by Aleron Kong
I’m a moron, Richter thought to himself. He accessed the Dungeon interface and started to give Terrod, Sion and Sapir immunity to the Doubt effect. Then another idea crossed his mind. Fighting to keep a smile off his face, Richter walked up to Terrod.
“Captain, your concern means the world to me,” he said loudly and firmly. “I want you to know how much I appreciate your council. I am confident, however, that with my Companions by my side we will be fine.” At the conclusion of his speech, he gave both Terrod and Sapir immunity to the Dungeon’s debuff.
Before Richter’s eyes, Terrod’s face firmed, “I am sure you’re correct, my lord. I don’t know why I was so hesitant. I am, of course, with you until death.” Sapir’s wings also flapped slower and the pixie seemed less agitated.
“I know that,” Richter said clapping him on the shoulder. Then, with no further action, he said, “Well, let’s go.”
The chaos seed turned back to walk into the Dungeon, but Sion immediately raised his voice. There was a touch of desperation in it, “I still think we shouldn’t go in there.”
Richter turned to his best friend. There was glee in his chaotic heart, but only sympathetic understanding on his face, “Sion, there is no shame in being afraid.”
“I’m not afraid!” the sprite said with irritation. “It’s just-”
“And I know you have an issue with snakes,” Richter continued, talking over his friend. “There is no shame in-”
“No one ever said I can’t handle snakes!” Sion said with even more anger.
“Look,” Richter said like he was talking to a little kid, “Sapir isn’t scared. Tell him it’s okay, Sapir.”
“It’s okay,” Sapir told his meitu’meidon in a small voice.
“Shut up!” Sion snapped. The pixie child’s lips started quivering, and the sprite’s face immediately fell, “Oh! I’m sorry, Sapir!”
Richter started shaking his head, “Not cool, man. Not cool.” He reached his hand out, “Now look, if you want me to hold your hand-”
“Touch me with that and I’ll fucking stab you!” Sion screamed. His raised voice pushed Sapir over the edge and the month-old pixie started sobbing.
“Hey hey,” Richter said, his voice still oozing understanding, “there is no dishonor if you want to head back. You and Sapir can go help in the village. I think the washerwomen are understaffed. Don’t worry. You’re still my little guy.” A massive shit-eating grin was on his face at this point.
Sion’s face turned beet red. Anger overrode the Doubt effect and something shifted in his eyes. Richter had been keeping a close watch on the Dungeon log, so he immediately saw an important prompt.
Your Companion Sion has overcome the Doubt debuff of the Dungeon of Bloody Chaos.
Sion’s face widened as he received a similar notification. Anger turned to pure outrage as he spluttered, “You… you let me stay under that debuff?”
“Well, yes,” Richter said, an evil smile making its way onto his face, “but don’t you feel accomplished now? You did it!” His voice shifted into the oiliest supportive condescension, “All by your widdle self… Sionavar.”
Hearing his hated full name was too much for the sprite. A war cry belted from his throat, “Gaaaah!” and he threw a right cross directly into Richter’s jaw.
The chaos seed was still chuckling to himself as he fell back under the onslaught, but that didn’t keep him from throwing a knee into Sion’s ribs. It also didn’t stop him from immediately cursing as ridges on Sion’s chestplate jammed into his patella. Richter definitely had the height and weight advantage on his friend, but that differential was much smaller now that Sion had bonded with his pixie and gained a foot in stature. Sion charged him, and the two of them went down in a heap. The ensuing scuffle was punctuated only by Richter periodically saying, “Stop playing… Stop playin’!”
Randolphus looked down at his liege lord. Richter was a being of potentially infinite power and was also the man he had tied his fate to with a Blood Oath. The same man that was now rolling around on the ground, cursing and laughing almost simultaneously, while he fought with another man a foot and a half shorter than himself. The chamberlain looked to Terrod for help, but the captain just shook his head and said, “This is not the first time. They’ll stop soon.”
Alma floated above, casting healing spells on both of them. Sapir had stopped crying, and now hovered next to her, complete confusion on his young face. Randolphus looked at the yawning Dungeon mouth on his left, and then turned his gaze to the right to look at the fledgling village he had already invested so much in. Finally, his gaze settled back on the two friends still scuffling on the ground. They looked ridiculous, but he was starting to get that the obvious bond between them was as strong as mithril. A weary sigh escaped from his mouth, but then a rueful smile crested his lips. It was going to take a lot of work to shape his liege and the village into something truly worthwhile, but at least he wouldn’t be bored!
CHAPTER 23 – Day 142 – Kuborn 32, 0 AoC
The two friends finally stopped fighting, and Richter gave them all access.
You have given Terrod, Sapir and Sion access to the Dungeon of Bloody Chaos.
You have given Sion immunity to the Doubt effect of the Dungeon entrance.
As the party walked into the Dungeon mouth, Sion gave him a final punch in the shoulder, “You’re still an asshole.”
“Guilty as charged,” Richter responded with a grin. “I would have given you immunity in a minute, but I also thought you had a fair shot at resisting the debuff. You’ve got that +50% resistance to the Enchantment spell school.” The sprite had been through a horrible ordeal as they had unlocked Richter’s second Power. Though Sion had almost died, he had gained a powerful resistance. Whereas all of Richter’s resistances were specific to certain types of magic, Fire, Water or Blood for instance, his best friend had been granted resistance to a spell school. Now Sion had a +50% chance to fight off any spells that were of the Enchantment school, no matter what spell type. It meant his bestie was extremely good at resisting debuffs that affected the mind or controlled behavior, like Charm or Befuddle.
“Meh,” Sion said, barely mollified, “Definitely still an asshole.”
The party walked into the snake’s mouth and down the winding ramp that led to the Entrance Room, followed by the laden mist workers. Richter wasted no time in positioning himself in front of the Well of Offering, while Terrod and Sion looked around the Room. Randolphus stood next to his liege, carefully scanning the stones that made up the Well. The chaos seed began to unload the items from the mist workers.
Items Accepted! Dungeon Loot now includes: Iron Ingot, Steel Ingot, High Steel Ingot, Moonstone Ingot, Quicksilver Ingot, Cobalt Ingot, and Elementum Ingot.
Letting go of the more powerful ingots was a serious hit. Any metal stronger than high steel cost serious gold. A cobalt ingot could cost dozens of crowns, or the equivalent of thousands of dollars. Elementum ingots were priceless, as they could not even be found on this plane. It was an investment in his future, Richter reminded himself. Once he was done with the ingots, he began unloading the live plants from the mist workers.
Items Accepted! Dungeon Resources now include: Arrowroot, Forest Sage, Shiverleaf Frond, …
It didn’t escape Richter’s notice that the live plants were termed “resources” while everything else he had placed in the Well had been called “loot.” It wasn’t a surprise seeing as how it lined up with what Randolphus had said, but it was still interesting. Once the live plants had been swallowed by the black hole at the bottom of the Well of Offering, Richter sent the mist workers to stand by the portal leading into the rest of the Dungeon. Then he reached into his Bag and began pulling out items.
Items Accepted! Dungeon Resources now include: Iron Ore, Copper Ore, and Moonstone Ore.
Richter started smiling. The thought of his village having access to a greater abundance of these resources was crazy exciting. He pulled out the next item, but st
opped prior to giving it to the Well at Randolphus’ touch.
“You must know before you offer the potion, that while this will make it possible to claim it as loot in the future, Dungeons can also put potions to other uses.”
Randy continued explaining without pause. The chaos seed nodded in appreciation, not just for the information, but also because his chamberlain had finally learned to stop making hanging statements just so Richter would have to ask an obvious question. If he hadn’t, Richter had been fully prepared to call him a “thirsty question bitch.” It was good that that could be avoided.
“An example is that offering a poison to the Well of Offering turns it into possible loot, but it also opens the possibility of traps tinged with that poison or monsters with a poisonous bite.”
“Whoa,” Richter said. “Okay, good safety tip. Don’t give poison to the living Dungeon.”
“Actually, my lord, I advise the opposite.”
“The opposite?” Richter asked curiously. The chaos seed was immediately filled with irritation after the question passed his lips. Randy had made him the thirsty question bitch!
“Yes, my lord,” the chamberlain answered.
Was that a faint smile on the man’s face? If so, it was gone before Richter could be sure. He decided to keep a close eye on the Spy either way.
“I know that it may seem counterintuitive,” Randolphus continued, “but there is one unquestionable truth regarding Dungeons. With great risk comes great reward. If you wish to have your Dungeon flourish, the stronger you make it, the better. Our earlier conversation about a Dungeon’s Motivations was interrupted. I have told you that the primary goal of any Dungeon is to join the Labyrinth. A large factor in that will be the number of Dungeon Points it generates each day. It will give us a rough timeline of how long we have until it reaches level two. How many points does it make, my lord? I hope at least fifteen.”
Richter accessed his Dungeon status screen again to retrieve the exact number, “One hundred fifty-three.”
“What?” Randolphus asked in shock. “How? Even with the bonus from being on a Place of Power that shouldn’t be possible for a level one Dungeon.”
Haha, Richter thought. Now who’s thirsty? “Yes, one hundred fifty-three.” He went through the breakdown of how the Item of Power and the Harbinger gave a base of fifty-one points a day, and how his two unlocked Powers increased that number by 200%.
“I know that I said it would be a good idea to make poison available to the Dungeon, my lord,” Randolphus began. His voice was deadly serious and Richter’s levity faded away. “I am telling you now that it is absolutely necessary. Your Dungeon is creating a massive amount of Dungeon Points. We may have barely a week before it reaches level two. Another law of the Labyrinth is ‘Power draws Power.’ The fact that your Item of Power is not only artifact but also utilizes a Higher Energy will attract powerful denizens of the Labyrinth earlier than they would otherwise take notice. We must prepare the Dungeon for attack.”
The chamberlain’s demeanor was almost frightening in its intensity. Richter said the only thing he could, “Okay. Let’s do this.” He began dropping potions into the Well of Offering.
Item Accepted! Dungeon Loot and Resources now include: Health Potion (brew)
Richter stopped a moment, reviewing the prompt. He had offered his weakest health potion to the Well thinking there was no point wasting a stronger one. It looked like the Dungeon registered the difference though.
Potions had two major qualifiers: level and strength. A potion’s strength was determined by the alchemist creating it. More skilled alchemists made stronger potions. Strength determined the potency of the potion, traits like how much health was restored or how much damage poison could wreak.
A potion’s level on the other hand was based on Recipes. Finding new Recipes was like finding new Blueprints for buildings or Schematics for weapons. The knowledge was jealously guarded. One of the reasons the Dragon’s Cauldron was so valuable was that it made it much easier to find new recipes. It looked like the Well of Offering ignored potion strength, but it did differentiate between potion levels. Richter sighed, there was no help for it. He added more valuable potions.
Items Accepted! Dungeon Loot and Resources now include: Health Potion (tincture), Health Potion (solution), Mana Potion (tincture), Mana Potion (solution), Stamina Potion (brew), Feline Grace (solution) …
He moved on to the poisons he carried. Most came from a box he had taken off the Assassin Sonirae’s body. They were only tinctures, but Tabia had been able to discover a recipe for a solution version of one of the poisons.
Items Accepted! These items can be used as both Loot and Resources: Poison of the Muddied Leech (solution), Poison of Stagnation (tincture)…
With each vial that he poured in, Richter hoped he wasn’t making a mistake. He was literally inside of a monster giving it powerups that would make it easier for it to kill him. The whole risk being proportional to reward thing was something he could get behind though, especially seeing as how Hisako had told him the same thing. His experiences in The Land had made him suspicious, but it strained credulity to think that two venerable people like Hisako and Randolphus would give him the same bad advice. Richter also didn’t want to risk his Dungeon being destroyed by other adventurers or monsters from the Labyrinth. Still, it didn’t mean he liked the idea of potentially signing his own death warrant by making the Dungeon monsters more dangerous.
Richter finished dropping the poisons in and had a final thought. He sent a mental communication to Alma, who immediately voiced her displeasure with his idea. It took some cajoling and a promise of the choicest piece of meat at the feast, but she finally agreed. The dragonling took an empty vial from him and placed it to her mouth. She worked her jaw back and forth for a minute, then told him it was ready. He took the potion back and examined it.
You have found: Minor Dragonling Psi Venom
Durability: 4/5
Item Class: Unusual
Weight: 0.1 kg
Traits: A venom excreted by a psi dragonling’s teeth and claws. This causes minimal damage, but the penalty to Concentration is markedly increased. The target may also suffer from profound paranoia. While the poison is active, the target is also more susceptible to psychic attacks.
Richter thanked his familiar while she grumbled at the indignity of having to be milked. He dropped the vial down the Well of Offering. The prompt was not what he was looking for.
Item Refused! Psi Dragonling Venom is a Unique substance that can only be produced by an augmented Psi Dragonling.
While it felt good to know how special his girl was, Richter still decided against letting her know about the prompt. She had complained during the entire “milking,” and if he told her the venom was unique he could just see her working herself up even more. Besides, Alma was already insanely cocky, which was something he just didn’t understand. She was his soul familiar so she should be humble and reserved like him, right? Chalking the question up as an unanswerable mystery, Richer just moved on.
The next items he dropped in were weapons and armor.
Items Accepted! Dungeon Loot now includes: High Steel Sword (Well Crafted), High Steel Mace (Exceptional), Moonstone Dagger (Superb), …
It was no surprise to Richter at this point that the quality of the weapons was taken into account. It meant he would need to convince his smiths, somehow, to make extremely high-quality weapons and armor so that he could then immediately throw their work down a well. Not looking forward to that conversation, Richter also offloaded the leather and high steel armor he had taken from the forge.
Items Accepted! Dungeon Loot now includes: High Steel Chainmail Shirt (Exceptional), Hardened Leather Helmet (Well Crafted), …
Finally, he dropped in a dagger enchanted with Life Damage. The battle with the undead was looming on the horizon. If he could supplement the village armory with more weapons collected from the Dungeon, it would greatly help his people. Unfortunately,
it just wasn’t meant to be.
Items Accepted! Dungeon Loot now includes: High Steel Dagger (Well Crafted)
Enchantment rejected! As the Dungeon lacks the appropriate Room, enchantments cannot be absorbed through the Well of Offering.
He really had to figure out how to get more Rooms. It was a good thing he had someone knowledgeable about Dungeons right next to him.
“I keep getting prompts saying that I can’t do things until I have certain Rooms. What does that mean?”
Randolphus nodded in understanding, “Dungeons can possess extensive tunnels, giant caverns, and even spaces that look like the inside of a castle or keep. They also grow areas with special abilities called Rooms. A Room can be triangular with only a few feet to each side or larger than a mountain. A Lair is basically a breeding ground for a specific type of monster. A Lair will generate monsters faster than the Dungeon could do otherwise. The monsters also have a higher chance of evolving than if they were randomly spawned.”
“Why would I want that?” Richter asked incredulously. Again, Randy’s voice indicated that this was a good thing, but who the hell would want to evolve the monsters they fought against?
“Have a care, my lord,” the Spy cautioned in answer. “I am not telling you that making your Dungeon stronger is a safe thing to do. A Dungeon is not a pet, and it is not something that will bend to your whims. A Dungeon is loyal only to its own Motivations. You, though you are a Dungeon Master, are nothing more than food and power to it. A means of furthering its own ends. If you are strong enough, you can gain great power and wealth from your Dungeon. I am advising you to make it stronger because it is a valuable resource. ‘Power draws power’,” he repeated in his sing-song recitation voice. “The more powerful your Dungeon grows, the greater the rewards it will offer to you. This is not a place of safety, however. It is a place of danger and power. It would be best if you thought of the Dungeon as akin to a living fire. It may keep you warm, but all it wants is to burn.”
