《Block Dungeon》 Chapter 0 - Prologue They were coming. Ruxium could feel them digging, tearing at the world¡¯s flesh. Claws tore away dirt blocks, pushing it behind for others to gather and remove. The Ostrum were a hive mind. Moved in perfect unison. Tandem. They¡¯d been digging for the last six moons. As soon as the noise grew close enough to warn of their approach, the World Core sped his perception to mortal timelines. It was exhausting, but necessary. He refused to lose now after coming so far. Ruxium grew tired of the relentless scrabbling sound that echoed through his chamber. But the World Core could do nothing to stop their onslaught. Every defense he¡¯d employed failed catastrophically. Tearing open the planet¡¯s crust and showering the Ostrum with lava had slowed them down the most, but the Ostrum¡¯s Corrupted Core just kept spawning more of them. Replacing every soldier that fell with another, just as capable. And it just rendered the world unlivable for the mortal beings he hoped would one day be allowed to return to the surface. Beyond the Ostrum¡¯s searching, digging claws, the surface of Sleyn was covered in the thick shadows of the Ostrum. Void of all life, save for the milling units that waited mindlessly, nothing more than bodies to jump to alert when one tried to pass. All it took was movement and they would stir. Stir and kill. Once activated, the Ostrum became mindless killing machines. They would tear and chew and destroy any who dared be in their waking vicinity. And if that creature had a Mob Heart or Hero Core? It was more fuel for the Ostrum Corrupted Core. Another burst of power that Ruxium couldn¡¯t take away. Ruxium looked around his Core Room, peering through the massive multifaceted gem that housed him. He had laid traps. Nearly every corner of the room was filled with something that would slow the oncoming horde down. But it would not stop them. Could not, at least, not forever. Warning: Zero remaining un-corrupted Dungeon Cores in play. World corruption at critical levels. With barely a thought, Ruxium¡¯s focus swapped to another view. A darkened core room, so unlike his own. This one was in the sky. Far above the Ostrum¡¯s reach.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Or, had been. The Ostrum had manifested wings in order to deal with the problem. So clever. If only they weren¡¯t trying to destroy him. Ruxium might have had a use for such a clever core. Below his vision, a wisp was draped over a shattered core. Ruxium looked at the fragments of the core on the ground. Tendrils of shadowy smoke still poured from the edges, refusing to dissipate. Corruption. They¡¯d tried to over take the core before shattering him. Ruxium turned his attention to the crying wisp. The small creature¡¯s tears seemed real, yet they did not move the World Core. , Ruxium said in a booming voice that startled the small wisp. ¡°I refuse.¡± The wisp didn¡¯t even look up. The wisp jolted into the air, angry red splotches splattered across his face like blood. His tears highlighted them, sparkling in the dim light like gems uncovered in a cavern. ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear me? Were my tears muffling my voice? Then let me try again. I. Re. Fuse. Screw your core, screw the Ostrum, and screw Sleyn!¡± ¡°There is no ¡®is¡¯ here!¡± The wisp floated upwards, towards Ruxium¡¯s view, as if it could tell where the World Core was watching from. His fists were balled tightly. Looking for something to swing at. The World Core gave him no such target. ¡°You are dead, Ruxium. They¡¯re practically at your door. We¡¯re out of time. Another core won¡¯t save you or those people.¡± The wisp lowered his gaze. ¡°Let me go get help. Real help. Not just some withered old coot and yet another Dungeon Core who can¡¯t and won¡¯t listen to reason.¡± Ruxium wished he had some way to comfort the wisp. To extend the image of a smile or even a hug. But without an active link, they were just wayward strangers who could barely communicate with one another. The wisp¡¯s wings stopped beating the air quite so hard. ¡°I know.¡± He growled, a low and angry thing. His head shot up, and he glared at the empty air where Ruxium¡¯s vision hung. ¡°But just because I know doesn¡¯t mean I have to like it!¡± ¡°You¡¯re a real piece of work, Ruxium.¡± The wisp turned back to the shattered core, a sob caught in his throat. The World Core left the wisp to grieve. He turned his attention inward, to the planet core again. Once more, Ruxium was assaulted by scrabbling. Scraping. An endless cacophony of digging. Punctuated by Berrith¡¯s hunger-driven commands. Getting ever closer. He couldn¡¯t tell how close. The Ostrum and their leader¡¯s corruption blocked his view. But they weren¡¯t slowing down for anything. Not now, since there were no more Dungeon Cores. The wisp could hate him. Could beat his wings or shout his obscenities all he wanted. Ruxium knew there was no other choice. Another Dungeon Core would buy him time. And maybe, just maybe, this one could get the job done. Chapter 1 - Giga-Screwed Nothingness grew for ages, expanding out in every direction known to mortals, and then in some directions far beyond their understanding. This void, a place between places, was home. Had been home for so long. Ages. Millenia. Mere moments. There was no way of knowing its age. Of telling how long it had existed, or where it existed. And then it was taken away. In a blink of a non-existent eye, he had become aware of something in his sea of nothingness. Just the tiniest pinpoint of light. It swelled, growing vast and wide, filling his every sense with a presence that was anything more than nothing. He thought he screamed. Wordlessly. Violently. The void usually ate away his words, so he wasn¡¯t exactly sure it was a scream. But this one didn¡¯t vanish without so much of a whisper. It echoed, bouncing off a prism that surrounded him like a cage. ¡°Calm yourself,¡± a voice said. ¡°Thrashing like that is dangerous.¡± It was the first voice he¡¯d heard since he¡¯d entered the void. Such a thing excited him. The voice was like honeyed wine, gentle and warm but with a spark of something sharp, dangerous beneath the surface. His vision snapped to it. A person floated above him on wings made of gossamer crystal so thin they barely existed. They were so close that he should have been able to feel the wind from those fluttering wings, but no such sensation existed. His first instinct was to reach out and touch them. To see if they were firm like the crystal they mimicked, or soft and pliable like wings needed to be. But he had no arms. No hands. The sensation of wanting arms when he hadn¡¯t had them in the void was disorienting. He tried to toss his head to clear his thoughts, but there wasn¡¯t a head to toss either. Instead, he just existed. A floating speck of consciousness trapped in what looked like a multi-faceted gem. ¡°I¡¯d like to help you,¡± the winged-man said. ¡°We need to establish a bond to do so.¡± The winged-man got closer. A single hand reached towards the gem¡¯s surface, and inside its cage, the consciousness from the void panicked. Some part of him wanted to push the invader away, to get more information before whatever bond that was necessary was formed. But he forced himself to calm down. It was much harder to do without lungs to push air through. The winged-man touched the gem, but the consciousness couldn¡¯t feel it. No warmth from those hands permeated the crystalline surface of his prison. And then, finally, he wasn¡¯t alone. It was as if a channel had been dug in the surface of the stone, just wide enough for the mouth of the universe¡¯s smallest ear trumpet. He could feel the presence of the winged-man, distantly. If he had a mouth he would have smiled. ¡°There we go,¡± the winged-man said. He straightened up, giving the consciousness in the gem his personal space back. ¡°Welcome to the world of Sleyn. I wish you were visiting under better circumstances.¡± Something dark crossed the winged-man¡¯s face. ¡°I¡¯m Chesu, your wisp. Go ahead and think about something. At me. To me. Whichever you like.¡± Chesu jolted, his wings spasming. He looked instantly uncomfortable, but the consciousness wasn¡¯t sure if it was from his question or perhaps the despair in his mental voice. ¡°I¡¯m sorry?¡± Chesu coughed once, trying to gain control of himself. ¡°Is our connection bad? I must have misheard you. What did you say?¡± The consciousness in the gem made a frustrated noise that rattled against the crystal of his cage. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ normal.¡± The wisp¡¯s tone said it was anything but. ¡°We¡¯re dealing with a bit of an emergency, so I don¡¯t think he really had a chance to think about how this went.¡± ¡°Not important,¡± Chesu said, his teeth snapping closed sharply on the ends of the words. ¡°Things may clear up to you over time; its an unfortunate side effect of being made into a Dungeon Core. For now, all we can do is give you a temporary name.¡± Chesu stared at the consciousness for a long moment. The wisp¡¯s gray-white brows were fluffy and stood out in many seemingly random directions. They were also furrowed. Driven in sharply towards a nose so crooked it had to have been broken too many times to count. As he stared, the consciousness realized there were many things about the wisp he failed to notice at first. He¡¯d been so entranced by the fluttering wings. There were lines¡ªvast and deep so that they were nearly chasms¡ªon the wisps face that spoke of age. Black smudges like coal surrounded blue-green eyes that were narrowed with focus but were also sunken. Tired. Chesu finally clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. ¡°I¡¯ve got it. We¡¯ll call you Gem. Just until you remember your real name.¡¯ If the consciousness had a face, he would have screwed it up in frustration and disgust. Talk about the lowest hanging fruit. The wisp at least had the decency to look embarrassed. ¡°You got something better?¡± Gem tried to shrug, but he had no shoulders to do so. Chesu clapped his hands together, hard, then rubbed them like he was trying to start a fire. ¡°Good. Let¡¯s get started then. Sooner we fail, the sooner I can return.¡± The wisp winced. ¡°Sorry, kid. Gem. That was uncalled for.¡± Gem would have wrinkled his nose in anger if he had one. he lied. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°There isn¡¯t enough time to get into all of it, so let¡¯s go for the short version: we¡¯re giga-screwed, as an Issy would say. This is the planet of Sleyn. I think I mentioned that already? Anyway. Sleyn was once a really nice place. Red sky is a little weird, but you get a good glimpse of the rings in the early morning around here, and it can be a real beauty.¡± Gem looked to the sky. Chesu was almost right: the sky was a soft almost-pink, shot through with long feathery gray clouds that twisted and twirled at the edges. A sun sat at about halfway up the horizon, which could have meant anything. He didn¡¯t, however, see any rings. ¡°You are currently not on Sleyn, however. Not on the planet''s surface, at least.¡± Chesu rubbed his face. ¡°Sleyn¡¯s surface is¡­ overrun. I could get into a giant history lesson about it, but let¡¯s go easy for now: down there are the Ostrum, and up here we are safe. Relatively.¡± Gem tried to look down. Under his gem was a small pedestal made of some sort of looping metal, and beyond that was a square of stone. He could see the hard edges, cut into perfect sharp angles. In a small, irregular shape around him were blocks of grass. Even though they sat next to one another, Gem could see the faintest outline of an edge to each block. They were perfectly uniform¡ªall the same size and shape, with patterns of grass that looked similar. On one of the blocks of grass sat an equally blocky wooden box. But beyond the grass was nothing. Just a reddish-pink sky for as far as he could see. ¡°For a lack of a better way of putting it, yes. World Cores really don¡¯t care about obeying the laws of physics when things get bad enough.¡± Chesu clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth again. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ getting ahead of myself. We can talk about that massive pain in the hip when we get around to it.¡± Gem wanted to press, but instead he just sent a mental grumbling noise. ¡°You can also send me images. Things like¡­ pictorial representations of body language. Some cores find it helps convey emotions. Ones that move are possible as well, but they¡¯re harder.¡± It wasn¡¯t quite as easy as talking, however. Gem had to form the picture fully in his consciousness and then send it to the wisp as an entire thing. He tried to make one of a tapping foot to indicate impatience, but the movement was impossible for him to hold together. Instead, he sent a picture of a multifaceted gem with raised eyebrows on its surface. Chesu laughed. It was a short, barked thing, almost as if he was caught off guard. ¡°Well, that¡¯s a new one.¡± Gem felt a bit of queer pride at having made the wisp laugh. While it dried up quickly, vanishing behind that veneer of no-nonsense firmness, it was good to see there was something else to Chesu. ¡°Now then. There are two big rules here: the first is to never build down to the surface. The Ostrum are down there, except when there aren¡¯t, and we don¡¯t want them up here, even when they are. So let¡¯s just¡­ leave them alone. For now. Alright?¡± Gem agreed wordlessly. ¡°The second is to always do your quests. If someone is doing their job right, you should have gotten your first quest by now?¡± Gem went to confirm that he had, in fact, not received any sort of quest when words shot across his vision: It¡¯s a **insert-description-here** day on Sleyn. Welcome, **core-name**. Quest Available: Would You Like Some Wood? Gather materials, including wood, stone, dirt, and other substances. Some items have been provided to you in a chest to get you started. Quest Available: A Roof Over Your Head. As a sky-based Dungeon Core, you do not have the protection of being underground. Build a structure to act as your Core Room before it¡¯s too late. Gem said in a dry tone. He relayed the quest information to Chesu, leaving out the bits that were obviously unfinished. It would only make the wisp more upset. ¡°Right. So that second one is the most important. You, ah¡­¡± Chesu looked away, but not before Gem caught a glimpse of the tightness in the wisp¡¯s face. After a bare moment he turned back, his expression sour. ¡°It¡¯s easy to become distracted. Sleyn¡¯s systems are candy to new cores. Underground, you¡¯d have the protection of the dirt itself to keep out whatever wanted to do you harm¡­ but here¡­¡± The wisp motioned around them. It was unnecessary. Gem was exposed to the sky. There was nothing covering his core even from the elements. Just the odd curved pedestal that held him up, which looked so out of place among all the right angles from the surrounding blocks. ¡°Already a step ahead of the curve.¡± Chesu grinned, a dark and bitter thing. ¡°In that chest you¡¯ll find a few items. Starters, if you will. You need to get a few things going so that you¡¯ll be able to build. The first is a tree farm, since that requires time. Trees need dirt under them to grow. Otherwise¡­ Sleyn takes care of the rest.¡± Gem waited for more instructions, but Chesu just motioned at the chest. ¡°Go on. Gather your saplings.¡± The chest was four block-widths away from Gem. He thought to ask Chesu how to open it, but realized the wisp might not be too happy to answer. Instead, he examined the chest. It was the same width and length that it was tall. The chest took up the entire block of dirt that it sat on, which led Gem to believe the block of dirt was the same height as well. It was constructed out of some light wood, with darker bands and accents that also seemed to be made of wood. A small metal latch seemed to be the only thing holding it closed. Without arms and hands, there was no obvious way to open it. But Gem wasn¡¯t deterred. He focused on the chest¡¯s latch and willed it open. The lid of the chest swung backwards on hinges Gem hadn¡¯t seen. It stopped at around a 45-degree angle. Four rows of ten gray boxes leapt in front of Gem¡¯s vision. Some of the little boxes were full. He could see obvious items, like the aforementioned saplings, as well as two buckets that seemed to be filled with different types of liquid. When Gem focused on one of the two saplings, a small bit of information appeared overlaid over the chest¡¯s contents. Spruce Sapling What you plant when you want a spruce tree. Requires dirt block. Focusing on the sapling again made it vanish. Gem sent a panicked, wordless sound to Chesu. ¡°Its alright, kid. Don¡¯t get so upset over nothing.¡± Chesu held up both hands as if warding Gem back. ¡°I¡¯m assuming the items vanished from the chest?¡± ¡°Good. Now its in your inventory. Means you can put it down and get it growing.¡± As soon as Gem thought the words, another handful of gray boxes assaulted his vision. This one was also four rows of ten boxes, with a sapling in the upper-leftmost box. When he examined the sapling now, a small list of options appeared. View Description Plant Destroy Gem selected ¡®Plant¡¯ with his thoughts. The sapling removed itself from his inventory and instead hung in the air. It was surrounded by a red outline. When Gem moved it over the dirt blocks, that outline turned green. Gem was amused to see that the outline was the width of the block, even though the sapling didn¡¯t take up that much space. Perhaps the tree would grow to fill the space and be the same size as the block below it. Each sapling also required an entire block of its own. He wasn¡¯t able to place them on top of one another, or even in the sky. Everything seemed so uniform and orderly on Sleyn. But looks could be deceiving. Chapter 2 - ERROR - NOT FOUND At Chesu¡¯s instruction, Gem next focused on digging a hole. By concentrating on an already placed block, Gem could get a menu for actions to take with that particular block. View Description Put in Inventory Move Place Destroy Chesu smiled wide, but it wasn¡¯t a particularly nice smile. ¡°Looks like we¡¯ve got ourselves a live one. Asking questions instead of just following directions¡­ Aren¡¯t you clever?¡± The wisp laughed and shook his head. ¡°Eh, don¡¯t mind me. Let¡¯s see here¡­ Destroying a resource that is within your area of influence will give you the base components of that item, and restore mana.¡± ¡°All things have mana, kid. We just haven¡¯t gotten to that part of your training yet.¡± Gem waited a moment and then when Chesu didn¡¯t continue, he mentally shrugged and selected the Move option from the list. Like with the sapling, the block moved around independent of its surroundings. He could move it almost anywhere¡ªhe wasn¡¯t able to place it floating in the sky or on top of the saplings he¡¯d planted. The sky bit seemed a little counterintuitive, seeing as how the whole thing was floating in the sky, but Gem remembered Chesu mentioning something about the World Core ignoring physics. Perhaps that was why. Under the block he lifted was another block. ¡°Three y-levels. Y represents vertical space, before you ask. But you don¡¯t have blocks everywhere; this is all randomly generated. There should be 40 blocks of dirt total, however.¡± Gem could count 25 on the surface, so that left 15 over 2 additional levels below him. Chesu looked at him as if he¡¯d grown a second head. Or, well, a first head. ¡°No,¡± the wisp said, drawing out the word. He shook his head as if clearing it. ¡°No. You don¡¯t need y-levels. They are just extra blocks that most sky Dungeon Cores ignore.¡± Chesu tapped the tip of his nose. The wisp then motioned out to the island around them. ¡°You¡¯ve already placed saplings, so getting blocks under them will be difficult. Once you place a sapling, you can¡¯t uproot it. However, you aren¡¯t bound by the same laws of physics. Go ahead and look at the underside of your island.¡± ¡°Your vision doesn¡¯t need to stay in your core. Despite your name, you aren¡¯t just a gem. For two y-levels and two blocks on the x- and z-axis away from your area of influence, you can still manipulate things. To expand your area of influence, you just need to build more. Go ahead and put that block you¡¯re floating around off the north end of the island.¡± The wisp motioned directly ahead of Gem. The north end of the island jutted out farther away than all the rest. It was too far away for him to place from here. At first he tried to move towards the area by imagining walking, but that got him exactly nowhere. He then thought of decoupling himself, like one would a belt, from his Gem, but that didn¡¯t do anything either. He sighed in frustration. Chesu laughed. ¡°You¡¯re thinking way too hard about this, kid. I can practically smell the smoke from here. Relax. I mean, not too much because of imminent danger and what not, but just move your vision over there. You¡¯re all of this.¡± Chesu waved his arms around. ¡°Once you stop thinking of yourself as just a gem, you¡¯ll do fine.¡± Maybe you shouldn¡¯t have named me that then, Gem thought, but kept the bitter comment to himself. He was grateful to have a name and one that sounded like a thing a person could be called. The wisp didn¡¯t name him Core or Idiot or something. Alright. I want to be over there. How do I get over there? As soon as he thought about it, his perspective shifted. It was like he teleported, but he could still see his gem sitting next to Chesu.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Good job, kid!¡± Gem found that he could move himself out two block widths off the north end of the island, just like Chesu told him. The block of dirt came with him. It floated close to his vision, like he was carrying it in outstretched arms, until he settled and returned to moving it separately. There was only so far he could move the block of dirt away from his vision - around six block lengths. It wasn¡¯t horribly restrictive, but it did mean he¡¯d have to get used to being incorporeal more often than not when he wanted to build. Gem placed the dirt block off the north end of the island, as instructed. He immediately felt his area of influence expand by one block in that direction. It was an odd sensation, and not one that he could adequately explain to anyone else. It was so unlike anything he¡¯d experienced so far. Gem asked, returning his vision to the inside of his core. Chesu grinned at him, nodding. ¡°You¡¯ve got that right, kid. We might be floating in the sky to flee from endlessly respawning nightmare monsters, but some rules remain intact.¡± Something in the wisp¡¯s eye glistened mischievously. ¡°We¡¯ll go over block generation soon. I¡¯ve got a few more things on my list of introductory mechanics. Making something like blocks is a bit more intermediate than I think you¡¯re ready for.¡± Gem sent Chesu an image of a gem with an exaggerated frowning face. ¡°Humor me, baby dungeon. I promise I¡¯ll get to it very soon.¡± Gem wished he had a body so he could click his tongue or sigh. Something to exaggerate how frustrated he felt. If Chesu noticed his frustration, he didn¡¯t let on. ¡°Moving isn¡¯t just along the X and Y axis, by the way. You¡¯re a consciousness contained in a physical manifestation of a core.¡± The wisp waved a hand through the air. ¡°And you aren¡¯t bound to that two-block limit either. That¡¯s just for building.¡± Gem looked out towards the horizon, where the pink why was growing ever closer to darker. ¡°Of course! You¡¯re free to move as much as you want in your area of influence and then past that it¡¯s based on your rank.¡± ¡°Excellent question. And¡­ not one I can really adequately explain. It¡¯s a part of you. Like your inventory. But you can view it whenever you want, not just when you think about it.¡± Chesu made a frustrated noise. ¡°Like¡­ like if you had test answers written on the insides of your eyelids.¡± Gem sent him another image of a gem with an exaggerated frown. ¡°Yeah, well, you try telling a disembodied representation of a dungeon how to look inside themselves. There isn¡¯t exactly a manual for this stuff.¡± ¡°And how would that work?¡± Chesu¡¯s voice grew to a fevered pitch. ¡°There¡¯s glitches! Mutations! The¡­¡± The wisp fell quiet before shaking his head. ¡°Nope. We¡¯re not going down that rabbit hole. Let¡¯s just say¡­ Let¡¯s just say there¡¯s a lot of things happening that would make a manual incomplete the second it was written.¡± Gem wanted to ask. But Chesu waved a hand and prompted Gem to continue exploring how to view his rank. Eventually he figured it out. It was less like looking inside his non-existent eyelids and more like viewing the underneath of his gem. Like if he could somehow turn himself inside out to see the parts no one else could see. Name: [ERROR - NOT FOUND] Tier: Tin Rank: One Mana: 1 / 50 Regeneration: 10 / Hour Command: 0 / 0 (cap 50) Complete quest A Roof Over Your Head to access remaining system options. Chesu made a noise deep in his throat. ¡°It¡¯s not important. I¡¯m sure someone will fix that soon, Gem.¡± He said the name with force, not like a shout but still with volume. ¡°Let¡¯s just keep this train moving. So. You see your rank and tier, right?¡± ¡°Great! So that means you have 50 mana and 50 command.¡± Chesu held up a hand as if to stop Gem¡¯s arguments before he could begin. ¡°Yes, you don¡¯t have it yet. You¡¯re a brand new core. They don¡¯t just give you things for free.¡± Gem watched the wisp for a moment. When it was clear that Chesu wasn¡¯t going to continue, he ventured to find out. ¡°Mana controls your abilities to do things: create pylons, cast spells, craft mob hearts, or make mobs to use those hearts. Command is what tells you how many mobs you can have in your dungeon at a time. You need the first to get the second.¡± ¡°Nope. Well, not yet. You¡¯ll kind of, well, get used to making it passive. Like breathing, as a mortal. Your body, or, well, core, will do it automatically. But for now¡­¡± Chesu shrugged. ¡°You draw in the mana. From the world. Everything¡¯s got it. The sky, the trees, the dirt. Mana¡¯s everywhere and you are a conduit in need of it.¡± ¡°Nah. You¡¯ll take so little in at a time that you¡¯ll be fine. If you go on a hungry spree then that¡¯s a problem. But the little bit you¡¯ll take and then process every hour isn¡¯t enough to hurt anything.¡± Gem focused on absorbing mana. He first tried viewing it, which was near impossible. No menus popped up when he tried to examine things, and there was no visible sign if something had mana or not. But he could feel something, tickling the edges of his senses, like it was just out of view. Eventually he decided to stop looking for it and start drawing it in. He focused on that tickling sensation and started pulling it towards himself. Nothing happened at first, and Gem grew frustrated. But after some eager and encouraging prodding from Chesu, Gem finally drew in his first bit of mana. It was everything he could have ever wanted and more. Chapter 3 - Youre It There was nothing in this world, or any other, that Gem could liken to in order to describe absorbing the mana. Warm and inviting, the mana filled his senses and drove away all other thoughts. He immediately forgot about drawing in more mana and didn¡¯t care. It was like basking in a perfect sunbeam, and was the first experience of warmth he¡¯d experienced since before his time in the void. Chesu knocked his tiny knuckles against his gem, drawing Gem¡¯s attention from the sensation of the cozy heat. ¡°Are you okay in there?¡± ¡°The mana?¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Chesu lifted both eyebrows in confusion and shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve always heard it¡¯s like eating a fine meal.¡± Gem didn¡¯t respond, but instead looked at his menu again. His mana hadn¡¯t yet increased. ¡°You need to eat more. A growing young core and all that. But you see that regeneration number? You need to draw in ambient mana to get that wheel turning, and then over an hour your mana pool will increase.¡± It seemed too complicated a system, but Gem didn¡¯t really think he had much room to argue it. Instead, he absorbed more mana. The second time around, it was less like bathing in a sunny warmth and more like warming his hands near a fire. Nice, but not all consuming. After a handful of moments a cloud of almost imperceptible mana started to leak from his core, and Gem¡¯s mana total ticked up to two out of fifty. Chesu tapped his forehead with a grin. ¡°As it should be. Absorbing mana and refining it will become second nature¡ªlike breathing. You won¡¯t know you¡¯re doing it and it¡¯ll just be a passive increase to your mana totals. But this shouldn¡¯t be how you aim to gain the majority of your mana.¡± ¡°One step at a time, kid.¡± Chesu patted the side of his gem. ¡°We¡¯ve got a lot of stuff to cover, and if you jump ahead we might miss something.¡± Gem sent Chesu an image of a scrunched up face, obviously showing displeasure. ¡°Yeah, I know. I promise. We¡¯re speedrunning this one, as my old core would say.¡± Before Gem could ask, Chesu moved on. ¡°Next up is making a room so you can complete your quest. There¡¯s two ways to do it: use the blocks at your disposal, or make new ones. Any time not right now, I¡¯d encourage you to make new ones. The issue is, making something from nothing takes time or a ridiculous amount of mana. You¡¯ve already got a tree farm going, and I¡¯ll show you how to make generators in a little bit. So let¡¯s just collect a handful of blocks and make you a rudimentary core room so you can claim it and move on, yeah?¡± The wisp walked Gem through the specifics. A core room could be any size, but Gem would want to make sure he left enough room for his creatures, the dungeon mobs, to move around. It would also be nice for Chesu if the core room wasn¡¯t just a block tall. He also couldn¡¯t lock himself in; in order for his dungeon to function, there would always need to be an entrance and exit for his influence. It wouldn¡¯t permeate walls. Likewise, his dungeon mobs had to be able to get around, and apparently they wouldn¡¯t be able to defend him if there wasn¡¯t a sufficient entrance to his core room. With all that in mind, Gem brought his vision to the underneath of his island. Below him was a void much like the one he¡¯d existed in for so long. He could see there was something down there¡ªthings moved in an endless sea of darkness¡ªbut they were too far away for his eyes to focus on. The blocks on the underside of his island were much the same as the blocks above, save one. It looked to be composed of small green-gray pebbles, condensed into a singular block. Gem asked absentmindedly.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! He felt Chesu¡¯s hands on his gem¡ªand odd sensation when his vision wasn¡¯t in the gem¡ªand then the wisp clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be. Looks like someone likes you, kid. Or is tired of losing.¡± Gem didn¡¯t need to see the wisp¡¯s face to know he was grinning from ear to ear. ¡°That, dear dungeon, is cobblestone. You¡¯ll need that to make stone.¡± ¡°Making blocks requires either a generator to create the block like you absorb mana¡ªpassively, and without much input from you¡ªor by absorbing a block and then reproducing it using your mana. Creating things out of mana is expensive, but necessary sometimes.¡± Gem eyed the block of cobblestone. ¡°Well, alright. This is us skipping ahead, and we should really get back to your core room, but let¡¯s just make this quick: if you absorb that block, it¡¯ll vanish. But then you can create infinitely more with just mana. It¡¯s a leg up, because in order to absorb cobblestone otherwise, you¡¯d need to set up a generator and wait for a block to be produced. Which, again, time.¡± Chesu went quiet for a moment. ¡°I don¡¯t think this is like¡­ life saving or anything, but it might be nice to actually win. For once.¡± The last bit was said quietly, and Gem wanted to ask what the wisp meant, but he could tell from Chesu¡¯s tone that it was a sore subject. So, instead, Gem inspected the block. ¡°You remember that menu you got when you picked up the block before? There should be something in there. We¡¯ll need to complete the core room first for you to access the option, though.¡± Gem sent Chesu an image of a crystal with a weary expression. ¡°I know, kid. I know.¡± Over the course of two hours¡ªaccording to the twenty mana he absorbed passively while moving blocks¡ªGem relocated all fourteen dirt blocks from underneath his island. He left the cobblestone block alone, as Chesu instructed. When he had removed all other blocks from around it, he was surprised to see it still floated in the air, with or without the support. Chesu assured him this was normal¡ªsomething about the physics of floating¡ªand so Gem returned to his building. The core room he made was simple. Just three blocks wide and deep, and two blocks tall. He left one wall of the room open. Being surrounded by dirt so closely on almost all sides was a bit claustrophobic. Gem expressed his displeasure to Chesu, who assured him it would be easy to expand later. This was just a temporary measure, and would keep him safe. Once the final block was in place, Chesu instructed him to gather enough to make a roof. ¡°The Ostrum will find a way in, if you let them. We¡¯ve just got to do all we can to keep them out.¡± Gem wasn¡¯t happy about needing to cannibalize more of his island. It felt like he was causing problems for himself in the future, but Chesu assured him it was the only way. He needed to be protected, because otherwise he might get distracted and the Ostrum would come for him. Chesu was sure to tell Gem all about the cores before him that had failed and lost to the Ostrum. Moving the blocks from the surface took longer than Gem expected. He wanted to avoid taking too much from one area, and Chesu instructed him to avoid picking up dirt blocks that already had grass growing on them. There were much fewer blocks with than without, so that wasn¡¯t too hard. After about another two hours had passed¡ªaccording to the amount of mana he regenerated¡ªGem finally placed the last block in place. ¡°How much mana you got now, kid?¡± Gem responded without looking. ¡°Great. We¡¯re going to skip ahead then while we wait.¡± ¡°Mana. In order to claim a room, you need to¡­ my previous core called it ¡®spooging¡¯ his mana all over the walls, but something a little less crude would work as well.¡± Gem sent Chesu an image of a gem with one eyebrow raised. ¡°Issys. They¡¯re a unique bunch. At any rate, we need your mana to be full to claim the room, so instead of just sitting here staring at one another, let¡¯s talk Entities and themes.¡± Chesu grew quiet for a moment. ¡°Long ago, before Sleyn was dying, it was home to a veritable wealth of dungeons. There was a perfect ecosystem, where dungeons had enough experience to grow and level, there were Entities being covered by more than one dungeon at a time, and there were enough Herocores hitting higher levels. ¡°But something happened. Or didn¡¯t happen. The details are¡­ fuzzy. But the result was Berrith and the Ostrum. They made the Hero Cores flee. Destroyed the Dungeon Cores. And they released and then consumed the Entities. Getting stronger every time. And now¡­ now the Ostrum are trying to take over the World Core. No one knows what will happen if they succeed, but it won¡¯t be a good time.¡± Chesu fell silent. Gem could see lines of stress and worry across the wisp¡¯s small face. His eyes had a haunted, distant look to them. There was so much he wanted to say, to ask, rumbling under the surface of his mind. But only one thing boiled over: ¡°Sorry, kid, you¡¯re it.¡± Chapter 4 - PENDING SELECTION When Gem¡¯s mana was full, he claimed his Core Room. Quest Complete: A Roof Over Your Head. Reward: Unlock containment and full system access. ¡°Ignore that for just a moment. Go ahead and open your stats menu again.¡± Name: Gem Theme: [PENDING SELECTION] Contained Entity: [ERROR - NO ENTITIES AVAILABLE] Tier: Tin Rank: One Mana: 0 / 50 Regeneration: 10 / Hour Command: 0 / 0 (cap 50) Area of Influence: [View] Dungeon Map: [View] Rooms | Mobs [UNAVAILABLE] | Upgrades [UNAVAILABLE] | Traps [UNAVAILABLE] | Alterations [UNAVAILABLE] | Decorations [UNAVAILABLE] | Quests Chesu rolled his eyes. ¡°Great.¡± He said the word in a way that suggested it was anything but. ¡°Let¡¯s select your theme now, yeah? Focus on where it says ¡®pending selection.¡¯¡± Theme Selection There are currently [ERROR - NO ENTITIES AVAILABLE] Entities with insufficient containment. Please select the Entity you wish to assist containing, or select an adequately contained Entity.
Entity Associated Theme Containment Ranks Special Notes
Forest None.
Aquatic Mobs require water.
Jungle None.
Snow Mobs require cold temperatures.
Desert Mobs require hot temperatures.
Hallow Locked. Requires Hallow alignment.
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Corruption Locked. Requires Corruption alignment.
¡°You got your list?¡± Gem said without lifting his vision from the list. ¡°Why are there no entities found? Lots of error messages, feels a little doom and gloom?¡± Gem tried to voice his agreement wordlessly, but he couldn¡¯t quite figure out the best way to do it. Instead, he sent the wisp an image of a core with a large, comical frown. He made very clear it wasn¡¯t a question. ¡°Well, it¡¯s the same thing as containment, so I figured it would be on your list.¡± Chesu let out a frustrated snort. ¡°But it¡¯s also really hard to ignore those error messages, huh?¡± He shook his head and ruffled his wings. ¡°Entities are¡­ beings. Sometimes. Concepts others. But they are always powerful. A Dungeon Core exists to contain them. To¡­ hold them. Sometimes multiple Dungeon Cores are required to hold multiple entities. If no Core exists to contain an entity, they will be released.¡± A cold feeling rushed through Gem¡¯s core. ¡°But there are also no entities.¡± Something dark crossed the wisp¡¯s face and he ran a hand across his features as if to chase it away. It left him looking weary. ¡°The Ostrum absorbed them. Ate them. Both the Dungeon Cores and then the Entities. Their corruption was just too much. It¡¯s¡­ powerful.¡± Gem sent him a picture of a grimacing core. ¡°Understatement of the year, kid.¡± The wisp laughed. ¡°But we¡¯re getting too far ahead of ourselves. Let¡¯s focus on your quests and worry about the end of the world in just a little while, yeah?¡± Gem wanted to argue, but the wisp had a good point. Getting too lost in things that had already happened and couldn¡¯t be reversed didn¡¯t sound productive. If he was going to do something as big as save the world, he had to think about what he could do. What control he had. ¡°Hallow and Corruption, right? Yeah. Those require special dispensation and you don¡¯t got it. But look at your list carefully. You only get one choice here kid, so think about it wisely. Each theme comes with its own set of mob types. You¡¯ll get some crossover, of course. And some of the mobs won¡¯t make a ton of sense. For example, as a Jungle Dungeon, you¡¯ll have access to piranhas, but you won¡¯t have them as an Aquatic Dungeon.¡± ¡°Nope. Gotta choose and level to see what you get.¡± Gem sent the wisp an image of a gem sporting a massive frown. ¡°Glad you asked. Aquatic is way less interesting than you think. It¡¯s also incredibly inconvenient to do as a floating island. Water doesn¡¯t work right up here. Requires blocks to contain it, and the Ostrum can just ignore all your mobs. Just not worth it. ¡°Likewise, Snow and Desert aren¡¯t great picks. Temperatures are difficult to maintain, and your mobs will die without the right ones. Plus it¡¯ll make your eventual storming of the surface way harder than you think. You¡¯ll need to basically build a series of rooms with the right temperatures all the way to the Ostrum and that might make things a bit more¡­ complicated. Not to mention the time investment.¡± ¡°You¡¯d think that, but well¡­ choose, and you¡¯ll see.¡± Gem wasn¡¯t convinced. He looked over his list again and immediately wished he had access to Hallow and Corruption; while he wasn¡¯t entirely sure what those would contain, they sounded more interesting than his other two options. At the same time, he was glad for the restriction. Too many choices could lead to paralysis, even if the ultimate outcome was the same. he said carefully, testing the word. ¡°Excellent choice. Go ahead and select it so you can get access to your mobs and blocks.¡± Forest selected. This selection cannot be changed. Confirm: Yes | No Gem focused on the ¡®yes¡¯ portion and was suddenly bombarded with notifications: Forest biome selected!
  • Mob Unlocked: Goosalope
  • Mob Unlocked: Cicadossum
  • Mob Unlocked: Plantling
  • Crafting Unlocked: Stone
  • Crafting Unlocked: Cut Stone
  • Crafting Unlocked: Mossy Cut Stone
  • Alteration Unlocked: Forest Decoration
  • Alteration Unlocked: Doors and Windows
  • Alteration Unlocked: Daytime Decoration
  • Alteration Unlocked: Nighttime Decoration
  • Upgrade Unlocked: Forest Plants (automatically selected)
  • Upgrade Unlocked: Basic Traps (automatically selected)
Chesu was floating above Gem when he finally dismissed all of the floating text. The wisp had a giant grin on his old face, and it was a nasty one. ¡°Get your unlocks then?¡± The wisp nodded. ¡°Not surprising. Even if you were a denizen of Sleyn before the Ostrum attacked, you wouldn¡¯t recognize these. Things¡­ things have changed around here. The, uh, core experience¡ªif you¡¯ll mind my pun¡ªof being a Dungeon Core has been corrupted by the planet being taken over.¡± ¡°Precisely.¡± ¡°Now it¡¯s time to get some basic resource farms going. You¡¯re going to need generators so you can get more blocks. And then after that¡­¡± Chesu clapped his hands together. ¡°It¡¯ll be time to build your first Pylon.¡±