Abby and Owyn walked together, outside Setterton. Their wanderings had brought them to the worn footpath leading to the Setterton cave systems, where the dungeons lay. Although they’d been granted permission by Franz to use the church’s belongings if they decided to stand guard for the night, neither of them really felt sure that it was the right thing to do.

Owyn just decided to take a seat next to the road, far out of sight of the caves. He leaned back against a tree and closed his eyes.

“I feel bad.” Abby started.

“Grant’s dead. I’d be worried if you didn’t.”

“Is he really though?” Abby argued. “That’s why I feel bad. Barry had to deal with Mr. and Ms. Vernant, and news like that isn’t easy to break. Especially since Grant’s technically… You know.”

“Alive?”

“Walking.” Abby said instead. “And talking. They could say goodbye if they really want to, and by not telling them, we’re taking away that option.”

“I see it like we’re letting them put their minds at ease.” Owyn said. “If they knew that Grant was an undead, they’d probably feel a lot worse than just accepting that he’s dead. The Vernant are from Swift Brook, and that means they were probably religious. Whether or not they actually are doesn’t matter. What matters is that they’ve heard the doctrines, scriptures, whatever they’re called. They were taught that to be enthralled is to lose everything that you were as a person. Being enthralled means losing everything that made you human in the first place, stripped bare of your free will. A literal hell on earth.”

Abby couldn’t take her eyes off the ground. She decided that she couldn’t stand any more either, and took a seat against a neighboring tree.

“But I think Lucid’s different.” Owyn murmured.

Abby nodded. “I think that’s plenty obvious.”

“Is there such a thing as a good dungeon?” Owyn pondered aloud.

“Lucid’s killed people.” Abby said. “He killed Faux.”

Owyn frowned. “Assuming we believe him, it was in self defense.”

“It’s not something that’s easy to forgive.” Abby said. She tucked in her knees. “Or punish in a meaningful way really. Does the law even apply to dungeons?”

“No, it does not.” Owyn picked up a weed, rolling it in his fingers. “Nor do I think we should forgive him. But at this point, there’s not a lot we can do about it.”

“So what? We just give up?”

Owyn shrugged. “I didn’t say that. I’m saying we should accept the fact that, for the time being, Lucid is here to stay. And maybe we should take advantage of that.”

Abby rested her head on her knees, watching Owyn play with the weed. She considered his words for a while, trying to decipher how she felt about everything. How Owyn felt about everything. He wasn’t one to mince words. As far as she knew, he always meant what he said. It’s why she could trust him when he promised to never let himself become enthralled.

Abby’s gaze fell serious. She looked out over the road as she spoke. “How can we take advantage of Lucid without hurting anyone else?”

Owyn smirked mirthfully. “That’s the right kind of question.”

They heard a rustle of grass behind them. Both adventurers turned around to see the Baroness making her way down the beaten footpath. Owyn’s expression hardened, worried that they were overheard. The Baroness regarded his expression impassively, stopping just before the duo.

She stood quietly for a second.

“Lucid requests your presence.” She said at last. “He has questions about how a dungeon functions.”

Owyn was almost sure that was the entire message. He opened his mouth to reply, but was quickly stopped by the Baroness with a gesture.

“As a thrall, I’ll tell you that Lucid fully intends to take advantage of you as well. I do not see him losing, and so I wish for you to interact with him as much as possible. But as a Baroness, I can only ask that you keep your word. Protect Setterton and its people.”

Owyn shut his mouth and nodded. Abby stood with him, silently bidding the Baroness farewell. However, she hesitated only a few steps down the road. She glanced over her shoulder at the two adventurers.

“If Lucid ever offers, I do recommend becoming enthralled.”

Owyn bristled. “What happened to protecting Setterton and its people?”

“They can be protected by Lucid.” The Baroness said.

“And your daughter?”

The Baroness’ gaze drifted slightly. With a deep breath, she turned back to the road, head held high. “Her freedom is equally as important as her safety. It’s as Lucid said. The only value we put in lives are the values we instill in them ourselves.”

She walked away, seemingly with a faint smile on her lips.

Abby did not appreciate the implication that their lives were valued less than the Baroness’ daughter. But it wasn’t like she didn’t understand.

“Come on. Let’s go.” Abby led Owyn down the beaten path.

“You don’t want to go back for your shield?” Owyn asks. They left their items back in town.

Abby blushed, marching back past Owyn with her eyes glued to the ground.

----------------------------------------

Abby and Owyn walk into Lucid’s dungeon. It hadn’t expanded since this morning, which while technically a good thing, didn’t really soothe Abby or Owyn’s worries. This amount of expansion was unprecedented. Perhaps it should be expected, with the amount of people Lucid’s killed, but it wasn’t like Abby or Owyn had experienced a dungeon this dangerous before.

And now here they were, willingly walking into the dungeon without backup, despite knowing the risks.

Trust was stupid. Bargains were better.

At least, that’s what Owyn believed. Their lives would be theoretically safe so long as they provided Lucid enough value, he said so himself. So this first dialogue with Lucid would probably be the most important, since it would determine what Lucid valued. Once Owyn knew that, they’d be able to properly bargain, only furthering their safety.

“Lucid!” Owyn called. “We’re here! What do you want!?”

Abby and Owyn waited for a response. After having the blue square show up so many times, it was almost disappointing to not see it again. Still, Owyn wasn’t going to let that bring him down. If Lucid really did want information, he was going to wring an equal amount out of Lucid, if not more.

“Hello!” Called Grant’s voice from deeper in. “Come on in, he says!”

Abby and Owyn looked to each other for comfort before walking deeper into the dungeon. As they walked through the few empty corridors leading to the core room, sounds of dozens of small creatures sounded behind them. Abby took up a defensive position in front of Owyn, but neither of them really believed that they would come to harm here. Sure enough, an entourage of mice, rats, and snakes ran past them, heading towards the core room. A slightly larger than normal mouse led the charge, running on four legs while an extra torso protruded from where its head would normally be. It looked like two mice stuck together, with the upper body carrying two halves of a dungeon core.

Abby and Owyn waited for them to pass before following after them at a walk. They were in no rush.

“Lucid’s going to put us out of the job.” Abby mentioned.

“We can bargain for the cores.” Owyn rationalized. “That will be our price.”

Grant came running in from the next room. He grinned at the sight of Owyn. “Hey guys! Lucid says he’ll pay you one full dungeon core for your time today. It shouldn’t be more than an hour or so.”

“Three cores.” Owyn said. “Per hour.”

Grant pouted, listening to Lucid. “No deal. His armies don’t produce that much. He’d be operating at a loss.”

“Really?” Abby asked. “Because we can clear a whole branch of the caves in eight hours and get about… uh Owyn? What’s our average?”

“Fifteen cores.” He said. “We’ll settle for two cores an hour.”

Grant listened to Lucid more, leading Abby and Owyn into the core room. “He says that two cores an hour is still more than your average, and says that you’ll be learning stuff at the same time he is. So the deal is one core an hour, plus he answers your questions honestly. In exchange, you answer his questions, and also provide information where you deem it useful to him.”

Owyn raised an eyebrow, doing the math in his head. While he didn’t know the exact number down to the decimal, it was true that two cores an hour would be more than their average. Was Lucid smart, or was he using the Baroness’ skills?

Owyn shook his head. Why didn’t he just ask? “Deal. Did you ask the Baroness to help you with that math?”

“Nope!” Grant says cheerily, still leading them deeper into the core room. Rab and Mimi awaited them at the end, half sitting in the water. “Lucid’s very smart! He even showed me how he figured it out!”

“Oh? And how did he do that.”

“Well he said that two times eight is sixteen. And you guys make fifteen cores in eight hours, not sixteen! So two is more than your average! And did you know that the Baroness isn’t actually named the Baroness? Lucid calls her Felecia!”

“That’s her name Grant.” Abby says patiently.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Owyn eyes up Rab, who still had Barry’s sword stuck in his shell. “Did you bring us here to ask us about mimic crabs or something? Or do you just want Barry’s sword out?”

Grant looked up at the sword, somehow surprised to see that it was still there. “I’ll get it!”

The young teenager fearlessly used Rab’s offered claw as a ramp to climb up to his face. He gripped the handle and heaved, easily yanking the sword out.

“Hey, since Barry took my sword, can I keep his?”

“No.” Abby said. “That still belongs to him.”

“Lucid says I can keep it!” Grant beams. “Oh, but he’s warning me to stay on topic. He wants to ask how long it takes mimic crab eggs to hatch.”

Owyn perked up immediately, taking quick glances between the reanimated Mimi and Rab. Deciding that since Rab was alive, and would therefore have the eggs, he went up to the giant crab. “Can I see?!”

Grant giggled. “Wrong one!”

Mimi rose slightly out of the water, lifting the rear end of her crab body. Beneath it lay a mat of eggs, clinging to her underside. A large majority of the eggs were black and lifeless, but a not insignificant amount still seemed perfectly healthy.

“Oooo!” Owyn cooed at the sight of them wiggling. Mimi dipped her shell back in the water.

Owyn smiled, not quite willing to take his eyes off the sight. “Like plants, eggs and small creatures, like insects, mature faster within a dungeon. Their growth depends on the flow of mana within the particular dungeon. The more a dungeon uses its mana, the faster they grow.”

“Cool!” Grant shouted. He crowded around Owyn, trying his best to share the sight of the eggs under the water. “Is there a limit? Do all things grow faster in dungeons!?”

“No.” Owyn chuckled, breaking away first. Rab seemed to be getting agitated at his proximity to Mimi. “Just small things that dungeons can’t enthrall. Once they’re large enough to enthrall, they’ll stop their accelerated growth. There’s a few birds and insects that take advantage of this. They have more eggs than normal inside a dungeon in order to compensate for the fact that some of their young don’t make it out alive.”

“Will they belong to the dungeon once they’re old enough?” Grant asks.

“Not automatically. The dungeon still has to enthrall them. My turn Lucid. Is it easier to enthrall smaller creatures?”

Grant listens to Lucid. “Size doesn’t seem to matter. It’s entirely dependent on will, and evolved creatures seem to have more will than regular ones. If a creature is willing to submit to him, it’s easier to command them.”

Well that was interesting. “I thought so, but the willingness part is news to me. What if a creature is unwilling? Are they still easy to control?”

“Lucid says there’s a difference between commanding and controlling. For instance look at… me!? He’s commanding me. Not controlling me right now. I have a right to refuse, but he can overwrite that if he wants to. Really? How do you know?”

Grants arms shot in the air. Grant yelped in surprise and strained his muscles to bring them down. He even tried lifting his feet to pull them down, but all that did was land him on his ass. Abby stifled a giggle.

“Oh. That’s the difference.” Grant said from the floor. His arms lowered, seemingly released from Lucid’s direct control. “He says I could technically still refuse that, but I’m not strong enough.”

Owyn nodded. “But you won’t fight it… will you.”

“No?” Grant said without hesitation. “Lucid’s cool! Why would I want to?”

And there it was. The loss of free will. Owyn debated if he shouldn’t seriously consider killing Grant again, just to release him from Lucid’s control.

Grant listened to the air with one ear as he spoke. “Lucid wants to know whether or not you like Abby.”

“What!?” Abby shouted, reeling back.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Owyn asked, much more calmly than he thought he would.

“He’s just wondering if you decided that, or if your body decided that for you. Like, instinct.”

Owyn squinted at Grant, not quite understanding.

“Lucid says it’s in your species interest if you are attracted to girls. Likewise, it’s in Lucid’s interest for his thralls to like him. He’s not forcing me to like him. I just do.”

“It’s a survival thing.” Owyn translated.

Grant listened to Lucid. “Yes, we do know what evolution is. Oh wait, you mean natural evolution? Uh… yeah? Right Owyn?”

Owyn nodded absently. “Dungeon evolution and natural evolution are both real. We know about them. The question is, why do you?”

“Hey, yeah!” Grant accused. “How do you know?”

Grant listened to Lucid for a while. “He’s asking if he he can spend mana on anything or if he needs to be spending it in close proximity to the eggs in order to help them.”

Owyn’s eyebrow twitched. “Don’t avoid the question.”

Grant listened to Lucid. A smile slowly grew on his face before he broke into giggles. “Lucid says he doesn’t know why he knows what he knows. Just that he does.”

“That doesn’t sound very funny.” Abby pouted. She was probably looking forward to hearing the joke.

“Lucid was acting scary, saying he’s a dungeon and he can do what he wants! But he didn’t mean it.”

Owyn eyed Rab, who was patiently watching them with his one eye. Owyn believed Grant when he said Lucid was acting, because if he really wanted to threaten them, he’d use Rab.

Some sounds came from the exit, and the group turned to watch another group of critters run in. They were led by a snake with bat wings sprouting out of its head. The wings didn’t seem particularly powerful, and aside from being a little larger than normal, it was just a regular snake. The critters ran to the waters edge in front of the core’s pedestal and waited while the evolved snake dipped into the water. It crossed to the other side and wound its way up the stone, dropping off a large chunk of a core next to Lucid’s amber sphere.

“Why are you collecting the cores?” Abby asked.

“You’re much better off using them right away.” Owyn couldn’t understand why Lucid would want to save them.

Grant listened to the air. “He’s waiting until he knows what will be the most effective use of them.”

Owyn tensed. When dungeons needed to judge effectiveness, that meant they were planning an invasion.

Grant continued. “Depths has a boss monster, and he thinks that it’s more powerful than the other dungeons in the lower caves because they’re not taking advantage of its absence. Either that or he can’t see the monster, but he doubts that.”

“Depths?” Owyn asked.

Grant's demeanor quickly changed. It was clear that he wasn’t speaking for Lucid anymore. “Oh man, Owyn, you’re going to love this! The dungeon at the cliff? Yeah, it’s like one of nine about that size! And they’re all competing for space down in the deeper caves! Wanna see!?”

“Is it safe?” Abby asked.

“Sure!” Grant grinned, flexing his arm. “I’ll protect you! Don’t worry!”

Grant began leading them back through Lucid’s dungeon. Owyn paused in the next room over to appreciate the moss growing within. Insect life teemed here, seemingly growing without restraint. It looked like Lucid was becoming more and more like a true dungeon. Owyn would comment on it, but Grant was too busy explaining the situation at the end of the dungeon as best he could with excited tones. Owyn shared a little in his enthusiasm, but he also knew better than to be excited about the potentially life threatening situation.

Dungeons grew underground, and left unchecked they could become potentially really dangerous. The Setterton caves were once home to a singular dungeon that had since been cleared out, about six years ago. With the large core removed, and the threat basically eliminated, young Abby and Owyn were free to claim responsibility for maintaining the shallow caves, keeping them free from growing dungeons and getting paid in the process. However, that meant the lower dungeons could grow with impunity.

Abby and Owyn knew this getting into the job. Once the lower dungeons grew too big, it would be their job to inform the, at the time Baron Bellamy, who was in charge. Baron Bellamy would then take charge, request reinforcements, and otherwise deal with the situation that Abby and Owyn couldn’t handle alone. Of course now, that duty had fallen to the Baroness, but that was another story with the situation being as it is now.

Owyn informed Lucid of the history and the dangers of the cave, but he didn’t seem to mind the threat.

“Lucid says he’ll take care of the problem, no sweat!”

Owyn carefully picked his path through the corpse room. Although the pile seemed a slight bit smaller than last time, some of the monster bodies were starting to smell. “You say that as if he’s doing us a favor.”

“Isn’t he?” Grant frowned.

Abby nudged Owyn. “I mean I’d certainly prefer dealing with Lucid than these other dungeons.”

Owyn waved Abby off. “Obviously, but I’m just saying I don’t think he’s doing this for free.”

“Obviously not.” Grant said, swinging his arms as he walked. The sounds of animals at war sounded from down the caves. “Lucid does need help after all. He says we can talk material goods later, but for now he’d like advice. He’s wondering how to make traps.”

Owyn snorted. “A dungeon doesn’t know how to make traps?”

Grant shook his head. “He’d like to make some flamethrowers, but everything he’s trying results in nothing. He’s wondering if he just needs more mana.”

“Lucid’s too small for flamethrowers.” Owyn told Grant. “Flamethrower traps take a specific level of evolutions to achieve, and Lucid might just not be capable of making them.”

“Dungeons can evolve!?” Grant asked excitedly, probably mirroring Lucid.

Owyn smirked a little. “No, they can’t. But the larger they get, the more control they have over their monsters' evolutions. In order to get a flamethrower, he’d need to evolve a monster that is able to sweat or otherwise excrete flammable substances, and then there’s all the mechanics of actually lighting and throwing the stuff.”

“...” Grant listened to Lucid for a while. “Well yeah. Monsters can’t use magic. Only humans can use magic. And dungeons can only enthrall things. They can’t use magic directly.”

The dungeon rumbled.

FUCK!

Abby and Owyn flinched, ducking and pressing their palms against their ears. Anger broiled up within each of them, mirroring Lucid’s sentiment. Owyn quickly quashed it down, but he could still feel just a touch of resentment lingering in his stomach. He hated everything and really felt like punching something.

Abby socked him in the shoulder.

“Sorry!” She apologized instantly. “Sorry, I just had to get it out of my system.”

“Did it work?” Owyn asked hopefully.

“No…”

Owyn cursed. Loudly.

“Woah.” Grant said. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you swear before.”

Owyn cursed again, mentally. “I try not to in front of kids.” The feeling of anger abated. Lucid seemed to have calmed down. “I feel like we were more affected by Lucid than you. How’s that possible?”

Other than his mouth, Grant didn’t move. “Lucid’s actually preventing me from doing anything right now. He says I’d probably kill you if he didn’t.”

Owyn paled slightly, glancing at Grant's sword, gripped tightly in a fist. “Tell him thanks?” He’d be sure to not truely piss Lucid off. Weird things seemed to set him off though, so who knew how effective that promise would be.

“He says it’s not your fault and not to worry.” Grant told them, relaxing. He wiggled his arms and legs, once again setting for the last room in Lucid’s dungeon. “But he is wondering what sorts of traps he could set up in the meantime.”

Owyn stood slowly and followed Grant. He had to talk louder here, since the sounds of war were much louder in this last room. “I’d suggest gravity based traps. Just drop rocks from the ceiling somehow.”

A number of monsters awaited them in the last room. All of them stood at the end, peering through dark slits in a wall that wasn’t there last time Owyn had been in this room. Clearly, the new wall was set up as a sort of defense, even if it didn’t seem like any of the monsters here were actively fighting anything. Still, they seemed tense. And judging by the sounds emanating from below, he didn’t blame them.

Abby and Owyn approached the windows and pressed their respective light sources against them. Aside from the occasional flying creature zipping through, they couldn’t see much of anything. The cavern beyond was simply far too large for their lights to make a difference.

“How was I supposed to know?” Grant told the air. “I mean, you seemed pretty smart, I thought you already knew! What do you mean, what do I mean!?”

Owyn happened to glance down. A hole sat in the ground, merely a foot away from him. It dropped into the void. Owyn suddenly realized he was standing on an outcrop of stone with nothing beneath him. He leapt back, heart suddenly pounding fast. Abby noticed his reaction and checked to see what spooked him. She snickered, approaching the drop hole to look through.

“Ok.” Grant approached Owyn. “Lucid asks how you think he should deal with a giant monster like the boss monsters the big dungeons use.”

Owyn got his heart under control. He took a breath to calm himself before he spoke. “With a bigger monster obviously.”

Grant shook his head. “From what Subsonar is telling us, we don’t have the room here to support growing one big enough. The ceiling is too short. Lucid wants a creative idea that he hasn’t thought of. Like maybe there’s a big lake somewhere that he could drown them in? I told him no, that the creek on the surface is too small, but he’s insisting that we also just don’t have enough cores for him to do what he wants.”

Owyn cocked his head. “Then why don’t you just destroy the core?”