Elsewhere

Duke untied the creature which scrambled to its feet with a healthy dose of fear still in its (Duke’s) eyes. It then took a step backwards, straightened its back with resolve, and offered Duke a full and formal bow. Duke raised his eyebrows in confusion.

“Congratulations, Delver. You are the first and only Delver to make it past this level since its inclusion in this dungeon. Not only have you completed it, but you have completed the hidden quest by sparing me even after the awful and horrific things I had to do to you. This level was designed to break your will to persevere. You will need that will for things to come. I am not permitted to share more than that information with you.”

Duke was speechless, still reeling from his internal struggle and the odd voices in his head fighting. He just stared at the creature wearing his skin waiting for the other shoe to drop. But it didn’t. The creature waited a moment for a response and after not receiving one, proceeded to pick its way through the rubble of the lab to a blank wall. It looked back at Duke and waved him over.

Duke cautiously picked his way over the rubble and to the creature. It tapped on the wall in a complex pattern and paused, waiting. Several seconds later, the wall began to move sideways and revealed a room hidden behind. “Come along, Delver. You have earned the true reward of this level. Help yourself to anything and everything here. Be quick about it as your time is running down as you stand there staring.”

Duke broke out of his inaction and moved into the room. Along the left wall was a full rack of weapons and the right side had suits of armor lining it. But it was the item in the center of the room that was holding Duke’s attention fully. Atop a pedestal floated a brightly glowing gem. It rose and fell gently as if it were a boat bobbing in the sea. Duke approached and triggered his IDENTIFY Ability.

***You have found The Gem of Attunement. This Legendary item glows with the inner fire of possibility. It is potential in tangible form and is a consumable item. The uses for such a gem are myriad but using such a gem during a Tier-up will have incredible advantages. ***

Duke snatched the gem into his INVENTORY without hesitation. He then proceeded around the room, pulling in all the weapons and armor. Finally, there was a table that had a single tome on it. Duke triggered his IDENTIFY Ability again.

***You have found the Covenant of Shadows. This tome was written, lost, and forgotten long before any kingdom still standing in this world was born. It is ancient and filled with the secrets of Shadow Magic. Beware, for no one has been watching the shadows for eons – there is no telling what may now lurk there. ***

Duke considered reading the tome then and there, but he decided that he had enough of the dangerous unknown for a while. He decided to speak with Baslin about it first.

“Thank you, Delver for freeing me in more ways than you could comprehend. I take my leave of you, and this dungeon, now. Farewell.” With another bow, the creature faded from existence. Duke nodded in response, still processing everything he had just gone through when…

***Transportation initiated!

Delver, you have a decision to make. Will you leave the dungeon or will you rest, recover, and return for the next level. Note that for each consecutive level of the dungeon you complete, your ultimate rewards will be increased. Regardless of your decision, you will receive the rewards of the level you just completed. Be sure to decide before your recovery time is complete. ***

Duke once again stood in the room between levels. He was, at a minimum, unsettled. He’d been tortured for so long he couldn’t even remember all of it. He’d been dismembered, dissected even. But he had broken free, gaining a new Ability from the ordeal. All of that would be disturbing enough but he was now hearing voices in his head – and the voices were arguing! Duke turned to his only “friend” in this world.

“Baslin? Are you there?”

“Oh, hi, Duke. Did you forget something before you jump into the second level?” Baslin was cheery and sounded overtly helpful.

“No, I didn’t forget anything. I just completed it.”

“How could that be?” Baslin sounded genuinely confused, which made Duke confused in turn. “We only stopped speaking a matter of minutes ago. Was it a short level, somehow designed perfectly for your strengths?”

“Baslin, I was in there for weeks, at least. Longer perhaps. It was horrific.” Duke tried to keep his emotions out of his voice but the weight of it all was still pressing in on him.

Baslin responded contemplatively, “Time compression? Is such a thing possible? Yes. Yes it is possible but only IN A POCKET DIMENSION! That’s it, Duke! The dungeon exists in a pocket dimension! Oh, this is amazing! I need to get out of this damned tower! Hurry up and rank up your spells, Duke!”

“Um, yeah. I’m working on that, Baslin. Some things happened in this last level. Bad things. I’m not sure I can continue running this dungeon no matter how much I am getting out of it.”

“What do you mean? What happened in there?” Baslin’s voice rang with concern.

“I was dismembered. Cut apart and used for spare parts as I regrew my limbs.” Duke voice was down to a trembling, bare whisper. “Something in me broke. I don’t know if I’m the same person anymore.”

“Duke, leave the dungeon. Leave it now and get back here! Let me help you.” Baslin’s concern had risen in tenor.

Another voice entered the conversation. It was Sam, the dungeon’s mouthpiece. “Duke, please don’t leave. Please continue. Don’t abandon me. You have already solved the worst problem in all the levels.”

“What the fuck are you talking about, Sam? And you had better make this good because right now there’s not much you could say to get me to stay here.”

“Who are you talking to, Duke? Who is Sam?” Baslin’s voice had all the concern of a worried parent at this point.

“Baslin, meet Sam. Sam, meet Baslin. Sam is the dungeon, but also not the dungeon. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s kinda fucked up.”

“You can speak with the dungeon? Fascinating. And it’s trying to keep you there? I can’t hear it so…are you sure that it’s really what it says it is?”

“I…I don’t know. I’m questioning a lot of things right now. My sanity, for one. Baslin, I heard voices in my head, and they were arguing with each other. That makes me crazy, doesn’t it? You have a spell to fix that?”

“Please don’t leave me, Duke. Please. Not again. I’ve waited so long. So long.” Sam implored.

Baslin responded, “I don’t know if that makes you insane, Duke. You have been through an ordeal. Your body heals quickly. Your mind and soul might need a bit longer to heal. Come back to the tower and rest. You can return to the dungeon later if you really feel up to it.”

“That sounds reasonable. It’s not like I can’t get back here easily enough.”

“You can rest here. Please. Just rest the night and think about it again in the morning when your head is clear. Right? You could do that?” Sam implored desperately.

Duke thought about it for a moment and decided that he could indeed sleep on it. He was drained and exhausted, after all. “You know what? I think I will sleep on it. I’m a real mess right now. Sleep will probably do me some good. Goodnight everyone. I’m calling it a night.”

With that, Duke stepped over to the bed, stripped down, and crawled under the covers. Sleep did not elude him for long.

Duke awoke in the “morning” as he could not really be sure of what time it was in this room, after all. He found that he finally felt rested both physically and mentally. He wondered if there was some property of the bed or the room he was in that helped in that fashion but decided to circle back to that later as he had so many notifications to get through. He jumped right into them.

***

You have defeated 20 Red Dwarven Scout Golems and received 53,500 experience.

You have defeated 20 Red Dwarven Infantry Golems and received 56,250 experience.

You have defeated the Golem Master and have received 63,900 experience.

You have completed a hidden quest for the second level of the Lake Front Dungeon and have received 50,000 experience.

You have gained 7 levels and are now level 33. You have 42 Characteristic points to spend.

Your Abilities have increased:

TELEPORTATION has increased to Practiced 30

REGENERATION has increased to Practiced 51

TONGUES has ranked up to Initiate 1

LIGHTNING has increased to Initiate 25

OVERCHANNEL has increased to Initiate 15

MENTAL RESISTANCE has evolved into MENTAL FORTITUDE at Initiate 7

FORCE DART has increased to Novice 12

LIGHT BOLT has evolved into LIGHT at Initiate 1

MANA DRAIN has increased to Untrained 4

Through repeated trauma and repair, you have developed a new Ability, ARMOR SKIN at Untrained 7

Your Spears Skill has increased to Untrained 7

***

Duke smiled at all the increases but immediately noticed there was no additional commentary. Where has all the “entertain us/me” snark gone? What happened? Duke didn’t have any answers, but the system provided one for him.

***Warning! Your Seed of Anomy has fractured! Further damage to your seed will have deleterious effects up to and including complete destruction of your Seed. While your Seed is damaged, communication with the entities that bestowed the Seed upon you is not possible. ***

How in the bloody hell am I supposed to fix that? Oh shit. I know what it was – it was them arguing and trying to pull me in different directions that broke it. I knew I felt something break. Again, too many questions and not nearly enough answers. Like, just who are those guys and why do I have their “Seed” in me. Oh, fuck no, that sounds way too sexual. Time to focus elsewhere for now. Let’s spend some Characteristic points.

Duke put thought into action. His first thought was to bring his Psyche up to 100 just to see what it would do. He figured 100 sounded like some sort of threshold so maybe it would do something for him. He was not sure what else it did for him, but his max Mana now topped 9,000!

Next, he put 4 points into Reason to bring it up to 30 as it was his lowest stat. Next were boosts to Agility and Strength, bringing them up to 35 and 45 respectively. He still had 16 points left to spend and decided to bring Reason up to 35 to stop it being his lowest overall score. Finally, he put 5 points into Endurance. Keeping 6 points, a full level’s worth in reserve. He noted his Health closing in on 7,000 and smiled.

Duke next moved on to the prize chest awaiting him. As he moved to open it up, Sam interrupted him.

“Duke, before you open that chest, I want to speak with you about a few things.”

“That’s not creepy at all.” Duke snarked.

“Understood.” Sam didn’t seem fazed by Duke’s remark. “The previous level was one that was not supposed to be part of the dungeon at all. It was created by another Entity to trap the Golem Master you defeated. He had been trapped in there for a really long time without access to much of anything. You saved him in more ways than you know, and I wanted to thank you for that. Normally, I have little direct influence over the final prizes for a floor. In this case, because of the unique circumstances, I am able to directly interfere. There are the normal rewards in the chest, but there is one that I was able to make just for you. It will be up to you whether you choose to use it or not.”

“What is it?” Duke asked immediately.

“Open the chest and you will see.” Sam responded calmly.

Duke shrugged and opened the chest. He received the loot messages immediately:

***

You have found 40 Red Dwarf Axes. These axes are the standard issue for Red Dwarf Golems. They are sharp and sturdy.

You have found 40 Red Dwarf Shields. These shields are the standard issue for Red Dwarf Golems. They are sturdy and can be interlocked together if the wearers have sufficient skill.

You have found the Crystal of Germination. This Crystal has multiple possible uses. The ones most pertinent to you are to either repair your Seed or to cause it to Germinate. One option is clearly safer than the other but may not provide as many benefits. ***

“I see what you mean. That sounds pretty powerful. My IDENTIFY tells me it’s Epic.” Duke remarked.

“Yes, it is at the limit of what I can produce.” Sam responded.

“What about the Gem of Attunement? It is Legendary.” Duke asked.

“I did not create that item, nor did I place it there. That was a reward from outside of the dungeon. Which, I suppose, is fitting for that level.”

“I guess.” Duke acknowledged.

“Are you ready to move on to the third level, Duke. I promise you that there is nothing else like the previous level in my dungeon.” Sam implored.

Duke thought about the positives and negatives. Ultimately, he decided to go on, but take a break for a bit first. “Sam, I am not moving to the next level just yet, but I will continue on. I want to take some time and train while I make a few decisions. Is there anywhere I can train between levels?”

“I thought you would never ask.” Sam replied excitedly. “Behold!” The wall opposite the bed slid away to reveal an immense training room. It had to be at least a hundred meters on each side. It was filled with training dummies, a spell-testing range, several constructs that Duke thought might be used for exercise, and what appeared to be a swimming pool. “You have six days to use the facilities before you must enter the next level or depart. Happy training!”