“So there it is,” Shirley said, gesturing to Ryker. “Your conviction. You must murder, kill, and destroy anyone who wishes to pass through your city. You are the gatekeeper and waystation to everyone else.”

  In the dungeon sense, one could usually only see a person as a floating ball of energy. Usually emotions would flicker across as colors or hints.

  Right now, though, Ryker could practically see the determination and resolve coloring Shirley. It was like steel. Hardened steel.

  Except Ryker couldn’t figure it out. Shirley was a giant question mark to him that made no sense.

  “You’re not wrong,” Ryker said. “Where are you right now?”

  “Me?” Shirley asked, her demeanor changing completely. In fact, she sounded almost embarrassed. “I’m in the throne room. On your throne.”

  Really? Heh.

  “I’ll have a throne made for you and matched to mine,” Ryker said. “Stay there, I’m coming to you.”

  “Ryker wa—”

  Canceling his dungeon sense, Ryker sat up in his bed.

  “Oh? You’re up?” Meino asked.

  “Yeah, throne room. Shirley is there. I want to talk to her in person,” Ryker said, getting out of bed.

  “She’s a crafty one,” Meino said. “I can’t get a read on her.”

  “Really? You’re usually so good about that—you losing your touch?” Ryker asked, slapping her on the hip as he walked by.

  Even though he’d hit her as hard as he could, it was little more than a friendly pat to the Minotaur.

  Chuffing to herself, Meino lumbered after him.

  “No, she’s just good at hiding herself,” Meino said. “Not everyone is as easy to read as you are.”

  “Uh huh. Says the Minotaur who can’t stop grooming me and doesn’t seem to understand herself,” Ryker said, exiting his room.

  “Mmmm, that’s a good point. I should look inward later. Maybe when I groom you tonight. It’s grooming night,” Meino said.

  “No, it isn’t. You did it last night,” Ryker said.

  “It is. Last night you passed out while in the dungeon sense. You can’t even tell me how you got back in your bed,” Meino said.

  “What? Are you saying you didn’t groom me?”

  “I’m saying you can’t prove I did, which means tonight is grooming night,” Meino insisted.

  Grumbling, Ryker opened the door to the throne room and stepped inside.

  Peeking around the side of his throne was Shirley, her dark hair framing her lovely face.

  “Hey. Stay seated. I’m going to ask Wynne and Marybelle to join us. We need to figure out the limits I can make on the Death Dungeon. We’re also going to use this opportunity to start training you in magic,” Ryker said.

  “Oh? Wonderful. I’m looking forward to it. How should I begin?” Shirley asked.

  Chuckling, Ryker looked at the table in front of her.

  That’ll work nicely. And I can have Marybelle help me teach her. She was a teacher, after all.

  “Marybelle, Wynne,” Ryker sent into the dungeon sense without entering. “Could you join me in the throne room?”

  He received two positive affirmations. One right after the other.

  “Your first lesson is actually the hardest,” Ryker said. “Sensing the mana in and around yourself.

  “Hold out your hand. And fair warning, this is going to hurt.”

  Shirley frowned at him, but slowly held out her hand.

  Slipping his fingers into hers, he gently built a tiny ball of mana inside the flesh of her palm, the size of a bean.

  “Oh gods, that stings,” Shirley hissed.

  “Yes. Yes, it does. But… it also tells you two things in the space of about an hour,” Ryker said. “The first is if you can sense it, the second is if you have the mentality for magic.

  “Because honestly, the number of times I’ve hurt myself in some way is already incalculable. If you can’t handle the mana bean, you’re not going to make it.”

  “It burns terribly now,” Shirley said, staring at her hand in his.

  “Yes, and it’ll get worse. But it also won’t harm you permanently. Nor will it last longer than an hour,” Ryker said, releasing her hand. “Be thankful I told you all this in advance. My father just did it to me and left me there in my bedroom.

  “Focus on the mana and try to feel it. Sense it.”

  Shirley groaned, grabbing her wrist with her other hand. She was staring into her palm as if it were the complete focus of her life.

  What Ryker had failed to mention was his father had done it to both of his hands, and with twice the amount Ryker had put in her.

  You really were an asshole, Dad.

  Waiting for only a minute before Marybelle and Wynne showed up together, Ryker gave them both a smile.

  “Oh my word, what’s wrong with her?” Marybelle asked, moving over quickly to Shirley’s side.

  “Nothing. She’s trying to sense the mana I implanted in her hand. If she can sense it, she’ll be able to draw it out and spare herself the pain. If she can’t, she’ll know she really shouldn’t try at being a mage,” Ryker said with a shrug. “My father did the same to me when I was a five-year-old.”

  Wynne and Marybelle both stared at him without comprehension. They’d had neither fathers nor childhoods. To them, everything he’d just said was a non-existence. Or so Ryker thought.

  “That sounds awful,” Marybelle said. “Mana sensing can begin immediately for Fairies, as we’re born fully grown. Don’t humans take at least eight years before they can sense it?”

  “Normally, yes. But if you introduce mana to the body, such as with the bean, it can come much quicker,” Ryker said with a shrug. “Anyways. I wanted to discuss my Death Dungeon with you two.

  “How lethal can I make this? If I promise them a hundred pounds of gold if they finish, can I literally make it absolutely lethal, but still passable?”

  Wynne frowned, lifting a hand to her mouth and touching her lip with a finger.

  “Technically… if you put a sign out at the front specifically telling them the risk and the reward, it would be more of a known contract than a risk. If they were to enter the Death Dungeon, as you’re calling it, after reading the message, it would be mostly on them,” Wynne said. “Though if they did manage to get through, you’d have to reward them heavily.”

  Ryker had been expecting that to a degree; he’d even thought on a few ways to get around it.

  “What if… I gave them the ability to learn any skill they wanted from any class?” Ryker said. “One or two or three skills. Or something like that, however many I needed to put down. Would that work?”

  Wynne licked her lips, looking down and to the side. “Yes, I think it would. It’d be costly, though, wouldn’t it? We’d be strengthening our enemy.”

  “Yes, we would, so next question. As far as I know, dungeons only allow one-way movement. You don’t go in through the exit and you don’t exit from the entrance unless it’s designed that way, right?” Ryker asked.

  “That’s true. That you can’t enter through the exit is a fairly well-established expectation,” Wynne admitted.

  “Once they make it to the other side of the dungeon, they’ll never be coming back this way,” Ryker said. “There is no way back through without trying their hand at the city of Dungeon. And since they’ve all formally declared war on Dungeon, I do believe defending it is well within our purvey. Even going so far as to kill anyone sneaking in from an opposing army. No?”

  Wynne hadn’t lifted her eyes from the ground. She was still contemplating everything he’d said so far.

  “Yes. That’d be accurate as well,” Wynne said, finally looking back to Ryker. There was a curious glint in her eyes, and a partial smirk on her face. “You’re going to put them on the other side, aren’t you?”

  “Yep! That’s exactly it. We give them the ability to have any skill they want. Lots of them, if they manage to complete the dungeon. Then we put the teacher of said skills on the other side of the dungeon. So that it truly is a one-way street, and there is no way for them to get the skills.

  “But they’re still rewarded correctly, and they can still get their rewards,” Ryker said. “Think that’d work? It’s some obvious legal tap-dancing, I’d say, but it feels valid to me at all points.”

  Wynne sniffed and shrugged her shoulders.

  “Honestly, it’s one of those things that’s so gray, there’s no way of knowing. Personally, I think it fits all the rules given to dungeons appropriately. It lists out the prize, warns people away, has a single entry and exit, and offers a significant reward plus a valid way to get it. They just can’t be an enemy of Dungeon and still get it,” Wynne said.

  Marybelle clapped one hand to the other and bounced lightly in place.

  “Oh, I like all this. This is certainly much more fun than I thought it’d be. So far all the dungeon stuff we’ve been doing up to this point has just been an excuse to get in bed together,” Marybelle said, smiling happily at Ryker and then Wynne.

  Rolling her eyes, Wynne smiled.

  “Sometimes it can be. Though it’s been a while since we really got into some serious dungeon building,” Wynne said. “It’s… been an eventful few months. Very eventful.”

  “Ok, so, assuming we can do all that, now we just have to settle in and start building the most evil, lethal, fatal Death Dungeon we can,” Ryker said. “And no big deal, but… I imagine the Adelonians aren’t going to survive beyond tomorrow night. Which means we’ll need to have this all done by the day after tomorrow in the morning.”

  “That’s a very good point,” Wynne said, lightly dragging her fingers back and forth across her cheek and chin. “It’s going to be a bit bumpy to get it all done, but… I imagine it’ll take some time before people start to figure out the early things. So we’ll still be able to tweak the middle and later stages even as they progress through the early ones.”

  “Yes,” Marybelle said, then lifted a pointed finger. “Can we have the blades kill people who attempt to leave the dungeon? Have them waiting at certain points in a different ‘dungeon’ section, so to speak?’

  “We could,” Wynne said. “Though it’ll have to be practically disconnected from the Death Dungeon. Maybe set it up like the dueling cubes? A blade per tunnel, each tunnel coming out over a portion of the Death Dungeon. Reward them based on kills.”

  “Where did the blades originate from, by the way?” Marybelle asked, looking to Ryker and then Wynne. “They just showed up one day.”

  “Ryker did it. Originally it was just going to be a death match between two mercenary companies,” Wynne said. “Then he gave them the tokens at the end and spoke to them. He did it every time after that. I think most of the blades realized the dungeon was very different after that.

  “So far, if they survive their second contract, they don’t typically fall. We already have over a hundred of them.”

  “Ryker,” Shirley said from behind him.

  Turning to look at her, he was momentarily stunned.

  Shirley had pulled the mana bean from her hand, and now it was floating above her palm. She was actively forcing it to change itself into different shapes and sizes.

  “Well,” Ryker said with a chuckle.

  Walking over to her, he held his hand out to the side of hers. With the utmost care, he began to carefully pull on the mana bean with his own ability and control.

  He could feel her resistance to his pull. That she was actively fighting to keep it where it was.

  Second by second, Ryker began to add more and more of his pressure to her control. Watching Shirley, he couldn’t help but be impressed. She was showing a great amount of skill for someone who’d never touched magic before.

  Sweat began to bead on her forehead. Her eyes were deeply focused on the mana in her palm.

  There was a sudden pop when Ryker’s control overcame Shirley’s, and the mana bean shifted three inches toward Ryker’s hand.

  “Shirley,” Ryker said, letting the mana fade and looking into her eyes.

  Panting, she looked at him, nervous and curious at the same time.

  “That was extremely impressive,” Ryker said. “It looks like you’ll be starting your magical education immediately. And beyond that… how would you like to constantly run avatars through the Death Dungeon? Would be a great way to get you combat experience quickly. That or go fight enemy soldiers at their camp.

  “You’d end up eating a whole lot of pain, though, and—”

  “Yes,” Shirley said, a determined smile on her face. “Yes. Teach me everything and send me into the Death Dungeon, or against our enemies.”

  “Alright. I hadn’t expected to ever be a master to someone given my problems, but I’ll be happy to take that role with you,” Ryker said. “For now… go get some sleep, and practice harnessing that feeling you had when you controlled the mana.”

  Chapter 15 - Death and Rebirth -

  Ryker and Marybelle retreated to the private space they shared. Wynne went off to keep track of what was going on with the church of the dark as they went further into the Queensland. Shirley practically passed out before she made it back to her room.

  “Surprising,” Marybelle said, even as she called up the space they’d set aside for the Death Dungeon.

  “What is? Shirley?” Ryker asked.

  “Yes. Her ability seemed good. Then again, she’s much older than most humans are when they start,” Marybelle said. “No?”

  “Well, yes. But I think she’ll do well. The question will be how fast she can catch up. Alright. Now. Death Dungeon,” Ryker said and sat down on the couch. “Starting with the simple reality that… well… our original dungeon is… defunct. The people going in there are adventurers and people who are doing their best to not be tied into the Queensland, or the war.”

  “That is a fair assessment,” Marybelle said, dropping down into the seat next to him.

  “With that said, our mana intake is… unlikely to be any higher than it is today, not including the deaths. Which means we have to work on a budget, right?” Ryker asked.

  Marybelle nodded once and turned partially toward him, putting her arm over the top of the couch. “Right.”

  “Triggered things like traps, indirect attacks from creatures, nature attacks, and random occurrences are all ideal,” Ryker summed up. “Anything else?”

  “That’s the majority of it,” Marybelle confirmed. The arm she put on the top of the couch creeped forward until her hand was behind Ryker’s head. Her fingers began to lightly toy with his hair.

  “Alright, so, we have Robyn at the gate. She’s literally going to be a stop gap and probably murder the vast majority of them on the way in. On top of that, she gets another shot at them on the way out,” Ryker said. “Mostly because she’ll happily ignore anyone who renounces the church of light. That and actually mean it. After that, though… they’d really have to turn around and leave.

  “Otherwise, I think she’ll murder them.”

  “I would agree. It also all fits within the rules,” Marybelle said. “Though I would suggest having those who renounce the church do so by stating their name. Then you have that… herald voice you set up… announce it to the army.

  “It would only take someone doing it once before the church would send minders in.”

  “Ah, yes. I’ll leave that bit to you. I’m sure you can copy the pattern as easily as I could,” Ryker said. Then he focused on the area just after the new temple of the light that Robyn had constructed.

  Her area was open to the sky and more geared toward being part of Dungeon the city than the Death Dungeon.

  Just beyond her, he set down a massive cave mouth that was the only exit from the temple. It dove straight down into the earth itself for fifty feet.

  After that, he leveled the floor out. There, Ryker started to put down traps. Spears that came up from the ground, arrows that fired from the sides, pits that fell out from below, poison clouds stored in vials, and a number of other terrible, horrible things.

  Except they were everywhere. There wasn’t an inch of ground that wasn’t a trap. There were traps within traps on top of traps.

  For the triggers, Ryker made them very direct, but also so that only one third of them would be active at any time.

  The first pass through might be more heavily to one side, the second almost all the middle. It was random. Indirect, unplanned.

  “Least amount of mana, completely indirect,” Ryker said.

  “Indeed. It’s excellently put together,” Marybelle said. “I’ve copied the pattern over for the herald and explained it to Robyn. She would like to see you later.”

  “Yeah, no. She’s a bit like a puppy dog right now,” Ryker said.

  He added in a few more ugly traps that used spells.

  The first type he added only at the front of the hallway. A complete magic nullification toxin. It’d make it impossible for anyone to manipulate mana once affected by it for a few hours.

  After that, he randomly added in sleep, disease, paralysis, confusion, and poison spells. All of which would make it hard to escape, move forward, or recover from the hallway.

  Pulling the patterns forward, he elongated the whole thing down along Tris’s wall for nine hundred feet.

  “That’s rather gruesome,” Marybelle said. “I can tweak some of the trap placements for a touch more lethality, but it’s well done. Very efficient on mana as well. Doubly so when you realize they have to come back through it to leave.”

  “Thanks,” Ryker said, setting his hand on Marybelle’s knee. “I appreciate you doing the detail work. It’ll make all of this much easier.”

  In the next section, Ryker began to lay down a maze-work of tunnels. Ramps that led up into a blank ceiling, tunnels that fell off and away into nothing, and an endless catacomb that spiraled in a multitude of directions and pointless trails.

  Endlessly downward, backtracking looping paths that ended in little more than dead ends. Each and every section was made out of only a few predetermined patterns. Everything had the same look, and nothing was unique.

 

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