A Dungeon’s Survival

Connie

Something about the reluctant historian's words struck me. There was a familiarity to them that immediately jumped out at me. There was no doubt I'd heard a version of her story before–the insectinoid one, not the one about the Hero of old.

It was the same one Fabian had outlined for me back when I'd noticed something odd about the System's description of my Lizard Men. When I pointed out the way it implied their species used to be considered a mortal race before having fallen to the status of monsters, he'd given me a brief overview of how the insectinoids had supposedly experienced the opposite phenomenon. At the time, I hadn't known what to make of the tale he'd told me, but due to it being one of the only leads I had to go off of in regards to the true nature of the System, it stuck with me. Now, however, looking back, there were two details in specific he'd told me that seemed relevant.

The first of those details was about the inconsistencies. While it was apparently true that all insectinoid tribes had some version of that legend they passed down over the generations, each tribe told a different version of the same events. Most notably, none of them could agree on what external force it was that fought alongside them in their war. Between that, what I'd just heard from the drunkard mage, and the list of names Fabian had told me the various tribes referred to their ancient allies as, it was enough for some of the puzzle pieces to start clicking together.

Rulers of the sky, interlopers from afar, and the magical ones were all things my former fairy had claimed the insectinoids referred to that nebulous ally as. There was one more description he'd mentioned, though, and it was in this moment, now that the Custodians had been brought up in relation to those legends, that it stood out to me. Slowly, those words ran across my mind.

Supreme golem crafters, was it?

To my knowledge, golems were supposed to be humanoid in shape, but considering the depth of variety even the most simple monsters in this world had, I wondered if that nugget of information from my old world even held true here. Other than their potential humanoid appearance, though, golems were a single thing: constructs. They were machines that ran on some supernatural force instead of science and electricity. Knowing that, I felt certain of one thing. If the Custodians, clearly artificial beings capable of controlling the System itself, couldn't be considered supreme golems, nothing could.

In hindsight, given the role they seemed to play as caretakers of the System in the absence of the administrators, it should've been obvious they would've had something to do with the reclassification of an entire species. I just hadn't had a reason to consider the possibility up until now, not that it particularly mattered in this moment. I still had a group of adventurers effectively interrogating me to deal with, after all.

Because of that, I filed away my latest revelation alongside the name of the Hero that was mentioned as things to potentially ask Twelve about the next time I saw her. From there, I turned my focus to the next question the apprentice alchemist was asking. Considering what it was, it warranted my full attention.

“Why is this will of the Dungeon you speak of holding back certain information from us but still letting you say as much as you have?”

Out of everything he'd asked so far, that question required the most mental gymnastics for me to come up with a satisfactory answer to, but that wasn't because I couldn't come up with something that would work in my favor. Instead, it was because I saw immense potential to misguide the group with my response. Because of that, I spent a considerable amount of time mulling my options over. Eventually, however, I came up with exactly what I needed.

Archie, repeat after me–

“–Telling you too much would go against the world's best interest. There are reasons why so little is actually known about the System, and what threat your bomb poses to this single Dungeon is not enough to warrant revealing those secrets to you. While it may be true that this is my Dungeon, my home, the System places far less value on it than I do. Even if I can be conversed and negotiated with, my own will is not final here and can be overruled. For that reason, what I can say is limited.”

Deflect and force them to draw incorrect conclusions, that was my plan. Every last sentence I instructed Archie to say was, on its own, the truth, but combined, the words painted a very different picture from reality. That was what I was relying on.

The first part was simple. While the idea of the Fairy Council acting in the world's best interest wasn't something I necessarily believed, after my last visit from them, I could at least appreciate why some of their rules existed. As for them being the ones responsible for certain information being restricted, I'd technically never claimed that was the System's will. I'd only arranged my words to imply it.

Additionally, since I was reasonably confident in my methods to escape the danger the bomb posed if needed, it didn't warrant me telling them much of anything I didn't want to. From there, I'd hopefully lessened my own individual importance in their eyes. With luck, that would be enough to stop them from fixating on me too much and dissuade them from trying to wring information out of us too hard. Then, by adding a few extra unrelated but accurate mentions of the System to throw them off my track, I'd constructed a workable narrative There was only one more thing to add, but it was the most important.

“However,” I had Archie continue, “there are certain details the will of the Dungeon is willing to let me share, though they are limited.”

It was a hook. Now, I just needed them to take the bait.

* * *

Lawrence

I was back to thinking this mind mage was messing with me. The words it was saying were just too far-fetched to believe. Still, a part of me was curious where it was going with all of this. For that reason, while I was back to trying to poke holes in his story, I also made sure to give him the room he needed to expand on his outlandish claims.

“If that's the case, why are you so different from any other static monster out there? If what you're saying is true, surely, these details would've long since gotten out by now.”

I was prepared to wait for an answer, but the response came much more swiftly than I expected.

“Times are changing.”

Unfortunately, it was a nonanswer that explained nothing. I sighed. With that being the case, I was about to move on and attack from a different angle. Before I could, though, a certain thought creeped across my mind.

Wait, haven't Dungeons been acting weird in general?

For a while now, it had been bothering the branch head, and even my master seemed concerned about it. Many newly formed Dungeons had been acting erratically. Could that have had something to do with what I was being told right now?

No, I dismissed the thought a second later.

It was practically an open secret from what I could tell. Anyone with the power needed to pull what this mind mage was trying would've had the connections to know about it. More than likely, it was just an attempt to distract me, or it could've even been unrelated nonsense. That was the problem with reading too much into things. It was easy to jump to incorrect conclusions.

Still, even knowing that I was giving the mage exactly what he wanted, I couldn't help feeling curious. The chance of his words being the truth alone was enough to tempt me. I wasn't about to drop my guard, but nonetheless, I found myself asking for clarification, “Times are changing how?”

* * *

Connie

He'd taken the bait. It wasn't the question I'd wanted him to ask, but I could work with it.

Archie, repeat this, I told my alchemist, and he did.

“A great calamity is approaching, and if things continue as they have been, it will sweep across the world. Because of that, certain changes are taking place out of sight in order to combat this threat. Some Dungeons differing from the norm, like this one, are an example of the countermeasures being taken. Another is me being given permission to tell you certain details.”

It was the first step in spreading the word to stop destroying Dungeons. If I could manage that, I'd be killing two birds with one stone. Hopefully, if my words were taken seriously, it would be enough to slow the destruction of Dungeon Cores, and more importantly to my immediate survival, it might deter some people from trying to kill me. If I could manage that, it would be a major relief. Unfortunately, however, Lawrence seemed determined to ask anything other than what I wanted him to.

“What calamity are you referring to?”

Huh, I found myself thinking, I don't actually know, do I?

By all means, I did know there would be some kind of calamity; the System told me as much, but as for what it was, I wasn't actually sure. According to Fabian, it was the end of the world, but even he didn't know the specifics. That made answering this question a bit difficult. Still, my uncertainty was an answer in itself.

“The calamity Dungeons are keeping at bay. I am unable to speak on the specifics, but should Dungeons continue to fall, disaster will consume this world.”

That seemed close enough.

* * *

Lawrence

I was done with this. The mage couldn't even tell me what disaster he was alluding to. There was no point in hearing him out any further. I just needed answers now.

“Who was the fifth tier individual who showed up here yesterday?”

I waited but was met with only a silence that dragged on. It seemed he couldn't give an answer to that question. Whether it was because he couldn't think of one believable enough to tell me or was unable to due to the magical powder's effect, I wasn't sure. Either way, it meant things had come to a breaking point.

I exhaled and took a moment to feel the orb in my hand. Was it time to use it? I wasn't sure, but as this conversation dragged on, it was starting to feel more and more like the only option I had. Before I could come to a decision, though, Octavia spoke up.

“Hey, could I ask something?”

“Uh, sure?” I responded before thinking things through fully.

“Hey, mushroom, what's up with Dungeons anyway? If the will of the Dungeon–or whatever–has ties with the Custodians and Dungeons are delaying some sort of disaster, how does that even work?”

I was about to tell her not to believe anything the Trenti said, but his next words caused my brain to come to a screeching halt.

“As long as enough powerful Dungeons continue to exist in the world, the cataclysm won't come, but with the loss of one of the Great Dungeons some weeks back, it draws near. The will of the Dungeon would rather not see that disaster come to pass.”

My mind immediately locked onto one detail in specific. The rest of what he said, might as well have been gibberish to me. The mention of a Great Dungeon falling, however, if true, was news to me, which shouldn't have been possible.

If one fell, the consequences would be enough to reshape entire nations, potentially even a content. There was no way word wouldn't have spread throughout the Adventurers Guild if something like that had happened, not without some kind of cover-up that is, and even then, something like that could be hidden for so long. It was a ridiculous claim, and that was why it stood out to me.

Why would this mage say something that could so easily be disproven? In fact, I couldn't think of a single motive he could have that would've been capable of explaining anything he'd said up until this point. It just didn't add up, and I desperately needed it to. Because of that, I began grasping at straws.

“Which Great Dungeon fell?” I shouted at the Trenti.

It didn't answer. Why? Why that of all things? Why did it keep making grandiose claims without elaborating?

“What kind of monster am I talking to right now?” I switched angles.

“A Trenti,” it responded truthfully to my annoyance.

“What level is the two-headed snake?”

“Level eighteen.”

It was the truth again. I'd seen its level just days prior.

“Who was the fifth tier person from yesterday?”

Silence.

“What is a Custodian?”

Silence.

Why wasn't he answering those questions? It seemed like he'd answer truthfully to anything I could confirm the answer to, but other than that, it was either a ridiculous response that he'd give, or he simply wouldn't answer at all. It was driving me crazy. Then, it hit me.

I had enough information to narrow down the failing point of the powder. I'd just been too caught up in his words to realize it. I took a deep breath once it dawned on me. Then, I began putting the pieces together.

Him not being properly immobilized wouldn't have explained his strange behavior. He'd also proven capable of responding to most things. Likewise, I could easily dismiss two of the other failing points.

If another person was feeding him answers, it wouldn't have been enough to enable him to lie, and if it was his ability to lie that remained intact, there wouldn't have been a reason for him to refuse to answer the questions that he had. Doing so only made him look more suspicious. That meant, so long as my logic wasn't wrong, there should've only been one possibility left, and it was something I could test easily enough. With that being the case, I opened up my mouth and demanded something of the man.

“Read out your entire status to me.”

I felt confident in that moment. If his mental magic was still functional, he could've brainwashed himself into believing everything he said was the truth. It was the only thing I could think of that would explain his words up until this point, and if that was the case, his only choice here would've been to remain silent.

His status was something tangible after all. Forcing himself to believe that he was a Trenti wouldn't have been enough to change the words the System displayed to him. With that being the case, why was it that he then proceeded to read out the status of a seriously abnormal Trenti, from oddly specific ability descriptions to things I couldn't fully make sense of, all word for word. By my own logic, it shouldn't have been possible.

By the time he was done, I'd given up on trying to find the failing point of the magical powder. If this was a ruse, I clearly wasn't equipped to overcome it. That left me with an important question, though. If I couldn't prove he was a mage impersonating a Trenti, what was the remaining alternative?

I shuddered. I'd wanted this to be a Trenti, for what my master had told me to have been wrong. Now, though, confronted by the absurdity of what this thing had said, I was no longer sure that was the case. The thought of a calamity great enough to force the ever-static System's intervention terrified me, but what that intervention could look like scared me more.