Chapter 2 - Divine Apostasy Book 4

Chapter 2

Ruwen stepped into a cavern twenty feet to a side. Quartz crystals, like the one he’d just walked through, filled the room at crazy angles. A six-sided prism stood ten feet tall in the center of the room and glowed brightly.

“Fractal, it’s time to decide your focus,” Blapy said.

The prism darkened, and the crystals in the room pulsed with light. The strobing stopped, and a four-foot crystal next to Ruwen grew brighter. A moment later, Fractal appeared on top of it.

The last time Ruwen had seen Fractal, the Dungeon Keeper had been the size of Ruwen’s index finger. Fractal still looked like a mass of crystals smashed together into a humanoid form, but the creature had doubled in size, and now stood as high as Ruwen’s hand.

Fractal bowed to Blapy and then held out a crystal fist toward Ruwen. Ruwen formed a fist and lightly tapped Fractal’s.

“Welcome home,” Fractal said out loud. His voice seemed unnaturally loud here as if the crystals amplified the sound.

Ruwen grinned. “It’s good to be back.”

“How are the new levels coming?” Blapy asked.

“Excellent,” Fractal said.

Blapy looked up at Ruwen. “You’re lucky Fractal is such a hard worker.”

Light swirled inside Fractal, the room filling with fractured light like a storm of rainbows. “Fractal, lucky.”

Blaby got on her tiptoes to look directly at Fractal. “Remember what we talked about. The Dungeon Master works for you. It’s his job to make sure your needs are met.”

Fractal bowed again. “Remember I do. Bring you he did.”

Blapy’s mouth twisted, and her brow furrowed. “That’s true. I guess he did do something right.”

Ruwen felt like he did more than one thing right, but let the comment slide. “What was this focus you mentioned?”

Blapy sat on a chair of crystal that had instantly appeared. “Yes. There are hundreds of varieties, but in general, there are three. A dungeon can focus on loot, experience, or resources. Obviously, it will have all three, but a focus on one will bring a certain type of adventurer.”

“By resources, do you mean things like gems and plants?” Ruwen asked.

Blapy nodded. “Plus metals, elements, essences, rare creatures, basically anything a crafter, merchant, or alchemist would need.”

Ruwen thought about the mobile alchemy lab in his Inventory. The idea of an entire dungeon filled with rare ingredients excited him. “So if Fractal focuses on resources, then we’ll get a lot of Collectors and Gatherers.” That made Ruwen think of Bliz.

“Exactly. The early levels will have creatures that can be managed by a single person. But as a Collector goes deeper into the dungeon, they will need a group to protect them. This is good for the dungeon as a typical group of five will only have four experienced adventurers, since Collectors rarely fight. This increases the death rate and benefits Fractal.”

“That seems good,” Ruwen said.

Blapy nodded. “It will also affect the area around your portal. You will have more merchants and alchemy shops and fewer bars and inns. Tax revenue will suffer at first until the shops get established, and people travel here for rare merchandise.”

“What is the experience focus?” Ruwen asked.

“Each dungeon level will contain far more creatures that are all easier to kill. This encourages area of attack spells and generates experience quickly. These types of dungeons are very popular with adventurers.”

“But if the risk is low fewer die,” Ruwen said.

“Exactly,” Blapy said. “Not only that but reviving all those creatures is expensive for the dungeon. Most area of effect spells waste a lot of Mana, which the dungeon Harvests for free, and this offsets some of the costs. But for the dungeon, the experience focus has the thinnest margins.”

“But its great for the city isn’t it,” Ruwen said as he thought it through. “And not only for taxes. If I want to level my own people, that would be quickest.”

Blapy nodded. “The area around the portal will be filled with inns, taverns, and merchants all catering to the massive groups of visitors there to grind out levels. Tax revenue for the city will be the highest of the three, although again, the added need for city guards and judges offsets these profits a little.”

“What about the third one, loot?” Ruwen asked.

“These are also popular,” Blapy said. “But with a different crowd. Loot seekers are usually higher in level and more careful, which means they die less often. Dungeon levels will have fewer creatures, and that makes them more cost-efficient.”

“Since there are fewer high-level groups, my guess is there are fewer inns, shops, and taverns,” Ruwen said.

“Yes, but offset some by the higher quality of the establishments,” Blapy said. “

Ruwen rubbed his forehead. “I didn’t think a Dungeon Master needed so much business knowledge. I should have picked the Worker’s Steward path.”

Blapy gave him a sympathetic look. “You have no idea what’s coming, do you?”

“What? The invasion? I know about it,” Ruwen said.

Blapy shook her head. “No, I meant the difficult part. Managing your city.”

Ruwen shook his head. That would be easy. He planned on reviving the old city leaders so they could guide him. “So if I have this right, the options are resource, which benefits Fractal the most, has the lowest initial tax revenue, but eventually might be the most profitable. Or experience, which I could use to level my own people and has the highest tax revenue, but benefits Fractal the least. Lastly, there is loot, which fits between the other two.”

“That’s the basics,” Blapy said.

Ruwen looked at Fractal, who had listened quietly. “Do you have a preference?”

Fractal didn’t have a neck but moved from side to side. “Fractal not know.”

Ruwen remembered the prairie dog looking creatures called Stone Diggers that he’d fought here with his camping trip group, and the main cavern had contained some sort of grass. “Do you like making Stone Diggers or grass.”

“Grass,” Fractal said.

Assuming Ruwen and the other Champions successfully repelled the invasion, New Eiru would grow, and would benefit significantly from the tax revenue associated with an experience focused dungeon. It would help the city even before that, since Ruwen could train his own people in the dungeon, quickly leveling them.

An experience focus also posed the most risk to Fractal, which Ruwen wanted to avoid. The loot focus seemed like a good compromise, and Ruwen would have immediately chosen it if Fractal had answered with Stone Digger. But he had preferred the grass.

Ruwen thought of Fractal as a sentient crystal. It made sense that it liked simple living creatures or inanimate things like crystals, gems, and rocks. The resource focus would be the least beneficial to the city, at least in the beginning, but Ruwen didn’t care about that. As Dungeon Master, his obligation was to Fractal.

Ruwen looked at Blapy. “What if we want to change our mind later?”

“It’s possible,” Blapy said. “Dungeons evolve over time, and the longest living ones are a mixture of all three. But initially, it’s harder to change, because levels are constructed to support the focus, and changing them is difficult and resource consuming.”

Ruwen faced Fractal. “I think we should focus on resources. It benefits you the most, and I like the idea of crafters surrounding your portal.”

“Agree you,” Fractal said.

“I do, too,” Blapy said. “Now that we know the focus, I’ll create a proper entrance for Fractal’s portal in New Eiru, and a mechanism for you to provide items to Fractal there. It is much easier to reproduce something than for Fractal to research it on his own. So the more things you feed him, the better.”

Ruwen opened his Void Band, removed the three Dimensional Bladed Blue Iris plants he’d taken from the Spirit Realm, and handed them to Blapy. “How about these?”

Blapy looked up at Ruwen. “You had time to pick flowers as you escaped the Spirit Realm?”

Ruwen shrugged. “Seemed like an opportunity.” He removed the five clumps of Divine Sweetgrass and placed them on top of the flowers. “Those might be useful too.”

A basket appeared, and Blapy placed the items in it. She shook her head at him. “Do you steal from every realm you enter?”

Ruwen’s cheeks warmed. He hadn’t ever considered himself a thief. “Well, lately, I have spent time with some questionable people.”

Blapy narrowed her eyes, and Ruwen concentrated on not smiling.

“Well, I’ll admit those are both extremely rare plants. It’s a good start,” Blapy said. “Anything else?”

“Actually, yes,” Ruwen said. He reached into his Void Band and dropped one of each item into Blapy’s basket.

Flash Seed

Burning Wheat

Blind Nightmare Tear

Vial Purified Rod Spider Blood

Rod Spider Webbing

The Burning Wheat Ruwen had gathered after killing the goblins in the Black Pyramid was still alive, and he realized it answered an important question. Before he’d killed himself in Uru’s temple, he’d removed all the living things from his Void Band. Or he thought he had. He realized now that the Burning Wheat, because its Energy consumption was insignificant, had been left in his Inventory.

That meant living things in Ruwen’s Void Band survived his death.

The Rod Spider Webbing was difficult to give up because it only left Ruwen one. But he hoped Fractal could reproduce the fantastic substance that stopped all Bleed effects. It had saved Sift’s life when Juva had ambushed them.

Getting rid of the iris plants and divine grass freed up eleven Energy per second, which had been a huge drain on Ruwen’s Energy. Now he just needed to get rid of those six boxes that contained the divine Class amulets.

“Okay, that’s it for now,” Ruwen said.

Blapy rolled her eyes. “Now, you two need to name your dungeon.”

Ruwen faced Fractal again. Good names were hard. “Is there anything consistent in your levels?”

Fractal bobbed back and forth in thought. “Rays.”

“What do you mean by that?” Ruwen asked.

“Move I can. Sunshine be,” Fractal said.

“He means the crystal veins that run throughout the dungeon. He uses them for light, spying, and travel.” Blapy rubbed Fractal’s head. “He is very clever.”

When Ruwen had first entered Fractal, Big D had placed a bright shaker against the crystal embedded in the wall. It had lit up the entire cavern in a crisscrossed mass of brilliant threads, as if from a hundred tiny suns. Or maybe like one sun that had splintered into a hundred pieces. 

And Ruwen had given Fractal that name because the crystal creature loved the rainbows created from fractured light, which gave Ruwen an idea for a possible name.

Ruwen let variations of his idea race around his thoughts until he settled on his favorite. “What about, Shattered Sun.”

Fractal stopped moving. “Shattered Sun. Resonates with Fractal.”

Blapy tilted her head. “Not bad. Exploding stars seed the Universe with the precious metals Collectors will come here to mine. Sunshine feeds the many plants here, and as you already know, Fractal loves prismatic light. I like the name.”

Ruwen’s right wrist burned, and he looked down. The simple hexagonal prism faded away, and a new mark appeared: a deep yellow-orange circle covered in dark rifts shone brightly as hundreds of lightrays escaped the star’s destruction. It even felt hot on his wrist.

“That’s beautiful,” Ruwen said.

“Thank you,” Blapy replied.

Ruwen’s map pulsed yellow, and he opened it. The Dungeon tab located here had previously been labeled a generic: Dungeon. Now it read: Shattered Sun.

Ruwen opened the tab and looked at the summary:

Shattered Sun Tier: 38

Shattered Sun State: Fair

Dungeon Keeper Fractal State: Very Good

Blapy had only been with Fractal for a few days, but the Dungeon’s State had moved from “Abysmal” to “Fair,” and Fractal’s State had gone from “Fragile” to “Very Good.” Most shockingly, Fractal had advanced two tiers to thirty-eight.

“You’ve already leveled twice?” Ruwen asked. “I’m so proud of you!”

Fractal bobbed back and forth again, and his whole body vibrated in excitement. 

Blapy jumped off her chair and pushed Ruwen away. “Yes, we’re making good progress, and Fractal needs to stay focused. We’re done with you for now.”

Ruwen closed his Dungeon view so he could see better. Fractal glowed brightly and ran in a little circle. It looked like Ruwen’s praise had really spun the crystal up.

“Talk to you soon,” Ruwen said as Blapy forced him toward the nearest crystal.

“Soon,” Fractal repeated.

And then Ruwen and Blapy entered the crystal portal.