Endless Dungeon

by Richard J Thorn

  The one thought that gnawed at the back of her mind was what if she died? If this WAS a digital game of some kind, where was her physical body? Did she even have a physical body? Had she consented to this?

  Unanswerable questions swirled around in her mind as she padded down the corridor looking for nourishment. The corridor stretched in one direction for what seemed like hours. She was starting to think that the computer had been wrong. Maybe there really wasn't any food nearby.

  But then she heard something squeak right on the other side of the wall. Stopping in mid-stride, she turned her light and wand toward the sound, but only saw wall. She scanned the entire hallway, up and down, but saw nothing.

  Had she hallucinated it?

  Just as she'd given up and turned back to the endless hallway, she heard it again. Being this close to the sound, she was able to pinpoint it. It was directly in front of her, but there was no obvious way to get to whatever was making the sound. It had to be on the other side of the tunnel wall.

  An idea sparked in her mind and she brought out her pickaxe. The sound seemed fairly close, so maybe she wouldn't have to dig very far.

  Cass set the torch and wand on the floor next to her and began digging. After a couple blocks of dirt had been excavated, the squeaking grew louder, now accompanied by frenzied scratching.

  Looks like she wasn't the only one who was hungry.

  Until now, she'd never faced down anything that was at close range. Even though she'd practiced with the wand a bit, she still didn't feel entirely comfortable with it. But it was literally her only defense - unless she was going to whack them over the head with the pickaxe.

  Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the wand and held it tightly in one hand, then swung one last time, breaking through the dirt that separated her from whatever the hell was on the other side.

  The first thing she saw as the block fell away, was terrifying, glowing-red eyes peering back at her. She could've sworn there was evil in those eyes. For one, brief moment, Cass nearly screamed and back away.

  Instead, she held her ground. Calling forth the energy of the wand, she blasted the vicious, 3-foot long rodent. Just as she did, another crawled through the open space and leaped at her.

  2 hp fell away from the first rat's health, but to her surprise, it wasn't dead yet. These were much tougher than the beetle.

  She tried to duck out of the way of the second rat, but it managed to grab hold of her shirt. Cass screamed as the vicious rat sank its fangs into her tender flesh. She'd been cut for 1 hp. That's when she realized she only had 5 to begin with.

  Fear danced in her eyes as she shook the rat free, sending it flying against the cave wall. It squeaked, dropped heavily to the floor and renewed its attack. Kicking out with all her might, her foot connected with the rat. It landed hard several feet away and laid there momentarily, dazed.

  But she didn't have time to ponder the situation. The first rat, blood dripping from its mouth, leaped at her throat. She barely had enough time to move out of the way. It grabbed out and caught a strand of her hair, yanking it out of her head.

  With tears in her eyes, she raised the wand, imagined the biggest fireball she could and blasted the half-dead rat. It squeaked weakly and tried to dodge the flaming ball of death headed straight for it.

  Caught in the fiery flames, the injured rat screamed, the sound of which echoed off the dungeon walls and caused Cass's heart to leap in her throat. Taking advantage of the distraction, the other dazed rat bounded up to her, jumped on her leg and began biting.

  Another point of health fell away as Cass whacked the tenacious rodent over the head several times with her wand.

  "I wonder if the fire will harm me..." She mused as she lifted the wand and spent the last of her energy sending a bolt of flame at the fat rat.

  She closed her eyes, fully expecting to be severely burned by the fire from her own wand, but felt nothing.

  The rat, however, was blasted away from her leg, its death scream cut off in mid-utterance as it slammed against the ground, a puff of dust rising up and enshrouding it.

  Cass wiped her brow and leaned back heavily against the cave wall. Blood trickled from her wounds and she wondered how healing worked in this world. The last thing she wanted was for the bites to get infected.

  Squeak!

  She jerked her head toward the sound and found the first rat staggering to its feet, its glowing red eyes full of hatred and pain. She lifted her wand and tried to cast her fire spell again, but nothing happened.

  Why? What was going on?

  *** You are out of mana. Rest for a few minutes or take a potion to regain more ***

  Mana? Oh shit, that was one of the stats she'd seen earlier.

  Meanwhile, the rat's teeth gleamed in the torch light as a smile crept across its ugly face.

  Chapter 2

  Cass backed up against the wall. Without her wand, she was defenseless. The rat had only 1 hp left, but somehow knew that it held the advantage. Sweat poured down her face as her heart pounded in her chest.

  Her eyes fell upon the pickaxe, but something that heavy and slow would be useless against a quick rat like that.

  At the exact moment the rat leaped, Cass brought her foot down upon the large rodent. The sickening sounds of the squeaking, dying rat and the squishing of its body echoed off the walls. The feeling of the vile rodent being crushed under her boots was something she'd never forget.

  One last scream, then, all was still. Cass's heart was thundering so loud that it was the only sound that could be heard. She looked down at the two dead rodents and wondered if she had the stomach to do what she knew she needed to do next.

  *** Common rats killed 2 - XP gained: 4 ***

  *** Congratulations! You are now level 1! ***

  *** Select ? for more info ***

  Cass slumped against the cave wall and slid to the ground. With her head in her hands, she tried to will away the sound of the dead rat being squished, but she knew it would haunt her for the rest of her days.

  Get a hold of yourself! This is survival now.

  Once her heart promised not to run off, she selected the ? button on her HUD.

  *** New spell gained: Summon pet ***

  *** New recipe: Transmute dirt to wood ***

  *** Roll 1d6 for HP... ***

  Cass rolled 2

  *** You now have 7 HP ***

  *** Roll 1d6 for Mana... ***

  Cass again rolled 2

  *** You now have 7 MP ***

  *** If you need further assistance, say 'HUD.' ***

  Cass shook her head. Everything seemed to be happening all at once. She read over the words several times before she finally understood. A new spell, a new recipe and extra hit points and mana. If she hadn't been so exhausted and hungry she would've been ecstatic.

  As it was, she needed to get the rodents back to base and figure a way to cook them up.

  When she picked them up - very gingerly - she brought up her pack and tossed them in. Hopefully she'd be able to retrieve them again, but she didn't fancy carrying around a pair of dead rats.

  With her mana restored, she wondered about this new spell of hers: Summon Pet. What was that all about? With a hitch in her throat, she selected the spell, brought it down on her quick bar and cast it.

  The spell took all her mana, but what happened next shocked her.

  Projecting just in front of her, were three very different creatures.

  *** Choose a pet. This will be your starting pet that you can call at any time. Additional pets can be added at later levels ***

  Her three choices:

  A large, mean-looking white crocodile snapping its teeth menacingly.

  A medium-sized blue raptor caught in mid-hiss.

  A smallish bear raising up on its hind legs.

  After a few moments of studying each creature, she chose the blue and white raptor. Instantly, the raptor materialized in front of her. Her nameplate read: Trexxa.

  *****r />
  The raptor smiled and hissed at her.

  "Well, hello to you, too!" Cass laughed. It was good to have company, even if it was a dinosaur.

  *** New quest: Get to know your pet ***

  Cass knelt down in front of the raptor and patted her head. Trexxa closed her eyes, clearly enjoying the attention.

  "You ready for adventure?"

  "Hiss!" Trexxa nodded.

  Her heart soared as she discovered that she wasn't going to be alone on this weird journey. At least she'd have a companion.

  Cass laughed at the silly raptor's antics. Head patting turned into belly rubs and scritches. Just like a dog, Trexxa thumped her hind foot uncontrollably when she discovered just the right spot on her belly.

  *** Quest Complete: Get to know your pet - XP gained 5 ***

  Trexxa danced all around, hissing and jumping.

  "What is it, girl?"

  Hiss! She brought her HUD up and pointed at it with her claws.

  Cass stared in complete and utter shock as she looked over the raptor's HUD.

  *** Quest Complete: Get to know your pet ***

  "Wait, you have quests, too?" She shook her long, silky-red hair. This was unbelievable. Whoever heard of a questing pet?

  Hiss! She nodded vigorously.

  Cass studied her new-found animal companion for a moment, trying to make out what to think. Her tough blue-scaled body shimmered in the low light and her emerald eyes sparkled with curiosity and intelligence.

  Again her mind wandered to just what this place was. It seemed interesting enough, that much she knew. But who was behind all this? This...digital world or whatever it was seemed more real to her than she would've expected.

  Trexxa cocked her head to the side, the unasked question splashed across her ruby-flecked face.

  "Trexxa, where are we?" She found herself asking the beast. No, she didn't expect her to answer, but was extremely surprised when she did.

  Trexxa thought for a moment, then pulled up the map on her HUD. Cass didn't even know they had a map. With her claw, she pointed to the blinking blue and red dots that indicated their current position.

  "How did you do that?" Cass looked all over her HUD until Trexxa pointed it out to her. "Oh wow! That makes things a lot better!" Cass studied her map. Most of it was black with the fog of war, except the areas she'd traversed.

  "That's our base." Cass explained to the cute reptile. Trexxa's emerald-green eyes peered into hers inquisitively. "There's not much there, yet. I just got here myself." She shook her flaming-red hair. "I really don't know much of what's going on here..."

  Trexxa rubbed her belly and pointed down her throat.

  Cass grinned. "Let me guess, Trexxa is hungry?"

  Trexxa nodded vigorously.

  Cass sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, little raptor. My tummy's growling, too. All I have are these two dead rats. Unless you like beetle." She laughed.

  Trexxa peered into Cass's bottomless bag and snatched out the dead rats, then looked up and smiled.

  "What are you doing?"

  Trexxa held out her hand, then scurried off.

  Cass scratched her head, trying to figure out what the rascal was doing. It was nice having someone with her. Even if it was a hissing raptor. She no longer felt so alone.

  A couple of minutes later, the wily raptor dashed back with an armful of various-sized sticks. Cass furrowed her brow and watched inquisitively as Trexxa carefully arranged them.

  A fire!

  The more she studied the bundle of sticks, however, the more she realized that even if they were somehow able to light them, it wouldn't burn hot enough or long enough to cook anything.

  Trexxa brought up her HUD and pointed at a blank page.

  "What are you trying to show me, girl?" Cass laughed. "You don't have any..." She leaned close. "Recipes."

  Trexxa pointed at her own HUD.

  "Me?" She brought up her spell book and suddenly remembered the new recipe she'd learned at 1st level. "Oh!" A smile slowly crept across her face. "You think I should mine out some dirt and transmute it into wood?"

  Trexxa hissed and nodded.

  God damn, how smart was this beast?

  Cass read what she could about how to effect the transmutation. First, she needed to mine out the block. Then she could pull up the spell, choose how much of her mana to convert into wood and cast it. Sounded simple enough.

  Five minutes later, she had 0 mana and several nice logs just perfect for a fire.

  Trexxa twirled around and squealed in delight.

  "Now, how do we light it? Can I use my wand?" Cass mused aloud and pulled out her wand. The feeling of the wand's energy coursing through her hand was incredible. She had a feeling that with a bit of practice - and perhaps levels - she was going to be shooting fireballs like nobody's business.

  Cass closed her eyes and pointed the finely crafted ebony wand directly at the pile of sticks. She envisioned actual flames licking up from the wood. Would it work? Would she really be able to start a fire with just her wand? It went against everything she instinctively knew, but between being able to transmute the dirt into wood and using her wand to start a fire, this changed everything.

  She felt the ebony wand thrum hotter in her hand and a moment later her spark spell activated, but instead of destroying, it set the tinder on fire.

  Hiss! Trexxa jumped up and down, her cute little tail whipping back and forth excitedly.

  "We did it!" Cass felt like jumping up and down, too. The hallway lit up with bright, dancing light. As she tossed one of the logs onto the hungry, licking flames, a thought popped into her mind.

  She could use this to her advantage. What did they call it in gaming speak? A DOT? Yeah, that was it. In addition to her spark spell, she could set them on fire. Not just magical fire, but real, burning fire that would bring down their health even faster.

  Trexxa skewered a rat onto a hefty stick and handed it to her.

  "Thank you!" She patted the raptor's head and took the rat kabob. She didn't know if she could stomach rat meat, but the way her stomach was growling and clenching, she knew she didn't have much choice.

  After cooking up the meat, Cass closed her eyes, held her nose and took a tenuous bite.

  Mmm! This was actually tasty.

  They ate their meal in silence. Only the crackling of the flames and the occasional hiss from a content raptor could be heard. With that taken care of, Cass suddenly found herself very, very sleepy. But she didn't want to nap in the hallway, who knew what kind of mobs might stumble upon them.

  "Let's go back to base, shall we? Maybe we can hunt a few more rats and stockpile some food."

  Trexxa hissed.

  Since wood was now plentiful, they put out the fire and left the logs there. They could always come back for them.

  Cass was so tired that she could barely place one foot in front of the other. Her eyes started to droop and she knew she was going to have to curl up soon or she was going to drop. Her first day in the Endless Dungeon had been a long, grueling one and she didn't know how much longer she could push herself.

  She was also extremely thirsty, but that would have to come after sleep.

  How long had she been down here, anyway? Hours? Days? Time seemed to move at an endless pace. With no outside cues, there was no telling what time of day or night it was.

  The moment they got back, Cass huddled in the corner and fell asleep. She was dimly aware when she awoke that Trexxa had curled herself around her and had even supported her head with her body.

  Cass's dreams were vivid, but ultimately unremarkable. She slept for what seemed like days. By the time she finally awakened and fisted the sleep from her eyes, Trexxa had already gathered up some sticks and had everything ready for a fire.

  "Morning, Miss hissy!" Cass yawned and stretched and chased the cobwebs from her mind. She looked at her hp and saw that she was fully healed. It hadn't been the best night of sleep in her life, her lower back hurt a bit, but she felt 10
x better.

  Hiss! Trexxa replied and laid on her back for belly scritches.

  "I take it you're hungry?" The rat kabob had stuck to her ribs, but she must've slept 12 hours as she was famished.

  Trexxa nodded, then pulled up her map, pointing to a nearby area she'd scouted.

  "What's that?" She squinted at a small, blue squiggle. Trexxa zoomed in and the faint details of what looked to be a small underground stream came into focus.

  "You found water?" She asked, her mouth suddenly salivating at the thought.

  Hiss! Trexxa nodded, then brought her attention to several red x's nearby.

  "Mobs? What were they? Did you get a good look?"

  Trexxa grabbed a stick and scribbled in the sand.

  A couple goblins, a large boar and two rats.

  "That's a sizable army. Think we can take them?"

  Trexxa nodded, then circled the boar and scratched out a line away from him.

  "Pull him first? That's a good idea." Cass stood and transmuted up some logs. Hopefully when they got back, they'd have a nice, large pig to devour.

  Trexxa and Cass set off into their first real adventure together. Cass was excited at the possibilities of having someone to fight beside her. She wondered if she could hold the creatures' attentions. She was also going to have to learn how to manage her mana. She only had 7. That would give her at most 2 sparks before needing to recharge.

  After walking for a good 20 minutes, Trexxa turned them down a corridor. She put up a claw to her lips. Cass flicked off her mechanical torch and gripped her wand. She quickly checked her health and mana to make sure they were topped off.

  They crept closer down the darkened hallway. Trexxa led the way as she had superior eyesight and knew where they were going. Off in the distance, Cass thought she could make out clanging sounds, like swords banging together. What was going on?