Chapter 8


    What do I do, Dorn?


    Do you know why he''s following me?


    Dorn, what do I do?


    Dorn, not FUCKING now!


    


    before


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    Hey Dorn, you sure you''ll be safe when these guys get there?


    Hey Dorn, what''s with the space shields over the arch marked “The Colosseum” and in the forest?


    that sounds pretty interesting. When are you building it?


    amazing, that should be a good source of revenue


    then what about those space barriers in the forest?


    But what if a race goes to war within their own quadrant? Like if Ilsanians and Khals were living there and their parent countries go to war?


    Maybe for you, but it''ll suck for me. Plus, I''m assuming you''re only giving me land in the human quadrant, which cuts my profits down by four.


    One can never have too much money. Just because you don''t use gold, silver, and copper coins doesn''t mean you don''t use money. I''ve heard you mention something about earning DP''s. I don''t know what they are, but it certainly sounds like you''re desperate for money as well.


    ***


    The group stared up at the massive statues in awe. Jeromy gave a nervous laughter and asked, “Are you sure this is a dungeon and not a dragon''s lair?”


    Kiera flippantly responded, “Yeah, I already saw the dragon''s dead body in there.”


    Roderick immediately spoke up, “There''s a dragon''s body just sitting there in the dungeon?” He seemed like he was ready to rush into the dungeon to acquire the treasure. He was already picturing armors made of dragon scales, clubs made of its bones, and bows made with its tendons. The entire team''s eyes were glowing, and the greed was palpable.


    At this, Kiera panicked a little, and asked Dorn for some help, Dorn, what do I say now?


    Dorn sighed and said, “Why can''t you try thinking before you speak out truths that will be hard to explain. Are you going to tell them next that you have a beast core in your skull? Just tell them that you saw the dungeon absorb the dragon''s body as if I was showing you that the dragon was dead.”


    Kiera gave a fake sigh, before saying, “As soon as I saw its body, the dungeon absorbed it. It was almost as if it was trying to tell me that the dragon was dead, and the mountain was now owned by the dungeon.”


    The Scarlet War-Mages looked genuinely upset at the loss of such a potential treasure. Roderick''s face showed an unusual amount of anger, before he spoke up, saying, “Pack it in, guys. We''re here for a mission and we''re about to complete it. Now Kiera, before we hand over your reward, can you tell us the layout of the floor?”


    Kiera responded, “Floor, as in singular?”


    Roderick look surprised, “Do you mean it already has a second floor? Before anyone besides you has conquered it?”


    Kiera said, “When I was there, there was four levels. But there were no monsters or traps. In fact, there was no danger at all. It was like the dungeon wanted to give me a tour.”


    Roderick asked back, “So it was just empty floors?”


    Kiera said, “Not exactly. The dungeon had built this entrance hall with some steles explaining its existence. The first floor down from the hall was, according to the dungeon''s writings, a full floor safe zone, designed for people to build structures and live in.”


    Roderick interrupted, “Who would ever willingly live inside a dungeon? Even if you could get past the fact that you''d be living in a dangerous life form that wants to kill you, you would have to live in the dark most of the day, with only stone surrounding you on all sides.”


    Kiera responded, “I think you should just check out the dungeon, it''ll surprise you.”


    Roderick grumbled and handed over the 50 gold pieces. Kiera gave a big smile and said, “Thank you” before throwing the gold into her bag of holding. This action was not lost on the members of the Scarlet War-Mages, who looked at her with a little envy in their eyes. Roderick didn''t bother with his greedy party members and simply led them towards the entrance hall. When they saw the beautiful, glowing relief carvings, they stopped for a moment just to admire the artistry. Jeromy''s head was tilted completely upwards, just staring at the stars. The five member stopped and noticed the first stele that gave the dungeon its name. “Continue,” ordered Roderick.


    When the group got to the second stele, which labeled the levels, Jerome spoke up and said, “Well this is helpful.”


    Mina, one of the two pure fire mages of the War-Mages piped up, “Or incredibly devious. It could be trying to get us to lower our guard and make it easier to ambush us.”


    Roderick said, “Mina''s right. Be at full attention the entire time we are inside this dungeon, even if parts appear safe.”


    When the party arrived before the third stele, a grim silence settled over the group. Roderick turned to Kiera and asked, “Kiera, why did you not mention this before? This needs to be reported to the Churches.”


    At this, the group seemed to disagree with their dour leader. “This dungeon is only the third dungeon in all of Khal. If we want to survive the upcoming war with Ilsan, we''ll need our soldiers to get as strong as possible, and the only way to do that is to have them train in actual combat. Besides, it says it will only have devils starting with the A levels, which the dungeon is clearly not.”


    Roderick barked back, “How many times am I going to have to mention the fact that these signs can''t be trusted, as they have been put up by the dungeon. The very fact that this dungeon is sentient is ample proof that this is an infernal dungeon. When we get back, I''ll be making a report to the Churches.”


    The team seemed angered, but as he was their leader, they had to let it go. Kiera followed the team onto the glyph and into the dungeon proper.


    ***


    “Still think it''s a good idea to have demons and devils? Or to announce it before you even have them? You could have kept it all a secret until you created your A levels before announcing it then,” scolded Emelia.


    “I''m not scared of the churches. I''m aware that they destroy many dungeons, but I''m too safe to be scared. Elemental magic is and always will be superior to priestly magic. I''m even more confident in this now, knowing that it was the gods that set up the System. They won''t be endowing their followers with the power to destroy their very own creations.”


    Emelia replied, “You are right in one aspect, the gods are very loathe to interfere in the lower planes, one way or another. I still think announcing to the world your anti-Church intentions is not wise.”


    “How am I anti-Church? If anything, I''m aligned with the churches. My goal is to destroy the devil and demon planes, and that should be the same goal that the Churches have. Doesn''t anyone read the part of the stele that mentions how I''m a practice ground for people to hone their skills in hunting and killing demons?”


    Emelia said, “People have been taught time and time again to associate devils and demons with evil. By the very fact that they exist in your dungeon, it proves you are evil. There is usually very little extra thought that goes into situations concerning demons.”


    Dorn could only shake his non-existent head in dismay. He still wasn''t going to change his mind. He would not cater his dungeon towards the wishes of the humans. His dungeon was for all races, after all. He had to remind himself that just because he had spent millenia disguised as a human, at the end of the day, he was not one of them. Speaking of other races, Jerry''s mission to the elves should be bearing fruit relatively soon. Now he just needed to make overtures to the beast-kin and the dwarves. He wondered how they would respond to being invited to a dungeon, a structure usually monopolized by humans, with the occasional elf being allowed to tag along. Ecstatic is probably an understatement. And boy are the humans going to be pissed.