thought nobody would fall for a snake hiding in a puddle. So, they decided to place a bet on it.

  In the Flower room, he carved a small lake in the middle of the room. The Silverbark tree was sitting on a plot of land in the center of a small island in the lake. The Spinebacks might not appreciate living on an island with no warning, so he added a small path of land a few feet wide to link the island with the rest of the room. The lake couldn't have been more than 8ft at the deepest, but Will hoped it would be a suitable place for an ambush. Not to mention it looked nice in the flower covered room.

  Next came the Troops room. He was sad to admit, but his sand pit was failing him. Both times somebody had made it into the room they avoided his trap. He decided to cut his losses, and removed the trap entirely. In its place, he added a waterfall coming down from the top of the ceiling and into the pit he had originally carved out in the center of the room. Why the hole didn't immediately flood the entire room, he was unsure, but he chalked it up to 'Dungeon Magic', and moved on. The Troop now had a small waterfall in the center of their home, and he hoped they could find a use for it aside from an occasional shower.

  Finally, he came what he was really looking forward to. He took a look at the Boss room and carved a river 9ft wide and 10ft deep right across the center of the room. Grizzly's cave entrance was on the side closer to the door, meaning if Adventurers wanted to get by, they would have to traverse the river while being chased by the monstrous bear.

  He filled the river with water and watched as it flowed from one end of the room to the other, dividing it into two unequal portions. He figured he ought to add some sort of way to cross, otherwise it might just be a little too unfair. So, he created what Bel referred to as a 'Bridge'. Really it was just a fallen tree he had tipped over on its side. It did the trick though, and now the filthy Two-le
gs had a way to cross.

  Most of the Monsters had returned to see their new homes, and Grizzly was busy rolling around in his new river. He was just barely able to keep his head above the water while on all four feet. So, naturally, he was having the time of his life.

  Will was worried Sol had gotten lost, but then he saw the small tree firmly rooted in the ground next to some other trees in Grizzly's room. He had taken a spot next to a particularly large Oak tree, and was basking in the sun. If Will didn't know any better, he would have said that Sol looked an inch taller.

  Eh, probably just seeing things.

  "Bel, it's time we had the talk with Sol." He said.

  She stumbled in her flight around Grizzly's room, then turned directly towards his Crawl. "What! It's way, way, way too early for that Will. He hasn't even met another Treant yet and he isn't even his full hei-"

  "BELLE!" He cut her off.

  "I meant about leaving the Dungeon." He said in exasperation.

  She turned a bright shade of gold. "I knew that..."

  Without waiting for another chance to embarrass herself, she flew over to where Sol was resting.

  "Little one, you said you knew what you were. Do you also know that since you are a Bound Monster, you could leave the Dungeon if you wanted to?" She asked, a little hesitant.

  Sol turned his head towards her, and shrugged.

  "If you do go outside, me and Will can't protect you. If you go outside, horrible people might try to take you from us." She said with fear in her voice.

  "That's it, Bel, scar the poor thing." He sighed. He focused directly on Sol and the Treant turned towards his Crawl.

  "What she means, is that when the time comes and you can take care of yourself, you can go outside. Until then, we don't want you going anywhere outside the Dungeon. It's better if you stay safe in Grizzly's room and the Dungeon until you are ready. Do you understand Sol?" He was worried none of this was getting through to the small Treant.

  Sol nodded. "When Sol strong, Sol can leave."

  Bel was crying within a few seconds. "You want to leave?!"

  She had comically large tears dripping down her cheeks, and she blew her nose on the hem of her dress.

  Sol looked flustered, then reached towards her. "Leave. Come back. Leave, come back."

  Will let out an internal sigh of relief, it seemed like Sol at least understood what a Bound Monster was meant to do. They existed to help the Dungeon get a better understanding of the outside world by leaving, but they had to return shortly after since they cannot exist in the outside world for a prolonged period.

  Grizzly, soaking wet, had thundered up towards them when he heard Bel crying. Then he shot Sol a glare, and bumped him with his nose.

  Sol just shrugged again.

  "Stop tears, Mother." Naturally, she cried even harder at that.

  Will would have as well, but thankfully he didn't have any tears to shed. This child was too cute for its own good.

  * * *

  Wren and his party sit at the bar in the towns Inn.

  "It had to be over 20ft tall and just as many eyes!" Wren shouted to the bartender, thoroughly wasted.

  "Uh-huh." They replied disinterestedly. It had been hours since this Dwarf had come in and started recounting everyone with the story of his Party's dive.

  Lana was even worse than he was. She was currently hanging halfway off her stool, drifting in and out of consciousness. Michael was sipping on a beer, buzzed from only a few drinks.

  At least I got that bookworm out of the house for once. If anything would make you want to drink, it would be that cursed Dungeon. Wren thought to himself.

  "I doubt most of the people in this town could even come close to beating a... a be- beast like that! That's- That's why our group is going to be the ones to do it, just you wait and see." He was stuttering every few words now, and that was Michael's cue to start dragging him out before he made any other ridiculous promises.

  Some people in the corner of the Inn seemed to hear his boasting, though, and stood up far more dramatically than the Cleric thought possible.

  "Watch your tongue, peasant." A well-dressed Elf yelled from across the bar. He was with a group of the other nobles from the various races. Normally the various nobles would have never interacted, but since they were trapped in the fledgling town while it was being built, they had gotten to know one another.

  Snobby people enjoy the company of other snobby people. Who knew? Wren thought with a small chuckle.

  The chuckle turned into a full laugh, and soon Wren was on the ground gasping for air. The noble turned an even brighter shade of red, making him look like a ripe fruit with the paleness of his skin.

  This just made him redouble his laughter, and soon the Nobles were stalking towards his group. Michael grabbed Wren by the collar, Lana by the hair, and started pulling.

  "Ow. Ow. Ow, I'm coming, I'm coming." She whined, trying to bring her mug with her.

  Soon Michael had dragged them out the door, but he wasn't built to be dragging a Dwarf on his own. Let alone another Human nearly the size of a Gigant.

  The nobles reached him within a few moments. "Stop right there. That half-man insulted me, and I will have my recompense." He yelled out in anger.

  "Who the fuck talks like that...?" Lana gurgled out, trying to stay conscious.

  Wren shoved Michael away with an arm, and put a hand to his side where his dagger was.

  "I didn't insult you, but if you want, I can start." He replied angrily. He was far too drunk to worry about being polite.

  The elf narrowed his eyes and looked towards the others in his group. They all nodded and put a hand on their weapons.

  "It's bad enough we had to listen to that big oaf speak to us like that, I will NOT be spoken to like this from the likes of you. It's about time we established whose really in charge of this backwater town." He had taken on a dark look, and Wren could see him channeling some kind of spell in his hand.

  "Why is everyone... screaming... somebody shut whatever animal is yel- yelling up." Lana mumbled between small snores.

  Michael couldn't help himself and cracked a small smile. She always had a way of lightening the mood, even if it was at the expense of someone else.

  The noble took on the darkest shade of red yet, and threw the spell he had prepared towards Wren.

  A large whirlwind of compressed shadow streaked towards him. He knew if he didn't do anything, that he wouldn't be able to move after taking the hit. Fortunately, he had prepared a spell of his own, and flung an Ice Shard directly at the Shadow Ball, effectively nullifying it. Unfortunately, the impact of the two spells caused a noise loud enough to wake the entire town. For a brief moment, Wren thought he saw a flash of silver inbetween the colliding spells. He couldn't be sure, though.

  Dust and pavement were shot up into the air from the miniature explosion, and both parties were momentarily blinded. Once the debris had settled, local guards arrived on the scene.

  "What the hell are you two morons doing?" The lead Guard called out. Apparently, he had no reservations about insulting a Noble.

  "He attacked my party member, after he was insulted." Michael replied; he had no intention of lying to the local Guards. One word from them and they could be banned from the Dungeon. Permanently.

  "If he was attacked, why did I see him throw out a spell as well." The Guard asked skeptically.

  "It was in self-defense!" Michael replied hastily, throwing his hands up. He knew both parties were in the wrong, but hopefully they could get off with a warning or a small fine.

  "That miserable oaf attacked me, and my fellow Nobles. I acted only to protect the citizens of this town from this murderous Dwarf, and his rampage." The noble replied calmly, face already back to the picture of innocence. His friends behind him all had small smirks playing on their mouths.

  That lying sack of-

  The Noble had taken another breath, most likely to continue his made-up story of heroism, when a new vo
ice sounded out.

  "I saw it all, Gerald. The boy tells the truth." A petite woman walks out of a nearby alley, and her large red ears swiveled towards the Guard.

  "Joy." Gerald, the Guard, said as way of greetings.

  "If you saw it all, why did you not interfere?" He asked.

  "I did. I am not one to interfere with a simple argument, but when the spells were cast, I acted accordingly. The damage would have been much more extensive otherwise." She said with a flat expression.

  Wren looked to where the two spells had collided, and sure enough, there was only a small indent in the otherwise unblemished road. The majority of the dust and pavement that was uprooted was localized to just a small area.