Chapter 68 – Dungeoneering 101 (Patreon)

In the morning, I went to cook breakfast and decided to experiment with the snake meat. I cut it into small cubes, fried them with paprika, garlic, and oregano, and added them to an omelet. I tasted the first omelet, and it was so good that I cooked over two kilograms of meat with eggs. I knew it would be gone. I seriously considered asking Lis to search for more scary snakes, and I regretted not neutralizing the poison from the "damaged goods" snake. It doesn’t matter that I personally had more than 100 kg of this meat – it was too good.

Breakfast was a success, and Rue demanded even more meat, so I cooked him his own giant steak.

After we finished eating, Lis said, “Since it’s your first dungeon, there are some things you need to know:

“The first and most important thing you should always remember is that you never ever take the core of a regulated dungeon, no matter the circumstances. It's a prison sentence in twenty percent of the worlds and a death sentence in eighty percent of the worlds, regardless of their mana level.

“The other thing you should always remember is that if you find a wild dungeon and you clear it, take everything. And when I say everything, I mean everything, including rocks, trees, and plants; whatever you find, take EVERYTHING.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Dungeons, my friend, are not what they seem. They are manifestations of mana; everything you see in a dungeon is not real, but manifestations of mana that somebody will be glad to take off your hands. Earth Mages or Architects will buy the rocks; Wood Artisans, like Mahya here, will buy the wood; Enchanters or Magi-Blacksmiths will buy any metals you find; and Alchemists will buy the plants. Usually, nobody takes the monsters because they dissipate, but since you can harvest them into crystals, you literally take everything in your case.

“In regulated dungeons, they tell you precisely what and how much you can take. Dungeons typically serve two purposes. The first is fighting, whether for training or to gain levels, and the second is material harvesting. The purpose for which you book the dungeon run usually sets the price for entering the dungeon. In some places, if you only want levels, you can find paid work to clear dungeons so the harvest teams can go in.

“If you find a wild dungeon, you have a few options; how you go about it is up to you. As I said, your first option is to take everything, including the core, and collapse the dungeon. You can either use the core or sell it for a lot of money, but be careful; many people will kill you for the core, so be very, very careful about how you sell it.

"Your second option is to clear the dungeon of materials and avoid taking the core. In this case, you can sell the dungeon location, and the best place to do so is in adventurer guilds. The price you get for the location will depend on the speed with which the dungeon regenerates. If you empty it, and by the time you get back with them to the location, it’s full again, the price will be higher; if it’s still empty and just starting to regenerate, you’ll get a lower price.

"Another option is to sell it as is rather than go in. The price will depend on the quality of the harvested materials and how long the dungeon will regenerate. If you intend to establish a settlement, your final choice is to purchase the dungeon's land before its discovery and begin charging admission. Many Travelers have established kingdoms and dynasties in this manner.”

“Seriously, kingdoms?”

“Yes, you will meet a lot of Traveler kings and queens. If they lack a specific reason to settle somewhere, they typically establish a kingdom or a school. Someday, when I grow tired of traveling, I plan to start a school somewhere.”

“I can’t see myself as a king or a headmaster.”

"To each his own," he said, continuing his explanation. "Now, about clearing a dungeon. When you go in, you kill everything, because everything that moves inside is a monster. Even if you happen to spot a cute, fluffy bunny, which you will occasionally encounter, you will soon discover that it is armed with razor-sharp teeth and is only interested in killing you. Even if you see tiny ants, kill them, or you might find that they are venomous with some paralytic or something. The rule is clear: it moves—it dies.

“After clearing a floor, ensure there is no floor guardian. If there is, it means the dungeon has more than one floor, and you kill it too. After the floor is clear of anything that moves, start harvesting it. Don’t go to the next floor; take everything and then continue. Not all, but many dungeons close the passage back to previous floors, so if you didn’t clean it out, you wouldn’t be able to go back...”

“Can’t I just leave and enter?”

“No, the entrance portal won’t work until the dungeon regenerates.”

“Oh, sorry for interrupting you.”

“It’s okay; if you don’t ask, you won’t know. Anyway. As I said, clear a floor, clean it out, and move on to the next. The difficulty level will rise with each floor, and the jump is substantial, so be ready. When you reach the final floor, whether it's the first or the tenth, there will be a final guardian room or area. This guardian protects the core and will be much stronger than anything you've encountered up until that point. The guardian feeds off the core and protects it in turn, so it won’t leave the core. You will have complete control over the area, and before confronting the guardian, make sure to gather all necessary resources.

“When the dungeon is empty, face the guardian. After it’s dead, you touch the core and get a reward. Usually, the dungeon rewards are a cross between something that might suit you based on your dive and the dungeon’s theme. After you get the reward, you can either leave or take the core and store it. After you take the core, the pocket dimension begins to collapse, and you must get out fast. That's why you must gather everything in advance; otherwise, it will vanish.

“Okay, got it. When are we going in?”

“Now is as good a time as any.” Said Lis with a big smile.

We went to the dungeon, and I must admit, the portal still looked scary as hell. When I entered, I experienced the same force field sensation as if I were passing through a Gate. On the other side, there was an empty area, followed by trees. I looked around and saw a sort of haze about three hundred meters in every direction.

I asked Lis, “What’s that haze?”

“Mahya was right; it's a young dungeon, and the haze is the border of the pocket dimension. This dungeon is a baby. The core will probably be no bigger than five centimeters in diameter.”

“If it’s so young, why were so many monsters outside?”

"Nobody has cleared it yet.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Dungeons absorb mana and process it. They use the clean mana to create the objects you see around you, while they use the trash to create monsters. If the dungeon is not cleared regularly, the trash gets out to clear space for new trash.”

“A very colorful description.”

“But very true,” said Mahya.

Lis said, “I don’t feel like fighting in the trees. Rue, would you mind helping to bring the monsters to us?”

Rue looked at him, and Lis said, “You don’t have to do anything; just go to the trees, and when they start chasing you, run back here.”

Rue approached the trees and stood there, but nothing came running. After a few seconds, he howled loudly. We saw some movement in the trees, and Rue started backing away slowly, stopped, and howled again. This time, there was more movement, and I saw a group of toothy cats jump off the trees in his direction. He ran back to us and stopped beside me.

The cats came running, and Lis told Rue, “Try to kill as many as you can; you need the levels.”

They started killing the cats systematically, and more and more cats came running out, as did some lizards. I stood back and kept an eye on everybody. Rue yelped, and I saw that one of the cats had bitten his leg. I rushed over, stomped on the cat’s head, and healed Rue. Some tried to attack me, but I punted them in Rue’s direction with my staff, and he disposed of them; we were a great team.

After ten minutes, there were no more cats, lizards, or anything else.

Lis asked Rue, “Your challenge was very effective. Want to give it another go?”

Rue walked again to the trees, and I asked Lis and Mahya, “Need healing?”

Mahya looked offended and said, “From level two and three monsters? Don’t joke like that!”

“That’s their level?”

Lis asked, “Forgot to identify again?”

I nodded sheepishly, and he just laughed.

Rue’s challenge didn’t get a reaction, so Lis said, “You can start on the monsters.” And started piling them in one place. To create the crystals, I began to encapsulate them. It was harder than outside, and the first time I did it. The monsters dissipated much slower, so I had to “help” them break down.

I asked Lis, “How come they are dissipating much slower?”

“We’re in a dungeon.”

“So?”

“Monsters dissipate slower in a dungeon.”

“Why?”

“There are some theories, but not a conclusive answer.”

While I worked, Rue walked back and forth in front of the trees and howled without success.

After I was done, we moved to the trees. Mahya examined them and said, “Too young.”

“So we’re not taking them?”

"Of course we'll take them. Remember what Lis said? We take everything. I just meant they are too young for my project, but they will be perfect for staves, wands, enchanted arrows, and the like.”

It took us hours to cut down all the trees and collect all the other plants. I sensed their abundance in mana, and understood Lis's statement that the dungeon's interior was not real; although they were plants, they resembled lumps of nature. Lis and Mahya assured me that they were very valuable to alchemists, especially since they were pure.

After taking everything to a ridiculous extent—trees, plants, rocks, sticks, and even fallen leaves—we saw a small cave entrance. Lis wanted to do a last sweep to check that we didn’t leave anything, and after he came back, we entered the cave.

There was a larger cat prowling back and forth in front of a small gold ball hovering in the air, about my knee height. The ball was even smaller than five centimeters, maybe three and a half. This time, I even remembered to use Identify on the cat.

Mordere Felidae

Level 5

 Lis asked Rue, “Want to take care of it?”

Rue jumped on the cat, and in two seconds, there was no cat anymore.

I made it into a crystal, and we all touched the core. All of us got a wooden ring. I identified mine:

Fountain of Health

+2% Constitution

I asked Lis, “This whole thing feels kind of underwhelming. Was I expecting too much?”

“No, this dungeon is too young. The dungeon is only a month or two old. We should have brought Lyura and let her clear the whole dungeon alone. I think she’s the only one who could get any kind of benefit from such a young dungeon.”

“Yeah,” I said, “judging by the mana level of the world, I was expecting a much bigger challenge.”

“Well,” said Lis, “in six months, those cats would have been bigger than Rue.”

“That big of a difference?”

“Yes, this core started the size of a grain of sand. It processes mana and grows; when it grows, it can process more mana, it grows again, and the monsters grow. And it does have an abundance of mana with the world level. In a world with medium mana, a core will require at least a year to reach this size.”

Lis took the core and stored it, and I immediately felt the difference. Suddenly, the mana felt unstable. We stepped out of the cave and left via the dungeon portal.

I asked Lis, “If this was a very young dungeon, would I be able to feel a difference if I entered an older dungeon?”

“If it’s open, you can judge by the size. If it’s cave-shaped, it’s more problematic.”

Well, at least now I can say that I’m a dungeoneer, and have a shitload of wood. I don’t know what to do with it, but I have a lot of wood.