★☆☆☆☆ - Mobs did not respawn.
A group came through before mine. There were no mobs in here before the boss. We’re not ready to take on the boss, so… what are we supposed to do? Waited for the dungeon respawn, but got no response. We gave up our spot at the dungeon across the valley for this - won’t make that mistake again.
★★★★☆ - SOCKS!!!!
Saw the boss and he is so cute!!!! We couldn’t go in because there were no mobs (knocked off one star for that), but I want to pet the fox.
The scream had helped. Kandra took a few moments to take stock of her dungeon. Another group had come in while she was talking to Calith. One to leave that one star, which Kandra couldn’t blame on anyone but herself. The other group had been creeping up towards Socks, ready to take the boss directly, but now they were turning around and running from the second room. Had they heard her scream somehow?
Kandra wanted to ask someone, but had no way to do so. Fine. The scream hadn’t just been for the release of stress. She waited.
Minutes later, Poffo walked into her dungeon. “Kandra. Is something wrong?”
Poffo nodded. “Ask a stupid question… I know you got a bad review. But I’ll make some groups go through tomorrow. Full quartz teams, to test your dungeon, and they’ll give honest reviews.”
Poffo hesitated. “That… is your right per the Pact. But after just two groups?”
The jester chuckled. “That last group ran because of your scream. Mortals usually can’t tell, but we’re not completely mind blind - and they were physically here when it happened. They felt the emotion behind it, even if they didn’t understand it.”
From Poffo’s expression, he didn’t believe her, but didn’t press her further. “I cannot keep my people from the other dungeon because you decided to do a reset. You will fall behind.”
“If you’re certain,” Poffo said. “Are you sure there isn’t anything I can help you with?”
Kandra remembered Fulsi’s warning about Poffo. But why would she trust anything Fulsi said? By the same token, however… a lack of knowledge had gotten her into this mess. Best to see what her next mentor thought before she did anything.
That done, Kandra sent out search terms, then tried to figure out how to relaunch. Something Poffo had said - that it was allowed by the Pact - gave Kandra an idea. By absorbing and then recreating the review stand, all the reviews vanished. Moments later, a three eyed crow appeared in her meshsite. “Dungeon Kandra,” it said. Her name was in a very voice than the word Dungeon, and that voice that had said the word Dungeon was the way the crow spoke for most of this. “It has come to our attention that you dissolved your Review Stand on The Third of Athil, 341 AW at Twelve Oh One PM. Your reviews have been stored here, and will be applied to your new stand, unless you were attempting to do a reset this year. If you intended to trigger a relaunch, please say “Relaunch,” “
“Relaunch” Kandra said.
The crow bobbed its head. “Annual relaunch has been taken. Since this relaunch is happening Zero Days after you first dungeon run of your first floor, an audit may be conducted of your dungeon to look for irregularities. You will hear back regarding the audit within One week. Thank you.”
Then the crow vanished, and Kandra sighed heavily. Her search avatar, one of the Skyrrows, returned while she waited. It had found what she needed. Using Calith’s instructions, Kandra inscribed into the mist the meshsite she needed.
VerdantCircleCentral.sbp
Moments later, she was rushing along the leylines. They spat her out in front of what could only be called a castle. No, a palace. One made of gold, with white silk banners, and bricks of pure silver. If it was made of matter, it would have been incomprehensibly expensive. Even here, it was shockingly gorgeous. Steeling herself, Kandra strode towards the entrance.
A man in front of the door held out his hand. He had to be a humanoid dungeon avatar, but he really looked like a bored human with topaz eyes. “Name and nature of your business?”
“Kandra,” she said. “And I’m here to file a complaint about my mentor dungeon.”
The man looked up at her. There was finally some emotion on his face, an expression of slight concern. “All right. Go ahead. Turn left at the desk and go up the stairs, third room on the right will be Council for Assignment of Mentors.”
Kandra didn’t stay to question this dungeon. He was clearly just here for the shells he’d earn doing a task too complex for avatars that worked like the search avatar did, and nothing more. Calith had mentioned that avatars could do more basic, mindless tasks on the Mesh.
Thinking of the Cabal dungeon brought another surge of complicated emotions. Calith had looked ashamed after that parting shot, now that Kandra thought back on it. And hadn’t Calith spouted something inappropriate to the arbiter during their negotiations? Maybe she just hadn’t been taught how to keep her thoughts in. Perhaps her mentor had skipped over that to instead teach her how to avoid getting killed by an unexpected advancement. That didn’t make what Calith said okay, but it helped Kandra get perspective. Even if Calith was trying to cut Kandra there, one harsh sentence shouldn’t undercut that Calith had saved her, and the price she demanded was… at least reasonable.
Kandra shook that thought aside and focused on her surroundings. The palace was as beautiful inside as out, at least. The carpets were luxurious and red, and the interior walls were warm shades of deep brown that made it feel like walking through a dense forest. Kandra went up to the door the guard had mentioned - and on it was Council for Assignment of Mentors, in gold script.
Inside were two other dungeons with quartz eyes, one with amethyst, all sitting in chairs facing another secretary. He saw her and waved her over. “What can I help you with?”
“I’m here to file a complaint against my mentor dungeon,” Kandra said.
The secretary raised his eyebrows. Interesting avatar design - his eyebrows were the fingers of a human hand, curled up against his forehead. They tapped his temple as he thought. “Name of your mentor and nature of the complaint?” he asked, still sounding like he was getting ready to brush her off.
“It’s Fulsi. She didn’t teach me how to advance to amethyst, and didn’t warn me of a possible advancement coming soon. If she hadn’t been present when I started to move to amethyst, I would have died.”
Finally, a flicker of something. The secretary leaned in. “What did she tell you about how to advance?” he asked.
“Nothing. I knew my letter grade was going up, but I had no idea the transition from Quartz to Amethyst involved anything other than just a smooth rank up.”
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
Now the secretary’s eyes narrowed. “Would you be willing to say the same thing under a truth compulsion aura?”
“Yes,” Kandra said. “Assuming the aura won’t harm me.”
“It doesn’t actually work on dungeons. But good to know you do it.” He looked her up and down. “I think you’re telling the truth. What’s your name?”
“Kandra”
One of the dungeons behind her shifted at her name, but Kandra didn’t look over her shoulder. She didn’t need to - the secretary nodded to him. “Come on over, Gellan.”
Gellan walked over. “I came here to file a complaint against Fulsi too,” he said. “She’d been spending all her time with one dungeon. You.”
“I’m sorry,” Kandra said. She didn’t mean it - it wasn’t her fault - but he seemed so dour. His avatar was that of a grey haired man with amethyst eyes. Eyes that Kandra realized would now look like her.
Gellan’s face split into a grin. “Don’t be. You being here corroborates my story.”
The secretary nodded. “Time allocation for mentors is subjective. But Kandra - how often was Fulsi away for more than a day?”
“Never,” Kandra said, glad that she was being taken seriously.
The secretary nodded, then looked up at Gellan. “Return to your meshsite and await my message. This dungeon takes priority because it was a life or death matter, but I will put your case as higher priority.”
Gellan bowed, and looked over at Kandra. “Lucky timing, that. We’ll talk more later.”
“I’d like that,” Kandra said. Then it was just her and the secretary. Other people were coming to collect the two other dungeons that had been waiting, and a new dungeon had shuffled in to wait for their turn. “I also have something to add,” Kandra said to the secretary. “She didn’t teach me how to search the mesh.”
That got the secretary’s attention. “She shouldn’t have let you get to amethyst without that. But… I see you came alone, may I ask who taught you how to navigate the Mesh? Did you figure it out on your own?” Suspicion creeped into his voice here - her story didn’t add up to him. Kandra couldn’t blame him for that.
“No. I was taught by another dungeon.” Kandra hated to say it, but she wasn’t going to lie now. “The only dungeon I could contact. A Cabal dungeon in telepathic range.”
The various sound coming from deeper in the office went silent. The secretary nearly dropped his pen. “You received lessons from a Cabal dungeon?” he asked.
“I had no choice,” Kandra said. She knew she sounded defensive. She didn’t care.
“You’re only, what, two or three weeks old?” He didn’t wait for her to answer. “If you had to receive instructions from a Cabal dungeon, that’s a mark against your mentor, not you.”
Tension faded from Kandra’s shoulders. “That’s a relief. Yes. It was the only way for me to access the Mesh.”
“I have to ask a couple more questions for completion’s sake. First, did you attempt to ask your mentor while she was present?”
“Yes,” Kandra said. “She told me to wait until I was… I forget if it was Quartz-AA or Quartz-AAA, but she also said that it wasn’t safe because of diseases. Higher ranks meant I was safer.”
The secretary’s eyebrows furrowed, and the pinky fingers of his eyebrow hands reached out to touch. “Strength has absolutely no impact on preventing malicious commands. It’s a knowledge issue, not a power issue.” He shook his head. “Second question: did you attempt to ask your mentor’s remnant after you realized you needed to come here?”
“I couldn’t,” Kandra said. “She pulled her remnant from my meshsite.”
Again, fury flashed through his eyes. “Did you banish it, or did she pull it?”
“How would I banish it?” Kandra asked. “I didn’t know that was something I could do.”
He sighed. “That’s answer enough.” He created a mob avatar and gave it the notes he’d taken on Kandra. The avatar ran off with a ghostly copy of the papers. “You couldn’t have done that accidentally. All right. Take a seat, I forwarded this information up as priority. Someone will be with you within the hour, at most. It’ll probably be sooner.”
Relief washed over Kandra. “Thank you. What do I need to know for the investigator? Will I be getting a new mentor?”
“I can’t answer those, but-” The message bearing avatar ran back, and hopped up onto the desk. It let a new paper flutter down. “But you can ask the investigator. He’s already ready for you. Come with me.”
The investigator was a man named Vakken. He wasn’t harsh, but what came next, apparently, was a dispassionate interrogation. It was all about Fulsi - what she said, what she did, what she promised, what she implied. Everything Fulsi had ever said to Kandra. Some of it touched on Calith briefly, but the Circle wasn’t too interested in a Quartz Cabal dungeon - other than making sure they knew what she was, and that she hadn’t given Kandra any command lines to put into her meshsite.
Just in case Kandra thought things were going to well, Vakken did have some bad news. The debts were legal, and they were far larger than what Kandra had imagined.
Ten thousand shells. With interest.
“What are you going to do about that?” Kandra asked. “I didn’t know what I was agreeing to.”
“You’re right, you didn’t,” Vakken said, leaning against the desk. “But the law doesn’t require comprehension for an agreement to be binding. Did she tell you an exact figure?”
Kandra shook her head, a sinking sensation filling her.
Vakken sighed heavily and sat back down across from her. His office was nice, but plain. He didn’t strike Kandra as a dungeon with much use for affection. “It’s scummy, and proposals to stop the practice have been in front of the Council a number of times, but it is legal if you agree to a nebulous debt. One thing those Cabal stains have over us - a poor defined debt is unenforceable.” He closed his eyes, thinking. “The best we can do is a sanction. She’ll be forced to keep the repayments low, so it doesn’t bankrupt you.”
Kandra took a harsh breath and stared straight into Vakken’s ruby eyes. “How many shells do amethyst dungeons make, on average, per day in my region?”
“Ten,” Vakken said without blinking.
“So a thousand days. Minimum. Not counting the interest.”
Vakken nodded.
“And that’s what you have for me? We’ll lower the repayments?”
“That’s better than most cores get,” Vakken said. “Listen, I get you’re upset, but-”
Kandra had been through the longest day of her short existence. She had no patience for this. Anger bubbled up, pouring from her lips before she could think, and a small part wondered if this was how Calith felt all the time. “How many shells do you make a day? At Ruby, I mean. What’s your daily income?”
Vakken pursed his lips. “About five grand.”
Kandra was too deep to back off now. “So… that’s two days for you. Imagine you got slapped with a five million shell debt when you didn’t even fully understand what debt was, and then you were told that person was bad, and was getting punished… but you still owe them the five million.”
“Look, kid,” Vakken said, pulling up a chair next to her. “It sucks. It absolutely does. But you’re already Amethyst. It could be worse.” He saw Kandra’s face and held up a hand. “Shells aren’t needed for anything involving life or death. If it was a mana debt, we’d have more options. But for this…” Vakken held up a hand and closed his eyes again. “Okay, maybe there is one thing I can do for. Because you’re not wrong that it’s a raw deal.” He opened his eyes and leaned in. “A friend of mine from back when I was amethyst myself is a mentor here. I can ask him to take you on and his student. Now, that doesn’t sound good at first, but hear me out.”
Kandra raised an eyebrow.
“My friend is really good at tight budgets. Both shells and mana budgets. Most cores don’t build their second floor until topaz. My buddy had one at Amethyst C. A second floor… do I need to tell you what that means?”
Kandra didn’t need him to tell her. “More adventurers. Faster levelling. Higher ranks.”
Vakken nodded. “Topaz dungeons make, on average, 50 shells a day. We can set your repayment to 5 a day, with four of those going to the principle and one going to interest. It’ll suck for the next few ranks, but once you rank up, it’ll be more manageable. She might try to pull you into arbitration once you hit a higher rank for a faster repayment, but that’s a ways away.”
“I want one more thing,” Kandra said. “I want Fulsi to stay away from me.”
“Can’t do that,” Vakken said. “Policy mandates she works with your new mentor as a retraining program.” Vakken saw Kandra’s face and grinned. “For what it’s worth, my buddy will make that a manifestation of hell for her. He’ll do it where you can’t see - too professional for that - but he can handle her.”
Kandra didn’t like that. At all. But at least there would be some catharsis in knowing Fulsi was suffering for it. “I’ll take what I can get,” she said.
Vakken nodded. “Lemme send a message to my friend, pull some strings. You’ll like him. He’s fine yelling at triple diamonds when the dumb bastard’s still Emerald, so you’ll get along.”
Kandra couldn’t tell if that was a compliment or reproach, so decided just to smile.
“And for what it’s worth, kid?” Vakken said. “You have my name. Fulsi starts treating you poorly again, and you don’t think my buddy is managing it, come to my meshsite directly. Leave a message if I’m not there. I’ll make damn sure it gets addressed.”
Kandra could only thank him. After that was the paperwork, and then the return to her dungeon.
It had been a long day. Kandra didn’t know if she could sleep, but wanted to find out. There was a message crow waiting for her. She motioned for it to speak.
“We didn’t get to talk at the Council,” a voice said. “I know we’re both busy fixing our dungeons from how Fulsi messed us up, but once we’re ready, I’ve set up a meeting hall for us - and a couple people who weren’t happy with Fulsi as their mentor either. Just search “I Survived Fulsi and All I Got Was This Lousy Group”, it’ll take you right to us. Glad you got free on your own. Looking forward to sharing stories. This is Gellan, by the way. Swing by the hall whenever, leave a remnant avatar behind. Once your new mentor teaches you how to, I mean.”
Kandra just sat in her core for a moment, processing what had just happened. The first day of her dungeon being open should have been an amazing day. Now, she was just glad to have survived it. But she would have a new mentor, she had an ally in Vakken, and Gellan might be her first chance of making an actual friend.
This wasn’t the first day of her dungeon being open. This was an admittedly disastrous test run.
In two days was when she’d open for real. And that time would be exactly what she hoped for.
Feeling better, Kandra set about changing her dungeon. The rophibins were the real problem. The frog leap, propelled by mammalian metabolism and focused into a horn was just too lethal a combination. At least… a horn that pierced.
Kandra looked at the rophibin template, then made an exact copy of it. She didn’t know if this would work. But the change didn’t impact blood, nerves, organs - only one part of the skeleton. If it was possible to make this kind of change, this was how to make it work.
She split the horn in half, and curled it back, folding it into a pair of curls that jutted above the rophibin’s head.
That would probably provide a better fight.