Valknar

Chapter 44

Myma was watching the group she was exploring the Dungeon with. The first and second floors were cleared and they were standing on the stairwell on the third floor. They were preparing for the fight on this floor. She knew that there were boars coming next and they were ready. The fight would be challenging, but she was confident they would clear the floor.

She was less confident about the next. Modus was a high Iron grade, with his magical gear pushing him to low Copper. His lifeguards...

Chapter 43

Both men had shed the outer winter layers they wore and now sat at a table in the back room of the Shadow’s Rest tavern. Drinks had been supplied. The tavern owner, Jontar, would keep the curious away.

The room was rough in construction but warmed with a large fireplace. Ranus knew that the Ostrul envoy would not openly or even hint at judging the location of the meeting. Their city trained them too well to make such a simple error. Such envoys adapted to any situation they found them...

Chapter 42

Twenty days had passed since Gran and his team had passed through the newly established fourth floor. I had spent the last twenty days thinking and taking a few actions.

“Twenty per cent on my corruption and thirty on essence.”

I was losing one point of corruption every day. I still felt crappy, but I was getting better. There was an iron-grade group running my Dungeon. They were on the third in the second room, fighting the three boars within. They had killed the first boar a...

Chapter 41/ End of the first arc

Gran watched his team.

Nilus was still favouring his leg, but the healing tonic was working to bind the wound. The others were still in fighting shape.

He noted Woodland still working on her floor map and muttering into a crystal. Walking to her, he motioned to Kimor to join them. The woman, as always, noticed his motion and silently stood from balancing on her heels and joined them.

“Kimor, what are your thoughts on the floor?” Gran asked her. Woodland watched them come...

Chapter 40

As they descended, they explained each floor to Hena. The fact that they could travel through the Dungeon to the floor they wished by not fighting their way through them was a source of both amazement and consternation.

“That is a trap, is it not?” As they walked, she was talking to Mags, her head slightly turned to see the other woman.

“Yes. This Dungeon is far more intelligent than the typical young one.”

“Wasps with floor traps on the first, with Toads and water...

Chapter 39

Just when something interesting happens, I am interrupted. Today's first group is a Tin group that goes through the first floor. The Guardian puts up a good showing, wounding two of the five, but is overwhelmed.

As this happens, I am talking to my new Fourth Floor Guardian about itself as I inspect its status sheet.

Name 4th Floor Guardian

Level/Class Floor 4 Boss

Race Shadow Touched Spider (Queen)

Essence 0%

Health 200/200

Mana 120/120

S...

Chapter 38

Several more teams showed up and at the end of the day, so did the miners. They all acted normally, but none went to the third as they were all Tin groups. I was still confused by the first team's actions.

“Why take the 1st floor Guardian's corpse?”

It had respawned without issue. But why?

The last had just left and I had locked the doors. Larry was back in his favourite spot, the rafters. A Tin group had spotted him and tried to hunt him, but he used the flaps I had cre...

Chapter 37

“Okay. You are a bit larger than I expected, but I can work with that.”

My newest creation was walking around the first cave, exploring. I could sense its desire to spin webs and wait for prey to get insnared. I had decided what to do when I finally created this fellow.

“Status screen. Shadow Spider.”

Name Shadow Spider

Level/Class 1 -  Dungeon Minion

Race Shadow Touched Spider

Essence 0%

Health 80/80

Mana 30/30

Stamina...

Chapter 36

The Dungeon began resetting and I felt awful.

Other alert notifications had appeared, but I was not looking at them yet. On the surface, the doors and wall were reassembling. It looked like whatever the system said about the Dungeon being restored was where the attack started.

“Larry, take me back to my alcove.”

He carried me past the corpses of my minions that were dissolving long with the corrupted mountain ogre. Puck was flying around the bodies.

“Well, I now ...

Chapter 35

The Adventures reappeared about mid-day. Woodland came in with a team of well-equipped Adventures. They descended straight down to the third floor and spent some time looking for the fourth. They used magical items to see if the route was hidden. Along the way, they cleared the floor of boars and the guardian. Things went as well as I expected.

“Not yet.”

They were disappointed but left and the others began filtering through. Woodland was not happy about the lack of a new floo...

Chapter 34

“Please, will someone die today!”

Today, the third group was working through the second floor. Another Tin group is being “mentored” by an Iron grade. In the last week, I noticed three small group changes coming through. First, more groups had mentors. Next, the number of Iron-grade groups had increased, and last, they were all avoiding my wine bottle surprise in the entry room on the ground.

“I think the bottles done as a trap.”

As usual, I talked to Larry as he...

Chapter 33

I was progressing towards level 4, slowly but progressing.

“Thankfully, it’s not like the first level that took forever!”

Larry was doing his best to ignore me as I spoke. He is hanging out in the rafters as a group was below on the first floor. I was aware of them, but they were not that interesting.

“Since Ron’s group was here, I have had nothing but new Tin groups. No interesting gear or magic. True, I have reached 85% on the way to my next floor, but things are...

Chapter 32

The descent to the first floor was without issue. Ron knew his group and that they were taking this seriously. The winding stairs quickly opened up onto a new room and the stairs continuing was unexpected.

“Direct access to the next floor?”

Granus expressed the surprise they were all feeling. Every Dungeon they had visited or heard about required the Adventures to earn access by defeating the floor boss, but not here, it seemed.

“Stay sharp, everyone. If this is a sign...

Chapter 31

“The good times are a rolling!”

A new group of Adventures had just entered my Dungeon. Gran's team had just visited the third floor and after they had departed the dungeon reset. I had been slowly a crewing essence when they visited. Making them use their skills and abilities gave me a slight bump. Other teams were visiting, but the essence I got from them was a fraction of Gran’s team.

“Unless they get themselves killed.”

Two weeks ago, a young group of five had d...

Chapter 30

The last few weeks had flown past. The season was changing as summer was ending and autumn was well on the way. Ranus stepped out of the newly constructed tavern room he was staying in and went downstairs. The building was rough in its look and the smell of sawdust was still heavy in the air, but it still was better than the tent he was in. Construction had only finished two days ago.

Word of the Dungeon had spread like wildfire across a dry grass plain. And the people came. By the Gods...

Chapter 29

“I am going to call that a fairy.”

She (and it was clear it was a she) had travelled into my Dungeon. I noticed as soon as she entered my aura, but the lack of alerts of any type was the most alarming thing. So far, everything entering has triggered some form of notification.

The fairy stopped in the open section of the tower and made a series of musical sounds.

“Is she trying to talk to me?”

She had paused as if expecting an answer. But I had no idea of how to...

Chapter 28

Astraus’s domain was one of the most unusual of the God's domains. Her Mantals were Challenges, Struggle and Dungeons. The Goddess was known for not responding to prayers as she believed people should rise and fall on their own agency, but that did not mean she ignored them. She supplied the opportunity and it was up to you to figure out what to do with it.

The domain surprised those who visited it, expecting a place of anarchy or strife. What they found was a highly ordered and struc...

Chapter 27

“Well, now I know how Adventures will handle my Dungeon.”

My sight is focused on the main entrance room. The Adventure group has just left and at least had the presence of mind to close the doors. I ignored the notifications for the moment, thinking about what had happened and there was quite a bit.

My Dungeon is resetting with all the monsters respawning and traps rearming. The bodies were dissolving into motes of different colour lights before respawning. It takes only a few...

Chapter 26

There were three.

Tobar taunted two with one of his skills to fight him as Gran blocked the third. Gran had triggered his [Hold This Ground] skill, which allowed him to endure the boar's charge and follow-on attacks. As a Bladesman, it was one of his few pure defensive skills for holding a fixed location.

Gran was trying to be aware of everything around him. He knew the others were doing their best to support both men. The boar had other ideas. The assault was degrading his shield...

Chapter 24

Empty.

That was the first room. There were scattered boxes and broken barrels, but that was it so far. Everything gave the impression of an abandoned building.

The group moved further in. Kimor is checking relentlessly for traps.

“Copper vein in the wall.”

The rumble of Tobar's voice was surprising. The big man was quiet and often did not speak, but when he did, they listened. He stood at the far wall, looking at the green streak running through the rock.

“...

Chapter 23

Mid-summer was pleasant in the valleys they were travelling through. Once again, he was travelling up the river from Tyboon.

Ranus was still riding an emotional high.

The last few months had been more rewarding than he ever expected. The route was now open along the Shadow Way River. His trading expedition was a greater success than he had planned and he sold the path to others for an additional source of income.

His father and mother were amazed. They talked him up to all t...

Chapter 20

Ten days of thinking had presented no concrete ideas on how to work Puck into my dungeon. I had a few thoughts but was unsure about their practicality. Larry was snoring in the rafters as Puck flew around the tower base. All the doors on the surface were open as it flew around the dungeon.

It was another usual day. The only difference was I had closed all the shutters and the front door. I had been trying to lure new creatures in but with no luck.

Puck was smarter according to its...

Chapter 19

“At least it’s not raining.”

The groan from the rest of the group that followed this statement was not a surprise.

The six of them with three-pack donkeys were moving into a valley much deeper in the Shadow Way Mountain range than they typically ranged. They were deep into the forest that covered all the valleys.

“How much farther are we going to go, Aldric?”

Aldric stopped, which halted the rest as he turned. Looking over the five others, he weighed his answ...

Chapter 18

To say the last thirty-two days were rough would be an understatement.

Bordum was a Core's greatest enemy. I quickly ran out of things to do after finishing the third floor. So, I had been trying to find something to preoccupy me for the last thirty-two days.

Mostly failing. Okay, failing nearly all the time.

I did have a few moments of excitement. I found another Shadow mote had formed in my dungeon, but I could not absorb it as I was already at full storage. Playing with i...

Chapter 17

“Ok, time for something a bit different.”

The floors above had a corridor heading east as the starting point into the floor. This time, I went west. The ground I was now taking control of was rock, as I was pretty far underground now.

“That will confuse them.”

I laugh to myself as the corridor takes shape. The stonework creation took me only a few minutes to form and have in place. The doorway leading to the floor is on the northern side, and the southern exit will b...

Chapter 16

Returning to awareness after my level-up should have been a happy thing, even with the hangover-like effects, but I was still pissed and it made it worse.

“OK. Breathe, calm down and focus.”

There was much to do, like checking the level-up effects and finishing the 2nd floor.

“Status screen. Bhaldor.”

Name Bhaldor

Essence 0%

Race Dungeon Core

CP 217(300) /2.5 phr

Level 3

Corruption 0%

Floors 3

Health 100%

Chapter 15

Panic was the only thing that I registered for several seconds.

I moved to the entry room to find out what the hell was going on.

Ten men and twelve women had entered the room. The men were spread out, dropping packs and looking around. Soon, two were lighting a fire. The men were armed with long daggers and a few swords. They were dressed in what looked like tough and rugged clothes. What stood out to me were the women. They were dressed in white dresses with flower embroidery an...

Chapter 14

The weather was turning. She was sure of this now. The air was cold as the mountains were holding on to winter. The spring was still to take hold in this region fully. A storm was coming.

“Vernia, how long before we arrive?” She looked to the other woman who had whispered the question. She and eleven other women were chained together on the deck of a Devnear river raider. The ship was travelling along the Shadow Way River.

“Soon, I think.” She whispered back.

Looking...

Chapter 13

Travelling down to my core and the beginning of the stairwell that will lead to the second floor.

Now, knowing the cost of the alterations I had made to my core, I could live with them. My CP was being reduced by the amount of core that had altered every level I increased. I was losing five percent of my levelling increases at the moment. A trade-off I was willing to make for the ability to store and use mana.

Looking over the giant river toad design screen. It was much “tankier...

Chapter 12

I had mana storage and even better, I would replenish itself! I travelled my dungeon in an ecstatic mood.

Today was a good day!

I looked outside to find out the weather conditions only to realise from my limited view that it was night. Well, then, it was a good night!

Absorbing the lantern cage had only given me wood, glass and iron, which was no real letdown having these resources already. I even got a little dump to Mana Manipulation. I got one other thing that left me per...