Duelling Dungeons

“How are the girls?” I asked Bea as I strolled up to the infirmary. An infirmary that I didn’t know we had until today. Turns out, when you have healers that can reattach severed limbs and heal fatal wounds in moments, you don’t really need doctors that often.

“They’ll be fine,” Bea replied as she paced back and forth in front of the clinic. “They’re just undergoing some growing pains due to the evolution process. Doctor Harper wants to keep them here for a day or two to make sure they get the proper nutrition while the process plays out.”

“I always thought evolution was instant,” I said.

“And what? They’d glow with an inner light and transform into some sort of higher form?” Bea chuckled. “If that happened, you wouldn’t have time to adapt to the changes. Your enhanced senses, changes to musculature and center of balance, and new racial abilities. It would be a mess! That’s why doctors suggest people undergo the process naturally, under their supervision.”

“I didn’t know that,” I muttered.

Bea stopped pacing for a moment and turned towards me, her eyes narrowed. “Why are you here right now? I know you were worried when the girls started collapsing from evolution sickness, but isn’t the draft for the next round of confrontation matches supposed to start soon? I would have thought you would have wanted a front row seat for that.”

“I can always watch a replay. They’re recording the process up in the control center so they can rebroadcast it,” I replied.

Bea didn’t reply. She just stood there, staring at me judgmentally.

“I got Jenkins to get me a tablet that’s connected right to the broadcast channel,” I admitted, pulling the tablet out from behind my back.

“I knew it. You never would have missed the broadcast,” Bea chuckled. “Why go to all that effort? Why not just watch it in one of the lounges like last time?”

“Because I was concerned about the girls,” I said. “I didn’t know what to do when they started to sweat and shake violently. I thought they were ill or something.”

“Nope, that’s just the start of the evolution process. I remember when I went through it, my senses went into overdrive, and I found everything disorienting. I imagine they were going through something similar,” Bea said.

“I’m just glad that they auto-disconnected from the dungeon before anything happened,” I muttered. “It was unsettling to watch."

“It’s a natural process, nothing to be concerned about,” Bea replied, before chuckling nervously. “I know… I triple checked with the doctor.”

“Can I go in and see how they are? I feel a little guilty for putting them through that,” I asked.

Bea imposed herself between me and the door. “Nope. No more visitors for a couple more hours. Doctor’s orders. That’s why I’m out here, instead of in there.”

“You sure it’s not because you were hovering and making a pest of yourself?” I smirked.

“I was hovering a little,” Bea admitted, but the girls enjoyed my attention! Besides, the doctor was adamant that everyone get at least a couple of hours of sleep so that they can get over the worst of the disorientation. I just decided to wait here until they got up again.”

“A smarter idea would be to get a couple of hours of sleep yourself, so you could take care of them once they got up,” I said,

“I can’t, I’m too excited!” Bea exclaimed. “Besides, what if they need me for something?”

“Then the doctors will call you,” I said, gently grabbing her arm and steering her towards a set of chairs sitting by the entrance to the clinic. “At least stop pacing and sit down. If you don't, you’ll quickly exhaust yourself.”

Bea perched on the end of one of the plush chairs and immediately started bouncing nervously. When I saw that. I placed a hand on her shoulder. “Relax…”

“I can’t! I know everything’s fine, but I can’t help but worry. They’re my family!” Bea whined.

“And they’ll be fine,” I gently assured her. “Why don’t you watch the announcement with me? It’ll help distract you for a little while.”

Bea turned her head and watched me sit down next to her. “You just don’t want to miss the announcement.”

“I won’t deny that,” I replied. “It doesn’t change the fact that it’ll help take your mind off your sisters.”

I flicked on the tablet and turned it slightly so that Bea could see it. She pretended not to be interested for a minute, but as soon as the broadcast started, she leaned forward eagerly.

It seemed they’d gone and arranged an even larger spectacle than last time. Instead of just having commentators and analysts on to talk about the different dungeons, there were a couple of exhibition matches happening.

Between the dungeon masters.

“Did you know this was going to happen?” Bea asked excitedly.

“No,” I replied, shaking my head numbly. “But I wish someone had told me… I missed some of the matches. Think of all the information I could have pulled from those matches…”

Bea chuckled as she snuggled in closer to get a better look at the screen.

It seemed like we’d missed most of the matches, but one was still going strong: the fight between Lanivia and Admiral Larghan.

I knew that Lanivia was strong. I’d heard whispers of all the things she’d accomplished over the years: crushing entire armies with a wave of her hand and ripping countries apart. Now that I was seeing her in action, I began to suspect those stories were true.

The arena was a complete wreck. Larghan had summoned dozens of titanic tentacles made of dark water using his abyssal magic, while Lanivia… Well, Lanivia just seemed to be standing there.

As the tentacles came crashing down on her position, shields of purple arcane energy exploded into existence, destroying the offending arms and sheltering Lanivia from the water. Throughout the assault, Lanivia didn’t move; she just stood there, arms folded into her sleeves, staring at her opponent.

When the last of the tentacles exploded, Larghan laughed, the tentacles over his mouth writhing with his mirth. “It’s been years since I’ve faced a true challenge, nevermind used my full strength. How invigorating! We should have done this years ago.”

“Are you saying my people didn’t challenge you?” Lanivia asked.

“Oh, they were an entertaining diversion, but I still had to hold back. Not here, though, not against you.”

“I’m glad you’re amused,” Lanivia replied calmly. “Are you prepared to face your defeat?”

“Aye! Show me what you’re capable of!” the pirate cackled, spreading his hands wide.

I watched in awe as Lanivia casually raised a single hand, pointed at the man, and released a crackling bolt of twisting black and purple energy across the arena. When it connected with Largha,n half the arena voided out.

There was no explosion, no flash. The bolt evaporated everything within fifty feet of where Larghan had once stood. Reality seemed to freeze for a moment, letting me take in the sides of the perfect sphere that had been cut out of reality. As I took a deep breath in, my mind trying to comprehend the power behind the attack I’d just witnessed, the moment ended, and the water surrounding the arena surged, filling in the void in the arena.

The screen flicked away from the arena to a regal yet desiccated man, draped in silk robes and gold jewelry. “I hope our exhibition matches managed to get your blood pumping, and made you all excited for the continuation of the confrontation league!

“As you know, we made some minor rule changes to make the matches more fair and exciting for you to watch. A full breakdown of which will be made available after the conclusion of today’s festivities,” the man announced. He smiled as the camera zoomed in on his withered face and empty eye sockets. “Now, for the moment you’ve been waiting for: The revealing of the next round of mmatch-ups”

The crowd hollered and cheered until he raised a hand to quiet them. “Just like before, these pairings were drawn in the presence of six dungeon masters to ensure the process was fair and impartial.”

He flicked his wrist, and a fancy, gilded envelope appeared in his hand. “Without any further ado: The Unfathomable Depths will face my dungeon, The Tombs of the Last Dynasty. The Northern Bastian will face The Arachne Abyss. The Wailing Manor will go up against the Black Sanctum…”

I did my best to remember the pairings, but my brain was still trying to process what we’d witnessed before the announcement. I’d never seen such a casual and destructive show of power, and it had been from my own boss.

Bea nudged me in the side. “Are you okay? You seemed to be lost in thought there. You’re not worried about facing the Sanctum, are you?”

“Of course not. With the proper planning and preparation, I believe we can defeat anyone,” I replied, glancing back at the tablet. The feed cut over to a private section of the stands, where all the dungeon masters, including Larghan and Lanivia, were politely applauding the announcement.

I felt a little unsettled as I gazed at Lanivia, so I turned the tablet off and gave Bea what I hoped would be a confident smile. “I’d go as far as to say, we can't lose.”