The walk to the dungeon took quite a while. It took a whole night and day in fact, walking was much slower than running it turns out, and the mule wasn’t very agile when it came to jumping or climbing.
Dominik had restored their stamina, but eventually they would need to sleep, stamina restoration could only go so far before the body started shutting down, regardless of whichever spells you use.
Dominik himself felt fine, because this avatar didn’t really need sleep, nor did his main body need much. Probably. Though clearly it still played some role, especially with memory recollection and physical growth. It also seemed to help with repairing damage, physical and otherwise.
Unfortunately the dark elf woman had been walking to the village since about midday, then they had to walk back to her cave after sunset. So she’d have been walking for over a day by the time they reached the dungeon. Her mule had clearly lost weight from the trek, carrying several pounds of vegetables, and a bedroll.
More importantly, the mule had been attacked that day. So there were still a few demons wandering around. He’d thought they would’ve been called back. He didn’t feel any connection through some sort of contract. Were they out of range when he took over the eldritch dungeon core’s body? Does it work differently for demons? Or was there really something, or someone else summoning these demons?
Dominik found it unlikely that Fran would’ve summoned a demon, injured her own mule, then walked to the village herself to get supplies to help heal the mule. And there’s no way she could’ve planned all of this anyway. So there must be something else out there. He’d have to ask the villagers if they’d seen tentacles on the demons in the last attacks, or any. That would be important.
Soon, they reached the dungeon, just after sunset again. Dominik sent a mental command to the spiders not to attack the dark elf or the mule, but they couldn’t really understand what these were. Normally the creatures under contract could just sense each other, and avoid causing each other problems in that way.
But because they weren’t under contract, he had to manually tag them with his mana, as something to avoid attacking. If he left a sort of mark on them, it would function in the same way. But it wouldn’t last forever, eventually he’d have to pour more mana into it to maintain the mark. He really hoped the spiders would begin evolving soon so he wouldn’t have to keep doing this. It’d be impossible to have many guests otherwise.
While their poison individually was unlikely to kill any large creature like a humanoid or a horse, with many of the spiders biting one person or animal, then it very well could. And there were many spiders in the cave.
“Welcome to the dungeon.” Dominik said, as they walked through the entrance, ducking under the occasional large spiderweb. “Don’t worry, I’ve marked you and your mule, so they shouldn’t attack you. Make sure you don’t disenchant yourself though.”
Fran hadn’t noticed any sort of enchantment, she hadn’t even seen him cast a spell, but she was too tired to ask any questions. The lingering stamina effects only made her feel sick with its stark contrast to her physical and mental fatigue. Something beyond the wear and tear of the day’s arduous trek across the forest. She simply said. “Okay.”
Dominik led her and her mule down a gradual slope to the second floor. Away from the rocky terrain and the spiders on the first floor, to a softer area mostly covered in dirt.
Dominik sent the troglodytes to retrieve some water from a source deeper in the cave. They filled a bucket for the horse, and a pitcher for the woman and the man. Several of them came over with the water, as well as some overly ornate goblets. Dominik brought the woman to a small table in the corner, with crude chairs, and they sat down.
The mule began drinking from a bucket, and the woman gratefully poured water into a goblet and drank several cups. “Thank you.” She said to the troglodytes, after drinking her fill. Domminik gave a mental command and the troglodytes made an attempt at some sort of bow.
“Should we feed some of the vegetables to your mule before we go eat? I’ll have the troglodytes start cooking some grub and dodo meat for us in their little kitchen.” Dominik asked the dark elf, as he helped her up from the small chair she felt she had just sat down in.
“That sounds good.” She said. She hadn’t had meat for a while, and some roasted grub sounded like just what she needed. Dodo seemed like a strange choice though.
As she stood there feeding carrots to the mule, as Dominik pet the small horse, she thought it was strange how the spiders didn’t attack them. She hadn’t even tried giving them commands. They just back away, as if clearing room for them. And now that she thought about it, being waited on by troglodytes didn’t really make a lot of sense either.
And then it dawned on her, what if Dominik was telling the truth, and she was in an active dungeon, speaking to an eldritch dungeon lord, possessed by a human soul, controlling a human avatar? This thought woke her up more than anything, but simultaneously made her want to lie down.
“Are you okay?” Dominik asked?
“Oh, yes, I’m just really tired, that’s all.”
“Well let’s get something to eat first. Did you want to find a bed somewhere in here, or did you want to use your bedroll?”
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“I’ll just use my bedroll tonight.” There was no way she was sleeping in a bed a demon might’ve used, and the dirt on the second floor seemed like it’d be soft enough under the bedroll anyway.
The dark elf followed him into the kitchen, where they sat at some slightly larger chairs, at a slightly larger table. Eventually the troglodytes brought out plates with grilled grub and dodo meat, and they finally ate. Other than a bit of salt, there wasn’t much else for flavoring.
“How is it?” Dominik asked. He was eating slowly, but fran had nearly inhaled her meal
“It’s good.” She said, “It could use a bit of seasoning, but the meat’s good. Even the dodo’s good. We don’t normally eat much poultry where I come from.” She said all of this, in between bites.
Dominik signaled for the troglodytes to bring more food, mostly grub, but a bit more dodo in case she wanted a bit more. “From what I remember, poultry is common in most human settlements, and grub is actually uncommon.”
“That’s weird.” Fran said after swallowing a mouthful of meat.
“I think it’s because humans mostly live above ground, and dark elves usually live below ground. Different types of food are more common, so people’s tastes adjust accordingly.” Said Dominik.
“Yeah I guess so,” said Fran. “I didn’t really meet with a lot of foreign dignitaries or anything, because I’m the youngest. Maybe I should’ve tried some different kinds of food when they brought stuff over though.”
“How old are you exactly Fran?” Dominik thought she looked to be around his age, maybe a few years older, but he knew dark elves, like all elves, aged more slowly than humans. But he couldn’t remember, if he ever knew, how much more slowly they aged.
“I’m two hundred and eighty exactly. I actually Had my two hundred and eightieth birthday here in the forest alone. Well, just with me and my mule. Normally decades are a big milestone. It’s a shame about being exiled right before my big two hundred and eightieth birthday party. Not that I like big parties or anything.”
She was starting to speak full sentences before eating or drinking water as she was getting full. “How old are you Dominik?”
“Twenty.” Dominik said.
Fran stopped mid bite. “Actually twenty? Like just twenty?”
“Yes.”
“How long do humans normally live?” She asked.
“They can live to be about a hundred.” Said Dominik, stating this fact as if it was uninteresting to him. “How long do dark elves live?” He asked.
“They can live about a thousand years. Though it’s not very common with royalty.” She said plainly. After pausing for a moment, she continued. “So for a human, you’re pretty much two hundred in dark elf years right?”
“I guess,” he said.
“Then I guess we’re around the same age kinda.” She said, attempting to say it cheerfully.
“We are, by conversion, so it wouldn’t be weird if-.” He cut off his sentence suddenly, and his eyes glazed over, as if he was focused on something else.
“Dominik? Are you okay?” Fran asked, while he stared off into space. After a few moments he finally responded. “Sorry, we have a visitor, but they’ve already been taken care of. The spiders worked fast. I’m gonna go check the body before they wrap him up.”
“Okay.” Fran said, taking a bit of the last bits of her food. “...Wait, what?!” Fran decided to join Dominik as he went to check on his new guest, rather than staying in the dining area being stuffed by troglodyte chefs and waiters.
“Somehow he made it pretty far into the first floor. I didn’t even notice him until the spiders attacked him. But by then he was so full of their venom, there really wasn’t much to do. He would’ve died even if I ran here. It’s too bad, if he’s an enemy I could’ve at least interrogated him.” Dominik knelt over the body, opening various pouches and examining his belongings.
“Why do you think he was an enemy?” Fran asked, not really knowing what to do in this situation.
“He snuck in, he’s got to be some kind of rogue. They’re just spiders, but to get so far in without being detected, with all these eyes watching. Either he was just looking for treasure in a cave, or, more likely, he was checking on the dungeon. Probably a scout sent by the nearby town after our group didn’t come back.” Dominik emptied all the pouches on the man’s belt until he found a small folded up paper.
“Found something.” On this paper were coordinates for the dungeon, and instructions to check if it had been cleared, or to at least check for survivors. Lacking that, he would also be paid for any tags retrieved from the bodies. A list of names was on the back.
“Can you read Gothik?” Dominik asked the dark elf.
“Yes, though I’m probably a bit rusty.”
He handed her the paper and let her read it herself. “You were right, they were a scout. Why would they only send one person? Are they stupid?”
Dominik considered this and said, “Possibly, but keeping a group small in tight corridors can be important, especially for stealth. Maybe this guy was the most skilled rogue they had available in town, so he didn’t want to bring other people. It’d be a liability. Although he clearly could’ve used a protection spell. The spider bites wouldn’t have been strong enough to breach it.”
He remembered casting it himself, and his party members easily ignoring the spiders, while a mage cast a simple fireball to clear large swarms. He quickly remembered how weak the defenses of this dungeon were for a powerful party, especially one with well balanced roles. But he’d thought he’d have more time.
“I thought they’d be too afraid to send anyone for at least a few weeks after the first battalion of the royal guard didn’t return.” Dominik said, staring at the man’s body, now stripped of useful materials, as it was taken by the spiders, wrapped in silk, soon to be fed upon. He thought the spiders had done a good job, they deserved to have the meal all to themselves.
“Sometimes not knowing the result is worse, even if they could’ve guessed. Being sure one way or the other must’ve seemed more calming to whoever's in charge. And maybe the people from your country put pressure on them to find a definitive answer too.” Fran said this as she put a hand on his shoulder. Partially subconsciously, and partially to avoid falling over as lethargy began setting in after the big meal she’d had. After walking more than one whole day.
Dominik thought for a moment. “Then let’s give them the answer. I can say I found the note on his body, that I found the tags too. Only on the first few floors of course. If we tell them the dungeon seems too impossibly deep to simply wipe out, then they’ll mark it as a permanent dungeon, and we’ll only have to worry about regular groups, rather than whole militia’s coming to wipe it out.”
Fran wobbled on her feet and listened. “That sounds good. But please can I sleep first?”
“Oh yeah.” Dominik said. “Of course. Even if I ran there while you were sleeping, it’d seem suspicious if I got there too fast. And it’ll seem more believable that I survived if we go together.”
With that he led Fran down to a comfortable room on the second floor, and had the troglodytes bring her sleeping roll. He helped lay down and tucked her in.
He thought she should have a room on the lowest floor, just to be safe, but for now, they were unlikely to have any visitors. With how exhausted she was he’d most likely have at least ten or twelve hours before they go to town, so he got started on gathering what he needed, and making some improvements to the dungeon.