DungeonFall – [A Dungeon Creation / Cultivation Story]

Nate clicked on ‘Equip’ expectantly… only to be greeted by an empty screen. He had nothing. There were no clothes, no armor, and no weapon for him to use. The dungeon wasn’t providing any of it, or if it was, he hadn’t figured out how to access it yet.

The stupid thing hadn’t exactly come with an instruction manual after all.

Which left him with a choice. Did he want to risk going into the dungeon nude, or do nothing for now? It was a harder choice than he wanted to admit.

A large part of him wanted to do the safe thing and stay where he was. At the same time, he felt the need to learn more about what this system could do. And he would never do that by simply playing it safe all the time.

Unfortunately, there was another matter to consider. He had already seen firsthand that the avatar had the power to influence his physical form. What would happen if it was injured, torn apart, or even killed?

He had no answers, and without a manual, it seemed like there was only one way to find out.

Nate brought the menu back one screen, and stared at the ‘Don Avatar’ option, trying to work up the nerve. Finally, a minute later, he decided to throw caution to the wind and pressed the button. His body fell back onto the bed, looking for all intents and purposes as though he were asleep.

The transition was disorienting, but he found himself standing inside the core room of the dungeon. The wrist computer was still there with all of its functions. He was able to modify the dungeon now from the inside, which had some plusses, but he wouldn’t be able to take notes. So, it also had some minuses.

He was also able to spy on the monster, currently working its way through a corridor in the distance.

Nate glanced down at his completely naked form and shivered. This was not going to end well. He didn’t even know how he was going to leave the room. With his body’s current condition, just looking at one of the traps would be enough to kill him.

Still, knowing that this wasn’t his real body and having died once already emboldened him some. He patted the core for good luck and walked toward the exit, marveling at the fact he was able to walk without his knee hurting. It turned out to be easier to leave the room than he thought it would be. The traps didn’t react to him at all. They simply didn’t activate as he passed by. He was the owner of the dungeon, and this place knew that.

It would never hurt him.

Feeling a little better with that knowledge in mind, Nate broke into a jog and ran towards where the beast was. He already had a plan forming in his mind. It was a somewhat stupid plan, but he had little doubt it would work. As long as he was quick enough.

He double-checked where the closest trap was and waited for the monster to come around the corner. It was an ugly, foul smell fish thing that trundled about on four legs. Its main weapon seemed to be a froglike tongue that could shoot out and stick to surfaces.

That tongue and the mobility it provided seemed to be the sole reason it had survived for so long.

Nate swallowed, suddenly scared at what he was about to do, and whistled. He was standing right in the middle of a trapped floor. Sharpened spikes would shoot up from the floor as soon as it detected any weight that wasn’t him. Which meant he needed to run as soon as the fishy thing saw him.

Its tongue flicked out and hit the ground beside him with a thud as he rolled to the side. The trap refused to activate since he was still in the way. Nate ran as the fish jumped into the air and rocketed towards him.

Even as he was running, ideas were surging through his head on how he could capitalize on this situation. Along with plenty more, that cursed him out for being a fool. He could have been comfortable in bed, but no, he had just felt the need to do something stupid!

Nate dove out of the area of the trap just as the monster hit the ground behind him. The spears shot up, skewering it instantly and killing it in one go.

He huffed and puffed his way over to the beast, wanting to touch it before the dungeon claimed its prize. He didn’t reach it in time, but he did notice the small glowing white orb it had left behind. Something that he had never seen with the other kills.

Touching it carefully, the orb broke apart with a flash of light. In its place, a pair of fish-leather pants that was exactly his size had been left behind. He had found his first piece of equipment.

He wasn’t sure that made the entire ordeal worth it. However, getting up close and personal with his traps wasn’t a bad thing. After looking through the interface some more, he had begun to notice a few differences in how they operated.

The dungeon interface he had been using before was great for macro usage. After all, it had let him create an entire dungeon in one night. The interface he was seeing while in his avatar form, however, was more micro-based. It lent itself more towards fine control.

One let him create everything quickly, and then the other was there for him to fine-tune the creation.

It was an interesting idea to him, and one that he would need to explore more later. At the moment, though, he needed to rest. His avatar was still using the same unhealthy parameters as his normal body. Which meant he had already pushed himself far too hard.

Nate finished pulling on his new pants and used the menu to exit the dungeon.

It was morning when he next opened his eyes. Using the avatar had put his body to sleep, and in his current state, he had stayed that way even after exiting.

Surprisingly, he didn’t feel any worse. Despite abusing the avatar, his normal body was still in the same crappy shape as before. It hadn’t developed any new issues while he slept. In fact, he felt like he had slept pretty well.

That was a possible tick into the box towards the avatar being somewhat disposable. It made no sense for him to feel everything it felt with both his bodies. He shook his head; he was starting to get confused.

His dad was already gone by the time he made his way downstairs, but his mother was still at the table drinking her tea.

“Hey mom, you have the day off?” He wrapped one arm around her shoulders before continuing on to make his own breakfast.

“Hmm, no… They announced the people they want to go and investigate the structure this morning.”

Nate stopped, his hand squishing the loaf of bread in his hand. “That seems rather sudden and hasty for something that only appeared yesterday.”

“I agree. It’s not normal, and we were on the list.”

He closed his eyes and hung his head, unsure of what to say.

“Your father went to talk to them. He's going to tell them that we have no intention of going, just like we promised you. Even if we hadn’t, I don’t know that we would be comfortable going on this excursion. They’re rushing things far beyond normal procedure and selecting people that aren’t remotely qualified.”

“It’s politics, mom. That’s all it ever is. Someone saw a chance to make a grab for more power, and to eliminate some people along the way. Because of what happened to me, we’ve annoyed some powerful people. It comes as no surprise that someone wants us gone or sees it as a possible favor to those families who did this.” Nate gently stretched out a piece of bread, trying to bring its shape back before he toasted it.

“They’re all going to die if they even make it to the building.” His mother Nina agreed. She cursed softly. “This is going to set us back quite a bit. Your father and I might have to quit if they try and force us to go.”

“Better that than you two dying. We have some savings now, in any case.” He gave her a wry smile. “Besides, it’s not like it was going to be used for my medicine anytime soon anyway. I’d rather see the two of you alive and healthy than dead and gone. That would be…” He didn’t finish, unwilling to go there.

“Don’t worry, honey, your father and I know where we stand in this world. We won’t leave you alone.” She finished her cup of tea and rose to give him a hug. “I’m sorry we’re so powerless.”

“It’s fine, mom like I said before. I would rather have the two of you alive and healthy than anything else.”

“Go get some rest. I want to see you at school tomorrow. You’ll never make any friends at this new place if you have to keep skipping due to your health.”

Nate rolled his eyes. “I don’t think anyone wants to be friends with me there, mom. What happened to me isn’t exactly unknown. The other kids all know I failed to awaken and that I have issues with some of the more influential families in the city. The smarter ones have already been warned away from associating with me.”

“I know, but I can hope. I haven’t seen you with a friend or go on a date since they did this to you. I just want things to go back to normal for you.”

Nate buttered his toast and put it on a paper towel to bring up to his room. “I’d like that too, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. Now I’m going to eat my breakfast, get a little studying in, and then go back to sleep. Enjoy your day off and have fun.”

She patted his arm as he limped on by, staring down at her empty mug while worrying about how everything would turn out for them. They had worked hard to get on that squad, and now it looked like everything was about to disappear in an instant. She had to admit; it was more than a little frustrating.

Nate set his toast to the side of his bed and grabbed his laptop with a sad chuckle. His mom wanted to see him go on a date. He didn’t even know if he knew how to do that anymore.

The last time he had been on one, the last time around, had been a couple of years before his parents died. He had been, what, twenty-two, twenty-three at the time? It was just before his health had taken a massive turn for the worse.

What were people supposed to do on dates in this world? The options for activities opened up considerably once you were a cultivator. If you could fall from the top of a two-story building without breaking a bone, then there was a lot less to fear than before.

Of course, that automatically precluded him anyway. In his current state, he would break a bone just walking up the steps. Okay, maybe it wasn’t that bad, but it still wasn’t enjoyable.

Nate pulled up a news article on the mysterious structure that had appeared in the middle of the dimensional zone. It really was freaking everyone out. The comments were mixed, with many fearing the worst. There were few that held any hopes it was something good.

Not that he blamed them. As far as he could tell, there had never been anything like the dungeon he created before. It was an unknown to them.

And in response, they were going to send a team of people to come and investigate it. To explore and die in its depths.

He needed to get to work perfecting the traps. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do that until that night. He didn’t want to risk having his mother come in and try to wake him up. He didn’t know if she would be able to, so it was better to simply avoid the entire situation for now.