June set off into the jungle, heading straight for the Dungeon Boss. He packed lightly, carrying only a couple of ration bars, a bottle of water, and a small emergency kit. By now, he had forgone carrying his rifle. It had become nothing more than deadweight to him. That isn't to say it slowed him down or anything. His newly enhanced body brimmed with strength. It was more about practicality than anything else. Why carry it when he wasn't ever going to use it?
The trees raced past June as he darted through the forest. He maintained a steady and light pace; however, his casual pace was equivalent to the top speeds of an Olympic-level sprint. Sweat clung to him, sticky as sap, more from the heavy humidity than the jog, reminding him of where he was. At least the tree cover provided some modicum of protection from the beating sun, even if patches of it slipped through. He avoided these like the plague, remaining in the shade as he ran. It hadn't taken him long, and within the hour, he arrived at the suspended platform.
Woven vines held together debarked logs, forming the platform, and the same vines suspended it midair. To June, it reminded him more of a crudely built raft rather than a platform. It still bothered him, though, how the thing had remained stable despite its flimsy nature.
Over the past couple of days, June had been scouting out the Dungeon Boss on various occasions. And just like all the other times, the Dungeon Boss lazed about, basking in a path of sunlight that filtered through the leaves. Beside it, the pedestal stood empty, the Dungeon Core nowhere in sight.
Where's the Dungeon Core?
A Dungeon does not need a Core while within the Repository.
Right. That should have been obvious.
The metal blades of his two swords rang as he drew them from their scabbards.
Good luck, June.
Sarah's words drew a smile across his face. A fire ignited within him.
Don't worry. I've got this.
June charged straight in, forgoing stealth altogether. One of the Manticore's ears flicked in his direction, and it lifted its head, fixing its fierce stare on him. However, it didn't achieve the desired effect as June continued to barrel ahead. Its face contorted into a snarl, vicious canines gleaming in the sunlight as it rose to its legs, drawing its bow. It let loose a mighty roar of challenge before nocking an arrow and shooting it at him.
June dodged the arrow perfectly by gracefully flipping to the side like an ice skater. The arrow flew harmlessly past him before thudding into the ground. Another roar escaped its throat, this time out of fury. It drew another arrow, but before it could nock it, June had already reached his intended destination.
Standing firm beneath the platform, June raised a sword and conjured three fireballs that floated around him. With a single thought, he sent the fireballs hurtling toward the platform. A shockwave pushed the air back as three fiery explosions erupted in quick succession. The logs somehow withstood the blasts, but the flames devoured the vines holding them together, causing them to collapse along with the Dungeon Boss.
Although this wouldn't be enough to bring down the Boss, as it had leapt off the platform just before June's attack connected with an arrow nocked and trained on June, however, June hadn't remained idle. He was already on the move, circling one of the massive trees, channeling Soul Essence into a sword.
Coming around the other end of the tree, he slashed at the falling Manticore, loosing a crescent slash of pure Soul Essence, just as the Manticore fired its arrow. His attack cleaved the arrow in two and continued unimpeded. The Manticore ducked just in time, avoiding bisection. But unfortunately for it, June's attack sliced right through its tail, severing it. The air reverberated with its pained cries as it crashed onto the jungle floor, having lost its catlike balance from losing its scorpion tail.
Not wasting the opportunity, June rushed forward and closed the distance before the Manticore could rise. With two clean swings, he had successfully relieved the Manticore of its head, putting an end to its mewling cries. Blood spurted from its neck as June watched the head and torso flop lifelessly to the ground.
See, told you I got this.
I never doubted you for a second.
June collected the Soul Crystal that appeared and left the area, leaving the bow and quivers.
What now?
Now, for the rest of the day, the barrier barring entrance into the other Dungeons will be lifted. If you wanted, you could leave this Dungeon, but I'd recommend against that until you're stronger.
With that in mind, June traveled to the edge of the Dungeon. It would be his first time setting his sights on another Dungeon. Previously, the edge of the Dungeon had a barrier that prevented him from passing. It also projected a visual interference, making it seem like the jungle continued when in reality, beyond it was another Dungeon.
Arriving, his heart nearly leapt to his throat at what lay before him. A craggy wasteland with flowing lava encompassed the land ahead. It was exactly what he'd imagine hell to look like, and just as he thought that, a squad of ten eight-foot-tall, red-skinned demons flew past. Obsidian horns twisted from their bare, smooth heads, jutting straight up toward the red, cloud-covered sky. They were all heavily armored and carried a variety of weapons, including large battleaxes, great swords, as well as swords, shields, and long spears.
June instinctively took a step back. Every part of him told him he needed to get out of sight, lest those demons catch sight of him. He wouldn't stand a chance against one of those things, let alone ten.
You're fine, June. They can't see you. Even if they could, they wouldn't be able to enter this Dungeon, anyway.
His beating heart slowed a bit, but her words hadn't completely calmed his anxiety as his body still trembled slightly. The knuckles of his hands grew white from gripping his sheathed swords tightly as he watched the demons. It wasn't until they had disappeared over a mountain that he released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Inhaling deep breaths, he tore his gaze from the War Dungeon, turning to lean against a tree.
You want me to enter that Dungeon, eventually!?
If you still plan on trying to return to Earth.
How close is the next Dungeon that might spawn on Earth?
There are 5,596 Dungeons between this Dungeon and the next. By the time you reach it, you will already be prepared to face the War Dungeon.
June steadied his breathing and stood straight. Sarah was right. Just like with the Manticore Dungeon Boss, he'd Cultivate himself to the level of the War Dungeon and overcome it.
Taking off, June ran alongside the edge of the Dungeon. It took him nearly six hours to complete a circuit around it. He discovered the Dungeon was a hexagonal bio-dome surrounded by eight Dungeons, one on each side, as well as above and below. The two Dungeons above and below him weren't visible because the ground prevented him from seeing anything. Yes, the sky above had changed from its familiar blue to a dirt-brown shade. If he wanted to reach those Dungeons, he'd have to tunnel through the ground first, which he couldn't do and wouldn't want to do.
Besides the War Dungeon, the remaining five were diverse in their contents. First was a snow Dungeon, which, by his observations, housed Yeti-like monsters. The second was a desert Dungeon that was as barren as Mars. He had noted subtle shifts beneath the sands, but besides that, nothing. Not even a single brush of foliage was in sight. Only the shifting dunes.
A forested Dungeon was the third, and it reminded him of the woods in Appalachia, New York. He hadn't confirmed it, but it looked like there were people, or at least humanoid-shaped beings, in that Dungeon. However, Sarah tempered his excitement and expectations.
Humanoids created by the System that dwell within Dungeons are under strict orders to treat all outsiders with extreme prejudice. They are all hard-wired, programmed to defend the Dungeon, even at the cost of their lives. It is only when a Dungeon Break occurs that the System will remove the chains binding them to the Dungeon and its directives.
Are they sapient?
As sapient as you or I.
Then, do they not have any free will?
They do. However, the only thing affected is their view toward non-Dungeon beings like yourself.
Having the illusion of free will felt like a miserable life. Then a thought struck June as he let out a self-deprecating laugh. His life was no longer under his control. In fact, the lives of everyone back on Earth weren't their own anymore. They were all at the mercy of the System, and the System wasn't merciful. June had already experienced that firsthand. But there was nothing more he could do except play the System's games and try to break free, just like the Dungeon monsters.
The last two Dungeons were ones he didn't even consider as options. The first was nothing but water in every direction he looked—running all along its border yielded nothing but water. And the last one wasn't even on the ground. He couldn't even see the ground when he looked. Both options were horrible for traversal and survival. Since the snow and desert Dungeons were both extremes in the sense of their environments, this only left June with the forested Dungeon.
By the time he returned to the cabin, the sun was on its way to setting. He ate a quick dinner before quickly Cultivating the Boss's Soul Crystal. Afterward, he went to sleep, content with his plan for the foreseeable future.
He spent the next four years grinding in the Manticore Dungeon, doing nothing but Cultivating and training. He even ascended to the Awakened Realm after undergoing the Trail of Fear, where he had to face his greatest fear and overcome it or remain forever trapped in a hell of his own making. Whatever the System threw at him was nothing compared to what the Dweller put him through, making his Trail moot.
After ascending, his Essence and Energy Cores grew twice in size, strengthening his physical and magical prowess twofold. He also unlocked his Space Core. He had collected hundreds of thousands of Soul Crystals and was running out of space to store them. It had gotten to the point where he had to chuck them into the acid river because there just wasn't any more space in the cabin for him to store them. Space Essence allowed him to move the Crystals to his own dimensional space, though he lamented the loss of the Soul Crystals he had gotten rid of.
It was only after ascending that he finally moved on to a different Dungeon. Gathering up what little supplies he had, he gave the cabin one last look as a somber wind blew past before he left.
Crossing through wasn't much of an event. The barrier separating the two Dungeons became liquid, allowing June to cross unimpeded.
In the new Dungeon, tears welled up in June's eyes as the sounds of the forest reached his ears. The birds sang and the squirrels chittered as they went about their day. The Manticore Dungeon had been devoid of life besides themselves, and that June had subconsciously grown used to the deafening silence along with the occasional Manticore roar. Now, the ambient sounds of the forest were like music to his ears. That wasn't until an ear-piercing scream shattered the peace.
Thrown from his reverie, June rushed off toward the source of the voice. As he drew closer, the sounds that reached his ears had morphed. Gone was the shrill scream, replaced by long grunts or moans and snarls and growls. Then came the stench. A putrid, rotten stench that heralded death and decay.
However, before he could see the source of the stench, a girl came hurtling through a tall, densely packed thicket of brush. She was in such a rush that she hadn't seen June when coming through the bushes and ran headlong into him. On the other hand, June had heard her approach and caught her before she could fall and hit the ground. Her short, bobbed pink hair shook side to side as she struggled to escape his grasp, wailing and flailing the entire time. It was not how he had expected his first encounter with a Dungeon denizen to have gone, but at least she wasn't trying to kill him. Her only thought was escape. And he knew why.
He had already clocked the fast-approaching footsteps that were after the girl, and what he had suspected to be chasing her finally burst through the foliage, teeth gnashing and claws raking.
Zombies, and not the slow, shambling ones, but sprinters.
June, prepared as always, cradled the girl in his arms and retreated before the zombies even made their appearance. The rushing wind drowned out her cries as his quick steps put a hundred yards between them and the group of ten zombies. The zombies were momentarily confused, as the prey they had expected to be there, just past the brush, was no longer there. That was until the girls' muffled cries drew their attention and they homed in on it.
Clicking his tongue, June summoned five flame spears and launched them like RPGs at the oncoming horde. Just before the spears made contact, he, with the precision of a surgeon, shattered the spears into hundreds of needle-like thorns and scattered them to cover a wider area. There was no explosion when the thorns hit their marks. Instead, an inferno blazed to life, swallowing the horde.
Shrieks of pain and terror escaped the firestorm, surprising June. He thought these to be brain-dead, flesh-eating monsters. Maybe there was more to them than he knew.
Looking down, the reflection of the orange flames danced in the girl's golden eyes as her mouth was open, her porcelain skin glowing in the firelight. She appeared to be about 13 or 14 years old, the same age Sasha would be now. But he had to remind himself that hardly any time had passed for Sasha; she would still be nine today.
Then his eyes widened when they drifted to the side of her face. Her ears were slightly longer than usual and came to a point. Flabbergasted, he turned to the only other person who would have the answers.
Is she an elf, Sarah?
Yes, however, her species is called Elvreen.
June grunted in affirmation, but a sense of déjà vu or recognition washed over him. Had he met her before? If so, where?
However, that was a thought best saved for later as he turned his attention back to the burning zombies. The scent of charred and decayed flesh choked his airways as the plume of jet black smoke rose high into the sky. He extinguished his flames, pulled the girl close, and moved away from the burnt husks. However, he hadn't even made it 20 yards when she tugged vigorously at the collar of his shirt. She gestured frantically back toward the burnt corpses, saying something in an alien language.
Sarah, can you understand what she's saying?
She's asking you to help find her mother and father. They were separated when the horde attacked their village.
June's heart ached for the child, sharing in her desperate need for reunion.
Can you translate how to ask her name?
Sarah did, and he repeated the foreign words as slowly and phonetically correct as he could. The girl tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, focusing on what he said before a light bulb clicked and her face lit with a smile.
"Quin-tel Granwoad."
"Quin-tel Granwoad," June repeated before pointing to himself, "June Mikkelson."
Her cute little face scrunched in concentration as she tried to say his name. "Joo-oon Mike-eel-sun?"
A hearty laugh escaped his mouth at her butchered attempt at his name before patting his chest. "June."
"Joon," she repeated, and he nodded with a smile before she stared down at her hands. Muttering his name repeatedly.
"Okay, Quin." Hearing her name drew her attention to him. "Let's go find your parents."
It hadn't taken them long to find her parents. However, the state that they were in wasn't good. To be precise, they were now both part of the undead horde, and there was a horde as hundreds of zombies swarmed the forest. How Quin had escaped this and made it as far as she had on her own was a testament to her determination and will to survive.
However, her drive to keep going immediately crashed when she saw her parents. Her body trembled as the reality of what happened to her parents set in. Before she could release her cries of anguish, June averted her gaze, letting her cry into his chest. She didn't need to see what happened next.
She stained his shirt with her tears as he sent forth a wave of fire, like a tsunami washing away everything on a beach, and engulfed the forest and horde in a sea of fire. In just a few quick minutes, he wiped out all the zombies in the vicinity, and Quin had cried herself to unconsciousness. With a sigh, June carried her like a princess, allowing her to sleep peacefully, as he collected the Soul Crystals of the slain zombies.
___________________________________________________________________________
Quin-tel awoke as the smell of a meal cooking reached her nostrils. She sat up in the sleeping mat and yawned loudly, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. A shiver ran through her as goosebumps erupted when a cold breeze brushed past. She quickly crawled back underneath the mat, shielding herself from the cold as the warmth nestled against her like her Traskorian hound.
She was just about to fall back asleep when a thought crossed her mind. She didn't remember having such a mat. It was way too soft, like the velvet that traders would bring through the village, and not a single breeze reached her inside. Frowning, she poked her head out and looked around. A soft light from a fire illuminated the area, casting long shadows in the night. She was about to call for her mother, but then the sight of a stranger sitting by the fire froze her lips.
He was a large man, even taller than her father. His long black hair flowed down to the middle of his back, and her face crinkled when she saw hair on his face. That was strange. Her father never had hair on his face.
Everything then flooded back to her. Their village, their home, the zombie invasion. Her father had said that the evil necromancer Vish-rel Granwoad had finally made his move. They were fortunate to have escaped the village before zombies encircled it, but that was where their luck ended.
Tears streamed down her face at the memory of zombies swarming her father while he tried to buy her and her mother time to escape. But it didn't matter because there were too many zombies. Then her mother's screams echoed in her ears as a zombie pounced on her, dragging her to the dirt. She closed her eyes and covered her ears, but the images and sounds remained loud and vivid. She wanted her mother and father, but deep down, she knew they were gone. Still, it didn't matter. She wanted them all the same.
Her crying intensified, becoming more hysterical as she struggled to forget everything that had happened today. She didn't even notice the gentle hands lifting her. Before she realized it, she was sitting by the fire, the stranger beside her.
Her crying caught in her throat as she couldn't even gather the strength to run from him. She looked up at him through tear-streaked eyes, fear and grief gripping her. He said something, and at first she didn't understand—his use of her language was awkward and off, but then it clicked. "Everything is going to be okay."
He filled a bowl with stew from a pot over the fire and handed it to her. She didn't feel like eating, but her belly growled in protest at the sight of the food, and she graciously accepted it.
"Thank you, mister," she said, bowing her head.
"You're welcome, Quin," he said with a broad smile.
She stared at him as heat rushed to her cheeks. No one except her mother and father called her that. It was a little strange and embarrassing to hear someone else address her in that way. What was worse was that she had forgotten his name. She remembered that it was short, but nothing more.
The man tilted his head, a look of concern crossing his face. "What's wrong, Quin?"
She marveled at his grayish-green eyes, colors she had never seen in anyone else's eyes before. As if reading her mind, he pointed to himself and said his name. "June."
He offered her another warm smile before gesturing for her to eat. She responded with a smile, grateful he had the sense to remind her, then turned to her bowl of food, spooning and slurping the contents. He scooped a bowl for himself as well before returning to his seat beside her.
The only sounds they exchanged were the slurps of soup as they ate in silence. Quin wolfed down the delicious meal in a matter of minutes. It had been a long time since she had anything this good. Due to the necromancer, pestilence and famine had been spreading widely through the kingdom for the past few months.
A loud burp escaped her when she finished, and her face reddened like a plukkel berry. June gave a hearty laugh before refilling her bowl. She bowed again, smiling shyly before downing her second serving.
After finishing a third helping, June took the bowls in hand before they simply vanished. Her mouth nearly hit the floor as the pot of stew disappeared next, then a large wooden tub and containers of water magically appeared out of nowhere. He poured the water into the tub before a flame sparked to life in his hand, wreathing it in an orange glow. He stuck his hand into the tub, and soon enough, the water heated to the point of bubbling.
Was he a sorcerer? She then remembered that he conjured and controlled fire to kill the zombie horde.
She leapt to her feet and tugged his hand. "Mister!? You're a sorcerer, right!? Can you bring back my parents with magic!?"
She didn't know if it was possible, but if the necromancer could bring the dead back, why couldn't someone else bring them back as well?
However, June just frowned and shook his head. "I'm sorry, I can't."
She slumped to the ground when she understood his words. A pit opened inside her heart as he dashed her hopes in mere seconds.
June knelt beside her, patting her head gently. "I'm sorry about your parents, but everything's going to be okay from now on."
How could he say that when her friends and family were all dead? How could he possibly know? She clenched her fist and looked up at him, but the moment her eyes met his, her anger melted away. The look he gave her reminded her of her father. It was the same look her father had given her before rushing toward the zombies. It carried warmth, comfort, and reassurance, and in that moment, she believed him.
June stepped aside and gestured at the tub. "I'll give you some privacy. Go ahead and take a bath."
With that, he turned around and moved a short distance away, still within sight of her but far enough to give her some privacy in the open wilderness. Stripping, she smiled to herself as she slipped into the tub. She was lucky to have met someone as kind as June. If it had been any other man, she knew their intentions for her would have been untoward.
___________________________________________________________________________
June sat on the leaf-covered ground with his back to Quin as he pulled a newly acquired Soul Crystal from his dimensional space and fiddled with it in his hand. One of the perks of ascending into the Awakened Realm was that he no longer needed to go into a deep meditative trance to Cultivate. June waited until the splash of water, signaling her entering the bath, before he started Cultivating.
So, what do you make of this, Sarah? She hasn't even tried to attack me once. I thought you said that all Dungeon denizens would either attack me on sight or treat me with hostility.
That is a good question, and it is quite puzzling to say the least.
Are you saying you don't know?
I have only conjectures, but the most likely answer is that she is still a child. Since children aren't integrated until they're sixteen, the System's influence over them wouldn't be as strong as it is for those who are. Since your initial interaction with her didn't bear any hostility, her reaction would reflect that.
So, you're saying that if I had attacked her or her parents, or her parents had attacked me, her disposition towards me would have changed?
Sarah mentally nodded, and June cursed the damned System. He replaced the Crystal in his hand with another and continued Cultivating. His blood boiled like a tea kettle just thinking about how the System treated Dungeon denizens.
Is there a way for me to help her escape the Dungeon without a Dungeon Break?
Nothing short of your True Soul, but that is a Concept that you currently don't have.
That is the second time that you've mentioned True Soul. What is it?
Sarah sighed before continuing.
I guess now's as good a time as any. Your True Soul is the unity of your Soul Essence and Soul Energy; your Cores would merge, resulting in a single, more powerful Core. Once combined, you've attained balance between your magic and your body, and doing so is a prerequisite for ascension into the Divine Realm.
Then why haven't you taught me how to achieve my True Soul yet?
Because you're not ready yet—at least, your body isn't. You at least need the body of someone in the Sovereign Realm before you can even attempt to form your True Soul.
So it was the next tier above his current Realm. Good.
Sounds easy enough. I'll just stay here and run this Dungeon until I reach the Sovereign Realm.
His plans were, however, thrown out the window with Sarah's following words.
That won't work since killing the Dungeon Boss resets the Dungeon. That includes the denizens. She would be restored to her previous state two weeks prior to meeting you, thus losing any memory of you.
Fury threatened to overtake him, but he stopped and really thought about it. Was it better to let her and the Dungeon reset? If it did, wouldn't her parents be revived? He asked Sarah, and she confirmed his theory. It might be a better idea to reset the Dungeon so he could try to save her and her family. However, Sarah interrupted him mid-thought.
Why are you so hung up on saving her? She's just one of trillions that reside within the Repository. What makes her so special?
Sarah's question brought him to a pause. Why was he so intent on saving her? It was simple, really. She reminded him of Sasha. And that was all the reason he needed.
When he told Sarah, she understood immediately. She recommended against resetting the Dungeon, since it could likely cause him to hurt her, either directly or indirectly, accidentally. He would end up hating himself if that were to happen. So his best bet was to try moving her into another Dungeon.
Currently, this Dungeon confined Quin to its directives, but if she happened to move to another one where she wasn't bound, maybe it would break the chains. Still, it was all just guesswork, but it was the best solution available, so June readily agreed.
Water splashed behind him, and soon, soft footsteps pattered up behind him. He waited for Quin to say something before addressing her, but she just stood there, unsure of what to do. Eventually, she tapped him on the shoulder. She said something that Sarah translated. "I'm done, umm, mister June."
June stood and turned to her with a reassuring smile. "Just June is fine. Here."
He led her to the sleeping bag he had placed her in. "Sleep. I'll keep watch."
She nodded solemnly before climbing into the bag and falling asleep within minutes. June sat by the fire and watched her sleep, vowing to himself that he would get her out of the Dungeon, no matter what.
Sarah, can you teach me her language?
Of course, June.