“What? Explain.” From her tone, Xu Han could tell that while his dungeon fairy was less than happy with the suggestion, she was willing to listen to the idea.
“Instead of a trap or defence structures, let's give the adventurers a treasure. Greed will make the adventurers complete the puzzle.”
“Not a good idea, core.” Jemma shook her head. “What’s to stop the adventurers from activating their Recall spells once they got the treasure?”
That was a good point Xu Han had missed. The dungeon core pondered the question for a moment and came up with a suggestion. “How about a technique?”
“What?”
“I’ll make the treasure a scroll like the one I gave the dwarf, only I’ll make the technique temporary. It will only become permanent if the adventurers defeat the Boss.” Xu Han explained.
Jemma shook her head again. “Idiot! All your techniques are temporary, they only work when the Classed are in range of you. Also, you will need to make a lot of scrolls if you intend to go through with that. All the adventurers will do the puzzles if you offer that, and the scrolls are expensive to make.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Xu Han muttered. He turned his attention to the divine power in his body. A good chunk of it was devoted to maintaining the dungeon, recreating the various creatures, traps, and structures in his dungeon. Thanks to the constant stream of adventurers coming in, there were a lot still available but divine power was a lot like Qi. He needed it to grow as a cultivator, and it was always better to have too much on hand than too little. Xu Han was loathed to waste it.
“Thanks,” Jemma replied dryly. “Do you have any other ideas?”
“Not yet,” Xu Han admitted, “improving the dungeon might be more difficult than I expected.”
“It's a good thing you have me then,” Jemma said with a smile. “I’m here to keep you on track and I am full of ideas. Now, we have-”
“What’s that?”
Xu Han’s shout interrupted his dungeon fairy who quickly turned to the screen showing the entrance of the dungeon. A strange vehicle had entered the dungeon. It was big cart on four wheels that reminded Xu Han of the oxcarts in the Crimson Lands, only much bigger.
There were some other huge differences.
The vehicle was enclosed with windows and a roof. Strangely, there were no ox or horses pulling the vehicle, and it looked like it was moving on its own. There was a female dwarf sitting on it and Xu Han could tell that she was the driver.
The dwarf was sitting at the front of the cart, inside the vehicle with some sort of glass shield in front her. She was wearing leathery clothes and had some sort of device on her head to protect her eyes. However, what really got Xu Han’s attention was the sound coming from the vehicle. It was loud and purring, like an animal that was preparing to pounce. Jemma answered Xu Han’s unasked question.
“Oh, a magitech carriage!” Jemma exclaimed.
“What? Jemma, you know what that is?”
“It is a magitech carriage, a Stagecoach version if I’m not mistaken. They are usually used for long distance public transportation and deliveries. Looks like your order from the Dungeon Supplier has arrived.” Jemma happily said.
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Xu Han focused on the marriage and noticed that it was carrying things. Through the windows, the dungeon core could see the numerous small cages within, each holding a small cat.
“What is a magitech carriage? And what is the sound that’s coming from it?” An intrigued Xu Han asked.
“Magitech carriages are like normal carriages, only powered by magitech. Travelling through monster-infested territories is dangerous, not only for the travellers but for the animals as well. So, someone invented a carriage that could be driven by a magitech engine. The sound you hear is that of the engine running the carriage.” Jemma explained.
“Jemma, that explained nothing.” An exasperated Xu Han said. “Can you be clearer? Let’s start from the beginning; what is magitech?”
Xu Han saw his dungeon fairy entering her thinking pose, his question slumping her for long moments before she finally answered.
“I’m no expert, but magitech is basically technology that combines both basic technology and magical resources. Take this carriage for example. Unlike a normal magical carriage, it has an engine that doesn’t require a mage to constantly pump it with mana. Instead, it runs on magical items like monster cores.”
“Monster cores? You mean the items monsters have inside their bodies?” Xu Han asked excitedly.
“Oh, you remember. Yes, that’s right. The monster cores are filled with magic, and when you place one inside a magitech engine, the engine will drain the magic from the core to power itself.”
Xu Han thought back to the chat he had with the other dungeon cores and remembered what they said about technology. What is technology? It is the application of knowledge for practical purpose, to change the environment without the use of magic.
Xu Han was unaware of the term, and he wasn’t too impressed with it. Xu Han could not understand how technology could be useful in a world where there is both magic and divine power. To the former cultivator, technology sounded like something for mortals, not for dungeon cores and Classed who could use magic. Seeing the magitech carriage, Xu Han wondered if he had been too hasty in dismissing it.
“Jemma, I want this carriage.”
“Oh no, you don’t. You are not going to absorb it. You do that and the Dungeon Supplier Guild will blacklist you. You will never get another delivery from them again, and they are about the only ones who do deliveries to dungeons.” Jemma objected immediately as they watched the magitech carriage drive down the tunnel towards the first floor.
The black fog engulfed the carriage, and it appeared in the poisonous fog of the first floor. Xu Han was thinking of ways to kill the driver when she did something unexpected. The driver jumped out of the carriage, and Xu Han saw that her legs were missing. The driver landed on the ground with ease but instead of normal legs, the driver had a pair of springy metal prosthetics.
Prosthetics was something that’s new Xu Han. The former cultivator had only seen wooden peg legs in the Crimson Lands, but some adventurers entering his dungeon do possess prosthetics legs and arms. It was a very impressive invention. Once she landed, the driver looked up at the ceiling of the room and shouted into the fog.
“Oh, Great Dungeon Core of the Tomb of Ten Thousand Techniques, No Feet from the Dungeon Supplier Guild here with deliveries.
Client One; the Tomb of Ten Thousand Techniques. Thirty cats and kittens to be delivered to the Tomb of Ten Thousand Techniques.
Client Two; The Dungeon Master. A magitech carriage with a book on the science and application of magitech to be delivered to the Tomb of Ten Thousand Techniques. Delivery comes with a message.
The message from The Dungeon Master is this; Xu Han, consider this carriage and book my welcome gift. Absorb them. Study them. Improve the carriage if possible. Welcome to the group, young core.”
After the message, the driver immediately took a scroll out from a Bag of Holding. Xu Han was still absorbing the message from The Dungeon Master when the driver uncurled a scroll and raised it high above her head.
“Message and deliveries completed. Please sign here.”
Xu Han was wondering what was going on when Jemma told him to reach out with his mana and direct it toward the driver. He did as he was told in a blur. The scroll attracted his mana, and Xu Han saw it glow for a moment. Then, the glow disappeared, and the driver looked at the scroll before smiling.
“Thank you for the business. Please do not hesitate to contact the Dungeon Supplier Guild again for your future needs.”
The driver then crossed her arms over her chest and disappeared. The dungeon went silent. As the magitech carriage was slowly absorbed, several questions went through Xu Han’s mind. After the obligatory ‘Who am I?’, ‘Where am I?’, ‘What's going on?’, came the important questions.
A great gift like this requires Xu Han to give something of equal value in return, but what could he give to the most powerful dungeon core in this world? What knowledge should Xu Han gift to The Dungeon Master that would match this?