World Sphere - 19 - Dungeons

Chapter 19: Dungeons

I woke disoriented. My eyes burned, and it hurt to open them and look around. Familiar markers in my surroundings made it clear I was back at Callem’s in our bunkhouse. A bed had been made up in the lower room near the table for me. I tried to sit up but felt weak, and my skin was on fire. It brought hazy memories of a time I went to the beach with some friends and fell asleep in the sun for 5 hours without sunscreen. I worked myself into a sitting position. Well, I wasn’t dead, which was a positive. I heard the sounds of sword practice outside and Callem’s voice giving corrections and suggestions.

My stomach growled, indicating it needed filling. I stood and tried walking, but my right knee was very stiff, and I had to force it to bend, even though it protested. I went into the cold cellar and started slicing off a slab of smoked ham. I grabbed two good-sized blocks of hard cheese, six apples, a jar of apple butter, and a jug of chilled water to wash it down. Getting back up the stairs was a chore in its own right.

I took a seat at the dining table and started to fill my protesting stomach. My mind was fuzzy on the details. I had been forced into an alley…I was mugged…beaten…I started to get flashes of scenes. That cursed red-headed boy from the city. Then I remembered he had an older brother. The city guardsman! Shit! The memories suddenly locked into place sequentially, and I recalled the encounter and the city teens taking my purse and backpack.

I went through stages: awareness, an adrenaline rush, anger, dispersion of rage, and finally, calm reflection. My first thought was I had almost died twice in the last few weeks. Twice! And I was 15! I was supposed to have a luxurious new life here, and I had been nothing but a punching bag. I was having regrets about my ability selections. I mean, there were some pretty ridiculously powered tier 7 abilities on that screen. And I choose metal mage? I had just skimmed that list so long ago, but I should have chosen wiser options.

The apples were now just cores with most of the apple butter gone with them, so I started on the ham and cheese, stacking them together.

Well, I could become a powerful mage if what Callem had said was true. I stood and started pacing to work out my muscles and the protesting knee. My skin was tight and burned a bit, and on inspection, I could still see some bruising. I detoured to the one mirror in the house and saw my face intact with some yellow-blue bruising. Well, at least I wasn’t disfigured. I remembered hearing bones cracking during the pummeling. I shivered in a wave of phantom pain at the memory.

My thoughts returned to my own survival and, hopefully, prosperity. Spells. I needed spells. A tier two lightning spell was preferred, but a tier two or tier three healing spell would be okay. I stopped in stride and looked within myself. The mend flesh spell was there! I could trace the spell forms on my aether matrix. It took me a while to feel it out and figure out its possible evolutions. It had two obvious evolutions. The first was a self-diagnostic. This would let me use the spell to look at my person for injuries. The second evolution allowed the spell to target other soft tissue beyond blood vessels and skin. This second was actually the most common first evolution of the spell and the most useful, according to the spell book.

I scrambled up the ladder to my loft. Everything was there, as well as the book I had bought, The Complexities of Aether Creationism, A Qualitative Comparison of Dungeon and Mortal Spellcraft. It was stained with dried blood. I ignored it for now, grabbed the mend flesh spellbook, and sat on the bed to read. Evolutions occurred at spell levels 1,2,3,5,7,11,13,17,19, 23, and continued to progress through the prime numbers. It took a mage, on average, 20 years to reach level 23 of a tier 1 spell with regular casting and studying.

Well, I had a massive aether core, so I assumed it wouldn’t take me nearly that long. I paged through the book as I wanted to reference the spell form that I wanted for the next evolution: diagnose other. It was another common evolution, but I wanted to have the evolution clear in my head, so I studied it. It was less than an hour before the door opened, and Gareth came in to check on me.

He scanned the room and quickly found me in my loft, “Stormy! Up and about, I see!” He was grinning. “You shouldn’t go getting into scraps without me. It hurts my feelings, you know!”

I retorted with sarcasm, lacing my words, “Next time I am against ten-to-one odds, I will be sure to invite you!” How many had there been in that alley? At least seven, I thought, maybe eight. “So, how long have I been out of it?” I asked and started making my way down the ladder.

“Callem had you under a sleeping draft to let you rest. It has been just under a day. No need to worry. The healer in the city did good work, according to Callem. Antal’s bone-shaping ability finished the work the healer in town couldn’t do because he ran out of aether. Antal did have some issues with your kneecap. Said it might be stiff for a while as the tendons are not quite correct.” Gareth sat down all sweaty and finished off the remaining ham, cheese, and jug of water.

Callem walked through the door saying, “Is our slumbering vigilante awake?” He was obviously joking, and he knew I was awake since Gareth and I had not been talking quietly. “So, Storme we can discuss the incident when you feel up to it. For now, your parents have given me wardship over you. You will not leave the farm without my permission.” I was shocked to hear that but not overly disappointed.

I was about to mention Freya when Callem beat me to it, “Your sister can visit two consecutive days every month.” I sighed, content with that information.

Callem sat in one of the chairs at the table. “Storme, you have had quite a bit of healing done, and it will take you two to three days of gorging to replenish your body’s stores.” He held up a hand to stop my question, “No potions. I do have the restoratives, but they are not needed. For the next three days, we will work on one of the texts after stretching.”

Gareth butted into our conversation, “Can it be the Dungeoneering book!?” His excitement was palpable. Callem had a sour look on his face that he erased quickly.

“I suppose we can work on that book. Everyone needs to know the basics about dungeons. That reminds me, Storme.” He gestured to Gareth, “I already told Gareth. Wynna will be staying here for a while.” Callem’s face was unreadable, and he held back his body language in check. I knew those two were getting along.

I smirked, and Callem continued pretending not to notice, “She will be helping with your book lessons in the evening and will be preparing lunch for all of us.” Well, that was great news, one thing off my plate, so to speak, since I was no longer responsible for lunch. It looked like dinner was still my domain, though. “Ennet has purchased a house in Hen’s Hollow and will be moving her business there.” Callem read my confused look, “Wynna is retiring. At least she doesn't plan to entertain any new clients.”

Callem stood and walked toward the door. He looked over his shoulder at us, “You have an hour to bathe before lunch, and then we will begin on the books. Storme, you smell like you crawled out of a latrine!” I sniffed myself, and that was definitely not an understatement. Callem finished his chiding before closing the door behind him with the final word, “With Wynna staying here, personal hygiene will need to be improved around here!”

Gareth and I locked eyes and laughed. Generally, we were the cleaner and better smelling than Callem, whom I had never actually seen bathe. Gareth spoke, “About time we delved into that dungeoneering book. He was always putting it off.” I started to speak, but he cut me off, “I know his son died in a dungeon, but that doesn’t mean we would. Not that I plan to try my luck anytime soon.” Gareth had been inching toward the door and then sprinted out yelling, “Race you to the stream!”

I still was moving very gingerly but made an effort to catch him. I was pretty sure he slowed down just enough to let me think I had a chance to catch him. I dove in while still dressed while he was removing his clothes. I figured my clothes needed washing anyway. “I win!” I yelled as my head emerged. Gareth was on the shore half undressed with his mouth agape.

“Well, that’s just not fair," he stated sullenly. However, his grin quickly returned as he ran full tilt and did a cannonball right next to me. When the water settled, we both relaxed, and Gareth asked, “So, Strome, it was those kids you pointed out to me before, wasn't it?”

“Yeah.” I sighed heavily, “but it’s not good. He has a brother, or maybe it was his father in the city guard.” There was silence between us as I scrubbed my clothes near one of the short waterfalls nearby.

“We need to bid our time, Gareth,” I finally said. “We will even the score. Hell, they took all my coins, too, and there were a few platinum in there. If they see me alive again, I don't expect the encounter will be pleasant.”

I finished clothes washing and put on just undergarments that were still wet. “I think it is good we are here. We are learning from the best and I should be able to work on my spells. I am going to need more spells, though. I can’t leave, according to Callem, but you can. Would you be up for making a trip to the capital in a few weeks?”

Gareth’s eyes lit up. “Demon’s yes, Stormy!” As we walked back, we started planning his trip to the capital. After he got there, he would buy some fine clothes to have the bearing of a noble with wealth and then go to a magic shop, drop a few platinum coins on some spell books, and return. It was a simple plan, but any number of things could go wrong.

We changed into better evening clothes in our lofts and went to the farmhouse. Lunch was laid out: a hearty pea soup, grilled cheese sandwiches with bacon, two pitchers of fruit juice, and some baked breaded fish. Forgetting our manners in front of Wynna, we dug in. I was a little off pace as I had stuffed my stomach just over an hour ago, but I still consumed a lot of food. The fish was a bit dry, but other than that, everything was good.

Satiated, we sat in the ‘new’ living room. Four large plush couches surrounded a large square coffee table. Wynna was already redecorating Callem's house. “Boys I have never taught before, but I like to think of myself as fairly well-read. What we will do is read a chapter and then discuss what you read as a group.” She handed me and Gareth the book, and I read the title, The Basics of Understanding Dungeon Ecology.

Wynna continued, “Most of the knowledge in these books is from two old adventurers, Mundu Aetherseeker and Jamath the Traveler. Mundu had a high-tier ability that allowed him to commune with dungeons. Some say he could talk to dungeons, but since he lived more than 20,000 years ago, I don’t know if legend has surpassed reality. Jamath had a powerful ability for navigation and location sensing. He could enter a dungeon portal and know exactly how far and from which direction he had traveled. With that primer, boys, let's start on the first chapter.”

I opened my text, Chapter 1: Dungeon Portals. I quickly read the twenty-page chapter. Dungeon portals were archways engraved with standardized symbols throughout the Sphere. Apparently, Mundu was footnoted as having translated all of the symbols. Each dungeon had a series of up to six standard symbols. The first was the number of people allowed in at one time. This could range from one to essentially unlimited. Some dungeons reset if a group left the first floor. If the cap had been reached, then all entrants had to leave before the dungeon would reset as well. So, you couldn’t effectively swap members of a delve team unless everyone exited the dungeon.

It was unlikely a dungeon could become locked by someone living in a dungeon because the longer you stayed in a dungeon, the harder it tried to kill you…well, there was a passage from Mundu that said if you stopped making consistent progress, it would try harder and harder to kill you anyway.

The second symbol was the relative difficulty of a dungeon, from one to seven. The difficulty was relative to the preparedness of the dungeon dive team. If you knew what to expect and prepared for it you would be mostly fine.

The third symbol was the number of levels a dungeon had.

The fourth symbol describes the terrain or terrains inside the dungeon.

The fifth symbol denoted the dungeon's age, usually dungeons were over 10,000 years as they evolved slowly.

The sixth symbol was the only fluid symbol and showed how many people were currently challenging a dungeon and if there was space for any more.

Those were the six common symbols every dungeon had. Mundu noted there was sometimes a seventh symbol, but since it was rare to see, it was not included in this book of basic knowledge.

Gareth finished reading shortly after I finished, and we started the discussion. Callem was more knowledgeable than Wynna on dungeons, so he trumped input on our questions for this chapter. Gareth wanted to know how big a dungeon dive team was typically. Callem said most dungeons allowed between four to seven delvers. Most adventuring teams had six to eight members, each with a specialization. All the dungeon entrances on the Skyholme islands had limits between five and seven challengers.

I was mostly curious about resources, and Wynna said there was a chapter covering that aspect, so she delayed answering the question. We both were curious about dungeon ages, how old did they get? Wynna fielded this question. The oldest dungeon noted in the text was 370,000 years old. A dungeon evolved every few hundred years, expanding its footprint and adding levels.

Wynna put a halt to questions and told us it was time for the next chapter, Chapter 2: Dungeon Size and Terrain. I was a little surprised to learn a dungeon could be anywhere from a few hundred feet up to a few thousand miles! A thousand miles to cross a dungeon floor sounded ridiculous. The terrain also was so varied it sounded mystical, traveling from desert to a glacier in just a few steps. We finished reading, and Wynna expanded on the text.

“The dungeons themselves are contained within a massive aether ley line matrix inside the crust of the Sphere. These ley lines are almost four thousand miles in diameter.” My look of disbelief had Wynna smile, “The size of the ley lines has been confirmed by dozens of independent researchers over the millennia. The ley lines can not be penetrated from the outside. Anyone who has tried has died from aether backlash, a defense mechanism that effectively burns away all material in a large swath area. The only way to enter inside a ley line is through a dungeon portal—then you are expected to complete the trials.”

“Trials?” Gareth asked, leaning forward.

“Well, trials is a strong word. Each floor or level of a dungeon is a challenge with rewards,” Wynna said and stopped. Gareth eyes were glinting with excitement.

Seeing Callem upset, I asked a question to get off the topic of dungeons. “If the ley lines are that thick, how thick is the Sphere?”

Wynna smiled at my question, “Between 15,000 and 20,000 miles, depending on where you were.” My mind was spinning a bit at that scale.

I had not been fantastic at physics in my old life, but shouldn’t gravity be crushing us like zits? I didn’t voice this question. Gareth was asking about how someone dug down to the aether lines as I was distracted. Callem answered his inquiry. There were 23 passages, each thousands of miles across, through the Sphere to the Outer Sphere. The truly powerful controlled these gateways. They were merchant highways for resources gathered within the Sphere’s dungeons to be sold to Dark World civilizations and the rest of the galaxy.

Wait, Callem knew there was more out there than just the Sphere? Gareth was pounding Callem with questions about life outside of the Sphere until he silenced him. “Today’s lessons are about dungeons, not the expanse of the Sphere or what lay beyond.” Gareth looked disappointed, clearly having a taste for adventure. I had dampened it growing up. Outside of Skyholme, the Sphere was a dangerous place.

Returning to the book, Chapter 3 was all about resources. The book detailed that anything in a dungeon was real, and as long as you could carry it out, you could keep it. The natural resources depended on the environment. Monster harvesting, lumber, herbs, metals, rocks…anything.

I asked, “Can you bring in a large cart?” Callem and Wynna laughed together.

“Dungeons have a sense of fairness. As long as it is not too large—say a wheelbarrow, you would be fine. Try to take a horse and cart, and you may find your cart missing after passing through the portal. There are specialists in delve teams that have dimensional spaces and focus on harvesting loot.”

Callem spoke, “The true value in a dungeon are the aether crystals and aether-infused ingredients. Plants, metals, and rocks in more powerful dungeons had aether laced into their makeup. This makes them extremely valuable for alchemists, enchanters, and in magitech devices. My own tobacco plants were from a dungeon and even retained a slight aether property. But most aetheric seeds brought out of a dungeon don’t grow unless you have aether-rich soil.” The conversation lasted for a while talking about environmental treasures. Some cities in the lower lands lived completely off the harvest of a single dungeon.

Wynna soon had us move to Chapter 4: Aether Crystals. Both Gareth and I had heard of aether crystals and knew they only came from dungeons. I read the chapter twice to make sure I understood. Aether crystals were found inside monsters in a dungeon. A sort of prize you got for defeating the foe.

There were also aether crystal deposits in some dungeons that could be mined. These dungeons that had aether crystal mines were highly sought after. Aether crystals came in seven grades or tiers. The first three grades red, orange, and yellow were the lowest. The amount of aether they contained tripled each grade. So, orange contained three times that of red and yellow nine times that of red.

These low-tier crystals were used mostly in enchanting. They were ground to a powder and mixed with metals to inscribe runes. The crystals also varied in size, from the size of a grain of rice to the size of a basketball. The three-fold increase in capacity held true for the next three grades: green, blue, and indigo. These crystals had a much larger capacity and were extremely durable compared to the first three tiers and difficult to turn into a powder.

They were mostly used as batteries for magic devices. The red, orange, and yellow became brittle after a few recharges. Inside the Sphere, the crystals recharged naturally from the ambient aether. A mage who could control his aether could also forcibly recharge a crystal. Pulling aether from a crystal required a runic array and was not a fast process.

The final aether crystal: violet was virtually indestructible. These were the crystals used to power the strongest magitech devices and also skyships and starships. Dungeons that supplied such crystals were valued much more than others.

A violet aether crystal could contain 729 times the amount of aether as a red crystal of similar size. Wynna said if we had trouble remembering the grade scale, think of a rainbow. I had a flashback, ROY-G-BIV. Huh…was magic and science linked somehow? Gareth was already into his questions. He wanted to know what type of crystals and how big they were, and which came from which monster in the Skyholme dungeons. Neither Callem nor Wynna had answers for him, leaving him disappointed.

I asked about their value. “How costly are aether crystals.”

Wynna cocked her head thinking. “Not so much in Skyholme, but other parts of the Sphere, they are used as a currency. In my business, I have accepted some in exchange. For the lower tiers, the reds, oranges, and yellows, it is about one silver per aetheric unit, with some variance. The cost doubles for the greens, blues and indigos, to two silver per unit. For violets—four silver per unit.”

I did the math in my head, “So a single unit of violet crystal is thirty gold!?” A unit was about the size of a rice grain.

Wynna smiled at my astonishment, “About. However, economies are different in each city in the Sphere. A small fist-sized violent crystal contains about 9,000 units and is worth 250,000 gold. But that small crystal can make a skyship fly!”

Even Gareth was flabbergasted. “Where do we get those aether crystals!”

Callem laughed deeply, “There are no dungeons in Skyholme that produce tier six or tier seven crystals, and nothing remotely as large as a fist. Those dungeons are in the lowlands and on the moons and more dangerous than they have a right to be.” The last was said with a warning.

It was getting late, and we still had three chapters to go, so Wynna said we would finish the text over the next few days. We had a cold dinner of sausage and buttered bread as no one had cooked. The conversation lingered on dungeons, but I was not interested. After dinner, Gareth took his copy of the dungeon book to read in his loft.

While Gareth was reading about dungeons, I did my aether core exercises and produced two platinum coins. I needed to start filling my purse again. I would need some gold later to complete them, but this is fine for now. I had some aether in reserve, so I started working on my mend flesh spell. First, I puzzled through the self-diagnostic tool and found lots of lingering injuries on my body. They had a bright red-hot feeling from the feedback. I had mostly strained tendons and capillaries were still being repaired.

I was surprised how little aether I needed to heal everything completely. I found everything that needed attention, including my troubled knee, and healed myself completely. Of course, I was hungry again and snuck down for a snack. Gareth joined me and said, “Storme, I want to try out a dungeon sometime.” He had a serious look on his face.

“Gareth, after we finish our first year of Academy training, we can try delving.” He grinned happily that I was on board. He didn’t realize that gave me three years to convince him not to. Gareth slapped me on the shoulder before tossing a handful of nuts in his mouth. Sleep was welcome in my flotilla of pillows.