Forgotten Dungeon

Charles

I knew I shouldn't trust that piece of shit of a Dungeon Core.

What the hell was this?

No, really, what was it?!

It all started normally - like we agreed to. The procedure that Uno had been preparing was connected to my core, and as such, it was best not to be awake while it was happening. People reacted weirdly to their guts spilling out, after all. I was dosed with some sleeping gas, patiently waiting for the procedure to end, and then suddenly… I woke up out here, in this nightmare-inducing room!

I grimaced, wanting to scream, but kept my silence. Panicking never saved anyone; only calm analysis would lead to survival. My surroundings were strange - I was standing in a monstrously large black chamber, whose walls and ceiling seemed hundreds of meters apart. To make it worse, the said wall was churning, undulating, like living flesh, constantly twisting in an unsettling rhythm.

The place was mostly empty, not counting a throne deposited smack dab in the middle, far away from me. It was made from the same black, oily substance as the walls. And while nobody was sitting on it right now, I was sure that it wasn't going to stay this way. The whole place gave me chills, much like sitting in a boss's chamber did.

Something was going to happen, and I felt like I wouldn't be happy when it did.

Cursing, I summoned my magic, and - for the first time in forever - it came willingly, even happily, sneaking around my arms and legs like living rope. The green and red mana it was made out of felt alive, but in a submissive kind of way. It was strange how little it was fighting against my will. Usually, calling upon the elemental powers was a continuous battle against the impulses to devour and destroy.

To find these feelings absent was… disconcerting.

After all, it was the trial that every ascendant had to conquer. To learn how to beat my own mana into compliance. Both fire and that second, more insidious verdant force weren't gentle teachers in the slightest.

Anger and greed weren't the best sins to contend with.

I noticed something else. While vivid, my magic didn't radiate any heat. It was wrong, strange. I was used to how uncompromising fire was. It still burned and heated the surroundings, even as a simple manifestation. In large amounts, even the summoner wasn't safe from fiery surroundings despite the innate resistance granted by the usage of such forces.

Stories about fire sorcerers burning up, water mages drowning, and ice practitioners freezing to death weren't just stories. They were a part of reality, where weak-willed surrendered their very existence to the elements they wanted to control.

So why wasn't my fire hot anymore?

It either meant that this place was an illusion, or that there was something out here that devoured mana… maybe there were other explanations too.

But both theories made me sweat.

In the silence interrupted only by the hiss of my flames, I pondered… until a strange sound echoed through the chamber.

*POP*

And suddenly I wasn't alone.

I scrambled as a blackish figure appeared in the furthest part of the chamber, its body vaguely humanlike. It straightened up, and the more I watched, the more details emerged. For a moment, it seemed like the simple act of observation was adding details to its incomprehensible form. I shook my head in denial. It was nonsense. There was no magic or monsters like that.

The being scratched its head and spoke with a surprisingly humanlike voice. Male. Tired. Deep. "Now, that's different. I was sure there would be complications, because nothing ever goes according to plan, but this… this is very fucking different."

It was enough to give me the courage to communicate, monster or no monster. "Who are you?" I shouted. "What is this place? Why did you imprison me here? Speak!"

I blinked, and suddenly it was uncomfortably close.

"So many questions, so few answers, eh?" The being stirred before mocking me. "And yet here we are, actors on the stage, poised to fight, like it's a fuckin' Highlander."

Something about that tone was familiar. I squinted. "We need to fight, you say?"

"Isn't that obvious?" The being retorted. "A large chamber, two men, one throne. What more hints do you need?" It squinted, searching my face for something that wasn't there. "Are you sure you didn't watch the movie?"

"What are you even talking about?" The flames on my body reacted to my annoyance, growing larger and brighter. They hissed at the intruder.

It hissed back.

"I see you really are fulfilling your destined role as a lighter." The being laughed. "It suits you. All brawn and no brain."

These words reinforced my earlier suspicion. I knew that monster. That man. "Uno? What are you doing here?" There was a moment of silence, and after taking another look, I just gasped. "And why, by the Gods, are you wearing my face?!"

The dark-fleshed humanoid finished forming up, its body no longer made out of the corrupted matter. The oily hair, hands, legs, vague outline of face and mouth - all that suddenly coalesced into a real, fleshy being.

Me.

Well, a variation on how I looked, more like.

There were differences in the eye and hair color, with them being ink black instead of red. His body was also less muscular than mine, more pale, and lanky - like an unflattering imitation. The clothes he wore were different too, made from some strange materials, with blue, rugged pants - my mind whispered jeans - and a short white shirt, barely covering his torso.

An unshaven stubble covered his - my - face, with dark lines present under his eyes, which only added to the feeling of tiredness the Dungeon Core exuded.

Uno suddenly produced something out of his pocket, and I tensed, readying my defence. The flames swayed, eager to do battle… and yet my vigilance was for naught, because what appeared in his hand was just a mirror. A piece of silvered glass.

After a second of muttering and deliberation, he sighed, looking a bit disappointed.

"Curioser and curioser."

"So? Why are you wearing my face?" I asked with entirely too much patience.

"Probably because I don't remember my own." He answered with disarming honesty. The silence stretched for nearly a minute. That was not something I was expecting!

"You actually had one? That hinges on the assumption that you were human once." I managed to spit out.

"Oh, but I was." His grin turned out entirely too unsettling. "Now, do you want to hear the whole story?" He glanced at my impatient expression. "Don't worry, the outside world will stand still. Barely seconds had passed since we appeared here. Hours, days, even years could pass, and outside it would be still seconds. Such is the way of the Matrix."

"You're speaking nonsense, once again." I shrugged. Despite his earlier threats, I couldn't feel any killing intent. That meant some time could be wasted, or so I convinced myself, despite knowing that curiosity killed the cat. "Then tell me, Dungeon Core. What are you hiding?"

He smiled, with a lonely, sad expression I never wanted to see on my own face. With a flourish of his hand, a pair of chairs appeared from nothingness. They were simple things, made from leather and wood. But simple, familiar things were comforting right now, in this purgatory.

We sat down, and he immediately started talking, snapping words like he was telling a world-ending secret. "You see, there was once a boy who wanted to reach the stars. He was young, foolish, and he lived in a world without magic..."

His words slowed down, like he was recalling an old tale he barely remembered. Uno described his hopeless, boring life, his death, his fascinating world of machines and technology. The way he was tricked into arriving at Yana, and his interactions with both remaining Gods and the mad System-Goddess that hated them.

I listened intently, but… it was too much.

To hear that the state of the world was even worse than I thought, and to understand that there was no hope for our future… it nearly broke me.

"Hey, you still with me?" The Dungeon Core slapped my arm while wearing a concerned expression. It wouldn't be so bad if not for the fact that he was still looking like me. "We didn't even talk about the most important thing."

"No more." I slurred.

"Whut?"

"Do not tell me more. I don't wish to know what hare-brained plot you had hatched." I hid my face in my hands. "We are all dead. Figures. Gods, System, the abandonment of the human race… are they real? Like, real-real?!"

I took a moment before speaking up. "I was never a great believer, you see. Gods were supposed to be ideas, higher beings that spur us to greatness. Not… this mess you're describing."

"Oh, buddy, it's so much worse than you think." He chuckled mirthlessly.

"Why?"

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Why what?"

"Why are you doing this to me? There has to be a higher purpose; I refuse to think otherwise. You're not crushing my hopes just for fun. I wasn't that much of a devil, right?"

"Oh, there is purpose in all this madness." My black-haired doppleganger sighed as I perked up. "Have you ever wondered what you are?"

"I don't understand?" I said hesitantly before answering to the best of my ability. "I am Charles, a mage of the Blueflame family. Agnes' fiancée, but also a leader of the Silver Oasis. I am a man, a warrior, a noble, a lover. I am many other things." These words somehow grounded me. Reminded me of those who counted on me to survive.

"See?" Uno nodded. "Identities. Knowledge, acknowledgement, duty." He smiled as the madness danced in his irises. "But, what if somebody takes it all? Changes you? The blocks that made you - yourself, added and twisted and built upon? Would you still be the same?"

"If you were not a person, but a ship, and each and every plank of yours were to be replaced, exchanged for the new parts… better, stronger, faster, and more knowledgeable parts… Would you still be the same ship that first took sail?"

"What the hell are you babbling about?" I scoffed. The flames on my body turned more wild. More powerful. More green.

"See? It has already begun. The suffusion. The exchange of planks." He continued his ranting before suddenly standing up. "Well, like they say… there's no time like the present."

I stared, not understanding.

"No, really, merciful Gods, what the fuck are you talking about?" I mumbled.

"Defend yourself. It's Highlander rules. Two men go in, one man leaves. Wait, wasn't that Mad Max?" He paused. "Anyway… what would happen if I devour you whole? Would I become Charles? Would you become Uno?" He grinned, seemingly completely insane, with a familiar sickly green color coiling around his body. "And if I get devoured… would we still be the same?!"

"Make sense, please!" I screamed as he retreated, green wings suddenly appearing on his back. "I really don't want to kill you!"

"Not kill, devour!" He tsk'ed before shouting back.

A line of metal things appeared in the air, their tubes pointed in my direction, as a strange sound emanated from Uno's creations. Guns! My new instincts screamed, trying to warn me. A red and green glow surged, covering me whole.

They twisted and turned into something new, something real, shielding me from the sudden attack.

"Body armor! Nice idea! Still, it's not enough. Taste my salvo!" He pointed, and the barrels followed. "FIRE AT WILL!" My opponent screamed in delight as the weapons behind him spewed out death. Hundreds of bullets flew through the air, all carrying a familiar green color. The long staccato rhythm was different for every piece of equipment present, but shared between them was a promise of hurt.

My mana again surged forward, twisting into a barrier made of… glass? I didn't have time to understand before the sickly green splayed on my defence, the scream of air instantly changing into the tinkling of flattened brass.

"Good!" Uno cheered. I couldn't even ask why he sounded happy before he continued. "How would you deal with a bit bigger caliber, then?"

Without a sound, the countless guns disappeared, their forms dispersing into green mist. The said mist then coalesced into a metal behemoth. A tank, the borrowed knowledge whispered once again.

Its cannon immediately started to track me, the sheer mass of Uno's summon making me nervous. As it prepared to fire, I decided to stop holding back. The best defence was offence, that was my motto.

No need to overthink it.

As I summoned my mana, the spell instantly completed, and with the chant forgotten, a dual-colored meteorite appeared from the ceiling before falling and melting most of the Old World's monstrosity into slag.

I grinned.

"Is that all you've got?" I shouted back at the Dungeon Core.

The taunt felt good. Not only because I suddenly had a chance but also because I was actually doing something, not just waiting for death.

"Of course not!" He grinned back, and more machines started appearing.

Tanks, helicopters, aircraft carriers, mechs. The whispers grew stronger and stronger. The knowledge flew into my mind - about the weapons they carried, their defences. About the men and women who used them and the generals who could destroy the world. Old World. His World.

I was learning.

Somehow, my intuition told me it was a bad thing. And yet I persisted. It was a choice to learn or to die. A simple crossroads.

We battled for hours. For months. Millenia even.

I didn't know anymore.

Time was a pliant thing out here, in our battlefield. It was also not important.

The survival was what mattered. The knowledge about the Old World, about the Gods, about the machines, about science. In this mind palace, this Thunderdome, we were the two sides of the same coin, two matches burning brightly before our demise.

I understood. If nothing were to be done, if nothing changed, then our little piece of heaven would be left for the wolves, be it above or under the ground. Nothing more than meat to be devoured. I saw the calculations. The desperation that hid behind the madness.

I wasn't going to let this happen. My subordinates, my Rats, my Dungeon. My lover, my attendants, my people. They were going to be saved.

I would not compromise on the things that were MINE.

And for that, I needed power. Even if I had to tear it out from my other self's chest. The madness settled, surety taking its place.

This was the end.

We battled, cried, and understood.

I was standing above his chuckling, bloodied form, while leveraging my exoskeleton's power. The fire and warpstone hissed but obeyed their new, twisted form. It was an alien thing, this laster pistol I pointed at Uno's head. A weapon from a more civilized age. A thought came unbidden.

"Was it all worth it, you interdimensional bastard?" I asked. "I really don't understand you - even now."

"How is it to have all your planks replaced, huh?" He spoke nonsense, all the while grinning even more fiercely than before. "There's only one more thing to do. Die." He whispered.

"What kind of bullshit are you spewing? Did I damage your brain, or something?" This was bad. I would inherit his knowledge, know-how, and powers, all the while remaining in a human body. It was like having my own AI companion, or at least the computing power of one! And a factory, as a bonus. Dungeon factory. "Any last words? It's time to say goodbye." I had to hurry. Who knew how many neurons were lost each second!

Wait, do Dungeon Cores even have neurons?

Uno wasn't waiting for my internal monologue to finish, though. "Yep. I do have some end-of-time words." He whispered. "Did you know that Uno means One?"

My answer was a press of a button. The handheld laser silently drilled a hole in his head, the fulfilled smile turning slack as the man I knew as Uno ceased to exist.

"Of course I know that!" I scoffed, before coughing, and nearly falling to the floor. The rest of the knowledge poured in, filling the gaps in my understanding. At least the exoskeleton reacted instantly, straightening my back as I battled remembering the memories that were not mine.

I understood what he was talking about. What I was talking about.

What rose from the ground was a changed man. "Of course I know what 'uno' means." I continued, the warpstone power swirling energetically all around my body. "I also know it's just a number. Charles sounds much better, don't ya think?"

The integration was seamless.

I stretched before sighing, feeling every bump, every fibre of my as-of-yet nonexistent body. It was time to wake up. According to the data, only a few seconds have passed since our battle. As I exited the mind palace, my nerves started to work; the feeling of pain was suddenly transmitted to my brain.

"Ouch. Fuuuuuck. That hurts." I gurgled, still opened up like a piece of canned sardines.

"Master Uno? Are you alright?" Mechanicus peered over my immobilized body.

"It's Charles, big man. Now, could you please put me back together?"

There was a moment of silence before the Butcher leader responded. "Your will is my command!" He immediately started giving out orders.

"Kin, be careful, the less muscle damage, the better!"

"Bandage that part. A split-open chest is a delicate thing. It's pertinent for the linen to be sterilized."

"No need to use THAT potion. Creator's human body should remain pure!"

"The core had been contained, the flesh - repaired as best as we could. Now you only need to flush it with mana, Master!"

I nodded.

Channeling the Dungeon's power to heal my wounds was child's play. I had done it a few times to Dos, after all. Unlike with his monsterization, the mana flowed cleanly through my hands and chest, eliminating the inefficiencies and repairing the damage.

I was right. The owner of the flesh mattered.

Soon, my pain receptors calmed down, and I ordered Dungeon's minions to release me.

A familiar window greeted my return to the land of the living.

Maybe not right now. I needed to talk with Agnes.

And with Master Vincent, too.

And of course, I needed to speak with Adam, who probably will notice something different about me.

The minions needed to be informed about their new boss, and so did Non.

Sigh.

It would take some time for the people to come to terms with the new me. Hopefully in a dozen minutes, not more. The Lich was good, but what could one monster do against the might of a fuckin flying fortress? We would be lucky if it fought for hours… but days were probably out of question.

I slowly climbed out of the underground, watching the sky as if I saw it for the first time.

In some manner, that was true.

Then a blue window appeared, interrupting my train of thought.

Gangria?!

Fuck, fuck, fuckity, fuck!

Ascend!

Ascend, ascend, ascend! I agree, you hear?

ASCEEEEEND I SAID, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!