Chương 39

-0-0-0-0-0- Guildmistress's Office, The Guild, Medea Island -0-0-0-0-0- Layla Losat was hunched over her desk, sightless eyes scanning the report on her desk. She let out a long sigh and sat back in her comfy chair when she was done. She raised one hand and gently massaged her temples. The report glossed over the early floors, with the more detailed parts about the fourth and fifth floors.

Layla had already read the reports from the other platinum teams regarding the Fourth, noting that she should invest in some privacy enchantments. She hadn't considered it before now, but the reports had explicitly mentioned rats of an average size amongst their larger brethren. If the dungeon had normal-sized rats, some might have slipped out of the entrance to spy on them.

She'd never heard of Dungeon monsters spying on people, but this dungeon was setting so many firsts already that she wouldn't put it past the damn gem. The fifth was far more disturbing than she had expected. Shadow monsters that could become immaterial at will, filling an otherwise empty castle. Layla made another note that more monsters may emerge at a later date. Then there were the castle grounds. A Mushroom forest, holding the reanimated corpses of the three 'heroes' lost in their last delve.

Their flesh was consumed, and skeletons were enveloped by the disturbingly light-pink fungal matter. The tracker confirmed the cores in the skeletons belonged to the lost guilders.

"Am I Cursed, Felin?" She asked her old friend, who had delivered the collated report given by the various members of the 'Hero' group.

"Which God did I offend to deserve this?" Felin chuckled in his gravelly voice.

"I'm not sure, Layla." He answered, "Could be Temat. It would make sense for the God of Luck to have cursed yours." She raised her other hand and made a rude gesture at the man. He chuckled again. When she sat forward again, she continued in a serious tone.

"First the possibly-sapient lizard monsters, and now it's defiling the bodies of those it captures... Let's go over what makes this dungeon strange again. Maybe with this new information, something will make sense..." Felin nodded and pulled out a ream of parchment.

"The dungeon is incredibly intelligent. It knows our language enough to use and understand idioms. It can identify those who wish to cash in on the bounty and those who merely want to grow stronger. It knows advanced tactics and has the experience to implement them. Instead of digging deeper and developing new defenses, it revises its higher floors to delay delvers and bleed them of their resources. It has discovered a way to revive specific monsters if what Isid claims is true.

It knows enough about Teleport Crystals to create a wall of mana on its entrance that drains them of their stored mana, rendering them useless." Layla raised a hand, stopping Felin before he could continue. She rubbed her alabaster chin as she pondered.

"The Dungeon isn't just intelligent; it's smart," she stated aloud, "It knows mercy and, though never merciful, it goes easy on those who do not wish to kill it. It's adaptive and resourceful. It can learn and change. It studies us just as we study it. It deprived us of an easy way to learn about its monsters and escape quickly by removing teleport crystals while providing a way for its monsters to do the same by having them revive." They sat there in silence for a few minutes.

"I think it's time someone tried to talk with the dungeon." She said slowly. Felin looked conflicted but eventually nodded.

"Something about this dungeon has made it so different." Layla continued.

"Other lost dungeons don't act like this. From everything we've seen, pushing it harder will make it vicious. Perhaps one day, it will decide to outright kill every guilder who enters. If we establish some kind of dialogue... Who knows.

"We might learn something new." -0-0-0-0-0- The Dungeon, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea -0-0-0-0-0- I turned away from Neo's conversation as they wrapped up their little meeting. So, they're going to try and talk to me soon, huh? Interesting. Very interesting. That they're even considering it means at least Neo thinks I'm intelligent enough to actually hold a conversation. To be fair to her, she's probably the most well-placed to make the connections she's been making.

The individual guilders might see parts, but she's getting the bigger picture. Time to address my prisoners, I think. So, I have five prisoners. They're all Platinums, though three are significantly more powerful than the other two. I initially captured the first two to do some experiments. They were trying to kill me at the time, so I wasn't exactly sympathetic to them. In the end, that strange protection they have nixed most of my ideas beyond observing their reactions to various levels of mana in their cells.

And the mandarins, but I'm not comfortable with hooking them on those. The newest prisoners I captured because it was the only way I could stop them from trying to kill me. I took the opportunity to figure out what makes them different, how to disrupt trackers, and even got a new monster from the inspiration. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. So, I'm faced with the question of what to do with them. I could kill them, absorb their memories, and move on.

While probably the easiest and quickest solution, I'm still not entirely comfortable killing them in cold blood. They're trapped and harmless. Though, mercy-killing might be okay for the priest. He perked up a bit after introducing him to a Rubix cube but is just kind of... lying on the floor again. Kataren has continued asking questions with every meal and received a not-quite lying answer. Enough to obscure precisely how long I've been alive. She ended up asking quite a lot about the kobolds and other monsters.

I think she's accepted that the kobolds, specifically, are just as intelligent and capable of rational discussion as she is. It might be a risk to release her, but I think it would be okay. In the case of the three 'hero' prisoners, I'm less conflicted. The woman remains quiet and still. After realizing she didn't have any spare mana, and she wasn't gaining any more, she sort of... gave up. However, the two males have been trying to break out from day one.

From struggling to bend the bars to attempting to break through the walls. You name it, and they've probably tried it. They slung curses and hate at my kobolds when they delivered food, so I started doing it personally, with my Skeletons. I don't consider releasing them an option because they'll probably go right back to trying to kill me. The woman has potential, though. Perhaps I can use her, somehow? I let my attention disperse as I thought it over.

Idly I tuned up a few things around the dungeon and checked on newly immortal monsters and their crystals. Suddenly, something caught my attention. One of my experimental golems was undergoing some kind of... change on the eighth floor. It was an Air Sprite, one of the older ones I'd summoned and recently transferred into a golem made of an experimental alloy. Whatever was happening to it was Utterly Fascinating. -0-0-0-0-0- The Eighth Floor, The Dungeon, Medea Island -0-0-0-0-0- The sprite was so happy!

It had found a great summoner that fed it lots of mana! The sprite knew it was much more intelligent than when it was summoned. Back then, it had expected to be summoned to some human mage, where it would provide light in exchange for mana. The mana the human provided would half again cover the cost of making the light, and slowly over many summonings, it would become more. The sprite wasn't very old, but it knew it had the mana of a sprite that had existed for much longer, all thanks to its new summoner!

Its original summoner was a monster, which the sprite thought odd. When the dungeon that made the monsters talked with it and offered such a generous contract, it couldn't say no! Endless mana, as much or little as it wanted. In exchange, it would inhabit a metal body and defend the dungeon. If the body broke, it would even get a new one! Yes, Life is good. The sprite pulled up the arm of the body the dungeon claimed was made of 'Moonsilver-Mithril-Orichalcum' Alloy.

It had been happy with the 'Mithril' body it had first received, but this one was a lot better. The sprite had watched, amused, as the dungeon's attention flittered about its new body. The metal was very receptive to its mana and was easily molded to a form the sprite found pleasing. And as time passed, the sprite grew. She grew in size and complexity. She had even decided on a 'gender!' She knew her 'mother' would be so proud. And, once she was big enough, she felt the transformation begin.

The mana that composed her compressed down into the core of the metal body, where it roiled and writhed. Everything that made her her was condensed and shoved together into that tiny space. When she emerged, it was not as a mere sprite. Like what the humans called a 'Butterfly,' she emerged from her 'cocoon' in a new form.

The Spirit of Air burst from the core, and her being rushed to fill her metal limbs, the mana that composed her twisting and taking the incredible metal far beyond what she had once been capable of. She knew it was a good idea to take that contract! She stretched 'her' arms and stirred up a nice breeze on the mountain with a casual wave of her hand. She began to dance with a 'smile' on her 'face.'

She jumped and twirled, every move she made adding to the wind and picking up the snow, creating a beautiful swirling display of control. She felt exhilarated when she stopped and let the winds die down. It was all... So Easy! The inborn knowledge of her abilities suggested it should be much harder to reach the levels of control and power she had just displayed. There should be a learning curve, going from pushing air around to manipulating mass amounts over at least two years! She held up and marveled at her arms.

There was no indication that they were even made of metal anymore, her mana having thoroughly changed the look and feel of the material. Any who would gaze upon her would see the wind personified. A swirling mass of snow flurries constrained into a humanoid shape. The gaps between the swirling winds that made up her arms were completely transparent, and she could see the rocky crags of the mountain through them. As she marveled at her newfound power, she felt the mental touch of the Dungeon 'knock' on her mind.

She gladly flung open the door. I see you've undergone a significant... evolution? Is that the correct term? Yes, oh Contractor. Sprites are the embryonic form of our life cycle and now, I am now a Spirit. She answered eagerly You seem significantly more powerful now, given that display. Is this amount of growth the average for your kind? She laughed. It was a light, airy giggle that held no malice. Certainly not! This is all thanks to the metal body you provided.

Typically, a Spirit must grow from the size of a mere breeze, through a wind, to a storm. I skipped several levels, and from the looks of it, I could probably pass myself off as an Elemental! And how far above a spirit would you consider an Elemental to be? Oh, at least a decade of progress above a spirit. She chirped. We start as Sprites, and when we've gathered enough mana, we change into Spirits. Spirits spend years honing their control while gathering more mana and power. Then, we grow into Faries.

This is where we should gain a mind more capable of complex reasoning. Flightly, but capable of thought beyond mere growth and strength. After long years of more development, and after being chosen by the deity of our Elements, we become Elementals. She looked down at her body, and with a burst of bubbling laughter rising from within, she launched herself into the air. She spent the next several hours playing with the bird of air, water, and lightning that her fascinating contractor had produced.

Oh yes, she was absolutely delighted. If I'm this strong now, after a few weeks, who knows what'll happen in a year's time! -0-0-0-0-0- © Max Porteous, 2022