บท 45: Caving Out The Caves
'You know, although I like the fighting, the thrill of a mighty opponent... Sometimes I hate this place to my bones. The Architect really knows how to get to you quite often. Seriously if the rewards weren't as generous as the danger, I might have quite long ago.'
-A snippet from a conversation regarding The Great Dungeon. 38 AA.
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Lan was digging away at the rock and stone in his way. Ground flowed like water, away from where Lan didn't want it, compressing into the walls of the created tunnels, making them tougher, but that didn't make further reinforcement unnecessary. On the contrary, if Lan didn't want the whole thing collapsing later down the line, reinforcement was a must.
Nevertheless, Lan was digging. He was digging without a proper layout or a plan in mind, which was probably a problem, but the creative freedom and acquired space made him tune it to the back of his mind.
Curiously enough, Lan was also digging several tunnels going in various directions at the same time, all thanks to his thinking channels. The overall theme he was going for was a 'Cavernous Maze', as back when he was messing around with the layout of the Second Floor, he vowed to make the next one a maze.
Though he didn't completely abide by that vow by making the Third Floor a jungle, now was the time to fulfill it.
He had plenty of space to make it, two hundred meters in depth and possible kilometers in length, the options were many. And thanks to the option of making the tunnel go up or down being present, this maze could be three-dimensional.
Still, just the corridors and tunnels by themselves would be quite boring, as there would be no proper space for combat. So, Lan's DM memories awakening in the hazy mist that were his human memories, an idea immediately came into being.
'Just like the Second Floor, the path has to occasionally widen to allow for combat encounters. But this time an open room won't mean being the correct path forward.'
Only some of the combat rooms would be Places of Power, and among those selected, some would be placed in dead ends, their mana nonetheless beckoning any attuned enough to it.
Lan was feeling pretty evil as he was designing this, as he knew that human exploration parties' navigation often heavily relied on Mages and their mana sensitivity. Some among the Rangers were proficient in tracking, true, but Mages didn't require as much training to be the team's navigator.
In this maze, with Mana being especially dense due to this being a particularly enclosed environment, Places of Power were all over the place, Mana current running from below being nearly indistinguishable from the other Places of Power.
So if the teams in question didn't have a proficient tracker or a Mage with them, then they could possibly wander for quite a while, not finding an exit.
As he was thinking that, one of his channels of thought finished carving out a chamber of moderate size at the end of one of the tunnels which split off from the one that came from the boss room on the third floor, and quickly began reinforcing the walls of it with Earth mana.
After that, rocky 'steps' were carved on the wall opposing the entrance, and a Mana Crystal was formed on the very top of it. What followed was a gathering of moisture which caused water droplets to become visible in the air, the crystal beginning to shine in pale blue. A Water Crystal was made, and a stream of water began to trickle from it, forming a small waterfall running down the carved 'steps'.
Making a Place of Power so close to the entrance into the maze served multiple purposes. First of all, it being so close made the mana feel potent, throwing off the Mages right from the start. Second of all, it being of Water Mana made a source of water available in the maze, both for humans and beasts, though it would probably be often contested.
As Lan's other channels of thought continued to carve their own tunnels, this one in particular finished up the chamber, watching as moss covered the stone where the water flowed, and some mushrooms sprouted in corners of the room. Truly these buggers were everywhere. The first dweller soon arrived, in the form of a spider about thrice as big as a tarantula.
Though this size was unimpressive by this era's standards, the fella was already busy with its web, spinning it right above the Water Crystal.
Meanwhile, another thought channel was finishing up carving out another chamber along the way. But this one was rather different, being on the correct path downward. It was previously part of the diagonal tunnel which originally connected the third floor and the Core Room, but now this particular segment was widened and heightened, this chamber being lengthy as well.
As the somewhat oval shape took form, Lan was already reinforcing it, and as that process came to an end, Lan tried making something he hadn't before.
But he had made things similar to what he was currently doing. And the things he was trying to make were the trademark of any old-looking cave: Stalagmites and Stalactites. The names were quite similar, the only difference being which one was the top and which one was the bottom, Lan didn't remember that part well but it was irrelevant.
Lan had made pillars before, and making something that was essentially a shorter and sharper pillar required only a slight change to the sequence.
He dragged Earth Mana up and down, Mental mana flowed as well, reinforcing the image he wanted to carve out with the one present in his Imagination. Sharp spikes rose up from the ground and down from the ceiling, the cave now resembling a maw of some beast with how many appeared.
Lan made the earthen spikes of various lengths, both longer and shorter stalagmites, and stalactites appearing at the sides of the chamber. But Lan didn't want this chamber to be some glorified corridor, so he also made some points in the chamber where the spikes from opposing sides met, creating something like a pillar, being rather thin in the middle.
Also, the especially high stalagmites (which he remembered were the spikes from the ground), formed what was de facto a wall of spikes, looking cool, sturdy, and overall not being a place you would want to be on top of.
That particular thought channel of Lan's appreciated his own work, the chamber now looking like one of those caves he saw on Country Geographic or some other documentary about subterranean things. But for a Dungeon cave, it was still lacking.
For example, without lights, it would be hard to appreciate it. Though the lack of lighting would be yet another type of challenge for any explorer, Lan had plenty of intentionally lightless places in the maze he was making, so he cut some slack on this one.
It didn't take long for him to form a set of Mana Crystals, but as he was wondering which type of light to create, he realized that he never tried combining Earth and Light mana, or tried making Earth mana-based lights in the first place. So...
'Why the hell not?'
There was plenty of Earth mana underground, who would have thought, so it didn't take long for half of the Crystal to become filled with it, making it seem like a topaz, only giving off a weak glow. Light mana was taking longer to gather due to a distinct lack of light. On the contrary, Lan sensed plenty of shadow mana here.
'Shadow... In the darkness... How ingenious. But shadows are cast when light is present, right? Technically the underground is covered in shadows as light is held by the surface...'
While Lan was waiting for Light Mana to gather, random thoughts wandering through that particular split part of his mind, he noticed something interesting. Shocking even.
'Did I... See that right?'
As Light Mana gathered, a peculiar thing was happening to Shadow Mana around it. The Shadow Mana, as the darkness receded and light appeared, it didn't disappear along with the darkness, no, it stayed. And it changed.
Into Light Mana.
This entire process shocked Lan, as he didn't expect that at all. In the first place, the light that was created seemingly out of nowhere was a result of some interaction between his Mental Mana and Shadow Mana particles. Under the influence of his mind the Shadow particles 'switched' to Light particles, thus generating light.
Lan couldn't exactly comprehend why that happened, as he thought of Shadow and Light as two different, completely opposite elements, fantasy novels he had previously read throughout his life maybe taking a part in such a mindset. But this discovery subverted his understanding.
'...So, two sides of the same coin, huh? I thought Light Mana was connected to photons in some way, but it appears that magic science and regular science don't always match. Well, it is not like I was some nerd or scientist, so it doesn't change much for me, but I can only imagine how it would the egghead mages from the surface. Heh.'
Lan admitted that he wasn't exactly the smartest one out there, but it is always satisfying to look at someone trying to find the answer that you already know. Like when your friend plays through your favorite game for the first time.
Still, the fact that Light and Shadow Mana, which he decided to keep calling that way as it was easier to understand, could switch around just like that, made some questions come up.
'So if I have a Mana Crystal filled with Light Mana... Can I 'switch' it to Shadow Mana?'
Lan focused on the Earth-Light Crystal that he created, and commanded, sending out his Mental Mana, to 'switch'. Though he wasn't sure how exactly his Mental Mana would interact, he had a hunch it would work.
And just like that, the glow of the light-filled crystal began to dim. That light soon turned into darkness as the Mental Mana seeped through it. But then, out of Lan's expectations, it didn't simply end up as a light-absorbing crystal, instead, it interacted with Earth mana contained within.
The Shadow Mana seeped into the Earth Mana, and as a result of such an interaction, darkness seemed to creep out of the Crystal. It spread along the wall it was on, and it reached as far as the ground, forming a spherical space where stone mixed with shadow, the two being indistinguishable.
Just as Lan was wondering what the heck was going on, a lizard about a meter in size passed by that shadowy patch of rock. Just as it stepped into the abnormal zone, it seemed to have lost all coordination in its movements. It flailed wildly, its limbs being in chaos.
Lan wondered what happened to it, and peeked through the mental link present between them. The small critter's mind was filled with confusion, and Lan soon found out why. The lizard didn't seem to feel its limbs or any part of the body that touched the ground.
The sudden loss of sensation caused the small animal to be incapable of proper movement, thoroughly confusing it. Lan having a hunch on the cause of the whole predicament, 'switched' the light back on.
The shadows receded as the Shadow turned to Light, and sure enough, as the shadow zone disappeared, the lizard regained its senses and hurriedly went away from the location.
'Alright, that proves it. Shadow plus Earth means say-goodbye-to-your-toes zone.'
The combination of the two types of mana was quite peculiar, and the produced effect was quite interesting as well.
'Shadow by itself takes away your ability to see. I've previously tested dense concentrations of Shadow Mana, they caused even animals with night vision to lose their sight. But this combination with Earth Mana also seems to take away the sense of touch. Is Earth Mana related to tactile senses in any way..?'
Taking a note for himself to research this interaction in greater detail sometime later, Lan continued.
'Well, this might make for a nice trap should I- No, when I make some. Any good dungeon should have traps. Hell, I might add some to this very floor. But... Lights come first.'
With his discovery of the Shadow-Light switcheroo, Lan didn't make the rest of the illumination, so he began making up for it. Mana Crystals were formed sparsely across the chamber, filling it with dim light, but with plenty of shadows still being all over. One wouldn't want to take away all the predator's hiding spots.
Another boon of the lights was the fact that they, being a Mana Crystal, along with just how many there were, made this chamber yet another Place of Power, with Mana being concentrated yet dispersed throughout. Such a place would surely attract more than one beast thirsting for it.
Along with the increase of Mana, vegetation sprung up as well, completing the basic ambiance. All that remained were some bats and water dripping down the stalactites for a fully convincing scene. But this particular chamber was overall done.
Along another tunnel, Lan decided to add a touch of horror to it. At first, he thought of making some sort of stone hands reach out from the walls, but that seemed a little... Unoriginal, though he didn't know why exactly. He wanted something else.
In the end, he decided that a superficial decoration would not fit into the overall theme of the fourth floor, so he chose something else. Out from the walls and ceiling of that tunnel, he carved out many small openings which led to a network of similarly small tunnels and chambers which he made very quickly due to how small they were.
And in that network, he placed Mana Crystals filled with Earth mana. They were absolutely tiny, even tinier than his Core when he first awakened, but they corresponded to the size of the expected recipients. Bugs and insects.
Lan's devious idea was for many creepy crawlies to settle in the walls and the ceiling, and when something large enough to disturb them passed through the big tunnel, they would crawl out en masse. Though they wouldn't be much of a threat (supposedly), the creepy factor would be at an all-time high.
In yet another tunnel carved by yet another part of Lan's mind, he decided to make the most primitive of traps: a spike pit. Even if one noticed it, the explorer would have to think of a way to cross it due to the narrowness of the Tunnel. Lan was feeling quite devious.
And as the idea of spike traps appeared, it brought along many ideas for the 'intermission chambers', chambers with no particular intended combat encounter.
Lan remembered some of the games he used to play. A game that was something about sentient bugs and their underground kingdom, was a platformer that obviously employed spike pits in its many parkour segments. So, Lan wondered, why not have a parkour chamber?
As the idea came, he carved out a particularly deep chamber along one of the tunnels. He then raised up many pillars from the bottom and to the level where the entrance to it was. Lan spaced them out a bit within the distance a bit bigger than that of a human's jump. He did this because he saw that the Crystals enhanced the human physique, making them ascend beyond the mundane limits.
As he spaced them out, some of the platforms being wider than others, at the finish he made the widest platform, and in the center of it - a pedestal.
'Though this chamber's off-course, I've gotta motivate someone to complete it nonetheless. At the end of a challenge, there is a reward. Or maybe a lure from another perspective. Still... Let There Be Loot!'
Lan quickly flipped through things that would be valuable to humans, and the only thing he found on top of the list were Mana Crystals. Heat Crystals in particular were as of yet unobtainable because none of his Guardians possessed Heat affinity. So the reward was decided.
Lan quickly condensed a Heat Crystal, placing it atop the pedestal. Not quite satisfied with the look of it, he shaped out a chest made of stone around it, embellishing the container with swirly and pretty carvings. Though it looked grey, it was stylish. And he also added proper hinges, so it would open normally... Probably.
He then added a light shining from the ceiling in the form of a spherical Earth-Light Crystal, which was held by two hands made of stone, the style being different due to the nature of the room. Finally, Lan created sharp spikes at the bottom of the pit where one would fall in case of failure.
He didn't add any water, as he made this chamber not to cater to humans, but to reward them for risking their life. This was no children's playground, no second chances. If one survived the fall, one would have to get up by their own means or be helped by teammates.
Though survival was unlikely in case of a fall.
Lan continued on with the digging of tunnels after that, or rather he never stopped in the first place, doing many things simultaneously. Chambers both with Places of Power, spike traps, or other devious things that would hamper an already challenging descent were being added one after another.
For example in one of the tunnels, he made no regular downward-curving path, but instead a vertical drop, with only a hoop in the ceiling of the vertical tunnel signifying that one should possess a rope. But he also added a pool of water at the bottom of it by briefly making a Water Crystal before removing it.
If someone was foolish enough to jump down relying on the safety of water, they would be disappointed by a sharp surprise from below. Even with a rope, one would have to descend cautiously if one didn't want to get their boots wet or pierced.
The funny thing was, this was part of a correct path.
If the previous three floors were like an introduction, then this was a proper welcome. Lan started properly exploring his creative and sadistic capabilities by making such a maze, though he didn't know how long it would have to wait for its first visitor.
But that's how it was. The ones exploring the dungeon didn't often think just how much effort the DM put into making it. So the DM evened it out by enjoying their struggling.
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