DungeonFall – [A Dungeon Creation / Cultivation Story]

The school placed a fair amount of importance on developing the quality of a student’s future core. It was for this reason that the classes the three were transferred into only had a few students in them. Most of the students in their grade had yet to reach the desired point. Of course, they were free to create their cores whenever they liked, however, few were foolhardy enough to sacrifice their future in that manner.

Nate’s presence actually served as a warning and visible presentation of what happened if they ignored the wisdom of their teachers.

It grated on his nerves to be stared at even more than normal, but the new classes were interesting. The smaller size also meant that the three of them now had those classes together as well. They weren’t excused from all of their old classes, of course, merely the ones pertaining to cultivation that no longer applied to them.

For the girls, this was the first time they had switched classes and were unused to playing catch up on the schoolwork. For Nate, this was already an old hat and during the lunch period, he went over everything he had done the last couple of times with them.

During their meeting with the principal, he had made sure that Angie and Lindsay would be given the proper Meditative Arts. The problem, as usual, was with Nate. As he had told the two girls earlier, he had no idea what his element was.

The principal had given him a deadline of figuring it out over the weekend. If he hadn’t learned what it was come Monday, then he would be given a neutral Meditative Art.

He wouldn’t be able to waste his time inside the dungeon and risk dying if he needed to figure out what it was. He also wasn’t even sure if he would be able to spend much time inside the dungeon while they were on patrol.

It didn’t seem smart to go inside, while his body was in a relatively dangerous place. Just trying to think about it all was driving him bonkers, and he still hadn’t had a chance to go through all the possible loot he had hopefully gotten before dying the night before.

His life was becoming very busy, that was for sure.

Lindsay snapped her fingers in front of his face repeatedly, bringing him back to Earth. “There you are. You drifted off in the middle of our conversation. Where’d you go?”

“I was just thinking about the deadline the principal gave me and how I was going to manage it while out on patrol.” He picked up a crispy tater-tot and threw it into his mouth for a quick chew. “I’m not sure if he’s setting me up for failure or if it was simply bad timing on Jace’s part.”

The girls shrugged. They were as confused about that one as he was.

“Anyway, sorry. What were you saying before I drifted off?”

“We were talking about what needed to be done for the patrol tomorrow. Is there anything you can tell us?’

He shook his head and pushed the empty lunch tray toward the center of the table. “My parents only just started the company this last week. At this point, they are too new to have any assigned or usual stomping grounds. I would assume that we’ll all wake up early and be forced to go through an orientation of some kind, but that’s just a guess.”

Their actual orientation would be handled next week during school with their classes. Each company that went out had its own way of doing things and would have a quick orientation for any new hire.

Angie pushed her mostly full tray to the side and grabbed her stomach with an anxious grimace. “Speaking of, I guess now would be a good time to talk about our potential formation for when we are fighting. I know Nate’s mother said he should carry and use two weapons, which is good advice. My own parents have said the same thing.

“However, until that happens, we each need to know what position the others will be in. Obviously, with our elements revealed, our choice of primary or secondary weapons may change. For the moment though, we need to make do with what we know.”

“Alright, well, the two of you already know that I’ve been training in the kukris. The range on them is extremely limited, so I guess I’m the ‘Striker’ of the group. At least for now.”

Lindsay sighed and twirled her fork around her thumb. “We are going to be very lopsided. I have been training in the halberd. It’s a heavy axe-bladed polearm weapon. It’s somewhat slow, but I might be able to act as the ‘Controller’ of the group.”

They turned to Angie, who sighed.

“Single-handed sword. My parents wanted me to wait until we knew what my element was to start practicing with a second weapon. I can either be a second striker, or possibly a somewhat effective ‘Defender’.”

“Can you even get enough leverage with a single hand to stop a blow if you were to defend?” Nate asked doubtfully.

“Maybe?” She returned equally doubtfully.

“That’s what I thought.” Lindsay tossed her fork onto a random tray and leaned back. “Okay, so we have two strikers and a possible controller.”

“Don’t forget, we’ll also have my parents and I assume whoever your parents send with us. Even if they let you join my party this time, I highly doubt they’ll allow it without supervision. They don’t know me or my parents well enough for that to happen.” Nate stood as the bell rang, ending their lunch period.

His next class was a holdover from before that hadn’t been eliminated simply because he had gotten his core. It was also one that he had without either of the girls, that had reached out to become his only friends in the school. Sure, if he hadn’t gotten to know them, then he would still be living a relatively quiet life while playing with the dungeon. But that wasn’t what he wanted.

He was enjoying this second chance at life that he had been given.

His goal wasn’t to become some mighty cultivator that could wreck everyone who even looked at him wrong. What he wanted was to be happy and to spend time with his family. The two things he had missed out on in his first life.

He knew he would need strength to accomplish those things, but there was also no reason to think that he needed it now. Incidents like the one with Jace didn’t come along every day. He would do what he could to train while inside the dungeon, but he wasn’t going to let it take away from him living his life.

He had missed too much of life before. There was no way he was going to lock himself inside to cultivate like an ascetic monk. That was no way to live your life, at least not in his opinion.

Nate nodded to the teacher as he placed his bag at his feet and pulled out a notebook. This class was one that he had been low-key looking forward to all day, ever since he had heard about the artifacts that morning.

On the wall, to the side, hung a familiar poster of all the current known dimensional zones.

“Which of the zones have humanoid beasts or monsters?” He asked the teacher, getting the question in before the classroom filled.

The teacher glanced up from his notes and turned to the map thoughtfully. “There are only two anywhere close to us. This region seems to attract regular monster dimensional zones. Although,” He walked closer to the map and pointed to a zone near a city a full day’s travel away from them. “I have heard that both show up at this one occasionally.”

After that, he quickly pointed out the other two locations to Nate, and then it was time for class to start.

Nate did his best to pay attention to the class after that, but kept finding his mind being drawn back to the map.

It was something the teacher noticed but thankfully didn’t comment on. Nate was one of the best students when it came to the regular curriculum in the school. He wasn’t going to call him out for being distracted, not after he had just managed to form his core.

The teacher wasn’t sure of the exact details behind the boy’s decision, not even the principal was privy to that. What everyone did know was that two girls had also created their cores at the same time as him. The entire situation was one that raised certain questions in everyone’s mind.

Such as were they all involved in a relationship of some kind and Nate simply hadn’t wanted to be left behind by them? Or had there been other factors at play?

Each of the teachers had their own theory regarding the matter. Unfortunately, they knew their curiosity was unlikely to ever be satisfied. The school had an image to maintain, and it paid the teachers who taught there well.

Occasionally, you would find one who had snuck through the cracks and didn’t know how to play the game, such as the one who had assaulted the three before. The rest knew how to keep their heads down and their mouths shut so they could keep this job for the long term.

It didn’t matter that each of the teachers was a cultivator and knowledgeable. In the end, their desire for a mostly quiet life inevitably won out over gossiping curiosities. They did their best to teach the students, and then left their work at the school when they went home.

Nate had transcribed the three possible locations, well the three closest locations, into his notebook in indelible ink by the time the bell rang. The ringing noise finally cleared his mind of other thoughts and brought him back to reality.

Realizing he had basically wasted the entire last period, he apologized to the teacher before gathering up his things and rushing out. There were only a few minutes before the next class began. Yet another new class for him, Angie, and Lindsay, and he wanted to spend it finally going through the loot he had gotten in the dungeon.

Rather, that he had hopefully gotten in the dungeon.

He still hadn’t had a chance to look through anything this morning and wasn’t even sure that he had managed to snag anything. He also needed to check on the condition of his equipment. It had taken a thorough thrashing the night before. It had easily been the worst clash he’d had yet.

He knew, or at least believed, the dungeon fixed his equipment. The last few times he had died, everything had been repaired for him, but he was sure there was some sort of limit to what it could do. Last night had seen everything shredded. If there was a limit, he was sure that was it.

Nate found a secluded spot in a bathroom and immediately began flicking his way through the menu. Going to the ‘Equip’ option for his avatar, he found that his pants, shirt, and the bone and leather chest piece had all been destroyed. His warm leather boots had managed to make it through the scuffle if not intact, then at least in a state where they could be repaired again.

He really hoped there were more clothes in what he had gotten. The possibility of walking around the dungeon naked again was not an appealing one. The place was cold and having everything hanging free and flapping about like that was uncomfortable. His ancestors weren’t the kind of Scottish or Celtic warriors who had practiced nude fighting.

Even if they were, he wasn’t.

Backing out of that menu, he moved onto the ‘Storage’ option and finally saw what his efforts the night before had reaped.

There were well over a dozen orbs inside, just waiting for his attention. There was a decent mix of different colors as well. There were several of the white ones that he had already identified as clothes and armor from the previous times he had gotten it.

There was another blue orb, which had given him the kukris last time. That color would hopefully mean he would be getting a second weapon.

Then there were a couple of green orbs along with a single purple one. There were also three energy marbles. All in all, it was a decent haul that almost made his death worth it.

Really, it was the thought of a new weapon that ended up making the entire experience worthwhile to him.

Before he could do more than look, the bell for the next period rang, and he had to run to make it to class on time.