Chapter 6

Kiera opened her eyes and saw that she was in a simple and square room, standing in the middle of a large glyph, almost identical to the one from which she had left in the entrance tunnel. Three of the walls, as well as the ground and ceiling, were made of simple stone, with nothing distinguishing them. The wall directly in front of her had a large arch shaped opening. Cautiously, she walked out through the open arch. To her left, right, and front were three more arches, but the arch on the left had a rippling, window-like substance covering the entire arch. It looked like an invisible cloak had been hung through the arch. Above the doorway was a small sign that read, “The Colosseum.” This made Kiera turn around and look at the other signs. Above the arch she had just walked through was a sign that read, “Exit.” The arch in front of her corroborated what the second stone stele in the entrance hall said, “D-Housing.” Finally, she looked at the sign above the last arch, which read “Dungeon.”

On the ground was a large letter, 'D'. It was inlaid into the floor in black stone. Kiera stepped up to the Colosseum's arch and, remembering the stele that stated this level had no danger, pressed her hand against the ripple. Nothing happened. Looking through the barrier, she noticed it was just another room with a big teleportation glyph on the floor. The surface of the barrier felt soft. She pressed harder, but it would not budge. Then she dug her feet into the ground and pressed as hard as she could, but still, nothing happened. Kiera shrugged her shoulders and proceeded to examine the room through the arch that read “Dungeon.” It was a room with a much smaller teleportation glyph and another three steles; the one on along the left wall had information on adventurer parties:

The Following Floors are Limited to 5-

Member or Fewer Parties:

IV V VI X

The second stele was on the right side wall, and it showed what floors were currently open:

The Following Floors are Open:

I-IV

Finally, the third stele was behind the teleportation glyph, right up against the back wall. It was a more detailed list of the dungeon's levels:

I Entrance Hall

0

II D-Housing

0

III D-Mining

0

IV Beginner's Floor

D4

V Base Elements

D5

VI Simple Maze

D6

VII Forest

D7

VIII Jungle

D8

IX Dry Canyon

D9

X Boss

C1

That's weird; why has it listed rules for floors that don't exist yet? Does this dungeon have the ability to plan ahead? Kiera was becoming more and more amazed by this dungeon. Finally, Kiera walked out through the arch that was labeled as housing, leaving the room she had tentatively named the arches room. Then she stopped and blinked. If there wasn't a ceiling fifty feet up, she would swear she was in the middle of a giant forest. To her right was another one of those weird space barriers, except this one went all the way up to the ceiling and continued off into the distance. In a bout of symmetry, there was another arch opening on the other side of the barrier. Kiera briefly wondered what was there.

Kiera looked around for a long while, trying to spot anything dangerous. She didn't fully trust that this dungeon was safe, at least on this floor. Instead, she noticed some amazing things. First was the light. While she couldn't see a sun, the entire forest was lit up as if there was a sun shining somewhere on the ceiling. I wonder how that works, Kiera thought. Then she listened to the sounds of the forest; she heard the buzzing of insects and the singing calls of birds. All in all, it was an ordinary looking and sounding forest.

A bush rattled, and Kiera lowered herself into a fighting stance. Out came a little white bunny. Kiera leaped forward with a chi-enhanced kick, instantly snapping the rabbit's neck. Picking up the rabbit by the ears, Kiera thought to herself, this really is a danger-free level.

She then proceeded to walk along the convenient dirt trail that led somewhere into the forest, holding the dead bunny by its ears. After walking for what must have been two miles at a diagonal from the arches room, she ended her walk at a very large, square clearing in the forest. It must have been 300 yards wide on each side, with only dirt on the ground. She bent down and ran her fingers through the dirt. It just felt like regular soil. On the far side of the square ran a somewhat fast-moving river, about six feet across. The only other feature outside the square that she could see were dirt paths heading off in what she called North, Northeast, and East directions. The dirt path she had entered from, she tentatively called Southeast. The river, incidentally, ran along the North border of the clearing, moving from West to East, following one of the roads. A wide, wooden bridge ran over the river, allowing for one to walk along the road heading North uninterrupted.

Kiera thought to herself, this really is the weirdest place I've ever been. Beautiful, but weird. While Kiera had never been inside another dungeon, she had talked with people who had, and none of them had anything resembling this.

Finally, Kiera turned and looked at the most eye-catching features of the clearing in the forest. There were two wooden buildings on the far West side of the village. Walking towards them, she noticed that the large building on the left was four stories tall, with shuttered openings that she assumed must be windows. It also had a chimney and a stables on its left. This building was obviously an inn. The building on the right clearly a church. Kiera was more interested in the inn. Walking up to the inn, she pushed open the two large doors and entered. She found herself in an empty bar, with around forty tables with chairs. On the right was a forty foot long bar with a tall, male elf polishing a bottle of liquor.

“Hello, miss, my name is Jerry, and welcome to the D-Housing inn. Would you care for a drink, or a room for the night?”

“Alright, this is too fucking weird. Who the fuck are you, and what the fuck is this place?”

Jerry sighed. “This is the inn built for guests staying in the dungeon. I'm a creature created by said dungeon. I'm here to offer you drinks and a room. I simply do as I'm told. By the way, its two coppers for an ale, fifteen coppers for a room for a night and three meals, and five coppers for a horse, if you happen to have one.”

“No, this isn't possibly happening. Let me talk to whoever is telling you to do this.”

“I can ask, but I'm sure the answer will be no,” replied Jerry.

“Just do it,” said Kiera.

Jerry just stood there, tilted his head, and looked away. After a few moments, he looked surprised and said, “A representative of the dungeon will be here momentarily.”

A moment later, a 3 foot line appeared in mid-air next to Jerry's head, rotated into a portal, and Emelia the tiny dungeon pixie came through.

“Hi there,” Emelia said.

“Um, hi. What's going on?” replied Kiera.

“Well, I'm here to answer any questions you seem to have about this dungeon. My name is Emelia, and I'm a dungeon pixie.”

“Well, I'm Kiera, and as for questions, okay, how about, what the fuck is this place?”

“Rude. This place is my master's dungeon. Very kindly, he has offered adventurers, and therefore you, three entirely safe levels, including the dungeon entrance, this floor for housing, and the floor beneath us for mining and quarrying. If you meant this building in particular, it's an inn he's built for adventurers to stay at for a modest price. Any other questions?”

“Who's this master you keep referring to? Can I meet him?” Kiera asked.

“He's a bit skittish about meeting visitors, but if you really want to meet him, just head to the teleportation glyph back in the room marked, 'Dungeon,' and travel to level four.”

Kiera responded, “No way, that's a level that has danger, apparently.”

Emelia gave a strange look and responded, “Well it's a floor that will have danger, eventually. The dungeon is still very new, and he can't yet afford to build an actual, functioning level. You being here is actually very helpful for him. He can passively receive energy simply by you being here. The fact that your chi cultivation is at level C2, while shocking, is also very helpful to him receiving energy. If you want to know more about the situation, you'll just have to speak to him about it. Any other questions?”

Kiera gave her a shrewd look. Then she asked, “Can I purchase some of the land here?”

Emelia's eyes almost bugged out her skull, “What?”

Kiera responded, “I could see this place eventually becoming very popular, and if possible, I would like to be able to own the land and charge anyone who wants to build and live here, rent.”

Emelia, about to respond, stopped and tilted her head, just like when Jerry was communicating with the dungeon. “My master says he would like to meet with you to discuss some business negotiations. Please take the teleportation glyph to floor four.”

With that, Emelia opened another portal and disappeared.

Kiera, with an excited look on her face, turned to Jerry and ordered an ale. After drinking the entire thing in one gulp, she said to Jerry, “Wish me luck.”

Jerry, baffled at all these proceedings, simply said “Good luck, miss.”

***

Kiera looked around at the enormous hemispherical throne room, and felt intimidated. Then she saw the dead body of the enormous silver dragon and whimpered a little.

“Hi again, Kiera, my master is over there, that diamond resting on the crystal pedestal underneath all of those magical shields. If you don't mind, he can only speak by projecting his voice into your mind. Is that okay?”

Kiera was still too scared looking at the giant dragon to answer her question.

Emelia continued, “I know the dragon's body is pretty scary, but I assure you he's dead...or at least, he's now a harmless diamond stone. You're actually having a much better reaction than I did, but of course, I met a living, breathing dragon and you're just seeing its corpse.”

“Emelia, shut up,” rumbled Dorn. Kiera jumped and nearly started shrieking. Calming down, she said out loud, “Are you the master of this dungeon?”

“That is correct, little human, my name is Dorn'axial; you can call me Your Majesty Dorn'axial or Master or Sir.”

Emelia giggled and said, “Just call him Dorn, it's all he deserves.”

Gathering her bearings, Kiera finally asked the question she asked before, “Can I purchase some land up on the D-Housing floor?”

Dorn responded, “Hmmm, while it is theoretically possible, what do you have that you can offer me to make me consider selling you part of my body?”

“I'm probably the only way anyone is ever going to find out that there is a dungeon here. Everyone else is too scared about what I'm guessing is your old body over there to ever come here. Only I can go to the adventurer's guild and announce the presence of a new dungeon. Something that your pixie let slip is that you're out of energy and that you need people here.”

“While your assistance in getting more attention would be useful, what I need at the moment is for some sentient creatures to die within my body, so that I can have enough energy to start building my dungeon. That or some rare, powerful materials that I can absorb for the energy. Or a powerful chi practitioner staying here.”

Instead of freaking out again at his statement that he needs sentient people to die within him, Kiera focused in on his last two statements.

“I have two ideas that could really help you out,” Kiera said.

Surprised, Dorn said, “Oh? Go ahead little human.”

“Just promise that you'll sell me some land up in the D-Housing if my suggestions are helpful,” Kiera requested.

Dorn simply grunted an affirmative into her head.

Kiera, getting the idea, said, “For rare materials, why don't you just absorb your old body?”

***

Emelia and Dorn looked at each other, and then quickly looked away. How could they possibly forget his old body? I mean, it's just sitting there, not rotting due to high magic content, and not doing any good. And Dorn was not the sentimental type, to get choked up over absorbing his old body. Doing so, Dorn was surprised to get a massive influx of 250,000 DP's.

“Status”

Status

Name: Dorn'axial

Dungeon Name: A Dragon's Dungeon

Dungeon Level: 10

+1 for 11,000 DP's

Floors: 4/10

Dungeon Points: 273,000

Dungeon Rating: D0 – Seriously?

Three levels and no danger? Now I

feel like you're fucking with me.

“Sweet, I'm rich again,” Dorn stated, into Emelia's mind only. To Kiera, he simply said, “Thanks for your suggestion little human, it was very helpful. Go ahead with your other idea.” He had some anticipation towards whatever idea this little human might come up with.

“If you're looking for a powerful chi cultivator, simply give me some powerful style and application technique books, and I'll quickly cultivate up to a powerful,” Kiera said shamelessly.

Dorn laughed, “Ha! Cheeky. I tell you what, if you go announce my presence to the world and return, I'll give you your land. As for technique books, if you let me make you a dungeon-born part of this dungeon, I'll give you the best training in chi and magic that a human could possibly have.”

Kiera didn't immediately turn down the idea. The idea of becoming a powerful mage was extremely attractive to her. To have the power to go back to Ilsan and murder her little brother was a dream she had. Kiera asked of the dungeon, “What does becoming dungeon-born mean? Will I still have my freedom?”

“Simple, little human, I'll break you down to your most base constituent parts and re-build you back to your original form. From your perspective, it'll be like taking a quick nap. Then, when you leave here, due to a beast core I will implant in your skull, I'll still be able to speak into your mind telepathically and see through your eyes, when I so choose.”

“Would it be permanent?” Kiera asked.

“Hmm, if you would prefer to be released, you can simply wait until I grow strong enough to have a Dungeon Avatar. At the point in time, I will no longer require a servant who can go out and leave the dungeon. I will remove the beast core and you will be free to go on your way. In the mean time, I might require you to take up a few tasks now and then. Otherwise, your life will remain the same as before. Now do you accept my offer?”

Kiera nodded her head.

Dorn projected into her head, “Excellent, let's get started.”

A beam of white light was emitted from the diamond and landed on her body. She instantly vaporized, scattering into a pile of atoms. The light, still shining, analyzed her bodily make-up. Then, he started to put her back together again. He made a few changes, to make her more appealing to his eyes. First he made her taller, at about 5' 10.” Then he smoothed out and cleared her skin, that had been ravaged by the sun of the many farms she had been to. Being lazy, he only bothered to put hair back on her head, her eyebrows, and her eyelashes. And of course, he placed a beast core in her skull, nestled against her brain. Finally, he straightened and whitened her teeth. Then he spun up some comfortable riding clothes for her and created a horse. He then used some Space magic to create a small bag of holding, a bag that had more space on the inside than on the outside. It had a little pocket dimension within it, and it could store 8 cubic meters of space. Inside, he put some gold, silver, and copper coins. It was really cheap to make so much wealth, for Dorn.

Kiera blinked a few times and looked around. “Am I taller?” she asked.

“Yes, I made a few changes to your body to make you look better, little human. No need to thank me. Now, what type of weapon do you use?”

“Um, when did I give you permission to change my body?”

“When you allowed yourself to become dungeon-born. I thought that was obvious. Remember the beast core? Now, answer the question, what type of weapon do you use?”

Grumbling, Kiera decided to shelve her complaints. “I don't use weapons, or at least I've never been trained in the use of any weapon.”

“You really aren't a very capable human, are you, little Kiera. Congratulations, I'm feeling benevolent today, prepare to become a master of dual-wielding daggers. The perfect choice for a human who looks harmless, like you, to utilize,” Dorn said, before shining another light on her body, this time a green light. Through the light, Dorn transmitted the memories he had of learning to be a master dagger wielder in his human form. Then the light turned white again, before modifying the muscles in her arms, wrists, and hands to the state as if she were completely practiced in the art of using the dagger. Finally, he modified her nerves and brain to increase reaction time and hand-eye coordination. By the time he was done, he had spent a little over 70,000 DP's on creating his little minion. Totally worth it, however, to create my own little minion. And she thinks she'll someday be free of me. Cute!

Dorn then decided to make her a pair of black gold, Dark-enchanted daggers. The daggers were made fine, but when he tried to place an enchantment, he found that he simply couldn't. A blue screen opened up in front of him:

Warning! You may not create

enchantments until unlocking

Dungeon Enchantments in the

Dungeon Store.

Dorn groaned. These fucking gods are going to be the end of me. In the end, he just placed the un-enchanted daggers in the bag of holding and floated it to Kiera. Kiera caught it and looked inside, before gasping.

“Is this a bag of holding, and is it for me?”

Dorn responded, “Yes, so use it wisely. Now, you will travel to the capital of Khal. You must be careful as a woman alone in this backwards, non-egalitarian Khal kingdom. Hurry back, for as soon as you report me, you will be painting a target on your back. But don't worry too much, for if you find yourself captured, I can simply blow up your beast core, and when you die, I can simply reconstruct you. Any questions?”

“So, to be clear, just report your existence to the adventurer's guild in Khal City and return? Do you mind if I purchase the land your dungeon sits on while I'm there?”

“Knock yourself out, but don't get your hopes up. My guess is that the Khal kingdom won't last much longer before being invaded and destroyed by Ilsan. But whatever floats your boat. Try not to get yourself killed; it costs me energy to remake people.”

Not exactly feeling relieved, knowing that Dorn could kill her at any moment, she simply nodded and walked the horse towards the glyph on the floor. In a flash of light, she was back at the glyph in the massive entrance hall. This time, however, she had a horse with her to keep her company.

“How do you think this trip will go, Saturn?” she asked the horse. She had decided to name the horse after the famous god of business. After not responding, Kiera pretended that it had answered. “Yeah, you're probably right, this trip is going to suck.”