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Dungeon Synthesis
Interlude 1 - Academy Report (part 2)

Interlude 1 - Academy Report (part 2)

I approached Nerathul and said, "I have written the full report on paper. Can I leave these with you?"

"No. The Heads of the Dungeon Affairs, Soul Magic and Arcane Principles will be meeting with you directly and after that, I have a Message from the Grounds Management for you. Now do not make the Heads wait." Saying that the receptionist contorted some of its tentacles in weird ways and I found myself in a seat facing the three Heads.

In the Middle was a bright pink fairy with green-yellow butterfly wings and long purple hair. She was wearing a long dress made of shimmering leaves and dark feathers. In front of her was a plaque that read "Arora Borealis | Head of Dungeon Affairs".

" So, you’re the one who made a pact with the anomalous dungeon, huh? Your luck might be phenomenal or catastrophic, who knows? Getting matched with a sapient, highly gifted Rift Dungeon is a jackpot, but waiting two years for it? Not so much. Seems like destiny is playing tricks again." She said looking at me incrudesbly.

Suddenly a raspy echoey voice said, "Arora, enough with the theatrics! This is a serious matter involving someone's soul and a potential Ravenous Soul Devourer on the loose."

I heard the voice come from my right. When I looked over I saw a humanoid torso with its ribcage peaking out. It had three pairs of arms and three skeletal heads of different shapes. The figure was also wearing a long flowing black robe that covered almost all of its body. In front of it was the plaque "Trinoxis | Head of Soul Magic". I immediately understood the figure was a demon of some kind from the hellish aura around it.

" Indeed, let's not delay any further. Young Lily, please take out your report and present it." I heard a telepathic voice say in my mind. Not wanting to offend the important people I immediately pulled out my report and presented it on the table. Then I looked over at the Head to see who it was. At my left was a spherical diamond with a lot of facets floating atop a grey fluffy cushion. In front of it was the plaque "Opal | Head of Arcane Principles"

I also noticed that a bunch of magic circles and arrays lit up on the paper for a couple of seconds and then blinked out. Arora then said, "This is a pretty impressive report for someone with your experience. It’ll help us focus on the major questions! Since I spoke first, I'll take the first question."Suddenly, she turned very serious, "Do you believe the dungeon can create a balanced floor with its current patterns, themes, and class? And will its residual memories cause it to become rabid?"

I was stunned by her sudden mood change and caught off guard. I steadied myself and thought for a moment before answering.

"If it were a normal dungeon, I'd say maybe, but with the Fusion ability, I can confidently say yes. I actually need help with that ability since it's typically found only in late-tier 2 or tier 1 capstone perks. As for the other question, I can't say for sure—no deaths have occurred in the dungeon for it to get a taste." I answered a bit hesitantly.

Then the Head of Soul Magic rose a bit higher and asked with an unnatural calmness, "Now my question. Has the dungeon tried to eat you or expressed any desire to consume or a feeling of hunger?"

This I did not have to think much about and said, "No, quite the opposite. When I first visited looking for a Soul Healer, I sensed an overwhelming fullness from it. It never considered trying to absorb me or anything similar."

Hearing my answer the demon nodded and sank a little. Hearing the clear voice of Opal in my head I turned in its direction. "In your Mana Sense, how did it feel? I'll send a few moments to you via telepathy. Please compare them to the dungeon core."

As it said that, I found three distinct impressions in my mind. First was a man who felt like clean water and wanted nothing more than to get dirty but couldn't do that because of the ethereal barrier around it. Second was a veritable black hole of Affinities, a thing that sucked in concepts and scrubbed them clean. The last was like someone blended every Affinity and made a smoothie with it. After thinking for a while I said, "I'd say his mana felt both similar and different to those impressions. His core was like a pool of pure water with an outer layer acting as a filter. Incoming mana was purified before entering the pool, and when he used his mana, it was like light passing through coloured glass, gaining a hue. Even when using his skills, the filter adjusted to make the mana best suited for the skill."

"Hmm... quite fascinating! A new type of Archmage Seed. I'd like to witness it myself someday, but that time is not near. Does anyone have any more questions?" Opal asked the other heads.

"No. But I will say that when your Dungeon kills a Sapient or a lot of Sentient creatures observe its behaviour for a few hours and if it starts to feel a hunger report it. Now I have more things to do so I will take my leave." Said Trinoxis and puffed into silvery black smoke. When the some settled the demon had disappeared.

"I also have nothing more to say right now so I will be also taking my leave." Saying that Opal vanished in a flash of light. I then noticed that the plaques also turned blank in their absence.

"I have nothing more to ask but I do have something to give. Think of this as an investment in you and your Dungeon." Arora said mysteriously and handed me two elegantly decorated black envelopes and two crystalline chips. "These envelopes are a pair of linked invites to a special System Sanctioned Online Site for System Contractors where you can take commissions from various clients or post commissions. The special thing about this is you can use what the Dungeon makes to fulfil the commissions without having another soul present to stabilise the Dungeon Constructs the System will do it for you. The transportation? The System will handle that. The Silver Invite is for you and the Gold for your Dungeon, though ask him about this before you use your invite because both need to be used within an hour of each other or they will become inert. And another thing is these will pay in System Currency so keep that in mind. Give that chips to the Bank after attuning them so the Bank can handle System Credits through your Account. One is for you and the other the dungeon. Now bye bye!" She said with a smile and a wave. The next moment I found myself in front of the reception.

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I looked down at the table to collect the invites and found nothing. I immediately panicked and started looking everywhere. Then I found my ability answering my question, the envelopes and chips were in my sub-dimensional pocket. How it got there I did not know. I then looked at Nerathul embarrassed and asked what the message was.

Nerathul said, "The Grounds Management has said that your times at the dorms have finished and you should vacate the property before tomorrow."

"What!? Why!?" I asked in a panic.

"The Academy rules dictate that a Graduate will be given 2 years of residence after their graduation. This rule has been changed for you as you did not have any Contracts. So the rule was updated to that 'A Graduate can have residency in the dorm for two years and if the Graduate does not get an System offered contract within that time then the residency will be extended to a time until they can afford housing and other arrangements.'

For you, the housing and arrangments clause was fulfilled by your getting a Familiar Contract with a Dungeon Core. This dictates that the Dungeon will give you a place of residence and take care of your needs. So your residency at the Dorms has been terminated. Please remove all of your belongings from the room before tomorrow or they will become the property of the Academy. Good Night." Saying that Nerathul turned away from me to help someone else at the reception.

I just froze there thinking how I was homeless now. The pact may say that he will provide my needs he can't really do those. Sigh. I slowly float towards the Lift Station, sulking in my thoughts. I started thinking of a way to move my belongings as that much wouldn't fit in my storage. I then remembered about the time Ember moved out of her dorm to the Crafters district.

We had to contact a Cargo Storage Service! I got a ticket to the Trades level and went to the waiting room. After about five minutes the teleportation activated and I was in the Trades floor lobby. I went to the side and opened up my phone to check on the nearby Storage Services. Seeing the pricing on most of them I deflated a little as most Companies charged a lot and most of the affordable Services had closed for tonight but I found one that was open and affordable as it charged based on weight rather than volume. But I also saw that they didn't have an online booking so I had to search for their shop and go to it. At least that was easy with the Pathfinder app.

After some minutes I was in front of a small shop with herbs, woods, minerals, large jugs of liquids and other things on its window. I looked pretty plain and the painted sign above the door read "Koffer's Coffers". I went inside and heard a tinkling chime ring out of the spatial wards set in the room. After entering I was shocked to see a giant fairy wearing a hoodie and jeans manning the counter. He must be at least 1 meter tall!

Hearing the chimes he looked up from his phone to see me. He then sighed and said in a tired tone, "What can I do for you?" Hearing his questions I calmed down a bit and said, "I was looking for a Storage Service and came here after looking at a post online. Do you guys charge according to volume?"

He nodded and said, "Yes we do Storage Service. But we charge according to weight with a maximum of 50 kg and a volume limit of 2 cubic metres. And yes our storage is compatible with certain storage enchantments but we will have to check them first."

I thought if my alchemy equipment weighed more than 40 kilos and remembered that Ember had made them out of a lighter material. I nodded at the giant fairy and said, "Ok, so much does it cost?"

He checked something on his phone and replied, "120 marks per 10 kgs but we also have an offer of 550 marks for 50 kgs." I didn't really know how much I would need so I asked if I could pay after seeing how much my things weigh and he nodded in agreement.

"So do you have cheap expanded storage boxes?" I asked him as I remembered that I didn't have any way to put all of my things in the 2-meter cube. he nodded and checked his phone saying, "What size do you need it to be? We have up to 15 cubic metres at the highest."

After thinking I said, "3 cubic metres will do." He checked his phone again and said, "We have three variants of the box. The cheapest one costs 600 marks and the enchantment will last around one week, the next is 1000 marks and will last two weeks and the last one is permanent and costs 2700 marks." I wince at the prices and decide on the cheapest one even if that enchantment degrades within five days. "So will you be going with me now?"

He then looked at me perplexed and asked, "Why would I do that?" Then his face lit up with understanding and he said, "Oh! I am not the one that will do your job. That would be the owner of this store, Koffer. I am just working here as a storekeeper part-time for some money. And Koffer is out of Gilspire right now, he will be back in about an hour. Give me your Astral ID and the address, Koffer will be going there when he comes back."

I nodded and told him to send the storage box with Koffer as my storage couldn't store spatially tampered objects. He nodded and I went back to my dorm to wait for Koffer.

I had to wait for over two hours before I heard the chime of the doorbell. I opened the door and saw a dark purple cube floating there. "Ya asked for the Storage Service right?" He said in a gruff voice. I nodded and told him to come in. I then showed him what to put away in the box. It took about 30 minutes to put away everything. After all of it was done he asked me, "Where do ya want this put?"

"I have made pact with a Dungeon and will be moving there. I can open a portal to there, I just need to get to a Portal Station for that." I replied. "Oh! How much do my things weigh? I will send over the amount."

"This is yar first Contract eh? Ya should have said sooner! I have a discount for young ones! Ya have to pay just 1000 marks and your things weigh about 45 kg." He said while opening a purple portal. "Now this will lead to the PS near the Academy."

I sent the marks to the store account and gave my home of 6 years a final look before going through the portal. I quickly summoned a portal to the Dungeon.