A Dungeon’s Survival

Connie

I sent a message to an admin I knew wouldn't receive it. Then, I waited. I hadn't noticed it the first time since Fabian had shown up right after I'd attempted messaging Loraine, but the process was anticlimactic to say the least. I'd gotten the same string of errors as before and the same notification about my message being redirected, but then, I was left to wait. I wasn't even entirely sure it would work. For all I knew, my attempt to contact a Custodian would go completely unanswered this time around.

Plooh.

Or not. With the same strange sound its arrival and departure had been accompanied by the first time, my request for help had seemingly been answered. In the air above the water of my core room was a floating orb that was vaguely reminiscent of my own crystalline body. It glowed a faint pink.

Wait, Pink? I wondered as I stared at it.

I was certain the orb I'd spoken to before had been blue.

“Ooh, what do we have here?”

Much like before, it spoke in what sounded like a synthetic voice. It had the same robotic quality to it as the one I'd heard last time and the same detached manner of speaking, as though every word was completely disconnected from those that preceded it and those that followed. Unlike last time, its words also had a feminine sound to them, and whereas the other Custodian had sounded cold and detached, this one sounded upbeat, almost bubbly in a way that carried with it a wrongness I couldn't fully identify.

Um, hello? I thought to it.

“He-he. It seems it was true. Someone stuck a human soul in a Dungeon Core. How strange.”

All at once, the orb dropped from the air, splashing through but not into the pond. It was weird to watch, but as it descended toward me, an area around it was left devoid of water. It was as though there was a force field or something equivalent to one surrounding it. That wasn't what attracted the bulk of my attention, though. I was far too taken aback by the Custodian's sudden and rapid approach to dwell on whatever was going on there.

Eep! I mentally vocalized as all other trains of thought abandoned me.

“He-he. Jumpy too. Unattuned with Monster Customization. Interesting.”

Um, I fumbled as I tried to pull myself together enough to give an appropriate response, whatever that would have been in this situation, Nice to meet you?

If I had feet, I would have kicked myself. Really? That was the best I could do here?

“Nice to meet you, indeed. I have heard much about you.”

You have?

“Yes,” was her only response.

I don't suppose any of it was good? I asked hopefully.

“No, it wasn't,” she immediately dashed those hopes.

Well, um, my name is Connie, and I was hoping you could help me out with that error.

“Of course. That is why I'm here, officially, at least. I'm Twelve, by the way.”

You're only twelve?

I found myself repeating what she'd said in confusion. I knew she wasn't human, and I was under the impression she was a robot, even if she didn't seem anywhere near as robotic as the other Custodian I'd met, but twelve? That was young for what was presumably a world-controlling being and a random fact to just throw out there. It did make a certain kind of sense with the way she was acting, though. Also, it implied that, whatever Custodians were, they were still actively being made.

“He-he. No, silly. That is my name. I was the twelfth of my kind to have been made. I have existed for thousands of years.”

I see. Nice to meet you then, Twelve. While you're here, I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me what's up with this whole approaching cataclysm thing, would you?

“Certainly. There is a cataclysm, and it is approaching.”

Yes, I was aware of that much, but uh, I was hoping you might be able to tell me a bit more about it?

“Did your fairy not?”

About that, no, he didn't. He didn't seem to know all that much about it actually, and he also kind of left me, so even if he did know more, I can't exactly ask him about it anymore.

“Interesting.”

There was an elongated moment of silence. I let it drag out for a while, but after the Custodian showed no sign of saying more or moving from her exact spot, for that matter, I forced myself to ask, So?

“Yes, I could tell you more. I could tell you everything.”

Excitement flooded through me. This was it. This was my chance. Finally, I could figure out what was going on here.

“But, I won't.”

In an instant, my hopes were torn away from me.

Huh, but why not?

“Because that wouldn't be interesting.”

Interesting?

“Yes, interesting, like you.”

A shiver ran through my core at her words. There was a major disconnect there. The way she had said that in that upbeat tone of hers, even if her inflection hadn't changed throughout our conversation so far, there was something deeply wrong about it. It felt like I wasn't a person in her eyes, and maybe I wasn't. As a robot of sorts, I wasn't entirely sure she was a person in mine, so to some extent, I guessed that would only be fair, especially when she had power over the System itself. It terrified me, though.

Is there anything you can tell me?

“I could tell you everything.”

But, you won't?

“No.”

This wasn't going anywhere.

Is there anything you would be willing to tell me?

“A Dark Rend from a level forty-two Onikuma with two hundred seven strength, the Vital Magic ability, and sixty-four vitality can shatter the Dungeon-reinforced stone of up to a level thirty Dungeon.”

An Onikuma?

“A rare bear monster that sees you only as its hunting grounds. It will turn on you the moment you gain enough power for it to view you as a threat, well before your walls can resist its might.”

My mind ground to a halt at her words.

Level forty-two? I eventually squeaked out.

“Ninety-four percent of the way to level forty-three.”

Somehow, the fate of the world was no longer at the forefront of my mind.

“See? This reaction is much more interesting.”

I had no words for that, but the Custodian didn't seem to care.

“Do try to live. Dungeons are dying out far too quickly, and you are interesting. Your death would be a shame, not as much as the level one hundred that was killed twelve days ago but still a shame.”

Wait, a level one hundred Dungeon was killed?

I paused as I frantically began doing math. My struggles to properly keep track of time were coming back to bite me, but my fears seemed plausible as the timeline slid into place.

Was that what caused that alert?

The alert in question was, of course, the one stating that the power from Dungeons that supposedly kept some kind of cataclysm at bay had dropped below one hundred forty percent.

“Yes. Also, I have fixed your error.”

Somehow, despite my having called her here for that very purpose, I'd already managed to forget about the error entirely. It took me a moment to remember what error she was even talking about, the tonal whiplash of the change in subject catching me completely off guard. Once I did realize what she was talking about, however, I scrambled to pull the perk option back up.

[Monster Upgrade: Unseen Shadow

Description: Noctis (Level 1) gains the capability to blend in with other shadows.

Effect: Noctis (Level 1) gains the ability Fluctuating Shadow.]

[Ability: Fluctuating Shadow

Description: The density of your shadow is dependent on the shadows around you.

Effect: The shadows composing your body and any shadow magic you use changes in density to match the shadows in your surroundings. This allows you to seamlessly blend in with your surroundings, but your stats decrease in percentage to match the surrounding shadows. The power of your shadow magic is also adjusted proportionally. In the complete absence of shadows, it becomes impossible for you to use magic, and you will quickly die.]

If I was understanding it right, the ability would effectively weaken Noctis, but it would make him virtually impossible to spot through sight alone. As it stood, even when he sunk into the shadows, the pitch-blackness of his own shadow still made him visible if someone was paying close enough attention. This would remove that weakness and replace it with a different one, one less suited for fighting but better suited for espionage. It bared considering, but more importantly, it was for Noctis.

You don't care that he's a familiar and not a Dungeon monster? I asked remembering how the other custodian had refused to let me give the Symbiotic Power ability to Prism since they weren't a part of my Dungeon abilities.

“No, why should I?”

The other Custodian seemed to.

“Oh, Seven, don't mind that sourpuss. He's allergic to fun.”

Right.

“Now that that's dealt with, would you do me a favor?”

Um, sure?

I regretted it as soon as I'd thought those words. Agreeing to an open-ended favor seemed dangerous, but I stood by my answer. Pissing off whatever this Custodian was seemed like far worse of an option.

“Thank you. Now, tell me what you know of the Dungeon Fairies.”

Apparently, agreeing wasn't going to land me in a world of trouble, or maybe it still would. I wasn't sure what the repercussions here would be, but so far, Twelve seemed significantly more helpful than the fairies had been. Also, my knowledge on their people was limited, so it wasn't like I'd be selling out any of their secrets or anything, at least I didn't think I would be.

Regardless of potential repercussions, I started off simple, relaying the things Fabian had told me about a Dungeon Fairy's role, how they'd kidnapped me, and the Fairy Council. After that, I moved on to what else I'd learned about their people from him. Twelve remained silent throughout all of it, and that meant a long time of silence on her part considering how much I found myself rambling. Then, I eventually finished off with some of my own incoherent worries.

I don't know. From how restrictive and open-ended the contract was, it feels like they're trying to control Dungeons rather than help them. I'm kind of worried about it actually. Had I agreed to it, well, I mean the individual clauses weren't that bad, but they were limiting, and from the way the second half of it was phrased, if I didn't go along with whatever they considered to be in their best interest, they had a lot of power to just stop helping me. It was completely one-sided.

As I finished, I realized I'd inadvertently used this opportunity to vent. Considering who I was talking to, that probably wasn't smart, but it came out naturally. All of the concerns I'd had but hadn't had a chance to think too deeply about, let alone voice, just came tumbling out one after another. That realization dawned on me, and I immediately felt embarrassed about it and worried. Also, the Custodian still hadn't said anything for a long time now.

“Are you worried they will act against you now that you've shown your unwillingness to submit to them?”

I shuddered mentally at that thought.

They can't, can they? They're noncombatants. Fabian was worried about dealing with level one monsters, and there was a clause in the contract about not acting against other Dungeons. They couldn't directly take action against me, could they?

“He-he. How closed-minded of you. Do you really think so lightly of a species just because one is weak?

“I do not know what has happened among them over the past several millennia, but there was a time when they served as the last line of defense for Dungeons. High leveled fairies can live for an upwards of five thousand years. Anyone can grow immensely powerful in that amount of time. I would be shocked if this council of theirs didn't have access to the power required to level a country or two at the bare minimum, especially if they can casually summon heroes.”

It was terrifying revelation after terrifying revelation, it seemed. First, I'd learned how dangerous that bear, that Onikuma, actually was, and now I was being told the Fairy Council could level countries if not worse. I didn't know what to do with that information. All I knew was it terrified me on an instinctual level, and the Custodian was currently laughing at my reaction or lack thereof due to my inability to muster one.

“He-he. Thank you for the information. It was interesting to hear how the fairies are doing and what they've been up to. To think they have changed so much in the absence of their queen. It is no wonder we are losing so many Dungeons. Surely, she would disapprove.”

Once again, her words carried with them a lot of implications but no real answers. She didn't stop at that, though.

“Here, a parting gift. I may get in trouble for this, but I'd rather not lose such an amusing source of entertainment, and we do need Dungeons. Do call again should you encounter more errors, even small, insignificant ones. I do not get excuses to set aside my duties often.”

Plooh.

And, she was gone, just like that. I didn't even know what she meant by a parting gift. I looked around skeptically, but I didn't see anything. I inspected my status, but there wasn't anything new there either. That just left me to mull over her words for a long while. Eventually, the first adventurer group of the day snapped me back to my senses, though.

Ugh, I guess I can't just wallow around in despair all day, can I?

I was well used to doing just that, but I'd managed to put a stop to that old habit of mine for a couple of months now. If I fell back into it, I wasn't sure I'd be able to get moving again, so I couldn't let myself, not even for if it was only for a while.

Okay, I thought, forcing myself to keep moving, perk options.

Unseen Shadow, after Twelve had fixed it, looked like a decent choice worth considering. It had its downsides, but I wasn't using Noctis for combat anyway, so it was mostly a matter of how decreased stats would effect him. I figured it might limit his mana and mana regeneration, but it would also lowered his stats more often than not. Since his main ability's cost scaled off of his stat total, that actually wasn't likely to be as bad as it sounded.

Then, there was still the option of choosing the Dark Cubs. They were a solid monster, and their ability would make for a decent aspect, even if it was limited in certain ways. There would have been utility in that, so I wasn't going to rule it out just yet, but that left me with a decision to make. I wasn't sure which choice would be better, so while I mulled it over, I brought up both options to stare at.

Huh?

Except, one was different from before.

[Monster Upgrade: Unseen Shadow ;)

Description: Noctis (Level 1) gains the capability to blend in with other shadows, and you gain the protection you desperately need. Don't go dying and make the chewing out from Seven I'm going to get for this meaningless.

Effect: Noctis (Level 1) gains the ability Fluctuating Shadow, and you gain the ability Protection of the Fairy Queen.]

[Ability: Protection of the Fairy Queen

Description: You have been deemed important. The fairies will not oppose you, so do not oppose them.

Effect: Unless this ability is directly revoked, you benefit from the Fairy Queen's protection. No fairy can do you harm, nor can you do harm to a fairy. Respect her legacy, and ensure her sacrifice was not in vain.]

There was a lot to unpack there, but it seemed I'd found Twelve's parting gift.

I guess the pros and cons of Dark Cubs no longer matter, do they?

The choice was no longer a choice. If what she had said was true, I needed that ability. Also, for as many quirks as the robotic orb had, she'd been helpful. That was more than I could say about nearly everyone in this world aside from my own monsters. She still unnerved me, but that was okay. Regardless of the reason, even if it was just because I was entertaining to her, she seemed to be on my side, at least for now. I'd take that, and if the opportunity arose again, I wouldn't hesitate to contact her.

Okay, I thought as I centered myself, Unseen Shadow winky face it is.