A/N: As of the last time I checked the comments, the riddle has not been solved. But Faquarl has earned a consolation prize for coming close. The family has been renamed from Fa to Faquarl.
Update: Faquarl has redeemed theirself by being the first to post the correct answer. It will now be revealed in-story. Reward to be mentioned later.
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The family whispered amongst themselves as the timer grew brighter beneath their feet.
"I think it's book," said the son.
"That was my first thought as well," said the mother. "But Riddle Doors are known to be finicky. The answer of 'book' does not quite fit."
"Why not?"
The mother answered, pointing out a pattern that the Riddle door had established, and the boy's eyebrows furrowed.
"Can you repeat the riddle?" he asked of the door.
It obliged, though the timer did not stop.
"Oh, I know!" Alitha said in sudden excitement. "It's page!"
The Riddle Door swung open.
"My, oh, my, you are correct,
Though cheating I do suspect,
Go forth before I elect,
To change my mind and hit eject!"
The Faquarl family did not hesitate to get off the teleportation pad and into the slowly-forming Crystal Cube room. They glanced around curiously, but the mother hurried them along when she saw that nothing would bar their way.
Rori's current I/M was only being used for one boss room, two traps, and a temporary floor panel, so he had enough to spare for another non-boss room. He did not, however, have enough room capacity, and he hadn't accumulated enough mana to level up.
Meaning I should do THIS.
Confirm: Power 2->3?
Confirm. Rooms.
1_Basic Boss Room (Randomized): 99% | …
2_Basic Trap Room (Randomized): 33% | …
3_Basic Obstacle Room (Randomized): 33% | …
4_Basic Zone Room (Randomized): 33% | …
5_Basic Mob Room (Randomized): 33% | …
6_Basic Economy Room (Randomized): 27% | …
7_Basic Trap/Obstacle Room (Randomized): 66% | …
8_Basic Trap/Zone Room (Randomized): 66% | …
9_Basic Trap/Mob Room (Randomized): 66% | …
10_Basic Trap/Economy Room (Randomized): 53% | …
Page: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11,…
Hm… looks like I'm at the mob limit as well. So let's go to page two and try a Basic Obstacle/Zone room.
Hopefully it would be another self-renewing room type like the Riddle Door. Having no time to look through options, he went with the randomized version. He Placed it in front of the delvers and fetched its Description.
Basic Zone/Obstacle Room: Equalized Monkey Business (Harmless): 66% | …
Room Contribution: 1
Zone Contribution: 1
Equalized Monkey Business, Description.
Basic Obstacle: Monkey Business (Harmless)
An acrobatic obstacle course. Adjusts itself based on the size and species of the challenger. Should they fall and fail, they will be ejected from the dungeon.
Okay, but where's the zone's description-
"HEY!! Why're my stats at two?! That's not fair!!"
"Yeah, what gives?" the boy echoed his sister. Like her, he seemed to focus on the air in front of him. "I worked hard for my strength!" His arms, as far as Rori could see, were rail-thin. "I've got more than three!"
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
"As do I," said the mother, sounding a bit worried. "It seems we have all been handicapped. A special dungeon indeed." Her eyes refocused on the room itself, which contained a monkey bar maze suspended over an empty pit. "No matter, this looks simple enough."
"You think we can do it without our stats?" asked the teenage girl nervously.
"Even if we can't," said the mother, "I much prefer that-" she pointed at the pit below the obstacles, which contained a floor that looked like it was made of cushions "-to a spike pit."
"Hmm," said the boy, eyeing the challenge. "Good point. Who needs stats anyway? Watch and learn!" The boy practically threw himself at the monkey bars.
The mother sighed and crossed her arms, while the sister rolled her eyes. They seemed content to sit back and watch.
As the teen swung from bar to bar, Rori checked the other part of the Room's description. Equalized, Description.
Basic Zone: Equalized (Harmless)
Exclusive to Harmless dungeons, this zone caps all delver stats according to the floor core's attributes, and prevents the use of spells or items at tiers higher than the floor core's tier.
"Little- help- here?" asked the boy's strained voice. He was barely halfway across, and he had stopped moving, now hanging from a single bar.
"Aid: Respite," the mother intoned in the Invocita language.
The boy seemed to get a second wind, and he completed the monkey bar maze just as he started to flag again.
"Hey, awesome!" he said as he hopped in place and shook his raw hands. "Natural strength up! I've never had one of those before!"
"Will wonders never cease," said the mother. Rori couldn't tell if she was mocking or serious. "Your turn, Ali," she said to her daughter, lifting her up so she was hanging from the bars. "Go on, I'll restore you as you swing."
She needed more aid than her older brother, but she made it across as well. Like her brother, she said something about a natural strength up.
Then it was the mother's turn. She only needed help once – provided by her daughter, not herself. When she landed, she hummed in approval. "Let's keep moving. Another party might be catching up."
She wasn't wrong. The older man and younger boy were still lost, but a more competent-looking group had entered back when Rori leveled up, and they were almost to the Riddle room.
Luckily for the family of three, and unluckily for Rori, the Faquarls had already reached the core room, and he had no more I/M to spare. There was only one thing he might be able to try.
"We all touch it on three," said the mother. "One, two three."
Conquerors have reached core…
HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR ME?
There was a shout of indignation from the boy. "WHAT?! Hey, I conquered you fair and square! Where's my breakthrough?"
IS THAT A YES?
"WE conquered it," corrected the mother. "And it seems we got here too early. This core just formed, and there are three of us. As of right now, our breakthroughs will not come unless we destroy the core." She sounded bitter about that.
"But isn't that-"
"Yes," she interrupted her daughter sharply. "It is. Our best bet is to wait for it to gather more mana."
Waiting won't help. I'm capped below the reward threshold and I used up most of my starting budget. By now he knew he was talking to himself, but it was better than nothing. And what do you mean 'it is'?
"Illegal for us, you mean," the boy grumbled, sounding as bitter as his mother.
Ah, got it.
"Correct," said the woman. "Extremely so in this case, or so I suspect."
"Why?" asked the girl, as the boy's expression darkened further.
Yes, why? All three still had their hands on the core, preventing Rori from taking any action at all, other than pretending to be a part of their conversation.
"The previous core that spawned here was a national treasure. But this? A harmless dungeon?" the mother asked rhetorically. "Priceless. The world's first safe farm. The powers that be are going to be salivating when they learn." She glanced around at the décor and gave a derisive snort. "Fitting."
Something in the seething boy seemed to snap. "Screw them! I'm getting my class!"
"NO-!"
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Clac is beginning to suspect this core is trying to get itself destroyed. Twice could be coincidence – there are all manner of monsters, primitive sapients, and short-sighted delvers that wouldn't hesitate to smash a core.
But to be destroyed so quickly in the heart of a nation as civilized and knowledgeable as the Eseldric Union… That would take a great deal of competence, a great deal of incompetence, or a considerable amount of bad luck.
Regardless, Clac now had a lead.
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Alert! Integrity Failure Detected in Core ID: 0.0.931-50.
Initializing SOP… //Standard Operating Procedures
Rori watched the typeface scroll by. Again, no differences except the one.
That's what you get for trusting the untrustworthy, Rori thought. Glad to be out of there.
True, he wanted to talk with people again, but until he figured out how, it was just needlessly torturing himself to be so close, yet so far. He gazed at the first list of Danger Levels, considering what he had just heard.
So, dungeon-farming is a thing. His gaze roamed the 11 lethality levels. And certain dungeons make better farms than others. His gaze settled on his go-to. Would it even be all that bad? My mana would be stolen on a regular basis, but I'd be… MOSTLY safe from destruction. Barring impulsive teenagers. And I might even find a way to talk to the farmers.
He oscillated for a while, but ultimately decided to stick with his original plan.
I still want to see all the variants. If 'the powers that be' try to farm me, there's no telling how long it will be. For now I'll stick to remote-sounding regions. Zero, Confirm. Expanse, Confirm. Ordinary, Confirm.
Choose 'Ordinary Expanse' Variant:
Culling Fields
Demonic Copse
Stark Savannah
Rolling Plains
Mellow Meadows
Drafts…
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For once, Clac ignored the core's most recent spawning. If the pattern held, it would be destroyed long before he could hope to reach it.
So instead he focused on his search for anyone who had come into contact with the dungeon. Hopefully he would find them before the Eseldric officials did.
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Confirm: 'Stark Savannah'?
Confirm.
Finalizing SOP-ACRP…
Success!
Spawning Core ID: 0.0.931-51…