Silver Spoon Series

"Sometimes I just want to punch you in your charmed face."

Tamee's voice in his head distracted him from studying the portal he now stood in front of. Alan was currently at the end of the fifth floor, and it looked like there was at least one more to go. That was based on his assumption that the final portal would be different from all the others.

"What's the problem now?" He asked as he let his eyes, and his aether and aura senses rove over it. He hadn't seen a trap on a portal before, but each floor had contained more and more hidden dangers. He was too far into this thing to go down because he got careless.

"First, you manage to purchase a non-Network dungeon core early on in a tutorial, in a tutorial for Rainbow's sake. You also managed to find a dragon egg, although you managed to mess that up somehow. Now you have a mega-sized dungeon that's restricted to the white grade, and you will no doubt get some fabulous prize for completing it. Do you have any idea how valuable a dungeon like this could be?"

That made him pause his search and focus on their conversation. "You know I don't. What is so special about this dungeon? So far it has caused the death of three of my people and imprisoned a recruit. How is this a lucky break?"

He actually did have some idea of how useful a dungeon like this could be, but the impressive shriek Tamee let out was worth a little subterfuge.

"Seriously? I already explained how having that tame dungeon could benefit you personally, or a settlement, like you are currently doing with it. That was a baby dungeon with almost no power. A dungeon that has five, six, maybe even more floors? This could provide a true challenge for full adventuring teams for a long time. And it is no doubt strong enough that even as the mana density rises, it will be able to match the power for years, maybe even centuries. To get so strong it has no doubt been run by thousands, maybe millions of people. It must have an insane variety of things it can offer as a reward."

"You've been reading over my shoulder while I looked into dungeon cores, haven't you?" Alan had asked Tamee about what he could do with Indiana early on, but she hadn't known anything other than generalities. It hadn't seemed like atopic where she was simply hiding information from him either, it just wasn't common knowledge.

"Watching is in the job description. It's also crazy that this thing is here. You don't realize how long a wild dungeon would have to be around to get to this size. Also, if it is this powerful, what is it doing in such a low mana zone? You know that dungeons can move, so why would it come here?"

That part actually did confuse Alan. "What do you mean, isn't this something the Network brought here?"

"No, it's not Network bound, remember? That means that the Network, and therefore the Tutorial, have no control over it. It had to somehow make its way here. Why would it do that when it could go to a higher grade world and gain power at a much faster rate as higher tier adventurers ran it instead of scrubs like you."

"Ouch, and here I thought you said I was doing well." Alan wasn't actually offended, but it was fun to banter with someone from time to time.

"You are, for a scrub. While you aren't considered a real classer until you reach opal, you aren't on the Rainbow until you hit red grade. You whites are a dime a dozen. And the power you can wield is only a fraction of a true red grade."

What she was saying made a certain amount of sense. Indiana gained more aether by the struggle of the people inside of it. The stronger they were, and the more they struggled, the more aether Indiana got. Why was this dungeon core here, since it was clearly of a higher grade. It couldn't get even close to as much out of Alan as it could from a red grade like Pixel, even if he had to work harder than she would. He had heard how bloodthirsty this dungeon was from its own comments, maybe it was just looking for easy kills. It was overloaded for the moment so it wasn't a fair comparison, but this dungeon was far harder than anything he had encountered to date.

The last fight on the third floor had been brutal, and Alan had been glad he had saved his stalker's sigil ability. The troll woman must have had an incredibly high constitution as even his spewn struggled to cut her tough skin. It was only with the slight boost the mark gave to his damage that he was able to inflict wounds. She was also fast and strong enough that Alan couldn't count on bleeding her to death either. If she managed to land a single blow it could have crippled him. In the end, he had to use a method he had reserved for absolute emergencies.

His exploding missile spell was great, but it couldn't penetrate her skin and even if it did, she was large enough that the damage wouldn't have been critical. Instead, Alan had turned his spewn into the missile. Dancing in close, feeling the wind of her enormous blade ruffle his hair as he barely got under her swing, he stabbed the head of his weapon into her gut. It only penetrated about fifteen centimeters, but the fire bolt he sent out of his spewn's head was still devastating.

He had learned about how powerful this could be long ago when fighting a turtle boss. The ball of fire forming inside of her body superheated the water in the tissue surrounding it and it blew her into two ragged pieces. The reason this attack had been relegated to emergencies was that it wasn't much easier on Alan. He had been knocked across the clearing by the shockwave and had several broken ribs and some significant internal bleeding. The most long-term critical injury had been the loss of several fingers on his right hand. They had been savaged in the explosion and had been torn off when his spewn was also sent flying.

Afterwards, it had taken him almost ten minutes to find his precious weapon. It had been blasted into the woods and was buried several centimeters into a tree trunk. If it had been shot in the direction of Alan instead of almost perpendicular to him, then he most likely wouldn't have survived. It was a sobering reminder of both his own mortality, and how dangerous that attack was.

Alan had spent almost two days in the clearing, both regrowing his fingers and doing a little harvesting. The trees here were incredibly dense, something he had noticed when he removed his spewn. If these had been a normal Earth tree then his powerful hybrid dagger would have blown through the trunk completely. He now had several large logs in his storage. He also found some acorn-like seeds and put them in his nipple ring. These were of a much higher grade than the trees around his village. It would be a nice future resource if he could get some growing there.

His minor regeneration spell once again proved invaluable in restoring his lost fingers. Trying to cut down the trees with one hand had driven home how important it was to be able to cure such injuries. With that in mind, he had used some of his rest time to also work on making scrolls for the spell. He hadn't tried before because it was much more complicated than minor healing, and he had learned that the complexity made writing the spell out much harder. Alan had brought about twenty blank scrolls in his storage, and he had gone through almost all of them before he got one that worked. That was an expensive few hours of inscribing, but if his people had access to this more powerful spell, it would reduce their reliance on him to fix critical injuries.

The fourth and fifth floors had been challenging in their own way, but there hadn't been much creativity to them. The monsters were powerful and numerous, but the layout was pretty straightforward and he had yet to see a puzzle challenge. Alan couldn't tell if that was due to the core's desire for blood, or if the lack of originality was the result of something else. He had tried to respond to the ravings of the core every time he got to a new floor, but so far it was either ignoring him or unable to hear him properly. He was beginning to believe that it was the former since his aether skill was climbing fast.

By now it was over level fifty and he could see the difference it had on his ability to determine the flow of the cores energy. Of course, just because he could read its energy didn't mean he could communicate with the core, but sensed a change in the aether every time he tried sending his thoughts to the dungeon, so something was happening. The dramatic increase in his aether reading skill had come after Alan realized that while the design of the dungeon was rather basic, the implementation was exquisite.

Dungeons were often a recreation of the real world. That was a loaded term since the world he would return to when he finished this thing wasn't 'real'. The tutorial was more like a large dungeon itself. The initial zone he had landed in had been controlled by a smaller dungeon that had struggled to create realism in its design. Yes, there were trees and grass, but they had a uniformity to them that life never did. There had also been a lack of ambiance, like sounds and smells.

The second tier had been controlled by the tutorial core itself and had shown a lot more variety in both terrain and background details. However, and he hadn't realized it until he started exploring this dungeon, there had still been something lacking. Alan struggled to come up with a way to describe the difference, but it was like watching old family videos versus a Hollywood film. They both showed you a movie, but there was just something different in how they looked. His friend Bernie had once tried to explain the reason for that, something about frame rates and how Hollywood had ruined good film, but Alan hadn't really cared at the time and it had washed over his head.

Now Alan would give almost anything to hear his friend complain about the stupidest things again. Even if Alan survived the tutorial, there was little chance he would ever see Bernie again. He had been diagnosed with cancer several months before the arrival of the Network, and because of the depression Alan had fallen into and the demands of the training he had gone through, he hadn't been there for his friend like he should have. He liked to think he would have heard if he had died, but the likelihood of finding him alive now was pretty slim.

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Forcing his mind off of that sad track, he once again marveled at his surroundings. The fifth floor had taken place once again in underground tunnels. This time it was another undead floor with zombies and some kind of necromantic mold. It had pushed Alan's healing a lot, since the spores from the mold kept trying to infect any open wounds. Thankfully it didn't seem to be dangerous to breathe, but the spores that came in contact with his blood sent dark tendrils into his body. Neither his minor regeneration or minor healing spells had done anything at first, but using his energy handling skill, and the control it gave him over vita energy, he was able to push the spores back out of his body before healing the injury.

What made this floor special, compared to other undead dungeons he had seen, was the fact that he could smell the undeath. Not just the rotting flesh of the zombies, that wasn't new, but there were layers to everything. Yes, there was the smell of decomposing skin and organs, but also the dryness of graves, and the damp earth smell of the tunnels. If those things seemed contradictory, they were, but it was what reality smelled like.

The detail in the tunnels was also impressive. In the areas that had worked stone, each block was unique. Not drastically different, just the usual differences you see in real bricks. There was a general shape and size they all shared, but each had its own imperfections to differentiate it from its neighbors. It again wasn't something he had realized was missing before, but it had become obvious once he caught on to what his brain was trying to tell him.

After realizing how well the core was doing at mimicking the real world, Alan had really started to focus with his aether senses to see if he could spot what caused the effect. He hadn't been able to pinpoint anything yet, but once he got out of here, he could try and compare what he saw with other dungeons. As a Green Beret and a doctor, Alan was a bit of a perfectionist, and if he could figure out how this dungeon was doing it, he could try and help Indiana do something similar.

"Let me ask you something Tamee. Does this dungeon seem off to you?"

There was a moment of silence before she answered. "Other than the fact that it's here, maybe? It is remarkably large and the monsters are strong, but that's to be expected given its overloaded state."

"I feel like it's too strong. Every dungeon I've been in has had its own challenges, but this feels like getting hit with a hammer over and over again. I'm doing okay, but imagine Lyonel's group, even as they are now, or Thadrick's. They would have been killed on the second or third floor."

"You might be doing the Corellian's a disservice, they have improved a lot since Gaf joined them. But you're right, they certainly couldn't have gotten as far as you have. Now that you mention it, I think this might be a killer dungeon."

That was a term Alan had read about in the information package he had purchased. Both Network and wild dungeons had different types. There were terms for the specific style, like labyrinth, puzzle, or arena, as well naming them by the most common monster inside like undead, beasts, or oozes. Another categorization was the purpose of the dungeon. Leveling, resources, loot type, etcetera. Another classification that was mentioned was 'killer dungeons'. This name was only used with wild dungeons, and it referred to the fact that the death rate was incredibly high.

Exploring a dungeon was dangerous, but deaths were relatively rare. If a dungeon killed one out of every fifty adventurers to go through it, then it was considered a dangerous dungeon. Anything higher than that was considered too risky unless there was some kind of ridiculous payout. Loot to make such a risk worthwhile was also rare, since wild dungeons didn't have access to the same kind of rewards that Network-bound ones did.

Killer dungeons were the worst of the worst, though. They averaged somewhere around one in ten deaths. Who would want to take a chance clearing a dungeon if there was a fifty-fifty chance that someone in your party would die? This dungeon was even worse than that. He had been wondering what happened to the Bodarians, and Gralven's presence on the third floor suggested this dungeon had done them in. Lyonel's party had been forced out before completing even the first floor, and several of them had been in close to fatal encounters before they ran. This thing would probably completely wipe out normal parties.

Thankfully, such killer dungeons were rare. Yes, they received a lot of power when a soul was extinguished, but once a dungeon was known to be a killer, people stopped going inside. Guards were either set up around it to deal with dungeon leaks, or higher grade adventurers would be tasked with clearing it every so often. Either way, the core wouldn't receive much power after that, and usually that led to it having to travel somewhere far away and set up again. There were stories of some famous killers that had been spotted on multiple planets throughout their sector of the universe. At the end of the day, a dungeon could grow much faster by being challenging, but not fatal. It was an almost symbiotic relationship. Killer dungeons were more like parasites that killed the host. Short term gain, but then the parasite died too.

"Well, that's gonna make things interesting. Assuming I can manage to clear this thing, what do I do about it? I could run through it every few weeks, I suppose, but I don't know that anyone else could handle it. Setting guards isn't a good option since that would tie up one of my two real adventuring parties. None of the villagers are ready for this level of threat."

"I'm sure you'll figure something out. You've actually shown yourself to be pretty good at finding solutions to crazy problems." There was no sarcasm or irony in her tone, she was giving him an honest complement. Nice, but not very helpful.

"Any suggestions from my much-more-worldly partner?"

"I may have been around longer than you, and seen more of what is possible in the Network, but issues like this are not something I have ever had to deal with. You're on your own here. You got this!" The last was delivered with what Alan felt was a false sense of cheer.

During their conversation, Alan had determined that the portal was clear. Aether, aura, and visual reading had come up with nothing suspicious. Stepping forward he activated it and found himself once again in a stoneworked room with a wooden door. The smell had changed from the graveyard smell of the fifth floor, but the first room had always had a rather neutral smell. He wouldn't know what he was going to face until he opened the door, which he wasn't going to do right away.

This time there was an obvious trap, at least to his skill. A wire was wrapped through the hinges on the side of the door. Opening it would no doubt cause something terrible to happen. He hadn't seen this particular trigger before, but the constant presence of traps was becoming repetitive.

"You know Tamee, if the dungeon took a floor or two off with the traps, it might lull me into a false sense of security."

Her only response was a snort, but another voice in his head had more to say.

I still can't figure out who or what this Tamee is, but that's not a bad idea.

"Hey, I know you heard me that time. You like my idea?"

Alan was met with silence as the core once again tried to ignore him. He had stopped trying to talk to it out loud and only was sending his thoughts. It could clearly hear his words, but Alan could actually see a reaction in the aether when he spoke telepathically. The lack of a response was typical, but this time he wasn't going to play along.

"I'm not moving from this spot until you acknowledge that you can hear me."

It really does seem to be trying to talk with me. Why would I converse with an ant? Its threat is funny, though, I have nothing but time and it will soon starve.

"Yes, I'm trying to talk with you, you heartless, worthless core. And I have plenty of food to last me months. And all the while I'm sitting here in your safe room, you won't get a chance to kill me!"

Alan didn't actually know if that was true. Cores could make changes to their dungeons, and sometimes tried to punish adventurers who got too greedy. This one seemed like it was trying its best to kill him anyway, so what more could it do? Alan wasn't stupid enough to say that last thought out loud of course. No point in dragging Murphy into this. He also wasn't planning on sitting around for months, but he could give it a couple of days to see if this core could lose its patience. It ended up taking no time at all.

How dare you speak to me like that! I am a higher being and you are a worthless human.

"Ha! You definitely spoke to me that time. And if I'm a worthless human, then how come I'm kicking your butt?" It was only after the words were out of his mouth, or brain, that he remembered that he probably didn't want to antagonize it too much.

You may have gotten lucky so far, but you will soon fall. Then your energy will be mine!

"About that, why are you so dead set on killing me? Other dungeons aren't like that."

What other dungeons do is no concern of mine. For thousands of years I have grown strong off the death of your kind, and I will continue to do so for thousands of years after you have turned to dust.

"Hey Tamee, how long do dungeons usually last?"

"Are you done standing around now?" Alan had forgotten that she couldn't hear his conversation. "That's hard to say. Network dungeons usually last a few decades, or maybe a couple of centuries before they grow strong enough to be moved to a higher task. At a certain point they can become part of a Tutorial. That's huge for the main dungeon, but no one really knows what happens to the others."

"I have it on good authority that if this is as strong as you've gotten after thousands of years, then you're doing this wrong."

What? Is that what this Tamee thing said? Well they don't know what they are talking about, and I will no longer converse with someone who says such disrespectful things.

It seemed like Alan had pushed a little too hard. He had managed to get his first response by badgering it, but it seemed that would only work for so long. Well, he would probably get a chance to talk to the core again after this level, so there was no point in pushing things more at the moment. Time to get moving again.

After checking the trap, he found it easy to disarm simply by cutting the part of the wire that went into the hinge. That was another sign that something was off here. Most of the traps were rather elementary in design. He didn't have a lot of experience with traps in the Network, but it was something he had gone through several trainings for back in the Army. It shouldn't be this easy to bypass them.

Opening the door, he was confronted with a stone corridor, this time stretching in both directions. Taking a deep breath, he caught the smell of rotting flesh and powdered bone again. It seemed like this would be another undead floor, although there were some other scents that he couldn't quite place. Well, hopefully this one wouldn't take too long, and soon he would be out of this crazy place.