The world around Ray vanished into darkness. He felt like he was falling for a moment before slamming onto the cold stone floor of the dungeon. No. It wasn’t stone, it was tile. Blinking away the tears from the rough transition, he looked up in time to have the others pile through the portal after him, dogpiling on top of where he had landed.

The heap of Aelvin {RANGER}s, Nyx, himself, and the remaining Goblin who landed on the top of the rapidly sorted themselves out and took stock of their surroundings. They had come out of the portal in what looked like a gift shop of some kind. Ray remembered hearing about the Ellis Island Heritage Shop, even if he had never gone himself.

The gift shop was fully stocked, complete with a humming row of coolers with drinks inside of it. Curious, Ray walked over to the drinks section and tried to open it. To his surprise, the door was sealed shut. Even using all of his strength he couldn’t open it.

“What the hell is up with this? I can’t open it?” he said aloud, both annoyed and confused.

Verrick, however, had an answer for him. “My Lord, everything within the dungeon is locked into place. Unless you receive a reward, get dropped loot, or get floor rewards from chests you cannot take anything. This includes anything that is a part of the… setting.”

“So… what does that mean exactly? Dungeons are themed?” Ray asked, bewildered. This was feeling more and more like those old games that he used to play as a kid.

“That’s exactly what it means,” a voice said, causing the group to immediately circle up and draw their weapons. “Oh stop that, you’re the second group to ever enter here and the first included everyone who is with you now,” said the voice.

Nyx chuffed, “Well maybe if you come out we wouldn’t be so on guard? Dungeons are a place to fight and die in after all.”

Silence met that statement. Ray entirely approved of how Nyx had responded, after all, someone who was so eager to talk yet so hesitant to reveal themselves was an issue.

“I can’t do that. I would be attacked,” the voice replied with somewhat sad undertones.

Thinking the situation over, Ray remembered an incident that had happened prior to the Integration. He had made an oath and luckily gotten out of it. But it had taught him a valuable lesson about how the System worked.

“I swear on the System that if you promise us no harm, do not attack us, and only speak the truth that we will not attack you in return,” Ray said, wincing as the heavy feeling of the oath slammed into him. The System took these seriously, apparently.

Verrick looked at him in surprise as silence permeated the gift shop. With a soft fluttering of wings, a tiny humanoid woman in a dress fluttered out from behind the cash register. The {RANGER}s took a collective breath, staring at the winged woman with an intensity that bordered on fanaticism.

“That oath you took… that is no light thing. You know that, right?” she said stopping a dozen feet away from him. She was close enough to hear him, but far enough away that he couldn’t reach her. “I doubt you would have if you had known what I was.”

Verrick nudged Ray the moment he saw the confused look on his face. “That, My Lord, is a Dungeon Fairy. A very specific, extremely rare breed of Fairy that binds to and works with a dungeon. They act as advisors and defenders and share a measure of the dungeon's power. Older Dungeon Fairies are immense and powerful.”

“But what your friend here is failing to explain is that our death kills the dungeon… but shares with the killer a portion of our accumulated power,” the Dungeon Fairy finished while looking pointedly at the Aelvin.

Ray shrugged, “I don’t care,” he said, causing everyone to look at him in shock. “What? I don’t. I only care about getting to the waterfront and getting back home. This dungeon is great and all, don’t get me wrong. But I have no need or desire to kill anything that doesn’t want to murder or hurt me or mine.”

“You… don’t want to run the dungeon?” the diminutive woman asked, confused.

“Not even close. We only ran in here because we were being chased by a huge group of people that wanted to flay us alive,” Ray confirmed. “If there was any way to get past this place and to the waterfront without fighting through it, I would have taken it in a heartbeat.”

The Dungeon Fairy observed him intensely for several moments before speaking. “Are you willing to make a deal? The dungeon and I certainly are, and we need the help to be honest.”

“Do not My Lord,” Verrick responded immediately. “Dungeons and Dungeon Fairies by extension are tricky breeds. You will always come out behind in any agreement with them.”

The Dungeon Fairy stuck her tongue out at the {RANGER}, who tightened his grip on his bow in response. “Look we both want something. We can make a deal, or you can run the dungeon and either die or get through it and get to your destination. Either way, we win. I was just hoping to… get a decent relationship going with someone who isn’t a complete asshole. Someone who may be willing to take requests in the future?”

“You want a Dungeon Sworn? So soon?” Verrick asked in shock.

She nodded in response. “Yeah. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but this whole planet is full of either undead or creatures that can’t be bargained with. A few have wandered in here and been immediately destroyed. No one else has even come close to this place. No one but the people who are here. We’ve felt quite a few people come close, but no one has entered.”

“Yeah, I don’t think those bandit fuckers are really the dungeon-delving types,” Ray said chuckling. “Alright. It can’t hurt to hear you out at least.”

She did several sips around the group in excitement, “Oh good! This will be good for you too, I promise!” the Dungeon Fairy practically squealed in delight. She settled on top of the cash register as she outlined her proposal.

“See, the dungeon and I have a big issue. We need various items, creatures, and materials to generate as spawns in order to grow and attract delvers. Normally we would have access to a remote area, a network to work with other dungeons, or the System itself. The issue is that there’s nothing around here we can use but basic zombies, and they don’t drop anything but decaying clothes. We don’t have any access to the System Shop either. And we haven’t gotten any response to our messages to other dungeons. We don’t even know if there are any other dungeons yet.”

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Ray nodded. This was making more and more sense. The Fairy and Dungeon weren’t just requesting help… they were asking him and his group to do the leg work that they would have done normally. Essentially the parasitic duo was asking Ray and crew to be their support network.

“Right. So you need items, creatures, materials, and a way to communicate with the outside world. Because for some reason that doesn’t work,” he started to explain, getting a nod from the Dungeon Fairy. “You also need someone to bring delvers here. To run the dungeon so that you can get stronger? Bigger? How does that work anyway?”

Verrick practically spat venom as he simply said, “Dungeons grow powerful off the death of delvers.”

“Both right and wrong,” the Fairy said, catching the {RANGER} off guard. “We grow the fastest off of death. But that isn’t efficient, as if you kill everyone who enters no one will come back. This will limit, and eventually starve to death, the dungeon and its Fairy. Just the act of delving gives us energy. We siphon off you actions, spells, and any used Power during your explorations. We do get a burst of Power through death, but please refer to what I said before. Good dungeons much prefer repeat customers.”

“That… is most unexpected,” admitted Verrick.

Ray shrugged, “So what’s the deal here then? Some kind of System-enforced contract I am assuming?”

“Yup! You bring us those things and we let you through without a fight to the shoreline and docks. Those are all within our territory anyway, so it's easy to do,” the Dungeon Fairy said with a big smile.

“No,” he replied, shutting her down immediately. But he held up a hand to forestall the argument he knew was coming his way. “This is more than a simple give and take, and that is definitely not an equal one. So here is a slightly different idea, and honestly one I am excited to explore. One that is much more in depth, and with further reaching benefits than what you had in mind.”

The Dungeon Dairy blinked, then grinned. “You had us curious…. but now you have our attention.”

“You said the docks are within your territory right?” Ray asked, getting a confirmation nod from the small woman. “I am looking to unify the entirety of this area. I plan on taking this territory too. When I do, let me set up a settlement there, inside the Dungeons territory. That will keep it safe from creatures and will bring people here to delve. We can set up a specific area within the settlement for people to offer things to the dungeon. In return, maybe you can generate NEX or items in trade. A… dungeon shop I guess you could call it. Not only would you get a very wide variety of items, but you would constantly generate the energy you needed to grow and expand due to all the people living within your territory. In return, you would protect the settlement from hostile actions by creatures or by others who don’t have a claim over the territory. This would benefit both of us for far longer, and in far greater ways, than a simple give and take.”

Everyone stared at Ray in shock. Eventually, Nyx said, “Did you just come up with that now? On the spot? Who are you and what have you done with Ray? Verrick, I think he may be a doppelganger.”

The Aelvin began to draw a knife before Nyx quickly dissuaded him that Ray was not, in fact, a monster in disguise. It took several more moments of shocked silence for the Dungeon Fairy to begin giggling. That giggle turned into very un-fairly-like laughter as it grew in tone and depth, causing the dungeon to shake slightly. It took several minutes for the Fairy to compose herself, coming back to their conversation.

“That, Raymond Finnegan, is the oddest suggestion for a partnership I have ever heard of,” she said, wiping away a tear. “This is my fifth dungeon, and I have never in my millennia of life, ever even remotely heard of such a proposal. I can see so many things that can go wrong… but I can see many benefits for my bond and I as well. We have some details to hash out. I have questions that need answered and so will you. But I can see this not only working… but setting a precedent for many dungeons to come. If we can connect back to the network and share what we did that is.”

The group spread out across the gift ship and settled in as they began their negotiations. Ray, Verrick, and Nyx began discussing terms with the Dungeon Fairy, whose name turned out to be Nadia. The terms were far more complex than Ray had initially made them out to be, and there were concerns on both sides. Ray wanted a beachhead for the dungeon, as access to such a place that was willing to work with them would be invaluable. Both NEX and loot drops from dungeon runs would provide them with much-needed income and tools.

The concern was that if the dungeon grew too large, or became too lethal, or even became stingy with the rewards that people would view it as a threat to be eliminated. Should that happen then any agreement that they made with the dungeon and Dungeon Fairy would be worthless. The dungeon would have to provide protection on top of that, making the needs of the proposed settlement and delvers complex at best.

On the other hand, the dungeon, and Nadia by extension, wanted to be both safe and have opportunities to grow and expand. This would both benefit those using the dungeon and the dungeon itself. Nadia wanted promises of safety, protection, and delvers to grow. With the understanding that those who came into the dungeon would be risking their lives and safety for bigger and greater rewards the deeper they went.

Their discussion lasted many hours with Verrick and Nyx weighing in and providing advice and suggestions to Ray and Nadia both. Everyone wanted this relationship to be beneficial to everyone involved, and not weigh too heavily on one side or the other. In the end, however, they reached the apex of their discussions and drew up a System Contract that everyone could agree with.

With a flourish, Nadia brought up a large golden System screen. Something that none of them had ever seen before, Verrick included.

“This, my soon to be partners in survival, is called a System Contract,” Nadia explained proudly. “Usually you don’t get to see these, as they are generated automatically for things like System Oaths, such as the one we both took for non-hostility during our talks. They are unilaterally, and entirely, enforced by the System itself. Nasty things happen to people who break a System Contract.”

Ray looked at Verrick who nodded in confirmation. “Indeed, My Lord. Breaking a System Oath can result in death as one of the more mild consequences.”

If dying was a mild consequence then Ray wasn’t interested in seeing what a worse one would be. He nodded and turned back to the contract in front of him. The terms were, as far as he was considered, fairly straightforward.

It was broken into two sections, the settlement and the dungeon. The settlement would be built within the harbor and surrounding area, not to exceed the area of the dungeon. It would be allowed to expand as the dungeon did and would be protected by the dungeon in conjunction with the residents of the settlement. Nadia, as the dungeon's representative, would sit on the council for the settlement, acting as an advisor.

The second section about the dungeon was a bit more vague, as definable terms were difficult. The dungeon would not prevent anyone of legal age from delving but would actively turn back anyone not of legal age. This age was established as what each race considered an adult. A Goblin adult, after all, was fully matured at four years old. Deaths would be limited to no more than fifteen percent of delvers. If that amount was exceeded then the dungeon would reexamine what was so lethal. The goal was to have repeat delvers, not murdering everyone who entered. Likewise, the rewards would be scaled for the difficulty. That would be important as well, ensuring that there were groups that would come back.

Nodding at the terms, Ray touched the yes button on the contract with a grin. Things had gone well here. New allies, new resources, and new opportunities.

So of course that’s when everything went wrong.