In a matter of hours, Rhen’s camp was host to five new visitors: Barrek, his wife Leslie, two of their friends, Caleb and Gil, and Gil’s wife Patti, who all promised to get the inn ready for patrons. They agreed on five marks each an hour, which was a reasonable rate for the work given the circumstances.

They had filled the boat-cart on the way out with hammers, nails, pots, pans, plates, utensils, blankets, and so much more, leaving Rhen with very little money on his person. That was fine, because they all knew Jakira would be returning with their wages in a few days’ time.

When Rhen saw the carpentry team had chairs and tables under control, he headed off into the dungeon with Aki. He’d spent the last week building an inn and was itching for some monster battling action. They made it past the drain, now covered by the bone crane with a sign reading, “Warning, death below.”

With the newcomers inbound, Rhen didn’t want an accidents, especially before he’d found a resurrection node. But he hoped that they were about to fix that. He knew his quest from the guild wanted him to activate a control node, and he wanted to find one, but if he was going to safely take on that nexus boss, he wanted a fully operational resurrection node first.

Rhen dropped into stealth and skipped ahead of Aki, who projected a broad, green aurora. The opening at the back end of the large hound room split three ways. The left tunnel angled down, and Rhen hoped that tunnel would lead to an easier way into the nexus chamber. The forward and right tunnels stayed relatively flat for as far as he could see.

“Going right,” he whispered to Aki, then crept into the darkness.

Aki’s light was just enough for Rhen to navigate, but soon, another light shone ahead. It waved and lapped, as if a bright moon were shining down through layers of calm water. Rhen kept close to the wall until the silver pouring from the opening ahead was so bright, he thought he might be blinded.

A sing-song whistling drifted down the hall and the drain on Rhen’s anima ended. His body appeared below him in full view. How strange. Was the light so bright that caress of night could not be used?

“There is a creature ahead. I cannot see it. The shape is shifting.”

The singing whistle blasted louder, vibrating Rhen’s stomach. Aki’s aura dispersed, as if blown away by an unfelt wind. Nausea threatened him and Rhen realized it must’ve been something akin to the defender’s cry, but with a spell canceling effect like anima rot. Jakira was going love this ability.

“I’m going in.”

Rhen charged forward, one hand out for a tremor blast laced with anima rot, and the other pulling his blade from its holster. He squinted as he rounded the corner, seeing nothing but bright sliver. Without a visible target, Rhen decided to wide-blast the room with low vibrations, trying to hit everything.

The vibrations shot out his arm and bounced around the cavern. Lights flickered and died as wet thwaps hit the stone. The creature laying before him looked like a cross between a bird and a jelly fish, with translucent leathery skin, wide wings, a sharp beaked face, and hundreds of tiny tentacles coming out the bottom. The light inside it faded as a black smoke snaked through its body.

A whistle cut through the air like a knife and Rhen doubled over from the nausea. The back of his neck stung as if he were being stabbed by thousands of tiny, hot needles. Something slimy wrapped around his throat, then his arms. He took a deep breath before the airway was cut off and looked up.

A dozen of the luminescent jelly-birds had wrapped him in their grip and were taking off. Not if he had any fire to breath about it. The air in his chest burned as he activated his primordial breath. When he couldn’t stand to hold it in another second, Rhen belched flames all up the creatures’ bodies.

They whistled and flailed, losing their grip on his neck. Rhen gasped for air, then triggered another anima rotting tremor blast. The attack hit several of the creatures above, knocking the brightness down to non-blinding levels. Rhen fell to the floor and Aki rushed in beside him.

He used his water like a wrecking ball, slamming into the flying jelly-birds and knocking them out of the sky. Rhen targeted the plummeting monsters and gave them each quick, narrow blasts laced with anima rot. Wet splats sounded all around them and the light in the cavern dimmed.

“Hold off,” Rhen said when only five of the creatures remained circling at the top around the prize; a node.

The creatures whistled, but without the combined power of all their voices together, the sound hardly ruffled Rhen’s hair. He scratched at the back of his neck, the skin there swollen and irritated.

“I think they’re venomous. We may be able to use it for potions or coat my blades. It doesn’t feel very powerful, but if it could be distilled…”

“I understand. You would like to keep these as “farming” monsters. I will capture them.”

With the light so low in the cavern, Aki was able to activate shadow snare, slowing the monsters until they descended like petals on a breeze. He cocooned the monsters in auroras of lilac light, and they went completely docile, as if asleep. Their wings fluttered gently, but the tentacles dangled motionlessly.

Rhen wasn’t sure how he’d cage them and extract the venom, but he did know with them out of the way, he could access the node at the top. “Hold them still for a minute while I do this.”

Rhen jogged across the open cavern and stood under the node. It pulsed faster at his presence, as if inviting him to activate it. The walls were dry, so Rhen scaled them easily to the top. However, once at the top, he had no real way of getting to the node. It was a good six feet from the back wall, and Rhen wasn’t about to climb upside down with no support.

Or maybe he didn’t have to climb…

Rhen gauged the distance from the node again, then glanced down. The fall wouldn’t kill him, but he’d no doubt be walking with splints for a few days. Days he probably didn’t have if he wanted to claim that nexus node.

“What are you thinking?” Aki called from far below, the jelly-birds floating beside him on lilac light.

“I can jump it and hold onto the node to activate it, but I don’t think I could make it back.”

“Do we not have five skilled carpenters up at camp?”

Rhen grimaced. “Yes, but building a ladder will take time, and I don’t think we can have them in the dungeon without proper paperwork.”

“You had me in the dungeon without paperwork.”

“Yes, because you promised to keep your gob shut about it. That’s five people we hardly know up there, we can’t trust them yet… and plus, I want to see what the node is now.”

“I too am excited to discover its possibilities, but you are putting yourself in unnecessary danger. Jakira would not stand for this.”

Rhen sighed. He was right. It wasn’t worth it.

Unless it was a control node.

Rhen could rearrange the cavern with a simple command, lowering the ceiling and making it safe to drop down.

“Rhen, I can feel your heartbeat. Please, do not do this.”

If it wasn’t a control node, he could use tremor blast to slow his descent—as long as Aki wasn’t too close. His forearms were starting to get tired from holding the lifted pose, so he dropped to a long-armed hanging position.

“We can build a ladder.”

“It’ll take at least an hour to get everything set up down here, and that’s an hour lost on inn work. Trust me, I can make it. Just, maybe don’t stand directly below the node in case I need to break my fall with tremor blast.”

Aki moved away from the node, giving Rhen his space. “Good luck.”

Rhen pushed with his legs, angling himself out from the wall and toward the node. He did this a few times, breathing deeply with each practice move. He sucked in one last breath and lowered to his haunches, then set his sight on the node.

Swift twitch activated at a thought, and Rhen blasted off from the wall with all his might in an explosive dynamic move. He twisted, turning himself to land on the node, hugging the base of the stalactite. What a terrible time for him to realize that this stalactite might not be able to hold his weight, that he and the node might come crashing down to the ground, both broken.

It was too late now.

Rhen opened his arms and reached for the node, fingers splayed and flexed. He touched its glassy surface and latched on. Adrenaline surged through him as his chest hit the node, his legs swinging wide. Rhen muscled himself up the node’s shaft, scrambling for purchase until he reached the rough stone of the stalactite. He wrapped his legs around the node and sighed with relief.

“That was incredibly irresponsible, and heroic looking.”

“Thanks,” Rhen said, trembling from the adrenalin.

He exhaled slowly to collect himself, then reached down and touched the glassy surface of the node. Light poured out of the crystal and formed words… upside down.

“What does it say?”

“Congratulations, first Dungeon Owner’s quest complete. This is only a control node. Do you wish to activate it?”

Rhen strained his arm to keep contact with the node. “Yes.”

“Would you like to edit the chamber layout now?”

“Yes,” he grunted.

Rhen fell backwards into a black void, nothing to hold onto, nothing to catch his fall. It was like being sucked into the sky by goddess fruit again. His descent slowed until he was floating in a gray nothingness, with no horizon, no ground, just gray.

Silver text materialized in front of him along with a map of the explored areas in his dungeon. Dark blobs sat on the entrances to the two other tunnels they had not taken, and another dark blob covered the drain hole in the father’s fennel farm room.

[Dungeon Owner’s Map Synced!]

Your Dungeon Owner’s Map has now synced to this Control Node. You will be able to view the entire dungeon you have explored from this control center, or from your map.

*Check your map for a new quest from the D.O.G.

**Bring your map into the nearest D.O.G. headquarters to activate your discounted tax rate for the next twelve months!

-----

[Welcome to Dungeon Editing, Owner!]

You may edit any area of the dungeon you control by way of node, or monster clearing. Editing the dungeon can reveal hidden levels, allow you to stage your raids, provide homes for your delvers, or makes a great party room!

Use voice commands to make broad adjustments to the dungeon, and hand gestures to fine-tune those changes. If you need help, you may ask any questions while within this space. Information within the node is limited, so be sure to ask your question a variety of ways to see if it has an answer for you.

Best of luck, and happy shaping!

----

Well, that was neat.

“Display control node chamber.” Rhen’s voice sounded far off, like his ears were deep in a cave, and his mouth was on the outside of it.

The map shifted, showing a three-dimensional view of the cavern. It showed every creature in a basic, gridded outline, and the topography of the cavern was revealed with colors from red to green. Rhen’s outline was still clinging to the control node, Aki and the five jelly-birds were standing on the ground not far off, and nothing was moving. Was Rhen… suspended in time?

“Tell me more about this place I’m in now.”

[Control Command Center]

This is the center for controlling your dungeon layout.

----

Well, that wasn’t very descriptive.

“Where is the Control Command Center.”

[Error – Query Not Refined]

Unable to provide an answer, too many answers exist. Query needs to be refined for specificity.

----

Rhen scowled. “Too many answers… Am I inside the control node? I mean, is my mind, my thoughts, inside the control node?”

[Control Command Center]

This is the center for controlling your dungeon layout.

----

Rhen sighed. He wasn’t getting anywhere with this thing. First his question is too broad, then too narrow. Maybe it couldn’t give him anything more than this?

“Is this a cebrum spell that I’m under?”

[Reply – Yes]

“Interesting. I would like to edit the dungeon layout by bringing the ceiling closer to the floor in this chamber.”

The map shifted, creating a room that was only ten feet tall, but another thirty feet wider in all directions. A black blob appeared on the map to the left of where Rhen was, and another one on the far end of the wall to the right. Those must’ve been new tunnel openings revealed by the shift! Incredible.

Rhen used his hands to make a few minor changes; slightly taller ceiling, wider opening, and other tweaks. It was strange at first, like playing with clay. It had haptic feedback that startled Rhen at first but became more natural the more he used it.

Then he moved the control node down to the ground and crafted a stony chair beside it. Rhen wasn’t certain if he was still holding on for dear life outside the control center, but didn’t want any collapsing incidents to occur while he was making adjustments.

Finally, he was satisfied with what he’d made. “I’m done with this and would like to change the dungeon to fit this form.”

[Dungeon Editing]

Cost for current adjustments: 1,200 anima points

Current room allotment: 6,892

Pending absorption from deceased creatures: 480

Would you like to utilize the current room allotment to make these changes? {Yes} {No}

-----

“Yes, I would.”

Rhen was sucked backwards through the gray void, away from the map and into the black. His stomach lurched and he smacked his head on something hard, then flopped to the ground. He was upside down, holding onto the base of the control node which was now on the ground, next to a horribly malformed stone chair. He’d need to practice more.

“That was… I do not have words to describe it.”

“Same, buddy.” Rhen climbed to his feet and looked around the chamber. It had reflected all his changes perfectly, and exposed several deposits of ore and gemstones as well as the two new tunnels.

Rhen smiled. “This is the ultimate game changer.”