Chapter 7

Multitasking I began to work one of my Skeleton Brownies or “Skelebros” at I was coming to think of them; in both directions. One I created a small hole, just large enough for it to sink down toward the tunnel opening. The other I started moving upward toward my heart.

The former was easy and required me just to move earth and replace it over the Skelebro. I had to do it slowly as to not bury my creation, but even if I slipped p it was unlikely to damage the resilient creature. Moving upward was a more taxing issue. My closest group of Skelebro’s was some 25 meters below my heart. So I had to create a kind of earthen ladder from stone for the small skeleton to climb. Then I had to move the earth around slowly as not to alert the apprentices to my actions.

Creating a Skelebro proof ladder also proved to be a challenge. They were not intelligent enough to climb on their own. It was not a matter I had considered when hiding my small army. Going down was easy enough. I finally settled on a typical rung ladder and directly commanding the stupid bone construct.

“Raise your left arm and grab the next piece of rock above your head. Hold on to it and do not let go. Good now raise your right leg and place it on the stone above where it is now. Good, now right arm… Etc.”

It took me nearly 4 hours to get the stupid thing up into the small room I had prepared. Sitting only 50cm beneath the cavern floor was a narrow chamber, 20cm wide and only 4cm tall. The ceiling of the chamber I had created was shaped as an inverted conclave cone. Like a funnel set upside down. I had designed it so that sounds from the cavern would echo down into the small chamber allowing the Skelebro to hear what was being said and thus me to hear through it. I only hoped that they would not detect the undead presence or see the tiny opening under my heart.

I had listened in enough to the apprentices and gotten enough commands from the master necromancer to start piecing together some understanding of the languages used. You can only guess at my surprise when I received the blue prompts.

Skill gained: Language - Axzeal Beginner 1 0%

This skill measures your ability to speak, read, and write the Axzeal language. Greater levels indicate a finer understanding of the nuances of this dialect.

Note from Ellinoria: Alex this is the language of the Azxealian Empire. 50 years ago the empire was conquered by an alliance of 4 other local powers. Most of its people were enslaved or absorbed into other nations and have ceased as an independent people.

Skill gained: Language - Numark Beginner 1 0%

This skill measures your ability to speak, read, and write the Numark language. Greater levels indicate a finer understanding of the nuances of this dialect.

Note from Ellinoria: Alex, the Numarkian Alliance is a rogue nation. It is controlled by many petty warlords, pirate kings, and dark mages. It is commonly used across the world for thieves, Assassins, and smugglers.

It seemed that most of the time the master necromancer spoke to me in a completely different dialect than what the apprentices used. I was not sure what this meant but it gave me food for thought. Regardless, listening to the Apprentices I understood that they had been told to make a new larger binding circle. I could not understand what they said when they were discussing the reason for the increased circle. I had a moment of concern considering what would cause them to create me a larger circle, but I brushed it away. All I needed to know was that my limited domain had the chance to get bigger soon and I may have a chance to break free.

The Skelebro I sent down I had placed upside down and simply created a tiny hole in which I had the creature stick its head through. Commanding it to look around I was less than happy to see… nothing. The damn area was dark and my stupid minions of death couldn’t see in the dark! Growling in frustration I had the Skelebro pull its head back and closed the hole to a tiny opening as well. I instructed the Skelebro to stay there to watch and listen. I hoped that if anything happened I might learn something. I figured at least I would know if there was anything I should be concerned about down there. I actually hoped I might of found an abandoned mine. If so maybe I could use it to store more Skelebros and perhaps even find a different way out.

Over the next few cycles the apprentices would still come to transfer their mana to me to create skeletons. Afterward they would leave for a few hours. It ranged from 5 to 13 depending on how long it took them to transfer their mana. Upon returning they would work for eleven hours, then leave again for another 9 hours. After this the whole cycle would repeat. It made me consider the possibility of a 41 hour day in which there was multiple awake and sleep periods.

I was never allowed to keep a skeleton in the room while they worked, so I had to study the daily changes during the skeleton creation phase. During this time I was able to watch and learn; through careful placement while creating their skeletons facing different directions I could see the progress on the chamber.

Slowly days passed and the new cycle became routine. It Tooke them awhile to create the larger trench that created the outer boarder of the binding circle. Next they started work on runes and magical carvings inside the stone trench itself. Listening in I noticed that only the more advanced apprentices were allowed to work on this part. Indeed every day the master necromancer would come in and review the work done by the apprentices. Flawed work and mistakes were not looked on favorably.

A fortnight in one of the apprentices working on eh runes had made a mistake somehow. When the master came in and began to inspect the day’s work she ran across the error. It was one of those moments I would have really liked to be able to see what happened. Without as much as a warning or comment the master cast a spell. I heard the whispered rush of arcane words, then a scream. A second later a fine mist of blood splashed into my circle. While I was still trying to understand the events my instincts were sucking in the mana that came along with that blood.

That night I snuck a Skelebro into the chamber and got a close look at the runes inside the trench. Studying each mark carefully I analyzed every part. When the Skelebro came to the portion where the mistake had been created only a portion of smooth stone remained. I assumed some kind of earth magic had been used to smooth out the runic carvings.

Curious I had the Skelebro scratch at some of the stone with the runes. With a grating sound that sent my hair on edge and my teeth clenching bone scratched into the stone leaving a shallow imperfection in the otherwise exact spell work.

With a start I heard footsteps rushing toward the door through the Skelebro’s senses. That horrid noise had alerted someone and now they came to investigate. I ordered my minion to return to its hiding place. As the door began to open I was just starting to cover the gap up.

“What the fuck is going on in there?” Someone called out from eh doorway.

A second voice responded. This one located in the chamber. “Not sure, I do not see anything. The master is cheap and refused to bring in more light. That leaves most of this place in shadows.”

The first voice was now also in the chamber, “You better cut that shit out. She will skin you for such talk.”

A long pause as footsteps moved around the chamber. “Is it true?”

“Is what true?”

“That she skinned Adam alive?”

Another pause then a subdued and slightly shuddering response, “Yeah. I was in here. She did not even ask who made the error. Just turned and …”

Nothing else was said for several minutes. Then the first voice spoke, “I do not see anything in here.”

“Me either, this room gives me the creeps.”

”Yeah me too. It’s this damn stone. It feels like it is always watching us. Plus what the fuck is up with this odd shape? How did she get it to turn into a heart?

“She didn’t. She was not happy with the change. But forget that. Let’s get out of here.

“Okay, but what will we tell her?”

“Nothing, we will not tell her anything. Not if you value your skin.”

A minute later I heard the sound of the door slamming shut.

“Phew, that was close.” I thought.

Dungeon Statistics Sheet

Name: Alex

Species: Dungeon

Variant: Slave

Level: 10 0%

Common Statistics

Health: 10 / 10

Health Regen: None

Mana: 0 / 1,000

Mana Regeneration: 1 / Day

Core: Diamond / 10cm Heart

Strength: Locked

Dexterity: Locked

Constitution: Locked

Intelligence: 10

Will: 10

Charisma: 10

Stat Points: 10

Dungeon Statistics

Type: Undecided

Territory: 1m

Rooms: 3

Floors: 1

Dungeon Species: Undead

Dungeon Points : 100

Population Statistics

Family: None

Slaves: None

Minions: Brownie Skeleton: 100, Human Zombie 5

Inhabitants: None

Pets: None

Titles / Achievements

List: Yes / No

Skills

List: Yes / No