In the darkness of the old cabin that had been the dungeon entrance, Kaden read a string of Quest notifications.

Quest Master is active.

You have completed a quest: Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way - Successfully complete a Quest with your first Hunting Party.

You have completed a quest: Stand By Me - Do not have a single party member defect. Reward: [Dripping Dagger], [Plague Arrowhead].

You have completed a quest: A Rising Tide - Have a party member level in your hunting party. Reward: [Hex Ring], [Absolution Earings].

There was one other pending quest, and Kaden had to disband the Hunting Party to do so.

You have completed a quest: Stronger Together - Keep your Hunting Party alive. Reward: [Summoner’s Haircomb], [Summoner’s Gauntlet].

The Quest had never said it was loot for him. Or even stuff Sara could use.

On the long walk back to Verona, the Sisters chatted excitedly. Wyr had hit level twenty one, the others made good progress.

Trella let them walk ahead. “Get anything good?”

He shared the loot with her. “Haven’t checked any of it out. Dripping dagger decent?”

“Not if you have [Inkblades]. They’ve got a chance of proc’ing [Bleed]. Hey! You four! Fight it out among yourselves.” Trella toss the [Dripping Dagger] to them. “You didn’t say anything about the [Extreme Defiler] loot.”

“Necklace of Lust. Trust me, you don’t need it to convince me.”

Her laugh rang out in the falling light. “I sent a bird to Sara, Ashi and Eve. We could have been down there four days for all I know.”

By the time they reached Verona, night had fallen. The guards at the city gate ushered them inside, and Kaden headed toward the Guild while Trella exchanged a final conversation with her fellow [Shadow Blades].

Kaden watched them activate [Stealth] and slip away into the city, and waited for Trella. “I don’t think I’m challenging Sara for Party Leader any time soon.”

“Look at me.” Trella took both hands. “You and Sara and Eve and I got started really early. We have the advantage of relationships before we needed to rely on each other and we got to work out tactics when the stakes weren’t permanent death.”

“They didn’t know to check for loot. Or cursed loot.”

Trella shrugged. “I got a sweet Quest Bonus from mapping the dungeon completely. And of course, since every time you create a map, you get a new one, and [Quest Master] affects me, so I have four open maps. Two from the Fire Domain, two from here. And they’ll train others better. Have some faith.”

It was something Kaden needed to work on. “No response from Ashi or Eve or Trella. Ashi’s asleep in her guest tower. Sara and Eve, I don’t know about.”

“Let’s get Guild Quarters. I finished a Quest for the Guildmaster and want the reward. Also, need to figure out the loot.” He and Trella accepted their assigned quarters, ordered food and sat on the bed looking at a corroded brass ring.

[Hex Ring]

Protection from Status Effects. You may delay the onset of any status effects for any length of time. You may not defer them forever, and the more you defer, the more likely they will all take effect at once.

“That’s a hell of a protection,” Trella said.

Choosing when [Bleed] or [Stun] or anything else would happen would be powerful. “I think they’re meant to be used together. Absolution earings are like Sarah’s old Absolution Armor. They purge status effects over time.”

“She sold that to get me started with Alchemy. You’re going to offer her the summoner’s gear?”

“Yeah. The hair comb increased the HP of summoned creatures, the gauntlet increases their attack. Not likely she’ll want the hair comb, her crawling horrors have to die to explode and her Cosmic Horror has HP that’s meaningless.” Kaden relaxed back on the bed. “I hope the others have had some success clearing Quests. I hope Ashi found Adventurers to run my dungeon. I want to return that Inheritance package and find out what happened to Cutter.”

“Tomorrow.” Trella said.

He could wait that long.

###

Morning came late because for the first time in months, Kaden slept in. When he woke, the room was empty. Trella’s crow sat by his bedside and spoke. “Made a quick trip to ShadowVale—and I do mean quick—be back this afternoon.”

Kaden dressed and grabbed breakfast downstairs. He didn’t need to summon Trinity but the TriTerror always made moving crowds easier, so he headed up to meet with the GuildMaster, who listened to his recap and his explanation. “So, the core is smashed, the dungeon’s gone. I have a [Sword of Greed] and [Necklace of Lust] and no idea what to do with them.”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Get an Artificer to give you a quote. They buy equipment like that all the time. Quest is complete, you’ll get prompted to pick a mana core. It’s good to have you working.” He shook Kaden’s hand and ushered him out of the office.

Kaden pulled up his reward entries.

You have received 2x: Mana Core (Choice).

The first choice was easy—storm mana would allow Remembrance to shock targets. The second was more difficult. Life would raise his health, fire would burn. Oh, Kaden knew the answer for the second. Void. He snapped the core into Remembrance’s head. Every blow would negate power and siphon mana.

Wren would get first choice of the jewelry. Maintaining a good relationship with an [Artificer] would pay off for centuries. For now, Kaden went through the crafting commune, looking for Munoz. She worked at a stall, punching leather, and waved as he approached. “Ruman’s in the Southern Isles. There’s a raid party taking on Gigantorrod and he’s repairing armor.”

Kaden drew the Shadowrack hide. “Actually, looking for you. What’s a [Shifting Cloak], and if you were picking a crafter, who would you have make one?”

Munoz dropped her punch and rushed to check it out. “Oh, oh, this [Rogue] gear. Not a derived class, actual [Rogue] gear, not a thief, or an assassin, or even your lover. This is Class Gear for [Rogues]. Pennsie! Hey!”

She tore through the rows of the commune to stop at a seamstress, a short black woman with short cut hair. “Pennsie, meet Kaden Birch, more importantly, meet this.”

Pennsie shrieked with delight. “Shadowracks are the best! Except for the whole certain death thing. You want a [Shifting Cloak], right? I hope you do because the only thing this makes is a [Shifting Cloak].”

“I do. I would normally use Munoz for all my crafting, but if she’s willing?” Kaden looked to her, knowing the answer.

“I’m willing. We’ll talk later about that [Griggle] Leather I keep hearing you have.” Munoze looked to Kaden. “Come by when you’re done if you need something else.”

For now, Kaden haggled with Pennsie, using the chance to work on [Negotiation], and settled on four gold for her to stitch the hide into a proper cloak, which would take a few days. Four gold felt like a lot when the hide itself held most of the magical properties, but for now, Kaden could afford it.

A sparkling dragon landed on Kaden and spoke, a message from Ashi. “Your dungeon is ready to raise its rank and I have arranged a party for afterwards. Please do not delay.”

She said please.

Kaden hurried to the FarPortal with Trinity close behind, and stepped through to the Holding.

From there it was easy to Portal to the dungeon itself, and step inside.

Ashi waited just inside, hovering with legs crossed and eyes closed. Her skin was entirely turqoise and when she opened her eyes, they glowed blue. “Such speed. Understand, I have thought about how to protect you during the rank up. Each time will be more difficult, so our preparation must be better. If you will allow, I will upgrade the monsters and make basic changes.”

“Absolutely.” Kaden let Trinity wander.

It was time, the core felt stuffed, the dungeon over-full.

He selected the status.

Rank up.

Yes.

The world expanded outward as though he’d let out a deep breath of air and could finally take a new one.

Dungeon Rank increased.

New level cap: 20

Bond Level: 3

New capabilites: Generate Loot

Your Core requires Directed Mana x200,000

2000x Adventurer Party

200x [Entity Seeds] (38x aquired)

3x Lieutenant Seed (acquired)

20x Loot Seed (11x acquired)

1x [Secondary Boss] (acquired)

As fast as it came, the directed mana dropped. Ashi moved through the dungeon, raising monster levels and adjusting spawns. “This time, we will not add additional monsters immediately. Let them adapt to the higher level first. And you received [Generate Loot], did you not?”

Kaden felt nauseus. “Yes. What does it do?”

“It allows you to reward your allies with loot as though they completed the dungeon, but it will not be truly useful until next rank, when what you generate is useful to your party.” Ashi pushed with her will, and the staging room expanded. Grapes grew on side, and herbs among the trees. “Now, teams may retreat here and prepare if the first battle does not go well.”

Kaden released the [Shrieker] seed. “I don’t want demons but it counts toward the requirements.”

“Tell me of this dungeon.”

With Ashi at his side, Kaden worked through different rooms, explaining about the traps. The instant death. The unfair monsters. “It wasn’t erratic. I literally couldn’t smash it.”

“Do not weep for a punishment earned. I found something most curious.” Ashi had reached the farmhouse and hopped on top of the wishing well, before dropping down. “Come and see.”

“Oh, the core made it. It’s a bonus room.” Kaden followed—and landed in the middle of an underground dungeon. Gone was the mage’s study room, replaced with a maze of bars and stone. “This is new.”

“Indeed. The Core has made this. See? Centipedes. And Spiders, and a pit trap.” Ashi made adjustments as she passed, increasing the size and rank of the centipedes and camoflaging the pit trap. “This room, the bedroom, I feel was first. The others do not have the same style. They are ‘soft’ and bland.”

There was the original mage’s study with its spellbook loot. “Dungeons are supposed to tell a story. I have no idea what story this is.”

“Let it be,” Ashi replied. “That the Core moves at all is a miracle. Every story is evolving, every story has portions. Do you recall the legend of Ten Toes, the thief, and his pet duck?”

“No. Missed that one in the whole psycho-brother-trying-to-kill-me.”

Ashi worked on each of the bars, adding rust and moss and warping them. “The Duck. What means the duck? We do not know. It is there, always he speaks to it, but the Duck is only present for Ten Toes’s crimes. This is present. It is the Duck to your Dungeon.”

Kaden climbed back out and expanded one of the winery fields. “I want expand the bog section and it’s going to branch off the forests this way eventually.”

“When you can afford the mana, yes.” Ashi flexed her will, and the forest thinned. From beyond it came the smell of stale water and moss and mud. “Let us tell adventurers of what comes. Let them look between the trees and see. Let them listen and hear the buzz of wings and the splash of water. But is this not also a ‘Duck’?”

“Can’t have too many ducks,” Kaden said. “How do I get through the first runs?”

Ashi produced something from Inventory, a leather bag that currently was only a foot long and wide. Neganta’s Larder, the bag that the Cyclops used to collect his victims. “You cannot escape from this. Even your skills will not allow you to attack the Adventurers. When a few runs have passed, the worst will be over.”

It was a solid plan. “How do we do this?”

Ashi grimaced. “You must enter. It is dark there. Monsters roam, and everywhere are the remnants of those who did not endure long enough to be devoured.”

“I’ll be fine. Somewhat.” Kaden took the bag and stretched it over his head. “Going to need a little—”

The mouth of the sack convulsed, yanking him forward—and then he was falling.