Dungeon Spawned: Dark Dungeon 01

by D. R. Rosier

  Jerrold asked, “So, all set?”

  She nodded, and they all walked into the last space together. There were four warriors, two mages, and a succubus that even drew her eye. She’d been told by other groups that was the basic group to fight against on the next level, kind of a sneak peek. She was already wet from all the fighting and magic use, so the succubus being there was a more effective distraction than most would imagine.

  She clenched her jaw and ignored the desire to strip off her robe, it was up to her to start out the fight. Her large bolts of air would be little more than annoying at this stage, and weren’t so effective on levels four and five, so she’d studied up and practiced another spell.

  She cast what appeared to be a bolt of air, and saw Jerrold take off at the same time toward the mages. When the bolt hit, it exploded into a whirlwind that surrounded and battered the warrior. It wasn’t just a normal whirlwind though, it was made up of air blades that would find all the crevices and openings in armor. She prepared another one as Sienna’s fire bolt hit the whirlwind around the demon warrior.

  The fire was sucked into it, and enhanced, essentially making it a firestorm. Demons were resistant to fire on this level, but it still burned them by raising the temperature of their armor. Resistant to fire didn’t mean resistant to burning hot metal.

  The first two demons probably wouldn’t die from it, but it would eat their shields and harm them enough for what was coming. The saving grace was the large room the fight took place in, and the last two demons ran at them in a rush, but they wouldn’t close the distance in time. She’d practiced hard, and the spell only took a second or two for her to cast now.

  Her and Sienna had the other two disoriented and surrounded by a firestorm of wind blades before they crossed half the distance.

  At this point the succubus stopped trying to be sexy, and revealed her claws, but didn’t attack. Sex demons didn’t fight unless cornered and attacked, and so far, they were simply ignoring her.

  Jerrold grunted loudly across the room, as two spells hit him from the mages, but his armor and glowing sword protected him from both the curse and dark bolt. She grinned, as he took a mage demon’s head with his first swing, the second one dodged a couple of times, but wound up impaled.

  It was about that time when her whirlwind spells ran out of magic to maintain cohesion, and the bloody and harried looking demons growled as they took stock of the situation. The truth was, while her spell was effective it was mostly a delaying action, and to whittle some or even most of their life energy. She could probably blast them and kill them now, but she didn’t need to. Before they decided on a course of action, Suzy’s incredibly long and complicated spell was finally complete.

  There was a huge surge of light magic that filled the room, golden in aspect, and when it cleared the demon warriors were nothing but charred husks, and the succubus looked to be on the edge of death. The exorcism spell was nasty on creatures with dark magic, area based, and only the completely unharmed succubus managed to live to see the end of it. She wouldn’t live long.

  Catalina sent an oversized air bolt, the succubus had no protections left, and certainly wasn’t wearing armor of any kind. The air bolt blew the demonic hussy apart.

  Jerrold said, “Next time I’ll just watch, you two looked bored there for a moment.”

  She gave him a look of mock outrage, “We were guarding Suzy from the unexpected, so her long ass spell wouldn’t get interrupted.”

  Suzy giggled, “And you did a good job.”

  Jerrold rolled his eyes and gave up, which elicited more giggles from the three of them. Giggling might seem out of place, but really the rush of relief after a fight made her and the others a bit giddy. Especially a fight that went almost perfectly to plan.

  They searched the corpses and found two weapons that were enchanted, good thing the demons never got close enough to use them. There was also a chest with two healing potions, several silver coins, and two gold coins. They also took the other weapons, even a sword without enchantment would net them some silver, possibly a gold if the quality was good enough.

  Jerrold sighed, “I have an idea.”

  Sienna said teasingly, “Uh oh, did you hurt yourself?”

  Jerrold rolled his eyes, sometimes she wondered if they’d get stuck that way. He did that a lot around her lover.

  “We’re too tired again, and I’m guessing we will be tomorrow. We’re improving fast, but it would take an adept level adventurer to get through all three of these levels without potions. We could use this loot to buy extra mana and stamina potions.”

  Suzy asked, “Do we need to beat the dungeon? We’re getting good rewards, and growing fast. I might even be a journeywoman now for all I know, I need to be tested.”

  Damn, that was a really good point, and she couldn’t tell them that yes, they did need to beat the dungeon. She hoped Jerrold had a good argument for it, because she was coming up blank.

  Jerrold shrugged, “Probably not, but the rewards will be better on the next level. Think of it like an investment.”

  Sienna said, “Mana potions are expensive, and stamina only slightly less so. That’s a hell of an investment, but I suppose we could try it just once at least, to see if it pays off.”

  She tried for nonchalant when she agreed, “It wouldn’t hurt to try,” and felt a stab of guilt. She knew she couldn’t tell them, but they’d had her back, as she’d had theirs. She’d lost count the amount of times they’d saved each other, but her mission wasn’t something she could talk about. Only her and her father were supposed to know about the true power of the dark crystal, but then there was the group of clerics and paladins from the crown city that seemed to know something. One of them had disappeared, and the other four hadn’t done more than sit around the tavern all week.

  Considering they weren’t going into the dungeon anymore, she could only assume they were waiting for orders. Whatever it was they were waiting on, there was no rumor or talk about it.

  Jerrold grunted, “Agreed then, let’s sell this stuff, buy the potions, and split what’s left.”

  They went up the exit stairs, to the top of the dungeon and into the guild quarters. The guild had done a lot of work on the place. The repairs on the keep after three centuries of neglect, had gone rather quickly, but they had earth mages to make it happen. As far as she knew this setup was complete. Most dungeons were out in the middle of nowhere, and the guild certainly didn’t usually build their headquarters over the dungeon.

  She supposed this would be a sweet post for a guild worker come winter, they’d never have to go outside.

  She smiled and nodded at the familiar faces, and they went outside. The inn and tavern was finished, and it was huge. It was almost as big as the keep, and had sixty some odd rooms for adventurers now, which would translate to a lot more with shared rooms. The last week had brought a steady stream of adventurer parties to fill them too. In her opinion the food and drink had improved the last couple of days as well, maybe they got a new chef and supplier?

  They walked past it to the market which was still growing. It was made up of little shacks with open front walls, that would close over at night. Everything dungeon or adventurer related could be bought or sold here. In short, this holding was growing very quickly.

  They got the stuff identified, which turned out to be extra sharp enchantments, that would never grow dull. Then they sold all their loot for the day, which netted them almost fifty gold each, even after buying the potions which were a steep ten golds each. There was a reason adventurers were willing to risk death in a dungeon, and not just for the rush. There was a lot of coin in it, as well as the faster power growth.

  Expensive potions like that were usually meant for emergencies, purchased once and left at the bottom of the pack in case an adventurer miscalculated and stayed too long. Still, she’d hardly complain about it, she needed to get a look at the dungeon core.

  She just wondered how she’d pull that off wit
hout her party becoming suspicious. She also worried that her father would try to force her home once she completed her mission, and she started to make mental plans to avoid that outcome.

  They returned to the tavern for drinks, a meal, to cool their ardor, and finally to get some sleep. Tomorrow was a new day…

  Chapter Nineteen

  Carlton opened his eyes and looked at the window. It was still pitch dark, not even false dawn yet. He wondered what woke him up, when the door banged twice answering his question. He grumbled as he got out of bed and slipped the robe over his head, and went to answer the door.

  “Diana? What are you doing here?”

  She answered, “Sorry for waking you, but I wasn’t sure if this should wait.”

  He cleared his throat, “Well come in, what is it?”

  He left the door open and walked over to his table, and poured himself some water and drank it down.

  Diana said, “A report came in from the training you have going on down south?”

  He nodded, and felt semi-awake now, “I understand, what did they report?”

  She replied, “There’s a small force gathering just south of the border, for the last couple of days. About a hundred church soldiers, and a handful each of paladins and clerics. They just ignored it at first, thinking it was a training exercise, or perhaps just a group to counter and watch our own training group.”

  He raised an eyebrow, “So what changed?”

  She replied, “We caught sight of the paladin acting as a courier, the one that went south instead of north. He’s in their camp.”

  He was really tired, and it took him a minute to connect the dots. They’d failed to implicate the dungeon as unstable, but still wanted it destroyed. So, they’d sent a message south, and now there was a small army camped on the border. Shit. They were going to sortie across the border to destroy the dungeon, and probably the holding and new outpost.

  Was Verin mad? What could he possibly get for this that he would risk it? He was also surprised that Jennesar would risk a war, but if they came in fast and hard, and retreated across the border the king might not march his army. He shook his head, it was still a huge risk, the king could do just that. After a bit more thought, he made a decision.

  “Go tell the duke, try to persuade… never mind, I’ll do it myself. Go wake Selwyn and Cory, you’ll be my escort.”

  Diana narrowed her eyes, “Is that a good idea, to go against the highest’s wishes?”

  Fucking Verin.

  “Well, if the duke finds out I had this information, and his dungeon and outpost are burned out, he’ll hang me and rightly. Verin on the other hand hasn’t shared his ambitions or his plans, so we have more leeway there to claim ignorance. Plus, whatever the highest,” he said the title sarcastically, “is up to, it’s foolish and could lead to a purge of the church.”

  Diana asked, “How do you know that?”

  He shook his head and said angrily, “Because he’s playing with treason, which means the payoff has to be huge in some in way. All or nothing gambles in politics is stupidity, always remember that, now do as I say.”

  Diana bowed her head, “I didn’t mean to question your decision, just to seek understanding.”

  He grunted, “I understand, go. I need to prepare myself. I’ll meet you three at the stables in a half hour.”

  Diana bowed and backed out the room. She was one of his smartest and most clever, as well as loyal, he hadn’t meant to snap but he was still half asleep, and far too angry with Verin’s chicanery by half. He could hardly apologize though, so he’d make it up to her later.

  He turned to get ready…

  April said, “Any idea what’s going on with all the soldiers in town? I saw them putting up some quick and dirty fortifications too. It looks like the princess is in charge up there, and she looked angry enough to chew crossbow bolts.”

  Selene replied, “I heard a rumor that Jennesar has a hard on for killing this dungeon, my brother’s girlfriend is in the guard at the duke’s castle, though I have no idea why. Apparently, they’re worried we’ll be attacked by a force of soldiers. As for Catalina, she’s probably pissed because she can’t delve today with all that’s going on.”

  April shook her head, “With all the adventurers here? Normal soldiers wouldn’t have a prayer.”

  Selene snorted, “Most won’t care and will just protect themselves if attacked as they leave. Especially the ones from other kingdoms.”

  April frowned, “I suppose that’s not a huge surprise… wait. This is new.”

  They looked down a side hallway that appeared to dead end at a large chest. The hallway was completely empty.

  Selene said, “Hold on,” and casted a find traps spell.

  The entire hallway lit up green.

  “Holy shit,” Jared said.

  April said intently, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

  Jared replied, “No way in hell?”

  April frowned at the warrior, “No, that the stuff in that chest must be awesome.”

  I pulled my focus back and sighed, they weren’t the only ones talking about the rumors. Every adventurer group was speculating on the arrival of soldiers at the outpost, and stationed around the keep. Jennesar, were they my true enemy? The ones that had imprisoned, banished, and now wanted to utterly destroy me? Why do the first two first, why not just the latter one?

  So many questions, and so few answers. There had to be a reason, and one day I’d discover it. Maybe they had to banish me, because I wasn’t killable on the higher plane. But how would that work? I didn’t understand that, but it was the only thing that made sense. Of course, I could just be missing a major piece of the puzzle.

  Boduna had told me higher beings could only work through their church, or worshippers. So, if Jennesar was after my destruction, did that means the gods of Jennesar were my true enemy? Or… maybe it was just a small cult that worshipped something or someone else?

  I kind of doubted the last, but it was a lot less daunting than having gods after me. If my enemies were gods, what was I? No, that was ridiculous.

  There had to be something I could do, once I escaped that is, or they wouldn’t be trying so hard to kill me. For now, I had to concentrate on not getting killed, and I wasn’t about to depend on soldiers to protect me. I still needed far too much information, and to be at least partially free, before I could even think of going on the offensive.

  Expanding would help there, but I wasn’t ready. I did have the magic now to add three more levels, between my crystal growing and the deaths of stupid adventurers. I had a surplus of life energy, to the point I summoned an incubus to keep the succubus company. They’d been joined for days now, non-stop, with all the life energy they were holding. It was other things holding me back.

  I’d been experimenting, and could summon weaker elementals and control them enough to keep them in the right area. I could even have them protect it zealously from adventurers. But the more powerful ones were impossible to control. The enchantments I created weren’t strong enough, or maybe not quite correct enough, and as a result only partially effective.

  To keep up with ramping up the difficulty, I needed elementals in the high journeyman, or perhaps low adept class. What I could do now safely, was high apprentice to mid journeyman, which was the same as the demon levels.

  I was sure I could get it with more experimentation, but I didn’t have the luxury of waiting if I wanted to beef up the dungeon in time to meet an invasion to destroy me. I couldn’t even double up on elementals in one spot to raise the difficulty, because they didn’t play well together. They didn’t hate or attack each other, except the opposing elements, they just wouldn’t coordinate with each other, and would get in each other’s way more often than not.

  “Sexy?”

  “Yes Nurien?” my favorite imp asked.

  I told her my problem, what the urgency was about, and she looked thoughtful for quite a while.

  Ebony said, �
�Switch it around. Put the elementals between the undead and the demons. You can just give the demons better armor, weapons, and enchantments, and maybe add one or two more per encounter to raise those three levels to the higher journeyman or lower adept level.”

  That… was an amazingly simple and brilliant idea. Why didn’t I think of that?

  “I kind of love you right now,” I said, as I cast an air spell to caress and pinch her butt.

  She gasped and grinned, and then said sultrily, “Don’t start something you can’t finish right now Nurien, get to work, who knows when they’ll get here.”

  I sighed, I wasn’t sure how much I could do while the dungeon was full of people. I dropped the gnome level about a hundred feet, moving the rock around it and sinking their cavern down. That took less power than I’d expected, so I immediately started to build levels seven, eight, and nine. It went quickly, mostly because I made them exactly the same as levels four, five, and six. I also created a new token to give people access to a shortcut straight to level six, at the stairs down to level seven.

  In my mind, I adjusted the party sizes for the demons, weapons and armor, and would make available rewards with the more powerful enchantments I’d developed but were holding back as too powerful a reward until now.

  Of course, they wouldn’t get the token until they’d killed the last elemental room on six, even if they’d already defeated the dungeon in the past.

  Once I was done with all that, I was stuck for a while, but I planned out my revamp of four, five, and six in my mind for later when the adventurers had cleared out.

  Level four would have pools of water, streams, and lots of stone formations for the earth and water elementals to use. I went ahead and created several water and earth elemental stones as rewards, some to be randomly hidden, and some in chests with other rewards, such as rings that would have protections against certain elements. I planned carefully to match the apprentice level five, or journeyman level one rating that level four currently had.