Maggy sighed in relief and lowered her hands, the white glow enveloping them fading away. As violent as the attack had been, the damage the cave goblin had suffered was pretty minor; he suffered a few bruises, a sprained shoulder, and some mud in his lungs, which he quickly coughed up. Nothing too serious. That was good… while Maggy had some experience with healing spells, they weren’t her specialty. The expedition party’s actual lead healer confirmed Maggy’s prognosis a moment later, once the thin man finally arrived.

The exhausted goblin was helped into a sitting position, and Robert launched into a string of questions. Part of Maggy felt bad for the goblin as he was grilled for information so soon after such a traumatic experience, but a more rational side of her understood the necessity of it. Robert had two dozen explorers and researchers he had to look out for. The goblin’s sudden appearance and that of the strange slime-like creature represented potentially dangerous unknowns.

Thankfully, the goblin seemed to take the questions in stride, and after only a few moments, Maggy and the rest of the team had a general understanding of the events leading up to this moment.

Robert paced back and forth in front of the goblin, seemingly lost in thought.

Garrelt was the first to speak. “Well, that explains what happened to the group before us, at least. I have to say, I wasn’t expecting Icefinger, though. That man tends to be less… direct with these types of things. I wonder what changed?”

Instead of responding, Robert turned to the goblin and asked, “You said that after your hunters retaliated and captured some of the… bandits… then this ‘Bosco’ fellow escaped into a local dungeon, correct?”

The goblin named Antchaser took a swig of water from a canteen and nodded.

That part of the story had really piqued everyone’s interest. A new biodome was an amazing find in and of itself. One with an active dungeon, though? That was the kind of jackpot that Adventurers dreamed of.

The fact that a Deep Village already claimed ownership of both areas was unimportant. It may have been a problem a few centuries ago, as the village and Adventurers clashed for ownership. But even if the initial village couldn’t control the cavern on its own, stronger tribes and villages would have gotten involved in the dispute for the sake of gaining wealth and power. This would have led to a brutal war that would probably have resulted in the destruction of the biodome, regardless.

But with the Deep treaties in place, a small goblin village had far more to gain from allowing Adventurers access to these resources. More than one powerful Deep Clan had risen to power that way.

However, the Adventurer’s excitement was squashed as Antchaser continued his story.

“We tried to give chase, but the dungeon is… unique. Its creator must have been an eccentric, as it doesn’t follow the standard rules. Eventually, we gave up. It took a full team for us to make any progress ourselves. No one expected Bosco and the ragtag bunch that had escaped to survive for very long.”

The goblin took another drink and shook his head. “I don’t know how the bastard did it… but… he managed to trigger a dungeon break.”

Garrelt rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed while Bert just shook his head in disappointment. Robert had the greatest reaction, letting out a deep growling sound, then slammed his fist into the nearby wall, creating a small crater.

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Maggy jumped slightly. This was the first time she’d ever seen the man truly angry before. The fierce snarl twisted his otherwise handsome features in an oddly alien manner. Robert turned away from them and took a deep breath. When he turned back around, the calm, charismatic leader they all knew had returned.

“Are you certain it’s a dungeon break? Some of the more odd dungeons can feel like it sometimes.”

Antchaser nodded. “Yes. At least that’s what the Core called it once we made contact.”

Robert’s eyes went wide. “The Core actually made contact with you?! Interesting.”

He stroked his chin. “That suggests the Core hasn’t gone mad yet. At the same time, if the Core is asking for outside help, then whatever issue caused the dungeon break is at least repairable…”

Garrelt raised an eyebrow. “You want to try to fix it? Do we even have the right people for something like that?”

Robert shrugged. “Who knows? It’s worth a shot, at the very least.”

Maggy coughed and raised her hand into the air. “Ummm, sorry to interrupt and all… but what’s a dungeon break?”

Three humans and a muddy goblin stared at the young woman with furrowed brows. After a moment, Bert’s eyes went wide. “Ahhh! That’s right! You only started seriously adventuring a few months ago, didn’t you, Mags? I forget the civs don’t really use the same lingo as us.”

“A dungeon break—” Garrelt took over with a sigh, “—is just that. The result of a dungeon breaking.”

Maggy frowned. “Dungeons can break?” she asked.

Garrelt raised an eyebrow. “Of course they can. After all, they’re just systems set up by mortals, even if exceptionally powerful ones. How they break can vary, however. Sometimes it’s just age and neglect. Sometimes, someone greedy or stupid enough messes with things they don’t understand. Whatever the cause, the result is typically the same. The Dungeon Core goes insane and becomes far, far more dangerous. If it’s the trap and trial sort, they’ll become deathtraps with no hope of escape. If the dungeon is the type that raises spirit beasts or mana monsters, they’ll start producing them uncontrollably until the creatures burst out and wreak destruction on the surrounding area. When it gets that bad, normally the only solution is to destroy the Core, effectively destroying the dungeon as well.”

Robert turned to Maggy and continued from where Garrelt had stopped. “But if a break is caught soon enough, those with the right knowledge might fix the issue and return the dungeon to working condition.”

Maggy tilted her head. “And that’s what you hope to do? Somehow… fix… whatever this Bosco fellow broke?”

Robert nodded. “At the very least, stabilize the situation until we can get someone here who does know what they’re doing.”

“There’s no time for that!” the goblin Antchaser suddenly cried out. The Adventurers jumped slightly and turned to him, brows raised.

Antchaser coughed into his hand and continued more calmly. “What I mean is, the village needs help now. The creatures that have escaped from the dungeon are dangerous, and the Core has asked us to seek help to prevent more damage before anything else! That is what my companion and I were attempting to do. We were on our way to petition assistance from Halirosa before some of the creatures ambushed us in the tunnels.”

Garrelt frowned and narrowed his eyes. “And where’s this ‘companion’ of yours?”

Antchaser pointed down the tunnel. “She’s still down there, fighting those… things. She tried to stall them and give me enough time to escape, but I don’t know how much longer she can hold out. Please! You have to help her!”

The three men exchanged glances and nodded before Robert turned to Maggy.

“Maggy, please organize the expedition party and prepare them to continue on. Garrelt, Bert, and I will move ahead to see if we can help Mr. Antchaser’s companion. Do what you feel is necessary to get everyone moving and rejoin us as soon as possible.”

Maggy nodded and stood, helping Antchaser to his feet before handing the goblin off to the lead healer. She nodded at Robert and, without another word to him, turned toward the rest of the expeditionary force and started yelling orders.

Seeing everything was well in hand, Robert, Garrelt, and Bert shared one last look, then turned and rushed deeper into the tunnel.

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