“I don’t believe it,” Theodore said with a frown.

After Blackwing had taken off with Idlewing in tow, heading towards my mansion which was being guarded by Rebecca. The rest of us had met the Adventurer’s Guild Guildmaster, Theodore. I’d recounted what had happened inside the dungeon.

“Would you like me to cast a truth spell and repeat myself?” I offered, a bit surprised that he doubted me.

“No, I believe you, I just don’t believe no one reported this to me yet! How long did you plan to sit on this information?!” Theodore was growing agitated.

“This happened yesterday,” I observe, “I’ve been a bit busy since then.”

“And what of the seven adventurers I sent with you? Why did no one report this?” Theodore growled.

“There was some sort of silence spell in effect, at least nothing could be heard through the glass wall that trapped Jason inside with that orc shaman,” Lance pointed out, “They might not have heard what the orc was saying.”

“How did you hear it, then?” James asked.

“I can read lips,” Lance said with a tiny smile.

I glanced at Lance in surprise, “Really?”

“It’s a useful skill, besides which, I have a sister who is deaf, she helped me learn when I was young. After that I just kept practicing, helps pass the time while guarding.” Lance explains.

“I’m certain that is the only reason you’ve learned such a skill,” James observes with a snort, “and not because you are a spy.”

“That’s a bit harsh,” Lance observes, “A spy is someone who sulks around the palace unnoticed, listening in. Perhaps with an invisibility spell? Don’t blame me for my little hobby.”

“Gentlemen, I don’t have time for this!” Theodore exclaims angrily, “I’ve got to organize a raid. An awakened dungeon core is not a small problem!”

“What’s an awakened dungeon core?” Conrad asks.

Theodore sighs, “Give me a minute, I’m going to get my secretary to start all my top-tier adventurers. Will probably take a few hours, but I want to get started…”

Wait for Theodore to return, and when he does, he is not along, a couple of adventurers have joined him, as well as a mousey looking woman who is scribbling notes at a frantic pace.

“So an awakened dungeon core is exactly what it sounds like. A dungeon core that is awake and taking an active role. It usually starts small, small changes to make things more “interesting” and escalates from there. Dungeon cores are normally sort of sleeping, handling things on automatic pilot, and that’s for the best. Awakened dungeon cores love to start trouble. It’s especially bad when the dungeon core is below someplace important. It’s one of the reasons why we don’t let the kingdoms handle their own dungeons. It always ends badly when dungeons meddle in politics.”

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“Are we sure that’s what is happening here?” James asks skeptically. “I have a hard time believing that all this time, this whole mess, is being caused by an inanimate object. In my experience, it’s always people doing things they shouldn’t that end up creating problems… I still think it is more likely that Alexander destroyed his communication device.”

“A dungeon core is a person, albeit a murderous sadistic one who harvests the souls of people dumb enough to be lured by the promise of easy treasure and dive inside.”

“Wait, what?” I ask.

“It’s all in the acceptance form to become an adventurer; I’m aware that if I die inside the dungeon, the dungeon may choose to enslave my soul and use it to make dungeon monsters. Any smart creature inside a dungeon, orc, goblin, or whatnot, probably has the soul of someone who died inside the dungeon. Luckily, they don’t keep any memories, so it’s not that bad.”

We all stare at the Guildleader.

“And people still agree to become adventurers?” I ask, incredulously.

Theodore shrugs. “It’s a living, besides being a dungeon monster isn’t that bad. You get to spend the rest of eternity fighting and coming back to life every time you die. I think there’s a northern religion that offers that as a reward for dying in battle, minus the memory loss thing. It’s better than going to hell, which reminds me...”

Theodore paused, took a deep breath, “Was there anything about the experience of fighting with the dungeon’s avatar that made you think of demons or hell?”

I think back to the encounter:

…I look up and it’s as if the ceiling has disappeared, a blood moon hangs overhead and from above a dark shape flies down. It’s a gigantic raven, much larger than Blackwing, the bird radiates something that feels like demonic energy, its blood-red eyes glowing the same fearsome color as the shaman, it lands on the orc’s staff and instantly I can feel a connection. The bird is feeding a torrent of power into the staff, making it available to the shaman.

“Maybe?” I say reluctantly.

“Yeah, I was afraid of that,” Theodore sighs, “Top reason for a dungeon core awakening is when a demon sneaks in and forms a pact. What sort of demon was it?”

“It was like an enormous raven. It fed mana to the shaman I was fighting, then left. It sort of came from a portal that looked like open sky, but there was a blood red moon overhead.”

“You saw an open portal to hell and didn’t think it was important?” Theodore was aghast. “Am I here for decoration? I know our two guilds don’t like to share information, but seriously?!”

“I thought it was some sort of illusion?” I defend myself.

“A giant raven?” James scoffed, “The only type of demon I can think of that matches that description is the legendary ancestors of familiars… but they all left hell. No one’s seen one in a few thousand years. Jason is probably right, it was likely just an illusion.”

I suddenly wished Blackwing was with me, either now or when that giant raven had appeared, to be able to offer her wisdom. I glanced at Sharpfang; he simply looked interested but had nothing to offer.

“Well, I don’t know as much about demons as you do,” Theodore said with a snide look at the inquisitor, “But dungeon cores don’t have much need to use illusions. They can bend reality to their will within their confines. And now we have a dungeon core working alongside a demon?”

Theodore turned to Conrad, “I’m officially asking for the kingdom to begin an evacuation of the capital. How soon can the army be mobilized? We need to prepare for the possibility of a dungeon break.”