Holiday Dungeon Core: Novella 1-5, page 53
What kind of souls did he acquire? This is so far beyond what we would be capable of that it’s frankly ridiculous.
The next room was the first indication that the Soul Manipulator had been harried a little, because Emeryl found the first few drops of blood on the ground approximately 15 feet into the room. This was where statue-like dragon heads on the wall would fire out a devastating explosive, which was so strong that Garth couldn’t take a direct hit from it without being injured and thrown around like a ragdoll. It wasn’t a lot of blood, but the fact that the ignominious villain had been hurt was encouraging; that meant that he wasn’t invincible and likely could be killed. All the monsters in the room were dead, yet unfortunately, Emeryl had to stop her companions before they could run any further.
“The rest of the traps haven’t been activated yet.”
“What? How did he get by them?” Garth asked.
Their scout shrugged. “I don’t know, but we’ll have to deal with them before we can move on.”
Grumbling, but thankful that she could still summon a golem, Annabella went to work casting her spell. Instead of a Stone Golem like she could summon as a Geomancer, she now summoned a slightly smaller but more powerful Magma Golem. Once the 3-foot-tall, humanoid-looking golem was formed, she instructed the roiling mass of magma to step forward into the activation area of the trap, while she and the others hid behind Garth and his shield from a distance. What was even better about her summoning upgrade was that she had a much longer range within which to control her summons, which she did from near the entrance with the others.
As soon as it was in range, the explosive ball coming from the dragon’s mouth detonated right on top of the Magma Golem, sending burning pieces of molten stone flying everywhere; but other than the concussive force of the blast rocking Garth back a little, no one was hurt. Annabella immediately created another Golem and had it move up until another trap was activated, and then repeated the process two more times. The best part about this situation was that they weren’t being attacked by other monsters like they normally would be at this point, but that was small consolation. The delay in having to deal with these traps meant that the Soul Manipulator was getting further away as the time ticked by. When all of the traps had been activated, which was confirmed by Emeryl, they all ran for the exit tunnel leading further into the dungeon.
The next room was the maze they had to traverse, though apparently it wasn’t something that they had to worry about. Instead, the massive structure that appeared as if it was made of glass, but which was far stronger and seemingly indestructible, had somehow been shattered, leaving a giant pile of colorful debris in front of them, filled with sharp, jagged pieces of the material.
“Wow. I gotta say, I didn’t expect this.” Garth’s mouth was open in surprise, and Annabella realized her own mimicked his. Snapping it shut, she looked for the best way over the pile, but surmounting it seemed impossible; there was no easy way over without being severely lacerated by the shards. She thought about trying to build some sort of stone bridge over the pile, but it was too large for her to anchor it to the other side, which meant that it would collapse before it was a third of the way over.
“Looks like it’s my turn to help,” Kedinth said, before he started waving his hands in the air, inscribing glowing runes that floated freely in front of him. Within a few seconds, a square, glowing, faux-metal platform appeared on the ground in front of him, approximately 6 feet wide on each side. He gestured for the rest of the group to step on before doing so himself, and then the platform started to rise, seemingly of its own volition.
As they traveled over the large pile of the broken maze, Annabella couldn’t help but marvel at how useful the Runic Artificer could be in the dungeon, even if he wasn’t as much of a powerhouse as when he was a Runic Practitioner. The difference was that his runes used to implement spell-like effects of different kinds, but now they produced temporary constructs of some sort or another, such as the floating platform he was currently controlling. There was technically no limit to what he could construct if he focused on what he wanted, though how effective it would actually be when he created it was determined by its complexity. As he increased in Level, the complexity of his runic artifacts also increased, but given that he was still in the beginning stages of his new Class, they weren’t quite that complex yet.
It wasn’t long before the platform Kedinth had created deposited them on the opposite side of the pile, right near the exit leading further into the dungeon. With a quick cutting gesture with his hand, the Artificer eliminated the platform construct as soon as they all stepped off; the longer he kept it around, the more Mana it drained from him, though with a simple levitating platform like that, it wasn’t that much. Still, there was no reason to waste any of his Mana, considering that they had no idea what to expect further on.
As soon as everyone was ready, they rushed ahead through the tunnel, again seeing that none of the loot had been picked up thus far in the dungeon, and they skidded to a halt when they entered what used to be the Core Room. On the floor was the giant bird that Annabella remembered fighting the last time she was there, just before they suddenly and strangely found themselves waking up in that Temple of Rebirth with all of their equipment. The massive bird monster was obviously dead, but it hadn’t just been killed, it had been hacked apart with savage intent, most likely after it died, with pieces scattered all over the floor of the large room.
“He did this, didn’t he?”
Annabella just nodded at Emeryl’s question, knowing that there wasn’t really any other answer. While it was possible that vile man had ordered whatever souls he was controlling to do this, she doubted he would’ve found that as satisfying as doing it himself. She had learned a lot from Kedinth over the last few months as the Runic Artificer had opened up about his time when his soul was grafted onto the horrible piece of filth; that the Soul Manipulator was a cruel, manipulative, and psychotic individual was just the start of it.
To think that we were ever fooled by his manipulations shames me.
Toward the end of the room, just below where the Core of the dungeon had hung in the air before, there was a tunnel leading further in. As much as she wanted to stop and grab the loot that they had been denied the last time they were there, which was a set of glowing bracelets that increased fire resistance and was clearly still untouched, Annabella knew that they needed to hurry. They may not have gained any time after the obstacles put in their way, but she could feel them getting closer by the second. Depending on how large this new area was, she knew they couldn’t afford to waste any time at all.
“All right, let’s go!”
Chapter 11
There was absolutely no audible communication between Torpiden and the 4 unfortunate high-Level Adventurer souls that he had brought with him, which made his entrance into Elmer’s dungeon a bit strange and creepy. The Dungeon Core was used to at least a little conversation between group members, but the Soul Manipulator and his crew strolled in like they owned the place and didn’t say a word. It would’ve been unnerving if he hadn’t already been unnerved at their presence in general, so as it was, Elmer was just creeped out. Especially since Torpiden’s facial expression had changed from happy and excited to downright manic.
In the very first room of his Independence Day section, as soon as the Soul Manipulator in his altered body was hit by a giant lawn dart, the Dungeon Core felt slightly nauseous. That he was feeling anything at all as a floating gemstone-looking object was strange enough, but he had felt this before the last time the Soul Manipulator had been in his dungeon. From what he understood, and from what Keebles had told him, whenever Torpiden flexed his control over the soul grafted to his own, in this case the battleaxe-wielding Adventurer, Elmer could feel it. Because withstanding a hit from a giant projectile like the lawn dart was a result of the buff and insanely strong physique of the soul he stole, the Dungeon Core felt it.
The fact that he could feel it already was worrying, because the last time it had taken closer proximity before he had experienced anything this significant. If there was any reason to doubt that the Soul Manipulator had gotten stronger, this easily dispelled those doubts.
Of course, as Torpiden moved through the room, either being hit by or narrowly missing the Defensive Obstacles that Elmer had set up, none of the invisible souls was hit by anything. They didn’t have a corporeal form, after all, and their natural state was to be bodiless and invisible; only when they manifested did they have a body that could be affected, and that was also the time when their souls could be permanently killed. It was for that reason, that danger to their normally immortal souls, that the priests and priestesses of multiple Gods and Goddesses had inflicted their spell on Elmer’s Core. If the Soul Manipulator managed to get ahold of Elmer’s soul, then he would become infinitely more powerful and would risk the souls of thousands or perhaps millions of people.
Well, then we’ll just have to stop him. The Dungeon Core was still intent on defending himself via his dungeon, so now he just had to see how well it worked. The first room of his Independence Day section was basically a lesson in futility, as Torpiden didn’t even bother trying to hide or slip by. Instead, he literally picked up the individual tools in the BBQ Tool Set and flexed his strength to bend and twist them apart, completely ignoring the sharp edges that cut into him in the process. He had his stolen healer to help fix him up afterwards, while the others dispatched his meat-based Minions, of which only a few had been cooked and transformed into their greater forms.
He didn’t bother picking up any rewards as he moved to Elmer’s Waterslide room, but instead of climbing the stairs to the slide, he simply chuckled and slammed his powerful battleaxe into the wall separating the entrance from the bottom of the slide. A massive hole was opened in the stone barrier, which Elmer hadn’t thought was possible without a lot of effort, but the nausea in his Core and the brief flash of something when the battleaxe impacted the wall indicated that the Manipulator had used an ability.
From there, none of his Minions had any chance, as the invisible souls appeared and attacked quickly before disappearing yet again, dispatching his Lifeguards with ease and cutting all the arms off of his Octopus Sprinkler before it even knew they were there. Torpiden finished off the large Minion with a running jump and a wicked downward cut of his weapon, splitting it into two halves when the Octopus couldn’t fight back.
The next room was Elmer’s first opportunity to see if his newer Defensive Obstacles that he had designed to combat the Soul Manipulator would work. The dragon heads along the wall were designed to physically see as well as detect the presence of life signs, which took twice as many Defensive Obstacles to set up. The idea was that Torpiden wouldn’t be able to camouflage his life signs like he’d done before in Elmer’s dungeon, thereby allowing him to pass by them unharmed.
The Soul Manipulator didn’t even bother to try and hide anything as he strolled boldly into the Firework room. His captured souls spread out and immediately started killing all of the Spinners in the room, which looked like odd spiders that spun around quickly with firework-like disk bodies. Elmer’s Minions didn’t even see the souls of the Adventurers before they suddenly appeared and struck at them, either bashing them with a spiked mace, cutting them in half with dual swords, engulfing them in a blaze of fire, or shooting them with a charged explosive arrow, the latter of which caused the entire Minion to explode in turn as each part of the Spinner was ruptured by the relatively small detonation.
At the end of the room were his Roman Candelabra which shot out flaming orbs that crossed the entire distance to the entrance, but the Soul Manipulator simply stepped to the side with a quick move before he was about to be hit, and then he walked into the activation area of the first dragon head.
The launching of the mortar was so quick that Torpiden couldn’t dodge it even if he was aware of the danger, and it slammed into the ground a few feet from the Manipulator. The strong, battleaxe-wielding man was launched against the opposite wall with such force that Elmer though he heard bones snap inside of his body. He landed with a *thud* on the ground, and the Dungeon Core reveled in the fact that he had hit the man, and possibly even killed him. However, even as he thought that, he saw Torpiden groan and lift himself to his knees just as another volley of flaming orbs shot out at him from across the room courtesy of the pair of Candelabra. Unfortunately, a sudden shield of glowing white sprung up around his nemesis. The shield was more than strong enough to completely block the shots by Elmer’s Minions, and they fizzled away as soon as they bounced off the barrier.
Looking elsewhere in the room, he saw that the healer was now physically present and was casting another spell. The Soul Manipulator stood up with a furious and rage-filled expression on his face, which was only enhanced by the lacerations that bled a little, leaving drops of red on the floor beneath his feet. Within seconds, those wounds were healed, even as another round of flaming orbs slammed into the shield, making it waver and disappear; but that was the last volley that would come from his Minions. The other three Adventurers had already dispatched the last of the Spinners and were actively engaged in destroying his Candelabra, which weren’t the best in defending against up-close attacks – they were designed more for distance fighting.
Despite the rage that flooded Torpiden’s altered body, making him practically shake, he was evidently still cognizant enough of his limitations that he wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice by walking into the next mortar. As the last of the Minions in the room were engaged and then dispatched, the Soul Manipulator stalked toward the next Defensive Obstacle and then paused right before he was going to step into the activation area. He saw the soul of the ninja woman staring in his direction; she must have been able to see the activation area easily.
Then Torpiden did something that shocked Elmer, because it was the last thing he was expecting: He turned invisible. Not just invisible, but he was essentially identical in appearance to the souls he had command of, and he simply walked past the activation area without harm. A step after he was clear of the danger, he seemed to phase into existence again, and he appeared slightly weary from the process.
That’s not surprising, since that actually hurt more than a little.
The nausea that the Dungeon Core had been experiencing when the Soul Manipulator used his abilities was tame in comparison to when Torpiden made himself invisible like a soul appeared. Instead of nausea, it was like someone punching him hard in the gut, and the pain persisted as long as the man had the ability active. Once the man let it go, Elmer was able to recover from the “punch” quite quickly, but that did nothing to alleviate the sudden pain and uncomfortableness of the experience when Torpiden did it again, and again, and again, bypassing the remaining 4 Defensive Obstacles in the room that were specifically designed to target Soul Manipulators.
“That didn’t work, Keebles. I think I’m in real trouble here, pal.”
The North Pole Elf nodded apologetically. “I think you’re right. I had forgotten about that Soul Step ability, because I didn’t think the Manipulator could become this powerful, this quickly. I see that I was now mistaken.”
“Soul Step?”
“Yes, it’s what you just saw there. It allows the Soul Manipulator to take on the qualities of a soul for a very limited time, showing no physical presence nor life signs. You’ve seen a portion of that before, with him eliminating his life signs while masking his physical presence, but this is a step up. It also requires a lot of Mana and physical energy to pull off, so he can’t keep it up for long.”
Elmer could see the evidence of that as the Soul Manipulator appeared exhausted after he passed the last Obstacle. He stood near the exit tunnel for nearly a minute, breathing hard as the anger on his face and the rage shaking his body only seemed to increase.
“YOUR SOUL IS MINE, DUNGEON! YOU WILL NOT DEFEAT ME WITH YOUR TRICKS!” he suddenly roared, and Elmer was taken aback at both the volume and the vehemence in his foe’s voice. It was the same voice he remembered hearing when the villain was there before, though it was slightly deeper – likely because of his newly transformed body. Regardless, the Dungeon Core ignored the actual words coming from Torpiden, but instead focused on the meaning behind them.
The Soul Manipulator was more than a little angry, of course, but the reason for that anger was because Elmer had done something to hurt him. Torpiden obviously wasn’t expecting that to happen, especially with such a powerful Adventurer soul grafted onto his own, so that anger sprang from another emotion: fear. That fear likely came from the worry that he wouldn’t be strong enough, as well having already been defeated by the dungeon before, but the Manipulator was doing all he could to use his rage to burn away any trace of that fear before it could dig its way too far inside.
But fear, or at least the idea of it, was exactly what the newly constructed, upcoming section was all about. None of the groups that had entered his dungeon earlier had really experienced it yet, but Torpiden and his group of stolen Adventurer souls would discover it soon enough.
As soon as the Soul Manipulator seemed to have recovered, he moved off with his stolen group, passing through the short tunnel that led to Elmer’s Flag Maze. The Dungeon Core was hoping that the electrical-like nature of the Sparkler Wisps inside might have an effect on the souls, perhaps even zapping them when they appeared, so he was looking forward to seeing how they—
