Dungeon Crawl

by Drew Jager

  Soon, he understood why, a small tree about a foot in height came from behind the Sun. It looked like a Human that had been transformed into a tree with very bland features. The small eyes sunken into the wood for the head, and the tiny fingers curled around leaves.

  No, the leaves were a part of the Monster. The head of the new addition was covered in a mane of leafy green hair, and he saw a small slip of white cloth hidden in the folds.

  Cute.

  He shook his head, he had to be neutral when meeting the new member.

  The small tree looked around his room with a look of what he could only assume was excitement. The leaves in the tree's hair waved in the wind, and soon he was sprinting around the Boss room.

  Grizzly watched in fascination as the tree moved much faster than he had any right to, and saw him run through the grass of his room. He barely came above the blades of grass, and it looked as though the tree was swimming in a sea of yellow-green grass.

  After a short run, he stopped at the top of the hill where Grizzly's cave was. There, the small tree rooted himself into the soft dirt of the hill. Grizzly could see he had closed his eyes, basking in the sun, and just enjoying the room.

  Try not to scare the thing, Grizzly. The Great Ones wanted you to meet this tree for a reason, don't frighten it.

  He thought all this while sneaking up behind the tree, and then hanging his head right above its small head. He took a sniff from above, and didn't sense even a speck of malevolence in the small Monster. It really was just enjoying being in the grass, and artificial sunlight.

  The wind from his sniff ruffled the leaves of the tree's hair, and he turned around to lock eyes with Grizzly.

  Golden eyes met with the empty hollows of the trees.

  Hello. I am Grizzly, the Boss of the Dungeon. He said all this to the tree. He knew there was no chance for a response, but it was important to be polite.

  Hi, Grizzly. My name, Sol. Sol is boy. A childish voice sounded out in his head, and he felt the fur on the back of his body raise up in alarm.

  None of the other Monsters had ever replied to him, and he had only ever been spoken to by the Sun. Sometimes, the Creator himself, if he ever had a command for him. He had never been able to respond to them, though.

  Here, though, he could have an actual conversation. It unnerved him, as nothing had before.

  What are you, Sol? How did you enter our Dungeon? He asked, trying to calm himself

  Sol, is Treant. After that, Sol took on a look that Grizzly knew all too well. Fear.

  Box sent Sol to Dungeon. Sol, is Bound Monster.

  What, in the name of the Great Ones, is a Bound Monster? He had never heard of this, but he could very clearly tell this tree, or Treant, was of the Dungeon. He didn't know what a Treant was, but it seemed pretty explanatory from Sol's physical appearance.

  He felt the fur on his back lower, and felt more comfortable with the new presence inside the Dungeon. He still had questions, though. He dropped to the ground in a cloud of dust, and settled his head next to the rooted Treant.

  Before they could continue, though, the Sun spoke. "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 was currently rubbing her face into the back of his fur, and he felt his heart skip a beat. He did not care how she treated him; she was one of the reasons for his existence. Be it as a child, or as a murderous beast, as long as she stayed by his side, he would do anything she said. Even if it meant being an oversized pillow.

  This was all the answer he needed to know Sol wasn't a threat, and gave the young Treant a good lick across the back of his head. The leaves in his hair lifted off the branches they were connected to, and the poor tree was actually uprooted from the pressure.

  He watched in amusement as Sol hastily shoved the little white cloth back into his hair, then turn and give him a small smile. He was about to start questioning him again, but was distracted by the other Boss door. The other Monsters had managed to open it, and collapsed into a heap in front of the door. All were panting, and looked exhausted from simply opening the thing.

  Shameful, to look like this in front of the Great Ones is shameful.

  He let out a small yawn, and the sound forced all the Monsters to stand up straighter.

  Better. He thought.

  Over the course of an hour, all the Monsters greeted the new addition. Every single one of them bowed to the Boss first, though. Respects had to be paid.

  Chapter 17 - Devious

  * * *

  In the Crawl room.

  "I guess they probably wouldn't do much... I mean, how interesting could it get in here, where nothing really changes?" He sighed. Maybe when he had more intelligent Beasts, he could ask.

  He knew it was unlikely he could hold conversations with his Monsters, especially when Mr.Blue had specified so in no uncertain terms. He chose Beasts for his Monsters for the chance of getting the strongest one of all, but the tradeoff was they were less intelligent compared to other choices.

  He mentally shrugged, and returned to the task at hand. Ever since he had started accumulating more resources than he could spend, he had been practicing his carving. He thought he was getting pretty good, but all the Adventurers kept insulting his work.

  "Maybe... A horn there... A few more scales around the eyes... There!" The latest statue had to be perfect, as he would put it inside his Crawl room.

  He enjoyed putting the most interesting items on the shelves of his room, and he had been collecting whatever caught his eye. He now had enough to start a small antique shop.

  That sounds interesting... Save that idea for later.

  While it was important to pay homage to the greatest beast, he also wanted to make some meaningful progress in developing his Dungeon.

  "Bel, wake up. It's time to be a Herald." He was slowly absorbing the covers of silk she was hiding under, forcing her to look at him.

  She huffed really loudly, and threw a miniature pillow at his Crawl.

  "It better be good, you Rockhead." She said with narrowed eyes, her normally shoulder length hair was sticking up at odd angles.

  "Show me the Dungeon Menu again. Please." He added the last part a little hastily, and he thought he saw a vein on her forehead.

  Chime

  Willem - Nature Dungeon (Lvl.4)

  Mana - 18/40

  Mana Regeneration - 20/d

  Resources - 56

  Monsters - 13 (1/1 Bound)

  Floors - 1

  The sound grated against his senses more than usual, and he shot a glare at the still sulking Herald.

  After building the different water fixtures in the Dungeon, he had used up a good portion of his mana. He knew he couldn't add much more difficulty to the Dungeon, at least not yet. If he did, it might prove too much for the feeble Adventurers, and Bel had reminded him quite often what Adventurers did to Dungeons they found unusual.

  So, new traps were out. Evolutions? He turned his attention to the Dungeon Serpent in the Ore room, and was happy to note the Monster exploring the small pools of water he had placed in the room. Once his entire focus was on the room, the Serpent seemed to stiffen. It was almost as if it had sensed his presence, and was trying to puff its chest out.

  He saw how the splotches of green the other Dungeon Serpents possessed were far darker on this Monster. Not to mention, it seemed slightly larger than its brethren.

  "What are you going to turn into..." He mumbled to himself. What would be most useful for the Dungeon?

  So far, theres only been one person thats caused me any real trouble. It would be nice to knock them down a peg, or ten. Though, if anybody would have a vendetta against that Human, it would probably be this Serpent.

  "I don't suppose you have a preference?" He jokingly said to the Serpent.

  He laughed at what he was doing, and was about to ponder what to do
with the potential evolution, when he got a response.

  Well, he assumed it was a response. The Serpent had moved from the pools of water, and was now slithering around its room. It was going in large circles, clearly moving as fast as it could. It was strange to see one of his Monsters doing something as ridiculous as chasing its tail, but he knew better.

  At least, he hoped. He hoped he wasn't just watching a Monster chase its tail. He focused directly onto the Serpent again, and it stopped moving entirely. Placing all of his attention onto it, he felt a strange sensation emanating from the Monster.

  Honing in on the oddity, he got the scare of his short life.

  Chime

  He screamed, waking Bel from her recently resumed nap, and startling the Serpent.

  He didn't have time to ponder the furious eyes of his Herald, as a screen filled his vision.

  Congratulations!

  One of the Dungeon Monsters has reached the edge of Evolution, and is ready to ascend to new heights.

  (Lesser Dungeon Serpent) has the following Evolutions available to it.

  Dungeon Serpent A direct evolution of the Lesser variant. Possesses a stronger toxin, and larger body. Everything the Lesser can do, this does better.

  Lesser Venomfang Smaller than the Dungeon Serpent, but with a more potent venom. Instead of incapacitating, when enough is injected, the toxin will be fatal. (Only fatal if the bite is left untreated)

  Devious Lurker (Influenced) Twice as large as the Dungeon Serpent, this beast has a slight camoflauge ability. Blends into its environment when still, becoming invisible to the untrained eye. Moving will break this effect.

  Influenced - The desire of the Monster has unlocked a hidden evolution, one that is normally unavailable to the Dungeon.

  He didn't want to waste another second. Laughing maniacally, he mentally slammed the button for the Devious Lurker Evolution. The other two were interesting, but the idea of a hidden evolution made him giddy.

  The first thing he heard was, "Dammit, Will! Not again!"

  Then, a series of low hisses emanating from the Ore room, followed by the sound of shifting stone.

  "Bel!? What's happening to the Dungeon?" He yelled over the noise. He was horrified to see the Ore room drastically rearranging itself, even though he never meant to change the room.

  "Why did I ever leave home? I should have just stayed with Mom, instead of moving in with the dumbest Crawl in all of Bermin. Whats happening, Willem, is you just made a Mini-Boss." She shouted, arms flailing in the air.

  "That... sounds amazing?" He yelled over the noise.

  Smack!

  "It is NOT! You oversized chunk of mana. Now we have to deal with the consequences of you being impatient, don't you think there was a reason I never mentioned it!?" She hissed.

  "Wouldn't be the first time you forgot to mention something important..." He mumbled.

  "What was that?" Her eyes had narrowed to slits.

  "What's a Mini-Boss?" He deflected. The noise had died down, but the annoyance in her eyes hadn't.

  She took in a deep breath, then exhaled. After five good breaths, she was calm enough to respond.

  "It's the second strongest Monster on a floor, after the Boss. You only get one per floor. Normally, we decide which Monster it should be after months of planning. You aren't supposed to increase the difficulty this early!" She ended her rant with a firm kick to his Crawl.

  "Why would an evolution make them a Mini-Boss, though?" He quietly asked.

  "The first evolution of a floor is always the strongest. I dont know why, that's just how Mr.Blue made it. I was hoping you could restrain yourself, but no. Now we have a Monster almost as strong as Grizzly, in the FIRST ROOM!" She was pacing in small circles in the Crawl room.

  Would have been nice to have heard about this sooner... He thought sarcastically, he wasn't going to push his luck and say it out loud, though.

  She seemed to hear his thoughts anyways, but took another few breaths to calm herself.

  "It's not all your fault. This time. I should have mentioned it in Grizzly's room when we noticed how close the Serpent was to an evolution. We need to be careful now, Will, the Adventurers will be confused at how fast we are growing. It's supposed to take months before we get a Mini-Boss, and at least a year till a Bound Monster. We have to slow down, and take our time."

  By the end she was back to her old lecturing self, and he felt better about the situation. Mainly because she didn't say he had to get rid of the new Serpent.

  "So... Can we go see what happened?" He tried, and failed, to ask calmly.

  She just rolled her eyes, and flew off towards the Ore room. He was sure he saw a look of excitement on her face.

  "Just like with Grizzly, the room it was in should have changed drastically. So, expect some differences from the old Ore room." She added. That explained the scary noise.

  Then, he had a horrible thought.

  "Bel!" He yelled towards her.

  She stumbled mid flight at the sudden noise. "What!? What is it now, what did you do?"

  "How do I have a Mini-Boss when all my Monster Points were used up. Grizzly cost 25 MP, but the original Serpent only cost 4. Did we lose other Monsters to make this Mini-Boss!?" He was getting frantic.

  She flew back to give him another swift kick in the Crawl. "Stop scaring me, Rockhead! Mini-Bosses are different than regular Monsters, and don't count towards your MP total. You actually have 4 points to spend now, but if you even touch those points I'm going to knock you off your pillar."

  "What the hell. Why does Grizzly cost so much, but this one's free!?" He complained.

  "Mini-Bosses are specific to each floor, and have a lot of varying factors that make them unique. It should have been something we decided after months of planning, but you seem to be winging your entire Dungeon."

  That last comment stung, but she wasn't wrong. Many of his choices had been based on pure impulse.

  "Okay, I guess I understand. Let's go see what changed." He was worried about the future, yet excited about the possibilities.

  * * *

  In the Ore room, moments earlier.

  Thank you, Great Ones! Thank you for this wonderful gift. What more could a Monster ask for, than this generous reward!

  The Serpent thought to himself, as he splashed around the small pools of water. The Creator had truly been kind to give him this.

  Now, he had another way to ambush, and surprise his prey. It was everything a Monster could ask for, and he hoped his appreciation reached the Creator.

  Just then, as if hearing his thoughts, the air changed. The Great One, the Moon himself, was watching him again. He stood up straighter, and waited obediently for his instructions.

  To be graced with your presence so soon after your gift. I am not worthy, Great One.

  He knew the Creator wouldn't hear him, but he said it anyways.

  "What are you going to turn into?" The Creator whispers.

  To think he would actually acknowledge what the Serpent thought, he was ready to faint on the spot. It wouldn't do him good to show weakness now, though.

  Taking the question to heart, he tried to ponder what the Creator meant. He was beginning to fear he was failing by not asnwering, when the he spoke again.

  "I don't suppose you have a preference?" Hearing that voice humbled him as nothing else did.

  Suddenly, the two statements clicked together in his mind.

  He would allow me to decide my own Evolution!? I am nothing but dust compared to him, yet he would hear what I have to say?

  Soon after returning to the Ore room, he had understood why the other Serpents all congratulated him during the welcoming of Sol. He had seen his reflection in the water, and was shocked to see the physical changes in himself. It was the proof of his hard work.

  Now, the Creator was rewarding him even further. To grant him a say in his own future. There was no kinder being in all of Bermin than his Creator, of that there was no doubt.

&
nbsp; He needed to act quickly, before the Great One grew impatient.

  More than anything, he wanted to be stronger. To be able to protect the Dungeon, to guard the Sun and Moon with his life. Deep inside him, another part screamed for blood.

  Specifically, of that Human. The one who had desecrated their home, and dared speak to the Sun as if they were equal. To be able to end that filthy Two-legs life, that was what he wanted.