Duke TELEPORTED the four of them to the surface, thankful that his Ability had upgraded to allow for multiple people to be included. The first thing Duke noted was that it was nighttime. The sky was darkened but the light of countless stars and three moons made it brighter than Duke was used to on Earth. He glanced at the countdown timer in his HUD, noting that he had a bit more than eight minutes before everyone came spilling out of the dungeon core he was still holding in his hand, trying not to think too much about its pulsating warmth.
“We only have a few minutes to find a place to set up base. Any other quick suggestions?” Duke asked as he pulled out Baslin’s map and the Gem of Radiance. All gathered around the map, thankfully not all speaking at once.
“The site of my tower is actually a good area, but we have no idea if the army is still there or if someone is monitoring the location.” Baslin declared.
“You already mentioned that. You really want to go back to the site of your prison?” Elaine asked, concern full in her voice.
“Good point. Other suggestions.” Baslin responded with more than a little emotion.
Duke felt a pulse of thought from the dungeon core which caused him to shift his thoughts as he searched the map for a location. He pointed to a spot deeper in the forest. “There. That’s the spot.”
“Why there? There’s nothing but trees and a lake there.” Grat asked.
“This is the Lake Front Dungeon. It is probably a good idea to set it up next to a lake.” Duke responded, having decided to keep the thought pulse to himself. He could feel a sense of satisfaction coming from the dungeon core. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the connection but that was a thought for later. Now was the time for action.
“Everybody ready? I’ve been to this lake before so I should have no problems getting us there now.” Duke prepared his Ability as Elaine glared at him.
“You had to say it, didn’t you?” Elaine bit at him.
Duke winced, shrugged, and activated TELEPORTATION. The cave entrance disappeared and all four of them appeared at the lake. Safe and unharmed.
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None of them noticed the creature that had been clinging to the roof of the cave entrance and observing them. It dropped to the ground and carefully made its way back into the caverns. Its mission and goals unknowable by those who failed to observe it.
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Duke’s timer was down under seven minutes and ticking away. “We need to find a good spot for everyone to come out and then we have to figure all kinds of other shit out like what the fuck are we going to do with thirty fucking thousand people!”
“You’d need a whole city to house that many people.” Grat franticly looked around for something. Nobody else was quite sure what he was looking for.
Duke concentrated, felling like he was missing something. He felt another pulse of emotion from his hand, from the dungeon core. It was a pulse of anticipation, of need. Duke paused in thought as a remembered thought brushed the back of his mind. It was just out of his reach, and he mentally grasped at it.
“Thirty thousand people. Baslin, you had better not have been joking about being able to feed an army because that’s what we’re going to need.” Elaine stared at Baslin pointedly. “Got any spells that can make an instant city in the middle of a forest? No? I didn’t think so.”
Baslin looked back in all seriousness. “I can feed that many, but I cannot house them. At least not quickly. I can raise buildings from the earth but not nearly that many in a short time.”
Duke nearly gave up reaching for the thought when another voice, Sam’s voice invaded his mind. “Duke, plant the dungeon here. I can help.”
Duke noticed the timer down to four minutes and didn’t hesitate. He touched the dungeon core to the ground. A message forced its way into his view.
*** You have placed the dungeon core for the Lake Front Dungeon in an ideal position at the shore of a pristine lake. Do you wish to plant this dungeon here? WARNING: The dungeon core cannot be moved for one full year without causing damage to the core itself after it is planted. ***
“Fuck it.” Duke clicked on yes and stepped back. He, and the rest of his party were thrown backwards, off the lakeshore and into the treeline. It wasn’t as much a violent push as they were picked up and placed there, unable to resist the motion.
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From the shore of the lake, a crimson glow rose up from the dungeon core. In a matter of moments a large wooden building erected itself out of nothing. It was perhaps 50 meters by 25 meters wide and a full four stories. There were windows space regularly and glowing lanterns framed a heavy wooden door. A sign hung above the door swinging in the wind that's simply said Lake Front Inn. The building was completely out of place in the setting, but it would have fit perfectly in any large city.
All eyes turned to Duke and he smiled sheepishly in return. “What?”
“What in the Seven do you mean what?” Elaine asked, exasperated. “It’s no city, but that’s…that’s something.”
Duke didn’t respond as he barely touched the ground in his sprint to be the first one inside. He needn’t have rushed as the others spent a moment staring at each other incredulously before following him in. He threw open the door and rushed into the large common room of a cheerfully lit inn. There was a large fireplace glowing with a warm fire on the side of the room and dozens of sturdy wooden tables were set about like one would expect.
A bar ran along nearly the entire short wall to the right of the entrance with stools lined up along its length. Overhead, there were numerous lanterns hanging from the ceiling providing adequate lighting. Behind the bar was a minotaur. He was small for his race, standing a mere meter and a third tall. His fur was stark white and his eyes a pinkish red. His ivory horns were inscribed with intricate crimson runes of unknown origin that glowed in the subdued light of the room.
The minotaur looked up to Duke, putting down the mug he was polishing with a white cloth and smiling in his direction. “Welcome to the Lake Front Inn. Can I get you a drink, a table, a room, or perhaps something else?”
Duke smiled back and sidled up to the bar. “Good evening, I’m Duke and-” He paused as the rest of the crew entered cautiously. “That’s Elaine, Grat, and Baslin. We’re all together so I guess we’ll take a table. Quick question though.” The barkeep gave him a nod to continue. “What does it cost for a room and how many rooms do you have available?”
“Greetings and welcome to you all. Choose any table you like, and I’ll have one of the girls come take your orders. As for your other questions, well, this is where it gets fun for me. The rooms are free of charge, and we have as many as you could possibly need. Drinks range from a copper to a silver if you want something truly special and meals are two copper each. Isn’t that right, Sam?”
“Yes, Calen, that is quite right. No charge for rooms. The owner makes enough from the drinks and meals that he doesn’t need to charge for rooms.” Sam smiled at the four companions. His smile was bright and he appeared to be quite complete.” He waved at the barkeep and the minotaur froze in place. “Thank you all for your help in getting me here and, Duke, a special thank you for placing me in such an ideal spot. This location fits my nature perfectly.”
Duke felt a flash of panic as his countdown timer ticked down to the final seconds. Sam held up a hand to forestall Duke’s panic. “Don’t fret, Duke, all your new friends will be getting their own rooms here at the Inn. It will be a few days before I can…Ulp, here they are now.”
A wave of energy passed through the Inn, causing the lanterns to flicker momentarily before things returned to normal. “As I was saying,” Sam continued, “Everyone who wants a room gets a room at the Lake Front Inn. It will be a day or two before we can offer other amenities such as a, say, training level.”
Baslin marveled at the construction around him. “I can sense the Mana infusing this place. We are in the dungeon. Remarkable.”
“You are indeed. This is truly my favorite layout for a level and with so many guests, my Mana reserves will fill up quickly. Even faster once everyone gets a few levels, so get on that as soon as possible, yes?”
Sam turned as if to leave but paused, walking over to Duke. “Do lean down for me a moment, will you?” Duke acquiesced, leaning closer to Sam. Sam grabbed him by the sides of the head and kissed Duke on the forehead faster than Duke could react which stunned him to no end.
“What the-“ Duke sputtered but was interrupted by a system message:
*** You have been blessed by the Overmind. You have been granted a new title: Planetary Dungeon Master. This title grants you the Dungeon Master Subclass. ERROR! No primary Class detected. Assigning primary Class of Dungeon Master. ERROR! Unable to assign Class. Title being modified. ***
Duke felt an extreme wave of exhaustion wash over him combined with a splitting headache. He staggered, barely holding himself up against a support column as his vision blurred crazily.
Elaine erupted into her bear form, sending chairs and tables flying away from her bulk. Grat and Baslin both began casting but Duke managed to interrupt them as he croaked out, “Hold your fire. Not his fault.” He took a stumbling step towards the back stairs, gaining a bit of his equilibrium back. “I need a room and right now. I need to rest before my head explodes.”
In an instant, the barkeep was holding Duke up and helping him towards the stairs. Despite his small form, he was extraordinarily strong. “Don’t anyone worry. I’ve got him. I’ll get him to his room.”
“And what room is that?” Elaine asked, back in human form and leading the rest of the group to follow Duke up the stairs.
“Oh, he has the master suite on the fourth floor. You all have rooms on the VIP floor.”
By the time they hit the stairs, Duke was able to walk on his own and his vision had become clear enough to see again. It didn’t have the clarity that his high Intuition had gotten him accustomed to, but it was a definitive improvement. He stumbled through his room’s door and was guided to the bedroom. He did not notice much before he collapsed on the bed and passed out.
After a few minutes of discussion, the rest of the team went off to their rooms to sleep as well. The next few days were going to be very full, and sleep was a priority for now after all their time in the dungeon. Grat pointed out how ironic that was to the rest of the group’s amusement. Regardless, they went off to their respective rooms to crash for the night.
Grat set some seeds around his and Elaine’s room to act as early-warning and traps for anyone who came into their room while they eventually slept. Baslin set out traps in his room as well. Paranoia was starting to creep into their daily activities but being safe for now was high on their survival lists.