by Matthew Peed
I decided to put it off to the side or I’d go crazy. I would build some sort of mural to them later on in the dungeon. I felt I owed them at least that much.
“Yeah! Not sure why though. Maybe because I was out of it for a year,” I replied with a finger on my lip.
“Let’s go ahead and build the next floor then. The harder it is, the better.”
“EHHH—I don’t want to work anymore today!” I said, folding my arms over my chest.
“Brat! I mean, Mistress. You need to get this done. You only have ten days left,” Starburst said, obviously doing his best to control his temper. Some part of me was starting to enjoy pushing him.
“I know! But doing all this magicy stuff is making me tired!” I whined. I really was feeling tired. With the initial excitement of the mansion gone, there was an emptiness where the energy I used had been. If I had a body, I was sure I’d be yawning right then.
“One more floor and you can take a nap. I promise,” he said with only a slight growl.
“You promised!” I went over to where the moles were working. It’d be another hour or so before there would be enough space for me to use the floor core, or whatever you want to call it. Since I couldn’t take a nap until the new floor was done, I decided to play with Lucy and Stella as they practiced their fighting. Wasn’t sure if I would be any help, but I didn’t like sitting around for too long.
They were having their toys fight each other. From what I could tell, they weren’t very good. The toys appeared to have trouble moving around, let alone swinging their weapons. The nutcrackers were doing better than the stuffed penguin warriors, but not by much.
“Lucy! Stella! Why are they having so much trouble?” I asked, hovering over them.
Lucy snapped her fan shut and turned to face me. “We’re just not used to controlling them. We were only born a few days ago, you know.”
“Ah! I thought with you being magic and all you’d have a grasp of it,” I said honestly.
“Unfortunately, that is not how the magic functions. Now, if you would be a dear and allow us to practice.” Lucy waved her hand at me dismissively.
I stuck my tongue out at her and flew over to a spot away from the mock fight and dropped to the ground. It was the only surface that felt physical for me, but in turn carried over the fact that it was stone and thus hard as well . . . stone. Making it a less than ideal spot to pout on.
Lying on the ground with my head propped up on my hands, I watched the two of them gradually get better. I had to liken it to a puppeteer. They slowly improved at making the soldiers move. It was fun to watch for about the first ten minutes but quickly lost its novelty. Lucy was having a squad of her nutcrackers charge a line of penguin soldiers that had their shields at the ready when I felt something enter the dungeon.
“Starburst! Something entered my field!” I squeaked at the unicorn, my nerves overtaking me for a moment. I thought I had ten more days! I didn’t want to fight anything. I could feel the tears already starting to form.
“Calm down. They can’t see or hear us. We’re invisible unless we reach out to whatever entered the dungeon. That’s how the magic works.”
I took a calming breath and turned to the entrance. Everyone watched as a man, either in his late teens or just entering his twenties, stumbled down the stairs. When he reached the bottom, he collapsed on the ground. I could sense Aether energy leaking out of him. Almost unconsciously, I reached out with my senses and tried to pull it into myself.
As the energy came into my . . . being, a craving deep inside me awakened. I wanted more! I reached out and tried to pull more of his energy into my field, but something was stopping it from reaching me. Of course! It was because he’s alive. If I had Lucy kill him, all that energy would be mine!
I realized what I’d just thought and screamed, “NO!” Flying into the corner of one of the mansion’s rooms, I huddled into a ball. I wouldn’t be a monster! I didn’t want to do this anymore!
“Girl! What’s wrong!?” Starburst demanded as he burst into the room.
“I don’t want to be a monster!” I screamed and curled tighter into my ball.
“Calm down! It’s just your dungeon instincts. They’re meant to help you survive.”
“NO! NO! NO!” I screamed.
Chapter 6: New Skill?
Lance Teron
“Ugh!” The pain in my shoulder woke me up. I glanced around but didn’t have any way of telling what time it was. So I pulled my phone out and checked the clock. It was well past two in the morning. “Damn, I passed out for five hours.”
Unknown: You will pay for what you did. You better hope we never see you again.
Great! I thought. Am I going to have to skip town? That fucking douche Kyle. I swore I would get him back for this!
I moved to sit up and felt the pain in my shoulder grow worse. I lay back in my original position, using the camera on my phone to check my shoulder, and saw the arrow that was buried several inches into my back.
“Motherfuckers!”
I couldn’t pull it out. I would end up bleeding too much. At least the bleeding had stopped for now. I’d have hated to restart it by removing the arrow and reopening the wound, so I pulled up the browser on my phone to see what options I had available at my disposal. If I went to the hospital, I could be treated, but I’d have to make a dash afterward.
Kyle’s family was pretty highly connected, and they knew I was injured. I was sure they were watching everywhere in the city where I might try to get fixed up, especially considering the message I’d received. I searched for how to bandage the wound, but the best and most-assured-to-help methods required someone else to stitch or wrap it, given its location.
I suddenly felt my energy drop, then a few seconds later I heard a cry that echoed throughout the tunnel. It sounded more like a gust of wind, but part of me thought I heard the word, “NO!” in the current.
I jumped at the noise. It sounded like a howl on the wind. Trying to peer deeper into the darkness was no good. I couldn’t see past a few feet. Even when I used my phone’s light, it only added a few extra feet.
A few moments later there was another cry of “No!” on the wind.
“Rogue monster or user?” I mumbled, lying still. I would already have been spotted since I’d shined my light into the darkness. Whatever was in the darkness knew I was here. If it was a user, I might be able to get help. If it was a monster—well, there wasn’t much I could do. I was a Harvester, after all. I didn’t have any way of fighting anything that might have made this its home.
I felt another sharp pull on my energy that quickly stopped. My eyes widened as I realized what that meant. I was in a dungeon! Jerking my head around, I saw the entrance was sealed by a barrier of light. Just fucking great! This place was supposed to be empty. It had literally been a year since the Aether Shift. What the hell was up with my luck today!?
Thinking quickly, I tried to come up with options on just surviving this mess. Since I couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary, that meant this must be a new dungeon. It would likely only have one floor. That would be a boon if I attempted to fight to the teleport matrix. The monsters would be weak and fragile.
I could wait here, but given that this place was recorded as inactive, it would be months before anyone came down here. Not until the energy readings in the area dropped or a rogue monster was spotted coming out, the latter being the most likely. I groaned as the pain in my shoulder grew worse. The throbbing was causing a headache.
“I could try that. It’s only succeeded twice, if the rumors are to be believed. I’m in a good position with it being a new dungeon,” I murmured to myself as I felt my bag. It was loaded with the materials from the dungeon from earlier.
I screwed up my courage, coughed, then shouted, “I request a trade with the dungeon!” Raising my voice did not help with my pain. I ground my teeth and waited.
A moment later there was a swirl of light as a figure appeared in the distanc
e. I narrowed my eyes as I tried to focus on it. What would I be dealing with? A monster type? I just hope it was not an undead type. They couldn’t be reasoned with.
A blonde girl who looked between the ages of fourteen and fifteen appeared. I coughed, as she was completely nude. I took a deep breath and chanted that it wasn’t human over and over in my head. I had to admit that she had a very nice figure. She almost looked like a model. A small part of my mind was annoyed that her long hair managed to cover the critical part.
“AH!” the figure screamed again before a unicorn, of all things, appeared out of nowhere. She grabbed it and hid behind it. “Why the hell am I naked!?” she cried.
“Mistress, dungeon cores usually don’t care for the trappings of the living.”
“Shut up! I want some clothes!” the girl shouted, then turned away. A moment later there was a flash of light and she was wearing a white one-piece that would not have been out of place in the middle of summer. “Now. What next?”
“This . . . young man requested a trade. He initiated a little-used feature of the dungeon system. Be careful. This is as dangerous as regular users,” the unicorn said while he sent what I could tell was a look of disdain at me. I glared back at him, wondering what he could see of me.
“Gotcha. Then nice to meet you. I am Azaria!” the girl said as she started to hover in the air.
I had to turn my head, as she’d forgotten to create underwear. I could vaguely make out two pink points poking out from the loose fabric. I was getting worried this might not go as expected. “Lance,” I said. “I want to have a clear mind, so could you cover up a bit more?”
Azaria glanced at her chest and squealed in a rather adorable way before there was another flash and I could just make out a cute bra now covering her. “What do you want!?” she shouted at me. Short-tempered maybe? She wasn’t anything like the other cores that had made contact with humans over the past year.
“I need help. I have some materials I would be willing to trade,” I said with a grimace. I was still lying on the ground with an arrow sticking out of my back, after all.
Azaria looked at me for a long moment. “Go to a hospital.”
“If I could do that, I would have,” I replied a bit more curtly than I meant to. She pouted in an angry sort of way and started to float away. “Wait! Dungeon cores can heal this sort of damage easily, right? I’m willing to trade for that alone!”
Azaria paused midflight and glanced at me with a look of consideration. She made her way over to the unicorn, and they whispered something for a few moments. I’m not sure what decision they came to, but they made their way over to me.
“Very well!” she said. “I shall help you. What do you have to offer?”
“Can you at least help me remove the arrow first?” I pleaded. The pain was starting to make it hard to think.
She glared at me but nodded, then waved her hand at something in the darkness behind her. A few moments later the sounded of wood striking stone echoed out. My eyes widened when I saw six nutcrackers that had been enlarged to just a bit bigger than a child of eight or nine walk out. They were armed with halberds that looked plenty wicked enough.
In a few seconds, I was surrounded. One of the nutcrackers reached forward to pull the arrow out, while the rest leveled their weapons at me. With a jerk, the nutcracker ripped the arrow from my shoulder. I gritted my teeth to stop any sound from escaping. I felt it would look bad if I cried out in pain in front of the girl.
Blood started to pour from the wound. Azaria flew over and placed her hand on it, channeling Aether into my wound. My body drank it up like a sponge. The wound closed after only a few seconds, but she didn’t stop the flow. A heat started to build inside, and I felt like I was about to burst when the unicorn pushed her off me.
The heat quickly died. I mentally checked my body and found it felt better than it had felt in years. All the aches and pains that I’d developed over the year of being a Harvester had vanished. I sat up and moved my arm through a few motions. It was as good as new.
I turned to thank Azaria and found she had licked the blood off her hand, and there was some still smeared across her cheek. She had a strange grin and seemed almost like a different person. She raised her hand and was about to say something when her face shifted, and a look of horror appeared.
“NO!” she screamed before flying back into the darkness.
“Don’t mind her, she’s going through some things. I’ll take care of the rest of the transaction. You offered materials. Please produce them before the men carve you up.”
“Of course!” I said, pulling the backpack open. I removed the scales, bones, blood, and the life-stones of the creatures I’d harvested in the Station 62 dungeon. I really wasn’t sure what the fair value of my life would equate to, thus I emptied everything in the bag.
“This will be acceptable. You may reside here for a while if you’d rather not tempt fate. I can tell that you were chased by foes to be in that state.”
“Thank you! I do have a question. Where is the dungeon?” I asked. The darkness was all-encompassing. I worried that it was some sort of dark-aspect dungeon. While it wouldn’t be the first, they were annoying and very dangerous. Humans weren’t exactly equipped to deal with ghosts yet.
“To put it simply, it’s under construction and humans are not able to perceive it yet,” the unicorn replied with a shake of his mane.
“I see. Would you thank Azaria for me? I’m not sure what happened, but she did save my life.”
“I will do so. If you value your life, do not venture past the train car. Young . . . man.”
With that the unicorn turned and walked back toward the darkness. I couldn’t tell where, but at one point he vanished. I’d tracked him with my eyes the entire time too.
“I guess I’ll check my status,” I murmured after the nutcrackers left as well and I was alone.
Lance Teron
Age: 20
Level: 6
Race: Human
Type: Undefined ->Harvester
Aether: 30/100
Skills: Harvest
Achievements: Trading With Chaos – You achieved something few could claim. While it might appear to be dumb luck, even luck has a place in the universe. Aether gain +1 per hour.
I blinked at how my status had changed since the last time I’d viewed it. I had never heard of a Harvester type before. It was just a title that was used for people like me that pulled parts from monsters. I’d even gained it as a skill. That struck me as odd as I’d never heard of someone gaining a skill outside scrolls or awakening. Those were rare items that my poor self had little to no hope of ever seeing.
What could this mean?
Chapter 7: More Summoning and Constructioon
Azaria
What was happening to me!? I’d licked the blood of that person like it was icing on a cake! And I’d liked it! Was I truly becoming a monster? Starburst said it was just my dungeon instincts working, but how much of that was true? Maybe deep down I was always like that . . .
Still that guy felt strange. I couldn’t really understand the Aether at work, but something told me there was something up with him. Maybe if I sliced him up . . . Stop! Damn it. What was wrong with me?
“Girl!”
“Girl or Mistress, choose one!” I shouted at him. I looked up from the ball I was huddled in and realized my body was fading. In less than a minute, I couldn’t see my body anymore and the clothes I’d made fell to the floor. I reached out to grab them only for my hand to go through them. “I hate this!”
“Girl, calm down. The others are worried about you,” Starburst said. I looked up to see the penguin warriors, nutcrackers, the moles, and Lucy and Stella all gathered around me.
“I’m fine, everyone. Sorry for worrying you all,” I said, waving them off. Everyone went back to what they were doing, leaving only Starburst. “Ah, I missed out on my chance to cuddle with you.”
“Maybe next time. Here are th
e things the boy traded. They’re not the best in the world but quite nice for a dungeon starting out. You’ll be able to make more after absorbing them.”
“Is that poison? It’s totally poison, isn’t it?” I said, looking over the things Starburst dropped on the floor in front of me. While the scale appeared to be just a hard material, the vial of purple liquid screamed poison. The bones also seemed to give off that vibe.
“This will really help compliment your dolls. They will be much harder for the divers to deal with if they have trick weapons on them.”
“That seems a bit much . . .” I said, tapping my fingers together.
“You’d be able to absorb the Aether from people who deserve it,” Starburst said with an equine grin.
I gave him a glare and flew off. I didn’t want to deal with him anymore. He just wanted me to kill everyone that came in here. Kill. Kill. Kill. That was all that Starburst wanted me to do. I didn’t want to be some killing machine for the people who put me here, though apparently, part of my mind was right there with him. And . . . I didn’t want to die either. I grabbed my head and spun in circles as I tried to figure out my feelings.
“AHHHH!” I screamed, then took a deep breath. “Putting that aside for now.” I motioned, putting a box to the side. I needed a distraction.
What was it? Work on another floor, right? I flew over to the gap that the moles had formed while I was contemplating life and flew in circles as I tried to think of what to do. Coming up with a blank, I flew back upstairs.
“STARBURST! I can’t think of anything for the next floor!” I whined, landing on his back. I stared at the ceiling, kicking my feet and flailing my arms.
“Gah. Don’t throw a tantrum on my back,” Starburst yelled while trying to throw me.
I laughed at the action. “HAHA! I’m a ghost, so your movements don’t bother me!” I said.
