Dungeons are the pinnacle of magical technology. Artifacts integrate into the user’s aura to bolster or augment the user. Dungeon cores are unique in that they are self-contained pseudo-living entities. They manifest an aura but paradoxically only manifest domains. Domains are used to bend reality and create a pocket realm to shelter the dungeon. As the core grows, it will expand the pocket realm.

  The defining characteristic of the ethereal status is the formation of a stable domain. We know that ethereals are fully capable of manifesting matter, bending reality, and even changing the properties of reality. Each dungeon is essentially an artificial ethereal. What is not well known is how to create dungeon cores or the rules these strange artifacts follow.

  -Traveler’s Guild Artifice Scholar.

  The next day, I wake up to the gentle rays of sunlight filtering into my room. I stretch before continuing my work to master the Constitution spell form. I focus inside my aura, starting again from the beginning, practicing the loops and twists before putting them together. I don’t get far when a knock comes at my door. A guard opens the door and lets me know the dungeon time reserved for me is in the next half hour. I thank him and begin getting ready.

  I decide against taking the bow and arrow with me. It’s too cumbersome to have a bow when my quiver has so few arrows left. Not to mention, I already plan to bring my staff, waterskin, and the training stones. The training stones are a bit of a gamble, since I haven’t mastered them, but I’m confident I can use them in a pinch.

  When the guard sees me at the door, he shakes his head, “Wait here, I will get you a battle robe. Lady Heartbran would not be happy if I took your gifted party attire.”

  I look down at my only pair of clothes, the morning suit from the day before, and sit on the bed. A few minutes later, he returns with a battle robe. The robes are little more than a gambeson with a couple of extra layers of fabric added. It will be better than my current clothes, but less effective at blocking strikes than the hardened leather I had.

  “Yesterday, the guards took my armor. -said they would talk to the armorer on my behalf,” I ask, looking at the battle robe. The guard crosses his arms and frowns.

  “I was instructed to take you to the dungeon for your time slot. I’m not going to run around the estate while you figure out your armor situation.” He says in a terse tone.

  I bite down on what I really want to tell him and grumble, “So be it.”

  I changed out of my clothes and into the battle robe. As a last-second decision, I take the water jug in my room with me. I know it’s a petty move, but my patience is starting to run thin with the knights of the Heartbran household.

  “Leave the jug,” he says.

  “Nope- Your orders were to take me to my time slot. Do you want to waste time arguing about the jug or take me to my time slot?” The knight’s eyebrows draw down, and I see his face turn red. Instead of answering, he trudges out of the room.

  Maybe I should be nicer to him. He did get me a battle robe. Then again, it wasn’t out of an overflowing, benevolent desire to see to my well-being. He did it because he didn’t want to chance that he would incur the wrath of his Lord and Lady.

  He leads me out of the spacious hallways of the manse into a vast, manicured garden. Trees, flowers, sculptures, and gazebos entwine to create a yard that would be the height of any landscaper’s aspirations. I’m a bit surprised at how well manicured the garden is, fighting the sense of awe that makes me want to be a wallflower in the Heartbran garden, basking in the beauty of nature. I wonder why the nobles decided to spend so much on gardens?

  We navigate through the spacious area until we come upon a large wall of shrubs. Three other guards stand at the front of a garden maze. One stands to the right with a clipboard in his hand. One leans on a Warhammer while the other has a broad shield and sword at his hip.

  The tall walls of shrubs back up to a forest, so I cannot see a hint of what lies inside the entrance. The guard leading me nods in deference to the other three posted in front of the verdant arch. I get an uneasy feeling as I see vines woven into the arch.

  “This is him?” One guard with a clipboard asks.

  “Yep.” Replies, the guard who guided me out.

  “Wait, where are Olivia, Kurt, and Benjamin?” I ask.

  The guard leading me scowls and turns to face me, “They are busy with other matters. Orders were that you were to run the dungeon.”

  Exasperated, I ask, “Alone? We were supposed to run it together as a team. What if something happens?”

  The knight to the left of the arch throws a clearly enchanted hammer over his shoulder. “I’m not sure what your friends told you, but Lord and Lady Heartbran were clear: you would run the dungeon. If things get too sticky, that is what we’re here for. If things get too much for you, we will pull you out.”

  I ball my hands up in anger. This is clearly some power play, and I was getting tired of them.

  As if noticing it for the first time, the one with the hammer asks, “Is that a jug of water?”

  I ignore him as I ask, “Where is the entrance to this dungeon?”

  He points at the entrance to the maze.

  “Wait, that is the entrance. I thought those were just part of the garden.”

  “It was a few years ago, but the dungeon ate it. Part of why the estate spends so much on maintaining this sprawling garden. The estate is trying to shape how the dungeon will grow as it becomes stronger.”

  That gives me a lot to think about. I know very little about dungeons so far, and I really need to learn to read human speech… or at least find someone knowledgeable.

  Putting aside those questions for now, I march into the dungeon. Behind me, I hear the man with the hammer ask the last knight, with a shield in his hand and a sword at his hip. “Seriously, what’s up with the jug?”

  There’s a subtle feeling of pressure and stagnancy when I enter the dungeon. Like I’m in a tight space despite the open sky above. Inside the entrance, the maze dead ends, so I can only go left and right. The tall grassy walls open to the sky, but there’s no breeze, sun, or clouds. It’s not until much later that I realize it looks like, at any moment, the sun will peak over, but it’s always just out of sight.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  The mana feels different as well, but my mana sense isn’t refined enough to say in what way. I do, however, feel Morgana’s bond is closed off. She’s close by but outside of the dungeon. Worried something might happen if I venture in too far, I ask her to stay out of sight but as close as she can. I’m tempted to tell her to leave her body and come to me.

  Her ghost form will be far more useful, but both of us are concerned about what might happen to the body after so much was invested in it. She wants to keep the body since it has been changed so much to house her spirit. How much progress will she lose if she becomes incorporeal again? Considering how powerful it is, I’m concerned the body might even turn feral. Looking at the two paths and not seeing any discernible difference.

  Looking behind me, I see the two guards following me in, while the one with the clipboard stays at the entrance. Deciding I might need to create an opening, I pull the water from the jug, keeping it aloft in the air, and toss the jug to the one with the clipboard.

  “Take that jug back and have another one placed in my room.” His eyes go wide as they flit between me and the jug.

  His eyebrows come down, and his eyes harden as he spits, “I’m not your errand boy. Do it yourself if you’re so concerned.”

  I draw myself and try something I have never done before. I reach out with my empathy, but as I feel his emotions, I subtly will to be perceived as a powerful mage. ‘He should fear me. He has no idea who I am and what I’m capable of.’

  I try to strain while actively pushing mana. As I flex my aura, I say, “I am a noble mage and guest of the house of Heartbran, savior to the heir of house Heartbran. You will do this, or I will hang you upside down in the nearest gondola.”

  To emphasize my point, I urge the water to spin around me faster until it is turbulent. To his credit, the guard with the hammer tries to play peacemaker. “Hey, it’s just a jug. I’m sure one of the servants will replace the one in your room.”

  I give him the fiercest look I can, and he backs off under the weight of my stare. It works. The guard with the clipboard books it. With that done, I turn back the maze and choose the left path.

  Walking through the dungeon, the first enemy I find is a small earth elemental. It looks like a bunch of pebbles formed into the simulacrum of a man, the height of my hip. When it sees me waltzing up to it, it gives out its gravelly version of a war cry and charges at me. I hit it with the stream of water I’m controlling.

  Having never fought an elemental, I’m not sure what would happen. I thought it might buffet the creature. The water rushing past had a considerable effect, and I see it had dislodged numerous pebbles. I pull the water stream around and hit it again. The creature tries to swat away the water as it flows over and around it. I think back to what we had talked about in the sewers.

  The sewers had a problem because they congregated a mana type that attracted and grew creatures of specific affinities. Elementals were supposed to be made entirely of an element.

  Water mana isn’t supposed to be repelled by Earth mana, but it looks like the stream spell is dislodging like pieces of stone. I am slowly wearing down the stone and the accumulated mana it possesses. To speed things up, I have darkness mana reach out from the shadows to wrap around its legs while I use the water to continue to wear it down. Once a certain number of stones are dislodged, the entire thing falls apart, and I hear the ding of a notification.

  I remember how difficult it was to defeat creatures in the first dungeon, and now I’m literally taking the monsters apart without breaking a sweat. I’m far from my dreams of being a powerful necromancer or battle mage, but seeing evidence of my progress has me eager to tackle the next monster.

  I navigate the maze, keeping a mental map, but I have no idea which way to proceed. Sometimes I run into dead ends and need to turn around. Behind me, the shield and hammer knights follow silently.

  I feel their concerned gazes on my back as I take apart another three earth elementals. The last two I fight at the same time. With two enemies, I keep one pinned with shadows as I blast the other to pieces. The one wrapped in shadows strains, trying to tear free to attack me, but I have no concerns as I finish off its sibling, then turn my attacks onto it. The only unfortunate part is that I’m running low on water. I still have my water skin, but I’m planning to save it in case I need to heal.

  Fighting constructs are a little frustrating since I can’t use my mind affinity, but it may be for the best since I don’t want to reveal any more than I need to. If anyone finds out about my third affinity, I might be secreted away to some dungeon never to be seen again.

  With little water left, I have to begin relying on my umbrakinesis to take apart the next Earth elemental. When I continue to move down the maze, I find another elemental, but this one is different. It looks like an earth elemental, but it is slightly bigger, and it has vines growing through it.

  I reach out with my umbrakinesis to grab its leg, and it easily rips its leg free of the shadow constraints. I’m in a bit of trouble. My sword won’t be very effective against the hardened earth making up the elemental. I can see now why one of the knights decided to bring a hammer to this dungeon.

  All my other abilities are off the table. Mind is useless against a construct, not even my empathy gives me a reading. Ice and water require more water, and I have the feeling this one is sturdier than the previous ones. I don’t have any blood, undead, or aquatic creatures to use for my abilities. Well, not any blood that I’m willing to use casually. That means I will need to use darkness to fight the elemental, which it just casually ripped through...

  With only one truly viable solution, I move into the shadows and begin cycling. Increasing my affinity may empower my magic and be just what I need. I also reach into the pouch and begin channeling into the armor training stone that Olivia returned to me. She had not actually given it back in person, but sent a servant to return it. Shadows begin to form over my body. I feel my mana start to drain away as I channel the spell while trying to mana cycle.

  As the creature gets close, I raise a patch of shadows. It stumbles, pulling most of the power out of the attack as it hits me on the shoulder. The battle robe and shadow armor cushion the majority of the blow, though I’m sent sprawling by the force of the hit. From the ground, I concentrate, and a thick column of shadows rushes forward, knocking the elemental off its pebbly feet. As I get to my feet, I see just past the elemental. The hammer knight has both hands on his weapon, ready to intervene

  The elemental is forced to one knee from the force of the blow I conjure. Not willing to let up and fully willing to take the cheap shots, I began to pulverize the elemental. First, I have shadows punch its legs, disrupting its footing.

  Anytime it tries to push itself back up, a column of shadow will emerge to slam into its arm, destabilizing it. The monster tries to fight back against the darkness, but unlike before, when I was trying to wrap it in shadows, the pillars are only there to punch out before fading away. Eventually, it grows weak enough that I’m able to wrap shadows around its feeble limbs and pull it apart.

  Fighting the lesser earth elementals has taken practically no mana. In the time between battles, I recover most, if not all, of my mana pool. When I’m done with the minor root elemental, I see that my mana is halfway gone. The items on me have helped considerably, but maintaining my mana cycling, armor, and umbra kinesis took its toll.

  I release the mana cycling and glance at my stat sheet to see I have temporarily raised three affinity points and have an additional point of agility. Feeling good, I look over at the knights and give them a devious grin before sprinting to move deeper in the maze.

  Rounding the corner, the maze opens to a larger area with a water fountain. Beyond the fountain, I can see pools of water with lily pad-like plants and busts on stone pillars flanking the water. Examining it, I reach out with my mind to try to sense any threats. Nothing feels like it’s preparing to pounce, at least for the moment. Behind me, I hear the clanging of metal as the knights hurry to keep up with me.

  They round the corner, panting from running in their heavy armor. I call back to them, “What took you so long?”