The basement smelled like mold, rat droppings, and leather leading to a mine. Wooden support beams straight out of a video game mineshaft supported the tunnel. As the mine shaft descended, skeletons appeared stuck in the dirt and rock. They reached out from the walls grasping at my armor as I ran through the shaft. Shadows flitted across the walls as the tunnels tightened in some places and widened in others. As I moved, those shadows thickened until it felt like I was wading through sludge. Then yellow eyes snapped open, and shadow spirits surrounded me.
A pulse of aura was enough to slay the weaker spirits. I collected their dropped cores before the dungeon could retrieve them and attached them to the head of my staff. A yellow eye appeared in my staff as the living wood adapted to the low dark core.
If I planned to add a high dark core to my cultivation and go for the 10 or 11 spirit set, I needed to adapt to the dark now rather than later. My first step was the dark cores the dungeon generously provided. I absorbed the dark qi through my staff, grew a seed, and sprouted a new one. The staff's yellow eye remained even when I added another dark core to it.
Plant cells from the staff mixed with my armor as I changed out the dark cores. Soon enough, a yellow eye could develop on my armor. These transfers were meant to climatize my staff, armor, and ultimately my body to dark qi.
I used the qi from the cores to fuel my staff's growth each time, adapting it to the dark. Finally, after the initial growth, it seemed capable of handling a single low dark core. So, I kept one at the head of the staff, letting it sit and power my focus.
Even as I slaughtered the shadows wholesale, something gathered at the edge of my vision. A presence appeared stronger than the ones before.
Red markings appeared on the walls. "In my darkest hour, I searched for a way out of my life trapped in a love doll's body. Then, when death wouldn't save me, I searched in the dark, and she answered."
A purple haze slipped through the mineshaft, and it felt like I wasn't in a physical place anymore. The dark yellow eyes watched me as an outline took on a womanly shape. A sound began to echo through the mineshaft at first as humming then as a haunting wordless ballad. I fought a losing battle against the creature as qi laced its voice. My mind began to blank as I fell asleep and suddenly woke up. With each verse, I stumbled a little.
The words on the walls changed. "I learned that the light of reality is cruel while the dark is kind. The dark hid my desires from my enemies, friends, and myself. I bided my time with the dark at my side until I was ready. There were other doll types than servants." The dungeon said.
Fire erupted from my hand, spilling through the mist, and the banshee shrieked as flames filled the mine shaft. The purple haze evaporated as roaring flames replaced the calming song. I closed the distance and raised my hand. Blue light gathered filled with my destructive intent. Lightning radiated from my palm striking randomly while my qi gathered.
The blue-skinned banshee's face was covered by mostly singed blue hair. The banshee peaked up at me through the mess long enough to see her doom. Instead of facing it, she hid behind her hair. After seeing that, I felt like killing her now would be too much of a dickish move. That and the blue titties.
Just as I lowered my palm and thought about what to say, I heard a roar. A scythe-covered centipede girl with all black chitinous armor slammed into the banshee and bit into her. The cute banshee girl barely gurgled before I heard a crunch.
As what little fire remained illuminated the cave, the centipede girl glanced at me with her beady black eyes. Her large pitch-black titties were capped by massive pink nipples and swayed back and forth as she devoured the remains of the banshee girl. I sighed and unleashed my blast.
My qi overtook them, burning away their flesh and bone and leaving only their spirit cores behind. I took them both. They were both mid-class; while one looked almost ready to leap into the high class, the other barely reached the mid-class. I took a seed from my staff and grew a new one from the weaker mid-class core.
It was slow, but soon I would adapt to the dark cores and then claim a high dark core.
A red message appeared on the walls. "The dark hides our sins even from ourselves. While in the dark, I was a part of many things I'm not proud of. What secrets are you hiding, Red?" The dungeon asked.
"Your drops are unimpressive." I scooped up a handful of silver pennies and a pile of black, red, purple, and yellow pills. "No weapons or technique scrolls. I think you just don't like me." I said.
The red text changed. "You are cool and confident like a man with a plan. I can't figure it out. Most would be consuming as many pills as they could, but you hesitate. You didn't even use my mana until you grew that armor."
"Of course, even if you don't have a plan, always act like you do. I mean, I just fell into this place from Earth; what kind of plan could I have. Did you ever figure out a way to get back?" I asked.
"What no shots at my identity? You're hiding something." The dungeon asked.
"After seeing the Ken doll, I really don't want to know about your identity. Living life as a sex doll for years couldn't be good for you." I said.
Now I could see if he had a reliable way back. His Earth probably wasn't my Earth. I accepted that from the beginning. After accepting that, I decided to contemplate if going to Earth had any advantages for another day. Monster girls apparently crossed over there all the time. It wouldn't be weird if they maintained a presence there. Humans were their food source. I could think of one use for a sex doll back on Earth, and it wasn't as a secretary.
"They sent me to the love doll brothels to collect Devateria. While any love doll could store sperm, the Devateria left the sperm if a male soul wasn't in the doll. So I was used to farm free-range humans." The dungeon said.
It sounded like bullshit. From what I could tell, dolls could be controlled from a distance and even be preprogrammed. I think the dungeon was an experiment to see if they could copy a mind onto a doll through enchantment. He was successful but went all terminator. They should have gutted his terminal goals and replaced them with guarding the mansion or something. Honestly, this guy made for a shitty sex doll. Perhaps, they were pranking him.
"I'm sorry to hear that, friend. Your situation sounds like it was hard on you. It's good that you survived. But I'm not here to talk about your history. Is there a way back to Earth here or not?" I asked.
"Come and meet me in my depths, and all will be revealed." The red messages said.
I took that as a no.
The mine shaft opened up into a vast expansive underground laboratory. Potions and ingredients littered tables and shelves. More centipede women roamed the ceilings and halls while the banshees sang in their own choirs. When one of the centipede women fell asleep, the banshees dragged her away and devoured her. Giant black-skinned toad girls waited in shadowy corners spewing purple clouds from their throats and mimicking the songs of banshees. Sometimes banshees searched in the shadows for their fellows only to be snatched up by the toads. At the seemingly bottom of the food chain was a group of imps constantly moving around experimenting with potions and ingredients. They were often food for all three groups. Only the queen of the imps remained free of predation.
After sneaking through the rooms and killing anything that got in my way, I stumbled upon the imp queen. She was a black-skinned creature constantly birthing eggs guarded by the most learned imps. These were the praetor imps. While they weren't giants, they easily stood 5ft tall, which was massive for an imp, and they seemed to have spells strong enough to kill the toads.
There was a crown atop the queen's head with a high-class dark core in it. I backed out of the queen's nesting chamber and moved around, making sure to memorize where each toad was. Then with a little fire, I coaxed them out of hiding. It's simple, really; with a little bit of fire, I herded them towards the nesting chamber and watched them battle the praetor imps.
Once the praetors were distracted, I made my way to the queen. Skating lets me move at ludicrous speeds, and I've only gotten better with the technique. I snatched the core off the queen's crown and left her to the mercy of the hungry scared toads.
Instead of absorbing this core, I stashed it in my inventory. For once, I decided to be cautious. I cultivated low-class dark spirit cores through my staff to build up my resistance to dark qi.
Another row of dungeon messages appeared on the walls as I walked into a fancy room. "The imps are all that remains of the succubi bloodline that once ruled the plantation. My revenge on them was absolute, and that bloodline will never recover. So don't gather my ire, or I'll turn that same rage on you." The dungeon said.
"Terrifying what does Dani think of that. Isn't she the succubus next door, or have you done away with her?" I asked.
"Your words can't break our bond." The dungeon replied.
"Or were you programmed to keep her safe. It sounds like, despite your want for revenge, the bloodline continued. You kept them safe despite what you felt. I don't think you're as free as you pretend to be. Have you ever made your own decisions, or has Dani made them all for you? I bet you couldn't hurt her even if you wanted to." I said.
"She is a spirit under my power; why should I damage what is mine already?" The dungeon asked.
"Then order her to kill herself. She's just a mid-class copper possessed. Losing her won't set you back much. But, come on, she killed you. Shouldn't you get some revenge?" I asked.
"You're the devil." The dungeon said.
I sighed in relief. The dungeon didn't seem to notice that I was after the spirit core. I tossed more red pills in my mouth and sighed as they took effect. My path led to two rooms. Between them, there was an elevator that led to the first floor. Which meant the way forward was definitely the boss's room. So I took a left to the other room.
The room was definitely spacious enough for a boss fight but not too spacious. I could move around a little but not gain a ton of momentum. In the center, there was a puzzle and string. Apparently, I had to solve a 3d puzzle using string. Small metal rods were sticking out of the ground, and several rolls of string were at my disposal. I opened a pamphlet to see step-by-step instructions like I was putting together Ikea furniture.
While I read over the instructions, I decided to glare at the dungeon wall. "This isn't a fun puzzle."
In red letters, a message formed. "Busy with after fight makeup sex talk later." I opened my mouth and closed it.
Then, I considered my ploy to cause a civil war in the dungeon, genuinely dead in the water. However, despite my problems, I still followed the instructions for the puzzle.