Dungeon core academy 4, p.15
Dungeon Core Academy 4, page 15
“Lovely,” said Gulliver.
“They all thought that I had summoned the lightning. They don’t fully understand us cores, Beno. But it was okay, because after that, nobody questioned my orders.”
“Interesting. So all we need is to be able to wield the weather itself, and we could cow this whole town into submission.”
“Exactly. If only, eh? Did you need something, Beno? It’s great to see you. Really. But I have lots to do…”
“It’s funny you mention whining townsfolk because that’s what I need to speak to you about. You know about the No-Cores, yes?”
“Galatee said to ignore them and concentrate on construction.”
“Ignore a rat problem for long enough and soon they’ll be so many you won’t be able to move without stepping on a tail. We need to do something about them.”
“Something? I don’t like your somethings, Beno. Your somethings will get people killed.”
“I wish. We can’t hurt them, because then we’d have worse problems. But there might be a way to stop them.”
“Why should I want to? They hold nasty signs and they crowd around my construction sites and sing hurtful songs sometimes, yes, but Galatee’s guards usually disperse them. She doesn’t let them stop me from building things.”
“Galatee is losing control of them. If we don’t help her, this problem might go beyond you and me, and then we’ll wish we could go back in time and act before the movement grew too large. We need to seize this chance, Jahn. If you do what I say, perhaps we can.”
“I don’t know, Beno…”
“You trust me, don’t you?”
“Of course.”
“And who is your best friend from the academy? Who is the only core you have seen since we left?”
“You.”
“Exactly. It’s me and you, Jahn. The unstoppable pair.”
Gulliver coughed. “Ahem.”
“Feeling left out?”
“An itch in my throat, is all.”
“What do you say, Jahn?” I asked. “Will you help me?”
Jahn sighed. “What do you need, Beno?”
“It’s simple, really…”
We were in the ruins of Jahn’s dungeon, one that he hadn’t done any work on in months. Light streamed in through the hole in the ceiling, the result of Jahn accidentally triggering one of his own explosive traps. While I described my own dungeon aesthetic as practical, the most generous label I could give Jahn’s was disaster. Half-finished tunnels that didn’t lead anywhere. Chambers not fully excavated. Tile puzzles which, by the merest glance, I could tell had no sensical solution nor deadly consequences. There was no point in a puzzle that had no way of winning it and no nasty surprise for getting it wrong.
But Jahn wasn’t really a dungeon core anymore. He was a construction core, I supposed. Judging him for his dungeon abilities would be like judging a bard on his swordplay.
We followed a tunnel that led to a chamber that had once served as Jahn’s core room. Jahn met us on the pedestal in the center.
“This should be fine,” I said. “Nobody will be able to see.”
“I’m not entirely happy with this, Beno. It seems dishonest,” said Jahn.
“It’s very dishonest, yes. Sometimes you have to be.”
“Can’t people just be nice and tell the truth?”
“The truth is rarely nice, my friend. Better to hear lies, sometimes. Would you prefer that we give this up and let the No-Cores grow? Recruit more people, gain more power? Keep singing their mean songs about you? Because most of it is aimed at you, Jahn. I hear rumors that in secret, they say that I am the greatest dungeon core ever forged.”
“They won’t do anything to me. Not when it comes down to it. They’d be mad to, when I have built half their town!”
“Jahn, it’s the fact that you have done such a good job that makes them hate you even more! They don’t like being beholden to a core, and they sure as all the underworlds don’t like having to thank you for it. There will come a time when Yondersun has enough buildings, enough people, and enough supplies. After that, they won’t need you. If we reach that point and we haven’t done anything about the No-Cores’ influence, you’ll be wishing we had a time mage who could send us back to this very moment.”
“Time mages don’t exist.”
“No, but foresight does, and we have the gift of it right now.”
Jahn sighed. “Fine, but nobody better find out.”
“They won’t. Let’s try something simple to start with, and we’ll see if this even works. Pick a house. It doesn’t matter which, as long as it is one that you created.”
“You just want me to cast my core vision onto the wall?”
“Yes, just there.”
Jahn glowed like a lamp that had just been fed with fresh mana. Light streamed from him and was cast onto the wall. This rectangle of light formed colors and gradually a picture, showing us the inside of a house. It was a modest abode, with little in the way of decoration or furniture. A Yondersun resident was sitting at a table and eating a pie with his hands.
“You cores always amaze me,” said Gulliver. “And I’ve seen lots of amazing things. How are you doing this, Jahn?”
Knowing that, with the utmost kindness, it was a mistake to ask Jahn to explain even the simplest of core things, I jumped in. “It’s easy. You’ve already seen that I can use my core vision to look at any chamber in my dungeon, yes? And that I can cast this vision out for others to see?”
“But that is a dungeon. I don’t see how it applies…”
“Just as the chambers in my dungeon belong to me, so do the houses in Yondersun belong to Jahn. You see, Jahn uses essence to create the structures, so technically, they are his. Not in a legal sense, I suppose. But the principle of core vision is the same. Jahn created the houses, so he can use his core vision to look inside them.”
“Ah,” said Gulliver, wearing the expression of a man starting into a dawning truth. “You’re going to spy on folks.”
“That’s right, Gulliver. Jahn is going to help us get an intimate look at these No-Cores and their lives. Whatever secrets they have, whatever grubby little things they try to hide, we’ll know about it.”
The light faded from the wall, and the gnome and his pie disappeared. “I really didn’t like doing that, Beno,” said Jahn. “It seemed insincere.”
“We’re looking into people’s homes. Of course it’s insincere. Do you suppose if we knocked on their door and asked if we can come in and spy on them so we can learn their secrets, that they’d let us?”
“I don’t see why we must do this, Beno!”
“I told you. The No-Cores will get rid of us both as soon as they have the influence.”
“No. I mean, why can’t we reason with them?”
“Because to them, reason is just a fancy word for ‘something I should ignore.’ They don’t particularly care about us, Jahn. They don’t hate us personally. They just need something to hate, and we’re an easy target given that we’re so obviously different from them. If we weren’t here and the town was full of scribes, I have no doubt they’d become the No-Scribes and want to string Gulliver up by his cravat.”
“What good will this do, anyway? All this spying?”
“Because, my all-too-good-hearted friend, watch anyone for long enough, and you’ll discover a secret. Secrets, by their very nature, are things that people don’t wish to share. It will be relatively easy to persuade a No-Core to shove a cork in their mouth and burn their anti-core signs once we have leverage over them. Do that with enough of them, and the movement will dwindle into nothing, without us killing a single Yondersun resident.”
“I suppose if it means we don’t have to kill anyone…”
“That’s the spirit! Now, I’ll create a few kobolds who will come and watch the visions you cast and write down anything worth using as blackmail or to tar the No-Cores reputations. Oh, this has been an excellent morning! It’s been a pleasure seeing you, Jahn.”
I had lit the fuse that would result in the complete obliteration of the No-Core movement. Now, I needed to find a way to deal with Dullbright. The problem was that without Reginal or Galatee’s support, I didn’t see how. It wasn’t as if I could go and storm the Hogsfeate gates.
For now, I needed to make sure my dungeon was adequately defended. Only with stronger foundations could I then think about making some moves of my own. This meant a whole afternoon and evening spent using all of my essence to create new monsters for my dungeon.
Razensen’s Unit
Monsters created:
- Kobold x 6
- Bone guy x4
- Shrub Bandit x4
Essence remaining: 50 / 1505
It was a risk, using all my essence like that. It meant I would have to wait for my essence vines to slowly replenish it. Tomlin had done an excellent job in cultivating them to peak performance, but even so, it would take at least a few days for all my essence to return. I hoped I wouldn’t have any cause to need to use any in the meantime.
My 14 new monsters were standing in the center of the arena. The kobolds lazed on the ground, the bone guys formed a group behind them, while the shrub bandits moved slowly across the room, inspecting their new terrain and sniffing it like dogs. The arena was filled with kobold squeaks, the rattle of bone guys skeletons, the gentle rustling of sentient shrubs scraping over the ground.
Razensen and I watched them. “This is what you give me, Stone?” he said. “An Ill-disciplined bunch of skeletons, plants, and weird little wolves?”
“You were a warrior back home, no?”
“I was killing before you were even a blink in creation’s eye.”
“Did you ever lead men?” I asked.
“Men? No. why should I want to do a stupid thing like that? But bogans? Yetz. I have led many. Some to glory, others to the ice. Such is battle.”
“Then as part of our deal, I thought you could have this unit of fine monsters under your command. The kobolds can be trained to use bows here in the arena, and when heroes come, they could be deployed…”
“Have you ever fought in a battle, stone?”
“I’ve killed plenty of heroes.”
“That isn’t the same. Playing Hide and Go Look in this labyrinth, trying only to stop greedy champions from stealing gold. That is not battle.”
“I studied plenty of battle tactics in the Dungeon Core Academy. We looked at all kinds of wars, battles, skirmishes. The famous ones, like Ferd Sinter against the Black Hands, and the not so well known ones.”
“You should have said you have read so many books! I bow to your battle knowledge, Stone! Snow, give me strength! Battle is not just words on a page. Battle is when a warrior could cut you down and move onto his next kill with nary a thought for the life he just ended. Mark me, when the scream of the first kill shrieks into the sky, books and learnings and even training leave your mind. Your brain is like an ice blizzard, and nothing will let you see through it until the last scream dies down.”
“You make it sound so delightful.”
Razensen’s three eyes turned from yellow to orange. “You joke?”
“That might be a nice speech to scare youngsters who just picked up their first sword, but it’ll take a lot more than horror stories to get to me. You’re an experienced fighter, and that is why I want you to lead these creatures for as long as you are part of the dungeon. But don’t presume that your battle experience buys you any kind of authority over me whilst you are in my labyrinth.”
The monster eyed me then, his eyes burning orange. I waited for them to switch to red.
But within seconds they paled, settling on a clover-yellow.
“Fine, Stone. I say all this not to belittle you, but for you to understand that I take this seriously, and I know how to lead. I have never led wolf creatures or walking bushes before, to be sure, but I can lead them. I would ask that you let me do so without presuming to give me advice.”
“Nothing would delight me more. Please, go ahead.”
I watched Razensen drill the new creatures for the rest of the night. He barked at them relentlessly. He rebuked when rebukes were needed, especially for the kobolds who were quick to descend into horseplay, but he stopped short of scaring them completely. By the end of the day, it was obvious how much they respected him.
“To your marks!” he boomed.
The bone guys gathered together at the front of the formation now, raising shields that I had procured them from my dead hero inventory store. Behind them were bow-wielding kobolds, flanked by shrub guys who not only would provide cover with their dense thickets, but could shoot poisoned thorns from their branches.
Even in so little time, Razensen had made them look almost competent. It would be interesting to see what he could do.
Glug, glug glub.
Gulliver filled his glass to the brim, so much so that even a millimeter more would make it spill. He leaned back in his chair and rested his legs and winkle pickers on the table.
“You have Jahn looking through folks’ windows for you,” he said, “And the big scary yeti is training up the beginnings of an army. Good, Beno, but it doesn’t seem enough. Dullbright will work his whole town into a frenzy until they’re baying for whatever your equivalent of blood is. Cael, meanwhile, is most likely getting stronger by the day, and when he’s ready to come for you, he won’t be alone.”
“You should have been a motivational speaker, Gull.”
“I just hope you haven’t stopped your defense preparations there,” he said.
“I didn’t have any essence left for more traps, but Wylie and the miners have made some adjustments for me.”
“New chambers?”
“Nothing that drastic. He used some of the stones we collected after excavating Razensen’s chamber and we’ve created ambush hills in a few of the rooms. Chiefly the loot chamber, since that is where most battles are fought. If I’m going to use bowmen, they need cover.”
“But you aren’t just going to wait around for Cael to come to you?”
“Defense is like you and your cravats; you don’t always need them, but you feel lost without them. I just want to cover myself.”
“What about our friend over in Hogsfeate, then?”
“I thought I might just have Dullbright killed.”
“Hmm. A rather simple solution.”
“Almost graceful, I think,” I said.
“It doesn’t seem wise to send an army, even if you had one big enough to invade a walled town.”
“I was going to be a lot subtler than that. I thought perhaps that I could send Shadow. She is the only member of the dungeon adept at stealth, and she has the Backstab ability. It seems to me that with Dullbright gone, the people of Hogsfeate might be content to let the matter drop.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“You saw Dullbright. You saw his statue. Did the two even bear any resemblance? The man has gone to pasture. His sword-swinging days are almost over, and when they are, what will he have left? Defeating Namantep is how he got his name, and doing the same to me is how he’ll keep his name relevant. If he were to unfortunately pass away, most of the Hogsfeate townsfolk would be content to just get on with their lives, I imagine.”
“Maybe. As long as they didn’t think a dungeon core had arranged the killing.”
“Shadow will have to make sure it looks like someone else’s work.”
Wait a second.
“Someone else’s work,” I said. The words were awakening something in my mind. “Someone else’s work…someone else’s work…”
“Do you need a lie-down, Beno?”
And then it fell into place.
“Nope. I need essence. And for that, I need time.”
When I visited Core Jahn’s dungeon, I found Jopvitz, one of my miners, sitting on the floor, alone, in an empty chamber.
“What’s going on? Where are the core visions?”
Jopvitz shrugged. “The other Dark Lord said he no longer has time to cast them today. He needed to focus on his work.”
“The other Dark Lord? Do you mean Jahn?”
“Yes!”
“Not all cores are your Dark Lords, Jopvitz. Just me.”
“Yes, Dark Lord.”
“Did you get a chance to see anything at all?”
“I watched visions, Dark Lord. I watched for hours. Most of the time it was just people in their horrible houses. Eating meals. Talking.”
“No secret meetings? No whispering?”
“Nothing, Dark Lord.”
“Damn it.”
“Ah, it’s you, Beno! What a lovely surprise. Twice in two days you have come to visit!”
Jahn had just appeared on the pedestal in the center of the room. He was covered in dust and gave off an air of exhaustion. As well as having strong human emotions, Jahn was the only core I had ever met who needed to sleep.
“Good to see you, Jahn. Where are the core visions?” I said.
“I’m sorry, Beno, but it was taxing. I have so much work to do for the chiefs, and I found it impossible to focus on it while keeping my visions projected.”
“Damn it!”
“I am really in a difficult position, Beno. Reginal and Galatee expect me to work on the town. If my progress slows, they will wonder why.”
I sighed. Not at Jahn, really, but myself. “I know. I understand the position I’m putting you in, but this is important for both of us. If we don’t take care of the No-Cores, we’re in real trouble.”
“I know, Beno. I’m trying.”
“I know you are. I’m sorry, Jahn. I don’t mean to behave like an absolute donkey’s arse.”
Jahn gave off a wave of kindness. “Are you scared, Beno?”
I paused. I glanced at Jopvitz, who had the expression of a child trapped in the middle of his parents’ sensitive conversation, and unsure of how to extricate himself.
“I’m not scared,” I said.
“It’s okay to be. You always say that the old core ways of doing things are wrong. That we shouldn’t treat our dungeon mates as slaves. That we should foster relationships with them. Well, why do we not say the same about the old idea that cores shouldn’t have emotions? Eh?”
