Dungeon bound 4, p.1
Dungeon Bound 4, page 1
Dungeon Bound 4
Bastian Knight
Copyright © 2023 Bastian Knight
All rights reserved
This is a work of fiction. Characters, events, names, and places are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblence to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Cover design by: Vempirick
Recap of The Story so Far
Framed and expelled from the Academy of Magic, Gabriel Grimm registered with the Adventurer’s Guild. Desperate to keep a roof over his head, he joined a powerful sorceress and her party to delve the Dungeon of Lostbarrow.
The fortunate turn of events proved calamitous as the adventurers betrayed Gabriel, and he wound up the virgin sacrifice in a plot to steal a Domain Crystal.
Soul shredded by the ritual, Gabriel faced total annihilation until Merideva, a young Dungeon Core, saved him by claiming him as her Dungeon Master.
Grateful, he set out to recover the stolen crystal for his benefactor, but fully aware of how outclassed he was, he dove deeper into the dungeon, seeking allies stronger than the few goblins serving Merideva.
After a harrowing clash with a deranged minotaur, Gabriel stumbled into the hunting grounds of a greater gorgon. Instead of slaying or petrifying him, Sthuza Slytheria led him to her lair and offered to become his first bonded.
In addition to her incredible power, the gorgon, his Prime-bonded, suggested how he could further boost their chances against Estrial’s party.
Recruiting a salamander didn’t work out as she had planned. When ambushed by an arachne, they were aided by Cindra, a seruuberc hellhound. Claiming the shapeshifting canine monster girl as his second bonded, Gabriel headed back to Merideva, feeling better about their journey.
They had their first of many clashes with the undead, but Gabriel cast strange, terrifying magic that bested the malevolent monsters.
Back with his Core, Sthuza discovered that Swarm—a timeless, unrelenting psychic horror—had infested the deepest depths of Lostbarrow. But even that apocalyptic doom was meaningless if Gabriel failed to retrieve the Domain Crystal in time.
Before they could set out after Estrial, Kelith led a huge band of guards and mages into the dungeon. The baron’s only son had been the second-best student at the Academy, and the one who framed Gabriel.
His party sought Merideva. After several clashes, Gabriel stood victorious over the wounded mage, but at a high cost. Kelith’s final attack killed Sthuza, but thanks to Merideva’s guidance, Gabriel managed to rip the other man’s soul out and use it to resurrect his fallen bonded.
The next day, they headed into the city to track Estrial. They settled into the same inn where he had stayed before his death, and rumors led them to Baron Alberik’s sex dungeon.
Reyna, a female werebadger, had been captured by Estrial’s party and sold as a slave to the baron. She agreed to guide Gabriel to the elven sorceress, but only after he and his bonded helped her punish the man who had cost Reyna her sister.
Given the loss of so many guards in Kelith’s thwarted attack, Gabriel felt they actually had a chance to pull off an attack on the castle.
His two bonded and Reyna led the assault, drawing the guards out while he prepared the most powerful spell he had ever attempted. Using Fireball, which he’d just learned, Gabriel blasted the primary barracks and High Wizard Falken’s tower.
That gave them the edge, and his bonded slaughtered all who resisted up to the baron’s receiving hall. After a pitched battle, Gabriel spared the devastated baroness, Elaine, while Alberik was handed over to Reyna for punishment.
Sthuza helped the lycan steal the noble’s soul, and after looting the castle, they returned to their inn, only to be awoken by a frantic plea from Merideva.
Yesera, the arachne who murdered Cindra’s old Pack, had attacked. They raced back and barely defeated the arachnid monster girl and her numerous sisters.
Mortally wounded and forced to draw on the Swarm’s power to win, Gabriel survived only because Reyna bonded with him, gifting a portion of her lycan regeneration.
Weary the following day, and troubled after the revelation of the Swarm’s tendrils burrowing in Gabriel’s soul, they readied to track down Estrial.
An undead horde invaded Merideva’s Domain before they left. The battle was rough, but they were winning until Dougraine, an imposing death knight, joined the fray. It took everything Gabriel and his bonded could muster to win, and then they had to rush off after the elven sorceress.
A chance encounter with bandits left a score or more dead on the side of the road. Camping was almost pleasant, with good food, drink, and company. Reyna dragged Gabriel off to “fulfill a bet” from earlier, and they picked up a new friend: Gwenaelle, a lonely wolf drake.
Reaching Stillcrest, they learned more about Reyna’s troubled history. Confusing Estrial for another beautiful but arrogant female adventurer, Gabriel and the others met Brynja, an enslaved valkyrie shieldmaiden whose wings had been clipped.
In exchange for dealing with Jessandra, the spoiled summoner daughter of Count Maddis, Sir Darren transferred Brynja to Gabriel’s party.
The public duel outside of Stillcrest made several people happy. The cruel ex who’d sold off Reyna’s innocent twin sister lay dead, drowned in his own blood as his boss, Jessandra, had her flawless face ruined and her crimes exposed publicly.
Illanaya, the elven Guild Rep, hired a diviner and set them back on Estrial’s trail.
They rushed onward, mounted on horses taken from the arrogant adventurers. Once close enough for Gabriel to locate their target, they set up an ambush on the road.
With his powerful bonded and magic, Gabriel had no fear of his former companions. Until Sthuza went mad, shifting into her larger, four-armed form, and hurled herself at Estrial, screaming.
Brynja, Cindra, and Reyna annihilated Torrik, Derek, and Dresk, while Gabriel pursued his Prime and Estrial. Sthuza’s unthinking assault left her vulnerable against the Gold-ranked sorceress, and Gabriel struggled to save her from Estrial’s trump card.
By the time he caught up with Estrial again, she had been captured by orcs. They took the brutally maimed elf back to their village, forcing Gabriel to plan an attack.
They crushed the orcs, slaughtering everyone who resisted until the handful left surrendered in despair. Meeting up with a dying Estrial, he found himself pitying the elf who had clearly been tormenting herself over betraying him.
Estrial had sold the crystal, but she identified the buyer, Duyaris Galamore, a Mithril-ranked mage.
At Sthuza's suggestion, Gabriel dueled Brynja in the Astral Realm. Brynja bonded with him following her loss, and Gabriel was able to heal her mangled wings.
In a frantic rush as Merideva felt the Domain Crystal losing attunement, they raced after the elf and his entourage.
Their first warning was a Lightning Bolt blasting Brynja from the sky. A chaotic battle ensued, with his bonded facing off against Duyaris’ elite companions and guards as Gabriel struggled to match the powerful mage.
Even drawing on the Swarm magic wasn’t enough to win. Throwing everything into a single, heavily enhanced Aetheric Lance, Gabriel finally dropped the elven mage, but too late to save himself.
Reyna leapt into the path of Duyaris’ lethal attack, saving Gabriel. After she died in his arms and Sthuza was unable to capture her soul, they despaired.
The Domain Crystal’s attunement was worsening; they were too late.
Using items and potions they’d looted, Brynja flew a levitating Gabriel back to Lostbarrow. The pair crashed heavily into the main square, drawing far too much attention before forcing their way into the dungeon.
Relief filled Gabriel once they’d made it, only for terror to take over as the Swarm used the attunement process to attack Merideva.
He shifted into the Astral Realm, drawing all his bonded to his side, and struggled against unending hordes of Swarm-infested monsters besieging a beautiful crystalline castle.
In the end, they barely held out, but now Merideva was safe. It took a week for Cindra and Sthuza to return with Reyna’s remains and a band of orc survivors.
Despite the sadness of losing his bristly lycan bonded, Gabriel was determined to persevere, protecting the rest of his bonded and his Dungeon Core.
Chapter One
Gabriel tightened the straps of his black brigandine, then grabbed the dark bracers from his dresser. Before standing, he focused on his Dungeon Interface and pulled up his personal statistics pane.
A month ago, he hadn’t thought to check until after Sthuza and Cindra had returned safely. But after noticing his Soul Essence increasing, he had made a habit of glancing at it daily.
Gabriel Grimm
Dungeon Bound (Base Species: Human)
Sex: Male
Age: 25
Soul Essence: 1750
Unassigned Essence: 404
Dungeon Master to Core #143,643,664
Level: 5
Hmm, looks like it didn’t go up last night, either. That’s three days in a row, which meshes with Sthuza’s hypothesis.
After a frantic reunion with his first two bonded following a week of separation—something which Cindra flatly declared unacceptable—Gabriel had found that his Soul Essence had climbed over two hundred points.
That was the kind of growth elite adventurers struggled, bled, and often died to achieve. Most mortals, at least those with souls as relatively low-powered as humans, woul
When he woke the next day, he was surprised to find his Essence up by another twenty points. He had sent a powerful surge across his bonds, waking everyone.
Cindra and Brynja were profuse with cheers and congratulations. Merideva sputtered about how it was only natural her Dungeon Master would grow so rapidly.
Sthuza had been intrigued, and after discussing it with him for a while, they concluded it might be a result of his damaged soul and brand new body still adapting to the unprecedented changes he had experienced.
After all, most novice Dungeon Masters didn’t bond a greater gorgon and a seruuberc hellhound during their first two days on the job.
He monitored his Soul Essence as it climbed steadily, gaining almost fifty per day at the peak before growth slowed to a crawl. Now, three days had passed without a single point increase.
Still, it’s an incredible boost. Even with her knowledge and experience serving under Iylara, Sthuza can’t identify what exactly I did that generated so much growth. But it should come in handy when we face off against that undead necromancer. And once we’ve dealt with her, we’ll be ready to take on the Swarm.
‘It’s about time you got your sorry ass moving,’ Reyna muttered. ‘Better get going if you don’t want Boobs coming back in here for another round.’
Gabriel sighed. “What are you complaining about now?” He finished attaching his armor, secured his sword belt, then headed for the large oak door dominating the far wall.
‘You’ve been sitting around here moping for almost a month, damn it! Stop feeling sorry for yourself and start doing your fucking job!’
Gabriel frowned. “What?”
The werebadger’s gruff mind-voice was as strong as ever, reverberating in his head much like his Prime’s whenever they communed silently.
‘You haven’t left the dungeon since you brought that crystal back. Don’t you need to get some books on magic or any shit like that?’
“I’ve been busy.”
‘Yeah, sure. “Busy,”’ Reyna replied. ‘I’m tired of watching you sit around meditating over shiny rocks or fucking Boobs and Snakes. You should go check in with that innkeeper or the Guild.’
“Look, I’m still grieving. And that ‘meditating’ is important. I’ve been charging all of the arcanite I have now and crafting spell tokens. With my mana pool full, I’ve got a lot more power available now. I-I won’t let things get out of hand like before.”
Reyna snorted. ‘You’ve been mourning my short ass long enough, Fucker. Get out there and do some Dungeon Master shit.’
Gabriel didn’t reply, instead pushing the door open and stepping into the spacious lounge that connected his quarters to Merideva’s new Core Room.
Past another heavy door, he entered her brightly lit sanctum and grinned as she spotted him.
“Gabriel!” she chirped.
Three of his Minions lounged near the ornate marble pillar she rested on. Gwenaelle yawned, revealing her sharp fangs, before turning her head and giving him a lazy nod.
“Greetings, Chief,” Kestria called out, the small kobold waving.
Cuix opened her mouth, but Gwenaelle’s tail thwacked the goblin before she could speak, causing her to stumble, then turn and glower at the wolf drake’s mischievous grin.
“Hello, ladies. Everything going all right?”
Merideva floated up from her pink, silken cushion and bobbed. “Yep. There are over three dozen adventurers in my Domain today! I’m making tons of DE!”
Stepping over to the floating orb, Gabriel smiled and stroked her crystalline body. “That’s great.” He paused and glanced around, a little surprised that none of his living bonded were with the Dungeon Core.
“Looking for Sthuza?” Merideva asked.
“Just noticed none of my bonded are here. Usually, one of them stays nearby to keep watch.”
“Yep. But your Prime wanted to recover some books and other junk from her old lair, so she took Cindra and Brynja with her.”
Gabriel nodded, then turned his attention inward, seeking his bonds with the three powerful monster girls. He located them several floors deeper in the dungeon, but hesitancy or dread permeated their bonds, unsettling him.
‘Sthuza? What’s wrong?’ he sent to his Prime. A single thought brought up his Dungeon Interface, and he confirmed that all three women were uninjured.
‘You are awake, Master?’ the greater gorgon asked.
‘Yeah, but what’s wrong with you three?’
He sensed Sthuza sigh over their telepathic connection. ‘I fear we waited too long, Master. The Swarm has expanded up to claim the thirteenth floor.’
‘Shit.’
‘It is… unfortunate, but they do not appear to have entered my lair. Still, given the number of corrupted monsters patrolling the area, I thought it best we withdraw before detection.’
‘Good thinking. Losing access to the rest of what you had there sucks, but we can survive this.’
‘Yes, Master. We just started back toward Lady Merideva’s Domain, but it will take a few hours to reach you.’
Gabriel gave a sad chuckle. ‘Which is why we didn’t make the dozen or so trips needed to gather the rest of your belongings already. It’s fine, Sthuza. I’ll see how I can help Meri while you three make your way home. See you soon.’
It didn’t take long for Gabriel to relay the bad news to Merideva and his Minions.
‘The nasty shit that tried to steal your fancy rock is expanding? Is that gonna be a problem?’
“Oh no. What do we do, Gabriel?” Merideva asked. Her pink hue darkened to a somber blue as she floated over to press against him.
Gabriel wrapped a hand around her and stroked her smooth surface. “Don’t worry. It’s troubling but hardly an insurmountable obstacle. Most of the dungeon has been under Swarm control for a while. Right now, we need to focus on safely expanding your Domain. There are seven more floors between your lowest and the Swarm’s highest, and undead plague several of them. Let’s focus on those first.”
“Okay. D-does that mean you want to go deal with the minotaurs now?” Merideva asked.
Gabriel’s eyes darted over to his goblin Minion. Cuix stared back at him with a lecherous grin.
“Yeah. Yeah, it’s time. I know Sthuza’s made inroads with their matriarch, so hopefully, that won’t be much trouble.”
‘Yeah, long as she doesn’t make you claim one of them as a bonded. Much as Boobs and Snakes wear you out, imagine having a seven-foot-tall minotaur demanding a ride every night. Think you’d survive a week?’
Gabriel scowled at Reyna’s comment. “Anyway… for now, I’m going to check in on the traps and spawners while we wait for Sthuza and the others to get back.”
“Okay. I’ll be watching these cute new adventurers who are exploring the third floor,” Merideva said.
Gabriel sat in one of the stone chairs decorating Merideva’s Core Room. With his Interface already open, he shifted his vision to Dungeon Sense even as he spoke again. “What makes this new group special?”
“There’s only two of them, but they look super similar and smile a lot. Plus, they’ve gone further into the new area we added last week than anyone else has.”
“If Boss Guy is up, maybe I’s going out and leading some of my boys,” Cuix said. The goblin leapt to her feet. “Don’t want them adventurers thinking Gem Boss’ dungeon is too weak. Plus, maybe we’s can find some creepy crawlies. Been harder to find lately.”
Gabriel nodded, then focused on Dungeon Sense. A flash of light disoriented him, but when his vision recovered, he stared down at a pair of young women with furry white tails sticking out beneath their red gambesons. Their canine ears poked up through thick white hair.
“Inutari, and they look like twins,” Gabriel muttered.
“Twins?” Merideva asked.
“Yeah, like… Reyna and Raeya.”
‘Hey, don’t go getting all mopey and shit again, dickhead. You got me more revenge than I ever dreamed of. There’s no reason to be feeling shitty now.’
Gabriel shifted his focus away from Merideva’s and sought out the dozens of bright presences he sensed within her Domain.
All the current dungeon spawners were ones they had reactivated after Merideva claimed the Domain Crystal a month ago. They kept the dungeon populated and drew in the adventurers Merideva needed to earn Dungeon Essence. After restoring the third, fourth, and fifth floors, Gabriel and his bonded had hunted down and claimed the crystal managing the first and second floors.
