Dungeon world 5 a dungeo.., p.39
Dungeon World 5: A Dungeon Core Experience, page 39
First, he spent three full days using his viewing Shaping to rapidly looking around the world at every single village, town, and city, identifying the DAS building there (which took some doing in some parts of the world, as their construction was sometimes wildly different from what he was used to), and making a mental note of what they looked like. Luckily, everyone seemed to use the same language; otherwise, there may have been some issues with the following steps of his plan.
Clearing out another massive room underneath the city of Allroads and connecting it to his dungeon, were easy enough – it was the next part that was the most difficult. It took him 2 full days of manipulating Modified Soulforce to create a complex transportation delivery system. First, he delineated the walls of the room into 12 different sections, each one containing up to 12,000 different villages, towns, and cities where there was a DAS building in a specific part of the world. Each section had their own Shaping associated with them, which – if he did it correctly – would use his intent and focus on a specific place.
When he activated the finished Shaping, it would pick out a designated number of Soulstones from the gigantic pile in the center of the room and send it through a small portal, which would appear near the section and in the DAS building of his choice, depositing the Soulstones there. As soon as that happened, at least the first time it happened, he would look at the building, using his viewing Shaping and then announce via Communication what they were, what they would do, and how they should be used – very similar to what he had told Plartha when she had first used it. Also, he warned them that they should be lying down on a soft surface when they first used the Soulstones; otherwise, they might hurt themselves when the intense effect first kicked in. Then he would leave them be.
Predictably, people around the world freaked out when they heard his voice in their heads. After monitoring some of the first populations he approached that way, however, he found that, in less than 24 hours, there was always one Adventurer who would be brave enough to try it first – and it didn’t take long for the others in the area to follow along. He made sure to deliver plenty of them to each location, so that they would have enough for years to come, and not to charge for them; the Soulstones were supposed to be used in conjunction with the SDIA, so it should be free.
After the first few hours of doing that one town or city at a time, all around the world, he found that he could speed up the process by splitting his concentration and doing one delivery and explanation a minute for each section there. Once every hour, he would take 5 minutes and quickly look around and monitor the deliveries of Soulstones around his immediate area by merchants and Ravenne for problems, as well as spot-check the rest of the world to see if there were any Dungeon Core territories overextending themselves and moving into Human habitations. There was no point in doing that unless they were planning on capturing some Humans and bringing them back to their dungeon; fortunately, other than one that he found halfway across the world trying to do just that, there hadn’t been any problems in that respect so far. It was entirely possible that he missed some, because it was hard to be in all places at once, but he made sure to make an example of the offending Core….
He didn’t destroy the Nature Core that had tried to capture some stray Humans roaming outside of their village, though; no, all he did was drain the Core of all but just enough Mana to survive on, eliminate all of the Defenders but a single Flower Tripper near the entrance, and leave a single Ensnaring Vine Defense as protection. It would take a long time to recover from that, because even a single G-1st-Rated Adventurer wouldn’t find that much of a challenge; consequently, any Mana that was transferred to the Core afterward would be the barest amount.
All in all, Fred managed to get Soulstones delivered to every DAS building across the planet in just under two weeks, which he had to say was impressive. He had needed to spend almost a full one of those days just creating more Soulstones, because he had been getting low, but on the whole, it was a successful endeavor. There were already groups of Syndicate members delving through dungeons again elsewhere in the world, and there was an obvious learning curve that needed to be addressed, but that was to be expected.
Some Cores had created dungeons that were so easy that any group of Adventurers would be hard-pressed to hurt themselves, let alone there being the possibility of dying. Others had created an almost endless procession of middling-strength Defenders, in an attempt to get around the difficulty stipulations Fred had set up; the thought behind that was that, the more Adventurers killed, the more Mana the Core would get. Unfortunately for them, Fred had designed his Soulstones well; they determined the difficulty of the entire delve, and adjusted appropriately from there. He was sure there would be some additional exploits tried in the future, but for the most part, the majority of Dungeon Cores seemed to be following directions.
Closer to Allroads, his Shards started to drift off and do their own things, now that they weren’t tied down and constantly protecting Fred’s dungeon. They were still mildly connected to his Core, so he could pinpoint them wherever they were – and the Shards could do the same – but they weren’t hindered by much of anything, anymore. This was especially true when he altered the faint connection he had with them to remove some of the mind-altering effects that he had unknowingly put inside their heads when they were created; when they were removed, not much outwardly changed, though Fred could tell that they acted a lot more independently from that point on.
The entire set of Mana stipulations that he had designed for the rest of the Adventurers (where they had to expel Mana by touching a Core) also didn’t really apply to the Shards, because they used that Mana for their own purposes; however, that didn’t mean they couldn’t still join a group to dungeon delve if they wanted – they could choose to transfer Mana from themselves to the Dungeon Core at will.
He cautioned them to tone down the use of their special Shard abilities while they were fighting through a dungeon, of course, because it was a little unbalanced, otherwise; still, he didn’t say they couldn’t use them at all, because even used sparingly, they were like really advanced affinities that most Adventurers could eventually acquire. Unfortunately, due to their nature as Shards, most likely, he found that they couldn’t develop additional affinities, but that didn’t seem to bother them.
Regnark departed to head back to the Craytion Kingdom, to meet up with some old friends from when he had been fairly active within the Syndicate. He promised to come back and visit from time to time, though he also hinted that he might end up heading back up north to rebuild the small village of Northend eventually. He didn’t say he’d actually stay there, but he said he wanted to do it to honor those who had died.
Chareese went with him, as she said she hadn’t been traveling the land in decades. The both of them were talking about getting married eventually, though they said that they would definitely come back to Allroads first for the wedding, if that was what they decided to do. It was a big decision to make, however, as both of them would live…well…indefinitely, unless some sort of accident ended their lives. Fred thought that it was a difficult choice, because they would never actually “grow old together”, or whatever the expression was for that.
Roady wanted to go with them, at first, so that he could take care of his half-sister, but then he realized that Regnark could do that just fine without him. Instead, he stayed in Allroads and rejoined the Government – after some extensive deliberations within the Allroads Council regarding his loyalty – though he still took the time out every couple of days to delve through a dungeon. It wasn’t technically required to expel his Mana, like it was for the rest of the Governmental employees who had SDIAs (which was pretty much all of them); he was determined to raise his Rating up, though, so that he could become a Combat Medic Class – of all things.
Ravenne, after she was done delivering Soulstones and speeches on their use to nearby towns and cities, took Agelstein and disappeared off to the west. Fred looked in on the two quite frequently to see how they were doing, and he was amazed to see that Agelstein, the former Necro-Wizard, had eschewed his previous Class and was looking to be something under the Scout line of Classes. It paired well with Ravenne, actually, as she could handle a bit of the long-range spells with her Ability to wield Air the way she could, and as she had opted to take more of a hybrid tank-caster Class compared to her former Assassin-Spy Class.
Deecy got bored almost immediately, being in Fred’s dungeon, and the city was entirely too odorous for her delicate nose; therefore, she frequently spent days or weeks roaming through the forests surrounding the former Convergence, hunting the few natural beasts that still traveled through it periodically. Fred told her that she could leave and head off to wherever she wanted, but she refused.
“Where would I go? There’s really nothing out there for me, and I have no real desire to travel if I don’t have to. Besides, who would be here to get you out of trouble?”
She had a point.
His Core Power Guild started to recruit additional members, and half of the townspeople-turned-Adventurers became instructors at a new school that Fred set up for them near his dungeon. He had to make another entrance from another part of the city, because the Government was frankly tired of so many people having to traipse through their Prison to reach his dungeon. The walls of the new Core Power school were reinforced with Mana and Soulforce, so that they would be nearly indestructible against whatever was tossed at them day after day. After a month of being open, Fred had to expand it not once but twice, as word had gotten out among the Syndicate members that they could develop their Abilities in new and unusual ways. It could now hold up to 1,000 people, all at once, comfortably, with over 100 rooms of varying size making up the entire layout – and was twice the size of his own dungeon.
That just left Eisa, who spent her time – along with Fred – teaching at the Core Power school and providing targets for people to use their new skills and abilities. She worked extremely hard, herself, learning additional spells and Abilities from her students, in fact, though she excelled – as she should, as an Earth Shard – on almost any spell or Ability that had to do with Earth, up to and including extremely high-Rated ones that some of the S-Rated Syndicate members showed her. Some were even powerful enough to cause a little damage to the floor of the school, such as the Earthquake Shock she was able to perform after being taught only a couple minutes later.
She didn’t use that one much, though, because it brought back some bad memories to many of the Adventurers who came to learn. Eisa also participated in delving through some dungeons with some random groups that wanted her help, but she always came back disappointed.
“What’s wrong? Did the delve not go well?” Fred asked one day after she came back looking dejected.
“What? Oh…no, it was fine.”
“Come on, I think I know you better than that. I can tell that something’s been bothering you lately.”
Eisa sat on the edge of his bed—her bed, really, since I don’t use it anymore—and sighed, looking away from his Core for a few minutes. Fred was patient and didn’t want to rush her, so he took the time to create another batch of 100 Soulstones inside his storage room for the future. He had been creating them whenever he had some free time, because eventually most of the towns and cities around the world would need some more; it might be another 20 or 30 years, but eventually they’d need them – so he figured it would be smarter to get them ready instead of having to rush later. It wasn’t as if they really cost him anything other than time.
“It’s just…I miss the way we used to be able to delve through dungeons together, you know? These groups that I’m going with are fun, and even nice for the most part, though they look at me with awe sometimes—” she smiled slyly as she looked up at his Core— “which I have to admit is much better than the scorn I used to garner, and it feels good. But none of it really compares to having you there with me.”
Fred was silent for a few seconds as he processed what she was saying. It was actually along the same lines of what he had been thinking lately, though he was hesitant to try just in case…well, just in case something went horribly wrong. At that point, though, with the Dungeon Cores falling in line – even seeming to enjoy the added benefits of concentrated Mana they were being given by Adventurers – and most areas around the world having enough Soulstone stock to last them for quite a while, he thought it might be a good time to try.
“It’s funny that you say that, because I was thinking the same thing. I think…I’m ready to try making myself a body again.”
Eisa’s eyes opened wide, and she jumped off the side of the bed. “Really? That’s amazing!” she said excitedly, before her face fell. “Is it dangerous, though? Is that why you haven’t done it before this?”
“Uh…I’m not actually sure, which was why I was holding off until now. I don’t think it’ll be too dangerous, but really, anything could happen. I’ve already had a body with a Core in it before, so it can’t be that hard, right?” Fred joked, because he already had a plan for it. Whether or not it would work still remained to be seen, however. She didn’t say anything, just nodding at him with her hands clasped tightly together.
“Alright, here I go!”
Pulling in a large portion of the Soulforce around the Allroads area to him, Fred passed it through his Core to Modify, giving it the qualities he needed. The quantity he had was probably a little more than he really needed, but once he started his Shaping he didn’t want to interrupt it to get more.
First, he started to mold it into a Shaping similar to how he had produced his avatar before, though this time he held off on imaging it as he was now. Instead, he pulled up the “Human (Male)” Blueprint – which was essentially his old body – he had created for use on his Bottomless Pits of Hunger and arranged it to surround his Core. The large, clear, star-filled night sky appearance of his Core stuck out of it a bit, making it appear that it wouldn’t fit. However, with an additional intent in his Shaping that would condense his current form in order to squeeze it inside, he filled the Blueprint up with the Modified Soulforce…and let it complete.
At first, nothing seemed to happen, as he watched from outside of his Core; the wire grid stayed intact, but the Shaping just floated there, not doing anything. He thought that it had completely failed, but then his external senses cut off and he felt a physical pain that rivaled almost anything else he had ever experienced before – including when he sacrificed his body in the first place.
An inconceivable amount of time later, he finally heard something; it took him a moment to realize that it was the sound of his own voice screaming at the pain that was slowly fading all over his body. Wait…body? That thought made his screaming stop, even as he opened his eyes and grimaced from the pains still wracking his body, as he flopped around on the floor. Eventually, his eyes focused enough as the pain receded, to see Eisa’s face above his own, looking down with a half-worried and half-happy look on her face.
“Fred? Fred? Is that you in there?” she asked with concern.
It took a few swallows to wet his dry and cracked throat – screaming tends to do that – to speak, but he finally managed it. “Uh…I think so?”
He was looking at her with his eyes alone, which worried him more than a little bit. Did I lose access to my abilities as a Core? A quick second later, he found that he was able to check his territory, Shape a long-distance viewing, and still turn the Soulforce around him into Modified Soulforce by passing it through anywhere in his body. When he looked inside of himself, he didn’t see an actual Core anymore; it was, instead, spread out through his entire form, like the veins and arteries that carry blood throughout his entire Human body.
“Good,” she smiled shyly, before grabbing his arm and pulling him upright. Looking down as he got to his feet, he realized he wasn’t wearing any clothes. Rather than be embarrassed like she usually was, Eisa looked down at him as well, and her smile turned from shy to…something else he couldn’t identify.
“We’ve got a date, if you didn’t forget,” she said, before dragging him to his bedroom and pushing him down on the bed.
What? Oh…that’s right. I’m sure glad to have a body back; new experiences are always fun!
Epilogue
“Are you sure you’re ready? Going on your first dungeon delve can be a frightening experience.”
His mother’s words echoed throughout his mind as he hefted the fine-looking steel sword that his father had…acquired for him. He wasn’t exactly sure where he had gotten it from, as he had never seen his father actually work a day in his life, but he didn’t think he had stolen it. The same went for his brand-new leather armor that seemed to be made specifically for his large frame; after making sure it was still tightly secured against his body after the long trek to the G-1st-Rated Water dungeon, he glanced at his companions to see if they were all right.
They looked just as anxious as he felt, unfortunately.
Wynk nervously adjusted the PIB on his waist as he ensured it was secured tightly; it wouldn’t do to have it fall off in the middle of a fight, and losing it in the middle of a dungeon might mean it was gone for good. Ghericah, the diminutive girl with short blond hair, wearing her Healer-Class robes, did the same thing next to him, and she smiled weakly at him as she realized what she was doing. None of the others were fidgeting with their equipment, but there was a sense of anxiety around them, nevertheless.
Rolard, their Scout, was eyeing everything around them like he was expecting something to jump out and attack them while flipping his shoulder length hair out of his eyes; it was ridiculous at that moment, of course, because they weren’t even in the dungeon yet! He had a white-knuckled grip around his two knives in their sheaths around his waist, which appeared to be just about the only thing keeping him from running off.
