The Dungeon Without a System

-0-0-0-0-0-

The Merchantman Ship Good Tidings, Uncharted Island, Kalenic Sea

-0-0-0-0-0-

Captain Eli Hart took a deep breath.

The remaining members of the shore party had gathered in the hold, around a circular table. Kailen had also been called to the meeting, to take down notes and offer his own observations.

"Alright, let's begin." He started, getting the other men's attention. "I want to start with what we saw of the dungeon itself."

"Fuck all." Garth spat. "We got one bloody room in, then those fucking crabs killed my friends!" Hart sighed.

"Yes, but from that room we gleaned quite a bit." He weathered Garth's glare and powered on. "First, the mana-light. It was too bright to make out the details, but where most lights will only brighten a small room, this one lit the entire cavern." He looked around at the others, who nodded.

"What you might not have noticed is that the bars of stone that cupped the light were shaped like hands." Kailen stopped writing and looked up.

"That is... worrying." He stated.

"Why?" Leon prompted, looking concerned.

"The Dungeon knows what hands are." Rahim began.

"Which means it has encountered humans before." Jahim finished. Hart nodded

"Yes, that's it exactly." The captain praised. "It's met humans before, but this island is still unknown and uncharted. There is a possibility we've stumbled onto a Lost Dungeon." He finished, gravely. Leon and Garth looked confused, so he elaborated.

"Every dungeon is the same, a gem that hides within the earth and creates monsters to defend itself. But there are categories we put dungeons into to make it easier to identify them. A Baby dungeon is newly-formed, with likely only a floor or two with basic monsters, which might not even have cores yet. This goes up from Baby through Young, Mature, Elder, to Ancient. Then there are the special categories like Conquered, which should be obvious. A Lost Dungeon is a dungeon which, at some point, was likely Conquered but managed to free itself, wiping out it's old masters in the process." Hart took a deep breath.

"How come you know so much about dungeons?" Leon prompted, even more curious than before. Hart blushed slightly.

"In my youth, I lived in the city of Cott. Cott was built around the entrance to a dungeon, and had a relatively high population of Guilders. Our entire economy was based off the resources the Guilders brought back from the dungeon's depths. With such a important role, they were greatly respected by the common folk of the city. I once had the dream of becoming one myself.

"So, I studied everything I could, I pestered the friendlier Guilders for insightful tips and tricks." He sighed, sadly. "Then, when I was old enough i went to get evaluated. As you should know, Guilders... aren't like normal folk. There's something about them which lets them use the mana in their bodies to strengthen themselves, make themselves faster or even perform magic. I didn't have that." He shook himself.

"But we're getting off topic." He said, changing the subject. "While losing Kurt and Kale was a tragedy, it's more understandable if the Dungeon is Lost." He held a hand to forestall Garth's objection. "The dungeon is likely an Elder Dungeon, or perhaps Ancient at this point. It will remember being conquered and forced to use it's mana in any way it's master desires. Lost Dungeons are far more lethal in their defence if they feel threatened, but in time, if shown that we won't push too deep, they relax. At least, a bit."

There was momentary silence, which Kailen broke.

"What were it's monsters?" He asked, curious.

"Giant Crabs," Hart explained, "Three kinds. Two were the size of a Deepwood Wolf, the third the size of a juvenile."

"The big ones were mostly bright orange," Leon added, "Though the shade dipped into yellow and red at points. The smaller ones were grey, completely identical in colour and texture to the walls of the cave. It could be a Camouflage ability, or natural colouration."

"One of the nasty little assholes took my fucking bag!" Garth complained in a whining tone. "Forty Silver worth of potions and poisons, gone!"

"Aye, as we were leaving one of the grey ones showed itself." Hart confirmed, "Right nasty shock, that. They had fairly sharp pincers, enough to cut through the leather of the strap in one try. Before it moved it just looked like any other rock in the cave, which is probably the point.

"The first kind of the bigger ones had bulbous, spiked pincers, mace-like I would say. The other kind had two differently-shaped pincers, one resembling a shield, the other a sword. When you think about it, this is just more evidence of a Lost Dungeon. Normal monsters don't mutate weapons, they enhance their natural ones."

He looked around the table. "When we reach Laviet, we're going to need to inform the Guild about the dungeon. There is a substantial reward for information on dungeons, especially newly discovered ones. I'll make sure you each get a cut for your part in this little fiasco." The promise of silver seemed to cause Garth's eyes to gleam.

-0-0-0-0-0-

I wish they were having this conversation on the deck and not in the hold. Gull can barely hear them through the noise of the other sailors, and kept getting shooed away. I caught a few words I understood, but i didn't hear enough to eavesdrop properly.

Giving it up as a bad job I turn my attention from the busy, but subdued atmosphere of the ship back to my dungeon. The crabs have dispersed, going back to their patrols.

I have learnt plenty from this experience. One, humans will attack me, if for currently unknown reasons. Two, I didn't really feel much about having killed two of the humans. I thought I'd feel some kind of guilt, for murdering members of my former species, but nope. Three, they can make healing potions, which means there are definitely alchemists or potion makers, if not outright mages.

Wasn't that a shock.

Shifty had pulled a round-bottomed flask from his satchel, which was filled by a red liquid. I wasn't able to sense the mana in the liquid while it was so close to the party, but now that I had free reign I could feel the potent intent suffusing the mana in the bottle.

Much like when I had healed my crabs by shovelling mana at them with intent to heal, the humans had somehow figured out how to store mana in solution and impart an incredibly strong intent on it.

My Conclusions; My moral code has changed somehow by being turned into a Dungeon, mana is known by humans, mana can be harnessed by humans and large amounts of mana can be somehow infused into a liquid.

Hmm.

I think I figured out a reward for passing the first floor.

I mean, if they want to kill me there's no need for rewards, but... maybe they'll be more likely to not murder me if I'm beneficial, or at least benevolent?

I shaped another pedestal from the stone, located at the empty circular space at the top of the spiral stairs. This one was a pair of pillars curling around one another until they split off into hands, which cupped and were fused to a stone bowl. Above the bowl I extended a long thin stalactite down, stopping a foot above it. Next, I pushed mana into a ring at the top of the spike of stone. I then pushed the concept of condensation at the ring of mana. Yes, this ring of mana would pull water from the air, and form droplets on the surface of the stone. Slowly, water formed from the damp air and dripped in long trails down the stone.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Now I have a bowl of water.

Next I carve intricate, Celtic designs into the stalactite, layering it in bands. In each band I push the concept of infusion, with the intent to fill the passing water droplets with mana. I imagine mana being pushed into the water, slowly. As the droplets ran down the carvings they would gather more and more mana, until by the bottom they were completely saturated.

And so it was.

Now, when water dripped down from the top of the stone, the drops shifted from base water to liquid starlight, shining and glimmering.

I had created my first... Enchantment? Does this count as enchanting? I think this counts as enchanting. Mana given purpose and intent, to do something more than float around in the air. Yeah. At least, I'm going to call it enchanting, fuck whatever the humans call it.

Anyway, since this had once been my core room a fair amount of mana still existed here, having been pooling near the ceiling. Now it orbited the stalactite for a few revolutions before a stream split off to flow down the staircase. The enchantment pulled mana from the inwards stream, to power itself and infuse the water, though the amount was negligible.

Slowly, the bowl of mana-infused water filled.

Now for some regulation. I didn't want the bowl overflowing and spilling all over the ground. To that end, I layered a ring of mana along the inner edge of the bowl. This was going to be my most complicated command yet, but I needed to see if it would work. To the ring I pushed a very specific concept which boiled down to a light switch. If the water in this bowl reaches this level, stop the mana in the stalactite from condensing water. If the water falls below this level, start condensing again.

I pushed it hard, I willed it to work just as I wanted.

It took an hour to completely fill the bowl, and when it reached the ring I felt the enchantment at the top of the room stop absorbing mana, but not disappearing. It had deactivated successfully!

Success!

With monsters, a boss monster, and a reward, I felt like a proper dungeon. Now I just needed some properly equipped humans to test it.

Speaking of, with the last attempt fresh in their minds, the humans from that ship aren't likely to try again. They'll probably ship off soon and inform whatever authority there is about my existence. That authority will probably send a dedicated force to check me out properly.

This is where things get sketchy. They could just want to exploit my resources, which at this point are just my giant crabs and the bowl of mana-water.

They could want to seal me or control me somehow, to force me to make something specific they want.

They could take me from my dungeon and use me as reagents or in an item, like a magic staff.

If they view me as something to be destroyed, I'll probably be unable to stop them.

I. just. don't. know.

So, we fall back on the golden rule of the unexpected.

Pray for the best, prepare for the worst.

The Crabs won't be enough, even if I up their numbers significantly. If I make them bigger, they can't navigate my dungeon. I can't make their armor better or weapons more effective. Or if I can, I don't yet know how. I don't know how to make the Assassins actually invisible.

So, I'll just have to make do with something else for my second floor monster. It's a little sad, I was really hoping for rat monsters. I took another look over the labyrinth, concepts and themes running through my mind. Maybe...

Could I?

If I raise this part here, lower that... yes.

Yes.

This will work.

Without hesitation I opened a passage in the lower half of a wall on my second floor. It wasn't big, a trianglular shape with each side a foot long. Carefully, I started connecting it to the flooded tunnels my small crabs and fish use to get between rooms. It took hours, but soon my labyrinth had become the 'Flooded Labyrinth'. Higher portions were dry, about half the maze was filled with water up to waist height, and I made sure the tunnel that you needed to take to reach the exit was completely flooded, along with five other sufficiently long dead ends.

Just in case they had people who could see mana, I made sure to make my mana-stream take a long, meandering route that took it through most of the flooded tunnels.

Now for defenders. Since the only animals I had access to right now were aquatic I'd have to make do with some kind of fish.

Taking a small break I watched as the human ship sailed off towards the setting sun, two men less.

Hopefully, they don't hold a grudge.

Now for the monster which would inhabit my second floor.

It's going to be very dark, invaders will have to hold their torches or other light source up above their heads, out of the water. They won't be able to see what's in the water.

Hmm. What kind of fish live out in the reef...

From what one of my claimed fish can see, they don't look like much. Normal, tropical fish. No sea-snakes or sharks. Guess I'll have to make something new. I don't have any specific ideas, so lets just shove a whole load of fish into the maze, saturated with mana with a core of course, and see what happens.

Maybe I'll get inspired. Maybe I'll be surprised.

Let's find out.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Port Laviet, The Phenoc Kingdom, Theona

Five Days Later

-0-0-0-0-0-

The first thing Hart did after getting to port was meeting his merchant contact in the city, arranging to sell his cargo.

The second thing was grab a map with the rough coordinates Kailen had worked out for the island and locate the local chapter of the Guild. The Guild was a massive entity, with chapters in almost every town big enough for the name. This specific chapter had a particularly impressive Hall. It was built of wood and stone in the fashion of the last century, proudly displaying it's age and history to all who knew what to look for.

When Hart entered he froze as the dozens of Guilders that loitered in the hall turned to him like he was a threat, before immediately dismissing him. He was just a man, in the end. Hart took a minute to collect himself, before walking deliberately to the reception. The busy woman behind the counter was stamping forms and signing them with remarkable speed. When she didn't look up he cleared his throat. She stopped, and sighed.

"What's your business with the guild?" She drawled, looking up with a bored expression. Hart was a little taken back. The Guilders at Cott had been a lot friendlier than these. He spoke quickly, but quietly.

"I'm the captain of the ship Good Tidings, and on our latest voyage we were blown off course and encountered an uncharted island. On this island, we encountered what I believe to be a Lost Dungeon." Though he had been trying to be discreet, from the suddenly sharp glances his way some of the more powerful guilders in the hall had heard his whispered words. The receptionist, now a lot more interested, but sceptical, nodded.

"Please follow me. I'll arrange for you to meet the Guildmaster."

-0-0-0-0-0-