Perhaps it was the knock on my door at five forty five in the morning that gave me uneasy feelings about the day ahead. It too could have been the lack of a response when I flicked my room’s lightswitch, or maybe the book I most certainly had never seen before on my nightstand, but truthfully, it was probably just that I wasn't fond of mornings.

I’d like to say that all of those odd things had led my mind to conjure some wise conclusions, but I still hadn’t had coffee, so my brain was only capable enough to grind beans and prep a french press.

Nonetheless, the persistent knocking called.

“One minute!” I yelled as I trudged down the stairs. I wasn’t in opposition to waking early, but only if it was on my terms. I terribly hated to rush.

I hesitated at my front door, buttoning the final button on a simple plaid over pajama pants. I was quite underdressed as I slept, so I had simply grabbed the first thing in my closet to put on a presentable appearance.

When I opened the door, there was an attractive young woman wearing a plain forest colored robe. Her eyes were a deep shade of green, and she had long, dark hair that went around her freckled face.

“Good morning!” She said happily.

“Good… morning?” I paused when I looked behind her.

This was not my street. In fact, it wasn't any street. Where the sidewalk should have begun past the retention walls of my yard, was wild, untamed wilderness.

“Huh.” I said blankly.

“You look confused,” The woman called my attention back to her, “But I’m more than happy to explain. You see, you’ve been appointed-”

“Hold up.” I gestured with my hands for her to stop, “It’s too early for this. Give me like fifteen minutes and then you can… explain.”

“O-oh… uh, sure.” She nodded.

“I’m uh… going to make coffee.” I decided, “You may come inside if you’d like.”

“I will!” She followed me inside.

I blinked through sleepy eyes and went to the kitchen. It felt like a good day to use my antique grinder, so that’s what I did. Until my electric kettle failed to turn on.

I flicked the switch a few times and sighed.

“A problem?” It seemed the girl saw my distraught face.

“I need to boil this…”

“Ah, here.” She reached over and grabbed the kettle. After about three seconds, I heard the rumble of the water inside boiling.

I squinted at her and nodded slowly. She just smiled at me.

I expected to wake up at any moment, but as I didn't, I just set to grinding forty grams of an Ethiopian dark roast. I was still in the state of not quite processing anything going on, but everything seemed to register when I combined the water and grounds into my coffee press.

“Alright,” I said as I started a timer, “let’s start here; who’re you?”

“I’m Arin. A valley nymph.” She grinned.

“Uh huh.” Her name registered, the rest did not, “And why is there no neighborhood in my… neighborhood, Arin?”

“Because you’re in my valley.”

“I’m in my house…”

“Which is in my valley.” Her smile stayed.

“I see.” I blinked. “And why is my house in your valley?”

“So you can host the sanctuary from the dungeon!” She said happily, “The local deity just passed away a few days ago, and before she did she told me she’d summon someone to help with the dungeon growing in the southern mountains. I’m here to help with that too.”

“Cool.” I started to depress the plunger on my coffee implement.

“You don't have to go raid it or anything.” Arin waved her hands as though I had expressed a like idea, “Just let your house’s magic field counter the dungeon’s from expanding into this valley.”

“I feel as though I'm obliged to ask,” I sighed as I poured a mug, “can I go home?”

“I don't think so, no.” She cringed.

“Yeah. Sound’s right.” I took a sip of my coffee. It burned my tongue, so I was quite sure I wasn’t dreaming. “Want some?” I offered.

“Oh yes please.” She nodded, “Though I have no idea what this ‘coffee’ is.”

I wordlessly poured her a mug.

“I never got your name.” She said after she took her beverage.

“I’m Thomas Cutter. Folks just call me Tom though.”

“Tom.” She repeated. “I hope we’ll do well here!”

“...yeah.” I finished my coffee slowly. I still wasn't really sure what was going on, and this strange girl who called herself a nymph truthfully hadn’t done any favors to that effect. But as more caffeine made it to my head, more similarities with what she said and things folks would say in a loony bin started to appear.

I was sure I wasn't dreaming, but I couldn't discount possibly being on hallucinogenics. I wasn't much one for drugs, but someone sneaking into my house and pulling a fast one on me while I slept made more sense than the pure wilderness being outside my window. The self proclaimed nymph sitting next to me was the prime suspect, but considering everything in my house was exactly as it should be, I discounted the likelihood of being on an inhibitory substance.

After all, my chemical addictions; coffee and cigars, just made me look sophisticated, rather than like a wack job.

I excused myself and stepped back out through my front door to resurvey the land, now slightly more awake. I was situated at the end of a long, green valley with a snowy, mountainous backdrop. The bottom of the hollow was bisected by a sparkling blue river, with tall, wide, willow trees to either side. The valley must have been three miles long, and I could see the whole thing due to the gradually sloping hill my house was currently sitting on. It was magnificent.

“Pretty, isn't it?” I jumped at Arin’s voice behind me.

“Uh… yeah. It is.” I didn't lie. The valley truly was quite the sight. It just didn't feel natural to look at it from my front porch.

I had a demeanor that kept my face calm through most surprising situations, but with what was currently happening it was a challenge. It wasn't as though I was incredibly jarred at the new sights around me, but I wasn't sure if that was due to shock or just the constant exposure to logic-defying situations thanks to pop culture.

“So, how’d you make that water boil earlier?” I decided to ask a simple question to start out.

“I just made the water move really fast.”

“Yeah, but how?”

“Magic?”

“Makes sense.” I nodded. It did not make sense. “I suppose I’ll get this out of the way: I’m fairly sure I’m not from around here. We don't quite have magic where I’m from, so you’ll have to be patient with my ignorance going forward.” It sounded a little professional, but I hoped it was registered as polite.

“Oh! Of course!” She slapped herself on the forehead. “The core book can explain much better than I can then, let’s go find it.”

“Core book?”

“It’s how you’ll keep track of your territory, magic, tools, and anything else you might need to counter the dungeon.” She explained, “Since the dungeon itself is a core, and you’re still a human, the core book makes it much fairer as far as figuring things out go.”

“And what does this ‘core book’ look like?” I asked.

“It’s different for everybody, but really just however your brain thinks it should look.” She said.

“Then I may know where it is.” My mind went back to that strange book on my nightstand. I had been too hurried by Arin’s knocking to take a look at it when I woke up, so I never got the chance to look at it.

Arin waited in the entryway while I went up to my room to fetch the alleged “core book.” It was sitting where I remembered it, and made my hands tingle slightly when I picked it up.

The book was a plain, leatherbound book with slightly yellowed pages. It had a lace wound around it that matched the cover, and was about as thick as a bible. I carried it downstairs.

“Think this is it?” I asked Arin.

“Oh definitely.” She nodded, “The magic coming off it is pretty intense.”

“Uh huh.” I nodded as I unwound the tie.

Though the pages were yellow, there were absolutely no damages or signs of age to the book to speak of. The leather was soft and well kept, and it opened with a soundless slump, fitting nicely in my hand. The page it opened to was filled by a topographic map of what looked to be the valley we were in. At the Northern end of the valley was a small block I assumed to be my house.

I wondered about the scale of the map, and as soon as I did, a scale appeared in the bottom corner giving me a reference to thousands of yards. Based on quick mental math, I determined the valley to be about three miles long, and as soon as I did a number appeared in another corner confirming my thought.

“Woah.” I said aloud.

“Right?” Arin said over my shoulder. She was a good foot shorter than me, so she had to be standing on her toes to get that angle. “I’ve lived here my whole life and I’ve never seen the valley mapped like this.”

“So… what am I supposed to do with it?”

“Maybe start by figuring out how far your territory extends?” She suggested.

I thought “territory” and the map zoomed in to the area directly around my house. There was a thick black border in about a thirty yard radius all around my house.

“That looks just right!” She said happily.

I looked at her confused.

“This is my valley, so I have a pretty good mental image of it all. Last night, when your house showed up I felt as though about this much territory was missing.”

“Sorry to… take your land?” I tilted my head.

“Oh don't be! I’m glad you're here. If you weren’t, the dungeon would’ve taken it and then I’d be homeless.” She said happier than I thought she should’ve been.

“I see.” I nodded, “So what is a dungeon anyway?”

“Sometimes a magic vein will find its way near the surface, and get tainted by a corrupt ruin, cave, or any other structure that harbors malice. Generally something that was once a site of pain or evil. Anyway, once it does, the foul spirits of that place will start to expand outward and depending on how strong both the malice and the magic are, can grow to great sizes.”

“So what does it do? Why is it a problem?”

“When the dungeon’s territory expands, so does its capacity for monsters. All sorts of nastys live off the miasma the dungeon creates, and it taints wilderness as well. The dungeon in those mountains used to be some town that got sacked by an empire that existed a few hundred years ago. My deity said that the magic is pretty strong too, so there’s a lot of potential for it to take over my valley.”

“So, if it’s your valley can’t you protect it?”

“I wish.” She sighed. “I’m a nymph, I just live here and feed off the valley’s magic. I can’t really do more than sense it and make a few golems.”

I nodded like I understood.

“I can kill goblins and other pests, but against a dungeon I really can't do anything.” She said disappointedly, “And now that my deity is dead, the dungeon probably would’ve swallowed up the valley within a year if she hadn’t summoned you.”

“So what do I do?” I asked. It seemed an interesting situation, but I still really didn't know what I could do to help.

“Well, your house is basically another dungeon now.” She said,

“Wouldn’t that be bad though?”

“I said only basically. Your territory expands just the same, but since this place is built on good memory and love- or so it should be, since the deity summoned you- it’ll serve as a direct counter to the dungeon.”

“That’s my house though. Why am I here?”

“To control it. The dungeon is sentient, at least a little. It can strategize and plan, so you need to as well.”

“And what does that mean?”

“It’d probably be better to just show you.” Arin admitted, “Care to take a walk?”

“...Sure. Is there anything dangerous outside?” I asked hesitantly.

“Not in the valley, but I can't say the same for what's outside of it.” She said,

I nodded, and grabbed some shoes. The nymph gave me a funny look as I tied them, but said nothing. I noted that her own feet were bare.

I followed her outside into the refreshing morning air. Back on Earth it had been late September, but here it felt as though it was early spring, judging by the morning mists and flowers growing throughout the hill surrounding my house.

She led me down past my retention wall and into the unmowed field that surrounded it. My house had existed about ten feet above the street back on earth, with about a ten yard long yard surrounding it at the same level. It made sitting on the porch much more pleasant as I wasn't eye level with passersby, and gave me a nice view to boot.

For a twenty two year old, it was quite the nice house. It wasn't massive, but with three bedrooms and two and a half baths, it was quite a bit more than any of my peers had been started with. I wished it was through my own earnings that I owned it, but it had been my grandfather’s home until he passed away two years earlier. I was about the only member of the family he was close to, so he basically willed me everything he had, which on top of the house had been a nice sum of money. Not that money would likely matter anymore anyway.

Arin led me about twenty more yards away from where my retention wall began before stopping.

“Can you feel the border?” She asked me.

“Come again?”

“Right in front of you is where your territory stops and the valley- mine- begins. If you focus, you should be able to feel the difference.”

I still wasn't quite sure what she meant, but when I tried to feel what Arin was talking about I could sense a difference between the ground I was standing on and that a few feet in front of me. I stepped over the imaginary boundary and found that I had an instinctual sense that home was behind me. Though I was only a few feet away, it felt as though that sense of direction wouldn't change no matter how far I was.

“Huh.” I said, “I think I get what you’re saying.”

“Now, as time goes on, your territory will expand naturally, but you can make it go faster if you want to.”

“How fast is it going right now?” I asked.

Arin closed her eyes for a moment to focus.

“About three feet in a day.” She said,

“And how do I make it go faster?”

“Hm…” She thought, “I know you can, but you might want to ask the core book to figure out how.”

I still had the book tucked under my arm, so I slowly opened it to see what she may have meant. The map of the house and its territory was still displayed, but when I thought of my question, a list of things that would further expand the territory replaced it.

Cultivate land

Build structures

Collect precious metals

Increase number of residents

Kill Corrupt beings

I blinked at the list.

“So… what does this mean?”

“Exactly as it says!” She smiled. “It really is quite simple, the more things you do yourself that align with these tasks, the faster your territory will grow. Each task will provide other boosts as well.”

I really didn't know how those tasks would “increase” my territory, but they seemed simple enough. At least I thought so.

This really was all weird. From the strange girl explaining everything to the book that had moving ink. I was still quite lost.

Ah well, may as well just go with the flow.

“Do you have any idea how I may go about doing any of these things?” I asked. I wasn't sure if they were as straightforward as they read to be.

“Well, if you’d have me, I can try making your territory my home to see if that counts?”

“Uh… does that mean my house?” I tried to ask politely. I had met this girl about an hour ago, and wasn't quite sure I’d want her living with me.

“Oh no! Don't worry, I just need a tree.” She blushed.

“Well…, if you want to try?” I asked.

“I do!” She grinned with excitement.

“Then go for it, I guess.” I gave the affirmative.

I had a couple of trees in between the retention wall and my house, and Arin seemed to settle on a sizable enough oak tree to the right of the stairway to the front door. It was the good ole’ tire swing tree.

Arin walked up and placed both hands on the tree, and I stood behind her as she did. The alleged nymph closed her eyes and started whispering something I couldn't hear, as her hands began to glow like fireflies with a yellow light.

She stood like that for a couple of minutes, and I eventually felt a jolt in my chest and an instinctual sense to open the core book. The page I opened was titled “Log”, and read as follows.

0hr……… Core Created

5.5hr…… Valley Nymph: (Arin) added

Huh. I thought. I thought back to when Arin had mentioned that the core book looked like however my mind thought it should, and guessed that was also why there were lists in a way I understood.

“You were a cute kid, Tom!” Arin giggled when she took her hands off the tree.

“I… was?” I tilted my head.

“I got to see all the tree’s memories when I made it my home.” She explained. “You had a lot of fun on that swing.”

“Oh… yeah…” I scratched the back of my head. I had my first kiss on that tire swing, so I blushed a little bit.

“There’s definitely less magic here than there was in the valley,” She scratched her chin, “But as you expand I’m sure I’ll get even more magic in the future.”

“So how much faster did that make territory expansion go?” I asked, glad that she had changed the subject from the tree’s “memories.”

Rather than Arin answering me, the book did. The pages flipped on their own back to the map, where there was now a small graph in the corner labeled “growth rate” it seemed it was now about five feet per day, but it had also grown instantly by about a fifteen foot radius when Arin made my oak tree her home.

I nodded at the stat. I really wasn't sure what was going on, but the change of scenery was nice compared to the bland life of work and rest I had grown accustomed to on Earth. It was definitely still too early for me to miss it, but I wasn't sure if that was because I hadn't quite processed what was going on just yet.

Oh well… I thought This may not make sense, but the view is great, and if I need to do these tasks, at least I’ll have something to do. Hopefully I just won't run out of coffee. Then I’d actually hate this place…