Dungeon Madness: The Divine Dungeon Book Two Read online

  I jubilantly informed my partner.

  “Start forcing Essence into the hole. Open it wider until there is a constant stream instead of an infinitesimal trickle.”

  I exclaimed in shock.

  She literally growled at me, “No, I want you to widen it!”

  Her tone of voice more than anything else convinced me to follow her instructions. She had never sounded as angry and scared at the same time before. I grasped the hole with all my willpower, pulling at the edges and stuffing Essence in greater volume into it. Of course it resisted at first, but in a short amount of time I was able to create a wider channel.

  Essence started flowing into the hole, and my aura began blazing brightly as the huge amount of Essence from the C-ranked adventurer found a place to settle. I was worriedly watching the hole in my aura, looking for where the Essence was accruing. No matter how desperately I looked, there was no extra Essence in me or the air around me.

 

  “Follow it!” Her voice had a playful tone that surprised me, her mood had been vastly different not moments ago.

  I latched my consciousness onto the Chi thread spinning into the unknown, and found myself surrounded by darkness. The only light came from a small orb of rapidly spinning Essence where the Chi thread was accumulating. I looked on in wonder, then looked around, trying to determine how large this space was. I could see no walls or barriers, and therefore had no way to determine the scale of this space.

  From a seemingly vast distance, Dani’s voice came to me, “Impose your cultivation technique on it!”

  Again? Really? More of the same, just make it spin? Wow, what a great secret to the C-rankings. Almost grumpily, I reviewed my cultivation technique and began pulling at the orb of Essence before me. Unlike my Chi spiral outside of this place, this orb reacted faster than my mind could follow. Light arced away from me, the entirety of the orb vanishing into the distance as it opened into a galaxy of light around me. Each point of light looked as distant as the stars in the sky, and the threads connecting them were so thin as to be almost imperceptible.

  Since the majority of the Essence had recently belonged to a human, I had as of yet been unable to remove the corruption. I almost did not want to. The corruption flowed along the strands creating a beautiful, shimmering kaleidoscope of colors. The final effect was like looking into a nebula, and it was undeniably beautiful. With reluctance, I moved upstream of my Essence, my mind refocusing on Dani and the dungeon.

  I didn’t have words to describe everything I had just seen.

  “You have a beautiful soul, Cal. Congratulations on breaking into the C-ranks!” Dani applauded me.

  I ‘smiled’ at her,

  “…” She just stared at me for a few moments. “You are unbelievable, you know that? No time celebrating, no time seeing what you are capable of, having just jumped four cultivation ranks…”

  I waited a moment to see if any more information was forthcoming.

  “Gah! Cal… ugh. Fine. To break into the B-ranks… are you ready?” She tempted me with hidden knowledge.

 

  “You know that place you just were? That mental construct that is actually a small hole into the void, basically a pocket dimension for your soul?” She began, slowing her words and turning the conversation into a hidden whisper.

 

  “Shh! That place, basically a giant empty space? Fill it with Essence!” She told me in a very anti-climactic way.

 

  “No! That is not it, but it is what you have to start with!” Dani glared at me. “As you approach filling it, you need to find a concept; a universal truth that meshes with your Essence. That will be the hardest part, because your Essence is completely pure when you are done refining it. Your goal in life right now is to find a pure universal truth. It will likely be so profound that knowing the entirety of it at this point would break your mind and drive you mad! Don’t rush this.”

  I apologized sheepishly.

  “Not something you need to worry about really, unless you had meshed your Essence with a concept, you would only get the Essence they had stored. I think. Usually Mages don’t bother with Essence after they are able to accumulate Mana.” Dani thought for a moment. “Nah, don’t worry about it. Oh! Look, that group is almost to the last fork in the maze!”

  I looked over, and sure enough the much filthier group of people were close to solving the labyrinth.

  I returned my attention to the Assimilator, and prepared to take direct control. Much to my surprise, instead of requiring the huge amount of focus I had needed previously, a line of intent seemed to impact the floating jelly, and it followed my commands smoothly, like the Bashers above us. Able to ignore the movement and positioning of the Mob, I quickly began funneling tainted Essence into its being.

  My new ranking showed its worth yet again, allowing me to funnel enough Essence into the Mob for it to reach D-rank nine. Significantly stronger than the last time I had controlled an Assimilator, I felt confident that this would be a spectacular event. The party rounded the corner, ignoring the swirling Essence in their haste or arrogance. They walked down the narrow hallway, blinded by the Essence in the air but not realizing how beneficial a simple light would be.

  The entire group was sweaty, dirty, and covered in gore of some kind. The ten remaining people were arguing furiously about the next bend they should take, and whether or not to try turning around and retracing their steps.

  I found their conversation annoying, they had already tried going back and found only a dead-end. Now it was time to form another ‘dead-end’. Shameless pun! The only question now was what kinds of Essence to use… I wanted to try another combination, but had no idea what would happen. Selecting earth and wind — two types that were opposites — struck me as a good idea. Either they would cancel each other out, or something fun might happen.

  I began building the Essence in the Runes attached to the hanging stingers, allowing it to reach almost critical mass before interlacing them and adding just a touch more Essence. The results shocked me, but not nearly as much as them. *Z-z-zap!* A huge bolt of plasma — commonly referred to as lightning — shattered the air, flying uncontrollably toward the first metal object in its path. The sword that it first touched was instantly white-hot, glowing and slightly melted. The man holding it was dead before he even began to fall, but the lightning was still traveling. It flew into a heavily armored man, the personal guard of the little Noble.

  I expected the lightning to bounce again, but it instead arched back and forth between his armor, fusing it into a solid mass of metal whilst cooking the man inside. The rest of the party stood in shock — get it? I am hilarious. — for a long moment, which I used to examine my Assimilator. I had brought him up to D-rank nine, but after that bolt of energy he had been reduced to D-rank three. Yikes. That was a huge amount of power for an underwhelming effect. I could do that one more time before the Assimilator began running too low to sustain flight, or I could use other, more effective, abilities.

  I started funneling more Essence into the Mob, hoping to re-empower him before the humans attacked. I had just begun when they launched their counter-attack. As a unit, they rushed forward, grouping tightly together so they could protect the person next to them. Too easy. I just couldn’t pass up this chance! Down the stingers, I funneled infernal and fire Essences, layering them on top of each other and releasing just before the humans could reach my Mob. A blast of air as cold as the void snapped outward, the water in the air crystallizing and falling as shattered ice.

  The three pe
ople closest to my Mob died very quickly as the blood in their brains froze, sending shards of ice deep into the gray matter. The people not caught directly in the blast began exhibiting signs of hypothermia, but were able to reach the floating Mob before I could release more Essence. Blunt weapons impacted my Assimilator, but if they did any damage it didn’t show. Not having a brain to rattle was a definite boon in this case. Just as I was getting cocky, a sword lashed out and left a gaping wound. The Noble zipped forward, his hand entering and exiting the wound with blinding speed. He was clutching something, and my Mob dropped to the ground with a wet splat.

  “It had a Beast Core.” The Noble showed the glimmering gem to the few surviving members. “We were not told that there were Cored Beasts in here. When we get out, heads will roll!” He was shaking in fury, clutching the Core hard enough that I was surprised it didn’t shatter.

  I was watching the Noble throw a tantrum, kicking his charred, dead guard and ordering him to return to work. The others exchanged cautious looks when the Noble was not looking their way. An unhinged, powerful person was not who they wanted to be near.

  “Fine! You lazy…” The Noble let out a tiny shriek of frustration. “Let’s finish this stupid dungeon.”

  I muttered, making Dani laugh at me quietly.

  “A bit biased though, aren’t you?” Dani whispered to me as the humans made it into the final Boss room.

  “Great, even less visibility.” The furious Noble looked around the steam filled room, sweating as the heat and humidity began to take its toll.

  A low growl began to reverberate around the room, the tones rising and falling. The primal portion of the human’s brains took hold; they scooted together, goosebumps raising on their skin while fear flashed across their faces. Their eyes were darting around, trying to pierce the wall of steam around them.

  “No. I’m done with this.” The Noble raised his hands, chanting a few words as he moved Essence through the air. He pulled his hands, and the water in the air condensed into droplets. A hot rain fell to the ground with a loud pattering, revealing a now-furious wet Cat.

  One of the men shook slightly, “That is a big Cat.”

  The Noble looked at the speaker coldly, “Kill it.” The group raced across the sodden ground, weapons at the ready.

  Snowball took a deep breath, exhaling a fast-moving cloud of superheated steam as a tremendous roar! Able to see clearly for the first time since entering the third floor, the humans easily dodged the attack. Snowball moved in a whirl of motion, claws flashing out and trailing light-distorting waves of heat. A shield caught the blow, throwing the person holding it back and onto the floor. The shield had five glowing points on it where the claws had touched.

  A staff came at Snowball, scoring a direct hit. Most of the damage was mitigated by the thick layers of fur covering his body, but he still yelped like a struck dog and flinched.

  “Poor Snowball!” Dani whimpered, watching the Cat intently.

  The Cat counterattacked, landing a blow on the offending staff. The metal-shod quarterstaff superheated where the claws touched, making the iron banding glow cherry-red and igniting the wood. The staff was thrown away, but the focus was on the Greatsword the Noble was swinging haphazardly with a wild shout. Snowball ducked under the horizontal slash, losing a few tufts of fur to the razor-sharp blade. He reared up, head-butting the wild man and tossing him away like a ragdoll.

  Another man stabbed from behind, driving a dagger deep into the muscle on the Cat’s left-side back, eliciting a yowl. Snowball whirled around, landing a solid blow to his attacker and dragging him to the floor. He latched onto the arm the man threw up to protect his neck, savaging the armor-clad limb. Another stab from behind made the Cat run forward, each of his paws landing on the prone man as he did so. The multi-hundred-pound Cat, along with the force of his bounding, snapped many bones.

  Snowball raced to a covered steam vent, arriving there just before his pursuers. He lashed out, and a blast of steam erupted into the room. The men behind him started screaming as the boiling air washed over them, cooking them in their armor like a lobster in a pot. They got out of the steam, blisters formed across almost every inch of skin. They stumbled around blindly, their eyes — from the sclera to the retina — solidified like hard boiled-eggs. Snowball struck out, slicing the neck of one of them. There was only a small amount of blood, the wound otherwise cauterized near instantly. Snowball tried for the second blind man, only to have a Greatsword swing down, parting his head from his body in one clean swing.

  The Noble shimmered into view, he had apparently been using a high-level ability, using a thin layer of reflective water to shield himself from Snowball’s sight. “Gotcha, you brute. Skin this Cat, and crack its skull open. I am nearly positive that this is also a Cored Beast, so find me the Core it is hiding.”

  “Skin it, my lord? How do you want us to do that?”

  “What do you mean? Take its fur, I want this as a cloak! Do it the way you normally would.”

  The man looked confused, he was concussed quite badly. “But my Lord… there is more than one way to skin a Cat.”

  The Noble sighed, “Just… lengthwise? Is that understandable in your limited mind?” He walked over to the blinded man and used his Essence to form a thin layer of water over the destroyed eyes and exposed skin, keeping his body lubricated until they could get to a cleric. They quickly moved toward the exit, stopping as they noticed a golden, glowing chest.

  “Likely not worth it.” The Noble tried to continue onward.

  Licking his lips, one of the men dared to go against the statement, throwing open the chest. Inside was a Dagger, a sword, and a massive tower shield. I made that happen by extending the chest deep into the ground, only actually showing a portion of its size above ground. Each was well-made, but had subtle flaws that would force them to break like a standard piece of equipment. I had promised Dani that I wouldn’t give out unbreakable Runed items anymore, after all. Not recognizing that the items were Runed, the Noble scoffed and started guiding his blind subordinate up the stairs. The other two men grabbed the items and followed closely behind.

 

  Dani laughed as a young version of Snowball appeared in the room and began growing quickly. “I think we are all set on Mobs for now, Cal. Let’s hollow out the entire mountain range!”

  ~Fifteen~

  “Dale!” A server that worked at the Pleasure House was running up to Dale. “Madame Chandra sent me to let you know that the High Royals have arrived, and are waiting to talk to you.”

  “Thanks! This is pretty good timing actually. Would you let her know I will be there as soon as I bathe?” Dale asked the waiting server.

  “Absolutely, m’lord.” He didn’t leave, seeming to be expecting something.

  Dale raised a brow at him, “Yes?”

  The man coughed lightly, “Well, this is really outside my normal duties…”

  “Yes, thank you.” Dale started to turn, but Rose caught his arm.

  “Dale,” she whispered, “he wants a tip. Money.”

  “What? Why?” Dale returned in a normal tone, making her wince.

  “Because he came here at a run, when he could have dawdled and taken his time, making sure that you had no time to clean up or refresh yourself. The term ‘tips’ is an acronym for ‘to insure proper service’. If you aren’t a generous person, the people that make your life easier will find ways to make it much harder instead.” Rose explained in a hurried hiss.

  “I see. Got it, I had just never heard of that before.” Dale turned back to the waiting man, “Sorry for the wait, here, please take this as a token of my appreciation.” He flipped him a silver coin, making the server’s eyes go wide. The ma
n caught it with a grin, running off the way he came.

  Rose rolled her eyes, “Way to overpay, Dale.” She sighed, “Ah well, at least you know he will always rush to you. You may have forgotten, but a silver is still about a week's worth of pay for people who don’t risk their lives every day. A hundred copper? You remember, the little coins that you used to dive after in the dungeon?”

  Dale rolled his eyes and broke off from the group, making his way over to the designated bathing area. He stripped down, quickly scrubbing himself and getting as clean as possible in the frigid water. Feeling much more awake, and slightly shivering, he made his way to the restaurant. Along the way he called for a small group of guards to shadow him, making sure there were no Nobles lurking nearby looking for revenge.

  He walked to the doors of the restaurant, being stopped by guards with wicked-looking blades. “Halt, good sir. This building is closed for a private event. I apologize, but I must ask you to take your luncheon elsewhere.”

  Dale paused, surprised by the politeness shown to him. So far all of the Nobles he had encountered — and their guards — had been exceedingly rude and pompous. “Thank you, but I was actually summoned to this event. My name is Dale, I am the owner of this land.”

  “Ah! Excellent.” The guard smiled at him, “Well, come on in then. Be warned though that the guards in there are rather jumpy, so please don’t make any threats or threatening motions. People have been accidentally skewered for sneezing too abruptly.”

  Dale watched him to see if he was making a joke, but the guard certainly seemed serious. “Duly noted, thanks for the warning…?” He stepped inside, walking into the main dining hall. There were only two people at a table with a smattering of guards around the room in various poses as they watched different angles. Normally this room was bustling, people usually were here the moment the restaurant opened.

  The man sitting at the table looked up, “Pardon me, may I ask why you are here?” To Dale's surprise, though the man’s body looked to be in his early twenties, his face was haggard and drawn. There were lines on his face and circles under his eyes that only came from extreme stress and lack of sleep, and the woman next to him had a similar visage.