Dakota Krout - Dungeon Born (The Divine Dungeon Book 1)

There were also a few copper coins in the bag, which is when Dani explained how currency worked, and had me make copper coins with the exact same imprint these had on them. I made them out of pure copper though, not the low grade, shoddy copper alloy these were made of. I needed to have pride in my work after all.

Dani went quiet for a moment, like she always did before having something interesting to say. “Let’s talk about loot.”

I wanted to know, and she would always drag these conversations out to keep my full attention.

Surprising me, she jumped right in. “Loot is a payment system for defeating monsters. It helps distract adventures from taking everything they see, and will guarantee that people will come back if they survive. Escalating the reward to more elaborate items for coming deeper in the dungeon increases the odds that you will have more opportunities to kill them off, and become stronger.”

How would that work?

“No, and this is kinda cool, you know how you grow creatures with a ‘seed and pattern’?” She was amused by something. I nodded my assent, and she continued, “Well the concept is the same, but you attach the ‘loot’ seed to the monster, and when it dies it triggers the ‘seed’ to grow. It is really funny to see, because if you don’t know how it works, it makes no sense! Imagine someone accidentally squishing a patch of moss, and out pops a helmet! I bet they would scream! Haha!”

That sounded hilarious, and I could not wait to get started. She cautioned me not to make it too obvious to start though, and to try to make things properly. No dagger handles that had a boot instead of a blade for instance, and to eventually try to make enchantments on items that made things worth the effort to obtain. Don’t put a dancing enchantment on a wand, put it on shoes for example.

The smaller mushrooms could be used in potion-making and for food already, so I only attached coin loot seeds to them. Really, even my ‘Bane’ could be mostly used as potion material, if they knew what they were doing, so I just gave him a larger coin value, and sometimes he would drop sets of clothes or a dagger. I made the dagger better than what I had found, substituting iron for the bone blade. It was heavy and brittle, but far more effective.

Next, it was time to absorb Bane and make more of him. Resisting a bit at first, he eventually gave up his energy and I was able to study his pattern. Easily able to replicate it, I made several “Dire Shroomish: Bane” Monsters in each room but the last. They were smaller, and would only come up to the knee of the last group, but were now the ranged attackers of my dungeon.

Now, it was time to make a new Boss. Since my last was at G-rank nine, and I could create one up to F-rank seven, this room was about to get significantly more dangerous. On Dani’s recommendation, I tried to combine the pattern of Bane with the patterns of other things I knew how to make. Each attempt at combining Bane with other mushrooms failed for some reason. Casting about for a way to understand this, no easy answer came to mind. Almost ready to scream with frustration, I was just about to pour energy into it in an attempt to force a natural evolution when my mind skittered over a Mob I didn’t know. Looking closer, I saw that a patch of the moss had upgraded itself when it had tripped a person and eaten part of his foot.

The new monster ‘Blood Moss’ could still do everything it had been able to, grasping, holding, and scratching; but had a new passive ability! ‘Vampirism, Taste for Blood’. Dani was characteristically excited that my monsters were getting stronger, and told me that if they fought and won, the longer they stayed alive, the more powerful they would grow. Each eradication would flood me with energy, but a part of it would also go directly into the monster who helped with the kill. Since it wasn’t energy purified by me first, the Essence taken would alter the path of its growth. I decided to plant a few Bane Mobs on the ceiling, so they had less chance of dying during a fight.

“Vampirism, huh?” That is a really good ability, but you should be careful not to give it to too many creatures. Technically, it is an infernal alignment ability, and if you have too many demonic traits the church may become... Nervous, and call for your destruction.” Dani warned me in a tone that brooked no argument.

I requested the knowledge of what vampirism would do.

“At this level, if it gets blood on it, the damage will heal a little, automatically repairing its pattern, which will fix the Mob’s wound. If not damaged, it becomes a little stronger, and harder to hurt. The higher levels have different effects but you will need to reach them to know what they do, I’m not an expert on the infernal.” Dani recounted, thinking hard.

Since grafting mushrooms onto Bane hadn’t worked, I tried with the moss. The pattern glowed in my mind, successfully building a new monster. Analyzing this pattern, I was surprised to see letters and numbers on it.

When I mentioned the numbers, Dani zipped over to congratulate me again. “Oh! You can use your viewing ability on abstract concepts now! Great, now you will know when you progress in rank, and can view the cultivation base, or ‘rank’, of other creatures. The word you see on that pattern is how strong the monster will be once created. If it is one level below you, you can create it but not upgrade it,” she paused for breath, “If it is lower, you can attempt to use your Essence to make it stronger, though it may not always work.”

I made an educated guess,

“Ok, but remember that if it is one rank below you it will be really hard to absorb it back if you don’t like how it turns out.” She unnecessarily warned me.

“I don’t nag you. I explain.” She huffed with a glare.

I focused hard on the pattern, for the first time infusing it with the refined version of Essence from my Chi spiral. This had an interesting effect, as the fine energy went exactly where I wanted it to, instead of filling the entire template with diffuse energy. It took about eighty-five percent of the power I thought it would, and Dani told me this was because I was being more efficient. I planted the ‘Seed’ onto the ground and watched as it sprouted into a scary mushroom.

It reached its full height around chest level for the men that died here, and was very similar to the bane except for a few minor details. A carpet of moss spread out from its base, and I saw it flexing into ropey groups that would be able to grab prey and pull it into an effective attack range. It also had the Vampirism effect, so attacking would greatly benefit the monster. Its name? ‘Dire Shroomish: Bloody Bane’. I could hardly wait to see it fight.

Dale had returned home with the sad news of the deaths of his comrades, citing a landslide which buried all of them. The recent events and his guileless, lightly bearded face meant he had no issues convincing the townsfolk of his sincerity. He shed tears from soulful brown eyes for the lost men… while at the same time selling everything he owned. With the money gained, he purchased the empty parcel of land containing the dungeon - claiming it would be good grazing for the sheep he was planning to buy. His claim to the land secure, he sent a letter to the Adventurers Guild, announcing that he had found a new dungeon and was willing to allow adventurers to come into it for a percentage of the yearly profit it brought in. Since this was the standard agreement, he had no trouble enticing a small party to travel from the Guild and appraise its value.