The smell of bacon entering my nose arouses me from my slumber.
That's right, I'm still in the goblin village.
After tirelessly cooking away yesterday and working my way through the stores of meat and vegetables I possess. I decided to crash here again because there's no one else here and for the simple fact that I can. I was exhausted after making meal after meal and then having to search for more pots to store it in.
I now have an inventory of freshly cooked meals and I no longer have to rely on the first meal I made, Chicken Stew.
Hang on, Bacon?
Opening my eye's and immediately locking on the direction of the smell, I spot the familiar silver platter and fresh juices on my bedside table.
"Are the goblins back?"
'No, it would appear that they were not responsible for your meals in the first place.'
"What do you mean, Temi?"
'The food materialised there on its own accord. It would appear the dungeon is strong enough to conjure items with adventurers on the same floor.'
"I'm still don't understand what you mean, Temi. I'm not from Tironia remember and this is all a mystery to me?"
'Yes, yes, I remember. Dungeons can place monsters, traps or various objects on any one of the many floors they possess. Usually, however, a dungeon can not create or change anything on any floor that an adventurer is on.'
"So does that mean Abi is really strong then?"
'It would appear that she is stronger than the System originally had her designated as.'
"Nice, way to go girl."
At the moment there is a knock on my bedroom door. The mood turns quite tense as I have killed most of the goblins underground in Obling's feast hall. The one's that didn't die vacated this floor faster than a beach with a tsunami approaching its shores. I'm also a little worried that Abi might be a tad mad at me for ruining floor 26 with my explosion magic and that she may be seeking vengeance. Although the delightful smell eases up some of my concerns, I still approach the door slowly and with a careful approach, I turn the handle.
The door opens slowly revealing a woman, an actual 'as real as myself' human, knelt on one knee, in the hallway. Her emerald hair is short and tied back in a ponytail, revealing her beautiful face. Her eye's which are also the same colour and faced directly at my feet completely avoiding my gaze. She is dressed in what I can only describe as thieves clothing. A pitch-black, long-sleeved jacket hangs open revealing oversized breasts for her supposed profession. Or maybe they work better because they cause a distraction? A dark green blouse holds in place the mounds that lie beneath the jacket of night. Skintight black pants hug her in all the right places as she kneels before me as though she is a temptress and I am her bait.
Slowly, but without hesitation, she finally brings her gaze up to meet my own.
I've got to say the only reason it's playing out like this, is because she's caught me gobsmacked. I literally can't think of a single, eligible word to say to this gorgeous woman before, my mind still can't believe there's another person in front of me. Also if I even tried to, it would probably come out as mumbled garbage anyway. I'm better off not even attempting to say anything and letting her go first.
Her eye's are piercing my soul, or so I believe, looking directly into me to see what sort of man I am.
I wish I knew, I am still new after all.
She opens her mouth as though she is about to speak but stops midway, leaving it open a fraction revealing an even more beautiful pose before me. My heart goes weak and I swear she's using some type of charm attack, should I be careful or throw caution to wind after my latest victory. I take a step forward, closing what little distance was between us, to begin with. She does not change position, not even a fraction of her body moves, the only part of her that moves are her head as she has to raise it further to maintain eye contact.
As she stares in me, I notice a necklace made from pearls hanging from her neck, adding to her beauty. I can also see down into the temptation of darkness, between the crevices from heaven. Heart pounding hard, whilst trying to maintain a stoic demeanour, I place both hands on my hips before I weakly cough and address the beauty of death before me.
"Hey."
'That was pathetic.'
........
What can I say, I don't believe I was successful with the ladies in my previous life, I was hoping to get more than one word out of my mouth this time though. Looking past my awkward eccentricities, she replies back whilst standing to meet me at eye level.
"Hello, my name is Ali, it is a pleasure to meet you?
.........
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
"Hey."
'Really, Erin. Is that the only word that you know all of a sudden?'
"Temi, I can't deal with you and the hot assassin woman in front of me at the same time. Can you just chill for a moment, please?"
........
Did I just say that out loud?
Shit!
"My name is Ali, not Temi. Are you perhaps referring to a system?"
"You know about the system?"
"Only what my master and Me, have deemed to tell me. They run certain processes in the world of Tironia and keep certain functions active, like the system that creates new dungeons."
Master and me?
"So, you know more than me then? I just know the one system, what do you mean master?"
I'm getting a different type of chills after she referred to her master, the last thing I want is a repeat performance of Obling. Maybe slaves are a thing here?
"My master is Dungeon Core Abi, she created me and everything else that you see within her."
My mind is racing through thoughts once again.
Abi's her master which means she a part of the dungeon, does that mean that his voluptuous babe before me is actually a monster?
No way, get out of here!
She looks to my left and nods before returning her gaze to me.
"Master said it would be better to talk like this so she doesn't have to keep writing letters and so that you don't have to keep running up and down the stairwell."
After my first encounter with monsters claiming to have a master, I'm still a little mistrusting of the monster babe that came from somehere else within the dungeon, wouldn't you be?
"Master also says to eat your breakfast before it ends up going cold, she can only make 1 item every 24 hours if there is an adventurer on the floor. If it goes cold you will have to travel to floor 26 to pick up a fresh one."
"A fresh one?"
...
'Is this more word play from your world Erin?'
I know Temi loves a quick jab and I don't even care at the moment. Why is it, that the only thing I can say sounds stupid again?
Doing as I'm told I approach the bedside cabinet and collect the platter. Opening the lid intensifies the smell and reveals a delectable breakfast, with a health amount of bacon, that I am unable to resist the urge to eat. I sit myself down and begin enjoying the tasty strands of succulent meat that are cooked to perfection.
Oh, Abi, you're too good to me.
This could all be one big ruse again and for all I know it could be poisoned, it did just manifest itself in my room afterall. This could all be true, but the ultimate truth though is that this bacon is so damn good!
I invite Ali in a hand gesture, seeing as though my mouth is full, and she enters without fear or hesitation.
I still have a few unanswered questions about the goblins and this seems like the best time to get answers for them. In between mouthfuls of food I ask Ali to fill in some blanks and she diligently obliges, presumably to the satisfaction of Abi, hopefully. I start with the most important question first.
"How did Obling manage to get the dungeon monsters to follow him?"
She replies casually whilst staring out of the window and without returning her gaze.
"He was able to shapeshift into the same form my master takes when she's conversing with her monsters."
Shit! She is a monster, how does that even work? I bet she's more beautiful than 90 % of Tironia's general population.
I can ask about that for later, I can't keep letting myself get sidetracked.
"Is that all it was then? Abi said he attached something to her core in one one her letters, I assumed that was something to do with it as well?"
She smiles at me as though I'm a child answering an easy question, clasping her hands in front of her and approaching the bed. Still, if smiles could kill I'd be dead hundreds of times over. I wonder if her beauty comes from some monster type ability or wether its due to the dungeon itself?
"That is correct. The fragment of the altar placed on core gave Obling the aura of actually being the dungeon core. He fooled all of us and had sent many of us out on missions, he has been in control here for the last few months. Believe it or not, all of Abi's monsters are grateful to you for dispatching our foe, even more so when we could not even notice him within in our midst."
...
That went a lot different to how I thought it was going to go. How am I supposed to attack Abi's monsters now that I know that they see me as their ally, the conqueror of their enemy, the vanquisher of their foe?
How can I kill them now?
........
I finish the rest of my breakfast in silence, not even a sour mood can throw me off my food. I have no questions to ask at the moment either, only thoughts to consider.
"I guess Abi is here now, right?"
"Correct, she made that breakfast for you."
"I know, thank you."
I turn my attention to the dungeon core in the room, not that I know where she is, I just address the room in general.
"Abi, can you teleport me to entrance of the dungeon?"
I'm pretty sure she will be able too, but it's always courteous to ask.
"She can, but she wants to know why you want to leave now?"
I compose myself, standing up, before answering.
"Honestly, Abi, I don't want to kill your monsters. Not now, knowing they all feel indebted to me for saving them, it's not as though I set out with the goal in mind to kill your monsters specifically. I just didn't want to starve or be eaten, I just had to get on with it the best I could. I'm not searching for things to kill for the hell of it either, I want to level up and acquire more power, but not at the expense of losing my humanity. So far I have completed 2 out of 3 of my goals. They were to find food, which I now have an abundance of and to find clothes, which you so graciously provided and I will always be eternally grateful for. So to sum it up, it's time to complete my third goal, leaving the dungeon."
Ali, the female assassin, or whatever she is, stays silent. I guess Abi is talking to her in which case I should get a reply in a second.
After waiting patiently for a few minutes enduring an awkward silence, I'm starting to feel anxious that a reply isn't coming.
As soon as I open my mouth making the briefest of movements, Ali is beside me and a dagger is pressed into my throat. Was I right from the start? Is this betrayal on the highest level?
"You have made my master cry!"
Oh, so it's just girl drama. Phew, I was getting worried again then.
I try my best to talk, even with the dagger pressed into my throat, which isn't easy.
"I'm sorry Abi, I didn't mean to upset you, I just feel bad about hurting the creatures that I helped to save. Do you understand that?"
Ali removes her blade from neck and nods at me on the dungeon cores command.
"Also, what if I promise to visit you every so often? Would that make you feel better?"
What feels like eternity passes as I once again wait for an answer.
"My master says that if you don't uphold that promise I am allowed to track you down and mutilate you........capture you for safe return. There may be some injuries though."
I really don't want to mess with this woman in front of me right now. It's a good job I resisted the urge to cop a feel earlier, I might have lost a hand.
"My master say's to prepare yourself for the teleportation, she will cast it momentarily."
That went a lot smoother than I thought it would.
A warm orange light surrounds me and as the sight of the goblin village fades away, it is replaced with an incandescent marble room. Beautifully crafted figures loiter the hallway and green drapes hang around the walls. A large throne sits at the back of the hall, sat atop 27 steps, above it floats a dazzling emerald gemstone.
"This is definitely not the entrance."
"Welcome Erin, it's nice to finally meet you."
I turn around and once more am stupified by the beauty standing before me, although, hovering before me would describe her better.
"I am Abi."