Chương 10

-0-0-0-0-0- Temporary Camp, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea 1 Week, 2 Months Post-Corification -0-0-0-0-0- Layla emerged from her tent dressed and ready for the day. A slight adjustment to her blindfold and nod to Felin later, they were on their way to the large command tent set up off the beach. Layla watched as the common men and women who joined them on the island went about their morning routine, stepping aside and giving respectful nods as she passed them.

A glance showed the wooden pier they were building had been mostly completed. One of the ships full of construction materials had pulled up at the end of it, preparing to unload it's cargo. That they'd built even that much in the day since they'd landed was to be commended. The command tent was triple the size of even the next biggest tent, guarded by men at the flap and seemed to be enchanted. The guards nodded at their approach and folded back the flaps for them.

On passing the threshold, the sounds outside muted from a dull roar to a quiet whisper. That would be the enchantment, or at least one of them. Lord Medean looked up when they stopped at the table in the center of the room. Said table was surrounded by other men and women; Lord Medean's retainers and advisors. There looked to be a big piece of paper covering most of the table, which she assumed was a map.

"Ah, Miss Losat, good of you to join us," Medean greeted.

"I've had the water from that spring tested, and it's come back clean. No poisons, toxins or hostile mana." Layla nodded.

"That's wonderful news," Layla said.

"We've set up a gate next to the dungeon. In the next week we should expect a few Guilder parties to visit. New dungeons are rare. Ones that aren't immediately conquered or destroyed even more so." The man nodded.

"Yes, about that. I want it known this dungeon is off limits. No one is to attempt to take it's core, if we even manage to find the thing." Layla raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? I assumed you wanted to conquer it." She questioned. He shook his head.

"Oh no, Miss Losat. This is an opportunity." He said, rubbing his hands together.

"All of my research shows Lost dungeons are far more innovative and creative than any conquered dungeon. This dungeon is likely to hold many secrets and resources we can use to our advantage. If it's as old as we expect I doubt we'd find the core quickly anyway." The blind woman paused.

"That... is quite well reasoned. Though it also means that getting those resources will most likely have a heavy human cost, at least until the dungeon understands we aren't going to try and conquer it." Layla could feel the oncoming headache. Medean waved her off.

"They're Guilders. They know what they're getting into. Oh! Also, let my architect know where you want your guildhall and it'll be one of the first structures built." With the obvious and rather rude dismissal, Layla turned and left the tent, Felin close behind.

"I don't like him." Felin rasped, once they were far enough away.

"You don't like anyone." Layla responded, smiling fondly.

"But I agree with you on this one. He may not be a nice person, but he's the new Lord of this island. We have to deal with him, even if we don't like him." Felin grunted back at her. Their next destination was the Dungeon's entrance. A basic fence had been set up on the beach, to prevent curious and/or suicidal people from walking into the deathpit. A guard rotation of the Guilders they'd brought with them kept the perimeter secure. As she approached the opening in the face, the two Guilders there saluted.

"Guildmistress! Nothing to report," The one on the left stated. Layla sighed.

"I'm not a Guildmistress yet, Hurlt. My appointment still needs to be approved by another two masters." She stated. Hurlt smirked.

"Yet, Guildmistress. Best to get in the habit now, I say." He claimed, resolute. Layla shook her head, then walked past them. She had another delve to organize. -0-0-0-0-0- The Dungeon, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea -0-0-0-0-0- Damn these human are industrious. Three days after they arrived they'd set up a pier, cleared a bunch of land for farming and used the trees they'd cut to build a town hall (I assume) and some basic houses. I spent that time spying, listening in on conversations and plans.

Herna's mana and memories were very, very useful for me. I now, finally, knew the language. I also had a basic understanding of their society, and some knowledge on how mana worked here. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. The fourth day, a new group of adventurers took the delve into my dungeon. From what my seagulls and new rat spies (brought in on a ship, as expected) had observed, they got a decent briefing and plenty of prep time.

This party was composed of the cliché quartet. A Mage, who seemed to favor lightning given the sparks she occasionally gave off. A Knight, his muscled form sheathed by heavy plate armor. A Rogue, she wielded a shortbow and bedaggered. A Cleric, armed with a Morningstar and assumedly praying while holding an icon of his faith. I knew their names, of course, but I like giving them nicknames. Given that people delving into my dungeon was going to be a regular thing, I decided a bit of restraint was necessary.

My monsters would still attack to kill, of course, but I didn't want a reputation as a murder-hole. The fact I heard the new local lord tell Neo that people were banned from 'conquering' me made me feel a lot better about relaxing a bit, though it was disturbing to know the option existed. In my old life, I was always writing things, building things. Sometimes for myself, but mostly because I wanted to show other people. Now I had the ability to craft wonders.

But what's the point of building an intimidating castle, if no one is ever intimidated by it? I wanted to hear the gasps of awe, the whispers of wonder. So, I would go easy on them. I would scale difficulty. With a bit of experimentation, I found I didn't really have to focus on just one place. Multitasking, no confusion or mental forks required. It did take some 'mental power' I assume is linked to the size of my crystal, and the more things I focused on, the less attention I gave each thing.

Directing a certain number of monsters to one party while also raising and prepping the next batch for the next delve was well within my abilities. The Clichés advanced slowly, encountering enough resistance to challenge them. Also, crabs are weak to electricity. I need to find a way to make my fish at least a little insulated, because otherwise they could power through most of the second floor. Mage will be useless against Sanguina, though. Casting lightning while underwater yourself seems like a bad idea.

A few injuries, healed by potions and one spell from Cleric. Some close calls with falling stalactites kept them paranoid and observant. They didn't encounter a wave of crabs, like the last party did, and it seems to have unsettled them. Then, finally, they entered the boss room. Tamatoa, The Second Crab Knight, fought valiantly. Unfortunately, much like the other crabs, he was weak to lightning.

Mental note; try to either make crab shell more insulating, or perhaps make their shells selectively conductive to guide the electricity away from vital organs. The party harvested his mana-core, filled a few flasks with the mana-water, then left without trying to challenge the second floor. They reported to Neo, who it seems has been placed in charge of me and allowing people into me.

Neo, who I now knew to be named Layla, seemed to be expecting someone to be dead when they returned, but cheered up considerably when she saw all four party members. The next day another, completely different, party delved me. They too, only cleared the first floor then left. I've also stopped naming the Crab Knights. They'll pass on and be replaced too quickly to get attached. The first boss of a floor will still be named, maybe the second.

The ones after that are inheriting the mantle and some muscle memories from their predecessor. This new pattern changed on the seventh day since the humans arrived. A new ship pulled into port; now a couple of piers stretching from the black sand beach. The crew traded with the residents of the island, while their passengers made a beeline to the new building outside my entrance.

I assumed it was a cross between a tavern, an Inn, and the operations center for these adventurers, given Neo seems to base herself there and has some kind of office. The new group of ten people entered the main door, where a small and hidden rat watched them talk to the bar-keeper. Two split off to go up to the second floor and meet with Layla. The other eight bought drinks and settled in to wait. The Cliché Quartet made another run that day, the same pattern as before.

The new group was apparently two parties of five, who both wanted to delve me. Layla let them know of the restriction on 'conquering' me, gave them some information on my monsters, but didn't go into detail as much as she did for the others. She also didn't seem to like them much. Maybe from a different faction? Either way, they looked cocky even with that little amount of information, and I took that personally.

The other adventurers who tried had a healthy respect for me and my monsters, while these newcomers were arrogant. I'm sure that these people will attempt my second floor if given the opportunity. Well, I hope they enjoy their delve. Or, as I prefer to call it, their wake-up call. -0-0-0-0-0- Rorgas was regretting this delve already. As the fifth wave of fucking crabs approached, he and his party rushed forwards to meet them. They climbed over the corpses of the last wave.

Rorgas and the other two melee-focused fighters in the party kept the crabs off their other party members, who were harvesting the monster cores as fast as they could. Cutting down the final monster, he turned to his sister, Meser.

"How're we looking?" He asked. Meser looked exhausted, having spent most of her mana on healing spells already.

"Not good. I'm out of mana, and our potions reserves are low. These crabs have tiny mana-cores, but the sheer number of them should help cover the cost of the potions we used." She took a breath.

"We should turn back."

"No," Rorgas stated.

"We press on. The Guardian has a bigger core, and that mana-water is worth all these little cores combined!" He claimed loudly.

"Who's with me!?" The swordsmen, flush from victory over the crabs, cheered. Their other mage, a water mage, gulped down a mana-restoring potion then nodded.

"Alright! The next cavern should be the final one before the Guardian. Play it safe." Rorgas ordered, then led the way into the next dark and twisting passage. After fighting off another two waves of crabs, they'd finally made it to the doors, carved with the image of a crab with a sword and shield. Rorgas pushed open the doors. The last thing he saw was a grey pincer-claw rushing towards his neck. His last thought was; Huh, I thought the guardian would wait for us to be in the room.

-0-0-0-0-0- After their leader got killed, the rest of the party managed to kill the Crab Knight, collect their 'reward' and stumble back out the way they came. I made sure they noticed groups of crabs watching from the water, and in the corners of their eyes. I really wanted it to sink in. I could have killed them all, overwhelmed them with numbers, but I didn't. Rorgas had been arrogant. He should have take the advice of their healer and turned back.

Though, when I discovered she was his sister I felt a little bad. Hopefully she gots over this and moved on with her life. She didn't. © Max Porteous, 2021