Chapter 249: A Dungeon Delve with Friends
We spent two hours with the jester, and learned absolutely nothing. All questions were met with some variation of trying to convince us to release it or a return to the same strange phrase of what would happen if we didn’t. It was either incapable of telling us what we wanted to know or convinced we wouldn’t do what was needed to learn it.
I wasn’t willing to address the second part, because I didn’t know how far exactly I was willing to go to learn what it knew. Killing a monster was one thing. Abject torture was a whole other line. And from what I’d read, crossing that line was very hard to come back from as the same person.
Add on the fact that the creature seemed off from when I had encountered them before, and we had a situation where I wasn’t even sure torture would be useful. There was also the possibility that just existing as it did now was some form of torture. I had, after all, never seen a jester alone before. They had already seemed to have come in pairs at least. Did these creatures even function well without other jesters?
At the moment, that was all a problem for Timon. Once he added some deep scales to his prison, things were likely to get even more interesting. But for now, we had a dungeon delve to handle. Our soul knot patients were still resting from the procedure, so it was all that I had to take my mind off the numerous problems without solutions.
“So when are we going? Is the dungeon going to be dangerous? Actually, what does a dungeon feel like?” Orglina asked all the questions rapid-fire, her mouth moving fast enough that I barely comprehended them all.
Somehow, both she and her brother had managed to form their cores. And while I was proud of them for it, my pride paled in comparison to their older brother. Glorp was absolutely beaming with the news. I still wasn’t sure it was a good idea to bring them along on this, but they had done what we asked, and done so with flying colors.
They had also proven that the Empire of Dave had a mana flow potent enough to form cores. That had been something we weren’t entirely sure of just yet, and still no one was sure how far the range was for being able to do it. The kids had to spend the better part of a week in a small area between Cecile’s farms and the cloudtree before they were able to form their cores.
While I was glad it was possible, the idea of having random people so close to my backyard constantly again wasn’t something I was looking forward to. The growth of the city had finally given me back more of my sense of privacy. Then again, the solitude I was feeling since my children had left hadn’t been a pleasant feeling. Bringing Orglina and Glord breakfast each morning had been a nice experience.
“We are leaving as soon as everyone is here. Yes, all dungeons are dangerous, and it’s hard to explain the feeling until you experience it. I want all of you kids to stick close to one of the adults, though. Do not risk your own lives in any way. Got it?” I asked, doing my best dad voice.
“What if something happens to you and we have to step in?” Gorpila asked.
“If we are incapacitated for any reason, I want you to get out of the dungeon and find Pryte. I’m not trying to be mean when I say this, but if anything in there is able to take me or Elody down easily, it’s far too dangerous for you to be in there,” I answered, getting worried again.
I pulled up a chat window as I finished my response. I just couldn’t let them run around without more safety rails in place, no matter how much this might be normal Spiral behavior. Mel had said it himself, far too many kids die every day in the Spiral.
| Dave: Alright, I want the three of you watching the youngest kids. Alpha, you’re going to stay with Red and Orglina for the entire trip. Beta, you’re with Glord, and Gamma with Lorgela. I’ll have Elody stay with Gorpila. Alpha: Like bear, like idea. Beta: Will they fight for the empire? Dave: Yes, but right now this is very much just training and practice. If they want to be able to be as strong as possible, they have to survive through all of this. Beta: Yes, soldiers must be properly trained! Only a foolish leader would send them to die for no reason. Gamma: I will keep her safe. Corey: I want all of you to be careful if you encounter the core as well. Remember what we were all like before we were freed from the madness. Apollyon: Yes, bring another core. Let our dungeon core nation grow. Soon, we will show everyone our true power! Karlinovo: You know I was there when you were talking to Johan and Bert about how cute Bert’s pet rabbit was, right? It’s getting harder to sell us on your menace. Apollyon: Rabbits will be allowed in the nation. They are one of the few creatures of flesh worthy of such. Dave: Yes, regarding the core, let’s do our best to retrieve them, but ultimately, all of your and our lives are the most important part. Hopefully, some of my newer dungeon abilities will come in use, but I can’t take ownership of a dungeon on another world. Karlinovo: Really? Why can’t you? Dave: Let me rephrase. It’s a bad idea for me to take possession of a dungeon we are being paid to remove on a world that’s not our own. As it is, we only barely have the cores to keep the one running on Earth when we leave. We do not have a spare for another planet. Karlinovo: I suppose that’s reasonable. Unakite: Gnawing teeth, piercing sounds, existence. Beta: I am starting to like Unakite.
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