The dungeon fairy had posed an interesting question to Atlas.
Atlas was momentarily shocked by the question. ‘Hmm. Are there useless people in my empire? Hell yeah, there are.‘
Fort Bone was generally a peaceful place, with the mini faeries and security keeping a close watch. But there were always assholes. No matter how many warnings were given, some were either banished permanently or thrown into makeshift jails. Atlas hated those jails. They were never his idea of a good solution. The bandits he captured were killed outright, but the thieves, rapists, and the ones who had gone insane after coming through the portals from Earth—those always caused problems. Every time he jailed one based on the Lawbot’s rulings, it made him gnash his teeth thinking about the extra costs. Still it couldn’t be helped, killing somebody for something as small as drunken brawl would definitely never sit right with him. As for the option of exile? Isn’t that just creating more bandits? So with great reluctance and annoyance a jail had been created.
"But you still haven't explained how you'd help me," Atlas said to the fairy, his voice laced with skepticism. "There's no benefit to me not linking the dungeon."
The fairy fluttered before him, replying in her high-pitched tone, "Well, if we help you, we can become partners, and you can designate where the spawns go."
‘Ooh,‘ Atlas thought, his mind racing with excitement. He could already picture it—tidy streams of mobs attacking whatever targets he pointed out. ‘That would definitely be handy.‘
"How many people would you need?" Atlas asked.
"For what?" the dungeon fairy responded.
"How many people would you need for this dungeon to keep making skeletons? And what's the dungeon's goal? Why is it making skeletons? Why can't it just peacefully be a dungeon?" Atlas questioned, his brow furrowing.
The fairy fluttered, thinking for a moment. "Dungeons consume the mana in the area, and when it gets full, it spits out skeletons. That's what he's telling me, at least. It's very uncomfortable. Like when you have a huge meal stuck in yourself, and you have to burp. Each burp is a skeleton. And when you're really full, and you have to do a big dump, those are skeleton generals or armored skeletons. He said it feels great when he gets those out."
Atlas raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "I've never thought of it that way. So why does he want more mana then?"
The fairy shrugged, "What, you've never eaten so much that you swore you’d never eat again? But then tomorrow comes and you’re hungry again?"
Atlas chuckled, "Yeah, I guess I have."
The fairy continued, "The dungeon says he doesn't want to kill people, but he loves the mana."
Atlas thought for a moment. "Could he create some sort of jail inside of him?"
The fairy consulted with the dungeon, then nodded. "He said that he could do it, but it will require a lot of mana."
"Good," Atlas replied, "I don't want him spawning any more skeletons, at least not for a week. I'll have guards in front of your dungeon ready to go. And I'll also bring you people to help give him more mana."
The fairy checked with the dungeon again and said, "He said it would be fine. In fact, that would be so much easier. We're not collecting that much mana from the adventurers and soldiers. Your soldiers keep killing our parties of skeletons when they have bodies on them."
"Good, that's their job," Atlas said with a nod.
‘I don't know if this is going to be a good or bad idea,‘ Atlas thought. ‘But having a tamed dungeon couldn't be horrible, right?‘
"Here," Atlas said, handing the fairy his flare gun.
The fairy examined it curiously, "What's this?"
"This is a flare gun. It's loaded with red and green flares. I'll have soldiers protecting the dungeon and making sure nobody else can link it or destroy it."
The fairy clapped her hands and twirled around in the air, her glee obvious. "That's great! What does the flare gun do?"
Atlas began to explain, "Fire off a flare if you—" but before he could finish, the fairy excitedly fired the flare gun.
BOOM!
A sparkling green flare shot from the dungeon entrance, streaking into the sky. Atlas ducked just in time, while Portilla and Crushir scrambled out of the way, barely avoiding the fiery trail. If the flare had hit them, the fire would have been excruciating.
The fairy spun wildly in the air, the force of the flare gun flipping her upside down. "Wah!" she yelled in surprise.
Atlas said, "Be careful with that."
The fairy put down the oversized flare gun and said, "Okay, I won't do it again." She shuffled her feet, looking embarrassed.
"Fire it off if you or the dungeon get in trouble and need my help. Or you can talk to the soldiers," Atlas continued.
The fairy replied, "I don't like talking to other people. They're scary. A lot of fairies get captured by them."
"That's fine. You don't even have to show yourself. You have the gun, and you can talk to me directly anytime. Just fly out and fire the flare. Let’s see…green means you want to talk to me, and red means you've got a lot of trouble. And if you have to fire the red flares, you’ve got to also talk to the soldiers. I'll let them know that you live here."
"Oh goody," the fairy clapped her hands, excitement brimming in her voice. "What about the dungeon? Will he be okay spawning skeletons?"
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"That's fine. After the first week is over.We're used to dungeons spawning mobs, but it can't be in huge numbers like he's doing right now," Atlas explained.
"But there's so much—he said he's getting full so quickly," the fairy said, sounding concerned.
Atlas thought for a moment. "Is there a way for us to control that?"
"Let me check," the fairy responded, then took a long time communicating with the dungeon. "He said if you have other dungeons he could take over, he could control how much each one spawns. Those all spawn more, but it won't be a huge number coming from this one."
Atlas nodded. "Well, I do have several dungeons under my control, but none of them have fairies."
"Hooray, I'm going to have my own fairy empire of dungeons!" the fairy cheered, clapping her hands and twirling around, her little skirt fluttering adorably.
"And will you have control if you have several dungeons?" Atlas asked.
The fairy checked again. "He said that he'll be fine, and he'll let you know if he needs more dungeons to control. The mana in this area is really thick, and it keeps filling him up."
"Good, then we have a deal," Atlas said.
The little fairy extended her hand and said, "Deal."
They shook hands, and Atlas added, "Well, beyond shaking hands, you'll sign this contract with me." He produced a system contract and wrote down their terms. The fairy would always let him know if a dungeon was getting so full that it would spawn another horde. In return, Atlas would provide the dungeon prisoners or people who were of no value to his empire.
The fairy signed it on behalf of the dungeon and said,
"Atlas, you know it doesn't help much if you provide us people. Eventually, they'll stop having mana on them."
"Don't worry, I've got an idea for how they can keep making mana or absorbing it," Atlas reassured her.
The fairy clapped her hands once again, pleased. "Good."
With that, the dungeon wasn't fully linked, but it was now under the control of Atlas and the Fort Bone Empire.
“One last thing,” Atlas said before he left, “What about the skeleton hordes now that you've already spawned? Can you call them back? Or even destroy them?”
The little fairy checked with the dungeon, her face flushing with embarrassment again as she replied, “He said no. He can give them directions once, but once they leave the dungeon area he controls, he can no longer really give them specific directions. The skeleton horde has been told to seek out the strongest mana sources, kill everything there, and bring it back to the dungeon. There's no plan for it to stop.”
Atlas frowned, “Can you fly out and stop them?”
The little fairy's wings fluttered nervously, “I wish I could, but I need to keep the dungeon company; otherwise, he gets lonely.”
Atlas raised an eyebrow, “So what if he gets lonely!?”
The fairy winced, “Well, if he gets lonely, then I don't know what will happen. Maybe he'll get angry too, and I don’t think you and I would ever really want an angry dungeon.”
Atlas thought in his head, ‘Hmm, that is kind of true. A sentient dungeon without a guardian keeping it in line might cause me problems. I really hope keeping this dungeon in check will work.‘
“So, you're saying there's no way of avoiding destroying those other skeletons?”
The fairy bit her lip, looking apologetic again, “Sorry,” she muttered, holding her hands up in a what-can-I-do kind of gesture.
Atlas sighed, “Say, do you have any spare mana coins?” He wasn’t going to leave without some loot, especially after taking a chance on this partnership with the dungeon.
The fairy perked up, “Yeah, we have this chest of mana coins,” she said, revealing a chest brimming with over a thousand mana coins.
Atlas blinked, “Why do you have these? If the dungeon needs mana, why are there mana coins still coming out of it?”
The fairy paused, then asked the dungeon. After a few moments, she shrugged and said, “Oh, he said he was kind of embarrassed. Again, just like the skeletons, the mana coins are the result of eating too much pure mana. But they’re not quite enough to spawn a full skeleton. They're kind of the leftovers of each spawn he makes.”
Atlas nodded slowly, “Oh, I guess that makes sense.”
A metaphor for what's happening with the dungeon and the mana coins crossed his mind: ‘The mana coins are like the afterthoughts of a feast, remnants of the dungeon’s insatiable hunger for pure mana—just enough to satisfy, but not enough to create.‘
With this conversation and the new partnership formed, Atlas and the two trolls started back toward Bonetown. ‘Mission accomplished,‘ he thought. ‘Now I have to set up some soldiers to keep the dungeon in check and let the leadership team know that everything has succeeded. But I’ll still have to fight the Skeleton General and whatever remains of the horde. I hope the army has taken care of most of those skeletons.‘
As they trudged along, Atlas felt a strange mix of relief and anticipation. The alliance with the dungeon could prove invaluable, but the looming battle against the Skeleton General weighed heavily on his mind. He could almost hear the distant clattering of bones.
‘‘‘
POV : ALIEN SHOWRUNNER HQ
In the brightly lit showrunner's headquarters, Nerdathor leaned over a massive holographic display, his eyes gleaming with excitement as he monitored the latest developments. The usual hum of machinery and the soft glow of control panels gave the room an electric buzz, but this time, it felt different. ‘This could be it,‘ he thought, barely able to contain himself.
"I hope this works out," he muttered, a grin forming on his face. The display showed the dungeon core pulsing with life, mana swirling around it like a living storm. "I hadn't realized that allowing so much mana in at once could create a sentient dungeon core. This is insane." His voice was full of awe, bordering on disbelief. This wasn’t just another dungeon scenario—this was new, groundbreaking, and his viewers would eat it up.
He straightened up, his excitement bubbling over. "And thank god I hired that fairy, too. Atlas really came through subduing the dungeon too." His eyes flicked to the tiny fairy flitting around the dungeon, her wings shimmering as she conversed with the core. Nerdathor could already picture how viewers would react to this first-ever sentient dungeon, an unpredictable element in the show.
His heart raced with anticipation. ‘The audience has never seen anything like this before.‘ The dungeon core, thinking for itself, making choices—this was no ordinary season. It was a whole new level of danger and strategy, and the thrill of it made his flower tentacle curl. "This will definitely require watching to make sure nothing goes wrong," he murmured, but there was an undeniable spark in his eyes.
He quickly adjusted the surveillance feeds, zooming in on every aspect of the dungeon. The ratings were going to spike, no question about it. ‘If this goes off without a hitch, I’m going to be a legend.‘ He could already imagine the headlines: ‘First Ever Sentient Dungeon Core—The Show That Changed Everything.‘
Leaning back in his chair, Nerdathor allowed himself a moment to revel in the excitement. ‘This is going to be bigger than anything we've done. If the core starts causing problems, the viewers will be glued to their screens.‘
POV : CELESTIAL WAGER
On the Celestial Wager, Zeltrax, Gorvax, Lurox, and Kroxar were scrambling around, their excitement grew like flames as news of Atlas capturing a sentient dungeon spread like wildfire.
"I've never seen that before!" Zeltrax marveled, their translucent skin shimmering as they observed the situation unfolding on the holographic screens.
"This is nuts!" Lurox buzzed, their wings fluttering with barely-contained energy. They darted between betting stations, eagerly soaking in the action.
Kroxar, with a smirk twisting their tentacles, muttered, "The whole place is going to explode over this. I love it."
From the high platform overseeing the floor, Blontik, the toad-like casino owner, rubbed his greasy hands together, a gleam in his eyes. "All right, folks, we’ve got a whole bunch of fresh bets up!" His voice boomed through the casino. "Wagers include: Will the dungeon actually listen to Atlas? How many skeletons will spawn per hour? And my personal favorite—how many of those new prisoners will die in the dungeon?" He chuckled, watching as the betting terminals lit up with frantic activity.
Gorvax, with his stone-like arms crossed, grunted approvingly. "This is going to be interesting. High stakes, indeed."
The excitement only grew as more bets were placed, everyone eager to see just how obedient the sentient dungeon would become under Atlas’s command.