Dinner had been delicious, and the company had been delightful. Claire was fun and easy to talk to. She had made an effort to get to know them, understanding that they were important to George in some way. Because she had been willing to put in that effort, there had been no awkward pauses or lulls in the conversation the entire night.

It had been fun, and easy, a night out between friends who were catching up and having fun.

All too soon, it came to an end, and it was time for them to separate and return home. They had actually stayed out later than they had originally intended, and Nate still had school in the morning.

The days were slowly starting to blend together as a routine formed in his life. The only things that kept it from being utterly forgettable were Angie and Lindsay, and a couple of his classes at school. Most of the rest of it was simply the same old, day in and day out.

His interactions with the dungeons each night were where he found the most satisfaction. However, he also understood that they needed time to do their own thing. Constantly monitoring them was what the Dungeon Cores were for… Specifically the level two upgrade. Apparently, the basic level one was practically worthless.

Still, he found himself enjoying the time he spent designing and changing the dungeons. There was always the constant worry that something might happen to one of the cores, but he had hidden them behind dual false walls for a reason. He didn’t believe that most people would think there was another false wall behind the first false wall. The treasure in front of their eyes would be too distracting.

Still, that is what made this new life of his so fulfilling. He had a couple of friends. He had his parent's back, and he had a purpose in the form of the dungeons and whatever their end goal might be.

Nate said good night to his parents and trudged up the stairs to his bedroom. Even with the nap earlier, it had been a long day, and his body was looking forward to getting some sleep. Honestly, he wouldn’t mind simply turning off his mind as well, except he needed to do some work on the dungeons.

Almost mechanically, yawning the entire time, he stripped down and fell into bed, barely remembering to don his avatar before his head hit the pillow.

Nate found himself standing in the core room of the second dungeon. After over fourteen hours of being out of commission, it had finally started back up again about a half hour earlier.

The only room that was currently active trap-wise was the exit. Which was also a room that had three different traps in it and was something that he had almost considered overkill when he first put it together.

The first trap was enhanced gravity. Yes, it sucked up energy, but it was needed for what came next. The second trap was another frequency room. He had seen how much the blighted elves enjoyed the first one that he had to create a second one. The increased gravity would hold them in place for longer and really let them enjoy the changes in frequency and the effects it had on their bodies.

The final trap in the room was a railgun that launched spikes from the floor. Although that only happened near the actual exit. It wouldn’t be good to cut short the frequency testing too soon.

Pulling up the camera screens, Nate was surprised to see how many blighted elves there were inside the dungeon. They generally appeared in groups of five, every fifteen minutes. Some of them, or rather most of them, had surely managed to escape the dungeon before it turned back on. Yet, there were still a solid fifty of them roaming the halls.

When he looked at the portal room, he understood why. The blighted elves had spent their time wisely and created a map of the entire dungeon.

Thanks to having researched the blighted elves' language earlier, he could also read their notes. He did wonder though, if it only worked through the cameras, or if he would also be able to read it in person. Regardless, he could now read what they had been writing about the dungeon, and little of it was nice.

Just for that, he decided he wasn’t going to let them keep their map. Or rather, he was, but it would no longer be useful. As soon as he got the chance, he would change the layout of the dungeon. A few of the rooms would stay the same, but most would find the corridors swapped around, if nothing else.

Nate hung around the second dungeon for a while longer. Just watching the different groups as they wandered the rooms. Mostly, he watched what was going on at the exit, and the energy expenditure. He had made numerous improvements to the traps, and everything had still gone sideways.

He had changed out the laser LEDs from blue to red, which had been a major energy saving. At least in theory. The issue was they were also less powerful, so they had to operate for longer to make up the difference. The pulsing effect he had implemented also hadn’t done as much as he hoped it would because of the red diode's lower power. If they had still been using blue or even green LEDs, it might have been effective. With red, however, it had simply proven to be a waste.

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The theory had been somewhat valid. He had simply chosen the wrong color to apply it to.

Going through his various improvements, he found several that had been like that. Some would have been far more effective if he had stuck with the more powerful blue diodes. Or simply chosen a reasonable middle-of-the-road green diode, which was decently powerful, but less energy intensive than the blue. Instead, he had gone for the weakest and most inefficient color.

Now, he and the entire dungeon were paying the price.

Nate shook his head despondently. He had been too excited at the prospect of finally playing around with something more advanced than bows and arrows. As a result of that excitement, he had let certain concepts fade from his mind. At least he was thinking clearly for the moment.

He brought up his notes and quickly jotted a few ideas down. As soon as there was more energy in the second dungeon, he would be changing the traps, yet again.

At least the ‘Beginning Laser Tech’ the Dungeon Core was researching would help with that when it finished in the morning.

With that all finished, he took one last semi-annoyed look at the screens and transferred his avatar to the first dungeon.

Aura materialized out of his chest as he pulled up the screens and began looking for cultivators. There were indeed several groups spread throughout the first few rooms. Each of the groups was taking their delve slowly and proceeding at a methodical pace. Unlike many of the cultivator groups who had come before them, they weren’t causing undue damage to the dungeon.

Nate decided to leave them alone for the time being. They would live or die by their own efforts. He wasn’t going to change anything on them that night.

Glancing at the resource counter, he made a note of how much energy the first dungeon had been producing. He finally had enough energy to purchase the Level 3 Dungeon Core upgrade. The issue was, he didn’t have access to the core at the moment. It was hidden behind multiple walls for its own protection.

If he tried to modify anything inside the core room, the entire dungeon would shut down.

That meant he either needed to destroy the walls himself in person or wait until after the dungeon had finished its current countdown. Nate frowned. This thought process felt eerily familiar to him. Almost as though he had already gone through all of these same problems before.

Closing his eyes, he tried to remember how he had done the first Dungeon Core level upgrade. He remembered touching the core… Ah, Nate shook his head in annoyance and made a note so he would remember in the future. Then again, he probably could have also just asked Aura.

He really needed to get better at doing that.

Touching the core hadn’t worked. He had needed to perform the upgrade while on the outside from his bed, using the wrist computer and the ‘Dungeon Interface’.

It was a little embarrassing and annoying that he had forgotten that, but it would be easy enough to do in the morning.

With all of that decided, he closed everything but the camera screens and turned to Aura. “I’m going to get some practice in on the second floor. Would you like to join me? Or are you more interested in watching the cultivators up here at the moment?”

She had mentioned that she was getting tired of killing her people for the moment. She still held a mountains worth a resentment toward them and what they did. But she had worked out a decent portion of her own anger on them as she slaughtered them. The ones she really wanted to get at were still too strong for her and outside her reach.

Aura picked herself up off the floor and stretched, her paws flexing as they scratched against the hard stone. Her claws dug grooves through the uneven material where she had let them out for additional purchase.

“I…” Her head cocked to the side as she thought the question over seriously. “Are you actually asking me, or is there an option you want me to go with?”

Nate groaned internally. Any doubt he might have had that she was indeed a female fox, had fled with that one question. “Only a woman would ask that question.” He replied irritably. “I’m just trying to figure out how much room I’ll have to practice everything, that is all. With you there, I’ll naturally have more. But I also know you were getting tired of fighting your people, so I’m not going to force you to go with me or anything. I mean honestly Aura. Have I even forced you to do anything at this point?”

“You’re right, sorry. I’m just on edge. I do want to fight my people, but right now it is because of the relatively easy access to cultivation energy the dungeon provides. It was when I realized why I was fighting them that I became sick of it all. I had lost sight of my revenge in the pursuit of personal strength, and it has only been a few days. What will I be like in a month, a year, or longer?”

It was the most vulnerable he had heard her telepathic communications since their initial conversations. This was something that was really bothering her.

He didn’t want to take her problem lightly, yet at the same time, he didn’t have a good answer for her. Maybe that would have to be good enough. The knowledge that he was willing to stand beside her and work through the issue together with her instead of simply leaving her alone. He knew that would help him if he was losing himself.

This was the sort of decision that she needed to make for herself, and he let her know that. Nate gave her his thoughts on the matter, but that was the extent of what he would do at the moment. Until she asked for more help, he would respect the distance.

He left her in the core room while he made his way to the portal and the second floor. His energy skills and kukris weren’t going to practice themselves. As interesting as that would be, he needed to put in the effort to get better with them. Especially his energy skills. He was trying to get those to the point where they could evolve. Which meant constant use, and in interesting and inventive ways as well.

He had already started using basic ties and point break semi-regularly while out on the expedition. Unfortunately, or rather fortunately, he had only had a single opportunity to use basic healing when one of the regulars had fallen from the top of their trailer. A sprained wrist wasn’t much, but it had been practice, nevertheless.

Now he just had to keep the momentum of the other skills going while he was inside the dungeon.