DungeonFall – [A Dungeon Creation / Cultivation Story]

It was sometime later that Nate opened his eyes. Cultivating had been an interesting experience for him. Falling into the proper meditative state had been surprisingly easy. Even after a two-month break, this body still knew what to do. Actually, cultivating, however, was another matter.

Without his meridians to guide him, he had found it difficult to know what to do. He had managed to gather a small amount of energy, he thought, but nothing that even showed on the screen. Regardless of the dubious effects his efforts garnered, this was something he needed to practice for later.

At the moment, however, he needed to go downstairs. His mother had just called for him.

Cracking his back and neck, he lightly stretched as he climbed off the bed. Activating the screen on his wrist computer, he pulled up the dungeon view of the dungeon entrance. Since he was the only one who could see the screens, it was not a problem to leave them up like this around his parents.

In the future, he might need to be more careful, but for now, at least, it wasn’t a problem.

There was no sign that any human tried to enter the dungeon just yet, though there was a particularly smart rat trying its best to avoid the traps.

“What’s up?” He asked, jumping down the last few steps. Being able to do something as simple as jump without feeling his leg crumple under him was such a joy still.

“The news just came in; they’ve reached the structure. Come and watch with us.” His father answered, bringing a platter of food in from the kitchen.

Nate glanced at his screen again with a dubious expression. “How are we getting the news so fast here? I would have thought they would be keeping the information on a delay or something. Especially with all the losses they must have suffered.”

His mother shrugged. “Who can say maybe they worked out a deal with the team beforehand? Either way, the news just came through, so they must have some way of transmitting the data back to the station.”

He barely held back a grin, hoping that was true. He could only imagine what it would be like if the team sent over video or pictures of all the signs he had put outside the dungeon. It would be just too perfect.

“I think you’re right; I will join you for a little bit. Just let me get my notebook.” Nate ran upstairs and grabbed the book from his bed, before rejoining them moments later.

“There, now let’s see what all the fuss is about.” He grabbed a few chips from the bowl on the coffee table and sat down on the couch next to his dad.

Niall had his arm around his wife as they snuggled on the couch and listened to the reporter blather on.

Nate surreptitiously opened more screens for the dungeon, allowing him to see more of what was going on. He still couldn’t see what was happening outside its walls, but he could now be sure they hadn’t snuck inside without him knowing.

The traps he had just upgraded caught his eye and he had to stop himself tapping on them. The urge to see what new upgrades could be applied to them was strong, but it could wait until later.

He didn’t want his parents to see him waving his arms around like a complete lunatic if he didn’t have to. It was bad enough they had seen him opening the extra screens. At least he had been able to pass that off as an extremely awkward arm scratch.

He doubted that would fly a second time.

Nate twirled his pen around his thumb and began jotting down random ideas as they came to him. He wondered if it was possible to make the floors super slick? Like with a premium wax and then a layer of oil on top. It might not work well with the stone floors, but it was still worth looking into.

For the current dungeon, he obviously didn’t want to do anything with nature, which limited him in a number of aspects. However, was it possible to have a room where everything was ice, or maybe even fire?

The way the system let him construct traps gave him a lot of freedom. Unfortunately, without any instructions, he was still left figuring out all of the basics on his own.

“What are you writing down over there?” Nina wondered, looking up as the news cut to a commercial break.

“Hmm?” Nate blinked, his mind taking a moment to process her question. “Oh, nothing in particular, just random thoughts for a project. More importantly, have they mentioned anything about the structure yet?”

“They were just getting to that before it went to commercial.” His father answered as the news came back on.

“We have raw, unedited footage of the structure’s entrance proving that it is manmade!” The talking head went on for several more seconds, making several more wild claims before they finally switched over to the video they had received.

From the outside, the dungeon looked like a building made out of black granite. You could even see the occasional white lines that always appeared on large chunks of granite. There was a gaping doorway, akin to a warehouse or hangar bay doorway for the entrance, and that was it.

Well, as long as you ignored the signs that Nate had placed everywhere.

Each one decried a different family that had attacked him, and each sign told the world they weren’t allowed inside.

Nate giggled, unable to hold back anymore. “Oh, my-“ He began, only to find he was unable to finish as he started laughing harder. He gasped for breath and put his head between his legs, while still sitting on the couch.

This was absolutely perfect, and so much better than he had ever expected. Who would have thought they were going to show all of that on TV? It was absolutely perfect. The station had just guaranteed that those families would be coming to his dungeon.

He couldn’t have asked for anything better. It truly was the best gift they could have given him.

“Wait…” Nina looked at the three family names mentioned on the signs and then at her son. “Those are the same ones who hurt you! Those families must be suicidal to mess with someone who has the power to create something like that so quickly. All three must be doing nothing but going around causing trouble for people!”

Nate nodded along, not saying anything. It was too far outside the normal thought process to think he was involved in some way. It only worked in stories because the authors needed to create conflict and drive the plot forward.

In real life, there were few people who made leaps that were so far outside the ordinary. And for the few who did, it was rarely more than a passing fancy, a what-if scenario. Wouldn’t it be interesting if this person was involved, even though he’s just a mild-mannered reporter with glasses? Something silly like that.

So, no, he wasn’t worried about people discovering his secret. It was too outside the regular realm of thinking for people to consider. As for those rare weirdoes who would consider it… Well, they had a long list of suspects to go through before they ever got to him as well.

Niall crushed his soda can, spilling the last few drops everywhere. “Good, I’m glad someone with power is going after them like this! I can’t believe the station actually dared to air this though. This is akin to a declaration of war on the families.”

“They might not have dared to ignore it,” Nina replied thoughtfully. “Think about it. We’re talking about someone with enough power to create a structure around the dimensional portal. Those three families have power in our city, sure, but it’s nothing compared to a person like that. The station probably didn’t dare risk offending the person by hiding it.”

Nobody wanted to risk offending a person who had that much power and ability. Closing off a portal, even a weak one like this, was far beyond anything those three families were capable of.

As of that moment, everyone in the city wanted to stay clear of their fight.

Without him knowing it, Nate’s situation had suddenly improved significantly. Everyone who had been avoiding him because of what had happened had suddenly changed their opinion. Not that he knew any of that at the moment.

“Since this was created by someone so powerful, do you think the expedition team will still dare to try and enter?” Nate asked, doing his best to keep his voice under control.

He was the one who had created the place, kind of anyway, and he was hardly powerful. His parents shared a look and shrugged.

“It’s hard to say for sure. If we were there, we’d be doing our best to council against going inside,” Nina said after a moment.

Niall nodded in agreement. “We’re not though, so who can say for certain?”

On the TV, the recorded video ended and cut back to the newsroom, where the host began discussing it.

“Hmm, well, that was interesting, but I think I’m going back upstairs. I don’t really want to listen to some people dissect a video while playing amateur detective.” Nate stood up with a grin. “At least we know this thing is manmade now.”

“Get some rest sweetie, your body is still healing.” His mother said distractedly, her focus on what they were saying on the screen.

Picking up his notebook, he shook his head wryly and walked slowly back up to his room. He had not been expecting them to show that video, but he was glad they had. It would hopefully help his parent’s case when the expedition returned or failed to return.

After all, those three families were part of the reason they had been pressured to join the expedition in the first place. Now the entire city knew they had gotten on the bad side of a powerful cultivator.

Laying back down on his bed, he pulled up all the screens for the dungeon and began watching them for activity.

Presumably, the video hadn’t been sent live, so the team had been waiting outside the dungeon for some time already. It was about time for them to either enter or turn around and leave.

He doubted they would turn around, not after going all that way. Someone in the group would decide that they didn’t care who had created the large building around the dimensional portal. That lone idiot would rush inside, and the rest of the group would run in after them.

At least that’s what he imagined would happen.

The truth was even sillier.

A few minutes after he laid down, the entire group appeared inside the entrance of the dungeon. They stopped just inside the doorway, outside the range of his traps, and looked around.

For the first time, Nate wished he had audio along with the video as he watched the group talk. No matter what though, he couldn’t hear what they were saying.

From the initial group that had left the city a few days before, only four people remained. Or at least, that was all that had entered. It was impossible to know for sure.

Nate flicked his eyes to the other screens, taking in the two monsters that were making their way through the dungeon. Another monster had appeared as soon as the humans had entered, despite it not being time yet.

He made note of that in his laptop and went back to watching the humans. A small part of him wondered if he should feel guilty should they fully enter and die. The larger part of him understood that it was their decision to enter a place like this, not his.

If he was in their place and died, that would be on him, not the creator of the dungeon. It was silly to blame someone else instead of taking ownership of your own actions. At least that was his thoughts, who knew what others thought?

The first person in the expedition group stepped fully into the room.

Nate sighed and closed his eyes. It had begun.