The Dungeon Without a System

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The Dungeon, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea

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It's been a day since I 'claimed' the sand plains around the island. While I had the urge to dive right in and start making new monsters to patrol the ocean around the island, I held back. The mana currents that have been diverted towards me are still shifting, and until I understand what exactly is going on, trying to change stuff seems... hasty.

For now, I'm restricting myself to pure observation.

And boy, is there a lot to observe.

As I'd already seen, mana streams in the ocean are intertwined with ocean currents. What affects one has a dramatic effect on the other. Come to think of it, this is probably true in the atmosphere as well, but due to the comparatively lower density of air, the relationship it has with mana isn't as dramatic as water.

Over the course of the last day, the "Mana Current" that runs north-to-south past my island has noticeably shifted towards my island. Unlike in the atmosphere, the mana in the current wasn't all drawn into my dungeon. Most of it swept past the island harmlessly, doing little but raising the ambient mana levels in the ocean. The only exception was a slight current that split off from the main stream and made a beeline right into one of the larger vents I used to bring water into the dungeon.

Something I noticed immediately was the majority of the mana was water mana. This isn't a big surprise, given its source. It's still a little shocking. Atmospheric mana is mostly unaligned, with small amounts of air mana mixed in. Another surprise was that it was tough to draw this mana out of the water it passed through.

Its behavior was radically different from anything I'd experienced before; The unaligned mana from my main stream could dip in and out of the water however it liked. Perhaps this is what happens to large amounts of elemental-aligned mana when they saturate their elements. Is the inside of the volcano the same? Full to bursting with earth and fire mana? Does the fire mana's buildup correlate to the volcano's activity level? So many questions...

I'm not about to pop the lid on the volcano to get answers, though. For now, I have the water-mana to experiment with. If I can't take it out of its element... Then I need a pipe that leads to my core room.

I spent some time adjusting the new stream's pipe through my dungeon, causing it to pass through several vents with holes far too small for humans to get through, even if they could breathe underwater. For now, it goes through desalination enchantments and runs through the desert canyon's river. At the river's other end, the mana from the stream is diverted into a side pipe which feeds directly into my temporary core room through several vents.

I haven't spent much time focusing on my core room, now that I think about it. Too busy putting distance between myself and the bounty-seeking maniacs on the surface.

My core room is a cavern about the size of one on the first floor. It's currently quite plain and undecorated, and the only reason it's this big, to begin with, is due to the massive accretion-disc of mana swirling around me at all times. To accommodate the water, I needed to modify the cavern quickly. I formed an arm of stone from the ceiling, reaching down to my core to suspend it above a rapidly-deepening bowl. The mana-saturated water floods into the bowl, and I set it to swirl with a flex of will.

Soon enough, I had a whirlpool swirling beneath my core. I took some time to pretty up the place since I probably wouldn't be making a new floor for a while. I cleaned up and detailed the stone arm suspending me, making it as realistic as possible. The hand's fingers hooked underneath my core, almost caressing in their positioning. My core is also massive now; From the tip of the point to the bottom of the teardrop, I'd say it's about two yards long. It's two feet thick and one yard wide.

The whirlpool should be a good deterrent, just in case someone gets down here. I've also got that contingency plan in the works. It's mostly done—just some final touchups and modifications to the enchantments.

Around the edge of the cavern, I carved a façade of stone bricks with nine equally spaced squares of bare stone. I spent hours carefully carving out the visage of each boss into those spaces.

The Crab Knight carving resembled Sebastian the First more than the current Knight. The Bloodfish Sovereign carving was a school of each fallen Sovereign, with the current Boss being the largest and taking center place. The carving of Mushu reflected the monster's personality. From the set of his brow to the way he held his morningstar. Everything about him radiated, "Challenge me if you dare!"

The Ratten carving was probably the most fun to make. Each fallen boss was represented equally since none had been on the 'throne' long enough to make a significant impact. Because of their constant internal war, there were dozens of 'Bosses.' Many of them had died to their rivals rather than invaders. Perhaps not practical, but each boss was stronger than the last.

The Fifth-floor boss carving was magnificent and singular, The monster having yet to be discovered or even fought. The rest of the boss carvings were similar; singular monsters on an otherwise blank canvas. While they didn't yet have a rich history behind them, that would change in time. The Ninth space was left empty, as the ninth floor didn't have a boss yet. It'll probably end up being a Scorpan, to be honest.

Ah! It seems the latest Ratten boss has been defeated. Isid, Jerrad, and their party have finally made the push into the fifth floor. This promises to be interesting.

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The Fifth Floor, The Dungeon, Medea Island

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Isid's head was on a swivel as they passed through the castle halls. The walls were saturated in mana, as with every other floor, which made them opaque to her manasense. It always baffled her how much mana this dungeon used to negate one of the few advantages her condition afforded her. "Same as the other floors. We're going to have to search manually." She stated. The others nodded, having expected this outcome.

"Where to start, though?" Her husband mused, rubbing his stubble. "We have a pretty good idea of the castle's layout already, thanks to them. I think we should head out to Mushroom Forest and finish the last of the exploration there."

"I would like to get a first-hand look at those 'mushroom monsters,'" Harald said, "While 'shambling monstrosities with bladed limbs and no sense of pain' is quite descriptive and outlines their strengths well, I feel like studying them could reveal some incredible insights. Imagine! Mushrooms walking around and attacking people!" Harald's eyes were shining with enthusiasm.

Isid glanced at Duncan, who shrugged. "They apparently have cores, and butchering one would help identify their weaknesses." He said, not seeming to be bothered one way or another.

"Fine. We'll start in the forest. If the pattern holds, we won't have much time before their sheer numbers push us out. After that, we'll explore the castle for a time. I have this nagging feeling they have missed something." Isid stated. With that, the group made their way through the castle. They were wise to any ambush attempts, keeping an eye on the stone floor and the darkened ceiling.

The Dungeon only attempted it once and failed to immobilize any of them. The mana layering the brickwork beneath them brightened a few seconds before the hands pushed through, giving her enough time to get a warning out. The shadow monsters were another thing entirely.

They barely registered to her sense, blending into the background mana, until the moment they became tangible. While they were in the air, having jumped to avoid being grabbed, half a dozen shadow monsters materialized around them. Her manablades were extended instantly, and her eyes widened behind her blindfold when her blades only blocked the swiping claws. She had expected them to cut right through, having yet to find any creature with skin tough enough to stop them.

The monster again went immaterial when she made to counterattack, and to her surprise, her blades impacted! There was a moment of stillness. Within seconds, the monsters were gone, leaving the guilders confused.

"What was that!?" Jerrad asked, running a hand over his short hair.

"They're almost invisible to my manasight when intangible, and my blades do little to them." Isid spoke quickly, "however, my blades can hit them, even when they are intangible. I only got a short glance, but they're heavily saturated in mana, and I could make out a system of denser mana flowing to and from their cores. They don't seem to have anything else in there besides those."

"What?" Harald exclaimed, looking shocked. "No veins? No heart? No muscles or bones?!" Isid shook her head.

"Not that I saw," she replied, shaking her head.

"Fascinating," Harald murmured. His following words were louder. "Either they're made entirely of mana or are some form of life that doesn't require it." Isid shook her head again.

"They're not made of mana. Or at least, not only mana. I've had some interaction with beings of mana before, and when it turned into a fight, my blades were as effective on them as anything else. No, the only thing I've found that can block my blades is..." Isid trailed off, then continued with a thoughtful tone, "that strange metal the Third Floor Guardian uses in its armor and weapon."

"Stranger and stranger..." Harald said, his hand on his beard. "I've never encountered anything like them before. They don't resemble anything found in nature, and no dungeon I'm aware of uses similar monsters. Just another unique thing this dungeon has created. Intelligent monsters, shadow creatures made of metal, monstrous fungus... I feel like I've found something I can spend the rest of my life documenting and never learn everything!" He finished, enthusiastic as ever.

They didn't linger much longer, and soon they were pushing through the 'darkness' between the castle and forest. Isid once again found herself fascinated.

"The darkness is an enchantment, propagated through mana dispersed incredibly evenly. Its purpose is to absorb light, and the nature of the mana means each drop only absorbs so much at a time. I'm sure I can see farther than the rest of you, but not by much. After a certain distance, everything is just... obscured by the mana in the air." She explained. Jerrad nodded.

"Sounds like a thick fog. We had them sometimes back where I grew up. It was like the clouds themselves descended to rest on the ground. Sometimes you couldn't even see the walls from the keep! Or if you could, the men standing on them were blurry silhouettes." He said with a smile.

"Yes, you've told me." Isid replied, "I never quite understood. But... I do now, I think."

When the first of the tree-like fungi entered her perception, Isid let them know. After a dozen yards, the others could see it too. Without hesitation, they moved deeper, ever larger shrooms looming out of the 'fog' before them.

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The Dungeon, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea

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That interaction between Isid and the shadow golem was quite interesting. It seems that, while intangible to solid objects, blades made entirely of mana are capable of hitting them. Also, Isid's manasight is cheating! I've kept exactly what my golems are a secret for ages, but with only a quick glance, she knows exactly what they are!

Thankfully they still seem to think the stone hands are traps rather than stone golems under the floor reaching through the tiles. I mean, they are traps, but there's a monster attached to the arm and hand. I might be able to use that at some point, but It won't be as effective after the first time.

I kept a careful eye on them as they entered the Mushroom Forest. Their first encounter went about as expected. Isid identified the lone shambler that came across them early, and they were well prepared to ambush it. The hivemind began diverting the wandering monsters in their direction and started spawning more.

In five minutes, a second shambler approached and was dealt with. Then two more. Then five. Isid, Jerrad, and Harald defended Duncan as he butchered the first shambler, extracting its core and samples from different parts of its body. A 'bone,' one of its sword-limbs, fungal 'flesh' from several points, some 'nerve' tissue, and a chunk of 'brain.' Not that they knew it was its brain, but when a monster only has one significant organ, they could figure it was important.

By the time Duncan was done, the waves of monsters were constant and only getting larger. They began a fighting retreat, not willing to let themselves become overwhelmed.

I watched, curious, as they began exploring the castle again. Isid had said earlier that she had a feeling they were missing something. And she wasn't wrong. The 'Hero' party had thoroughly explored the castle's ground floor and dungeon levels but neglected the towers. They didn't believe the exit to the floor would be above them, after all. They were veterans, and even with all the odd shit I'd thrown at them, they had an expectation of how dungeons acted and were built.

I took advantage of that.

Isid and company, however, were well aware I couldn't be judged by the metric of other dungeons.

They spent some time going back over halls the Heroes had already explored, using Isid's manasight to search for anything they might have missed. I double-checked the halls ahead of them to ensure the secret passages all over the place were completely invisible. A couple glowed slightly to my 'vision,' but lowering the mana content of those sections was enough.

After that, they began ascending the towers. If it isn't obvious, I was experimenting with large-scale enchantments while constructing this floor. At the top of most towers, there are windows enchanted to see past the darkness. It gives you a real sense of the enormity of some of the mushrooms in the forest and how large the cavern actually is. Especially because otherwise, the guilders are in magical darkness. It makes it hard to judge distances.

After about four hours of exploration, there was only one tower they had yet to explore. I alerted the Boss, but I didn't think they would fight it. The smart play here is to poke their heads in, get info, then return with a raid of high-rank guilders to give them the best chance of beating a Boss they have no information on.

As expected, they poked their heads into the arena, glanced around the seemingly empty room, then quickly retreated.

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© Max Porteous, 2022