>click<< you were the invincible fireproof adventurer? You must be powerful enough >>click<< to get out of the fire.”
“Ha ha Droknal. Please release the fire and let me out.” The ant didn’t move except to cross his four arms.
“You got yourself into that mess >>click<<, you can get yourself out. I’m going to go back and grab our packs before some monsters get to them.” Droknal turned around and walked away. Zach thought he was kidding until his partner disappeared over the side of the hill.
Ok, smart-ass. I will get myself out! Zach edged closer to the fire to better gauge the distance he would need to clear to make it to safety. The surrounding ring extended out for at least ten feet in all directions, more in some instances. It wasn’t a distance he felt comfortable with in attempting to jump, especially since he had nowhere to build up speed. Think, think, think. There has to be a way out. He wouldn’t have left me here otherwise… right?
He looked around and came to a simple realization. If he wanted out, he would need to harness his essence. He sheathed his sword and closed his eyes, right arm outstretched. Looking inward, for the first time, he found his essence reservoir. A raging snow storm with chunks of hail reflected back at him as he went deeper into himself. A chill, that was now comforting, spread through his body. It combatted the heat surrounding him, not quite able to overpower it. Although he still felt warm, he had stopped sweating and counted that as a victory.
Pulling from that storm, he forced his essence to travel to his palm. He opened his eyes and projected it outward. A small flurry mixture of snow and ice shot from his hand. It didn’t travel fast or far, but it was putting out the fire as it made contact. The veins in his arm turned an icy blue color that was deepening the longer he used his technique. When he successfully removed a foot-wide space in front of him, pain washed over his entire body. He temporarily forgot about the surrounding fire, focusing only on the fire burning in his head.
The pain was intensifying every second. He gripped a fistful of hair on either side of his head in sheer agony. The pain continued to worsen, driving him to his knees and forcing his eyes shut. He could hear someone shouting. Droknal… is that Droknal… What is he saying… I… I can’t… Something struck him in the center of his forehead, knocking him out.
He was pleased when his eyes opened again, and the pain was gone. He was also happy that the nightmares didn’t return to revisit him as he slept. The sun was setting as he sat up from a prone position. Droknal was in the lotus position, presumably gathering essence. He tried to call out to him but his mouth was too dry to form words. Licking his lips and the inside of his mouth, he tried again. “Water. Need water.” He was more than willing to get the water himself, but he felt dizzy and weak. The simple act of sitting up almost made him pass out.
Droknal slowly opened his eyes. “You’re awake. That’s >>click<< good.” He stood, grabbed a water-skin and approached Zach. When he was close, he handed over the drink. “How do you feel?”
Zach greedily gulped down the cool liquid before responding. “Weak, tired and not well. What happened?”
“You overexerted one of your chakras and >>click<< blew out several chakra points in your arm.” Zach looked perplexed, as if Droknal was speaking a different language. “You do know what chakra is, don’t you? It is the foundation of essence >>click<<.”
Zach shook his head. “You do remember I was raised on the streets, right? I had no formal schooling and even basic essence knowledge is foreign to me.”
“I apologize >>click<<. I forgot about your… unique upbringing. Chakra are points of spiritual energy inside your body. There are seven main focal points running vertically along your center >>click<<. This spiritual energy is most commonly referred to as essence. Each of the seven primary points help regulate the flow of essence through you. There are several hundred more minor points spread out across your entire body >>click<<.” Droknal pointed to Zach’s right arm and gestured to him to flip it upright. “For example, your arm has a few dozen minor points running down it and several more in your palm and fingers >>click<<. When you used your technique, you overexerted the minor points in your palm and forearm. You can see the damage here.” He pointed at several small red bruises that had formed in a line down Zach’s right arm. “I have to apologize again. I thought you knew this information before I taught you the basics of essence control >>click<<. I honestly thought you were lying when you said the pain was the worst thing you had ever felt. I know learning new techniques can be painful, but flowing essence through your chakra points improperly can lead to death. I’m sorry for thinking you were acting like a baby >>click<<.”
“Wait? Teaching me how to make ice essence could have killed me? And you thought I was acting like a baby!” Zach was going through an emotional roller coaster. He went from being confused, to scared, to angry and finally back to confused in a matter of seconds. Taking a deep breath, he asked, “what are the seven chakra points and how do I use them?”
Droknal nodded. “They have a variety of names and symbols associated with them based on your culture, but I will teach you how I learned them >>click<<. The base of your spine is the first major point, the root chakra. This governs your primal urges like the need to eat and sleep, and self-preservation. Based on your last display of combat >>click<<, I would say you need work on mastering this chakra.” Zach winced, and Droknal continued. “Located in your pelvis is the sacral chakra which helps control your emotions and desires. This is often associated with water and fluidity. You should have an advantage when using this chakra point based on your essence type. Next is the navel chakra >>click<<. It helps control fire essence and inner strength or power. The heart is next. Heart chakra helps with air essence control, but also acts as a spiritual center. Most essence flows through the heart chakra at one point or another when it moves through your body >>click<<.” He paused to see if Zach was following the conversation.
“Keep going. You have my full attention.” He was sitting cross-legged and leaned closer. He was fully engaged and eager to hear more.
“The throat chakra would be next >>click<<.” He pointed at his throat. “This is the center of purity. Following that is the third-eye. Awareness, both physically and spiritually, are found here. Last, but certainly not least, is the crown. Widely considered to be a doorway to pure enlightenment and power. Legend says that mastering the crown chakra would turn someone into a god >>click<<.”
Zach raised a hand, and Droknal nodded at him. “What do you mean, master a chakra point?”
“Ah, good question >>click<<. If you recall, I told you that as you rank up, your body will naturally enhance itself.” Zach nodded. “Well, as you rank up and practice using your chakra points, you can also unlock them to release their full potential. Early on, someone can unlock one chakra point per rank >>click<< advancement. This gets increasingly harder the more points you unlock or master, but the benefits make the effort worthwhile. For example, someone who unlocks and masters their throat chakra would >>click<< become immune to poison and disease. If you master your third-eye, it's said that you become aware of everything around you, even when you’re sleeping. This would make sneak attacks made against you, impossible >>click<<.”
Zach’s eyes went wide in astonishment. “How do I master or unlock a chakra point!? I want to master them all if they give great benefits like that.”
Droknal shook his head. “You simply aren’t ready yet >>click<<. Your body isn’t strong enough to handle the backlash of forcing one of them open and you haven’t trained enough to naturally master one. That takes years of practice.”
“But if what you’re saying is true, this could be the power-up I so desperately need. This could save my life in a battle against Noelle. Please, Droknal, teach me.”
Droknal shook his head again. “I can’t teach you now >>click<<. When you hit the mid basic ranks, we can revisit it.” Zach started to protest, but Droknal held up a hand and added, “only if you don’t continue to bother
me about it >>click<<.”
Zach crossed his arms in defeat. “Fine. Deal.” Wait a minute, he thought. “If you know so much about mastering your chakra, does that mean you’ve mastered one of them?”
“I have mastered a chakra point or two. And before you ask, I won’t tell you which. It’s considered extremely rude to ask someone about this.”
“Why?” Zach inquired.
“If you were a powerful warrior, would you want to share the secrets of your power with others? Describing your strength only outlines your weaknesses. You’re basically asking me to tell you how to fight best against me.”
Zach scratched his head. “I think I understand but I don’t think telling someone that would really give them that much of an advantage against you.”
Droknal placed a hand on Zach’s shoulder. “When you gain some more ranks and better understand chakra, you will understand why you want to keep this information secret.”
The young adventurer shrugged. “I guess… What do we do now?”
“I think it's best to go after the kobolds >>click<<. It’s time for me to teach you something about strategy. Also, I don’t want them to regroup and attack us. You were only unconscious for an hour or two and it should be easy to catch up with them.”
“They may have some loot also, right?” Zach grinned.
Droknal, for a countless number of times that day, shook his head. “You still have a lot to learn >>click<<.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Changes
“I think we need to make some changes, Jeeves,” Breck called out to his mental companion.
“Why do you say that, Sir?”
Breck brought up his memories of the adventurers. He replayed the entire fight for Jeeves and pointed out several flaws. The mage was the first to die, followed by their leader and the shield bearer. “What issues do you see?”
“Sir. I’m sorry, but I don’t see any issues. You managed to kill all your intended targets, absorb their essence, and you received several new patterns. What’s the problem? It seems everything went your way,” Jeeves explained.
“Exactly! That’s the problem. Everything went my way. I think my dungeon is too strong.”
“Why would that be an issue? Isn’t that ideal? Having a strong dungeon keeps us safe,” Jeeves responded in a confused tone.
Breck replayed the footage again, but this time, he added a timer that counted up as the party entered his depths. When the footage finished playing, the timer had only reached a few minutes before everyone had died. “If we continue to take out entire adventuring parties in just a few minutes, no one will want to even attempt to take us on. Not only that, they may send someone in to stop us. I’ll never be human again if someone crushes my core.”
“I see where that could be a problem. But what's the solution, Sir?”
Breck reviewed his current layout. He liked his boss, even though it didn’t have time to shine. The spiders also didn’t get a chance to demonstrate their power. If he really had to admit it, he liked everything about his dungeon. “Hmm… We’ve got to change things up but I’m not sure I want to change much. How about I just lower the rank of the beetles? Right now they’re the same rank as the spiders. The dungeon starts off too strong and doesn’t scale. If I lower the beetles’ rank, it should create more of a natural increase in danger, the deeper someone goes in.”
Breck pulled up the pattern for his beetles. They had iron teeth, strong legs, and were the size of a medium-sized puppy. They looked terrifying. If he had seen them back on Earth, he would have run, screaming for his life. I like their size. What if I removed the iron reinforcement from their teeth? It would make them less effective against heavy-armored opponents, like that shielder, but should reduce their rank. He pulled apart the constellation style pattern and removed several points near the head of the beetle. As he did, he sensed its rank lowering to beginner four, then three and finally settling on two.
He was about to summon his new creation when a thought occurred to him. “Hey, Jeeves. When I was fighting the adventurers, I had to order the beetles around in order to make them effective. I know you said they were basic creatures but is there anything I can do to the pattern to give them more self-awareness?”
“Hmm… Can you show me the pattern?” Breck shared his design with Jeeves. His companion reviewed it against the knowledge he had about the world and essence as a whole. “I think you can edit this section here.” A few points on the constellation illuminated. “This should be the creature’s thought patterns. I’m not sure how to edit their self-awareness, but you should be able to program in some basic instructions. Something simple like, hide and attack or group up and surround your prey. Anything beyond that would require you to create an intelligent creature and I don’t think you're there yet, Sir.”
Breck focused on the few points that were lit up, but he couldn’t find anywhere to add instructions. They were just two glowing points in a star-filled constellation that faintly reassembled a beetle. How am I supposed to program basic instructions? His focus intensified, and he tried thinking about what he wanted his beetles to do, but nothing happened. He pulled up the footage of the adventurer’s battle and tried attaching it to the points but still, nothing happened. “ARRRR! What am I doing wrong!?”
“It’s all right, Sir. For now, it might be best to just control the beetles until you learn to add instructions,” suggested Jeeves.
Jeeves was probably right, but Breck was stubborn and wouldn’t give up without trying everything and then trying it all over again. Hours went by as he experimented and continued coming up with new ways to accomplish his goal. Nothing had succeeded so far, but he made one small breakthrough. When thinking of specific thoughts or intentions and trying to attach them to points on the pattern, it seemed to come close to working. He already knew he could attach and manipulate patterns to one another. That’s how he gave the beetles iron teeth in the first place, but he didn’t have a pattern for his orders. That’s it! I need a thought pattern.
“I’m going to try something new, Jeeves. Please pay close attention and let me know what you think. We’ll call this experiment thought-pattern creation,” Breck exclaimed.
“Yes, Sir.”
Breck put away the pattern for the beetle. The infinite space full of stars, as he was now calling his pattern galaxy, vanished with it. He wasn’t able to pull up the galaxy on his own. He had previously only accessed it when looking at one of his patterns. When he did, its specific constellation would illuminate. Now, he would be trying something new. Rather than thinking of a specific pattern, he thought of his pattern galaxy. To his and Jeeves’s surprise, his mind flooded with a blank cosmos. It wasn’t fully blank. It had several illuminated portions that he instantly recognized as the patterns he had already learned. Thinking of his beetle caused a section of the space to light up. Glowing lights, connected by lines, illuminated the pattern for his monster.
Now to give this a try. Focusing on a single point in the darkness, he pushed a small amount of essence into it. As he did, a light appeared. It wasn’t attached to any of his existing patterns. It was something new. He thought of the instructions he wanted his beetles to have. He wanted them to hide in the shadows, attack when the enemy’s guard was down, stay grouped and focus their attacks on who they thought was the weakest. He thought these instructions over and over, continually repeating them in his head and projecting them to this new point.
Lines shot out from the single point and formed more points. Those points connected to each other with a variety of grids, diagrams and designs that Breck couldn’t understand. He spun the forming pattern and was amazed at how intricate the line work was becoming. It was, by leaps and bounds, the most complex pattern he had ever laid his eyes on. I guess that makes sense. It’s transcribing my thoughts and intentions after all. After some time, the pattern stopped forming and wouldn’t accept additional essence.
“I think I did it… It took a lot of essence, but
I think I created my first pattern. Can you analyze it?” Breck questioned.
Jeeves reviewed Breck’s work. The pattern was complex, and the lines appeared to be forming script of some kind that reminded Jeeves of mathematical equations. It was a subject that was easy for a former computer to understand. “I believe you succeeded, Sir. It appears to be the basic monster instructions you were intending to transcribe. I won’t know for sure until we test them in battle, but I have a good feeling about this. And to think, it only took you a couple of days.”
“A couple of days!?” Breck exclaimed. “I’ve told you several times now, don’t let me focus on a single task for too long. I don’t have a good way of keeping track of time and I’m relying on you to keep me on track.”
“But, Sir. You told me to observe you closely. I didn’t think you would want me to interrupt your process. Who knows what would have happened if I interrupted mid-pattern creation,” Jeeves pleaded.
Breck sighed. “I guess you’re right. But please let me know next time. I can’t burn days away like that.”
Jeeves nodded. “Yes, Sir. Have you attached the pattern yet?”
Pulling up the pattern for his beetle and his newly made basic command pattern, he attempted to attach them. Just like when he added the iron pattern to the teeth of the beetle, the beetle constellation absorbed the command pattern. “It worked!” If that works… I wonder… Breck reviewed his new monster. The cost of the essence to create the beetle increased ever so slightly from adding the command pattern, but its rank stayed at beginner two. He continued to search the arrangement until he found what he was looking for, the points that represented the creature's death. Using his technique for attaching two patterns, he pulled up the constellation for copper coins that he earned from killing the adventurers and attached it.
“That’s brilliant, Sir! Having your monsters naturally drop treasure should make it a lot easier than refilling treasure chests every time a group explores your depths. You’re full of surprises and good ideas lately,” complimented Jeeves.
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