Dungeons, why did it have to be dungeons!?

John strolled up to the SUV as a familiar girl jumped out of the driver seat. Smiling at him as she wagged her finger. “John, how dare you!” she said loudly, drawing a few people’s eyes.

John looked around, conscious of the people staring at her. Hurriedly asking her: “What, how dare I what?”

A few members of the football team were watching with amusement as John apparently got scolded by a girl. They approached, ready to swoop in and teach the nerd some manners if it got out of hand.

“How dare you leave without giving me your number yesterday! How else am I going to keep in contact with you?” Cynthia said with a pouty face. She sidled up to him, whispering into his ear: “How are we going to keep in touch if we have no way to get a hold of you, smartass?”

To the jocks it looked as if she was kissing his neck, a look of confusion on their faces. “Since when is Newman so good with the ladies?” one of them asked the others. In their minds they could not connect why the geek they tended to pick on was suddenly together with someone way out of his league. Before they could go to investigate, however, Cynthia had directed John into the car, the two of them driving off together.

John looked out of the window as Cynthia merged into traffic, thinking it was great to have, well, someone his own age that did not dislike him.

“So, how did you like your first day in the Abyss yesterday?” Cynthia broke the silence, casually steering the car as she looked at John from the corner of her eye.

“It was a lot to take in. But overall, I quite enjoyed myself. And ehm, thanks for pointing out how stupid I was by being all sensible,” he said while sticking out his tongue.

“Most welcome, and come on, you were being way too serious about it.You got powers, **** them! The Abyss can’t all be doom and gloom, you know,” she said teasingly, a smile on her lips.

“Talking about doom and gloom, I met Moira Brighton today, and she warned me about people not being who they appear to be in the Abyss,” John spoke in a more serious tone, a hint of fright added into the mix.

“Right, you met the current warden, forgot she goes to school with you. Welp, she has a point: there are way too many organisations intent on destruction and all that. Lucky for you… we are not one of them. Just be aware of what you are doing and don’t go out without us for the coming days. Before you know it, you will be able to handle yourself,” she reassured him.

“So, what's on the roll today then? More training?” John asked as Cynthia turned onto a dirt road.

The engine made a low humming sound as the scenery slowly changed from houses to the sparse trees of the forest.

“Today, I think either me or dad will take you hunting. After all, we are still in a competition. And you, being one of us, have to pull your weight!”

As the car drove between the tall oaks John asked her: “Alright, can I ask you a favour though? Could you maybe… Well, I got a quest you see. Gaia wants me to learn how to create barriers, ilusion barriers? The exp I get for completing it will be roughly half a level.”

Cynthia’s interest was piqued. Raising an eyebrow as she asked, “Wait, so for learning how to create barriers, you will grow once again?”

“Well, create barriers and a bit more, I need to kill the boss inside my first barrier. Why?”

“Your powers are so weird, but yeah sure! It’s not every day you get to experience first hand what a late bloomer can do.”

Cynthia drove into a different side of the familiar wall, parking the car a few moments later.

The two of them got out of the car, John equipping his weaponry as Cynthia ducked into a nearby tent, emerging out of it a few minutes later in the same gear she had worn the day before.

“Let’s go. I’ll leave a note for mom and dad that I’m teaching you how to create barriers and that we will go hunting afterwards,” Cynthia stated, scribbling something on a note; after that she placed it on a small bulletin board in front of the temple.

“First off, we will need to exit this barrier; you can’t create a barrier inside a barrier. This is not that trippy movie with DiCaprio,” Cynthia explained with a wink. She took his hand, dragging him towards the nearest exit.

Outside of the camp Cyntia raised her left hand, snapping her fingers at him to make sure he was looking at her.. “Okay, it’s quite simple really. You focus your mana on your hand, imagine it forming a cube around you, and then, you release it.”

Her hand began to glow, then with a small flash the lighting around them broke, and they found themselves in a similar barrier as where they had met the day before.

you have entered an unnamed barrier

“Now, if you want to exit, you raise your hand again and imagine the world around you shattering,” Cynthia helpfully explained. ”Though it usually works, there are times you can’t just break open the barrier. For example if the barrier is created by someone much more powerful than you. Our camp for instance was created by a fateweaver. Think of them as people that create and regulate barriers for a living”

The world around them shattered like glass, and seconds later, they stood once more in the forest from where they had started.

“Now you try it.”

John stepped forward, raising his hand and did as instructed: in his mind he shaped a mana box, enveloping the two of them and let it loose.

Skill created: Instant Dungeon

Like instant noodles but with monsters instead of noodles, and a box instead of a cylinder, so basically nothing like instant noodles.
Create a dungeon with monsters for the gamer to fight. Can also create empty barriers.

John and Cynthia both got pulled into the barrier, only to have John raise his hand and shattering it a few moments later.

Skill created: Exit Barrier
Exit an illusion barrier, shattering it if you are the last creature in it.

John smiled at the two windows. “Great! I got two new skills out of it. Hell, I can even create dungeons now!” he said happily.

“Okay gamerboy, dungeon? As in medieval lock ups?” Cynthia asked, clearly not versed in the gamer lingo.

“Well, no. Basically, a dungeon is a special area in a video game where you fight mobs. Wait, right, non gamer, mobs means monsters. And eventually, you wind up fighting the boss which gives you special loot you can’t find in other places,” he explained patiently.

“So, wait. Your powers give you the ability to grow by fighting things. And then provide you with the ability to generate things to fight?” Cynthia asked, looking at him like he was a freak.

“Ehm, yes?” John answered sheepishly.

“Totally unfair, but I can’t wait to see how it works!” Cynthia didn’t really seem all that bothered about his unfair powers. Instead, she urged him on to try it out.

“Well, normally… Normally you party for a dungeon. It allows people to share experience. I kinda wanna see if…” John cleared his throat, speaking firmly “Party Invite Cynthia!”

Cynthia looked surprised when a window popped up in front of her.

John has invited you to a party.
Accept?
Y/N

She quickly hit Y and saw a blue and red bar appearing above John’s head. “Your powers are weird… I can see bars above your head. Red and blue.”

“Health and mana, basic game design,” he teased. Then to avoid getting distracted by her cute smile, he turned away and cast create dungeon.

A random dungeon has been created.

Dungeon 1:
The fields of Straya.