The birds furiously flapped their wings, continuing their fruitless attempt at rehousing the core. The largest bird, a [Nivibil Alpha - lvl 60], puffed himself up and spread his wings, shielding the core while continuing to scream that he was going to die and begging them to spare him. Alistair and Riseth exchanged another glance, and Alistair rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Just stop. We won't kill you or harm the core," Alistair reassured.
"I... I will fight you if I have to! Don't test me!" The deep voice of the Nivibil Alpha rang out, not listening to Alistair in his panic.
Alistair looked at the bird with a raised eyebrow and was about to repeat himself when the bird went slack, its eyes glowing with a swirling white and golden coloration. Alistair recognized this as the core assuming direct control of one of its monsters. This was one of the ways a core could communicate; other common methods included having their beasts speak for them without taking direct control, telepathy, or writing messages on various surfaces within the dungeon, such as walls, floors, plaques, or stone or in rare cases modern tablets.
The Nivibil stopped puffing himself out and seemed almost to hug itself with its wings as it looked at them. "You promise you won't hurt me?" Its voice was still deep, but it had lost its previously boisterous quality. Alistair sensed worry and fear from the core-controlled bird, and its voice reflected that though it had also taken on an ethereal aspect.
"Yes, we settled the planet you are located on, and you are the first Dungeon Core we found. " Alistair calmly explained.
The birds stopped pulling on the vines and scattered, landing on nearby roots and roof purchases to observe the exchange. There was a pause as the core seemed to consider his words.
"And you do not wish to subdue or destroy me?" the core questioned, its distrust obvious.
"Clearly Quite Intelligent," Alistair mused, exchanging a look with Riseth, who seemed to share his line of thinking.
"Let's get to know each other first. My name is Alistair and this is my wife, Riseth. We are the leaders of the Ryser Clan," he continued.
There was another pause, and Alistair began to wonder if the Dungeon was stalling, perhaps hoping to respawn enough beasts to thwart them or to orchestrate an escape. This would suggest it was not as intelligent as he currently believed. But then the bird spoke with a quivering voice.
"I am Vaerin; at least, that's the name I came up with." After another short pause, the core added, "Welcome to Everbright, my little piece of home."
Riseth gave Vaerin a warm smile, "It's nice to meet you, Vaerin. Can you tell us a little about yourself?"
Alistair still sensed some reluctance and fear, though they had taken a backseat to curiosity and hope. The core clearly had expected them to just subdue or destroy it. From what Alistair had read, cores always had a very strong sense of self-preservation, no matter their personality or type. This usually ended with the core trying its utmost to kill or stop anyone from claiming it. It would most likely try and talk itself out of the predicament, hoping he and Riseth chose to leave it to its devices. Something he would agree to if the core could be reasoned with and had a suitable personality for cooperation. A non-subdued core had far stronger growth and more options and was less restricted by the system, so it was in both of their interests to get an amicable solution.
"I don't remember much, but I think I was an Elf princess. I died with regrets, though I can't recall why," the core began.
"It's a core that believes itself reincarnated," Riseth said over the Akashic Link, and Alistair nodded in agreement.
"Once I regained the ability to see, I found myself as a tiny rock in an unfamiliar green forest. It looked all wrong, and before I knew it, I was in the golden fields of my homeland," Vaerin continued.
She then spoke of how she grew in power and understanding, learning instinctively to change the world around her and recreate it in the image of her home as best she could. There were moments she wished to share more but couldn't, and Alistair was certain it was due to System secrecy interference. He could guess what the core wanted to convey based on his knowledge of cores.
"Things were peaceful until you and your beasts arrived here," Vaerin eventually said, a hint of accusation in her tone.
"Vaerin, I understand your concern but you are a dungeon now, and we are delvers. Isn't this how its supposed to be? All your beasts will respawn and didn't you benefit from our presence?" Alistair inquired.
The core paused again. Alistair hoped this wasn't an overly caring core. A handful of cores viewed every beast as its child or family, which made negotiating near impossible, as they almost always reacted incredibly violently. Based on their talks, he doubted it, but he had to be sure before he felt comfortable not subduing the core, leaving it to its own devices.
"I suppose this means you two successfully delved into my dungeon by slaying my guardians." The Core pronounced, and Alistair received multiple notifications.
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NOTIFICATIONS:
The Natural Dungeon Everbright has been cleared for the first time.
The Dungeoneer title has been upgraded to [Dungeoneer 6]
[Level 117 reached. Stat points allocated, free stat points available.]
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The core must have subconsciously or purposefully set the conditions for successfully delving the dungeon as slaying its guardians. Alistair was relieved; if reaching its chambers had been the condition, it could have spelled trouble, especially if others had delved into this dungeon. He then noticed the usual loot sphere appearing in the center of the room, slightly behind them, though he decided to look at it later.
"Well then, Princess Vaerin, I think it's time for us to come to a mutually beneficial agreement," Alistair said, pausing to wait for the core to respond. When Vaerin remained silent, he continued.
"We will not subdue or destroy your core, and we or members of our clan will regularly visit to talk with you and protect your dungeon from other forces that would potentially subdue or destroy you. In return, we expect you to do your best not to kill those who delve into this dungeon. I want peaceful relations between my clan and your dungeon."
"I suppose this means you'll call me a friend in name but keep me a prisoner in my own dungeon, while you continue to harvest my beasts and expect me to be content with the rewards your clan gains from delving into my dungeon while I gain the dregs of what the system rewards me with," Vaerin replied, clearly not satisfied with the arrangement.
Alistair nodded, recognizing her point. It was indeed too optimistic to simply demand that a dungeon refrain from killing its delvers and tolerate their presence under threat.
"If you put it that way, you're correct. This isn't a truly fair exchange. Do you have any strong feelings about expanding beyond your dungeon? And what do you wish in return?"
The core paused longer this time. Riseth, who didn't think her input was needed, stepped over to the loot portal, pulling out a large branch imbued with powerful growth and nature concepts. Alistair stopped observing after inspecting the branch and turned back to the core and its possessed Nvibil, clearly still mulling over how to respond.
"Expansion outside my dungeon isn't of paramount importance to me," Vaerin finally replied. "However, it will limit my ability to acquire treasures, inspiration, and new materials that I could potentially use."
Dungeons often absorbed external treasures for a bit of additional mana. There were theories suggesting that dungeons could spawn items they absorbed, though no faction could prove they had successfully fed a dungeon core treasures and had it recreate them consistently. This theory only persisted because cores sometimes spawned items related or similar to the absorbed treasures, albeit inconsistently. The likelihood increased if the treasures aligned with the dungeon's general personality and concepts. However, many claimed that it might be a coincidence or that the dungeon already had the option to spawn it and was inspired by a provided item.
"How about this?" Alistair suggested. "We could provide you with offerings before every delve, things like pictures, small treasures, or something the individual thinks you would appreciate as a gift?"
Alistair noticed Vaerin's growing excitement and knew the idea strongly appealed to her. He wasn't disappointed when the core responded.
Vaerin tried to hold her composure, making it sound like a barely sufficient exchange. "This is an acceptable agreement. I will ensure there is a structure for the delvers to leave their offerings. However, expect my throne room to be off-limits."
"This still feels too easy," Alistair thought.
"Is there nothing else you wish in return? We benefit greatly from your presence, and I don't want you to feel like you got tricked," Alistair added.
Vaerin replied surprisingly fast. "I will keep that offer in mind, but I am satisfied with the current arrangement, I wish you farewell," she said through her bird before relinquishing control over the bird, signaling the end of their conversation.
The bird immediately went into panic mode again as if no time had passed, spreading its wings and puffing itself up to shield the core. It continued a tirade of empty threats for a moment before falling silent, presumably reprimanded by the core, before flying away as fast as it could.
Taken aback, Alistair watched the bird until it disappeared through one of the circular windows. He shrugged and reached into the loot orb, pulling out a large bar of gold radiating holy and healing concepts. A quick use of his Identify skill revealed it to be [Saint's Gold]. Though likely less useful than the growth and nature treasure Riseth had received, he was certain this item would still prove valuable. As soon as he retrieved the loot, he received a notification asking if he wished to teleport out of the dungeon. Riseth stepped up next to him and touched the orb as well.
"Guess we'll have to call this in. I don't know about the other resources within this dungeon, but the unicorn horns are pretty incredible loot," Riseth said as they both reappeared outside the dungeon portal.
Alistair nodded. "As far as dungeons go, this is a very good one, and it's still growing. Who knows what we can expect to get from it in the future."
He resummoned King, and they quickly took to the air. While flying to the next point of interest, Alistair wrote a report on the dungeon. It was a shame the dungeon had no real resource-generating locations other than the hives of the Silverspine Stenacs and the sun oaks, most of which were juvenile and would take ages to mature unless the dungeon invested significant effort in promoting rapid growth. Typically, dungeons could spawn and regenerate treasures like metal nodes that wouldn't naturally replenish, which were usually more powerful and valuable. Mining and harvesting dungeons, especially those with multiple instances, were often the bread and butter of powerful factions that managed to claim such a dungeon. However, he couldn't complain. Any form of luck-concept treasure was extremely valuable, even if mixed with other concepts, and he suspected the unicorn horns made for excellent magical material. Additionally, the fact that the dungeon wasn't expansionist and was amicable was a significant boon.
Their next destination was a significant river system nearby, where their sensors had detected multiple Grade 8 signatures. Strong beasts often indicate a rich environment, powerful treasures, or possibly even an instanced dungeon break. After sending his report to Nessyra over the Network, he took the opportunity to properly take in the surroundings ahead of them, noting the large lake with rivers flowing in and out, extending to the nearby sea. The water was a deep cobalt color, and he sensed multiple powerful beasts scattered beneath the lake's surface, moving in and out through the connected waterways. The trees surrounding the lake were an unusual blue willow-like variant he had only seen in displays before. They appeared both alien and strangely familiar. Both he and Riseth stood up, getting ready to explore this lake more thoroughly and see what kind of beasts inhabited it.