Rhen worked at breaking away the wall, widening the passage so they could stand abreast, while Aki sorted through the raw material. His ability to manipulate water made him especially adept at breaking the harder stone away from the ores and gems they wanted to collect. Aki could also absorb the raw anima out of the stones he broke down—by polluting his body with the debris, but that didn’t seem to bug him much.

Thirty feet past the initial entrance to the dungeon, the pair came to a wide opening with two new tunnels that diverged. Rhen wanted to cover as much ground as possible, but a nagging voice, weathered and generic from years-old memories, rattled off in his head. “Never split the dungeon party.”

He trusted the owner of that voice he scarcely remembered. He wished he could hear it more clearly, now.

“I think we should head down the left passage for half an hour, then the right, then call it a night.”

“Yes, boss.”

Rhen’s whole body withered in disgust. “Please, don’t call me that. Just call me Rhen.”

“But are you not the boss?”

“The owner, and the delve leader, sure. But boss… I don’t know. There’s something wrong about that word.”

“I do not understand, but I respect your wishes, Rhen.”

“Let’s find ourselves a node before we quit, eh?”

Aki fluttered, shifting colors. “Let us do it!”

Rhen smiled. His common tongue was rough since he hadn’t learned to use contractions, but his enthusiasm was welcome. They had yet to discover any monsters thus far, but Rhen knew if there was a node anywhere in here, there’d surely be a monster guarding it.

They moved down the left passage, Rhen out in front and Aki providing the minimal light necessary to sneak around. The tunnels had, thus far, been basic caves. While Rhen had been hoping maybe his dungeon was more than what met the eye, that it had its own themed chambers, multiple monster and anima types, he would be satisfied with whatever he managed to get. At least he has something.

Just as he was about to give the order to turn back, he heard a growl—snap! Some monster feasting on a hapless creature that wandered in from the woods? Maybe an adventurer, delving without permission got caught off-guard? Whatever it was, monsters were a sure sign of a dungeon node somewhere nearby.

“Two monsters around this bend.” Aki said it so gently, Rhen barely heard the words.

Aki projected dim light inside the belly of his water body. The silver light took shape as a thick, stocky quadruped. There were sparse details, other than a short, fat face full of teeth, and wide shoulders. It was narrow at the waist, with a stubby tail. Looked almost like a dog, but Rhen guessed there’d be something horrifying to it. Who knew if Aki’s prediction was even accurate?

There was only one way to find out.

Rhen sucked down a deep breath, activating the syntial to infuse that breath with magic. He tore around the corner, crescent moon blades in hand and flaming breath spewing heat and light through the cavern. The closest creature caught a face full of fire, dropping the bone it was chewing on. Flame-faced monster and the other one behind it ran for the back wall and scurried behind a stocky boulder.

Rhen blew out the last of the fire and coughed up smoke. Already, he felt the power of swift healing going to work on his throat. His eyes hadn’t yet adjusted to the darkness, but a deep snarl, right where the little monsters had run off to, caught his attention. Rhen tightened his grip on his weapons and squinted to see better.

The silhouette of a much larger monster bloomed in the darkness, illuminated by the violet glow of a syntial on its back.

Then it was gone.

Not even a blip, or a poof. Nothing. It had disappeared. In its absence, Rhen noticed what it had been curled up around.

A node.

But Rhen knew not to get too excited, to stay on his guard. He put his back to the wall and sucked in another breath. Light, he pushed the air out and filled the cavern. The glowing particles of Rhen’s spell drifted toward the ground, revealing the outline of a much too close monster stalking him from his left flank. It’d moved so fast and quietly!

Rhen activated swift twitch and lunged forward for the first strike, but the creature was ready. It dropped out of stealth and dodged with a sideways prance. Rhen turned and slashed at its hind legs, nicking the exposed ankle tendon. The monster yipped and Rhen kept on the offensive.

He pushed forward, chasing the hound-like creature until it was cornered. The monster puffed up its chest with a mighty breath, and a red syntial flared to life on its chest.

Shit.

Rhen dodged whatever spell might be spewing from the monster’s mouth, but to no avail. The bark pierced the air and rang through his ears. His eyeballs vibrated and his teeth chattered as his jaw spasmed.

Tiny needles pierced into Rhen’s calf, and he howled. The unsinged monster had gotten a mouthful of his flesh and growled into it like a beast with its kill. Rhen swiped at the monster several times, missing on account of his vibrating eyes. Finally, he scored a critical hit across the back of the creature’s neck with his blade, severing the spinal cord in a single hit. The monster’s mouth went slack, leaving his leg meat flapping, but still attached.

The bigger monster was on him again, chomping at Rhen’s face. He rolled right and the hound skidded to a stop. Rhen jumped to his feet—ouch—Rhen hobbled with his damaged leg held off the ground. The burned monster approached from Rhen’s right and they pushed him toward the cavern wall, slathering teeth barred.

“A little help here?” Rhen asked when he noticed Aki was nowhere in sight.

The small hound dove in for Rhen’s damaged calf. Rhen activated swift twitch, pulling his leg out of the way just in time. He launched his magic infused leg the creature in a powerful kick—ouch!—that sent the monster staggering back. The bigger hound took advantage, throwing itself at Rhen’s left arm.

A long tube of water splashed against the monster’s face, then forced its way down its throat. The hound convulsed, coughing to try to clear the liquid from its lungs. It was no use. The monster flopped to the ground, flailing and wheezing. Then it was still.

The water drained from its mouth, then rejoined Aki’s body as he emerged from around the corner.

“A bit savage, drowning… isn’t it?” Rhen asked, horrified.

“No more than slicing the enemy’s neck open.”

Rhen shrugged. “Fair. Hey, where were you when I got my leg half-eaten?”

“I am too vulnerable to—monster!”

The smaller creature Rhen had kicked back gained its feet, snarling deep in its throat. Aki projected a stream of soothing lavender light from his hands, entrancing the creature. Rhen gave it a quick one-two slice across the neck as he had the other, putting it down quickly.

“Come here,” Aki said, glowing brightly so Rhen could find him.

Rhen limped over to him. “What?”

“Sit.”

Rhen didn’t understand why his Prelusk friend was ordering him to the ground, but he sat anyway. Aki swirled his watery hands together into a glowing sphere with his many tentacles.

“As I was saying. I am too exposed. I cannot take damage like you and survive.”

The watery orb pulsed with refreshing blue light, and the sediment inside it leached back out into Aki’s body. Then, without any warning, Aki splashed the water against Rhen’s bloodied leg.

“Dude! Why?” Rhen cried out, cradling the limb.

“To stave off infection. My spell will also increase healing.”

Aki pulled the bloodied water back into his body and Rhen cringed. “You just gonna walk around with my blood all over you?”

“There is no alternative water source here, and I need as much body content as I can get, so yes.”

“Alright… uh, thanks.” Rhen took a moment to inspect his flappy skin, which was already healing quite nicely. He’d have an interesting scar for later stories, but probably wouldn’t have to lose the leg, thanks to Aki.

They riffled through the monster guts until they located the creatures’ crystalline cores. They were all a respectable size for being the first monster’s they’d encountered. The monsters had nice fangs, but their claws were too brittle to be used for materials. They were hairless, and their skin was much too soft for leather. They’d use all they could, anyway.

Rhen looked to the node at the back of the cavern and licked his lips. Enough mulling around with the dead monsters, it was time to get the real prize of the room.

He crossed the floor, eyes so focused on the node he tripped on the bones the hound had been munching on. He cursed, but kept on toward the crystal. Rhen let his hand linger over the node. This was it. His very first dungeon node. What would it be?

“Here we go.” He placed his hand on the glowing stone and light burst from the crystal planes. The room was full of orange sparkling magic and Rhen’s skin tingled. Anima surged down his arm, tickling the id syntial on his side.

The light in the room coalesced, then zipped to attention over the node in neat, organized lines of information.

[Congratulations – Rhen Zephitz!]

You have claimed your very first dungeon node, binding this dungeon to you. The Dungeon Owners Guild has been informed of your progress.

In an effort to help you continue your progress on your very first dungeon, the Dungeon Owners Guild would like to offer you a series of quests that will offer a wide variety of beneficial rewards. If you would like to accept this quest, place the map gifted to you by the Dungeon Owners Guild in your other hand and say “I accept.”

-----

Rhen wasn’t sure what possible quests they would offer, nor what kinds of rewards there would be, but if he was going to be mining the dungeon anyway, why not get a little extra? He pulled the map from his backpack, holding it securely in the other hand.

“I accept.”

Orange light raced down Rhen’s arm and exploded into the map. The parchment glowed with new magical powers, then sprung open, hanging in mid-air.

Aki read as a line of text appeared at the top. “Activate your first Control node. Reward, 1% off the first year’s Dungeon Owner’s Guild dues. Well, it is something.”

“We’ll take what we can get. Now, let’s figure out what to do with this node.”

Rhen focused on the crystal under his hand. The orange light leaked from the center of the node and slipped past his fingers, forming a basic visual display.

[Dungeon Node 1]

Anima Types: Chaos | Dark

Attunement Options:

{Control}

Pour anima into this node to gain spatial control of the area. At level one, the dungeon owner will be able to affect the room in which the node resides. Increasing the level will likewise increase the area it controls and allow for more specialized shaping capabilities. At level one you can craft simple staging rooms, delver barracks, or a secondary dungeon entrance (provided the room is close enough to the surface). The dungeon is under your command!

[Select] {Yes} {No}

---

{Mastery}

Use this node to pull power from the multitude of realms and infuse it into your being through syntials. Adding syntials to your person will increase your body’s anima capacity, allowing for more spell casting. Crafting too many syntials on a body which has not achieved 90-100% anima well depth will weaken the anima channels, making spell casting more difficult, and reducing spell potency.

[Select] {Yes} {No}

-----

Rhen looked at the monster cores grasped in Aki’s tentacles, then the glimmer of excitement in the Prelusk’s eyes. Rhen could activate a Control node and start a barracks. It would be somewhere out of the elements for them to stay, and they’d get the quest reward.

Or… he could activate a Mastery node and get some useful new abilities for each of them. There would be more nodes in the dungeon—probably—but having skills attuned to the dungeon they were delving could be essential for survival. Plus… cool new skills.

Rhen selected Mastery with a thought, and the dungeon vibrated with excitement. The orange light pulsed and shifted to a deeper copper color. The crystal whined as the interior changed shape, preparing itself for its new role in the dungeon.

The noise and light faded softly, and a new image flared to life over the burgundy-colored mastery node. With a quick assessment check, Rhen saw he was at ninety-four percent anima capacity, which was high enough for an upgrade, and he could use the defiler core to get him a little extra.

He pulled the crystal core from his pocket and activated the mastery node. The core dissolved in a burst of anima light, then flowed into Rhen’s open palm.

[Syntial Additions and Expansion]

Available Options: 4

{Defender’s Cry}

Prima I | Active | Mana | Chaos | Cost: 10% Anima

Infuse your voice with the power of the defender’s might, frightening your enemies and emboldening your compatriots. Enemies will suffer disorientation and lack of coordination. Friends will have increased strength and courage.

---UNAVAILABLE: Location Occupied---

You already have a Prima Syntial in this location. You cannot apply this syntial before first removing the existing syntial.

---

{Caress of Night}

Prima I | Active | Enon | Dark | Cost: 15% Anima per minute

Become enveloped by shadows and disappear in darkness. In very low light situations such as night, or dark rooms, you become invisible. In shaded daylight situations, you will be more difficult to detect while stationary. Variable situations exist in-between—try your luck at your own risk.

---

{Out For Blood}

Prima I | Passive | Kinse | Chaos | Cost: None

When you are injured, you deal increased damage with all anima spells and attacks. When you are not injured, your passive anima regeneration is decreased by 5% per syntial level.

{Shadow Snare}

Prima I | Active | Enon | Dark | Cost: 5% Anima

Use on a single target to decrease their movement speed for thirty seconds. Movement speed change is determined by percentage of ambient light. A dark room will decrease movement speed by 40-65%. In the shade on a sunny day will decrease movement speed by 5-10%

-----

It was too bad Rhen couldn’t get the first ability. Having experienced it firsthand, he knew it’d be a good one for controlling groups of monsters, but he liked Primordial Breath just fine.

“I would like Shadow Snare,” Aki said.

“Oh? Okay.”

“I thought perhaps we could strategize, so we do not have overlapping skills.”

“Good idea. I liked Caress of Night in any case.”

“You will have to learn to be stealthy.”

Rhen scowled. “What’da mean? I’m as sneaky as they come.”

“You ran into the room full of monsters breathing fire.”

“I suppose I did, but I was using the element of surprise. I’ll do the same with Caress of Night, just differently.”

“It is yet to be seen.”

Rhen laughed when he realized Aki was trying to joke. “I suppose I deserved that for my comment on your clandestine nature.”

“I enjoy our banter.”

“Me too, dude.”

“Caress of Night is the only viable option for you, and I believe you will put it to good use.”

“Alright… Caress of Night it is. I’ll show you just how sneaky I can be.”

Rhen selected the ability and violet light shot up his arm. The anima surged around to his back, pricking him like needles between his shoulder blades. The dark cavern was filled with the purple light for a moment, then it faded.

Rhen breathed deep in his new power. His dungeon’s power.

They were on their way to greatness.