After receiving the notice about Faron I quickly try to wrap my head around what I just read. The first thing I can think of to do is open [Archjusticar Menu] and look up Dyson. On the screen that shows him to me he looks rather confused while sitting naked on the edge of his bed.
He is looking at the message while several of the women in him bed paw at him telling him to come back to bed. He quickly pushes them away, and equips his clothes with his [Menu] he then checks several messages he has received.
Due to the [Archjusticar Menu] I can see what the messages are that he is reading.
Madam Erin: (What the hell were you thinking?! You better have a damn good explanation for this!)
Draco: (I believed the matter we discussed was quite clear, to violate that agreement now? Just what is it you are planning?)
Lucille: (I told them all you would do something like this, and now look what you have done! I will see to it you get what you deserve!)
I don’t know what is more confusing the fact we just received a message that Dyson killed Faron, or the fact that Dyson looks more confused about it then I do… I don’t know what is going to happen next, but what I do know is it isn’t going to be good.
I quickly call everyone back to the house while keeping an eye on what Dyson does.
Belinda: “What’s the big emergency?”
“Faron is dead.”
Belinda: “Faron?! But how?!”
“The message I received said Dyson did it, but I quickly looked in on him and he looked more confused about the message then I did. I have also been keeping an eye on him since, he has started to lock down his dungeon and increase the security, but if he did or didn’t kill Faron I could see why he would do so either way.”
Roxy: “What do you want us to do?”
“Well every dungeon core just received the message about Faron, and the other elders have already been pressing Dyson asking what he did. I don’t know what is going to happen next, but with our agreement with Dyson I don’t want another dungeon core to make us a target because our association with Dyson.”
Belinda: “You don’t think another dungeon core will attack us do you?”
“The truth is I don’t know, and until I do, I want everyone to be safe. I am going to make sure the bunnies know to keep a very close eye on the groups that enter the dungeon to make sure none of them seem out of place. Our dungeon isn’t the strongest by far, but it is built in a way that even Dyson would have trouble destroying the crystal without us knowing about it, but our biggest weakness right now is us.”
Zoey: “Don’t worry boss, we won’t go kicking the bucket without your permission.”
“I am confident that we could all hold our ground against any adventurer group I have ever seen, but there are dungeon cores out there that are far stronger.”
I then receive a message.
Due to the death of Elder Faron your presence is requested as the Archjusticar of the Elders at a meeting to be held in 1 hour at the neutral zone. I am sure you can understand the importance of such a meeting so I have no doubt that you will do your best to arrive in a timely manner.
Dungeon Core #36 Madam Erin
“I just got a message from Madam Erin about a meeting. I can’t say I am surprised, but I want everyone to be on their guard while I am gone, understood?”
Belinda: “Don’t worry we will take care of things here, but you be careful as well.”
I give Belinda a kiss and then head to the dungeon core room to tell the bunnies what to look out for. After filling the bunnies in I use [Gate] to reach the neutral zone. When I arrive it appears I am the last to arrive, well that is all of the elder’s except Dyson are here, but even though I have been keeping an eye on him with [Archjusticar Menu] he went through so many messages I wasn’t able to see them all, and don’t know if they called him to this meeting or not.
Madam Erin: “Good you have arrived.”
Draco: “I know he has been appointed the title of Archjusticar, but since the details of what exactly that means, is still kept from us, I hope you know what you are doing.”
Madam Erin: “Two-Twelve I have to ask, do you have at least 10 points?”
Lucille: “10 points of what?”
Madam Erin: “That is not important. Now, do you?”
“Yes, I do...”
Madam Erin: “Good, if things go south I might ask you to use that 10 point option of yours on Dyson.”
“I don’t know if that would really help on a dungeon core like Dyson, besides we aren’t exactly sure what it does.”
Madam Erin: “You may be right, but I would still like to keep it as an option.”
“I also have to say, I don’t think Dyson killed Faron…”
Lucille: “What are you talking about? We all saw the message.”
“Yes, and one of the abilities I have as the Archjusticar is a very limited version of Dyson’s [Observation], and as soon as I saw the message about Faron, I have been watching Dyson’s movements since. I think he seemed far more surprised by the message about Faron’s death then I was.”
Draco: “This disturbing information aside, I have to ask. What has Dyson been doing since the message then?”
“For the most part he has received a bunch of messages, but he is also fortifying his dungeon.”
Lucille: “That is more than enough proof there, Dyson killed Faron and now is using the xp he gathered from him to prevent us from retaliating!”
Dyson: “It seems I am late to my own party.” –He says while stepping into the room clad from the top of his head to the tips of his toes in his pitch black armor.-
Draco: “What is the meaning of this?! You know the rules!”
Dyson: “One cannot be too careful, especially when there are those out there that think I killed Faron.”
Lucille: “You will try to deny it instead of telling us what really happened?!”
Dyson: “Of course I deny it. Do you think I would be stupid enough to kill Faron myself?
Draco: “Then how do you explain the message about his death?”
Dyson: “I couldn’t tell you. I’ll have you know this situation is putting a damper in my big plans for today, but I promise you they involved nubile virgins, and not dusty old dungeon cores.”
Madam Erin: “You don’t seem to understand the serious situation you are in right now.”
Dyson: “Situation I am in? What do I have to worry about?”
Lucille: “The repercussions of killing Faron!”
Dyson laughs. “I told you I didn’t do it, but if you want to have a go at me go right ahead. Just remember I was the strongest dungeon core even before I was made an Elder, and now I know all of your weaknesses.”
Draco: “You wouldn’t!”
Dyson: “I don’t have any plans for it, no, I promised Madam Erin after all. That doesn’t mean I will sit by if one of you decides to attack me either.”
Madam Erin: “Then what are you going to do?”
Dyson: “Unless I can talk you into trading me that succubus girl of yours, I was thinking of salvaging what is left of my day. Those nubile virgins aren’t going to deflower themselves, although someone else might beat me to it if I don’t hurry. The big question is. What are you going to do? As you are all the ones with the problem, not me.”
Fredrick: “I don’t follow…”
Dyson: “Someone is using my name, and no, I don’t know how they managed to even fake it in [Menu], but if they went through that much trouble, and was strong enough to take out Faron, who is next?”
Madam Erin: “You really didn’t do this?”
Dyson: “Would I have reason to deny it if I did?”
Lucille: “I am not buying any of this. He can’t just kill an Elder, shrug his shoulders, deny it, and go about his business.”
Dyson: “Well we all have plenty of enemies, and I guess Faron just found one that bested him. Maybe it was even one of those gods Two-Twelve is always going on about, they didn’t seem to like him either, and they have more than enough reasons to hold a grudge if he stole their followers.”
Fredrick: “I didn’t think you believed in such nonsense.”
Dyson: “I don’t, but do you have a better explanation?”
“Laura…”
Lucille: “Excuse me?”
Dyson: “I see where you are going with this, that cuff she slapped on your wrist. That’s right you killed several cores and it never showed dungeon core 212, but the name her boss monster gave you.”
Draco: “We instructed you to have that cuff destroyed, and Laura assured us no more could be produced.”
Dyson: “We had no reason to not believe her, but now?”
Lucille: “That is ridiculous.”
Dyson: “No more ridiculous then another Elder killing Faron because I was what? Bored?”
Draco: “Laura does seem a bit of a stretch. Even if she did attack Faron do you think she could have taken him? Perhaps his crystal, but he surely had an imitation crystal in place of his real one, so there would have been plenty of warning of an attack that way.”
Dyson: “And that marks the end of the time the fresh slaves are sold… Well if we do find out who is responsible for slapping my name on their handy work, they better hope one of you finds them instead of me or there will be hell to pay now.”
Lucille: “An Elder is dead, and all you can think about is collecting some human trash? “
Dyson: “You know how hard it is to come across a fresh slave? It takes months to gather the amount for them to hold a sale of strictly fresh slaves. It’s one of my favorite days of the year.”
Draco: “No accounting for taste, but I am starting to believe that perhaps we need to look at this, another way.”
Madam Erin: “I don’t know who could be capable of manipulating [Menu] like this, but if it really wasn’t Dyson we need to decide what to do going forward. We are short an Elder now after all.”
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Draco: “If this proves anything, it is that at least part of what Dyson has been saying is correct. If we keep sitting on the sidelines any longer we are going to be left behind. I don’t believe we are going to see eye to eye on any part of this situation, but I think it would be in all of our best interests to find the one responsible as quickly as possible.”
Lucille: “What about the new dungeon cores? They will be born in a matter of weeks, are you sure you want Dyson to be the one that is watching over their training?”
Madam Erin: “Like it or not [Menu] was what told us to put him in charge of training the new cores, do you really think it would be wise to go against it?”
Draco: “You are saying we should trust [Menu] because that is what it wants, but not to trust [Menu] when it has to do with the death of Faron?”
Madam Erin: “I am saying it has never let us down and we depend on it to survive. That doesn’t mean it is not able to be manipulated on a small degree.”
Dyson: “It’s fine. If they want to train the new dungeon cores this year let them!”
Madam Erin: “We can’t do that!”
Lucille: “And why not?”
Dyson: “Because there won’t be any.”
Madam Erin: “Dyson we agreed!”
Dyson: “What do we have to worry about now? With Faron, Draco, and Lucille it might have been trouble, but even Draco is seeing that the times are changing now.”
Draco: “What do you mean there won’t be any?”
Dyson: “Just like I said [Menu] has decided we need to find a new way to make dungeon cores, and that it will no longer produce them for us.”
Lucille: “Your method of training dungeon cores was a problem then!”
Dyson: “I think on the contrary, the new way of training dungeon cores was enough to prove to [Menu] it no longer had to carry the weight of summoning the new dungeon cores itself.”
Draco: “Then how is it we make dungeon cores now?”
Madam Erin: “We are still fuzzy on that…”
Lucille: “And this is why you killed Faron?”
Dyson: “I am telling you I didn’t kill Faron.”
Lucille: “I find it a little convenient you are dropping this on us now, just after Faron’s death.”
Madam Erin: “We wanted to be able to present it with the solution to producing more dungeon cores before telling the other Elders.”
Draco: “You knew about this as well, and were going to keep lying to us?”
Dyson: “Madam Erin and I have been working on the solution, and even have the Archjusticar on it, but we were going to give it till the end of the training time of the dungeon cores to come up with the answer.”
Lucille: “This sort of thing should have been brought to the attention of all of the Elders immediately.”
Dyson: “What would you have done with the information?”
Draco: “If this is true, then Faron’s loss is more dire then we thought. If we can’t even produce any more dungeon cores, until this is sorted out every dungeon is vital to our survival.”
Madam Erin: “You don’t think we know that? We have been working on it.”
Dyson: “We do have a credible lead on how to produce more dungeon cores, but even if it proves true, that in itself proves to be more problematic.”
Draco: “How so?”
Madam Erin: “We can’t say to protect the dungeon core involved.”
Lucille: “What has Two-Twelve done now…?”
“Why do you think it is me?”
Lucille: “Well am I wrong then?”
“No… Unfortunately you are not.”
Draco: “Then what is this lead?”
Madam Erin: “As I said the matter is quite sensitive, so it is best to be sure before we say anything else.”
“I guess it is as good time as any to tell them.”
Madam Erin: “Are you sure?”
“With Faron dead, if this does prove a way to produce more dungeon cores, that might be a solid reason to protect us, and I don’t want them to think I was hiding it from them.”
Draco: “Well spit it out youngling.”
“My wife/boss monster is pregnant. Now I have no basis to say my child will be a dungeon core, but it stands to reason if we are told to find a new way to produce dungeon cores and my wife becomes pregnant that our child will be a dungeon core as well.”
Lucille: “More likely she stepped out on you.”
Dyson: “I would be inclined to agree as well, but I don’t think his boss monster is the type. Besides that isn’t the only reason we believe it to be the case.”
I think mentioning the old gods will only make it harder for them to believe it, so I decide to leave that part out.
“I tried to summon one of the Divine Beings my dungeon has been known to produce and the requirements for summoning Divine Being were hidden. After setting [Menu] to warn me when the requirements have been met, I received the message, and tried to summon the monster. The summoning of the monster seemed to of failed. That is to say the xp was removed from my dungeon but no monster was produced. A few weeks later when Belinda began to show the signs of being pregnant is when we came to the realization of what had happened.”
Lucille: “That is absurd.”
Madam Erin: “Now the Divine Beings are limited to Two-Twelve, but surely if [Menu] expects us to produce dungeon cores ourselves, there has to be a way for us to do so as well.”
Draco: “You expect us to believe we are to produce offspring like some animal or human?”
Madam Erin: “The thought of having a child myself is not appealing to me either, but if we are indeed expected to start producing new dungeon cores ourselves. It only makes sense that we reproduce in the same fashion as every other creature.”
Lucille: “We produce monsters from our dungeons with [Menu] in the same fashion we were born!”
Dyson: “And they can still reproduce as well, if anything we are more like rift monsters as they can only produce a limited amount during a set duration and are the only other creatures that can’t reproduce on their own.”
Draco: “Rift monsters can’t be summoned as sentient though.”
Dyson: “I didn’t say that we are rift monsters, I am just saying up until now we had more in common with them then normal monsters. Who or whatever is behind [Menu] must think it is time to start moving on.”
“Wait, there might be something to that… If we look at dungeon cores as a type of rift monster, then that would explain why there can only be a certain number of us. That also explains why new dungeon cores are always produced at the same time and day.”
Lucille: “Draco already said rift monsters can’t be sentient, and if it was true then every year we would have enough dungeon cores born to total the 799 count, not just a handful a year.”
“The rules might not be the exact same, but if we look at it that way then perhaps it might help. I had to pay the xp cost for a new Divine Being for my wife to become pregnant. Now, all of you have the race of human except for Draco, is that correct?”
Lucille: “Technically that is correct, but I am by no means a human.”
Dyson: “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”
Draco: “I don’t see how this helps.”
“Dyson is the only one that can summon humans, so I don’t know if anyone else can try it except maybe you, but I am not sure about your personal preferences, so I know Dyson will be the easiest to experiment with. Dyson, can you set [Menu] to warn you if a human becomes available to summon that costs higher than the normal rate?”
Dyson: “I wouldn’t even know a way to go about that... Wait… Never mind, I tried using the search option to summon a human at higher then base cost, and it just showed a long list of xp costs for summoning humans at higher levels.”
“Can you narrow it down by the ones that are still level 1?”
Dyson: “That leaves two options… Both cost about 10x the amount of a base human. One says available for 45 minutes, and the other says 3 days, and 2 hours. I guess I can try one of them.”
“Wait!”
Dyson: “What?”
“That actually sounds quite promising, but if it worked like it did for me, are you sure you are ready for one of your monsters to become pregnant?”
Dyson: “Well which one would it be?”
“Well it sounds like you have two options, but other than that I don’t know…”
Dyson: “What if it is one of the 3s…?” –He says while sounding quite worried.-
Madam Erin: “Who cares about your stupid scale for women, as an elder you need to do this just to see if it works.”
Dyson: “Wait a minute here, if this works like Two-Twelve is suggesting. Then that means I will become a father, I can’t just have a child with just anyone…”
Madam Erin: “If it results in a new dungeon core, does it really matter?”
Dyson: “I have strict standards for the women I take to my bed, but to say having one of them bare my child? I am not sure any of them qualify!”
Draco: “It’s done. The option was available to me as well. The time in which a dragonkin reproduces is a bit longer then a human, but we should know within a few months of it at least worked.”
Madam Erin: “Wait, then you…?”
Draco: “I said I was tired of sitting on the sidelines, and if my child results in a dungeon core in likes to the ones being produced in that last few years, then it could easily be quite advantageous for me to have a dungeon like that under my control.”
“You plan on having a child just to increase you influence of power…?”
Draco: “How is that different then the dungeon cores Dyson has gathered? This dungeon core will at least be my own.”
Lucille: “What about the rest of us?! I can’t summon humans, how am I supposed to make more dungeon cores?”
“They won’t be monsters for you to control, they will be your children! We haven’t even determined if this is the way to produce new dungeon cores and you are already just thinking of them as means of gaining more power…”
Madam Erin: “Humans are no different. They often have children to marry them off to increase their own standings.”
“Even you Madam Erin…?”
Madam Erin: “I just see where they are coming from. I have no desire to carry a child, even if it is possible.”
Dyson is remaining silent. You can’t see the look on his face due to his armor, but even with his armor on you can tell he is deep in thought…
“I can’t believe you are all thinking of using your children in this way, and what about Faron’s death?”
Draco: “We of course will have to take more precautions until the culprit is identified, but especially with Faron’s death, finding a way to produce more dungeon cores is vital.”
Lucille: “It still leaves us at a disadvantage. If this does prove to be the way to produce more dungeon cores there will be many of us unable to reproduce.”
Dyson: “You are just mad because you haven’t figured out how to do it yourself yet. That being said we do need to set some ground rules so that this doesn’t become a problem. We should keep this just between us for now, and every elder should be restricted to only one child for now until we figure this all out.”
Madam Erin: “Quite strange for you to be the voice of reason in this, but I agree.”
Draco: “Dragonkin often produce more than 1 egg, it is possible even 3 could be born at once.”
“I am sure if you only spent the xp once then it will only be one, but also remember these will be children, so you will have to raise them.”
Draco: “I have breed monsters before, I understand the concept.”
“But these will be your children, and we don’t even know what it will entail. Dungeon cores are ageless, so we don’t have any idea how long it will take them to mature, if they will be required to eat, or anything like that.”
Draco: “We shall see.”
Madam Erin: “Now if you please, I think the matter concerning Faron’s death is far more pressing right now…”
Lucille: “I am not entirely convinced that Dyson isn’t the culprit.”
Dyson: “Well you know where my dungeon is, so any time you want to have a go at it.”
Madam Erin: “Enough you two… It goes without saying that we need to be more careful going forward, but if anyone finds any information regarding the death of Faron we all need to know about it immediately.”
Fredrick: “It has been Dyson and yourself that have been keeping secrets from the other Elders, so perhaps you should heed your own advice.”
Madam Erin: “There is also the matter regarding Faron’s unique ability. Leland’s ability was something we could live without, and proof enough of that was it was replaced with Dyson’s [Observation], but without Faron’s ability I don’t know how will manage.”
Draco: “As well as we did before becoming elders I am sure.”
Dyson: “You are just saying that because you don’t summon sentient monsters that require outside knowledge. For dungeon cores like Two-Twelve and myself this will be quite problematic indeed.”
Lucille: “You should have thought of that before you…”
Dyson: “I didn’t kill him!”
“I don’t understand, what exactly was Faron’s ability?”
Madam Erin: “He was the keeper of the knowledge. Any monster you might of summoned before that learned information that you yourself didn’t know, well that was due to Faron’s ability. Without it the monsters you summon going forward will only be able to know the things your dungeon knows.”
Dyson: “Not to mention Dungeon Core Information and any other books in [Menu] that tapped into that knowledge will no longer update.”
I open [Archjusticar Menu] to check to see if I can still see information about other dungeons in it. It however seems to be working fine, so does that mean I am the only one that has this information now…?
“You mean to say if I summon a sentient monster now, it won’t have the knowledge I require?”
Madam Erin: “If it isn’t something your dungeon knows, then no it won’t.”
“That is quite a drawback…”
Dyson: “I suggest if you have any monster that has information you don’t want to lose, make sure the information they know is recorded and stored in you dungeon, or you might not be able to summon another monster like them.”
Lucille: “As you said, it is the younger cores that will suffer from it the most, and like Draco said we managed before, so we will just have to do it again.”
Dyson: “Well if that is all I do believe I will now attempt to salvage the rest of day.”
Draco: “There is nothing else for us to do, but to be on guard.”
Dyson then teleports from the room leaving the rest of us.
Lucille: “Now that he is gone, we can discuss how to deal with this problem.”
Draco: “I do believe what Two-Twelve said, I don’t think Dyson was the one responsible.”
Lucille: “You can’t be serious?!”
Madam Erin: “I to believe if Dyson did it, he would of come out and admitted to it.”
Fredrick: “I agree with you Lucille…”
Lucille: “A lot of good that does us.”
Draco: “The thing that concerns me is Dyson going back to his dungeon and making dozens, if not hundreds, of new dungeon cores.”
Madam Erin: “As Two-Twelve said, we can’t guarantee this is the way to produce more dungeon cores.”
Draco: “If Two-Twelve can use his ability as the Archjusticar to keep an eye on Dyson, I think it would be in all of our best interests if he continues to do so. Now I must return to my dungeon and explain to one of my boss monsters that she may now be pregnant.”
With that Draco gets up and walks from the room as well. Lucille just scoffs, leaving the room as well, and Fredrick follows shortly after.
Madam Erin: “Just you and me now pup. Now do you truly believe what you said to the others about not believing Dyson is responsible?”
“I do… He genuinely looked confused when he was reading the messages.”
Madam Erin: “Well be careful pup, there were many dungeon cores loyal to Faron and they might not be as easily convinced, and if they decide to weaken Dyson by taking out the cores loyal to him, you may become a target.”
“There is only so much I can do, but I assure you what I can do, I am doing it.”
Madam Erin: “We didn’t mention the rings to the others, but we have giving out a few already. I still don’t think any of those cores would be strong enough to kill Faron, but to be on the safe side, you might want to keep an eye on them, as well as Laura.”
“I’ll do that.”
I then part ways with Madam Erin and return home. Everyone is still at the house, and looks rather worried.
Belinda: “I am glad to see you made it back ok!”
“Did anything happen while I was away?”
Belinda: “We received a visit from the church of Faron. They didn’t say what it was about, but they requested the aid of the Archjusticar of Faron at the Grand Cathedral.”
“With Faron’s death I am sure several of the statues that housed his imitation crystals broke down after his death, and I don’t know how much of the Grand Cathedral was part of his dungeon, so who knows what kind of damage was sustained there.”
Belinda: “That is what we figured as well.”
“We are still not sure who or what killed Faron, so we need to make sure we are safe first.”
Then without realizing it the headcount in the room increased by one, and the pink haired Ceres pokes her head between Roxy and Zoey with her arms around their shoulders.
Ceres: “Man, do you seem busy!”