Just another concern to push aside until we’re safe. Protecting Meri and my bonded is the only thing that matters right now.
Even when the saurian’s body collapsed fully and sprawled out on the stone in front of him, those black eyes held his gaze.
Gabriel swallowed. He took a deep breath and winced in surprise at the sudden reminder of just how hard he had gotten hit.
Got to thank Sthuza for the armor. Damn thing’s saved my life again.
“Massster, are you all right?” Sthuza asked from his side.
That drew his attention. He smiled up at the worried gorgon and reached out to stroke her cheek.
She leaned into his hand, and her tense expression relaxed while several snakes caressed his hand in turn.
“I’ll live,” he said, testing his voice. “Thanks to this enchanted coat you gave me. Pretty sure he would have shattered my ribcage without it.”
“I am most pleased that it has served you well, Master. Though I hope you do not make a habit of being struck,” she said.
He chuckled, then groaned as that made the back of his head throb. “I like your idea. Hopefully, I’ve learned my lesson about getting up close to brutes with big weapons.”
“One can only hope,” she agreed before taking his other hand and carefully helping him to his feet.
Gabriel looked around. “How did it go with the other two?”
All four saurians were down, and he saw Cindra kneeling next to one while poking its face.
“Fine, Master. Cindra flanked them, forcing both to turn their backs on the kobolds,” Sthuza paused, then grinned widely before continuing. “Which is where they can do their best work.”
“Yeah, I was a bit surprised they didn’t get noticed when the adventurers passed them.”
“Kobolds are very stealthy as a rule, and I believe these few will prove quite useful in the future.”
Gabriel nodded, and they walked in silence toward his other bonded. He didn’t really need Sthuza’s help to stay upright, but he wasn’t going to tell her to let go of his arm.
Really need to stop scaring her like that. Hells, you need to stop scaring yourself like that.
When they got to Cindra, he had to clear his throat twice to get her attention.
“Packmaster!” she yipped happily, then rushed over to draw him and his Prime into a spine-cracking hug—on his already injured ribs.
He winced in pain, and Sthuza hissed in the hellhound’s face.
After a few minutes to recover, they turned to face the pack of kobolds that scurried over the corpses.
“Are they…” Gabriel trailed off, uncertain if he wanted to know just what they were up to.
“Just looting them at the moment, Chief,” Kestria said politely, peeking her head up from behind one of the large bodies.
At the moment…
“I checked their magic earlier. They only had a few tokens. None of their weapons or armor are enchanted.”
“We gathered them all. Kestria thinks most are minor trinkets but will deliver them to War Chief’s Voice once sorted,” Kestria said.
“Sounds good.” He turned to Sthuza. “I thought it was strange that Silver-ranked adventurers would have so little magic with them.”
The gorgon nodded. “This would support my theory that they are from another dungeon, Master. Different worlds are said to have drastically different levels of magic, or even technology.”
“That’s something to consider. We’ll need to be on the lookout for more wandering adventurers in the future,” Gabriel said.
“I hope that they were a rare exception, but you are correct. With your permission, I will assist Lady Merideva with organizing patrols.”
“Okay, that was a bit more adventure than I was expecting this early in the day. But we need to see what other defenses can be arranged before we head to the city.”
“Yes, Master,” Sthuza said, turning to look at the kobolds as they industriously plundered the dead adventurers. “Our new recruits should make a useful addition to that cause. Though I fear we may need to provide bows for them.”
“Yeah, some ranged weapons combined with the pit trap could ruin an intruder’s day,” Gabriel said. “I’ll let you supervise the kobolds, while I take Cindra with me back to the Core.”
CHAPTER TEN
Merideva cheered when Gabriel and Cindra entered the altar room. “Thank you for keeping my new kobolds safe!”
Gabriel grinned at the pink orb and caught her when she raced over.
“You’re welcome, Meri. Did you see the battle with the saurians?”
She bobbed in his grip. “Yep, my new warriors are super-stealthy. And they were extra polite back when they came to pledge themselves.”
“Nice. I left the kobolds to loot the dead adventurers. Sthuza is watching over them. Doubt they’ll find much of value on the saurians, but it reminded me that we should loot Kelith and his people too,” Gabriel said.
The orb in his hands shimmied side to side. A touch of their connection revealed a strong reluctance.
“Meri… what are you hiding?” he asked.
“About the whiny mage, well… you kinda…” Her glow dimmed, and she grew too quiet for him.
“I can’t hear you.”
“You… kinda ruined all of Kelith’s magical items. Drained them so dry their runes cracked,” Merideva said.
I drained them? Is that why I had so much more mana than I’d expected this morning? Maybe the ritual to save Sthuza? Whatever, it was worth it.
He knew it wasn’t Meri’s fault, but she must have expected him to blame her given the way she was acting. He closed his eyes and focused his mind.
“I’m not mad at you, Meri. It’s my fault. Not sure how I did that, but if they’re ruined, they’re ruined.”
‘You know how you did it, Dungeon Master. You drew on your true power. You had a need. A thirst. You quenched it.’
Gabriel shuddered at the eerie voice and shook his head.
Get out of my head!
He felt a trace of unease from his Prime and Merideva.
“Sorry, just thinking,” he explained in a rush, taking care to seal off his thoughts again.
Don’t want to worry either of them. Hells, it could be my own mind fragmenting like Sthuza mentioned. Stay calm.
“Okay,” Meri drawled.
“Anyway, if you checked Kelith’s equipment, does that mean you searched the others?” He recalled that most of the corpses had been stripped earlier.
The Core bobbed. “Yep, Sthuza helped while you were unconscious after the ritual where you sacrificed Kelith’s soul.”
“Good, so… where is the loot?” Gabriel asked after a glance around.
“It’s in the Inventory, of course,” Meri replied. Her voice sounded like she was shaking her head.
“Of course it’s in the Inventory,” Gabriel muttered.
A thought brought the Dungeon Interface up. It opened to a list of items and their value in Dungeon Essence.
Most of the items are useless to us, but if we can convert them into DE, Meri can use it to make traps. Or more goblins.
That thought caused the display to shift, and the option to conjure monsters covered a portion of the loot window.
“We can conjure kobolds now?”
“Yep. I said you did a good job.”
“Yeah, but I thought you couldn’t conjure anything stronger than a goblin until we get the Domain Crystal.”
The glowing orb dimmed. “Well, yeah, but kobolds are on the same tier as goblins. We could conjure any monster of similar value.”
“Wait, if they have a similar value, then why didn’t you make kobolds yesterday? They’d have been more useful than five extra goblins.”
Merideva rotated to the side.
Is she tilting her head like Cindra? I hope she doesn’t start imitating anything else about her.
“ED says we have to unlock or earn new monster types. Something about it being unfair if a
dungeon always spawns whatever they need to ‘hard counter’ an adventurer,” Meri explained.
Gabriel bit back the urge to snap at her.
She’s a young Core, be patient.
“Okay, so we unlocked kobolds and can convert the gear from those adventurers into DE?” he asked.
“Yep, that will make things a lot easier. I was sorta hoping you’d approve conjuring a few more. With the extra income I’ll have after attuning my expanded Domain, we could support like twenty goblins and twenty kobolds. Then maybe you could stay here where it’s safe.”
Stunned by the idea of forty of the little monsters running around, Gabriel stared at her. “What? Are you serious?”
Merideva’s glow morphed to a dark blue, and he felt a trace of loneliness from her. “I’m sorry, I just wanted to help,” she muttered.
“No, I’m not against it. Just surprised you could manage so many. That would be great.”
Sthuza, can you hear me?
‘Yes, Master.’
Meri suggested conjuring enough goblins and kobolds to give her twenty of each. I like the idea, but I’d appreciate a second opinion since there’s still so much I don’t know.
‘If she believes she has the income to support that many, it sounds like an excellent plan.’
Yeah, my thoughts as well. Forty of the little guys would keep this whole area secure. Plus, it might make her feel better. I think she’s worried that I don’t need her.
‘Why do you say that, Master?’
Nothing definite, but she seems a bit off right now. And I thought I felt some loneliness from her earlier. She might be intimidated by how awesome you and Cindra are.
‘Hmm, that is a good point. Please do as you feel best, the kobolds and I are on our way back.’
Gabriel grinned at Meri. “I like your plan. It sounds great if you’re sure you can handle them.”
The Core shifted back to pink and bounced in midair.
“Yep, I can totally handle them. Your Prime helped me with conjuring a drone, so now I can carve extra rooms for them. It’s a lot cheaper than shaping a room with DE.”
“Sounds good,” he said. “How long will it take?”
“I’m not sure, I’ve never conjured more than five monsters at once before. Maybe I should do them slowly and give the drone more time to dig?”
Gabriel knew nothing of drones, or how to dig a dungeon room, but he nodded to support the uncertain Dungeon Core. “I trust you to do it right, Meri.”
She beamed. Even if he couldn’t see her glow, the pleasure that radiated across their bond made her feelings perfectly clear.
Once we recover the crystal, I’m making time to learn more about her. Need to know what life is like for a Core. She doesn’t have a body, but she’s a person. Don’t want to forget that and treat her like a tool.
‘That is an admirable sentiment, Master. As I said when we met, you will be a very different Dungeon Master than those I have known before.’
He turned his attention back to Merideva. “Before you do that, though, what kind of equipment can you create for them?”
The Core flickered twice, then darkened. “Would… spears be good?”
Gabriel shook his head and sighed. “How much would it cost to make a suit of armor like the original goblins had?”
“Around twenty-five or so. There is a degree of randomness to items. And quality has a big effect on the price. You should be able to check in the Interface.”
He grinned. “One day I’m going to remember that without being told.”
Please don’t show nude goblins when I open this.
Gabriel focused on the Dungeon Interface. A thought brought up a display filled with small images of weapons. A mental swipe and the panel scrolled.
A gray tint covered most of the items depicted. His eyes focused on the top one and froze. It was the first sword he’d ever seen.
That’s Mother’s longsword.
Dozens of ornate swords, maces, and spears sat at the top of the list. As he scrolled further down, the items looked cheaper, and there were fewer grayed-out weapons.
“Meri, when I checked the Interface, it’s showing hundreds of weapons. Including my mother’s sword.”
“Well yeah, it mostly can only present things you’ve encountered in person. ED said that’s to stop people from ‘nuking things from orbit,’ though I never understood what he meant.”
“Okay, but they’re all sized for humans. Is there a way to see weapons for…” he trailed off as the Interface shifted.
It displayed a much shorter list of gear. Mixed in with the weapons were several styles of armor—all sized to fit goblins.
Or kobolds.
With a catalog of viable equipment, he sorted through the list for bows. Again it responded and removed all the melee weapons.
Not a lot of options on ranged weapons… though that crossbow might work.
At fifty DE, the weapon cost more than two goblins but didn’t have an upkeep cost. They couldn’t afford one for each of the monsters Meri intended to conjure.
Think we could manage a few, though. Maybe five or six. The hall near the trap won’t let too many line up at once, anyway.
‘A sensible idea, Master. And crossbows are definitely the better choice. Bows require more skill to use, not to mention a fair bit of strength.’
His Prime’s words reached him right before she entered the sizable room. A half-dozen kobolds trailed behind her, lugging large bundles of bloody hides. Scaled, blue-gray hides.
They skinned the adventurers?
Gabriel shook the question aside and watched the small lizardmen settle into the now crowded room.
Definitely need more space if Meri’s going to conjure more monsters.
Sthuza directed the kobolds with a sharp tongue, and they responded like eager dogs, excited to obey.
He ensured his mind was sealed before he studied the gorgon.
She looks so… content. Peaceful. Maybe the chance to instruct some reptilian monsters reminds her of life under Iylara? It suits her well.
Sthuza and Merideva began to discuss the various loot the kobolds had brought. Their chat reminded Gabriel of his original reason for asking about the spoils earlier. He pushed them out of mind and returned his attention to the Interface.
Let’s see if there’s anything useful among the crap they looted from Kelith’s group last night. If I’m lucky…
As before, damaged suits of armor and assorted weapons made up the majority of the salvaged gear. Gabriel scanned through the list quickly, looking for any books.
Yes!
He pumped his fist when he found what he’d wanted.
“Is everything all right, Master?”
Gabriel turned toward Sthuza and grinned. “Yeah. Oh yeah. I found Kelith’s spellbook.”
“You want to keep the whiny mage’s book?” Meri asked.
“That pompous ass always boasted about the spells inside it. He carried the damn thing everywhere.”
“Books are the things with words, right?” Cindra asked.
Gabriel blinked.
Can Cindra read?
‘It is unlikely that her Pack would have bothered with books. Despite her being a furbrain, I am confident she can learn. If you wish for her to do so.’
He flashed a wordless affirmative to his Prime, and the gorgon nodded.
“Yes, Cindra,” he said. “But this is a special book. Spellbooks contain the glyphs a mage knows. More importantly, it contains the different combinations they’ve learned to form spells.”
“Do you believe Kelith knew spells that you do not, Master?”
He grinned again. “Definitely. Not sure how many, but he knew at least a few fire spells. I heard rumors that he knew some mental domination ones as well.”
Sthuza flashed a feral grin of her own. “Mind influencing spells are… challenging for most mages since they lack the strength to overcome natural defenses.”
“Exactly. I bet I c
an perform some serious mental magic with the raw power boost Meri gave me.”
“Is there a spell in there to get my crystal back?” Meri asked as she darted over to hover in his face.
Gabriel chuckled. “I doubt it. But the glyphs alone will be useful. I’m going to peek through it real quick and see what’s available before we head out.”
“Oh, you’re leaving already?” she asked. The concern in her voice made him blink.
She wanted me to rush out and get the crystal, but now it sounds like she doesn’t want me to leave.
‘I think you are right, Master. She is worried. Lady Merideva needs you far more than you need her. And you intend to take her strongest defenders on a long journey.’
Yeah. But we can still sense each other through our bond, right?
Long seconds passed before Sthuza replied, ‘I am uncertain. Given the strength of you both, the connection may be too weak to reach her.’
Oh. Then Meri would be stuck with nothing but goblins and kobolds for company.
‘Yes. And thank you for taking them in. It is nice to have some cleaner, furless monsters about.’
He snorted, then settled in to study the spellbook.
◆◆◆
Gabriel knew studying the spellbook would take weeks, and he didn’t have that kind of time. He spent a few minutes and examined the ornate, red-and-black tome.
The book had a magical trap, but Kelith was sloppy. More than a few fellow students had seen him disable it, and Gabriel remembered how.
“Pussy hound.”
“Master?”
“Kelith’s idea of a password.”
“Ah.”
“Packmaster, what’s a pussy hound? You aren’t going to replace Cindra, are you?”
“Never.”
“I will explain it to you later, you fur-covered boob-monster,” Sthuza said.
Gabriel shook his head and opened the spellbook. As he had expected, it contained more spells than he’d ever had access to.
Ten minutes of perusing left him with a decent awareness of the book’s content.
Most of these will take longer than I can afford right now.
To his surprise, almost half of the book was taken up by several utility spells.
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