‘I never would have imagined they would realize the wall was thin,’ the Core had to confess, not entirely sure how it had gotten itself out of that dilemma without breaking the format. The first encounter had been quite important to get right and while there had been some hiccups along the way, it was slowly easing into the idea that it hadn’t done too badly. There was the screaming going on, yes, but that was overshadowed by one simple fact. It had levelled up.
Congratulations!
You have levelled up and reached level [10] You have been granted [2] attribute points.
It really didn’t understand what system there was for giving out attribute points. Some levels had given one, some had given nothing at all, and now it turned out that it could give two as well. What point was there to it other than just confusing the entity? Adding them all up brought nothing as it didn’t match with the current level but what else was there to do? Would it turn into one hundred granted points when it reached level hundred? Or would the amount grant grow with each level? Now that it had reached the double digits in levels, there was a chance that the granting of two attribute points would be a mainstay kind of thing. Though, there was one way to know for sure.
‘Indeed, little rock. Throwing another one of your kind against the wall is not something I expected from such delicate flesh bags. They do surprise us all no matter how much time we spend around them,’ Mother Carapace said as she walked among her children and the Core’s underlings. Or well, the Entity supposed there was also the Otter sleeping in the corner, the creature having been called in earlier. The Ant Queen had sensed new energy in the air and had advised the Core not to have anything too fragile outside. ‘Yet that ingenuity is what allowed them to get out so I have no real reason to doubt their intelligence. The results are more important than the method used to get there, no matter how much I want to question it at some points.’
The Core wanted to correct the Queen about the ‘getting out alive’ part since it could very much still hear the screams going on inside the Dungeon. The Ant was taking their time fulfilling their orders, though the Entity supposed that such complex tasks would require more thinking in their lines of duty. Not being hit while it was happening was perhaps another thing. That [Druid] was perhaps one of the wriggliest being the Core had ever had the displeasure of looking at. It was not giving up easily.
Though… there was still one [Enlightened] which hasn't been caught in the Core’s clutches. Not that such a thing was accidental, however, the Entity very much had done it on purpose. In fact, it would have been forced to try letting it escape again if not for the first one being successful.
‘Should it be fine if I send out a pulse to make sure they have left?’ the Core asked the Queen, making sure any major moves had been overviewed by her. ‘The [Hunter] shouldn’t have any [Mana-Sense] related skills, after all.’
‘Taking a chance just because the hunter might not have it is not smart at all, little one,’ the Queen answered calmly as she weaved through her children one last time, making sure all were without injury. At least those still alive, a few having been lost in battle. The Core had been quick to replace those with new ones. ‘You are meant to be a Being only working with pure instinct, less than half a year old and barely able to tell up from down. Don’t you think it would be quite peculiar for a mere babe to look out into the world outside of its own body?’
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
… The Queen did have a point and certainly a strong one at that. Yet the Core couldn’t help but still feel some desire for just what was going on out there. The arrows that had flown past the trees and into the one meant to be an ally had intrigued the Entity. Just what kind of thoughts had been going through that person’s head?
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Stocus had been the [Warden] of the Warfield Institution for the last four decades of his life. He had grown up in it, his dad having been a mere [Guard] by the outer gates, yet he had shown his worth by fending off the strongest of the prisoners, bending each to his will. And with that strength, with that sheer fortitude, he had survived for as long as he had. He had never blinked in the eye of danger, had never thought of looking behind his shoulder in the night, and had never doubted himself for a moment.
Yet… for the first time in his life, Stocus Ironborn, third of his name, wondered if his ears were starting to get clogged.
“Repeat your previous report, [Hunter]” the now-attentive [Warden] ordered the woman in front of his desk. According to the skimmed report, she had been the one meant to escort a group of adventurers out and find the source behind the impure water. The suspected reason had been a form of higher-levelled beast so a veteran adventure had been commissioned, though they had brought an entourage of weaklings who had apparently decided to die in the line of duty. It happened sometimes and Stocus was hardly surprised it would happen to the newer ones. Yet what was it that had killed the [Veteran Adventurer]?
“It is of my current belief that the group I escorted out to the relic found the source of impurity to be a [Dungeon], sir,” the Hunter, who was apparently called Aloy according to the document in front of the Warden. There was no last name which wasn’t too surprising. Not many people and likewise no large requirement to identify people with more than a short name.
Thinking over the words once again, Stocus was sad to hear that, not wanting to deal with a few facts outside of what he just heard. The team sent out had been a pair of new mercenaries, yes, but among them had been a rather wealthy noble child. Not a direct inheritor, which was a given since they were out in the middle of nowhere special, but the fact still remained that it had been a very large threat to the current state of the prison.
“These mercenaries that you escorted,” Stocus began, his deeper tone going a notch further down as he grew more serious. The frown on his face was omnipresent yet his words seemingly made the hunter take a step back. “Am I to assume that they are waiting outside that door for their reward?”
“No, sir. Three of them fell while residing in the dungeon. The final one was killed by my hand after I witnessed the mercenary killing another of his own,” the Hunter reported, every word just making it words. The amount of paperwork to get it all cleared up.
A full wipe wasn’t something anybody wanted to deal with but when the murder of one's fellows was put into the spectrum, it became another whole idea. Though, there was one other facet that the [Warden] wanted to make sure of.
“Which one of them did you kill?” Stocus questioned, taking a glance at the fingers of the Hunter. With the small pieces of lost skin, a bow was the favoured weapon. The murder itself could have been done with the knife conveniently in the woman’s belt, but he doubted that a skinning knife would have been used in such a way.
“The Druid, sir. I believe his name was noted down as Buck,” the hunter answered, clearly prepared for that answer. No wonder there, though. Even the less merciful usually remembered who they had killed in cold blood for at least five hours.
Buck… running through the list of nobles, the [Warden] couldn’t remember anybody by that name who was important enough to be related to that noble name. That certainly helped move things along. If the woman had killed the noble, Stocus would have been forced to report it to preserve the honour of the facility. Instead, he just had to say that the mercenary had died gracefully in combat. Yet, the nobles would very likely want a better answer than that.
“You said it was in a Dungeon, correct?” he asked, receiving a swift nod in response. “Then I suppose we will have to report our findings to the Guild. Good work, Hunter. Your efforts will be rewarded.”
The Warden felt a need to get back into his old drinking habits as the woman left his office. Fifteen years without an attack. Ten without a single prisoner rebellion. He had been hoping to break the record for overall lack of trouble yet it seemed fate was once again stopping him from finding enjoyment in his work.
“A [Dungeon], eh? It better be a good one. Else I’ll crush it myself.”
The work began anew once more. More than a few letters needed to be sent out within the day if he was going to have any chance at not getting blamed for the ordeal.