by D. R. Rosier
Still, a dungeon’s strength wasn’t in spellcasting, or mage craft, but I supposed I was still human enough to have it on my list of goals.
Chapter Sixteen
She gasped as she quickly thought through the implications, and the dungeon’s offer had also silenced Sophia and Andy for the moment. It was beyond tempting, but at the same time accepting the offer would risk everything. If they were found out… they’d probably be killed.
Still, she already had a master level aura, her power had been building the last two years with additional training. As long as she didn’t use that new knowledge where it could be seen, and practiced in private, it should be relatively safe. She doubted they’d be questioned on it under truth spell, the masters wouldn’t even conceive of such a thing to ask about it, and the dungeon wasn’t asking for much from them. All they had to do was pass on one fact which was true, and not reveal the glyphs which must’ve been changed somehow.
They might be disciplined for failing to notice the dungeon was awake later, once the dungeon made its bid for freedom, but they wouldn’t be killed for it. Ceran would be in far more danger that way, he was in charge of it all after all. In eight to ten years, she’d be a master level five, and in a good position to start a reformation in truth.
She’d also have all the master level paladin concepts, and also be able to practice that as well under minimal guidance. She didn’t want to make a rash decision, or a greedy one based on immediate gratification, but she also didn’t want to turn away a sure thing. Not when it was so unlikely the church would ever come through and grant access to the master archives.
The dungeon said, “This is for you only Jenny. My name is Narian, and we are distant kin. You are the very image of my wife, and your magical affinities line up with our family’s as well. I’m sure of it. Point is, I will also share with you all the spells I have in the dark sphere. I have the master base configurations for air and light, but not that many spells for those, since I never had those spheres in life.”
She subtly nodded in response, as her mind spun in confusion. Kin? Dark spells? She knew dark magic wasn’t evil, but she’d always avoided even thinking about asking for knowledge about it, the masters wouldn’t have approved. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t tempted. Yes, there were evil death and torturous curses in dark magic, mind control and other abominations such as demon summoning and necromancy. But, there was also teleporting, healing applications, teaching, communications, concealment, shielding, and other applications that weren’t evil at all.
All spheres were like that, had light and dark sides, but the dark magic was just the most obvious about the potential evil in it. Even the light sphere had spells of loyalty and influence and other applications which were forbidden to be explored in the church. No magic was intrinsically evil, it was the caster and the way it was used which determined good or evil.
Point was, she wanted to say yes, badly.
“What do you think? He isn’t asking us to lie, just hold back a little information, and he’s offering so much. I also think morally it’s the right thing to do, he was wronged and should be allowed to have his own existence.”
Andy snorted, “That’s a stretch. He’s asking us to conceal the fact he’s awake, and he’s plotting against the masters of the church. A lie of omission is still a lie.”
Sophia frowned, “Maybe, but we already believe things and want things that would mark us as traitors. What’s one more added to that, for the knowledge and power we need to meet our goals and start a true reformation. Or need I remind you, that we plot against the masters of the church all the time.”
“She has a good point,” she said softly.
Andy nodded slowly, “Alright, we tell them about the presence we felt, and couldn’t find. We speculate that it’s a dungeon imp and not a true problem.”
She turned her head as a couch grew out of the ground.
The dungeon… Narian?
Narian said, “If you accept the deal, take a seat on the couch. The knowledge transfer will take around thirty minutes, and you will have perfect recall of it. It will still take time to study though, a lot of meditation, practice, and even insights.”
Andy asked, “What does that mean?”
She shrugged, “Raw knowledge isn’t understanding. It’ll be like having the tomes of knowledge in our heads, we’ll still need to study it and incorporate it.”
Narian said, “Exactly. There are no shortcuts to power, just to memorization. Although, in the case of spells the knowledge is immediately applicable, if your understanding of magic is deep enough for the spell, and you already have the level of control required.”
Sophia said, “Let’s do it,” and moved over toward the couch and looked at them both.
She joined her, and Andy gave in last. When they were all seated, their eyes rolled back in their heads and they lost connection to the world around them as information poured into their minds.
She was fascinated by the master level teachings, but as he’d warned she couldn’t really grasp it yet as it filtered into her mind. The spells however she understood, most of them anyway. Teleportation, the teaching spell which is what the dungeon was using at the moment to teach them, the communication spell. She was also a bit disturbed by the spells for raising the dead and summoning demons, which she personally vowed to never use.
The base magical configurations for air, light, and dark seemed totally different, but the underlying concepts of spell building and theory of magic were not. She didn’t think it would take her much longer to master all three, than it would take for most to master one of them. The biggest difference there would be memorizing the base configurations for three spheres instead of one, except, she already had that part done, the raw knowledge part.
She received the paladin knowledge as well, and already knew she didn’t have the control needed for most of it, not even in a state of meditation, never mind in battle. Still, with practice she’d get there too, but she decided then she’d master her magic first, and only continue to practice her paladin side of things to maintain her current abilities. Once she was a master level five cleric she could mess with the paladin side of things again.
That had always been her plan, she’d only started paladin training because the church had been holding her back on the cleric side of things.
The transfer of knowledge of took almost an hour instead of thirty minutes, and she felt a little overwhelmed and light headed when it was over. They all shared grave looks, and then headed for the stairs back up to the keep…
Master Ceran’s eyes widened in alarm when they were finished with the debrief. As agreed, they’d only mentioned the presence, and the belief it was a dungeon imp simply because they couldn’t locate it with spells, but knew it was right there in the room with them.
He pulled out a parchment, and he scribbled out almost a full page of notes as they waited silently, then he folded it up and held it out.
Andy took it.
Ceran ordered, “I agree with your conclusions. Take this to the high cleric, right now. We’ll have to act quickly.”
He seemed way too panicked about it, and she worried the dungeon’s plan to calm things down had just failed spectacularly, but she couldn’t see why.
She asked tentatively, “If I may ask? According to lore dungeon imps are relatively harmless?”
Ceran frowned, and shook his head, “To us yes. But it could try and free the dungeon. At worst, we’ll have a freed dungeon that could go insane, at best which is still very bad, the imp will trigger the destruction spell and we’ll lose it as a training resource. The imp must be captured or destroyed. Move, now.”
Shit, they hadn’t counted on this, but what could they do. She felt a small surge of amusement as well, when she wondered how panicked he’d be if he knew the dungeon’s mind was awake already, if still controlled. They all got up and headed out, and walked swiftly toward the city…
Andy said, “Well this
is bad.”
They were about halfway to the city, there was no one around to hear them.
“It’s not our fault, we did what we promised. I’ve been planning out my training in my head, since there’s nothing we can really do about the other thing. Most of it will be in our heads, during meditation, so we can do that part at night. Sophia and I can practice master level spells, and any spells we create from scratch, when we dungeon dive. Or even out in the woods somewhere near the keep, like the paladin training. Which by the way, I’m putting on hold for about eight years.”
Andy smirked, “So, you’re saying I should relax, and not freak out like the master did?”
Sophia giggled, “Yes, that one. I just hope the dungeon doesn’t think we betrayed him when the masters go down there. I also like Jenny’s training plan.”
Andy asked, “Then what happens? I mean, say it all goes as you plan, and in eight years you’re a master level five badass, I don’t even think the high cleric is a level five, most of our superiors are too lazy to take it that far. I suspect the highest is, however.”
She frowned, good question.
“I don’t know, we want to fix the church from within, but in the end that could mean blood, and revolution. We’ll have to give it a lot of thought.”
It was a disturbing idea, but it was also a horribly naïve thought to believe they could declare their true ranks and expect the master clerics to bow and do what they want. The church wasn’t all bad of course, a return to charity, caring for souls instead of coins, and letting the young ones find and pick their own bedpartners were her major complaints.
Something should be done about the balance of power as well, they should be working with the nobility, not against the nobles and keeping them under their thumbs. But… it was all far more complicated, if she couldn’t earn her way into power because it was a narrow-minded lazy ass bastard men’s club, then the only way to reformation was revolution.
That was scary, and it hadn’t been at all possible until they’d manage to get their hands on the equivalent of the church’s master archives. In fact, she suspected she’d just gotten more knowledge than the church even had, there were enough references to know she’d just gotten the combined knowledge of the light and dark elves shoved into her head. She even had the knowledge to go past master level five and into the realm of demi-gods and lesser powered higher realm creatures. She could never use that knowledge to gain power though, unless she was gifted with a modified and enhanced physical body. The human body could only take so much power before it took harm.
What was frightening about the idea was she didn’t even think it’d be all that hard, once she was a master level five along with her two friends. Their greatest strength in their paranoia was also their greatest weakness. There were only five master level clerics and two master level paladins in Tenemin, and no more than twice that in the crown city. Long odds, except how hard would it be to pick them off one by one? She felt guilty at the thought of it, but then the bastards were all fucking naïve and horny young girls with no experience, when they should be protecting them.
She was thoughtful as they reached the city, and they headed for the temple district. The high cleric of Tenemin had an office in the main temple. Despite Ceran’s panic and urgency, they still sat outside the man’s office for close to an hour before they were granted admittance.
She hardly even took notice of the fact the high cleric’s young secretary looked flushed and a little discombobulated. Fortunately, she’d never had to deal with the high cleric in that way, she’d noticed the man had a type, and it ran toward darker brown or black hair with exotic features.
She was attractive, and her large tits on her lissome athletic body had always garnered attention, too much attention in her opinion, but she’d always suspected it was her very light brown hair and the soft beauty of her face and very lightly tanned skin that disqualified her from his attentions. Which she was more than thankful for. She was attractive, but not exotic.
The high cleric, Master Cleric Jacen, was old and wrinkly. He must have been close to nine hundred years old, and had gray hair, brown eyes, and a bulbous nose. The last time she’d seen him was over a month ago, when she’d requested elevation to master, and hadn’t planned on seeing him until next time she could request it.
He looked annoyed at their presence, but that quickly changed as Andy handed him the note.
Jacen read through it, and then stood up with a concerned frown on his face. Apparently, paranoia about the dungeon could break through their laziness, although she realized that thought was unfair. They weren’t just being paranoid… after all, the dungeon was after them.
“Follow me.”
They exchanged glances, and then followed the high cleric out of the temple, and down towards their school. When they arrived, the high cleric just barged into master Doran’s office.
Master Doran was the master cleric in charge of education. Of all three she’d spent the most time with him, because of her classroom and teaching duties. She was probably escorting in the dungeon just as much, but Master Ceran very rarely moved himself to meet the escorts for the younger clerics in training, unless they made a mistake or got someone killed. She’d never had that happen to her.
“What is it?”
Jacen said, “These three adepts have divined evidence of an imp in the dungeon. We need to capture it, destroy it, or chase it out before it frees or accidentally destroys the dungeon.”
Doran stood up, and then started to cast a long spell she didn’t recognize, at least not until the new library helpfully supplied the spell’s name.
She was still surprised, when a portal appeared after he finished the last word, along with an impressive surge of light magic.
Jacen shot them a look, “Come along, the six of us can handle this.”
She reluctantly followed the two masters through the portal, and they were suddenly in the hallway in the keep above the dungeon, right outside of Master Cleric Ceran’s office. Master Ceran must have detected the spell, because it was only a few seconds later when he came out.
Wow, it was the first time she’d ever seen all three men standing at once. She bit off the chuckle that tried to escape at that thought. It wasn’t all that hard honestly, she was a bit intimidated by all three of their master level auras in one place. It was a bit suffocating to be truthful, despite her ongoing mental disparagement they really were powerful men.
Jacen said, “Take the lead, and point out the traps, I haven’t been in there in years.”
She was surprised by the request and admission, but cast the protective spells she usually did, and the three of them led the high clerics to the entrance to the dungeon.
They were about halfway down the stairs, when the earth shook and trembled, and the stone melted and filled in the remainder of the stairway. She swallowed, at least the dungeon hadn’t buried them, and then turned around. Light magic was good for many things, but spells that dug through stone to reach the dungeon’s first level wasn’t one of them.
Jacen was scowling, “This isn’t good.”
Doran snorted, “You don’t say.”
Ceran said, “This isn’t my fault.”
Jacen growled, “Shut up. You three are dismissed, you’re not to speak of what happened, do you understand?”
“Yes, High Cleric,” she parroted dutifully at the same time Sophia and Andy did.
As they walked up the stairs she caught Jacen saying, “Get Baron Marsh in here to open it back up, he’s an earth sphere affinity. We’ll also need a larger force, the dungeon is still bound but obviously awake. Ceran, get an apprentice to watch, maybe it will open back up on its own.”
She blew out a breath, at least they hadn’t been blamed for it. Yet.
Chapter Seventeen
I wasn’t ready, but I’d had no choice but to act. I was also very tempted to bury them all in stone, but Astrith was right, I needed to be smart about my revenge, and not get la
beled as a runaway dungeon. Plus, Jenny had been in that hallway.
I immediately sped up building, and figured I’d be done with the last eight of twenty floors by the next morning. Half of those were already half done anyway, so it was more like six floors left. I also removed all the stairways, and then set up the teleport alcoves.
The teleport alcoves worked simply enough. The one at the end of a floor would teleport anyone to the beginning of the next floor. All teleport alcoves would teleport to the short exit stairway I’d build from just below to out to the temple. There’d be a very short entrance stairway as well, which led to the first alcove that teleported to the first floor. No more direct access anywhere via stairwells. The alcoves would also remember who was where and how far, so someone could take the first alcove down to level sixteen for instance, if they’d been there already, but not if someone who hadn’t been there yet was with them.
It only took about thirty minutes for that part of things, and I also started to implement my redesign of the undead levels. That didn’t take much energy, just move some traps around, change around the mobs, rewards, and things like that. Last but certainly not least, I activated the air enchantments in the walls, so the undead levels wouldn’t stink.
There was only one major issue of course, it would still be several days before I could open that portal and bring in the goblins, which meant my dungeon would have a major level jump as I temporarily bypassed the new second set of four levels, five through eight, for the goblins. That meant no levels for mid-apprentice to mid-journeyman. I’d try to stay buttoned up until I could retrieve the goblins, but if the assholes started digging I wouldn’t have a choice but to open up.
Well, it was the one major problem outside of the fact I’d be completely drained of life force when my defenses were finally set up. If the church sortie reached my room, I doubted I’d be able to defend myself.
