A Dungeon’s Survival

Fabian

My insides were squirming as I took in my surroundings. I was in a room filled with elderly fairies, each one exuding more power than anyone else I had ever laid my eyes on. That wasn't what I found deeply unsettling about my situation, though. The source of my unease laid not in the other fairies' power. It was who they were that had me on edge.

Sure, it wasn't the first time I had found myself in one of the Fairy Council's meetings, but last time, I was able to benefit from the distraction exhaustion and being half dead provided me with. This time, I had no such misery to keep my mind off of the severity of the situation. I was surrounded by the strongest and most influential Dungeon Fairies there were. They were my bosses, and I could not afford to make a fool of myself in front of them. That was going to be made all the harder by the fact that I was at the center of attention, or at least, I was at the center of attention alongside two other fairies who had, up until a month ago, been members of the council themselves.

“As it stands,” a solidly built and red haired fairy spoke up in a gruff voice that had an intimidating way of carrying, “the three of you have had a month to get your Dungeons settled. Summoning the souls of three heroes to imbue into your cores was a costly investment, so I hope you all have some good results to share with us.”

I could feel sweat beading on my brow and my mouth going dry. I did not want to be here or to give the report I knew I would have to. The Dungeon I had been supporting didn't just have good results; its results were extraordinary. That in itself was the problem. The results were too good, and in the process of getting them, Cameron, the Dungeon Core I had been assigned to, had gotten herself in a substantial amount of trouble. That was what I wasn't looking forward to explaining to my superiors.

Maybe I could avoid mentioning the issues or at least downplay them?

Despite my desperate desire to do so, I knew I couldn't. Sadly, it wasn't so much as a possibility. After all, I had a duty to keep those present in the room informed and a magically binding contract that ensured I did just that. It was also likely that those present could offer some valuable insights and possibly a bit of advice on digging our way out of the mess my we had found our way into. That did not make me any more enthusiastic to admit to how precarious our situation was, but it was a potential silver lining.

“Let's start with some good news,” Rodrick, the acting head of the council continued, “Solfus, I trust you've been doing well. What level has your core reached?”

“Liam is currently at level eight. He has been making steady progress, and I am certain he will reach level ten within the time frame required for the Fast Growth achievement.”

“Excellent! Great work as expected.”

Elder Solfus spoke with pride but seemed unfazed by the compliment he received in turn. He was the member of the council, or ex-member now that he was once again supporting a Dungeon Core, that I was most familiar with. The kind but firm old fairy struck me as being more of the results-oriented type, but I could tell from his voice alone that he felt much warmth toward his new charge. That fit well enough with what I knew of him. He was the one that gave me my current opportunity despite my previous failings after all. I still didn't know what he saw in me, but I trusted and respected him enough to believe there was something there, even if it didn't feel like there was.

“Heh? It's been a month and your Dungeon has only reached level eight?” an old woman scoffed.

She was the other member of the Fairy Council who had given up her position in order to advise one of the three new, special Soul Cores, and if I remembered correctly, something I wasn't entirely confident about due to my heavy mental haze during the meeting in which it happened, she was also the one who had proposed the idea of summoning the souls of Heroes to put in the Dungeon Cores in the first place.

“Petalli, you can wait your turn,” Rodrick snapped.

“Fine, save the best for last, then.”

The stocky fairy elder rolled his eyes and redirected his attention as he spoke, “Solfus, could you elaborate on your core's choices and the strategies you have been employing?”

“Certainly. I set up my core in the Rilluedge Wastes, in a moderately safer part of the expanse. With no adventurers frequenting the area, Liam has been able to steadily lure in and grow off of the local monsters. It is relatively slow but steady progress.

“As for the choices we made for his Dungeon, his specialization is Enchanting. The traits we paired that with are Precision, Modular Traps, and Instinct Shaping. The last is relevant due to his chosen monster types being Golems and Animated Objects.”

“I see you've nudged him down one of the more fine-tuned combinations we have perfected over the millennia. Well done.”

It was a good combination, one I had directly learned about in my training. All of the choices built off of each other and had good synergy, unlike my own Dungeon's. What Cameron had been thinking when she made her selections and claimed they had synergy I still couldn't wrap my head around. She had completely ignored my advice, and from my perspective, the only synergy her choices had was that they were all massive resource sinks. Still, they were working, maybe a little too well, so clearly something about the combination had potential, even if I couldn't see it.

“Now, Petalli, since you wanted to save your report for last, you can go next,” Rodrick's voice snapped me from my musings.

“Of course you'd do that just to spite me,” she huffed, but continued nonetheless, “I'll have you know, my Dungeon is progressing far faster. My core is already at level thirteen.”

At her words, resounding gasps filled the room.

“That's too fast,” one elder spoke.

“The reckless fool!” came another's voice.

“What have you done Petalli?” Rodrick asked.

His tone lacked some of its normal assertive bluster. That was unusual as far as I could tell. Unlike the other two beside me, I was never a part of the Fairy Council, so I didn't know him well, but from what I had seen, overbearing was his default state. When the elderly fairy woman was involved, that was doubly true and also caused him to boil over with anger and annoyance more often than not. This time, though, it was primarily exhaustion that I could hear in his words.

“Don't give me that. I haven't done anything outside of regulations.”

“You say that as though a chunk of those regulations weren't put in place because of the way your last Dungeon rampaged about two thousand years ago.”

“That just goes to show my methods are too efficient.”

“Too efficient? Too reckless is more like it!”

“Eh, where you see risk, I see opportunity.”

“I knew this was a bad idea.”

“As I said, I've done nothing that goes against regulation. My Dungeon has the Unbound specialization, so the growth mainly comes from the monsters leaving to hunt other monsters. I situated the core between a city and an area of wilderness with an abundance of monsters.”

“Are you trying to start another Dungeon War? Those are the same methods that led to the last one.”

“No, the Dungeons hunting mortals in mass is what led to it, and no. I know discretion Rod.”

“Forget knowing discretion, you don't even know the definition of the word.”

She shrugged as she calmly asked, “So, are you going to keep baselessly insulting me, or should I continue?”

Rodrick heaved a sigh. I, on the other hand, was feeling worse than before. It was becoming clear to me that it wasn't just Rodrick that held some degree of disdain for the fairy elder. It was most of the council. No one seemed happy with her expedient growth, and that only served to put me on edge about my own Dungeon's.

Cameron, why couldn't you have dealt with those bandits in a less lethal way? I complained internally.

I didn't actually fault my partner for the way she handled the last raid on the Dungeon. The invaders had numbered over one hundred after all. Deep down, I was just glad she had survived it. The prospect of losing another core was too much for me, and in a way, the current circumstances were more of my fault than anything. I had clearly failed to do enough research on the location I had set the core up in. The copious amounts of hostile invaders attested to that, so I wasn't actually angry at her. I was just despairing over the report I would inevitably have to give.

“Go on,” Elder Rodrick finally acquiesced.

“For monster types, we went with Amalgamations for the primary. The type is restrictively broad, but selecting it as the primary offsets that enough with the extra monster options and weighted upgrades. Overall the diversity makes it worthwhile. Our secondary type is Parasitic monsters to make the most of our hunting.”

“Petalli!” Rodrick roared, “Not only are you pushing it by having your monsters coming and going from your Dungeon en masse, but you had the audacity to select not one but two of the monster types that set the mortal races on edge the most! Are you insane, or are you just trying to get your Dungeon exterminated and waste the resources we spent on it!?”

“It seems to be working out so far. Anyway, our traits are Flexible Stats, Aspect Extraction, and,” she paused to give the man a thoroughly unsettling grin, “Enhanced Coordination.”

To his credit, Elder Rodrick did not snap at that, at least not immediately. Instead, he displayed a contemplative expression as he thought over her words. Then, after he seemingly came to the answer to whatever he was trying to figure out, that is when he snapped, “Petalli!”

“Yes?”

“Are you seriously trying to build an army?”

“Oh, Rodrick, of course I am. It's crucial part of growing any Dungeon. How else would it protect itself?”

“There's a difference between summoning defenses and creating an army! One is to be expected; the other is playing with fire!”

“In that case, I'll just have to make sure not to get burned. Anyway, isn't it the little brat's turn to give his report? I'm making good progress, whether you like it or not, so shouldn't you be focusing your attention on the inexperienced kid who's fumbling his way about. I bet his Dungeon hasn't even reached level five yet.”

“There is nothing explicitly wrong with slow and steady growth,” Solfus argued.

I didn't register his words. If the sweat that was forming on me before were like raindrops, they turned into a waterfall as the attention fell on me. It was my turn, and it was going to take every last ounce of willpower I had to get through this.

“Aw, look at him sweat. I guess I hit the mark.”

“Be quiet,” Rodrick demanded of her before turning to face me, “Fabian Dahlia, what level is your Dungeon Core up to?”

I closed my eyes for a brief moment and braced myself. Then, I answered, “Cameron is currently at level twelve, sir.”

“What have you done?”

A shiver ran down my spine at the venom in his words. I found myself fumbling for a response, but none came. Then, it became apparent to me that his words weren't directed toward me at all.

“Why are you looking at me? I haven't so much as had a conversation with the kid outside of this room with you present. I had nothing to do with this, but I guess I do have to give it him. I was wrong. Good job. Your results may not be as good as my own, but you sure showed Solfus up. You've earned yourself some respect, I'd say.”

A lump formed in my throat as Petalli shifted everyone's focus back to me. The seconds seemed to stretch on indefinitely, but the silence was eventually broken by a deep sigh and words.

“I feel better knowing that conniving relic didn't have a hand in this, but your growth is still dangerously fast. Explain.”

His softened tone caught me off guard, but I wasn't going to waste the opportunity and drag the silence out any longer.

“Well,” I fumbled, “I planned on taking things slower like Elder Solfus is doing, but a local bandit group in the area took notice of the new Dungeon and laid siege on us. It was a rough defense, but struggles aside, the Dungeon came out of it intact. A large portion of the experience came from that ordeal, and on a less serious note, I led Cameron to getting the Lord of Chaos title early on. She's put a heavy emphasis on achievement hunting, so the boost from that title has also contributed a lot to her growth.”

The words spilled from my mouth in a rambling mess. I knew I didn't do a good job of summarizing events, but the pounding of my own heart that I could hear in my head made it hard to think straight. I wasn't even sure what all I had said seconds after I had said it.

“So, it was your overcoming of some misfortune that led to your results?”

“Yes, sir.”

“With your history before this, I'm starting to think you might just be a magnet for bad luck.”

His words hurt. I had been bonded with three Dungeon Cores before Cameron, and all of those times had ended poorly. All three of them had died in unforeseen disasters. I wanted to refute the accusation that I was just unlucky, but looking back, I would have had a hard time making that argument to myself.

“I'd argue that he and his core surviving such a disaster says more about his competence than his luck in these dire time,” Solfus said on my behalf, and I felt a surge of deep appreciation for the man.

“You aren't wrong,” Rodrick acquiesced, “but Fabian, tell us: is this situation you speak of resolved?”

I visibly winced at the question. That was a bad move on my part, and I knew it, but it had happened, so I didn't dwell on it. Instead, I answered, “Yes and no. The bandits are dealt with, but the Adventurers Guild seems to be put off by a new Dungeon managing to fend off such a large scale attack. They haven't allowed anyone in since then.”

“That is a problem.”

The way he stated it so simply, as though he were mentioning the weather, made me cringe internally. It being a problem was an understatement, but everyone in the room, Rodrick included, had to know that, and there was nothing else to be said about the matter, not by me at least.

“Well, we can discuss your options in dealing with that mess later. It isn't as though the guild has necessarily condemned your Dungeon yet. For now, continue explaining your Dungeon's choices and strategy.”

“Right.”

The thing I had been most anxious about was behind me, yet that didn't ease my worries. I was nearly as hesitant to explain the next part as I was the first.

“I set my core up next to a village without much in the way of local monsters to worry about. My intention was for the Dungeon to slowly grow alongside the village into a respectable Dungeon town and eventually city. I offered my insights on choices to my core, but Cameron is a bit … eccentric? She insisted on choosing some combinations that wouldn't normally be considered good. She's made the most of them, though, and it's surprisingly working out. However, …”

“Get on with it,” Petalli chided me, earning herself a glare from Rodrick.

I breathed a deep breath and got to the point, “She insisted on going with Unattuned for her monsters. She paired the specialization with Enhanced Environments, Aspect Extraction, and Extra Monster Varieties. Her reasoning was that with so many customization options at her disposal, she could effectively tailor her monsters to her specific needs and catch people off guard.”

Rodrick frowned. I did not like the implications of that. He wasn't the one to speak, though. That was Elder Solfus.

“It's an unusual combination for sure, extremely costly too, but I could see it working. I'm actually quite interested in what combinations you two have come up with so far. Would you mind sharing the status screens of some of your modified monsters?”

My heart dropped. I had been so concerned with the outcome of the bandit raid and Cameron's choices that I hadn't even considered the possibility the Fairy Council would ask to see screens. That was my mistake.

“Well, about that …”

That was the moment I was forced to admit that I had yet to actually form a bond with my core and, as a result, couldn't access the Dungeon related statuses on my own. For as accepting as the assembled figures were of our other circumstances, they were not happy about that little detail.