“That's a dungeon,” Alistair said, slightly stunned and excited that their Dungeon Sense had finally led them to a dungeon they might have otherwise missed despite the steady flow of mana streaming out of it.
Riseth, giddy with excitement, exclaimed, “Do you think this is instanced? It looks way more technologically advanced than any dungeon we’ve found so far.”
Alistair cautioned, “I’m not sure. While Nessyra is eager for us to find an instanced dungeon that we can farm, this might not be the type she’s hoping for.”
The door slid open smoothly, revealing a portal that enveloped the entire frame, obscuring their view of what lay behind. They exchanged a glance and a shrug before stepping through.
They were briefly engulfed in familiar blackness before emerging into a massive glass dome that resembled a spaceship or space station. The interior was lavishly decorated with rich, light-red carpets and ornate fountains, giving the space an extravagant feel. Through the glass dome, they could see the stars stretching out far into the distance. Just as Alistair was absorbing the grandeur of their surroundings and wondering if a butler might greet them, a chrome and gold-plated sphere with a mechanical eye exited through a circular opening in the wall and whizzed toward them, excitedly calling out in a robotic voice.
“Welcome! Welcome! Dear guests, apologies for the delay!” The drone exclaimed as small fireworks erupted to the sides of the room. A cloth banner unfurled over the pillar in the center while showering them with confetti and reading: Welcome, Dear Guests!
Alistair stared in disbelief. He had read about carnivals and odd-themed dungeons, but this was still very odd. Riseth, equally perplexed, kept her eyes on the exuberant drone that buzzed in front of them.
"I must congratulate you! You are the very first guests for the Platijum Lily's opening, and you won a chip prize!" the drone chirped, its enthusiasm reminiscent of the more hyperactive fairies he’d encountered in the trial sub-sections.
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RAID PARTY DUNGEON
Scenario:
Welcome to the grand opening of the Platijum Lily, dear guests!
The Platijum Lily promises top-tier entertainment and events! You can win and buy prizes with Platijum Chips! You can exchange Chips for either random or known prizes! Each group will be assigned a Personal Assistance Liaison, or 'P.A.L'! Your P.A.L will guide you, answer any questions, and start any events you wish to participate in!
We hope you have a wonderful time in the Platijum Lily!
Type: [Entertainment] [Events] [Random] [Dungeon Shops] [Natural]
Duration: Please stay!
Victory Condition: Have fun!
Rating: No boring ratings, just fun and prizes!
Dungeon Currency: Platijum Chips
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“The Administrator is in a great mood as we can finally open the Platijum Lily to our first set of guests! As a welcome gift, we grant each of you 1000 chips!” P.A.L announced excitedly while Alistair and Riseth read the information.
Alistair cast a cautious glance at the portal leading outside, making sure it was still intact. This dungeon was anything but ‘Natural,’ and Riseth mirrored his concern, much to the P.A.L's dismay.
“Dear guests, please don’t leave without experiencing some of our attractions!” the P.A.L chirped cheerfully.
Turning to Riseth, Alistair used their Akashic Link to keep their concerns discreet. “We should keep our discussion to ourselves. This dungeon is very odd, and the raid designation being scratched out makes me uneasy as it means the dungeon is messing with the system to fit its whims.”
Riseth nodded in agreement. “The dungeon did provide us with a P.A.L., but we should inquire about the raid dungeon designation.”
Alistair scratched his beard, his eyes fixed on a square pillar in the center of the room. It housed a richly decorated elevator that appeared to lead to the lower levels of what seemed to be an enormous space station. The dome's angle obscured the full layout of the dungeon, but as he approached the railing and looked down, he saw parts of the station below. From what he could tell, they were at the very top. As he relayed his observations to Riseth, she decided to probe the P.A.L with a question.
“Are you sure this is alright? We’re only two, and the status window classifies this as a raid dungeon,” Riseth asked, her tone a mix of concern and curiosity.
“Oh, bollocks, it says Party Dungeon!” the P.A.L replied, its excitement momentarily replaced by a hint of frustration. “The Administrator tried his best, but his programming is a bit limited. He has to work within the System. There are no real dangers, just fun events I'd love to show you!”
“And who exactly is this Administrator?” Riseth inquired.
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“Oh, nothing nefarious!” the P.A.L assured them. “Just the preprogrammed AI core in charge of this grand entertainment module we call home!”
Riseth frowned slightly in confusion. “AI core?”
The P.A.L tilted its axis, looking from Riseth to Alistair. “Ah, apologies. I should have realized from your attire. An AI core is a magical device that controls this place at the behest of its creator.” Riseth raised a hand to stop the drone as her clothing transformed into a refined dress. “We know what an AI core is; we have one ourselves. Is it possible to communicate directly with that AI?”
The drone paused for an unusually long time, its sensors seemingly focused on Riseth. “Apologies, dear guest, but the AI core is currently occupied with maintaining this place and isn’t available for direct communication at this time. However, I’d be delighted to show you some of our attractions!”
Alistair transformed his armor into a sleek suit as he joined Riseth. "I think this core believes it’s an AI, or at least it’s pretending to be one. Let’s not call it out on that just yet. If this turns out to be a trap, we’re strong enough to handle it.”
He offered his arm to Riseth, and she locked hers with his as they approached the elevator. "Excellent!" the P.A.L exclaimed, its excitement palpable. It then launched into a rapid-fire list of games and events, rattling off a series of unfamiliar activities that neither of them recognized. Alistair’s attention piqued when he heard something that sounded vaguely familiar.
"Show us that Bavobil Race," he requested, interrupting the drone’s enthusiastic spiel.
"Certainly, good sir!" the P.A.L responded with a cheerful tone. "May I know the names of our dear guests?"
"I am Riseth Ryser, and this is my husband, Alistair Ryser," Riseth replied with a polite nod.
"What’s a Bavobil Race?" Riseth asked through the Akashic Link.
"No idea," Alistair replied with a mental shrug. "I’m guessing it’s like a horse race, which might give us some insight into what this dungeon is really about. Or, you know, you could just ask the drone."
Before Riseth could inquire further, the elevator doors slid open, revealing a vast open field. Hovering stands lined the sides, overlooking a straight race track. At one end, a finish line was marked by a red ribbon stretched across the track, while the other end featured a large coop filled with what looked like oversized dodos. The creatures were outfitted in various colored harnesses, each adorned with unfamiliar numbers and symbols. Their translation skills didn’t recognize the markings, suggesting the language either didn’t exist or was some kind of made-up gibberish not recognized by the system.
As they turned around, they noticed that the elevator shaft stretched far into a fake sky above and likely deep underground as well, leading to other chambers or subspaces—Alistair’s intuition hinted at as much.
“We’re in luck! The first race is about to start! Would you like to place a bet on which Bavobil will reach the finish line first?” P.A.L. asked, its voice brimming with enthusiasm.
“Sure, but how does someone bet if they don’t start with chips like we did?” Alistair inquired.
“You may exchange up to 100 chips’ worth of currency from the Universal System Credit (USC). However, if your chip count exceeds 100, you can no longer purchase more and must earn them through participating in various events!” P.A.L. replied cheerfully.
“Do you happen to have Blackjack or Roulette?” Alistair asked out of idle curiosity as they approached the hovering stands. He scrutinized the different birds, trying to gauge if any were stronger or faster than the others. His attention was drawn to one of the Bavobil that seemed drooling and glassy-eyed, so he dismissed it and instead picked the red one because, obviously the red one would go faster.
“I cannot find those events in my database,” P.A.L. responded. “But if you’d like to suggest them, and the Admin approves, we’d certainly reward you with chips and free rounds at the bar for your valuable insights and contributions to our roster!”
Before Alistair could ask more questions, P.A.L droned on: "If you wish to place a bet, the amount must be a multiple of 5. This is consistent with every event; the general minimum bet is five chips and you may not share or pool chips with another guest. Winning the Bavobil Race earns you three times the bet sum, while picking wrong loses you the bet sum. There are 10 Bavobil per race, the subspace is limited to 5 people but can be expanded if necessary, which will, in turn, increase the amount of Bavobil's racing.
At first glance, Alistair couldn't find a way to game the system unless the Roster of Bavobil racing that day clearly had stronger or impaired birds on the starting line. He bet ten chips on the one in the red harness, whereas Riseth bet ten on the Bavobil in the green harness.
They watched as the Bavobil's were launched out of their coops by a spring-loaded floor, sending them flying and tumbling a short distance across the race track. Before they stood up and started running, they were still slightly disoriented and wobbly on their feet, creating a chaotic mess on the race track. They ran into each other, and some of them, including the one in the red harness, were fighting and pecking at each other. The drooling one almost won as it just waddled toward the finish line, but one in a pink harness overtook it, easily winning the race.
Alistair couldn’t help but chuckle at the silly sight. The Bavobil were unharmed, but they weren’t the sharpest creatures. They let out gurgling coos, flapped their little wings, and ran in circles, only to crash into each other and start squabbling all over again.
"Oh, what a shame! But don't worry, you can try again!" P.A.L offered, clearly pleased that his guests were having fun.
Alistair noticed how the dungeon's magic subtly drew energy from their heightened emotions. Nessyra had once asked his brother to investigate a similar idea, and Alistair had helped James test emotion-based mana generators. These devices could passively collect essence from strong emotions and convert it into energy without draining the original feeling. While the generators weren’t very efficient and Nessyra's plans to create self-sustaining entertainment centers had fallen flat, the concept still showed promise for slight passive energy generation, though he suspected a dungeon that lived of people delving it had a much more efficient and powerful energy conversion.
"I think we’re good for now," Alistair chuckled. "Since you seem to have a lot of attractions, I’d like to see what kind of prizes we can win. There should be some shops, right?"
"Indeed! What better way to build anticipation and tension than by knowing what one is playing for? Follow me!" P.A.L said, zooming excitedly toward the entrance of the dungeon before turning back to check if they were following.
"You think that drone is the Dungeon Core controlling the P.A.L?" Riseth asked over their link.
"Definitely. It feels a lot like when Vaerin controlled the bird. A core wouldn’t struggle with splitting its mind, so it could easily have one of these drones follow each group while observing and guiding them. It’s smart, stretching the limits of what’s possible within its framework. We might want to consider using our Realm Catcher on it."
"Or," Riseth suggested, "we could just bring the island it’s on back to our planet."
"That... might actually work. But can Artemis safely transport an island of this size?" Alistair mused.
"No, but the Kaiakos certainly can. So we don’t necessarily need to conquer the dungeon itself, but we should still try. A core is obligated to provide a path to reach it, and I bet it’s the most expensive prize in its reward selection," Riseth replied.
They took their time walking toward the drone, not wanting to reveal too much of their magic by teleporting. Alistair smiled, curious to see if Riseth’s hunch was right—whether meeting the Administrator was indeed the ultimate prize and what other treasures this dungeon might hold. Something told him there would be some very intriguing trinkets and items for them to discover.