Dungeon Champions

Pting!

I woke in a haze, my vision too blurry to make anything out other than general shapes and colors. Sitting up, I brought both hands to my head and rubbed in slow circles.

Everything hurt.

My migraines had grown worse lately, and this one was no different. Searing, thought-stealing agony began at my temples and rolled backward, until it pinched like a vice at the nape of my neck.

Migraines had been a constant companion of mine since the accident. I knew exactly how to deal with them. But during the worst of them, all I could do was sit in the cold, dark quiet and wait for relief.

Pting!

Water splashed somewhere off to my left. I fought to think through the fog. Did I leave something on again? Last year was the start of my sleepwalking. One doctor said that the migraines were likely the culprit. Neither testing nor medicine had helped. I just had to adjust.

It was entirely possible I’d woken on the cold linoleum of the downstairs kitchen again.

Fumbling around, I ran my hands over the ground. It was smooth and cold like linoleum, but it lacked tile lines. And it felt more… porous?

I thought to call out and shout for my grandparents, but stopped myself at the last minute. They’d passed away a little over six months ago. I was all alone.

A wave of helplessness and isolation threatened to keep me on the ground. I fought through it, willing myself to think through the pain. With gritted teeth, I pushed myself to my knees.

One agonizing inch at a time, I crawled toward the sound of the water. Hours seemed to pass before my fingers met something cold and sloped.

This can’t be the kitchen sink…

I couldn’t concentrate long enough to be logical, and I couldn’t clear my vision.

When the pain was so bad, all I wanted to do was curl up and sleep. Even thinking was difficult. Mental fog wrapped around me and squeezed almost as tight at the migraine itself.

I spread my hands, working them up to sides of what I hoped was a sink. My fingertips crested the rounded lip. Cool water brushed my skin, and with it came relief. It started at my tingling extremities and soaked inward, as if it were flowing through my veins and spreading through my entire body.

Icy relief—an unimaginably glorious sensation—wove through my body. In seconds, the migraine cleared, leaving me able to see and think again.

“Where am I?”

My voice echoed in the domed room.

I was in some sort of stone chamber—with stone walls, floors, and ceiling, all smoothed and unnaturally black—supported by a dozen glyph-covered pillars. Glowing symbols hovered in the air, moving throughout the room. Beside me was a small fountain, maybe three feet across. The water in it was a brilliant blue color and sparkled, as if electrified.

I was thirsty enough to throw caution to the wind, so on impulse, I leaned forward and took a drink.

Relief preceded the liquid as I swallowed, and pure, rejuvenating joy followed. It spread from my mouth, my esophagus, down through my chest and both up my arms and down my legs with wicked speed. Energy roared through my veins, every bit as potent as a pot of coffee and a full night’s rest.

What about my…

I’d been thinking about something, about where I’d come from before this, but the thought evaporated, taking with it all memories of my previous life.

“Where am I?” I repeated. Narrowing my eyes, I concentrated, trying to remember anything.

Facts flashed through my mind. I could speak, and I knew all sorts of random things. The sky was blue, my name was Jordan, and I knew the difference between at least four different types of wrench. Other than the raw knowledge, however, nothing remained.

Looking down, I frowned at my clothes. I was wearing rumpled pajamas, covered in laughing dog faces. When had I put those on? Where had I gotten them from? Why would dogs laugh like that?

My memories told me the answer to those last two both had to do with the internet, but aside from knowing what “the internet” was, I didn’t know what it was. Solving that enigma wouldn’t miraculously tell me where I was, so I decided to look around.

The room was featureless, other than the fountain. But there was a person-sided shape against the far end of the room, near a pair of heavy double doors.

I moved closer to get a better look at it.

The person-sized shape looked like a powerfully built older man. His gray hair fanned out around his head where he lay, face down on the smooth stone floor. He wore elaborate armor and had a half dozen weapons sticking out from behind his back and hips. Next to one outstretched hand was a glowing, golden rectangle, like a computer tablet.

Only this looked special, the device bordered in rich filigree and pulsing with light that could only be described as magical.

“Magical computer tablet?” I remembered what one was and how it operated. But when had I held one? When had I seen one? That information was gone.

The word seemed to fit the device in the man’s hand. Given the fact that it looked extra special, I assumed it would have a capital-T at the front—Tablet.

Taking a step toward the man, I said, “Uh, hello? Mister? Are you okay?”

When the man didn’t move, I looked around again. Now that I was a couple of feet away from the fountain, when I looked back, I saw elaborate glowing runes around the curved lip. The language meant nothing to me. It was all just gibberish.

Lacking any other options, I finished crossing the room to the man. He didn’t respond. Maybe he was sleeping.

Using one bare foot, I nudged his shoulder. “Hello?”

Once again, there was no response.

Crouching, I reached out and ran my fingers through the man’s hair, brushing it away from his neck. Swallowing hard, I put two fingers at the juncture of neck and throat, feeling for a pulse.

There was none. Just cold, dead skin.

“What is going on?” Now I was confused. Even without my memories, I knew the situation made no sense. How had I come to be where I was? Who was this man?

Did I do this? Did I somehow sleepwalk somewhere…and… And what? Kill someone?

The concept was preposterous. I knew myself, even without my memories. Jordan Cash wasn’t a murderer. Also, what would I have even killed the man with? My bare hands?

Ignoring his weapons and armor for now, I reached for the glowing Tablet.

Zzzaaap!

Electricity shot from the device as it snapped into my hand. Tines of blue and green energy lashed out, rolling over the corpse’s body. They expanded from the dead man, forming a spiderweb of wavering, crawling energy that struck the ceiling’s support beams and the fountain.

“Blursh! Da nesse tatai pasha!”

An unfamiliar voice echoed through the room, and I looked around, trying to find who spoke. There wasn’t anything… until I finally looked up.

Beneath the curved dome of the roof was a crystalline orb, about three and a half feet across. Complicated symbols and bits of rune-shaped metal wove around it. One of the symbols looked a lot like a purple eye.

It blinked, centering its focus on me.

A floating eyeball?

“What the hell?” I said aloud.

More strange syllables filled the air until, at last, a fresh bolt of energy extended from the orb and to the Tablet.

“Do you understand me now?” The orb’s voice came across as posh, almost British.

“Uh. Yeah, I do.” Shaking with a mixture of fear and adrenaline, I came to my feet. The Tablet was still in my hand. It felt stuck there, and when I glanced down, I saw bits of magic continuously lashing between me, the corpse, and the device, like tiny lightning bolts.

“Excellent. Hold one moment. This interaction is governed by higher rules than mere mortal contracts.”

I was perplexed, but before I could ask a question, the sound of a thousand dice falling to the floor surrounded me. For a brief moment, I thought I could see their faint outlines as they rolled across the floor. I wondered what was going on.

“Hmmm… What? I mean, it’s possible… but really?” The eyeball made a sound like a tongue clicking against the roof of a mouth, but it didn’t have either of those things. “I simply must roll again….”

More invisible dice crashed to the ground.

“Who are you, mortal? While possible, the chaos of this event can only point to the reality at the foundations of the dimensions and universes. And it’s happened in my domain, where I’m bound by the very chaos that forced this event. I will be held accountable, with my existence and domain in the balance….”

When the speaker finally took a breath, I said, “I’m sorry. What’s going on?”

The eyeball burst out laughing and took a while before stopping.

“You are unique, and the event that brought you here is more unique. But the uniqueness of those two things has been exponentially surpassed by the uniqueness governing the extent that I can help you now. So then we can be on with the bargain.”

“Bargain?” I had no idea what the hell he was talking about, but bargains in mysterious stone rooms didn’t seem remotely safe.

The eye blinked from me to the fountain. “Read the Tablet, mortal.”

Looking at the previously indecipherable text, I read.

Pinnacle Dungeon Core: You have arrived at the Well of Purity. Drink and be renewed. Agree to the Core’s terms and receive a Pinnacle Blessing.

“Okay, so I can at least read all this… Individually, these words all make sense. But together? I’m going to need a little help here.”

“This is a return to innocence, adventurer.” The voice sounded smug. “So many of your kind assume that a Pinnacle Blessing is a simple matter. I assure you; it is not. Now, you must negotiate with me as the Fates intended. Bereft of guile.”

“Guile? Uh. I think you have the wrong person. I’m not the sort of person who has any guile.”

“Are you certain? You have no memories.”

“Pretty certain.” I tugged at my clothes, then pointed at the corpse. “If I had to guess, I’d say he’s the one with the guile.” Although not enough to keep him alive, apparently.

The eye pivoted, studying the body. Electric runes crawled across the surface of the gem, and the eye widened. “He attempted to summon aid even as he crossed the threshold.” A dry, humorless chuckle filled the air. “My chamber’s protections intervened.” It rotated to look at me again. “You, it appears, have been simultaneously given a great boon and a curse.”

“Eh?”

“Precisely.”

Looking away from the strange orb, I studied the golden Tablet in my hand. The screen now read: Legendary Adventurer’s Tablet. Status: Unbound/Locked.

“Ah. Now I see how he got so far by himself.” The orb floated down from the roof, moving to hover near my shoulder. It radiated a weight and presence that felt like a physical pressure.

“Huh?”

The eye rotated, studying me. “Even if you had your memories, you would not know what a Dungeon Core is, would you?”

“No.” Frustration bubbled to the surface as I glared up at the giant eyeball. “I don’t know what any of this stuff is. I know you said words, but I still don’t know how I got here.”

“Amusing. I see an opportunity, then. Shall we negotiate?”

I didn’t love the idea of negotiating without knowing anything, but I also didn’t see many other options. The Well of Purity thing said I had to agree to the Core’s terms to get a Pinnacle Blessing… and something told me I wanted that.

“Sure?”

The orb floated away, moving to rotate slowly above the fountain. “I can sense your confusion. Let me explain. Because you drank from my wellspring, I am required to provide you with a Pinnacle Blessing. Normally, an adventurer who came this far would demand my Core. They would kill me.”

“Is that my only choice? I don’t want to kill you,” I said honestly. “We just met. Besides, you seem like a nice, um, eyeball thing.”

“Yes. I can sense that about you. You are innocent. A clean slate. Unfortunately, you will not survive long in your new world like that. Even were you to take your summoner’s weapons and equipment…” The eyeball made a tsking sound. “Instead, perhaps I can make you an offer that we will find mutually beneficial?”

I considered my options for all of half a second. What other choices did I really have? “I’m not booked for any meetings other than this one. Go ahead.”

The eye blinked at me, then burst into laughter. “He’s got a sense of humor. I like that!”

Grinning, I said, “I like you too, Dungeon Core-Eye-Thing.”

“My terms are simple. I will transfer the Legendary Tablet into your ownership. This will allow you to keep most of the late adventurer’s knowledge and experience points. You will need to pick a new class.” The eyeball paused, before adding dramatically, “In exchange, you will evacuate my dungeon.”

“That’s it?”

“Indeed. But not just you. Several adventurers followed this one into my depths.” The eyeball started to move slightly to the right, paused, and then moved back to the left. Almost as if it was pacing. “From what I overheard, they are still low level. I believe they hoped to ride this one’s coattails and pick up any treasure he discarded. My denizens have separated and trapped them.”

It stopped pacing and looked at me directly. “I want you to rescue them, then take them out of my domain.”

“Why?”

The energy covering the eye changed shape, becoming the outline of a grinning mouth. “Because, when you return to the surface, you will take any adventurers who survive with you. Then, in exchange for my benevolence, you and the group will take care of the Demon Core that has infested my sibling in the lands nearby. With that help, I shall grow and prevent future invaders from bothering me.”

Lacking my memories or context, I had no clue if I was getting a fair deal or not. “Why do I need to rescue the others? Can’t you just free them?”

The eye bobbed from side to side. “Dungeons in the Fae Wilds do not work that way. I only have direct control of specific aspects of my dungeon. This man defeated my simulacra and my floor boss. If he hadn’t gotten arrogant at the final door, you would not be here.” It sighed. “Other than the bosses, any denizens I lure in act independently, which they are now.”

“All I’ll need to do is defeat one of your rivals, and we’ll be even?”

“Precisely.” The eye’s energy grin returned. “I shall even give you the location of the Demon Core to help guide you. When you remove it, I will be able to expand and claim its territory.” It paused. “You can even claim the Core’s power when you destroy it, if you’d like. And once you’ve done that, I’ll consider any debt between us to be even.”

I looked over at the old man’s corpse. “Claiming the Core’s power… so killing it?” The eye bobbed up and down in a way I assumed meant it was nodding. “I’m not sure how comfortable I am with killing things. Pretty certain that where I came from, murder was wrong.”

Voice softening, the eye said, “This is a new world, friend. And with the skill memories of the fallen warrior, you will understand much. Violence is the way of your new home.”

I nodded uncertainly. “How long will I have to defeat this Demon Core rival of yours? Assuming I agree to your terms.”

“Core time is not mortal time. Anything within three years should be sufficient for my needs, assuming the new Goblin King doesn’t shake things up. The invader is right beneath his kingdom, after all.”

Goblin King?

“Okay. Well. I don’t see that I have much of a choice.” I hated being without options, but this offer was better than trying to find my way out of the dungeon by myself.

“If it helps, most denizens of dungeons are monsters. Real, living monsters. Few of us are aligned with celestial magic. When you go to fulfill your side of our bargain, you’ll be fighting nightmarish things.” The eye paused. “In fact, many of the entities you’ll face could very well threaten the surrounding environment, if left unchecked. The poor goblins have already been under quite a lot of pressure. Maybe you could consider this an act of kindness?”

“Actually, that does help.”

One thing I was certain about myself was that I’d been a good person, or at least decent. Whatever I’d been in my past life, that much was a certainty.

Even in a world with monsters and death, that much wouldn’t change.

I took a deep breath and firmed my resolve. “All right. I agree to your terms.”

The Tablet in my hand vibrated, the screen flashing and changing.