A Dungeon’s Survival

Cameron

Clearly, I had not been giving Adraugon enough credit. As it turned out, an insect sized dragon with roughly double the strength of a normal human, a ludicrous amount of speed, and the ability to fly was downright terrifying. After all, what did it matter that he was essentially a one-shot kill without his Unnatural Survival ability? His size and speed made him harder to swat than a fly and practically invisible in the dark anyway.

Doubtlessly, the chaos he left in his wake would have been nightmare fuel for anyone who saw it. I doubted that would be an issue for the bandits, though. That would have required them to survive, and as it stood, between him and the reinforcing snakes that I had leveled up a few times, I would have been shocked if even a single invader made it out.

Four more had gone down since I had started paying attention to the scene once again. On top of that, a handful more of them took varying degrees of damage from Adraugon before the snakes had even arrived, and once they did, they managed to drag off three invaders near the room's exit. Between them and Adraugon, who I belatedly bestowed an upgrade worth five DP onto, no one was escaping, and anyone who tried to was quickly dissuaded through means of force. From that point on, the miniature dragon and the hit-and-run squad managed to split their kills fairly evenly. Near the end, I even got something unexpected.

[Achievement gained: Deadly!]

Oh, a new achievement.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait!” Fabian went from intently watching the scene through our bond to freaking out in an instant.

What is it? Don't tell me its another ominous achievement no Dungeon should ever get. I don't think I could handle worrying about the repercussions of that right now.

“What? No, it's a fairly common achievement, not at your level, but still, that's not important right now. What is important is that you need to switch your title over to Lord of Chaos. Trust me, you'll regret it if you don't. Even if I don't like what's coming, there's no reason not to take advantage of it.”

A little ominous, but okay.

With a mental shrug, I did as told. Then, I gave the order for the remaining Shadow Vipers to let themselves get killed. I wanted their experience freed up so that I could give it to Vie and Pee once they respawned. At one point, I would have had serious grievances doing that, but after what I had just gone through, it was just another drop of blood in the bog. Once that was done, the winged lizard of doom swiftly put an end to the last pair of the invaders. As the final corpse fell lifeless, notifications filled my vision.

[Achievement gained: Raid!]

[You have gained 1,000 experience for acquiring a new achievement!]

[Title gained: Bane of Raids!]

[Achievement gained: Transcendent Species!]

[You have gained 1,000 experience for acquiring a new achievement!]

[Achievement gained: Great Raid!]

[You have gained 1,000 experience for acquiring a new achievement!]

[Title gained: Bane of Sieges!]

[Achievement gained: Generalist!]

[You have gained 1,000 experience for acquiring a new achievement!]

[Achievement gained: Grand Raid!]

[You have gained 1,000 experience for acquiring a new achievement!]

[Title gained: Bane of Armies!]

I just stared at the block of text, trying to make sense of it. I had simultaneously acquired five achievements, bonus experience for each, and three titles. It was a lot. Just looking at all of it was enough to make me zone out a bit. Eventually, though, I was brought back to reality by the mental squeaks of a dragon.

“My hoard grows!”

Hehe.

I couldn't help but to chuckle at the absurdity of it. That raid had been precariously close. Had the adventurer not intervened, I had no doubts that the invaders would have at least made it to my final room. I wasn't sure if my remaining modified Bloodthorn Vines would have been enough to stop them, so in my mind, it was a toss up on whether or not we would have survived. We had been a hair's breath away from complete ruin, yet, the little dragon who had probably done the most out of any of my monsters to prevent that outcome was solely concerned with the loot.

And, here I though that was only something that happened in video games. Who knew?

“Uh, what?”

I ignored Fabian as I watched the little monster jump from body to body as he inspected the items each of his kills had on them. It was morbid and disturbing in a way that I couldn't bring myself to care about after they had gone to such extremes to try to kill me and those I cared about for their own material gain. There was also the fact that they were bandits, people who thrived on hurting others in order to line their own pockets. Considering all of that, if Adraugon wanted to rob their belongings before I absorbed them, it wasn't going to bother me. Besides, not that I could tell him since it would go straight to his head, but the little dragon was starting to grow on me, even if he was a handful.

Tension dying down now that I was safe, I looked around. The sight wasn't pretty, and I was almost completely out of monsters. Absorbing all of the mess would take time. The Dungoen needed renovations, and I had a pile of achievements and titles I needed to sift through. I even still had a new perk and monsters to select from reaching level ten. The tasks laid out before me seemed endless, but after dealing with such a high stress situation, I couldn't bring myself to start on any of it just yet. Instead, I took a moment to relax and contemplate my situation.

Was I a horrible person for doing what I had to in order to survive and protect those I cared about? Was I for feeling so at ease and uncaring while being surrounded by mangled corpses in a bog that had seen so much death that the very water was bloodstained? Maybe I was. I didn't know anymore. I certainly didn't put much stock in the System calling me a hero after all of this, not that I had before either, but at some point, did it really matter? No, it didn't, but I knew what did.

What mattered was the comforting voice of the fairy reassuring me that we'd get through all of this somehow. The overexcited, insect-sized dragon bouncing around like a kid on Christmas morning mattered. So did the mushroom goblin that I had saved but not yet gotten to meet properly. Then there was my precious little two-headed snake, the same duo that had given me a new reason to live in this cruel, viscous, and unfair world. Of course, they mattered, and for all of them, I would do it all over again. As long as I had them by my side, for better or for worse, I could keep going despite whatever my future held. With that thought, a face came to mind, one that I had fixated on for years.

After her death, I had closed myself off, never letting others into my heart. Apparently, all it took for that to change was dying, having my soul crammed into a rock, and being forced to commit mass murder in the name of self-defense. Putting it like that, maybe I was better off wasting away in my room, but there was no use in thinking about that now. The past was the past, and what was done was done. I had a new life, and as bad as it may have been, it somehow felt more real and worthwhile than what my old one had devolved into.

Melanie, I think I can move forward now.

I let those thoughts slip form my mind and, with a mental sigh, allowed myself to relax. It was the first time I had done so in a while, not that I physically needed it anymore. It was a relaxation born from mental exhaustion, but I was able to savor it all the same. I didn't do much for the next couple of hours. I made some small talk with Fabian. It was nothing of any substance, just something to distract myself with and fill the silence.

I wasn't able to push off all my responsibilities in full, but it was good enough. I summoned a new Trenti to help Adraugon collect his spoils. I also had to keep an eye on the unconscious moth girl as she laid in the bottom of my pit. She was still breathing, and strangely enough, even though she still looked tired, after a while, her injuries seemed to fade away. It was odd, but I just assumed it was an ability at play, not that I tried to confirm it. I couldn't bring myself to care that much.

Eventually, she did wake up. After looking around her surroundings and toward her friend, her expression fell and she seemed almost emotionless. It was a stark contrast from her usual bubbly behavior, but given what happened, I could hardly blame her. With a sigh and a muttered curse, she began to collect his body and drag herself toward the exit before stopping. She looked to the bandit leader's corpse and scowled. Then, she lowered her friend to the ground and approached it.

The scene that unfolded before me was uncomfortable to watch. Somehow, seeing her search the body felt wrong in a way it hadn't when Adraugon had done the same. It could have been the coldness in her actions as she rifled through the pouches on his belt and tested the weight of his weapon, or it could have been the fact that her companion was laying lifelessly behind her as she did so, but it didn't really matter. Where Adraugon had made the act a celebratory affair, the girl's looting of the bodies was a somber act born of necessity.

In the end, she left the weapon, seemingly having decided it wasn't worth the effort it would have taken to lug around. Then, she, almost robotically, began to search each and every mangled corpse in the room. She mostly seemed to focus on collecting their spare coins as she ripped a torn and dirty shirt from a man and used it as a makeshift sack to carry her spoils. It was a slow, dirty, and meticulous process that took somewhere in the ballpark of an hour for her to complete, but she did it regardless. She almost seemed to be on autopilot, but once she was done, she recollected her friend, and trudged out of my Dungeon.

I felt bad for her and also thankful. Honestly, my emotions were a mess, and sadly, there was nothing for me to do about it or for her, but with her gone, I went back to blankly staring at the carnage in my Dungeon as I intently waited out a timer. It was one that I had been keeping an eye on for a while. Eventually, it hit zero, and I felt a blissful sense of contentedness rise up from within me. It was as though everything was going to be okay. With that sense of renewed hope for the future, I reached for a menu.

“Our queen, we will get her eventually.”

“We're getting better each time! We'll make you proud, mother! Mother?”

Vie and Pee formed in front of me in my core room. I sent the two of them all the warmth and love I could scrounge up from the bottom of my heart. It was a difficult task with how messy my feelings were in that moment, but the comfort their presence brought me was enough.

Don't worry about that. I'm already proud of both of you. Just, stay with me for a bit, please.

“Our queen?”

“What's wrong, mother?”

I tried to shake my head, only to find that it didn't exist. Of course it didn't. I was a magic crystal now, so instead, I told them not to worry about it and simply found comfort in their presence. I would tell them what happened, but not yet. I needed this. Belatedly, I gave them as much experience from the Shadow Viper pool as would make a difference, three levels worth.

[Achievement gained: Delayed Bonus!]

[You have gained 1,000 experience for acquiring a new achievement!]

“Our queen?”

“Mother?”

I ignored the achievement and their questions. That could wait until later. For now, snakey cuddles was all I cared about.