by Neven Iliev
[Yes]
[No]
A weird one popped up by the time they passed the ‘No Entry’ point on the map and got back into the dungeon proper. The Mimic didn’t even pay attention to the stubborn pop up at this point and immediately chose ‘No.’
[Okay, I get it! You don’t wanna be a Dungeon Master. In that case, just leave the core behind, already! It’s not like it’ll be of any use to you, anyway!]
[Do you wish to become the master of this dungeon?]
[Yes]
[No]
It seemed that there was some sort of consciousness inside this dungeon and it was aware of what was going on. Its pleas and attempts to make the monster see reason were quite futile. After all, the selfish box already decided it wanted the shiny. Therefore, it would keep the shiny.
[Do you have any idea how long it’ll take to grow a new one?! Look, I promise I’ll make it worth your while if you listen to me and put it down!]
[Do you wish to become the master of this dungeon?]
[Yes]
[No]
This attempt at bribery might have actually worked if it wasn’t worded poorly. If the Mimic had been offered ‘many shiny things’ it would have undoubtedly paid attention, perhaps even accepted the deal on the spot. However, ambiguous phrases like ‘worth your while’ went squarely over its metaphorical head and were summarily ignored. It was a crucial blunder. After all, success or failure in negotiations hinged almost entirely on how well one understood their opponent. Therefore, this entity, which did not know a single thing about the monster’s thought processes, had no chance of persuading it with words.
[Listen here, buddy! You already killed the Dungeon Master! If you think I’ll let you just walk away with that core then you’ve got another think coming!]
[Do you wish to become the master of this dungeon?]
[Yes]
[No]
Whoever or whatever was trying to communicate with the Mimic seemed to be getting rather angry. And perhaps a tiny bit desperate if they gave up on diplomacy and resorted to vague threats. The arachno-chest still ignored them with all its might, though. Even trying to contact the other two proved to be completely fruitless.
That was because Xera and Kora were already bound to the walking chest. There was no way they could be offered a new soul-binding contract while their current one was still in effect. They were therefore completely oblivious to the silent struggle going on inside their master’s mind.
However, it would seem that it would not go on for much longer.
[Fine! I didn’t want to do this, but you forced my hand! Don’t say you weren’t warned!]
[Do you wish to become the master of this dungeon?]
[Yes]
[No]
The dull red glow that the core gave off until then suddenly intensified, bathing the surroundings in a bright red light. It started flashing this light on and off with a steady rhythm, almost like an alarm.
Because that’s exactly what it was.
“Um, Master?” said Xera with a rather accusatory tone. “What did you do to the core?”
“Nothing? Arms is the one holding it.”
It shamelessly deflected the blame. Not that it understood how this was any of its fault, though.
“Hey, don’t look at me! I’m just holding onto it like I was ordered and then it started flashing all on its own!”
“Wait, do you hear that?”
There was a sudden howling and screaming coming in from the passage in front of them. And judging from the increasing volume, it was headed right for the three core thieves.
An extra large group of undead - about thirty skeletons, seven ghouls and a dozen or so ghosts poured out of the next corner and dashed madly towards them.
“Arms, smash them up. Snack, support from the back.”
The Mimic calmly gave out orders. It saw no reason to worry. True, the number of enemies was nothing to sneeze at, but it had already faced similar numbers on the way in. Xera by herself was able to take out most of them with her Inferno Spell and what few were left became food for the Mimic’s combat Skills. So now that the two of them had Kora to take point, this fodder stood absolutely no chance of winning.
“Oh yeah! Now this is what I’m talking about!”
The fiend in question seemed to really be looking forward to getting her hands dirty, so much so that she ran out to meet their charge while sporting a wide toothy grin. She smashed into the Skeleton Soldiers at the front with a wide sweeping kick that sent them flying and crashing into the stone wall. Weakness to blunt force trauma was a characteristic trait of skeletons, so most of those monsters shattered into pieces and instantly lost their unlife. Their ‘comrades’ didn’t care though, they just attacked their target. As expected of the mindless undead.
The rusty blades of the other Skeleton Soldiers and the filthy claws of the zombie-like ghouls struck at her. A good number were deflected by the armor on her arms and legs, but over half of the attacks sunk into her flesh.
[You have suffered a shallow wound. HP -19.]
[You have suffered a shallow wound. HP -22.]
[You have been afflicted with a disease. Max HP reduced by 50.]
[You have suffered a shallow wound. HP -13.]
[You have suffered a deep cut. HP -38.]
[You have been poisoned. HP -9.]
[Your movements have been dulled by the poison.]
[You have suffered a shallow wound. HP -23.]
[You have suffered a shallow wound. HP -18.]
Over 100 HP was lost in the blink of an eye. She didn’t just sit there and take it, though. Metal-clad punches rained down on the undead like hail while she yelled out ‘ora ora’ over and over. The storm of heavy blows pounded them into the ground until they were naught but dust and splinters. Well, the skeletons were anyway. The ghouls became more of a bloody smear on the floor and walls.
Xera didn’t sit idle either. She called forth an Inferno to decimate the undead platoon’s backline that consisted of Skeletal Archers, Skeletal Mages and ghosts. They were all wiped out before they could unleash their arrows and magic onto the gigantic red target in front of them. A few well-placed Fireballs picked off any surviving ghosts.
And while the demon girls were busy clearing the way, their master just sort of stood back and kept an eye on things. Well, it didn’t see a need to interfere. Its magic would be as ineffective as ever and slicing up undead seemed to make its swords deteriorate much quicker than when it used them on people or animals. It needed to take better care of them until it could learn to maintain them properly. Not to mention it was down to its last six weapons. Four of them - two swords and two mithril daggers - were picked up in this dungeon. The remaining two blades - a worn-out sword and that shiny enchanted knife - were leftovers from its newbie-hunting days.
[Proficiency level increased. Summon Familiar is now Level 5. INT +2. WIS +1. MNT +1.]
[Proficiency level increased. Demonology is now Level 2. WIS +2. MNT +2.]
So instead of dulling its weapons needlessly, it simply enjoyed the sweet taste of its Skills going up in Level without it actually needing to do anything. However, it noticed that Demonology did not go up as quickly as expected. Usually a new Skill would shoot to Level 3 quite rapidly with a huge engagement like this, but it just barely seemed to reach Level 2. If it was going to be this slow, then getting it all the way to Level 7 would take forever.
Maybe it misunderstood the way it should be using this Skill? It’s true that simply having the second familiar participate in combat increased Proficiency, but the gains were way too small. Now that it thought about it, wouldn’t Demonology go up quicker if it performed some of those rituals? Well, it would have to wait a while before testing that out. Pretty much all of the ceremonies it knew about needed troll blood. It wasn’t even sure what the fuck a troll was!
“Yeeaaaah!” screamed Kora triumphantly while standing ankle-deep in undead bits. “Get smashed, son!”
/> This odd cheer snapped the Mimic out of its thoughts. It appeared that the two demons were done cleaning up the undead. The one-sided massacre didn’t even last a minute! Checking their Statuses, the Mimic confirmed that Kora had lost about 250 HP while Xera had used up about a third of her MP.
“Arms, why is your max HP so low?” it asked after spotting the oddity in her Status. The value in question was currently listed as 374/515. Wasn’t it over 600 just a few minutes ago?
“Ah, I’m still poisoned and diseased!”
Oh, right. Abnormal statuses like that were common when fighting the undead at close range.
“You just realized this now…?”
“Snack, shut up and fix her.”
“Yes, Master.”
The succubus went up to Kora and put a hand on her chiseled abs. Right over the already festering wound left behind by a ghoul.
“Hey!” exclaimed her ‘patient.’ “What are you doing?”
“Just following orders, dearie.”
“And how is poking my wound going to-”
“Purge!”
Plumes of blue flame shot out of all the fiend’s open wounds and lit her up like a dangerous Christmas tree. They burned away the toxins in her system while cauterizing her wounds, accompanied by a momentary spike of pain.
[Your body has been purified by the flames. HP -30.]
[You are no longer poisoned.]
[You are no longer diseased.]
[You are no longer bleeding.]
Kora immediately confirmed the feeling in her body was back to normal. Well, she was covered in burns rather than open wounds, but at least she could move properly again.
“Ohh! I can move freely again! Thanks, slut!” she said with a toothy grin.
“I have a name, you nitwit,” retorted Xera while sneering.
“Ahahaha! My bad, my bad. Thanks, Snack.”
“Hohoho, sounds like someone wants their face melted off!”
“Bring it, short stuff! I’ll pummel you so hard only your tits will be left behind!”
“Hah! As if a clumsy oaf like you could ever catch the likes of me!”
Sparks seemed to fly between them as the two glared at each other with murderous intent. Simply because they both had the same master didn’t mean they would get along. It actually seemed to have the opposite effect.
After all, one of them was a succubus that thrived on deception and conspiracy. A creature whose manipulative and cunning nature could incite life-long friends to betray each other. Toppling entire kingdoms from within was entirely possible for the winged seductress. Highly unlikely, but possible nonetheless.
And her co-contractor just happened to be a fiend. A demon that wanted nothing less than to crush her enemies, see them driven before her and hear the lamentations of their women. Or men. Or pet dogs. The mountain of muscle didn’t have any prejudices in that regard and would gladly accept all forms of lamentation, regardless of who or what they came from.
In fact, the only thing in common these two species of demons had was how much they hated each other. Kora and Xera were no different and would undoubtedly be trying to kill one another if their summoning contracts weren’t holding them back. From a magical standpoint, a bound demon was more or less an extension of its master. The two of them were completely unable to physically harm one another without their master’s say-so.
A fact which both of them seemed to realize at the same time.
“Master, requesting permission to kill this bitch!” they screamed out in perfect sync.
The answer they got was a stone thrown to the face that gave them matching black eyes.
“No time for that,” said the Mimic. “More enemies are coming. A lot more.”
“What makes you say that, Master?” asked Xera while rubbing her injured face.
“Look at the shiny.”
Both of them then stared at the still flashing core on Kora’s shoulder. They stared at it but failed to comprehend what was odd about it. Well, other than the obnoxious light, that is.
“What about it?” asked Xera.
“Dunno,” said Kora. “It does seem to feel a little bit heavier, though.”
Unfortunately, neither of the two demons had the means to see what their master was talking about. At least, not with their eyes.
The Mimic’s senses seem to have grown sharper ever since its Rank Up. Its magical perception, in particular, turned out to be quite sensitive. It was at the point where it was capable of reading the thick flow of mana in the dungeon’s air if it focused hard enough. That’s how it knew that the core was currently pulling a huge amount of that mana into itself. The mystical current was so strong that it caused the remains of the undead to dissipate much faster than normal due to the loose magical energy being pulled out of them by force. And all that errant mana was being absorbed by the core.
So what was its purpose in doing so? That was a mystery. However, the side effects of that action were obvious to the former resident of this place.
“It’s pulling the dungeon towards us.”
The monsters in a dungeon would follow the flow of mana without fail.
Part Four
A swarm of twenty or so giant spiders skittered through the tunnels of the Yellow Zone. This part of the dungeon was a cave system not unlike the Green Zone, but its residents were mostly of the arachnid or insectoid persuasion.
[The dungeon core is in danger.]
Such a message was relayed to all monsters that belonged to this place and the oddity in the dungeon’s thick mana was guiding them to the object they were programmed to protect. They were certain they were getting close to the source of the distress signal, but less certain about the odd rumbling that could be felt through the walls and floors of this passage. They were approaching a bend in the tunnel when the ones in front spotted the tell-tale red glow of the dungeon core being nearby. And judging from how it increased in intensity with every flash, it was moving towards them.
However, the first thing to pop out of the corner was a wooden box with eight imitation spider legs of its own. They were oddly similar, yet also quite different from the actual spider legs of these monsters. And out of the opened lid streamed three tentacles, each gripping onto a shiny dagger, though one seemed to be different from the other two.
Not that any of them had time to appreciate such things. The arachno-chest bore down on them at great speed, easily surpassing their own, and they immediately recognized it as an invader - an enemy. And the feeling was proved to be pretty much mutual when it started stabbing and slashing at them as the Mimic tore a path right through the middle of them.
[Proficiency level increased. Dagger Mastery is now Level 3. STR +1. DEX +3.]
Six of the monsters were gutted in an instant as the chest kept on running. A few of the simple beasts might have wondered where it was off to in such a hurry, but such idle thoughts were beyond them. They would have gotten their answer almost immediately though.
A giant, crystal ball at least two meters in diameter rolled out from the tunnel ahead of them. It seemed to be so large that it barely fit in this narrow tunnel. There was a loud impact right before it unnaturally changed course. It was just enough to make it ricochet off the cave wall at speed and roll towards the slightly stunned spiders without losing much speed.
It then rolled over them and mercilessly turned them into paste.
[Congratulations, you are now a level 17 Warlock! INT +2. MNT +2. END +2.]
[You have learned a new Spell: Dark Infusion.]
As for the Mimic, it was in too much of a rush to worry about some spiders. The dungeon core behind it had been rapidly growing in size and weight over the last five or so minutes. If the orb kept increasing in size like this, then it would undoubtedly get stuck in these narrow tunnels and prevent any attempt at bringing it outside the dungeon. Which, incidentally, was exactly what the greedy chest was trying to do.
It was a simple solution, really. Since the core fed o
ff the mana in the dungeon’s air, all that needed to be done was to remove it from the dungeon entirely. With its energy source gone, it would surely stop growing and maybe return to a more manageable size. Of course, it had to kick itself and its familiars into high gear if it hoped to do such a thing.
“Take a left at the next fork, then immediately a right!” shouted Xera from behind the core.
“Whatever you say!” replied Kora from in between Xera’s soft thighs.
The fiend was currently busy pushing and guiding the boulder-like crystal through the winding paths at less-than-safe speeds while the succubus sat on her shoulders and acted as the navigator. This posture was humiliating for both of them, but they had no say in the matter since it was a direct order. It was mostly Xera’s fault anyway. She had trouble keeping up with them due to her low physical Attributes, not to mention she was the only one who could be trusted with reading the map. And the one who came up with this ridiculous yet surprisingly effective solution was none other than their master.
“Get ready!” shouted Xera again while peeking over the top of the gigantic core. Kora pulled back her right arms in response.
“Aaand… NOW!”
“Ooora!”
Kora’s powerful double punch knocked the nearly four hundred kilogram core off-course and steered it down the path her co-contractor had indicated. She did the same with her left arms and knocked it down the tunnel on the right at the next junction. All without once breaking out of her run. Xera, on the other hand, had to cling onto her with all her strength just to avoid being thrown off. It was a good thing the fiend’s horns were there for her to grip onto.
“You think you can be a bit more gentle down there?”
“We can trade places if you think you can do a better job at pushing this thing!”
“Never mind!”
“That’s what I thought, bubble-boobs!”
The Mimic was in front mostly due to self interest. It was a precaution in case the ever-growing core got stuck in the passages. If that were to happen, then the Mimic could at least find its way out of the dungeon rather than be sealed inside again. Well, it also got some valuable Skill XP along the way so it seemed like the best way of doing things. It felt bad about having to abandon its little ‘festival,’ but it really had no other choice in the matter.
