“That… is a lot of information. Are you feeling okay Thing? You seem a bit ripple-y,” he feels a spike of danger from both his scions just as Thing uses their spray to blow him into the air where Gnat catches him and flies in the opposite direction as Thing takes off running. He feels nothing but confusion as the sense of danger from both his scions stays high, even as a wave of relief washes over them as well.

“What’s going-“ but before he can even finish asking the question there is a wave of heat and blindness that washes over Thing and then they die. Through Gnat and her swarm, he heard a loud clack as they saw a brief plume of flame and smoke in the direction that Thing fled.

Even as he feels the notification about respawning Thing, he is overcome with a sense of dread and indignation that seems to want to war with it. As he’s working himself up to speak to Gnat once more there is a loud screeching caw followed by a voice filled with the hiss and pops of a blazing fire.

“{Dungeon! Hear me! This is MY Lair! The contract means I cannot kill you nor weaken you overmuch. But heed my word, if you try to release one of those Organ Spiders into MY TERRITORY. I will burn this mountain to ash before I concede it to some upstart dungeon puppet!}”

He feels a ping try and pull his attention away from this declaration and his growing fury, but he shouts back, “You damned overbaked turkey, you killed Thing! You already owe me for weakening me, they were my only real defense, and you just killed them!”

Again, he feels a chime of some sort trying to draw his focus away from the now visible firebird as it walks the forest floor towards where Gnat has hidden him, even as she places herself between them, insignificant though her presence may be.

The phoenix flares out his wings in a majestic and awe-inspiring way, but it only serves to stoke the dungeon’s rage further, “{Then shall we perhaps make a deal? I will permit you to have Thing as the only one of its kind in your dungeon, and as recompense I shall allow you to attempt to Assimilate Territory upon my resplendent form.}”

The ringing in his head has reached a near fever pitch but he continues to push it aside and rebuts, “For it to be proper recompense, Thing will be the one given the attempt!”

“{So says Aurora Hephaestus, so mote it be,}” and with a single flap of his wings, the phoenix flies off. A last echoing phrase like thunder as he departs, “{I look forward to working with you, little dungeon.}”

The pressure from before having eased with their agreement, the dungeon focuses on trying to figure out how to pour his Mako into bringing back Thing as soon as possible. Though his stumbling about isn’t able to consume his whole focus anymore, as nothing much can take all of it ever since Gnat’s eyes first opened.

So, as he feels Gnat’s relief at the encounter with the flying heat being over and resolved at least somewhat peaceably, he calms. He lets his attention shift over to whatever was trying to wrench it from him earlier, as his fumbling with trying to direct his Mako consciously seems to be ineffective.

Your Patron has violated their {Contract} of non-interference. You are entitled to a {Boon} in compensation.

Your Patron has initiated the forming of a new {Contract}; as a Dungeon Core you are entitled to system assistance to ensure your mission isn’t impaired.

Your Patron has agreed to your terms: Thing will be allowed to attempt to Assimilate Territory upon Aurora Hephaestus and |Disease Dungeon, Thermal Spring Mountain| will not be permitted to spawn any creatures of its type aside from Thing. The {Contract} is valid and complete.

#Boon applied to {Contract}. No time or attempt limit nor failure conditions set forth by Patron, each extended indefinitely to the exclusion of the loss of their independence.

#Here’s Authority watching out for you. Strongly suggest you not push away notifications for {Contract} assistance in the future. Also, if you consider your scions to be your strength, you could try flexing the right muscle.

He still feels exhausted after the run-in with Aurora Hephaestus and the taxing mental call… “Oh shit. Mental Resistance says: regardless of source. That can be both good and very, very bad. Also, I guess being more resistant doesn’t mean I get improved recovery because I’m still beat.”

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Chapter A. Coincidence or Serendipity? ~A Band of Adventurers.

Sigh. This was supposed to be a simple mission, something routine. Just go to the |Thermal Spring Mountain|, make an offering for safe passage to the Lord, and collect some fire-aspect flora for Ruby. Then, just head back to the guild.

Welp, wouldn’t you know it, that last step is giving us some trouble. About a week ago, I noticed the signs that something was disturbing the Lair, but our {Contract} didn’t waver in the slightest, so I just kept an eye out. I should have mentioned something right away, but it didn’t seem that important.

Of course, that was before I first saw a damned {Mako Bear} that seems to be foraging in this area. That was a terrifying creature to encounter. Even with all of us working together, we basically could only really drive it off and try keeping ourselves alive. Those things are a menace, made worse by their seeming indifference to forming an actual Lair and thus having a noticeable territory to avoid or quest towards.

More upsetting than that though was later that night, when Garn and Alex woke us all during their watch because of the massive firestorm going off in the distance, lighting up the night sky. Ruby, Bond and I could all sense in our own ways the massive cataclysm of power being unleashed. All five of us were very grateful that the battle was taking place far away from ourselves, and also after we had completed our harvest.

Even as routine as it may have been with Ruby still needing those plants to keep advancing, if we’d seen anything like either of those events before we’d retrieved them... I’m pretty sure none of us would have argued with Alex for calling off the mission to report back to the guild. As it were, we just have some more intel to report.

What I thought would be the highlight of the trip happened that night as well, when our {Contract} dimmed for a moment, like it was about to break. But then it flashed back into full intensity at the same time there was a truly gargantuan explosion at the fight. It wasn’t long after that when Bond and Ruby said that there was another massive movement of Mana and fire.

I gave it the caution that was warranted, but we couldn’t stay put if there was a forest fire set to ravage the area. The woods themselves might be fine as part of a phoenix’s Lair, but guarding against such an event, especially when our two mages haven’t really recovered from the strain of just shooing away that beast. It was untenable, so I did my duty and scouted.

When I got out there, the woods were already recovering even as smoke continued to pour off of them. It looks like the fires were recalled, rather than allowed to spread further. It’s what I expected with the lack of light, but mostly I was ensuring that the Mako Bear was either dead or at least chased off in a different direction, and it was. The path of broken limbs and burned forest clearly pushes it away from us, protecting us whether by luck or design.

After I get back and relay my observations, Alex leads us in a ritual of thanks. Always better to give respect to the Lair’s Lord than to slight them. The protection of a contract is far from absolute.

So, it was to my supreme frustration to be awoken a second time that night during Ruby and Bond’s watch. Most notably by Ruby’s shrieking, “Whatthefuckisthat- THING!?!” Before she then set the whole campsite on fire.

Sadly, this wasn’t the first time she’d done something like that, so all our current supplies were either fire resistant, or in {Inventory}. Apparently, according to her kill log, the ‘thing’ she killed was called a {Organ Spider}. Something I’ve never heard of before, which is quite strange as I’ve been adventuring in these lands for a long while. Keeping myself informed about the various beasties is something that keeps my focus and diligence. So, I guess I’ll just have to pay out for an archivist to tell me the details when we get back to the guild.

Yet another hurdle we ran into while breaking camp the next morning was that Bond came down with a wicked illness. Alex did her best to Cure it, but only seemed to be able to really treat the symptoms. I’d expect that some of the rest of us would get at least a bit sick on the way back, since Bond never really recovered in full, but I partially suspect he’s been drawing in whatever affliction he’s got from the rest of us. Which, honestly, with as much as its impairing him and his Mana Core, I wouldn’t want to see what it could do to Ruby. Especially if Alex’s cleansing can’t get rid of it.

Though, once we crossed the Lair’s boundary, his symptoms seemed to ease considerably. He insists there was something particularly strange about our path on the way back, that something had changed. And while I believe him, with nothing to show for it, we can only put it in the report. Though perhaps I should learn from him too. He mentioned that the Lair crossing was unusual when we first went in, bringing it to the group’s attention even if there wasn’t really a choice to be made about it then.

Still, we’re almost back to the guild, and Bond no longer needs to be carried, even if he’s got a wicked cough on occasion. Though I’ve noticed and told Alex that it seems worse after he channels a big spell for us. She said that unless it disables him like it was before, we can’t really stop him from fighting alongside us. Pushing our boundaries and putting ourselves in danger is the point of this job after all.

I just hope he knows his limits better than my wife. Breaking yourself trying to save others can be a noble thing, but if he gets himself maimed being stupid, he’s going to really draw my ire.