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

My plan failed in the most wondrous way. When I finished the Inscription, a bright golden light flashed through the Runes. I looked at it carefully, the whole thing had been filled with celestial energy! On closer inspection, Dani informed me that the entire three-foot-thick quartz was just… stuffed full of celestial energy.

“Somehow, someone made this into celestial glass.” She gibbered, awed at the beautiful light we could see when we focused. There were no visible markings on it, even though the Runes I had placed were obviously active. Odd. I couldn’t focus on this right now, though I truly wanted to solve this mystery. You see, dawn had come, another first for me. For the first time in my life, I was able to watch the sunrise. Even better, I got to do so with my best friend, the only being I loved as much as myself.

A soft grinding noise slowly roused Dale, his newly enhanced ears throbbing at the new sound. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he walked out of his tent and meandered around as he looked for the source. It seemed to be coming from the lot the church would be built on, Dale wondered if some earth Mages had arrived to help build it. He wandered over, planning to see how it was done, and noticed a gazebo.

“Earth Mages? Father Richard?” Dale called. When no one responded, he went over to inspect their work. It was a single piece of granite that had no seams as far as he could tell. They must not have put the door in. He decided to look at it with his Essence sight ability, which was much easier to use now that the new meridian was open in the corner of his eye.

Inspecting the work, he could only see its natural Essence, and was impressed by the control the Mage who made this had used. Normally, there was overflow which had a ‘flavor’ to it known as the ‘Mages signature’. The smaller the ‘signature’, the better control the Mage had, the more the work was worth, because it would interfere less with Runes added on later. Looking closer, he saw beautiful Runescripted patterns cut inside the stone itself.

“That is so cool! I need to get this guy to teach me!” He thought, very excited to meet this master Mage when he returned. About to turn away, he saw what almost looked like earth Essence starting to follow the loops and whirls of the internal pattern. Entranced, he watched as the slow moving substance filled the pattern.

When it reached the last open spot, the stone suddenly pulsed, seeming to tighten and grow darker. Some loose sand shook off, and he was showered with dirt. The rock was suddenly opaque to him, the beautiful pattern no longer visible. It looked exactly like the slab of stone over the entrance had, as a matter of fact.

Now nervous, Dale turned to run and tell someone about this when Father Richard walked up with a “Morning lad!”

“Would you look at that?!” He whistled. “Is this whole piece a single slab of granite?”

“Father, this is, if I am correct, cursed earth.” Dale released in a rush.

“Hmm, I think you are indeed correct.” Richard frowned a bit. “It looks a lot like that blockage did, over the entrance to the dungeon. Come look at the quartz with me over here, it came awfully close to it. I hope it didn’t do any damage.” The look of nervousness on his face convinced Dale to help before informing the Guild.

They moved to check for any damage to the quartz, Father Richard frowned as he saw scratches along the bottom of the slab with the sparse pre-dawn light. Just before the sun crested the ridge to signal the start of a new day, the entire slab shone brilliantly, as if it - and not the sun - was the herald of the morning.

“Ahh!” Both of them yelled, clutching at their eyes. Blinking rapidly in an attempt to clear the spots dancing in their vision, they stumbled about in pain, Father Richard swearing in a very non-priestly way.

Silence followed by a gasp escaped Father Richard, Dale looked over with swimming vision to see him looking down with wonder in his expression. True sunrise had arrived, Dale looked directly down to see the Boss room he had fought in yesterday, as if it were only a few feet below.

“What?!” Dale joined in the gasping.

“That’s the Silverwood tree?” Father Richard pointed.

“Looks like it. But how can we see this? It has to be so far underground!” Dale exclaimed.

Father Richard didn’t answer, instead looking at the quartz again, looking for the scratches that had been there. After a few moments, he flopped down into a kneeling position.

“It’s a miracle.” He murmured, touching the smooth surface.

“Father?”

“Dale, the entire… The whole thing. It’s been enchanted. No, those are Runes, it’s been inscribed!” Tears of joy sprang to Father Richard’s eyes as he read the Inscription that Dale could not even see.

“It’s the church's best Essence level Rune! Protection, increased celestial energy, and dissolving of infernal bonds.” He was freely weeping now. “It’s a miracle.”

“I can’t see the Rune, the Essence in the way is too thick.” Dale ashamedly mentioned, disappointed in his ability. A flash of insight crossed his mind, “Father, is it the same Inscription as… this?” He pulled out the pendant he was wearing which was filled with Essence of no particular elemental affiliation.

The Father’s eyes locked onto it and his expression changed to almost anger, “Where did you get this?”

“It was a drop in the dungeon, from the Boss of the first floor and the Mobs beyond.” Dale informed him nervously.

“Ah, sorry I didn’t mean to worry you. This is indeed the same Rune, but as I said it is one of the most powerful Essence level Inscriptions we have. I was just surprised to see it out of the hands of a cleric. Would you let me see it?” Richard politely asked.

“Of course, Father.” Dale handed it over, glad he wasn’t in trouble with this powerful man.

“Yes, it is the same.” Richard spoke, almost to himself. “Useless though.”

“Useless?” Dale was rather disappointed to hear that. Several people around the area had them for good luck.

“Yes, though filled with Essence, only celestial type is able to activate the full Inscription. Other types may be able to use the other parts, like this physical protection... I haven’t looked into it.” Father Richard muttered, tracing the pattern. He looked at it again, frowning. “Can I try something on this?”

“Sure.” Dale shrugged. It was useless anyway.

Father Richard smiled, held the pendant and started saying a short prayer. The first words had barely left his mouth when the pendant glowed with light, obviously activating.

“Wondrous!” Richard exclaimed, eyes shining. “You say this is a drop that is fairly common in the dungeon?”

“Yes, the first Boss sometimes does drop it, but we got three yesterday on the second level.” Dale bragged.

“I can activate them! Look,” Father Richard held up the pendant, “The Essence it contained has taken on celestial affinity!”

“Great!” Dale was enthusiastic yet still somewhat confused.

“Here, lad. Would you like me to bind this to you? You are its rightful owner, after all.” Father Richard offered.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you mean, Father.” Dale stalled, nervous for an unknown reason.

“Oh, it isn’t dangerous. If you place a small thread of Essence to a certain place on your items Rune, it will only activate for you if you are the first to do so. Many don’t, because then the resale value drops quite a bit, and you can still activate the Rune like normal. But, someone else could get ahold of it and bind it, rendering it useless to you.” Father Richard explained.