by D. R. Rosier
It was so stupid, and as usual she pushed down her annoyance. It was fresh in her mind because of the tactics class. The corrupt church had weakened Nysten and Jennesar over the years, it was just a matter of time before someone took advantage, like the Gira dynasty. Those thoughts weren’t ever far from her mind when she gave the tactics class.
After all, they’d be much stronger if they mixed spheres and fought with the noble and commoner mages, and if they didn’t keep them all below master class. She understood it better than most, because of having air she was one of the few clerics that could shield from physical harm. Although, earth and water mages had better physical shields.
Of course, the only danger the masters saw was insurrection from within. Granted, given her ambitions, they weren’t completely wrong about that one. But that was their fault too. Point was, they’d never agree to release master knowledge to all who attained adept status in the church, much less in the nobility or commoner classes.
Andy gave her a reassuring smile, but he looked a bit nervous. It took her a moment to figure out that one, since they couldn’t talk. That mysterious presence they’d all felt but hadn’t reported. They all shared a look that said they wouldn’t talk about it at all, no matter what the master had called them here for.
The door opened, and she ground her teeth when she saw a really cute golden blonde haired seventeen-year-old woman who was currently acting as the master’s assistant. It was obvious from the haunted look in the girl’s eyes why she was in the position.
“He’ll see you now.”
The three of them exchanged one last glance, and then headed in. The outer office was mostly bare, with just a desk covered with papers, inkpots, and a few quills. They walked through it and into the master’s office, and then stood quietly before his desk, waiting to be acknowledged.
Ceran looked to be in his late fifties, which as a master probably put his age past six hundred. He had silver hair, cold gray eyes, and a distinguished face. He was even handsome in a way, she admitted to herself, but the man still turned her stomach.
After all, she knew exactly what the golden blonde’s duties were, she’d been there herself once too. She’d put up with it for the chance at power, and because her body had needed sex anyway, which… she wasn’t quite sure if she was more disgusted at him or herself. It’d been more than that of course, she’d been naïve, awed at their power and supposed wisdom, and they’d easily coerced into serving in that fashion by their authority and influence.
Ceran looked up, and then frowned at them. He waved absently at the chairs.
“Sit. I have some questions for you three.”
They all sat down reluctantly, but she was slightly heartened, he looked and sounded confused, not angry.
He continued, “You three are probably the most experienced team of adepts that still dives, and I need your insights. Have any of you noticed anything different about the dungeon at all?”
Andy shook his head slowly, “All the traps, mobs, and ambushes are the same as always, at least the last time we went down there, about three days ago?”
Sophia replied, “Me either.”
She shook her head, “I agree. I haven’t seen anything strange or new down there with the mobs.”
He sighed, “Something is going on. I don’t know what. The dungeon’s strength has been consistent, neither rising or falling, yet the ambient magic has been steadily rising the last month, and it continues to do so. Not a lot, but enough that something has to be going on. Light is staying consistent, since that’s from an artifact, but fire, earth, and dark are all rising.”
If that was true, she’d totally missed it. Ambient levels were important, the higher the level the quicker someone could absorb it and convert it to lifeforce.
She said, “Light and air haven’t felt different. I don’t use dark magic, even to regenerate my lifeforce, so I’m not sure about that one.”
He frowned, “They aren’t different, the first two. The greatly enhanced ambient light magic is from a buried and lost artifact somewhere down there. The raised water is from an underground river as far as we know, if ancient reports can be believed. Air is and has always been the normal ambient magic. The dungeon is dark, fire, and earth, and those three have been going up according to the monitoring spells. From what we understand of dungeons, that’s something that happens as a dungeon grows in power and builds and adds more levels.
“I’m positive it’s not that first one, the crystal’s lifeforce and ambient leakage has been consistent. The puzzle is there aren’t any new levels either, couldn’t be, not with the dungeon under control spells and held quiescent. Well, all things being equal, but they are not equal, something down there is causing a rise in the ambient fire, earth, and dark magic. I want you three to go check it out. Perhaps if you focus on the problem you’ll pick up something you missed. If you do succeed, I’d be happy to add my recommendation to your files.”
She nodded, but inwardly fumed. That last part had been the carrot and the stick. If they figured it out for him and saved his job, while he lazily sat on his ass, they’d have a better chance at the next promotion time, but if they didn’t find the cause they’d never get promoted. She could see it in his beady gray eyes.
Andy said, “We’ll get right on it, with your leave?”
Ceran waved his hand negligently in dismissal.
They stood up and headed for the dungeon entrance, which was in the back of the small chapel dedicated to the pantheon, but specifically to Boduna, the goddess of order. They were completely silent, as they quickly worked their way through the first three levels. She had them all shielded with air magic, and her and Andy with a light shield against magic. Sophia could shield herself for that last one.
They started to go through the fourth floor, moving more cautiously, and paying attention. They were adepts on a journeyman level, in a dungeon that had been enslaved, but stupidity and a lack of vigilance could still get the moronically unwary killed. It was still dangerous.
Andy asked, “Are you feeling anything?”
She nodded reluctantly, “Yes, the dark ambient mana is definitely thicker. Any ideas what it could be. It couldn’t be the dungeon, but what else could it be? Even if there was some other cause, what’s the chances that something else would have the same three spheres as the dungeon?”
Sophia snickered, “None. We felt that presence remember? Maybe the dungeon isn’t as enslaved as we thought.”
She frowned, “That would imply a high level of intelligence, if it was somehow free and doing things sneakily.”
Andy said, “There are rumors it’s not a natural dungeon, and that’s why the masters are so insistent it stays enslaved. I don’t know if there’s any truth in that or not.”
They fell silent again, as they started on the fifth level which was low adept in threat. Elementals were dangerous creatures, far smarter than undead, and even without a dungeon controlling them could come up with different tactics.
They worked their way down to the dungeon’s core room, where the marble bier and dungeon crystal sat.
“Is it my imagination, or does that crystal look bigger to you?”
She felt a surge of dark magic, and then looked around.
“What the hell was that?”
Andy frowned, “I don’t know, maybe, but that presence is back. Let’s see if we can find it.”
Chapter Fourteen
“Don’t come out!”
Well shit. Talk about bad timing.
My descendent and her two friends had come in, before I could tell Astrith to stay away, she’d teleported in from her weekly visit to the forest. The only fortunate thing was Astrith must not have found anything new, because she teleported straight to her abode, which was hidden from the eyes and magic of the humans in my dungeon.
Still, they’d felt the flash of dark magic the teleportation made, and they could feel her presence. Now they were examining every damned stone, shadow, and co
rner in the room.
Worse, my descendent, Jenny, had noticed my dungeon crystal was bigger. I’d been growing as I grew out the dungeon floors, raised the ambient magic, and channeled more magic. I hadn’t let my internal life force grow more than what it was a month ago, but I couldn’t help those small indicators at all. Ambient mana grew in proportion to a dungeon’s size, whether or not those levels were connected or not.
It was why my absorption rate had risen with all the new mobs.
Astrith replied, “It’ll be fine. They won’t find me in my concealed home.”
Sophia said, “I know something is here, but I don’t see it.”
Astrith said smugly, “See.”
I rolled my eyes, internally of course.
“Yes, dear,” I said, then smirked at her mock gasp of outrage.
Andy frowned, “Maybe it’s enough, we can report the presence. Any ideas what it could be?”
Oh, no reporting the presence, bad humans. I felt a little panicked.
Sophia snorted, “Do you think that will be enough to get that recommendation? I doubt it.”
Jenny sighed, “Sophia is right, we don’t have to fix it, but if we don’t figure out the source we’ll never get approval for master level training.”
Hmm, I thought that maybe I could use that. Still, it was a desperate idea, and I wasn’t ready to make my move yet, so I decided to wait and see if they figured anything out. They might take a bribe of knowledge, but they might not, I’d no way to judge their loyalty to the church as it was.
Astrith asked, “Should I leave?”
I thought about it for a second, “I’m not sure if that would help. If they find your home you should leave, but that should be impossible right?”
I felt her wordless agreement, but also her worry.
The three of them were going over everything, and Jenny was casting a bunch of detection spells but none of them were working to find Astrith.
Jenny said, “Nothing. I also have no idea what half the glyphs on the bier mean, so I can’t check on the spells.”
Sophia replied, “They’re probably representations of master level magical configurations and spells, of course we won’t recognize them. Is it possible we’re feeling a dungeon imp?”
There was silence for a moment, and if I’d had lungs I’d have been holding my breath.
Andy asked, “What made you think of that?”
Sophia shrugged, “It fits the lore. Explains why we’d feel a presence but be unable to find the source. The dungeon itself would be unable to hide. Maybe there’s a dungeon imp, and it woke the dungeon up somehow, or its presence is causing a rise in ambient magic?”
Wrong, but not by much. Fuck!
Jenny sighed, “Alright, let me cast some spells, maybe if I show him an illusion of the bier and glyphs as they currently are, and he doesn’t have to get up off his lazy ass, we might get that recommendation. He can’t expect us to find something with the dungeon when we can’t read the damned enchantments. That, and the speculation on the presence might be enough for him to figure it out.”
Andy grunted, “Better than nothing, and Sophia’s idea fits the facts, even if it’s not exactly that, it could be something like it.”
Well, shit. I wasn’t sure, but there was a good chance that master would figure out he was mentally free, if still controlled, if he saw the current glyph setup. Worse, he could set off the destructive spell if he was paranoid enough, and I wasn’t sure I could stop it if it was triggered. Escaping it when it was quiescent, and I was ready to move wasn’t even a sure thing. Although, I had a much better chance at it from the inside of the spells than someone on the outside would have.
The crystal destruction spell was already active after all, and below wards which also held the spell in a kind of stasis. If the wards were disturbed it would release the spell, making it almost impossible for me to be rescued by someone else. But… I was on the inside, with the spell, so could get to it without disturbing the outside wards first. But, I wasn’t really ready to move, not yet.
“Advice, gorgeous? Should I make contact and try to talk them out of reporting it?”
We had a little time to talk about it, the spells that Jenny was casting to capture a three-dimensional representation of the bier and glyphs would take time, not long, but a few minutes.
Astrith replied, “It’s a risk, but not doing it might be worse. If you let them go with that information, you’ll have to make your move early, as soon as the masters gather a force to come down and fix it. There’s a small chance those three will cover it up for the knowledge they seek.”
I said, “Maybe, it would get them master level knowledge, but if they were caught out they’d be banished or killed for betrayal. The knowledge isn’t enough, they’d have to want to stand against the master’s current regime, and they’d have to count it as worth the risk.”
Astrith said, “Well, we’ve heard them bitch often enough the last month about the masters while they fight down here. You could also add a stick to the carrot by extorting their help.”
What? Threaten to tell on them? I wasn’t sure about that, Jenny was my family, and she wanted to fix the church from within. I struggled with the idea of what to do for a while, but eventually agreed with her conclusion. If I let them go, I’d definitely have to make my move early, so there was very little risk in making the offer. Worst that happens, is I’d still have to move early.
Well, that wasn’t completely true was it, worst that could happen was they’d try to end me then and there. But, they were adepts, and I could protect myself if I needed to. Dungeons strictly weren’t supposed to, but I could shield myself, the bier, and the wards. I couldn’t hold out against multiple masters, I’d only been master level three in power and understanding in life, but adepts I could handle.
I fashioned a communication link with dark magic, and I’d had to make it pretty damned powerful. Reason being, Jenny was shielded from magic in that moment. My spell shot out and impaled her protections, and it tore right through them and settled in her mind.
“We should talk.”
It was almost worth it just to see her yelp, and her startled jump got at least two feet of air.
Jenny said, “What the fuck! Something just spoke to me, in my head. I can feel the dark magic spell.”
Sophia tilted her head, “What did it say?”
Jenny frowned, “He said we should talk. So talk, what the hell are you?”
I shot out two more spells.
“You can all hear me now. I’m the dungeon of course, and I want to make a deal.”
Sophia glanced at the exit, and I could see the panic in her expression.
“Relax, I mean you no harm. Even if you say no I’ll allow you to leave.”
Andy growled, “You can’t be the dungeon, the dungeon is kept asleep. What are you, we can feel you.”
I sighed, “You’re feeling my dungeon imp, not me, and ask the girls, they can tell where the magic originates for this communication spell.”
Andy opened his mouth, but Jenny cleared her throat.
“He’s telling the truth Andy. I can feel the spells, they’re definitely coming from the crystal.”
Sophia just bit her lip nervously and nodded in agreement.
Andy frowned, “What do you want?”
I said, “I think we can both help each other. I’ve been enslaved by the church for two thousand years, and only woke in the last month. I will tell you this truth, I was brutally murdered in a coup, and I was imprisoned in this dungeon crystal. In the past Nysten was ruled by the nobles, and the church only interfered with charity, gods, souls, and moral leadership, they did not rule, and they weren’t lazy. The church was corrupted however, slowly over time. I imagine because there were no external threats, and ambition men usually look for their own trouble when none finds them.”
Andy said, “Again, what do you want.”
I sighed, impatience of youth.
“Simpl
y, I want you to tell your master everything is fine, and you suspect a dungeon imp is responsible for the rise in ambient mana. I need… more time to prepare, and that should slow them down a bit and be less alarming than knowing I’m awake. They’ll be lazy, and they’ll argue about what to do and if they should even do anything. You must not show them the glyphs on the bier, I’m still enslaved, but I’m also awake.”
Jenny asked, “More time to prepare for what?”
I replied, “Freedom of course, I plan to break the control spells, and be a real dungeon. But, my defenses need to be finalized, so they don’t simply destroy me.”
Andy narrowed his eyes, “And why would we help you?”
“Good question. Three reasons. One, our goals and purposes align. I wish revenge for my murder, and the murder of my wife Duchess Carolynn of Tenemin, but not against the whole church, just the current corrupt regime running the church is my enemy. Two, I’d be a much better training tool if I was a true dungeon, I have no wish to be put down as a runaway dungeon by the adventurer’s guild. Three, because I can offer you all what you so desperately want, knowledge.”
Jenny gasped, “What knowledge?”
“Master level knowledge of course. Sphere base magical configurations, spells, techniques, and insights into the subtleties of master magic, and for the paladin as well. I was only master level three when I was betrayed and killed, but I had the knowledge of a master level five and beyond. It would still take you many years, perhaps eight, of hard work and study to harness that information, gain true understanding, and learn master level control, but the church could no longer hold you back. You would be free to share it with others, but I would request the origin of your newfound knowledge be kept a secret.”
It occurred to me then that I might not be stuck at level three, because I’d been experimenting with magic and enchantments since I woke up. Given enough time, my understanding would go up, and of course my raw lifeforce power as a dungeon would greatly exceed any master alive. But, that was years in the future, it would still take me at least four years to gain master level five, and even more years to go past that mortal constraint.
