Chapter One: Something Familiar

*

Not far from Zion, the great mountain city, Aiden paced back and forth, Blizzy hot on his heels. He kept shooting glances towards the black swirling portal of gloom and doom that his scouts had found the week before. From over a hundred feet away, he could feel the deep darkness that oozed out of it.

Everything reminded him of the School of Shadows. The portal’s shadows stretched farther than the sun in the sky would otherwise suggest. Already, he’d been there studying the portal for hours. Nothing changed. Nothing surged from its depths.

Despite that, the uneasiness caused his heart to race. The presence of shadow magic in such abundance meant one thing. “Shadowborn. Can’t be anything else.”

“We knew that the minute we found it,” Anna said as she pet Ares, petting its single horn. “When are we going in?”

“We aren’t doing shit,” he muttered with a shake of his head. “I’ll be going in.”

“You know better than that, Aiden.” Anna walked up to him and grabbed his hands. “Teamwork makes the dreamwork. Your words, not mine.”

“But this is too dangerous. We don’t know how strong these things might be, and—”

“We should send you, the leader of Zion, into a dungeon of unknown power, by yourself? Olivia would skin me alive if she ever found out.” Anna passed Aiden and stepped toward the portal, holding up a hand. Emerald green shined from her hands as she approached. A wall of green pressed against the portal, warping against the emerald colored power. Once it quit spreading, she turned back to him. “Yikes.”

“Haven’t seen one this strong before,” Aiden said, clenching his fists. He considered his options for only a brief second before fixing Anna with a hard stare. “I’m going in. We can’t let it grow anymore. Zion needs to keep growing.”

“You’ve been working tirelessly, Aiden. There’s always a new objective, and there always will be. I get you want to protect Zion, but this could be seen as an opportunity for growth.”

“Not happening. I’ll shut this dungeon down. We already have two others that the newbies can use to get stronger.” He knelt and tossed Blizzy a Core. She happily took it, sending feelings of happiness through their bond. “You’re a good girl. You ready for some fun?”

The blizzard dragon puffed a small icy cloud in agreement.

“Good.” He turned back towards Anna and sighed. “Don’t tell Oli. It’s better this way.”

“Which one of us are you trying to convince, Aiden?” She stared at him for a few seconds before shaking her head. “The moment I received the report, I already knew how things would play out. I’ll keep watch. You just come back in one piece, got it?”

“I always do.” He turned and held his hand up to the portal.

Shadowborn Incubation Chamber - Rank C

Status:

Active

50% developed

Confirm entry?

Party listing (1/5):

Aiden Pearce

Warning: A party of five is recommended for this dungeon!

Yes.

No.

As he’d done dozens of times before, he stepped through with Blizzy by his side into the dungeon. Immediately, the forested area gave way to the authority of the dungeon. The bright sun disappeared, and the shadows became omnipresent.

Moments passed as he waited. When nothing happened, he sighed. “Guess they won’t be coming to me this time. Blizzy, go hunt.” She trilled happily and ran off. “Remember, keep in touch!” Through their bond, he could almost feel her roll her eyes. “They grow so fast.”

Now that he’d set her free, he moved forward. The dungeon had an open layout and stretched farther than he could see. The magic power emitting from it sent chills up his neck. However, now that he was out of Anna’s sight, he grinned deeply.

“Time to blow off some steam.”

He loosely gripped Silver as he started to job through the massive dungeon. It didn’t take long for Blizzy’s hunt to show progress, the bond lighting up with excitement as she found prey. He continued. The time would come for him to have his fun.

As he walked, the last month’s progress made him smile. After the first week of securing Zion, two important things happened. Arguably the more important of the two, new humans arrived. As much as he hated to see them forcefully brought to Midrath, he needed the man power. The second noteworthy occurrence happened to be the appearance of countless dungeons similar to the one he wandered around in.

More people, Essence, and Cores meant more progress growing Zion.

Discussion with The People— the Osh’Tika’Varu— progressed with V’Yenya and Anna acting as the primary diplomats, so that was progress. Even though their alliance was tentative, he couldn’t complain. The other native he’d met, Avacyn, had set the standard fairly low. Anything that didn’t try to forcefully read his mind or threaten his life or the lives of his people got a solid thumbs up in his book.

With the influx of Essence and Cores from the dungeon, things got exciting. As he started to think of the second week’s progress, he grinned. Air-piercing shrieks shook the air, echoing across the landscape.

“Took you long enough. I was getting bored.” Aiden clicked the edge of his pen, and Silver’s glorious ice blade extended. Casting Icy Touch started to create Shards over his shoulders. The shadows around him shrieked as ice started to spread from his feet. “You think I didn’t notice you there?”

He quickly identified the two Evils that rose from his shadows, ignoring the smaller ones frising around him.

Enemy Elites Identified!

Shadowstalker - (D)Pillar Monster - First Stage

This creature was spawned to guard a newly created Shadowborn dungeon home. It has formed its first Pillar.

Current Pillar Allocation: One Complete Pillar

Current Core Allocation: One Complete Second-Stage Core

Both Shadowstalkers were exponentially stronger than the dungeon boss he’d barely defeated in the school. Rather than feel fear, Aiden rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck.

“See, this is what I call a good warmup.” Eyeing the rest of the Evils approaching, he leapt forward. “Let’s see how much you can take!”

The Shadowstalkers were surprisingly agile despite their large frames. Their faces looked like a parasite from a zombie game he’d once played, but the rest of their body looked like an oily panther. The three tails snapping behind them only further convinced him that none of the Shadowborn creatures would ever resemble anything remotely normal.

But however they looked, it didn’t matter to him.

A current of wind wrapped around his feet. He launched past the first Shadowstalker, Silver tearing a deep hole in its side. An Ice Shield manifested, and he smacked the second in the face. A wall of ice taller than he was bought him some time. Arctic Gale locked onto the wound he’d caused in the first, and a Hoarspike reduced the first to an icy block that dissipated into a cylinder full of milky Essence.

The ice wall collapsed seconds later, and Silver met the second Shadowstalker’s face point side first. A loud shriek ripped through the air. Aiden threw himself backwards, holding up the Ice Shield to stop the sound attack reminiscent of the dungeon boss.

With a quick flick, Silver cut through three Evils. Proliferation activated, and his Shards slammed together. He pointed towards the second Shadowalker. “Glacial Fang!”

The attack exploded through the short distance. A second cylinder of Essence fell to the ground. He adeptly threw both into his bag and continued to hack his way through the spawned Evils. In front of his power, the horde of Evils meant nothing.

Halfway through slaughtering the Evils, Blizzy appeared and unleashed a gout of frost that ended things. He rolled his eyes as she casually sauntered over, picking up the spoils of her attack. The smugginess was palpable through the bond.

“I had things handled,” he grumbled as he looted his own Cores. When he looked in his bag, he sighed. “Even though this is a decent haul, it barely scratches how much Zion needs to grow.”

Blizzy chirped.

“Yeah, I know I can’t rush things. I just want to get home. I’m still worried.”

Understanding momentarily flooded through the bond. Then, just as fast as she’d come, Blizzy left to continue her hunt. He took that as a sign that it was time to get back to work. He moved farther into the depths of the dungeon towards the strongest magical presence he could sense.

The next two hordes lacked the Shadowstalker elites and fell just as easily as the first. The magical corruption of the portal made him think things would’ve been far harder, but he hadn’t seen the boss yet.

“Don’t get cocky now,” he muttered.

After the fifth wave of Evils, he came upon a door at least three times taller than him. Shadow magic continuously wafted off the door, flooding out to the rest of the dungeon. The more he looked at the door and watched the shadows, the more he started to understand a thing or two.

“Blizzy, I’m gonna need you,” he said, reaching for her through the bond. He immediately started to prepare Shards. He tried to calm his racing heart, but the excitement and adrenaline rushing through his veins

From what he observed while waiting, everything he’d fought to this point was simply a byproduct of whatever waited within. Once Blizzy appeared, he grinned as he pressed both hands on the door and pushed inward.