“Guys? Do you see that?” Cody asked.

Everyone looked around, but I saw nothing change, and Rowan and Magnus looked as confused as I was. “See what?”

Cody pointed at the Demon’s throne. “The base of the throne, it’s glowing”.

I looked again and didn’t see any glow coming from it. I walked over and used Identify on the throne.

Throne of Dul’goth

Quality: Average

Durability: 50/50

Dul’goth’s seat of power.

Aside from knowing it had fifty points of durability, Identify gave me jack squat. I walked around the throne. It was made of solid stone. There were no seams that I could find. I even tried pushing it in various places and running my hands over it, but found nothing.

“Where exactly is it glowing?” I asked.

“Right here at the base,” Cody said while pointing at the foot of the throne. As Cody reached out to touch the glowing portion that only he could see, his hand radiated a golden light. The light grew brighter as he got closer.

Once Cody touched the throne, there was the sound of cracking glass. The throne fractured and exploded outwards. The pieces looked like shattered glass, but didn’t seem to have any substance. The shards passed right through us and disappeared into motes of light before they could hit the ground.

A small pit appeared where the throne once sat. Within that pit rested a red crystalline orb. The multifaceted orb pulsed with a ruby light.

Dungeon Core

Rank E

Durability: 20/20

Element: Fire

Theme: Demonic

Path: Mana

With his eyes transfixed on the Dungeon Core, Cody pulled out his soul-bound mace and raised it above his head. Seeing that he was about to smash it to pieces, I reached out and caught his wrist.

“Hold up, wait just a moment,” I said.

“But it must be destroyed,” Cody replied in a dreamlike tone.

“Didn’t you say one option was to cleanse it instead? I’m sure it could be worth a ton of money, or be even more valuable for us when we make our new home.”

Cody turned his unfocused eyes to me and blinked slowly. “Cleanse it?”

“Yes, let’s try to cleanse it of its evil taint before we just destroy it.” I didn’t think it had an evil taint, or anything like that, but it was best to go along with it. I didn’t want to ruin his quest, but this core presented too many opportunities to just crush it. I was hoping I could reset its theme and use it for training and resource generation.

In every book that had dungeons, any settlement or sect that controlled a dungeon used it to generate a lot of wealth and resources. If it was possible, then it would be a boon for me and my family.

After a few long moments, Cody lowered his mace and reached out with his free hand. “Oh God, the eternal father. We ask you in the name of Jesus Christ to bless this Dungeon Core and remove from it all trace of evil and demonic taint. Please let it be of use in sheltering and protecting your flock, that we may survive and prosper in this world of turmoil. We say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.”

The golden light from his hand transferred to the Dungeon Core. The gold light swirled around with the red. Each light trying to dominate the other. Gradually the gold light overtook the red until there wasn’t a trace of ruby light any more. The gold light flashed three times before fading away.

The Dungeon Core no longer radiated any light. It was as clear as glass. I used Identify on it once again.

Dungeon Core

Rank: ???

Durability: 20/20

Element: ???

Theme: ???

Path: ???

The Core definitely seemed to be reset. If all went well, I could take control of it and use it with my City Core and have our own private dungeon. If nothing else, it could be a place to take advantage of the higher Essence density and cultivate in it.

I picked up the Core and put it in my inventory for later. As I did so, I looked at Cody. Once the Core was in my inventory, he started radiating that same golden light.

I used my Identify on him and saw the changes the quest had on him.

Cody Jessup

Faithfull of God FR 3

HP: 153/153

Stamina: 324/324

Defense 12

Damn, without having time to spend the two Divine Favor points he got, his health shot to over one hundred fifty. He had almost a hundred more points of stamina than I did. All from going from Dedicated to Faithful on the Path of Faith. His healing and offensive abilities would increase by another factor as well. He would heal three times his wisdom in health instead of just double. Combined with more Divine Charges, he just became a hell of a lot more effective.

I was about to congratulate Cody on his advancement, but I was interrupted by the entire cave system shaking around us. “LEG IT” I shouted. I really hoped my hand-drawn map was accurate, because the fastest way out should be through the tunnel on the other side of the cavern. It should be a quick path to the entrance.

Luck was with us. As the walls cracked, stone and dirt fell from the ceiling, we ran like our lives depended on it. It didn’t take long for us to reach the first branching chamber. I immediately made the almost hairpin turn around the corner and into the dungeon’s antechamber. The portal like doorway stood there, waiting for us.

Without slowing down, I charged through, hoping that it would allow us to exit finally. One after another, we sprinted out of the Dungeon… straight into a snowstorm.

The sudden temperature brought me up short, my feet nearly slipping out from under me as the rubble from the landslide I had forgotten about shifted under me. I looked around and muttered to myself, “Wyoming, you’re a dick.”

There was a reason o always hated going through Wyoming. If the roads weren’t closed from a sudden snowstorm, it was sixty plus mile per hour winds. Summer wasn’t so bad, but you just never knew what the weather would be like each time you passed through.

I looked over at the kids. “Do either of you have a jacket or something?”

They both nodded and pulled out their coats. “There is always the chance for big snow storms with Salt Lake right there,” Cody said as he put his coat on.

I pulled mine out and put it on, too. Magnus pulled out a thick sweater and a heavy canvas cloak, of all things. It looked to have felt or something on the inside and a waxed canvas on the outside.

I didn’t have to worry about Rukia getting cold. She was literally built for this weather.

When everyone had some cold weather gear on, we trudged our way past the debris and through several inches of snow. The cold didn’t hit me as much as it did before the apocalypse. Thinking about that, I considered if it was because of my Dermal Meridian being open.

As a test, I cycled my Ki through my Dermal Meridian. It was the single biggest contributor to my defense. It worked to a point. I didn’t feel the cold as much, though it didn’t make me feel any warmer. It would do for now, though.

As we marched up the fairly steep highway, Rukia was having the time of her life. She bounded from snow drift to snow drift, burrowing in before exploding out and running her heart out. Her eyes were bright with excitement and she had the biggest doggy grin I had ever seen on her. She was a very happy pup.

Between the cold, the snow and the steep incline, we weren’t able to make the thirty-five miles that would officially bring us into Wyoming. At about the halfway point, there was a rest area that we took shelter in. all the glass was shattered; the vending machines were already smashed open and looted.

“We can’t keep going like this.” Cody said. “It’s freezing and our jackets are normally fine, but not for this long. Even my improves stamina can’t keep up.”

I looked at the time. It was close to four in the evening. Even if we pushed on, we wouldn’t make more than a few more miles in these conditions before night fell. “I agree. It’s better to have solid shelter than have to camp in the open, or where the portable smithy is visible. Ill set up the smithy in the office over there. I know there isn’t any working plumbing anymore, but we can still use the toilets as necessary. Everyone good with that?” I asked.

There were agreements all around. Just getting out of the wind seemed to perk everyone up a bit. The office door was already broken into so I just had to push it open, point my remote at a flat wall and opened up my Ki Smithy. Fortunately, the office didn’t have any windows to the outside, so we wouldn’t have to do much to keep our presence here unknown. I went into the men’s room to do my business. One fortunate side effect of needing half the amount of food and drink, I only had to use the bathroom half as much.

When I got back to the smithy, Magnus had turned on the forge and a camp kettle was heating in front of the fire. “Anyone want some hot tea?” He asked. “I have Black and Green tea bags.” Magnus pulled out four metal camping mugs and two boxes of tea bags.

“That would be awesome, dude. Ill take some black tea. You wouldn’t happen to have any earl grey, would you? I didn’t grab any from my truck when I left.”

“Just the generic stuff, but it’s still pretty good.” Magnus answered.

“No prob, that’s what I used for sun tea, anyway,” I said.

The kettle whistled as I set out the still hot snake meat on everyone’s plates. We sat in silence as we enjoyed our hot food and drink, letting it warm us from the inside as we soaked up the warmth of the smithy.

Once everyone finished eating and was nursing a second cup of tea, I looked at Cody and asked, “Did you decide what you are going to use your new points on?”

“Yeah, actually I already spent them. I had already increased my Wisdom once already, so I spent both points to purchase the next rank of it. It gave me a plus six instead of just plus four, so my wisdom is at twenty now. I can heal people for sixty points in one shot now. And I’m up to nine Divine Charges a day now.”

“Not a bad choice. Although choosing a new power would have given you three more charges, right?” I asked. I didn’t want to discourage Cody from the choice he made, just help him consider all the options available to him.

“I could have gotten a couple of good powers that would have given me more charges. But with everyone getting hurt so badly, I wanted to have as much impact for each charge use as I could.” Cody sat up straighter, and his tone took on a defensive quality.

“It’s ok. They are your points, and like I said, it’s not a poor decision. I just think it’s good to have a sounding board and consider all options for your build as we go forward.” I looked at Magnus and asked, “I’m just digging myself in deeper, aren’t I?”

With a chuckle, he nodded. I took a deep breath before saying, “I’m sorry, I was just trying to show you that I can be a good sounding board if you like. It’s your Path, and your life. I didn’t mean to imply anything else.”

Cody relaxed in his seat. I forgot how touchy teenagers could be. It was twenty years since I was a fifteen-year-old and my son wasn’t yet a teenager. My eyes panned over the room, and I noticed his angelic guardian. “Hey, is it just me, or did Malakai get bigger? Wasn’t he only a foot tall before?”

Cody looked at Malakai and grinned. “Yeah, he was only six inches tall when I first got him. He doubled in size when I first ranked up. It looks like he did again.”

“I wonder how much bigger he will get. Will he double with every Faith rank you get? Or will he cap off at some point?” I pondered out loud.

“I’m not really sure, and Malakai isn’t sure either. I guess we’ll have to just wait and see,” Cody said.

“I just remembered, I never gave Rukia her collar,” I said as I pulled the Alpha collar from my ring. I looked over the stats one more time before putting it around her neck.

Alpha Beast Collar

Quality: Masterwork

Rarity: Epic

Durability: 70/70

Weight: 8oz.

Traits:

Magic effects: this Collar Imbues Tamed beast with the Traits of an Alpha. +4 Strength, +4 Agility, +4 Constitution, +4 Endurance, +20 Defense.

Four different attributes getting a plus four and an extra twenty points of defense. that’s like opening more than two meridians and a defensive technique all rolled into one. Rukia was already getting formidable; this will make her alpha bitch of any pack.

“Come here, girl. I have a new collar for you.” I called Rukia over. When she sat Infront of me, I put the Leather Collar around her neck and buckled it in place. Her fluffiness immediately swallowed it up. Once it was equipped, Rukia changed.

Rukia’s already larger than normal size increased again. She stood about four feet tall at the shoulder, her chest broadened more proportionally and her fur took on a metallic sheen. I ran my hand through her fur, and it was as soft as ever, but it felt denser now. With all the changes, I pulled up my companion tab for the first time in what felt like forever.

[[i]] [Rukia Character sheet]

With Rukia’s increased size, her base bite damage increased by five, her combat skill bonus and her strength boosted her base damage to thirty-one, plus her Ice Fang added on. Her defense has almost reached mine with my armor included.

Rukia’s speed was just astounding now. With her agility of twenty-six, the fifty percent bonus from having four legs and another fifty percent bonus from her movement technique, she could go almost sixty miles per hour if she went full out.

Everyone began breaking off to do their own thing. Rowan went off to work with his new summoning abilities. Cody went off to do some weight training while Magnus sat in his own corner and looked to be cultivating.

Before I began my cultivation, I had a series of prompts, that I minimized back in the dungeon, to go through.

There were a few skill up notifications I cleared out. There were two important prompts that I went over in more detail.

Congratulations Sapients

For being the first beings to clear a dungeon on Earth

First clear rewards have been upgraded

You have gained the Title “Dungeoneer”

Title Dungeoneer

Rank 1

For being the first to clear Hell Beast Dungeon Rank: E. receive the following bonuses while title is equipped: +10% loot gained from defeated dungeon monsters per rank. +5% chance for upgraded Dungeon Cleared loot.

Would you like to equip title “Dungeoneer”

Y/N

*Note: this will unequip current title “Conqueror” you will gain no effect from title “Conqueror until it is re-equipped.

**Note: you may only change equipped title once per day.

I slammed the yes so hard I thought the screen might crack. I was so glad to be done with the conqueror title. Fortunately, it hadn’t caused me any problems with any settlement so far. And now it never will.

I brought up the last important prompt, the one that popped up after I created my armorer technique.

Congratulations, you have created a new Armorer Ki Technique

Please name your new Technique

Since the technique looked like overlapping triangular scales, I called it something a bit cliché and hopefully will fit better when I open my Middle Dantian.

Jade Dragon’s Scale Armor

Rank 1

Type: External Armor

Ki cost: 30

Defense bonus: 30

Duration: 5 minutes

Effect: Create condensed and hardened Ki plates that overlap and cover your skin. Reduces damage received by thirty points, extreme damage may cause protection to crack or shatter.

The armored scales covered my leather armor, so all my defenses stacked nicely. With everything active, I would have over sixty defense, and the Ki Technique would help protect me against energy-based attacks, like fire.

With all that wrapped up, I settled in to work on clearing my Lung Meridian. I needed to get stronger.

Without the thicker Essence of the dungeon, I didn’t make as much progress in clearing my next meridian as I would have liked. Four hours of cultivation, with having to stop progressing to clear out the building up gunk every now and then, only netted me forty percent progression on clearing the Lung Meridian. Progress was progress though.

I would have continued further, but it was my turn to take watch. I would need to stay alert and focused during my three hours, then I would get around six hours of sleep before we set out again in the morning.

[i]

Rukia character sheet Chapter 14

Cultivation Rank: Body 5

Health points: 105/105

Health points Regen: 21/day

Stam: 240/240

Stam Regen: 24/minute

Ki: 175/175

Ki Refill rate: 5/min active, 9/hour passive

Str 21

Dex 18

Agi 26

Con 21

Stam 24

Int 6

Wis 10

Defense: 30

Ice resistance: 50%

Bite: 31

Movement speed base (MPH): 12/20/31/39

Flowing Arctic River (MPH): 18/30/47/59

Special abilities:

Spirit Beast: is able to gather essence through fighting other beasts, and able to consume Beast cores to increase in power. Does not unlock meridians like sapient Cultivators, but grow more naturally in power as they gather essence.

Essence is automatically converted to Ki. Ki is stored in their own Spirit Beast Core. Spirit beasts, unlike their human counterpart, can gain an element to their Ki once they reach their first rank. It will be a weak affinity, but will grow in strength as the Spirit beast rises in rank.

Bonded Spirit Beast: this spirit beast is bonded to a sapient Cultivator. The master and beast can always locate one another and share an empathic link, which allows for better understanding and alerts one when the other is in danger.

Elemental Affinity Ice: Minor

Skills:

Scent Tracking rank 5

Listen rank 10

Primal Combat rank 16

Athletics Rank 5

Cultivation abilities:

Charge: imbue your muscles and bones with Ki to create a burst of speed when you need it most. Cost: 5 Ki Effect: doubles movement speed for 3 seconds, x2 damage on strike while active.

Frost Fang: imbue your teeth with Ice Ki causing +2 damage per point of Ki, +2 points of stamina damage per point of Ki. .5% chance of slowing target by 20% for .5 seconds per point of Ki.

Frost Defense: stop 4pts of fire damage per point of Ki spent.

Flowing Arctic River

Rank: 1

Type: Movement

Ki Cost: 25 Ki

Range: Personal

Duration: 5 minutes

Effect: +10% movement speed per body rank, +2 defense per body rank

Description: embrace the chill of a freezing arctic river. Flow over and around obstacles without losing speed, icicles grow all over your body glowing faintly blue while granting progressively stronger protection.

Howling Arctic Wind: a Ki infused howl strikes fear in your enemies, reducing reaction speeds and grants a chance of an enemy fleeing the fight.

Alpha Beast Collar

Quality: Masterwork

Rarity: Epic

Durability: 70/70

Weight: 8oz.

Traits:

Magic effects: this collar imbues a tamed beast with the traits of an Alpha. +4 Strength, +4 Agility, +4 Constitution, +4 Endurance, +20 Defense.