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

I admitted reluctantly. Then I remembered the point of this conversation.

“It’s really just floating, he has to go where the wind takes him.” She attempted to dissuade me, noticing my interest in the idea.

I demanded, to which she nodded and tried to distract me.

“That’s a really long way away, let’s focus on building your body up shall we? The dungeon that is. I am going to go look for plants outside that help to increase Essence, or really any plants with a lot of different properties.”

I nudged her nervously.

“Well it is almost noon, so I should be nearly invisible in the sunlight. Thank you for being concerned about me, cutie.” Dani flirtatiously flew a few spirals around me. “Don’t worry, I’ll be right back.” After ensuring I wouldn’t be too nervous, she flew out and away.

Alone for the first time in months, my cave was totally silent. Well, I could hear the plants slowly growing, but that was pretty quiet, if annoying. I figured that I may as well try and cultivate some Essence, so I gently connected to all of my plants and let their energy flow to me, and connected to my newly energized tunnel and started pulling, then pushing hard. I quickly realized several things, firstly the tungsten and iron had much more Essence to give me than regular rocks, and secondly that anthracite had a colossal amount of Essence to give, but crumbled as soon as it gave it away.

Receiving the pattern as I absorbed its Essence showed me why the anthracite fell apart: coal was made from decomposed organic matter! It was made from compressed plant Essence, and didn’t really have its own form. When I pulled the energy, there was nowhere for it to regain the lost Essence and it would fall apart. On the positive side, it was absolutely stuffed with Essence and I was soon draining the anthracite exclusively. I had found what I assume was a relatively small vein of the dark material, but by the time I finished off the last bit of it I was ninety percent full, something that would have taken months to achieve with just my trivial garden.

Knowing that Dani had wanted me to make more rooms, I decided to surprise her when she got back, and began compressing the stone in my influence to either side. With so much energy available to me, I was quickly able to open the passage. Now, I should say that this was not a quiet process. If you have ever ground two stones against each other, you will have a quiet and soothing version of what was transpiring at my location. Unbeknownst to me, this was usually a process that took many months at a time, in an attempt to remain hidden as long as possible. The vibrations caused by my expedited work caused problems around the mountain, as landslides, rock falls, and a distant avalanche were triggered.

Just as I finished my fourth room Dani zipped in at full speed, “Cal! Are you ok? There is an earthquake happening!!”

I paused, waiting for the glowing admiration to flow from her.

“Oh Cal no.” Dani whimpered. “We need to get ready. People are going to want to know what is going on.”

I was a bit sad that she wasn’t happy with the new additions.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Cal. Just a little... too fast for the moment. Usually you would want to create an influence around the area you are going to move, and force it to absorb the vibrations of the work you are doing. That way, you remain hidden. The next time you want to grow, make sure I am around and I’ll show you how to do it. For now, how about... You show me what you made?” Dani released a short sigh, trying to remain positive about the situation they were sure to find themselves in.

Flying through the new open space, she ‘ooh-ed’ and ‘ahh-ed’ at the work I had done, the smooth tunnel walls and the new caves full of stalactites and stalagmites that I had included for visual effect.

“You made three more rooms? I didn’t realize you reached all the way back here! I’m so impressed!!” There was the praise I wanted. Aw yisss.

I pretended to be embarrassed,

“No, I am serious! You are growing so well! And your knowledge must be growing too, after all the work you put in, I’m seeing you as an F-rank zero dungeon! You are almost dangerous!” She half praised, half teased.

Hey! This was a moment of shining triumph! No teasing!

“Well,” she considered for a moment, “the average human toddler is about F-rank zero, but they don’t have biting mushrooms sprouting from their feet. A human adult that has never done more than just normal farm work, and has no weapons, is usually around an F-rank four adventurer. At that level, they are derisively called ‘fishies’ by people that have spent time adventuring.”

My unspoken thought ‘does it taste good’ nearly escaped me. I am more than just a glutton. Gotta keep telling myself that.

She nodded, noting my self-control, “A fish is an animal that lives in water, which people collect to feed themselves. Usually very weak, hence the nickname ‘fishies’ for new adventurers.”

I paused, considering.

If she had a mouth she would be grinning, I just know it. “We can start by making more shroomish, and you can try to evolve them or some of the others into stronger monsters. Next, we will make a few traps, like pitfalls, spike traps, or poison cloud spewers. Finally, we need to make a dungeon Boss.”

I really have been enjoying changing things, and didn’t want to get slowed down due to a lack of imagination on my part.

“No, actually, when you get bigger, your dungeon Boss might actually become just an average Mob. It is just that you need to put a large amount of your power into your Boss so that it is stronger than the normal ones, because it is going to be in your room to protect you and me. Also, you can’t make a monster of your level or higher. So, since you are an F-rank zero, your best creature can only be of G-rank nine, and you only have the power to control one of them.” Dani clarified.

She suddenly bounced in the air, “Oh! Oh! I forgot! Before we start with all of that, I have a present for you! When I was out looking for herbs I had just found a really secluded grove at the bottom of a crevasse a few miles from here. The walls were really sheer, so it wasn’t surprising that no one had been down there before. There, I found a tree in a clearing that was glowing brightly enough that it was noticeable even in the sunlight.” Dani was quivering in excitement, flying in sporadic zig-zags.

Her excitement was exceedingly contagious.

“Cal! I found a Silverwood tree!” She grandly announced.

How amazing!

“…Right.” She seemed to deflate a bit.

<...What?>

“Sorry, I forgot that you are still very young.” She apologized. “This tree has some of the most potent magic of any plant! It purifies the Essence of those around it.”

I scoffed.

Can a wisp get headaches? Most likely no, but she seemed pained as she told me, “Cal do you remember how shocked I was that you had removed the corruption you had pulled in while cultivating?”

“Well most beings, which can only pull from their associated elemental Essence, gain corruption slowly but surely, no matter what they do. At the higher ranks, this corruption can block people from ascending to higher cultivation ranks.”

That would be terrible!

“Well, I took a seed. A single seed from a Silverwood tree takes years for the tree to make. Also, normally these will never grow outside of their groves, but I think that the Essence you provide might become a decent substitute for what it gets from the grove. If we can grow it, we can almost guarantee that people will come from all around to be here. It may even help to keep you safe, if people come for this instead of focusing on trying to get your Core.”