Velua was still blushing like a madwoman when she was placed down back into the palatial gardens outside of the Alchemical Oak. She had been desperately pinning her dress down with her hands and keeping her legs tucked together as the two flew high above the fey kingdom on the first floor. While she was trying to protect her modesty, she couldn’t help but appreciate the beauty that was there. This was the first floor of a dungeon that had been hidden away from the rest of the world due to the horrid swamps outside. It was so beautiful, and the entire floor thrummed with life in such unique ways. She had never seen the first floor of Whispering Stone, but she could only imagine it was an endless kingdom of life and stone just like the rest of the dungeon.

She looked around at the field in front of the Alchemical Oak, smoothing down her dress as she considered everything that she was seeing. The faux wedding was replaced with fairies and fey milling about sharing drinks or chatting with one another. None of the fey were in their formal clothes anymore, instead now in outfits made of plants or cloth that were far more comfortable than suits and dresses.

Lotus was giving a stretch and a sigh, rolling her neck some as she was able to be in a position other than her flying formation. “Ugh, that is going to take some getting used to. The flight from the temple to the tree is a lot longer than I expected, especially if I am carrying someone.” She said as she took in a breath before one of the witchlings approached holding a glass of sparkling green drink.

“Thank you, Pheobe. I appreciate the thought, can you get something for our guest as well?” She asked with a smile before the witchling turned to look at Velua. They were a strange thing in that raven feather cloak and big pointy black hat, but there was some secret beauty there. Between the cloak and the hat, there was a thin strip of face revealed, curls of blonde hair framing a pointy nose, and sharp red eyes.

“It would be my pleasure, Queen Lotus,” Pheobe said with a bow before she went off back to the bar where her counterpart was waiting for her. They didn’t have a wide arrangement of alcohol bottles, but there were at least a few things that had been brewed. Lotus sampled the sparkling green, shuddering before taking a hearty sip. “Who would have thought fermented basic slime would taste good.” She muttered as she looked up at it, shining the glittering drink in the moonlight.

“Uh, your majesty. I was wondering if we could talk now. There is the matter of the hammer, as well as what happened back in the temple.” Velua asked as she looked at the Queen before another of those red information boxes came.

“Yes, about that. For what happened, I had a bit of a meltdown after I killed Dle. I have never taken a life before with my own hands, and I felt very guilty.” Red explained in the message, seeming to be remorseful at the very least for having killed one of the Meltblazes. She tapped away the message before she noticed that Lotus wasn’t paying attention, seeming to be listening to the core directly. She gave a nod before she waved over one of the fairies, an orb of glowing orange light surrounding a humanoid form floated over.

“Go get my sister and tell her to bring Addison along. Red wants to have her talk to Velua.” She said with a nod before pausing, some flashes from the fairy before she shook her head. “No, we don’t need the full construction crew. Just Ivy and Addison.” She said with a nod as she insisted that it be done right away. She didn’t need them to waste time gathering everyone up when it was just two people needed for the meeting.

“So, the dungeon felt bad about killing Dle, that is good to know. I didn’t know if this place was a Butcher or an Adventure because we lost everyone but me. But if you have guilt, that at least means you didn’t want to kill everyone.” Velua said, thinking out loud before looking down at the ground, because she had been saved by the dungeon. “You knew that they were trying to kill me, didn’t you?” She asked softly, the memory of Dle’s declaration clear in her head. His face which was full of malice and hate flashed before her eyes, sending a shiver of fear down her body.

“Yes. They talked about it after killing the Snap-Drakes, and I heard everything that they said. After that, I was doing everything I could to save you and Molin. The two of you genuinely appreciated my dungeon, and I couldn’t stand to see the two of you get hurt.” Another box appeared as they discussed, Lotus gently guiding Velua to sit at a table as Pheobe brought over a hearty dark drink as well as a plate of cooked metal lobster. She noticed Lotus listening to something again before rolling her eyes. ”It’s not poisoned. I swear on my honor as the boss of this floor.” Lotus offered as she looked at Velua, a pop-up appearing to show how genuine that statement was.

Truth Swearing

A little white lie can always grow into much bigger problems.

The boss of The Red Dungeon’s first floor has sworn her honesty. Extreme punishments will occur in retaliation if it is revealed that she was lying to you.

“Suppose there is no better way of knowing than that,” Velua said with a shrug before she reached down and tried to crack the claws of the lobster, a cracker having been provided to her. She squeezed with all her might and grunted as she found that there was nothing she could do to crack open the iron shell. “Dammit… still don’t have any energy.” She muttered with a frown as she set down the cracker. ”From the siphon that happened? How is that?” Lotus asked with a bit of curiosity before Red had the chance to ask the very same thing. They had all restored to full strength from the long rest in stasis, yet Velua was still tapped dry of every drop of mana she had. Red most likely would have never noticed if the dwarf didn’t seem to be having so much difficulty opening her meal. ”How do you- right. Young dungeon. People from outside can’t regenerate mana inside a dungeon, that’s why mana potions are essential for casters or advanced skill users. I had a couple on me, but we didn’t use up enough energy to bring them out.” Velua explained, just staring at her lobster with hunger as she wanted to snap it open. Lotus reached forward and took the plate, cracking open every edible part of the lobster just a little so that Velua would be able to eat.

“Thanks. So the dungeon wanted to save me the whole time and was upset over the fact that he killed Dle. Does that mean he is a Haven dungeon? Doesn’t like killing?” Velua asked as she opened up one of the claws and began to devour the meat. Her face brightened at the taste, the harder shell lobster having soft and delicious meat. She was eating faster as she waited for a response, Lotus not saying anything as she drank her fermented slime.

“I don’t like killing, but sometimes it can be a necessity. You were my first adventuring party, and I didn’t like the way I treated myself when it came to all of you. I am going to change some things about how it goes in the future and my plans for the second floor. The Meltblazes were all aggressive individuals, and they would have been a problem one way or the other. I didn’t want to kill them, but it was either three cruel bastards or a nice old man and a sweet dwarf lady. I went with the latter option as you could tell.” Red’s box explained it was clear that he wanted to speak for himself at times. It was hard for Velua to talk to someone she couldn’t see, but it was obvious focusing on Lotus was not the answer.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“Alright, that’s good to know. But what about the hammer?” Velua asked as she finished off one claw and moved on to the next, speaking with a bit of food in her mouth. This meal was better than any trail rations that she had been eating on this journey. She finally reached out and took the dark drink that had been provided, taking a sip before blinking with surprise. It was a hearty ale, a rich alcohol content that made it burn down her throat some. She was surprised, but wouldn’t say anything against a drink that could make an adult dwarf pause to appreciate it.

Lotus raised her hand, seeming to be asking Red to hold off on his answer before she spoke. “Well, there is good reason to give you the hammer since you completed the quest. The question is, what are you going to do with the hammer? Outside is extremely dangerous, and who knows how far you’ll get before more people like the MeltBlazes will be along.” Lotus asked seriously, wanting to make sure that the girl understood that this was not just a quick decision. She was sitting up now, acting like a proper queen who could litigate to examine costs and benefits. She couldn’t help but run her hands down her dress to make sure that it was smooth.

Velua finally stopped eating, setting down the shellfish fork and the claw as she considered something. “I am not sure I would even survive if I got home with the hammer. Dle had an item only my family can distribute, and that means my father at least knew somewhat that I was in danger.” She said softly, tears pricking at her eyes as she considered the very idea that her father might have wanted her dead. “I knew that I was a disappointment, but I never thought in all my days he would want me dead.” She said as the tears began to flow and the pain in her heart grew as she thought more about it.

“Do I even have a home anymore? What if he threatens my sisters if I try to come back?” She sniffled as she put her hands to her face, tears flowing down as she came to terms with what exactly had happened in the core room. She felt so small and alone, with no clear way of knowing the correct path forward. She jolted slightly when she received a kind hand on her shoulder, looking on the opposite side from Lotus to see a small human girl next to her.

“You’re in a safe place to think about those things. Red is nice, and if you need to think then I am sure he can let you stay around for a while.” The child said before giving a big smile to her, clearly trying to help cheer Velua up. The sight of a child in a dungeon this far into the swamps was hard to consider. She wondered if Red was already at the point of Population yet, but even if he was this should have been an elven child, not a human with white hair.

The surprise was enough to get the tears to stop flowing a little, Velua blinking her eyes clear as she looked at the young girl. “Well… I suppose this is as good a place as any to stay for the moment. But who are you, darling? What’s a pretty little human doing in a big scary dungeon like this?” Velua asked softly, having not been around a young girl since her youngest sister started getting stubble. That wasn’t too long ago, but it was enough time for the hardened adventurer to have forgotten how to speak to children.

The girl puffed up her cheeks in frustration. “I am not a little human! I am a little half-angel! Red, Lotus, and Ivy all saved me from the swamp when my caravan got raided. He is not scary.” She huffed as she crossed her arms, seeming to have gotten offended that her angelic blood was not immediately apparent. Velua had never met angels before, so there was no real way to tell one from a human. She had her suspicions that the hair had something to do with it, but other than that she was woefully unprepared to recognize many other races.

Before Velua could comment on a dungeon saving someone’s life, she was interrupted as two more chairs were brought to the table she and Lotus were sitting at. The girl sat in one, and in the other was a green-skinned fey with the thickest forearms Velua had ever seen on a non-dwarven woman. The fey was wingless and was taller than the majority of those that were running around. She was somewhere between Velua and Lotus’ heights, suggesting that she was probably the race of fey before the Queen’s. Velua couldn’t help but wonder if this was the sister she was mentioning.

“It’s rude not to introduce yourself, Addison. Velua, this is Addison Cloudwatch Von Zinglemeyer, and my sister Architect Ivy.” Lotus explains, the two of them being served by Pheobe without anyone having to ask the witchling to do so. Addison had some kind of fruit drink and pre-cracked lobster, while Ivy had a fermented slime like her sister as well as a plate covered in greens.

“Sorry, Your Majesty,” Addison said with a pout as she took her seat, giving a bow of the head before Lotus smiled and nodded. With the nod, Addison couldn’t help herself with digging into the delicious meal that was sitting before her.

“It’s a pleasure. However, that doesn’t answer the question I had. Why is there a child in the dungeon that wasn’t born in the dungeon?” She asked as she looked around the table, Lotus and Ivy were silent as Addison began to eat her crab. The girl seemed to be ignoring Velua now or was just too hungry to answer any questions.

“It’s just like Addison said. Her caravan was attacked by undead and she ran into the woods. She found me and- Wait did you just say that children could be born in me?” A red box appeared, its silver filigree on the edges shining in the moonlight as Velua read through it. There was at least confirmation there that Population had not yet started in such a young dungeon. She wouldn’t be sure if that would be healthy for a single-floor dungeon to try and handle all that responsibility.

“Yes, but let’s not talk about it in the present company. I’ll explain it to you later.” Velua waved it off, glad that she had gotten the text box and not Addison. She didn’t need to get into a long explanation of the wyverns and the worms for someone who wasn’t blood-related to her. “Why was there a carav-” Ivy cut Velua off with a scrape of a fork on her plate as the dwarf began to get sidetracked. She was smiling pleasantly at her in the strange white top that had naught but straps to keep from revealing everything hidden underneath. Velua had seen tops like that with dresses before, but she was certain she saw Ivy wearing pants. A very unique design.

“You’re just as bad as the boss. Took him a full week to remember learnin’ about hidden resource patches. He learned about ‘em on the first day he was alive and didn’t remember for ages.” Ivy said with a laugh, talking in an accent that Velua hadn’t heard before. There were more strange things about this dungeon with every moment that passed. She almost missed when she believed it was some kind of Butcher dungeon that was out to kill all of them. At least it was simpler then.

“You have none of your gear until Red can replace it. You are uncertain about the terms of your home or if it is safe to even go back. Not to mention the super powerful hammer of your people is here and you can’t leave without it.” Ivy explained, getting down to the brass tacks of things before Velua could spiral or go off on another tangent. She was also speaking a bit louder as if she was trying to talk over someone that Velua couldn’t hear.

“Yes. That is right, and also a bit depressing to know that’s where my life is at right now.” The crestfallen dwarf admitted, rather sad by the fact that she had fallen so far from grace. Just a month ago she was the greatest dungeon explorer of her people, and now she wasn’t sure if they even expected to see her corpse come home.

“So until things get ironed out, Red has an offer for you.” Lotus offered, trying to be a bit more kind than her crude blue-collar sister.

“What is it?” Velua murmured, noticing that everyone was looking at her now, even Addison who had put down her fork to grin at this new development.

“Would you like to live in the dungeon with us?”