A Dungeon’s Survival

Connie

The day after the intense fight with the scouting group was slow. For the most part, it was business as usual, but the adventurers who'd tried pushing my boundaries the day before were noticeably absent. That wasn't exactly a problem, but considering the fact that their group was single-handedly responsible for over half of my experience income and most of my mana expenditures throughout any given day, their absence was noticeable and enough to affect the operations of my Dungeon.

In some ways, not having to deal with them was a nice change of pace. Considering how much mana I'd just been forced to waste because of them, I was at least grateful to have a chance to recover my losses afterward. Thanks to that, I was able to resummon my precious snakes without issue and came out of the day with a little more mana than I ordinarily would have. I was even able to put some of it to use on a new project that I hoped would put an end to the adventurers unwanted explorations of my restricted areas.

As well as Archie had done in his negotiations, I didn't fully trust the delvers to follow through with their end of the bargain. For obvious reasons, there wasn't much they could do to backtrack on leaving the spiked club behind once they'd already left, but as for them not exploring deeper, I'd believe it when I saw it. Also, I wasn't holding my breath on us getting the alchemy supplies Archie had demanded of them, not that I even had breath to hold as a magical chunk of crystal, but that was another matter entirely and a far less pressing issue.

Personally, I was far more concerned with making sure they didn't try to get into the heart of my Dungeon again. Agreements to leave my core room alone were good and all, but they'd proven persistent. In order to make sure they didn't go back on that deal, I planned to give them another incentive. Since they were clearly desperate to explore more of my Dungeon, I planned to give them just that: more to explore. Specifically, I planned on expanding my Dungeon with more areas that I was okay with them being in and didn't jeopardize everything I'd been working toward. In other words, I was finally getting around to expanding my second floor.

So far, what I had wasn't much. Even with the mana I was able to save thanks to not having to fund the scouting group's delve for the day, the costs they'd incurred the day before were nothing to scoff at. Because of that, I'd needed to spend every drop of mana I found myself with for some time cleaning up after them. That turned what would usually have been a significant amount of resources into a paltry sum, but it was still more than usual. With that being the case, I started simple.

It was only a basic entryway so far, tucked safely behind the tree the boss Bloodthorn Vines were nestled underneath, but it was a start. I'd given it the same ancient temple aesthetic as the structure that led down into my second floor and the hallway leading up to the boss room. It was no way near as grand as either, but incomplete as it still was, it did look serviceable, and I was planning to keep tinkering away at it until I was satisfied with it how it looked by adding foliage to give it more of an overgrown feeling, incorporating more of and smoothing out certain details until it hit the right amount of grandeur, and weathering it down to make it look sufficiently aged. More importantly, though, as I rarely did these days, I actually found myself thoroughly enjoying my work as I warped the stone around it and carved out some space on the other side. It seemed like, for once, I was actually able to push matters of logistics and insurmountable odds aside and just do something relaxing.

It was this kind of rare opportunity that made me wish I could afford to spend my days decorating my home and making it look more visually appealing. Due to the fate of the world potentially hinging on my success as a Dungeon Core, however, times when I could justify spending a little while decorating didn't seem to come by very often. Unfortunate as that was, I wasn't about to let it bring me down when the chance finally did arise, though. The task before me was calming and refreshing. It also brought to mind the games of poker I'd played with the others. It had been a while, and as I worked on this project, my Dungeon my canvas, it made me realize how much I missed those games and long for a return to them.

I wonder if it would be fine to spend an hour or two hanging out with the others per night again.

After the bear showed up and Fabian left, I'd been stressed out and focused on preparing for the worst to the extent that I hadn't even been allowing myself the simple pleasures I'd previously been indulging in. It was a necessary cost, or at least, I told myself that it was. Still, I wondered if all of my efforts were actually necessary and if they would pay off.

It would be nice to go back to that. Ah, I miss poker.

Even if it wasn't much, that little bit of time to relax, unwind, and just enjoy the company of those I cared about had become a part of my daily routine that I enjoyed and looked forward to. I just worried that, if I did go back to spending time on that, I would get less done and wouldn't be as prepared as I could be the next time some raging Berserker or, more likely, an Onikuma decided to put my defenses to the test. It was because of that, because I was more desperate to protect the ones I loved than I was to enjoy my time with them, that I'd been pushing myself as hard as I could lately. Still, it was getting difficult to keep going full steam.

“Why don't we, then?” Pee asked cheerfully at my musings.

“Our queen has been too busy to dedicate her time to such things,” Vie answered her sister's question, “It is why we stopped in the first place.”

Even if I hadn't been able to play with the others recently, I had still been doing my best to spend what time I could with them. Be it strategizing and teaching Stein with Archie or occasionally checking in with the pair of snakes while they trained, I'd done what I could to make sure I was still able to see and talk to them regularly. It didn't feel like enough to me, but I had been doing my best. Vie and Pee's presence alongside me as I worked on the next expansion to the Dungeon was an example of that, but there was also more to it.

The two of them–but mostly Vie–weren't thrilled about their most recent loss against the insectinoid girl they had something of a rivalry with, especially when she'd been down to only two of her arms toward the end of it. Pee seemed to be disappointed in herself, which wasn't ideal, but she at least seemed able to move on from the loss more easily than her sister. Vie, on the other hand, took the whole incident as a massive failing on her part and a hit to her pride.

That wasn't an unusual reaction from her, but I still hated to see it. As a result, I'd suggested they watch as I started working on the next section of my Dungeon and give me suggestions as I went. Of course, it was nice to get to spend more time with the pair, but more than that, the reason behind my inviting them to do so was because I thought the distraction would be good for them. I also wanted to see if I could cheer them up any.

I wish I could find the time, though, I mentally sighed out.

“That is our fault for our weakness. If only we were stronger, you could,” Vie lamented.

No, that's not it at all. You are strong. Our opponents are just on another level. It's like everyone who's dangerous is attracted to us like a magnet, and most of them want us dead. I don't know; maybe that's just how it is for Dungeons, but it's not your fault. In fact, you've done incredibly well so far. We'd all long since be dead without you, and even the battles you've lost, you've contributed a lot to. Our problems aren't your fault.

“No, we are weak, far too weak” she stated it as a fact, a strong sense of regret behind her words but no self-pity to be found in the emotions I could feel wisping out from her.

You're getting stronger, though. Seriously, it's impressive how far you've come in such a short amount of time.

“We couldn't survive the fight against the Berserker. We couldn't even win against the Rogue, and as we are now, we wouldn't be able handle the monster that threatens you.”

You'll get there, though, and I'm working on it. We'll figure something out for the bear. So far, it's just been content to eat the gators and move on. We still have time.

“Do we? What if something else dangerous comes along. Even with the ghoul to train against now, there is only so much we can do to push ourselves to improve. The growth of our skills has been slowing. We are stagnating.”

I grimaced internally at her words. If that was their problem, I did have a solution. I just didn't like it.

I heaved a mental sigh and, as much as I'd wanted to avoid this conversation, I asked, Would fighting the adventurers more often help?

There were benefits to me from having them fight that group. The experience I'd gotten from them losing was more than enough to drive that point home, but I didn't want them to have to. If it was what they wanted to do themselves, though, I had to wonder, could I really stop them?

Obviously, on a practical level, I could, but beyond that, I knew I couldn't. As much as I wanted to protect them and keep them safe, they were the fighters, not me. Keeping them from serving that role would only cause us all more problems in the long run, and just as importantly, I knew it would hurt them far more than any of the injuries they'd otherwise sustain.

When you lost that fight, I got several days worth of experience from it. I don't want you to have to keep fighting them, but if it's something that would help you, it would be beneficial to me too, I explained, As it stands, I don't have the points to fill this next room with monsters, not consistently and not without crippling my ability to do much else. I figured I might be able to get away with having Archie puppet a Trenti or maybe a few in it, but even that would put a strain on our resources and wouldn't be ideal. If you'd be willing to fight that group whenever they reach it–no, even just sometimes would be fine, maybe every other day–it would help me out a lot.

Also, you are strong, and you are improving. That last fight didn't end in disaster. We came out of it ahead thanks to you. Come on, you took Flur down to within an inch of her life! That's no simple feat. It was a draw at worst, and we all know that she can punch above her level.

She was the one that killed that second tier bandit back during the raid, for crying out loud! Even with help, I don't think that was something a low-leveled adventurer should've been able to do. She's not weak, and neither is her group. You shouldn't look at them as less of a threat than the Berserker; if anything, I'd consider their group, as a cohesive unit, to be much more dangerous. You're doing wonderfully.

“Thank you for your words, my queen,” she said before pausing.

Look, you absolutely do not have to if you don't want to. I just wanted to let you know the option was there.

“We'll do it. There's much we could learn from her.”

“If it's what you need us to do, mother, no complaints here!”

Thank you. Now, if you're going to be the ones using this next room, at least to some extent, I want to hear what you'd find most useful for me to add to it. I want to keep the temple aesthetic throughout this floor, but aside from that, I'm all ears. I haven't been able to put my Enhanced Environments trait to work for ages now. Whatever you want and whatever you think could help or make it more defensible, I'll figure out a way to do it.

At my words, a surge of happiness and satisfaction flowed from the pair. There was also a significant amount of gratitude from Pee as she looked up toward my disembodies perspective, tilted her head in satisfaction, and began nuzzling her sister. That in turn filled me with joy. Seeing my precious, scaly daughters happy always did. Of course, moments like those never seemed to last, however.

“Master!” Loot's voice soon interrupted the beautiful moment we were sharing, alarm lacing it and a bit of panic in her tone, “In the core room, danger! Some small winged creatures just showed up! In spite of its small size, one has a terrifying presence. Come, quick! I fear their intentions.”

It seemed the construction of the new room was going to have to be put on hold for a while.