DungeonFall – [A Dungeon Creation / Cultivation Story]

Nate pulled his notebook out and quickly wrote down the colors of orbs he had seen inside the dungeon.

Rainbow Marble = Energy

Blue Orbs = Weapons(?)

Yellow Orbs = Accessories(?)

White Orbs = Clothes and maybe Armor(?)

There was a lot of guesswork involved with his small list, and he had a feeling he hadn’t seen all the colors there were either. Still, he felt the general idea or intent was mostly correct for what he had listed. Granted, two of them he had only seen once, so they could have been flukes.

It was possible that blue was a random chance color or something else. But it was a starting place, and he could always change and add to it later as he saw fit. For now, it was enough.

He had to laugh at his attempt to list them out though. Nearly every entry had a question mark next to it. There was only one item that he was actually sure about. The rest had too many unknowns still.

Nate tucked his notebook away and stood, deciding he couldn’t put going downstairs off any longer. He had to face his mother at some point. Putting it off any longer than necessary was just going to give him a stomachache.

The smell of pancakes wafted up the stairs as he made his way down them. A heavy feeling growing within him for every step he took. His mother hated pancakes. She called them ‘Discus Muffins’ with no taste. Consequently, she rarely made them except on special occasions.

It would seem that she had come to a decision during the night. Hopefully, it was a good one.

He walked into the kitchen with heavy feet and leaned against the counter, watching her work.

“Where’s dad?” He asked, at last, not spotting the man.

“He went into the company headquarters for a meeting. They actually wanted to meet with both of us, but I thought this would be a good time to talk to you instead.” Nina wiped her hands on the apron she was wearing and flicked off the old-style burner stove.

There were new stoves out now that used energy stones instead of gas or electricity. The stones combined with runic circuitry were able to harness their energy to create heat in a more efficient manner than gas or electricity.

Apparently, stoves had been one of the chosen test objects before they moved on to larger items like cars and houses.

“Oh,” He swallowed and grabbed a pair of plates from the cupboard. “And what have you decided?”

“I don’t know, not entirely anyway. A part of me is conflicted about the entire thing. I understand that none of this is your fault and that my real son would have died that day-”

Nate winced, a pain stabbing at his chest with her choice of words. It might be true, but to him, she was still his mother, not a replacement.

“But understanding and moving past it are two entirely separate things.” Suddenly, he could see a weariness in her eyes that hadn’t been there the day before. It made him wish he had chosen to just keep his mouth shut. “I think I just need some time.”

He stared down at his plate of half-eaten food and pushed it away. “Mom, you can have all the time you need, as long as you don’t start treating me differently. To me, you’re still my mother. You look and act just like her. My soul or whatever might be different, but this body is the one you gave birth to.” He shrugged and scratched at his head. “Heck, for all I know, maybe all I’m remembering is memories from a past life that overwrote the ones I forgot from this one.”

He didn’t think that was likely, considering the invisible computer on his wrist. However, he wanted to give his mother an easy out in case she needed one.

She smiled at him and shook her head. “You don’t believe that… but thank you.”

He shrugged sadly. “No, I don’t. However, everything I have told you is the truth. In my first life, my parents died in a car accident coming to see me when I was in the hospital. I was alone for years after that. This world may be different, but you and dad, you’re the same. The two of you act the same from how I remember. To me, at least, you are my parents.”

His voice drifted ever softer as he held back tears and swallowed past the lump in his throat.

Nina toyed with her food for a moment before pushing the plate away with a sigh. “Truthfully, that’s pretty much what I expected. You’re not the type of person who could live in our house for the last few months without actually caring for us.” She reached out and stroked his cheek. “And I care for you as well. I simply have to move past the dissonance of losing one son, while gaining another that looks exactly like him. Just give me a little time, please?”

Nate could see how conflicted and sad the entire situation was making her. “I can do that mom, take as much time as you need. Just, please don’t shut me out?”

She nodded and used a napkin to quickly dab at the corner of her eyes. “Thanks.” She sniffed and shook her head. “Now, what are your plans for the day?”

He idly speared his fork into a syrupy pancake and thought before replying. “I’m going to do some more research into properly forming my core. This new school has more detailed information than the last one. After that, I’m not sure, maybe play a game, watch some TV?”

“Have you done your homework?”

He rolled his eyes. “I finished all of it on Friday. I suppose I could message Angie, maybe see if she wants to do anything…” He looked up at his mother. “What about beginning my training with the kukris?”

“Hold up, go back. Who is this Angie girl? I think I remember you mentioning her before. She’s the girl you had that really awkward phone conversation with, right?” His mother leaned closer and stared at him suspiciously, as though the answer would suddenly appear on his face.

Nate leaned away from her and quickly explained everything that had happened with the girl and George Trellow.

“Interesting,” She backed away, deep in thought. “You should be careful with her, Nate. Her family could be trouble if they decide to cause problems for any reason.”

“I know, but as long as I get the medicine first, it will at least be partially worth it. Besides, if her family doesn’t cause problems and instead remains neutral or even likes me, then so much the better. Right?”

His mother stared at him doubtfully. “Anyway, we’ll need to wait until your father gets back before we make a decision about the training. Until we know more about the state of our probation, we need to be careful with our money.”

It had only been a few days, but already she was preparing for the worst.

“Alright, well, I’m going to head upstairs and start studying for a while then. Call for me if you need anything.” He put his empty plate in the sink and scurried upstairs to continue his cultivation studies.

Grabbing his laptop, he pulled up the school library and continued his research from the day before. Combined with his copious notes, he was trying to create a better cultivation and meditation model for himself. What he had used before had worked, but it was slow going without his meridians and core.

However, he had experienced energy entering his body inside the dungeon twice now. If he could mimic the paths it had taken, then maybe he would start making more progress.

It was a long shot admittedly, but if it worked…

Nate squeezed his eyes shut, his notes spread out in front of him, and began the basic breathing exercise.

It was easier this time to let everything slip away.

As the first sparks of energy flowed into his body, he began directing them according to what he remembered. It was a good thing he hadn’t tried to build an inner model of himself yet, or this would have been impossible.

Energy flowed along his torn and destroyed meridians, skipping around chaotically in a way that had droplets of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. Despite the pain, he could tell that this method was faster, and that he was somehow using meridians he hadn’t even known were there. Small, barely developed ones that spread throughout the body.

They were the reason he still had energy, and if he had to guess, everyone had them, but just didn’t know it. They were so small and undeveloped, the offshoots of whatever his body had decided his main meridians would be. He didn’t like that.

Now that he knew they were there, he could slowly start to develop and strengthen them. Sending energy into them just like he would any other meridian. When he was fully healed, he would have more meridians and options open to him than anyone else.

Or at least he hoped that would be the case. Nothing he had read said that having more meridians was bad. Usually, people had what they had, and that was it. They were stuck with that number. Granted, his area of research was oriented more towards cultivation right now than that topic. Especially since this was something he had only just stumbled upon.

Nate opened his eyes a little over an hour later when he heard his father knock on his open door. He stretched out and wiped the fresh and older drying blood from the corner of his mouth. He could already feel that this method was much faster than the old one. If for no other reason than because he was using working meridians as part of his cultivation now.

“What did they say?” He asked, his voice slightly hoarse.

Niall glanced at his son’s blood-smeared hand in concern and shook his head. “Be careful. If you can’t cultivate safely yet, then hold off for now.”

“It’s fine. I was just experimenting a little and lost control around my damaged meridians is all,” Nate explained, reaching for a nearby towel. “So, what did they say about the probation?” He prompted again.

“It’s gone. They didn’t have any legal right to keep it going. As of last night, there was only one surviving member of the expedition, and unless they send out a rescue team for him, he’ll die as well. Your mother and I are in the clear now.”

Nate tossed the towel toward the dirty clothes hamper with a nod. “Are you going to stick with them, or find a different place to work for?”

“That’s something we need to talk about… as a family. It’s why I came up here to get you. Your mom is waiting downstairs so we can talk things over now.” His father explained, his muscled arms hanging limp at his sides as he relaxed.

“Alright.” He closed his laptop and notebooks and hopped off his bed. “Did you find out anything interesting about the expedition that hasn’t been reported in the news yet?”

Niall nodded. “I did actually. Those signs they showed out in front of the building before, the warnings?”

“I remember them,” Nate said as they walked down the stairs.

“Well, they might have been addressed to certain families, but apparently no one should enter. The entire place is trapped inside.”

“And how exactly did the lone survivor figure this out?” Nate asked wryly.

“Gee, I have no idea. It couldn’t be that he used the members of the expedition for his own gain, could it?” Nina said as they entered the living room, obviously having been listening to their conversation.

“It’s definitely a good thing you two didn’t go then. Anyone willing to do that to someone just for a little bit of inconsequential information has no conscience.” Nate muttered, sitting down on the couch across from his parents.

“Well, you’re not wrong, but that’s the way of the world these days. Everyone is trying to get ahead any way they can.” His father said, pulling his wife close, protectively.

She patted his leg with a grim smile. “Now, let’s talk about what your father and I will be doing next.”