Tree of Aeons

Interlude - The Dungeons

It had been said that the first time an Order operative visited one of the higher tier Aeon-managed dungeons was an experience to remember. Unlike lower tier dungeons, meaning those below level 100, the higher tier dungeons were unique in how dense their magical fields were. 

The first time someone walked into one of these higher tier dungeons, they would be assaulted with a magical presence from worlds so foreign and different. It was known, amongst the void mages especially, that this was because the dungeons operated like scaled down versions of worlds, and the dungeons 'pulled' the monsters and treasures within them from the void. So, the stronger the dungeon, the logic also presumed that the dungeon 'pulled' its inhabitants from further away, from stranger places, and from places of far stronger inherent magic.

As a result, it also came with a cacophony of unusual senses, scents, and images. 

"Are you alright?" Novorosk asked as Murien, the dragonling from his team, trembled. His scales shivered, and his spear seemed to waver. He was now Level 85, and it was his first time into the dungeon deep within Treehome, made from the joining of two ley lines.

Somewhere in the Central continent, a location that was mostly classified to anyone outside of the Order, is a place where one of Aeon's dungeons were pushed to high levels, that they reach level 100 or more. 

"I- I will be. But this feels so familiar and so oppressive." It had been said amongst the Order that Aeon's high tier dungeons were also an exercise in emptying the mind, because for some strange reason it almost felt as if these high-tier dungeons could read minds and plans and would work to counter plans before they were even implemented. Rumors, of course. Novorosk personally had seen plans that worked, but it was a frustrating experience for first timers who often found their well-made plans crumble on first contact with the dungeons. 

The dungeon spawned an earth wyrm the size of ten truckbeetles and with a hard carapace around its skin that resembled crystals. It was rated around Level 100 or so. 

Murien looked at Novorosk for support, and Novorosk shrugged. "You deal with it. I'll be here watching."

Murien frowned. "I was hoping for something easier."

"Fury doesn't work so well against heavily armed monsters, but you know that already." Novorosk smiled. The dungeon pulled a monster that countered Murien's furious strikes. The environment around them was also creepily on-point, because it looked like one of the vast rocky fields from Nogath, Gigantadragon, where Murien grew up. "Good luck."

Murien approached the creature and engaged it in combat. 

***

"Been a while since I've seen you around, Captain Novorosk. Bringing one of your whelps, I see?" Archmage Blackmoore stood at the side and watched. It was a point of amusement for Aeon, who previously couldn't intervene or specifically customize the dungeon, that he discovered that the dungeon itself somehow created viewing areas for 'visitors'. In fact, the contents of the dungeon was still entirely determined by the dungeon itself. All Aeon could do was set parameters.

Amongst the mages, this specific dungeon behavior only reinforced the idea that the dungeon was not 'creating' monsters, but just taking monsters with matching qualities from the void and giving them form. 

"Ah yes. It is the young ones' turn. Murien's been with us for over twenty years now, and it is time he graduated to the bigger and harder stuff. They've pulled you out of Magisar, I see?"

"Not fully. I am still on rotation to Magisar, but there are new archmages that can do what I do."

"They don't have your levels."

"In time."

"Have you visited the new Dungeonworld?" Novorosk asked. The battle between Murien and the earthwyrm wasn't going so well. He was getting beaten up. He had been on a decent winning streak, and a failure would do him well.

"Yes. I have."

"Did it help?"

"In some ways, yes, but I believe it will take a while. You should visit."

"I thought there was a queue."

"A queue to enter. But not to visit."

"Oh."

"I believe a few of your old friends call Dungeonworld their new temporary home."

"Wait, who?"

"Come, let's go and visit after this. I have an appointment anyway."

***

Dungeonworld's dungeons were located deep underground, the earth itself reshaped into a massive cavern that should not have existed in any other situation. The cavern was large enough that it was ten times the size of the Valley of the Unrotten, and the roof of the cavern was so high that there were local weather patterns generated by the magically-sustained vegetation that populated the cavern. Due to the immense magical power that now concentrated in this particular cavern, the vegetation was crystalline in nature, and somehow, all of them were purple. ＲἈℕôΒĘş

Thus, it was named the Purple Cavern by the Order. 

The other cavern, where the other dungeon titan was located not too far away, was named the Yellow Cavern for similar reasons. 

The entrance to the dungeon was located on top of a relatively small pedestal, and the shape and form of the entrance itself changed every other day. 

Here in the purple cavern, the magical leylines were visible to the naked eye. They were streaks of color that flowed through the rock itself, as if they never obstructed anything, and they focused at the door. 

"Did you know we are already in the Dungeon Titan?" Blackmoore smiled, and that made Novorosk flinch. 

"What?"

"This is the outer part of the Dungeon Titan. This entire cavern is partly its creation, even if its real function is that door." Blackmoore pointed to a door glowing on top of a pedestal that could be seen from any part of the small city that emerged in the field of purple glowing crystal flowers. 

"Is this a trick?" Novorosk asked. 

"Oh no. Not at all."

"He's not exactly correct." One of the void archmages said, and the two archmages locked eyes. Novorosk could sense some kind of rivalry amongst the archmages. He heard that there is an informal race amongst the archmages to be the first [Archmage] domainholder after Lady Stella, The Eminence of The Void. "The Dungeon Titan is a multi-layer existence, and this outer sphere is part of its spiritual field. It has some ability to influence the environment, quite like how a tree can change its surroundings. But to say it is part of the tree is flimsy."

"The argument of whether one's immediate magical and spiritual field is part of a being's existence is still not a truly settled debate." Blackmoore countered.

The two archmages continued to banter some more, though at this point, Novorosk found himself understanding the words used by the two archmages, but unable to follow the meaning and arguments of the conversation.

It was then he saw people he recognized from long ago walking out of one of the relatively new shops located along the small cavern town.

"Commander Argo?" Novorosk blinked as he saw the face of the man who once led the defense of Nunarnusk. 

The elf turned and also stared at him for a few moments. "Novorosk!" 

The two gave each other a brief hug. It was quite rare to bump into fellow Landasians, especially since they lived in different cities. "I did not know you joined the Order."

"It was a fairly recent decision. Beautiful place, is it not? It gives me the same sense of awe as the first time I gazed on the Sacred Cherry Tree in full bloom."

At that point, there was also another familiar face emerging from the door. "Who's that?"

It was a night elf Novorosk met once during the meeting at Treehome, and honestly, Novorosk only remembered her for being the most skeptical of the elven leaders. She blinked, ah. "You must be-"

"Novorosk." 

"Ah. It has been a few decades since we met."

"More than fifty years, actually." Novorosk still didn't remember her name. "My apologies, but I cannot recall your name. You two-"

But they were interrupted by a group of kids. Six of them, all under ten, ran out, and Novorosk immediately noticed the woman's flustered look as she shouted. "Don't run too far!"

"Yes mom!" They all shouted, but they were already gone. 

Argo sighed, and the Captain noticed his eyes remained focused on the kids in the distance. "No worries, I'll go get them later. My apologies, Novorosk, I'll catch up with you later."

"I understand. I also have seven children, so I know what they are like. My fifth and sixth were twins." Novorosk answered.

The two men both shared a moment of understanding. The Landasian repopulation program was quite effective in expanding the population, and he also noticed the presence of two Order-sponsored familial assistants in the house. 

The former Commander Argo was now running after his children at speed, augmented by his skills.

He really should catch up with him and ask him what had happened all this time. It seemed Commander Argo and the Night Elven leader had a blossoming relationship after that meeting. It was perhaps appropriate, as far as he could remember, the Night Elves of Landas were quite status conscious, and there were likely few suitable mates of her status within the now much smaller Night Elven society. 

Even if it has been fifty years.

"Active kids. Argo will be back later." The night elf said. "It's a good thing the Order has people to help us look after them."

"Oh. I went a step further and let them care for my kids in entirety. They live in the Order's communal homes."

"A wise choice. I've placed our eldest few in the communal home, but we've taken a few of them out for a few weeks to visit Dungeonworld. Thought this was something worth seeing, while the two of us are here. Ah yes, you wanted my name. Inialosa, or Inia." 

"Ah. Have you two been together for long?" 

That question made Inia's normally purplish expression redden slightly. "Ah... just the past two decades. After things settled down on Landas, we were also convinced that we had to contribute to the repopulation. The matter of suitable mates brought the two of us together once more."

"Oh. That was later than I expected."

"Our home had to come first."

Novorosk understood their decision well enough. Even Novorosk only got into the scheme much later than most. The two were both leaders of their own cities, Argo of Nunarnusk and Inialosa of the Night Elves. It was their good fortune that things aligned for them to still be able to pursue it after the whole reconstruction program. "Well, I will see you again soon."

"It is pleasant to encounter fellow Landasians, even so far from home."

***

"You should join the Dungeon Parties." Blackmoore said. "Level 120 onwards, you'll get 1 slot every three months. A shame that the dungeon still takes a while to generate powerful opponents, but there are monsters we won't find anywhere else. Even the domainholders, Roon and Johann came quite frequently, especially to find dragons as opponents."

One of the first things built in Dungeonworld's Purple Cavern was naturally a canteen with an attached warehouse and housing for those waiting for their turn. There was a lot of waiting, since the time each party took to complete their turn in the dungeon varied by quite a bit.

Next were the mages that came to study the dungeons, who noticed that the Dungeon Titan was growing in strength. They wanted to observe how this influenced the world. How much of it was attributable to the recovering strength of the former Deadworld's realm core, and how much was actually the effect of the Dungeon's higher levels. 

These Dungeons started at a base of Level 130, and they generated monsters that possessed 'domain' tier strength, without the domains. This meant the dungeons contained creatures like full adult dragons, legendary wyrms, phoenixes, and other creatures of ancient legend, and these were opponents that needed a full party with a strong equipment set to tackle.

Creatures from the so-called 'ancient era'. 

Bit by bit though, Aeon noticed the two Dungeons gaining levels. 

The dungeon gained levels from ambient energies released by fighting, and also by generating monsters. The more combat occurred within it and the more monsters spawned, the more experience it gained. 

It was a self-feeding loop that could easily generate stronger and stronger monsters. According to official reports, the two Purple Cavern and Yellow Cavern dungeons were now Level 137 and Level 135 respectively.

There was a stairway made of crystals that led to the top of the thin pedestal, and on it was the swirling door. Today it took the shape of a glowing purple sun. Some mages were trying to connect the patterns of its appearance to the monsters spawned within, though so far no conclusive theorem had developed from their observation. 

There was nothing stopping anyone from entering the dungeon once they got onto the crystal stairway. There were two high leveled guards placed at the foot of the crystals, mainly to stop children and any non-combatant visitors from wandering into the dungeons, but otherwise, the assumption was everyone here knew what they were getting themselves into.

Novorosk didn't know he was ready yet, in a strange moment of appreciation for what Murien felt in the lower level 100 dungeons. "Well, it seems I forgot what it felt like to stare at a dungeon that is much stronger than myself."

"We don't go in there alone."

"Surely someone tried, if only to test out whether they can ascend to be a domainholder." Novorosk countered. He heard of some rather suicidal behavior from those stuck at the precipice for too long.

Blackmoore's silence was all the confirmation he needed. 

"Has anyone died?"

"A few."

"Darn. It's only been a few years." 

"A few this year." The mage corrected. "It is a shame. Aeon can't help within the dungeons."

Novorosk sighed. The madness of facing a bottleneck infects even the strongest of them. "Well, not me. Matron Selesmene insists that I keep myself alive for a few more decades and continue to be a fertile breeding bull."

Blackmoore laughed at the imagery of Novorosk as an unwilling mating partner. "Ah yes. The repopulation incentives across the other peripheral worlds are quite successful. Even Magisar's population growth has been exemplary."

Novorosk thought about the Matron. "Well, it is all built on the back of the army of caretakers and family assistants. Without them, there's too much for any one person to handle. I am rather amused that children are even allowed here."

"It is somewhat contentious, but there is a belief amongst the Order's leadership that having families and children should not prevent one from visiting such environments. Even if they are dungeons. There are also mages that are trying to observe whether exposure to dense magical environments can stimulate magical development. If it is helpful to magical development, there will be a pilot program to recreate dense mana locations for children to live in."

"Ah." Novorosk can't help but realize everything had a military justification. It was an ethos that permeated the Order. Create environments where the weak can be strong, and the strong can grow and prosper. "I thought the lizardfolks and treefolks were usually the first to go through such programs."

"Let's just say there's some politics at play. Some of the peripheral representatives want to be contributing to development and not be seen as a neglected vassal state."

"How quickly we return to politics after war." Novorosk quipped. The war wasn't even over yet.

"The quest for divine favor is eternal and common across all races."

The supersoldier and domain holder creation process validated everything. 

Blackmoore naturally had commentary of his own. "I personally think there are some mages trying to use the military rationale to justify their personal interests and pursuits."

"I don't think the Order has anything against such alignment of interests." Novorosk nodded, and the Order was not one of separation of life and duty. Duty was their life, and life was duty. It was rather seamlessly integrated. If it could be aligned, it was ideal. 

Spaizzer

My book 7  hits Amazon tomorrow. If you have a kindle, please add it to your library, and leave a review! Link here : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DH7ZYLRZ  

It would really help me.