The brilliant sun shone down on Kaden as he snuck through a forest with Vip at his side. The vines moved like living creatures, and Kaden was sure they could attack, though these wouldn’t if they were smart. “There.” He spotted the Dungeon Door in the distance, built into the wall of a cliff.

Was the Dungeon erratic?

Was the party incompetent?

Kaden didn’t know yet. He’d picked up the FarPortal coordinates from Sara after she listened to the updates from other Party Leaders. A party of level twenty five adventurers had entered the dungeon two weeks earlier. For a dungeon known to take two days, it was a bad sign.

The door had a single crystal in the center, lit red, with the five silver circles around the edge. Even rank, should have been a snap. He put his hand on the door and his Dungeon Master profession provided the prompt.

Enter as Combatant? [Y/N].

Kaden chose no. He wouldn’t be able to attack or pick up loot, but the Dungeon would remain neutral, and he’d see the constructs that made it. Kaden slipped inside, and immediately recognized the abandoned cathedral motif. Perhaps undead, perhaps zombified, the mobs in a cathedral could vary from spiders to clowns.

He hated the clowns.

The entrance was well built, the kind of opening that made Kaden think the Dungeon was healthy. It was a small cloister room with a door that opened to the cathedral’s main hall. In the hall, the signs of a battle lay everywhere, broken pews and smashed chandeliers.

When Kaden looked at the chandeliers, his Dungeon Master Profession highlighted them. Traps.

Traps that wouldn’t trigger as long as he obeyed the rules.

Before he moved on, Kaden studied the battle area, looking for dead mobs. Cultists! The brown robes, arcane tatooos, and wicked sacrificial knives gave it away. Now he could move more quickly, scouring the first floor and moving up the stairs.

On the second floor he found the first body, a woman who’d been stabbed to death. Too many puncture wounds to know if it was by cultists or her own party, but he was betting cultists. Level Twenty Five Adventurers tended to be more organized in how they murdered each other.

Time to test a theory and take a risk.

Kaden pulled her corpse into a Corpse Inventory, a special Inventory with enchantments to reverse decay. His theory was that if she had loot, taking her body was not actively looting the dungeon. A quick trip back to the ground floor, and he edged under the chandelier, then stepped. Then stood. They didn’t fall, meaning he hadn’t violated the edges of the rules.

That was a relief.

The priest’s quarters were the site of a major battle and two more bodies, but these gave Kaden pause. Both had died to arrows, clean kill shots reenforced with Mana based on the puncture wonds. [Rangers] had a skill, and so did Assassins, called [Kill Shot]. It could inflict a [Mortal Injury] if properly empowered. The party had both an Assassin and a [Ranger.]

Kaden stored both and once again tested to ensure he hadn’t broken the ‘no looting’ clause. The front of the dungeon opened to a garden labyrinth that wouldn’t affect Kaden in the least, but ten steps in, he knew they’d never come this way. Live cultist mobs meandered back and forth in the main opening.

Which mean the Party was still in the Cathedral.

He went back and studied the main floor, then moved up to the second level.

For a wild dungeon, it was beautiful, and the moment he recognized the puzzle, Kaden was actually delighted. The main floor of the dungeon formed a pattern only visible from the second. And Kaden understood.

He sprinted downstairs, excited, and began stepping on the arcane symbols that had been obscured by the wreckage of battle. Each lit up until he stepped on the last. The stairs leading up to the choir dropped down, forming an inverted staircase. Kaden headed down into the darkness.

Demons were a real possibility, a classic combination of cultists. Cannibals were less likely but also possible. Priests? Possible. Here, on the lower level, came the first sound, a low voice speaking in a looping litany. The basement level was mostly open but dotted with dozens of support columns that would be perfect for cultists to leap out.

Then he reached the motivation chambers.

Most people called them prison cells, but most people hadn’t been guests of the Sisters of Shadows.

Corpses lined the cells, but most of them were decorative. Except the last two. Those contained an Assassin with an arrow still stuck through his heart and a Ranger, also with an arrow through his heart.

Kaden opened the cells by commanding the dungeon to unlock them and picked up the corpses, too. Time to see why the Dungeon door hadn’t unlocked. The litany grew louder as Kaden approached.

You have entered the range of [Penance Chant]. You are not affected.

[Penance Chant]

Afflict the target with stacks of [Penance] which lower stats for each instance of interparty conflict.

The boss was a [Priest] in unholy garb, with golden chains, a smoking censer, and a staff which radiated an aura. In the last cell lay a gaunt [Healer]. The man’s skin was sallow and his eyes sunken.

[Terrance Vorn - Healer]

Class Assassin/Healer

Level: 25/15

HP: 21/700

Mana: 1/500

Kaden ignored the priest and knelt by the cage. “Can you hear me?”

Terrance’s head shifted to look at him. “Dead?”

“Not yet. What happened? If you tell me, I’ll release you.” Kaden sat down on the stone, keeping distance between him and the Assassin.

“Wanted the [Infernal Pearl.] Perfect for my class.”

Disgust filled Kaden from head to toe. It wasn’t a new story, but it was the first time he’d seen this version. “All right, then.”

He drew Remembrance of Battle, his War Hammer, and brought it down, crushing the man’s skull.

You have slain Terrance Vorn.

You have gained XP.

Kaden took the corpse and watched as mobs respawned all around him. “There, you can draw in mana again. I’ll just see myself out. Could you lower the staircase I used to get down here?”

The boss hadn’t moved the whole time he spoke, but when Kaden stopped, returned to its idle pattern, shambling in circles. Then a section of the wall dropped down, revealing an alcove. There, the Dungeon Core floated, a brilliant amethyst gem.

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

Kaden approached and studied it. It was larger and far more brilliant than his own Dungeon’s Core. “You can re-open now. I’ll be leaving. Can you give me a portal so I don’t accidentally disturb anything?”

A blue portal opened before the core. An exit.

And beside it, a loot sphere shone.

“Sorry, no desire to get trapped and die. Your boss is one hell of a status dealer, and I just bet you have a brawler to back him up.” Kaden backed away.

“No. T-ra-p.” The Priest spoke, though it was less speech and more like sounds imitating the words. “Gi-ffft.”

Kaden reached out to touch the portal.

Leave Dungeon? [Y/N]

With the other hand, he took the loot container. And activated the portal.

A moment later he was standing outside.

Sweating.

“Trinity.” He summoned his TriTerror and let her crash into the brush. She couldn’t be trusted to not attack mobs, but how could he deny her a jungle? Gleaming parrots the size of bald eagles burst from the trees as Trinity sought a battle. Each trailed a mixture of solar and life mana in a green and yellow swirl.

Yellow like Trella’s Mana had been.

Would be.

The first month after her death, he’d gone down to check the enchantments daily. Then Eve had explained just how creepy it looked to have a man watching his dead lover’s corpse not rot. Instead he’d bought an alarm spell and had it linked to him.

Much less creepy, according to both Sara and Eve. The following months featured fewer basement visits.

Trinity emerged from the underbrush dragging an iguana that rotated between fire and ice, and gave a trill.

[Bi-guana]

The bi-guana is not to be mistaken with its cousin, the big-auna. Formed from overly friendly mana dependent versions of the iguana, instead of dying in a spectacular explosion when their egg formed, the bi-guana was born, alternating between fire and ice mana in a cycle that leaves Adventurers wishing they’d picked an easier target.

HP: 100

Mana: 25

Skills: Ice Aura, Flame Aura, Bite

It was an excellent low threat monster to add to his Dungeon, which was only rank two. Maybe he’d have them guard a treasure chest. Or a tree covered in them, with a chest in the center? So many choices. “Good girl, we’ll add her to the Dungeon when we get back. And I have a surprise for you.”

He was dripping as he reached the overgrown FarPortal ring, nestled into some ruins. The giant spiders he’d smashed on arrival were tucked away in Inventory for harvesting. Their hair formed a crafting component for snare spells, and Kaden could always use practice.

[Reap Materials] had gone up a level, and after a thousand uses, so had [Field Harvest]. The only effect he’d seen from either was a greater number of preserved hides. Level twenty four was not nearly so far off as he’d imagined. Daily runs of Adventurers in his dungeon kept a steady stream of minor XP coming in.

Ashi would be proud.

Ashi wasn’t there.

Kaden watched as the FarPortal blossomed open and he stepped through to his home Guild. Technically, he should have gone to the capital, where the adventurers were registered. Practically, they were all dead.

Kaden headed up the stairs, past the quarters, to the top floor, with Trinity behind him. “Tell him I’m ready.”

“The Guildmaster’s involved in something,” his assistant said, giving a smile that showed a second ring of razor sharp teeth behind her first.”

Kaden waited patiently. Not that patiently. Not patient at all. He paced back and forth until the screams of “I said I didn’t take it” cut off with a wet explosion.

A moment later, the assistant waved. “He’ll see you now.”

The Guildmaster’s office was the scene of a crime. Someone had splashed blood on a beautiful strawberry cake, ruining it, and splattered flesh across the leather upholstery and left what were either very long toes or very short fingers burning in the lamps on the walls. The Guildmaster, a thin black man with a bald head and gray beard sat at his desk, doing paperwork. “Kaden. Monster.”

Trinity ignored him and kept her hold on the [Bi-guana].

Kaden gave him a nod. “The healer dual classed as an assassin. Killed off his party when he thought the dungeon was over, got rolled by the secondary boss and locked in a cell. Would have eventually starved to death in a week or two.”

“Same story as always. Any corpses?”

Kaden dropped one Corpse Inventory on the desk. “Not saying they’re innocent, but they were definitely victims. You want the Healer?”

The Guildmaster gave a short shake. “Assassins can be the best Adventurer class, but the draw of quick levels by killing is powerful. I think we’ve seen what he’ll do. You want to use the incinerator?”

“Please.” He stood, and then had the good sense to ask. “Infernal Pearl. That a common treasure?”

“An Infernal Pearl? That mulick-brain killed his party over an [Infernal Pearl]? That I believe. Rare isn’t the right term. If you took it from his corpse, I’m going to have to demand you hand it over. I’ll pay.” The Guildmaster waited expectantly.

“I did not take one from his corpse, I swear by the System.”

The System has acknowledged and verified your oath.

“Interesting. Not ‘you don’t have one.’ But who am I to question such an honest oath? Be careful. It’s in essence an artifical monster core. Use them and you won’t want to use anything else because you advance so quickly. Then eventually you won’t be able to use anything else.” The Guildmaster went back to his paperwork.

Kaden recognized a dismissal. “Say someone had an [Infernal Pearl] and no interest in addiction, where do I go to trade or sell one?”

“Theoretically, the Kingdom Army recruiting center is where smart Adventurers go, but even better than that is to go to Egalion. It’s a small kingdom, barely larger than the city, but their lack of dungeons means their army is heavily dependent on cores. Now, leave.”

“Yes sir.” Kaden was happy to leave. He’d been putting off a coming quest, hoping Mr. Dervish would have good news. Hoping Ashi would return. Now, there was no time. He took the FarPortal back to his holding, welcoming the embrace of Dominion that lay over the Holding. Meant to keep the monsters in FangWood’s dungeon complex at bay, it also served to make him mostly secure.

It also told him where the others were.

Vip had sprinted into the far field, chasing a re-animated mana rat skeleton, possibly her favorite pastime. Sara worked her plants in the greenhouse. Eve was…in one of the servant’s quarters that had built for the Monster Surge. He sent Trinity to kill the [Bi-guana] in his dungeon and dumped Rocky out of his soul as well. The Rock Gobbler hated cold and damp and summer wouldn’t last forever.

“Hey.” He called out so he didn’t startle her as she tended rows of plants with her [Gardening] skill. “That one’s different. What are you growing?”

“Gardening reached level ten. I’m growing a trio of trumpets. Speed, healing, and one that will be dependent on what we fertilize it with.” Sara cleaned her hands and left the garden. “Did you find the party?”

“Same story as always. Healer dual classed as an Assassin and killed the party for an Infernal Pearl. Which I have.”

“Nasty treasure, never worth it,” Sara said. Her green pseudopods snaked out to examine Kaden up close. The tips unzipped to reveal four-way jaws filled with teeth, and one picked a leaf from his hair. “You are going to sell it, right?”

“In Egalion. No idea where it is, but they offer the most.”

Sara looked away, her mouth drawn tight. “It’s where James Dervish took you to be resurrected after you were killed at the gate. The main temple of Varun is there. Queen—”

“Bruna Barrister.” He hadn’t forgotten. “We’ll avoid her. Is it safe for Eve to come? She’s a Priestess of Varun’s dark half. I’d halfway expect them to burn her.”

“Nurav is a necessary and equal partner. Eve will be pitied, and probably unwelcome in the temple, but allowed. She’s been searching for Metami, going through what was left to try and understand where she might have gone. Oh, and Munoz is almost done with [Storm Condor] feathers. She’s been bringing them one at a time.”

The Shield Saint had sought anonymity. Kaden didn’t blame her. The Crafter sought trust, which he’d give as she earned it and not a moment sooner.

A moment later, he felt the Dungeon shift. Trinity had delivered a new [Entity Seed], allowing his dungeon to spawn them.

Having the dungeon at rank one had deepened the bond enough that he could see the status without being inside it.

Your Core requires Directed Mana x10,000 (acquired)

100x Adventurer Party (acquired)

25x [Entity Seeds] (acquired)

1x MiniBoss Seed (acquired)

Optional, Required for next Rank: 1x [Lieutenant Seed]

Banked for next rank: 13x [Entity Seeds], 2,344 Directed Mana

It was ready to grow. Ready for Rank Two, and level fifteen monsters, and more rooms—and a miniboss! The thought made Kaden happy. The rank up bonus, too, would be welcome. “I might make level twenty five when the dungeon ranks up. I gained two levels last time.”

“I doubt it. You were close to leveling already, and the road to twenty five is so long. Twenty five is the next level floor. The next tier. You’ll have to work for it. That said, I expect you’ll reach it long before any of the rest of us.” Sara waved as Eve emerged from one of the servant’s quarters. “Are you up for a trip?”

Eve had Portal Mage training of a sort. “Where are we gong?”

“Egalion, to sell an [Infernal Pearl] and then WhisperWood to sell enchanted pollen.”

Eve halted. “I’m not going to Egalion. You can, but I won’t. Do you have any idea how they’ll react to me? Let me tell you, it won’t be good. So, Whisperwood, certainly. Egalion, you go yourself.”

“We can do that. Kaden’s ready to rank up The Zoo as well.” With the surge ended, Sara had no qualms about a stronger dungeon. “Will you have side effects?

“Probably. I won’t raise the rank until we’re back. It won’t hurt anything, and I don’t want to rush.” Kaden whistled for Vip and waited until she came sprinting from the fields to leap into his arm—then pulled Rocky into his soul. “You’re coming with me. Just in case.”

*Love!* Vip said. And felt. Her life was simple, her needs easy. A warm bed, a bowl of food and some attention were worth more than all the gold coins in the world.

Kaden pulled her into his soul. “Let’s get this over with. I’ll negotiate for the pollen, you two can explore the Grove.”

“Druuuuiids,” Sara said, giving him a smile. “I could sing it with you.”

“You sing. I have other things to do.” Singing was off the table. That was exactly why he was going to handle negotiations.