"A, B, C, or D's,
who is going to come with me?
On my mission today,
To see the fools I'm going slay
You are not it!" Playing her own game of eeny, meeny, Veris looks more upset than the Vagabond as she points her finger at Sweet C.
"You're not having a good run. Sorry, Sweetie. Today's not your day either." On the verge of tears, the Sweet in question furrows her brow and stomps her feet.
"Aww, but... I need the most XP to level up! Doesn't that mean I should get to come out with you anyway?" Trying her best to worm her way in Team 1, Sweet C states the obvious.
Veris' way of deciding the
"You know how it goes. Someone has to stay here and be the Boss when the others are out levelling. You agreed, just like they did. In fact, when I suggested, I'm pretty sure you were most in favour when I suggested it." A conversation flickers to mind as the Sweet struggles to come up with a counter. Putting in her saddest face, she tries something different.
"Yeah, but.."
"No, buts. Hehe, butts. You'll come out with me after Team 1 get back. Like usual." Paying no mind to the saddest Sweet in the world, Veris cuts her off and lays down the laws. Her face betrays her words however and her goofy grin shows where Veris' mind truly is. Shaking it off, she puts on her firm face and points at sweet C.
"If you keep complaining, I'm going to have to set another example, ya know?" Rising to the challenge, Sweet C complains like hell. She rants, raves, screams and shouts. Swearing like a pirate, she thoroughly makes sure an example is about to be set.
Dropping into the darkness, Veris reappears in the Vagabonds shadow. She raises an eyebrow and looks skeptical at the offender before grinning like crazy. Taking a knee, she looks up into the sparkling eyes of Sweet C and says nothing.
Peaches and the other three Sweets don't say a word. They watch as Sweet C takes the position and is once again made an example of. It's like their daily ritual at this point and has been since the Boss was given permission to leave the dungeon. Before she drags two of them away, off to cull the local monster population, she chooses who will go fairly.
Taking their seats, Sweet A pours everyone some tea. Knowing that the slapping sound is due to continue for a while, they begin a conversation about dinner.
"Looks like I'll have to be extra thorough today!" Veris turns it up a notch.
"But I haven't said anything else yet?" Playing innocent for the Boss' sake, Sweet C can't hide the anticipation as her body is rocked once more. She turns away to smile before looking back all sad to Veris. Which only stokes the fire. As it turns out, Sweet C is almost as crazy as her mentor. Only, it's on the other side of the scale.
Feeling like she's had her fill, the fire dies down and Veris pushes Sweet C of her knee. Going to get herself some tea, she's stopped by a whine.
C drops down on all fours, not losing eye contact with Veris. No longer able to contain her passion, the she slowly begins to crawl towards the head seductress. The fire that had died down flares back to life with a passion. Veris wastes no time in taking a knee once more.
Wiggling her way toward it, Sweet C looks like the picture-perfect puppy. Crawling toward her master to receive a reward. Until she flops over Veris' knee and the sound of slapping continues.
"Maybe one... Morning we won't have to listen to the... Sound of paddling." Peaches slurps her tea as loud as possible to drown out the escalating noise.
"Don't count on it," Sweet D's dashes her hopes with an eye roll.
"A Paddle!" Momentarily putting a pause on Sweet C's pleasurement, an amazing idea comes to Veris. "That's what I should ask the Boss for!"
"Yes! A paddle!" Voicing her agreement, Sweet C only earns herself a few sighs and an eye roll from her fellow comprariates. Peaches looks skeptical, but it's doubtful she even know what they're talking about.
Not messing about, because she's got a team to pick, Veris quickly continues what Peaches so rightly called a paddling.
Dungeon Stories Volume 1
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Disappointed with the last feature that was placed, I move my spending back indoors. Plus, I was near enough out of the points I'd allocotaed for the task. Stupid first-tier features. A weaker person would just go upgrade that Hay Bale.
Checking on Barry first, I find the entrance to his cave system almost closed. Which is odd. Now that I think about it, his DP supply has slowed considerably aswell. Calling down his tunnel gets me no answer, not that he can speak. But he would have come back, if he could hear me.
After waiting a few minutes and letting my worry develop in fear, I send Veris' miserable face down the tunnel since she was passing by at the right time. I'd go if I could, but it's not my space so...
"Don't take forever, Veris" was what I told her an hour ago. So, why isn't she back? Is there a monster in there? Did Barry find something he shouldn't have?
My fear is almost at full-blown panic by the time Veris exits his tunnel. Right behind her, Barry comes drilling his way out in a storm of stone. Opening his entrance, he covers the one person next to me in dust and she isn't happy about it. I can tell by looking at her face.
"What are you doing digging so far in?" Fortunately, Veris is keeping it in check and being rather patient, even if she is red in the face. It's strange. Still, it gives me time to bollock Barry for whatever it is he was doing. When he slumps his shoulders though... Don't be like that, Barry.
Worse yet, as if he's trying to break my heart, the mute Golem even tries to speak! He doesn't say anything tangible though and it just sounds like rock grating on rock. You know, like two Golems...
"He was taking a magma bath, Boss." Seeing him try his hardest, even Veris looses the animosity she was just harbouring. After hearing her words, Barry almost looks shocked. Like Veris has just ratted him out. His shoulders sag further and I can't help but think he's right, she does look pretty satisfied with herself
"Is that all? I was so worried." Barry perks up a little hearing my concern. "I thought something bad was happening and I'm just glad you're OK. You can take a magma bath whenever you want, Barry. You do loads of work around here and I'm super grateful for it and for you." The Mythril Golem's cheeks flush in an unexpected display of human emotion and I swear he looks like he's smiling.
Er, Me. How is he doing that?
Err...
Yeah. That's what I thought. Let's ignore that... Forever.
"Next time you're going to be gone for a while, let someone know please." As I process my own words, I'm at a loss.
How would he do that?
Don't, Me. Just... Don't.
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"You rarely interact with anyone, so..." Coming up with the best solution possible, I tell Barry to point. That's right. Point. The minute he goes near anyone, he has there attention so all he has to do is point. Simple.
Problem solved. Moving on.
"What did I tell you about the entrance closing? Do you remember? I don't want you getting stuck, or forgetting the way back if it closes up and you can't tell the difference. In fact... Wait there a minute, Barry." A scary thought enters my mind and I need to ask Me's opinion on this one.
Do you think I'm strong enough to acquire his tunnels without hurting myself now? I mean, I can do the same thing with the land outside my dungeon, right?
It's worth a shot. If you try a small part first, the damage won't be as bad as if you take the whole thing.
I can't tell if you did that one on purpose? I liked it though.
What one?
Nevermind. That just makes it better.
With advice from my partner, I enter my overview to check over Barry's base. For whatever reason, not even bothered to ask, I can see further out than I was able to before. Don't ask, doesn't get ruined. Which would be helpful, if I could do more than just look.
Yes, I can aquire land and see further inside the mountain, but I can't actually do anything. I can't even see all of Barry's tunnels there's that many and they're that far reaching. He's like an ant without a colony. Well, his colony live on the sixth floor, but they're just babies compared to him. They can barely even scratch my dungeon walls. Even the Iron Golem can't do enough damage to me to get to the mountain behind.
That juicy DP is just outta reach for 'em.
Anyway, it's strange how I'm able to view his base from above, but not whilst in Manifestation. When I try and peek like that, my vision is distorted by something that looks like water. It's just stupid.
And strange.
And extremely frustrating!
But then what isn't? Stupid dungeon rules are my life now. As such, I will adapt, take advantage and do the very best I can to not go insane. It wouldn't be hard, let me tell you.
Either way, Barry's been smashing this mountain in. That's all that matters and it's why he's a Rockstar. Not those other Golems, they're just rocks. Barry's groupies and wannabes. No one else could tunnel around the entire second floor like he has. Not just a little either, no no no. My Rockstar doesn't do half measures, that's why I called him an ant.
Heading in every direction possible, what else can I say about Barry's tunnels? Oh yeah, they're good enough to cross floor boundaries. That's right. Viewing beyond the walls of my lower floors, the mining expert even has his paths down here. It's mental. No wonder it took Veris a while to find him. I mean, it could have taken a lot longer. Although, from what I can see, his magma bath isnt that far away. Plus, there's almost a dozen tunnels leading to the thing.
How much does he like that bath?
Trying to acquire an extremely-tiny section of a Barry's tunnel, I brace myself for the damage to come. Fortunately, I'm spared from pain of any kind.
With this new revelation, I slowly start acquiring more sections in order to the magna bath. Doing that will make sure he's not cut off from my dungeon at least and it gives me piece of mind. Of you think about it, Barry's base is that maze I've been banging on about. Aslong as he doesn't make any other exits, adventurers that find themselves in there would be on a foolhardy quest.
It's perfect.
I gave up on the idea of hiding the monsters in my dungeon after what Elric said to me. He wasn't going to give me the option of ending the tour at the priests. Any Categoriser that comes here in the future will have to be dealt with one way or another. Then again, everyone has a price. I just need to be able to summon gold.
Either that, or I could try and hide the dungeon? Would that even work? I'll put a pin in that for now. Don't forget future, Me!
With Barry's room complete, I fill his home and passageway with Luminaires and Luminites. This unlocks the fourth evolution for the small-luminescent creatures, which are still tiny even at that tier. They're not made for battles though and they don't even tally up the monster count.
They're just... Light's that squirm around here and there. Little bugs The System made up for shits and giggles. But, at least the fourth tier actually unlocked. Unlike a certain human class that's still stuck on three.
Barry shows his appreciation by performing the dungeon salute, once again leaving both myself and Me speechless. Then then ran off to his magma bath, happy that he didn't get a telling off and is allowed to do as he pleases.
Everyonw else is, to an extent, why not Barry. He deserves it. We wouldn't be where we are now without him. That's for sure.
Beside me, Veris has been waiting patiently all this time. Which is very out of character for her. I don't know what I'm feeling now, but I'm sure this isn't going to be good. She usually doesn't shut up and has an opinion on jus about everything. One that 99% of the time, I wish I hadn't heard. Flags are going off in my head and something must be up.
"What's the matter, Veris?" Trying my best to let on how petrified I am at the sudden change in behaviour, I anticipate a less-than satisfactory response.
"I just wanted to ask if you would spruce up my room a little more, Boss? The futons and tea set are cool, but it's been a while now and I think that I've been very patient." Veris' answer isn't what I was expecting. Sure, I may have forgotten about spending some points far down below where everything happens, but in my defence...
Yeah, I don't have one. Her request isn't even the farfetched ask I thought it would have been. I suppose I should pull my finger out. I am here to spend points anyway.
"You know what? I agree, Veris. You have been very patient. Alright, let's go," with those words, we appear in the almost empty room and I instantly feel like a shoddy boss. Veris' room is practically empty, other than the futons in the middle of the room. They're illuminate by a Lare Light Cluster and other than that... The room has two doors?
I'm not just a shoddy boss. I'm a shitty boss! Honestly, I'm surprised Veris hasn't taken out my Core herself. The neglect she must feel. It's a good job I gave her the Sweets to play with, otherwise gods knows what she'd be doing.
"I'm not going to lie, Veris. I don't think we'll be able to fit a castle in here." One of her requests is most certainly not possible. I could probably build a castle using bricks, but it would definitely not be upto scratch. I was a Rogue, not an architect. Maybe in the future.
"Can't we just make my room bigger at some point?" She must really want that castle. She probably not wrong either. I think there's a good chance we'll get another size increase in the future too. Me even confirms it. What a pro.
"Absolutely. Just not yet. Also, I don't have a castle." Such a shitty boss. Should I tell her wait? Light and Dropper are starting to take the biscuit with what they bring back. If I take them off Syndicate mission...
No. There's no way they'd bring a castle back with them. That's too ridiculous. Even for them.
"In that case, I want a swing." That is a major downgrade from a castle. Where does Veris even get her logic from? If I said no to that, would she ask me to make her Queen? She better not do, I'm the only Queen in this dungeon.
"I can do that. Where shall we put the tree? " There's no way I'm saying no. I don't k ow what will come next. I already feel like running away, but I can't do that to Veris.
"Can it hang from the roof? And instead of a seat, can it have three adjustable leather straps?" She couldn't have asked for that any more innocently. Even though the mischievous smile belays her voice.
"Are you joking? You can't have something like that in the Boss Room!" That's the Veris I know. No wonder she was being so patient and she knew I wouldn't have a castle. But where is she even learning these things?
"Why not, it's just a swing?" Trying her best to act clueless, she throws in a second request. "What about a paddle?"
"Don't play dumb with me girl, I made you. That means you came from me. I'm like the allmother as far as you're concerned. Or in another manner of speaking, I know everything pure thinking. I know what you want that swing for and I'm telling you, it's not going in this room. I also know why you want a paddle and that ain't happening either. If for some reason I do decide to finally accept a feature like that in my dungeon, it definitely won't be here. The Boss Room is not a Pleasure Palace!"
As if my voice carries the weight of the world, Veris' room begins to shake. Four white pillars rise from the ground and banners of purple and blue hang from each. The dungeon insignia and an uncouth picture decorate each. Above the Core Room's door, a large A in neon pink shines brightly.
Why is it just adventising my Core Room? I don't want that.
Different pieces of furniture appear all in blue, but the exquisite couch in the middle of the room is the only one purple. Plants bring the room to life and give off a pleasant atmosphere, the swing I see hanging from pillars doesn't. Just as Veris described, three leather straps that are all adjustable are suspended from two pieces of rope.
Everything in the room looks expensive. Mega expensive. Silk ribbons hang everywhere and incense sticks fill the air. With all that, I'm starting to worry my DP may not have been able to handle it. Not that I confirmed anything. I certainly wouldn't have confirmed this. In fact, I'm pretty damn sure I said no!
Everytime.
Everytime!
Why?
As I'm raging on the inside, my Shadow Walker is looking very pleased with herself on the out.
This is most certainly... Very... Veris.
After checking my status, nothing was taken in the creation of Veris' room. Not a single point. Even though it looks... I wanna say gaudy, but the colour scheme is really doing it.
That I understand, but why? Why is it very Veris? I didn't confirm this, or choose it anyway.
Boss Rooms generally take on the trait of their monsters. When you named it the Pleasure Palace, the name must have resonated with Veris' desires and this is what took form. Hence, very Veris.
Ignoring the swing in all it's glory, Veris heads directly towards the couch. Next to it is a small, white column. On its surface, shining like it's lit by Luminites, a solitary paddle is sat in a case. Her eyes light up as she squeals in glee, snatching the object from its confinement with a huge smile.
I suppose it's too late to do anything about it now, it would crush Veris' heart.
Shit.