Endless Dungeon

by Richard J Thorn

  Contents

  Title

  Richard J. Thorn Copyright Notice

  Story

  Dungeon Craft Online Book 1: Endless Dungeon (Part 1)

  Copyright © 2019 by Richard J. Thorn

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Dungeon Craft Online ***

  Book 1: The Endless Dungeon

  Chapter 1

  Cassandra Flynn fisted her bleary eyes open. At first, she could see nothing. Just inky blackness. Her heart pounded in her chest and panic welled through her mind. Where was she? What was going on?

  *Who* was she?

  Cobwebs clung tenaciously to her thoughts and she found she could not push them aside. She could remember nothing of "before."

  Was she dead?

  She pinched herself and screamed. That old tried and true superstition worked.

  Okay, so she wasn't dead.

  Was that a good thing?

  As she contemplated these philosophical, unanswerable questions, her vision grew accustomed to the dim light.

  Was that a glowing mushroom?

  She sniffed the air and smelled...dirt. Dampness. Was she underground? She had to be. That would explain the lack of light - and the glowing mushroom.

  Wait, glowing mushrooms?

  She lifted herself from her prone position and sat up on her elbows. Now that she was paying attention, she could hear far off sounds - a dripping of water, a low, very unsettling moan, a buzzing that sounded suspiciously like a bee buzzing her ear.

  Instinctively, she whacked it away. A red "1" flashed across her vision for a moment before fading. Replaced by flashing blue words.

  *** Common bee killed - XP gained: 1 ***

  *** Select the "More" button for more stats ***

  Cass shook her head and swiftly stood up. What was going on? She whipped her head around, but the words stayed in front of her, played out in crisp, readable font. She shivered when she glanced down and saw an actual, large bee curled up dead on the floor a few feet from her.

  "What the hell?" She whispered as she stared uncomprehendingly at the dead insect.

  What did it mean XP gained 1? That sounded suspiciously like a game.

  But it couldn't be, right? She was about to select this "more" button, when her eyes were drawn to a faint - almost imperceptible - light blue, glowing aura surrounding the insect's wings.

  What was that?

  Why was it glowing?

  It was a different color than the mushroom.

  Cass dithered for a moment before deciding to inspect the dead beast's wings.

  Kneeling down on the earthy floor, she carefully picked up the bee. A green "Harvest" hovered just above the wings.

  Harvest?

  What the hell was she supposed to do with dead bee wings?

  Maybe this held a clue to her predicament.

  Holding the bee delicately, she plucked both wings off. Now what? Suddenly in her vision, she noticed a backpack icon. Selecting it, she immediately found herself staring into a very large pack that was simultaneously on her back and in front of her.

  As she held the bee's wings, she also noticed a small "?" appear beside them. Selecting it, some information about the item popped up.

  *** Bees wings are low-level alchemy ingredients typically used in healing and mana potions. *** The information read.

  Healing? Mana? Potions?

  Cass shook her head. This had to be some kind of a game. Was this perhaps a dream?

  The first thing she noticed in the pack was some kind of odd-looking torch. Carefully lifting it out, she noticed it had buttons. Curiously, she pressed one and the room suddenly brightened. She had to cover her eyes as she was momentarily blinded.

  What on earth was going on?

  Once her eyes adjusted to the bright light, she looked around the room she was in and verified that she was in some kind of underground tunnel. It didn't look exactly cave-like and she saw no obvious entrance, but at least now she could light her way.

  Using the odd torch, she peered further down into the pack. Two things immediately stood out. The first was that the pack seemed bottomless. It looked as though if she dropped something down into it, she'd never be able to retrieve it.

  She furrowed her brow.

  The second thing that stood out was a couple of tools. One looked like an old-fashioned miner's pick. What was that doing there? The other was what seemed to be a wand of some sort.

  This intrigued her.

  Carefully picking up the wand, she felt an odd thrum flow through her. Faint, distant memories circled her mind like buzzards circling a dying animal. Words and thoughts flitted unbidden through the cobwebs in her head.

  Fire.

  That word stood out amongst all the others.

  Fire? Why would fire --

  Just thinking about the word caused her wand to begin to glow. The deep ebony wand grew warm in her hand and the tip pulsed with what felt like ancient magic.

  Concentrate. She heard a voice in the back of her head. Concentrate on the fire flowing through you. Become one with the wand.

  The words were like memories - ancient and distant. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the wand. She willed the fire to loose from her body, travel through the wand -- then what?

  Realizing she was pointing the wand at the backpack, she jerked it away - just as a spark danced off the tip and bounced impotently off the cave walls.

  Cass stared at her wand for several minutes, a million conflicting thoughts dancing seductively through her head.

  Did she just...?

  Before she could finish that thought, the wand grew even brighter and a candle-flame's worth of fire shot out of the tip.

  "Oh my God!" She put her hand to her mouth, momentarily forgetting all about the bee's wings.

  The wand began to glow even brighter and fear coursed through her. Could she control this? What if she couldn't?

  Clear your mind. The voice came again. She looked around, but knew no-one would be there. She did as the voice bade. Cass cleared all her thoughts, allowing the fear and worry to dissipate like smoke into the air.

  The wand cooled.

  Cass opened her eyes and let out a deep breath. A breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

  Her heart thundered in her chest and adrenaline zipped through her veins. Her entire body shook as she suddenly realized that she had some kind of latent, magical power.

  A power to kill.

  Putting the wand away, she reached further in the pack, wondering if there was anything else inside. Searching around, her fingers brushed against a piece of paper. Pulling it out, she read the note:

  Good luck!

  *****

  Cass studied the note for several minutes, then crumpled it up and threw it back in the pack.

  Someone wrote that note. For a brief moment she thought she could recall who, but the cobwebs were too thick and the fleeting memory escaped her tenuous grasp.

  How long had she been here?

  Where was 'here,' anyway?

  She gnawed on the questions like a dog gnawing on a bone.

  The most important question was: why? Why was she in this dank dungeon? She could hear scuttling noises slowly creeping closer and wondered if she should take shelter.

  She looked back down at the axe.

  What on earth was that for?

  The moment she grasped it, a quest box popped up over her vision.

  *** New quest: Find or create shelter ***

  Shelter? Cass stood and swung the heavy axe. It felt c
lunky in her hands. But what the hell was she supposed to do with it?

  A hint popped up.

  *** Use your pickaxe to tunnel through the wall. ***

  Cass shook her head, her red, shoulder-length hair falling around her face. This was absurd! Tunnel into the earth? Just like that? As far as she knew she'd never used an axe before in her life.

  She looked around the room in dismay. Not having any previous memories made her feel so lost. Like a newborn birthed into this new - digital - world. Was this a game? It had to be.

  Another info box popped up.

  *** Swing the pickaxe in a downward arc to tunnel through dirt ***

  Really helpful there. Cass took a deep breath, looked for a suitable spot, then lifted the large, iron pickaxe up over her head.

  It was so heavy, she nearly stumbled backwards. But somehow she regained her footing and swung the heavy tool, smashing it against the cave wall.

  What she expected to happen and what actually happened were two wildly different things.

  She expected pieces of the dirt to come flying out. Instead, the place where the pickaxe had contacted turned into a glowing square brick with a line above it.

  "What the hell?" Cass said breathlessly.

  *** To break through dirt, continue hitting the same spot until the hp bar is exhausted. ***

  Cass felt suddenly like she was tripping on acid or something. This was surreal. Hp bar? Maybe that was what that white line above the brick was? She swung again, this time the bar diminished to half. Two more hits and a small, brown, square dirt popped out onto the ground. The section of cave that she had been hammering on now had a large, 2 foot x 2 foot cube carved out of it.

  What. The. Fuck?

  The tall, human, red-haired female stared, open-mouthed, at the apparent hole she'd just banged out. Tentatively, she put her hand through the hole, wondering if she was losing her mind.

  *** Great, now build a doorway and tunnel a bit into the wall ***

  The helpful instructions interrupted her reverie.

  "Seriously? Just bang the pickaxe against the wall a few times and make a tunnel?" Cass whispered in awe. For some reason that thought tickled her. Time was both frozen and endless in the cave, but Cass estimated that it took her nearly a half an hour before she had dug out a sufficient amount of space to feel comfortable in.

  She wasn't entirely sure why she was doing it, she was just happy to be doing something.

  She found that once the blocks were out of the wall, they were extremely light-weight and easily manipulable. She even successfully put one back in the wall. This was turning out to be fun!

  Moving all the dirt blocks out to a big pile in front of her make-shift abode, she turned her attention to the ever-increasing scuttling. It was not only getting closer, but starting to annoy her.

  Cass closed her eyes, tamped down her fear and pulled out her wand. Instantly, like the recognition of a long-lost lover, it thrummed softly in her fingers. This time, instead of fearing the magic, she embraced it.

  The ebony wand responded to her desires.

  With her futuristic-looking torch in one hand and her ebony wand in the other, she crept toward the sound. Whatever it was, it wasn't trying to be stealthy. The chittering and scuttling grew louder as she padded softly down the hallway.

  There!

  Off in the distance, the torch light reflected off the creature's eyes, reflecting an eerie, blue-green shimmer from its pupils.

  Fear crept along Cass's spine. Whatever it was, it was the size of a small dog. Several pincers snapped menacingly and the blue-green pinprick eyes flashed to red and back.

  Her wand thrummed eagerly in her hand and its warmth comforted her.

  "Think we can take it?" She asked the wand, which responded with a glowing tip.

  Mustering all the strength she had, she pointed the ebony stick at the slowly-scuttling creature. She closed her eyes, envisioned the fire coursing through her body. She suddenly understood that the magic didn't come from within, she was merely the conduit.

  Where did it come from?

  When she felt she was ready, she opened her eyes and released the energy directly at the slow-moving critter.

  A weak spark spouted from the wand, glancing off the creature's tough chitin armor.

  "Concentrate!" She hissed at herself. Staring the weird bug in its hypnotic eyes, she called forth even more power.

  Focus. The voice told her. Think reverse prism. Take the energy from all around you and funnel it through your wand. Picture in your mind the fire you wish to disperse.

  Cass did exactly that. Holding her torch out in front of her like a beacon, she pointed the wand at the scuttling bug. Good thing it was slow or she'd be...dead.

  Releasing all her doubts and fears, she let go of any blockages and just let the fire flow freely through her. The warmth of the wand felt good in her hands and the moment she envisioned a bright, fiery ball of flame, one shot out the tip of the wand.

  She cried out in shock and surprise as the ball of flame flowed through her body, traveled down the wand and out the tip. She didn't see the fire as it coursed through her, but she could feel it; sense it.

  It all happened so quickly that she barely registered the red numbers flashing in her face. The large bug squeaked and flipped over on its back, smoke rising from its carapace.

  Cass looked at the glowing wand, stunned.

  *** Dung Beetle killed - XP gained: 3 ***

  This time she selected the 'more' option and saw that she had actual stats. Where did these come from? The more she saw, the more she was starting to realize that she was, indeed, a character in some game.

  She currently had 4/10 xp and that she was 0th level. How did that even happen? What happened when she leveled up? She couldn't quite recall, but she could believe that she'd played these types of games before. But being inside one?

  A chill swept through her.

  Nothing on the beetle glowed, so she left it alone and continued excavating her house. Or base. Or whatever it was. When she had done as much as she thought she could, she slumped down on the dirt floor and relaxed.

  "Man, I wish I had something to eat right now." She ran her fingers through her long, red hair. Her face was bathed in sweat. She was getting a bit tired, but didn't fancy sleeping on the floor.

  *** Quest complete: Find or create shelter. XP gained: 2 ***

  *** New quest: Find some grub. ***

  Cass wrinkled her nose. 'Grub' had such a nasty connotation. What she wouldn't do for a nice, juicy steak right about then.

  "Where can I find this 'grub'?" She asked, not really expecting an answer.

  *** Grub can be found all throughout the endless dungeon. Scans indicate there are approximately 2500 calories within 500 feet of your current location. ***

  Cass's eyes jacked open. "You can't mean..." She whispered, horrified at even the thought.

  *** Insects are a great source of protein and — ***

  "Stop!" She covered her ears. "Is there any...traditional meat in the vicinity?"

  Her personal AI assistant calculated for a moment.

  *** There is a 90% probability of acceptable meat within a 30-min walk ***

  Whew! Cass slumped her head back against the wall. The last thing she wanted to do today was eat bug meat.

  *****

  In a weird way, she was proud of her little domicile. It wasn't anything spectacular, literally just a hole in the wall. But it was hers. It was built with her blood, sweat and tears. Or at least her sweat.

  She wondered if there was some kind of crafting that would allow her to decorate her 'pad.' The first thing she was going to need was a bed. She may have awoken on the cold floor, but she didn't think she could get much sleep on it.

  As she had no way to make a door just yet, when she wanted privacy, she put a couple of dirt blocks back in. Maybe it wouldn't keep a determined beast out, but the smaller critters would have a much harder time getting in.

&nbs
p; Her stomach growled and she knew she was going to have to find food soon. She didn't fancy eating the beetle she'd killed, nor any of those glowing mushrooms. She also didn't know how she was going to cook anything. Perhaps her wand had a fire-starting setting?

  Making sure her small room was as free of dirt and debris as she could, Cass holed up the door and set off, wand and torch in hand.

  Hadn't the computer - or whatever it was - said something about an endless dungeon? What in all of Hades was that about? A chill swept through her as she thought about spending a significant amount of time in this dank, dark place.

  She'd poked around in her HUD settings and saw that she had a spell book - with only one spell in it: Spark. There were many, many blank pages, not just spells either, but alchemy, cooking, blacksmithing, pretty much everything she could think of.

  Thinking about the possibilities excited her. She may have been stuck here - wherever here was - but at least there were many ways she could entertain herself.

  But one page of her blank spellbook stood out above all others.

  Pets.

  Pets?

  Another shiver raced through her. A shiver of anticipation. What kind of pets? Supernatural, like elementals or more mundane like wolves and bears? Or, perhaps something in between such as griffins or unicorns.

  A pet that she could call forth from the earth that would actually fight for her would be awesome.

  Another page was titled: Mini Pets.

  Cass had so many questions, but her growling stomach pushed them aside. She needed to find something to eat - and soon.

  She tried to fathom how big this "endless dungeon" must be and found she couldn't. What kind of creatures - or monsters - lived here?