During the night, Zelik Molotov’s cacophony was amplified when another thunderstorm rolled in. The weather ensured that nobody could escape the fae’s punishment upon the household. Unless we wished to be soaked to the bone, we were to be stuck indoors.
For the most part, the newly replaced roof held, though it leaked in a few spots. My undead Minions rotated positions during their graveyard shifts. At least one of the boys would be upstairs to routinely empty out rain buckets and attempt to calm the domovoy. While the other two would work downstairs in B2–digging out a new guest bedroom–since Bonny would need a quiet place to sleep eventually.
Bonny and I huddled in the cellar, since the Gramophone helped to marginally drown out Zelik's tantrum. The witch girl was curled up in an armchair next to the bookcase, reading a heavy leather book. She was bathed in warm lantern light and the soft glow of Witchpyre candles. Noodle drooped over the back of the chair and Tiptap was curled up in the center of the rug. Rain pattered in the distance and the steady beat of mining echoed from below.
A delightful barbershop harmony, “Mr. Sandman,” by the Chordettes, scratched along on the record player.
The scene was almost cozy.
Almost.
"Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream"
BANG BANG BANG BANG!
"Make him the cutest, that I've ever seen"
CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG!
"Give him two lips like roses and clover"
BANG BANG BANG BANG!
"Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over"
"NO CAT! GET AWAY!"
CLANG!
"Sounds like Mischief is managing him quite well," Bonny observed.
“Mischief’s a good girl,” I remarked. “For the most part. She just needs an outlet for her criminal tendencies."
"AAAH! NO! BAD CAT!!"
A hint of a smile reflected in Bonny’s eyes as she turned the page.
I was Knitting within my favorite rocking chair, which Spinemess had kindly relocated to the cellar for me. The sweet dryad had even given my chair a gentle nudge to get it rocking. That had been nice of them. Even if it felt a tad infantilizing. It was still frustrating that I couldn’t physically move objects with my avatar. There were times when I missed being a fleshy human.
I reminded myself that I might be treated worse if I was still a human. The older one gets, the more the younger folks tend to treat their senior citizens like children. Especially when those fogies get around the age where they might have to start wearing diapers in nursing homes.
I shivered.
Being a Dungeon Core felt like an overall improvement over dealing with all that. It had perks. Like being able to destroy and create matter at whim.
Unfortunately, the awful weather put a damper on a couple of my home improvement plans for the night. My secret escape tunnel would have to wait until the storm cleared out, since I didn’t want to risk flooding the basement. But I could still lay down the groundwork. I finished Casting off a thick Leyline that to the surface.
Hmm… The escape route will need to be hidden…
I decided to top off the future exit point with a cute circle of shrubberies.
You know what? Sure. I could use a pick-me-up. I didn’t see the harm in gambling on shrubs. And maybe I’d get lucky by high-rolling a ‘20.’
A twenty-sided die rolled within my window screen, numbered from one to twenty.
It landed on ‘2.’
Two points of Mana drained from my reserves and a full shrubbery grew into existence. A cute little one with cherry laurels.
What a bargain! Truly, the house always wins!
I had come a long way from passing out from trees. I regretted not rolling the dice when I ‘purchased’ a new stove. That certainly would have been a good time to ask for a senior discount…
My shrub looked a little lonely, so I made three additional shrubberies and accepted all three offers to roll the dice.
Each time I held my avatar’s nonexistent breath as I watched the dice roll, knowing that I was risking my waking hours for a few Mana coupons.
None of the dice rolled above a ‘4.’ Three additional shrubs of various sizes bloomed into existence, creating a lovely hidden pathway.
The Skill brought me down to a total of three Mana. I resisted the urge to intentionally knock myself out by rolling the dice again. While it was tempting to snooze through the domovoy’s unusual punishment, it wouldn’t be fair to the others. Rain or shine, we were in this together. And truth be told, I didn’t want to abuse Gamblecraft and risk becoming an addict. I wanted to reserve hitting the slots as a special treat, so I wasn’t too concerned about getting this Skill up to a higher level. Rolling the dice was a reward in itself.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Having fun increasing your Skill levels?” Bonny asked.
“How could you tell?” I asked.
“You were smiling,” she said. Her sunken eyes peeked over the dusty tome. It looked like heavy reading. Literally. The book looked like it could be used as a bludgeoning weapon.
I blushed. Curse these bad mortal habits! Think fast!
“I’m so close to getting all my Skills to level 10.”
“What’s left?” She asked as she turned another page. Talk about speed reading! Was that a Skill? I wanted that!
“Mana Sweeping and Soul Stroll, mostly. There’s not much I can do about either in this weather. I thought about walking laps around the yard with my avatar, but I don’t exactly feel up to jogging through rain for Skills levels. Leyline Knitting has only one point to go, so I’m working on that now.”
I followed one of my Dungeon’s jellyfish tendrils down to the deepest levels. I continued to Knit that Leyline further into the mountain, making sure to go slowly and carefully.
“Fair enough,” she replied. A moment passed where we just listened to the cottage ambience, interspersed with fae screeching. After a beat, Bonny changed the subject, her voice casual. “So… when are you going to tell me about this world you came from?”
The record scratched and skipped.
“Sandman, I'm so alone”
“Don’t have-”
“Don’t have-”
The Gramophone did that sometimes. I wasn’t sure why. Dirt, probably. One would think that magical music players would be immune to such issues.
After a moment, the malfunctioning device corrected itself all on its own.
“Don't have nobody to call my own”
“It’s nothing special,” I said, matching her casual tone.
“Ethel, It’s another world. That you came from.”
“It’s just another rock spinning in space,” I replied.
“You can’t bring it up, then play coy. You had a family! Do you miss them?”
“Nice try. I’ll tell you when you’re older.”
“What's that supposed to mean?”
“See what I mean?”
“Wha- Ethel, I’m twenty-two years old. Why don’t you want to talk about this?"
The record player skipped once again, this time getting stuck in a loop.
“Would be so peachy before we're too old”
“-too old”
“-too old”
“-too old”
Bonny sighed, struggled out of her reading nook, and went over to fix the record player. She picked up the disc, inspected it, softly blew across the surface, then shrugged before resetting the device. The tune resumed shortly before the malfunction occurred.
The girl was remarkably tech savvy. At least, tech savvy compared to me. This type of invention didn't even exist in this world (as far as I knew), yet she was already shooting down the trouble.
Before she could press me further on the topic, Jellybee walked into the cellar and saluted. “The guest bedroom is ready, Miss Kettleflar,” he announced.
Nice save, Minion!
“Thank you, Jellybee,” Bonny said. “I’ll be down shortly.”
“Yes, thank you kindly. I’m sure the mistress will appreciate it. She looks absolutely plum tuckered out.” I winked dramatically.
Jellybee simply tilted his head and scratched at his hat.
“Fine. I’ll retire for the night,” Bonny grumbled. She pointed at me, “But don't think you’ve squirmed your way out of this.”
Jellybee escorted her down the hall, leaving me alone with the two cats. Ironically, Zelik began to quiet as soon as she left. Thank God.
I listened to the scratchy song come to a close–the Gramophone stylus automatically lifted–and I continued to Knit, enjoying a few good minutes of near silence. The only sound was of the record disc softly spinning upon the turntable.
“Us and our big mouths, eh?” I asked the two cats.
Tiptap responded by cocking her head to the side. And Noodle meowed before flopping over into the armchair.
Finally without distractions, I continued my project of expanding my Dungeon boundaries. All my previous Skill levels helped with my speed and quality, but that didn't always equate to ease. Especially compacted soil and layers of stone required more concentration. Mana tended to flow better through air. Stitch by Stitch, I delved into the deep earth and threaded my way through the layers of ancient history. Along the way I found copious mineral deposits. Particularly of calcium carbonate and limestone, which continued to drip down and down, solidifying into what appeared to be...
Stalactites.
Ain’t that swell. I Leyline Knitted myself into some sort of underground cave.
I breathed in the stale, open air and basked in the primordial peace of water droplets and darkness.
And look, aren’t those…?
Yes! Teeny, chittering bats!
I was interrupted by a System notification.
I smiled at achieving this goal, then shifted my focus back to spelunking. I wasn’t done with leveling up this Skill quite yet. I had to indulge my curiosity. Rather than continuing further downwards or Knitting a blanket over enough space to form a Dungeon “room,” I followed along the cave’s ceiling as a thin Leyline thread. Here, in the open cave with more Mana flow, I had a degree of finesse over my Skill. I figured that as long as I didn’t run into any more orphworms I would be fine. Any other monsters I might encounter on the ceiling, like a giant bat or ravenous algae, weren't likely capable of getting to my Core when it was so far away.
I weaved my way around moist speleothems, slimy columns, and mossy drapery. The cavern went on and on. I lost myself in the geological exploration.
This wasn’t just some damp hole in the ground. I had stumbled into a vast–
I jumped as thunder rumbled across the dark sky far above and the cottage itself trembled, jolting me out of my brief trance.
The Bone Spur Gramophone scratched to life somehow.
“...Tell him that his lonesome nights are over”
“Oh, for the love of-”
I cut myself off as a shadow emerged from the cellar ceiling. Like an ethereal spider, it crawled down the wall and stopped right before me.
“Can’t you hear it?” He asked, softly. The domovoy’s wide eyes reflected eerily in the flickering candlelight.
“What?” I asked back. “Hear what, Zelik?”
“Knocking,” he whispered. “At the door.”
I listened.
And heard it.
Thundering. Echoing. Reverberating.
Another song began. One that rode upon shock-waves of Leylines.
The primordial peace shattered. The bat colony took flight. Stalactites and columns near me quivered.
I found it. The other Dungeon.
And, like I expected, it lacked any semblance of subtlety.
I stopped expanding my boundaries. I put down my needles and simply observed. As far as I knew, the other Dungeon hadn't found me yet. I couldn't see it. It couldn't see me. But I could hear it. Loud and clear. And I could see the light show it was putting on.
A wicked, white crescent moon of electronic light filled the entire space of the cavern below me. Like a disco ball strung up into a smile.
I winced as another Leyline wave crashed upon my rocky shores.
This close, the Dungeon was so loud!
The white moon warbled and spiked like an audio visualizer wave. An amplified voice came from everywhere. It was young and masculine, but distorted with static and dropped through some sort of sound filter. It felt like trying to listen to a sport broadcast on the wrong radio frequency.
“My, my, my, my! What have we here? An invisible wall?” The white Cheshire smile shifted to bloody red. “I wonder who put that there?”
Skill grinding time was officially over.
I could no longer afford to dilly-dally. I had to level up. Immediately.
Current up to date Status Screen:
MERRIWEATHER DUNGEON
GEOBLOOM CORE (LEVEL 5)
MANA CAPACITY: 3/20
MANA RENEWAL RATE: 3
TRAP INTEGRITY: N/A
AVAILABLE SKILLS:
GAMBLECRAFTING (LVL 4)
GARDENCRAFTING (LVL 11)
LEYLINE KNITTING (LVL 10)
MANA SWEEPING (LVL 7)
SOUL STROLL (LVL 8)
UNLOCKED POWERS:
BRITTLE BONES AURA
ELEMENTAL AFFINITY (CONNECTION)
IN RECORD TIME
PYREPLACE SIMMER
SCRAPBOOK SOULSTEW
TITLES GAINED:
HOMEWRECKER
NAMED MINIONS TAB:
ZELIK MOLOTOV, FAE DOMOVOY (LVL 1)
LUCILLE SQUALL, DEMONIC PLUSH GOLEM (LVL 4)
SPINEMESS, UNDEAD BONE MAGE (LVL 4)
JELLYBEE, UNDEAD SKELETON SAPPER (LVL 5)
TIPTAP, UNDEAD SHADOW CAT (LVL 5)
JIMBO-NO, UNDEAD SKELETON BRIGAND (LVL 6)
RINAFEN, DRYAD SPIRIT (LVL 8)