Our final goal to accomplish while here in town is to create two dungeons for King Reynard, he wants to train his knights and adventures in a somewhat safe environment. He suggested stationing them near or in the mountain but I couldn't allow another country, even an allied one, to keep their armed forces that close. So I instead mentioned my ability to create a jewel that can convert a natural Ether well into a monster and resource spawner, he lept at the idea and requested that I convert two of the caves near the capital into dungeons to be used for training grounds.

We arrived at the first cave with the King and his platoon of knights, I could feel a decent amount of Earth Ether swirling in the cave system so this should work fine. I turned to Reynard who was busy discussing the future plans for a fort at the entrance with the platoon commander.

"I do not wish to interrupt, but do you have some time to discuss this process, I would like to fill you in on how this works and answer any questions you might have Reynard."

Reynard ended their discussion and turned to me, this commander had already been informed that I was the Dwarven King so he didn't start acting up about 'offending' or interrupting his King.

"Indeed Anwirn, I must admit I first thought you were pulling my leg about being able to control monsters with a jewel. But that thought quickly vanished when I considered your other achievements so I have been looking forward to witnessing this ever since. Now, what exactly is this process and what should I know about the possible dangers?"

I nodded and retrieved a dormant dungeon sub-core from my bag, it was about as large as my head and was a dull brown color. I had the Brimstone dungeon create these as I was going to be using them as a shortcut to create another dungeon. I would normally channel my Ether into a natural Ether well where I wanted to create a dungeon, this would fuse with the Ether in the well and create a dungeon of varying power dependent on the mixture and amount of Ether from myself and the well. Essentially this method that I was about to use I would channel a small amount of my Ether to force the Ether in the well and this core to fuse, creating a new dungeon that was stronger than it would be otherwise and permanently linking it to my dungeon. Meaning I could override any control the local dungeon master had should this country betray me. I had already advised Reynard of this and he was fine, given what I was providing could be dangerous if used against me and he was certain none in his family line would ever wish us harm given the sword they had been gifted.

"This is a dormant dungeon core, once fused with the natural Ether in this cave it will take on a life of its own, in a sense. The core is forever bound to the one that is registered as its master. Though that master can be changed or add sub-masters who will take over in the event of their death. The master can change the way that the core uses the Ether it absorbs from the well, whether that be for creating creatures of various strengths or even traps and objects. I must warn you, that forging a connection with the core does carry risks, the greatest of which could claim the life of the master, should the core be destroyed the master may die along with the dungeon. This is how it forces its master to protect it and why I said it has a life of its own."

I paused as Reynard studied the core carefully, likely deciding who would take on the dangerous role of being the dungeon master. The knight commander stepped forward to ask something while his King was deep in thought.

"I have a question King Anwirn, what happens to those listed as sub-masters when the core is destroyed?"

"A good question. All registered masters will feel great pain, not unlike losing a limb, and are likely to die if they are not strong enough. The core will attempt to offset the damage done to it by draining any registered masters of their Ether. Should there be too little among the masters they will be drained of their Vigor instead. So, the more masters registered to the core and the stronger they are the less likely it is for one of them to die in the event of its destruction. I must warn you both that this is not a normal function, usually, the master and his sub-masters will die no matter what. However, this will be a sub-dungeon to ours in Brimstone. Meaning that my dungeon is the true master and shall expend most of the required Ether to counteract the draining. The rest of that required Ether shall come from the local masters, and failing they have enough it will drain their Vigor in exchange."

Reynard again looked at me after a few moments of thought.

"It appears that this process carries great risk for you as well does it not Anwirn?"

I laughed lightly and shook my head.

"I created these cores with but a fraction of the Ether that my dungeon controls. Even should both of these cores be destroyed my dungeon will not lose even a fourth of its overall Ether, and that would recover in less time than it takes to enjoy a good drink. Fear for me not Reynard, the masters assigned to these dungeons are in far more risk than I am. I suggest that you select several of your strongest men to protect this jewel against any rogues in your army."

"Indeed, we shall also have to bind the adventurer's guild in some extensive magical contracts before allowing their people to make use of the dungeon we are creating for them. Perhaps even have the guild master register as a sub-master for insurance so they thoroughly vet any parties they allow to use it."

"A solid plan, now, this process might be dangerous for those with low tolerance to Ether exposure. So please call all of your men back away from the cave, I shall proceed to the depths and begin the process. I will return to you when it is complete."

Reynard motioned to the other knights before turning back to me.

"I shall follow, my equipment prevents Ether from affecting me and I wish to see this process in person."

I eyed his equipment with my Godly Craftman's Eyes to confirm he wasn't lying or overestimating their abilities.

"Your equipment should indeed withstand this level of exposure, but I advise against thinking that it will protect you from all amounts of Ether in the future."

I headed for the cave, trailed by Reynard and his knight commander.

—————

We found ourselves at the deepest section of the cave, a fairly wide area about 30 meters from the entrance. Not as deep as a dungeon should be, but they can expand it without issue. I turned to the two men who followed me and used a portion of my Ether to summon an Earth element bubble shield around them, doesn't hurt to be careful. I walked to the middle of the room and formed a pillar of earth up to about my chest to place the core on before I started sensing the Ether in the well around me.

I needed to determine the direction this well flows to properly allow the dungeon to merge with it without blocking the flow, failing to do so could impact the life growing in the area. After feeling the tide of Ether for roughly 30 minutes I began to pull a string of Ether from the stream of the well to branch off into the core, followed by pulling another string from the core to a point further down the stream. I used my Ether to bolster these branches at their connection points, slowly allowing the throughput of Ether to increase in between waiting for the stream to heal and merge with these new branches as they expanded.

The core began to glow with the color of watery mud, the brightness slowly increasing as the Ether channeling through it increased. Eventually the Ether branches reached a width that could support the amount of Ether that the core required and it shone brightly as the cave shook with a dull thud similar to thunder. The support under the core collapsed and the jewel remaining floating in place, I had successfully merged the core to the Ether well. It could now recharge its 5000 available Ether every hour if needed.

I turned to the two men, who had comically wide open mouths as dispelled the bubble that surrounded them before gesturing to the core.

"Do you want to see what your new dungeon can do?"