88 – Entering the Dungeon

If you walk the halls of the Iron Library, you’ll find all sorts of treatises theorizing in great detail how dungeons came to be. Hotspots of ambient mana, conceptual drift, natural enchantments: they have all the explanations, none of the magic.

Dungeons are so much more than pseudo-scientific theories. They are where the heart of adventure lies and where so many of those who follow it either meet their end or come out with riches a king would envy.

There is nothing quite like the feeling of the dungeon’s door closing behind you, leaving you and your group to triumph or perish.

Editor’s note: The author of this text has died in a dungeon after not listening to my warnings about an ambient mana storm possibly tripling the difficulty of his instance.

Excerpt from Compilation of Pimple Saban’s journals. An Eulogy to My Friend. By Tomeo Galdan, Keeper of the Iron Ink.

The doors of the cavern slammed shut behind Alexandra, and for a moment she was lost in the silent darkness.

Then, like a light flickering, glowing things appeared at the edge of her vision. As the light resolved, she realized those were luminescent mushrooms, attached to the walls and ceiling of the cave.

She clutched her spear and took in her surroundings. She was in a large cave that was mostly empty except for the mushrooms. Behind her, the massive metallic doors were closed and wouldn’t open until she cleared the dungeon.

In front of her, the cavern opened into three tunnels that went deeper into the earth. They all looked the same.

She exhaled. “Well, I’m in. Now, I have to pull through.”

The only way to exit a dungeon was to clear it, which was why everyone from Willow to the group of Bronze ranks outside had tried dissuading her from entering.

Alexandra had to find the chieftain and kill it.

She shrugged. “I’ll figure it out. Not like I could skip my daily.”

Summoning her journal in her hand, she flipped it open to the first page.

Enter the Troll Cave (1/1) -> Quest Completed: +10 exp, +1 INT, Skill Quest Unlocked: Aggressive Assimilation.

Daily Quest Streak: 35 -> 36

She had to close her journal and open it again to make sure she hadn’t misread. She hadn’t been expecting a skill, especially one like this.

Curious, she turned the pages to check the description.

Aggressive Assimilation:

Extract the essence of a species’ lifeforce and convert it into a temporary buff.
Each level increases the buff’s potency and the conversion efficacy.

She pursed her lips.

The skill was exactly what she needed to make Drain Life work. She couldn’t use non-human lifeforce, well now she had an avenue to explore.

Alexandra should be happy, but instead she became suspicious. This was too neat, too perfect.

Her quest had sent her right where she needed to be and given her a skill perfectly suited to her build. She couldn’t help but consider how much her quests had pushed her to act in a certain way, take actions she wouldn’t have otherwise.

How were her daily quests decided, and by whom?

She checked the skill quest.

Aggressive Assimilation: Drain the entire lifeforce pool of a troll (0/1).

No surprise here, which only reinforced her suspicions that someone or something was steering her quests.

She thought back to her previous quests. Sure enough, this wasn’t the first time she was being tasked with something so specific and rewarded like that. The day she’d unlocked A Face Among Many, taking her to Esmera and meeting Louis stood out. Then there was that time when she unlocked Mana Manipulation right as Sera was teaching her. The theft in the library getting her close to Willow.

And what could she say about all those quests pushing her to wash and clean?

The more she thought, the worse she felt about it. Maybe she was just being paranoid. Random quests would lead to random situations where she would meet people, unlock skills, and sometimes she’d encounter a new friend or a skill well suited for her.

It wasn’t like all the people she met had turned out to be important for her, and some skill quests like Diving, she really didn’t care about.

She looked up from her journal and closed it.

Something powerful enough to control her class art was out of her reach for now. The choice she had was between continuing her streak or giving it up when a suspicious quest came up.

It wasn’t a choice at all.

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And, as suspicious as she was, Aggressive Assimilation was too good to pass up.

She tapped a finger on the page. If she couldn’t stop this, she had to make the most of it. Maybe there was a way for her to prompt her journal into giving her more beneficial quests. If there really was something trying to steer her, perhaps she could steer back.

She dispelled her journal and looked at the three tunnels. Since she had no idea which way to go, she decided to go left. The group of Bronze said they were going that way, and even if they were in another instance, she might as well follow their advice.

Spear in hand, she stepped into the tunnel. It was silent, and the mushrooms offered enough light for her to see. She’d expected it to be narrower, but it was actually quite large. Large enough to fit a cart and the horses with it.

Then again, trolls were pretty big, too. So she shouldn’t be surprised.

Alexandra followed the tunnel for a few minutes. She was walking slowly, making sure she wasn’t missing any turn.

She was approaching a bend when she heard it.

A sound like stone grinding against stone, slow and rhythmic, filled the tunnel ahead. She froze. Then the smell came: rot, wet earth. Something wild.

She pressed her back against the wall and waited.

The troll rounded the bend. Nearly three meters tall, hunched so its knuckles grazed the floor. Its skin was the grey-green of old moss on granite, and where the mushroom light caught it, it shimmered faintly, like there was rock beneath the flesh. It hadn’t noticed her. It moved slowly, dragging one foot, its flat head swiveling side to side.

Alexandra reached out with Drain Life.