Random Portals

It wasn’t long before Silvia had led Steven to the hidden entrance. It was similar to the ones before, an illusion wall in the side of the dungeon. As Steven stepped toward the illusion Silvia began to fly off.

“Hey, where you going?” Steen asked.

“To check on the Elf she was my recruit after all. I don’t want the damn spider to work her to death.”

“Yeah, don’t let her work too hard. It would be nice to have a talented archer at my back, but not at the cost of her own wellbeing.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure she is doing well. I plan on you two having some little half elves for me to train up.” Silvia said as she flew away.

“Wait! What?” Steven watched the wisp fly off.

He needed to talk to that wisp. She couldn’t just go off and make plans without his knowledge! Shaking his head and taking a deep breath, he walked over and poked his head into the illusion. This hidden room looked different from the rest. It was a long hallway that looked to turn to the left at the end. Steven stepped in. He assumed it should be safe if Nev had sent after him.

The hallway was dark, so much so that Steven had to look up at the timer to make sure his dark vision was still active. Once he realized it was just really dark, for some reason. He slowly started making his way down the hallway. Everything seemed to be in shadow, though he could still see. As he walked, he was staring at the end of the hallway where light was peeking in, when he heard something click. Steven immediately began backing up to the entrance. No sooner than took his first step backwards huge spike shot from the wall barely missing him. There had to be a dozen spikes shooting all at the same time. After the third volley of spikes, they stopped. Steven didn’t move as he looked around. He quickly realized he had stepped on an obvious pressure plate. He then noticed there were no spikes stuck in the wall. It took him a moment to realize the small openings in the walls of the dungeon. The spikes shot from the right side and into the holes on the left side. He just so happened to step backwards and get in between the openings. He had less than thirty mana. And really needed to be careful. It was only dumb luck he didn’t get hit. Looking behind to see if there were any traps, he slowly began making his way back to the entrance. It took him longer than it should have to reach the entrance. But he didn't want to take the chance of triggering a pressure plate. Steven was going to give Silvia a piece of his mind when he got out of here. Placing his hand on the illusionary wall, he found it was solid, followed by a prompt.

Previous floors are locked until the domain conflict has been resolved. Please move forwards to the next floor.

Steven’s first thought was of his bed. He really liked that over sized soft thing! He did his best to not scream in frustration. Standing there blankly staring at the exit, he wanted to curse the little wisp but knew that would get him nowhere. If it wasn’t for this dammed curse, he wouldn’t be so worried about going through these traps. He could just turn into his spider form and tank all the damage, or just crawl across the ceiling. Steven had his summoning ring, although he wasn’t sure if it took mana to activate. He had never paid much attention, as a few mana didn’t matter, and his mana recovery would handle it. From what he had figured, he gained about one mana every three seconds. It wasn’t a lot, but it would slowly add up. While Steven was trying to figure out the best way to get through the hallway without taking any damage, he heard a voice and he glanced up.

“Master Odling. It is good you have made it. The Queen is waiting for you.”

Steven sighed in relief. “Oh, am I glad to see you.” Steven had no idea who it was, but it was one of Nev’s enthralled soldiers. “Could you go get…”

Steven stopped mid sentence as he watched a spike shoot completely through the soldier and into the wall on the other side. This happened three times. He couldn’t help but think how much force the spikes must have to not get knocked off course even as it went through a human body.

Luckily, Steven was at the entrance, and there were no spikes near him. Apparently If someone triggered the trap, then the entire hallway would shoot darts. The soldier had fallen to the ground lifeless, or at least he assumed he was dead. How had they even made it through here? He didn’t understand how the enthralled were so dumb, drones were much more intelligent. Steven’s mind went to the drones that kept jumping into the pit and he thought better of it.

“Now to get to the other side.” The pressure plates were hard to see. He couldn’t understand why this hallway was dimmer than the rest of the dungeon, even with his dark vision potion. “Someone just died. I should be more upset than this.” Steven tried to search his feeling but he just couldn’t bring him to care much. Was he becoming selfish? All he could think was this was a soldier that was trying to kill the Half Naga. Steven didn’t get time to think about this any longer as another figure came into view.

“Master Odling, it is good you have made it. The Queen is waiting for you.”

If Steven was remembering correctly, that was exactly what the other soldier said.

“Go tell the Queen to come here!” Steven would not ask this time but give a direct order, which seemed to work.

“Yes, Master Odling at once.” The soldier said as he took off.

Steven didn’t have to wait long before he seen Nev appear. It was easy to tell it was her even at this distance. The skin tight white webbing she was using as a dress was hard to mistake.

“Master what..?” Nev paused as she looked down the hallway. “One moment.” She then began shooting webs from her hands, reminding Steven of spider man while covering each hole the spikes could shoot from. She then shot webbing to trigger each trap and hold down the pressure plates. Once she was done, she walked towards him. The other soldiers began dragging the fallen soldier away.

“I’m sorry Master, I didn’t realize the trap had reset itself. I’m actually unsure where my webbing went.”

“It’s not your fault. I’m just glad you're here. I’m completely useless without my mana.”

“Yes, and far too easy to be killed. Why didn’t you just go back and wait till the curse ran its course?”

“Well, about that.”

After Steven explained he couldn’t go back out of this room, Nev tried and failed, saying she received the same message. She told him they had no problems leaving before. She had sent after him after all. Steven assumed it had something to do with him passing through the barrier.

Nev stayed on the side of the spikes, just in case any of them triggered. Once they made it to the other side, Steven’s eyes widened as he saw how large this hidden path was.

“Are those actual trees, and a stream…it’s like a tiny forest in here.”

“Yes, Master, I too found this room surprising. The wisp mentioned that this room is the same as the hidden path on the ninth floor. Also, I have not found the entrance to the next floor yet.”

“That’s odd it's normally obvious. We will have to ask Silvia about it. But I’m not going through it till this curse wears off, anyway. Are there any more traps, like the ones at the entrance?”

“Not that I have seen. There were a few stone golems, but nothing we couldn’t handle, and only a single mimic. It was a difficult fight while staying in this form. But I managed, with the help of the human drones.”

“Human drones, is that what you’re calling them?”

“Is that okay? I can change the name if it bothers you.”

“No, that’s a perfectly fine name. How many are left alive?”

“With the loss of the last one, that makes thirteen.”

“That’s an unlucky number.” Steven mumbled.

Nev’s eyes widened. “I didn’t realize. I’ll quickly dispose of one immediately.”

“No, no, that’s fine. I’m sure another one will die soon, anyway.”

“I’m glad you’re not upset that the humans are dying. Now Master, follow me. We need to find a place to set up the bed so we can wait out your curse.”

“About the bed,” Steven started but Nev cut him off.

“So I hear you were staring at the elf while she was unclothed,” Nev said with narrowed eyes. “Did you like what you saw?”

“Ah, well I...”

Nev smiled at him menacingly for a few moments before she spoke. “Relax, I can hear your heart racing. I have eyes I can tell she is attractive, as is your little half Naga. Though other than the elf’s looks, she is basically useless, and I still think it was a mistake to make her a vassal. With that being said, I understand she is your servant, just as I am. Although I will never see her as my equal. And I will always be your first,” Nev sighed, “now where would you like to set up the bed? We shall be cuddling just as you and that elf did.”

Steven could tell there were no and ifs or buts to be had here. Not that he had a problem cuddling Nev, he was just worried he might give in to her seducing him and then he would get eaten, though he supposed he could just command her to not seduce him or better yet not eat him afterwards.

“Uh, the bed is on the eighth floor. I wasn’t planning on getting stuck in here.”

Nev’s face turned to fury for a moment before she turned and took a long deep breath, then called all the human drones over.

“Okay, listen up, you lot. I need you to go make me a bed. I want it comfortable enough to sleep on. Now get to it!”

The former soldiers scattered, and several started hacking at one of the trees with their weapons. Steven decided to not mention that his curse would be long done before they could finish a bed. He was also not looking forward to laying on a wooden bed.

“What shards did you end up getting?” Nev asked.

“Shard of an Icy Trespass, and Shard of the Deep Rooted Forest, although Eve chose the ice shard, so I am left with the forest and wing Shard. The forest shard seems interesting. I think I’ll use it next, but I still have several levels to go.”

“You do need to gain more levels. The wisp mentioned you need to kill of all the undead in your inventory, although they came in quite useful against the soldiers. I could see them being useful when we are out of this dungeon as well.” As she spoke, the human drones finished cutting a tree down and Nev turned to glare at them. “Let’s walk together. There is a treasure chest I’ve left for you. I have not opened it.”

“Oh, I do enjoy me some loot!”

Nev locked arms with him, and she began leading him toward the chest.

“Tell me, young Master, what are our plans once we get out of this dungeon and take Sorin’s domain?”

“I want to explore this world. I’ve gotten to see nothing but the swampland and a Half Naga village. Well, other than Blank’s domain, I did really like the tree house and the floating rags.”

Nev gave him a funny look. “Blanks domain? And rags, I’m unsure what your are talking about.”

“Have I ever told you how I obtained this domain?”

“No, but I would love to hear about it!”

“Well, it's not that exciting, but I'll tell you, we have nothing else better to do.”

Steven began telling the spider Queen how he had arrived in this world and about the old wizard and the flying cat. At some point they made it to where the chest was, but they just sat on a fallen log nearby while Steven finished his story.

Once he was done, Nev laughed. “So you accidentally gained full control over the domain. I bet the old wizard you spoke of is quite pissed,” Nev’s face then turned serious, “I do wonder what a planes walker was doing on this planet.”

“Planes walker? What’s that?”

“Exactly what it sounds like, a being that can walk between planes. Few can traverse between worlds so freely, worlds with life on them are spaced far apart, or at least that’s what my ancestral memories are telling me. What ever the case, I imagine this Blank will come back to claim his domain. And now that you have vassals pulling mana from your domain, you will quickly die without it.”

“Well, I’ll just give him his domain back and keep Sorin’s.”

“I’m unsure if that will work. We best ask the wisp about it. I would just plan on fighting this planes walker when he returns. Don’t worry, you aren’t alone and I doubt he will expect you to have gained so much power in such a short time.”

The pair spoke a bit longer till their conversation turned to nonsense and eventually they made their way to the chest. Steven placed it in his inventory just to make sure it wasn’t a mimic before pulling it back out and opening it. Inside the chest were several items, along with a few gold pieces and silver.

The first item that caught Steven’s attention was a scythe, once he pulled it out it was huge. He didn't understand how it even fit. The scythe was a pitch black color, though the black somehow glowed, or maybe it was the absence of light, it was a bit confusing to look at, Nev seemed to really take a liking to it. He sent it to his inventory and would look over its stats once he had got all the items from the chest. Next was a bow. It too, was black and had a similar look to it. The last item was a ring with a red jewel on it.

“Three magical items. This was quite the find.” Nev said.

Steven was just fixing to open his inventory page and look over his new items when something caught his eye.

“What’s that?” Steven asked.

“I’m not sure what you’re referring to.”

“It looks like an old vine covered chest.”

Steven walked towards the vine covered wall, Nev right next to him. “Do you see that?”

“I do. It looks to be an old stone chest of sorts.”

Steven pulled a few vines away to reveal an old stone treasure chest, or at least that’s what he thought it was. It had a keyhole and everything.

“Let me make sure it’s not some sort of mimic,” Steven said as he tried to send it to his inventory. Though it didn’t work. At first, he thought it was a mimic, so he stepped back and Nev punched it. A few stone chips flew away from it, but it didn’t change into a mimic.

“I don’t have a lot of experience with mimics and have never seen a stone mimic. But mimics always change when they take any sort of damage.” Nev said.

“Should we open it?” Steven asked

“I’ll open it and you stand behind me just in case it is trapped somehow.” Nev said.

Steven did as Nev asked and stood behind her.

“Okay, here goes.” Nev said as she opened the chest.

The next moment there was a loud popping sound and a black light shown from the stone chest followed by an odd shift in gravity, it was as if everything was trying to be sucked into the chest, Nev turned to get away but tentacles made of shadow reached out from the chest and began wrapping around her and Steven. She then changed into her spider form, grabbing Steven. Despite being much larger than the chest, the spider Queen along with Steven, were both sucked inside.

“You need an enchanted bow,” Silvia said.

“That would be useful, but where would I get something like that?” Fidah asked.

“We are going to the dwarves once we complete this dungeon to get Steven’s equipment upgraded. We will get you a bow made then.”

“But the Elves and Dwarves don’t get along. They would never agree to make something for me.”

“They will make it for Steven, not you, as you are his now, and they will do as he asks. He has an honored Wisp as his familiar after all. It won’t…” Silvia stopped and turned as her light flashed rapidly a few times.

“What is it?” Fidah asked.

“I’m not sure, but it’s fine. Steven and that arachnid both vanished from my senses for a moment, but they are back now.”

“What does that mean?” Fidah asked.

“I’m. Unsure… Never mind that now you need to get back to training. You must become strong and fit. You are my favorite of Steven’s servants, after all, and you two will make me strong little half elf children!”

“Yes honored Wisp as you command,” Fidah said.

“Now, back to it. You are decent with a bow, but I need you to be extraordinary. Once we get out of this dungeon, I will find the best archer around to train you. After bringing the cure to your people first, of course.”

“Thank you, I will not let you down!”

Silvia whirled around light flaring. “Get Evesakia and the Half Naga tell them we have some uninvited guests that just arrived on this floor. I will go and speak with them. I believe I know what it is they are after.”

Fidah immediately took off.

“Oh Sorin, I know this is your doing, and I will do everything in my power to turn this against you.”

Silvia then began to causally fly towards the new guest. She would need to go inform Steven of this after she spoke with them. It would be nice if she could unlock a long range communication ability, but she didn’t want to take Steven’s attribute points, that human was far to weak.