Kevin groggily raised his head from his pillow. "Ugh...What?"
He blinked the sleep out of his eyes, sitting up to find the familiar screen in front of him, asking him to accept the Core's summoning of more dungeon mobs.
"The heck do we need these for," he muttered, pushing the screen out of his face.
Kevin rolled his eyes and pressed decline. "We're a bakery, Jeffrey, not some murder-hobo killing ground. Just make them some cake and be done with it."
the Core whined.
As he stood up from the cot, he was promptly confronted with more screens asking him for summoning permissions. He declined them, again. "So what am I supposed to do? Just make a better cake!"
"Calm down," Kevin sighed, stretching his sore limbs. "You can just revive me, can't you?"
"Can't you?"
<...Yes.>
"Then we're all good!"
----------------------------------------
"What a waste of a Tower," Lavar muttered, shaking the goblin guts off of her sword blade.
"Are you sure it's a good idea to kill the Core?" Saira murmured, idly rubbing her red knuckles. "It could still be useful."
"Nah," the Elf replied. "The goblin at the front said it itself; the Manager is a complete idiot. I doubt we could get anything worth from this place."
Rayn, the big oaf, was pacing through the gore and blood splattered on the floor, muttering to himself. He was against this plan from the start, convinced that killing the Core was going to be a monumental mistake. Luckily, he hadn't made too big of a fuss. He'd learned from the last time he'd tried to duel her apparently.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
She smirked as he stopped at the broken body of the fattest goblin in the Tower, staring down at it in disgust. Belo had been the one to kill it, his body a whirlwind of death and destruction. She appreciated his fighting abilities; he'd finished it off with smooth, precise jabs to its neck and gut with the finesse of a true [Monk]. If only he hadn't taken that purity vow...
Lavar found it ironic that [Monks] would partake in fierce, bloody battles but abstained from other, less deadly types of pleasure. Although depending on who you took to bed, you weren't always guaranteed life afterward. She remembered quite vividly the night she'd spent with a Croc-Man when he'd tried to-
"So, uh, there's one room left," a nasal voice spoke, bringing her back to the present. Vagis was gesturing toward the door on the far side of the kitchen with his dagger. "I'm guessing we'll find the Manager in there."
"There aren't any maps for this place," Rayn said. "How do you know?"
Vagis scratched the back of his head. "Well, I was pretty disappointed after my first delve so I did a bit of reading. I figured that a new Tower Core couldn't have all that many points after it revives its Manager and I know it's pretty costly to make such a big shop and kitchen. I didn't think it could have a lot of cash for more stuff and we haven't seen the Manager elsewhere so..."
"I didn't think you'd have the capacity to make such conclusions," Lavar said snidely.
He scowled and crossed his arms. "Yeah, well, maybe if your head wasn't shoved so far up your-"
"Okay!" Saira interrupted, clapping her large hands together. "Let's get going. Cores fetch a pretty price and my purse feels a little too light."
Belo nodded and just like that, they were moving forward, weapons at the ready. Vagis was at the door first with Rayn just behind him, shield up. He made sure Vagis had ample room to jump back in case something tried to stab the kid. Lavar stepped up to Rayn's right, Belo to his left, and Saira just behind. When everyone was in place, Rayn nodded to the [Scout].
The kid pressed his hand against the door and whispered a skill name, checking for traps no doubt. Saira had said the Manager made the Core remove all traps but it didn't hurt to be cautious.
"You always say your skill names out loud?" Lavar muttered.
"Shut up," Rayn hissed.
The Elf rolled her eyes but made no further comment, content to wait. When Vagis's skill came up empty, he pulled out a squeaky toy and nudged open the door. Throwing it in, he hurriedly closed the door and waited. Again, nothing happened.
Lavar huffed and shifted impatiently in her spot. Why would this idiot hurry up already? There weren't any traps and likely no other monsters. They'd taken care of the One-Stop-Shops and the Baker Gobs. The only thing that stood between her and a boatload of coins was the Manager and she knew he wouldn't put up much of a fight. She opened her mouth to complain again when he threw open the door and jumped to the side.
Rayn charged into the next room, roaring out a battle cry. Lavar moved to follow but the [Warrior] abruptly stopped moving.
"Um..." He lowered his shield and turned to face them. "The, uh...The Manager's dead."
Lavar dropped out of her battle stance and stared at him. "What?"
"There are these ultra-hot Baker Gobs lying over a really torn up body." He stepped aside to let the others see.
Lavar gaped at the bloody sight. "What...happened?"
"The Core might've snapped," Saira mused. "He didn't seem like the type to adhere to common sense so when things got bad, well..."
Rayn ran his fingers through his hair. "Okay, uh...Vagis, find the Core. Nothing left to get from here."
"Sir yes sir."