Seraphina looked down at Veronica's sleeping form. She had done her best to make her comfortable, but she doubted any amount of pillows and blankets would be able to make the cold, hard stone floor feel comfortable. It had been a bit sudden, but not unexpected when the dungeon core forced Veronica into a hibernation state. Unfortunately, it wasn't something that Seraphina could do much about.
The dungeon accords as well as the very strict regulations she was under as a dungeon diplomat forced her to take a very passive stance when it came to guiding the Dungeon Masters under her watch. It was thought to be for the best that dungeons be allowed to grow, change, and adapt at their own pace with very little outside interference. However, it was exactly because Veronica, an outsider to this world and an anomaly, was left to her own devices that it had resulted in this forced hibernation state.
Dungeons were an important part of this world's ecosystem and everything was meant to remain in balance. The dungeon cores chose who or what to become bonded to based on what it felt was most fitting. No one really knew much about what criteria was involved or what made some dungeon cores and the systems related to them more unique than others. However, these bonds were considered sacred and were to be respected. No matter whether the Dungeon Master started out as a weak rabbit or a strong S-rank adventurer, they would be shown the utmost respect once they bonded to a dungeon.
Seraphina sighed as she sat down on the stone steps leading up to the dungeon core. Most concepts regarding how dungeons worked were simple, but even the people of this world often didn't understand how things were meant to work. The misunderstandings weren't just limited to adventurers, who often chose to be ignorant, but they often involved the Dungeon Masters and even the council in her village was often uncertain on many matters.
Veronica certainly seemed to be rather misguided in her attempts to manage her dungeon. She was too cautious and aggressive in her attempts to keep everyone away. Her first floor challenge rooms kept leading to adventurers being stuck in them, unable to continue forward or return the way they came. They weren't necessarily lethal at face value, but they were still likely to lead to a sharp decline in dungeon traffic until this dungeon became known as a 'failed' dungeon if the trend continued. Besides which, Veronica was building far too quickly, not taking nearly enough time to learn more about her situation and adapt to the results her current setup was seeing.
Seraphina had tried to encourage the young woman to slow down, to pace herself, but that was about all she could do. She constantly had to bite her tongue to prevent herself from mentioning just how bad of an idea it was to scare adventurers away. Truthfully, dungeons weren't meant to be truly dangerous until after the tenth floor, at least, not for adventurers. Maybe a boss [Monster] might be a bit difficult to conquer and the unprepared adventurers might perish in the process of pushing to the next floor, but that was a different matter entirely.
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Seraphina wished she was better with her words as she looked down at Veronica's sleeping face. Maybe if she could properly convey just how delicate an ecosystem a dungeon was, she could save the young woman from herself. Adventurers were necessary if the dungeon was to grow stronger in the future. Dungeons helped them grow stronger so they could protect their homes from the same wild [Monsters] that threatened dungeons like hers.
It wasn't like Veronica was the first Dungeon Master to overdo things. Many of them tended to be recluses that wanted nothing to do with people. They'd build their dungeons and hide up on the highest levels, refusing to meet with anyone but the most 'worthy' and 'interesting' adventurers. Some even ended up bloodthirsty and their dungeons became known for the sheer violence as every adventure became a bloodbath. If the rest of the dungeon was interesting enough, that didn't always lead to a 'failed' dungeon, but it was a careful balance that Seraphina wasn't sure Veronica could manage.
Well, only time would tell how things would turn out. Seraphina would do her best to keep Veronica and the dungeon core safe until she awoke once more. Most dungeon cores wouldn't have taken a chance doing something as drastic as this so early on. She supposed she should be grateful that the dungeon was deemed safe enough from threats then. Perhaps the dungeon core recognized her presence or, perhaps, it simply felt the challenge rooms and [Monster] fields were just that overpowered, it was hard to tell.
It was a shame that Veronica wouldn't be able to further her martial arts training in the meantime. Seraphina had been a bit concerned that she wouldn't have enough time to train the young woman before the first floor was completed. As it was, she was certain that the dungeon qualified as being half complete already. All Veronica should need before she can unlock the next floor is a boss room and enough resources to pay for it. It was a bit insane to think of just how fast she was building considering it hadn't even been a full two weeks yet. Seraphina had been hoping she'd have, at least, a season to teach her what she knew, but she doubted Veronica would slow down after she awoke.
More than likely, she'd end up being blamed by the young woman. Seraphina just hoped she didn't insist on demanding a new dungeon diplomat be assigned to her, thinking she had betrayed her. She'd never personally experienced having the bond broken, but she had heard horror stories of just how painful it could be. Oftentimes, it would even result in the dungeon diplomat dying as the experience was too traumatic. Things were easier on the dungeon since there were already so many regulations in place and there was both a Dungeon Master and dungeon core to share the burden. The new dungeon diplomat would be selected by the dungeon cores based on who was seen as most suitable. Still, it would be a shame for her other clients to have to adjust to someone new and she hardly wanted to die for something that wasn't even her fault.